#i said in that comparison post didn't i? out of all people break and her are the most mature characters in this story

[fivekrystalpetals]

I-I-REALIZED SOMETHING AHFGGJKJKL;!!!

(how did I not see this before fr?!?!?!)

okay, so in Retrace 93, I had the general feeling that Lottie had a sudden change of heart to join the protagonists. I did not dwell upon it too much or take it as out of character or anything; just assumed that when Reim gave her a chance to join them (and all of them are on the same path anyway)—she jumped to take up on the chance.

But she did have a turning point I missed.

Yes, true, she had been skeptical of Glen-sama's actions since Retrace 81, after he killed all those Pandora men (going to the extent of skewering one through his mouth in his dying moments. I don't know what else passed through her mind then; maybe, flashbacks to the Tragedy of Sablier too where she killed lots against her will) but yeah, from then on, she had been mulling it over and over whether or not he was doing the right thing. She was always lost in thoughts, something even Doug points out to her.

Yet, she tries to convince herself that the Baskervilles are on the "side of justice" and trying to "save the world" from collapsing:

After this, Reim steps in to protect Sharon and proposes an alliance. Yes, again true that Lottie gets even more confused and hesitant over what she should do.... still she doesn't give an affirmative answer. If Lottie were convinced plenty by his words alone, she should have accepted his proposal then and there. But she doesn't. She continues to simmer in her indecision.

And now, we come to the end of Retrace 92, aka the most heartbreaking sequence of Break's death. At the time, Sharon and Reim must have raced on ahead (probably in the confusion, they managed to escape from the Baskervilles) because they are the only one that are there for Break at his last breath. The Baskervilles join in later.

Okay, now to the interesting part,

In Retrace 93, I overlooked this panel, because it was a tiny strip...

[Lily is asking Lottie, if the Hatter is dead to which she answers: ]

This. This is the moment she makes up her mind. Just the wordless realization in her eyes... how did I not notice ;_;

She realizes that with Break's death, the kids have lost an important mentor-kind-of-character as they go on ahead into the Past. That without Break, the kids might end up getting hurt or killed by Glen. (right? Oz wasn't using his powers to kill, but stop Glen. Glen would have killed Oz if Alice had not stopped him (and he is reminded of a younger Lacie). plus, Lottie doesn't know that Break cut off Leo's arm ;_;)

Or, well, if you think I am reading too much into it, she did def realize that someone needs to step into his shoes and "see the kids to the end" of their mission.

Also, most importantly, she decides to honor his death and the fact that he was the one to propose an alliance first (albeit in an overly suggestive manner lol break what even was that jghsgjsk) and stops Lily from shooting Reim.

Lottie says all those things about Fang set free from his burden and her being relieved for him, and it's all true. Of course, it is. But her immediate decision to stop Glen was as a result of Break's death and the realization if she didn't stop Glen, the kids might end up getting hurt at her master's hand.

As the underlying theme of the story goes, people do things not to achieve big goals like "saving the world", but for smaller, more selfish ones like "saving their present"—

Meaning, Lottie decides to stop Glen not because she thinks he cannot save the world—

(She says she will join in on Reim's wager—something that Reim himself isn't sure what it's about; he simply says Rufus Barma must know, the reason he let Oz escape:

A very wonky logic for her to accept, no? Especially, seeing how Rufus Barma's betrayal is what caused Break to regain Mad Hatter, fight back at his execution and kill (?) many of her clan.)

—no, not because she suddenly trusts Rufus over her master. Not because she suddenly pins her hope on the B-Rabbit saving the world. Not for any over-the-top reasons like those.

No, the truth is she had decided to stop Glen regardless. Because she had to step in to protect the kids her dead "friend" left behind. (Ijustghjsgjhjejscreaming-whoaaaaah)

All of whatever she was saying in that chapter was just specious logic to cover up her actual reason. No wonder, her dialogues felt so disconnected (at least, to me);

like when Doug asks if she was gonna betray Glen, she says:

which is all good and true.... but siding with the B-Rabbit must count as betrayal, right? No matter what how I love Oz, it doesn't change the fact the B-Rabbit did destroy the Chains of the world (twice), killed many of her friends and family and even dismember her master's body, right?

However, right now, in this present scenario, she is not looking upon Oz as B-Rabbit, but a kid she knows and gotta protect.

annnnnd, so, here, before Break, she drops her previous cheerful expression and sincerely speaks the truth (in my favorite panel of hers; yes, I am pasting it all over again; I am not even sorry lol):

I mean I was not entirely satisfied why she'd say this and more to Break, to a guy who killed her friend after all. Now, I think I am more satisfied. She made up her mind to stop Glen after his death, so she is stopping to thank him for helping her make her decision, something she had been "going round and round in circles in her head".

so to say, Break might not have helped influence her decision with his words (like he continually does for the kids) but with an unspoken responsibility he inadvertently passed to her with his death.

[this is mostly a repost of this chain of reblogs bc I had a few more things to add after rt.93+, wanted to have all of it in one place easy to read instead of adding one more rb to that chain, nobody talks about Lottie in general :( etc. etc.]

1] Lottie's real character

—is not the whole 'bloodlusty-sadistic-femme-fatale' persona she puts up but something close to this—

—the moment she sees a strange ragged child, a newcomer to her house on top of that, her first instinct is to go: "oh no, you are so dirty... come over here I will clean you all up."

then she goes on to console Lily for everything that happened in her life and explains why none of it was her fault—

Everyone here's gone through similar trials... but at the same time, it warps 'something' in people around you.

I am so curious about Lottie's past (on one hand, I am sad I won't ever have an answer; on the other I am happy bc I can make up whatever backstory I want for her!) because she says this as a matter-of-fact, like she (and everyone there) has experienced her share of trauma and abuse so can easily relate to Lily (also, please look at Lily's cute little adoring this-lady-is-so-cool face and her round, neatly combed mop of hair lol)

Lottie is a caring, motherly, nurturing person from her heart. This isn't even big-sisterly; she just straight up adopts a child that appeared at her doorsteps. At first, I thought her sweet character got warped after her traumatic experiences from the Tragedy of Sablier, but actually no. She still is the same, she simply suppresses it for the sake of her persona.

Because, here in Retrace 34, her first instinct on seeing Vincent beat up Echo was to confront him about it:

and she gets angry too when Vincent very coolly replies that he was taking out his pent up frustration on Echo.

However, then, she slowly relents, probably making up her mind not to interfere any more in his personal business because it was doubtless more important to keep Vincent on their side than making an enemy out of him.

annnd yet, she still voluntarily offers to accompany Zwei on her assigned mission to Sablier. because she is worried about her running off somewhere by herself. Practically a mom, I am telling you

.

and yeah, something else to add on here: the reason I say her Sadistic Sexy Girl persona is fake,, because she doesn't seem to enjoy the attention men 'give' her at all. two times iirc: when Vincent and Break grope at her without her proper consent, she appears highly uncomfortable. (or, it could only be dubcon at the best ig (also see: Lacie who was requested for her 'permission' in Glen's 'experiment' by the Glen himself. It is mentioned time and again that Baskervilles' can't go against the Glen's wishes,, implying her 'permission' was merely a formality))

See this, her first instinct is to irritably slap away Vincent's hand when he so much as touches her hair (Retrace 34):

But Vincent ignores her and continues to grope at her body.... with her finally giving in. Or rather, she was shown to be very shocked and annoyed all of those three panels before she abruptly switches to her 'sadist' persona.

With Break, I don't know how she would have reacted if he pressed on but since he pulled away, she went from being annoyed and uncomfortable to ending up more confused about what was going on (Retrace 41)

on the whole, I feel like on returning from the Abyss after a hundred years and finding that the Baskervilles had been replaced in the society and condemned to being barbarians and mass murderers, the survivors had to obviously collect more information about what really had happened. They had to find their master Glen as well. Hence, she assumed this persona to achieve her objectives—using her face and body to lure in possible informants. Also, when she needs to interrogate 'weaker' men, she simply uses it to scare them and get what she wants (sorry Oz, don't mean to dunk on you but you are the example here lmao). Like how Break clowns around so that people don't take him seriously. but.... that's not what she is, nowhere near what she is, and that's why she is so uncomfortable when men voluntarily make advances at her.

2] Lottie's smart observations

—because, many a time, it's because of her observations I started to think in an entirely new track.

in fact, the first time I started to pay closer attention to Jack's words is because of this panel (Retrace 27)—

Till then, I simply took it for granted that Jack Vessalius was a celebrated war hero, that Glen Baskerville was the one that caused the massacre which Jack put a stop to by killing his friend etc. etc.

But when Lottie pointed this out, I started to wonder if there was indeed something more to the whole Tragedy than that meets the eye. Well, honestly, calling a war hero a hero is in itself not all right but now when I realize what Jack was actually up to, it doesn't surprise me that he had no proper answer to Lottie's accusation here. He simply scares her off saying the Baskervilles won't be any match to B-Rabbit, to which, at the time I was reading this chapter, I went— okaaay? and what's that to do anything with anything?

He doesn't answer anything with regards to Glen because, apparently, he was trying to protect his dear friend's honor (bullshit); he says this to Glen's loyal followers as if they are gonna desert Glen or something. They stayed and still searched for him even after he gave the orders to kill everyone in Sablier so Jack, what's your point?

Next is here (Retrace 46)—

the first time I read this statement, do you know my mind directly went: oh, does this mean Vincent is the Head Hunter? Because if the Baskervilles don't know who the Head Hunter is but she is helping them out (in other words, in league with them), won't this narrow it down to Vincent? plus, he did kill Phillipe's dad (within the excuse of not wanting him to be dragged into the Abyss) with the chain which had connections to the Head Hunter case they were investigating.

But then, Vincent went on to say the Head Hunter attacked Gil too (which he couldn't have possibly done), and that he would be the one to slay her, and.... I entirely dropped that line of thought. Afterward, we went through the whole seesaw of whether or not Elliot is the Head Hunter to finally getting revealed Vincent was the true Head Hunter after all and I was like: ah, my first hunch was right after all... (ノへ￣、)

In the same chapter, here too:

Vincent (who is one of the smartest characters in the story) commends her on picking up things super fast. So does Break when she directly questions him about his words from the other day (Retrace 52):

Next, this one might be a bit of a weak argument but I think, of all people, it was only Charlotte who never fell for Jack's charms. In her past memories, it is shown that she didn't trust him at all. He enraged her, in fact. Yes, this whole scene is played off for gags but.... tl;dr, is that she questions him every time he enters their mansion without any particular permission or intention (Retrace 27)

and see here too:

She is shocked when she comes to know that Glen had let in Jack, an outsider, on to their secrets. Well, we have Jack here denying that he was at all interested in Glen's affairs but we later on realize that was not the case. That Jack was very much interested in Glen's affairs. So, Lottie's instincts ring true every time,,

(I was wondering why Lottie didn't know Jack at all since that guy has been loitering around the Baskerville Mansion since forever but that too was explained. she became a Baskerville after Lacie was cast into the Abyss, Oswald became Glen and Jack fell into his depression.)

but here, here (Retrace 87) can we talk about how smart Lottie is in this scene? (I love you, Break! but this post is about Lottie so I am gonna leave you out; I have made a separate post for you and your badass ways so there, there,)

Had it not been for Shirley, Break might have lost here, died even,, because what she says is right. He is fighting but he has not at all healed from his previous injuries (which, thanks to Vincent, got aggravated, seriously what's the sewer rat's problem?!),, so he is fighting for and with his life. Using his chain only adds to burden that his body can't take. lol, and so what a simple logic she uses-- just stay away from him by a certain distance, out of Mad Hatter's range and don't throw your chains against it either. He would self-destruct by himself ;-; Break looks so annoyed here, he must have realized that her logic would work.

3] Lottie is NOT a blind, stupid Glen fangirl/follower

As I mentioned in the 2 section, she is the only one that questions the intentions of Glen-sama's 'one and only friend' Jack who loiters about the Baskerville grounds for a lot of no reason;

similarly, she is the one who first hesitates at Oswald/Glen's actions after his taking over Leo's body and on a regret-fuelled warpath of probably more disastrous outcomes from changing the past than the Tragedy of Sablier.

Look at her, she is horrified at the way Glen killed that man, even skewering a sword through his mouth in his last moments (Retrace 81):

Yes, it is true that Pandora can not be easily cleansed of their brainwashing by Jack and misunderstanding of the Tragedy of Sablier but.... this was too ruthless and too cruel a murder of an innocent person. I think this is the first time she starts to question if Glen was really doing the right thing. (Even, I wonder if she gets flashbacks to the Tragedy of Sablier like Vincent bc she looks visibly shaken here)

Also, back in Retrace 79, she is right by Glen's side and even comically annoyed at Gil and Oz's escape and at Rufus for hiding while Raven attacked the place, so it didn't seem like she was questioning Glen at the time. Maybe, her first instance of hesitation was at Glen's immediate decision to get Gil killed, Gil who is one of them and was once Glen's valet. I don't know but she did seem to me to be a lot shaken there as well.

And not only now, back then, too. A 100 years ago. Yes, in front of Glen, it was Fang who openly questioned Glen's decision to kill all humans in and around Sablier but Lottie too was equally shocked to hear it (Retrace 27)

(Well, back then, it is true Oswald had no choice but to go ahead with killing all humans to save them from breaking away from the 100-years cycle or getting turned into chains (although I am writing a post on how a lot of the tragedy could have been avoided had he not been so passive; when I finish, I will link it here) but not in the present.)

Back to Lottie--

In the previous chapter (Retrace 26), she tells Oz that Glen's orders are absolute and the Baskervilles are 'built' to obey them. Her mannerisms show us (and Oz) that she has no remorse in killing all those people and is, in fact, super gleeful about the massacre and the role she played in it ("Aah, it feels like only yesterday", she says, as if she is nostalgic and thirsty for more bloodshed.)

However, this.... is all a huge lie.

Maybe, she thinks it will be easier to get an answer out of a hostage if she behaves cruel and threatening. Maybe, she is trying to hide her own regrets and guilt by putting up the mask of a psychopathic killer. Maybe, she feels there is no point in trying to justify their actions from a 100-years ago (something the Baskervilles themselves don't understand properly) to the citizens in the present, because, no matter what, they won't understand their stance and look upon them as barbarians and murderers, so it'd be as well to accept it.

Whatever be the case, the truth is: (Retrace 98)

What is this...? What exactly have we gotten ourselves into....?!

Lottie scolds Fang for even harboring a thought like one of their family has turned traitor, ultimately breaks down and cries in his arms. Plus, the Baskervilles themselves were scared of Jack and his chain-killing-chain (they didn't know it was Jack at the time) but they knew that someone, a human contractor or maybe one among themselves, had turned on them. Fang was so relieved to see Lottie alive. He feared she too might have fallen at the hands of the traitor, who had killed off many of the almost immortal Baskervilles assigned to be the messengers to and from Glen. I suppose had those messengers managed to reach Lottie and co., they would have known the real reason behind Glen's orders to kill the humans (if you see Retrace 74-pg. 29 (not adding that panel too) Glen does explain his decision to a red-hooded Baskerville, who I presume was killed by Jack on their way to the others)

Having said all this, I can't not add this panel bc this too is canon *face palm*

4] Lottie's views on living and death

This is a bit difficult to explain but there's a lot of stuff about this in spite of her few appearances (gotta read between the lines), so let's start with this panel:

while reading this for the first time, I thought she is talking about the Tragedy of Sablier. I am not so sure now. Because, although they killed lots of people, it was not for their own gain at all. It was to save those people from a fate worse than death. But, in this chapter (Retrace 25), Lottie doesn't yet know why Glen had asked them to commit the massacre so.... she must have bought the common (Jack-fed) tale that Glen wanted the Intention of the Abyss for his own gain. In a way, she is still trying to convince herself that their crimes on that fateful day were justified.

It's impossible to keep on living without hurting anybody, okay?

What I mean is this should be her own idea of life—that living is cut-throat and unfair. If we simply do nothing, then others will trample all over us and use us to achieve their own goals. Even if we try to live a life without hurting others, the same need not always be reciprocated. (which is exactly what went down between Jack and Glen jkjkgsjk but Lottie doesn't know lol)

I feel like the whole conversation hints more at her past than her days with the Baskervilles, because, even prior to that, the topic she was discussing with Oz... had nothing to do with the Baskervilles or the Tragedy. She was merely curious why Oz surrendered so fast when Ada was with him and why he wasn't fighting back right now. Thinking about it, Oz underwent a tremendous character development from a This-is-Fine, If-I-do-Nothing-I-will-be-Fine attitude to actively fighting back for his friends and family. Retrace 82, when he finally wrestles the control out of Jack's hands in spite of his constant taunting that nothing could belong to someone like Oz. In a way, he did take Lottie's advice and act upon it.

Lottie has the right hunch about most things. Remember this scene (Retrace 75):

I wonder what her life before joining the Baskervilles was like because she sure has tons of worldly experience and can easily see through people. Just like that, she offers words and advice that people (here, Oz) needed to hear.

.

I believe this is also the reason why her reaction to Break was quite... different compared to little Lily's outburst whenever she spotted him that they gotta kill him and get revenge for Fang.

For one, yes, she knows Fang passed with a smile on his face and was freed from his burden. She was relieved for him. But I also think she doesn't want revenge on Break because of this very principle of life. Fang died protecting Lily. It was a fair fight, a fight for life where if one even slightly falters, they are gonna get killed. It was not like Break had an advantage there; it was not like Fang was gonna go easy on Break had he given in or something,, (compared to Glen's killing of those Pandora men, where he had an overwhelming powerful chain, ig those men were mostly unarmed too idk)

And of all people, it was Lottie who finally ended that cycle of vengeance that started with Reim and Lily. Remember how it went?

Lily kills two of Reim's companions -> Reim seeks revenge and shoots Lily in the head -> Lily didn't die instead she attacks Reim -> Break arrives at the spot (coz of Vincent), jumps to conclusion that Reim is dead and seeks revenge -> in the fight that ensues Fang dies and Break gets grievously injured -> Lily wants revenge for Fang (in the meantime, Vincent reopens Break's half-healed wound from then) -> in the fight between Break and the Baskervilles, he gets even more exhausted bc of his chain (the reason he went all out was for Sharon getting slightly hit in the head btw) -> finally, Break dies but Lily isn't satisfied, she wants to cut up his body -> Reim offers her to shoot him instead bc he was the one that started it in the first place

Had Lily killed Reim here, this cycle could have gone on forever (maybe, Sharon might seek revenge next lol)

side note: from this, I realize that Break acts a lot more out of emotion than Lottie; Fang was equally important to Lottie like Reim or Sharon were to Break. Yet, she decided to put an end to the cycle of vengeance and accept Reim's offered hand of friendship. Supposing if Reim and Fang were the ones that died back then and Break lived in the end, would he have agreed to ally with the Baskervilles? I doubt...? (Another thought with no real proof is that she'd already been thinking of working with the protagonists ever since Break asked of her (remember, she was the one curious about his words) but that's a topic for another post ghjshgjs I promise it won't be shippy lol)

Back to the topic, I am genuinely surprised that she didn't hold the slightest grudge against Break. I understand allying with the protagonists for they are pursuing the same goal but she really didn't have to stop and say such a sweet prayer for his soul, a man who killed her friend after all:

May your soul return to this Earth.... once it has completed its hundred years cycle.

She is promising him to see Oz and the others through to the end in his place! Something he was regretting at the very brink of death, that he didn't have it in him anymore to continue on the path with them,, so whether he can or not hear her, this sure was a reassurance he needed to hear. (As I said before, she just..... knows what to say, she can easily see through people but I don't think it is appreciated enough ;_;)

And here comes in her views of death and the Hundred Years cycle (reincarnation) of the soul, something she takes very seriously (she should, considering they are the servants of the Abyss) and I believe she is of the view that demise needs to be respected, no matter friend or enemy. Now, do you see why she was so horrified at Glen stabbing a sword through the man's throat while he lay there dying? A close example I can give is that of Chuuya from BSD rebuking Dazai for shooting bullets at a corpse. They might have killed lots but they still know to respect the dead/dying.

This went so long--and I will go on and on about Lottie lol (I even reached the 30 image limit ig idk) so I will end here with Charlotte reconciling with her master and assuring him that she will support Leo in his place. This is the first time she has visible tears in her eyes:

[sabo-torao]

Small disclaimer before you head in: this whole post will be referencing the TCB translation. I know VIZ handled the exchange I'm discussing differently, but I couldn't find anyone who talked about the original version and as a result I don't really know who is closer to the original meaning. In any case, the "analysis" should still stand. Whether Dragon was commenting Sabo's firmness or admiring his resolution, Sabo's still putting on a mask, and that's the point I'm trying to break down. Enjoy!

This very specific interaction between Dragon and Sabo in chapter 1083 has always stuck out to me.

"My, you really are unshakeable."

which is an appropriate response to what Sabo said, of course. What kind of sensitive person reacts that way to the death of an innocent, right?

Even so, I can't help but compare the thing Sabo said to his actual, genuine reaction to King Kobra's death.

He's devastated.

Sabo brokenly screams Kobra's name, and his expression is one of full despair; he never thought about killing Kobra, let alone letting him die. On the contrary, he actively tried to save him.

Kobra told him to just let him go, that he was dead weight and he shouldn't be concerned about him, but Sabo straight up refused. In fact, Kobra's actions read way more as a sacrifice than an inevitable death; the king let himself die, knowing that this way Sabo could flee and reach Vivi and Luffy safely.

On the Lulusian ship, we see Sabo think about Kobra's last words to him and actively trying not to cry (and failing).

That's not an unshakable man. He's suffering, he's grieving. He realizes he failed his very own mission of saving the king and lets the meaning behind Kobra's actions and words sink in.

It really puts his former reaction into perspective.

Sabo's firmness, seriousness and coldness in front of Dragon and Ivankov are nothing but a façade. He acknowledges that what he's about to say might come off as harsh, and that, even if he does feel sorry for Kobra, the tragedy doesn't weigh him down thanks to the results it brought, but it all sounds like he's reassuring himself more than actually showing his indifference.

Hell, he even drinks his glass of wine right after having said that "he doesn't really care". How can anyone take his words seriously?

And we've been knowing Sabo is inclined to do this sort of thing since Dressrosa; he acted all cool and composed in front of Luffy but the second Koala called him on the Den Den Mushi he was weeping, having a hard time believing that his little brother didn't punch him or hate him for being alive all along. He even denied he was crying!

All because Sabo hates being seen as vulnerable, especially in front of the people he thinks he has to be strong for (Luffy, Dragon, etc). It's something I think goes back to how his parents treated him, since they scolded him for, y'know, having emotions and being a normal kid in need of love, but i digress.

I once saw someone describing Sabo as a very cold person in comparison to his brothers, even going as far as to say that Sabo doesn't care if people die if it means achieving the Revolutionary Army's goals (using this very interaction as proof), which couldn't be further away from the truth.

Bonney even says outright that it's weird seeing a "radical revolutionary" act so friendly when Sabo helps her out. Why would he do this if all he ever did was for "The Cause"?

Yes, Sabo is ruthless, rude, violent at times, and his friendly demeanor could be seen as a little more volatile than that of his brothers', but he's not heartless. He's not a "meanings to an end" guy, he proves it time and time and time again, and it's disheartening seeing people label him as such.

Sabo is kind. He may not be as warm as Ace and Luffy, but he is fundamentally a good person. A generous, kind, caring, sensitive person.

No matter how hard he tries to hide it.

[jiraisupportgroup]

˗ˋˏ ♡ Jirai Kei Survey Results ♡ ˎˊ˗

(NOTE!! I re-opened it because I saw some people saying they were sad they didn’t respond!! It’s open again! You can take it here)

Hi hi!!! First of all, I'm so sorry that this took me like an entire month to make, and second of all thank you to everyone who participated in the survey I posted a while ago! It got 89 total responses which is awesome!! So many more than I was expecting, you guys are awesome ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

I've got a spreadsheet of all the answers given in October 2024 here if you want to go view them for yourself ^-^ (I have redacted pronouns and location for privacy sake)

I also went through and read everyone's answers and pulled some of the main points / focuses people had to make into little graphics for simplification and comparison's sake (This is a huge part of why it took so long because I didn't want to misrepresent anyone's points so I went person by person and considered all of their answers and overall vibe before pulling the main points just to make sure I wasn't accidentally changing or misunderstanding their points).

Please keep in mind: 89 people is NOT a large enough sample size to extrapolate this to the entirety of the Jirai Kei community - this is really just an exploration of the people who answered the survey - it does not represent the feelings of the community as a whole. This survey is derived from the western community as the survey is in English and was posted in primarily English-speaking areas.

Also just as a note I messed up when making the selections for the ages and put 18-21 and then 21-25 so people of the age of 21 could have picked either - this isn't ideal but since I messed it up in the original choice options I'm keeping it listed as that because I think changing 21-25 to 22-25 would be disingenuous.

I'm going to go question by question and kind of break it down if you're interested! I'm also going to try and remain mostly neutral and not really put my personal opinions in here. My main goal is to kind of break down what was said in the survey.

Demographics:

It's a pretty good mix of people. Also, hi!!! So many of you are from so far away!!!! That was really exciting to see. To be honest, it was super cool to see how this community encompasses people from all over the world!!! (Also, as a note here, there was one person who answered the survey who was over 40. I included their answers in the 26-30 range just for simplicity sake.)

I also did not make a graphic for the pronouns: primarily she / her, followed by they / them or any / all, followed by he / him or he / they pronouns just in case you were curious. I also took the pronouns out of the original answers document since I know quite a few people use neo-pronouns which are quite unique and I didn't want anyone to see those and connect that person to their answers, I wanted it to remain as anonymous as possible. I redacted the locations for the same reason.

I did not make a graphic for the languages either but those are included in the original answers spreadsheet that I have linked above. Many people speak Japanese, Russian, German, Spanish, and French. Those were the main answers besides English.

I don't have too much to say about the social medias to be honest. Discord, Youtube, and Twitch are likely under-represented in this since they were write-ins and not part of the general selection.

How did you first hear about Jirai Kei?

I don't have a graphic for this one either. It looks like most people learned about it because they already had an interest in j-fashion. A decent number of people mentioned Needy Streamer Overload. Lots of people came from Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, and Tumblr. Many people also said they were into Menhera and came from there.

How would you describe Jirai Kei to someone who hasn't heard of it before?

Again, no graphic for this one - highly reccommend to go read some of the answers on the linked sheet above. It was pretty split between people talking about the aesthetics & fashion vs people talking about the mental health community. A lot of people mentioned that if they were talking to someone they didn't know very well or who didn't have any knowledge of j-fashion they would say it's a style and move on, while if they were talking to a friend or someone who did know a little more about j-fashion they would talk more about the mental health aspects and history of the subculture.

A few quotes (I'm trying to get a good mixture of opinions in here, please note these are mostly smaller parts of larger answers - this goes for all the quotes added in this post): ♡ "Usually it's easier for me to just send the wikipedia link to people though honestly" ♡ "a subculture of mostly young women with mental illness who share certain interests in jfashion etc..." ♡ "...a lot of ppl often tell me it just sounds like the jp version of emo." ♡ "A subculture for mentally ill people who can’t, won’t, or don’t want to recover" ♡ "depending on my knowledge on their opinions on mental health, i'd either go with a basic explanation of the fashion if they dont seem like the type to be sympathetic of ppl with mental health issues, but if they seem like the sympathetic type, i'd go more into detail of the origins and lifestyle associated with the subculture." ♡ "Being cute despite your mental illness! Also a bit of consumerism and idol worship..." ♡ "It's mainly a stereotype" ♡ "I would recommend watching cybr.grls video on jirai kei " ♡ "It’s an alternative japanese fashion style with frilly, lacey, and dark garments! The main colors it will be are very muted pinks, blacks, grays, whites, or even reds or purples (albeit rare)" ♡ "Jirai Kei is the term used to describe the fashion style related to Jirais / Landmines , which was a derogatory term used to describe mentally ill girls who had an “explosive” personality , wearing cute clothing to distract / hide men from their personality. It usually consists of frills , ribbons and lace , blouses and skirts , with a colour palette of black and muted colour varients like pink and blue , and white. "

To your understanding where does Jirai Kei come from? What's it's history?

Again, no graphic for this one (T-T these are just too complex for me to comfortably break down into bite-size pieces). Most people talked about the Toyoko kids, a bit less talked about host / hostess clubs, and quite a few vague nods to Kabukicho in general. About a fifth of the people just talked about overall mental health in Japan. Interesting mixture of answers - different people seem to latch on to different parts of the origins, which is likely based on what they relate with the most. I was surprised that only a few people mentioned the "Jirai Kei" makeup trend of 2019/2020 - I honestly thought that would be talked about a little bit more ngl. Interesting read for sure.

A few quotes: ♡ "jirai kei became seen as clothes worn by dangerous or unstable women, hence the trend " ♡ "the history between jirai kei && the toyoko kids sometimes get mixed together because of their resemblances , but it's important to note the two are different . jirai kei define an instable person who will explode at some point like a bomb , but you don't know when ( landmine ) . initially , it was mostly used to refer to girls who threaten their boyfriend to kill him or themselves if the boy left them . since jirais are disordered or mentally ill , they often engage in unhealthy behaviours . the toyoko kids on the other hand are teens who ran away from home to live in the streets instead . most of them suffered from abuse && causally have disorders or illnesses . this is where the two subcultures came together to form one : the jirai kei we know now..." ♡ " The clothing style that is most typically seen on social media stems from the fact that these clothes where cute but cheap to come by. " ♡ "Jirai kei as a term originated from misogynistic men calling mentally ill women “explosive.” The style came from poor (unfortunately, often sex workers) youth in Japan. It how we’ve became popularized and somewhat mainstream there after a while." ♡ "then in 2020 people started dressing up in stereotypical "toyoko kid/jirai woman style" to make fun of them before brands saw how popular this trend became and decided to start selling clothes based off this idea. the original style is known as dark girly kei which uses elements from both dark girly and girly kei the latter being a style that was popular with 2010s gyaru and evolved to incorporate french girly and dark girly motifs making it what it is today. other styles such as subcul and suna kei are also extremely popular with jirai to the point of being synonymous with the style." ♡ "...Thus, the fashion style was associate with "Jirai Onna" and became "Jirai Kei". The fashion style extended beyond Kabukicho and many girls and women wear the style in Japan due to the kawaii look and the popularity of the style within many fashion brands. Another demographic that has popularised Jirai Kei is idol fangirls who wore girly kei and jirai kei fashion. The style was also given the term "ryousangata" meaning "mass produced" an insult basically calling the girls who wear the style "basic"."

What do you think differentiates Jirai Kei from other subcultures?

Okay since this is the first type of this graphic we're seeing let me explain what you're looking at. I took key points or words and quantified how many people mentioned it as a larger part of their explanation. There were a LOT of other things mentioned these were just the ones that came up repeatedly.

Many people were confused by this question and said there are too many differences to even describe, which is completely fair. There were two main types of answers to this question. The first is that fashion is what makes it different because it's a fashion-based subculture or if not fashion-based, fashion is a big part of it. The other is that it's a community based around mental health primarily unlike other subcultures which are based on fashion or music. A lot of people who mentioned this went on to say that the thing that differentiates it from Menhera specifically (because menhera is also based in mental and physical health) was the idea that Menhera is very recovery, resource, and awareness focused, while Jirai Kei isn't focused on those things at all and is more so just people looking for a sense of community.

A few quotes: ‪♡ "menhera is art and advocacy focused, jirai is community focused. menhera also is more recovery focused often, whereas jirai places no emphasis on that at all" ‪♡ "Dawg idk how to tell you this… there’s too many examples and they’re all so different" ♡ "For starters, its background story, the clothing doesn't look the same either.... Jirai culture is not really focused on getting better mentally, much on the contrary... being mentally ill is praised, spending an insane amount of money on clothes you don't exactly need is praised...." ‪♡ "I’ve seen jp jirais say that jirai kei is whatever a jirai girl chooses to wear, it can literally be anything. However, at the moment it visually is a combination of menhera and dark girly kei. Because it’s new though, it’s already having subsets form and change that." ♡ "i think jirai is unique in its rejection of the “just get better” culture a lot of places have. Most people think of inability or unwillingness to improve a moral failing. " ‪♡ "Jirai Kei has a distinct history and recognisable style" ♡ "menhera is about finding a community that wishes to accept you and want to encourage you to get better jirai kei is not about wanting to get better thats a very important distinction" ♡ " - idk how to explain??? It’s like asking what differenciates gyaru and goth lol" ♡ "the subcul is definitely viewed in an extremely negative way compared to other subculs, even menhera. I also think that other subculs like Emo, Anime, and Idol culture revolve a lot around the fashion aspect. While jirai is best known for the Dark Girly fashion, i think that jirai in itself, as mentioned before, is more about the lifestyle that we life, our mental health, and the struggles we go through either on purpose or not" ‪♡ "for many i'd say the fashion is what differenciates them. while they can overlap with common traits under the other subcultures, it's still quite different." ♡ "i do believe that the associated fashions (again, not just dark girly, but also tenshi kaiwai, subcul, etc.) are necessary to set a landmine apart from these cultures. the fashions is a huge part of the subculture and sets it apart from these other mental-health based subcultures. that is why i personally believe that a landmine must at least wear the associated fashions OCCASIONALLY to be considered part of the subculture."

What kind of Jirai Kei content do you engage with the most?

This one again, no graphic. Top answer was outfit / coord posts (82%), second most common was vent posts (67.4%), third was dark humour (58.2%)

Are you interested in the fashions associated with Jirai Kei? Which ones?

Again, not too much to say overall about this.

One thing to note is that some of these answers could technically be lumped in with other ones, like "all of them" could be counted towards Dark Girly Kei, Girly Kei, Tenshi Kaiwai, etc but I kept it separate. Same with "Jirai IS the fashion" which could be lumped into Dark Girly Kei but again I kept it separate unless they mentioned it in their answer.

The one that isn't like that is "No Interest" because if someone was of the mind that the fashion is called Jirai Kei and said they weren't interested in the other fashions they're in the "Jirai IS the fashion" count, while the people in the "No Interest" count were of the idea that the name of the fashion is not Jirai Kei and is rather Dark Girly Kei so they have their own count.

What role do you think the asssociated fashions play in Jirai Kei? Do you need to wear them to be considered "Jirai" or part of the community?

Again, this has been vastly simplified but I tried really hard not to misunderstand or misrepresent anyone's points. The categories names are a bit strange so let me explain what I mean by them:

‪♡ "No, it's a lifestyle" - This person believes that you do not have to wear the associated fashions to be part of the Jirai Kei community because it is first and foremost a subculture based around mental health and finding people who relate to you that you can talk to about these things. They also tend to believe "Jirai Kei" is the not proper name for the fashion, and that to be part of the Jirai Kei community you must be either mentally ill or at least open and understanding about mental illness. ‪♡ "No, it's both a lifestyle and a fashion" - This person believes that you do not have to wear the associated fashions to be part of the Jirai Kei community. They tend to believe that Jirai Kei is both a lifestyle and a fashion, and you can participate in either the overarching mental health community based around Jirai Kei or the fashion side of things and be accepted either way. This kind of answer tended to imply that both the people looking for a mental health-related safe space and people who just like the fashion are welcome. ‪♡ "Yes, it's both a lifestyle and a fashion" - This person believes you do have to wear the associated fashions to be part of the Jirai Kei community. They tend to believe that Jirai Kei is the proper title for both the mental health subculture and the overarching fashion and you have to participate in both to be considered part of the Jirai Kei community. ‪♡ "Yes, it's a fashion" - This person believes Jirai Kei is a fashion style, if you wear it, you are welcome in the Jirai Kei community.

A few quotes: ‪♡ "the fashion has almost taken over the community, and overshadows its origins." ‪♡ "I don‘t think the Fashion is the central aspect, but it brings people in. It’s historically speaking a part of Jirai Kei, but not the most inportant thing. You can be Jirai and not dress like it." ‪♡ "Yes to be considered Jirai one should wear the clothing of the subculture they are trying to claim. I don’t think you have to branch out into any jirai substyles though if it’s not your vibe." ‪♡ "No if you're a lifestyle jirai, yes if you're a fashion jirai. If you're a lifestyle jirai I think just wanting to be jirai is enough" ‪♡ "i definitely do think that people who dont wear the fashion can be considered jirai, as thats how the word originally got its meaning, though nowadays its definitely more recognized as a fashion style." ‪♡ "It's just a part of the stereotype because a lot of us happen to wear it not because we need to." ‪♡ "it’s such an enormous part of the subculture that leaving out the fashion aspect makes your “landmineness” indistinguishable from a thousand other subcultures." ‪♡ "i think the fashion gave way to helping people who are mentally unwell or don’t feel good find and outlet to feel better, wether it be makeup, or the clothes for me it makes me feel pretty and distracts from the fact i’m depressed. i think just wearing “jirai” as a fashion or style doesn’t necessarily mean you are unwell though, you can participate and be okay in the head lmao, and ofc be in the community. i think the problem lies within the title of jirai. " ‪♡ "i don't think you necessarily NEED to wear them to be jirai, but i think that an interest in them is pretty important because the fashion and aesthetics are closely intertwined with the subculture " ‪♡ "I actually think the biggest thing to a Jirai look is Jirai makeup. I think as long as you have that, then you are Jirai enough. " ‪♡ "While I don't think you have to wear the fashion to be jirai, the fashion does play a big part in the subculture and people need to acknowledge that. " ‪♡ "to an extent, yes you do, but it's more important just to have an interest in them. nobody needs to wear them 24/7 and if you can't afford clothes then it is what it is, but you can't really call yourself jirai if you have no interest in one of the main aspects of the subculture (the aesthetics)" ‪♡ "nah, as long as u wear alternative fashion and know ur shit and participate in the culture ur fine."

Can non-Japanese people be "Jirai"? Why or why not?

Most people said yes (which is kind of to be expected since this is in English and most of the people who answered are not Japanese so I will note this is biased), but a lot of people brought up different points.

Some of the "yes" pool are people who believe Jirai Kei is just a fashion and brought that up as their point. Some of the "yes" pool are people who are more into the mental health side of things and talked about how people in different countries still experience mental struggles and that's something everyone can relate to in their own way.

The "Yes but it's different" pool is mostly comprised of people talking about the mental health aspects of the community and mentioning that although foreigners can be part of the Jirai Kei community, it is important to understand that the things that many Japanese "Jirai"s go through are things that we will not experience due to the differences in our mental health care resources / infrastructure and the infrastructure of the Japanese sex-work industry. Essentially, we can go through really similar things but the overall cultures make it quite different.

Some Quotes: ‪♡ "yes, especially when a trend originally comes from sex work in which non-japanese people living in japan are overrepresented." ‪♡ "Yes, I’ve seen from the pov’s of Japanese landmines and they are open to it because we’re all supposed to be there for each other because nobody else is" ♡ ‪"Yeah, I think they can be, BUT they shouldn't go around acting like they are the template for what a landmine is, or demanding changes to the culture, just because they wear the fashion and/or are mentally ill. It's roots lie in Japan, so the "originals" are still Japanese Jirais" ‪♡ "of course they can ! never did the term refer to exclusively japanese people . even when the initial term " merged " with the toyoko kids , it didn't make it an exclusively japanese term . as long as you fit the " criterias " , you can be a jirai if you choose to label yourself as one ! ♡" ‪♡ "Nowadays I'd like to consider it a fashion style and fashion styles travel all around the world as long as u don't claim to be japanese cause you are wearing jirai you are good. You should also respect and learn the story of the style before u decide to wear it since it's more troubling than other styles." ‪♡ "Very unlikely. There are many factors that would eliminate most people to be "true Jirai kei" ie. experiencing homelessness as well as involved with sex work and host club addiction. Emily from the suburbs who lives with her family and has depression could not be Jirai kei but can partake in the cool fashion. Calling themselves Jirai would not be up to par with the real meaning of it." ‪♡ "Yes. The Japanese jirais don’t seem to disagree so I’m not sure why I would." ‪♡ "yes of course, its important to say that non japanese people often have different issues as japanese people but that doesnt make them less valid meaning they can still use the style as representation of their own issues" ‪♡ "yes and no. if you disregard the fashion and makeup or frame jirai kei as a "menhera" community when its not then you dont really deserve to call yourself a jirai onna. acknowledging that your generally live a better life because of your privilege of being outside of japan. though i can understand calling yourself a jirai onna if you suffer extremely similar problems to that of toyoko kids especially if you suffer from BPD." ‪♡ "Ofc it's clothes" ‪♡ "Yes, of course! Jirai kei is for anyone and I don't see a reason why people can't participate/ want to gatekeep it. I just think it's important to learn about the history and not be a jerk to those who participate in only the lifestyle or only the fashion part."

What does "Jirai Kei" mean to you personally? Why do you associate with the subculture?

I chose to make a word map for this to kind of point towards some of the most repeated words throughout the answers. A lot of these answers are very sad to read (just a heads up before you start going through them), but that is kind of to be expected. Most people mention mental illness and personal struggles with things like EDs, SH, alcoholism, other unhealthy coping mechanisms, or relationship issues. The thing that really stood out to me was that a majority of the people who are of the idea that "Jirai Kei" is the name of the fashion still brought up how the community feels comforting to them because they struggle with mental illnesses and relationship issues. Very few people just said "I like the clothes", most people also mentioned mental struggles in their answers.

I think that's an important thing to note. It really highlights the fact that you never know what someone is going through behind the screen. You only know what they choose to post, and many people choose to post cute outfit photos and things of that nature, but they still can be hurting behind all of that.

A few quotes: ‪♡ "it’s comforting to identify as one and feel like there’s a subculture out there of people who feel similarly to me. everyone connects with the label in different ways" "I like being able to relate with people and have somewhere to post my vents and get things off my chest without judgment" ‪♡ " i was paranoid for not being mentally ill enough for the community, i was absolutely terrified of making jirais mad at me and being rejected. to this day i am terrified of the day when they decide i did not suffer enough to be a jirai. but such a thought is twisted in and of itself, right?" ‪♡ " I love dressing up as fashion is a major coping mechanism for me and I feel delighted at being able to express myself through clothes: it is an art form. Dressing in the subculture's fashions has allowed me to express myself and come to terms with my experiences and who they made me today." ‪♡ "Funny enough my mom calls me a jirai girl (in a derogatory way since she has a typical older japanese person mindset) but i don't mind saying that i am one without shame. especially because i don't believe that my mental illness is something that should be stigmatized and judged. calling myself jirai feels liberating in a way..." ‪♡ "I feel like because I cannot wear the style (not enough money + sizing is difficult) I cannot call myself Jirai kei but I notice others who don’t wear the style call themselves Jirai, which is comforting. I’ve always struggled with mental health for most of my life and I’ve always loved Jfashion subcultures, so obviously I was drawn to Jirai." ‪♡ " i do think people who just wear dark girly kei should be careful when using the term jirai kei if they aren't in the subculture though. i see people say they're jirai and then mock the mentally ill people like?? you aren't jirai you WEAR jirai kei 💀💀 there is a difference!!" ‪♡ "i am also transgender - my girlhood is very important and nostalgic to me but it is also inseparable from dysphoria and sickness, and i think dark girly/jirai fashion helps me to express that." ‪♡ "I found I appreciated the relaxed attitude towards mental health struggles, nightlife activities and a visual indicator that someone might be a little “dangerous” or someone that likes to party." ‪♡ "when I first started, "I want to become cute!" was a big theme I was seeing. I can be cute even though I'm ugly and have bad mental health and it's ok. the style of the clothes is the biggest appeal." ‪♡ "I honeslty really only associate myself with the fashion aspect of it, since it’s something I really love. So instead of calling myself “Jirai”, I like to say I “dress in Jirai” instead." ‪♡ "To me, it's just the clothes. I don't call myself Jirai by itself because it's insulting"

What would you say the pre-requisites to being part of the Jirai Kei community are?

40% of people mentioned mental illness or struggles as a main part of the subculture. There were different approaches to the way that they mentioned it though. Some people were saying "you should be mentally ill since 'Jirai' is an insult used against mentally ill people and the explosive nature is part of the subculture" and others were saying "If you are mentally healthy you should stay away from Jirai Kei to protect yourself because you're going to see triggering things".

Many people said you don't have to be mentally ill to be part of the community, but you should understand that you are going to be interacting with people who are mentally ill and not bully people for venting. Some people said you have to be mentally ill and not wanting or willing to recover to be part of the community (although this was only 3% of people).

On the other hand, about 16% of people said that the only thing you need to do to be part of the community is wear the clothing.

People who mentioned both mental illness and clothing in their answers were divided into 4 different categories: ‪♡ "Mental illness" - they mention the fashion but state is it not a requirement for the community ‪♡ "Wear the fashion" - they may or may not mention mental illness, but do not think it is a requirement for the community ‪♡ "Wear the clothes AND be mentally ill" - they mention both and think both are required for the community ‪♡ "Wear the clothes OR be mentally ill" - they mention both and think you can either participate in the fashion side of things or the mental health side of things, but you don't have to participate in both.

Many people also mentioned doing the makeup as a big part of it. Some of the people who mentioned makeup as a requirement said that even if you don't wear the clothes as long as you do the makeup you're good.

A lot of people also said if you like the clothes or the community or whatever you're all good, so long as you don't bully anyone. Their general vibe was that anyone is welcome to hang out so long as they aren't mean to others. (Many people counted in the "don't be mean to 'fashion' onlys are also counted in the "don't be mean to 'lifestyle' onlys category as well. And as a note a lot of them didn't use those terms specifically I just used them to shorten "people who only wear the clothing" and "people who only participate in the mental health community" because those are looooooooong titles)

There isn't an overarching general consensus. It is very split and debated. (Which we all know). A lot of people were very passionate about their definitions though, which is to be expected. Mental health is a very touchy and personal topic for a lot of people, so people on both sides have really passionate emotions about it.

A few quotes: ‪♡ "i think people who are mentally healthy should stay away from the community; both so they don’t judge those whose thoughts they don’t understand but also for their own protection and comfort. the topics talked about in jirai spaces are triggering and disturbing. i don’t blame, nor judge jirais forthe abusive behavior neurotypicals could accuse them of — it is often not their fault and a mentally healthy person could easily harm a jirai as well. i think such interactions would end up with mutual suffering on each side." ‪♡ " to call yourself a jirai you need to wear the makeup, the clothes, and suffer from some sort of mental illness especially if your livelihood is often threatened by the fact you have these conditions. and its OKAY to not cal yourself a jirai its NOT A GOOD THING to want to be a jirai mentally ill people who call themselves jirai onna are mentally ill and just find comfort in some form by the title." ‪♡ ". i do feel like these are two separate communities with some overlap, especially with the recent western discourse. i don't like these terms as i feel they are a bit harsh but there is a difference between "fashion only jirai" and "lifestyle jirai". of course anyone can appreciate cool clothes but the landmine side of the community deserves a safe space to talk about their issues and relate to each ‪other without uneducated jirai kei wearers bashing them" ‪♡ "i wouldnt say you necessarily have to be struggling mentally to be considered jirai kei, but i dont personally like the way some fashion only jirais negatively talk about the more lifestyle jirais at times. i also however dont think lifestyle jirais should be actively trying to call people out for being a fashion only jirai. it could end up being quite harmful, as you never really know what people are going through." ‪♡ "You may have a mental illness such as BPD which directly links to the “Explosive Landmine” personality. Otherwise it’s fine to just call yourself a Fashion Landmine and only wear Jirai Kei without “being Jirai”." ‪♡ "It really depends on if someone likes the fashion only, identifies as a jirai (landmine person), or both. Someone who likes the fashion may just say they dress in jirai kei clothes. Also, just because someone identifies themselves as a stereotypical jirai and calls themselves just landmine doesn't always mean they wear the fashion either; although it's more common for someone to do both and straight-up call themselves jirai." ‪♡ "being mentally ill (and i mean... cmon a little more than just depression and anxiety because like all of gen z struggles with that((this isn't the mental illness olympics but this is meant to be a safe space for people struggling with more severe illnesses))) and owning like a few coords that isn't that one DML coord that everyone has and wearing the damn makeup" ‪♡ "I think just respecting the community. You don't have to be "mentally ill enough" to join but you do need to respect people no matter their problems and coping mechanisms." ‪♡ "Hot take but if you’re not a Jirai in Japan you’re not a true Jirai and I don’t mean the fashion I’m talking about life choices . You can wear the fashion without having to call yourself a landmine" ‪♡ "there's no requirement, anyone can wear the fashion. it's just clothes."

Do you feel like there is a difference between "Jirai Kei" and "Landmine Kei"?

Most people said no, which is the kind of idea that I had but I wanted to ask because I have seen people use them in different ways. Most of the people who said yes said that in English-speaking circles Landmine is used more to talk about the mental health aspects of things while Jirai is used more when talking about the fashion or overall community. Which I think is interesting. It seems to me that separating Landmine and Jirai is another way that people try to separate the clothing from the mental health community like the distinction people make between Jirai Kei and Dark Girly Kei fashions. (Anything else I have to say here would go into my own opinions so I'm going to leave it at that - it's an interesting thing to think about).

A few quotes: ♡ "i believe there is a difference between simply wearing jirai kei and being a landmine. people in the english speaking community generally use landmine kei to describe the mentally ill side of the community even though jirai literally means landmine. i only see landmine kei used in context of like the fashion mine vs lifestyle mine debate." ♡ "From my experience, I have seen many English speakers misinterpret the term 'Jirai Kei' and water it down to fashion but, of course, that shouldn't represent all of the English-speakers partaking in the discussion." ♡ "Anywho considering Jirai is a direct translation to Landmine, I don’t see how they could be any different." ♡ "I think Landmine Kei is more dressing up as the stereotype and Jirai Kei is the lifestyle that predates the stereotype." ♡ "I feel like calling it landmine kei does alert people more to the mental health side of the subculture"

What is your favourite part of the Jirai Kei Subculture?

This was a combined question "What is your favourite and least-favourite part of the subculture" and most people skipped the favourites part and started just talking about what they hate which did make me a little bit sad. I really liked reading about what people liked in the community.

Most people said the fashion was their favourite part. Both people who said that Jirai Kei is a mental health-based community and people who said Jirai Kei is a fashion-based community brought up fashion as a favourite part of theirs.

"Community" is a very vague thing - in this context, it mostly means they were talking about how they share a lot in common with people in the community whether that be fashion, idols, music, aesthetics, mental health, etc. However, most of the people who mentioned mental health as a main part of why they love the community are counted in "Safe Space" instead.

A few quotes: ♡ "I have dealt with a ton of ableism and med shaming before irl and in other places online, but never in the jirai community. So it makes me happy that I can vent without people treating me like I'm "crazy" or trying to force dramatic changes onto me." ♡ "I love the clothes so much of course so the aesthetic of the fashion is my favorite." ♡ "The clothes of course, I really loved visiting the clothes shops in Japan. People in Japan are really nice about my clothing and often compliment me when I wear Jirai Kei, plus all of the shopgirls are really kind." ♡ "my fav part is the super cute clothes and how u can meet so many other ppl who not only have the same fashion style, but also similiar/same issues/experiences as you, so you can share pretty much anything with no judging at all!!! ^_^" ♡ "I like having a place where I can be open about the reality of my mental illnesses without being bombarded with “solutions”." ♡ "i love wearing cute outfits, seeing other people's codes and seeing other landmines experiences ." ♡ "the fact that people actually understand how i think / feel most of the time , and that i won't get weird looks / i won't be judged for things" ♡ "Most favourite: people identifying each other and bonding over shared experiences (and of course, the fashion)" ♡ "I love the community as a space for people on all lines of recovery to come together and exist without judgement" ♡ "My favorite part of the subculture is blogs, the fact that the people in the community get to share their thoughts & be related to & validated makes me really happy" ♡ "I love how empowering Jirai Kei makes me feel."

What is your least favourite part of the Jirai Kei subculture?

NOTE BECAUSE SOME OF THEM GOT CUT OFF: ‪♡ "People who say you have to be..." is "People who say you have to be mentally ill" ‪♡ "People who use mental illness as an..." is "people who use mental illness as an excuse to be mean" ‪♡ "People who say you have to buy" is "people who say you have to buy certain brands"

The top answer was fashion Jirais. This is a combination of people who specifically said the term "Fashion Jirai" and people who said things like "people who only wear the clothes" or "people who think the community is just cute clothes and ignore the mental illness aspect of it". I combined those into the same count.

"Anti-recovery" as a category is more than just people talking about how recovery isn't front and centre like Menhera, or people talking about venting - it is specifically people who talked about people who say you cannot be in recovery if you are part of the Jirai Kei community.

"Glamorization of Sh/Ed" also is more than just people talking about posts that talk about those things, it is people who specifically said it is over-romanticized / glamourized. And as a note this is different from "lifestyle Jirais" since that category includes people that are just talking about vent posts or mention "lifestyle jirai"s by name.

"Lifestyle Jirais" and "People who don't wear the clothes" are also two different categories, lifestyle jirais is either people who said that by name or were talking about people who vent or think the community is mental-health based, and "people who don't wear the clothes" is just that, it's the people who specifically called that out.

I don't have too much to add here since I can't really add anything here without stating my personal opinions which isn't what I'm trying to do right now. I did find it comforting that most other people are sick of the discourse, and it's both people who think Jirai Kei is fashion-based and people who think Jirai Kei is mental health-based that were saying this.

A few quotes: ♡ "But there are legit people on here who act like you're 'fake' if you aren't attempting suicide every hour or something lmao" ♡ "i'm sick of sharing my safe space with people who think it's just a pink blouse and some short skirts and a bow." ♡ "putting a label on jirai that you have to act a certain way seems wrong. some rules and bashing on other girls wanting to wear the fashion is very wrong too." ♡ "i’m simply utterly terrified of rejection." ♡ "My least favorite would probably have to be those who promote self harm or say you have to engage in some sort of dangerous stuff to be a part of the subculture. While many of us do struggle with these things, it's super unnecessary to push people (mostly the fashion only jirai keis) to harm themselves." ♡ "least fav is that there are a lot of gatekeepers who want you to prove that you're actually mentally ill or they turn it into a competition of who's suffering the most. I also don't like how many jirai are anti recovery if someone chooses to recover (not forced, but their own choice). and I don't like that there are some really young kids in the community, like 13 and under" ♡ "I hate the people who slap a random pink shirt on and a black mini skirt and call it jirai because it’s not. Jirai is so much more than pink and black." ♡ "least fav is probably the fact how some ppl will say the most vile shit ever and use the fact that theyre a jirai as an excuse (it can always be a reason for said behavior, but never an excuse!! 😭😭)" ♡ "fashion "jirais". i don't like discourse at all , but i really wish people would understand the whole point of jirai kei before calling themselves a landmine :(" ♡ "the least, however, are the people who say you "dont need to be mentally ill to call yourself jirai" which is just ridiculous" ♡ "I don't like the narrative that we have to buy from the original designer or it's not Jirai, that's just buying into what the fashion industry wants you to think. A fashion is a style, not a designer brand. Quite frankly I just don't like being limited to certain brands." ♡ "Constant discourse (assuming that people can't resonate with the subcul just because they're not as vocal about their experiences as the others PLUS the bullying of actual people who struggle for venting when that is the core of this subcul)" ♡ "i wish it was more mature because many jirai people are in their early teens (12-14) and i feel the need to act as a role model in spaces that include minors, rather than speaking freely as i would normally among people closer to my age" ♡ "least favourite: weird gatekeeping (eg. "you can't wear jirai kei because you're not mentally ill""), shaming peoples looks and fatshaming in general" ♡ "My least favorite is the ones who say you have to be anti-recovery to be jirai. It's okay to be tired of hurting." ♡ "i detest the infighting, and the way that it's rapidly growing is kind of pissing me off because im more comfortable in smaller communities" ♡ "As for least favourite, glorification of ED and SH (I must note, glorification, not just the fact people discuss/have it in the community) as well as the fatphobia and such"

Overall very interesting read and very mixed responses, but also not actually as mixed as I thought they would be. Most people landed somewhere in the middle where they considered both fashion and mental health to be parts of the subculture and just had different levels of importance for those two things. Most people also did mention mental health being part of their reasoning for being here, whether they engage more in the fashion side of things or the mental health side of things.

If there are any clarifying questions about what the titles of things in these graphs really mean or why I chose to break things down in the way that I did I am more than happy to provide clarification to that! I'll try to respond to any comments like that as soon as I can. I won't be engaging in discourse or defending any points or anything (at least not here) - this is more about the answers to the survey and not my personal opinions so pls understand T-T.

If you read all that mess thank you! Took me a while to actually get all of this compiled. If you didn't thank you regardless! Especially if you responded in the survey to begin with ♡

Also if anyone is uncomfortable with their answer being posted in the answers document please contact me either on Tumblr @jiraisupportgroup or on Reddit @ Mara-melody (DMs should be open on both) with the details about which response was yours and I will delete it from the publicly available document! Thank you!!

[broadwayfangirl222]

Saw you post about the similarities between Bill & Ford and Gideon & Mabel, and wanted to know what are your thoughts on Giffany & Soos also bearing similarities to these pairs?

Gideon & Mabel/Giffany & Soos:

- GD /GF held unhealthy/possesive romantic feelings for Mabel/Soos, wanting them to be together forever and seeing Mabel and Soos as belonging to them

- GD and GF didn't take the break up well, and their actions after it was to attack the people Mabel and Soos cared about (Dipper/Melody & the twins)

- both fights end with Mabel and Soos stopping GD and GF, ending things between the two (Mabel destroys the magic rock/Soos destroys the disk)

Bill & Ford/Giffany & Soos:

- relationships between a human and non-human (Bill is a being from a 2nd dimmension/Giffany is a sentiant game made on earth)

- after being found by Ford and Soos, Bill and GF help them with their problems (F - where the weirdness comes from & other stuff/ S - getting a date for his cousin's engagement party)

- at some point Ford/Soos discover their true motives/personalities which strains their relationship

- Bill/Giffany use manipulative words to keep Ford/Soos in the relationship (GF - tells Soos that other girls wouldn't like him & Melody would leave him/ B - tells Ford he likes being special and only he can truly appreciate him (tbh dont remember the words exactly)

- in the fights, Bill/GF offer Ford/Soos a last chance to join them, which both Ford and Soos reject

- Bill and GF have limited ways they can go around Gravity Falls

- Bill's glitchy "death" reminds me of Giffany

So thoughts?

Ohhhh this is an extremely interesting comparison! I adore the comparisons you already made and I really think you're onto something with this and completely agree with everything. To expand on this line of thought:

There were warnings before they all met Gideon, Bill, Giffany

Soos, Ford and Mabel were very lonely and wanted to make connections with others

All three of them have this cutesy and harmless look to them

1. There were active warnings about Giffany, Bill and Gideon and the three of them technically went against those warnings

A bunch of people returning it & there's a note saying the game should be destroyed

Ford summoned Bill despite all the cryptic warnings in the cave

Dipper & Mabel went to the tent of telepathy despite what Stan said about Gideon & that they shouldn't go

Not to say any of them were at fault for getting into these toxic relationships but there's still warnings from people who've dealt with Bill, Giffany, Gideon in the past.

2. they were all lonely and wanted a connection with others

Mabel - before she met her besties Candy & Grenda, she excited to finally have someone who actually enjoys doing girly stuff with her. Before Candy & Grenda, no one she currently spent time with got that side of her. Even Wendy, the other girl™ of the group isn't exactly a girly girl who'd be super into things like makeovers or dressing up like she is

Soos - Sure it was technically for his cousin's wedding & because of his Abuelita asked him to, but he likely wanted a relationship before all that and this whole wedding thing probably pushed an already sensitive issue for him. Like he clearly struggled a lot talking to women and he has a lot of anxiety with this and feeling like he'll always be alone

Ford - He's actually the one I can say the most on when it comes to loneliness. He says why he fell for all of Bill's lies was because of both flattery and being promised answers to the mysteries of the universe. And yeah that's very true, but the Book of Bill, Journal 3 and part of the show itself kinda shows it was also because he was super lonely too. Ford himself talks about how he's never felt lonelier than he had in Gravity Falls, he literally thinks Bill was initially a hallucination caused from his loneliness/isolation and Bill flat out says he picked Ford partly because of how isolated & lonely he was

3. All three of them have this cutesy, harmless look to them

Gideon literally uses his cuteness to manipulate the town

Giffany, both in and out of universe by the animators, is designed to be an adorable anime girl. even Alex Hirsch was shocked at how people reacted to Giffany and how they still seemed to be sympathetic to her despite murdering all these people and telling Soos no one but her could actually love him

Bill's a triangle in a top hat and bowtie. If you didn't know the horrible stuff he's capable of and you saw him, would you think he's a threat? He's just a silly little dorito with a top hat!

[that-one-kiddo-in-the-back]

Star Wars doesn't need to let the dark side be more interesting.

Oh boy. Like I said in my last post about star wars. I live, breathe, and shit star wars its my favorite sci-fi.

Without watching the video and only focusing on the title is that the dark side is already interesting because of how mysterious it is. All the people who are naturally connected to the dark side of the force are all gone, and the now and day sith keep everything close to their chest. The dark side is called that because of how rarely people shine a light on it.

Now to the actual video... why does Lily have to be so mean about it? She brings up how people would like to see more Star Wars without the force involved to be able to see the galaxy in a bigger light, to which she says those people lack vision and that what we really need is more sith characters. 😮‍💨 just go watch tales of the empire then.

Something that Lily needs to know is that anger and hate aren't one in the same. She brings up Yoda's monolog but still doesn't understand it or the Jedi's thoughts about emotions and how they view them. For those who don't know Yoda's monolog goes like this

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

When he says that, it's supposed to make you think more clearly about your emotions to be mindful of them. The Jedi's main advice when dealing with negative emotions is to meditate, which is genuine good advice, and she would know that if she actually went to therapy. They aren't telling you not to be angry just to not let that anger consume you because that will make you do things you will soon come to regret, making you fall deeper.

Think back to when Anakin found out his mother was taken by the Tusken Raiders, and when he found her, he was too late, and she died in his arms. Now, he had a right to be angry about what they did to her. The Tusken Raiders was just another reminder of how much Tatooine had stolen from him how much he hated the planet. But notice how him taking revenge wasn't labeled as a good thing when he got back home with his mother wrapped up, in his arms and after she was buried he confided in padme that he was so anger that he didn't just kill the men responsible but the women and the children too that he was so consumed in his grief that he wasn’t even thinking and by the time he realized what he had done it was far too late and the whole tribe was dead. Or how about when Anakin thought Padme had betrayed him and he started to choke her out the dark side had twisted his mind into thinking and doing things he wouldn't do he might not have killed Padme but he was pretty close to it all because he was consumed with hate.

Part of me thinks Lily hasn't read the high republic or the old legends before the republic, and the Jedi order was corrupt the Jedi prided themselves as peace keeper and negotiators when a war was about to break out on a planet you sent or asked for a Jedi to help stop it before it happened for fuck sakes the first thing you hear in the phantom menace is people calling Obi Wan and Qui gon negotiators.

Can we also not use the death of George Floyd to make a shity star wars take??? Why did you have to bring up the real death of a police brutally that hadn't even hit the two year mark of the video? If you have to make a comparison to a real-world death, at least make it from ten or twenty years ago. We'll add that to Lily being an insensitive jerk tally board.

I was going to end the post with that, but as I continued to watch the video, Lily said something that made me stop in my tracks, and that was... Leia is technically a sith because she follows the sith code to a tea...

Bitch what?!?!

Leia, while being strong in the force and training with Luke, fought in the rebellion for the sake of peace she doesn't want people to die or another planet to blow up both her and Luke are what the Jedi once was. Peace keepers that want peace for them and everyone around them. Leia is, first and foremost, a politician and more over a freedom fighter she fights for freedom the sith have only ever fought for themselves.

Oh my God. I'm close to unlocking alcoholism. For the love of God, Lily, your sith, do not steal OC is not a good person either, but that's a post for another day.

[icedragonlizard]

I'm probably going to be obliterated for this, but I'm bold enough.

I think it eventually deserves to be said, anyways.

Consider this the follow-up to a post I wrote a few days ago.

For clarification, I'm not at all trying to say that the whole Mecha Knight thing in Planet Robobot wasn't messed up. Overall, it was messed up. Yes, what Susie did to Meta Knight was indeed quite bad.

But it's very clear that the Kirby fandom has absolutely blatant double standards when it comes to this sort of thing.

While it's understandable to find enjoyment in milking angst out of such an incident, I believe that people exaggerate Mecha Knight.

Some people love to go on about how Meta Knight suffers from horrible medical trauma after Planet Robobot. About how much he hates Susie's guts, will never ever forgive her, and wants her to die. About how this was basically the worst thing to ever happen to him.

But if I'm being honest, I don't think Mecha Knight was that much different from all the times that King Dedede has been possessed.

Where's all the talk about Dedede being traumatized from all his possession incidents? Hello?!?!? Do people just act like he's not that traumatized or that he easily toughs out his possession incidents while Meta Knight was just messed up so darn bad by being a robot?

Actually, I have seen people talk about Dedede being traumatized by Dark Matter, but it's absolutely nothing like talk about Mecha Knight. Still double standards.

To be fair, I can somewhat understand the big discrepancy of how Mecha Knight is treated compared to Dedede's possessions. After all, Meta Knight is quite literally the Kirby's fandom blorbo (aside from Magolor, I guess) and turning someone into a robot against their will can very much indeed be a lot more nerve-striking in comparison.

But was Mecha Knight really truly so much worse than Dedede's possessions? Does it really deserve to be treated like it's such an unfathomable, unspeakable, harrowing tragedy... compared to Dedede's incidents being treated like they're no big deal at all?

... In my opinion, no.

Meta Knight shook off roboticization pretty quickly after the second Mecha Knight fight. He's then quick to get on top of the Halberd while the rest of his crew gets it up and flying. Funny how it's that instead of him just sitting there crippled and helpless after the robot armor breaks off of him. I dunno about you guys, but he looks fine!

While I myself do imagine that he'd certainly have been somewhat messed up and traumatized by being a robot, and while I do imagine he would be mad at Susie over it for a while, I sincerely don't agree to the extent of how some people depict it. It didn't ruin his life like some people think. It hurt him, but not ruin him. He's been through bad stuff before. If you ask me, it's more like a "regular Tuesday" for him instead of being the absolute total life-ruining experience for him. He's been able to heal from the incident and is doing just fine.

And for the record, I don't buy into the "Meta Knight hates Susie SO MUCH and wants her dead" headcanon. I don't necessarily headcanon them being friends, and I think he was initially angry at her, but his anger at her slowly fades in my opinion.

Can we please not overlook some of Dedede's possession incidents? Let's not pretend that Taranza is an innocent little guy and that he hasn't hurt Dedede before. Although I believe that being used like a puppet by Taranza was far from Dedede's worst possession incident.

I like to imagine that Dedede suffered from true traumatization from 2 out of the 3 times he's been possessed by Dark Matter, as well as the time he's been possessed by Fecto Forgo during Forgotten Land.

He's been able to heal and get better, but it did hurt him at first.

Dark Matter lowkey turned his stomach into a set of jaws, and then formed a giant unnerving eyeball onto his stomach. That had to hurt, methinks. It also wouldn't help if one were to interpret that Dark Matter was preying on Dedede's flaws, making him easy to possess.

When Dedede was possessed by Fecto Forgo, he was ordered to hurt his own waddle dees. He couldn't have felt good about that afterwards, especially with how much he's shown to care about his waddle dees to the point he goes out of his way to save one singular waddle dee from the stampeding Beast Pack after he's been freed.

In my opinion, if Meta Knight has been messed up by Susie, then I think that there's no way Dedede hasn't been a little messed up one way or another by the Dark Matter and Fecto Forgo possessions as well. While I certainly believe he's been able to heal and overcome them, I think he was hurt over them initially after they were over. For me, it's basically the same of how Meta Knight had a phase of being traumatized by what Susie did to him until he's come around to heal.

I prefer to think that the incidents are similar instead of just "OMMGG poor meta knight was screwed up so darn bad, and dedede's possessions weren't really a big deal, they were much much less bad."

And I don't at all call for anyone to hate on Taranza, Dark Matter, Fecto Forgo, Yin Yarn or anyone else that has possessed Dedede. They don't deserve that, in my opinion. Just like how I think Susie is honestly not deserving of the level of hate she's received for Mecha Knight.

Was Mecha Knight a messed up incident? Yes. But let's not pretend that some of Dedede's possessions weren't messed up as well. Mecha Knight is certainly more nerve-striking... but from an objective standpoint, it's not significantly worse. And I think Dedede has overall faced more trauma than Meta Knight has, since the former has been possessed much more times. Sorry, but I don't think one robot incident outweighs multiple possession incidents. I just don't.

HAL doesn't at all appear to treat Mecha Knight like it's so much worse than all of the times that King Dedede has been possessed.

Oh wow, this is getting a bit long, but yeah that's basically it. I just felt like it needed to be said that it's almost absurd that Meta Knight being turned into a robot once is all it takes for the fandom to metaphorically riot on the streets while ignoring Dedede's possession incidents.

I'm well aware that I might be playing with fire while writing this. But I'm bold. I'm gonna brace myself for however some people react to this. Not sure if it'll get to the point where I'll be forced to delete this.

The double standards in this fandom gets on my nerves.

[itsclydebitches]

Okay, so I saw this RWBY meme made by a fan and I can't remember it completely but it was about Emerald switching sides. What stood out to me was the language used and how Ruby's group was specifically referred to as "The Good Guys side" and if that doesn't show how broken this show's morality is then I don't know what does. Emerald switched to the side of good, not just Ruby's side. The side that is specifically good because it's Ruby side. You're either with Ruby or against her with no in-between. Compare this to Aang's group in ATLA, affectionately called The Gaang by fans. A term that collectively refers to the group without proclaiming them as THE good guys. We know they're good because their actions show they are good. It isn't just a title grafted on because they're the stars of the show. And while they have an official grouping in the form of Team Avatar. It still isn't used in the same manner as RWBY fans calling all who agree with Ruby "The Good Guys".

Decided to start answering backlog asks! We've officially entered the post-RT discussion era. Fun! 😬

You know, RWBY is compared (unfavorably) to Avatar a lot, but this comparison is particularly interesting to me because Avatar is, well... Avatar. That's a title. And it's a title built into the fictional world, one that's so significant it's worthy of being the name of the show. The Avatar is a combined destiny/job description that, in the words of the wiki, is the "human embodiment of light and peace." Obviously free will still comes into play - I'd never ignore the significance behind Aang's personal choice of how to bring balance to the world - but there's an element of fate here, of self-fulfilling prophecy, and fourth wall-breaking knowledge. In-world, benders are (presumably) not chosen if they're unsuited to be this embodiment of peace. Once someone knows they're the avatar, they can more easily find the courage/determination to meet such high standards because this is how it's "supposed" to be (regardless of whether anything cosmic is actually ensuring their success). And the audience knows, by virtue of that title and our opening, how we're meant to view Aang: as the Good Guy of the story. All that already exists outside of the actions he takes within the show, helping to soften anything potentially suspect with a "Well, he's just a kid" or "Well, everyone makes mistakes," or whatever explanation that's technically true in any harrowing story featuring a young protagonist... but continually falls flat with Team RWBY.

Because RWBY didn't do that same work. RWBY doesn't have a handle on its own identity the way Avatar does. It laid some of the groundwork early on but then never capitalized on it, which is why I'm endlessly groaning over the failure of not doing anything with Ruby's status as a SEW/simple soul. Those could have easily been titles the way "Avatar" is a title, something that the people of Ruby's world see as cosmic evidence of her purity and inherent ability to lead them in this war. Instead, it's just a one-off, ambiguous statement and a very badly used skill.

So yeah, Emerald joins The Good Guys, which wouldn't be bad if, as said, the show had shown the group unambiguously being Good people in a war with black and white solutions. Or, if we had some reason to believe that Ruby is The One True Leader, destined/worthy of bearing this burden no matter the number of mistakes she's made. But RWBY even undermines the title aspect by making Ruby herself fairly inconsequential in later volumes. Yeah, the show is also named after this team/our protagonist... and yet that began to feel incidental as the cast grew AND many of the characters brought new - arguably better - perspectives + powers into the fray. Avatar made the simple but VERY important decision to say, "This is the ONLY GUY who can do this job. Sure, he's going to need a lot of help and saving the world is absolutely a team effort, but that team revolves around him because he is, again, the ONE PERSON who can accomplish this." RWBY failed to set that up and (arguably) failed to show the group being The Good Guys, at least to the extent that the whole world would understandably put their faith in a teenager who, frankly, just keeps making things worse. Like, that's a big consideration imo. Ruby's intentions have always been good and most fans are fully on her side regarding justifications for her choices, so in that sense she is absolutely The Good Guy, but beyond that she's just really bad at saving the world. So if she's not somehow ordained to do it and continually shows a severe lack of skill in this regard... why are the characters/the viewer rooting for her again?

[sakuraharuno156]

"I'm a feminist, I believe that women are capable, smart, strong, interesting, independent, carring, hardworking, ambitious, ready to stand for what they believe, ready to make a change, ready to take the world by storm." that is not feminism. Real feminism acknowledges that women can be anything, including people who suck or aren't independent or hardworking or ambitious, and that they still deserve the same rights as everyone else.

"I'm a feminist, which means i hate women who don't fall into my view of what a woman should be" that's misogyny, actually. I fell into that mindset when I was a kid too, hopefully you'll grow out of it.

Hello, it's gonna be long. ❤️

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

Before I unpack all of that, please let me introduce you to a concept of FICTION.

Hinata Hyuga is not a real woman. She is a piece of fiction, that tries to (badly) imitate a real woman. So, me hating a fictional character, as a shitty portrait of a "woman" is not a commentary on real women.

I don't know if you noticed, but when we talk about real-life potential, we talk about REAL LIFE, not about being born with magical eyes lol.

So Hinata is a sad excuse of a woman IN her specific universe. In comparison with other characters FROM her specific universe. What is pathetic for a magical manga character in magical ninja world IS NOT A 1 TO 1 to real world.

The issue at hand is:

Media portraying women as pathetic in their specific universe, and showing female characters who are lacking in every aspect of their FICTIONAL life as a "way to go" to young, impressionable people, like I assume, you are.

So without farther ado, let's unpack.

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

DISCLAIMER:

Short lesson on history and media literacy.

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

1. Wording and punctuation are important in decoding a message.

If you would actually read my post, you would know that i didn't say "I'm a feminist so I believe" or "I'm a feminist and that's why I believe".

I specifically worded it as "I'm a feminist, I believe (...)".

I'll break this down for you:

I'm a feminist (I.e. I'm a part of a movement that fights for equally for women)

I believe in women (i.e. I love women and i believe they are incredible)

I believe they CAN be all of those things or some of them. I do believe that each and every one of them ARE most of those things, but i have never stated that "anyone has to earn a right to be a woman, by being those things". I even specifically stated IN THAT POST:

"And it's OK to not be all of those things, but nothing? Seriously?"

I said that women are great and that we need that represented in media as an example for young women.

I didn't say that women are worthy ONLY WHEN THEY ARE AS I WANT THEM TO BE, they just are worthy. Women in REAL life are amazing.

Female characters on the other hand are not all amazing. I would even hazard an educated guess, that most fictional female characters are not amazing, which is AWFUL and if you would actually read my post - you would know that. 🤷‍♀️

2. Feminism is not about being able to "suck".

It's not about being anything you want to be "including people who suck", it's about equality between sexes. Feminism is about fighting for more possibilities for women, not for settling for less.

If you Google the history of feminism, you would know that it's a movement that has its beginning in Women’s Suffrage and it was a fight.

It may surprise you, but the movement wasn't about "being able to suck". It was about being able to do more. To fight for your rights, to vote for your future. Suffragists fought and they fought HARD. Because they were STRONG.

Because they were women who needed more.

All those women fought to give us a chance to:

be able to vote,

be able to learn,

be able to fight,

be able to enjoy HUMAN rights equally to men.

So women can be anything they want, but it doesn't take away from ANY of my adjectives.

You don't have to be in the army to be strong,

You don't have to be a doctor to be smart,

You don't have to be alone to be independent.

You can be a stay at home mom AND STILL BE EVERYTHING I LISTED. You can work on a farm and BE EVERYTHING I LISTED. You can be anyone, in any situation and still be strong, brave, intelligent etc. Because women just are.

No matter of their problems, they just are.

You have to be brave to speak up. You have to be brave to work in male dominated fields. You have to be brave to give birth and take a responsibility for a child. You have to be brave to fight for your marriage and you have to be brave to walk away from it.

Women just ARE.

You don't have to be all of those things at once, but if you are non of them - it IS a problem.

If you are in a happy marriage, that's great, but if you are 100% dependent on your husband - it IS a problem. You have to be your own person. If you eat, sleep, breathe a man - it IS a problem.

If you don't want to be a doctor and put yourself through years of school, that's great, but if you aren't at least trying to better yourself in any way - it IS a problem. You have to be bettering yourself, because the world is spinning and If you are just "standing there", you're moving backwards. If you do NOTHING - it IS a problem.

If you don't want to be a president - that's great, but if your ambition is nothing and you want to amount to nothing - it IS a problem. You can be happy where you are, but if you are nowhere - it IS a problem.

Does that make you any less of a "woman"? No. But it is INDEED a real problem.

But women are not like that. We constantly evolve. We constantly fight. We are strong. In real life - we all are, but that exact fictional character - isn't.

Hinata Hyuga is noone. She did nothing. For a fictional character with magical powers she is nothing.

So no, you can't just "suck". Because women don't suck. Real women are fucking great. All of them.

Women in real world are everything i listed, and your immediate jump from "not being everything" to "sucking" shows me that you, in fact, didn't grow up into a real feminist.

3. Hating a fictional character for being a s*itty example for young people is not "misogyny".

I'm a feminist so (see how I used "so" instead of a comma? That means there is causation) I DO pay more attention in medias portrayal of women. I grow up on little mermaid, who gave up her OWN GOD DAMN VOICE for a guy. We don't need this. We need strong female cast to show to young girls that they don't have to be quiet.

But

I would have THE SAME exact criticism towards a male character, its just not as important because knights save princesses all the time.

So no, my criticism of FICTIONAL female character is not misogyny. It's the exact opposite.

If I hated Tsunade for being "too strong for a woman" - that's misogyny.

If I hated Sakura for not reciprocating Narutos feelings - that's misogyny.

But hating a female character for being a forever pick me girl, a forever damsel in distress who doesn't give a f*ck about anything that is not a guy? That's not misogyny, that's a common sense.

4. Well written FICTIONAL characters are important for REAL women.

I'm a feminist, I love all REAL women and I want FICTIONAL female characters to portrait real women, not that lukewarm goo, that is Hinata.

We need more than boring and "obsessed over a guy". We need a good representation for strong women.

That's why Hinata is so infuriating.

We can't take stupidity and frame it as "bravery". We can't take submissions and frame it is as "love". We can't take obsession and frame it as "inspiration".

We can't, because in real life women can't afford to do that. If you lose your voice, your personality, your presence - you dissappear. You're becoming a background character in your own life.

Hinata Hyuga is nothing. When you take Naruto away she doesn't exist. When she can't say his name, she doesn't speak. When she can't watch him, she is not there. When she can't imitate him, she doesn't exist.

And it's sad.

No real woman does that and it shouldn't be portrayed as "feminine", because stupidity and weakness are not feminine.

5. If you need more explanation on feminism and what part does media play in its growth - I'm happy to help ❤️

And lastly, because I have to use simplified statements (I don't know you, you asked anonymously, so you can be a 12 yo who knows English as your second language etc.), BUT if you want to learn more about feminism (and I highly recommend, because you seem to be confused) you can see more here:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/woman-suffrage

OR

You can always ask me directly, because funnily enough this IS my area of expertise lol.

I even did a few presentations on feminism and women's rights for various age ranges, so no matter how your "growing up" went, I'm sure I'll find something you'd understand ❤️

[winns-stuff]

Two things:

1 a. I don't think kidding someone's feet automatically equals foot fetish. If you have someone a kiss on the shoulder doors that mean you have a shoulder fetish?

1 b. Even if he does, that didn't automatically make him evil or a creep. Kinks and fetishes are not moral indicators and acting like they do is juvenile. It might not be for you, or even make you uncomfortable, and that's okay. Live and let live.

2. I don't think it's fair to call Persephone a homewrecker when:

a. Minthe and Hades were not exclusive. Minthe was sleeping with Thanatos - Hades' adoptive son - and Hades was sleeping with Hera anyway.

b. Minthe was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive to Hades. I feel like everyone forgets that she literally hit him. He shouldn't have been in that relationship anyways.

Okay first off, I’m sorry if I made it seem like I was kinkshaming at all. I was honestly just joking about that comparison and one of the main reasons why I said that it reminded me of Dan Schneider and that I was repulsed was because of the “creepy” aspect of it being placed in there, it was around the end that the person said that the kink seemed like it was only given to creepy guys. I don’t care about kinks genuinely and trust me I do mind my business when it comes to those things, again my apologies if I did come off immature.

But you’re right, his kink doesn’t make him a creep but the fact that he literally is creepy, manipulative, and an overall messed up person makes him a little bit more warranted for those kinds of comments since that’s literally how he represents himself in the comic. Hades is a slave owning, hypocritical, child neglecting, abusive, and overall tyrant to everyone who’s not kissing his ass and it’s not me exaggerating it’s literally just how he is that’s him as a person overall.

And I do think it is fair to call Persephone a homewrecker based on the very fact that they were seeing each other and breaking a lot of boundaries after Hades and Minthe officially made it official. Mind you, it was Hades who wanted to close the open relationship so yeah now seeing other people and touching them beyond the appropriate interaction between an employee and boss especially is now inappropriate and not something that you can just wave the “we’re not in a closed relationship” card at. Also, by definition Persephone was one of the sole reasons that Minthe and Hades broke up since Minthe started noticing just how overly affectionate they became with each other while working so yes, she is a homewrecker. She broke a home and please don’t comment by saying “there was never a home in the first place” because there was, you can’t just give homewrecking and emotional cheating a pass because you don’t like the character they still had history.

Also, trust me when I say no one forgets that Minthe hits him. Every single time I post about Minthe I make sure to acknowledge the fact that I don’t condone her actions and actually a lot of critics do as well since there’s a lot of people like you (not saying this in a bad way by the way) that do believe that many people are Minthe stans every time you discuss her without stating that fact. But even though yes, it was a fairly toxic relationship on both sides and they should’ve broke up much sooner like I said before there was still a relationship there that they were both in. It’s still emotional cheating and homewrecking on Hades and Persephone’s part, also Persephone doesn’t even know how Minthe treated Hades she just never cared about her feelings to begin with and pursued her boyfriend basically.

Also last thing but do you know what slap everyone does tend to forget a lot? Hecate when she slapped the ever loving shit out of Hades, now I’m not saying since that happened just forget about Minthe’s behavior at all but I am saying that we should all react to that slap the same. We all agree that it’s never okay to put your hands on someone so why should we condone it when it’s not Minthe?

[scarecrow-in-a-hatake]

Yo,

Speakin' of kiddos, I've always wondered something. Growing up, I'm sure y'all spent a good time around the OG Ino-Shika-Cho. How's it feel watching the new generation step into them same shoes? I think they did pretty well, but that'd be my opinion.

Sorry if this makes ya' feel a bit up-there Hokage-sama!

By 'OG', are you referring to Inoichi, Shikaku, and Chouza? Because I hate to break it to you, but there's at least... five more generations of that iconic trio before those three. The Yamanaka and Nara have been Akimichi clan vassals for a long, long time, if not from the start. Although I will concur that it was the three you have in mind who elevated the Ino-Shika-Cho formation into international infamy during the Third War, since their immediate predecessors were more diplomats and negotiators with a emphasis on trade at the time. I was too young to have really known them, aside from seeing them around the village from afar.

Long post ahead. You've been warned.

Now, Inoichi... I didn't know him beyond as a work acquaintance. Definitely addicted to caffeine, incredibly busy with leading both his clan and the intelligence department, but he made time for his friends' old genin students just so they wouldn't have to switch shrinks when they got older. A good man, if a tad absent from his home as the years went by, from what I've heard. I can appreciate that he kept whatever he learned about me separate from our working relationship, and honor all he's done for this village.

Shikaku was a great drinking buddy if you weren't looking for any drama, but a frustrating conversationalist when he was looking for something from you. It was difficult to stay mad at him when he was so... deadpan? Levelheaded? Blase? I don't know if I would have accepted my initial nomination to become Rokudaime after Pain's attack if he hadn't been the one to talk me around.

He left a very strong impression on me when I was younger. You could say I looked up to him, in a way. He wasn't a genius like his son— which isn't to say he wasn't a brilliant analyst, tactician, and strategist in his own right— but then, there are very few people who can match Shikamaru in that aspect. It was more his organizational skills that got him where he ended up as Konoha's jounin commander and the Shinobi Alliance's chief strategist. Incredibly efficient, incredibly sharp, and above all, you never saw him lose his cool or his resolve. He knew what had to be done and made sure that it would be done. Among that generation, Shikaku was one of the greats— not infamous like Minato-sensei, but rather, the epitome of what a shinobi had to be.

Chouza is only someone I know because Gai and Genma— two of his genin students— kept in touch. I used to get dragged to Akimichi-hosted gatherings when I was younger, ergo, lots of positive connotations. I appreciated his wisdom when he invited me to tea shortly before both of my formal nominations, and he remains the most easy-going out of all the clan heads I have to meet with on a quarterly basis. Although he's since retired from the field, he was one of our village's greatest combative assets through two wars. I'm glad that he's still with us.

That said, their successors are not them.

Ino is still making progress in leaps and bounds with her clan techniques and innovating with our village's barrier team. Shikamaru is learning how the tower operates and taking on more responsibilities. Chouji continues to be an exemplary shinobi of Konoha and a role model for the rising generation of new genin as he grows in his role as a squad leader on missions.

All three have been lauded for their admirable contributions during the Fourth war. It is my hope that they will never see another, and never become what their fathers had to be. Let the youth create new footsteps for others to follow, and let old shoes be buried with a past that we can learn from.

If you want a better comparison, maybe ask @whotookmysenbon. He's closer with everyone involved than I ever was.

[romanticatheartt]

Apparently Luke doesn’t have a girlfriend breaking up with her a short time ago but Nicola does have a boyfriend. But I completely agree with everything you said about how they are promoting LN & NC in comparison to S1 and S2. Yeah I understand that there was a pandemic and covid travel restrictions but they are going all out for the white couple that isn’t the most popular one ( check IG the Kanthony promo has the most views in comparison to others). I hope SA and JB have at least one interview of just the two of them alone but I am not holding my breath.

My information about Luke and Nicola are based on twt, so if I'm wrong then I'm sorry because I don't follow them closely to know these things haha. All I know is at least one of them is in relationship and whatever that is happening is not okay. Their fan are so f-ed up for shipping irl people. Even Luke's ex girlfriend had to post about it:

ps: again if I'm wrong about something please let me know but I remember when she posted this and still p*lin fans had a gall to call her out for overreacting and made fun of her...

But my point is Bridgerton is actually responsible for this. The production promotes them this way to show their chemistry. Like they did with Corey and India and I remember people also ship them. I didn't stay long to see what happened because I was disgusted at how people openly ship irl people when they know at least one party is in a relationship. I'm so glad they couldn't do that with Simone and Jonny because they didn't have to act to show their chemistry they were themselves and that's what made it beautiful and real. But I bet they would if Jonny wasn't openly gay.

And ig at this point it's quite obvious the difference between s2 and s3 promotion and everyone are acknowledging it. And like you said Covid is not a good reason for it.

But that's what s3 gets when the main characters are played by two white actors and not a brown/desi actress and a gay actor...

"Don't get your hope up." I've been saying that since s3 promotion started. I think the only reason Jonny and Simone stayed till now is because they actually enjoy playing these characters and ship, and if they leave for s4 I wouldn't be surprised, I'd actually support them for it.

And let's be honest people don't like Penelope... book!Penelope, sure but show!Penelope is awful. They have to go these length to promote her to make her enjoyable and I can assure you, they will make Eloise the villain of her story and make her less likeable compare to the last 2 seasons. Mark my word.

[catt-nuevenor]

Baldur's Gate 3 - Writing

Right, yes. I am a writer, time to put all the pretty screenshots aside and talk about the writing. Still going to sneak a screenshot or two in, but I will try and remain focused on the task at hand.

Spoilers for BG3, BG1 and BG2, visual and textual. The games are best experienced knowing as little as possible going in, so I highly recommend you do that if you plan to or are playing.

Considering just how long the game is and how much story is pack into it, it would be foolish of me to try and condense my thoughts on it down into an itty bitty tumblr post. So, we're going to pick out a few elements and overview their structure, progression, and impact.

These are my opinions, not fact, they are also from a 1 and a half playthrough perspective with far too many additional hours spent in early access, and I'm a good bean who gets physically squirmy with 'evil' choices. In other words, I'm not going to have seen everything. With all that in mind, let's dive in.

As the character who has probably changed the least from early access through to full release (so is therefore the most linear developed character in my head), let's talk about Shadowheart.

When I first came across Shadowheart I was reminded of Sebille from Larian's previous game Divinity Original Sin 2. The comparison didn't hold up long, but its undertones were always there, just under the surface.

Quick catchup for clarity, in DOS2 Sebille is a classic Femme Fatale character. She is openly seductive, dangerous, and introduces herself to your character by sticking a needle in your neck. First impressions very important and all that. After you strike something of an uneasy alliance with her, involving agreement to murder someone, or several someones, her approach to you shifts. She takes nearly every opportunity she can to physically touch you, the first being as you approach her first 'target' she walks up behind you and places her hand to the small of your back. A definite seductive action. It's not your shoulder, not your arm, certainly not your hand, all platonic or affectionate, but the intimate sensitive position of the small of your back. It's a great set up for the breakthrough you get with that character a short while later. You reach for her hand to comfort her, and she recoils bodily. If you apologise, she does the same and compares herself to, "A cat that has known too much unkindness." And so the two sides of Sebille begin to be revealed. (Highly recommend DOS2 by the by)

In my opinion, Shadowheart begins the game with the ambition of being like the initial side of Sebille. I hope you all paid attention to the spoiler section. Considering Shadowheart's parental figure, or at least the only one she initially remembers, this should come as little surprise to the informed player.

She wants to be cold, but appealing, she wants to be able to draw people in, use and discard them, she wants to be ruthless and detached and to be able to use other's weaknesses to get what she needs out of them. Take the moment where she demands to know what the main character thinks about Rafael before she will give them her own opinion. My read on this is that she is trying to use techniques she was taught back 'home'. Find out what facade will fit the best with her current companions. Ideally, if she were successful at the Femme Fatale archetype, she would twist her own feelings to compliment or manipulate the Main Character's. But here is where some of the first cracks show through. She can't twist her opinions, her own morality breaks out.

It's difficult to know at the beginning how genuine her care for the Main Character is. I think of the moment you free Lae'zel from her cage:

"She sees your kindness as weakness. Don't let her take advantage."

Now, with hindsight, she's probably right. Lae'zel doesn't have a brilliant opinion on kind acts. But, one could argue there's a little self projection going on there. It is possible that 'mother' superior said the same to her at some point? Less 'be careful', more 'kindness is weakness, take advantage of it'.

It's interesting to think that Viconia had 40 years of trying, and possibly failing, to beat the kindness out of Shadowheart, yet it's only when she is out from under her control, forced to rely on others, that her personality 'locks in'. If you are kind, above nearly all other things, kind to others, kind to children, kind to animals, Shadowheart softens. She opens up, reveals more, even if you disagree with her beliefs.

Second playthrough my main character is a priest of Eilistraee, the chaotic good drow goddess, who has on multiple occasions had 'disagreements' with Shar, and is allied with Selûne and Mystra, among others. On paper, Shadowheart should hate that character on principle, possibly try to murder them if no Selûnite is available. Yet, she does not. So long as she is not antagonised about her faith, Shadowheart is willing to let the eternal war her own goddess seeks to perpetuate lie.

"A cat that has known too much unkindness."

I keep coming back to that line. I think is sums Shadowheart up, despite it being written for another character. If you coax her out of her shell, if you are gentle and understanding, and do not admonish her for her occasional lashing out, show her that she can relax around you, that you won't punish her for miss-stepping or misspeaking, she uncoils. But if you meet her hostility with the same, or encourage her into hostility against others, she'll draw further into herself, remain hissing and spitting in her corner.

"The fate you seal is your own. To be a Dark Justiciar is to turn your heart from everything but loss. You will know no love, no joy - only servitude."

I just did a little Wiki digging to see what the alternate routes through this scene are, since it's mid-morning here on a workday and I'm not loading up Baldur's Gate 3 before 5pm, I would never get anything done otherwise. It's interesting that many folks seem to have found that you need to convince Shadowheart to do the right thing here.

When I first played this through, I did the same, persuaded her. Due to a muck up on my part and some serious save backtracking, I had to do this section again with the same playthrough, and I quicksaved before the dialogue began and decided to see what would happen if I let things just play out. If Umrae (the Main Character) trusted Shadowheart to do the right thing.

She chose, without input on the Main Character's part, to release the Nightsong. It stunned me, it really did. And I realised that all those little kindnesses had led her up to that decision, that she'd been allowed to show her softer side with the Main Character and the others, and even in the Shadowfell, even in the heart of Shar's domain, she clung to her gentler side without explicit encouragement.

"They trained you well, trained you hard. Chiselled away any part of you that did not fit their plan. They made you forget."

Trusting Shadowheart brings to the table self-motivated development. Later in the playthrough, once we'd kicked Viconia around for a far longer battle than it should have been due to me being seriously under-leveled, I had the opportunity to give the reigns to Shadowheart again.

Shadowheart chose to spare her tormentor.

In hindsight, upon exploring the rest of the cloister, I was very tempted to go back to an old save and have a word with Viconia myself, nostalgia for the old games be damned. But it felt right to respect Shadowheart's decision instead.

In that vein, the conclusion of Selûnite Shadowheart's story can feel a little hollow initially.

The options:

Her parents die, she is free from Shar.

Her parents live, Shar can (and will) torment her for the rest of her life.

I am a wee bit annoyed at Larian for the framing of Shadowheart's final scene at Selûne's statue. If her parents are alive, they get to hug and comfort her. If her parents are dead, she stands alone and sobs, and even in the Main Character has a close or romantic relationship with her, they stand like a statue in the background. Let us give the poor woman a damn hug!

EDIT: You can now give Shadowheart a hug! Thank you Larian!

Because otherwise it can feel like Shadowheart is choosing between having support but never-ending torment, or peace and utter isolation. Imagine how differently that scene would feel if not only the Main Character could hug and support her, but if others, like Karlach, or Gale, or Wyll, or heck even Jaheira and Minsc, could all pile in and remind her that hell no she's not alone.

"Embrace loss."

Personally, I chose to follow her parents' wishes.

I've seen it argued that this is letting Shar win, that Shadowheart is forced to, 'Embrace Loss'. But I'd like to dispute that, if I may. As you're approaching the House of Loss in act 3, you come across a woman on the bridge. She's confused and doesn't seem to remember why she's there, who she is, or why she remembers the words to a lullaby but not who she sung it to. It doesn't take much to fill in a tragic story in place of what the mirror has taken.

This is the loss Shar preaches.

What Shadowheart begins to experience after her parents die isn't this dizzy blank nothing, it's grief.

You've all heard me exposit on grief and its difficult, painful journey many, many times before, so I won't rehash the same here.

Shar doesn't 'win' if Shadowheart loses her parents. She'd only win if Shadowheart chose to deal with her grief by taking what memories she has of them and giving them up to the mirror.

If you take her to the temple in Baldur's Gate, after everything goes down with Shar (perhaps this also happens before, I haven't checked), and get her to interact with the shrine to Selûne, the goddess welcomes her. It's a scrap of narration, and a blessing if you make an offering, but it feels complete to take her there after the House of Loss.

The seduction of Shar is that she conflates absence with relief, that grief is something to be discarded, thrown away, that silence is peaceful rather than quiet.

Early Access screenshot. Dialogue remains the same, I think.

"Most fear the dark, like children, because in darkness they see their fears reflected. But Shar teaches us to step beyond fear. Beyond loss. In darkness we do not hide - we act."

I've had few more rewarding experiences in a story to walk beside a character who goes from that.

Through little glimpses of sweetness like this:

To this:

Anyway, I think that's enough for now.

Not sure how much analysis went on there, I think I more just gushed. We could have a look at a single scene if you'd all like, if I have an appropriate save or can zip to the point in question in another playthrough.

Kudos if you got to the end, this has definitely got to be up there with my longest post.

[thelonesomequeen]

As a blog that’s been around a while…..can confirm. Lol 🧜🏻‍♀️/ I like and have been following Chris' work since his fantastic 4 days but only started to be into gossip/his personal life since the pandemic, so I really didn't follow his past relationships much (just what I read in magazines). I have to admit I liked him with Jenny, I bought the - nerdy girl gets the hot guy, that's so cute - narrative they sold but had no idea at the time that the timeline of their relationship was so shady. Since you have been here for a while and followed both Minka and Jenny eras can I ask you what are the main things you think he is doing in this relationship that he didn't do in his previous ones (besides getting married, lol)? In the people's sma interview he said that his age and experience make him a much better partner now than when he was younger. From the perspective of someone that has been following his career and personal life for a while do you think that he was being honest when he said that and didn't say it just to look good?

From the perspective of someone that has been following his career and personal life for a while do you think that he was being honest when he said that and didn't say it just to look good?

No, I don’t think he was just saying that. I do believe that’s a true statement. Not because Chris specifically said it, but because I think it’s human nature for all of us to learn from relationships and grow as we move forward into the next relationship. Even if things don’t end well, I think there’s always something to be learned. For example—I had an ex who only ever wanted to discuss important topics via text. He was awful at conversation and communication in general. I hated having big conversations via text because I couldn’t pick up on his facial expressions or mood and it made it so hard to read where he was at on some things. We got into an argument at one point and I brought it up about how we constantly had miscommunication errors because we could never have face to face conversations and that bothered me. We ended up breaking up for various reasons, but a few years down the line he actually thanked me for that moment of calling his shit out because it made him a more present partner in his next relationship going forward. Even if things end poorly, I think there’s always something to learn about yourself, what you do and don’t want out of relationships/what you’re willing to tolerate or compromise on, or just how to be a better partner in your next relationship. Chris is much older than I am and if I’ve been able to learn that lesson from my interactions, I’m sure he has as well.

As for what’s different, I think that’s hard to answer from a public standpoint because the differences are probably more noticeable in private between those who personally know him. But from what we can see, he’s willing to be public with her. Posting the photo montage and scare video montage he did of Alba was something I never expected to see from him because he had never put a significant other on his social media like that before. The best Jenny ever got was her voice in a video of Dodger. He also brought her on the Vanity Fair red carpet with him and posed at an official/big industry event. Yes, he did take a picture with Jenny at the premiere of Secret Life of Pets, but that was so low key in comparison to an Oscars after party. I also feel like while it sucks to see him disappear on social media, I feel like he’s made that change to protect the people he cares about the most from his more rabid fans by limiting their access to him. He’s not as open about his whereabouts as he used to be back when he constantly shared IG stories or pictures from his life. And his willingness to travel for Alba. I always expected when he got married, the woman would really have to mold her life around him and where he wanted to be. But he’s taken trips back and forth to Portugal with her and they’re getting their own places there, so he clearly intends to keep doing that in their own space there. I didn’t expect to see that from him because there were plenty of times with Minka and Jenny when they needed to be back in LA for things and he stayed home in MA 🦎

[shit-talk-turner]

Alexa/Louise Comparison. Here's the alleged tea. Keep in mind this was from around the time it was happening, I can't direct you to the place it was shared cos I don't remember the website or even know if it still exists. The members did post 'receipts' for the 'tea', I came across it cos I used to crush on Alex's younger brother Bill and enjoy Alex's acting. So Alexa fans, take a deep breath and if anything said here you can debunk or provide clarity on feel free to do so. I'd be interested.

After the Al & Alexa break up it was known that Alexa had various flings and relationships some speculated, some confirmed such as Theo from Hurts, Actor Douglas Booth, Guitarist Robert Ackroyd, the infamous insider LaineyGossip spilled 'tea' that Alexa and Chris Martin were having an affair before officially ending things with Gwyneth he 'allegedly fell for her'. I think there was also that guy Matt Hit, Loren Humphrey and James Righton from Klaxons. Girl, was clearly on the rebound. Of course there's also the speculation and rumours that Al and Alexa hooked up on & off inbetween. Fans & readers of her book 'IT' speculated Alexa was hurt by Alex's new relationship with Arielle and made some 'comments' alluding to it. Anyone got the book handy?

Onto the Skarsgard era circa 2015. Their relationship was publicly known to be very off & on, they seemed to end things officially around 2017/2018. The Skarsgard family have a known reputation for being private, low key and very close knit, I don't know if it's still the same today but it was back then. This is something to consider as Alex rarely spoke of and flaunted his relationships, he'd also try to avoid the paps but he did have a bit of reputation as social butterfly/party boy.

Most of you know Alexa is pretty public and visible, she likes to do the whole social media gig and has always been present in papparazzi and media especially with her relationships. Alexa was really disliked by his fans and one of the biggest reasons was that they thought she was thirsty for fame and she used to bread crumb, flaunt, often makes references & play games with followers during the Skarsgard relationship. Pretty much all of the 'tea' and information they had on the relationship was backed up by Alexa's social media activity and her friends. Sound familiar? Apparently it was Alexa and her social circle that hard launched her relationship with Alex, they used to post him on their socials and people believed Alexa called the paps numerous times throughout the relationship, this was Alex's most publicised 'romance'. He also did not like her to post him on her socials, I do recall seeing some pictures of 'him' like his hand and side profile but few and far between. Fans sometimes would speculate on the 'rockiness' of the relationship due to some of the things Alexa would post/put in her story and or like for example similar sayings Lou sometimes post/likes. One of the more notable periods came about when Alexa was doing a fashion show, can't remember if it was for her designs or she was the host but it was a big deal, allegedly it was quite disastrous/didn't get the turn out wanted and Alexa wasn't in the best mental state(an insider provided tea), fans thought/confirmed her and Skarsgard separated but later got back together.

It seemed obvious Alexa was head over heels for Alex and there was talk that she wanted to marry him. There was also some 'tea' about one of the reasons for their issues but I'm not going to discuss it cos it has to do with illness and I don't know if it's ever been talked about publicly. I also remember seeing a quote either from Alexa or a close source saying something along the lines that Alex was a fatherly figure to her as well as a lover he was protective and supportive (I'm sure there are quotes from Alexa giving comment on him) it was also rumoured that this was something that eventually bothered him, they had many fights hence the off and on. The biggest 'tea' was during the Tarzan promo, Alexa visited his family and seemed to post 'private' photos of his mothers family home/pictures; A fan did capture a screenshot before deleted. Allegedly, his family were so upset they didn't want her around them at the premiere/showing so she was not included in many of the family photos and 'red carpet' pictures, she was apparently spotted wearing an animal print dress, sitting alone for most of it. (I did not see proof of this so I don't know) This was considered a big part of why Alex was done with the relationship for good.

That's it! Like I said take it with a grain of salt and if anyone has anything to add please do. By reading in between the lines you should see why I compared Alexa and Louise.

this is very confusing because you refer to both men as Alex but I think we get your drift. I read Alexa’s book and all she really said was when you’re heartbroken it’s not good to stalk your ex’s beautiful new girlfriend. Or something to that effect

[marquisegallery]

I said at the end of my big Devil Theory Headcanons post that I would "hiberate" for a while. I did genuinely meant that as taking a break from BRC fan art to do other stuff, but well, that didn't work out because I ended up making OCs!!

Inspired by other people's designs for unique cyberheads, like this set and these designs, I was thinking, "Ooo, imagine someone having a cyberhead that looks like a plague doctor's mask!" That lead to Rook (the top two pics) and then eventually a whole crew for her, lol

(More rambling under the cut!)

Note that I tried using copy-paste and warping to make the turnarounds easier to draw. That... did not work out as well as I hoped, I can see some stuff that are off about the turnarounds, oops. Welp lesson learned!! Anyways.

I have "Umbra Apex" in quotes since I'm noooot 100% sure if I wanna go with that name? Or even continue to develop these OCs after this. Still, I think I might stick with Umbra Apex as the crew name just because it's probably the best name I could come up with lol

Rook of course is a cyberhead, but the rest of her crew are just wearing masks (designed to be combos of plague doctor masks and gas masks).

The crew is sort of a reverse situation as FUTURISM. Rook is a lady but the rest of her crew are all guys.

The default movestyles for the whole crew are inline skates.

The regular crew's outfits are inspired by cybergoth fashion.

Rook's coat is inspired by a very specific music video. If you know, then you know. :u

Rook's top hat is mainly meant to be a pun. "Rook" is a type of corvid, but also, y'know, the chess piece too lol

The rest of the crew are also named after corvids too of course. I probably should have labeled them as Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter too to match the in game alts, but whatever, just assume they're in the same order too! :P

Rook is a tall lady and the rest are pretty short (in comparison to her at least?)

So yeah, that's about it! For now? Maybe, I dunno.

[agentrouka-blog]

what brought on the robb post? not saying i don't get your frustration tho.

a part of me actually wants sansa to refuse to forgive him for it, and a part of me wants her to forgive. idk, I'm very conflicted. but ultimately i want sansa to do what's best for her emotionally

also i assume the other people is jeyne westerling? I would love for sansa to meet jeyne, because I think they would get along so well and sansa would understand jeynes pain. but there also much potential for resentment and spite and conflict and guilt.

theres also a parallel between jeyne not feeling enough for robb (as you said there's an desperation about her to please) and sansa realising that she and arya were not enough for robb as trades.

all of this paints such a painful picture but I feel like jeyne and sansa meeting could give them the comfort they need - sansa could tell jeyne that she does not blame her for the red wedding, and jeyne could tell sansa that her brother- things that would be a balm. because whatever robb decisions, i also think it would be really unfair to claim that he didn't love his sisters. he did- just that their welfare wasn't always number one- and that's kinda the point of his character. the fact that they live beyond him is significant.

(post referenced)

Hi anon!

Nothing in particular prompted it at the time. Just a random burst of indignition at the hypocrisy in this fandom.

Honestly, I don't think that Robb's decision to essentially abandon his sisters will be brought up again in a significant manner. It may be touched on briefly if/when his will makes an appearance, but I don't think there's a lot of room to examine this particular emotional wound or, say, Ned's damaging neglect of Sansa. Both characters already saw themselves axed by the narrative, and this would not be changed by Sansa either condemning or forgiving them. It's for the reader to judge. I suspect that GRRM is more likely to invite comparison by showcasing contrasting behavior by other characters. Like "Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa", or by continuing to highlight Brienne's determination to keep her vows to Catelyn and find the Stark girls.

What I definitely don't see is Jeyne Westerling and Sansa meeting. No one actually blames Jeyne Westerling - which is a little suprising given the misogyny within the setting and her mother's betrayal - but she was literally his own age and demonstrably in love with him. For once, everyone recognizes that the power in the situation (to honor his betrothal or break his word) lay entirely with Robb. Jeyne is witnessed by multiple people being furious over what happened to him, she publicly tears her clothes to show her defiance and her grief.

She doesn't need Sansa's reassurance, nor would Sansa ever be tempted to withhold it. Of all of Robb's choices, I don't think she would disapprove of this one. There's no conflict there, and I don't think GRRM would take precious page space away from more pressing plotlines to address a non-conflict.

Also I'm actually too critical of the Robb/Jeyne relationship to want to see Jeyne subsumed by more interaction with his family, save pershaps Catelyn. Certainly not to post-humously absolve Robb of any wrongdoing, which definitely did exist and which doesn't need to be neatly shrugged off. I want Jeyne to emancipate herself from the role of Robb's odd wife, from the role of his widow. She's a strong-willed, compassionate character, and we only really realize that after Robb is out of the picture and she stops trying to cater to his needs. I prefer it that way.