#human xenophobia

[strawberryicemoon]

Digimon Adventure has consistently occupied a space in my brain for over a decade now, so I think it was only natural that I loved Amphibia and The Owl House too.

So there's definitely a baseline similarity Digimon Adventure has with the modern Disney Isekai. The shows are portal fantasy/isekai about a kid (or several) who have varying issues in their lives, mostly on the precipice of some major life change and/or figuring out who they are. Classic coming of age stuff. They meet people from the other world who they form deep personal connections with who change the course of their lives for the better. They grow to love the world they find as it is and of their own volition decide to risk their own lives to protect it, despite having the option to go home and stay safe.

I realize that this sounds very broad, but it's really in the details and the character drama where the similarities show for me: interpersonal conflict between friends and loved ones, growing up, understanding family members, being forced to separate from loved ones, parental death, adults taking advantage of kids. I could (and will) go on.

Spoilers for all three series obviously.

I mean right from the get go, Adventure starts with a group of 7 kids at a school sponsored summer camp, that gets struck by a freak storm. The kids take shelter inside a shrine, and when the weather abates find an aurora outside, which shoots small devices like meteors at them and sucks them into another world. (Technically Adventure starts with a short film taking place 4 years earlier but that's besides the point). The Owl House, also starts with Luz about to go to Summer Camp, as recommended by her school (though something she is dreading) when she runs into an old shack while chasing after a bird and ends up in another realm. Amphibia doesn't take place at Summer Camp, but towards the end of the school year, on what should have been a fun day for Anne, as a result she spends her summer in Amphibia. This is admittedly a rather petty connection, summer is a special time of year for kids, summer camp is already a unique experience for kids, birthday's are also good times for life changing events but it is still a notable similarity.

In the Digital World the kids each meet a Digimon. Throughout the show the kids Digimon reach higher forms upon reaching certain requirements, often involving personal development for their partnered child. The Digimon are like a Palisman in many ways. In fact, the Owl House's Digimon reference makes this connection for us.

When kids get their Palisman in The Owl House, it requires the kid to know what they want. Digimon grow in response to their human's growth, particularly as it relates to their associated crest. Each child in Digimon has an associated Crest. A trait that they exemplify. If they exemplify it well, their partner's get stronger, if they repress the trait their partner's won't evolve or will even devolve. I feel the concept is similar. Luz's palisman hatches when she realizes she "wants to be understood". Taichi's partner reaches Perfect when he had to be courageous enough to walk through an invisible gap in an electrified wall in order to rescue his friend. "Being Understood" is at the Core of Luz's character, and is reflected throughout the show. True Courage is at the Heart of Taichi's. Willow is "Be strong and wise to protect her friends", which is reflected in her arc about always trying to be reliable and not asking for help until it breaks her. Likewise being a good friend is at the Heart of Yamato's arc. Gus is to "go to the human world"… which maybe could be more reflective of a desire to learn and connect with others. Hikari's is "light", which is metaphorically life and growth (evolution). Of course, the girls in Amphibia have core concepts too, in the stones, Anne and Heart, Sasha and Strength, and Marcy and Wit. All traits they exemplify, but have to learn how to exemplify that trait well in temperance with the other two. In Digimon Adventure, if a character exemplifies their trait poorly, ie in a toxic way, they'll trigger a dark evolution, rampaging out of control power. When Taichi recklessly (suicidally) risks his life in hopes his partner will evolve further, his partner successfully pushes back their enemy as he hoped, but also turns on them. Sasha had to learn to use her strength to protect and lead people. Marcy had to learn to be strong enough to accept change. Anne had to get strong enough to stand up against Sasha and smart enough to keep the Plantar's safe in the human world and get back. In short the series both center a kid around an idea that facilitates their growth and gives them associated power.

Luz and Camila's goodbye in Yesterday's Lie is deeply reminiscent of Hikari and Taichi's goodbye in episode 21 of Digimon Adventure. Both feature a character (Luz and Taichi) returning home after being in another world for a long time, expecting their family to be worried only to find that they didn't even notice they were gone. However, the truth is revealed to their family member at home (Camila and Hikari) because of the presence of creature from another world, (Vee and Koromon), who the family member welcomes into the family with open arms. However, in the end of the episode Taichi and Luz must return to the other world, while promising to return home, while the Camila and Hikari try to get them to stay. Attempting to hold hands while their loved one drifts up and away in a beam of light. (And bonus! Luz and Hikari's names both literally mean light and are deeply associated with light thematically!).

Amphibia features a blue eyed blond haired girl of European descent in a human cast made up primarily of Asians, with issues stemming from her parents divorce. Digimon Adventure has a set of blue eyed blond haired brothers with some European heritage in a show with a primarily Asian human cast with issues stemming from their parents divorce. Sasha Waybright's parents divorce is potentially the cause of her control issues, controlling people so they don't leave and seeing relationships as transactional. The divorce left Yamato, a boy defined by friendship, lonely, and hesitant to connect to others and quick to resort to physical violence. It left Takeru with abandonment issues and a deep dislike of fighting, yet a blow up, lash out and cut off style of conflict resolution. Anyway all three of them lash out violently when they get upset.

The Plantar's parents died when Sprig and Polly were really young, killed tragically by a giant heron. Neither of them remember their parents well, but they still feel that grief, partially second hand from their grandfather. King's dad was unable to raise him, and dies before he can properly talk to him so he's raised by Eda under a misconception that he was a king of demon's and has an identity crisis when he discovers that was a lie. Koushiro's original parents were killed in a car crash when he was a baby. His current parents had recently lost a baby. So when Koushiro's current dad heard that his distant cousin had died leaving his son an orphan, his current parents saw it as a sign and adopted him. They weren't sure about when to tell him, but Koushiro overheard them talking about it one night and had an identity crisis. Though, I feel it's important to also include Adventure 02 in discussions of Adventure. That season features a kid whose father was killed when he was 6 who is still processing that during the events of the series. Not unlike Luz who lost her father as a young kid.

Digimon Adventure 02 also features a kid who feels irrational guilt for the death of his older brother was hit by a truck and died right in front of him. Speaking of the sequel season and Ken Ichijouji, he's got a lot of similarities to Marcy. He is a "genius" boy with chin length black hair who runs away from home into another world due to high expectations. His mental state is influenced by others, including an adult man who hopes to be able to travel to another world, for their own purposes and so takes it out on the digital world that he refuses to regard as real and subjugates it violently (Until he's broken out of his mental breakdown that is). He wished for his brother to disappear only to feel guilt when he did die. He also kind of has a green color motif when it's not black. Marcy is a "genius" girl with short black hair, and a green color motif who due to a conflict with her parents escapes into another world, befriending colonizers, and then is taken advantage of them by them them influencing her mind and controlling her body to direct a violent subjection of the inhabitants of a world. She wanted to stay together with her friends instead of going home, but that only separated from her friends, and then broke their trust when they found out about it.

Also speaking of kids manipulated into helping villains, Hunter reminds me of Tailmon. Naturally kindhearted people manipulated into loyally serving the main villain via abuse, where they are cocky and dismissive to others, coming into conflict with those that are theoretically their coworkers, until they find out the truth of who they are and are able to show their more playful, and kind side. Hunter was created by Belos to serve him, as his "nephew". He claims to have rescued Hunter when he was small, to be his family. Tailmon was separated as an egg from those she was meant to grow up with, and when she went looking for the place she belonged, found Vamdemon, ironically living in the place that her egg originated from. Vamdemon earned Tailmon's loyalty by abuse, under his rule, Tailmon grew from a "child" to an "adult". In other words both are the second in command so to speak of the person who on some level raised them, in a place that is meant to be safe. (As his Uncle/creator, Belos should be protecting him, Tailmon should have been safe in that castle). Both characters have scars caused by their abusers that they keep hidden (at least when we first meet them).

While they are being abused, they meet someone who is on their side, who knows a bit of the truth of their identity. Tailmon rescues Wizarmon, and tells her a bit about what she remembers about herself before Vamdemon beats it out of her and loyally keeps the secrets she keeps even from herself. Flapjack recognizes Hunter as a clone of Caleb. Wizarmon sacrifices his life to protect Tailmon from Vamdemon. Wizarmon's death unlocks the crest of light, and thus awakens Tailmon's evolved form, Angewomon who is able to avenge. Flapjack sacrifices himself to save Hunter from his possession from Belos. This gives him a magic of his own to use. When both characters realize the truth about their identity, that Hunter is a Grimmwalker, and Tailmon is the 8th Digimon, they are supported by a character with a name meaning "Light". Luz's interactions with Hunter lead him to finding out the truth behind Belos, before fleeing from him. She keeps Hunter's secret, and welcomes into her family. When Tailmon meets Hikari she realizes she senses something about the girl. But she's unable to directly confront her, unable to kill her like she feels she should. She rationalizes it away as not being sure while Hikari actively tries to befriend her, assuming she's a friend of her brother. This kind of character also exists to a certain extent in King Andrias, manipulated into being an evil dictator by his father, though his arc is somewhat reversed.

Luz's dad died of an illness that he was hospitalized for. Taichi has trauma regarding Hikari's illness as a child that left her hospitalized. Amity has high parental expectations, and two semi-rebellious older siblings who are a lost cause for those expectations. Joe also has high parental expectations and two older siblings who eschew the family expectations in favor of their own interests. Willow and Sora both feel obligated to shove down their own issues to try and look after others. Gus is a gifted kid who skipped grades and has issues related to being younger than his peers. One of the Digimon creatives was so horrified by kids skipping grades in America that she wrote Ken about it and has continued influence her digimon stories literal decades later.

Overall, the biggest difference between the shows premise wise (aside from the obvious inhabitants of each world) is the presence of Adults in Amphibia and The Owl House. Digimon takes the kids to a world where adults don't really exist. Sure there are more mature, adult-like (and adult level) monsters. But they're still not human adults. Digimon don't age or reproduce like humans, so they don't have a concept of parenting beyond babies. Or y'know. Have general concern for child safety. Which means that the kids have to depend on themselves and their partners to survive with no adult supervision during most of the show. While each kid has a decently fleshed out family life, primarily the threats are handled by the children alone since they mostly take place in a world that only the kids can access. But that doesn't mean the adults aren't supportive. When things do take place in the human world, the adults help out with food, transportation, keeping the media off their backs and emotional support. I think this sort of comes from Amphibia and The Owl House's perspective on child heroes, played straight with a bit of self awareness. While Amphibia DOES play it straight, even making Sprig and Polly orphan's it takes the time to involve Anne's parents and get their blessings, and features Grime and Hop Pop as adult figures. The adults aren't dumb, but they aren't obstacles for the kids either. And of course, The Owl House bumps up adult involvement, making Camila go WITH Luz back to the Demon Realm. Either way in all shows the adults are fully fledged characters for the most part with flaws, both as people and as parents. And the kids are recognized to be just kids at the end of the day, no matter how much they accomplish.

We get to see the parents help, worry and grieve over their kids, and of course have reunions both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

All series end with the main characters dying, via breaking into pieces during their final fight, and then getting revived. In Amphibia and TOH of course, Anne and Luz meet "God". After Anne uses the stones for one last ultimate attack, Anne meets what is actually a deity who gave the stones to mortals as a test which Anne passed. Luz meets what everyone worships as a god, who gives her his last bit of power to use as a final attack because he approved of her and has been subtly supporting her. Though the sequence of events differ, Anne and Luz are both chosen for their actions, rather than by destiny. The kids in Digimon met their "god" stand in about 15 episodes before the final fight. Their "god" stepped in when given the opportunity to explain why they were chosen, after they had already chosen out of their own volition to return to the fight: the "god" was desperate to fix the instability and the mysterious trait that these children were observed to have that caused a Digimon to rapidly evolve seemed like their only hope. More of a desperate hope than anything, but from it the prophecy of the chosen was born.

Amphibia's also got a prophecy that is really more of a plea for help. It refers to the wielders of the stones, which in this case was the girls. They weren't really chosen, but happenstanced into it, and it was clear that not even the creator of the stones really knew what would transpire. Digimon Adventure, the kids are the "Chosen Children" (Digidestined in the dub). They were actively chosen, for their mysterious potential, and so preparations were made that would hopefully aid them in saving the worlds. Even the choosers are in the dark about the details. TOH of course has no chosen one, except that in the kindness Luz gave King, King's father the titan gave back, bringing her back from the dead for one final stand. The titan didn't prepare per se, but definitely was helping guide Luz towards the skills that would help her save the world. Choosing her. A reoccurring idea in later Digimon Adventure media is that the Chosen Children, choose themselves. They choose to fight, even before they knew who chose them. They chose to continue fighting. The main villain in The Owl House, parades himself as a fake chosen one, using that status to manipulate people. The final arc of Digimon Adventure 02, features many people jealous of our main characters for their specialness, before they get their own Digimon. A sort of "prophecies, destiny, chosen heroes are something you make yourself, even if circumstances help facilitate it. No matter how people are guided towards it, ultimately destiny is about choices.

The Guardian: Look, I created the stones to see how mortals would handle unlimited power. Turns out.... not that well. Would you believe that after over 10,000 years, you're the only individual who used that power for good? Anne: Uh... This is a lot to take in right now. I mean, do I have a choice? The Guardian: Well, of course you do! I'm not a jerk. Anne: Well then... I'm gonna have to pass.

The Guardian: Wha?! No! I haven't even told you about Bagel Fridays!

Amphibia ends, of course, with the stones destroyed, save for three shards that is just enough to let the girls go home. The girls tearfully depart, with their final goodbyes to. Sasha isn't able to say goodbye to Percy and Braddock and asks Grime to greet them on her behalf. Then a flash-forward shows us how Amphibia is doing after the girls left, and then all the way 10 years in the future to show who the girls became. Digimon Adventure proper ends with the gate between worlds closing, and the restructuring digital world at risk of damaging the kids foreign bodies. So the kids must go home, and each take the time to tearfully bid farewell. However, as definitive as Adventure's ending may seem, it was always meant to be temporary, 02 beginning the very next week. The true intended ending being pushed to 02. In the true ending, right after the final battle and sacrifice, there were no goodbyes so it cuts to 25 years in the future, and shows the worlds at peace, a future where a Digimon partner exists or every person and people can freely travel between worlds. The Owl House also skips directly from the end of the final fight, no tearful goodbyes, to a few years in the future to show how everyone is doing. The group all regularly traveling between the worlds.

Overall I just have a soft spot for stories about real world kids with real world issues getting dealt with in the context of world changing life or death fantasy scenarios. The ability to represent the issues in unique ways while still talking about real issues straightforwardly is fun. And I'm glad to see that other stories in the genre got their time in the limelight for a while. But I hadn't really seen anyone talk, in depth about the similarities of the two shows to Digimon. It's not like Digimon Adventure invented the Portal Fantasy with Kids genre, but the inspiration is clearly there. There isn't any direct reference to Digimon in Amphibia, but Matt Braly has stated in an interview that he was partially inspired by Digimon. Though it is apparent he hadn't seen it in a while, the Myotismon arc and the way the show handled its parents seems to have stuck with him. As far as I can tell, there is only the one reference to Digimon in Owl House (Unless that really is the crest of knowledge on Titan Luz's chest), and I don't think Dana Terrace has ever said anything about Digimon so it's possible she's never seen it. But someone on her team must have seen it in order to reference it. I'm not saying all of these similarities were definitely pulled from Digimon, because a lot of them are very broad tropes seen in a lot of things, or could have been thought up independently. And a lot of these similar characters and plot points are very different in the details and execution. Just because characters are similar doesn't mean the same obviously. But it's still the same genre, and they all handle a lot of the same beats in different ways and its fun to see what's different and the same between three shows I enjoyed a lot.

[thisthat-ortheother]

Maybe I lose some followers along the way but that is okayyy I am not sorry to see them go ✌️

[autismvampyre]

the fucking arrogance and blatant nationalism in the way europeans declare polce brutality a "US problem" as if americans are the only people with a corrupt system

my leftist swedish mother actually agrees with ACAB with the addendum that it's only the Americans, we're not like that here

let the brutal forced used on greta thunberg, a swedish teenager protesting climate change, by dutch police be a testament to the lie of european "democracy" and how it is democracy in name and nothing else.

let the immigrant kids who are brutalized, humiliated and oppressed every day in sweden by cops who "protect and serve" serve as a reminder of how incredibly flawed we are.

let the 700% increase in death by cops in sweden in the last ten years show us how we are no better than the americans we condemn.

we are not better. you are buying into propaganda if you think this doesn't apply to your country too

[hilacopter]

leftists when there are bigots in their country: obviously not everyone here is a bigot because we're human beings with differing opinions and political views, people who generalize all of us as bigots are being xenophobic.

leftists when there are bigots in the country they don't like: SEE THIS IS PROOF THEY'RE ALL EVIL ULTRA-RIGHT WINGERS AND WE ARE JUSTIFIED IN WANTING THEM DEAD WE MUST CLEANSE THE WORLD OF EVIL

[belle-keys]

France is banning the abaya, which is a loose-fitting dress worn by Muslim women (among other groups of women), in public schools. They claim the dress is an affront to French secularism even though it's not even a religious garment – it's a cultural garment that resembles pretty much any loose-fitting modest dress.

I can't possibly spell out for you how discriminatory and backward this is for a "modern, democratic" nation like France. Muslim women deserve more humane treatment and respect than this – being forced to undress more than they're comfortable with.

Photos taken from muslim on Instagram.

[icantturnthisthingoff]

okay i don’t want to give that one person more attention than necessary because they aren’t very reasonable so im just gonna put in my final opinions on this topic on my own post.

no singular civilian person is at fault for the actions of their government or their military. that is the fault of the people at the top of that decision tree alongside those who knowingly and willingly choose to spread propaganda.

its also a bad faith argument to suggest that it is the fault of the russian people due to their silence and inaction when we know that those who have spoken out against the kremlin have been assassinated and imprisoned. we also know that there is little to no democracy in russia.

russians who oppose the invasion of ukraine are not silent, they have been silenced.

and those who have left russia because they did not wish to be drafted or involved in said invasion in any capacity have been pretty fucking vocal about it offline at least from my experience living in hotspot area for slavic immigration.

but even without all that : just being from a country does not make you inherently bad or good or anything really because thats not how it works?? yes environmental factors can greatly impact the way somebody thinks politically and morally etc but its not inherent. like if you look within peoples families a set of siblings may all be raised the same in the same area by the same people with the same rules, regulations and beliefs but you will find that very often sibling 1 has a wildly different worldview to sibling 2 or 3 and so on. thats the beauty of human complexity we make up our own minds ultimately.

anyways i’ve ranted enough

tl;dr - the person at a JO concert singing UM in russian has no real say in the actions of their country and is not a bad person just because they are from russia, they might be a lovely person they might be awful, but whatever they are its not just because they are born in russia and to say so would be xenophobic

[odinsblog]

[vasito-de-leche]

;R1999 FORGET ME NOT - General Headcanons

Compilation of headcanons and analysis on Forget Me Not as a character and other related things.

this post was brought to you by me, procrastinating on the second part of the Cover analysis and those yandere Pavia headcanons, and ALSO because mister lawrence cavendish jr is the second target for my brainrot

warning for suicide and self-harm themes!

On the subject of Forget Me Not's name and past.

It's Lawrence Cavendish Jr. Forget Me Not's real name is confirmed to be just that, as seen in this specific excerpt:

"Cavendish Jr, who was still alive and once sat in front of you [...]" which alludes to the dinner Vertin had at the Walden with Druvis III and Forget Me Not, and "'Forget Me Not', what a hilarious, stupid name". I only included this because I've seen people wonder about it.

What I mean to tackle in this point is the relationship between Forget Me Not, his origins and his current chosen name. Despite his calm and collected appearance, it becomes clear that Forget Me Not is one hair away from becoming entirely deranged, especially when confronted with the possibility of getting revenge. But why is Forget Me Not so focused on revenge specifically?

His backstory is not as openly laid out for us to read, but we can gleam some bits and pieces from all the documents and dialogue he has. To understand Forget Me Not, we also need to look at Druvis III.

All throughout chapter 02, we see parallels and connections being drawn between Forget Me Not and Druvis III - both of them appear to be extremely aloof, cold and collected, only to be revealed to be very emotional deep down, for better and for worse. Druvis III is initially defined by the neutrality and inertia that comes with being stuck in the past, while Forget Me Not is initially defined by the neutrality of the Walden and his ties with Manus Vindictae, an organization that rejects the future.

Druvis III is a disgraced, fallen noble whose life wasn't ruined by the fire that took her family, but the perception the world had of her, an image they forced onto her due to their hatred towards arcanists. And Forget Me Not has a family surname "buried in the dust, shot dead in history". A disgraced, fallen noble implied to have struggled with poverty, battling hunger and suicide countless of times. In the "··· Formula: 1920s" document, we can see a few pieces from various people and their opinions on Forget Me Not from the Big Mouth Bulletin. 3 out of 4 want him dead or think of him as a monster - entirely because of his existence as an arcanist.

The similarities are obvious. Hell, both share the theme of flora and plants, too. There is an even more subtle dynamic here too, alluding to the game's prominent religious imagery - Vertin's suitcase being compared to an ark that will brave the "Storm", the last supper moment, Arcana's offering, the orange, being a replacement for the apple of Eden...

And then, Forget Me Not association with snakes, rumoured to have a body covered in scales, with an arcanum skill that allows people to indulge in alcohol during the Prohibition Era - the snake that tempted Adam and Eve. Druvis III is associated with forests, trees, as well as a link between Vertin (the good guys) and Manus Vindictae (the bad guys) - the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The two go hand in hand and are linked together.

The big difference between them is that their respective quests to set things "right" are entirely different - their "revenge" is not the same. Druvis III was hellbent on finding out who set the fire that killed her family, not because she wanted them to face the consequences, but because in doing so, people would finally leave her alone and let her mourn. She could finally move on from something that she knew the truth of. Forget Me Not does it to feel satisfied with himself and get back at everyone who ever looked down on him or wronged him. To inflict as much as pain unto others as he had received before. It's a powerplay fantasy in which he finally wins, against all odds.

It's unclear what truly happened to the Cavendish that caused Forget Me Not to end up in such conditions, to the point where he'd go as far as make sure no one can trace him back to his family, to the point where not even the Foundation has a proper report on him.

But there is one line in particular that lives rent free in my head when it comes to the Cavendish and Forget Me Not's potential relationship with them.

This takes place after Druvis III loses her forest, after she loses her eternal branch because of Vertin's intervention during their dinner. They're talking about how to use her forest to build a refugee camp.

There's the possibility that Forget Me Not is simply alluding to that forest - something that used to belong to her is now something that he should have for the sake of Manus Vindictae's goals.

But! Indulge me for a second! There's a noticeable pause, there's a subtle tone to his voice. Reverse 1999's writing might be confusing at times due to the translation, but it's easy to see that it's loaded with metaphors, hidden meanings and so much more, to the point where reading deeply into everything most characters' say is pretty much the norm.

The dialogue that precedes that specific line is Forget Me Not insisting that he can transfer the ownership of the woods over to Druvis III anytime, because she has always been and will always be the only owner, no matter what. He does this to convince her to go through with Manus' plans, that's his main goal, he doesn't care about the woods. But that single line pictured above? It could mean so much more.

Again, the two share many, many similarities. So when Forget Me Not talks about what Druvis III once had - a prestigious family business, a name people can recognize, an assured future - is what he should have, it evokes a sense of entitlement and lingering resentment. Almost as if Forget Me Not's desire to go back to the past doesn't stem from nostalgia like her, but to reclaim something that was denied to him.

Which is incredibly ironic to me because both of them carried their family in their names - Druvis THE THIRD. Lawrence Cavendish JUNIOR. And yet, the one that worked so hard to obscure his origins and changed his family name was him.

Neither of these characters can be recognized nor traced back to their families by appearance alone - people need a name or a really good memory to truly recognize them. The only one with enough courage to continue carrying such burden is Druvis III. Forget Me Not wants something that he willingy lost the right to the moment he allowed Lawrence Cavendish Jr. to die and fade into obscurity.

The name "Forget Me Not" begins to sound more ironic. Like an order, a threat or the promise of his return - his desire for revenge and his hypocrisy become clear once you begin to dissect his character. Like the narrator in the "To Lawrence Cavendish" document says: "He is patiently waiting... to put his meanness, craziness and quivers under the sun". He's waiting to reveal himself.

The "stage" is shown when he makes people explode from inside out, a lot of people who recognized him as Forget Me Not, the mixologist. This is when we finally see his true intentions and the main difference between him and Druvis III, all in their respective reactions to the journalists.

She's terrified, thinking about the day of her family's funeral. On the other hand, he's ordering them to watch and record as he "takes everything he has been deprived of".

This is why the thing that breaks Forget Me Not is hearing that Druvis III does not care about the man who started the fire, that it's not important anymore. He believed them to be on the same page, that she would love to torture the single person responsible for all of her grief. The guy is projecting heavily onto Druvis III.

In the end, I don't know if Forget Me Not resents his father, his family name, if he had some sort of business to inherit and a "future" that was taken from him, or if they actually might've been a happy family.

What I do know is that Forget Me Not's desire for revenge was absolutely amplified and fueled by Manus Vindictae's own agenda. And that's why he works perfectly as both a victim of their MO and a willing member within their ranks.

He clings so hard to the past because there is no future worth fighting for, because everything would be much better if it was rebuilt from scratch with only those that won't oppose him and repeat history. He clings so hard that his new name and identity are, in the end, a plea for the world not to forget who he used to be and, at worst, an order because he sure as hell hasn't forgotten all the things others have done or said Back when Lawrence Cavendish Jr was around. Once his family outlived their usefulness or relevance within society.

TLDR: THIS is the cold-blooded, numb murderer who is actually very sad, empty and broken deep inside that some people wanted Pavia to be. Like, he's even sopping wet and sad and asking Vertin to kill him next time they meet.

Which leads us to my next point!

On the subject of Forget Me Not's self-destructive and suicidal mindset.

We've talked about Forget Me Not's views and relationship with the Cavendish - but what exactly is the end goal? He feels entitled to a better life, one he was supposed to have, and then what?

The "???" narrator mentions a woman who made a promise to Forget Me Not, as well as leaving a "sarcoma" behind which he then adapted and turned into his own. This woman is implied to be Arcana, as we see her talk to Vertin about being able to see the truth, to not be blinded - there's an emphasis in the way she recruits people by opening their eyes to reality. The sarcoma is the city (apparently "Windy City" is used to refer to Chicago, I had to google that but hey, that's pretty neat!). It's the world he lives in and that wants him gone. She focused Forget Me Not's grief towards it because in doing so, it would help Manus Vindictae's ideals of a world exclusively for pureblooded arcanists.

And even so, he remained suicidal. There was at least one more attempt at taking his own life, and that's when he saw "what had been on his mind". Whatever that might've been, no doubt influenced by Arcana and his situation, is what pushed Forget Me Not to "allow himself to revenge, revenge, re-re-re-revenge, and to die".

Ultimately, Forget Me Not's goal is to die at the end of it all - even after he gets his revenge, earns the life he wanted, takes back everything that was meant for him. This is why, after he's fully defeated, his last words to Vertin are to show no mercy next time they meet. To kill him.

This is not only a long and convoluted plan of revenge, it's Forget Me Not willingly marching into his own demise. And just like before, he's not strong enough to pull the trigger himself. Now that he has no solid argument to justify his anger - all because Druvis III has shown him that people can, in fact, move on - his only option is to have someone else end his life. He's shown tired, and the phrase "Don't save it no more" might indicate that even if there was someone who could repeat what Arcana did to him - give him a sense of purpose and a target for his grief - he simply doesn't have the energy for that.

Forget Me Not's self-destructive tendencies can also be seen in other ways. His job at The Walden is to cater to all the people who shunned him - he welcomes everyone and anyone for the sake of creating a network of secrets, he attends fancy parties and events full of those who call him a drug dealer, Satan's spawn and so much more. And he pretends to be someone else entirely while wishing for others to remember him. He willingly surrounds himself with all the things that hurt him.

His arcanum being related to alcohol is rather poetic to me - since Forget Me Not is said to have spiraled into decadence and into this extreme mindset, it makes sense that his main skill is related to being intoxicated and to drown into something that is largely hated but at the same time, desired and coveted. The Prohibition Era does have a very similar mentality to religion, namely western ideologies - you're meant to openly reject and loathe something, but the constant repression causes you to yearn for it instead. And at some point, this repression can become an addiction in itself, leading some to indulge in it. This loops back to Forget Me Not's association with the snake in the Garden of Eden.

It makes sense to me that he indulges in something so painful, while cohercing others into indulging in forbidden alcohol. That he later uses this very same arcane skill to kill all those people who, in his eyes, represent everything he loathes about the current state of the world. It's like a sarcoma that he now leaves behind, that kills from inside out.

And this is the last time I'll bring up Druvis III in a Forget Me Not post, but notice their choice of flower/plant? She has a mistletoe bouquet - a parasitic and toxic plant which represents positive things such as fertility, life and protection in many different cultures. Forget Me Not has black roses, roses being immediately recognized as one of the most beautiful flowers but, in this context, symbolizing things such as death and rebirth, remembrance, mourning. Their duality, contrast and the "two-faced" aspect is prominent there. And not to get very deep about character design, but Druvis III holds the bouquet very carefully and carries it around with her willingly, whereas the black roses that Forget Me Not wears wrap around his neck not unlike a noose.

To really drive home how Forget Me Not sees himself, here's the description they gave him for his boss fight.

They boil down his character perfectly, to all the little traits that make up his whole emotional baggage.

And to also put more emphasis on how Forget Me Not truly doesn't expect to live and "win" at the end of this whole revenge trip, here's his ultimate - "Heavengazing from Hell". He's fully aware that he's going to be destroyed by his own actions and that the only thing left for him will be to look up at heaven from hell. That all the good things will forever be out of his reach.

Now, onto proper headcanon territory, since I'm running out of media to analyze!

On the subject of Forget Me Not's scales.

As established before, Forget Me Not is associated with snakes - one of the segments from the Big Mouth Bulletin comments on this. "[...] he had scales under those long sleeves, one next to another embedded in his flesh."

And this can actually be seen on his in-game sprite! It's very faint, but there's absolutely some sort of texture peeking out from under his collar and sleeves that resemble scales. They can also be seen on the trailer animations. The only time these scales don't appear or peek out from his clothes are in The Walden illustration, with the other members of Manus Vindictae, but that can easily be explained as him covering up properly and the angle he's drawn in.

Originally I thought that they could be burn scars, as it would mean a stronger connection between him and Druvis III. But upon closer inspection, they don't look like burn scars at all.

I like to headcanon that it's a side-effect from his own arcanum, similar to how Rabies is implied to look like a scarecrow because of his involvement treating rabies. Being something "self-inflicted" - in the sense of him having the choice to stop and heal, but refuses to - also lines up with Forget Me Not's suicidal tendencies, the whole sarcoma metaphor and the fact that by carrying on like this, he's doing nothing but destroy himself and add to his suffering.

As for how far the scales have extended, I don't have a set favorite idea! Part of me really would love it if the scales coiled around his body like actual snakes, but also the idea of him having different patches of scales scattered throughout (again, like a sarcoma) and the third secret option of him being MOSTLY covered in them to the point where it becomes grotesque, something that he can't even look at.

They're not just a tattoo or pattern embedded onto his skin either - they're actual scales, cold and rough to the touch. The areas affected by this have grown numb, making it hard for Forget Me Not to feel any warmth or pressure applied onto them. This adds to that otherworldly and sinister vibe he's got going on, even if the lack of proper tactile sense irritates him. It's extremely uncomfortable if they're brushed or rubbed in the wrong direction, however!

Sometimes, Forget Me Not might pick at the scales, as if deciding whether he loves or hates them. In particularly bad days, he picks them out. I like the idea that, once picked, the scales grow faster and stronger, as well as in broader areas, making it a perpetual loop of picking them off from his skin.

Overall, it would be extremely easy to conceal them - he only needs a shirt with a higher collar and gloves or some make-up, but I like to think that Forget Me Not loves the idea of someone catching a glimpse of them, a reminder that he's dangerous and so much more than meets the eye.

As much as he he's been affected by the stigma against arcanists, he now thrives in their hatred for him and his existence - sneaking into places he knows he's not welcome is addictive, especially knowing everyone tolerates him because he's their only access to alcohol. The way everyone will turn around and talk shit about him once they're out of The Walden is fun, because it reinforces his views on why this current era deserves to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Forget Me Not has extremely poor eyesight.

I know the glasses look thin and pretty standard, but I just like to think that Forget Me Not can't see shit without them.

He has this habit of taking them off to "clean" them whenever he's talking with those he loathes - mostly humans - just so he doesn't have to look at them directly. Sometimes, he might just close his eyes and dissociate, pretending to pay attention if the situation calls for it. Yes, he's petty and hateful enough to feel physically sick when talking to people he hates.

If you pay enough attention, it becomes clear that eye contact becomes scarce, as if just looking at them will send him into a fit of rage (but he conceals it extremely well when needed).

Forget Me Not's poor eyesight is not a secret, and he often likes to make patrons nervous by making their drinks without his glasses - of course, he knows his way around drinks and potions, there's no chance of him messing up, he could do this with his eyes closed. But seeing customers squirm is such a delight. Because now, they must choose between making a scene in HIS territory or risk being poisoned with a poorly-made drink.

I like to think that he also just has a very fine ear, since he does play instruments (all of his attacks being related to music and him using a piano as his wand during the boss fight). So really, Forget Me Not couldn't care less about his eyesight.

Forget Me Not enjoys floral arrangement.

This is just based on his association with the actual forget me not flower. I think he enjoys creating bouquets or putting up vases full of flowers around his home, even if all of them may end up creating a very gloomy and decadent atmospere - they're perfect for funerals, and he simply may be preparing for his own.

And he leaves them out on display long after they've wilted. "They're more beautiful this way", he'd say.

It's not rare to find Forget Me Not on rainy afternoons with a pair of scissors on hand, absentmindedly cutting every leaf and petal off from all these roses, as if he had a personal vendetta against their colorful hues. Sometimes, he just twirls the stem around, pressing hard on the thorns to feel anything while he looks out the window. He's so very fucking dramatic and volatile.

Basically, I like to picture Forget Me Not as the type of person who has dedicated so much time into something as empty as revenge, that he absolutely has no idea what to do outside of that.

Everything he does is just a way to pass the time until he can go back to dedicate every waking second of his life into his and Manus Vindictae's plans, every "little pleasure" is just a façade, he doesn't get any real enjoyment from anything. Sometime he worries that revenge won't help him climb out of this apathetic life he's built for himself, but he can't afford to dwell too much on that possibility. Everything that he does is muscle memory, he's forcing himself to try and do it, because otherwise he could simply sit still in an empty room for hours on end, with the lights turned off, waiting and waiting - all alone with his thoughts.

[whatbigotspost]

Greg Abbott is an actual demon. He’s caused immeasurable harm to so many during his reign of terror and the fact that he just got re-elected is beyond me.

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

Repost from @theimeu:

As Israel commits genocide in Gaza, hate crimes against Palestinians, including children, have skyrocketed in the US. This unchecked racism is to blame.

We must not accept this level of racism towards any community. Palestinians, like everyone else, deserve to live in freedom and safety. Most importantly, they deserve to live.

It’s time for the US to stop dehumanizing Palestinians. That means ending US backing, funding, and arming of Israel’s ongoing genocide.

[apenitentialprayer]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and all people of goodwill:

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is asked by a scholar of the law, "And who is my neighbor?" when faced with upholding the greatest commandment. Jesus replied with the parable of the Good Samaritan [10:29-37]. Today, our nation is divided by partisanship and ideology, which blind us to the image of God in our neighbor, especially the unborn, the poor, and the stranger. These negative sentiments are only exacerbated by gossip, which can spread quickly across social media with no concern for the truth or those involved.

From the beginning, the human race was made in the image of God, which distinguishes us from all other created things. The arrival of Jesus Christ in human history confirms the dignity God has given to each of us, without exception. It is our belief in the dignity of human life that guides our consciences and rhetoric when engaging in politics or personal conversation. Each of us, therefore, must turn to God and ask for eyes to see the infinite dignity of every person.

Throughout our nation's history, Catholic immigrants have come to our shores seeking freedom to worship and raise their families. Over 70 years ago, Pope Pius XII urged the Body of Christ to understand the Christian responsibility to care for migrants and refugees, writing "Indeed, there has never been a period during which the Church has not been active on behalf of migrants, exiles, and refugees." Today, we witness newcomers to our dioceses who have escaped extreme violence and poverty and are seeking work to support themselves and their families. Some are Catholic, some are not, but all are welcome in our parishes, and all are individuals loved by God.

What is our duty, as Catholics, to ensure all segments of our society, including our political leaders, view newcomers first as children of God while understanding the need to enforce reasonable limits to legal immigration? Do we ask ourselves how we would want to be received if forced to flee our homes?

Though national attention has turned to Springfield, we know that throughout Ohio our neighbors include Haitians and others fleeing inhuman conditions in their countries. Our Haitian brothers and sisters in Springfield have been granted Temporary Protected Status, a humane federal program that protects foreign nationals from deportation to unsafe home countries. Like all people, these Haitians should be afforded the respect and dignity that are theirs by right and allowed the ability to contribute to the common good. The recent influx of so many migrants in a brief time has caused a strain on the city's resources. We applaud all those community groups working hard to advance the flourishing of Springfield, given the need to integrate newcomers into the social fabric. If we remain true to our principles, we can have a dialogue about immigration without scapegoating groups of people for society issues beyond their control.

The Letter of Saint James warns, "Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire . . . With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God" (James 3:5-6, 9). As the residents of Springfield, Ohio struggle with violent threats and life disruptions fueled by unfettered social media posts, we exhort the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill not to perpetuate ill will toward anyone involved based on unfounded gossip. Instead, we ask for prayers and support for all the people of Springfield as they integrate their new Haitian neighbors and build a better future together.

Pope Francis, like Pope Benedict XVI and Pope St. Paul II before him, reminds us that we are all migrants on this earth headed toward the "true homeland," the kingdom of heaven. On Sept. 29, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, we are asked by the Holy Father to reflect upon the need to open our eyes to those brothers and sisters who might live in the shadows of our parishes and communities. The Catholic Church continues to pray and work in places of violence and economic despair so that individuals and families do not have to flee their homeland. In the meantime, let us reject a mindset of judging who belongs to our community and put on the mind of Christ to understand that God walks with all his people, especially those in need.

With you in Christ Jesus,

Bolded emphases added. (This letter was signed by the bishop of every diocese and eparchy in Ohio; you can see their names at the end of the letter in the link.)

[crazycatsiren]

White Europeans on the internet love acting like they're so much better than Americans about racism like y'all just keep ignoring hate crimes against the Romani and pretending y'all don't hate black and brown people, lmao carry on.

[aces-to-apples]

I hold no ill will towards her—everyone has the gods-given right to be an awful mean-spirited no-nuance 19-year-old—but meeting Sera and asking "Your people?..... Elves?" and her response being "No, people-people" really is her character in a nutshell, huh?

[theshadowrealmitself]

Current thoughts: A Human (rightfully) punching a Vulcan in the face for something and the Vulcan actually immediately realizing they fucked up and agreeing with the Human that punching them was the most logical course of action and becoming their number one defender of the Human not facing consequences

More specifically, I’m imagining them passionately (for a Vulcan) petitioning for this Human not to get in trouble, citing all the logical reasons they should be let go, and after a long while of this, barely dropping the bombshell that they were the person who got punched by the Human

[dirtytransmasc]

i’ve been wondering how quaritch the sullys or norm & the others scientists would react if spider actually got brain damage from the machine, like a speech problem or chronic illness and he becomes shaky, also how would spider himself deal with not being able to swing through trees safely anymore?

I've played with a disabled spider before, though I never posted it, so here's my idea of a potential symptom list; tremors/numbness in his hands, auditory processing issues, sensitivity to light and movement, focal seizures, a mild stutter, and fibromyalgia (cause we have to project a little). another thing is, he just drops sometimes, his legs give out from beneath him and he ends up in a pile on the floor, otherwise completely fine. he also gets phantom pains of the connection from the machine (from what I understand, that machine would feel like pulling your spinal cord out the base of your neck and plugging it into a car battery). Add that to his PTSD from the event, and you get one fucked up kid.

now we just apply this to his family.

for neytiri it's one hell of a wake up call; her neglect for the child allowed him to be kidnapped and he is no physically affected, seemingly for the rest of his life. spider was always weary of asking for help, but now that poses a massive threat to his wellbeing, and the mother in her aches at the realization that she did that to him, she made him feel unable to ask for help. its also really difficult to watch him go through his focal seizures after what had happened to kiri. she know's its wrong of her to want to care for him now after years of neglect, but she wants to right the wrongs. the only problem is, is the boy is terrified of her.

jake is forced to realize how spider is a lot like him, and then looking back and realizing he was always like him, he was just too blind and dumb see it the whole time. now his kid, if he even has the right to call him that (he doesn't), is struggling just to function, and he'd been the one to say 'he's a tough kid' and move on. he feels sick every time he looks at the boy, and he ends up avoiding him just like the rest of his problems.

kiri would be furious with her family for leaving spider behind when she had begged to look for him, and now because they left him with those people, he's in constant pain and fear, frustrated because he lacks control over so much of his body. she would be one of his biggest caretakers, as she knows how to go about it without being patronizing, though even then, her constant help makes him antsy.

lo'ak would feel... upset, angry, sad, frustrated. he doesn't have one word to describe it. I've talked about this with a few friends, but lo'ak, while he may not actually have these disabilities, feels very adhd and dyslexic coded in the way that his trauma and neglect/abuse present themselves within the narrative. especially in the sense that he was never accommodated for his own "shortcomings" and now he has a disabled brother and he's torn between his internalized "ableism" (loosely using that word to run with the example) that stems from pushing his needs below the surface and therefore expecting other's to do the same, and his want to take care of his best friend and brother. it's not that he wants spider to hurt himself by not hiding his disability, its just that he doesn't know what else he can do, because for so long he's tried to do exactly that with no help. it also really hurts watching spider go through his day to day life like that, especially in the early days when he and the people around him didn't fully understand what was wrong so he sorta had to suffer through trial and error.

tuk is a good kid, she probably accommodates spider best because things don't change unless they have to. she still plays with him, nags him, spends time with him all the same. she just adapts to his way of life. she doesn't treat him like he's fragile or in need of pity, and I could see her inadvertently putting him through some sense of physical therapy as she gets him up and about, using his hands, and such. she makes him smile even when he feels hopeless she's the best little sister he could ask for.

norm and max feel helpless, every time the offer to help him he shoves them off (cause they treat him like he's 5 years old and made of glass). they see him fading away, looking more and more dull by the day, they know he needs help or the injury won't heal and it will only get worse, they know they should have done more when spider went missing, but they can't do anything now and spider hates them (he doesn't he just doesn't like his brian being rummaged around in anymore then it has, he doesn't want to be fixed, he just wants to be. he's tired of everyone pitying themselves for not looking for him, tired of everyone worrying, he just wants things to be normal again.)

quaritch would hate himself, he had brought spider to ardmore, even if he hadn't known what the machine would do to him, he allowed it to happen, he let spider to get hurt, and now he tries to do everything he can to make it up to him. he took care of him in the field, pulled strings to get him under the table medical care back on base, was even willing to give him up to the sully's when it started getting really bad, cause even if they were and parents, spider would have a stable life with medical attention. he doesn't have any ill feelings towards his son or his disabilities as many would assume he would; he just wants his boy to feel ok, no matter what that means ability-wise. he's also one of the few people spider lets faun after him because he knows it's not out of guilt for abusing and neglecting him for years but for making a mistake that spider can't find within himself to blame him for.

(including the tonowari family, because I can, I love them too much to exclude them)

tonowari and ronal would throw a fit when they found out spider had been knowingly left behind with the RDA, especially because he knew what they were capable of doing firsthand, but also because he was clearly a worse father than the man he claimed to be running from (quaritch getting a redemption arc and being 'adopted' by ronal and tonowari is my favorite thing, sorry, I just can't leave it out). spider accepts treatment from her because its na'vi medicine, it feels right to seek the Great Mother's help in fixing what the Demons did to him. this quickly turns into him getting adopted, cause ronal has taken to this small human child, and tonowari just wants to see this boy happy.

ao'nung tries to throw hands with jake. that it, he treats spider like he would any other kid, any other brother, he just tries to kill jake for letting that happen to him.

tsireya is just a gentle soul to keep him company. she is a rock in the storm, always calm and caring, always asking permission to care for him, never assuming he wants her help. she holds him steady when the world around him is chaos.

now for spider himself? he feels even more useless and like a freak then before. he feels weak for being so screwed up by what he only lets himself think of as 'a flashy spinning machine' as if it wasn't created to break him. he would hate having attention on him because why should it have taken being tortured to receive this sort of attention? was being a kid not enough, he just has to suffer first? pair that with the fact that he is so self sacrificial and quick to defend the sully's he's shameful of his own anger. he's an emotional disaster, so many different though processes mixing and fighting with each other. but most of all he's frustrated, so frustrated, in the span of a few hours he lost the one thing he had, which was trust in his body, his physical capabilities that allowed him to survive on pandora and be a 'tough' kid that burdened no one. now he needs help with basic tasks and constant supervision so he doesn't just fall down and die somewhere.

[tacagen]

xenophobic fucker my beloved. who else would take a reasonable and even noble 'we must prepare to face any alien threat and prevent whatever happened to me from happening to others' takeaway from his traumatic life events and somewhere along the way straight up make it into 'I HAVE TO MAKE A SUPERIOR HUMAN RACE BASED ON MUTATED RAT GENES AND MY APPEARANCE, INFILTRATE THEM INTO THE HUMANKIND AND IF THEY KILL 57% OF IT WHILE SEARCHING FOR MUTANTS/ALIENS IN HIDE THEN SO BE IT, THAT WOULD ACTUALLY BE A HEALTHY OUTCOME FOR EARTH.'