Tumgik
#god this is so well-written
turtleblogatlast · 6 months
Text
I will never be over Leo’s 4D chess play in “Many Unhappy Returns”. Like, just in general it is a spectacle to see this character who we’ve seen goofing around time and time again, who’s only sometimes decided to take things seriously, only to show him making a maneuver like that.
And here’s what gets me the most about his plan against Big Mama: he comes up with it on the spot. The second he sees that Big Mama has the solution they need, he’s already in game mode.
It is so satisfying watching the episode back when you realize his plan, because he literally sets the stage entirely for a decisive victory. He sees that the champion is a kraken, and comes up with both the solution to defeating it and a reasonable excuse to get that solution into the battle with them on the fly:
“Like your champ aaand those six guys. In fact, we don’t want this over too quickly. You should armor up those rookies. The whole shebang. Especially with these pointy helmets.”
And this is why giving him teleportation powers is perfect, too. He analyzes the battlefield and makes use of all the assets, moving pieces around to guarantee a win. It is honestly so impressive to witness and one of my favorite parts of his character.
#rottmnt#rottmnt leo#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#many unhappy returns#Leo is SO GOOD AT THIS PLEASE#he can be a dumb dumb but when he uses his brain he is AMAZING#I love him so much#dude has the equivalent of Fire Emblem Awakening Robin’s “see the whole battlefield” ability frfr#all of this while not letting on his real plan at ALL#please he’s so good oh my god#and this imo is why he grows into the worlds best ninja#because subterfuge is one of the main abilities one should have as one#and Leo is SO GOOD AT SUBTERFUGE#*eyes Lair Games intently*#side note too but he does a bit of it in the movie as well#‘I missed on purpose’#it’s small but he had to make sure the Kraang didn’t suspect a thing and he SUCCEEDED#GOD I love??? this boy?????#he’s genuinely so insanely well written and has so much depth I could rant for days man#subterfuge as well so sooooo much fun to witness in action ESPECIALLY WHEN WE THE AUDIENCE IS ALSO MISLED AAA#SOMEONE MENTIONED IT IN THE TAGS TOO BUT YEAH ALSO HE HAD COMPLETE FAITH IN THE REST OF HIS FAMILY TOO#he knows them to a T and was able to accurately predict where they would be by the time he made it back to them#like that’s insane he’s so big brained and deliberately goofy about it I love him#his number one flaw is not letting his team in on his plans and that’s so interesting to me#we see it so clearly in the movie#he CAN accomplish things on his own honestly!!#he’s actually really good at it!#BUT it’s not about him - and not letting his family in on his plans can and does cause collateral damage to them#‘I’m nothing without them’ and ‘it’s not about me’ go hand in hand and can either work off each other for the better or for the Worse#could also go in on how his issues with letting his team in are constantly brought up over the series and how it ISNT just a one way street
1K notes · View notes
thresholdbb · 2 months
Text
I'm a Kai Winn apologist but not because I think she's a good person. She's a compelling tragic character
566 notes · View notes
gunsatthaphan · 18 days
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
🤓🚩🫶🏻
236 notes · View notes
Text
On Kurapika's Self-Imposed Isolation
Tumblr media
While I recognize that probably everything I'm about to say is going to be super obvious, I just wanted to briefly touch on Kurapika's self-isolation, and the reason behind his not picking up his phone or exchanging anything more than clipped words and business after Yorknew.
I think the obvious answer is that Kurapika doesn't want his friends in harms way, or to be used as a bargaining tool against him. This is an understandable and probably accurate conclusion. After all, Gon and Killua did get taken hostage, and Kurapika was forced to negotiate an exchange. Chrollo picked up on Kurapika's "weakness" right away - that he values his friends' safety before his revenge. Fortunately for Kurapika in this situation, Pakunoda was a whole lot more similar to him than he would've cared to admit, as she placed a value on Chrollo's life even though everyone in the Spider was intended to be replaceable. So, now that he's been through Gon and Killua having potentially gotten killed or seriously hurt, and Chrollo knows that he has a soft spot for them, it does make sense that he would try to push them away for their safety and for the sake of not having an exploitable "weakness" in future. He may also not want to burden them more when they have their own lives to live - he does slip off without telling Gon and Killua for the sake of not distracting them from Nen training, after all.
Except that he already tried all this earlier in Yorknew arc. He tried to tell them they shouldn't get involved, and they all agreed that the risks were massive - but his friends agreed to undergo the risks anyways to help him. Kurapika was even grateful for it - "I have been blessed with good friends."
So, for him to push them away solely for this reason after the fact, knowing that this was very much a likely situation to happen, is a little odd to me. Kurapika knows full well that Leorio would be frustrated, Killua would be offended and Gon would worry. So, I think there's a little more to it than that, and I actually would venture to say that "keeping his friends out of danger" is more a secondary reason for his actions - one that would come across as more of a reasonable excuse to others.
The primary reason is likely a lot more selfish than that. Kurapika has to ensure his mission comes first. And unfortunately, he is fully aware that his path and choice in abilities is deeply self-destructive.
Kurapika needs to make sure that he doesn't have exploitable weaknesses, sure, but he also just as much needs to purposefully worsen his headspace - and he can't do that with those three around.
Think back, what are the happiest moments we see from Kurapika in the series? The one that comes to mind first, and the one I'm sure most of us will think of immediately, is this:
Tumblr media
[ID: A screenshot from the 2011 anime adaptation. Kurapika smiles - he looks at ease. End ID.]
It's one of the sweetest scenes of the series imo, right before the whole group is reunited for the first time since the Zoldyck Family arc, and it's even more notable because it comes immediately on the tail end of this...
Tumblr media
[ID: Three panels from HxH Chapter 101. Kurapika removes his contacts over the sink. His expression is distant. End ID.]
...and this...
Tumblr media
[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 101. A close up of Kurapika's vacant and furious expression, his eyes wide and dangerous as he says "It might as well be you." Though the art is in black and white, it's apparent his eyes have gone scarlet. End ID.]
...and this.
Tumblr media
[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 101. A distant Kurapika speaks on the phone on a rooftop at night, the cityscape of Yorknew around him dark, but speckled with lights and stars. He says "The Spiders are dead." His face is not visible to the reader. End ID.]
This is, up to this point in the series, Kurapika at his lowest. In contrast to Gon, who is happy to hear that the Spiders are dead already because now Kurapika can focus solely on finding his peoples' eyes, Kurapika... is clearly not happy - and that's because killing the Spiders himself isn't just revenge. It's penance. It's survivor's guilt. Kurapika's powers, which Izunavi even comments sound much like he is chaining himself in the process of chaining his enemies, are oh-so-beautifully prophecied to destroy him - and Kurapika was aware of this from the moment he set off down this path of revenge.
(As a side note, this is why I'm really hoping we see Gon and Kurapika interact again after the Chimera Ant arc - while Gon has always been pretty attentive to Kurapika's emotional state, in Yorknew, he lacks a true understanding of why Kurapika would go so far... but as of now, he understands rage fueled by guilt and grief all too well. I know we're all rooting for Leorio to reach Kurapika, but barring that, I really think Gon could get through to him - after all, they are similar in several ways, and I find it fairly apparent that Gon reminds Kurapika of Pairo.)
But back to the main point here - I do suspect Kurapika expects (if not wants) his revenge mission to destroy him. I think a lot of times, we forget just how young Kurapika is, and how much his character is dictated by honour, and the abandonment of it.
Certainly, he can and will go against his principles for the sake of his mission... yet, almost paradoxically, he's bound to his promise to his fallen clan; a promise to avenge them made in anger.
But Kurapika... doesn't come across as a naturally angry person to me at all.
He seems like the stoic, vengeful type on his initial introduction... and then we get his panic at Gon's recklessness
Tumblr media
[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 2. Kurapika and Leorio wear matching expressions of panic in front of Gon, calling him out for his recklessness. End ID.]
...and his near-immediate forgiveness of Leorio after getting the first inkling of his character - of someone who cares just as fiercely as he does.
And after that point? Almost all through the Hunter Exam? Kurapika smiles so readily at them. He's sharp and funny. He mediates at times, but is stubbornly prideful in others. He's very amused by his friends' antics, and it really does seem like he starts to enjoy himself, with them. And, more than that, he counters Leorio's initial impression of him as an independent loner - on several occasions. He decides to follow Gon because Gon intrigues him. Asides from Gon, it is Kurapika who is the most unwilling to fight each other at the bottom of Trick Tower. Kurapika who makes the first move to team up with Leorio, even though that arrangement benefits Leorio much more than it does him. Kurapika who refuses to abandon Leorio to his fate in the cave, and who checks on Gon after noticing his bad mood. Who was furious enough watching him get beat down by Hanzo that his eyes went scarlet for the first and only instance outside of Spider mentions and Emperor Time. Who quite readily detoured to help rescue Killua.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
[ID: Three screenshots from the 2011 adaptation Hunter Exam arc. In the first, Kurapika smiles at a sleeping Leorio. In the second, Kurapika stifles laughter as he pretends he's asleep. In the third, Kurapika has an open-mouthed smile as he acquires the airship tickets for them, Leorio and Gon standing behind him. End ID.]
Look at him! He's so bright! So happy!
...too happy. Too happy to do what he promised himself he would do. And that's his biggest fear, isn't it. Without his rage... what is he left with?
Tumblr media
[ID: A panel from HxH chapter 2. A close up of Kurapika's eye as he says "I do not fear death. What I fear is that my rage will one day fade away." End ID.]
Kurapika is far, far less mired in anger when he's with his friends. I actually dare to say that at certain points, he was able to go for lengths of time without thinking much about it - alternating between almost forgetting in one instance and being hit like a sledgehammer on exposure to a reminder in the next. This violent swing is... actually the beginnings of the natural process of healing from loss and trauma. But to Kurapika, who's made a promise to his people's memories, this is not a relief. This is betrayal.
I think that actually scares him, that he can almost picture it. A life beyond his guilt. That he, too, could learn to be happy, even after unimaginable loss.
And so, as Kurapika continues his mission offscreen, finding more and more gruesome reminders of the cruelty inflicted on his people and losing more and more pieces of himself in the process (in his own words, no less), he prioritizes his responsibility to them, and pushes away his distractions. He cannot be a soul at peace until his work is done; he must be in turmoil. He pushes people away who he cares for, and binds himself, and keeps his people's eyes on him, quite literally, because respite, for him, is unacceptable. Perhaps that guilty part of him even hopes, by the end of this, that his soul will be so unrecognizable as to be fundamentally unsalvageable. But the truth of the matter is, or at least what comes across to me, is that Kurapika cares much more fiercely than he hates. He knows what matters most. And for as long as he does, he still hasn't truly lost himself.
Tumblr media
[ID: A panel from HxH chapter 350. Kurapika looks down at baby Woble with a gentle, yet complicated expression. The inking is somewhat softer. End ID.]
Kurapika's soul is kind, really. And it wants to heal - but for the sake of his mission, he needs it damaged and bleeding. And so, he forces himself to exist in that pain. All alone.
Tumblr media
[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 344. Kurapika, dressed in a black suit, sits with his back to the reader, looking down at a photo in his hand. He is slumped a little before the church vigil he has prepared, all his clan's eyes lined up in their jars and honoured with flowers and candles. He thinks to himself "There is no home for me to return to... and nobody to welcome me back. I have nothing left." End ID.]
235 notes · View notes
suburbanbonfire · 1 month
Text
Tumblr media
he SHOOTS he SCORES!!!
69 is still a pretty nice number (prints here)
317 notes · View notes
faragonart · 2 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
We interrupt this program to bring you...
Echo
353 notes · View notes
milkweedman · 23 days
Text
Knitting a freehand bag and started wondering how often people even use patterns, anyway. So--how often do you use a pattern when you make things ? This include knitting/crochet/sewing/weaving/nalbinding/bobbin lace/tatting/etc but also things like woodworking, cooking, and baking. If you want to just pick the thing you do most often that's fine.
I personally do not use patterns as I find them far more confusing than just figuring out the construction of an item and simply making it. I do very occasionally browse ravelry for inspiration but have downloaded maybe 2. In the 5 or so years since I joined. And have followed exactly 1, which I modified every single aspect of. In my defense, dyslexia.
188 notes · View notes
naranjapetrificada · 11 months
Text
Just a small thing I noticed while being totally normal about the gay pirates:
I've watched The Kiss™ way too many times a normal number of times and my favorite moment is the series of microexpressions Rhys cycles through while Stede is reacting to "what makes Ed happy is...you" because it's just so lovely and masterfully done. While trying to find a good gif of just that moment (no luck so far!) I noticed something that happens while Ed is pulling Stede in.
Tumblr media
Stede, darling honey light of my life, clueless useless "oblivious" gay that he is, tilts his head a bit and leans into the kiss too. Before it's even started. On some level he registers that This Is Happening in time to react in a positive way, even before their lips have touched.
Our boy is a creature of instinct, and when he acts on his emotional instincts without thinking too much he knocks so much shit out of the park. Instinct is part of why "you wear fine things well" hits as hard as it does. Instinct is how he can woo Ed as easily as he does. Instinct is how they were able connect so deeply so quickly, because his instinct is to be open and non-judgemental to this beautiful man waiting beside his sickbed and asking about fine fabrics.
Stede's thoughts are still too clouded by his trauma and self-loathing to be useful for him, and he can end up thinking too much about what he "should" do or what other people do. Thinking is part of the reason he's so quick to believe Chauncey in the woods. Thinking means succumbing to beliefs about his perceived worthlessness, which leads to his biggest mistakes. Thinking tells him to adjust what he says about Blackbeard in that tavern of townies, when his instinct was to say how "absolutely lovely" Ed is.
Obviously man cannot live by instinct alone, like he definitely should have thought for a minute about making a deal with Geraldo to fence the hostage. Stede needs to learn to balance the two and when to listen to either/both of them. But I was just so excited to see him leaning in the way he does because it underlines a feeling I've had for a minute, which is that Stede's instincts are those of someone crushing and then falling in love, and that never wavers.
He lacks the context and vocabulary to identify what's going on without outside intervention, but he also deeply gets it in a way that's extremely queer and that I hope starts showing up more in the fanon. I do a little happy dance every time I see this in people's fics and I just need so many more of them! Give me more eager Stede who is Ready To Go once he's given the right context for his feelings about Ed!
590 notes · View notes
limboraptor · 3 months
Text
NAH cuz lemme talk abt Caviar's Martial Arts Tournament
I don't think a lotta people realize just how big of a deal the martial arts tourney' was. It was Captain Caviar vs the Republic's Paladins- Mind you, these paladins were raised in luxurious, abundant homes and trained in a prestigious knight academy. And they were ALL humbled by a single man raised from the slums.
Reminder that this was a martial arts tournament, meaning there would have been no use of weapons whatsoever, so the excuse that "Caviar had a gun" falls flat. This mfer singlehandedly embarrassed the Republic's knight force with just his bare hands. And the elders were unsurprisingly upset, even going as far as to wanting him LITERALLY DEAD for it.
Tumblr media
What makes this whole thing even better is the fact that I'm pretty sure Caviar knew what the fuck he was doing. It's made clear to us that the Paladins never did their jobs in protecting ALL of the Republic, meaning they never cared once about the Lower City/Choco Mud Town. We know this because of what he says in Odyssey after being told that guards had taken a cookie with a white mask away in the Lower City.
Tumblr media
Knowing this further shows us how much he genuinely cares for his people, as he was willing to establish and found his own Navy to protect what the Paladins wouldn't. This mfer climbed from ground up to gain enough status all for the sake of the protection of his own people. I don't think you could get any more selfless than that.
203 notes · View notes
yrsonpurpose · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
NICHOLAS GALITZINE & ANNE HATHAWAY as Hayes & Sophie in The Idea of You (2024)
335 notes · View notes
Text
daisy vs. elias is my favourite s3 scene because i enjoy both of them as fictional characters, and i disagree with both of them on a moral level. ceo vs. cop. daisy walks in and immediately calls him a weird little freak. elias immediately starts reading her like a book. she does not hesitate for a second to threaten him with police brutality. both of them are doing horrible things in this scene and i am so glad that they're doing them to each other
391 notes · View notes
ascesabo · 5 months
Text
currently up and thinking about how buggy lore gets more and more painful the longer you think about it. like. i could talk about this stupid clown for AGES. he makes his clown-ness his entire personality but it's so painfully clear he doesn't have a single ounce of joy or whimsy left in his little chop-chop body. he's a full-blown hater!! he gave up on his dreams because he wanted his best friend, who he wholeheartedly believed shone brighter than he ever could, to reach it for the both of them!! he probably hasn't known genuine happiness since he broke up with shanks in the rain!! his beef with luffy escalated tenfold the moment he saw the hat!! he stayed in the east blue for years when he had a whole map and probably knew the way back into the grand line!! he loves flashiness and attention but hasn't ever uttered a word about growing up with the roger pirates or being the childhood friend of one of the four emperors!!! this clown has spent his whole life yearning for something that will never return!!!! he has a big red clown nose!!! every bad thing that has ever happened to him was because he wanted so badly to be loved!!!
195 notes · View notes
a-tea-goblin · 3 months
Text
okay so we know how Azure used Wukong, only deemed him valuable due to his strength, put him on a pedestal, and then when Wukong couldn't live up to Azure's impossible expectations Azure deemed him a traitor worthy of death?
well I found something that kinda foreshadowed/is a detail that shows how he was using him/didn't actually care for Wukong beyond his power, and it's this frame:
Tumblr media
in this shot we see Wukong through Azure's eyes, and Azure is only seeing half of Wukong, one side of him. Azure only sees what side he wants to, what part is useful to him.
Wukong's power.
he cares not to see anything else.
(or maybe this series has driven me insane and I'm reading into this too much, but food for thought ig)
144 notes · View notes
nutellasoap · 4 months
Text
Tumblr media
I just rewatched centaurworld and man, what a show
(The color pallete that was used is in the corner for anyone who wants it)
150 notes · View notes
seratlantisite · 8 months
Text
for all its faults, One Piece never has women inexplicably hate each other for?? no reason?
oda's strong women don't stand around saying how they aren't like other girls then tear each other down - they are always so supportive of each other! its why we can joke that nami is a huge lesbian with the most game of the crew. she always bonds with other women so deeply so quickly without a hint of two faced-ness. its always so genuine and so so sweet.
kaya, vivi, robin, camie, wanda, kiku, even lola-the-homicidal-zombie-warthog who thought nami was stealing her love interest. lola ended up helping nami above all. nami fought a guy she was terrified of for lola! no hesitation!!
318 notes · View notes
amaranthdahlia · 6 months
Text
Tumblr media
if you won't be mine ... then
248 notes · View notes