#i haven't seen the live action so i can't judge based on that

[runawayfuture]

okay but disney's Aladdin is absolutely not "hear me out" material. He's probably one of the most attractive animated human men to ever exist - he's aesthetically pleasing, he has a cool and fun personality, he's smart, has a sense of humor, and he hates cops. Plus, he has a slutty little vest that shows off his abs. I'm ace, but even I can tell - that's an incredibly normal guy to be into.

Can't say anything about the fish though. That's on OP.

Accidentally wound up on "hear me out cake" tiktok, and I swear, if another one of these bitches puts down an at-most-unconventionally-attractive human man, Lady Dimitrescu or Nick Wilde/Robin Hood I am going to lose my fucking mind.

Saw one where the first person they named was Disney's Aladdin and I tapped out so hard I entered a fugue state and didn't regain full consciousness for like a solid hour.

[budd-ie]

Desperately need to break down two people and one cup of water because I have like 10 drafts about xianle trio that I Can't Post because they all feed off of conclusions from each of their answers, except we haven't established what those conclusions are yet. So this is where that starts.

I once had a wake up in a cold sweat realization (the first of many) that the three of them represent three different paths in their respective answers, and how these answers give us so much insight into who they really are and how they typically act. And I realize this is probably a very basic and prevalent thing (especially come book 3) but I haven't seen it broken down recently, so I'd like to. But mostly I need it as my context and support for my other future claims or else they might not make any sense haha. So I’ll be relating these answers directly to events in book 3. Let's get into it.

���Two walked the desert, about to die from thirst, and there was only one cup of water. The one who drinks lives, the one who doesn’t dies. If you were a god, who would you give that cup of water to— don’t speak yet, I’ll ask the other two and see how they answer.”

Mu Qing's answer:

“May I ask who those two people are, what their natures are like, and of their merits? A decision can only be made once all the details are known.”

Feng Xin's answer:

“I don’t know! Don’t ask me—tell them to decide amongst themselves!”

Xie Lian's answer:

“Give them another cup."

TLDR:

When faced with a choice such as this...

Xie Lian will try to save both parties at all costs, even if that cost is himself. His sense of justice is the strongest above all and believes that innocent people should never have to suffer.

Feng Xin will put someone else in charge of the choice and act on their behalf. He isn't as good at making decisions, and feels most comfortable standing behind someone else he trusts.

Mu Qing will choose whatever option brings the best/most desirable outcome that is within his control without sacrificing himself. He is a logical thinker above all else and is used to making moral sacrifices to find the optimal yet most realistic outcome of a situation.

(Book 3 and some book 6 spoilers ahead)

We know that Xie Lian's desire to expand the resource is beautiful but impossible, and we know that giving equal amounts of half the cup of water to both people will still leave them both as dead as not giving it at all. We also know that he learned his lesson the hard way and doesn't stop learning it even 800 years later. We know how Xianle fell and we know that it was doomed from the beginning; there was no saving it, but even if there was, he would have to choose between Xianle and Yong'an. Finally, we know that when he has nothing left to give, he will give himself up for the outcome he desires. We spend so much time with Xie Lian that I won't focus on trying to prove what's already been proven. Instead, I'll focus on the other two.

Mu Qing's answer is unpalatable to most people, because it sounds like he accepts being put in charge of answering the question "who deserves to live and who deserves to die?" It's easy to judge him for his willingness to make these kinds of sacrifices, but this is the exact nature of the question, and the exact situation they find themselves in so often. By both this answer and patterns within his actions, I think Mu Qing can best be described as an extremely logical thinker who will choose whatever option brings the best/most desirable outcome without sacrificing himself too far. That doesn't mean he'll never push his luck, but this is the algorithmic way we most often see him thinking.

By the terms of the riddle, the most logical option is that one person gets water and one person doesn’t, and the giver will decide who gets it to avoid conflict. And Mu Qing doesn’t choose randomly, either; he wants to choose based on their characters, their backgrounds, their merits, etc. So the other two may be treating everyone equally, but sometimes that’s just not within your control. Mu Qing is an incredibly logical person, so to optimize the good that can come from this action, he will make the choice. It’s not easy, and could end either way, but at least someone is guaranteed to live. In fact, this is the only outcome in which someone is guaranteed to live. I'll summarize some other examples of his thought process in the future, but I'll focus on the most relevant example for now.

In book 3, Mu Qing is the first one to suggest cursing Yong’an with human face disease in order to save Xianle. A "despicable" choice as they conclude, but Xie Lian, I will add, does thoroughly consider his suggestions before declining, and while the persuasion is ineffective, it isn't 100% ineffective. In the end though, Xie Lian is weighing the option of “people in the capital probably live and the people of Yong’an as well as the dead suffer for it” and he isn’t willing to make this bargain in the end. He doesn’t know if it could backfire and isn’t satisfied with the amount of bad that could come from it. Mu Qing, on the other hand, is adamant about this decision and gets frustrated that Xie Lian won’t make it. He's even excited about his answer, not because he wants people to die, but because he found themselves a viable way out. It feels so easy to him, because he’s weighing the net good of “we fucking live” and “we fucking die.” Turns out living is a lot more appealing than dying, especially for a character who canonically loves his life and is terrified of death. Isn’t this the same mindset as the rest of the common people?

I've established before that Xie Lian is not the common people. Growing up poor though, Mu Qing is like, common people extraordinaire. Unlike Xie Lian, he’s long since accepted that not everybody can be saved, not everybody can be placated, some people are good and nice and some people suck and are not. Mu Qing is used to making sacrifices for the greater good, ignoring morality to a digestible extent, because it’s something that common people have to do to get by. This situation reminds me of this quote from when the townsfolk are getting admonished for mutilating themselves to get rid of human face disease:

“Your Highness is invincible, so of course you'd call us foolish. But aren’t our conditions so desperate that we had no choice but to try foolish methods?!”

And maybe we fixate a lot on “not everybody can be saved” but I think what matters to Mu Qing is more that some people can be saved. Why are we dawdling doing good because it’s not enough good? Don’t we learn from this that just one person enough? Mu Qing understands that in order to have a chance at saving themselves a decision must be made, and he tries to make his point clear when he says the following:

“Before they reach their bad end, we will have already perished! You don’t have a third path and there is no second cup of water. Wake up, Your Highness! You’re running out of time.”

The amount of suffering the common people have endured until now allows the average person to surpass the moral debacle and choose life above all else. Why did Xie Lian try to steal during his first banishment? Because he was so desperate to save himself and his family that morality became the lesser merit. When faced with the threat of human face disease and the solution of killing just one person to save themselves, the people who stab Xie Lian live, and the one who refuses the decision dies a horrible death. Does Mu Qing make a little more sense now? He saw not only a way to survive, but the expected solution to the problem, and he jumped at it. We as the audience can fixate on the moral implications of his decisions because we aren’t the ones making the decisions, nor are we affected by either outcome.

Speaking of a person not making decisions, this is where Feng Xin becomes relevant. His answer is to make no decision at all, leave it up to them to decide who drinks and who doesn't. While he's absolved from the moral quandary, this path doesn't really solve anything. There might be a chance where they choose peacefully who should drink, but it's much more realistic to expect them to slaughter each other over the resource before either of them have the chance to drink it.

So when faced with a major decision like this, what is Feng Xin most likely to do?

Entrust it to someone else, like Xie Lian.

As much as I love him, our poor boy's arrows are a bit sharper than he is. What’s he doing while Xie Lian and Mu Qing talk about curses?

At first, Feng Xin had listened to their argument glumly, and because he couldn’t contribute any better ideas, he didn’t join in.

Not a whole lot. Actually, he stands silently until Mu Qing insults Xie Lian. After that, he shoves Mu Qing back and suddenly starts going off on him, saying things like

“With an apathetic person like him, you don’t usually see any sign that he actually cares about the Kingdom of Xianle. But now suddenly he’s anxious?”

and especially:

“You really think I can’t tell that you think His Highness is a fool? I can tolerate your sarcasm and those rolling eyes, I can tolerate you always standing where you shouldn’t in the Upper Court. You like to show off and it’s hardly the first time you’ve pulled this shit, so fine, go show off, you’re not good enough to wow the heavens anyway. His Highness doesn’t mind, so I don’t give a shit either. But since you’re gonna cross the line, I’m not gonna hold back. Listen up! I’m not surprised you’d leap at the chance to use despicable means, but His Highness is His Highness—no matter what he decides, you better respect it. Don’t you dare be so critical, and don’t forget who the fuck you are!”

This is only an excerpt of the rant because the first part isn't as relevant but this whole scene is so crazy. Crazy because it's so raw (that last line is so jaw dropping to me like actually. If someone said all that to me I’d go rogue) and also because it tells us so much about them.

First, "despicable" is actually a word Xie Lian used earlier when he said the following:

“Absolutely not! Don’t forget what we called them when they attacked the innocent civilians of the capital: despicable. If we do the same thing, won’t we become just as despicable? How would we be any different?”

Which means this isn't completely Feng Xin's own judgment. Right now, he's just using Xie Lian's opinion as an in to justify his own personal rage. Xie Lian isn't even calling Mu Qing despicable; he fully believes in Mu Qing, understands how he came to his conclusion, and doesn't blame him for having a temper (he already knows he's sensitive and prone to it, he defends him saying he’s “just anxious over the current situation”). While we do know it definitely reflects Feng Xin's moral opinion on attacking innocents (“If it really was them, then I’ll lose respect for them. Fight honestly on the battlefield if you have the ability; don’t use shady tricks to harm innocent civilians!”), it's less reflective of his intentions in this specific instance.

Second, this whole rant is fueled by nothing but pent up rage that was sparked by Mu Qing insulting Xie Lian, giving him a hard time, and going against his decision. Feng Xin judges him hard for his "despicable" choice, but Feng Xin doesn't even have any other opinions on how to solve the actual problem at hand. His opinion is whatever Xie Lian decides, for his highness is so smart and virtuous, clearly that must be the right one, especially when compared to that of a humble servant.

But what would Feng Xin do if Xie Lian decided Mu Qing was right? What if Xie Lian decided that they desperately needed to curse all Yong'an citizens to die so Xianle might be able to live? Would this still be a despicable decision to Feng Xin if Xie Lian decided it wasn't so bad? I have reason to believe that his sense of morality, though great, may be slightly lesser than his sense of loyalty (assuming the person he is loyal to is virtuous and acceptable to him, such is Xie Lian). This is supported by how in the revised book 6 scene, Feng Xin doesn’t leave because he’s questioning Xie Lian’s morality, he leaves because Xie Lian relieves him of his duty and he obeys the order. He’s surprised when this happens and seems hesitant, despite it all. While we don’t really have any specific instance testing this hypothetical, my hypothesis is that any moral complications he could have would come after acting on his highness's word, and if Xie Lian said this was the right choice, he would rationalize it (I also think there’s a graph with an intersection between his morality and loyalty after which morality will start surpassing loyalty when the situation is pushed far enough to warrant it). In any case, the consequences of their actions will not fall on Feng Xin's shoulders, so he doesn't think too hard about the implications of the actions, he just excels at following orders from the boss; that's why its so easy for him to make these judgments.

I also think this explains the way he acts during book 1 where he always looks like he has something to say and never chooses to, always looking just a little lost at what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s given a choice of talk to Xie Lian or not talk to him, but he genuinely doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do and can’t figure it out on his own, so he chooses the safe option of doing nothing. He’s always looked towards Xie Lian to make decisions, but he doesn’t have that anymore. We actually see him start getting more confident in decision making as the book goes on, like when he congratulated him for his 3000 lanterns (I like how he doesn’t question where they came from though!).

Anyways, I forgot how important book 3 was for characterization of these three because everything they do can be drawn back here. The number one reason I like this story is the way every single character is so individual and has very specific motivations and personalities that can and will clash in very specific ways with other characters, which is how a lot of the conflicts arise in the first place (instead of throwing people at a plot and hoping they can carry it). It makes it so interesting when you know why they act the way they do. Also, this isn't a complete character summary by any means, there’s obviously more to these fellas that I didn’t talk about. I can think of other instances that support these conclusions, but because this is already such a long post maybe I'll make a masterlist or something and link them when I finish them (thanks!)

[thinkingofausername]

cw: rant, don't read if you're religious and easily offended

The older I get, the more I'm fascinated and avidly repulsed by religion.

I'm fascinated with the fact that so many people view religious texts as the objective truth. They don't even question it, it just is what it is. A virgin gave birth, a man made everything and is watching us all the time and knows everything about us and has a plan for us, a man turned water to wine and cured blindness and came back from the dead, another man parted the sea, etc. Somehow mermaids and vampires aren't believable.

I'm fascinated with the fact that religion holds so much power. It's put its hand on politics, education, healthcare. It dictates things it never should've. It's spoken of as a personal choice and belief which is to be respected and yet it's an all around force involved in things it should've stayed out of.

I'm fascinated with the fact that we never outgrew it, never evolved past it. It's such a backwards and rigid thing that I honestly can't believe we haven't left it behind. I can imagine centuries and centuries ago people needed to be told killing was bad because you will die and burn forever but how does that apply to this day and age? Shouldn't it be the most reasonable thing that our actions be controlled by morals, guilt, rationality, law, etc. If someone has to threaten you with eternal damnation in order for you to be good, than how good are you?

I'm repulsed by the mindlessness of it. It reads as nothing but mass control and simultaneously giving up control. It reads as controlling mindless masses who need to blindly follow something and never question it. I believe "the Lord is my shepherd" is very much on point. It reads as avoiding taking accountability. It reads as avoiding the fact that our lives are in our control. We have no inherent purpose and no one but us is guiding our lives. Our actions have direct consequences. God didn't save that person's life, it was the surgeon who performed the surgery for fifteen fucking hours. We are conscious creatures and we should be exercising critical thinking and not giving up control of our lives because "someone has a plan for us and all will be as he has imagined it".

I'm repulsed by the fact that it's spoken of as something that revolves around loving and forgiving and yet fear is at the center of it. We should believe in God because if we don't we are forever doomed? Religion gives you permission to meddle in other people's lives an question them and judge them? Religion gives you permission to look at a person with piercings/tattoos/skull accessories/black eyeshadow and feel free to tell them they will burn in hell? Religion gives you permission to look at two people who love each other in a way your beliefs don't align with and tell them they will be eternally punished for it?

I'm repulsed by the fact that it's based on lies and a superiority complex. Religion is apparently virtue and purity and mercy and yet it's caused and justified more suffering than anything else in the world. Religion painted women as silent servants in servitude of men and for the obvious reason men liked that and used it as much as possible and they still do. Countless women were burned for being "witches", people were tortured so they would accept a religion, countless other crimes were committed because it was "in the Lord's name".

I'm repulsed by the fact that nothing stands in the face of delusion. Religion is seen as the objective truth and whoever doesn't believe it is wrong, in denial, lost, has to be saved, waiting for God to be speak to them, etc.

I'm fascinated by the fact that the world is led by a cult and no one wants to admit it.

[pro-sipper]

I came across one of your posts so I've been perusing your content and wow. I had no idea this discourse existed. I'd seen the term pro-shipper and anti and didn't really know what it was. But seen the antis lose in your notes. Wow. Just wow. Talk about people who can't separate fiction from reality or engage with either in nuanced ways.

As a rule of thumb, we should judge people based on their real-life actions to real living beings and not on their fiction.

It's honestly worrying to see the rise of this puritanical thinking and, especially, how nonchalantly these people are self-policing their own thoughts to the point of desperately trying to police others.

I don't know, jan, I think your favorite author who exclusively writes wholesome kids' books and is openly racist on twitter is not on the same level as the author you hate for writing fucked up shit who is sweet and well-adjusted, irl. Maybe think about that, jan. Maybe take the full context into consideration, jan.

Just wow. You are so brave for having this blog. I can't imagine the amount of notes you must get. Good luck out there.

Thank you for this, I really appreciated it! And truthfully I haven't gotten that many asks. I mean this blog is almost a month old and I've only gotten a few death threats here and there. I've gotten more on fandom blogs tbh.

But that's a very fun point about that totally hypothetical author you brought up. I wonder what the overlap is in people who would gladly throw money at them for whatever mediocre franchise bullshit they continue to spew out, and people who think words in a google doc make you a real life criminal

Writing nasty weird shit for your fellow fandom freaks doesn't make you a bad person any more than writing wholesome fiction for children makes someone a good person. All that matters is how you treat living, breathing people in this world. End of story

[littlemonstert-blog]

I cant help but to laugh at twitter.

I honestly can't deal with people getting mad about some of the changes Castlevania Noturne.

I think Castlevania Noturne is alright besides a couple of cringe dialogue in certain episodes & a couple of moments felt off. Other then that its ok

Like a soild 7.5-8/10

This isn't the first time they changed something about the story or character in this franchise and it won't be the last.

Like I get that want to stick to the "source material"

Its basicaly the same as last castlevania kill vampires

NOUTURNE theme is about freedom for almost every character.

Let's be honest here...

All they really did was put more emphasis with the french evolution compared to the game it was based around that time.

Recycling the dracula plot line like the game isn't gonna work bc of the show he doesn't hate humans anymore.

Even castlevania has gone off the rails and add stuff to their game that really doesn't fit in.

The videos I've seen have said they are loosely adapting Rondo of Blood into Symphony of the Night.

The show clearly explains why Annette & her friend are here for.

Then there's Annette the race swapping. People are upset about this so much.

Once in game she was just richter girlfriend & damsel n distress (which isn't bad if written correctly)

Idk why it that upsetting bc she didn't have much of a major role in the story

I get the wanted them to follow the "source material"...

(The writers to have some fault in this & could have handle it better)

But... as for the fans...where was all this energy for Issca

He still throughout the series became one of the best characters.

I didn't hear too many complaints about him.

A story about belmont vampire hunters fighting Dracula over and over again...but a something a bit different mixed in they throw a fit.

It fantasy with magic & monsters but as soon as you see a black person all hell is gonna break loose

The comments are ridiculous too.

The irony in this post is that JAPAN based game and manga have done this before with approval.

DMC Morrison

One piece live action with ODA's approval

I go on but i got limited images i can use but the FINAL nail in the coffin

What the netflix castlevania account tweeted out.... It didn't go so well a post and delete.

About Annette(joking out of context) saying Richter was basically useless after a certain event had him running away. (Something about the belmonts)

.

This person didnt even watch the show yet they judge an out of context scene.

I do see alot of people defending the netflix post heck some people that are fan of the games enjoy it too.

I gonna be honest if you don't like the show that's fine. But if you haven't watched the show just stop talking. Let people enjoy it.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I feel like you avoid the actual argument about this issue. I find your way of discussing this and responding to logical and reasonable points made by your anons utterly bizarre. You don’t really respond to them, you just put everything into perspective and try to distract from the original problem that was brought up (some people would call it whataboutism but I’m tired of that word tbh). I haven’t really taken anything from your answers besides you not wanting to criticize individual actions as long as their consequences (or prize as you say) aren’t high enough which is just wild to me bc that isn’t even true in this case.

Anon - I am explaining a really widely held left-wing analysis of political boycotts and how change happens (here's a published example of the same analysis). If it seems bizarre to you, to me that suggests that your politics have mainly existed on the internet and you haven't really engaged with trying to build a better world (or even listened to people who have.

You don't seem to have understood my ideas (for example you us the word 'prize' as if I had said it and I haven't used that word at all). I genuinely don't understand what you're saying in the second part of this anon (not just the prize, what consequences, what isn't true).

From my perspective, none of the anons I've seen have articulated an argument. Instead they've listed the horrors that went into producing the world cup and then said that therefore nobody should watch and talk about it. But anyone who has been paying attention to capitalism knows that those horrors aren't new or unique. They are part of pretty much everything we consume. "Horrific things were involved in making this, therefore you should stay away from it" does not work as a way of understanding society or a theory of change.

If I can't explain my ideas in a way that connects to you that would be a shame, because I do think they are important to understanding the world and changing it.

I am going to explain what I actually think about individual actions, which is not about consequences or prizes. I think living under capitalism is really hard. I don't think individual personal purity is the way to create change (there's quite a lot of evidence on that one). I have seen a lot of people be damaged by other people's ideas about what a moral way to navigate the world is and I've categorically rejected it. So long ago (well before I'd even heard of 1D) I developed a world view that policing the way other people live their life was damaging to building a politics based of collective action. That treating every aspect of other people's lives as up to political debate is completely unsustainable and gets in the way of real political change (seriously if you think the personal is political means every individual action you take has political meaning I really recommend reading the original essay of that title to understand that it means the opposite).

Anyway in the face of that knowledge and experience I decided that it was important to limit political judgement to things that are politically important. In terms of people's actions, that means judging people for using the power society gives them over other people and for crossing picket lines.

I'm happy to talk more about this, but I do need people to engage with the questions of political worldview.

[mx-princey]

Honestly all of your story ideas sound good.... personally I think I'm most invested in your ocs story and I'm a bit curious about the premise for your animal crossing one? Mostly bc with ac stories I feel like there's an interesting amount of flexibility there agdhshdh

Ur always so nice thank u 😊

Actually thinking up Plotlines for My Oc (Tea) has been so difficult I've literally probably come up with and scrapped like 10 different plotlines since her creation LOL. At the moment I'm working on designing a few friends for her, a pair of twins whose designs will be based on insects. I want a story about people who are outcast and how isolating it can be to feel unwanted by the world, but also how much people who understand you are worth and can be like family. The setting is still up in the air but right now I am considering a post-apocalyptic setting which came about due to machinery in some way. Tea would be a robot that spent some time "awake" with her human inventor who she was fond of, before being separated and deactivated before being "woken up" after the apocalyptic event, having lost everything she knew and loved. She grapples with self-blame due to sharing an identity with the one's who brought upon the destruction, despite having no part in it herself. For her arc, I'd like her to realise that in fact, very vew robots had a hand in anything that happened and that 1. She has to stop making judgements on others based on archetypes and such, and 2. She has to move forward from her guilt and start to actually take action to make a better world, even if its just in small ways.

I've always wanted something a bit epic lol, but honestly all I have in mind at the moment is that she connects with those around her and helps people to heal and live a better life.

Maybe if I want something very climactic, something will happen that requires them to find a way off planet, and they try to save and take as many beings with them as they can, but of course can't save anyone. That could play into the themes of guilt and the idea that you should do what you can to help people, but you will never be able to do everything or save everybody.

I wrote way more than I meant to about that and I'm not even onto the AC-Inspired story yet... LOL.

The AC-Inspired story is a bit more recent so I haven't talked about it much, but the basic premise is that, when a person becomes lonely enough and makes a wish (doesn't have to be explicit, can just be a feeling) that they had a friend somewhere, and they fall asleep while going somewhere (ie on a train, bus, car, or god forbid driving) when they wake they'll be granted transport to and given a ticket to a village in a forest populated with other lonely people. This "program" has only recently started reaching out to humans, so most of the people there will be animal spirits from a world that functions like ours. Being in this place ambiently lowers people's hostility and makes it easier for people to open up and be understanding. Anybody there can leave at any time, but their ticket will glow when they're "ready" and confident enough to resume their normal life.

So far the character's I've thought most about are a workaholic who poured to much of his life into work and has found himself dangerously socially detached, which started hitting him especially hard when computers started becoming more advanced and his skills quickly started becoming outdated and unneeded. A jaded gay man who's never met anybody like himself and believed he was completely alone and a lesbian who was very active with her local queer scene but due to her high status felt she had to keep up appearances which kept her from expressing her true, admittedly silly self. A lady with pretty bad agoraphobia who spends her time making sure she "looks good enough" to be seen by people but then is constantly too afraid to go outside and be judged anyway. An old spirit who has lived in the village almost since it had been set up, whose love died before he was invited and who has never wanted to go back to a world without them, choosing to stay after his time to meet everyone passing through. A prostitute who genuinely enjoyed her work but was so afraid of being looked down upon for it she decided to build up a reputation as confident and self-reliant, to the point she would never let herself be emotionally vulnerable with everyone. Then there's the cat-spirit who set up the whole system, who seems outwardly confident and chipper, but has insecurities of his own about the whole project.

Writing it now a lot of the character ideas are very cliche, but it is just a work in progress, and it is just a little story I thought up to help me through hard times. Ultimately it's about 1. Connecting with others, 2. Seeing everybody as equal regardless of background and in spite of differences, and 3. The fact that you can't stay with all the people you love forever. The third point is explored through the fact that even though you might make plenty of friends in the village, everyone has to return to their normal life eventually, but the experiences you had together will always exist as happy memories and the things you learned from each other will always be there to support you, together or not.

Also, the character inspirations in order are Raymond (I am not immune to the Raymond :|), Kyle, Katt, Kitty, Dobie, Tiffany, and ofc my boy Rover.

Annnyway its almost 5am and I should sleep now :P sorry if any of this doesn't make sense bc again its late and I took my sleeping meds a little while ago LOL

Anyway thanks for the ask goodnight and I hope u have a good day /)

[xoteajays]

I love how we're just alternating between like a dozen of fandoms at a time.. Like we're basically talking about five fandoms at one time too.

~

I saw your pictures. Obviously Karube may not like Chishiya.. Because when Chishiya first met Arisu and Usagi officially, out of the game, he manipulated them since that moment. So now I want my character to be an INTJ so she could just outsmart Chishiya's manipulation tactics a lot of the time. But I'm being completely biased about that though.

But just about everyone is friends with Kuina. Well... Except for Niragi and Last Boss. Since they have never liked her either. So there's that.

Anyway.

Aguni liked Karube. So he probably did want him to be militants, even enough to have him a his right hand man. Karube would notice how a lot of the militants treat the people at the hotel. So he might only join, just to gather information for him and his friends (exactly like how the other characters do, like Chishiya and Arisu being in their counsels).

I mean.. Yeah. Arisu is actually pathetic for most of the series. At least for the show, since his character's actually different in the manga just for the simple fact that his manga character is really intelligent (in the same way that Chishiya is). So he's actually stupider in the show. That is what I know though. And yeah. I know. You never know how you will act or react in some apocalyptic situation like this. But, if you do want to live, you'll have to start thinking rationally rather than emotionally.

I still haven't watch the Tokyo Revengers live action yet. So I just can't comment about that yet. Other than some favorite actors are actually in the movies. But I can't really say anything about anything else yet.

Teppachi was a military movie? Show? Because I just looked up those pictures. Normally I don't really care about natural blonde hair on a lot of people.. But something about Asian men who dye their hair blonde is different for me - I'm rarely attracted to men with natural blond hair but am attracted to men who dye their hair blond. I don't know why.

Oh! He has an ashy silver blond color for his character. I had a friend... She was in the xxxHolic series. I never watched, or read, this series so I can't comment on that. But I do like his character designs though.

Maybe Banda has a pretty twin brother who's this goth boy. And I am not sure if he'll be a murder. But maybe Banda has a twin brother? I'm not sure. But now I'm attached to his style for him. So don't judge me.

Anyway.

I knew the woman was the girlfriend (or wife) to Karube's boss. And.. I have to say that I was more upset that he punched Arisu. So I just can not lie to you. I don't blame him for treating Shibuki that way because if I was in that situation, I would've reacted that way too. Because just if you think about it: She willingly sacrificed that teenage girl and was even willing to sacrifice the three boys - Arisu, Karube and Chota - so she could save herself. Instead of trying to work together so they may be able to leave the building. If I was Karube, I would've pushed her in the door to kill her off so I can't blame him for that reason. And she's a manipulative cunt. I wish she died sooner. But that Hearts game even was a horrible death. Karube and Chota shouldn't have died that way.

True.. Not only is the dormouse character a main character who really is connected to other main characters. So I'll definitely have to search through the characters again. I'll have to figure out which characters I might have. Despite the fact just about every character in Borderland is based on Wonderland characters yet only portion of the characters have officially been conformed because of how obvious the character is to their counterparts. And other suggestions seem ridiculous to me like you wouldn't believe at all. Like how is Aguni, The Walrus? Stupid.

Really? I've never seen any other characters. Mostly the Dormouse's a character I see frequently. Maybe a Knave. And I know you also had a Talking Flower character. But not really many AIB original characters.

I don't know which characters I might have. I don't know if I may have a flower character. But, if I did, I might have vague ideas for that one..

If I have a talking flower character. That character may be so vibrantly colored like a flower (maybe brightly dyed hair). Maybe someone who is a botanist or florist, so has the knowledge about plants and flowers that most people won't have. Would possibly make holistic medicines with plants and flowers for when people are sick or injured since I just rarely see doctors in this series (not including Chishiya since he is not the most helpful person). And maybe is able to know which plants, or flowers, or spices could be used in foods to give more flavor to any of their meals with whoever they're eating with. Maybe someone who is born in the spring or summer season because floral seasons. But I do not know what their capabilities are for games though, but they really have intelligences to use plants for other reasons like some medicine or spices. Maybe poisons too? I don't know. But that's my vague idea.

But... If Alice In Borderland is Alice In Wonderland themed, then that's a good enough excuse to create my Wonderland themed characters.

Have you ever created a characters based off an album? I know that's a random question. But still. That helps explains some things for me.

Even though I kinda like the whole Alice In Wonderland theme.. I have not watched or read anything Wonderland themed. Like besides with Borderlands, some anime series have a Wonderland episode. And the bands I listen to even have Wonderland themed song like Wonderland by AleXa as one example. But I haven't watched Alice movies in years. So I can't really comment much about the any character mannerisms if I'm being honest. So I'll have to get knowledge for characters again.

I do like Ann's short hair. But I usually tend to be biased with long hair so I have more of a preference for her long blonde hair. Does she have blonde hair? I know she has light colored hair. But I'm curious why her hair was changed though? If she doesn't have that hair, maybe one of my characters can. Maybe Ann's friend, or lover, or whoever I think of.

~

Out of the enemy gangs, Doubt's more on his priority list than Mighty Warriors or Kuryu is.. At least when women and girls are involved. Not that he wouldn't be cautious around those gangs too, since you never know who would use their weaknesses to their advantages. Because I think Ryu would. Since he already did that with the Rude Boys gang a lot of the time in the story. Not sure about everyone else. But it would probably happen though. Since they tend to play unfairly with others.

But Doubt, especially Ranmaru, is his biggest concern. Regardless of what they do to or with women, Doubt is always harmful to women in a lot of ways. Besides the enemy gangs.. He's more open to affections with his girlfriend, maybe, if he's around the right people. Only if he is actually wanting to be affectionate though. Because even if he was, it is obvious his public affections are minimal around everyone else too.

Kizzy never gives Rocky a break.. She needs to stop blackmailing him all the time. Just let Rocky have this privacy, with or without an entire relationship involved. And let the man have real decent vacations too.

Kizzy's basically an attention whore now. Like.. What the fuck, Kizzy. I think Kizzy needs this shock collar every time she is being nosy about someone or something. How did that even happen. Seriously! How?!

But definitely one kink I will always project, besides the size kink if it's not already obvious. But auralism is a kink that will happen frequently with some of my characters too. Because how can you not find any of their voices attractive? So I'm such a goner whenever I hear attractive guys speak. Music, voices and sometimes sounds. Auraliam is a kink.

Hyuga and Murayama never know shame.. Obviously! The Rude Boys and Murayama would have sex on a roof. Maybe Hyuga - the roof to a house, not his car. Well.. Maybe his car too. But I could see Hyuga is a man who would have sex in the shrine though, possibly in front of the statues too. I don't know. But I can see this happening. So shameless.

But that would be an awkward situation. If Furuya and Seki ever does walk in on Murayama having sex with his partner. Like on the rooftop.

I know, I know.. I'm obsessively mentioning this scenario. But I'd think it could be an awkward, or even funny, situation if that ever happened though. But it's usually funnier in a lot of shows and movies though.

~

I can't comment.. I have been doing that lately too. Instead of actually catching up on new shows and movies, I've been rewatching so many other shows and movies. And I'm really annoyed with myself about it. But! At least Alice In Borderland is horror. Dystopian horror, but still in a horror genre way. So that's definitely the horror show for Halloween.

- 💋

we’re just bouncing around from fandom to fandom. not the first time i’ve been all over the place agdhdlsl

~

chishiya was blatantly using arisu and usagi and then betrayed them later so he could snoop around hatter’s room while arisu got the crap beat out of him by niragi. so obviously karube wouldn’t really like him. and in like, my first karube/niragi fic, i mentioned karube punching chishiya for it.

i’ve shipped chishiya with a spades/hearts oc and a clubs oc, but not with a diamonds oc for some reason. idk. i can’t write characters that are super smart. the math game in the second season still confuses me. i woulda died there immediately.

kuina is just likeable. she’s a sweetie. and she’s mostly a clubs player so obvi she has to get along with people. she’s the extrovert to chishiya’s introvert.

i’ve been writing militant!karube as the only like. decent militant member. like all the other militants are kind of douchebags, but karube is mostly nice to people. plus it means he can have a weapon since non-militants aren’t allowed any.

also i just think it’s funny for karube to sweep in and become aguni’s right hand and be actually liked by aguni, when niragi has been trying to get aguni to like him this whole time and karube didn’t even have to try. agonising for niragi. and then. then they k. they kiss.

i liked the tokyorev live action. i think the characters got aged up a lil bit tho, which i do prefer. i think they’re a lil too young in the anime/manga. aren’t they like 15?

dyed blond dudes is just hotter than natural blond dudes.

i didn’t watch any of the other xxxholic stuff, but i watched the movie for a number of actors in the cast that i liked. like hayato and kamiki ryunosuke. hayato just looked So Good. goth blond boy.

not sad that shibuki died, but i was sad about karube and chota. they really hit you hard in ep3. like boom bam! death!! bring my boy back, he didn’t deserve that.

i think a lot of people forget the wonderland aspect, so they don’t end up writing it into their character. or they just can’t be bothered and just design an oc the way they usually would. i think a lot of the more interesting wonderland characters are taken tho by canon characters.

i watched the live action movie from a few years ago, but i don’t remember a lot of it. i haven’t read the books or even seen the disney movie. i just did a lot of research, digging into character lists from wonderland stuff and reading wiki pages about specific characters. and then just went from there.

i think her hair was short because they cast ayaka miyoshi. i don’t think she’s had long hair for a while and maybe they just thought it suited the character better or didn’t want to put her in a wig. short hair tends to stereotypically give off more severe and serious vibes too, which are typical traits of ann.

~

ranmaru would absolutely attack any specific women that he saw rocky caring closely for. i still think it would make a good fic plot. but i also do just enjoy dark, whump, hurt/comfort fics.

rocky definitely prefers his privacy when it comes to showing affection. at least he can get some (privacy, i mean. but also sex too ig) when he’s at home since koo is respectful of giving him his space when he’s got a lady around.

no shame on those two boys. i mean, murayama can get a lil embarrassed, like when he asked to join the sannoh gang and got rejected and laughed at. but not a whole lotta shame in him.

hyuga would absolutely have sex on the hood of his car.

i could see murayama and a girl getting caught in the main oya gang room. like murayama forgot to lock the door before they started messing around. there is a couch (and i think a bed) in there.

[lunarspiral1127]

*Multiverse of Madness SPOILERS*

Time for me to talk about the Illuminati death scenes, cause this was some bullcrap.

First, Black Bolt: I genuinely feel sorry for fans of the character and the Inhumans. Honestly, I haven't seen the Inhumans show, so I don't know if it's bad or good (even though I've heard from some people who said it was a bad show). I did hear that Anson Mount played the character in the show, and he was fine in MoM. He even got the comic accurate costume, tuning fork and all. Although, I feel bad for the actor since he got to reprise his role only to get killed off in a brutal way for a PG-13 movie. I understand taking Black Bolt out first since he's a major threat to Wanda, but the reason she was able to do that was because Reed had to tell her what his power is, which is so stupid. You don't tell your enemy what they're capable of! Also, I thought he'd be the one that should've held his own against Wanda (the other two should've been Professor X and Captain Marvel) based on his abilities. Dude could level an entire town with a mere word!

Mr. Fantastic: I'm so sorry Fantastic Four fans. Now, because he was in the movie for a couple of minutes, I can't judge how well John Krasinski acted as Reed Richards, but he was fine in the movie. Speaking of Krasinski, this was a fancast made by so many fans for years. Well, we got the fancast we wanted....only for him to turn into string cheese and get his head popped off by Wanda. The effects for his stretching was okay, and the costume was okay, but god damn was Reed done dirty here. His death was the slowest out of the Illuminati, which I don't understand why the hell Peggy and Maria just stood there and not attack Wanda to save Reed! Also, Reed's supposed to be one of the smartest people in Marvel, but he tells Wanda Black Bolt's power, and stretches his arm to grab her when he saw what he did to his teammate. Yeah, Reed in the comics messes up, but come on! Now, if the Fantastic Four movie's still happening and Krasinski isn't casted, that's gonna be a huge insult to fans who wanted to see him play that role.

Captain Carter: Anyone noticed that Wanda easily get rid of the two male members, but struggles to fight against the two female members? I don't know how I feel about that. Anyway, I still don't get why Peggy is a member of the Illuminati, but okay. And she has a jetpack for some reason. Did it suck that she died? Yeah, it was a bummer. But, I'm surprised that Wanda had a longer fight with her than Black Bolt and Mr. Fantastic, and that she struggled against Peggy and Maria more than the others. Also, "I can do this all day"....seriously?! She had to have Steve's catchphrase?!

Captain Marvel: So, she's one of the three that should've held her own and she did. But, her death was a giant statue falling on top of her? I wanted to call bullcrap on that cause Carol has flown through space ships, and this Maria variant dies from a statue. Maybe it was because Wanda absorbed her powers, but it was hard to tell. If she did do that however, why the hell doesn't she do that to everyone else?! Also, Maria's attitude rubbed me the wrong way, but I think the writers made her and the others arrogant so that they'd easily get killed by Wanda. It's still annoying though.

Now, there's still Charles Xavier but that's gonna be a long post for later. And, I know some people are gonna say "they're variants, it's fine". No. No, it's not fine. This was the first introduction to Mr. Fantastic, and Black Bolt in an MCU movie. Them getting brutally murdered shouldn't be part of that. It's insulting to the Fantastic Four fans and the Inhumans fans. This is also Captain Carter's live action debut, and this would piss off some of the Peggy stans too. Too bad Wanda is "dead", otherwise, I'd hope Sue Storm, Medusa, or Franklin Richards would've hunted her down and kicked her butt for killing their loved ones. I pick them because of how close they are to them. Anyone else who's capable of beating up the witch is fine by me if they join in.

[thefirstknife]

Some of the more interesting bits of today's reset and dialogues. I loved this from Mara. She acknowledges her participation in steering Uldren towards his downfall AND she realises that she will have to do better with him in the future. This is from the ending dialogue when you finish the exotic quest for the Ager's Scepter.

I want to mention something from the start of the week because I've seen people get angry (but when do they not when it comes to Mara?)

Long post under read more:

It's about the discussion she and Ikora have at the terminal. Hot take, but both Mara and Ikora are right and wrong in the argument. Transcript:

Mara: "How long have your Hidden been privy to Uldren's resurrection?" Ikora: "Long enough to watch over him in your absence." Mara: "And you didn't direct him home. Why?" Ikora: "There was a concern he'd pick up some old habits." Mara: "You know the Garden made him sick. Riven twisted his mind. Eris would have seen it. She is not so easily deceived by skin-deep tricks." Ikora: "It's true I made mistakes, out of an idea of justice... out of grief. Are you leveling this same scrutiny toward Petra? Wasn't she supposed to be watching his grave?" Mara: "Petra has paid her dues. The Vanguard murdered him and has yet to pay theirs." Ikora: "We both lost family. I am sorry for my part in yours, but... Crow has been treated --" Mara: "My brother is dead. He was exhumed; his body twisted into a caricature. You had your vengeance." Ikora: "Is that what you're after? Cayde... I still feel that grief like a stone caught in my chest. Some days, it's more pronounced than others. Vengeance didn't erode that grief." Mara: "Then tell me. Who am I to blame? Who sent him to Savathun's clutches? Who bludgeoned Uldren into a scared animal and drove him from his home?" Ikora: "You did, Mara. And those Guardians that hurt him, did so out of misguided anger. Don't make the same mistake. Don't make my mistake."

This is some heavy stuff and there's a lot going on. First, I like that Mara doesn't respond at the end. It's uncharacteristic for her. It shows that Ikora's words did something to her. This is evident in the exotic quest later which I've already put at the beginning of the post. She's had time to think and she's admitting the part she played.

I dislike some of Ikora's arguments a lot. First, "concern that he'd pick up some old habits" goes entirely against the Vanguard policy and belief that Guardians are new people. They were only concerned because of bias towards Uldren due to what he's done. And Crow knows this! He said so last week when he wondered why is he the only Guardian judged by his past life. No one else is subjected to the same way of thinking. This is the reason why Guardians aren't supposed to dig around their past lives. Obviously with Crow, there's no way for him to avoid it, but the argument that, if he knew, he'd just magically become Uldren (and not just base!Uldren, but murderer!Uldren who will... I don't know, go after Ikora and Zavala or the innocent people in the City?) really shows how much the Vanguard mistreated Crow.

I also dislike the move to Petra. As Mara says, Petra has paid her dues. She really has. Let's not forget that Uldren was not just some guy to her or just her Prince; he was her friend. She had to watch him spiral out of control due to things she couldn't help him with, she had to make the choice to put him away until Mara comes back and at the end she had to make the choice to kill him. This trauma has shaped her.

The Vanguard hasn't paid any dues. That's kinda the whole point of Mara's questioning. Ikora tries to explain that this was due to grief and losing family, but pray tell Ikora, has Mara not lost family too? Mara mentions this immediately as expected.

Ikora is however right to say that it was ultimately Mara's actions that led to the situation we're currently in. The Vanguard had no say in Awoken royal family affairs. Mara knows this, she said as much in the past few weeks and other lore in general: she spoke at length about the distance she pushed between them out of perceived necessity, the need to shape Uldren in a way to make him less like himself (since she disliked his recklessness and dangerous behaviours), but ultimately that only made things worse. She's aware that his venture into the Black Garden was fuelled by Uldren's need to prove himself. Ironically, in an effort to make him loyal and devoted, Mara pushed him into more recklessness instead of stopping it. She's aware of this. Asking Ikora "who am I to blame" was just waiting to be roasted.

But Mara is also right to ask about how the Vanguard treated both Uldren and Crow. How they washed their hands from killing him "officially" by hiding behind the Guardian, how nobody in the Tower answered for this. Their treatment of Crow as well: forcing him into hiding, isolating him. Excusing all the suffering he felt at the hands of the Guardians as "misguided anger." The torture he endured from Guardians just for showing his face was so much more than just "misguided anger" and Mara is right to feel heated and enraged when she talks about this and when she asks her questions. She expressed similar distaste and anger in a voice line with Glint in regards to how the Spider treated Crow.

I got an interesting dialogue at the end of my Shattered Realm run which also made me really irritated on behalf of both Crow and Mara when it comes to the Vanguard. Ikora asks Crow why didn't he send his latest report and Crow replies that he's had a lot going on and a lot to deal with. Which is true! He's not the Drifter who doesn't send reports out of spite; Crow genuinely wants to help but he's struggling with a lot of things that we can't even begin to unravel. He deserves patience and understanding. However, the following then ensues.

Ikora:

Crow:

Ikora:

This last part is a nice sentiment. But excuse me. Crow has literally been resurrected, isolated, tortured, enslaved and then "rescued" only to be thrust into a cage in the Tower and given "responsibilities." He is not obliged to be the Vanguard's errand boy. It's honestly quite rude from Ikora to tell him that he has to take his responsibilities seriously. The man hasn't lived a single day in his life without anxiety over whether he'll be tortured to death in the street if he shows his face.

I know the Vanguard gave him protection from the Spider and stuff to do (which he enjoys) and accepted him into their ranks. That's all good. But there's very little empathy here that acknowledges the life he's lived. Crow deserves to experience things that aren't isolation, imprisonment and following orders.

And most of all, he deserves to know the truth. Something the Vanguard has denied him for almost a year now. I know Savathun's schemes were involved and specifically, they were involved through impersonating Osiris which made a lot of people turn a blind eye. But now that this is known?

Crow can't share his burdens without knowing the truth. That's the whole problem. Everybody, except him, knows who he was. Everyone looks at him and treats him through that lens. He can't unburden himself without being told half-truths and being denied information. His burdens exist precisely because he doesn't know while everyone else does. So while the sentiment is nice, it reads more like a "that sucks buddy" than a genuine offer to help him with what is really bothering him.

On the other hand, obviously sharing the truth is difficult. His past life is more complicated than for most other Guardians. He's been through things that other Guardians haven't. The situation is complex on every single level and every character has a reason for the choices they've made.

Sometimes those choices are wrong and they are mistakes. And Mara isn't the only one who made the wrong choices and mistakes, consciously and unconsciously. It's a disservice to the complexity of the situation, Ikora, the Vanguard and Uldren to boil everything down to "Mara bad." Doesn't make for a compelling story.

That's what I wanted to address in detail because on the surface, it's easy to just dismiss either of the character you dislike more. And that's just reducing the story to a spectrum of black and white that Destiny really, ironically, isn't about.

[qwanderer]

Loki in the Hall of Mirrors

This story is complicated. Not, like, as a plot, not particularly, but philosophically and thematically. It's got that great play of hero against villain that I love about the Loki story in general and that makes it all so divisive and messy. And I love it even more than I did on first watch.

The first time I watched the desert landing scene, I was like, "Wait? What happened to Allspeak?" because the people who live there don't seem to understand him. But on the second watch, I realized it could be a lack of context, rather than a break in translation. These people probably have an even chance of knowing nothing about Norse myth. Like, what if an alien came up to you and said "I am Boogle of Bofgar, I carry a burden"? You would still have questions like "What the hell is a boogle and why are you carrying your shit here?" So the basic dynamic of Allspeak is probably still functioning, and Loki probably understood their questions, but he was still trying to figure out how to answer when he got distracted by the TVA people.

It could even be an innate psychic ability rather than a magical one, as he seems to understand everyone in the TVA, including the man who can't be fluent in all languages like the field agents because he has never heard of a fish and the seemingly nonverbal robot. (Which of course makes me want Loki talking with Dum-E and the other shop bots! But I digress.)

Okay. I want to start talking about the next-level manipulation shit the TVA are pulling on Loki here. Time, as they say, moves differently in the TVA, and one might even assume that they can avoid having to deal with more variants at once than they can handle. And yet we see them dealing with exactly two other troublemakers during Loki's onboarding.

The first, I'm going to call little echo man.

Little echo man is incredibly annoying to Loki, because he does and says everything Loki might find himself inclined to do and say if he wanted to be difficult. Little echo man does these things in little annoying undignified ways, making them look silly and petulant. Little echo man protests and questions and pushes back, in his business suit and his long dark hair and pale skin, and clearly thinks everyone should treat him as important even though every indication is that he is an annoyance and an afterthought.

Perhaps he's a plant, and perhaps he's just a variant of an annoying but predictable regular they see who they lined up at the same time on purpose. But he is on purpose. Everything he does screams directly at Loki, "Don't do this."

We'll get to the second convenient intersection later.

The most obvious layer of manipulation is simply the beraucracy. They put him up against a series of obstacles which he needs to deal with to get anywhere else, and nothing he does can get him past those obstacles except compliance. All of these obstacles have personality, but they are not personable. They treat Loki like a bag of trash they have been tasked with taking to the curb. Annoying, distasteful, but ultimately routine. His silver tongue isn't going to get him anywhere because these people simply don't care.

I think a lot of these he just goes along with to see where it gets him, since at this point he still believes he has his magic in reserve. But the fact that he steps through the robot fryer even though he thinks he might be a robot without knowing (as others have pointed out, he spent thousands of years as a frost giant without knowing it, and he's recently spent time in the control of the being who shaped Nebula) is a testament to how deep they've already got their hooks in him.

They treat the robot fryer like it's routine, but come the next obstacle, they kill little echo man like it's routine, too. Because he didn't comply.

Loki is slowly being ironed flat to thread into their compliance mill.

And then - I love this, because it reminds me of one of my favorites among the multiplicity of Lokis, GoS!Loki - they put this line in as punctuation between the impersonal, compliance, don't phase of their manipulation and everything that comes after it.

When he's set before the judge, someone actually paying some attention to him, this is his chance to use his silver tongue on someone who will listen. But, although the judge listens, she treats him the same as all the other obstacles have - like listening is a distasteful chore she would like to be done with.

So it seems like the perfect moment for a dramatic escape. Except his magic is gone.

"It's not your story," the judge says. "It never was."

That hammers in all the worst things Loki has ever believed about himself - that he stands in the shadows of others, that he will never have the central place he was raised to desire, that he is, and always will be, a villain to be vanquished rather than a person with choices and agency.

Enter Mobius.

Mobius is a big echo.

He draws all the attention in a room. He is everything that Loki wishes to be - he is powerful, informed, prepared, in control. Capable of charming the judge. And most importantly, he is actively interested in Loki.

At this point in Loki's journey - both in the show and in his life - that has to be irresistible.

So Mobius is in a perfect position to wrap Loki right around his pinky finger.

He listens to Loki without shutting him down, the way all the obstacles have. When Loki tells Mobius he's going to burn down the TVA, Mobius suggests a couple of places he might want to start. One concrete, small, mischievous. One an indication that he's open to Loki doing larger, more significant things here in the future.

He shows Loki his own past and future - but carefully edited, to paint a particular picture.

So many echoes, so many reflections - Loki is in a house of mirrors. Lost, disoriented. Distorted one way, then the other. Magnified and examined.

Loki snarks, and Mobius comments, "Makes you sound smart." Affirms Loki for that little mischievous bit of personality.

Mobius shows Loki some of the most terrible things he's done, and questions them. Pushes Loki away from them. Then changes direction before he can get too heavy-handed, to basically fangirl over the DB Cooper adventure. That's mischief. That's good. I like that.

Punishes him for a small infraction, just to remind him who is in control and that even looking threatening could be seen as a problem.

I think it was at about this point that I got hard reminded of the dynamics of the show White Collar. It's a buddy cop show on a basic level and sometimes the relationship can be very sweet, but sometimes Peter spends one too many times reminding Neal that he can send him back to prison any time he wants and the power dynamic shows its messed up edges.

Mobius is part of the machine, and the machine is doing terrible things to Loki, but I have at least a sliver of hope that the relationship could gain more balance - more genuine balance, not based on the faux freedom that Loki has gained by the end of the episode. There's something to be said for making changes to a system from within that system, but for that to be meaningful change, Mobius would have to change as a person.

Anyway, this current nastily powerful Mobius pushes Loki as hard as he can, and then is conveniently interrupted by the actions of another variant, leaving Loki alone with his remote.

It could easily have been on purpose. The only thing Loki learns by escaping that room is that the TVA is more powerful than any force in the universe, in his experience.

Let's talk about the other Loki variant for a minute. It took me until the second viewing to realize the symbolism of leaving a small child the only survivor in a place of worship, then giving her something to turn her blue.

Odin said he found Loki in a temple, in the aftermath of a battle.

It's actually frighteningly easy to imagine how a distraught Loki could get to a place where he feels the need to genuinely burn down the TVA, and kill every agent in it. Because the TVA put certain clips in his little future show, focusing on the death of his mother, the way his own actions affected it, and the futility and brutality of his own death at the hands of Thanos.

They don't show him the destruction of Asgard, his own role in helping save the evacuees, and the way Thanos decimated the population of that transport before it could even reach Earth. They don't show him the devastation of his home or his capacity to do good.

A Loki who knows that the power of the TVA exists and that he has the capacity to be Asgard's heroic savior would do anything to get that power and save his people.

But we haven't met that Loki yet. I'm sure we will, and it's going to be exhilarating.

This Loki is being taught the importance of control over little things, and so when he gets his collar off and onto that guard, he toys with her, just to see that he can. They have been toying with him and it's oh so satisfying to turn the tables. But it's still compliance in its own way, the petty little mischief that Mobius has been steering him towards.

Loki has been given just enough freedom, just enough choices, that it seems like his own choice to watch the rest of the slide show and come to the obvious conclusion - there's no "out" to go to. His life has gone on without him, and ended. And there's really no point in his trying to fix it. No putting things back the way they were.

So he admits to Mobius - the person who has listened hardest, probably, besides his mother - he admits that he is small and scared and lashing out. That he doesn't know what to do.

Of course, this is when Mobius introduces the task the TVA has for Loki - to take down his other self.

Oh, I can't wait for the next episode! I want to know where this is going.

(I've popped in some panels from Loki: Agent of Asgard because it's my favorite and the show is giving me feelings about it.)

[loveisneurotic]

Kaguya-sama Blind Reaction/Analysis: S1E1

Hello everyone, this is my blog which I am currently using to react to and analyze Kaguya-sama: Love Is War much more seriously than I should analyze any romcom.

I have only seen the first episode of the anime, which this post shall explore using far too many words. If I'm feeling particularly motivated, I may read the manga as well.

My analysis will contain spoilers. If you're thinking of watching this show and haven't seen it yet, I recommend you at least go check out the first episode yourself before reading any further. I don't know what the rest of the show is like, but what I've seen so far has been both entertaining and thought-provoking.

I'm going in mostly blind, but not entirely blind. There are a few images of the anime and manga that I have been exposed to, although without the attached context. Due to cultural osmosis and the sheer popularity of this work, perhaps that was almost inevitable.

Figure 1.1.1: Why did this guy write an essay about a single episode of an ongoing romcom?

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

Season 1 Episode 1

I Will Make You Invite Me to a Movie / Kaguya Wants to Be Stopped / Kaguya Wants It

Power dynamics in relationships

Figure 1.1.2: Immediately, the mangaka's tastes become clear.

I heard a saying once that really stuck with me: "The partner who cares the least has all of the power."

In the world of dating, I often sincerely believed this saying. You may yearn for someone's affection, but the other person need not give it to you until they are willing and ready. No matter how much you want it, you can't make someone more interested in you, unless you resort to being roundabout, such as adding some mystery and intrigue to your courtship. But is that excessive?

I once felt a potential lover slipping through my grasp, and before I knew it, I found myself chasing after them. As I was yearning for their attention, I felt as if I'd lost my dignity. It was humiliating. Painful. Was it just that they weren't the right person for me? Or was I not funny enough? Not charismatic enough? Not interesting enough? Too clingy? Too talkative? Should I have been more distant and given them more space? Did I seem too weak? Too eager? How should I have maximized my desirability? Regardless, I had surely lost. Perhaps they wanted the satisfaction and validation of conquering me. Playing me for a fool and asserting their superiority by being so distant. Isn't that right? Or is that just insecurity speaking? At what point is it ideal to cut one's losses and walk away?

If someone desperately wants the object of their affection to desire them, does that make them pathetic? Does it make them a loser? If you show more vulnerability and desire than the other person, does that truly make you the weak one in a relationship?

These questions plague our two protagonists and seem to be a driving force behind the main conflict. Since I have also grappled with how much to reveal my own feelings of desire, I find Kaguya-sama: Love Is War to be a particularly fascinating show.

Desire without action

Figure 1.1.3: Our protagonists are gifted with impressively high academic intelligence paired with impressively low emotional intelligence.

The show wastes no time in introducing us to our two main protagonists. Kaguya was born into a family of high stature (and says "ara ara" frequently enough to power a small country of weebs), whereas Shirogane is a "commoner" (Kaguya's word, not mine) who worked hard to reach the pinnacle of the student body. Like timid schoolchildren, they're crushing on each other, and yet they refuse to admit it due to their pride. Instead, they focus on getting their "opponent" to confess their love first.

What stuck out to me immediately is how they both have different ideas of what their relationship would be like. Shirogane envisions Kaguya as blushing, shy, and conventionally cute, whereas Kaguya (thankfully) envisions herself taking absolute dominance over Shirogane (which plenty of people should see coming as a character trait after the anime's very first scene). The bad news about this is that their two fantasies are at odds. The good news about this is that the mangaka has fantastic taste -- you can learn a lot about a storyteller based on the characterization of a love interest or lead character of the author's preferred gender.

In the event that the two of them become an actual couple, I wonder how on Earth they'll reach a compromise as to how they'll treat each other. Perhaps they will have to figure that out before they can even get that intimate.

I appreciate that we get to see both of their perspectives. It hammers home how everyone has a different truth in regards to what they desire and what they experience, and the show does not hold back when it comes to showing just how different these truths can be -- such as a certain lunch-themed sequence that I will talk about later. This works to great dramatic and comedic effect.

That said, when you spend your time fantasizing about what could happen instead of actually taking action, time is not so friendly to you.

Half a year passes.

Figure 1.1.4: Two geniuses dedicate their pride to wasting their life and energy.

Immediately, I got the impression that whoever wrote this segment of the story knows what they're doing. This is too real. And by "too real", I mean I very much appreciate the realism. How many of us have waited for ages (or for eternity) to confess our feelings to a specific someone?

This is the curse of having a crush and being incapable of acting on it. It's also why I hate having crushes.

Manufacturing affection in others, AKA the extraction of vulnerability

Figure 1.1.5: A plan is devised to weaponize jealousy in the name of affection.

To express your truest feelings means being vulnerable. That implies taking a risk and feeling responsible for any potential consequences of rejection, as well as putting our dignity on the line. It would be so much easier for the object of our affection to make themselves vulnerable instead. So instead of being direct and honest, we act indirect. We drop hints. We act suggestively, but not explicitly. We may even place them in situations where we think they are more likely to confess. If they don't pick up on it, we can pretend we didn't mean anything by it. That way, we don't have to risk our dignity. We can just wait for them to make the move.

It sucks.

Incidentally, it sucks even more when both you and your love interest are thinking that way.

It sucks infinitely more when both you and your love interest are COMMITTED to thinking that way.

Someone has to break the deadlock, whether that's immediately or eventually.

If this show isn't one of those romcoms where the status quo never changes ever (judging by the quality of writing, I have faith that it isn't), then at some point, either Shirogane or Kaguya is going to have to be explicit about how they really feel. And it's going to feel scarier to them than anything else they've ever done.

It's gonna be great.

If we could all grow up and live in environments where it's safe and encouraged for all of us to be honest about how we feel and what we want, surely love would be much less painful for so many people.

Chaos theory

Figure 1.1.6: If your prospective lover won't protect you, then your friend definitely will.

Chika is the ideal wild card and agent of chaos in this arena of love.

From a writing perspective, Chika is immensely useful. The mangaka probably could have gotten by without a third character in the mix, but she serves as a catalyst and an unknown element, able to create unpredictability and subversion of expectations. For a comedy-oriented story, this is invaluable.

Blissfully unaware of the mental turmoil that plagues our two lovesick dorks, she is able to unintentionally invalidate whatever schemes that Kaguya or Shirogane spent so much mental energy on, which adds extra comedy and tension for the audience. She is also an effective vehicle for Kaguya's jealousy and projection, as seen in the lunchbox scene which I have so graciously foreshadowed.

Figure 1.1.7: We have confirmed visual on an unidentified fourth person. Chekhov would love this. From their posture, I wonder if they'll be a gloomy character?

Misunderstandings and assumptions

I've heard that most interpersonal conflicts in life emerge from misunderstandings. In the absence of communication, assumptions are born and give rise to misunderstandings.

You may know where I'm going with this. Let's talk about the lunchbox sequence.

Figure 1.1.8 (not pictured because tumblr wishes to deny me of my image spam): Kaguya is too prideful to admit she thinks that a couple is doing something cute.

Figure 1.1.9: Pride is considered a sin for a reason.

From a writing perspective, I was impressed by the lack of romantic intentions in Shirogane in this whole sequence. Not once did he try to get Kaguya to show vulnerability to him. Instead, Kaguya is the only one spinning the situation in a romantic way, while Shirogane's driving force is the misunderstanding that Kaguya is looking down on him for what he eats. Because of this misunderstanding, Shirogane doubles down and makes his food even better, making the situation even more complicated and more stressful for Kaguya. This was definitely my favorite comedy sequence from the first episode.

I appreciate that the show has demonstrated the ability to create these scenarios where one of the characters doesn't even have love on their mind, but there are still romantic thoughts coming from the other character which drives the drama. It gives me a lot of faith in the variety this show will have to offer, and makes me excited to watch more.

When it comes to comedy rooted in misunderstandings, it is important to have miscommunication or lack of communication. In order to resolve a misunderstanding, you need to talk about it. For a pairing as dysfunctional as Kaguya and Shirogane, expecting healthy communication sounds highly unreasonable, which makes them prime material for a whole world of misunderstandings.

Misunderstandings are rooted in assumptions about what the other person meant when they said something or made a certain gesture or expression. When Kaguya glared at Shirogane and his food, he didn't even think to ask "What's the matter?" He just made an assumption about how she felt. I wonder if trying to understand Kaguya's feelings would be considered a sign of weakness by Shirogane?

A prerequisite to initiating an emotional conversation is the desire to understand or be understood by the other person -- assuming that your assumptions haven't already built a narrative for you. It is far easier to make assumptions than it is to attempt any sort of understanding.

In the end, Shirogane fled, unwilling to confront or attempt to understand the intense and passive-aggressive Kaguya. Kaguya feels that she cannot directly ask to try his lunch, so perhaps this is the closest she can get to initiating such a conversation with him at this time. Despite their mind games where they imagine the reactions of their opponent, they still have a lot of difficulty understanding each other.

I am curious to see if this prospective couple's communication skills and emotional intelligence will improve over the course of the story.

The burden of potential romance

Figure 1.1.10: Even the infallible genius Kaguya succumbs to superficial jealousy. It's "mind over matter" versus "matter over mind". That's how the saying goes, right?

Chika is a free spirit, able to ask Shirogane for whatever she wants without being neurotic. That is the power of not being bounded by a crush. Kaguya, who lacks that degree of freedom, briefly loathes her for experiencing something that Kaguya cannot ask for. It's amazing how much someone's feelings for a friend can change without a single word being spoken between them. All it takes is an action, unintentional or not, combined with the raw strength of insecurity. Just as quickly, the status quo can return back to normal too, with the act of properly making up.

To Chika, asking for food from someone doesn't mean anything at all, whereas with Kaguya, it is an admission of defeat. In that sense, a relationship that will only ever be platonic brings peace of mind, whereas a relationship that can be potentially romantic brings leagues upon leagues of anxiety if the outcome is of great concern.

Love is neurotic.

Is love worth the pain? For some people, it is not. For others, the reward is immense -- but only if you can make sure your relationship with this person doesn't end up being a nightmare for your emotional health.

Love and self-identity

The final scene of the episode surprised me in a good way. It's a brief departure from the comedy, and reveals a more heartfelt side of the show.

Kaguya's servant asks her an insightful question. It is substantially more insightful than I would expect from any romcom: "If you fell in love some day, would you wait for that person to confess their love, like now? Or would you confess your love?" I found myself immediately curious to hear Kaguya's answer, since I knew it would be highly informative about her character.

"If that time comes, I would consider the risk of someone stealing him first and come to the one rational conclusion." Even in the realm of love, Kaguya seems precise and calculating. It's as if she hesitates to give a straight answer, but then she confirms: "Of course I would go."

Figure 1.1.11: "Please understand."

It is not embarrassment or rejection that Kaguya fears; it is the absolute destruction of her identity and sense of self. Kaguya is the daughter of a family that practically runs the country. In her mind, everyone yearns for her and wishes to serve her. Turning that around and reaching out to another person to express her own desire would be a direct contradiction of that. It is probably a similar situation for Shirogane, where the infallible self-image he has built up is being put at risk during his romantic duels against Kaguya.

Kaguya clearly feels trapped. She and Shirogane see each other as threats to be conquered, but in reality, they both share a mutual enemy that is much more imposing and insidious: their own simultaneous disgust at the idea of vulnerability.

Their freedom is dominated by their insecurities, and so, even despite their impressive stature, they are still very human. Their upbringing that has lead them to become so accomplished may be more of a curse than a blessing, due to the resulting pride and self-image they likely feel pressured to uphold.

It is hard to cast aside a lie that you have bought into for your whole life.

If our two protagonists wish to have a chance of establishing a healthy romantic relationship, they have a lot of their own demons to overcome first. If they cannot set aside their pride and reach mutual understanding, they have no hope.

Until then, they will both remain trapped in a hell of their own design, however tragically comedic it may be.

My hopes for this story's future

I can tell that the mangaka, unlike far too many writers all over the world, actually seems to have a solid understanding of romance and the conflict that arises within. I've watched too many anime that place huge focus on the "will they or won't they" crap which never runs any deeper than one or both of the characters being too embarrassed to just say what they're thinking, without any sort of convincing mental blocker. In that case, it's clearly just manufactured drama which is designed to pad out the story and waste your time rather than pose interesting questions and themes. In the case of Kaguya and Shirogane, the two of them have substantial communication issues which are depicted in a comedic yet mature way, which I have found engaging.

I very much hope that the show will more deeply explore the themes and questions surrounding the ideas of vulnerability, emotional intelligence, and superiority within relationships. Kaguya and Shirogane have been set up to be great vehicles for such exploration, and I hope the mangaka can capitalize on that, especially if our protagonists can confront these issues directly.

My impression is that the ending will make or break this story. If the mangaka can pull it off well, I can already believe the payoff will be hugely satisfying.

Of course, in order to get to that point, we'll have to see a certain something. It has to do with the most sacred word amongst romcom enthusiasts: "progress". Indeed, after spending chapters upon chapters watching two characters bumble around amidst the same exact status quo, those little signs of advancements in a relationship are highly rewarding.

Underneath all of their aggression, if we can see Kaguya and Shirogane slowly open up to each other and realize the benefits of vulnerability, I think we could witness something really beautiful and really emotionally cathartic.

I've still only seen one episode, but I believe the mangaka has laid a fantastic groundwork for a series and can do a great job developing upon what I've seen so far. On that note, I will surpass our prideful protagonists by opening my heart to this story and entrusting it with my vulnerability, believing it can deliver satisfying development and resolution. You can do it!

Closing thoughts

I did not expect to write so much about a single episode of an ANIME of all things, but here we are. If only I could conjure this kind of power back when I actually needed it in high school English class!

The first episode alone is already so rich with characterization and themes that I managed to find quite a lot to talk about. Given how much I found myself relating to the characters and some of their situations, it's clear to me how this show became so popular. Not only are the animation, direction, and writing excellent, but also many people can probably relate to love feeling like a battlefield.

I do not want to believe in the idea of winners and losers in relationships. That idea creeps into my head whenever I'm having trouble keeping the interest of a new date, and I find myself wondering where those thoughts even come from. Lately, I have been reflecting on the way I relate to other people. Perhaps I've started experiencing this show at a time in my life when I most needed it, and that's why I felt driven to write such a large analysis.

This show poses some very interesting questions about romance that I do not actually know the answer to at the time of writing. I do not know yet how much the show is actually going to explore these themes. Regardless, I appreciate how this show is helping me reflect, and I am curious to see if and how the mangaka will answer some of the questions brought about by the story's themes.

This is a show that I'll most likely have to pace myself with. There was so much to process in this first episode alone. If I went any faster, I'm not sure if I'd even catch all of the details and character moments. I'm excited to move onto the second episode soon.

A highly subjective footnote about my cultured tastes

I'm glad that Kaguya is a sadistic dom with a gentle and vulnerable side, solely on the basis of that being my favorite personality type in a love interest. It also helps that it makes Kaguya's fantasies that much funnier with Shirogane acting so out of character. I feel like this show was made for me.

What was I writing about again? Oh yeah, writing a gigantic wall of text about an anime romcom. Somehow, I spent an entire day on this essay. Hopefully someone got a kick out of it.

[its-moopoint]

You missed my points @samheughanswife :

- I know crazystupidoutlanderlove is the one who got the threater story and picture from someone else who got it from a second someone else. I know who she claimed was the one in the middle but I never heard who the original live picture taker was, did you?? Cause that's my point, that picture could have been planted by SC themselves.

- Yes the original story was the sighting had been in Dublin, which was a huge freaking deal in my book much more than what the picture showed itself so you must have missed my outrage and calling out here of all the people involved in getting the picture who got the cities wrong. No one will convince me that was an honest mistake based on the stuff I read myself when I was in the FB group, no one. So either shippers were used and fooled on purpose or they did they fooling on purpose. You can wrongly assume it was London based on the location or trips of the people telling the story, you can't correct it then claiming it was Dublin when it had been Glasgow all along. You would think the one taking the pic would know where she/he was standing and wonder how the one hearing her/his story would get Dublin thrown there out of the blue.

- Yes I wanted the pic posted and shared just like I want everything out in the open always, good or bad. I couldn't post it myself because I didn't have it, I haven't even seen it by then. I had only read the story and it was fine by me because I was freaking out it was Dublin. I spent 2 full weeks myself going over theaters from Dublin and London trying to find the damn match and then when the pic comes out one takes a look at the door and finds the correct one in Glasgow. Amazing.

- Because I want all the cards on the table I wanted this picture out, I want the Edinburgh SC pub picture out if it ever existed, I want the Antonio London marathon pic out to be able to judge for myself if the hand holding is romantic enough or not and I want the full true story and footage of what you saw on Easter Weekend there and not the 5-6 pixelated screencaps with cuts between them not showing the full sequence.

So back to the theater pic and your coffee run pics, depending on who they come from originally then yes they would have been real caught moments causing action-reaction or total set ups pre wedding disaster.

Did I say I trust no one here?

Do you know who took the theater photo?Now, after the wedding, I tend to think they themselves did it and leaked it.

No, I still don’t know who took it and yes, depending on the final result here and what the real deal is I don’t rule out them being behind it themselves. it’s one of the two:

- giving fuel to the ship knowing what was coming ahead (wedding almost final blow) or

- being caught for real (twice, theatre and house) and rushing all the wedding cover. 

For the life of me I couldn’t say which is it. 

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Can you tell me about the plot of Panzer Dragoon Saga?

The plot is confusing, which is part of why I liked it so much (partially, the rest was nostalgia and the appeal of Japan's other enormous hit franchise). It's an anime about the time in the 1970s when first anime was becoming popular in Japan. It was written by a man named Hideaki Anno and directed by Takashi Miike, who have a unique, if not unique, relationship that has been described as akin to that between author and artist. They haven't done any sequels to the show but have done anime and live-action movies based on the original.

On top of that, Anno is also the writer of Neon Genesis Evangelion, whose aesthetic is something similar to manga. So you can't really write a TV show about any manga that was more famous than Evangelion. Even Evangelion and the numerous spinoffs share some features, like the use of dream sequences in scenes. There were actually people who complained that Evangelion isn't enough like the original series, and Anno cut a lot of stuff that they liked to make it more Evangelion-like.

The really confusing part is what Anno calls the "Tuning of Ragnarok." Because, the show's premise is that all the characters are clones of the heroine with powers from various anime, comic books, and video games. But they also happen to be aliens who have come here on a spaceship with supernatural technology from another dimension. This is called the "Tuning," and it's mentioned in almost every episode, but not explained.

Some people who like anime love it because the characters are mostly as close to real humans as you can get (it's a bit like watching a soap opera, or at least that's how I would describe it). But many people (especially in Japan, where anime is hugely popular) like it because it mixes fantasy and reality and fills its world with a surrealistic and quite wonderful view of anime. When I first started watching it, I felt almost like I had a taste of that world, a bit like reading a story with characters like Lobster Johnson. I thought it might be really weird to see all these anime characters (who are clones of an anime character), transformed into real people who, in effect, belong to a different anime character. This can lead to a kind of titillating confusion, as I imagine it would for someone who had never seen an anime before. At times it was strangely fastidious about this, like when one of the clone-clones of Yuki Fui is faced with this dilemma:

Her—her clone? But she's the real Yuki Fui! And what we have here is a clone of a clone of a clone of Yuki Fui! When she changes the course of her vessel, the risk is gone! No loss for us—just another profit-generation clone! This bloodthirsty strategy could be profitable! By all means, clone us, how could I not? These ridiculous replicas of my beloved sister have made me cry since I was a little boy! What nonsense—she's not even the same as me! I remember that sometimes, though not today. Not today, anyway—on such and such date. She's changing the future, and she's doing it right here—right here—with a blade like me, a blade like you. If a straight line were drawn, would we differ from other machines? Would you differ from the machine that runs factories, from the machine that makes nice cariocas for people to drive to the airport? I don't think so. Could we, indeed? Would that even make sense? What you give me now is just one more bottle of truth pills—just another piece of the truth that I get from you. I don't need another replica.

I felt this way because of how easy it was to see me in the clone Yuki (to judge me, who was, of course, just one of Yuki's clones). Because I am like Yuki, and I come from the other world, and are part of the cultural time stream. The way I see it, everyone who wants to look into this other world has to first become part of this world, and then it will be easy to tell that everyone is a clone. How? Through various devices. What the viewer-clones seem to think they know about things like the "Tuning" is really different from reality, and the only way to see that is through the devices.

Anno is an expert at the devices. He's a master of the devices. But then he's also an expert at the psychology of his audience. The vast majority of the audience is not going to have this type of experience, because they won't have had those devices before. There are many anime fans who just aren't going to understand the basic psychology of how something like "the tuning" works. But Anno isn't interested in understanding psychology. He wants to show you people like us, with the latest and greatest mechanical toys. He wants to show you what we can do, and how we can do it, and by doing that he really does understand something about human psychology. And that makes him a sort of anti-anti-psychologist. You can sit there and say "I don't understand why these guys are so interested in these machines" and Anno will say "well, you have to understand what I mean by 'me,' then." ("And don't worry about this sort of thing.") He's more interested in explaining why the audience would want this sort of an experience. A human life is like a machine: it works and it has its flaws, and if you get a taste of how it works, you'll understand why it doesn't have many flaws. Anno's interest in the things that the audience would not want to know anything about is just an interest in their struggles to understand, or in their love of undefinable concepts like "the tuning." And Anno is interested in these concepts, because they tell the audience what they themselves don't want to know, or which is not in their own interest to know.