#don't get me wrong those first two episodes are good but maybe give it a fucking season or two jesus christ
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You can tell when someone doesn't actually know jack shit about superheroes when they watch a good superhero adaptation and act as if the things they like about it are exclusive to that one specific adaptation when anyone who's actualy cultured could tell you it's not. And I don't even mean like deep cut comic lore or whatever I mean like people last year acting like The Batman 2022 is The Only Batman Media Where He Has A Character Arc or now people acting like the new Superman cartoon is The First Adaptation To Show That Superman Is A Good And Nice Person or whatever. Like you don't even need to read the comics to know that both of those are objectively false you just need to watch basically any other media adaptations of those characters.
#i already saw someone call the new superman show The Definitive Superman Adaptation and it's literally two fucking episodes in#don't get me wrong those first two episodes are good but maybe give it a fucking season or two jesus christ#shut up tristan
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Bucky Barnes is the best super soldier
How it was subtly emphasized in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier:
He always holds back
With the Flag Smashers and even with John Walker. We could see the difference in the last 3 episodes. Sebastian Stan did an incredible job making it clear in a subtle way.
I want to mention that famous "Stay there" scene, and how it was visible Bucky was not punching as hard as he can in the fight with John.)
This is the thing about Bucky, he isn't after the kill, he just does his part. He doesn't try to show off his skills or that he is a good guy. He doesn't try to play the victim role, either. In the scene where Zemo fake-activates the Winter Soldier in Madripoor, he just makes a point. He's obviously not even trying hard.
If he wanted those in the club dead, they would be. But his self control was wow. Sebastian acted so well, his exes said everything.
*And to be honest, even when he was TWS, he could have killed everyone, but he didn't. He could have killed all of the Avengers in Civil War is they were his mission, but they weren't. This is how Natasha survived when she met him, too. It depended on what kind of mission he had (if he wasn't allowed to be seen, then the witnesses would die too, but otherwise? He didn't bother).
2. His skills
People tend to forget how smart and good at making strategies Bucky is. He's been fighting (even though he hates fighting and never wanted to be in the army) for years before he was even captured by Hydra. And this is the reason why government still want him, after all. They can use his strategies as a leader (*cough* Thunderbolts *cough*).
In the last episodes of TFATWS, we could see how he outsmarted everyone. Karli was so terrified of him.
3. Karli Morgenthau
And talking about Karli, the phone call was interesting:
She asked him if he's not tired of fighting for the wrong side, and then told him she's fighting for something bigger than herself.
"And with all the bodies you've collected, have you ever been able to say the same?"
The first thing I wanna point out is how everyone talks about the deaths Bucky caused when he was controlled by Hydra, but everyone ignores the fact that all the Avengers killed far more, but since we consider them the good side, we just don't care.
Clint, Tony, Steve, Wanda etc. They all cause(d) far more deaths than "two dozen" (known assassinations - to quote Natasha), and neither was controlled. The double standards are something else, especially for Clint. (One of the reasons why Tony was on the other side in CW was because of his guilt, after all.)
The second point is how Bucky's answer says a lot more than we might realize at first:
"You don't think I ever fought for something bigger than myself? That's all I ever tried to do, and I failed twice."
Even as TWS, Bucky had to be convinced he is on the right side, that what they do is to save the world, to give "the world the freedom it deserves".
Even brainwashed and put to sleep all the time, he had to be lied to. Bucky as TWS was a victim too. He is not a victim only because he didn't have memories or control, but also because they lied to him and used him as a toy. That milk scene is so loud. (And I am gonna talk about it in a different post). He had no rights, no choices. He was used to being tortured.
[And I wish they explored it more. We deserved and deserve a WS film - maybe with him in Romania getting back his memories, writing in his journal etc.]
"You think your cause justifies all this death, but in the end, the nightmares won't go away. You're gonna remember all the ones you killed. Trust me. Don't do this. Don't go down this path."
Despite being on opposite sides, Bucky still said this to Karli, trying to help her, to make her see the big picture, sharing how he felt and feels.
He is on "the right side". He is a hero, and Bucky being thanked by that man for saving everyone's life was touching.
4. Baron Zemo
You can see how smart, strong, and rational Bucky is when he decides to break Zemo out of jail (his plan was amazing too), risking so much (his relationship with Wakanda people and his own freedom) to get his help for the mess. He puts the cause above his own (huge) trauma. And this makes that moment in Madripoor even more disgusting (he is treated as an object, as a toy):
Zemo: Tell us what you know about the super-soldier serum. And I give you him, along with the code words to control him, of course. He will do anything you want.
The way he keeps his composure, reacts and manages the situation... absolutely incredible!
This conversation also says a lot:
Zemo: The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals. Anyone with that serum is inherently on that path.
Bucky: Maybe you're wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve.
Zemo: Touché. But there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?
Bucky positions himself below Steve, who's considered a good hero, a good person... like no other. But Steve never had to go through what Bucky did: from being kidnapped like that, to being tested on, to falling off the train, to being tortured, and used, and brainwashed for decades, and put to sleep when he was not needed and having n "keepers".
Also, interesting how all Steve wanted was to fight (for a good cause, but still)... and fighting still means violence, meanwhile Bucky never wanted to fight, not even before becoming TWS, in the army (and yet he is still great at fighting. And he is deadly, even when he holds back.). All he wanted was peace.
Despite not getting the "perfect serum", despite being brainwashed, put to sleep, and forced to fight for decades, he is still himself. He never gave in to the dark side for real. He fought in his own way. The first thing he did when he woke up was to choke the Hydra guy with a whole new arm!
Bucky is so underrated: from his intelligence and fighting skills, to how human he is. Being flawed, keeping his sassiness and charm from the 40s, but getting more mature and carrying his past on his shoulders... he's so relatable and real. And every day, he shows Zemo he is wrong.
The show he makes in his final scene with Zemo is absolutely fantastic. He doesn't just prove the point he isn't defined by the serum and Hydra (AND not even by Steve, thanks to Sam. His speech made him realize the important thing about himself: that he decides who he is, not others - even those who know him before becoming TWS- "And this might be a surprise, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought. You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are." parallel to "Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is… that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing. [...] So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me."), but also that he is superior.
When Zemo tells him that he decided to let him alive (probably so he can kill Karli) and basically calls him a killing machine: "programmed to kill", Bucky plays the role, lets Zemo talk him into killing Karli, and then Bucky watches him waiting for his own death.
[Also, Bucky's line: Imagine my relief is hilarious.]
The acting was incredible: the shock on Zemo's face and the amusement and somehow relief on Bucky's after he pulls the trigger and lets the bullets fall... He proved him he's THE standard of the super soldier. Because despite everything he went through, he is the best.
Zemo telling him to cross his name off felt like a fresh start (+ telling Nakajima the truth).
5. John Walker
John, on the other hand, is lucky Bucky is an understanding person. He gets what is like... the pressure, the environment, the loss, and even tries to help.
Bucky: Don't go down that road. Believe me, it doesn't end well.
John: I'm not like you!
Of course he is not like Bucky, because Bucky has control. He is not killing to get revenge in a cynical way.
"That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record."
John kept judging Bucky every time they spoke, somehow placing himself above this "broken" man.
"This is all really easy for you, isn't it? All that serum runnin' through your veins. Barnes, your partner needs backup in there. Do you really want his blood on your hands?"
This is so wrong on every single level, especially because Bucky didn't choose to take the serum, and he always had his friends' back. He's loyal and ready to sacrifice himself.
The "funny" part about this is John ending up taking the last super soldier serum vial. All the judgement, the disgust, the patronizing tone, just to do that. Plus, of course, to kill someone with the shield.
(John proves Zemo's point about super soldiers, and Bucky does the opposite.)
And what is it easy for Bucky anyway?
He's under government conditions (so CACW coded), he has a vibranium arm that I bet the government would try to take after he dies (HOPEFULLY WHEN HE'S 200 YEARS OLD IN HIS BED, as Sebastian wants too) if he isn't in Wakanda, he is haunted by nightmares (which also can mean he is still Hydra's TWS in another universe as we found out from Strange), and he has to learn how to live for real. He's smart, charismatic, has values and principles, and he's incredible.
We need to see his version of TWS going after everyone Hydra helped. TWS is him, a part of him, and doing that on his terms, having control over it would help him heal.
#bucky barnes#the winter soldier#james bucky barnes#baron zemo#marvel#sebastian stan#tfatws#tws#cacw#catws#catfa#my opinion#mcu#marvel cinematic universe#thunderbolts#john walker#the falcon and the winter soldier#captain america the winter soldier#captain america civil war#captain america the first avenger#karli morgenthau#sam wilson
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re: that *chef kiss* PERFECT Franken-Drummer post and tumblr not being all over The Expanse, I know right?? it’s such an amazing show with so many delightful, complicated characters yet it’s so unfairly slept on! maybe because S1 takes awhile to get going and ppl give up? idk but it makes me sad that I have so few ppl to squeal about Drummer and Amos and Bobbie and Christjen and Ashford and Naomi (ad infinitum) with 😭🚀😭
WHY ARE PEOPLE NOT OBSESSED WITH THE EXPANSE HELLO!?!?! there's literally so much to love about it oh my god. you're right, it DOES take a second to get going but once it does!!!
for those of you who have not read or seen The Expanse series (I myself have yet to read the books), let me tell you why you'll love it:
political space drama with incredibly distinct cultures and phenomenal world building, if you're a details girlie (gn), you're gonna go nuts
the found family vibes!!??! are off!?!? the charts!?!? (minor spoilers for the first few episodes) four people are thrown into a situation in which they accidentally become the most important people/fugitives in the whole galaxy and most of them DO NOT trust each other, what could possible go wrong, and even better, what could possibly go RIGHT
Christjen Avasarala. you are not ready for her. most powerful mover-shaker on earth with the most incredible outfits you've ever seen, refined elegance with the filthiest mouth, plus she's got a classic "whatever those two have going on is so gay it veers into something else entirely" with her younger protective knight lady, Bobbie
Bobbie. the "not to be a lesbian but oh my god" post is made for her. we meet her in the show for the first time when she arm wrestles a robot and WINS. you will be begging for her to step on you with her mech suit
speaking of women I want to step on me Camina Drummer. angry revolutionary pirate queen of my heart. do you miss the unique agony of 2000/10s queerbaiting but want it to be not baiting somehow? this show does that, idk how else to explain it. the most agonizing sapphic pining you've ever seen but it's textual and also not painful because its gay. don't worry, Camina fucks, just not the girl she wants most (also spoilers, but this is not a bury your gays show don't worry)
Jim Holden is literally just Some Guy who becomes the special fantasy chosen one because he simply cannot stop Getting Involved. nosiest bitch in the universe, I love him.
imagine you're a girl who leaves your shitty ex and gets a normal industrial job on a spaceship, only to have a six foot, two hundred pound killer dressed as a mechanic imprint on you like a baby duck, and its unclear whether he wants to fuck you or call you a little sister but he definitely WILL kill for you and will do literally anything you say and then you both end up caught up in a weird galactic war by mistake and there's this other guy with a captain america level moral compass and he's cute and you're into him except your shitty ex is still out there with the biggest secret you have and meanwhile your best female friend is the coolest person you've ever met but you don't think you can be what she needs and you're holding your family together, you're holding the universe together and all you want is justice for your people but unfortunately you've gone and fallen in love with the accidental most important man in the galaxy. well, every day Naomi Nagata wakes up
Praxideke Meng. botanist of my heart. literally tames the rabid guard dog that no one else could. gentle and able to stay gentle because of said dog. which brings me to...
Amos Burton. I saved him for last because he is my guy. he is THAT guy. canonically aromantic pansexual king. are you into guard dog characters? do you find yourself drawn to the "sorry my love language is acts of service and all I'm good at is killing people" characters? amos burton is like seventeen tumblr posts come to life. previously mentioned enormous killer dressed as a mechanic, former heels wearing "I didn't always work in space" sex worker who is always rolling into brothels and being like "you guys unionized?", gives a shit about basically no one in the universe except his crew and every single child in the galaxy, accidental comedian because he cannot stop saying weird shit, not a nice or good person but a loyal one, and one who is always trying to relearn the empathy that was carved out of him as a young person. every time he goes homicidal to protect one of his chosen people (crew + any and every child), an angel gets its wings.
fin.
#the expanse#most of this is cribbed from the essay I was texting a friend the other day lol#which is what inspired my expanse posting in the first place#bc I was like 'I HAVE to stop bothering this friend' lol#btw the canonically aromantic pansexual thing teeeechnically comes from the writers' twitter?#but like#you simply have to watch the show to know that about amos#he mostly doesn't sleep with people in the show and yes the few he does are women but the dude is queer#but anyway the authors have explicitly said he's aromantic and that his sexuality is 'yes'#lauren answers things
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Zuko Alone
I'm hoping for some Appa this episode. It's been too long since he's gotten any good sight gags.
Zuko is cosplaying Clint Eastwood. He's also back to being stupid pale this episode.
You know it's a good thing that Zuko's not in the Fire Nation anymore because he really would have sucked at being Fire Nation. Robbing pregnant women is probably kindergarden level stuff for them.
How is Zuko in such bad shape? Last time we saw him he had a cave full of spoils robbed from rich people. Did he not bother to pack at least some of that stuff? Actually, not thinking far enough ahead to pack would be pretty in character.
Oof that would rub me the wrong way. Not enough money for a meal, but sure, let's use totally edible eggs as ammo.
Where'd the egg go?
Who is the scarred up hat wearing vampire and what happened to the real Zuko? Imposter Zuko just elected to not be provoked into a fight. Real Zuko would already be setting things on fire.
Just a bunch of thugs. Yep. It's consistently awesome how many of the facets of war this show can cover.
Imposter Zuko and Song's horse bird just got kidnapped. Did not see that coming.
Zuko kind of has arm bandages like Sokka has this episode. Also love the character detail that the boy has scraped knees.
Is the kid's dad the same guy as the man at the store? Or maybe this is a one haircut town?
So the guy who was near to fainting off his horse bird this morning is now turning down freely offered food? Could Zuko please shelve his pride for five minutes? Kudos to the mom for accurately reading his distaste for charity and turning it into a request for aid though. Although covering for the boy's egg trick is worth at least a meal.
Tangent!
I don't get Zuko. How can he still have so much pride when he's wearing rags and starving himself to feed Song's horse bird? I'm quite shameless when it comes to accepting help and I've never, ever been able to understand the whole 'too proud to accept charity' mindset. I'm always up for some charity. I have enough manners to offer to do the dishes after, but if you're offering free food I'm eating it. And I've never been in a situation as desperate as Zuko's. So I don't get this.
ok tangent over.
Peak rich kid behaviour. I hope those nails aren't expensive otherwise Zuko doing work for food might end up with this family out of pocket.
Is the wood grain on this ladder an actual photograph of wood grain?
Zuko has more patience this episode than he had for all of season 1 combined. He's also never gone this long without yelling. Either proximity to young children activates Zuko's otherwise mostly slumbering decency, or to fit him into a Fistful of Dollars homage the writers had to make him out of character.
If I had been in this situation when I was a kid, if I had been a) this visibly bored, and b) this nosy around guests, I would have been given a hammer and a bag of nails in three seconds flat. Also, nice to see a Sokka face from Zuko.
I get that 'a man without a past' is a staple of the cowboy genre, but the boy's father bringing up the privacy of the past twice in like two minutes makes me think he's done stuff he doesn't want to talk about. Seems both the parents have read Zuko right though.
Finally! Some pretty! I have been suffering! This may be the first really good pretty all season!
Bad news for the Appa decor on my blog. He may have been supplanted in my affections.
Two things: first, Zuko is a carbon copy of his mom. Second, That is way too much forehead.
Having Zuko's mom introduce herself by talking about the lengths mothers will go to for their children is not giving me foreshadowing anxiety at all.
Azula's been a bitch since birth. Noted.
Sir, your eyebrows. Also, yeah, I wouldn't want to play with her either.
Yikes this is making my teeth itch and my skin crawl. Calling it now, she's rotten to the core.
Zuko and Azula's dad has some weak ass genes. BOTH of his children are carbon copies of their mom.
Also, I was not expecting Zuko's very stupid ponytail to be a pre-scar thing. It is much better with a full head of hair.
If I had spent my childhood hanging out with an untouchable princess who set things on my head on fire for fun whenever I involuntarily displayed emotion, I'd be gloomy and apathetic in self defense too.
Sokka in this episode in spirit, if not in person.
Seriously that's the same face three times over!
Um, no? If Iroh doesn't make it back from the front, doesn't his son become next in line to be Firelord?
Can you hear all the unspoken "father thinks that" and "father says that" in front of every one of Azula's opinions in this whole scene? I stand by my assertion that she's awful anyways, but she's also obviously drunk much too much of her dad's koolaid, if you know what I mean.
This kid is going to get into so much trouble one of these days. Provoking the soldiers, nagging the mysterious stranger with the mysterious past, and now taking his weapons? Kid's sweet but he really needs to learn when to stop pushing his luck.
Stabbing dead, dried wood sounds like a great way to utterly annihilate the edge on those. Hope Zuko packed a whetstone.
Where is this patience coming from? I don't understand and it's BUGGING me.
Hold on. Technical problems.
My very basic DVD player sometimes has difficulty with these disks. Whatever happened between the above two screenshots, I've missed it. So picking back up from the one on the right...
Either these soldiers are impressively cowardly (which, yeah) or Zuko's really been working on his death glare, because they've got him outnumbered and out-armoured and they still back off.
OH it's parallels! Zuko's cousin and the boy's older brother. Got it. Kind of a false parallel though. Grandson of the Firelord does not equal earth kingdom conscript.
Give the demonstrably impulsive and nosy child a knife. That'll work out just fine I'm sure. Pretty sad the kid glommed on to Zuko so quickly, but it's also yet another realistic representation of the consequences of war. This show's good.
*shudders* theatre kids.
She's tiny! Do you know how darkly humourous it is to watch a two foot tall baby spout her father's murderous nonsense? Once again, in this whole scene, not a word out of Azula's mouth is actually Azula's.
"What is wrong with that child?" Apart from budding homicidal and psychopathic tendencies? Her dad. Her dad is what's wrong with that child.
Their dad has no subtlety at all. And also no brain? You think a day after the firelord finds out one of his family died is the right time to very boorishly make a play for the crown with you daughter as a prop? Could you possibly come up with a better demonstration of why this guy shouldn't be in charge?
How did this asshole land such a nice wife?
Yep. Siding with the old firelord on this one.
Does flashback Zuko sleep in his day clothes? Because that's not ok.
I like that their mom sees straight through Azula's lying here. She knows her daughter.
In a move that should surprise no one, everything Zuko touches turns to shit, as usual.
It's the Mexico filter!
Absolute truth from Zuko in that monologue. He's got them pegged. Too bad it fell on deaf ears. It's Zuko's curse, that whenever he approaches being remotely reasonable, he happens to be surrounded by people who will react in such a way that Zuko learns to equate being reasonable with failure.
An earthbender. The bare feet should have clued me in.
Last season Zuko and Iroh laid waste to like ten of these guys. And Iroh didn't even have pants. So what gives? Is he that starved?
Ursa pulling a Mufasa.
Don't answer don't answer don't answer
And he does.
Zuko is so very good at completely misinterpreting the point.
So we can add thief to the list of things that make Azula awful. Also that delivery of "who's going to make me? Mom?" is chilling. Zuko's lost his only defender inside this atrocious family and she knows it, he knows it, hell the turtleducks probably know it.
His dying wish? You guys buying that?
Ozai. That's his name. I'd forgotten that.
So... something something dead firelord something something missing mom something something maybe Azula wasn't actually lying this time?
Final Thoughts
The title wasn't kidding. Let's rename the show 'Avatar: the Guy who's Really Bad at Capturing Him' while we're at it.
There is now no way whatsoever that Zuko is not going to be redeemed. No writing team would invest that much energy and a whole episode into a character we're not ultimately supposed to root for. So somehow he's going to end up joining the Gaang. Don't know how he'll pull that one off. He's done some pretty not great stuff. And it's not like the Gaang watched this episode and unlocked his tragic backstory.
Speaking of, what prompted these reflections? I could understand if Zuko started to contemplate his cousin and the events surrounding his loss in the war after he learned about the family's older brother, but he was having flashbacks before he even got to town. Usually when there are backstory bits, there's a good reason to show them at that time, like how the Storm prompts Aang to think about the last storm he was in, or seeing a boat from his father's fleet prompts Sokka to remember what his dad told him. So what caused Zuko's memories to give him situationally appropriate flashbacks?
Pretty funny that he found the Nice Earth Kingdom Family that Azula predicted for him. And they are really nice! Either Zuko is an open book or the parents' social intelligence is off the charts because they're giving him exactly what he needs to feel at ease after barely a single conversation.
Speaking of Azula, I'm not surprised to find that she's always had deeply awful tendencies, even as a child of (I'm guessing) less than ten. But it cannot be ignored that, from the moment her father took a liking to her (as a tool to boost his own greatness, if not as a person), she didn't stand a chance. You can tell by the number of times that the stuff coming out of her mouth is a thinly veiled repetition of her father's unfiltered opinions, that she's been spending lots of time listening to him, probably while he puts down her mom and brother and talks about how she's the special one. You know what I'm getting at. Azula never stood a chance once her father got involved, and her mom lost the ability to influence her once her father started giving Azula praise for objectively wrong behaviour. That being said, Azula is awful even when she doesn't need to be awful for her father's approval, like when she's with her friends, so it's not all her father's doing. She's not a good person but she also had plenty of help to become that.
I guess Zuko and his mom are Fire Nation anomalies? And maybe Iroh has become that since his son died and he lost the war?
How on earth did Zuko survive as long as he did in the palace without his mom to protect him? What a no-win situation to be in. The only person in a whole nation with empathy.
This episode does makes Season 1 Zuko make more sense. He's been larping his dad as a defense mechanism for surviving the Fire Nation/probably a very futile effort to earn his approval. Although Zuko doesn't seem to care much for his dad if the tone he takes with him by the turtleduck pond is any indication.
Being banished was the best thing that ever happened to Zuko. The more distance between him and his remaining non-uncle family, the better. Between prioritizing his crew over capturing the avatar in the Storm, releasing the Avatar in the Blue Spirit, and now defending a random earth kingdom child this episode, it's hilarious how much Zuko HASN'T learned the lesson that Ozai banished him for not knowing. Don't get me wrong; that's a good thing. This episode plainly shows that behaviour that pleases Ozai is behaviour that should be unlearned as quickly as possible.
Zuko completely missing the point of his mom's last instruction is delightfully on the nose. But it also makes sense, which I may talk more about later.
How did Zuko hold on to his temper (and his volume) for a whole episode?
How did a show named after the main character get away with an episode that doesn't feature him at all? As a concept, this is such a strange episode. The writers were like "how can we kick start the woobification of Zuko? I know! A Spaghetti Western!" and it worked. Who comes up with that?
I now want at least as much, if not more, of Sokka and Katara's childhood via flashbacks. And more Gyatso please. If they can devote a whole episode to the childhood of a guy who isn't even a team member yet, they can show me some Sokka childhood shenanigans as a palette cleanser.
I really don't know what conclusion to draw about this episode. The writers have given me a massive backstory/trauma dump and I'm honestly like:
#atla#avatar: the last airbender#avatar the last airbender#zuko alone#I really don't know what to make of this one
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this is like. so non-important compared to all my other grievances with the webcomic but like. the reasons kim hyunsoo gives for changing javier's hair from silver to mint. lol. lmao even.
they're so,, lazy,,,,
that sounds like a skill issue my dude :/
i mean the novel illustrations did it perfectly well imo
'but nali' i hear you say 'those are novel illustrations, where there's only one drawing per chapter. of course it's more difficult to do in a webcomic'
and sure. you're right. it's very different in a webcomic. in fact i am almost certain that no webcomic has ever had a protagonist with silver hair.
not a single webcomic ever has done that before. truly. a completely unrealistic expectation to have.
really it's not like silver hair is one of the most popular tropes in manhwa and almost every other webcomic has one of those
clearly. this was a completely impossible thing to ask of an adaptation. it's not like it's one of the most iconic parts of our protagonist's design. it's not like it's mentioned almost every single time javier is onscreen.
really. what a truly necessary change.
which. speaking of.
now, correct me if i'm wrong. but shouldn't your deuteragonist, the very first character your character meets, your second main character's design,,, more important than a secondary character that isn't introduced like,,, more than a hundred episodes later???
like. i don't think we even get told what color lloyd's hair is. but god does the novel mention that habiel has silver hair every five minutes.
i'm sorry i just think that if you're gonna adapt something the very least thing you could do is try to be faithful to one of the very few character descriptions we ever get! especially that of your goddamn main character!
how come a secondary character takes precedence over him?? why not change that character's hair color then???
and even then. if your character design skills suck so much that two characters having the same hair color is enough to make them look too similar perhaps there's a bigger problem here.
i just,,,, i am almost certain i know what character he's speaking of. maybe even two characters. hell maybe even three. but fucking guess what. the webnovel illustrations already did designs for those characters. it gave them all silver hair. and there was No Issue at all because their designs were so distinct from one another that at no point was there any doubt of who was who. because that's what good character design is about.
like. that's such a stupid reason oh my godddd if you're gonna pull that bs then what's your excuse for all those other characters with brown hair. are you not worried they're gonna overlap because their hair color is the same. i mean you made silurian's brown hair darker so now it matches like 90% of your background characters. do their design not overlap like that.
i'm just!! it's such a stupid thing to get mad about!! especially when there's far more egregious changes being made but like!! it just,,, it shows the kind of attitude the people adapting tged into a webcomic have towards the source material
it's not about the hair color. i mean it is but there's more to it. it's about how the artists feel comfortable disregarding parts of the novel and canon because it's more convenient to them. it's about how they prefer to focus on unimportant stuff that gets them a few laughs rather than put a little bit of effort into getting their characters right. it's about how they waste entire panels into making ugly faces and repetitive jokes rather than take a bit of time to get the hair color of their protagonist correctly.
it is,, disappointing i guess :/
and because i'm petty. here.
that's literally it. that's all kim hyunsoo had to do. it's such a tiny detail and yet. couldn't be bothered to get it right lol
#i talk a lot <3#tged#the greatest estate developer#javier asrahan#i hope they never see this. they're doing a lot of work and the things they're doing require a lot of effort#i won't deny them that. they're clearly very talented people. i just wish they could care a little more about tged as they adapt it.#but that's very much my issue lol
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IOTA Reviews: Intuition
Well, we've already come up with two excuses as to why Gabriel can't use the most overpowered Miraculous in the show to just get what he wants. With the Rabbit Miraculous, Gabriel was too stupid to use it properly in “Evolution”, and with the Rooster Miraculous, the writers just changed the rules to fit the plot in “Destruction”. Taking those two episodes into consideration, why don't we use a combination of both to explain why Gabriel can't just use the Snake Miraculous to figure out a way to beat Ladybug and Cat Noir?
Let's get into the fifteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Intuition
We get right into the meat of things with a montage of several past Akuma fights this season, giving more context to the events of “Elation”, “Derision”, and “Passion”. We see in those episodes, Monarch attempted to use the Snake Miraculous' Second Chance, a power that lets him rewind time as many times as he wants as long as its in a certain time frame. While he tried to give his Akumas advice to stop Ladybug, each one failed miserably.
Why can't Monarch use Second Chance to help his Akumas avoid Ladybug and Cat Noir's attacks? He tried that with Glaciator in “Elation”, and it didn't work because Ladybug got a different Lucky Charm to defeat him with instead.
Why can't Monarch use Second Chance to stop Ladybug from using her Lucky Charm in the first place by destroying her yo-yo? He tried that with Dark Humor in “Derision”, and it didn't work because Ladybug just detransformed and transformed again so she got her Lucky Charm anyway?
Why can't Monarch use Second Chance to corner Ladybug and stop her from fighting altogether? He tried that with Safari in “Passion”, and it didn't work because Cat Noir saved her before the two swapped Miraculous.
All in all, this is actually a pretty good scene, and one of the best moments of the season. It adds rewatch value to earlier episodes and answers questions viewers may have about any ways to stop Ladybug from winning. Granted, I still have a few problems with it. The fact that the Lucky Charm will always adapt to whatever plan Monarch throws at Ladybug kind of takes away some of the tension this season. Okay, we know that Ladybug has to win every episode, but this montage really illustrates that Monarch isn't that threatening of a villain even though he has unlimited chances now.
But those are minor complaints compared to the biggest problem I have with the episode: The way they change the rules of the Snake Miraculous.
Gabriel: Every time I use Second Chance, time rewinds for Ladybug, Cat Noir and the rest of the world, but not for me. I remember every one of those attempts... and so does my body.
Uh... since when? That was never established to be a drawback to the Snake Miraculous. The rules for Second Chance are simple: Activate the power, keep track of time, rewind back time whenever something goes wrong, rinse and repeat. How is Gabriel's Cataclysm wound getting worse if time keeps being rewound? If Gabriel's body “remembers” events that happened as if it was aging, shouldn't he be at least a few years older physically? Hell, during “Desperada”, the very first episode to feature the Snake Miraculous, Adrien used Second Chance 25,913 times, and he didn't even get a little peach fuzz on his face by the end of it, to say nothing about him getting thrown into space without dying in “Miracle Queen”. Maybe this could have worked if they better explained what the Cataclysm wound is doing to Gabriel other than the fact that it's vaguely killing him, like if it's the reason why Second Chance isn't working like it usually does. But no, this is how Second Chance works now, because just like with the Rooster Miraculous, the writers need to arbitrarily change their own rules to fit the story.
But either way, Gabriel's Cataclysm wound is getting worse the more he uses Second Chance, and his own paranoia is preventing him from giving one of his Akumas the power instead. According to Nathalie (who once again nags Gabriel for being reckless while ignoring why she's bedridden in the first place), the wound has started to affect Gabriel's heart, and he may have weeks left to live. Damn, if only he didn't willingly let himself get Cataclysmed instead of just throwing in the towel during “Destruction”.
Gabriel tries to talk with Adrien to get an idea of who can take him in when he dies, but he's interrupted by a call from Marinette. Gabriel tries to make some pancakes, but he collapses in front of Adrien, claiming he just got distracted.
Getting distracted looks the same as having a heart attack, right?
Marinette and Adrien talked about an experimental space jet made by Tomoe's company which will be piloted by Claudie, Max's mom. Gabriel, after once again talking to Emilie's body, transforms into Monarch and even though he just learned that using Second Chance will only bring him closer to death's door, he decides to use Second Chance three times to get the secret code that will let him control the jet. Sure, Tomoe already knows he's Monarch and is part of the reason he can even use Second Chance right now, but I'm sure shaving a few days off what little time you have left was totally worth it for whatever reason you thought this was a good idea.
In Marinette and Adrien's class, they're talking with Claudie about the jet, and after we learn that Max decided to make the same tech he used to create his robot friend Markov free on the internet, we get an unfunny scene about Kim asking if there are pools on Mars. Because it's bad enough that his character was assassinated last episode, but now I guess Kim's only character trait is that he likes swimming. The space jet test is a success, but that's when Monarch uses Second Chance so he can sabotage it... even though he already had the access codes and didn't need to wait. You're really thinking about the best ways to use Second Chance, aren't you, Monarch?
Monarch disables the sensors of the jet's AI, A.D.A., so she assumes that Claudie was lost and the test was a failure, deciding to fly off into space with Claudie inside. After loading up with the powers of the Horse, Fox, Turtle, Goat in addition to the already active Snake, Monarch starts his plan. Monarch uses the Goat Miraculous' Genesis to create a giant meteorite that can possibly destroy the Earth before using the Fox Miraculous' Mirage to create an illusion of himself so he can make his announcement to Ladybug.
Monarch: Ladybug! Cat Noir! You're going to have to choose: will you stop this huge meteorite threatening the people of Paris or rescue Claudie Kante trapped inside her out of control space jet? Of course, you could also choose to give me your Miraculous and save everyone by letting me help you.
Hmm, the entire city of Paris or one person in space? Tough choice...
In all seriousness, this is a good plan, as it capitalizes on Ladybug's need to save everyone, especially with Monarch offering to end his threat if Ladybug and Cat Noir give up.
After Adrien escorts Marinette to the nurse's office as part of her excuse, the two transform into Cat Noir and Ladybug respectively, and immediately transform into their space forms, Astro Cat and Cosmobug. The two split up, so Cosmobug can deal with the jet and Astro Cat can stop the meteorite. This is all part of Monarch's plan, as he heads back to his lair and akumatizes A.D.A. into Bugfighter, with Claudie still trapped inside.
Bugfighter is basically a Transformer, and that is one of the coolest things to ever come out of this show. Sure, her only power other than being a giant robot is that she has a laser cannon, and she doesn't get a Miraculous power thanks to having no Alliance ring, but who cares? She's a Transformer! How awesome is that?!
Bugfighter destroys Cosmobug's yo-yo before she can use her Lucky Charm, and right after Astro Cat uses his Cataclysm to destroy the meteorite, Monarch tries to trap him using the Turtle Miraculous' Shelter, but misses. Monarch uses Second Chance to repeat the whole process over again, and succeeds in trapping Astro Cat. He prepares to steal Astro Cat's Miraculous by sticking his hand through a Voyage portal, only for Astro Cat to notice Second Chance is active and forcibly activates it again... even though he could have just taken the rings off Monarch's hand since he had the chance to earlier. Monarch then decides to use the Bee Miraculous' Venom to stun Astro Cat the next chance he has.
As Monarch prepares to get Astro Cat's Miraculous, Cosmobug tells Claudie to smash the windshield of the jet that is now Bugfighter, and after realizing Monarch tampered with her systems so she can't detect Claudie, Bugfighter rejects the Akuma. Monarch uses Second Chance several times to find a way to stop Cosmobug and Astro Cat, only for Bugfighter to keep rejecting the Akuma before his body finally collapses and he decides to call it a day, using Second Chance one more time so he never utilized his plan at all. Because I guess he couldn't just... use Voyage again to just take Claudie out of the equation entirely?
Gabriel decides that since he probably doesn't have a lot of time left to live, he decides to finally be a decent parent to Adrien and start spending more time with him... At least, for this episode, anyway. Nathalie once again nags Gabriel for being reckless and confirms that all Gabriel did was accelerate the damage of the Cataclysm wound, yet still doesn't mention that Gabriel got himself Cataclysmed. The episode ends with Ladybug and Cat Noir wondering why Monarch never uses Second Chance... when they of all people should know that they could never tell if Second Chance is being used or not.
While I had some problems with the changes to the Snake Miraculous, this episode was honestly pretty good. I like how the focus is more on Gabriel than Marinette and Adrien, showing more insight to how he operates as Monarch. The plan he came up was pretty unique, and for the most part, he actually tried to make up for any flaws in it. Marinette and Adrien, while they only had like two scenes together, were pretty cute, and it's nice to see them growing more comfortable around each other. Other than the fact that they never explain why Monarch can't use Voyage to take Claudie out of the jet when he can use it multiple times (and his poor use of the Snake Miraculous with Tomoe), the only real problem I have is the way they changed the rules of the Snake Miraculous to fit the story. Like with the Rooster, this blatantly contradicts earlier episodes and is only there to explain why Gabriel can't use it to win.
But putting that aside, it's a simple episode, but it honestly works in my opinion. Right now, it's my favorite so far this season.
THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... GABRIEL
While Adrien was close to getting it thanks to blowing a chance to get some of Monarch's Miraculous, Gabriel still takes home the medal this time. Thanks to Second Chance, Gabriel had a lot of chances to capitalize on his mistakes as long as his body could take it, so naturally, he kept using Second Chance just to talk to one of his allies, and kept screwing up his chance to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous, even when the odds were stacked in his favor, and that all contributed to his impending death that was brought on because he made the wise choice to Cataclysm himself in an earlier episode.
#immaturity of thomas astruc#iota#miraculous ladybug#miraculous ladybug salt#marinette dupain cheng#ladybug#adrien agreste#cat noir#chat noir#gabriel agreste#hawkmoth#hawk moth#monarch#monarch miraculous#nathalie sancoeur#max kante#claudie kante#ada miraculous#bugfighter#tomoe tsurugi
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Hi~ Hope you have a lovely day. I want to get your opinions on my rant lol and ask.
Marinette is such a disappointment of a lead female character in a western magical girl cartoon. She isn't a good leader and all her team consist of yes men and women and sidekick Chat Noir where her real partner Alya is standing over to the side. I liked her in the first two season and maybe some in s3 but the s4 and onward just got to me ngl. It's her world and we're all just living in it. Miraculous is so weird when it comes to team dynamics because I get she's guardian but I really wished it were someone else and not her because she chooses people she already get along great with. It fun for team dynamics to add be different and broader.
The whole she's just 14 the fandom spouts only goes so far how many messes do you do until you realise you need to own up to them even at that age when you should know better on your conduct ?
I get it hard to communicate but onwards I always thought the bigger of the two in the conflict was her because of her secrecy and her controlling tendencies. I disliked it so much in the ephemeral episode and her betraying her partner disgusted me. Sorry to those who like or defend her character this much but I can't stan or like a character that does this much crap to a friend let alone a love interest and then gloss over or minimize it and not be called out for it. Like, are people standards that low they think she's a good leader or a good proper representation on feminism when this show reeks of misogyny and misandry. She's the ultimatum voice for Astruc.
A communication issue with her Chat was fine a long time ago but now in s5 she crossed it hell nah how do people still support a ship with her knowing she followed Hawkmoth command for Adrien. I literally can't anymore with this show. Every guy she likes gotta be so 100 percent in effort and like in the Shadybug special him always comforting her makes me so jaded whenever she cries what about a change in dynamics had we ever seen her comfort him in turn how are people invested in this ship? Like that time in the bench and she just thought of ways to woo or give presents instead of just comforting him is so sad to watch.
She really followed in Master Fu steps. The bar is in hell and she crossed it in the finale. There is no excuse no handwaving it away and i know in my heart they gonna minimize it for Adrien own good. Everything is for his own good huh? What good is it rooting for a ship that just reeks of pity points. Like, she was never my favorite but who knew 8 years ago she'd pull a stunt like this and people bending over and doing mental gymnastics to rationalise this insanity. She really is a good foil to Gabriel ironically to bad she has no sway in this family drama we call the Agreste.
I know she has good intentions and it's not wrong for her to wish to save her prince but like thats all that is intention. Her actions are also important and the effects she's done is so bad that if she weren't the Main character and we haven't spent the chunk of the majority in her pov alone she'd be disliked.
I feel like compared to other respective series Winx Club s1-3 Bloom, Danny Phantom, Ben 10, Totally Spies they have it much more harder and so many more all show the consequences of your actions and how you do them right and they're her age. I feel like whenever someone bring up consequences it's like people in this particular fandom think we do it to punish Marinette but no I just never ever saw it properly done in this show because she's very coddled in the narrative. I don't see other MC as coddled as her before in a show where when they MESS UP it's actually integral and important.
Rant over.
You encapsulated all my thoughts perfectly, anon. I've said so many times before that I loved Marinette from Season 1-3 and even during Season 4 as it aired. What made me fall out of love with her character post Season 4 was the utter lack of acknowledgement of her actions and the insistence in portraying her as in the right at all times. Like you said, it's not just your intentions that matter. Your actions and the effects that they have on the people around you also matter. The writers don't seem to understand this, and it hits Marinette's character worst of all. She had so much potential to be such a great character, which is why I feel so sad seeing just how badly the writing failed her. Marinette deserved better.
Thank you for your ask!
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— seventeen as types of students | ot13.
🎧 genre : headcanon, crack-ish
🎧 warning/s : none
— seungcheol [ the class president that's too nice ]
“please be quiet, the teacher is talking.”
୨୧ he's a softie with his classmates most of the time and will only be strict when necessary
୨୧ the teachers definitely love this guy
୨୧ he'd carry their stuff back to the faculty room with a smile
୨୧ literally so nice and polite to everyone
୨୧ but if any of his classmates get treated badly for the wrong reasons, he is the first one to defend them
୨୧ won't care if he's against the teacher or a senior, he will stand up for the mistreated
୨୧ maybe a little too nice because others take advantage of him
୨୧ he's also the type to offer you materials when he notices you didn't bring anything with you
୨୧ no pencil? he has a spare. no paper? he bought extra. no lunch? he orders a whole buffet. no place to live in? he gives you one of his penthouse apartments
୨୧ i'm just kidding, but you get what i mean
— jeonghan [ the intelligent mischief maker ]
“quiz? today? didn't you say it's on monday?”
୨୧ looks like he isn't paying attention but still gets perfect scores in his quizzes and exams. let me add that he's also the captain of a varsity team
୨୧ is 100% the student who stalls the teacher by asking more questions and whatnot to prevent any surprise tests
୨୧ everyone discreetly encourages him to continue stalling
୨୧ a professional at it because the teacher is already gossiping to the class when it's almost dismissal in two minutes
୨୧ c'mon you've seen the going seventeen episodes, this man can and will gaslight his teachers into thinking they don't have a quiz
୨୧ i also think he'd make minor pranks in class
୨୧ good luck being his seat mate because he'll slowly turn you into his partner-in-crime
୨୧ well, who doesn't want to be his partner-in-crime?
୨୧ he's calm when he needs to be, but that might mean he's plotting ways to bring havoc upon the entire class
୨୧ finds it amusing when his classmates are annoyed by his antics because what are they going to do? disrespect the one who stalls for them?
— joshua [ the hidden ace student ]
“you can copy my notes, i don't mind.”
୨୧ the one guy that doesn't stand out at first but when he does, it'll shock you to see how capable he is
୨୧ he's really talented and capable though remains modest about it
୨୧ bro could be a model for a high-end brand but downplays it TT
୨୧ everyone relies on him for the notes because he's the only diligent note taker in class
୨୧ the type you see in the corridor once and before you know it, you're trying to spot him in the crowd
୨୧ also very responsible and submits his homework days before the deadline
୨୧ he's an eligible hallway crush candidate
୨୧ no for real, he has the ability to turn heads and make others double take as soon as he walks past them
୨୧ joshua would also be part of the varsity team, be a student intern, join multiple extracurricular clubs, and even have a position in the student council
୨୧ the guy is living his student life to the fullest, i swear
— jun [ the unintentional class clown ]
“wait don't start the test yet, i don't have a pen!”
୨୧ you know those students that try so hard to make the class laugh? well, wen junhui here is twice as funny even when he isn't trying
୨୧ all he has to do is just smile like an idiot then suddenly everyone bursts into fits of laughter
୨୧ in addition to that, he doesn't have any school materials
୨୧ his motto is literally, “insist and keep going” so he insists on not buying school stuff and keeps going like the king he is
୨୧ that was a joke, ily jun. he (at most) has a bag filled with crumpled up tissues and food wrappers, i guess.
୨୧ mostly relies on his classmates and keeps an extra eye out for the pens that fall on the floor
୨୧ even the teacher got tired of him constantly asking for materials to the point that the class set up a 'jun supplies' corner
୨୧ he's undeniably the drama teacher's favorite
୨୧ daydreams a lot during boring classes while staring out the window. all fun and games till the teacher decides to call on him
୨୧ they'll be asking, "when, junhui?" and he gives the most genuinely confused look, "...yes?" (this was funnier in my head, please tell me you get it)
— hoshi [ the proactive teacher's pet ]
“yes, i understood the lesson!” (has no idea)
୨୧ wants to be the first to acknowledge whatever the teacher says even when he doesn't actually understand what they said
୨୧ though they appreciate his energy
୨୧ that one hyper PE-enthusiastic loud student
୨୧ shows off by running two laps around the track in no time and gets sulky when someone outranks him
୨୧ well, if only he had that booster
୨୧ some would think he's overbearing but you can't really get mad at him, hoshi is a pretty passionate guy in school
୨୧ he's brought the school to the top when it comes to dance competitions, having earned countless awards and medals
୨୧ in charge of the atmosphere in the classroom. too gloomy? he'll raise everyone's spirits up
୨୧ loves getting recognition from his peers and teachers
୨୧ look, he may not have gotten that booster, but he's everyone's motivational booster
— wonwoo [ the smart laid-back honoree ]
“if possible, can i join the debate next time?”
୨୧ he has a lot to say and contribute to class discussions
୨୧ just doesn't prefer to say it unless he really feels the need to
୨୧ going against this guy in debate? he's going to destroy you while maintaining the same level of articulateness
୨୧ top one in academics and all subjects, but is still humble
୨୧ never flaunts his intelligence to others
୨୧ you can always find him in the library, super invested in the book he's reading
୨୧ wonwoo looks like he isn't into gossip but this man eavesdrops as much as he reads, you'll only be surprised to know he's updated in the recent talks of the school
୨୧ once went to school with a heart cat keychain and everyone thought he had a girlfriend
୨୧ "i was supposed to give this to my friend but i liked it so i decided to keep it for myself."
୨୧ he's allowed to be selfish when it comes to cats, it's fine
— woozi [ the mysterious guitarist ]
“who's up for the next song?”
୨୧ quiet
୨୧ literally so quiet during class and only talks when asked to recite
୨୧ he can be seen scribbling something down on his notepad or strumming the distressed rips on his jeans to a beat
୨୧ if you observe him long enough, you'll notice his feet are silently tapping in different tempos
୨୧ when it's lunch break or dismissal, you finally see why
୨୧ woozi plays his guitar in the classroom or canteen using the rhythm to what he's been tapping to earlier
୨୧ serenades the bunch of students that currently flock around him with the music he composed himself
୨୧ during group projects is where he's slightly more talkative and joins in brainstorming, since his grades depend on his idiot group mates
୨୧ also low-key eavesdrops and is against any fake classmates
୨୧ maybe there's a certain classmate of his that is considered the 'gentleman' but woozi knows it's not entirely true (i wonder who that guy is)
— dk [ the star student ]
“my performance? oh, it's on friday!”
୨୧ a school celebrity, i tell you
୨୧ he's an active reciter in class, never ashamed to raise his hand if he knows the answer
୨୧ mostly known as the guy who smiles to everyone he crosses paths with
୨୧ his popularity is insane because he's friendly and has great humor
୨୧ it only increases when there's a singing competition and it's his turn to sing. everyone, including some people of the opposing class, cheers for him
୨୧ it's the dk effect but he also has a lovable goofball side to him
୨୧ he'd be the first to donate to the school charity and it isn't because he wants to show off, he's just really genuine
୨୧ whenever the teacher isn't around yet, he sings some melodies for his classmates
୨୧ he's pretty loud, right? when the whole class laughs, there'd be a significant guffaw overpowering the others and no one has to look to know it's him
୨୧ overall, really kind, outgoing, and funny
— mingyu [ the reliable yet clumsy one ]
“how is it my fault they can't see the whiteboard?”
୨୧ ah yes, he's the notorious tall kid who obstructs the sight of other students
୨୧ at first he doesn't realize it and apologizes, but he reaches a point where he does it on purpose to piss them off
୨୧ he's the most teased in class (and secretly likes it)
୨୧ but mingyu is also one of the reliable students and provides helpful information in the class group chat
୨୧ aside from that, guess the star player of the basketball team? kim mingyu, of course
୨୧ people dread him during art projects because he makes a huge mess everywhere
୨୧ the scattered pieces of art paper? mingyu's fault. the glue spill on the teacher's table? also his fault.
୨୧ his classmates have a #BlameMingyuForEverything agenda but in an affectionate love-hate relationship way
୨୧ though he makes it up to them by staying behind after dismissal to tidy up the classroom
୨୧ yes, he probably makes the biggest mess but he also holds himself accountable and fixes it
— the8 [ the artistic soul ]
“teacher, can i change seats? my current seat mate is loud.”
୨୧ given the people he's surrounded with, you can see why he meditates
୨୧ minghao is straightforward, very frank about his thoughts, and is not afraid to let someone know they're disturbing him
୨୧ he just wants to draw in peace but his seat mate insists on having a heart-to-heart talk about tigers
୨୧ one of those people you see that have the 'quiet yet hardworking' student life
୨୧ wants to stay low-key, but if the topic is interesting to him, he'd be glad to share this thoughts
୨୧ during group projects that require creativity, everyone knows that he always takes it seriously
୨୧ if it's individually graded, minghao never lacks in his contributions which inevitably leads to his group's perfect score
୨୧ is also known as the guy who has a frog crochet theme going on. his laptop bag and bucket hat being his favorite crocheted things
୨୧ he prefers sitting where there's a good view of a landscape and uses it as inspiration for his next work
୨୧ just literally anywhere hoshi isn't
— seungkwan [ the social butterfly ]
“did you hear? a guy from our class received a heart cat keychain.”
୨୧ yes, he's the first one to be updated about gossip
୨୧ people also love sharing topics with him because he's so easy to talk to
୨୧ belongs to multiple friend groups, loves socializing with others and even the teachers
୨୧ i also think he'd do tiktok dance challenges during break time, along with other students of course
୨୧ his friend trio with dk and hoshi is by far, the most popular trio in school
୨୧ when there's a school event, he is always the emcee
୨୧ seungkwan is no doubt a well-known student, but he gets shy when others compliment him
୨୧ someone could say that the way he delivers his speech is flawless and he would melt on the spot while muttering a little 'thank you'
୨୧ he's very vocal during open discussions in class, also making fairly good points in debates
୨୧ a lovely student, no one can bring themselves to hate him
— vernon [ the one who's just there ]
“it's chwe not chew.”
୨୧ totally see him as that one person whose surname gets misspelt and/or mispronounced
୨୧ he's in his own little world, doing whatever he wants
୨୧ i don't mean that in a mischievous way, he is a really well-behaved student
୨୧ some people criticize his clothing style but he does not care and believes his unorthodox fashion sense separates him from the crowd
୨୧ vernon has something with that silly beanie of his, however he's easily identifiable that way
୨୧ literally nicknamed 'beanie kid' in the class group chat
୨୧ most students underestimate his intellectual abilities and will be surprised to see him rank somewhere in the top ten honorees of the batch
୨୧ no effort in being low profile, just some complaints from his classmates because they can't focus due to his good looks
୨୧ he's also among the active students in class discussions. he has a lot of opinions to share while remaining open-minded with the thoughts of others
୨୧ has a small, but close friend group and he's more than happy about it
— dino [ the recipient of his classmates' antics ]
“for one minute, can we please have silence for one minute?”
୨୧ he is so done with everyone
୨୧ imagine this: dino is looking forward to the start of the school year and he already bought all the materials he needs, etc... when suddenly he finds out these are the people he needs to endure school with
୨୧ all his materials are low on supply because one of his classmates don't have anything and he gets transferred to sit beside the tiger enthusiast as a sacrifice everyone but him was willing to make
୨୧ suddenly he's looking forward to the end of school
୨୧ though, over time, he learns to deal with each and every one of them. they may be a spontaneous bunch, but he appreciates them
୨୧ he's model student material and excels in anything he does
୨୧ dino is the batch representative because no one else was eligible or available for this position
୨୧ and also because he'd do really well handling the responsibilities that come with it
୨୧ has dancing as his extracurricular club and eventually became part of the school's dance troupe
୨୧ in conclusion, he's an ace of many things — dealing with his classmates being one of them
#seventeen#seventeen headcanons#svt#svt headcanons#choi seungcheol#yoon jeonghan#seungcheol headcanons#jeonghan headcanons#joshua hong#joshua headcanons#wen junhui#jun headcanons#kwon soonyoung#hoshi headcanons#jeon wonwoo#wonwoo headcanons#lee jihoon#woozi headcanons#hcs with avie#lee seokmin#dk headcanons#kim mingyu#mingyu headcanons#the8#the8 headcanons#minghao headcanons#seungkwan headcanons#vernon headcanons#dino headcanons#svt imagines
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Chapter 2 appreciation post
I swear I'm not planning on doing this with all chapters (maybe I will) bit I can't help it if EVERYTHING IS THAT GOOD
I just love how here we can see that Iruma, even being the Pusillanimous boy that he is, he's totally conscient of the bizarre situation he is in
Yet can't dare to say no
I mean, I bet this is the most loved he's ever been, and it's not good love, as much as I love Sullivan for giving all those opportunities, he is not a good parent, he only got Iruma out of a whim and didn't really care that much for hoe he felt, at least at the early episodes.
Once again, Asmodeus blinding us all with his pretty face and already obsessive behavior to Iruma, but who would be Asmodeus without obsession?
THEY HAD NO RIGHT TO MAKE HIM LOOK THIS FINE WHILE BEING MAD
Like GODS, now I get y'all Naberius' fans, the anime did not do any justice TO THIS
I wouldn't mind being scolded by him (Lie, I'd burst into tears of pure fear)
Okay, but is it me or the snake is cute?
Like look at those googly eyes that look like they may just pop out of the skull at any moment, makes me wanna squish it
Also we can see here very clearly that Asmodeus type of body is pear shaped 🍐, in case anyone had curiosity
Sweethearts, if you two only knew you wanted the same, you wouldn't have gone through all of that.
Like let's be honest both of you wanted Iruma out of the school, easy job
I LOOOVE how Iruma resembles Sullivan even without being related to him, like that's so cute, family soulmates maybe?
Now, I don't remember well, but I do know that in the present on the manga has already been a year, but I do think Kalego is still his familiar, correct me if I'm wrong
ALSO I was thinking about, and all of this boys are 14, like dude, I'm older than them (was younger when I first saw the series, I suddenly feel old 😭) THERE'S NO REASON TO MAKE THEM GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT
Have you guys ever seen those jobs where they ask for young people with plus 10 years of experience? They want Iruma, that's what they've been looking for, too sad he's in hell
<-_->
#Does Sullivan have a tag??#welcome to demon school iruma kun#iruma suzuki#mairimashita! iruma kun#mai irumi#asmodeus alice#naberius kalego#m!ik#mairimashita iruma kun#mairuma#iruma kun
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Re: the 'talk about for hours meme' -- "2. Certain fictional characters : from books or anime, I can give you full essays on them"
Could I have your full essays on Matsumoto and Shinji!! (Feel free to split into two posts if it's weird/too long to do them both in one, haha.)
OUH. MYGOD. This is what I have been waiting for. Yesssss I CAN. Also, I think I will split it into two separate posts, because I want to cover more aspects. So this will only be about Matsumoto Rangiku. But beware, you brought this upon yourself. It will be long af (roughly about 1900 words). I hope it all makes sense!
Also, everything I say is totally my opinion, the way I see them, and the "analysis" (nothing too formal) I made is based on anime only and/or maybe some spoilers (because I don't own any Bleach manga yet😭)
In the beginning, I need to mention that in my opinion (and as I mentioned in a previous post), she is actually a very humane, relatable and complex character. And this is why I like her so much. However, she is, most of the times, underappreciated.
So usually when people are talking about her, they get to mention her her physical appearance, which is normal and is what you do with everyone, but then something interesting happens.
When it comes to her personality, she is often viewed and portrayed as a shallow, superficial and unbothered woman. Kind of the standard beautiful but ignorant woman trope portrayed in most media.
But she is not just a plain character made to fill in some gaps and have a few lines. And while I agree she has a few flaws (that I'll talk about later), I feel like this portrayal of her couldn't be more wrong.
In actuality, she is a very well constructed character, that we subjectively misjudge, because we have certain expectations when we see an architype of fictional universes and forget to look past certain traits. And you might ask "Okay, dude, but what do you mean by that?" Well, let me explain.
But to get even deeper with how much of a complex character she is, as we go further along with the anime, we know that Gin leaves with Aizen. Even since then, we knew something was going on with those two, when he apologized to her. But as it was revealed later, Gin was her childhood friend, the one she even lived with for a while. The first person she ever loved from what I know (not sure if romantically or platonically, but love, none the less). Now, imagine how destroyed she must feel about him leaving with a man that betrayed, used and lied to everyone in their community without any explanation whatsoever. More so, imagine how worried she must be everyday for him, not ever knowing if he'll come back. Imagine how she has to live with this constantly in the back of her mind, and still be a good shinigami and fight with the fear that one day, she might have to fight him. The strength one has to have to be able to continue life with these realizations in mind, every day, without breaking once, is colossal. How mature you have to be adapt to this kind of situation so fast, even if you hate the reality this is bringing you in, is the proof of being not only very emotionally intelligent, but also intelligent overall. And not to mention how she carries this burden seemingly alone, because nobody seems to ever ask her if she's alright or care whatsoever for her problems, probably because of her optimistic, cheery personality.
Firstly, when we initially get to meet her, in the episode of Aizen's "death", we see her restraining Hinamori and getting her to jail, as a good lieutenant would do at the orders of her captain, right? But after that, we witness a conversation those two have, in which we can clearly see that Matsumoto does empathize with Hinamori, telling her she understands how frustrated she is, but she needs to think about her squad and priorities and to not make any allegations (when Hinamori was about to say she knew who "killed" Aizen).
In that small dialogue, we get to understand that not only, is Rangiku very levelheaded, but also she cares about Hinamori enough to tell her it is not her place to make those accusations and she lets to be understood that she will regret saying anything more, and tries to guide her to better priorities. She does everything in a serious, yet not necessarily harsh manner. She feels as many emotions as everyone about what just happened, and yet she thinks about what is best to be done and how to be efficient, while still empathizing with and not blaming Hinamori for anything. And she keeps that attitude towards her even later, in the fake Karakura Town arc, when Hinamori clearly calls Aizen "captain", but Rangiku still has an understanding, yet compassionate and worried attitude towards her (and to be honest, that is more than I would've had for her at that point). That already says so much about her character and moral compass.
Which brings me to the next point. We always see her as being this bright, obnoxious ray of sunshine. Party girl who likes to drink, sometimes a little too much (but I would too in her situation), who's everyone's friend. From hanging out, getting drunk with the boys, or being there for Hitsugaya (she was even the one who told him to be a shinigami in the first place, and made sure to make him understand it would be best for him to do so), to even having a heartfelt conversation with Orihime when she gets jealous and depressed. Rangiku is an optimistic, reliable person who you can have fun with and trust with your heart. But who's there for her the way she is there for others? Because I don't see her talking about any of her personal issues, besides this one exception with Hitsugaya once. So not only is she strong to keep herself composed and with the mind clear, ready to battle anytime, but she is also succeeding in doing so alone, with no support system (that I know of). So she has the power of continuing to battle for what is right and be there for everyone in a very enthusiastic way, with a broken heart that still has room for hope, and with an intelligent mind that still makes room for fun.
Now, everything I have mentioned so far are her positive traits. Of course, she wouldn't have been a very good constructed character if she didn't have any flaws. That's also what makes her even more relatable and humane. But what is again very interesting here, is that her flaws seem to be very much in contrast with her positive traits.
Also, talking about being ready for battle, there is one more point I need to add. Considering everything I mentioned earlier, we also need to talk about how good of a fighter and strategist (not to mention how strong willed) she is.
Remember: she had a portion of her soul stolen (at least that's what I understood) by Aizen! And if we are to recall the encounters she had with arrancars (and fights overall), we can surely say she had some interesting strategic moves, as well as some decent, interesting decisions in battle. So we can only imagine what kind of a fighter she would have become if she had her soul intact. All though I will not dive deeper into this (because I will have to rewatch all of her fights, and even then get into a subject that I'm really not good at), I can definitely say she is not a lieutenant for nothing. She is definitely a capable, devoted and loyal lieutenant, fighter and ally.
We can also see a similar circumstance with her shallow and vain demeanor whenever she talks about shopping and getting nice things. Because we need to remember she grew up poor! And not only that, but she was dying of starvation. When Gin found her, she was on the verge of death. And as she grew, like most kids in Rukongai, she had mostly nothing. So to one extend, I can really understand why, as an adult, she would prefer to spend her money as she likes without any reservations. I think it helps healing her inner child and can also be a coping mechanism that she developed along the years, to help cope with everything she goes through by herself.
When we think about her flaws, we picture in our minds her laziness and how conceited and vain she can be sometimes. We can also talk about how unbothered or easygoing she seems to be in many situations. And her drinking problem (which I am not going to talk about, because in my own balkan view, it doesn't really look like a problem, just that when she parties, she goes hard, and I would too and I get it).
But I found that her laziness is in strong contrast with her strong will to fight and how ready she is for battle anytime. Which is not something a lazy person will do. We have plenty of great characters that can be very intelligent and impressively created, but who are very lazy and find many things (such as fighting) as a "drag" or "nuisance". She could do the same, but she doesn't. Which leads me to believe that it's not laziness per se, it's most likely the boredom and uninteresting facade of doing chores like paperwork. And I see that as fitting to her, because she probably needs strong and intense sensations to fixate on something and not be distracted by her own mind (my opinion).
And even that, I think it really depends on how important her role would be as the responsible person in said situations. Because if you remember the flashbacks of her being a lieutenant under Kurosaki Isshin, she was the one who scolded him for not doing work. Of course, it wasn't like she was working anywhere near the amount Hitsugaya would, in any day, but still more than now. And I think that was exactly because someone had to. It was important for the captain to have someone who would nag him from time to time, so that's what she did. Just like how it is important for Hitsugaya to have a ray of sunshine to cheer him up and get him out of his sometimes-too-serious way.
And sure, she doesn't like being called "old", like most women, and she cares about her looks a lot, but I think that also comes from a place of not knowing or having the privilege of getting to care about those things as child. Which she finally has now, as an adult, and of course she takes advantage of that now and thinks about those things.
With all of this being said, I think the only conclusion here is that Matsumoto Rangiku is a strong, very reliable, smart woman with the emotional intelligence above many other characters (and people) that we get to see usually in fictional universes (or even real life). She is the kind of person I would love to have as a friend, and I wish I could have the honor of being there for her, because she deserves it. With a heart of gold and a personality brighter than the sun, Matsumoto Rangiku is the glue that holds so many things together and is one of the many needed pieces of our Bleach puzzle. And yes, she is also very hot and I would tap that.
And concomitantly, we see her seemingly self-absorbed personality that shows up from that to time and the contrast that makes with how much empathy and devotion she demonstrates.
This made me think of just the way we perceive people sometimes without having the full story on them. Because I think that it may be a misunderstanding of her character.
What I mean by this is that, maybe, we misunderstood those traits, and in reality is just her confidence. A lot of self confidence and care for one's self can be missinterpreted as shallowness if we either don't have the full story, or if that person is not slightly modest in admitting the good things about themselves. Which is an interesting way to see her, that would further demonstrate how cool she is (but considering this hypothesis is only that, a hypothesis, it might just be two contrasting traits she has, which either way, make her an interesting person).
Bonus: this is the song that always reminds me of her for some reason -
youtube
#i tried my best to be coherent#i hope it all makes sense#matsumoto rangiku#bleach#my opinion on characters
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Loren, have you started watching Scott Pilgrim Takes Off!? I'm on episode 5 rn, interested in your thoughts if you have started watching
YES hello!
i thought it was brilliant! i loved the subversion of expectation (i mean i WOULD deffo have been happy to sit there any just watch The Story I Know yet again, but it was SO exciting when i realised they were doing something different.) i love love LOVED the animation, all the action sequences looked so fantastic, and... i loved the addition of the sparks ✨ i thought it was SO so cute. SPOILERSSSS below:
i thought will forte playing older/even older scott was a fantastic choice (channelling phil tandy miller from the last man on earth for sure)
i also adored the scene with kim and knives bonding through music, and all of knives becoming part of the band... the whole thing with todd and wallace was absolutely nuts...
i thought it was nice expanding on all the exes stories and having ramona go in and make up with (most of) them. the story with roxie was particularly good and had me tearing up! and i was absolutely sobbing by the end of the series haha although i think a lot of it had to do with the nostalgic angle for me and how much i'd loved the movie as a teen hahaha and then having the story come back for a third time in my life in a way that felt kinder and more redemptive was really something.
at first i was sad they didn't get into things like steven being gay but then i realised... ofc with it ending in a similar place 'let's try this' but also really it actually ended chronologically not long after the original story starts... it had me realise oh actually there's still so much possiblity for these characters and their lives. they could still have a lot of those adventures and discoveries that happen in the later comics even if we don't see them, it ends on the hopeful note that lets you know they're all going to try, even in the face of knowing that it Could All Go Wrong as shown by older scott & ramona's story, that there is always hope and they may as well give it a shot. BUT i also thought that part with Ultimate Ramona saying "i'm probably going to struggle with this later, so let me tell you this now, i love you" IDKKK i know to that-timeline scott that's early af but to ultimate ramona it's a real present thing since she's got all of that knowledge and history inside her. ANYWAY MADE ME EMOTIONAL also loved the visual reference to the kiss from the end of ponyo :')
.............ramona RE-BLEACHING and dyeing her hair THAT much was absolutely insane though 🤣 i've seen ppl say 'WITH A DEVELOPER BASE!?' too although I PERSONALLY believe she was maybe. mixing with conditioner. that's the only thing i could think of that would make it even remotely acceptable to bleach it that much (but also its a cartoon so ofc not realistic haha)
also i THOROUGHLY enjoyed the nicholas angel & danny butterman cameos 🤣 i was like wait why are these two security guards english.....? oh wait. oh okay. i see.
#edgar wasn't even director LMAO but somehow pegg and frost were still squeaked in there#i also thought calling the director 'edgar wrong' was so funny#loren talks#scott pilgrim takes off#ANYWAY it's made me want to go re-watch the movie and then re-read the comics and then#re-watch the series again haha#also hi es if ur seeing this im making slow progress on sketching for u#may still be a while but the ideas ARE flowing
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Throwback to when I was really hyperfocused on this moment because WHY EDWARD???
(An Engine of Many Colors - Season 22)
(This post can be seen as a 2x5 post! This is also a very long post. 😶)
Why EDWARD, of all the other characters, was the one to be crashed into, had the dream not ended? The easy answer could be "Oh, it's because 'A Shed for Edward'! They're trying to connect the episodes!" But that doesn't make any sense to me, for some reason.
The significance Edward had to situation at that point was very little. He was being being relocated temporarily to another shed, along with Thomas, which James knows about since he was just being pulled from the wreckage when that happened. It was obvious that some of the engines would have to sleep somewhere else when the crash happened (though it irks me that the Fat Controller didn't move every single one of them away because that cannot be safe to sleep in 💀).
What was a significantly bigger moment during those episodes was Edward warning James moments before the accident took place. Maybe that's why Edward showed up but why as a "victim" of the crash? Again, the simple explanation is that its foreshadowing the events of "A Shed for Edward" that are starting to take place at the same time. But what about James' perspective of things?
How would James know that the events from that episode took place, starting the evening of the accident? The guy's stuck at the Steamworks. Hell, he probably had no clue Edward was at the Steamworks two days later, two days after the main events of "An Engine of Many Colors" took place.
(An Engine of Many Colors - Season 22; A Shed for Edward - Season 21)
Why didn't Edward show up as one of the characters warning James about crashing? Why did he take the role of being crashed into and not the role of warning James? And why was he the only one to be to crashed into, had the nightmare not ended? James doesn't crash into anyone in his blue and silver liveries, narrowly missing Philip and the goods train in the latter, but in his green livery, he nearly crashes into the back of Edward's goods train, which could've gone very, very wrong.
Could it be because Edward was the first to be sent away from Tidmouth to live somewhere else temporarily that James began to feel guilty? Was it because Edward, along with Philip, was the last engine to see James before things went wrong on his way down Gordon's Hill?
I'm definitely overanalyzing and overthinking this one but I just couldn't get it out of my mind. Like why Edward? Why not Emily or Thomas, who had warned James about his brakes from the start?
Going back to why Edward wasn't given the role of warning James in James' dream, I think I have an idea as to why. Let's go back to "All in Vain."
In "All in Vain," James, with some hesitance, trusts Edward to help him out without making fun of him, when it turns out that James ruined his fresh coat of paint. Edward does him the "favor" without rubbing it into anyone's face, and from the look of things, he never told James that he explained the situation to the Mayor and Sir Topham Hatt. Now what about it?
Is it possible that James' dream didn't put Edward in that role because he knows, deep down, that Edward wouldn't rub it in his face? About not listening to his warning? Compared to Philip, who was taunting James, Edward was being pretty damn serious. It could explain why James' dream didn't give Edward that role. Now as to why Edward was the only engine for James to be crashed into, I'm not sure, at least from James' perspective.
Now the simple and probable explanation could be "It's a dream! Dreams don't make sense!" which is very valid, because what was Diesel doing there? Throughout "The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor" and "A Shed for Edward," James never interacted with Diesel, yet he showed up.
I have a theory for this. Remember how Thomas and Rosie showed up twice, both times warning James?
This is definitely a stretch but what if someone else was supposed to show up in Diesel's spot? What if, voluntarily, James forced someone he disliked to show up out of fear of seeing someone he didn't want to see taunting him? Notice how it changed to James' face after Thomas passes by, which just shows potential fear. As if he's holding his breath for whoever is next. And when Diesel passes by, he still has that expression, as if waiting for something worse.
Theoretically, Gordon could've come up next as the one warning him in Diesel's place, considering he showed up seconds prior warning him. However, this would be inconsistent as Gordon is heading in the same direction as James is. While this show does have the tendency to completely disregard track placements of the engines multiple times, such as in "Emily in the Middle," it didn't do that here. But let's completely knock that one out because, remember, this is a dream. They don't make always sense.
So why not Gordon? Well, think about it. Does James really care about Gordon's opinion this much at this point of the show? No, not really. Even in Pouty James, he did not care about Gordon's opinion. He's long gone past that "phase" of trying to be approved by Gordon. James is his own being, and that's that.
So who else could've been in Diesel's spot, following my theory? Emily. Going back to the beginning of the episode "The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor," Emily is the first character to warn him about his brakes. She also appears in James' first dream, and, if we want to consider the magazine stories canon to the television series, Emily has a sibling relationship with James, being an older sister to him (which lets be honest, its definitely canon). How do think James would've felt if Emily had showed up, taking all of that into consideration? Probably frightened. Probably because lets go back to "Pouty James."
In "Pouty James," Emily is taunting James about his attitude but in a different way. She does it with reason to get something into his head (or smokebox-). In "Tale of the Brave," she mocks him and scolds him (and Gordon) about teasing Percy. Based on James' reactions, it seems that James is used to this and knows that Emily means well. It wouldn't completely make sense why Emily could've been the other person.
So who else could it have been? Edward.
While the show is infamous for having many inconsistencies with character writing, especially when it comes to the relationships between them, their relationship was restored back to how it probably should've been following "Old Iron" with the episode "All in Vain." But since then, we don't know how their relationship was. It was pretty ambiguous. We just knew they were friends, and that was that. We didn't get to see the two interact much until "A Shed for Edward."
The minute Edward warns James about going so fast, James brushes it off as Edward worrying too much. And when Edward comes back to Tidmouth Sheds momentarily, James just smiles cheekily and blushes out of embarrassment when the Fat Controller calls him out, which is an unusual response. Usually, James gets flustered and angry when he gets called out like that but not here. To me, it comes off as an overdue response to Edward's warning. Something like "Well, I guess it happened. :'D Oops."
We know that at this point, James trusts Edward because of the events in "All in Vain," which I spoke about a while ago. To summarize that post, James doesn't expect someone else to defend him with an explanation when it comes to messing up, but Edward ultimately broke that belief for him. He has others to support him, and one of them is Edward. However, in this situation, Edward isn't there, as well as his other supporters (like Emily) so James is on his own.
So could the dream where James could've crashed into Edward and his goods train been a sign to that? A sign that his support system isn't there? That they won't be home waiting for him. The only thing waiting for him is mockery. And when he ignores the dream, the next dream tries to bring Edward back, only for James to manage to gain some control and turned him into Diesel instead.
...
That's all I gotta say. :] Take this with a grain of salt. If none of this makes sense, then don't worry about it. I've been having trouble writing anything that seems to make sense and isn't just a bunch of unorganized notes. :")
This was something I had on my mind a while ago. Finally got to writing it down. Starting off as just questioning it but I decided to overanalyze it like I do with things like this. Again, this could be easily explained because its a dream. Dreams don't always make sense. Things and people can randomly show up with no reason.
#thomas and friends#ttte james#ttte edward#her train of thoughts#every single time i saw that image#i just went ''WHY EDWARD???''#ttte emily#ttte rosie#ttte thomas#ttte diesel#ttte gordon#ttte philip#ttte
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My mind is eating itself with the Magnus brain rot again, so have some random thoughts on the first two Magnus Protocol episodes:
• I love Alice and Sam *so* much. Insert 'I've had them for a day' meme here.
• I wonder how long Alice has worked for the OIAR (the fact that looks so much like 'liar' is interesting/weirding me out). Did she always not care or is that learned behavior?
• "I've seen people go weird." Who? When? I'm really worried it's going to be Colin next. He is giving me flashbacks to that one statement from TMA about the security guard that ended up as the equipment...
• Speaking of equipment... those computer voice sure were familiar...
• Don't get me wrong: I love it. It just concerns me. XD
• I do wonder if it is a case where it *is* our Jon and Martin or just *a* Jon and Martin. Or something else entirely. (The first case concerns me on this part: "Arthur? Is that you?" "Some of him.") Maybe it's just their voices stripped from all the tapes of TMA... idk. It is nice to hear them again though.
• I had almost forgotten how much I love hearing those two voices and the writing of TMA. The writing of the cases is *so* good. It makes me want to eat the words.
• That moment in the second episode case where she mentions the scrapping of bone and you suddenly, horrifyingly realize she isn't just talking about "fixing" the painting anymore... 💋🤌
• There is a weird moment in the second case of the first episode though... where the message is posted about "Canaries don't belong underground" and it is immediately replied to by the user 'UndergroundFlowers' and that was so jarring to me. I legitimately can't tell if it is meant to be jarring and something to take notice of or just a weird coincidence.
• Speaking of weird patterns: the case categories. Both the Magnus Institute forum thread and the Ink5ouls story is categorized as "transformation [subtype]" when I would have categorized it as, like, 'mutilation' or 'removal' or something. And I can't tell if that is a quirk of the filing system or of Sam which is interesting.
Idk. I have so many meanderings thoughts and I just want more show. XD
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rapid fire list of my smosh-related opinions:
noah grossman needs to have been phased out 3 months ago. people acting like FREELANCER contracts are so fucking ironclad and that's why smosh couldn't do anything are so disingenuous. they phased out saige in 2022, they could've very easily done the same to noah -- they just didn't want to.
eat it or yeet it was fun for the first few episodes, but they ran it to the ground when they realized it was a hit with the locals/casual viewers and they needed those numbers. it's SO absurd that they made 89 episodes and it got really boring, really fast. (i'm glad anthony got to be on it before they got rid of it tho)
i've always found garrett annoying and unfunny for the most part. he's maybe said one or two funny things in all of my time watching smosh and i will never understand how some people stan him or find him attractive.
to be clear even if they replaced garrett as host on eioyi, it would still be boring and stale to me.
i miss kimmy being on camera. she wasn't the funniest and the smiley sunshine persona can be a bit much but she was one of the better sketch actors imo.
i do not want the og smosh games cast back. it's also weird they keep bringing up smosh on their ogsog content. i'm glad they appear to be on good terms with ian and anthony but unless there's ACTUALLY a future collab in the works they need to stop namedropping smosh so much.
i don't necessarily miss saige on smosh but i do miss damien and saige as a couple.
i don't care if people don't like anthony or don't find him funny, but the way a LOT of fans (mostly on twitter and reddit) blatantly disrespect him, the fact that he started smosh, and him literally reuniting with his best friend, just bc they got rid of the unscripted series on main really pisses me off. also he's not to blame for EVERYTHING wrong with smosh today.
HOWEVER, that being said, i do believe there was a better way to transition smosh main. they could've had anthony do a speed run of all of their unscripted series to give them a proper goodbye, and THEN uploaded the sketches.
EBE was a hit or miss, but when they did it well they did it REALLY well.
other than ian, anthony, and finnerty, syd and olivia were their best sketch writers.
people who are genuinely mad that they have memberships now are overreacting. i get that paying for anything sucks but if you're an adult with a job in a first world country $10 USD a month *maximum* really isn't that much. also, they're independent now, that's just the reality of capitalism.
people who act like smosh is above any and all criticism genuinely terrify me. they're a youtube channel and a company, and as audience members we're allowed to critique them.
the old smoshcast was better than smosh mouth, but i might be biased bc ian did host most of them.
agree to disagree was a good series, but they botched it when they started using more serious prompts which caused a lot of viewers to lose respect for some of the cast for problematic opinions.
i used to like olivia but considering she was only in 30 videos last year and she really doesn't seem like she cares anymore, i don't get how they expect any of us to still care about her. also she posted something in support of israel on her story, but hardly anyone knows about it.
i love the guy but shayne doesn't need to be in every video. i get that he brings in the views, but jesus christ.
smosh pit theater is their best pit series, followed closely by beopardy.
i find a lot of their defy era series on pit eg sleepover, show with no name, put it in my mouth, etc to be really boring and i’m glad they got out of defy and sarah whittle was more in charge of pit.
i didn’t like angela at first but i love her now.
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Hey anon, I have screen-shotted your ask because I am going to try stay out of tag/term searches here, which in an of itself probably answers your question XD
So! Thoughts as they occur to me!
I did give the whole first season a watch. Partly out of giving it a chance, partly out of morbid curiosity, like when you can't look away from something awful happening in front of you even when you really want to close your eyes.
What I think is interesting actually, is that my main issues with the show have somewhat changed since I initially watched it. While watching it my only thoughts were "wrong, wrong, that never happened, wrong, wrong, wrong, look how they massacred my boy (gn), wrong!" And while those thoughts themselves haven't changed my main issues have changed to focus more on how it's such a badly structured story (the timelines feel both stretched and compressed in a way that doesn't add anything to the stories being told) and how I don't think it knows yet what it wants to be (it's Tolkien, but it's its own thing, but it's a 'prequel' in the very modern franchise sense of the word to the PJ films, but it's also not those films).
For the structure, I personally wouldn't have put two major stories into one show. I don't think there's the time for that. Both the Akallabêth and the creation of the rings exist as very sketchy narratives that cover extremely long timeframes. Original content was always going to be needed to fill the gaps. But by putting both tales into the one show, I feel they've doubled the amount of gap filling needed while halving the amount of screentime they have for it because there's now twice the amount of canon to cover (tbf, they don't seem to want canon so maybe that's not an issue for them...). To force them to run simultanously and then add original content that isn't just filling the gaps but appears to be completely original, you end up with a story that is both too empty and too full. Nothing is getting the time it deserves. Big moments feel undeserved or rushed. It takes the wind out of its own sails. (and that's without mentioning that these stories running alongside eachother just throws timelines and motivations out of whack, but I refuse to get us all bogged down in the minutiae of my grumblings!)
It's a pity, the story of the fall of Númenor and the creation of the rings have such good parallels, but that would require them to focus on things like religion and politics etc and they seem to be more interested in mystery boxes, so... oh well?
In regards the show's identity crisis, to be fair to them, that's really not that unusual in first seasons. They're not special XD Let's face it, how often have we all been recommended something that came with the caveat 'you need to get through the first few episodes/first season before it gets good and finds its feet'? Especially fantasy and sci-fi that has to establish facts about the world as well as characters in a way a drama set in the real world doesn't. I wouldn't be shocked to learn that the show hits its stride a bit better in later seasons.
However, my current biggest gripe with the show is what I'm seeing in the writers' attitude to storytelling. I can't stand it. The actor for a certain someone whose name begins with H didn't know who his character really was until after shooting the first few episodes. There's the back and forth of is it H or the guy who fell from the sky who'll turn out to be the villain. Sky man even gets some stalkers whose only purpose was to add confusion to this situation and then be immediately killed, no further context. One of the writers (I don't remember who) when asked about deviations from canon said something to the effect of 'we don't want book fans to be episodes ahead'. It's the modern Marvel school of story-telling. It's mystery boxes and twists and fears of spoilers and people knowing what's coming next. That's not how you tell a story. You need more substance than that. Big moments are only interesting if you've earned them with a well crafted lead up. And what's the point of a big moment if it adds nothing to the story in the first place. They had one of fantasy's most iconic villains, why was there a secret? The Second Age is where he's cracking out his most rediculous long cons. The man's twirling his mustache while kicking up his feet and writing 'evil' into every date in his diary for at least a millenium, what does a secret identity add to this story really?
Don't worry, I will move swiftly on from the topic of my boy who is not really my boy before we get in too deep... No one needs to hear that... But do you get my point? Big reveal. No substance.
To add a note of positivity, I actually really like Sky man's music. It's genuinely a really nice piece of music. I also liked that they wanted to add one of the 'original' orcs, that's a cool concept!
Oh! And whoever okayed those American 'stage-Irish' accents needs to be fired into the sun :D
#anonymous#answered asks#sorry for being vague i'm jus trying to stay in my corner#it's nice here#hope it makes sense?#i didn't know how much or how little detail you wanted so you got a weird middle ground
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In Defense of the Other Teens
Hello besties :)
SO how about that last episode huh? I've certainly seen a lot of interesting takes and cool art and all that come from it!
And I'm... Here to offer my two cents.
Alright y'all, a few things before we actually get into the meat of it. First, this is a long post. Like, even by my standards this post is pretty fucking long. I hope that I'll be able to keep you entertained throughout at the very least, but maybe grab a cup of tea or coffee or the like before venturing under the cut.
Second, my stance on things will become pretty clear I think fairly early on, if you haven't already put two and two together from the title of this post. That said, there are some fairy bold claims I'm gonna make here, and the fact of the matter is some of them may very well be disproven as soon as today's Teen Talk drops. But I wanted to get this out beforehand, partially as a show of faith in a certain someone, and partially cause honestly I think it's good to practice giving oneself room to be wrong about things. That said, there are still many other points that I think remain important regardless of what we find out next episode (or in teen talk), and I hope you'll find those interesting as well.
Next, honestly, the first few chunks of this little essay really start out as more of a rant/vent than a tight analysis, and I kinda start things in a weird spot if I'm being frank with you, so maybe just try to bear with me for the first few parts, ok? They're still important for the bigger picture I'm trying to paint.
Finally, if I come off as a little extra salty and sassy in this one, I am, but I *promise* it's all in good fun. :)
Alright, so let me tell you my thoughts about Lincoln.
You know what I think? What I honestly, genuinely think? Linc is the most selfless of the teens by a long shot. Like, there's literally no competition. Enough "all he wants to do is help other people and all they ever do is betray him" with respect to Mr. TalkedGrantIntoAPanicAttackThenLeft and more appreciation and recognition for Lincoln Li SayHiToYourDadForMe Wilson, I'm begging you. I could sit here and start listing examples of Linc's selflessness to you for a good long while, but really no set of examples could better illustrate what differentiates Linc from the rest of the teens than this exchange:
**
Scary: "Chosen one…""
Jodie: "Bat’tholemew, we don't use those words."
Scary: "Somebody they wouldn't expect."
Taylor: "It's me. It's got to be someone that they don't expect."
Scary: "Yeah."
Taylor: "Yeah."
Scary: "It's got to be somebody who's really earned—"
Taylor: "Somebody who’s really earned—"
Scary: "—the respect."
Taylor: "—the right to... And all the knowledge of all the animes together…"
Scary: "Somebody with more knowledge than anybody else."
Taylor: "Someone with— who knows what to do. S… "
Scary: "Somebody who knows what to do to step up."
Taylor: "Somebody who can step up and be the chosen one."
Scary: "And be the chosen one."
Link: "Hey…"
Normal: "Guys, I think… I might be the chosen one…"
**
Yes, funnily enough, it's Linc's absence here that says a lot about him rather than his presence.
What's more, I frankly just don't think it's fair that Linc can do *so much* for the people around him but the *one time* he decides to do something that (seemingly) goes against Normal's plan, it's depicted as some ultimate act of betrayal or Linc "giving up". I feel like we significantly understate how much the other teens *have* done for the sake of Normal's plan (seriously, are we actually gonna ignore Linc stabbing his leg on a candy cane- TWICE??), and how much they've lost in doing so. If every time they fuck something up undoes everything they've sacrificed or done right, well, that's quite the negativity bias!
So why don't we talk about Linc's decision, actually. Did we just witness Lincoln finally snap? Has he given up on Normal's plan to help the doodler? Has he given up on using empathy? Did Lincoln Li Wilson choose the easy option? I would say no! No to all of those! And I think especially upon a relisten of the final moments in the last episode, Linc's train of thought when he breaks the pic is actually quite clear. And yes, this is about Linc showing empathy towards Scary, but I want to talk about the actual implications of that a bit further as well. Let's start by looking at the final bits of dialogue leading up to the breaking of anchor:
**
Linc: "Scary, what are you even doing?"
Scary: "You gotta destroy it"
Linc: "We can't- you just heard the Doodler's gonna make the world worse it's gonna kill we just gotta find something, why do you have to destroy it-"
Scary: "You don't know that!"
Linc: "I mean you don't know it's not that way we can find another way to destroy it"
Scary: "No, Willy said that it's easier to control if we destroy the anchors"
[ANTHONY EXPLAINS THE SPECIFICS OF WHAT WILLY WOULD HAVE TOLD SCARY]
Linc: "Well we're not gonna do it that way okay, come on like, the easy way is-"
Scary: "Who died and made you the leader?"
Linc: "The easy way is usually the bad way right? Sometimes the better thing is harder."
Scary: "This is easier what you're just gonna tell the pic 'Oh I love you I'm so nice to you' and it's just gonna give you all its secrets that's not how life works."
[LINK TRIES SAYING I LOVE YOU TO THE PIC AND NORM EXPLAINS THAT HE ALREADY TRIED THAT]
Linc: "Okay well like you're right it's gonna be hard but- I know it's not a person but I don't want more people to die we've already killed enough people like can you just do one thing with us and just try to find a way to make this-"
Scary: "The Doodler is gonna kill more people you're not seeing the bigger picture!"
Normal: "What no, Linc don't listen to her!"
Scary: "Listen to me!"
[AND THEN LINC SNAPS THE PIC]
**
Okay there's... A lot to unpack here. I'll start by pointing out what I think are a few key things to take note of:
- Linc is seemingly adamant on choosing the empathetic route and not letting any more people get hurt
- Linc affirms that sometimes the harder route is the better one
- Scary rejects the notion that simply saying "I love you" or otherwise being kind in words could actually do anything
- Norm says "don't listen to her"
- Linc's decision to break the pic only occurs after Scary says what she does (above point), seemingly in conflict with what he himself said only moments prior about not taking the violent route.
What I think needs to be understood about Linc is that, more than anyone in the group, Linc's decisions are calculated. Yes they often catch us off guard (seriously the amount of times Linc has done something that's made me actually gasp in shock is a bit crazy), but once the dust has settled, his decisions are always clearly consistent with who Linc is as a person and his philosophy, and accordingly, never come from a place of selfishness. The humor of it aside, when Linc says that he never misses any shot that he takes (:( Can't find the exact quote), he is entirely correct (and admittedly while I probably should gather various examples to show you what I mean, Linc swapping places with himself and Nicky really is the most perfect demonstration I could possibly ask for, as it showcases both Linc's aforementioned selflessness and how Linc's seemingly shocking decisions are never actually accidents or executed with uncertainty on his end). Try to keep these above points in mind as we move forward.
Next, let's consider the pros and cons for Linc of breaking or not breaking the pic, as seen from Linc's perspective. I suppose the general impression I've gotten thus far is that many people seem to be interpreting Linc breaking the pic as a likely (or sure) sign that he has "given up" on Normal's plan, and given in to choosing the "easier" route. This, I perhaps a bit boldly argue, raises a number of questions and ultimately implodes in on itself as an interpretation after even a brief consideration of them. At the most basic, and perhaps least interesting level, it's not like it would be that hard to search a little bit for some demonstration of love (especially with a certain pair of will-they-won't-they partners not too far away... Though I feel like the pic also could have been interesting as applied to some of the other characters around right now? Anyways...) You could say then, that maybe Linc simply doesn't care about using empathy, and has ultimately lost confidence in Norm's plan by this point, so he takes the path of absolute least resistance cause, well, whatever. But wait, didn't Linc *just* say that they weren't going to do things that way, and that he doesn't want more people to be killed? (You might say then that he thinks Scary has a point on "not seeing the bigger picture" and believes that choosing violence here will result in less deaths, but frankly I just don't think there's anything promising or compelling enough about Scary's argument here for Linc to have any real reason to believe it, all the more so given Willy’s involvement). Are we to think, then, that Linc changes his mind purely on a whim, and a whim influenced by Scary of all people no less? Frankly, I see this as a severe underestimation of Linc's strength of character, and this is where we really do need to consider the degree of calculation and confidence that goes into Linc's decision making and risk taking. What I'm saying is, Linc simply doesn't fall victim to selfish impulses that way (and within the group this is a quality unique to him!). Moreover, even if Linc might have his doubts in Norm and his plan, he still has significantly more reason to go with that than to listen to Scary. Seriously, Linc has every reason to not listen to Scary here. When it comes to what Linc cares about the most, Scary has without a doubt harmed Linc more than the Doodler ever could (The significance of Tony Pepperoni being stabbed in Linc's home in front of his dad c a n n o t be forgotten or understated!!!). Even if Linc didn't care at all about showing empathy to the Doodler, if he were acting purely out of selfishness he would still have more reason to do so if only because it means not giving the satisfaction to or otherwise helping Scary (and Willy).
But Scary is confused, and Scary is lonely, and from her perspective she probably does feel betrayed. We (and Linc) are given some important information regarding Scary in this episode. Firstly, we get a glimpse into how Willy has twisted things and convinced her that violence is the better option (not because it's easier per se, but because more people will apparently be saved in the long run). Second, Linc finally understands what Scary needs... Or at least what she doesn't need. Specifically, he understands that simply saying "I love you" isn't enough. He understands that Scary will never believe it no matter how many times it is said, and that to really prove to Scary that she is loved and get through to her, he needs to show her, has to prove to her that, despite everything, he is still on her side.
Linc, I dare argue more than any of the teens, has so much reason to leave Scary behind. But he understands her now, and, against Normal's wishes, listens to her. In a weird way (if I'm not dead wrong about this whole empathy thing), this kind of is Linc's "throne of the doodler" equivalent. It would be so easy to not break the pic, to not choose to (help and) empathize with Scary after all the pain she has caused him, but that's not the kind of person Linc is, and I hope the points I raised earlier make that reasonably clear.
So no, I don't think Linc chose the easy option. I think he believes himself when he says that sometimes the harder route is the better one, and followed through on this when he took his shot.
Sincerely, if you think the Doodler is just a scared teen deserving of empathy and sacrifice and making tough decisions, but Scary isn't, then I think you've missed the point. The Doodler is just acting out and needs help, but when Scary or Linc break an anchor through violence (be it violently empathetic or not), we give up on them? We hope for Normal to abandon them when they're hurting and depict it as deserved or even righteous? I can't get behind that, I'm sorry.
Furthermore, whereas Norm would certainly be justified in feeling concerned for the Doodler's sake if Linc's actions count as an act of violence, apart from that like, if Norm chooses to interpret Linc reaching out and showing support to someone as lost and alone and in need of help as Scary as a personal attack against him, either as a betrayal of their friendship (Norm is very jealousy-prone we’ve known this from the start!) or as a direct attack against Norm's perfect little violence-free narrative that lets him be the hero regardless of who gets left behind wait does he actually just hate Hero cause of her name hm, then that is, respectfully, completely a problem with him, and not with Linc. I think if Normal actually snaps from this, then his entire philosophy of choosing empathy is based on a lie, and Norm just wants to follow the narrative that allows him to be the hero on paper, so that everybody finally loves him.
Well that's a bit harsh huh. Believe it or not, I'm genuinely not trying to throw Norm under the bus here. But... I am trying to expose his flaws and shortcomings in relation to the other teens. This is important moving forward, because in refusing to seriously acknowledge the fact that Norm, while still having plenty of good in his heart, is someone who can be quite self-centered, and ultimately cares about being well-perceived and loved first and foremost, we become blind to the ways in which Norm, like Scary, is vulnerable to future instances of manipulation. That bit on appearance vs. true compassion isn't mere interpretation, by the way, Will has stated this quite clearly in episode 27 of teen talk (and in general I'd really rather not rely on that kind of bonus content in these sorts of posts but, well, it's hard to ignore this):
**
Will: (In reference to Norm's scene in the pride layer) "I feel like I understand Normal better now, like a kind of darker side of his psyche that's different from Henry... Like Henry's very concerned with being a good person but I don't think is super concerned with whether people like him or not, whereas Normal is like a little concerned with being a good person but *mostly* concerned- it's two different ways to solve love [he explains what it implies for Henry], the other is 'if everyone else likes me, that means I can take that in as well'."
**
I need to stress that I am not trying to imply that Norm is anywhere close to being a bad person, btw. Normal, like everybody else, has his flaws, but has proven that he has plenty of good qualities as well. What I *am* trying to imply is that Norm does have a tendency to put himself at the center of things, and is from a more meta standpoint benefiting from a narrative that puts him at the center of things (more or less guaranteeing that he will be seen as a hero of sorts no matter what- evident even in how fandom largely depicts him vs the other teens), and I'm just saying that if ever he found himself in Oakvale by some chance he might really appreciate the enforced anti-violence initiative put in place by the town's noble leader who really just gets him and praises him and-
I know (almost) nobody wants to hear this, but if Normal actually had a villain arc, it would most likely consist of him falling down the same path that Barry did. Barry was a hero, on paper. And the people around him certainly saw him as such, and loved and accepted him in some sense of the word, which is what he truly wanted at the end of the day. And he got rid of all the violence!!!
But none of that makes Barry a good person.
*sniff sniff*
Hey... Has anyone else noticed the distinct lack of stinky weebs in this post?
As much as I myself am a bit more interested in the Linc side of things right now, I do need to talk a bit (or a lot) about Taylor too. My little guy! You haven't even had a proper, serious character arc yet and people have already decided that you don't have a shot vis a vis the upcoming anchors, despite easily being the most emotionally resilient and stable of the group. You know what, I'm gonna throw in most loyal too. If you'll humor me...
Taylor may not be the most empathetic of the teens (in fact, he may very well be the least), but this doesn't mean he doesn't care, and doesn't mean he isn't kind in his own way. What's particular about Taylor's brand of loyalty compared to the other teens that I think might make it a bit easy to overlook is that it while it is very strong, it tends to be reserved only for the people he chooses to call his friends (oh, and his mom!). There's no question of Taylor's choice to disregard what Nick tells him and go back to save Linc from the FBI, it embodies some of the most fundamental parts of who Taylor is as a person. Which I guess is to say that, there are ultimately only so many people Taylor chooses to have in his circle, but those bonds are extremely important to him, and he really is ride or die about them. I think that this aspect is most obvious when looking either at Taylor's relationship with Linc or Cassandra, but also with Hermie actually! Oh, and similar to the example with the FBI, Taylor's response to the whole Tony situation is perfectly consistent with this aspect of his character as well. Tony was not part of Taylor's circle, not someone he chose to let himself get attached to (because when Taylor gets attached to someone, it is indeed a very deliberate choice), so no, he's not gonna care that much about Tony's death. But he is bothered by Scary's betrayal. He is bothered because, even if they weren't the closest, Scary was, I would argue, still part of Taylor's circle. And yes, he is bothered by Linc leaving him alone in the last episode for the same reason, except that in this case it's probably worse actually. I know I'm straying pretty far from the original topic here, but still I think it's worth exploring the interesting position this puts Taylor in going forward, especially with respect to Nick.
("Seriously baba when did this become about Nicky literally what are you talking about right now?")
Thus far, Taylor has made it very clear that no, he is not going to allow Nick to be someone he becomes attached to. There's a risk, in loving and becoming loyal to someone as strongly as Taylor does, and Nicky has not yet proven himself to be a risk worth taking. So what happens next? Nicky is (finally) around after all, so what might the future hold for little Taylor? On the one hand, Nicky's "words of advice" might begin to get through to Taylor, which could leave him in a pretty dangerous position. Taylor takes a big risk every time he lets someone in (everyone does but Taylor more than all the others because of how fully he loves and trusts and protects, is what I'm saying- er... He's a lot like his dad that way actually!), so what if Nick convinces him that nobody is worth that risk, and that everyone you hold dear will ultimately betray you? Well, I think we'd be left with a very lonely Taylor! Conversely, what if Nicky decides to prove himself worthy of Taylor's love? What if Taylor comes around and lets him in? ahaha shit I feel like there's a bad joke to be made about Taylor keeping his dad at arms length and his dad not having any arms right now god fucking damn it what even is this post. Will Nicky be able to maintain that trust? If he abandoned Taylor again, after Taylor has allowed himself to become attached (or if something happens to Nicky cause lets face it horrible things tend to happen to Nicky), I think Taylor might finally have a hard time getting back up.
What the fuck was I talking about? Oh yeah, so I guess going back to Norm, on the one hand, I guess on the more extreme end Taylor could actually take Linc's actions very hard, in which case I actually could see him sticking with Norm as an act of self-preservation. That said, I don't personally feel that this will be the case, that Linc is still ultimately in Taylor's circle, and accordingly Taylor's loyalty towards Linc will persist, albeit perhaps with a seed of doubt sewn at the back of his mind. And I don't think in that case that it's fair to frame this as Taylor betraying Normal? As others have pointed out, Norm frankly just hasn't really earned much in the way of Taylor's friendship. Really, as far as I'm concerned, Taylor doesn't really owe Norm much of anything at all. From the very beginning Norm has made it clear that he doesn't particularly care for Taylor, and ultimately has let his own jealousy and desire for attention (especially Linc and Hermie's attention) get in the way of ever really getting to know or appreciate Taylor beyond the surface level. Would I call it betrayal for Taylor to choose to continue to support his best friend instead of the guy who told him that anime isn't real? No, and I think the double standard is pretty obvious if we consider the reverse. That is, if Taylor chose Norm over Linc, after everything he and Linc have been through, would we be framing Linc as the victim of some grand betrayal? I genuinely don't think we would, at least not to the extent that we would with Norm. I suppose I'm saying all this, because well as aforementioned I just find there's been a lot of undeserved cynicism towards Taylor, and I think a lot of it does genuinely come from Normal's privileged position within the narrative as its de facto "hero" and what is most convenient for maintaining that image (and when I say "hero", that does include "righteous villains" who "deserve(d) to snap", just so we're clear on that).
Hmmmm I kinda wanna talk about Taylor and Normal as each other's foils but this post is getting a bit long isn't it... *Sigh* Not today, no, not today.
......Okay but still I have to say that if Taylor actually does finally get his "main character moment" I actually think that would be a great opportunity for Norm to acknowledge, reconcile, and learn to cope both with his jealousy and the parts of himself that are self-centered. Conversely, if Taylor does for one reason or another stray a bit too far into the habit of keeping people at arm's length out of fear of abandonment, betrayal, or the like, I think he could learn something from Norm too (having trouble phrasing exactly what I mean here, so perhaps I'll save the full notion for another time!)
So that's... Yeah, I think that's the most important stuff. I debated on sort of elaborating on examples of Norm's major character flaws, but despite everything my intent here was first and foremost to offer a "defense of the other teens" more than anything else. Though I will say that I think there is something to be said about how Normal's self-centeredness gets in the way of his ability to actually help those around him (Grant and Taylor both being great examples in "The Staircase"), how this contrasts with Linc's willingness to actually listen to and figure out what Scary needs in this most recent episode, and accordingly what Normal could potentially learn from Linc about not just choosing the route that's easiest for you.
#AND IF I'M WRONG ABOUT LINC'S INTENTIONS HE AND SCARY STILL DESERVE EMPATHY AND PATIENCE AS MUCH AS ANY DOODLER#dndads#dungeons and daddies#lincoln li wilson#normal oak#scary marlowe#taylor swift dndads#taylor swift#if you actually read all of this thank you so so much#:] and feymarche again so many thanks for giving me your thoughts on this piece beforehand you're a real one!!!#nick foster#nicky freeman#seriously it's very nerve wracking to post this before the teen talk ahaha but listen someone needs to defend this poor boy#and Taylor in a different sense lol#and Scary- always Scary#normal oak swallows garcia#normal#hommies even if you don't agree I hope you still enjoyed some part of this!#It took me so so so so long ahahaha#dndads s2#dndads s2 ep 29
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