#and I'll do it again

[camberdraws]

I am once again drawing the sinnoh starters

[punkitt-is-here]

[red-moon10]

Happy belated Birdflash day 💙

open for better quality

[lazysunjade]

P E A C E |

[kaleidoscopeminds]

oh yeah sorry, we're not disbanding... breaking news!

[pico-farad]

Asuka's problematic trait is that she's a Not Like Other Girls girl.

I love her so much.

This is how I interpret her beef with Rei — it's not jealousy over Rei having a crush on Judai, it's a very typical stage of teenage internalized misogyny where she blames other girls for the way she's been treated under patriarchy.

Rei: *winks at Judai*

Asuka: *malding internally* This is why people think girls only play Duel Monsters to find boyfriends—

girl calm down she's 13

Asuka has a very consistent storyline of having femininity — and by extension heteronormativity — forced upon her by the school, her brother, and even her friends. This is a classic Not Like Other Girls origin story; it's a frustration response from young girls facing insane pressure to conform to traditional femininity, which results in contempt for the feminine altogether. The frustration is displaced on Other Girls, because they're a representation of the traditionally feminine, and they contribute to the pressure to conform, whether directly or indirectly.

A huge part of Asuka's character is how she copes with the systemic pressure that girls face by putting up like five different layers of defense mechanisms, including distancing herself from femininity or even being perceived as a girl at all. Because she just wants to be taken seriously as a duelist in a male-dominated, misogynistic industry.

(the manga canon isn't the same as the anime canon, but I wanted to include it)

She has side-eyed EVERY other female character in GX for being obsessed with a boy — Junko, Momoe, Rei, Tania, that bug girl, the frog princess (I put a whole aside about her relationship with Junko and Momoe below)

Asuka, you're bombing the Bechdel Test.

I know it's bad that GX caricaturized all of its female characters other than Asuka to be boy-obsessed, but, well... it's a narrative that does resonate with the audience of young girls who were playing a card game made for boys in 2004. You can cringe at the bad feminism now, but I think that's the part that's charming and nuanced about Asuka.

Teenage girls mostly grow out of their Not Like Others Girls phase and look back at it with embarrassment (maybe because we turned Not Like Other Girls into another way to shame girls), but it is something that's worth exploring. Asuka is a genuinely kind person, and I think she too will grow up and realize how stupid and reductive she was being.

"a real woman" Asuka sweetie you're going to cringe over this in five years.

THE JUNKO MOMOE ASIDE:

Asuka is nominally friends with Junko and Momoe, but as the series progresses, she spends more and more time instead with her group of male friends. A significant portion of her interactions with them are her showing veiled judgment towards them for fangirling over boys, from tennis guy to Edo Phoenix to her brother.

And when she joins the Society of Light, that veiled judgment becomes unveiled.

Junko and Momoe are in the middle of losing to a sexist wine dude, and Asuka is so furious, her Not Like Other Girls instincts override the Society of Light brainwashing and she takes over the duel for them. ASUKA'S INTERNALIZED MISOGYNY IS STRONGER THAN BRAINWASHING.

Sommelier: Goodness me, I had high hopes for the ladies of Obelisk Blue. But I suppose to you, duels are like making tea or arranging flowers. Just one more skill you learn to land a husband. Just surrender, why don't you? Asuka: Wait! Junko & Momoe: Asuka! Asuka: If you two lose, there won't be any more students in the tournament representing the long-respected Obelisk Blue girls' dorm. I will carry on the duel. Naturally, I will carry on with their life points.

Even though Asuka would win if she used White Veil, the signature card of the Society of Light, she discards it in order to activate Hallowed Life Barrier. Because this is all her, not the Light.

Asuka: (I won't rely on the Society of Light's power. I'll win with my power from my days as a girl of the Blue dorm.) Asuka: Let me show you the power of Obelisk Blue girls. My turn, draw!

Neither of these scenes are girl-power-girl-solidarity moments. It's the opposite. Asuka takes over the duel because she doesn't want their loss to reflect on the entire Obelisk Blue girls' dorm, and all female duelists (therefore her).

When the duel is over, she contemptuously rejects Junko and Momoe, shaming them for being so bad at dueling and victim-blaming them for the sexist attacks they receive. Asuka spent the whole duel defending the Blue girls, but she is NOT one of them.

Junko: Asuka! Come back to the Blue girls! The way you dueled just now was just like old times! Asuka: You're so naive. This is why you get told that you only "practice." Protect your own pride next time. I am a member of the Society of Light.

Everyone who ships Asuka/Junko/Momoe as a default lesbian best girlfriends uwu ship get outta here, those three have BAGGAGE to unpack before any lesbianism can be achieved.

(I have more to say about these three and how it parallels Judai's relationship with Shou and Kenzan, but that's outside the scope of this post)

Anyway, that's why Manjoume is a better feminist than Asuka

[paper-birdies]

i've made a mistake

[captain-rickbond]

Catholics can't put on muscle mass because God hates them!

[call-me-kitty]

Was rewatching WFCT (because unpopular opinion: I actually really like the show) and I get to this scene and remember everything. My ship sailed OMG! And then sunk SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Elita One did 3 things in this scene which threw me on an emotional rollercoaster.

1. Saved Optimus from dying.

2. Called him Orion Pax because that's when she fell in love with him and told him she will always love him.

3. D E S P A W N

This scene is the reason I have trust issues I swear.

[immortal-cataclysm]

babe wake up! time to draw romeo being pretty while standing in the void for the 129348th time!

[rat-prophetess]

Patho 2 + Onion headlines because. you know. go, onion!!!! (part 2 available now)

[maylilithreign]

"I don't like it when people do 'x, y, and z' to my blorbo. He's too pure of a being to do those things. 😭😭"

Yeah, well. I made him fuck nasty. Deal with it.

[the-writing-mobster]

My favorite thing to hear:

I'm not normally a Frans shipper, but then I read your fics.

You're welcome.

[crmsndragonwngss]

This is a place I know too well Been down here a while, if you can't tell And I have analysed and tried my best to justify The sorrow I have brought upon myself

Wasting a waning youth Waiting for something to help me pull through I never saw the sun through the clouds I lost faith when the skies were falling down

[arainaizevran]

this man is so flustered after one (1) smooch during the tiefling party

[gallinusspacebirb]

Just two rejects coming back from a mission... it was tougher than they thought, but in the end, they made it!