To this day, I can never figure out who is Jon and Kon when they're together on panel. Best chance I have is when the artist draws Kon with an open jacket in costume or they draw Jon as old or even older than Clark.
jon is such a crazy character because it's like i don't even know how it's possible for a character to be like this. he's been through the hands of like 12 different people at this point--including some incredibly talented writers & artists--but somehow managed to pick up not a single unique trait in terms of characterization OR design
there's just literally nothing identifiable about him personality-wise or appearance-wise that sets him apart, and in a medium like this that relies so heavily on characters having at least a couple traits that will be instantly recognizable due to the fact that they'll be drawn by a different artist like every other week & their appearance will be in constant flux, if you don't have some sort of through line (or, god forbid, you've made the through line that this character is EXACTLY like an already existing character), they are going to be literally unrecognizable and just make the already often confusing art of figuring out who the fuck is who on a page that much worse
the vast majority of the time, jon is literally only identifiable by the process of elimination. in the son of superman era, you'd have two identical supermans and have to identify which was clark so you could know the other one was jon. and now that that nonsense is blessedly over and they've mostly given up on making him clark 2, he's just "character who is identical to superman but is now wearing a tweaked version of the superman suit instead of the actual thing."
so now you have to look for kon, whose concept & personality are so distinct that he remains identifiable despite the fact that we've now turned every single super-character's design into a watered down ripoff of his, to be able to figure out which one jon is. because he's somehow less visually distinct than the guy whose whole thing is that he's a literal clone
Something about Tsukasa, the most show-off character ever, who always stands out and has so many of these flashy card, getting a fes card that's surprisingly... simple. Domestic. ""Plain"" even, in comparison to what we were used to (mostly the trained version but some could argue the untrained as well)
I know we were expecting something grand like Tsukasa himself and I see a lot of people being disappointed but honestly... I think this fits a lot actually. This might've just been the best choice for Tsukasa' fes
Because really, under all that attitude and boldness and showing off, Tsukasa's dream and feelings are kind of... simple. To make people smile. To be a world famous star, yes, but that's only the means to the goal of making everyone around the world happy
This is one of the most important developments of Tsukasa from how he was in the main story. Being a star is NOT just being a great, famous actor to him – he's proven it countless times. It's obviously a very big part of it, but if it was just about acting then why does he also constantly reference to being a "star" in more "mundane" situations unrelated to acting?
A star inspires. A star makes his sister smile. A star doesn't worry those around him. A star helps those in need. A star guides those who are lost. A star would choose to save the amusement park that makes everyone happy and means the world to his best friend instead of trying to win a contest to gain fame. These aren't exactly things related to being an actor or a celebrity
It's more as if a part of being a "star" is... being like a big brother?
Tsukasa's whole dream stemmed from just him wanting to make Saki smile; shows were just what proved to be something that could achieve it. Is it really such a surprise then that this is what his goal revolves around as well? What he believes a "star" should be when they're not on a stage? And what his fragment SEKAI bases on?
Not on being a flashy, famous star in the spotlight. But on being the person you can rely on that will take care of your worries and turn your frown upside down. Someone you will look at and think of home. And that's something so simple and domestic, and something I feel like is reflected really nicely in his trained fes
Hell, his outfit is called "Kind Brother" too. Because that's who Tsukasa is first and foremost, to himself
furina had been cursed with immortality, that as long as focalors existed then furina literally couldn't die
but we also know that furinas body reacts the same way to diluted primordial water as freminet
what do you think would have happened to furina if they'd decided against diluting the water and furina still touched it? what do you think would happen to a human body when it's meant to have been immediately dissolved, when you're meant to immediately die, and you simply...don't?
YES OFC I LOVE FETCHEN they're so so so soft. softest ship i've ever witnessed
i once read a hc where they said that karen's first language isn't english but it's actually telugu or hindi (i think i forgot which oneee) and so i can imagine that when people talk bad abt karen being not the brightest person, gretchen would berate them and defend her while saying that shes actually v smart in her native language :( gretch actually took the time when they were kids to pick up a few words and phrases just to surprise karen sometimes.
and karen is very very gentle w gretchen whenever she has panic or anxiety attacks. she stays w gretch thru it all and helps her calm down. most of the time when theyre alone, karen sings for her to make gretch's worries go away. like gretchen, karen also picked up spanish for gretchen and shes actually good at it :( (gretchen mentioned once about a song her abuela used to sing for her when she was little and karen made it her mission to memorize that song so she could sing it for gretchen)
Now that you mentioned it, I need more Genesis & Cloud friendship pretty please?
some general cloud and genesis bestie headcanons:
- genesis is absolutely cloud’s number 1 supporter in absolutely everything! no matter what, he will always have cloud’s back!
- they both trust each other in ways they don’t trust anyone else
- i feel like they sort of clicked immediately, like they’re very much platonic soulmates to me, and from the moment they met they had a bond like no other
- genesis very much tries to push cloud out of his comfort zone and tries to bring cloud out of his shell, helping cloud push his boundaries and become at the very least a little bit less anxious
- genesis convinces and helps cloud do all the things that cloud is otherwise too insecure or nervous to do! he’ll put cloud in outfits that cloud wants to wear but is too insecure to, he’ll help cloud talk to the other firsts when cloud’s too scared, things like that! he tries to do everything he can to help cloud be more confident in himself!
- they help each other greatly with relationship issues, its mostly genesis helping cloud with advice and such, but there’s also occasions in which genesis just needs a little comfort or a little confidence boost and cloud will do his absolute best to help genesis through it
- they’re very clingy and cuddly with each other!!! they’re very affectionate with each other, and they’re completely comfortable doing nearly anything and everything together!
- genesis is always the first person cloud ever goes to in case he has any kind of problem at all, but especially if he has embarrassing issues because he trusts genesis will help him without any judgement
- genesis will tease cloud a lot, but genesis knows to always make sure cloud is aware that he doesn’t mean it and that its just how genesis shows his affection at times
- they are absolutely the type to gossip to each other about everything
The more I think about the theories involving the Lady being a mother the more I feel angry about it bc... can we like. Have ONE villain female character that is not a mother harming her children. She is harming children yes, but not her own. And there was also Tarsier Studios stating DIRECTLY that she was not mother material, so...?
I want to try and keep an open mind about every theory, so if you have any compelling evidence for any of the theories involving the Lady and her being a mother, I want to see them so we can have a civil and healthy debate, but at the same time I feel like reducing her to just that would be... silly.
Also, Ladies non-believers, come forth. I want to hear your arguments as well. Because why not?
I could write a three hour video essay on tutu and gender but I really love how a show in a genre that’s primarily targeted towards girls explores how expectations of masculinity can traumatize young boys.
This is shown with Fakir especially. While the text never explicitly attributes his behavior to his gender, his arc over the course of the show is quintessentially informed by toxic gender roles. This got long and I have a lot of thoughts so I'm gonna put it under a readmore:
Fakir has one unchanging goal for the duration of the show: he wants to keep the people he loves safe. But outside elements twist this motivation into an identity. He is suffocating under the weight of a person he has never been and can never be no matter how hard he tries to mold himself.
Much of his personality is likely a direct result of circumstance. We are shown multiple times that when he feels in his element he’s inclined to a gentle disposition (ie how he acts with Duck as a duck or with Raetsel). As a young child especially he appears earnest and naive, his already innate desire to protect blinding him to the cruelty of the world. However, this sweeter side is near overwritten by the cold, domineering personality that characterizes his early appearances in the show.
We can infer that without the trauma inflicted on him by the story Fakir would have retained much more of this gentler personality as he grew up. Instead, his desire to protect others is twisted and warped by fear, becoming a desire to control.
Even before having his life upended, Fakir wanted to to take the weight of protecting the entire town all upon himself. He sees a true hero as someone who stands on his own without help.
So how does this tie into gender? Fakir deliberately crushes his "weaker" side--the earnest, sensitive young boy in the favor of a tough persona. He particularly views emotions as a weakness. It's notable that in one of the most iconic scenes in the show, Fakir has a breakdown over someone seeing him crying. This simple display of human emotion is enough to completely shatter the image he has constructed for himself. Fakir's harsh, impossible standards for himself are rooted in toxic masculinity, in the idea that men--real men--are never visibly sad or scared.
Immediately after losing everything as a child, Fakir was given a new source of hope and pride: the role of the Knight. He, of course, built his whole identity around this role. The Knight, like the Prince is expected to protect others without fear. This can be read as analogous to how men struggle under the expectation to be the protectors and the breadwinners, expected to take pain and hardship upon themselves so those under their care may live a comfortable life. However, the story's knight is doomed from the start: a failed protector. Fakir is growing up under literal impossible standards. He's meant to give everything and crumble under that weight without achieving anything.
It's worth noting that the Princesses' roles are meant to revolve seeking affection from men while the men's roles are colored by violence. Contrast the Knight and Princess Tutu who are both destined to accomplish nothing and be forgotten: while Tutu gracefully dissolves into a speck of light, the Knight is gruesomely torn apart. Here, masculinity becomes inextricably linked to violence in Drosselmeyer's world.
For as long as Fakir tries to be a knight worthy of the story he is confined by a toxic gender role. A protector relies on the idea of a weaker subset of person--the protected. Even without malicious intent, this strips agency. Fakir ignores Mytho's wishes all for the sake of "keeping him safe." Likewise Duck doesn't' want Fakir's protection. In several episodes she begs him to give up on fighting and search for peaceable solutions.
Even though neither Duck nor Mytho ask for Fakir to fight for them he feels personally responsible for their safety to the point his entire self esteem rests on his ability to protect them. Despite his guarded exterior, two of the three times he breaks down crying are because Duck got hurt --due to his own incompetence in his eyes.
Fakir can only grow as a person when he stops placing everything on his own shoulders. For all he clings to the sword his real strengths are found outside of battle. He only saves Duck by opening up to her in his first display of willing vulnerability.
By the end of the series he has entered a genuine partnership with Duck. Rather than a one-sided relationship where he sees himself as her protector, he writes her story and trusts her to guide herself through it. This is in direct opposition to the masculine ideals he clung so hard to. The knight and the prince --his role models--are both meant to be self-sufficient in the original fairytale. Instead, Fakir is able to be a vulnerable boy who gets scared and hurt--and doesn't need to hide it--but has friends he can rely on when times are tough.
Fakir's arc doesn't involve him becoming more feminine, necessarily, but it does show him breaking free of the standards placed on his shoulders by toxic masculinity. He was never meant to be a fighter; that was an unfair role he was forced into. At the end of the show Fakir was achieved his freedom. He isn't a knight. He isn't a protector. He isn't personally responsible for the lives of those he loves. He's just Fakir.
Im watching strong girl nam soon and the drug plot is so ridiculous.
So you are telling me that this villain is creating this super strong drug... that will kill you. So he is killing his costumers... thats just bad business man lol
Ok yes America hating the cold is funny (eh) BUT. have you considered that I like the imagery of an America sitting alone in the forest in the bleak mid-winter landscape of an east coast woods, all alone in both body and mind, agonizing over her seeming doom to be stuck in the throes of loneliness for all eternity?
unpopular opinion maybe?? normalise finishing a book and being like "damn, that was the best thing I've read in a while" and then NOT giving it 5 stars.