#and then you all will see!!! the importance of his arc!!!!

[michanvalentine]

Another thing I absolutely love about Astarion’s redemption arc is how some narrative threads introduced in Act 1 find their resolution in the good ending.

The first and most obvious one revolves around the beautiful concept of a gift.

When the player offers their blood to Astarion, he receives a gift that goes beyond mere nourishment. In that moment, what Tav/Durge is giving him, beyond blood, is understanding and trust.

And this concept comes full circle after the ritual, where this narrative thread finds its conclusion. That’s when Spawn Astarion thanks the player for the gift they have given him—gently guiding him by the hand toward a new path where he is truly free.

But not just free. As the vampire spawn himself says in that ending, he is honestly free. And for that gift, he is grateful.

I think that’s absolutely beautiful.

But the meaning runs even deeper than that. This ties into the theme of seeing and being seen—not in a superficial sense.

After all, Astarion’s appearance is both a curse and a shield, something he has learned to wield, just like his mannerisms, his charming words, and the sarcasm he uses as a distraction.

It’s an important concept because it means going beyond the surface, seeing him for who he truly is, feeling him, and experiencing him in his entirety.

Astarion deeply struggles with his condition—not just as a slave, but as a vampire. He’s so happy to be able to act human again thanks to the Illithid tadpole, to do simple, mundane things like crossing running water or entering a house without permission. And let’s not even talk about his joy at standing under the sunlight.

When you meet him on the beach for the first time and reveal what will happen if they don’t get rid of the Illithid tadpoles, Astarion’s bitter reaction, complete with laughter, shows just how much it truly weighs on him: "Of course it’s going to turn me into a monster, what else did I expect?!"

In fact, when his vampiric nature is revealed for the first time during the bite scene, he fears rejection and is quick to emphasize that he’s not some kind of monster. The morning after, when Shadowheart tactlessly points out this aspect of him, his expression changes, and we can see how being perceived as a monster wounds him. It keeps him at a distance, sets him apart as something other. Later, he will even say outright that he wants to be treated like a person—not as a slave, not as a vampire. Just a person. Not superior, not inferior. Exactly like everyone else. Because Astarion wants to be part of the world, to reconnect with people.

This is especially clear when he approves of Tav’s perspective—that he could find a place for himself in the world, where he could be accepted, supported, if he is willing to open up and do the same for others. He approves because the idea appeals to him—it makes him feel like he can belong. Not as a monster, but as a person finding his way back into the world he once inhabited.

But I’m digressing.

The mirror scene isn’t just there by chance—it’s narratively strategic. In that moment, Astarion explicitly asks the player what they see, because he wants to know how the world perceives him. He worries about how others see him precisely because he feels separate, othered, like a monster. And it’s not a matter of appearance—Astarion knows he’s gorgeous. He’s heard it thousands of times over the centuries. But he’s insecure about his place within the group, within society, within the world.

That’s why he appreciates it when Tav/Durge reassures him on the two things that trouble him most—his piercing gaze (the red eyes of a vampire) and his dangerous smile (the sharp fangs of a predator). He relaxes because, in that moment, he feels accepted. Because he realizes his defining traits aren’t the insurmountable barriers he thought they were. Because the person in front of him sees him—not through the lens of prejudice, but for who he really is.

This theme returns later, during the confrontation with Aurelia and Leon, when Astarion deflects the idea of being heroic by saying, "I can’t be what you see in me." Again, the motif of seeing, of looking deeper, of recognizing something more, of reading between the lines—both of the narrative and of his character.

And it’s beautiful when, the morning after the ritual, that relaxed, happy Astarion, with that wonderful smile on his lips, says that Tav/Durge saw something in him. Something different from everyone else. Something beyond his monstrous nature, beyond his darkest intentions, beyond his fear.

Tav/Durge saw him. Saw his potential.

And if you’re in a romantic relationship with him, in the graveyard scene, Astarion will bring up this idea once again. With a heroic Tav/Durge, Astarion feels safe. And he feels seen. Seen, for god’s sake. That’s huge.

This is where this narrative arc—about perception, about seeing him throughout the entire journey—finds its resolution. Astarion is truly more than what Cazador made him to be. He breaks free from the pattern of monster/vampire. He chooses to start living again. To rediscover himself. To reclaim his identity in the most human way possible—through the world and the people around him.

Perhaps his body has not regained its human traits, but spawn Astarion is, without a doubt, the Astarion who has reclaimed his humanity the most.

[anemonia13]

I feel like we don't really see that Daniil Dankovsky is a human in a very bad situation, simultaneously coming as a loser and as a winner. When I see people talking about Daniil's character (or even arc) it's either solely about him being an ultimate winner and all people around are just haters who don't get it, or about him being an ultimate loser who should not be defended at all. What I wanted to say is: the Bachelor's Pathologic Classic arc is not as plain as some people say.

What do I mean? Imagine, you are running your own laboratory, which goal seems nearly impossible but most noble to say the least: to defeat death itself and grant people the right to die not when "the time comes", but whenever they actually feel ready to. But of course achieving it could not be easy or ethical; logically, you have to interact with dead bodies, experiment with them (and living beings too) in many different ways, probably not all of them being socially acceptable, and most morally important: your ultimate goal goes against the nature laws themselves. Obviously, it may fascinate someone, but a lot of people won't like your and your partner's actions, including the government. The scandal eventually heats up so much that your life's work is threatened with being cut off entirely (with you probably stop being a celebrity and a genius and turning into an enemy of the people).

And then, like a gift from God personally, you receive a letter from some town in the middle of nowhere, casually saying there is an immortal man living here. And so, you are standing on the enge of the abyss; your life's work is about to perish, and only a miracle can save it. And couldn’t an immortal man be the very miracle that would certainly open everyone’s eyes to the reality of your theory and make the greatest scientific breakthrough of the century? Of course, in despair, you will immediately leave everything behind and rush after him like a drowning man after the last straw.

And then everything collapses again before your eyes. The immortal man died along with the one who wrote about him, and you haven't even got a chance to speak to any of them, and the people around you seem to be starry-eyed, AND by a complete accident you are now stuck in this godforsaken place because it was suddenly revealed that they died from a terrible mysterious disease. You are a doctor, a scientist, a bachelor of medicine, and you are the one who has to deal with this now. What? You don't want to? You ask people when the train arrives? Oh, what a shame, but now you have no choice: the government has dropped on your shoulders the lethal weight of the responsibility for every death and every wrong event in this town under the auspices that if you manage to defeat the disease, then MAYBE your life’s work will not be turned to dust. You may not have planned to fight the unknown plague, but now you have to do it.

See? And that's just the start of his plot. He almost impulsively arrived to the Town-on-Gorkhon because he needed to save his idea AT THE MOMENT. Before it gets shattered to pieces. He never wished to fight The-Most-Horrible-Pathogen-To-Ever-Exist, no, he was aiming to meet a literal living miracle.

He did not succeed. Neither he met the immortal man, nor he defeated the plague, and it remains unknown if he at least saved his laboratory. He lost a lot, a LOT. In fact, he only won in what he initially did not and could not count on (the Polyhedron turned out to be a new possible source of human immortality, but could Daniil have thought about it himself?)

That's the metamorphosis. He loses everything he had before he sees the light at the end of the tunnel. His ultimate goal of defeating death may not have changed, but his beliefs and methods did, as he was forced to watch his work burn before getting a chance to start anew. He has to accept what he initially rejected and turn his mindset on 90°. His arc is about a defeat, a search, a metamorphosis and a BITTER victory. Yes, Daniil Dankovsky is a loser, but have you seen what he achieved by the end? And yes, Daniil Dankovsky is a winner, but have you seen how many defeats precede this?

Initially this text was going to be much more... filled with resentment and anger for all the misconceptions I saw about the Bachelor, but turned out to be a much simpler analysis on his character arc, which I've seen being mashed with dirt by many people in the community. Hope you enjoyed.

Btw I see a symbolism here; snakes are often associated with a new start, a shed into something better, and I think everyone already knows what animal the Bachelor is highly represented with.

[moonpie2405]

Sorcerers and Primogeniture in The World of Ancient Magus Bride

Primogeniture is essentially the firstborn child's right to inherit.

This post began with me thinking about how Rian's mother Jade is heavily implied to be pregnant in the recent chapters: Rian, an only child who has loudly and repeatedly declared his desire to not join the family business or inherit his place as its head, and is adamant about learning magecraft instead. It's not that far-fetched to believe that the new child is meant to replace Rian, though whether it is because of kindness or disappointment towards him is up to debate.

That's when I realised that pretty much every major firstborn character in the College arc, especially from the younger generations, is in a sense 'failing' at what is demanded of the position, in one way or the other.

Let's get started with the rest of them, shall we?

1. Violet St George

Outright calls Jasmine the heir instead of him. Him wearing women's clothing is not something that is approved by their house, nor is him remaining unbothered by their criticisms. The elders seem to be prioritising shaping Jasmine for the role as his replacement. He also isn't as bothered by the house's issues as much as Jasmine is, repeatedly proposing that they should run away and become magi instead (in a chapter called 'Better bend than break', too, like???). Though he acts like he is joking, we don't know how serious he is about this.

2. Seth Noel

He was born with no talent for sorcery or the family trade, and was kicked out of his home with nothing to his name. Hell, even his last name was changed, and he was asked to never reveal his ties to the Websters and bring shame to their name, like what? Lucy was literally born as his replacement (parallels to what's happening in the Scrimgeour house 🤨?)

3. Adam Sargant

Ran away from home. He literally chose to die rather than return to his position in the family regardless of how good he was at it, that's how miserable he was in that place (not that it is surprising, with Lizbeth Sargant as his mother). Along this line, we also have:

4. Philomela Sargant

Let's be honest. Philomela was always set up to fail in the Sargant house, and would have never been in a position to actually inherit the title of family head: in the beginning she was raised by her parents with love and kept far away from the world of sorcery, and later under her grandmother's "care", she was only ever a scapegoat and a begrudging obligation at first, and then a sacrificial pawn in Lizbeth's plans. Heir in name only, there was literally no place for her in that house.

5. Torrey Innis

Changed his name, and even continents, to avoid his role as the heir. Would literally move halfway across the world than inherit the family business, much to Narciss's frustration.

6. Mikhail Renfred*

Did not even want to become a sorcerer, whatever happened with his father is what forced him into this path. I don't know what the family's exact duties are, but given his drunk ramblings, Renfred himself does seem to feel inadequate in his capability as a sorcerer.

7. Adolf Stroud**

Failed to follow the family profession of becoming a doctor. He seems to have had poor grades as a child, and later on he left home altogether. This might not seem terribly important, but I think that this directly fed into him feeling like he has failed Lindel.

The law of primogeniture constantly being subverted in the manga is just one of the examples of how the current generation is creating ripples of change, both within the rigid structures of the sorcerers and the world of Ancient Magus Bride itself as a whole.

*Okay, I don't actually have any confirmation about Renfred being a firstborn, but c'mon. Just look at him, he's literally the most only child ever. Can you blame me for the assumption? Welcome to the list, Renfred.

**Another exception, seeing that Adolf does not come from a sorcerer family at all. But he has firmly rooted himself in their world (Lindel's words, not mine), so I'm counting him too.

(If you've managed to make it to the end of this, thank you for reading my ramblings!)

[rozzingit]

The boldness of tagging this take with #basic relationship psychology with your whole chest.

People don't have an issue with the bathtime joke because it emasculates Vegeta; they have an issue with the bathtime joke because they think it emasculates Vegeta, because they have an idea of emasculation rooted in cultures of toxic masculinity. The idea is that revealing intimacy or vulnerability is inherently emasculating, and so they're mad that Vegeta -- who they view as an ideal of peak masculinity -- is being shown to be vulnerable.

Not that Bulma reveals him to have vulnerabilities. But that Vegeta himself would ever be vulnerable. That Vegeta would ever value intimacy with his wife. They are angry because it's "unmasculine" to enjoy intimacy with your partner.

Because here's the thing: the bathtime joke isn't about sex. The bathtime joke is about intimacy. The joke isn't "I'm not gonna ever sleep with you again," because that's not as good a joke. Because liking sex? Fully traditionally masculine. Comedy is born from contrasts, and there is a reason they chose bathing together as the lynchpin here. Bathing together is an act of intimacy. (Can it also be sexual? Sure! Do I think Vegeta and Bulma probably bang some of these times? Definitely! But that's not the primary point here.) The comedy here is the contrast between Vegeta putting on a constant front of toughness vs the reality of his softness.

It's funny -- and endearing -- because it's telling the audience that Vegeta's pride isn't actually the most important thing to him. That he values his intimacy and connection to his wife and family more than his pride. More than his need to win. More than his need to be right.

And that's what sexists find emasculating: a man who values intimacy with his wife above his own pride.

But that's Vegeta's entire story. His entire character arc is built around him letting go of his pride and embracing his family. This joke is literally just a continued extension of that arc.

Other than the focus on fighting, Dragon Ball as a canon does not value other forms of performative, traditional masculinity. Goku is interesting as a character because, apart from fighting, he regularly doesn't fit any sort of mold of traditional masculinity. His heart is worn entirely on his sleeve. He's absolutely, entirely open with his feelings and affections. His sense of self is never threatened by his losses; he cheerfully accepts them and tries harder.

Vegeta's issues aren't even tied to his masculinity; they're a product of his culture and upbringing. Vegeta is bad at feelings because Saiyans and Frieza were bad at feelings. He doesn't value intimacy because Saiyans and Frieza didn't value intimacy. His struggles with his pride have nothing to do with him being a man; they're centered, repeatedly and consistently, on him being a Saiyan.

Beyond all of this, the idea that this is some example of Bulma controlling Vegeta that indicates deeper issues in their relationship -- basically, claiming this is part of a pattern and not a one-off thing -- just isn't supported. Bulma is, on the whole, shockingly chill as a partner for a woman in her situation, given the man she married. She's constantly letting Vegeta run off for months at a time to do things that are important to him; the times we see her insist that he needs to do something for her are when it's really important.

They're in a life or death situation. Even if you want to say Bulma was being manipulative and toxic and unkind to her husband, there is a vast difference between a character doing this in an emergent situation because their partner refuses to back down from a situation they absolutely need to, and a character who does this as a regular tactic of controlling their partner's behavior.

tl;dr toriyama is not actually bad at relationship dynamics, it's just that the idea that intimacy and vulnerability are emasculating is sexist, thanks for coming to my ted talk

What do you all think of fans (i think the majority of those, are male fans) complaining about the Bulma and Vegeta bath time gag in Daima's latest episode? I read many comments complaining that "Vegeta would never", "they killed his character", "what about his pride", etc.

I tend to think that this is meant to tie into his character development.

● Although he remains a warrior and loves fighting, proving himself to be the best is no longer his sole objective and obsession. Post-Buu, he still wants to achieve great things and be the best, but that desire is no longer consumming him.

● That he would be willing to give up fighting for Bulma. Just like when he refused to go train/fight when Bulma was close to giving birth in Super. And it's even implied, that Vegeta is not staying behind solely because "Bulma would get mad", but because he is genuinely excited about the event and seeing their child.

(And also of course, it was a lightearted OG dragon ball type of gag which Daima, since the beginning, said they were aiming for.)

Curious to see what fans on Tumblr may think of this.

Was the scene out of character for Vegeta?

[lemotmo]

This seems like the most logical way forward to me as well. Where do you stand on this?

Q. I'm just curious why you no longer believe that making Eddie gay really works story wise? What do you mean by that? I think the story mostly needs him to be gay given how long it has taken.

A. How long it has taken is precisely why making him gay now doesn't really flow as smoothly from a story perspective as it did in season 5. When Ana was introduced the only thing we knew or saw of Eddie's romantic past was his version of his history with Shannon and their brief reconnection prior to her death. So tying the root of their problems to Eddie trying to force himself to be straight could have and would have worked. If they had been able to go with the original plan for season 5 then it wouldn't have been an issue but the audience knows better now. Sex with Shannon was the one part of their relationship that worked. That was established. We saw it. The Ana stuff was more complicated for numerous reasons besides the fact that she was supposed to be his coming out arc. For one it was during COVID and they simply couldn't film that kind of stuff, she was also the first woman in Christopher and Eddie's life since Shannon's death, and the show made a point of telling that story between Eddie and Chris. Then between the end of his relationship with Ana and now the show also doubled down on his love for Shannon. And then there's Marisol. Physical intimacy was not the problem in their relationship. It was established, by Eddie himself, that prior to her nun reveal they had an active and good sex life. So it's far more believable from a story standpoint now to believe that his subconscious attached itself to the nun nonsense as an excuse for him to sabotage the relationship. Once he asked her to move in the relationship became serious and he needed an out. Which is not unlike Eddie to do.

Yes the original plan for Ana was his gay arc but when FOX cut that, the story they went with just Eddie not being in love with her. A stranger calling her 'mom' caused panic attacks. But the show has also established that Buck is very much a part of their family and it doesn't freak Eddie out in any way. They've already been telling that story so to tie Eddie's feelings realization to that, makes perfect sense. And now makes more story sense than Eddie realizing he's gay. That doesn't mean they can't or won't go the gay route, but it is true that making him gay is not as clean of a story route as it once was. And it's okay to say that. Buck and Eddie's canon viability is not contingent on one of them being gay. It's contingent on Oliver and Ryan's chemistry and the ability of the writing to give them something to work with. Chemistry will never be an issue for Oliver and Ryan, they've already shown they have that in spades. The show is also not going to make both of them bisexual. Again, something that Buck himself has yet to acknowledge he actually is. I just think from the show's perspective the Buck and Eddie of it all is what's important, more important than how they identify individually going forward. And that's also okay. Your ability to ship them shouldn't rely on one of them identifying as gay either. Of course representation is important but 911 is hardly lacking in inclusivity. We ship them for everything else about them that their canon history has already given us. Please understand that I'm not at all saying it won't work to make him gay or it's bad story telling to make him gay, that's not what I'm saying. But it's not as smooth of a story now as it was back in season 5. Identifying as gay will not be a wrong way to go, but it's not necessary for the story either.

Thank you Nonny!

I said it before and I'll say it again: I can see this going both ways at this moment. I've read compelling 'gay Eddie' meta and I've now read Ali's compelling 'unlabeled Eddie' meta. Both are possible in my eyes and I'd be fine with either of them to be honest. There is something to be said for both of these scenarios.

My problem with well-written meta is that it all sounds good and plausible, so I tend to agree with most of it. 🤣🤣🤣

My dream is still demisexual bi Eddie, but I don't think the show would ever go there.

Whatever the show decides to do, I'm just going to go with the flow. These guys deserve happiness, so them finally being together and in love will be a beautiful thing to witness on screen, no matter what label they have.

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[somesaintiam]

So many milevns i see are constantly just using Will as a plot point for their ship and it's really a problem. So many queer characters have been used to push a heterosexual relationship forward in movies, or just as a queer baiting thing where the queer character is a side character who dies because " how dare you have a happy queer person in a show ". Because of shows and movies like these, the people who *don't care* and/or don't understand how important queer representation is (when it's not forced and it's actually realistic) just come to the conclusion that will is just a pawn for milevn.

However, that idea is clearly not correct. Will started the show. A LOT of the show has revolved around him, whether or not he's always the main focus or not. His story, and his character development, and most of all, his happiness (consequences for characters) are as important as any other character's arcs in the show. His feelings for Mike are already confirmed and they did not just appear in season 4, they've been there since the show started- and that's clear if you look into the show and analyze it. For Mike, will has been the person he's honest to, and the most open to, and the same goes for Will's view and relationship with Mike. El is also a very important figure for Will- she's his sister, after all, and they've both risked their lives to save each other. Will is an important character and if someone comes to the conclusion that he's simply a sad gay boy whose only purpose was to push his best friend's toxic relationship forward, then a show like stranger things is definitely not for them.

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Happy birthday Mushitarou!

The sad silly green man is one of the absolute best and also one of the most criminally underrated characters in all of BSD. I don’t have any fics or anything for him today (EVENTUALLY... eventually....), but I’ll share some headcanons for him (+others) that I have 💚 (part headcanons/part analysis tbh)

Under the cut cause uhhhh this got a lot longer than I expected it would ahaha, smh:

While I don’t think he had any particular falling-out with his family, I think Mushi is naturally isolated from them, and only became more closed off after his father died, someone whom he was especially close to and who shaped him into the good person that he is. He was lonely growing up in school, and Yokomizo was as well, even though it didn’t seem that way on the surface due to the latter being much more outgoing and extroverted; neither of them had anyone who truly understood and engaged with their interests (especially not Mushi after the loss of his father). Yokomizo was also estranged from his relatives, even more so after he became obsessed with writing, so he and Mushi became as close as family after enough time had passed – they really were all each other had, in so many ways.

Mushi already visited Yokomizo frequently enough as it is, without much else to do in his life, but began coming to see him even more often after he was told about Yokomizo’s terminal illness/given the request to kill him. Despite Yokomizo’s desire to finish his novel before his health deteriorated enough to be noticeable, he was unable to do so, and as time wore on, Mushi began to worry that something would happen to Yokomizo without anyone there to help, and took it upon himself to take care of him. Yokomizo’s urgency to finish his writing became more desperate, yet Mushi tried to keep him from pushing himself, which somewhat worked – there was an unspoken understanding that both were trying to put off the inevitable; for Mushi, it was out of utter denial of losing him and of what he’d have to do, and for Yokomizo, it was out of a sorrowful desire to spend as much time with Mushi as he still could, and guilt for the tremendously selfish and cruel thing he was ultimately asking of him, even as both of these emotions fought with his stubborn desire to go out the way he wanted to.

Mushi’s façade of hatred towards Yokomizo after killing him, although mostly a coping mechanism to distance himself from him and his grief, is not entirely without basis: a small part of him did want to genuinely hate Yokomizo for forcing this upon him, though ultimately a much larger part of him simply hated himself for doing something so unspeakable to the person he called his friend, even if it was asked of him.

Yokomizo, however, wanted Mushi to hate him over all, even if he never said this outright. The months leading up to his death were filled with worry for his friend, for the person who was essentially like a younger family member to him (not exactly a little brother, but… something akin to that. Although they’re probably around the same age, I feel like Yokomizo was more mature (not in every way though of course), and was protective over Mushi in a lot of ways); he knew Mushi very well, and he knew that Mushi would not cope well with his death at all, let alone what he was asking of him – he already wasn’t coping well. Mushi always had walls up and pretended to be arrogant, pretended to be selfish and not care about anyone but himself, but Yokomizo was the one person he was comfortable around, and he had long since practically become home for him: although their time together was never anything extravagant, he was able to bring him out of his shell, and force him to do and think about things he never would have otherwise, giving them both a happiness they each would have never otherwise known for so many years. But then that fragile peace they had together, that safety net, was being cruelly ripped away from them both, and the thought that Mushi would go back to being lonely, closed-off, and isolated after he was gone, drowning in his grief and with no one else to support him anymore, was more devastating to Yokomizo than even the fact that he was dying. As cruel and selfish as asking Mushi to kill him for his perfect crime was, I think a part of him felt it would be even crueler to force Mushi to watch him slowly wither away from illness (and he, too, dreaded and was terrified of having to go out like that, after so much drawn-out pain), and he selfishly hoped that Mushi’s hatred of him for forcing this upon him would overcome his grief, and the inevitable self-loathing he would have – yes, Mushi could hate him, needed to hate him, anything to keep him from hating himself. Of course, Yokomizo knew that wouldn’t happen, because Mushi was far too kind, far too caring, and far too selfless – anyone who would do so much for him for so many years as he had, especially after he became ill, and would willingly agree to go as far as to essentially euthanize him for his selfish final dream, no matter how much all of it hurt him, was truly the greatest friend anyone could ask for. Mushi was and is a beautifully selfless person, but he himself could never see it – only Yokomizo could, and so he knew exactly how he would respond, and worried about him immensely because of it. And that worry made him want to try to distance himself from Mushi as much as possible, to die as soon as possible, even, so it wouldn’t be even harder on him than it already would be… but in the end what won over that was his desire to make as many happy memories with him as possible in those final months, so they could somehow try to forget about what was coming, if only briefly; so that Yokomizo could, maybe, somehow, in some small way, believe that Mushi would be okay in the end after he was gone. :’ )

Continuing this, as part of those memories, I headcanon Yokomizo liked to dance with Mushi a lot, since there’s some art of them doing that 💚 Mushi also took Yokomizo out to various quiet place, like to see fireworks or the beach. He canonically doesn’t like the smell of the salty sea air (why? I have no clue), but I hc Yokomizo loved the sea, so Mushi went with him there at least once oops my Yokomizo Oda similarity headcanons are showing-

Yokomizo wanted Mushi to be happy, but it also worried him that his friend clearly bottled everything up and never allowed himself to cry, either. So seeing him cry in his last moments was a huge weight off his shoulders, and was somehow what ultimately convinced him that Mushi would one day be okay again. :’ )

At some point, probably multiple times, Mushi and Yokomizo had a discussion where Mushi tried to make sure that Yokomizo truly, sincerely wanted him to do what he was asking of him. Around and around, trying to talk him out of it, insisting that he hadn’t truly thought it through, but Yokomizo was always gently steadfast. After they settled on strangulation (poison, aside from being ruled out for the sake of the reader, was not what Yokomizo preferred when his body was already painfully killing itself from the inside), Mushi tried to suggest that he be given a strong sleeping pill/sedative before being killed so that he wouldn’t feel it, but Yokomizo insisted against it, as it would imply sympathy on the part of the killer, which couldn’t happen. His sickly state, although it wasn’t yet public while he was still alive, would already suggest a mercy killing and was putting the plan/general reception at risk enough as it was. </3

After killing Yokomizo, Mushi handled his body ever-so-delicately, tenderly, almost reverently, just as he had many times before while carrying him, as he strung him up the way he was instructed, and even as he cut off his ears. He took his time doing it, wanting to hold his friend close and memorize what he looked like for as long as he possibly could in these final moments, even though he felt like his hands didn’t have the right to touch him anymore. Then, after everything was in place and he’d fled the premises with the manuscript, he promptly threw up somewhere. :’ )

Yokomizo was the second person to give him the nickname “Mushi”, after Mushi’s father. No one else ever calls him that now; it’s a name reserved only for them.

Mushi struggles while trying to write at Poe’s mansion out of a feeling of inferiority compared to Yokomizo; writing and mysteries were never his passion, they were Yokomizo’s, and he was just indulging the latter’s hobbies. He has no right to claim the role of writer for himself, not now that he’s gone and when he was only ever in it for Yokomizo to begin with… and there’s no possible way he can ever create anything good or original, when they’d already talked at length about how everything in the mystery genre had already been done, and Yokomizo himself created the ultimate mystery that no one could ever possible top, least of all him.

But Poe knows that what he writes doesn’t need to be perfect or even good; Mushi only needs to do it as a form of therapy for himself, because it will bring him closer to his deceased friend, since mysteries are what they enjoyed most when he was alive. (and I honestly think Poe would understand and empathize Mushi very well, having been so isolated and lonely in the past himself before Ranpo essentially saved him just as Yokomizo did for him) Once he’s able to convey that to him, it gradually comes more naturally to Mushi and becomes comforting for him as Poe intended. 💚

Mushi forms a reluctant friendship with Karl over the course of his stay with Poe (inspired by this person’s art series of them together 🥹). It starts with Karl trying to help the first time Mushi has a nightmare there, and after that he starts bothering him/trying to get his attention in general, until Mushi slowly gives in, becoming begrudgingly fond of the little creature. Whenever he’s having a hard time, whether it be a nightmare or a panic attack or just listlessness, Karl is usually there for him, as his own personal therapy raccoon. 💚

To add to that, Mushi canonically dislikes thunder; I headcanon that when they were together during storms, Yokomizo always made sure to be even more chatty than usual, to distract Mushi from his fear of the noise. Once he’s at Poe’s mansion, when it storms, he suddenly realizes how much louder and scarier the thunder feels now… but of course he doesn’t let it show. Karl, however, notices his discomfort, and is there for him during storms now. :’ )

Post-series, in general, Mushi always brings treats for Karl whenever he meets up with Poe again. 💚

A headcanon plenty of people have, but Ango is absolutely crucial to Mushi’s journey of healing. Post-series, they have quite a few talks about their respective situations, and Ango is the one person Mushi ultimately (after enough time, of course) bears the most of his soul and his pain to, because Ango can empathize with him and understand his guilt/self-loathing/sorrow in a way none of the others can. Earlier on, Ango checks on Mushi the most (Ranpo and Poe do too though) to make sure that he’s taking care of himself, just like he occasionally does/did with Dazai.

Mushi starts wearing traditional clothes more often after Yokomizo’s death, including a few old things that used to belong to him, that are comforting to Mushi.

There aren’t many public photos of Yokomizo, since he was a rather private author. There is, however, only one single personal photo of him, one he roped a grumpy Mushi into taking with him once, his own expression being as sunshine-y and exuberant as always in contrast. Mushi cherishes it now :’ ) oops the buraiha trio vibes strike again

Because of his period of dealing with Yokomizo’s terminal illness, Mushi has some medical-related knowledge that the average person probably wouldn’t. It isn’t the kind of thing he wants to dwell on after Yokomizo’s death, and he can’t stand being around hospitals, for obvious reasons, but regardless, whether he’s consciously aware of it or not, he is especially compassionate/understanding towards those who are sick and disabled that he encounters. His time with Yokomizo has given him perspectives and philosophies about life that he wouldn’t otherwise have, and when he’s not trying to write strictly mysteries, it’s the sort of things that are evident in his writing. In a way, writing about it in general is healing for him, separate from mysteries being comforting to him solely because they’re associated with Yokomizo.

At some point, Mushi starts visiting Yokomizo’s grave together with Ango, Poe, and Ranpo, or sometimes just Ango. Similarly, he, Poe and Ranpo join Ango in visiting Oda’s grave. He and Ango each tell stories about their respective lost loved ones, so that more people will learn about and remember who they once were. 💚

With his ability, Ango is able to read the memories within the room Yokomizo was living in (or perhaps in objects Mushi owns), and see numerous happy memories he had with Mushi, long before his illness and death. With what he sees and conveys, Poe is able to write a small story of the memory, which he then gives to Mushi, allowing him to go into the story and relive the memory and see Yokomizo again for the first time in years. It’s not the real Yokomizo, and Mushi knows this – he’s long since stopped seeing the hallucination of him, because he’s healed enough by this point. But even so, just knowing that the book is there, that he can see his friend moving and talking again whenever he wishes – a version of Yokomizo that is just as happy and bright and energetic as he always remembered, without suffering from illness – is the greatest gift and kindness he could ever imagine receiving, and from his new friends no less, and it’s enough to make him cry, from how loved he truly is :’ ) 💚

I love Mushitarou sooooo much, and I truly hope he gets more attention in the future (can’t wait for tomorrow’s episode!!), because his story is so touching and his character so relatable and comforting 🥹 and I sincerely hope he finds his ultimate happiness in the manga one day. Happy birthday, you sweet, sentimental, pathetic (affectionate), goofy little gremlin man 💚

[adamarks]

Good morning Fox! (Letting you know I just woke up in case any of this is incoherent) First of all, I agree with a lot of what you’re saying about the crew and the pacing and whatnot. Finding Ed on a beach WOULD have made more sense for those reasons.

ON THE OTHER HAND, hear me out, I’d say the Izzy line is more important than a throwaway explanation and it was kinda vital for Stede to see him on the revenge.

Firstly, the line. “Seeing as you’re the one who kept his body aboard.”

Frankly, this doesn’t make like HUGE surface level sense, and if it was anything it was supposed to be in conjunction with “I have…. Love 🤢… for you.” But really, what it starts hammering home once again, is that Izzy is the personification of Ed’s coping skills— what makes Ed Blackbeard. Ed was drunkenly keeping his own shambling corpse on board for months. He didn’t want to be there; he wasn’t happy. He had become the “insane shell of a man that’s merely posing as Blackbeard.” The line, like most lines surrounding Izzy, is meant to tell us where Ed’s head is at.

The scene where he tells Ed to go off and become a fisherman -> Ed’s misaligned coping skill of running when things get too real or too uncertain

Izzy throughout season 1 -> Ed’s commitment issues and self sabotage

It’s why Izzy had to die. It’s why we heard “sit with me, Eddie” after Fang says “Do you think you don’t know how to sit with yourself?” And most importantly (to this conversation) it’s why Stede had to go ask Izzy for his tiebreaker vote. It was Ed saying he wanted to leave. Stede awkwardly and miserably standing there was him trying to respect Ed’s wishes etc etc you get me. Which is important! That’s what he’d learned at the end of season 1! He’s listening when other people make their stance on him clear.

As for leaving Ed on the Revenge, a complaint I see often is that we never see the auxiliary wardrobe in s2. What no one seems to understand is that the point was less that SPECIFIC room and more “I have a bunch of secret passages on the ship.” Ed being found in a secret passage in the belly of the ship was our return to the auxiliary wardrobe. It was the “let me let you into the most intimate parts of me, my hidden self” for both of them. Ed never actually left Stede’s love, and Stede is always willing to come meet him at the worst, at the most hidden parts of him. In this way, the reunion couldn’t happen on the beach, they needed to have that “auxiliary wardrobe” moment again.

I don’t disagree that the crew stuff would’ve shaken out better the way you proposed. Ideally, they would’ve just had 10 episodes, not been working with scraps, and would’ve gotten to actually do 2.06 the way it was intended. But I WILL say I think how they did the innkeeper was perfect and that a lot of the Izzy stuff/pacing makes more sense when you see him not just as like Ed’s fatherish figure but as his metaphorical daddy issues. That itself explains everything about the swiftness of his arc, the weird romantic/not-at-all undertones, and makes oooh daddy 80x funnier. Just food for thought. I don’t have a neat way to rap this up sorry xoxo

so let's talk about david jenkins saying the idea was that the crew would dump ed overboard in the mutiny before the writers changed their minds and had him kept in the hold.

he says they changed this for pacing reasons, so that the reunion could happen in 2x03 instead of being delayed longer, and i cannot argue with that, waiting any longer sounds excruciating. so i'm not complaining about this as, like, villainous interference from the WBD suits or anything, although it might be a decision forced by cutting the number of episodes. probably still the right call under the circumstances. BUT i'm interested in it because this explains a couple things that are weird about the plot structure of the whole season as it stands.

so first of all the crew throwing the body overboard just immediately makes a lot more sense because it doesn't actually require them to have failed to notice he wasn't dead. it would be pretty tough to carry the body into the hold and lay him out and cover his face with a lil washcloth and everything and not notice at any point during this that he's still breathing or that he has a pulse. and if they did notice you'd think they'd either finish the job quickly or try to treat him if they'd had a change of heart, not leave him to die slow. however the idea that they would beat him till he stopped moving then immediately chuck the body overboard, that totally makes sense, you wouldn't stop to check if he was already dead or not because one way or another he will be pretty shortly after you dump him in the ocean.

second the line from stede to izzy about "you were the one who kept his body onboard" always bugged me because it feels like it's meant to establish something about izzy but it's really unclear WHAT it tells us about him, in a way that doesn't seem like intentional ambiguity: i've seen people interpret it as a sign of his devotion and i've seen others assume it was a practical decision that the crew should keep ed's body around to claim the bounty on blackbeard. (and i've seen both interpretations from people both in and out of the canyon, so it's not even a normal izcourse divide.) i actually wondered at one point if the purpose was to foreshadow where izzy's arc is going to end by establishing that he thinks it's more respectful to bury a pirate on land than at sea, although if that was the idea it sure didn't work on the people who'd care most.

however this new info from djenks explains it pretty neatly, which is that the reason for the line isn't to establish character stuff about izzy at all it's just there to awkwardly patch a plothole. it's that someone in the writers' room was like "but it doesn't make any sense, why WOULDN'T they dump his body overboard once they'd killed him" and somebody else was like "idk uh maybe we can put in a line about how izzy stopped them or something."

now more interestingly! this also would change something bigger about 2x04. because i'm guessing the idea here would be that ed would have actually for real washed up on an island that looks just like the one in the gravy basket and just never actually gotten up off the beach, and stede would find him there, mermaid scene, and ed would wake up mad and storm off into the woods with where he meets mary read with stede already trying to follow him and the rest of the episode proceeds as normal from there. (and probably buttons would be just, like, hanging around following stede, or maybe he was already acting as a psychopomp and led stede to ed's body, idk, lots of possible ways to play that.)

this means you completely lose the beat of the crew voting ed off the ship. you wouldn't lose the idea of the crew being pissed at him; you could still have the kitty collar onesie probation stuff after he got back. but this is a BIG change.

first of all it solves a big obvious problem LOTS of people pointed out immediately when the episode aired which is that it makes no sense that stede would just stay on the ship after letting ed be exiled. reuniting with ed has been his driving goal for months and it's not even like ed has definitively told him to fuck off, he's just stomping off angry and incoherent and not even clearly in his right mind. but they couldn't let stede actually follow ed on his own initiative immediately, because it would undermine the later fisherman breakup if stede has already established that he's willing to leave his pirate career behind if that's what it takes to be with ed. so you end up with this awkward beat where he's just kind of passively standing there until buttons tells him what to do.

i think there's something even more important it does though! one criticism a LOT of people had about s2 was feeling like the crew all hated ed now and there was no clear sign they'd forgiven him by the end, and also some people had the impression that stede had just overriden the crew's decision (even though he does say he's going to ask their permission; it DOES feel weird we don't see that). now i've said before that i think there was probably going to be a reconciliation between ed & lucius, and by extension the crew as a whole, in the lupete wedding verision of 2x06, and i still think that. but regardless of whether i'm right or wrong about that. even without a reconciliation, this would seem like WAY less of a problem if the crew hadn't voted ed of the ship.

as it is, we have THREE scenes devoted to the idea that the crew as a whole (not just lucius & izzy, who both have more complicated individual relationships with ed) are uncomfortable with ed's presence on the ship - there's the initial one where stede's holding the meat on his face where they're all yelling at him, and then there's the actual walk of shame where they've just voted him off, and THEN there's the youtube apology scene where they're heckling him and stuff. and having three separate scenes like that makes it feel like the narrative is really hammering in this idea of a big dramatic rupture in the whole crew's relationship with ed. but only the last of those scenes was originally supposed to be there! the first two were just thrown into the plot to justify why ed ends up wandering around an island to run into anne & mary! if you only had the youtube apology scene, it would be much more clear that most of the crew weren't really all that mad - as it is, roach and jim explicitly saying they aren't mad feels like it's overshadowed by the weight of the earlier scenes.

(also a minor issue, but i've mentioned before that surprisingly often people think the vote was unanimous. this doesn't actually make sense in terms of the episode, because we know it was deadlocked and izzy cast the tiebreaker. but it is sort of weird, if the idea is that the crew is split on this, that we never get any sign of who voted which way; there's nobody but stede who is clearly presented as specifically not wanting ed to be exiled. which DOES end up making it feel like it's the crew as a unanimous block that wants him off the ship. but that makes sense if the whole concept of the crew wanting him exiled was sort of hastily written to patch a plot hole instead of being a fully developed idea.)

anyway. like i said i can't really complain about this as a pacing decision. but it is really interesting to me how many knock-on problems with the whole arc of the season were created by the change, and how much cleaner the original idea sounds like it would have been.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 3: Enveloping Feelings.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4)

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[<==PREV PAGES] [NEXT PAGE==>(not out yet.wait a year.or maybe more.imagine.]

saw alot of comments on prev pages; saying 'i HATE that mean teacher! im gonna FIGHT HIM!!' & i LOVE the energy!! it WOULD be nice. to have that catharsis. but the story of young tidestrider is Not one of catharsis. it is a story of being so small and so special and sucking so bad.

[skrunksthatwunk]

landing

[encyclopediamorbidica]

it's the stylization, which is a side effect of when the first four shrek movies were made vs when this one is being made. the first four shrek films came out between 2001-2010, when cgi animation was focused primarily on realism. characters were given things like skin texture and individual hair fibers and even fingerprints, as a way to distinguish them from the "plasticky" look of cgi animation from the late 80s all the way into the mid to late 90s.

think of how characters in Pixar films like Tin Toy (1988) and Toy Story (1995), especially human characters, had a sort of uncanny smoothness to them that all but required stylization in order to appear palatable.

these characters still hold up very well, of course, because of the amount of budgeting and the incredible amount of skill the artists had to work with, but there's still this air of, well, toyishness to them that makes them look less like people and more like the models they actually were. they had an insane amount of detail, yes, and were absolutely breathtaking at the time they were made, but then you take a look at the first Shrek film, and it all but blows them out of the water.

they aren't just smoother, they're more detailed, and much weightier than the above examples. fiona alone is a technical masterpiece, frankly.

she has individual hair strands on her head and in her eyebrows, she has fingernails, moles, freckles. the décolletage of her dress lays against her shoulders like real fabric. the embroidery on her dress looks like actual threadwork, rather than feeling printed on. her lips have individual creaselines. you can see the striations in her irises.

the Shrek films set a new standard for cgi animation (not surprising given jeffery katzenberg had both produced and overseen films at Walt Disney Studios, who had developed a working relationship with Pixar in 1986 to streamline 2D animation and to distribute the studio's cgi animated films. he left the company in 1994 to found DreamWorks Animation LLC, coincidentally only a year before Toy Story was released) that demonstrated a near overwhelming level of detail. these films were oftentimes actively breaking the bounds of the software used to develop them from the number of individual objects (which, again, included hair strands on heads and in eyebrows) that each model had.

this is how we ended up at the production of The Incredibles, which had an infamously hard time with the character of Violet Parr, whose hair covered 3/4s of her face or more in many of her shots. The Incredibles is still an extremely stylized film, but you can see the influence of Shrek's hard lean into realism all over it.

again, we see indiviual hair strands, weight and texture differences in fabric, an emphasis on facial wrinkles when characters pulled expressions.

all this to say that the first Shrek film and its subsequent sequels were cooking with a very specific type of gas, and a lot of the backlash to the stylization of Shrek 5 is that a lot of this is being lost in translation in a way that's hard to articulate. it's not just that Shrek doesn't look the exact same way he did in the first 4 movies, it's that Shrek has had all of his details ironed out because of it.

even just looking at the side by side shots, the original Shrek design has things like stubble, visible lip lines, the craggy texture of his vest is almost palpably rough, his shirt looks woven with individual fibres that are fraying at the neckline. i have no doubt the next Shrek film will be great, because after seeing Puss In Boots: The Last Wish use a sort of painterly aesthetic without sacrificing most of the important details that were present in the earlier films (fur textures, character arcs and personalities, etc) i am very willing to put a lot of faith in the future of the franchise, it's understandable that these sorts of nitpicky things won't detract from the story they're telling or the way the characters feel and behave. it's just somewhat jarring for someone familiar with the level of detail in the animation of the first 4 films to adjust to the new style and the sudden smoothness these characters are being given.

is this like. when sonic fans complain about "character designs being ruined" because this looks fine to me. kinda better honestly like it's more stylized without getting rid of any of his "ugliness" like i genuinely don't understand why people hate the design so much

[xxplastic-cubexx]

BIRTHDAY HAUL courtesy of a very lovely friend of mine 🥺

bonus goofy pics of a bday snack i had earlier with my favorite menace …..

[millionsknives]

episode 9:

the music that nai plays has a lot of major 7ths and 9ths in it - the two harmonics that are just slightly outside of a perfect octave. 2nds (which are technically 9ths) and major 7ths are the two most dissonant intervals you can get in a musical scale but the way the music uses them makes them sound very open and wondrous instead of harsh

i've said this before and i'll say it again!!!! when the twins play their piano duet, you can hear that something is slightly out of sync. but it's not vash's part is out of sync with nai's. vash is playing mostly octave scales in the secondo part that buttress the main 'memory of piano' theme that knives plays with his left hand, but nai's right hand is playing in 3's against the main melody which is in 4's and that's what sounds so weird. he's not out of sync with vash, he's out of sync with himself. and then it resolves when he switches to a more accompanying style and splits the melodic line with vash

the fade out from the boys playing piano together to nai playing alone and reaching across all that empty space to play the part that vash used to play will cause me pain every time i see it i think

what on earth is conrad talking about when he tells nai 'i got what you asked for' (?? i cannot figure out what he is referring to)

it's scary how beautiful knives is. it's also bizarre how much older than vash he looks when they're only like 6-7

the thing that sucks is that nai is completely right. he falls into the bummer category of villain where everything they say is correct but then they just take it to an insane level (genocide) that you can't be on board with them. and vash is entirely ineffective (at least in the flashback), he doesn't even try to counter him when he does have lived experience that challenges what nai is saying. he could tell him 'i've been living symbiotically with humans and plants for 5-6 years and we take care of each other' but he just stands there.

there's a brief moment when vash has nai at gunpoint, before nai gets his face back under control and goes back to being evil, where he looks absolutely heartbroken

a lot of the dialogue is pulled from volumes 7&8 but what is missing is the very key fact: whose fault is it, knives?? whose fault is is that everyone is stuck on a planet inhospitable to both humans and plants that forces humans to use plants horribly to stay alive. and yet without humans the plants would die here too but we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if somebody hadn't marooned us all on a desert planet in his selfish anger

there are so many elements they borrowed from trimax that they'll never get to use in their proper context (nai witnessing the last run as a child in '23 and it fueling his crusade vs manga knives only knowing about the last run at 150 years old and realizing he's begun to die and has halfway killed vash already. or meryl kidnapped by zazie in '23 vs meryl kidnapped by zazie in vol 4 which triggers midvalley vs ww and milly, vash and hoppered, the whole fiasco once legato shows up, elendira saving the day, etc. which is one of the greatest arcs in the story). i guess it's just the natural give and take of remixing a story like this. if you want to use an element in the prequel as an homage to the manga, you have to sacrifice that element in context of the main trimax canon (which is forever the true canon) or else reusing it in part 2 will seem repetitive.

luida's line "i don't want to justify wrongdoing just to survive" is, i think, one of the most important themes of the story

new thread for my tristamp rewatch notes because the first one was getting too long

episode 7:

livio has no self preservation instinct. wolfwood, although he can recover from bullets and injuries quickly, still ducks and dodges and takes cover in a fight, and uses the punisher as a shield a LOT. livio just stands there and takes everything and leaves himself wide open. made worse by the fact that he wields 2 weapons and will just stand there arms outstretched to fire in opposite directions while his entire body is open and unshielded

it's actually really cool to see the rotating mechanism of the doublefang guns in action. but let us not forget that livio was given these because he was 'not good enough' to be gifted a punisher (source: vol 13) (more on this later)

THE 1 FRAME OF RAZLO YES YES YES HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE MANGA

chapel is there also 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕 die old man

i genuinely had no memory of chapel being there. and he's on screen for a while, not just a quick flash like razlo, but it gave me huge pause like wait he's been here the whole time?? AND he has a speaking role?? i must have just thought it was conrad doing the voiceover in livio's head the first time i watched it

which reminds me: the radio program in episode 5 was hosted by 2 people - a priest william and a missionary michael.. obviously william is conrad but i was like who is michael. who in the EOM is big enough in the organization to have the name michael... guys it's chapel.

it's actually so bogus how like.. nobody besides ww has a reaction to livio shooting himself in the head :(

wolfwood is never beating the big brown baby deer eyes allegations, the only reason he keeps those sunglasses on is to hide his absolute inability to mask his emotions. nice try but you're fooling no one, i see your heart on your sleeve mf

i'm convinced his tristamp character design is heavily based on his design in trigun ultimate because of his smooth hair, rounder face, and big eyes. like i gasped out loud when i saw him in this shot, look at those chubby cheeks that is a BABY

[tvheadfalls]

the funniest thing abt shifter squad is every day i realize i probably should cut a bunch of stuff that i dont know what to do with anymore to be able to continue at this point, but one of those things is Riley, and if i snap him, my friend will Actually kill me.

[watermelonolemretaw]

@starrz-n-waffl3-fries @burntmarshmallowqueen what do you think our characters' most important flaws are?

for kyete, it's definitely his self-doubt-- he's internalized this idea that because he's killed or otherwise hurt so many people, his own thoughts and feelings don't matter anymore because he's basically irredeemable

i think that's also why kyiro is so important (at least for kyete, might be a different story for hiro) because hiro is one of the people most affected by kyete's actions, and not only is he willing to live with him, but he also proves to kyete that he does matter and is worthy of love