#you could just like the actual character associated with said parallels but why do that? that just makes sense

[fromtheseventhhell]

I have to laugh at people who constantly mock and put down non-conforming female characters as lesser wanting Lyanna parallels for their fave and rewriting the story to force them

#you hate non-conforming female characters but then you use one to help boost your fave...alright #and then they don't like care or talk about Lyanna outside of that #her only personality is sniffling at a love song once apparently #nothing else matters lol #disliking a character but wanting their story and parallels is so wild but it happens so often in this fandom #you could just like the actual character associated with said parallels but why do that? that just makes sense #the jealousy is hilarious though #fandom nonsense

[under-lore]

Toby Fox once made a post saying that he didn't want to sell merch of Chara because it would trivialize what they meant in game and the message they carry, do you have any idea what he could have meant by this?

Well, obviously this topic is inherently speculative so take it with a grain of salt, but there still exists some room to try and analyse it nonetheless.

Here is the post in question :

First, he uses "i" in the first sentence, and then "Because".

This immediately tells us that Toby Fox personally is the one that is opposing merchandise of Chara being made, and that all the things which will come afterwards are about what he was intending to do with them as a character in Undertale and why that makes the idea of Chara merch bothersome to him.

This isn't the only time Toby has shown to be picky about Chara-related content. For example, he has only openly promoted fan content containing Chara once since the game was released (and they were not the main focus of it) whilst the rest of the cast is seen quite often.

In general, Toby is quite dodgy when it comes to the first fallen human as a character. Sometimes even acting as if they didn't exist.

But as the mail also repeats, that isn't because Toby doesn't care about Chara, but rather because he does care about their character. Like how Toby actually went ahead and personally intervened to change Chara's Tarot card (Along with removing the Gaster one entirely), even if those weren't even official merch anyways. He does care about how they're being portrayed at least.

Okay, so next is our main puzzle piece.

The reason why he doesn't want Chara merch is because Toby considers that merchandise of Chara would have to portray them in a way that does not allow to properly represent what Chara stands for in-game, and thus fail to convey the message that they were intended to carry.

To rephrase this, he considers that if he were to make Chara merch, then "merch Chara" would be incapable of portraying correctly what he actually intended "in-game Chara" to be, and thus miss out on a significant portion of their character & what could be taken from it.

So he would rather not have merch at all rather than to have merch that misses the point of who "in-game" Chara was intended to be.

Since the only direct hint we have about this is that what Toby meant couldn't have been portrayed with merch properly, then the only way to obtain more insight into what he meant exactly is to go about it the other way and to ask which pieces of Chara's character merch could have portrayed and work backwards.

A prime example of what could have been done for Chara merch would be content similar to the Tarot card mentioned earlier.

As that card shows, it is far from difficult to make designs that capture most of the concepts and themes that are explicit-genocide-route-dialogue-specific & are said by or associated to the character.

To cite only a few that can be seen from this card, life & deat & killing, power, demonic parallels, the number 9, the absolute, statistics, consequences, souls, knives, nothingness,...

(Side note : The person who made the Tarot card actually did not even know about the name "Chara" at the time, they weren't really a fan of the game and mostly went along with their first impression of the genocide route & the fanon of the time.)

Aside from perhaps their relationship with the player, there is frankly nothing about the direct Chara appearance at the end of genocide & the heavily Chara influenced flavor text of the end of the route that cannot be easily shown through merch. (Just look at all the fan content over the years)

And considering the way Toby acts merch-wise with Frisk and with Kris respectively, we can be pretty confident that their relationship with the player is not the reason that Chara merch is being blocked either.

So with that, we can be pretty much sure that what he meant wasn't about the explicit-genocide-route-only parts of in-game Chara.

Aside from the genocide route, the only other direct appearances of Chara are that of pre-death Chara. Between their fall into the underground and their death after the failure of the plan.

While we don't have clear cut examples like the Tarot card here, we do still run into the same problems.

The game implies a lot of things about pre-death Chara in many different ways. But all of those details or personality traits are either not much of a problem to portray or are also shared with other characters who do have merch made of them, meaning they can't be it either. (Its usually Undyne)

Not to mention that, when it comes to pre-death Chara, the game itself does show us some sepia artworks of Chara & The Dreemurrs. Like this one for example :

If properly representing those character traits of pre-death Chara was truly what this was all about, then why not simply make merch out of a colored version of that image if nothing else ?

It's in the game, right ? So surely it can't possibly be misrepresenting the game...

A trivialisation means to downplay something or to reduce it to something simpler.

If both pre-death Chara and genocide route-Chara & what the game shows about them could be represented with merch like any other character, but that Toby considers that doing so would still be missing out on an important part of Chara's character & their message, then the only conclusion would seem to be that Toby is not refering to any of the direct appearances of Chara in the game at all, but rather to another seemingly very important side of Chara that isn't shown directly in-game, and couldn't be through merch either.

While those could still be accurate in theory by themselves, making merch of Chara like this sepia art or the Tarot card would still be trivializing them in Toby's mind in the sense that it would be limiting Chara to only those things, and thus exclude that core part of their character from "merch Chara". Something that Toby refuses to do.

So our situation would seem to be : There is more to Chara than just what we are told about pre-death Chara and genocide route Chara. However, this part of Chara's character cannot be properly shown with merch yet is too important to ignore in Toby's mind.

There is one last thing we can say about what this part might be, though.

Toby seems quite insistant on the fact that this particular part of them was absolutely key to understanding what was Chara's role as a character in the game, and to understanding the message that he was trying to convey through this character.

A character's role & message can be conveyed through their story, through their actions, and through their mentality.

As we've seen earlier that this part of Chara was not an explicit appearance, the "actions" part is either minor enough to miss, or absent.

So it would seem we can be somewhat confident that this piece of Chara's character that Toby is worried about also either adds more implicit parts to Chara's story or gives important insight on their mentality (or both).

That would make Toby's core reason for not wanting to make merch of Chara be less about Chara's character itself and more about what the player is to understand from the way he constructed their character, which would match up with his words about it being "something that cannot be bought in a store", too.

Anddd... As far as purely impartial analysis goes, i think that's pretty much all that you can deduce, unless i've forgotten about something.

If you want my personal opinion on it, though, i would have to say that using NarraChara theory would be a really elegant way to fill up all those blanks.

Considering that the theory, if true, would constitute 90% of Chara's character & be absolutely crucial to understanding the character's mentality and the way they think or behave in different situations or routes, that would certainly make it key to understanding Toby's intent with the character relative to their message or what they would stand for.

I can also hardly see plausible alternatives. Considering that pre-fall Chara and post-game Chara are pretty dry wells in that regard and genocide Chara's words about when they were "brought back to life", the only moments left timeline-wise for this key part of Chara's character to happen would be during neutral/pacifist routes or during the part of the genocide route that weren't already brought up earlier. That would make it seem like a pretty natural answer.

But more importantly, anything to do with the NarraChara part of their character (if the theory was intended) literally couldn't be properly represented through merch.

Because, unlike the common fanon portrayal of it which exists for that same reason, NarraChara according to in-game flavor text wouldn't be a ghostly figure floating around Frisk, but rather a foreign entity sharing their body and their mind. Which is a crucial part to both how NarraChara would work in-world and to the morality-wise implications of it.

Of course, that didn't prevent some fans from sweeping that under the rug anyways, even though it misses one of the most important points of the character they're trying to represent.

That might just be why Toby would rather just not.

How would you make merch of that ? You would just be making merch of Frisk instead... Let alone portraying correctly such a complex character. It just wouldn't work. This is a pretty common problem for media with bodysharing characters, those mechanics and all the implications that follow genuinely just cannot be "sold in stores."

They are a purely psychological experience.

#undertale #chara #chara undertale #undertale chara #toby fox #narrachara #Also toby has already shown to like bodysharing dynamics in the past too

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

just out of curiosity – why do you like sukugo??

i've just never seen any of the accounts i follow/my mutuals celebrate this pairing so i'm really curious!

:))))))))) i smiled so wide getting this ask anon. PLS DON’T BE ALARMED just take my hand and let me tell you abt two deeply violent homoerotic men….

okay so when it comes to sukugo i just. ADORE their dynamic and relationship. it’s one of my favorites in the entire manga and i truly think akutami COOKED with it . not only the shinjuku fight itself (which is, ofc, what sold me on the ship) but also the foreshadowing beforehand!!! like sukuna telling gojo that he’ll be the first one he kills…. the two of them making the same kind of pose in their respective volume covers (vol. 4 & 14….. another parallel which is even more devastating when you remember that the number four is associated with death in japan)….. both of them being referred to as ”the strongest.”

i actually didn’t pick up on a lot of it until we got to shinjuku!! but i just think akutami teased at their importance to each other so well and so early on.

WITH THAT BEING SAID . their dynamic. their parallels. yes. they’re both the strongest and the most isolated and those two things are synonymous. it ties into one of the most central themes of jjk that equates absolute strenght to absolute solitude — it’s a kind of curse. a curse and a blessing. and they both have it.

the main difference is that gojo knows what it’s like to be understood and loved — but sukuna doesn’t. so he can’t feel lonely. he’s never known what it’s like to not be alone. but gojo has!!! gojo has felt love and felt what it’s like to be understood, and when geto died a part of him died too. he’ll always be lonely. he’s the loneliest character in the series. and when he looks at sukuna he sees the exact same isolation that’s plagued him since the moment he was born. so what does he do about it?

he tries to teach sukuna about love.

^ and THAT’S . the most delicious dynamic ever. i take no criticism. i’ll die on the hill that this concept and their dynamic is one of the absolute highlights of jjk. it’s so GOOD. it’s so insanely good. gojo wants to teach sukuna about love/cure him from his solitude by killing him. and vice versa. it’s inherently violent and inherently tender and it makes me INSANE. to me that’s the greatest appeal of sukugo!!!! violence as tenderness is a trope very near and dear to my heart (and also VERY frequently associated w queer subtext in media…. just putting that out there……) and they do it so good. they have a blast killing each other.

also i just NEED to say how much i love the ”teach you about love” line. it’s one of my favorites in the manga and akutami utilizes it so well!! he repeats it over and over as foreshadowing and to build up the sukugo dynamic. the final reveal that gojo is ”the one who will teach [sukuna] about love” made me weep (even though it was so obvious)…. it’s just so deeply. idk. it just says so much about gojo as a character :(( the fact that he wanted to teach sukuna about love. i’ve seen some people who think that part is ooc but i disagree completely!! gojo has never concerned himself w the morals of others. not really. toji kills riko but gojo still has a respect for him and allows him to say his final words. he never hated geto despite his crimes. he supports yuji fully no matter how many people die because of him. etcetc. same with all his students.

gojo looks at sukuna and sees someone who is just as alone as he is. so deeply, deeply alone. him wanting to change that is not ooc in the slighest because that’s quite literally what drives gojo as a character:

he’s just such a genuinely good person at his core. and it coexists with the way he sometimes disregards morality. this is a hot take but i genuinely think gojo’s character blossomed fully in his battle with sukuna….. i don’t see him as ooc in it at all. he genuinely wanted to reach sukuna!! he knew he was the only one who could even hope to do so. and he tried his best.

and, i would argue that he succeeded.

SEGWAY TIMEEEEEEEEE LET’S GO. okay so let’s talk abt one of my favorite panels in the jjk manga, the panel that solidified sukugo as one of my favorite pairings Of All Time:

(two diff translations bc i love them both :3)

THIS. wow. wow. wow. i could talk abt this panel alone for hours and hours but i’ll try to be coherent……

there’s just? so much meaning to be found here??? for both of them????? not only is it a fundamental moment for gojo — being praised and acknowledged and accepted as himself rather than the strongest — but it’s also proof that gojo did reach sukuna!!! he’ll remember him forever. sukuna will never fully be entirely isolated because even millenia into the future he’ll still remember gojo. gojo nestled his way into sukuna’s heart.

and that’s just . so romantic isn’t it???? so beautiful???????? this is the culmination of gojo’s efforts; the most genuine expression we’ve ever seen on sukuna’s face. he actually looks happy.

i cried seeing that panel btw 😭😭 not a joke!! i was already crying when i started chapter 236 bc i knew how it’d end but this panel (+ the one w geto cheering gojo on in his cult leader fit) made me SOB. not exaggerating. i’ve never cried so much reading a manga… T_T

so!!!! yeah. i just love sukugo. their dynamic is so interesting and beautiful and i can never get enough of it. sometimes i love it more than stsg… don’t tell geto that though……..

#i also really love the idea of sukuna getting seduced by a lanky gay guy #but that’s besides the matter. #TYSM FOR ASKING ANONNN ILY #i love talking abt these silly guys #i miss them :(((( #ask tag ✩ #sukugo

[controversialhpmemes]

being a hater in this fandom used to be fun i swear !! like, i was never a massive ron fan. when i read the books as a kid he reminded me too much of a boy i knew who i didn’t like. he just annoyed me, which is how it goes with books sometimes. that said, any analysis of hp as a narrative clearly shows that ron was the PERFECT friend for harry, an extremely realistic kid, a great demonstration of choosing loyalty even when we have doubts and insecurities, as well offering the average and well-meaning magical perspective, biases intact. you used to be able to be a hater while fully acknowledging this. now it’s like “um actually ron befriended harry for the money and ron and hermione’s relationship is abusive (she should have been with draco)” and it’s so annoying. remus and tonks were very well written, and through their relationship we get to see a lot of their strongest traits (remus’ cowardice and self-hatred for his condition, tonks’ spunk and resolve), as well as drawing a parallel of an orphan who grows up so loved. all of this understood, i didn’t love it. but not because fucking.. tonks morphs into sirius in bed (?????) and remus is a repressed tragic homosexual who would never touch a gross dirty w*man. like what on earth. where do y’all get this shit. it takes all of the fun out of being a bit of a hater because these people truly believe this stuff and cannot appreciate narrative value or cohesion when it gets in the way of their made up story. like girl no. stop. i thought we were just playing but you were fr..

Long ago you could tease characters, ships, tropes with nuance. Today it is black and white. Either it is evil or it is good. No middle ground. Your opinions = your morality.

I blame falling reading comprehension skills and illiteracy.

#asked #answered #anti marauders fandom #anti marauderstok #anti jegulus #anti wolfstar #fandom wank #fandom discourse #fandom problems #fandom culture #reading comprehension #illiteracy #critical thinking #critical reading

[starrylayle]

"Don't get me started on jegulus" actually please get started I'd like to hear your thoughts on it because your take on wolfstar and the oc-ification of some characters is so refreshing to see (tbh my first reaction to jegulus was just confusion on how it started and how quickly it got popular lmao)

ahh this makes so happy to hear that my post resonated with some people!! Was worried i was in the minority lol.

Anyways, abt jegulus -- i acc had a reaaally long post about how much i hated the dynamic (in canon compliant ish works -- Jegulus in aus is fine ig) but i deleted it lol.

I think the core reason why i dislike the pairing so much is that I feel like it the ship goes against everything James stands for. We don't know a lot about James' character in canon, but what we do know is that he had a strong sense of justice, and fierce loyalty to his friends and his cause, which ultimately led to his doom. I just can't imagine that James would associate with someone even a little bit bigoted. This is not to say i think James is a saint, i think he could be an ass sometimes (snapes worst memory lol) but i think he'd draw the line at someone who was associated with 'evil'. James had a very black and white view of good and bad and i just don't think it would make sense for James to date reg, esp as he is becoming a death eater. James may be a dick but he is also the biggest ally to ever ally !!

The only jegulus fics I have read are 'Just Lovers' and 'Choices'. Just lovers is a non-voldy au so i don't really have a problem with their dynamic there but choices on the other hand,, oh boy.

Spoilers for 'Choices' by MesserMoon btw (TW for talk of SA):

Regulus' friends rape Mary. And instead of feeling disgusted on the victim’s behalf, (who has been his friend for 5 years) James instead feels upset because it tarnishes the ‘good’ image he has of reg in his head. Thing is when a similar situation happened (The Prank ™), James was upset that Sirius would do such a thing but he also felt disgusted on behalf of Remus. Where was that energy here, huh?? I’ve even seen comments villianising Mary (the rape victim).

The thing I also hate about their dynamic is that it is basically an ally of the oppressor and ally of the oppressed. The problem with that is that when you are allied with the oppressor, you become an oppressor yourself (and reg does; he does terrible things) and that subsequently makes the so-called ally of the oppressed in cahoots with the oppressor as well. This brings so many parallels to real life where people say that they are an “ally” but become friends with/date a racist/rapist. “Oh but they’re nice to me”. its just a little ew.

And in other jegulus canon-compliant-ish fics, sometimes instead of James' character being watered down its Regulus' character. Like, he's not as morally grey, not as complex etc so it makes sense that James would agree to date him. I feel like jegulus as a ship ruins the core of what made their characters so interesting in the first place.

That being said,,, i do love me some canon-compliant unrequited jegulus. Regulus goes to hogwarts, gets so mad at Sirius for ditching him or whatever, but falls in love with the very guy that stole sirius away. He also has internalised homophobia because he's a Black brother so imagine the angst. James potter goes against everything he stands for,, sirius betrayed him,, but perhaps they're right abt smth?? Perhaps he needs to do smth. alone.

sorry for rambling but these are my thoughts on jegulus !! Anyways I feel like I should reiterate that this is a personal preference!! I think it ruins core of these characters, i prefer jily and i love me some unrequited gay pining for the boy who you're brother replaced u with. But this is just a personal preference !

oh and just a side note if it ever led to a decision where james had to choose between sirius and regulus -- no matter how much he 'allegedly' loved regulus, he would choose sirius, no questions asked.

#thoughts on jegulus #jily #james potter #regulus black #choices messermoon #anti jegulus #idk how to tag this #I don’t want to upset ppl

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Your thoughts/response to this?

https://www.tumblr.com/andromeda3116/86439828788/what-would-you-have-done-differently-with-mai-if

*cracks knuckles*

"Mai only turned against Azula for Zuko"

Way to prove you don't know shit about the character. Like, even the line "I love Zuko more than I fear you" already shows Mai's problem with Azula isn't all about her boyfriend. It is not healthy or normal to be afraid of your friend.

And Mai HAD been rebelling against any authority figure she didn't like/respect LONG before she started dating Zuko. In "Return To Omashu" we see her being annoyed at the life her parents expect her to have, and then gladly, willingly joining Azula - but before it she said "Please say you're here to kill me." Sure, it's a joke that Azula appreciates, but still demonstrates Mai is aware that her friend is very dangerous and that while Azula is her friend, the princess is not. She also goes out of her way to ask what the hell Ty Lee is doing there since the circus was "her calling", and as a response she gets "Azula called a little louder", once again confirming to Mai that if she, for whatever reason, had decided to stay in Omashu, it would mean trouble with Azula.

We then have "The Drill" in which Mai openly refuses to obey Azula during a military mission that could mean early victory for their nation in a war that has lasted a whole century. She even said "She can shoot all the lightning she wants at me." THAT'S how little fucks Mai gives about putting herself in danger just to prove NOBODY can force her into anything she doesn't want to do.

We also have Mai side-eyeing Azula in "The Headband" when she interrupts her date with Zuko and basically orders her to leave, instead of waiting for their date to be over or just kindly say "Mai, I need to speak with Zuko in private. It's really important, can you give us a moment?" Just zero respect, which obviously bothers her. And let's not forget her yelling at all three of her friends to leave her the fuck alone in "The Beach" - the same episode in which she broke up with Zuko because he started crossing the line.

The Boiling Rock is just the inevitable pay-off to what had been set up since Mai's character was introduced to the audience. She has to pick between her dysfunctional friendship/subservient dynamic with Azula, or save the flawed but still loving boyfriend she loved and that actually corrected some of his bad behavior after their first break up. The choice is OBVIOUS. It's not "Friendship VS Romance" or "What I want VS What my boyfriend wants", it's not even "Selfish love VS Selfless love" because Mai turns on Azula BOTH for her sake and Zuko's.

On Mai not speaking out in defense of Ty Lee

You can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped. Ty Lee had tried to say no to Azula exactly once, and it led to threats of physical violence or even death. Naturally that scares her into keeping quiet - Ty Lee's seeimgly blind support and obedience to Azula was directly shown as a parallel to Mai's acts of rebellion. Once again, even in the first scene of the three of them together, when Mai demonstrates concern for Ty Lee, she basically gets a kind, cheery, bubbly "Sorry, forbidden topic! Talk about something else and pretend everything is fine!"

It's not unlike that Mai believed that, if she tried to defend her friend, all she'd accomplish is have both Azula and Ty Lee herself turn on her. It isn't until Ty Lee has to choose between the two of them in the Boiling Rock that Mai realizes there were still lines her friend would never allow Azula to cross.

"He didn't even consider taking her along when he left the Fire Nation! She could have helped a lot!"

In Zuko's own words as to Sokka as to why he left Mai behind "I couldn't drag her into this." Zuko and the Gaang were not friends, and he literally offered to be Aang's teacher and prisoner. He also knew he'd be hunted down both for his treason to the Fire Lord and because of the people he was no associating with.

He knew Mai could handle almost anything (hell, when she says to a guard that she doesn't need protection, he smiles proudly and AGREES). But that doesn't mean he'd be totally okay with asking her to throw her whole life away for him and potentially be imprisoned or killed if shit went wrong.

And once again, let's get back to the "You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped." Mai CLEARLY didn't have a problem with imperialism and war - again, she joined Azula willingly, and both her and Ty Lee had a lot of fun being the Gaang's worst nightmare during "The Chase." She even argues with Zuko that he is not saving his country, he's betraying it.

Mai changing sides just because she trusted Zuko, even against everything she had been taught to believe her whole life, was not at all something Zuko saw coming - hell, MAI didn't see it coming - of course he did not think that she'd agree to leave him.

On Mai and Ty Lee not escaping the Boiling Rock on their own

Can't believe I have to point out that since that was the main point of that place, but THE BOILING ROCK IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ESCAPE. The Gaang were literally the first to accomplish that, barely. It's not that surreal that Mai and Ty Lee either couldn't do it, or felt they had to wait a little longer to even try since all eyes would be on them since they were the newest prisoners AND one of them was related to the Warden which could make him decide to facilitate their escape somehow.

"Zuko didn't even try to rescue her!"

He was teaching the Avatar firebending. His life-changing field trips with his new friends were not vacations, they were missions. They were VERY close to the day his father was gonna burn the Earth Kingdom down. Aang, their only hope. fucking disappeared during the big day due to spirit shenanigans beyond his control. Zuko then also had to fight his own sister in an Agni Kai and nearly died.

Needless to say, he was a little busy.

"Zuko doesn't even remember she exists when she's not around!"

Oh the irony of a ZUTARA shipper saying that. Literally the only time Zuko remembered Katara was because of water from the spiritual oasis that could have possibly brought Aang back to life - aka it had nothing to do with her as a person because, at that point, even after the Ba Sing Se thing, Zuko saw her as nothing more than another obstacle/enemy on his way to regain his honor.

Meanwhile, in "Zuko Alone", when he has not seen her for at least three whole years, he remembers the prank Azula and Ty Lee pulled on him and Mai as kids because of her crush on him. In Ember Island he is going nuts with jealousy (not healthy at all, but still, proof that he WANTS to be with her). On the day of the eclipse he leaves behind a letter explaining himself to her and even says "I'm sorry, Mai" even though there's no one around to hear him because he just never wanted to leave or hurt her. And on the first part of the Boiling Rock episode he is gushing about how much he loves her - we know they're about to be reunited, but he doesn't.

If that is indifference, I can't even imagine what love looks like.

About the letter and "Mai just taking him back after it"

Definitively not a nice way to be broken up with, but totally understanble given the context. And even with that, Mai still calls him out for it, says she's "saving the jerk who dumped me", and in the finale she brings it up AGAIN as they are reconciliating. Typical Mai stuff: forgiving and understanding, but never taking shit from anyone.

About them only seeing each other again in the finale

THAT was a plot convenience - but it does not apply solely to Maiko. Sokka goes to free his dad, but doesn't remember Suki has ALSO been taken prisoner, and then very next episode Hakoda left him and Katara for really convulted reasons and somehow they didn't go after him. Zuko also didn't think to tell Iroh he was gonna take him out of prison so they could go join the Avatar on the day of the eclipse, and didn't try to go looking for him until the last episode. There's also the random "Katara is confused about her feelings for Aang" plot that is introduced in "Ember Islands Players" and goes nowhere.

It's the typical "forced drama that can only be resolved when the writers feel it'd be epic enough" stuff. We have to take it with a grain of salt.

"Ty Lee joining the Kyoshi Warriors makes no sense, and Mai hated the Fire Nation nobility so she shouldn't have ended up with Zuko"

Ty Lee not wanting to be part of a matched set, then finding true happiness by joining a group and learning that she can still be an individual is the classic "ironic ending" Avatar likes - see Zuko and Aang becoming friends when they started out as mortal enemies. The only problem was the lack of development taking us from point A to point B, but the idea itself was fine.

As for Mai "hating" nobility... WHAT? She didn't like being told what to do, sure, but she never resented the perks that came with being in the "elite" - she and Zuko spend half of "Nightmares and Daydreams" bossing people around while making out on her couch, and she even suggested doing that again as a way to cheer him up when he was sad.

And even if she DID hate everything Fire Nation nobility USED to be about - the whole point of Zuko becoming Fire Lord is that he will change everything. How is Mai supporting him, regardless of their romantic relationship, in anyway a contradiction? It makes perfect thematic sense!

Conclusion

Zutarians, please stop talking about things you clearly don't understand to pretend your OTP is the only thing that would ever make any logical sense.

#anti zutara #pro mai #pro maiko #mai meta

[aemiron-main]

realization about eddie’s death

ok so remember when the duffers/st team said that eddie’s death would have major implications/effects for s5?  this might be a stretch but i think those implications could actually tie into a.) gay mike reveal and b.) mike getting vecna’d in some way (not necessarily in the typical way but yknow).  i’ve talked abt this in other posts, which i cant find rn so im gonna explain it again, but mike’s feelings for eddie are also paralled to his feelings for will via the soundtrack and the video store movie poster choices.

  long story short: in s3 and s4, the video store posters each represent a character. Mike’s poster is “coca cola kid,” but WILL’S is “teen wolf,” and the character parallels will in many ways, especially in the way that being a werewolf is DIRECTLY paralleled to being gay in the movie, like the main character literally ‘comes out’ as a werewolf and his friend is like ‘are you gonna tell me you’re a fag?’ and the main character is like ‘no im a werewolf actually.’ so, how does this tie to eddie? teen wolf. teenage werewolf. ‘i was a teenage werewolf’ by the cramps is one of the songs that plays during eddie’s cafeteria scene. but the other song that plays is ‘fever,’ also by the cramps. imo, ‘fever’ is about mike’s crush towards eddie, esp considering the lyrics about love and kissing that play during scenes with mike and eddie specifically, demonstrating that attraction, but then ‘teenage werewolf’ links that attraction to Will, too, and how mike feels the same way about Will that he does about Eddie- caveat, Mike is not ‘in love’ with eddie, but IS with Will, but ‘feels the same way,’ simply in terms of being attracted to both of them/thinking gay thoughts LMAO. plus, there’s also a MOVIE called ‘i was a teenage werewolf,’ just like the song, and just like how teen wolf is a movie. 

and so, i think that the feelings of attraction are shared but also therefore that the feeling of GUILT about both will and eddie is also going to be shared. not just guilt for being interested in will/eddie/guilt for being gay. i don’t think that’s enough for mike to come out/be targeted by vecna and possibly OUTED, something i also talked about in this post in terms of why mike likely wont admit his sexuality and may end up being outed and how that ties into a mike fake death. 

anway, it’s not just guilt over mike’s feeling for will and eddie or his guilt for being gay because imo that’s not quite enough for vecna to end him:  it’s guilt over eddie and will’s disappearances and deaths too.  think about it. two people that mike had gay feelings for. both having died/disappeared due to the upside down. troy’s comments about ‘fairyland’ and tying the deaths of people like will and eddie to queerness. mike, who has enough evidence from lonnie and the bullying to suspect that WILL was gay, and in mikes mind maybe could’ve been targeted for that gayness outside of mike’s feelings for him- but mike doesn’t have much reason to suspect that EDDIE was gay/queer. So, in mike’s mind, if being targeted/killed by the UD is associated with queerness, then where does the queerness come in? oh right. from mike’s crush on him. it’s mike’s fault, in mike’s mind.  Mike, finding out about Eddie’s death in s5, trying to talk with Dustin and Lucas about it, and Dustin’s guilt because he was THERE, trying to save Eddie, and Dustin and Lucas not understanding why Mike seems to feel so guilty, and Mike can’t say it, can’t explain his guilt, so it just festers inside of him just like it did for Max and Fred. 

Vecna’s victims all seem to have some sort of guilt, but the way that vecna approaches people like Fred and Max, who have guilt related to somebody’s death is actually different from the way that he approaches people like Chrissy, who don’t have that guilt related to somebody’s death (and we don’t see his interactions with Patrick, but we do see that Patrick’s guilt/suicidality is tied to disappointing his family and his father’s abuse towards him, rather than towards having been responsible for anyone’s death)  When it comes to Chrissy, he talks about just bringing her suffering to an end. He says “don’t cry, Chrissy. It’s time for your suffering to end.”  When it comes to Max and Fred, though?  To Fred, Vecna just says “I want you to join me.”  To Max, Vecna says “Time for you to join me.” 

People who have guilt about somebody’s death get ‘asked’ to join Henry, but he’s not really asking, he’s TELLING, he’s saying that he wants fred to join him, that it’s TIME for max to join him. And I think that Mike is going to be one of those people, and that Henry is going to ask mike to ‘join him,’ and how that ties into something else I talked abt in this post about how I think that we’re going to get a scene where mike ‘chooses’ to die, so that his suicidality is narratively tied up without having to show him making a typical non supernatural active suicide attempt, and so that Mike gets to fulfill his hero complex. It seems like a choice for Mike, like he’s getting ASKED to join henry, but it’s not really a choice at all, it’s the illusion of choice. Which ties into something I’ve also talked about in regards to mike being suicidal but also pushed towards that suicidality by the actions and attitudes of his family + by the homophobic rhetoric he’s internalized + by the bullying. It’s like how he makes the CHOICE to step off of the cliff in s1, but he’s verbally pushed towards making that choice by the bullies, it’s like the bullies irl who bully queer people to the point of suicide instead of actively murdering them.  We also see a LOT of the red-blue light imagery around mike specifically during the hellfire game: the same red-blue light imagery that we see in eddie’s trailer, and specifically behind eddie, actually, the night that chrissy dies. But why am I bringing this up if i’m saying that Mike is going to get attacked in a different way than Chrissy was/that chrissy’s isnt tied to somebody’s death and Mike’s is? Because it’s an EDDIE death flag, not a chrissy one. Chrissy was already screwed by the time we see those red and blue lights in the trailer, and we see them RIGHT behind Eddie’s head specifically. And so, Mike having that same pattern of lights behind HIS head during the hellfire game? Not only is it a mike death flag tied to Vecna, but it’s a mike death flag tied to EDDIE, the same death flag as eddie, which doesnt mean that he’ll die in the same WAY as eddie, but instead, that Mike’s death will be tied to eddie’s somehow, which fits in with what i’ve said about mike’s guilt about eddie’s death and the links to other deaths + mike’s queerness/feelings for both eddie and will.  It’s also interesting to me that Barb got killed by Henry, but Nancy did not. In terms of queerness, Barb was the one with a crush on Nancy, and it got her killed/targeted by Henry. Mike had a crush on eddie/is in love with Will, and so it may very well result in the same thing, in terms of Henry attacking Mike. 

and again, like i talked about in this post, mike is linked to will’s disappearance via his queerness in terms of being the ‘other queer’ that troy talks about and how the other queer is also henry, yes, but its also mike, and how the ‘flying around in fairyland with all the other fairies’ scene serves to demonstrate that the reason that mike is tied to will’s disappearance via the ‘other queer’ comment and how the bullies start targeting mike right after they talk about the ‘other queer’ and how the scene finally focuses on mike after that to, isnt because mike is the other who kidnapped will, but rather, because he’s also queer. the ‘other fairies’ comment serves to expand the idea of ‘other queer’ beyond Henry, and into people like Barb, too, with the ‘other fairies,’ comment, which means that Mike can be included in ‘other queer/other fairies’ and paralelled to that without ONLY being paralleled to henry bc again the point isnt ‘mike kidnapped will/is like henry,’ the point is ‘mike is also queer.’ As well, with that inital parallel between mike and henry both being the “other queer,” it narratively ties mike to a sense of responsibility/guilt for will’s disappearance, esp since it was mike’s house that Will left, even though it wasn’t his fault. So, Mike’s queerness is tied to will’s disappearance already via Troy’s dialogue choices and the choices of focusing on Mike in those scenes every single time that ‘other queer’ or ‘other fairies’ is brought up. like it doesn’t even focus on mike’s reaction when troy says that will is dead during the first homophobic bullying scene (the one where mike gets pushed), but it DOES focus on mike IMMEDIATELY after queerness is brought into the conversation. again i go into this in way more depth in that linked post.  So my point is: there’s already an existing narrative link between mike’s queerness and will’s disappearance and a sense of guilt. And I think that the same is going to apply to Eddie after Mike finds out about Eddie’s death. And like I talked about in one of the posts I linked, Mike imo is more likely to be outed than to come out on his own terms I think, esp in regards to the themes of his character and his queerness and what his character represents in those regards. So, Vecna attacking Mike based not just on his feelings for Will, but instead his queerness as a whole + a mike fake death? It addresses Mike’s suicidality, it addresses Mike’s sexuality outside of Will, which ties into gay mike and the milkvan breakup and into Byler getting together, but does it in a way where Byler getting together isn’t JUST tethered to the revelation of Mike’s sexuality and instead gets to stand on its own and be about Mike and Will’s love as individuals instead of just ‘oh yeah mike is gay and hes getting with will because will now knows mike’s gay despite the unresolved interpersonal tension between them regardless of sexuality’.  Like again- Mike being queer IS paralleled to the cause of Will’s death/disappearance during those death scenes in S1. The ties are there, not just to Will’s queerness playing a role in his vanishing, but MIKE’S too, with him being featured as soon as the ‘other queer’  is mentioned, or the ‘other fairies,’ are mentioned, and how using both ‘other queer’ and ‘other fairies’ means that mike isn’t SOLELY paralled to henry/his queerness isn’t SOLELY tied to will’s vanishing, but it is tied to it in ADDITION to being tied to the ‘other fairies’ and positioning Mike alongside the victims (like barb and will) instead of just positioning him alongside henry (the other queer comment and the framing of mike immediately after that’s said and how it ties him to henry/ties mike’s queerness to will’s disappearance). 

(obviously mikes feelings for will are way way deeper than his ones for eddie and he just had a crush on eddie but still.) Anyway! Much to think about. 

#stranger things #st analysis #mike's mental health #gay mike wheeler #byler analysis #mike gets vecna'd #max mayfield ref #eddie munson ref #fred benson ref #chrissy cunningham ref #mike's crush on eddie #st i was a teenage werewolf by the cramps #st fever by the cramps #st soudtrack #st music #troy ref #barb holland ref #Patrick McKinney ref #st bullies

[atticsandwich]

OBEY ME! CHARACTERS AND TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS I ASSOCIATE THEM WITH

listen i need this as self assurance and indulgence. will include all dateables, mephisto, thirteen, and raphael. will also include any honorable mentions!

I'll link a playslist with all the songs at the end for funsies hehe

-

LUCIFER

False God (Lover)

I know heaven's a thing; I go there when you touch me, honey, hell is when I fight with you.

I was debating between this one or I Can See You from Speak Now TV, but I feel like the religious imagery in this one really sold me

hon. mention: Invisible String, Don't Blame Me

MAMMON

Paper Rings (Lover)

I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings

/

I want to drive away with you, I want your complications too, I want your dreary Mondays

I think Mammon's definitely the type to propose with a paper ring either while he's drunk or as an impromptu proposal (of course, he'll still buy you an actual ring) but it's kind of a cute contrast from his greed image

hon. mention: New Year's Day

LEVIATHAN

Glitch (Midnights)

I thought we had no chance, and that's romance, let's dance

This one is definitely not just because of the song's theming 🤞 Even the first line (we were supposed to be just friends) is a direct parallel to his character song 😭 (which, fun fact, is my favorite out of all the songs we have... That and Telepathy.)

hon. mention: Tied Together with a Smile

SATAN

cowboy like me (evermore)

I've got some tricks up my sleeve, takes one to know one

You're a cowboy like me, never wanted love, just a fancy car

Satan was the hardest to pick for, I think. Originally I wanted to go for something like. idk. Sweeter Than Fiction? Which to be fair could be a good pick too. But I feel like cowboy like me encapsulates his "i've finally met my match, so i'm never letting go" kind of thing

hon. mention: Sweeter Than Fiction, I Think He Knows

ASMODEUS

Gorgeous (reputation)

You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk, you should think about the consequence of your magnetic field being a little too strong

This one was the first one I thought of LMAO I think people might say it's a pretty shallow pick but it's exactly why I went with it anyway - he seems like a very shallow demon and his aesthetic is definitely what first draws you in, but if you don't bother trying to get to know him, he'll only ever be gorgeous and nothing else. Do you get what I'm going for here. I hope you do.

hon. mention: Style, Bejeweled

BEELZEBUB

Stay Stay Stay (Red, Taylor's Version)

You carry my groceries and now I'm always laughing, and I love you because you have given me no choice but to stay

/

All those times you didn't leave, it's been occuring to me, I'd like to hang out with you for my whole life

I take back what I said about Satan. BEEL was the hardest to pick for 😵‍💫😭 tbh this pick went purely off of vibes and not necessarily any deeper connection. How dare I call myself a Beel simp. (Someone help me out here i'm dying)

BELPHEGOR

Run (Red, Taylor's Version)

Darling, let's run, run from it all

We can go where our eyes can take us, go where no one else is, run

I think I gravitated towards this song for Belphie because of the themes of escapism. Like all he wants to do is be with you and no one else (and maybe Beel) but as long as he's with you, anywhere is home

hon. mention: Untouchable

DIAVOLO

Enchanted (Speak Now, Taylor's Version)

This is me praying that this was the very first page, not where the storyline ends, my thoughts will echo your name until I see you again.

He was so fun to think for because he definitely has this almost naive, fairytale charm when it comes to romance, I think. Like he's definitely the type to reference fairytale romances with prince charming and sweeping you off your feet and all that. I think.

hon. mention: Today Was a Fairytale, gold rush

BARBATOS

Dancing With Our Hands Tied (reputation)

I could've spent forever with your hands in my pockets, picture of your face in an invisible locket, you said there was no one in the world that could stop it

I was divided between this one and Timeless, but went with dwoht bc the vibes felt right. On-the-low sutuationship-relationship yet always craving their presence and intimacy? Yeah sign me up

hon. mentions: Timeless, Haunted

SOLOMON

Sweet Nothing (Midnights)

Outside, they're push and shoving, you're in the kitchen humming, all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

note: do NOT let him do shit in the kitchen

I picked this one because I think out of all of them, I associate Solomon with domesticity the most. I think he'd be one to crave for that too, and that all he wants is to go home after a long day to see you.

hon. mention: Ours, Our Song

SIMEON

Treacherous (Red, Taylor's Version)

Your name has echoed through my mind and I just think you should, think you should know, that nothing safe is worth the drive

Oh Simeon, the most un-angel angel (or ex-angel?) to ever exist. I originally wanted to go for something a bit more sensual for him, but I think Treacherous encapsulates his inner conflict of where he stands as an angel, his love for the brothers, and his love for you.

hon. mention: So It Goes...

MEPHISTOPHELES

Electric Touch (Speak Now, Taylor's Version)

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life, got a feeling your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life

And I want you now, wanna need you forever, in the heat of your electric touch

Listen. Mephisto feels like a slowburn which was why I chose this song exactly. The uncertainty, the hope, the longing, but with a sprinkle of denial and starvation. The overthinking. YEAHHHH BABYYY IM GOING TO LOSE IT (<- has the unfortunate trait of being a mephisto simp)

hon. mentions: Cruel Summer, Afterglow

THIRTEEN

Wonderland (1989)

Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds? Didn't it all seem new and exciting? I felt your arms twisting around me, I should've slept with one eye open at night

Oh picking a song for her was fun. I also got stuck between two songs but chose Wonderland just bc I felt it suited her better. There's an air of mystery, skepticism, madness, longing... you name it

hon. mention: Message in a Bottle

RAPHAEL

Snow on the Beach (Midnights)

This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen, I searched aurora borealis green, I've never seen someone lit from within, blurring out my periphery

Okay this one feels like a stretch but also I'm half projecting because Raph is my favorite undateable LMFAO I just think his. Distance(?) makes it so it's almost magical that he gets drawn in. y'know. Almost like a once in a lifetime thing.

hon. mention: Dress, Superman

And that's all of them! I'm aware I didn't include Luke and although I still could include him with a more platonic/familial song, I went into this with like. Romance in my brain so. Sorry Luke ur still my bff don't worry.

There's also a distinct lack of debut, fearless, and folklore i'm so sorry i didnt mean it 😭

Anyways if you have any songs you also associate with them, I'd love to hear it!!

I made a playlist here!

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me nightbringer #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me mephistopheles #obey me solomon #obey me thirteen #obey me raphael #taylor swift

[loquatenjoyer69]

a get to know you better meme

I was tagged by @qserasera, what a surprise and kind of an honor, thank you

do you make your bed? No lol I sleep in a nest of blankets

what's your favourite number? My "favorite" I guess is 7, but "my" number has always been 4 so that's what I (usually) pick for everything. Sending 4 emojis, picking the fourth thing, etc.

what is your job? I teach metalsmithing (jewelry, not blacksmithing)

If you could go back to school would you? (smiling through tears) I'm still there (college) but no. I have regarded school as the house of the devil and a factory of suffering for many years now. I'm just trying to get my degree so I can get better jobs lol

can you parallel park? No, I don't like cars or driving so I don't partake.

a job you had that would surprise people? Idk, I think many people are often surprised by my current job, but other than that I don't think there is one.

do you think aliens are real? Yeah in a sense, like it's more likely than not that other lifeforms exist in the universe. But I don't think any have come to earth sadly :(

can you drive a manual car? See above lol. But my mom wanted to teach me once

what's your guilty pleasure? I try not to be ashamed of things I like but one thing I regard as a guilty pleasure is like, sometimes I listen to music that I don't think is very good but it's catchy and I just like it. Usually it's like new pop hits and stuff. I don't consider it to be representative of what I listen to and I don't play it around other people lol but yeah

tattoos? Yep, I have two, both done by myself when I was fifteen LOL... But I've been thinking about doing another one because I had another idea and I don't have money ha ha ha....also I just like doing it I like doing art who woulda thunk

favourite colour? I feel obligated to say red (and its associates) here since it's literally the only color I wear that isn't black...but it's just because that's kind of my brand. I like most colors, it would be easier for me to say which colors I don't like.

favourite type of music? I like all kinds of music, but the categories the music I listen to the most fall into is like, rock/metal (stuff with really nice guitars and drums), folk/indie, and electronic. I like music with good lyrics, and if it doesn't have good lyrics it has to sound good to me.

do you like puzzles? Does anyone not??

any phobias? I don't think so, just icked out by normal stuff like mold and spiders and stuff sometimes.

favourite childhood sport? I didn't get to do sports when I was a kid, that's why I do them now B-)

do you talk to yourself? Nope, and for a long time I was convinced that talking to yourself was just something that was done in movies and TV to show what a character was thinking. I didn't believe anyone actually talked to themself in real life, when no one is around. I also didn't talk/narrate my play as a kid if I was alone because well...I know what's happening, I know what my toys are saying, why do I need to speak it out loud? But I narrate my actions when I'm around other people, that's separate.

what movie(s) do you adore? I really like Peking Opera Blues, it's probably my favorite movie of all time...or at least my favorite live action movie. Also I like JCSS (the 1973 film), and as for animation, all the Cartoon Saloon movies, but especially Secret of Kells which pretty much shaped me as a person and Wolfwalkers which I've always kind of wanted to do like, an essay on but never got around to.

coffee or tea? I drink tea the most, I really never drink coffee but I like the taste. Just, caffeine makes me really shaky and sweaty and doesn't actually make me feel more alert so the drawbacks are not worth it most of the time.

first thing you wanted to be growing up? When I was in preschool I said I wanted to be a firefighter but that wasn't something I held onto long term. I don't think I really had a childhood dream occupation.

tagging @joelletwo, @versaphile, @treecakes, and @ladsofsorrow24 if you guys haven't done this already/want to do it

#tag meme #my posts #i've never gotten tagged in one of these I don't think...or maybe once #i always feel a little weird tagging people but that is what the meme...

[my-mt-heart]

hi mt.

i’ve been reading your posts recently and you’ve been pretty critical towards zabel. as someone who’s watching the show i can’t disagree, there is much i don’t like, but you seem absolutely sure he isn’t acquainted with the original show (and even more so with caryl’s story), but whilst that’s true in terms of daryl’s character, i can’t really say about caryl.

what i mean is, he seems to have done his homework, or at least a part of it: the daryl we see in the spin-off reminds me of the way he was in the first seasons, when he didn’t really trust the group or anyone around him. sure it feels real far from the character he’s grown into during the last seasons, but maybe they thought it’d make sense for him to act the same way in this somehow similar context?

and this brings me to the next point, caryl. if you watch carefully, the hints are all there: episode 1, the flashback, episode 2 daryl blows up some tanks of gas in a way that any diehard twd fan will immediately associate with carol’s terminus scene. and we know there’s another more important flashback of carol and sophia coming up, and for that they even had to do specific casting and everything. Daryl now even carries a knife identical to carol’s signature weapon.

so maybe zabel did do his research? and if not, who do you think is responsible for these tiny details inserted here and there? is it all some sort of shipbaiting to keep caryl fans interested despite all the shit they’ve had thrown their way?

We can assume Zabel read scripts from the first few seasons because on the page, Daryl's scars are first described as cigarette burns and when asked about them in the spinoff, Daryl says his "daddy was a smoker." But that makes me wonder if Zabel only realized when the time came to look at reference photos that the burns never actually made it on screen in the main show, and that's why they're suddenly plain as day in the pilot. Why doesn’t Daryl have the bullet scar on his chest? We see it in 10x07, so did Zabel not watch that far? Does he not know Daryl got shot in S6/S7? Does he not realize Norman’s newer tattoos were visible in S11 and didn’t need covering up? (Side note: if you are going to make the choice to cover them up, make sure they’re consistently covered up 🤦‍♀️)

If the intention was for Daryl to revert back to the "fish out of water" he was in the early seasons, then yes, Zabel would probably have to watch at least parts of those seasons to get a sense of his voice. Fwiw, I think that’s an odd decision because that's not the version of Daryl most fans were drawn to. It was the nuances he started to show during and after the Cherokee rose scene with Carol. I suspect Zabel was following the mandate to “reset” the character, but at the same time, he still should’ve been 💯familiar with the source material. That’s doing the bare minimum, so I don’t excuse him for cutting corners if that’s what he did, and there seem to be too many inconsistencies to prove otherwise.

I also don't doubt he and/or the other writers watched pivotal Caryl scenes because, yes, the parallels are there like you said. Whether they were always intended to set up Caryl’s arc or initially just evoke the same emotions for another character/relationship, well 😒 Keep in mind that contrary to what will inevitably be spun, it was not known from the start that Melissa would come back. Yeah, there's the flashback in the pilot, and Daryl looking at the photo of the Irish man with his wife and daughter, and the Irish man's V.O., but those may not have ever been in the script, they could've just been decided on in post. I can’t be sure, but the point I’m driving at is, if Zabel didn't know he had to set up Carol's return for a good long while, honoring her character and Caryl’s relationship wouldn’t have been his first priority. His fist priority would’ve been the characters he could actually write for. I’m not suggesting he maliciously gave away Caryl’s arc. AMC on the other hand tends to assume women are interchangeable and if one character mirrors our favorite, we'll grow to like that character for the same reasons. Remember Maggie’s jacket that we all said looked like Carol’s? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Obviously we know that Carol is coming back now and at some point Zabel would’ve had to start writing to that which he could’ve done by retroactively adding small bread crumbs in the first half like the flashback, maybe some lines of dialogue, or anything else that wouldn’t have required massive rewrites (or more rewrites than there already were). So if something feels shoehorned in or contradictory (I know people were talking about the scene where Daryl tells Laurent he has “nothing like” a wife and kids), that could definitely be why. Not saying all of this to rain on anyone’s parade. If the small moments bring you comfort, please do take them. After all the “parallels” throughout the Leah arc went absolutely nowhere though, I would personally much rather wait until we get the real deal i.e. an explicit Caryl arc before I bother to watch.

I’ve definitely written too much for someone who’s not watching and I’m trying to wait a few more weeks before I elaborate on anything, but since you asked, I hope this gives you a better sense of where my head is at right now.

#caryl #caryl spinoff #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #darylneedscarol

[yourssinfullyquiche]

Have you read the hunger games prequel, the ballad of songbirds and snakes?

What's your opinion about it?

What's the most shocking revelation from the novel related to the original trilogy?

What's your favorite character from it?

Do you plan to see the tbosas movie in theaters?

Thank you

@curiousnonny

Hello curious anon, thank you for sending me this ask even though I take a dismal amount of time to respond~ 1. Yes, I've read tbosas. I actually inhaled the book the moment I had the chance. Finished it in 2 days, I think. Which is fast for me because I can be quite the slow reader.

2. I LOVED IT. Suzanne Collins is a masterful writer and it astounds me how her mind works. THG books were my doors to the world, it laid the ground and outlined my views be it social or political, etc. It helped me understand the world, and I know it sounds morbid but I find comfort in those books, the characters, especially in Katniss. Katniss inspires me so much and when I read her thoughts I'm comforted by her kindness and maternal instincts. It touches my soul. Her courage, sarcasm, defiance burns my soul. I think you can get the idea how special these books are to me. So when tbosas came out, I immediately loved that we were going to explore Snow. I love exploring how villains/antagonistic characters think, how their mind works. We had the privilege of listening to Katniss's voice and now we have the opportunity to understand why Snow is the way he is. Suzanne did not disappoint! At every turn, you can see the parallels between Katniss and Snow, at every turn where Katniss would've responded with selflessness, it is selfishness with Snow. You can see how two people who were from somewhat similar hardships could turn out to be polar opposites. We had a glimpse of that in THG with Katniss and Gale. I think that's fascinating, when you can empathise with a villain yet see where one or more wrong decisions could permanently alter the course of their life. Suzanne makes us understand him yet does not ever gives us the means to justify his actions. That's also what makes Snow or other well written villains terrifying because anyone could turn out that way.

3. I think it would probably be the fact that Snow knew the location of the shack well and was in the shack (I keep saying shack, think that's what it's called) in the woods. All this time I thought he knew of that secret place because he's the president and would have probably installed some cameras there. So I assumed he just turned a blind eye to the hunting that was occurring because he sees D12 as a worthless district, they hunt but yet his own peacekeepers are benefitting, so why shake the system that feeds his pawns well. But to know that he trekked the same route that Katniss did, to know he spent some time in that area, around the lake that Katniss did. And don't forget that's the first time we also hear Lucy Gray singing 'Deep in the Meadow,' around that place (iirc). It's so spooky to know that the shack that Katniss associates good memories with, was visited by someone who she doesn't have any good memories with. 4. I don't think there's a character that I really love, I appreciate all of them for what they add to the story. I guess...I like Sejanus but only after I've read the book because while reading, he annoyed me a few times. Now though, I appreciate his sweet personality, his courage and his defiance, admire it even. I remember feeling so shocked and afraid for him when he stood up to Dr. Gaul during the class discussions because had it been the era Katniss was in, we all know she would've either been executed or turned into an Avox for that. Words can't describe how sad I was when (...) happened. He was too good like Prim, he deserved better. He only wanted to leave and live a life that he would've been proud of. And it boils my blood whenever I think of what Snow did to his legacy. Side note: I've said this before, when I read the books, I pictured Sejanus to be a lanky, dark skinned Indian boy. 5. I think I would...idk, I'm just not that excited with some of the main casting choices. I'm not having any expectations at all so it would save me from any negative feelings. But I do hope the movie does well. This was really fun, thanks for asking me!

#quiche replies #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #the hunger games #thg #thg asks #curiousnonny #still salty we were robbed of indian!sejanus #i can't be the only one who thinks it would be perfect #wondering if i should reread the book #but if i do i know i will compare to the movie when i watch it

[thesweetnessofsalt]

Process Blog #2

To the person who left this comment like, two years ago:

You were so on the nose, you didn’t even know. But I knew. I KNEW!!!

Process Blog #2 covers pages 6 through 9 of Chapter 3.

Man, this was the sequence from hell. I’ve been having some computer troubles, and in my attempts to fix the issue, I ended up losing a lot of my files for Chapter 3. It’s fine - I ended up recovering almost everything, and I’m using a cloud service going forward. But the issue still persists and my computer just shuts down at random. Some days it doesn’t happen at all, but on others, it’ll happen continuously.

(You can also file this under ‘reasons why Michelle can’t manage to keep a stream schedule’, btw…sorry.)

Nevertheless, I’ve been looking forward to making these pages for a while, and they are juicy. So let's get into it!!

Historical Inspiration & Stylism

Sha’s memory is kind of hazy - it’s why she, say, rounds to 2,000 years instead of providing an exact date; see also the ‘egg incident’ - and her recounting of her past is similarly lacking in detail. That being said, I do want to imply something about when and where this occurs, and have tried to do so through the visuals. 

The compositions and figures themselves are inspired mostly by red-figure pottery, while the eyes and decorative details are inspired by Minoan frescoes.

Panels are made up of Greek meanders - those decorative borders. I know it's not what the Greeks were going for, but it looks very comic-like to me and I'm here for it.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite’s domain was love, passion, and beauty, but she was also associated with fertility and marriage. I’ve peppered a few of her symbols throughout this sequence - sparrows, myrtle (those leafy branches) - but the main one are shells. 

Aphrodite was often depicted with scallop shells, alluding to her birth by the sea. Oh, hey - we’ve seen shells like this in TSOS before!

Well, have you caught it? Have you figured out that we’re drawing parallels between Sha and Aphrodite? What if we were both girls…and we were both born from the ocean…

The (Ex-) Husband

Divorce was a viable option for couples in Ancient Greece, so his threat isn’t completely out of left field - neither is the implication that he’d hold Sha responsible for their troubles. Infertility was seen as a women’s issue, and was perfectly reasonable grounds for divorce.

Yes, this guy comes off like a complete asshole to us, but to Sha, this would have been normalized (though still awful).

Not much else to say about the dude. He was a fisherman,  though that detail ended up really only coming through here:

Shop Talk

For all the troubles I had with research, stylizing, and tone, the actual making of these pages was pretty quick (thank god…I had to make up that time somewhere!). I really tried not to fuss too much on the execution of these, given that I was working on them in such sporadic sections and lost my original files partway through.

I didn’t really do a sketch pass, instead jumping right into the lineart so it’d look stiffer and less refined than the usual style. I gave the lines a little oomph by adding a duplicating lineart underneath, blurring the heck out of it, and changing it to red. This just gave them some warmth and helped distinguish them better from the screentones.

I chose this screentone for its resemblance to tiny mosaic tiles, with some slight hue shifts for variety and a gaussian blur to soften up those harsh anti aliased dots.

Closing Arguments

Well, now you know the terrible truth: TSOS is not very historically accurate or specific.

Instead of sharing her story through facts and events, I wanted it to be shared in Sha's own words, supported by visuals that could be interpreted freely.

Sha doesn't remember where she lived, or when she died. Even if she did, those things would be counted and named differently today, and those facts wouldn't add anything to her character or the story. What Sha does remember is the loneliness and desperation that got her to where she is now.

It's not the most forthcoming, I know, but hey - neither is Sha!

This flashback continues for another two pages, but they start to break from this ancient style as we fade back to present day, so that's all for now!

As always, if you have any questions about the making of TSOS, leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them in the next!

Process Blog #2 was originally published September 21, 2023 on Ko-fi. Supporters get early access to TSOS pages and process blogs!

#the sweetness of salt #webcomics #process blog

[justatalkingface]

I've personally always been frustrated with Ochako's character and her so called fans. I'd like to know your thoughts on 3 things about her:

Do you think the so called "parallel" between her and Toga seems forced and just ridiculous? Horikoshi has said he created them to "match" each other but it's just doesn't make much sense to me. It seems to relate to love and emotions, but it was just so poorly handled. Ochako's constant association with Toga and having her as the only major opponent she faces, it feels like her potential is being cheated because it feels recycled and rehashed like it's just going in circles at this point.

Wouldn't it be better if in the end, Ochako decided to grow out of her feelings and just became friends with Deku? It would at least show some maturity on her part and that she was faithful to her original goals all along, wouldn't it? At the very least, it doesn't force her to be boxed in the obligatory love interest role like a lot of female characters because a lot of her so called fans only ever see her as just that; a love interest who is meant to be with the MC, they can never seem to mention her without addressing her "love interest" status and her individual accomplishments for herself are just ignored in favor of her "ship" and I don't think I need to explain why that's bad. Even fanboys agree that female characters who exist solely just to be a love interest are not interesting at all. I'm not saying Ochako is boring but rather she was originally praised because she was the girl who broke the "shonen mold" for shonen girls in anime. Kaede Kayano from Assassination Classroom didn't really end up with Nagisa in canon and she was just fine.

Do you agree/disagree on the notion that Ochako is being forced/boxed into the "obligatory love interest trope" like many other anime girls typically fall into? Shippers would deny that or try to justify it, but I'd like to know your thoughts. Like I said, she was originally praised for breaking the shonen mold for anime girls but sometimes canon and especially the fans seem to keep forcing her back into that "typical love interest" category when originally, she pushed her feelings aside to focus on herself but now it seems even that part of her character keeps flip-flopping all over the place.

I know this is a lot but you give thorough answers and I like how detailed your analysis is and the particular topics I'm talking about have always been issues that surround Ochako as a character that it's caused so much cognitive dissonance when people talk about it, so I'd really like to know what you think.

Hmm. Alright, let's talk about parallels.

Are there parallels between Himiko and Ochako? Technically, yes. Are they handled well? No.

The thing is, both of them parallel around crushing on Izuku, right? As well as both being women he's had 'cute girl panic' moments over, and so on. If Hori was actually willing to put work into that, maybe it could have been interesting: Ochaco was putting aside her feelings for her dreams and the greater good, while Himiko was hedonistically chasing him, along with anything else that pleases her (blood, Ochaco herself, etc etc...) unrealistically, without worrying about the practicalities, or the cost of her desires. There is a dynamic there, and in theory that could have been something interesting. In practice?

Well, in practice, Ochako hasn't been in really in focus for awhile now, and we haven't seen much of how she thinks. And when she does... well, to be honest, I'm not sure the last time she thought about her crush was. She's been focusing on, you know, society crumbling around her rather than how she feels about her first crush, which, good on her! Nice priorities! The thing is, if the story wants us to focus on her being in love, it needs to show her, well, in love. I know she probably still is (and at this point I expect her to hook up with Izuku in the end, if he doesn't die), but it falls flat when this is supposed to be a major part of her connection to this other character, but we never see it.

Himiko, meanwhile, has the opposite problem: she loves Izuku, or rather 'loves' him. The thing is, she's rather shallow with her love: she loves Izuku, sure. And Ochako, and I think Tsuyu, and pretty much everyone else she's killed on her own time in the series, and more than a few she's killed while she was on 'business' for the League. As long as you are 'cute', in other words, Himiko will 'love' you. The main thing that makes Izuku different than her other love interests is he isn't dead yet, so she has to keep chasing him, which probably makes her obsess over him as the one that got away.

In other words, while Ochako's love feels meaningless because it feels like Hori forgot about it, Himiko's 'love' feels meaningless because her love is cheap and easy, and really isn't even love so much her just saying that someone is hot, and she doesn't know how to distinguish lust, or hunger, or a mix of those two, from romantic interest. And when those two things are the main points of connection between the two characters, that connection is going to feel weak.

On Ochako moving on... honestly, it's hard to care much about it either way since she hasn't had on screen time to think about it in god knows how long. She's this important main character from the original parts of the story, but in story she hasn't had time to truly think about anything that isn't a crisis in probably months, and from our perspective... in a year? More? If I had to choose right now, I'd lean towards her moving on, but that's just because her crush feels like it's been atrophied from all this time without it being brought up beyond Toga sort of mentioning it. Personally, I wouldn't have cared all that much if she ended up with Izuku as long as it didn't subsume her character, since there were so many ways for her development to go, but you're right: back when she was an important character, and had focus to explore her opinions, the way she was trending with Izuku was less interest on her crush and more focus on him as her friend and colleague, a friendly rival to compete against and an ally to work together with.

And that would have been great, it really would have; the friendship with Ochako and Izuku was so nice and wholesome at the beginning. At this point though either choice, moving on or hooking up, is just going to come out of nowhere because there hasn't been any time on it.

Is she being shoved into the love interest role? Oh yeah. Like, if you ship them, there's plenty of stuff before the War Arc help support that in a natural way, more power to you, but after?

*hisses through clenched teeth*

Post War has done Ochaco dirty. Her main focus, post War, is about how she's contrasting with Himiko, and that contrast is about how they're both attracted to Izuku, which is really bizarre since we don't actually get to see how she even feels about him, at this point. All the same though, the way Himiko talks, the way the fight is being arranged, it's about the parallels them and their 'love', and there's some energy of them fighting over him even while they're actually fighting over completely different things (while also giving off threesome vibes that are solely coming from Toga, because of course), while not putting any... work into it? It feels like Hori is kind of absently prodding her towards being the love interest, through her fight with Himiko and how they're supposed to be mirroring each other. Basically, it's sort of saying that, since Himiko 'loves' Izuku, and Ochako is supposed to be her thematic rival, then therefore Ochako still loves Izuku!

Only, you know, without giving it enough thought, or Ochako enough courtesy, to do it well. Or barely at all, really. I mean, fuck, it's worth stating this again: I don't think Ochaco has actually confirmed she's still attracted to Izuku recently? And I'm being generous here when I say 'recently' by condensing all the Final Arc fights that are all technically happening at the same time to the same time frame, and not using how bloated it is for us readers to experience. From what little we've actually seen, Ochaco could have moved on entirely, at this point, but the narrative still wants us to think she's still interested. And let's be honest, if Hori is, quarter assedly or not, pushing the idea that Ochako is still in love with Izuku this late in the story, then they're going to hook up, no matter how little Ochako actually seems to think about it, not to mention how I'm not sure Izuku has ever thought about.

#urakara ochako #ask #mha critical #bnha critical #Hori's chronic loathing of women #ochako deserves better #is it ochaco or ochako? Auto correct says one thing and the internet says another

[lover-of-mine]

Hi Anna!!! I'm so sorry to bother you but I keep noticing things I want your opinion on! Shannon wears a LOT of yellow. Both when she comes back, and when she dies. Chris wears yellow both during the tsunami and during Eddie's breakdown. I just want to know why! I know Eddie's army green is his armor and navy is his love color, and Chris wears green and blue whenever Buddie's in danger, but what's the point of the yellow?

Muah! 💚

Okay, so, I absolutely SUCK at clothing metas aside from the very well established blue and green thing with couples, but I have opinions because their clothing department is very on the nose lol

Something about 911 is that they tend to assign colors or color groups to characters, Eddie wears a lot of earth tones in greens and blues and greys and browns, Buck wears a lot of red and pinks and oranges, Athena also wears a lot of red, Bobby wears a lot of darker colors, Hen wears a lot of fun prints, and I'm sure that has something to do with the way they built the characters in ways I can't fully explain.

But I actually went to look at all of the Shannon scenes, and she's always wearing yellow or orange, expect for the beach scene where she's wearing pink and all the flashbacks where she's wearing red, and something else about the beach scene is that she's also always wearing a lot of accessories, she has a lot of rings and multiple necklaces most of the times we see her, except for the beach where she's wearing one ring and one necklace and there's probably a point to be made here that I can't fully articulate (there's probably something about color theory to be said with the way they assigned her yellow, the color next to green, which is a color we see Eddie a lot in, so they look nice next to each other since they are analogous colors but considering the way green is one of the assigned colors for couples but the other color there is blue, that’s the other side of the green analogous colors of the wheel, putting her in yellow could be making a bigger point here and the way she’s in brigher shades than earthy tones associated with Eddie, could also be making a point since they clash shades to show conflict sometimes), but since she's wearing a lot of yellows, I went looking for when Chris is wearing yellow and that's tsunami, after he gets hurt in school after the skateboard incident and during Eddie's breakdown, which is interesting when you consider the way that these are situations where Eddie gets emotionally distressed, to draw that parallel to watching Shannon die and the way Chris also has his own color palette, in season 2 and 3 he wears red a lot and after that he evolves to blues and greens kinda mirroring Eddie which I think is adorable, but his glasses are still red and so are his crutches, so to put him in the color they assigned to his dead mother in the situations where he's not exactly in danger (he is in danger on the tsunami but he's not in danger during Eddie's breakdown, I think the word I want here is that when he's scared), definitely means something, because like, she's wearing yellow in moments Eddie needs to be emotionally vulnerable, when they kiss after she did the interview with the school, when she shows up at the firehouse, when she dies, so it's definitely a choice being made there.

WAIT WAIT WAIT CHRIS IS WEARING YELLOW IN SCENES EDDIE IS WRONG. HE ASSUMES CHRIS IS SAFE FROM THE TSUNAMI, HE ASSUMES CHRIS WAS FORCED TO GET ON THE SKATEBOARD AND WHEN EDDIE THINKS THERE'S NO HOPE FOR HIMSELF. (this is an edit lol)

And Eddie definitely wears more blues than green around Chris and when you add the army green jacket and the situations we get that particular shade of green with him in, it definitely affects the way we view the scene even if it's not fully conscious (the navy blue it's complicated to say, i think, since its the color of their uniforms). And the yellow thing is interesting because they kinda push that in a way where you can make the assumption that yellow is Shannon's favorite color (even her jewelry is mostly gold, and from what i can tell there's almost always a ring with a yellow stone, so like, it's there) so it would make sense if Chris had more yellow stuff considering his stuff was picked out by her for half his life, because even if assuming based on his glasses and crutches that his favorite color is red, it would make sense for him to have a bit of his mother around him anyway (i mean, there's the way they put Shannon in red throughout all of Eddie Begins so maybe they added that there so that the red already is that bit and the evolution to his clothing matching Eddie's color palette is bringing a bit of both but that would be a retcon in my opinion) because I feel like even as a 7 yo if he got to pick stuff, he could very easily gravitate towards something that reminded him of his mom.

#i dont know what my point is anymore so I'm will stop typing #you did give me a lot to think about lol #colors man #colors #911 meta #911 #i really need a tag for asks #maggie 💜

[common-grackle]

Miles Tuck as an outsider

I'm going to spend a couple hours typing up my thoughts so I can share my brain goop with all of you. Should I be doing computer science homework right now? Absolutely, but this is more fun.

To me Miles is the most interesting character in Tuck Everlasting, and I think it's because he's clearly different from the rest. The first time we see Miles is in the prologue, which is not super helpful for establishing his character other than "wow, he drank water." But in Live Like This, there's a lot going on with Miles.

Jesse and Miles sing their part of the number together (despite not being in the same place). The contrast between the boys is obvious.

Miles's first lines are "Off the train in New Hampshire, and it's back in an instant/The feeling that I'm somewhere I don't belong." Excuse me?? In itself, this is an incredibly effective way to introduce him as a character, but it hits even harder when we hear Jesse's verse: "Hello Treegap New Hampshire, catch me up on what's new/Your silo I see still has the best view."

Jesse belongs. Miles doesn't.

Jesse's verse is a greeting, where Miles's is closer to an internal monologue. There's also a parallel between "it's back in an instant" and "catch me up on what's new." Returning to Treegap is an adventure for Jesse; Miles has seen all that it has to offer, and he's not interested in coming back.

Miles and Jesse's parallel character arcs are something that I never shut up about, so let's keep going. Jesse has positive memories associated with Treegap (or he's buried the negative ones), and what he's looking for is a new person. Treegap brings back almost entirely negative memories for Miles, and he's looking to forget the people he used to have.

Going back to the song, we have Jesse singing "I swear/Is there anyone who still knows me?" and Miles echoing "I swear." Like I said, Jesse wants people, and Miles does not want to be here. Miles's next lines, "Almost there/This town never outgrows me" pretty much solidify this in my head; he's just tired. (Jesse's "Almost there" is clearly excitement about arriving at his parents' house.)

And then their part together: "Unaware/I'll never know why this world chose me/to live like this, live like this, forever." This is another key difference between the two: Jesse takes immortality as a blessing, and Miles takes it as a curse.

As a bonus, Miles is clearly on edge in his next scene. He is not going to his Happy Place.

In the next scenes - everything surrounding The Story of the Tucks - Miles is actually pretty quiet. (That's also just kind of How He Is, but it really stands out when he's around Winnie??) He also has a lot of lines that insinuate that he's expected this kind of thing to happen for a hot minute. Miles's role in his family could be read as the downer or as the voice of reason, and I think he knows that.

I kind of love how Miles doesn't want to participate in the discussion, but he needs the facts to be correct. (I'm now realizing that he's kind of coded as autistic but I'll let you guys figure that out.) He's the one who cuts in and actually gets Winnie to understand what they're saying at the end of the song. Miles isn't wordy, but he knows how to get his point across.

The bit that always gets me about this song is Jesse's "He survived much worse" (referring to Miles). In the cast recording his tone is closer to teasing, but I still can't tell if he's referring to Miles's family. (If he is, Miles's "Shut up, Jesse" makes it That Much Worse.)

Jesse: Stop. She's just a kid. Don't make any good thing seem like it's the end of the world.

Miles: Easy for you to say when you've never looked out for anyone but yourself.

Jesse: That's what you think of me?

Miles: Who says I think of you? (He goes to exit, but turns back.) I shouldn't have implied that you're always selfish. You were an amazing uncle. Sometimes I think about that. (Miles exits.)

So much to unpack here. I'm going to make bullet points.

Jesse becomes more abrasive when he's around Miles.

Miles is obviously holding onto a lot of resentment.

Miles thinks Jesse is immature; he took care of his family, and Jesse has only ever taken care of himself (I feel like this is how a lot of people feel about their youngest siblings).

Jesse had a good relationship with Thomas (who we'll talk about later).

It's my personal interpretation that the reason Jesse and Miles don't get along (or, part of it) is that Jesse encapsulates everything Miles is trying to push down and forget. Jesse is optimistic and young (sort of), and he still feels like Miles's baby brother, even if he's 102.

Angus: Not natural, how much that boy has lost.

Jesse: He's not the only one. I used to have a brother.

And Jesse is bitter because Miles doesn't treat him like an adult. There's growth in that area later, but not yet! It's a while before Miles appears again, and when he does, it's...it's a lot. It's also the most insight we get on Miles.

Jesse: I refuse to keep living alone in the shadows.

Miles: Jesse, if you won't listen to your big brother, then listen to some common sense. So, okay: your plan works for three years, maybe four if you're lucky - then what? Do you someday start a family, and make your children drink the water? And what about when the neighbors catch on to your secret? Then what? Do you wanna go to jail - forever?

Jesse: I already feel like I'm serving a life sentence, Miles! I'd rather do my time next to somebody who actually appreciates it! (Jesse exits upstairs.)

Miles could've spared Jesse's feelings a little more than he does (although, with The Way That Jesse Is, I'm not sure that would've been as effective), but he mostly just wants to keep his brother from going through what he did.

Miles arguably went through the most loss out of the characters in the show, but he doesn't talk much about it. When he does, it's usually vague, and always blunt. Even his song (which makes me cry) is just giving us the facts.

Anyway...those are my two cents. I should probably sleep now.

(tagging @marinesocks and @claireverlasting again!)

#i wrote this while eating scooby doo cheezits #gracie writes overly long media analysis #tuck everlasting #miles tuck #jesse tuck #broadway #musical theater

[danggirlronpa]

haiiiii :3 akane anon again. im off work now!

i agree w absolutely everything u said. she's been my fav ever for years and i have so many in depth thoughts abt how she could function on relationships w like. most of the girls. i could probably make a chart if i figured out a format.

chiakane soooo crazy. never been my main ship but ill consider anything. they r most interesting from a doomed standpoint to me...... akane as a remnant vs chiaki's existence as ai and (counting dr3 as canon which im not usually interested in doing) death before the tragedy. i think of them in almost a similar vein to the tragedy between madoka and homura except if homura was replaced by a kyoko who's a little worse w emotions. chiaki's entire being has become dedicated in one way or another to serving class 77 even if that means sacrificing herself over and over and akane has had every single meaningful relationship (or what SHOULD have been) ripped away or twisted and never having even really existed and she is so afraid of going through this again she doesn't even try and have relationships she cares about deeply (or at all!) that aren't w her siblings. so she would be PISSED to fall in love w chiaki who is already dead and doomed to die again. ive never believed the mastermind akane theory people talk abt at least fully but it IS interesting. i can make a killer chiakane au w it. w madoka magica parallels even. but ur right they can also be very very sweet. i think they would play super smash bros and akane would kinda suck at it (spams the buttons and thinks it's a pro strategy) but chiaki would let her win every once or twice. akane hears the rumours abt chiaki dating some random reserve course guy and sends the "im so happy for you and your ugly fucking boyfriend I'm serious" text after swearing to herself she doesn't even gaf

that's uh. that's a lot. im so sorry can you tell i have autism. this isn't even my favourite ship for either of them ask me about pekokane and i start growling like a rabid dog.

YES yes yes yes!! I am a HUGE Akane fan. She's the only character I have a real little collection of merch for (though that's partly just because so much merch excludes Mukuro). I didn't really attach to her the first time I played SDR2 but over time I've grown SO fond and defensive of her, she is such a sad and complex character who deserved to be treated better by her writers (and have less racist tropes associated with her. Spike Chunsoft. cough cough) and still deserves to be treated better by the fandom.

And I think you got it RIGHT on the money why I'm inclined towards Chiaki/Akane, actually. Akane has lived such a dark life that not only does she not know how to ask for help or rely on others, she doesn't even realize she needs to - for her, this is just how the world is. Akane, to me, is like the equivalent of a housecat looking at their humans and going, "They don't even know how to hunt. They're all so stupid. I have to go kill mice so they can eat. Are they even bathing themselves properly?? Licking time. Morons." She's incredibly resilient and smart within the context of the VERY SPECIFIC lifestyle she's lived.

And something really appeals to me about someone who solely exists to help people meeting Akane, thinking they can 'save' her, and slowly coming to realize that she is not dumb or unskilled just because she isn't skilled in the way they value. Learning that intelligence isn't a measure of worth and seeing & valuing Akane for who she is - and, at the same time, helping her see that some of the things she's gone through are truly, deeply traumatic, and helping her learn how to rely on others for the first time...that shit gets me. I Just Want Akane To Be Happy

#you are also correct and SO funny abt akane being pissed to fall in love #what is this? an emotion for ants??? #asks #anon #talk to the mod #chiakane #meta #headcanons #chiaki nanami #akane owari #sdr2