#i think i got the main points here

[whetstonefires]

Hey you said something about the my hero academia creator being unhinged about sexism, do you mind explaining?

I tried to write like, a thorough explanation of this and it just got longer and longer and longer and I have not touched this series in actual years and yet I've still got all these receipts a;lkjk;lfasd.

So rather than trying to build the whole massive case, here's a pared-down version. It's normal to have sexism in media, and shounen manga especially. Everyone does it. The level and mode and intentionality and so forth all vary, but of course it's there.

What's not normal is to have lots of varied and interesting female characters with discernible inner lives, and on-page discussion of how sexism is systemic and unjust and holds them back in specific ways, and then also deliberately make consistent sexist writing decisions even where they don't arise naturally from the flow of the narrative.

Horikoshi is actively interested in gender and sexism, he's aware of them in a way you rarely see outside of the context of, you know, fighting sexism. He is hung up on the thorny issue of what women are worth and deserve and how power and respect ties into it. He genuinely wants, I think, to have Good Female Characters, and not be (seen as) A Sexist Guy!

But. He doesn't actually want to fight sexism. He displays a lot of woman-oriented anxieties, and one of the many churning paddlewheels in his head seems to be that he knows intellectually that morally sexism is bad, but emotionally he really feels like it ought to probably be at least partly correct.

There are so many things I could cite, and maybe I'll get into some of them later, but the crowning item that highlights how the pattern is 1) at least partly conscious and deliberate and 2) about Horikoshi's own weird hangups rather than simply cynical market play, is Mineta Minoru.

The writer has stated Mineta is his favorite character. Mineta is also designed to be hated--that is, he is a particularly elaborate instantiation of a character archetype normally deployed to soak up audience contempt and (by being gross and shameless and unattractive and 'unthreatening') make it possible to include a range of sexual gratification elements into the narrative that would compromise the main characters' reputations as heroic and deserving, if they were the actors.

Good Guys don't grope girls' tits and run away snickering in triumph, after all. Non-losers don't focus intense effort around successfully stealing someone's panties. Nice Girls don't let themselves be seen half-dressed. And so forth. You need an underwear gremlin for that. So, in anime and manga, longstanding though declining tradition of including such a gremlin, for authorial deniability.

Horikoshi definitely uses him straight for this purpose, looping in Kaminari as needed to make a bit work. And yet he has Feelings about the archetype itself.

The passages dedicated to the vindication of Mineta, then, and the author's statements about him, let us understand that Horikoshi identifies with the figure of the underwear gremlin. He understands the underwear gremlin as a defining exemplar of male sexuality, at least if you are not hot, and finds the attached contempt and hostility to be a dehumanizing attack on all uh.

Incels, basically.

It's not fair to write Mineta off just because he's unattractive and horny (and commits sexual harassment). Doesn't he have a mind? Doesn't he have dreams? Doesn't he have human potential?

So what's going on with Horikoshi and gender, as far as I can figure out, is that he knows damn well that women are people and are treated unjustly by sexist society, but however.

He also understands the institutions of sexism as something protecting him and people like him from life being nebulously yet definitively Worse, and therefore wants to see them upheld.

So you get this really bizarre handling of gender where obviously women's rights good and women cool, women can be Strong, and the compulsory sexualization imposed by the industry isn't them or the author, and so forth.

But also it's very important that in the world he controls, women never win anything important or Count too much, and that jokes at their expense that disrupt the internal logic of their characters are always fair game, that women asked about sexism on TV will promptly get into catfights amongst themselves, and they are understood always in terms of their sexual and romantic interests and value, and sexual assertiveness and failures to perform femininity well enough are used to code them as dangerous and irrational, and that the sexy costumes are requisite and will never be subverted or rebelled against--at most they might be circumnavigated via leaning into cute appeal.

And that Yaoyorozu Momo, who converts her body fat into physical objects, is being frivolous when she wants to use money to buy things instead (rather than as sensibly moderating her Quirk use) and is never encouraged to eat as much as possible at every opportunity to put on weight and even shown being embarrassed by hunger (even though Quirk overuse gives symptoms that suggest she's been stripping the lipids out of her cell walls or nervous system to keep fighting) and always, no matter how many Things she has made, has huge big round boobies.

#ask #hoc est meum #beastenraged #bnha #sexism #i think i got the main points here #just getting lost in the weeds of subsidiary arguments and supporting evidence was destroying me #i don't need to do those this is fandom on the internet #and not even a serious level of that #meta #mineta minoru #yaoyorozu momo #honestly psychologically pretty interesting #it's like he keeps saying 'look i know sexism bad but I Need It' #someone tell him that the patriarchy is exploiting him too and we can all achieve liberation together #this is the same mechanism that upholds white supremacy among the poor #'my life is so bad already the idea of liberating those below me and having to share the crumbs with them is horrific' #ESPECIALLY if i know they're worthy and lots of them are better than me #injustice is the only thing keeping my head above water! #he's also fishing for vindication ofc #but it's wild to see how he'll put in the groundwork that would let him do something gender-egalitarian with his themes #and then opt not to #despite having done the hard part already #idk how much that's making a statement and how much it's just 'this Feels Right' #but as a pattern it murdered me

[imminent-danger-came]

“Mei! You have to stop. I know you’re upset, and that’s okay! I know what it’s like to have a power you don’t know how to control—

—to feel like the fate of the world is in your hands

and you have no idea what to do!

((How do you still not see that he has no idea what he's doing? How about this for a plan: stay down MK, or I will put you down.))

But you always have my back, and help me through it. We, will figure this out!

Together!”

#I think about MK's words in relation to SWK a very normal amount! #Before s4 came out this was one of my main ''holy shit MK isn't human'' points. Like #If the fate of the world is in SWK's hands....and SWK doesn't know what he's doing...and MK was LITERALLY in SWK's grasp... #and SWK doesn't know how to be a good Mentor to MK... #It's 2 + 2 bud #MK = Fate of the world = ''there is a reason you are at the center of all these stories'' #Glad I got to put a cliff/sitting next to each other motif comp in here they do that a lot #Except Macaque also does it sometimes #At least in regards to ''sitting next to each other'' motif #Like hmmm there's probably an example in 1x09 and then 2x07 he pretends to be Wukong which was. You know that was fucked up #Then 4x09 and 4x10 #If/when the SWK V Mk fight happens. If there's not fucked up shit next to a cliff-side what's the POINT #anyways #lmk #lmk parallels #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk MK #lmk SWK #lmk Sun Wukong #i bring a very ''tdp fandom'' vibe that the lmk fandom sometimes likes #like lol oh the sweet sweet ''person said baller shit in this show and you make a post about it with screenshots'' type post #I'm doing my part! o7 #could write a meta about MK's words and how it relates to SWK's relationship with him OR I could just screenshot conspiracy board it

[quietwingsinthesky]

A version of Hallucifer where his constant insistence that Sam is still in the Cage isn’t perceived as a threat but as a comfort.

Saying stuff like, “Don’t worry, Sam. All this is just set dressing, just a game we’re playing. The only parts that are real are you and me.” and Sam hearing this and thinking without meaning to, thank you, thank you, everything still makes sense, I’m still where I’m supposed to be. But deep down he knows he did get out and that’s what’s killing him.

#At some point in the Cage. Sam stopped wanting to be free. #Stockholm syndrome or true vessel shit or whatever reason you want #I think that should be his reality and I think it should be agonizing to him that he got out and lucifer didn’t #to the point where believing he’s still there is the only way he can keep going some days #he and lucifer are just playing a game where Sam is back on earth and hunting with his brother #and any minute now Lucifer’s going to get bored and they’ll move onto something else #any minute now #Sam waiting for the curtain to be pulled aside and getting increasingly distressed the longer it doesn’t. #the harder it gets to still convince himself he’s in the Cage #which is the point at which hallucifer’s demeanor changes from reassuring him they’re both still trapped #to taunting Sam and telling him the only way back is to kill himself #and so Sam’s main source of comfort inevitably cracks open to reveal the ugly truth #that Sam is free. Lucifer was never here. this is happening. and it is terrible that he cannot be grateful for freedom. #spn #supernatural #samifer #Lucifer/Sam #Sam winchester #Lucifer spn

[zagreus-eats-your-bread]

Wtf is red dwarf and why does it look so cool

It's a British scifi comedy show from 1988 where in the very first episode everyone but one guy on the space ship "red dwarf" fucking dies. This one guy survives bc he was put in stasis for smuggling a cat on board. After 3 million years he gets outta stasis and learns that everyone died from a radiation leak and yk, it being 3MILLON years later its basically safe to assume hes the only human left alive. The ships computer, who is a floating head on a screen and who (legit and no joke) later transes his gender for a few seasons resurrects the guys boss as a hologram, who incidentally is also the person that accidentally killed everyone. The guys cat was pregnant and in the 3million years it took him to get outta stasis the cats evolved into humanoid guys so one of those cat people is there too. This all happens in the first episode.

The show has legit such interesting scifi ideas and shit i am so mad about how good it is. Shaking. If you like parallel universes then boy will you have something here. This guy:

Is legit at least 10 completely different characters.

You need to watch it rn. The only thing that keeps you from going "this shit is actually very sad" is the laugh tracks. For some fucking reason they keep making this show every 5 years or so. There was a movie in 2020. I hope they never stop.

#the two main guys also hate eachother and if your thinking 'that seems pretty yaoi' i must also point out theres an episode where the one #guy really misses the other guy and has a dream aboit making out #idek what this show is man. its so good #thank yoi for asking me though now i got all that off my chest here and dont have to annoy my friends #also they have a made up swear word and it took me like 4 episodes before i was sure that its not just some real obscure British swear word

[floweroflaurelin]

Hmm well with empires ending what if I came up with two very ambitious long-form projects and did them over the summer? Ideally with personal art and comms interspersed in there, of course, but like I’m talking bigger than I’ve ever done before. Ideas I’ve been sitting on for months. What if I finally make them happen 👀

#i can and will do thjs because i need term projects for summer classes and I’ve got some right here! #*points at brain* *only ever thinking of one thing* #i just have so much love for this series man #i WILL be making New Life art also i am so hype for that series ahhh #What Can Sabira Do In Three Months of Work? let’s find out #also if you saw me reblog a bunch of stuff to this blog instead of my main no you didn’t lmao

[todayisafridaynight]

yk in retrospect it really is no surprise that rgg has a lot of queer fans. outside of the games being utterly homosexual of course

#snap chats #sorry i finally finished reading the second volume of yakuza's bias #GREAT manga i cant recommend it enough im already crying waiting for the third one to be translated #i got a stroke when the manga mentioned.. those like. ai-chat character things #like christ i know this is a new series and the japanese version was released in january but my GOD this is still topical #anyway let me. get to my point LMAO #because while i was reading there was a speech given by My Main Man that ive noticed is. p common in yakuza media #yk a speech about how the only people who'll give them (yakuza) worth is themselves #and that they'll forever be casted out by society so their passion is the only thing to turn to and live for. something like that #and of COURSE i remember a similar sentiment from The Clan Heir Is A Trans Woman #and listen..... organized crime is very different from being queer. im pretty sure dont quote me on that-- #HOWEVER when you have messages like that being thrown left and right... yeah its no wonder LMAO #of course its not note-for-note and the contexts are VERY different LMAO but yk what i mean #its like that one post talking abut monsters and monsterfucking being queer or something #dont listen to me i only go here on legality but i think im onto something #ok bye im gonna stare at my ceiling until i pass out. i wanna start working on my dummy comic but alas... #too busy with comms this week... AND im sleepy...

[the-holy-ghosted]

sighs pitifully. i have GOT to get weirder on main about things nobody fucking cares about

#the heron speaketh #on call with erin rn looking at a blog that hasnt updated in 9 yea oh my god 10 years. its been ten years #and being like oh fuck yes my favorite little movie is on here. theres screenshots. and theyre TERRIBLE #and i oculd post BETTER ONES . but i DONT !!!!!!!!!! #i have got to get over the embarrassment. i must #for the greater good of. well me really #erin is already ahead of me on this talking about black death as if theres more of an audience besides us two and a pile of lint #i have to get that deranged. i think. #i have screenshot redraws to share also... perhaps that will be the starting point #in the words of erin right now in my ears we have GOTTT to get weirder about paul ghosted on main #and its true. i love that joey

[baalzebufo]

couple miscellaneous adbot doodles from the last few days! a string puller doing what it does, talking heads and crowd pleasers gettin' along, and a new oc, mach popeil. voted cog nations favourite infomercial host for the third month running, he's a beloved tv salesman with a small burgeoning fan club and a smile sharper than this free* set of steak knives!

*ᶠʳᵉᵉ ᵒᶠᶠᵉʳ ᵃᵛᵃˡᶦᵃᵇˡᵉ ᶠᵒʳ ᵃ ˡᶦᵐᶦᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᶦᵐᵉ ᵒⁿˡʸ ᵃᵈᵈᶦᵗᶦᵒⁿᵃˡ ᶠᵉᵉˢ ᵐᵃʸ ᵃᵖᵖˡʸ

#alloyart #the adbot department #toontown cogs #cogs #cog oc #as if it wasnt obvious enough that ive been going thru an al fixation its leaking into my doodles cause hes got a LOT of cog relevant songs #checks in the mail is perfect for the kinda attitude i give to string pullers- as in corrupt talent scouts who love to make Bad Deals #and ofc. mr popeil. gave me a reference to look into for a famous tv salesman to name my 'bot after :) #im almost nervous to keep putting my adbot stuff in the main toontown tags at this point bc theyre getting. kind of off the rails a bit #im out here basically making my own canon divergence where they're an established branch of the business #with excessive lore and a fan website on the way #autism be damned my boy can think about business robots

[dinitride-art]

everyday I wish there were more stories about trans people that I could hold and cherish in book/graphic novel form. pls. I want to see trans ppl in space. and as superheroes where the story is about them 100%. and like slice of life gardening. and high fantasy. and historical fiction but like we get to be happy. and I want trans people who have magical powers and the stories about gender fuckery and saving the world. and maybe I want to write these stories too but I can’t be blamed for wanting to curl up with a good book with trans main characters written by trans ppl for me (… and everyone else too. I’m just feeling very miette about this right now) and have a fun and funky journey with a story.

#and by fantasy and high fantasy I mean I want trans people as actual characters #like the metaphors are cool too #but I want to see trans people in the actual story sometimes- most times #THIS IS ALSO A DESPERATE PLEA FOR RECOMMENDATIONS #I know there’s gotta be stories out there somewhere #I just don’t have the energy to search for them #I swear they’d cure my mental illness tho #said mental illness is greatly affecting my ability to search #so do you see the dilemma here #anyways I just know that I’ve got a ton of books with gay people in them #but I think I’ve only got one…. actually I don’t know if I own that book #…I don’t #this is devastating #oh thank fuck I own physical copies of heart stopper #got scared I didn’t have any for a second there #my point still stands tho #I want main characters #and I want them to have a wide variety of stories #thank you for coming to my ted talk

[sysig]

My kingdom for a "So you say” (Patreon)

#Doodles #SCII #Helix #ZEX #Dexter Favin #Hhhh they ;; Their ''first'' interaction! #Officially up to three cryings - not that I'm surprised I love Dex <3 #My head was fully abuzz during this scene there are so so so many interesting details! #So interesting to see which ''held true'' and which were left behind - which ones became Helix while others didn't! #At this point I almost see Helix as an alternate timeline - kind of like how Defeated is a branching arm off the main body #Not terribly dissimilar but the details that are different are too interesting to let go of so just make it all canon in its own way! Hehe #Especially since Helix is largely from Max's 3rd person perspective so the way he tells it is different than Dexter haha #Very interesting what he leaves out in his retelling hehehehe ♪♫ #Anyhow enough of Max he's not even here rn sheesh ♪ ZEX! And Dexter ;; #Hghhghh it's all set up so deviously <3 That fact that up to this point ZEX has been relying on Zelnick especially to give him credence #And then as soon as someone he ''knows he trusts'' comes to throw a wrench into things - Dexter has as much weight or more! #He's specifically engineered to sow doubt and confusion! Gosh what a place to grow his character from <3 <3 #ZEX's pride undoes him completely it's So well written ♥ Truly a fatal flaw for VUX and the way he's picked apart aghh <3 #And?? The fact that I can hear ''Max's'' voice in ZEX's syntax as soon as he doesn't have a good argument??? Hello???? #I know they come from the same base but like!! How!!! Masterful 💖 #As I drew it it's a bit out of order - Dexter says he can't protect Max (😭) before ZEX starts crying it all got a bit mixed in my head #I was very emotional at the time you understand haha #It's all so sad! They're so close in some ways to being or having what the other wants but both fall just short #No wonder they took what little comfort in each other they could <3 ZEX comforted by his voice and Dex comforted by caring for his body #They have so little to offer each other trapped as they are ;; #It's all so interesting and distressing!! There's so much to think about as everything falls into place!

[doushiteworld]

Proseka friend told me that both God-Ish and All I Need Are Things I Like are being added to the game on JP covered by Nightcord (God-Ish) and Wonderlands x Showtime (All I Need Are Things I Like) and oh boy am I scared. They're also adding (Not) a Devil but it's not covered so I'm not worried about that

#look. I didn't like the nightcord non-breath oblige cover. I don't think I ever went into detail as to why but I really don't like it #I think. Non-Breath was a bad choice for them to cover music wise. I think God-Ish is better. because it's not as energetic #not a bad thing!! God-ish feels whispery which is so Nightcord's thing. Non-Breath was too high energy for them to pull off good #...so I'm gonna be double upset if they fuck up God-ish actually. I don't even care for God-Ish that much #Like I cared for Non-Breath so much. so it stung when they kinda missed the mark with it ^^: #I'm like. a little less worried about about WxS. Because they made like. The one Pino cover In the game I actually like #Ignoring the Saki and Tsukasa Cosmospice cover. I hate that cover so much sorry #But also like. All I Need Are Things I Like is one of THE PinocchioP songs of all time. to me. so like #I hold the same sort of attachments towards it as I do to Non-Breath. So if they do fumble the net with it I'm gonna cry #Also. I know. there's a possibility that TikTok. Will pick up on it #And I don't think I'm gonna mind too much. If they run with God-Ish more. because I think it's kinda hard to miss the thing with God-Ish #But if they make some fucking trend audio with All I Need Are Things I Like that completely misses the point of the song somehow. #I'm going to riot. I never got TikTok 'ruining songs'. Until both Non-Breath and Anonymous M became like. funny trend audios. #I made a better post on my main blog about this I'll reblog it here maybe #Guys I promise I like Proseka It's just my liking of PinocchioP comes before that #I like being a little hater also tho #pinocchio p #pinocchiop #vocaloid #pinocchio-p #project sekai #proseka #doushiteworld.txt

[chirpsythismorning]

🎨 🖼️ 🌈 🩹 🧍🏽💡 🔮⚡️☄️

You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

#byler #stranger things #bizarre love triangle playlist #will byers #will's pov #will is so petty but honest i love him #'i dont like you. but i love you 🙄. seems that i'm always thinking of you' #'though you treat me badly. i love you madly. you've really got a hold of me.' #this whole song is just this back and forth battle of someone in love while simultaneously being frustrated af with said person #'i dont want you. but i need you. don't want to kiss you. but i need to. though you do me wrong now. my love is strong now.' #i also love this part bc it highlights the main difference between will's feelings for mike vs el's feelings for mike #it's not as simple as liking or wanting bc yes it is all of those things but more than that it is a NEED #you'll notice a lot of songs on here in will's pov highlight need in terms of his feelings for mike #which fits with his whole speech to mike in the van #'(i) need you mike. and (i) always will.' #there's also this juxtaposition of el and will both experiencing mike pulling away #el wants to hold on as hard as she can but she knows that it's not going anywhere and she is ready to let go by the end of s4 #will wants to hold on as hard as he can but he knows (assumes) that it's not going anywhere and yet he can't quite let go #'i want to leave you. don't want to stay here. don't want to spend another day here. oh i want to split now. i can't quit now' #leading up to their rain fight in s3 it's as if will is getting to this point where he is ready to leave #and then mike says what he says #and now he really has to go bc it's all too real ('yeah. i guess i did. i really did.' #then a whole season later when will is at his limits again up to their rink-o-mania fight its as if he is trying harder than ever to hold o #it's bc he can't quit now #'you've really got a hold of me' #will is in love now folks

[hella1975]

*crawling from debris bloody and breathless with tears in my eyes* hrrngh. my. my assignments. they are completed

#IM FUCKING DONE #I BARELY DID ANYTHING TODAY TBH BC WE'D BASICALLY DONE THE GROUP PROJECT #BUT STILL EVEN JUST THE KNOWLEDGE OF AN ASSIGNMENT IS ENOUGH TO DAMPEN THE MOOD #FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU #BUT IM FREE NOW #FOR A FEW WEEKS AND THEN IT'S SUMMER EXAM SEASON BUT WHO CARES #WRITING TIME BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #gonna do a little to-do list here: #1. taob ch42 #2. TAMS PLOT OUTLINE (fun thing about tams is while literally ALL of my other wips are outlined basically minute-by-minute #like the level of detail i put into the outline before even writing a single sentence is INSANE #tams just doesnt have an outline. ive just got bullet points of Main Scenes that are happening so i at least know plot twists #and things like that #but everything in-between is just me freestyling lmfao #BUT ive recently had some superrrr good plot ideas so i think im gonna properly do her outline now #bc tams is turning out wayyyyy better than anticipated like it intially was a fun little passion project #but now it's like 'oh shit you could Be Something'. #ANYWAY) #3. tams ch5 and respond to ch4 comments/asks #FUN :)))) #taob is the only one i TECHNICALLY need done by the end of march but it's nice having 'deadlines' for things i actually enjoy #also my flatmate's OLD flatmate (V) who i saw a lot last year bc i basically just invaded their flat every single day #like i was there ALL THE TIME their flat was the main base of operations #so even though V was just 'my friend's flatmate' he still became my friend on his own and joined our pres a lot etc etc #and his girlfriend visits from the next city over a lot and she's genuinely the loml i really like her #but obvs since they all moved out of that flat for second year i literally HAVENT SEEN V OR HIS GIRLFRIEND SINCE #BUT THEYRE COMING TO OURS FOR SOME DRINKS TONIGHT <333 we're literally just gonna catch up and play wii #and today is also my friend's bday so tomorrow our main group is going for bottomless brunch #AND i decided to be the bigger person with the other flatmate that i fell out with #so we're both fine again now and it's lifted more of a weight off me than i realised <3

[phantastragoria]

do you have a favourite portrayal of a character in the gotg game!! who is it and why <3

Oh I think they're all great honestly!!! Part of why I love the game so much is that genuinely, the whole team + supporting characters are written with such obvious love of the source material and equal attention between them all. When I see comments of people saying who their favorite character was from the game and the answer always being different from each person I'm like!! That's how it SHOULD be!!! They're the Guardians of the Galaxy (plural) the focus shouldn't all fall on a singular character like most other GotG media usually ends up as 😭

The two (sorry I can't pick just one) whom I think benefit the most from the game though are Drax and Gamora because they're almost always sidelined both in-and-out of universe by most of the various writers (especially as of late) and in turn the viewers/readers. I've been told plenty of times that they're the most boring members of the "main" team, BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY! The amount of love the game versions get (by the few who've played it at least) proves that 🥺

I've never really liked 616 Drax shifting to being a complete clown during the 90s and such (and even less so when the MCU followed along 💀) So I appreciate the game taking a bit of his seriousness from the DnA run and just making him struggle with nuance and context clues in a less exaggerated way (autistic Drax I still believe in u) and I feel the focus put on him and how losing his original family + the aftermath deeply affected him hits pretty hard here because it's treated very seriously and shown in depth, especially with how his family (wife) gets actual focus. I cannot tell you anything about Yvette in comparison to Hovat, who actually seemed to have had a personality lol (AND she was on their village's council like omg imagine having more to you than just being The Housewife) Though I will say I flip and flop on my thoughts about Heather being disconnected from Drax's life in this universe... The TLDR is that I think his arc here specifically works stronger when he has to come to terms with losing his entire family and accepting the life he currently has with the Guardians. BUT!!! I very much appreciate that Heather is still confirmed to exist within this universe, even if that means her dad issues would have to be dealt with in a different context if we ever get to see her.

Also? Shoutout to the writers actually bringing up the intense paranoia that always kneecapped 616 Drax but having that be a turning point in his backstory here, with that conversation he has with Peter where he talks about how he was becoming so paranoid of everyone being a chitauri/Thanos conspirator to the point of literally turning into an obsessed maniac like Thanos, and realizing that he desperately needed to turn his life around, it's so ough.

Out of the already many great conversations throughout the game, I think the ones with him are the most poignant. My favorite scene in the whole game is Drax and Pete's little moment on Knowhere... makes me go wahhh

(l also love that out of everyone on the team, it's his headspace that we quite literally get to go into. You KNOW that if this was any other media it'd be going into Rocket or Groot's head and likely treated as a joke.)

And oh my god, Gamora...

I find it so extremely refreshing that her role in the plot doesn't revolve purely around the men in her life, and instead, it's nearly exclusively her connection with other women. Or in the most direct obstacle she has to deal with, being how she starts projecting to the millionth degree on Nikki's situation for reminding her of what happened to her and Nebula. I find that infinitely more fascinating as a reading of her character rather than just dating drama or her arc getting completely overtaken by a man's instead.

And especially in her friendship with Mantis, who, despite having all these futures she's constantly seeing and having to navigate, still makes time to do her best to help her 🥺 From saving her life and being the one who put her on the path to healing on Lamentis, to getting her to join the Guardians and still checking in on her when she's able 😭 Friendship between women can be so powerful... u love to see it (🏳️‍🌈)

I also find it nice that there's this emphasis on her recovering mentally, and the comparison between Thanos essentially teaching her to just Deal with the shit in her life through very simplistic meditation versus the priests of Pama actually teaching her something to help soothe the mind :^( and that she still has moments of relapsing essentially. I find that to be a realistic take on recovery because that's just part of the journey since healing is not linear... and I think it's very sweet that she finds comfort in collecting something ---girly--- like dolls. Love to see a person reclaim a part of their childhood that they weren't allowed to experience. And how she's allowed to make BAD JOKES?? Imagine a woman being written to have multiple dimensions, crazy and absolutely unthinkable, I know.

There's this extremely specific theme in relation to Gamora across media that's been rattling around in my brain since first playing the game. When near the end during the revisit to Knowhere, she's about to completely lose it when Peter tries talking -for- her on what she's so upset about before immediately shooting him down, and she explains what happened between her and Nebula and she starts crying. It really struck me right then that she's never given a moment to cry elsewhere (or in the 616's case, the quite literal inability to.) aside from her shedding a Single Manly Tear (Original Sin) or a single moment out of legit fear (MCU 💀) because she's a hashtag Strong Independant Woman who can't be vulnerable etc etc. But for her to cry in front of the people she's come to care about, It gives her a moment of true vulnerability that I don't think she's allowed ever in most other media.

That and all of the above hits hard and is what makes me genuinely believe that the writers cared about her in the narrative and tried to do right by her when every other bit of media really hasn't nor cared to the majority of the time since the 90s :'^/ Brings a tear to my eye that she's allowed to just... exist in the narrative on her own merits and not on what she can provide to someone else's story.

#lex thoughts #gotg thoughts #universe: eidos game #gotg2008 #sorry for asking for a question then immediately disappearing for a month 💔 I'm on the most stressful roadtrip ever #i 🫶 you for asking about them though the Eidos gotg are my everything and i won't shut up about them if given the chance #very funny to me that all these important moments happen on Knowhere. Strange things can happen at the end of the universe. #The end page of W&tIW 09 is the only other Gamora moment of vulnerability across media that i can specifically pinpoint #But it's more self reflection in a way of a heavily traumatic experience that I don't feel ever truly got resolved within the 616 IMO #And I find it a specific point to be made when Gamora is/isn't allowed to feel or literally denied things that are stereotypically- #-categorized as -feminine- (which is dumb to assign gender roles to a simple human emotion such as CRYING.- #-But you get what I mean I hope) We play fast and loose with gender around here pardner I think all of the gotg should cry more #but in Gamora's case specifically it Hits Different knowing her past and treatment throughout media #i could also heavily go into the way the game adapts Peter's character in relation to his element guns but that's an essay for another time #just because -i- find that extremely fascinating doesn't mean i think he should particularly be the main focus (and he isnt) #bc pete rocket and groot are the ones that already get all the attention (even if i dont agree with how they're written elsewhere) #i just find it more engaging for the other two main characters of the team that always get sidelined by the writers actually being put in- #-the spotlight with equal attention given to them for once to be sooo -shakes fist #sorry for the intense word salad i hope i make sense lol ESSAY/RANT OVER .🤐

[rutadales]

I think my least favorite thing that happens in fandom spaces is how overly familiar people act towards you. Like whenever I get a post over 200 notes I have people making jokes in the tags that aren't like outright distressing or gross or anything but that just. idk! are jokes I would only make with people I know. Like "fuck you!" or "oh this is awful" or whatever that's done in a joking tone but it's still weird. You don't know me like that

And it's not so much a problem over here because we are so insular as a community so even if I don't know you guys by name or if we don't follow each other I still recognize the person commenting on my stuff. enough to almost certainly recognize the joking tone instantly and for that familiarity there to be warranted. we're not friends but it's like, yeah! I know this person they've been here forever. It's comfortable.

But in larger spaces that casual familiarity is gone. I've literally never interacted with you before. It's like if you overheard a conversation on the street and just walked in and started joking around with them like you knew them. it's uncomfortable!! and like yes obviously I'm looking for interactions when I post and tag things that's the whole point, so it is inherently different than say a private conversation being intruded on but djakfoofjf just don't act like you know someone you've literally never engaged with at all before.

#root talks #vent #delete later #like it's not the same feeling as when people are just telling me I'm a dumbass or a piece of shit #Like what happened when I first started posting in this neck of the woods #It's a different kind of ''oh I hate this'' #And it's not just clarity of intent here that's the issue #bc even though that absolutely factors into it if I got a tag that was like ''kys /j'' from a stranger I would hate that #we don't know each other!! #Just bc ur joking doesn't mean I'm going to be cool with that joke #and again tbc this doesn't happen on this blog #it keeps happening on my main tho and it's super fucking weird! #Post gets more than 100 notes? I am going to get weird comments #The anonymity online usually results in people not really reading this as a real person receiving ur messages #which I am not the first person to point that out #and I've also had this issue especially when I was younger! #It was something I had to grow out of and a social skill I had to develop #and even now I find myself constantly reminding myself a real human person is reading and responding back to me #a person with a job and cats. who is going to get groceries tomorrow or forgot to fill their car up with gas on their way home from work #like people with huge complex lives are typing to me and reading what I say so I have to think abt what I say! #Idk I'm just thinking abt this it's been a weird time