#crepe analysis & thoughts

[monards]

I don't know if it's the symbiosis lore influencing my perception of Rhine and Albedo; but a little part of me realllyyyy hopes Albedo was right when he thought Rhine wanted him to live a good life.

Because it's like, when you remember stuff; typically you remember it how you saw it at the time. Like when you saw a math problem in the 3rd grade and didn't understand it; you may learn how to do it, but you still don't understand that scenario's math problem because that's the impression in your head. And a tiny part of me is praying that's how Albedo is imagining Rhine.

He had no life experience when he was with her, so it's not like he knew how to fully judge Rhine correctly. Like, if your mom- who disappeared suddenly- was being cold and just mean before leaving, no duh you'd still call her cold and mean years later. That's how you felt in the moment, so that's how you'd continue to judge her now because it's not like you have any other experiences to go off of.

But now Albedo DOES have life experience to go off of. He's seen other mothers and parents. Like Alice; she's a good mother to Klee in many ways-- she does everything to make her happy, dotes over her, makes sure she can always have someone to look up to; but she's still not the best mother by a VERY long shot. She still left Klee in mond all alone with only Albedo and the knights, and she's definitely neglectful by letting her play with bombs. But in the end, that doesn't mean she's a completely horrible mother. And it's like, when you put that logic up to Rhine; it checks out. Because even if he hasn't seen Rhine since she left him with Alice; he can still look back at those experiences beforehand with a different lense.

Rhine obviously realized by now that kindness has done nothing for anyone she's cared for in life. Elynas & Durin-- who literally gush over her being a good mother, and who she wanted to have good lives and see all of humanity (or at least she says she did), were both very brutally murdered and their bodies are literally only considered apart of the terrain now; no respect, no love, and most certainly no happy ending. But other's like the riftwolves, who she didn't give a second glance to, thrived. The riftwolves literally have an entire ISLAND they just sorta live on in peace; waiting for her. So obviously; at the point of Albedo, she probably in some very messed up way thought, 'hey. maybe if i'm a horrible person, albedo will also not end up being absolutely hammered for whatever reason.' and, hey; that's EXACTLY what happened, AND IT WORKED!!! Rhinedottir did love Albedo (albeit in a VERY skewed way) and she did what she thought was best for him; even if it definitely wasn't.

Albedo was made to be human, and to experience the world and all it had; and in her eyes, the best way for him to achieve that was without her.

(I'm so tired. I don't think this makes any sense but I can't go to bed unless i post it.)

[crepegosette]

btw i'm really sorry for those who asked for elaborated answers about certain topics. it's not because i don't want to answer them, i'm just really bad writing texts

[mentally-gone002]

surprise coffee kisses

(collage made by moi)

summary: literally the title ^^^

————————————————————————

paper bag in one hand, a coffee cup in the other and a visitor badge clipped onto my shirt accompanied me up to the floor in which spencer worked on in the FBI’s headquarters in quantico. 

i’d been in the building lots of times which meant finding my way around was no problem at this point whenever i’d visit. 

on this occasion my appearance was secret. spencer had left his badge at our apartment on his nightstand and by the unseen bowl in my sink i had a feeling he hadn’t had breakfast before he left, so i’d taken the liberty of running by his favorite cafe on my way to him. 

once i had stepped out of the elevator and strode through the large glass doors with the FBI symbol and the printed title of the unit “behavioral analysis unit” on them, i made a beeline directly to his desk where he was seated. his back was arched over and he seemed to be writing. 

i smiled, slowing my strides as i got closer until i stopped. the paper bag holding his breakfast and his coffee cup was placed quietly on his desk prior to my gentle arms wrapping around the front of his shoulders from behind his desk chair. “hey, handsome.” i kept my voice low so as to not startle him. my lips quickly stamped a kiss to his cheek. 

spencer leaned his head back until it met my shoulder. his brown eyes fell over what of my face he could memorize for the millionth time. “hey, what’re you doing here?” he was gentle with asking and didn’t mean it in a rude way, he was just curious of my sudden presence in his place of work. it made him instantly forget about what he was doing.

i hummed. “you forgot your badge at home, and i brought you breakfast.” my eyes flicked to the items i’d brought for him so that he knew where they were. “and i didn’t get to see you before you left.”

he smiled lovingly as i told him about my reason for being there. he never had to worry about the feelings i felt for him because i expressed them every chance that i got. “thank you, so much.” he beamed up at me as i unwound her arms from around his shoulders. he almost frowned at the absence of my touch but he hid his disappointment. he knew his coworkers would teas him later after i’d left. 

“you’re welcome.” i leaned against spencer’s desk facing him. “what’re you working on?” my hands reached blindly into my sweater pocket to retrieve spencer’s badge as i stared down at the open file on his desk. 

he shrugged. “just some paperwork i didn’t finish last night.” he wheeled his chair to the side and stopped in front of me. “what’re you gonna do today?” 

i sighed, looking up at the ceiling as i thought. “probably run a few errands. we need a few things food wise, and then i might clean the apartment.” i answered him with a soft smile. “when do you think you’ll be home?” 

spencer looked at his watch and then at a stack of files in a paper basket at the end of his desk. “maybe… five thirty. i’ll see if i can leave earlier though, if you need any help cooking.”

i smiled at his consideration but shook my head. “i’m gonna have it all done by the time you get home, if that’s okay. i’m trying something new and don’t want you to have to see me angry if i end up ruining it.” 

“oh you mean like the time you tried to make crepes at one in the morning?” he laughed quietly while i sighed with closed eyes. “you woke me up because you started cussing at inanimate objects.”

i laughed at the remembrance even though i wanted to stay serious. “you scared the hell out of me when you walked into the room to try and calm me down.” 

spencer nodded, leaning forwards in his chair and slid his hand up onto my knee. “they turned out pretty good though.” 

i nodded as i also leaned forward. our faces were inches apart. “they did, didn’t they?” 

we silently stared at each other, eyes just wandering over one another’s faces while the buzz of the bullpen filled the space of our ended conversation. spencer looked at my lips a few times so i decided to lean in and kiss him once, since i didn’t get the chance to this morning. 

as i was pulling away i whispered, “i should get going so you can work.” 

he frowned immediately but nodded. “okay.” he kissed me again before wheeling his chair back to where it was before i had gotten there. “thank you again.” 

i nodded, squeezing my hand over his shoulder. “of course.” my lips were continuously pinned in a smile when i was with him. “i’ll see you at home, okay?”

spencer nodded. “okay. i love you.” 

“i love you.” i smiled, waving as i walked backwards towards the glass doors. 

“you’re in love with that girl.” morgan said across the bullpen to spencer, earning a few nods of approval from their coworkers to which spencer replied with just a roll of his eyes as he went back to work.

morgan was right, as much as he hated to admit, he was right.

spencer was undeniably in love with me.

[ccapdis]

It's good that @crepes-suzette-373 made this post because I've been wanting to voice my thoughts on this topic for a while. Iti's nothing new, but I personally find the concept of 恋/koi within the story very interesting, as I think it's the word chosen to convey Sanji's feelings for Nami deliberately. I don't think it's a topic up for debate as there's no much depth in it, but anyway, I want to post my ramblings on Sanji, how he feels about Nami and women and the perception others have for that.

恋/koi (love) as a concept is significant, and I think it will gain weight later in the story. After all, it has been heavily present from the beginning, since Sanji first mentioned it in Arlong Park, going to Hancock and Gloriosa referring to a famous East Blue's poem (Hancock's love for Luffy reminisced Gloriosa to the same love that former Amazon Lily's empresses developed), and even going through Chopper on SBS.

It's a concept that I doubt will fall on deaf ears, as in this post, I believe too that it will potentially have a significant role in the future, be it for Hancock or Sanji's side (or both).

And when it comes to Sanji, it's always been in relation to Nami (except for that one time in Dressrossa, but it was the time he fell for Viola's lies when she still pretended to be Violet).

Indeed, 恋 is exclusively romantic, and in fact I have seen some translators choose to translate it as “true love". Furthermore, it connotes “desire, longing, wanting” and refers specifically to the “falling in love” part of it.

But all of this, the part in which the author 'lets us know' that this is how Sanji feels for Nami and that's when he brings up this 'East Blue poem', that hasn't been worded by Sanji, at least yet.

Bear with me. Back in Punk Hazard, Sanji used ホレち/horechi (from verb 惚れる/horeru) which means “to fall in love”. And then, in WCI, as we already know, he does indeed use the verb 好き/suki when Nami hugs him. Compared to 恋/koi or 愛/ai, it is a much more relaxed and informal verb.

Funnily, much, much later in the story, in chapter 1005 during the Wano arc, when confronted to Black Maria, he says "I want to love all the ladies" and he uses the verb 愛したい/aishitai ('I want to love', literally). And then, in the most recent chapters, when he fights S-Shark to protect Nami, he says 愛の力/ai no chikara (the power of love). What's different from 恋/koi? Well, 恋 is used only for romantic feelings, while 愛 (which he used to refer to all the ladies) is not necessarily romantic. In fact, it refers to a kind of pure and selfless love.

So, maybe, maybe Sanji still has to have some development to know truly what kind of feelings he truly harbors, and learn what he really wants.

Further in the analysis (and I'm aware this is already a pretty cheesy post) I went on to know how others perceive Sanji's relationship with Nami.

In Thriller Bark, Absalom said 妙 に 執着/myō ni shūchaku (deep concern and attachment) to how the Penguin zombie, with Sanji's shadow, felt for Nami (that “he was strangely obsessed over her”). Later on, he says that Nami is "the woman he wanted to protect"/守りたかった.

In Gyojin Island, 過剰 に 反応/kajō ni hannō is said by Hody's pirates, which referred to him overreacting to attacks on Nami.

Robin brings attention to the topic in chapter 1078 by saying "if Nami screams, someone is gonna rush in instantly".

And let's not forget the most famous:

This is part of my reasoning and why I believe that Sanji, despite him being the one in love with Nami throughout all the story and it being an idea very present in the manga and the characters in it, might not have yet figured out how he feels and what he wants when it comes to women and love.

[cupcakestreets]

Kinda wanna make a character analysis post on Clotted Cream Cookie

Like I feel like this fandom actually misconshrewd or out right mischaraterize Clotted Cream Cookie.

Like I already find it rude that people out right post slander in the clotted cream tags. Like imagine me talking badly about your all time favorite character and I tag it and while you’re browsing through that tag you see my “hot take” while you’re trying to enjoy your favorite character. Like it’s not a big deal in my opinion but it is so annoying.

But anyway people outright ignore that Clotted Cream Cookie is good with kids? Like he’s never shown to be uneasy around them, and he talks to them like people? I saw a chart that put Clotted Cream on “kicking a kid within reason”. And I was like “so you just did not pay attention to Clotted Cream talking to both Strawberry Crepe and Custard Cookie III..." It was a shit post so aint taking it too seriously.

Someond also had a take that was Clotted Cream Cookie is Affogato but %100 worse?? Like i can see where they're coming from but i would argue its the opposite. Unless they were calling him a bitch then no. They're just influential politicians who have issues with the political climate they live/lived in.

I just thought about that Dark Cacao analysis post and just remembered how elated I was that someone else got it and i wanna do that with Clotted Cream Cookie. Because he definitely is not bad. He's done bad things, but the bad things that he's done were more like risk-taking. Like he will disregard someone's word if it hinders his progress . Ex. Outting White Lily. It was necessary to continue the meeting. But most people call him a dick head because they pissed off Dark Cacao... Which just because he hurt your favorite cookie's fee fees does not make him a dickhead completely.

But yeah if i write out my "In defense of Clotted Cream" post you can tell i was sick and tired of the slander of I was just in a mood to talk about clotted cream. I love him. I love his character

[hopefulgardenshark]

I was destroyed for 24 hours after the finale of Good Omens 2. Then I channelled my internal Crowley and started asking QUESTIONS. And that thought process alone got me in a much, much better state 😊

Rejection… ough, it’s complicated

You can read about my take on the stage of the relationship the angels are here. To be clear, I read them as a long-term, post-pheromones companionship, something waiting to move towards whatever it is after at least ten years of relationship in human terms.

Aziraphale gets his "job offer." I must make a caveat that, as most of us have already deduced, this was the choice between Coffee and Death. What does it mean for the couple? From Aziraphale's point of view, he is in a long-term loving relationship. He has been threatened with the utter obliteration, what means not only that he would have never existed but also that this act would leave a black hole in the life of his precious companion. This fragile demon hates loneliness and craves companionship as much as the angel craves crepes. And he also KNOWS how much the demon loves him, to the point that they can kill anyone who threatens him. And that can turn out very nasty for them.

So we get the whole messy scene that, on the surface, makes no sense. And this is the first time they suck at communicating with each other in all 11.5 episodes.

Aziraphale SAYS  he wants one thing totally out of character, and Crowley KNOWS it is (the series established that he recognized his angel tone of voice). Aziraphale's goal is to save Crowley from himself (see here why the plot analysis tells us so), which I dare to say Crowley suspects. Crowley, on the other hand, wants something totally IN THE CHARACTER (both times he was rejected, he wanted the same thing), and Aziraphale KNOWS it. Crowley's goal is to get into a "we" of a relationship SOMEWHERE, leaving to the stars together. We know that he loves the stars, which was established in S1 and again in S2. He does not say, "I love you"; he says, "I would like to spend my existence with you." He also says "we've spent our entire existence pretending that we aren't". He does not mean it as in "we pretend to each other." Pretending to Heaven and Hell.

This is not a moment of a big confession about love or feelings. This moment is an infliction point, all about what we want from this relationship from now on. And the moment of loss and realization of loss. Crowley got what Aziraphale wanted for five episodes, only to see his angel inexplicably change his desires. The whole mumbling about Heaven and Crowley as an angel doesn't make sense to Crowley because HE KNOWS his angel wanted a nest., It reminds me of all the tropes most recently explored in "Marriage Story." It is not an outcome two loving partners wish for, but sometimes people want different things WHILE STILL LOVING EACH OTHER. The" nothing lasts forever" has many meanings and can be read in different ways. On one level, it is a marker of changing desires and aspirations. On another level, the facial expression of Aziraphale, when looking at Crowley, full of absolute caring love, tells us that Crowley may not last forever, and he is just making sure he does. There is no rage in that scene, only mutual love and hurt. People part ways even if they still have a lot of love for each other. Sometimes, they find each other again.

And then the kiss. The kiss is mutual (you can see it when you play the scene very slowly), not romantic but desperate. They both hurt, but Crowley initiates this absolutely in character: the one who has always initiated a deep dive into the earthly sensations (it is first established in the Petronius oysters' scene). Then, he is forgiven because Aziraphale must say something that hurts (maybe someone is eavesdropping? At the end, the Bentley plays the Song. The way Aziraphale looks at Crowley and Bentley makes me think he asked the car to play it as a coded message.)

Crowley behaves differently from TWO other rejections he experienced in Season 1. The other two were very early on in their courtship. He felt them as personal back then: "I don't even like you, you are the demon" and "It is over." Sort of stuff we yell at our SOs when pheromones are high. Crowley does not take it well; he loves himself enough to know his dignity and has no problem leaving. In Season 2, this is more complicated. The long-term bonds of "precious existence" are stronger because KNOWING THE OTHER is on a deeper level. And he knows something is very, very wrong. Why is he staying there, waiting? He does not feel rejected as himself; he does not feel his love was rejected; he only understood his Alpha Centauri will not happen for reasons he does not truly understand. Right now, he probably thinks precisely what he said: Aziraphale is an idiot talking nonsense. Crowley hopes he will return to his senses. Because deep down, Crowley is an optimist. And he has what other demons do not: imagination. So don't cry for him, he will be OK. And remember the last Jane Austen novel on Aziraphale's shelf: Persuasion. Not to mention the only book Crowley probably has read: "The Crow Road"…

__

I realized I wrote this from the point of view of Crowley. But Aziraphale had also his heart rejected. He cried I NEED YOU and he got silence, because his stubborn husband refused to follow. That rejection also hurts.

---

Another thought: The ending is our human equivalent of one partner deciding to accept that well-paying job half-way across the globe, while the other wants to stay put. The one who leaves, temporarily, thinks about the opportunity: the money earned to finally pay that mortgage, pay student loan... to be finally free and get on with their life. The one who stays does not see it this way. Who is right... we'll see.

[epicmiscellaneousponderings]

Miscellaneous Media Moment

Alright so I'm watching the anime The Way of the Househusband on Netflix and writing my thoughts as I watch. This might be a tad unhinged, but here we go. As always if you liked this content feel free to be me a coffee. Also, yes, I do know that there a multiple episodes in each episode but I'm going to number them by how they're contained and labeled through Netflix as that's how I'm watching it :)

Episode one

The intro music is not what I was expecting. Very metal

The tattooed back, wow detail work

the interaction between him and wife, cute

Him taking pics of the food

The entire interaction between him and the cops, subtle/not subtle info drop, the fact he got pulled over on a bicycle, the coupon

Have I caught you at a bad time? No I was just carving something up? Blades. You going to show me the goods then? (This entire dialog and visual sequence was such hilarious and good writing in showing his cooking skills)

Being excited over the cabbage

The recycling of the bottles, I had such a flashback to all the times I've done it myself

Turf = Family

LOL the slapping

The black and white target acquired, such a cut from the last scene

The juxtaposition between the violence/serious noir vibe and sweet/silly moments!!

Oh he's trying so hard for his wife and she's just like wha? Also the fact she can match his intensity and smack him out the window is hilarious and good showing of their relationship dynamic

The end of the episode with the cat POV, is an interesting choice. Cat and bugs.

Episode Two

The metal intro is going to be the off putting thing for me isn't it. I get it suits the character backstory but my ears say ouch.

The intense bursts of music and the cut to the roomba, lol

Obligatory Ceremony (Wedding) GASP

Destruction via cat and roomba ending in bloody disaster

The flatline noise for the policure thingie

Everybody makes mistakes and it matters how you handle it afterwards paired with six feet under is great

Again with the slapping, lol

Nothing like getting hit by a 2 by 4. (Whoever wrote the dialog for this series did so well!)

The hula hooping, is that a smile?, strike a pose, This the [insert dark past] pose, the dedication to his wife and the pic of wife using the hula hoop is so cute

the good white powder = flour, the yes ma'am, the fact that she is so not intimidated by him at all and can outmatch that energy in his POV is adorable

Ok, so the ending with a cat adventure is going to be a running thing. Neat. Cat with dog.

Episode Three

Yay, Netflix allows me to skip intro!

The Tiger vs Dragon rivalry, the househusband vs crepe slinger cook off, the food commentary, the photo shoot and winning by one like lol

differing car standards, room for putting a person in the trunk, driving defensively, what did I just watch O...O

Again with the slapping, the chemistry lesson, the hardware store line, the differing stains and intense cleaning, cut to the calming laundry line

Him learning more skills... peak character moment

Street Vender = Rip Off, simple items interpreted with dark intentions

Patio garden, air pumping the bicycle wheels, the cops staking him out to begin with and them seeing this as criminal behavior, busting into the birthday party is such a moment, the line "you're one feminine felon" (Seriously as someone who hates to write dialog this shows one lines are so satisfying and hilarious)

Cat adventure with other cat and litter box.

Episode Four

The slow-mo for the volley ball, the volleyball face-off and how into it each team go into it, the handshake of good game and the group pic afterwards

The wife following along her husband's day is cute, the dog plushie reward

THE FOOD ALONE DESERVES AN ANALYSIS POST!!!

The x = y subtitles as sub context is hilarious and, also the back flashes being used to add story depth without info dumping

He is such a drama king, equally matched by his wife's antics. The entire cockroach sequence showing this. The wife's poor aim!

Intense and Scary Santa, delivering extreme food. That's not a sleigh. the running gag of him being pulled over on a bicycle by the cops is perfect!

Oh, no cat adventure, interesting break of pattern

Alright well thanks for coming to this Miscellaneous Media Moment where I do unhinged and most likely nonsensical rambling of what I watched is a thing. I will most likely continue at some point, so stay tuned and please let me know if this is a format that you liked. Along with any comments on the show that you have.

[computerwarrior]

((Trimming it down.))

@not-that-dillinger

"Not quite," Ed explained. "You still want a doctor to administer the test, both because they'll be more practiced at controlling the exposure, and they'll be prepared in case you do get a bad reaction from the test." Ed glanced at at the bowls and bowls of toppings, unsure where to start. He had no idea what Ark might like, but she didn't either. He put two of the crepes on a plate. Then he considered the toppings on the table, consisting of everything from home made whipped cream, sliced apples and strawberries, and chocolate syrup, to ricotta cheese, smoked salmon, and sauteed vegetables. "Anything you're most interested in trying first?" he asked. If not, perhaps he could start with one savory and one sweet, and figure things out from there. ...Ed may have outdone himself, he realized as he considered the array of toppings on the table, and it would eventually come back to bite him--if not in the form of dishes to clean up, then in spoons that should have been allocated to something else. But that would be a later problem. At least there would be leftovers for later meals.

-

Ark thought this over, "Makes sense, sounds like it's a lot safer with them overseeing it." Especially since she had no idea what things she'd be allergic to, there was no telling how she'd react to just starting to mess with things.

At Ed's question, she looked over their bounty and gave everything a quick analysis. There were some brightly colored foods that caught her eye, so she gestured to them, not knowing what they were called. But, Ed would recognize them as the various fruits and vegetables.

"I really like the looks of these, so they're as good of a place to start as any." She wanted to try everything, but it was overwhelming and going step by step was the only way to get a handle on it.

((This is a companion piece to this thread.))

[Side B: Rescue]

Haste was the word of the cycle and Ark moved quicker than ever.

Her and her lightcycle flew across the Outlands and straight for Tron City, making up for the time she had lost while she was out.

As she traveled, deep underneath the surface of the Outlands, one Gridbug, out of many, became poisoned for no discernable reason.

Ark knew where the Occupation had most likely taken Ed, and the increased guards around the building confirmed her suspicions.

She remained stealthy as long as possible, revealing herself only when she could sneak no further.

Ark fought her way through the building, alarms blaring as she took on multiple Sentries at a time. The narrow hallways worked in her favor, as only a few Sentries could approach her at a time, so she was never outnumbered in a way she couldn't handle.

It took all of Ed's will not to shrink back from Clu as the guards brought him to the tyrant.

Clu grinned like a Cheshire cat. Whatever he had planned for Ed, it was certainly much worse than what he had just been through. It looked like Clu wanted to say something. Probably to intimidate Ed, play with him before doing... whatever.

Ed had plenty of experience of taking control of situations. He also knew how to be a menace.

Beat Clu to the punch. Hit him where it hurt.

Ed opened his mouth, but before either of them could say anything, the sound of fighting came from the hallway.

Ark?

Ed had no idea if it was her or not, but if there was fighting coming this way, it was likely they were coming for him. At the very least, fighting meant they were against the occupation, and thus a potential ally.

Ed twisted sharply, then dropping down to break free of his captors. He backed away, and pulled off one of his boots. It was hefty; much heavier than his loafers.

Ed chucked it, then the other, at Clu.

Without waiting to see if either hit their mark, Ed turned and ran.

Behind him, there was the heavy thud of one of the boots hitting the ground, and an angered, pained roar from Clu. He approached the fight as cautiously as possible, while also not loosing speed. (The guard or Clu catching hi would not end well, an he most certainly would not get another chance to escape.)

He sighed with relief when he recognized Ark's lightcycle.

[pika-ace]

Do you think that Dark Choco would be mistaken as the parent/guardian of the group because he’s the only one that looks like an adult while Gingerbrave and co are the kids he seemingly adopted/is taking care of with Chili Pepper being the older sibling? That’s gotta be awkward when someone asks

(Sorry for the late reply, Christmas, you know?)

But yeah, I could TOTALLY see that happening, like while they’re building their own kingdom and coming across all the cookies in the roster.

At first, some younger ones think that he’s somehow their biological dad, but the older ones assume adoption right away cause these tykes’ dough isn’t NEARLY as chocolate-y as Dark Choco’s or Dark Cacao’s. And after seeing them in action, how can you not assume that they’re family?

They see this giant, menacing cookie pretty much soften whenever these kids talk to him, see him go ABSOLUTELY FERAL if one or all of them are in danger (Strawberry Crepe tried to take Strawberry for analysis and nearly DIED from DC’s glare alone), and vice-versa for the kids if Dark Choco gets hurt (Pomegranate put that memory spell on him and the kids just LOST IT and breezed through her magic to beat her), and see these kids get all worried for him as well…c’mon, even if you don’t see the family vibes, it’s clear that they’ve grown VERY close

But the best part is that everyone has a different reaction to it. ‘Is Dark Choco Cookie like…your dad?’

Brave: Huh…I never thought about it that way :/c I guess he kinda IS like a dad! XD

Strawberry: *blushes and hides in her hood* Um…Uh…

Wizard: *blushing* ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

Custard: I already have a dad, but I suppose there’s nothing wrong with having another one! :)

Chili Pepper: *slightly blushing* Wha- no way! I don’t need a dad, I’m not a stupid kid! I do what I want!

Dark Choco: Hm. *confused and flattered internal screaming*

…Basically, they’re all secretly cool with it because c’mon, going on a dangerous adventure to fight the forces of darkness to revive ancient fallen kingdoms is the BEST way to create memories and bonds.

(However we all know the truth: Dark Choco didn’t adopt these kids, THEY adopted HIM.)

[monards]

i still think the way the general idea of symbiotic relationships as a can be applied to both of magnolia's most prevalent relationships in the game makes me sooo emotional.

Magnolias and Doves are entirely different organisms; so obviously they have no relationship in that regard, however they still benefit each other in a ton of different ways. Doves often nest on the branches of magnolia trees; and can help with things such as seed dispersal and tend to drive pests and other insects away from the tree; helping its growth-- but obviously, they can come and go as they please, and aren't really confined to one tree or place. And even more; Doves and many other birds don't have any real impact on Magnolia trees and other similar plants. And that relationship is SO well demonstrated between Magnolia and Dove!!!!!! Dove was never confined to Magnolia; we know she has interests and beliefs outside of her, and has in all insistences we've seen her explicitly established that she doesn't full heartedly agree with everything Magnolia does in one way or another, be it through her saying Magnolia had been too harsh with Orion, was being too secretive & suspicious, and attempting to finally have her arrested for her crimes; showing that she still very wells has a separate code of ethics, morals and beliefs in spite of whatever Magnolia herself may have believed or followed at any point. Plus, Dove never had any true and huge lasting impact on Magnolia. Dove, as long as she was married to Magnolia, did manage to help her. But that was purely situational. Since, even if Magnolia was likely far more composed and morally-there while with Dove; that definitely went STRAIGHT out the window the moment they got a divorce and she ended up leaving all her coworkers to die, while going along to become a mass murderer, too. Even though Dove did have some effect on Magnolia, most of those real changes were transient and for the most part only manifested in Magnolia's relationship with Mint.

Mint is an invasive species; meaning as a whole, they're hard to get rid of and more often than not leave lasting effects on the fauna and environment around them. And that's EXACTLY what happened between Mint and Magnolia!!!!! Mint, unlike Dove, dug his way into Magnolia's life. While Dove would always be on the surface and need to worm her way in herself; Mint would already have 'roots' in the ground and be able to far easily effect Magnolia as a whole. And he did!!!!!!! We know that having Mint obviously changed Magnolia,, a lot. She obviously mellowed out a lot; and Dove herself notes that Magnolia would've never taken this course of action if Mint hadn't been someone she explicitly loved and was in some way attached to; a DIRECT contrast to her generally easy abandonment of Dove in their divorce. Even more, in both endings, Magnolia WILLINGLY changes a great amount just for Mint-- with in Ending A, her sacrificing the chance she could very well be caught or worse by leaving to the city to give Mint a better life, and Ending B where she gives up Mint to live with Dove- despite how much she loved and was attached to him- because she knew she would never provide him the life he deserved; when we know that previously, Magnolia would've never sacrificed that much for someone. As seen through a certain ex-wife she has, (cough cough)

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

cool video essays I watched this weekend

hi exactly NO ONE asked for more youtube recs but I have them

anyway this first one immediately makes the title a lie, because I actually watched Philosophy Tube's "Food, Beauty, Mind" a while ago, but it's an interesting video and I wanted to include it. I've never watched a Philosophy Tube video before, because I am nothing if not a fake and terrible leftist, but her thoughts about the shame so many women associate with food and the ways we learn to rigidly police our relationship with eating really spoke to me. this video was also the third essay/video essay to cite Heather Widdows' book "Perfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal" in a very short time period, which is absolutely why I'm currently reading it (and having THOUGHTS).

with her newest video, "How Do We Criticize Our Own?," Melina Pendulum, aa Princess Weekes, continues her streak of being right about pretty much everything. this is an interesting analysis of Being A Critic While Marginalized, and all the pressures that come from a.) the presumption that you are only qualified to speak on your own identity and b.) the presumption that you can speak for everyone of your identity (in Weekes' case, being Black and queer). also: what do you do when the bad faith attacks come from within your own community?

Khadija Mbowe's "Who's afraid of Lil Nas X?" is an excellent video for anyone who, like me, is all about anything and everything that Lil Nas X sees fit to give us (except for that NFT nonsese. I simply do not see it). Mbowe brings several Black men into their discussion to analyze what about Lil Nas X is so threatening to the brand of Black masculinity that has historically dominated hip hop and unpack what about his unflinching queerness elicits such a strong response from so many of his peers. I don't play favorites, but if I had to pick my favorite thing I watched this weekend it's definitely this.

Mina Le's 2020 video "100+ Years of Halloween Costumes" offers a quick dive into the origins of modern Halloween celebrations, tracking the custom of costumes from pagan rituals to Victorian parties to 20th century innovations like crepe paper costumes and latex masks. this is one of my favorite kind of Le videos, focusing not only on fashion and style but on the changing social trends that influenced them.

I don't know about y'all, but I fucking love Chinese food. and yes, I do obviously mean the extremely Americanized version of Chinese food, which is the only kind I've ever had access to, and which I recognize is very different than what's actually eaten in China. in their video "Why American Chinese Food Deserves Respect," Xiran Jay Zhao offers a brief history of American Chinese food trends and argues that it's as "authentic" as native Chinese food and a worthwhile addition to the culture.

okay, listen. I wasn't initially going to include this, because while the topic is intriguing (and Shanspeare's whole Look is phenomenal) I found the actual analysis in "Daddy Issues, Misogyny, and the Pinnacle of Male Privilege" to be a little lacking. there is a pretty solid recap on the Oedipus myth, and some discussion of Freud, but initially I wasn't super blown away. but then the night after I watched this I had a long and staggeringly vivid dream about my own estranged bastard father, so maybe Shanspeare was onto something after all. either way, not including it after having that kind of fucked up dream omen feels like tempting fate.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 227

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 29 - “Tennis with a Hot Guy in the Highlands!?” Date watched: 25 October 2022 Original air date: 31 August 2008 Screenshots Precure Metamorphose Gallery | Sky Rose Translate Gallery Project info and master list of posts

Hello. I’m the villain.

Note: I am still experimenting with the automatic screenshots. I wasn’t satisfied with taking them every 10 seconds so I changed it to every 5 seconds and added a few custom shots. The gallery is larger than normal as a result of this, but I think it gives a better overview of the episode without as many major gaps as the 10 second rule.

Summer vacation continues with the long-awaited getaway to Karen’s mountain villa! There the girls engage in a variety of activities such as tennis, and tennis, with some tennis for good measure. But not all is as it seems when a mysterious man shows up...

The Plot

The girls travel to Karen’s villa, which is every bit as sprawling and fancy as her private island resort.

Jiiya promises to make a big meal for everyone that night, so Nozomi declares they should get hungry by playing sports.

A new villain named Mucardia shows up at Eternal. Anacondy is much friendlier to him than to Bunbee, and she dispatches him to get the Rose Pact.

Nozomi wants to play on the villa’s tennis courts. Rin points out Nozomi doesn't even play tennis, but she’s gung ho for it anyway, as are the others.

Mucardia appears in the sky and decides to spy on the girls for a while.

The girls aren't very good at tennis but seem to have fun anyway. Then Rin and Karen play a match and it's much more intense.

The fairies watch from a balcony. Kurumi turns to Milk and begins feverishly writing a postcard to Palmier. Nuts sees her working hard nonstop and wants to find a way to help her that doesn't inconvenience her. He begins drafting a new toy.

Mucardia shows up to the tennis court under the name Momoi Kyousuke, claiming to have gotten lost. He takes on Rin and Karen in a doubles tennis match. Meanwhile, Nozomi Urara, and Komachi go after a Palmin.

Kyousuke smooth talks R&K with a magic trick and some flowers before leaving. He secretly turns the whole forest into a Hoshiina. His plan is to take out Rin and Karen (the brains and brawn of the team) and the rest will fall in short order.

When everyone gathers, they complain that the Hoshiina is too big and strong. Dream applies what she learned in tennis and tells them to watch its movements and strike back.

The fight consists mostly of the girls deflecting blows from the monster and landing a few hits on it until Coco helps them perform Rainbow Rose Explosion.

Mucardia remarks that the other cures aren’t so bad, but his real victory is getting close to the team.

After the battle, Nozomi, Urara, and Komachi compliment the flowers that Rin and Karen received before they all go to eat Jiiya’s dinner. The episode closes with a shot of the two flowers in vases against a backdrop of the mountain at sunset.

The Analysis

What I Liked

The girls relaxing (kind of) and having fun playing tennis, in a very slife-of-life moe setting, was so fun. I don’t always like this (my thoughts on Smile will come eventually) but here it works.

Related, the contrast between how Rin and Karen play tennis compared to the others is great. Obviously R&K are experienced players while the rest are amateurs, but everyone has fun with it in their way.

Urara has good form (not technique) despite never actually playing. She says she portrayed a tennis player for a show once, and that might be my favorite joke in the episode.

Compared to the last episode, Princess Crepe is barely in this and has maybe 3 lines of dialog. That’s a win in my book.

Mucardia deciding to scout out the girls and get friendly with them rather than revealing his identity is a good strategy we’ve seen used before by Kiriya, Michiru, and Kaoru. It won’t play out in a redemption arc, but I enjoy it for now.

What I Didn’t Like

When Milk begins writing her letter to Palmier, Syrup complains that he needs a rest. The response to this is odd, with Milk saying she has to keep the citizens of Palmier informed of what’s going on as she’s a caregiver. This is fine as it’s her prerogative but it does nothing to address Syrup’s complaint that he’s being overworked. A practical solution would be for him to just wait and make the delivery the next day or something but this is not discussed.

Once the Hoshiina shows up, the episode drops in quality drastically. Mucardia’s plan was supposedly to take out Rin and Karen individually but he doesn’t even come close.

Normally, in a divide and conquer plot, one of two things will happen: either the singled out group will individually overcome the villain, or they will be pushed to their limit and rescued at the last minute by the rest of the team. In this instance, though, neither happens. Rouge and Aqua aren’t faring well against the monster but the other girls join the fray quickly with a half-hearted “strategy” from Dream

The above issue makes the monster, and Mucardia himself, seem like less of a threat. Anacondy holds him in high regard, and everything about him reads “formidable opponent” and then he underperforms in his debut fight. If it’s intentional, it’s not showcased well.

If a stranger showed up on a huge private resort claiming he got lost while sweet talking some teenagers, I’d be asking a lot more questions than Karen does, and he’d get an escort to the exit rather than just a point in the right direction.

Miscellaneous

Milk appears in her fairy form for the third episode in a row.

The Cures use Rainbow Rose Explosion as their finisher for the second episode in a row.

In the preview of this episode from the last one, Rin is implied by her mannerisms to be infatuated with Momoi Kyousuke. That does not carry over to the actual episode, where both she and Karen agree he was nice and appreciate the flowers he gave them, but nothing more than that.

The girls get some cute athletic clothes during the tennis scene.

Nuts is shown drawing artwork of what will become the Milky Note.

This is the final episode to use “Holding Hands Also Links our Hearts!!” as the ending theme. Next episode it will change to Ganbalance de Dance for the third and final time.

Conclusion

The fight scenes are a staple of this franchise, but I don’t remember feeling this disconnected between the plot and battle scene in a while. It feels obligatory, the monster design is underwhelming and unintimidating, and you could remove the fight entirely and not lose anything from the episode. It peaked at the girls just having fun at the resort, and Mucardia infiltrating to see how they act was a good idea. It might have been better left as a routine monster fight rather than Mucardia trying to divide and conquer right out of the gate. The episode also starts Nuts’s story arc as he struggles with his sense of worth, leading to a new toy. The plot calls back to episode 26 of the previous series, when they went on a summer vacation to Karen’s island resort. It’s a very middle of the road episode compared to the last two which were very good and very bad respectively. I just wanted a litle more substance, even if that substance was pure fluff.

Next time, on Precure Daily, Kurumi and Nozomi have a fight. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei!

[celestialmarks]

“I’m not the bad one here”: Muu Analysis and Interpretation

here is my personal muu analysis and interpretation. i'm really wondering: does muu really believe herself to be justified? is this a front she's presenting because her apologies remained unheard to the bitter end? is she really vindictive and somewhat indifferent deep down, or is she really pretending to protect herself? somewhat a bit of both? this is what i'll be trying to answer. i'm going to be using : - her official character intro in the character intros MV - her intro voice lines (from the official website) - her interview questions - her drama CD content basically every piece of muu extra content we've got, aside from minimal interactions from the app. AS WELL AS - her MV, After Pain, which i'm going to be deciphering based on the color coding! i don't think anyone has done this in full yet (if anyone did, i apologize)

(general TW for discussions & depiction of severe bullying)

as a general disclaimer,

i'm not going to reiterate points that have already been made. if you've looked at youtube comments of previously made analysis, it should be enough to determine what's going on. i'm interested in exploring why muu may feel justified in her actions and what the "darker" side of her is, is all.

there have been no hints as to the fact that she was a bully in the past or something. it could still come out that she was, or that her behavior was awful in whatever way (which i really wouldn't like bcse it reinforces the notion that bullied people "have to had deserved it" which is gross) and it still WOULD NOT change my opinion of her bcse she's still been through all that and pushed to the limit. at the end of the day, there's no way she lied about or downplayed this. she WAS horribly bullied and she almost died from it.

muu has her flaws, clearly. i'm just pointing out what they are here, her mentality and how it might allude to her being shown in a less sympathetic light next round, but that's it.

first, where does the "muu feeling justified" even come from?

to begin with, it's been stated in her intro "she can have a attitude at some times." it's also confirmed by the insults on the blackboard, transcribed in eng and edited onto the MV's visuals here (TW suicide baiting, self-harm baiting).

"So arrogant" as well as "are you looking down on us?" are written on the first blackboard, "eww poor people" on the second.

in her drama CD, muu also appears to be :

overly blunt at times 

spoiled. used to being treated well, since she's rich

quite manipulative, even if she's straightforward about it

i suggest u read the whole thing to get a sense of what she's like, if you haven't yet!

once again and at the risk of repeating myself... she still doesn't deserve any of what happened even if she was condescending or flaunted her wealth. which i don't even think might be the case (it's not like the bullies are objective, they're just using it as a way to justify their treatment of her. and in the MV she says herself "There's no special meaning / I just got the short end of the stick"). she's kind of naive about her wealth (see the crepe incident dfdghjd) she doesn't appear to do it to annoy others or look down on them. she's just used to a life of comfort.

moreover, it's been implied she may have been taken advantage of initially because of her wealth (see the chat on her phone and the picture of her with the three other girls, which i'll call Girl A, Girl B and Girl C for convenience's sake and also bcse the ref to dr is funny). probably her bluntness and occasional attitude caused her more problems, but i'll come back to what triggered the bullying later.

regarding her manipulative behavior, it's because she's used to getting her way (crepe incident, her telling Es she'll just make him like her : "All I have to do is gain your favour, right?"). "my sorry spells must be wearing off" in After Pain alludes to this. since she was previously quite privileged, she had never been treated like this before. even when she made mistakes she was forgiven, so she may have been a bit of an entitled brat, once again. when she starts being bullied, her world REALLY turns upside down. she's so used to getting her way that she even THREATENS Es at the end of the drama CD. we're past manipulative here. no way to know if she has done this in the past though. this might just be due to her desperation, really, but the fact that she does it right after another attempt at sweet talk does make me raise a brow

also the way she turns the tables on Es. "i won't forgive you" when she's supposed to be the one who's forgiven or not? she's rejecting the fault onto Es, just like, ALL the way through her drama CD, she's been saying she wasn't in the wrong. that's her way of justifying herself when/if she causes harm. literally she will not stop saying it : 

"I’m not the bad one here!" "I did kill them. But, they’re to blame! They made it to the point where I had to kill them… I… I had such a tough time." "Sure, I might’ve killed them, but… If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to escape. The cruel things they did to me were far worse!" "If you’re gonna say that I shouldn’t have killed them, then… Are you saying that I should’ve continued suffering forever?" "Even though I’m not the one in the wrong, they want to sentence me to penal servitude… That’s so messed-up." "It wasn’t a bad thing to do, right?" "What should I do then? What should I do in order for you to forgive me, prison guard? I’ll do anything! Um… Anything painful or embarrassing is out of the question though… And, I don’t wanna do anything scary either…"

muu is DESPERATE to be proven innocent. she'll do almost anything, though she's reluctant to put herself in any situation that might be triggering for her (understandable after what she's been through so i wouldn't say she's whining here.) in one of her intro voice lines on the website she says pretty much the same thing:

That’s right. I killed someone. But I couldn’t help it! If I didn’t, there’d be no way to escape. I’m… not the bad one.

in addition, here is what we get from her intro in the character intros MV:

"Fufu... it's your fault for doing horrible things to me." → Lack of remorse ?

from her interview questions:

"The person who did something wrong should apologize first." → Waiting for others to acknowledge their faults first, bcse she doesn't want her apologies to be ignored again... and to just be mistreated again, as a result?

maybe she wants to be declared innocent so that she can finally feel like she's heard, acknowledged. so that she can feel that her pain has reached people, and she might start apologizing outwardly then too, bcse part of her's sorry. but a part of her genuinely believes she had no other choice and as such should be treated as innocent. it's kind of a complex mentality.

what i'm focusing on is that she has this belief she is justified still.

something caught my eyes in relation to that : the "thinks she's the hero" on the second blackboard. muu has a self-righteous side like futa, even if it were (partially?) a front.

also, the quote behind every inmate : "every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." muu "saved" herself by killing someone else and now has a future, so she's her own hero? perhaps. perhaps that's what is helping her cope with the crushing guilt, and that's why she's outwardly so insistent on it.

but then again, something doesn't click: why would muu be saved from killing someone? the bullying has just gotten worse. why does she seem so relieved in that situation? is it because people at least don't touch her now, because they're scared of her? she is literally getting suicide baited though... well, i have an idea. but first let's decode After Pain properly.

more substance to her feeling justified: the color coding and hidden messages in After Pain

so, here goes. on the official site, people who got the innocent verdict are shown to have green eyes, while people who got the guilty verdict have red eyes. so from this, we can deduce that innocent = green and guilty = red.

well... muu's MV is coded like that all the way through. we have a theme of greens (cold colors) VS oranges (warm colors). to represent her thoughts in relation to her actions, and others'. they’re complementary colors, so it’s rather clear cut (black and white?) the color that's inbetween is the yellow from the screen with the handwriting writing that keeps coming back as well as... yup... the yellow from the box cutter she used to kill Girl A, her crush (presumably). and the yellow that is muu's character color! so very significant. i'll analyse After Pain sequence by sequence so u can see what i mean in detail. beginning of the MV : she's sitting in the classroom alone. the first thing we see is the green hourglass = i'm innocent! and we see the orange glow of the sunset. the light isn't hitting her directly, as u can see: she's left in the shadows = blameless, the victim here. it's hitting the blackboard with all the insults, however.

together with the lyrics this scene is basically everything about muu screaming "SEE? IT'S THEIR FAULT, LOOK WHAT THEY DID. I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING." and then of course we have the first instance of the screen with writing in yellow! this one says "ねえなんで" ("say, why?") nothing surprising there so far.

then BOOM the hourglass. very very clearly depicting her pain, her suffocating and being cut from the world. and thus proving her "innocence" bcse she's trapped, in danger of choking, and helpless.

it of course covers her (more of her basically telling you she's innocent). and then it cuts to a pinker, more orange-y scene with the bullies (they're guilty!)

and WAIT A MINUTE? WHAT IS THAT? yep... the box cutter. and what color is it in this scene? orange. it was orange here.

clearly she's saying that the others are much more at fault here. when she wields it, the box cutter is of a lighter color--still a warm color, since it's yellow. but a yellow that's very close to the lime green of her hourglass, isn't it? for now let's say it represents something in between, ambivalent feelings. the writing in yellow comes back and so does the chorus (look at how much i tried to apologize and make them stop). it feels to me like that's muu taking back the mic like HEY, listen up, you saw this right. in conclusion. here it is again: look at how innocent i am! look at how much i've suffered! and thus naturally it cuts to a hourglass scene immediately after.

nonetheless, the writing in yellow says... "でもたぶん" ("but maybe...") which is intriguing.

haven't mentioned this before but obviously muu herself is a mix of warm and cold colors, aka pink (her uniforms highlights, the sleeves and tie + her hair) and green (her eyes, with a highlight of lime/yellow...) then we're back in the classroom and once again the orange light = guilt isn't hitting her directly.

and the colors picked in the LINE chat with the others areee.... naturally, green for her, pink for the others... yellow for the whole background, just as yellow encompasses the entire MV as her true feelings on the matter.

title screen in yellow then flashes yet again, followed AGAIN by the hourglass scene (muu repeating, just like in her drama CD: "yeah, here's my whole story, and i'm innocent!")

the writing in yellow says "ねえもしも" ("hey, tell me...")

the writing in yellow flashes for the FOURTH TIME and this is the most interesting instance: "それなのに" ("even so...")

this shot is doused in orange/warmer yellow on the bullies' side and in the background too. super self-explanatory really

the orange light of guilty is still not hitting muu. meanwhile on her lap...

on the left, the bullies' stockings are blue, but they have a orange hue to them. the rest of the objects here in cold tones are all related to muu or touching her. the picture on her phone is split between yellow and blue. like the blame and innocence was, back then, even/balanced in the sense of peace and quiet, or perhaps just hidden in the background before it jumped out?

she's hit by the orange light here and please look at how the bucket is not blue at all and the floor below her is more yellow. Girl A is the one to open the door, so i think this might show Girl A's POV in relation to muu. not perceiving her innocence.

Girl A's eyes here are green and yellow, so to some extent innocent but guilty in a way that is justified in muu's mind? which is why muu reaches out to her. thus here's my theory on what happened with her : muu confessed, yes. however, the girl didn't out her. especially bcse the blackboard doesn't have any mention of muu liking girls (going by the TL previously shared at least). she just started avoiding muu. given the lyrics here: Girl A used muu's attitude concerning other matters as justification for avoiding her, which kickstarted the bullying. hence "the stabbing of the little devil's voice" which references something Girl A said about her attitude, prompting the rest of their friend group to see muu in a negative light so as to side with her. (since muu's planned counterattack to what Girl A said is a suicide note, it can only be Girl A that's the "devil". the cause.)

also please note how the light is only HALF hitting the background. she's to blame, but not entirely. not yet. besides her eyes are a different shade of green than muu's: darker, far from lime. clearly just green + yellow highlight, without the blatant "innocent" of the lighter lime. entirely ambivalent!

in this shot, the light is deserting muu's eyes. no lime green or yellow here. she just has dead eyes, resembling Girl A's eyes at the end of the video. this is muu telling us that this was her last chance not to become a corpse.

then muu reaches out to the one person she could ask for help. the one person who could have cleared any misunderstanding and possibly stopped this. she's running and everything is soooo yellow and orange. EXCEPT for the bushes which are green, a firm line (literal lines!) that allude to the possibility that Girl A might change her behavior. "perhaps she'll realized she crossed the line/know where the line is and walk off this path."

however, muu steps into the light here. she's been hit by the window's light even if we can't see it, as seen by her shadow. hence, she's already guilty, it's just out of frame (she doesn't realize/know it yet.) still, note that the light hitting her is not orange but ONLY YELLOW. less guilty than the others! but the school? orange. guilty place. guilty people

Girl A is still framed by green stuff. she has a possibility of being innocent, of being forgiven by muu, but the path she's walking is orange, clearly.

we see a tiny hourglass fall off, a timid reminder from muu "i know what you're about to see, just remember i'm not to blame." and then muu reaches Girl A and the background is just SO yellow and orange for the both of them. but notice something? on muu's side the background is more yellow. on Girl A's side it gets darker, more orange.

Girl A doesn't respond for a moment and her eyes are still green and yellow! muu has hope that she might still change for the better and forgive her! see that muu's innocent!

but nope! she rejects muu! and we get this deep orange!!! NOTHING like the yellow in the background earlier! this is the last straw for muu!

contrasting with the green of muu's hourglass breaking as she hits her limit:

yellow, vengeful fire burning next to muu. it's practically shimmering as she stabs Girl A. it's so light it's almost white.

Girl A's eyes have turned orange bcse in that moment in muu's mind SHE is the guilty one. she deserves this.

while in contrast, even if the background behind muu's very orange... her eyes are glowing lime/yellow.

i hit picture limit so this is part 1! (reblogging this to add more. here is the full post with part 2 as well)

[sunxeii]

I love reading your tags and was wonder what your interpretation on the Lip x Lip pocky edition is? Also, more similarities between Ken and Aizou's types because I want them to have some common ground they have so they can try to talk to each other and reconnect again.

Aww, I’m glad you love reading my tags~ Thank you sm!! <33 it makes me happy knowing people like my rambles and opinion on things,,

Are you talking about that pocky scene in the new MV where Yuujirou and Aizou are at the store together and had their own pockys in their hands? Or are you referring to their pocky flavors? :O pls let me know~

As for the analysis between Ken and Aizou’s types…

(I ended up talking A LOT so you can read more under the cut ahsjs)

I know you probably meant their physical similarities (like hairstyle, etc) but I kinda delved more into their characters??

Compared to the Shibasaki brothers who, in a sense, are more modern… Yuujirou and Arisa have different family backgrounds than most people. Arisa’s family owns a shrine, meanwhile, the Someya family has a kabuki legacy and many of them (especially his stepdad and brother) are very strict about beauty + a good performance. Arisa is sometimes seen in shrine maiden clothing while Yuujirou is sometimes seen in traditional clothing. Arisa’s grandfather is a Shinto shrine priest and Yuujirou’s stepdad/brother and other people in his personal life are kabuki actors.

Both of them know how to dance like some of their family members and they definitely practice.

Here, Ken is watching her perform and blushing. Aizou has also canonically seen Yuujirou perform kabuki. LOOK HOW GOOD THEY LOOK and their eyes omg (granted, arisa obviously looks happier but yeah) BUT YEAH,, look at these two images and tell me you don’t find the similarities.

Also, both Yuujirou and Arisa sometimes do the :3 face

Arisa had put her hair up in high twintails after being inspired by Sena, and she even moved forward in life as she tried to be more outgoing and friendly. Since Yuujirou’s application has him with long bangs and he came to the audition with short bangs, I’m assuming he may have cut them himself. He has also tried being more kind and cool to the public eye (fans, classmates, etc.)

So they both directly changed their hairstyles and acted friendlier. They’re moving forward aww

Arisa and Yuujirou don’t consider Ken and Aizou as perfect, even from the start. Arisa found Ken’s way of living too “my-pace” and even boring. Meanwhile, Yuujiou bickered with Aizou on their first meeting.

Both Arisa and Yuujirou had problems making friends when they were younger. Yuujirou kept himself busy with Kabuki practice whenever he was invited to hang out so he never rlly formed any actual friendships, and Arisa tended to “poke her nose into other people’s affairs and had unintentionally spoken harshly during elementary school, which ended up with her often being left out by her peers,” according to her novel.

Both Arisa and Yuujirou had problems making friends when they were younger. Yuujirou kept himself busy with Kabuki practice whenever he was invited to hang out so he never rlly formed any actual friendships, and Arisa tended to “poke her nose into other people’s affairs and had unintentionally spoken harshly during elementary school, which ended up with her often being left out by her peers,” according to her novel.

Aizou is technically Yuujirou’s first friend, since it was revealed that Yuujirou’s childhood lacked any friendships and he pushed everyone away because he felt like there wasn’t a point in making friends. However, Aizou kept talking to him and involving him in things despite their arguments. In Arisa’s case, Ken noticed her from afar and told his friend to keep an eye on her ( for him to act like her friend or smth.) This helped her get situated and it made her feel happy.

We know that the Shibasaki brothers have a certain way they portray themselves on the outside. They are seen as sociable, friendly, and outgoing by the public eye (aizou with his fans and classmates.) But on the inside, despite their popularity and interactions, they’re lonely people. Other people like them but they can’t see who they truly are, at least 100%. Both Yuujirou and Arisa can. The brothers talk to their partners and involve them in stuff, even when the other doesn’t seem to want to comply or ignore them. Arisa defends/defended people and Yuujirou has actually defended Aizou and even made him cheer up and laugh by doing a particular face when his idol partner was visibly upset about something. So, the both of them help the boys better themselves and the Shibasaki brothers know they can rely on their partners. Lonely Persons imply that Yuujirou and Arisa are the only people that can understand Aizou and Ken, even when the other doesn’t properly say it in words or tell anyone else. It’s like words aren’t even needed and their bonds are deeper than that.

Both the cat versions of their types look at the brothers and arisa is within arms reach, fairly close to ken because she’s there for him and they’re dating. Aizou feels like Yuujirou is there for him but he’s also afraid of losing him and that they aren’t as close as he may think— obviously that’s not true because yuujirou appears with a smile and looks at him softly. // psttt just shoot ur shoot aizou// Both Arisa and Yuujirou are holding their cat versions (kuro and the random cat lmao) close to their chests too, with one hand over the cats’ backs.

Between Aiyuu and Shibarisa, arisa and yuujirou are seen as the more “chill” or “quiet” ones (even though, of course, yuujirou is quite sneaky and arisa is outgoing in a way)

Arisa seems to like the crepes on their date and Yuujirou, with his sweet tooth, would DEFINITELY love crepes. i demand a crepe date for aiyuu,, i demand us seeing aiyuu eating cake on xmas.

By the way, this is just a fun observation but both Ken and Aizou definitely think about texting Arisa and Yuujirou the most during literally anything. In “Naimaki Honey”, Ken looks happy while he stares at his phone and he’s def on LINE a lot for arisa— i bet he texts her goodmorning and goodnight + little things. Aizou literally texted Yuujirou at 2 am over some BEEF ROAST he made. like it was his first thought after he finished and yuujirou read it immediately (but didn’t reply lmao) I’m assuming arisa and yuujirou don’t text with the same energy as their partner most times.

Also, we already know how they’ve been compared to or represented by cats. And the Shibasaki brothers own a cat, plus aizou likes cats more.

OK WOO— i’m done HSJS. So sorry that it was a long read !!! I tried to compile some stuff and then I accidentally exited out and lost everything SHDJS

[genork-the-fandork]

As an add on to the playlists I created for this particular day, I also wanted to do some writing for the 01 kids as well.

For those who don’t know, I love the Digimon Adventure tri. character songs. (I even did a full blown analysis of the lyrics.) So I decided to do some short one shots featuring a lyric from each kid’s character song.

You can find the songs here in case you haven’t heard them. I found the English translations on Wikimon.

I hope you enjoy! <3

Tai

"If you get lost, I want you to hold my two hands"

Agumon hadn't made it home yet. Tai was starting to get worried about the little Digimon, so he grabbed his coat and went to look for him.

As he looked in the usual places (namely, food stands and shops), he was reminded of a time when he and Kari were little. They'd gone to play hide and seek in the park, and Kari had hidden so well Tai had been looking for her for over an hour. By the time he'd found her, she was crying because she had gotten herself lost and didn't know how to get back to him. He'd had to hold both of her hands and lead her back to where their mom was waiting.

Not that he expected Agumon to be sobbing, but he hoped he would at least find him before he got hurt.

It didn't take long. In the same park Tai had once found Kari in, he found Agumon, kicking his feet back and forth as he sat on a bench. "What took you so long, Tai?" he said, the long-forgotten wrappers of crepes and candies resting beside him.

"There was no telling where you were, buddy," Tai shot back, gently rubbing his knuckles into Agumon's head. 

The Digimon laughed and hopped off the bench, gathering up his trash to throw out. "I got lost, but I knew you'd find me, Tai. You always do."

Tai smiled. "I guess I do."

Even though he didn't need it, Agumon held Tai's hand all the way home.

Matt

"The seasons continue to change and we become adults"

"When did we become adults?" Tai complained, his legs draped over the back of the couch.

"About the same time we started college, I'm pretty sure," Matt quipped from where he sat on the carpet, staring out the window. He glanced over at his best friend, who looked put out by this answer. "Has it gotten through your thick skull yet?"

"You're one to talk," Tai muttered, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. "I can't accept it if I refuse to believe it."

"Yeah, yeah." Matt shifted his gaze to stare out at the sunset. His hand lifted and aimlessly searched for Gabumon's head. He'd taken to petting the Digimon's head like this whenever he was deep in thought. The contact kept him grounded; he had no fear of flying away whenever he did this.

"I think it was that summer," Matt finally said, his hand stilling on Gabumon's head. Gabumon looked over at him, immediately understanding his meaning.

"Which summer?" Tai asked. "In case you forgot, there have been many. Nearly ten now."

Matt chuckled wryly. "That summer. Ordinemon."

He didn't have to look to see Tai's eyes turn sad. Matt made it a general rule not to mention Ordinemon in front of his best friend, if only because it reminded him of Nishijima. But he could tell by Tai's silence that he agreed.

Matt murmured, "The seasons kept changing, but we'd already grown up."

They both kind of hated how right the sentiment was.

Sora

"It's alright, my feelings for you will last forever"

Sora sighed at the mess before her. "Biyomon…"

"Sorry, Sora," her partner said meekly, almost shrinking into herself as she refused to meet Sora's eyes.

It was hard to be mad at a Digimon who looked so adorable when remorseful. Sora's mouth quirked up on one side as she crouched down and patted the top of Biyomon's head. "How about you help me clean this up?"

"Okay!" the bird Digimon agreed.

They worked together to clean up the mess Biyomon had accidentally made, humming along to some song they couldn't name as they did so. Despite her occasional clumsiness, Biyomon was quite adept at cleaning up messes. It made Sora thankful to have her around; an extra pair of hands—er, wings—came in handy.

When they were finished, Sora collapsed on a chair. She was suddenly exhausted, and she couldn't really pinpoint why. Maybe she was a tad overwhelmed from all the cleaning she'd done all day, and all the cleaning she had a feeling she'd be doing the rest of the day. Whatever it was, she just needed a moment to sit.

Concerned, Biyomon nervously approached her. "Sora," she began, "you're not mad at me… are you?"

Sora's eyes opened to meet those of her Digimon partner, so wide with worry. "Of course not. What would make you think that?"

"Well… you've just been so tired lately. I thought maybe you'd be mad that I made a mess again…"

"Oh, Biyomon," Sora sighed, folding her Digimon into her arms. "I hope you know I could never stay mad at you. I love you too much."

There was a relieved chirp in her voice as Biyomon said, "And I love you, too, Sora!"

Those three words lifted a good part of the exhaustion from Sora's shoulder.

Izzy

"That fragment of memory I made has disappeared"

Izzy frowned. He lightly placed his fingers on his temple and forehead, trying to pinpoint the sinking feeling in his stomach and the uneasy feeling in his heart. It wasn't a headache, surely, despite him holding his head. And he was fairly sure he didn't have a cold. So what was so wrong?

"What's wrong, Izzy?"

The words weren't coming to him to explain to Tentomon what was wrong. His Digimon buzzed his head, asking him rapid fire questions about his health. He didn't answer any of them, so focused was he on figuring out what was wrong.

"I… forgot."

"Forgot what?" the Digimon asked in surprise.

Looking up at Tentomon, Izzy murmured, "I forgot the first joke of yours I laughed at."

Tentomon landed on the ground and placed a gentle claw on Izzy's lap. "That's it?"

There were tears on his face now, and Izzy had no recollection of shedding them. "It was one of my favorite memories of the time we met."

"Oh, Izzy," Tentomon said fondly, reaching up to pat his cheek. "I'll tell you all the jokes you want."

"I'm sorry," Izzy whispered, leaning forward to wrap his arms around the Digimon. "I didn't want to forget any of that."

"We'll make new memories for as long as we're together," Tentomon reassured him. "That's a promise from Digimon to human."

"Thank you."

Tentomon held Izzy until the pain of losing such a fond memory has faded along with the tears.

Mimi

"I do not want to forget that it happened"

Mimi hummed to herself as she finished stringing the beads on the cord on her desk. Three similar bracelets sat on the right corner of the desk, their beads glinting in the faint sunlight streaming through the window.

"Whatcha doing, Mimi?" Palmon's voice asked from behind her.

"Making bracelets to honor our friends," Mimi declared, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she finished the knot to tie the bracelet together. "There. Wizardmon, Pixiemon, Whamon, and Chuumon are done. Leomon is next."

"But Mimi," Palmon asked, peeking her head over the desk. "Why are you making them?"

"Because they sacrificed themselves to help us, all those years ago. I wasn't sure how to honor them until now."

Palmon blinked, still not understanding. "But… many of them were reborn, Mimi."

Her hands stilled for a moment. Her determined face melted into a sad one. "I know, Palmon." She turned to her Digimon partner and gave her a weak smile. "But I don't want to forget what they did for us just because they got a second chance."

"Oh, Mimi," Palmon sighed, wrapping her arms around Mimi's middle. "You have such a big heart."

"It's not much," Mimi admitted, stroking Palmon's flower. "But I want to keep their memory alive somehow. It's the least I can do."

"Then let me help you," Palmon decided, and Mimi smiled and nodded.

By the time they were done, Mimi had an entire rainbow of bracelets dedicated to their fallen comrades.

Joe

"I sincerely want the strength to protect you, too"

Joe woke up once again to a breakfast tray sitting on his nightstand. Gomamon had surely left it for him, as he had been doing for the past week. He'd been pulling constant all-nighters and late study sessions to cram for his exams again. If his Digimon partner hadn't looked so happy to help, he would've felt bad for constantly putting the little guy out.

It was one of those days where he realized just how much he loved his Digimon.

Yawning, Joe ate the breakfast Gomamon had gotten for him, wondering what was the best way to thank him. That was when he heard the crash in the kitchen.

"Gomamon?" he called, racing out of his room to see what the noise was all about.

The seal-like Digimon crawled out from behind the kitchen counter, favoring one flipper-like paw. "I'm alright, Joe. You have studying to do, right?" he asked, trying, and failing, to mask the pain in his voice.

"Let me see," Joe insisted, holding out his hand.

With a sigh, Gomamon handed him his paw, and Joe's face fell when he saw the cut. "Hold on." From the bathroom, he fetched gauze and some medical tape to wrap the wound. "Oh, Gomamon, I'm so sorry. This wouldn't have happened if I wasn't so tired—"

"Joe, stop, this isn't your fault," Gomamon interrupted, staring up at his human partner and meeting Joe's desperate gaze. "I was clumsy. That's not your fault."

"I know, but…" Joe paused in wrapping Gomamon's paw. He whispered, "But I want to be helpful to you, too. Just like you are to me."

"Hey," Gomamon said, and Joe looked down at him again. The Digimon was grinning. "What are partners for, Joe? Is it so wrong for me to take care of you?"

"Only if I never get to return the favor," Joe teased, pulling Gomamon into a hug. "You better not scare me again like that, okay?"

"Sure thing, Joe," Gomamon laughed.

For the rest of the day, Joe carried Gomamon on his back so he wouldn't strain his paw. Gomamon told him it was very "doctorly" of him to do so.

T.K.

"What is important to me is right here"

"T.K.?"

"Hm?" T.K. looked up from his book to Patamon, who was flapping nervously above his head. "What's up, Patamon?"

"Don't you have a date today?" the little Digimon asked, looking very concerned about the shift in what was usually a very hectic social schedule.

A smile spread across T.K.'s face. "I canceled it. I didn't feel like going today."

"Is that okay?"' Patamon landed on the couch beside T.K., placing his front paws on his lap and staring up at him. "Are you sure she won't be mad?"

"I told her I had something more important to do," T.K. said cryptically, looking back down at his book.

"Oh? And what's that?"

Patamon yelped as T.K. suddenly wrapped him up in his arms, pressing his face into the Digimon's back.

"You silly," T.K. laughed good-naturedly. "Spending time with you is more important."

The Digimon blushed a tiny bit. "R-really?"

"Of course. You're my best friend," T.K. said, hugging him tighter. "Now, how about I read to you?"

"Or we can go get ice cream!"

T.K. laughed out loud. "Sure thing, Patamon," he said. "Anything for you."

Later, T.K. would remark that he had much more fun with Patamon than he would have had with anyone else that day.

Kari

"A shadow of the tears you've shed remains"

Gatomon had been silent all day. Kari was used to this from her by now. Some days they would sit in comfortable silence, staring out the window at nothing in particular or watching something nonsensical on the television. It was par for the course at this point in their lives, but that didn't mean that Kari was sometimes concerned about how sad Gatomon would look on these silent days.

To others, the cat Digimon didn't look any different. But Kari could tell from the look in her eyes, from the way she brushed one paw over the other, from the way her tail swished in a particular fashion, that she was sad. And she had a feeling she knew what it was about.

Today had been one of the more silent days. Gatomon had barely acknowledged Kari's presence all day. That's how Kari knew it was one of the bad ones. Normally, she would have left Gatomon alone to not disturb her. 

But there were tears running down her partner's face, and she couldn't let them stay there.

Without warning, Kari scooped Gatomon into her arms and embraced her, cradling her as she would the family cat, waiting until the sniffles and warm tears stopped falling onto her shoulder. "Wizardmon," Gatomon mewled at one point, and Kari felt her own eyes prick with tears. Of course. Neither of them had ever truly gotten over it.

"It's okay," Kari murmured, pressing her face into Gatomon's fur. "I'm here."

Yes, it was certainly one of those days. One of those days where they mourned together for the friend who'd given himself for them. A friend who had been there for Gatomon where Kari hadn't yet been.

Yet, as Kari had assured Gatomon multiple times since that day, in the middle of the night after a shared nightmare, she wasn't going anywhere. And she never would, so long as they were together.

[ryctone]

Oooo! Tell us your thoughts/reaction when you see the update video

OKAY okay, I’m bad with coming up with theories/thoughts on the spot so don’t expect a full scientific analysis (no pun intended hA-) and just me pointing thing that I liked!.

First and foremost; ION

MANY OF THEM, MY CHILDREN; 

But for real:

YES HELLO GIVE ME MY WELL DESERVED ALOE/CYBORG BACKSTORY-

And I say backstory because, they go on about the update and how some cutscenes are set on the past, so maybe we’ll see what caused Cy to end up the way they ended up? what exactly was the near-death experience Aloe talks about in ‘Cyborg Menace’? maybe??

H..her... my beloved..

Please let this be the ‘Cy and Aloe adopt a child: the event’

Not much to say about Bell Pepper Cookie at the moment, I want to play the event first before I can form an opinion on him. Tho he give me Strawberry Crepe vibes with that skill and design, and I think that’s very cool!

Bonus, this one scrapped Aloe costume:

Ok that’s all, see ya’ll later because I’ll be screaming during all the event.