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linkspooky · 4 years ago

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What do you think of Mahito, his role in the story's future, and what he might represent? I can't stop thinking of how he literally acts as an antithesis to Yuji (besides being his primary foil), humanity and the narrative itself and how that might mean that he is the main antagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen.

What are your thoughts on the new JJK chapter? With what Mahito said to Yuji at the start of the chapter?

Answering these asks together. Thank you both for sending them!

I’m going to center this analysis around Mahito’s statement that you are me, and his role as antithesis to Yuji as the anon stated above. There are two big ways you can interpret Mahito’s statement. They are the same in the sense that they are character foils, that Mahito is the Jungian Shadow to Yuji and all of his actions. The second one is based around the idea that Jujutsu Kaisen at large plays with Budhism, and BUdhist ideas, it’s an argument that Mahito and Itadori are spiritually the same. Not contradictory forces but complimentary, the whole of them each containing parts of the other. I’m not the best at explaining japanese budhism, because I myself am not a japanese budhist, but I will try my best under the cut.

1. Spiritually the Same

So, Mahito’s arguments are ones that require a certain amount of abstraction to make sense.

For example, is saving people the same as killing people? No, obviously not.

Alright, there’s your answer. Let’s go home, give me notes please. To understand Mahito’s argument you have to understand how far away from other living people his perspective is.

Mahito positions himself as a third party observing from afar. From his position everything has a tendency to look the same. Let me explain: if every living creature has a soul, then what gives weight to human souls?

Heart, weight, both of those are words that are essentially trying to give human lives “worth.” Are human lives “worth something?” Are they more worthy than the lives of animals, plants, curses, etc. The way Mahito sees it everything has a soul. Even plants have a soul. However, there’s nothing too different in the souls of humans, from the souls of say bugs. The only difference he himsel sees is that humans have a capacity for reason.

“The so-called dignity obtained by human reason”, humans assume their lives are more worthwhile, more dignified then say, the life of your dog, because a human has the intellectual capacity for logical reasoning and a full range of emotions on display, and your dog has been barking at his reflection in the mirror for twenty minutes because he thinks it’s another dog.

Ideas of good and evil are not natural laws of the universe. They are made up by human reason. They only exist because humans said they do, and give reasons to them. Mahito’s perspective is a natural one on the world.

The reason that humans are different from monkeys is just a quirk of evolution that enabled them to gain more brain mass over millions of years, and then gained higher amounts of intelligence. Everything else was reasoned out, ex posto facto. Humans come up with reasons why things happen after the fact, but they just happened. Humans just happened to evolve.

If the natural state of the universe is chaos, and there’s no foreseen hand guiding everything, then things that happen just happen. There is no particular meaning to them. You can make up a meaning, but who is to say one invented meaning is more important than the other?

There’s life on this planet, because we just so happened to be a certain distance away from the sun to enable an ideal climate for liquid water on the surface. Therefore, life is not some necessarily some thing that needs to be protected. It’s just there.

If both Mahito and Yuji are fighting up with their made up value of life, Mahito believing there is no value, and Yuji believing there’s value worth preserving, then Yuji needs to actually make an argument. If no objective right or wrong exists, Yuji needs to prove why he’s right, rather than insisting he’s doing the right thing without thought.

Yuji and Mahito are each other, because they both embody an ideal in the way life should be treated.

When Mahito is saying this, it’s because Yuji gives weight to human lives, but not weight to the light of curses. That is to say, Yuji is fixated on the idea of giving humans a “good death” because he believes they’re owed that dignity, but will absolutely brutalize and tear curses to pieces. This is something Gojou commented on in chapter three, HUH ISN’T IT WEIRD THAT YUJI DIDN’T REALLY GROW UP SURROUNDED BY CURSES AND ALL I NEEDED TO DO WAS GIVE HIM A KNIFE AND POINT AT THAT AND SAY GO KILL THAT THING AND HE DID IT.

Let’s say it wasn’t a curse for a moment. Let’s say Yuji wrestled and killed a tiger with his bare hands and afterwards you saw him skinning it. From a certain perspective his actions might look brutal. You killed and skinned a cat. Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t do this to a human. From a certain perspective his actions might look justified. There was an old lady nearby and I didn’t want to maul her. However, if you believe spiritually that humans are nothing special and all living things have equal dignity, Yuji killing and skinning that tiger is a violation of that dignity.

Yuji believes that humans have dignity and wants to perserve that dignity even in death. That’s not objective fact though, that’s his own personal belief that he’s fighting for.

The official translation even has Yuji call it a natural death rather than a good death. However, is Yuji just imposing what he believes to be good and insisting it’s the natural order of the world instead?

Mahito’s argument is essentially that there is no right or wrong, and therefore the two of them are just both presenting ideas. If the order of the world is one where creatures constantly consume each other in order to survive, then what is so wrong about the curses fighting it out with humans against who becomes top dog? Curses are shown to have sentience same as humans. They don’t have human kindness, or compassion but they’re capable of assigning thoughts, and reasons behind their actions the same way humans do. What makes one life more worthy for another? Mahito’s words are a challenge, to come up with some reason to defy him.

However, there’s a flaw in Mahito’s argument.

Mahito’s argument is one that states nothing is a reason. All life is equal therefore one life doesn’t matter or is worth more than the other. However, then he uses that to give himself moral permission to do whatever he want.

What do I mean by he needs moral permission?

Mahito is justifying his actions, excusing his actions, the same way that Yuji is.

The appearance of the black flash this chapter signifies that the universe is a neutral party to both Yuji and Mahito’s fight. The universe is indifferent to both of them. However, Mahito presents himself as someone who is also indifferent, and objective, when he’s not.

Mahito isn’t doing what he does for no reason at all. Mahito does it because he loves humans, while Yuji does it because he hates humans. Mahito tries to give permission to Junpei, he tries to give permission to himself. His views are not that of a true nihilist, because a nhilist wouldn’t seek permission like that. Mahito’s are that of a moral nihilist. All life is worthless, therefore I can do whatever I want with it. That’s not an expression of nihilism, or the abstract idea that there are no set goals or values to life. That’s just Mahito giving an excuse to why he wants to toy around with human life.

(Also, I don’t really understand japanese budhism from the perspective of a japanese person, so please feel free to correct me on any of this, I’m just trying to go off of what was presented in the story! I’d love to hear other people’s perspectives).

But basically what I’m talking about is expressed here by Mr. Yoshimura if you read Tokyo Ghoul.

If all life on this planet is just trying to survive, and in compettition with one another to survive, then the taking of all life is equally evil. A human killing a curse for survival, and a curse killing a human for survival is the same FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE.

However, I would argue that this assertion that “Life is Evil” is being said by a PERSON and that person is making a VALUE JUDGEMENT. Evil is an idea same as good. Life is neutral, life is random, life is indifferent, life is just atoms smashing around in pure utter chaos but it’s not necessarily evil and definitely not in the way Mahito takes it to be.

2. We’re like the Same Dude

The second is that Mahito and Yuji are character foils. They are characters in a narrative who are meant to reflect each other, specifically that of the protagonist, and their shadow.

Jung stated the shadow to be the unknown dark side of the personality. According to Jung, the shadow, in being instinctive and irrational, is prone to psychological projection, in which a perceived personal inferiority is recognized as a perceived moral deficiency in someone else.

If Yuji and Mahito were two parts of the same whole person, like two halves of the brain, Yuji would be the sensible, reasonable half, and Mahito would be the one acting on pure emotion and instinct.

Mahito and Yuji are both curse/human hybrids. They are both individuals that blur the line between humans and curses. Mahito is specifically, a curse that was created from the human fear of one another which makes him the most human of the curses and the most adept to change or growth. Yuji is a normal kid (as far as we know) who swallowed a finger, and his entire body became curse energy. He is half curse, and half human, in the regard that he is Sukuna and he is Yuji at the same time.

Yuji and Mahito are people who both embody a vague area between human and curse, a curse that acts like a human, a human that acts like a curse in vice versa, however they choose to cling onto different apsects of their being. It’s ambiguous whether or not Mahito is a humanlike curse, but Mahito himself defines himself as only ever being a curse. Just like Yuji sees himself as a human too, he sees himself as Yuji, and not Yuji and Ryomen Sukuna at the same time.

It’s Mahito who encourages the others to act more like curses, to live on impulse than desire, instead of trying to restrain themselves for the sake of reason. However, this is ironic, because the reason that Mahito is getting raised up as the leader of the curse family is because he is the mirror to humans, and is the most humanlike of all the curses.

Mahito wants to be a pure curse, but his path requires him to become more and more human. Yuji wants to be a pure human, but his path in ingesting fingers will require him to become more and more curselike as time progresses. He will over time become more Ryomen Sukuna and less Yuji Itadori until the time comes for him to be executed after ingesting all twenty fingers. They are like opposite reflections in the mirror, clinging onto opposite parts of themselves.

It’s even shown in their foiling in the Junpei arc. They both encourage Junpei to do the opposite things. Mahito encourages Junpei to follow his baser instincts and curse other people, to resent them for what they have done to him.

Yuji however, applies to Junpei’s sense of reasoning and higher thinking. He suggests there’s a better plan than Junpei’s simple acting on. He asks Junpei not to do what he thinks is best in the moment and lash out on those feelings alone like Mahito suggested, not to follow his instinct to curse, but rather try to follow reason to find who is really at fault and then punish the correct person. Yuji appeals to the fact that Junpei have both empathy for the people he’s randomly lashing out at over his own pain, and that he has the ability to separate himself from his pain and try to search for what’s right instead.

These are opposite ideas, and Mahito and Yuji clearly look at the world with completely opposite perspectives. However, these perspectives don’t contradict, they are complimentary. The existence of a shdaow doesn’t mean the conscious mind is right. The existence of the consious mind doesn’t mean the shadow isn’t there. In other words, light and shadow don’t negate each other, light cannot exist without shadow.

In less poetic words. Whenever you make any action, your good intentions are equally as valid as your bad ones. There’s no such thing as a person without bad intentions. Anything can be seen from a both good and bad light. What Mahito argues to Yuji, is that Yuji was ignoring all along how dangerous an individual he was. Yuji uses his powers to save people, and he wants to become strong, but as has been pointed out in the manga before having all that strength collected in one person can be used oppressively and violently.

This is what Getou says to Gojou. If he was Gojou he’d have the power to kill every last human being alive and spare only the sorcerers. Gojou is someone sitting on all that power. Power alone doesn’t justify itself. Equally as important is the choices and the reasoning behind wielding that power. What Mahito was pointing out, and what the plot is emphasizing is that Yuji was wielding that power, especially the power of Ryomen Sukuna in a way that was poorly thought out.

Which is the point of this scene when Yuji realized the scope of Sukuna’s rampage. Yuji didn’t seriously think of the possibility that he was a walking bomb waiting to go off. This was brought up as an argument in the Kyoto arc, that it might be safer for everyone to just kill Yuji now so Sukuna doesn’t have the chance to get out. And then. Sukuna got out. And that’s what happened.

Mahito isn’t saying that Yuji is good or bad, he’s saying Yuji hasn’t thought about what good or bad even is. Yuji only ever saw the good intention of his actions, he saw himself as a person saving others, and because of that he didn’t think properly about the risk he inherently carrying. He didn’t realize how dangerous of a person he was for carrying Sukuna around like that. Mahito is the unacknowledged shadow of Yuji’s actions, following him through the plot, and punishing him for his ignorance.

Yuji is a good kid, but sadly the nature of the universe being true neutral good intentions don’t always lead to good results. It’s just a burden that Yuji has to think about, and carry with him as he moves on. Which I really, really want him to do. Yuji can think more, live on and live with his regrets, and still try to do the right thing even after enduring all of this because that’s what makes him human.

Just like how all reasons for fighting are made up, humans are able to make up whatever reason they want to keep fighting. It goes both way. If all lives have equal weight. You don’t have to take it from Mahito’s perspective that they’re worth nothing. You can also take it from Yuji’s perspective, that every life is worth fighting for, worth living, because you and I are worth just as much as one another.

#Anonymous #jjk meta #this is going to be really abstract and nihilistic because it's mahito #sorry #jujutsu kaisen meta #mahito #yuji itadori #itadori yuji #yuji analysis #yuji meta #metasks #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen mahito #jujutsu kaisen theory

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qqueenofhades · 4 years ago

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Your political posts recently have been excellent. I was 17 during the 2016 election and watching everything go down while not being able to vote (and watching people choose not to vote) was horrible. I can’t believe how many people on the left seem to have forgotten 2016. I’m worried about the leftist twitter mob and the anti-trump conservatives in swing states who might not vote at all and the voter suppression. I’m so worried about everything right now.

Oof, hon. That is a Big Big Mood.

It’s a hard and surreal feeling when you’re having conversations, as have happened in my family and probably in many of yours, with your parents about what to do if we need to leave the country and flee to Canada (or wherever else) at a moment’s notice. My father is 67 years old and disabled, and he is so worried about all of this (as he damn well should be) because we’re well past the dress-rehearsal stages of fascism and into outright fascism. We are making serious plans to relocate permanently out of America no matter how the election goes, because I honestly cannot take this country at all anymore, and my family feels the same. We have had the conversation about “what if this country collapses and we have to get out.” It’s scary and it’s awful and I hate that we’re having to do this, and I hate even more that people are deliberately rejecting their chance (again, the LAST CHANCE WE HAVE) to reject Trump in a (somewhat) democratic fashion. No wonder we can’t remember history at all when we can’t even remember, as you point out, four years ago.

I just can’t with the renewed kerfuffle that the Harris pick has kicked up, not least because most of us knew or figured for a long time that it was coming. Somehow the twitterati wants us to believe that they would have happily skipped to their polling station to vote for Joe Biden, despite months of screaming about rapist/dementia/corporate ghoul/worse than Trump/senile/won’t follow through on his promises/insert tagline here, if only he hadn’t picked Kamala “Cop” Harris. (She’s a lawyer, not a cop, and her prosecutorial career also specialized in putting away male predators for rape and murder and taking financial giants to town for multibillion-dollar fraud settlements, aka the kind of people we want to see punished, but hey, all nuance is evil.) Because... come on.... seriously???

If Biden had picked Stacey Abrams (and don’t get me wrong, she was my favorite too for a while) the narrative would be about she is inexperienced and has never held any executive office (which she hasn’t), and this is bad because it means he’s senile. If Biden had picked Val Demings, who was ACTUALLY a cop, more cop screaming. If Biden had picked Karen Bass, they would have fixated on her remark praising Castro at his death (which she has subsequently apologized and retracted) and moaned about how this lost Florida. If Biden had picked Susan Rice, who was entangled with the whole Benghazi scandal, BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI HILLARY CLINTON EVIL would have been shouted by both the right and the left. If Biden had picked Elizabeth Warren, oh my god. FAKE PROGRESSIVE CORPORATE SHILL WHITE DEMON WHO DARED TO ATTACK BERNIE!!! would be bellowed from the rooftops. There is literally nobody who would have been Progressive enough for the leftist twitterites, and if they claim there is, they’re lying. Plus, the Vice President does.... not make policy??? He (or she, in this case, and I love that) is there to implement the President’s goals, to advise, consult, take over if necessary, and otherwise serve in a supporting role. So why the fuck on earth is a long-expected VP pick suddenly The Straw That Broke The Camel’s Back?

You wanna know the Upside Down we’re living in right now? Sarah Palin (yes, that Sarah Palin) has been openly more supportive of Kamala Harris than some of the supposed members of her own party for getting the pick. And that’s not because RAH RAH HARRIS’S POLICIES ARE JUST LIKE SARAH PALIN!!! Sarah Palin has offered her advice to Harris without a partisan bent and even said she’s happy to see her picked and that she hopes Harris isn’t attacked in the same way she was (fat chance) and that she should be confident and present herself to the American public as she is. And that is... surprisingly... not terrible advice?? And I’m genuinely happy that the only other female VP pick, as embarrassingly unprepared as she might have been, is doing that, while wondering how on earth we’re living in a world where, again, Sarah Palin is being more supportive than supposed Democratic voters. I don’t get it, chief.

The racist, misogynistic, “nasty woman” attacks on Harris have already eagerly begun from the right, the same stuff they hit Hillary Clinton with, and just as before, the left is eager to pile on rather than to defend their candidate, because they’d rather tear her down for not having policies that perfectly aligned with their own at all times rather than attack her outright fascist opponents. I don’t agree with everything Kamala has done either. But guess what? I DO agree with some things that she HAS done! And I’m going to defend her like crazy, because lord, I am tired of us eating our own. Kamala is experienced, competent, her nomination is historic, and she can clearly do the job. AND SHE IS STILL THE VICE PRESIDENT. NOT THE TOP OF THE TICKET.

The good news is: Biden has leads outside the margin of error in almost all swing states (which don’t matter a damn unless voters actually show up and vote, and we’ve already discussed how hard the GOP is deliberately making that, because they can only win by cheating) and far larger than Clinton’s leads at this time in 2016. Black voters, while being wary of some elements of Harris’s past, are largely very happy with the pick and agree that she can continue to evolve on her policy stances, and that the selection of a Black woman who has been a leader on criminal justice and police reform sends a strong message. Biden’s campaign had its best fundraising hour ever and ultimately raised $26 million in 24 hours after Harris joined the ticket, reflecting a surge of Democratic voter energy and enthusiasm. (That does not count leftists, who aren’t registered Democrats and don’t vote for Democrats and yet still act like their views are mainstream within the party.) So as loud and as obnoxious and maddening as they are, the hard left twitterati still aren’t actually the people that we are counting on as a core constituency. But this election is going to be very hard, and all the people threatening to sit out for some ridiculous moral-ideology reason are only going to make it harder for themselves and us.

I don’t know what to say. I spend a lot of time being scared too. Especially when it can feel like I’m yelling into the void over all this, and the sanctimonious circle-jerking baffles me beyond all reason. But we are not alone, we will do our best, and that is all we can ask for.

#politics for ts #your salty internet aunt is Fed Up kiddos #anonymous #ask

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zirawrites · 7 years ago

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Hi! How do companions +Gage with crush on fem sole react when they find out she thinks she isn’t lovable because of her choices both past and present?

This is my first time writing Gage! Let me know what you think. It was harder than I thought it would be since I didn’t travel with the yellow trashcan-wearing bby that much.

Cait: Cait couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She rubbed Sole’s back as her companion blabbered on about every aspect of her life. The two women had been drinking all night, and Sole had always been an emotional drunk. Somehow they got on the topic of their pasts, and Sole immediately burst in to tears. “Nate was always disappointed in me,” she cried. “He was a soldier who worshiped the law. He disapproved of how I was a lawyer. And I know he’d hate the choices I’ve made.”

Cait scratched her head. “I have no idea what you’re talkn’ about, love,” she said. And Cait was being honest. “You’re tryn’ to take down the Institute: a bunch of shadow-assholes who terrorize families and replace people with copies of themselves. Hell, you’re like a superhero in one of those comic books. Cross my heart.”

Her words didn’t soothe Sole much. “I’ve killed, Cait. Even if they deserved it, I know Nate wouldn’t be able to stomach me.” Sole drunkenly hiccuped as she poured another glass. “I don’t deserve another chance at love. I just don’t.”

Exasperated, Cait had heard enough. She stood up to look down at weeping Sole; her arms crossed tightly and mouth in a tight frown. “Now wait just a damn minute!” she yelled. “You’re a hero in the Commonwealth. I know I ain’t one to talk. And hell, I’m not sure how uptight those pre-war assholes were about heroism. But I’ll be damned if I let you talk bad about yourself.” Cait crouched down in front of Sole and moved a strand of tear-soaked hair from her face. “If anythn’, you’re absolutely perfect.”

Codsworth (synth): The two friends were making breakfast in Sole’s Sanctuary home just like the pre-war days. The sun was shining, Diamond City radio was playing, and Codsworth told his usual stiff English jokes. For a moment, Sole forgot all about the nuclear fallout. Life was just as it used to be, but instead of Codsworth being a Mr. Handy, he was a well-dressed man who cared about cleanliness and the art of perfecting toast.

“Oh, mum,” Codsworth said as he handed her a plate, “it’s just like the old days. I do miss having more arms to tidy the ol’ homestead, but I’m definitely not complaining.” He liked having the new responsibilities of keeping himself fashionable. Compared to Sole who sat opposite of him at the table, he was adorned in almost pre-war garb. It was adorable.

“I wish we could recreate those days,” Sole admitted. She absentmindedly stirred the eggs on her plate, and Codsworth immediately noticed her anxiety. “I’m not the woman I used to be. How would I be able to get a date after all I’ve done in this world? There aren’t a lot of eligible bachelors aching for a murderer.”

Codsworth knew she was picturing the Institute in flames. Gunners shot down from where she sniped. Raiders running for their lives. All the injured settlers she couldn’t save. Instead of sitting down with Sole, Codsworth walked around the table to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Oh, mum,” Codsworth soothed. He wanted to cry, but wouldn’t let Sole see him like that. “The Commonwealth is blessed to have you. You aren’t a murderer. You’ve saved countless lives when you placed your own principles over a faction bent on genocide.” When Sole softened her expression, Codsworth’s tightened his grip. “The men in this new world aren’t gentlemen. They’re fixated on caps and mercenary work. It’s absolutely deplorable. You deserve so much more than that. Someone who appreciates your loyalty to justice. Your gentleness and empathy. Your -”

“And you deserve someone who appreciates your amazing eggs and charm.” Sole had cut Codsworth off, and a bright blush spread across his cheeks. He forgot what other compliment he was going to add.

Curie: “I cannot believe what I am hearing,” Curie gasped. The two women had been discussing their perfect utopia. Curie’s was one where science was held to the highest esteem and education was a right for every child. Sole dreamed of a world that aimed for total peace. There would be no racism. No one would be prejudice against ghouls or synths. And people like her wouldn’t exist. Curie was having none of it, and Sole had never seen her so upset. “You are a martyr to peace in the Commonwealth! I have looked up to you ever since you found me a human body and taught me about the real world.” It was true: Curie idolized Sole in every way possible. “If your utopia doesn’t include someone as smart and beautiful as you, then I do not want to live in it.”

Sole pulled back her head in shock. “What do you mean beautiful?”

Curie blushed and tried to stammer her way out of the mess she made. “I just meant that…. I mean… you are so kind and generous to people just eking out a living that I…” She never really did form a complete thought after that.

Danse: Sole had never seen Danse out of his power armor, and he was quite the sight to behold. The Brotherhood had recently taken down a raider operation which freed a large portion of settlements. It was such an impressive feat that Maxon allowed Danse and his men a night off to be civilians. The unanimous vote was to go out drinking. As the soldiers harassed the bartenders and drunkenly danced all over one another, Danse watched from the shadows. He had been nursing the same bottle of beer all night.

When Danse saw Sole walking towards him, he fumbled over his feet to meet her across the bar. He had never seen her in… was that a dress? It was rather conservative for a night out - down to her ankles and fastened with plastic buttons - but she looked beautiful. “Why aren’t you dancing with the others?” he asked her. “You deserve a night off more than anyone else here. If I recall correctly, it was you who found the raiders’ base. You interrogated their leader. I thought you’d be waist deep in free booze by now, soldier.”

“Oh, I’m not a big drinker,” Sole said. Was she blushing? Danse hoped he wasn’t. “And besides, I was just about to head back to the Prydwen. I really just wanted to dance. But everyone at the bar knows why we’re here. I’m sure a lady notorious for slitting raiders’ throats isn’t exactly charming. I’m not fooling anyone with this dress.”

Without even meaning to, Danse extended his hand towards Sole. They both seemed equally surprised. “That’s nonsense, Sole,” he said; a smile spreading across his face. The jukebox flipped on a new song, and everyone at the bar headed to the small dance floor. “I hope this isn’t too forward but�� May I have this dance?”

Deacon: It had been a month since Deacon told Sole about his late wife. He wasn’t entirely sure she believed him, but that was understandable. Sole had been nothing but loyal to Deacon, while he soiled their friendship at every turn with lies and tricks. Baring his all to his partner took some of the burden off his shoulders, but it wasn’t enough. It probably would never be enough. He didn’t deserve a friend like Sole.

“Hey partner.” Deacon was leaning against the desk in HQ when Sole returned from a mission. She knew whatever he had to say must have been serious because he was using the same soft infliction he had when he talked about Barbara. “I’ve been thinking… I sprung a lot on your plate a few weeks ago. Are we okay? Like, I didn’t scare ya off or anything? Because I’m not used to being so honest. You don’t need to be okay with what I’ve done.”

Sole stepped as close as she could to Deacon without physically touching him. The small space between them made him dizzy. Good dizzy? Was that even a thing? “Deac, you don’t ever need to worry about that. I appreciate you being so open about your past. If anything, I think it’s brought us closer together. I know what it’s like to feel like you don’t deserve to be loved. After choosing the Railroad over my son and the amount of blood on my hands… hell, I don’t even deserve having you in my life.”

Sole gasped as Deacon pulled her in to his chest. For not being the hugging type, Deacon held her so tight her tip-toes barely scraped the floor. She mumbled something in to his shirt, but he couldn’t hear. “Shut up,” he whispered. If he came to his senses, he might let go of Sole and run away forever. And he definitely didn’t want that.

Hancock: Hancock placed his hand on the small of Sole’s back as they waved at Billy from the streets. They had just returned the young ghoul to his family, and Hancock couldn’t be more proud of Sole’s selflessness. She was able to calm the child down well enough to find his family, and resist the temptation of selling him in to slavery. He couldn’t hold her to a higher affinity if he tried.

When Billy shut the door, Hancock turned to Sole. He could barely make out her features from the darkness outside; she was dimly lit from the green glow of her Pip-Boy. And, to his surprise, Sole was frowning. “What’s wrong, beautiful?” he asked. Sole could see Hancock was frowning as well. She hadn’t meant to kill his vibe.

“Nothing,” she said. Her voice was soft and unsure. “It’s just… I guess seeing Billy’s family made me realize what I missed out on. That could have been Nate and I. Now who would want to settle down with me? I’m damaged goods.”

“Who the FUCK is sayn’ that?!” Hancock seethed. He seriously wanted to know. “Damaged goods my irradiated ass. Sole, you are everything right with this messed up world. I couldn’t be more proud of you, baby. Anyone who can’t see how perfect you are is either blind or just plain stupid.”

Sole was used to Hancock’s pet names, but never felt him hold on to her that tight. She cleared her throat and chuckled as Hancock sheepishly let go of her waist. He was blushing so hot anyone within fifteen feet of him would need to take some RadAway.

MacCready: Sole had a way with bartering that MacCready deeply admired. She managed to get an entire shipment of ammunition for Sanctuary for a third of what Diamond City charged. As the two of them set out to find a caravan to carry the supplies, he wanted to blow some smoke up Sole’s ass. She deserved it.

“You should have seen yourself back there!” MacCready said. “You’re like a cap-saving goddess. Can you get me a discount on hats? Mine is kinda falling apart.” Sole giggled at his compliments, which made MacCready’s heart skip a beat. He had never heard her laugh like that. It was something he wanted her to do again. “Seriously, Sole. How are you single? You could walk up to any guy at a bar and by the end of the night swindle yourself right in to a wedding ring.”

Sole didn’t laugh at that one. She slowed her pace enough to make a lump in MacCready’s throat. “I’m still single because nobody wants me like that,” Sole admitted. “I’m a good barterer and leader, but partner? Not so much.”

“That bullsh- bullcrap!” MacCready yelled. His voice was loud enough to attract the attention of a few drifters. “Who wouldn’t wanna marry you? Sole, don’t talk about yourself that way. I admire the heck outta you. And not just because you saved me a ton on ammo.” He wanted to keep gushing about Sole, but he had word-vomited enough for one day. Sole didn’t giggle, but she blushed. That was close enough for him.

Preston: Well, this was a first for both of them. While checking on a settlement, one of the women went in to labor. Other settlers explained that her husband had died from illness a month ago, and none of them knew how to deliver a baby. Sole immediately jumped in to help. Preston was in charge of calming her down while Sole did the dirty work. Luckily for everyone, the woman wasn’t in labor for even eight hours. The baby girl was delivered healthy, and her middle name was now Sole’s first one. It was touching.

Sole was cleaning herself up when Preston entered the shack to check on her. “You were really brave today, General,” he said. “I couldn’t have done that without you. You probably saved that mother’s life.” Sole smiled, but she didn’t respond. “Aren’t you proud of yourself?” Preston thought Sole would be gleaming, especially since she was also a mother.

“It makes me sad,” Sole admitted. She looked at her feet as she spoke. “I’ll never have another baby. I love Shaun with all my heart, but I always wanted a big family.” Preston asked Sole why she was so certain she’d never be pregnant again. It wasn’t like Sole was that old… well, physically. “No one would want to raise a family with me, Preston. Not after the choices I’ve made. I’m a different person than I used to be. A worse person, really.”

“That’s a lie!” Preston’s voice was louder than he expected. He drew in a deep breath to calm down, and then took a step closer. “Sole, you’re a fantastic mom. You’ve sacrificed everything to find your son. And I know you would make the best wife. No one is as selfless and brave as you. That’s how you gained the trust of the Minutemen. That’s how you earned my admiration.” With that, Preston placed a kiss on Sole’s cheek. It was unexpected, but not unappreciated.

Piper: Piper had interviewed Sole when she was searching for Shaun, so it only seemed appropriate to do one after the Institute fell. The two women sat in her office and sipped brandy that Nick had generously donated just for the occasion. Piper wanted to know she wasn’t just doing this for publicity. Sole was her best friend, and deserved closure after her horrific discovery.

“Whenever you’re ready, I want to start off by asking you what you want the Commonwealth to know about Shaun. Not as leader of the Institute, but as the son you raised.” Piper readied her pen, but Sole didn’t speak. Instead, she took a long drink, and played with the hem of her shirt. “Is everything okay, Sole?” Piper asked. “We don’t have to do this right now. Or we can skip that question. I have a lot of other ones that have more to do with you than Shaun.”

“I didn’t try hard enough,” Sole mumbled. There were tears threatening to roll down her flushed cheeks. “Shaun deserved a better mother. Nate deserved a better wife. The Commonwealth is too good for me, Piper. I couldn’t save my family, so how am I supposed to save others? I don’t deserve your friendship. I don’t deserve anyone’s love.”

Piper couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her usual reaction was to get dramatic. Sole half-expected her to jump out of her seat in hysterics for the pep-talk of a lifetime. Instead, Piper’s expression softened, and she reached out to hold Sole’s hand. It was softer than she thought it would be. “I have a new question for you. Strictly off the record.” She ran her thumb over Sole’s knuckles and hoped Sole couldn’t hear her heart beating violently in her chest. “Do you know how much I personally admire you? Because I don’t have enough paper to make an article on all that.”

Nick: Living in Diamond City wasn’t always easy, especially being a synth. Even though he found missing loved ones almost every week, the citizens side-eyed him when they thought he couldn’t see. Children pulled on his jacket when they knew they could out-run him. Women laughed behind his back after he paid them a compliment. Sometimes it felt like Sole was the only one who saw him as his own man.

As luck would have it, Sole volunteered to help Nick sort out cases when Ellie caught a cold. She knew he was more than capable of organizing his own work, but the two friends would make any excuse to spend time together. Nick handed Sole a folder about a missing woman. Her husband had come in a week ago asking Nick for help, but the case had eventually gone cold. “He was hysterical when he came in the office,” Nick recollected. “His eyes were red and swollen from crying. I’ve never seen a man more down on his luck. It took hours to calm Ellie down, poor girl. Seein’ a guy that worried made all our stomachs churn.”

“I wish someone cared about me that much,” Sole said. She continued to thumb through the file, not realizing what she said was unusual.

“What does that mean?” Nick asked. He took the folder from Sole’s hands, and she pretended to pout. “I’m serious, Sole. Why do you think no one would go lookn’ for you?”

“I’m not really worth it, I guess,” she said. “You have a purpose here in Diamond City. You do a lot of good for a lot of people, Nick. But me? All I’ve done is tear people down. Hell, I couldn’t even help my own son. You wouldn’t honestly risk your neck for me.”

Nick was partially insulted, but mostly surprised. He thought Sole knew how wild he was about her. He wanted to spend all his time with her either solving cases or drinking at the Third Rail talking about a better future for the Commonwealth. “Don’t fill your head with silly ideas,” he said. His face was stern, but his words were sweet. “I’d go to the ends of the Earth if I knew I’d keep you safe.” That was unexpected, but Nick didn’t want to take it back. It earned him a soft hand-squeeze from Sole, and an appreciative smile.

X6-88: Sole needed a break outside of the Institute after realizing Shaun was its leader. X6 was sworn to protect her, and didn’t hesitate to follow her back to Sanctuary. He had learned a lot about Sole from the excess time they spent traveling together. She cared about random settlers, even when they had nothing to give her in return. Whenever someone tried to hold her up for caps, she listened to their tragic backstories and was able to convince them to change their ways. Everything spoiled in the Commonwealth seemed to sweeten when she was around.

“FUCK THIS!” Sole’s shaky voice pulled X6 out of his thoughts. He readied his firearm, assuming they were under attack. Instead, he saw Sole kick over a trashcan. She was fuming. “He was the last person I thought I had left and he doesn’t even know me!” Sole was obviously talking about Shaun. Instead of trying to correct her, X6 let her vent. “It’s like he isn’t even my son anymore. He’s not the kind of man Nate and I wanted to raise. He commits genocide. He terrorizes the Commonwealth. And if he… if he doesn’t love me…” Sole used the back of her hand to childishly wipe her tears. “No one does.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” X6′s voice was cool as always, but his words didn’t match his usual demeanor. “You are a beacon of hope in this world. I have never seen you put yourself before anyone else. I am sure that as you and Father grow closer, you will come to realize there are many people who care about you.” A pause. “Including me.”

Bonus!Gage: Bloodied and bruised. It was how Sole always seemed to come back to Fitzztop Grille. Whether she was out scouting for the raiders or just got in a regular ol’ fight, Gage could expect Sole to be beaten to a pulp by the end of the day. As she stumbled in at the end of the night, Gage was already waiting at the top of the elevator. Except this time, Sole was hurt. Bad.

“Well shit, boss!” He was actually pissed off. It was hard enough watching Sole walk off by herself and straight towards danger every day. Gage didn’t know why, but he had this insatiable desire to protect her. Maybe he just admired her skills, right? But instead of greeting his friend with some patronizing words, he watched her hold her eye that was swollen shut. Sole’s clothes were ripped, and he could see bruises across her ribs. As soon as she stepped in to the room she stumbled forward. Gage hoisted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. “Did you let every raider south of Kiddie Kingdom take a crack at you?” He was trying to sound mildly annoyed, but the worry in his eyes was telling. Good thing Sole couldn’t see him with her blurry vision.

“I got jumped coming home,” she wheezed. Her voice sounded fragile. If Gage got too angry, he could shatter her. “Don’t w-waste… your breath on me, Gage. Just go home. I can take care… take… care of m-m-myself.” He noticed she was shivering. And since it was hot as balls outside, it had to be from the pain. “Nobody deserves to pick up my pieces.”

“Aw, shut the hell up,” he growled. “You’re so fuckn’ dramatic, you know that?” Gage pulled out the first-aid kit from behind the bar and rolled out some gauze for Sole’s wounds. “You already know I’m in your corner. So quit your crocodile tears and strip. It’s gonna take this whole roll to bandage your sorry ass up.” That was actually the kindest thing Gage had ever said to her. And even when Sole took off her clothes, he avoided looking her over. It didn’t seem fair since she couldn’t catch him. Where was the fun in not getting smacked by his favorite girl?

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mittensmorgul · 7 years ago

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All of the stuff between Jack and Cas this episode was magic. And when Jack flew off at the end and Cas was yelling his name, I just *sigh*. He's gonna be Worried Dad in the next episode and Dean's going to have to comfort him. I just have so many feels about Cas and Jack!

I’m not gonna lie, I find it all really uncomfortable. I’ve been sitting on this message for a couple days, and just... not knowing exactly how to reply without squashing your enthusiasm...

The whole “worried dad” thing is just... skeevy to me. I mean, all the huge questions surrounding Jack’s powers are deeply unsettling. His powers do things and he has zero understanding or control over them.

Not to mention the fact that they way they’ve been setting Jack up all season is pointing to something very much darker. One of his first “humanizing” traits having earned him the Nougat nickname we all love, the fact that he was hungry and found satisfaction in candy, and in nougat specifically, is gone now. So’s the fact that he used to sleep. There was much squee over the scene of him snoozing in the back seat of the Impala like Cas had once upon a time when his mojo was failing him back in s5, and he was nearly human.

We haven’t actually seen Jack eat since 13.02. Even the Intern Fetching Hot Dogs scene-- he never ate himself, despite getting food for all of them. And now in 13.06 he tells Cas he barely sleeps. In the language of Supernatural, these are pretty universally Bad Signs.

They were the cues toward the end of s9 that Dean was succumbing to the Mark. Turning down food was one of the “tests” Crowley ran on him to prove to himself that Dean was fully under its control. Again at the end of s10, not eating and not sleeping were the signs that Dean was losing himself to the Mark yet again.

Soulless!Sam didn’t sleep either.

Yes, Jack is half angel, but he’s also half human. Sam has been treating him like a human with access to some sort of magical power pack accessory attached, but that’s not what Jack is. Dean had been treating him like a highly dangerous nuclear warhead of unknown mojo with a human attached, but that’s also not what Jack is.

Jack himself has no idea what he is, which Cas can certainly identify with, since that’s been his personal struggle for years now. He’s got some human, some angel, and it’s all mixed up and he’s been trying to figure himself out as if he were two separate things at once, but he’s not. He’s one thing.

He’s been terrified of his own power, because he’s understood that his power has Done Things™ that he’s had zero control over, that he didn’t choose to do, and that he can’t even comprehend.

This is so far beyond what Cas can even understand or relate to.

Not to mention that Jack can’t even guarantee that his power isn’t what brought all the Winchesters to care for him. Did his power realize he needed help and protection, and “make them” take him in.

I mean, before he was born, he needed Kelly alive. When she killed herself, his power resurrected her, controlled her, changed her. She truly believed that Jack shouldn’t be born until after she’d been resurrected by his power... his power that acts entirely outside of Jack’s control or conscious knowledge as a self-protective mechanism.

His power-- because of his personal need, because of his belief that Cas would keep him safe-- without his conscious choice to do so, reached into a realm that is beyond even God’s power and woke Cas up from eternal sleep that nothing is supposed to be able to return from. This is why Sam was kinda >.> about asking Jack if he’d woken Cas. This... was not a small statement.

Jack had NO IDEA he’d done that. And yet he just moves right along, accepting that Cas is back like it’s no big deal, and then goes on into telling everyone about the hunting case he’s found.

He’s learned so much just from watching Sam and Dean over the last couple of weeks, but heck, he’s got so much more to learn. His naivete has almost blown two cases already for them, but he’s also shown a rigidity of thought and understanding that complements his current understanding of morality in general. I’ve been waiting for his need to classify everything as rigidly good or bad to blow up in his face, and 13.06 did that for him.

To back up for a second, he fixated on this being a zombie case, probably because he’d watched a zombie movie or happened to stumble across something about zombies online. He never even heard of a ghoul before, and then had to explain it for himself in terms of two other monsters he COULD understand (zombie shapeshifter!). Interesting because it’s sort of the reverse of what Dean does with his “ghoulpire” and “octovamp” and the like. Dean smashes things together, Jack takes one thing and makes it two...

He knows that Sam and Dean use the EMF meter to look for ghosts, but he uses it in the graveyard because he doesn’t yet understand that it doesn’t work for finding ghouls-- or that graveyards might be hotbeds of EMF because of all the ghosts there anyway, making it practically useless even if they were specifically looking for a ghost. Or the questions he asks Athena about weird smells and cold spots-- ALSO not relevant in a ghoul case, and which actually blew their cover when Athena related those weird questions to the ghoul they were hunting. I mean... yikes.

It’s this rigidity of thinking combined with his utter inexperience that really worries me.

Yes, he did notice things while wandering around Athena’s morgue that eventually alerted them to the fact that Dave was Athena’s boyfriend, but it was already too late. Dave had been tipped that they were hunters, and it drove him to rob the bank in order to have the funds to flee with Athena... setting up the shootout in the bank’s parking lot.

Jack realized that Dave’s bullets couldn’t hurt him, and he resorted to using his power consciously to stop Dave. He wasn’t expecting the security guard to be in the way of his uncontrolled power blast, nor was he expecting it to kill the guard.

He’d been trying to do something good, but he did something bad instead, and once again he’s terrified of himself. He’s questioning every “good” thing he’s ever done, scared of every use of his power he hasn’t been aware of, and wondering what other unknown things he may have done that have hurt people...

Including everything Dean had said about how he’d gotten Cas killed.

His power did that.

Yes, he also brought Cas back, but that doesn’t change anything. He couldn’t bring the guard back. He has no idea how he resurrected Kelly or tapped Cas awake in the Empty, and all his power couldn’t do anything to fix what he’d done with intent, yet had drastic consequences he’d never foreseen.

So yeah, I’m worried for Jack. He’s worried for himself. And he doesn’t trust anything right now. He hasn’t had the time to grow into his power, to understand it, despite feeling a huge pressure to do so.

And Cas? This is so far beyond anything Cas can even understand. He’s facing almost an entirely opposite problem from what Jack is. Cas understands his powers completely, he’s lived with them for billions of years and knows his limits and boundaries. He can understand some of Jack’s current moral dilemma, because he has been living with guilt resulting from some terrible choices he’s made in the past, but he can’t really understand Jack’s fear of his own powers.

In that respect, I think Sam and Dean understand him a bit better-- Sam via his demon blood powers that he’d once feared, and Dean with the MoC/demon powers that he’d also feared. But they also can’t identify with or understand how Jack’s power he’s afraid of is also part of himself. It’s not something he can “cure” or go through demon blood detox on. It’s part of who he is that he’s convinced makes him evil, simply because he can’t control it.

That’s why the whole “floaty pencil” thing had the Kill Bill Sirens going off in my head. In immediate contrast to the whole conversation about whether it was his powers that had unconsciously crossed over into a realm beyond God’s reach just to get something he wanted, to then turn around and seem him so proud to make a pencil levitate like a gleeful child showing off a trick they learned... it’s super unsettling to me.

Yes, I think Cas does care for Jack, just like Sam and Dean clearly do, even if the whole reason they care for him didn’t start out as an actual choice (because that’s how Jack’s power works, that’s how we’ve seen it clarified in 13.06 regarding his waking of Cas in the Empty). And the fact we’re also getting all the unsettling little tells that a character is becoming “less human,” well... let’s say I don’t really feel comfortable framing any of this with language that involves the word “Dad.”

#spn 13.06 #spn 13.02 #spn 13.04 #jack nougat winchester #castiel winchester #winchester family dynamics #the special agony of brainwashing #Anonymous

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dreamofcentipedes · 7 years ago

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Do you agree with Linkspooky meta about chapter 125?

Drawing me into the tumblr drama, eh, anon? Because we have very different interpretations of the overall trajectory the series is going to take, our views are naturally inimical, and I don’t really want to start anything that might be considered ‘beef’, because you see…

But you did ask, and fandom’s full of debate, right? Because it’s quite a lengthy meta and I want to provide a sufficient rebuttal, this post is pretty comprehensive and/or exhaustive.

Along with theme-related disagreements, there are two major things in the meta that I take issue with: 1) Itpresents a lot of assumptions as fact without making the case for them, and 2)It expects Ishida’s moral system and values to match the analyst’s own, even ifthere isn’t any evidence for it. I’ll be coming back to these two here and then.

Early on in the meta it makes the argument that the final panel is unlikely to be a 19 because usually reversed Tarot are simply presented as upside down in the manga whereas this one is mirrored. But later, it goes on to argue the case for it being a 16, even though no matter how the image is moved, the 16 will remain in the wrong order, whereas at least in a mirror a 19 can clearly be made out. For that reason I would definitely say a 19 is more likely and could possibly even reflect (lol) Kaneki and Touka’s parallel development.

“Sex isn’t really a net positive or a net negative, it’s just neutral”

This is really justa personal opinion stated as fact, and ignores the very real and very powerfulemotional charge of 125. Such an objective view is far from universal, and inmany circles sex is triumphed as the ultimate form of love, which, I think, iscloser to what Ishida’s view is, judging from the care and dedication he tookto drawing 125. And again:

“having sex doesn’t really resolve any of Kaneki and Touka’sissues”

This reduces theact to just a quick shag without acknowledging the clear emotional significanceof the experience for both the characters, proved both in the chapter andbeyond it. Sex does really resolve their issues when both of their issuesrevolve around the need to be loved. The comment is a subtle reductio ad absurdumwhich tries to instantly dismiss an argument without really fighting it.

“Having sex, or advancing their relationship might solve theirrelationship arc, but it’s tangential to their individual characterarcs.”

Again, itunderplays 125′s significance and the enormous impact a sexual-romanticrelationship can have on one’s character - it seems like it’s trying toclinically separate the two when, the way I see it, the relationship arc hasbecome a major part of their individual characters now. Just look at the endingnarration for Ch 131: “A reminder that the two of them wereonce two”, i.e. they are now one.

“Kaneki isn’t really experiencing a happiness of his inner spiritthough, considering he started crying in the middle of sex and could notexplain why.”

This is another example of stating assumption as fact. I really don’twhy everyone assumes crying has to be a negativething when tears of joy are a well-established concept. He leans intopassionately kiss Touka right afterwards, so why do people assume his heartisn’t in it? I would argue that he does explain why, butchooses not to do so with the unreliability of words, but the certainty ofaction in the kiss. And again, with evidence from recent chapters, he’sclearly drawing strength from his relationship with Touka in trying times forhim.

“There’s also the fact that they’re having this sex in the darkness,with black borders around the panels and constant cut to black. I hope thismakes a good case for why I think the sun isn’t exactly the perfect fit forthis scene.”

Not really, becausethe final page of the chapter is bathed in light, specifically for the sake ofshowing the illumination in their lives, the way I see it. Furthermore, thepanel specifically makes use of that darkness to make it seem as though lightis emanating from Touka over the naked Kaneki, strongly paralleling the SunTarot.

The darkness does in fact serve one of the purposes the meta argues for- to close them off from the rest of the world. But even then theinterpretation of that feature feels unnecessarily cruel. It goes on to arguethat Kaneki and Touka are being selfish for forgetting the troubles of theoutside world for this one brief moment. Considering everything they’ve beenthrough, and all the incredible effort they’ve put in (and are still puttingin, as the following chapters prove), to punish them for relaxing for a few hoursjust seems brutally unfair. Like yelling at Churchill for pouring a brandy in his room after a day hard spent towards the war effort. If this was just sex for the sake of distraction,then why dedicate a whole chapter to it? Why focus so deeply on the strength ofthe emotions involved, and why portray it so beautifully? As we have seen fromthe following chapters, no-one has suffered as a result of their actions,Kaneki and Touka are still working diligently for the future of the Ghoul, andin fact this experience has strengthened Kaneki’s resolve tofulfil his duty as the One-Eyed King rather than undermined it.

That white hair isGiri, not Ninjo. Kaneki stuck his head in the sand as Haise and wilfullyrejected the greater concerns of the world as the Black Reaper, but his senseof duty now is stronger than ever by working in tandem with his feelings ratherthan against them. Having one night of relaxation with a loved one is in no waya neglectful failure of duty, especially when it’s only improved his workethic.

The next partdoesn’t really make much sense to me:

“In a way it’s an unequal love because Touka can never value Kaneki theway Kaneki wants to use her, as a reason to live, as a symbol for all the goodthings that make life worth living.”

Yet not that long ago I was arguing against a meta by the same authorclaiming Touka had an unhealthy and unrequited fixation with Kaneki. Toukadefinitely wants to be a source of support to Kaneki, but that’s because shewants to return the favour for how he once supported her, knowing how much of adifference it makes first-hand. What we’re seeing with Kaneki now is not allthat different to what we were seeing with Touka back in the original manga’sfirst half, and as such, it is both equal and balanced. I’ve just seen so manystretches from people trying to find ways to claim their relationship is unhealthy,when there’s barely been any circumstantial evidence to suggestthat, let alone definitive. If you’re shooting from a tragic axis, then focuson all those death-flags in recent chapters instead - even though I thinkthey’re red herrings, they’re at least more substantial than this ‘toxiclove’ angle I keep hearing about.

“That being said, defining yourself entirely by the relationships youhave in your life and trying to keep them around is in and of itself aflaw.”

And see, this goes back to my major issue #2 with this meta. This isjust a personal opinion. There really has been very little in the manga tosuggest that Ishida thinks the same. I hear this statement like it’s a giventruth, but really Tokyo Ghoul has been much more focused on finding the right people to rely on than giving upon them altogether. The concepts of both :re and Anteiku are heavily lauded byall upright characters in the series and by the series itself; both Kaneki andHinami’s lives going off the rails upon leaving them and various troubled livesfinding peace within them – Yoshimura, Amon, Akira, and pretty much all ofGoat. These two cafes are founded on the story’s very heart, the current serieseven being named after the latter, and they are institutions that representcommunity and family, not strong-willed independence. Both Touka and Kanekihave been punished for trying to take that latter route and are now only nowfeeling something close to peace because they have embraced the former. Thewhole struggle between Humans and Ghouls exist because they reject interspecies relationships andstubbornly persist on their own path and their own way of being. So for thatreason, I highly doubt Ishida shares the same individualist outlook, whetheryou consider that to be personally right or not. His sympathies, and those ofthe series, lie on a more communal and social axis – a kind-of “power offriendship” for adults, acknowledging the rocky roads that relationships can godown, but for the sake of both parties, insisting that they’re worth preservingnonetheless. Tokyo Ghoul triumphs ultimate interpersonal understanding overindividual integrity as the way forward for societies and ourselves.

“At it’s core it’s a struggle of people from two different worlds trying desperately to connect.”

This bit I agree with! Touken is a microcosm of Ghouls and Humans trying to understand each other. Only because to me the relationship seems so clearly positive, I take that as a symbol of hope for the triumph of peace between Ghouls and Humans as has been the goal from the series start. :re is not the same story as the original was and so is free from its trappings of Tragedy; making it possible to view its developments under a very different, and in my opinion more precise, lens.

“Re: and Anteiku before it was a place where both of them were sheltered and allowed to be mostly innocent to the world.”

No, not really. Touka dealt with her father being killed and lived on the streets as a predatory Ghoul before coming to Anteiku, and even when she was there she became embroiled in Investigator-killing and various loved ones put at risk of death. During Kaneki’s time at Anteiku a loving mother was murdered before his eyes, he fought a Dove who detested his very existence, he was almost made into a meal twice by an insane cannibal who pretended to be his friend, and he was kidnapped and tortured for two weeks. In no way can they possibly be considered to be innocent to the world during their time at Anteiku, and the claim holds even less water when referring to :re after everything they’ve been through in the first series. It’s an attempt to paint Anteiku and :re in a negative light when there really isn’t one.

“At some point theoretically the idea is that Touka and Kaneki will decide for themselves what they view as right and wrong, rather than following simply what Yoshimura or Arima told them, or endlessly substituting new parental figures to guide them.”

This is again a substitution of the analyst’s own rhetoric over Ishida’s concepts. Yoshimura’s ideology has no need to be replaced, because the story has only ever lauded his stance, and Touka is clearly benefiting from following his ideology (calmer, wiser, gentler) as well as providing a positive influence to others (through creating a home for them in :re). Yoshimura’s legacy ought to be honoured and not simply thrown away because it’s not Touka’s original idea; no ideologies really are original - you pick up everything from somewhere. Touka has chosen of her own will to adopt Yoshimura’s ways because she has seen firsthand the good it can do people. She’s not blindly obedient - she is capable of thinking otherwise and disagreeing with Yoshimura, as she did plenty in the original series, concerning how to deal with the Doves, Kaneki’s kidnapping, and his decision to save Touka from the Anteiku Raid - so why should her growing respect for his ways now be childlike deferral? Kaneki likewise has his own reasons for continuing Arima’s legacy, as Ishida has taken care to point out for us:

Kaneki is equally capable of turning against his mentor as he demonstrated when he physically fought against Arima. Respecting and adopting other people’s ideas is no great sin if it appeals to your already present sense of right and wrong, as is the case with both of these two. As for the parental figures part, that returns to the “finding the right people” argument I made earlier. Young people have a natural need for an older generation to guide them as they come into their own, as they have now. Demanding that they leave that hole in their heart empty as they continue to make poor, uninformed decisions is like telling a child to skip high school and go straight to work. Both Yoshimura and Arima have made a great contribution towards these two finding their own identities, and towards a huge and necessary step in resolving their parental issues before they can pass into life’s Adult Stage.

“Surely she did that because she wanted to love a man, yet you say she wanted to be loved. It’s a good summary of their relationship and the tragedy of Touka’s own self conflicting selflessness.”

I agree with the Adam and Eve stuff as they will effectively be the parents of the new world of the Half-Ghoul ideology, but not the conclusion drawn from Eto’s speech; isn’t the point that she wants both? To love and be loved? Isn’t that exactly what Touka has received?

“Characters consciously wanting to change but being unable to do so is basically the theme of the past ten chapters.”

…But they have changed. In the past ten chapters before 125, and the chapters after them, characters have been addressing their past mistakes and moving beyond them. Their core desires may remain the same but that’s what makes them them. That’s what good, realistic character development is; to change their behaviour and their outlook without ever changing them into a completely different person. Amon has moved past his grudge against Ghouls and even the specific Ghoul that killed his mentor, and hopes to create what is a truly righteous world; Akira has come to drop her father’s vendetta and understand Ghouls as people; Urie is placing his morals above his position in the CCG; Saiko has finally decided to make a stand; Takizawa has found purpose and selflessness in his life once more along with something like a reason to live;and finally, Kaneki and Touka have talked over their relationship that has thus far been fraught with misunderstanding and reaped their reward, finally discovering the love that both of them have been searching for. That’s what makes this the Sun Arc of revelation. They don’t need to become different people, they just need to become the best versions of themselves.

Then there’s the rest that I can mostly skim over (haven’t read Berserk yet so I haven’t looked too deeply into that segment, but I will say that inspiration =/= exact paralleling):

16 for Tower:

I’ve already made the case for the Sun and I don’t really see what would be the point in doing the Tower again when we’re already long past that point in the Fool’s Journey. The Sun has much more appropriate timing.

Tsukiyama’s betrayal:

Impressive analysis of Tsukiyama’s aesthetic/emotional divide, but considering how chill and even excited Tsukiyama was to hear about the Touken marriage, I think the fandom has collectively misjudged the nature of Tsukiyama’s feelings towards Kaneki. He’s already moved past his obsessive stage in the Rose Arc, and now I think, rather than wanting Kaneki all to himself, he just wants to be his friend because most of his other friends are now dead (a comedic omake doesn’t suggest any truly deep emotion on Shuu’s part). And I don’t think that’s an avoidance of reality. Goat was about bringing people from all corners together past their grudges to form a cohesive unit dedicated to creating a better world.

So Tsukiyama’s forgiveness of Kaneki seems to have been the mature thing to do, similar to Amon forgiving Touka, because they all share the same real enemy: the world - the egg they must shatter. Tsukiyama ending his emotional isolation by joining Goat is thus a positive emotional development his character, and so I highly doubt a betrayal. I think Furuta uttering Shuu’s alias was more of a hint to his identity as Souta than any kind of foreshadowing, and Shuu throwing open the door on Kaneki and Touka is due to him being Kaneki’s second-in-command rather than any symbolic reason.

Hinami will also not defect. I’m concerned that the meta considers Hinami joining Aogiri a positive development for her character and her joining Goat to be negative. Joining a sadistic Ghoul terrorist organisation is never a positive development for anyone’s character, and indeed the narrative punished her for that decision. Aogiri did teach her strength, yes, but Goat allows her to use that strength together with her kindness. Just as it is made very clear that Kaneki was wrong to leave Anteiku, so it is made clear that Hinami was wrong to join Aogiri - the kind of isolated rebellion the analyst prefers is not considered favourably by Ishida, who has consistently championed the benefits of community, teamwork and understanding above the follies of reckless self-destruction.

So yeah, that’s my two-cents where that’s concerned. Sorry for the delay btw anon, but, uh, you can see why.

#tokyo ghoul #tg meta #touken #kanetou #kaneki x touka #ken kaneki #touka kirishima #shuu tsukiyama #hinami fueguchi

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hamliet · 7 years ago

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The Quinxes, Kaneki, & the Need for Reconciliation

Why hello, it’s time for me to blab about the Quinxes again because I love them.

Every single original Quinx also struggles with a flaw that Kaneki is trying to overcome. The predictions offered by Ishida way back in volume 2 of :re about what the Quinx will do next pretty much lists them:

Mutsuki: will lie again

Urie: will keep his mouth shut again

Shirazu: will carry the burden again

Saiko: will sleep again

Like Mutsuki, Kaneki’s not really honest with himself, or with other people. Hide notices that he has a habit of holding his chin when he’s lying, and we see this as Haise when he claims to be happy...

...and when he’s struggling with becoming a king who’s supposed to lead ghouls.

Mutsuki likewise has seldom been honest with himself, and his dissociative issues have only compounded this. He didn't remember killing his family, or the cats. He's telling himself he loves Sasaki and can only be happy if their entire family is back living together (which also parallels Kaneki's desire to keep those he loves close to him) even though he knows it's not going to happen.

Both Kaneki (as Haise) and Mutsuki (as a CCG investigator) have accepted roles that were forced on them when they were in vulnerable states. Kaneki, too, had the One Eyed King role essentially forced on him by Eto and Arima, and he didn't seem to really want the responsibilities, as Ayato calls him out on.

However, I do think Kaneki's making progress in recent chapters towards accepting his role of King, as imperfect as he might be, thanks in part to his relationship with Touka.

Like Urie, Kaneki has been known to keep his mouth shut–and in particular, it tends to be detrimental to his relationships with those he cares about. It’s one of the main causes behind Kaneki’s frequent miscommunications with Touka, as seen most recently in how he doesn’t tell Touka about Yoriko’s arrest and pending execution but rather leaves the papers around for her to find.

And we also see this again in how Kaneki has presumably not told Touka that he's aging rapidly and his prognosis looks grim. Instead, his reaction is to cling to the happiness he does have and marry Touka, which I won't lie made me extremely happy as a Touken shipper, but while I think their wedding was beautiful and fundamentally a positive development for both of them, he really needs to tell her; if he doesn't tell her soon, it's only going to hurt her when she does find out.

Urie, likewise, is unable to do what he needs to do. We see Urie being unable to make a proper decision when he's just discovered Mutsuki's fixation on Touka and by extension Yoriko.

The next chapter, Urie thinks about wanting to talk to Juuzou, Mutsuki's mentor, quite possibly about Mutsuki or maybe just about the direction of the CCG, but either way in the end Urie chooses to say nothing.

After Yoriko's arrest, he should have confronted Mutsuki about his actions–it actually would have made way more sense to talk to Mutsuki about Yoriko rather than storming Furuta’s office, but he didn't. And going even further back, if Urie really meant it about getting Shirazu’s body back, he should have prioritized that, but he didn't. To be frank, he should also just tell Mutsuki about his feelings for him–even if Mutsuki doesn’t reciprocate, I doubt that, given the level of trust Mutsuki has in Urie, it wouldn’t benefit Mutsuki to know he’s loved. He keeps silent, and it has the same consequences it has for Kaneki: hurting everyone he loves and hurting him as well. (It’s also interesting to note that Mutsuki and Urie’s situations are inverses of each other: Mutsuki chooses to actively pursue a lie, whereas Urie knows the truth, but chooses to passively not speak up about it.)

Like Shirazu, Kaneki constantly tries to carry the burden alone. He thinks it’s his duty to protect the people close to him, but he’s actually motivated by his own selfish desire to keep them close to him. It’s a very human desire and it’s one I confess I relate to a lot personally, but within Tokyo Ghoul and :re Kaneki’s constant trying to carry the burden for others has only led to disastrous results.

Shirazu also literally took the burden by charging at Noro to save everyone else, and he died, as Kaneki almost did at Anteiku. (This isn’t to demean Shirazu’s sacrifice by the way, but rather it's to point out the ways in which they are alike.) Even when he was alive, he focused on trying to force others to be responsible (like Saiko), which is not necessarily a negative thing for Shirazu, but for Kaneki it often becomes about control, which Touka called him out on in 120 of the original TG. Again, he's only recently starting to take some steps to move past this.

Like Saiko, sometimes Kaneki would rather sleep (i.e. ignore/postpone what he should do). Saiko, of course, had no agency when her mom signed her up for Quinx surgery, and since then has handed that agency off to others--namely, Sasaki, Shirazu, and now Urie. While she initially wondered whether it might not be right to kill ghouls, she didn't follow up on that, and only recently have we begun to see Saiko express her own desires and the determination to follow through with them, and only after her friends’ lives are in danger: first Urie when he frames out, and then when Yoriko is sentenced to death.

However, despite Saiko's vow to talk to "Mucchy," (a nickname I am so going to use, thank you Saiko) she apparently did not before Mutsuki left for the 24th ward. Saiko has also noticed before anyone else even did that something is wrong with Mutsuki and asked him about smelling human blood, but chose not to follow it up just like she chose not to follow-up with Urie after his frame-out, presumably because those would be uncomfortable actions to take, actions that would threaten the family she loves dearly.

Again, Saiko essentially passed the burden onto Urie here. Now, with everything that's happened to Shirazu, Yoriko, and now Urie and Mutsuki, Saiko's paying the price for her inaction. (Like Mutsuki and Urie’s situation, Saiko and Shirazu’s are inverses of each other: Saiko willingly hands over her responsibilities to others to handle, and Shirazu takes up those burdens.)

Kaneki, too, struggles with inaction. In the first TG, before his ghoulification, he essentially clung to Hide the way Saiko attaches herself to Sasaki, Shirazu, and Urie. (I love Hide and Kaneki's friendship and think it has lots of positive traits, but it also has some codependent ones as well.) And as has been demonstrated in the original TG and very recently in :re, Kaneki cannot make (admittedly horrifically hard) decisions because he doesn't want anyone's deaths on his conscience.

But of course, that only leads to two deaths on his conscience in TG. And while he’s supposed to be leading ghouls, he’s been letting them starve because he doesn’t want to have to do what he needs to do. However, recently in :re, he finally made a choice when he chose to marry Touka and go out to procure food for the ghouls he's leading, so there’s some progress.

Basically all the living Quinx are currently, like Kaneki in the end of the original TG, losing everyone and everything they care about as a result of their flaws (I covered the irony of both Mutsuki's and Urie's situations previously). But I don't think they're all necessarily doomed to tragedy. Everything seems to be hinting that Shirazu is likely to be revived, too, though in what state we don't know, and I don't think the story is going to end with Kaneki losing all of his Quinx children to their flaws--rather, I think Kaneki will overcome his flaws, and therefore it’s likely the Quinx will too. While the original Qs all parallel Kaneki, they are not Kaneki: they are fully rounded characters with their own arcs (well, Saiko doesn't have an arc yet, but I think she will, and she's still multi-dimensional)--as opposed to, say, the second-generation Quinx who are not going to have their own arcs and seem to represent something that the three living Quinx need to grow away from (Aura is essentially the personification of Mutsuki's dark side, sadistic and seeking revenge for petty reasons and as far as we know sans the brutal past and dissociative mental illness afflicting Mutsuki; Higemaru, like Urie, focuses on success, and Hsiao, like Saiko, chooses to do nothing about Important Things she knows about--namely, the Sunlit Garden). I don't have a lot of hope for most of the second-generation Quinx (maybe some for Hsiao), but who knows. The original Quinx, on the other hand--I think there is plenty of reason to hope for them.

Due to their development and due to Kaneki's arc as well (which is about reconciling his two natures and with it the world) I think Kaneki needs to reconcile with all of original Quinx--if it's possible, maybe even with a revived Shirazu before he inevitably gets to finally rest in peace--to really grow, and I think all of the Quinx need that too. He doesn't need to lose the ‘children’ he has who share his flaws: what Kaneki needs is to face them honestly, admit he has these flaws and that he does love the Quinx and knows he hurt them by leaving (instead of pretending his flaws/the Quinx don’t exist like he’s done in the past), and hopefully make peace with the three/four of them.

Which doesn't necessarily mean that I think they'll all survive, but I don't see any of them, including Mutsuki, being relegated to pure villain-who-needs-to-be-put-down status (we already have a Kaneki "what he could have become” foil who will be die as a villain in Furuta), or dying before they have the chance to reconcile with Kaneki (which is why I’m still confident Urie’s going to survive this encounter with Furuta, Roma, and Rio).

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nux-morbid-art · 7 years ago

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fallout oc questionnaire

in case anyone wanted a metric assload of info abt max mostly doing this for my benefit

Which Fallout game are they from? fallout 4

Which faction(s) did they join and which did they destroy? Why? Max initially joins the brotherhood and becomes a dedicated railroad heavy post blind betrayal. He cant stomach the thought of destroying the brotherhood, bc of the squires on board and a fair amount of allies within their ranks. Instead he enlists the help of the minutemen to maintain peace btw the 3 factions, eventually the brotherhood leave as the minutemen grow stronger

What is their S.P.E.C.I.A.L.? S: 4 P:5 C:8 I:10 A:7 L: 1

Give us a summary of their backstory. a rowdy teenager always in trouble, comes from a large extended family, low-middle class, pulled into the high school-to-military pipe. Spent his military career just trying to survive, trained field medic. Eldest of 3 siblings, has one younger brother and sister.

What’s their full name and does it have a meaning? Do they have any nicknames and how did they get em? Maxwell Ortiz, named after his grandfather who he was very close to. Called Vulture in high school for his looks and morbid sense of humor, earns “Mad Dog Max” in the military

What’s their sexual, romantic, and gender orientation? Do they feel comfortable telling other people? Bisexual, Biromantic, Transgender male He doesnt try to hide who he is, but he doesn’t volunteer the information either.

Do they have any mental illnesses? How do they cope? Max has bipolar depression and PTSD pre-war, and it doesnt exaclty get better after he thaws out Moslty he tries to keep busy. He deals w sensory overload by finding a small, quiet place to curl up and rest, favorite sensory stims for staying calm and focused are soft textures. he carries a small keychain stuffed animal he found in his pocket, and collects scraps of nice fabric and teddy bears. he’ll also run his hands thru his hair. he has an oral fixation and if he’s not occupied w a cigarrette he finds something to chew on, bites his nails, chews his fingers, picks at his skin too.

Do they have any medical conditions? Is medicine/ treatment available for them? Max loathes doctors, his only regular visit is to refill testosterone.

How much do they care about their outer appearance? What’s their “beauty routine”? How often do they shower/ bathe? Max neglects his appearance and hygiene and needs to be reminded to take care of himself. He loses weight and muscle mass quickly, noticing it can trigger dysphoria.

What do they fear the most? He will tell you hes already lived through his worst fear, losing Maria and his entire family, but ultimately, he fears being alone and becoming a bad person.

Their biggest flaw? Do they recognize it as a flaw? --ill get back to this one

What are they most insecure about? relationships w other people. he feels like trouble follows him and hurts the people he cares about, like hes the source of their misery and he cant figure out why they let him stay.

What Wasteland threat do they fear the most? (ex. Deathclaws, super mutants, raiders) Max fears nothing. Bring it on

What’s their zodiac sign or which one do you think they relate to the most? What are their placements (if you know them)? (ex. Aries sun, Taurus moon, Aquarius Venus) Scorpio

What’s their Myers–Briggs Type? (ex. ENTP, ISFJ) ---ill get back to this one

What Harry Potter house would they be in? (ex. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw) probably slytherin

Which Pokemon Go team would they choose? (ex. Instinct, Valor, Mystic) instinct, he would love taking care of eggs and raising baby pokemon

Out of the nine forms of intelligence (rhythmic, spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential) which one(s) are they really good at and which one(s) is(are) their weakest? best: rhythmic, spatial, naturalistic worst: intrapersonal, linguistic

What natural alignment are they? (ex. Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil) chaotic good

Do they have any hobbies? What are they? Max likes to play music, he’s decent w quitar, keyboard, and drums other than that he enjoys taking things apart and tinkering.

Do they have a favorite holiday? How do they celebrate it? He used to be rather fond of Easter, for family traditions. Food, family, kids running around and playing.

What’s their favorite season? Spring for sure, it brings relief from the worst of his depression

Do they have a temper or are they level headed? Hairpin temper, ready to fight at any trespass

Do they express their emotions freely or hide their true feelings? express freely but it takes him a while to figure out what they are.

Are they a leader or a follower? He will say hes no leader but takes the role naturally when he has to work in a group.

How do they come off to others? What first impression do they usually make? comes off as rather cold and aloof.

Do they prefer to travel alone or with company? Who have they traveled with if any? Current companion if any? prefers company by alot. he’s usually w danse, the two are joined at the hip. he also enjoys being w deacon, preston, and maccready. he gets along well w piper and curie. i’m not sure if he’d ever find cait, but he’d fall ass over teakettle for her. i’m not sure if he’d ever travel w most of the other companions.

Would you describe them as selfless or selfish? Does it depend on the situation? He’s pretty selfless, he cant stand suffering and will do his best to correct it. High empathy.

What do they find most attractive in others? Name at least one psychological and physical trait. (doesn’t have to be romantic attraction) Kindness, honesty, and humor. Physically, he has a weakness for full, round asses and nice thighs, hands that reveal secrets about their owners

Do they flirt often? How easily do they fall in love? its rare for him to be comfortable enough to be flirty, but when he is he’s damn good at it. he does fall quickly but takes a long time to understand the feelings for what they are.

What’s their love life like? Are they interested in anyone or in a relationship? Mostly monogamous relationship w Danse

Do they prefer to solve things diplomatically or using violence? He gives diplomacy a chance, but he’s not good at it. breaking noses is easier.

What is their combat style? What range do they prefer? Do they sneak? medium-close range, horrible at stealth. uses explosives and fire to confuse enemies and funnel them to his longer range combat partner, good at making a lane for snipers

What weapon(s) do they always carry with them? laser rifle, small pistol and a sidearm, and several combat knives kept razor sharp

Their most prized possession? a small collection of photos and holotapes codsworth preserved. he has a family photo of him, maria, his parents, and siblings w their children all together the tapes are mixes of pre-war rock n roll made by maria.

Their thoughts on power armor? ugh, if i really have to.

Favorite armor/ outfit? light, armored jackets, t-shirt, and jeans

How’s their aim? Do their hands shake while pointing a gun? he’s a pretty decent shot, but not spectacular. steady hands.

What are their thoughts on having to kill on a daily bases in order to survive? Does it take a toll on them? Or do they shake it off rather easily? He becomes numb to it. it comes creeping up on him on Bad nights, and thats where the fear of becoming an evil person comes in.

Thoughts on death if any? (ex. Fear it, accept it) “I am not allowed to die. I have people that need help.” He is very tired, lots of thoughts wishing for death, to rest. Tries to survive, but. He doesn’t really want to.

Do they move around a lot or prefer to have a place to call home? Both, eventually calls Railroad HQ and Diamond City home, but never stays in one place for long.

What’s their favorite location? gonna be cheesy: in Danse’s arms

Their opinions on ghouls, feral and not feral? Not feral: theyre just people. they didnt choose this. they’ve survived unknowable pain, and deserve respect and understanding. feral: killing them is mercy. he feels that they must have suffered greatly in becoming feral, and their bodies are probably still incredibly painful to live in, resulting in their aggression.

Do they scavenge for their supplies or simply buy them? both, also a big fan of trading. “whos fuckin idea was it to use bottlecaps of all the goddam-”

Are they the type to get distracted and go off to an unknown nearby location or do they stay on track? Stay on track, but very curious and enjoys exploring. will note locations to scavenge later if he cant get to them right away

How do they sleep? Are they picky about where and how or can they sleep basically anywhere? Max likes a tight, secure place to sleep. he’s usually between and wall and danse. if he feels like he’s in a fairly safe location, getting to sleep is easy, tho he startles awake rather easily and has night terrors. if someone tries to wake him suddenly, like with a loud noise or grabbing and shaking him, they are very likely to get hurt.

What’s their favorite radio station and song? (post-apocalypse) Atom bomb baby, uranium fever, and rocket 69

What’s their favorite post-apocalyptic food? Are they a picky eater? Do they know how to cook? favorite: sweets, candy, and mutfruit Not a picky eater, but he usually doesnt have much of an appetite either. He eats what hes given, usually without thinking about it or really tasting it He has a fair amount of knowledge and skill in the kitchen, being always at his mothers’ heels in everything domestic. he loves his parents and was always eager to help.

What’s their favorite beverage? Do they drink alcohol? he’s rather fond of quantum for the nastalgia and energy-drink buzz, enjoys alcohol, likes beer, will drink whatever hes handed, if given a choice he likes whisky and nuka cola.

Do they have any tag skills? --ill come back to this

Anything they like to collect? (ex. Unique weapons, Bobbleheads) comic books, magazines, any printed media toys and stuffed animals, fabric that feels nice.

Are they good at disarming traps or do they constantly miss them? always walking into them. if he does notice one before hand he’s pretty bad at disarming them, he usually just tries to set them off from a safe distance.

#max #massive text wall ahoy #fallout oc #fallout oc questionnaire

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beautshirt79 · 5 years ago

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Squad Ghouls Hocus Pocus Halloween Tshirt

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lovediva0303 · 5 years ago

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Squad Ghouls Hocus Pocus Halloween Tshirt

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linkspooky · 7 years ago

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Do you think the baby is gonna die by kanou?

Alright I am going to attempt now, to answer the question of Kanou’s… methodology and morality, which I answered as a joke about two posts earlier. It’s actually quite complicated so it’s going to take a bit of disecting.

The question is, how much of a danger would Kanou be to Touka if he were to kidnap her and then assist her with the pregnancy. That answer in itself is not clear as we actually have no idea as to Kanou’s motivations even now, only his methods.

Looking at his methods alone it’s not particularly looking good. Kanou has most likely the highest body count in the series. Even if you were to assume the low end of the number of Investigators who had Owl transferred into them and say there were only about 100 who went missing and were kindapped by Aogiri. That would mean that in addition to the 1200 that were kidnapped and experimented on by Kanou, that would be a 1300 total.

Which gives kanou the highest individual body count in the series, possibly tied with Furuta at this point if you consider Furuta the accomplice to all of those deaths. Kanou is also more closely tied to Furuta than any other character in the series.

Furuta’s weird flashback could reveal that the only person that Furuta might cooperate, or even trust rather than simply dominate and manipulate is Kanou. The two of them share some similarities, they both are good at using rhetoric in order to put on acts and convince others to fight for causes that they themselves do not care particularly about.

He also created the birdcage metaphor that Eto adopts. However, Eto actually believes in it while it’s likely that Kanou doesn’t. Especially considering that he went immediately back to working for the CCG the moment that Furuta took over.

Kanou even muses for a moment that rather than having an assistant, he might simply be an assistant to someone else.It’s likely the person he’s talking about here is Furuta.

If you were to look at Furuta and Kanou as characters with similiar mindsets then and compare them, it would mean that at best Kanou finds his closest cooperation partner with an extremist whose willing to go to lengths far exceeding Eto’s in order to become a perfect villain to destroy the world, and at worst a complete nihilist who wants to bring an end to the fighting by motivating both sides into killing each other in an elaborate double suicide to give significance to his own death.

Either interpretation of Furuta, and thus Kanou however puts them ata great distance from most of humanity.

Kanou’s one small flashback connection to Ogura in 103 even hints at that. The omake gives us a little depth into Kanou.

Narration: Ever since Akki joined, the number of female members had increased…

Girls crowding around Kanou: Kyaa! Kanou-ku~n!

Ogura: Hey, the order in this club is falling apart! As the president of the Ghoul Research Society, I can’t keep quiet about this! I can’t turn a blind eye to you and your popularity with the ladies! Are you going to pick the meetings or the ladies? I’ll make it clear for you…Akki!

Ogura: The girls or the Research Society…which one are you going to choose!?

Kanou: You’re a pain in the ass.

Narration: It was then that I thought that this was the first time that I had ever heard his true thoughts.

Kanou has the charisma to attract people left and right, and yet at the same time he seems to have absolutely no regard for other people that do not interest him as well.

Narration: From the next day on, Kanou Akihiro didn’t show up to the Research Society. It seemed like he had finished reading all the valuable literature the Research Society had [on ghouls]. I graduated a year late from university, and several years later I ran into him by chance on the street. He went and left without a sign that he had recognized me. Later, I regretted not being able to speak to him then. I…I had wanted to keep being friends with him.

When he leaves the ghoul research society, it’s because he read through all of their literature and therefore they are useless to him. Despite spending time in college together, he completely forgets Ogura’s name and face too.

Falling in and out of relationships easily, and yet at the same time having a tendency towards total fixation of certain individuals. Which is how his obsession with Kaneki has always been portrayed. A fixation. Furuta says so plainly, there is absolutely nothing special about Kaneki, he was not chosen in any way besides pure luck.

Kanou’s obsession with Kaneki, especially in comparison to Eto who probably could have put anyone in the seat of the one eyed king as long as they were powerful enough to defeat Arima Kishou (it’s a nameless king intentionally named by her that way after all), is likely just the result of his own personality disorder.

Kanou falling in and out of relationships with others depending more on their usefulness to him, his tendency to hyper fixate then on certain individuals, his disregard for society’s rules and even total disdain for it, all of these are traits that are typical potrayals of antisocial personality disorder in characters.

However, even if we were to say that Kanou’s actions can be explained away by his sociopathy, that’s very much the antithesis of the story’s thematic insistence that monsters are created and not born. Even Torso so far has had a so called crybaby backstory in order to explain away his actions but why not Kanou? It is thematically a little weird to have Kanou as an outlier completely incapable of empathy in a story that is about human relationships, and the natural want for empathy in everyone.

My counter to that of course, is that Kanou himself is not really ever depicted as completely void of empathy. Even calling Kanou Frankenstein might be inaccurate, because Kanou never hated the monster like Viktor did. In fact he offered to help Kaneki, and fell in love with his creation from afar as soon as he heard about what it had accomplished. That’s pretty much the opposite of Viktor.

Kanou is actually nothing but kind to both Kurona and Nashiro when raising the two of them as a surrogate father. Even when Kurona fails entirely to repel Suzuya, Kanou himself does not seem particularly hostile towards them for their failure. He’s just entirely pragmatic.

She can’t be saved so it’s no use bothering to try. Which means, kindness, compassion, are all behaiors Kanou can demonstrate but it’s always up until a point. That point is usually just however long they remain useful to him. Kurona even comments so much after the fact, that both Nashiro and Herself came out being treated as objects by Kanou when they turned out not so useful as he thought they might.

Kanou strings people along with affection and charisma, and he almost never has any malicious intent towards those people. Which makes him quite different from a lot of the abusers in Tokyo Ghoul. At the end of the day though they ultimately end up being objects to him.

Even Kanou’s great abuse of Takizawa, was not done with any sadistic intentions in mind, it was pure pragmatism.

There are a couple of suggestions that Kanou might have a greater motivation than simply “science is fun.” Kurona makes a mention of a lab of his that burned down once, and also he seems to scoff at the idea that Kurona suggests he’s simply a mad scientist.

However, I think the true problem with Kanou might not arise from his own lack of empathy, but rather the system that enables him. After all, if Kanou had never been exposed to ghoulification, he would probably just be a normal doctor. In fact, his lack of empathy might have made him a better doctor as he would be able to withstand the wear and tear of hospital work much better without being affected much mentally by it.

It was the CCG who enabled Kanou, and the pulled the plug without any regard for what might happen to Kanou after the fact. The CCG has always shown to be careless with individuals like this, Goumasa Tokage, Kijima, Mado they are all allowed basically free reign to do whatever they please as long as they point those sadistic tendencies sometimes at ghouls.

Sure, Kanou has a body count in the thousands when it comes to humans but how many still alive ghouls has Chigyou taken in, in order to be most likely experimented on while still alive and turned into Quinques. Considering that the CCG has no ethical restraints when it comes to torturing ghouls I can’t see them even bothering to use sedative when the quinque is being extracted, and after it’s out they threw them straight into the grinder. What about Shiba who was willing to operate on a girl who gave no consent to having ghoul parts put in her, and instead had her parents sign a form for her for money.

It’s likely, Kanou, Chigyou, Shiba, all of them are exactly as Urie observed. They just want to work with pure science and be praised for their scientific skill, and this is enabled and taken to it’s absolute worse by the CCG’s methodology, of being completely unscrupulous towards the killing of ghouls.

What exactly does this mean for Touka? As I said before, it’s likely Kanou has no malicious intent for Touka at all.He would probably keep her safe as a fun science experiment, but the exact same way he treated Kurona and rendered her essentially an object, he would be abusing Touka as well.

What Kanou is likely to hold her in is more akin to an extremely comfortable prison cell, rather than a sterile operating chamber.

#metasks #akihiro kanou #Anonymous

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