#essay proofing

[ridiculously-over-obsessed]

Commission Time!!

Hi guys!! Your favourite broke bitch is back 🤡 no but seriously, the cost of living atm is a freaking joke rn and I am desperately trying to cover bills and pay off the last of my debt and save up some money so I figured I’d set up something that people could actually commission (y’know because doing that for fic is lowkey illegal and it’s kind of my only skill SIGH)

SO. Instead of fic, I’m selling original fiction, short stories that kind of thing, maybe for your loved ones on their special days or just for yourself because you can (and you deserve a little treat let’s be honest, you’ve been working so hard lately)

Examples of original work here:

1 || 2 || 3 || 4

(Excuse the weird file names, these were all for uni last year)

I also do NSFW pieces on commission. See the kind of work I usually do here

Additionally, I’m offering beta services for cost, be it for fic or for essays, original work of your own etc, I’ve done some recently and can provide that reference on request. 

AND I’m offering tutoring for all you students out there because I know it’s stressful af, I’ve been there. Despite my crippling mental health problems I actually do/did pretty well academically, and I can tutor the following (my grades can again be provided on request):

- English Lang/Lit (11-16, 16-18, Undergrad)

- History (11-16 and 16-18)

- Religious Education, Philosophy and/or Ethics (11-16, 16-18, Undergrad)

FINALLY!! 😅 I make graphics/moodboards/montages on commission too, find egs under the cut!!

Please feel free to dm me for more information, rates, and anything else you might want/need from me, I’m offering all of this until at least September when I’m back at uni again because literally what else do I have on right now dfklgjdflg, so feel free to hit me up whenever and we can talk about what you want and/or need from me 🥰

Alternatively if you’re just feeling generous my Paypal link is below, I’d really appreciate anything anyone can do, including reblogging this post that’d be SUPER swell, big love to all of you 🥺💖

PayPal

EGS OF GRAPHICS:

[muppetebbtide]

trojan war tumblr simulator

🌊 is-the-sea-wine-dark-today

YOU BET IT IS

#the wine dark sea!!!!!!!!!!!! #wine dark sea #wine dark sea posting

108 notes

✌🏻 ajax2electricboogaloo follow

why is achilles the only demigod who's Like That? like he's my boy but u don't see memnon or aeneas or sarpedon acting like him on the reg. why is he so maladjusted? like specifically? I saw his mother once and was so terrified by the sight of a goddess I flung myself to the ground and hid my face in the dirt til she left but I still don't think that accounts for it idk

🏘️ nobody1020

it's blonde man syndrome hope this helps

340 notes

⚔️ sonoftydeus

opening my askbox so that we can discuss strategies on taking troy!

3 notes

anonymous asked: we should all go home :)

⚔️ sonoftydeus answered:

FUCK OFF AGAMEMNON I WANT REAL SUGGESTIONS

50 notes

nobody1020 asked: do u like..... horses

⚔️ sonoftydeus answered:

odysseus do I even wanna know where this is going

45 notes

⌛ isthetrojanwaroveryet?

year 9, day 234: still no....

#all our admins keep DYING

500 notes

‼️ trojan-confessions follow

I think my wife might be sending me anon hate :/ keep getting asks like 'hope u die on the battlefield tomorrow silly slag' and 'menelaus should have curbstomped you' and in her big tapestry of warriors she made me look stupid

🐴 horsetaminghector follow

lmaooo is this paris??

🔮 cryinglikecassandra follow

kinda think helen should send MORE anon hate idk

600 notes

❓ myrmidons-confessions

I was the one who wrote the achilles/agamemnon 100k slowburn enemies to lovers rpf and put it on the group chat but now patroclus is calling me 'agachilles boy' and laughing about it and asking if I can proofread his mock bardic epic where all his dogs are heroes and killing people, so I fear I've made a mistake. I also can't look achilles in the eye anymore... but honestly I've never seen proof he can read so I might be safe

❓ myrmidons-confessions

5000 notes

👑 kingofmycenae

👍🏻 ajaxthegreat

achilles is DEAD and ur posting CRAB RAVE?????

🏘️ nobody1020

I think that's why he's posting it ngl

300 notes

😹 deiphobus42069

imagine being the achaeans and your best warrior gets killed by PARIS, after everyone else had awesome deaths at the hands of sarpedon or hector or memnon... like that's literally so embarassing I just know achilles is fucking fuming down in hades rn. I bet the achaeans are gonna put around that paris was guided by apollo, or that paris happened to hit his only weak spot..... anything 2 try and make it less cringe.... lol lol we're popping the biggest bottles tonight. hope helen's there

🐆 leopardskiniscool

???????????????

#I mean. yeah. but also. #deiphobus wtf I thought we were chill

240 notes

#hope everyone can be normal about the outcome!!! :)

340 notes

🧑🏻 randotrojansoldier-deactivated-8578543

so excited to go back onto the field of battle tomorrow! sure hope I don't encounter any of the big-name heroes

🗣️ homer follow

I hope you don't too! I'm sure you'll do great!

🐎 antilochussss

not the direct address????

✌🏻 ajax2electricboogaloo

direct address got him :(

3000 notes

💂🏻 trojanguardtales follow

fuck my job so much I hope that this wooden horse tribute to the gods turns out to have some guys inside or something just so I can DO something rather than standing here like a twat with my spear

💂🏻 trojanguardtales follow

by ares this can't be happening

345 notes

⚔️ sonoftydeus reblogged menelauskingofsparta

do NOT order achilles from shein!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#oh yeah #I was stuck with temu achilles in the trojan horse for six hours #and by hour two agamemnon had suggested killing and eating him #and odysseus was threatening to 'send him to meet his father' #and it's not even like there's any kleos in killing priam!!! #anti neoptolemus #neoptolemus defenders dni #vent tags

100 notes

[catboydan]

my very specific prediction for the upcoming AITA video: he'll open by explaining that last week on the gaming channel he had an 'AITA' moment himself [insert clips from the dan eye incident here]

then he'll lead into the vid by saying something like "and that inspired me to ask you all for your 'am I the hole' moments", and only then will he bring up that this time, he asked for specifically dating/love-related stories, leaving us to piece together that the intro is a dating/love related story via the maxim of relevance

[huffy-the-bicycle-slayer]

It's time to stop acting like Ben&Jerry's is our friend. They're a corporation and they're out for money just like all the others. Their greed has led to the creation of a highly addictive product that anyone, regardless of age, can aquire on any street corner. You've all know exactly what I'm talking about, how could you not at this point? I'm talking of course about Ben&Jerry's flavor "Stephen Colbert's: Americone Dream".

Now what makes it so addictive you may ask? Well before we examine the sultry texture of the vanilla base, we have to of course look at the grouping patterns of the Fudge-Covered Waffle Cone Pieces. These pieces are not evenly distributed in the pint mixture like you may expect of a mint chip. No, infact they're distributed in tight clusters, leaving vast pockets of Vanilla Ice Cream/Caramel Swirl. And don't expect to get caramel in every bite either, its forking tendrils writhe through the Ice Cream, without a hint of uniform distribution. This sometimes geological concoction has created an eating experience so varied and exploratory that it boggles the mild.

They're putting this product on shelves in every city in America, and it'll be in your home before you know it. And believe me when I tell you: It's not love at first bite, no. With each progressive layer you'll fall deeper into its grasp. It squeezes you until you are gasping for air, only to discover you've eaten the whole pint. I say it's time bring attention to Ben&Jerry's, its time to wake up from their Americone Dream.

[koalatysleep]

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so here's the entire YYH series in 2 pictures.

Kuwabara Kazuma in one picture:

Urameshi Yusuke in one picture:

That's it, that's the entire YYH series. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

No but seriously, that really is the heart of the entire series!

I'm fucking wild thinking about Anime Episode 3 which corresponds to the Manga chapter that Yusuke's picture came from, because GUESS WHAT, the title of the anime episode is "Kuwabara, A Promise between Men", the manga chapter title is "Promise",

And this is the Promise that Yusuke made to Kuwabara:

I'll protect you forever.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦😭😭😭😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

If you'd like to read about their devotion to each other in fic where the delicious subtext is the main text, try The Good Fight on AO3!

[ask-the-rag-dolly]

mod bee do is it does the will we is it posible so do you have an explanation for why you keep metaphorically and literally trying to kill this poor looser of a woman or were you just born like that

is she actually your favorite? I think I confused myself on that so now I don’t know. I’m asking to keep myself a framework for how Ragatha lovers treat her and how many of them give her psychological scarring

i think my favorite thing is seeing people get confused on whether i like ragatha or not . like yes - me creating a blog dedicated to me drawing her everyday , writing elaborate headcanons and unhinged essays on her , and rarely making posts of the other characters ... like i do not know how i could make this any clearer HSHF

but yes , she is my favorite ! i just have this thing called Being A Psychology Nerd where i get so curious about a character's brain to the point i try to unravel it - and unfortunately the effective way to do that is through psychological torment

in simpler words , i just enjoy her as a character so much that i try to explore all of it by ripping her stuffing out . i like how Disastrously Unhealthy her coping mechanisms are , how Little she sees of herself , and how she has one of the highest emotional walls despite being one of the most compassionate characters .

there's a lot of fun in throwing her in Situations where she's forced to let herself be helped , have her most vulnerable parts exposed , or lose it ! but coming out of it still trying to be Kind . even with how much jax mistreats her and how pomni left her for the exit , she still tries to get along with them .

nice characters are often seen as Boring in media and it feels like there's pressure for them to get mean or violent to be interesting ... i don't think ragatha needs any of that - i mean i want to see her lose it , but i also want to see her still being nice at the end of it all . or at least serve a verbal beatdown on someone's flaws and faults ( coughs at jax )

but that's my own reason ! i don't think it's that deep at the end of the day , it's just one way to show love for a character .

[notreallyuseless]

DO YOU GUYS THINK THAT SINCE SHINSOU GOT TRAINED BY ERASERHEAD TO BECOME A HERO, HE ALSO GOT TRAINED BY PRESENT MIC BECAUSE REALISTICALLY, PRESENT MIC'S QUIRK IS SOUND BASED AND SHINSOU IS ALSO SOUND BASED SO IT WOULD MAKE SENSE????

[ishbdudi]

No because I just saw a post of someone saying we should support alice more and ignore shubble because alice has more proof that wilbur abused her

Guys. You can't pick and choose which victim to support. Alice said she went through the same biting that shubble talked about. They both went through the same thing.

Stop acting like y'all were there and y'all know what happened, stop acting like you know them personally and you know "their true colors", Stop supporting wilbur he isn't gonna let you suck his dick.

Just admit y'all have a parasocial relationship with wilbur and leave. Cause the way you guys still try so hard with all your soul to say shubble isn't a victim, the way y'all try so hard to start a "support wilbur soot" tag, the way yall say what wilbur did "isn't even that bad" is ridiculous. Y'ALL WEREN'T THERE LMAO 😭😭

[sugashook]

the symbolism of the yellow horse🐎 on wades cozy home shirt and sweater attempt at analysis:

the horse is yellow🟡 just like logans suit, yellow🟡 symbolizes strength. a horse symbolizes strength, courage and freedom. usually logan is seperated from the x men,wishing to do his own thing in movies, etc. but it has reigns on it it has been domesticated. a horse is a companion, a helper. an animal.

the black could represents domestication, or control. and around it is change again in white. so maybe the horse is in a controlled domestic environment (black) that represents wade's house. and around that environment is something completely new (white) and different that is, wade's universe.

all throughout its hair and snout on top if it is a white streak, white represents change so the animal (logan) we could say a change went through core of his mind. and it can talk as well, it's a talking animal.

its saying "gosh wilbur!" hes scared of the change, of the new universe, it's very shocking. it must be nice that wade is helping him out.

it is a reference of a talking horse a talking animal from a 60's tv show 'mister ed'

"Mister Ed (Himself) is a horse who is owned by Wilbur Post. Mister Ed is not just any horse, he talks to Wilbur. But this gets Wilbur in all kinds of trouble because Mister Ed won't talk to anyone else, so Carol , Wilbur's wife, thinks that Wilbur loves Mister Ed more then he loves her, because he spends so much time with Mister Ed. Mister Ed also talks on the telephone and goes out of his barn to cause mischief, for which Wilbur gets blamed."

Wilbur is basically Wade he's the only one who understands this yellow horse/animal (Logan) because the horse found the first person he ever liked so he decided to talk to him (mr ed [the horse] says that in the showwwwww aaa]. thats why he talked to Wade. and the first time they met, Mr Ed literally immediately got tired of 'the human' and his overwhelming chatting, just like logan got tired of wade in the movie.

and wilbur is like the weird peppy chatty guy who's OBSESSED with the horse and insists on keeping it in his home [THATS INT HE SHOW TOOOO] and the horse is like a quiet grumpy animal.

maybe logan will go around wade's universe and wade will be blamed for whatever he does? it makes sense. like the wolverine is an anomaly just like miles was in spiderverse. but wade loves him more than himself FOR SURE since wade loves everybody whos a good person so much :) he has so much love for the world and people like himself, that he will sacrifice himself for them to live, always!

and kinda more than his universe a tiny bit because he doesnt say lets do it together, do whatever is necessary to save it. he pushes logan out of his way and sacrifices his own self to try to save it, he tells logan to say hi to his friends for him (the audience).

he is wearing his own colors on the outside in the form of a soft fuzzy jumper. except the red is now pink, the black is now brown due to the yellow, logan's yellow color, added to it.

it's fuzzy and cozy it's warmth , and its coming from his own self. he is able to cover himself with his own colors now and comfort himself and logan.

deadpool's red ,his always exposed red, his beautiful loving passionate heart is going slightly cool, it's calming down, colors to more cool tones like altheas colors which are purple/blue and the blue of logan's costume. he has two people giving him the blue/cool color now. purple means love so that means he has more love in his heart, more peace.

we can see the green/blue text from the horse it's like his calming strong words are speaking inside of wade's chest. they're colored in the green color which is logans colors together. he's hearing logan out a little. i believe green represents family, growth, its slightly green.

the blue represents peace and harmony. with his yellow horse inside his chest, with strength in his chest his heart grows harmonious with his universe. maybe he won't chase the universe and it's approval and look within and around himself. and see peace, love for himself in his family.

althea's colors are usually cool, purple. in this movie for example, which means wade has peace and love at home and it is mixing, but its rare for wade to wear such colors blended. there's usually a sharp separation.

the color of domesticity and control in black is brown with yellow added to it. aka his domestic life is stronger, his home support system with logan. his family is stronger. who's gonna protect an old lady and a defenseless woman (wade)? also he's taking more of a control of his life, his emotions.

mr ed is telling wilbur to go talk to vanessa on the shirt, perhaps!

[eustassslut]

If we're talking full Stockholm Syndrome what does the reader like about our Yandere boys? Heat and Killer obviously give gifts and treat the reader decently but do Kid and Wire care if they're liked and what do they do to win affection?

this is a very good question actually. i think what the reader likes about each boy would depend on the individual experiences shared between all of them.

with Heat, i think the reader would like how eager he is to please them. Heat is so desperate to have his affections received that he'll do anything for the reader, even if it means breaking some rules and giving them gifts he's not supposed to buy. falling into this twisted love with Heat guarantees the reader with more safety and stability than with the others, despite the fact he is definitely the most delusional. the reader would also like that Heat naturally runs hot and lets them hug him when they're cold, as well as that he waits for them to initiate physical contact and doesn't try to make it sexual unless the reader wants it to be.

Killer's main selling point for the reader would be how easy he is to talk to. despite his long list of insecurities and his hatred of talking about his own feelings or emotions, Killer is extremely observant and knows exactly what his crew is feeling or thinking. he doesn't like to gossip and tends to just keep anything he's told to himself unless he feels it's a threat to the crew. so whatever the reader tells him, stays between them because he likes feeling that they have such a special bond that the others will never understand or relate to.

Killer also knows when punishments are going too far and because he has the most authority on the ship since everyone listens to him, Killer can step in at any time to help the reader without them getting in trouble. the reader would like how dependable he is and would begin to fall for him because of how he treats them with such respect and care after each punishment, making sure they're fed and looked after properly.

with both Heat and Killer, the reader would like how similar it is to having actual boyfriends. both boys are clearly insane and have trapped the reader on their ship forever but during the quiet and peaceful moments it's easy to pretend like this is a proper relationship with communicate, gifts and physical affection.

Kid and Wire however, are significantly harder for the reader to find something to bond with them over it or to feel anything positive because of how cruel and abusive both boys naturally act.

on the surface Kid and Wire both like to pretend they don't care about having their feelings reciprocated and that the reader refuses to touch or look at them unless forced, but secretly it really upsets them. they are both incredibly touch starved and just want to be liked by the person they love. when the reader first 'joins' the crew, neither of them give a shit about receiving affection or building a relationship. but when the reader starts giving Heat and Killer affection as the Stockholm Syndrome begins to take place, Wire and Kid naturally start to get jealous of the others.

suddenly Kid wants to have quiet moments in his workshop with the reader where they just cuddle up together doing their own things and wants the reader to sit on his lap whilst he creates them pretty gifts from scratch. so he starts putting in the effort to find out what they like and figure out what their hobbies are. it doesn't matter whatever the reader's interest might be, Kid wants to know it and will happily sit listening to them talk about it for hours. however, he's not going to approach this properly and will basically just yell at the poor reader to tell him about themselves out of the blue. so unfortunately for Kid it's going to be a slow process until the reader fully starts to experience the effects of Stockholm Syndrome for him but when they do, the reader would like how Kid prioritises whatever they have to say and takes whatever they say (only about their hobbies/themselves) on board.

the reader would also become more drawn and attached to Kid if he ever showed his more vulnerable side, which is usually reserved for Killer, to them.

with Wire, however, it is a lot harder to find things to like about him. he's just too mean and horrible to the reader, there's nothing to really like about how he constantly bullies and ridicules them. but that doesn't mean it's not possible to experience Stockholm Syndrome for him! it would just take a lot longer to begin developing compared to the others because he's so confusing and difficult to get along with. it wouldn't happen until the reader starts to notice just how sweet and caring Wire can be towards his crew members in the relaxing moments. suddenly the reader begins to hyper-fixate on this soft side that Wire has to others and starts putting in some subconscious effort to please him.

it would take them a while, but within a year of living on the Victoria Punk, the reader begins to develop an understanding of Wire and becomes increasingly happier to play along with his cruel games for the rare moments where he's so gentle towards them. whilst this want to be liked by the other would probably be one sided for the reader, Wire would increasingly grow eager to trade a nicer version of himself to the reader in exchange for the things he feels he needs. if giving the reader privacy or the opportunity to cry in peace makes it so they take his cruel version of affection, then he's happy to make the trade. therefore, the only instance i can really see the reader beginning to fall for Wire is through how he openly treats others around him and that is what they would like the most about them.

overall, like you mentioned, Heat and Killer would be the ones to obsessively give gifts of things deemed valuable to the reader for any affection they can get due to being so incredibly touch starved and lonely which results in a very quick Stockholm Syndrome scenario. however i also think that Kid would also give them gifts that he made for affection, but this would only happen if he had begun to want to have his feelings reciprocated by the reader/when he decides he is also in dire need of affection and would only result in a Stockholm Syndrome scenario with the reader if he made the first move to be more gentle. Wire however is too mean to truly ever give proper gifts since he doesn't really care about being loved back by the reader but his versions are the most valuable when remembering how mean he is.

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[comikadraws]

Hello. I really like your analysis of the political stuff in naruto, and I just read your latest one in regard to Hashirama's odd neutrality towards 'the curse of hatred™'. But I kind of want to know now: could you say the same about Kishimoto himself? Does he agree with the 'curse' in a simular vein as H.? Or is H. a deliberately flawed character rather than something that the narrative primarily sides with? (because that's the impression I've got but it's been a while, so idk, I didn't really get the nuance of the plot in the way that you explore when I first watched it)

Authorial Intent and the Curse of Hatred

Okay, so I've got like ten other Naruto asks in my inbox but I will prioritize this one real quick because it is actually very central to a lot of my posts. I already went a little bit into this mess when I analyzed the "Curse of Hatred", but I feel like this topic deserves a post of its own.

This particular part of the discussion leaves the confines of Naruto as a fictional universe entirely and instead delves into the realms of authorial intent analysis and criticism.

My TL;DR is Kishimoto very much intended for the "Curse of Hatred" to be real and the narrative sides with Hashirama and Tobirama (and that is problematic). In the longer version, I am particularly focusing on Tobirama as he is the founder of the Uchiha Clan Genetic Theories™.

I also apologize in advance because pointing out Kishimoto's shortsighted writing is something I have gotten harassed over in the past. Hence I believe some theoretic knowledge is needed.

<Analysis under the cut>

Note: As always, blue links are external links or other people's posts. Red links are my own posts that add context to my thought process.

The problem with Kishimoto's intent is that the guy almost never explains the intention of his writing. This is why discussions like "Was Itachi retconned" or "Does Kishimoto hate Sakura" persist to this day. The only thing we are left with is to instead infer the meaning from other sources (such as the manga itself or minor remarks from interviews).

My conclusion is influenced mainly by four things: The social and political context behind Naruto, Kishimoto's usual treatment of sensitive topics, the narrative of the manga itself, and fantasy genre conventions.

But before all that, here's a little info dump.

Death of the Author

In opposition to the idea that the "Curse of Hatred" is real in canon stands the idea that it was just Tobirama's racist propaganda piece - and this is actually a fairly widespread thought. Not necessarily a misconception, however, as it depends on your school of thought when it comes to engaging with fictional text - Extreme intentionalism (full submission to the author's intent), Anti-intentionalism (complete disregard of the author's intent), or anything in between. While extreme intentionalism can probably be considered the "truest to canon" (as opposed to anti-intentionalism, which is more like a subjective interpretation or "headcanon") it is also incredibly limiting to our fandom experience.

Before I continue this, I need people to understand that both approaches are valid. Especially in instances in which the author's intent translates very poorly into our contemporary understanding of the world, as is the case with the "Curse of Hatred". Both authorial intent and the audience's interpretation are vital puzzle pieces when engaging with a piece of media critically.

To clarify, I do not support Kishimoto's writing decisions in this. I am not pushing an anti-Uchiha clan agenda. What I am going for is analyzing Kishimoto's intended canon. As I have already pointed out, it is a canon that is problematic and nobody should be forced to submit to.

With that out of the way, back to the main topic.

Social and Political Context of Naruto

Personally, I believe it is possible that Kishimoto intended to portray themes of prejudice in his story. Mostly in the sense in which people get defined for their worst character traits (as we can see when comparing Tobirama's and Hashirama's characterization of the Uchiha Clan) or for their affiliations (as is also the case with Jinchuriki). I do not believe, however, that he was aiming for racism specifically - and definitely not for scientific racism, let alone eugenic ideologies. And this has a lot to do with Japan's lack of sensitivity when it comes to racism.

For starters, Japan has a very ethnically homogenous society with about 98% of its population being ethnically Japanese and therefore having one of the lowest diversity scores in the world. On top of that, Japan has no national human rights institutions or laws against racial discrimination. The Japanese population is rather unsensitized to themes of racism.

To not turn this into a fallacy of composition, a different user pointed out that Naruto (as a story) was possibly influenced by Japan's reactionary right-wing movement (possibly revealing Kishimoto's own political standing). The movement responded to an increase in anti-Japanese sentiment across Asia. Said sentiment was sparked by a controversy in which Japan omitted its war crimes (which is a well-known pattern in Japanese politics).

At the very least, it is correct that Naruto is very pro-state in its way of protecting the state's reputation by hiding its crimes from the public consciousness. Kishimoto himself demonstrates an incomplete understanding of Japan's war history by unintentionally paralleling WW2 crimes in his story or claiming that the war was the result of mere grudges when, in reality, it was racism and imperialist ideologies.

While this is just my hypothesis, Kishimoto's lack of political and social awareness could easily influence his perception of social injustices, such as racism. Insensitivity, meanwhile, might reduce any motivation to engage with such themes.

Inadequate Realization of Sensitive Storylines

So about insensitivity... This might actually be less of a hypothesis when we look at Kishimoto's repeated failure to address sensitive topics in his writing with dignity and/or a critical lens. I've also ranted about this in an older post.

We are talking about child soldiers and death matches between children (Chunin Exams), slavery (Hyuga Clan), human experimentation (Orochimaru), human trafficking (Kushina and maybe Mito) genocide (Uchiha Massacre), and the invasion of neutral territory (Amegakure). In all of these cases, crimes are not further acknowledged than a brief admittance of "damage was done" before the plot forgets about them entirely.

Chunin exams? Never talked about again.

Slavery? Naruto promised to change the Hyuga clan but never mentions it again.

Human experimentation? Orochimaru is welcomed back after his exile.

Human trafficking? The Jinchurikis got stockholmed, so everything's good!

Genocide? Addressing that might tarnish the Uchiha Clan's reputation. So we don't.

Invasion of neutral territory? We never see Amegakure again after Konan's passing.

It is a larger pattern in which social injustice is primarily introduced to add flavor in the form of "tragic backstories" but not actually to resolve it. We are supposed to condemn those tragedies, to feel sympathetic - but we are not supposed to criticize Konoha as a main perpetrator, enabler, or apologist.

To me, it doesn't seem like Kishimoto ever truly cared about those social issues. He knows they are bad, yes, but they were never the focus of the story and Kishimoto barely even stops to consider the implications.

The Manga's Narrative

The story does not engage critically with itself. And frankly, it also does not demand such critical thinking from its readers either.

In the manga, we are often presented with incorrect or incomplete exposition from unreliable narrators. Obito lies all the time, Madara gets the wrong story from Zetsu, Itachi gets the wrong story from who-knows-where, and Sasuke doesn't know what's going on half the time. The interesting part is how the truth behind those lies is usually uncovered.

Usually, we do not know that any of them are perpetuating a lie until said lie gets corrected by another character. Said character is usually a "source" in the sense that they have personally experienced the (until then) falsified events.

It is very rare that the audience gets to pick up on little clues to realize that a character is lying. One such instance is when Obito directly contradicts Itachi in his rendition of the story. But even then, the conflict between their two renditions gets resolved by a "source" character in the form of Kushina retelling the events from sixteen years ago.

Now, let's compare this to the "Curse of Hatred".

I have already mentioned this in another post (where I analyzed the curse and its contents), but the "Curse of Hatred" is first officially introduced by Obito. He focuses on the Uchiha's war-torn history and how that influenced its members. Tobirama more or less builds on that, adding his hypothesis about the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan and its effect on the user. Then Hagoromo adds some things about the reincarnation cycle that might play into this. In the end, Zetsu wraps it all up by revealing that he manipulated the Uchiha Clan for centuries.

The problem is that not one of these puzzle pieces directly contradicts the other and instead, they appear to complement each other. Therefore, no lie gets officially "disproven" in the story itself. Tobirama's Theories are treated as though they were perfectly fine fact that does not require revision.

We can further infer Tobirama's credibility on the matter by judging the present characters' reactions.

Hashirama, as explained in my previous post, tolerates if not accepts Tobirama's ideas. Orochimaru shows himself hostile toward Tobirama but does not take the chance to contradict him. Sasuke, who is an Uchiha and has personal experience with the Sharingan, shows no signs of protest. Skepticism, yes, but it slowly fades away until he seemingly accepts Tobirama's words as truth. He does not even attempt to argue against it.

Add to that that Tobirama is generally presented as a truthful character, described as "rational" and "principled" in the databook. He regularly criticizes or insults other characters without the bat of an eye, seemingly having no problem with tarnishing his own reputation, unconcerned with keeping up false appearances. He is not the type of character to lie.

Yes, Tobirama comes off as a bigot regardless, but that's because he's essentially an asshole and not because he is actually intended to be racist. Even in the event that what he says is non-factual, he fully believes it is. But also, the possibility that Tobirama is talking nonsense is not even hinted at (again, he is described as "rational" and no character seems to disapprove of the Uchiha Clan Genetic Theory TM).

Fantasy Fiction Conventions

In fantasy writing, none of what Tobirama says is actually uncommon. In fact, if anything, his theories concerning the Sharingan resemble popular fantasy tropes.

In Anime, many powers are awakened through trauma. This is called "Traumatic Superpower Awakening". The Sharingan is just one of many offenders, even in the story of Naruto. This reflects Tobirama's idea that the Sharingan is triggered through great emotional pain.

It is also a common trope that characters who gain too much power eventually go insane. This is called the "With Great Power Comes Great Insanity" trope and reflects the Uchihas' to essentially take away psychic damage alongside each newly awakened Sharingan power. Kishimoto just specifically linked that insanity or pain to the Sharingan (which represents the power of the Uchiha).

Yet another trope is the "Personality Powers" trope. This one can be seen in the Uchiha Clan's tendency to feel deep love and hate - at least one of which is essential for the awakening of a Mangekyo Sharingan (and, depending on the circumstances, a regular Sharingan). Hence Tobirama calls it "the eyes that reflect the heart". In other words, the personality facilitates the power.

Last but not least, we've got the fantasy races trope. The author invents a race and then assigns it distinct characteristics (both physiology and behavior-wise).

In its most extreme cases, this can be used to create an "enemy race" (such as orcs, vampires, demons, etc.) for the good guys to fight. It usually removes complexity from the story by dumbing down the enemy to simply just being "born evil".

Now, notice how the Uchiha Clan's Hatred could be considered a personification of Kishimoto's idea that wars are caused by grudges? Furthermore, Kishimoto makes that comment at a point in time (February 2012) when all three main antagonists of the story are Uchihas (Madara is revived in chapter 559, which was released October 2011), and then releases Tobirama's theory a year later (February 2013).

This one, unlike the other three, is particularly controversial as fantasy races often get conflated with real-life ethnicities. This is not always the intention of the author, however, as they often never intended to portray racial stereotypes. For two particularly popular examples, take a look at Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" or Itagaki's "Beastars".

On one hand of this debate, you have that fantasy races are unlike human ethnicities and do not necessarily reflect reality, simply because the author decides what is real in canon or not and because fantasy is always a lie from a real-world perspective. Hence the Curse of Hatred, or rather, Tobirama's Theory is canon.

On the other, fiction does not exist in a vacuum and it is impossible not to apply our contemporary understanding of racism and ignore what are otherwise screaming red flags of racist ideology. Hence we recognize Tobirama's explanation as racism and wish to reject the Curse of Hatred as a concept.

But these two ideas can coexist.

The problem is just that Kishimoto likely only accounted for one thing and not the other. His intention translated very poorly into our contemporary understanding of the world, making Tobirama (and therefore, Hashirama as well) the victims of short-sighted writing.

Who cares anyway?

In the beginning, I explained that regardless of what Kishimoto intended for his story, any interpretation is valid. So why should we care about what the author thinks?

In my analyses (which are separate from my headcanons), I will usually take an "Extreme Intentionalism" approach in which I prioritize the author's intent over the reader's interpretation. Not because I am opposed to the idea that the reader's interpretation is relevant to the meaning of a text but because readers' interpretations are unique to the individual. Focusing on such an individual interpretation can easily alienate those who don't share it. Hence I like to focus on something that is more informative, almost objective in nature, such as the author's likely intended canon - which people can then mould into whatever suits their headcanon best.

I have also noticed that, sometimes, anti-intentionalist takes will devolve into full-blown lies (sometimes with the purposeful intention of omitting canon). This lie can then be upheld in an attempt to condemn or rather bully those with intentionalist interpretations. This unwittingly protects the writer (as well as problematic writing conventions) from criticism.

This is why I think even Anti-Intentionalists should inform themselves of an author's intention. This is, more or less, an aspect of media literacy as it allows us to identify biased or manipulative narratives and take purposeful action. In our case, this involves questioning and criticizing Kishimoto as an individual, raising awareness about his writing's shortcomings, and learning from his mistakes.

[moonlitmahogany]

biromantic asexual jason todd… do u see the vision

[wordsandrobots]

*sits down to Explain McGillis Fareed*

6000 words later, following the interrogation of a fictional biography, an interlude questioning to what extent the Gundam franchise has ever actually addressed the functioning of capitalism, a rant about the British upper classes, and a hypothetical history of Gjallarhorn:

Guys, I think this man might be a little fucked up.

[qsmprambling]

I think something to keep in mind re: the newer islanders comments regarding Foolish and Leo, regardless of how frustrating they are, is that it comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of qFoolish as a person, which is partially caused by the persona Foolish himself presents to everyone.

Foolish gives the impression of being a very open person who probably couldn't be bothered to keep too many secrets unless it was fun, a happy and impulsive spirit and just a general fun and chaotic person. He doesn't seem to take things too seriously, going with the flow and doing whatever seems most fun to him in the moment.

He doesn't seem like the type to get deeply attached. He doesn't seem like the type to keep secrets or hide how he is feeling. He doesn't seem like the type who would dwell enough on something that it causes him heartache, because he is impulsive, and free-spirited, and unattached, right?

He's playing with Capybaras, he's laughing with his friends, he's making jokes and playing around. Heck, he isn't even really talking about Leo that much - if you accept everything you see at face value like most of the newbies who never got to meet Leo or don't know qFoolish will, it must look like he's not all that upset about her being gone and isn't really thinking about it too much, right?

But the other islanders know. The ones who have known the eggs, and the ones that know Foolish, they all know the truth.

Bad has noted that he isn't sure other people have noticed, but he can tell that Foolish is hurting. Jaiden too has made comments a out how people don't take him seriously. Baghera left him alone with the concrete because it felt so wrong to swarm him in that moment that she knew was painful for him. And though I haven't seen comments from the others, I have no doubt all the other islanders who have been here for months wouldn't ever question how much Foolish loves and misses Leo. (Tina is the exception with the new islanders as she met Leo before joining the server and she knows Foolish is a good parent).

But the new islanders accept Foolish for how he presents himself. They see him laughing and playing and having fun and assume those are his true feelings and don't realise they are, but he is also hurting. They see him not bring Leo up and they don't realise it's not because he doesn't care, but because confronting his feelings isn't something he is good at. He prooved that when he ran away the moment he was directly asked about how he was feeling after finding Leo's message, or when he brushed off Bad's sympathy and rejected his offer of a hug (but did accept Bad's offer to stand near him, because at least it was something he could bring himself to accept...).

For Bagi it also doesn't help that she spends so much time with Bad, who is someone who is literally wearing his grief for all to see. No one is questioning that Bad is missing the eggs, because it's obvious. But just like no one (other than Foolish and Baghera) realised just how depressed Bad was in his vacation arch because of the carefree attitude he put on, Foolish's demeanor has made it so his grief is not obvious to those who aren't willing to look a bit deeper. Most people are willing to accept whatever they see on the surface, and not attempt to look beyond that. I'm sure other islanders other than Foolish are also being misunderstood - an example would be Tubbo's comment that no one seemed to care and no one was doing anything to find the eggs, without knowing about Bad's drastic actions, or Philza's breakdown over Tallulah's letter, or Fit's quiet grief, or Aypierre's increased drinking, or Roier's deterioration, and all the other things the parents and relatives of the missing eggs were feeling and going through.

Anyway I am rambling, but long story short it is frustrating when the new members don't understand the grief of Foolish because they accept his surface level persona, and that is something Foolish himself is perpetuating, but just remember that even if the new islanders don't understand, all the old islanders do. Even if they don't speak it out loud, and some are more obvious that others, they are all united with Foolish in their grief.

[lia404]

I'll give you Yusaku for "Send me a Yugioh character" owo

AH. Ahaha. Oh my god, okay. So for context, your ask landed in my inbox exactly when I was struggling with formatting my "Yusaku birthday post." Which means it caught me at a point when I had even MORE feelings than I usually do for this boy. I apologise in advance: the answer about Kaiba may have been a wall of text, but I'm afraid this one will become a full skyscraper of text. So go grab some tea, coffee, biscuits, whatever makes you feel good for a break, then sit back and relax while I scream at you about how much I CARE for Yusaku Fujiki.

(Whatever happens remember that you asked for it.) (Thank you so much for this, too, even if I've spent a good part of my afternoon and all my evening and part of my night on it.) (By the way at this point I really won't feel insulted if no one reads it to the end, I think I mostly need to get it all out of my system.)

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD, in the form of headcanons and personal analyses of Yusaku's character and his relationships, along with multiple screenshots, gif, videos, all hidden behind the excuse of an ask meme (so it's still superficial in many parts, but I feel like it's a good overview.) I'm putting it all behind a cut since I know how to use them now. (Or do I? It's the 4th time I edit to put the cut back to the place it's meant to be at.)

----------- Also, keeping track so I stop getting lost in my own blog: The original Ask meme Seto Kaiba Spectre Aoi Zaizen I still answer for other characters so long as they're from DM or Vrains!

Why I like him/why I don’t

I think it's Yusaku's resilience that I like the most. He can be no-nonsense and harsh, but he's always honest, and he always stands up. It's striking, actually, how he always manages to keep standing.

He's thrown to the ground by life, by his enemies (interestingly, many declare they are his enemies when he's not even TRYING to alienate them, and just doesn't really care.) Even his allies are the reason why he ends up beaten up sometimes. And yet, he always get back up. It's very rare to see him fully crash, which makes it even more impactful when he does.

I'm just fascinated at how even at his lowest, at the biggest blows he receives, he stands up. His strive for life is remarkable, so much so that it sometimes almost feels like a curse. Just the same way he keeps winning and winning, because he's good, of course, but also because losing is not an option. He has to stand up and he keeps doing it for himself, for others, and still manages to feel guilty for not doing enough.

(I'm afraid you'll have to do with my French subtitles, I am NOT trying to find other streams just to make screencaps, these ones were hard enough to find.)

"Sorry, Kusanagi, your brother Jin has been taken and Lightning is menacing humanity and all of this is because I'm not strong enough."

Yusaku, FFS.

This is all heavily linked to the other aspect of his character I love most: Yusaku is so human. He's filled with hope. In one of the episodes of season 3, Revolver tells him to "stop thinking with his naive optimism".

And Playmaker clearly doesn't like it, look at this face.

But he still holds onto it until the end. He's not giving up until he's forced to (and even when it's done, he takes off and tries to find solutions.)

And Yusaku cares, he cares so much. He may seem heinous and gratuitously savage with the way he shuns Shima or Ai, but you have to go beyond the words. When Shima is captured, he literally runs to his rescue, barely waiting for the van to stop before he jumps out of it to check on his classmate. Shima and other people around, no matter how annoying, will also give occasional encouragements (often hidden behind a layer of backhanded compliments, because that's how Yusaku rolls.)

Yusaku makes sure that people around him are feeling alright. He comforts them. He may not use the nicest words, he has the sensitivity of an elephant let loose in a fine china shop, but his words usually strike right where they should. He helps. He gives a lot of himself for this, apparently not caring what other people think of it.

Goddamnit, Yusaku. Why are you trying to make me cry.

And this, actually, paradoxically, might be the only thing I dislike for him. It's not even about HIM per se (he may not be perfect but I am able to admit I'm too biased to not have a hard time finding him any flaws.) It's the way he gives so much of himself for everyone leads not only to people relying on him a lot, they also tend to take him for granted. And it pisses me off. Yusaku doesn't really fight against it, which, understandable considering his character, his backstory, everything. But sometimes I wish he could stop being the hero of Link VRAINS, because he's spreading himself too thin, and he had to break at some point. Or multiple times.

What I like about his appearance

I am trying SO hard to stop myself from waxing all kinds of poetics on him, so for this once I'll go with the most obvious: his EYES.

(Yes this was all a shameless excuse to flood you with close-ups of Yusaku and Playmaker's beautiful, vibrant eyes.)

The colour is striking, of course, especially in contrast with his or Playmaker's hair. But also, for someone meant to be aloof and stoic, Yusaku's eyes are hella expressive. His eyebrows only emphasise it, and actually, this is another trait I really like: Playmaker's eyebrows are orange. Playmaker is a real red-head! It makes me irrationally happy. It's the little details, folks, and Yusaku definitely pays more attention to them than most would expect.

And the second aspect of his appearance I just can't omiss...

...Well, that's his smile, of course! If only he had reasons to smile more often. Look at him; no matter how terrible the situation, he manages to smile.

This one is from when he says goodbye to Kusanagi before the final duel agains Ai. It's honestly quite tragic, but here he is. Smiling. Why is no one in this series protecting this smile. What are they all DOING.

Anyway, I've been writing for way too long already and I still have TOO MUCH to say so that's it for the appearance. He's adorable, he's beautiful, he's gorgeous.

Do I prefer his dub names or original names?

You'd think the question is not relevant since his name is the same in both, BUT. There's actually a massive difference. I can't take the dub version's stressed Yu'SAku seriously when in Japanese it's very clearly 'YUUsaku. Also, watching parts of the dub has been very amusing once I accepted that it was a parody, but there's not much to keep. Not even the pronunciation of a name. So I'm going with original, no hesitation.

OTP

Okay, another obvious one. If you've been following me you have noticed the ridiculous amount of Datastormshipping I put in your feed.

Evil smile besties ftw.

And YET.

It's so hard to ship them seriously. There's so much to repair. I can't see them all lovey-dovey, they have to work for it, and work HARD. Because Playmaker is just... so completely defanged when he's in front of Revolver. And Revolver, while actually acting in the shadow to support Playmaker so many times in the course of 120 episodes, never spares him a kind word, a nice face, except when he thinks he's dying.

I suspect he's not doing it consciously, but the way Revolver behaves makes me feel like he takes Playmaker for granted. It makes sense, considering their backstory: Revolver has obsessed over Playmaker and endangered people he cared about because of it. He has also proved multiple times that he is very intent to shoulder the full blame for an incident he had not much to do about, so he'd rather keep Playmaker and his "stupid faith in him" at a distance. But Revolver is also Playmaker's saviour, which makes it so Playmaker trusts him and can follow him blindly no matter what.

Eloquent: everyone is wary to follow, but Playmaker is first in line, not a hint of hesitation in spite of having no idea of what lies behind the portal.

For this reason, I'm actually happy with the Revolver event in Duel Links, in spite of all its writing flaws.

In the event, Playmaker feels Revolver with his Link Sense even before he arrives, which shows that he's still VERY attuned to Revolver. And in spite of this clear bond, Playmaker really stands against Revolver and asserts his beliefs with no room for negociation, something he hasn't done since the Tower of Hanoi (...and even then, arguably, he was trying to negociate.) He is not yielding no matter how important Revolver might be for him. And, at the end of the event, Revolver seems to be relieved to have met such resistance. He even sounds sort of supportive? It's open to interpretation, but my feeling was that he actually approved of Playmaker's doing and encouraged him. The Ghost Gal and Spectre events that followed emphasised it for me. They're clearly not fighting anymore, but they also don't have this weird blind spot for each other anymore.

With this approach, I feel like they'd have better roots for a relationship that would not lean towards codependence or other unhealthy bases.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the fluff, and Datastormshipping really is the obvious end goal for me, but for this ship what I love most is them having to work for it. Because even if they clearly trust each other, Yusaku will have to learn to NOT give all of himself blindly, and Ryoken will need to learn to actively LISTEN to Yusaku, and even make him speak.

(As a quick parenthesis, because I'll get back to this topic later and I'd rather not leave any ambiguity: as much as I resent him for his treatment of Yusaku, I absolutely adore Revolver, in this terrible love/hate dynamic that makes me hate to love him and love to hate him. In spite of everything, or maybe DUE to all of this, I really like his character. I'm not sure I'll ever write deep meta about him, though, because he's already had a lot written about him and I doubt I have much more to bring to discussions that happened years ago. But who know what time will bring? Anyway, Datastormshipping FTW.)

NOTP

BEWARE: unpopular opinion ahead. I actually can't see Aiballshipping.

Again, don't get me wrong: I see where the shippers come from, and I really don't hate the ship! I've read multiple doujin and fanfictions, I enjoy the content, I enjoy the art, I love the analyses of the ship... But I can't see it, because for me, it goes beyond a romantic relationship. Ai is literally a part of Yusaku. Him and Yusaku are a package, in a way: if someone wants to be with Yusaku, they'll also have to be with Ai. If someone says Yusaku "It's Ai or me", they'd better not expect to be chosen. I understand Aiballshipping. I like reading takes on it, I like reading stories about it. But to me, what Ai and Yusaku have is not romantic. It's something obvious, a given, almost fusional. They don't kiss; they can communicate without saying a word. (Even if they spend their time throwing jabs at each other out loud.) Any other romantic relationship will come in addition to it, without being replaced by it. So I don't "ship" it. It's very much not an OTP. I have no idea which verb I could use for it, though, because I'm not really sure it can be considered queerplatonic either.

OT3

Di-sas-ter-ship-ping! It's actually my main ship, even if there's not a lot of content. Sure, if we want to make it work in a nice healthy way, it's going to be quite the challenge. BUT not everything has to be serious and reasonable or even believable (I have datastormshipping for this) and seriously, the dynamic between these three has so much potential for wholesomeness, stupid arguments and general chaos. It's called disastershipping for a reason. (Not only this, I know, but still.)

Look at them, their smug poses and their stupidly form-fitting costumes. What could go wrong, right? <3

Favourite card he uses

Contrary to my answer re: Kaiba's deck, this time I am familiar with Playmaker's deck, because I play it AND I actually watched his duels multiple times to understand how he uses it. The fact is that even if there's the usual "I magically draw the exact card I need and use if without even looking at it" effect that is characteristic to Yu-Gi-Oh animes, his deck is solid and it really allows different kind of combos to always find workaround. (Doesn't mean I don't brick often, but not everyone can be Playmaker.)

So I actually have TWO favourite cards. The first one is my little love, usually one of the first to join the field: Backup Secretary.

She's beauty, she's grace, she's always here to help me link summon my ace. She's easy to use. She may not be the best one, but I'm so happy to have her in my deck—three times. I have multiple other cards that allow me to bring her in my hand. She never stays long on the field, since her specialty is to help summoning various types of Code Talkers, but she's a life saver. And seriously her design is awesome.

And the second one is, in my amateur point of view (I need to write the disclaimer that while I'm not BAD at duelling, I'm not exactly GOOD either and I miss a lot, lot, lot of subtleties) one of the best cards in Playmaker's deck: Recoded Alive.

This card is a lifesaver. It has multiple effects for different situations. It helps me avoid having an empty field when my opponent's field is filled with monsters. It's a trap, and allows me to switch monsters when attacked if I use it during the opponent's turn. It allows me to bring another monster to the field and have another attacking monster if I play it during my own battle phase.

And even if we want to remain focused on Playmaker's storyline, it's one of the most important ones Yusaku plays in the anime. It's always here for him since the beginning, and it has allowed him to bring back so many monsters. I mean, it basically wins him a duel against Revolver. It saves him against Ai. It's just... I love this card. It took me forever to understand how it works, but now it's hard to imagine a Playmaker deck without it.

Favourite moment(s) he was in

And here I thought I had already written enough. Well, we're here for a few more hours. I hope your tea has not gone cold.

I dare hope that you KNEW you shouldn't expect me to choose only ONE moment. There are so many. I can't satisfy myself with only one, I must bring up a few more, but not too many because this post is overwhelming enough as it is.

1. Season 1, when Playmaker goes against Akira to recover files in SOL's massive datbase. I can't begin to express how angry I was with the way Akira treats Yusaku. I know it was done in good faith, but having Akira tell Yusaku "go have a normal life, go out with your friends, enjoy your life as a teenager and prepare for your future, it's important" is just horribly condescending. It's SO satisfying to see Playmaker put the Zaizen, who always seem to think they know what he feels, or what is best for him, in their place. There's something incredibly satisfying in having Yusaku say "It is MY story and it is MINE to tell".

"I don't want the story of my past to be told by someone else."

Having Playmaker defend his story like this, and not let others take it or misinterpret it (especially when they feel like they "understand"), is, to me, a very powerful moment. And as if this wasn't enough, Yusaku adds a power move to it, adding a step in his final turn that he didn't have to do to win the duel: returning the two Tindangle cards representing Akira and Aoi to the hand rather than winning by leaving them both in the graveyard. When confronted about it, he answers that he doesn't want the siblings to be in the darkness of the graveyard, that his revenge should not implicate them and that they should walk towards the light. It is incredibly heartful, AND an amazing way to show Zaizen that he will never manage to "understand" Yusaku considering the mindset he keeps displaying. That was so badass, seriously. I wish the Zaizen had learnt more from it.

2. Season 2, after the duel against Kusanagi. Playmaker won and collapsed, not waking up. The second moment I like most is there, in Yusaku's head. It's intimidating... and slightly tragic.

"I have done enough. I'm tired."

Oh. It's been building up for so many episodes, they've been straining him so much, and finally, it happens. The quietest mental breakdown, the hint of depression. It makes him so human, so relatable suddenly, and yet it's so painful. I love this moment because it really brought me back to who he is: a 16 year old kid with a trauma bigger than himself and the expectations of a whole city (world?) on his shoulders. I'm glad he gets up again, but I'm also really glad that we get to see this part of him, so tragically realistic. Now let's wrap him in a blanket and hug him, okay?

3. Season 3: The "last nice moments in the real world". I wish we had had more of those in the whole course of the series, there was SO MUCH potential for it! Look at them being teenagers. Yusaku, so happy, confident and carefree as he is working for Kusanagi (and this apron makes him look so cute.) Yusaku, being pestered by Shima who wants to know where Playmaker is (WHY would Yusaku know? Shima has weird leaps of logic.) And Aoi and Yusaku having the most AWKWARD handshake, that instantly relieved me from the fear that Aoi might be a love interest.

"This is what high schoolers do I guess. Okay, we tried, we're done, completely uninteresting, let's move on now. When's our next trauma-session already?"

That's three moments I love, but I can't resist adding a last Painful Bonus: another moment of "let's make Playmaker suffer". I'm so sorry, Yusaku.

4. Season 3: Roboppi's death; the flashback to a younger Yusaku who has just built his cleaning robot and is SO proud, so happy and welcoming, and then Playmaker, broken, begging Soulburner to strike one last time and finish Roboppi.

I feel like his eyes, at that moment, are another reminder of his age. It's one of the most terrible scenes of the whole anime (I'd say ex-aequo with Ai's final words), it's masterfully executed, the pacing is amazing, the work on the expressions is amazing, the voice acting is incredible. But really, these eyes.

Least favourite moment

Two moments come to mind, and both are in the third season. You'll see there's a recurring theme, and more importantly, the fact that I really don't like these moments barely comes from Yusaku's role in them. Even if his personality encourages it.

1. The scene at the pier. It's REALLY, REALLY not Yusaku's fault, but he's still one of the two major protagonists so it counts as a "least favourite moment." Yusaku is going for the final fight, and Ryoken catches him, sends him and almost kills him with the card that will help him win the duel against Ai. I know this scene is considered one of the cornerstones of Datastormshipping, but all I can see is... Yusaku getting rejected, again, after saying goodbye to Kusanagi with a brave and grateful smile on his face, and just before having to destroy someone that is essentially a part of him. He calls Ryoken's name, and Ryoken keeps the most distance possible. I think it may have been one of the worst things Ryoken could have done, and even the fact that the Borrel dragon is actually a symbol of how much Ryoken believes in Yusaku,.. well, it would still be not enough to recover from the blatant, cold rejection Yusaku received at that moment. Ryoken, I know you couldn't find it in you to encourage him, but you only had to say his first name. Acknowledge him more than by coldly stating his complete name. And maybe NOT use the word "farewell" this time, because twice in the few first minutes of an episode is way too much. GOD FORBID Yusaku has any sort of support from Ryoken, that would encourage him to feel like they have a bond, the horreur. (Ugh.) With Playmaker knowing that Takeru would leave, Aoi would have Miyu, Kusanagi would have his brother, having Ryoken just... coldly ignoring all tentative of closeness, and leaving without looking back, WELL. It's no wonder Yusaku disappeared solo at the end. From his perspective, he had no one left.

2. Mission begin: everyone is ready to try and stop Ai, the plan is set and Playmaker is not part of any team since he's not even here. Except...

"We can't begin without Playmaker."

It annoys me so much, because the thing is, yes, yes you really can begin without Playmaker. And you should, Heaven's sake!

Many characters at this point have told him that they would understand if he didn't want to take part in this fight, that they would shoulder some of his burden and that he could rest and stay away for his health and sanity.

The thing is, Yusaku is not this kind of person. He will take responsbility and let no one else do the job in his stead. And he comes back, in a rather flashy way, EXACTLY when they're all expecting him. And barely anyone is surprised, they all look so relieved. They were waiting for this.

This moment leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth, because here is the problem with Playmaker: he's so good and reliable that people just... lean on him and wait for him to do the hard work. No matter how traumatising. I took screenshots of the many, many times people said "I leave it into your hands, Playmaker". "I know you"ll complete the job well, Playmaker." "I'm counting on you, Playmaker." I am not putting all of them here, but I have an album of these.

In doing so, they only enable his rather destructive hero-complex.

Destructive because, consider: he had a huge trauma when he was a kid and never fully recovered. When he finally learns and fights the truth behind this trauma, he feels like his revenge is over, but the person he'd spent years and years looking for is gone after treating him quite awfully. Additionally, he releases his new "hostage/friend" and goes back to being alone. He's been a hero, and all he got was: being alone again. Come Takeru, and somehow he acquires a sort of social circle. He's not really good at it, but it exists, and he even looks quite comfortable with it, if a bit awkward. Then he's forced to watch, powerless, as all his newfound friends/trusted persons get erased one after another, all of them with parting words expressing how much they trusted him to fix this. Way to make him feel like it's great to have friends and allies, uh. Then the humans come back, but the Ignis are dead, and he feels like he has failed his self-imposed mission to find a way to coexist. Ai is gone, Ryoken sort of gloats (I understand it's probably not what he intended, but it still feels awfully like it.) He's been a hero, and all he got was: more trauma about losing people, more responsibilities he shouldn't have to shoulder, and likely no one who understands the pain he's in because the world is safe now.

And then Ai comes back and everything goes upside down, and Yusaku lives in denial all beginning of season 3.

That's what makes it a self-destructive complex, for me. Every time he plays hero, Yusaku exposes himself to the things that hurt him most. He's never rewarded. And yet, he keeps doing it, and giving people what they want from him/taking responsibility for things that should NEVER be considered his responsibility. It drives me crazy.

Note: I have a similar beef with the "epilogue", in which they all have something nice to say about Playmaker, and they're all so certain that he's amazing, that he'll be back... And yet. No one is looking. Not even Revolver, who should have it easy since he's working from the inside. Arguably, Kusanagi keeps the foodtruck parked in the same place so he has a home to go back to if he wishes

"He would be sad if he didn't have a place to come back to sometimes": I am convinced that Kusanagi is aware of how fragile the notion of "home" is for Yusaku.

So there's this at least. Arguably #2, I guess we could say they all know he doesn't want to communicate and they respect it. But the way they talk about him, it doesn't feel like its the case.

And this is why I keep saying that they don't deserve him; are they friends, or are they fans? Is any of them even really trying to do something for him, beyond "understanding his feelings" (Aoi, sigh), or rooting for him in the typical "Good old Playmaker, always knows what to do!" way (Takeru, sigh.)

Oh, Yusaku. The way they treat you upsets me so much. It's absolutely not what they're aiming for, but it's like they're encouraging you to develop new traumas instead of really helping you, and it makes me so angry.

So, yeah. I hate these moments, and these dynamics.

Would I fuck, marry or kill him

WHY IS THERE NO "ADOPT" OPTION. Well, the choice is quite easy by elimination. I would NOT kill him (in case you had not gathered already) I would very much NOT fuck him (I really doubt he'd be interested in it either, so that works well for both of us.) Soooo... marry, I guess? That would be hella awkward, but eh, if I can't adopt him, might as well use the option that would vaguely allow to, you know, protect and cherish. Even so, it's hard imagining Yusaku settling like this.

Aaaaand I'm done and off to bed, three hours later than planned. Honestly, kudos if you've read until here. Before I sign off, please receive the cutest gif of Yusaku to thank you for bearing with me for the past 2k+ words of crying over this incredible boy who deserves better.

You know, maybe my OTP is actually Yusaku/hotdog. They do deserve each other.

[spongek-squidge]

You know what, I’ve done some character development, I’ve finished the current character arc, so here’s an updated version of…

My feelings on Demetrius (as a Maru lover)

Let’s begin with the basics: Demetrius to me feels like a nerdy, socially constipated dad who doesn’t know how to talk to people. Is this partially down to his almost definite autism? Most porbably, but I also feel he generally prefers to stay indoors with his science experiments which has led to an additional lack of social understanding on top of the initial struggle that typically comes with being autistic regarding understanding social stuff. Ultimately he comes off as a lovable nerd and I get what Robin sees in him.

Speaking of Robin let’s have her have a bit of a say in this, after all she is married to the man! Despite a lot of cutscenes confusing both of them having them bickering, I do think that this is only in cutscenes for a reason: it’s not a common event. Sure, they conflict during misunderstandings and a lack of intimate knowledge about each others interests (simply due to the fact they both are quite content simply doing their own thing most the time) but during their regular routines they spend an awful amount of time together quite contently! Every time I head up to the mountains in game the pair tend to be standing side by side looking over the valley. It doesn’t seem like they’re saying much but they’re still peacefully hanging around each other. It is clear from this that both of their love languages are quality time, hence why most their interactions are literally just them being around each other rather than any intimidate discussions. All of this is basically just to say that I don’t think Demetrius is a bad husband and he and Robin are a very good pairing, which is nice to see amongst all the other parents in the valley! (Looking at you Pierre and Caroline 👀)

Now let’s get to his relationship with his daughter, Maru. He loves his daughter, plain and simple, he wants what’s best for her and to protect her. However, he does go to far with it a lot and as consequence pushes her away and blocks her from social opportunities. Both her friends in the valley being Penny, the local sweet school teacher, and Harvey, the town doctor who wouldn’t hurt a fly? Highly suspicious, especially given her personality matches very well with people like Sam, the local skater boy. And let’s not forget the Maru 2 heart event, the farmer has basically only just met Maru and is only just getting to know her, yet Demetrius practically threatens them and warns them not to touch his daughter? He could at least wait until they start dating… But, he does it from a place of care. This isn’t to say he’s justified in trying to push away Maru’s new friends, just that his reasoning is not outlandish, in fact it’s rather common (sadly so). He still sees Maru as his baby and wants to protect her a tall costs, though this means that he forgets she’s a grown woman now and is capable of looking after herself, like in her 10 heart event when he tries to catch the farmer in the act of canoodling with his baby girl (even though they are officially dating it’s to be expected). All this to say he does still have a rather good relationship with Maru, they share interests and hobbies and he wants her to thrive in the scientific and engineering routes she so clearly excels at. This makes it easy for him to talk to and bond with Maru, which makes their relationship rather strong. Ultimately, he is a brilliant father to maru in all aspects of her life EXCEPT social.

Now I hear you all saying from the corners of the internet ‘what about Sebastian?’ Well he definitely fucked up in that department. The pair clearly don’t get on well at all, Demetrius never quite respecting Sebastian for who he is and considering him a bad influence on Maru. I imagine this all began when he first started dating Robin, after all explaining why his daddy had left and there was this new stranger in the house would’ve been difficult to explain, especially to a child that was still learning his abcs. In this department both Demetrius and Robin probably fucked up, with clearly neither of them doing a very good job at explaining the prospect of a step-dad to the young Sebastian at a time in his life he probably wouldn’t be very receptive of the concept, purely due to not being able to fully understand what was happening. This would’ve been amplified by the birth of Maru and Demetrius doting on her more and Sebastian feeling abandoned and tossed aside for the new baby due to all the attention she would of gotten, especially from his supposed step-dad Demetrius. While Robin would’ve definitely kept giving Sebastian as much attention as she could, a baby is a handful so she would’ve had to divide her attention up which would’ve fueled the abandonment Sebastian felt at the time. This would be a feeling that continued throughout his entire adolescence, with Maru shining bright as the golden child while Sebastian was deemed a delinquent in the eyes of his step-dad, being over looked in preference of his half-sister. This favouritism by Demetrius has had a massive impact on both Sebastian and Maru. Sebastian was impacted for the reasons previously stated, feeling neglected and abandoned by the only father figure in his life at this point and Maru for creating a rift between her and her brother, someone who she has expressed a deep desire to close the gap with and have a proper relationship between them. While Sebastian would’ve spent most his life pushing Demetrius away, Demetrius did not help that at all, and is ultimately the one mainly at fault for their rocky relationship. He may have tried at some point, given the ‘first time step-dad’ book in his room, but he gave up on Sebastian too soon, leaving Sebastian with one proper parent.

Now how about the farmer? How does he interact with them? Well, he isn’t a bad friend to the farmer at all, giving them the fruit/mushroom cave for free and generally just being his nerdy self during conversations with them. There are times where I get annoyed with him after him being overly protective of neglectful regarding his kids then he goes on a rant about trees or something and it endears me to him. His relationship with the farmer seems mostly to be someone who he can talk to and just info dump whatever scientific information he’s currently focused on to.

Ultimately Demetrius is a significantly flawed character and has bridges to build and people he needs to apologise profusely to, but that doesn’t make him a bad person. Feel free to hold a grudge on him for his attitude towards Sebastian, for his over protectiveness over Maru, for his arguments with his wife, but don’t let that overshadow the rest of the character, as, once again, his flaws don’t make him a bad person. They just make him a shitty step-dad!