#'portrayals of intense platonic love are so important!!'

[foxtrotsicrra]

not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing ( aggressively codependent yet emotionally unavailable )

[saltmarshnerd]

I am so appreciative of the portrayal of platonic love in Heartstopper. The scene where Charlie wrote his and Tao’s name on the heart locket meant everything to me. All the times when the friends and entire friend group hugged each other were just as cute to me as when the couples hugged. There is just so much love between all of them. It means so much to me that a show about love is not just about romantic love. Platonic love is portrayed as equally important and valued and intense. I just 😩😩😩😩😩🥰

[maespri]

like a dog

hi i'm just joesara posting. that's all this is. like. man i love joesara. i can see them both romantically and platonically and either way their relationship is just. so beautifully devastating.

like here is sara, who is always doubting herself. and then joe, who's always countering her self-loathing. sara, who thinks she's too intense and hurts people too much. joe, who tells her that it isn't always a bad thing. sara who can't forgive herself for his death, who blames herself for pointing out that he wasn't the sage, who begged miley to let her switch places with him. and joe, who just tells her she's his best friend and he loves her when he's about to die. who tells everyone they're his friends, that he doesn't blame them.

joe, who carried around a dog keychain sara got him in his pocket for ages, who has accessories with bones on them, who tells sara he will stay loyal to her, "like a dog." who walked back to school after going on a date with her best friend, a date during which he just talked about her, because he knew she was scared of her stalker, who went to the fair with her in her minisode because of the same reason. this guy who sees her "flaws" as her strengths and supports her in whatever she decides to do.

i think the fact that she doesn't realize just how important he was to her until after he's gone is what gets me. he was always telling her she's his best friend, but it's not until she's talking to a robot version of him that she finally gets to reciprocate that, and i just know she'll always be carrying around so many "i wish i told him"s in her heart. but what i think is also so beautiful about her overcoming some of that grief and moving toward acceptance (at least in the emotion route) is that she realizes joe wouldn't blame her.

and i don't think it's entirely because of his AI. it's because she knew him.

sure, it's his AI that tells her that- but sara is well aware that isn't him. what she does finally realize in that moment, however, is that the real joe would forgive her. that he wouldn't be mad at her. that he doesn't blame her because that's not the kind of person he is. she forgives herself because of her own internal strength and memories. she forgives herself because he loved her no matter what.

and she keeps going. she lets go of the blame, but she doesn't lose those good memories she had with him. she lets what she learned from him strengthen her rather than hold her back. she internalizes the same things he always said to her and uses it to become better herself, to uplift the people around her who are still alive. she decides she's going to do everything she can to keep everyone alive because she doesn't want anyone to go through the same thing she did after losing joe. he's carrying her, he's carrying the narrative, long after he dies. spreading goodness.

they're eternally devoted to each other, even beyond the grave.

i Just played her minisode for myself (after watching it some time ago) and i was struck with all these thoughts about them once again. i think what especially gets me is the fact that i think sara did have a crush on him and just. didn't have enough time to sort through her own thoughts, or tell him. there are so many moments, both in her minisode and in the game, where i think it shines through. and that's just another "what-if?" she may not realize for a while, but will always be in the back of her head.

i don't think grief is nearly as... "simple," for lack of a better word, as it's kind of shown in your turn to die. i do love the portrayal of it for what the situation dictates, but if/when sara ends up getting out of the game, and all the survival instinct wanes and she has time to fully process it... i feel so bad for her. there's nothing that won't remind her of him. there's nothing she won't miss. there's nothing she won't wonder about. all of that, it just. god it all makes me so sad.

i don't like when people say "move on" when referring to grief. i think that implies leaving it behind, and if you ever really love something, i don't think it's possible to just put it down and leave it there. but i do hope it gets easier for her to carry it around with her the same way it briefly began to in the death game.

anyway. in the end, it really just comes down to a very simple tragedy; two best friends who would do anything for each other only having the option of doing nothing.

yeah i'll be thinking about them for a while

[thatscarletflycatcher]

disclaimer i've never read little women (i know, i will one day) but having just finished the 2017 version i really have to wonder: why is 2019 laurie so MEAN??? he antagonizes meg at the party, publicly embarrasses amy, puts both of them down for even thinking of marrying rich men and instead suggests that amy marry him as if he's not rich too? were these added by gerwig, and if so, WHY?

I know you know, but you should go read the book! and then come tell me what you think! XD

As I have said before, the only Laurie that really resembles book Laurie is the one in the 1970 BBC adaptation. And I wouldn't inflict the rest of that adaptation on anyone.

The others have... varying degrees and angles of resemblance. 2019 Laurie is definitely much much more of a sort of indifferent/dismissive jerk than the original, either on purpose or by accident.

2017 on the other hand is too much of a softie and a wet puppy compared to the book character.

Book!Laurie is a very passionate and conflicted sort of character. When he's in a positive mood, he's radiant and contagious; when he's in a dark mood, it's an intense darkness. When he's infatuated, he's almost obsessive. And that creates an ambivalence that is difficult to strike.

But to your last questions: Meg and Laurie's party scene is closer to the book in 2017. He's disappointed and rather harsh at first, they reconcile, but he's sad in the end because she's still drinking and will have a terrible headache the following day, but he trusts she will make good of her promise and tell her family about what happened.

You probably noticed that Fred Vaughn was completely erased from the Amy in Europe plot in 2017, which naturally leads to a more easily sympathetic portrayal of the dynamic between Laurie and Amy.

The Christmas Ball in particular is a very important section of that plotline, and neither 2017 nor 2019 get it right at all. Like in 2017, Amy waits for Laurie, who comes on time, sober, and well dressed -in fact, he does promise Meg that he'll become a teetotaler the day of her wedding, and he does fulfill that promise- but with a rather flippant, infantilizing attitude that rubs Amy the wrong way, so she sets up to prove that she doesn't need him to have fun, and she does prove it. And as he watches her dance, he realizes that Amy is now a young woman, no longer a child he can play around with. He ends up convincing her to dance with him in the end, and they have fun together, and they then spend many days together.

They do have later on the fight you see in 2019, more or less, where she scolds him for his laziness and he criticizes her mercenary spirit, not even trying to love Fred before he proposes, even knowing he does love her. But he doesn't tell her to break up with Fred so he can marry her or anything like that. He leaves because he thinks things over, realizes she's right, and goes to try and prove himself and see if he can win Jo by writing a great opera or requiem that would show her his worth (The drama!). In the meantime, Fred leaves because his brother Frank is very sick, and Laurie and Amy write letters to each other back and forth.

So, book Laurie is meaner than 2017 but much less mean than 2019.

Why is 2019 Laurie like that? I don't know. I don't think Gerwig herself knows. But for the things I have read her say about it, comparing Laurie and Fritz in terms of who is the "hottest prize", or vague comments about Jo and Laurie being platonic soulmates in genderfluidity because she has a boys nickname and he has a girls nickname (which is hilarious when you know Laurie's schoolmates used to call him Dora until he punched them all into calling him Laurie)... I don't think she ever sat down to think who Laurie is as a character himself independently of what he is to Amy and to Jo (not that this is an uncommon sin in adaptations.

[despairforme]

why do you like nnoitra so much he’s fucking ugly

[ I SPOT A CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT MY LOVE FOR NNOITRA IMMA TAKE IT !! First of all, my liking for a character is usually not based on how "good looking" said character ( I mean, some of my favorite One Piece characters are Perospero and Spandam ) is. In my portrayal of Nnoitra, he shares your opinion that he is fucking ugly fjfjfjjf, but he just doesn't mind. BUT IN MY UNBIASED OPINION --- ! Nnoitra is SUPER PRETTY !!!! Like OH MY GOD have you seen this man ?? ( Also, when I talk about Nnoitra's appearance, I do so from a completely platonic pov, I find it quite uncomfortable when people express physical attraction towards my muses ). ANYWAYS, yes, Nnoitra is incredibly pretty. I guess I just have a liking for "unconventional" beauty.

Nnoitra's build. Even though he hates it himself, I find it SO pretty. His build has influenced my drawing style, where I draw a dorito shaped torso fjfjfj. I mean his super broad shoulders and wide chest, and then that tiny tiny tiny waist... And his loooong skinny arms and looong legs?? He's got these odd exaggerated proportions that give him such a striking, recognisable silhouette. I also love being able to see his ribs and spine because I love drawing those things! I love that Nnoitra doesn't have the copy-paste "anime build". Makes him more unique. I just love how long he is? And also that he's so incredibly strong even though he looks so skinny. It's the "don't judge a book by its cover" vibe. And, of course, can't mention his build without mentioning his height. Nnoitra is amazingly tall, but not so tall that it can't be adapted to real life, which I'm SO happy about. It means I can write him in his main (human) verse without changing his height (like I have to do for my One Piece muses who are over 3 meters tall ). I just love how he's so tall and skinny. It gives him such a threatening vibe? I think he'd be less scary looking if he had a large build. There is something unnerving about an incredibly tall skinny dude?? I don't know how to explain it but I just love the vibe!

Nnoitra's face. Hello YES once again I'm so happy he doesn't have a copy+paste face. I feel like a lot of the Bleach characters have really similar faces, but with Nnoitra, he's unique. He's got his own design that doesn't resemble anyone else's. His face is quite long, but doesn't appear long, because it just fits perfectly with his body. His sharp jawline and pointy chin and his single squinty eye... Holy HECK he's so pretty?? Though my favorite part of his face is for sure his mouth. I love that he basically has no bottom lip, because his lips are so thin. It makes him really easy to draw. And, of course, the absolute best part! His HUGE piano teeth! This is where he absolutely goes way out of proportions and I LOVE IT SO MUCH !!!!! His teeth give him the most sinister, evil look. Like, he's supposed to be a monster and he's got the teeth to match. I love the manga panels of him where he's drawn with a HUGE mouth. Those panels are so effective and intense and portray emotion that normal "pretty looking panels" just don't. With such an amazing design that Nnoitra has, which is not SUPPOSED to look "pretty", he can be drawn much more dramatically, and that's amazing. Also just... Piano teeth are generally the best. Like they're so square. So perfect. Also gotta mention Nnoitra only having a single eye. When it comes to drawing him, this is a blessing. I love the angle of his eye, and the color. Storm grey, like that colour the sky has right before it starts raining like hell. Also... Have you seen his eyelashes? Stunning. I really like how his eyepatch compliments his face. If it was smaller it would look sort of odd imo, so the size is perfect. AND!! Another important thing about his design is that he doesn't have eyebrows in canon. I don't know why but I have a huge deal for characters without eyebrows fjfjfj I tend to not give my OCs eyebrows in their designs I don't know why. I feel like it just leaves the face so much more open and not as "cluttered" when you draw it IDK! Tho I do give Nnoitra eyebrows in his human!au.

HAIR!!!!! Can we talk about how Nnoitra has the prettiest hair you'll ever see? It's drawn SO shiny and smoooth in the manga. It always frames his face perfectly, and almost never looks messy, despite all the things Nnoitra goes through. Clearly it's really thick and heavy. And ink black which contrasts so perfectly to the really pale skintone they gave him in the anime ( which I use for my portrayal ). I think Nnoitra looks really good with his shorter hair as well, but yeah something about his long hair is just so majestic. And I also think it helps portray his depressive vibes. Like the panels where he's sitting... The way his hair falls just seems heavy.

HANDS!!!!! Who doesn't like pretty hands? IDK. And Nnoitra's got THE prettiest hands. Because they're unconventional. They're HUGE. Like really goddamn enormous? I think he's got the biggest hands in bleach fjfjfjf. His fingers are SO sharp and skinny. And bony. And also somehow he's got pretty nails. Hands are my favorite thing to draw and drawing Nnoitra's hands?? - chef's kiss - I just love the details.

And his outfit! People always say Nnoitra's outfit looks silly. That he looks like a spoon. And, yeah, he does look like a spoon. I affectionately refer to him as "my spoon" when I talk about him. He's got an outfit design you actually remember. It's unique, it's characteristic. You can see his silhouette and immediately identify him. I just imagine how terrifying it is for the other Arrancar when they suddenly see his shadow. They'll know exactly who is standing behind them. His tight fitting jacket really brings his build out in a way a fluffy jacket just wouldn't. And his neck looks so long and thin thanks to the way his collar is?? Also the fact that he wears bracelets that would make it harder to fight... It's such a good addition. Like why did Kubo bother giving a minor character like that SIX bracelets that he'd have to draw?? I love it. And Nnoitra's wide pants which are stuffed into his boots to reveal his incredibly thin ankles... Holy heck. 5/5. I think he'd look less threatening if his pants were tight-fitting ( and also would be impractical for fighting ), so this is such a nice move. AND ALSO HIS TINY FEET!! The fact that he wears high heels and that his boots have that curved tip... And his feet STILL look small for such a tall man... I love it. It's endearing somehow. And, guys, high heels were worn by men long before they became fashion for women, so this has nothing to do with Nnoitra being "feminine", because he just isn't.

SANTA TERESA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cannot talk about his design without mentioning ( my unbiast ) favorite Zanpakuto. Everyone in Bleach has sort of a small Zanpakuto, at least when it's not released. But Nnoitra? Nope. It's HUGE. It's freaking enormous. It's like a battle axe, but times two. The crescent shape, one pointed at his enemy, one pointed at himself, is so symbolic. And how skinny the handle is, which would mean it's super uncomfortable to wield... And how black the blade is. Like death. The chain always attached to him, like an anchor. That incredibly eerie sound it makes when he moves... GOOSEBUMPS !!

So yeah, I absolutely do not think Nnoitra is ugly. He's got that awkward, strange beauty about him. The reason why I started loving him in the first place, was because I randomly drew him one day. I was just sketching some Bleach characters, and I drew him, and something happened. It's quite hard to explain, but I got the urge to draw him again. And again. And again. Something about him inspired me. Something about how it felt to draw him. Honestly, when I started drawing him, I didn't even care that much about his character. I hadn't really "noticed" him when I watched Bleach. But as I started drawing him more, I went back and re-watched, and - I was completely sold on him. I started drawing A LOT more than I ever had before, and it gave me a different sort of joy. I felt happy drawing him. I think it's hard to explain if you've never had a muse before.

( muse - a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist. )

For me, that was, and is and always will be - Nnoitra. After drawing him for nearly a year, I started to write him on tumblr. My portrayal in the beginning was... Quite questionable ( I was very young, don't judge me ), but OH MY GOD !!!!! How much fun I had !!!! The very first month of writing him I wrote almost 50k words for him. I had never had this much fun with anything. Never felt so inspired. And it's been like that ever since 2014.

WHY do I love Nnoitra so much?

He is my inspiration. No matter how I'm feeling ( I have a chronic illness so I'm often in a lot of pain ), writing Nnoitra can make me feel better. Little things in my everyday life that remind me of him makes me happy. Like getting a milkshake because in his opinion you can't go on a roadtrip without it, or going for a walk because Nnoitra loves being outdoors. I always, ALWAYS want to write for him ( even though I often physically can't ). Having something to always return to, always want to do is a blessing.

I've met amazing people and had amazing experiences because of him. All the friends I've made online, some who I've been friends with for almost a decade, are friends I met because of Nnoitra. I used to be REALLY shy and insecure, but after I started writing Nnoitra, that just went away. I forever felt confident and comfortable. I've had no trouble reaching out and chatting with people. I've gotten to write incredible plots and had so much fun. All thanks to the confidence Nnoitra has given me.

Nnoitra's character overall to me is so interesting. He's so complex. Yes, he's an absolutely horrible person, and I find writing about that to be incredibly intriguing. There is pretty much no "limit" to Nnoitra's story, because he's NOT the good guy, he doesn't GET a "happily ever after". I've been writing his main-verse story for almost 10 years now, and there is still so much left to write. I love all the contradicting aspects of Nnoitra. How he's fiercely loyal, but that turns into possessiveness. How he wants to be cared for, but is selfish as hell. How he hurts others knowingly. How he knows he's a bad person. I love the small tiny glimpses of his humanity when it shines through. I love his bravery because no matter how heavy life feels to him, he always gets back up. He feels very REAL to me. He's got many sides to him. Most of them ugly, but all of them real. I always know how he's going to react in situations, because of how good a character he is. ( I don't mean good as in morally good, I mean good as in well thought out ). I love putting him in different situations ( aus ) to see how things go for him. The fact that he stays the same character regardless of scenario is amazing to me. You can change his whole life story, and somehow he's still there. Recognisable.

I guess it's not easy for people to understand why I love him so much. Definitely people in my real life don't understand why I dedicate so much time to an obscure ( they also think he's ugly ) character. But to me it's like ?? Nnoitra is my light? My inspiration? I love him. ]

[witchedwicked]

Instead of waiting for likes, I'm just gonna answer all of them lmaooo

Friends to Friends with benefits to Lovers- I love it when the characters complicate the friendship and angst over what they are now but then it all works out in the end lol

Hanahaki- It's angsty and gross and yet beautiful at the same time. It's romantic and heart wrenching at the same time and I love that for them. The only thing is sometimes I wish there were more bad endings? I want to see a character get the flowers (and their feelings) removed because they were so certain that their feelings could never be returned, only to get a confession like two weeks after they recover.

Love Triangle becomes Polyamory- I guess I'm a big fan of lots of angst and drama but with a happy ending. I want the jealousy and pining and "I was too late" of a love triangle but after all of that I want them all to realize they can be happy together.

2.

No Powers/Modern/Fantasy/Royal AU- It's not that I hate them, they just don't interest me at all. Usually if I'm a fan of something, I'm a fan of the setting as well, and I'd rather stick in that world. But sometimes, if it's an author I like, I'll check it out.

Pregnancy/Babies- I just can't deal with anything related to pregnancy or babies or anything like that. No thank you.

BAMFxFan- I don't like it when the portrayal of a ship is one character is a beautiful flawless perfect badass and the other character only really exists to fawn over how amazing the other character is or, even worse, exists as some sort of reward.

3.

I love when the characters just really believe in each other and support each other's passions. Also when it's clear they're each other's best friends and can laugh together.

4.

Hair touching, like the brushing of a loose strand away from the face. Hand holding, squeezing firmly, thumbs brushing over the knuckles. The gripping of a sleeve or a belt loop to stay connected.

5.

Multiship, definitely! I like seeing all the different scenarios and dynamics that come about. Also, if I really like a character, I ship them with basically anyone I can think of, I just really like thinking about them being so loved by everyone they cross paths with.

6.

Both, doesn't really matter to me. I tend to like the less appreciated characters, so sometimes I'm in rarepair hell by default lmao. But I can't deny how good it is when you like a mainstream ship and you never run out of content.

7.

Doesn't matter to me. I usually prefer polyamory as opposed to any sort of endgame conflict.

8.

Reversible. I don't really like the idea of set roles in a ship tbh, I like things a little more flexible.

9.

Yes, I'm just a sucker for romance, I'm afraid. Even if I'm just casually enjoying a movie or something, I'm still like "oh, they're cute together" lol

10.

Sex isn't important to me for a ship, I'm more interested in the longing and the pining, however that can be expressed.

11.

Platonic ships are great! Tbh I'm aroace and any portrayal of an intense, strong bond that doesn't need romance to be validated is exciting to find. But sometimes, i feel like there are some people in fandom that will use the term "platonic ship" to hate on a ship in public without using hater language

12.

Erasermic (MHA), Shuggy (One Piece), and LuSan (One Piece)

13.

Spirk (Star Trek), WonderBat (DCAU), Flinx (Teen Titans 2003), GaaLee (Naruto), and BillyTeddy (Young Avengers/Marvel)

14.

I don't think marriage is all that important, but sure, why not? I think for me, a bigger "they made it" sort of moment for a ship would be like, timeskip x months/years later they're still happy and cute together.

15.

OCs in general are super fun! So why not OC kids? Sometimes I'll make OC kids for a ship I like (I still ignore the pregnancy/baby phase lmaoooo). They're usually girls.

One thing though about OC kids is I don't really like how many get named after a dead loved one? It's just a personal preference tbh but names carry so much weight and expectations sometimes and I don' believe in saddling a child with anything like that, and what if the kid wants to change the name in the future? I think I'm thinking about it too hard...

[disaster-j]

I have so many thoughts on the twin connection, all warring within me because I’m not sure where I stand at all with it. At first I truly thought it was just a weird little inclusion at the beginning of the story for convince, and then tbh I haven’t thought of it much these past few weeks. Not until this episode anyway and how White talked about having the same type of bond with Sean. Personally while I like the idea of him having a connection with Sean (especially because it was made by them and working on their relationship, and it wasn’t just BOOM connection fate/destiny type deal). I also do love the platonic bond with Black. And I like the idea of having two different kinds of soulmates. But the bond breaking also could have been what woke up Black. But it also could have just been White’s emotions were so intense while with Sean that it awoke Black. What’s are your thoughts if you have any?

I like that the bond has been left vague tbh. It makes it feel more mystical and unexplainable which I think there’s value in. But I do think it has to come back into play at some point, otherwise it really was just a weird little plot device that didn’t have much purpose. It may not come back to play in a big way, but I do think it will come back and play something of a role.

PS sorry about my English! I’m not sure I was able to get across my points properly because of it so if this makes no sense let’s just go ahead and blame my language skills and not comprehension skills hehe

First of all! On this blog we do not care about colonial languages. The fact that you know multiple languages at all is great and there's no shame whatsoever in not having perfected one or having trouble expressing yourself in a certain language!

Now about the twin connection, I think we all have our own varied opinions and feelings on it. There's so much that is left up to interpretation that really it can mean anything and everything at once. That's what I personally like about it. I think that interpreting the scene as the bond breaking isn't too far fetched but White's monologue after the fact seems to be assuring the viewers that it's still going strong. I too love the portrayal of the bond as a soulmate connection. I love the parallels White creates in his mind around his platonic soul bond with Black and his relationship with Sean. To me this solidifies how his love for Sean equal his love for his brother and perhaps indicates that he cannot and hopefully will not choose between the two. They're both equally important to have in his life now. Hopefully this will force Sean and Black to set aside their differences for White as well.

As for it making a return, I do think that it will. While the bond mostly exists to show how deep the twins' connection is, it also does drive the plot at times. So far we've only seen the connection push White into action so I feel it's only natural that we will see it push Black soon. I really hope we get to see how Black reacts to the bond.

[fullmtal]

once i’m done going through everything i really am going to write about how the mustang squad, roy specifically, really is in a lot of ways without preference or bias, the dad figure edward desperately needed and gave so much to ed and al. and yes, i will be wanting threads with all f.ma people because honestly there is such variety no wonder its a masterpiece. but yeah like...there’s a reason roy is so important? i might reblog my meta on hohenheim but like...i’m a realist so i don’t think hohenheim’s apology came in time. that doesn’t mean ed doesn’t feel things for him and even love too, albeit confused love, not at all. he’s an immensely compassionate boy underneath all that snark and steel. why else is he the one considered a heart ‘unmatched’?

but literally the person who sparked fire back in ed’s eyes was roy and ed’s own will, but ultimately roy’s tough belief and recognition of ‘oh hey you’re not okay just like me and you’re a lot like me’ hit ed hard and got him to rise up again.

 no one else did that. no elric alive or still in contact did that. roy did. and when he joined his branch and his entire career in the military worked under him with reports? i mean i talked to folks and i noted that roy literally goes out in the rain when scar targets the elrics. he’s risking his life and he has a way bigger target on his back than ed does as the ‘hero of ishval’.

so it’s just....while it isn’t very obvious, it’s way more obvious in 03? the shaking of hands, the faith, the ‘why didn’t you ask for my help first?!’ scene? it is there. and i just think roy continued the entire story rocky as they can be, to propel ed in his own way. those two are people who love very, very hard. and ed honestly doesn’t know what to do with roy’s concern and being an actual adult that hasn’t let him or his brother down besides izumi and sieg. 

so yeah, he’s a bit freaked. but roy gave him the push he needed, and frankly i headcanon post pd that ed visits him as he recuperates / gets his sight back before beelining back to resembool to see winry and granny and den, and yes, he absolutely keeps contact with all of them. 

ed needed someone like roy at his lowest point and unlike all the adults who failed before? roy didn’t. it takes ed a long, long time to process that, but it makes it one of the most subtle and most important relationships to me honestly for both characters. when roy goes blind ed isn’t impassive, he’s /freaking out/. 

so yes, i think the two fill in things for each other in a familial, obviously platonic way that others can’t. and they’re so similar, passionate, brilliant, stubborn, and honestly they love intensely. and are willing to die any time for their loved ones. 

so yeah, i think at the end of the story roy is that person ed would call at four am. not by any means gradually. but eventually. at least in my portrayal. and mustang squad? is just all these big brothers / uncles / and a motherly figure that doesn’t detract from trisha. just like izumi / teacher. 

this relationship is just really important to me. it’s just done so well, and i was happy that when roy lost his way it wasn’t just riza there, ed wasn’t there as the token protagonist, he’s proven he is compelling for being ed and beloved for being ed not a shonen protagonist. 

...... ed was there because he’ll also be damned if the person who saw dead eyes in an eleven year old gains those same eyes but with the intent of murder. he may not be hawkeye, but that’s his not so idiotic superior officer and maybe something deeper, something familial that he’s terrified to touch. and he’s willing to risk being burnt by that. 

tl;dr: roy mustang was dad all along once things kicked off and fma is all about the family you find, and the family you learn to let go, hold onto, and accept, but also move forward. because you can’t change it.

[pekorosu]

Uh hello! I'm so sorry sending another ask esp abt asheiji bc you explained it great- but there's been smth else that's been boggling my mind !!

GOL is seemed as more romantic, so if Yoshida didn't want to include any kind of romantic aspect, why would she ever write Akira to romantically question their relationship & for Sing to say they possibly had romantic feelings?! /pos hahaha

AGAIN I'm so sorry, I hope me asking this isn't making anything repeat or anything- thank you so much, like I just gotta know 😭, thank you!

hi! haha it's fine, just that it's been a long time so i'm kinda fuzzy on details now.  this is my impression based on what i remember. just a lil disclaimer in case anyone else is reading :)

soooo idk how the fandom interprets GoL, but i have a feeling that i myself said something years ago along the lines of “GoL confirmed it as romantic”? well, imma retract that bc i wanna update it with a bit more nuance.

i think the point of those scenes in GoL was to debunk the idea that it was romantic. see: sing's response to akira below.

言っとくが、あいつらの間には性的な関係はいっさいなかった。 恋愛に似た感情は…あったかもしれないが 魂の…奥深いところで結びついていたんだ。

i don’t remember how the english loc went like and my books are in a box somewhere, so please bear with my quick & dirty t/l lol:

just so you know, there was nothing sexual between them at all. maybe what they felt was similar to (romantic) love, but it’s just... they were connected at the deepest part of the soul.

sing says that they were “more than lovers” but immediately clarifies with a whole lotta that. it’s obviously a denial to me, because if it was romantic, yoshida would have had sing affirm it outright instead of beating around the bush with “similar to”.

BUT that roundabout description does show that what she wanted was a borderline romantic vibe. note that GoL actually does start out framing ash/eiji as a romantic thing (”this is pretty much a love letter”/eiji being unable to move on/akira's assumption that ash was a woman based on the hints she picked up/etc), only to culminate in the sing+akira exchange where the “truth” comes out: an explicit “it wasn’t sexual”, a qualifying “but maybe it resembled romantic love", an unspoken “so the only category left is platonic even tho it’s kinda more than that” and a final emphasis on the most important thing ⁠— the depth of their bond superseding its nature.

this suggests to me that what yoshida wanted to convey was the intensity of devotion that’s typical between people with romantic feelings for each other, but without sexual desire. so ash/eiji’s feelings would not have been intended to be “romantic” in the traditional sense bc they lack what is generally considered a key component of “romantic love”. (also ash is straight to her lol).

that said, the portrayal of their relationship as a “quasi-romance“ with all its romantic aspects did not end up in the story by accident. that was definitely intentional. she knew what it looked like. that’s why she had to clarify its actual substance... the same way she had to point out that ash is legit dead bc ppl did not get it lol.

uh... i hope that made sense? 😂

[mywingsareonwheels]

A thing about Anthony Mackie

Ugh, I didn’t want to be writing this this evening but here we are. Anyway, here are my thoughts. I am not really up for talking about it much though. V exhausted.

[behind the cut for reasons of: references to homophobia, references to racism, some length, me being an Anthony fan and this not having changed]

1. I’m really not sure that what Anthony said in that Variety interview came out quite as he intended it. It was somewhat ambiguous and nonsensical to me (though I have only read the transcript so far). But whatever, I mean, maybe i’m just soft-hearted and old and reading it wrong but to my mind it... wasn’t that bad?

2. At any rate, whatever he precisely meant, I really don’t think he’s homophobic.

3. The pressure on Anthony as a Black man when it comes to portraying masculinity is extremely extra intense. The pressure on him as a Black man playing Captain America is also extremely extra intense. He’s under so much scrutiny, a lot of it very hostile and racist. Fellow white fans: please can we be very and especially aware of this, and be extra aware that not all of those finding fault with him will be doing so for valid reasons so we should be really really careful what we’re reblogging just now?

4. Just in general: please can we cut him some fricking slack?

5. In fact please can we generally give actors that bit more fricking slack when they don’t express themselves perfectly in interviews, and/or don’t say what we most want them to say? I’m not saying we should excuse everything but, within reason, some generosity of spirit seems occasioned? Especially as I doubt any of us would manage any better; I know I wouldn’t. I’d be flailing about all over the place, saying any amount of stuff that would come out all wrong. Also: an actor’s job is to act, not to answer interview questions. It’s a totally different skillset - and one that most actors never come close to needing.

6. There is a problem with Hollywood being reluctant to show platonic affection and love between men. It is true that the reasons for this are actually about Hollywood’s homophobia (inc. its homophobic reaction to shipping culture) rather than about shipping culture itself, and it’s not anything like as big a problem as Hollywood’s reluctance to have actual queer relationships ever. Hollywood is fucking homophobic and it’s exhausting. But, you know. The lack of really close platonic affection between men in media portrayals is a real thing, and I suspect is often worse when the men aren’t both white. Fundamentally Hollywood’s pretty terrible at realistic and positive portrayals of *all* kinds of love; this is one example. And Mackie’s allowed to find this one frustrating, as an (as far as we know) het man whose friendships are clearly very important to him.

7. I am a queer, nonbinary trans man and I’m slightly older than Anthony; I’ve also been shipping m/m and f/f characters for literal decades. Like, I don’t want to police anyone else’s response; if fellow queers are feeling hurt by his comment, of course that’s valid, and you absolutely don’t have to like him. But for myself: nah, I still like him a lot, obviously I wish he’d said something different and expressed what he did say better but I’m still good with him. (And sambucky is still my second favourite mcu ship (jointly with samstevebucky ;-) ) after stucky! I didn’t get any impression that Anthony actually minds people shipping, fwiw. And none of these ships was ever going to become canon under Disney+ anyway, we know this.)

8. There’s a horrible likelihood that this incident will be seized on the harassment culture perpetrators and that Anthony’s going to have an extremely rough time for a while. Especially because he is Black and already under horrible amounts of racist scrutiny. Also because he’s close friends with Sebastian Stan who’s also having a very rough time with harassers, and I suspect some of those may now start including Anthony in the harassment. :-( I hope I’m wrong on all these counts, because no one deserves that bullshit. :-/

Urrrggh. Not really intending to write any more on this, but just. I wanted to say those things. <3

[soultronica]

Managed to be less online last week but as a result I ended up binging Chainsaw Man lol. I liked it!

Thoughts

Power best girl

Makima is one of the coolest characters I've seen recently. She starts out as a manipulative bitch with completely opaque loyalties and goals, which was already amazing, and manages to become ever more than that every step that the story progresses

I really like the general aesthetic, though that's coming from someone who doesn't ever read anything close to horror so idk it could be basic

Big fan of the demon character designs especially, and Denji's demon form especially especially

The fight sequences as well are really good, I prefer those fast-paced fights with the violence turned up to 10 for impact rather than the drawn-out ultra-scenarised ones

Genuinely funny

Good characters and relationships overall, from a pretty original take on the shonen main trio, to more tender human crushes, to horny teenagers discovering platonic friendship

Gonna be that person, but coming from other shonen including OP, it's... refreshing to have such a varied female cast in literally every level of importance and on every grade of the protag/antag spectrum? Instead of semi-idealised one-trope girls that mostly stay in the background. Like Makima's not just a girlboss she's actually an asshole, Power is not just feral she's genuinely gross and a bully, Himeno is the most human of the bunch and is still super questionable, Bomb is both a waifu and an insanely powerful antag, so is Quangxi, Kobeni is unlikeably pathetic, etc. Love it tbh

Not that it's a girl power manga obviously lol the uncomfortable horniness of shonen/seinen manga is turned up to 100 but that’s the genre. The depiction of certain characters and certain scenes aside, when you've got a portrayal of what the author insists is platonic friendship in the horniest possible way you're kind of left thinking ok which is it lol

Speaking of, has Jump gotten a lot more adult recently or is this an outlier?? On the one hand you've got One Piece still doing nosebleeds, and then you get to this and the main character having sex is a main plot point and you've got full-colour lesbian orgies. The gore also seems more intense than say Bleach where the limbs/blood fly but not in a particularly gruesome way. Idk coming into this knowing it was in Jump had me raising eyebrows a couple times, might've been better assuming it was seinen from the get-go

Story-wise I like the fast pacing with barely any arc set-up to speak of, using humorous transitions as plot devices, what I read could've been twice as long but I like that it wasn't. It's nice finding a manga that goes from 0 to worldwide-level arc and long-term plot wrap-up in under 100 chaps!

Also like that so many characters were disposable, including the likeable ones, and that they regularly die. Raises the stakes, especially when you've got unkillable main characters which is normally a weird choice

This said things got a lot less comprehensible once hell comes in, and the conclusion that completely sets aside one of the big bads feels more like a dropped plot point than a plot twist and a red herring. Enjoyed it less at the end that I did at the 3/4 point

Really static paneling in the early parts possibly as a result of the deadpan humour but that's the only technical criticism I have

Tl;dr Short, original, fun, with good characters, it's an easy rec

[iseultdeservedbetter]

Cooking Your Heart Out

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

This is my entry for the @tlkfanficfest (I do hope that I did everything alright, Gosh this is my first time in it, so I hope to have done everything alright, if I didn’t just let me know).

I chose the prompt ‘Osferth, he tells people he loves them (platonically) by the food he cooks.’ and I hope that this won’t be cringy or anything, I hope you’ll like it!

(also this is set up in the same modern AU as this fic, if you are ever interested)

SUMMARY: Osferth find much more changing his job and discovering a few new flavors of his life.

WORDS: 4, 2 K

WARNINGS: Family Drama, Domestic Abuse, Talk of Infedelity, Slightly OOC Osferth-Aethelflaed

Osferth, he tells people he loves them (platonically) by the food he cooks.

It wasn’t that Osferth didn’t have emotions.

If anything, it was just the contrary.

He had too many emotions and didn’t know how to describe them, being slow in a way that was related solely to his emotions, as if he couldn’t think about them and rearrange them fast enough, before he had to act on them.

He had to think before expressing himself, and when he ended up finally figuring out what he was feeling and what he felt like saying, the person that he wanted to share those feelings with ended up losing their patience and leaving him alone.

And as a child Osferth had been a very alone child, enough that the cooks of the seminary where he had grown up in had taken pity on him and taught him a few of the many mysteries of the kitchen.

Osferth had been quite a quick learner, soon being able to peel potatoes, cut tomatoes and managed to bake a good loaf of breath.

And by the age he had moved away of the seminary, he was able to properly survive on his own without having to go back to instant noodles and take out.

And most importantly he had learnt a way to communicate his feeling.

A healthy way.

He had started at first cooking for his fellow friends over at the seminary, stealing a few pieces of loaves and a bit of chocolate cookies that he had ‘helped’ make and then he had moved onto preparing the dinner for the priests, even trying to corrupt a few of te teachers with food.

Do take them by the guts, they said.

But when his small world had become less restricted, once he had chosen not to follow up with his vows and enjoy a mundane life with the life allowance that a long-distant uncle had left him, in case he preferred college over seminary, parties over prayers, he had started truly delving in his passion.

He had set up himself in a business degree, although he had started working as a side job in a few restaurants, both as a waiter and both as a help in the kitchen, although he had the bases but not the true experience, and yet he picked up quickly and he loved cooking.

And even more than that he loved expressing his feelings through food.

Although he might be slow at communicating his feelings, he certainly was good at recognizing the one of others.

After he had joined the college life, he had found himself living with three men that were the portrayal of virility, Finan with his kisses to his mirrored image, Uhtred and his desire to fucking conquer back his family property and finally Sihtric and his work at risk as a professional hacker.

Although they did act as ‘true alpha males’, Osferth had learned to recognize exactly when they were down and when they needed a bit of comfort.

And gave it to them through food.

Finan had a rather confusing love life, and it wasn’t unusual that sometimes he might end up being the one with his heartbroken (but could you seriously blame the other poor idiot on the other side, probably having heard one too many cock joke?) and Osferth knew all too well that the best solution for a broken heart was anything with chocolate, experimenting new receipts with it, solely for him.

Uhtred, instead, could be the hardest on himself, not knowing what he was and not knowing what he truly wanted, but following a path that had been carved for him by someone else, so Osferth went softly with him, an homely meal that gave him some resemblance of an home he had never known.

Sihtric, lately, had a crush for a girl.

They all speculated about it, like some old ladies at a tea club, seeing the way he’d just stare at the computer, before blushing intensely at the screen, grabbing his head in his hands and then breathing loudly.

And then he’d go back to his work, like nothing happened.

Well, he got something spicy to get him to gain the confidence he was missing.

When Osferth had finished college, he had thought of following up his dream of continuing to express his emotions through food.

The fact that he was becoming quite good at it did help quite a bit.

But he hadn’t many references and neither he had a license that proved his talent, ending up in smaller restaurants and simple bars.

Although clients keep on flooding there.

An old lady had once insisted on waiting for Osferth’s turn for a whole hour and then admitting to the shy boy that ‘she loved his cooking because he certainly expressed his heart through it’.

Never a compliment had made him feel better.

And never had he been happier when his boss, in the last restaurant he had worked in, had bought him back a small ticket to him, alongside a hefty tip.

At first, he had felt quite awkward seeing it was a number and all his friends in the kitchen had made fun of him, saying ‘how easily he could pick up girls with his wonderous cuisine’.

And then he had turned around the ticket, discovering that it belonged to Aetheflaled Wessex, the daughter of Alfred Wessex, one of the richest people in the whole city, owning quite a few buildings, but much more a lot of restaurants.

And he had left one in particular to his daughter, as a wedding present.

The Mercia.

It wasn’t a big restaurant and not as big as her father’s own ones and her brother’s, but Aethelflaed was told to have the economical genius of her father and everybody wouldn’t have been surprised to see the restaurant become much more famous that her father’s in a few years.

If not months.

Hence he had been surprised that from all the expensive chefs she could choose, she had taken the time to learn about him, taking a meal at his shit of a place, nothing important and neither remarkable, simply to eat one of his dishes, leave him her number and quite the tip.

The small ticket had her number on one side and a small indication of the interest that Aetheflaed felt for his culinary skills, suggesting that she met him at the Mercia to taste truly his talent, although she had already been impressed to learn what he could do in a poor-piss restaurant.

And although the proposal was tantalizing, it had taken him quite a few days to actually pick up the phone and contact Aetheflaed, being directed to her by an elegant male voice.

He was surprised that it wasn’t any secretary to take care of his appointment but instead Aetheflaed in person replied and talked with him to take the appointment, and although Osferth had reasoned that she probably preferred to hand-pick and take care personally of each thing, he was still surprised by the way she seemed truly interested in everything he said.

Even going as far as concluding the call with ‘I was truly hoping you’d give me a call’.

He couldn’t have scored a point with a girl like that, for sure.

So it wasn’t that.

And he wasn’t anyway famous to be called over by people like her.

Maybe she was a psycho although she didn’t look like one.

And in the end, his big dream of learning more about cooking and the professional kitchen, won over his own self-preserving instincts (helped by a few screams and ‘threats of encouragement’ from his beloved roommates).

The day he had met Aetheflaed at ‘The Mercia’ he had found her trying to set up the main hall with tables and chairs, deciding its formation alongside the male voice he had heard over the phone, recognizing him as Aldhelm, a private lawyer, probably working for Aetheflaled and her husband, Aethelred.

Who was nowhere to see it.

But were the rumors true, in that wedding there wasn’t much love.

But he shouldn’t stick his nose in that.

He was supposed to work in the kitchen, and he should have stuck to that.

Again, as soon as Aetheflaed raised her head to meet his face, she immediately repeated ‘how glad she was of finally meeting him in person’, making Osferth, inevitably blush, although he could detect a pretty shade of red on her cheeks as well, obviously feeling as awkward as him.

For which he was almost glad.

Almost as much as when he realized he hadn’t to talk much, because she started explaining pretty quickly the role, saying that she knew he hadn’t any true experience in a ‘proper restaurant’, but he certainly didn’t lack of creativity and passion, which were two things that she hoped to valorize in her restaurant.

‘… if you accept, I do think that it’ll be a good learning experience’ she explained, a focused expression scrunching up on her face, nothing in her was insecure as she slowly continued with the explanation ‘… the pay is good, if it is something that you are worried about it and we can talk about the hours and when you can start’.

‘I am in’.

It was a quick choice, because he had thought about it from the start of it all and he couldn’t help but want to try new things, even more when the chance was right in front of him, offered to him.

And although even Aetehflaled seemed surprised by it, she soon seemed to come back from the shock and smirked, immediately involving him in a soft hug, in which he didn’t know what to do, growing tight underneath her, enough to make her understand his own uncomfortableness and she immediately released him.

‘Sorry, I am just excited!’ she had apologized, and again that awkwardness appeared in Aetehflaled’s eyes, but Osferth was used from the time in seminary to work with his lowered head, so he didn’t say too much.

And in the end the work was indeed a learning experience, enough for him to discover new meals and new ways to express himself, although the turns were of long hours and since they were a new restaurant they hadn’t much free time or free space for mistakes.

Even more when Aetheflaled’s husband, Aethelred, the one who owned half of the actions of the restaurant, certainly wasn’t happy of its opening, thinking that it was a loss and ‘a business that wouldn’t have made them much money’.

He put everybody in the restaurant, Aetheflaed comprehended, at unease.

But everyone was even more determined to prove him wrong.

Starting from Osferth.

Although there was no interest in him for Aetheflaed he admired dearly the woman, a bit younger than him and already so strong and determined in everything she started, wanting everything and taking it for herself, with the help of Aldhelm, who shared her similar views.

Osferth got along quite well with both and many times than not he found himself dining with Aethelflaed, at the end of long hours, and Aldhelm, alongside the kitchen staff, exchanging small trivial thoughts and talks that made her seem more earthly.

And although Osferth had been for a long time sure that he knew nobody who acted like him, certainly Aethelflaed had a few characteristics that reminded him of himself, like his stubbornness and his shyness, although she hid quite them well.

‘When your father is Alfred Wessex… sadly there isn’t space for much shyness’ she had once commented and for a moment she had looked at him, a moment too long to be simply accidental.

But he hadn’t commented it.

Not wanting either of them to feel uncomfortable for something that maybe he had only seen.

But once he had heard something and he had been able to simply blame it on his tired mind.

Although he knew that it was bad to listen on a private conversation between Aethelred and Aethelflaed, he couldn’t do much when they screamed like they thought they were the only ones in the restaurant.

Which was partially true, because the staff had been sent home for the night, but Osferth had slipped inside to take the gloves he had forgotten back in the place.

He had bene exiting the kitchen lockers’ section when he was startled by two voices hurling insults against each other.

‘… I can’t fucking believe that you won’t consider fucking closing this place’ Aethelred’s tone was arrogant in a way that immediately made him unlikable, but he couldn’t deny that he mostly sounded like ‘clichey second-class Disney villain’.

‘Father gifted it to me!’ insisted loudly Aethefllaed, her tone loud with passion and hurt ‘… and I’ll do what I want with it’.

‘We are losing money fast…’ shot back Aethelred and as much as he hated hearing that, it was true.

Aldhelm, who took care of these things, certainly wasn’t very positive about their earnings, but insisted that it was simply the beginning and they were slowly setting up their own clientele, which was extremely difficult to do without losing any money.

“… and changing this whole place in the nightclub you wanted won’t make us regain the money lost!” she replied shouting loudly, as she looked at the man in the eyes, before regaining her composure, but without backing away from him “… this is my place, you have dozen of other things to play with, leave me at least this one…”.

Something on Aethelred’s face softened in some way, almost as if he had been taken by surprise by her comment, by the way that sounded like a plead, and then his face roughed up in a horrible smirk.

Worse than a Disney villain’s one.

“I don’t fucking care” it was so full of disdain that even Osferth, who wasn’t inside the conversation shuddered “… I didn’t marry you, because of your fucking business knowledge, I married you for your fucking money and if I don’t have those, I can easily divorce you and take everything with it!”.

Aetheflaed shivered, but again, she didn’t lose any confidence.

Which was quite amazing, according to Osferth.

Had it been Osferth he would have pretended nothing happened.

Had it been Uhtred he would have punched Aethelred in the face.

Which was something that he shouldn’t have done, since he used Uhtred as a measure to avoid doing stupid things.

‘Would Uhtred do it?’ he asked himself and then he wouldn’t do what he had come up with.

He started to get uncomfortable by the conversation, mostly because it started getting much more personal as Aetheflaed backed up her discourse and pretenses with the knowledge of Aethelred’s multiple affairs, as he presented her the same ones.

But suddenly something caught him off guard.

‘… and you know what? The fact that you are a fucking shitty businesswoman is shown by the knowledge that you hired that shitty cook just because he is your fucking half-brother, a bastard’.

And he didn’t have to do the math to realize who he was talking about him.

And yet the surprise hit him all over again, small hints that had been left on his journey suddenly revealing themselves to him, as he slowly reasoned with them, thinking about whether they were true or fruit of his imagination.

But soon, he had much more to worry about, when Aethelred slapped Aethelflaed.

The woman was surprised by the slap, and Osferth was halfway through to intervene, not certainly to fight the blondie cliché, but to put himself between them to stop any other fight to erupt.

But before he could do something, Aethelflaed answered tenfold the slap with one of her own, enough to make Aethelred back off, then moving another hand to his stomach, but stopping it before it could do some further damage, Aethelred immediately bending himself as if to stop the hit.

“Fucking touch me, again, you, coward, and believe me I won’t give you a warning” the words sounded so tight that he was sure that Aethelflaed’s now conjoined fingers could have snapped broken.

But it certainly was of quite impact on Aethelred, running away as a coward.

The promise of a lawyer, his last words, as Aethelflaed relaxed her expression, some kind of restless tiredness written in her face.

Aethelred might have been a coward, but he was a creepy one.

And one that did need law.

Had he been her, he would have also been worried.

But he had much more traumatic things to take care-

Was he… seriously Aethelflaed’s half-brother?

He hadn’t ever met his father.

His mother had said that it had been a ‘wrong night’, calling Osferth an ‘happy incident’, in her most ‘hyppie’ tone.

He had been too young to properly ask questions and then he had been pushed in the seminary, where every child was a ‘child of God’ and his questions about his paternity had been pushed back, alongside many feelings that he didn’t feel like expressing.

But the knowledge that Alfred Wessex had spawned him was crazy.

To start with the fact that Alfred Wessex was one of the most morally righteous people he had ever read about, truly an enlightened businessman, and he didn’t know how his mother had met Alfred and how she could have hidden such a secret for so long.

And how Aethelflaed might have discovered.

He must have heard wrong.

And whatever it was he had researches to do, at home.

Not where he could easily be discovered as a Peeping Tom.

He was halfway through waiting for Aethelflaed to leave, when the woman moved to also grab something from the lockers, and she caught him.

And that was awkward.

And the normally quiet Osferth found himself trying to stutter some kind of reply.

“… I didn’t… I just…” and then with the highest shriek he could have ever mustered up he uttered “… my gloves!”.

And showed her his faux leather biking gloves, a Christmas gift that Finan had thought funny for the ‘pacifist’ of their group.

“… you heard everything, right?” Aethelflaed’s approach was much more fatalistic.

But she didn’t seem angry.

Although, from what he had heard from Uhtred, a very unreliable source, when women weren’t angry when they should be… it meant you were fucked.

Thoroughly fucked.

“… yes” and his honesty most of the time didn’t pay off, but Aetheflaed simply nodded away, pushing his gaze off of him in a way that seemed thoughtful, as if she was evaluating the entire situation.

And Osferth was sure he’d be fired.

“I didn’t… I won’t say anything” he muttered, also making the awkward sign of zipping up his mouth.

“I don’t worry about that” she commented, before another tired and annoyed breath left her lips “… actually it is nice to have witnesses for when I’ll eat up my husband in court, if he is serious about the divorce thing…”.

“He is an asshole” again that bluntness wouldn’t have saved him, but Aethelflaed smiled sadly at him.

“You are kind of right” she commented “… he wasn’t… he might seem all that prince charming bullshit when I first met him. But believe me those are the worse. I married him as a naïve girl and I grew up too fast with him, not as a wife but as a martyr”.

“… I am sorry” and if there was one way that he could express his emotion other than food it was through one-liners.

Still Aethelflaed seemed to realize the strength of the words and their genuineness.

“Not your fault” she muttered, before she spoke right about the elephant in the room “… did you hear everything everything?”.

‘Don’t say it! Don’t say it, Osferth’ his mind screamed inside of him ‘… don’t ruin yourself more than you already have done’.

“… I did hear about me being your brother”.

What the heck?!

Did he seriously have two different paths between his mouth and his brain?

“Oh” Aethelflaed was too nice to mumble the obvious ‘oh shit’ that followed “… I… this is… “.

“I won’t say anything to anyone” commented tightly Osferth, trying to slowly undo all the wrongs he had done “… I don’t even understand if it is true or just…”.

“It is true” commented lapidary Aethelflaed.

And this time Osferth wasn’t able to stop the ‘oh shit’ from leaving his mouth.

“Oh shit, indeed” commented softly Aetheflaed, echoing his thoughts perfectly “… if it helps… I had a mental breakdown when I discovered it…”.

“How? When? What?” it must be all a joke.

Where were the candid cameras?

“Your mother worked over in my father’s staff in our house, and apparently my father didn’t have the morality he has now back then… your mother fell pregnant with the fruit of an affair with my father” his shocked looked must have been enough to ask for more info “… I found it through… Facebook, you were in the ‘people you should know’ or something like that… and you looked familiar, I checked in you… I admit that I stalked a bit”.

Was he even more confused, now?

Probably.

“… the similarity with me was quite striking and I couldn’t… couldn’t just put it down” she mumbled “… you have to know that before I had this place and everything… I was going through a bad period and I … investigating on you helped me”.

“… I run some check through the staff, I thought that maybe you had worked with us, but I found your mother and let’s just say that I kind of had an hitch about what might have happened, remembering that my mother mentioned about having had problems with the staff back then…” her reasoning was slowly starting to make sense, which made everything much more confused “… and I just put one plus one together, hearing about you and through Leofric… and my father”.

Did Alfred know that he was his child?

Had his rich uncle ever existed or had Alfred simply funded his son’s studies?

But right now, all he could focus on was the fact that Alfred had rejected him, and although he had had his own reasons and had his mind been clearer he would have agreed upon them…

… it still hurt.

And it was a new sensation.

He didn’t know which meal he could cook to soothe it.

“.. I swear I didn’t want to stalk you, but I found out you worked in that bar and you seemed so much interested in food and I needed a cook…” now it was Aethelflaed that was rambling “… I swear that what Aethelred said wasn’t true! I didn’t choose you for nepotism… you are really talented…”.

But Osferth had much more pressing matters at heart.

Like understanding why.

“Why did you search for me?” he didn’t mean to sound that rough, but she had to understand him: he had just discovered of having a father… and a sister, and although the former hadn’t ever wanted to meet him, meanwhile Aethelflaed had fought through much to meet him again, and he didn’t understand why “… don’t you have already a brother?”.

The words seemed to hit deeply Aethelflaed and for a moment he was scared of having hurt her.

“… I do…” her tone was unsure “… but I just… as I have said, I had a tough period…”.

“So, I am a charity case”.

He didn’t mean to sound that intolerable, but if there was one reason why he had repressed many of his emotions was that he knew he was able to accidentally blurt out things like that when he was nervous and under pressure.

The first thing in his mind would be the first on his tongue.

And although people said to appreciate honesty, it wasn’t true on the long run.

“No, you aren’t” now Aetehflaed’s voice was definitely uncomfortable and pleading as if she was the one who had been left shocked by the news.

And he had to reason that maybe it was the truth, indeed.

“… I just…” she didn’t know what to say, and Osferth couldn’t help but recognize that that gesture ran in the family “… I just wished to maybe see you… maybe see if we could get along… I just…”.

And although she didn’t mean anything at all, it had a meaning to him, a meaning he understood.

And even worse than the rambling came soon the tears, as stubborn as their own owners, as if they didn’t want to fall from her eyes, staying there and being held there.

“… I just wanted to get to know you, although it is something crazy to say”.

The words rolled off her tongue with pure honesty and he couldn’t help but feel, indeed, that matching piece settle in his puzzled chest.

The truth was that they were indeed siblings.

And he could have done much with that knowledge.

But for now, he focused on doing what he did best.

‘… do you think they’ll hate us if we use the kitchen for a midnight snack?’

Aetheflaled’s sad smile was a mirror of his own.

And he knew that she meant what she said.

Because he did.

---

@volvaaslaug​ (I really hope that is will be at least barely tolerable!)

[threecheersforinking]

Manga Review: The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland manga finally ended this month! I watched the anime when it was airing last year, but a few days ago I ended up reading the entire manga in 3 days because of how fascinated I was with the world; I wanted to know how it would develop beyond the first season, but was way too impatient to wait for the second season to come out!

Because I read it so quickly I’m kind of feeling information overload right now and just want to get all my thoughts down as fast as I can. So obviously, this post is gonna have major manga spoilers. If you aren’t caught up or aren’t a manga reader, I suggest you stop reading now, but if you want to read my commentary on the anime’s first season (spoiler free!) here’s the link to that. Thanks!

Once I got past the first arc that was covered in season 1 of the anime, I was a bit nervous about what would follow. Something I worry about with series like this with a huge genre shift or huge unknown world/mystery is that the story won’t live up to what I imagine it will be. And while I wasn’t able to predict much about the world, I really liked how the story ended.

Overall, I enjoyed how they chose to end the story with all the cattle children going to the human world, and I’ll talk about that a bit later, but one gripe I had was that there were way too many loose ends for my liking. I prefer when all the loose details of a story get wrapped up at the end of a series (which explains why I didn’t like EVA lmao sry) and I still had a lot of questions at the end, some questions that I had since the first arc.

Firstly, what the fuck is the significance of the hydrangea? They did briefly explain that it’s used to show whether the gods will give you their blessing to eat something you killed or whatever, which is kinda nice but they didn’t explain what happens if it doesn’t bloom, or why it’s important... more knowledge of this world’s ‘gods’ or religion would’ve been cool.

I also feel like the way children were produced in Grace Field (or hell, any of the plantations) was unclear; like, where do they get sperm from, or was there another way they got the Moms pregnant? What about in the factory farms? Is Carol supposed to be Emma’s biological sister, because they obviously looked hella alike but they never even mentioned it?? I also wanted to know way more about the Moms’ schooling and how one becomes a Mom. I would love if there was a prequel short story or one-off focusing on Isabella in Mom-training.

Also, I think we could’ve seen more of Phil. He was without a doubt the 6th most important Grace Field kid (behind Emma, Norman, Ray, Don, and Gilda ofc), plus what happened when that scary guy interrogated him?? I straight up thought he killed him lol.

I also wish we had more background on Musica. There was no real explanation for her powers and she had hella Deus ex Machina vibes.

Despite all these unanswered questions I had, I still consider this series enjoyable and well written. I really don’t think knowing any of this stuff would’ve changed the way I thought about the story, and none of them would have really impacted the conclusion of the story itself.

And yes, I’m so glad it ended the way it did. Maybe some people weren’t expecting or wanting a ‘happy’ ending, but come on, don’t these kids deserve a fucking break??? And I don’t consider it unrealistically happy, either. These kids know what they’re doing, and they have a plan for everything. Emma is not naive, she is hopeful. Every time she tried to resolve an issue with positivity, kindness, and forgiveness, she was still prepared for her enemy to turn on her. That’s the only way she was able to convince cynical Ray and skeptical Norman to ever go along with anything she did.

I  also loved that romance wasn’t really a thing in this story at all. Familial and platonic love are what kept the protagonists motivated more than anything else. I’m sure people have their ships, but personally I was just enjoying a series without any explicit romance.

Ray was my favorite character throughout the series, but I did kind of feel like his development was pushed aside in the later arcs. This def could’ve just been because his main development was in the first arc, but compared to Emma and Norman there wasn’t a lot of focus on my boy Ray. Yes he was by Emma’s side almost the entire time, but still.

I absolutely loved Isabella’s redemption. I can see why some people might not have liked it but i thought it was extremely fitting; every one of the Moms was once a cattle child, and they were just doing what they could to survive. This obviously does not justify their evil deeds, but it explains both their initial complicity and their willingness to change sides. And based on her reaction when Emma & friends escaped at the end of the first arc, I did suspect that if Isabella appeared again she would be on their side. I cried when her kids said they still loved her and she still loved them. It just reminds the readers of the innocence and unconditional love that children have.

While I do really love The Promised Neverland as a whole, my biggest qualm with this series was honestly the portrayal of Sister Krone... I immediately read her as being a racist stereotype. It’s a shame because upon her introduction I was actually really surprised and happy that they featured a Black person with natural hair. I didn’t mind her personality/character; in fact, I think she was a really nuanced antagonist for the first arc, but the way her facial features were exaggeratedly drawn made me uncomfortable. As an American, I’m familiar with how Black people have been portrayed negatively in our country’s media throughout history and it was just a little too close to that for my comfort.

 I was concerned with how the manga would continue with racial portrayals after Krone’s death, but it did kind of seem like an isolated incident. There are kids with a variety of skin tones featured, in fact Emma mentions it in one of the first pages of the manga; not to mention, human races don’t really seem to be a concept in the demon world (presumably because race is irrelevant to the demons, who only care about brains). It is possible that the creators weren’t thinking this way at all, and just wanted to make her a scary adult; for instance, Isabella’s facial features are sometimes exaggerated for effect as well. But intentional or not, it made me uncomfortable, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Anyway, those are just my immediate thoughts after finishing the manga. Something I forgot to mention was that the illustration is absolutely hauntingly intricate. The demons in particular were wonderfully terrifying, and really helped me visualize their world. I’m really interested in how the anime series will continue to adapt the material; looking at the first season, the difference in art style between the two is slight, but noticeable. I’m especially curious about how they will handle the intense action and detail of the demon fight scenes later on. I also read this super fast like I mentioned and I definitely might have missed some stuff lol so if any of my ‘unanswered questions’ were actually mentioned and I’m just a big dummy please lmk. And if anyone has any other thoughts or comments I’d love to hear them!

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

[dragonofyang]

On Love and Lions Part 1: An Analysis on Love in VLD

“I have always believed that unity is where true power comes from, and true unity can only be born of love.” --Gyrgan, Paladin of the Yellow Lion

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a cartoon on Netflix that–with the final season available to watch on Netflix–has extremely regressive and harmful messages. The S8 on Netflix carries lessons about how war is good, that men shouldn’t respect the wishes and desires of women, that violence and abuse mean even victims aren’t deserving of forgiveness. Everything about that is 100% antithetical to what VLD was about throughout the prior seasons and each harmful message is another nail in the coffin of the original narratives of peace, respect, and fundamentally how everyone is deserving of love and forgiveness, regardless of the circumstances of their birth.

In fact, the theme of love in VLD is something we at Team Purple Lion wish to discuss. It’s arguably the most absolutely fundamental theme of the show. Love destroys the universe, and love saves it over and over again. And love would have rebuilt the universe, but thanks to the edits ordered by the trademark holder, the universe that should have been born from love was instead born from one girl sacrificing her life because she saw no better option. She didn’t even get to tell her only remaining father figure goodbye. What kind of message is that? In the original final season, prior to the executive meddling, we should have seen how love was such a powerful force in the universe that it could not just repair this reality, but all realities. And it’s not just romantic love, but six types of love.

Now, for those of you more familiar with our work, we’ve discussed some pretty big concepts in VLD and how they’re addressed, and there will be even more in future episodes of our reconstruction Rise and Atone. VLD engages not just with its own predecessors in the Voltron franchise, but Beast King GoLion, Labyrinth, Frankenstein, and Maureen Murdock’s The Heroine’s Journey is all but the story bible for Allura’s arc. The concepts we are about to discuss date back to Ancient Greece, and while love can be more than these concepts, it’s important that we have a framework through which we can discuss and analyze love as it appears in VLD without getting lost in all the examples.

In American culture, “love” is not very well-differentiated between kinds because we only use one word: “love”. While we use it across all sorts of contexts, we have to add modifiers when we don’t mean romantic love or familial love, which are the most commonly-acknowledged forms of love. VLD, being written and edited by primarily Americans living in America, also encounters this issue, but it does not focus solely on romantic love, which can complicate how to interpret love in the show. We, however, would like to argue that not only is it all love, but it doesn’t all have to be good love, familial love, or romantic love. At the end of the day the plot is driven by love in its many forms. Love is so baked into the story that it’s quite difficult to extricate, dare I even say impossible, and that ultimately is part of why we were able to reconstruct so much of what was lost in S8.

The Ancient Greeks had many words for love, but we feel it’s important to discuss the dialogue that VLD engages in with various forms of love, using the Ancient Greeks’ framework as a guide. The model gives us concrete definitions of different kinds of love, and can help us as an audience understand the various forms of love that are present in VLD. It’s important that we define the different ways we can observe love being portrayed because much of VLD relies on the writing adage of “show, don’t tell”.

So without any further ado, let’s dig into what, precisely, is love.

As stated earlier, we’ll be using terminology coined by the Ancient Greeks, specifically six categories of love that we feel are most prevalent in the show. We’ve also deduced our own examples of these forms of love when they’re taken too far or flat-out discarded, which will be discussed in a companion article.

The six forms of love are as follows:

Eros: the most famous kind of love, an intense (and often sexual) passion for another being and seeing the beauty within them. This is the love that most closely aligns with romantic love as we understand it in a modern American context.

Philia: an affection and loyalty between friends, notable for its platonic nature, it is the love that arises between friends, and can be found among family, but the modern equivalent would be the found family trope.

Storge: this is the intrinsic empathy between individuals, primarily the attachment of parents to children. This form of love was primarily used to describe familial relationships, and the patience one sometimes needs when around blood relatives.

Philautia: put simply, this is self-love in its purest form. It is acknowledging your needs, wants, and happiness without apology. The Ancient Greeks considered Philautia to be a basic human need.

Xenia: while many might not consider this to be a form of love, it is hospitality, or as we define it, love between a host and their guests. Specifically, this would be the care a host gives to their guests in both physical (food, gifts, etc.) and non-physical (respecting rights, protection, etc.). Hospitality is massively important because if you are good to someone while they are in your home, they will be equally good to you if you visit theirs.

Agape: this is a Greco-Christian term, ultimately, and is a little more difficult to understand because it can be confused with other forms of love. At its core, though, it is a pure and unconditional love such as that between spouses, families, or God and man. It shouldn’t be confused for other forms of love such as Philia because unlike the other forms of love, which only focus on one aspect of humanity, Agape is the unconditional and universal love for everyone. It’s sexless, unlike Eros. At its core, it’s the love born of goodwill to all people, regardless of circumstance.

While these are only six categories, there are many ways of interpreting love, especially since there are so many avenues to see love–in good and bad forms–in VLD. These categories are also not inherently hierarchical, and are not presented in any particular order. Agape is the main exception, being more convoluted in its nature, and thus is discussed at the end. It also narratively serves as part of the culmination to the plot, so it carries a greater weight in relation to the alpha plot of the whole story.

Now, let’s examine how they present in VLD. As an official reminder, please remember that all analysis of VLD is done from a ship-neutral stance and we are not proposing any endgame romances. The sole purpose of this article is to discuss observable portrayals of love in its various forms, and to analyze both the text and the metatextual messages resulting from them.

Eros: Passionate Love

Eros… arguably this is the most contentious form of love presented in VLD, if only because of all the ship wars that occurred in the fandom. Eros drives the shipping communities of fandoms across the world, because it often stems from on-screen chemistry or the potential of the fleeting seconds where a spark flies but does not catch in canon. The beauty of Eros is that it ripples quietly through fiction, or it can be a tsunami ready to devour the story. It’s the quiet whisper of two women sharing a private moment, to the shouted declarations in the heat of battle. Eros thrums through fandoms in a desperate tempo for seeing a love as passionate as you can feel in characters who may never share more than a glance.

Plato actually had quite the influence on the word “Eros”, because “Eros” or erotic love, was largely regarded as a type of madness brought upon a person by seeing someone whose beauty strikes your heart with an arrow (Cupid’s arrows, anyone?). Eros is the love that drives you to despair if the object of your affections is cruel or uninterested, and it burns like a fire. “Falling in love at first sight” is the key concept here, and you can see it reproduced in fandoms across the world, though many cultures have their own names and terms for it. Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott define “Eros” in A Greek-English Lexicon as “love, mostly of the sexual passion”. Plato, however, redefined the word to include a nonphysical aspect. He discusses it in Symposium and says that while (physical) Eros can be felt for a person initially, with contemplation you can and will fall in love with a person’s inner beauty, which for Plato was the ideal, since he specifically emphasized the lack of importance of physical attraction. In fact, Jung–who coined the Anima and Animus–has a similar approach, with an emphasis on unity within the self by accepting your internal Eros which manifests as your feminine Anima/masculine Animus.

In the text of VLD, Eros is remarkably subdued. This is partially due to its rating. Being a Y7-FV show, VLD can’t really have explicitly sexual content. Sure the implication can exist, but a lot of times sex has to be carried through metaphor if a story is to address it at all. Take the juniberry as an example. It’s a three-petal flower of a deep rose and softer pink, delicately topping a green stem, with a yellow pistil. In much of literary history, flowers represent female sexuality and beauty, and they are common representations of youth across genders.

Now, in strictly biological terms, flowers as a sexual symbol is a 1:1 accuracy in analysis, because the flower is the reproductive organ of a plant. I’d like to analyze the juniberry from a biological perspective, because understanding the anatomy of a flower can help us understand its role in literature as a metaphor for sex. The whole point of the flower is to be able to spread pollen across individual plants, whether by wind or by pollinators such as bats or bees, and breed to produce more plants. The actual reproductive organs of flowers are called the stamen and pistil, respectively. The stamen produces pollen, while the pistil collects pollen in its ovule to fertilize and create seeds. A stamen is a very slender filament, topped with what’s called an “anther”, which is where the pollen is actually released. The pistil, meanwhile, has a thicker base with a long body, usually topped with a few tendril-like structures called “stigma”.

Diagram by the Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants [ID: A simple cross-section diagram of a flower. Three petals are visible on the far side, with reproductive organs drawn in the center. There is also a stalk and sepals at the bottom. Along the sides of the cross-section there are labels. On the left, a category called “Stamen” is labeled, with “Anther” and “Filament” pointing to two parts of the thinner reproductive organ. “Receptacle” marks the base of the flower, and “Peduncle (flower stalk)” marks out the stem. On the right, we have the label “Petal” and three labels under the category “Pistil”: “Stigma”, pointing to the top portion, “Style” pointing to the stem-like feature, and “Ovary” pointing to the rounded bottom. The label “Sepal” marks the leaf-like structure just under the petals. End ID.]

Now, when we look at the juniberries we see in canon, we can see that at no point are any drawn with stamens. They all have a single pistil growing from the center, and they’re topped with three stigma, meaning that all juniberries drawn on-screen are female juniberries.

Juniberries are a quintessential symbol of Altea, and they represent home to Allura, as well as what she’s lost. However, they also represent how Allura’s relationship to her own femininity is not some mystical thing determined by forces beyond her. Colleen gifts Allura a juniberry that was selectively bred from flowers she had available, and it’s identical in every way (that we can see) to the juniberries native to Altea. The message, though it’s subtle, is quite clear: Allura is in control of her femininity and can define herself however she pleases (“highlands poppy” versus “juniberry”). After the sexual undertones that threaded her relationship with Lotor, this is a very important message to convey, especially since a patriarchal story would punish Allura for the metaphorical sex in physical ways, such as how the season 8 on Netflix does.

Allura isn’t simply a vessel for male desire, nor is she a strong female character who doesn’t need a man. Her story is about finding agency separate from male expectations, without forsaking her own femininity in the process. Like the juniberry, she is feminine, but she is able to define herself, and the dark entity masquerading as Lotor reminds her of that with their conversation about calling the juniberry a “highlands poppy”. That’s what makes Lotor so dangerous to a traditional patriarchal values system: he reminds Allura that she has a choice.

It’s important to note that during their interactions Lotor never gives Allura a choice in the sense that he, a man, is allowing her one; he simply steps back and encourages her to make the choices to which she is entitled and to act on her emotions and desires. She is an agent of her own free will, and Lotor, being first her Shadow, challenges her to be smarter, quicker on the battlefield, and then as her Animus he challenges her to look inward and become in-tune to her own inner wants and needs. The other Paladins can offer some aid in that, but none of them strike her anxieties or hopes the way that Lotor can, being the crown prince and heir to her sworn enemy, and being half-Altean and half-Galra. He is, in a fundamentally physical way, the union of two races that were at war before Altea’s destruction, and to a survivor of that war, that forces Allura to question the beliefs she held in the beginning of the story. The stakes of success and failure are much higher with Lotor in the picture, and it’s easier to focus literary tension on two characters than five or six, so as a result of that persistent tension, we as the audience are given plenty of chemistry between two characters to spur Eros.

As we discussed last year in “Legendarily Defensive: Editing the Gay Away”, Keith was meant to have a gay relationship with another Paladin. We refuse to write conjecture on what his endgame romance was meant to be, however it is important to discuss Keith’s Eros in a metatextual sense. For example, let’s look at Keith and Shiro. Keith is a legacy character that dates all the way back to 1984 Defender of the Universe. His romantic subplot was relegated to excised footage and extremely subtextual if it managed to squeak past the axe. Shiro was able to be queer, however, due to the fact that he’s a DreamWorks-owned character who is new to the franchise, meaning that there isn’t a legacy that needed to be upheld.

Keith’s queerness, however, still acts as a spur to fuel the potential for Eros, and helps build tension between him and his fellow male Paladins. And I specify male Paladins because during season 2, Keith and Allura go off in a pod by themselves to see if Zarkon is tracking either of them. During the scenes with Keith and Allura together, it’s important to note the background music is remarkably flat and lacking in romantic cues. In prior iterations of Voltron, Keith and Allura are implied as endgame (DOTU), have the beginnings of an on-screen romance (VForce), or straight up just fuck on the page (such as in the comics). It stands to reason that this scene should at least imply some form of passionate chemistry here, but largely it’s two friends confiding in one another and trying to find reassurance as they confess their fears. Keith doesn’t have a moment to admire Allura’s beauty the way we see Lance and Matt do, and Allura doesn’t blush like how she does with Lotor or Lance. Without markers for any kind of Eros, the scene is a quiet moment of contemplation away from the stress, only to be broken by Shiro telling them to get back because the Galra Empire found the Castleship again.

So then where do we see passionate chemistry for Keith? At the risk of starting the ship-war again, his chemistry largely exists with Shiro and Lance. Shiro, narratively, functions as his Mentor, someone to guide and believe in him, who then gives up his position of leadership (sort of) so that Keith can grow. Bringing Shiro back prematurely makes it harder to see, but in a traditional Hero’s Journey, the Mentor figure teaches not-quite-enough to the Hero before disappearing, and the Hero grows on their own and becomes their own person. Naturally, this makes Keith and Shiro have tension, especially since Shiro was brought back prematurely due to marketing, so their relationship dynamic had to change to accommodate Shiro’s return. Lance, however, constantly baits and teases Keith, and Keith frequently rises to it and they argue. They butt heads and don’t have that sense of camaraderie that Keith and Shiro do, so right off the bat there is more obvious tension between the two of them. Eventually, Lance and Keith learn to trust each other, and in season 8 we finally see them settle their rivalry as they prepare to face Honerva. So while Keith’s dynamic with Shiro is more focused on camaraderie and growth, Keith’s dynamic with Lance is more focused on pushing each other to be better warriors and teammates.

Philia: Friendly Love

In VLD, we’re shown that friends can be found anywhere if you’re willing to put down the blasters and try to make them. We’re also shown that just because you’re on the same side of the battlefield, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re best buddies. Commander Lahn pledges his loyalty to Lotor after his base is saved by Voltron, and Keith and Lance butt heads so often you’d think one would sooner drop the other into a black hole. However, we should never discount the power of friendship, or rather, we should never discount the value of platonic relationships. This includes everything from friendship, to the found family trope, to the mystical bond the Paladins have with their Lions. Philia is the companion’s love, firmly rooted in platonic–and often intellectual–admiration.

Philia, as defined in A Greek-English Lexicon by Liddell and Scott, is “an affectionate regard or friendship, usually between equals”. Where Eros is the fiery passion between sexually-attracted adults, Philia is the platonic love between people who respect and trust each other. This is the love that flows like water, endlessly filling and refilling your emotional needs with good company, good advice, and generally just a good presence. Friendships are the ports we anchor ourselves at when the seas become too rough, and in VLD, where space is the most dangerous frontier and most of the universe is your enemy, friends are more important than ever for our Heroes and Heroines.

[ID: A screenshot of S4E1 “Code of Honor” with Allura, Lance, Coran, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk sharing a group hug with Keith. Coran, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura are all crying, while Keith, Shiro, and Lance are smiling. End ID.]

Everywhere you look in VLD, you’re sure to find some kind of camaraderie between friends. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk make the Garrison Trio (or as I like to call them, The Planck Constant), and they get into shenanigans together. In fact, it’s entirely likely that had Lance and Hunk not decided to follow Pidge up to the roof, they never would’ve found Shiro, and subsequently Blue Lion. Later, when Voltron has allied with Lotor as the new Galra Emperor, they reprogram a sentry to become the eternally-fantastic Funbot. If you want a prime example of the fun that could be had between friends, those three are quintessential to the definition of Philia. They’re the first Youths you meet in the story, and it’s through their eyes we watch as a far-off intergalactic war comes to Earth at last. The show has us follow them as the audience, and we watch as they meet up with Keith, save Shiro, and then find themselves going from Earth to Kerberos in less than five minutes, and then by the end of their day, they’ve awoken Allura and Coran and are on Arus, thousands of lightyears away from their home.

We see the Paladins go from a rowdy group of teenagers with Shiro as the head to a group of five Heroes and Heroines capable of saving the universe. Lance helps Pidge get all the GAC coins she needs for a video game, and he’s always got the team’s back with his sniper rifle. Hunk always is ready to lend a hand, even when he’s scared of flying Yellow, but when the Taujeerans are in danger of falling into the acid as their planet breaks apart, he’s right there holding them up while the team gets the arc ship ready for takeoff. Our Paladins are the embodiment of the power of friendship, trust, and perseverance, and it’s that tenacity and dedication that should have carried our six Paladins to victory and brought the Purple Paladin back into the light he thought had forsaken him. Black, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Purple, and White, together in a bond of pure platonic love. There’s an old phrase I’m sure you’re all familiar with: “blood is thicker than water”. The power of Philia and found family in VLD challenges that notion in the original S8 when Lotor is offered his vindication. “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”

Pick any two of our main protagonists and you’re sure to find a thread of Philia connecting them, because when you fight together as one, you inevitably become closer as the trust builds between you. In fanfic terminology, this is the root of the found family trope: strangers and friends finding themselves in a gripping adventure together, and discovering that they’re stronger together than they could be apart, and coming to see these people as more than colleagues or acquaintances. They become your family and people to defend, and the people you trust to have your back when it’s time to face down an enemy together.

That’s part of why Keith leaving for the Blade of Marmora is so fractious. He’s growing into a leadership role and obviously accustomed to it, but with Shiro’s premature return, there’s some growing pains as the incumbent leader and the former leader unintentionally butt heads. Keith needs to be in Black Lion without Shiro to complete his growth, but without a way to easily integrate him back into the team without messing with the legacy, Keith has to go. And like with any good friend, when you have to say goodbye, it’s a bittersweet affair. The team doesn’t want him to go, but in-canon he feels he can do more good with the Blade, but the meta reason is that his Hero’s Journey has been arrested. But, like with any good friend, the team is able to reunite with him at a later date and he integrates back into the group. They are wiser to the world, harder, but they are together again. And they need that unity when it’s time to face Honerva and go into battle for not just their universe, but all realities.

Storge: Familial Love

In English, we have many concepts of love, but generally we only treat the single word of “love” as a word for “love”. As a result, we tend to use other words to modify the type of love we mean, which can get things kind of sticky if you talk about X type of love but don’t specify that it’s X type and not Y type. With familial love, it can be relatively understood without being specified, but as you can see by my explication here, I still have to modify the word “love” with an adjective to describe the next kind of love I will be discussing. Storge, the familial love.

A Greek-English Lexicon defines Storge as “love, affection, especially of parents and children”. Storge, unlike Philia, is not a platonic admiration for a companion in the family, however it does denote respect. Storge is also not the idealized unconditional love of Agape (which we will discuss toward the end of this essay). Storge is the instinctive love for those in your family, especially between parents and children. I also argue the key aspect of Storge is that your family–for all the times you want to tear out your hair–will love you for the rest of their lives. And you’ll love them, because they’re people who have your best interests at heart, even if they don’t always express that well.

Coran, Coran, the gorgeous man himself is Allura’s second father figure (after Alfor), but he’s the only father figure for Allura in the show that’s alive. Coran’s protectiveness of Allura is well-documented. He was furious when she got captured saving Shiro, he warns her to be careful healing the Balmera, he worries for her in Blue, but at no point does he actually prevent her from making her choices. He wants her to have a full life, a happy life, or at least as happy as one can be when you’re one of the only survivors of a war. He’s a father through and through, and even if Allura is Alfor’s daughter by blood, Coran is the one who supports her during the most difficult stage of not just her life but the universe’s life. He loves her, he consistently reminds people to respect her and to think of what’s best for her. Not just as a princess of Altea or the heart of Voltron, but as a daughter. Alfor was her father, but he died before he saw her face the trials in the plot. Coran, however, he gets to see her grow into a woman even greater than what Alfor could have ever imagined. The audience might find him a little frustrating (such as in S8E1 “Launch Date”), and Allura takes his protectiveness in stride, but at the end of the day Coran is a gorgeous man with his heart in the right place, even if his execution is a little off the mark on occasion.

The Holt parents are also good examples of Storge. We see Colleen and Sam fight to tell Earth about what’s been going on, as well as finding their children. Colleen herself is a solid mama bear that anyone would want to have fighting for them in their corner, and we can see she gives no fucks about protocol when she’s told she can’t stay on Garrison grounds with her husband.

[ID: Colleen Holt glaring, her husband Sam behind her looking equally annoyed. She glares at Admiral Sanda (off-screen) as they argue. The subtitle reads, “You’ll get me the clearance.” End ID.]

While Colleen doesn’t hesitate to ground Pidge for running away to space, the fact of the matter is that she and Sam fought like absolute hell to protect their kids in the ways they had available to them. Storge is the love parents have for their children and these two human characters are the perfect examples of it, even if Pidge chafes a bit under being grounded. Sam and Colleen’s love for Pidge and Matt and Coran’s love for Allura are the perfect avenues to explore how Storge is love, even if it’s frustrating, but they also serve as an excellent foil for how that love can be horribly twisted.

Philautia: Self-Love

In S1E1 of VLD, when our human protagonists meet Allura, Sendak is barreling through open space to their location and hellbent on capturing the Blue Lion. Allura is able to talk to Alfor–or rather, his hologram–to seek guidance in the upcoming battle, and he says, “You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the lions and correct my error.”

With VLD, there’s this idea of sacrifice, of giving your life for the greater good, but when discussing acts of love, we also need to talk about acts of love for yourself. We see many instances of characters sacrificing themselves for the greater good, the belief that their death will bring an eventual victory to the Paladins of Voltron and free the universe. Allura throws Shiro into an escape pod so he doesn’t have to suffer the abuse again, but in the process becomes a prisoner herself. Ulaz gives up his life to save the Paladins and keep the Blade of Marmora base secret. Thace sacrifices himself so that Galra Central Command can go offline and the plan can move forward. Keith nearly kills himself trying to break through Haggar’s barrier at the battle of Naxzella before Lotor intervenes and destroys the ship with a blast from his Sincline ship. Sacrifice is a massive part of the show, and needless sacrifices are always undone, but what message do continuous sacrifices leave us with as the audience? It leaves us with Alfor’s lesson: you must sacrifice everything to correct my mistake.

When you’re writing, one of the most basic things you must do to drive a plot forward is change something significant. In the beginning of a story, Character A might think Character B is wrong and has no idea of what it takes to do something, but then Character B later on needs to surprise Character A by proving they can do that thing or that they don’t need to. It forces Character A and the audience to rethink their initial assumptions, and it encourages tension and dialogue between characters that otherwise might not exist. It’s an internal motivation, and one that audiences will pretty much always find more gripping and compelling than a simple monster-of-the-week scenario. VLD is no different. “All Galra are bad/Altea is good” leads to meeting the Blade of Marmora and Alteans who took over their universe. The challenge to a character’s worldview is what makes turning these initial ideas on their head so satisfying.

So what could challenge the idea that you have to sacrifice everything? Especially to correct the mistakes of someone else?

Love. Not for others, not for family, not even for the greater good.

But for yourself.

To quote Audre Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Philautia is the love in which you put yourself first, not because it’s selfish, but because it’s self-care. Self-love is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “an appreciation of one’s own worth or virtue” and Philautia has been recognized for millennia as a basic human need by the likes of Maslow and the Ancient Greeks. Recognizing your own needs and worth is a fundamentally radical decision, especially if you are in a position where you’re expected to prioritize the needs of others before your own.

S1E1 of VLD offers us pretty much every worldview that gets challenged later on in the series, except for Alfor’s. We see Alteans can be equally cruel, that Galra are not all evil. Voltron is a great protector, but it is also a great weapon, and Keith even calls it an alien warship in the very beginning, highlighting the danger Blue–and consequently Voltron itself–poses by merely existing. Philautia is not the exertion or prioritization of your desires, but the assertion of your needs. It can easily swing too far into selfishness and vanity, but making yourself heard is never a bad decision, and for those who are marginalized, women, trans people, disabled people, neurodivergent people, nonwhite people, it is an act of defiance. The sins of people in positions of power are not the burden for their victims to bear. If protesting is too much or too burdensome, simply taking the time to care for oneself is enough, because you can’t pour water out of an empty cup. Alfor’s plea to Allura was always meant to be overturned with the finale, especially since she’s facing down the antithesis of everything she believed in season 1. Honerva is selfish, manipulative, abusive, and an Altean woman. Alfor would ask Allura to give up everything she has left to destroy Honerva, but in the original and unedited season 8 Allura would have taken that plea and turned it on its head.

VLD’s Princess Allura is the first and only iteration to be a nonwhite girl and voiced by a black woman. Having her sacrifice herself is an extremely harmful message to little girls of color everywhere because it’s not the burden of girls of color to save the world. Their duty is to love themselves and know they’re able to be as brave and kind and intelligent as they’d like. Princess Allura’s arc is about a girl learning to not shoulder the burden of violence, but instead choosing to relieve herself and choose healing and creation, and in turn, her reward would be the literal universe at her fingertips.

And Allura isn’t the only character to learn to love themselves. Lance, as well, learns to become comfortable with himself. At first he’s comfortable and cocky and immature in Blue Lion, but then as the seasons progress and he finds Red to be more of a challenge, he learns he has to follow through with his actions and decisions. He learns that to fly Red, he can’t hesitate and just has to roll with the punches. He dubs himself “the sharpshooter” of the group, and at first he gets laughed at, but then he saves Slav from being trapped in prison once more by firing and making a near-impossible shot. He doesn’t have to forge ahead and fight recklessly, he simply has to see an opportunity and take it.

All our other Paladins learn to become more comfortable with themselves, as well. Hunk becomes more confident in being the voice of reason, and becomes an A+ diplomat in the process. Pidge is able to open up and be honest with her team about her secrets and fears, and in return is blessed not just with that weight off her shoulders, but the knowledge that her team is her family just as much as Sam and Matt are. Keith, too, learns that he doesn’t have to go it alone all the time. He’s able to relax and trust his team, and rather than burdening himself with doing everything, he’s able to rely on the skillsets of the other Paladins and make them a stronger team by focusing his attention on directing them, as opposed to commanding them.

Another interesting example of Philautia is Lotor himself, who at no point is uncomfortable with his mixed heritage, even when he’s called a “half-breed” or when one of his parents blames half of his heritage for his failings. The main reason that it’s not as blatant is because by the time the story begins, he’s been at peace with his heritage and his place in the Galra Empire for a long time, and thus does not play a significant role until he has his breakdown at the end of season 6.

This form of love is quite possibly the most frustrating, if only because so much of its payoff was in season 8. We should see Allura not give up her life in the name of sacrifice, but rather choose to become a goddess in the name of love. We should see Lance become unshakably confident in his abilities when it’s time to face the biggest bad guy of the series. The final season was meant to be a season won through love, and self-love is quintessential to that victory, because it gives viewers the message that your acceptance of yourself is vital to the world. It’s an important lesson for little girls everywhere to know that their worth doesn’t lie in how much of themselves they can give away, but how much of themselves they cultivate and grow, because if you trust in yourself and choose love, then you’ll be as powerful and strong as Princess Allura. It’s possible to be the brave and chivalrous Paladin while also being the princess who likes the occasional sparkly thing.

The lesson of Philautia in VLD is one of embracing your limits of what you can give, and reminding the world that you matter, because loving yourself is the greatest act of defiance when you’re faced with an enemy who wants nothing more than for you to make yourself smaller, weaker, more amicable if it would please them. It’s the reminder to be gentle with yourself, no matter what battles you face, because caring for yourself is just as–if not more–important.

Xenia: Love for the Stranger

Hospitality is a massive part of many cultures, I personally had a relative (who has since passed) who would always have an open door for the poor families in their neighborhood and the stove would always have something cooking. My own mother will cook especially for you if you need her to. There’s a reason “Southern hospitality” is famous. Good food, good company, and ultimately safety are what sets Xenia among the categories of love as defined by the Ancient Greeks. In VLD, this form of love is very sparse in comparison to love such as Philia, however it’s extremely important that our heroes engage in it. To quote Coran, “70 percent of diplomacy is appearance. Then 29 percent is manners, decorum, formalities and chit-chat” (“Changing of the Guard”). The remaining one percent, which Allura notes, is actual diplomacy and fighting for freedom. That’s essentially what hosting, good and proper hosting, is. It’s taking someone into your home and providing them with material comforts and necessities such as food, as well as non-physical ones like safety or protection, or extending and respecting their rights.

A good host will anticipate their guests’ needs because they have a love for their fellow strangers, and they show that love by providing for them. Xenia is the love of the stranger who has taken up space in your home and respecting their need to do so, but it’s also a reciprocal love. By extending your hospitality to a person, they will be more inclined to do the same for you and yours in the future. In Greece it was a complicated dance of gift-giving and receiving, spurred by the belief that one would incur the wrath of a god in disguise. While offending the gods was a big fear, it’s important to remember that good hosting and good guesting will create a deep bond between both parties because you’re respecting one another. Respect your wayward traveler and welcome them into your home, and they will entertain you with tales from far away lands, and in the future you will find a place at their table. Respect your host and the space they provide you, and you’ll receive gifts and care fit for a god. This giving and receiving encourages goodwill between strangers, and providing care to someone you don’t know is an act of love in its own right.

There’s a rule in American food language: “never return an empty dish”. This rule is especially prevalent in the US South and Midwest regions, but the general idea is that when you meet someone new (i.e. a new neighbor) you bring them a dish of something to welcome them and introduce yourself. You make small-talk, help them get acquainted with the area, wish them well, and then go on your merry way. Then, once your new neighbor has settled, eaten the food you gave them, and had time to make something new, they come knocking on your door and return that dish to you with a new food in it.

That’s a facet of what Xenia can encompass, and we see Xenia acted out in three key ways in VLD: Allura recruiting people for the Voltron Coalition, Lotor hosting the Paladins during their alliance, and Hunk showing his care for others through cooking.

Allura, for all her charms, isn’t that great of a diplomat, especially in the beginning of the story. When she meets the Arusians, she accidentally informs them that their dance of apology isn’t enough, which then makes them think they need to sacrifice themselves on a pyre. She thankfully recovers and lets them continue the dance, and then invites them into the Castle of Lions later. With the leaders of the rebel planets, she has a good presence and is rather suave with her guests, however when attention moves off her and onto the Paladins, and when the question of Voltron comes up, it’s extremely difficult for her to take control of the situation again. The loss of Shiro was fresh, and she really didn’t have a good answer that would reveal they couldn’t form Voltron, so she struggled with taking control back. This isn’t an indictment on Allura, but it is meant to point out how Xenia is not easy to learn. As we follow the Paladins, however, Allura gains confidence in her ability to speak publicly, and as they gather more allies it becomes easier for her to encourage alliances. She goes from panicking and trying to keep Arusians from dying to being able to communicate with allies and command a room. Xenia doesn’t come as naturally to Allura as it does to Hunk, and Lotor has had millennia of practice, but the important thing about Xenia is that you extend your hand and make the effort, even if it’s a little clumsy, because in the end you’re caring about strangers and welcoming them into your home and telling them they have a place at your table.

However, where Allura falls short in Xenia, we see both Hunk and Lotor shine. Let’s examine Lotor’s expertise, first.

Lotor is ten thousand years old, and it’s implied he’s spent much of that time playing the political game of the Galra Empire, as well as learning about other planets. It’s canon that he has a thirst for knowledge, and so couple his curiosity with his need to survive a very blood-driven political environment and you have a golden host forged in fire. It’s difficult to surprise Lotor, since he’s pretty much always two steps ahead of everyone. When he forges an alliance with the Voltron Coalition after his victory at the Kral Zera, Lotor has banners hung that bear the same symbol that Zarkon and Alfor fought under, which also adorns the shield on Green’s back. He specifically sought to recall the good times between the Galra and Alteans, and personally greeted the Paladins on his flagship. He encourages the Paladins to explore and use whatever resources they need, because as their host, Lotor–and by extension the entire Galra Empire–is now at their disposal. He’s the ever-perfect host, inviting his lower-ranked guests to make themselves comfortable, and acknowledging Allura’s rank as princess and personally escorting her along. In a lot of other high fantasy or sci-fi stories, showing the heroes around would get palmed off to a servant of some sort, especially if the host is duplicitous. However, Lotor affords our Heroes and Heroines quite a bit of respect compared to what other characters in his place might do, even going so far as to offer his own personal time to the princess when he has an empire to claim still. Given the canon politics, Lotor logically should have been in constant communication with various officers and securing their loyalty to him, but instead he takes time to approach his new allies and make them feel welcome in the headquarters of their former-enemy.

So while Lotor is arguably the best example of good hosting I’ve ever seen in a show (without it turning out to be some sort of ploy), Hunk’s style of Xenia is equally good if in a different way. While Lotor is shown to essentially be a master of decorum, Hunk is a master in the kitchen and the art of making room for everyone at the table. Hunk has only been in space for a few months to a few years (depending on when in the series we’re talking), he hasn’t had the millennia to research planets and learn all their customs, or train in diplomacy to make up for any lack of education. He’s just a guy from Earth who likes to cook and who especially likes to cook for others. In all prior iterations of Voltron, Hunk has always been “the food guy” or “the slightly dumb, but lovable one”. It’s not particularly flattering, and VLD even pokes fun at how flat his character is historically in “The Voltron Show!” by adding fart gag noises. In VLD, however, we see that Hunk is intelligent and brave, if anxious, and he’s more at home in a home than he is in a Lion. Hunk is a good Paladin, but he is quite possibly the best diplomat in the whole show.

A large part of Hunk’s diplomacy lies in listening. When he’s out in the field, he’s quite possibly the best listener out of the entire team. When there are guests on the Castleship, or when the Alteans are on the IGF-Atlas, he doesn’t just listen, he welcomes them. In scenes from season 8, we really get to see this shine, because as Hunk says in “Day Forty-Seven”, “food has a way of reminding people of moments in time.” Bringing good memories with food can go a long way to putting stress and anger behind people.

Every person has a dish that, when prepared, makes them relax and think of happy memories. In Hunk’s kitchen, everyone eats, and nobody is unwelcome. Whether you’re Commander Lahn and working with Hunk to save your planet from devastating radiation, or you’re an Altean who just wants what’s best for your people, Hunk will meet you halfway and try to see things from your perspective, and offer you a cookie because he feels like it. Hunk’s Xenia is not wrapped up in protocol or etiquette. His Xenia is found just across the kitchen table, with a plate of warm food and a friendly conversation, ready to listen to your troubles and offer a hug, if not a solution.

Agape: Unconditional Love

Now that we have discussed the five prior categories of love as defined by the Ancient Greeks, let’s examine Agape, which can be difficult to conceptualize. “Agape” originates a Greek term, however it wasn’t used very often until Christianity came into the picture, and thus it encompasses far more than even xenia does, because while Xenia is love in the form of courtesy to travelers, Agape’s prevalent definition stems purely from the idea that God loves everyone unconditionally. In fact, “agape” is the term used in the Bible to describe the unconditional love of God, but when you translate it to English, the word simply becomes “love”, losing the weight that it carries in Greek.

The idea of unconditional and divine love is not unique to Christianity or the Ancient Greeks. Throw a rock in any direction and I’m sure you’ll find a culture with a similar concept to Agape. The key aspects of unconditional love is that it is sexless–meaning attraction is unnecessary to feel Agape–and that it is founded in goodwill for others. It feels cheap to throw the quote “love thine enemy” around in this section, because that discounts the importance of Philautia as we discussed it earlier in this essay, but at the end of the day that’s what Agape means. The Bible–which influences much of the definition of this kind of love–would have people forgive the ones who do them wrong, but forgiveness does not mean forgetting, and loving someone doesn’t require forgiving them either.

In VLD, a man loved a woman so much he tricked his closest friends and allies into opening a rift in an effort to save her life. In the process, they both died and revived, cursed with immortality and a thirst for destruction. Zarkon was a man who loved Honerva so much that he doomed the known universe to 10,000 years of his tyranny. Honerva, when she regained her memories, sought vengeance against Voltron for not just losing her son, but also because she blames everyone around her for being the reason why her own son rejected her time and time again. Honerva is the antithesis to Allura in pretty much every way, and in the edited season 8, Lotor is condemned to a cycle of abuse because he’s never offered an opportunity to speak, just like how he was violently silenced by his mother when he disobeyed his father on the colony planet in “Shadows”. Honerva, however, is not.

[ID: A screenshot of S8, featuring from left to right: Lance, Keith, Allura, “Shiro”, Pidge, and Hunk. They face Honerva, who is facing away from the audience so we see the back of her head and suit. Screenshot from “Seek Truth in Darkness”. End ID.]

[ID: A shot of “Allura”’s hand grasping Honerva’s wrist and vice versa. Screenshot from “Seek Truth in Darkness”. End ID.]

Allura being a paragon of growing into Philautia gives other characters the ability to do the same, but as @leakinghate notes in “Seek Truth in Darkness”, that is not Allura’s hand, just as that is not Shiro next to Allura in the prior screenshot. Allura is not the one who was most wronged by Honerva. She was asleep and hidden from the universe. Lotor, however, was subjected to centuries of abuse by the hands of his parents.

Agape is a complicated love, one that requires a person to be able to love everyone unconditionally, but love does not necessarily mean “forgive and forget”. It’s important that Allura impart the enlightenment she gained on her Heroine’s Journey, because this is the point where she can be at peace and claim her cosmic reward, but she cannot do so without the person who was most wronged being able to face his oppressor: Lotor.

[ID: A close-up shot of Lotor glaring at the audience, with the subtitle text reading, “maybe I will take pity on you when the time comes.” Screenshot from “Seek Truth in Darkness”. End ID.]

As @leakinghate​ pointed out, Allura is the one to use her abilities to restore Honerva’s sense of self, but Lotor being present makes this confrontation all the more poignant and intense. This is the opportunity for us to see Agape in its full glory, but with the edits to the final season it’s a pale shadow of what could have been. The universe is about to be reborn because Allura and Lotor stay behind to repair the rift in all realities. We need that Philautia that Allura is able to embody, but we also need Agape. We’re shown countless times throughout the show that good and evil are not so clearly delineated, and that there are shades of gray everywhere. Lotor has been hurt so much by the one person alive who should have loved him unconditionally.

And rather than continue the cycle of abuse and take vengeance, he chooses to let go. We should have seen him take his power back, not in a godly or violent sense, but his power over his fate. He is not his father. And he is not his mother. He is more. By confronting her in this rift of all realities, we see the foreshadowing of season 6 come into full swing and while we are missing much of that original sequence between him and his mother, it’s important to realize that regardless of the content that was removed post-production, he takes pity on his mother in a sense. She’s a flawed person who made bad decisions. He does not owe her forgiveness, and he does not owe her love, but in her finally letting go of not just him but all the spirits of the original Paladins, Lotor himself is able to be free to love in the way he was denied: unconditionally.

The universe needs people who love themselves enough to choose a path of peace, and it needs to be made with the unconditional love of a parent, a friend, a lover, a god. It needs the eternal goodwill of its new creators because the people of the new universe will fuck up. They’ll make mistakes and hurt each other and Weblums will eat planets and the circle of life will continue. But being able to look at the fucked-up universe and say “I love you” is a power that not many have. It takes courage to look at the universe that has wronged you, wronged billions, hurt the found family that’s accepted you, and still find a way to love it.

The new universe is made of love just as the old one was. It’s made with passion, for friends, for family, for strangers, and for yourself. It’s made by people with love and hope and the intent to make the world they live in a little better every day. And that, ultimately, is the true love that spurs the story of VLD forward.

Stay tuned for a companion meta soon, in which we will discuss these forms of love and how they can be twisted and taken to unhealthy extremes.

Works Cited

Dos Santos, Joaquim and Montgomery, Lauren. Voltron: Legendary Defender. Netflix.

LeakingHate, et. al. “Legendarily Defensive: Editing the Gay Away in VLD”. Team Purple Lion. 12 Mar 2019. Web. https://www.teampurplelion.com/gay-romance-cut-voltron/

LeakingHate, et. al. “Seek Truth in Darkness”. Team Purple Lion. 2 Mar 2019. Web. https://www.teampurplelion.com/seek-truth-in-darkness/ Liddell, Henry and Scott, Robert. “Eros”. A Greek-English Lexicon. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De%29%2Frws

Liddell, Henry and Scott, Robert. “Philia”. A Greek-English Lexicon. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dfili%2Fa

Liddell, Henry and Scott, Robert. “Storge”. A Greek-English Lexicon. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dstorgh%2F

“Self-love”. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-love

Payne, Will. “Botany for the Beginner”. Australian Plants Online. 2006. http://anpsa.org.au/APOL2006/aug06-s1.html

Potter, Ben. “The Odyssey: Be Our Guest With Xenia”. Classical Wisdom Weekly. 19 April 2013. Web. https://classicalwisdom.com/culture/literature/the-odyssey-be-our-guest-with-xenia/

@leakinghate​ @crystal-rebellion​ @felixazrael​ @voltronisruiningmylife​

[communisticrevolution]

I wrote another essay about homoeroticism - this one’s on The Great Gatsby

I’m not sure if anyone cares about this because I can’t envision The Great Gatsby fandom being as desperate for such content as the Lord of the Flies one, but I hope that anyone who can be bothered to read enjoys it! Thank you for all the positive feedback, and check out The Great Gatsby if you haven’t already :))

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Although on a purely superficial level, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a blatantly obvious examination of the American Dream, the shallowness of the upper classes, and the underlying corruption and hedonism perpetually underpinning affluent 1920s society, an alternative and previously analysed reading of the novel lies partially below the surface, yet evident enough to possess a significant critical following. This theme is, undeniably, homoeroticism, perhaps hidden and coded implicitly within the text to disguise still criminalised components, but crucially important, particularly from the perspective of understanding Nick Carraway’s narration, and the nature of his conspicuous bias towards Jay Gatsby which skews his reliability significantly when recognised by the reader. Despite his proclamation at the end of Chapter 3 stating that his ‘cardinal virtue’ is that he is ‘one of the few honest people that I have (he has) ever known,’ from the beginning of his subjective account of events, his descriptions of others suggest that his statement of being ‘inclined to reserve all judgments’ on the first page is contradicted by his profiling of others, both physically and in regards to their personalities. This is almost relentless and lacking in exclusive scrutiny, offering an insight which appears to be detached, consequently lulling the reader into believing Carraway’s points surrounding his allegedly objectively accurate retelling of the summer – however, even before this, Nick admits the one major and vital fault of his perception, which is Gatsby. Even as it becomes clear to all parties that Gatsby is, in many ways, extremely morally flawed (he is an illegal bootlegger by profession, he is obsessive and somewhat manipulative of Daisy, he facilitates and encourages her infidelity, he is fixated on materialistic wealth, and he frequently lacks consideration for others if it ensures his ability to pursue his ambitions), to Nick, he represents ‘everything for which I have (he has) unaffected scorn.’ For our narrator, this character is symbolic of hope, success, and romance, and when the inherently decaying American Dream inevitably collapses, as exhibited by Gatsby’s murder towards the end of the plot, Nick’s portrayal in hindsight is not altered by Jay’s faults, but by his positive attributes. Prior to a genuine introduction with a scene involving the two, Nick writes that ‘there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life,’ and this permeates all. Regardless of whether or not the assumption is made that Nick is describing merely Gatsby’s metaphorical and figurative role in the story, it is clear since the book commences that his perception of the titular man could, in many ways, be interpreted as one of intense passion and attraction, far beyond the platonic relationships he has with other individuals, and later extending to him conveying the physical beauty that is highly appealing to him concerning Gatsby. Even Nick’s love interest, Jordan Baker, is not exempt from his reproval, and is, in fact, articulated to be ‘dishonest,’ with negative and emotionally lacklustre depictions that prompt questions surrounding the easily debatable strength and plausibility of his romantic interest in her.

One major scene that is consistently referenced and considered to be majorly indicative of Nick’s sexual orientation occurs very early on into the novel towards the end of Chapter 2 – it is incredibly subtle and often overlooked especially by first time readers due to the cryptic nature of its language and the seemingly comparatively unimportant series of events that ensue. In fact, one could argue that there is generally very little need to include such a scene, and thus contemplate why Fitzgerald decides to do so regardless. Usually, from a literary perspective, for something to be rendered worthy of inclusion, it must serve to develop plot, characters, or a specific setting and atmosphere in adherence to overriding themes, and the focus upon Nick, still as a relatively submissive bystander who is simultaneously immersed enough to offer a narrative insight, indicates that the only feasible value available must be revolving around his character development. The plot is not advanced as the occurrences are entirely overlooked and left with no true contextual repercussions, and the setting at this point is not focal nor enhanced with adjectives and figurative language that would suggest a distinct relationship between the whole surrounding set of dates and the West and East Egg regions which become recurring areas with allocated symbolic values, and ergo this being the reason.

Here, most notably, Fitzgerald must be attempting to prove or infer something about Nick Carraway, which I believe, largely due to substantial implicit evidence within the text, to be referring primarily to one of the many factors culminating to formulate his broad unreliability; a sense of sexual ambiguity, and the blatantly apparent evasion and withholding of information, but still without avoidance of the subject in its entirety, implied by the use of ellipses to signify both time passing and suppressed detailing of the true events. In regards to homoerotic subtext, this component potentially begins with the description of Mr McKee, the character that Nick purportedly has an affair with, as ‘pale’ and ‘feminine’ upon first encounter, two adjectives directly referencing a lack of masculinity and, in turn, the stereotype of effeminate fragility typically associated with homosexual men. His involvement in the ‘’artistic game’’ has, again, subtextual connotations with homosexual and, possibly to a lesser extent, bisexual males, as the following of artistic pursuits was perceived to be more traditionally feminine, and perhaps later adhering to forms of aestheticism and the almost synonymously analogous and prominent figure of Oscar Wilde, who was and still is renowned for both aesthetic and philosophical reasons and his historical persecution for gross indecency. With this evocation of Mr McKee in mind, suggesting his lack of conformity to societal norms through sexual deviation, at around 10 o’clock, Nick wipes ‘from his cheek the spot of dried lather’ that had ‘been bothering him’ over the course of the evening, a remarkably intimate gesture, and an otherwise broadly inexplicable fixation within the context of this man’s likely homosexuality. Later, Mr McKee proceeds to leave the room, and Nick follows without hesitation, implying almost a non-verbal communication which results in the scene in the elevator, laden with highly euphemistic linguistic choices. Mr McKee uses the command ‘Come to lunch with me some day’ in a manner reminiscent of an individual asking another out in a cryptically heteronormative tone, coupled with the pair ‘groaning’ down the elevator, a verb synonymous with overtly sexual onomatopoeia. Nick agrees, saying he’ll ‘be glad to,’ perhaps an admission to both the reader and Mr McKee that the feeling implied by the latter is to some extent reciprocated, indicating that Nick himself is not heterosexual. Just before this, a ‘lever’ is incorporated which Mr McKee is shunned for allegedly touching, seemingly a clear phallic symbol due to its vague resemblance of a penis, reinforcing the layers of homoerotism and the ambiance leading up to a romantic or sexual encounter involving the two characters that have distanced themselves from the overwhelming group, potentially a metaphor for the exclusion and separation of the LGBT community necessary for protection in an intolerant outside world. This scenario, abruptly led and finished with a series of ellipses, concludes with Nick, our narrator, ‘standing beside his (Mr McKee’s) bed,’ as Mr McKee is ‘sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in his hands.’ Nick ends up at a train station waiting for the ‘four o’ clock train,’ leaving what truly happened with Mr McKee largely a mystery, but the aforementioned’s nakedness and the presence of a bed, as well as the feasibly metaphorical ‘portfolio,’ all indicate that a sexual encounter took place between the two, as little other explanation is given for the passing of six hours shown to have been almost exclusively in each other’s company. As always, Nick’s bystander-esque lack of involvement even in situations centring predominantly around him leaves room for plausible deniability; maybe the scene is exclusively a reflection on Mr McKee’s sexual orientation and subsequent moral perversion, or, more significantly, Nick’s willingness to go along with anything without reaffirming his own beliefs or desires, painting him as a fully submissive and detached narrator. Regardless, this relatively brief passage is undeniably dense in highly homoerotic content, portraying Nick largely as a closeted homosexual (or simply a heterosexual man who had a short and sexually intimate relationship with someone of the same gender, but this is far more difficult to believe in the surrounding circumstances), with this conveying an image of both and unreliable narrator and one who could conceivably be infatuated with the protagonist (Gatsby).

Nick’s relationship with Gatsby is vital throughout the novel, in both plot and in how Nick chooses and is capable of narrating a story focusing mainly upon the latter – one which is, evidently, biased invariably in his favour, even amidst ethical decay and his eventual death, which appears to influence Nick far more profoundly than the others, all of whom decide to abandon Gatsby by not attending his funeral as the book comes to a close. Despite the brevity of the period in which they interact and become extremely close, Nick organises the majority of Gatsby’s funeral, as previously mentioned, is loyal to him throughout with consistently lacking personal gain, offers him advice and support, and after his death, decides to write a memoir framing him in an overwhelmingly positive and complimentary manner, one which is likely far from the reality of his existence and impact upon others. Physically, Nick is evidently immensely attracted to Gatsby; when his love interest is given an unenthusiastic paragraph with phrases including ‘I enjoyed looking at her’ and emphasis upon her more masculine features and attributes (‘small-breasted,’ and ‘like a young cadet’), Gatsby’s intrigue is delivered impactfully, with several sentences dedicated to his smile alone, which is stated to have had ‘a quality of eternal reassurance in it.’ The last interaction between Nick and Jay consists of a long and emotional confession delivered by the latter, involving the true history of his origins, a story which he escapes explicitly mentioning, denies, and formulates lies to detract from right up until the end of the text, signifying that the bond established between both men may even be greater than the romanticised superficiality of Gatsby’s infatuation and fixation with Daisy. Whether or not Gatsby ever truly loved her is easy to speculate, with the most common theory being that he was simply enamoured with an idea that he had attached to her for his own sanity and aspirations – in a more uncommon homosexual reading of Gatsby, perhaps he ascribes an idea of the American Dream, wealth, success, and integration with the ‘old-money’ elite to her as a means of distracting from his real sexual and romantic interests, although this is admittedly far from substantiated. Nick finishes the dialogue with allegedly the ‘only compliment I (he) ever gave him,’ which is stated as written: ‘’They’re a rotten crowd,’ I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.’ Gatsby responds to this with his ‘radiant and understanding smile,’ one glimpse of a world in which Nick’s love for him may have not been so apparently unrequited, and potentially a revelation into the growing mutuality of what could have been a romance in different circumstances. Nick’s description of Gatsby and his actions is close to being perpetually complimentary, and usually resumes to this position quickly when it falters, so this reinforces his unreliability and a degree of obliviousness to his own feelings and emotions, whilst simultaneously demonstrating to the reader what is already salient at most levels of observance – that Nick views Gatsby and his worth above all others, including his friend of many years, Tom, his cousin, Daisy, and his romantic interest, Jordan. This level of attraction and love is usually reserved to forms outside of what is known to be platonic, suggesting that what Nick feels for Gatsby also transcends friendship. In Tom and Nick’s last interaction, Tom states that Gatsby ‘threw dust into your (Nick’s) eyes just like he did in Daisy’s,’ conveying that he might himself have deemed Nick and Gatsby’s relationship to be of a similar nature to Daisy and Gatsby’s. Gatsby ‘throwing dust’ into her eyes was a way of performing a romantic illusion that caused her to fall in love with him, implying that Nick also fell in love with Gatsby as he became similarly enchanted by his hope, dedication, and beauty, leading into his romanticised retelling of the man himself.

Ultimately, I personally believe that homoeroticism is definitely existing and, at times, prevalent within The Great Gatsby, and that above all, it is critical to Nick’s characterisation and generating an acceptable explanation of his behaviour and actions, as well as his identity as a character. Many of his attributes, such as his submission and tendency to behave as a bystander in his own life and social interactions, could be found as possessing origins in both a desire to fit in as a social chameleon and avoid extreme scrutiny under the masculine ideal, and also in the repressed identity exhibited by a vast number of sexual minorities in communities and historical contexts of heightened intolerance, where it would be necessary for non-heterosexual individuals to conform to norms and avoid confrontation. In Chapter 7, as Nick remembers that it is his birthday, he reflects on ‘the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know,’ a poignant evaluation to finish this essay with – adhering to his consistent writing style and internal monologue, Nick focuses on men here, not women, avoiding the topic of getting a wife and settling down into the rhythm of 1920s America, and instead accentuating his declining list of opportunities in romantic prospects, as well as concentrating on the ‘promise of loneliness’ that homosexuality undoubtedly was prior to at the very least decriminalisation. He will remain incapable of finding love and fulfilment in the sense that others can with relative ease, and he will continue to restrict his personal identity and expression for safety in the aftermath of the death of arguably his only true friend (and genuine romantic interest), with even Gatsby failing to treat him with equal respect and admiration. Some argue that the true tragedy of The Great Gatsby lies in the story of unrequited love detailed by the narrator, and I would not fully dispute this; this great American novel is, on the surface, a story surrounding the corruption of the American Dream, capitalism, disillusionment, and the ethically abhorrent upper classes, but more obscurely, it could potentially be interpreted as an enlightened representation of closeted sexual identity, genuine love (not concerning Daisy and Gatsby), and unreliability in narration.

[osleyakomwonkru]

hi, for the salty ask list: 1, 5, 10 and 19

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get? /  5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

I’m answering these two questions together, because they very much go together for me, and the answer is: Clexa.

As I’ve mentioned before, I started watching the show between S4 and S5. And before I’d met my infection vector (Ilian and then by extension Octavia), the only thing I’d ever heard about the show was that there was this badass lesbian called Lexa who had this epic romance with an equally badass bisexual Clarke, until Lexa was killed in a particularly tragic case of the Bury Your Gays trope. 

That had been enough to put me off the show initially, since LGBTQ representation and portrayals in media are very important to me. But Octavia’s storyline intrigued me enough that I was like, okay, I’ll give it a shot anyway, and then I went into it all ready to be righteously angry when Lexa died. 

Only... that didn’t happen. I watched the first three seasons, and couldn’t see any sign of that epic romance that fandom had told me about. Clarke and Lexa were actively hostile with each other (well, the hostility was mostly on Clarke’s part) for much of their screentime together. Then things began to soften, and then they slept together, and then Lexa died. This last sentence all happened within the space of three episodes - not a lot of time at all.

Was it a bad case of the Bury Your Gays trope? Oh, for sure. There are a hundred better ways Lexa could have died. But she was always going to. This isn’t a romance tale of happily ever after, and people in her position live dangerous lives, and once she’d been brought into focus she wasn’t a character that could be put Out of Focus again. She wasn’t ever going to survive the plot. Not in this sort of ‘verse.

But fandom had built them up to be this huge epic sweeping romance, when in reality they had very little time together under very trying circumstances. The epic wasn’t there. It was the start of something, which may have turned epic had Lexa lived. But she didn’t and it didn’t, so the idea that it was this grand love that Clarke still mourns intensely years later just doesn’t sit right with me.

I think had fandom been honest about what their relationship was - the start of something then cut tragically short - then I wouldn’t have gone into the show with the expectations I did, and I could have appreciated the relationship for what it was rather than what fandom told me it was. So yeah, fandom ruined Clexa for me.

10.  Most disliked arc? Why?

Bellamy taking Clarkephine on their forest walkabout in S6. And if we want to expand that a bit further, Bellamy’s entire arc with Clarke since the beginning of S5, where he’ll throw everyone else under the bus and even ignore her own wishes to save her from either a perceived or actual threat.

If there *hadn’t* been a six year separation where they each lived very different lives, maybe I could buy it. Maybe. But as it is, especially given that she hasn’t done the same for him? No. The only conceivable explanation - where he’s willing to throw both his blood family and his found family under the bus on a consistent basis for her benefit - is that he’s in love with her. Yet we’re supposed to believe their relationship is platonic, but he does things for her that he won’t do for any other platonic friend - so why is this girl who he’s known personally for mere weeks the one he chooses, especially given he’s repeatedly chosen her over his sister who was the centre of his world for seventeen years, as well as over Spacekru who he lived and formed bonds with for six years? I’m not a Bellarke shipper, but if they’re not supposed to be endgame, I don’t know what the hell they’re doing here. It doesn’t make any sense at all.

Then there’s the overt hypocrisy where he’s ready and willing and wanting to know about and accept what Clarke went through during those six years, but won’t do the same for Octavia. Where he’ll forgive Clarke for what he did to her (no, that’s not a typo, he somehow thinks that he’s the aggrieved party when he’s quite the opposite), but not do the same for Octavia. Where he’ll prioritize Clarke over everyone else, even her own daughter that she’ll risk everything for.

I hate it. Hate hate hate.

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

I have to pick just one? Haha. Well, there are many different ways that I could answer this question, depending on what precisely is meant by “fandom” - does that mean in this context the canon source material, does it mean the fans of the show? Because other questions in this quiz make it sound like it could go either way.

I’m going to go on the “fans of the show” aspect here, since the canon would make me rant for days in many different ways, so let’s stick to fan behaviours.

At which point, I have to go with the rabid shipper behaviour - you know the type, where their every response to JRoth’s Twitter posts is something about their ship, even when the post has nothing to do with any of that. Where they threaten X, Y and Z if their ship doesn’t happen. Where they hate on actors whose characters are standing in the way of their ships.

This is not a romance show. Who is fucking who is not the be-all end-all of the universe. If you’re still reading this post after I’ve already ranted about both Clexa and Bellarke, then I’ll assume you’re probably not one of those rabid shippers. I mean, obviously, love and relationships are a part of life, but the most compelling storylines and story arcs are not about romance. They’re often about how far people are willing to go to save the people they love, but what type of love that is can vary drastically, and more often than not, isn’t based on romance.