#AM I OVERTHINKING THIS…

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

something i noticed

A while back, I wrote this analysis reviewing how unfair the magic education system is in Twisted Wonderland. I would recommend reading that before this post, as it provides tons of context for what I’m about to talk about and add onto the discussion.

In 2-6 of the Tapis Rouge event, Vil has stylists from Luxe, a high end fashion brand, dress up Azul, Jamil, and Ace to be a part of his red carpet entourage. Once the boys come out in their new threads and makeup, Jamil and Azul, two individuals who are meticulous about details, provide some telling commentary.

According to those two, the team of stylists that helped them were mages. Azul further remarks that they were quite skilled mages and that having this kind of talent indicates a “first class brand store”. Their hair and makeup is also suggested to be done via magic, though this service is not normally performed for customers. Previously, we knew that skincare can be infused with magic (Vil does so with his own) and that magic can be used to style one’s hair (Jamil tells us in his Birthday Boy vignettes that he does his intricate hair with magic and used to take far longer with it when he lacked the precision). Idia states in book 6 that Jamil had no formal magic training before NRC, so that means Jamil was self-taught in his hair-handling magic.

… Okay but 😭 WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY ABOUT MAGIC AND CLASS??? Is it just a coincidence that the teams of stylists who staff a high class store are ALL mages? Surely not, given how uncommon mages are in the general population. The store (or maybe the brand itself?) must be going out of its way to hire them because I guess being dressed with magic is a more “luxurious” experience than the normal way. We can also guess from Azul and Jamil’s accounts that the degree of magic these staffers use requires significant skill and precision, which either means they need formal instruction or lots of practice on their own. Neither option is afforded to people with naturally low or no magic reserves at all 💀 meaning jobs like this are gated to mages only.

Now, this doesn’t inherently mean the rich and famous people who frequent these stores are also all mages (Kalim’s dad and Vil’s dad are two non-mages who are extremely wealthy and influential); the majority of them must still be regular people since humans seem to be the majority, and 90% of humans are non-mages. It also doesn’t guarantee that the Luxe stylists are paid more than a non-Luxe stylist (although I do think this is possible for a prestige brand, especially if we factor in commissions on sales).

What’s sticking out to me here is that there exists an association between magic and luxury. The reverse also appears to have some truth based on what little other lore we have; Ruggie states that there are not a lot of mages from his hometown, which could imply a history of non-mages being driven into poorer communities. It all fits together a little too well to seem coincidental… but obviously, Ruggie’s hometown is just one place and could be an outlier rather than the exemplar. We know that most non-mages must live an average lifestyle, not the extremes that Ruggie has experienced. Still, the claim that magic is typically associated with the upper class holds and it continues to be perpetuated in the lore.

Anyway, Fellow and Rollo were right—

[egophiliac]

was this anyone else's first thought, or

[fabuloustrash05]

GUYS! I JUST REALIZED…

BLITZØ LOOKED HIS WAY!!

[teaboot]

dawg it’s not a great look for you as a security guard to joke about a blind guy being a criminal just cuz he was @ the wrong door

I mean that isn't what happened but I get what you mean, if I had been doing that then it would have been a pretty shitty move

My intended focus what the response to my response- the immediate recognition of a personal error? Cause like. I answer the wrong email thread constantly at work, to the point that my coworkers have a very distinct tone when broaching it to me

The only reason I even mentioned his disability was because it was relevant to the context- its kinda hard to mistake an emergency door from a main door unless you can't read the sign, you know?

So to be clear, I was laughing at a man with a disability, but not cause of his disability, or the error he made BECAUSE of his disability, but just. Like. The delivery of his exasperation. Like... "Ah,fuck". A mood I can appreciate. You know

And I COULD have changed details of the story so that it happened with someone who DIDNT have a disability- pretended it was dark or something, or that it was a stranger wandering into the wrong area from inside- but that felt kinda shitty? To erase that there was a guy who was disabled who made a relatable mistake in public?

Like I could totally be wrong here, please correct me if I am, but I felt like avoiding any social contact or association with people posessing physical disabilities would be worse in the long run, so I just. Wrote what happened how it happened

[i-merani]

Should i be upset at my mum for not remembering that its my birthday today considering she might just not know/remember that today is 21st…

[shuaaflower]

I‘m a burden for everyone. I’m even a burden to myself.

[artsymeeshee]

Second-guessing

[beepborpdoodledorp]

this shot has been living rent-fucking-free in my head I want to fucking shout it from the rooftops WHY DOES HE REACH OUT TO HER LIKE THAT. why is it so slow? why does he look so sad?? 'Oh he's just confused' NO AFTER SHE SAYS HIS NAME THAT IS NOT A LOOK OF CONFUSION. THAT IS NOT THE LOOK OF A PANICKED MAN ABOUT TO SPIN WHAT HE THINKS IS THE DELUSIONAL STALKER CASHIER AROUND TO ASK HER WHY THE FUCK SHE KNOWS HIS NAME WHEN THEY'VE NEVER MET BEFORE.

So Pomni understands here it's for the best to let Gummigoo leave because he doesn't remember her. or. OR. he does and can't and/or won't say it. why do you look away for a split second. is it because you are uncomfortable or is it out of shame. do you want to speak but you cannot? do you want to tell her there's the slightest flash of familiarity about her? WHAT ARE YOU NOT TELLING US YOU REPTILIAN PIECE OF SHIT

bro this is not the goodbye you give to the weird stalker girl who's been trying to get your attention the entire time, even if she did seemingly give up on it and just give you a normal farewell. that smile is warm. it's genuine. it's wary but it's understanding. even if ONE TINY FRAGMENT of his memory survived the confetti obliteration, JUST ENOUGH to know this was once his friend and as such he should give her a proper farewell, I can sleep peacefully. but also I just spent the past twenty minutes trying to read the expression of a cartoon candy alligator so clearly I was never sleeping peacefully to begin with. I AM IN PAIN. I AM BY LAW A GROWN ADULT AND THIS IS WHAT I CHOOSE TO DO WITH MY LIFE

[vaguely-concerned]

lucanis' most attractive quality is that he's an effortless 'yes, and -- 'er. he and davrin especially 'yes, and -- ' each other constantly, even at the death threat stage, culminating in the 'first talon first warden' grotesquery (affectionate) as its most potent form once they're over that. few things are as charming to me as a willingness to bond over the bit and boy. when you're making weak jokes while facing down an archdemon lucanis will stand next to you and go 'she didn't want to talk, rook!!' like he was born to do nothing else. and that's part of why I love him

freaked out broken grieving, a wreck of his former self, come hell or high water. within five minutes he will say something that startles me into laughing so hard I have to put the game on pause for a while. only purple hawke can equal him in this regard

the darker side of this is that it is also how he communicates with illario but in a way where they lob resentment and self-loathing disguised as levity back and forth without ever really touching it or bringing it into the light, never leaving space for air to get in to stop the wounds from festering. I think it might have been less like that once upon a time -- just the playful bonding part, the mutual back and forth game of it, and not the wounding, since lucanis keeps doing it with others without that layer to it. sort of like intuiting where a river of love once ran by the evidence it left behind in the landscape, before something slowly dried up and left some toxic sludge behind along the floors of the river valleys

[cybersixed]

You wouldn't last a DAY in the streets I grew up in

[egophiliac]

he's coming

I'M NOT READY

[yourprettyboibutch]

Dear femmes, do you fuck with butches who have dad bods? Butches that have a tummy than abs and toned muscles. Butches who like to eat. Butches that would rather snuggle in and order takeout than hit the gym

Do femmes fuck with such butches (doing this research for scientific purposes)

MEN AND MINORS DNI

[jel-jel-jel]

I have to get these out quick before side order releases

[sacredfixation]

Loki and the Deeply Valid Fear of Being a Government-Issued Android Without Knowing It

Imagine living for over a thousand years, committing intergalactic crimes, then one random underpaid TVA clerk with a monotone voice suddenly introduces the possibility that, oh, by the way, what if you were secretly a robot this whole time? And Loki, who has always carried himself with the absolute certainty of a god, pauses. Like. “Wait. What if I am?”

He hears that question and immediately does a full mental diagnostic. Have I ever glitched? Ever felt oddly mechanical? Experienced an unusual fondness for oil? Maybe he’s too good at lying. Too good at surviving. What if that’s just the programming?

The TVA worker just moves on. He doesn’t elaborate. no reassurances. theres no safety net. Just the terrifying possibility that he might get instantly vaporized for something completely outside his control.

Id like to note, his hesitation isn’t even just some random existential crisis, it’s trauma-informed. This man already lived through the experience of waking up one day and realizing he wasn’t who he thought he was.

He grew up thinking he was a prince, a god, Odin’s rightful son, only to find out he was actually a stolen relic of war. A Jotun. A creature he’d been taught to hate.

He thought he knew himself before, and he was wrong. What if he’s wrong again? What if theres something else about himself thats been hidden? If he didn’t realize he was a Frost Giant, whats stopping him from not realizing he’s actually some highly advanced synthetic being?

It’s not just a funny existential gag, it’s a callback to one of the most devastating truths of Loki’s existence:

He has never really known who he is.

It’s the muscle memory of having his entire identity ripped out from under him. It’s the learned fear of asking, What am I, actually?

Because the last time he asked that question, the answer ruined him.

[shuaaflower]

Sometimes I think about going totally insane, so maybe the people believe me when I say that I’m not doing well.

[hauntedcocoa]

Been trying to practice cartoon style latelyy and I loved iit frr it's fun!