#there was something else that was super cool but at the risk of spoilers I will hold my peace

[babiebom]

Where they fall in omegaverse Dynamics (stardew edition)

A/N: no i don’t know what’s wrong with me but now we all get to experience the inner workings of my mind :) enjoy OBVIOUSLY KIDS ARE NOT INCLUDED I was gonna do everyone but decided I didn’t know enough about a lot of the characters so only people I know :)this is hella old btw

Tw: sexual mentions, cursing, some insults to certain characters but like that’s not new here.

Genre: shitpost, headcanons

Masterlist

Alpha- top of the hierarchy. Dominant, and usually in charge. Hot heads and breeders.

Abigail- i think she would be an alpha that acts like a beta or omega. No one would actually know she’s an alpha until she loses her temper or goes off scent blockers or something.

Alex- typical dudebro and will be doing the breeding thank you. I feel like he would be a stereotypical alpha like this is a given.

Sebastian- DONT KILL ME PLS this is kinda biased because I know for a fact that I am literally Penny but an actual person and he is the one I am attracted to so naturally I want to put him here. I am probably delusional but I also think he could take charge so hmph.

Shane- can’t see him being bred bc i think he would be doing the breeding. When he takes control of his insecurities and stuff I think he could be super confident and leader like. Just needs to not be depressed.

Pierre- it’s his personality tbh. Like while I desperately do not want him to be in this category based on how much I dislike him, he would go into this category purely because of how he acts. He wants the most money, he’a the “man of the house” and provider, he has a temper he would just be an annoying alpha.

Kent- sexy hawt military man is obviously an alpha. There is no way he is being bred, there is no way he is going to be the homemaker, being an alpha is literally the only thing that makes sense for him.

Mr.Qi - he gives off alpha vibes, no omega or beta could be this confident and mysterious for absolutely no reason other than just being that way idk.

Evelyn - she gives off the vibes that when she and George were younger they were the “it’s fine/HE ASKED FOR NO PICKLES” couple. I think she could whoop somebody’s ass back in the day.

Robin- she is the woman with a business, she is providing, she is building, she is alpha no question about it.

Gunther- it’s the way he tips his hat idk. Also the way he’s just like “oh you don’t have any cool artifacts? Get out of my face then.” Maybe not that mean but like vibes.

Sandy- HAVE YOU SEEN HER? she is alpha, the would never be a beta or omega that is not her style at all sorry.

Marlon- man kills monsters for a living. Like no omega is going to waste time on that or even do that if I’m honest. Leave monster killing to the people who don’t have other things to do.

Pam- she gives off alpha that had their omega leave them vibes and that’s why she’s a crappy mother because it was not supposed to be her job.

Lance- literally a fighter/adventurer. The man protects and attacks he has to be an alpha, there is no way an omega can do this, and due to him being an active adventurer, and him being protective makes him more alpha than beta.

Olivia- an alpha mother that wants her beta son(spoiler) to be more like her. She active in getting money, or at least I think she has stocks. And she’s more ambitious than I think an omega or beta would be.

Andy-is this because he gives off asshole vibes? Mayhaps. He just seems like he’s an alpha whose family left him so he’s bitter at the world. A corpo slave to so where else would he go?

Suki- boss bitch that actually sneaks into the capital(or whatever it is) and steals and gets other people to give her contraband so she can sell it to bitches at a high price for her risking her life. Would never bow down to anyone.

Beta- in the middle simply because they are neither dominant nor submissive. They do not give off smells nor do they have heats or ruts. Basic people tbh.

Emily- she is just vibes. No amount of sex or heats or ruts or pheromones will bother her. She is above that and is too busy making clothes for birds.

Leah- I think she would literally just be middle ground because she gives off those vibes. Also because I think she could possibly end up with either an alpha or omega, it literally doesn’t matter to her.

Maru- she is literally just science. I am sorry but there is no time for breeding and going feral because of heats, she needs to make this robot and she needs to make it now.

Harvey- I also would’ve put him in Omega but since he is a doctor I feel like that means he is a beta. Like I don’t think alpha or omegas would be able to have this job since instincts and stuff are a major part in how they act. Betas would be able to ignore everything else and just work idk.

Clint- doesn’t give omega vibes but definitely is not an alpha. Like not to jump on the Clint hate train, but he gives off angry beta vibes that wishes he was an alpha. He doesn’t have confidence, and he seems like a loser tbh. He probably wishes he was an alpha to get Emily, or even any girl that he likes, but doesn’t realize that she and maybe even the rest don’t really care if he’s an alpha or not so he’s mad for nothing.

Morris- he is literally just a worker bee. No sex, no love, just working and getting to the top and having money. The man is only ruled by money, no amount of good smelling things and sexy prospects will entice him.

Willy- a man who just wants to fish. He also gives off alpha vibes, but I think he is too comfortable to be around and too chill and level headed to be an alpha. Love him.

Magnus- I think he just magically made himself a beta in order to not have any distractions. Was married once, it was a mistake, he impregnated a person that lives in Pelican Town (*cough* Caroline *cough*) and she went back to her husband so he doesn’t want any other distractions. It’s only time for magic and protecting the town.

Linus- cannot be an alpha or omega and be comfortable living alone in a tent. He is just a nature man and it would not make any sense for him to be anything but a beta.

Demetrius- like father like daughter, the only thing that matters is science he just somehow ended up with a hot wife. She is happy being a provider and he is happy doing his science.

Grandpa- I have no idea I refuse to put him under either because it’s either admitting he is fuckable and submissive or dominant and a fucker. Absolutely not.

Lewis- hate him he has baby balls with how he treats Marnie, yeah he’s a leader being mayor, but no true alpha would act like this. He’s an asshole that is making himself seem like an even bigger asshole in an attempt to seem like an alpha.

Victor- is only ambitious about things he cares about, which is similar to the others on this list. Doesn’t wish to really do anything with his life other than what he is passionate about, like bridges.

Susan- all she wants to do is be on her farm as far as I know. I would’ve put her in alpha but she doesn’t give off those vibes she just seems normal? Like she’s able to take charge but won’t if she doesn’t have to?

Omega - definition of submissive and breedable. At the bottom of the hierarchy and their main purpose is to breed and serve the alphas. Sadge.

PENNY- the literal definition of submissive and breedable. Like yes? This is her actual dream? She would love this.

Haley- has the personality of an Alpha but is not one. Just extremely bratty. The right person will make her submit naturally and not just because of her status.

Sam- sweet boy Sam is deffo an omega. Maybe not super submissive but I think that underneath the childishness he would be a good homemaker. Like I think that his relationship with his younger brother shows that he is on the more nurturing side rather than the I have to provide side.

Elliott- Elliott stans don’t hate me. But he gives off worshiper vibes and not the person being worshipped. Maybe it’s his love notes and letters but I think he would do good with an alpha he could serenade all day.

Caroline- I feel like only an omega could deal with Pierre. She always complains about him working all the time and how he behaves but she never does anything about it. Omega behavior.

Jodi- an omega that hates being an omega. She is in charge of child rearing, and is the homemaker but hates it. Wishes she could be a beta and wishes she could’ve waited to get married and have kids. She is so unhappy this is her biology.

George- Evelyn’s bitch. I’m sorry. But like we all know that George is Evelyn’s sub. Idc.

Marnie- the most obvious out of the villagers that isn’t a bachelorette. Like yearns for a family and marriage and romance. She wants it, she needs it, unfortunately attached herself to an asshole.

Gus- yes he is a business man, but all he cares about is feeding everyone and providing a place for them to Hang out. He is an omega that found his calling in serving people instead of having kids and we love him for it.

Sophia- this girl isn’t Alpha at all. Like bffr she’s depressed, shy, and quiet. And her hobby is cosplay. Girl is one hundred percent an omega. Even though she owns her parents company, I think she isn’t like business motivated, only is happy that it’s this company specifically and allows her to garden idk.

Claire- she is different from the others on this list. Because she is motivated, she wants to be an actress and does work and provide for herself. I think though if she met the right person that would provide while she chases her dreams she would like it. Even her hobbies seem soft to me (reading, ballet. )

#stardew valley #sdv #stardew #stardew expanded #ridgeside village #stardew valley headcanons #stardew valley shitpost #sdv shitpost #sdv headcanons #stardew shitpost #stardew headcanon #sdv penny #sdv leah #sdv abigail #sdv maru #sdv emily #sdv haley #sdv alex #sdv elliott #sdv sebastian #sdv sam #sdv harvey #sdv shane #sdv hcs #stardew sebastian #stardew sam #stardew harvey #stardew shane #stardew valley penny #stardew valley elliott

[weebsinstash]

Sigh but like ok, ATSV spoilers but, that scene where Miguel is chokeslammimg and saying all that awful mean shit, which is kinda justified because from his perspective what Miles wants to do could, as far as he knows, destroy an entire universe. Well I'm such a sucker for "ok you burned me and betrayed me and now that you want my help or forgiveness, you don't get it" as a trope, so

imagine Reader being in a similar situation and of course Miguel is even starting to kind of catch feelings. You get introduced to him and the society and everything is hunky dory for a few months but, the Bad Thing Happening now has to happen to you, and, you feel hurt, you feel betrayed, you feel like all semblance of choice has been ripped away from you. Wait, you mean this super cool but massive responsibility that took you from a zero to hero... was never supposed to happen to you? You're a mistake? Like imagine you're actually doing an amazing job at being a hero and then running away from the Society, an above average gifted spider, maybe even potentially a mutant, but Miguel pins you down and says those things to you to try and get you to stop and it. Breaks you. Suddenly nothing you have ever done has ever even mattered. Wait, so they preach this horrible thing about to happen to you, that you're forcing you to not stop, THAT'S preordained, but you becoming a hero, you trying to make something of yourself, THAT'S a huge fuck up, a mistake, not supposed to happen? You don't BELONG there?

Miguel eventually comes to your cell and tries to speak to you, but you're just quietly crying and refuse to look at him. You won't talk to Peter or Gwen or anyone else, and they can't even get you to eat until you're practically vomiting from hunger and even then, it's just small, untrusting bites. They try to apologize and cheer you up but you reject any and all forms of communication and especially touch, if any of them tries to hug you, you shove them back, suddenly furious like you're about to throw punches.

You break down sobbing when you're told The Bad Thing happened, and you're asking, can you go home now? You look right at Miguel, look right in his eyes, "so you guys are going to leave me alone now, right? I get to go home and never see any of you ever again?"

That's... not quite what they wanted? You're a talented hero, just a little green! Just because you're kind of, an anomaly, doesn't mean they hate you! This wasn't personal! They realize a little too late that this didn't "forge you in the fires of adversity" or some poetic shit like that, it RUINED YOU. You hate them, you hate yourself, you hate ever donning this costume and risking your life for others only to be told it was all a mistake. You did this because you thought you were making a choice, but how is this any different than being some kind of slave, expected to burn yourself out and suffer for others?

But unlucky for you, there's some canon events Miguel will need your help with in the future, and if that means he has to atone by sticking to you like glue and forcing you to accept his mentorship as he basically drags you around forcing you to be Spiderman, then that's just what he's going to have to do. And if you turn out to be some kind of special mutant or other such creature that isn't affected by canon or shifting dimensions like they are, then, clearly there's no consequence if he wants to scoop you up for himself, right? And that will just be another reason he can have the Spider Society hunt you down with him if you ever escape his clutches

But also imagine you were destined to do something like lowkey amazing like cure cancer or develop groundbreaking tech or become one of the greatest spiders who ever lived and they check back in on you and you've like. Sold a vial of your blood to Osborne or something and you get royalties from whatever drugs he uses it for and you're just. Living a millionaire lifestyle refusing to care about anyone ever again and dont even own your spider costume anymore. Just the punishment and pain and manipulation of them realizing that they should've done things differently and they might have doomed your world in a different way altogether but also feeling guilt because they changed who you were, they don't have that person that was their friend anymore, you look at them with either hatred or indifference and just want to be left alone, and Miguel decides, ok, fixing you all up nice and better is going to become a little passion project of his

#ive also thought of like justice league applications. like with superman or batman or both #bruce realizes after you become a hero that youre a little too hard on yourself and this may actually be a bad outlet #he has you peacefully voted out of the league and everyone thinks its for your own good #they think you just need some time to breathe and not work so hard but instead you stsrt to spiral #bc this proves youre a failure. or so you feel #bruce checks on you and youre not working towards self improvement youre actually straight up getting worse #like they made you GIVE UP #atsv spoilers #atsv #sinprompts #yandere stuff

[rotationalsymmetry]

Morning catching up on golden enclaves (spoilers): (also Gideon the ninth spoilers):

Well. If Fortitude is London, then what is Patience? Is Patience the Scholomance or is it New York or what? Gah.

But I guess that explains why something was off with London but it didn't fall. Although I have no idea how El is identifying it as Fortitude specifically.

Anyways. More fun stuff. Orion is basically Harrow. I'd be craving a fic of them talking about it (absolutely fascinating to imagine Harrow's reaction to someone else having a higher conception body count) except neither of them would under any circumstance talk about it. Nor would El talk about anything. The only time El talks about anything is when she's narrating. As far as I know, Orion still doesn't know that she took out a maw-mouth in book one, and her mum still doesn't know the first thing about El's graduation. El, spending an entire trilogy grimly refusing to acquire catharsis about anything.

I do like Ophelia as a villain. We've only seen her once and she's absolutely terrifying, and also has a great self-justification talk. (I do like moral ambiguity and...not sure what word to use, reversal of expectations? So I was open to her being right about using malia being potentially the more ethical option in context, but then I thought about it for two seconds and her obvious comfort with deception convinced me that that was not where the story was going, making that just a classic villain justification speech. And I think there's a nice parallel between what Ophelia says to El and Liesel trying to recruit her, earlier in the story El's difficult choices are about selfishness and survival and taking personal risks, now they're about resisting the idea that she can help other people better if she makes compromises.

I want to say something about climate change and Ophelia's speech. That thing where she's so insistent on blaming independent wizards' cheating and not large scale enclave malia usage. Kinda the pay attention to individual carbon footprints (and not corporate consumption) thing. I really like how many aspects of the story nod at real world social justice/political/environmental issues, without being heavy handed and with having some fluidity. Mana/malia is about money and mana/malia is about sustainable energy/fossil fuels and enclaves are about class and enclaves are gated communities and enclaves are about private schools where some kids' parents pay their way and some are on scholarship and everyone knows who's who, and the "maintenance track" thing is about having to work while you study because you can't afford not to and both that and the mals outside the enclaves are about how physical labor wrecks people's bodies.

It's pretty cool.

And there's this tension where it's a chosen-one fantasy story but chosen-one/superhero fantasy stories intrinsically don't map that great onto how to solve these problems in the real world, where we have neither chosen ones nor superheroes and have to make do with crazy stuff like protests and unions and advocacy groups, and I do appreciate that Novik is going out of her way to create situations where El cannot do it alone and needs substantial help, but there is still a tension there. And I'm kind of not sure what to make about malia. Wage theft or general exploitation (or like...owning a private jet) doesn't make you super healthy and attractive right until you collapse in on yourself, you just get all the health benefits that being rich can provide until you die. It kind of feels like there's this religious moralism, sin or karma or something, weaseling into an otherwise relatively hardnosed down to earth story about inequality.

I do like the...I mean, it's nightmare fuel, but the way the enclaves are founded, the horror under everyone's feet that they can't feel and don't know about but it's there. Chef's kiss. Perfect metaphor, for growing up and being told your world is good your society is good, and then you find out about things like slavery and colonialism and let it sink in for a bit. But you still have to live. But also your society might end up eating you.

(Plus also maybe you were told that you have a good life, but you're weirdly miserable for someone who has such a good life, and have never had a way to make sense of it.) (I mean. I know where I am in this story. I'm not El. Social location wise, I grew up in an enclave. So. It's a different experience than El's is, where her struggle isn't about figuring out what to do when the thing you've materially benefitted from but psychologically endured agonies for turns out to be evil.)

#the golden enclaves #the scholomance #rambling #too many thoughts for this early in the morning

[no-thoughts-only-soup]

I’m back on my bullshit y’all and by bullshit I mean mixing Puella Magi Madoka Magica with small Tumblr fandoms

And get this: Agent Phoenix who is a magical girl

- They still use they/them pronouns, they just happened to be afab and either Kyubye didn’t care or they only realized they’re non-binary some time after they contracted

- Their wish was something along the lines of: ‘Let me be able to live, no matter what!’ And they made it as they were dying from a terrorist attack

- Bc I’m such a tea sipper, the Agency happened to arrive at the scene and they were rescued by an agent not long after they made their contract, which may or may not have inspired them to become an agent

- With their wish, they’re able to see into the future. This is how they keep surviving. The deaths are just visions.

- They lost their family in the attack, so they have lived on their own for quite some time.

- They joined the Agency partly because of the memory of being rescued, a minor hero complex and because they know they can’t die, so might as well use it.

- They fight Witches between missions. Once a Witch was nearby just before they went on a mission, so they had to ask Handler if it could wait for a bit. He was hesitant but let them

- They keep everything from Handler and the Agency, because they don’t want to risk Zoraxis finding out and trying to take advantage of magical girls (and secretly, they don’t fully trust the Agency either)

- They do tell the Handler eventually though and he is pretty disturbed but supportive

- Their weapon is either a gun (boring) or explosives (cool but super ironic)

- Still the depiction of a smoking, alcoholic pyromaniac because what else would they be??? Competent??? (They are)

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MADOKA MAGICA

- They are aware of the truth about Soul Gems

- The fact they made it into adulthood is actually a rarity, and made possible only because of their wish, determination and sheer luck.

- *Tosses Handler their Soul Gem* “Careful, you literally have my life in your hands” “What???”

- Eventually they can’t keep it up anymore and their Soul Gem darkens too much. My headcanon is that the longer a magical girl lives, the more powerful the Witch is. Phoenix’s witch could wipe out an entire city and they know it. And since they’ve grown attached to the Handler and don’t want to kill them along with the rest of the Agency, they ask him to shatter their Soul Gem.

- He doesn’t want to do it. Phoenix begs him. They are too tired/weak to do it themselves

- The fire must eventually be put out, or it will burn everything around it.

- He extinguishes it

#i expect you to die #pmmm #ieytd au #agent phoenix ieytd #ieytd handler #reginald crane #pmmm crossover

[eldest-of-katts]

I stopped bdubs' episode partway through, so spoilers for the first part of his episode.

I didn't like this task very much, first they didn't know what it was due to regional differences, which was a little cringe on behalf of whoever was assigning the tasks but it was probably a commenter and the review board probably all knew what it was so I get it.

But the nature of the task? You *have* to lose hearts? Or at least try to? It's basically just a task that very transparently tries to speed up the game. It's for drama, not to have fun!

The second bit, with all the cheating? Impulse, that's fine he didn't cheat all that much beside Skizz being biased, but Scar? Why did you do that Scar?

I get that he's a little impulsive, (no pun intended) but there's a difference between thinking something is going to take a while and punching your friend into a tunnel full of mobs and not helping him escape while the entity cramming keeps him from mining his way out.

He kept saying he thought he could mine out, but he's played Minecraft for years now, he knows you can't mine with something else in your space, let alone ninety mobs dealing damage to you while you get pushed by a water stream.

I get that Scar didn't intend for this, and I don't hold a grudge against him at all, I'm just sort of flabbergasted that he decided to do that at all.

Beyond just scar, some of the tasks this time feel mean. Just flat-out mean spirited more than fun.

I liked the rest of the game so far because it was a good balance between risk and reward and fun and danger. The tasks could be funny (the slang words one) or super risky (kill the dragon!) And each player was getting a good balance of each.

But now it feels less fun. I can see what's happening behind the curtain with the tasks, people are getting antsy that this series is going to last too long, and the tasks are changing to reflect that anxiety.

It makes it less fun.

This series was refreshing because, unlike the other death games, people were playing it more like Minigames than a UHC, and they got to chat and play!

Now the tasks look like they're trying to course-correct into being worse again. Kill your friends. Betray them. Cheat. Lie. Steal. Take damage. Lose hearts. Be meaner. Be nastier. Prepare for the worst. Hope for the worst. Be violent. Be cruel. You're not here to have fun, you're here to win! Play like it!

It just- it made me nauseous a little bit. The way we snapped from being chill to being suspicious of everyone.

Reds existing and yellows existing was fine before, the last few episodes the yellow names were cool, kind of funny, a little danger, but still friends!

But as the series goes on, people are being more and more cagey. I don't like it.

I get that this is how the series usually goes, but it doesn't feel like fun drama this time.

It feels like the kid at the playground that changes the rules while you play to make sure they win. Like we thought we were having fun, but because someone else wanted the game to be more dangerous, now it's not as fun.

The other series had cool groups, cool bonds of trust, epic storylines and mild rp to rely on when it started getting darker.

This series, it feels like the switch was too quick. They didn't have time to ease into those alliances and deeper characters (even if it's not 100% roleplay you do need to adopt a separate persona to kill your friends like that).

The tasks got darker too quickly, and now instead of being a complex web of alliances or a fight for survival, it just feels like people are kind of being dicks for no reason.

I don't know if this is going to continue, but if it does I'm going to quit watching I think, I just don't like to see people being mean when there doesn't seem like there's a reason.

#secret life #secret life spoilers #bdubs secret life #life series #big long essay #sortof fandom critical #more like media critical #i still love the series #it just feels more mean than fun recently #idk it's probably just me

[releasemefromthevoid]

MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E3 THOUGHTS

EP2 - EP4

This episode might simultaneously be the most and least conflicting to me. I largely enjoyed watching it, and a lot of my complaints are very nitpicky. That being said, if they move too many plot points around to write things out, they run the risk of the adaptation turning into something else entirely. 

If I, as a fan of the original, am able to understand why things are being changed, and where they’re going with those changes, then it is ultimately fine. So far I’m mostly able to understand the changes and where they might lead. This episode gets a little bit interesting in that aspect for me personally. (And it’s fine if people disagree!!)

The way they condensed the plot in episode two made sense, but I think this episode they were trying to weave a lot together, and I guess I can’t say yet if it worked out or not. To keep this section spoiler free, I won’t go into it, but I’ll def talk about this again once I’ve seen the whole show. 

Meanwhile, I’m still utterly perplexed by Zuko’s character. Like. He’s fine I guess. But they’re doing a few things with him here and there that I personally wouldn’t. I’ll reserve judgment until the end, I hope they can ultimately pull it together. 

In other news, as most of us know, because of her having been announced as being cast before the show was out, Azula is in this season. Her introduction and her involvement in book one is all original to this series, and so far I can’t find any fault with it. This actress is super believable as Azula, and because I’m enjoying her portrayal so much I just have to continue to hope that her insertion into book one’s events won’t interfere with the adaptation’s believability as Avatar the Last Airbender overall.

Spoilers and live reactions under the cut

resistance group in the fire nation? this is a new addition! interesting

“my mother and my brother” i wonder.

i definitely am not unhappy about the introduction of the idea that not all fire nation citizens are complicit in this war. it adds that extra bit of nuance early, so that’s pretty nice.

YOOOO AZULA

wait is that kevin tran supernatural? osric chau?? (not me exposing myself)

oh this azula actress is GOOD

it’ll be interesting to see how they handle integrating azula into season one

i am still liking the deeper connection with sokka and suki. he’s clearly still pining after her, even after leaving

another airbender?? unless they’re gonna pull something weird, that’s gotta be teo and the mechanist, right? weird to do that in omashu, but that would get rid of the northern air temple episode. let’s see how this plays out

okay, this thing about zuko being like “we are fire nation. even out here. especially out here”. that’s Good. i can get behind that.

his cabbages??? what about his cabbages???

who is this random cart guy? banking on haru, jet, or original character for the show.

CABBAGE MAN

IT’S TEO!!!! and the mechanic!! so we’re gonna see the hot air balloons early, and likely not see the northern air temple at all??

this guy looks exactly like how i would imagine the mechanist

will this even out to an early attack on omashu? is the mechanist still working for the fire nation even though he’s conceivably in a safer place??

sorry azula is Perfect

is she practicing with the yuyan archers? could be cool to give her some sort of weapon, if not out of character considering how much conventional weaponry is considered beneath firebenders in the modern fire nations

yayyy machine nerd sokka

okay now THIS is jet. which means that the mechanist could conceivably be innocent of conspiracy with the fire nation

thank god aang is using the glider. looks way too funky without the glider.

okay so jet was right. these are definitely firebenders. 

the freedom fighters!!!! pipsqueak!! smellerbee!!! longshot!!! THE DUKE!!!! 

absolutely wild that we’re doing azula’s introduction, bumi/omashu, the mechanist, and jet at the same time. like these plotlines are going to run into each other in some kinda way, like. far be it from me to say they can’t condense the arcs like this, but it is an odd choice.

so the theme of this episode is “if not us then who”

wait blasting jelly. is JET the one bombing omashu? that. would check out actually

“omashu, the best the earth kingdom has to offer”, no, in universe that would technically be ba sing se. what are you talking about zuko?

okay, jet’s causing the contention in the group that he needed to. that played out fairly well, actually. sokka vs. katara, aang seems somewhat impartial right now. serving the right purpose

oh the duke :( 

that was a quick turnaround. the blowup and reconciliation was a bit too close together i think

“i don’t need fire to defeat this boy”. i believe you zuko, but where are your dao? where are your swords zuko?

NOT THE LADY GOING “how dare you hit that child” AND SMACKING ZUKO ON THE HEAD!!! help me that’s so good!!! def the kind of thing that would happen to zuko. (zuko is very much also a child though, so check yourself lady lmao)

this is an appropriate amount of screentime for cabbage man

zuko and iroh are getting separated?? i feel like this isn’t going to end well for zuko’s character. though maybe because of the white lotus, bumi will let him leave.

oh that’s the end okay

liking: Sets, Azula, Ty Lee, the mechanist's character design

worried about: how they're ultimately gonna get across all the themes of all these different episodes

disliking: how short the jet conflict was between katara and sokka (let them stew on it a little!!)

#atla #atla live action #avatar the last airbender live action #avatar the last airbender #long post #i'm sure that some of my conflict on this episode is the fact that the story arc isn't finished #please pull it back around for me in episode four #be back in an hour with the thrilling sequel episode four

[theoryfan205]

Words aren't my specialty so prepare for word soup spider-sona post, you have been warned

I have no idea how to start this so let's get the basics I have down! This spider-sona is British because you know I am, sticking to what I know, and so the big city they usually protect is London, have I only been there like twice? Yes! Am I doing this anyway? Also yes! Anyway- this spiderman becomes spider man in more of a freak accident, they're visiting London for a week to check out this new science exhibit put on for a limited time only for people to showcase their research, like art fairs for science! Something like that, working on the details but they're interested and manage to get in to see all the cool things and hear how they work, one of these showcases is showcasing a new experiment on spiders... The scientist working on it plans to induce super speed into a silk web spinning spider, the plan is basically if the spider goes really fast it'll make webs really fast and thus you've got a quick supply of spider silk! You'll basically never run out!

Now they've already done it once successfully on a spider they're showcasing as well and they plan to demonstrate the process live today with another spider, as they're already convinced it'll go well with the experience of having done it successfully before, our spiderman here gets an interest in practically everything, even the spider, leaning in to look at the little fella while listening to the explanation of the experiment. When the time comes for the spider fast experiment it ends up going horribly wrong because the equipment explodes, just.. boom! People knocked everywhere and the spiders get out, our soon to be spiderman is knocked down too and while trying to escape the rubble after the explosion they come across a tiny little spider, they crouch down and look at the little fellow, recognizing it as one of the spider experiments but not remembering what one it was, as it crawls on their finger and they think out loud they get interrupted by a fast bite to their palm, slapping the spider away and accidentally killing it.

They are not going to admit they just killed the spider, and entirely decide to blame it on the explosion as they leave the scene of the spider murder and soon after get rescued, it's a whole disaster and it's quite a mess. Something something spider powers! The explosion from the tech plus the experiments made relatively harmless (uk spiders aren't quite poisonous) radioactive fast spiders, and thus after getting bit they get the usual Spidey powers, sticky hands and feet, Spidey sense, super strength and a new one thanks to the experiments specific to that spider, super speed, that's right I'm fixing the heights problem by giving them super speed! Don't need to swing really high up and risk sobbing as spiderman if you can just run real fast and use the webs to help propel yourself forward!

The inspiration for speedy spider over here is spiders that just fucking bolt when you try to kill them and I had a dream where I was spiderman in a spiderverse and my power was speed so clearly my subconscious agrees with me! For the costume it's green because that's my favorite colour, also yellow because green and yellow go great together! I got nothing else for the design just ideas on them

I don't have a name either, in costume or out of costume, there is a green spider in the UK but it's got a lame ass name I ain't using that, my only ideas are like green widow or something leaning more into the speed side like I dunno the speedy spidster? (Pronounce it like Spidey) it's a work in progress! I am working on it, but basically my spider-sona is the flash spiderman, having to run all the way to London when their vacation Is over to save the day is just a part of their job! I'd imagine something might pop up to get them in London more full time but thats the basics! Also no spoilers for anyone reading but they would so socially awkward in the spiderverse, someone says hi and they blue screen, they aren't prepared for this many spideys

#this post will suck for anyone without that automatic read more for long posts enabled #atsv #spidersona #spider-sona #spider sona #atsv spidersona

[nectaric]

i’m gonna talk abt the new tho.r film under the cut so here’s your warning for spoilers!

i wasn’t even that mad at the characterization of zeus in the film. like, he was a little silly for my taste but overall he wasn’t horrible considering the movie is meant to be comedic. the issue i had is with everyone else’s reactions to him in the film. like most modern takes on him, everyone acted like the things he said were super out of pocket and therefore he deserved to die for them. god forbid he mention sacrifices to the gods as though this wasn’t common in many traditions / as if thor himself doesn’t have a super high kill count of people probably more innocent than some of the ones zeus is talking about.

zeus literally admits he’s afraid of the god butcher and doesn’t want to risk the lives of other gods over something he’s fairly certain is impossible (which… he was right about until thor got involved, might i add), and that is worthy of a death sentence? he’s not even threatening thor with anything heinous he’s just not allowed to leave! (if i recall..)

like zeus wasn’t really a bad guy in my opinion. he might not have been an ideal ally for our protagonists, and he might not have been the most likeable, but he didn’t really do anything wrong and he was ‘killed’ for it like!!! why was this necessary. i’m actually super stoked for the introduction of hercules and the gods as villains bc good for them.

anyway, those are my thoughts. i thought russell crowe was great and i thought zeus could have been a lot more fun but the over exaggerated reactions sorta ruined it for me. the film itself felt a little too try hard which makes me sad bc there were so many elements that were super cool, but the stakes just didn’t feel real in this film.

#thor spoilers / #thor 4 spoilers / #anyway here it be

[femalebookworm]

Okay, then, this is Vital Secrets series (bundle of book 1-3, but as you can tell, reviews will be separate!) is my first read for 2024 (started Jan 2, ended Jan 3, 8pm sharp), picked this set at random after seeing cover with dude holding a gun and some words like, crime, thriller, suspense, detective work etc attached to it. All that, set my mindset for CSI, NCIS; set the standards too high, but the coincidences were piling up too hard and too fast, I just followed the letters on the e-page.

Yeah yeah, I kept the same intro used for the first book, sue me. List of Secrets is about 32% into this bundle, and while I have the separate book status being marked on Goodreads, I could definitely NOT review 3 books in one go; my brain wouldn’t let me. It would also be super long, and I know Goodreads and my blog have limits. Bear with me, I’ll keep the bundle review simple, just one more book guys, gals and inbetweens. NOT SPOILER FREE, read at your own risk.

Oh man, finally got into the groove of this author. They didn’t disappoint. While the first book was detailed enough for the reader to put it together before the main characters, List of Secrets kept the cloak until almost the last chapter. From the-go you have two serial killers, two siblings (in fact), and they both kinda fall in love with target and target adjacent. So many deaths, so many hearts destroyed. So many lies. The last page kinda gave me the feels that the target and target adjacent has something in common to bond over, and maybe it’s twisted to think the author meant they would become friends — or maybe even something more? Don’t know, the sneak peek suggested Joe would join in win the rest of the OG characters for the next book. Not all complaining. Enjoying it, actually.

Oops, my bad, the characters names - Lizzie, a cop from Seattle whose life changing betrayal of bestie and fiancé took her on a trip where she meets a guy she clicks super fast, Landon. Likable characters, I might add. But they soon return to their lives - Seattle vs Texas. They kinda have a long distance relationship. Cool. Normal. Then we have Samantha (was that her name? Cannot remember. Sorry. I suck with names, and this time I didn’t take any notes) hitting a skii class with a retired athlete, Donny, they fall madly in love within three dates or so, same as Lizzie/Landon. However, they do spend a lot of time together before hell breaks loose. While these couples go about their lives, murders are happening all across the globe, some to people who kinda deserve and others, well… leaving you with a question mark on how they were/are important to begin with. Shit happens, and suddenly the puzzles are put together with the joint efforts of Nathan (whose baby was born somewhere along the crazy murders and relationships growing speedily) and Joe (Lizzie’s godfather, and her dad’s old partner). Some other characters were introduced from other districts as well, and wondering if they will return on book 3 (the final one I HAVE) or even later on.

Hmm, what else can I say? I think this is it. The plot twist I didn’t see coming was the family bond. Familiarity, yes - at one point - but not this. Onto the next book as soon as my headache leaves me alone. Maybe will start it tomorrow only and give my brain and eyes some much needed rest.

#List of Secrets #D.F. Hart #book review #bookworm #review #mystery #Vital Secrets Series #criminal #romance

[fully-functioning-pigeon]

I posted 712 times in 2022

That's 619 more posts than 2021!

175 posts created (25%)

537 posts reblogged (75%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bergoozter

@stormstressed

@dorianmylove

@annemarieyeretzian

I tagged 248 of my posts in 2022

#critical role - 161 posts

#campaign 3 spoilers - 92 posts

#critical role campaign 3 - 84 posts

#bells hells - 79 posts

#dorian storm - 45 posts

#orym of the air ashari - 34 posts

#robbie daymond - 32 posts

#shane madej - 24 posts

#dorym - 22 posts

#critical role spoilers - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 121 characters

#i wanna write this so badly but i have like 6 other works in progress so i’m making this post so i can come back to it <3

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

One of my favorite things the cast of critical role does is when they start laughing so much they laugh into the shoulder of whoever’s next to them. It’s the cutest thing oh my god

898 notes - Posted January 5, 2022

#4

Something cool about TLOVM that I’ve been noticing is you can often see the parallels between fights in the show and fights in gameplay.

Eg. Keyleth not joining the fight against the dragon until late can be seen as Marisha rolling a low initiative in gameplay. Pike being unable to heal the boy in the town can be seen as Ashley using up spell slots. Percy’s gun jamming during I can’t remember which fight can be seen as Taliesin rolling a 1 or something else really low. The hella high DC of that goddamn door (it’s always doors Jesus)

It’s just super cool to see that their actions are still effected by the “universe” and “fate” that are personified in gameplay by the dice. Aabria said in EXU something along the lines of “a roll is when a decision and the universe disagree”. This kind of parallel in TLOVM shows that not everything they do will be successful and it’s put into detail when you think about how the dice roll allow the universe to have its say about their actions.

Maybe I’m wrong but I just think it’s super cool and fun to think like “oh that would have been a HDYWTDT moment” or “that would have been a really low roll damn”

1,198 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

#3

Ryan “I fell into a pile of bricks as a kid” Bergara and Shane “I had a nose bleed the first time I entered a church” Madej

1,309 notes - Posted April 14, 2022

#2

Matt during episode 3 of 4-Sided Dive: “if the tower of inquiry falls there will be dire consequences for the one who ruins it, I will actually kill your character”

Liam during episode 6 of 4-Sided Dive: *wrecks the tower*

Episode 33 of Campaign 3: Orym is killed

UHM HEY MATT

WHAT THE FUCK MAN

1,343 notes - Posted September 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

What really bothers me about the try guys scandal is that there’s no word on or from Alexandria. She hasn’t said a word, she hasn’t apologized publicly. She deserves the same amount of blame for this, both of them had a part in risking the company and each other’s relationships. Waiting on a company statement about her job status or even better her own apology for hurting so many people. Im expecting her to at least apologize in the same vein as Ned’s apology.

1,650 notes - Posted September 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[salamispots]

me after watching godzilla + kong beat the shit out of each other: nOW KISS OR BE FRIENDS AND HANG OUT IDK

#cackles #godzilla vs kong #as a whole was ok but the fight scenes were fun #edit: I say fun but simultaneously there were some GNARLY bits #but also at some points that was? the actual vibe?? #there was something else that was super cool but at the risk of spoilers I will hold my peace

[c-is-for-circinate]

As promised: let's talk Hades, and how acts of abuse can create toxic environments for everyone around them, and also how people react to those environments--and to them being disrupted.

(For reference, I have just kicked Theseus's ass for the first time, it was exactly as satisfying as it was intended to be, and then I got predictably slaughtered a couple of chambers into Styx. Spoilers for everything through that point, but please no spoilers in reblogs/comments for anything after that!) Also, TW for a whole lot of discussion of abuse, particularly verbal and emotional abuse, and abusive familyworkplace dynamics.

Okay, so. To start out with, Hades is an abusive parent. He engages in innumerable acts of verbal and emotional abuse towards his son, because yep, that's what you call it when a parent constantly berates and belittles their kid for every perceived failure, including the ones the parent themselves could have prevented. Sometimes especially the ones the parent could have prevented. Zagreus failed at his office clerk job because Hades refused to teach him how to do it and then blamed him for not already knowing how. Cerberus tore up the lounge because Hades, who was actually there, chose not to stop him. Hades created, possibly deliberately, and then took full advantage of every opportunity he saw to insult and demean his kid, and the clerk job flashback shows us that he was doing so even before the escape attempts started. I'm pretty sure we're all on the same page here, but: yep, that all constitutes abuse, even if they're gods. Even if Hades has reasons for Being Like That. Even if you think Zagreus seems okay and unharmed by it (which: repeatedly throwing yourself into a gauntlet of violence that inevitably ends in your own pain and death because you're so desperate to escape home, not actually an indicator of someone who's okay). We all good on that?

Cool. Because I'm not really here to talk about how Hades' abuse directly impacts Zagreus right now (although there's for sure an essay in that too). I'm thinking about how it impacts everybody else.

Hades isn't as obviously unreasonable with anybody else in his kingdom the way he is with his kid. When we see him lecture somebody else, it's usually for an actual failure to do their job: Hypnos for literally falling asleep on the job and not doing anything that was assigned to him, Megaera for letting us past her so many time, Orpheus for being a court bard who refuses to sing. His attitude is super confrontational and unpleasant, but on the surface it doesn't necessarily look as fucked-up. Thing is, though, whether any individual act of aggression towards an employee/family member is justified or not (I would generally argue 'not', because aggression towards employees/family members is, y'know, not justifiable)--it's not about the individual acts. It's about the entire cultivated atmosphere of toxicity and abuse.

One of the very first things Meg ever says to us is, "I'd rather be on your bad side than his." Up until that point, we've got no reason to believe Meg has any history whatsoever of fucking up at her job. In fact, we've got plenty of reason to believe she's good at it. She's fiercely proud of it, she's frequently Employee Of The [Time Period], and we've apparently never even met her sisters because she handles her shit herself. But she's still scared of Hades. Dusa, who is an anxious wreck at all times because oh god what if she gets fired what if she gets fired what if she gets fired, in spite of apparently being absolutely exemplary at her job, is scared of Hades. Every single shade in the Hall is clearly terrified of Hades, and it's not because of what he's done to each of them. It's what they've seen him do to other people.

Which is how toxic environments work, whether they're work environments or families. The Court of Hades is of course both, always, with the bonus hell layer of you can't quit even if you DIE. An abuser in authority doesn't have to target you in order to make you feel scared, cowed, and desperate to please them. Humans (and gods who are basically extra-powerful humans) are good at learning by example. The residents of the Court get the picture.

So this Court is a minefield--and everyone except Zagreus is very good at tiptoeing around mines. We see it in Meg, so desperate to do her job well. We see that Hypnos very clearly does not give a shit about anything, but he still makes sure to have a list of excuses ready if/when Hades ever confronts him about failure to do his job, just in case. We see it when Achilles tells us that my ability to help you is constrained by the authority your father gives me, or whatever the line was sixty runs ago when he couldn't let me into locked chambers. The system, such as it is, works, and if Nyx talks to Hades as little as possible, if Thanatos avoids the Court entirely, if Achilles treads very carefully and knows how to keep his head down--well that's just the system, right? That's just how things are.

Even Zagreus seems to have had a role in that system as the court fuckup. He's the kid who didn't have a real job or purpose. He could take the focus of Hades' generalized, day-to-day ire off of everyone else, without triggering some of the more direct and violent ire because the work he was doing didn't really matter (a LOT of Hades' rage-triggers seem to be related to job performance, which means that the people with real jobs are of course the most at risk). And he could do so "safely" (big emphasis on the quotation marks there) because he alone of the court is Hades' actual kid, who's Prince of the Underworld no matter how much he fucks up. If one of Nyx's other kids gets something really really wrong, she might be able to protect them from some consequences, but Hades doesn't have any layer of supposed parental affection holding him back from getting violently furious about it. Zagreus gets a nice bedroom and the abuse is limited to words rather than divine power, and Hades is a dick to everyone but he only occasionally condemns people to eternities of torture, and only for good reasons like refusing to sing when your job is to be court bard, so it's fine, everybody's fine, everything's totally fine, right?

Except it's not fine when everybody is so clearly worried about anything going wrong. And it's especially not fine for Zagreus, who's the person to finally say no. He's leaving, for his own sake, because he deserves better and he's finally convinced he can have it. And that turns the whole system into disarray.

I am endlessly fascinated by the ways this game portrays different characters reacting to this upheaval in their carefully-mapped minefield. It's different for authority figures and peers and servants, different based on how people are positioned in the house under Hades' rule, and it's so spot-on and I love it.

Nyx, for instance, is absolutely calm about the whole thing, because Nyx has power. Hades can't hurt her. Hades can't even really do much against her children, not when Hypnos and Thanatos are gods in their own right. Yes, Hades rules the kingdom, but Nyx owns the land, and she gives no shits about his rages. And it's interesting, too, to see the lines she doesn't draw. The deal seems to be that Hades doesn't fuck with her, and doesn't outright threaten her kids (because Hypnos is bad at his job, demonstrably so, and Hades hasn't ruined him yet), and she doesn't interfere with the way he treats the people around him. She gives Zagreus advice and support and the mirror, but she also doesn't take a direct stand against Hades. He can't hurt her, but he could make life...difficult. She's protected, her position in the minefield is more of a safe viewing platform than slogging through the middle of it, but the mines are still there.

And then we have Achilles, who is one of my favorite characters in the whole game because of how he reacts to this whole situation. Achilles, like Nyx, is so supportive. Every single time you see him he has something encouraging to say. He gives us his Codex, secretly finds us weapons, trained us for years, clearly wants us to succeed. And still he's limited, not necessarily out of fear for himself (though he has to be scared for himself, he knows what Hades does to people who anger him), but out of concern that if he gives Zagreus too much help in one way, he won't be able to provide help at all later. He's still so careful.

Achilles and Nyx are so fucking important to this story because they're the only authority figures Zagreus really has in his life except for his father, and they are so supportive. They're what keep this story from being a nightmare of psychological horror and depression. They can't stop the pressure from Hades and this life in his house being miserable for Zag, but they can give us hope, remind us that Zagreus is still loved. And they have such an incredibly important role when it comes to guilt, which is one of the biggest ways toxic systems maintain themselves.

If Zagreus leaves, what happens to everybody else? Who takes Hades' wrath then? Who becomes court scapegoat if he's not there, and also, who gets punished for his escape? These questions matter, and we see him worry about it! He asks Nyx and Achilles both, is it going to be okay that you're helping me, are you going to be alright, will my father hurt you for this? And they are both so firm about telling him no. No, I will be fine. See, here's the list of reasons about why I'm going to be fine, why my position in this minefield is secure. They make a point of telling us that it's fine, that we do not need to hold ourself back from getting out of this abusive situation for their sake. That is instrumental in Zagreus's ability to keep making these escape attempts without feeling too guilty and worried and selfish to go on. (Another thing that's actually really important in setting up that dynamic--we see that Hades cares about Cerberus, even if he's using him as a pawn against us, and Cerberus seems to be the one figure in court who Hades doesn't get mad at. The dog isn't at risk, and that is really essential in keeping the story from getting too grim.) These people who we care about refuse to let themselves be held hostage to secure our good behavior.

It's also really useful for raising the stakes later in the story--we see Hades arguing with Nyx once or twice, and we see Zagreus feeling guilty about it, but it's also a sign that we're making enough progress to piss him off. After I finally made it out of Elysium on my last run, I came home to find him furious with Achilles in a way that actually makes me nervous, because Achilles does not have nearly as much security in his position as he says he does. (Achilles is such a good teacher/authority figure, because he knows goddamn well what Hades could do to him, and still refuses to let fear for his own situation stop him from helping the abused kid under his care escape his. And no, not everybody has the capacity to do that, but it matters so much coming from the guy who helped raise us. It matters so much. I do not even have the words for how much.)

It's also no mistake that many of the people we find supporting us along our journey are either the people with the most power in their immediate environment, or the least. Sisyphus helps us because what more could they do to me than this? Orpheus is a little wild around the eyes and somewhat disconnected from reality, and he wishes us the best because someone should get what they want and also he no longer gives a single fuck what happens to him. Eurydice has her own cozy little corner of Asphodel, as safe from Hades' rage as anybody anywhere in his realm because she's tucked in such an out-of-the-way middle place she's outside his notice. Dusa is so scared of everything anyway that, crush aside, she isn't any more threatened by us escaping than she is just by her everyday life here. Charon is unfathomable and unstoppable; Skelly literally exists to be a punching bag, and yet he also seems basically immune to pain, no matter what we do to him. There's no threat from Hades there.

So the people most at risk when I flip the world on its ear are the ones who have so much standing that they have something to lose, but not enough to protect them from losing it. Which of course brings us to Than and Meg--who are, of course, the two people who also seem by far the most upset by my attempts to leave.

As authority figures, Nyx and Achilles are constantly reinforcing the message that it's Hades' fault, not ours, if they or anybody else get caught in the crossfire of his wrath. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and it's not my guilt to bear. From Megaera and Thanatos, we get the opposite message--I am fucking with things, I am hurting people, and I need to stop. Zagreus isn't just abandoning them, as a friend or brother or lover or all of the above they're Greek gods who even knows. He's betraying them. They were in this together, as friends or lovers or whatever, but now Zagreus is sending earthquakes through the minefield they both still have to stand in. He is about to capsize this boat in the middle of a thunderstorm, he is fucking with the system, and they're the ones who are going to get most hurt.

I'm so curious how this is going to work for Than, who out of everyone we meet holds the closest role to Nyx's in terms of being sheltered from Hades' wrath. He's the guy who gets to leave, after all, even though he always has to come back. I've seen the least of him out of anybody so far because it took forever for me to get to Elysium, but two things really stand out and I'm so interested to see where they go. One, he really genuinely does care about Zagreus. He wants us safe, he wants us unhurt, the accessory he gives us only grants its bonus if we clear a room without taking injury, he keeps showing up to help. And two, he wants us to give up and go back and recognize how good we had it. Which is SO fucking interesting, considering how miserable Zagreus so clearly was, and how legitimate his reasons for being miserable were.

It makes me wonder so much about Than's standards for comparison. Does he know something we don't about what's waiting for us on the surface, something that might theoretically hurt Zagreus even more than staying down below? Has his life, which apparently allows him more freedom than anybody else in the Court, sucked horribly in ways we haven't seen, and that's why he spends so little time there in the first place? Either of those things is plausible, both of those things are plausible, and yet either one leads to this sense of patronizing, because he refuses to simply tell us. If something terrible is awaiting us, don't give us vague warnings, tell us what it is and let us decide for ourself! If you're fucking jealous because we might get out entirely and you're still stuck coming back here, say so. If you're worried about your mom--and he does bring her up, how could Zagreus turn his back on her like that, does seem to worry for her--then let's have an actual conversation about how many times she has insisted I do this and also how much I love her.

And, right, it's clear that a lot of Thanatos being upset is simply, you were going to leave me without even saying goodbye, you want to leave ME, which is understandable! But, like, he is demonstrably the one god who gets to visit the surface. He's the one person we actually COULD expect to see again. And he is absolutely also upset because there's an Order To Things, and we're fucking it up. We used to be his careless callow reckless friend who could talk back to Hades and get away with it, and now we're not, and everything is changing and we might leave him altogether, and we might leave him alone in that court without us, and he hates it.

Is it a short-sighted, selfish fear on his part? Yes, absolutely. Even if he's not scared of Hades on his own behalf, he is still frightened by what happens if we upset this system--and maybe it's the sanctity of a much bigger system than the Underworld that he's worried about! Maybe it's the whole divine and cosmic order. Whatever system he wants so badly to protect is enabling the abuse Zagreus has been dealing with for however-long he's been alive. Whatever system he wants so badly to protect OUGHT to be overturned, or at least shaken up. But this is what toxic systems DO. They convince the people within them that they have to be maintained, that a broken system that hurts the people within it is far better than no system at all, that changing the world is too scary and too dangerous. And Thanatos wants his whatever-Zagreus-is-to-him to be there, because he loves him and also because that's how the world works, and those things are all tangled up in one another, and that is how relationships are in a messed-up family like this so therefore I love it.

And Meg. Meg, the best for last, my dear, beautiful, furious, bitter, scared angry tired girl. I adore her. I am absolutely never going to date her, because the thing Zagreus needs most in his life hurts her, more directly than anybody else in the story, and that sucks, and it's not Zag's fault but they still shouldn't be together. Meg has taken more injury from this situation than anyone, quite literally as well as metaphorically, and it's not her fault any more than it's ours, but oh boy it has made her lash out and it's awful and it's perfect.

Meg's place in the Court of Hades is unique because she's not dead, not a mortal, not anything other than a god--but she's also not family. Nyx is not her mother. She's very much part of this system, she and her two sisters belong to Hades-the-realm and therefore also Hades-the-king, she can't leave, but she also doesn't have that protection of Nyx watching out for her in the same way. She's not royalty. She and her sisters (if you ask Hesiod instead of Virgil, which seems to be the interpretation the game's going with here) sprang from the blood of maimed Uranus at the same time as Aphrodite, but fuck knows Aphrodite isn't claiming them as siblings. And she can't be fired, exactly, but she sure can be demoted, and she sure can be made miserable in her job. Meg is vulnerable in a way very few people in Hades' employ are. She's a lot harder to do away with than any one random shade, but she's also a lot harder to miss blending in with a crowd.

What's more, she's the one person in this whole mess who is specifically tasked with stopping us from leaving. Hypnos isn't ordered to put us to sleep and keep us in our room. Thanatos can't be compelled or punished if he doesn't hunt us down. Achilles isn't told to lock us up and keep the keys. Meg is the one stationed at the doorway to Tartarus to keep us in. Meg is the one who gets in trouble when we leave. Meg (who Hades knows goddamn well Zagreus cares for, or cared for, who he absolutely knows we used to date) is the one who has to fight us again and again and again. And she's the one who keeps dying.

Again, it's this incredibly fucked-up guilt/hostage situation deliberately designed to keep people from fleeing abusive situations. Meg's insistence on fighting us now puts Zagreus in the position of having to hurt her himself again and again. Now suddenly we're the ones sticking a sword in our ex-girlfriend. Now suddenly someone can point to our desire to leave, to flee, to escape, and say, how selfish. How cruel. How terrible of us to want to go, when we're even willing to hurt the people we love to do it.

Except, right: Hades is the one who demands Meg stand there and stop us. Hades is the one who puts both of us in that position. Meg is also in an abusive situation, and she's willing to hurt us to protect herself. "I'd rather be on your bad side than your father's." It's easy to blame her at the start for being complicit, for being a tool of our father's abuse, for being on his side. It gets harder as the game goes on. I've killed her so many times. There's no way for her to beat me. She knows at this point that she can't beat me. She still fights, every single time, still throws herself upon that spike, not because she thinks she has any chance of stopping me but because she is so damn scared of what will happen if she doesn't try.

In fact, Meg's the one person we have actually seen face consequences for our actions so far, instead of just facing the threat of them. Her sisters are here. Her sisters, who she clearly does not want here, who are wild and violent and who she does not want in her life or anywhere near her, let alone near the job she takes so much pride in. She gets to deal with them now. (Hades doesn't have to deal with them. They're still not allowed in his court. But Meg does.) She gets stabbed, and bludgeoned, and shot, and lightning-struck, and poisoned, and every other thing we do to her. Thanatos doesn't. Nyx and Achilles and Hypnos don't. Bug Meg? Oh yes. Meg pays.

And yes, ok, she is complicit in this system. Everybody is complicit in this system. Zagreus who's trying to escape on his own behalf instead of overthrowing his father for the sake of everyone he'd otherwise be leaving behind is complicit in this system. Pointing fingers and pulling strings of who's more at fault? and who do we blame for this? is exactly how this sort of system perpetuates itself. Your sister always talked back at the dinner table and put everyone in an even worse and more violent mood. Your coworker refuses to work more than forty hours a week so now you have to take overtime to pick up their slack. You're enabling your dad by asking your sister to shut up, you're enabling your employer by working as hard as you do so you don't get fired, everyone's at fault, everyone's to blame, everyone is--

It's not everyone. It's Hades. It's Hades at the root of everything, and probably something big and institutional and fucked-up even beyond him. But even if everyone down in this Underworld does have to be trapped here forever, even if he's trapped here forever, Hades is neither challenging the system that put them here nor trying to make that fate better for anyone else stuck with him. He's just created an entire kingdom of backbiting and misery and people who can either go along with his whims or suffer the consequences.

At this point in the game, Meg is so fucking tired. Every time we run into her in the lounge, hunched over a table, the venom in her voice when she tells us "Do I look like I have anything to say to you?" is so bitter and so exhausted. There was a system, and she knew her place in the system, and it was a system divinely ordered by the gods themselves, and sure it was cruel but that's the literal will of the universe as far as she knows it. She had a role, and her role was vengeance and punishment and violence against those who'd committed the most egregious of sins in life, and there was a point to it, she was the divine deterrent to convince people not to do those things, and that was just, and that was right. The GODS THEMSELVES said so. How do you argue with that? You can't possibly argue with that!

And Zagreus is arguing with that. In trying to leave, he's questioning the unbreakable rule that nothing in the Underworld ever gets to leave it. In disobeying his father to do so, he's questioning the unbreakable rule that what the gods say is LAW. He's breaking everything.

And of course he's not trying to do any of that. He's not trying to destabilize the system at all. He's just trying to get himself out of it, to a place where he feels like he belongs and maybe a parent who's slightly nicer to him than this one. But toxic systems like this one break when the people within them have access to another option. When the kids find a way to actually leave, and not answer the phone, and not come home for holidays, and not deal with it any more. When the employees have the economic freedom to quit. When opportunities granted by education, money, social support, etc etc etc, show up and give people a choice. Even if the option is only ever for Zagreus--he's demonstrating that an option exists. Which is, of course, the one thing the system cannot ever allow.

I really like this game.

#hades game #hades spoilers #C plays stuff #driveby meta attack

[starfellwish]

ML Theory: Episode 22, Finale, Ladynoir, and Everything Else

This will have rocketear and finale synopsis spoilers - be warned.

I genuinely do think that the two part finale of season 4, "The Last Attack of Shadowmoth" (which is,,, a title to say the least; more on that in a bit) is gonna be so tense for a variety of reasons.

Rocketear Analysis

We have a couple of gamechanger episodes coming up. Rocketear definitely was a gamechanger as Adrien was able to realize that Alya and Nino are aware of each other's identities with Ladybug giving them permission. And he's angry about it. He knows that Ladybug lied to him about the rules, and he also knows that her being the guardian is definitely something that has led to their relationship being affected (flashbacks to a previous s4 ep when he's like it's cool if she's the guardian, as long as their partnership isn't affected - well that was some foreshadowing, wasn't it?). Honestly, seeing that as Marinette makes all the rules now as guardian, her decisions should be able to include her knowing Chat's identity. But. Chat Blanc exists, and I think that her not telling him about it and hiding it from him is a parallel to how she wanted Alya to hide the truth from Nino (obviously this failed too - Alya went behind her back to tell Nino the truth). She knows that he'd understand if she told him and its better to tell him that he may destroy everything if they knew each other's identities than left him feeling isolated and alone and at risk for literally getting akumatized. By isolating him, she's quite literally putting the world at risk for Chat Blanc 2.0, rather than her telling him something heartbreaking and being there for him so he doesn't get hurt by Shadow Moth's intentions. I think that she'll come to realize this in the finale and learn from her mistakes.

I think that in this screenshot, we got a snippet of foreshadowing of what's to come:

I saw some people theorize that this is foreshadowing that Adrien's real identity is between Ladynoir, and while this could be general foreshadowing for the entirety of the show (Marinette is in love with Adrien, and that's why she can't love Chat Noir), I do think that interpretation could be misplaced here due to the tone of the episode. Instead, I believe that this is foreshadowing that Chat may reveal himself to Ladybug. After all, she literally knows the identity of literally every other person who has a miraculous, and is the guardian.

*Side note: It also reminds me a lot of Felix. Could be a reference to that? Not sure what my thoughts on that being, but it's just somehting that struck me.

Episode 22

In my mind, it would make most sense for Adrien to reveal himself in episode 22. We've been told by the people who make the show that since episode 22 is the 100th episode of the show overall, it will be incredibly serious. This episode may run the highest risk of Adrien being akumatized into Chat Blanc again, as tensions are definitely running high. However, another akumatization event could happen, and Chat could be left out again, making him angry. I think that him getting akumatized is more likely, however. This is because of his appearance in Sentibubbler - I think that's foreshadowing. After everything is taken care of, Chat Noir and Ladybug will get into an argument. Chat will tell Ladybug that he knows about Alya and Nino, and that he thinks she's a hypocrite. He was loyal to her, and now he's having his doubts about their partnership, because he doesn't even think its a partnership anymore. Ladybug is the guardian and has more secrets that she is keeping from him. She talks about Chat Blanc and tells him that him finding out her identity leads to basically the end of the world. Adrien is surprised that he was akumatized before. He then gets mad at her for literally hiding this from him when they could've taken precautions beforehand, and then could possibly assert that he doesn't know what else she's hiding from him. He also, at the same time, doesn't feel like he should be Chat Noir anymore if he poses that much of a risk to the world. He detransforms in front of her and gives her the miraculous. He tells her he won't be a problem again, and leaves.

Finale

Ladybug, of course, realizes her mistake and tries to get him back. However, over the course of 23 and 24, she is caught up with Alya and Nino's problems with them not hiding their secrets. Adrien is already scheduled to leave Paris for a couple of weeks with Lila, and Ladybug trying to persuade him to stay is basically one of the main conflicts of the final episode. Pair this with "ShadowMoth's Last Attack" and you've got a season finale. I think the name of the season finale, is, as always, a misdirect. There's no way Gabriel is getting all his miraculous taken away until season 5, as that's when the full reveal happens, so it seems like he'll return to just regular old Hawkie. I don't think it would make sense for him to be disarmed now and for next season's finale to have the full reveal. Here's the synopsis below so we can dissect it.

Shadowmoth's Last Attack

Having understood that if Ladybug always triumphs, it's thanks to her prudence, Papillombre (Shadow Moth) conceives a diabolical plan around a super villain endowed with the power to push his victims to take all risks. When Marinette learns that Adrien must leave Paris for several weeks with Lila, new muse of the Agreste brand, she is ready to do she is ready to do anything to stop him. How far will she go? Even to the fatal risk of betraying her secret identity for love? And will Adrien take the risk to finally stand up to his father?

Okay, so let's dissect this. What I said before adds up to Adrien leaving with Lila. It would also explain why Marinette would potentially reveal herself to Adrien, if only to get him to stay. Because she knows that he's Chat, and maybe her being Marinette will somehow influence his decision. Or, it may show him that she's finally willing to trust him with everything.

It could also allude back to the song in the movie. Since the Miraculous movie was originally intended to act as a finale to Season 5, we can take things from early development and see if they end up fitting in the narrative. In this situation I'm going to quote "Ce mur qui nous separe" (English translation: The Wall Between Us), the French song that was made for the movie when it was intended to be the Season 5 finale.

It’s strong when I see him I want to scream on the rooftops our love that reaches out to us But I know that I can’t It’s not the right moment We have to be patient be patient

Here's the French translation in case the translation Genius gave me was wrong:

C’est fort quand je le vois Je veux crier sur tous les toits Notre amour qui nous tend les bras Mais je sais que je ne dois pas Ce n’est pas le moment Il faut être patients Être patients

This part of the song is from Marinette's perspective, and the fact that she's saying that she has to wait for the right moment to actually be in love with him probably means that she knows Adrien's identity. Because why would she "know" that she can't love him? Why is it not the right moment? Why do they have to be patient? Her being Ladybug and being unable to be in a relationship may explain why it's not the right moment, but the fact that she says "our" love points me in another direction. She knows she loves Adrien, and she knows that Chat, and therefore, Adrien, loves her. But she can't tell him her identity yet. However, her knowing his identity would make sense. I remember that before season 4 started airing, a lot of the fandom wondered if Chat was going to have to reveal his identity to her because she's the guardian. After all, that would make sense. Them making it a problem over the course of the season would mean that it would have to be handled in some way. I think that her finding out Chat's identity is probably the most logical course of action, as she can't be a good guardian until she has all the information at her disposal.

There are two specific lines which I find interesting in the finale synopsis. The part where it says, "Papillombre (Shadow Moth) conceives a diabolical plan around a super villain endowed with the power to push his victims to take all risks," is particularly interesting. This could mean a couple of things. Shadow Moth could be akumatizing Felix - after all, he stopped at nothing to try and replace Adrien in order to ruin his relationship with his friends. He kissed Ladybug when she told him no. He was snooping in Adrien's things. Clearly, there was nothing he wasn't willing to do in order to get the ring back. (This whole thing is never explained either after Felix - why is the ring so important?) Maybe that will make a comeback? Or, the "his" in the synopsis where it specifies that the villain has no limits, may be referring to Shadowmoth. In that situation, it could be Lila who is again akumatized. She has clearly no limits, as she's working for Shadow Moth willingly, and likely knows his identity. This is one likely scenario. Or Shadowmoth will akumatize Adrien. He may feel detached, and Gabriel will interpret it as being sad that he's being taken away from all of his friends. Adrien is known for being quite stubborn, and having Ladybug fight Adrien's akumatized state would be season finale material. However, if he is akumatized in the finale as something else, then the Chat Blanc akumatization in episode 22 is unlikely (they wouldn't do something like that twice in a row). Of course, his akumatized state would be different than Chat Blanc because people can be akumatized into multiple different villains and Hawkie doesn't know that Adrien=Chat Noir.

The second line that I find particularly interesting is this one:

And will Adrien take the risk to finally stand up to his father?

Now, why would Adrien stand up to his father? Maybe with literally everyone betraying him, he'll find no reason to stay. He needs a constant in his life, and telling his father that he needs him to be here for him may be a step that he makes. After all, Ladybug and him are having their biggest fight, his best friend Nino told him that he finds his hero persona absolutely abhorrent, and he doesn't feel like he has a place on the superhero team. He needs someone, and he's hoping that Gabriel can be that person.

That could be one scenario, or Adrien may find out about Hawkie's basement. Now, this, could raise a lot of questions for him. While I believe that Adrien would have the normal tendency to be like "father, what the hell." He may honestly believe that this is all he has left, and therefore, will assist his father. This takes me back to the season 2 opening card.

Where is Chat Noir? With the villains.

Maybe Adrien will have his well deserved Dark!Chat Noir arc. Or maybe, he'll be a spy for the Quantic team. Ladybug and him will make up, and he'll tell her that he can spy on Hawkie for the team, and that's how they move into season 5 - with Adrien as a double agent. He will help his father in everything that he does, and therefore, get access to more information that he can share with the team. He can help establish a meeting for Hawk Moth to get caught, with evidence, by planting cameras, calling police, etc.

Honestly, I'm hoping for the latter subplot, as I don't want Chat Noir to go evil for everyone's sakes. I do think that the latter would also give him a cementable role that would logistically make sense and help establish him as an strong character, and more importantly, a valuable member of the team and Ladybug's true partner.

Or, they could go down the more simpler route, and choose Adrien to find out, be shocked, and then yell at his father for being who he is. Gabriel just assumes because Adrien is only just Adrien, he doesn't have to worry about him. He will threaten Adrien, and Adrien will stay silent in front of him, but tell the team on the side. Of course, this doesn't really mean double agent Adrien, but it still implies spy Adrien. It also still manages to make his character more relevant.

Regardless, there's a lot of different ways that line could go, and I'm excited to see where it moves on from there.

Implications on the Love Square

The love square seems entirely messed up this season. There is almost nothing going on in relation to it, especially in regards to Ladynoir, Ladrien, and Marichat. Adrienette has honestly the most action right now, especially with the reverse umbrella scene, them helping out Juleka together, etc. This leads me to think that while we'll get a lot of Ladynoir in the finale as they repair their relationship, Adrienette may be the strongest ship of the four when moving into season 5. Let me explain why.

Over the course of this entire season, Adrien has been getting closer to Marinette, and is honestly more warm with her than he has been with Ladybug. This can explain what everyone has been thinking - a reverse love square. Even if Ladybug and him make up, Chat may honestly want to go and see other people. This includes Mari. What Nino said about Ladybug finding him annoying may actually really affect him and his feelings and make him realize that he can find love elsewhere. It's also the fact that it was enunciated twice during Rocketear that Alya couldn't fall in love with someone that she didn't really know. That could lead Adrien to wonder if he really knows Ladybug, which will definitely complicate his feelings. The Kagami thing was never going to work out, so he just needs to find someone else who cares for him. He knows Marinette; he has called her similar to Ladybug - he may rebound from Ladybug to Marinette. Ladybug may realize that she messed up, and she has already shown that she is becoming more indifferent to dating Adrien, due to what happened with Luka. When she and Chat Noir fix their relationship, she may see him as the only person she doesn't have to lie to, and therefore thinks about pursuing a relationship with him. Therefore, a reverse love square would make the most sense in this situation.

If a ship were to start actually dating in season 5 - it may honestly depend on how the finale is. The two most likely ships imo are either Ladynoir or Adrienette. If Ladynoir makes up during the finale, then the barriers to them dating aren't really present, unless the Alya thing actually makes it complicated for them. Adrienette may get together, but Marinette is wary of dating because she's Ladybug. However, we all know she's weak in the knees for Adrien and will definitely say yes if he asked her out.

Therefore, I feel like this season is leaning more towards plot and character development, and while it may set some things up for season 5, it is important to pay attention at the little shifts in the square, because they are happening right in front of us.

Alya and Marinette

I wanted to be able to talk about this at some point in this theory, but since everything else is more Adrien centric, I added it here at the end. Okay, so we know that Alya is lying to Marinette about telling Nino things. We also know that Alya has bended the rules for Nino multiple times, both before and during Rocketear. This could go one of two ways: Alya telling Nino teaches Marinette that she needs to be able to trust Chat, and therefore helps her realize that she doesn't need to be so secretive and lie all the time. It could also lead to a plot where Alya basically messed up largely by telling Nino, and everything goes downhill from there. Ladybug shows Chat that they can't know each other's identities because of what happened with them. We also Nino is a bit of a blabbermouth - love his character, but he is. He told Adrien not only his identity, but also Alya's. He also told him that they know the other's identity. This is bad, and Adrien knowing definitely affects the plot later on. If Adrien ends up revealing himself to Ladybug, it is likely that she'll find out about Nino saying that, and having to revoke their kwamis. This could lead to a strained relationship with Alya. In fact, it is likely that at this point, Marinette will already have a strained relationship with Alya, as it could be revealed that Alya told Nino about Rena Furtive. This could lead to Ladybug being defensive and worried that she made mistakes, and literally just closing the Miraculous box because of it. Maybe Alya will go rogue? After all, it was mentioned in Rocketear (and I appreciate that they talked about this) how Alya was a reporter and that by extension means that her personality is one of a truthteller. Alya getting angry at Mari could definitely lead to a situation where she threatens to tell he everyone. I don't think Alya would or could do that, but anger leads to akumatization, and an akumatized Alya would not be good for anyone as her judgement would be impaired. Regardless, Rena Furtive may be a short time hero, and Mari and Alya may end the season in a fight. I don't see that being resolved in the finale, as no fight like that is mentioned in those episodes. There is also simply too much going on in the finale for it to make sense. It may be resolved later on, just like how other problems in season 3 started being solved in the beginning of season 4. Or, it could be fought out and resolved in episodes 23 and 24.

Therefore, I think that the Nino carelessly revealing his identity and Alya carelessly disregarding Ladybug's orders may lead to a plotpoint at some point where Alya and Ladybug fight. While I do think that it would be nice if Alya proved Ladybug wrong and showed that they were stronger for working together, I do not think it's likely. The show was deliberate in showing that Alya had a weakness for Nino, and has shown before that it has led to many situations where there were risks for everyone involved. Even Hawkmoth said that love and secrets don't go well together (is he talking from experience?), and I feel like that was so deliberate, but it could also be alluding to Chat and Ladybug. (Side note: it was so weird for Hawk Moth to say that, as he had no idea of the situation; regardless I do think this it's heavy foreshadowing.) Therefore, I do not think the situation that Alya has placed herself in is a situation which will have a peaceful ending.

Final Notes:

I personally cannot wait for the "Gabriel Agreste" episode. I think that the fact that we did not get it yet means that it has serious story implications. Personally, I believe it's going to explain allllll the backstory we need for the whole Bourgeois/Tsurugi/Agreste history and tell us why Emilie is the way she is right now. Of course, maybe it won't do everything, but the fact that it is named after Gabriel makes me wonder if it'll be his origins episode of sorts.

EDIT AFTER MEGA LEECH: IF GABRIEL AGRESTE REVEALS ADRIEN TO BE A SENTIMONSTER I WILL BE SO SO EXCITED BC ANGST BUT ALSO LIKE??? WHAT ABOUT THE PLOT? WHAT ABOUT THE NINE YEAR OLDS?

Chat snapping is honestly something that I cannot wait for. All of his anger has been building up over the entire season thus far, and the implications of his feelings are definitely serious for the show's plot.

I wonder if Mayura will be making a comeback at some point. While this is less relevant, Nathalie's health seems to be making her bedridden for a long time. Maybe she'll return to a similar state to Emilie? I saw theories that stated that if Hawkie gets his wish, Nathalie's life may be sacrificed for Emilie's, and idk, I think it's not likely that it'll happen, but it would be cool if it did. The ultimate payback for his actions being the loss of Nathalie.

Look at the end card of Rocketear:

He's looking at the moon, which was shown in New York to be something he does when he's sad. Also possible reference to him destroying the moon in Chat Blanc.

Kitty do be on a roof all alone without his lady :(

#nino lahiffe #adrien agreste #ladynoir #miraculous ladybug #the reveal #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #alya cesaire #rena rouge #rena furtive #carapace #rocketear #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #ml spoilers #alynino #alynette #shadowmoth #adrinino #sentibubbler #nathalie sanco #mayura #ml season 4 #mlm #miraculous ladybug theory #ml theory #chat blanc #miraculous reveal #poor adrien :( #he really do be getting the short end of the stick here

[anazen333]

What I Love About Black Widow 2021

SPOILERS, so read at your own risk ;)

There are so many things I absolutely loved about the Black Widow movie it would be insane to try and mention all of them, but I'm going to hit some of my favorites:

Firstly, we get to really see Nat shine as a fully fleshed out and relatable character, rather than obligatory female member and eye candy.

She doesn't like letting people get close to her because when she does, she tends to love them with all her heart and will do anything for them. So when they betray her or are taken away, the pain is so overwhelming that it's easier to try and forget them, and keep everyone else at a distance. But even after all that time has passed, you can see she never really let her loved ones go; they were always in her heart and she will always love them (something I can relate to).

And it's not just her family she cares about. She cares about other people, even the ones who try to kill her. She tried to save that first Widow that went after them - grab her before she fell, and then tried to administer first aide. When she sees that there are more girls enslaved, she risks her life to get their information so they can be freed. She doesn't leave Antonia in her cell to die, but lets her out, and then frees her by using one of the few remaining Red Dust cures, which was a risk because they could have needed it in order to create more, and she couldn't have known for sure it would work on Antonia.

Nat shows that compassion and mercy are not weaknesses, but the ultimate strengths.

But she's not without flaws, flaws and regrets that still haunt her. You see the relief in her eyes when she realizes she didn't kill Antonia, but then the guilt of knowing it was her fault she was turned into Taskmaster. To me, it sounded like she was apologizing for both. And it's those feelings of guilt and regret and the need to apologize that really make her human.

And then we see the other Widows take Antonia with them. My bestie put it like this: "Girls helping other girls regardless of what they've been through or done is really so universally powerful."

I love how the underlying themes of family, pain, guilt, mercy, compassion, and inner strength were so prominent in this film and yet, it wasn't preachy. I feel like the best messages are the ones that show rather than tell.

Now onto the not so heavy things I loved:

(Okay, this one is kinda heavy), Loved that despite having been apart for so long, Nat and Yelena easily fall back into being sisters. It's how I am with mine and the film was able to portray that so well.

Love how much of dork Yelena is about her vest and it's pockets. Actually, love how much of a dork Yelena is period. With her disgust of 'poses', blunt observations, and comments on whether something is a cool way to die. (and another slightly heavy love - the fact that she got her dog and named it after the alias Nat pointedly disliked).

Red Guardian being a horrible dad but still trying so hard anyway, because he loves his family and refuses to give up.

All the action scenes. Seriously. Love those action scenes. But also really appreciate the pacing that allowed the characters and audience to breathe.

Melina being the best mom. Every moment she has is a Best Mom moment.

Costumes were amazing. (I want that vest, including all the pockets).

That the director was a woman. Yes to more female directors!

The witty dialogue between all the characters in every scene. Seriously, none of those jokes let me down and had me laughing so hard.

The fact that we get to see a low-key call back to Nat's introduction in Avengers where she pretends to be helpless in order to get the bad guys to reveal their 'diabolical plans'. Works every time.

Still am super sad that Nat Black Widow is dead in the MCU, but I'm thrilled she got to go off on a super high note.

...

Soooo, there actually was one thing I didn't like (but it certainly didn't ruin the movie for me, I am going to watch it again and again and get so much merch).

But I had a problem with Taskmaster.

To me, Taskmaster had the potential to be Marvel's Thrawn (a different sort of main threat that forces the established heroes to struggle in ways they haven't had to before and defeat said threat using new skills). So to treat Taskmaster as more of a throwaway cameo character was disappointing. Because honestly, the story doesn't need them. They could have been swapped with any random Widow and the plot would have stayed exactly the same - having Taskmaster in the movie doesn't add to the story in any way. So I'm hoping Marvel will have someone else take on the mantle and we really get to see them as a major threat.

But other than that, THE MOVIE WAS AMAZING!!! 9/10 from me. It has become one of my top three best/favorite Marvel movies for me, alongside Captain America: the First Avenger and Black Panther.

#black widow #marvel black widow #black widow 2021 #natasha romonova #yelena boleva #red guardian #melina black widow #marvel #mcu #black widow spoilers

[epicene-humanoid]

some trans Jeff thoughts:

he realized he was trans in elementary school and just went fuck it I'll just start introducing myself as Jeffery and see if anyone decides to stop me (as we know, jeff winger can get away with almost anything)

he got top surgery the second he could afford it (around the same time he started at his law firm), and probably bribed someone to keep it a secret

"I'm jeff winger and i would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with" are the words of a man proud of his transition

he's really insecure about his fashion sense, which is why he mostly dresses like the douchey guys at his firm in the start of the show, he thought you can't go wrong with the sleazy lawyer look

he will never admit it but he feels super good about the dean hitting on him, because the dean is a (cis) guy, acknowledging that Jeff is more manly than him

i think he starts out stealth and comes out to everyone one by one, probably starting with abed because he knows abed won't judge him and will probably just see it as an interesting backstory.

abed just says it's cool and maybe worth a prequel exploring Jeff's transition, and jeff asks him to predict how all of the members of the group will react to him coming out.

abed's predictions:

britta will be over-the-top supportive and do a ton of research about trans history, probably put together a slideshow just to prove how progressive she is, and jeff will be a little bit weirded out, but also touched that she did all that for him, though he would never let her know that

shirley will be confused, because she doesn't know how someone she trusts and knows so well could be part of a group she was raised to hate, but ultimately realizes that there's nothing actually against the lgbtq people in the bible, and, as a cool character development arch, starts to advocate against use of the bible to justify bigotry

troy will just think it over and decide that Jeff's physique and coolness are even awesomer knowing how much work he'd had to put in to be like that, and respects Jeff's manliness even more

annie will give him a hug, say something sweet about how she'll always love him, and worry about his health, because even she read somewhere that taking testosterone makes you more likely to have a heart attack, jeff will explain that the risk is still only as high a cis guy, and she'll be the one to always remind him to take his shots

peirce will say at best say "jeff winger used to be a chick?" and at worst call him a slur, either way there's sure to be a lot of misgendering from him, and pestering to know Jeff's deadname (needless to say, Jeff just doesn't tell peirce)

the whole group goes out of their way to keep their beach trips a secret from pierce (the girls don't want him there anyways, he's too liable to be creepy) even though jeff knows that even if pierce saw his scars, all he would have to do is make up a story about some childhood accident and pierce would never question it

sorry this ended up being super long. can I hear some of your headcanons for him?

YES ALL THIS!!! yes yes i’m fully accepting this as canon oh my god

i’m about to type a whole ass ESSAY at midnight because i have been DYING to talk about this for months ajfdksljk,,, this is going to be obscenely long and i might end up adding even more to it as i continue to rewatch the show because there is truly no shortage of trans jeff content (especially when you’re trans and see transness in every little thing ajdkslfkjs)

spoiler warning for literally everything about this show under the cut <3

i 100% agree, i feel like he realized he was trans super young, especially since in the show we see him as a little kid a couple of times. 

like look at little jeff with the oversized sweatshirt and little ponytail!! that’s childhood trans fashion. not to be dramatic but part of me thinks that jeff’s dad left before he fully came out to his family (which gives him even more angst about it, because until that one Thanksgiving episode, he’s never able to prove to his dad that he’s a better man), but part of me thinks that his dad left after he came out (which adds that spicy i-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet guilt that he has to work through). 

either way, because his dad wasn’t there, he had to base his concept of masculinity on something else, which was becoming a lawyer!! there’s some line that’s like “after the dust and divorce papers were settled the only man i looked up to was [the lawyer guy]”. like, replacing your father figure in your mind with the concept of “a job where you can talk your way in and out of anything and distort other people’s concept of reality”? that’s trans.

 and the fucking THANKSGIVING EPISODE... i struggle to watch it without crying hehe <3 yeowch! the dichotomy of willy jr. being the “wrong” kind of man because he’s “too soft” but jeff also not being enough despite adhering to all the social standards of masculinity... fuck!! this whole scene of him telling his dad “i am Not well adjusted” and talking about how he gave himself an “appendix surgery scar” when he was a kid and he still keeps the get-well-soon letters from his classmates under his bed? oh my god. the implication of people loving him not despite his scars but because of them?? trans. i can’t think about this episode for too long or i’ll start yelling.

OH and this scene? where he talks about how his mom got him a girl costume for halloween?? and everyone said “what a cute little girl” and after a few houses he stopped correcting them?? and “once the shame and the fear wore off, i was just glad they thought i was pretty”?? THAT’S TRANS... the man needs validation oh my god... and then in all the halloween episodes we see he has these ultra-masculine costumes (a cowboy, David Beckham, one of the fast and furious guys even though he never watched the movies, a boxer with his DAD’S boxing gloves... god) costumes are about becoming something else and he always chooses to be hypermasculine and that is trans.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION EPISODE!!!!!!! being uncomfortable during P.E. is a queer experience. period. but him being specifically uncomfortable in the clothes someone else is assigning to him? trans. “are we gonna talk about clothes like a girl? or use tapered sticks to hit balls around a cushioned mat like a man?” TRANS. and him eventually stripping in public? celebration of transness. and the fact that he eventually becomes comfortable in both the uniform and his own style!! trans!! god i love this episode. 

AND AND AND!!! the gay dean coming out episode!!! where it’s the three of them discussing the best way for the dean to come out as gay despite not entirely identifying with that label!! so we have both frankie and the dean who are sort of ambiguously queer, and jeff who’s a stealth trans man who’s probably only out to only the study group at this point. this scene where the dean and jeff have this like eyebrow communication while frankie is talking is just so cute. queer-to-queer communication. “I am so curious” “oh?” “intellectually.” “oh...” ajfdksljfk this scene just screams high school GSA to me and i love it so much.

and SPEAKING of the dean!! i totally see you on that. i feel like jeff has some internalized homophobia/biphobia (like he’d throw punches over someone else, but when it comes to himself he has a lot of shame). and also seeing the dean so confident in all his different outfits/costumes has a weird affect on him bc it’s like “okay, the dean, a cis guy, can do that, but i as a trans guy could Not because that’s Breaking the Rules”. which, like, throwback to the halloween thing. of course there’s no right way to be masculine, but mr. winger does not know that.

another thing!! the episode where their emails get leaked? that includes his emails with his therapist. fuck!! he was outed to the whole world in that episode!! no wonder he was so fucking angry!! this whole episode (and really any time he mentions his therapist) is so interesting when you think about them as a person he talks to about his transition. OH which adds to the thing with the dean!! “and you told your therapist you wanted to be alone this weekend” and “not you jeff, i know you’ll be visiting your dad” ”I told you to stop reading my emails”. luckily his study group has his back and just makes fun of him for emailing astronauts lmao

and WHO can forget “they’re giving out an award for most handsome young man!!!!” what else is there to say about this line besides: he’s trans. you know he didn’t get awarded enough for being a handsome young man when he was a kid, and no amount of compliments when he’s fully-grown can really make up for that. some people crash a kid’s bar mitzvah to cope with the fact that they struggled to be seen as themselves when they were a teenager <3

also his weird relationship with pierce? where he kind of hates him (understandably lmao) but at times has this almost-friends-almost-father-son relationship with him? especially in this episode where he’s forced to bond with him and ends up having a good time by accident (at a barber shop no less, the perfect place to Be A Man with your Man Friend). idk what to say about him besides the fact that pierce says his mom wanted a girl when he was born and made him dress like a girl (and his middle name is anastasia!) so if they’re gonna do any bonding over transness it’s gonna be that. 

okay one last thing and then i’ll shut up for the night. this episode kills me (and almost kills jeff hahahahelpi’mcrying). it’s a very Trans thing to not be able to visualize your future self, it just is. growing up trans at the time he did? i don’t know what kind of future he saw for himself, but i’m so happy that he ended up with a group of friends who became his family and love him the way they all do. i’m so emotional over this asshole it’s ridiculous. 

in conclusion:

they’re trans, your honor <3

#community #jeff winger #trans jeff winger #GOD i'm gonna make a video essay about it if nobody stops me #yall know that youtube channel AreTheyGay? i want to be that but AreTheyTrans #the videos would just b like... jeff community. neo the matrix. bill and ted bill and ted. audrey little shop of horrors. jo little women. #maybe i should start that youtube channel sjdfklsj #thank you for prompting me to talk about this because i think about it twice a day #i might end up reblogging this and just adding different responses jeff has had to casually homophobic/transphobic things that happen #in the show #like the episode that last photo is from when the dean is like #'spring transfer student dance isn't rolling off the tongue so we're calling it The Tr@nny Dance!' 'much more greendale.' #OH AND ACCIDENTALLY KILLING PIERCE'S DAD!!! HOW DID I NOT MENTION THAT EARLIER SJFKLSJ #'you LITERALLY killed a father!' 'well not MINE dummy!!' #alright i need to do my homework now ajfklsdjfl

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

wendy again no problem (30 jan. 2022)

let’s just dive right in shall we

READING: I am somehow STILL chipping away at Star Wars: Ronin; I just reread a section last night that I did not retain at all the first time I read it, so hopefully this vital information will stick in my head as I edge closer to the finale.  I also got a few books for my birthday on the 22nd and bought myself two books with some old certificates to a local bookshop.  I had intended to buy something by Ursula K. Le Guin, but as said bookshop sadly had none of her works in stock, I followed the clerk’s recommendation and picked up a copy of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary instead.  It took me a while to really get invested; the protagonist/POV character seemed a little insufferable at first but I’m slowly coming around to him.  The premise, as it is slowly being revealed, is also intriguing: the short version is, a bunch of alien microorganisms have appeared and are “eating” significant amounts of the sun’s energy before it reaches Earth, which has Some Ramifications, and POV guy is the only surviving member of the crew sent out to...fix? investigate? this.  I’m certainly no scientist, but then again neither is Weir, and his(’s character’s) sci-fi explanations haven’t seemed too far-fetched and, y’know, we have fun here.  It’s certainly a breezy read if nothing else, good for reading between calls/emails at work.

WATCHING: Finally knocked out another episode or so of The Untamed with Alix (slooooowly but surely!).  Many Fs were had in the chat when [redacted] went to Lotus Pier and [redacted] the protagonists’ [redacted].  We are both Concerned on Wen Qing’s little brother’s behalf (I cannot remember the poor guy’s name for the life of me and I don’t want to risk spoilers by looking it up rn).

I made my family and @internal-morgan watch Encanto with me last weekend because it delighted me so.  I’m not sure if any of them liked it as much as I did, but a pleasant time was had.  Truly one of the catchiest soundtracks I’ve heard in ages, and so much accordion in the score!

By myself, I finally finished Hitchcock’s Vertigo and then watched the theatrical/original color version of Wong Kar-wai’s In The Mood For Love.  Short review of Vertigo: yikes?? I mean that’s the point but yikes??  Wild movie.  Great claustrophobic cinematography (frames within frames within frames), masterful performances from Stewart and Novak, and Bernard Herrmann’s voluptuous score is, as usual, to die for.  Short review of In the Mood For Love: Brief Encounter...2!!  More beautiful camerawork, stunning 1960s production design, SUPER cool use of doorways (space in general, really) and faceless shots, lovely main musical theme on strings, and Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung give wonderfully understated performances (and look stupidly beautiful while doing it).

I was inspired to do this Vertigo / In the Mood For Love double feature by this quote from the ITMFL Wikipedia page:

Wong states he was very influenced by Hitchcock’s Vertigo while making this film and compares Tony Leung’s character to James Stewart’s:

“[T]he role of Tony in the film reminds me of Jimmy Stewart’s in Vertigo.  There is a dark side to this character.  I think it’s very interesting that most of the audience prefers to think that this is a very innocent relationship.  These are the good guys, because their spouses are the first ones to be unfaithful and they refuse to be.  Nobody sees any darkness in these characters—and yet they are meeting in secret to act out fictitious scenarios of confronting their spouses and of having an affair.  I think this happens because the face of Tony Leung is so sympathetic.  Just imagine if it was John Malkovich playing this role.  You would think, ‘This guy is really weird.’ It’s the same in Vertigo.  Everybody thinks James Stewart is a nice guy, so nobody thinks that his character is actually very sick.”

(I disagree, Stewart’s character is very obviously unhinged, but it was a great casting choice!  But he’s right, Tony Leung can get away with a lot in my book.)

I also watched Lupin III: Part 6, episode 15, which was Jigen-centric and surprisingly good considering it was this season’s token “we give Jigen a het love interest despite 50+ years of queer coding” episode.  (I’m a bi Jigen truther, personally.)  I will say that the way this episode was framed gave me ace Jigen vibes, surprisingly, and WOW Lupin was so heart-eyes for him in this one!  It was also a great look into Jigen’s patent deathwish tendencies that the fandom picked up on eons ago, as well as his more coldblooded hitman/bodyguard side; much like p6e0, it was a lot of implicit characterization finally made explicit.  Had to search for FAR too long to find this initial thoughts post to link it here.  Also uhhhhhh incidentally, is Tunglr only tracking the first 5 tags...within my own blog now???  TUNGLR DON’T YOU TELL ME YOU AREN’T KEEPING MY POSTS PROPERLY ARCHIVED BC I TALKED IN THE TAGS FIRST AND LEFT THE ORGANIZATIONAL ONES FOR LATER??????? ONE FEAR.  I hope it was just a bug bc the new desktop mode Sucks but the bug seemed to be the same on mobile, so *SWEATS*.  Maybe bc I had badnaughty swear words in there???  I hate it here.

LISTENING: The Encanto soundtrack again, and also the Netflix Tick, Tick...Boom! soundtrack bc it’s catchy, most of the original West Side Story soundtrack on a drive bc I’m a fake theatre-adjacent kid and have never seen/listened to the whole thing despite knowing several highlights, and a bit of The Longest Johns’ newest album, Smoke & Oakum.

MAKING: Another very rare category after last week’s Playing!  I put together a Lego Fiat 500 set last weekend and had a grand old time doing it.  An immensely satisfying process and instructions so easy even my spatially challenged brain could follow them (albeit slowly).  Pics: Fiat in-progress, finished Fiat with Lupin figures.

#and that's about all i've got #wendy again no problem #tuesday again no problem #personal