#he's capable of growth - she isn't

[isfjmel-phleg]

I'm going to compare a commonality in two pieces of media that it makes no sense whatsoever to name in the same breath. Bear with me.

In P ride and P rejudice 1995, during the party at Lucas Lodge, fairly early in the story, Lydia and Kitty Bennet insist on some impromptu dancing with the officers (you can see a little of this mostly in the background at the beginning of this clip). The only other people there who join them in the dance are a pair of children who have been hanging around the younger Bennet girls, implied to be some of the younger Lucases. We never see these kids again, and this scene is only vaguely described in the book ("some of the Lucases," with no age indicated).

But there's a point to it. Putting Lydia and Kitty alongside literal children is a reminder to the audience of how young they are, Lydia in particular, who is only fifteen. Although she has entered adult society (unusually early) and brazenly flirts with adult officers who return her attentions, she really is just a teenager, and she doesn't belong in this setting. She has more in common, in terms of maturity, with the Lucas children.

Meanwhile, Superboy 1994 #9 (note the similar timeframe) opens with our young hero, who's ostensibly about fifteen/sixteen, on vacation with Tana, his twenty-three-year-old love interest, with the specific purpose of figuring out if they can officially make a romantic relationship work. But while Tana is seriously discussing the matter with her brother, Kon is delightedly playing with her young niece and nephew--before going back to being, like Lydia, an avid, often inappropriate flirt among the adults.

And this scene is serving the exact same purpose as the one in P&P. It's reminding the audience of just how young Kon is, how he fits in better among the children because he's basically one himself--and, whether or not the author is fully conscious of this implication, how inappropriate it is that he's in the position of viable romantic prospect to an adult. Which is kind of what's going on with Lydia too--there's some different cultural and historical context, but in both stories there are dire consequences to allowing a naive and immature teenager to have the status of an adult (Lydia is "out" in society too early, Kon is treated as an "emancipated minor" despite being more or less born yesterday), which makes them more vulnerable to predators ready to take advantage of their overeagerness for romantic attention.

[brucewaynehater101]

Android Tim Drake AU:

Drake Industries announced they had successfully created realistic-looking androids that passed the Turing Test (and harder versions of it). They were planning to release commercial models to the public within twenty years.

To go a step farther, the Drakes wanted to ensure no one was skeptical of the androids' abilities to pass as human. Thus, Janet and Jack Drake had a healthy "human" baby by the name of Timothy Jackson Drake. The only individuals aware of this are Tim, Janet, Jack, and a small handful of engineers bound with a fuck ton of NDAs. They planned to tell the public when Tim was eighteen.

While Janet and Jack Drake are aware of Tim's ability to mimic emotions, they do not believe him to be capable of actually feeling them. This leads to Tim's childhood being lonely and neglectful. He is a robot.

At first, Tim is incapable of consuming human foods or using his touch sense. They fix his touch sense by the time he is four (and thus Dick is his first hug), and the food by the time he is six. He is constantly undergoing repairs to allow him to mimic the growth pattern of a child. It's when he is nine that he finally gets pain sensors to discourage and alert him to damage.

Tim is, for all intents and purposes, legally a human. When Janet dies and Jack gets into a coma, Tim stops receiving "growth spurts." He remains the same size even after Jack wakes up from his coma.

When Tim becomes Robin, he does not disclose his status with Bruce, Dick, or anyone else. Given that his parents treat him like an object, a machine, and incapable of feelings, Tim doesn't want to be subjected to that by his heroes either.

Instead, he gaslights the hell out of the Bats, villains, and other heroes whenever he gets hit.

["Tim! You got flung into a building. You are getting a medical exam."

Tim narrows his eyes as his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Bruce.... what are you talking about?"

"I saw you get thrown into a building. You're not getting out of this."

Tim glances to the side and then back to his mentor. He carefully places a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "B... Maybe we should have Alfred check you over."

Bruce blinks in shock as his brows furrow. "What?"

Tim purses his lips and shakes his head in pity. "It's okay, B. We'll figure it out. Whatever is going on, we'll fix it."

Bruce is so confused and concerned he doesn't ask Tim to get a medical check and agrees to be checked over instead.]

Tim becomes an expert at repairing himself because he can't explain to the engineers (most of who were let go after Janet died) how he got damaged. He spends a lot of nights alone in his room turning off his pain sensors (which isn't an automatic process and is difficult to reach)in order to fix the mangled hand, the gaping gash, the crooked foot, etc.

Kon, and conversely YJ, are the first to find out about his status (darn x-ray vision and super hearing). This encourages Tim to create artificial sounds within himself to fool Superman when they first meet. This also forces Tim to wear a long-sleeved uniform and a hood to hide from x-ray vision.

Tim finds comradery with Red Tornado.

When Jack wakes up from his coma, he originally treats Tim as he did before: an object. Dana, though, changes this. Jack can't explain why he treats his "son" that way and slowly morphs into becoming a good father.

It starts as only occurring when Dana is in the room and ends with a very bitter and antagonistic Jack when she leaves. He is initially disturbed by how much Tim is "faking" emotions, particularly because Tim learned to conceal his emotions from his parents as a coping mechanism (not that Jack knows this).

As they start spending more and more time together, Jack begins accepting the idea that Tim is capable of emotions. He starts caring and loving the kid as his own.

Because of this, Jack becomes fearful for Tim. When he learns that Tim is Robin, he is both jealous of Bruce's relationship with Tim and absolutely terrified for his son (what happens if people find out that Tim is an android? How would they treat him? Tim told Jack the Waynes don't know about his status. What if Tim gets injured too badly during a mission and they find out?)

This is why Jack initially forbids Tim from being Robin. There is way too much at stake for Tim if he continues (even though, theoretically, Tim can't die. Jack can keep saves of Tim and import him into a new body if necessary. They both don't want to do this, however, because Tim's body is his. It would feel weird and wrong to put him in another one).

While Tim is prohibited from being Robin, Jack bankrupts his company in the process of getting Tim rights. He bribes the hell out of judges, law makers, etc. to subtly put I'm rights for androids. He wants Tim to have full access to his inheritance, to freedom, and to everything humans can do. He doesn't want Tim to be without it.

Tim doesn't understand why Drake Industries is going under and is pissed at Jack for preventing him from being Robin. Robin is everything to Tim. It allows him to be treated as human. It connects him to so many people.

It's only afterwards, when Tim is finally allowed to be Robin again (and Jack has ensured he did everything he could for now for Tim's rights), that Tim fully understands how much Jack loves and cares for him.

Then Jack dies.

Tim is able to hide the fact that he's an android up until a Red Helmet asshole breaks into the Tower. While YJ whisk him away before the Bats can find out, Jason knows. Jason found out.

[star-41306]

How do y'all think the duffers are going to go about initiating Byler?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and would love some thoughts on how everyone thinks Byler will progress. This is my opinion on the matter. (PS: this is a very mike centered analysis as I believe his perspective is the most beneficial to the conversation since he is at the center)

Mike is hiding his feelings for Will, but what benefit does this have for those involved? To us, the viewers, we can see the pain Will, El, and Mike experience through this situation. No party is receiving what they truly need to progress their happiness and growth.

El wants a boyfriend who will tell her that he loves her for who she is as a person, not her capabilities. At the heart of this is a need to be understood, but El herself doesn't really know who she is. Her growth is dependent on finding herself without outside influence.

Mike wants a girlfriend to seem/feel 'normal' and cool. He knows who he is but is repressing it. At the heart of this is a need to be desired. Sure, El wants him, but she does not know the truth about Mike. Mike's growth is dependent on someone finding comfort in the real him.

Will wants someone to treat him normal. He knows he's a freak and while he doesn't necessarily try to hide it, he wants the comfort of not being treated differently for it. Will's growth is dependent on the acceptance of those around him.

The existence of a romantic relationship between Mike and El goes against all of this potential growth. Mike idolizes El, never being able to see past her abilities. El is unable to find herself at the cost of being mikes cover. While doing this, he rejects his true self and affection for Will, because he believes he is doing what's right. Simultaneously, Will is left feeling dejected and alone in the disregard of his feelings.

I think Mike has very low self-esteem. It comes with the territory of being a nerdy queer teenager in the 80's. I also, however, believe that when he has enough faith in himself, or the stakes are high enough, he's good at taking charge of a situation. He is selfless, a kind of selfless where you can't always tell he cares for those around him, but he would sacrifice his own comfort and livelihood for the people he loves.

But if Mike is so selfless, why isn't he fixing the situation for everyone involved? Because of one simple fact: He is clueless. He has no idea what he's doing to El or Will.

He may know Will is upset about something while in the Van with him, but that boy has no idea what's going on in Wills head. He might not even realize the painting he got from Will is the one El was talking about in her letter. With everything going on, he probably still thinks will has a girl he likes back up in Cali and this is a completely different painting.

He senses El is upset and won't talk to him, but he thinks it's because she lost to Vecna. He has not even the slightest clue it's partially due to his conditional and untrue love confession. El believes that mike only said he loved her because she finally got her powers back.

Mike thinks he gave El and Will what they wanted. El wanted a love confession? check. Will wanted mike to move on and fix his relationship with El? check. done and done. At least that's what he thinks.

Now that we have motives and perspective out of the way, here's a general idea of how I think the Milkvan-Byler transition will pan out.

We have already established in the show that Will is too selfless to confess, thinking he's saving a perfectly healthy relationship that just so happens to involve the boy he loves and the girl who saved him. There is no way he would break them up on his own, or he would have done that already. The action relies on Mike and El. They both need to respectively decide a breakup is necessary for this to work.

The breakup cannot be prompted by one or the other, it must be prompted by both. Mike cannot be the only one desiring a breakup, because El needs to take her power back and make that decision by herself. At the same time though, El can't be the only one either, as mike needs to accept his feelings on his own and stop being someone he's not. Mike not initiating would also make Will seem like a second option and completely negate Wills growth of being accepted for simply being.

El will have distanced herself from mike tremendously. They may not have broken up officially, but she's realizing Mike is not what she needs right now. She will probably be spending time with Hopper and Joyce training to fight Vecna, and the reminder that that's the only thing mike seems to like about her will only push her more towards her own sense of self. Maybe she still has hope for her and mike, but that is not her focus right now.

While El is distanced, Mike and Will will fall into the same roles they did in season 2. Will will struggle with the supernatural aspects of the plot, while Mike takes care of him and keeps him safe. This will restore Mike and Wills friendship.

Mike simultaneously will realize how much happier he is away from El, because he can't help but act like someone he's not when he's around her. He will also realize the comfort he finds in being relied on by Will. This won't necessarily prompt him into the breakup, as he still believes dating El is the best way he can support her. He might want Will, but he still feels like he can't have him.

I Because of this, El will be the first to initiate, but it will be mutual. I think they will have a long discussion (maybe starting as a fight) about Mikes lies in his speech and the pressure he felt to conform to this relationship. El will share how his actions have not helped the relationship, but instead made them both feel miserable, trapped, and unappreciated. They will realize that the other is not what they need, and though they will both need platonic support through this journey, they just can't benefit each other this way.

While Mike and Will are reconnecting, El will finally notice... everything. The stares, soft voices, comforting, and everything will click. El might need some help understanding though, because even though she did not have a normal childhood, she is still subjected to heteronormativity even if she joined the game late. She will make the connection that that is how she should have been treated, and though they are both boys, I think a sit down with one of the other characters (Johnathan? Hopper? Joyce?) will help her connect the dots.

I think the painting and mikes feelings for Will may become an entirely different discussion later in the season, and this is what will push mike into feeling allowed to want him. The combined acceptance from El, and the implied reciprocation from Will could be the push mike needs for his own self-acceptance.

This will allow Byler to build up in a healthy way where all parties benefit and are able to build even stronger connections with each other. Through honesty, acceptance, and love, all of which have been lacking.

Thank you if you read all of this. Please let me know if you feel like this will go in an entirely different direction in ST5!!!

[venxomi]

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Chapter 122 Analysis - Humanization, Determination & Growth

This chapter may have been short, but it is a very important and well written, character-focused chapter that is integral for setting up future content.

It begins where we left off in 121. Nene finally reaches the school in desperation, with the expectations that her friends would be right behind her. But that doesn't happen. Nene realizes, just as we have, that she is now by herself.

This is the first time Nene is truly by herself. Up until now, she always had someone to rely on and support her, whether it was Hanako, Kou, Akane or Teru. But not anymore. Realizing she's all alone, she still calls for Hanako in her mind, the one who would provide her safety and comfort. But he isn't there. No one is. They're dead. As a result, she feels despaired and powerless.

When she meets Tsuchigomori, multiple contrasts and similarities occur, both paralleling Amane/Hanako. Specifically, parallels with Amane in chapter 14, and parallels with Hanako in chapter 111.

The one who lost hope, and the one who regained it

Her traumatic experiences caught up to her, and she can't speak up on them, a completely normal and valid reaction. Though Tsuchigomori of the original timeline offered her to talk to him when she needs to, Tsuchigomori of the new timeline doesn't know her.

Both the original timeline's 1969 Amane and Nene are isolated and despaired, without anyone to confide in or support them. They're put in the same position. However, this is where the differences start.

Tsuchigomori knows everything about Amane, as he is his homeroom teacher and has also read his book. However, he had only pretended to show concern and not a single word of comfort. He only tried to pry into his problems, which didn't have any results. This being likely the last conversation he had with Amane before he ended his own life, which filled Tsuchigomori with regrets over not being able to help him. He did not know how to comfort others, only to show worry.

New timeline Tsuchigomori is different. He doesn't know Nene at all, tried asking her once, but once she saw that she cannot speak up about her experiences, he did not attempt to pry, but provided comfort instead.

This is later revealed to be Amane's influence on Tsuchigomori. When Nene asked him for a morale boost, he performed what Amane had done to cheer up his own students. Comfort is brought through small actions, whether it's through listening, brewing hot chocolate or making them smile with a couple of tricks. It's about being there for them. In a way, Amane succeeded in being a comfort for Nene, even if he wasn't physically there for her.

Would have a few words of comfort changed Amane's path? Who knows. But Amane and Nene are quite the opposite. Amane is someone who is very quick to accept reality and adapt to it, no matter how bleak it is. It's why he thought that, after the Severance, Nene would eventually forget about everything and live her life. He thought that, like him, she would accept reality and move on.

But Nene is not like that. She doesn't want to settle for happiness built on other people's suffering and sacrifices... Because that isn't true happiness. That is not the kind of world she wants to live in. It's one of the things Hanako loves about her, because she's different from him, able to take paths he could've never taken.

So, while Amane made up his mind to "not go anywhere" and gave up on trying, taking his own life, Nene gathered her strength to save everyone from this bleak, miserable present. It's something only Nene is capable of because of her formidable inner strength. The strength to go through the bleakest of moments, to stand up against great difficulties and to retain her kind, selfless self. She is a special, irreplaceable character. She knows her road will be lonesome and incredibly tough, but she gathered the courage and determination to tread it anyway.

Dissociation, Acceptance and Humanization

After her horrible experiences in the Red House, Nene found it hard to admit the Hanako she knows and loves is the same person of the Yugi Amane who murdered all of her friends and several other innocent people. Even if Hanako also did bad things, they were always backed up by his intense love and dedication to Nene. The Hanako she knows may not be innocent, but his love and kindness were always genuine.

This holds true the same to Hanako in chapter 111. He found it hard to believe that Tsukasa, the brother he loved so much, would be capable of such horrifying actions. It's easier to convince yourself into thinking that they're separate entities, that it's just a horrible being masquerading as the person you love.

But Nene soon learns that separating the Hanako she knows from the new timeline iteration of Amane isn't the answer. Because, no matter what one might think, they are still the same person.

Yugi Amane, before his death, was the same caring, understanding and kind person she knew Hanako she loved to be. Learning magic tricks just to make his students smile, letting them freely hang out in the science prep room and listening to them when they have something to take off their heart while offering them a seat and a cup of coffee. He was human.

She knows that Hanako needs to be saved. Yugi Amane needs to be saved from being caught in the Red House's clutches and stripped of all of his love and kindness, leaving him to be nothing but a curse that only exists to kill for "It". This is also visible in the cover page- Yugi Amane isn't represented by the red camellias Hanako is represented by, symbols of his passionate love and dedication. He isn't represented by any flower whatsoever, replaced by the tentacles he uses to kill instead.

Tsukasa is somewhat in the same position in the original timeline. Tsukasa is still the Tsukasa Hanako holds so dear, only possessed by "It", sort of like a parasite. Will Hanako eventually learn from Nene and see the truth aswell?

Her selfless personality shines once again, putting herself through a treacherous path just to save everyone. A path she will walk by herself from now on. Hanako is the one who saved her so many times up until now, but this time, she will be the one who will bring him the salvation he needs.

Conclusions

With this chapter, we're heading into the 2nd half of this arc, or another arc, depending on how you look at it. Nene doesn't know what to change exactly and she knows that, so she will likely keep turning back time until she finds what went wrong. It will be an arduous, long and painful road, but her inner strength will overcome every difficulty. I have faith in Nene.

She may not be strong physically, but no matter what anyone says, no matter how many times she has to fall, she's undefeatable. Until her last breath, she will keep standing and fighting for what she loves. That is Yashiro Nene, the protagonist of Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun and the true most powerful character in the series.

[vynxwave]

EarthSpark Frenzy's line in S1E08 Decoy "We're free now. You don't have to follow him anymore." has no implications about how Soundwave treats the cassette-bots.

I've seen this misconception a lot and I'd like to clear it up.

So, let's delve into the context surrounding the line, starting with the scene that precedes it:

After the cassette-bots get caught by the Autobots, Optimus allows Megatron to let them go. The cassette-bots beg Megatron to let them go free, and he does so but with a warning: "You will only get one second chance. Do not throw it away."

Megatron is saying that if they are caught again, then they will be imprisoned by GHOST (the organization that has forced all the Decepticons marooned on Earth to stay on the run or hide lest they be caught and imprisoned).

Now, onto Frenzy's line and the scene it occurs in:

Frenzy & Laserbeak are standing together, notably apart from and behind Ravage which represents their division and their background/foreground positioning representing Ravage leaving them behind when she does so.

Frenzy is trying to convince Ravage to literally not follow Soundwave into GHOST, because doing so risks her imprisonment, and she knows how loyal Ravage is to Soundwave. Frenzy & Laserbeak want to abandon the operation in favor of maintaining their freedom, which this is them heeding Megatron's words of not throwing away their freedom (their second chance), hence Frenzy trying to convince Ravage to do the same.

Frenzy's line does not imply anything about how Soundwave treats them because that's not the point of why she’s trying to dissuade Ravage — it's about wanting Ravage to use this second chance they've been given to maintain her freedom and be safe from GHOST.

Ravage, however, isn't dissuaded and leaves to follow Soundwave and the mission, and sneaks into Soundwave's chest cavity.

This scene ties back into one of EarthSpark's themes that run throughout the entirety of the show about making your own choices, whether good or bad ones (this theme also manifests in second chances — choosing to do better, or not), and these choices are what shapes your character (and this ties into EarthSpark's exploration of self-discovery and growth).

Circling back to the cassette-bots: Frenzy & Laserbeaking choosing to heed Megatron's words and abandon the mission and Soundwave doesn't imply anything negative about their relationship with him, only that they value the chance they've been given and perhaps ultimately that they're afraid of GHOST. Ravage not heeding Megatron's words and not being dissuaded by Frenzy shows just how important Soundwave is to her, regardless of the risk following him into GHOST poses.

Inferring that Ravage sneaks into Soundwave's chest cavity would've been easier had that one subplot cut for time with S1E08 Decoy's payoff showing her literally sneaking around GHOST (and Starscream's dialogue implying its habitualness) not been cut... but I digress. (She'd later get to showcase her sneakiness in S2E03 Control Alt Delete.)

Of course with these scenes/this subplot not making the cut it ultimately isn't canon, but I mention it due to it being the planned follow-up to S1E08 Decoy as it clearly shows a positive relationship between Ravage and Soundwave.

In S1E17 Home it's shown that Frenzy & Laserbeak decided to go underground — a choice that was made actively heeding Megatron's words and staying clear of GHOST.

In S2E07 The Imposters Soundwave is seen feeding Ravage and standing by her, and this shows that he cares about her.

In S2E09 Witwicky Laserbeak flies above all the gathered Decepticons and out of all of them chooses to perch on Soundwave's arm.

In S3E05 Fire and Ice Frenzy & Laserbeak take silly selfies aboard the commandeered starship. Evidently, they're messing around with a camera/technology they're not supposed to — and they're capable of sending its photos to Earth! — and Soundwave is quick to confiscate it. I'd presume he does this for purposes of safety/security — sure, they encrypted what they sent out, but now that they're in space who knows what could intercept their transmissions.

The tone of this scene is evident in Optimus's good-natured laugh and comment ("looks like they're having fun on your ship"), and Breakdown's grinning when Soundwave makes for the camera/technology. Ultimately, this scene doesn't convey much of anything about Soundwave's relationship with the cassette-bots, just that the cassette-bots are silly; Breakdown's wide grin likely doesn't suggest anything negative will happen to the cassette-bots.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

If it's not a spoiler, what would you say is WD!Rose's biggest weakness/flaw?

I would hope that her biggest flaws haven't really changed from the original show. It's not like she acquired some new ones just because Steven's there. At her core, her motivations and fears are still the same.

Largely, it's her self-hatred and self-doubt.

Rose Quartz has always been defined by her dislike of herself. It's in the lyrics of the end song. It's practically telegraphed at every episode she shows up in.

Rose Quartz popped out of the ground, was immediately defined by who she was (supposed to be) and then was pretty much immediately reprimanded by the other diamonds for acting out in any way that didn't fit their 'standards'.

Then she went to Earth, realized their standards were shite, and tried desperately to become someone else - while never believing that she could ACTUALLY change and grow to be someone new. To the very end, she thought that she was fooling the others, even as she tried to protect them.

Her entire arc is about desperately trying to be herself, and failing at every step of the way because she fundamentally doesn't believe she's capable of change. She looks in the mirror and she sees in past tense.

Rose, here, is faced with something she has been running after her whole life:

Living proof of how a Diamond could be Not A Diamond in a way that isn't deceiving anyone. In a way that is purely, entirely, fundamentally, changing who they are.

Rose adores Steven at this point in the story, as much as she is terrified of him and all he represents.

His ability to forget who he is supposed to be.

His potential for change, and growth beyond his programming.

And the looming threat of that all being just another lie, or a temporary fix that will shatter her hopes of ever becoming like him.

Of course... she doesn't know about his dreams, nor his internal struggles. But that's gonna be its own story. :)

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 9 part 4

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

it's still agatha and her river

mama, I'm sorry I got upset. mama I'm sorry we're both starving tonight. I promise I'll do better tomorrow.

a six year old taking responsibility and apologizing for his mother's shortcomings.

agatha looks down at her precious little boy's pleading face

and she smiles at him, and nicky gives her a big relieved grin.

evanora is not stealing this moment. she did her worst to fuck with agatha's brain chemistry, but in one fundamental thing she failed: agatha is capable of loving her kid. despite all her other shortcomings, she will never blame nicky for her own faults.

she does a cute little dance for him, and this is what they do, isn't it? he's too small to explain his big feelings and she is too scared, and so they sing to each other and hope the love is understood anyway.

see how he touches the brooch? if only she could have loved nicky in vacuum, without any of the emotional baggage. but he is only the last link in a long chain of witches, pain and and tears and blood that made him what he is. agatha cannot escape her identity and legacy no matter how much she tries, and she couldn't protect nicky from it either.

the last time she sees nicky alive he's smiling adoringly at her. this is the boy she can't face in the afterlife, because her own guilt is so strong she's convinced he will hate her.

nicky dies peacefully in his mother's arms. his soul wakes up and sees rio waiting for him.

that some good cinema dear lord

rio waves at nicky. he doesn't know her (when who will return?) but he still trusts her implicity - she's been around him his whole short life, in the woods, in the water, in his lungs.

and - the bit that destroyed us all - rio makes nicky go to agatha one last time. go kiss your mama goodbye.

light and dark, growth and decay, here and beyond.

remember when alice died and the camera turned upside down? it stops halfway here. agatha has been affected so profoundly by nicky's death that she can never let herself go back to the land of the living, but she's also too scared to follow rio to the other side. she's stuck in the middle, consumed by the impossible dream of bringing nicky back, never allowing herself to find peace and companionship again. in love with death, but running away from it.

(people never seem to make crack and humor vids for episode 9, isn't that curious? when it's soooo fun and lighthearted!)

well ain't that just brutal

I have always known

This Road is cruel and wild

I bury my own heart

Here with you, my child

(I think those are lavender flowers? I'm not 100% sure)

coolcoolcoolcoolcool. that's fine. I'm absolutely fine.

BARRIERS UP right away. even if she looks like a mess. especially because she looks like a mess. she's not showing weakness in front of anyone, she's protecting her grief like a jealous goblin, and since she cannot run, she straightens her dress and gets ready to fight. the option to ask for help and comfort doesn't even cross her mind.

her eyes still full of tears / agatha gets another wonderful, awful idea.

we've seen this so many times, haven't we? the real agatha disappears behind the character she plays. the agatha we've seen from the very start, since the moment she walked into wanda's living room, has been a lie. very few people have ever seen a hint of the poor bruised heart she hides inside, and only to rio and (to some extent) nicky she has ever opened up.

how can someone go from total heartbreak to planning murder in the span of two minutes? well, you can if you are agatha harkness and have never learned one healthy coping mechanism in your life. and I'm sure she's already rationalizing it as something like "if I get powerful enough I can bring nicky back." but the truth is, she just wants to get drunk on magic and murder and stop feeling so horrible. she's running away, like usual. she's planning to kill witches in front of the grave of the very kid who begged her not to, and she's using his song to do it. as if that's not gonna haunt her or anything.

(it really gets me how agatha's smiles are so different from kathryn's. agatha never smiles with her eyes, except when she's with nicky.)

agatha's diabolical scam is so stupid if you think about, definitely worthy of the clown she has become. just pretend the Road didn't open and then annoy people into attacking you! better than using a literal child as bait, I guess.

here she absorbs a yellow coven, and yep, it does look like covens are all supposed to be the same color?

the bodies from the agnes of westview opening.

orange coven in the late 1800s. I really like that dress and hat on her

blue coven in the 1920s, and another cunty outfit

I know you guys like the 90s look, but it makes me laugh how hard she was trying for that Craft vibe. and we don't see the beams color here.

and finally, our girls. (I miss you all so muchhhhh)

what do you know! looks like a door has appeared! (sharonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!)

from fuck has my karma caught up with me to well well well, looks like we have another little maximoff on our hands

and speaking of little maximoffs and giant assholes...

go to episode 9 part 5

[impactrueno]

I saw an oldish post of yours where you mention something about the musicaljuice and musicalLyds dinamic after the musical, and it was a fair thing to wonder about cause, yeah, tf do you do after that? Not a particularly openended story, in any case here's my cup of tea.

no one rlly likes beetlejuice besides Lydia and well, not just the fun parts, he helped her develop and put her in a situation where Charles had to listen to her, basically indirectly solved her daddy issues lol, don't know if Lydia would rlly think about the latter though.

But thing is he isn't rlly the ideal friend, nothing rlly happened during the musical to demonstrate growth from beetlejuice or any kind of communication with the whole "leaving him" thing from Lydia's part, in Beetlejuice's head she still was gonna leave him, bro rlly has no object permanence ANYWAY so that, it's likely that similar stuff (maybe not the full blown marriage thing but yk, a lot of misunderstandings and things happening because hr has the separation anxiety of a two month old puppy)

It would take some character development for him to not think Lydia is gonna leave him forever as soon as she walks to a different room, and bringing up another thing you said, Lydia isn't exactly the best either, they were just using eachother to feel better but it wasn't rlly sustainable, but the difference is Lydia changed and Beetlejuice didn't, and most likely he won't, similar to your toonjuice comic where he is capable of caring and he can develop yes, but he isn't gonna change, there's just so much wrong with musicaljuice he can grow in his own Beetlejuice way, but in the end of the day he's still him.

weirdly enough,both toon and musicaljuice are the more "human" of the juices in a sense, or at least, the most emotionally vulnerable and even relatable to a level (more leaning towards musical in this point, I haven't really seen much of the cartoon) because at his core he wants to connect and feel loved, he kinda sucks at both of em tho which makes it hard for any dinamic he could be a part of to work 💔

So yeah that's my thoughts sorry for the mess of dispersed ideas and the long ass text.

-🌧

yeah musicaljuice is the definitely most "human" of the three. i feel like this is because musicals thrive on exploring characters' feelings and emotions, so we get to see a lot of that from him, and that helps the audience understand him better and relate to him to a degree you wouldn't usually see in the cartoon…much less in the movies lmao (even so i still find toonjuice the most relatable. me, personally.) bj's arc in the musical really hit home for a lot of people.

but i'm gonna have to disagree with you that bj didn't change or go through character development. at the beginning of the show, death means nothing to him. we all die. let's kill some people. it's whatever. but after the wedding ceremony where he came to life just to die a minute later, when he protects lydia from his mother, he shows that his view on life and death changed quite a bit after what he just went through. he saw that lydia's life was precious and would not let his mother take that away from her. note that in Say My Name, he's stopping her from jumping off the roof only because he needs her alive, since she's the only living person who can actually see him and therefore summon him. but after the wedding, he's very selflessly protecting her right to live. not just that, but he kills his own mother (the cause of all his emotional issues) in order to save lydia. that's HUGE. symbolic, too!!

he's the only one of the juices who actually went through a character arc and showed growth by the end of it. toonjuice is notoriously bad about this sort of thing lol. and moviejuice is…..question marks. what even is he. we just don't know.

the thing is we didn't get to see much of him after the events that changed him. the only interaction he has with lydia after that is their goodbye, which was very sweet and did a great job at showing that there are no hard feelings. but like…how different would their dynamic be after all that? because it was a pretty significant shift in character from him, which would probably affect how they get along with each other.

…OR WOULD IT….?

see, there's also the possibility that they would simply go back to how they were during That Beautiful Sound. just two fucked up friends having fun in ways that only make sense to them. although maybe his abandonment issues wouldn't be such a problem after doing the incredibly cathartic act of killing his mother lmao. or maybe lydia, now understanding him a lot better, would help him figure out how to deal with his issues (this is a big maybe because she doesn't come off as the type of person who would do that…that's more of a toonlyds thing.) perhaps maybe they would talk things out, she would probably tell him "i wasn't leaving you, stupid." bro was scheming against her while she was literally upstairs gushing to the maitlands about "her monster" lol but he didn't know that!! after the whole wedding stuff and meeting his mother i think lydia would go "oh now i get why he acted so weird."

it's all one big "maybe" because i think it could go either way with these two, and it all hinges on the direction you want to take them in. you mentioned bj isn't an ideal friend, and i guess you could try making him one?? but he doesn't have to be. i certainly wouldn't expect him to be the ideal best friend, not by any sane person's standards anyway. and that's the thing about them, they're both chaotic and messed up, and it's likely they would remain so even after the events of the musical because that's just the kind of people they are. not to mention the fact that you can't get rid of bj's emotional issues overnight. all of this, and they would still be inseparable because of the unique type of connection they have. there's these posts i saw the other day that i think encapsulate them pretty well lol

i would say that the one thing we know for sure is that he now has an undying loyalty towards her. she tricked him and then killed him, and yet he still went out of his way and faced his own personal demon to save her and showed gratitude for allowing him to be alive, even if it was just for a bit.

this dumbass though. instead of scheming against her, if he wanted to become alive so he could stop being invisible, he could've just told her that. considering how big of a weirdo she is, it's so easy to imagine her agreeing to the marriage thing just to make him alive, if he had brought it up in a less insane manner lmfao but then we would have no plot now would we

[fuumiku]

Demon AU (krkb)

+ bonus Kuro

Kurokabuuu!! If Kabru gets to be naked then so does Kuro, equality for all 🔥Not to break the mystique but in that intro comic Kuro isn't flexing he's just pushing Mickbell away bc he about to be in business mode gdbdg. Was weird trying to make Kuro look more demony, did not work very well except for making him buffer but hey...! A black dog demon yeah yeah yeah...!

I have accidentally recreated Howl's Moving Castle... NOW HEAR ME OUT- The base concept for my satyr Kabru AU (the initial idea was the sketch where he has no horns haha) now turned demon AU was materializing Kabru's fear of anything monster, particularly his insecurity as a kid of being an incubus('s child and that making him a monster), and helping him work through it so he can love himself and others and the world better, but everything started clicking only after thinking about Kuro's role in the setting more. He's this feared dude with a witchy reputation and a lil rhyme about how everyone should stay away from him for their own sake etc etc, but he's not a demon just a dog dude really. The setting in this AU is much like Dunmeshi, but all monsters are called "demons" instead and tied with this concept of demonic not just monstrous, there's special generalized fear in them being kinda fundamentally evil. But they're just beasts, and sometimes just demihuman races, like Kuro. Magic does exist though, and curses, and yeah just a folk kinda vibe!

Kabru because he's become supernatural knows how to speak Kuro's tongue now too, or maybe he's always known it idk... But Kabru sought Kuro out because he's The demon guy around, thought if anyone around would know how to do anything about his having become a monster it'd be him- Mickbell is there too ig like waaa this innocent-looking (def isn't) human loves this demon and lives with him, alone but peaceful as hermits in the woods? Wah wild. Wah we can still have love?? Wah we can fall in love together and live happy monster lives even if ostracized??! Wah wait I'm not even a monster it was just my own latent magical powers cursing myself because I worried and believed myself to be a demon so intensely for so long?!! Wah we can truly have it all...... Growth feels so nice. Except Mickbell, that grown ass man is not finding inner peace yet. Still he's chill here since he's a side char not a main one

It's how Kuro's confident in himself despite everything being stacked against him, it's how he still trusts and likes himself, it's how he just wants a simple happy life and pursues what he wants, it's how he takes things simply... Self-critical Kabru always neglecting himself over obsessing about the greater good could learn from him........ Kuro is the only one after his transformation that unconditionally welcomes him and shows him compassion and it's all so confusing to him, especially since at first Kabru wouldn't even offer that same humanization to Kuro, only risked it out of necessity for his own circumstances, but he gradually becomes able to see the humanity in him despite his appearance, mannerisms, way of life and ideals, until he sees the humanity in him and himself too despite their appearances, until he finds there's nothing wrong in this routine and life of theirs in this isolated magical little place, until........... Just about accepting all of those fuzzy inbetween ways to be that are unclean and hard to understand from the outside, and growing comfortable in them and loving himself and kuro and the life they've made together.......!!!!!! What if through humanizing you I humanized myself... What if through growing a understanding for each other wevalidated ourselves, love as self-love...

I love including Rin into things, for a more plotty story it'd be neat if she tried and followed Kabru... He up and disappeared and she's a capable mage and she doesn't know what his plan was because he never tells her anything so she goes out and pursues him- Could even be the main antagonist besides just idk self-hate and townspeople lol, like she thinks Kuro is keeping him prisoner or something and also because she kinda represents the same kinda social trauma Kabru has, where she's strict about conforming and being an irreproachable undeniable human so she kind of wants to drag him back to that state he was in of anxiety over acting and being human enough...... But of course in the ultimate confrontation when she has her staff pointed at Kuro and they talk, she's hurt by him not confiding in her and thinking of her as someone who wouldn't help, but she understands and stops and yay happy ending :> And if we want them to be in this Holm and Dia may be allies I feel 🤔Like maybe they help out Kabru when they see him, help him escape their human village at one point or something, Holm is quite nice and cares for spirits and Dia's fled her home too so they kinda get it in a way, it'd contrast Rin... This isn't about the Laios party lol. Rin & Mickbell shenanigans would lowkey be fun like maybe Mickbell tricks Rin into thinking Kabru IS there against his will so she can take him away and the status quo of Mickbell not having to share Kuro with anyone is preserved, or maybe they just shittalk and grumble together. Gbdgd this is a plotline about accepting change and these two are noooot happy about it

So yeah he hates being a monster that's the schtick!! Won't a cool dog man pleaseeee turn me human again. Surely he can do that right. So he goes to live with this feared coolass magicky guy and that guy's little guy at his weird home and through making connections and self-love the curse you actually unknowingly put on yourself gradually lessens and disappears, but you don't care anymore because that's the point 😌 Which is why I call it a Howl's Moving Castle recolor gdbd

Kabru is usually the voice of reason within kurokabu so it's really fun switching the roles in that way. If you're just stumbling into this and are sooo confused first of all congrats on getting so far second I can't overstate how unironic this is + if you want more explanation about the ship I made a brainstormy manifesto here <3 Like, did you know Kuro's name is actually Yodan? He was likely called Kuro by Mickbell due to the language barrier. In this AU it's because no one's interested in him as a person so people just give him an ominous title that means black. But Kabru learning his name and Kuro willingly giving away that information and Kabru feeling the weight of it because he really thinks this'd allow him to control him (he can't actually control bc he's not a demon! No one's a demon yay! Just weirdo humans who get otherized)......

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other vers because I 1) really like it and 2) am very indecisive. I overthink every single slight color change I stg lol

Sigh....... Like bro what if we were both so so far away from home and we knew we can't really go back and we've made our peace with that but man I miss not having been ripped away from my homeland and we are both so so isolated in our own ways in our presents and with a small yet gigantic gesture of compassion and of seeing each other we can learn and grow together with secret study dates where I teach you how to communicate the same way you're teaching me your language, we are both reaching across to each other we are both finding in one another a presence and humanity that feels so rare anywhere else. A sliver of warmth a sliver of home but also a sliver of the new, and embracing that things are changing and that we've changed and wow the animality within humanity and the humanity within animality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey bro your humanity I am only now fully grasping and coming to terms with is so hot bro............ What if your beastly features ended up making me more comfortable in my own stinky human animal flawedness bro........ What if we could just be together reassured through each other that we're human enough no matter what and that's all we need to just be and wahhhhh aughhhhh

Kurokabu is Kuro needing to choose between Kuro and Yodan. Kurokabu is needing to feel comfortable in animality within humanity. What if we stopped repressing ourselves 🫶

[waywardwhispersblaze]

"Silco didn't create Jinx... but Vi did"

I wanna revisit the ending of Arcane S1 a little bit.

For 3 years, we've been sitting with these words Jinx throws at Vi at the dinner party:

"he [Silco] didn't make Jinx... you did"

And at this point we're obviously meant to interpret it as "Vi made Jinx, the broken, murderous psychopath"

The song in that scene reinforces that notion with the very on-the-nose lyric "I am the monster you created"

At that point, that's something Jinx believes. That's definitively something Vi internalizes, too, as evidenced by her line in S2E1: "no point in sticking around... except... I'm the one who created the monster"

In the Arcane S2 E8 watch party video with Amanda Overton, when talking about the alternative universe in ep 7, she says:

"in order to honor that [notion that Silco didn't make Jinx, Vi did] we could have a world with Powder where there was no Jinx but there couldn't be a Vi in it"

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZVuH-P5ko8 around the 1:00:00 mark)

Since S2 came out I've been sitting with this for a while, and I wanted to offer my own interpretation of it.

What S2 does is present us with an alternative reading of who "Jinx" is. Obviously, a girl broken by her circumstances, but not just that: a girl with "an explosive potential", a girl who is inventive, cunning, with plenty of witty comebacks to spare. A girl who knows she's all of that, and who knows she is badass in a fight. Now, we knew that already, but what's important is that this is how other characters come to see her as well, in a positive light: the Jinxers, Sevika, Isha, Ekko and Vi. What's most important, I think, is that S2 shows us that Jinx is not only all of that, but she's also a girl who is capable of growth.

Compare our Jinx to AU!Powder. AU!Powder may superficially look fine, she's actually not okay. She's holding herself back. She's trying to be the one who fixes other people's problems (I saw another post who phrases that very beautifully but can't find it again). She's still visiting a shrine dedicated to her sister very frequently, several years after her death (major red flag! of unprocessed grief!). She's not growing, she's stagnant (at least until our Ekko shows up).

That brings me back to the other thing Jinx says to Vi in the dinner scene:

"You never left. I always heard you. [...] Your voice. Pushing me. Picking me up when all the colors were black... you're the reason I'm still alive"

Vi, not Silco.

The memory of Vi is what always pushed Jinx forward. It's telling that even during her Isha era, Jinx was clearly trying to emulate the big sister Vi used to be for her (the monster fights, for one thing).

AU!Powder didn't had a flare to hold on to in the hope that her Vi would come back to her.

Of course this doesn't erase the history between Jinx, Vi and Silco, or the mistake Vi made when she hit Powder. But Jinx became who she became because Vi always believed in her. Because even when everyone else thought Jinx was "too far gone", Vi saw her sister and couldn't go for the kill. Because who she became is not the monster everyone saw her as, but someone with amazing potential instead.

So yeah, actually, Vi made Jinx. Vi, who could never give up on her sister. Jinx, the girl with the strength to walk away.

And who walked away for Vi's sake too. Isn't that beautiful :')

[not-your-bro]

as climbing class has waned in popularity i've seen (justifiable) criticism of certain fic setups & tropes, and to a extent i agree with a lot of them. but honestly i'll go to bat for josh allowing himself to be helped/cared for.

i've seen this disparagingly called "caretaker chris," and i guess if you think chris is such an asshole that he's incapable of being considerate or caring, then we are on different pages. but i feel like people think that these fics weaken or reduce josh's character. and i'm not saying individual fics aren't capable of mischaracterizing him (i don't even like my own josh characterizations, in my old fics), but i don't agree that this setup inherently does that.

it's different than canon josh, but to me it's an intentional progression. in canon, josh keeps his shit locked down. an obvious example is that he clearly loves and dotes on his sisters but does not want them to know what he's going thru, considering how long it is before hannah finds out. he's also harsh asf to sam if she says that his actions are a cry for help - like i know he's Going Thru It and all, but he just fucking mocks her lmao. at best he wants to shield the people he cares about from these parts of him, and at worst he's just going to bite the hand that reaches out.

........which is exactly why i enjoy allowing him to see that vulnerability isn't weakness, and that it's ok to accept help + care when you need it. this can happen in any universe, in any context, bc i think his desire to close off and/or bite the hand are core character traits that are not dependent on canon events. but my point is, this is growth. or it can be, when done well. bc josh's canon attitude isn't healthy lol. i obviously love an unhealthy guy as much as the next person, but sometimes its satisfying and cathartic to see your fucked up fav take a step forward.

[robinmage]

absolutely no one: me: The Ancient Magus Bride isn't really a "romance" the way most people tend to think. Despite its few moments, one of, if not, the main focus of the series is about how the qualities of interpersonal relationships differ vastly between each individual. Your relationship with one friend may function incredibly differently from another friend, because the unique combination of those circumstances and personalities will affect how you coexist with one another and define each others' "roles" in your lives. For Elias and Chise, the growth of their relationship is also parallel to their growth as people. The way they met had a very big impact on how they viewed and treated each other in the beginning of the series. Chise, being completely alone and in a very vulnerable position and simply not caring because she had already given up on her life, and Elias buying taking her in because of her innate magical ability. As Elias is nonhuman and unable to relate to the human experience and human emotions, we later learn that one of his motivations for acquiring a human companion was because he wanted to understand these emotions more and feel closer to humanity. The circumstances of their meeting is explicitly mentioned, by a few characters, to be a generally fucked up thing to do, and one of the core aspects of Chise's early character development was how not to become complacent with relying on Elias so much. Chise is gradually learning how to value herself, separately from Elias, with the help of the people she has met. Elias himself struggles with his lack of emotional experience, occasionally lashing out when he feels new, strong emotions that he doesn't know how to react to or control. Put together, they are both still very immature characters and absolutely not ready or capable to commit themselves to any type of romantic relationship. Instead, the series focuses on the complexities of this human-nonhuman companionship, how their relationship can't solely be defined by human expectations and labels, and how to navigate the ever-changing state of interpersonal relationships combined with the ever-changing state of personal development. A lot of it comes from Chise herself, realizing that she not only wants to live but also wants to value herself as a person more than what she can selflessly give away to others. There are many people who genuinely care for her and are actively trying to help her see her own worth. Through these experiences and these connections that she forms with these characters is what gives her the strength to grow. The series is commonly tagged as a romance, though the elements of the genre are miniscule and not anywhere near as relevant as the main themes of learning how to love others, learning how to love the world around you, and most importantly-- learning how to love yourself.

[loosescrewslefty]

Been endlessly fascinated for a while now with a few scenes in Spy x Family which seem to hint at the fact that along with her Telepathy, Anya shows signs of having Empathy powers too. They don't happen often, but there are a number of times when Anya is shown to have a reaction to someone else experiencing intense emotions near her, which usually confuses, overwhelms, and frightens Anya.

One of the earliest examples of this we see is the apology between Damian and Anya, where Anya is shown reacting when Damian is struggling to bottle up his emerging emotions towards her;

It's not Damian's thoughts that Anya's responding to here. It's his emotional state. It's pretty clear Anya has no idea what the hell is going on or what these emotions are since she is FIVE YEARS OLD and spent four of those five years isolated and studied in a lab and thus not interacting with other people beyond being a test subject, but she seems to sense Damian's feelings. This is a pretty big deal because while they are somewhat connected, thoughts and feelings are NOT the same. Thus Telepathy- the power to read minds- is not technically the same as Empathy- the power to sense another person's emotional state.

I don't think Anya's Empathy power is quite as strong or as clear cut as her Telepathy, though. Near as I can tell, she only seems to really get echos of especially intense emotions instead being able to get a read on people's emotional states any time she wants to like she does with their thoughts. I also don't think that she is fully aware that she has this ability, since she always seems confused when it does happen. We actually see this more clearly in the scene where she saved Ken from drowning in the hospital pool.

When Ken falls in the water, he isn't thinking anything at the time. He's in a state of fear and shock too overwhelming TO think, and Anya picks up on that from quite a distance away and freezes on the spot to look around to see where it is coming from, once again sensing the intense emotional state rather than hearing the thoughts formed in his head.

When Ken DOES finally start thinking, that's what gives Anya the information she needs to help him, but this only comes after his shock wears off and he begins to realize he is completely helpless.

Being a child, Anya probably doesn't realize that thought and emotion are two different beasts, and that the fact that she is capable of sensing emotional states like this. The lab she grew up in seems like a cold, impassive environment where the scientists were all extremely detached from her, so this part of Anya's power was likely never known to them, and thus never explained to her the way her telepathy was. And I personally find this incredibly exciting, since it means there is potential for growth with Anya's powers.

Anya is extremely young. Her brain isn't anywhere near fully developed yet. It's entirely possible that as she gets older, her powers will continue to grow and develop as her brain does and she will be able to do more things she hadn't previously been able to before, and I find that possibility incredibly exciting.

[mswyrr]

They presented the possibility of older women--who were repeatedly described as "covenless witches" in a story that also repeatedly told us a witch needs a coven--finding community again and a new reason to live in each other and their own power and then "subverted our expectations" with these women dying to serve a male character's story.

That was the point of their stories. Him.

It isn't common for older women in US pop culture to get depicted as people who are capable of rebirth. Of lives, desires, hopes and dreams that matter beyond solely being a mother. It rarely happens, and it didn't happen here.

It's rare for stories to deal metaphorically with real things - like women who get clean or make positive change in their 40s or 50s. Women who find each other and aren't alone and "forgotten" anymore. These things happen -- yes, sisterhood is sometimes a lie and sometimes "people never change." Sure, those things happen. But sometimes sisterhood isn't a lie; sometimes people make change in their lives.

You don't see these stories when they're women though, especially not older women, especially not gay women.

I'm glad for Jen. She doesn't have a community, though. A witch needs a coven they told us, over and over again. They showed us them getting one small taste of the joy they could share together, in their scene of flight. But that was just for Billy too. And now everyone else is dead. To serve the male character's journey, give him some angst.

Agatha is forever spiritually dead--not experiencing any kind of emotional breakthrough or change--because she's not the lead, so she's static so she can serve as a device within the true lead's journey.

She can't even be allowed the growth I pictured as the worst case scenario - where she dies for *the coven*--so they can live and have community and spiritual rebirth together--and makes enough peace to go with Rio. She doesn't even get that much, to get to have a real death that matters and has a sense of completion to it, where we can imagine her reunited with her child and/or at peace with Rio. She can't have that because she has to be Billy's amusing sidekick, his Jarvis, his moral warning lesson about his powers and the witches he got killed and his angst. Because his story matters and theirs didn't.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how love stories often have a "point of symbolic death, when all hope seems lost" (concept from Pamela Regis's study of romance novel structure) and with mf couples they get to rise again from that, into rebirth, into new life. Ff canon couples in stories often, due to a bunch of reasons, aren't allowed that narrative power. They remain trapped in tragedy and despair. I thought surely Agatha herself though, as the lead character, would get to have some kind of change or rebirth as part of a community of women, given that her core wound is betrayal by community -- but she, as a character, doesn't get to go into the symbolic underworld and change and be reborn, because she was never the lead character to begin with.

Sapphic love remains broken once it breaks, the "point of symbolic death" is literal death or a shattering end, there is no rebirth. We, I guess, lack the symbolic potency to come back, in the eyes of the world? We are not generative. "Which one's the man?" "How do they even have sex?" "Your marriage isn't real because you can't make babies." (Kudos for subverting that one, though, show! Except... a child born of women, without a man, cannot live a full life I guess?) And specifically, as a 30something queer woman, people who call my wife, after I've described her as my wife, my "girlfriend" and are shocked by how long we've been together. That we're grown women and our commitment is right down to the bone, that it has blood in its veins. We are not little girls playing dress up. But that is how a ton of nice people see us; we exist but we are spiritually empty, lacking potency. And the stories reflect that. That energy, that core belief that we are the juvenile, non-generative form of love and relationships. And this woman too, she remains in a kind of eternal spiritual death.

That's why people are mentioning the Hayes Code, they're feeling how that aligns with larger cultural prejudice against us and our humanity and capacity to have the kind of power of living and loving that is ascribed to mf love and that more (though not always, misogyny is a hell of a thing) straight women get in stories.

The idea that it's GOOD for a story to do this, because "sometimes sisterhood is a lie" and "sometimes people don't change" ignores that context of who precisely this narrative "subversion," this spiritual aridity is given to. And who gets to live and grow and be reborn and strive and learn and become in stories, to be allowed to connect with the transformative potential inside themselves and each other.

The show did give us a lot -- I think it's important to recognize that. The canon ff love; I would have never expected that. The canon kiss. They put a lot into that and I honor that. This wasn't a classic "bury your gays" and I'm not mad at them. They did their best. A lot of the issues I have are probably due to the problems of the mcu overall and how static it is. But the deeper themes are also just incredibly disappointing to me, and I wanted to outline why.

It's entirely possible to be disappointed but appreciate context and not be unkind to creatives who did their best within overall industry/cultural limitations, which is where I am at and what I mean with this.

[kiskivmiske]

I'm not sure if equation people use to measure human analog of dragon years (years*3=human years) is accurate.

Human babies can repeat a few sounds at 6-9 months, like mama, dada, etc, but only understand what they mean by 11. At the same age they imitate sounds of speech, basic sound combinations and intonation.

By one year toddlers know a few words and objects they're related to.

By two they can do simple instructions, like "go pick up this toy and bring her there"

What we see in "The hive queen" shows that dragonets are already born with an intelligence of two year old and pick up what they've missed within few days. Within one page Bumblebee goes from doing simple sounds to repeating distorted words. Within days she's able to recognize her caretaker as "Snoodoo" and is soon capable of freeing herself and Sundew by finding blue wings and throwing them up the sundew trap, which is a complicated thing to do for a DAYS old baby.

Cliff, who is supposed to be on the level of a three year old is too good with words for a toddler. His vocabulary is big enough. He still sounds like a kid, but definitely not younger than 5 years old.

Kinkajou and Anemone are shown to develop romantic feelings, which can signify they're going through puberty, so they're older than 10. Then, starting there and until they are officially adults, there are no significant differences, but it isn't much frowned upon when dragonets aged 4-6 do adult jobs. Snowfall and Glory were both technically dragonets when becoming queens. Usually, when the heir is too young to rule, a regent does it for them. Icewings accepted their new queen, which would be strange if she was much younger. Deathbringer also went on his missions pretty young at 4 years. Tamarin, also a dragonet, works for a long time.

In my understanding, dragons develop with a much quicker pace throughout the first 3 years, then their development slows down. Dragon aging is different from human aging as dragons never stop growing. (Clay mentions he still has a year to grow big enough to push the boulder, but, most likely, he meant rapid growth. In adulthood he'll continue growing, but slower.) Darkstalker is the shining example. The age they are considered adults is, most likely, the end of complete sexual maturing, which can fluctuate between tribe and gender, but is officially established as maximum.

IMO, this is how dragon aging relates to average human aging.

🐉 🧍‍♀️

Hatching 0-2 speedrun

1 7

2 10 (start of puberty on average)

3 13 (rebellious phase, crushes)

4 15 (in some countries minors can work

5 16 legally at this age)

6 17 (in some cases, fully physically

mature, legally a minor)

7 18 (end of puberty and rapid growth,

legal adulthood)

As for Mink, he overly childish manner of speech seems familiar to me. I've known people with the exact behavior in their 20-s and 40-s, and I assume Mink has some sort of cognitive impairment. I also used to emotionally mature slower than my peers due to continuing trauma. Could also be the case, since she, as an Icewing, is forced to be perfect all around to be higher on the ranks and the pressure could affect her emotional development.

[anghraine]

The household Star Trek watch just hit The Wrath of Khan! I've seen it multiple times before, but it was really different to watch it so shortly after watching TOS and TMP.

My feelings are ... more complex now. Where Spock's character growth was randomly rewound in TMP for unexplained reasons, Wrath of Khan!Spock feels so much more the Spock he was becoming in TOS. He's older, steadier, and far less repressed while still retaining the composure and dignity that are so personally and culturally important to him. His sense of humor is still dry but less buried and harsh, he's reserved and unflinching in a very Spock way but it feels healthier and more integrated than anything he was capable of in TOS. I don't get the impression that he's at all ashamed of what he feels for Kirk at this point, nor ashamed of the strain of human qualities in himself.

I feel like we see how far Spock has come from his early shame and denial, for instance, when Kirk, McCoy, and Saavik go to beam to the research base. There's this less-repressed-than-formerly-but-still-powerful intensity between Kirk and Spock that, as ever, gives the distinct sense that everyone else just ceased to exist for them. Spock says outright, "Be careful, Jim" and it's very adorable and relatively open by Spock standards. And then professional hater McCoy is like ... oh, so am I chopped liver? while Saavik is just ????? and it's hilarious and just feels very recognizable.

I do think this film is kinder to McCoy than TMP and I appreciate seeing him quietly do his work as a doctor instead of haunting the bridge and needling Kirk and Spock, but he's a fairly muted presence in the film and still finds time to be a bigot. Not going to lie, it's incredibly cathartic when Spock uses his own prejudices against him and then tricks him into... uh, well, everything that's going to happen.

After all these years, Wrath of Khan!Saavik remains an absolute delight. She's trying so hard and Alley gives this great sense of a million thoughts going through her head at all times. It's really fun to see a very young Vulcan who isn't even pretending to have it all figured out, despite her rattling off rules and regulations. One of my favorite Saavik moments is when she's like "*gasp* You lied" in the most classic gifted-student-discovering-the-world way and Spock serenely replies, "I exaggerated."

(Spock is truly living his best life. I do not think this Spock has the slightest desire to be anywhere but where he is or anything but what he is, and it makes me very happy until aghghghhhhhaghhghgh.)

But anyway, Spock and Saavik have this really charming and understated mentor-protégée relationship that I like best in this iteration. (I don't care for the direction it goes in later for uhhh related reasons, but Alley's Saavik plays off of Nimoy—especially—and Shatner very enjoyably.)

Kirk is difficult for me, because the Kirk of the films in general just feels so far removed from TOS Kirk to me when he's not interacting with Spock. Yes, there's a familiarity evoked by Shatner's performances, and Kirk is compelling in this film, but ... it's a better film for Shatner than Kirk, if that makes sense? Shatner is genuinely quite good in it!

For one, I always forget that the hammy KHAN!!!!! is part of a cunning scheme in which Kirk is much more subtly slipping information to Spock and the frustrated rage is a performance for Khan, hammiest man in the universe. In reality, Kirk has a bunch of dialed-down emotional moments—the way he's quietly frustrated with Carol excising him from their son's life but still maintaining an amicable-exes relationship with her, for instance. But of course, the big one is Spock's death scene, especially that dreadful moment after Spock dies when Kirk just slumps against the radiation chamber looking almost confused in the way that grief really can just daze someone into that "puppet with the strings cut" quality. It's genuinely a heartrending moment.

For my ultra-Trekkie best friend J, Kirk's eulogy for Spock is the part that affects him most of all. And I get it! People tend to point to the twitchy "the most... human" part of it, but the most effective part for me is when Kirk is quoting Spock in the eulogy and saying he won't disrespect Spock's profound greatness by disputing his argument now, and he's clearly trying to be dignified and professional in a way Spock merits despite his own devastation, and then there's this shudder in his voice that is fantastic (and just, agggh). And I think "the most human" is pretty clearly not meant as a denial of Spock's Vulcanness, but an absolute rejection of virtually everyone's incessant treatment of Spock as subhuman for the crime of being biracial. Lots of good Shatner moments all around, though.

But.

So much of what's going on with Kirk's character arc seems grounded in what's established internally in the films and just overwriting major aspects of his TOS characterization and history. I dislike David Marcus for a ... lot of the film, and like, I appreciate him taking the initiative to set things right and acknowledge his misjudgment of his unexpectedly cool and newly bereaved father. But the approach being "I guess you never have really faced death before and having to process it is new for you" is extremely WTF when Kirk at this point has survived a genocide, lost much of his family including a brother and sister-in-law he seemed to be quite close to, has lost various good friends, there was the whole Edith Keeler thing among other losses he just had to keep powering through, and then at this point the person he has acknowledged as the closest person to him in the universe (one who had a significantly longer natural lifespan than him!) is also now dead.

And movie Kirk is like—yeah, I always came up with some trick to avoid ever facing death directly and I'm like WHAT. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. THIS IS OBJECTIVELY FALSE. But the movie absolutely does not treat it that way! I do like David nervously turning back and acknowledging that he's proud of Kirk and the hug after such a monumental loss, but ... at what price.

This feels especially glaring because of the moments where we do get a pragmatic, reasonable Kirk whose priorities make perfect sense for his previous backstory, like:

DAVID: We appear to have plenty of time. KIRK: Is there anything to eat? I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starved. MCCOY: How can you think of food at a time like this? KIRK: First order of business, survival.

But it's important to his arc in the film that he's constitutionally unwilling to endure the weight of unwinnable scenarios, and is almost defined by being all about winning against any odds, and that's very weird to me. Kirk has always been determined and resourceful and cunning, yes—and we do get some of that here; he plays Khan like a fucking fiddle almost the whole time—but the possibility of loss never struck me as something he was refusing to contemplate.

Carol's dry line about how Kirk has never been a Boy Scout feels pretty specific to movie Kirk and pop culture Kirk, too. TOS Kirk is repeatedly described as having been solemn and bookish in early adulthood. Even in his thirties, he's not generally a maverick IMO; he won't subordinate all critical thinking and judgment to regulations, but he prefers to find some way to reconcile them if he can. His overriding driving motive is most often his sense of responsibility—to his crew, their ship, their mission, and the principles of the Federation and his brand of philosophical humanism. If he's got to break regulations to fulfill his deeper responsibilities, he will, but he'd much rather not!

You know who in TOS very much does have it in him to jeopardize everything out of loose cannon determination to blast through every obstacle unlucky enough to get in the way of his absolute refusal to accept loss? Spock. Spock risks the lives of hundreds of people in desperate and improbable attempts to get Kirk back, multiple times! In the context of his culture and even of Starfleet, he is far more of a maverick than Kirk ever was in TOS.

I know this sounds more negative than I want to be, because I'm very fond of this movie in its own right, and Kirk does have some fantastic Kirk-ly moments. We do get a strong sense of Kirk's intelligence and resourcefulness without TMP's device of everyone ganging up on him for reasons presented as sort of justifiable despite his completely accurate judgment of the urgency of the situation. But I'm reminded of the "Kirk drift" article about how post-TOS representations of Kirk seem to become increasingly representations of the idea of who Kirk was in TOS rather than having much to do with any particular details of Kirk's actual characterization in TOS.