#but there is once again nuance to it and i'm bad with words when it comes to complicated concepts

[beevean]

It’s me ya boy uhhh you know who… Or maybe you don’t 😎

Enjoying media has been so much more fun and relaxing when I’m not so aggressively focused on oh no is this this character… Problematic?! Like it’s genuinely so refreshing and fun, this has nothing to do with your fandoms but there’s a character I absolutely adore the aesthetics and concept of but was afraid to truly enjoy because of like… Incest in his story-

I’m genuinely so open and happy now, I do not view the world of fiction as a personal threat

Sorry I keep using your asks as an anonymous confessional I’m just not ready to be open about this stuff 😭

Hello mysterious friend :P

Yay, I'm happy for you! I don't know if you've read this post, but it put into words something that had been rotating in my mind for a while, about the mental templates and how strong or weak they are, depending on age and familiarity with certain topics and surely other factors. You know when people say "8 seasons of Game of Thrones didn't suddenly convince all of its fans that it's a-ok to bang your sibling"? This is why. Even one of the most popular series in recent history cannot rewire the population's mentality over something as radicated as "murder, incest and pedophilia are bad".

So enjoy your faves and your problematic™ stories without feeling the need to justify yourself to anyone and without feeling like you're a terrible person :D

[tumblingxelian]

A Necessary Post - Yang, Taiyang & Seeing Red

I debated this being a message or a note or a reblog, but ultimately this warranted an essay. Because a hatred of nuance is not even remotely the reason why Tai is critiqued as a teacher or father.

With that fact in mind, let's begin:

During RWBY Volume 4, Episode 9: Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back Taiyang has a great deal of critical feedback for Yang regarding her fighting style, personality & Semblance.

The issue is that Tai's words and advice when compared to what we saw on screen before & afterwards demonstrate he does not understand how it works or how she used it.

So here for your reading pleasure if a more or less line by line breakdown of Tai's advice and why I don't feel it holds up & more to the point, why I don't believe Yang utilized it.

Taiyang: Do you realize that you used your Semblance to win every fight after the qualifiers?

Yang rightfully points out that her using Burn is no different than anyone else using their Semblances. I would add that Yang's Semblance only serves to enhance her already present abilities with damage taken in a fight. So her not using it would be stupidly holding back extra energy for no reason.

Tai's critique also fails to register that when using her Semblance to take out FNKI, Yang specifically disrupted the ground so Neon could not skate effectively & used the boost in power to turn Flynt's own weapon against him.

I will be addressing Mercury further down but she used it effectively and intellectually here and to great effect.

What's more, every other fights fighting style, weapons or both were literally built around their Semblances. Yang's threat level remains fairly consistent without her Semblance, all three of these other characters take a huge dip.

Taiyang: Because not everyone else's is basically a temper tantrum.

Ignoring that calling the manifestation of Yang's soul a temper tantrum is another in a long line if dickish things Tai says to Yang. Her Semblance literally does not work that way.

Her anger has jack and shit to do with it, this has been explained & demonstrated time and time again. Yang only gets a power boost when she's been injured, the fact she tends to be angry when using it is because being hurt sucks and she's usually in an intense fight. When the fight is going well and she still gets to use it she's not angry, as seen with a pleased smirk here:

So as before, Tai's critique is bereft of any merit, Yang's Semblance does not work that way.

Taiyang: I'm serious! Once you take damage, you can dish it back twice as hard, but that doesn't make you invincible!

Cite a time Yang thought she was invincible, cite it provably that Yang thought, said or indicated that she felt she was invincible. You can't because Yang never indicated as such this is something Tai is assuming about her at best.

& no her jumping in the Nevermore's mouth is not an example because she was not using her Semblance, did not take damage, it was a very effective strategy & seemingly either part of the plan, or was so easily understood that it could be safely and reliably worked into the plan. She wasn't using her Semblance here but finding evidence of risky behavior was hard, especially with her Semblance, go figure.

In fact every time Yang used her Semblance she did so only because someone landed a blow, which just happens in fights sometimes.

Taiyang: It's great when you're in a bind, but what happens if you miss? What happens if they're stronger? What then? Now you're just weak and tired!

We know what happens when Yang misses, she can swing again!

After the first blow on the Paladin she missed & needed help to catch it, her missing had zero impact on her Semblances.

As to what happens if they are stronger, um, she loses, that sometimes happens in fights. Its not something Yang can do anything about by holding back on extra strength. Not to quote Qrow but sometimes bad things happen. Other characters losing to stronger opponents don't get given this kind of diatribe's because its pointedly obvious that there was nothing to be done about it.

& on the final piece, she was very pointedly not weak and tired after using it. The only times she has been shown to be is when she was extremely low on Aura regardless in which cases not using her Semblance is a death sentence.

So again, we've established Tai's critique comes from nowhere & his understanding of her Semblance is nonexistent.

Taiyang: But you gotta keep your emotions in check. Keep a level head, and think before you act. Your Semblance is a great fallback, but you can't let yourself rely on it.

This is so painfully unfair it hurts.

No other character gets this kind of shit for expressing emotions in combat. In fact we see characters expressing emotions in battle all the time. Nor has she stopped displaying emotions in combat:

I already outlined how in all two of the Yang fights Tai actually witnessed she used strategy and retained excellent combat form. So again, baseless claims from Tai.

What's more, Yang primarily does use her Semblance as a fallback rather than rely on it in these fights. She only whipped it out against Mercury when he'd unleashed his seeming kill move on her and was confident he'd won.

Not using it here would be dumb and make no sense.

Yang doesn't rely on it to save her, she deploys it when it makes sense to & she has the energy or the need. This is more than we see from many characters.

Taiyang: It won't always save you. Obviously.

So now he is critiquing her for a fight he didn't even witness & knows jack shit about. So let's break this down once again:

Yang has spent the last 24 hours questions her sanity.

Yang's new home (Her words) is burning down.

Yang's sister is missing in all this chaos.

Then Yang's partner gets fucking stabbed, and the guy who did it is standing between them with a sword & gun, with fire all over Grimm all around.

Anything Yang can do he can counter, she tries to go around he only has to pivot. If she tries to fire from long range she might hit Blake. She tries an earth shock wave, she launches Blake into the fire.

She quite literally had no others options & zero time to try anything else because he can just shoot or stab Blake whenever he wants.

Taiyang: You definitely have your mom's stubbornness.

This, this right here is where all this is actually coming from. Tai is once again projecting Raven onto Yang despite them frankly having almost nothing in common.

With most of Yang's visible personality tells being inherited from Summer, such as the mother daughter shoulder check of V9. Thanks to chittychittyyangyang for the GIFs

Or as outlined in some songs with Yang's side of the lyrics explicitly citing how she is trying to fill the Summer shaped void in their lives.

Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day, I will be there to take all your fears away.

Taiyang: Your mother was... a complicated woman. Like everybody, she had her faults, but those faults are what tore our team apart. And, it did a real number on our family.

Tai blames Raven for tearing their team apart. Save that by all accounts, barring her absence things seemed to be going fine. Qrow seemed to be present in their lives, Tai looked happy, the girls were happy & Summer at least seemed happy though we know she was covering up a lot of dread.

Keep in mind Tai is projecting Raven, the woman he blames for destroying the team and damaging the family onto his daughter who literally kept the family together after Summer died. Yang's established this, Ruby has established this, its canon.

Yang: I had to pick up the pieces. I had to keep things together. Alone. (pause) Weiss, if you have something to say, then say it. Ruby: If you thought we wouldn’t come for you, then you must’ve forgotten who raised me.

Tai was not the one holding that home or family together. Unless you think the writers are gonna randomly swerve & say both Yang & Ruby are big whiny liars for some utterly nonsensical reasons. So no, I don't take him seriously as a narrator or critique of Yang, I have no reason to.

But let's push on, because I'm not done.

Taiyang: You both act like the easiest way to tackle an obstacle is through it. (pointing at Zwei) That strength is all that matters in a fight.

Ah yes, Raven, the woman famously known for thinking the easiest way to deal with an obstacles is to tackle it head on. That's why she spent years adorning herself in a Grimm helmet that hid her eyes & raised a False Maiden to serve as her body double.

A woman so inclined to rely on her own raw strength that when she was ambushed by Salem's forces she decided to trick them into an ambush.

Then when fighting Cinder and was at a disadvantage she freezes her in place while making Cinder think she is going on the offensive leaving her to be crushed by Stalactites & also utilized mind games to distract her & deal the finishing blow... Cos she only relies on strength.

As to his final piece of advice I already address it up above, there was no way around Adam, the situation was fucked from the start.

Saying it was Yang's fault she was dismembered is no more than victim blaming, I stood by that in Volume 3 to to this day & beyond.

Taiyang: But if you just take a second look, then maybe you see... (walking toward her, stepping around Zwei) there's a way around as well.

But let's actually look at Seeing Red & if Yang listened to Tai's advice or if she not only ignored it but did the opposite of what he ordered.

Let's see she goes in with open aggression & emotions, and also takes many blows rather than going 'around' them somehow.

Yang, as if she were 'indestructible' outright tanks a massively charged up Aura beam for the purpose of increasing her strength.

Then burns through all of her Aura & Semblance energies delivering one direct blow, relying on it to save her & leaving her weak & tired.

Or in other words, she:

Yang didn't miss, but we know that isn't a real issue anyway.

Yang used her Semblance to 'win' the fight & very much did rely on it to save her.

Yang expressed anger & many other emotions in the battle & still continues to does so.

Yang willingly took huge risks that involved her being able to take tons of damage rather than go "Around" the problem.

Yang knew Adam was likely stronger given it was 2 V1 but relied on her Semblance to get her out of that bind and she was in fact left weak and tired.

This is also the first time she has done several of these things, or otherwise demonstrated these traits, such as being left weak and tired or willingly tanking big attacks rather than just being hit by surprise or due to being overwhelmed.

I don't take Tai's advice seriously because none of it was accurate or aligned with the Semblance we saw in action or had described to us.

I don't trust Tai's opinion on Yang because his take on her is explicitly informed by Raven & not the Yang we spent four & then five more volumes getting to know.

I don't take Tai's words over Yang's, Ruby's or what we see on screen because Tai is at best a secondary or minor character & a recurring theme in RWBY is the failure of older generations.

These failures are not just in the past but how they have been consistently failing the next generation as the story is being told. There is zero reason to think Tai is some magic exception to this narrative trend when much more well explored characters like Maria, Qrow, Ozpin, Ironwood, Raven, and hell, Summer Rose are not.

& that is my stance on that, thanks for tuning in!

[windcarvedlyre]

Rewatched part of ch1's trial and found something else that's really interesting in hindsight!

We're all familiar with Komaeda's FTE; over a decade later, there's still some room for debate wrt whether he was telling the truth about his diagnoses or not. My stance was already that he was telling the truth, instantly regretted it, and lied that he was lying, and I will die on that hill. I think the above lines reinforce my stance further.

Hear me out. I might as well make this a comprehensive 'Komaeda wasn't lying' post while I'm at it.

For reference, here's the entire final FTE.

The reasons I already had to believe him are as follows, ordered from strongest to weakest:

Komaeda almost died from despair disease; he was much more severely affected than Owari and Mioda. Lymphoma can weaken your immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to infections. While Komaeda's degree of illness could also have been due to bad luck, this could easily be an intentional hint about him.

He claims he's wanted someone's love all along. Again in chapter 3, after the trial, Tsumiki targets his lack of loved ones and seems to genuinely perturb him, indicating this is a real insecurity:

Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, or bvFTD, can have symptoms that align with a lot of his social and behavioural issues in the game. bvFTD symptoms can include saying socially inappropriate things/being rude and insensitive, rash/impulsive behaviour, empathy issues, and rigid thinking, among other things. Do I even need to cite examples of these? He can still hide things and manipulate people sometimes, but his ch4 investigation segment proves he's genuinely socially impaired. He sometimes fails to understand the emotional nuances of other people and the impact his words will have. For example:

(Though he still has moments of self-awareness and introspection; he acknowledges he's pessimistic in his introduction and worries he'll make Hinata hate him by saying weird things in Island Mode.)

Issues with memory, cognition in general, etc, are more of a thing in later stages of the disease, so Komaeda having significant social impairments but still being extremely sharp and lacking noticeable lapses in memory makes sense.

Physically Komaeda just doesn't seem healthy in general. He's pale, skinny, his hair is white (possibly fading into a pinkish brown that I could see being his hair colour in the past), and- at least in Japanese- he sounds really breathy and wheezy. I once laughed in a way uncannily similar to his ch1 breakdown when I had a chest infection. With asthma. Stage 3 lymphoma symptoms can include chest pain, shortness of breath, weight loss, loss of appetite and fatigue. If it's still stage 3 it's present in lymph nodes above and below the diaphragm but hasn't metastasized outside of the lymphatic system yet, but if it's advanced to stage 4 since his diagnosis then it may have spread to his lungs as well- having further potential to cause respiratory issues.

In his second-last FTE he starts to tell Hinata about something before he entered Hope's Peak but stops himself, not wanting to 'burden' Hinata. And leaves immediately to end the conversation. He'd just told Hinata how his parents died in front of him, showing zero awareness of how bad it was or how it would affect Hinata, so it must have been real bad for him to do this. And makes it less plausible he was impulsively repeating something from a book later, imo.

Iirc at least one spinoff manga runs with it being true, depicting him in a doctor's office during a nightmare. I'm too tired to hunt this down now; maybe I'll edit it in later.

On a meta level I just find it less compelling for the final reward for spending so much time with him to be 'Here's some actual vulnerability- lol psyche, remember he's manipulative? He might still want sympathy, you be the judge'. It would make the aborted confession at the end the only thing we can't infer from elsewhere in the game already. On the other hand, the diagnoses being real, and him trying to take it back and distract Hinata with an incitement to kill him (before also trying to confess his crush and aborting that too, he's a mess there), really really adds depth to his character.

Semi-tangentially, some people with bvFTD also develop neurological problems that affect movement- eg. making them slow and stiff. There's no evidence for or against Komaeda having this in canon afaik, and I've read it's more of a thing in later stages of the disease, but in the ch1 trial he talks about the threatening letter as if it's in his actual handwriting, and if so... it looks pretty stiff, doesn't it? Either it was angular on purpose or the writer has trouble with fluid hand movements. Let me know if he displays fine motor skills anywhere else, I guess.

The only real counterargument is that he's outlived the 6-12 months he was expected to, but:

The estimate is presumably from the cancer, which is treatable. FTD can take years and years, even 10+, to reach the later stages.

That's an estimate, not set in stone, and real people have survived after being told they have X months to live without supernatural luck.

In either case, it doesn't matter how dire the prognosis is if Komaeda's involved. If the chance of him surviving something isn't zero it will probably happen. When he finally managed to kill himself it wasn't even real.

Anyway, the thing I started the post with! Compare the lines below.

In both cases he's said something that could make others feel bad for him, immediately takes it back, and claims he did that on purpose.

But he wasn't actually lying in the first line, albeit hamming it up a little. He wanted someone to kill him. This happened while he was still pretending to be the killer, after Saionji asked him why he sent the letter. He dropped a hint about the truth and then deflected away from it, likely intentionally antagonising people to distract them from thinking too hard about what he just implied and make them more averse to empathising with him.

So what could that imply about the lines from his FTE?

TL;DR: He told the truth about having cancer and dementia, your honour. There's not only strong evidence for this but precedent for the sort of deflection he made afterwards.

[walking-loather]

"liberals want abortion at 9 months!"

At nine months they don't "abort" the baby, they induce labour; they deliver it. If the infant dies, it was either already dead in the womb, or it was dying.

"liberals want late term abortions"

Let me make one thing very clear. If an abortion is happening at 7 months, 8 months, 9 months it is because something has gone catastrophically wrong with the pregnancy. Do you think women who carry a baby for more than half a year decide on a whim they don't want their child anymore? Because that's what it is at that point to them: a child.

Late term pregnancy complications are treated in two ways. They either induce labour to remove the baby from the mother -- at which point it is born, legally considered a living person, and therefore illegal to kill (infanticide) OR they abort the fetus. Why do they abort? Because the fetus is dead.

If you need an abortion late term, the fetus is dead. If the fetus is dying, they do not abort, they deliver the baby. That's what happens. If the baby dies after being removed from the mother, or in the process of being removed from the mother, it was already going to die. It is a stillbirth. If it dies hours or days later, it is a tragedy.

You abort a late term fetus because it is dead. You abort a late term fetus because it has catastrophic developmental abnormalities. You abort a late term fetus because it is killing the mother.

Abortions only occur when there is no other option. At that point in development -- if the baby is dying in the womb or putting the mother's life at risk -- they opt to do an emergency c-section instead.

Every woman who needs a late term abortion WANTED her baby. She didn't carry that pregnancy into her third trimester without imagining that child in her arms. These are families who have built cribs, bought clothes, and picked names. Imagine going through the worst experience of your life -- losing your child -- only to then find out your life is hanging in the balance because doctors cannot remove a baby from your body; a baby that is already dead or soon to be. Imagine the grief being compounded by a life threatening medical emergency.

It makes me furious when conservatives deliberately spread misinformation about what abortion looks like in the third trimester. Doctors will not abort unless there is no other option, they will just deliver the baby. This is not a case of women deciding to maliciously kill their children for the fun of it, and to insinuate such is disgusting.

-----------------------------------------------

Additional context bc tumblr is a hellfire and I know someone is going to read my statements in bad faith: I am giving my opinion in black and white terms. There is obviously nuance in regards to certain things I say, but generalisations in this instance is more impactful. I care about describing the experience of the overwhelming majority, rather than strategically using my words in order to provide a perfect opinion that applies in 100% of all cases all the time. No one desires to have a late term abortion. No one plans on having a late term abortion. If a woman had the ability to terminate a pregnancy she didn't want -- as her right should be -- then no woman would carry a fetus into the third trimester only to then decide she doesn't want to anymore. When women have the right to choose, they don't choose late term abortion for the hell of it.

However, I am also of the opinion that a woman should be able to change her mind about being pregnant at literally any point during her pregnancy. I wholeheartedly support a woman's right to choose, no matter what. No. Matter. What. But please use Occam's Razor. Which is more likely? That she has literally no other option than to abort late term, or that she suddenly decides she doesn't want a baby anymore at the 11th hour? Please exercise critical thinking.

I also deliberately chose to use the word woman. Once again, I'm focusing on what is the case for the overwhelming majority rather than trying to use less impactful language to be perfectly accurate 100% of the time. Abortions are only performed on female-bodied people, and ~98-99% of the time, people with that anatomy identify as women. Talking about it as a gender neutral issue obscures the misogyny and sexism that underpins the matter. Conservatives don't want women to have the right to choose because they have reductive gender values and believe that women should be pregnant for a multitude of reasons, but the most maddening of which stems from the belief that childbirth is divine retribution for Eve sinning against god. They don't believe women should have rights or autonomy because they are patriarchal and their sexist ideology demands women be baby makers. They want women to be property, and as long as they desire to assert reproductive control over women, abortion is a women's rights issue.

[chronicsyd]

Yk… I feel like people have become So used to like TikTok doom-scrolling feeding their limited attention span and having most sapphic rep be TV-Y7 shows (She-ra, TOH, TLOK, etc.) that when they’re faced with a TV-14 show where they actually have to Pay Attention to little things like facial expressions over words instead of having constant exposition shoved in their face they don’t like it.

And this is not me saying you can’t be an adult and watch a TV-Y7 show, but you Do have to keep in mind that the shows target demographic Is younger viewers so they have to utilize stuff like exposition so younger viewers can easily understand it. And those shows have pretty black and white morals “Horde = Bad” “Princess Alliance = Good” all that fun stuff.

But Arcane isn’t like that, it makes you think deeper about what’s actually being told to you and I’ve had to do a couple rewatches myself to pick up on stuff I hadn’t noticed the first time. And putting those same black and white morals to the characters like these really does the show a disservice.

(I also think the "oh I don't like oppressor x oppressed" complaint to be Incredibly stupid because you could slap that onto practically Anything. Heterosexual relationships/Hetero-passing relationships? that's oppressor x oppressed because of men over women. Mixed relationships involving any white person? that's Definity oppressor x oppressed. Relationships involving a cis and trans person? yup oppressor x oppressed again. Reducing characters down purely to their socioeconomic status and occupation and ignoring all the nuance, complexity and logic of them and their actions frustrate the hell out of me because they refuse to think deeper than that.)

And I'd RATHER Caitlyn Show she's remorseful and changing through her Actions rather than a sob session of "I'm sorrys'" (Also, LAST time Caitlyn merely said words to Vi ("I won't"), her actions didn't reflect those words, so why would Vi trust a simple "I'm sorry" now? Not to mention we already got that "I'm sorry" plot beat when it came to Jayce and Viktor back in S1 with Jayce doing stuff like setting the Bridge Blockade (and No one wants to bring up the "oppressor x oppressed" thing when talking about Jayvik despite it being the same dynamic...))

(Let's also address that Vi never said "I'm sorry" to Jinx for joining the Enforcers. No, the "I'm sorry" in Ep 3 wasn't for That it was an "I'm sorry for what's about to happen" because they Both know that there's a high possibility that Jinx might be dead at the end of this fight, and I know this because Vi becomes defensive in Ep 5 when Jinx brings it up. Vi doesn't say "I'm sorry" for hitting Isha either (btw if you say Vi saw Jinx care for Isha as a "I'm a bad sister" then you just lack basic media literacy all together). Jinx never says "I'm sorry" for all the fucked up shit she does like kidnapping Caitlyn and forcing Vi to kill her. Also, Vi AND Caitlyn come up with the plan to take out Silco loyalists, Shimmer and Jinx so why the hell does Caitlyn have to apologize for that? Caitlyn admits that forcing Vi to take the badge was the wrong thing to do and gives an explanation as to why she wanted Vi to join her as an Enforcer, because Caitlyn's worry of "one of us comes back in a box" IS justified)

(I also think the time jumps have fooled the audience, because they feel that Caitlyn's scene with Ambessa in ep 4 is "a complete 180" when you have to keep in mind that Caitlyn's been watching how her actions have affected those in these 6 months that we haven't really been seeing her on screen; we see bits of her during the "Paint the Town Blue" montage and Even Then you see her damn near crying in one of those still shots and looking so exhausted and over it in another. Once again part of that "Arcane wanting you to use your brain to connect those dots instead of the show doing For you but the audience refuses to do so" kinda stuff.)

Also, do people need to go through their Own trauma, grief and anger in order to understand Caitlyn's actions/motivations? because it's kinda starting to look that way. Caitlyn wasn't maliciously manipulating Vi with the kiss and the "I won't" statement because when going through emotions like this, Caitlyn doesn't have the time to reflect on those actions and see how she is changing, it's more of a hope that she isn't changing in the way that Vi doesn't want her to (you have to remember that S1 Ep4-S2 Ep3 happens within the span of like a week, maybe two at the most; Caitlyn's not being given time to stop or think about what's she's doing or what's going on, she's merely going through the motions in a sense. So by the time we pick up Ep 4 and there's been months of shit happening under her watch, she's had Time to be like "I don't want to be this, I hate this and the person I've become in all this".)

(I mean we can have Another discussion of how a lot of hate is just performative activism. One of the reasons I Like Caitlyn so much is because she shows that even with good morals, someone from privilege can easily fall down that rabbit hole. Because that's happened to myself before. Despite being lesbian and mentally disabled I still come from certain privilege, while I don't come from aristocratic wealth, I still lived a life better than most and just being a white woman that also gives me privilege and I've had to do my own reflecting on how my thoughts and actions can affect others simply from that privilege; which is what Caitlyn's able to do herself over the course of the season, which it seems that none of these haters are able to grasp)

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Mitsuhide Akechi's Sequel

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

Spoilers ahead. This is a full translation. Not Proofread.

After countless fleeting kisses, the candle burned out, leaving the room in darkness.

Mitsuhide: "Mai, it's time to sleep."

Mai: "Are you leaving already?"

Mitsuhide: "I'll stay by your side until you fall asleep."

I looked up at his gentle smile, and a sense of helplessness welled up within me.

(He'll stay while I'm awake, only to leave once I fall asleep.)

Mai: "You always say goodbye so kindly."

Mai: "I'm pretty sure you'll head out into the storm alone while I'm lost in a dream."

Mitsuhide: "You look lovely even when you cry. But I'd rather have your smile as the last thing I see."

Mitsuhide: "Now, close your eyes."

(I don't want to steal any more of his time.)

Urged by his words, I lay down on the futon.

Gathering all my strength, I looked up at him one last time before closing my eyes.

Mai: "Mitsuhide, take care."

Mitsuhide: "Yeah, I'm off."

The sound of birds chirping woke me abruptly.

(It's morning already. It's so quiet.)

The storm had passed, and the room was bathed in the light of dawn.

(He really left without waking me, just like always.)

Mitsuhide's haori was lying on the floor nearby.

(Did he try to drape it over me?)

Right now, I'm not allowed to form connections with the people of this era.

The haori must have slipped off my shoulders and fallen onto the futon.

(How did he feel when he saw that?)

A crushing sensation tightened around my chest, and I bit down hard on my lip.

(I don't want to cry. I've cried more tears than I can bear already.)

Mitsuhide left Azuchi to search for a way to save me.

Time may be running out, but there's still hope.

(This was the right choice.)

(I know that with all my heart, so why does the loneliness of his absence pierce through me like a blade?)

(It's okay to feel hurt.)

(Because this pain is a testament to my time with Mitsuhide.)

Outside, the weather was unbelievably beautiful, but in my heart, the storm still raged.

(What if he doesn't make it in time? What if I don't recover?)

(If that happens, I'll never see him again.)

Mai: ".........."

I desperately stifled a sob that was about to escape.

(No matter what happens, I won't regret it.)

(I can't imagine a life where I never met him.)

(I'm glad I met him.)

Mai: "I love you, Mitsuhide."

Caught between the weight of despair and the faintest grain of hope, I whispered those words.

The shocking news came a few days later.

Ranmaru: "Lady Mai, am I walking too fast? Are you keeping up?"

Mai: "I'm fine."

I replied to Ranmaru and rang the small bell hanging from my necklace just to be sure.

Ranmaru: "Thanks for answering. I can clearly hear your voice."

Mai: "I see. That's good."

Relieved, I tightly gripped the bell on my necklace.

For the past few days, I've become completely invisible to everyone.

(I can't afford to let go of this bell, not even for a moment now.)

Mai: "What do you think this emergency meeting is about?"

Ranmaru: "I have no idea, but Lord Nobunaga gave strict orders to ensure you're present."

(Me?)

Ranmaru: "I have such a bad feeling about this. I almost don't want to take you along."

(Ranmaru is so kind.)

Mai: "Thanks. But I'll be fine."

Mai: "If you have a bad feeling, that's all the more reason for me to hear what's going on."

(Even if I'm scared, I have to keep my eyes open.)

Ranmaru: "I figured you weren't the type to say no anyway."

After giving me a wry smile, Ranmaru's expression grew serious.

Ranmaru: "Let's hurry. The other warlords are probably already there."

Mai: "Okay."

Mai: "Excuse me."

Even though I knew they couldn't see me, I gave a deep bow before sitting in the seat Ranmaru showed me.

Mitsunari: "It seems everyone is present now."

Hideyoshi: "Mai, how are you feeling? Any problem?"

Mai: "Thank you. I'm doing well, thanks to everyone's support."

As I answered, I rang the bell on my necklace louder so they could pinpoint my location.

Ieyasu: "That bell is pretty handy. Maybe I should put one on Wasabi too."

Ieyasu: "Make sure you don't lose it, okay? Searching for you every time would be a pain."

Masamune: "If you're worried, just admit it."

Ieyasu: "I'm not worried."

Keiji: "He's just saying he trusts you won't give up easily."

Ieyasu: "Don't twist my words, will you?"

Still, something felt off.

(It's like they're forcing themselves to act cheerful for my sake.)

Seizing the pause in their conversation, I turned toward Nobunaga.

Mai: "Lord Nobunaga, why did you call me to this emergency meeting?"

Nobunaga: "Let's get to the main topic."

At his words, the room fell completely silent.

Nobunaga: "Hideyoshi."

Hideyoshi: "Yes."

Hideyoshi: "Mai, you're aware that ever since the attack, rebellions have been breaking out frequently in neighboring regions, right?"

Mai: "Yes."

Hideyoshi: "There were numerous small-scale rebellions led by lords of minor domains, ronin, bandits, and lawless people."

Hideyoshi: "But now, someone's shown up who's managed to bring all these random groups together."

(What?)

Ranmaru: "Could it be Kicho and Motonari?"

Hideyoshi: "If it had been them, it would've been a hundred times better."

Masamune & Keiji: "…………"

Ieyasu & Mitsunari: "…………"

Everyone's faces twisted bitterly.

(Don't tell me…)

Nobunaga: "It's just as you've suspected."

Nobunaga: "The leader of the rebellion is Mitsuhide."

(No way!)

Mai: "Why? What reason could Mitsuhide possibly have to side with the…"

I was about to finish my sentence when a wave of goosebumps swept over me.

(There's a reason.)

The warlords' grim expressions told me they had reached the same conclusion as I had.

(He really is a liar.)

The sound of my heartbeat thumped loudly in my ears.

That night, Mitsuhide had bared his heart to me but kept the most important secret.

(His true purpose.)

Mitsuhide: "Quite the spectacle, isn't it?"

In the plains near Azuchi, the rebel army had set up camp, where the rebel generals sat face-to-face with their newly appointed leader, Mitsuhide.

The group, brimming with the tension of battle, made no effort to hide their excitement.

Rebel General 1: "Lord Mitsuhide, let my unit take the vanguard! We'll claim the enemy's head!"

Rebel General 2: "Hah! What does a bumpkin lord know about war? We'll lead the charge ourselves."

Rebel General 3: "Don't get cocky, you ronin scum. When it comes to killing, we're the experts."

Mitsuhide: "Now, now, gentlemen, let's keep it cool."

Rebel Generals: "……….."

At Mitsuhide's single command, the rebels fell silent.

Even so, they remained wary of one another, their piercing glares refusing to relent.

After a tense pause, one of them finally spoke up, his tone laced with dissatisfaction.

Rebel General 1: "Lord Mitsuhide, I get that numbers matter, but why'd you bring together such a shady bunch?"

Mitsuhide: "Each of them has caught my attention for some time."

Mitsuhide: "The men here have the courage to take on Nobunaga."

Rebel General 3: "Heh, easy for you to say. If we hadn't listened to you, we'd be having our heads pecked off by crows right now."

Rebel General 2: "We'll grab whatever hand we need to take down Nobunaga, even if it belongs to a cunning fox. That's all there is to it."

Despite their words, each general cast fearful glances toward Mitsuhide.

A disorganized rabble of soldiers, barely held together, was being forged into an army by this man with eyes cold as ice.

Mitsuhide: "Let me make one thing clear. From this point forward, any act of treachery will not be tolerated."

Mitsuhide: "If you don't wish to die a pointless death, I suggest you remain obedient."

(Mitsuhide's purpose in uniting the rebel army…)

My blood ran cold, and I was unable to speak.

Mitsunari: "The total number of soldiers in the rebel army is expected to be several times ours."

Mitsunari: "However, even if these troops clash with the well-trained Oda warriors, there's no way it'll be a fair fight."

Ieyasu: "There's no way he doesn't understand that."

Ieyasu: "It's all part of his plan."

Hideyoshi: "Recently, some of the rebels have been raiding towns and villages to gather supplies and funds for the army."

Hideyoshi: "But that suddenly stopped a little while ago. Mitsuhide must've gotten the unruly ones under control and forced them into line."

Masamune: "Those pests, no matter how many times you crush them, they just keep appearing, but Mitsuhide has managed to suppress them and gather them into a swarm."

Masamune: "He plans to throw them all directly into the Oda forces and take everyone down with him."

(Take everyone down...)

I wanted to deny it, but I couldn't.

Everyone's thoughts mirrored my own instinct exactly.

None of us believe that Mitsuhide betrayed us.

(Who would have thought that we'd have to confirm our mutual trust in this way?)

Keiji: "So, he became the leader of the enemy forces to put an end to this prolonged war, huh?"

Keiji: "It's a flashy move, but I can't bring myself to praise it."

Hideyoshi: "Does that fool not know the meaning of choosing your own methods!?"

Ranmaru: "This is just outrageous!"

Ranmaru: "He knows exactly how Lady Mai feels, how we all feel, and yet…"

Using us like pieces on a chessboard was something only Mitsuhide could pull off.

(But there had to be other ways to take down the rebel army and stop Kicho and Motonari's plans.)

Nobunaga: "Kicho and Motonari must be sighing in regret by now."

Mai: "Mitsuhide didn't do this just to make the Oda army crush the rebels."

Nobunaga: "What?"

Mai: "It's my fault."

Mai: "Mitsuhide figured out how to cure me."

------------Flashback-----------

Sasuke: "The fact that Mitsuhide's name is starting to disappear from the travel guide suggests that possibility."

Sasuke: "If Mitsuhide vanishes from history, the cause of divine punishment will be gone, and you'll surely return to normal."

---------Flashback Ends--------

(Mitsuhide must have started making contact under the guise of a rebellion as soon as the rebel armies began to form.)

(Seeing through Kicho and Motonari's schemes, and with my condition worsening, Mitsuhide must have chosen to implement this plan to resolve everything at once.)

Nobunaga: "Mai, Tell me everything."

Mitsuhide: "Kyubei, I'd like to write a letter. Could you leave the tent for a moment?"

Kyubei: "Understood."

Mitsuhide: "You don't look pleased. I told you to stay in Azuchi, didn't I?"

Kyubei: "If I'd stayed in Azuchi, who would deliver this letter to Lady Mai?"

Mitsuhide: "Good grief. A vassal who's too sharp can be a real hassle."

Kyubei: "I think it's still far better than having a too-sharp lord."

Mitsuhide: "I suppose you're right."

Kyubei: "I apologize. I spoke out of turn."

Mitsuhide: "I'm counting on you, Kyubei."

Mitsuhide: "Once everything is over, please deliver my will to Mai."

Kyubei: "........."

Kyubei bowed deeply in silence before leaving.

Eventually, Mitsuhide picked up his brush and wrote, bleeding his true feelings onto the paper.

Mai. As I write this, I am once again reminded of your strength in being able to express your true feelings so honestly.

I've learned from you that such honesty is not something easily done.

The other day, I overheard you telling Masamune that you would leave Azuchi, so I took the liberty of examining that historical book you kept hidden while you were away.

I'm sure, by now, you've realized that I've figured out your secret.

Mai, I have no hesitation. No regrets.

The only thing I regret is that you aren't by my side.

I love you and the world you live in more than anything.

If I could, I would've lived alongside you.

A few hours later.

Mitsuhide: "Well then, everyone. Do you have no regrets?"

The soldiers at the front of the army roared in response.

Mitsuhide: "We're launching a full-scale attack on the Oda forces, so make your mark on history in this battle."

Mitsuhide: "Now, to battle!"

🦊 Previous Part 💔 Tragic Ending

[castleclerics]

will byers and selflessness, selfishness, and fear

too much will mischaracterization i'm seeing recently from both will haters and will lovers so let's get one thing clear: will is selfless at his core, he is a selfless person. however we do see him start to dwindle in that department in s3-4 in certain situations. HOWEVER that does not mean he cannot come back around, in fact it's inevitable that he does, and quite exactly—and i can’t stress this enough—EXACTLY where his strength will come from in s5.

first, the van scene. will is both selfless and selfish during it, sacrificing his own feelings so mike knows he's needed and so his and el's relationship can bloom. however, he is literally putting words in el's mouth (even if he assumes that these are things she genuinely feels since that’s what he feels for mike so it only makes since his gf does too, doesn't make it ok.) and using her as a shield, there is no way around either of these things.

next, will not standing up to el's bullies or for her is “selfish” in a way, especially since partly the reason he doesn’t is because he’s scared of being a target. especially with the classroom scene, they literally show the girl flirting with will and him rejecting her, reminding the audience of his sexuality right before the bullying starts, once again staying in the shadows, el being his shield.

(also btw, lucas doesn’t stand up for his dnd friends when jason becomes aggressive with him for the same reason, he wants to blend in and still not seem like a nerd. but obviously we see him by the end of the season accept who he truly is and stops running from himself.)

they show this three separate times. it’s not that will should’ve stood up for her all of those times, but more of the fact that he had three chances and took none of them. he could’ve stopped each time from progressing into something worse and didn’t, queueing the viewer into showing that this is something he has to change, and will. he knows the right thing to do, even cries for el, and doesn’t do it like he most likely would. even with the s1 bullies, the party who are all targets stick together and face the bullies as one. it's because will’s trauma has made him freeze like a deer in headlights in a crisis. then once the bullies leave two separate times he tells el “it wasn’t that bad.” also saying that he and el will fix her project together, instead of preventing the destruction from happening in the first place because of his own fears. (also yes he does walk outside literally as they’re destroying the project, but i think it was purposeful, bc he wouldn’t have stepped in anyway if he saw the whole situation from the start.)

there’s also room for nuance, (? if that’s the right word) he’s a 15 y/o kid, one who’s gay in the 80’s and we don’t even know the extent of his UD and pre-show trauma yet but we already know he has literally been through hell and back.

his trauma strips him of who actually is, that's what trauma literally is until you are able to face it. you can forget who you once were before it got its hands on you. i mean, we literally have this scene about fear starring will:

there’s a reason they give us three separate shots close up too of will looking at the el’s bullying situations go down, they are that of how he freezes when he feels the mindflayer. showing he chooses not to act because of his fear. will’s current character is completely driven by it. so is everyone else too, but will’s fear is one they have outwardly highlighted for the whole series as it builds, and it is more destructive to himself and others than almost anyone else in the show, the anyone else’s being the “villains” so to speak. however he will not fall into the trap, he will take responsibility and fix the messes he’s made. that’s literally **why** he takes center stage in s5.

they establish in s1-2 countless times that he can be selfless, and it actually comes very naturally to him, even before the show's events take place. why do you think they make sure to drill that into your head just before he leans into being a little selfish in certain ways? it's been reiterated by the duffers so many times that his coming of age is in s5 and that "this emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together." so he obviously will be able to get back to that place. once he does and faces/accepts his trauma instead of freezing and hiding/lying and stands up for others AND HIMSELF and learns to love himself, he will finally come into the core of who he is again and better than ever. he is going to really have to push himself and that is what will make it so beautiful to watch unfold. he’ll being casting fireball once again instead of protection like he currently is.

i don't understand why all of this is rocket science to some people. it's almost like he's a complex character and his journey is far from over or something 😱😱 he’s also not a character that can “do no wrong” but his trauma makes it completely understandable but the show won’t excuse away his actions. he will utilize it in s5. we are on his journey with him seeing from his pov. there’s a reason they make you sympathize with him even during scenes where he may be more self-centered. it shows what is wrong with society instead of the characters themselves, bc isn’t that the true monster after all? at the end of the day he doesn’t mean to hurt anyone—even though he does, and definitely feels the guilt of it—he’s just absolutely horrified and hasn’t yet pushed himself to do the things he doesn’t want to, that he knows he has to.

(i think also noah does a beautiful job of reflecting this in will making himself smaller and very stiff while being in a more grown body in s4, you can literally see little will in all of his movements and mannerisms and it's so obviously incongruent with his bigger body. he also only moves his arms and legs so far out of his own bubble usually keeping them to his sides as much as possible, literally showing he’s stuck and hasn’t yet grown into his own.)

[missycolorful]

I'm on the fence about a lot of the "glass child" discussion because where I agree with some points that are made and enjoy the in depth analysis, I've come to severely disagree with others. Mostly because the internet is the internet, and the nuanced discussion has lost that nuance.

The reason this whole thing blew up (though it's been a concern for a while, certainly) was when Phil explained why he felt he needed to save Tallulah first before Chayanne. And you could tell Philza was trending cautious waters with his wording - he never wanted to say "oh, Chayanne's a chad, he'll get over it." With his wording, he recognized that neither were necessarily fine, but he still felt it necessary to prioritize one over the other because of one of his kid's big issues: Tallulah has abandonment issues. Maybe they're not as bad now since the "official adoption," but it certainly shouldn't be disregarded. But Phil remembers how much Tallulah hates being left alone, and wanted to make sure she wasn't in that situation long. Phil knew at the of the day, that Chayanne had no severe abandonment issues (that we are aware of), hence him saying he'd be okay "a bit longer." The prioritization is still there, and the Death family still has much to talk about, but the fandom's reactions felt a bit too... harsh, a bit too severe. They'd make it sound like Phil didn't consider Chayanne's feelings at all or that he thought Chayanne was totally going to be 100% okay with being alone forever and ever. When there's more to it than that, and ultimately, Phil was stuck making a decision in a lose-lose situation, and he knew that.

But a lot of people seem to focus solely on this moment, and let it epitomize the entirety of the Death Family's relationship and struggles. When, if anything, there's additional moments from yesterday's stream alone that I think show some slow growth in Philza's parenting when it comes to him being overprotective of Tallulah and him expecting a protector/warrior out of Chayanne.

Because if Phil really thought Chayanne was a ruthless warrior who can handle anything and be fine and get over it, he'd have let Chayanne immediately join them in their journey of saving Richarlyson. Like "If we've got Chayanne with us, nothing can hold us back" or something. But he didn't. He wanted both of his children to stay back, to stay safe. But his kids insisted on joining, even if just for emotional support. And if Phil really was completely stuck in his old ways, he'd say the old "Chayanne protect your sister" when the mobs starting showing up, or hell, even before that. But that never once happens. Both of his kids fight, and he trusted that they could both handle themselves since they insisted on coming along, though you can see him check on both of his kids once or twice during the fight. If this becomes a persistent thing, it shows great growth in Phil's character when it comes to being overprotective of his daughter and having his son prioritize her safety above all else. It's become more of "keep an eye on each other," which is definitely the preferrable kind of thinking!

And again, I emphasize that singular moments should not be the sole focus of these discussion. Rather, the overall actions throughout should be talked about. And honestly, Phil made sure that a lot of his focus was divided between both of his children throughout yesterday. When Chayanne decided to stay behind while the others went to the beach event to keep an eye on an AFK Tubbo, Phil decided to "hang about with you, kid, it's alright," even when Tallulah was long gone. Like, he wasn't going to let his kid sit alone like that waiting! Or when he got the llama plushie during the treasure hunt, I'd honestly have expected him to immediately give it to Tallulah because animals=Tallulah, I guess. But he asked them both which of them would have liked it more, a genuine attempt to make sure neither felt left out in receiving the gift. Yes, these, too, are small moments, but if we wanna have a discussion about these relationships, all these moments should at least be considered, not just the negatives.

And to me, the kind of consensus to make in these scenarios is that the situation at hand is... complicated. Like, Phil's parenting is flawed, I'd be a fool to say otherwise. All parenting is inherently flawed, that's basic psychology or... just how humans work. However, through his faults, he tries everything he is able to to do best by these kids. So, with all these moments and more, it never sat right with me to say Phil neglects Chayanne. I can almost see the case for "emotional neglect" a bit more, but even then, I find some fault in that thinking. Yes, qPhil is neurodivergent af, so he doesn't get emotional context clues and needs these discussion to be upfront in his face (which I already went into depth here regarding the relationship these two have). Put simply, any "emotional neglect" Chayanne feels isn't necessarily from Phil prioritizing Tallulah, but more so where Tallulah is more open with her feelings which makes it easier for Phil to talk to her about them, Chayanne has rarely ever been someone who opens up about feelings, and when you couple that with Phil's lack of emotional intelligence, these issues clash. However, it's important to note that a while ago, Chayanne had an open dialogue with Philza about Tubbo's death and how it affected him, and Phil was responsive to it. It'd be one thing if he told Chay to get over it, but no, he was very honest and kind to Chayanne during their talk. And afterward, Phil suggested for Chayanne that, if he ever needs to talk, to have them sit at the pier outside of their house. He extended an offering to Chayanne for emotional discussions. It was a great way for both of these people who are terrible at talking about their emotions to come together and talk. It highlights how Phil is very much okay with talking to Chayanne on an emotional level, and he has, and he will continue to be. They're just... both bad at it, sadly.

Finally, I think it's important to clarify what a glass child actually is, and if it fits the current narrative. A glass child is a child who is overlooked when their sibling is facing some sort of disability that makes the parent give the sibling their full attention, and often has the glass child help out a lot. Initially, Tallulah very much needed extra care due to her "asthma" and the fact she wasn't a great fighter who could protect herself. Hence why Phil and Chayanne were so overprotective of her and put a lot of focus on her. And for the longest time, Chayanne was okay with it, because she needed that help to survive on this hellish island. It's just that over time, things changed. These characters changed.

So it's not really like that for Tallulah now, is it? Her asthma is no longer as bad (it still happens, though!), and she's gained a lot of fighting experience over time. She can hold her own in a fight. And Phil no longer keeps that much of a paranoid eye on her; i.e. again, yesterday's stream where, even when they were fighting end monsters, he never shouted for her to get away or for Chayanne to protect her. In the early days, if Tallulah was even allowed to join, he'd have her stand back and ask Chayanne to keep an eye on her. But that doesn't happen here.

So nowadays? No, I don't think Chayanne could be considered a glass child. Because those disabilities aren't as much of a hindrance for Tallulah as they used to, and Phil isn't as paranoid about them as before. I think the effects are still there, in a way, but it doesn't fit where the characters currently stand. Ultimately, I think there are several reasons as to why things are as they are even if Chayanne may not be a glass child in the present. The big one being that Phil's not entirely adapted to the changes his children have gone through.

Especially after Purgatory, his children have gone through a lot and changed in the process; Tallulah became more independent, and Chayanne kind of being tired of being a warrior and needing more emotional support. And since he wasn't there to witness that change and only saw the aftermath, I think it's a struggle for him to come to terms with them. However, that doesn't mean he's entirely set in old ways. He's trained Tallulah on PVP, and again, he's allowed her to participate in fights without being super worried. And as I mentioned, he has extended a branch for Chayanne to be more open with his feelings. These are just starts, certainly, but it means that Phil is open to adapting and helping both of his kids in any way they need. He just has to figure out what they need.

And let me be clear: I'm not disregarding the flaws in q!Phil's parenting. They exist, and Chayanne really needs to have an open discussion about how his emotional needs haven't quite been met as of recent, and Phil needs to be more open to have emotional discussions with Chayanne, even if to them, that's like pulling teeth. There's changes and improvements that need to be made. However, in talking about the negatives, it just seems like people think that's all there is. No, these flaws in Phil's parenting doesn't make him a bad parent. Because there are plenty of positives, plenty of decent growth here. There's love and respect and everything in this family. q!Phil is genuinely doing his best in a very difficult scenario: living on an island that is set on killing the eggs, and being a parent of two while basically being a single parent all while struggling with your own traumas. that's going to come with obstacles, it's inevitable, but what's also inevitable is how this family will work through them, and come out of this better than before.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

“Here is a real example of toxic masculinity, when a man openly uses physical and emotional violence and insults, because he considers his girlfriend his property who is not allowed to talk to other men or not to show proper admiration for him. And then brazenly initiate physical contact, ignoring her legitimate annoyance of him.”

This is about Zuko throwing a guy across the room for talking to Mai and then trying to wrap an arm around her despite their break up. Thoughts?

I am once again begging this fandom to learn what words mean AND to figure out how nuance works already. Two things can be true at the same time.

Mai didn't have to like (or pretend to like) the seashell Zuko got her, but she could have at least appreciated the gesture. Zuko getting paranoid that her being unimpressed means she doesn't actually like him makes perfect sense considering his trauma, but it was still all in his head and he had no reason to accuse Mai of cheating.

Jealousy can sometimes be a sign of some deep insecurity/trust issue or potential red flag, but it is also a completely normal human emotion that shouldn't be pathologized just because it's an unpleasant one that makes people lose their cool.

And more importantly: Zuko could have tried handling the situation some other way instead of IMMEDIATELY going for a physical fight, BUT there's literally no one in the world that wouldn't have gotten really mad if someone was blatantly making moves on their partner, KNOWING they had someone - because that's what that guy was doing, not "just talking".

Mai probably only didn't notice his intention because she couldn't be bothered to think about a random stranger for more than two seconds. There's a reason she broke up with Zuko over his unfair accusations, but also didn't stay at the party much longer.

I'm all for pointing out that zutarians often ignore Zuko's flaws (which do include entitlement and a generally toxic, over-aggressive mentality/pattern of behavior) while demonizing Aang for doing stuff that isn't anywhere near as serious as the bullshit Zuko gets up to, but that is NOT the same as going "Let's exagerate Zuko's bad behavior especifically when it comes to his romantic relationship."

There are TWO episodes in which he and Mai aren't seeing eye to eye, and this is the ONLY ONE in which the source of the conflict isn't something as serious them finding themselves in opposing sides in a war. Zuko was the one who behaved the worse during The Beach, but Mai also messed up. After the big confrontation by the fire, neither of them EVER repeats the same bad behaviors (being too apathetic, communicating poorly, jumping to conclusions and picking up a fight).

Of all the people that played a significant role in Zuko's story and arc, Mai is pretty high up on the list of "Characters he had the least conflict with", losing only to Ursa, who was around for one episode (set before THE traumatic event that pushed Zuko to be his worst self).

He said mean things to her that one time, but it never crossed the line into full on verbal abuse like it did with Iroh, or open hostility with threats to her safety like with the Gaang or Azula (even if we need to cut him some slack when it comes to his sister because *gestures broadly at their disaster rivalry*).

The same episode in which he's treating her worse than ever has him openly admiring her for not putting up with it, and he's being completely sincere because one of Zuko's most consistent character traits is not having the patience to deal with people that just roll over and let him do as he pleases (there's a reason Iroh consistently got through to him far more effectively when he wasn't walking on egg-shells, trying to avoid upseting him or bruising his ego, and got screwed over, or straight up ditched, whenever he bit his tongue for the sake of avoiding a fight - Zuko is naturally drawn to people that keep him in check.).

Zuko behaved like a bad boyfriend ONCE, got dumped for it, opened up about what the fuck was going through his head to make him act that way, won his girl back and, again, NEVER REPEATED THAT MISTAKE - and in fact his entire role in this story is being the dude that is trying to be a better person who can hold himself accountable when he fucks up.

That's not how a sexist, possessive, entitled boyfriend that is set in his ways acts. That's how a literal teenager that's dealing with a lot behaved on a really bad day.

Taking this isolated incident and pretending that's just how Zuko is as a boyfriend is no different than if people were to claim Katara is an entitled, jealous, egotistical loser that can't handle it when other people are better than her just because of the ONE episode where she snapped at Aang out of envy for his waterbending skills. It's an unfair, biased reading that only works if you ignore multiple episodes worth of context.

Zuko wasn't a saint or a perfect boyfriend, but he wasn't ever abusive or even genuinely toxic to Mai. We don't need to pretend otherwise just because zutarians decided to label him as the first male to ever do a feminism while the evil Aang is TOTALLY telling women to go back to the kitchen where they belong. You don't respond to bad faith arguments by saying something equally stupid. Literally all it does is invalidate the point you were trying to make.

[pynkhues]

I’m confused by what you mean when you say that Lestat was “cast out of the house” after the drop in 1.05, as this is not what the show tells us. Lestat left of his own will — he wasn’t thrown out. He beat Louis half to death and then ran away, as evidenced here — “Lestat had disappeared after that awful night. Vanished out of a profound sense of shame he would later confess to” (Louis, 1.06). Louis was in no fit state to throw anyone out of anywhere: as mentioned previously, Lestat had just beaten him half to death.

Apologies if I’m misinterpreting, but in instances like this you seem to paint Lestat as a somewhat of a victim — poor Lestat, banished from his house by his uncaring, domineering husband — when in actuality he was anything but a victim. He was the aggressor, the perpetrator of horrific intimate partner violence, and so to twist the narrative to imply that he was hard done to leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. 

Another instance of this is in your Byronic Hero post, where you suggest that Louis “decides when Lestat gets to live at Rue Royale”, in reference to him being “one of the monsters who’s controlling the household”. We’re talking about someone that has just spent months recovering from a brutal attack by their partner; Lestat chooses to not return because he is ashamed and he knows that Louis has not forgiven him. Louis is not forcing anything on him — and he certainly doesn’t have the power to keep Lestat from RR.

Can you understand why assertions like these are problematic? I understand you wanting to explore the push-pull power dynamic between L&L, but in doing so you seem to be missing the essential through-line in 1.06, which is that Louis and Claudia cannot leave while Lestat lives. Any power they may have once held is overshadowed by Lestat’s absolute control of the household, so to place Louis on level with Lestat as “one of the monsters controlling the household” is at best misguided, and at worst displays an unsettling disregard for victims of IPV. 

(x)

I mean, with all due respect, anon, you're responding to a series of tags I wrote last night that I specifically said I would later clarify and better articulate, so I'm not surprised you're confused and yes, you are misinterpreting me (again, I suspect, as I think you may have sent me asks like this before). I've been clear for months now that the drop is a singular act of violence on this show, and it's not one that I'd ever diminish or underwrite, and as a result, this feels like a pretty bad faith read of something I've both spoken about already and explicitly said I would be talking about again soon. Instead of paying me the respect I extend to all of you by giving me the time to reply in the way I've signalled I would, you've used my tags to make assumptions about what I will say and frankly made some pretty unkind accusations as to my character.

It takes me time and energy to write up replies, particularly replies on this sort of topic that require greater attunement, sensitivity and nuance than others. It's something I do for free, and at the sacrifice of other things in my life, and it's something I do with my name attached, unlike anons. And look, I enjoy doing it - I do - but if you follow me, you should know that my sister - a survivor of recent IPV and her two small children are currently staying with me, after I was a witness in her courtcase against her ex-husband in October - real people, not fictional characters - something I've also been open about, and so you telling me that I have an 'unsettling disregard for victims of IPV' feels like a particularly cruel thing to say to me right now.

I will answer the other anon's ask, as I said that I would, but I'll do it in my own time, and in the meantime, I'd ask that you perhaps don't put words in my mouth or mount arguments to things you yourself say you are confused about or feel you could be misinterpreting. I'll clarify, again, as I said that I would.

[aeternallis]

High-Context Culture at Play and Kim's Mode of Communicating // a rant

So, something I notice once in awhile when I go through the tags on Ao3 for KPTS fics are commentary on the lack of communication in the show—specifically, how Kim doesn't communicate. Tags such as, "Kim communicates, it's a miracle", "OOC because they actually communicate", "Kim uses his words", "Healthy Communication, so it's OOC", etc etc.

This isn't meant to call anyone out and mind you, this isn't something I've only seen in the KPTS fandom; tags like these are also used in a lot of danmei fics I see, as well as the sheer variety of anime/manga fics I've read in my time.

And ngl, when I see those tags...my gut reaction is often to feel that they sound very much tongue-in-cheek and somewhat mocking. Not just to the character himself, but to the narrative itself. It's a bit uncomfortable at times, reading those kinds of tags, even if I know to myself that there's likely no malicious intent behind it.

For what it's worth, I won't apply bad faith arguments on works of art and creativity, and I'm certainly not looking to police fic on Ao3, yknow?

Having said that though and just because I have yet to see a post talking about this topic explicitly, I also feel that it's important to some degree to understand how people communicate in Thailand, and Asia in general.

Mind you, I’m no expert in Thai culture, lemme repeat that yet again. They have unspoken social rules that I myself wouldn't understand because I'm not Thai, nor do I speak Thai. Asia at large, though sharing a unique set of many similar values, is not a homologous region; each country has a rich tapestry of history and culture and very much different from one another.

Yet, as someone who grew up in an Asian household who shares many of said values, I often feel like—when it comes to East Asian/Southeast Asian fictional characters at large—there has always been an unconscious, almost knee-jerk habit I often see in fanfiction to reshape their style of communication to a more western context, if that makes sense. As someone who used to translate doujinshi and Pixiv 小説 for fun, it was always noticeable and a bit jarring, once I moved over to read my fanfic of choice, yknow.

This isn't inherently or purposefully malicious in any way, but it can feel very dismissive, even if it's unconsciously done.

Thailand and most if not all of SE Asia operate in a high-context culture. High-context culture means that when we communicate, it’s not always so much the words themselves that matter, but the context surrounding those words: body language, tone, eye contact, a person’s social status, etc etc. The words sometimes only convey part of the intent, but it doesn’t convey everything. In some situations, the words themselves can even mean the exact opposite of what they’re trying to convey.

It's why so many misunderstandings happen between international fans on platforms like X, because the nuance is often lost in Google Translate.

On the other end of that, we can use Tumblr as the example: since this is mostly an English-speaking website, for the most part, this hellsite operates on a low-context culture, but is easily ignited with outrage based on seemingly high-context traits. LOLOL

This type of communication is not always easily translated into the subtitles, nor is it remotely perfect in any way. It can be quite complex, and hell, even in the context of its own culture, misunderstandings can and do happen all the time. And, as we've seen from the recent popularity boom of East Asian media from the past two or three decades to the American and western audience at large, some of the most compelling drama can come from these sorts of human error.

Besides that, if I’m being perfectly honest, almost always (one of) the source(s) of fandom drama when it comes to character interpretation is due to the nuances of the high-context culture the story takes place in that can have the loudest enthusiasts arguing back and forth.

This is particularly true for characters like Kim Theerapanyakul, who are meant to be portrayed as mysterious and unreadable.

(Lan Wangji and Hyakuya Mika are also a few that comes to mind in my personal experience, uh huh)

To be quite frank, it's why I personally avoid getting into any nitty gritty discussion when it comes to characters like Kim and LWJ, because they mean so much to many different people, as well as simply for the fact that I do not know everyone's emotional tolerance when it comes to disagreements. Lol What I'm saying right now can be taken to be hard-hitting fandom policing, when I'm really trying hard not for it to sound like that, nor is it even my intent. I'm not telling anyone that they're wrong or that they've misinterpreted the characters, but what I am saying, is that people in fandoms, especially for the English-Only Speakers at large, need to be more consciously aware of their cultural biases.

And before I go on, mind you, it’s perfectly okay to have cultural biases—we all have them, myself included, that's just a fact of life. No one is exempt from this, if anyone is itching to point fingers.

I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to say that if one is engaging in media that's not from their cultural context, it's good to be more aware of the surrounding cultural norms and values of that said piece of media when you apply your own interpretation to it, and especially when you may not be the intended audience.

It’s why “your headcanons are not my headcanons” is, I will always believe, a very good rule to adhere to, especially when peeps disagree with popular headcanons, so fandoms can be more respectful and tolerant of each otherrrrrrr when disagreements inevitably crop upppppp, but anywayyyyyy~

I’ve met enough expats who’ve lived abroad in my current line of work to say that trying to understand the unspoken social rules, norms, values, etc. of the foreign country they choose to live in is most often one of their biggest sources of frustration. Alas.

And, as a side-note: high-context cultures are in no way superior to low-context cultures. Both modes of communication have their pros and cons, and molds society in various different ways.

But I digress! An example of the high-context culture at play is the break-up scene in front of Kim's apartment, which I've seen a number of fic authors portray as a genuine apology from Kim:

Which—in terms of what was spoken, Kim did say he was sorry.

But let’s think about the context of the apology: he said the words as he was walking away, before pulling his arm from Chay’s grasp. He looks back at Chay coldly, and overall, his behavior is dismissive; from his body language alone, he portrays a picture of aloofness and treats Chay as an annoyance.

What he says is an apology, yes—but it's an apology with no sincerity whatsoever. It's why Chay broke down as hard as he did, because it's not just Kim's lies that had him reeling, it was the fact that in the context of how Kim dismissed Chay during that scene, it also heavily implies that nothing between them had ever been sincere. Kim completely reverses the understanding that Chay had of their friend/relation-ship and cuts it off completely.

And although what I'm saying may come across as "Duh, that's freakin' obvious," I also want to add another point: Kim would know the implications of what this non-apology is. He would understand the context in which he'd said those words. Whether he chose to regret them or not later on is up for debate, but it's interesting to see whenever fic authors use this scene as an excuse that Kim genuinely thought he apologized, just because he said the words out loud.

Do you see what I mean? In that scene, the canon's context is what matters, but I've seen enough fic where that scene is turned on its head and fic!Kim thinks and excuses himself, portraying the scene to somehow mean that it's the words that matter. The nuance is thus lost, so in turn, the emotional weight of that scene is also disregarded.

This is what I mean when I say that there is an unconscious habit some fic authors have in changing the communication style that the show is set in.

Because the reality is, Kim didn't apologize. He knew he didn't, and Chay most certainly knew he didn't. What he was communicating in that scene was entirely different from what an actual apology entails.

Be that as it may, the audience knows that the non-apology doesn't negate what he and Chay went through together in the show. He may have been lying to Chay for the majority of the story in regards to his involvement in the mafia, but it doesn't mean that the love and adoration he feels for Chay through his actions didn't come through. Kim may not have said much to Chay besides singing for him a (stolen) refurbished version of his own song, but it doesn’t mean that his intent wasn’t conveyed. It's why Chay cried the way he did, in that in some way or another, the song Kim sang is a reminder of everything that happened between them did have truth to it.

Just because they communicate in the way one may not be used to or unfamiliar with (especially in the low-context culture that countries like the US, Canada, Australia, etc. operate in), doesn't mean that they're not communicating to one another.

Healthy communication doesn’t always have to just mean “straightforward meaning in the words.”

When tags like the ones I mentioned earlier in this rant inevitably crop up, especially when it comes to characters who are non-American/British, one can't help but feel that their canon mode of communication is being mocked and made to be seen as inferior.

In which case, TL;DR, when one writes tags like these about certain characters, I sincerely hope that their cultural biases are in the forefront of their mind, and they're aware and humble enough to admit that there are some things that they may not understand in terms of the cultural context. And due to the fact that they do not understand it, hopefully not mock it in response.

[royaltrashkin]

AITA for asking my friend for a melon daiquiri after he asked me over to hang out with him and his wife??? TL;DR at end.

For reference, we are all in our early 30s and I introduced them to each other. I get a message from my old college friend I haven't seen in years, asking if I can come catch up with him and his wife for their tenth anniversary.

So I show up when I was asked, and I can hear them arguing about me being there through the door. I didn't hear the whole conversation obviously but it sounded like his wife thought I was going to be there later. Even after I knock and get invited in, when my friend goes to get his wife from down the hall I can hear them whisper arguing all the way to the living room. So maybe I was just there at a bad time and this is a big misunderstanding because honestly I'm very confused about this whole situation. I could feel the tension between them immediately, I felt so awkward greeting both of them because I'm not sure if they know I overheard them arguing specifically about me being there. I think they must've felt super awkward too because about thirty seconds in, I have literally just asked how they're doing and they didn't even really answer just kinda avoided the question, he suggests that he make us all fancy drinks. And I'm like yeah sure and he's way too excited to go make us something, and his wife is kinda annoyed about this, like she rolls her eyes and tells me that no, I want something simple like a chardonnay. (I as in me. As in, she is telling me what I, not her, want.) She sounds really angry about him wanting to make something cool and insistent that I want something simple. So I feel like this is where I screwed up. I have literally said nothing except "how are you doing" and "yeah sure" at this point so again I genuinely feel like I can't have done anything wrong beyond simply being there because it's just so awkward and tension filled. I cannot stress enough how intense the vibe in there was, so maybe they do know I overheard them argue? I only overheard about ten seconds really, but maybe they think I heard more. I don't know. Anyway so because he seems so excited to make something fancy, I told him "I'd like a melon daiquiri." And he just. Immediately. I mean IMMEDIATELY kicked me out of his house. He literally flipped like a switch from excited and eager to snapping at me that he's had enough and I need to leave. I thought he was joking so I just kinda stood there staring at him but he physically grabbed my arm and led me to the door. I didn't fight him or try to stay put or anything, i allowed him to lead me out his door, but that's just how fast it happened. He immediately told me to leave and grabbed me and led me away, i mean i stood in shock maybe one full second. I was eight feet from his door at the time. I was in their apartment two minutes tops? Seriously. Two minutes. I said maybe fifteen words. I don't know if the polite thing to do was to just leave and not bother knocking once I heard them arguing, or maybe should have told them? Maybe showing up exactly on time was too clingy? Should I have taken his wife's advice and had the chardonnay? Was my choice too fancy? Should I have asked what he had available? Should I have turned down his offer entirely? People don't just kick people out for no reason, so I must have screwed up somewhere. It's been a few hours since then and I'm still baffled.

TL;DR: I got kicked out of my friends' apartment after he offered to make a fancy drink and I asked for a melon daiquiri.

[mimisempai]

Keep Reaching

Summary

Aziraphale is tired of stopping halfway. He's tired of half-smiles and broken gestures. He's tired of Crowley always being the one to make the move. Tonight he's decided to reach out and grab.

Notes

Aziraphale continues his journey to freedom...

On Ao3

Rating G -  1546 words

Returning from Maggie's, Aziraphale was surprised to find only Muriel in the bookshop and inquired, "What happened to Crowley?"

The other angel replied, "Well, he was taken against his will--"

"What?!"

"Well, it seems that Mr. Brown, Mutt, his spouse, Mr. Arnold and some of the other shopkeepers remembered how Crowley saved them on the night of the attack and took him out for a drink at the pub to thank him."

Aziraphale sighed with relief and thought that perhaps in the future he should teach Muriel to nuance their words to make them less ambiguous.

He asked them, "May I ask you to close the shop tonight?"

Muriel nodded enthusiastically, as they always did when given a responsibility.

Aziraphale thanked them and added, "Anyway, I'm just across the street at the Dirty Donkey if there's any trouble."

He walked to the pub and entered, not surprised to find it packed, especially at this time of day. He looked around for Crowley, and just as he caught sight of the unmistakable red hair, Mr. Brown spotted him and waved his arms to summon him to their side.

Aziraphale made his way through the crowd to a table where several of the shopkeepers were seated and waved to them. Then he glanced at Crowley, who was holding a glass of scotch and looked at him, saying softly, "Come on, angel, we've saved a seat for you.

Aziraphale had expected Crowley to be taciturn under the circumstances, but was surprised to find him in such a good mood. He sat down in the chair that had been vacated for him. Crowley moved closer and said in his ear, taking advantage of the ambient noise, "The liquor here is of good quality, it helps to put up with a few inconveniences."

Aziraphale chuckled softly, better understanding the demon's good mood. 

Crowley put his arm on the back of the angel's chair, making him realize how close they were, and then the demon continued, pushing a glass toward him with his other hand, "I took the liberty of ordering you a sherry." 

Aziraphale placed his hand on Crowley's and said softly, "Thank you, my dear, that's very thoughtful of you."

Realizing where they were, he almost immediately removed his hand from Crowley's and placed it on his knee.

He was embarrassed and kept his eyes down, inwardly admonishing himself for letting fear and guilt control his behavior once again.

When will he be able to let go?

When will he be able to take what he wants without second-guessing himself every time?

He thought of all the aborted smiles, all the barely made gestures, all the times he'd preferred to hold back rather than let go.

"It'd be funny if we both got it wrong, eh?"

Aziraphale turned his head toward Crawley and the demon chuckled as he continued, "If I did the good thing and you did the bad one."

Then he laughed, and Aziraphale couldn't help but laugh along with him.

Oh yes, it would be so funny if it were the like t-.

Then his laughter suddenly stopped and he lost his smile before he said, "No. It wouldn't be funny at all."

The demon lost his smile as well, and the rain came down, preventing them from continuing their conversation.

That didn't stop Aziraphale from listening to his heart and putting his wing over the demon's head to protect him.

**********

Aziraphale eyed the demon warily for a few seconds before extending his hand. The demon shook it, then said, "We'd be godfathers, sort of, overseeing his upbringing."

Then, leaning forward, he added, " We do it right, he won't be evil. Or good. He'll just be normal."

Aziraphale said in a tone of wonder as he watched, "It might work.

Then he added, "Godfathers. Well, I'll be damned." and laughed lightly.

The demon winked at him and said, "It's not that bad when you get used to it," and Aziraphale continued to laugh with him.

But once again, he lost his smile when he realized what he'd just said.

********

"I just found something that mattered more to me than choosing sides." 

Having said that, Beelzebub grabbed Gabriel's hand and they both stayed there, indifferent to the rest of the room.

Aziraphale didn't hear the reactions of the other people in the bookshop, as his only reflex was to reach for the demon. He put his hand on Crowley's arm in a spontaneous gesture.   

Witnessing Gabriel and Belzeebub's love in front of him, he was only aware of the emotions he felt at that moment and of the person who inspired them.

He didn't realize the threat to Nina and Maggie, and it wasn't until he lost his connection to Crowley that he came back to reality, his hand making one last gesture to hold the demon back as he forced his mind back to the present.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Crowley's hand, which had slipped over his under the table, intertwining its fingers with his own.

He looked up at the demon, who just nodded and smiled softly, as if to say everything was okay.

But Aziraphale felt a kind of unease. 

He couldn't put his finger on it, but the feeling stayed with him all evening, even as he talked and laughed with the others, his fingers and Crowley's still intertwined under the table.

He still felt that unease as he and the demon left the pub and crossed the street to the bookshop.

It wasn't until he and Crowley walked through the door that he realized where it all came from.

It was when he saw the exact spot where Crowley had first kissed him. Instinctively, he raised his hand to his lips.

"You idiot. We could have been...us."

Aziraphale turned away, refusing to see Crowley go, not noticing that the demon had returned, and it wasn't until he grabbed his coat and his lips were pressed to his that he realized what was happening.

He didn't know what to do. 

He didn't know who he was.

He didn't know where he was.

He only knew one thing: he didn't want to lose Crowley.

He didn't want to lose his connection to Crowley.

Once again, his body did what his mind was unwilling to do and he put his hands on Crowley's back.

Holding him against his body.

But it was too late.

Crowley was already pulling away.

Aziraphale's mind was back in control. Or the illusion of it.

And it was all over.

"Angel?"

Aziraphale turned to Crowley, who was looking at him worriedly.

Crowley who had first revealed his feelings.

Crowley who had kissed him, who had reached out.

Crowley who had held his hand moments before.

Always, always Crowley reaching out.

When Aziraphale was the one who stopped on the way.

He couldn't let them go on like this.

He had no reason to hold back anymore.

Driven by a compelling urge within him, he walked toward the demon and, placing his hands on his shoulders, grabbed the lapels of Crowley's jacket and pulled him toward him, pressing his lips to his own.

The demon froze for a split second before responding to the kiss and resting his hands on the angel's hips.

In that moment, Aziraphale stopped thinking, forgot everything that wasn't Crowley, everything that wasn't his hands on him, his lips against his, his breath mingling with his.

He grabbed and held nothing back.

His hands slid from the demon's shoulders to his hair, burying his fingers in it, pressing the demon's head against his own to deepen the kiss. Crowley obliged, and the kiss lingered until they were both out of breath.

A short time later, when they parted, Aziraphale had to hold onto the demon's shoulders for support, his legs giving out as he felt intoxicated, exhilarated by a sense of freedom he'd never felt before.

As he supported him, Crowley said softly, "Easy, angel..." then added, putting his arm around Aziraphale's shoulders, "Come on, let's sit down," pulling him toward the sofa.

They sat down and Crowley, turning to him, asked quietly, "What's gotten into you, angel? Not that it was unpleasant, far from it, but..."

Aziraphale shook his head and grabbed the demon's hand, saying urgently, "Because it's not fair. Because I can't have you holding out your hand all the time. I don't want to have to stop when I laugh or smile, I don't want to have to take my hand away from yours, I don't want to stop in the middle of whatever it is I feel like doing."

Crowley nodded and said quietly, "As long as you know it's not a competition and I'm not keeping score. As always, at your own pace. I know you want to change. I can see you changing. We both have so much to learn, so don't put any pressure on yourself. Okay, angel?"

He raised the angel's hand to his lips and planted a tender kiss there as Aziraphale slowly nodded.

Then the Angel, a new gleam in his eye, asked Crowley, "May I kiss you now?"

Crowley, with the same gleam in his eye, replied softly, opening his arms, "Take what's yours, angel."

And Aziraphale reached out and took.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Ineffable Growing Love series : here (After season 2)

Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here (Before season 2)

[lurkingshan]

Once again I'm here because I'm angry. There's been a lot of talk about Boston and what Jojo wanted or not to say about sluts and whatever. I, and other people I think, were struggling with the idea that Jojo would actually want that message out. So I went to see some interviews. And got kinda shocked about one thing that he said. (btw this is an actual quote.) He was talking about Boston reasons for his behaviour Jojo: Bad people don't need to have a backstory. They are just born sluts. A bad character doesn't need... (and then the interviewer says - he doesn't need tragedy to be bad) Exactly. And then he gets asked if he thinks Boston needs redemption and he emphatically says NO. And then talking about how much fun is writing the character he says this: Boston is such a fun character to write. yeah unpredictable he's like, he doesn't care. he doesn't have morals so we just like goes with the flow. bad people? no morals? humm... i don't know... So yeah, now I don't really know what to think about it. I was wondering what are your thoughts about this. I'm still gonna watch some more of this, because I'm a masochist that needs all the information, but yeah, I thought I would share. Thanks for the space

Yiiiiiikes. Okay, first let me preface this by saying that whenever I am reading/watching something that was either translated to English or spoken in English by a person with a different first language, I try not to get too hung up on specific word choice. By necessity we tend to go for the simplest possible words to convey meaning in those situations, and thus a lot of nuance gets stripped out.

That said, the sentiment is clear: Jojo saw Boston as a villain character without a moral code that he could deploy to cause chaos wherever he liked in the story. And he is definitely conflating his villainy with sexual promiscuity, which is the worst part of this quote and unfortunately aligns with the way that finale, and ultimately the themes of the show, were written. It definitely makes me side eye Jojo and as I’ve already said, I won’t be so inclined to trust him nearly as much next time.

Only Friends, however, has more than one writer, and I don’t think they all see it this way. If you think Boston is purely an irredeemable slut, you don’t write his breakup and reunion with Nick in the way that this show did. You don’t give depth to his situation with Atom. You don’t show his sincere emotion, his hurt, and his earnest desire to be with Nick while he can. With all the info we have now and in retrospect, it kind of feels like there was a bit of a tug-o-war going on with Boston’s story.

My understanding is that Den Panuwat, one of three writers on the show, is the one who adapted the novel version of the story, and there he changed Boston’s final arc significantly. Rather than Boston fucking Atom, he made his final conflict about his dad’s political career with Boston’s sexuality being used as a weapon against him. He wrote Boston and Nick ending on good terms. And he wrote a final chapter for Boston where he arrives in New York, finds a more accepting society and queer community who accept and understand him, and thrives.

I’m sure there were some non-artistic reasons why we couldn’t get this version of the story in the show (the politics story was likely vetoed for censorship reasons and they probably couldn’t afford to show us Boston in NY, for example), but the fact that Den wrote it signals that his perspective on Boston is not fully aligned with what Jojo said in that quote above. Perhaps we have him to thank for the empathetic portrayal and humanity we did see in Boston despite Jojo’s perspective on him. And Den has another show coming soon, so maybe we’ll see a clearer read of his own perspective on queer sexual politics without the GMMTV restrictions when we watch Playboyy.

[hezekiahwakely]

After spending literally multiple days and nights listening to hours of new music, here are my thoughts on what the Protocol playlists might tell us about the characters. I'm gonna break it down by large themes and I'm putting it under a read more bc I don't know how to not ramble about this. its SO MUCH

Gwendolyn Bouchard 👁️

Hers is the most self-explanatory. Girlboss is girlbossing and paying for it. But I did pick up several nuances.

Gwen is: Cold, power-hungry, and ambitious (you should see me in a crown, Are You Satisfied?, Severance theme). Suffering from her own hubris (Oh No!, Gasoline). Resentful and envious, especially about family, wealth, and power (Family Jewels, 24 hours, Warriors). Touching the dark and being supernaturally influenced (Mr. Bonzo theme, Evil Eye, We Don't Talk About Bruno, Making Love to the Dead).

Special mention to the 'daddy's money' reference in 24 hours.

Samama Khalid 😶‍🌫️

Sam makes ridiculously long playlists, like me, so this entry is gonna be long, but the emotional vibes were pretty easy to pick out once I got through it.

Sam is: Straight chillin' to some lo-fi beats, desi hip hop, and melodic bops (literally too many to list but, Remind Me, Forgive the Mess, 93 'Til Infinity, Magpie, Fire Sale, Iniesta Flow, I Guess, Prarthana, Hai Hai, etc., etc.). Rebellious (The Adults Are Talking, Reptilia). Bonded with someone (Halo Flip, soulboy). Yearning, romantic, and playful (Girl Like You, Mr. Sandman, New House, Meteor, You Only Live Once, Be Your Girl, Dear Jean, Say The Word, My Girl/Hey Girl, Smiley, The Real Sugar). Reminiscing about a break-up (Oui, Afterparty Lover, Last Nite, Stick Season, Turn off the Lights, Jessie (i miss you), WONDERING, Afterthought, I Love You, I'm Trying). Full of regrets, pain, and melancholy bitterness (Seasons, Can't Call It, Let It Go, nightmares, Pretty Insane, different tomorrow..., Cigarette Daydreams, CABIN FEVER, Self destruct, Go Back, Stuck Here With Me, Bliss City). Alienated, yet wanting to be alone (uh-oh) (Creep, Alone, Stone cold., Paint it, Black).

Special shout-out to all the implications about the old Sam/Alice relationship. And I'm especially worried by the potential meanings of Downside Up, Let It Go, Go Back, and Stuck Here With Me.

Also, interesting that there's a lyric-free track just called 'drained' at the end of his playlist. I'm sure that's fine.

Alice Dyer 🌀

Oh my girl. What is going on with you. She has impeccable and predictable taste, at least. But... then there's the Ominous Implications again...

Alice is: Rebellious, anarchic, and irreverent (Underclass Hero, Toxicity, Tribute, Buddy Holly, Dragostea din tei, Feel Good Inc., Piss Off, Rebel Rebel, Ghost Town, Brimful of Asha, Surrender, Uncle Walter, United States of Whatever). Blasting high-confidence power anthems (Material Girl, Therefore I Am, Jump, Bad Reputation, The Middle). Depressed behind a mask of high energy and false cheeriness (SugarCrash!, Mad World, Bathroom Floor). Yearning after someone's love (A.M. 180, Zombie Love Song, Nearer Than Heaven, Save Tonight, Ms. California, Because I Love You, Fell In Love With A Girl, Take Me Out). Reminiscing about a break-up (Ciao!, Built This Way, Kidz 'N' Stuff, FRIENDS, Free Fallin', Not In Love, Who Knew, Song for the Dumped, When It All Falls Apart, Laid, Complicated). Feeling crazy and overwhelmed (uh-oh) (Basket Case, In Too Deep, Bonkers, I'm A Robot, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, 19-2000, Wonderland, High, Undone, Cosmic Castaway). Creeped out and brushing up against the supernatural (Walking On Air, The Blue Wrath, Pet Sematary).

Oooh. Oh, the implications. The Sam/Alice break-up. The potential for feelings that remain. I HAVE to know what happened between them.

Also, here are some select lines from five Alice songs presented without comment: "Yeah, I'm a zombie, baby," "I'm a robot, I'm a robot/I don't have any feeling in my heart," "I don't wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary/I don't want to live my life again," "Take me down, six underground/The ground beneath your feet," "Walking like a zombie, like a zombie."

I'm sure that's all fine.

Celia Ripley 🕸️

The most mysterious new member of the OIAR, her music choices are appropriately enigmatic. The Vibes make me excited to see what she's hiding under the surface.

Celia is: Raring for a fight (Seven Nation Army, Rumble, know your place, Run from Me). Fed up with the system (Blood//Water, Run You). Bold, sexy, headstrong, and self-confident (Creature, Took A Trip, River, Do It For Me, Aerials, Uber). Struggling against supernatural influence, feeling trapped and helpless (Mama! There's a Spider in My Room, Where Is My Mind?, I Feel Like I'm Drowning, Closer, Space Dementia, Rain)

So we've all but confirmed the theory that she's from the OG Archives timeline and that she has continuing ties to the Web from passing through Hill Top Road. I think we have hints here that she's manipulating the others, but I also think there are signs that she's fighting her own battle against an evil trying to take her. There also seems to be an overarching theme of water in many of her songs for some reason 🤔

I can't wait to get more of Celia. Even if she is lying, I'm rooting for her (<hoping this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass)

In conclusion, I love them all already your honor, and I want to thank the cast for putting such loving care into crafting these for us. Thank you for such great food to feed our wild theorizing.

[therealvinelle]

What are your thoughts on the titanic movie?

Oh I wanted to watch it, tried once as a child, didn't make it through, then again with @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin, at which point I also didn't make it through.

I'm here for the ship, literally only the ship. Rose and Jack would not get off the screen and let me look at ship, and so even though I made it to the part where they impact the iceberg, I realized I couldn't sit through Jack and Rose running around the decks, no matter how true to life the models were. Watch party ended, and some time later we tried Raise the Titanic with Alec Guinness instead (a deeply silly movie where a dangerous weapon was on board the Titanic when it sank, and the Americans must find it before the Soviets do).

James Cameron's movies have a very consistent problem where he is in love with a concept, or an idea or a new bit of technology, so he makes a movie to show it off and has to put a story in there somewhere so we're watching something happened. This worked incredibly well in the two first Terminator movies, it gave us a deeply funny Aliens movie, but it did not work out for Titanic as his worst tendencies all came out to play.

I like him, as a director, I just don't like the majority of his movies, if that makes sense.

His characters are plainly good or bad with one note motivations and no nuance, and they are all consistently and painfully American, to the point where they feel like caricatures. Jake Sullivan, who is such a staple army vet that he has no personality whatsoever other than being a protagonist with the assigned traits that would make him sympathetic to as wide an audience as possible, is a terrific example of this, as are the gun-toting military crew heading to the colony in Aliens, but so too are the characters of the Titanic, only in a different way. Rose's mother and peers are what I can only describe as Victoria's parents in Corpse Bride without the satire - they are not real people, but old world aristocrats seen through the eyes of filmmakers who fundamentally don't understand class. Rose becoming infatuated with a working class boy is a very simple and straightforward matter where there is no actual reason for them not to be together, it's just that Jack gets made fun of for not knowing the right forks to use. It's just shallow.

I have more complaints, but much of the movie is luckily forgotten so I'll stick to the big one: I wish Cameron had either made this a purely fictional story that was inspired by the Titanic but without actual victims, or else gone out of his way to be respectful of the fact. Going of the wikipedia page for how historical characters were treated, Bruce Ismay being depicted as boorish and attributed decisions he never made in life so he can be at least partly blamed for the sinking. The man's life and mental health was ruined after the real sinking as the act of surviving made him a media target, Cameron could have chosen to leave his memory be and I side-eye his decision not to. The movie has First Officer Murdoch shooting passengers and then himself, I struggle to see what this added to the movie besides upsetting his surviving family.

Perhaps I'm overly strict, but even fictionalized retellings have historical import because they play a much larger role in how people remember the past than history books or documentaries do because more people see them. The film industry has immense power over how we view the past, and in turn over how history is remembered. This comes with a responsibility, and a plea for consciousness of the fact. Set your stories to whichever periods and cultures you may like: but do so knowing that no matter how much media and recorded history already exists on your chosen subject, there will be people walking away from your product whose view is now affected by your depiction.

In other words, Raise the Titanic is somehow more respectul in my eyes because while it was a very silly movie, it insulted no one's memory. And I'll be sticking to documentaries and animations when it comes to RMS Titanic-related media.