#so here are my 2 cents on why it IS in fact in character
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notes on “the runaway”
the more i see people discuss how strangely sokka’s character is portrayed in “the runaway” the more i cannot help but feel that all my ad hoc rationalizations and justifications as to why he would contradict himself so greatly might actually be meaningless. why would he allow the gaang to endanger themselves for foolish reasons when he is the overly paranoid voice of caution in literally every other episode? why would he be so easily swayed by toph’s manipulative promise of buying him a fancy atlas when he’s literally holding her wanted poster? and most crucially, why would he say that he sees katara as his mother when no other episode in the show indicates that this is remotely the case?
this episode is great for katara and toph, whose hangups are compellingly explored here. i won’t get into the common misconceptions about katara being “motherly” or why they’re even at loggerheads to begin with, as i’ve discussed this at length in the past, but it’s actually undeniable that the assumption that katara is the de facto “mom friend” stems primarily from this episode, where toph all but outright accuses her of fancying herself their collective mother. however, katara becoming “the mother” of the group is very much a post-toph shift in her character, and you see her femininity being accentuated in contrast with toph’s deliberate lack of femininity also being linked to this sort of maternal role that she occasionally adopts, especially around toph. but i don’t actually think the issue is one of katara being a smothering, maternal figure towards toph, but rather a miscommunication regarding power, gender, class, and community vs independence. when katara and toph fight, it is for far more complex and nuanced reasons than the notion that katara is simply too overbearing. if anything, it’s the way in which she is overbearing that irks toph, just as toph’s rudeness is not the central issue, but rather that toph’s values (those of total independence and freedom) are misinterpreted as malice by katara (who values community and collaboration), and vice versa.
something very crucial to understand about this episode is that katara is not actually mad that toph endangered their group by pulling fun scams. katara has endangered their group countless times in the past to satisfy her own impulsive desires (and yes, she wants justice, but toph similarly rationalizes her scams through the lens of achieving moral vindication). katara would be all over toph’s scammery, would come up with scams of her own, would be having more fun than anyone—had she been included from the start. which is exactly the point. it is her exclusion that foments her critique, not the subject of their act itself (and the reason that you could not replace katara with sokka in this scenario is simply because toph would never exclude sokka in the first place). but katara would never admit that she is hurt by toph’s exclusion aloud, because katara is an extremely proud person. and a prideful, wounded fourteen year old is not going to thoughtfully use “i statements” as if in a group therapy session with the equally prideful twelve year old who deliberately excluded her; no, she is going to lash out. (lest we forget that in their first real episode establishing their group dynamic, katara literally mocks toph’s blindness. hardly an okay thing to do, in my opinion!) their conflict stems from their differences, but also from their similarities. they are both proud, angry, powerful, stubborn, and must assert their dominance at all times. it’s clear they both want to be friends with each other, and at times they are, but it is really only in this episode where they are able to cross a threshold that allows them to be truly honest about more meaningful insecurities than simply their looks (although i do of course find their exchange in “tales” beautiful as well). and you know who is instrumental (albeit reluctant to interfere) in facilitating that growth? sokka.
i’ve gone more in depth in the past analyzing why sokka’s speech in this episode regarding his mother and katara isn’t exactly as it sounds. i personally interpret his admission, that katara has always been there for him and that her face is all he sees when he tries to picture his mother, as an illustration of his codependent attachment to her, as she is the very locus of his identity. this interpretation is compounded by the fact that when kya’s face is finally revealed later in the season, she does bear an uncanny resemblance to sokka, which to me signifies the way in which sokka sublimates his own face for katara’s—which is also deeply unhealthy, but in a different way than an older brother parentifying his younger sister would be.
the fact is that there is simply no indication throughout the entire show (including this episode) that sokka views or treats katara as a parent. there are of course moments wherein she supports him emotionally or materially, but most of the time she is in fact teasing, tormenting, undermining, yelling at, or otherwise making life harder for him, at which point he is far more likely to act as her guardian figure and admonish her while simultaneously helping her get out of whatever mess she’s caused. and considering that sokka’s defining moment is when hakoda stakes his identity to protecting his (ontologically special) sister (which, as we know, as the bearer of kya’s face, in fact means dying for her), this dynamic makes far more sense than the other way around. i know that people commonly portray katara as the voice of reason who cleans up sokka’s messes, but besides a couple examples, it’s consistently the other way around. yes, it’s very easy to assume that sokka’s speech indicates that he sees katara as his replacement mother, but we cannot take this speech at face value if we are also to take the rest of the text into account, which we must.
but then there’s also the other glaring question that must be taken into account: why would sokka even allow all this? considering the first thing toph bartered was the sword he has painstakingly crafted just an episode prior, why didn’t sokka just pull the plug then and there? it really doesn’t make sense that sokka wouldn’t take katara’s side just for practical, logistical reasons. even if she doesn’t really care about the own point she’s making (as demonstrated by the fact that the scam she devises literally lands her in jail), sokka would see the logic in it. but... he does. he is the one to first discover the wanted poster, and he immediately points out to toph that their scams are drawing undue attention to her, and that they should put an end to it now that's it's putting them at risk. and yet, toph successfully bribes him, and so he continues to participate. why? what about the prospect of having money is so appealing to sokka that he’s willing to risk his precious rationality and caution for the potential of acquiring more of it? well, it’s actually quite simple.
toph is scamming for the thrill of the game. she loves proving the kind of men who undermined and demeaned her all her life wrong. she loves humiliating the people of the world who had once humiliated her. she’s not someone who values earthly possessions or really even understands that money is a finite resource. to her, these scams are a matter of ego. aang is also scamming for the thrill of the game. he loves a prank, a bit of mischief, getting into some tomfoolery. he loves spending time pulling hijinks with his friends. it’s funny, it’s fun, and it’s lucrative on top of that. but it’s clear that he views it as a game. now, sokka similarly enjoys pulling these scams. he adores toph and clearly finds it nearly as satisfying as she does to watch her destroy the egos of men thrice her size. but even more potent than his adoration for toph, is his appreciation for money.
when katara put them all in danger countless times in the past, it may have been to enact righteous justice, but it was never materially beneficial to sokka. sokka is a very practical person, and growing up in a state of colonial abjection taking on the role of provider for a couple dozen people mostly comprised of elderly women and small children makes you appreciate the value of goods and resources in a way that an aristocrat and a monk do not. you may be asking, "are you really arguing that sokka would undermine his own values and endanger himself and his friends so readily for the prospect of financial security?" to which i would argue that you underestimate how truly cynical sokka is. of course he loves money and food he doesn’t have to catch or forage – see: his appreciation for the immediate luxury of ba sing se that everyone else finds so stifling. he is not spiritual; he is attached to earthly possessions and the immediate physical needs of those around him. so of course he loves a material object. in his own words: “i do believe in the power of stuff.” because even when sokka is supposedly being uncharacteristically foolish or naive, he is in fact nonetheless promoting the cynic’s agenda every step of the way.
“the runaway” is a good episode, perhaps even a great one. however, it has also lent to some of the fundamental misinterpretations i see of katara, sokka, and toph that are constantly thrown around (including the occasional citing of this episode to justify that aang apparently “sees katara as his mother”). so in some ways, i do resent this episode for begetting those strange and incorrect takes, even if i think that in a vacuum, it is well-executed. it is an episode that complicates our characters, adds nuances and shades of grey to their pre-established characterizations, but does not actually rewrite them. sure, if this was the only episode of the show i had ever seen, i too might assume that katara was the maternal and responsible figure of the group, toph was a careless and rude little bitch, and aang and sokka were idiots who relied solely on katara’s infinite well of long-suffering guidance. but even within this episode, that is clearly not established to be the case, and if that notion is not sufficiently undermined by the episode’s conclusion, it is quite clearly by the episodes bracketing it, which provide crucial context through which to inform our understandings of the choices made in this episode, and why they are indeed interesting, but nonetheless do not reflect the characterizations established in the series as a whole.
#id in alt text#analysis#katara#toph#sokka#aang#katara&toph#katara&sokka#this episode is sooo#well. i like it#but the things it has done to how this fandom reads the gaang dynamic#is just. goddawful#so here are my 2 cents on why it IS in fact in character#but simply. no one is reading is correctly#feel free to disagree tho you can just straight up think its a bad episode thats okay too#i love katara and toph fighting in the mud sm tho#how could you ever hate that. i ask of you. how
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Live-Action Promo Pics - Sokka
I’ve been hesitant to comment much on the live-action series, as most of the discourse has revolved around the casting. I’ve already made my ideal ATLA fancast pretty well-known, and I don’t feel comfortable harshly critiquing children/teens for not looking like my favorite cartoon characters. At the end of the day, it’s the casting directors that we should hold responsible, not working actors trying to make a living.
However, I have no problem reviewing the costumes--- which I presume were made by industry professionals of adult age. In fact, I’d say the goals of this blog obligate me to give my two cents. So enjoy my completely subjective take on the promotional costumes:
Sokka
What I Liked
They remembered his bone choker. That’s nice.
The little circles with the rings are interesting. I guess they add some extra protection while allowing for some flexibility.
What I Didn’t Care For
Most of it.
This is not faithful to any of Sokka’s battle outfits, nor is it inspired by anything cultural, nor is it very practical.
Why is there only fur under his shoulder pads? Shouldn’t it be lining his whole outfit? Why is his shirt skin-tight? Wouldn’t that make it hard to move around in? What’s up with the fishnet around the collar?
He looks like a reject Final Fantasy character with all the extraneous doodads on him.
His bone choker is too bright and plastic-looking. The bone beads should look worn, off-white, and not-so-uniform.
One point for the necklace and one point for effort/creativity. Overall, I give it 2 boomerangs out of 10. A swing and a miss.
Not gonna lie, I’m pretty disappointed. Inuit armor is awesome-looking and they didn’t even bother trying to incorporate those elements into the live-action adaption:
@chiptrillino has a great culturally inspired armor design for Sokka here.
#avatar#atla#Avatar The Last Airbender#water tribe#atlaculture#sorry I got a little spicy here guys#this design is mainly just confusing to me#and my inner 2000s internet critic came out
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Seeing how there only 10 episodes left do you think Rachel will rush the ending?
The way I see she needs to somehow resign Apollo reign, reawaken the God's, have Persophone defeat Kronos, have Persophone create Elysian, stop the entered winner/killing of nymphs and humans, hell we don't even know what is Leto end goal and what is her whole role in this series other than manipulating Apollo to be king. We don't even know what exactly she did with Zeus (but knowing Rachel she made Leto the other woman despite the fact she was another respectable goddess)
Imo I think Rachel is officially done done with her series and know her viewers are fed up with her constant milking of the series. You can even see it in some of her work where you know she just gave up (unless it's her self insert scenes)
On a side note another thing I should point out is the anti climax of Leuce and Thetis. Besides the fact she made Leuce another other woman the way she made Leuce expression during Persophone home Invasion made it look like she wasn't going to back down. Only for her to make be forgotten 3/4 of the final arc and is never mention again. Persophone didnt even ask Hades how does he even know Leuce. So unless Rachel has plans for her again that was the last time we saw her making that whole plot unless.
While Thetis plot.........
I'll be honest she just got a slap on a wrist and Rachel just insert Achilles as a way to bait her audience/trying to make a cultural reference. Tbh I thought Thetis would have a bigger story like fast-forward she believes she gotten everything she wanted and is now Queen only for the Trojan war occur and she only lost her status bur her son. Thus making the scene a poetic justic/tragedy.
I'll finish this off since I don't want to run my mouth about this series so here's my 2 cent. Rachel is putting to many Greek mythologies in her series that a) she has forgotten about characters b) everyone is now expecting her to have this series be all wrapped up in a nice bow when it actually be worse c) and because she has so many subplots they are left unresolved or unsatisfied
Oh, Persephone created Elysium already. It was literally just this LMAO
Okay in all honesty I don't know if that was actually meant to be Elysium, but I remember seeing people comment on the S2 finale when she was bee-burping at Kronos that she was creating Elysium at the same time as fighting Kronos and I just... yeah okay? But they literally haven't even name-dropped it since the trial. This is what I mean when I criticize Rachel's writing for depending WAY too much on reader headcanon, because not only will she just roll with whatever her fans theorize, she'll do so without actually writing it into the comic so unless you're in the FB groups and Discord, you're probably not gonna pick up on every little decision Rachel made because she's making them with half a thought and a quarter of the effort needed to express it. It means people can say whatever and she'll just take credit for it like "yeah! that was Elysium! totally! you get it! okay moving on-"
As for the Leuce thing, Hades deadass met Leuce when Zeus offered her up as a bride, which Zeus explained to Persephone during the S2 finale arc-
-but again it suffers from a lot of the same issues of Rachel not expanding on her ideas and just resolving them with some other random plot convenience. Why would Leuce be so obsessed with getting with Hades that she'd make up fake text messages? Rachel just really didn't want Hades to be interacting with other women in the 10 years that Persephone was gone, so she had to make Leuce delusional for it to work ?? Why would she go so far as to tell Hades about the text messages if they weren't real the whole time?
-but then of course before Hades can respond to this, Persephone interrupts, meaning the plotline can be put on the backburner until Rachel comes up with a solution to it-
-and then we got to see Persephone 'resolve' the issue by harassing Leuce in her home, and it was only until after THEN that Rachel finally went "no it's fine that Persephone vandalized her home, the text messages weren't real!!! see??? Leuce is just a delusional nimwit! She deserves it!"
And yeah the Thetis and Achilles thing is yet another 'plotline' that Rachel only introduced to try and legitimize her comic as a Greek myth retelling. Just about every myth she tries to portray is done vaguely and without any thought for the world they're inhabiting, it's all just lip service.
At the end of the day, a lot of the writing in LO is 1.) trying to make up for the lack of plot development in the first two seasons (hence why we're now getting sudden lore dumping about how the seasons work) and 2.) trying to make up for its lack of Greek myth set pieces because Rachel has now been openly called out for being arrogant in her 'knowledge' of Greek myth and it has people analyzing just how little Greek there is in this Greek myth "retelling". It's especially apparent in the second season when the whole thing is just self-insert fantasies about Hades and Persephone living together until the plot finally has to get moving again. Every now and then Rachel remembers that this is supposed to be a retelling, so she'll throw in some random Greek myth reference like the Colchian dragon or Aphrodite marrying Hephaestus or Thetis and Achilles.
It's very evident that Rachel never learned how to write a longform story or planned to make LO as long as it is and the story has suffered all the more for it. And it sucks because that's not the story I got onboard with back in 2019-2020, but that's where we are. Ironically, as much as I criticize LO for not having enough Greek myth influence in it, I do think the story would have been far better off if it just stayed as a cheesy office romance fluff fic. It's clearly what Rachel wanted to write but either she or WT (or both) got ahead of themselves and took on more than what LO - and Rachel - were equipped to follow through on.
#ask me anything#ama#anon ama#anon ask me anything#lore olympus critical#lo critical#anti lore olympus
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I really like the concept of "what if the Asl brothers swap parents?" so here is my 2 cents to it:
Ace:
He swaps with Luffy. Obviously that would change his character quite a bit bc his daddy issues regarding Roger are an integral part of his character & how he views the world and himself. He'd still have some issues but well, if you are forced to grow up in a forest full of monsters and mountain badits bc your dad decides to fight the government and dump you with your clinically insane grandpa you'd probably have some too.
Ace has heard a lot of things about the Revolutionaries. The government and nobles would describe them as vicious devils. Some common folk would describe them as delusional.( One small group can't change how the world ticks no matter how hard they try.) Others would describe them as saviours and beacons of hope.
Given his personal experience with corrupt nobles (Gray Terminal fire), Ace understands why Dragon would want to take down the World Government as it stands.So he wouldn't really dwell too much on it and focus on his own ambitions.(Become a famous Pirate). If his father wants to be a Revolutionary then so be it.
(Also he'd definitely remind Garp about it with a smug face whenever the old man brings up joining the Marines.,which never fails to earn him a "fist of love")
Another core difference would be that he probably doesn't try and challenge Whitebeard.
I'm not sure if I remember this one properly but Ace's main reason for going after Whitebeard was that Whitebeard was Roger's Rival and Ace wanted to prove himself as quickly as possible. So if it hadn't been for that I think Ace would have sticked more to exploring the New World, improving his skills and spreading his name. He'd be a lot more laid back and sure he carries a big secret with him but it doesn't fell nearly as much of a burden as it did with Roger.
Naturally Marineford never occurs which would change things up quite a bit.
Sabo:
Sabo swaps with Ace. Sabo is a lot more level headed than Ace and would probably take the fact that Roger is his father a lot better than little Ace. That being said he would still carry certain worries and fears with him for life. What if people find out out about his secret? Would they hate him? Would they leave him?The Marines could show up and execute him any minute now.
I'm not sure whether Ace and Sabo would grow up together since infancy or whether Garp dropped Ace of at Dadans when he was older but either way the two of them would quickly grow fond of each other. Like in canon they only have each other and in a way they can bond over their secret.
Sabo doesn't hate Roger the same way Ace does. Sure he was supposed to be this terrible Pirate but one day he plans to set sail and become a Pirate himself. People would speak and think ill of him anyways he thinks.
I don't want to put him in Ace's position and make him a Whitebeard Pirate bc I doubt Sabo would be as bold as to attack an Emperor unprovoked.
Sabo still sets sail with the goal to be free and explore the world and write a book about it like in canon.
Him and Ace would probably be "rival" pirate captains. Everyone assumes there is some sort of history between them and that they are enemies but in reality it's just two brothers having a pissing contest over who can sink more Marine ships.
Luffy:
Luffy swaps with Sabo. While Ace and Sabo somehow find themselves in a little more favorable position in this Au, Luffy would find himself in a much worse position.
Being forced to wear clothes he doesn't like,restricted meals,being forced to study boring stuff,Luffy would absolutely hate all of this. His parents neglect him and abuse him verbally and emotionally on a daily level so naturally Luffy runs away like Sabo did.
Luffy is loud, eats a lot ,runs around and he loves to explore so the live of a noble would absolutely kill him on the inside.
He goes to the Gray Terminal and meets Ace and Sabo. He follows them around like in canon and when the Porchemy incident happens they finally take him in.
I'm not sure how he gets his df but since Zoan DFs are said to have a will of their own I think the fruit would have found it's way to Luffy with or without Shanks.
The part about Luffy being taken away from his brothers would definitely be different. Luffy is not Sabo. When Sabo got taken Ace trusted that Sabo can take care of himself and that he'll find his way back to them eventually.
But Luffy isn't Sabo.Luffy is their little crybaby brother who still can't protect himself. Who would give up his own live for something as trivial as keeping quite about their stolen treasure stash.
They know Luffy will suffer in High Town. Luffy knows too but he'd gladly trade his freedom for his brother's lives and they hate this.
Luffy would have a tougher time trying to escape then Sabo bc he is younger and clumsier.
Meanwhile Sabo and Ace would desperately try and make plans to free their little brother.
Maybe Dragon's ass actually helps during the fire or they end up forcing themselves to ask Garp but I can't see them leaving Luffy to his fate.
Luffy's pirate journey wouldn't change much though i guess his wanted poster having just "Luffy" means that some people don't view Luffy in the same light.
#one piece#luffy#sabo#portgas d ace#asl#monkey d. luffy#asl brothers#ace#monkey d luffy#portgas d. ace
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So the case of Nigga Eren/ Black coded characters in fanfic is getting WILD. Now as someone who was on tumblr when people would lowkey get weird if you asked for a race specific fic NOW it’s like because of that lapse in representation and the new wave of tumblr, there’s this overcompensation online for Black users to feel seen and build community. Sometimes I wonder if the writers know how to even write a fanfic (not because they are bad 🫤 but the fact a lot of them just seem like self insert smut) ((arguably that’s all smut on here but still work with me)
As a tumblr user in my 20s with an account over ten years old, I feel like I can kinda Grandma the situation. Both sides have a point which is why the arguing isn’t going anywhere. I believe Black women can be attracted to negative, toxic masculinity. (I personally don’t read alot of x black reader fics cause it’s just not what I like or how I get down in real life). These characterizations bleed a bit too into the real world where these traits and ways are very unhealthy, toxic, and unsafe.
“ITS FAN FICTION.” Bitch I don’t really care and watch who you talking to…
Both sides tryna have an absolute opinion is really annoying and y’all lowkey making Black centric fanfic an annoying community. 1. Yes, we all can ignore what we don’t like 2. Yes, there’s WAYYYY too much toxic nigga coded material to even get to something someone DOES LIKE 3. Whatever your age it’s okay to say I’m attracted to toxic behavior AND like to express it in writing. 4. If you don’t like it it’s okay to have a critique. But y’all blowing the Fuck outta me now 😂
Now imma lowkey be a little mean. NO no one wants to read a hood/ghetto coded White dude or Asian. It’s lame in real life, it’s lame online. Whatever YOU like (as a black person) IS ON YOU. Im not into Wiggas and Chiggas though. And as someone who identifies as hood or from that upbringing it’s a bit *anti-Black* to see every characterization of a MALE is black coded and unnecessarily controlling, possessive, RUDE, inappropriately horny etc. Like you are using REAL LIFE IDEAS OF PEOPLE to get your rocks off…take accountability for how that OBJECTIVELY looks…
All in all TBH enjoy what you want but nothing in life has EVER said what you like, what you do, and how you do it can’t be criticized. And I personally resent Black women who are not of a certain experience and obsess or fetishize men of their own race who simply come from a different lived experience (+ having an accent yall also fetishize) it’s weird…
You can be black and be a part of the problem, y’all not gonna stop cause you don’t ACTUALLY care but imma add my lil two cents…
#black fanfiction#black reader#x black trader#nigga eren#black fem reader#black fanfic writer#black fanfic#aot x black reader#eren x black y/n#eren x black reader#can y’all lowkey shut the fuck up lmaooo#for you
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So, I wasn't gonna post anything about this, honestly, but because I was directly asked, here's my 2 cents!
First, I want to thank you for saying you trust me with this! I'm also on the ace-spectrum, and I'm a queer, bisexual woman, so I do have a lot of empathy with you and everyone else who was down for queer rep.
(Also, I do not have Anon turned on for my asks. I absolutely respect your privacy, but I've been harassed before, and if people want to come at me, they can do it with their whole chest. Similarly, if people want to come TO me, I'd love to be friends!)
I want to start off with the fact that whilst I understand that you believe the article, I don't. Call it the skeptic in me, or my media literacy classes during my grad program or denial or what have you, but we live in a huge era of misinformation. A tabloid is not likely to be any kind of reliable source, and a random reddit user even less so. It's like making a balloon full of pudding and having a clown say it's helium. We're not going to know until the needle pops it. Surely, no one would ever lie on the internet.
That being said, as much as I yearned and wanted for Demi Colin to be confirmed, it's not set in stone, and so it couldn't have been taken away from us. Honestly, even being ace-spec, a lot of the HC of Demi!Colin started putting a bad taste in my mouth when I realized that a lot of this predominately cishet fandomw as doing it as a means of keeping Colin 'pure' for Penelope, and that struck me as incredibly acephobic. Sure, they were HCing him as one of us. . .but not because it fit with his character or provided a rich and interesting arc for him to explore, but more so that his identity was an extension of their hopes and wants for Penelope. It wasn't for him as a character, but for him as a prize. And that made me so very sad, so my dream of Demi!Colin died when I saw that happening so frequently. Us Demi and Ace folks deserved better than that, and we continue to.
Either way, I think you are absolutely allowed to feel your disappointment! This is a frustration safe zone! There was a lot of potential this season, especially for Colin, that I feel has been dropped. But even IF that article contains some truth (big, heavy IF). . .idk, I see it through the lens that lot of us Demi folks have had sex. Even no strings attached sex. I know I have. Was I disassociated from it for a lot of the time? Yeah. Was it satisfying? No. But did it happen? It did. I chose to take part in it, and they were experiences that helped me grow. And I am no less Demi for it! IF this article is true, instead of us freaking. . .I feel like it could tell us a lot about Colin's character.
He is a man who has had, largely, no good role models in his life. Not in this regard. Who does he have to guide him? Anthony? Literally said he should have taken Colin to brothels. Benedict? Hell, he had a threesome himself. Why wouldn't Colin be out here thinking 'This is what Men do, this is what my brothers do, why not?' Colin is young. He's 23 still trying to find himself. And the entire idea of 'oh, he's a nerd! no way he's had threesomes' lol, like nerds aren't kinky? Come on, I'm a nerd and I've done way more than people would assume I have. He was traveling for months, and I think this really isn't as huge a deal as we're making it out to be. I ship Polin exclusively, and I love the idea of them having their firsts together, but I'm also not angry otherwise. In my mind, he's still demi. Just like he'll always be ND, even if it isn't confirmed.
Sidenote, o want to touch on something that is somewhat unrelated to your post, but something I'm seeing a lot is the whole 'it's dehumanizing for him to watch two women!' or 'it's lesbian fetishization!'
from the very bottom of my heart, as a gay woman, people saying that can eat me. These are the same people who didn't care about any of our representation, before. They didn't care about having lesbian characters, didn't bring them up. Now that it affects their (largely) het pairing, and specifically Colin as a perfect prize in a pairing he has largely been denied a narrative within, we're talking pieces and pawns for their discontent? No, I refuse. There are legitimate criticisms that can and should take place about Bridgerton's lack of care toward wlw, and especially that our only representation may actually just be a lesbian performance for the sake of a threesome, but this is not a criticism on COLIN. It is a criticism on the PRODUCTION. Because if we had queer women in the series before, it wouldn't be an issue. However, I refuse to have my sexuality used as a 'ewwww gross! look what they're doing! isn't that soooo wrong?' gotcha moment by people who just don't like his character. If we're gonna have a conversation about it, we should have a conversation about it based purely on our actual desire to protect and care for queer women. Not using us as stepping stone soap boxes to prop up an argument.
Queer people are really done dirty in the Polin fandom, and this is proof of it. Demi!Colin is important to me, and he continues living on in my heart and my fics, and even if it turns out that he's fucked up and down the Amalfi coastline and watched live porn, that won't make him less demi to me, personally. Ace spec people's experience with sex is all unique, and honestly, watching seems very in line with Colin's character. I don't agree with peeps who call it weird or gross that he watches porn.
This is an incredibly puritanical fandom, and I find it more and more evident as I spend time in it. The entire 'suffering' 'penance' 'deserve her' 'grovel' train was already very clear in that regard, and then people only wanting Colin to be a virgin so he remained 'pure' and 'untarnished' (legit takes I had to read with my own eyeballs) for Penelope was so Catholic on main that it made me feel insane.
Us ace-spec peeps deserve to be and should have the space to be upset at any developments taking place! We also deserve to be free from people doing pseudo pearl clutching and hiding behind feminist and queer-friendly language to disguise that they're just upset that Colin is getting anything at all in his storyline that centers around him and his own discovery outside of Penelope. Even if he isn't a virgin, he can absolutely still be Demi, Anon! And I hope that brings you some comfort.
Am I a fan of the threesomes foursomes moresomes and live porn speculation? No, not particularly. Am I livid furious throwing up about it? Also no. This series has betrayed me and disappointed me in so many ways, but so has the fandom. I guess I'm accustomed to it, now. But I want to reiterate that we should not believe everything that is posted. Some rando on a reddit forum confirming a tabloid article does not investigative journalism and peer review and confirmed sources make.
But in the event that the season does disappoint and gives us some baffling storylines: this is where fanfic can be such a comfort. It's how a story lives on in perpetuity. I've written trans!Colin and queer!Colin and demi!Colin and virgin!Colin and bdsm!Colin and all sorts! We can give we everything we want. It's our playground and it's meant to be fun.
But over my dead body will I believe a Sun UK article lol
#tagging because i was asked to make it public#polin#penelope featherington#colin bridgerton#hot takes are hot i guess?
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Okay ive seen a LOT of hate on ships here and as a multishipper, I wanted to put my two cents in and some out of five stars (I would like to state, with Moon questioning his aroace identity, ships are a bit iffy, but so long as he doesn't outright say he's aroace, I believe he feels some form of romantic attraction)
SolarMoon - 2/5:
its alright, I can see the healing relationship trope, and respect it, but the way they're portrayed together is either codependent on each other or just... So distant. plus, Moon is questioning his aroace identity so my opinion changes on this matter as his identity does too
SolarSun - 3/5:
Genuinly pretty cute, I support it. I love seeing hurt/comfort for the two, both grappling with theur trauma and losing the only person who cared for them at the time. Not really a reason for me to dislike it, just not my favorite.
Eclipse/Anyone - 0/5:
Okay, I know, I know, I just smashed every ship with Eclipse in it together, but theres a reason. One, he just kinda feels aroace to me, and a personal bias, I want the guy dead. He just sucks. I never cared for him, never will.
Lunar/Solar - 1/5:
This would be a 0, however Lunar has said, hes not a child, and his familial relationship with Solar isn't set in stone, but if they end up being related or adopted or whatever, 0/5, same goes for any other incestial ship
SolarRuin - 4/5:
I KNOW RUIN PLAYED EVERYONE LIKE A FIDDLE BUT HE DIDNT IN MY HEAD AND BESIDES, THE TWO OF THEM ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER. And when Moon told Solar, that ruin had tricked them all, the pain and disbelief in his voice, it was just so raw and emotional
Monty/Earth - 4/5:
Not all for it, Monty could be better, but honestly, really cute. I get that Earth was rushed into things but like, that happens sometimes. Unfortunately its part of life, but I think she kind of needed a non familial relationship with someone so Monty was the best thing
Monty/Moon - 3/5:
Okay so this one is iffy, early Moon and Monty, 5/5 PLATONIC partners, loved the sassy friendship, the general toxicity, and all. But New Moon and Monty? Yeah, I kinda ship it, its cute, the banter, everything. Again, if Moon identifies as Aroace, thjs becomes nonromantic, but they seem like they could have a good platonic relationship. THIS IS CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT MONTY AND EARTH ARE NOT INVOLVED
Monty/Sun - 3/5:
Again, only early sun and monty, cause now they dont have that same fling together, but early show Sun and Monty was so cute and honestly it could have happened. Im a glitter golf enjoyer outside of TSBS though, so might be biased.
Gemini/Lunar - 4/5:
Okay, I love Gemini, theyre onr of my favorite characters, and I love their relationship with Lunar, only reason why its not 5/5 is because it always feels a bit more of a Castor/Lunar thing, Pollux just never seemed all that interested which is fair
Sun/Foxy - 5/5:
Honestly, its my favorite ship, even for the joke, its still unnecessarily funny and cute
FoxyMonty - 0/5:
No
Sorrg For Any misspellings, its past midnight and I've got work tomorrow
.
#sun and moon show#the sun and moon show#tsams#sams#tsams confession#< block this if you dont want to see these#mod 1blood#ask to tag#do i tag this as solarmoon debate? its only mentioned#if anyone has an opinion here lmk
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This post by @waitmyturtles is what finally, finally led me to the conclusion what bothered me about the series so much (not just the ending) and I'm seriously wondering if this a cultural difference that I misunderstood which geniunely makes me question if I got the whole eyesight-storyline wrong or if it really was bad writing.
(and I didn't wanna mess up all the smart reblog-additions with my personal 2 cents so I made a new post for it)
It's the fact that Day never says himself that he's ready for the surgery/wants the surgery.
From the first episode on, every time they talked about the "eye donation" (which is the first problem imho, he's keeping his eyes and corneas are a tiny, vital part of them), I understood it as a plot device to show how the people around him make the decisions for Day and how he doesn't get the chance to make them for himself.
I felt like I was conditioned to think that way, every time the donation came up I had the reaction of "that's not the point here, deal with the situation at hand and not potential futures!!" and I thought Days lack of a response to the whole topic was meant to inflinct that reaction. Meant to be a sign of Days lack of autonomy and how he slowly, slowly gains it back.
But we never get to hear his own opinion about the possiblity of getting his eyesight back, even with him gaining autonomy and growing as a person, nor do we get a proper explanation by the doctors how his options look like and what a deteriorated cornea even MEANS. We aren't all doctors, we don't know the million different ways sight can be impaired and if it's temporary or not.
Which lead, in combination with Days ongoing lack of a response, to my (!) impression, that this storyline is not relevant to the message the show wants to put out, and that it's a story about how he learns to grow into his this new state of being. Which made the surgery feel like it came completely out of nowhere.
And now I'm wondering - in the context of this being a thai show and family playing a very vital role - did we not need Days explicit approval to learn that he wants it? Was his approval that he let his mom take care of the whole surgery process? Was this why he forgave her so quickly, and always turned to her, was that his approval? Because she stood for the chance of getting his sight back?
I'm not gonna discuss how Day is still a spoiled brat, the absolute obliteration of mhoks character, the unnecessary introduction of august or all the other loose ends of the story...
But with this particular point, I feel like I geniunely misunderstood something and maybe didn't do the story enough justice.
Do I still wish the narrative would've explained the whole eyesight-thing better so we understand the status of days disability better? Yes, absolutely yes.
But I also need a flagpole of signs to understand things so maybe I missed some nuance here and I really really want to know your opinions about this so please comment your thoughts!!
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I saw an ask about whether you could do a remake of F/SN in the style of FF7R and I agreed with the responder's take on the matter but I wanted to bring my own two cents in, because a lot of people when they think of "sequel", they think of the kind of sequel like Shrek 2 for instance. Mechanical sequels, where one follows directly after the other in terms of time and plot. Shrek 2 happens after Shrek 1. It's simple stuff, and this makes the vast majority of sequels.
Rarely however do we talk about thematic sequels, and I don't mean the idea of a spiritual successor (although, personally, some do count). Often times a spiritual successor is not in direct conversation with its predecessors, but often fits in a more referential or sometimes even reverent position. Many times spiritual successors aren't even in the same franchise; this is how you get games like, for example, Signalis. For an example of what I mean, let's look at the Silent Hill trilogy.
OH YEAH BABY ITS THE FUCK BLOOBER TIME OF THE POST but no really, Silent Hill 2 is often not considered a sequel at all, it's often considered a standalone entry into its franchise and while there is a lot to be understood and appreciated from the game by itself, it's not meant to be standalone. There's a 2 there. It's in direct conversation with Silent Hill 1. Part of why Silent Hill 2 worked so well for so many people is the fact that James' journey has a twist to it. It mirrors Harry's for quite a long time on purpose, before revealing that this was a trick!
Silent Hill 3, while being a mechanical sequel to Silent Hill 1, also does this. It sets itself up where it seems like its going to follow the same path as Silent Hill 2, playing along the lines of guilt, before nope! Sike! It's Silent Hill 1 baby, except we're not here to feel guilty, it's time to get revenge and end the nightmare and kill God. It's a trilogy, and the works complete each other more when combined with each other.
Fate/Stay Night is a lot like that. It's a bit more obvious in terms of what it's going for in that it is one work instead of three, but given the amount of discussions about which route is canon and what not I assume a lot of people missed it. This is why Hollow Ataraxia is the way it is. Which route is canon? Fate/Stay Night is canon, because these are NOT three standalone routes that can be enjoyed separately. They have their own merits, but they're meant to be interpreted as a package, which I understand is hard this game is really fucking long y'all.
The game disguises this by having the routes branch from each other in a pretty similar way to a normal visual novel, and presents them as a result of your choices rather than as a cohesive unit. The game also does kind of giveaway the game though by not letting you play the UBW route (with one very minor exception that leads to a bad end) or the Heaven's Feel route early. There's an order to these, you must stick with it.
These routes are, obviously speaking, thematic sequels. There's no need for the Heaven's Feel route to rehash the character development that Shirou receives in the Fate route or in the UBW route. The game knows you've read those already, and its coming in with a baseline assumption of who Shirou is. The Shirou as Heaven's Feel begins and establishes its hold over the narrative is a lot closer to the Shirou at the end of UBW than it is the Shirou at the beginning of the Fate route. We aren't grappling with Shirou's realization of self, because he's already gone through that, we need to test his ideals now and make him realize that there are things and people more important than his dream.
The three routes together represent Shirou's journey as a hero, his hero's journey if you will, and how his ideals mature and his image as a person is forged. He comes out of Heaven's Feel complete, almost as if he's lived through three different versions of those I think 20 days it's been a bit, and maybe its only through the medium of a visual novel and its mechanical framework that this journey can even be completed.
You can't make an FF7R style remake of F/SN, because F/SN is already that. It's already got two similarly styled sequels built into itself, and it even has the wacky sequel already done in Hollow Ataraxia.
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My Hero Academia Ultra Archive (May 2, 2016) - Prototypes for Todoroki Shōto and Todoroki Enji
I'm pretty sure everyone saw those images around, but the translations are a bit harder to find (at least as far as I'm involved, I'm sure other people might have found it with ease).
So, since in my country this book was translated, I thought to share the translations of the prototypes of their character descriptions.
Keep in mind they were originally thought pretty different from the original and that this isn't a translation from Japanese to English, but from Japanese to Italian to English.
For who can't see the image here's the text.
Flame Hero
Endeavor
TODOROKI ENJI
He has a fire ability and can manipulate flames.
He has a completely (not really) heat-resistant suit.
Furthermore, thanks to an armor whose surface is coated with a special oil, he becomes a super cool guy who wears an armor made of flames.
He has an honest personality and abides by law and order above all else. Due to this, even if he is chasing a Villain he also stops at a traffic light and happens to lose sight of him.
Although as a Hero he leaves something to be desired, he is loved by the people.
He is incredibly strong and is in the top 5 in terms of popularity.
He has the ability, but he has always put in the effort.
Why is he so strong?
Because he has always been serious and tireless…
My two cents: Okay, I guess it wasn't decided yet he would be Number 2. Sure is, Enji is pretty different here. In another circumstance Horikoshi said he planned to have him be an U.A. teacher, so, although Shouto is, according to Horikoshi, the first or second class member he came up after Midoriya, Bakugo and Uraraka, it's possible Enji was planned before him as a teacher and then changed to fit the role Horikoshi wanted for him in Shouto's story. With the way they present him as so honest he would stop at a traffic light when chasing a Villain, I wonder if, originally, he was meant to be some sort of gag character. The fact he's loved by the people was clearly changed, since there's plenty of discussion when he inherit the mantle of Number 1 and he's, according to Horikoshi, the Number 1 among the Heroes that looks like Villains. Endeavor in canon has fans, but has also haters.
Well, at least the fact that he's a guy who put in a lot of effort was left.
On another note... this says Flame Hero (フレイムヒーロー) but in Vol 1 chap 3 Horikoshi called him 'Nenshō-kei Hero “Endeavor”' (燃焼系ヒーロー「エンデヴァー」 "Combustion hero ‘Endeavor’”) so I guess that although "Combustion Hero" was probably meant to be Enji's original name, Horikoshi here corrected the name so that fans could easily recognize him.
By the way, here we can see the evolution of Enji's costume
In chap 1 it was more or less the same as in the prototype.
In chap 3 the arm guards were changed slightly and so the colouring but the rest of the design was the same.
In chap 28 the chest are was changed slightly, as now the flames reached the center and didn't start halfway.
In chap 34 the neck has changed, we can see the belt is different and the pants are tight and the belt is different. The boots too are slightly different. Basically it's the custom Enji is meant to wear until he'll upgrade it as he'll turn the Number 1 Hero.
And now let's move to Shōto...
Recommended student
TODOROKI SHŌTO
Definitely dark, definitely strong.
He was born from a disgusting practice called 'crossbreeding' used to further strengthen a Quirk.
His mother, who had a boyfriend, was chosen by his father for this but then she lost her mind.
She hates half of her son and hurts him.
Shouto hates her and seeks affection from his father, who however is only interested in those who are strong.
Overcoming his father, becoming more powerful than him: for this reason he aspires to become a hero stronger than his father… that is, Todoroki Enji, the top Hero Endeavor.
My two cents: Okay, Shōto originally had... part of Tōya's backstory? With him searching Enji's love and being obsessed with becoming the strongest to get Enji's love?
Well, that's quite a change. Here it seems more like Rei was turned insane not so much by Enji's abuse but by having to give up on her loved one since Shōto shows no sympathy for her...
Definitely in the original Horikoshi had planned a rather different story. I wonder why he changed it and if he was unsatisfied with the change and that's why he kept on tampering with Shōto's past. Oh well, we probably will never know.
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— Gojo and Geto, the Two Halves of A Whole
I absolutely refuse to believe people look at Gojo and Geto and say: "that's not gay".
The AUDACITY to say "they're just homeboys" when they're clearly so in love with each other and literally cannot live without the other.
The way everything about them complements each other - it's almost as if they were set up from the start to be soulmates! (they were.)
Yes bitches, I'm talking about YOU TWO. Don't give me that look as if you don't know shit started because YOU TWO decided to break up.
–
Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru, meaning natural born genius and genius through effort.
Their awful personalities and jujutsu abilities certainly make them the duo - calling themselves "the strongest" together.
If the fact that each other's presence makes them feel relief wasn't very lover-like to you, allow me to dive in deeper and introduce you to why they were the only people able to put up with each other and why in the world they decided to break up in the first place.
1. The Origin - (Credits to @/donyuji on tt)
Gojo Satoru was born with incredible abilities - both "Limitless" and "Six Eyes", making him the Gojo Clan's "once in a bazillion centuries genius" sorcerer. His god-like powers made the people around him treat him like a god by making Gojo shoulder their burdens. So when he came to think: "Why should I protect these weaklings?", Geto was the one who made him change his view.
It's such a Spiderman-like delivered line - "With great power comes great responsibilities".
Geto isn't wrong. "The strong would protect the weak" is a normalized view in the Jujutsu world. Jujutsu sorcerers serve the weak - that is their duty. But once that meaning of "duty" became a blur to Geto, his ideology was altered. We can see this evidently in these panels.
2. Geto vs. The World
The man who once believed sorcerers existed to protect non-sorcerers becomes a murderer - taking innocent lives for the sake of his unachievable goal of an "era of sorcerers". But why?
I have seen many Geto's character analyses and each one of them were very interesting! Some say he fell apart due to Riko's death (failure of the mission), others say he fell apart due to the strength gap he felt between him and Gojo growing bigger. Although they are not wrong, I wanted to toss in my own two cents and connect those two in a way.
Riko's death was only the start of Geto's downfall. When he slowly becomes to realize the ugly system in the Jujutsu world, he struggles to fulfill his role as a jujutsu sorcerer. On the other hand, Gojo becomes stronger day by day - each second, he becomes even stronger than before. His skills as a sorcerer excelling.
Here comes the power gap. Geto, who was once the strongest together alongside Gojo - started to drift away, stepping out of that "strongest" title. I like to believe that it was bound to happen - and Geto knew of this. Gojo was born a genius while on the other hand, Geto was not.
That is why he knew his goals would be unachievable and that if it were Gojo, he would be able to reach that unreachable.
He knew his skills alone couldn't make up for that gap, that's why he was obsessed with consuming and getting the power of Rika, the "Queen of Curses".
3. Geto and His Unattainable Ideals, Gojo and the Shackles as the "Strongest"
Woohoo! It's finally time to look at them side by side. If we think about Geto's goal, putting the murder and death of innocents aside, creating an "era of sorcerers" meant the strong would no longer have any weak to protect. In a sense, it's "freedom".
Gojo, treated like a god from the very start of his childhood, grew up tied down to the burdens of sorcerers and non-sorcerers. The reason he was obsessed with strength was because he didn't want to carry those burdens alone. So when Geto entered his picture, he was able to entrust those burden to Geto - he was able to share those burdens he wished to not carry alone so much.
Gojo is a lonely character. Ever since his birth, he was treated like an otherworldly being - he sat on a throne of rusted gold all by himself. So when he was finally able to find someone he could call an "equal" - someone that can match up to his strength and stand tall next to him, he felt that abyss start to fill up.
He didn't have to look down at Geto when talking to him, and Geto didn't have to look up. Shoulder to shoulder, side by side, they could proudly present themselves as a duo.
Throwing in my own headcanon - I like to think that while Geto was making a world of socerers - strong people only, he was also trying to make a world where Gojo didn't have to carry those burdens at all. Simply putting it, he wanted to set Gojo "free".
A world where nobody had to rely on Gojo's strength - where he didn't have to use his powers for others, where he wouldn't be used for his title as "the strongest", and where he could use his strength for himself.
But because he had been stopped by Gojo, that era never came and Gojo had to continue act as his role as a jujutsu sorcerer (Then eventually - he became a teacher, teaching at Jujutsu High of course).
In fact, Gojo came to use his power more because of Kenjaku - having to save more civilians, only adding weight to his title as "the strongest"; as the higher-ups visibly expects a lot from Gojo, setting standards that other sorcerers cannot surpass.
4. Soulmates and Their End (or not..?)
What's a couple without some angst, right? As much as I love Satosugu, they were (sadly) meant to fall apart. Gojo felt true happiness in this world and Geto didn't - they were bound to fall apart.
No amount of kisses or sleepovers or movie nights would’ve ever changed that. This is why we cope with fanfics!!!
We all know - but as an honorable mention, I cannot leave out this single line delivered by Geto as his last words.
"You should at least curse me at the end."
Fucking "You should at least curse me at the end."
I love how creative Satosugu fandom is! I am never shown mercy. Ever.
Mr Loverman is basically their song because of this. If I hear Mr Loverman within a 10m radius, I will start bawling on the floor.
We ended up connecting this panel with the one above and came to a conclusion that they did, indeed, love each other.
Though Kenjaku was able to take Geto's body because it wasn't cremated, I have seen people say it was the blank lines Gojo said that "cursed" Geto - and that being why he gained consciousness when Gojo called out his name.
If they didn't break up, I bet none of this would have happened. I bet Gojo and Geto would be teaching at Jujutsu High together, being all snuggly, cuddly, and unbearably cheesy and melt into ugly puddles of goo at each other's awful pickup lines.
Gojo and Geto were more than friends - even Gege said it himself. I need Gege to flash a huge text on the sky that says "Gojo and Geto were dating" like the Bat-Signal so that EVERYONE can realize that they have fucked and made out on the sheets.
-
Am I mad at Gege? Yes. Am I mad at Gojo? Yes. Am I mad at Geto? Yes. Will I ever stop gaslighting myself into thinking Gojo and Geto are happy and nothing happened? No.
This post was just for funsies and the majority of it are my headcanons - but! I hope I have ruined your day and doubled that Satosugu agony.
Therapy bills not included ♡
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SAVE RISE OF TMNT!! 🐢 💖
Look, I know this is a little late, but I just binged the first season of the show and watched movie, so I NEED to talk about it!
This movie is gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous! And so is the show. I never thought that I would ever describe fight scenes as beautiful, yet here I am.
I'm ashamed to admit that I was one of the many people who didn't give ROTTMNT a chance when it first came out, but allow me to present my reasoning:
Teen Titans Go! 😑
I'm pretty sure everyone between 2016-2019 would agree that we were all pretty burnt out on this show.
Honestly speaking, I didn't hate TTG. It was funny at times, and even though it was mostly a parody of a show that I deeply enjoyed, I never took it as disrespectful. It was just that, a parody show.
However! The people running Cartoon Network milked this show waaaayyy too dry. It was everywhere!
I present to you all as evidence: The Cartoon Network Schedules (There are no dates, so let's say that these were between 2017-onwards).
And these idiots wonder why their network was slowly dying off...
But aside from this! The second reason for folks disliking the show at first was also due to the fact that TMNT 2012 ended only a year after Rise started airing.
So suffice to say, this show wasn't given the warmest welcome.
BUT! It was wrong of me to misjudge this show, because it is a GEM!
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles formula is all mixed up here! From the characters themselves and their distinct designs, to the beautiful worlds they explore (seriously I can't express to you all how pretty this show is), and the comedy aspect is handled really well.
The same goes for the movie. You can tell that the people behind it really put their heart and soul into what they made.
As for the turtle brothers, I appreciate how realistic their brotherhood was. You can really feel that familial connection they all have. They all love each other, they know that, and they bounce off of each other perfectly. Just like real brothers do.
I encourage all of you to watch the show and movie on Netflix if you have it.
Unfortunately though, Netflix has once again screwed us over by not have each of its seasons. I have yet to find a website that has all the episodes of Season 2, but if you do, please let us know!
Now, onto why this is important...
Well, the creators have told us...
If the movie does well...
WE GET ANOTHER SEASON OF RISE!!
AND. We get more characters! Including a certain female turtle who has not been given a chance to shine until she debuted in the IDW comics.
Yes. We might get Venus De Milo back. And maybe Jennika. We'll see.
So please! Watch this movie! I beg of you!
But that's just my two cents! I hope you all have a fantastic day, and I'll see you later! Byeee! 💗
(I'll put a few different tags for this so we can get more traction for this movie/show. Hope that's alright!)
#rise of teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of tmnt#rottmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of the tmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles movie#rottmnt movie#teenage mutant ninja turtles#tmnt#tmnt leonardo#tmnt leo#rottmnt leo#tmnt raphael#rottmnt raph#tmnt donatello#tmnt donnie#rottmnt donnie#tmnt michelangelo#tmnt mikey#rottmnt michelangelo#rottmnt mikey#rottmnt 2018#rottmnt 2022#tmnt venus#venus de milo#rottmnt venus#teen titans#teen titains go#obey me#obey me!
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The Mishandling of LO’s S3 Mi(n)season Hiatus - Part 3 1/2
Here we go, Part 3 of my analysis of the current FP episodes - a three-parter episode set leading up to the midseason finale of LO.
Part 1
Part 2
Truth is, I had actually forgotten a lot of the weird (and very stupid) shit that happened in this episode, that I thought Episodes 251 and 252 had already offered up the worst that this three parter set could dish out. Boy, was I wrong, because when I went back to check out Episode 253, I was reminded of a reality that my brain had wiped out in an attempt to protect my withering psyche-
I also forgot just how long this episode is. It's so long that I frankly can't even fit it all into this post, so this is gonna be part 3 1/2.
Anyways, let's just get on with it. This is the final stop on our trip into absolute nonsense.
CAUTION: THIS IS PART 3 OF A 3 PART SERIES IN WHICH I WILL BE SPOILING MUCH OF EPISODES 251-253. THIS WILL BE A LONG POST. BRACE YOURSELF.
Well, it's the midseason finale, and what better way to open it up than with the final title card-
Typo and all. It wouldn't be an LO episode without one. Granted, IIRC this typo has been edited out, but the version of the screenshots I have from it feature it in all its original unedited glory. So enjoy that.
And yes, just like the last two times, the title itself only applies to the final cliffhanger, which is an absolute doozy especially for those who were there to experience it in real time.
This is already a bit of a wild opening compared to the last two episodes, but it's quickly revealed that this is laying the foundation for the prophecy that Psyche gave to Apollo back in Episode 252. In true LO fashion, the story can't actually be linear in any regard, we're always segmented from pieces of information at a time. Loyal fans will call this a "writing style", I call it Rachel just trying to get another 70 cents out of me.
That said, I will say the art here is fairly decent, but I think that just goes to show that LO's one of worst features these days - ironically enough - is its coloring. What began as its strongest feature has now become one of its biggest weaknesses due to the sheer laziness in its rendering and the colors become more and more saturated into the grotesque over time. So at this point, you pretty much have to rob these characters of their colors to make them look decent, and of course at that point it just further highlights Rachel's same-face problems. She definitely tried to make them look distinguishable here, at least, with Hestia and Poseidon being the most unique.
Now, this isn't the first time that we've heard of this herb being referenced - it was stated by Hades that Hera was the one to originally poison Kronos with the herb after gaining his trust - but to see it suddenly just pop up and play a role again out of nowhere already gives me a bad feeling in my stomach. It feels like yet another plot device - especially when presented in this type of format - that Rachel is suddenly using to try and seem "unique" in her writing, much like the strange narration we got back during the "Run For Your Life" sequence. It's just once again LO lacking any specific identity, it's always trying to be a million other things at once.
I will say, much of this in and of itself is panel filler. Why? Because the location of the herb doesn't matter. You'll see what I mean in a moment, but the mentioning of Anthedon plays no role here, it's just yet another obligatory "see, I know how to Google things!" lip service moment from Rachel "self-proclaimed folklorist" Smythe.
Anyways, Eros is perplexed by this but Psyche immediately catches on, knowing right away that Apollo is going for Zeus. And this is where we get yet another one of the dumbest sequences in this comic.
(see what I mean that the location of the herb doesn't matter? Because Apollo already got it and laced it into the cupcake).
Now, first of all, the fact that Eros and Psyche believe Kassandra's prophecy is already hilarious in and of itself, because ... well, because it literally defeats the point of her establishing it as a curse in the previous episode. Unless it only works on mortals? It never stated as such, so we literally just have to go with it and pretend not to notice that.
But most of all, of course LO had to play this off as some joke. Like, "hahaha how awkward! I've already eaten the cupcake!" and he still doesn't seem to really be in shock. Zeus has seen what this herb has done to gods before him, and yet his reaction to this is akin to a dad getting upset that he stepped LEGO's that he asked his kid 20 times to pick up off the floor. The whole "record scratch" style formatting of this followed by Zeus' lack of reaction just really makes me not care about any of this, because clearly the story doesn't care either.
But we don't see who he makes these calls to because the comic, of course, can't spend any longer than 10 panels on a single scene, so we cut to Hades and Persephone.
Again, I don't know what the point was of having Hera relay this information to Persephone for her to relay to Hades, aside from the fact that Rachel needed to act smart with Therapy Speak that didn't even apply to Hera's situation (as we talked about in the last part). They gotta make Persephone the center of everyone's world though, so it's Persephone who's delivering this info and trying to come up with the solution.
Hades, though, wants to focus on his wife's birthday the commemoration of spring.
SIR. THE WOMAN YOU WERE IN AN AFFAIR WITH SINCE BEFORE YOUR WIFE WAS BORN IS CURRENTLY GRAPPLING WITH YOUR FATHER WHO ABUSED HER AND IS NOW HAUNTING HER. THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FLUFFY ROMANCE TIME. THERE IS A CHILD BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN TARTARUS AND LITERALLY NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.
Anyways, apparently (for some reason) Hades is the one who has to go meet Demeter out front. Even though Hades has literally NOTHING to do with this ceremony, it's not his domain, but Persephone literally says "yep, that's correct" when he asks if he needs to go out to meet Demeter.
This just feels like such a pointless conversation and I don't get what the point of this exact exchange is. Again, this isn't Hades' domain, so I don't see why he needs to be the one to go meet with Demeter.
But then, of course, to make matters worse, this man has the absolute audacity to pretend like he's never done anything wrong to Demeter. As if she should be obligated to be cool with sharing a bench with this man who literally terrorized her for years and then essentially groomed her daughter.
I hate him so fucking much and I can't believe we're supposed to be rooting for him. He has not undergone ANY of the character development necessary for me to want to care about him.
Anyways, Hades has a seat with Demeter, and the conversation is very brief before Hades says that he has a gift for her. And what is it, exactly?
Oh great, Hades. Sure wish you would have had this consideration hundreds of years ago. I fail to see what good this does for her now because it doesn't change the fact that he still cost her the role of Queen of the Mortal Realm and treated her like shit for hundreds of years. This comes across as such a shallow and empty "apology" because it's barely even a "gift", rather something she was OWED back then that he didn't want to hand over for his own selfish reasons. He still comes out the winner here because he's gotten to spend thousands of years being a rich slave-driving oligarch while Demeter has had to maintain the Mortal Realm on her own even without the glory of having a title.
I especially detest this "twist" because it's less of a twist and Rachel finally accepting the fact she couldn't come up with anything better than what her fans had to come up with for her. If this had been the fact the whole time, we would have seen it established back when we first got those flashbacks showing Hades being a total prick to her over the volcanoes. Instead, Rachel dragged it out for weeks and weeks until finally dumping this "twist" that her fans had been talking about all that time. This is yet another one of those "Rachel used her fanbase to come up with her ideas" moments. I know that that seems a little mean and presumptuous, but the fact of the matter is that the writing in this story is such an absolute mess that you just know Rachel's writing by the seat of her pants and has to rely on her audience's headcanons to actually fill in the gaps of her story. Most of the time when people commend her for the "great storytelling" in LO, what they're referring to are things they came up with entirely on their own because of how easy it is to just make assumptions about LO's storyline. Rachel benefits off the story being as vague as possible because then her fanbase will fill in the gaps with their own assumptions and give her all the credit for an idea they came up with.
By the way, to the "self-proclaimed folklorist" who wrote this, the volcanoes were really just entrances into the Underworld. Hades did not own them. They were owned by Hephaestus. And I would argue that the volcanoes were only seen as "entrances" into the Underworld because, fun fact - if you jump into a volcano, you die!
Hades frames his reasoning as feeling like Demeter was pushing him out of the Mortal Realm, but this makes no sense because none of that is on her. He claims that he felt like an "outsider" but the reality is that he made himself that way. He resigned himself to being King of the Underworld, he ate the pomegranate and made the deal with Erebus, and even he stated that he could still actually leave the Underworld, just not for long periods of time. So he was the only one keeping himself away from the Mortal Realm, not Demeter. We even see that in the VHS tape flashbacks where Hades stumbles onto Demeter's property and she lets him sleep it off in her home. So this whole sob story about how he felt "pushed out" by Demeter is such a bad take from someone who's routinely known to make himself out to be the victim. Because Hades can't have an actual reputation for a reason, no, this is a "retelling" told by someone who got all their Greek myth info off Tumblr circa 2016 and the front page of Google, so Hades has to be the misunderstood uwu sad underdog. Even though he routinely does things that reinforce the reputation he has within the comic, like being a slave driver, abusing lower class nymphs, and grooming teenagers.
Minthe showing up for a split second in the background is the best this comic has been since S2. We stan our girl Minthe, fucking run girl, do what Persephone couldn't do. She's the real hero of this story (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ
And honestly, I'm sorry, but Demeter really SHOULDN'T be taking the high ground on this. She has more than enough reason to be upset. For a comic that tries to celebrate feminism and holding abusive men accountable, it sure is willing to make the women - often victims of the men - the real villains who have to "do better". Except for Persephone of course. Persephone is married into the system now, she doesn't have to "do better", she's a "boss babe" for being abusive and petty and undeserving of her status because she's the self-insert Y/N character.
So the ceremony for commencing Spring begins. I gotta say, for the final major scene of the mi(n)season finale, the art is severely underwhelming. You can really tell the difference between S3 and S1 art here, there's barely anything extra done to make this scene even half as impactful as the most basic of scenes from S1.
Like, it's fine, but it still feels so half-baked and rushed to attempt to replicate the kind of art that's been gone from the series for years now. The full sequence itself is actually quite lengthy, with a lot of nymph hands just moving around and playing instruments, but it's about as bland as any other panel, so it makes the sequence itself feel dragged out and boring.
This is about as pretty as the sequence gets and it's still not even as good as the original Dread Queen transformation. There's barely any rendering in the skin, and they couldn't even be bothered to make the hands look normal. It's like it's trying so hard to be "original LO" but is fundamentally missing the point of what made the original LO so captivating.
But oh noooo, looks like Persephone did a bad!
Are they actually gonna give her some kind of flaw? Are we gonna FINALLY gonna find out what she traded to Erebus?
No. We're just gonna make her the cause of winter.
Spaghettios.
And that's where I'm leaving this review for now because, as mentioned in the beginning, this episode is a LOT longer than I remember it being. There's still a whole ass segment with Apollo that we need to cover and I don't want to leave it out but I also don't want to do it entirely in text format and I've hit that pesky image limit. So I'll be posting that second part as soon as I can!
That said, I really can't stand this "subversion" by making Persephone the reason for winter.
First of all, because this is a common problem in a lot of H x P "retellings", as many of them fundamentally miss the point of why Persephone is the "Goddess of Spring".
Persephone was not born the "Goddess of Spring". She was born Kore (Κόρη), a maiden born from Demeter. It wasn't until after she was taken by Hades that Demeter, in her grief, took away the harvest and created winter. It was the return of Persephone every six months that brought about the spring, hence, she earned the name, "Goddess of Spring". What these retellings COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTAND is that the gods aren't 'born' with their titles, they're granted these titles by the mortals who comprehend them and write of them as harbingers of their respective elements, stories, and messages. Zeus wasn't "born" the God of the Sky and Heavens, he was granted that title after he overthrew Kronos and took the Heavens for himself. Hades wasn't "born" the God of the Underworld and the Dead, he was granted that title after he became the ruler of the domain of death.
Where these retellings really fuck up is constantly trying to "subvert" the H x P myth in an attempt to romanticize it, thus undoing the point of why Persephone is called "The Goddess of Spring". A Touch of Darkness also made this mistake by putting a "twist" on Persephone's character by having her start out as someone who couldn't make things grow. But if she sucks at making things grow, then why is she still referred to as The Goddess of Spring? In LO, Hades is referred to as "Grandpa Winter" and the seasons already seem to exist as we saw in this episode through the ceremony, so why has she been called "The Goddess of Spring" this whole time?
But I also can't stand this "subversion" because it fundamentally misunderstands the very myth it's trying to "retell". By giving Persephone the "curse" of creating winter, it further robs Demeter of her own agency in this story, more than it already has. It wasn't enough to make Demeter a helicopter mom, it wasn't enough to drive an actual rift between her and her daughter, they had to take away Demeter's entire role in the story and the creation of the seasons and give it to Persephone.
And this is, surprisingly enough, NOT the first time the comic has done this. There are many traits associated with different gods that have been given to Persephone and Hades. The volcanoes belong to Hades rather than Hephaestus, Persephone is "more beautiful than Aphrodite", Thanatos' and Psyche's butterfly symbolism is given to both Hades and Persephone, Aphrodite's symbolism of roses is given to Persephone, the list goes on. Every single plotline has to involve Persephone as the hero, and every single attribute that's commonly associated with other gods has to be granted to H x P in some way to make them better and more interesting than every other cast member in the comic, and yet they still come across as vapid and boring protagonists with nothing to show for themselves.
So to give the ONE thing from the source material that made LO what it is, it comes across as so unbearably cruel.
But then again, we should have seen this coming. After all, Rachel does not cite this as a retelling of The Hymn to Demeter. She simply refers to it as its more unofficial name: The Taking of Persephone.
Look, I get it, the story is meant to be told from Persephone's POV (or at least through the lens of her being the main character) so I can understand why Rachel may have chosen to reword this to make it more clear. But it's really depressing that she went to such an extent with making it about Persephone that she had to rob one of the most integral character of her moment and retribution. Especially when one of the only books in her cited "research" that's primarily about Persephone is, shocked, The Hymn to Demeter, which is listed at the very bottom of every "research" list you can find in LO's history.
LO should have just stayed as self-indulgent fluff. This isn't "subversion", this isn't a "twist", it's just yet another item on the list of making Persephone the most Important One of all. Even when it attempts to be a 'flaw', it fails tremendously by acting as yet another aspect of her being a Mary Sue, because her 'flaw' has come at the cost of another character's story, identity, and strengths. What was originally a tale of grief, retribution, and standing up against a patriarchal system, has now been warped into a consequence of a muddied plot that doesn't have anywhere left to go. For a story that claims to be "feminist", it has ironically missed the original point of its source material entirely, and completely robbed itself of the feminine strength it could have had if it hadn't tried to be "subversive".
I don't really have anything much more to say than that. I could leave it here for good, but we do still have that extra segment to talk about that covers the actual final cliffhanger in this episode, so... we'll see you on the other side.
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Hey MT, Marketing anon here. Checked the last ask you got and you already covered everything but I’m definitely a Caryler, and I wanted to offer my unrequested 2 cents too.
“They don't want to just please segregated fandoms”
The whole point of spinoffs is taking supporting/fan-favourite characters and creating a show to explore their lives. These shows appeal to small clusters of the fandom and focus on building those clusters instead of trying to appeal to every fan from the entire fandom, which can get complicated (especially when you have a show with a massive ensemble cast like TWD).
It’s easy money. You already have the characters, setting, and audience nailed down—all you need is a compelling story and a marketing strategy to keep the ball rolling and bring new audiences in. When you break the ensemble into smaller duos and do multiple spin-offs, you have the potential to multiply each of those clusters of fandoms with newer fans.
“...Carol were never the face of the franchise”
…And YET TWDs social media accounts have spent the last few weeks trying to show the fandom how much they stan Carol. Their “We <3 Carol” campaign started slowly in March, and their focus on Carol and Caryl is intensifying as the spinoff comes near. Because they know the irreplaceable value, Carol and Melissa bring to the franchise.
And you know what? I’m glad I get to see them lift up Danai, Melissa, and Lauren as faces of the franchise. All these women spent over a decade bringing us fierce female characters. I refuse to pit them against each other. Sometimes misogyny rears its ugly head (intentionally or unintentionally). The only way to dismantle it in the world is to start by dismantling it within us first.
“Daryl was always the most popular one”
*MOST MARKETED one. Daryl’s romantic life has always been mysterious, and it helps that Norman is good-looking and likable (white and rich).
But Daryl isn’t the one that’s trending effortlessly on Twitter. They’re actively engaging fans there because their target audience uses Twitter. If it had no meaning, then they wouldn't bother at all. And if their sole focus was on Daryl, they wouldn’t be trying so hard to please Carol fans.
“She signed a contract and needs to fulfill that, I don't see nothing changing in terms of her and Daryl relationship”
I’m just going to vaguely point at everything that happened last year, which proves that Melissa had to drop out because they made it “logistically untenable” for her to join the French spinoff. You’re welcome to go down to that pit and research all of what happened. She’s returning to S2, which means she signed a new contract.
Just the fact that they renewed S2 and had to bring her back before S1 even aired tells you everything you need to know.
Sorry if you found that disrespectful, dear anon.
This is why AMC needed to announce Melissa and give the show a real title. They know what she's worth, so stop giving people reasons to question it.
Thanks for chiming in, marketing anon.
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Honestly, I loooved both Spider Verse movies equally but I totally get where you're coming from! But my brother and I were discussing the movie and we are both 100% sure that the third movie will be focused on Miguel and how his perspective changes. First was focused on Miles' journey, second was Gwen and now it'll be about Miguel's theory of the "canon events" not being what it seems. Miles will prove him wrong despite all the challenges he may face trying to save his dad. That's just my two cents! In any case, glad to hear that you enjoyed the movie nonetheless! Have a good weekend!
Ayyy that's great, thanks! Oh I know they have a plan, but every time the studios decide to make a two-parter by simply splitting a story that was meant to be one whole into 2 movies, my heart cries. This movie didn't have any proper conclusion, it just stopped at the beginning of act 3. I'm about to say some big things for someone who saw the movie once, but IMO this could have been fixed by SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
leaning a bit harder into the fact that Miles lets his surroundings dictate how he feels about himself (I disagree that the second movie was about Gwen more than Miles, he got most of the runtime?). Maybe they could have made him join Miguel's team during the first act of the movie and actually do a good job mission! Maybe the mission would have been to redirect an anomaly from killing someone's loved one. He could have seen the canon as something good and worth saving at first, and everyone is telling him what a good job he's doing, and he's super hyped about belonging to a community for the first time in a year! Maybe there's a hint where someone lets it slip that Miguel doesn't want him there, but Miles is READY to prove him just how wrong he is. And THEN he messes up and saves someone who shouldn't be saved and suddenly the community that seemed so welcoming and encouraging is turning against him. So what will he do? Will he try to regain their approval, or will he reject their ideals and once again be alone? Maybe here we can sow that seed of "what could make Miles into an inconsiderate, selfish person?" that we will reap at the end of the movie and during the next one hopefully. And then the leap of faith moment could be him deciding that being himself is worth fighting for, and he runs away from the rest of the spider people and, filled with this newfound confidence, goes home to tell his parents what happened, and then the ending of the movie can play out the same (because it's once again thematically tied to Miles's surroundings dictating him). I feel like that IS what the movie was going for, but because it wasn't written very well, it came across as Miles being fickle and I didn't feel much emotion behind it (except when Gwen caught him Like That and he cut away the web, I YELLED at the IMPLICATIONS).
Honestly, I wasn't a big fan of the writing behind Gwen's issues, either. First off, her backstory being explained in a montage that has not-very-good level of repetition writing made me go "NOOOOOOO". Second off, Gwen's story was basically her being herself and waiting until her dad accepts her as such, which is a waste of a really cool character. She is the polar opposite to Miles in that she doesn't let anyone tell her how to feel about herself, but that doesn't mean she must be static in it - she could have an intrinsic journey! However, the writing still insists on outside issues being the main initiator, and I am pretty annoyed that it all boiled down to "Her dad saw her standing over Peter's body and assumed she killed him, regardless of the fact that Spider-Woman is a well established beloved hero who saves people, and he doesn't care about his daughter enough to stop and think why she might have done that". (The story as it is is fine too, but it's more about her dad learning to understand he loves his daughter, instead of any kind of thematically appropriate character development for Gwen herself. It's thematic in a sense that her advice to Miles is wrong and that parents DO accept their kids, which is okay but sort of a weak point when her dad LITERALLY POINTED A GUN AT HER AFTER SHE TOOK HER MASK OFF ALREADY.) Maybe it would have been better if we didn't see how Peter died because she too isn't really sure if she was in the right or not, so the emotional beat behind her story could have been a parallel to Miles' and Miguel's: Did she do what had to be done, or was there another way? Can she really tell her dad that she wouldn't have done it if she'd known it was Peter trying to kill all those children? And then in the end during her confrontation with her father she finally recalls the entire scene, and she concludes that the choice couldn't have been up to her because she really didn't know what she was doing when she killed him. Maybe following Miguel was not only out of fear of having nowhere to go, but also a coping mechanism, because someone else was calling the shots and she didn't have any responsibility over deciding what happens. But this time, she DOES have all the information, and she is capable of making her own decisions, and that's why she helps Miles. JUST IMAGINE the three of them being three sides of the same moral issue: one who believes in sacrificing what you love for the greater good, one who believes both are the same thing and have to be protected the same way, and one who is afraid of making any choice at all.
Anyway this is really really long and I apologize I just have a LOT to say about how this story could have been dealt with in a way that would have felt natural. How often do animated movies get TWO WHOLE HOURS of runtime???? I wish the writers spent a bit more time refining the story because it absolutely could have been as well done as the first one vjsanvjkadnk
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You know what, I'm at my limit today.
LOOK AT THIS POST FOR REFERENCE!!
Look, I have no problem with KiriBaku. And I definitely don't have a problem with Kirishima or Bakugou.
And anyone who had been following my blog long enough knows that Midoriya is my favorite character, my #1 along with Miruko.
Here's a simple answer as to why.
He is a flawed character. There isn't just one side to him. He's not some "uwu" baby some of you like to make him.
I, myself, do like pure characters. I adore Eri and Koda.
But Midoriya is just not one of those characters.
The fact that this person here said they don't like Midoriya because he's "too pure" did in fact annoy me.
Because why in the fuck do you like Kirishima?
No, no, let's put it out there.
Kirishima is more of a "sunshine, pure" character then Midoriya is. His appearance makes him look like he isn't and he's not a "shy" guy like some "too pure" characters are. But out of him and Midoriya, Midoriya would be likely to kill an enemy out of rage than Kirishima would and not even think twice about it.
"Main character halo"... I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL AWARE THAT IZUKU MIDORIYA IS THE MAIN CHARACTER!! JEEZ, I WONDER WHY HE SEEMS TO BE WRITTEN TO FEEL LIKE A MAIN CHARACTER!!
Which I find absolutely damn hilarious because Kirishima is more "typical shonen protagonist" than Midoriya is. You can check mark more shonen protagonist traits off Kirishima than you can Midoriya.
Not that smart? Check.
Spiky hair? Check! Bonus points because it's red!
Good guy personality? Check!
Also hot-bloodied and manly? Yep! It's there!
Rivals and friends with a grumpy guy with little effort of said rivalry and friendship happening in the first place? CHECK!!
If I first got into BNHA without knowledge, I would have thought Kirishima was our guy.
"I stopped watching at like Season 1, midway through season 2".
So you stopped watching before you even got to the character development? Not just for Midoriya, but for everyone?
Wrong time to be stopping the anime and then coming back to put your two cents in because if you continued to watch the anime, you would have seen that Midoriya isn't all that "pure" of a character.
I don't expect everyone to like Midoriya. In fact, that's more elbow room for people who do like him. If he annoys you, I don't care. I won't hold it against you, we all have those characters that annoy us.
But if you're seriously going to say he's "too pure, too good", I'm calling bullshit. One, you didn't continue the anime and I have doubts they even touched the manga, so you're missing a lot of things here. Two, if you don't like him but somehow like Kirishima, that is a little hypocritical.
And three, which I need to people to understand, just because a character happens to be a good person, doesn't make them "pure".
Midoriya is not a "pure" person. If you get past season damn 2 and lay off the fanon interpretations of him, you'd see that!!
I just know this person wanted to bother someone out of boredom because I mentioned in that post how I like Midoriya and you haven't even been actively watching the anime since what? 2017-2018? Sorry, no friendly greeting is going to fool me.
Disappointed, but expected. I'm not surprised because almost everyday someone does something that can only disappoint me.
Kirishima would be very disappointed in you, too.
#just kiya's thoughts#bnha#mha#boku no hero academia#my hero academia#midoriya izuku#bakugou katsuki#kirishima eijirou
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