#a lot of subtext became text

[zhuoyichenpretty]

I feel like the angst from eps 23-26 has scraped my brain empty along with my heart, or maybe I expended all my words on that monstrous ep 25 commentary. I keep trying to come up with something interesting or worthwhile to say about ep 26 but everything just comes out like

[indigovigilance]

A Nightingale Sang in 1941

This is my inaugural meta (yay!) Eventually I will learn how to add gifs and whatnot to make this more interesting but today, I give you a wall of text.

I need to give credit where credit is due to three existing metas that I’m drawing upon heavily here:

A speculative continuation of the 1941 story, which includes an almost-kiss while “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” plays on the gramophone,

A behavioral analysis of Aziraphale during the S2E6 finale (will find ref later if possible)

A meta-analysis of the way in which “coffee” is used as a symbolic equivalent for liberty and freedom of choice, a running theme of this show (will find ref later if possible)

I’m going to expand upon meta #2 and #3 and explain why I think there is are very compelling reasons to believe that #1 will be canonized.

At the end of S1E6, an instrumental version of “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” plays diegetically, but the lyrical version plays non-diegetically over the credits (we hear it but the protagonists don’t). So we the audience could plausibly say “that’s their song,” but as of the close of S1, we have no reason to believe that they know that it’s their song. Even Aziraphale’s S1E3 (1967) suggestion that they dine at the Ritz could be a reference that only he gets, or just a fancy restaurant suggestion.

So when I was watching S2E6 and Crowley said “no nightingales,” I was jarred. What does that even mean? We know it has something to do with dining at the Ritz, but what does it mean to them? The reference only works if they know it’s their song. But we’ve only ever seen them hear it together after the averted apocalypse; if this is the direct reference that Crowley is making, it leaves our 1967 reference contextless and twisting in the wind.

If we assume that there was a romantic story beat in 1941, wherein “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” (which, incidentally, was written in 1939 and saw the height of its popularity at the end of 1940, so timeline-wise it’s spot-on) became their song, then a lot of events get renewed interpretations through this lens, in a way that makes this story much more cohesive and the “no nightingales” comment even more soul-shattering than it already was.

Let’s presume that immediately after this became their song and just as they were discovering their romantic potential, they were forced back into hiding. Forever after, references to the song serve as a macro for “I’d like to pick up where we left off that night.”

The 1967 suggestion of “dining at the Ritz” now becomes a directly romantic suggestion. It also gives better context for “you go too fast for me.”

Actually going to the Ritz in 2019 is not simply a celebration or even a callback to 1967, it’s a callback to their almost-romance of 1941.

When Crowley says “no nightingales” in 2023, this isn’t to say ��we’re not going to eat together at the Ritz anymore.” It’s saying that the romance that began that night, the precious, fragile romance, is over.

I’ll give you a moment to dry your eyes before we move on to metas #2 and #3.

In light that this is what has been going on - they know they want a romantic relationship but have gotten so used to hiding and denying it that they are more comfortable keeping the status quo static and quo-y then trying to achieve their ideal - a lot of S2 behavior can get a fresh view.

Crowley’s reaction to Nina isn’t a realization that he’s in love - he knew that already. You can only ask someone to run away with you so many times before you are forced to admit some things to yourself. No, he’s realizing that trying to hide it (which was justified by survival), hasn’t been working, but despite failing at being stealth nothing bad has happened. He’s realizing that it may finally be safe to show it.

Crowley’s confession, then, is not a revelation. It’s making the subtext text. He’s not telling Aziraphale anything he didn’t already know. He’s saying it now because he thinks he’s safe to do so. Pin in that.

Lots of people have lots of theories about Aziraphale’s motivations in the S2 finale, which can more or less be divided into 4 camps: the genuinely held belief, the coffee theory, the lie theory, and the mutual trick theory (some version of the body-switching at the end of S1). Let me start by saying that I love all the fans and all their theories and I find their analyses to be insightful. The genuinely held belief theory, while I believe it to be erroneous, has been incredibly conducive to so many wonderful conversations and I love being in a community that has those conversations. But I’m going to explain why I think the lie theory finds the most support in canon.

Re-watch the finale (when you feel like you can) from 35:18 to 36:19 and then from 40:45 to the end, paying very close attention to Aziraphale’s words and his eyes. Michael Sheen is telling us a LOT with his eyes, and in the back half of the finale scene, with pacing.

For 60 seconds of footage, this setup is doing a lot of work. If Neil Gaiman wasn’t doing enough to beat us over the head with how evil the Metatron is, that glare at Crowley at the end with the non-diegetic ominous horns should convey the message. But again, focusing on Aziraphale. He initially refuses to talk to the Metatron; he’s made his position quite clear. There is no hint of regret or wavering; this is not someone who’s aching to return to the fold. The Metatron ignores his refusal and functionally forces him to accept a “cup of coffee.” The coffee isn’t spiked, but it is a metaphor. It is symbolic of choice. The Metatron is going to force Aziraphale to make a choice. Meta #3 does a great job of exploring the idea that a choice between anything and death is never really a choice. Hang onto that thought.

Notice I had you start up again 3 seconds before “The Conversation.” That’s because it’s important to note where the Metatron is right now. He is across the street, staring straight in through those giant windows to where our protagonists are about to have The Conversation. He is watching.

When Aziraphale returns, Crowley begins his “let me talk” riff. Aziraphale ought to be interested in what Crowley has to say, since the preamble is pretty compelling. You’ll notice that Aziraphale quickly turns to the window and back, through which he (but not we) can see the Metatron standing there, watching them. Aziraphale is then doing his best to get Crowley to STFU without raising the suspicion of the Metatron, eventually having to cut him off.

Because unfortunately, Crowley’s entire impetus for speaking up now is that it’s safe to do so. Only Aziraphale knows that they are in very real danger (or at least, Crowley is, but I’ll come back to that).

You might take something from the fact that he’s shaking his head while talking about “incredibly good news,” and seems to self-censor his criticism of Metatron (or more specifically, he takes ownership of any criticism of the Metatron, censoring out Crowley’s role in that, with the emphasis on I in “I might have misjudged him”).

Notice in the flashback that he begins the conversation reasonably relaxed. The Metatron also says a series of things about him that not only are false, but everyone, including the Metatron and Crowley, know are false: Aziraphale is not a leader, he’s a defector; he’s not honest, he lies all the time, in fact this entire season revolved around his one huge lie of hiding Gabriel. Not only does the justification not make sense coming from Metatron, but it shouldn’t make sense that Aziraphale would accept these reasons and it shouldn’t make sense to Crowley either. So is Aziraphale including these details in his recounting to Crowley so that he will get suspicious and figure out the jig? Maybe. Let’s continue.

Immediately upon being offered the job of Supreme Archangel, Aziraphale says “but I don’t want to go back to Heaven.” This is direct evidence against the genuinely held belief theory. If returning to Heaven and making a difference was a genuine motivation, we would have gotten a different response at this moment. But then we get something more.

“Where would I get my coffee?”

This is a beautiful response for a number of reasons; coffee should be trivial compared to the opportunity to be a Supreme Archangel, so it serves to highlight just how little interest Aziraphale has in returning. Taken at face value, it’s the Aziraphale equivalent of “not even at gunpoint.” But remember that coffee is a metaphor for liberty in this universe and this season. So what Aziraphale just said, in the language of Neil Gaiman metaphors, is:

I don’t want to go back to Heaven, I would rather have free will.

What does the Metatron do next?

He brings up Crowley.

Watch Aziraphale’s eyes before and after the mention of Crowley. He goes from confused to eye-flicking panic in the space of two syllables. Aziraphale already understands that his “no” is not being accepted, and that bringing Crowley into it can only possibly serve as a threat.

So the coffee, the choice, is a false choice. No one ever orders death. The Metatron has forced Aziraphale into a situation that looks an awful lot like a choice (it comes in a blue cup, after all) but it isn’t.

We definitely have some reliable narrator problems here. I’m going to presume for purposes of analysis that these cut-outs are accurate but incomplete, and that a more explicit threat about what would happen to Crowley if Aziraphale did not return to Heaven was made.

If we assume that Aziraphale has been made aware of a threat and is trying to hide that from Crowley, the rest of this scene reads very differently. Aziraphale cannot say, “you are in danger but you will be safe if you swear your allegiance to Heaven” or “I have to go, no matter what, and the only way we can be together is if you come with me,” but nonetheless he now has to convince Crowley to do the one thing he ought to know Crowley definitely doesn’t want to do all through subtext. Which we’ve spent an entire season establishing that they can’t communicate well when they are allowed to use their words. Disastrously, this is not a magic trick that Aziraphale can make work when it counts. Their failure to practice good communication means that, right now, when it counts most, they are not going to pull it off.

We see that Aziraphale is very hopeful that Crowley will pick up on his cues and play along. Obviously, he doesn’t.

If the whole riff about Hell being bad guys and Heaven being the side of truth and light is taken as genuine, it discards a massive amount of character development that we’ve witnessed in Job, Edinburgh, etc. (again, to all the genuine belief subscribers, I think it’s a compelling argument but it simply doesn’t account for the evidence). So if it’s not genuine, why say it? Again, to alert Crowley that something is Off, because Crowley should know that Aziraphale doesn’t actually believe that. They saved humanity from Heaven and Hell. They hid Gabriel from Heaven and Hell. Crowley knows that Aziraphale knows that Heaven and Hell are just two sides of the same coin. Notice again that Aziraphale glances out the window while he’s talking up Heaven; he knows the Metatron is watching, he can’t not defend the position of Heaven. I think it’s also worth noting that Aziraphale forcefully glances and gestures off to Crowley’s left (away from the window) when talking about Hell, and then turns his head to Crowley’s right (towards the window) to try to get him to realize that a representative of Heaven is literally standing right over there, just look out the window please dumbass!

When Crowley is asking Aziraphale if he said no, and we see the back of Aziraphale’s head, again we can see him turn his head to glance out the window. This is also when he changes strategies, and admits that Heaven could use a little reform. Because now there’s a problem almost as big as getting caught, which is that he won’t be able to get Crowley to go with him.

Which unfortunately makes the next part of this so much more heartbreaking. Because when Crowley begins his speech about being a team, Aziraphale wants to hear it. He can’t bring himself to shut down Crowley again, even though it could get them both in massive trouble. Notice that he glances out the window again during this, and the look of panic on his face. He begins to shake his head when Crowley mentions that Heaven and Hell are toxic; this can be taken a lot of ways but I’ll argue for the interpretation that he’s trying to get Crowley to STFU and stop saying shit that could get him destroyed.

After Crowley puts on his sunglasses we are in the “back half” and Sheen is doing a lot with phrasing here, specifically pregnant pauses.

“Come with me… to Heaven!”

“We can be together… as angels!”

Based on the pacing decision I am thoroughly convinced that the first half of each of these statements is intended to be the message to Crowley and the second half is always a qualifying statement to satisfy the Metatron.

Unfortunately, these pregnant pauses are completely backfiring in their effect on Crowley. The sentiment gives him hope and the qualifying statement crushes it again immediately. He is being taken on a horrible emotional rollercoaster with these declarations which are only further amping up his instinct to run away.

The only truly genuine, unaldulterated statement I think we get from Aziraphale is

“I need you!”

When it becomes clear to Aziraphale that there’s been an irreparable breakdown of communication between them and the subtext is not getting across, he says:

“I don’t think you understand what I’m offering you.”

He means this literally. Crowley has not understood that Aziraphale is offering him protection from whatever threat the Metatron has made.

Which makes this part extra-devastating and also absolutely in keeping with a major running theme of this season.

“I understand. I think I understand a whole lot better than you do.”

Your understanding and my understanding are different understandings.

Crowley views the offer to return to Heaven through the lens of his trauma. He understands what life in Heaven would be like. But he doesn’t understand that Aziraphale is offering him protection.

But Aziraphale just heard Crowley say that he understood everything, and he’s still going to leave. There might be a little suspense of disbelief here to believe that Aziraphale really interpreted the statement this way, but we know that Aziraphale isn’t always the brightest battery-operated candle in the drawer. So under the assumption that Crowley did understand him and is still rejecting the offer, rejecting him—

“Well, then there’s nothing more to say.”

Please pay very close attention to Aziraphale’s body language for the next part. He’s active, agitated, turning side to side, arms swinging. This is a very fidgety angel.

“No nightingales.”

Aziraphale is now completely still. He’s feeling that feeling. You know it. The one where your entire body is getting sucked into the pit of your stomach. The aching paralysis.

This is their song, the one that began their romance in 1941, the secret code for all other attempts at flirtation. Crowley has walked out on him before, Aziraphale has been stubborn and obstinate before. But they always came back together, sometimes with an apology dance or other rituals that belonged solely to them.

But now the song is over.

By saying this, Crowley has broken up with Aziraphale. We can see in Aziraphale’s sudden transition from fidgety to paralysis that he has understood it this way.

Then he turns away from the window so that the Metatron won’t see him cry.

The kiss was heart-wrenching already. But we’re not done with this analysis.

During the kiss, Aziraphale has a choice to make between two very compelling bad choices. This is the Job dilemma. But worse.

If he doesn’t kiss Crowley back, he will let Crowley think that he doesn’t love him. He will have missed out on this (maybe/probably their first kiss?) and regret it forever.

If he does kiss Crowley back, in full view of the Metatron, they are in deep trouble.

He seems to do his best to split the difference. I would even go so far to say that the awkward arm waving is Aziraphale acting for the Metatron’s benefit, to try to portray that he doesn’t want this even though he absolutely does (just not like this). The anguish when they break the kiss is absolutely real, and the first thing he does is glance out the window. Through all this he has remained painfully aware of their spectator.

He wants to say I love you. He mouths it. He breathes it.

But the Metatron is watching.

He can’t tell Crowley I love you. So he has to say the only other thing that has always unequivocally meant “I love you” when he said it to Crowley. He has to hope that Crowley understands him now, even though he never has before.

Spoiler alert: Crowley doesn’t.

My forgiveness and your forgiveness are not the same forgiveness.

One more point against the genuine belief fans (I love you): if the offer to let Crowley back in is what changed his mind, then Crowley declining removes that incentive. Aziraphale should/would have consequently retreated to his last stated position of “I don’t want to go back to Heaven, where would I get my Crowley—I mean, coffee?” [post-publication nod to @theonevoice for a great little meta] It simply doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

I think a lot of fans were already making these assumptions about the use of the nightingale song so this meta may not feel revelatory, however, it isn’t canon (yet), and I’m sure I’ll find company that agree that canonization of this connection would strengthen a lot of these story points, as evidenced by how it is already assumed by many fans.

If you made it to the end - omg thank you! Please leave a note and tell me your thoughts!

Bonus: somebody already made the song connection here

~~~

if you liked this, you may also like:

Book of Life and what it means for Crowley

The Erasure of Human!Metatron

Baraqiel and Azazel

~~~

Recommended related (lie theory) metas by other people:

making the subtext text by @theonevoice

Aziraphale's Decision Matrix by @yowlthinks

Nothing Lasts Forever: META by @phoen1xr0se

[project-sekai-facts]

How are we feeling about ensekai’s emu3 translation!!! (I’m mad)

(if you remember the 3 whole posts i made when asahi got de-gayed on EN you'll know i am mad too and that this is probably going to get long)

i don't like to be too cynical but it was so obvious that they were going to change that line, i had a feeling since the event first released on JP and after the incident with Asahi where I went through and tracked down multiple other examples of EN removing queer subtext it became clear to me that in no way shape or form was "emu-chan really loves nene-chan" making it to EN without getting changed. what i didn't expect was them changing Nene's line after Luka's comment, which actually makes this whole situation far worse than many of their other instances of toning down queer subtext.

for anyone who isn't aware of what happened, in chapter 5 of the current Emu event, there's a scene where Nene, Rui and the Virtual Singers are talking about what would cheer Emu up. The vsingers all talk about how much Emu loves spending time with Nene, leading to the following exchange

If you look for them, any fan TL of this scene will be something similar to this:

Luka: ...Fufu. Emu-chan really loves Nene-chan, doesn't she? Nene: Th-that's nothing special...

EN's official translation is this:

So what's the issue? I'll start with Luka's part. In the original text, she uses the word daisuki, which can mean to "like a lot" or "love". It's a word you will see frequently in the idol/idol-adjacent genre of games, due to its ambiguity in that it can be read as either platonic or romantic when used towards a person, and often will be used in ambiguous situations so that it's harder to confirm the writers' intentions either way. so here, fans of the emu/nene ship could view the fact that emu loves spending her time with nene as more on the romantic side, but people who don't like the ship could view it as platonic and move on.

while they didn't translate daisuki directly, Luka's line still works, and still contains the ambiguity that works as ship tease in the original text. it's a perfectly fine localisation that still conveys the original intent. despite that, there is something to be said about EN's consistent refusal to translate daisuki as love in most instances when it's not used on An/Kohane (but then again, EN has literally teased An/Kohane on their twitter account so is it all that surprising?).

Here's some examples:

Aibou no koto ga daisuki de / he loves his partner -> he cares about his partner very much (The Power of Unity chapter 7 when Kaito is comparing Arata to Akito and Toya)

HARUKA-CHAN, DAISUKI DAYOOOO!!! / HARUKA-CHAN, I LOOOOOVEEE YOU!!! -> You're the best!!! (Dear Me, As I Was Back Then chapter 4 when minori is at an ASRUN concert. this one isn't actually that great of a localisation)

Honachan no koto daisuki dakara. Kore de iinda yo. / I love Honachan, so this is fine. -> I want what's best for her. And this is it. (Leo/need main story chapter 14 after Saki tells Honami she won't bother her anymore)

Minna daisuki de - taisetsuna tomodachi na no / I love them all - they're my dearest friends -> They're all amazing, and very dear to me. (Leo/need main story chapter 17. this isn't good either)

What's particularly amusing about that last one is that there's a second official translation for it that I assume was done by JP staff (since EN never promoted doing the Journey to Bloom subs like they did back when they provided subs for Petit SEKAI) that actually keeps the word daisuki as love.

Yeah. I love all my friends - and they mean the world to me.

It's a better localisation than the official EN team one.

Questionable localisation choices aside, Luka's line is fine and is actually in line with the original. The issue with this localisation very much lies with Nene's part, because that is an entirely new line.

In the original text, Nene's "that's just normal" or "that's nothing special" or however you choose to TL it, is meant to be her questioning Luka's statement, since all the things that the other vsingers said that Emu liked were pretty normal things like going shopping and playing video games with nene. To Nene, these things are normal activities for them to do together, so she gets embarrassed by the fact that Luka concludes from that information that Emu loves Nene. When I dissect it like that I think you can really tell what the writers were going for here lol.

"That's just us being friends" does still convey the idea that Nene thinks these activities aren't anything out of the ordinary and she isn't sure why the vsingers are picking these out as some of Emu's favorite things to do, but it's very different from the original line. "But those are just normal things we do together" is something I just came up with on the spot, but it's a lot closer to the original text and still conveys the same meaning. The fact they changed the line to "that's just us being friends" is, honestly, not even subtle that they're covering up queer subtext. The original scene was very clearly written in as ship tease, and EN mentioning "friends" for no reason, especially since the word nor anything close to it was not used in the original, is instantly a red flag because it's like the go-to for queerbaiting and censorship. This was intentional. There was no need for them to specify that the relationship is platonic, Luka's part is ambiguous for a reason so that fans can view it how they like.

Just to top all this off, here's Rin's original line just before that Luka+Nene interaction:

Oh, and! And! She said that playing games with Nene-chan is also super fun!

And here's Rin's line from the official EN translation:

That's not the same thing, but even more weirdly, the incorrect part (super fun->really loves) is a correct translation for the part changed in Luka's line. So, they can do it, they are willing to say "really loves", just not in the right places. Maybe because Rin's part is less personal than Luka's part? It's strange actually, this isn't the first time they've done this either. Off the top of my head I can think of an example from Shiho's Varied Kindness 2* story where they translated the word "suki" as really loves, despite that being much stronger than the original word used (and the fact that daisuki is used a lot in the Leo/need stories and it's incredibly rare if not entirely unknown for them to translate it correctly).

It's not subtle that they're trying to remove implications of the characters possibly being queer, they did it in curtain call and they did it in walk on and on, and multiple times before then too. And considering some of the content in this year's events and the amount of times they say daisuki alone, it's gonna keep happening. honestly i hate the fact that i keep trying to justify the translations in these posts. these translations are intentional. what happened in the curtain call translation back in october says enough. when a character who uses explicitly romantic language towards another guy passes as a straight character in the translation you know they're doing it on purpose.

oh and once again, it's only the EN server that has this issue. The scene in question was translated almost word-for-word on the TW and KR servers.

read fan translations. they're better than what EN gives us and people put a lot of effort into them.

[rei-ismyname]

Storm used to get naked a lot

Magneto definitely has the longevity (pun intended) when it comes to on-panel nudity or semi-nudity, but Storm had many moments early in her publication history. They're pretty racist, tbh, the implication being that an African person wouldn't have the same understanding of the social contract dictating 'don't be naked in public.'

This one isn't public but it's got a similar vibe of otherness. 'Imagine myself back in Kenya.' As an aside, my disability makes showering a lengthy trial. I'd love to be able to do this.

Jean is Living with Misty Knight and keeping her Marvel Girl identity secret, so she asks Ororo to change out of her X-Men uniform. There's a flash of lightning? Cool trick, but yeah she's butt nekkid and Jean is aghast/horny/who knows? Ororo is like 'We all good?' and Jean nearly chokes on her drink (sure ;) It's not really explained, but I feel like it's meant to be read as 'African woman doesn't understand nudity taboo.' An excellent what if? would be 'What if Storm's nudist/body positivity became an X-Men thing?' I think it'd be good for everyone who consents, though it'd make it a lot harder to run a school.

This one is forced as hell. Nightcrawler realises Storm is swimming naked in the pool, and tries to hurry everyone inside so nobody sees her. If I'm being generous he means well, but it's still a little uncomfortable. Not pictured - Kurt talking to Storm; Storm giving a fuck. Because he loudly told everyone to get inside, Storm does too (why wouldn't she?)

Nightcrawler - 'Too late.'

Colossus - 'By The White Wolf?!?'

Banshee - 'Oh dear.'

Wolverine - 'Nice tits, darlin.' (paraphrased, lol. The look on his face tho )

She doesn't understand what the hell these weirdos are on about, and complies with Piotr's suggestion that she wear his shirt 'if you insist.' (Boo, double standard. Free the nipple!)

Ororo still doesn't understand, so Xavier (who's been listening? Watching? telepathically takes what's barely subtext and makes it text.

'What may be customary in your land is not in this one.' Yikes. Ororo spent a lot of her youth in various parts of Africa, but her childhood proper was spent in New York AFAIK. She's a US citizen This is her land. I consulted a bunch of African friends who've been to Africa and have family there - Nudity is not common in their experience. Same rules as most places. It's a very stereotypical portrayal of backwards Africa - as if it's a homogenous country and not a massive continent.

He continues 'For the sake of group harmony, I suggest in future you use more... discretion.' I wonder what word he was going to use instead of discretion. Professor X is the undisputed patriarch here, so naturally the most patriarchal stuff comes from him (especially in the 60s/70s.) I'd actually love this to be revisited and have it be revealed that she just likes being naked and it has nothing to do with her being from Africa. Maybe with a lightning bolt upside his bald head. Aside from the scene where Xavier recruits her, I don't think there's any Ororo naked in Africa scenes - she understands the concept of clothes. Ugh.

She was just trying to swim, it was these bozos making a big deal of it. It's also just plain weird that this came up multiple times with multiple writers. Same editor, though I think. Expecting progressiveness from Liberal Marvel is folly, but this just feels like policing women's bodies, and a black woman repeatedly in the same way. 'Stop ogling and objectifying the poor woman,' would be much more appropriate.

[sassykinzonline]

sometimes its actually alarming HOW uncritically the naruto fandom looks at the text like because something isnt "shown" in canon/on-screen (it usually is, but just implicitly) people think it means it couldnt have happened and therefore making sweeping statements about the character like "theyre just weak" or "they make no sense"

as usual im going to focus on naruto (😌) heres an example but it applies to many others (itachi, gaara, neji, hinata,...me)

here are some things we know about naruto:

he is inexplicably talented at taijutsu despite having no mentor

he created sexy jutsu for attention from older men (he craves a father figure)

he is rather repulsed by affection aside from certain people

he relies on shadow clones to outnumber his enemies and protect him from damage, as well as acting like diversions (he only later on seems to learn to use them practically as well, and he doesnt use them as an actual team iirc)

he represses his memories and life severely if they cause him distress or negative emotion, and when he doesnt do that it causes him to lose complete control of himself in anger

some of these things are basic signs of a child who has been abused in multiple ways (particularly verbally, physically, and sexually), but also just logically how is it possible that naruto became proficient at taijutsu when he didnt train with anyone and had no teacher to correct him? why would it be important to naruto to have, what are essentially, human shields? why does naruto freely tolerate physical abuse he receives while others openly complain about it? why would that lead to naruto eventually wanting to defend/protect everyone in tandom with ANOTHER orphan who feels the same? why would WE not be able to have a clear directly depicted answer to this as a reader?

idk to me personally there are a lot of things people say are "headcanons" are just things they logically put together based on subtext, and theres a reason why a vast majority of people who read the same text come to the same conclusion. it seems like this is a lot less common in manga form (i dont read manga so i wouldnt know, i understand different mediums have different communication norms but some things are just literary basics), so its the first time ive encountered this "why does everyone believe in [some idea not said in plain english]? it's never said anywhere!" logic...it doesnt need to be. there are certain clues and patterns youre supposed to be able to draw conclusions for based on common life experiences (archetypes/universal symbols).

if you can do these above steps and come to a conclusion, and a plurality of people come to the same conclusion, it was probably intentional on the author's part. if the author explicitly states its not intentional, then sure, but that doesnt take away from how/why the story is impactful because the author may not even realize theyre doing it. an easy example i can think of is tsunade's fear of blood, where its meant to symbolize death, but in her case also ends up symbolizing love wrt her relationships with naruto and jiraiya. and thanks to blood gaining this symbolism through tsunade, when you see uchiha tears of blood, you instantly make those same connections. then you think back to gaara screaming about having never seen his blood (coming from his forehead where that tattoo of his is......), then the eventual resolution of that being an inversion of the symbolism the manga establishes when he battles his father during the war.

more than anything though i find it kind of concerning that adults sit around laughing at obviously what is meant to be traumatic. as if there arent people in your life who sit around with these same experiences and signs, with something they havent told you about because theyre afraid youll laugh at them.

[tumblingxelian]

I have to admit I'm impressed with how awful a father CRWBY made Taiyang while giving him a veneer of reasonability.

To the point that his ability to just spout off things reminds me of an Aunt and Uncle who have no idea just how badly they are painting themselves.

As in - when he makes a judgement call about how Yang lost her arm that fits it into his "Over dependence on his semblance" it's incredibly telling about him not ever actually asking anyone about what happened.

It means he never talked to Yang about it, or even you know offered because while Yang wouldn't have said everything she'd probably have said a little.

Or talked to any of the students who probably got information about what happened from Blake when she dragged Yang to safety. Which wouldn't have been much but probably included the fact that Blake was attacked by someone, Yang intervened.

Given that students presumably died when Beacon fell and that Yang was a first year student... Like by itself, Yang being alive enough for a teammate to save her is a victory.

Nevermind context of her going up against someone that fought Blake, who came back injured herself, and Adam probably did get ID as going around killing students. So the fact that Yang was vastly outclassed would have been known, you know if Taiyang asked at all about "What happenend". Or worse - he did and still blames Yang. Like what did he expect her to do - leave Blake to die? Yang got Blake enough room to run, Blake used the opportunity to get both of them out of there but Yang bought that opportunity for Blake.

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to the Belladonnas actually talking to Yang. Because I don't think it's an accident that we didn't see said interaction before we started being shown in detail the grease fire of the Xialong Rose family.

From my perspective Tai is a rather interesting execution on the archetypical father on these fronts. IE, he's not a classic bad father the way Jac is, or the classic emotionally distant husk archetype. Yet to me, he is still 100% a big problem and done a lot of harm to Ruby & Yang with lackluster parenting & 'teaching'.

As outlined here.

I think this is one of the reasons why a lot of people struggle to actually see him as flawed even when e gets basic facts wrong.

Another reason is just how much undue credit men are given by default that women have to earn. Hence lots of people shrugging off Qrow's drinking or Ozpin's manipulation, or Ironwood's authoritarianism until they couldn't anymore.

Though being more charitable, I would also note how CRWBY often play these characters against their more traditional archetypes to help offset the audiences presumptions.

For instance,

Ozpin is a mysterious headmaster of an adventurers school but he's the 'fun' headmaster who both helps the kids go on adventures but unlike certain other headmasters sends an adult escort with them.

Or Ironwood, he's a big military hard liner who wants more tech, bigger weapons and to throw his military around. But he asks about the kids, he jokes casually, he's not just some General Ripper.

& Qrow of course is the bitter veteran and mentor, who is super badass & drinks/smokes, but in contras, he's also seemingly functional, friendly and clearly has a good rapport with his nieces.

Its easy to see why people saw those aspects and were willing to ignore things like:

Ozpin sending teenagers into terrorist dens, Ironwood backstabbing his allies while making himself out to be the victim, and Qrow's blatant dependence on alcohol to function.

Cos CRWBY made them characters & not archetypes.

So when the shit hit the fan and subtext became text, subtly problematic behavior became blatantly problematic and festering problems once seen as comedic now had real weight.

I feel Tai fits the same mold, he's on the surface 'functional', he definitely cares, and even seems to do some 'fun dad' stuff. He just also as no idea how Yang's Semblance works, & was absent or otherwise none functional for so long its left deep scars on Yang having to keep the family together & Ruby outright says Yang raised her.

He's in many ways a more realistic and nuanced portrayal of a dysfunctional or toxic parent who may not obviously have issues the way an open abuser like Jac, or an absentia parent like Raven might but can still do harm.

Also excellent breakdown on how the surrounding context of the Fall of Beacon. Team RWBY are first years, Blake is an incredibly experienced combatant, Yang had been put through the ringer. Literally everything was on fire and even people like Ozpin died.

The fact the whole team made it out at all is nothing short of a miracle. But accepting that "Sometimes bad things happen" is a surrender of power, its an admission that there was nothing to be done and that is terrifying. Especially for a man whose had two of the most important people in his life vanish on him without a trace.

He wants there to be something in Yang to blame because then there is something that can be done about it. Add in his clear and overtly stated projection of Raven onto her, and hos incoherent his reads on her personality are given Yang's addressed stuff like stubbornness & strategy well before this.

& you get a parent making being dismembers in a no win situation against a more powerful opponent the victims fault while giving vague, generalist advice to feel like they're doing something.

Gosh I want them to just adore her, and her to adore the Belladonna's.

Thanks for the ask, and good luck on that essay you mentioned, remember to tag me ;)

[whump-tr0pes]

Why do you keep saying you don't ship paulfeyd haha

Oh for the love of...

*sobs*

Because I don't, ok! It's not my fault the fandom keeps coming up with really fucking funny content about them! And I'm not saying there's not a lot there, both text and subtext, to dig your teeth into. Like, Paul was literally supposed to be born a girl and fuck/marry/kill Feyd. They were destined to be together since before they were born. Feyd has massive attack dog energy, Paul has massive master energy. Paul is burdened with a glorious and terrible destiny that involves him committing unspeaking atrocities and Feyd is coming in his pants just thinking of committing those atrocities for someone who will call him a good and special boy. Ok, I get it. I get it! I do! Aaagh!

But like... Paul diverted from his path. That's the whole point. He wasn't born a girl. He didn't fuck/marry/kill Feyd. He didn't become the Duke (kinda. Like he kinda did, he kinda didn't, whatever.) He didn't even become the emperor, he became the god emperor. And then he diverted from that path, too. He couldn't follow the Golden Path. He chose to step away. At every point, he fucks up everyone's plans and chooses something else.

So there's a part of me that feels like I ultimately ship him with Chani. She's the one he chose. She's the one he would have ultimately chosen to be with, no matter what the world had chosen for him. (And I ship him with the movie version of Chani. I have. So many thoughts. About the book version. Denis Villenevue is a fucking genius and one of the best things he did was take Chani and turn her into a character that actually makes fucking sense based on the text Frank Herbert wrote into his actual fucking book-)

But the larger part of me says that ultimately... Paul was always destined to end up alone. Because of decisions that everyone (including him) makes, the thing that feels best to me is just... thinking about Paul in relationship to the possibilities that could have been, instead of actual individual people.

But I'll continue to keep eating up the PaulFeyd shit because it's fucking amazing 😂

[toothlespoggers]

sometimes I feel like everyone gets so caught up in their own head and Fanon that they forget to actually look at undertale and deltarunes actual content to see the messages and themes that are very clearly on display.

the lore of undertale isn’t exactly a mystery apart from Gaster everything else has been given to us, the only thing we haven’t gotten are things that simply never came up in conversation or had a reason to be explained. Toby never needed to explain anything more than he did because it wasn’t relevant and still isn’t. He gave us enough information for everything with or without the external content he’s produced for undertale.

deltarune is definitely more of a mystery, but there’s still a lot of world building that’s been set in stone that gets ignored even there.

but the problem is mostly with undertale.

like how am I still seeing people debating things that are already in undertale like it’s subtext u don’t need to know every detail or have it be shoved down ur throat to know it’s the truth it’s kinda implied.

taking everything at face value is wrong but making everything too speculative and too made up is also bad. Because then u loose the actual game and the brilliance of it. And good characters get undermined or misinterpreted.

like why do people think chara is the reason you kill it’s literally stated in the game that the player woke chara up when they named the fallen human and then when you gained LV from YOUR genocide that the game tells you outright that you caused yourself, they became stronger and like saw a new purpose or whatever. And referred to themselves as a demon.

like chara never made you do anything u did that like that’s the entire point of undertale it’s connecting the player, YOUR actions to that of the game. Like that’s the same with deltarune the player isn’t an ingame character, the player is YOU whoever is playing the game. That’s why it’s called the player. Seriously how do so many of you miss this?? It’s like. Literally the entire game

I see so many long time undertale fans seeming to have played a completely different game to me, like bro are we talking about the same game here?

Kris isn’t controlled by “the player” kris is controlled by YOU. Because. You are playing it. It’s connecting you to the game in the storytelling style that suits the genre the best as toby has previously used. The games magic stems from this inherent connection that gives the characters life as they literally live inside their own world inside a video game. Like that’s literally their reality.

There is no evil murder chara outside of the genocide ending. There is no “player” fictional character, there is no queen of England.

play the game after relearninghow to analyse media texts from your high school English class.

maybe then it’ll make sense to u and you’ll realise it’s not a giant mystery

[donnerpartyofone]

We can all agree that pedestalizing people is bad for various obvious reasons, but I think a lesser-discussed subtext of this behavior is the implication that the pedestalized person gains caretaking responsibility as a natural consequence of their alleged superiority. Put differently: If you get turned into Superman, it becomes your job to save people.

I have a dear old friend who has a bad habit of idealizing people. It starts out as sweet and flattering, then it becomes kind of overbearing--any kind of distorted perception of oneself becomes burdensome even if it's positive--and then eventually she starts making noises to the tune of "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!" Like if you accept that you're her hero, the expectation is that you have to do what a hero does, and suddenly you have all these chores and favors and stuff lined up that are not really great for the friendship. In the case of my friend the behavior is not consciously manipulative; anyone will tell you that she's not, like, a bad person. She's just deep into this idea that somewhere out there is someone who can fix all her problems for her, she's really not into resolving things on her own. She's a classic self-help addict (could use more emphasis on the "self" part imho) and, hilariously, she has been "fired" by more than one phone psychic who she wouldn't stop calling. Like those people chose to stop taking her money in order to push her out of the proverbial nest. And of course, like a lot of people with this disposition, she doesn't actually take the advice she's given, just does whatever she wants instead...and then comes back in short order to ask for more advice.

Perhaps ironically, she is a very talented and energetic person who actually CAN do a lot on her own, and a few years ago she started writing a fun, quirky, topical book that we all agreed was a great idea and might actually make money. In a moment of epic stupidity, I offered to give her "friendly feedback" whenever she wanted a reader. Soon I was embroiled in a weeks-long argument about how she could pay me even though I didn't want money, and then when I named a price she couldn't pay it, and if I lowballed her she'd say that was "unfair" to me and my supposedly valuable services, and eventually I had to have this like meeting with her at a neutral location that was mediated by her ex-girlfriend to find some kind of rational end to the conversation. That's how I became her editor, even though as I frequently and forcefully reminded her I am most certainly not an editor and have none of the necessary skills or education other than the ability to read; all I ever offered was the "friendly feedback" thing and suddenly I wound up in this nightmare business relationship that was predicated on her delusions about how I'm the smartest bestest writer in the whole wide universe and I simply must save her poor little book project or it will perish.

It wasn't long before I was getting these late night phone calls telling me I was doing a bad job because I had to be "REALLY BRUTAL" and "TEAR IT APART" and she couldn't figure out why I wasn't doing that. I reminded her over and over that I'm not a real editor and I'm doing only what I am capable of doing and I'm certainly not being dishonest with her, which was the unpleasant subtext. If she's unhappy she should get a real editor, or at least a lit student who could use the pocket change. Then one day she changed her tune and told me I had actually edited her book so hard that it completely removed her personal voice from the text, and she was forced to start the whole thing over from scratch. I was deeply relieved.

...but of course, I've never stopped hearing about it. Once a year or so she comes around to remind me of what a totally radical job I did awesomely editing her super book, and don't I want to come back and finish it with her? I make a civil reminder of the fact that actually she was totally unhappy with everything I did on the book, and I don't think it's a good idea for us to work on it anymore. The response is always something like "hahaha i dont remember that LOL" (I think she really doesn't!), and I just have to back away slowly. This is not even the most fraught thing she's involved me in; hopefully I will not get started on the time I agreed to pick her up from a minor outpatient procedure, which transformed from a simple favor into a plan for an elaborate slumber party in a hotel featuring more and more people including her crazy mother who she was in a vicious fight with...while I just tried for weeks and weeks to get her to tell me where and when the procedure was happening so I knew when to pick her up. And I never even found out the answer after all, somebody else took care of it in the end, for some reason.

Anyway I'm typing all this out now because It Is Happening Again, she's trying to rope me back into the book thing which she somehow remembers as this great experience, and she wants "a friend, not some stranger" to help her finish it. And I'm trying to figure out if I should a) remind her yet again that she was very unhappy with my work on the book, and I am not a real editor, and maybe "some stranger" would be really great for her because the situation will be more professional and there won't be any impact on any of her personal relationships, or b) just tell her I don't have time, good luck! I kind of feel like being more explicit with her might give her a much-needed wake-up call about how she's been mixing business with pleasure, to her own detriment. I also feel like it would be the more respectful thing to do, to treat her like an adult who can hear something tough and make a rational choice with that information. But on the other hand maybe this is a good time to set a boundary and NOT act like it's my job to help and guide and save her, even if it's just with tough love this time. Ugh!

PS There's actually a secondary component to this which is that she's a hairdresser, and that's how I originally befriended her. She's intensely affectionate and emotional, but she's also a huge flake and I almost never get to see her if it isn't for an appointment--which she often has to reschedule several times anyway. A little while ago I told her I need to grow my hair out and save money and she panicked, seeming to realize that if she has to make actual social plans she won't be able to stick to them. So her way around this appears to be getting me back into a business relationship where we're trading haircuts for editing, and I don't want to do any of it. I just want her to like be normal with me, but that is entirely too much to ask of some people.

[dontyoulistentome]

So I started watching the 2022 Interview with the Vampire series because some of you ferals said the subtext became text.

And uh, I was not prepared for this? Like I thought it'd be lots of emotional edging and then one frenzied confession and make out scene in the final episode.

I did not expect. Barely halfway into episode one. For them to be. Literally fucking nasty on the couch.

[cursedvibes]

For the headcanon thing: Higuruma. And in case someone else has already asked about him, then Megumi.

Had fun reading your thoughts on the others! Always cracks me up how wildly different our shipping tastes are 😂

Yeah, we agree on the love for Yuuji and Kenjaku, but as far as ships are concerned, it's polar opposites xD Haven't done either yet, so here we go, hope this will be as entertaining as the rest!

Higuruma

Sexuality Headcanon:

Ace and/or gay I would say. He's in his mid-30s, has a well-paying job, but isn't in a relationship much less married or with kids. Not what's expected of men his age, which makes me think he's definitely not straight. Kinda like Takaba, except he doesn't even have the excuse of not being able to support a family (not that that's necessary of course, but it's what society expects of him). Contrary to Takaba, I don't think he's that involved with the queer community though. Maybe has a couple of queer friends like his assistant and that's it.

Gender Headcanon:

Probably cis man, but I'm not super set on it (maybe he isn't either, who knows).

A ship I have with said character:

Hm, I do like some of the Higuruma/Kusakabe fanart, but there's not really that much there for me to get invested. Kusakabe said one heroic sentence that became pointless 10 minutes later. And he was down about it, but compared to Yaga for example, Kusakabe got over it pretty quickly. People also ship them because of the dark hair and similar age, but I don't really care about that. Honestly, the only one who we have seen Higuruma have deep connection with is Yuuji, he otherwise keeps to himself.

A BROTP I have with said character:

Yuuji. I really like the talk after their fight and when they meet to discuss the Sukuna fight. Especially the second one is really nice. Seems very intimate and fragile. Both want to sacrifice themselves to safe the other, both see their own life as worthless, but they encourage each other while not judging them for being suicidal. (being suicidal together makes everything better :D) I like how they are just kind of silently there for each other without any big gestures. Higuruma doesn't want to look Yuuji in the eyes, but he still likes having him around and enjoys his company despite the guilt that comes with it.

A NOTP I have with said character:

Haven't really seen a Higuruma ship I didn't like at all.

A random headcanon:

Another reason for why he couldn't hit Sukuna with the executioner sword (besides Yuuji having to be the one to execute his death sentence and right his own) is that he's not actually a good judge or maybe it's not a profession he would be really happy with. It gives him an opportunity to take the law into his own hand and interpret it as he sees right, but he's actually much better as a lawyer put in to defend people. He doesn't always succeed, but it's what fits him most. not really a hc I guess, more text, but whatever

General Opinion over said character:

I like him, he's a good character. I feel like there could've been done more with his death, but it was nice for what it was.

Megumi

Sexuality Headcanon:

Pretty confidently ace, but probably bi- or homoromantic

Gender Headcanon:

He often gets interpreted as trans masc because of his name and how he doesn't really like it and I think that makes sense. Could see it. Might even be subtext and not just a headcanon. I don't like how the fandom tends to fetishize him because of that though. Tells me a lot about how they see trans men/trans masc people...

A ship I have with said character:

None really. ItaFushi is okay I guess, but I'm not that invested in them.

A BROTP I have with said character:

With Yuuji. They have a nice bond. Very self-sacrificial and dramatic. Actually quite a lot of similar themes to Yuuji & Higuruma now that I think about it, but I like them more than ItaFushi.

A NOTP I have with said character:

idk, the dude gets shipped with everyone, especially if they have a dick, so there's plenty to choose from. The one who annoys me most is Toji/Megumi probably.

A random headcanon:

He wasn't that close physically or emotionally with Tsumiki and kind of took her for granted until she fell into a coma. Of course they care about each other, but he just didn't allow himself to show that most of the time. And honestly, he hasn't gotten any better at it over the course of the coma. Yorozu should've punched him.

General Opinion over said character:

His fine. Not a huge fan of him, but he doesn't bother me either. Honestly, I often forget he's technically still in this story beyond the vague knowledge that Yuuji fights to safe him. I think his submersion by Sukuna and trauma through seeing Tsumiki's body die wasn't handled very well. There could've been done way more with it. It was almost handled like a footnote to Sukuna throwing his power around.

[zhuoyichenpretty]

Ep 26 Commentary

Alrightyy I've mustered up what's left of my brain for a belated ep 26 commentary post. IRL responsibilities are getting a bit away from me so I wasn't able to spend as much time on this as usual; apologies if the haste shows through! Consider this more reaction than meta.

As always, spoilers under the cut:

A carry-over comment, but I really do appreciate the Li Lun/ZYC scene in ep 25 for how it solidified ZYC's resolve and reminded him of where his heart is, what he believes in, what he chooses to defend. Such a load-bearing and pivotal conversation for both characters in opposite directions of development. It also makes ZYC's return to the Bureau triumphant in a way, despite all the preceding trauma, despair, and hopelessness. WX embraces him in relief that he's safe and in comfort for what they've all just been through, and for us, it's doubly meaningful as a sort of homecoming after a confrontation that only we have witnessed. It's also interesting, the cutaway as they hug, the things we have been made privy to and the things that are kept private from us.

Ouuughh the lines voiced over as ZYZ and ZYC meet eyes for the first time since all that transpired in Tianxiang Pavilion. It gives such a deep sense of wordless understanding and intimacy. I'm reminded of when the show did that for Ranyi and Miss Qi's final lines.

As I mentioned previously, a lot of subtext became text in this episode, which was quite exciting (and also extremely adorable the way ZYC was like "I think I've said too much" /// afterwards). I didn't expect ZYC to convey his understanding of ZYZ to him so soon, but that really goes back to something I love about ZYC: that he doesn't really waste time expressing something once he's come to an emotional conclusion. Maybe there's something to be said there about how he knows, after the loss of his family, how important it is to say the words when you have them to the people in front of you while they're still here.

If ZYC's words and his tears offered to a catatonic ZYZ in ep 23 were an expression of star-crossed and conflicted love, this parallel scene is just an utterly unrestrained confession, the stars be damned.

Also, tbh I never found ZYC's reactions to ZYZ to be unfounded or unreasonable, even when misguided in the beginning (and necessarily so, given the narrative and premise) or at times harsh (which I also found much-needed for ZYZ to hear, and delivered with obvious sympathetic anguish). He was clearly reflecting and actively revising his own preconceived notions this entire time, feeling for ZYZ the whole way through, and I do think he's demonstrated realistically and impressively the full extent of empathy perhaps as far as it can possibly stretch without personally experiencing ZYZ's life himself and while still living and feeling for his own. But to see ZYC so ready to address his previous flaws, to admit them and correct them, to go beyond them and to reach out so plainly for ZYZ in front of him now that he has that personal experience—the relationship between them has transcended the initial set-up of two opposing characters meeting in the middle. The show has gone that extra step and made their perspectives one. And given that I didn't personally find that step to be narratively necessary, so to say, (as in, even without it there's not truly a narrative obstacle because I already believed ZYC loves ZYZ despite everything and we've already seen the lengths he'll go to not to kill ZYZ), it feels like a choice in every definition of the word. Like a development motivated by love all the way down.

WX gets the least traumatic cloak-draping scenes out of the three of them, thank god.

Oh shit I forgot about fixing the Wilderness I'm so glad they didn't lmao.

Ahhh the crossroads moment at a literal (kind of) crossroads right before entering the Bingyi Clan's forbidden area. ZYC suddenly wanting to go alone or back out, stuck weighing the danger to everyone's lives, who they can and can't save depending on his choices. It makes me think of what happens when we let intense love in and it comes with intense fear, makes us freeze up. Suddenly, the stakes are in sharp relief, and the courage to move forward isn't so simple anymore.

"修好了，你也別死" ("Once it's fixed, don't die either.") Head in hands. ZYC's voice here, his expression, that desperation. Yeah I think this episode was so draining because of how all pretense is being stripped away and all that's left is ZYC's profound love for everyone, so raw and vulnerable that it hurts to watch, especially knowing he won't have it easy trying to keep everyone alive.

Kind of love how freely ZYC cries and says the vulnerable things in front of all his loved ones. Like. That's truly his family, his people, his heart.

ZYZ please. Imagine ZYC's grief without you. Please just stay.

Yay 12 seconds of angst-free bickering right before (as someone else called it) the trolley problem

Ok so, I'm not sure how common this interpretation/reading of the following scene is, but it's been rattling around in my head for a while now so I'm just gonna include it here. If y'all disagree, pls disregard! Basically, when ZYC first turned to PSJ and thanked her, I was terrified for a moment that he would ask her to stay. Because on one hand, ZYC would never, but on the other hand, imo there's a lot of (I think deliberate) ambiguity baked into the scene. In ZYC turning to PSJ right after we're told "one of your friends or all three of them," in him starting the series of goodbyes with the character he has the least onscreen development with, in the finality of what he says to her but also the lack of clarity on just who this is final for, in PSJ's expression and WX's reaction, in the dramatic turning away at the end. Like, until he turns away from her, I think there's room for interpretation on what he's decided to do, and as someone who's grown quite surprisingly invested in the ZYC-PSJ dynamic, I'm kind of morbidly interested in this reading of events.

What might be going through PSJ's head at ZYC's words, if at this moment she hasn't yet realized his self-sacrificial intent? Does she think she's going to be asked to stay? Does she assess the situation, conclude that she's the person ZYC is least close to and perhaps the one least able to contribute in whatever comes next as the only human here, and begin resigning herself to this outcome? Are the tears in her eyes the sole indication of her conflicted unwillingness to die here that makes it through because as he's talking, she's evaluated that this is the best possible scenario for them all (esp for WX) and will commit herself to his decision even if it also breaks her heart to be chosen this way?

I may be taking this and running a bit far with it, but I just think the ambiguity of this one brief moment can create such angsty implications between the lines (as if we needed more angst...) and despite their scarce onscreen interactions, I'm kind of a sucker for the "extremely noble (to the point of tragedy) knight choosing to acknowledge and follow and dedicate their silent loyalty to a leader they deeply respect" dynamic, even if it is understated with all the other relationships going on in this show. Given how reticent PSJ is, it makes a meaningful impact on me every time she displays concern for ZYC, so you know it crushed me to watch her desperately and irrationally (the most pragmatic of them all!) try to shoot at him with her arrows while knowing there's no way it'd work. The way she was the first to act, the sound of nothing but the ice and the stretch of the bowstring. I really do love their platonic bond much more than I expected to.

Oof. The freezing. I don't want to sound like a broken record but I loved TJR's acting here because I think it's so easy for this scene to look awkward as he's stuck facing forward and pretending to freeze haha. His microexpressions as he realizes ZYZ is behind him, as he tries to chase him away with his words, as he's probably burning from the inside out with all that ice. That last tear as his gaze turns hollow. A+

I also love ZYZ's lines about not believing he can't overcome ZYC's powers like yeah this is a newborn demon with no inner core and ice powers that he taught him lmao

Okay, that's a wrap for my thoughts on this ep! I was originally going to include ep 27 reactions here too, but seeing as this is getting a little long, maybe I'll roll 27 into my thoughts on ep 28? We shall see!

[oddeyevibes]

The Rock w/ A Goth S/O

(Like usual, this is kayfabe compliant. Also, this has elements of my fic idea basically but I’m still workshopping stuff so I decided to do headcanons cause why not)

You debuted just before the WWF fully embraced their attitude and aspects of goth sub-culture bled into the federation. So that made you kind of an oddball but, obviously, you embraced it.

So it was an odd pairing between you and “Rocky Maivia”. This rookie femme fatale and this fresh-faced third gen up-and-comer looking to make a name for himself.

I would say, maybe in the beginning you two would keep your relationship under wraps, with the both of you coming off as either friends or twos newbies simply looking out for each other.

The other wrestlers that were heel aligned wasted no time in giving Rock dirty looks cause of how close he was getting to you.

You would support and help him train as he wanted to be some Hulk Hogan-esque hero to the fans but it wasn’t working.

At first, he was in that stage of denial and wanting passive advice. The “it’ll get better” type deals because he felt if he kept trying, he could win them over. He was even given those talks by the other faces backstage.

As someone who was more “heel aligned”, you thought that was horse shit but you supported what he initially wanted.

It wasn’t until the “Die Rocky Die” chants and signs that you put your foot down.

“Tell them to go fuck themselves” you would say and he would ignore it. Trying to talk YOU down from going out there and cursing people out.

“I just have to run my own race and I’ll win them over.” He was so naive. The poor baby.

But you were determined. Becoming the little devil on his shoulder while the other baby faces kept trying to urge him to stay on the “right” path. The path of “perseverance”.

“Who cares what the fans think?”

“They don’t even know what they want. They’d rather cheer on dinosaurs than new blood”

“Stop lying down and waiting for them to respect you. TAKE their respect.”

At first, he would laugh at your persistence. “Girl, you are a bad influence on me.”

But then it started getting to him more and more, and with the Nation of Domination now urging him, he finally took matters into his own hands.

After the crowd watched him raise his fist alongside Farooq, it was no holds barred.

Now instead of being some fresh faced Romeo + Juliet type fling, you two went full on power couple.

Subtext became straight up text.

I said it before in my other headcanon but it bears repeating, with your styles, the both of you would end up matching CONSTANTLY.

Also vial of his blood? You can totally have it. Obviously, I gotta mention it.

While The Rock is not one to cheat, that was the service you offered any heel clients you valet’d for but it was a matter of trust. Trust that he can get the job done because he always could.

He’s finally out of his shell enough to let you take him to a goth club and boy does he fit in with the way he dances.

You have full control of the music when y’all are driving from place to place until one song that he just can’t stand and he takes your CD out. Not even huffing will make him budge.

He sings to you. He takes the songs you like and randomly sings them to you. He wants to dance with you. He’ll even try to sing them slowly for a slow dance. It becomes a battle to see how long you can go without laughing.

He sometimes goes to wrestlers like Edge & Christian (and sometimes Undertaker) for advice on gifts.

Mankind ADORES you.

While I wouldn’t recommend on WWE/WWF Wedding (name one time the ceremony succeeded), if y’all confident it’ll work for y’all and Mankind is gonna officiate. That or Dude Love (who happens to be great pals with Mankind).

Rocky does help you break some of your heel-ish habits. Despite it all, he encourages you not to be TOO underhanded. Not in a controlling way but in a “you can do better” way, y’know?

In general, this is a relationship that a lot of other folks think shouldn’t work but it works just fine for the both of you.

[trickstarbrave]

could you elaborate (if you don't mind) on the reading the sermons with esoteric analysis techniques thing and how vivec always talks about his trauma? i havent really read the sermons myself but i think i have a good jist of it but the trauma thing is new to me (well, other than the big one in sermon 14)

im not exactly an expert but esoteric readings basically mean "reading between the lines". like subtext but to and extreme. the 36 sermons were designed with this in mind with references to and structure similar of real world occult texts along with encoded messages and the like

"muatra", vivec's spear, is an anagram (basically you rearrange the letters) of "trauma". weaponizing the pain he has gone through in the world to defend himself.

also take sermon 16 for example:

Nerevar said, 'Why are you doing this, milord?' Vivec said, 'To make room for the fire.' And the Hortator could see that Vivec was out of sorts, though not because of the impending new power to come. The golden warrior-poet had been exercising his Water Face as well, learned from the dreughs before he was born. Nerevar said, 'Is this to keep you from the fire?' Vivec said, 'It is so that I may see with truth. It, and my place here at the altar of Padhome in the house of False Thinking, serve so that I may see beyond my own secrets. The Water Face cannot lie. It comes from the ocean, which is too busy to think, much less lie. Moving water resembles truth by its trembling.'

there is a lot of information in this but we're gonna be focusing on 'the fire' here, not the fucking water face or dreughs.

"the fire" here is akin to vivec's divine spark, a sort of symbol of enlightenment, given it is a literal flame on his head. but if you look at other sources like "what my beloved taught me"...

For you, I would shave this head. It would not do that your new friend shook an inconstant kwam-lice from it. I'd take the sigil of Vel, the V, and wear it twice. And I would be new, and believe in the one moon and star as your banner does. I’d make a legend of this netch longhook. Make no frown that this will be my weapon in your guard, however low its station. We all drink from the milk of our fathers. I’d learn to read and then write so that I could see right your name forever. And I would clean your feet so that the next time you made treaty it would be with an assured step.

vivec DID cut his hair, not out of a symbol for enlightenment, but out of devotion and love to nerevar (hell, he named his spear and made it a legendary weapon also out of love and devotion). that love and devotion is what has driven him, what has defined his life, and also that during his time writing the sermons he was still picking apart that love and devotion. i think we can all agree given the foul murder and everything that the love was uhhhh kinda toxic and not healthy. he is trying to make sense of it and what it means for him with an analogy of nerevar also trying and failing to find spiritual fulfillment in sermon 16. but this carries over to sermon 34

The monster accepted Muatra with a peaceful look and his bones became the foundation for the City of the Dead, anon Narsis [sic]. Nerevar put away his axe, which he had at the ready, and frowned.'Why,' he said, 'did you ask me to come if you knew the eighth monster would give in so easily?' Vivec looked at the Hortator for a long time. Nerevar understood. 'Do not betray your nature. Answer as you will.' Vivec said, 'I brought you here because I knew the mightiest of my issue would succumb to Muatra without argument, if only I gave him consolation first.' Nerevar looked at Vivec for a long time. Vivec understood. 'Say the words, Hortator.' Nerevar said, 'Now I am the mightiest of your children.' Let this sermon be consolation to those who read it that are destined to die.

now for further context: i believe vivec's marriage to molag bal is symbolic. molag bal is the daedric prince of domination and the king of rape. and we know factually vivec as a mortal went through all manner of abuse, exploitation, and sexual assault. his marriage to the daedric prince represents an attempt to reclaim his agency in his trauma. and also i believe the children he has with molag bal that he then hunts down and kills are metaphors for or physical manifestations of his trauma.

if the children are representations of vivec's trauma, that means now that he has slain them in an attempt to heal from them, what does that make nerevar? "now i am the mightiest of your children" = "now i am your biggest trauma". and just like all the rest, nerevar is destined to die.

there are other common illusions to his trauma outside of these like "'The span of the apparently inactivated is your love of the absolute. The birth of God from the netchiman's wife is the abortion of kindness from love.'" (this is also using the definition of 'love' as spoken about by crowley, IRL).

we would be here literally all day if i went through all 36 sermons and what i think are allusions to trauma or the deeper meanings of them. because vivec is a poet, talking about complex topics like enlightenment and trauma and the ways in which he sees the world. he loves symbolism and metaphor. there are many things you can say with metaphor that you cannot communicate as well in a literal, factual explanation. to quote ursula k le guin:

"I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth. The only truth I can understand or express is, logically defined, a lie. Psychologically defined, a symbol. Aesthetically defined, a metaphor."

hence why i am annoyed when people dont take a look at the deeper meanings beyond the "FOUL MURDER" easter egg hidden meaning. there are so many deeper meanings in them. its a lot of fun to pick apart. they were made for esoteric readings. they arent the factual objective truths, but personal truths. symbols. metaphors.

[rebuke-me]

broadway bmc critiques

this is a list of all my critiques of broadway bmc, in no particular order. this is not a post meant to hate those who are fans of Broadway bmc, because preference is subjective. I did my best to keep personal bias out of it, but some aspects are inextricable. please keep discussions civil. if you think critique will make you upset, I encourage you to skip this post.

- the writing is significantly watered down for the audience. while the original show was not a masterpiece of writing by any means, it only occasionally talks down to the audience. part of my interest in the original show was the open-ended characters. however, in the Broadway version, subtext is made into text, and that really hurts the show. most of the characters in tr had presumed depth, whereas bw wrote sync up: a song telling everyone exactly what was wrong with every character, rather than having the viewers observe it for themselves through dialogue and actions. tr already laid that foundation, it already had the character development. fans had already been analyzing the characters for years, and everyone pretty much got what they meant. bw felt, to me, like it was holding my hand through it and explaining to me every aspect of the characters.

- the writing of the new songs especially is. incredibly contrived. I've listened to the songs as I can bear (I do not like some of the voices in the songs, so I will admit to not listening to all of the songs, but I did make an attempt.) and the writing is significantly worse. while the tr songs weren't masterpieces, by any means, they were at least catchy and fun. the appeal of the bmc music is the earworm of it all, the way that it's fun and memorable. the bw versions new songs have not stuck in my head whatsoever, unlike the previous songs. loser geek whatever is another case of telling the audience rather than showing it: fans of tr already knew Jeremy was upset about being an outcast. we understood that. his decision at the end of upgrade was understandable to audiences, although usually not agreed with. an entire song with the writers literally physically telling the audience how he is feeling, in simple rhyme and a melody that doesn't stick out, wasn't necessary. a new song was intriguing, and could have fleshed out plot holes of the original show, but instead just tried shoving another square peg into a hole we had already been made aware of.

- fan pandering. this is an aspect of every media that has a large internet fan base, especially in the past ten years. while some aspects of the show may have been in the plans all along, the Broadway version feels like they were too engrossed in the fan culture. im a big proponent for creators being divorced from their fans, and the Broadway version is why. the addition of more moments implying a romantic connection between rich and michael at the end, with no discussion of character development, felt shoehorned in for the fans. Michael as a whole shifted closer to the fanon interpretation of him, rather than remaining the character from the original show, becoming more soft spoken and awkward.

- failure to add in diversity in a respectful way. (to preface this, I am a white person. if I say anything out of line in this section, I am more than willing to admit that, and would love to hear from the perspective of poc bmc fans, especially black fans.) a main critique of tr bmc in my opinion is the way it handled a lot of heavy topics, including diversity and the like. bw bmc made strides towards giving roles to non-white actors, which is always a good thing. however, the characters chosen for the diversity were made more stereotypical for being made into poc. jenna rolan became more of a stereotype of a talkative, phone obsessed black woman. Jenna is the less egregious example of this, as she has more depth. however, jake being black makes his character traits of being the child of money launderers, being violent towards others, being unhoused and physically harmed in the fire, not knowing how to "speak properly" at times and being a "player" seem more racially motivated. of course, none of these aspects of a character are bad, per se, but all combined into a character that is now black feels stereotypical.

- failure to fix some issues with tr. I am always willing to critique my own interests. while I have a preference towards tr, and a fixation on it, I will admit it has issues. notably, these include telling rather than showing (an issue that only got worse in bw), the treatment of female characters, and a variety of other issues. female characters in bw still have the same issues, as a whole. brooke is still the stereotypical blonde ditz. she does get a bit of development, but an opportunity for her to stand up for herself could have been needed in bw. christine is still little more than the love interest, and still ends up with the main character at the end, despite being meant to be a feminist, complete with patch on her jacket. the female characters rarely talk to each other about anything other than a man, or gossip, usually about men. none of them form solid friendships with no romantic ties with almost any of the male characters, either. the show costumes the characters in apparel that preaches feminism and writes a message about equality and being yourself, yet bars most character development from the female characters. this could have been rectified in bw, considering an entire song was added and scenes were rewritten, but was not.

I have other issues with the show, but those are more personal critiques with preferences, rather than in depth analysis of why I think the show is not as beloved by the fan base as a whole. those aren't going to be added here, because a lot of them don't lend any credence to my arguments, they're just personal opinions on character choices and actors.

if anything I've said in this post is incorrect, please let me know. I admit I'm not very well versed in the Broadway show, since I very much dislike it, so if any details are incorrect, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

also like. don't be a dick in the replies and tags please, that'd be nice. civil conversation and debate is okay, but attacking people for their interests is not.

[saintsenara]

the velveteen rabbit mrs cole & tom riddle general | 3.2k words

‘i don’t want you,’ he says, dark eyes bleary, tongue full of pus. ‘leave me alone.’

‘well, i’m what you’re getting,’ i say to him.

‘you ain’t worth having.’

‘and, yet, here i am.’

a boy has scarlet fever and wants his mother. he gets mrs cole instead.

this piece was written for week two of @ladiesofhpfest, which focuses on mothers [you can find the masterlist of the week's fics here].

author's notes under the cut

motherhood is one of the key themes of the harry potter series, but it’s often handled in a way i find quite reductive. in particular, the marian symbolism of lily potter means that all other mothers are found wanting beside her - the series understands motherly love as it understands all other love: as something whose nobility comes through sacrifice and suffering [as we see in its treatment of alice longbottom and nymphadora tonks, who it thinks did the right thing for their children].

mothers whose affection for their children is self-indulgent [petunia dursley, pre-deathly hallows narcissa malfoy], selfish [the more negative aspects of molly weasley’s characterisation], subordinate to their own concerns [kendra dumbledore], or lacking in affection [walburga black] get a bad showing across the seven-book canon. similarly, childless women either get forced into a quasi-maternal role [such as being a teacher at a boarding school] or become one of the many female characters who are portrayed as lacking some fundamental capacity for tenderness [rita skeeter, dolores umbridge, bellatrix lestrange].

but one particularly interesting mother whose relationship with her child is criticised by the text is merope gaunt.

and by this, i don’t mean that merope is criticised for how she became a mother - indeed, the text is remarkably dismissive of what happens to tom riddle sr. at her hands - but that she is implicitly criticised by both harry and dumbledore in half-blood prince for failing to stay alive for her son, with the subtext of their conversation being that witches are able to prevent themselves dying in childbirth and that merope just didn’t have the heart to make the effort.

i have always loathed this. i hate the implication that "muggle" ways of dying are things magical people are immune to - not least because it directly supports the views of blood-supremacists that wizards and muggles are essentially different species, which the series otherwise thinks it doesn’t agree with - and i hate the fact that the idea that merope "chose" to die inadvertently confirms her son’s belief that death is weak or shameful. childbirth was historically - and, indeed, still is - extremely dangerous, and plenty of witches must have died alongside muggle women, all of them hoping they could live to raise their children.

and this is what mrs cole tells us in this story: that merope wanted to live.

mrs cole - who, here, is an irishwoman in london, which gives her her own additional otherness to go alongside being childless - is one of those incidental characters i’m unjustifiably obsessed with.

i read a lot of voldemort-centric things, and she often ends up shouldering a sizeable portion of the blame for his obvious childhood trauma. to some extent, i can see why - she’s drunk in the middle of the day when there are dozens of children in her care, she treats examples of voldemort’s emotional damage [especially him learning as a baby that crying was futile] as nothing more than amusing gossip - but i also think that focusing criticism on her is unfair.

instead, i wanted to have a look at her as a woman doing her best to be a surrogate mother to an extremely messed up child, but never quite being able to succeed owing to the pressures she’s under.

because, after all, love is something which also requires resources. it requires time to invest into the child; it requires the caregiver to have the mental and physical capacity to provide the child the attention they need; it requires the child to be warm and fed and clothed and the caregiver to not have to worry about those things; it requires the child to feel safe enough to be childish. mrs cole loves her charges innately, but it’s not always possible for her to spare the time or energy to make that love all-encompassing.

and that isn’t her fault. the failure of the state in tom riddle’s life isn’t given a lot of space in canon. the harry potter series emphasises the value of individual - rather than collective - choice as its central theme and, even when the wizarding state is criticised for something, that criticism is often aimed at one person [such as cornelius fudge in order of the phoenix] rather than at the systems which have enabled them.

but it is a matter of fact that orphanages cannot provide children with the support they need because they’re not set up to do so. the wool’s of the velveteen rabbit is underfunded and overcrowded - like institutions worldwide - and mrs cole spends all her time trying to get her charges through the day unscathed. state figures - such as the doctor who will not work for free [this being before the invention of the nhs] or the member of parliament who ignores letters or the magistrates ["beaks"] who fail to understand that stealing is an expression of the orphans’ fundamental trauma - let down the children at every turn.

including one particular child: tom riddle, whose complicated relationship both to his mother and to mrs cole is examined here through the lens of childhood illness. 

i’m wedded to the idea that tom was quite a sickly child. he is described in canon in terms which suggest that he’s somewhat physically fragile, and it provides an explanation for why he becomes so obsessed with magic if physical strength is a power that other children have over him. it also provides some more insight into his fear of death - after all, you’d want to live forever too if you knew you’d be dying as a child with only a woman you hate and who can’t give you the love and affection you need sitting at your bedside.

[the title of the piece is, of course, taken from the horrifying 1922 children’s book of the same name, in which a velveteen toy rabbit is burned to ashes after its owner has scarlet fever, but everything is alright for some reason.]