#But giving some context for why he is the way he is

[uncle-fruity]

Decided to read the article. I absolutely believe that what the author calls "male flight" has some validity to it, but it doesn't seem to be a reason men have given themselves, and it seems reductive to put the decline of men pursuing education solely on misogyny. Not to say that misogyny isn't a factor, because I agree that the article's thesis lines up with historical trends of devaluing anything seen as "feminine" work, and I know enough sexist men to know that many do have an aversion to being in anything they consider women's spaces. I'm not sure that I fully agree that the main reason men aren't pursuing education is the kind of direct misogyny described in the article, but I also don't have any evidence to the contrary lined up, and it's certainly within the realm of possibility.

Early in the article, the author lists out other reasons that have been cited to partially explain the decline in men's enrollment:

[Image Transcript: Other reasons I came across while researching for this article include:

-- Men can make more money without a college degree than women can, so women need college more.

-- Higher rates of alcohol, drug use, gangs and prison for boys negate college as a viable option.

-- Colleges are usually left-leaning, so right-leaning students increasingly don't feel comfortable there. And more men than women lean right.

-- Men join the military more than women.

-- A man will sometimes have to provide for wife/kids before he can finish college. /End transcript.]

Unfortunately, the author did not give citations for any of those claims, nor did she spend much time explaining why she thought these reasons weren't major factors -- or not as notable as the reason she gives: the rise of women in higher education. It would have been nice to see where that information was coming from. Particularly the point about higher drug and prison rates would be nice to have some context for. To be fair, there is a section just before the part that I cited that does give some sources for some of the other reasons people have attributed to the decline of male enrollment.

And, actually, to be extra fair, I'm gonna post that part as well, because it might be helpful. So this is the part directly before the passage I just cited:

[Image transcript: The Pew Research Center has found that boys are more likely to think they don���t need a degree for the jobs they want, and when they do enroll in college, work opportunities lure them away.

Ruth Simmons, president of A&M University thinks “the problem is the way we treat our boys in k-12. They turn away from school because of the negative messages they get at school… Behavior that is rewarded for boys doesn’t fit well with good student behavior.”

Another college president, Donald Ruff believes it boils down to money. “Honestly I think it’s the sticker shock. To see $100,000 that’s daunting.” /End transcript.]

I have little to add about this passage, I just thought it would be helpful to include.

The author also does not seem to consider race in her argument beyond drawing parallels between white flight and male flight. As far as I could tell, this article gives few statistics about the races involved. Is the influx of women predominantly white or predominantly non-white? When we talk about men not enrolling, is there any racial element being considered -- are non-white men enrolling at higher or lower rates than they used to? Are we talking primarily white men not enrolling, or is this male flight evenly distributed across racial demographics? How do these demographics play out? Because, to me, it seems like misogyny and racism could both be at play here. If more black women than ever are going to college, it is likely that male flight is in tandem with white flight, but to actually make that claim with any amount of credibility, we would need more information, which the article does not provide/is not focused on.

To be clear, I do not have the answers to those questions. I am merely speculating. This is one of those cases where I'd need to spend more time looking at other sources to get a broader view of the issue, including the sources the author included, the ones she used to support her claims, and the Freakonomics episode she mentions.

On that note, there's this interesting passage, which comes off as sorta... idk... I don't have the exact words for it. Undermining her own point a little? I'll analyze this feeling I have more after the image transcript. (Also, the "they" that is mentioned at the beginning of this passage is referring to the Freakonomics podcast.)

[Image transcript: They mentioned that there is one subset of men who out-enroll women. Which subset might that be?

Gay men.

While only 36 percent of US adults have bachelor’s degrees, 52% of gay men do.

"If America's gay men formed their own country, it would be the world's most highly educated by far.” - Joel Mittleman

At the Joel Mittleman quote in the podcast, I leaned forward…yes… surely now we will wonder why only straight men aren’t attending college… yes? /End transcript]

I feel like this passage gives a passing glance at intersectionality and then just hand waves it away to prove something about straight men. It just strikes me as something that should be explored more if the argument you're making is that men are leaving for misogynistic reasons. Because we should all know by now that gay men are perfectly capable of being misogynistic and that there are definitely gay men who don't want to share spaces with women. Is it that gay men overall tend to be more in touch with or comfortable with femininity, and are therefore less deterred by the presence of women in the classroom? I guess I'm honestly just confused as to how gay men factor into this conversation and why this deviance from the overall trend is not explored. It seems extremely relevant to the conversation?

Also, the article up to this point has been saying that men -- as a general category -- are choosing not to go to college. Is it true that the article is talking about straight men only, as this portion seems to imply? Are we considering gay men as somehow not men or unaffiliated with the rates that men are choosing college? Does the presence of more gay men in academia also mean that this "male flight" is also in part due to homophobia, or is homophobia not being considered as a factor the same way race doesn't seem to have been factored in?

Finally, how do trans men factor into this conversation? Were they counted as women or men? Were they considered at all? If they were, that certainly is not represented here.

So, I guess my overall impression is that this is an interesting and compelling thesis, but the specifics are missing in a way that makes the author's argument fall flat. I think this article would really benefit from a more intersectional approach. I also believe, as with all social issues like this, that the problem is never just one thing, but a combination of things, all of which need to be considered to address the underlying systemic issues that get us to this point. I absolutely believe the author is on to a big part of the problem, but I think her scope is limited and she needs a more solid foundation of information to build her argument on.

Idk. Read the article for yourself and see how it hits.

Why aren't we talking about the real reason male college enrollment is dropping? (Celeste Davis, Oct 6 2024)

"White flight is a term that describes how white people move out of neighborhoods when more people of color move in.

White flight is especially common when minority populations become the majority. That neighborhood then declines in value.

Male flight describes a similar phenomenon when large numbers of females enter a profession, group, hobby or industry—the men leave. That industry is then devalued.

Take veterinary school for example:

In 1969 almost all veterinary students were male at 89%.

By 1987, male enrollment was equal to female at 50%.

By 2009, male enrollment in veterinary schools had plummeted to 22.4%

A sociologist studying gender in veterinary schools, Dr. Anne Lincoln says that in an attempt to describe this drastic drop in male enrollment, many keep pointing to financial reasons like the debt-to-income ratio or the high cost of schooling.

But Lincoln’s research found that “men and women are equally affected by tuition and salaries.”

Her research shows that the reason fewer men are enrolling in veterinary school boils down to one factor: the number of women in the classroom.

For every 1% increase in the proportion of women in the student body, 1.7 fewer men applied.

One more woman applying was a greater deterrent than $1000 in extra tuition! (…)

Since males had dominated these professions for centuries, you would think they would leave slowly, hesitantly or maybe linger at 40%, 35%, 30%, but that’s not what happens.

Once the tipping point reaches majority female- the men flee. And boy do they flee!

It’s a slippery slope. When the number of women hits 60% the men who are there make a swift exit and other men stop joining.

Morty Schapiro, economist and former president of Northwestern University has noticed this trend when studying college enrollment numbers across universities:

“There’s a cliff you fall off once you become 60/40 female/male. It then becomes exponentially more difficult to recruit men.”

Now we’ve reached that 60% point of no return for colleges.

As we’ve seen with teachers, nurses and interior design, once an institution is majority female, the public perception of its value plummets.

Scanning through Reddit and Quora threads, many men seem to be in agreement - college is stupid and unnecessary.

A waste of time and money. You’re much better off going into the trades, a tech boot camp or becoming an entrepreneur. No need for college. (…)

When mostly men went to college? Prestigious. Aspirational. Important.

Now that mostly women go to college? Unnecessary. De-valued. A bad choice. (…)

School is now feminine. College is feminine. And rule #1 if you want to safely navigate this world as a man? Avoid the feminine.

But we don’t seem to want to talk about that."

[pencil-n-pen]

OVERWORKED

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

leon kennedy x fem! reader

summary: You’re still struggling with overworking. Leon shows you when it’s time to take a break.

previous (not required but gives some context)

cw: once again, female pronouns used but reader’s features are not described, some suggestive content, dom! leon much more heavily this time, very not subtle praise kink (use of good girl), pet names, tbh rating COULD be pg-13 but i don’t write nsfw so minors ur fine :) uhhhh non-sexual sub-space if you squint?

tags/tropes: once again hurt/comfort, cuddles, leon being touchy again (reader is just as touchy honestly) soft dom behavior (leon)

a/n: a little continued drabble for those of u who asked/liked the last one !! hope u like it @cherryandsugar <3

MY ELDEST DAUGHTERS WITH PRAISE KINKS MAKE SOME NOISE 🔥🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🗣️💯💯💯

｡𖦹°‧⭑.ᐟ

You’re overworking again.

You don’t mean to, necessarily. It’s just always what you do. Work, work, work. It needs to get done, so you do it. No matter how tired you are, no matter how much you don’t want to do it. No matter how many tears get shed. It needs to get done. You have to do it. So you do it.

Leon’s been taking issue, with it though.

You’re not really sure what you are to each other, yet. He definitely finds you attractive —he tells you pretty much everyday, an almost overuse of words like hot, sexy, cute, amazing, and of course, his favorite; princess.

He occasionally comes over to the place you and a few other girls rent together and does his absolute best to be as distracting as possible. Sometimes he cooks, sometimes he gets touchy, sometimes he just sits on your bed and watches you work which is, in your opinion, by far the worst one.

When he’s not bothering you in the comfort of your own home, he’s sitting next to you in the couple classes you share, a distracting hand on your thigh that he squeezes when you get a question right— something that never fails to make you breathless and dizzy for a few minutes afterwards. Between the sight of his hand engulfing your thigh and the frequency of your correct answers, it’s a miracle you don’t asphyxiate during class.

You did come close, once. It was a week after what you’ve dubbed The Library Incident, and the professor had singled you out as one of his most consistent students when it came to turning in homework. Leon had leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of your ear and whispered, all low and rumbly:

“Good girl.”

You didn’t get a single thing out of the lecture for the rest of class.

(You’d then given him the silent treatment, but he made up for it by you sending you his rather extensive and detailed notes from the lesson with a single text: “Better learn to multitask, princess.”)

So yeah. He isn’t a huge fan of your studying habits. Something he’s made abundantly clear.

“When was the last time you got up?” He grumbles, walking into your room with your now full reusable water bottle. You’d abandoned it in the kitchen a few hours ago. He’s such a stickler about your water intake.

“Who are you, my mother?” You pause, looking up at the mischief in his eyes and the way his mouth is open, poised to say something, likely dirty. “Don’t answer that.”

You reach out with grabby hands towards your water bottle, which you know is filled with some delicious water combination, courtesy of Leon. Shit, he’s Pavlov-ing you into drinking water, isn’t he?

He rolls his eyes, handing you the bottle. “You know, you can make this exact same water yourself with the items in your fridge. Which I put there. For you. To use. Yourself.”

“You make it better,” You answer smoothly, ignoring his sarcasm. Ooooh. It’s minty strawberry today.

“Oh?” He says with a raised eyebrow, a signature Leon smirk on his lips. The same one he always gets when you admit to liking him in some way.

“You’re such an attention whore. Isn’t that why you came over here?”

“Ouch. So touchy,” He tuts, draping himself over your back and resting his chin on your head. “But no. I came over here to drag the lovely and beautiful and terribly stubbornly princess away from her desk because she’s overworking again.”

You tense. “I can’t, Leon. Not right now. I have to finish this.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“What happens if you don’t?”

“I get behind and then I can’t catch up and then I fail—“

“Woah, now,” He says, standing and spinning your desk chair so it faces him instead of your work. “None of that is going to happen if you take a break. We both know your work ethic is too good for that.”

You start worrying your lip between your teeth. “But—“

“Hey,” He says, a gentle, slow hand reaching out and brushing your lip away from your teeth. “None of that. Leave your lip alone.”

You wince. It’s a mindless action, the same way you pick at your hangnails and other parts of your skin when you’re stressed. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. Just don’t want my girl hurting herself more than she already is.”

You ignore the latter part of his sentence and focus on the first. “Your girl?”

“Yeah,” He says, tilting his head and looking down at you with a small smile on his face. “My girl.”

You look down at your hands, fidgeting with the hem of your sweatshirt. “I won’t be able to sleep or relax if I don’t finish this. It— I can’t.”

He takes the side of your face in his hand, thumb sweeping across your cheek and beneath your eyelid. “I know, baby. But you work too much.”

“But I have—“

“You have to, I know. I know you’re hardwired for independence and overworking. So how about this. Take a break, lie down in bed with me, and then finish only what you’ve already started.”

You start chewing on your lip again. “I—“

His fingers deftly move down to your jaw, grabbing it firm, thumb pressing on the edge of your lip and pulling it down, away from the merciless bite of your teeth. His grip leaves no room for argument, but you don’t feel frightened or scared. In fact, your stomach is doing flips at the careful, gentle control in the press of his hands and the fondness in his eyes.

“I know I phrased that very nicely, but this isn’t an argument, sweetheart. You need to rest. Your brain needs time to recharge. What happens if you get sick from all this working, huh?”

You decide now isn’t the time to bring up that you always work through every cold, flu, and fever you’ve ever had.

“Hey,” He leans down, catching your averted gaze. “Look at me.”

He could easily turn your head himself, his fingers still pressed against your jaw, but he doesn’t. He waits for you to muster up the strength to look over at him yourself, eyelashes fluttering.

His gaze is cool and deep when it meets yours. “I am not mad at you. I am not upset with you. I just want you to take care of yourself.”

His voice, gaining that low, rumbly edge when he ushers the words sends tingles up your spine. You sigh, letting the tension ease from your shoulders.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be.”

“I’ll try harder.”

“You’re doing just fine, okay?” He pulls you up by your hands, hand leaving your face as he tugs you over to your bed. Once you’ve sat down, he reaches back towards your desk, grabbing your water bottle from your desk and putting it on your bedside table. “You just need a little help sometimes. Everybody does.”

He motions for you to scoot over and you oblige, immediately slotting into what’s become one of your usual positions: arms wrapped around his torso, head pillowed on his chest.

“There we go,” He mumbles, hand sliding under your shirt, intermittently squeezing the place his hands always seem to find: the squishy, vulnerable stretch of flesh in between the top of your hip and the bottom of your ribcage. He rolls the skin there in his hands, a pleased hum rumbling from his chest. “Such a good girl for me.”

You shudder, hiding your blush by pressing your face further into his chest. A tingle spreads from your spine to the rest of your body.

He chuckles. “Aw, you like that don’t you? Did the same thing last time. Is that all I have to do? Is that what you need, baby?”

A small whine rip’s itself from your throat before you manage to tamp it down. Embarrassed, you try and hide your face further.

“None of that, now. Come on, let me see that pretty face.”

You shift, rolling to basically lie on top of him, bracing your hands on either side of him to lift your head, a small frown on your face and a not-so-small flush across your face.

He smiles, hands coming up to cup your cheeks. “There she is,” He practically coos, “My pretty baby.”

“You’re baby-talking me.”

“Mhm,” He says, squeezing your cheeks. “You got a problem with it?”

“…No.”

“What was that?”

You drop back down, wrapping your arms around his neck and resting your chin on his chest. “Shhh. I’m supposed to be resting.”

“Convenient that you’re listening to me now.”

“Shush.”

He grumbles, but doesn’t say anything more. He slips his hands under your shirt, palming the expanse of your skin. His fingers are hot where they press and linger, warmth spreading from the points of contact. You go limp in his hold, humming contentedly.

You’re not really sure how much time passes with the both of you like that— bodies pressed close, legs tangled together. It just feels so… nice.

You relax. You actually relax. A small part of you feels annoyed that Leon is your source of comfort and relaxation (muttered whispers in your brain whine about independence, about not relying on anyone else—) the bigger, louder part of you is so overwhelmed with how nice it feels to just… not worry. Even for a little bit. In moments like this your brain goes pleasantly blank: Leon will take care of it. You don’t have to worry, because Leon will take care of it.

The stretches of time you spend in what you’ve mentally dubbed Limbo have started getting longer. At first, you’d last five, maybe ten minutes before your brain would kick into high gear again; worries and concerns flooding your brain so quickly you usually jolt straight up.

But now? It’s easy to slip into it. To let yourself take a mental break. Check out from life for a half hour or so. And when you’re ready to get back to work, you do just that- usually a lot calmer than before Leon came around.

It’s addicting. It’s dangerous.

“How long has it been.”

“Five minutes.”

You blink your eyes open, frowning. “It has not been five minutes,” You reach for your bedside table, snatching your phone off and checking the time. “Liar. It’s been thirty minutes.”

“Is it so wrong to want to lay in bed and hold my princess?”

“It is when the princess has work to do.” You grumble, sitting off and rolling off the bed with a thud.

“It’s so unnerving when you do that. Doesn’t it hurt?”

“No,” You say, hauling yourself to your feet. “It’s fun.”

“I don’t see how sustaining bodily injury is fun.”

“You wouldn’t get it,” You say, waving a hand in dismissal.

Loud shuffling and the thump of Leon climbing to his feet has you looking back. “You’re leaving?”

You can’t quite keep the desperation out of your tone.

He looks at you, surprised. “Usually you don’t like it when I stay while you work.”

“Yes,” You say, cheeks burning. “Um. Yeah. Right yeah. I have work to do. So.”

“Princess,” He says, his voice low and teasing, “You want me to stay?”

“No, no I have to work—“

“Uh-uh,” He says, crossing the room to stand in front of you, arms folded. “No lying. Do you want me to stay?”

You look down at your sock-clad feet. “Please?”

“Aw, well how could I say no to that,” He leans down, pressing a quick kiss to the crown of your head. “Finish your work. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”

“…Can we go get slushies when I’m done?”

“Of course, baby.”

You finish your work in record time.

˙⋆✮

[cindersnows]

the problem with mitsi (or as i like to call it. mitsogyny)

(context: this was written under a youtube video, which i'm sure most of us have at least seen pop up in our recommendeds, in response to many people taking criticism against the new episode. it has been edited a little to be more cohesive as a somewhat-essay)

ok, i wanted to write out a rant/essay/ramble/whatever sort of summarising the criticism against mitsi's plotline because a lot of the people here seem to be misunderstanding the fundamental issue that people have with it, including some of those people themselves.

first off, an analysis that i think tell both sides of the argument very well which i feel should be read before reading the essay: Mitsi: What Makes A Fridged Character (and why y'all are wrong about it) | an AvA essay by InksandPensblog. i will note: i don't care to discuss whether mitsi was fridged or not and that won't be of much importance in this post. the above link gives some insight into some of the fandom's criticism of mitsi and how she was "fridged", defining common tropes for examples. that's what's relevant to this post.

the main issue with mitsi, in my opinion, is less with the fact that mitsi's a girl and moreso the fact that she's one of the only female-coded character in the series, and that her character's main purpose was to further victim's own development. the other arguably female-coded character in the series is pink, who (like navy) only really exists to explain purple's motivations. i don't have much of an issue with that since they're not meant to be important or sympathised with at all. that's not their job in the story.

with mitsi, i've seen people point out that she has more character to her than just victim's love interest and supporter: she invents rocketcorp, she's smart, she's kind, innocent and helpful. narratively speaking, she shows other creations' relationships with their animators, parallels her innocence with victim's trauma, and introduces victim to the outernet (as most fans call the stick realm).

but most of this things imo are either stretches or invalid arguments. she's not really a 2/3-dimensional character in any way; her main character traits boil down to the fact that she likes to be in service of others with no nuance behind why she likes helping people. she hypes up victim for the villagers, she starts a company with him to share his talents with the world, and she helps him overcome his trauma from alan's torture. all of her main plot beats center around victim: and while technically the sticks are genderless and free to be interpreted however the viewer wants, alan and most of his team see all the main characters as male, and that subconciously affects how they're written. mitsi, the first major female-coded character, spends most of her storyline in service of victim, a character not written as female.

there's also the issue of her being victim's canonical love interest. i feel like this statement from alan is important to keep in mind (don't mind the sound effects and edits, this is the only isolated clip i can find at the moment). in particular:

"i just assume that [the ava/m characters] are just a bunch of bros]. i haven't thought of adding any female stick figures but i think it'd be good. i don't want to introduce any romance though, i don't want that to be a theme."

he seems to have changed his mind on that last part, which is fine, but the notable part for me is that he seems to associate female characters with romance from the getgo. before anyone misinterprets this, i'm not trying to call alan sexist or anything. but there's a common issue with women in stories being reduced to just a romantic partner for the male lead, and mitsi falls under this, with her entire character existing to serve victim. (not to mention people will make things about romance whether you like it or not. that's just basic fandom. search up grapeduo or chodark.) even her death is to put victim on the path of vengeance--- it doesn't need to happen to show the extent of tco and tdl's destruction, because that's already made pretty clear in ava s2 the flashback and the earlier scenes showing various characters escaping burning buildings. when you write a female-coded character whose only purpose is to serve a male character, you're contributing to sexist narratives.

a counter i see many people point out with the idea that she has no character is that she does have character traits, it's just that they're generic ones like "kind" and "innocent". the issue is that she has no flaws to counterpoint this; it's not that she didn't have enough screentime. in ava4 for example, we see tsc's flaws pretty clearly; they can be very mean when they want to, they're petty (albeit for a fair reason), they're a little impulsive. this is shown in 11 minutes (from the moment they come alive to the end of the video).

with mitsi meanwhile… she doesn't seem to have any flaws? she helps victim whenever she can. she's nice to all the villagers. her customers all like her and she's a great leader at rocket corp (to note, specifically as part of a pair with victim. they're a power couple, she's barely given credit for her work alone). she has 13 minutes of screentime, or 10 if you count from her waking up in the outernet. there's plenty of opportunities to show her having flaws; maybe she acts a little selfish during tdl and tco's attack, only wanting to help herself and agent smith, or maybe she overworks herself, or feels awkward at having too much attention (and that could also be why she redirects so much attention to victim, she's shy). you could argue that the episode needs to develop victim and agent smith too, but ava4 shows that's easy to do too: just a few seconds dedicated to showing rgyb fighting over who leaves first shows that they can be selfish and childish. it's very easy to insert a moment like that for mitsi.

it's a little disappointing when the first major female-coded character in ava is completely flawless, with no personality outside of being nice and helpful for others.

also, slightly unrelated, check out this quote from mitsi's plushie website: "her white featureless face seems to ooze mystery and feminine power all at the same time." her main character trait, as a woman, is being feminine. it's irritating as someone who's been raised a woman to see her reduced to just her gender. she feels more plastic than a person, like the concept of what a woman should be (perfect, kind, useful) and not an actual character/person.

i would expect more from the writing in the series seeing as it's not just an independent passion project anymore, and has multiple writers that all could've worked to flesh out mitsi, or at least get a sensitivity reader of sorts to point these issues out. it's extremely disappointing and i can understand why people were upset.

tldr: the problem isn't just that mitsi's a girl, or that she's nice or dating victim, it's that she's written in a misogynistic way.

[katzirrart]

Sometimes the girlies judge you for fumbling with your girlfriend njkfgh

fucking njkgh Shadowheart just wants the moping vampire out of her home.... I love that my first doodle of Shadowheart is the GRUMBLIEST GIRL.

CONTEXT:

I think a lot about time when it comes to ships, and that doesn't stop at this one :u

Literally it's like... over a few months that BG3 takes place? The timeline MAKES SENSE, but is also insane by in game time, omg. And I've thought a lot about how like... idk, Ophira had time after Zerxie to kinda just be herself outside anyone else and figure SOME stuff out.

But Astarion kinda makes me sad a lot, because he's never really... just himself. Singular in a way, if you romance him. He's a magistrate and who knows how that life was before Cazador, but past that... he's just kinda an additional piece to people. You can help him kinda get his bearings in the world, and figure out what freedom and all that looks like to him, but he's still never like... on his own.

It's the old wife who never knows life outside marriage thing? Something my mom talked a lot about when I was a teen. Lamenting she never knew life to figure herself out.

So it's kinda a thought to me that at some point maybe they take a break for a year or so, let him figure some shit out, let her figure some shit out. They're both kinda messes in their own ways, and it's like ya'know. IT'S NOT LIKE COUPLES DON'T DO THAT SOMETIMES. But I think it'd do some good. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that unu

But the idea of him ending up at Shadowheart's house either in the beginning or towards the end of the period because Ophira was like "She might be a good friend to talk to about this kinda thing, given her own shit, man." [also because like bb boy and bb sparkle girl were my two closest companions and Shads is BB SISTER MATERIAL TO ME] but she's so hilariously mean and blunt to him in the overworld....

I can just see her giving him so much shit. But also him whining about the situation or something, and getting the girls on his case about it jndgkh

Lae'zel only knowing part of the issue and being like "Where is she, did you fuck things up? How could you disgusting idiots fuck this up..." but the also additional mental image of him showing up alone and Shads being like "Alright.... where's the one I like though? Why isn't she with you?" as a joke njfkgh

EVERYTHING TURNS OUT FINE. EVERYONE IS HAPPY, AND IT'S FUNNY HOW MUCH THEY BOTH MISS EACHOTHER THO TO ME.

[higuchisora]

Honestly, I was always under the impression that Vander parented them "indirectly", if that makes sense. Like, Vander parented Vi, and Vi took those lessons and parented the others with them, because Vander simply didn't have the time to do so himself, and Vi was basically his mini-me.

Even prior to season 2, when I saw how the previous League bio for Warwick, implied his only memory of his past life was Powder (it says all he remembers is a little girl screaming a name- aka Powder screaming for Vi), that kind of confused me. Because on one hand, yes they're both his daughters and it's his final on-screen moment in season 1, but on the other, it felt thematically odd.

Like, he's supposed to be "dead"/unconscious by then. So wouldn't it make more sense if his final memory is of Vi screaming and crying over him? Also, considering Powder wasn't even crying over Vander- it's weird to me that his final memory is about an experience he isn't really a part of. It's Vi and Powder's scene, not Vander's and Powder's or Vander's and Vi's, so why would we want that to be his only memory?

Safe to say, as much as I thought it was sweet that they had a moment of recognition in season 2 (though I do have to wonder why seeing him like that didn't trigger Jinx at all), it definitely felt off to me. Especially since we never got to see Powder/Jinx have any real positive relationships with anyone other than Vi (before Silco), seeing her and Vander being so connected after his transformation didn't feel earned. Any affection she might've had for her previous family (and them for her) prior to Warwick nearly killing her is left entirely up to the audience to infer, which isn't really a good choice for a scene that you want to be emotional for EVERYONE. If his return is supposed to be inarguably a good thing, why leave the context behind it entirely ambiguous?

Especially when they already have a character set up for this exact kind of bittersweet moment: Vi. The focus on Jinx in the Dad Rescue Arc would make way more sense to me if Silco was the one being brought back. It really should've been Vi taking the lead on this one, which would've perfectly handled the "we don't know what to do with her anymore LMAO" thing Linke was talking about. (Honestly, I'm personally of the opinion that we shouldn't have had a Vander-Returns-Arc at all, considering the lack of time and simultaneous lack of substance both this arc and this entire season had, but I'd do anything to give Vi something to fucking do). OP is 100% correct, Vi should've been the one to grab Jinx and hit her with the "he was your dad too" line. Could've especially been potent if Jinx was all, "why couldn't it have been Silco?" about the whole thing, maybe even making digs at Vi at first when she tells her Vander's back (doing a "looks like crazy runs in the family" line or something), leading to some conflict between them at first, before Vi dishes out that line and perhaps a heartfelt "trust me just this once, just one last time" (or something to that affect). Which would work on Jinx IMO, because as we've established, as angry as she is with Vi, her willpower might as well be wet paper when it comes to trying to "hate" her sister.

If anything, this arc probably should've centered more around how the sisters still love each other, rather than their dads tbh. Vi obviously loves Vander, just as Jinx loves Silco, but I feel it's pretty clear they BOTH prioritize each other over everyone else, even still. Yeah yeah, Vi hit Powder, Yada yada- but think about it for a second. If all of this still happened, but this time it was, say, Mylo that did all this, blowing up their family etc. Etc.- do you seriously think Vi would have forgiven him for it? Do you think she'd desperately chase after him the way she chases Jinx, if Mylo ignored her orders and gotten Powder killed? This would be entirely different story, because Vi would've probably beaten Mylo to death, actually. She wouldn't have held back and walked away the way she did for Jinx in act 1 of season 2. She wouldn't be crying and bargaining with Mylo at that dinner party- she'd be straining against the ropes so she could strangle him with them. I'd say the same goes for anyone that isn't Jinx. Even Vander- even if she couldn't kill him, she'd never forgive him. He'd be dead to her in all the ways that matter.

Hence, this arc (imo) should've looked more like the sisters lowkey using Vander as a vehicle/excuse for their reunion. Like, Vi being so eager and happy to have Vander back because yes, she loves him and missed him, but also, it's one less reason for her to be mad at Jinx. One less reason her sense of duty would have to pit them against each other. If Vi could wave her hand and bring them all back, I'm convinced her first thought would be, "now we can move on, now I'm not obligated to oppose her." Because I genuinely believe the only thing really holding her back at this point is this idea of "I have to do what's 'right'." She was ready to move past this even before Vander came back as a furry, now she just has an excuse to show up unannounced at Jinx's door. And Jinx, too, being as obsessed with Vi's affection as she still is, would probably make some jabs and generally be distrustful, but the entire time she's still going along. The opportunity is too good to pass up. The chance to have Vi back is too tantalizing, is quite literally exactly what she's always wanted, even now, even after all this time. She'd take it, and as soon as she got a taste of that affection again, the soft smiles and the fond gazes, maybe even an instinctual pat on the shoulder, done before Vi even has time to consider if she should do that or not- it's a done deal. She'll still be insecure, in need of constant reassurance- but she'd be too eager to really be cautious, desperately seeking more and more of it.

As would Vi, who'd be over the moon to be able to hold a conversation with her sister again that wasn't laced with constant insults and hostility. It'd be almost like they're kids again, before everything went to hell in a handbasket, just them (and their dad) in a dingy old bar. As long as they ignored all the fur, of course.

TLDR basically I hijacked this to say I agree 100% with OP and think this arc was emotionally/thematically dodgy in several ways, which I explore a little in this reblog.

Jinx just never really liked Vander that much.

One of the things that, to me, seemed like a main theme in Jinx's arc in season 1 was the contrast between her two families, and how her switch from Vander's daughter to Silco's drastically changes the way her personality takes shape.

And I hate that the fandom, and now the show, too, has reduced Silco to an unhealthy influence in Jinx's life, pushing her towards her "bad" side (being Jinx) when, for all his flaws... he gives her a better childhood than she ever had with Vander. The first three episodes of the first season, to me, when I watched them, illustrate quite clearly that Powder feels unhappy in her family life. She is the most mal-adjusted of Vander's kids. Her older brother constantly berates her, and it's quite clearly having a big effect on her self-image. She later takes up the Jinx name and persona once she feels like she has become irredeemable as a person. Her other brother never defends her. Vi is the only one who is there for her, and they care for each other, but at the same time you can see there's still a little insecurity in their relationship. Vi is worried that maybe Powder is indeed too weak, and Powder worries that maybe Vi does indeed see her as a Jinx like her brother does.

And when it comes to Vander... he's just not really all that present in her life. And I don't blame him, the man has four kids to take care of, on top of keeping things running in the Undercity. It's clearly not his intention. But it doesn't change the fact that he's not there for Powder, not as much as she needs. To me, when I watched the first season, it seemed like Vander was a figure that felt far away to Powder, someone that she admired but also feared being completely herself around, and someone that she ultimately wished to be closer to than she actually was. It's worth mentioning that Jinx never says his name post time skip, and he is not a hallucination for her, not until Vi brings him up in the finale. Hell, Claggor is somehow a hallucination for her and he never even speaks. Vander was just not an influential figure in Jinx's life.

I always found the scene at the end of ep3 of s1 fascinating, because Powder never once mourns Vander. She never once cries for him and never once says his name. When she sees his dead body, she becomes shocked and starts crying, but it's not actually what breaks her. What breaks her is Vi's rejection. Had it just been that she accidentally caused the deaths of her brothers and adoptive father, she would not have crumbled mentally. It's Vi's rejection that destroys her. Now, of course, a little girl that cares more about her sister's affection towards her than the lives of her family members is kinda messed up, but that's what makes her character interesting. And we can see that that little girl doesn't go anywhere, as Jinx displays the exact same one-mindness about her sister. Because Jinx and Powder were never really that different, after all.

She is quite clearly placed with her back to Vander's body, that she never turns to, barely looks at, only enough to recognize him and see he's dead, and never says the name of. She's turned towards Vi, calling for Vi, crying because of Vi, and no one else. Heck, Vi had just been crying over his body a few moment ago. Vi is clearly distraught over his death. Vi is devastated, she literally punches her sister and curses her in the exact worst possible way she can, in the way she know it will hurt her sister the most. But Powder... she just honestly dgaf.

So to then hear Jinx say this line in season 2...

...is just straight up jarring. I was pulled out of the story when I heard this. This is Jinx saying this to Vi. This kinda makes it seem like it was Jinx who was most attached to Vander, or at least that she was just as attached to him as Vi was. Which is just not how things seemed in the story at literally any point until this one. And then season 2 continues this way, and somehow makes Jinx seem like the closest daughter to Vander. Flipping Warwick literally acts more attached to Jinx than Vander ever did to Powder. Like literally. Season 1 clearly sets up that Vi is the favorite daughter, and then they just... flip it?? Warwick cares more for Jinx and responds better to her than to Vi. It's actually insane. It's true they sanitized Jinx's character to hell and back this season, but this is a straight-up rewrite. I can't wrap my mind around why they did this. Plus, the entirety of act 2 they set up this weird and pointless arc of Jinx rekindling her relationship with Vander or something... and like literally her story was genuinely never about that.

(This COULD have been Vi's story. And that might have actually been cool, and made sense. Maybe Vi is the one who finds him, and she is the one who helps him calm down. And then she brings Jinx, and maybe Jinx is terrified because she was never that close to Vander, and then she literally killed him, so seeing him again is the last thing she wants. Maybe VI is the one who tells Jinx that "he was your dad, too", which would make A LOT more sense, and maybe that's the first time that Jinx thinks that oh, yeah, he was... And then maybe they have a cute moment where Vander forgives her. Or maybe she sees the state he's in right now and loses it completely. Or maybe they look at each other and they both see the monster each of them has become. And then maybe Vi looks down at the enforcer uniform she's wearing, and, privately, sees it too. Idk. The things we could have had.)

Silco was actually a good dad to Jinx, in all the ways that Vander wasn't. He gives her all the attention that she never had before. He not only listens to her, but actively asks for her side of the story. He never insults her, and he defends her against Sevika. He trusts her and gives her opportunities to prove she's capable. She goes from being one of four siblings, and getting lost in the shuffle and often ending up feeling forgotten and alone, to being the most important child, always taken into consideration and almost put on a pedestal by her dad (this, like, has to have cured some inner wounds, i think).

Silco understands Jinx better than any other character in the show, and I'm genuinely sad that we didn't get to see any flashback of Jinx growing up with him. Because their relationship was so unique, and so integral to Jinx's character and to the rest of the story, that the fact that we never get to see any other glimpse into their bond is just...

As a final note, I'd also like to add that I dislike when people say that Silco "groomed" Jinx. I think a much more realistic analysis is that he enabled her. And as for all the times he tells Jinx that Vi "betrayed her", that's just a reflection of his own trauma, and also because he fears that if Jinx knew Vi was alive, she would go back to her and leave him (which, considering what goes down in the s1 finale, not an unfounded fear). It's wrong that he does that, but it's not out of malicious intent (also tbh Jinx never really seems to believe him anyway).

And for all the people who say that Silco "turned Jinx into a terrorist" (dumbest people in this fandom fr, im sorry), that's just straight up not true. Powder was already like that. That is quite literally why Silco adopts her. Because he sees that she's like him. Silco would not have taken Powder in if he thought she was just a cute, innocent kid who was orphaned (to, what, raise her for years so that, MAYBE when she's older, she MIGHT be useful to him? when they meet he doesn't know she's the one that caused the explosion, he just knows that she's been abandoned by Vi). This is the kid who thought playing around with explosives was a fun hobby. This is the kid who giggled at the thought of hurting others. This is the kid who already suffered from explosive emotions. This is the kid who saw her father and her brothers dead, because of her, and all she cared about was whether her sister was mad at her because of it. This is the kid who throws herself at the first person she sees, someone who her sister hates, who is the cause of all this destruction, and with an anger that shocks most viewers, declares that Vi is not her sister anymore. She is livid in that one moment.

Powder already had it in her from the beginning. And it's also ok to like a character (and to write one) even if they are not 100% morally pure in every single way under the sun, cause that is quite literally what stories are for.

[i10v3sh4rk5]

A short discussion on Fiyeraba

I’m not necessarily anti-Fiyeraba. I don’t think that it is a bad relationship- in the musical that is. I have a few problems with the musical iteration of Elphaba and Fiyero’s relationship, but it’s relatively okay. Please watch this video about why it’s mediocre. My problem comes from the book version of their relationship. It is troubling, and I would even go so far as to say disturbing.

To start with, in their Shiz days, Elphaba and Fiyero have very limited interaction, only having contact with each other in the context of their wider group hanging out (Glinda, Boq, Avaric, Crope, Tibbett, and Nessa, along with Nanny). This isn’t unusual, it is just a deviation the musical took from the book. The relationship between Elphaba and Fiyero properly begins a few years later in the slums of Emerald city.  Elphaba is praying in church at a cloister of St Glinda (the reason for which she never tells Fiyero), and Fiyero recognises and approaches her. Elphaba vehemently denies knowing him and attempts to escape, even going so far as to use the back door of the church- this is where it gets bizarre and upsetting.

Wanting to pursue her, Fiyero asks the people working at the church if there was a back exit, knowing that Elphaba would be trying to escape that way, and he finds her and follows her home. There’s a bit of a cat and mouse game wherein Elphaba is really trying quite hard to shake Fiyero off around alleyways, but he keeps catching up to her. Eventually she makes it to where she’s residing, a worn out upstairs shack, and Fiyero gets to her. It is at this point on her doorstep that she tells him to leave her alone, to which he responds with this:

‘I’m not going rape or kidnap you, I just want to talk’. Which is terrifying. After some pressure, she eventually lets him in and gives him some food, telling him to eat and then leave. She is clearly unhappy about Fiyero being there and wants him gone. They talk for a bit and then Fiyero leaves. Elphaba tells him to not come back for his own safety. 

He does come back. And he keeps coming back, which for some reason Elphaba doesn’t question.

It is at this point after an emotional outburst from Elphaba that they start a sexual relationship, though it is unclear as to whether feelings have developed at this point. It should be noted that Elphaba does not let Fiyero touch her beneath the waist (it is implied that Elphaba is intersex). After a few weeks Fiyero comes and goes for sex and discussion, and Elphaba is doing domestic things like baking vegetable pies for him. Fiyero questions whether he is in love with her or not. 

It should also be noted that at this point Fiyero has three children with his wife Sarima, who Elphaba later stays with to try and work things out with her following Fiyero’s death and her 7 year stay as a silent nun.

Elphaba calls Fiyero ‘my hero’, and they continue their relationship until Fiyero is killed. Elphaba later goes on to give birth to their son Liir whilst in a shock induced coma.

This relationship is very troubling to me, as it represents several very frightening realities so casually. First of all, that of a man going out of his way to pursue a clearly unwilling woman and forcing his way into her life. Statements such as ‘I’m not going to rape or kidnap you’ are words that many women have heard, and then suffered the reality of. He may not have done either of those things, but it is very intimidating.

Second, is Elphaba’s almost immediate acceptance of Fiyero. She pushes him away, avoids him, tells him to leave (as she should), and then within a few weeks she’s cooking for him and having sex with him. 

Finally, I must stress that when their relationship began, Fiyero was married and had three children. I understand that love is complicated, and that Fiyero and Sarima’s marriage was purely political. However, when his physical relationship with Elphaba began, he did not love her. He was simply sexually attracted to her.

I am not denying that Elphaba had strong feelings for Fiyero. The problem is the premise of their relationship. I do think that this is partly just Gregory Maguire’s interpretation of heterosexual relationships. However, it is still troubling and unpleasant to read, especially if you’re a woman. A disturbing relationship that has been heavily romanticised by both author and reader. 

As previously stated, the musical version is not really that troubling, though please watch that video on why it’s still not that great.

In the musical, Fiyero is an existential, nihilistic prince who yearns to find his place in the world. In the book he is a Winkie prince in an arranged marriage who comes across Elphaba through circumstance, and then by chance.

It should also be understood that neither Fiyero nor Glinda are in the book a whole lot. They are not the main characters. They have some importance, but the main character is Elphaba. The book is not a romance, it is a scathing indictment of imperialism and dictatorship told through an ostracised woman’s philosophical narrative.

Here's the video in case the link didn't work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_wSKtiE_0A&list=LL&index=50

[mochimochimona]

Why Jayce and Viktor are romantically in love but only at the end (sadly) and their relationship is the ultimate form of unconditionally love there is.

I finished Arcane and was really interested in the debate wether Jayce and Viktor are romantically in love or not, platonic relationship this and that and I will spit my thoughts into the void of tumblr, because I had to get that out. It's long, not gonna lie.

I think Arcane is ultimately about the human evolution on an emotionally level, to break the circle of hate, war and vengeance with sacrifice and forgiveness and a love born out of friendship and kinship.

That's why they took Jayce and Viktors relationship as one of the main storylines and what had driven the story forward most at the end - because their relationship was the one with the most destructive energy.

I think Jayce was only friends with Viktor at first. Viktor loved him on a deeper level earlier on, as implied through the dialogue with Siege. "Love and legacy" -"Jayce will understand". For him, Jayce is both. Their legacy of Hextech but also his love for him. You can argue that siege didn't imply romantic love but I don't think he was talking about that kind of love.

Arcane is about love and hate, as Viktor states when he gets killed first, that's the human notion and why he wants to get rid of his humanity, because he wasn't loved for a long time, he was weak, frowned upon and an outcast. I guess that's why he helped Jayce with the Hextech in the first place, a small parallel between them. And of course he is a big nerd lol but he saw that Jayce had a vision, wanted to make the world a better place (as Viktor) and help Pilotover and Zaun.

Jayce realization he was taking the wrong priorities after he found out Viktor will die. You can see the change happening in Jayce, but its really slow, with everything going on. When Viktor was dying because of Jinx's attack, he panicked, rushed and ignored the promise he made Viktor and used the hex core.

And here is the thing: his relationship with Mel changes, too. It's subtle because it's never made topic or center, but I think they were never really in love love (I get to that later). Mel was using Jayce at first but I do think she started to care about Jayce and it is argued that she may have been the mirror of Viktor. But even that aside, she tried to help Jayce and felt guilty, for using him and Viktor. But she never put him first as a person, but his ideas and usefulness and I think their relationship is not a healthy one. I think Jayce craved assurance, someone steadying him, loving him in some way. He would have had that in Viktor, but that would have crossed a line in their friendship, wouldn't it. I think the animators chose to show us Viktor falling apart while Jayce had sexy time with Mel on purpose. It's as tragic as it gets. And no, I don't hate Mel, she is Queen.

And I do think at that time, what Jayce felt for Viktor was a deep friendship. I won't call it bromance or brotherly love. Bromance for me is a made up word to avoid giving in to the possibility that two men can grow to love each other over a friendship, so to not be gay because that's disgusting, people rather call it bromance. And a brotherly love, is for me, just between real brothers. As in a family context. Adoptive or blood related, but there has to be that context. Because I think, again, that is just said to one: diminish a deep and routed friendship between man (which can't be, how could "strangers be vulnerable with each other") and b) to avoid the possibility, because to love a brother any other way as brotherly, would be incest so we will avoid that route in calling them brothers. It's a nice trope to use, really (that was sarcasm) and I am tired of it. We never, EVER said Vi had sisterly feelings for Caitlyn (even before they flirted really), or that Sevika had sisterly feelings for Jinx, because they were friends and comrades at the end, not sisters. We don't call female friendship sismance, if there is romance between two women we call it that: romance. We only have this weird wording when it comes to men's relationships and I think this homophobic notion runs deep and we don't do that to female romance because it's fetishized :D. I do think that's why people who are generally more open don't bat an eye about that. Because they are not afraid of their feelings and don't need to put the possibility aside they could be attracted to their same gender. Anyway.

Note that there can be romance without having sex, lovers as well and friendships with sex involved. I think we should get out of this thinking you need sex to prove you love someone, which is why I think Jayce and Viktor had the most perfect romance, romance arc and development. Because they didn't need to have kisses and sex to get that point across.

I think the usage of a butterfly is for evolution but on an emotional level and of course the famous butterfly effect. They found each other in every timeline, they literally can't live without each other and they always could have chosen not to chase after another. If Viktor had let Jayce die at the beginning, nothing would have happened. If Jayce had kept his promise and let Viktor die, nothing would have happened. He made the herald because he wasn't there for Viktor and made Viktor find love and acceptance with his followers. As partners. He realized that way too late and when Viktor told him, only Jayce could have shown him that, I think Jayce started to get it. When he saw Mel again, he knew now that she used him first (as her reaction of hurt indicating, she did like him though) and he was protective of himself AND Viktor. He was fighting Viktor and realizing that Viktor had died and that it was his fault. He was in mourning. He wanted to stop the Viktor he had created. Also he had promised.

Before that he had go through falling down and hurting his leg to climb upto the tower in the future and re-live what it was like for Viktor to grow up handicapped. To fight to get above. To get to be loved and to be seen. Jayce did know it wasn't easy I don't think he was a rich kid, just middle class, that's why they connected first, I guess. Two brilliant people held back because they aren't rich and from a "good background" as those on top. Not loved enough by the people around you. And the love of jayces mother was not enough!

What I found interesting was the fact that he saw Mel first and Viktor last. You know, if you deeply love someone in a romantic way, you always think about that person. You want to get to them as soon as possible, knowing to be away from them hurts. You want to spend time with them and go above and beyond to make them happy, see you and acknowledge you. Jayce saw Mel first, because he thought it was her, but it ultimately changes to Viktor because he is the one who motivates Jayce. Who keeps him going, who he wants to impress and show that their dream can become reality.

I think at that point it was for me that I was: okay that's not friendship anymore. That's romantic love. If you ever had a really best friend, a bff who you spend a lot of time with. You feel friendship and in that relationship the love of friends. But than you find that person who blows you away, who is everything to you, you might spend more time with them. How frustrated are we as friends to be not able to spend our time as we used to be. That's what Viktor felt but also jealousy, because he could never compete with Mel. He knew he had no chance because he thought Jayce loved her. And as a good friend, he didn't argue, because again that would destroy their friendship. Which is important. And I do think no one will put their friendship above romantic love. If they are really in love because they know their friends will understand. That's why I think it was so important of jayce to get that realization he made a mistake and should have been at Viktors side and that's why he thought, when ekko and Heimerdinger sneaked into the lab it was Viktor.

And if he realized than that he loved Viktor, he would have gone after him and proved viktor wrong and would have been able to stop this pursuit of Viktor to get rid of his human emotion/humanity.

But after Jayces climb to the top, speaking with Viktor, he finally realized that he was the only one to stop Viktor, to get it through. He was his friend, but he also loved him.

That's why he reacted that way to Mel, with no love left for her. That's why he knew when Viktor died and was resurrected by the Hextech he should have been at Viktors side, it dawned on him. If he truly loved Mel, he wouldn't have said it that way honestly. The same goes for his speech when he was with Viktor at the end, that Viktor wasnt weak. He knew Viktors whole motivation for removing everything was because he thought was weak and no one loved him for that.

And honestly, I only think that Jayce realized he felt more as friendship, really realized what it was when Viktor looked up to him and he saw in Viktors eyes that his Viktor was back. And when they used the rune he clenched his teeth because he was afraid. Afraid about what will happen next, afraid of dying but I guess afraid of losing Viktor all over again, clasping at the nape of his neck. And not be able to say what he felt. I don't think they felt each other's feelings that much, because ultimately what Viktor did was killing everyone's feelings in acending them.

And why do I think you can't compare, for example, aragorns friendship and love with Jayce. Aragorn loves all of his friends and is gentle with them, when boromir dies for example, but also with Frodo and Legolas or Gandalf. He shows affection in that way to a lot of people.

Jayce only really shows that to Viktor, always Viktor. And I think they did that on purpose. If they wanted to let it be just friends (I don't use platonic either as I think you diminish the love of friends with using platonic), they would have made Jayce care more about the others. He could have argued with Jayce about saving the others and so on, but he always wanted to save Viktor the most. And he is not the hero/king type like aragorn, I know.

But the motivation for Jayce and for viktor, was always each other and that's why I think they are, ultimately, romantically in love with each other, just realizing it way too late and that is the evolution, the perfect one. Loving each other with flaws, forgiving each other for what they have done and sacrificing themselfs to save each other and to save, at the end, the world. It's selfish. But it shows that love can travel time and space, if we would just stop hating and avanging each other. It would make the suffering of the world end and that would be the ultimate form of human evolution. Being easily able to forgive, sacrifice and love without hate. With accepting each other the was they are.

You may argue that you can do that as friends too but again, I think the people behind would have written it differently. I always think that before an action, there is a thought about it, how and why you are doing something the way you do and the fact that they chose to do it that way is an indicator for me, that they wanted them to be canon and in love. At the end. Not in between, that would have probably stopped everything from the start. Imagine, you can tell a friend you want to stay by his side, always, but I do think you would rather and mostly do it for the one you TRULY LOVE.

So in my mind, Jayce and Viktors development and love for each other at the end is the ultimate form of love and so romantic, it physically hurt.

[clinicsharmartia]

I’ve had experience shooting before with a shotgun; I was trained in how to hold it properly, safety, protection etc, and although I was wearing professional ear mufflers I still had some dullness for the rest of the day even though I only shot 14 rounds. Now, I understand the difference between a shotgun and a revolver, however with the frequency at which Mista uses his gun the size doesn’t matter. Unless he’s using physical combat, Mista’s only weapon is his gun, he can’t even use his stand out of that context because they’re literally attached to the bullets he fires. He’s always firing that thing, and that is going to cause significant hearing loss over time because of how often he’s using it and how he’s handling it. Obviously you can't use a handgun long range, it’s not physically possible, but also holding it three inches away from your head isn’t the best option either. An article done by the National Library of Medicine in 2017 states that “Pistols have shorter barrel lengths than rifles and shotguns and rank high in peak SPL* due in part to the closer proximity of the muzzle to the ears.” (Listen ik revolvers and pistols aren’t the same but due to their similar sizes and how they’re used I’m choosing this quote. The article, to my knowledge, didn’t mention revolvers which is why I’m using pistols). There is no exact answer for how loud a revolver is, as it depends on make and model, but after much research I can say your average SPL* for a typical .22 revolver is 130-140 dB*; cross referencing with a 2022 article from Healthy Hearing, “hearing damage occurs with noises of 85dB or louder”. Another point is the locations in which he is shooting. Do you ever wonder why shooting ranges are often outside in open air? That’s because confined spaces, such as an indoor venue, amplify the SPL* which can cause even more damage to your ears. If you think about where Mista would (stereotypically) use his gun, it’s mostly in places that are indoors or have an echo, such as an alleyway. This would also contribute to his hearing loss. 

I’m sure the Sex Pistols are able to reduce some of the damage in some weird magical stand way, but if they’re not in use, Mista and his ears are all on their own, and that means he’s fully exposed to damage. Obviously, he’s not able to wear proper mufflers because that’s ludicrous and would definitely give away any secrecy he’s trying to convey, however there are plenty of other much more covert options, such as earplugs (which were commercially introduced in 1972!). The severity of his hearing loss entirely depends, bc he’s not real and we can’t measure it, but at the very least it’s mild hearing loss. I think it would be incredibly interesting to see how that progression would play out and how himself and others would react to it (I DEFINETLY need to write about this now). And. Yeah. Thanks for reading!!!

*SPL - Sound Pressure Levels. References how loud something is.

*dB - Decibels. Used to measure sound.

Does anyone else have the HC that Mista has hearing loss due to his constant close range shooting or is it just me

[paleghostinthecorner02]

"And all this time, I have been the only one holding it all together!"

Hey, let's talk about this scene and some comic stuff that gives a little insight into Miguel and why he has this attitude. You know, aside from what happened in the movie.

When Miguel was a child, his grades revealed that he was an extremely intelligent child, enough to be sent to the Alchemax School for Gifted Youngsters. It was a school so prestigious that the families of students were given a boost in their quality of life. Miguel's (step) father George of course lept at the chance to grab all the benefits and clout sending his favored son away to the school, not caring how he might feel about being taken from his family. And why would he? George cares about appearances and obedience, not the well being of his child.

Later when he was in the car with Tyler Stone, lead dickbag at Alchemax, Miguel told him that if he wasn't well behaved he would get smacked by his father in a heartbreakingly frank way.

And then this happens

Yup. Tyler, upon finding out that Miguel is abused by his stepdad, makes a veiled threat that if he doesn't stay in line at school, his family will lose all the nice perks that being related to a student there will get them and George will turn his abuse onto Miguel's mother and little brother. Tyler is Miguel's real father and wants to utilize Miguel's intelligence for his own gain, so this is the first of many actions he has taken to ensure he stays under his thumb.

So let's recap this.

As a child, Miguel was saddled with the burden of raising his family's sation in life by attending a private school, and was basically told that if he messed anything up then the consequences of George's violence against his family (and most likely himself when he got back home) would be his fault. From childhood Miguel has been taught that it's on him and him alone to prevent very bad things from happening. Miguel has felt like he's the only one who has been "Holding it all together" before he was old enough to drive, and has lived in fear of the consequences of his failure for just as long. Miguel is 35 in the movie, meaning this is a trauma he's been dealing with for over twenty years.

I see so many people come down on Miguel for being "arrogant" in thinking that he's so important that he would be the cause of something as catastrophic as an entire universe disintegrating, but it's not arrogance. It's a deeply ingrained belief he has had for most of his life that was started by Tyler Stone as a means of scaring him into obedience and exploiting his intelligence for his own gain. So yeah, until the movie continuity contradicts this part of Miguel's backstory, I think it's a very illuminating but of context for why Miguel acts the way he does.

Peace out. ✌🏻

EDIT: Tumblr decided it was going to let me insert the picture it didn't like last night so I amended that section. ✌🏻

[hopeswriting]

was thinking about takeshi and how he's my favorite brand of unconditional devotion btw. the utter and absolute and all-consuming kind that runs so deep to the very core and is so intrinsic and fundamental to it, it can only express itself in the most casual and natural and certain way. without second thoughts, without any room for doubts or for any moral dilemma to be had over it, because of course he ought to always be breathing and living for his chosen person first and foremost. of course he ought to hang on their every word and make them true no matter what, no matter what he has to do to make it happen, no matter what he has to do to other people to make it happen, and no matter what it might turn him into in the process. because it's obviously the way the world should be for his chosen person. at their feet, ready to bend over backwards and break and build itself again to better answer to all their needs even if they don't ask it for it. it's the only right way it should be for them, and of course takeshi's going to do his utmost at all times to make it a reality as much as possible.

and his devotion comes out as naturally as breathing, comes out lighthearted and nonchalant like he might as well be talking about the weather, but it's not unaware of itself. it's not that takeshi doesn't know it's unhealthy and wrong and that he's willing to go entirely too far in its name for anyone's good. it's not that he wouldn't hear you out if you were to sit him down and explain to him just why he needs to tone it down a little (a lot). logically, he'd agree with you and know you're right. and then he'd tell you he's still not going to do anything whatsoever about it. that he's not bothered by it and doesn't feel the need to change anything to his attitude. makes it a point to never let anyone or anything sway him even an inch in the stand he took when it comes to that, no matter how many thousand of times you might go over the subject with him.

because the morality of his devotion isn't the point at all. is entirely irrelevant to it and doesn't affect the way he expresses it all. it's not the metric with which he draws a line in the sand to hold it accountable to. because the thing is, takeshi's entire world revolves around tsuna--tsuna is his entire world altogether, and it's just a matter of fact, that simple. to him it's a truth as unchanging as the sky being blue, and so being the way he is according to that truth is the only way he can imagine being that'd feel right to him. and so the actual and only metric that matters here is "would tsuna be happier if i were to do this?" and/or "is this something tsuna needs me to do?"

and like. i don't think takeshi ever stops being a kind person capable of compassion and understanding and mercy and forgiveness even ten years later once they became mafia through and through. and i don't think either he grows up to be feared and called a monster per se despite the things they inevitably had to do during those ten years (and the things they'll inevitably keep having to do as long as they keep being mafia), at least not in the way, for example, they'll never stop fearing and calling mukuro one. but i do think that among the tenth gen, he ends up being the one with the most ruthless, merciless and horrific blood on his hands of that particular and distinct loving kind. you know the one i mean, right? he comes to be the one most expected and the one first expected to be willing and to take it upon himself to go through with it when the need arises. and to think little of it after, if anything at all. all in the name of making tsuna's reign as easy on him as possible.

and it's to the point where it's the kind of blood that makes even mukuro pause at times. or, when takeshi is the one coming up with solutions himself during meetings, makes even reborn blink. not because it's unjustified or wouldn't be safe or efficient or anything of the sort, but because it is unwarrantedly thorough in its retaliation. and sometimes, at times like this, he's the one tsuna needs to step in for the most, because he's the only one who can reason with him that "yes, this would work in getting rid of our problem" but "no, please, don't do that takeshi". because if tsuna is the only thing that infers on just how much and in what ways he'll let himself be devoted to him, then of course, he's also the only one takeshi's willing to reign himself in for without second thoughts. because he'd hate to ever do something tsuna would disapprove of or wouldn't want him to do. or do something that'd make tsuna see him differently or love him back less even in the slightest.

and it's also like. his devotion isn't an undisciplined one. it's not one he doesn't have control over, the very opposite. it's a very purposeful and conscious choice he chooses to keep making over and over again every step of the way, and he taught himself to have control over it, to know when it's needed and/or wanted, and how much and in which ways it is when it happens, and to keep it down otherwise. and, yes, to also reign it back in at tsuna's request at times when it still slips past his control. because it's all about making tsuna's happiness easier and secure and long-lasting, and never about burdening him with just how committed he is to do that.

so it comes down to this: takeshi willing to go above and beyond and more for tsuna unless tsuna explicitly asks him not to. and to tsuna needing to ask him not to every now and then. and to other people pointing out to him how too many times tsuna's already needed to stop him, and that maybe there's a hint for him to take there. and to takeshi seeing the hint, looking it straight in the eye and recognizing it for what it is and just. deciding it doesn't apply to him because it's all perfectly normal behavior to him. because it's the only kind of behavior that makes sense to him and feels right.

and so—to circle back to my first point—he can only express his devotion as naturally as breathing, so casually, almost like it's something inconsequential and not worth talking about despite how unmistakably it couldn't be further away from being the truth. it's the only way he could have always known how to express it, because, after all, who has ever taken time to ponder about the details and the hows of the way they breathe?

and i, for one, absolutely eat that shit up every time, thanks for coming to my ted talk <3

[robbyykeene]

Anyway I wish this show was actually bold enough to give Miguel an arc exploring his feelings of entitlement over the captaincy spot. Throughout the show Johnny has repeatedly told Miguel that Robby is a lost cause but hey, It’s okay because he has Miguel now. That Miguel’s his champion, his Number One Boy. So how could Miguel not feel at least somewhat entitled to the captain spot? How could he not feel insecure about his place in Johnny’s life with Robby not just back in the picture, but now literally taking the number one spot? When Johnny has repeatedly put into both kids heads that when it comes to his love and attention its one vs. the other, how could there be no lingering feelings of resentment and jealousy?

[shiraishi--kanade]

That part I mentioned is just one of the sub things about her character. Deep in the crevices that stuck with me after kick it up a notch. Just a little interesting footnote in her character that I cannot get rid of. (I've tried)

Sorry, but no. This isn't a small part, it's just not something that's true. An wants to be like Nagi, that is correct; Kohane "took" the role of Nagi post KIUAN, that is also correct. Between themselves? They're not connected. That's something the fandom made up. An has multiple spanning arcs wrt An and Kohane; An's tension with being like Nagi is mostly resolved in her WLE chapter with An gaining the resolve to go beyond Nagi's skill, and is scarsely brought up again in that specific context. An's tension with Kohane's growing skills and anxiety is resolved in WTWG. But specifically "An wants to be like Nagi and Kohane is more like Nagi than An is so that's an issue"? Not a thing. That's a fanon. OOC fanon. One I'm admittedly guilty of myself, because I thought that was the direction her story was taking after KIUAN pre-WTWG. But that's just... Not it. Not a plot point. At all. If you watch WTWG, you'll see how Kohane's KIUAN "like Nagi" moment only comes up in reference to An being anxious of not being good enough for Kohane. That's it. They may or may not have been building what you're referencing behind the scenes and decided to weer away from it, or it may still come back (which I doubt), but... It's fanon. It's not An Shiraishi in canon.

If this was a duel match between the mentor who turned his back on the mentee, then people would see it differently. Which I won't say it is, but there are some similarities.

If this was a Kohane vs Taiga match, it would be narratively pointless. Taiga tried to achieve two, arguably three things with that battle:

1. Show VBS the difference in skill between what they have and what they need to put on Rad Blast;

2. Rile VBS up so they don't give up after hearing about Nagi, because he knows that VBS thrive best when they're put against the impossible odds;

3. Test An's resolve specifically and make her reflect on her bond with Nagi with the way be singles her out.

That's it. That's all he wanted out of it.

Taiga singling out Kohane would achieve... Which point out of all that exactly? Taiga's not a villain, he is, at most, an antagonistic force/anti-hero. He has a very clear motivation no matter if you want to argue against that method. I barely care if people would see that plot twist in a different light if they struggle to understand his plot when it's already this simple. Not to mention it would be, again, pointless and achieve nothing, and be a blatant character assassination for Taiga. Hell, he's not even turned against VBS! He wants them to succeed! Him temporarily antagonising him is neither a heel-turn nor the trope in question! He also singles out An during the battle, again; not Kohane. It's not about Kohane, here.

Anyways back to the rap battle thing. There's less thought of love there compared to Niigo's making of music to save and WxS's making shows to spread joy to others and them raising.

[...] So there's less act of love and more despair since a death just got revealed.

I don't follow. I mean sure, the themes are different, but I don't bring up N25 and WxS to ask "why are they more popular", I bring them up to say "these units can do the most batshit plots ever and they will be taken earnestly vs VBS". We could joke about WxS starting the disbandment arc while literally stuck on a tropical island. But we barely ever do. Everything else is irrelevant to my point.

Secondly, if you want to argue love, LuTF shows up plenty of it. Even episode 3 is Taiga's last hurrah to Radder and his dead sister. It's about perspective.

Like I don't know dude, they made us attached to Nagi and then killed her off for plot reasons of course that's gonna stick more even if batshit insane stuff happens after.

Nobody killed Nagi off for plot reasons, she's always been dead. Nagi has been dead two years before the story began, and it wouldn't have happened without her dying. She's doomed by the narrative and she's also haunting it. There's no character in Project Sekai that would fit it better. That'd a tangent, I just hate that term being used for Nagi specifically. Kanade's mon got killed off for plot reasons, I agree with. Nagi, no.

Either that's a good sign of story writing or a sign that the people that stick to it just has a thing about it.

It's the shock factor; LUtF is the second most watched event in PJSK after Mizu5. But it says nothing about the writing, because if it were, we'd be here gushing about how sweet RADder dynamic was, or how good Episode 7 has been. No, and sorry, I think most people fucking dropped the event the moment we got to the flashback because they don't care.

You know what the LUTF hate is an indicator of? No media literacy, no willingness to engage with the story and a horrible sense of humor. That's it. Which is what this post is about.

I've decided I'm gatekeeping Light Up the Fire from all the people who don't understand what Fiction means

[geminison]

Hello :D I'd love to see a late teens Daud for the drawing request if you're still doing those. Thank you very very much ❤️

a man's lying on the ground, his eyes are already glassy and unseeing (he can't make you do anything anymore). blood is dripping from the knife in your hand, and you can hear how heavy droplets hit the pavement's stone. you need to go, you need to run before someone sees you and calls the guards. from far away wind brings the sounds of celebration – blade verbena is over.

wouldn't it be fun if the lives of both Daud and Corvo changed the same day? Daud kills a man who stole him from the streets and runs while Corvo wins Blade Verbena, first steps that will define them years ahead.

thank you for the request, I really enjoyed drawing this little piece and also thinking about Daud's younger years (I'm going to say that I'm no longer sure about which parts of his biography are canon and which are just nice and fitting widely spread headcanons and at this point I'm not going to check which is which, oops)

[ffc1cb]

i’ve always found it peculiar how during meeting the chargers cutscene the game just assumes your character automatically understands what krem is talking about when he mentions binding (though, granted, it’s all very unsubtle). like, this is a roleplaying game. what if i want to play a character who just doesn’t get it

[fiercestcorpse]

still absolutely baffled by the fact that when the untamed got popular on here you had people posting stuff like "i know it seems kind of weird and confusing for the first couple of episodes but don't worry, it picks up after that" like what the hell are you talking about. i loved the first couple of episodes. i was having the time of my life right from the opening monologue and it only got better from there.

[lilacerull0]

i feel like reading/watching mbf immediately means knowing who i am as a person and... i cannot allow this