#i do have a love of edgy interpretations sometimes but

[khaire-traveler]

As a devotee of Demeter, I sometimes feel that people only worship Persephone for the aesthetic.

I feel horrible for saying and thinking that but I can't help but feel that way. Certain pagans portray Persephone as some overpowered Mary Sue, downplaying the importance of her mother and sometimes even her husband.

I feel like people really ignore her as a agrarian deity. They claim to love her but feel the need to change everything about her - if you need to change her did you ever like her in the first place?

It honestly just feels like they're talking about a Wattpad main character instead of a religious figure at times it's so jarring to me. Imagine if someone on tiktok described their deity as a dark and daddy figure bad boy with piercings and then its literally just Jesus Christ.

And its not just Persephone, it's the whole pantheon! Some worshippers talk about the deities and their myths like characters and tropes from a telenovela. They are rarely treated like religious figures, they are more than just their myths.

Im sorry i just wanted a place to complain and see if i am not alone

---

Khaire, Nonny,

Honestly, I agree with this sentiment. I've seen this time and time again where Persephone, and many other deities, get "fandomized" which can be problematic for others, even if it's ok in that individual's practice. Sometimes it feels like our religion isn't taken seriously, even by the people who actively practice it, but I also understand that people have different forms of practicing that work better for them. It's frustrating, however, when Persephone is depicted as this Mary Sue characterization of her where she's seen as, like, super edgy, badass, and powerful in a really fandomized way. It comes across as this person using Persephone as an avenue of self-expression rather than worshipping who she actually is as a deity (not to say she's not badass or powerful, to clarify). While it's ok to use a deity as an avenue for self-expression in worship (some trans folk, for example, view Apollon as trans-masc, and it actively plays a role in their worship), it's a lot less ok when you're making this deity into a cartoonish characterization of themselves. The gods present themselves differently to people, but I don't know; I guess I find it far-fetched to believe that Persephone would present herself in this sort of way. I can't speak for her, obviously, but I just disagree with this interpretation of who she is as a deity - putting herself above others, hating her mom, being a rebellious "wild child". I think that, psychologically speaking, some people might just find comfort in this representation of her and see themselves in it which is likely why they gravitate towards it. It's fine to have that experience, but I STRONGLY encourage these people to actually read the myths about Persephone, do the research on how she was worshipped, and actively try to better understand where she actually came from as a deity because this isn't just a character in a show that you relate to; this is a goddess that you're trying to worship, no?

Some people finding more success in their practice with this representation doesn't negate the harm these misconceptions and misinformation can cause. I've met multiple people who believe that Persephone willingly fled to the Underworld to "escape" Demeter (which is untrue), and that is endlessly frustrating to me, especially due to the cultural importance of the Hymn to Demeter (the myth of Persephone being kidnapped). The gods are not their myths, in my experience, but their myths still hold a heavy importance in the way they were worshipped in the past, and the way we worship them in the present. Demonizing an entire deity is the equivalent of trying to cancel a constellation of stars; it's pointless, extremely bizarre, and very "online" behavior.

But yeah, I think some people care more about the "character" than they do the deity, and I will say that confidently. I've met people who "ship" deities with each other, who make their experiences with deities sound - as you said - like a telenovela, and who actively spread harmful misinformation about deities in a way that legitimately disgusts and disturbs me. I've once had someone tell me that a deity [insert reprehensibly immoral act here] them, and to this day, I still cannot believe they said that to me when I was a beginner, just to dissuade me from worshipping that deity. The lengths some people will go to drag a deity is honestly both sad and ridiculous.

I wish some people took the religion more seriously in the sense that they didn't just make random shit up about deities, actively disrespect and disregard the culture the deities stem from, and demonize some deities while bolstering others. It shows a level of immaturity and indifference towards the culture these deities come from. It's not a fandom; it's a way of worship.

---

✨ Bonus round!! ✨

Some ridiculous things I've heard people say that sound like a fandom and/or telenovela (I will put the phrases in "" to express that these are things I've heard, not things I'm saying or believe in):

"Hermes and Aphrodite constantly gossip to each other about the other gods. No one fucks with Hermes because he knows everyone's dirty laundry."

"Ares is starting a revolution on Mount Olympus against Zeus to take the throne." (Yes, I have really heard this)

"Hermes is starting a revolution on Mount Olympus against Zeus to take the throne." (Yes, I have really heard this, too)

"XYZ deity has done [insert reprehensibly immoral and highly traumatic act here] to me."

"I caught XYZ deity cheating on their spouse in the astral realm, and I'm going to tell their spouse."

"The reason the gods haven't been communicating as much lately is because Hades ran away from Mount Olympus (?) and Hekate is going after him. Everyone is panicking a little bit."

"Zeus is such a playboy." (Bruh, do you really have beef with a thousands of years old god who came from an extremely patriarchal society? What, are you trying to cancel him?)

"Poseidon is such a playboy." (Now this take is wild; I don't really understand where it came from at all)

"Apollo is such an UwU 👉👈 shy boy! He's so cute and flustered all the time." (???)

"Persephone has a lot of emotional trauma from Demeter, who was extremely controlling." (No. No for so, so many reasons.)

"Apollo is a himbo."

People say the darnedest things. You really have to wonder what possesses someone to talk about religious figures in such a way, but you know what, if it works for their practice, then good for them. I'm not a big fan of the fandomization of the gods, and I definitely agree with you, Nonny. I won't say these people don't love these deities, but I can understand where you're coming from. It feels like they love the deities in an obsessive fan type of way sometimes, but that's not for me to say, really.

[jazzyblusnowflake]

I saw your post about your Nuzi headcanons and I have to say THEY ARE ADORABLE!

But it got me thinking, do you have any Vuzi headcanons?

I don't why but I've become obsessed with them in the past while and I wanted to know if you had any ideas for them since you made that incredible Vuzi comic a while back.

oh jeesums, i didn't really expect people to like my HCs enough for it to get over a hundred likes 😭😭😭💕

but yesss id love to take a swing at writing down my subconsciously decided vuzi headcanons too XD so lessee-

Some Vuzi Headcanons i got òvó:

[once again only the drone version ones and as sfw as i can manage lmao sorry asddjfkdfl-]

This version being for AFTER everything is over with and V is ALIVE //or I'm going for Liam's neck personally//- but whether she's with N too or not is for your own interpretation, cuz for ME personally she gets with Uzi AFTER N and Uzi were already a thing together-

Starting a bit similar to the previous HCs, unlike with N, Uzi and V looooooooooooove calling eachother names- ranging from pet names to petty insults, they very hardly call each other their actual names lmao; and Uzi is probably the ONLY person that could get to call V pet names or flirt with her and get away unscathed- V has very little tolerance for anyone else. when actually trying to be intimate or flirty- Uzi loves calling V "Kitty" [cliche i know] and its one of the more acceptable pet names that V allows, but sometimes Uzi goes for pet names to actually make V blush and feel flustered, and those are usually from Uzis more compassionate side since V is allergic to romance apparently 🙄. calling V things like "my pretty", "gorgeous", "you wild thing"- drives V up the wall and she's stuck between wanting to bite Uzi's face off or rip her own off- and likewise when V wants to fluster Uzi she has her own range of heat fueled pet names like "baby bat/batsy", "cutie", "my little snacc"- and overall their job is to try and drive eachother insane lmao. less romantic names on both their sides would be=> [Uzi]: fatty, insufferable nutcase, dumb boob// [V]: shorty, edgy toaster, lil freakshow- and etc etc. TLDR: names.... they call eachother alot of names. that's it lmao.

They have a more avoidant relationship, where N and Uzi would seek comfort in one another, Uzi and V realize when the other isn't feeling well they need space to let off steam and trust one another enough that the other will come to them when they are ready. this isn't the most perfect way to deal with things given they are usually on a time crunch and need to get over their traumas quickly, but in the end they both know they are there for eachother when it matters the most.

teasing.... they do alot of that- although one would argue that V is the only one winning here 😭. V would not let the subject of Uzi being short go- if there's any moment that she could make the joke, she will not let the opportunity pass- anything relating to flustering or embarrassing Uzi absolutely goes- its not uncommon for N to walk in on the two fighting while V is just laughing and cooing at the other that she's just a cute lil baby while Uzi is trying her best to strangle the other without actually harming her. but then Uzi says that V is just a big dumb boob cuz that's all she could see from her pov and N is desperately trying to keep himself from laughing in the background-

V loves picking up Uzi.... that's it... she would never admit it out loud, but holding Uzi up, whether on her back or holding her from the front and feeling Uzi cling to her for support gives her immense internal joy, even if she doesn't show it in her expression. she often prefers picking Uzi up when they make out and this works in both their favors too cuz Uzi loves being taller lmao.

V wouldn't admit it but she is terrified of Uzi getting angry. like actually, genuinely, furiously LIVID level of angry Uzi is enough to make V curl her tail between her legs and just step away slowly. and Uzi.... when Uzi is mad, she talks sickeningly sweet to V. that's how V knows its time to fucking RUN or PERISH.

V is a lot more traumatized than N from Cyn's influence. during her comatosed state she can still vividly remember all the things Cyn had done to her in her mindspace, the same way N got to see all of his own mangled bodies in his own headspace, but unlike N she remembered all of it, hence why she turned into a neurological murder bot. So while she is with the others shes often scared opening up emotionally, and to fix this Uzi tries to force her for some cuddle times. don't get me wrong sometimes both N and Uzi have to literally WRESTLE V til she no longer has energy to fight back just to drag her in the cuddle pile. she usually doesn't talk much and even more rarely breaks down into crying but she's secretly grateful of having Uzi to sometimes force her into things she should do more often in order to heal, and one of those is learning to trust again.

V and Uzi have sparring sessions every now and then- tho sometimes V fights dirty- if you catch my drift lmao- and Uzi is weak for that shit, sadly 😔 Uzi finds herself contemplating her life choices when V is constantly giving her new kinks to consider smhhhh. it doesnt help that V doesnt treat Uzi as weak or breakable, she goes all out and Uzi is thankful to her about it. tho N would not touch this particular catfight between two wild ladies with a 100ft pole- [which would probably be the distance he's standing and watching from...just in case...]

funny enough most of their arguments end with makeout sessions. N cant tell if this is their way of flirting from the start or their way of making up after a fight....

V is secretly protective of Uzi, not interfering when Uzi is dealing with someone but standing a few steps behind her, brandishing her claws just in case, to send an obvious message.

V is absolutely rough when trying to be intimate. Uzi needs lots of energy to heal from bite marks but they always make sure the other is comfortable about it. but when Uzi is soft and gentle with her and focuses on being reassuring and loving towards her, V's a flustered incoherent mess-

despite being the more avoidant one, V is usually the one who initiates any intimacy- [mostly because Uzi is too short or busy or embarrassed to do so 🙄] and when she gets needy, Uzi feels internally giddy as though a cat has chosen her or something-

Uzi likes to ask V sometimes of any HAPPY memories she had back at the mansion.

OKAY- damn that was LOOOOOONG- hope these are good enough- i had a lot of fun writing them :D

once again, left out any nsfw hcs 😇 enjoy the dumpster fire lesbiams-

i also tried my best to leave out the N x Uzi x V headcanons so it would seem more specifically for Vuzi :"3

[attyrocious]

cross posting yesterday's rambling thread for posterity and because tumblr lets me edit things. anyway this is a sorta long thing and i might add things i forgot to mention in the twt thread

i tend to draw on-model canon because im a coward + just personal preferences. but the way i convert the canon designs into my artstyle is that i take the distinct features oda gives them and then combine it with personal headcanons to complete what should look like a unique human. Starting with Trafalgar Law, who is unfortunately a bland-ass conventionally pretty boy

someone commented a while ago the law hat drawing tutorial i made a while ago didn't make much sense and i realize its bc of the specific way i draw law's face: heart shaped (ba-dum-tss). That meaning, a narrow chin widening into a mild defined jaw, wide cheekbones, and up to his know-it-all brain dome.

given that, the pudgy guitar pick shape of his head i mentioned here should make a lot more sense.

i don't think this design point is unique to me, as most conventional pretty anime boy gets given jaws like this. a lot of law artists tend to veer into this head shape. just how life be sometimes. other points: flat, thick eyebrows is bc im a hairy gal and i need to feel better about myself.

Killer gets to be more interesting, because he shouldn't be considered conventionally attractive. my idea behind killer's is that those individual features is smth he would be insecure with enough to hide himself in a helmet but i draw him with all the love in the world actually. i'd like to think its how kid sees him or yknow, law, bc he's my kin assigned blorbo and maybe you ship lawkill as a guilty pleasure too i mentioned before (and ruined people's days) when i said whenever i draw killer he looks like griffith before i put on his goatee. the upper half of his face is distinctly feminine, with the lower half kinda over compensating. other than that uhh...idk. stan killer

Kidd is the bane of my existence, i feel like i can never draw his face consistently. yet at the same time he's so damn fun to draw everyone gotta try it.

my problem with kidd is that this mf does have eyelids. most kidd painters out there interpret this as him having deep set eyes (think Matt Smith or jeffrey star) . and yeh skill issue on me i should practice that. other notes, i try to make him younger than canon makes him look. he is my babygirl and he deserves to look cuddly. my band au kidd version has the honor of being allowed some chubs. he's just tries to look older and more menacing with edgy makeup. also i try to give him dimples when i can because, well i can.

Rosinante last bc i lost steam after kidd. the thing abt cora is that aside from not having eyebrows, everything is structured with the generic one piece man template. which means i gotta do everything myself doffy is there bc the way to figure out how to draw these two is to give them minor differences from each other, that being doffy gets slightly sharper features. in canon, these two are also rly wide boys (more of an oda style feat tbh) but i make them long. though bigger brained donquixote artists know that of these two brothers, doffy should be the wiry-er built. anyway that's it. in conclusion, i need to draw more girls actually i feel like im becoming misogynistic by osmosis from oda's style and now i draw girls all looking the same too.

[jesncin]

Are you at all excited for the upcoming Absolute Martian Manhunter book later this year? It'll be the most high-profile launch J'onn has been a part of for a long while, being DC's attempt at an "Ultimate Marvel" line. Given how the approach seems to be defined by removing elements of the characters' status quo - Superman has no Krypton tech, Batman is not a billionaire, Wonder Woman is the last of the Amazons etc. - I think there's a very real possibility that for J'onn they'd pivot in the opposite direction and give us a living Martian society. If only because J'onn has so little anyway, there's not as much to remove as with other members of the League, so the logical thing would be adding something back in to shake things up. I'm personally hoping for some combination of Weird and Noir.

I'm absolutely (heh) excited for it (because a new refreshing change even in an elseworld story is exactly what J'onn needs right now!) but also cautious and,,, concerned. DC's revealed the Absolute gimmicks for just about all the other solo supers but J'onn is essentially still a rumor? What's going on there? I was also concerned when Superman's Absolute gimmick was supposedly "he'll be more alien than human" "he doesn't have a fortress of solitude, no Kents, etc" which,,, sounds a lot like J'onn tbh but we'll have to wait and see. Sometimes writers do this thing where they try to do something new with Superman and it's just re-worked J'onn lore. And J'onn lore is fundamentally flawed so in turn that take on Superman doesn't work, but that's just me with early concerns.

Ooh! That's a good point actually! That feels like the most logical shakeup they could do, and YJa helped warm people up to the idea of a living Mars (which I also agree would spice things up and differentiate J'onn from Clark more). And I'd absolutely (heh) love more supernatural-weird-noir for J'onn! We finally had J'onn play into being a martian detective in the 2019 Identity run, but it was more cop drama than detective noir which I would love to see. My only addendum to the idea of a living Mars as an Absolute gimmick is, since YJa popularized this already, what else will this take do to innovate on that idea? My personal wish list is:

Revitalize J'onn's cast system (a mix of old and brand new characters. Don't just make him watch tv to care about humans. Give this martian relationships!!)

Figure out his themes outside of grief!! (I love sad Martian man but he needs to do more than that! It's been stagnating his character)

No Justice League stuff or other superhero cameos/team ups. (J'onn NEEDS to prove he can stand on his own as a solo character so he can stop being pigeonholed as the League's heart or therapist.)

Fresh new take on Martian world building (please get rid of Martian racism, it's dumb and never made sense. It's a shapeshifting society and the idea of characters like M'gann essentially "greenfacing" to "pass" is so weird)

Critical reimagining of J'onn's relationship to justice (we need to get rid of or critically examine his relationship to copaganda.)

Integrate Blackness more thoroughly into his character (CW Supergirl and that one Nubia Coronation special comic are still the only takes that have done this. Come on guys!!)

More thorough reflection of J'onn's multiple identities (undoubtedly what makes J'onn special. But the comics rarely dig into what it means for J'onn to be multiple people. I would love it if his identities [especially the racialized ones] weren't treated as so,,,disposable.)

Ma'alefa'ak please (I just want to see him again I don't even care if they do a bad job. However all I ask is he be a green martian and J'onn's twin again. And a slutty design.)

The last time we saw a big overhaul to J'onn's character was the New 52, and the major flaw of that run was that it had no clear thematic intention to how it interpreted his character. So we ended up with just a bunch of references and a convoluted edgy story that doesn't help J'onn become a self sustaining solo character. The Absolute line is the perfect platform to revitalize him as a character, but I hope the writers can think in the long term to combat his foundational issues.

[a-goumang-ripoff]

My Thoughts on the Character Writing of Nine Sols

Alright, it's finally time to autistically rant on this account to my heart's content because HOLY FUCK I LOVE NINE SOLS!!! It has such amazing gameplay, and I don't think I could ever forget the Lady Ethereal fight in my life, easily one of my favorite bosses ever (and I love how she's written but that's a rant for another day).

I think my favorite thing about Nine Sols is the fact that it's such a densely packed game where literally everywhere you look you can find some kind of underlying message, even in small areas. And every Sol has its own underlying message and you bet your ass you'll be seeing rants from me on probably every one of them eventually.

For now though I'm sticking with rambling about the general writing of the game because I love it but also hate it sometimes and I love this game so much that I need to rant about how much the parts I despise piss me off. Before I start ranting off though, I should preface with this: if you aren't aware, RedCandleGames is a Taiwanese game company whose previous game, Detention, contained an easter egg which mocked a member of the CCP, I think it is safe to say that Nine Sols can easily be interpreted as a massive hate letter to China wrapped up in a beautifully gruesome story with amazing gameplay.

This isn't something that screamed out to me when I first played, but I had a suspicion something like this might pop up because of the storyline with the humans, they're shown to be livestock to these Solarians with only Lady Ethereal objecting to them being harvested for their brains (and eventually Yi but it was also his idea). They're treated as lesser beings, subhuman if you will, that are feared, hated, and stereotyped, but shown by the game to not warrant any of that treatment and be entirely capable people. Something was going on but I was quite unsure what it was.

It wasn't until the Fengs, who I fought after Ji, that it really set in what a lot of these messages I've been noticing could be about. I am very well viewing all of this through a specific lens and I don't think I'm right about everything but I am certain to say that the Fengs are absolutely a hate letter to Chinese nobility, between the Fengs' lack of care about anything besides profit/entertainment and the fact that Nuwa has clearly endured the horrors of foot binding (mishappen feet + entirely unable to walk) while still being a spoiled brat, not to mention the incest.

Everything after that kind of fell into place, it's not all about Chinese culture and government, but things definitely started falling into place when I started thinking back on everything. It started to make sense why they made Goumang a fascist who quite literally owns slaves before giving her easily the most disturbing fate in the entire game.

I do really love Nine Sols for all these little messages, but I also feel like sometimes they entirely give up on writing a unique character in order to send a message with them. Yanlao, Goumang, Jiequan, Nuwa, and Eigong are all very basic tropes that either lack deeper character, or their deeper character motivations don't seem to line up with their character.

And what do I think these characters all have in common? They're all being used to send a message about culture and/or government. Yanlao's demand for respect and power just because he's old, Goumang's fascist ideologies, Jiequan's dynastic bloodline, Nuwa's wealthy apathy, and Eigong's drive for immortality and tendency to lie or bend the truth. It feels like their characters were made secondary to the message they were attempting to send. I can say this about Yi as well, he's a very typical edgy protagonist trope I see a lot in East Asian media, though his character development is really well written so I can overlook that.

Another thing I've noticed is that the characters I think aren't sending as strong of messages, or at least not messages geared towards criticisms of government and aspects of East Asian culture, seem to be a lot more well written, and a lot of the stuff I've seen in the Nine Sols community confirms that. People tend to love Ji and Lady Ethereal and enjoy Kuafu. Ji and Lady Ethereal are so amazingly written in my opinion, maybe it is just that I relate to them a bit too much, I just feel like their stories are really enjoyable and make you feel something other than "what the fuck just happened." Kuafu I feel is just inoffensively written, he's not super tropey, but he's not amazingly written either, so he's kind of just this inbetween spot that makes him enjoyable.

Also note that I haven't talked about any of the non-sol characters, most of them I have not thought about nearly as hard (except Heng but I will break down and sob if I ever try to talk about her in length lmao) and thus don't feel like I can safely comment on them with the same confidence as I've had for the sols.

I am not saying that RedCandleGames should've forgone writing the messages into their characters that they did write, I just feel like there could be more effort put into the actual characters themselves and going about these messages in different ways to majorly improve the experience of this game, not that it isn't already amazing. Well now that that's out of my system, I'm probably gonna be making more rants about different parts of Nine Sols because I love this game and I also enjoy ranting about the parts I dislike lmao, easily one of my favorite games ever.

[red-omega]

Sometimes I think about all the villainous coaches I have because holy fuck sometimes it's the ones you don't expect

Like sure, Night Swan's your S-tier villain because she's canonically evil...

And then there's Rock n Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain), a solid A-tier. I mean, look at him...

Menacing, huh? Not to mention what he did to Diego here. Not exactly canon, but not exactly non-canon, right?

And then you have Lilith. Feels odd calling her B-tier cause I genuinely love her design, but it's definitely not canon that she's a villain as far as I know?

I'm sure interpretations of her vary. Some consider her a villain, some a hero, all depends. But she still has antagonist vibes for sure. Although, I wonder why a hero would do something like...

But then there's the coaches you don't expect to be villains, like this guy in our C-tier.

Like... I see the vibes but sir who are you???? Why are you demolishing the building around you? (Narrator voice: Ratman knows the answer, he just doesn't like it)

And now I really have to raise an eyebrow at our D-tier here...

I mean come on. Adameve's map might look a little edgy, but how are they a villain? Surprise surprise, apparently they were. Won't go into details right now.

And finally, the F tier. The last coaches you'd expect to be villains. I present to you...

...Yeah. It would genuinely take an entire separate post to cover everything these two were involved in. Yes, both of them were villains. P2 kinda redeemed herself but it's complicated. Also P1 is a younger version of Amanita but that's a long story-

In conclusion, the villains of my timeline/fic can come from anywhere.

[mr-nauseam]

Meta Posts

.

Sometimes I wrote nonsensical reflections and analysis of TBOSAS. Here is a list:

The Case of Lonely Mothers (or a study to maternity in Panem through Ma Plinth - Mrs. Everdeen

The Terrible Idea of do homework with a Snow (or a study to Casca Highbottom and Clemensia Dovecote betrayals at the hands of a Snow

The Plinth name it is worthless in Capitol (or my polemic opinion about Strabo Plinth influence and power in the Capitol

The Tragedy of Coriolanus Snow (or how I not believe he suffer a corruption arc but chose lost the chance of have a redemption arc

Coriolanus's Toxic Masculinity (or a little study on how toxic masculinity make him worst

Marcus die in sadness (or my interpretation over his actions during the games

Sejanus and Reaper acts of defiance (or some analysis to some similarities between them

The Hunger Games are a edgy joke (or an analysis to Casca worst invention: the games and the influence of his worldwide in them

Sejanus is a spoiled kid (or Coriolanus infantilization over Sejanus

Coriolanus' Mommy Issues (or how he craved so bad maternal love

Homosexuality in the Capitol (or why I don't believe TBOSAS was lgbt+friendly

[a-vessels-thoughts]

Random Naegi HCs

The Naegi family are naturally good marksmen. Makoto has more raw talent in this than komaru does. This makes them, ironically enough, bad at baseball (their throws are too clean, too straight, and they don't have the raw strength to blitz people) but really good at basketball despite the height.

Komaru is stronger than Makoto, and by a landslide. Makoto is way more flexible, though, so at least he has that over her.

Both can't dance to save their lives. They're singers, leave their two left feet alone!

Komaru can't cook. She will make a fire with water. Makoto will make your kitchen look like a warzone. Everyone thinks the taste is worth the clean-up; it also looks really good!

Komaru is the first to notice all this and just sighs, muttering under her breath, "Isn't it supposed to be the opposite?" She's more jealous that she can't cook than anything. Was in a cooking club to learn before the tragedy.

Komaru calls Makoto Lil bro (as a jab at his height). This has made many people think she's actually the older sibling. There was an event with the future foundation, and komaru was listed as his elder. She laughed her ass off.

Komaru has NO charisma (the utter girl failure) Makoto stole it all. She talked her way INTO a fight with a pacifist by pure accident (both were trying to avoid conflict).

Makoto's talk no jutsu could almost count as brainwashing. Assassins after his head have learnt to plug their ears, because You Stand No Chance Otherwise.

Makoto is scared of fighting any woman, not out of a sense of honor or anything, he just assumes they can bend him like a pretzel (he's right, 9/10 times he's out under 5 seconds in direct confrontation).

Makoto only read manga because Komaru was into it, he's more of a... literally anything else guy. He liked some of the fluffy and Shonen manga the most.

Komaru reads BL (and yes, Makoto read some of them with her), and Toko Can't Stand It, literally has a No BL policy. Genocider and Komaru have a sorta book club over it. Could probably stop Genocider from committing any crimes (or drop anything she's doing) by saying Komaru wants to share manga recommendations.

Makoto is a complete malewife, cleans, cooks, does the laundry, is good at makeup if he ever learns, can wrap up wounds and scold you (gently) so well, but is utterly horrible at fashion. ("I can just... grab whatever, right?") He has no idea why Komaru is so smug that she has good fashion senses.

Makoto is super naturally cold, even with his shirt, thick jacket, and BLAZER combo he sometimes still feels cold! Could lowkey function as a refrigerator even in the summer. Komaru is the opposite. As kids, they were inseparable when sleeping and are cuddle monsters to this day because of it.

Makoto is naturally drawn towards caliginous colours. Give him all the edgy dark colours, they're his; black is probably his favorite. Komaru doesn't actually have a preference, as long as it doesn't clash when she wears it.

Both naegi's are really good at spotting romances and pairing people up... when it isn't themself. It's genuinely frustrating for others because they can call people getting together before it even gets platonic, but you could pin the naegis to a wall, whisper huskily in their ear before kissing roughly, and you'd have a 50/50 chance that they interpreted it right.

"Oh, we're just friends, why would they be interested?" -both naegis, despite literally raising children with their partners. Both are Actively at risk of becoming black holes.

Komaru is somehow an amazing and HORRIBLE mother. The girl failure energy is too strong. Her (likely adopted) children would trash talk her before they could crawl. It might've been Toko's doing, but still... trash talked by babies. At least the family is loving, and she would never lock any child in a closet... on purpose. 100% apologizes profusely if it happened.

Both are incredibly snarky. Makoto is way less obvious, and he rarely has the chance to be during/after the killing game, but Komaru is a ball of sarcasm and teasing after some therapy. Hina finds both of them bickering with each other and kind of short circuits. (They were both so kind normally??? What was this??? ) She can barely wrap her around the fact that this is their Natural State. Makoto decides to use this to his advantage by being sarcastic/jokingly passive-aggressive when people are least expecting it; Komaru lives for it. It catches even Kyoko off guard for the first few times.

Komaru is good at physics; Makoto isn't and hates it like any other maths related subject. He actually really likes history. Komaru sucks at psychology. Both agree that English sucks. Literature is kinda... there, to them. Both are good at chemistry, but for different reasons. Makoto has a great memory, Komaru is Just Good At It. Can also make it explode at will, for some reason??? No one understands why.

Makoto was gloomy and shy as hell as a child (also an outcast), Komaru was the brave and outgoing one. No one believes her when she says this, ever. (Even as children, people thought Komaru was older because of their dynamic and Makoto relying on Komaru way more than she did him, to outsiders).

Their parents kinda suck.

Makoto has broken several laws, got into fights, and was probably a vigilante at some point. He rarely talks about this. People don't believe any of it until he committed treason.

[sugar-grigri]

"Sorry, but I didn't want denji's first time to be in an alley after being afraid of having his dick cut off" to be honest, most people's first sexual experiences aren't ideal either.

Also everyone thinks that Yoru jacked him off when...I'm pretty sure she just had her hand down there, and that contact + the kissing made Denji cum? I don't know, I think Fujimoto would've shown some movement down there to indicate masturbation, but there was none.

I also think that while, yes, the scene was awful for everyone involved (Denji, Yoru *and* Asa) I...don't believe it was non-consensual, at least on Yoru's and Denji's part. Like, Denji even reciprocated at some points. (There is a conversation to be had about that people sometimes DO reciprocate under the pressure in some rape scenarios but...i don't feel this is one of those cases). I think Denji was just confused about Yoru going from "I'm going to cut off your dick" to tenderly kissing him. As a final thought, I seriously don't think Fujimoto did this for the lulz or to be edgy. You do not devote 7 pages of your 16 page issue just to shitpost. This is a very serious chapter, that will have lasting repercussions on Yoru's, Asa's, and especially Denji's character arcs

I'll get back to you Anon but I think I'll stop talking about it afterwards, not that it's not exciting but there's no point in confronting two interpretations to make them agree, we have the right to disagree

- I agree that first times aren't ideal, and I didn't expect Denji to have the best sex session of his life. I wanted him to experience it under the right conditions. These are not good conditions. I'd like him to understand that sex can be a consensual act, between two equal parties.

- The chapter is long, the title is super smoochy, which indicates that it's not a kiss, a hand rub, we have a strong number of pages where they kiss, it lasted a while. And whether it's masturbation or not, it has no impact on my interpretation. In fact, it's quite subsidiary. It's still a sex scene, no matter what we decide about what they're doing.

- I’m sorry but I don't understand how this scene can be interpreted as consensual. You've developed your own reasons, but I'm sorry, Asa wasn't even able to express her will, and I don't think it was really her will. She may have desire, which affects Yoru. But she didn't want to help Denji in this way.

- As for the last point, I've analyzed this chapter like all the others, and I take it seriously. When I talk about subversiveness, it's because there is one, and Fujimoto isn't a smooth author or a genius on every level, constantly. I don't know what he's going to do with this scene, and even if I'm confident, I hope for a good exploitation, I didn't give him my life, I'm waiting to see and hope he didn't do it to be edgy

But you know, I think Fujimoto is well aware of how to get people talking about his work, and he also likes to attract attention with wtf pages. WTF moments that make sense and can be analyzed. And that's what I like about him. But he also knows how to disturb. And he rather likes it.

If anyone knows what his work looks like and what people will say about it, it's him. His OS are the answers!

Denji is him. Denji loves the attention. And he likes people to fight for him.

Fujimoto likes to refuse to give us what we want to see. It's candid. I like that about him.

[ashesandhackles]

@hprecfest Day 7 - A canon compliant fic

empire builders by shecrows

Explicit. Underage. James/Sirius.

This fic exploded into the Prongsfoot fandom and boy was I lucky to come across this! This is what I need from James x Sirius fics: two boys so in love with each other, so codependent that you understand each other's cues very well but are also inclined to misread them through lens of your own insecurities.

Summary:

Say, James, he rehearses in his head. Remember that time we were both roaring drunk at the end of term, and you put your cock in my mouth, and I came so hard I still get tingly thinking about it? Was that just a one off, d’you think, or did you want to do it again sometime? He blows out a cloud of smoke, releasing a thready little peal of laughter. “Fuck me,” Sirius mutters, and swallows. “Fuck. Shitting Christ.” James, Sirius, and a summer in the south of Devon.

2. something so tender (i can't explain) by @incalculablepower

Ron/Hermione.

Filled with such gorgeous turns of phrases and rendering Hermione's voice and her love for Ron with such softness and ease, but also retaining the girl we see from Harry's lens: pragmatic strategist.

Summary:

Is this the moment?

3. January 30th, 1975 (Happy Birthday Lily) by @thedreamermusing

Severus & Lily

Dreamer really leans into the "his soul and mine are made of the same thing" vibe with Severus and Lily in this oneshot, and I always favour that interpretation. This Lily is edgy, like her son.

Summary:

Lily Evans turns fifteen in Cokeworth. She almost hates it.

4. The Son by @perverse-idyll

Regulus & Sirius.

Sirius running away - through Regulus' point of view. Regulus' voice here is so sharply drawn, filled with both unwilling (love &) admiration and easy resentment of his brother.

Summary:

First there were two sons. Then there was one.

5. Walking Tough by @yletylyf

What I appreciate most about Lety is her characterisation: she writes Snape's vulnerabilities as well as his little hypocrisies and cognitive dissonances. This is a teen Snape I can get behind!

Summary:

Severus navigates the perils of a magical education at Hogwarts and the dangers of war-torn Britain while clinging to a friendship that he believes is all he has. His path to Voldemort was, perhaps, inevitable.

6. Sweet Summer Scents by @bluethepineapple

This fic lays out - in quite unsettling way - the way Hermione has to straddle two worlds, and how she feels more and more separate from the world she has grown up in, the world of her parents. The fact that this is set in the summer before 6th year makes it even more striking - because by summer of next one, she would have erased her parents' memories.

Summary:

What haunted her most however was the suffocating fear and pain that leached through the tiniest nooks of what little she remembered. The tears, the shakes, the vomit - the blotted ink and broken quill. These she retained in picture-perfect quality, so much that it was as if the pain never left, only turned into the spectre that followed her home.

[proxythe]

Just to throw in an akishinji thing that I think about a lot uhhh there’s this one interaction between them from the audio episode thingies that’s kind circled back recently where they’re talking during a storm and reminiscing on the past it’s very good has a lot of cute moments but one thing that really stood out to me is Shinji calls Akihiko a crybaby but like not in an insulting way, it’s clear that he means it very fondly. And then it’s Akihiko who gets defensive about it and seems to interpret it as a bad thing which is really interesting to me FOR SO MANY REASONS like first off

I think what Shinji loves most about Akihiko is his sincerity and his big heart and how he just always tries his best to do the right thing he just can’t help but be nice and Shinji just really latches into that cuz like. Hes just felt like shit and feels hes unworthy of love and compassion and tries so so hard to push Aki away so he can have a better life where Shinji doesn’t drag him down but. Akihiko doesn’t really pick up on those signals lol and he just always comes back every time and never stops loving Shinji with his whole heart it’s very annoying when you’re trying to disappear lol. Like he loves the sincerity and kindness so much he just doesn’t think he deserves it and it really confuses him when he’s at his lowest. But he never wants Aki to stop being so sweet not for one second and he really admires how Akihiko can just feel things much easier than Shinji can and how he cries a lot it’s very endearing

Meanwhile Akihiko is definitely struggling with toxic masculinity and some hardcore repression lol he interprets strength in a very literal way and therefore thinks that crying=weak and so he really doesn’t like the fact that he cries so easily and this is where we get to see some of that classic akishinji miscommunication cuz Shinji actually loves the fact that Akihiko is a crybaby but Akihiko, having some major autism swag, feels like he’s being insulted and it’s over something he’s most insecure about so like of course he’s gonna get defensive when he’s called a crybaby it completely wrecks his image as a Strong Man. And I just think that’s a really good detail just like sometimes when you know someone really well you’ll playfully tease and it can have a really big effect if you’re not careful and god these two just have so much genuine love for each other but are just both Going Through It and suck at communicating and this is definitely something they’re gonna need to work on lol

But yeah I think it’s easy to look at Shinji calling Aki a crybaby and think he’s being an ass or that he hates that side of Akihiko but it’s so far the opposite he’s just! An edgy guy with massive depression and is having very complicated feelings (such as Homosexuality) and sucks at words and needs to learn how to communicate better. And it’s very tragic the miscommunication here cuz it’s like dammit Aki stop being insecure and realize that Shinji loves you and in particular that part of you and realize you don’t have to repress anything and that true strength is letting yourself cry when you feel you need to! And dammit Shinji let yourself be loved and realize you’re worthy of it and get better at noticing when your actions are actually genuinely upsetting Akihiko cuz he’s not gonna stop reaching for you and he’s just gonna feel worse about himself!

Uh yeah anyways I’m not even kinda normal about them I literally never stop thinking about them my life is in shambles 😞

IVE SEEN THE AUDIO EPISODE YHING AND I LOVE IT SO BAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the only other thing i could think of during this whole thing that i wanted to bring up is when shinji is talking to kotone in one of his social link lvls and he calls aki a crybaby there as well 😭 i love that you pointed out that he definitely sees it as a good thing and a quality he actually likes about him </3 god i hate them so much i want them to explode. i need to crush them in my fist

i wish in general more people would focus on shinjiro’s pov of akihiko & how much love he has for him (whether you ship it or not) because i swear its always about akihiko’s side of it … which i love ofc but they are best friends… shinjiro loves him just as much … pls… pls. he lives in a cardboard box all alone plz let him love akihiko (and let him let himself be loved …)

now i’m thinking about when akihiko says shinji joined sees for him in the answer… i need to die.

“he barged into the dorm and refused to leave” shinjiro being in stupidly love u will always be famous… gahhh. grrrrggggghh

[bugeyedfreaks]

1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 12 for HIM please

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

He’s fun! He’s evil! He’s fabulous! Who can’t like Him? It’s cool that, as a villain of Townsville, he’s the most serious kind that you can get, and it’s neat that the girls have a villain that’s dedicated to basically just screwing with their brains instead of pulling heists for material possessions like the rest usually do… but I do appreciate when he’s less, like… ~dark and edgy~ evil and more just messing around with the girls’ minds in ultra kooky, goofy ways for his own amusement (like making them take the SATs or conducting choo-choo trains or threatening to drop their teacher into a vat of boiling sharks, all while smiling… you can tell that my fave episode with Him is Him Diddle Riddle, haha).

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I really like how mysterious and foreboding he is, specifically in the earliest episodes. The show used to air late at night, so sometimes when I rewatch episodes like Octi Evil and Tough Love (and it’s not a Him episode but I feel this BIG TIME with Abracadaver) I can remember being in the family room with all the lights off, sitting in front of the TV, watching them for the first time, and the whole nighttime ambiance made the episodes (and Him in particular) just all the more creepy and evil in my kid mind. He’s got a special unsettling feeling to him that feels lost later on in the last two seasons that aired (they also got rid of his obscure pink house/lair/hell realm that I always held a fondness for… the Dadaesque dimension they designed later kind of sucks and isn’t nearly as creepy).

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

He brought back the Rowdyruff Boys… why? Couldn’t he think of anything original? People think he’s so evil for resurrecting them (and in a way… true, because they’re not great characters) but I think he was just lazy. 🥱 He should have opened a mirror nightmare portal to unleash the Powerpunk Girls instead!

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

His hellish theme music!

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

There have been loooooooooots of super cool fanart and cosplays of Him! It’s always fun to see how people interpret him in different styles, and when I see a Him at a convention it’s always magical. 🔥✨

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Hmm… well, I have my headcanon that he and Sedusa and Mojo are all best frenemies that like to go have self care days and chill out at the mall with each other, if that counts? 😆

[lemonhemlock]

finally sitting down to write my barbieheimer review and coming out as an oppenheimer hater so DO NOT PROCEED if you are annoyed by criticism of it or do not want to hear it or whatever. seriously. if you liked the movie, good for you. i did not. this is going to be a long rant. i am so not joking right now.

disclaimer that i went to the cinema with the very best of intentions, wanting and fully expecting to like oppenheimer. while that didn't happen, i loved the double feature experience and do not regret it. i spent the entire day at the mall with my boyfriend and we just had a fun, carefree day. i've wanted to see both and had planned to for a long time and it was great. v interesting as a cultural zeitgeist moment.

that being said, the reason oppenheimer leaves me cold is because it is a fundamentally incoherent movie that doesn't know what it's about, tries to do everything all at once and succeeds in nothing. each hour of running time could have easily been a separate movie: one about oppenheimer's life leading to los alamos, another one about the actual creation of the atomic bomb and another one with the robert downey jr plot.

there are huge disadvantages to trying to cram so many different story beats into one singular movie and, if you ask me, i wouldn't advise anyone to do it. but nolan strikes me as the kind of overrated ~artiste that rarely hears no for an answer. this movie was in DIRE need of a streamlining. you can hire the greatest editor in history, but if you give him that script, they're not going to be able to salvage it.

i thought the editing was consistently bad throughout the movie, but especially atrocious in the first part about oppenheimer's early life. the result of this lack of plot focus is that the movie basically consists in a string of tiny scenes that last for seconds sometimes, all meshed together like a freaking montage. now, to each their own, but i cannot emphasize how much i hate this storytelling choice. no, but i genuinely despise it. whenever i see it, in movies or television, it just drives me up the wall. you can say it's a specific pet peeve of mine or whatever, maybe it doesn't bother others as much, but i honestly do not respect it. i think it's categorically lazy, something we've seen in a hundred different movies already and the most simplistic way of doing an exposition dump. i abhor the feeling of watching a mashup passing itself off as some kind of creative experiment in storytelling.

now, had this overused, lackadaisical introduction lasted a reasonable amount of time (maybe 20 min?), perhaps my stance would not have been so riled up. but it went on for AGES. i think the whole exposition part lasted for about an hour and coupled with the hurried procession of unconnected scenes and the asinine marvel movie semi-upbeat background music, the result was just cringe. and i specifically choose this term because this movie is touted as being a milestone moment in cinema or whatever. genuinely insane to me.

cillian murphy meets florence pugh for the first time and within seconds she starts berating him for not joining the communist party. who speaks like that? no natural progression to the conversation at all, we have to get from point A to point B and that's surely more important. you blink again and they're having sex. she stops mid-act because she has the sudden, irrepressible urge to check out his library (??). she makes him recite his famous aphorism from sanskrit while shoving the Bhagavad Gita in his face. the man is craning his neck in the most uncomfortable sex position ever. there is nothing natural about this, just stilted dialogue and an edgy highschooler's interpretation of a cool flirtation. i struggle to even call it that because they don't even get to flirt. too many conversations in this film sound genuinely inorganic.

everything is so rushed. a three-hour long movie should NOT feel rushed. but this is the natural consequence of trying to cram so many things into it: the scenes are too short and, because of that, lack build-up and, because of that, the atmosphere suffers greatly, the actors don't have time to act, the relationships between them feel forced and the overall movie feels like it intentionally won't allow you to linger or catch your breath because then you'll figure out it has nothing to say. there is hardly any physics in it. there is hardly any social or philosophical commentary. the last third of the movie turns into this random whodunit / who-framed-oppenheimer type of scooby doo plot. that scene with rdj unraveling his evil plot to that young man feels lifted out of an agatha christie novel. why would rdj even care about what that green boy thinks of him? well, it's because that lad is the audience stand-in, of course. another stereotypical storytelling trick we've seen a million times before that nolan resorts to in his quest to create a "masterpiece".

there are some VERY talented people in this cast. a genuine tour-de-force when it comes to acting skills, even in cameo roles. yet no chance of showing any of that. they're just reciting lines because there is no time for anything else. there is no time to let their talent and performance shine. yes, not even cillian murphy, the titular character. i know that man can act because i've seen him for over a decade in various productions. not in oppenheimer though. there's no time. it feels like they're trying to read out to me the entire encyclopaedia britannica in 10 minutes.

i struggle to identify the theme or point of the movie. i heard nolan say it's about the consequences of one's actions. bitch, where? i'm not joking right now, there's like maybe 5 minutes of exploring that in a 3h-movie. i need everyone to stop being so unserious for real. i admit that i haven't been actively searching, but i haven't encountered any criticism either. is everyone just pretending to like this movie because they're afraid of being labelled a philistine? is this an emperor's new clothes type of situation? this whole previous discourse about how people will get bored or need to pay attention to what's happening on screen... there is nothing difficult or philosophical about oppenheimer. it's a very straightforward movie.

to me, it feels like nolan took a very interesting topic in and of itself, namely the creation of the atomic bomb, and did nothing interesting with it. he's just serving me facts about oppenheimer* with little to no commentary attached and a tiny amount of artistic interpretation. i say that because it has, like, that one scene when oppenheimer is imagining the flesh melting off of his audience while giving a war propaganda speech, meant to symbolize his conflicting views. the stream-of-consciousness element could have been an interesting lens through which to tell this story, but it was way under-utilized. this project could have slapped actually had it been filmed exclusively through oppenheimer's POV like an A24 horror movie.

*i say facts but in reality i need to actually fact-check to weed out the fictional elements bc i know next to nothing about this man, other than him spearheading the manhattan project

anyway, it's true that i am being harsh with this movie also because of the (undeserved) hype surrounding it and the inevitable ovations attached to any nolan production. but, imo, it is disappointing for a filmmaker of his calibre, with his experience and resources and the goodwill surrounding him to put out such fundamentally lazy nonsense

onto barbie now. first of all, yes, they're like apples and oranges, but one point of comparison is that this is a a very self-aware movie that never loses sight of what it's about and doesn't meander or diverge pointlessly from its main themes and message. after dismantling oppenheimer, i can't claim that barbie is going to revolutionize cinema or destroy the patriarchy or strengthen womanly bonds worldwide, but it's very on point. it's visually stunning, has a lot of easter eggs and cute details, catchy tunes and just general preciousness. everyone playing a doll was actively adorable. the re-watch quality feels promising, it has a very good chance of becoming a cult classic. it was heartwarming and endearing without being too overly sugary & funny without insulting jokes.

the choice to depict men as reductive and an afterthought as counter-point to how women are often portrayed on screen as accessories was indeed interesting. so was the idea of boys and girls diverging once they "discover" patriarchy. now, don't get me wrong, barbie is not a complicated movie either. its feminism is pretty simplistic, no doubt about it, but it doesn't take itself too seriously either. i do wish that america ferrera's mid-movie speech about women's position in society was a little more refined because those ideas were indeed very basic and kind of eye-roll worthy, like a feminism 101 class. i could have done without helen mirren's voice over (it didn't really add a lot, imo, although the joke about margot robbie was funny). the intro spoofing 2001 space odyssey was a little too on-the-nose as well, so i can't say it's not without a couple of hiccups and cringe moments.

nonetheless, barbie is, by no means, a short movie either. clocking in at 114 min, the pendulum swings towards the "long" side of running times. but, as opposed to oppenheimer, it feels neither rushed, nor drawn out. the pacing is just right. the actors in barbie have the space to shine, even those in small roles. the plot has room to breathe. relationships have room to grow. disregarding the subject matter (in an attempt at objectivity, as one might prefer one topic over the other), strictly from the perspective of storytelling techniques, editing, cinematography & character development, barbie is plainly the superior movie.

[panzerprincess33]

yes! xx a fic i really like is snow angel and how the three (hh, jg, ah) all are attracted to the mc. it definitely made me interested in that dynamic and how would you think they’d act if they were very in-love, (obsessed, even), with a mc who didn’t notice? since himmler was a bit of a people-pleaser i think he’d be try to make mc happy and try to demonstrate how capable he is, or something of that nature.

your himmler fics feel so real, so i can see that 100%. goebbels is such a complex guy, i feel like he’s hard to capture in writing but you do that very well, in clean that is definitely how he’d act towards a maid he liked. i think fics about more niche guys would be fun and different, and would make its own audience if there wasn’t already one.

at times i’m like, i wish there was more information about these guys and their personal lives. like, what was himmlers favorite music genre, or favorite color? what was goebbles favorite season? but when i write little short stories about them the mystery kinda pushes creativity it’s interesting that way, imo! it makes head-canons feel more original, cause everyone has a different interpretation of them and what they did.

one more thing, lol, sorry to keep writing thru anon asks! at first i was a bit nervous to send in an ask but I didn’t wanna pass up the chance to say something, cause before i had no idea about reichblr/fandom and just read a03 about them (specifically your stories). anyway, my day was good, and i hope yours is great! xx

Aw yeah I’m always happy to answer anything or chat! And yeah, I think your perceptions of them are also bang on. The dynamics in snow angel would be super fun to get more into for sure, maybe in a more developed story.

I'm really happy to hear you found the stories on Ao3! I remember when I wrote them and posted about the I felt like I was shouting into the void, that no one else really feels this way, but I was so pleasantly surprised that people actually cared and read the works! I agree with you about the headcanons, reading the different interpretations people have about them is all the more interesting. It's as though you can create a patchwork of their character, taking what resonates with you from each work you read. And yes, it would be awesome to know little intimate details, simple things about them, that are overlooked or never mentioned in history texts.

I think it's because it's so taboo to express any attraction towards these men, which makes sense, given how the war ended, and all those events in between. That being said, I don't think desire for men is evil, I don't think attraction to men is evil, for healthy young women :) There's a lot more nuance that I think I have, and maybe you can relate to, rather than just expression attraction to these guys for the purpose of being "edgy" or attention-seeking. Like, it's more complex than that.

Honestly, I think if anything, it kind of goes to show how you can't choose your attraction/interest in things, that they choose you. What you can control, is how you deal with it. I think writing and sometimes drawing about it helps me a ton.

Anyway, it means the world to me to hear you like the stories :))

[fareehaandspaniards]

9, 13, 14, 18, 27 and 34 for Edgar!

OOOOOooohHHHH thanks for choosing him!!

9. Does this character remind you of anyone you know? Does that affect how you see them?

Yes, Edgar certainly reminds me someone! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) But not with personality or appearance... I don't know. The VIBE. That person knows i LOVE Edgar, that person can read this post, that person knows that 1-3 times per month I ask him to cosplay Edgar!!!11!

And also after playing Bloodborne I found a type of young men that I call "Edgar". I think almost everyday 1 or 2 Edgars come to flower shop where I work. It's a certain type - 16-30 years old, OFKOS with glasses, very shy, avoids eye contact or STARES into your soul, sometimes edgy, acts weird and tries to pretend everything is okay. LOL. So it's okay if we walk with my husband and I accidentally say "ooh, it's Edgar there again"

13. If you could draw effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what scene (s) would you draw for this character?

I want to draw so much with him... I want to draw him in his childhood, exercing with Gremia who had nothing to do and tried to make little Edgar so sports :D I want to draw him with his auntie Yurie, who he calls "auntie" and she hates it, with Imposter-Iosefka who I call Madlene... I want to draw a shitpost, where Edgar follows Micolash everywhere and Micolash tries to avoid him and discovers that Edgar is yandere xdd I want to draw him as a child that begs everyone to show him Ludwig because he is his hero... T_T I have a sack of ideas but no time to draw them!

14. Are you physically attracted to this character?

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) yes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I find Edgar extra hot. My type + looks like nerd + my interpretation of his personality

18. Do you prefer to see this character suffer or know peace? Angst or comfort? Both?

Both and much more. He is doomed by a narrative but is really important for the whole story. Edgar gaving suicidal thoughts, addiction to sedatives, personal life problems (he never had a true family, and Yurie hadn't want to be his family when he grew up), Micolash (as a whole problem), unrequites unnecessary painful love to the one who killed you (also Micolash) - okay! But also I really enjoy imagining him being happy having a cool mentor (who is also VERY silly), finding peace in his heart when Micolash is around, being hugged by Damian and more and more!

27. Do you like to ship this character with other characters or do you prefer not to?

Me? Not to ship? LOL

Micolash/Edgar, Damian/Edgar, Yurie/Edgar (in a timeline where they are !!!!!not!!!! relatives), Yurie/Edgar/Imposter Iosefka (also >>>>>NOT BLOOD-RELATED <<<<), Gremia/Edgar, Micolash/Edgar/Damian (as a kind of polyamory), Good Hunter/Edgar - I ship them and like to write/read stuff about it

34. Does this character inspire you with little things in your daily life?

He does!! Actually Edgar for me projects the problem of a "little man" (I am not sure if this termin should sound like that in english. I read that it's mostly from russian literature so idk sorry).

Edgar is not naturally gifted, not really talented. Though he can hear more voices from beyond than anyone else (ability like Rom has, but weaker) but it doesn't help him even a BIT, only annoys and scares. He is just a man with wounded pride, who has many fears, who needs attention, who wants to be loved, to be praised, to feel that someone needs him, know that he worths something.

So yes, he inspires me, I can say everyday! Reminds that every human has a story behind! And we all are just people, and any of us is like a blanket with many patches (if you joke about the last word, I'll mercilessly find you I swear) (<<<<<joke) (for now)

[stillfruit]

It takes me a long time to understand some things if they're not too obvious so I had a difficult time watching true detective a few years ago. Do you have any tips to rewatch it and maybe understand a little more? 👉👈

omg of course, i love to hear that you would want to rewatch true detective (applies to s1 only i haven't watched beyond that)!!

to base this a little, please don't worry over understanding and not understanding something too much. everyone thinks, experiences and processes media differently, and our understandings of what counts as 'understanding media' also differ (understanding in different contexts can mean an analytical understanding of the core themes identified through a specific framework, or an emotional reaction and a feeling of connection to the thing that's difficul to articulate, and so on and so forth). there's no universal objective level of 'understanding' and what you deem is enough for you is enough! being comfortable and confident enough to interpret things yourself while remaining receptive of other perspectives (including the perspectives of the story and its author) is what's most important in 'understanding' things. also secondly, not everything is for everyone and sometimes something just doesn't click because of that.

i'm not sure what aspects specifically you would want to understand more, but here are few things on how i approach the story:

there are overall themes i find interesting in true detective such as (toxic) masculinity (it's about men who are bad in specifc and systemic ways), narratives (internal as in how you construct yourself, like marty consistently justifying cheating on maggie; and external and institutional, like religion), power and autonomy (police and people with money have the power to do what they want), and existentialism (rust lacks overall meaning of why he is alive). they serve as lenses through which you interpret the story - kind of like picking an academic framework (theory) and looking at the data (story) through that.

there are many things that happen in the story and because s1 was so big back in 2014 there are numerous thinkpieces and video essays about it, all of them picking various aspects they see as central. because true detective is what it is (surface level edgy dudebro nihilist police man annihilates everyone around him by being so nihilist and cool show), some are very bad. i'm not that interested in the kind of analysis that looks super closely at the intertextual aspects of the story, for instance, or "the philosophy" of it (if that means looking at what rust says, taking that at face value, and connecting the story to existentialist philosophy based on that). just reflect on what interests you and see how the story looks and feels when examined through those perspectives.

a lot of the time i like looking at things through and by focusing on characters, and i think this is especially crucial when it comes to true detective (which is a heavily character driven story. sure it of course matters that they are police and that they are in louisiana and that there are murders etc but those things are not what the story is about). looking at a character contextualizes that character (what they say and do and represent) and rust is an excellent example of this. he talks in a cynical and pessimistic manner, looks down upon others, is very capable in terms of violence, is alienated and alienates other people, is obsessive, has issues with substance abuse, and his house is the definition of that one r/malelivingspace meme.

however, when you look at what he has been through and how he behaves (as well as how the narrative treats him) these things are contextualized not as 'behaviour you should look up to and which is good and correct from the perspective of the story, or at the very least is very cool and/or edgy, because he's the protagonist' (media analysis 101) but behavior of someone who struggles with ptsd, trauma and his own feelings of empathy in a world that has been very unkind to him since his childhood. when rust is saying things like 'time is a flat circle nothing can change' he's coping and trying to make himself believe it because he's incapable of processing, realizing, or externalizing any of the trauma he's been through or any of the care he feels in a healthy manner (which is quite explicit in, for example, how he empathizes so intensely with people who are dead). he's brilliant at rationalizing everything and it's terrible for him. the ways in which marty constantly lies to himself are quite explicit and rust is one of the people pointing them out, but rust is coping by creating his own narrative of his self and the reality all the same.

(better articulations of his character specifically are to be found eg here, here, and here)

so, maybe if i were to articulate the core thing for understanding true detective (or really any media) it would be looking at what happens on screen in the story in terms of actions and speech and then reflecting on how that relates to what's 'actually' going on, what kinds of things are being left unsaid, and why. there are various explicit examples of the theme of narratives and unreliable narrators as well that tell you that this is what's important (such as the interrogation narration of the ledoux confrontation and showing on screen what actually happened).

something i do when i watch or read media (that is engaging enough in a good or a bad sense to warrant this) is writing about it on my personal notes app (now obsidian so i can organize everything) in the same way i would talk about it to someone else. i also save interesting writings etc there so i remember and find them later, and write my own thoughts on those things there as well, having my own private discussion with them (which. is a lonely thing to do but shh).

few blogs who have written super interesting things about true detective which i highly recommend you check out (because seeing the perspectives of others is inherently one of the most enriching experiences and helps you understand so much) include @inkandcayenne and @sketiana. iirc there are some good video essays on youtube as well but i can't name any because it's been too many years since i watched any.

a central thing that makes true detective so meaningful to me personally is exactly the fact that many of the themes i care about in it are not super explicit or vocalized in obvious ways (saying 'i want to die because i'm sad' doesn't hit but describing death as a warm and welcoming substance does). i hope you have fun looking into where you find emotion and meaning <3

sorry this went a bit off track tldr have fun and be yourself, lmk how you feel about the story afterwards if you want!