#it does make sense for the character because I am a character focused individual))

[peacerisendove]

Trying to figure out why I only like zuko's redemption and can't stand other character redemptions.

[Figured it out in my tags]

#i love when i figure out the answer to my own question before I'm even finished asking it #It's because Zuko's redemption opens up his character to possibilities. Zuko is also not a villain by choice unlike other characters I like #. *villain/antagonist (i might stick with my original word choice. currently unsure) #Redemptions of characters who are villains are seemingly used to sanitize their character and make them more palatable. In contrast Zuko's #redemption provokes growth in him. #He is not sanitized. His past actions are not swept under the rug. His redemption invokes the idea of growing past his past actions and #learning from them. #My issue Redemption AUs and the associated immediacy of the redemption of a villain character that tends to come with an AU #feels in some cases to skip over an active progression and reasoning of why a character would change (and the execution in a believable way #) ((yes I am the fun police i'm sorry but I like things to make sense with regard to character motivation. I can't enjoy the AU in full if #it does make sense for the character because I am a character focused individual)) #But anyway it's predominantly the sanitizing of villain characters/the sense of immediacy/and lack of growth in general or #does not show the in between moment for the character as they shift #or move from being a villain to progressing from that. #Dove rants about Redemption Arcs

[beakersmeepersmeep]

Something I am really looking forward to in the Community movie is (presumably) getting to see Troy return with a greater sense of who he is as an individual. I want to know about his hobbies and interests and opinions and values. And I want to know these things not just because I care about Troy as a character, but because I love the relationship between Troy and Abed.

I think that Troy has one of the more meaningful (albeit incomplete) character arcs in the show. We watch over the first two seasons as Troy lets go of his former identity as a jock and prom king, and learns that he can be vulnerable, or silly, or dorky. He realizes that being a man doesn’t have to look a particular way, and all of these realizations are largely due to Abed.

But stripped of his old identifiers, Troy begins to build a new identity largely based on his relationship with Abed. And while his relationship with Abed is unabashed, and joyous, and revolutionary (for both parties), the reality is that it’s not possible for Troy to build a stable, healthy identity based solely on a relationship with some other person, no matter how fulfilling that relationship is.

[I’m always slightly torn here with this lack of individual identity for Troy at this stage. On the one hand, it leads to this aforementioned meaningful character arc. Moreover, the idea of someone shedding an old identity and trying new ones on is a good and realistic storyline for a show set in college, especially one like Greendale. On the other hand, it sometimes seems like the writers just never got around to fully reconceptualizing the character of Troy after this shift away from jock-Troy, instead relying on his chemistry with Abed, together with DG’s talent for improvising funny one-liners, his ability to make gif-able faces, and his knack for portraying a physical and/or emotional meltdown. Okay, tangent over.]

In many ways we reach the full realization about Troy’s lack of an individual identity by Pillows and Blankets in the back half of season 3. And while we see some additional exploration of Troy via the Truest Repairman plot line as well as via his relationship with Britta, I think Troy largely postpones exploring his own sense of self (whether consciously or unconsciously) up until his decision to leave Greendale and sail around the world in Season 5. [I certainly don’t want to assign value to characters based on their labor output, but I think it’s telling that in the episode Repilot, Troy can’t seem to name anything he has been doing—whether recreationally or otherwise—and instead can only share a vague, half-joking plan to sue Abed in the future.]

Meanwhile we get some really wonderful Troy/Abed moments throughout this time period, but to me they often feel bittersweet, exactly because we as the audience are aware of this tension and its lack of resolution.

I’ve been focusing on Troy thus far—simply because Abed is the one that stuck around, so we actually do get to see him grow and change further—but Abed, as the other half of this duo, has the opposite struggle and we can see his journey in parallel to Troy’s:

Abed knows who he is as an individual but is inexperienced in connecting to others and in building and maintaining relationships. (Unlike Troy who is tremendously likable and connects easily with others but does not know who he is yet.)

It is Abed’s relationship with Troy that shows him he can in fact connect with others. (Just as Troy’s relationship with Abed helps Troy to shed his fake persona.)

But because Troy has a propensity to always defer to Abed and to not stick up for himself, Abed was able to build a relationship with Troy without fully accepting the importance of compromise in a partnership. (Similarly, Abed’s strong personality, imagination, and creativity meant that Troy could adopt Abed’s interests and goals instead of finding ones of his own.)

None of this diminishes the value of Troy and Abed’s relationship—if anything, I think it elevates its importance, as each was exactly what the other needed. But I think it does mean that, as written, Troy’s departure became the inevitable conclusion. And you could write a series that diverged from the prime Community timeline around Pillows and Blankets which allowed for Troy and Abed to both grow and change without either of them leaving, but that’s not the show we got, and ultimately, I’m not sure if it would be a better series. After all, I think Community really shines in this bitter-sweet intersection.

So one of the things I am most looking forward to in the Community movie is getting to know who Troy is as a more fully realized individual, and then getting to see the relationship between new Troy and new Abed. Having a more complete arc for Troy is something I’ve wanted for a long time, and I think it is going to be cool and funny and really cathartic.

#community #nbc community #troy barnes #abed nadir #trobed #six seasons and a movie

[aspoonofsugar]

A Quick Nora Thought...

Nora's first appearance in the series sets up her arc in two ways:

Nora: I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm… well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know? We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not "together-together…" Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?

Let's focus on 2 lines:

Not "together-togheter"...

I'm... well, I'm me!

Not together-together

Nora is initially co-dependent from Ren. She is saved by him and spends the majority of her life by his side. As a result, she struggles to find a new balance, when her feelings become romantic. They are together platonically, but not romantically. At the same time, Nora's idea of getting together-together as things are is unhealthy.

I'm... well, I'm me!

Let's consider these 2 scenes:

We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me… Jaune… We've trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore and… Uhh… Jaune!

Nora: Yeah, they’ll be fine. Jaune’s a great leader, Oscar’s grown a ton, and Yang is more than capable of protecting them all in a fight. Oh, and of course Ren is- um…

Whenever Nora can't properly say who someone is, she would define them by their name. In volume 3, Jaune is still unsure of his identity, so he is no-one, but Jaune. In volume 8, Ren is going through a similar identity crisis, so Ren is someone Nora doesn't know anymore. This speech pattern highlights that the character mentioned has a frail sense of self. Well, what does it say about Nora, then? The very first thing she says is that she is unsure of who she is. Ren is someone, for example a handsome perfect student. But Nora? Who is she?

Ren + Nora = Renora

Nora's arc is built around 2 ideas, which seem opposites. On the one hand her story focuses on her relationship with Ren, as he is her objective since early on. On the other hand she must figure out who she is as an individual. So, how can she be together-together with Ren and be just Nora at the same time?

Nora: I don’t know what he is. Every time I think the two of us are making progress, he… (sighs) We’ve been together our whole lives but I feel like I understand him less now than ever. And I don’t know if that’s his fault or mine. Blake: When you’ve been at someone’s side for so long, after a while they become a part of you. But that’s just it, they’re only a part of you. Don’t forget about the rest. Nora: I don’t actually know who I am… without Ren. Pretty sad, huh? Weiss: Well, maybe take this opportunity to find out? Do something only Nora can do.

The two thematic threads come together in volume 8. Nora doesn't know who Ren is and since she has built her self-image around him, she is suddenly unsure of herself as well. It turns out that to go from Ren + Nora to Renora, our girl needs to figure herself out:

Nora: When my mom ran from the Grimm and left me behind, you found me. We became Ren and Nora. But I realized on this mission apart, I don’t know who “Just Nora” is. And if I’m ever going to find out, then I have to do it alone. Because I’ve always loved you, Lie Ren, and that pretty head on your shoulders seems like it’s doing a lot better. But I still got to get mine sorted out before I can be the partner you need. Is that…okay?

Only in this way, she can be by Ren's side (together), but not in aa codependent way (together-together).

As for who Nora is... the episode Risk makes it pretty clear.

The most beautiful flower of all

What beautiful blossoms we have this year, but look... This one's late...But I'll bet that when it blooms it will be the most beautiful of all. (Mulan, 1998)

The Renora's confession scene ends with Nora being not ready for a relationship with Ren. And yet, the moment looks at Nora he sees the air full of petals ready to bloom. Considering Ren's Mulan's allusion and the importance flowers have in Renora's arcs, I think the reference is pretty clear.

Nora (a pink flower) has yet to bloom. She is late in a sense. However, the flower which blooms late is the most beautiful of all. That is Nora. Our girl will definately bloom into herself, no matter the adversity she meets:

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all (Mulan, 1998)

#rwby #nora valkyrie #renora #lie ren #rwby meta #my meta

[betweenlands]

[ID: Two asks from my inbox. The first is from @12u3ie and reads "Drop the essay, Solar /nf". The second is from @artisticgryfess and reads "wait no tell me about joe being technos hels". /End ID]

holy shit you guys i'm not even a hermitcraft or dsmp blog rn. fair enough this is a longstanding conspiracy theory of mine, though. ok, so. Joe Is Techno's Hels, the not-an-essay (mainly because i'm not going to cite SHIT, this is PURELY in the realm of headcanon/theory except if i explicitly indicate something is supported by canon)

so, the joke theory starts like this: back when hermitcraft/dsmp crossovers were first getting popular, there were a lot of crack theories about "hels!joe is technoblade" because... well, a lot of factors. they're both loosely english majors (i know joe is a history major just humor me), both slightly strange guys who operate by their own logic, both have somewhat similar (ish?) accents, both have a very deadpan sense of humor and incredible delivery on that deadpan, and most of all both of them Cannot Be Killed In A Way That Matters.

however, i am your local Hels Analyst, no like seriously there's so much weird shit about helsknight we haven't discussed yet, and one (implied? this is a theory but i feel it holds water) thing that's always been key to me about Hels versions is... they represent bad traits present in the original individual. whether or not those bad traits are the Objectively Bad ones or the traits the original self-identifies as bad is pretty up in the air right now (welsknight come off anon i just need you to tell me if helsknight likes pineapple on pizza it is absolutely fucking critical to our understanding of hels lore) but we'll be going with the latter, for reasons i'll explain later and by later i mean right now.

so! assuming there are hels versions of more players than just welsknight (i cannot stress enough how much we technically don't know this in canon -- it can reasonably be extrapolated but we really aren't sure!), that brings up an interesting issue with techno being joe's hels.

joe is not a particularly violent person.

"well solar," you say, "what does that have to do with techno being joe's hels?"

"well, strawman i have made up to make this long-ass post more visually broken-up and less formal-feeling," i reply, "hels versions of players only exhibit traits that are present in the original person." and this is confirmed canon, by the way -- wels himself has explicitly cited specific ways he can sometimes suck that are directly visible in the way helsknight acts!

so. joe is not a particularly violent person, and... okay yes listen i know there's a lot of very good writing on how technoblade isn't entirely 100% down for violence all the time and maybe wants to peacefully retire, okay. i get it. i am not calling techno a murder machine all i'm saying is that one of them enjoys pvp enough that he helped train other people and the other one is recording as he always does from nashville tennessee. i am a variety mcyt blogger and the only dsmp essay i have ever written before now is about how the tftsmp metaplot parallels redstoner. just bear with me.

imo joe also exhibits a lot of self-awareness about his own bad qualities as a character, and none of those traits are really... present in technoblade? but here's where it gets interesting.

i am no genius and certainly no master c!technoblade analyst, but if we assume technoblade trained to become a fighter and identified certain of his traits as being Not Ideal for someone who focuses on pvp and being a strong pigman, we can. kind of see those traits in joe, even if we can assume technoblade has learned enough to stop displaying those traits:

will commit to the bit even if it's inconvenient for him

obnoxious about whatever form of literature is closest to him

will start quoting from that work of literature to fit the situation even when it totally doesn't fit the situation

zero bloodlust and an active need to avoid direct conflict; a tendency towards pacifism even

malicious compliance

perfectly timed awful timing

overwhelming amounts of Just Some Guy and also English Major energy

exceedingly stubborn and would rather go through a problem than around it; will also see a tunnel through a mountain and climb over the hill instead

and. hm! yeah that feels like a joe hills description. you could make a joe hills out of this. add to that the fact that both of them refuse to die, but technoblade never dies whereas joe conquers death by dying over and over and coming back repeatedly out of sheer spite -- yeah i'd say joe could very easily be seen as the hels of the two.

and if Hels, the dimension, is the hostile and horrible place that helsknight claims it is -- where "everyone's unyielding and everyone there rebels" -- well, only one of them has a (mostly) canonical backstory that involves struggling through a hellish landscape designed by a hostile architect who wishes to cause pain and suffering. and it's not technoblade.

#anyway! i hope this helsknight finds you before i do #i have to go feed Animals in my House now. thanks for humoring me #yt #txt #ask #orig #solar scraps #solar scrawls #12u3ie #artisticgryfess #technoblade #joe hills #joehills #hermits #dsmp #hc x dsmp

[rash0mon]

reason of living: akutagawa ryūnosuke

debatably, bungou stray dogs is easily the most existentialist anime out there, as the main premise of existentialism (in a rough sense) - that reason of living is something individual to man, is an underlying compartment of the series, making it as awe-inspiring as it is. each character is seen to either have, or be striving towards finding their distinct reason for living. now, i wanted to retrospect a bit into akutagawa's character and how his reason affected him, his actions, morals - as well as how it possibly shifted (especially in recent chapters of the manga and anime episodes). keep in mind that at i am just laying down my opinion and observations of akutagawa`s character - some things may be fairly obvious, some uncertain or not matching your opinion, which is why i leave space for conclusion, theory, discussion.

pre-mafia

generally, we know little about akutagawa`s life before the mafia, other than small snippets shown throughout the main manga as well as in beast (although beast is an AU, it can still effectively aid in understanding his character in the canon universe). as akutagawa's companions were annihilated, it seemed that he had no reason to live. where, as we all probably know, this soon happened afterwards. from then on, everything changed.

mafia

after that night in the forest, akutagawa's life completely shifted - or moreso, he got a new life. his whole new reason of living being - pleasing dazai, getting validation from the person who gave his life a new meaning. exploring the relationship and dynamic between these two is a whole another post, which is why i shall keep it short. now, i would like to note that even if akutagawa has an unhealthy attachment to dazai, and is being emotionally manipulated by him - he is very much sensible of it. in fact, akutagawa is remarkably self-aware and perceptive, especially of the people around him, just more subtly, through his cold layer of stoicism. he is not the cold-blooded murderer with no sense of morality that many like to paint him as. yes, he is intently focused on achieving dazai's approval, pursuing that ideal in a way familiar to himself. he knows that it is not what is considered "right" by general moral rules, but he does not do much about it, as his reason of living would then diminish. dazai leaves him with a looming sense of inferiority, as he feels he is worthless no matter what he does, unless he is to achieve dazai's attention and approval. this sense of inferiority haunts him, and guides his recklesness and death-or-glory actions.

he sees the ethical issues in his own actions, and he knows there is a better life for him. he just doesn't pursue it. this is also portrayed well in his relationship with kyouka, which could have been yet another repetition of the abuse cycle started by mori and continued by dazai - but it was not, as kyouka found the world of light. he is even happy for her, as we can see. this is one of the few snippets where we can see his sensibility when it comes to others. when he stated "i knew a man with the same eyes as yours", referring to himself, in a way, he sees that he also could`ve found the world of light. but at that point, it seemed to be too late... or at least that is what he thought.

akutagawa doesn't hate atsushi. he sees him as a reflection of himself, himself if he had a different reason of living, if he met dazai a bit later, if he pursued the world of light. he is jealous of him in a sense, yes, but he does not blame him for the fact that he didn't get dazai's approval as many like to speculate. atsushi is the first person who challenges akutagawa's "way", philosophy of living. as he sees himself in him, he fulfills their promise of not killing anyone for 6 months... perhaps because of a faint hope for the world of light? he holds onto this even as a vampire, which shows his pure determination. and it makes me think, that he did not go and protect atsushi only because of dazai, as often speculated, due to the points stated beforehand. as dazai stated: “Akutagawa—he’s like a sword without a sheath.” Dazai grinned from ear to ear. “He’ll surely become the Mafia’s strongest skill user in the not-so-distant future, but for now he needs someone who can teach him how to put that sword away.”

perhaps, atsushi is that person for him rather than dazai.

chapter 88 and vampirism

as stated beforehand, akutagawa obviously does not go to save atsushi only due to his wish to be approved by dazai. there is something deeper underlying, and we have seen numerous times before that akutagawa genuinely cares about, and admires atsushi in the same way he admires and is happy for kyouka - although he would not admit it explicitly, of course. akutagawa fights fukuchi alongside atsushi, leaving himself in a completely vulnerable state, in a simple wish as to redeem, or prove himself in a way. to fulfill his meaning. he is in a special rush to do so even so because of his lung disease, which has a severe impact on the intensity and ruthlesness of his actions throughout entirety of the series. he lays his life down, but he does not go down without a fight. he stays true to his purpose...until his last moments.

at his last moment, in the given panel, however, something changes. we see a different vision of akutagawa. as he lets go of his coat, and is able to manifest his ability without it, i would say that his reason shifted. he states "i don't need words, but only actions", which is the most important sentence in understanding his character and development if you ask me. words being dazai`s words of approval, which he lets go of, like the coat he gave him. a new reason emerges, "actions". he does not need dazai anymore. he only needs himself, raw. this is further emphasized as his coat is lost in the sea by atsushi, who he gave it to. there is no reason to hold on to the past anymore... as a new era emerges.

a new era where akutagawa is not alive, apparently. he is a vampire. however, we can still see that he holds on to some of principles that caused him to change in the first place, such as not killing aya, and keeping the promise he and atsushi made. even when not concious of his actions and controlled by fukuchi, he still holds on to it. which leads me to believe, that there is truly hope for him. atsushi shares the same line of thought... as his perception of akutagawa gradually shifts to a positive one, which is why he wants him to snap out of his vampirism. atsushi understands akutagawa to the core, as they are two sides of the same coin. which is why he hopes for him. if possible, i wish for him to let go of the vampire curse and continue on developing his new reason of living... his new life. we can only long for that at this moment.

we have seen the gradual evolution of akutagawa's character throughout the series in terms of seeking his reason of living - something that is central to each character in bungou stray dogs. which leads me to end this post with what dazai stated to kyouka, which quite well describes his, and all of the other characters ordeals in striving to find a reason to live:

Your anguish isn’t yours alone. What should one do, when what they want to be isn’t what they’re best at? Everyone fights, searching for the correct way to live their lives. What do they seek by fighting? How ought they live? No one can say. All we have is the right to waver. Like stray dogs that have hit rock bottom.

#akutagawa ryuunosuke #bsd akutagawa #bungou stray dogs #bsd analysis #dazai osamu #atsushi nakajima #shin soukoku #kyouka izumi #rashomon #bsd #bsd manga #literary stray dogs #anime #anime and manga #manga panel #manga #character analysis #port mafia #existentialism #anime post #akuatsu #bungo stray dogs akutagawa #bsd beast #dark era bsd #bsd quote #dark era dazai #bungou gay dogs #akutagawa x atsushi #sskk #bsd sskk

[elliespuns]

What is your perspective on tlou2 being inspired by the Israel-Palestine conflict? It didn't register with me at first but I've gotten too attached to the characters by the time that I discovered it and it is genuinely disappointing HOWEVER I have separated their narratives from the political dimension of the game by just focusing solely on the individual emotional journeys that each of the characters go through and I never really bought the games myself first hand except get them second hand but is it still wrong to adore the characters?

Not happy about it. I mean, who would be?

I wasn't aware of it at first either; it just didn't click, and then I started seeing the rumors, and well, it all made sense. I am disappointed. Not at all for Neil Druckmann, though. I don't really care about him (except for his amazing mind, where he created Ellie and Joel, the only fictional characters that I've got to love so much). What I am disappointed in more is that almost everyone thinks that once you continue to love this game, you support the evil too. Which is not how I feel about it.

But then again, does even my opinion matter? I've already got a lot of anon messages throwing hate on me for managing a blog about TLOU and supporting the evil. And I sit here and wonder... where did I ever say that I supported the bad side of the conflict? I don't think I ever did. Why? Because I don't talk about politics on this blog. This blog has been made to share love with all TLOU lovers, not to support Neil Druckmann or anyone else's political views or to even share about politics in general.

People are quick to judge. They go and preach to stand with Palestine and then go hate on the people who chose to stay quiet. People should realize that individuals managing fandom blogs and not sharing politics doesn't automatically mean that they support the evil. We (bloggers) have our own personal lives out of our blogs and our own personal accounts. Many of us are posting about the conflict on our personal social media. People should think about this before making bloggers feel like shit for managing silly blogs where they don't want to discuss what can be discussed elsewhere.

I have a deep bond with this game; I had it a long time ago before any of this was happening (everyone knows I will always prefer the first game over the second). This is not something I can just throw away. I have memories connected to it, feelings, emotions... it's not like I can tell myself 'fuck the game' now just because of the news I got. I guess it's easy for others when the bond is not so strong, but this game has been in a better part of my life for so long, and believe it or not... when I think about how Ellie and Joel make me happy, I don't have fucking Druckmann in mind or any of his political views.

I will never mix my admiration for this project with politics. Me not agreeing with Neil Druckmann's political views won't change the fact that I've already fallen in love with this game years ago. I am not loving Druckmann; I am loving something he once created. That is a big difference. Especially if you've already loved the game before the conflict.

I say, unless you're actively supporting the propaganda and throwing your money at it, you are not hurting anybody. You, being emotionally connected to the story of this propaganda's project or its characters won't really change a thing. Not for good, yes, but not for bad either.

Anyway, this is my opinion. I think people should stop judging those who are not sharing politics on their fandom blogs because they never know what these people share on their personal accounts. We are here to enjoy things that are free; love and joy for fictional characters we've adored for too long.

Sorry, I got a bit carried away. This is probably the only post about politics I'll share, so this needed to be said.

Anyway, you don't need to feel bad for loving the characters. You are not doing anything wrong. I think every one of us who still loves TLOU to this day is able to detach from the fact of who's behind the games. We're here for Ellie and Joel. They don't care about Druckmann either.elliespuns answers

#the last of us #tlou #ellie williams #ellie tlou #joel miller #joel tlou #ellie and joel #joellie #the last of us game #tlou game #the last of us part 2 #tlou part 2 #i stand with palestine #elliespuns answers

[tansyuduri]

Merlin Loregasm Rewatch S1E2

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my rewatch of Merlin focusing on the lore. I am a giant nerd so pretty excited about this. Time for VALIANT!

So this brings up heraldry in the series. We see Arthur using Camelot heradlry, and other knights doing the same but during tourneys, we see Lots of different other patterned shields. So either people usually use the shield of their overlord in battle but their own in tourneys Or no knights of Camelot besides Arthur appear in tourneys. (I think Lancelot will make this a bit clearer when we get to it.) Either way either this is Valient's family crest, or he serves someone with a family crest. Either way it makes sense for why he murders this dude. As the shield is KINDA a dead giveaway to his identity. (And we know he is a knight or at least is acting as one and pulls it off better then Merlin's later first attempt at identity theft.) They obviously do not require patents of nobility at tourneys because Gwen, Arthur and Merlin pull off a fictional Knight later just fine.

I think he is likely a knight because ARMOR IS EXPENSIVE Y'ALL.

He also says he is from the Western Illes. Because the island of Mora And Ealdor this is the first place we hear about besides Camalot. Does he mean Ireland? I think he means Ireland? ALSO! are you used to my messed up grammar and punctuation yet? I have an LD in both. This is why I always need Betas for my fics despite creative writing being my thing. (I mean besides just wanting them to be better.) (This is an example of autistic oversharing. You are welcome! BACK TO MERLIN!)

So we only see this kinda sparing with Merlin in armor and holding a sword and shield once. (Usually he just holds a target for arthur) However, Merlin does get better with a sword somewhat as the series progresses so I think it likly continues. (Though perhaps a bit more nicely) It's interesting because Arthur has his pick of people to spar with, we see that later. Yet he says "Most Servants collapse after the first blow" So who is he sparing with? Has he been given manservants he didn't like before and just used this to make them quit? ANYHOO this was not as much lore so will not often comment on character dynamics but yesh.

Okay so I will spare you the talk of different armor parts. BUT this is really interesting compared to mentions of "Camalot forged steel"

See many Castles would have their own blacksmith and the one in the villager would be more for horseshoes, nails, and the like. Because armor and weapon making was A BIG DEAL

This implies Gwen's father was a HIGHLY SKILLED blacksmith who likely served the knights of Camalot. (He can't have been the only one because when he dies there is a period of time before Elyan comes and in Gwen's words Gets the forge running again.) But for a regular blacksmith to serve as an armor and weapon maker is a BIG DEAL that kinda knowledge was highly specialized! And yet Uther killed him easily.

OKAY time to nerd out a bit! This is quartering, an advanced heraldic tradition in which an individual for some reason or another wanted to show MORE than one coat of arms they were entitled to. You guys should look all this up, its fascinating! But onward!

Okay yeah remember what I said about Gwens family likely descending back to the Roman times? It's still possible but if Arab knight equivalents can get to Camelot then her family could totally have come from northern Africa for other reasons. Also I like the dude in Mauve having an Anglo-Saxon Helm and the due behind him having one from the 1100s I love Merlin's stew of things from all over history.

Okay this is perhaps just Uther being an ass. Because I'm sorry if you are not the king of Mercia I refuse to belive you are the king of Ireland. (Albion is not united yet.)

Perhaps its mostly knights of Camalot here with some exeptions? I mean if we are creative with the dude CLEARLY of the middle east we can say somehow became a noble of camalot. It would explain a few things. Did Valiant come from Ireland (Sorry I mean The Western Illes) originally then somehow for reasons we will not question also moved to Camalot? (Unlikely as Uther asks him to stay later.) There are also very few people here so likley perliminary tournaments were held? I mean we do see in Lancelot people come from all over to try to be knights of Camalot. so THEORETICLY Uther might be being honest here?

Okay this guys helm is the same as the Arab dude we saw before I think he just took his outher coat off. BUT And some of this gear is very European. So Camalot somehow has an Arab noble family that fights in ancestral gear when they can OR he got repairs along the long journey to Camalot in local styles. Take your pick!)

(You know because I can't be normal and just say they throw this in for visual appeal.)

Something to note! This would normally be the job for a Squire. A Squire was also usually the step before knighthood but in the Merlin world they do not seem to exist!

#bbc merlin #merlin lore #merlin lore rewatch #merlin loregasm rewatch #merlin bbc

[jinkookspencil]

bts as musicals

simply put, bts as staged musicals i'm familiar with. a very random list and post i wrote up at 3am. it's not to be taken too seriously of course, and this is just my sleep-deprived opinion and take

namjoon - hamilton

i feel this is self explanatory for anyone familiar with both hamilton and nj

hamilton, entirely self written about a self-made man with the weight of the world on his shoulders who needed to prove himself, all while being completely in homage to rap legends through and through

HELLO????

hamilton is also a musical very centered around loss and i can really see that in joon

loss, rap, and the eternal internal struggle!!!

he'd have so much fun with it but it'd wreck him

satisfied especially

also i hate to make this point but when it comes to the hate that these two receive, sometimes it’s clear that it’s really forced hatred

seokjin - hairspray

the ladies choice amiright ladies?

obviously there’s link, the very attractive man who everyone wants 

who is hopelessly in love with a plus sized beauty <3333 so jin

jin has often expressed his love of being “unserious” and we all know he can be like that mostly on camera, but he definitely has that more serious side that really is the basis for his character

isn’t that vaguely reminiscent of hairspray too though?

we often think of it as this unserious musical but it actually has more layers than one might remember, discussing prejudice, body image, individuality, self-image, integrity

i think all of those things matter a whole lot to seokjin 

yoongi - les miserables 

fuck the system 

really, all about rebellion and revolution 

but also let me break your heart a little

and let me make you remember that you’re actually living life

very similar themes across both yoongi’s solo work and les mis - injustice, class, tragedy, loss, to name a few. while also being so sympathetic towards its varied characters, reminiscent of yoongi’s sensitivity and mindset

shit think of how yoongi might react to 'i dreamed a dream'

hoseok - wicked 

I think jack in the box just solidifies this as my pick for hoseok tbh

because there’s the childlike wonder side we all see and know (wizard of oz, j-hope of bts)

but then everything that surrounds it and the real story behind it (wicked, jitb)

both wicked and jitb offer a look into a “character” we think we’re familiar with, but it turns out we really aren’t

when we finally see them tell their story in their own words

elphaba struggles with her “role” and so does hobi, literally spelling it out for us in jitb

they both feel trapped, and thus reclaim and reinvent themselves 

It’s a very identity-focused musical/album that still links back to prejudice in our world, too and "where they fit in"

jimin - chicago 

sex

chicago is a look into fame/celebrity and corruption and ambition, and i think jimin has quite strong values when it comes to that

to me, it seems as though he finds those topics very interesting to think about

and also, how that all intersects with sexuality and gender

it feels like the crux of what chicago is as a musical but also who jimin presents himself to be

taehyung - west side story

i wanted something that’s a bit of a more classic musical for taehyung, and out of the ones i am familiar with, wss seemed the most fitting (tho i have a sneaky suspicion that one of the ones i am *not* familiar with might be more him)

taehyung is a romantic and, like nj, he almost romanticizes his losses and spends time looking back and reflecting on his own relationships and even his relationship with 'love' as a whole - layover proves it

so of course wss makes sense, the dance numbers, the longing, the risk of it all, the fact that it's story about "the power of love"

i think it'd leave quite the impact on tae, if he hasn't seen it yet

despite being a retelling of romeo & juliet (which tae would LOVE) wss also set the precedent for many musicals to come, much like tae did. looking back, it was very innovative for its time in so many different ways

musically, it's very taehyung. i could see him wanting to do covers of the songs. maria, tonight, and something's coming (he'd always go back to this song)

in every iteration of it, it's also very cinematic and very personal at the same time, which means it is very taehyung

jungkook - grease 

I didn’t WANT to pick grease and feed into that stereotypical ‘bad boy jk’ idea

but like i can’t not

and it’s not so much that it is representative of who jk is as a person

except aesthetically (the dazed cover is proof)

but that i can see jungkook himself enjoying the musical numbers and poking fun at john travolta, imitating him in his dance moves

i think he’ll particularly enjoy “you’re the one that i want” and might develop some sort of ‘corruption’ fantasy of turning a good girl bad

this might be me projecting that i want jk to do to me shhhhhhh

oh and he will go through a phase of calling his car “grease lightning” and sing the song every damn time he gets in it

yeah it'd be hard as fuck to get jk to get rid of his john travolta impression

#bts headcanons #bts headcanon #bts fic #bts reaction #bts reactions #ot7 fic #ot7 reactions #ot7 scenario #ot7 #ot7 scenarios #bts ot7 #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #bts fluff #bts scenario #bts scenarios

[panharmonium]

What do you think about this: "Kakashi was never interested in Sasuke as an individual, he only projected himself into him and saw a smaller version of himself on Sasuke, Sasuke was never Sasuke to him, just a little Kakashi". I wanted to know your opinion because I miss your meta posts and I feel like lately people are hating Kakashi for things that aren't real :/, also you are really good at explaining and I feel that both characters need love

Hello! Thanks for the question!

The answer to "what do i think about this" is, honestly, that I don't think about it X) I watched the whole show without engaging with the fandom at all (for fear of spoilers, initially), so I was able to experience it without being exposed to anyone else's thoughts, and now that I'm done I generally still avoid poking around, because devoting mental energy to opinions that I find bizarre/not supported by the text doesn't enhance my fandom experience.

Kakashi and Sasuke's relationship is one of the most compelling things about the series to me. I was very surprised when I finished the show/manga and first exposed myself to the fandom only to find so few people invested in them, but at this point I've (mostly) stopped asking myself "what show was everyone else watching" and just settled into enjoying the show that I watched, because that's more fun for me. I can't convince people not to dislike Kakashi if that's what they want to do. I do find it a little weird, because I don't think that's what the story is asking from us, but as long as people mind their business and aren't bugging me on my own blog, they're free to do what they want.

I know it can be frustrating when there are people hating various characters for "things that aren't real," but the fact that these criticisms aren't "real" is precisely why I generally avoid engaging with them. For Kakashi, specifically, there are certain things people can say that will immediately make me stop taking them seriously - "projecting" is one. "Bootlicking" is another, but again, these terms are so wildly inaccurate that I'm not interested in talking about them. The manga and the show are easily accessible; if people want to rewatch/re-read them, they can.

In general, I just prefer to avoid engaging with most of the fandom negativity I see. I think overall most of the rancor I've stumbled across boils down to people engaging with the story in very ungenerous ways, if that makes sense, and that's not how I prefer to read/watch things. Like - back when I was still in the middle of watching the show, I remember someone sent me a message saying that they loved seeing me talk about the story with earnestness/joy, and it was such a lovely message to receive, but it also made me pause and wonder for a second if this was really an uncommon enough thing to be remarked upon. Wouldn't that be the default? Aren't we all here because we love the story and the characters so much? But the truth is that sometimes it does feel like large chunks of fandom spaces (not just Naruto, I mean; I've certainly experienced this elsewhere) are very focused on being negative about "things that aren't real," as you said. Like - people calling Sakura "abusive" for bopping Naruto on the head when he says something rude, when this is not something the text is even remotely trying to say about her. People writing off Jiraiya's entire storyline because of the non-consensual spying on women - which, yes, of course, is disgusting and wrong. Obviously. I am very aware of that. However, I can simultaneously recognize that the story isn't really interested in that or intending me to read it like that; the voyeurism is written as a joke (yes, I understand how gross that is) and there are a hundred potential personal and/or patriarchal and/or genre-related and/or cultural factors that may have gone into Kishimoto writing this particular fail. If I want to understand and appreciate what the story was ACTUALLY trying to communicate with Jiraiya (that he's an idealist who gave up on the world when everything went wrong, who turned to shallow pleasures of the flesh to distract him from the pain of his disillusionment, and who was finally restored to his former faith after meeting Naruto), then I have to mindfully set the voyeurism aside and go, "This writer wrote a gross thing, and I recognize that, but I'm also not going to fixate on it, because I can simultaneously appreciate/find meaning in what he was really trying to say."

I think some of the Kakashi complaints out there very much fall under this umbrella. If I have to see one more person frothing at the mouth about Kakashi briefly tying Sasuke (a qualified ninja who has already demonstrated his ability to escape rope restraints and whom Kakashi has been individually mentoring, sparring against, and connecting with for a month) to a tree for approximately sixty seconds - honestly. I don't know how to tell people they're missing the point, so I don't bother.

Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that people are entitled to dislike any character that they want, even for contrived reasons. As long as they're doing their own thing in their own space and letting me do my thing in mine, we're good.

#now - don't get me wrong; my sister and i vent to each other all the time about the bad takes we've seen #a vent session can be extremely satisfying #and sometimes typing up a complain-y rant is good for the soul #but ultimately when it comes down to what i spend my time posting about #i'd rather spend most of my time writing about the stuff i love instead of refuting all of the opinions i don't agree with #it's just fandom in the end #i'm here to enjoy myself and connect with other people who enjoy the story in a similar way #i assume other people are here to do that too - even when our modes of enjoyment look very different #as long as we're chilling in our own spaces and not hopping onto other people's posts to start arguments #everything's good #naruto #replies #fandom

[glareandgrowl]

you know what?! NO! I WON'T just stop there!

This has really frustrated me as a creator who puts pride and effort into the characters I create. I'm giving myself until the end of this 30 min playlist to put my thoughts together so forgive the mess it will inevitably cause.

I have seen the take many a times about Dangan games and it's characters that fans and enjoyers are upset their special guy didn't get the screentime they deserved due to whatever reason; It's understandable really. You see a character that has such potential in your eyes its a shame its all wasted away. But I have seen the idea thrown around that the lack of care for a majority of characters' deaths and roles in the story is based on the sheer number of bodies and stories to tell. With so many characters there would never be enough room to allow all of them to flourish before they die! That's just the curse of these types of stories.

I am here to tell you that is BULLSHIT! It's bullshit and I refuse to believe it!

I, for the longest time, have hated the writing of the dangan games. It has always seemed sloppy, rushed, and far too drawn out for its own good. And no, that's not because the trials can be a little funky and rough around the edges when it comes to details. Though, that does coorelate to the negativity I have towards them as a whole. No.

I full-heartedly believe what is to blame is the free-time events. In Dangan 1, it was a fun gimick. Theres a large cast of characters, it only makes sense that a select few would stick out to the player as an interesting one, with a desire to learn more about them.

Shoddy writing of THH aside, I do feel it was a bit of a bandaid on the issue of a too-large cast. If there were optional ways to spend more time with certain characters, they didn't need to spend all that valuable plot time giving them exposition and relevance! The players can find the relevance on their own!

Except... Instead of using the plot time they saved for making a better, more cohesive story, all they did was fill it with dead air, bloated trials and a clear favoritism for the few remaining survivors. (IE in THH Byakuya, Kyoko, Makoto (obv hes the mc I can't complain there.)) Instead of focusing on the group as a whole, its dynamics amongst the survivors at the time, the plot instead magnets to favorites in an attempt to make you like them more.

I know its been mentioned a million times, but the game makes it incredibly hard at times to imagine these characters as once being friends.

(I will say from what I have seen of the next two games they do remedy this at least a little bit, with the group dynamic at least being tolerable to borderline good in v3 (yes before you come for me goodbye despair was good too.))(it also does seem, imo, to be a problem specifically with THH, as the next two DO do a better job at characterization, aside from the rogue one or two "mystery" characters that are put WAY too much emphasis on. (cough cough Kokichi, Rantaro, Kyoko, Byakuya to an extent) Most of whom I don't really care for due to that specific emphasis put on them. Not that their characters are bad, the games just reaaaallly want the player to care about these guys. Which makes me not want to.

Back to individuality.

The argument of a too-large cast as the reasoning for characters being left behind in terms of narrative importance, i feel, would be easily remedied by removing free time events entirely. No more backstory exposition dumps and underwear gifts for friendship points. No more mono-mono machine. If the writers were instead FORCED to give each character their time in the limelight, if they were forced to actually give a shit about each individual personification as much as those freetime events lead you to believe, then the plot would grow to accommodate.

Half the shit in the trails is unnecessary. Half the shit in the plot is unnecessary. Half of it is pandering, or shipping bait or funny haha jokes! We're so quirky!

The plot needs to care about your characters as much as the writers do. Which should be as much as your audience does. And if it doesn't. if the plot only cares about giving the audience a reaction, or if it only cares about its surface level motivations and schemes, then all you're going to get is surface level, unmotivated, wasted potential characters.

Now. I've ragged on about dangan for a bit. Does that mean I hate the games, the stories and the characters? Hell no. Of course not. If I did, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't spend my time making fanart and writing fanfiction. I like the games. They're interesting, funny at times. The writing has its moments of sincerity. It's made me cry once or twice. I LOVE the ending to goodbye despair. I think its the best in the series by far.

I guess what I mean to say in the ending of all this, the TLDR if you will, is that the dangan games COULD have made the characters work. It could have made you believe each one was special and important to the story. If it cared enough to. It's no excuse, though.

(Also yes this is about Taka and how he was robbed. You could say the same about a fair few characters. I just spend hours a day thinking about his character anways so this is it's natural conclusion.

#danganronpa #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #kiyotaka ishimaru #danganronpa goodbye despair #danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 #drthh #dr1 #dr2 goodbye despair #longsheeprants #mini rant #before anyone comes for my throat this is all my OPINION!!! #You are allowed to like the stories of the dangan games #that is a good and ok thing to think. You are not bad at literacy analysis if you like the stories and the plots. #also you can enjoy things and still criticize them. In fact that is a good and cool thing to do. Critically analyze the media you enjoy #its fun

[balefulbasal]

Why I Believe Miguel O’Hara (Spiderman 2099) Is an Autistic Coded Character

NOTE: I’m broke, so I have not actually seen the movie. I read spoiler articles, watched the limited clips available on the internet, and engaged in discourse online from casual fans all the way up to storyboard writers for Miguel O’Hara. Therefore, I understand that my perception of this has the potential to be incomplete and limited.

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT AUTISM, DNI!

TW: Autism, Neurodivergent, Neurotypical, term “Othered” used once, Depression, Mention of Psychiatric Conditions, Pattern Recognition, Misperceptions, Sensory Processing Disorder, Hyper Focuses, Special Interest(s).

QUICK NOTE: ND is an abbreviation for Neurodivergent. NT is an abbreviation for Neurotypical.

CW: I describe autism from my viewpoint because I am autistic. I DO NOT speak for all autistic people. While many of us autistic people have had nearly identical experiences, I choose to relate to Miguel from my own experience. I directly acknowledge specific aspects of my autism in this post in order to include those of us who do the same thing. We are all individuals, but that sense of community and understanding is very important to me, so I want to share that feeling. This was horrific for me to compile, but horrific in a way that has greatly helped me to face aspects of my own autism, despite how scary it felt writing this.

LET US COMMENCE!

Miguel O’Hara does not have Spidey sense: a “normal” aspect of all Spider persons. Miguel is a Spider person but is lacking a HUGE qualifier. Spider persons with Spidey sense can be likened to Neurotypical people, who are the majority of humans. Autistic (a type of Neurodivergence) people are known to “miss” many seemingly every day or normal things that Neurotypicals don’t have to think about. But NTs and NDs are both humans. But just like Miguel, NDs are a small minority of humans. Because of all the things we “miss” or “don’t sense”, we are “othered”.

MANY Autistic people are incorrectly diagnosed with psychiatric conditions, such as: OCD, ODD, and Generalized Depression. The deep sadness and desire for control in order to maintain inner peace is OFTEN confused with said psychiatric conditions. Miguel created the Spider Society to maintain control of what it is that he understands about how things work, so that he can rationalize the mistake he made that messed up the Spiderverse, while helping other people to not make the same mistake and mess things up even more. Miguel is operating within a trait common to autistic people called Pattern Recognition. I’ll explain it this way: If something has happened the same way MANY times over, and this thing began and ended the same way, no matter who the thing involved, then once I see Step 1 of the issue occur, I can warn/outline to people EXACTLY how all steps will carry out if they don’t do EXACTLY as I say to protect themselves. Miguel’s intense desire to HELP has been MISPERCEIVED as: aggression, control freak, irritability, and crazed obsession. No one is seeing things the way he is (NT and ND perception disconnect), but he still wants to help them at the expense of being PERCEIVED negatively.

In ATSV, we witness what happens when an autistic person (Miguel O’Hara) is trying to maintain control over a situation THEY KNOW will go south if they don’t DO SOMETHING TO STOP IT. The first step in a long list of detrimental events was Miles being an anomaly Miguel couldn’t prevent, and every step afterward is escalating towards the last pieces of the destruction that Miguel already anticipated and he is seeing that its beyond him now. NO ONE LISTENED BECAUSE NO ONE COULD SEE THE SITUATION THE WAY HE DID. When an autistic person loses their tight grip on the control they have consciously and intentionally curated for YEARS, they burn out. And while that is a figurative death for us autistic people, most NTs take this as an “overreaction as a result of overthinking”.

Miguel has sensory processing disorder (another trait common with autism): His suit is digital/holographic. Many of us with sensory processing disorder hate the way MOST clothes FEEL on us and we must choose between a long list of “evils” in order to figure out what we will be comfortable wearing. If I could have digital/holographic clothes, that would help me so much. He is sensitive to light. Bright lights overstimulate most people with sensory processing disorder. We love being in the dark, wrapped in a fabric comfortable to us, or not wearing anything at all!

Most autistic people have hyper focuses where we curate our special interests, and we LOVE to talk about them. It is usually seen as “overbearing”, “too much”, “CHILDISH”, “TAKES TOO LONG TO EXPLAIN”. Miguel can go into the most scientific and thorough explanation of something that he’ll express directly and with the right amount of nuance for the given topic but is cut short because he “doesn’t look” like he “should” be saying, acting like, doing, and behaving in the way that he is. I’m a societally attractive Black woman who is an introvert with an extrovert’s personality. Being autistic, a few of my many special interests are: Spiders (Jumping Spiders to be exact. Miguel O’Hara is my favorite jumping spider of all) small containers, all aspects of human behavior (even though NTs still baffle me), and sex. I can overabundantly relate to Miguel in that he and I are considered good looking, but no one seems to “get” why we are “acting this way”.

Miguel created Lyla. She is a fun, bubbly, silly, little character. Seemingly opposite from him. Raise your hand if when you were a little autistic kid, you had that one imaginary friend who you called to mind any time you were overstimulated and needed to cope, survive, force yourself to think, etc. and they were the version of yourself you wish you were emotionally safe enough to be. I feel that Lyla is who Miguel is on the inside, but if he showed that, he’d be taken advantage of. (Masking our true selves for self-preservation reasons, anyone?) Lego Spiderman is technically a toy. Most autistic children have THAT ONE TOY (or any object!) we DO NOT let go of, even into adulthood. It’s a comforting, safe, and easy to hold object that we use to calm ourselves down. I had a small stuffed puppy that I protected with my life. No one could pick it up or even look at it without my consent. Her name was Emmy. (The Phantom of the Opera introduced me to Emmy Rossum, and I thought she was so cool.) Miguel has fused his inner self representation of an AI assistant (Lyla), and his emotional support/comfort object (Lego Spiderman) into this small mix of what he feels he has left, because he lost anything else that would have brought him comfort.

This list could go on. But I’ll stop here. All these aspects of Miguel feel so specifically Neurodivergent/Autistic. I don’t know if that was intentional, but if it was, I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to the ATSV writers for this. And I am thanking all of you who took time out of you day to read this.

Thank you so much!

#miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #astv #across the spider verse #autistic spectrum #autism #autistic #critical analysis #autistic coded character #neurodivergent

[gffa]

Hey! I was nervous about the Kenobi show after BoBF had its issues midway through the season. As someone who enjoys the prequels and cares about the characters, do you think the new show holds up? Did you enjoy it without too many caveats?

Hi! I will preface this with that, what any given person wants from and gets out of Star Wars is going to be different from the next, and I'm sure there are plenty of people with perfectly understandable dislikes about the Obi-Wan Kenobi show. But, for me, as someone who is heavily invested in the character arcs of the show and the thematic elements, this show knocked it out of the park. There's some plot stuff I could probably quibble with, but I will happily take plot quibbles as a side dish on a massive delivery of character work, like I am over the moon for what this series delivered for me. The weaknesses I've felt in the live action shows for the past couple of years aren’t present here, for example the increasing overreliance on cameos--individually, I enjoyed every single one of the cameos in the live action shows! I don't know which of them I would even cut, because I loved those appearances, but s2 of The Mandalorian and TBOBF both started to feel like they were less coherent storylines that were able to stand on their own, and more like half a puzzle that wasn't going to be assembled for years, if ever. The Obi-Wan Kenobi show does not fall into this same trap--all the recognizable characters are ones that make sense for the show. The thematic parallels are excellent, both in the "echo and rhyme" sense of being nods to other Star Wars stories, as well as being thematically coherent within its own storyline. It's a complete, resolved story within the time frame its set in, the character work is exquisite and the center of the show. The new characters fit into the story thematically and are important because of how the entire story fits together by the end, they're lovely characters in and of themselves, but how they're woven into or parallel alongside the main characters' own arcs was really good for me. If you're here for the Obi-Wan character relationships and his emotional arc, I think you'll love it. And if you're a prequels fan, this series is a love letter to those movies, it is laser focused on how the events of them matter and this show is the aftermath of it. I enjoyed it whole-heartedly and pretty much without caveat. Maybe others will feel differently, I freely admit that I'm super invested in the characters that were the heart of this series, you could break canon to pieces so long as you delivered on the spirit of Lucas' themes (well, I exaggerate, but you know what I mean) and I felt this series absolutely did that.

#obi wan kenobi #meta

[kates-sweet-escape]

KinnPorsche - It's all a ruse (a theory)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for KinnPorsche the Series. Read at your own risk. I haven't read the novel, only bits and pieces that I've found online so this is purely based on the TV Series. Also, this post is based on the work of other amazing Tumblr creators that will all be credited within this post. Brace yourself - this is a long one.

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert, I am just a german romance-novel writer. Also, I come from a eurocentric perspective as I was raised in Germany by a British mother and a German father.

Additional KinnPorsche Content by me:

KinnPorsche: The question of true privilege (Meta - Episode 6)

KinnPorsche: Kinns Breakdown - I can't believe you still want me (Meta - Episode 7)

Hello everyone.

I swear to god, the things this show and this fandom make me do. I usually don't share theories. Or meta. Or anything. I left the active part of fandoms a long time ago, but here I am, typing away with a facemask on and a half-empty glass of wine right next to me, cause damn I need a little self-care after watching the emotional rollercoaster that was Episode 9.

Ever since Episode 9 aired I've read a lot of opinions about Kinn, his character, and his choice not to trust Porsche. Reactions within the fandom vary from genuine understanding to absolute outrage, a fascinating mixture of empathy and cancel culture.

And ever since that devastating moment at the end of the episode I've been thinking. A lot. Maybe more than what is healthy considering the fact that this is just a TV-Show that somehow managed to take over my life.

Things didn't quite add up to me. I was caught in this weird emotional limbo of I do understand Kinn as a fellow individual with massive trust issues caused by ex-lovers that betrayed us and After what they've shown us last week and with the emotional progress those two characters have made, Kinns reaction does not make that much sense from a writers perspective.

So I went back to watch those last few minutes over and over again (and before you ask me - no, I am not okay! Porsches pleading and soft "Ai Kinn" will haunt me tonight), took screenshots, read the previous meta while trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. And then the brilliant @moerusaii posts this amazing piece of meta that convinced me to share my thoughts with you guys.

Because I have the theory that this might be an elaborate ruse by Kinn and Porsche to trick Tawan and Vegas.

And here is why:

Kinn, Tawan and that one mirror frame

This is that one frame that kickstarted it all for me in Episode 9. @luckydragon10 whom I'm very much a fan of, has talked about what mirrors signify in this post, and ever since then I've been paying a lot more attention to the usage of mirrors in KinnPorsche.

We see Tawan and Kinn alone in Tawans old apartment to retrieve the evidence of who is behind the Italians (which is probably useless anyway - and YES all the shade for this b*tch). While Tawan is "remembering" the real location of the USB stick, this shot happens. We see the real Tawan, but we only see the reflection of Kinn, probably signifying that Kinn has a hidden agenda, keeping the truth hidden from Tawan while showing a side of himself that is not real and only a mere reflection of himself.

It's only a short frame but something about it feels so deliberate that I couldn't possibly ignore it.

Maybe it also means that Tawan is only seeing an old version of Kinn, feeding into the issues he had rather than seeing the real Kinn that has maybe gotten rid of them with a partner by his side he can truly trust, all without his vicious ex-lover noticing who is focused on the reflection he is familiar with.

Kinn breaking the fourth wall

Okay, I've already mentioned @moerusai and her amazing post but I still want to add a little bit to that. (And thank you Mo for sending me a DM so I could use your gifs that looks a million times better than my screenshot!)

When I watched Episode 9 for the first time, this shot made me so uncomfortable. Kinn looks straight at the audience, no filter, no mirror, no nothing. And for the first time, I felt like I am looking at the soul of this man, bruised and bare and begging to be understood and to be trusted. It felt like he looked at me to tell me that things are going to be okay, as long as we keep our eyes on him and see past what is shown, willing to stare into the shadows until we can see everything that's hidden in the darkness.

The lighting when Vegas and Porsche are alone is not green.

We all remember this scene from Episode 7. The scene where Porsche and Vegas stumble into the bathroom. The light in this scene is green, signifying danger as the amazing @antique-forvalaka has pointed out in her "KinnPorsche and the Use of Color" Series that I will mention again later on. It has been pointed out by @yellingaboutkp in this post that Porsche faked being drunk because he already suspected Vegas being shady and wanted him to show his true colors (no pun intended). If we assume this to be true, then Vegas should remain a threat to Porsche, his light remaining green.

Now look at this:

The color in this scene is teal and not green. We've seen this color before, in episode 5, and as @antique-forvalaka pointed out in this post this specific mixture of blue and green is used when there is a danger that Porsche is able to handle. When he is not as helpless as he appears to be. When he is forming a plan.

But Kate, what does Vegas have to do with any of this? He isn't Tawan! Yes, my lovelies, you are correct. He isn't Tawan. But ever since he doubled down on the Kinn Shot His Ex Rumor, I am convinced that he's got something to do with it. Especially considering his disgustingly perfect timing and his offer to Porsche to run away together. In addition to that, we know that he will storm the compound from the trailer. So he is most definitely one of the main villains of the show and just like a snake with its beautiful and shiny green scales, he is able to slither into anything just so he can poison it in one swift bite.

We are still waiting for that handshake (Trailer)

Yes, the trailer. I am even going back that far. I am sure that this scene takes place at Yok's bar (she's a true MVP) and I think it might even be a flashback where Kinn and Porsche talked about their plan, far away from prying eyes and ears. And what could be more romantic than a date night like that? A couple that schemes together stays together!

But all jokes aside, this scene might also take place later on when the two of them have drifted apart, signified by the fact that Porsche is wearing Jeans, something he stopped doing ever since getting emotionally closer to Kinn and adapting part of his style. So I might be completely wrong about this and it's not them scheming but instead reconciling.

When it all goes up in flames - Porsche remains (KinnPorsche: The Hidden messages)

And since we are already on a trip down memory lane, I am taking you guys back to "KinnPorsche. The Hidden Messages" when it was announced that we would still be getting KinnPorsche the Series after months of thinking that it might get canceled.

We see Kinn standing in front of a banner with the word TRUST on it. It goes up in flames, revealing Porsche waiting behind it.

This could mean a great many things, especially now that they've decided to give him a phoenix tattoo that he also adapted into his name as an underground boxer. It could mean that he is rising from the ashes after Kinn burned the trust they've shared. Or it could mean that he is rising from the ashes of the trust that Tawan had broken when he sold Kinns information to the Italians. That Porsche is the one rebuilding Kinns trust from the dustry crumbs that Tawan left behind, willing to survive in the heat of the flames that lick at his skin, threatening to burn him too.

Either way, I think we can all agree that Porsche is the only one that Kinn can and should trust, and I sure as hell hope that my theory is correct and that Kinn knows that too.

#kinnporsche the series #kinnporsche #kinnporsche theory #kinnporsche la forte #kinnporsche brain rot #kinn theerapanyakul #porsche kittisawasd #mile phakphum #apo nattawin #wow this was a long one #i hope i am right about this #but i fear that i will have to put on clown make-up next week

[that-frozen-queen]

Oh thats interesting I always thought their types fit them well, but ofc I ve only done some brief reading about it.

What would you type them as, now I am curious👀?

To be fair, had I not gone through a phase, and I just knew MBTI from like, 16 personalities or something, I would probably think the same! However, I unfortunately went through a phase, and learned about cognitive functions and stuff, so given that, I disagree with their typings.

Also, contrary to popular belief, typing characters is subjective, because we each interpret characters differently. So you are welcome to disagree with my typings, in fact a lot of you probably will.

Now to start:

Elsa

Elsa, I think is a little hard to place, because of her isolation in the first movie, but between both movies, I think she is definitely an ISTJ, especially after taking cognitive functions into account.

Now, people are often hesitant in typing Elsa as ISTJ, because of the stereotypes associated with it- that they’re unemotional, stone cold etc. Which is simply not true- ISTJs are some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.

But again, as far as cognitive functions go, Elsa fits ISTJ much better than she fits INFJ- even when it comes to the weaker functions.

First, an introductory to intuitive and sensing cognitive functions:

Ni (Introverted Intuition): Zooms in on one idea

Ne (Extroverted Intuition): Focuses on many ideas.

Si (Introverted Sensation): evaluates experience against curated memories.

Se (Extroverted Sensing): Focuses on experience as it unfolds

These are very watered down definitions, but I am tried to avoid giving you a crash course on cognitive functions and how they work because this is already going to be a very long post.

INFJs strongest functions are Ni & Fe, which in my opinion… she is lacking in both, especially Fe (we will get into thinking and feeling functions in a moment).

I do think a case could be made for her being Ni, and I can also see her being an INTJ. However, I think as far as decisions she’s made, she looks to the past or present to make decisions, rather than the abstract or future.

Even at Elsa’s healthiest, the unknown excites her, but she is very hesitant in leaving behind what she knows. I always interpreted Into the Unknown as her dominant Si and inferior Ne conflicting with each other.

She never exactly zooms into one idea. When she is able to use her intuition freely, she is open to many possibilities, and is influenced by the past. Throughout her journey, in both movies, she is constantly equating current events to things that happened to her in the past.

So that is why I personally see her as Si vs Ni.

Now onto feeling and thinking portion:

Fi (Introverted Feeling): Prioritizes individual values / emotions

Fe (Extroverted Feeling): Prioritizes group values / emotions

Ti (Introverted Thinking): Subjective logic.

Te (Extroverted Thinking): Objective logic

Now, a case could also be made for Elsa having Ti somewhere in her stack. However, again, the logic she follows, whether flawed or not, has been presented to her from an outside source. Elsa has no subjective opinion when it comes to her logic, she goes by what she is told.

As for Fe vs Fi, I do think she has no Fe whatsoever, but I do understand where people are coming from when they say she does. Because again, the way anything online, even the definition I gave, a lot of people misinterpret it into meaning:

Fi is selfish and Fe is selfless, and that is not even close to being the case.

Fi users can be selfless if they have selfless personal values and Fe users can be selfish if group values are generally selfish… if that makes sense.

The thing however, is that everything we see of Elsa, every decision she makes can be traced back to personal values. The act of isolating herself from her sister to protect them are selfless acts… but they also come from her valuing her sister and her kingdom. It never comes from the kingdom’s values.

Even in Frozen 2, her own personal desires and values are what drives her motivations. She often doesn’t take into account the fears of others when it comes to making her decisions.

Overall, I just don’t see her as having an Ni-Fe-Ti-Se (INFJ) stack. Si-Te-Fi-Ne just seems to fit her better.

Anna

Now, Anna I have a bit more of a controversial take. A lot of people don’t see her as ENFP, but most people who argue against that type argue for ESFP… but I really don’t see that either. At least not after Frozen 2.

No, her personality type for me, is ESFJ.

She isn’t a mind reader, she doesn’t always know how everyone is feeling, but her emotions are also directly impacted by everyone else’s emotions. Even when she does explore her own feelings, she almost always pushed them aside to understand others emotions.

In Frozen, her anger at Elsa is almost immediately dispersed when Elsa’s situation is revealed, then she focuses on Elsa’s. In Frozen 2, she does have her own fears, but she almost always acknowledges Elsa’s feelings before explaining her own emotions.

Not only that, Anna, just like Elsa, is also very hesitant to change, arguably more so. The only reason she is so eager for things to change in the first movie was because she was lonely.

Not only that, but her logic, especially in the first movie is very subjective, and based on things she has seen or noticed in the past. Her ideas of true love aren’t influenced by an objective source, from what we can see.

So I guess I can understand where the exfp type is coming from, but I personally don’t see it.

#MBTI #queen anna #queen elsa #frozen 2 #frozen 3 #frozen

[on-the-shoulders-of-rootstock]

What The Fuck Is On The Shoulders Of Rootstock?

If you're anything like me, you have a love/hate relationship with the Human Domestication Guide writing project - which is not to say that I hate it. There's a lot to love!

I love the indulgent depictions of post-scarcity, I love xenobiology and xenoculture, I love the ten-foot plant-monster mommy-dommies, I love seeing capitalism and imperialism smashed into teeny-tiny pieces over and over. I can't get enough, and it's what sucked me in.

However, I also personally disagree with the way certain aspects are handled, and believe they impede HDG in general:

My kinks are not your kinks.

The Affini are too perfect.

Over-focusing on kink.

No sense of scale.

I've started this blog to set up an organised central worldbuilding reference for anyone else interested in taking the same tack with HDG. You should absolutely send in asks if any of this interests you.

Why don't I just go start my own post-scarcity worldbuilding project specifically tuned to my own tastes? One, I've already done that (like, twice). Two, HDG still has the aforementioned elements I love and want to work with, and I want to riff on them alongside others I know who also play within HDG's space.

More detail below:

1. My kinks are not your kinks. This is the big one for me. I acknowledge that HDG was originally started explicitly as noncon intox hypno brainwashing petplay erotica, but that's not my speed. My relationship to submission is about maintaining self-control and making the decision to obey, rather than having my decision-making forcibly taken away from me. Intox, hypno, brainwashing, etc. all run against my ability to enjoy the HDG themes I do like, and I am picking and choosing what's on my plate while still leaving room for others to add the usual stuff in.

2. The Affini are too perfect. This is with regards to the way the Affini are written in "canonical" HDG media as being perfectly-competent supreme overlords who can do no wrong and have negligible rates of failure at anything they do. For me, this is boring. Characters in media are fun because they are imperfect, because they fuck up every once in a while, because things don't always go their way. Mistakes are how people learn, and a character that doesn't learn is very dull. I want to introduce fallibility and limits to the character that is The Affini Compact as a whole, making them a more compelling and interesting force within HDG stories. Conversely, I also want to depict the Affini as having earned their seat on the galactic stage. I want to see them engage in the sort of logistical and political exercises needed to remain such a powerful civilisation. I want to see the kind of underhanded and manipulative tactics you need in order to invade and pacify other cultures without harming them. It makes them feel more powerful and alive.

3. Over-focusing on kink. Just like #1, I feel that most depictions of Affini in canonical HDG stories flatten their biology and psychology to the bare minimum required to be titillating objects. Every single Affini is reduced to a slavering predator eager to abduct and mindbreak her next victim. Yes, HDG is erotica, but where's the nuance? Where's the rest of the iceberg? What do the Affini do when they aren't fucking aliens? How do the Affini maintain such a dominant political position in the galaxy? These things are missing, and so too is any sense of the Affini being real people.

4. No sense of scale. Canonical population estimates sit at some silly number like 10^30 individuals, with a territory covering at least a dozen galaxies. This is comically large, and makes the Affini a dominant supermajority crowding out just about every other species. Also, where are the Affini going to find a floret for everyone? It's just silly.

Q: What does all this mean in practice?

A: It means I'm currently worldbuilding a bigass lore document for Affini, My Way and it's growing every day. It's still in a very rough, draft-y state but I'd love to hear what others have to say about it if this project catches their interest. My personal favourite highlights are "Affini are omnivorous heterotrophs" and the name for Matter Trainers. See below!

Further up on this canvas are my notes for outlining a planned HDG story set in this style, but they're not ready to be shown to anyone just yet (would love to chat about my ideas, though).

#HDG #Human Domestication Guide

[hvwks]

like i understand that a lot of people really think that mha is going to end with izuku having his quirks taken away completely and that by the completion of the story, he's going to be quirkless again, but i just don't... agree. or at the very least, i'll be really disappointed if that's the case. now hear me out! [cut for spoilers]

i understand that with danger sense taken, it's being speculated that each of izuku's quirks will be stripped away one by one. it makes sense from a predictive perspective--as in, it makes sense if you're solely looking at the deku vs shigaraki fight from a purely action-based standpoint. but narrative-wise? i just don't understand what having izuku becoming quirkless again would achieve for the story.

mha, as a narrative, is focused around themes of what it means to 'save' others, whether certain people who commit acts of evil are worth redeeming or not, and a slightly on-the-nose discussion about the commodification of good deeds (IE: pro-heroes who pursue the career for the fame and the glory of it, saturating the market with people who lack the 'true' spirit of what it means to be a hero.)

we see a lot of this in bakugou's characterization, for example.

we see him go from selfish and destructive to becoming cooperative and a strong team-player. he goes from being the kind of kid who wants to be a hero for the title of being 'the best' to being an aspiring hero who understands that working for the greater good requires sacrifices.

i also think with bakugou in mind, if we even look at the dynamic between him and izuku (whether you want to take it as romantic or platonic idk i'm not the boss of u) we see that he feels guilty for treating him poorly. while he did bully izuku for being quirkless, it was the fact that izuku was always trying to help him that pissed bakugo off even more. their relationship developed for the positive not because bakugou magically decided that quirkless individuals are on the same level as him (NOT to say he still holds discriminatory feelings towards quirkless people still) but because he sees that izuku is powerful now, almost more powerful than him, and the fact that he's being driven to become better and better to help people now that he has one for all show's bakugou that he still has a lot to learn about what it means to be a hero.

it's hard to articulate the exact nuance i am trying to clarify, but... basically, it's not that izuku's quirklessness is a major thematic element for the character arcs that occur throughout the show. the story isn't about how a quirkless teenager can become a hero. it's a story about how a quirkless teenager inherited the strongest quirk in the world and how he takes it and uses it to save the world.

the relevance of izuku's quirklessness mainly comes up when discussing whether he's suitable for OFA or not. the only other times it comes up is when he's reflecting on how he managed to stumble his way into being an OFA holder.

however, we don't really get any dialogue on how even the quirkless can become heroes without having a quirk or acquiring one by other means. even if izuku was to lose all his quirks, what is that intended to symbolize? izuku leaving the war a winner is one thing, but him being quirkless while holding that win doesn't add depth to the victory. all it does is reduce izuku's entire character development throughout the entirety of the series to him being nothing but a vessel for OFA and the key to victory, nothing more and nothing less.

that feels like shoddy storytelling to me and would be a huge L for izuku who, for the most part, has shown so much growth and maturity over time through the series. giving him a quirk when he wsa at his most hopeless, allowing him to win, then taking it away feels both cruel and counterintuitive.

while some people may argue that it's just another take on the "doomed from the start" type of narrative, i just think that this kind of move is... almost a cop-out. i feel like the story would be so much more impactful if izuku came out of this fight victorious with at least the core of OFA still intact (do we remember how the vestiges refused to be taken? both canonically during the paranormal liberation war arc AND in the movie where he attempted to transfer OFA to bakugou? i like to think that at the very least, the core power of OFA without the ability to pass itself on via Yoichi) would be a great way to show how the obsession with quirks and strengths is detrimental to hero society.

if he also completes his objective of saving shigaraki over killing him (which i really hope for!!!) then we now have the perfect way to tie up the narrative of MHA, where we see the question of "can everyone be saved?" get answered while also exposing the cracks in hero society. it would be the perfect jumping point for hero society as a whole to break down and rebuild into something better than what it was before.

i think those are important themes that would just lose its impact if izuku was made permanently quirkless all over again. after all, izuku midoriya shouldn't have to just be the vessel, he should get to come out of this war as the very EMBODIMENT of what OFA stands for.

#my hero academia #izuku midoriya #mha #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha theory #anyway #* tv : my hero academia.