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jikookuntold · 8 months ago

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What Is Like Crazy About?

Since the day "Like Crazy" was released, I wanted to post about it, but couldn't get the time to focus and do a comprehensive analysis. Finally, right before the first anniversary of this masterpiece, I got the time, and the post is ready now. Before starting off, I have to remind you of the fact that a work of art can be interpreted in many different ways, and none of those interpretations are necessarily right or wrong. Every work of art contains a message that is the artist’s main intention from that creation, but the artist doesn’t have to explain it to the audience because a true work of art speaks for itself, even though not all audiences can receive it thoroughly.

I know that in the past year, so many different types of analyses and theories were made by fans to explain this song, and most definitely, I couldn’t keep up with all of them. Therefore, I’m not claiming my analysis to be a breakthrough, and you might have read most parts of it somewhere else. In this post, we are going to discuss “Like Crazy” from a lyrical and conceptual point of view, trying to find out what message or messages Jimin wanted to convey by creating it.

About “Like Crazy”

“Like Crazy” as the title track for Jimin's first solo album, "FACE", stole the hearts of millions of fans and locals around the world, and inarguably became one of the most successful pop songs of the year 2023. I can talk for hours about how beautiful and successful “Like Crazy” is, and how it broke KPop boundaries and countless records. But, in this post, we are going to break to the surface and talk about the meanings and motivations behind this song and answer the questions like “How this song was made?” “What was Jimin's intention in writing these romantic lyrics?”

As I mentioned earlier, artists usually don’t directly address their main message and their intention in creating a form of art, but many of them speak about the motivations and inspirations that led them to the creation. Jimin hasn’t talked much about the sources of inspiration behind individual tracks of “FACE”, but I guess “Like Crazy” was an exception for him because he revealed on several occasions that he was inspired by “Like Crazy”, the movie. And this piece of information is the key to our analysis:

"I tried to express the feelings of that movie. You know, the somewhat complex, somewhat lonely, somewhat happy emotions. I tried to express all these ambiguous and subtle emotions in a slightly sexy way, but I’m not sure how it’ll end up being received by people.”

Like Crazy, The Movie

First of all, we need to keep in mind that “Like Crazy” is a completely original song, and Jimin has not used or sampled any songs, lines, or dialogues from the movie in his lyrical or visual concepts (even the intro and outro dialogues in the song were original and not from the movie). If Jimin had not stated his source of inspiration directly, the only hint that could have led us to it would be the title of the song, which duplicates the title of the movie since the title never appears in the lyrics.

So, Jimin chose this specific name for his song and announced his source of inspiration to make it clear that there is a straight and strong connection between the song and the movie. He made it clear that this connection is 100% conceptual and emotional, and if we want to know what “Like Crazy” is about, and what ambiguous and subtle feelings Jimin is talking about, we have to redirect the analysis to the concept of the movie, “Like Crazy”.

As we all know, “Like Crazy” is a romantic movie, and Drake Doremus directed it casting "Felicity Jones" and the late "Anton Yelchin" as the main characters, Anna and Jacob. Doremus based the storyline of this low-budget movie on his experience being in a long-distance relationship with his partner and developed it into a 90-minute-long movie, which was released in 2011 and became relatively successful.

Anna and Jacob

A few days before the release of “FACE”, I was informed that the title track, “Like Crazy” is based on a movie of the same name. After learning this fact, I had to re-watch it because I couldn’t remember anything after a decade, and I had some questions like: “What was in this movie that made it so special for Jimin?” “How would Jimin feel watching this?”. Having this mindset helped me to see the movie differently, but before explaining those new insights we need a short storyline of the movie:

Anna is a British exchange student in LA, where she falls in love with Jacob, an American student, and they start dating. Anna, blinded by her love for Jacob, overstays her student visa and consequently gets banned from re-entering the United States. After experiencing a forced LDR, Jacob flies to London to visit Anna, and her father suggests that getting married might resolve the issue, but they are not ready for this big step. Jacob goes back to LA and basically chooses his job over Anna, but after some time, they realize that they can’t be apart, and they decide to get married. Six months after the marriage, when the time for the appeal of Anna’s ban comes, it gets rejected, and they lose their last hope of being together. Again, they go back to their sad lives, but after some time, Anna is finally offered a visa, and she leaves everything behind to reunite with Jacob. The ending scene shows how this separation has damaged their relationship, and things will never be the same.

The movie portrays the hardships of a long-distance relationship and the damage the separation can do to two souls and their connection. I think the recent movie by "Celine Song" named "Past Lives" was partially similar to like crazy, but also there was a big difference; unlike Nora and Haesung in “Past Lives”, Anna and Jacob don’t leave it to fate, they don’t forget about each other and don’t settle down with others just because their love seemed difficult or impossible.

They found true happiness only next to each other and did everything against all odds (especially Anna) to take that back. Maybe if Anna and Jacob weren’t in love like crazy and were more mature and realistic, they would end up like Nora and Haesung (Sorry if this spoiled that movie for you), but they didn’t and made their own bittersweet ending.

Many people claim that “Like Crazy” is a breakup movie with a sad ending, therefore, Jimin’s song also must be a breakup song. But, first of all, the ending can somehow be considered an open ending. We don’t know what happens after the shower scene, but we see them together, in each other’s arms, and this is not a totally sad ending by any movie standards. Other than that, Anna and Jacob became separated a few times, but they don't officially break up by choice, their separation is the result of contractual rules and laws, made by society.

This movie, as its director explained, might be originally about a long-distance relationship, but also the main relationship in this movie can be seen as a relationship that gets strained by laws and regulations, it’s about the rules and imaginary borders that decide if two people can be together or ban them from it. It’s a story of the “love against law”.

A Heterosexual Love Story?

When “Like Crazy” was released in theatres back in 2011, it got positive reviews for good acting that made the movie feel sweet and intimate with mostly improvised dialogues. Meanwhile, the negative reviews were focused on the plotline of this drama, calling it far from reality. Other than the fact that Jacob could have easily resolved this issue by taking his job from LA to London, in reality, the couple wouldn’t have faced this much difficulty over the legal complications, especially after getting married.

The fact is, straight couples usually never face this kind of hardship, and governments take that easy on them otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many sham marriages around the world just to get citizenship. So, the idea of a couple getting separated by law is not common, and that’s why many people called this movie implausible. But, a queer person can familiarly receive this implausibility, like when they want to be with someone forever, but the laws don’t let them.

Could it be this feeling that made “Like Crazy” special and a source of inspiration for Jimin? Or was it something smaller like the Santa Monica beach scene? I have no answer, I only make theories, and I think it’s better to leave the movie here and start the lyrical interpretation to see how these words and feelings can get connected.

The Lyrics

[Intro]

(I think we could last forever (I'm afraid that everything will disappear Just trust me)

As I said earlier, this intro is not a dialogue from the movie, but the narrators were told to do it based on the audio from the movie that was sent to them. So, hypothetically, it’s Anna and Jacob having this conversation. He is afraid of losing everything, but Anna assures him that if he trusts her, they can last forever. In the MV, we see Jimin standing in the crowd, but the time goes in reverse, and through a transition into his eyes, we see him sitting alone. Weirdly, the outro of the song is playing in the background here, but we will figure out the reason later.

[Verse 1]

Korean Version, Translated

She's saying Baby, don't think about it There's not a bad thing here tonight Baby, it's fine if you leave Stay with me, just for today

English Version

She's saying, Baby, come and follow me There's not a bad thing here tonight Save your reasons all for later Stay with me a little while

Anna asks him to follow her and assures him that everything is fine, it’s fine if this is not going to last long. It’s not the time for reason and overthinking. The gendered pronoun here refers to Anna, but we will know more about her in the next verses. It is worth mentioning that in the primary handwritten lyrics by Jimin, there was no “She” and it was modified later considering the dialogues added to the intro. Anyway, we know Jimin didn’t release these drafts in his album for no reason.

In this part of the MV, we see Jimin sitting alone in a room, and with a flicker of lights, the room is filled with mud. Suddenly, a muddy hand of a girl grabs Jimin’s hand and leads him to a party. There are several symbols in this part, the lonely room is Jimin’s reality, and the party is his dream. The mud symbolizes dreams and desires that leave their trace on your life and soul.

[Verse 2]

Korean Version, Translated

Watch me go Drenching myself all night (Away) So that even the morning Gets drunk and doesn't arrive

English Version

Watch me go Now, I sink down, all alone away Where am I? A dark haze clouding up my eyes

From here, we don’t see the girl because Jimin and the girl became one. She was her reflection from the beginning, the side that leads him out of his loneliness, and allures him to his dreams and desires, tempts him to be careless and stop thinking too much. Some say she is Jimin’s Anima, but these lyrics never go to the deep levels of the subconscious to reach the Anima. She is his feminine side that is a tangible side of him, and Jimin’s asymmetric makeup gives it away. Also, the mirrored moves between Jimin and the female dancer in “Like Crazy’s” choreography made it clear that the feminine presence in this song is Jimin’s reflection.

[Pre-Chorus]

Korean Version, Translated

As the loud music I get faded out A cliché story like a drama I get used to it Have I come too far to find the me that you used to know Yeah, I know You know I know (Ooh)

English Version

I can hear the voices listening Don't know who they are Trying to take the pressure off Been reaching for the stars Tell me, will I find myself again? When I go too far? Yeah, I know You know, I know (Ooh)

Jimin enters the party and starts drinking, dancing, and having fun with the others. He laughs and enjoys himself in the crowd and trusts the supposed strangers, but the confusion doesn’t leave him alone. He feels lost, and as the lyrics say, he is worried about going too far and not finding himself again. The two opposite sides of him are conflicting. It’s the contradiction between "fear and desire", between "pain and numbness", between "loneliness and losing yourself", and between "reason and dream" that leaves him confused.

[Chorus and Post Chorus]

Korean Version, Translated

I'd rather be Lost in the lights, Lost in the lights I'm outta my mind Hold onto the end of the night Every night You spin me up high The moon with you in its arms Let me have a taste Give me a good ride (Oh, I'm fallin', I'm fallin', I'm fallin') Oh, it's gon' be a good night (Oh, I'm fallin') Forever, you and I

English Version

I'd rather be Lost in the lights, lost in the lights I'm outta my mind Can you help me numb the pain? Each night, you spin me up high Emotions on ice Let me have a taste Give me a good ride (Oh, I'm fallin', I'm fallin', I'm fallin') Oh, it's gon' be a good night (Oh, I'm fallin') Forever, you and I

In this part, he confesses which side he really wants to follow. He wants to go out of his mind, lose himself to the desire, and leave the reason behind. It’s the escapism that saves him from loneliness and the pain of real life. The chorus is the sexy and at the same time, the most poetic part of this song, especially where he is spinning up high in the arms of the moon.

The last line of the post-chorus, “Forever you and I” which also repeats in the last part of the interlude, is crucial because it declares that Jimin is not talking about vagrancy or promiscuity. He wants it all with his significant other, the only one who can help him numb the pain of real life and escape it. But this escapism has its consequences, and we see all that mud flush out of every corner symbolizing it. This scene artistically ends with Jimin facing his reflection in the crowd. The question is, is this reflection the same significant other, or is it Jimin himself? We will get the answer in the next part.

[Verse 3]

Korean Version, Translated

The me, reflected in the mirror Is going crazy endlessly I'm feelin' so alive, wasting time

English Version

All my reflections, I Can't even recognize I'm feelin' so alive, wasting time

His fear of losing himself was true, and it's happening now. This duality confuses him and makes him question his reality. Which side is the true Jimin? He doesn't care anymore because this escapism makes him feel alive.

Here in the MV, we see Jimin facing the reflection, and it immediately cuts to the restroom scene where he faces his literal reflection in the mirror and talks to him about not recognizing him anymore. Then, the restroom being dismantled symbolizes his state of mind. "The reflection of myself in an unfamiliar appearance" was the concept of "his "FACE" which was a whole album about Jimin himself.

[Outro]

This will break me This is gonna break me (Break me) No, don't you wake me (Wake me) I wanna stay in this dream, don't save me Don't you try to save me (Save me) I need a way we (Way we) I need a way we can dream on (On, on, on) (Alone again What's the point?)

Jimin knows the consequences of losing himself but embraces it. He knows it's gonna break him but doesn't want to wake up from his dream. He knows everything will collapse but doesn't need a savior. He wants to stay in that dream, but he knows it's impossible, and sooner or later, he will be dragged out of it.

Is there a way to cut all the connections to the real world of loneliness and stay in this dream forever? We get the answer in the MV, and it's not positive because suddenly, everything goes backward in speed, to where we started (remember the outro being played in the beginning? That was the clue).

He goes back to his lonely room with a muddy hand. Did his hand get dirty from a touch of his reflection, or was the muddy hand in the beginning his own hand? Is he trapped in a loop? Maybe. Maybe this wasn't his first or the last time coming back from that dreamland, and it was the reason for so much mud accumulated in his room. He is a regular in that dreamland and he can't quit.

Conclusion

It's understandable if this analysis of the movie, lyrics, and the MV didn't guide you in any direction, and maybe you are even more confused after reading it all. But don't blame yourself because Jimin already told us that, his emotions for this movie are complex. So, don't look for just one answer, maybe we are not supposed to end up with one conclusion, and this song also can have multiple interpretations and meanings. But what are these meanings?

If you pay attention to the lyrics and the MV you will realize that despite them being aligned and in sync, the lyrics have more connection to the movie. While filming the MV, Jimin mentioned that things (scenes of the MV) didn't happen like this in real life, which was an obvious fact, because this song is clearly not about being the life of the party and stuff like that, and has more internal meanings.

In "Like Crazy", Jimin talks about the loneliness of his real life, the isolation and limitations he experienced during the pandemic, and maybe other times. But Jimin finds an alternate reality, where he can be himself, be free and careless, and forget about the future. This alternate reality is rooted in two possibilities: The feminine side, and the significant other. The feminine side is what we face in the MV, and there are not many signs of it in the lyrics.

The feminine side appears as a muddy hand and a presence at the part that faces Jimin and becomes one with him as his reflection. The idea of "bigender" is nothing new in the concepts that Jimin has offered on different occasions, from his fake tattoos in ARMY-Zip 2019 to the performance of "Filter" in 2020 and his photopholio in 2022, he has expressed this fluidity in his work, and I think the visual concept of "Like Crazy" with his different makeup in the MV and the choreography was the epitome of it.

What about the significant other? As I mentioned in the analysis of chorus parts, "Forever You and I" Can only be interpreted as his exclusiveness to someone who is his significant other. This person is the one who saves Jimin from his loneliness and assures him about their happy ending. This person has no doubt in them lasting forever and only wants Jimin to trust him to take the lead and let that happen.

He keeps saying to his significant other that there is no future. They can't be together forever, this is just a temporary situation, and despite finding comfort in each other, they should not get attached because they will forced to be separated. It's not like Jimin doesn't believe in this love, he does and has the same wishes and dreams, but he keeps getting dragged to the real world where the rules govern.

This part is just a personal opinion as a Jikooker, but I did this analysis in my head last year when "Like Crazy" was newly released and had no intention of making a connection between this and Jikook, until "Seven" came out. We all know JK had no hand in making the sexy lyrics of "Seven", but after watching the MV (which had nothing to do with the lyrics), I couldn't unsee the fact that the concept of Seven's MV looked so much like a response to "Like Crazy's" lyrics. Still, we don't know if JK gave any ideas for the concept of the MV, but considering his record of working as an MV director, it's not impossible.

The End.

This is all I could say about "Like Crazy", a masterpiece that is still thriving in the charts and still touches people's hearts because it comes from real and deep emotions that Jimin had in his heart. That emotion got us the moment we listened to it for the first time, even though verbalizing it, is never easy, no matter how many analyses and reviews we write.

#jimin #jikook #like crazy #analysis

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demonsonthemoon · 5 months ago

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Arospec headcanon: Daniela Velasquez from Sense8

I headcanon Dani as aromantic and allosexual. I have also always felt like the show failed to properly explore her character and how she forms relationships. So here is a very short exploration of that headcanon:

Dani clearly sees romantic attachment as leverage, something she can use. Of course, this fits well with her career in show-business, but she seems surprisingly happy to forego any romantic attachment once she settles into her friendship with Lito and Hernando. In the same way, she seems to be using her sexuality to navigate her relationships: she cheats on Joaquin as a way to try and escape their relationship, then immediately tries to have sex with Lito in order to cement their relationship and gain protection. There's some self-destructiveness in her behavior, but I also feel like this shows someone who feels in control of her sexuality, whereas she has a much harder time using the codes of romance to her advantage, even if she tries to.

I've always been sad that the development of her relationship with Lito and Hernando was never explicitally explored. I guess relationship negotiation doesn't make for good television? Still, there are some definite hints that they have a non-traditional friendship, which could be interpreted as a queerplatonic relationship. There's some ambiguity in the series about Dani's photos of Lito and Hernando, but I've always felt as though the two men weren't actually surprised at the existence of the photos, and only afraid of the risk of them being leaked. This makes me feel as though Dani's part in their sexuality (the way she watches and masturbates as they have sex), is something that's been acknowledged and accepted by the two men. They certainly make space for her in their domestic lives when they all move in together, in a way that goes way beyond just protecting Dani and all of their reputations.

I want to read Dani as allo-aro. I want to see her as someone who's been enduring what people have called “love” because she thought that was necessary to get what she wants (sex, safety, affection,...) I want to grieve for the way she's been traumatized by an abusive relationship, in which someone could call violence and obsession love and no one would correct him. I understand how, for someone like her, Lito and Hernando's relationship could be a safe heaven. Lito is someone who does not feel attracted to her, but who still acts caringly towards her and can offer her the protection she needs. More than that, Lito and Hernando's relationship is an example of truly caring love, one that can help her heal from her trauma but which – very importantly – doesn't need her to put her boundaries on the line to do so. She doesn't need to fall in love to learn that love can be kind. She doesn't need to fall in love ever, because she no longer needs a romantic relationship in order to not be alone. I think this reading is much kinder to the character, instead of the way the show brushes off her connection to Lito and Hernando as “gay fetishism” in the first season (while simultaneously also asserting that Hernando genuinely cares for her as a friend.)

In the end, headcanoning Dani as aro is important to me because she's not alone. Her relationship with Lito and Hernando goes against the narrative that it's normal for romantic love to isolate you (inside your closed off couple bubble), which leads to the idea that it's normal for arospec people to be left behind, to always be treated as second best. Instead, we see Hernando break off his relationship with Lito based on how the latter treats Dani. And I want every arospec people to get what Dani gets: relationships that are mutually supportive and which are open to intimacy even if they aren't romantic.

#AggressivelyArospecWeek #Sense8 #Daniela Velasquez #Dani Velasquez #Meta #Headcanon #this is very rushed but honestly I am not up for writing more this year #still #I wanted to have SOMETHING for this even #event #so here you go #I hope someone still cares about this show ahah

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evony256 · 2 months ago

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SPOILERS FOR DRDT CHAPTER 2 EPISODE 13

TW: SUICIDE

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the episode too since I've seen a lot of people do that

By the way I had to watch this like 7 hours after it was released and I have not scrolled through Tumblr yet so I might bring up stuff that have already been discussed. Also all of these notes were written down while I was watching the episode so yeah

-Levi just moved up so much on my kin list it's insane like omg…

- This was one bad day for Acevi fans, huh. I guess the Xanvid came at a price

-Whit I can now see why David told you to shut up I like you but that was bad 💀 (he was probably left affected by how David reacted in episode 12 and is either really uncomfortable or somewhat intimidated by David now)

-Nah nah nah that's definitely not Teruko's secret so I'm gonna start theorizing now. Teruko might have most of the secrets. It's not like they belong to her, but if you think back to episode 8 she said that she doesn't know which secret is hers because so many things have happened in her life. She probably said that she got the family secret because she thought that was the most likely one. Hu's secret might also be accurate to her considering the fact that, in episode 4, she told Arei that failed suicide attempts are painful, hinting at the fact that she might have tried to kill herself at some point (also backed up by the fact that, in episode 3, she says "why save my life if you're just going to ruin it afterwards?" when talking about her medical debt). The idea that she has most (if not all, but I doubt that) of the secrets might tie in with the killing game secret since it says "How could I even select what secret to be your motive?". The wording here is very ambiguous since it could be interpreted as "secrets about your life" or "secrets that are on the board", like the ones that the other cast members have, the latter being something that I bet that nobody in the fandom thought about until this episode. Anyway theory over back to saying stupid shit

-AREI ILYSM YOU ARE MAKING ME CRY YET FEEL HAPPY THAT'S WHY YOU'RE MY FAVORITEEEEE 😭😭😭

-SHE GOT NEW SPRITES TOO SHE IS SO PRETTY

-I MADE AN AUDIBLE GASP NOISE WHEN THAT CG WITH EDEN SHOWED UP HOLY SHIT!!!! I think she might have hurt or killed the girl she kissed? Unless she killed Arei, which is still a posibility, or Levi lied about his secret for Eden’s sake (idea which could contribute to the "Eden killer Levi accomplice" theory), though Charles would have also needed to lie for Eden since he had her secret. Also, if we're going with Eden remorseless murderer theory, in my opinion, it wouldn't make sense for Eden to be a remorseless killer after what Arei said about her making a mistake "that she couldn't take back" (showing that she probably felt remorse for what she did). Also also this is a good time for me to bring up the note with "Eden's motive" that Charles gave to Teruko. That note could be proof of whether or not Eden really does have the girl kisser secret and I want to mention that the note could be anything since we only have Charles' word to rely on. I really hope we get to see what it says because it's been making me more suspicious of Charles (I personally think that Charles is somewhat suspicious so I might make a post about it soon even though there isn't much proper evidence to say that he has something to do with the killing game, there's still a couple of questionable things about what he's done/said). Okay yap session number two over

-Arei moved up even more on my kin list how is that even possible…. I also love how her voice changed so much in this episode. Even in prior episodes, her voice seemed so cheerful and energetic, yet in this one, it's much calmer. Showing that she truly is feeling relieved that there are other bad people in the world like her and that she might have a chance to redeem herself if so. God damnit Mokaui (Arei's VA) did such a good job with all of her voice lines she needs to be credited more

-THE AREI CG I AM CRYING AREI YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO ME ILYSM I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE BONUS EPISODE AFTER THIS

-They're finally talking about the murder method this is a new evolution for humanity

-Monotv causally breaking the forth wall, now we can blame it on the cast that they were talking about the secrets for an entire year because they didn't watch the Chapter 2 recap

-YESSS FINALLY A MINIGAME I’VE MISSED THESE SO MUCHHHH

-Ooh so that's what the broken handles meant also that Veronika art is so pretty

-I wonder why they would want to break her neck though, it doesn't seem like it would help with the murder at all, but maybe the killer was trying to cause confusion

-This is proving a theory that I've had for a while. If Arei was hung from the ceiling of the playground, then that could be tied in with the broken lights and the movie screening room above the playground. How would they be able to get her into the playground from the movie screening room though…

-J 💀 (that's all I’ve got to say literally)

-That's a lot of very precise information Whit I can understand Veronika but why would you know all that. Care to share something with the class?

-The text animations in the debate are so unique like the question marks with Rose and the one that circles around the top of Levi’s head those look so cool. Also getting to hear a lot of characters talk in a row feels amazing. It gives them a lot of depth showing the contrast between those characters’ tones of voice.

-Also there goes my screening room theory damn

-Everyone just roasting Teruko again is the best thing out of this episode /j

-We got puppy Whit 10/10 episode

-Also THREE CGS AND TWO MINIGANES IN ONE EPISODE??? DRDTDEV YOU HAVE BEEN COOKING 🔥🔥🔥 YOU CAN STOP NOW THE KITCHEN IS ON FIRE (IN THE GOOD WAY). YOU MADE AN ENTIRE BUFFET. THIS IS AN ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT YOU CAN STOP NOW-

-Ooooo she's talking about Ace's attempted murder

-(Probably) Nico and Ace focused episode next week Nico and Ace fans are gonna be eating good

Overall, this might be my favourite episode so far. Not like I had a favourite episode before but still this was SO good

Also I just checked my Tumblr notifications why are there 50 like oh my lord 💀

#drdt spoilers #drdt theory #drdt #danganronpa despair time #drdt arei #drdt david #drdt teruko #drdt whit #drdt ace #drdt nico #drdt charles #drdt veronika #tagging this is so difficult omg

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vergeltvng · 4 months ago

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SPOILERS for The Boys Season 4

I'm still processing the final episode but here are some of my random thoughts, in no particular order. It was a wild ride and I enjoyed it for the most part. The season had its lows for sure and I'll never forgive the writers for how they treated Hughie. I'm still fucking mad about everything they did to him after episode 5. I also felt like they wasted a lot of potential with Annie's arc. She's been through a lot after season 3 and I loved the idea of her having an identity crisis but it was just so poorly executed. It all felt messy and as if the writers had no conclusion in mind for both her and Hughie's plotlines. Unfortunately I couldn't find myself caring a lot about Frenchie's and Kimiko's subplots which is sad because I love these two. I was hoping they get to kill that bitch Little Nina and Kimiko getting her revenge on the SLLA. Both could have happened this season before they got separated in the end. Instead we've been put on hold to wait if these plots get resolved at all. Firecracker and Sage were great additions, I loved to hate Firecracker and Sage gives off endboss vibes for me. I still feel like she's gonna betray Homelander in the end. Can't wait for "phase two". A-Train's arc was great, he truly redeemed himself and him showing up at the flat iron to save the others was proof enough for me how serious he was about doing the right thing. I liked all of his scenes with MM, too. I loved Ashley this season, I hope she gains some badass powers and kicks everyone's ass. I've seen some complaints about Homelander being nerfed - are we watching the same show? He is fucking unhinged and more terrifying than ever. He is basically god by the end of the season and can (and will) do whatever the fuck he wants with no one in his way. Someone telling me that's not scary?! He is and always will be one of the best villains in tv history. Poor kid Ryan, he deserved better. How is he ever supposed to feel safe around Homelander and Butcher phrasing it that way was downright evil and manipulative towards the boy because he knew it would make Ryan feel insecure and cornered. Him pushing and killing Grace was in self-defense. His reaction afterwards however is concerning and I guess ambiguous for interpretation on purpose. I still don't get how some people in the fandom could hate on a 12 year old child so much, leave the kid alone.

Where do I start when it comes to Butcher? I have many thoughts and this text is already long but I'll give it a shot anyway. Obviously I'm biased because I love this man and will defend him to the very end. I think his arc was one of the better aspects, he is still one of the best written characters on the show. What I always loved about him was him being truly morally grey and the ambiguity in his words and actions. He cannot be trusted. I don't know if it's me but Karl's performance makes him actually a lot more likeable than he deserves. He is a bad person and I don't think this is negotiable. I have thought about this so many times in made-up scenarios and I stick with my opinion that there's no fixing him and there never was. I have tried to stay away from fandom discourse as much as I could for my own well-being but I don't get how people act surprised and as a result hate over his behavior and decisions. I think most were true to his character and also him killing Neuman made perfect sense and was a well-deserved payoff narratively. Not that I'm not mad at him for doing so! I loved Vicky and she was such an interesting character. But his final words in season 3 were "that bitch has to go" and one of his main goals across the whole season was to get that virus to kill her. He was absolutely clear about it and worked towards this goal on his own terms, not even under the influence of Kessler. Certainly Kessler pushed him to commit some of his atrocities but it matched with what he wanted himself. He drew the line when it came to supe genocide and was conflicted about it initially but one of his core themes is doing whatever it takes and losing his humanity on his chosen path. Since he is highly intelligent he knows very well what's wrong with him what emphasises even more that he actively chooses to do bad things rather than being impulsive and regretful afterwards. I personally loved his turn at the end and I am eager to see his villain arc. What's not to love about evil daddy?! I could go on about some of the dynamics between him and Kessler but I'll do that in another post maybe.

#the boys #the boys tv #billy butcher #. ⸻ ¹⁴ 「ooc.」 ⊣⊢ the insider.#the boys spoilers #the boys season 4

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delyth88 · 1 year ago

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Loki episode 5 reaction and initial thoughts

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I can’t believe it! I’m so unused to getting what I hope for with Loki in movies and TV that I almost don’t know what to do when you get almost exactly what you’d hoped for!!!!! (Within the bounds of this being the TVA version of Loki of course.) That was excellent! And hit most of the key things I was hoping for as well as giving some absolutely charming additions!

It packed in a lot of story, and it was a delight to see the characters on the timeline. It wasn’t as gripping and tense as the last episode, but that's probably a good thing for my stress levels lol! But it was a really lovely time travel story.

And Loki has unlocked a new ability. Maybe.

The opening music!! Perfectly creepy! And even more so than the music over the credits of the last episode. It really sounded like the disintegration of reality!

And I loved the way the letters disappeared from the Loki title card… *shivers*

It was a small thing, but nice to see at least one thing I’d guessed correct – that they started the episode with the reverse of this shot at the end of episode 4.

I loved how spooky it was having Loki walk through the corridors of the TVA by himself. And I did rather enjoy the moment he almost met himself. That was cute. But it was clear that they needed to get on to other things quite quickly – there was a lot in this episode!!

The imagery of the universe disintegrating was perfectly terrifying! (Although I was getting big “snap” vibes.) And what is Fail Safe Mode? And does it matter?

I was a little sad to see Casey was a prisoner. 😔 But I wonder if we’ll see these timeline versions of the characters again? I feel like the need for them is over? Unless maybe briefly at the start of the last episode. So we didn't have to watch him being particularly horrible.

I didn’t pick that he’d be the first person Loki would visit, nor did I pick that it would all be unintentional.

I did like the way Loki still hoped that Mobius would recognise him. And the conversation itself was ambiguous enough I suppose for the first couple of sentences that you could interpret it that way. Poor Loki looked so disappointed!

I laughed as was intended at the imitation of the inflatable advertising character. 😁

And then OB!!! Omg! I LOVE what they chose to do with his character!!! He was so sweet, and retained his enthusiastic and super intelligent personality! I hadn’t really settled on what I thought OB might have been like on the timeline, but this was so much better! And how he was like “and I had to get a PHD to keep my day job as a theoretical physicist”….! 😄

And @pinkpondofasgard I hope you’ve seen this episode when you see this mention, because spoilers - looks like you were right about this being a location from OB’s past! Which I think is super cool! I don’t have any idea what this would be in the 1990s in the US, but obviously it worked so well for OB that he replicated it in the TVA! Unless this whole series all turns out to be his dream… Ha ha! Ha…. ha…… er… Anyway. I love that so many of the shelves are covered in books instead of technical TVA equipment.

Okay, so now I’m seriously thinking there’s a chance OB might actually be the founder of the TVA. HWR could easily have come along later and taken over the leadership and wiped his memories. But the fact the rooms are sooooo similar is just a bit too weird.

I did like how they handled Loki explaining things to Mobius. Mobius was suitably sceptical and Loki was trying so hard not to sound threatening, but that’s not really his bag, is it. Lol! Things would definitely have gone pear shaped if OB hadn’t turned up.

I feel like Loki’s getting a lot of use out of the phrase “I promise you this will make sense” lol!

While I was kinda looking forward to the multiple crazy conversations while Loki tries to convince people he’s not mad, I do appreciate they had to make this quick, and I liked how they made each interaction shorter than the one before it, until he didn’t even need to say anything after stepping through the time door.

Then there was Sylvie. I was by this point just as surprised as Loki that she kept her memories. Now I have to assume that’s because she wasn’t ever a TVA worker who had her memories wiped. But if that’s the case, then why wasn’t she in the Loom room with Loki when he ‘woke up’? I’m assuming we’re meant to understand that this is because Loki feels most at home in the TVA, rather than Asgard. I find that's a little bit much, personally. But I guess I’ll put that one to the side for the moment.

I did not expect her to be so adamant about not helping. I mean I should have, but I didn’t. Their conversation at the bar was interesting, and I liked that Loki was so concerned that the TVA folk get a choice. (And I kinda think now that they might, come the end of the season. With OB choosing to stay because it’s literally his dream, Casey because it’s better than being an escaped prisoner, and B-15 and Mobius choosing to leave.)

The whole scene in the record shop – that was cool! The small things that went wrong first, and the way the store owner slowly noticed it. *shivers*

Although again, very similar to the snap. I like how small objects vanish first, and I really should have seen that coming when the tempad went missing, but I didn’t. I think there was just so much squashed into this episode!

And this was such a haunting image.

And then Sylvie says “there’s nowhere left to go” before she too disintegrates. Eeeee!

Again, this looked really cool! Are we meant to understand that Loki could hear a moment in the timeline of a person each time he touched a thread? I wonder if that holds for any thread? Or was that just illustrating his memories?

I’m not sure that’s important though, given he almost immediately jumps back to the TVA, but we haven’t seen this image from the mid-season trailer yet. Not one from this angle where Sylvie is still whole, and where Loki is standing confidently and making this specific gesture. I wonder now if he’s just snapped his fingers? Perhaps this moment is revisited, or perhaps just an alternate take that looked cool for the trailer.

I did like the ending, and how he jumped back to them all to tell them he’d figured out how to do it. I wonder if he’ll be able to come back to them under his own steam at a later date?

I’m still not entirely sure if this is something that in integral to Loki now or whether its related to circumstances. Like will it be possible to time-slip after the TVA is restored? If that means going back within the TVA before the moment he started time-slipping in the first place. *shrug*

So, what point did he jump back to? There’s an alarm blaring in the background, but no other identifying things. So I’m guessing this is just as they watch Timely go down the stairs to suit up?

Does he try to stop Timely from going out there? Explain it didn’t work, and then ask OB for information in the last few moment before jumping back further?

And more importantly, after the multiverse is saved, does this mean he can jump to the time and place of any person he cares about? Could he visit his Mum? Or a Thor?!! 🥲

Ah! This was a really great time travel episode! And I'm thoroughly looking forward to the final episode.

Tagging @sparklegemstone @pinkpondofasgard @woodelf68 @scintillatingshortgirl19 @projectprotectloki @ladyofthestayingpower @juliabohemian @galaxythreads @makerofrunevests @thelightofthingshopedfor

As usual, please let me know if you'd rather not be tagged. :)

#loki #loki series #loki season 2 #loki review #loki show #loki s2 #loki series speculation #tva #loki s2 ep5 #surely they can't have him die at the end of the series....#right...?#right............?#loki spoilers

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letmetellyouaboutmyfeels · 2 years ago

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Well. I guess today is the day I post this.

Putting this all below a cut to spare your dashes.

This statement will seem dramatic. I apologize. I don't know any other way to put this.

For a long time, I've felt unsafe in this fandom as a bisexual person.

At some point we got a new wave of people in this fandom (I can't pinpoint when since I never know anything that goes on in this godforsaken cesspit), and we started to get a growing wave of people talking about Eddie as a gay man, rather than bisexual or queer or ambiguous/unlabeled in his sexuality.

It was something I could easily ignore at first. I didn't agree with it, but I rolled my eyes and kept on keepin' on. It didn't really affect me. I had my own little corner and that was that.

But as time has gone on, it's become so popular and pervasive that every time I turn around, I'm running into it. It seems to be (but might not be, I could be wrong) the more popular interpretation of Eddie.

For example, I got an ask at the beginning of February, asking me what was wrong with gay Eddie, since it seems to be the "general consensus." Additionally, there was a podcast episode an anthropology student made where the host said that they have also seen people have generally decided Eddie is gay, not bi or queer. I'm not the only one who's noticed this and decided this is the general/most popular opinion of the fandom.

And I'm here to say that it's unbelievably hurtful.

It's not a new thing for people to dismiss Shannon. And let me tell you, it brings me no joy to defend her. I deeply, deeply dislike her and always have. But I must, because whether I like her or not doesn't matter as much as her importance to Eddie and her role in his life. Not just as Christopher's mother, but as his first love and as his wife.

However, over the past year or so there's been a serious shift within the fandom to ignore or gloss over Shannon, and to paint Eddie as a gay man who has always been gay, and never been attracted to women, and never wanted to sleep with one. Even though, canonically, he and Shannon jumped right back into bed together and wouldn't stop fucking every time they met up, despite that choice being detrimental to their relationship and preventing them from discussing important things.

Eddie was so busy fucking his wife like a rabbit in springtime that he couldn't settle down and talk with her. He fucked her repeatedly even though he didn't fully trust her with their son anymore. If that's not thinking with your dick I don't know what is.

Eddie's grief over Shannon's loss and his complicated feelings about her (his love for her vs his anger at her choices vs his own poor self-esteem) haunted him throughout season three. It's why he joined the fight club. It haunts him in season four, when he chooses to date Ana to give Chris a substitute mother even though he is not yet ready to date/move on from Shannon.

Even if I put on my Buddie shipper goggles and say, "what about Buck?" I do not think it makes any sense whatsoever for Eddie to be aware of his feelings for Buck pre-shooting. I think that is the moment he realizes what his heart wants and where he's chosen to love again. Not before.

Bobby moving on with Athena does in no way erase his love for his previous wife, and he went through a process similar to Eddie - in fact that similarity is part of why Bobby sees so much of himself in Eddie and why he tries to give Eddie advice on the subject. But I have to wonder, if Bobby had dated Michael instead of Athena, if the fandom would react the same way they do with Eddie - if they would claim Bobby was gay the whole time, and never truly felt sexual attraction for his wife.

I know Shannon is a disliked character by and large (I'm one of the people who dislikes her) and that her relationship with Eddie was complicated. Eddie wasn't always happy in his relationship with her. But neither was Athena, and yet the fact she was once attracted to and in love with Michael is never questioned.

Eddie is simply not allowed nuance in his relationship with Shannon. He is not allowed (as Bobby and Athena are) to have a complicated relationship with his spouse or to move on with another character while not denying his previous attraction to her. Eddie's relationship with Shannon is reduced to something he did because he had to, without any genuine sexual attraction, and without any sexual enjoyment. He is allowed to love her, but to never have been in love with her.

Eddie's biggest arc and piece of character development for two whole seasons (seasons two and three, arguably parts of season four) are erased.

The underlying message, whether intended or not, is that they are erased because they do not matter. And they do not matter because if they did, Eddie would be bi, or queer, or anything except 100% homosexual. And that means that the underlying message is that being gay is more important, more valid, and better than bisexuality.

I'm not saying this message is intentional. Frankly I don't think it is. I'm saying it is there.

And of course, when others have pointed out that this is hurtful and erases a big part of Eddie's history, and that therefore makes them feel ignored and erased as a bisexual person, there's been hostility. Some of it's been openly hostile and frankly feels like fighting for the sake of fighting, the kind of self-righteous love of blood in the water that has kept me a lurker in fandoms for so long.

The more insidious hurt, for me, is the people who refuse to publicly support people who call out the biphobia. They say nothing when people talk about how they're attacked for pointing out the issues with gay!Eddie, or they support both gay!Eddie and bi!Eddie sides, depending on the time of day and who's saying it. It makes me distrusting of a lot of people who try to tell me they support me. How can I believe you when you turn around and agree with the people saying Eddie's gay? Reblogging posts and championing it?

At best it feels like being accidentally hurtful while supporting/being open to multiple headcanons. At worst it feels like lying to placate me.

I don't appreciate being placated.

Fandom can give a skewed perspective on things such as representation in media. I understand that many people who identify as 6 on the Kinsey Scale have struggled deeply with repression, self-loathing, ignorance, and compulsive heterosexuality. I understand wanting that representation, especially in an older character when it feels like a lot of our media is still about queer teenagers rather than queer adults (especially queer adults over the age of thirty). And so with many slash ships having to deal with the existence of opposite-sex love interests in the characters comprising that ship, bisexuality can feel like the norm when in reality, characters who are gay (whether they always knew it or discover it later) are still much more prevalent than bisexual characters in media.

For example, in Our Flag Means Death we have Stede. In IT, Richie is inferred to be gay rather than bi (god forbid they confirm Eddie K's gayness but that's another matter...) In fact, in 9-1-1 alone, we have Michael. There's also the matter of who gets to be gay and who gets to be bi. In Glee, for example, Santana is the one who gets the nuanced coming-out story with drama and depth. Brittany, her bisexual girlfriend, doesn't get nearly as much attention or thought, and off-screen cheats on Santana in a staggering moment of biphobia (a decision the likes of which Ryan Murphy is not-so-affectionately known for).

Yet from people who headcanon Eddie as gay I repeatedly see the rallying cry of "letting us have this," as if 'this' is something they never get, or get less than bisexual people. Again, I understand the way fandom might skew things. But we cannot allow the broken goggles of fandom to, in turn, blinker our reality of the media landscape. Bisexuality is still less represented, and the wounds of "oh being with X man is nothing like all those women I was with, this is special and real" are still fresh (looking at you, Destiel shippers circa 2009-2012).

In fact as I out myself here as uh one of those veterans, I implore people to understand how this was the norm for so, so many years. Fandom has a short memory, I get it. It's hard to keep track of everything. But this embrace of bisexuality is rather recent. You look around and you see, for example, people happily joking about Dean Winchester's bisexuality. That was not always the case. For a long time, it was about perpetuating biphobia and casual misogyny as shippers wrote meta and fic about how no woman could ever make him feel like Cas does.

*pause for war flashbacks*

This was not the only instance or fandom. But I don't have time to name all the examples. My point is that there is a false collective narrative. My point is that when you are hurt, and have struggled, it can be hard to see that others have also been hurt and have also struggled. My point is that there is a continued instinct to put a certain type of character in one box and another type of character in a different box, and to try and expand the boxes, or move one character to another, is treated as a personal attack rather than an expansion of our understanding and a dismantling of our stereotypes.

Why is it always the character who has a lot of sex and/or is super comfortable on the subject of sex, or is very casual about sex, who gets to be bi/pan/fluid in sexuality? Why are bi people never allowed to be reserved, or have only one or two partners in their life?

Why is the character who is casual (or seems like they will be casual) and relaxed about sexuality the one who is labeled bisexual? Why are bisexuals never allowed to have angst around their sexuality or come out later in life? Why is our pain, our internal struggle, never allowed to be discussed?

I'm not saying Buck should be viewed as gay. I think it's correct to talk about him as bi/pan/queer. But I do think it's fair to examine why Buck's relationship with Abby is viewed in its proper important context while Eddie's relationship with Shannon is diminished and ignored.

Buck gets to talk about Abby. He gets to have genuinely been in love with her. He gets to retain that piece of his character. Eddie does not. Eddie's relationship with Shannon ended up hurting him just as much as Buck's relationship with Abby, in fact even more so, and yet people handwave that away as compulsive heterosexuality (which is not restricted to gay people, by the way, bi people experience that as well) and act like he didn't actually fall in love with her and have repeated enthusiastic sex with her.

People love to tout Ana as proof that Eddie is gay, but it doesn't matter what your sexuality is - if you aren't attracted to someone and you don't want them touching you, then you don't want them touching you. If you don't want to have sex with someone, you don't want to have sex with someone. Your sexuality doesn't matter. Just because a man is straight doesn't mean he wants to have sex with all women. Just because a man is gay doesn't mean he wants to have sex with all men. Just because a person is bi doesn't mean they want to have sex with everyone on the planet. And just because someone is asexual doesn't mean they have no libido or would never have sex at all for another reason (intimacy, fun, etc.). Sexual desire and drive are a very personal things, and both romantic and sexual attraction can play various roles or no role at all depending on the individual.

Eddie’s refusal to sleep with Ana or touch her is not a sign of him being gay as opposed to bi or queer or any other sexuality. It’s not a sign of any sexuality at all. It’s a sign that he was forcing himself into that relationship. He didn't want to be with Ana. He didn't love Ana. He didn't want to have sex with Ana.

Now, do I think how he broke up with her - his words about "the idea of us" - is insanely queer? Yes. Yes I do. And yes, for the record, I think that was deliberate on the part of the writers. But that simply says to me that he's queer. Not gay, not bi, not pan, not demi, not anything other than not straight.

To take that speech and those words and to say they could only possibly apply to a fully 100% gay man as opposed to anyone under the queer umbrella is hurtful. People's experiences as gay people are valid, and often, sadly, painful and just like Eddie's. But so are people's experiences as bi people, as pan people, as unlabeled people, as 'queer as in fuck you' people.

To wit: People ignore canonical evidence about Shannon, and claim canonical evidence about Ana as their own and no one else's, in order to support their interpretation of Eddie's sexuality.

That erases the rest of us.

I know that's hard to hear. I know that sounds like it comes with judgment. You are trying to speak your own truth, and you are identifying strongly with a character that you love, and it's hard to then hear that in doing those things, you are hurting or erasing others. I've had to hear that in my time, and I'm sure I'll have to hear it again, and it's never easy. But we must sit with this discomfort as our friend, not our foe, and use it to grow.

However, since fandom is our safe space, we often view anything and everything as a personal attack, and we often make judgments and interpretations based too strongly on our own experiences. Sometimes this is a good thing - I think the number of people who say Buck reminds them of their own ADHD are correct and that it adds great depth to his character. I'm glad Oliver has embraced it. I think the people who say Eddie speaks to their own demisexuality have a great point and I think it adds nuance to his character and behavior.

(In fact I also love trans!Buck headcanons! I think they're neat and I've read some fics I enjoyed that featured that.)

On the other hand, however, it often leads to people adding interpretations onto things that do not reflect canon or the actual character. They then view others pointing out the lack of support for this in canon, or the contradiction with canon, as a personal attack (looking at you, "Chim is abusive" people, go jump in a lake). It's hard to take that breath and recognize that not everything a character is or does or experiences is the same as what you are, or do, or have experienced. Especially when it touches on something as personal and important as our sexuality.

Because of this, I debated a long time on whether I should say something. I tried to identify the difference between what hurt me because it didn't line up with my thoughts and what hurt me because of actual stereotyping. I worked to make sure that this was more than simply taking an innocuous difference of opinion and twisting it into a personal attack.

Which brings me to why I say the word 'unsafe'. That seems like an extreme word. But I've seen people say that they "got a brain" and realized Eddie was gay, not bi. I've seen people take gifsets that mention Eddie being bi and tag them 'okay but I believe in gay!Eddie' or 'I'm a gay!Eddie truther'. I've seen people go out of their way in fics to mention Eddie disliking/being grossed out by female genitalia. I've seen fanartists put Eddie in gay colors/flags as opposed to bi/demi/etc colors/flags, on art that really didn't need it to convey the story - as if one cannot make a piece of art with Eddie on it without declaring one's opinion on his sexuality.

(Yes, I think there's a strong possibility that Eddie is demisexual. I wish people would embrace that idea more. Personally, I think he wouldn't label himself at all and simply say he was queer if asked. But given the discussion we're having right now on this post about gay/bi headcanons, I think it's clear a lot of people actually aren't as ready to embrace or consider minority sexualities as they might like to think.)

I repeat: this is not just happening on a person's own art or post or fanfic. People are reblogging posts, gifsets, and so on that mention bisexual Eddie and saying, okay but I see him as gay. They are not content to live and let live. They are actively saying they disagree. If you disagree, then why reblog the thing that talks about/mentions Eddie as bi? Why not simply leave it be?

I cannot overstate how hurtful this is; how much it feels like erasure, dismissal, and condescension.

You cannot tell me if that was something you saw about your gender, or sexuality, or so on, that you wouldn't begin to feel unsafe. That you wouldn't begin to question if you would be unheard, or dismissed, or viewed as less-than. Tell me you wouldn't start to wonder, if you were a character on a TV show, if people wouldn't erase your sexual and romantic history and ignore a big piece of yourself because certain sexualities just weren't good enough for them.

You cannot tell me that in seeing these things you wouldn't walk away with the idea that bisexuality (or other sexualities in general but bisexuality is the one brought up and to which being gay is compared in regards to Eddie) is viewed as lesser to these people, and to the community at large. You cannot tell me that some people are not internalizing this narrative, no matter what their own sexuality might be.

And, yes, reading that earlier paragraph you might say, "Mads, are you vagueing?" That is not my intention. I want to head off at the pass the rebuttal that this isn't happening. I want to cut off the demand for examples. However, I'm also not going to name names, because I don't wish to cause harm to people who I think, by and large, are well-meaning.

That's what I'm hoping is true, in writing this. That most of the people reading this, and pushing the Eddie-is-gay narrative, are well-meaning. "I'm bi myself!" many of you will say.

Yes, well. I'm a woman and I was perfectly capable of a lot of misogynistic thinking growing up, and I often fell into sexist stereotypes in my headcanons and writing and so on.

But I hope, since most of you are well-meaning, this post will instead cause you to think, and examine, and ponder.

I'm sure many people reading this are rolling their eyes and thinking, "what about the first rule of fandom? Ship and let ship? Kink tomato? Etc? Let people have different headcanons." I've certainly seen such flippant remarks from people before on this very subject in this fandom.

And the thing is, I have really tried to do that. I have tried to take it that way. But I think that it's also entirely fair for me to be hurt when a person's headcanon/interpretation ignores canon and erases a big part of a character's life and history.

I know, I know, we could get into a big philosophical discussion about how slash and femslash shipping by nature does something along those lines. But I feel that in the now-common interpretation of Eddie as gay, there is a pushing of stereotypes about both gay and bisexual people. There is a splitting of hairs on queerness. There is a subtext, whether acknowledged or not by those who push this interpretation, that being gay as opposed to a more fluid sexuality is more painful, more fraught, more challenging. That bisexuality, pansexuality, queerness as an umbrella term - those are less fraught and inherently easier. It's one of the pillars upon which exclusion in the queer community is based.

It also, generally, ignores the idea that one's sexuality can change over time. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe most people with the interpretation of Eddie as gay actually view him as being gay now and that's how he identifies now without erasing his canonical (and important) sexual and romantic attraction to Shannon. But that doesn't seem to be the case, and I certainly don't want to risk myself emotionally by trying to find out.

Not to mention that hey, when people are saying something is hurtful to them, seeing people make posts hand-waving and saying "get over yourselves, relax, take a chill pill" feels beyond condescending and dismissive.

I'd like to make it clear, I'm not asking for people to never write Eddie as gay, and that we should never see Eddie as gay again in this fandom, or that anyone who writes Eddie as gay should be dogpiled. I'm not the boss of anyone, I'm not the fandom police, I don't make the rules. But I think, when a certain behavior brings people pain - and more people than just myself, as I have learned in many private conversations - there comes a time when the least one can do is speak up about it.

Sometimes someone needs to be the one to stand up and say, "this hurts me. I am in pain, and this is why."

Again, especially when people are going out of their way to say "but I disagree, he's gay" on posts, gifsets, and so on mentioning Eddie having a different sexuality. You might feel this post is unnecessary. You might feel it's preachy. You might feel I should shut up and get off my high horse.

But the fact of the matter is when you come into someone's house tracking mud and they tell you to clean it up, you don't get to yell at them and claim they are trying to stop you from playing outside.

I kept my silence on this for a long time and part of that was I didn't want to police anyone. Now, however, we are at a point where people who think Eddie is gay are invading other people's spaces. It's not just that this headcanon is everywhere. It's not just that people are using such dismissive language when the possibility of Eddie liking women comes up. It is also that people are going out of their way to dismiss Eddie's bisexuality and argue that their interpretation is better on posts about Eddie being bi.

So frankly, I don't think anyone gets to walk away from this scoffing "don't like don't read" at me when nobody else around here is offering me that courtesy. If I could avoid reading it, I would. You came into my house, and the house of everyone else who makes a post, a fic, a gif, about Eddie being anything except a Kinsey 6.

Yes, reblogs are turned off for this. Anon is also turned off. You might say that's cutting off discussion, and you would be right. The blunt truth is I don't trust people online to respond with thoughtfulness, good faith, and care. I don't trust people to take their time and think before shooting off an emotional, defensive response. And I don't care to spend my time and energy educating people.

Maybe if I was a better person - a more social, more patient, and less private person - I would be the kind of person who would have the long hard discussions to educate and share my thoughts, to help you see my side. But that's not who I am, and I certainly don't owe it to anyone, not a single person here, to scrounge up my nonexistent trust and goodwill to have that discussion with you.

I've said my piece on this. I'm sure my tone seems harsh. The tone with which this is actually written is weariness, exhaustion, and, yes, nausea. It makes one sick and wears one down, to feel so on edge in a space and yet to try and ignore that to find joy anyway. Because I get a lot of joy in sharing my fics, and reblogging gifsets and meta, and I don't want to lose that joy.

But I suppose it needs to be said. I know others have said it, but I hope that I have said all this with enough calm and articulation that it will truly be understood, and it will not start drama or discourse, because that's not what I want. Truly. I spent enough of 2020 being dragged into one piece of bullshit drama after another. I'm not interested in wading back into that. I've kept pretty extreme radio silence for a reason.

My hope is simply for people to step back and take a long hard look at why they've decided one half of our ship is gay, and one half is bi, and what that might say about their subconscious stereotypes about gay and bi people.

If I've gotten you to do that, then this post is worth it.

I'm sorry I don't have any answers. I'm sure this would be a lot easier for people to read if I ended it with "and here's what to do moving forward." I think the desire to provide answers - for themselves and for others - is what drives people to make posts that condemn, or get aggressive, or seem to simply be out there to shut people up. People want to have a solution. They want the problem to go away.

I don't have a solution. I don't have answers for anyone. I truly wish I did. Part of why I've waited so long in posting this is trying to come up with a way to end this that would give people actionable steps. But at the end of the day, all I can really say is that I hope the people reading this will do some internal searching, and thoughtful discussion, and understand better the subconscious choices we make, the biases we hold, and how we can hurt people without meaning to.

I don't want apologies. I say that with love - I'm not looking for people to self-flagellate before me or make some kind of mea culpa post. I don't think that would help anything, and I don't think anyone owes that to me. Frankly I'm not interested in public discussion, and if there are posts others make about this, I don't want to see them.

You can make posts on your blog ranting about me (just please don't tag me, again, I don't want to see it). You can discuss this in your discord groups. You can vagueblog about me and chat about me in DMs. I don't care. I'd just like people to hear me say, "I am hurt, and you are hurting me, and I know it's not intentional, but this is why." Anything else is up to you. Any changes, in thought or behavior, are up to you. Probably nothing will change. But at least I've said something, and I've tried.

Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you have a great day. Stay safe and take care of yourself.

#I am so sorry this turned into such a manifesto #I tried to keep it succinct while also covering every possible base #to avoid misinterpretation or unkindness #but I suppose at the end of the day I am a long-winded person #who tends to over-explain everything #hopefully that over-explaining has cut down on bad faith assumptions #but with this fandom who knows #I'll probably be off tumblr for a bit because my anxiety is through the roof posting this #lincoln rants

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xekutozoren · 9 months ago

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My version of Aquaroth/Sephqua (explanation rant)

Felt like explaining how I got into it. It's interesting how Tumblr seems to support it quite a bit but Pinterest is like ??? to it.

I guess I initially just wanted a character that wasn't really involved in the main KH story to appreciate Aqua for who she is and what she does. Aqua seems to give a lot to others to the point where she sacrifices her own ideals and herself. And the in-game characters don't do much for her imo.

I do still support Terraqua so it's Sephqua in a universe where Terra never ends up reciprocating her feelings. I can't deny how many times I got annoyed at Terra for not really showing he cares about Aqua like, at all.

And then KH3 happened and a lot of stuff in it made me annoyed too. Examples include no apologies happening between her and the Wayfinder trio, Ven not showing much appreciation for her, her getting tossed around after vamping her up and bringing her back, the game shifting the focus onto Riku when she was finally pouring out her feelings, Sora and Kairi not even remembering her etc. I get that a lot of these things could have happened offscreen/isn't really justified but it still made me feel the game just kind of abandoned her/treated her as a plot device.

After seeing some fanmade content about Sephqua I tried exploring it myself. I admit that I haven't actually played/watched FF7 so I really only know Sephiroth based off his wiki page and existing Sephqua content. My interpretation of him is also a bit loose and more working off his KH2 almost non-existent screen time as an excuse for doing what I want with his character. At this point he would be similar to his pre-Nibelheim self with a touch of snark. He sees visions sometimes of his canon-verse self but hasn't gone through all of that in this universe and is still capable of redemption. He's merely "the darkness of Cloud" as the KH verse called it, trying to find his purpose in my makeshift universe. His age would be more ambiguous to make the pairing work better (though Aqua being stuck down there for 12 years makes up for the difference anyway)

And one of the biggest things was ANGST COMFORT FOR AQUA'S PAIN.

I like the idea of him meeting her in the Realm of Darkness, intrigued why she refuses to give up despite no one seeming to really care about her, etc. At first, he'd just treat her as something to pass the time and not really care about her well-being but that changes eventually. >w> He is also drawn to her strength both physically and mentally.

I imagine she would be guarded towards him at first but eventually let her walls down a tinsy bit. But then she'd be furious with herself for going against Master Eraqus' ideologies and being worried what he might think of her being acquainted with someone who's full of darkness. But she eventually learns to go after what she wants, not what someone else expects of her. I like that dynamic of Sephiroth teaching her to be more selfish and her helping him find his light again.

In the AU, I'd like to see something play out that didn't in KH, which was Aqua being saved after the others. Though it wouldn't really make sense how they'd reach Ven first but it would be satisfying to see the other two do something for her for once. Sephiroth would be with her getting out of there and have to earn the trust of the keyblade gang/get over the fact that he's with warriors of light. His god complex eventually fades overtime as his feelings develop for her.

I like the idea of the two of them learning each other's vulnerabilities overtime as well as how to trust each other. It would be really interesting to see Aqua helping Sephiroth uncover the truth behind his biological parents too.

Sephiroth's need for comfort with the lack of a proper motherly figure and Aqua's need for someone to properly appreciate and acknowledge her. They love each other for who they are, not who they're expected to be.

Another big thing for me is how their interactions would go. I'm a simple woman and like banter in relationships. > w < Sephiroth would tease her a lot and Aqua would get embarrassed easily.

That and I notice Aqua likes physical affection like hand holding and head patting in the games so it would be nice to have someone like Sephiroth who I imagine would be more hands on with her.

Not sure if anything I wrote here made sense. I typed this up pretty late. Gonna leave it there with one more doodle.

Refs are from Positively Yours, hana and a username that I don't really want to type publicly ^^;

Thanks for reading my spam! ; A ;

#aquaroth #sephqua #kingdom hearts #final fantasy 7 #kh aqua #sephiroth #rant #all ze angst and banter I liek #idk I just ended up typing up all this stuff that ppl probably won't read #final fantasy #ffvii #ff7 #crack ship #sephiroth x aqua

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kris-and-the-pnictogens · 24 days ago

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narrator Chara

I consider myself something of a narrator, or at least a raconteur. I like telling stories, and I like being the person on the spot with an epigram or witticism. People with that sort of ability tend not to be remembered, though, except vaguely. They might get a terse mention here and there as a "humorist" or a "wit". Dave Barry has about that level of fame. How many people here have heard of Artemus Ward or Petroleum V. Nasby? Probably not many.

I don't know how "Chara" I am any more. Everything seemed so much clearer, so many years ago. Now I'm someone with a life, responsibilities, family, a household to keep up with. I've been afraid of Undertale screwing that up. But I guess it's time to grapple with the big questions. I must confront my own Creator, so to speak.

I have Opinions™ about the game of course and interpreting things. I have tried to be as objective as possible in my assessment of Undertale (and Deltarune) which...has certain implications. Undertale is told very elliptically, i.e. there's little information to go on. There's hints, suggestions, some plot threads, but the gaps in the storytelling are enormous—and surely this is quite deliberate. My own instinct is that Fox would like to draw the player's attention to this incompleteness. It's significant that there's so little information to go on. It means we should all be cautious about jumping to unwarranted conclusions.

(A glimmer from somewhere of Tamamo-hime. Well...Toby Fox is named Fox.)

I must apply this to myself: it's been a while since I've seen Undertale last and my memories could be tricking me, but I don't see enough evidence in the game to sort out whether Chara (never explicitly named) is the narrative voice. The red text in the "No Mercy" timeline makes things especially unclear, because that red text seems to be Chara's voice breaking through ("my room" etc.) in which case, the usual narrative text can't be Chara, right?

And then there's the perplexing moment of "It's me, Chara." Is that Frisk saying "that's my reflection in the mirror, Chara"? Is it Chara asserting who they are? Is it something else?

I will dare to suggest that this conundrum is not intended to have a solution, and that Fox has indicated this with a supremely ambiguous moment in the "No Mercy" timeline of Undertale. This moment is impossible to interpret, I say. It is not meant to be interpreted. It is, in fact, the mystery of the Trinity in a game—a moment when the player of a game induces a character in the game to look into a mirror and interact with their own reflection. It's like the famous hall-of-mirrors shot in Citizen Kane, near the end of Kane's life. Welles is suggesting that Kane is unknowable. Perhaps this issue of Chara's narration is also unknowable.

~Chara of Pnictogen

#undertale #chara #narrator chara #plural system #fictive blues #Chara of Pnictogen

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wavytam · 11 months ago

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Hi! First of all thank you for your always on point theories and overall amazing Sanami content! <33

I've noticed that we've probably seen all the original main cast characters being romantically (or at least hinted to be so) connected to another character, even if the connection was one-sided. Nami was nowhere seen in a similar situation, except the gag-full marriage with Absalom. The manga is already on it's final saga and there's no sign of her having reciprocated or one-sided feelings towards another character, male or female. Personally, I think it would have been at least logical to make her reject Sanji somehow, if nothing is planned between them. He's been head over heels, willing to die for her for quite a long time and we don't see any signs or development from Nami's side, neither positive, nor negative. As of now, do you think there might be a future change in Nami's feelings or will her undefined position towards Sanji remain till the end, as we haven't seen anything after the WCI events?

Thank you once again and sorry for this long text lol!

Hello!! Oh! Thank you so much for your kind words!! I really appreciate it! 🥰☺️

About Nami not having any crush on anyone up until this point: this is a good point.

Now, about your question. "Do you think there might be a future change in Nami's feelings or will her undefined position towards Sanji remain till the end?"

(Okay, I'm really sorry for how long it got! I tried to shorten it the best that I could!!)

I think that by the end of the manga, we will find out whether she likes Sanji romantically or not.

I don't think Oda will leave this unsolved, but I do think that (if Nami does reciprocate Sanji's feelings) he might make it happen very discretly, and maybe not even give much panel time for that. Similar to when, all of a sudden, Oda gave us a coverpage of Mister 9 and Miss Monday happily together... with a kid. It was so out of the blue, and we didn't really even see any moment between them that even hinted they had a mutual interest in one another.

Of course, with SaNami, from Sanji's part it's obvious he is interested in her romantically, but what we need now is for it to be mutual, and that's the part I think that might happen "offscreen".

I know this isn't something we, SaNami fans want things to go, but I there are to reasons for me to think that:

A) The "offscreen" route seems like the standard for how shonen mangas deal with romance. Shonen Jump still focuses on content for boys, and they don't think boys want to read about romance as much as girls. So my guess is that, even if Oda wanted to portray a romantic relationship amongst the crew (I don't think he does tho) I don't think he would be able to write that many romantic scenes - so a lot of the romantic development would have to happen offscreen.

I'll give you an example: Sasu Saku in Naruto. Please consider that I am not comparing the characters themselves with Nami and Sanji, I am just analysing how another mangaka from Shonen Jump developed the relationship of an endgame couple in his story and how it might be how Oda writes it too (because he is also a mangaka writing for the same company).

For the entirety of the manga, Saku had a crush on Sasu, but we never really knew whether he reciprocicated her feelings or not. He cared about her, obviously, but for years, fans had to rely on small hints that could be interpreted either as platonic or romantic from Sasu's part.

Only by the end of the manga did the author let us know that Sasu did, in fact, like Saku romantically. And if you rearead the manga knowing that, the moments between them that before were seen as ambiguous become mostly romantic.

(Please, do not interpret this wrong, I know Kishimoto and Oda are two completely different mangakas, with completely different writting styles, but they are writing for the same company, have the same audience and therefore have to follow the same set of rules)

B) I have a feeling that Oda doesn't want to shift the dynamic between the crew.

I myself am a very romantic person, but to be honest, I'm very picky when it comes to romance being portrayed in adventures. I've always liked to ship characters and read fanfics about them, but when it comes to the official content I don't like it when romance takes too much of a story that isn't supposed to focus on it. It's a weird thing from me, I know. Go figure.

Anyway, I think that Oda is afraid of that happening to his story. One Piece is about a group of friends helping one another to pursue their dreams. If we add romance in the mix, the "family" dynamic in the story shifts, and it doesn't really add to the main message anyway, which, to me, is "found family" and "freedom". Otherwaise, the fandom would also get into bigger fights, saying things like "W character loves x character more than y" "W character would rather let y die than character x because he/she loves her/him more" when these things don't really matter.

I know that there are people out there who do that anyway, but I think Oda wants to keep himself away from that type of discussions to focus more on the fraternal love the Strawhats clearly have for one another.

Obviously, it won't stop anyone from shipping (lol here I am, writing this huge text about SaNami even with all the warning from Oda himself), but maybe the wars could be even worse if Oda chose to portray romance. If that's the reason, I really understand where his mindset comes from.

With those two points in mind, my guess is: if Nami does reciprocate Sanji's feelings and they do end up together, not only do I think it will happen doscretly but I also think it's going to be only at the end of the story.

For now, I think Oda will keep on writting ambiguous moments between Nami and Sanji (with Sanji being the one crazy in love), trying to preserve the dynamic they already have until the very last arc, and only change it when the story comes to an end.

That way, romance amongst the crew won't be portrayed during the entirety of One Piece.

Okay, sorry for the big text!! But I hope I answered what you wanted to know!!

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blindrapture · 4 months ago

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july 28, again.

got asked a question about the july 28th log.

here's a transcription:

Dr0Shadow 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 — Today at 3:42 PM

@DJay did you just throw Elon Musk into the rapture and reference those dumb cars tesla made like a decade before they wouldve been invented

DJay — Today at 5:02 PM it was definitely a nod to the real-life present day. there are some of those in the final draft. but elon musk was already CEO of Tesla, he became CEO in 2004.

the log sorta implies that the Judge chose him sorta arbitrarily-- as he puts it, he's not even from San Francisco. I imagine he wasn't in it at the time and was just, like, whisked away to that court scene. so in some ways it's a demonstration of a "greater" logic being used by Xanadu's judgement (with the Judge as the vessel of that) that greater logic being something like… "this is a name more people in the world will know (even in 2011)." but the Attached for that log more overtly draws attention to real-life shit. the Attached makes a pretty obvious allusion in "tweet tweet" and "Now I'm for the birds." though it's still "ambiguous" enough that one can instead read a non-twitter interpretation out of it. poetry, and all. I seem to have landed on the font for that Attached being Georgia (for the website, and "Chat"/courier new for tumblr), which is the Tiresias/Thoth font. though there exist other Attacheds in a specific other font that are exclusively written by real-life author me, and I could have used that for this. I think, if I had used real-life-author-me font for that Attached, then we could just call this a cute anachronism. but I didn't want to do that. and I didn't do that. I elected more for Poetry. what does it really mean??? I dunno. sincerely. it's the kind of thing that, if I sat down and really concentrated, and rambled at you for an hour, I could reason out a convincing interpretation. and if I had to guess, like. the short answer is, like with the Fears themselves, "it's more about this deeper pattern that real-life Elon Musk is just one iteration of." "Elon Musk is one frond on a big hyperdimensional plant. Rapture depicts other fronds of it and shows how they connect to the Elon Musk frond, and Rapture tries to imply the deeper stem."

but. but yeah. the surface intent is "what if elon musk gets trapped in a car and thrown off a cliff. what if the fictional world gives justice for something that happened in a different world." the surface intent is for you to get a good chuckle out of it. rapture actually has a fair few instances of…….. Real-Life Bad People in completely different contexts. like there's Attacheds, including ones we haven't gotten to yet, saying that, like, "comcast really stepped up when the apocalypse came; they provided free internet for everyone and worked overtime, volunteered, to keep the servers running" and "Rupert Murdoch had a change of heart, seeing the planet collapse. he saved a fucking bus of orphans. and gave his newspaper offices to be used by squatters, pro bono." in those cases they're more like really dry black comedy. the joke is they would never do that. and, if they ever read rapture themselves, they'd be struck with a window into a world where they actually did something people liked. elon musk could have gotten something like that. but I elected to not even give him the chance. maybe we can read this as a Dante kinda thing. how Dante wrote real-life people into his Comedy. how he handled the bad people. and rapture has been compared to the Comedy before, by people who are not me!

it has never been my desire to make rapture into the Comedy. even after I read and learned to appreciate the Comedy. I deeply admire the thing, and I take inspiration from it in some broad ways. but I am willing to have moments in rapture that give you, like, a window into a world where rapture was like a different book. that works really well with rapture as a whole. gels well with it. lots of windows into other worlds. in some ways rapture is a hell of a lot like rick and morty. and that wasn't intentional either! but it's honestly one of the closest analogues I can think of. and I've tried.

#ogtrib bonus

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girl4music · 2 years ago

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I miss with everything in me TV shows/movies and visual art/entertainment of any kind that are self-referential in a clever campy, fourth wall breaking, lampshading way. Basically visual art/entertainment that is able to and has the balls to take the piss out of itself and can admit where it goes wrong within the narrative itself. Honest, transparent clever meta TV.

Everything is just so fucking serious and dramatic now. Even when it’s a comedy, there’s still an urgency and a need to make you laugh that really takes the fun out of watching it. I don’t know if this will make any sense but I feel like TV visual media today just tries too hard. And it’s probably because it’s no longer just TV. What’s the word I’m looking for in explaining what I mean by this? I can’t think of it. Contrived? Forced? No, that’s not it. I don’t know how to articulate it.

It’s like you just can’t help but notice that there is a goal or an agenda to it while watching it so it takes you out of the experience of interacting/engaging with it when it’s supposed to pull you further in. ‘Xena’, ‘Buffy’ and ‘Charmed’ had it down so fucking well. Yes, all of them have their flaws and controversies but it was exceptional writing to the point where you feel like you’re part of it. Like you’re up close and personal with the characters and the environments and you feel like family. Like you belong with them and it. No TV show or movie has made me feel like that since. I’ve tried. I tried with ‘Sense8’, I tried with ‘First Kill’, I tried with ‘Santa Clarita Diet’, I tried with ‘Warrior Nun’. And I know that it was happening ever so slowly, but in the next second it was ripped away from under me. I didn’t even get chance to become a part of any of them, let alone let them become a part of me. I mean you wouldn’t really call fantasy or supernatural shows like Xena, Buffy and Charmed realistic storytelling. It’s some of the wackiest, most over-the-top, ridiculous shit ever for much of each respective show’s run. But all of them really feel more real to me than anything I could watch today on a streaming service of any kind. It feels real because it feels like me. Who I am, what I care about, how I perceive the world, where I stand. Makes me feel like I’m at home. When everything else I watch just makes me feel even more alienated. And it really is hard to explain how special these 3 are. How they’re just leagues ahead in my heart and mind over all else.

I both miss the realism in the absurdity in TV as well as I when it was about learning something significant. I miss the balance in the comedy and the drama. And I really miss when it never took itself too seriously yet was still able to get the point across without forcing it. You know, the way it both grows within and with you. The way it began with you and never leaves you. I guess what I really mean is I miss character-driven. I miss those episodes that had nothing to do with plot but told you more about the characters because of it. When the TV show wasn’t necessarily or specifically about anything. It was just the characters. They are that show. You know? Yeah, that’s what I mean. 😌

I’m always talking about how ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ especially doesn’t really have any point to it. What it means and what it stands for is entirely up to you. I always say that it’s magic is in its ambiguity. How you’re supposed to interpret it over just watch it. And it’s just one big fucking headcanon that never ends. And they’re all like that in their own ways. All 3 shows. If they weren’t they wouldn’t be such cult classics. People wouldn’t still be watching them years after the very last episode aired. So timeless and so special. Unlike anything you could even find in visual media today. You can put it down to nostalgia but I think it’s more than that. I think they’re lightning in a bottle. With amazing chemistry between the actors and exceptional writing in storytelling and metaphor meaning. And with the fact they gave you room to create in it all that matters to you as a sentient being. To say I’m passionate about them is an understatement. I feel like I’ll never know anything that knows and fulfils and satisfies me completely like these 3 incredible shows do: Xena/Buffy/Charmed.

#xena warrior princess #buffy the vampire slayer #charmed #passion for 90’s/early 2000’s TV #meta

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loopy777 · 2 years ago

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So one of the more ambiguous parts of later MHA is Dabi's actual relationship with the league, and how he truly thinks of them, especially Twice.

In particularly, his extreme reaction to Twice death serving as the decisive turning point where he once and for all went completely off the rails as utterly nuts, leaving any bit of sanity behind, can be read two ways.

Either his words can be taken at face value, and he never gave a damn about the league, and was only pissed because twice was the single biggest ace in the hole for his ultimate goal, and his death put a massive dent in it, or he is simply coping with suddenly feeling real sadness and despair by distancing himself from Twice by saying of course i didn't care about him, of course I'm not in any emotional pain right now, and by extension emotionally distancing himself from the rest of the league(Who's potential deaths could hurt him just as much).

Adding fuel to this is how he seems to emotionally get and connect with Toga while burning down her childhood home.

Of these two interpretations, it's one or the other.

In any case, which do you find to be the more likely one?

I've wondered about this myself, and had to discuss it with my brother because I'm so conflicted about it. The thing that really stands out to me about the whole matter is that Dabi doesn't seem to blame Twice for falling for Hawks' deception and even tries to comfort the guy. I mean, in that situation -- Twice falling for a second time for someone who exploited his trust to hurt the League, and this time so disastrously that it might lead to the end of everything -- I'd probably have a level of anger at a friend for doing it, but Dabi purely blames Hawks and even acts like he's there to support Twice in the wake of the betrayal.

At the same time, I don't feel like Dabi is merely covering up his hurt at Twice's death. I think Dabi really is obsessed with his whole revenge quest, and he has such a degree of emotional detachment from other people that I don't believe he's capable of forming bonds and friendships the way normal people can. I don't think he could be such a proliferate murderer, and so blase about it, without that dysfunction. Honestly, I don't think Dabi values human life enough to make real friendships; I don't think he even fully values his own life, never mind that of his buddies in the League.

So I guess I'm splitting the difference and saying that Dabi is complicated in a very messed up kind of way, where he really is capable of seeing similarities between himself and others who aren't standing in the way of his goals, and can identify and express sympathy when they're hurt, but at the same time he doesn't really value those people enough to feel hurt from losing them. He's not a chess master considering other people as resources, he just has no capacity for grief.

Maybe the key comes down to Loss. Dabi no longer responds to it, perhaps because he already feels like he's lost everything, so all the comings and goings in his life are just rounding errors.

He can look at someone like Twice or Toga and say, "Hey, we were all hurt in the same way and that makes us cool (as long as you don't get in my way), but all of us are just dead men walking so I'm not going to climb out of my grave to attend your funeral."

Anyway, that's just my speculation. I think it's great that Twice's subplot climaxes in such a way that is so rich and rewarding for all the characters entangled in it. It makes us ponder them all in new ways, and so might be one of the best in all of MHA.

#loopy watches mha #is this still considered spoilers?#i'll play it safe #mha spoilers #my hero academia spoilers #boku no hero academia spoilers #bnha spoilers #only spoilers for stuff in the first half of season six #thekingofwinterblog

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msfbgraves · 2 years ago

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cuba/teddy anon thanks so much for answering my questions now things were cleared up—or as much as they can be in this sort of story!!

i guess now that i finished it, with this understanding, i wanna read it again. i didnt think i was going to enjoy it this much but here i am. i still think teddy is a substitute character for the author.

i think my favorite characters were teddy and jackie. i hated che, what a groomer. and cuba is interesting but difficult and has no idea how to understand his son.

what characters did you like/hate?

thanks again!!

Aw, thank you, it's delightful that my interpretations - informed by many of my sweet discord friends who have also been enjoying the play! - have helped you want to read it again. It's a very rich story that way!

I'ts really one of the more original and thought provoking things I've read in a while. No one would produce it now with all these undertones, and the only reasons people are not clamoring for it to be censored is that I think hardly anyone knows it exists. But ask any social worker how messy life can get and I think it is great that it does exist, actually, and is so much more nuanced than the stories we tell nowadays.

For me, the heart of the play will always be the dynamic between Teddy and Cuba, although I appreciate how rich the other characters are, too. No one is one note. I think almost all of them could have whole novels written about them.

And I do like Cuba because could easily have been a villain if you take a few things about him away: he's violent, he's selfish, he's insecure, he uses his son (in what way is ambiguous, but he does treat Teddy like a servant a lot) and yet - he wants him to have a good life, he wants him safe from the outside world, he recognises there is something weird going on between them and he tries to fight it, tries to take care of him, and most of all he doesn't always blame the world for his misfortunes. He seems to understand that he has some responsibility, and it makes you feel that if he just had a little more actual support, there is hope for him. That this is why Teddy can honestly still love him, because if Cuba could face himself enough to get a little better....

I don't think it is going to happen, but it could, there really is some part of Cuba that could go to a priest or a wise lady and say: "Help." And maybe that is wish fulfillment on Rey Povod's part - his Teddy definitely is a self insert for me too - but these are people, not charicatures, and Teddy, argh, poor boy. I've said this before but I admire so much how smart he is in dealing with Cuba, smart in a way stories about abused children almost never show: because he's good at calming Cuba down; he goes behind his back, he takes care of him, he needs him, he wants to make him proud, he tries to grow up, he sulks, he's stupidly in love, he's stressed out as all **** and he goes to poetry readings. And Jackie also has such a good heart and absolutely no clue how to improve the situation so he tries to keep the situation livable the only way he knows. And it is not enough but he still really tries and it's all so... I mean Teddy needs to go to a safe space now but it's not because people don't care. Because they're out of their depth, but here is care and it is so bittersweet it makes my heart hurt.

#cuba and his teddy bear

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voidsumbrella · 24 hours ago

Text

rotating elden ring endings...

(under a cut because it got long lol)

i did most of my liveposting on twitter, so if you saw that you'll know that i:

tried/am trying to do¹ as much of the content as possible in my first run of the game

savescummed to see all 4 endings i had unlocked (fracture/duskborn/despair/stars)

Did Not Like Most Of Them.

im sure this is a common take, but going through this amazing intensive journey just for a 20 second cutscene was a huge letdown; im so glad i savescummed for the elden lord endings back to back, bc if i had fully replayed a longass game to see the same thing reskinned with almost no dialogue changes i would have been fucking furious. im a little less mad now- having fun in the dlc cemented the journey > destination aspect- but im still spending a lot of time analyzing the missed potential there.

from a purely technical perspective i guess it kind of makes sense that they had to be vague and brief. 90% of the story and worldbuilding is up to the player to find and interpret, and the 10% that's directly conveyed by the mandatory plot is nearly always colored by what perspective it's coming from- it would be hard to go into any detail about the repercussions of your actions without telling you information you're supposed to find on your own³. still, they could have at least shown more of the world than just leyendell. it's not like we don't do any mainline exploring.

the main wobbly bit for me is, obviously, the content of the endings. it fully makes sense that age of fracture is bland as shit. it's the ending you get if you, the player, don't engage with the world: you speak to who you have to and no one else, do what is asked of you and no more, accept what you are told without examining it or questioning it- and are rewarded with the cycle continuing. the ambiguous power of your rule has nothing to do with you, and the world remains suspended in its decay. same as it ever was. i didn't get the age of order ending⁴ but from what i can tell from external resources it also makes sense for that to be Off as well. the basis is that the cycle is perpetuated not just by marika and the golden order, but as an extension of the greater will itself, and things are only screwed up now because everyone up to now just didn't do it right. but, y'know, you're special, you're chosen, you understand it all- surely you'll be the one to succeed! and then you don't, because the world is like this by design.

blessing of despair being an elden lord ending makes substantially more sense in light of the dlc. granted, i had a lot of detail comprehension issues on this one, bc it didn't click for me that the curse was omen related⁵ until someone pointed it out way later and i checked the wiki. even then, it was still confusing as to how that existed within the existing power framework, because fucking with the rebirth cycle seems like it's going if not directly against the greater will's hold on things, then at least yanking it off course. but! the introduction of the hornsent makes it crystal clear that the notion of horns being a curse at all is a cultural thing⁶ specifically because marika has personal beef with them. spreading omen-ness as a ~horrifyingly evil defilement~ only works within the existing framework, and by itself doesn't require any significant structural changes. same shit as always, but more people have horns now.

that being said: this being an elden lord ending is boring as hell. like it works, it lines up lore-wise, but it's got a lot of missed potential. without retrofitting the dlc lore the closest tie the omens have is to the crucible itself, which is totally powerful enough to exist in opposition to the greater will, we could have had a total return to the primordial ending, that would have been really cool!! the tree could have sprouted horns!! dlc could imply the hornsent being revived as a culture in the way that age of stars implies the nox coming back!!!! it would be coooooool-

anyway. im bitter that the duskborn was an elden lord ending. im still sorting through the specifics of death/destined death/death getting split in half, so i don't have a concrete argument for why it's bullshit or what the alternative would be, i just think that quest was way too involved for it to get the same 20 seconds of nothing that the other 3 got. if you're going to kill off 3 of the best characters in the game you could at least have the decency to give some sort of payoff <- objective sentence written by someone with no biases. (¬_¬).

i completely get why people are Like That about ranni- she wasn't even my favorite character while i was playing, but my affection towards her skyrocketed because the age of stars ending is so blatantly The Good One!! that and lord of frenzied flame⁷ are the only two that are anything!!! it didn't have to be like this!!!!

this has completely devolved into bitching. oops. anyway. i don't really have a closing statement for this or anything, im just halfway through compiling a timeline/lore dump and wanted to jot down my thoughts, and then make them everyone else's problem lmao.

-----

¹ not done with the dlc yet, my save got corrupted² partway through shadow keep and i had to restart from the backup i used to savescum. ² fun fact: if your computer crashes/shuts down unexpectedly while the save file is loading it irreparably fucks your data ³ a bitch can dream about what it would have been like if they filtered the ending dialogue by tracking exactly what you found and who you spoke to but that's a MASSIVE undertaking development wise, they were never gonna fucking do that. ⁴ corhyn left the hold and i forgot he existed lol. i tried to find him when i realized he was Actually Relevant, but i didn't immediately spot him and didn't care enough to try harder. sorry goldmask, im sure you're chill. or something. ⁵ i didn't visually parse the seedbeds as having horns, and since i didn't do seluvius's subquest or reload the area after getting the rune, i never got his armor, which tells you directly what was up. i kinda thought he was covered in teeth. ⁶ the game actually does a pretty decent job pointing out that the human vs nonhuman dichotomy is more like... tribalistic? there's probably a better word for it- than anything else. the misbegotten aren't attacking everyone on sight because they're animalistic ane inherently evil, they're violently rebelling because humans have been keeping them as slaves. the "not saints, just on the losing side of a war" comment leda makes applies to pretty much all sides, including the ones we relate to. ⁷ i'm actively avoiding looking into that one too much, because im planning on getting it my second playthrough and i want to go in with clean eyes. which is surprisingly easy to do, it's super split off from the stuff im trying to dissect.

#elden ring #elden relden #the footnotes are for additional commentary not citations #im not that dedicated (yet)#i doubt im saying anything especially new here #but i also don't look into other people's ~takes because people love to be wrong about fromsoft games #so who knows #real life mango

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