Am I The Only One Who Saw This?!

Mommy

what is it about capybaras that attracts groups of small animals to them? Its not just mammals either its like birds and turtles and frogs too

Sarada wtf is wrong with you

DAD= NO GLASSES

MOM = NO GLASSES

*SEES PICTURE OF KARIN WITH SASUKE AND SEES GLASSES* 

KARIN = HAS GLASSES *THINKS OMG KARIN IS MOM BECAUSE I HAVE GLASSES TOO*

… SHE JUST TURNED INTO ALL THE ANTI SASUSAKU FANS WITH THE KARINS DAUGHTER BULL CRAP

when you’ve been in a fandom so long you no longer care about the dramas

Reflection on Attack on Titan: how the narrative failed its premise

I apologize for dwelling so much on something I no longer like with Attack on Titan, it’s just such a fascinating trainwreck, even though I hopped off the train just in time I have to look back at it periodically and be horrified yet morbidly reflective. I do find it disturbing people are denying the imperialist subtext here because it barely qualifies as subtext anymore at this point, so I do think noting it is valuable as long as fandom continues to be denial.

I just keep wondering at myself why I was drawn to AOT in the first place and HOW I didn’t see this coming- I think reflecting on that is valuable so I’ll see the warning signs earlier with other media.

It also helps me consider what makes a good narrative and what elements can appear compelling only to be squandered.

Because honestly, there WAS so much potential there, and though it’s a struggle, I CAN remember what excited me about it. There was a good horror concept here. It really did make me feel what the terror would be, to have this unknowable, ravenous threat that could so easily wipe out everything, to have to trap yourself to avoid it. The huge walls, the striking visuals, the displays of human weakness and terror, the visceral aspect of it all- it was compelling stuff. And also importantly, it kind of rode that line where it was very easy to laugh at as well- the memes involving the titans were a TON of fun in the heyday of AOT, the bizarre way the various ones were drawn were so funny, the peak melodrama of the situation was so absurd it almost made fun of itself, especially with all the exaggerated expressions- the fandom had a lot of fun with it.

And the concept COULD have gone somewhere that was compelling, rather than boring fascist nonsense. While the components of fascist narrative were present from the beginning- a grotesque invading threat the military, the protags, as heroes, must fight- there was potential in the premise for all that to be subverted, for it to ultimately go somewhere not fascist. The Titans turning out to be fellow humans, even your former loved ones, could have been more than a footnote. 

The titans actually being people only ended up mattering in the sense of “this shows us the REAL threat is this other race that trapped us here and in fact we must use the titans to defeat them”. It didn’t ultimately change the characters or their ideals, it just made them change enemies (to a much, much more boring threat and narrative). But it COULD have been a game changer that shook the characters to their core. A very natural place for this revelation to lead would have been “it turns out there is no clear enemy. We’ve been fighting ourselves this whole time. We thought we were killing something monstrous, but it wasn’t, it was the people we love. We were used. Now what do we do?”  It could have been a story of the characters struggling to answer that question. How can they seek freedom now? 

And if you really want a “dismantle the corrupt government” plotline, it would be a much simpler and stronger narrative if it was simply about the government pushing for Titan extermination despite the revelation, because they prioritized their own safety above all else and also wanted to erase past mistakes.

What if the Titans had simply been the result of horrific human experimentation done in the past and the government just wanted to cover it up? That’s it. no other countries, no emphasis on royal bloodlines or magic amnesia or any other convoluted bullshit. The reason people responded to Attack on Titan was NOT because they love convoluted royal drama or covoluted wars between opposing countries, that was not even a factor in the beginning…it was because it touched on this very simple, visceral thrill, so the story needed to keep being simple and visceral.

 The final struggle of the narrative, the key to freedom, could have been the characters having the re-evaluate their worldviews and the character having to struggle to find an alternate method to deal with the titans while society goes against them for doing so. 

The survey corps is disbanded. Eren, who could only deal with his grief by focusing on obliterating a clear enemy, now doesn’t have that and is forced to actually grow as a character. He has to actually confront his guilt and the fact his desire to construct an inhuman opponent he could fight was all so he didn’t have to deal with survivors guilt, because he wanted something that was black and white with no messy emotions attached. but it turns out nothing ever is that simple.

Or hey, maybe there’s something more compelling and less predictable you could do to subvert the fascist elements. I’m only doing this off the top of my head, there are probably a million ways the story could go in a more interesting direction than the shitstorm we got if someone actually focused and creative puts their mind to it.

Keep reading

Awesomee xD

AU in which Kate, Victoria and Warren form an unlikely alliance to uncover the truth behind the missing people at blackwell. Also Kate is brandishing a katana, Victoria dual pistols and Warren sniper rifle. Of which they promptly equip, and pose with in a badass style upon confronting Jefferson in the dark room.

Me too! XD

Am I the only one who thinks it’s super sweet how Warren believed max about her powers so easily??

Yeah

I’m back with my crappy phone pics of my sketches! (^o^)/ This is how a full Naruto`s family looks like. NS and SK with all their kids. Hanami and Karasu belongs to naepyon Arashi to kirabook Susumi (the baby) to mideila

この人の絵とても好きなんですが消されちゃったの？

Do you know if anyone wrote a response fic to show!Sansa publicly talking about Bran's supposed inability to have children (with no apparent concern about his feelings, even if show!bran acts like he doesn't feel anymore, it was still rude of her) just to bolster her own position? I just want Bran to get his personality back since the NK is defeated (maybe being called Bran the Broken by Tyrion triggers a response), marry Meera and have a bunch of children, just to rub it in Sansa's face.

I can’t even think about all the bs that occurred in that episode, especially in regards to Sansa being continuously propped up as this genius and brilliant snarker when her “genius” only occurs because everyone else is made into an idiot rather than raising her intelligence to a new level, her constant rudeness is made “okay” retroactively because “well Dany turned out to be mAadd” so Sansa antagonizing everyone was just fine because she was “right”… later on, and her “snark” is literally just rude comments because telling people they’re stupid in the blandest terms ever and interrupting her own uncle who literally suffered through years of imprisonment and torture for her brother is both incredibly rude and a display of her complete lack of leadership skills (don’t get me started on cowering in the crypt and letting more vulnerable smallfolk be slaughtered before she gets talked into helping out or how she constantly takes credit for other peoples’ accomplishments and gets pissy when someone rightfully identifies that she didn’t do anything and when someone does try to be nice and tell her she did something she is, uh, rude. Or how her version of ‘ruling’ is encouraging the lords to be discontented and disobedient to their sovereign and occasionally looking like she does some counting and tells armorers how to do their own job and only actually talks about issues that affect other people when it’s a convenient but weak rhetorical device to deny hospitality to her sovereign who has come to save her butt) and after all that she spitefully throws in this assumption that Bran can’t have kids which was unasked for and unproven. I’ve probably ranted about how Bran should go have 200 bastards (and legitimize all of them) in revenge for Sansa’s comment which would also create Westeros’s biggest succession crisis. Oh and then she demands that she get to be a queen which is all very well and good since the North won’t exist anymore in about two days. That’s all it’ll take for Tormund to invade from the north and Yara from the west and she has no friends or support since she’s made such a big thing out of being a jerk to literally everyone and Bran’s response would probably be “Well hey sis you wanted your independence so why should I send my troops and food to help you, the queen of your independent northern kingdom? You made it pretty clear you hated it when Daenerys sacrificed her mission and her men and supplies to save northern butts before. I just assumed you would understand that this is what your version of independence results in.” 

Sorry I just needed to get all that off my chest.

I may or may not choose to address the topic in my own post-s8 rage reaction fic but I do know of one such fic that’s in progress: 

Add Color to My Sunset Sky by my buddy @lady-reed

An episode from Shingeki no Kyojin “Encapture the Female Titan!” Game Book:

The game book works like a textual version of Escape from Certain Death but it’s set in the Female Titan Arc. “You” the protagonist will choose different options of actions and each of them will lead you to various results.

When you are chasing down the Female Titan with Levi and Mikasa in the Forest of Giant Trees, these two people have different opinions as to whether Eren is still alive. Now you have three options to say something to them:

“It must be painful for Levi Heishichou…” “Mikasa’s judgement is right. Heishichou is wrong about it.” “You two are alike!”

And if you go with option 3, the next scene will be: The two people turn back at you and exclaim “HOW!” simultaneously. Both of them stare at you as if feel like killing you right there…… And again it makes you think “They are indeed alike.”