#anyway i do absolutely believe in order to understand their characters truly you need to understand first

[king-spite]

genuinely believe that the only correct way to approach the whole marecal vs mareven deal is to adore all three of them with your whole heart. and see them as a trio rather than a love triangle. like sorry but if you don't lowkey fw all of them and like each of them as a character on their own AND accept the many layers of the relationship they have with one another you're not getting things right :/

[eyedrateanatomy]

could you talk about radford and kevin. as a ship or as friends i do not care. just talk about anything about them ....

kevin and radford are squidward and spongebob. or is that kevin and streber... if you fused streber and radford youd get spongebob

but anyways radford is always dragging kevin around getting him to do shit like playing pingpong or driving around in an empty parking lot listening to loud music. i think theyre both obsessed with arcade games, some games only kevin can win, some games only radford can win. they will argue about this during the walk home and almost beat each other senseless over it

radford truly does respect kevins space, he needs a lot of it and he will help him whenever and however he can. but sometimes he sees kevin hesitating to get in at the edge of the pool and pushes him in without warning. kevin slaps him with a towel once he gets out. they still make each other laugh easily, especially kevin who i absolutely believe has an obnoxious snorty laugh

they love watching horror movies together as well, (kevin thinks theyre lame but does get genuinely scared by them. hes grabbing radford So Tight during) kevin often finds himself telling radford to stop laughing so loudly and even has to help him order food at the theater, cause radford either cant make up his mind or cant understand that neither of them have the money to buy everything he wants

eventually kevin just orders for him and radfords like Yesss this is just what i wanted!!! <- its the same thing he ordered for him last time

oh my god wait do you know lola and bugs from the looney tunes show. thats radford and kevin

radford likes it when kevin goes absolutely ballistic, he wants him to externalize his pent up feelings of rage so he doesnt break something at work. he and kevin once had a good old fashioned brick fight to help with this, rick had to be there to pull kevin off if he got too crazy. he did. radford got a concussion

kevin lets radford recommend any movies to him, since kevin just autoplays whatevers on netflix when he gets home. its a lot of what radford likes and kevin always has to tell him to stop throwing popcorn at the screen whenever a character does something stupid

he learned through this that radford is extremely easy to please, that boy will watch the worst shit imaginable and pull out his laptop to give the movie 5 stars on imdb. he got radford Sharknado 2 for his birthday and radford literally cried with joy

[skwtches]

“Absolutely not. I mean, well, after all, he… It was not my… He wanted to leave. Didn't he?”

Reading through this line, something about Rabbit in The Tigger Movie occurred to me: the plan that the gang comes up with in order to spare Tigger’s feelings is one of the few instances where Rabbit isn’t present to take on the leader’s role. Throughout the movie, Rabbit is preoccupied with winter preparations, so much so to the point that he, unlike the others, fails to identify the weight of Tigger’s familial dilemma. When he walks in on the gang dressing up as Tiggers in the “How To Be a Tigger” sequence, he questions what they are doing, but does not stick around for an answer, or even try to take up the leadership mantle like he normally would. In an act that is both unorthodox and so completely in-character, he storms off and away from his companions' harebrained scheme to complete his preparations, but not before ironically proclaiming, “at least I haven't lost sight of what’s important.”

To no one’s surprise, the plan falls through. But to everyone’s shock, Tigger runs away that same night. 

“It was not my fault,” is what Rabbit wants and starts to say after hearing of his friend’s disappearance. The members of the group who congregate at Rabbit’s to request his help don’t blame him for Tigger leaving, and Rabbit knows them well enough to understand they wouldn't suggest such a thing by arriving at his house all at once. But Rabbit still has the reflex to defend himself; to confirm that Tigger leaving was indeed not his doing. The one time Rabbit isn't there to lead his friends–believing they all had “lost sight of what’s important,”–the friend whose crisis the lagomorph missed completely had run off into the cold, dreary night. But it wasn’t his fault. It couldn’t have been his fault. 

“He wanted to leave,” Rabbit says, trying to reason with himself. He tries to justify Tigger leaving, searching for a reason–any reason at all–that doesn’t loop right back around to it being his fault. Because it wasn’t. If Tigger had wanted to leave, what good would it have done for Rabbit to have been present? If the bunny had been there alongside his friends to aid their striped pal in his time of need? Whether or not he could have come up with a different, possibly better plan that didn’t result in the heartbreak of the usually bouncy Tigger did not matter here. Of course Tigger would have left anyway in search of his supposed family. He was simply unpredictable that way, and nobody could predict and stop something unpredictable–not even Rabbit. Tigger had most certainly wanted to leave from the start. “Didn’t he?”

As the members of the gang try to convince a hesitant Rabbit to leave with them in search of Tigger, the guilt racks up. He finds himself struggling more and more to excuse himself from the situation as his friends go on about Tigger whilst he fixes up his winter-proofed home, the sadness visibly present amongst them making it even harder for him to dismiss them. As a look of unease–a flicker of guilt–graces his face, he asks, “what do you need me for? Why don't you go find him yourselves?” 

Pooh simply and earnestly responds with, “but we're just not clever enough, Rabbit.” 

A huge facet of Rabbit’s self-appointed leadership role is that it comes from a place where the persnickety critter truly believes himself to be smarter than the majority of his peers in the Wood. He sees himself as the most capable and responsible, and so takes it upon himself to lead whenever he gets the chance. Here however, he tries to deny the opportunity to take charge of the search party. Perhaps it is mostly due to fear of his already fragile shelter coming apart at the seams while he isn’t around. But perhaps it’s also thanks to the aforementioned guilt that he can’t bring himself to diligently lead his friends in searching for the one who he’d inadvertently let slip away. 

Before he can respond to Pooh, a small voice makes itself heard. Rabbit catches sight of Roo, who just tells him that he misses Tigger. The final nail in the coffin. Here is where Rabbit truly can’t bring himself to deny them his help anymore. Here is where the guilt is finally too profound to excuse. 

Here is where Rabbit decides to lead his friends again. 

[utilitycaster]

I agree what the cast says does not hold as much weight as what happens on stream. I think this is why I get frustrated by the 'Orym is to blame for Laudna killing Bor'dor' debates, using things Liam and/or Marisha have said on 4-sided dive that contradict the actual scene, where Marisha states Laudna barely notices Orym and Ashton, and *nothing* will stop her from doing what she wants to do. At worst, it's inaction. Have interviews and things like that always held so much weight in fandom?

I am absolutely the wrong person to ask here; I was not super in fandom when I was younger. I am going to, as I am wont to do, make some educated guesses but please take with a grain of salt.

I think there's a few things going on. A lot of people have told me that Glee was the first fandom they personally recall where it became about winning more than like, having fun and sharing ideas, and I wouldn't be surprised if that is at least an influence. (The idea that two ships that do not conflict and indeed have incompatible sexualities are in some kind of deathly serious competition is truly so baffling to me that I have to chalk up that particular bit of, if I may use a yiddishism here, mishegos, to Glee for sure.)

I also think that there was a time and there are shows where interviews did (or do) carry more weight, namely, those with executive meddling, or loss of creative control, or, notably, queer ships until quite recently. I have a lot of friends in the Star Trek fandom even though I'm not knowledgeable at all and from what I am given to understand, there's been a few ships squashed or delayed by executive whim or homophobia that the actors would pretty openly and consistently confirm at conventions. (The ones I know are Riker and Troi; and Garak and Bashir; but I have only hazy recollections of TNG and know NOTHING of DS9 so this is second-hand). I've talked about this before, but Word of God used to carry more weight for me when you simply couldn't have same gender romances on network TV or most mainstream film without risking your career. Now? You're a coward and a panderer.

Anyway I think with actual play specifically, which is improvised (ie, intent can shift dramatically and unexpectedly) and which has a lot of talkback shows and also a disproportionately huge amount of content people get in the habit of cherrypicking, and in extreme cases this turns into cherrypicking themselves straight out of the actual narrative and into microexpressions and OOC interviews and side conversations from three years ago.

I also, and I am too tired and too many drinks in (two drinks in, to be clear) to articulate this tonight, find that actual play in particular has amassed a certain fandom that I think was attracted to things I like and support (queer characters, women/queer people/POC creating and driving their own characters, independent creator-owned productions, improvised and therefore at times really unique stories, not needing to have streaming services in some cases) but also doesn't actually like Actual Play as a medium (see: every single D20 fandom meltdown low-key boils down to "I have zero genre awareness of both whatever is going on narratively and also I high-key loathe D&D as a means of storytelling and particularly the existence of violence in narrative, yet I am watching the Violent Narrative D&D show, so dance or me, my puppets, wait why aren't you dancing.") So I think you get a lot of people who are just making dumb fucking arguments because they decide what they believe and then poorly reverse engineer the support instead of doing things in the proper order and I think the people claiming Orym is responsible for Bor'Dor's death are in that category and we should stop treating them as people who are adding anything of worth to the conversation.

[francesderwent]

Thoughts on arcane 4-6

1. Isha just frankly didn't bring anything so far that wouldn't have been strengthened without her! Vi could EASILY have been about to kill Jinx at the end of 3 and then been unable to do it because that's her sister, try to talk down Cait, Jinx's desperate need for revenge cooled due to that, Sevika could have been the one imprisoned meaning Jinx had to go to the prison because they do care about each other in a fucked up way, and then Jinx gets Vi to help after meeting Vander. The entire story would work with previously known characters, and I just feel it would have had much more emotional depth than introducing this new, completely unintegrated character and saying yeah haha jinx isn't killing people anyone because she's hanging out with a child. Cut it!

2. It DOES weaken the backstory but vi jinx and vander reconciliation made me emotional.

3. Regarding point 2 - I will allow the weakening of Jinx as a father killer IF Vander survives into act 3 which the preview suggests he will and vi is forced to kill vander to protect innocents, thus making her and Jinx mirrors. That would slay I truly believe.

4. WHERE ARE THE BOYZ (Ekko and Heimerdinger boy band)

5. Of course it's Jayce fucks this all up (said with understanding that he's not actively malicious but also wtf).

6. See I reckon there could be FASCINATING parallels between the cult, which clearly tampers with people's minds and emotions to an extent, and Ekko's paradise which is just people trying to be good, but unfortunately the show writers this season are not as smart as me.

7. The way I'm actually really liking Mel out of absolutely nowhere all she needed was to be trapped in a mind prison and become a mage for me to be like wait...

oh, I agree, she’s an unnecessary plot device lol. the only one of the moments you list that I think Isha does enhance is Vi being unable to kill Jinx—because if three episodes in, we get Vi realizing that IN HERSELF she is unable to kill her sister, no matter what she’s done, where do we go from there? that’s practically the end of the whole arc. whereas in the scene as it exists, Vi gets to realize “I’m not willing to hurt anyone and everything in order to destroy evil” which separates her from Cait in that moment, AND she gets to realize “there might still be something good in my sister and yet she’s still not my same little sister anymore”. it lets Jinx appear as an equal for a moment! which is such a crazy moment as an older sibling, when you look at them and realize hey they’re not a kid anymore!! this, I think, COULD have set us up for really interesting sibling dynamics moving forward, with Vi still kind of on the “we need to defeat Jinx” train, but conflicted about it and more worried about the collateral. Obviously they didn’t do it, and it didn’t work. But I think this would have ESPECIALLY worked if they built up Isha in the first three episodes (by letting her TALK for example), and then had Cait take a second shot after Vi tries to stop her and actually genuinely kill Isha in this scene, or had Isha be a casualty of the explosion Jinx set off, or something.

I’m genuinely happy for you but it just annoyed me haha. I was devastated they would do that to Vander, and then I was insulted that presumably the whole point of them inventing Vander in the first place was to turn him into this league of legends wolfman

that is so fucked up and I am so impressed by you thinking of it

WHERE ARE THE BOYS????????? they really said “here are our incorruptible characters. they’ve teamed up. you will never see them again”

getting possessed (?) is the most in-character thing for Jayce to do, he never had a mind of his own anyway

ooooooh the cult which demands you lay down your weapons! the firelights which take up arms against the people poisoning their streets! Viktor takes away people’s suffering, removing the negatives—Ekko gives people a positive reason to LIVE

no seriously, honestly I think they just had to get her away from her favorite hobby of leading Jayce by the nose and I was like “hmmm slay perhaps?”

[tamelee]

Hi!! 💞

I’ve seen some Kakashi stans who ACTUALLY believe that "you don’t need a reason to love someone" in real life

Like what. This sentence doesn’t work in the manga, but it works even less irl… We don’t love people without reason and we don’t continue to love them no matter what just because?? Or am I missing something???

This is the general idea as to why- Naruto's face is golden here. Absolutely *chefs kiss*. But mind the words "that is what SHE has resigned HERSELF to, because SHE fell in love" despite not knowing what this darkness is or willing to hear Sasuke out in the first place. It means she doesn't even know who she fell in love with, meaning it's an idea. You could say the only reason she loves him, is... she just does. But even in that, there's reason... But, well.. it doesn’t make any sense in English. I’ve read people say that what Kakashi said can’t be translated correctly in a way that aligns with its true meaning. (Take it with a grain of salt though, because I can’t check that myself.) 

Apparently it has more to do with the idea that people are born to love naturally (and generally), but to hate, one needs an actual reason. Like revenge caused by evil, which in turn was probably revenge for other evil, fear is often involved. (Cycle of Hatred— got nothing to do with the Uchiha, it’s an ongoing Theme.) And that in turn aligns with the ‘Will of Fire’ supposedly representing ‘love’ in the sense that people sacrifice themselves for each other because you’re comrades as leaf Shinobi. Like Shikamaru risking his and his team’s life for Sasuke despite not being friends- uh, despite not liking him.

But that’s duty. That’s not love. And although duty is often masked as love in the story through a sense of community, there’s a reason why there are many distinctions made when it comes to personal relationships that forces a character to go against their duties. (Or personal morals/values, like Kakashi's father.)

Why there are differences between characters sacrificing themselves because it’s their duty, or because they love that person.

And in order to go beyond duty, to really, truly love someone… there’s always a reason. 

There MUST be a reason to deny, set aside everything (even briefly) you know and were born into or even start to question general belief for this other person in this story in particular. Naruto had to do that several times in order to start understanding Sasuke and that journey is naturally written into his character and his own experiences. Although not completely this black and white, it's why people say Naruto had to choose between Konoha or Sasuke.

It makes no sense without reason. And that’s even more true in the story than in real life, because in order to really tell that story, it must be something tangible. Something concrete that the reader/audience can understand. In real life, it can be a whole lot more vague— you don’t have to explain it. 

Which also means that no explanation is also explanation if you were looking for an answer. Hence, Sasuke saying she has no reason to love him.

And technically that's true, because it isn't about Sasuke. Sakura's reasons to love Sasuke are literally spelled out afterwards by Kakashi. It’s extremely contradicting. And these are reasons that are very heavily (and frankly, very unfairly) filtered in Sakura’s favor (through Kakashi’s standpoint). 

—

According to Kakashi in that scene alone, she:

- Just wants to save Sasuke (yeah because she loves him)

- Wants him by her side (because she loves him)

- Cries, is hurt/suffers from loving him.... right.

None of these have anything to do with duty, but it also has nothing to do with the real Sasuke.

She’s insecure and has this perception of him that isn’t real and she HAS to ignore the real Sasuke in order to keep that fantasy of hers alive. That’s why she won’t hear him out or blatantly talks over him the moment he tries to speak. “I don’t care!” Or some other version of, “anyway, but what about ME and MY feelings?” Despite whining in Part 1 that he won't talk to her -.-

According to Sakura, she:

- Just wants to save Sasuke and thinks it's her (own personal) duty to kill him, because she- 

- wants him by her side and right now she isn't important to him, he won't prioritize her wishes so she-

- suffers without him/from loving him and- - is otherwise lonely.... Just as lonely as Sasuke is after his entire family/clan got murdered (her words not mine), but she would throw away the family that loves her to be with him even though she doesn't know Sasuke's reasons, so fuck her parents I guess.

- And she also said that his revenge is selfish because it won't make her happy. (lmao.....!! My god.)

It’s all selfish. It's all only for Sakura, but it’s a reason nonetheless 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here's a good post. So, I wonder if it's a translation 'error', or whether he genuinely meant it more as duty in a community sense (though I find it unlikely), whether it was guilt because he told her things would go back to the way it was and failed to give that to her or questions Sasuke's idea about romantic love- people always argue about it, but it's hard to tell because it's very, very contradicting in several ways. But yeah, I agree, one does need a reason. And like I said before, this reason needs to be shown specifically in story for it to have any meaning one way or another.

[charmwasjess]

🍬

for the ask game :3

THANK YOU! 🫡 for doing your part to facilitate my January procrastination!

🍬: post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Qui-Gon was an incredibly annoying person to be close to as an adult, and some of it because of exactly how Dooku raised him and the qualities he actively encouraged in him.

Disclaimer: I love Qui-Gon. He was my first favorite character and remains close to this day. And I realize the absurdity that I'm blaming the origin of this quality on the exact dynamic that I've written an absolute love letter to in my Burning Stars (Sitting, Milk Run+) series. A dynamic I cherish.

But: Dooku encourages Qui-Gon to trust his interpretation of the Force's will over everything - over the Council, over collaborating with the opinions of other Jedi, even Dooku's own opinion. (far from being strict Master, Dooku REPEATEDLY lets Qui-Gon steamroll him in both M&A and DJL, even on issues that he has understandable personal reasons to feel very strongly about) He praises and encourages his unconventionality, tells him his questioning the rules and the Council make him wise, and fosters a lineage sense of underdog troublemaker "us against them" energy, which doesn't hold up to even the gentlest scrutiny. (Yoda IS the Council, Dooku and Sifo are both on the Council, and Qui-Gon is asked to join the Council and declines, so who exactly is this big bad Council that their lineage is getting ganged up on by??)

Anyway, all of these things combine in a way that are fun to write about when he's a spunky teen going on adventures with Dooku, but turn out a very complicated adult in terms of interpersonal life. Have you ever met a person who truly prioritizes their moral and spiritual needs over even the smallest daily issue or communication? Admirable, but OFTEN ANNOYING. Independence and conviction as a Jedi are important qualities, but they tend to play out badly in Qui-Gon's personal life and his relationships. I think the very qualities that make him such an important Jedi and why some people think he could have been the savoir of the prequels also make him a HARD person to hang out.

We see this most often from Obi-Wan's perspective who feels deprioritized by Qui-Gon's focus on his convictions, everything from "sold my best robe for the good of the mission" to the painful moment with Anakin and the Council in TPM. But it seems to be the whole family. Qui-Gon has an apparently decade-long falling out with Rael because he makes a different call than he would have in a terrible situation, and Qui-Gon faults him for that. And as much as I believe there is fervent love there, his adult relationship with Dooku is not super smooth. He himself admits to putting off reaching out to Dooku after he leaves the Order even though he wants/needs to on an emotional level (Yoda just ASKED him to reach out because he's worried) because he knows he'll just get into a fight with him about their different opinions on the Jedi.

And again, I don't think ANY of this is lack of care or compassion on Qui-Gon's part - Qui-Gon obviously cares about all these people very deeply and repeatedly says so and proves it with his actions. He seems as frustrated by the failure of these interactions as anyone. And maybe the blame here rests on Qui-Gon's own personal difficulties in relationships and not problem with the strength of his convictions, but those two things sure tend to combine unpleasantly for his Jedi family.

[initiumseries]

different anon, but i think the lack of chemistry is why i couldn’t really sink my teeth into lovely runner tbh. it’s weird, because i did end up finishing the drama and i thought it had many moments that reminded me of older kdramas so i couldn’t figure out why i found it so forgettable but it really did just boil down to the fact that they didn’t have much chemistry.

this is totally random, but why do you think it’s become so rare for the leads in romance kdramas specifically to have chemistry? i think the last time i truly felt a lead couple in a major production had chemistry were kim taeri and nam joohyuk from 2521… which was over 2.5 years ago. i remember pre-pandemic you would see more leads with chemistry than those without. like going this whole year without a single kdrama couple i liked was so strange, especially when it was more common for me to have like 3-4 once upon a time.

Yeah, I definitely abandoned it fairly soon after I was sure they didn't have the chemistry and she was frustrating me more than I was enjoying it. Kdrama tropes are so heavily dependent on chemistry that if it's not there, I just don't care, and I don't believe whatever story you're telling me.

I agree with you. Their chemistry in 25/21 was crazy and they pissed it away with that infuriating ending. Now, I've thought about this a lot, but pre-pandemic, kdramas were very much made for Koreans. The stories were very Korean, and the depiction of life was very Korean. Then Parasite exploded onto the scene RIGHT before the end of 2019, and kdramas and Korean directiors/actors were on the front pages of North American newspapers, there was a deal for an American version of Parasite, and it was inescapable. Then the stay at home order was laid down in March 2020 and Netflix released Squid Game not too long after that. So people who would normally bitched and moaned about not liking subtitles, had nothing else to do but watch them, and kdramas that have always been there exploded in NA. Squid Game (an absolutely awful drama tbh, I hope we can all be honest about that now) blew kdramas up and suddenly they were flooded with American money for advertising (I've been given to understand that that's also why we never see characters in the subway anymore, and always in these massive cars, and also why we don't see that level of 'poverty' anymore. Like how does a character who can only afford a 4 story walk up to the roof apartment afford a big ass honda?). Then the guy who was in My Secretary or whatever that drama was, got a deal for a minor role in a Marvel movie. The guy who starred in Squid Game was cast in that Star Wars show. So with American money, they started dictating the rules, and so, as with all things, the influx of money changed priorities. So instead of stories for Koreans, by Koreans, all the stories felt like they were hyper-aware of international viewership. They started shoe-horning more English into signage/dialogue, clothing. Fewer stories about average Koreans and a lot more about comfortable to wealthy Koreans. Less romance, more action dramas, political dramas. So it felt like who they secured to fill these roles had more to do with who was super popular and/or who could bring in more international audiences and had a chance of crossing over, and less about, do these two people have the chemistry we need to make this drama work? That's just kinda what I think anyway. There may be more to it that I'm unaware of but yeah.

My hope is, that the international money will slow down as interest has dwindled, and Korean dramas will return to being for and about actual Korean people, and then we'll see a resurgence of those classing heartbreaking dramas again.

[linklethehistorian]

Linkle, I must know, what are your thoughts on Mori as a character? His actions and motivations?? Id love to hear your opinion, btw that last chapter of cherish was great!! I loved it so much!!!

Ahhh hello there, anon, thank you so much! 🥺😭💕💖🥰 It’s such an honor to get a message like this from someone who is reading the fic. 💕🥺💖🥰💕🥺💖🥰 I’m so glad you liked Chapter 12; it definitely has one of my own personal favorite scenes, tbh (but I won’t take up your time talking about that right now lol). Having a fan base for Cherish is truly lovely; I’m so blessed by each and every one of you. 🥺💖

As for your question, I’m always happy to share!

Before I say anything at all on my opinion, though, I’m first going to make it clear that I am completely setting aside that one…particular matter that has been discussed to death by the fandom for the moment, because I fear far too many people tend to forget that it is entirely possible to make any remotely positive commentary on a fictional character without that actually somehow meaning you condone his alleged…preferences. For the people in the back that need to hear this out loud to be set at ease: I in absolutely no way do.

Now with that out of the way for a bit, let’s talk about the rest of Mori. I’ll throw it under the cut, though, both for length and for potential spoilers of multiple light novels (Dark Era, Fifteen, Storm Bringer, etc.) and obviously the manga up to his last appearance in current arc. Oh and obviously the typical Mori-related trigger subjects. Yeah.

Honestly, on a general note, these days I think Mori as a character is super cool; I’m not sure where precisely I’d rate him on the list of characters because I honestly like nearly every character in BSD and think they’re pretty awesomely written, but on a general scale of 1 to 10, he’s a very solid 8 or 9 for me.

My first introduction to him was…admittedly not at all the best possible representation of him.

When I first joined the fandom, I began my journey through the series by watching the anime adaption of Dark Era, at the behest of a dear friend who said I would be best off doing so before I watched the rest of the show (of which there were only two seasons at the time) and then reading the manga, in order to get the best and most meaningful experience; it is not something I remotely regret, and in honesty, I would probably wholeheartedly recommend any new people to do the same, if they intended to start with the anime. Regardless, though, this decision did have the impact of making me immediately strongly dislike Mori as a person from the very start, given what he did to the orphans, Oda, and Dazai by extension.

Really, I wouldn’t say that I came to see him in any particular shades of grey motivation-wise until I watched the episode titled Double Black, in which there was the first reference of what would have become of the Port Mafia and Yokohama as a whole had he not usurped the throne to the organization so many years ago.

After that, I began to look at him with a bit more understanding and curiosity, horrible and ruthless though his nature may still mostly have been. Fifteen (specifically the light novel, NOT the anime) — which it should be said, I think is the best existing canon representation of Mori in terms of giving us a good look at his thoughts and motivations — only amplified that outlook and interest for me, and I think it alone is largely to thank for why I enjoy him as a character as much as I do in current time.

Although he’s definitely not someone I’d feel particularly comfortable writing an entire story solely around — as I don’t believe I’m expert nor absurdly passionate enough to do so compared to some genuine Mori fans that I know are out there out there — I nevertheless really, really do enjoy writing him, especially in Cherish (which is only the second time I’ve written him, if I’m honest — at least, in anything I’d consider publishing, anyway).

There’s just so much potential in him plot and personality-wise; he is incredibly flexible of a person in terms of his thoughts, mannerisms, motivations, and actions, which makes it super fun to explore and play around with when telling a story. I’d say he easily has one of the most fun personalities among the BSD ensemble, purely because of utterly unpredictable it can be; on one hand, he has moments where (at least outwardly) is capable of being extremely friendly, outgoing, generous and unassuming, and yet on the other, he is very much always inwardly observant of all that is going on around him and capable of quickly switching to being cold, calculating, and openly cruel at the drop of a hat. But even then, usually, his cruelty doesn’t come in the form of physical violence; it’s often emotional manipulation, intimidation, taking your fears and weaknesses and using them against you to get him whatever he feels he needs in the present moment. Sometimes, it isn’t even outwardly visible that the switch of gears happened; he knows how to poison you in the sweetest and most unassuming yet effective way possible — whether that poison is literal or metaphorical. He’s definitely the kind of person who could sing you to sing to sleep every night and kiss your cheek every morning even as he’s secretly plotting your demise. lol

That being said, I think a lot of the fandom, in their hatred for him as a person, tends to mischaracterize him a lot, rather than looking at it objectively. I’ve seen a lot of fics and general fandom takes that portray him as a sadistic person who is cruel simply for the sake of being cruel and does terrible things to others purely for the enjoyment factor, but that is 100% not who Mori is; canonically, Mori does what he does mostly, if not entirely, out of what he feels is necessity as the leader of the organization. Now, I’m not saying there may not be parts of him that enjoy certain things he does — it’s certainly more than possible, and even highly probable — but his actions as godfather are driven by achieving what he feels is the optimal solution, not by personal pleasure and amusement; as a matter of fact, in Fifteen, he even made it clear when speaking to Chuuya that he fully acknowledges a lot of what he does is morally reprehensible — he just feels that it is his duty to commit these atrocities for the ‘greater good’ of the organization, and that the end therefore justifies the means.

The thing is, there is a character in BSD who is exactly the way this portion of the fandom characterizes Mori, and he was even a member of the Port Mafia, so if people really wanted to canonically explore this dynamic of a character who wholly gets off on tormenting people, causing suffering and probing others’ heads rather than doing it as just a business practice, they absolutely could still do it and be true to canon by writing about said other character; it’s just that it’s not a convenient truth that a lot of the fandom wants or likes to face — because that would mean acknowledging that it was everyone’s beloved Dazai and not the oh-so-despised Mori who used to think in such a sick and twisted way during his days in the criminal underworld.

Granted, some people do write both characters very well and very accurately, and I applaud them, but I do find it frustrating when the fandom reduces either Mori to this purely evil, sadistic villain who is bad just for the sake of being bad, because he is so much more interesting as he truly is in canon.

It’s this dichotomy where his dedication to the overall well-being of his people and company is admirable and even understandable, yet at the same time his individual actions when you look at them from a moral perspective are pretty much all morally reprehensible in some way, shape, or form — if not in every way. The same is true of his time in the army; as a general concept, his desire to protect Japan during the Great War was on the whole admirable and understandable, we know that he was well-meaning about it, but at the same time, no matter how desperate the situation was, what he did to Yosano and his entire army was absolutely disgusting and unacceptable — especially because it came so easily to him to do it and he made no apologies for it nor expressed any guilt over the suffering he caused later on.

Do I think Mori is, on the whole, a good person? Absolutely not. Do I think that he sometimes has the best of intentions in mind with his schemes? In the grander scheme of things, yes; it’s just that he mostly doesn’t care who or how many he has to hurt to achieve that so long as it’s slightly less than his net gain from doing it, which in turn cancels out things enough to prevent him from ever being labeled as being or acting as a “good person” at any moment.

I think the best, most objective description of him is to say that he’s pragmatic and ruthless.

…And then obviously there’s the part that everyone in the fandom discusses to death — about the main universe version of him being into little girls. Not a whole lot to say about that; it’s gross, it’s wrong, it’s unforgivable, it’s morally reprehensible, and it’s chilling and disturbing and it definitely completely disqualifies him from being labeled a good person even if he had been able to earn that title from something he did somewhere along the way.

That being said — and I know this is probably going to be controversial to a lot of the fandom, so let me say upfront that I’m not saying that that isn’t 100% a valid and understandable reading of who he is and the way he feels based on all the evidence throughout the series, nor am I trying to convince anyone otherwise — purely because it is fiction and therefore all made up to begin with, at least for my own personal comfort, I typically choose in my own personal readings to just look at him as someone with a particular weakness for little girls because he’s fatherly — although I make no effort to claim that to be the objective truth, nor does such interpretation affect or influence any of my writings in any way; it’s simply the way I prefer to engage with BSD on my own personal time — outside of my writings.

As a matter of fact, in my one fic, Bittersweet Belief, he was intentionally written with the intention of being portrayed as a groomer, and in Cherish, his ‘tastes’ will be portrayed no less nor more suspicious than how they are in canon, and therefore it will never be fully, directly addressed, but may be interpreted however you wish.

I do not need people coming to me providing evidence of why they believe there is no way to look at it differently, as again, I am not arguing that it is objectively untrue in any way that Mori is written to be a pedo in BSD, and when in public spaces among other people talking about it I don’t even try to say otherwise, much less convince anyone of it. I understand fandom etiquette and I am not trying to erase anything about him from others’ perceptions in order to make him more “likable”. I am just engaging with BSD, whenever I am personally reading it and watching it, in the way that is more comfortable for me. Nothing more, nothing less.

Anyway, yeah, Mori’s a super fun character to write and observe in the BSD world! I think there’s a lot of depth to him and he’s very well-written — probably among my top past antagonists purely for the super interesting personality and the purely pragmatic outlook to life and business.

[fawnforlali]

Fairy Kings & Floods: A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

Cute. Wasn't for me—not entirely.

Meet Effy Sayre: a meek architecture student with an obsessive love for one author. Six months after the author’s death, she wins a competition to redesign his historical home, which is crumbling into the ocean. But there are secrets in this decaying place. 

While uncovering them, we also uncover the secrets of Effy’s traumatic past. 

Now, let’s go through some of the negatives first. 

Effy is the sort of protagonist that is unsure, passive, whose actions tend to be self-destructive. She is seen as nothing more than a “pretty face”—a temptress to every man she meets in the book. Given her past, I understand why she is this way, but that didn’t make me any less irked than I am now. I’m not criticizing other characters written this way, or people who do act like this in real life. I know that—and I absolutely saw myself in her character too (you can’t tell me she wouldn’t be practicing her Starbucks order since she got in line). I just wish that Ava Reid wrote Effy in a way that was less monotonous and one dimensional, especially after going through all that trouble into making her a real person. 

Mysteries are supposed to conduct the reader, give them enough information about the problem to catalogue and sort through as they read and trick them into thinking they solved it. That is, until the story drops the final piece and you’re left dumfounded. This book really didn’t have that classic mystery quality to it since I was able to pick just about everything up long before they concluded anything. 

This one was such a bother. I noticed the pervasive use of similes only a chapter or two in this book, and once I did, it became so distracting. 

And the positives...? 

As a teenage girl often too deep in her own fantasies, the romance in this book kept me fed. Especially the end of chapter eleven (p.234) for those of you who have already read it. Had me giggling like a lunatic. 

This book deals with the extreme misogyny that is the reality for women in this world, and I can see why reading it can be therapeutic for many of the girls out there. Ava Reid chose an important message to convey through her writing but unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it. I could go on about how a good part of the book was a shallow dissection of profoundly serious themes, but I don’t want my negativity to seep through onto what is supposed to be the ‘pro’s’ section of this book review. 

Angharad, oh, Angharad. Let’s take a step back into Effy’s character and how she’s obsessed with this dead author—Angharad being the title of the book she holds more love for in her heart than for herself. I totally understand why that is. I loved the little snippets of Angharad we got at the beginning of most chapters and—quite honestly—I wish Ava Reid could publish it for reals. All I got were the tiniest of passages and paragraphs and I’m already infatuated with a book that doesn’t even exist. 

One thing you must know about me as a reader, I fall in love with every book I read to some extent. I become a point-blank fanatic if the book is really that amazing, which is why I have to wait for my excitement to die down before I ever give a book a rating. First impression and second impression, as I call it. For my first impression, I gave this book a 4.5 (out of 5 stars), which is quite good. Though after truly giving it some thought, I diminished it down to a 3.25. 

I believe it had everything a book should have, but it never quite exceeded the lines of bare minimum. A Study in Drowning was a palate cleanser to me—nothing ground-breaking, but left turning page after page anyway. Maybe I had just been expecting too much from this book, but overall, I found the story bloated with superfluous trends and tropes that detracted from what could’ve made it a very rich, needed story. 

If you were planning on reading A Study in Drowning, please don’t let this discourage you in any way. I’m just some kid on the internet with no judging credentials whatsoever, so please don’t get too mad either. 

[pencilgutz]

Roach is one of the most beloved and sadly one of the most forgotten Cod main playable characters. I honestly quite love the original writing in Modern Warfare 2 2009. I personally think that it was probably when they were at their Peak with story writing characters twists, they were able to evoke serious emotion from people (myself included) and with how well they developed the characters and got people attached it was all seemed like a smack in the face to watch them die and play as they die. It's really a beautiful storyline and it's honestly I absolutely love Call of Duty as a just I love Call of Duty as a whole. And I really want to get the other Modern Warfare and play through all of those games in the correct order (because apparently the numbers aren't correct order which is really f weird anyways)

but another Call of Duty game that I really wanted to play for a while is COD ghosts. COD ghosts was actually a fan game that became official I believe I could be wrong about that. As much as I jokingly simp for the characters I really love the story lines and just the heart-wrenching emotions the game can evoke from you. That's why I'm really sad with like the new Modern Warfare 3 2023. It seemed more like all that they were doing was just trying to push it out before the year ended and so the campaign was really buggy not really that good and the storyline was really just not well written and I find that really sad because Call of Duty as a whole has always had amazing campaigns and it's really sad that companies slowly go downhill and the fandoms the just the people who love the story lines just have to watch the games Crash and Burn it's really really sad and as much as I love the OG stuff some of the fan content is 100 times better than the actual content itself. But then again that's with a lot of media not Just Call of duty. But circling back around I absolutely just love campaigns in games.

And that's probably why I don't play games like fortnite because it doesn't really have a story in my opinion I play games more of for the story rather than to win that's why for example whenever me and someone are playing warzone I absolutely suck any other person gets so angry for no reason as funny as it is to watch I just don't really play games to win I play more of for the story for the endings sometimes for the graphics itself sometimes for just the cute ass art style but I absolutely just love campaigns and I can't express this enough. I guess that's why I'm so drawn to fan content like fanfiction fan art Aus, OCS and art and just animation itself Indie content, I have such a love for Creative Works than aren't just in it for the money sure sometimes they blow up sometimes they make way more than what they originally intended but there's so many beautiful projects out there that don't get enough attention. There's so many games that are just like for example take Dialtown so many people don't play it for it's apparently quote on quote weird premise the beginning. Like I understand like the laying eggs part is kind of weird but once you get past that and you like actually pay attention to the story like if you actually play through for example Randy's route you watch him go from being this sad depressed dude who's living in a dumpster to a human being who learns to care for himself learns to love himself despite him being told he's pathetic and not good enough. And if you play through the third chapter of dial town it's truly a amazing thing it's about government corruption it's about friendship it's about opening up to people to get the help you need it's it's a truly beautiful game and I I want more people to know about it but because of its weird premise people don't click on it. But the third chapter itself goes through and looks back at the roots you've done once you've done Karen's room you teach her to accept herself and to follow her own dreams,

[thranduel]

el deserves better + why people can’t take mike’s monologue seriously

*these are my own personal opinions and observations! if you liked this scene how it was, that's fine! no one's forcing you to look at this lol. i'm not trying to "ruin" this scene for anyone or invalidate people’s feelings. it’s a fictional show. the writers like when people analyse and look into it and that’s what i’m doing. these are just my own opinions about it as someone who has watched the show since the beginning, pays attention and truly cares about the characters, and i think they could've done this scene a lot better if they wanted it to seem genuine.

i also just want to make it clear that i would’ve had no problem with mike and el’s relationship if it was well-written, slowly developed properly instead of rushed, they actually understood each other and could be themselves with each other AND if will wasn’t involved in this love triangle and had his heart broken in the process because that’s probably one of the most cruel, horrible and unnecessary things i’ve ever seen in a show. there was absolutely no reason to involve an abused and traumatised gay child in this mess if he was just going to end up hurt again after everything he’s suffered and people have EVERY right to be uncomfortable and upset about that, but anyways!

“love at first sight”

the love at first sight trope coming out of nowhere seemed really out of character for mike since he's made it clear several times he doesn't believe in that and we also know he didn't fall in love with el the moment he met her when he was only 12 years old and struggling with the trauma of his best friend going missing. i'm not sure why they felt the need to include that when will was sitting right there listening and they could've done literally anything else to show he loved her. he shouldn't have to lie and make things up that don’t make sense (seriously, what happened to “friends don’t lie”)? and sure, the cast can say whatever they want about a 12 year old falling in love with a stranger the moment he looked at her even though he knew absolutely nothing about her and his best friend was suffering in an alternate dimension, but it still makes no sense from a writing standpoint and you can literally see that in mike’s words and actions after they take her to his house. the whole thing has always been weird lol. i don’t know why people romanticise the love at first sight trope with two children anyways and act like it makes their relationship better when it only made it worse because of how rushed it was.

using will

this needs to be mentioned considering will is the reason this monologue happened in the first place (so don’t even start with the “stop making everything about will” when THE WRITERS THEMSELVES literally put him in every mike and el scene except their fight scene!!!!!!!) but i absolutely hated how they used will's feelings for mike in order to make him say he loves his own girlfriend. like… what. using a gay character who has suffered since the very beginning as a plot device to force another ship back together while he continues to suffer and be heartbroken isn't cool at all. you can come up with any excuse, but NOTHING makes it okay that they included will in this mess and turned him into a couple’s therapist that fixes their problems when they can’t even do that themselves. if they wanted all this drama with mike and el and STILL have them stay together for some reason, fine. but will should’ve NEVER been involved. there’s no excuse. i don’t understand how anyone is okay with that. he literally had to push him into saying the monologue even when el was choking because mike wouldn’t have said it otherwise. he also took inspiration from what will said in the van about his OWN feelings for him and basically re-worded it. it’s just crazy.

“mike was just trying to save her”

i get that!!!!! he was panicking and under stress. it’s actually a realistic way to respond in that situation and anyone would make up whatever they think the person wants to hear to save them. he was trying his best to help her and i really do appreciate him for that because she really needed strength and motivation. BUT the point is, it still wasn’t entirely genuine and it’s so weird that people watch it and talk about it like it’s a proper romantic love confession and their relationship is oh so perfect when he always lies and contradicts himself which just feels hurtful and unnecessary. he could've told her he loved her WITHOUT making things up. in fact, he should’ve told her he loved her BEFORE she got her powers back, before he was pushed into it by will and before she was in danger and he was under pressure. that would’ve made it seem so much more genuine.

flashbacks

i’m just gonna link this incredible analysis post from @aurorabyler here about flashbacks because they explained it so perfectly. please check it out!!!!

anyways mike could’ve spoken about happy memories instead of making up lies she knows aren’t true. when he said “it’s not because i’m scared of you. i’ve never felt that way”, it just sounded ridiculous because she knows he’s been scared of her. it literally happened a few episodes ago at the roller rink. even in season 1, mike yelled at her and triggered traumatic memories that reminded her of brenner (the flashbacks happen right after to show the parallels) and it happened again in season 4. she also said “you think i’m a monster too” when they were arguing because she knows that mike has been scared of her. and at the roller rink when she was sitting at the table shaking and crying, he just stared at her along with the crowd and he didn’t sit with her or take her away from the triggering environment. he just stared and did nothing. in the car he was silent and then at the dinner table he made a sarcastic comment which made her feel worse and get up and leave. then he sips his drink which is a parallel to ted and karen. obviously mike has every right to be shocked and afraid sometimes, but el was also really struggling and he did nothing to help. even when she confronted him about everything, he just sat there, got defensive, denied everything and called her ridiculous. “he’s just a teenager” just doesn’t work as an excuse because we’ve seen that mike can be mature, apologise and take responsibility for what he’s done wrong with other people, so why didn’t he do that during their fight scene? why was he sitting there with no emotion on his face and making her feel worse as she was literally breaking down in front of him? why did he have to be pressured and motivated by his best friend to say he loves his own girlfriend? “he just needed some advice”, “he’s just insecure”, “his parents couldn’t say ily”. these are all ridiculous excuses that make no sense. it also doesn’t explain why will was involved in this mess in the first place. how is it okay for a gay child to just be shoved to the side and heartbroken and then force the boy he loves into telling his girlfriend he loves her? how are people seriously okay with that?

more lies and idolisation

during the monologue, mike also could’ve mentioned el's friends and family which mean the world to her instead of just making it about himself and why he needs “his superhero”. he could’ve mentioned who she is as a person instead of just her powers, but the truth is, he barely knows who she is as a person because they can’t be themselves around each other and they don’t even share any similar interests. that's why it confuses me when people actually take what he's saying seriously and think he's being genuine and "romantic" when he isn't. "oh, but mike said he fell in love the moment he met her, he’s so in love”. uh, of course he's going to say that when he's under pressure and she's in danger, but that doesn't mean it's true. we know that he was going through one of the most traumatic times in his life when will went missing and he wasn’t focusing on falling in love… he was literally only 12 years old and he knew el for 6 days before she disappeared. they were strangers. he also only let her stay when she said the bad guys were after her and when he found out she had powers and could help find will, not because he “fell in love”. he was literally planning to send her away so they could focus on finding will. so many people forget about this but it’s just crazy to think about. even when they reunite at the end of season 2, they had only spent less than a week with each other as children. mike called her every day with no response but that’s only because he wanted to know if she was out there because she was his friend and of course he cares about her. but they still barely knew each other and he didn’t get to know her more while he was making those calls because she couldn’t even respond. there was no proper build up, no honest communication and no getting to know each other properly before getting into a relationship.

rushed romance

people talk about how they fell in love immediately when they barely even knew each other and el just escaped a lab she was raised in and didn’t know what romance was. she couldn’t even communicate at the same level as mike and everything happened so quickly for her (and no, this is NOT saying that she's not capable of having a boyfriend now. of course she is. she's incredible and she's capable of so much. but when she got out of the lab, she was just a child and she wasn't taught anything about romance or relationships, so it would've been so confusing for her and she needed more time to discover herself and her own interests and then figure out who she likes, if she even wanted a relationship at all). in season 3, she asked max how she knows what she likes because no one has ever taught her or allowed her to figure things out on her own and decide what she likes for herself. max was the first person to do that and it was a really important moment for el. she was also the happiest she had ever been in that scene when they were shopping and i’ve never seen her smile and laugh so much. it was really beautiful to see.

anyways, i know she's not being forced to stay in her relationship with mike but i feel like both of them heavily depend on each other due to their emotional attachment since they found each other during a traumatic time and saved each other when they were vulnerable and needed help. mike was the first person to take care of el outside the lab and helped her hide from the bad guys so she wouldn’t have to go back, and el saved mike's life when he jumped off the cliff and then she broke his bully's arm. mike and el feel like they owe each other something and they're extremely dependent on each other because they saved each other, but i don't understand why they had to start dating because of that? it's like they feel like they can't be anything outside of a couple which isn't healthy considering the show has proven over and over again that they're not working as a couple. i don't know why people think this is a bad thing either or an "insult" to their relationship. it's not at all. no one is saying they don't love each other, because of course they do. they just don't work together romantically for many reasons, but they would still love each other even if they're just friends. in fact, i think their relationship would be even stronger if they were just friends.

they don’t feel like equals (and literally admitted this in the show)

one of the biggest issues with their relationship is that both mike and el can’t be themselves with each other and they always lie, so it doesn’t help that he lied during his monologue too. it’s really sad. you shouldn’t feel like you need to lie or change who you are when you’re in a relationship. and i just feel like there were so many other ways they could’ve done this. like, if they wanted mike and el together, that’s fine. but why couldn’t their relationship be more genuine and why couldn’t they be themselves around each other? el didn’t even need a boyfriend or first kiss in season 1, she just needed a friend to help her and be by her side. mike is the one that decided what their relationship would be because he had a little crush on her, but el didn’t get a say at all. i understand it was supposed to be "cute and wholesome" and mike didn’t have any bad intentions when he kissed her, but it’s just really strange when you actually think about how they barely knew each other and el didn’t know what a kiss was.

the characters deserve better

i also just feel like this scene hurts all 3 characters involved (el, mike and will, because yes, will was involved in a way considering he's been in love with mike since the beginning and he’s the reason mike said his monologue in the first place) and it feels insulting to them. the writers also placed will in EVERY mike and el scene except their fight, so people can’t get mad when people “make it all about will”. blame the writers then. people are obviously going to talk about the abused and traumatised gay child that’s suffering and getting his heart broken.

el: she deserves to be loved for who she is as a person, as jane, not just “superhero eleven”. her boyfriend should’ve shown her love in his letters and he should’ve comforted her and explained himself (or just simply said “i love you”) when she was crying in her room begging to hear the words. his excuse for not being able to say it was “i’m scared she won’t need me anymore”, but she clearly needed him in that moment. he knew what she wanted to hear. he also said he feels inferior because he’s just a nerd and she’s a superhero. but she didn’t even have powers in that scene where she was crying. she was just a regular person like him, so why couldn’t he say it? in the next episode, he also admits that if he just said “that thing”, she might’ve taken him with her (he couldn't even specify what it was when he was talking to will). so he knew exactly what she wanted but he still didn’t say it. this entire plot was just added for drama and it feels so unnecessary. he couldn’t even tell her he loved her when she was sobbing in his room but he only could after his best friend convinced him with his painting, monologue and pushed him to when el was in danger. how is that fair? how do people think it’s genuine after all that? “because mike is just insecure and needed a push”???? because that doesn’t change the fact that he has lied to her and made her feel horrible before. it doesn’t change the fact that she was SOBBING in front of him and he was more worried about himself than her feelings. 3 simple words could’ve comforted her and he just couldn’t do it… until his conversation with will? it’s crazy to think about. that’s why all the excuses are just ridiculous. el deserves so much better than this. she deserves to find someone that loves her for who she is, that shares the same interests as her, that she can fully be herself around, and that doesn't care about her powers.

will: his feelings for mike shouldn’t have been used as a plot device to force mike and el back together when they can’t even sort out their own relationship problems. using a gay character’s feelings when he has been abused, targeted, bullied, lonely and suffering since the very beginning of the show is absolutely cruel and unnecessary. he hasn’t even had a moment of happiness and he thinks he’ll never experience love because of his sexuality. it's even more heartbreaking knowing he has loved mike since the beginning but he thinks mike will never love him back and he has to watch him with someone else while he gets pushed to the side. speaking of being pushed to the side, the way mike treated will in season 3 and 4 (especially how he couldn't hug him at the airport) makes absolutely no sense unless he has repressed feelings for will and internalised homophobia because otherwise, mike is just an asshole and there was no need for any of that. his relationship with el never should've affected his relationship with will, especially because will has been his best friend since they were 4 years old and they have the closest relationship in the entire show. also, will's painting for mike was supposed to be a special moment between them only. his love confession was also the most beautiful and genuine thing and it made mike so happy, but he used el’s name to disguise it and it was so painful and heartbreaking to watch. will is also the only reason mike said his monologue to el because he was so inspired by the painting and car monologue and thought it was all from el when it wasn't. it was all from will. even when el was in danger, will still had to push mike to say it. and yet, will is still lonely and heartbroken after being so kind and selfless to everyone around him? he still doesn't get to be happy after everything he's been through? it’s just not fair. they can’t keep doing this to him.

mike: he’s just simply been reduced to el’s boyfriend. we barely even know him anymore and he doesn’t get his own moments. his entire arc this season revolved around not being able to tell el he loved her. like are you actually kidding me? he did nothing this season except be part of el's storyline. he also changes so much when he’s around her. it’s so ridiculous and unfair and his friends have been hurt because of it too. he shouldn’t have to pretend to be someone he’s not in order to impress el. i also feel like so many people forget how much trauma mike has been through and we don’t even get to see any of it. we don’t get to see his POV or feelings or understand what’s going on inside his head. his entire character just revolves around el and it’s not fair. he also deserves to be with someone he feels comfortable with and can actually be himself around. mike has to hide his own interests and he feels embarrassed about himself when he’s with el and he shouldn’t feel like that in his own relationship. sure, some people might use the excuse “they’re just kids” (as always), but it doesn’t change the fact that this has been going on since their relationship started and they’ve never truly felt like equals. they’ve always been different and they always will be. mike deserves to be with someone that loves him for exactly who he is and that brings out the best in him. someone who makes him feel safe and comfortable for being nerdy and passionate. someone who can give him the love he wants and needs. it’s just sad (and unhealthy) to see him in a relationship where he changes so much and obsesses over his girlfriend and treats his friends like garbage to the point where he becomes the most disliked character in the show and the general audience can’t stand him. like if that doesn’t say a lot about how this relationship isn’t good for this character, i don’t know what does.

[melrosing]

Do you think the "we don't choose who we love" theme is present in the books too and something Jaime believes in? (re Cersei)

Well firstly I dislike that line, because whilst it's true you can love someone against all better sense and never truly stop loving them.... the implication of the line in the show was that your loyalty to that person is therefore a given - you can never choose otherwise. Probably don't need to break down why I find that a damaging concept but hey GOT's a damaging show

Also Jaime equating his love for Cersei to Renly's entire sexuality (as implied by the context of the line) is like.... ludicrous lmao. Possibly something ludicrous enough for pre-ASOS Jaime to believe, but then the show really treats it as a wholeass thesis statement for the character and uses the final notes of his 'arc' to validate it.... god. anyway

So besides the fact that the line isn't in the books, I don't think it would hold any resonance there, either. Loving Cersei is a choice Jaime has made. As his twin sister I do truly believe that he would always love her in some shape or form, but the level of devotion we see in AGOT is absolutely a choice Jaime has made several times pre-ASOS, and then ceases to make post-ASOS.

This isn't necessarily to criticise the character for making those choices or to say he's 'got himself to blame', not least because how informed he is in those decisions can really vary: for example, pre-ASOIAF, he chooses Cersei over Casterly Rock - there's a considerable level of manipulation involved here and he's only a teenager. But GRRM is stressing here that the relationships we see in AGOT wasn't a foregone conclusion that just happened. Meanwhile, in AGOT, we know Jaime repeatedly chooses Cersei over like... the greater good lol, and this is a substantially more informed decision that he makes several times over. Still less informed in the sense that Jaime doesn't fully understand how unbalanced that devotion is, but with what info he has, and what mindset he's in, these are the decisions he makes. In short, the reasons he makes these choices are hugely complex, but they are there - the relationship isn't innate.

Which is why Jaime's feelings and decisions around the relationship can and do change. In ASOS onwards, Jaime stops choosing Cersei when he A) abandons his return to Cersei to go risk his life rescuing Brienne, B) refuses Cersei in the White Sword Tower, C) hides things from Cersei inc. Operation Rescue Sansa & Operation Rescue Tyrion, D) burns her letter in AFFC and E) abandons House Lannister and Cersei's orders to join Brienne (plus probably more I'm forgetting lol). The complete lack of agency Jaime has in his relationship with Cersei in the show just isn't present in the books.

For show Jaime, everything has to come down to Cers, because it treats their relationship like an affliction present in everything he says and does, that he has no choice in and cannot grow beyond. In the books, it's explored as an actual relationship that can be strengthened or weakened and healed or broken by the way each behaves and grows and the things happening around them, and how these rises and falls influence the choices each makes in how they carry their relationship forward. It's a relationship that Jaime chooses to abandon in AFFC/ADWD, and that Cersei, in her own way, has abandoned a hundred times over.

Like there's something involuntary about everyone's attraction to anyone, you can't force every aspect of it - but it's not simply a given that this is your person and nothing they say or do could ever come between you because that's just how it is. People can and do end up believing such things and many can suffer horribly for it, but it's not for any narrative to try and validate that kind of belief - and I don't think ASOIAF does. That's definitely GOT's thing, not GRRM's.

[tamelee]

Hii

How are you doing? 🥰 Hope you are doing well 💕

Thank you for answering my pervious question💓✨

Today I was reading some pRo Ss shippers and anti ss shippers agreements. When anti ss shipper said sasuke tried to kill sakura 3 times, the pro shipper answered :" he tried to kill everyone! Not only sakura " (u know they defeat their ship like this) and I don't know but if someone (ss shippers) tell you something like that: he wants to kill everyone, he is not in his right mind, sakura was the last person he doesn't want to hurt her, killing sakura was dramatic for sasuke and ect...) ) what will you say to them? I really want to know. I will appreciate it if you share your thoughts about this with me 🥰💕✨

BTW have a good day and night 💫💛

Hi @Nancy-8140 ! 💕 I am- hope you're well too! Sorry this took a while ( 〃．．)

Anyway, how tiring must it be for such people to have to come up with such excuses? Why do they need other people to believe in them too? Nothing in the story proves whatever contradictions they're preaching. And yet. 

I would say nothing to them tbh because it is impossible to get through their thick skulls. Arguing is futile. They're thinking in delusional ways to protect a SS-Headcanon or Sakura in particular.

It seems they love to "forget" why this conflict even happened in the first place. The most infuriating thing about it is that a large portion truly hates Sasuke. One of the biggest excuses is always "well his character is just complex" which is true, but not an excuse for them to use as a Joker-card. Someone doesn't understand their SS-Headcanon? Well Sasuke's just complex they say and you don't understand it apparently. They say they're a fan but if they need to downplay his character for the sake of Sakura? No hesitation. 

And SS is for the sake of Sakura. You can't tell me otherwise. 

Yes, Sasuke almost killed Sakura during the Kage Arc if it weren't for Kakashi saving her ass. And then Naruto. But, this was a response to her coming to backstab him. Both figuratively as a supposed teammate/comrade, and literally with a poisoned kunai. Which may be one of the dumbest moves from someone who is objectively one of the smarter characters. Something Sasuke himself complimented her on when they were kids. Do you think this was accidental on Kishimoto's part? Of course not. Was Sasuke not allowed to defend himself? Why is this always left out of the conversation though? Sasuke easily sees right through her. Was he supposed to stand there, arms open wide and say "okay, I know you're lying to me, make everything about yourself again but come and kill me as you please"? She didn't even care to listen or understand the guy she supposedly loves so much. She can't have him? She can't understand his motives? It hurts her to see his actions unfold and it has nothing to do with her? Fine then die I guess. Because "bearing the burden" of killing him.. as she took upon herself which no one told her to btw, is still self-inserting herself onto him in a last-ditch effort. And superficial as hell. Naruto fought tooth and nail to understand Sasuke unlike her. Never mind all her teachers and friends she manipulated and put in danger while doing so. Why else would she also put herself in danger AGAIN for the second time when Kakashi pleaded.. well, ordered her not to. When he told her to stay back? When she absolutely knew she stood no chance? How many times do they have to tell her she's irrelevant to him? 

Because why was she so desperate? Why are their fans? 

Sasuke never cared to kill Sakura before that and didn't care for her life after. That much was clear as we saw during the War Arc. He thanked her for loving him which is seen as a rejection for mutual love btw and left her on a bench. Because yes, that's human decency. It's true that Sasuke saw her as a comrade when they were Genin but that's it. 

Sasuke needed to kill Naruto. Not Sakura. And the only reason he needed to do so was so he could be alone and away from that love. This is stated time and time again. Meaning: no one else. Even characters like Orochimaru and Kabuto who are great observers realized this early on. Important here being that Kishimoto chose to show this to us readers. 

But despite the killing part and negativity. Sasuke sacrificed his life for Naruto and his dreams as if it was natural. Sasuke didn't hesitate to stand up against Sakura for Naruto. He smirks and is playful with him yet cries after the confession in the end. He freely shows emotion around Naruto. "It's okay to cry when you're happy."

So what the hell are those shippers talking about? "..it was dramatic for Sasuke" they're pulling those statements out of their asses tbh. 

I'll show the link since it's on your own blog.

You know, sometimes I do read a contrasting essay here and there but this is laughable. 🎤: What you have there is the ultimate example.. I mean good job of finding one btw. I hadn't seen one this creative in a while. 

They're saying Sasuke only left Konoha for 5 years instead of 12ish?

Not that it is any better for their ship btw. He did meet up with Naruto, so much so that mr. Hokage apparently forgot that Sarada was in the picture..

But anyway where is the proof? Lol. Meanwhile Kishimoto clearly states the facts and in Gaiden it says that Sarada has never seen Sasuke. That's the entire plot. These people are so funny. Hey, to be fair, I respect the hustle. Not the tone though, jfc. And I'm sorry but I skimmed quickly through the rest because that is purely headache inducing and not worth reading. Typical. 

Long-winded excuses, downplaying Naruto and Sasuke's characters and their bond, "it's not bad because (x) is worse!", "you wouldn't understand my ship because you're dumb and not because I don't show any evidence", "you don't get the characters even though it's my headcanon", etc etc- 

Yeah I wouldn't bother if I were you.

Hope you have a nice day ✨

[madara-fate]

If you think Sakura’s love was a source of strength then how do you explain how it never amounted to a hype moment where all we see is empowerment? She shields Sasuke from Gaara, then what? Cool moment, it even made Naruto recall LOW events, but it’s followed up by her held hostage, savior Naruto saving the day, Sasuke taking the L, telling her Naruto saved her… bc she believed it had to have been Sasuke, but it wasn’t. Perfectly anchored into that trope.

She never got to actually save Sasuke as all her attempts were tanked in order to make Naruto do it. Which is 1 thing, but she didn’t even get /slightly/ successful or lay the groundwork for naruto. between 181 & 693 she’s confined to the same disposition towards Sasuke, implore him, get knocked out, have Naruto do more. Like there’s been absolutely 0 growth in between. Even Naruto who took the VOTE1 L, still actually displayed a peak at that point, Sakura didn’t. He made their parting a classic drama break up rather than a ninja showdown. What’s worse is that after failing to muster up the courage to kill Sasuke post summit, she actually verbalizes the powerlessness. She compares herself to Naruto who’s determined with a rock solid resolve, while she can’t do or even say anything & wavers. She ends it at “all i can do is trust them” how’s that empowerment? It’s the opposite of that, it’s a set back, accepting belonging to a lesser league. Her will to save Sasuke bc of her love, amounts to trusting the great Naruto to do it for her. Exactly my point lol. Previously she tells Naruto she’ll join him, he should wait for her, but it doesn’t amount to anything. forest of death was made about Sasuke, Naruto AND Lee. When she speaks of being behind, she means behind both Naruto & Sasuke, it was that disposition that motivated her not her feelings for Sasuke alone. We see very early on how she can’t introduce herself or voice her dream bc of her feelings for Sasuke, Kakashi says girls that age care more about love than ninjutsu. In the bell test she’s more worried about Sasuke than the test itself, it’s her demise, and ofc the cherry on top before sasuke explains to her that he has someone to kill, she tries to get him to give up as they’d get separated due to the power gap. Now of course the MC needed his wins but it’s hard to comprehend why NS couldn’t work together at any point without having Sakura immediately axed from the clash like the first time they met Sasuke post TS. Tsunade & Jiraya got to square up against Orochimaru… anyways that’s what i mean and i find it so weird people don’t see it when it’s beyond obvious. all of Sakura’s peaks are actually distant from all that. I don’t view her love as an addiction bc it was a simple school crush that blossomed into true love once they met each other, but my perception as a fan doesn’t negate the creator’s perception, and since he doesn’t understand girls (barely respects the gender if you ask me) can’t write romance it’s not that crazy to think that’s how he views it. Most of his prominent female characters have an exaggerated romantic aspect to their personas and character arcs while for male characters it’s simply an afterthought, exception being Obito although the Rub stuff felt more like a tired plot device than real romantic development, and to think that he made half of the romantic aspect for Sakura’s character be associated with negativity because it clashed with the MC amongst other things, truly speaks volumes.

If you think Sakura’s love was a source of strength then how do you explain how it never amounted to a hype moment where all we see is empowerment?

The mere fact that you actually believe that the only way to prove that Sakura's love for Sasuke served as a source of strength is for her to have had "a hype moment", really says all I need to know about how you see love and its worth, goodness gracious man...

She shields Sasuke from Gaara, then what? Cool moment, it even made Naruto recall LOW events, but it’s followed up by her held hostage, savior Naruto saving the day, Sasuke taking the L, telling her Naruto saved her… bc she believed it had to have been Sasuke, but it wasn’t. Perfectly anchored into that trope.

And you honestly don't see the toxicity behind this perspective? You honestly believe that just because Sakura got taken hostage and that Naruto was ultimately the one to defeat Gaara, that somehow means that the significance of Sakura's actions towards Sasuke was non existent? That's kinda crazy.

Let's look at another example - Hinata. She put her life on the line to save Naruto's life from Pain, because she loved him. It doesn't matter that she ultimately didn't defeat Pain, because that wasn't the point. The point was how her love motivated her to stare death in the face and confront it head on, and that was the hype moment.

Similarly, the mere fact that Sakura opted to sacrifice her life to protect Sasuke (which worked by the way, Gaara was going for the kill there, and Sakura saved him from death), was enough to illustrate how her love for Sasuke served as a source of strength. Previously when confronted by Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, she was absolutely petrified in fear at the murderous intent before her:

But when facing Gaara, she stared death directly in the face, and never hesitated in the slightest:

Why? Because she was trying to save Sasuke's life, and it worked. Her love for Sasuke was far more powerful than any fear she may have had, and it served as her strength to stand her ground. So I don't know why you're trying to tell me how Sakura's love never served as a source of strength, despite this and several other examples directly proving you wrong. Just because Sakura then got taken hostage and Sasuke wasn't the one to bring Gaara down, that doesn't take anything away from the significance of that scene.

She never got to actually save Sasuke as all her attempts were tanked in order to make Naruto do it.

Wrong. As I've already highlighted above, Sakura successfully saved Sasuke from Gaara. She also saved him from losing himself to the Curse Seal during the Forest of Death, and she saved him again when he was trapped in the other dimension. Not to mention when she saved both him and Naruto from bleeding out at the end of their 2nd fight. So your definition of "saving", is severely skewed.

Between 181 & 693 she’s confined to the same disposition towards Sasuke, implore him, get knocked out, have Naruto do more. Like there’s been absolutely 0 growth in between.

Are you serious? Are you actually serious? Let me jog your memory.

When Sasuke was leaving the village, she confessed, and tried to stop him with words.

During their reunion at Orochimaru's hideout, she tried to attack him, her attack was interrupted, but the intent was there.

During their reunion in the Land of Iron, she initially tried to trick him, and after that didn't work, she tried to kill him, and had the opportunity to, but couldn't do it because she still loved him and knew he could still be saved. There, Sakura's love for Sasuke stopped her from making a big mistake, because she was ultimately right - Sasuke could still be saved, and he was.

Then during her second confession, she tried using words again, because what else was she going to do?

It's like you and many other people think that just because Sakura didn't foolishly try to fight Sasuke in that instance, it means that she was a stupid fangirl who lost all her development and regressed. What good would attacking him have done? She was clearly no match for him, and it's not like she hadn't tried to in the past, which you failed to acknowledge. So tell me, where was all the "imploring" and "getting knocked out" between chapters 181 and 693?

Even Naruto who took the VOTE1 L, still actually displayed a peak at that point, Sakura didn’t. He made their parting a classic drama break up rather than a ninja showdown.

And what on earth does that prove?

What’s worse is that after failing to muster up the courage to kill Sasuke post summit, she actually verbalizes the powerlessness. She compares herself to Naruto who’s determined with a rock solid resolve, while she can’t do or even say anything & wavers. She ends it at “all i can do is trust them” how’s that empowerment? It’s the opposite of that, it’s a set back, accepting belonging to a lesser league.

"Accepting belonging to a lesser league"? Where did you even get that from? How does one's decision to let other people resolve their issues, in any way amount to classifying yourself as a lesser being? I mean seriously, what are you talking about? Sakura's love for Sasuke and the effect it has on her isn't being called into question here. It's the fact that she can't exchange fists with Sasuke in the same way that Naruto can. It's the fact that she had resolved to kill Sasuke, and that's what she wavered from, which is not a bad thing.

You're asking "how's that empowerment", when no one said that it was supposed to show empowerment. Not every scene that Sasuke and Sakura are in has to showcase some huge hype scene about the power of love, but you're acting as if this somehow means that her love for Sasuke has never been showcased as such, when I've already proven that to be wrong multiple times already.

Her will to save Sasuke bc of her love, amounts to trusting the great Naruto to do it for her. Exactly my point lol.

Yet another example of not only your severely warped idea of what "saving" means, but also on your problematic perspective regarding how apparently, "empowerment" only matters if you have "a hype moment" and defeat the big bad of the arc. It apparently can't be depicted in any other manner.

Her will to save Sasuke because of her love, amounted to her putting her life on the line to protect him from Gaara (which was "a hype moment" if I've ever seen one). It amounted to her resolving to get stronger so she could help bring him back. It amounted to her never truly giving up on the idea that he could be saved, despite how consumed in darkness he was. It amounted to her pushing herself beyond her limits to the point of almost passing out, in order to save him from the other dimension. But of course, all of that is meaningless to you right?

Previously she tells Naruto she’ll join him, he should wait for her, but it doesn’t amount to anything.

How does it not amount to anything? She kept her word, she got stronger, and went with him. Just because they didn't bring Sasuke back in that instance, doesn't mean the journey was pointless.

forest of death was made about Sasuke, Naruto AND Lee. When she speaks of being behind, she means behind both Naruto & Sasuke, it was that disposition that motivated her not her feelings for Sasuke alone.

No one said otherwise, so why are you even mentioning all of this in the first place?

We see very early on how she can’t introduce herself or voice her dream bc of her feelings for Sasuke, Kakashi says girls that age care more about love than ninjutsu. In the bell test she’s more worried about Sasuke than the test itself, it’s her demise, and ofc the cherry on top before sasuke explains to her that he has someone to kill, she tries to get him to give up as they’d get separated due to the power gap. Now of course the MC needed his wins but it’s hard to comprehend why NS couldn’t work together at any point without having Sakura immediately axed from the clash like the first time they met Sasuke post TS. Tsunade & Jiraya got to square up against Orochimaru… anyways that’s what i mean and i find it so weird people don’t see it when it’s beyond obvious. all of Sakura’s peaks are actually distant from all that. I don’t view her love as an addiction bc it was a simple school crush that blossomed into true love once they met each other, but my perception as a fan doesn’t negate the creator’s perception, and since he doesn’t understand girls (barely respects the gender if you ask me) can’t write romance it’s not that crazy to think that’s how he views it.

I don't even know what the point of all of that was. You weren't reinforcing any of your points, nor did you attempt to refute any of mine. It just seems like a weird tangent.

Most of his prominent female characters have an exaggerated romantic aspect to their personas and character arcs while for male characters it’s simply an afterthought, exception being Obito although the Rub stuff felt more like a tired plot device than real romantic development

Not true, but again, this is completely off topic and I'm not gonna get into that discussion here.

and to think that he made half of the romantic aspect for Sakura’s character be associated with negativity because it clashed with the MC amongst other things, truly speaks volumes.

You're justifying the claim that Sakura's love was associated with negativity because it apparently clashed with the MC? How did Sakura's love for Sasuke clash with Naruto? It never created any friction between them, they resolved to save Sasuke together, and Naruto was one of the biggest supporters of Sakura's love for Sasuke, so where was this supposed clash? And why would it even automatically be a seen as a negative thing if it did clash with the MC? Just because Naruto also liked her at one point, doesn't mean her feelings for Sasuke were automatically bad, goodness.

[ootahime]

what is utahime’s role in the future? — a prediction (manga spoilers)

part 1 (unedited)

I WAS ABOUT TO POST IT BUT I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT AND I WAS SO HURT FR!!!!! I HAD REWRITE THIS ENTIRE THING </33

part 2 is here!

in this post, i will be analyzing the information we’ve been given about utahime so far to form a prediction about her future role in the jujutsu kaisen series. if you’re as interested in utahime’s character as i am, please feel free to keep reading :3 (i’ll also be talking about her relationship with gojo a bit too)

soukatsu_ on twt!

kaikaikitan on twt!

utahime iori is a semi-grade 1 sorcerer working as a student supervisor/teacher at kyoto jujutsu high school. she loves drinking beer and going to karaoke. she’s also close friends with shoko and she’s not particularly fond of gojo most of the time. what else do we know about her?

hates sweets (funny she’s the complete opposite of gojo)

she’s great at singing and it’s a huge part of her technique

squabbling with gojo became a reflex :3

everyone absolutely adores utahime

loves watching soccer and baseball

a terrible drunk (worse than naobito zenin)

gojo is her main source of stress

let’s dive into her personality and abilities!

chapter 65

before i get into it, i think it’d be best if i were to explain the timeline because a lot of people seem to be confused about this one particular thing. utahime is born on february 18th, 1987. contrary to popular belief, she is not 3 years older than gojo. it is november 2018 in the story because gojo was sealed on halloween. if gojo was born on december 7th, 1989, that would mean that right now, he is only 28 years old. he has yet to turn 29.

the year is 2007. gojo satoru is a second year at tokyo jujutsu high school. the japanese school year begins in april which suggests that gojo is only 17 at the time (even if it’s not april, it doesn’t look like winter yet so it’s unlikely that he’s already 18). utahime is 20 because it is past february. she is a 2nd grade sorcerer at the age of 20. that’s not bad at all!

chapter 65 introduces young utahime and mei on a mission together within a cursed site. in real time, they’ve been gone for two days which is a cause of concern for gojo, shoko, and geto because the two haven’t contacted anyone since the beginning of their mission.  the two begin to suspect something is wrong because the hallway markers they’ve set in place disappeared, and no matter how far they travel within the halls, the end is nowhere in sight.  mei theorizes that the cursed spirit is overlapping the space as they travel forward.  utahime agrees with this speculation and proposes a plan to escape the cursed spirit’s grasp by moving erratically.  notice how she says that if one of them should escape, they can try to attack from the outside or call for help.  if utahime was not capable of inflicting damage on anything then she would have told mei to escape and attack if she can while she waited to be rescued.  however, she didn’t.  she included herself in the sentence which leads me to believe that she is capable of going on the offense if needed.  

keep in mind that at this point in time, mei is a grade 1 sorcerer.  she is knowledgeable about all things involving jujutsu because she is experienced and skillful.  we can see this aspect of her character illustrated when she theorizes that the cursed spirit is messing with the space they’re in.  she chooses to go with utahime’s plan because she agrees that it’s the best action moving forward.  this verifies that utahime is an intelligent girl that’s able to get along with pretty much anyone.  

her intellect is demonstrated once again in chapter 79.  she was able to deduce the possibility of there being more than one traitor and the fact that one is probably a higher up.  she also narrowed down the mechamaru as the mole of kyoto not because he was acting suspicious but by process of elimination.  she thought thoroughly of his technique and how easy it would be for him to manipulate devices small enough to be undetectable.  

sure you can argue that she should already know all her students’ abilities and whatnot but you have to admit that it’s hard trying to sniff out the traitor when no one is acting suspicious.  in addition to that, how did she know that there was a traitor in the top brass?  i would have never guessed that tbh LOL (maybe bc im an idiot).

okay, now that we have established that she’s intelligent, let’s answer a more important question.  is utahime weak?

chapter 33

if gojo calls utahime weak, does that mean there is some truth to it?  well it is true that she is weaker than him because he’s the strongest and all.  in my opinion, he’s just teasing her.  he probably found that calling her weak is what really riles her up.  maybe i’ll talk about why he loves teasing her so much in a later post.  but anyway, gojo calls everybody and their mom weak.  he even said jogo was weak and we know how powerful that guy is.  gojo’s words alone do not indicate much about utahime’s power.  in fact, i don’t even think he has seen her use her technique yet.  he’s probably only ever heard of how it works.  this is what i think their conversation about her technique was like:

gojo: hm?  ur cursed technique is singing?  can u show me?

utahime: what!  no way!  

gojo: why not?

*one of the classmates tells him that she can only use her CT once in a while because it consumes a lot of energy*

gojo: hahaha!  u have to conserve cursed energy to use ur CT?  why are u so weak, utahime?

utahime: i!  am!  your!  senpai!  respect!  me!

what i’m trying to say is that gojo loves poking fun of people.  we should not believe him when he calls someone weak because compared to him, everyone is weak.  

this is a little off topic but let’s examine him telling her, “and you don’t have the nerves, utahime.”  i think he’s trying to say that there’s no way she’ll ever do something like that because she’s not the type to put her students in danger.  remember the soft expression and relieved smile on her lips when she said that she was glad the students were safe after the kyoto incident?  gojo was directly in front of her so not only did he hear her say that, but he could have seen the look on her face too.  even if he told her that she didn’t have the guts to betray the school to get on her nerves, he knew that utahime simply cared too much about the students so he ruled her out as a suspect right away.  this is why he ultimately decided to confide in her and ask her to help him.  

i’m a person who loves over-analyzing things.  i really enjoy the dynamic between gojo and utahime.  they’ve known each other for more than 11 years and although they always bicker, there is an unspoken feeling of trust between the two.  gojo can do anything and everything by himself because he is truly the strongest person alive, but he still knows when to rely on others.  him deciding to entrust utahime with such a job implies that he believes in utahime’s abilities.

chapter 52

she’s not using any cursed energy here--not to our knowledge at least.  this is just pure skill.  she was able to swiftly evade the swing from haruta.  he was surprised himself considering the fact that he was right behind her.  how do we know her CT isn’t speed?  after haruta swung at her, we can see that some of her hair got cut off.  if she was using her CT then speed should be her specialty.  she should have been able to completely avoid the attack altogether but she didn’t.  of course this isn’t a wow moment because jujutsu sorcerers should know how to dodge attacks, however, i’m just trying to get the point across that she’s not a defenseless person without her technique or others.  let’s not forget that semi-grade 1 isn’t a weak rank either.  you can’t simply be recommended to be a grade 1 sorcerer if you only can support others.  

chapter 48

i want to bring up this panel. it suggests that utahime and takuma are sorcerers who have not experienced black flash and therefore, do not understand the essence of cursed energy as well as those who have like gojo and nanami.  i find it strange how takuma and utahime were used to represent sorcerers who haven’t experienced it yet.  is the purpose to demonstrate that there is a clear difference in skill between adult sorcerers like utahime and takuma compared to gojo and nanami?  i could be nitpicking but the order of todo’s statement doesn’t line up with the sorcerers being shown.  let me explain in depth.  todo starts off by saying, “for those who have experienced black flash as compared to those who have not...” wouldn’t it make more sense to show gojo and nanami on the right side to represent sorcerers who have experienced black flash?  that was mentioned first, after all.  gojo and nanami should appear when todo says “for those who have experience black flash” while utahime and takuma should be shown right after to personify the second part, “as compared to those who have not.”  i’m just making it more complicated than it actually is LOLOL i’m sure it really just means they haven’t experienced black flash yet, which is completely fine.  i also find it fascinating how they used utahime to contrast gojo.  with nanami and takuma it makes sense.  nanami is someone takuma looks up to, he wants to gain nanami’s approval before he deems himself worthy of a promotion. what about utahime and gojo?  what’s the purpose of comparing those two together when it’s obvious that gojo knows more about the essence of cursed energy more than anyone else?  i might be delusional whoops

----

let me know what you guys think?  this is only a part 1 so i haven’t gotten around to answering the question.  i’m pretty much done with the second part, i just need to revise it a little.  i think after i post part 2, i’ll try to interpret all the gojo and utahime moments in the manga >.<