#but still shown as an important part of their identity

[inafieldofstarflowers]

Obviously the first chapter of The Foxhole Court lays the groundwork/provides background for a lot of parts of the series (Exy, the Foxes, who Andrew is, hints at Neil’s past, etc.), but I think one of the most important (& honestly masterful) things Nora does in it is establish the relationship between Neil, Exy, and Kevin.

When we meet Neil, he’s literally on the bleachers in pain from watching the Exy court be turned back into a soccer field, because that’s basically a crime to him. While yes, this is a funny comment because it’s so deeply dramatic, the following explanation that it’s the one thing Neil has never been able to let go of through all of the identities he’s held makes it clear that Exy is something more to Neil than just a game; rather, it’s a symbol of his lost childhood, of the way things might have been if he and his mother hadn’t run. Still, Neil is torn about the idea of pursuing Exy, because his love for it is warring with his mom’s instructions not to play again in order to remain safe and under the radar.

Enter David Wymack with a contract—or, really, Kevin Day with a contract.

Even Wymack says that Kevin is the one signing Neil. Kevin, who Neil met once as a child, when they played a game of Exy together. Kevin, who has spent the years Neil has been on the run building his skills to become a star Exy player. Kevin, who has a career it is obvious Neil has followed closely.

At this point, Neil reaches two important conclusions:

He would be in danger of losing everything if Kevin remembered him, but he doesn’t seem to

The offer of a contract doesn’t matter, because Neil Josten isn’t real—no matter “how much he liked being Neil Josten”

And this is where (in my opinion) things get very interesting: as Neil thinks about the offer to play for the Foxes—& therefore with Kevin—he thinks that he doesn’t want to give up Exy because “It was the only thing that made him feel real,” and then follows this up with the thought that “[His] past was locked in Kevin’s memories. It was proof he existed, same as this game they both played. Kevin was proof Neil was real.”

Since Kevin was first mentioned, it has been in relation to his Exy career—his partnership with Riko, the broken hand that halted his career briefly, signing to the Foxes, the speculation about Andrew’s impact on that choice—because that is the thing about him that matters to Neil—or, perhaps more accurately, it’s the only thing Neil really knows about him. Neil’s concerns about Kevin remembering him are so loud that they can make it easy to overlook the fact that Kevin and Neil aren’t reunited childhood friends, they’re just people who essentially had a really fucked up playdate once.

The thing is, that day is the one with the biggest what-ifs for Neil, and as a result, Kevin is wrapped up in those what-ifs: for Neil, it’s become a question of if I had stayed, would I have reached stardom like Kevin has? Exy and Kevin, while not fully interchangeable, are certainly inextricably linked in Neil’s mind, and they are also both tied up in Neil’s dreams and regrets.

Why does this matter? Two main reasons: first, having this background shows us why Kevin is so important to Neil: no matter how much Neil doesn’t want to be Nathaniel anymore, Nathaniel was the one who was real. The only things at the start of the series that give Neil Josten that same feeling are playing Exy and Kevin Day.

Second, we are immediately shown that Neil’s perception of Kevin is not entirely trustworthy, because its foundation is one traumatic childhood event followed by a years-long parasocial relationship. And, while Neil certainly gets to know Kevin better as the series goes on and they actually start spending time together, there are many moments where Neil views Kevin through a lens that is too close to being “Kevin=star Exy player,” which results in him misinterpreting Kevin’s meaning (ie after Kevin learns who he is and Neil thinks he’s just concerned about their season even though Kevin’s telling him to run) or simply brushing over other parts of his personality (ie when he buys into the “Kevin only cares about Exy” idea some of the others have said). By making us aware of this early, Nora is preparing us to examine what Neil’s saying for bias by showing that he isn’t an entirely reliable narrator, and it’s done so well in just a few pages.

[cathymee]

cont. i love rambling in the tags + no u can never make me make a post that has like 100 words in it

[moonlight-alexia]

17 years old | a.p.

alexia putellas x teen!reader | 1.3k | you make your senior debut for barcelona

ˏˋ°•*⁀ this is part of the pollito universe. i hope you enjoy it :)

Standing on the sideline, waiting for your number to be put up on the board, you felt like your heart was about to beat out of your chest. You’d been ready for this day to come since you’d been invited to train with the first team. Though it still feels like time has gone by so quickly. It felt like just yesterday you were in the stands watching your mami on this very same pitch.

But that was four years ago now. Now you were older, your siblings were older, you weren’t that 13 year old watching her mami play. You were 17 now, about to step onto the same pitch that you had only dreamt about playing on. A world of responsibility was about to unfold the minute you stepped out, you weren’t just playing in the youth teams anymore, but about to play with the same players you’d grown to idolise.

It was a surreal feeling but one you were sure you were ready for. You’d watched your mami for years and everyone knows Alexia would’ve done everything she could to make sure you were as prepared, mentally and physically, as you could be for this moment. 

You knew you’d be making your debut in this match, despite having been on the matchday squad list for a fair few matches before this one. You also knew that your mami had been told as well, considering that you’d overheard her trying to get as many people as she could to come support you today. Your Tia Alba on the phone asking your mami what was so special about this match and then your mami’s hushed whispers were a dead giveaway to anyone who was overhearing.

The club saved Alexia’s number just for you, everyone knew you would definitely make your way through the teams to the first. There was never any doubt. Your passion for the game and your work ethic was identical to Alexia’s. There was a moment where you had second thoughts about taking the number eleven. But it was your mami’s legacy and you couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else wearing that number at this club.

Standing on the sideline, the number eleven with your name this time on your back, it didn’t feel as daunting as you always imagined it would. You were nervous, yes, but you knew no matter what happened today your mami was proud of you. Your family, your teammates, your mami’s teammates, the club, they were all already proud. Yes you had some big shoes to fill, you knew the expectations of the fans were going to be high, but you are a Putellas and you know you can do it.

You almost missed your number being shown on the board, being brought back to reality when arms were wrapped around you tightly, ‘Show them what you got kid. You’ve got this,’ Whispered in your ear during the embrace. A little nod of your head and a smile plastered across your face you ran onto the pitch. 

‘Pollito! Pollito!’ You didn’t need to look back at the stands to be able to hear Mapi’s voice over everyone else's.

‘Pollito, one day they’ll be chanting like that for you here,’ Mapi leaned over, pointing at the crowd that was chanting your mami’s name, ‘And I’ll be the first one,’ 

Coming on in the 80th minute, you really didn’t expect to be able to add a whole lot of importance to the match. You were just happy to be stepping onto the pitch, getting your first senior appearance. Though whoever was in charge of your script had other plans for you. Not many 17 year olds making their first appearance would have the confidence to take a shot like you did. 

Intercepting the ball midway between the half and 18 yard box, one quick glance up to see the keeper off their line and you didn’t take a second to think about taking the shot. Everything was a massive blur, your first touch was a goal and you hardly had any time to even think about it before you were being pulled into hugs and head pats by your teammates.Finishing the match with two goals in twelve minutes, a debut that no one was going to forget. 

‘Ale, watch out our little pollito already starting her goal count. Coming to take your top spot away from you if she keeps going like this,’ Mapi slung her arm around your shoulder bringing you in for a side hug. You laughed a little, shaking your head playfully. Your mami rolled her eyes. They’d all made their way down after the match, not wasting a second to come see you. You who was still in shock and not believing everything was real and ready to wake up realising it was all a dream. Eventually it would sink in.

‘You suck at celebrating,’ You laughed at your little brother, ‘All the time you seen me and my celebrations, I’d thought you’d learn a thing from me,’ Your brother was just like you and your mami, going through his own La Masia journey now, and you’d often found yourself practicing and playing football in the backyard together. You were both quite competitive with each other and Alexia has had to break up her fair share of fights and arguments between you both. But your closeness never faltered.

‘Hermano, you gotta teach me how you backflip,’ You smirked looking mostly at Alexia when you spoke to your brother within the group. You knew that if you even thought about trying something like that it would send your mami into a slight panic, the look in her eye now and the slight falter of her smile. You liked winding her up. A backflip celebration was definitely in your future, already planning it for a match you know your mami would be at.

‘Sí, celebrate in style pollito,’ Your tía Alba encouraging it, anything to annoy her sister

‘Eh, you’ll figure it out,’ Your mami pulled you in for a hug, you could see just how proud she was of you, ‘Maybe a less dangerous one, por favor,’ You laughed but made no effort to promise your mami that.

‘Hmm, I guess can’t have you growing more grey hairs,’ You playfully squinted while looking at your mami’s hair, Alexia gently slapping your hand away before you could point any out. 

‘If any, you lot are the reason for them,’ Alexia pointed towards the entire group that surrounded you. You all laughed, and somewhere during all the banter and the teasing you realised just how lucky you were. Seeing them all here together, you wouldn’t have made it this far without them.

Your mami turned you around so you were looking at her now front on, her hands gently holding the side of your head, ‘I’m so proud of you pollito,’ Words that you often heard from your mami but this time it felt different hearing it. A good kind of different. Alexia gave you a kiss on your forehead before, reluctantly, letting you go. Your mami still wishes you were that four year old who still fell over every time you tried to kick a ball, you grew too fast for her liking but she’s excited to watch your journey. She knows you’ll go far, mother’s intuition as she likes to tell you when you call her biased. 

Your little sister tugged at your shirt and you picked her up, she was small for her age so she still sat nicely on your hip just like she always has. You eventually broke away from your family, still holding your little sister while you went back to your teammates and went to some of the fans that were trying to get your attention.

Your mami watched from afar. Her little pollito wasn’t so little anymore, ‘The world is yours pollito,’

[juicebuck]

like okay. look. there is in fact zero evidence either way that buck liked or disliked the fact that tommy called him evan. as in, it was never specifically stated. but "buck never corrected him" is not a convincing argument for "liked it" or (even more of a reach) "loved it" on account of literally everything about buck. not just his tendency to fall into the same people-pleasing patterns and identity problems. but everything that the show has established about buck as a name. as a chosen name. as one of the few things that is his. like. buck as an identity is so central and important to buck as a character. because it's one he chose for himself and no one else. and significantly it's what the family that is his that he chose for himself call him. and the thing about buck with tommy is that. well. buck lost his grip on his identity somewhere in the idea of tommy. he hinges his sexuality on tommy. doesn't examine it any further than tommy. he also just, doesn't correct tommy on his interests. lets tommy keep believing they're into the same things. even though he is Not interested in the things tommy is. which in part leads to. the lakers tickets. six months later and tommy still thinks buck loves basketball. which he Hates btw. and well, he lets tommy call him evan. and like, also throughout all of this, tommy is on the fringes, shown consistently to be on the outside of the family buck chose, at odds with who buck is. buck never lets him in. because there is a part of buck that knows that there is something not right here, that tommy is dating a version of him that doesn't even really exist. and well ultimately tommy realises this too. when he calls him buck only when breaking up with him.

[lu-is-not-ok]

two in one theory... i am listening very intently if you ever feel up to share it!!

Alright, so this is gonna be... as close to an Abridged explanation of the theory as I can make, because if I went off on everything about it I would end up writing a whole dissertation or five hour video essay script on this shit.

There are gonna be three main sections to this post - Hong Lu's Daiyuisms, Hong Lu's Themes of Identity and how that connects to the concept of Two in One, and the Daiyu-Baoyu theory itself.

Strap in folks.

Hong Lu's Daiyuisms

If you know anything about my theories in the earlier days of Limbus, you might know that I'm one of the very few people who was convinced Hong Lu is actually Daiyu, due to some evidence I found personally compelling. This has not changed, as we've only gotten just as much extra evidence to this as we have to him being Baoyu. So let me just speedrun through some of these points.

The Fucking Jade Eye

Ok hear me out. This is maybe the least important piece of evidence but I can never stop thinking about it. Hong Lu's jade eye? Not actually fully blue! If you look closely on most of his sprites, you can see that he actually has sectoral heterochromia, meaning his jade eye is both blue and black.

Daiyu's name, quite literally, translates to blue-black jade.

Now, you could claim that this is merely meant to be an easter egg reference to her, but... is that really Project Moon's style? After all, when people speculated on Don Quixote being Sancho or a Bloodfiend partially based on her appearance all the way back since near launch, they turned out to be right.

Hong Lu's Father

As of now, there is only one instance of Hong Lu referencing his Father in Limbus, and it's a voiceline from his Base Identity:

Now, if you know anything about DOTRC, this should already be raising some flags, because if Hong Lu was just Baoyu, he would not fucking talk like that about his Father.

In the book, Baoyu is consistently shown to be afraid of his Father, for a good reason mind you, as he's his main abuser. Baoyu would not be looking forward to introducing his friends to that man.

Even if Hong Lu was trying to downplay the abuse he's recieved, this would still not fit his pattern of behavior. When topics that genuinely bother Hong Lu come up, such as what could make him distort or how rich people would enjoy gifts made of humans, he immediately pivots and tries to avoid the topic at all cost. He would not bring up his main abuser in such a lighthearted manner, he would avoid bringing him up at all cost.

However, there is a character in DOTRC which does in fact have a more positive relationship to her Father, and would likely be the one with an opinion such as that - Daiyu. Daiyu loves her Father, and when he dies she completely disappears from the story for a bit to attend his funeral. If there was anyone who would be excited to introduce their friends to their Father, it'd be Daiyu.

Lasso Hong Lu's Corrosion

I made a whole seperate post about this, but I might as well mention it here as well for the sake of completion. The design choices made for Hong Lu which are missing for Faust are very, very Daiyu-coded.

For one, not only does Hong Lu completely turn into a flower, unlike Faust, his horse also gains a flower in its mouth. For those whose knowledge of DOTRC is zero to none, Daiyu is a reincarnation of a Flower given sentience due to being watered by the Jade. I don't think I have to be the one to connect the dots between those two pieces of info for you.

The second is how the halters become a noose for Hong Lu. This, too, is a very Daiyu thing - Rose Hunter as an Abnormality represents the inability to escape one's fate, and Daiyu's fate is to die - the Jia Family arranging a marriage between Baoyu and Baochai leads to Daiyu falling deathly ill, which in itself could be considered a part of her repaying her Debt of Tears - the debt she swore to repay to the Jade/Baoyu when she was still a Flower.

The hilarity of the fact that this E.G.O came out in the same update as Hong Lu being called Baoyu in-story is not lost on me.

Rose Sign Abnormality Log

The third Log for Rose Sign ends in a very peculiar way.

There's multiple ways one can tie Hong Lu's odd reluctance to talk about flowers and the petals. One is the obvious "he's being reminded of Daiyu because she was a Flower" connection, but there's another one.

One of the most commonly potrayed images of Daiyu relates to a scene in DOTRC where she buries fallen flower petals, weeping for and lamenting the mortality of the flowers and herself. Hong Lu's reaction here to his fellow Sinners being reduced to nothing but petals upon Rose Sign's death feels like a notable parallel to Daiyu's flower burial scene.

Like literally everything about Kurokumo Hong Lu

The title for this is a bit of an exaggeration, but at the same time. I'm serious. Kurokumo Hong Lu is perhaps the most Daiyu Identity out of all the Hong Lu Identities we have, and the way he is designed to stand out among them further makes me go insane.

Kurokumo Hong Lu's most defining trait is his attitude - he often complains about his position and how authority treats him, though he doesn't really act out against them in any major way outside of making snarky or sarcastic remarks.

This is, frankly, an extremely Daiyu thing to do. Daiyu is one of the few characters who audibly complains about her treatment in the household. For example she complains about not being given as many opportunities to show off her poetry skills as her male peers are, and she recognises how, when all the girls in the family are given flowers, she's the last one to recieve them and thus is stripped of the ability to pick, being only given the leftovers.

Then there's the whole. Everything about Kurokumo Hong Lu's visual design. Because once you realize just how Daiyu-like the Identity is, you realize just how weird he is compared to other Hong Lu Identities. I mean just look how he compares to his other Identities.

He's the only Hong Lu Identity with a blue tint to his hair in the combat sprite rather than the usual purple.

He's the only Hong Lu Identity whose hairtie is a ribbon rather than a jade ring (Liu Hong Lu technically has the ribbon in his post-uptie art, but he doesn't have it in his combat sprite so I'm not counting him).

He's the only Hong Lu Identity to not be smiling in his combat sprites.

And he's the only Hong Lu Identity (and one of only four Identities in the game) whose Idle sprite has its body facing away from the opponent rather than facing towards them.

All of those combine to make him stand out like a sore thumb in a Hong Lu Identity lineup in a way that makes it feel intentional, especially since he's also the only Hong Lu Identity with that kind of notable attitude towards authority. Other Hong Lu Identities are either obedient, don't express any opinion, or just straight up are the authority.

The Baoyu reveal is framed in a very weird way

This is, admittedly, less of a Daiyuism and more of a not-Baoyuism, but I thought it'd be important to mention nonetheless.

There are a lot of things about Canto 7's reveal of Hong Lu's name being Baoyu that are very strange, especially compared to how the Canto frames Don Quixote's own reveal of actually being Sancho.

For one, the timing itself - why is such an important piece of info being revealed so early? Again, compare to Donqui - she was revealed to be a Bloodfiend in the Intervallo right before Canto 7, and the Sancho reveal only came in the second half of the Canto.

For two, the framing - Donqui's reveals are treated as what they are, Major Reveals. The Baoyu reveal on the other hand happens in a single off-handed line, with nobody reacting to it in any way. Neither Hong Lu nor the other Sinners seem to hear it after all.

And mind you, it's not like Limbus is opposed to giving us important information in off-handed lines - far from it in fact. Project Moon loves shoving little bits of foreshadowing and reveals you don't realize are reveals until way later in these kinds of off-handed lines. But the way those lines are treated is still very different to how the Baoyu reveal is treated.

Usually, when there's foreshadowing in off-handed lines, it's usually either vague enough to be something a character could say regardless of context (see Yi Sang getting hung up on the Sedatives bit in Canto 2 or Ishmael's comment about Syndicates pretending to be Families foreshadowing her own history with the Middle via Queequeg) or something that is in the middle of a scene that distracts from what is actually being said (like Hong Lu's distortion foreshadowing being in the middle of an important infodump or most of everything in Canto 2 being surrounded by a comedic tone).

None of this is present for the Baoyu reveal. There's nothing to distract you from this information, as the scene is already focused on discussing Hong Lu, meaning you're already likely to be paying attention to what is being said about him. There's also no vagueness about it, there's no way you can brush it off since not only are Wei and Xichun newly introduced characters, but it's a whole ass clearcut namedrop.

The only way I can justify that reveal being there in the form it takes is that it in itself is the distraction. Think about it. Didn't I point it out earlier that this reveal came in the same update as the E.G.O with an extremely Daiyu-coded corrosion design? Wouldn't it make sense for that reveal to be there to lower your guard, make you think you resolved that mystery, only to later on reveal it wasn't the whole story after all?

Hong Lu's Themes of Identity

So this section is a bit more vague than the Daiyuism section, because Hong Lu is the type of guy to just Say Shit all the time. It's basically just. Anything that I find relevant to the idea of Hong Lu's Identity being more complex than him just being a random guy using a pseudonym, with some (but maybe not all) of them directly tying to the idea of Two in One.

"Which one is the real you?"

There are currently two seperate scenes where Hong Lu muses on the idea of someone's identity being in some way vague or obscured.

Is Dante the person or the clock? Is the dreamer the one in the dream or the one who wakes from it? Which you is the real you? Does it even matter if that you will flutter away in the end?

This idea of there being one true self. That even if there are two, there is only one of them that is actually you. Curious, right?

Face-changing dance

During the Canto 2 scene where everyone gives their reasons for whether or not they'd be a good pick for being the one to dance, Hong Lu says this.

Bian lian is a kind of dance literally translated as "face-changing". It involves rapid changes between various masks and make-up to represent different emotions or characters.

Now, it's no secret that Hong Lu is a great actor, as we see in Canto 4, and Canto 7 shows how the comparison to theatre and actors can be used to symbolize one's performance of identity, as it does for Sancho and her Don Quixote persona.

Mind you, this reveal comes in the same scene as Sinclair's dance invoking the image of a bonfire burning all through the night according to the Mariachis, a clear foreshadowing to Canto 3 and the Literal burning down of Sinclair's home.

Hong Lu knowing bian lian could be further foreshadowing to his own skills in deception, and how he too is a sort of actor, not unlike Don Quixote. On the other hand however, it could also be a more literal foreshadowing, that he (Baoyu) Quite Literally changed his face. We won't know until Canto 8, but it is an option you know.

The HamHamPangPang dish(es)

For those who don't know, here is a list of the Sinner-themed dishes that were available at HamHamPangPang.

EDIT: THE ABOVE LIST IS SLIGHTLY INNACURATE. Hong Lu's dish is actually pepper steak (Chinese beef stir fry) and mandarin rolls, and Rodya's dish has since changed to chicken blini.

Now, chances are, not all of them have deep meanings. I don't think there's much of a deep meaning to Heathcliff and Ishmael's dishes, I think PJM just legit don't know much about British/American cuisine so they just picked something recogniseable.

However, not all of them are meaningless picks either. Ryoshu, likely a mother, has a meal literally called "parent-and-child donburi". Don Quixote, a Bloodfiend, has a garlic-based dish. These were clearly done on purpose.

So, what does it say that Hong Lu's dish is actually made up of effectively two different dishes? What does it mean for it to be the only one to be like that? And it's clear that this is one of the dishes with intent behind them like Ryoshu's, as another name for mandarin rolls is flower buns. You know. Flower. Like Daiyu.

The Daiyu-Baoyu Theory (finally)

So. I gave some evidence for why I think Hong Lu could still be Daiyu despite being revealed as Baoyu. I gave some evidence for why I think Hong Lu could be a Two in One deal, or that at the very least there's something more complex going on with his identity. But let's discuss the theory itself, how it would recontextualize certain things, and why I think it's an extremely fitting an thematically resonant direction for Hong Lu's Canto to go in.

The Theory

Here's what I speculate is going on.

Daiyu, just like in DOTRC, is someone who was taken in into the Jia Household rather than born in it, and who strongly connected with Baoyu upon meeting him. The two would end up forming a bond strong enough that they would be willing to die for one another (or, if they're in particularly argumentative moods, to kill themselves just to force the other to have to live a long life grieving over them - this is an actual argument they have in DOTRC and I pray to god this is adapted into Limbus because it's too fucking funny).

At some point, Baoyu either dies or is brought to near death, likely through the same circumstances as in DOTRC - being beaten by his Father. To save him, his memories and consciousness would be transferred to his eye, a process not dissimilar to the one Xichun brings up in Canto 7, and implanted into Daiyu's body, causing them to become a vessel for Baoyu. This would be how Hong Lu as he is now is created.

All of the above is the main basis for this theory. Everything else that I might speculate about, such as the exact nature of the two's relationship, Daiyu's more exact background and personality, how their pre-reincarnation lives could be adapted - all of those are things that are purely speculative and ones that I don't really expect to be actually fulfilled. The only bits that I am sure are likely to be true is what I laid out above.

So... what does it all mean for the future? I'm glad you asked!

The Recontextualization

Here's a collection of just a couple of things that Hong Lu has said or is depicted as that would be heavily recontextualized if this theory ends up being true.

Hong Lu surviving despite claiming he didn't fight back when his siblings first tried to kill him: With the context that he used to be two seperate people, the answer to how he survived is made very simple. Baoyu is the one who wasn't fighting back. Daiyu, however, could have still protected him in turn.

The red ribbon on Hong Lu's weapon: There is only one other Sinner who has a similar decoration on their weapon - Ryoshu, who also has a red ribbon on her sword, which could be easily connected to Yuzuki and her death. With the context of Hong Lu being Baoyu occupying Daiyu's body and thus effectively rendering their self non-existent, the red ribbon could be a parallel symbol - a symbol of Daiyu and their 'death'.

How Hong Lu treats his weapon in his base E.G.O: The way Hong Lu holds his weapon in the illustration is more like he's cradling another person. This could be a representation of how he feels about Daiyu's situation. Likewise, in the attack animation, he's not really attacking with the weapon itself, is he? He's simply using it to direct a ribbon (which in itself is missing in the illustration), the part that is actually the attack. If the weapon in the base E.G.O represents Daiyu, this could be a parallel to how Baoyu feels like he's merely directing Daiyu's body to attack, rather than being the one actually attacking.

The duality of Hong Lu IDs: There is a notable pattern among Hong Lu IDs, and that is the focus on his attitude to violence. When he's in a situation where he's obedient towards his Family, he's either uninterested in violence, bored of it, or otherwise given no other choice but to use it as a reprieve from boredom. However, when he's in a situation where he's disconnected from his Family or otherwise questioning the status quo, he's shown to not only be much more aggressive and violent, but to outright enjoy it. With the context of Hong Lu being composed of two people, this duality could represent each of his components - the obedient and violence-averse being more Baoyu-like, while the questioning and violence-favoring being more Daiyu-like.

So, there's a bunch of stuff that would be given new meaning under the premise of this theory being true. But now, what about the future? What would this theory mean for the themes and ending of Canto 8?

The Resolution

I believe this is how the Daiyu-Baoyu theory will affect Canto 8.

At some point, whether before or during the Canto, it will be revealed that Hong Lu is both Daiyu and Baoyu. There will be an attempt to seperate the two, perhaps to implant Baoyu into a more fitting, more Jia Family-approved Vessel. Perhaps because the 'arranged marriage' from DOTRC could be adapted into something more... let's say Fear and Hunger kind of marriage rather than traditional marriage.

This will leave Hong Lu to be returned to their state as Daiyu, who will be revealed to be a very different person to what the Sinners knew Hong Lu as. There is a non-zero chance that Daiyu will be unable to hear Dante or be revived by them due to the one who signed the contract being Baoyu, and so they could end up acting as an uncontrollable ally unit not unlike Xichun in Canto 7.

The climax would then be Daiyu and Baoyu reuniting and being unwilling to part with each other again, even for the sake of returning to being the fake persona that is Hong Lu, leading to a potential duo boss fight/distortion boss fight/duo distortion boss fight.

The ending would be the two of them deciding to embrace their new identity as Hong Lu and truly becoming one, discarding their pasts and the selves that had been forced on them by the Jia Family. This ending would have a twofold meaning regarding how it connects to the DOTRC adaptation.

One - it would be a direct parallel to the ending of DOTRC where Baoyu leaves to become a monk. By becoming Hong Lu and discaring his previous identities, he'd be leaving behind the earthly attachments inherent to being Baoyu and Daiyu and become spiritually whole.

Two - it would be a reflection of the major theme of DOTRC, that being "Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true. Real becomes not-real when the unreal's real." Hong Lu, as a person, is a 'fake' persona used by the 'real' Baoyu and Daiyu. However, by discarding those two identities and deciding to just be Hong Lu, the fiction of his existence becomes the truth, while his former real selves become not real.

Conclusion?

I could honestly just keep going with this post, but I think I'm going to stop myself here before I'm forced to find out what tumblr's character limit on posts is. Believe me, I was trying to be brief, and still this post is. This fucking long.

I hope this explains why this theory has been the subject of my brainrot for the past however long, and why I feel like it's surprisingly plausible despite being as deranged as it is.

Godspeed and godbless, I have classes tomorrow and I'm spending my time on this.

[le-fruit-de-la-passion]

Not a request but imagine Viktor debating whether or not to augment his dick because on one hand fun sexy times and on the other it's his dick shit can go wrong and he doesn't want to affect his fertility if he decides he does want kids

You know, as a fandom, I feel like we don't discuss the dick situation as much as we should... like, I've given my opinion on what's up with the Arcane Herald Penis Predicament (go read more on that in my one-shot The Prophet spoke, and the faithful knelt 👀), but I can't imagine the Machine Herald Cock Conundrum is the exact same...

Here is my hypothesis:

So, Machine Herald replaces the parts of his body that he considers weaknesses or that could be augmented with technology and machinery.

Dick and balls are pretty inconvenient from a technical standpoint, they're an easy target to incapacitate someone in a fight ((fun fact, some animals actually know this and will attack the face or the genitalia of other animals/humans to inflict the most damage)). Plus, they are a strong testament to how much the human body is controlled by emotions and impulses, so it wouldn't be that far-fetched to assume MH!Viktor would have gotten rid of them.

HOWEVER

I believe that this theory would be missing an important aspect of MH!Viktor's philosophy and identity. What he craves is an evolution of the human species through the removal of weaknesses of the flesh, such as illness. And evolution REQUIRES the continued existence of a species through time, which means reproduction is still a key aspect in his vision. It would be counterproductive for him to want to get rid of reproductive organs: they're an essential part of making sure a long-term evolution is even possible.

Additionally, MH!Viktor has been shown through various parts of his lore to be exceptionally caring about children. In that same vein, season 1 Viktor often brings back the concept of having a personal legacy...

Considering both of these factors, I'd say that, yes, MH!Viktor still has his human penis. BUT, he would also definitely get rid of the flaws I mentioned earlier.

For example, he would likely be able to at least partially regulate blood flow to his cock, in order to be in control of his own bodily reactions (ie., when he wants to be hard or not). He would also probably add some sort of protective cover or coating over it, with a flexible but resistant material that would prevent genitalia from being used as a weak spot. Almost like a permanent, metal cocksleeve.

If he was to gain a lover along the way, perhaps the sleeve could be tweaked a little, to add some bonus features. A length enhancer, or some bumpy ridges... the possibilities are truly endless. But it would all be solely for the purpose of his goal, of course, not for something as trivial as pleasure. A lot of research seems to correlate female orgasm to higher chances of pregnancy; he's only doing what has to be done to strengthen the future of the Glorious Evolution. Any additional physical enjoyment is merely a side effect, nothing more.

IN CONCLUSION, according to my professional, scientific opinion, I believe MH!Viktor would keep his human penis, but remove all its conceptual weaknesses with technology. There is simply no version of Viktor in the multiverse that doesn't make use of his big, fat cock, and that's just the way things are 😌.

[manicpixieyandere]

Gushing Over Magical Girls | Confessions of a Rotten Girl

The Journey of Self Accepting Sexuality and Kink

(Censored a bit because boo Tumblr).

More and more lately we have seen people online going on about how they want no more s*x in media, or at the very least no more pointless s*x in media. But trying to say what should and shouldn't be in a story purely because you deem it pointless completely misses the point. If you pay attention to the stories, you'll see when s*x has a meaning.

Usually it's something like showing how close two characters are, or the lust a certain character feels, and yes sometimes it is just fan service, but there is nothing wrong with that either.

Today we wanted to talk about two semi recent (within the last year) pieces of media that have shown s*x in ways that matter to the story. Those medias would be the manga / anime series: Gushing Over Magical Girls, and the song "Confessions of a Rotten Girl.

Both of these works center on the theme of a school aged girl learning about her own kink and sexual identity and coming to terms with the fact. Their ages are important as middle school to high school is exactly when people tend to start feeling these things (sometimes even younger).

Here is where we are gonna split the works into sections! First up is Gushing Over Magical Girls!

Throughout the story Utena finds out she is a sadist who loves to torture magical girls. At first she is disgusted by herself, thinking she needs to stop.

But the more the series goes on, the more she starts to accept this side of herself.

But the thing is; even though Utena is part of an evil organization and is playing the part, she never fully gives in. She isn't evil. She still supports the magical girls and wants to see them thrive with their La Verità forms. Utena is suspicious of Venalita and plans to work against them if things go south (of course this has yet to be seen as the series is on hiatus).

We think it's really cool to show a character come to terms with their kink and even sexual identity (she only ever plays with girls, just saying) through a story. People get so wrapped up in the "rights" of fictional characters that they forget they are just tools for the writer to tell their story. Both manga and anime are visual mediums, you can't just say what a character is thinking, you need to SHOW it. So the easiest way to do so would be having Utena actually preforming these actions on the magical girls. It also just makes it more interesting and action packed.

On the flip side we have Hatsune Miku from Confessions of a Rotten Girl. With music it isn't a visual medium, and thus the song can get away with sharing the character's thoughts through words and not visuals (although the music video does show the content Miku consumes).

In Miku's case we also have a school aged girl coming to terms with her sexual interests and identity. She also is into bondage but she is really into you guessed it, YAOI. Oh Fujo Miku how we love you.

While Utena's version of demonization is more fictional in the sense of being a villain to the magical girls, Miku's is more grounded in realistic depictions of religious guilt and trauma.

At first Miku is at confession and talks about her interests being temptations and that she is burdened by shame. She even goes as far to say she is eating the forbidden fruit.

As most of you probably know, this refers to Eve in the Garden of Eden eating from The Tree of Knowledge. Christians see this event as a tragedy, the birth of original sin. But look what Miku says:

"Could Eve be our idol? Could she lead us through the light? We'd all be disciples of her lemon driven bite".

This isn't someone upset about the bite, she is PRAISING Eve. To me this reads as a little baby Satanist in the making. If you don't know there are two types of Satanists. The first kind do not believe in Satan but instead see him as a symbol of freedom. The second half share those same beliefs but actually believe in Satan. Satanists do not see Eve eating the fruit as a tragedy, they see it as liberation. They see it as the beginning of free will.

Both Utena and Miku chose to live as their own authentic selves. Neither are really evil, but if people see them that way, then so be it.

[asterthedarkempath]

The revelation of the Death Devil’s identity is finally making it clear why each of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse joined forces to fight Pochita in the events preceding the manga.

Despite being such an important backstory event, their motivations were never clear beyond a few characters. Makima expressed her admiration for Chainsaw Man at the end of part 1. It is in Yoru’s nature to compete and fight for primacy against Chainsaw Man.

Why, then, did Famine and Death, two of the most mysterious figures in the story, join this fight when, time and again, the narrative shows that the sisters hate, dislike or want to wipe out each other?

Famine wants to save humanity through their death and is shown to be straightforward when it comes to combat, much like Yoru. She does not hesitate to battle Fakesaw Man, it is on sight. Death operates from the shadows somewhat like Makima, but it was her “I disposed of all my organs. But I still couldn’t die” that gave away her true motivations.

[sharonccrter]

I saw this really interesting video, which talked about my two biggest gripes with challengers' discourse. Which are that everyone keeps saying Art is the heart of this movie, and secondly, the insistence that Patrick doesn't love Tashi, only Art. The creator pushes back against these two narratives, and I wholeheartedly agree. Patrick is arguably the heart of this movie.

Two of the most important scenes in the movie are the churro scene and the scene between p/t out in the storm, and they both centre around Patrick.

The entire movie is about passion and purpose in life, and Patrick is the passion.

I mean, a lot of people assume Patrick didn't really have feelings for Tashi, but the only person who says that is Art. Who is vying for Tashi and is his biggest competitor. The reason I empathise with Patrick is that he is genuine and loving to Art; he does love him. However, we are shown no evidence to suggest that Patrick is this shitty boyfriend, apart from what Art says when he's trying to get into Tashi's head because his jealous. We find out that they're talking every week while he's on tour (normal relationship shit). It's Art who insinuates that Patrick is cheating while on tour. The only person in this movie who says Patrick doesn't love Tashi is Art, and it's obviously very intentional.

I think the reason both Tashi and Art push Patrick out of their lives is because he forces them to comfort parts of themselves they are not yet comfortable with. I mean, it's obvious why Tashi would react that way to Patrick; she's just lost the most important thing in her life. However, I think it's tragic from Patrick's point of view as well. I mean, what did Patrick really do? He got into a fight with his girlfriend because she hurt his feelings.

And no, he's hurt was not about Art. The fight made him feel unimportant, which made him feel like she didn't actually care about him. And that's where Art comes in, because who was going around telling Patrick Tashi didn't give a shit? You bet ya. Art. Art absolutely got into his head. And even if he clocked it, in that moment, he still allowed it to get to him because he was emotional and upset. And because he was too hurt to support her, he was thrown out of Tashi and Art's lives.

And here's the thing, Patrick never saw Tashi as an idea. He saw her as a real person, unlike Art kinda did. Patrick wasn't going to let Tashi treat him like shit just because she was special. And, tbh, if Tashi hadn't gotten injured, I think it's something she would have eventually been grateful for. But instead, she got hurt; she pushed Patrick away, and Art slid into his place, telling her that she could be his entire world and the star. That's not healthy, and sorry to stay a little manipulative.

And let's talk about Art. Patrick and him were literally fire and ice. They always had this underlying desire. They were perfect opposites. Let's face it: Art could never replicate what he had on the court (and off) with anyone else. But instead of confronting his feelings, he took the first chance he had to get Patrick out of his life.

The girl I was watching said it perfectly, "Art and Tashi allowed themselves to find consolation prizes in each other and allowed them to run from parts of themselves they didn't want to comfort and in turn enable each other's worst habits."

Art tries to become a tennis superstar so Tashi can live through him, and Tashi gives him a family so he can finally be confident in who he is. But is there any passion? I don't know; I think at some point, it drained; nothing about what I saw on screen apart from their initial get-together screams passion.

Cue Patrick walking back into their life and showing them how they can feel. Art was always going to let Tashi live through him, but that was never going to be satisfying for her. Tashi needs to find a way to create an identity for herself, separate from him. And I believe it'll be the only way she'll live a satisfying life. That's why they need Patrick: to make them realise that and to help them rediscover their passion.

I think people think that Art is the heart because Patrick admits to being a piece of shit. But the truth is, they're all dicks; Patrick was just the only one who was willing to admit it.

[maymeteorite]

obligatory post before acheron's release

obviously, it's established that acheron is a variant of raiden mei. her real name is not actually acheron (confirmed through the livestream, but...come on, we all already knew that). specifically, there's loads of similarities in her design to the herrscher of thunder above all else

similar hair structure, hair part, n hairpiece (n obviously the color, too),

sword structure, patterns, n nearly identical handles,

one "red" arm,

the bust/halter,

and of course, the color scheme as shown in acheron's "emanator" form, n the horns shown in the livestream

with all that in mind, i imagine acheron is a variant of mei who failed to save the person closest to her (her kiana, to simplify it), n/or watched them die, or even killed them herself. it's shown during her dance with black swan that there was obviously someone important to her in her past, conflict arose in a setting much like the one featured in the livestream, n there's even imagery of her walking alone with only the moon in the sky to keep her company

kiana has been associated with the moon n moon imagery since the flyme2themoon days; her origin was quite literally a game about blasting off to the moon

this teaser resembles thunders over nagazora to me, as well as mei watching kiana's end in honkai gakuen

there's also the fact that the type of emanator acheron is, an emanator of nihility, is classified as a self-annihilator; those who have felt the pull of nihility n been unable to escape drowning in it. self-annihilator's take the meaning of nihility to heart, so much so that it erodes their bodies n memories

acheron has been confirmed as the self-annihilator type in her character introduction posted recently. what really strikes me about this line is the phrasing of "existence is nothing"

sounds familiar, doesn't it?

mei is characterized by the tragedies in her life, n how they impact her. growing up isolated, a kidnapping at a young age, bullying at school, suicidal tendencies, n the constant reminder that the girl she loves more than anything in the world will always put the overall well being of humanity over herself

to me, acheron is a mei shaped by loss. the mei we remember from hi3 had the chance to grow n change; to learn from her mistakes, n to fight for a better world, bc she had the support of her friends n her most important person. acheron doesn't seem to have that level of support from anyone, at least not anyone still in her life currently

which brings me to my next point. she HAD a "kiana," but ultimately lost her. n this is the result

acheron is incredibly powerful, but her power seems incredibly volatile. she carries this innate sadness with her wherever she goes, n the very path she walks n the very aeon she became an avatar of strips life of all meaning, all the beauty from the world

it's a far cry from the mei we know, bc clearly, there was a very pivotal change in her development that i can only attribute to the loss of her world's "kiana"

[ballowvalence]

finished jentry chau last night and i have a lot of thoughts. SPOILERS AHEAD.

the good (broad strokes because there's so much to like in general!):

production quality is off the charts: fantastic animation, beautiful fight scenes, lovely character and world design, music perfectly complements the whole vibe. great style as well!

satisfying narrative arc: no cliffhangers, we get an A to B story line with character growth and progress. jentry ends the series as emotionally more mature than she starts.

interesting characters and engaging exchange and dialogue between them that mostly felt believable and realistic for teens this day and age.

the bad (my gripe in a nutshell):

the showrunners' decided to favor making the show work to what they'd prefer over cohesive character choices. (like they were trying to manipulate jentry's character around hitting plot points, instead of vice versa.)

jentry's forgiveness isn't consistent for her character.

the showrunners decided that the narrative would be more dramatic when/if she didn't forgive others.

gugu lied to her all her life about SO many things. we're given her reasoning, which we're meant to understand and relate to (she didn't want jentry to hate her/her parents), and because jentry loves gugu, she forgives her. i do not forgive gugu! she lied to jentry for 16 years about EVERYTHING.

this ties into how moonie is still alive as well. gugu knew! she could've EASILY have tracked her down. so she CHOSE to never try and reunite them. and MOONIE knew she was jentry's mother. how could you do that to your daughter? and jentry forgives moonie because she loves the POTENTIAL of her mother. what the fuck! i do not forgive moonie! she CHOSE not to be part of her life.

then we come to the only other person who begged for forgiveness for their secrets hurting her.

kit. he lied about who he was and his intentions. however, out of the him, gugu, and moonie, kit is the only one who does not intentionally obscure jentry's ability to figure out his secret, as in jentry is not forced to act for him to confess his truth. with gugu's secrets, she had to work to uncover them, and with moonie, jentry had to work to find her.

he is the only one who comes clean to her after putting his life in danger to save hers, and there's no way he doesn't know how fragile his painted skin is. he KNOWINGLY went to save her from the fire and risked his identity being blown because she was that important to him. (i remind you his death words started with "everything i did was for me." LIKE SAVING HER THEN??? THAT WAS FOR YOU???)

and how does jentry react? poorly, yes, because she hates lies (because of gugu).

but even after that, kit is never actually forgiven. in fact, jentry uses him, and then abandons him when she achieves her goal. it felt so drastically out of whack for her character that i wondered what was happening. then he is ostracized by her, and she rejects even his friendship and acts cold to him. she cuts him off.

it really doesn't make sense for her to not even want to be his friend. she bonded with him during the doppelganger experience. they WERE friends then. then she says she wants to be normal and pursues michael even when he admits to her HE isn't normal. so that's not it either.

only the narrative is what forces her not to forgive him because the showrunners need to hit the plot points of him betraying her and him needing to sacrifice himself later. (which i would argue his sacrifice really doesn't make sense at all. if you watch that scene when kit dies in her place, WHY would he even pretend to be her? if jentry had just worn the robes instead, she would've been able to defend herself as quickly she donned them as is shown after kit-jentry is attacked. it was a needless sacrifice!)

gugu is forgiven in this same episode for her lies. why can jentry forgive gugu and not kit (prior to the betrayal)? it just doesn't fit for her character.

jentry then goes on to immediately forgive moonie for never getting into contact with her. moonie ALSO lied to her her entire life. but somehow this is forgiveable now because it works with the narrative and the plot points.

anyway. that's my biggest gripe with the show.

instead of building the narrative around jentry's character, the show built a narrative and manipulated jentry's character to make it work.

also...

the mogai-human-form design was weirdly sexist?

when possessing mr. cheng, the mogai-cheng form is ugly and malformed and disproportionate. he is not conventionally appealing or attractive. he is not the same size or shape as cheng appeared. he is wearing clothes.

when posessing jentry, the mogai-jentry form is curvaceous and slim and appealing to look at. this form is conventionally attractive. she is the same size and shape as jentry appeared. she is not wearing clothes.

all of these are choices the showrunners made. they could've made mogai-jentry much more unappealing, but they didn't. for some reason, keeping her "attractive/cool" was the choice over what the design could mean. they did make her look dangerous, i guess?

[sadpartita]

How Mileven Strengths Byler?

I’ve been analyzing Stranger Things for a while now, and over time, I’ve come to a thesis: Mileven is actually the greatest proof that Byler is endgame, or at the very least, Byler is the most coherent narrative resolution for Mike, Will, and Eleven’s character arcs.

This post is my take on why that’s the case. It’s also a reflection of how I’ve come to interpret the show over the years, even before I became part of the Byler community.

The points I raise here aren’t necessarily new or original, many of them have been discussed in the fandom already. But rather than focusing on what we see on screen and speculating about what it might mean, I wanted to take a slightly different route: looking at how these characters were constructed (in this case, Mike and El), and how their very creation generates meaning.

In that sense, my central argument is this: Mileven, by the way it's written and structured, actually reinforces Byler. Not because of subtext or hidden clues, but because of the internal logic of the characters themselves.

Disclaimer: This isn’t a claim that my reading is better than others, far from it. If it weren’t for the amazing discussions already happening in the fandom, I wouldn’t have been able to develop my own perspective. My goal is simply to show that, even through a different analytical lens, Byler still emerges as the most narratively satisfying resolution.

Now for a quick intro to the framework I’m using:

Semiotics is the study of how meaning is produced, not just in language, but in images, media, gestures, and especially in stories. I’m using a specific branch of semiotics here, French semiotics, particularly the work of Algirdas Julien Greimas. He developed a method for analyzing the deep structure of narratives: what’s really going on underneath the surface.

One of his most important tools is the actantial model, which maps out narrative roles, not just who the characters are, but how they function in the story. For example:

The subject is the one who wants something

The object is what they want

A helper aids the subject

An opponent gets in the way

And a manipulator pushes the subject to act

These roles aren’t fixed to one character, they can shift or overlap depending on the moment in the narrative.

When we apply this model to Mike and Eleven, some really interesting patterns show up, and not in Mileven’s favor.

This post will walk through those semiotic concepts and apply them to Stranger Things, focusing especially on Mike and Eleven, and how their relationship does (or doesn’t) work in terms of narrative structure. I’ll also touch on Mike and Will, and why that dynamic hits very differently.

You don’t need a background in theory to follow, I’ll explain things as we go.

Oh, and just so you know: I’ll be working from the most surface-level elements to the deepest ones in each analysis. So we’ll start with the obvious... and then dig in.

Eleven

Discursive Level

First, let's understand how the show creates meaning through Eleven. Usually we are shown Eleven through the lenses of other characters, taking season 1 as an example, through the main boys' point of view of what Eleven actually is. For the audience, this creates an ambiguity, we aren't sure about what she really is, reinforcing her mysterious and "othered" position.

Also, the show doesn't expose her story line at once, on the contrary, it tells by short flashbacks through the seasons that progressively makes us understand who she really is. Not only it mirrors her identity, that is also fragmented, but also elicit us to want to know more about her and, with more flashbacks, more complacent we are to her as an audience.

Now, taking the visual clues, her shaved head and sterile clothing from the beginning of the show (S1-S2) sets a dehumanized character, more an experiment than a child. While in season 3 she starts to use more colorful wardrobe, making a shift onto individualization and social integration.

Sound also makes a huge difference when Eleven is in the scene, specially when she uses her powers, the sound is never really comfortable, and, when it is, is silence, the complete absence of any noise, which is, for us human beings, something alien. That reinforces the idea that she is different, she is, in fact, an alien (having that ET comparison established), a thought she brings with her, but she didn't want to bring.

In the early seasons, sound is used to reflect Eleven’s disconnection from the world around her. In addition to the unsettling noises tied to her powers, there is also a lot of low, ominous background music when she’s involved in scenes where she’s escaping or hiding. The sound isn’t just about the action happening in the moment — it reflects her emotional state. When she’s hiding from the lab, or when she’s confronted by forces that want to control her, the sound emphasizes the danger and the isolation she feels.

As Eleven begins to settle into her role as part of the Hawkins group, there’s a shift in how sound is used around her. In season 3, the incorporation of more upbeat, familiar music, like pop songs (e.g., her "shopping montage"), signals her increasing sense of integration into society. However, even in these moments, the underlying tension of her powers and past still lingers. The sound design starts to incorporate both the social integration of her character (through music) and her emotional and supernatural isolation (through sound effects tied to her powers).

Narrative Level

In its initial state (S1-S2), El's object of value is clear: she wants to belong, to be loved, and to connect with others. She starts as an object of manipulation, something to be used, therefore, she wants to get away from that by being seen as a human, as an equal.

Taking through semiotics term is not yet a subject, she is an object, here Mike and Hopper are the subjects, they act, protect and do things related to her. Narratively saying, she is more as an object to Mike than an active agent herself.

From season 2 onwards, El slowly gets her subjecthood, therefore she acts by her own objectives. Her stay with Hopper is overprotective, but what makes her arc go forward are her own desires, the desire to discover, to understand that moves the narrative forward.

So, that's her first transformation from an object to a subject, therefore an actant. In season 2 is the first time that Eleven has a relationship that is different from a father-daughter situation, not only by encounter with Kali, but also the romantic movies she watched on the TV, and her late relationship with Mike.

In season 3, those ideals are broken. Max comes as a disruptor in Eleven's life, the only thing El knows at that point it Brenner, Mike and Hopper, so Max comes to change this perspective. It is with that relationship that El actively becomes a subject that not only acts based on their desires, but rejects imposed desires from other subjects.

So she not only changes the way she is, but breaks up with Mike, she pushes away one of the few pillars she has, which is a big character growth.

However, in the end of season 3 she loses everything. Hopper is dead, she no longer has powers, she is far away from Max, the only thing she can get back, though, is Mike, so she does.

Now, before continuing, you see how terrible this is? To be fair, subjugating a female character to this situation is ridiculous and something that should NEVER be gratified, but I'll dive more this in the conclusion

In season 4, El lies to Mike about her situation, she wants to perform an idea that she is whole without her powers, that she can be a normal person, because, in her mind, Mike won't like her if she shows fragility, she needs to be strong. With Mike not saying that he loves her confirming that, without her powers, he doesn't see her that way, that she needs them to be loved.

And, honestly, Mike's "monologue" only reinforces this into El's mind, he was only able to say "I love you" to her when she was using them, when she was being a superhero.

Fun fact: that Mike Confession Scene was NOT a monologue, I'll explain in another post. It is a theoretical thing that no one cares, but I need to say to sound smart.

Deep Semantic Oppositions

Now comes the hardest part: summarize El's character in a simple semantic opposition. And, to be honest, there are a few of them. The reason why that is important is that, when we build the previous two steps - narrative and discursive levels - we use them to justify this opposition, therefore, they are build to reinforce it.

El's opposition I'm diving into is object x subject. Why? That's her storyline, the whole show, the desire to be a subject, but being subjugated into an object by everyone around.

In the first seasons, she is more of an object, being act upon, being experimented, but also, being the key to others' actions (Papa's control, the lab's weaponization, Mike's need for love)

While in seasons 3 and 4, she claims her agency: chooses her name, clothes, friends and battles, the turning point being the break-up, where she rejects the object status, becoming so, a subject.

Mike Wheeler

Discursive Level

Discursively, Mike is a character constructed to be an emotional anchor, he wants to protect, and, when he can’t, he feels bad, feels out of place. His self-image is about being needed, he derives identity from being El’s protector and emotional reference point. Not only for El, but for Will too.

Mike’s character says, not do. He is highly reactive, doesn’t change the world; he tries to maintain relationships and stabilize emotions. In summary, Mike rarely does something to show, he says, he promises and declares. Mike wants to be a protector to Eleven, he says it multiple times, but since Eleven has powers, he might not be necessary, and that breaks him.

However, when he can do this in season 4, when she cannot defend herself from Angela, he does nothing, he can’t react, or maybe, doesn’t want to.

When a couple is determined as the official, usually they move each other forward, both characters grow within the relationship and their motivations and troubles evolve accordingly. However, when looking at Mike, that doesn’t happen, Mike doesn’t have any major character evolution, differently than all the other main characters, which suggests that his drive to evolution is not in El, but something else.

His relationship with Eleven, therefore, is a self-validation tool, since he is in a relationship everything is fine, even so, he’s incapable of validating El’s feelings, since, for him, the status is enough and nothing else is needed.

With that said, let’s look through another lens and understand Mike’s relationship with Will. Here, Mike does the opposite: shows more than says. Which is interesting, is almost like that, with Will, he doesn’t need to reassure anything, just being is enough. Nonetheless, Mike and Will are almost always, if not always, framed into private and intimate moments, and mostly close physically, and consequently, emotionally.

Also, if not romantic, Mike isn’t as close physically to El than he is to Will, something that was really well observed by many members of the Byler community, and, the technical aspects of a text, in these cases, film, affect directly the understanding of the message. Therefore, not taking blocking into consideration when analyzing film is, honestly, superfluous. That said, Mike and Will’s relationship is more intimate, welcoming and, by consequence, less performative and dramatic as Mike and El’s relationship.

Mileven scenes, on the other hand, are fast-paced and, usually tense for reasons outside their relationship. Scenes like Byler only happen to Mileven when there are tensions in their relationship, so, it’s almost obvious to infer that when it’s a love scene, the focus isn’t their relationship, while, when it’s a fight scene, the focus shifts to them.

When it comes to protection, he’s much the same with both, however, he is more complex when it comes to Will, usually his dialogue and Finn’s acting is more complex in Byler scene than in Mileven scenes, which suggest more importance in those scenes. Framing Will and Mike’s relationship so ambiguous and complex is, for semiotics, what makes a relationship authentic, which never happens with Mileven.

Narrative Level

When it comes to the narrative level, both to Will and El, Mike isn’t capable of fulfilling the proper narrative function he’s assigned to, however, the ways he fails is different in both.

With El, Mike is the boyfriend, he has the function of supporting her romantically, so she can overcome the evil with love. Taking season 4 then, overcoming Vecna with his confession. However, Mikes doesn’t know how to help El, cannot say “I love you” when he needs to, he claims to love her, but never actively does anything to prove it and knows that he should be there for El, but rarely is.

He is therefore a failing narrative subject, someone whose role is clear, but who does not fully realize it in action. He’s given a romantic arc, but does not embody the transformation that should come with it. Mike is supposed to be a helper, an object of desire, however becomes an obstacle, a false helper (he lies, creates confusion, etc.). In summary, Mike’s narrative arc feels incomplete and, mostly, forced, artificial, there’s no emotional development or transformation.

With Will, Mike acts like the friend, but also as the unresolved desire. Here, Mike doesn’t have a clear function, but his arc is haunted by possibility. He is unaware of Will’s feelings, but knows how to support him and shows it more than just saying he does. That creates, “semiotically”, a more authentic subject.

Mike is a subject with a possibility of transformation, where he might change his relationship towards Will. Their relationship is structured as a coming-of-age arc or an identity arc that is yet to be resolved. 

In summary, at the narrative level, Mike is more of a genre placeholder in the El arc, he represents what a boyfriend “should be,” but without the corresponding personal transformation that legitimizes the role.

With Will, he becomes a subject in crisis, caught between a role he’s performing and a self he hasn’t yet discovered. It’s less dramatic narratively, but more authentic semantically.

Deep Semantic Oppositions

When looking at Mike’s semantic opposition, it’s correct to say it is Authenticity x Performance. That comes with the idea that, with El, Mike is over performative, he tries to prove every single time that he’s in love with El, while, with Will, he lets his actions shows, he just feels, creating a more authentic experience.

Also, that might encapsulate Mike’s identity crises, that’s implied in all the levels of analysis. His actions towards El feel imposed, proved by the fact that, if it wasn’t for Will almost begging for Mike to do something at the end of season 4, he wouldn’t have done. While with will he’s more emotionally authentic. However, it lacks language or social permission to express it directly.

This tension aligns deeply with semiotic theories of subjectivity, the subject is not fixed, but constructed through contradictory roles and expectations. Mike’s conflict between performance and authenticity is exactly that. The ambiguity created by this opposition is not resolved by the narrative, and that’s what makes it rich for analysis. Unlike characters with a clear arc (e.g., El’s growth from object to subject), Mike’s arc remains unfinished, precisely because he’s stuck in the performance of a role that doesn’t fully fit.

This produces tension for the viewer, and is why so many fans feel there’s “something off” about Mike’s role, it’s not that the writing is bad, but that the character is written to be incomplete.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it's clear that Mileven is not a fitting resolution for either Mike or Eleven's character arcs. For Eleven, Mileven reinforces her position as a narrative object, falling into a misogynistic trope where female characters are portrayed as incomplete or lacking without the presence of a man or male figure.

For Mike, Mileven reduces him to a passive character whose actions have little to no impact on the overarching narrative, as he relies entirely on others — especially Eleven — to define his identity.

While Mileven might fulfill the expectation of a typical romantic relationship, it doesn't serve the characters in the way a more nuanced, authentic partnership would. Mike’s emotional immaturity and lack of self-awareness, paired with Eleven’s ongoing struggle to reclaim her agency, make their relationship more of a hindrance than a fulfilling conclusion to their arcs. Their narrative roles are more about performing a "boyfriend-girlfriend" dynamic than authentically exploring what it means to be in a healthy, balanced relationship.

In contrast, Byler offers a more organic narrative, allowing Mike's character arc to come full circle and providing the space for his actions to truly resonate within the story. It creates a more organic narrative, where Mike can act like himself and act beyond this performative personality he has to Eleven. The subtleties in their interactions, framed by quiet, intimate moments, provide a sense of real connection that doesn’t rely on external pressures or forced conventions. Mike and Will’s bond has the capacity for transformation, both on a personal and emotional level, which is something that Mileven ultimately lacks.

Ultimately, while Mileven may serve as a convenient narrative device, Byler provides a more satisfying and realistic resolution for both characters. It’s not just about romance, it’s about character growth, emotional authenticity, and a relationship that drives the characters forward, rather than keeping them stagnant. Given that the creators have emphasized that Stranger Things is about the characters, not just the paranormal backdrop, Mileven undermines the very essence of the show.

Final Note: I'm NOT a semiotics specialist, therefore, it might have some conceptual mistakes here or there, however, the overall message is clear: Byler endgame :)

[signanothername]

if Nightmare uncorrupted by a miracle, do you think he would find his happy ending or mend things with Dream?

Ough y’know I genuinely wanna say yes but-

Ok i’d say it’s gonna be way more complicated than a simple yes and a happy ending where Nightmare and Dream suddenly are on good terms

But it’s also not a simple no either

Nightmare’s and Dream’s relationship is beyond scarred and their pain runs way deeper than just simply like Nightmare’s corruption, it’s also important to keep in mind that they fought for years before Nightmare lost that corruption, and they both said and did some bad things to each other during that time in the high of their fights

It’s kinda like, how do you heal a relationship that’s beyond healing at that point? You mend and save what you can but accept that it can never go back to how it used to be

Not to mention, it’s important to keep in mind how Nightmare lost that corruption, and to me I feel like Dream’s the only one who can genuinely somehow get him out of his corruption at any capacity, and that in of itself would leave a big sore spot in the twins’ relationship, cause Nightmare sees his corruption as the only thing keeping him safe, it gave him power and strength and to lose such a thing and get back to feeling weak and helpless and it’s your brother’s fault?? Yeah Nightmare would not be happy with Dream at all

To him that’s just Dream hurting him more than he already is hurt

Like when Nightmare loses his corruption at first he genuinely sees Dream as the biggest threat to him, cause he’s the only one who can kill him and after so many years of fighting, Nightmare has no reason to believe Dream wouldn’t just take his helplessness as an opportunity to kill him

Like i want you to understand that this is the extent of how fucked up their relationship is, it’s so fucked up that Nightmare genuinely fears for his life around Dream without his corruption

And it’s not cause Dream has shown any true signs that he’d be willing to hurt Nightmare at all, Dream doesn’t find joy in their fights, it hurts him emotionally way more than any broken bone Nightmare bent out of shape, but just like Dream fears for his life around Nightmare during his corrupted state, Nightmare fears for his life around Dream in his uncorrupted state

And I think seeing the fear in Nightmare’s eye as he looks at Dream would just hurt Dream more than anything ever did, cause Dream is a bit deluded to think he’d finally see Nightmare’s old smile when his corruption is gone, but in reality all he sees is a look of fear he only saw Nightmare show towards the villagers and god does it absolutely fucking kill him inside

Another thing to keep in mind is what I mentioned before, how Nightmare views his corruption as part of himself, but to put it in clear bold words, Nightmare sees his corruption as a genuine part of his identity as a whole, and Dream took that away, it isn’t just even simple feelings of helplessness and weakness, if Nightmare loses his corruption he’d fully experience his already deep rooted identity crisis

And that in of itself makes Nightmare too disoriented and emotionally unstable, further contributing to how hard it is to mend his relationship with Dream, if Nightmare even wants to mend his relationship with his twin at all

That being said, Dream on the other hand, while he’s extremely forgiving and he genuinely doesn’t hold Nightmare’s actions against him or thinks/loves Nightmare any less after being hurt by him so many times, it still leaves marks on him, both physically and emotionally, and Dream would have to work through so much of that hurt to get to a point in which he can be close and look Nightmare in the eye without flinching away or feeling uneasy like death itself is looking back at him

And while Nightmare’s thoughts are a lot clearer without the corruption suffocating and plaguing his every waking thought, that doesn’t mean the hurt he experienced for so many years can just be forgotten and forgiven in a single conversation

I’d even dare say both twins aren’t even ready for a single conversation yet

For their relationship to even start its healing journey, both twins have to heal themselves first, separately

They have to stay away from each other for a while, just, take a look at themselves and process their emotions, trauma and whether they still even want that relationship to heal, cause sometimes, the true best course of action is to let go than keep digging

And while I think Dream would want their relationship to heal, Nightmare might be a bit hesitant on that front, Nightmare might give it a try, but I still don’t think they’ll just magically become as close as they used to, their relationship is beyond that at this point

So I think the closest their relationship can get to being better, is that they’re not actively trying to kill each other, maybe Nightmare would allow Dream a day in which they hang out, but that’s far in the future

It took 500 years of hurt to get where they are now, and it’ll probably take another 500 years for their relationship to recover and mend to a point where it’s as close as it can be to how it used to be, but there will always be those days in which they don’t get along at all, those days in which they need their alone time away from each other

But still, a calm genuine and honest conversation between these two would do them so much good, if both are willing to take the gut wrenching truth about their feelings with stride, which I think would take so much time before that conversation even happens in which they actually keep calm instead of it escalating into a fight

Dream is more than ready to let go of the past and to make new memories, he’d already started out as stuck in the past for too long and then later just wanted to move on, and that was his opportunity to do so for good

Nightmare isn’t, he started out as someone too stuck in the future cause of the trauma he experienced cause he wanted to move on so bad that he didn’t process any of his trauma or emotions at all, only for his mind to catch up to him way too late and he’s suddenly stuck in the past, unable to let go of the hurt he experienced, he’s too stuck in the past to simply let go of everything that led up to this point of his life, too hurt, too scared of making new memories only for them to be tainted with more pain somehow

Nightmare doesn’t want to move on out of fear, not out of any actual genuine hatred, Nightmare fears that if he moved on, his past would simply catch up to him all over again

I think the true best course of action is that Nightmare and Dream stay in separate places, work together through their broken relationship slowly, but never force the process, just let it happen naturally, it’s best if each just lived under a different roof, they need to spend time with each other to heal, but not spend too much time, they both need to find their separate roads that don’t revolve around each other if they wanted to truly heal themselves and their relationship

Nightmare wouldn’t simply go back to the same Nightmare who was so open, gentle and happy to receive Dream’s hugs or smile at Dream every time he sees him, he won’t tell Dream how much he loves him or cares for him and he won’t be as openly affectionate as he used to be, he’d still deny his love for Dream and live in the delusion that he doesn’t care for Dream as much as he does, he won’t suddenly become a merciful, gentle and loving person like he didn’t inflect so much cruelty upon so many people, cause it isn’t as simple as “corruption is what made him a bitch”, it runs way deeper as his corruption shaped him as a person, and Dream has to accept that if he truly and genuinely wants their relationship to heal at all

But i’d say that no matter how long it takes, the twins’ relationship would mend enough that they don’t fight at every single conversation they have, mend enough for them to actually hang out with each other, it wouldn’t be exactly like it used to be, but something close, not too close, but I think close enough for both of them to heal and grow bigger than their grief eventually

I wouldn’t say it’ll be a genuine happy ending for them, but it’ll be a bittersweet one

But hey, Dream might get what he wants and see somthing akin to Nightmare’s old gentle smile one day <3

[nagipilled]

I've seen a lot of people saying things like 'Reo will leave blue loxk if Nagi leaves' after the leaks, but honestly. I don't think he will.

Cuz let's not forget that, unlike Nagi, his dream started as something individual, something for him and only him. Even if it eventually morphed to include Nagi, his dream still has that base of individuality. Because of this, it's much more important to him than it is to Nagi.

There's a huge difference in the way that him and Nagi perceive their shared 'dream'. For Nagi, he dreams of winning the World Cup with Reo because that's what Reo wants. It never holds any other meaning or importance to him besides that, and that's why he would've left blue lock if Reo never made it to the third selection. Reo is the base of his dream. Without Reo, there's nothing else to support it. Without Reo, Nagi's dream crumbles.

This is something we see from the very moment we get access to Nagi's perspective. Throughout the entire story, his motivation was always Reo, even during their fallout.

The same goes for Reo, but only to a certain degree. Different from Nagi, we're shown that Reo's actually able to move on from their duo and better his skills for himself. This is because even though Nagi is a huge part of his dream, he isn't the base of it. Without Nagi, Reo's dream can still exist because it has other support, said support being the thrill of having to work to get what he wants and building himself an identity outside of Mikage Corp. and his family.

Obviously, he cares about Nagi a lot, and he definitely will protest against him getting disqualified in the upcoming chapters - but he doesn't really need Nagi the same way Nagi needs him, at least not in terms of playing.

Reo's dream is something so incredibly important to him, and while Nagi does contribute a whole lot to his it, there's no use in destroying it all just because Nagi can no longer be a part of it. He still has something to support it and to keep him determined even without Nagi, so why would he give up now? It just doesn't seem like something plausible to me. Having Reo leave Blue Lock and throw away his dream just because Nagi locked off feels out of character.

[lilislegacy]

I'm not a big fan of Percabeth. But, I'm still open to see different sides of a thing. So, I would like to ask what do you see in the couple? What made you like Percabeth? Was the ship important to you when you were a child/teenager? Can you list the positive things that you may remember about Percabeth, please? If you can't, it's okay too. For the last one: What is the thing you love the most about them?

Oh my god I could go on and on about this question. I will try to keep it as short as possible. Basically, I just love how deep their relationship goes. There are so many things about them that makes them such an incredible pairing to me

1. There is so much mutual respect and support between them. They are battle partners. They respect each other's strengths and capabilities to the highest degree. Annabeth deeply values Percy's bravery and loyalty, while Percy deeply values and admires Annabeth's intelligence and strategic thinking. They support each other no matter what. No one respects Annabeth more than Percy, and no one respects Percy more than Annabeth. They trust one another explicitly. And that deep-rooted trust and respect is what separates them from so many other pairings.

2. They perfectly complement each other. Their contrasting personalities balance each other out so beautifully. Percy is impulsive and unpredictable, and Annabeth is thoughtful and strategic, which makes them an incredibly strong team. In any situation, whatever one of them lacks, the other has in abundance. Percy gets angry and worked up easily, but Annabeth can calm him down. Annabeth overthinks things and stresses herself out, but Percy can simplify things and bring her back down to earth. They keep each other level on a deep mental/emotional level. And the biggest one, in my opinion: Annabeth’s biggest fear is being betrayed and abandoned, and Percy’s defining trait is unwavering loyalty. They are like two different puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together.

3. They’ve been through so much togeher. The two of them share a history that no one else could possibly understand. They have learned and grown so much together. They started going on dangerous quests together when they were little baby 12 year olds, and have been fighting by each other’s side ever since. From going on quests, to being part of a prophecy, to dealing with the complexities of their identities as demigods, the challenges they’ve faced have impacted them both tremendously. And no one else would understand exactly why they’re the way they are. And you know, there’s the fact that they literally walked through hell together. Their experiences deepen their connection and understanding of each other more than words can describe. No one else could possibly understand them like they understand each other.

4. The chemistry is off the charts. The heat and attraction between them is abundantly clear, which adds a layer of realism and excitement to their relationship. In PJO it’s mainly tension - that’s clear in their banter and arguments and angsty thoughts - but when they’re older and together, it’s shown more through attraction and physical affection. Let me give some examples. When Annabeth touched his back in TLO, Percy says he feels as if jolts of electrify course through his body. In the demigod diaries, Percy mentions how beautiful she looks while in combat. There’s also a scene where he can’t focus because he’s literally staring at how her camp beads lay against her throat. Annabeth is constantly wanting to hug him and be in his arms. When she sees him in MoA, she literally has to restrain herself from continuously kissing him. And when they are about to fall into tartarus, to either death or torture, her dominating thought is how handsome he looks. Throughout all of HoO, they are super touchy and affectionate with each other, always touching and cuddling and kissing one another whenever they can. And of course, I have to mention the time that they literally made out in front of Piper in BoO, and Annabeth makes “grunt-whimper” sounds. I just love how down bad for each other they are. No one who can read can deny it. There is so much heat and attraction and affection between them.

5. Their loyalty to each other is unwavering. They consistently prioritize each other's well-being over anything and anyone else. They always have each other’s backs, both in battle and verbal interactions. They quite literally go across the country/world to find each other when they each get kidnapped. No distance, no person, nothing will stop them from finding each other and protecting each other.

6. They are equals. Given they are both legendary greek heroes who will go down in olympian history, it’s hard to find someone who compares. But they are both so equally extraordinary. Sure, they have different strengths, but neither is better than the other. They are both incredibly brave. They are both super witty. They both would do anything for their friends. They are both leaders. They just GET each other. They are on another level - and it’s the exact same level.

There’s more too. I could go on and on and on. (And on.) There is so much I didn’t say. But all of those elements combined is why I love them. They were made to love one another. They choose to love each other, every single moment of every day.

And my favorite thing? Probably that above all, they are best friends. There are all the things I mentioned above, but at the foundation of their relationship is an unwavering friendship. They just love being together. They love joking around together and hanging out, but also holding each other when times are rough. They take care of each other. I love that they are BFFs. Two besties who also happen to be soulmates, together against the world.

Ugh I just love them. I need to stop talking

[bassiascoparia]

THE TRAVESTY OF THE VIRGIN GODDESS ATHENA

Note: red highlighted parts are important and must be read.

This is a link to a post that beautifully talks about Rick Riordan's horrendous portrayal of Athena and the other goddesses down below-

It's a must-read. Please read it.

ATHENA SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD CHILDREN IN THE FIRST PLACE

Rick has made many, many egregious writing decisions. I can't say which one is the most horrible, but a leading candidate is the fact that he chose to make Athena, a virgin goddess, have children.

For the shocked Pikachus who have had the utter bliss of not having to know how Rick Riordan ruined Athena, yes, Rick made Athena have children.

She doesn't lose her virginity though-she has brain children formed from the thoughts of her and her lover, which she considers the purest form of love.

And this is terrible, because the Ancient Greeks equated virginity to not bearing children and not marrying. If Athena bears children, then how can she be a virgin?

Yes, Athena's children ARE HER CHILDREN. They are explicitly called her children. And she's said to be their mother. That means that she's not a virgin anymore.

And Athena's virgin goddess status and refusal to marry reinforced her role as a powerful goddess who was independent. Marriage symbolized subordination to a husband, so by not marrying, Athena's autonomy and power were shown very clearly.

Athena's key qualities-wisdom, strategy and war-are associated with rationality and independence, which were not associated with love in Ancient Greece. If she loved men, then she would be unable to retain her identity as goddess of wisdom and war.

Virginity oaths for goddesses were taken very seriously. When Artemis came close to loving Orion and breaking her oath, Apollo decided to kill Orion and risk the long lasting wrath of his sister rather than having her break her oath. That's how serious they were.

And this is already so terrible, but you know what the worst part is?

She doesn't tell her lovers that she's going to give them a baby. She just forms the baby and then DUMPS it on them, which is horrible, because-

ATHENA IS THE GREEK GODDESS OF WISDOM!

NO GODDESS OF WISDOM WOULD DUMP A CHILD ON AN UNPREPARED MORTAL'S DOORSTEP AND FORCE HIM TO RAISE THE CHILD WHEN HE DIDN'T WANT TO!

IF RICK HAD TO MAKE HER HAVE CHILDREN, WHICH IS ALREADY SO HORRIBLE, THEN HE ABSOLUTELY SHOULD HAVE MADE ALL THE MORTALS WHOM SHE HAD CHILDREN WITH REQUEST HER TO AND GIVE THEIR CONSENT TO THE PROCESS!

And Athena did not even have to have children in the first place.

ATHENA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A BAD MOTHER

Also, even if Rick was inexplicably desirous of going through the terrible process of making a virgin goddess have children, did he really make ATHENA, goddess of WISDOM, think that Annabeth would be well-treated and cared for with a single father who was unprepared and did not even want her in the first place?

Athena was a bad mother to Annabeth simply by creating her without her father's permission and placing her with a father who did not want her, thus leading to Annabeth being neglected and abused. Athena knew that Frederick didn't want a child and still created one and made him raise her-she didn't even give Annabeth away to an adoptive family who would most likely have raised her better.

On some level, she knew that Annabeth would be traumatised-even Frederick would be traumatized by her actions. That makes PJO Athena a horrible person and a bad mother.

She did claim Annabeth, but she also let her wander the streets even if she guided her to help-and that help was two other traumatised children.

And to say that she let her children fight their own battles-a seven year old shouldn't have to fight their own battles when their battles are monsters and living on the streets. Gods have been shown to break laws multiple times, so why didn't Athena do this? Zeus wasn't watching all the time and he's pretty much the only one who enforces these rules.

And when she deems one of her children worthy, she gives them a Mark and sends them to find her statue, despite knowing that it's fruitless and that all of her other children have died.

Just read this post-it explains a lot.

Let me digress here and tell you a little something about Myth! Athena.

Athena had an adopted child in the myths. His name was Erichthonius, and even though he was a product of an attempted rape on Athena, she adopted him as her own, wishing to make him immortal, and frequently protected him. He, in return, honored her by founding a festival for her (Panathenaic Festival) and setting up a wooden statue of her on the Acropolis. Their relationship was a very good one-

So tell me, why would Athena conceive a child without asking the father for permission and then force him to raise a child despite knowing that he did not want to?

Exactly. Real Athena would never do this. Rick's Athena would. Note the difference, please.

Of course, this is just another frustrating portrayal of a Greek God as a bad parent which continues throughout the PJO series-then again, that is its core foundation. Still, thought I'd write this section just to set things straight.

HOW SHE'S INCORRECTLY PORTRAYED

Athena is quite vilified in the original PJO series and all throughout the franchise.

First of all, she disapproves of Percy's relationship with her daughter. This is at first understandable, because he's a son of Poseidon, her archnemesis, and at first glance she might not like him.

But something annoying here is that she always gets bad moments with Percy, threatening him if he dared cross her, while POSEIDON NEVER GETS ANY BAD MOMENTS WITH ANNABETH.

In fact, Real Poseidon is more likely to be the person who hates Percabeth given his mythological characterisation, though he would lay off Annabeth for the sake of Percy, because he loves his children very much.

Setting that aside, my real concern here is how Myth! Athena would not do this.

Real Athena, would judge Percy based on his merits and not his parentage.

Of course, she might threaten him if he crossed her or her daughter, as befitting of a goddess, but she wouldn't continue to judge him based on his parentage. Once he proved himself, she would help him and not threaten him.

In fact, in some versions of Theseus' myth, including the one used in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he is a son of Poseidon, so Athena actually helped a son of Poseidon, that too in the PJOverse, so it makes no sense for her not to help Percy when it's for the good of all of them.

She also helps Bellerophon, a son of Poseidon, in the myths. In fact, she does this in the Riordanverse too, so why she would hate Percy after helping Bellerophon and Theseus?

PJO Athena also tells Percy to stay away from her daughter during a war, when romance should be the last thing on her mind.

I mean, if Athena told Percy not to get distracted by Annabeth and focus on the bigger picture which would be beneficial to everyone, I'd understand, because she's the goddess of war tactics and wisdom.

But no-her message explicitly tells Percy to stay away from her daughter because she didn't like both of them together.

And yes, she doesn't like Percy because he's too loyal and he was apparently supposed to choose a dear friend over something more important when she thinks that he should choose the big picture but his loyalty never causes any serious consequences and everyone is fine in the end, so this is absolute nonsense and it's not a good reason for her anymore.

Let me digress and tell you a little about real Athena here.

The REAL Athena would help Percy commit war crimes if it helped their side win. Hell, she'd play matchmaker for him and her daughter if it somehow helped them win (well, Aphrodite could do that, but you know what I mean.)

Real Athena was a patron of Odysseus who was a literal war criminal. Actually, she was considered to be one of the most important gods in the Odyssey. She even helps Diomedes by blessing him and directing him to wound the god Ares as well as the goddess Aphrodite (Who caused the Trojan war).

Also, Real Athena is considered a patron of heroes. Not only that, she helped tons of heroes. Odysseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Bellerophon, the Argonauts, Achilles, Cadmus, Tydeus and Theseus.

She also aided several women such as Penelope, Eurynome, the Danaids, Menippe and Metioche and Nyctimene the last of whom she turned into her sacred symbol, the owl.

Athena was also believed to have invented every kind of work that women in Ancient Greece did.

The only time Athena abandoned a hero (Tydeus) was when he committed cannibalism-before that, she planned to make him immortal, in fact, but left him in disgust when she learned what he had done.

There was so much that Rick could have done with her status as a patron of heroes-have her help and advise Percy and Annabeth on their quests (indirectly so as not to risk her father's wrath). Helping Annabeth get over her prejudices and chastising her for letting her jealousy of Rachel almost ruin her chance for a successful quest.

Not.........whatever the mess that PJO Athena is.

And yes, I know that she's thought to have helped Percy in The Titan's Curse-but she just gave him a useless platitude. That was barely help at all. The only time she really helped was when she sent Hermes back to inform Annabeth about Plan 23. For a wisdom goddess of war tactics, she is surprisingly little help in the war.

And in Heroes of Olympus, a lot of people blame Athena for her cruel treatment of Annabeth while it was in fact Minerva who gave Annabeth the Mark. Athena was severely split between her Roman and Greek form and was unable to properly think at the time.

THE SUBTLE YET CONTINUOUS WAY RICK TURNS US AGAINST ATHENA

And it's clear that Rick continues to denigrate Athena-not just by using which myths he wants (Medusa being turned into a demon by Athens after willingly doing it with Poseidon in her temple in TLT, and now Ovid's myth in the PJO show) which he's allowed to do-

but he also actively takes the myths and twists them to form his own version.

Confused? I'll elaborate.

In case you didn't know, there's a Percy Jackson book called Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Heroes, where Percy rewrites a lot of myths from the Greek Mythology.

I'll give you some advice-just skip it. It tells you about the myths, yes, but it's quite biased, and if you don't know the real myths, please read the real ones first and then read these if you really want to.

You see, if you think that it's just a book, you're wrong.

This is written in a biased fashion and subtle comments like these turn you against certain gods and goddesses that Rick doesn't like.

When Aphrodite arrives at Olympus, Rick writes all the women as immediately thinking, 'Oh, I hate her because she's the most beautiful of us all.' Not the goddesses. Just the women.

This is also shown with Ares, where Percy calls him a bully, loser and a jerk. He also says that he wanted Poseidon to beat Ares up when Ares was defending his daughter from being raped by Poseidon's son because apparently it would have been awesome to watch.

This is shown with Aphrodite as well when Percy outright states that he hates her and twists the stories about her by rewriting the narrative and adding subtle comments to make us dislike her.

It uses terrible sarcasm which is concerningly childish for a grown writer. I don't know what Rick has against Ares or Aphrodite. He definitely has a hate boner for Ares.

Sorry, I digressed a little bit there. Returning to the subject of this essay-

Athena is featured in some of the stories in this book. In one, Athena and Poseidon compete to be the patron of Attica. When Athena says that she has an idea as to how they can settle this peacefully, Rick writes- 'Typical. Athena always had some sneaky idea.'

................Really?

This wasn't a sneaky idea. Athena literally said that she had a fair idea for a competition-both of them would create gifts and the mortals would decide which one was better. How is that sneaky?

In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he writes her as a romance-hater (242-243 page no). While there's no evidence to indicate that she likes romance, making a virgin goddess who's heavily implied to be aroace hate romance is very aphobic. Not everyone aroace hates romance-that is a negative stereotype.

Of course, Rick promotes these stereotypes, so what can I expect from him. *Sigh*

Rick subtly makes Athena seem unlikeable like this. It's one of my biggest frustrations-that he makes gods that he doesn't like evil in one way or another through blatantly incorrect misinformation or subtle denigration like this.

All right, so moving on to the more serious story in which Athena is deprecated yet again. It's called 'Athena adopts a handkerchief'.

Brace yourself.

So in the original myth, after Hephaestus catches Aphrodite cheating on him with Ares, he's pretty depressed.

So when Athena comes to him to comfort him or ask him for weapons, Hephaestus literally tried to climb on her and RAPE HER, and she DEFENDED HERSELF from him. A woman defending herself from a man trying to rape her-that's what it was.

But Rick specifically writes Hephaestus begging and pleading and oh so miserable, even when Athena clearly walks away and yells at him to stop. And then Hephaestus cries into her bare leg, and she kicks him away in disgust.

We're supposed to root for Hephaestus here, and even if we aren't, he's still portrayed in a sympathetic light, which is completely fucked up.

Let me tell you something. If a person is crying and begging for your attention and walking after you and grabs you, whining, even after you clearly and firmly tell them not to-

You can defend yourself from, even physically. Doesn't matter if you're a girl or boy or if they're a girl or boy. You have every right to kick them away. Now matter how pathetic they seem, they are still knowingly coming after and harassing you.

But there a lot of people that don't think like this. They feel bad for men who seem 'pathetic' and often denounce women who reject men like this, even though the women have every right not to want to be with men, even if the man seems pathetic and lonely.

Rick wrote Hephaestus to seem pathetic (he literally called Hephaestus poor guy WHEN HEPHAESTUS WAS TRYING TO RAPE ATHENA) and Athena to be cold and bitchy for not acquiescing to Hephaestus' wants, thus flipping the script to make us feel bad for Hephaestus and disdain Athena.

And yes, even if Athena was ultimately written to be the one in the right here, most people will favour Hephaestus and disdain Athena in this narrative simply because of the way their behaviour is written.

It's ingrained in our brains and psychology-let men off, blame the women. Nearly everyone thinks like this-it's practically the default way for society.

I'm not saying that everyone thinks like this. There are very good people who don't think like this or are working on their behaviour and thoughts...........

But they're a minority. There are too many people who default to the 'men good women bad blame women automatically' mindset, even the supposedly progressive ones.

Rick knew the original myth and instead, he chose to twist and write it like this, having us root for Hephaestus instead. That HAS to tell you that the guy has some form of misogyny about Greek Goddesses.

Red flags for Rick Riordan? Hell yes. This was published in 2014, so we can only hope that he's improved on his behavior a decade later, but considering the recent changes in the show, I don't think it's happening.

ATHENA ISN'T ALWAYS WRITTEN BADLY IN PJO

Now, I'm not saying that Athena is always demonized when she shows up. She has a few good moments in PJO and there are some good parts to her.

She realises that Typhon was a distraction and convinces Zeus to send Hermes back, thus greatly helping the demigods.

(But this is overlooked because Rick made her tell Percy to stay away from Annabeth for no good reason. He didn't have to do this at all-but as a very wise person once said, this was another way of trying to distance Percy and Annabeth but not knowing how to properly do so, and of course, Athena becomes the scapegoat who must take on the blame here even though Poseidon could have also said this, thus giving him an actual moment that shows that hey, he's not all-good, Percy and readers!)

She does love Annabeth, as seen when she guides her on the streets to help, immediately claims her at camp, gives her the invisibility cap, appoints her the architect of Olympus itself and compliments her in front of the entire Godly council and many demigods too.

When Annabeth is in Tartarus, she speaks to her and tells her that she did well and gives her a message to send, indicating a gesture of trust, honour and respect from mother to daughter.

(But she was also a bad mother to Annabeth for reasons I've stated before in this essay. She neglected her, forced her to stay with an abusive father, did not bother to find an adoptive family for her, etc)

In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, she instructs Cadmus on what to do with the dragon's teeth. She rightfully blinds Tiresias for staring at her while naked and not immediately looking away and covering his eyes, but then gives him a walking stick and lets him understand the language of birds so that they can direct him when she learns that it was an accident.

She also helps Percy on his quest in Chalice of the Gods by sending Ganymede and the cart that Percy's hiding in back to the kitchens to save Percy.

It's just that...........her portrayal in PJO had some serious problems. It was hideous, horrendous, ghastly, frightful, atrocious, shocking, appalling, grievous, gross and a whole of lot of other synonyms to match. And she is more often than not criticised and hated on for her bad moments than she is noticed for her good moments in Percy Jackson.

CONCLUSION

I know that Rick is free to use whichever version of the myths he wants, but I just want you to see that he denigrates her and portrays her in an appalling manner. Making her have children without the father's permission and forcing the children onto them and making her neglect her children was absolutely unnecessary and Athena did not need to have brain children.

Now, I'm not saying that Athena isn't portrayed in a positive light. She does have good moments in Percy Jackson, but what I want to say is that a lot about her characterization in Percy Jackson is absolutely egregious for the most part considering her actual mythological counterpart.

Athena is the only virgin goddess who has children, and she's also the only virgin goddess who's portrayed as an adult. Coincidence? I think not. In fact, if Rick hadn't made Athena have children, he would have made her a child too.

He turned Hestia into a child for no reason at all, so it's not entirely implausible to think that he would make Athena a child too-probably use the stupid excuse of 'children learn better and their brains are more flexible than adults' brains!'

(I don't want to give him any ideas.)

To conclude, Athena more often than not demeaned in PJO and her overall portrayal is absolutely ghastly when compared to her mythological counterpart. There are a few good parts to her, but not many, and her portrayal in such a famous pop culture series that has impacted so many people will be an eternal tragedy.

@superkooku

@cynthiav06

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