#but it wasn't necessary so it's all good

[ariadne-mouse]

Still thinking about just how deep in it Liliana Temult is. Like in the eyes of the narrative she went from

absent & possibly dead, very sad -> alive just estranged?? mysterious! -> possibly involved in a cult, tragic, can her daughter reach her? -> uncomfortably high up in said cult -> the cult's goddamn General and striking such terror into the local population of the Ruidus that they are afraid of even her appearance or someone who looks like her

Ordinary people who are trying to resist the dictatorial Imperium/Ruby Vanguard alliance and their iron control of the populace are terrified of her. You don't strike terror just by "being there". Terror happens because of actions. And it leaves us to wonder what exactly Liliana Temult has done during her time on the moon to make the citizens fear her so much.

#all of this has happened so fast #but I wonder whether Imogen mourns the version of her (dead/vanished) mother that she held in her mind #the one who was ostensibly good in that way children hope their lost loved ones to be (or at least not full ham evil) #Liliana has at times given off this vague air of regret - mostly regarding Imogen like 'i wish it wasn't like this but it is' #but in general that all this violence and terrorizing Ruidus and killing all the gods - it's unfortunate but part of the Greater Purpose #and that makes her all the more detestable tbh #she sees and understands and maybe even empathizes with those that have been or will be hurt by this campaign for Predathos #and has decided that it's still necessary. unfortunate but necessary. this sort of quiet and awful conviction #the kind of person who will hurt you while telling you it's for your own good and it's better this way #cr spoilers #c3e88 #critical role #liliana temult #op

[inklessletter]

I know this isn't the place to cry and whine but I just need to let out of my chest that I've been trapped for a while in a neverending chain of disappointments, and I feel like I can't take it anymore. But that's a lie, because everytime I think that, I can take another one.

#Like #it's cringy how melodramatic this all sounds #I'm aware of that #It's just #I've been taking so many shit for so long #and it took EVERYTHING in me to finally say #no #I'm sorry #but I can't do this anymore #and expected some push up #some fight #that they expressed their reasons of why they were making me go through this much stress #and they went like “oh okay no problem” #and it looks like good news #but they're not #because that means that it wasn't even necessary to put me through so much shit from the very beginning #and they did it anyway to take advantage of me until I couldn't take it anymore and #the worst of all #I had to say “thanks” #It was a 25 seconds phonecall and I had all this pent up energy #it took so much to gather the strength to say “no more” and for what #A 25 second phone call #and that's it. #Never knew I could feel so worthless in less than a minute #How fucking disappointing

[ecoamerica]

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[ba-sing-se-dropout]

The Narrative and Iroh: Try to tell us and show us that Zuko is honorable

Also The Narrative and Iroh:

Proceed to try to convince us and Zuko that usurping the throne whilst being a traitor(no honor to be considered for an agni kai) and taking the advantage of agreeing to fight when you see your opponent looking physically unwell is an honorable act😭

Zuko was doing the right thing and the right thing doesn't mean it's honorable, it means it's Necessary. Is it really that hard to get?

If people want Zuko to be honorable that badly then they should accept it's the honor that the FN ideology adapted they'll find in him by choosing to accept him as very honorable after Iroh declared he is. And that is because FN honor meant crushing your adversary at their lowest to secure your victory. One of the many things I thought his arc had him outgrow.

#atla #Iroh #Zuko #Him agreeing to the Agni Kai was Right but not Honorable #And it's not because he wanted to keep Katara safe #It's because Azula wasn't in a good state to fight #It's all about right and wrong because the fate of a nation hinged on that fight for the throne! #Doing a coup isn't honorable same as taking advantage of your adversary's health to win in a fight against them #But it's the right and necessary thing to do😐 #You go on reddit and people are CONVINCED Zuko was the epitome of honor because Iroh said so! #And then you watch the show and laugh 😂

[sysig]

It started with a whisper ♥ (Patreon)

#Doodles #SCII #Helix #ZEX #Crackship #Xigbar #Of all the crackships that I didn't expect I probably wouldn't have expected these two the most lol #I super wasn't expecting to feel So strongly about them this is like multi-tier Big Feelings in varying directions #One - ZEX - obvious (lol) | Two - Xigbar (hehe II hehehe) - I think I mentioned it like maaaybe once over here but I was Huge into KH #Specifically Org XIII specifically-specifically 358/2 it is the only game in the Kingdom Hearts line that I've beaten and probably ever will #Oh no wait that's not true I did play through all of the DS release of Re:Coded but like......does that count lol I think no #I played the intro of Kingdom Hearts II and shut it off after the bit with Roxas and Sora like - the egg scene how do I non-spoilers this #I own it and I will never beat it I am too sad I want only my Nobodies lol <3 #Kingdom Hearts had a big influence on me - that and Magic Knight Rayearth are a big explanation as to Why I'm Like This lol #Cough cough casting away the dark parts of your heart only for it to come back and bite you later and also The Gay™ lol #But AnyWay lol - Xigbar! #He wasn't my favourite-favourite - aside from Main Characters that'd probably go to Marluxia - but I still hold him very fondly!! #Definitely doodled him a good bit he's very handsome ♪ #And just - ah ♥ An old fave and a new(er) fave interacting and making each other happy and feel nice and play well I just fsalkfdf #As well as that being Max's body! There's something heightening about all these different aspects that was just overwhelming to me haha <3 #If it's not already obvious - yes this was the happy cries lol this is the only explanation I have haha #I feel very strongly about Them and Interactions and Feeling Nice and fjdslafsdf #Anyway! This isn't Just them! Just a lot haha ♪ #I have started a playlist lol - so far it's just this song - Everybody Talks - but some of the others from SCII playlist fit well too :) #The rest is just ZEX being cute hehe <3 ZEX not understanding what crying is is very interesting to me :3c No VUX equivalent? #Seems like they don't have the same kinds of chemicals like adrenaline et al so I guess a flushing system isn't as necessary! Interesting :D #ZEX fumbliness leading to him being a bit on the back foot is so cute hehe <3 He wants so loudly and openly but actually accomplishing it- #I also really like how he holds himself - all the tension through him to fight against new muscles and bone everything too alien! #I imagine his hands as being very rigid and all the fingers pulled together straight but that could just be how he describes bones hehe #Alien in there <3 Plenty to read into :3c

[legionofpotatoes]

I played Season over the weekend, which if I had to condense "thematic meandering" into a videogame is probably what I would most closely end up with; but it was still a cozy chill time that targeted my very specific niche of robust cow petting mechanics. Followed by journaling the heck out of them.

I do think cute indies living and dying by their sincere desire to paint the human condition should never ever ever fall into the temptation of obtuse and nebulous worldbuilding that desperately needs to explain itself so it can function as an aesthetic blanket for their vignettes. Just keep it loose and metaphor-heavy, fellas.

Cause if you're not extremely, painfully specific about your intention with a story that centers ignorant tourism and historic preservation, you're gonna beef it, bud

#season a letter to the future #I have so many nitpicks but it feels mean lmao. in a very subjective sense I had a good time with it. I am a boring playstyle guy #scrapbooking and cycling in a pretty world is right up my alley. wish it wasn't so #man idk if I can call it what I want to call it cause it's so unclear of its own optics. the intention feels pure #for whatever good that can do in a context this god damn loaded :D but at least I recorded the froggies on my tapes #(a game like this does not need elaborate lore that it then fails to adequately explain anyway. that is a barrier to many of season's #emotional high points. shit just lacks clarity of purpose and happens as a given and banks on its aesthetic and melancholic context to #provide the necessary backbone for that punch. but then you end up revealing your hand and general flippant disposition towards this #nebulously coded cultural backdrop that you've constructed for ultimately shallow purposes. especially irt to the core ethos #like the game ultimately asks us if dispassionate preservation of a dying culture is more valuable than the vicarious experience of it but #then that binary is never meaningfully weighted since the protagonist survives and succeeds in either option BECAUSE of the journal and? #it all fizzles out in thematic incongruity. maybe it's my own hangups with glorification of legacy to such a manic degree #or maybe it's really just meant to be sort-of aimless and 'human' in that way. which again negates the need for this lore-brain barrier #just keep it simple without the oddly pedestrian mechanics of the literal apocalypse and the mass amnesia prayers and tell #the exact same story. with a tighter grip on the context of who the protagonist is in this land. there's your game) #text

[schmweed]

#Gerri Kellman #Roman Roy #Coming in all brash and joking about her 'tiny name' and asking abt her daughters #when he's really actually worried he wasn't good enough for her #and she was about to realize it and worry she'd tethered herself to him. #He not only felt worried about that but he also went ahead and voiced his fears to her. #He would NEVER be that vulnerable with anyone else #and the trust and faith goes both ways -- I love how later in the episode #she leveled with him that he and his siblings could actually bring Logan down even though it would NOT be in her best interests #Succession #my gifs #I also obviously love the totally necessary tongue thing -- he's just worried and serious and lost in serious thought #nothing to do with gazing at her of COURSE :D #I love them so much. I miss them SO MUCH! #I can't get over the fantastic finale. The amazing door it left amazingly WIDE OPEN for anything and everything to happen down the road. #They will get their happy ending. She will rescue him. He will believe she's doing it because she wants to #and he will let her and he will be rescued #and she will get all the drawn-out groveling and apologizing she more than deserves from him #and I don't think there's ever been a couple better suited to be together. <3 #also can anyone with serious giffing prowess do these gifs properly please PLEASE and thank you? #the gifsets people make using Photoshop are GORGEOUS #uploading videos to a site will never reach that level.

[crownedwille]

if young royals season 2 has a million fans i'm one of them. if young royals season 2 has ten fans, then i am one of them. if young royals season 2 has only one fan then that is me. if young royals season 2 has no fans, then that means i am no longer on earth. if the world is against young royals season 2 then i am against the world

#i just felt the need to make this meme lmao #i love season 2 so much like i'm hyperfixaxing specifically on that one #season one is beautiful and great obviously and has a certain magic to it and i get why so many love that season #but maybe bc there was so much hype around that first season i wanna give some love to season 2 #people who didn't like s2: i'm so sorry you didn't get it #and who complain about the lack of wilmon intimacy scenes and how much we get of sara and august: die mad about it i guess #no literally you didn't get it #i personally love to see wilhelm and simon separately and see them make mistakes and pine after one another #i also love their not so sweet moments when we get fights between them - both scenes in ep 5 of both seasons - they're so good #painful but necessary and they're also so good at those moments when they're not being tender and happy with each other #the conflict and arguments aren't cheap and annoying how it often can be in shows to create drama between a couple #but that's not the case with them and when it's actually important and necessary i love conflict #bc we're coming out on the other side then #it's about the growth #all the conflict was so important this season so we could get to that ending #alright that just went a little into another direction #anyway that doesn't mean you can't prefer season 1 but objectively s2 is at least just as good #maybe i'm biased bc i didn't get obsessed with yr until after s2 came out and basically binged them both together #and wasn't immediately into the show when s1 came out like almost everyone else seemed to be #young royals #yrtalk

[dmclemblems]

Honestly people in the fandom always say Faerghus is the least progressive of the three, but they’ve honestly been the most progressive? People say Edelgard’s way is the best future for Fodlan because of the Crest system, but it’s... really not. Faerghus has been steadily working to dismantle the Crest system for years in Hopes, and in Houses it’s something Dimitri plans to formally work on (and doesn’t get the chance to yet in Houses until after the war because of what happened in the five year timeskip) in the future.

Also, the class system was being fixed as well in this regard, and the whole “outside of Fodlan’s border” thing was being worked on by Lambert and only came to a temporary halt because he was murdered for attempting change (outside of TWS, TWS had help in the form of other Faerghus nobles who didn’t like the change Lambert was attempting). Dimitri would have continued Lambert’s efforts sooner if he could have, but as the prince/not yet king he couldn’t, and then the war happened for five years so even when he came of age he wasn’t able to take the crown yet.

When it comes to hiring people and whatnot, Dimitri has Dedue as his “vassal” as far as Duscur hating background NPCs would call him and what Dedue tries to insist he is. Dimitri is already trying to get people from outside of Faerghus as well as commoners into high positions. He can’t officially do a whole lot as the prince, but in his ending he does fix Faerghus.

In Hopes, he’s actively working on the power system for the two years and they’re succeeding rather quickly, both with the Crest system and the disparity between royalty, nobility and commoners. The only reason Faerghus wasn’t able to do that sooner in Houses is because Dimitri wasn’t the king yet, and when he became king it was during a war so it was a bit less “official”. There was no formal ceremony for it until after the war.

If Edelgard felt the need to use war to get rid of the problem, it means Adrestia wasn’t able to solve that problem internally on its own, and the Alliance wouldn’t have done so either with the roundtable, so when the Alliance becomes part of united Fodlan under Dimitri or Byleth (depending on the route), that fixes the Alliance’s issue with it, but ultimately Faerghus had a better progression of the Crest system and the class system overall.

Also, the whole thing about Rhea not allowing outside influences isn’t true at all. Shamir, Cyril, Petra and Dedue were at the Academy even if for different reasons, but Rhea didn’t have to hire a foreign mercenary or bring in a foreign orphan. She didn’t have to let Dedue in considering he was from Duscur and everyone basically knew loads of people hated Duscur (and she could’ve easily reasoned that it would cause problems and drama with him there, whether she thought his people were responsible or not. Even if she knew 100 percent he wasn’t involved, she could’ve tried to turn him away when Dimitri brought him in, reasoning that it wouldn’t be good to have someone people would be suspicious toward). She didn’t have to let the princess of a foreign land come to the Academy.

That’s important because the Church is closest to Faerghus out of the three lands and has the most power over Faerghus, but it’s Faerghus that’s progressing toward a weaker Crest system the fastest. Rhea definitely is trying to keep Fodlan’s borders relatively closed up from threats, but she doesn’t disallow people from outside of Fodlan to enter it (and she lets people in right where she lives, so she obviously isn’t worried that any of these people are going to try to kill her/anyone from the Church). Fodlan just has more security in place, and Claude is under the impression it’s just too much security if he wants Almyra and Fodlan to be more openly friendly. It’s true that Rhea’s past experiences led her to keeping Fodlan from advancing as much as it could have, but she’s not completely disallowing people from outside of Fodlan to enter it.

The fact that the Church is closest to Faerghus makes it easier for Faerghus to be able to sway the Church if even necessary at any point to let the change gradually kick in.

Also, I’m not saying Claude didn’t or couldn’t help enact change in the Alliance, but that Faerghus had begun progressing its future long before Claude was even living in Fodlan. It just came to a temporary and screeching halt when Lambert was murdered by TWS who also had help from some angry baby nobles that didn’t like the thought of change. In other words, Faerghus was already heading toward that future before the Alliance was too.

tl;dr faerghus is the good shit and they’re all about that change and all the great stuff and they gonna do that shit peacefully and sylvain is a huge part of that and here in this house we love him for it even if it’s bc his dad is a dummy dumb and made both his kids have to suffer bc of the system to make sylvain so intent on changing it like bruh why’d u have to go and do that but don’t get me started on miklan bc i care him and hopes made all my headcanons a reality

also tl;dr faerghus is the good shit and they’re all about that change and i want dimitri to run my country too but then again that might be awkward bc imagine saying u have the hots for the president of ur country like man what a thought

#Three Houses #Three Hopes #Faerghus #yaaaay faerghus for saying fuck the class system u can move up in the world REGARDLESS of birth #and REGARDLESS of social status and REGARDLESS of religion and we don't even have to go to war for it!!! #we still have Sreng to worry about OH WAIT we have Sylvain and he's a Smooth Talker he can deal with that #no need for Crests when you have Sylvain who doesn't even have Crest Babies that he passes anything down to #oh no Almyra might attack the former Alliance territories oh right we have Claude he's gonna take care of that from inside Almyra #don't need Crests and nobles to take care of Almyra at the border either! #it gets me when ppl actually say Edelgard waging war was the 'best thing for Fodlan' like LMAO BRUH #Dimitri literally wipes out everything Fodlan was with the power/class systems and starts them anew during his reign #change started in Faerghus not with Edelgard's war. if she talked to Dimitri beforehand she would've known that #i.e. a war wasn't necessary to achieve any of that stuff bc Dimitri did it anyway and Faerghus had been working on it anyway #and when I say Faerghus I mean all the people in power were working toward that future and didn't care about the systems in place #ALSO they always say Lambert was making extreme decisions and the like so it's entirely possible that had something to do with it #He was trying to become more friendly with places outside Fodlan and there's no indication he actually cared about the system #and based on how people reacted to him bringing about sudden and powerful change it proves that just #doing it without slowly phasing into new things wasn't how Fodlan needed to be. they needed gradual change #people who took part in helping with Lambert's death were people who felt his decision making was opening up Faerghus to danger #the point is that Lambert had good intentions and very good plans but he tried to push it all into the system too fast #which tbh checks out perfectly with the way he's been described as a person in both games personality-wise #obviously killing him wasn't the answer bc he was trying to go about change peacefully but again it was too fast and people reacted #basically Lambert was already starting the change Claude wanted but a few nobles stuck sticks in their own asses and got angry abt it #anyway i love faerghus it's also nice and cold there and i would never have to deal with the heat again #DCB Comments

[applejarjar]

Ah yes, my favorite hobby

Buying things to strip them for parts to make another thing because god forbid replacement parts be sold separately

#that wristband I bought for the connectors is friggin heavy #like it has HEFT #it wasn't kidding about being made out of stainless steel #those links gave my expensive ass pliers a run for their money #the links on the ends don't have openings though which is kind of interesting #so I had to leave those on #it's not too bad though cause the guage seems similar to the rings I'm using and the color is close enough so aesthetically it looks OK #I was just originally thinking I'd use some small rings to attach to the watch connectors but it looks like that won't be necessary #can't do much at this point though cause I need to size it to the wrist it'll be adoring #might need to drop 2 repeats to make the clasp area and reduce the length a bit #Maybe the symmetrical look will be cute #I just felt like 6 repeats had good visual appeal and was the right balance of chainmail to watch #but it's a bit too long on my wrists and while I think the giftee has wider wrists than mine I don't think it'll be enough of a difference #to leave it as is wothought cutting the length back a bit #Plus I'll need space for the clasp so all in all it'll need to be shortened no matter what #kinda makes me wish I had a watch so I could connect it to one and model it for real #I'm just making approximations rn #but overall I'm happy with it and excited to gift it

[zanathan-aisling]

today's jjk ep

#jujutsu kaisen spoilers #jujutsu kaisen anime and manga spoilers #i didn't even flinch tbh #and i skipped some of the flashback so i was legit like 'oh the episodes already gonna end HERE???' #i'm not getting emotional about that crap until an episode comes out confirming she's dead!!!! #i say sitting on my ass forever because gege is a little wierdo who just never fucking bothered to do that #(at this point the Her situation in jjk is unsalvageable. the only thing the author COULD do thats at all narratively built-up-at-all would #be to have her get taken over by kenjacku. but like. that'd fucking SUCK STILL so like whatever #should've just said she was dead insteada introducing a whole new character that would then never show back up with a power specifically #designed only to leave her in a relative state of limbo) #(well that and keep yuji from dying worse. but like. honestly that wasn't very necessary we could believe yuji survived getting his ass #handed to him by mahito anyway we did it before) #literally each new chapter her coming back gets less and less likely at this point. its over. who gives a shit. #akutami came up with a fucking GOLDEN character and just kinda dropped her down a toilet. didn't even flush it correctly just let us wait. #narratively i don't HATE the idea of her dying even! but good GOD it should've been two-thirds through the story rather than roughly halfwa #also just #i fuckin hate megumi #sorry hes just kinda boring! todo was right!! #theres good things IN his character but god it feels like he only exists to be a wet blanket #a wet blanket that WORKED GREAT WITH THE MORE BALANCED CORE CAST! #BUT ONCE THEY'RE FUCKING GONE ITS. NOTHING. #i LOVE yuji he's great but without other characters to foil him he's just... not enough #and none of the post-shibuya cast has really been able to carry that for him. #especially since we only briefly ever saw him and choso like.. be around each other??? #yuji is lovely he's great he's my scrimbly but without other characters to bond with he's just not nutritious enough!!!!! #its like an incomplete protein!!! you gotta pair him with something else!!!! #coughnotmegumieither #and GOD the shit with Hana and the kinda-just-bullshit-when-you-haven't-even-confirmed-shes-dead 'scared she'd replace nobara' crap #'wow this is a character i could probably actually like if she wasn't buried under an introductory heaping of wierd pseudo-misogyny' #ALSO WHERE THE FUCK IS *TODO*

[bumblingbabooshka]

Have you considered Mirrorverse Janeway & Tuvok’s potential ‘Mad King & Her Most Trusted Advisor’ dynamic?

#this is the sad mirrorverse not the fun one #Janeway being slowly and slowly more motivated by her own fears and anxieties #the drive to get home slowly becoming more important than being a good person after the initial caretaker decision #Voyager becoming an extremely insular ship that trusts no one and never explores if it isn't absolutely necessary #Maquis & Starfleet divide remains somewhat ... not COMPLETELY separated but not wholly integrated either #Thinking about Tuvok who thought the Maquis could potentially stage a mutiny and preparing accordingly #Thinking about how Voyager is Janeway's first command and she gets thrown into the DEEP end #A mirrorverse that is truly a MIRRORverse in that 'this could have EASILY been you. All of you. If things had gone just a LITTLE differently #This isn't an EVIL person. These people aren't MONSTERS. They're you. And you understand them because you weighed the same decision and #NEARLY picked the other one. It wasn't clear cut.' #Thinking about Vulcan propensity for paranoia and Tuvok's role as security officer and the person in charge being so afraid even if she's #trying not to be (they're all afraid even if they're trying not to be) #Janeway isolating herself out of fear and sorrow...the Captain rarely seen. It's safer in your room than out there. #What is there for you out there? #Voyager: The Starship / The Warship / The Ghostship

[dirkxcaliborn]

I'd have to say one of the cutest, novel moments in a romance manga I read recently was when one of the characters noticed the other's behavior and thought it seemed like the other character had feelings for him, but then he told himself off for making assumptions about other people's feelings lol

#coyo speaks #it just felt like something you don't see very often #especially just like... where it's not a moment of him being all cool like I know you're in love with me yada yada #but that very grounded moment of like recognizing the signs but not wanting to make assumptions #I think the only thing I'd really criticize about that manga is that I don't think the sex scene was necessary #it's not that notable ig while reading it #but if you think about it for too long it happened way too early in their relationship #for context the one who caught feelings was a cat who ~wished to be human~ #but like... he's been human for like a few months at MOST #He just has a lot less understanding and reference than your average virgin #and he wasn't the one who initiated and he seemed confused the whole time #idk I just feel like a character who has ZERO frame of reference for how relationships work should've properly taken things slower #although that's framed weird bc like I said it's not him that pushed things that fast #and I think it would be different if he was the one who initiated things where like maybe he doesn't really understand it #but he wants it whatever it is #I just really think he should've been setting the pace as the one with the least experience #as it stands I don't feel like he even knew enough to know what he wants #so for someone he has such strong feelings and trust in to be like 'I'm going to show you something good' #he's not very likely to contest that... if his partner says it's good and he can't really figure out his own feelings #then obviously it must be good regardless of how he feels #thinking that hard about random single volume BL manga is never going to turn up great results tho lol

[fly-sky-high-09]

I'm so glad the era of people calling me innocent, pure or an angel of a person to a "sweet summer child" degree is long over

#surprise: i was just Scared Of Everything almost All The Time #without properly realizing #because I was (and still partially am) afraid of conflicts and tried to make things work out peacefully if possible #which is unrealistic which is why I was constantly lowkey anxious and scared #but at least i tried #<- this isn't about anything extreme like 'should you punch nazis in the face or not' #but more personal conflicts that wasn't even up to me to resolve #but i still tried because i was so scared of things going bad #like more than necessary #but sometimes things have to go bad it's fine #i am better about all of this but that's probably because i'm still tired of it all lol #and i know because of the way I react emotionally intensely to things that i will not fully get so good at handling it #any tense situation especially between friends is something i know i'll handle bad #i lost so many people close to me to death but have never cried without being able to stop #one full morning and afternoon #when i was losing friends around me to conflicts #and then was later called out for not doing anything #bruh i was so unwell #i didn't realize at the time but i was experiencing trauma #critical thinking was the last thing on my mind

[puzzledemigod]

Ok I did the whole Barbenheimer thing and let me tell you, Barbie wasn't revolutionary or anything, but it did come up ahead. It did what it was supposed to do and, since I managed my expectations before going in, did it in a fun silly way that still left a bunch of possible deeper readings, even if they were sadly left unexplored (and were maybe unintended). Oppenheimer on the other hand left me very angry and disappointed, even if I went there knowing it was an usamerican warfilm so I wasn't expecting much.

I think Barbie and Oppenheimer were equally superficial and obvious with their intended messages presentations, themes and characters, and equally inconsistent with their story threads. But Barbie was about Barbies, was intentionally silly, and had more going for it than the story itself... and Oppenheimer was about one of the real life creators of the atonic bomb, about the ones responsible for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and about the subsequent cold war and the mess it left us today in regards to the existence and threat of atomic and H bombs.

I think I can safely say one had the responsibility to be a bit more nuanced and careful than the other, and that just did not happen. And no, i do not think there was any actual anti USA sentiment in Oppenheimer, as someone who lives in a Developing Country (TM)and is used to seeing usamerican propaganda all the time there was barely even a scratch of criticism buried in there; our knowledge of history and our own modern sensibilities and morality did all the heavy lifting in that front without the movie having to risk saying anything. Oh did he feel bad while the bombs were being dropped? Did they villanize a guy who went after him for uhh being better than him at public speaking? Did they say he was against the H bomb and was a pacifist now, actually (without showing it much but who cares, tell not show right)? He was still the hero. Not one Japanese person was shown. Not one civilian protest, not one appearance of the communists they were talking so much about after the scenes in the past, doing anything but talking the whole time. He still ended up with a "I love my country" tirade, there was still a haha nod to fucking Kennedy being the one to be on our hero's side. They still showed more scenes of women naked, drunk, cheating on their husbands and being negligent towards their kids than of them doing literally anything else.

The "nuance" and "anti-usa messages" was just a bunch of misplaced and inconsequential internal conflict that did not feel earned in any way, misogyny and random, boring and inconsistent jury scenes (sorry, "hearing" scenes or whatever they called so there wouldn't have to be consistent rules to follow). And the main character was so damn boring. And they didn't even represent the actual science parts well. And the editing was so weird and the flashing scenes didn't fit and were repetitive. And there was a happy ending for some reason?? It was a whole bunch of nothing with music building momentum that never went anywhere in the background of every scene for 3 hours and I wanted to leave the room for how angry it made me that this subject was treated that way and would probably get praised for it.

#barbenheimer #this isn't the most well though out criticism but i just saw another post saying how surprised they were about the usa criticism in that #and like. where? seriously where was it? oh that mccarthyism was kinda bad for people who did nothing wrong? that bombs are violent? #they barely even said that bombing hiroshima and nagasaki maybe wasn't necessary #everybody everywhere in the world knows that jfc are usamericans in general so behind in these discussions that this was some kind of #revelation? was that surprising of a movie to state? because oppenheimer barely scrathed that #they gave a shoutout to jfk in the end like he was some kind of mcu easter egg #like it was funny #and then it used that random idk sennator? as a scapegoat just so they could have a villain like the good basic usamerican film it is #so the hero could fight against the system by defeating this one guy! in uhh being promoted (?) happy ending for all!! hurrah!!! meanwhile #hundreds of thousands of japanese people are dead. many more die because of the cold war and the arms race #but oppenheimer got his fancy card back! isn't that great? aren't you glad you spent the last 30 minutes in these trials? the last 3 hours #watching nothing be developed? #god it left me so mad #and it will probably win an oscar (probably multiple even) and a lot of other people who think oooh boy look at that nuance :0 it even has #black and white parts! when the whole movie is black and white (like most usamerican movies) (but it's so EASY to make it grey with this #subject) (of course they didn't tho this is much easier) #tags #anyway nobody's gonna read this probably #I'm just angry #“oppenheimer” #“barbie” #this js barely even about barbie #sorry

[keeps-ache]

it tastes like hot dog.

[no dialogue below]

#art #my art #artists on tumblr #digital art #oc #blue space #[gargling] #i'd say this was fun but my back wasn't at 400% during the last half </3 #anyway. love drawing these two together #obviously you don't see literally every doodle i make in my sketchbook but trust me there's a nice compilation #also: why didn't i use the text function on mdbg instead of writing it all out?? #ah ha. well PC mdbg has this really weird set up as i've said and also different fonts i think because of microsoft or whatever??? #does that make sense? no? good #it doesn't for me either. so- cramping my hand to write smooth was necessary #anyway! shipping off #see ya -vo

[sanstropfremir]

Omg! I saw you briefly mentioned Tomorrow in an ask and I just finished the show. I have so many thoughts about it and not sure if they’re all good but I would love to hear your opinion about the overall show (especially the distinct costume design of each character and the set design!!). For a show that navigated some heavy material — it was full of such bright color and fun fashion decisions! Unsure if you talk about shows but I thought to ask because you always provide such interesting and thoughtful critiques.

THE COSTUME DESIGN IN TOMORROW!!!!!! it's soooooooooooo good it was one of the things that kept me watching bc yes there some glaringly obvious problems with the script. the production/set design are excellent too, especially for jumadeung. literally framing it as a company is a.....choice, but visually framing it with art deco style architecture a la the chrysler building is a smart way to keep it feeling outside time, because our brains still interpret art deco as a relatively modern style because of its scarcity and association with wealth, but in reality art deco is approaching it's centennial in just a couple of years.

ok i'm gonna talk about some major plot beats so spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't finished the show or cares about that kind of thing.

tbh i actually think the best costume design was in the scenes with all the team leaders because they were so quick and so infrequent but each of them had such a clear signature that tbh i spent like five minutes stopping and starting that first intro scene where we see everyone just to try and pick up all the little details.

other than that though, they do such a good job with koo ryeon, joong-gil and ryung-gu and interpreting how very old/essentially immortal characters would interpret clothing and what they would be comfortable in. jun-woong is fine, but the show itself kind of acknowledges by the back half that really he's the vehicle for the rest of their stories, so imo his design choices are all intentionally wallflower-y. but koo ryeon, joong-gil, and ryung-gu all share some key character traits: they're all extremely loyal, dedicated, defensive, AND they all lived their formative lives pre the invention of the zipper and stretch fabric. i know this sounds like a very weird point to make, but trust me on this one, i'll get to it. and all three of these characters embody all of these traits in their clothing. many of the creature comforts that we associate with fashion are very very modern, think within the last 100-150 years. zippers? the 1910s. spandex/lycra/synthetic stretch fabrics? 1958. hell, even the concept of sportswear and leisure clothing only started cropping up in the mid 1800s. for a lot of cultures and for long periods of history, clothing consisted of a lot of layers and a fair amount of internal structure, by virtue of fabric being a solid weave. for a significant portion of their lives, all three of these characters were wearing anywhere between two and probably five layers at all times, with koo ryeon and joong-gil for about 250yrs longer and also with much more intricacy due to their higher class. clothing plays a very big part into how someone presents themselves to the world, and it can be a protective measure. this might be a bit difficult for some to understand for some, especially in our modern 'comfort first' fashion culture, but the structure and weight of a lot of layers and the rituals around getting dressed a specific way can be both a defensive mechanism and also a physical comfort. you see it with older generations and their likelihood of wearing older styles/styles that were 'on trend' in their youth; think grannies who still get their hair permed and put on lipstick every time they leave the house, or someone like my grandfather, who never stopped wearing the same style of highwaisted slacks and dress shirts from the early 60s. and i think it's a very fair trait to extrapolate to characters who 1) have had particularly traumatic lives, 2) have spent a very long time wearing the same thing, and 3) have a textually noted extended/different understanding of time.

let's start with joong-gil, who exclusively wears a three piece suit post-becoming a reaper. this means he's wearing at least three well structured layers, and i'd be willing to bet that he'd be the type to wear a singlet/underlayer as well, which brings that total up to four. he's also frequently shown wearing an additional jacket (five layers) and gloves, another further barrier. given the fact that jumadeung appears to have 'westernized' aesthetically when korea was freed from japanese colonial rule***, three piece suits were still standard business attire. and he's very strict about his own dress code, he's either in white shirt and three piece or a black shirt and three piece. obviously this is also a physical manifestation of his discipline and dedication of the 'rules', as we can see that when he deviates from that uniform it is as a specific character point for him. the most notable instances of this are in the last episode, where he's wearing a turtleneck (but still a waistcoat) when jun-woong goes to try and reason with him, and then again later in the episode when joong-gil is taking his punishment in his shirtsleeves. and then for a third time at the very end of the episode, where his black three piece has been exchanged for a grey one, signalling his softening and the merging of his two selves (his pre-reaper self that wore mostly lighter colours, and his post-reaper self that wore mostly black).

unsurprisingly, koo ryeon is also a very defensive dresser. all the same observations from joong-gil apply here, but with koo ryeon instead of her being a dedicated rule-follower, her dedication manifests as rule-breaking in order to achieve her goals; as you can see she wears a lot of colours in counter to joong-gil's monochrome. but i think the most interesting of her visual 'rule-breaking' is that she doesn't particularly follow the convenions of 'feminine' coded dressing. this is most noticable in when the rm team goes on 'assignment' in different workplaces, where ryeon will wear nearly identical suits to jun-woong and ryung-gu (interestingly, it's pointedly not her wearing men's clothes, she's always wearing a 'female' version even if the cuts are virtually identical. you can tell bc the button closures are opposite). she also dresses very 'modestly', she doesn't show any skin at all and more notably, she doesn't wear anything form fitting. she favours boxy and bulky shapes with a predominance for longer lines and wider shapes on her lower body. now there's two reasons to speculate for this: the first is the same as for joong-gil, that she's very used to layers and a specific silhouette, especially considering that the shape of female hanbok is not even close to being form-fitting and has heavy skirting. and the second is that her trauma is directly tied to people's perception of her femininity. literally the reason ryeon died is because she was stigmatized for 'using her femininity to get out of an adverse situation' even though we are explicitly shown that that is emphatically not the case. thus her rejection of more western feminine silhouettes is directly related to how she wants there to be no question that the reason she is so accomplished at her job is purely because of her skills, and not for any other reason.

and ryung-gu! more similar to koo ryeon in style than joong-gil, but again they all share that propensity for numerous heavy and obscurative layers that echoes a more traditional style of dress. because ryung-gu is younger (literal age wise but also i'm pretty sure he died younger as well) there's a little more flexibility in his materials and cuts, and because he's of a lower class than koo ryeon and joong-gil, he tends towards less formal shapes too. although i would not describe koo ryeon as a 'formal' dresser, she wears a lot of blazers and two piece suits, as well as heavy wools and fabrics that are generally associated with business and formalwear. ryung-gu however, almost exclusively picks his shapes from garments that have a working class or blue collar origin; lots of jeans, informal but still structured jackets like bombers and denim jackets, and a fair amount of casual sportswear, practical wear, and synthetic fabrics. and although ryung-gu is framed as being rebellious like koo ryeon, unlike ryeon his rebellion always comes as an active response to something that upsets his internal or external systems. as a child he is dutifully and lovingly reverent of his mother, she's the centre of his world, and even as a reaper he isn't shown to have any real issues with authority. sure he clocks out right at eight hours, but that's not being rebellious, that's just following the rules to a technicality. it's only when his mother is taken from his life and he loses that external structure that he actively 'becomes rebellious', and even then i think rebellion is the wrong word; it's actually just self destructive behaviour that is 'morally' grey according to the wider societal system. when his story arc finally concludes and he has his mother back in his life (sort of), he visually sheds some of his more 'rebelliously' attributes by cutting and redying his hair to the 'standard masculine' haircut and showing up to work in a suit and/or less flamboyant patterns and garments. but he does still keep the same number of layers and shapes as he did before.

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***when japan surrendered in 1945 it ceded all its territories to the us, so really korea was actually just colonized again. you can see in the korean war vet episode that in flashbacks joong-gil is wearing a western style suit as a reaper, which would have been between 1950-53, but in the comfort women episode he's still wearing hanbok, which would have been at the earliest 1930ish. also it would makes sense logistically as jumadeung is supposed to mirror the 'real' world. i also think this is where the framing of it as a 'company' comes from as well.

#OK I HAVE TO STOP NOW THIS IS WAY TOO LONG #non kpop questions #if more ppl start asking me about shows and stuff i might start a general media analysis tag #tomorrow #netflix tomorrow #tv #this show had like a TON of problems but i think the heart of it was really good and it was probably necessary? #like the fact that it was extremely empathetic is very important but also. it wasn't realistic at all #and also it was relatively kind to character stereotypes that don't normally receive kindness? like fat characters #AND the fact that ryung-gu is explicitly a recovered addict and still framed sooo empathetically is a huge deal #esp for a country with massive drug stigmas still #but the fact that christian morality is SO deeply baked into just the concept of the show is big oof. like huge massive very large OOF #anyways. here's my very long essay on defensive dressing and how immortal characters arent just gonna dress in the latest trends #text #answers #also further point about ryeon. i think the reason we rarely saw her as a reaper in the period between when jumadeung 'westernized' #and the present is bc it would be a huge betrayal of her character to dress her in something 'traditionally' feminine from that time frame #but they couldn't feasibly dress her as more gender-nonconforming because it would have pretty much instantly coded her as a lesbian #which i think they were actively trying to avoid #OH I FORGOT ABT JOONG-GILS CAMEL NUMBER IN EP5 #thats an important character beat for him tho too so it still fits the pattern #since its the first time he makes an effort to try and see a different perspective. even if it doesn't actually work and he regresses lol #anyways these three characters are sooooooo interesting and unusual and i really like all of them #yes ryung-gu is my favourite and no its not just bc he cries pretty! i have real reasons!!