#discoursive analysis

[idiotsonlyevent]

it is completely understandable to be uncomfortable with the sexual assault in dandadan. it's important to discuss how it's framed, whether it's handled poorly, or if it could be been portrayed better. but the number of people - even fans - stating that it is only fanservice, irrelevant, or could be removed is frankly bizarre to for SO many reasons, starting with the fact that this parallel exists.

the anime made it even more obvious by interpolating cuts from the first scene into the second one.

i thought this scene showed that momo gaining her powers by believing in her relationship with her grandmother gives her the strength to fight back against what is basically a horrific, much more aggressive and abstract (maybe even absurd?) representation of her shitty gross ex - who was demanding she 'put out' and pay for the love hotel in very first scene.

while the escalation from one scene to the next is surprising, it's not something that comes out of nowhere. this first scene is meant to be a set-up to what will happen later. it sets the tone, though significantly more lighthearted at this point. it tells you that sex, sexuality, etc. is something dandadan will touch on - though you don't know what the scope and depth will be until later in the chapter.

i cannot recommend this video enough, as it discusses some interesting interpretations of what the serpoians and turbo granny represent in their respective assault scenes, as well as how right now the treatment of both scenes is unfortunately uneven.

more notes about plot and thematic relevance below the cut. spoilers for anime-onlies (up to chapter 8, will probably be covered in episodes 4/5).

momo was assaulted, and almost cut up by the serpoians, much like the other victims turbo granny appeared around. this is an intentional parallel. turbo granny goes to momo because that is what she does. again, SUPER unclear how that factors into turbo granny's assault of ken, but if we keep the video's interpretation of cynicism in mind, it could be related to that; maybe turbo granny has a cynicism toward men - similar to momo in chapter/episode 1 - and this is why she chose to attack ken. unfortunately, it's still too early to really understand and explain a lot of her motivations.

again, completely understandable to not like how the sexual assault was handled or portrayed, and it's important to keep discussing it. but this is what dandadan does for many different types of trauma and difficult life experiences. this is a huge part of dandadan's identity. if you don't like it, that is fine, but calling the sexual assault 'just fan service' is blatantly untrue.

[count-horror-xx]

I actually like zutara as a concept, it's a ship I'll casually read fics about them sometimes.

it's just zutara fans are fucking delusional. Stop treating their Canon partners as abusive when it's the complete opposite. Especially Mai.

Aang isn't a misogynistic monk that forces katara to be his house wife. If he did katara would leave him in a millisecond. He actually cares so much about her. It's actually Canon HE cooks and accommodates his cultural food with kataras.

And Mai was literally ready to die for zuko. Even when they just broke up, she was ready to get electrocuted by azula if it wasn't for ty lee chi blocking azula.

I'm aware it seems like she doesn't care about him the way she's quiet and aloof but I understand where she was coming as someone who somewhat has similar tendencies of being a little awkward when trying to show emotions and it coming off as being uncaring or rude. But at the end of the day she really shows she loves him, so people saying she's abusive is completely inaccurate to her character.

Her bottling up her emotions was taught by her parents as she explains in the beach episode somewhat where she had to worry about her father's reputation all the the time, forcing her to be quiet as a form of behaving.

Personally I think her quiet personality fits with Zukos loud ass, especially giving him a reality check during the beach episode calling him out for being angry all the time and how he needs to keep it in check.

Zutara is a nice ship I agree but you can ship it without mischaracterizing tf out of thier Canon partners.

[zephrunsimperium]

Ford is a jerk to Fiddleford McGucket in Journal 3. Let's talk about that.

First I want to preface this post by saying that I adore Ford. He is a wonderful character who has influenced my life in countless ways for the better. All of the things he does in this list a) stem from his own insecurities that he's projecting b) are symptoms of Ford's narcissistic defense mechanisms c) or come from Bill's influence on him. However, just because there are reasons for his actions doesn't excuse them, especially considering just how many there are.

Here's the list of things he does, I'll analyze at the end of the post.

Let's get the petty things out of the way first.

The cubic's cube: I think it is just straight up an absolute jerk move to scramble this thing that's clearly a comfort to him and think it's funny.

Being in shape: It's obvious his comments here are from his own insecurity but on a deeper level it just speaks to how Ford sees him, I think.

Not telling Fidds about Bill: Obviously Bill was feeding him a lot of paranoia but it's the reasoning that he writes down that gets me. It's so condescending.

The Gremloblin & The Shapeshifter

Something I think that's worth taking note of is the way Ford illustrates both of these instances. He brushes off Fiddleford's concerns multiple times and then Fiddleford pays the price and Ford sees himself as some kind of hero and Fiddleford this helpless victim. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

And then afterwards the way he handles not just Fiddleford's anxiety but the genuine trauma he went through. I know he's an old man, I know that's how he was treated, but Fiddleford is supposed to be his friend.

The Portal Test

Specifically their interaction at the diner and Ford's reaction to Fiddleford quitting the project. Fiddleford SELFLESSLY spends untold hours on this thesis for Ford because he cares about him and sees him burning out, even though Ford hasn't been great to him and Fidds has been going through his own hard things - not just with the gremloblin and the Shapeshifter, but things with his family as well. Ford does not match that selfless devotion at all. In fact, he sees it as an insult.

Analysis

The reason I've been thinking about this is because of Book of Bill and how that's influenced the shipping atmosphere. There's this weird notion that FiddAuthor is a less toxic ship but I think that's absurd. Besides their hug at Weirdmageddon, these journal entries are pretty much all we see of Ford's relationship with Fiddleford and it doesn't paint a pretty picture. Yes Ford is excited to have Fiddleford come to see him, yes Ford has that sweet conversation with him under the stars, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that all the above evidence outweighs hat. At the very least it shouldn't be ignored.

That doesn't mean Ford is a terrible person and we should hate him. I believe strongly in nuance and Ford is a character that requires nuance. I don't think he's an evil person, but I also don't think he should be babied as this perfect wittle guy who can do no wrong either. Both readings do a disservice to him.

Ford clearly had a hard childhood. He's isolated himself his whole life and he's been severely traumatized by Bill. But that doesn't mean that he deserves Fiddleford's forgiveness - Ford wasn't really that kind to him and his actions inadvertently led to the memory gun/Fidds' exposure to Bill. Ultimately it's Fiddleford's choice to make; I wouldn't fault him if he didn't want to ever see Ford again, but I think it's a testament to his goodness that he still cares for Ford as much as he does.

So what do I personally think? Man. I'm just sad we don't know more about Fiddleford McGucket than we do. He's so essential to Bill's defeat and to Ford's past and he's such a cool character but we know so little about him. I want to know what his childhood was like, I want to know how he ended up in Backupsmore, I want to know why he cares about Ford as much as he does, I want to know why things ended so poorly with EmmaMay. But we may never know those things for certain. So with the things we're left... Yeah, I think FiddAuthor is a compelling reading, one that I certainly enjoy. I just worry about the fandom babying Ford.

[notherpuppet]

Alastor is a complex character!

Despite being one of the few characters in Hazbin with confirmed identities (his ethnic background and sexual orientation), those identities are in of themselves, complex experiences.

There’s seemingly nothing about the character that is Black or White.

I think that’s why he is such a compelling character! Also, it’s probably one reason why he is such an attractive conduit for folks’ creative expression.

His identities are not necessarily why many people may gravitate towards him, but they do offer a chance for people to investigate him and explore a character—as unique as he is—into avenues they may not have considered before.

I can commiserate with feeling defensive of a character who shares an identity with you—ESPECIALLY an underrepresented one. Discourse is natural and completely fine! (And very educational sometimes in my experience)

But I don’t think it’s fruitful to police a fandom in these matters. Some folks come to my inbox (I delete the really rude ones) or comment sections with a very cop-like attitude to a space that’s supposed to be creative and/or fun *airhorn*

That’s my take as just some guy on the internet 🤓🛜 have a good dayyyyy

[prokopetz]

Creating a burner account to post textually unsupported interpretations of stories I wrote myself and then call myself out over them.

[whereserpentswalk]

Just saw a "feminist" video essay (by someone who just happens to only talk about feminism in relation to cishet white able bodied women) say that the Hays Code was good for women because it "prevented them from sexualizing women by preventing onscreen depictions of sex". Never before has a video said something that made me vocalize my disgust of it's takes, but this did it.

I didn't think I would have to say this but if you defend the Hays code you are horrible and not in any way progressive. And if you don't know what it is please look it up because it's probably the most important piece of history when it comes to all media analysis in the western world.

[redrocketpanda]

Something that has been driving me insane about the credits are these sections with the fish so please bear with me whilst I do a mini deep dive (hehe) into fish discourse because YO, we need to talk about these fish!

Notice how at the beginning of the credits we actually have two white fish swimming along beside one another; one with bright turquoise eyes and the other with black.

A little while later the fish begin to circle each other and a droplet falls into the water between them. As the disturbance ripples out from the center, one of the fish dives deeper into the water and changes its colour to black; symbolizing Geto's change and descent into darkness

Then we have this heartbreakingly beautiful moment with Gojo and Geto:

I cannot stop thinking about how long Gojo watches the black fish for as it swims across the screen, whereas Geto's eyes are lowered the moment the white fish appears and he closes them as it swims past.

Gojo cannot bear to tear his eyes away, whilst Geto cannot bear to look

Throughout the credits, Gojo and Geto have been making their way towards each other through the pouring rain (or mostly sitting and waiting in Geto's case). At the end, they meet each other under a bridge and as they walk away together we see the fish a final time, swimming together again in a puddle formed by the heavy rain.

Geto walks on the left in the light, as the white fish swims close to his head, almost invisible in the brightness of the light. Whilst Gojo walks on the right in the shadow with the black fish swimming further away but still close by.

The fish speed after the two men before disappearing completely under the water just before the camera pans up and we watch as Gojo pulls Geto in for a hug as they walk away, before he's playfully shoved away by Geto.

There's a lot going on the credits (+ opening) that is absolutely killing me but man, these fish?! Breathtaking.

[artist-issues]

I'm so tired of people saying that the Prince from Snow White is a creep for kissing Snow White when he thought she was dead.

People act as if he put his tongue down her throat while she looks like a regular corpse.

Maybe I'm just more comfortable with death because of my upbringing.

There's a European tradition that you would kiss dead people goodbye. You would also wait with a dying person because dying alone was one of the most horrible ways to die.

In Poland, you would spend three days with the dead body of your relative in the house so family and friends have time to say goodbyes. We even have pictures of family members in coffins, so we could remember them.

Yeah, it's a very post-modern, historically, culturally-small-minded way to look at it.

Specifically in this movie (which is a fairy tale's fairy tale) people just...totally ignore the scene where The Prince is introduced.

Seriously and truthfully, BECAUSE the Prince only takes action in three scenes of the movie, you HAVE to take all three of them very very seriously. Because thats all there is to know about him. That's how fairy tales work: lots of information hiding under very brief, simple snippets of information. It's called nuance.

Anyway.

The Prince kisses Snow White as a culmination of their promised love for each other.

First scene he's in, he falls in love with her because of her obvious purity and he overhears her longing for someone to love her. Then she runs away because she's not sure of him, and doesn't know him. But he sings his part of the song, which is all about how he has just one heart to give, one devotion to spend, and he's choosing to give it and spend it on her if she'll have him.

And she will have him. How do we know? She sends a kiss to him on the dove. That's how the exchange ends; that's how she responds, and that's why he leaves satisfied. It's their engagement scene. They're promising their hearts to each other.

Fast-forward, the Queen messes up what might have been the natural follow-through of that engagement which is marriage by trying to kill Snow White, she's living in the woods, but she won't forget the Prince and wholeheartedly believes he'll come find her.

And the very next thing we hear about him is that he keeps his promise. He's got one heart, one love, one devotion, and it's promised to Snow White, and he will not stop searching for her. When he finds her, he's returning her kiss from their engagement scene. He thinks she's dead, but he has to finish his quest anyway. This is him, trying to keep his promise even if she's dead; he's trying to fulfill the exchange they had when they saw each other last.

It's ridiculous to assume that she needed to be awake and alive to give permission for him to kiss her; it's ignorant of the whole relationship, symbolic and literal, between these two fairy tale characters. She already sent him her kiss and her heart; he already promised to claim it; he's fulfilling the promise in that scene.

Crazy postmodern people, don't know how to take in a story. Not everything gets to have your socio-cultural lens imposed upon it.

[elizaminci]

Why Jeckole is the best class of 09 shipp:

remember that is okay for you to shipp any other shipp, thats just my personal opinion!

so lets start on the first game, where no matter what decision Nicole makes, she always ends up meeting Jecka. Literally in any route we take, we end up talking to her. Like a "we meet in every universe". But thats just a lil detail.

In the same game, theres a route where Nicole takes her own life. A few moments before, we get to see Jecka inviting her to spend time with her and Nicole refuses, sadly. Jecka then gets mad because Nicole always do stuff with ppl she doesnt like, but when its someone she does like, she blows off.

Then, Jecka makes Nicole choose between her or her fake friends. She has a little conflict about choosing if she loves Jecka more than she hates being stalked. Mind you that she said loves more than hate, so she does loves Jecka.

Their discussion ends and later, we see Nicole offing herself. This one is so sad, because after that, we receive a message from Jecka saying: Miss you, im sorry.

And its cool to notice that the only number Nicole saved on her phone is Jeckas, since all the others are from unknown contacts.

Also, the disappointment in Nicoles face after arguing with Jecka.

Now we go to the re-up where we have the best and probably their most significant moment: Nicole getting a full month of detention so Jecka can smoke alone again.

In this route, we choose to "socially sacrifice" Jecka by leaving her alone with Nicoles weird brother. Jecka gets really mad with her and stops talking to Nicole. A time after, we get to see a scene where Jecka is being annoyed by one of the perv teachers while she smokes outside. Meanwhile, Nicole gets randomly violent with Jeffrey in front of that teacher, getting in trouble. Jecka asks what did Jeffrey do and she simply responds with: "Nothing." Then Jecka asks why she did that and Nicole answer is a little vague, but still clear: "You can smoke by yourself again, right?"

Jecka claims that that was the nicest thing someone ever did to her.

So yeah, this was the first (and probably, the only one) time that we get to see Nicole doing something that does not benefit her at all. In fact, it gets her in real trouble. And she knew that, but she did it on purpose only to make it up for Jecka.

So that only means that the care she has for Jecka is big enough to make a sociopath sacrifice herself for someone.

And thats why i think theyre the best shipp in the whole game, the fact that Jecka is the only one who can make Nicole sad, the only one who can make Nicole get in trouble for and the only one who cared when she died.

THATS IT FELLAS I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

[theweeklydiscourse]

I’m sick of people passing off patronizing and condescending commentary about how naive and impressionable women are as useful and educational. These people will base their analysis of fiction on sexist notions about how easily women are “tempted “ by malevolent villains and then act as if that’s some revolutionary take. They’ll unironically construe the narrative in a way that takes away all agency from the female heroine and frame her decisions as entirely the result of the villain’s manipulation.

They wring their hands about how dangerous it is for women to be exposed to these stories and moan about how terrible it is that hot villains appeal to the “baser instincts” and tempt female viewers further (Yes, I actually saw someone make this argument) It’s truly bizarre to see people agreeing with such patronizingly sexist rhetoric and saying things like “I miss the days when villain romances were cautionary tales and not encouraged.” As if women thirsting after attractive fictional villains is some epidemic that threatens society.

It’s especially irritating when women are the ones saying these things. They want to believe that they are a rare exception that, unlike those other brainless girls, can understand that liking hot villains will threaten their morals and lead them astray…OH THE HORROR!! Please save your dramatic preaching for the next purity conference and stop pretending that your sanctimonious commentary has any substance whatsoever.

[perseidlion]

I like to think that if Edwin had lived, he would have quietly embraced his sexuality. I love how in the show that the anguish Edwin feels is more about being known on a deeper level, and that his affection is focused on his best friend rather than struggling with his sexuality. I think Edwin has known for a long time that he was gay, even if he didn't acknowledge it or put words to it.

We think of Edwin and the time he came from as pretty buttoned-up and therefore closeted. But until the modern era, it was actually one of the freer times for queer people in London. It was more about scandals with married men or high-up people having affairs than your average man going to an underground club or having a lover on the side. This was at the same time as the Weimar Republic in Germany where queer people were living openly. It was one of those periods in history where queer rights took several steps forward and then were forced backward.

I think Edwin is uptight because that's a way of asserting control over a life where he's had very little rather than a classic closet-case. He had to shrink himself so much in Hell. The demon chasing him was all about not drawing attention to himself lest he be destroyed. It was the horrific personification of the fear of being known.

We see him start to get over that by the end of season 1. He's confessed to Charles. He's started flirting back with the Cat King. He was uncomfortable with Monty's affections not because he was a boy, but because he didn't feel that way about him.

So I like to picture the Edwin Payne who lived as having a rich social life with his favourite underground clubs and subtle flirtations. And I imagine he would have fallen in love (probably more than once) and maybe settled into the life of a 'bachelor' with a long-time lover. Or perhaps he'd find a woman who the arrangement benefitted as well and married her.

Maybe he got sent to the trenches of WWI (almost certainly, given his age) and maybe he loved and lost someone there.

In any case, I prefer this headcanon over him being closeted and unsure of himself. I prefer to imagine him not as a cliche closeted man from the past, but as someone who just never got a chance to shine and really know himself.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Okay now that I've reblogged that one post...

Holy shit

Like, please understand me. This is how I already interpreted these relationships after reading Journal 3 but like

Wow Ford really was in a weird kinda complicated gay situationship with Bill and Fiddleford, huh? When he's all alone on Christmas in tbob he's all like "Oh yeah haha of course...of course. You have. Yeah. You have a wife, F. How could I expect you not to leave. I am totally not secretly hoping you'll turn around and come back to me, or that you'll even bring your family back here if you have to so I can see you. I'd retreat to my dreams but I haven't seen my muse in weeks and I miss him so badly. I'm so alone"

He and Fiddleford aren't even dating but it's hard not to get the light impression that this situationship is such that Ford kinda treats Bill like his comfort triangle from his head and dreams and Fiddleford like his comfort best friend in his lab. Like he's sad on Christmas that his boyfriends left him alone, you know? Of course it's definitely more complicated than just that, but they are dear companions to him

Or when Bill finally comes back and Ford is pissed

"You return now? After all of that, after me missing you so badly, almost dying, wondering if I'd dreamed it all up. You return now like it was no biggie? Did you ever mean the things you said? Did you not find some other scientist or some other big brain to talk up? Have you found someone else? Another partner?"

And then Bill, dodging the question was like "Funny you think I'm cheating on you as if you haven't been spending all that time with F. The side bitch. The third wheel. You've even considered telling him everything, even though you know he has second thoughts. Heh. A little birdie told me he dreams of shutting down the project even."

Leading Ford to be like "Aw hell how could I accuse my muse of such a terrible thing when I haven't been a saint. He's right! F has been much less motivated lately and I've just gotten so paranoid from the isolation. I'm so sorry for my baseless accusations."

I don't even have a lot to say I just love these three. Fiddleford put up with a lot of shit from Ford while also dealing with his own problems and trying to help him regardless, while Stanford saw him as a comfort and a good friend but ultimately someone who was of lesser mind than he and couldn't see things through his eyes, while Bill was in Stanford's corner actively making him worse and contributing to his isolation (trying to get him to drop Fiddleford and actively feeding his paranoia), while Stanford was seeing both relationships of his with stars in his eyes and rose tinted glasses because he refused to do some introspection

There's so much stuff that journal 3 and tbob added to the equation that's just bad/shitty all around. Can't believe Ford went through a double divorce/breakup despite not having ever been married (or, at least, despite not even officially dating them sorta)

The entire situation in the past is just tragic and hilarious and concerning all at once and that's what I like the portal trio for tbh

[librariansrose]

I think it’s fine to have headcanons for your favorite ships but if the dev themselves made a statement about their own characters sexuality/orientation then you shouldn’t make jokes about disrespecting that canon.

As someone who is an Unlabeled person, I’m really grateful that Teruko Tawaki is also unlabeled and sports that flag. It’s representation that I’m grateful for because unlabeled characters aren’t very well known in media at all.

My point is. Please don’t bash canon representation because you don’t agree with it. They aren’t your characters.

It’s fine to have your own headcanons, takes, what have you but at the end of the day. Canon is canon.

I get annoyed too when people conveniently erase the fact that David is Bi but not open with his feelings about that fact. That is incredible representation because growing up it is how I felt about my relationship with labels since I didn’t understand my feelings.

DRDT is aimed at an older crowd that’s on the cusp of when LGBTQIA+ wasn’t widely accepted or even legal like it is now.

So representations like Nico being closet NB, David being a repressed and conflicted bisexual man as well as Teruko choosing to be explicitly unlabeled is incredibly important representation that shouldn’t be ignored or overwritten just because you don’t agree with the creators narrative.

My point isn’t to pick a fight with anyone, mind you. I am genuinely just asking you to consider why Dev has written their characters in the way that they have and that it should be respected.

[kitramune]

I'm having feels again so bear with me, but Inuyasha is not that dense. He knows exactly what Kagome feels when it comes to having to somehow be compared to or live up to Kikyou. Their friends get that she has a complex, but I'd argue they don't REALLY get it. Inuyasha REALLY gets it. He is a hanyou. A torn existence that will always be compared to either a human or a youkai depending on the prejudice. He understands the pain of being compared and coming up short in people's eyes. This is why you canonically will NEVER see him compare the two in any direct way, and especially not to Kagome's face. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Hell, I imagine if he'd been there to hear, it, Kikyou's "you are me" comments would have pissed him off. It's more than romantic drama or average teen coming of age angst. It's about identity issues. Inuyasha and Kagome are more alike than a glance would let on, and me, I love that and how it ties into some of the deeper themes. (Which ARE especially important to teenagers, don't get me wrong.)

[bookofspiders]

there is absolutely nothing a nightly doom scroll on jstor won’t solve

[jumpscart]

TBOB has actually really interesting insights onto Bill's character and his relationship with Ford/how he sees himself in him

bc now we know that Bill actually DIDNT want to destroy his home dimension, and had a family he cared about... but then after that, he fell in with a crowd (his Henchmaniacs) that were all angry and spiteful towards their worlds, and had no families (they are all either orphans or hate their families), and they hear that Bill destroyed his 'oppressors', and for the first time in his life Bill hears "wow your differences actually make you COOL and HELPFUL"

and over time 'revenge' starts to mean 'blowing up anyone that doesn't like us' and 'accidentally destroyed his dimension' becomes 'liberated his dimension' and 'i have no one' becomes 'i dont need anyone!'- but the nightmare dimension is Unstable and falling apart and Bill has to Keep The Party Going or else he loses all his coolness and all his power

And then he tries and tries to manipulate people into building the portal but it all fails bc he actually sucks until he meets Stanford Pines, who is so easy to manipulate because Bill knows exactly what he wants to hear because its what he himself wanted to hear...and Ford is bitter and vengeful and that makes Bill start to consider him as more than a pawn, possibly even a henchmaniac, he tells him about how DEVASTATED he was to lose his home dimension, even if he went 'no contact' with them and was an outcast and an Other, he still misses home...

...and so when ford finds out the portal will destroy his home, of COURSE he turns around and thinks about his family, even though he 'doesnt have anyone'. Bill expects Ford to enable him, as all the other henchmaniacs did, but Ford stands up to him and it triggers Bill so badly because he sees this man as basically who he was at the beginning and it challenges the image of himself he's built in his mind, because he KNOWS back then that he wouldnt have destroyed his own dimension on purpose! And the only thing he knows how to do anymore is to crush anything that hurts him, because unlike anyone else Ford is able to hurt him.

and thats why he needs to be in therapy for basically forever