#maybe bad analysis

[f1rewalk3r]

worm is, by and large, a story about playing with common superhero tropes.

the trope i find the most interesting, is that of identity. that of masks.

when a character takes an alias, fans often can run away with it. we can see this in breaking bad with the oft-memed “this is the moment walt became heisneberg.” or star wars, with anakin vs darth vader. fans tend to see this alias as an entirely separate character, as someone whose actions are divorced from the original identity due to the construction of that mask.

but this is not the case. heisenberg is walt. walt is walt. heisenberg is the mask he wears, that he is a ruthless cold manipulative killer.

but he’s not. he’s an amateur. every time mike analyzes him, telling him he’s a time bomb, an idiot, mike is right. the viewer, and fandom, are tricked by the heisenberg’s persona. we can see this mask slip often, if we’re paying attention. moments where his manipulation is called out, and we can see the pure panic on his face. that panic is heisenberg. that panic is walt

similarly, vader is anakin. i don’t care about canon or non canon sith-magic psuedoscience. darth vader is anakin, consumed by grief, lashing out at the world due to the consequences of his own actions. (ignoring the nuances of palpy’s manipulation. this isnt a star wars lore post.)

worm, though, takes “what if you were the mask. what if the mask was you” one step further.

alec is jean paul, who is regent, who is hijack, who is one of heartbreaker’s children, forever and always, until only through a caring and loving hand he is able to step beyond, step out of cover, if you will, and be more then the mask. more than the identity. more than the power or attitude that labels him as a lazy sociopath. it is perhaps through this sacrifice that we see him at his most human.

tattletale is a mask for lisa is a mask for sarah. she can see, fundamentally, through and beyond the walls and masks that other people wear. their secrets, what they hide from others, what they hide from themselves. thus, she has no reason to let her own walls down. why would she need to? and thus, sarah fades away, and so does lisa, until there is only tattletale, exchanging snide comments with antares, the person who might possibly be able to understand her the most.

colin becomes so fixated on his own advancement in the prt that armsmaster burns down around him, leading him to fully enclose himself off from the world. despite this, and despite the parallels he has with the man who made him this way, he finds himself with connections. a surrogate daughter, a robot wife. he is the mask, but the mask is defiance against alan, against sphere, against mannequin. the mask says, “you are wrong. your ideology is wrong, your worldview is wrong, and in the face of a fate and world that is cold and uncaring, the only thing to do is to defy it.”

the slaughterhouse nine proudly wear the mask that says “you are your actions. so why not make those actions the worst and most harmful they can be?” the masks remain there, enforced by their leader, by the prt, by their own refusal to be anything but the worst they can be. only riley rises beyond bonesaw. only she is gently coaxed out of the shell she wears.

taylor.

oh taylor. sweetheart, beloved.

taylor, perhaps most out of all, becomes skitter. she becomes skitter to avoid being taylor, and when the prt and media decide to out skitter as taylor, she becomes weaver to avoid being skitter.

these identities are not taylor to taylor, they exist to bury taylor, to hide her deep inside. but only when she starts to become khepri does she reflect and realize.

despite all the talk about passenger influence, conflict drive, etc.

it was always taylor. she isn’t queen administrator becomes she had the QA shard. she has the QA shard because she is Queen Administrator.

it wasn’t QA that gave her the propensity to violence that sundancer flinches at. it was taylor. it always was taylor.

this is perhaps Worm’s central takeaway about identity. it’s one many fans and fanfic authors get wrong. that skitter subsumes taylor, that taylor is gone beneath that mask. but she doesnt, and she’s not.

it was always her. all along.

#is this anything #maybe bad analysis #wormblr #parahumans #worm analysis #worm web serial #wildbow

[buggachat]

honestly just in general it's very exhausting to try to analyze media that is literally meant to be analyzed, only for the replies to be filled with people arguing not against your analysis, but against the premise that the media can be analyzed at all.

i don't even know what to say about it without starting to really betray my frustration, so i'll just settle with— just don't engage with analysis posts? I'm serious. if you're typing a response to a media analysis post, reread what you've written and ask yourself "is this comment/response against the very concept of analyzing the media at all?" and if the answer is yes then delete it all and go sit in the shame corner. throw your curtains away if you want to so bad and stop telling me that I'm not allowed to hum and haw at the fact mine are blue

#ml fandom salt #I suppose #and no amount of adding ''stop telling me to not analyze the media'' on my analysis posts stops people from saying it anyway #and yes. the leaks count. stop telling me that the existence of outdated leaks invalidates all analyses of the completed material #and no. just like every other time i've said this. me saying that i don't care about the leaks is not an invitation for you to try to #convince me to care about the leaks #do i tag this spoilers? it feels weird to. i mean this to be a vague overarching thing about media in general #also of course any ''or maybe the writers are just bad'' arguments ALSO are included in this. YOU guys have been my bane since FOREVER #would you guys consider commenting on fanart with ''umm.... drawing seems pretty pointless lmao'' rude? #i know this is not the first time i've made a post like this and i'm sure it won't be the last

[courtrecord]

honestly i hate how that “maybe the curtains are just blue” post has become shorthand for anti-intellectualism and shit bc as someone who has an utter passion for media analysis now, I WAS THAT PERSON IN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASS.

english class never taught me how to analyze stories, it taught me how to remember what things the teacher said were “symbolism” and how to take quizzes where we had to match a quote to the character who said it. i didn’t give a shit about any of it, bc literally why should i. it was bullshit.

there’s this idea online that people are forgetting or rejecting what they learned in english class when they’re bad at media analysis, and maybe that’s a little bit true, but i think the much bigger problem is they never learned it in the first place. cinemasins & “maybe the curtains are just blue” aren’t convincing people to abandon an intellectualism they already had, they’re filling a void.

when all you learn in high school is to write on the test “blue = depression”, why is it surprising that so many people don’t give a shit about the curtains.

#media analysis #i literally didn’t care about criticism until i started watching video essays in 2017 #and they taught me that u could actually do interesting things with analysis #and i cannot fucking stand this shit that pretends people should all know better #also it’s not new; people who act like media literacy is getting worse are so fucking funny like #have u met an adult. have u spoken to say. an adult family member #ever in ur life #ur just on the internet now. ur seeing a million bad takes that used to be reserved for in-person conversations #or maybe writing into a paper or magazine #get real #get fucking real #1k

[royalarchivist]

[A sad violin song plays over an image of a sad hamster]

Pac: This doesn't have anything to do with me – I wear a blue sweatshirt, you're crazy, this mouse doesn't even have a sweatshirt, this hamster! [Reading chat] Am I a depressed hamster?

[ Transcript continued ↓ ]*

–

Pac: Actually– that's fine! I embrace that idea – of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy? [He hits his desk, then starts counting off people on his fingers] Fit is gone, Richarlyson is gone, Ramon is gone, Bagi and Empanada who were always there when we were there are also gone, I haven't seen them! It's just me and Tubbo, and sometimes Philza shows up.

Pac: I lost Chume Labs, I lost the Favela, I lost Murder Mystery, I lost Ilha Chume Labs, it's crazy! Look at how much I've lost, and I've gained nothing! Of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy?! How am I supposed to be happy?!

Pac: [Reading chat] "You have us Pac," that's true, thank you. No, that's true, sorry.

* NOTE: Please note that this is an incomplete transcript, as I was primarily relying on Aypierre's translation mod at the time and if I am not confident of the translation, I do not include it. As always, please feel free to add on translations or message me corrections.

#Pactw #QSMP #Pac #March 18 2024 #As much as I love keeping people updated about Pac / the other Portuguese-speaking creators #I think I might not make as many transcribed posts for their clips anymore #I just don't think I'm qualified enough to be transcribing things for a language I don't know #like yeah we have the Qlobal Translator and Aypierre's translators to rely on #And I'm always upfront when I'm not 100% sure about a translation #but I've been thinking about it a lot and it kinda makes me feel a bit icky. Idk. #I might be overthinking this but I just I don't want to spread around translations I'm not super confident about #esp. since I know a lot of people cite my clips in analysis posts or link them to other people as resources #and 90% of the time I'm like ''Hell yeah I love seeing people getting a lot of use out of the archive'' #but sometimes I get a bit anxious like ''Did I do a good enough job translating this'' #''Am I ruining someone's entire perception of a conversation or character because I left one word out or mistranslated something?'' #And like I said that's normally not a HUGE concern since if I'm not certain about a translation I just won't post a clip. but you know #idk it might just be the anxiety talking but I really really don't want to spread bad info #Happy to hear other folks' perspective #I'm really grateful for people like Bell and Pix and others who translate clips and I always try to reblog those #but we don't have a ton of people posting clips & translating things on Tumblr since we're so English-centric #which is part of the reason WHY I like sharing clips of the non-English-speaking CCs #but at the same time I want to do an accurate job representing what they're saying #Maybe I'll just start posting things and give a TLDR context of what they're talking about but not a transcript #that way native-speakers can hop in and add translations if that's something they're comfortable doing #and if not then well. at least I'm not sharing something that isn't super accurate #idk I'm just thinking out loud a bit in the tags #But I'm open to hearing other people's thoughts on the matter #Anyways giant rant aside. q!Pac is NOT doing ok rn

[zeb-z]

no ok because forevers solo mission into the nether and all the vague ‘if I don’t return’ and ‘I’m sorry’ messages he’s left behind is made all the more heart wrenching because he wasn’t meant to be the martyr.

bad has been setting himself up for tragedy. it’s in the self destructive choices he makes, his hyper paranoia, his self isolation, the way he’s literally turning blue and can’t seem to notice it himself. and from a meta perspective, it’s obvious - he talks about lasting consequences, he makes very clear framing and music decisions, the story arc has been setting up for something big. he’s got a book that says it’s for forever’s eyes only and hinted at him needing his help. he’s said to tina that he’s 100% sure of one person ending up dead at the end of all this. he’s made it clear he’d do anything he thinks would get the kids back - self sacrifice included.

it’s been an anxious build up as bad gets worse and worse. as his friends pick up clues and notice. bagi says she knows that bad lies and can cause havoc, but she’s not going to leave his side because he is too sad to be left alone. foolish takes note of his color blindness before anyone else. forever demands his time and reassures bad daily that he is there for him. gives him a flower every day. makes an entire party just showing how much bad is cared for and loved. keeps talking and visiting even when he’s ripping out his hair with annoyance because bad just won’t quit being a nuisance, or argumentative, or a probable kidnapper.

it feels like love and doomed endings. it feels like a build up to something tragic. it feels like trying to save a drowning man who won’t let anyone pull him up. because bad is ready to work for the feds, torture people, burn down anything in his way, sacrifice himself in his desperation and grief.

but now its forever who’s gone and decided any danger to himself is worth it for his son. who’s left behind vague goodbyes and see you soons, unsure if he’ll survive but set on the kids surviving at the very least. he’s already decided his death is worth it.

and while it’s not a surprise, it’s enough of a script flip to punch us all in the gut. because we expected tragedy, we expected uneasy goodbyes and self destructive choices and that effect felt across the island - but we didn’t expect it to be forever.

and neither did bad - who relied on that flower every day

#maybe it’s more of a twist from bads perspective but like. in the roles their characters play in this story it’s now up in the air #this is like more meta analysis but like I’m fucking. freaking out about it #it’s an example of a twist that makes sense because we have seen evidence to make this believable. since the eggs first day gone forever has #been dead set on finding them. going explosive at first. he doesn’t know who he is without richas and the federation twists arms like none #other. so it’s set up. it was just half forgotten because of how much bad has been taking that role on stage yknow #if this makes any sense jfjskfkr idk it’s like yeah I was expecting 4halo bullshit angst and bad being a source of tragedy but not this #not this #mcyt #qsmp #q!bbh #bbh #forever #q!forever #qsmp meta #z speaks

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

Let Penelope be a loser guys come one. "Why was she asking him to kiss her?" "Why was she the desperate one?" "Why didn't she make him work for it-" Because she likes him!!!!

Because pretty much any time not spent around Colin in episode 1&2 she's unhappy. Because he was being kind and she was relaxing around him and enjoying herself and doing well talking to people, because she's liked this boy for years and never truly gave up on him even when everything practical told her too. Because she was finally dressing the way she wanted and making a plan to get away from her family and it was actually working, she was genuinely desirable and a viable option, for once everything is going right and she also has Colin even if not the way the romantic side of her would hope, and then it all goes to absolute shit.

Suddenly she's an embarrassment and unwanted and the chance of marriage or escape or freedom has gone from slim to none, suddenly any respect or desirability she had is gone, and all because of the connection that has made her the most happy, all because people found out about Colin and his kindness and suddenly it all feels silly and desperate and like the childish dream of a 'sad, stupid girl'. Suddenly everything is ruined and she is once again a laughing stock. And she then had to go home and write about it, putting the nail in her own fucking coffin.

Because she is miserable and lonely and a young girl yearning to be loved. Because all of a sudden Colin is in her garden bribing her maid to get her alone, suddenly she's reminded that someone dose care, someone dose want her, someone dose hear and listen to her, someone still see's her as worthy of love even if (as she thinks) there is no possible way it could be the same kind. And that someone is the kind, handsome boy she's liked since she was a child. Someone she trusts, and it gave her just enough hope to try.

She asks him to kiss her because she wanted that one moment, that one memory of love and passion and intimacy with the boy she loves after having any hope of more from anyone completely dashed. She never wanted or asked Colin to grovel or beg, she just wanted an apology and she got one it literally didn't need to be more than that. He was on his knees in that damn carriage professing his love and need of her, dreaming of kissing her in a garden literally less then twelve hours after this and interrupting her dances to stop a proposal, he's a fucking loser (said with love), they both are. Let the girl ask for a kiss when she's yearning and upset and in love with her close friend god damn it.

Edit: this was like half a joke um but yeah more serious expansion here lol.

#penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #polin #polin kiss #bridgerton #bridgerton s3 #colin x penelope #wrote about the kiss from Colin's side now for Pen's #can you tell I liked that scene? lol #they're losers! they're nerds! they're down bad for each other! #let them be! #just cause she's changed her look and he likes her back doesn't mean she doesn't still like him or she'll be cold with him? #the girls 19 she can ask the guy she likes to kiss her #she's so real for that in fact #character analysis #maybe ? #Penelope Fetherington the love of my life

[godmademeinmspaint]

Going to say this now even though I barely post here::::: Adaptations are never meant to be a 1:1 recreation of the original source material. The goal is never to recreate the exact same experience in a different format, the whole point of remaking something in a different format is to make something new.

I don’t understand why people are out here acting like the new Netflix ATLA walked onscreen, shot the original with a 44 and declared itself the new ATLA. I’m not saying you can’t criticise anything about it or any other adaptation, I just think a lot of people need to remember that an adaptation that gives you the same experience and explores the exact same themes and doesn’t elaborate on or look at things in different angles would be utterly pointless.

#honestly disappointed with how a lot of people are treating the cast of child actors #like even if you don’t like the script writing you don’t need to come after the kids #maybe the fans just have trauma from that terrible movie and don’t know how to cope with an actually decent adaptation idk #while I agree that a lot of live action remakes of animated media are unnecessary that doesn’t instantly make them bad yk #avatar the last airbender #Atla #netflix atla #netflix avatar #avatar live action #natla #natla positivity #natla review #natla critical #avatar analysis

[comradekatara]

one aspect of azula in the spirit temple i don't think i've seen anyone discuss (because it's largely conjecture) is the form the spirit takes when presenting itself as human to azula. back when book 2 of lok was airing, there were lots of theories circulating that azula had an unacknowledged cameo as the shaman who helped to heal korra in "beginnings." i've even commented on this theory in the past. now, while this hypothesis remained unconfirmed for years, it feels as if this comic is lending credence to that idea with its undeniable imagery. i think this comic is suggesting, however subtly, that the spirit is taking the form of azula's future self.

azula's hair is as crucial in this comic as it is throughout the show. it's been a while since her breakdown during sozin's comet, so her uneven bangs have grown to slightly below her eyes. the fact that she has done nothing to "fix" these loose strands recalls her introduction, wherein "one hair out of place" was enough to upset her for fear of not being perfect. through azula's disgrace, she has shed her perfectionism (born of ozai's abuse), but the state of her hair also illustrates how frazzled and disoriented she feels, and how in not caring about her own presentation here, just how debased she has been since her initial fall from grace.

now, notice who mirrors those overgrown strands of hair in their own presentation. the spirit reflects azula's inner turmoil, not only by projecting manifestations of her desires and anxieties, but externally as well. this spirit essentially functions as azula's mirror (shattered mirrors of course being a hugely significant symbol within azula's psychological landscape).

note who else is framed by these two loose strands of hair:

while this shaman in lok is hardly identical to the spirit's humanoid form in this comic, this crucial piece symbolism (retroactively employed, especially considering that the shaman's loose strands are smaller, perhaps indicating a calmer mindset if we extend the logic of what it signifies) feels like a deliberate allusion on the parts of the writers and illustrators of the comic. they clearly don't have the leeway to say what form azula's future will take (they can't even "redeem" her, since it could potentially interfere with avatar studio's plans for other projects down the line), but by addressing this largely baseless fan theory of yore, it feels like the comic is intimating that in the grand scheme of things, despite how abject her conditions (both external and internal) may be now, she's gonna turn out all right.

#this is probably the only lok fan theory that was floating around at the time that i dont fully hate #as opposed to theories of sokkas progeny or katara being relegated to aangs housewife or whatever. which obviously suck so bad #azula in the spirit temple #azula #id in alt text #analysis #i have a couple more posts left in me after this about the comic #but i think my prev post abt it and then this one covers most of what i wanted to say #though maybe i'll discuss the 'asylum' and zuko's figuring bc i've seen some cool posts abt that and i wanna insert my 2 cents #but idk. anyway . one must imagine azula happy

[woennix]

I'll be honest I am NOT surprised qFit will try to tell qPac about all of this.

By the end of his lore video the feeling I got was that he is going to fullfill the mission trying to believe that Madagio won't hurt anyone if he follows what he has been told to do. At the end qFit says: "I care about the people of this island. - I'll complete the job but you better not be using their data to do harm."

This to me sounds like someone who is ready to fight their boss if they do anything that will harm their loved ones. BUT he is not dumb, he knows that as said by the contract, if it came to a point where he had to disregard it in any way, his loved ones will be in danger. That's why he wants to ask qPac if he is ok with that risk.

What I will say is that I didn't expect qFit to be ready to has this talk so soon BUT with Ramon's pressure that doesn't seem that crazy to me.

I also wanna say another thing, mainly because I might be missing something or maybe there's being some kind of misunderstanding. As far as I know (and I might be wrong but I did check back on what Madagio said), the contract said that qFit is not advised to make attachments, BUT it never said it's against it or something thay might break it. Madagio just said it will complicate things, and it felt more like a warning to qFit to not distract himself with attachments or let them take priority to the mission. To be fair this is already happening, qFit is definetly at least thinking about prioritizing Ramón and qPac if it came down to it, but as long as qFit does what he's told and brings that data I do not think Madagio cares, and I didn't get that vibe from what he said during the contract either.

I say this because for now, from my understanding qFit is following the contract and has not broken it, and as long as he does this, his loved ones should be fine. And I think qFit is choosing to believe this data maybe won't be used for anything bad, since we still have no idea what it is for.

To be fair too, he is between two choices:

1. Break the contract, his loved ones making be punished, and he goes back to 2b2t.

2. Follow the contract, people might be hurt (tbh they will most likely be hurt) and get a chance to be free.

Like, none is good but only one of them has an actual chance to be somewhat of a happy ending, since there is a chance for Madagio to not use the data for anything nefarious.

The problem will come when the data is used for something harmful or he has to give qPac's or Ramon's data (and I am pretty sure he has it). Another way this could go wrong is if Madagio does something outside of the contract for his own benefit that harms others or qFit himself, like changing the rules of the contract or straight up breaking it and doing whatever the fuck he wants.

Basically my conclusion is: qFit is fucked either way so he is choosing the least fucked option and hoping Madagio isn't an actual asshole and will hurt everyone, by following the contract and getting a happy ending. He also knows Madagio IS most probably an asshole so he needs to be careful and warn qPac and is ready for a fight if necessary.

For now keep at the mission and hope for the best.

Or well, that's how personally I understood qFit's most recent lore.

#qsmp #character analysis #qsmp fit #fitpac #qsmp ramon #i'll be honest i was going to post this opinion before this last stream but everyone was so convinced it was going to go bad #i decided to wait bc i was like: “maybe i am wrong... everyone seems to agree everything won't go how i see it” #but seeing that (for now) i might be not-so-wrong i decided to share my thoughts :D #especially bc (and i might be wrong) i feel like a lot of people understood something different from fit's last lore stream #and i feel like this is where a lot of people got different ideas on how qfit would act #woe's ranting

[saturnniidae]

"I should've seen the signs" I feel like Stoick was basically reliving the way he lost Valka.

To him, after a lifetime of wanting nothing but to kill a dragon, Hiccup's suddenly and inexplicably changed his mind. To him, Hiccup saying he can't kill them is just like when Valka refused to and tried convincing others as well, then as a result was 'killed' by one herself.

To him, way Hiccup tossed his weapon and shield to the side then approached Hookfang while speaking about how dragons aren't what people think they are probably bares an uncomfortable resemblance to the way Valka put down her weapon and stared a dragon in the eyes and as a result was taken.

To him, attempting to do anything but preemptively defend yourself against a dragon will only end in tragedy, so he has to do anything he can to stop Hiccup before it's too late.

(And just like with Valka, he unintentionally escalated the situation by trying to protect Hiccup but only agitated the dragon, causing it to panic and react, inadvertently putting someone he loves in danger. again)

Stoick of course, wasn't acting rationally, but it makes sense when you think about how traumatizing Valka's 'death' must've been for him (and how much Hiccup reminss him of her); he watched her get taken, presumably killed, and couldn't do anything about it.

#THE PARALLEL GHSSHRBFK THE PARALLELS #'so everything in the ring was a trick? a lie?' he was so elated when he though hiccup was finally taking after him #he convinced himself so hard that This was the real hiccup he's finnaly going to be a proper viking a real member of the tribe #and he was so proud and glad he finally had something he could connect with his son over #but again he'd convinced himself of all that. he completely ignored everything hiccup had to say #in his eagerness to actually be a Family to actually bond with his child #he was so stuck with this fake image of Hiccup the Dragon Slayer he'd convinced himself of to the point #when it all fell through he felt almost betrayed #betrayed and scared #scared he made a horrible irrational and emotionally charged decision of essentially disowning his son #im not saying stoicks a good parent. hes not. but hes trying and alone and taking care of an entire village as well as hiccup #and all the unprocessed trauma and emotional repression #hes not great but hes not bad either. hes trying. #hes trying and its not enough but at least it got better #i love stoick #parents of autistic kids they dont understand moment #httyd #stoick the vast #stoick haddock #hiccup haddock #valka haddock #httyd analysis #maybe? #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #haddock family #moth.txt #also pls dont tell me abt how valka and the 2nd movie wasnt planned yet. ik that but i like expanding on things #and pondering a characters reasoning for certain decisions bc its fun and makes them all the more fascinating #post rewatch 1am thoughts go crazy (sorry if any of this is like redundant or confusing. im tired) if u read the tags ily

[itsafternoonpast5]

thinking about their friendship so hard

#camp camp #cc #David #jasper #fanart #DUDEEE nobody gets them like i do theyre so good #theyre so tragic.. they never truly got to know each other. the last time they ever seen each other they were angry with the other :( #but there’s so much regret that comes with it too. they never got to talk it out. be on good terms #they could see each other at any moment but they other doesn’t know #they call each other best friends yet we never really see them being best friends.. but maybe they get each other like no one else does #their personalities did a complete swap with each other - they understand how the other is thinking and feeling. #David hated the camp but after one good thing he loves it. viseversa with jasper #when they last saw each other they were clouded with their views and didn’t try to understand things from their lens #yet even if they didn’t - they still understood each other. if you get what I mean #theyre foils. but so is max and david and that’s what makes both relationships compelling for me. theyre so similar to each other #no wonder david is so attached to max. he sees himself in him and he sees jasper in him too #i know jaspers just a character to show how bad the camp is. but there’s so much depth to him too #he has a lot of missed potential.. i hope he’s in season 5 at least. id like to see him again #srry for the character analysis im insane #jaspvid

[note-boom]

The best thing about BSD Lucy Montgomery is that she is trying so hard to live her fairy tale dream, like asking Atsushi to save her from the Guild and all that nonsense.

Instead, she just gets beaten by him once when they're enemies, gets out of the Guild on her own, and has to save that sorry boy's life over and over again.

Like, sorry, Lucy girl...you're not the damsel in distress in this fairy tale. You're the prince charming who had a bit of a villain arc and now is doing good out of sheer spite and stubborness. Better luck next arc?

#like the more i think about it the more i think lucy is just trying so hard to live an idealistic story #but life is just so mean to her that her romanticist idealism has turned into her holding onto those ideals out of sheer spite #even though she more often than not acts the most sensible out of all the bsd characters #like the girl was like 'oh yeah actually joining a criminal organisation is a bad way to cope' after one (1 or 2) conversation with atsushi #and then she went and proceeded to get herself a job #and then she talked to fukuzawa and gave him pretty solid advice without stopping him #not to mention the minute things went topsy turvy during doa she actually manged to storm the government and demand reason #my girl is desperately trying to be part of this fantasy world but she's too worldwise to truly fall for it #maybe im just reading too much into it but still...its amazing #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd musings #humor #bsd lucy #character analysis #spitting nonsense

[magicaldreamfox1]

so i'm just thinking abt the reputation pete must have post-canon among main family bodyguards.

like as we know from pete himself, word travels fast amongst main family bodyguards and there must be a few who survived the ep 14, confrontation. obviously people would've known pete at least in passing, he's tankhun's head bodyguard that must mean something. and suddenly he's missing for a few days, rumour has it he went to the minor family's house (with the fit tankhun threw (rightfully so) surely people would've heard abt it right? right) and everyone knows what happens to bodyguards who are sent to the minor family's house. except pete returns and word spreads fast about that too. pete returned, covered in blood and injured but alive. then the family showdown happens, a lot of people die but surely a few main family bodyguards would survive. and they would hear abt it. pete left. he resigned. and they let him. which i'm sure not many bodyguards can say for themselves. rumour has it he went after vegas. and then shot a bodyguard of the main family dead for him. and that he's with vegas now.

vegas who has A Reputation, everyone knows that. so pete not only made it out of the minor family's house alive, he also managed to resign and then went to be with vegas.

and maybe they'd even see him sometime, pete coming to visit porsche or tankhun and he looks fine like he's doing well.

and like. they must be terrified of him. and like even when they get new bodyguards word would spread just as quickly. u don't fuck with pete bc pete has seen the worst of the worst of this world and not only come out alive the other end, he also willingly walked back right into it.

#thinking abt pete maybe this even qualifies as dark!pete #like i'm sorry i feel like i'm really bad at articulating my thoughts in a good and coherent way #but brain goes brrr #pete must have a killer reputation #like if they main family bodyguards aren't terrified of him then idk either #like mans survived the minor family literally resigned and they let him. and now he's just chilling with Vegas Theerapanyakul #u know the murderous evil cousin #like FUCK #people would be scared i know it #especially abt the part where pete quit To Be With Vegas #bc from an outsider pov it'd take a special kind of insane to want to be with vegas right #they're terrified of him i know it. some are even more scared of him than of vegas #and like him being super nice and polite and smiley makes people not believe it at first #they're like really this guy???? no way #but like there's moments in between where u can see how smart and calculating he is #and people would insist like no really this guy did all of that don't underestimate him #and people would be scared they would i know it #vegaspete #kinnporsche #kp analysis #bl shows #dreamy talks #pete

[hallwyeoo]

Ellie’s memory of the golfing scene and what it tells us about her.

🚨spoilers for tlou2🚨

I think Ellie’s flashback to Joel’s death is very telling of how she internalized the event and the meaning she applied to his death. It’s also a good demonstration of her relationship to autonomy. Let’s break down the elements that were inconsistent with the actual event:

The stairs/hallway are much longer than they were. This suggests a sense of helplessness, an inability to get there fast enough. Joel is constantly out of reach.

There is blood on the floor outside of the door. Not entirely certain on this one but my hunch is that she blames herself for not seeing more obvious signs of violence/not knowing something was wrong sooner.

The door is locked, another roadblock in her path to Joel. She can’t access him, she can’t help, he needs her and she isn’t there.

Most importantly. Joel yells “Ellie, help me” (which he didn’t in the actual scene, he just screams. He doesn’t say a word in the actual scene)

Ellie hearing Joel scream for her help, calling for her while being horribly beaten, and her being repeatedly impeded on her way to him suggests that what she took away from his death is that she wasn’t enough. They always helped each other, always had each others backs, always got up. Ellie views his death as a failure. She was too slow, too weak, not smart enough to save him. She failed him when he needed her most. She is absolutely helpless to save him, just like she was helpless to save Riley, Tess, Sam, and Jessie (and Marlene, and humanity, and and and-).

Once again, Ellie makes a decision (staying with Riley, going to the fireflies, staying with Joel, being the cure, trying to forgive Joel) and once again her autonomy and ability to find closure is ripped from her.

This is the inciting incident of tlou pt2, this is the moment where Ellie’s whole world shatters the same way Joel’s did at the start of pt1. Ellie enters into the same cycle (which I like to call the “Joel cycle” because… yeah.) that he did, and throughout pt2 she stays in the “20 years later” phase of the cycle. She is changed, she has lost her light, lost what she fought for. She lost her chance to genuinely forgive Joel and rebuild their relationship. She is stuck in a gruelling and violent world that she has no anchor in, at least not anymore. His death is so sudden and so incredibly violent that it practically gave her (and me as well, tbh) whiplash. She’s in a state of total shock.

On another devastating note, this is one of the three times in tlou that we see Ellie beg (that I remember). The first is begging Joel to get up at the university of Eastern Colorado, the second is begging him to get up and for Abby to stop, and the third is begging Abby to not kill Dina because she’s pregnant. (Two times she begs Joel to get up, one time he doesn’t. Two times she begs Abby to spare her family and one time she does. What a beautifully haunting contrast)

To wrap up, every person creates an internal narrative, a story of their life that is crafted from their context and lived experiences. The meaning we derive from those experiences doesn’t always reflect the truth, and that can sometimes bite us in the ass majorly when we experience a traumatic event. We tend to want to find someone or something to assign blame to, some reason or rationale to why it happened. We tell stories. We write them in our minds about ourselves and what happens to us and what that says about us.

But Ellie is wrong. Joel’s death happened in response to a conscious and willing choice he made. It is in no way her fault, and there was absolutely no way for her to know or to stop what was happening. I think Ellie knows that much on an intellectual level, It just doesn’t change how devastated she is over the whole event. It can’t change the fact that she FEELS as though this was all her fault, that Joel did what he did to save her, that she could have saved him. That she should have.

#this isn’t a new thought #like I’m p much just stating what happened in the game #this is not some super deep meta analysis of tlou #it’s just. #Ellie’s relationship to autonomy is so so so good #ellie the last of us #joel the last of us #ellie williams #joel miller #tlou series #tlou show #tlou1 #tlou spoilers #tlou analysis #I have SO MANY drafts that are like. walls of text #we’re talking Great Wall of China long #tlou2 #marlene the last of us #marlene tlou #basically what I said in previous posts about how ellie picked up Joel’s stoic attitude and emotional constipation. #ellie’s screams lolol. my heart breaking in real time. #joel goes golfing HD!!! #the way her voice breaks as she begs… OWIE #Neil druckmann needs to pay for my therapy fr!! #I edited this because it had some… really bad grammatical errors #syntax??? what’s that???? #anyway normally I don’t put much thought or effort into my actual wording of Tumblr posts #because like maybe 10 people will see it. who cares. #but this one is one I actually care a bit about and this whole thing could be written about in so much more depth. #so I went in and tried to clean it up a bit and added some thoughts.

[petrichormore]

AND ANOTHER THING

I do,, disagree with Pomme about how she handled q!Bad. Obviously, this isn’t her problem - she’s just a little kid. But her and everyone’s advice is always for q!Bad to just kinda… calm down. Hear people out. Not to be “impulsive”, “irrational” or “overly angry.” Forever even tried to tell him as much during their argument today. and that… has never done anything good for q!Bad before.

What I believe is going to happen, if Bad takes Pomme’s advice fully, is that he is going to assume he is overreacting and that he is the problem. He’s going to repress his frustration and hurt with the people around him, and he’s going to keep helping them to his own detriment. And they’re not ever going to realize what’s wrong, so they’re going to keep treating him like he’s a hammer not a person. So his feelings will build, until something breaks the dam again, at which point someone will tell him to “take a deep breathe” and “sit down” because he shouldn’t “let his emotions cloud his thinking.”

But I think he should. The problem is that he keeps doing what Pomme is suggesting and no one is seeing the hurt behind it. If he suggests it calmly, nobody takes him seriously - we’ve seen that plenty today in how even q!Cellbit disrespected him and reduced his concerns down to “oh you’re just mad you can’t steal furniture” which was quite possibly the least of Bad’s concerns and it very obviously insulted him. I think there has to be some sort of visible impact, or he will be trapped in this “Oh I’m overreacting” mindset until he can’t rein it in anymore.

#maybe I’m biased and want him to go crazy #but #Pomme is a super emotionally intelligent kid however this is just not the situation for the normal ‘let’s just be calm and talk it out’ #bad has tried to talk it out multiple times and exactly nobody listens #he cannot keep doing it forever #qsmp #qsmp liveblog but late #qsmp analysis #q!badboyhalo #qsmp pomme

[the-sage-libriomancer]

can't stop thinking about Ayame. he's such an outlier to the zodiacs in so many ways:

-the only (adult) zodiac member not living on Sohma grounds.

-the only zodiac member who genuinely likes themselves and actively practices self-love.

-the only zodiac member with a sibling in the zodiac.

-the only zodiac member Akito hasn't harmed either mentally or physically (because she can't stand him lmao).

all of it makes him feel weirdly isolated from the Sohma family's trauma and the story as a whole. he isn't under the Sohmas' thumb. he isn't bogged down by hatred or self-loathing. he's never experienced Akito's wrath the way the other zodiac members have.

and it's fascinating to think about how he must've had a completely different experience from the other zodiacs. when he was growing up, Akito hadn't hurt any of them - Shigure and Kureno both had immunity, Hatori never caused problems, and the rest of them were too young or too obedient. Ayame never hated himself, nor did he ever find himself alone and friendless. he moved far away from the Sohmas, started his own business to make his own money, and hasn't had them breathing down his neck in years. he has, for all intents and purposes, escaped the Sohma family and its mountains of trauma completely unscathed.

and you know. i wonder if that's something else Yuki hates about Ayame. that all of the zodiacs have a horror story about Akito - that Rin got thrown out a window and Hatori lost an eye and even little Kisa was beaten half to death, that Yuki himself had to endure years of intense isolation, psychotic episodes, and literal fucking torture at the hands of Akito -

and Ayame never got hurt.

not even once.

#i have a character analysis of ayame stewing in my drafts #he's the kind of character that makes me ramble like crazy #anyway i do wonder how much ayame knows about akito's reign of terror #bc it's possible shigure/hatori told him about drama in the main house #but it's also possible that they didn't #(either bc they were protecting him or bc they didn't think he'd care) #so like. how much does ayame know ab zodiac trauma at the hands of akito #he's literally never had to deal with akito in crazy mode #he might not know much ab yuki's time with her except maybe vaguely that it was Bad #does he understand what sort of shit yuki went through??? does he fully appreciate the EXTENT of it??? #questions that keep me up at night #fruits basket #ayame sohma #yuki sohma #akito sohma #analysis #sage speaketh #edited for your convenience #(<-capitalized names and tweaked some wording)