#also sorry I tend to ramble lol

[nocturnalswarehouse]

Tag game!

I was tagged by @blossom-adventures and @thequeenofthewinter :)

3 Ships:

I'm going to delve away from Skyrim here because my procrastination response if I don't want to be productive around my place, is to immerse myself in as much media as possible. So an obvious one is OC/Brynjolf. Otherwise, Adi would not exist XD my others are OC (or reader)/Jacob Frye because I'm still hyperfixating on AC Syndicate. I also recently finally started Jane the Virgin, and I'm a slut for Jane/Rafael

1st Ever Ship:

I was but a young child, barely able to comprehend reading when my first ever a ship came to be. I shit you not. I think I was 5. It was Blue/Magenta in Blue's Clues. I found out a couple years ago was also my first gay ship, and I am HERE for it.

Last Song:

Boyfriend by Dove Cameron

Last Movie:

I watched one in my filmmaking class by a local director who created a film about a Ukrainian woman who immigrated to modern-day Winnipeg. Do I remember the title? Nope. Do I want to? Nope.

This movie was filmed back in like,,, 2019 I believe, is what he said and released like last year. It's two hours and could've been easily cut down to one. Very slow, almost too slow. I liked a lot of the shots. It was interesting to watch a film where only two characters - who were in there briefly - spoke English.

So there are good things about it, but it definitely could've been way better. I felt like the writing was almost too dry, and the director didn't give us any context as to what the plot was or any warnings that were needed (nudity and a certain subject related to nudity that is unpleasant to watch, to put it nicely).

I just think we should keep cishet white north American men away from creating films with that kind of subject because they don't,,, get it. Granted, neither do I but I do have an entire family of immigrants.

Currently Reading:

Well, it was my personality psych textbook, but no more! I hope to finish @thequeenofthewinter's fic because I'm behind due to school, and after that? Well, when the term starts, one of the texts for one of my classes is "The Handmaid's Tale," and I'm VERY excited to read it.

Currently Watching:

Too many things at once.

Jane the Virgin

Wednesday (I get the hype, I have critiques, but imma keep them to myself because it's very nitpicky and a bit pretentious)

RuPaul's Drag Race S14 (I'm on episode 7)

Canada's Drag Race S2 (I'm on episode 4)

The Witcher (started it in September, had a depressive episode)

Slow rewatch of Avatar: The Last Airbender because I'm following the podcast recaps and discussions

Slow rewatch of Kim Possible because I got bored and switched to the Witcher (it's great to watch after a long shift at work, though)

Wizards of Waverly Place (helped me through the depressive episode. Downside? I've seen it so many times the show is fully memorized)

Hunters on Amazon Prime (They re-edited the show to take out the scenes that got a lot of negative press, and I'm mad, so I stopped because they also re-edited my favourite scene in the entire show)

Teen Wolf (gotta prep for the movie coming out in 2023)

Okay yeah, so my fam and I have a lot of streaming services. Welcome to my Dad, and I are movie buffs

Currently Consuming:

Water. I'm pulling an all-nighter because I gotta be at the airport in two and a half hours, so if I sleep I will miss my flight. Gotta stay hydrated!

Currently Craving:

Tacos from a place back home, and lemonade from a pop-up lemonade stand that ends up at every big event in my city back home and if I can convince my parents I'll be able to get one and won't have to wait until Stampede in July next year. It's the best damn lemonade I've ever had.

The specific tacos I'm craving are the best damn fast-food tacos I've ever had, but I've definitely had better. My sister worked at a Mexican restaurant specializing in tacos that a family member owns, for god's sake. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I also crave those. I think I just want tacos.

I can't really think of anyone to tag (the main person I would've tagged, tagged me first XD), so I pass this on to anyone that wants to do it :)

[galactic-rhea]

Thoughts on Padmé x Anakin x Rex?

Padmé and Anakin are so mutually obssesed they would first have to check into that before trying to bring another person to their carefully-balanced-kind-of-damage or something it's going to explode.

Honestly it's a fun ship! But I don't have too many thoughts about them because when I consider them is usually in very low-stakes-fun-AU-scenarios.

And I'm actually a bit of a fan of Rexwalker myself! Athough I tend to like them more as very good buddies, the covering-for-you-dynamic it's so funny for them, lol It's also angsty and complicated because, y'know, the power-imbalance and unchecked trauma? Is funny that the clone that's actually a slave for the republic is the most normal if you bring him into the anidala romance circus.

Also shout out to @phoenixyfriend , she has a lot of rexanidala fics and recs for anyone interested reading this!

[thresholdbb]

Thank you all for letting me go absolutely warp-10 buck wild today

🦎🦎

🦎🦎🦎

[wereh0gz]

I don't think I've seen anyone go into what physical symptoms Sonic experienced as a werehog. Have I posted abt that before I feel like I might've done that

Anyway here's a list of the symptoms of Sonic's werehog form, since I don't see many hcs abt that

Faster fur, quill, and nail growth

Increased body temperature

Increased appetite and intense cravings (not specifically for meat, but for foods he enjoys)

Sensitivity to light, sounds, and smells (easily overstimulated)

Chronic headaches

Joint and back pain due to changed bone structure

Toothaches, also due to changed bone structure

Muscle tears from transforming

Sore throat from vocal chords changing

Blood turned green (like Dark Gaia's blood)

Most of these don't fully go away when he turns back. During Unleashed, the pains lingered post-transformation and made it hard to get up in the morning a lot

Post-Unleashed, Sonic still deals with his fur, quills, and nails growing much faster than average. His bone structure in normal form is slightly different now too. His joints still hurt a bit because of it, especially his knees. Also his teeth are a lot sharper (not just fangs, all of his teeth)

[gaylactic-fire]

I can't believe the Undertale Sans AU fandom is still alive and well in 2023

[dandyshucks]

need Guz to hug me tightly for like an hour solid oh my god dhdjdkl I went driving for the first time in over a year and I chewed my lip raw 😭😭

I'm starting to look like a caricature of Anxiety with all these physical symptoms and signs LMAO

[cottageivy]

trying to decide if i should go ahead and read the sun and the star now despite not having read the last two trials of apollo books or to just go ahead

[cosmic-cd]

thinking about leon again tonight

[todayisafridaynight]

JUST finished Unlucky Monkey and MANNNN. The use of color and sound... so so so well done. ESPECIALLY sound- the scenes where stuff just gets completely drowned out are. chefs kiss. Also!! the heavy emphasis on luck/coincidence... I know i should've seen that coming goin by the title but its so neat to see how that was woven into the story! anyway 10/10 fun ride i enjoyed it

ICHI FINISHED DA MOVIE EVERYONE REJOICE

i'm SOOOO glad you enjoyed it tho !!!! as much as it is a comedy, it's also a REALLY good thriller and it's SO fun watching ttm's character spiral more and more throughout the movie and ultimately never getting what he wants in the end, just left to be tormented forever without receiving any satisfying punishment for it

i love the sound design of sabu films so much i HIGHLY recommend checking out sabu's other stuff (esp if they include ttm lol..... sabu loves putting ttm in situations and i love sabu for that). monday/mandei is another really good film in the same vein of Guy Whose Day Starts Bad Seemingly Gets Worse. if you ever wanna give it a watch, i watched it on this site here (tho warning, subs are missing sometimes BUT its generally easy to make out the context of what's happening. except for the ending uhhH BUT IT'S WORTH THE WATCH LOL)

[ftm2bbw]

So I just wanted to say I really appreciate this blog. I came in to this because tumblr recommended you as a Breast Expansion blog but there's some nuances to it I never expected. A lot of B.E. kink material that I go through is geared towards cis-het men like myself and occasionally cis women, but I'd never have considered that some trans men enjoyed it too, and with themselves as the subjects! It's a really enlightening experience to get horny through a new lens like this.

With that said, I really like writing stories for you and I was wondering what I could to do tailor them more for a transmasc experience beyond mentioning binders sometimes.

~🍨

I'm glad you're having as much fun writing 'em as I am reading/responding. Because...woof. 🥵

I definitely think my longstanding BE/lactation kink was the gateway into me exploring and enjoying my wider re-feminization kink and such. It's been an interesting journey so far, and I know as a trans man I'm definitely an odd one out for having this + related kinks. Haha.

As for tailoring it for a more trans masc experience, I think a lot of it is gonna depend on the individual. I know for me as a trans man, one of the hottest/kinkiest parts about breast expansion/etc is that it's honed in an aspect of my body that's stereotypically aligned with femininity. I'm a fat bear of a dude irl so while my tits are pretty big I can often pass them off as moobs - which is a big reason why the idea of them getting too big/milky to hide is so damn hot to me. Similar thing with my ass and hips (which are already huge and wide but I digress, lol.) I also have forced shaving and lingerie/bra kinks for the same reason. While I don't get off to bio-essentialism, my body betraying me by being forced to grow/develop in a way I find dysphoric/embarrassing/humiliating/etc is very hot. And of course, being teased or praised for my body developing in a more feminine/womanly way.

The other side of that coin though, is being encouraged/taught/conditioned to enjoy and get off to those very aspects of my body that are causing me distress (albeit horny distress.) Especially if they're being purposely grown/developed/etc.

While you didn't ask about it, I'll add that my weight gain fetish doesn't work the same way, even if it's often complimentary to my other kinks. I don't find being fat or getting fatter embarrassing or etc, I'm just a hedonist and get off on it in that regard. Haha.

[magicandmundane]

Now I love a good tragedy (I hang around the self-proclaimed “tragedy enjoyers” in one of my other fandoms), which is why his s2 arc worked for me. I thought his sacrifice was truly incredible, and I had such high hopes for how they handled it while simultaneously jumping in on the theorizing because you guys are a lot fun.

And then s3 happened. I will defend it until the end of time, it is my favorite season… except for this. Tech’s sacrifice had so much narrative potential imo. Some of those scenes/shots with just Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair were so poignant. But the whole season was missing something. There was a gaping whole where Tech should have been at least narratively present if not flat out alive.

This would have been such an easy fix, too! Like Ezra and Kanan, Omega could have referenced how much Tech taught her beyond Plan 72. For example, “Let’s hope your take-offs are better than your landings!” Then instead of “We’re about to find out!” she could’ve said, “That ship was damaged and you know it. Tech taught me better than that. I’ve got this!” Maybe a little much for a quick getaway, but it can be edited, I’m not a professional lol. And yeah prev, you’re so right, we the audience know that they were able to settle on Pabu mostly thanks to Tech making that choice, but they don’t say it after s2. Another easy fix! Like “Tech knew the risks, and so do we. We do this together, just like he wanted.” And throw a “He made the sacrifice so we wouldn’t have to.” somewhere into that conversation. Then at the end “Now, because of Tech, we get to decide what we want to be.” And boom! A little more of that, plus a nice little memorial, and his sacrifice has obvious narrative weight and an effect on the characters.

Idk man, I’m torn. I really feel like they wrote themselves into a corner on this one because I fear bringing him back in a different series could feel cheap and unsatisfying, but that’s just me. Again, I’m no professional (I have an engineering brain lol), but I think the biggest issue was leaning so far into the idea of “show don’t tell” that neither happened to a satisfactory degree. But oh well, we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, I’m just here to discuss and enjoy.

Because I just finished a Rebels rewatch on the same night I came across a few of @heyclickadee 's posts about Tech, I've been thinking about the impact of Tech's sacrifice on the Bad Batch narrative in comparison to other Star Wars character sacrifices.

(I'm not discussing the depiction of the impact of the loss on the other characters/their grief because that's a whole other essay.)

Kanan's sacrifice is deliberately shown to hold weight through the rest of the narrative in many ways, including:

The mission to halt production of the TIEs ends up being a success thanks to him (kinda poor consolation in light of his death, but still... And it even indirectly leads to the success of the mission to rout the Imperials from Lothal because Pryce becomes desperate enough that she makes critical mistakes)

Palpatine himself says there was a disturbance in the Force and the fate of Lothal was altered by Kanan's death

Drives Ezra and the team to listen to the Loth wolves, stopping Palpatine from accessing the WBW AND saving Ahsoka

Seriously, the number of times Ezra refers to lessons Kanan taught him as he navigates events between "Jedi Night" and the finale...

Influences Ezra's choice to not give in to Palpatine's temptation

Drives Ezra to sacrifice himself to defeat Thrawn and save Lothal

Fives' sacrifice (yes, I'm counting the time/effort/significant risks he took to uncover the conspiracy as a sacrifice) is deliberately credited and holds weight through the rest of the narrative and beyond by:

Cluing Rex in on the presence of the inhibitor chips

Which saves Ahsoka's and Rex's lives

Which saves Clone Force 99's lives (among others)

Now, WE know Tech's sacrifice does allow his family to live which ultimately leads to their retirement and finding peace on Pabu; however, the show itself never credits Tech for this outcome. Instead, most references to Tech in season 3 by his brothers indicate how much his absence is negatively impacting their progress in attaining this goal; Omega has one opportunity to credit Tech for teaching her the squad plans, and Phee has one opportunity to reference Tech as an individual who had actual conversations about his family.

Basically, the show doesn't end up allowing Tech's sacrifice to hold the narrative weight and impact it could easily have had, which makes it feel rather less than final. And since it doesn't feel final, I choose to interpret this as yet another indicator that, whatever may or may not have happened behind the scenes for season 3 and whatever future plans Lucasfilm may have, Tech was meant to live and there's still plenty of leeway left for him to return.

[hotpinkboots]

Hi there Pink! I just wanted to say your blog is so amazing and beautiful........Wowie! I might stay here and chat for a bit if you dont mind!☆

Im SO glad that you like SCP stuff and ENA!!! There my favorite fandoms in the history of ever!!!!!! *screams in GATE GAURDIAN GIVE ME ONE CHANCE*

-Sleepytime anon (If you dont mind calling me that!)

OH MY GOOOOSH SLEEPYTIME ANON I LOVE THAT SO MUCH YES :D

THAT'S SO FABULOUS! SCP AND ENA FOR THE WIN!! I literally owe that one anon that asked me about ENA a big fat kiss on the cheek because I wouldn't have cared to watch it if they hadn't have said anything. I did NOT KNOW WHAT I WAS MISSING, ENA IS SO AMAZING 😭

I always saw YouTube trying to recommend ENA to me but I was always like "oh there's the shape lady again hi" and never watched it until recently. Now I can't believe I just passed it by all those times :0

[its-monster-mash]

for the weirder asks

why did you do that?

when was the last time you ate?

imagine we’re at a sleepover, would you paint my nails?

do you say soda or pop?

how do you like your shower water?

do you have a favorite towel?

what’s your take on spicy foods?

what was the last message you sent?

🥰💖

Thank you for asking!! 🥺💖

Why Did You Do That?

At the time, it was because I couldn’t let him traumatize my little brother. Recently, I’ve learned that it might be just something I was born with—some kind of hereditary abnormality. It’s something I’ll have to talk about with my kid when he’s a little older.

My childhood was fucking clownshoes and I am willing to clarify further but LORD it does sound fake.

When Was The Last Time You Ate?

I actually just ate. Made biscuits a few days ago, and I can’t stand throwing out food(I tend to cook too much. I’m no longer used to living somewhere where my friends aren’t close enough to invite to dinner/offer leftovers), so I heated one up with a little butter to soften it. It was good.

Imagine We’re At A Sleepover, Would You Paint My Nails?

I would try if asked, with the warning that I’m not especially good at it. When I paint my own nails, I do so with the expectation that whatever ends up on my fingers not on my nails is going to soften up and flake off eventually when I do dishes. 😅 I can’t remember the last time I painted some else’s nails.

Do You Say Soda Or Pop?

I say Soda! Fun Fact; I used to say Pop, but in the 7th Grade I read The Outsiders, and decided I preferred the way Soda sounded. (There is a character called “Sodapop”—it’s not like he was my favorite character or anything; that was always Dally—but reading it out loud in school made me realized Soda felt better to say lol)

How Do You Like Your Shower Water?

As much as I’d like to say “Scalding”, I’m not actually picky. When I’m not being rushed and I can have whatever kind of shower I want, I like cold water first to wash my hair and face, extremely hot water to wash my body, and then I like to switch it to cold for a little while before I get out. I AM capable of taking a lukewarm shower, but I WON’T shower in just cold water the whole way through. I don’t feel clean if the water isn’t at least vaguely warm.

Do You Have A Favorite Towel?

I did, but I lost it in our last move ☹️. I like black towels because no one will bitch that I stain towels after dying my hair. Never mind that all the towels here are gross and ancient and feel absolutely horrible on the skin. (I could buy new ones, but long story short, we moved in with my Grandpa because my mom was terrified of his health with everyone being an hour away, and he would bitch up and down if I “Wasted Money” on new towels—despite the fact that it is in fact, my money. We are hoping to be accepted for an apartment opening about 15 minutes away in February, so I can be close enough to check on him without having to live here and be belittled constantly 🙃 Wish Us Luck.)

What’s Your Take On Spicy Foods?

Spicy Food My Beloved. On the rare occasion that I’m cooking ONLY for me, I love things to be fairly spicy. When I was a kid I used to eat powdered Ghost Pepper on spoons to freak out my mom’s non-spice-loving friends lol. I like hot in things that “Aren’t supposed to be hot”—when I first started hanging out with my spouse, he asked me if I could maybe NOT put chilies in the Mac n cheese I’d make lol. That said, once something is so hot that I can’t actually TASTE the food anymore, only pain, I no longer enjoy it.

What Was The Last Message You Sent?

“Y E A H”

Sorry this last one was boring lol.

[remxedmoon]

What are your thoughts on ISAT's magic system?

AUTISM BLAST

okay long rambly post incoming. for the record like 90% of this is pure unfiltered headcanon. and almost all of this is about colors. sorry if this is hard to follow!!! i need to get this all out of my system.

oh also! a lot of this is based on a really good post by @/chronologically-challenged that shows off the differences between each character’s craft style! go check that out it’s really good

okay!! so!!! colors. this is just my own thing, but i personally like to color code the different types of craft!

don’t worry about those middle tones yet just put a pin in those

there’s still a little bit of color variety within craft types (for flavor), but generally, rock is blue, paper is yellow, and scissors is red. i’m not going to lie to you i only did this because the splatoon testfire had these colors. it’s also why my triplets designs are colored like that!

i think these colors also just fit the descriptions of these crafts? red feels like a more aggressive and active color, which matches how piercing craft is generally more focused on dealing damage, blue tends to be calmer, which matches protective craft being more supportive , that kinda thing. something something children’s hospital. yellow is a bit of a wildcard here lol, it just looks nice with the other two.

putting aside the colors for a mo! don’t worry those’ll come back soon. i’ve also been thinking a lot about how dual craft types work, though this is a little more speculative. i’m entirely basing this on how mira works. basically, one craft type seems to be more ‘dominant’ over the other. while mira is both paper and scissors, she’s still weak to rock, her basic attack is scissors, and her scissors skill (jolly round rondo) does much more damage than her paper skill (artsy silent burst). she behaves more like a scissors type, with an extra affinity for paper. which i think is interesting!!!

in terms of colors, i think this would manifest as mira’s craft being tinted orange, as a mix of both her craft type’s colors! this is partially what those uncategorized colors are for. while her scissors attacks are only slightly tinted, her paper attacks would be a lot closer to orange! and this would apply to other dual crafts as well. a rock/paper type would have more greenish attacks, a rock/scissors type would have more purply ones, etc etc.

i think this color mixing would also apply to single craft types trying to use a craft type that isn’t their own, though it’d prolly become less pronounced the more a person ‘gets used’ to using that craft type, so to speak. in a while rockodile would be pretty solidly purple, while rock bottom is more of an indigo color, and odile’s craft skills probably only slightly tinted as well.

ok!!! that was a lot about colors. i’m really fucking normal about colors. onto craft styles!! this is still kinda about colors tho sorry. also, again, go check out @/chronologically-challenged’s post if you haven’t already, it’ll prolly explain this better than i will

for a tl;dr on that post, each country has a different way of using craft. the forgotten island has lightless craft that tends to manifest as stars and zigzags, vaugarde has big, rounded bursts of grey craft (with smaller circles around it), and ka bue’s craft is more diamond shaped/triangular and tends to be on the lighter side.

this is also the part i’m a little less sure about. i haven’t drawn these out in my normal style!! so a lot of this is subject to change. sorry about that!

anyways. i wanted to preserve the island’s lightless craft while still making it colorful, so i decided to give it a sort of. halo effect? i guess? i wanted it to vaguely resemble the ring of light around a black hole or a solar eclipse, but that is a lot harder to do with the zigzag shape of the craft + my color limitations. and as i’ve recently learned, glow effects look really weird with my pixelly art. so this is all just flat colors 😓

shhh don’t mind the art here i’ve totally posted it before 🩶

vaugarde is pretty simple comparatively!! the craft is a sort of midshade ingame, so i just made the main color the normal craft colors. not much to say here!

and ka bue is in a similar boat! i did kinda draw it in my odile sprite redraw, but i didn’t really look at references so it’s kinda boring looking there. not much to say here either!!

and!! as we can see from the king’s special attack art, craft styles can kinda mix together. king’s style follows the general shape of vaugardian craft, but keeps the shade and stars from the forgotten island! i think it’d be fun to play with that a little more teehee. i imagine these are a lot more variable depending on how engrossed someone is in a culture, hence why odile’s craft doesn’t borrow from vaugarde’s style. unless she does? it’s not like we see other ka buans using craft in game. who knows.

also because i forgot, some extra bonus doodles of that craft color mixing i mentioned earlier! yipee!

and that’s it!!! there’s probably some other stuff that i am. currently forgetting. but this post is absurdly long enough!!! thank you so much for the ask i’m so sorry for autism blasting you about isat and color theory. am i still cool. here’s all of my craft doodles as compensation for reading this giant infodump. i’m so so sorry.

[good-wine-and-cheese]

I want to add onto this a bit!

When it comes to the theming of hatred vs. the nature of humanity, I would say that it's a combination. Hatred is a part of what makes us human, and the narrative uses hatred and despair as expressions of love. What is grief but love that has no one to consciously receive it? And what about when those loved ones are violently taken? The ensuing hatred is just another manifestation of love and grief. I could talk about the themes of parental grief in Pluto but I don't want to detract from the centering of Uran and Helena here so I'll save that for a separate post.

With Uran, I often think about her relationship to Ochanomizu as her creator. He and Tenma are definitely foils to each other, Ochan representing a healthier more well-adjusted person to Tenma's..........all of him. Atom was created for self-fulfillment reasons, where Uran was created - and I'll engage a little in projecting, here, since we don't really know canonically - for the purpose of being companionable and helpful to others. She ends up taking on that role quite well, being extremely emotionally sensitive. Of course she would be the one to see Tenma for how he truly feels when even he can't see it. He's been self-destructing, using Atom as a tool to manifest his self-hatred (and failing, because Atom is his own person who doesn't feel how Tenma wants him to) and it's Uran that can identify what he's really processing. It's striking that, throughout the series, she identifies most strongly with sadness. She sees it everywhere.

Then, there's Helena. What I kind of like is that Uran and Helena represent the two points of grief Tenma suffers: the parent and the child. The one that was lost, and the one suffering the loss. What's interesting is that neither Tenma nor Helena know about Robita; her grief is strictly over Gesicht, as far as they both are concerned. More to the point though: Tenma is not someone who can identify his own emotions. He strikes me as someone very out of touch with himself, who's better at recognizing his own emotions by recognizing them in others. Coaching Helena through her grief is just as much his way of being able to experience his own as it is for her sake.

When Helena allows Tenma to use Gesicht's memory chip to raise Atom, they are together giving Atom the ability to experience love in a new, dreadful way. As he confronts Pluto, he cycles through each of the great robots that have been lost, citing the lives that they lived and despairing over the fact that none of them wanted to die. He knew all of that before, of course, but now, thanks to Gesicht's awakened heart, it hurts. But it has to hurt for him to accept those feelings of grief and heal from them. In a way, Atom experiences the same sort of emotional awakening as Tenma through Gesicht's emotions recorded on his memory chip.

Anyway yeah, I just wanted to add on some stewing thoughts to this. Not just the fact that Uran and Helena represent the healing process of grief, but directly inflict it onto others in a sometimes even painful way to begin the process - both to Tenma and Atom, father and son.

A thing on Uran and Helena in Pluto

Okay a short little thing on Pluto. Uran and Helena are my absolute favourite characters in Pluto. Urasawa has always had amazing side characters, from Mr. Rosso in Monster to Lee Harvey Oswald and Jackie in Billy Bat to God in 20th Century Boys, but very few have tied off the emotional ends of the story like Uran and Helena.

Maybe I'm projecting here but much like myself I feel like Urasawa is absolutely obsessed with Frankenstein. And he recognizes the influence Frankenstein has on Dr. Umataro Tenma. Or at the very least, the similarities between the two. And so when he made the protagonist of one of his most popular works Monster, Dr Kenzo Tenma, he solidified that connection. Kenzo Tenma calls back to Victor Frankenstein needing to end his creation while also calling back to Japan's other famous Tenma, thus making the connection explicit. Another throughline between the three of them is that all three are father figures to their creations and have obligations to their children, though all three have varying levels of success with them.

I've only read what I like to call Urasawa's "Core Four", conspiracy minded thrillers that are essentially road trips featuring usually two main protagonists that we see the world through, Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto and Billy Bat. Though I still haven't caught up to Asadora and that could still possibly fit this mold, Urasawa's Core Four share a lot of themes and ideas. One of the most important being the responsibility for one's creations, whether it was Kenji Endo and the Book of Prophecy or Kevin Yamagata and Billy Bat or Dr. Kenzo Tenma and Johan, all of his protagonists could arguably be seen as someone with the need to take up the responsibility of their creations. So where do the protagonists of Pluto fit in there? That's where Uran and Helena come in.

But first, we should take a look at Pluto's themes. While I could be wrong, at a cursory glance, I feel like the general consensus towards it's themes is that it's about hatred. I don't really think that's what it is as I feel like Urasawa is more trying to show us what it is to be human and what it is to be alive. And in that, he has a hidden protagonist in Pluto. Someone who's influence snakes through the plot and isn't seen much, but without who the story's themes would remain incomplete. Pluto tackles what it is to be alive through many things, such as memory, sadness, grief, hatred, love and parenthood. But none of that works without the realization by Tenma of his own mistakes. And Uran and Helena bookend these revelations and are absolutley key to understanding that.

In my favourite chapter of the series, Chapter 37, Uran goes from person to person as she finds a way to deal with her grief and eventually comes across Tobio's grave, Tenma having left recently. It's an absolutely beautiful chapter that shows Uran's humanity and Urasawa's love for sharing these kind and soft moments. But it also sheds a light on Tenma as Uran realizes someone who was grieving has just left. Without saying much at all we realize that Tenma has finally realized his mistakes. In the process of grieving one son, he lost the other. While remembering Tobio, he let Atom go. His grief towards Tobio is clear in the following chapter, Chapter 38. All of the things he wanted Atom to be; Tobio come back to life, Tobio's ghost punishing him, Atom rejected. And Tenma could only see that rejection, and not what he had, another son.

Uran shows us very clearly what Pluto, the story, is. It's a chapter in their lives. And we've come into a story nearing the end for Tenma. And it's through the humanity of two absolutely amazing characters in their own right, Uran and Helena, that we are able to so fully understand Tenma. Despite being robots, these two characters are the most alive of everyone. They love fully and freely and are catalysts of change. Uran's vibrant and full of life in a way that really sticks out. And Helena has such depth that it's evident in every scene she's in. She's not pointed out to be made by any famous scientist so all the life she has is her own. These two represent the life of robot's more than any other characters in the series.

So it's that much more poignant when Helena finally breaks down after putting on such a strong front of everybody. Grief intersects and she brings out Tenma's sadness as well. They've both been putting up such strong fronts that it's heartbreaking to see them collapse. It completes Tenma's growth and strikes a heartbreaking contrast between the two. Tenma became the way he is through the loss of his son whereas Helena doesn't even get to remember her own loss. It makes you wonder if the grief for her and Geischt's child compounds her sorrow too.

Without these two and their grief, a large part of Pluto becomes inaccessible. Pluto is largely about death so when two characters come in who've never had a hand in the grim work of taking life, you see the world through a lens that's absolutely crucial in order to fully connect with all of the character's and their situations. Death and Grief has scarred the characters in Pluto. Time and time again they've chosen the worst path. They've chosen revenge and hatred. But Uran and Helena are different. Without them, the story is incomplete. They provide an alternative. They provide the path towards healing.

im sorry for this one:

[passionpeachy]

Sorry if this is weird but I wanted to say it's so comforting to know that there are other lesbians in their mid-to-late 20s who haven't had their first kiss or anything. I know gay people in general tend to reach those milestones later than cishet people but I've always felt like I was way behind even my gay peers, and it has really put a dent in my sense of self-worth. So, you mentioning that you've never kissed anyone made me feel a little less alone. :) Love your art and hope you are doing well.

You should look at the concept of "your first kiss" less as a milestone you have to achieve at a certain age and more of an intimate thing that happens when YOU want to do it, if you even want to do it at all.

I have no idea what your situation is like, but personally I literally just haven't felt a super strong urge to kiss anyone near me here in this very South Texan city. People aren’t really “visibly” queer here with pride flags and stuff, including me. We’ve only had 2 small Pride parades before and that’s it. I'm sure this would eventually change if I lived somewhere more queer-friendly with more sapphics who were my specific type (butch and nonbinary lesbians are pretty much nonexistent here. I once got embarrassingly excited when I saw one(1) online who lived here. It’s like all the real attraction I’ve been deprived of all my life hit me like a truck. No, I’ve never talked to them lol)

......but I'm not saying the girls here aren't ever cute or anything. They’re beautiful actually. Mostly bisexual latinas. I've definitely had some gay moments here and there. It just wasn't enough to spiral into more than light flirting and a cheek kiss, I guess. There’s also the severity of insecurity and mental illness that makes one a homebody, but I don’t want to get into that right now.

So while I want it, I love the idea of it, I'm not really that ashamed about being inexperienced this late in life. Seems more common than people are willing to admit tbh. ANYWAY, I rambled too much. My point is you shouldn't tie this to your self-worth and don't let anyone, even other queer people, make you feel bad about it