#does this count as an analysis

[teecupangel]

So this is absolutely because @twitcherpated suggested the AC x Fruit Basket AU could have Western Zodiac Signs instead of Chinese Zodiac Signs as a reference to both AC Odyssey and the main Isus of Desmond’s Saga and my high school self just burst through the door and went: LET’S TALK ABOUT DESMOND’S AND HIS ANCESTORS’ ZODIAC SIGNS!

Because there’s actually something… interesting and kinda funny about them.

First of all, here are their Zodiac Signs:

Altaïr: January 11 (Capricorn - Cardinal - Earth)

Ezio: June 24 (Cancer - Cardinal - Water)

Ratonhnhaké:ton: Apr 4 (Aries - Cardinal - Fire)

Desmond: March 13 (Pisces - Mutable - Water)

(By the way, Cancer (Summer N - Winter S) and Capricorn (Winter S - Summer N) are opposites because of their season signs) which I find funny)

If you notice, Desmond’s main three ancestors’ Zodiac Signs all have cardinal modality. There are three times of modalities: Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable. We’ll be focusing on Cardinal and Mutable on this post:

Cardinal signs can be interpreted as the ones who push for change or initiate change.

Mutables signs can be interpreted as the ones more flexible and adaptable to whatever comes their way.

Which does sound like they could be about Desmond and his ancestors.

Cardinal:

Altaïr was known as the father of the modern Brotherhood and brought many changes to the Assassins as a whole.

Ezio brought change to the entirety of Rome (and even Italy to some extent) during Borgia rule.

Ratonhnhaké:ton helped shaped the events of the American Revolution.

Mutable: Desmond’s story had always been about him adapting to his circumstances. When he left the Farm, he adapted to a world he was unfamiliar with and, after being kidnapped by Abstergo and getting ‘rescued’ by the Assassins, the last few months of his life had been him adapting to what was happening in the real world and adapting to the Bleeding Effect he got from using the Animus.

It is funny how Desmond's main ancestors are all cardinal signs while his secondary ancestors (Haytham who he only saw a few memories of and Edward who he only started to have Bleeding Effects of during AC3 according to Valhalla) are both mutable signs with Edward being a Pisces like Desmond while Haytham is a Sagittarius (Mutable - Fire)

And then we have their elements:

Altaïr is Earth (practical, cautious, material world) which shows in the way he fights and how he handled the Apple. Instead of relying on superstition and the belief of men for things they cannot explain, Altaïr focuses on finding an explanation for this material world we live in but he was cautious enough to not fall into the Apple’s temptation until… well… near the end.

Ezio and Desmond are Water (emotion, empathy, sensitivity) which makes sense as Ezio is ruled by his emotions (especially in AC2) and that’s not a bad thing as his sensitivity and empathy are what made him a good mentor while Desmond’s empathy lies in his connection with his ancestors and his sensitivity with the Animus and the Bleeding Effect.

Ratonhnhaké:ton is Fire (assertion, drive, willpower) which fits Ratonhnhaké:ton a lot as, no matter what he did, his main drive had always been to protect and avenge his village. No matter what was thrown his way (even if it was a cannonball), he never faltered.

Of course, zodiac signs should never be taken as a way to summarize a person but I just thought it was funny how their Western Zodiac Signs were able to fit their personality and also how all three ancestors are cardinal signs and of different elements with Desmond having the same element as the ancestor he spent the longest time with in the Animus.

Let’s be clear though, the ambiguity of the characteristics of Zodiac Signs makes it easy to interpret it however we want, for example: Altaïr and Ezio could easily fit the Fire characteristic as well considering they were also driven. Desmond himself could be explained as a cardinal as his story is what kicks the modern day AC story.

In other words: Zodiac Signs are fun but don’t take them too seriously… Like me… who wrote 650+ words for this one.

(I had to doublecheck with Wikipedia on this one because it’s been a long time since I read up on this XD)

[lupuscaliber]

WAIT so yall know this panel of eridan right.

ive seen a lot of ppl comparebit to grimdark, but aside from it being debunked by the Beast, theres also notable differences

grimdark style is characterized by a whispy black outline, while in the above panel, eridan's magic outline is noticably white

so. what else have we seen drawn in a black silhouette with a glowing white outline?

THE FUCKING ANGELS!!!!

BUT THERES MORE

the angels dont always look like that, in fact they only ever appear that way on lowaa

THE HOPE FIELD AROUND LOWAA OBSCURES THE ANGELS

BECAUSE. ERIDAN PERCIEVES THEM AS A THREAT. BECAUSE HIS BELIEF IN HIS WAYS PREVENTED HIM FROM SEEING THE SITUATION CLEARLY

AND. IN THE END. THAT STRICT BELIEF DELUDES HIM TO THE POINT OF KILLING HIS FRIENDS WITH HOPE MAGIC. BECAUSE TO HIM THEY WERE ALL ALREADY DEAD. BECAUSE. THEIR SITUATION WAS HOPELESS

AND THE. AND THE!!!!!

oh my god i am so abnormal abt this comic

[empressofthewind]

i really don't think Mello gets enough credit for how good he is at staying calm in a crisis. like when he finds out Takimura is dead:

the rest of the mafia is in shambles, but Mello? smirking. unbothered. already moved onto his next plan.

and when the police force kills all his allies and raids his hideout:

he exhibits mild annoyance at best. he's certainly not happy about it, but he looks kind of pissed for about 2 panels, and then he immediately launches into action, focusing on self-preservation and taking measures to prevent the Death Note from falling into their hands. he's still moving, still calculating, still thinking on his feet. he didn't expect this but he's prepared for it, and when we next see his face in the monitor room:

smirking. totally unbothered yet again.

compare this to how Near reacts when the SPK raids his base:

angry. immediately breaks something. he does have a plan, and he jumps into action fairly soon after this, but he stays angry even while he's making preparations, and starts insulting the people who are attacking him.

to contrast this specifically against the scene of Mello's base being raided; both are about to lose access to their main hideout, both are at a genuine risk of being killed, and both have backup plans for their respective predicaments, yet the notoriously cool, calm and collected guy reacts more emotionally than the emotional guy.

[internetegoist]

Actually a friend pointed this out to me but most of the time, Shidou's eyes are pretty dull in the artstyle. The only time we ever see his eyes shine is when he's with Sae. This is how his eyes are like normally:

While this is how they are when he was playing with Sae, or just generally when he feels genuine happiness playing football:

It might be simply because of the artstyle or because he's possibly wearing contacts (he's a gyaruo after all, right?), but it's a pretty huge mystery to me why the second most optimistic character in Blue Lock has so dullish looking irises. Hell, even RIN out of everyone has more light in his eyes than Shidou.

Is there something you'd like to tell the class, Shidou?

[saltwatersweets]

one thing about stanley pines that i adore is that stanley pines is at times an extremely selfish character. stanley pines is an extremely selfish character because he loves so deeply. his lifelong desire for money and wealth (which involved lying to and swindling people out of their own money) was kickstarted by him being kicked out as a teenager and the idea that if he made enough, he would be welcomed back into his family’s lives. he spent thirty years working on a portal that as far as he is aware could destroy the world and everyone inside (including his great niece and nephew, both of whom he absolutely adores and both of whom absolutely adore him) because he wanted to save his brother so badly. he at first refused to join the spell that would save the world and his family and eventually jeopardized this plan (which nearly got one of the aforementioned great niece or nephew killed by a GOD) because he was so hurt by his brother who he love’s refusal to thank him and his brother’s correction of him. he does a lot of selfish things because of how deeply he loves and cares for his family and how much he wants to be loved by them in return. it’s such a fascinating aspect of his character to me.

[casscainmainly]

you’re soooooo right for the cass and jason stuff. i am obsessed with how their views make them behave in their own separate selfish ways. cass needing to believe people can change and be redeemed because she herself needs to believe she can be redeemed…… im thinking specifically in batgirl where she tries to save a murderer from death row. saying “maybe he changed” to the victims mother….. and then everything with jason really, the way he can’t see beyond how he was a victim to see how he has hurt and victimized others. how he has made himself into someone who really can’t see beyond his own tragedy in many ways… how he sees bludhaven literally blow up but refuses to let bruce leave to find Dick

YOU'RE so right because it's easy for people to side with Cass or Jason only, but it's more interesting to see it as neither being 100% in the right. That issue in Batgirl is literally so good - as this post points out, the crime the guy was in prison for was most likely a hate crime. The motive doesn't matter to Cass, since her belief is that no one should die, but it's deliberately disquieting that she doesn't stop to consider the victim until the victim is actually in front of her. Her point of view is focused around redemption and absolutes, to the detriment of justice and specific circumstances.

Jason, on the other hand, is so focused on justice that he has trouble making room for redemption. His is a situational ethics (in contrast to Cass' moral absolutism), which can be good in certain instances (like, debatably, killing the Joker), but can lead to really muddied actions and reasoning. Jason, like Cass, is fundamentally compassionate, but his actions are calculated in a way Cass' is not, leading him to sometimes lose sight of saving lives as the original goal.

Bruce, Jason, and Cass form a really interesting triangle of people whose views on murder are irrevocably tied to the perspective they witnessed the defining murder of their lives in. It's why none of them (yes, even Cass and Bruce) can ever truly understand each other, but also why they have a lot in common. Idk it's just very interesting to think about!

[orcelito]

everyone always talks about That One panel of Trigun: Multiple Bullets, but i havent seen anyone talk about how fucking BATSHIT INSANE the surrounding fight is

like

Vash & Wolfwood fighting back-to-back, both using the punisher as a shield

(the rest under a readmore bc this accidentally got LONG...)

Vash seeing the shots coming from behind & purposefully not moving bc he knows if he does, Wolfwood would get hit

Wolfwood getting injured too, but not moving from Vash's back. the way he's stanced, it looks Protective. he's doing what he can to keep Vash out of the direct line of fire.

even when he's getting shot up for it, he Doesn't Move. (this also seems to be the moment he got hurt, which leads into the panel later)

& throughout this whole scene, we are only seeing Wolfwood's reactions.

until the girls give them an opening, and they burst out with THIS:

Wolfwood injured, so he can't properly aim the punisher... and he gets around this by sticking one of the leather straps in his Mouth

and then we FINALLY get to see Vash's face again as he grabs the punisher (with a "GAN" sound effect, so he fuckin SLAPPED that metal hand on the punisher).

Wolfwood trusts him enough to just do what he says in the thick of battle, so we FINALLY get to the iconic panel:

which brings us to the aboslute insanity of what Vash is actually Doing.

"DON DON" -> two shots fired for two missiles launched. he literally manages to TURN THEM AROUND MID-FLIGHT (interesting to note that they seem to have internal propulsion, rather than simply being fired by Wolfwood. how many of these does Wolfwood have? they seem heavy.)

he manages to avert the third missile from hitting the dude directly, and instead makes it land Behind him. then the other two missiles, he rests his arm on Wolfwood's shoulders to hit them and direct them behind the other two enemies

Boom.

killing no-one, but showing an INSANE level of fine control AND teamwork.

and in the end, Wolfwood's arm is in a cast, Vash seems either unhurt or hurt but unbothered by it (typical Vash). And Life Goes On.

(forgot to mention before, but all panels are from @trigun-manga-overhaul! thank u for the beautiful pages)

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

This entire scene emotionally destroyed me but there's one part in particular that was like taking a knife to an already open wound.

So, Gon shuts down after the reveal that Kite was dead all along and his stunned and racing mind is disjointed and contradictory. Most of his statements fit into roughly three categories of desperate thoughts:

Vehement inability to process that Kite is dead. From the statement being repeated multiple times to the amount of "no"s everywhere on these pages.

Taking the blame for Kite's death, in a frankly horrifying show of self-hatred (especially given the context of what comes next).

Blaming Pitou and proclaiming that he "didn't do it" in an attempt to absolve the weight of his guilt.

Heartbreaking. But there's one thought here that's a bit different.

Throughout all of this, Gon has been adamant that Kite, and by extension the situation, can be "fixed" - after all, most every issue that's come up before on his adventures could be resolved nicely. But now, suddenly, it can't. Gon can't stand feeling powerless or helpless, and now he finds himself more helpless than he's ever been. And we get this.

"Somebody help me."

Gon is independent. Gon has a burning need to prove his worth through his own strength. Gon has a bad habit of equating "taking responsibility" with fixing things all by himself and rejecting help from others.

Gon has never pleaded for someone to save him before.

And it's just. Holy shit. Holy shit - he's a kid. He's just a kid. And in just a few pages, he's going to make a despair-fueled decision to throw away his life just to regain any semblance of power over a situation that was doomed to be unfixable from the start. He says, "Let it end. I don't care what happens to me now.", because this is the only way he can think of to make his pain and his guilt and Pitou all just stop, by losing himself to all of his power instead of his grief.

[bonefall]

I know you talked about Crowfeather's abuse to Breezepelt, but are you keeping Nightcloud's physical abuse against Crowfeather? In all their arguments, Nightcloud is the only one who ever gets physical with Crow. In the books, she rakes her claws against him a few times drawing blood. If I had been young Breeze and had seen that it'd be one of the things that would make me do my best to be and stay in my mother's good graces. Yeah, my dad may smack me but he never cuts me, never leaves me open for death by infection.

When?

Have you read the books you're confidently citing right now? Or did you hear this from some amoeba and then didn't check it before coming into my house

POWER OF THREE:

The Sight: 13 mentions. Takes Breezepaw's side in a small verbal argument, then scolds him for xenophobia. Is scared her only child almost died and insists on carrying him alone. Upset when Leafpool makes a flirtatious comment to her husband, soothes two kids to sleep

Dark River: 4 mentions. Exists on a patrol and Leafpool is jealous of her.

Outcast: 1 mention. Nicely says goodbye to Crowfeather as he stares off into the distance thinking about Feathertail.

Eclipse: 1 mention. Takes part in the eclipse battle with the rest of WindClan.

Long Shadows: Unmentioned.

Sunrise: 4 mentions. Hears the reveal at the gathering and looks "bewildered and angry." Crowfeather tells her that he, "Has no kits other than Breezepelt" and she pins her ears against her head.

Was it here? In one of these 23 mentions across 6 books? PLEASE point out the "Cuts Me, Leaving Me Open For Death By Infection." I'm SO curious.

OMEN OF THE STARS:

The Fourth Apprentice: Unmentioned.

Fading Echoes: 1 mention. Thinks Dovepaw disguised her scent.

Night Whispers: 6 mentions. Argues with Crowfeather at Gatherings. Leafpool comes across a fight between Breezepelt and Lionblaze and pleads to Crowfeather, "How can you watch your sons fight?!" Nightcloud jumps forward glaring, repeats that her husband has no kits other than Breezepelt. Leafpool jumps in front of a Breezepelt lunge. Crowfeather jumps in, grabs his son, and "throws him aside like prey" before bitterly mocking another love confession from Leafpool. Nightcloud drags Crowfeather off. Crowfeather turns on Nightcloud, hissing, and Breezepelt jumps between them and says, "leave my mother alone." Warns them, "Next time, we'll shred you!" Later says something rude about RiverClan at a Gathering.

Sign of the Moon: Unmentioned.

The Forgotten Warrior: 2 mentions. Glares at Hollyleaf twice.

The Last Hope: 6 mentions. Is on a patrol that finds Jayfeather in a thornbush and glares at him. Then Crowfeather says it was all actually HER fault that Breezepelt turned out to be such a little brat.

Which one of these 9 MENTIONS ACROSS 6 BOOKS are we going for, today? Was it the part in Night Whispers? Is THAT where she Cuts His Life Into Pieces This Is Her Last Resort?

Let's play I-Spy 🔎! Highlight all the places Nightcloud "draws blood!"

Which of the following characters in this passage are bleeding? Is Crowfeather any of them 🤔? No?

Is it here? Is it this part? Which of these cats are bleeding? Is it Crowfeather🪶? Is it Lionblaze🦁? Is it beloved Character Actress Margot Martindale💃?

Oh? You mean to tell me that you were misrepresenting a cat dragging away another cat as "RAKING HER CLAWS AGAINST HIM DRAWING BLOOD AND LEAVING HIM OPEN FOR INFECTIONS TO DIE"?

In other words, a lie?

Pulling a big lever and sending you down into The Nightcloud Derangement Pit. I will be further woobifying her unencumbered. The Nightcloud Agenda will spread. Soon we will take the west coast.

[mint-is-here]

Posting this because it's not getting out of my head-

OK SO some months ago, i saw a post pointing out how Wukong seems to have a thing with bows and ribbons, since almost all of his outfits include them in some way.

So i decided to look into it.

Yeah, this guy does love bows.

The only times i could find that he DIDN'T use any ribbons or bows was when he was possessed by LBD and, weirdly enough, in The King, The Prince And The Shadow.

(There are also two flashback scenes in the s4 special where he doesnt use bows, but I'm not counting them since it was REALLY at the start of Wukong's life and he probably didn't even know what a bow was. There might be more but I don't remember them.)

Now this is all cool and stuff(i genuinely think this is cool), but I noticed something in Season 4's brotherhood flashbacks.

As you can see, the other members of The Brotherhood may use scarfs and similar piece of clothing, but no one else really uses any sort of ribbons like Wukong does.

...that is, no one...

...Except Macaque. The person who Wukong seemed to be the closest to before the Journey started.

Guess who stopped using bows after their friendship turned bitter and the ties(hah) on their relationship were cut?

[yea-baiyi]

ok but like imagine being hua cheng. and when you were a teenager you were trapped in a cave with your god when he got hit with sex pollen and you already felt ugly and unlovable but he stabbed himself through the gut rather than touch you and you saw him shirtless and horrifyingly that’s how you found out you were gay

and then you meet him again centuries later when you’ve grown up and become comfortable in your own skin, and you think you might be in love with him except a part of you still feels terrified that he’ll look at you and find you hideous again. but you want to trust him so you show him your real face. and. turns out he finds your adult self so hot that you make him horny for the first time in his life and he keeps doing and saying absolutely deranged things because he does not know how to cope. he panics and tries to give you, a ghost, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and while you’re lying there trying not to freak out he is beside you acting out his one man humiliation-style comedy show because he has never wanted to kiss someone before let alone fuck. he agrees to get locked in a coffin together because he never even considered the possibility that he might pop a boner except he does pop a boner and now you are stuck under him while he squirms and you are trying very hard not to think about your own boner

i don’t know how to end this post i just think that’s so funny. and they live happily ever after and have lots of gay sex. hua cheng keeps winning. slay king

[meraki-yao]

RWRB Thoughts: Height Difference

Today on Meraki's rwrb thoughts because this movie and book are implanted in my brain now, we're talking about the movie size difference

Don't get me wrong, book height firstprince is adorable, but there's just something about the movie height difference that just feels so special.

The thing is, the height difference between movie firstprince, or in other words Taylor and Nick's height difference isn't that big (ok I tried to search online for the precise number but there are a bunch of different fucking answers in different units but my point still stands you can see it)

But somehow, it's so prominent when you put them two together, especially when they're holding each other.

And think about it from Henry's perspective: Henry's not small. He's taller than both his siblings and his best friend Percy. he's about the exact same height as Shaan and as much as I know they care deeply about each other, at the end of the day, that's his equerry, his employee. His grandfather is taller than him, but that's the King, so that comes with this sense of authority and intimidation. So in most cases, he's the taller one, the bigger one. The one that has to be the support, the one that has to stand on his own. (so essentially my "oldest daughter/sister" rant but when it comes to height)

But when with Alex, suddenly he's the smaller one. To the man who would fight the whole world to protect him, to make him happy, the man who he loves and who loves him more than anyone in the world. Look at how Alex holds Henry: he curls around him, almost like a shield.

"You don't need your armour anymore, I'll be here to protect you and your heart from now on."

Actually, it's not just Henry, to a less emotionally intense extent, it's Nick too: In M&G, when it comes to the guys George/Nick has physically intimate scenes with: Tony (King James) is shorter than him, Dylan (Peter Carr) is shorter than him, Laurie (Robert Carr) is about the same height, the various other men we see in montages later in the show, all shorter. He's also taller than all the girls he's played opposite of, including Anne.

If I'm correct, up till now, Taylor is Nick's only on-screen partner that's taller than him. And that affects the physical intimacy, like where hands go and how the boys are positioned. Personally, I call it a "lead/follow" pair (like in partnered dances) or a "protector/protected" pair.

(Also please note that I know that this is kind of stereotyping, people don't always follow this fixed dynamic, and these labels only apply when they do follow a fixed dynamic. And I'm also just referring to the physical dynamic, not the actual relationship dynamic)

It's something new for him: for the entirety of his career, he was the bigger one in whatever relationship he was in: the big spoon, the one who lifts his partner, the one who's holding the other's waist; the "lead/protector". So what was it like for him to be the "follow"/"protected" for once?

[carbonbasedmatter]

there's sadly not a lot of content of them together but troy and annie's friendship is so important to me. I feel like we don't talk about them enough outside of general trobedison. they're two people who liked the idea of each other at some point for kind of superficial reasons but grew to appreciate each other as their own people and not just this goal of someone to "pull" the more they got to know each other. honestly glad that the writers dropped the ship cus it's so much better than it would've been if it was romantic. instead we got this cool thing where they both kind of helped each other grow into themselves and cope with changes.

the talk they had at the end of mixology certification reflecting on everything that happened after annie's sudden crisis about what she wanted to do with her life was so sweet.

ANNIE: ... I did it because I didn't wanna be me. I did it because i'm not sure who I am. Admit it- we went to school together for four years, and you didn't even know me.

TROY: Yeah, but I know you now, You're Annie...You like puzzles and little monsters on your pencil and some guy named Mark Ruffalo. You're a fierce competitor and a sore loser and you expect everybody to be better than who they are and you expect yourself to be better than everyone. Which is cool.

This was the episode where Troy realized that becoming an adult isn't this big, dramatic change and the people he looked up to were just as confused and imperfect as he was. He decides on his own that the grown up thing to do is to get everyone home safely rather than drinking. Here he's the one reassuring Annie, telling her how she does still have time to explore the world on her own terms, not knowing her well back then was his own loss.

I really like that about their dynamic how Troy kind of helps Annie realize she can just...relax and be herself without being judged, seeing her high school crush that she always wanted to impress casually building pillow forts and speaking in only movie references with his best friend. We don't see any immediate drastic changes in her that it seems unnatural but she's definitely more comfortable weird in her own way after moving into 303 (For ex her making Abed film missing lover clips for her)

I love how much they both care about abed too...in different ways. troy matches his weirdness, giving him an escape from what the rest of world thinks while annie shows him he CAN leave the world of simulations and scenarios, being different from someone but still having them respect you as a friend and build a close relationship with them letting him connect with the world. But they actually care about him letting him show a vulnerable side that he doesn't with a lot of the other members of the study group.

I also think the gay himbo+ smart but insane lesbian dynamic is v funny yea

anyways here are some silly photos that'll hopefully help get my point across

[kitty-meowskers]

idk but a part of me gets annoyed whenever people compare dr ratio and alhaitham.

like yeah ok... hot buff autistic nerdy men

but their whole ideologies are completelyyy different

would alhaitham ask you to give him a 'stimulating quiz' in his free time and then proceed to design a weapon for the express even though he didnt need to? no.

would dr ratio complain about becoming the (acting) grand sage and lead sumeru? no??

alhaitham is a 'live and let live' kind of guy. he justs wants to chill and have an easy life. like be for real, he's so worried about the akademiya finding out about his true talents and power because he hates the idea of working more. the only reason he's the scribe is because it's easy and it pays well. he's not particularly interested in helping others out unless its beneficial to him or the other really needs it. as kaveh said(i think he did??? idk i dont play genshin anymore), alhaitham is a nihilist

dr ratio on the other hand? he craves being able to fix things. all he wants to do fix things. although yeah he's not gonna do everything for you, he literally said to your face that if somethings bothering you deal with it yourself BUT he did literally go out of his way to scheme that entire thing in his quest to bring the people on the space station to there senses and get them thinking for themselves instead of obsessing over those geniuses. and that whole speech he gave to screwlum after? bro was INVESTED AND INTENSELY PASSIONATE. hes extremely passionate about getting people do use and develop their talents to the best of their ability. hes a fucking doctor who somehow has 52 courses and any of the people who actually make it through all get far in their lives. alhaitham would never put in that effort even with all his talent and ngl dr ratio would hate him for that (maybe not hate but dislike).

Another difference? alhaitham isnt a bitch about what his talents although its easy to assume he is while ratio low key kind of is and since the game itself describes him as 'narcisistic' so i think its pretty safe to assume he acts a bitch and he kind of is one too (cant blame him if i did all he did i would be the same)

[shipofthesis]

Wild to me that some people entertain the notion of Mikage and Tokiko being Utena’s parents when a) Mikage’s defective (homo)sexuality and inability to fuck is so central to his arc and character defined by ineffectiveness and b) TOKIKO LIVES.

No Tokiko can’t be a ghost because her entire point is to Live A Normal Life. If she had a daughter surely she would mention it as she recounts her mundane, domestic, as-scripted existence. Especially in combination to her remark about flowers must die to fruit.

Mikage’s whole problem is he cannot cross the barrier.

Even years later as a “better”, more effective man, he can’t. He’s disconnected. With himself, with others, with time and space.

He is inanimate, a robot, revolving in place. Nothing he does in the Black Rose arc has any lasting consequences, he leaves no mark on the world. He is not a dynamic character, but a plot device. He is a transformative catharsis for his duelists and a warning for Utena and little more. Being something so significant as Utena’s father is antithetical to how the narrative treats him.

[cranberrykissel]

of Flanagan's chronical chronology mess-ups and all age inconsistencies it involves, I find Crowley and Halt's first meeting story the most hilarious

Crowley describing Halt as a intimidating dark man? Who's probably at least few years younger than Crowley.

And in this exact scene-

Halt: I hit your men with an arrow 😉😜 Morgarath: ... where Halt: at the inn 😁 Morgarath: I asked about the body part

And at the time he chooses to call himself Halt Halt deliberately, as a joke.

He's eighteen (18), guys.

They are all talking to a runaway emo-aligned teenage short king prince and go "oh he's SO intimidating" while he drinks his coffee black and sweetened.