#good interpretation but consider:

[valtsv]

How so-called "Died and came back wrong" fans look when real zombie horror comes at them:

if more zombie horror focused more on the "died and came back wrong" aspect and less on jumpscares and guys in halloween makeup screaming and biting people and jerking the camera around i would enjoy them more

[marzipanandminutiae]

Average historian denies all gay relationships statistic false!

No-Lesbians Ruth Franklin, who lives in an archive and denies any possible sapphic interpretation of Shirley Jackson’s work 50 times a day, is an outlier adn should not be counted

[wolf-tail]

It's been 800 years and I STILL have beef with whoever is responsible for writing the Vulgate cycle for having the AUDACITY to bring Galahad into the mythos. I'm someone who normally likes Mary Sue type characters, but there comes a LIMIT

[reasonsforhope]

"A Ghanaian-English entrepreneur has designed an electric bike from the ground up that’s transforming short-range transportation in her home country, proving that problem-solving in Africa can be done in Africa, by Africans.

[Valerie Labi's] company, Wahu!, assembles each bike by hand, and they can travel up to 80 miles [128 kilometers] on a single charge. This means that a delivery rider for Glovo or Bolt can comfortably cover a whole day’s work without refueling.

Anyone who’s visited Accra, Ghana, in the dry season will remember the incredibly poor air quality. Poor roads mean that cars are stuck in second and third gears, and old cars traveling in second and third gears mean plenty of extra car exhaust.

Poor roads also mean exposed dirt, and exposed dirt means fine-grained dust. Combined with a lack of rain, the smog, dust, and car exhaust make the air in parts of the capital unfit for human health.

Wahu! bikes help alleviate all three of these problems, and despite her English nativity [Note: Super weird and unclear way to phrase it?] and education, the bikes were designed and manufactured in Spintex, Accra.

“By introducing electric bikes into Ghana’s transportation ecosystem, we’re not only providing a greener alternative but also offering speed and convenience,” Labi told The Mirror. “Our bikes are a testament to how service delivery can be seamlessly merged with environmental conservation.”

Valerie Labi is a true inspiration, and besides her transportation company, she got her start in the Ghanaian economy in sanitation. She holds a chieftaincy title as Gundugu Sabtanaa, given to her by the previous Chief of the Dagbon traditional area in the Northern Region of Ghana. She has three children, holds a double major in Economics and Sustainability from two separate universities, and has visited 59 countries.

Getting her start in Northern Ghana, she founded the social enterprise Sama Sama, a mobile toilet and sanitation company that now boasts 300,000 clients.

During her travels around the small, densely populated country, she also recognized that transportation was not only a problem, but offered real potential for eco-friendly solutions.

“It took us two years to effectively design a bike that we thought was fit for the African road, then we connected with Jumia and other delivery companies to get started,” she told The Mirror. “Currently, I have over 100 bikes in circulation and we give the bikes on a ‘work and pay’ basis directly to delivery riders.”

According to Labi, each driver pays about 300 Ghana cedis, or about $24.00, per week to use the bike, which can travel 24 miles per hour, and hold over 300 pounds of weight. The fat tires are supported by double-crown front/double-spring rear suspension.

The bikes are also guaranteed by the company’s proprietary anti-theft system of trackers. Only a single bike has been stolen, and it was quickly located and returned to the owner."

-via Good News Network, January 24, 2024

[shimmerluna]

To be honest, a big part of why I dislike the fact that YR doesn’t explicitly address ableism is because I think this fandom in particular would benefit a lot from the sort of discussions a show that takes so much care with these topics could produce.

With the way people talk about Sara’s auDHD, Micke’s addiction, Kristina’s breakdown, and even August’s ED/addiction, it’s clear a lot of you view mental illnesses/disabilities as a choice someone makes or a punishment they can deserve/earn. There’s a difference between one’s disability being used as an excuse and it being a valid reason/explanation for actions the person still has to take responsibility for that few of you seem to recognize or care about, and treating these characters’ disabilities and mental illnesses like something they earned/deserved bc of something they did implies very harmful beliefs about real disabled people. 

On top of those implications, the only disabled/mentally ill character people treat with nuance and care is Wille, the main character who gets all the excuses/explanations. To a disabled person (i.e. me), it appears that some of you refuse to care about/empathize with disabled people on your own. Instead, you view us as morally bad and alien at the first sign of symptoms, and you only change your mind when an explanation you deem satisfactory makes us palatable or relatable to you. Since it's currently Disability Awareness/Pride Month, it's a good time for some of you to learn how to see both us as people and our disability without lengthy justification or respectability politics.

[spiders-lab]

I feel like a lot of people's response to Mouthwashing is a good example of how, despite being the "death of the author" website, a decent proportion of Tumblr's userbase doesn't seem to really get that the concept (somewhat critically) also implies that no one person can have the single "correct" read of a story?

It's wild reading so many different posts like "It's really telling how many of you don't appreciate [the most wildly specific and personal read of a story you've seen in your life] in this game, smh."

[carlyraejepsans]

saw your most recent post about really good fics that contain uncomfortable kinks and i immediately thought "ah, biscia must be reading the mpreg soriel fic" and almost left a reply talking about it but i stopped myself because i realized that would be an insane assumption to make. needless to say i felt so vindicated when i saw you link it in an earlier post.

like. HELLO?

HELLO???????

[wonder-worker]

"[Elizabeth Woodville] was the only member of [Crown Prince Edward of Westminster's] original 1471 council not already on the king’s council and her name headed the list of those appointed as administrators in Wales during Edward’s minority. [She remained on the council after it was expanded in 1473 and granted significant new governing and judicial powers]."

"In 1478 Prince Richard [of Shrewsbury] married the Mowbray heiress. Like his elder brother he had a chancellor, seal, household and council to manage his estates. His council, like that of Prince Edward, comprised the queen [Elizabeth Woodville] and a group of magnates and bishops, few of whom were Woodville supporters [...] It was Elizabeth who mattered, for Richard resided with her and Rivers treated his affairs as their own."

-J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 / Michael Hicks, Richard III and his Rivals: Magnates and their Motives in the Wars of the Roses

[crescentfool]

having the hc that minato is ace is incredibly funny sometimes when you think about how ryoji is oh so very bi because it's like. "ah. death stole my ability to be attracted to people," in the same way that ryoji stole minato's eye color and energy level. like wow, thanks ryoji, you just keep finding things to steal from minato!

[revenantghost]

You know, I think one of the coolest things about Trimax and how it ends is how unique the experience is to everyone, and how valid that is. I'm sick as a dog and hella groggy, so forgive me if I'm misremembering or my phrasing is weird, but I remember reading an interview where Nightow was asked whether Knives was alive or dead at the end of the manga. And he did give an answer, but he specified that was just his intention, and that everyone should walk away with their own opinion (something along those lines, I'm paraphrasing and cannot remember the source).

Nightow has also said that his intention with the ending was for it to be hopeful, but he would also later say that he was so incredibly burnt out and exhausted and that he would change some things if he could. I think you can read all of that in his work. So for me, my first (and thus-far only) readthrough left me with a distinct feeling of tragedy, exhaustion, and of cycles repeating. But everyone who walked away feeling hopeful and like the future is bright and infinite is also correct. And it really speaks to the deeply human nature of Trigun, and the way that its story speaks to us and our unique experiences and what life has taught us, I think. The song of humanity sings in all of us in all different ways.

Idk man, I need to sleep but I just think Trigun is neat.

[virtualcarrot]

I think stanning them is the single most boring thing you can do to a character.

Like, I love Iruka. Iruka's my blorbo from my manga since my teens. He's a caring adult who used to be a conflicted kid hiding his sorrow with laughter, what's there not to like? Him speaking his mind about the chuunin exam spoke to me for extremely relatable reasons. He's my projection character.

And you know what? There's nothing more interesting to me than exploring his faults. Please let's discuss his lack of self-control, getting so riled up during the chuunin exam nominations. Let's talk about his failures with regards to Sasuke, who had good grades and didn't act out so Iruka didn't pay him much mind even though Sasuke should have been flagged as a traumatized child. Iruka playing favorites. Iruka using his connections to keep playing favorites because he's worried... about his favorite. Iruka not fitting the shinobi mold. Iruka being lame. Iruka who spent years being a stern teacher to Naruto and apparently didn't think worth mentioning that he saw and appreciated Naruto's efforts until it was almost too late. Iruka failing.

Anyway, stanning is the single most boring and unproductive and dishonest thing you can do to a character

[hella1975]

i cannot stand the aot fandom this is not a new take at all they are universally intolerable but oh my dayssss u are FORBIDDEN from making ANY take about the show it's actually insane to watch. 'aot is perfect' no show is perfect. 'tell me you didnt get the show 😂🫵' people have different opinions/interpretations about things. 'eren is a good guy they could never make me hate him' i think there's actually 4 seasons and two movies explicitely using him as a tool to show that no one is 'good' or 'evil' they are only trying to survive. hello. the fandom r all so far up aot's ass that they actually discredit its writing in the process and it would be laughable if it wasn't so frustrating

[wia-tia]

Hikaru considers everyone his friend (even though he shouldn’t).

[2]

This is part of a series, you don’t need to read the others, but it might add some extra context:

Part [0]: main post

Part [1]: Hikaru’s motivations

Random intermezzo

Part [2]: Hikaru’s relationship with Yura, Nino, Ryosuke

Part [3]: Hikaru's relationship with Aqua & Ruby

Hikaru’s approach to friendships is interesting. He bonds with people to increase his guilt, such as Yura. He also seems to view everyone who shows him affection, even if superficial or transactional, as a friend, such as Nino and Ryosuke.

Hikaru's relationship with Yura

I believe that he was genuine friends with Yura, as he expresses concern for her career by asking Yura to consider what her fans would think, and he compliments her (“It can’t be, you’re cute.”  “What a great attitude.”) Yura feels very comfortable sharing personal stuff with him. (“Miki-san” “You’re the best drinking buddy after all.”) All imply that they have known each other for quite a while. Despite the context making it seem like he wants to immortalise her talent, he warns Yura twice. Why would he do that? He also adds please to it: just to be polite or is it an actual plea?

Nonetheless, after Nino pushes Yura, he instantly takes responsibility for Yura’s death, saying it is his fault and that he can feel his life’s weight. In chapter 161, he says his death would greaten Ai’s significance, so I interpret this as him trying to increase his guilt by being the cause of death and suffering of someone he knows and probably cares about. This guilt would make him feel Ai's presence again as he associates guilt with her. In the anime, he doesn’t say it as mockingly as I thought he would. Maybe it’s even apathetic, it’s quite hard to characterize. It could have also served the purpose to help Ruby get the role for Ai. This could mean that he does care for both Ruby’s career and Ai’s legacy in some way, which contradicts that he doesn’t want anyone to surpass Ai.

Additionally, I still think the person contacting Frill in chapter 113 is Hikaru (we don’t know Frill’s agency). At that point he was the only person associated with alcohol (by drinking with Yura). So, this shows he can influence someone in a certain direction, though we do not know if this was intentional or not. Frill says: “Sometimes when I hear from people like them, I’ll question my own stance.” Through interactions like these, he indirectly motivates Frill to root for Ruby to get the role of Ai, which ties in as a motive to kill Yura.

Hikaru's relationship with Nino & Ryosuke

In chapter 132, Nino says that they won’t forgive anyone who surpasses Ai, even Ruby (Ai’s daughter). It seems that she views Ruby as Ai’s daughter, not Hikaru’s, despite Hikaru referring to Ruby as “our daughter” in the past. It’s implied that Hikaru shares Nino’s view. Yet, in chapter 138, he paradoxically sponsors the movie that condemns him but does not reveal his name in the movie. Does he wish to be condemned, yet not at the same time? I don’t get why he’d risk being outed if he still intends to continue the murders, so nobody can surpass Ai (people will find out it’s him, he says that himself in chapter 147). I think this is a form of self-punishment, which is tied to his guilt and not him wanting nobody to surpass Ai.

Something that’s also still ambiguous is Hikaru’s debt to Kaburagi, who Hikaru calls ill-natured. In chapter 138, he refused permission to use his name, which he contradicts in chapter 147, when talking to Nino. This could be his way to provoke Nino, because he can’t do anything to his daughter himself. In chapter 158, his decision to hand “them” over to the police indirectly hands Nino over to the police, without himself, which I think means he still wants to do something for Ai (I think this is increasing his guilt), which he said in chapter 155.

He considers Ryosuke and Nino sincerely his friends. They approached him first and he was unaware of how their obsession might spiral and vaguely mentions Ai and his relationship with her. Given he knew Ai well, Hikaru likely knew Nino was Ai’s colleague. He also says that he was unsure about seeing Ai twice, which I think is in line with his timid nature we see in the movie. Nino was Ai’s coworker and she had a boyfriend. Maybe he thought he could get back together with Ai because they were together. It would be a nice reason why exactly Ryosuke needs to be Nino’s boyfriend. Nino would be his connection to Ai and seeing that Ryosuke is also together with an idol could give him hope that not all is lost with his relationship with Ai. Also, it’s a reason why Hikaru wouldn’t have assumed that Ryosuke would harm Ai because Nino is also an idol. Ai saying no to him wanting them to be together again would give him a reason to not go see her himself. If Ai saw that Hikaru didn’t bring the flowers himself maybe she would be concerned and reach out again confirming that Ai was serious about it and wanted to see him again and maybe get back together even if she said that she didn’t call for that reason.

He denies that he knew what happened in Miyazaki. But how does he even know Ai was about to give birth at a hospital in Miyazaki, did Ai call him before the call we see? The hospital scene in chapter 160 makes it seem that Ryosuke and Nino were tracking Ai after her disappearance, but Tsukuyomi’s story says Hikaru was there, so it still needs to be confirmed what exactly happened there. With the knowledge we have, I think Gorou’s death was an accident. If all three of them were there, I think it would have affected them greatly, but we don’t really see the aftermath of it in the manga. I think this could also be one of the reasons he stays close to the other two out of guilt of traumatising them with Gorou’s death, even if he didn’t do anything.

Interestingly and quite sad even, Hikaru calls Nino and Ryosuke, Nino-kun and Ryosuke-kun. Nino calls him Kamiki-san, which implies that there is a hierarchical distance for Nino, yet Hikaru considers them friends. This might explain why he feels guilty when their actions lead to tragedy, like Ryosuke’s suicide or for not seeing that his friend would’ve killed Ai. I think that’s also the reason he stays around Nino. However, Nino stays around him to make sure nobody surpasses Ai because she doesn’t have the connections to famous people herself.  Aqua does accuse him of never helping Nino’s mental condition which I think once again is connected to his guilt, where Nino and Hikaru stimulated each other’s guilt complex over Ai’s death and even on a smaller scale over Ryosuke’s death. So, improving each other’s mental condition was never on their minds.

I think this means that he thinks that anyone who gives him the slightest form of affection is his friend. That’s actually really sad. If he considers them his friends, why would he want to break or manipulate them? So, I don’t think he manipulated them intentionally.

Yet, Aqua says that his desire not to hurt anyone is a lie, so like what actually happened regarding Ai’s death is still up in the air. I think it’s possible that Hikaru lied to Aqua. His motivation might be to increase his guilt or to be loved, as chapter 161 implies. But the question remains: what exactly are the lies?

Hikaru’s creepy smile of this chapter only appears after Aqua accuses him of wanting to kill Ruby, which I think means that he feels a negative emotion. We never see him express strong negative emotions as an adult weirdly enough (outside of the underwater scenes) and I think some of his smiles, such as that one, is a repressed form of that.

Following Aqua’s words, it seems that Hikaru has manipulated Ryosuke and Nino. If he was, how much of it was conscious? I can’t imagine that, at the age of 14 up to 19, he’d fully understand the impact of his influence on others and he considers them friends. Why would he intentionally manipulate them? I wouldn’t have mind if it was intentional if it was explored better and not some vague scenes that contradict Hikaru’s previous words. The manga doesn’t give him a motivation for the manipulation nor the killing of Ai. In addition, the focus on Hikaru’s role in the murders risks removing responsibility of Nino and Ryosuke which I think undermines the message of the manga about parasocial relationships, success culture & the problems of the entertainment industry. These things lead to terrible outcomes if unmanaged (terrible outcome: seen with Ai’s death, Hikaru’s sexual assault; situations with a better outcome: Kana’s mother wanting Kana to be popular and leaving her when she isn’t; she has been healing form it, Akane’s cyberbullying; she survives and lives further, Memcho’s age; people still accept her and so on). So, I think it's weird that the manga would suddenly change it's direction from that interpretation. The industry and lack of support system cause terrible outcomes, but the same industry with a good support system can lead to better outcomes. I have been having a hard time coming up with a theme for the manga with the last few chapters, but we'll see what the next two chapters bring.

Thank you for reading!

[0] [1] [intermezzo] [3]

[stellanix]

what if neuvillette and furina familial dynamic, but furina is the one in the big sibling role instead of neuvillette

like, neuvillette may be the expert when it comes to legal proceedings, but outside the courtroom he's full of uncertainty - when he was lost and confused and struggling to understand himself, furina was the one who gave him guidance by encouraging him to get to know humanity

and then there's the way the members of the theater troupe in furina's story quest compared her to their former director, who they saw as an older sister figure, and how in the event furina took charge as the director and was the one guiding the cast and crew. she just seems to fit into such a role pretty nicely

i like this vibe it's neat

[palukoo]

I know I’ve made other posts talking about or alluding to this but like. obviously there are like the old hollywood movies in the sort of dyke subtext canon (all about eve, rebecca, johnny guitar, etc) but like. there are so many movies that like 10 people have seen but I have such a clear gay vision or interpretation for it. most of them aren’t even GOOD. and yet!!

like the great lie is the one that haunts me the most (or the women but I think that one is kind of different for me perhaps bc I’ve already talked about it here a lot or perhaps bc I think of it as being more well known and watched than I think it actually is? actually it’s probably that I think it is an overall good and well executed and entertaining movie which isn’t really true of most of these tbh). but I also think a lot about like when ladies meet, or old acquaintance, or sadie mckee, or the shining hour, or the model and the marriage broker, or a woman’s secret, or the bigamist, or craig’s wife, or born to be bad, or separate tables, or even dark victory to a degree. others too certainly those are just the ones that come to mind. for half of these it’s not even like oh these women are gay together it’s just like hey I think she’s a lesbian. and I’m right. but my genius will never be fully appreciated in my day unfortunately.

[9ndreus]

Shadwell: In league with the forces of darkness! You monster! Seducing men to do your evil deeds!

Aziraphale: Oh I think you've got the wrong shop.

Aziraphale: I only have them do Good deeds, actually.