#i'm not typically shallow he just looks different lol

[lenievi]

idk what it is but this moment right here is Kirk looking his absolute best in the entire show lol (there's one more in Miri when he's above dying McCoy)

[six-swords]

ok first of all i need to commend your commitment to the inhuman biology, especially when it comes to Steb. i feel like people usually go all out when making monster dicks, so reading about a ribbed, egg producing vagina really scratched an strange itch for me. i didn't know i needed to read about someone eating caviar out of a pussy 10/10

the main thing me and my friend talked about was why Steb would have such a large spawn. with regular fish, the need for a large clutch is, in part, to make up for potential predators coming in and eating the babies. Steb and others of his race are humanoids, they don't have to worry about hunters targeting their kids for food, so why does Steb still produce so many eggs? We agreed on the idea that the chances of even one of the eggs getting fertilized is very low, so they likely evolved to produce a large spawn to increase the amount that make it out. idk if you chose a 6 month cycle because of something from actual fish, but i imagine the cycle is that long because it takes that long for the body to reset and then go through the process of making that many eggs. (side note, how late do the eggs start producing in Steb's cycle? Would it be more similar to the luteal phase, ovulatory phase, or a secret third option? Does birth control exist in the Arcane universe? IM GETTING OFF TRACK)

the other thing we discussed was why Steb's eggs were so small. now, we imagined that the eggs were around the size of orbeez, but please let me know if there was something in the actual fic about the size that we missed. what we were wondering was how is the embryo able to reach the size of an average humanoid baby? On one hand, there is the possibility that any fertilized egg could be placed back through whatever Steb's equivalent of a cervix would so that it could develop more like a typical mammals (in this scenario, i suppose the ejection of eggs would be done in order to appraise which ones look most likely to develop). On the other hand, perhaps fishfolk eggs are raised in shallow pools of water, not unlike my understanding of how Zora work in Legend of Zelda. i would imagine with the second option that the embryo either receives nutrients by absorbing them through the water (thus creating a need for the parent to refresh the water while the baby grows) OR the infant hatches when it is super small and spends the first few months in the pool receiving food orally. in the latter choice, the baby might go through a cycle similar to that of a tadpole, starting off very fish like and slowly growing it's more human traits later on.

with how complex this fictional birthing mechanic is, i don't think it'd be very possible for Scar to actually fertilize one of Steb's eggs. maybe there's a fantasy fertility clinic that could take one of Steb's eggs and Scar's sperm to somehow reverse engineer a baby for the two of them? there are a lot of different races in Arcane, so i wouldn't be TOO surprised if some endocrinologist figured it out in all those years.

sorry this is so long. i hope this doesnt sound too insane to you, haha. we really enjoyed your fics!

I love the caviar references /genuine because it's all I could think about when I was writing the first installment of the series LOL. I'm happy that you enjoyed the freaky fish genitalia because yeah, I definitely have been seeing the posts about people wanting more monster pussies to match the monster cock energy, and I wanted to deliver haha. Plus, I just thought it'd be kind of boring if he had a regular vulva, so I wanted it to be externally and internally interesting hence the anal fins and the internal ribbing, etc., so thank you for commenting on it!

more under the cut, lol

And omg, yeah, I had the same thought process about the amount of eggs he produces being really random. I was thinking it was a vestigial trait. I based his reproductive cycle off fish with internal fertilization, so technically, if he was with someone of his own species, they would fertilize the eggs while they're still inside him, and then he'd expel the fertilized eggs. I imagine the chance of fertilization would be higher with internal versus external fertilization, but maybe not? I also didn't make it super clear it's always internal fertilization when he is having reproductively viable sex, so your explanation tracks logically with external fertilization, or maybe even with internal fertilization if his species just has really low rates of fertilization. Anything is possible! Either way, I love hearing the theories.

The six month cycle was not at all from real fish, haha, but yes, the length was to allow his body to reset and also, more frequent spawns felt like they'd be too inconvenient. I'm not too sure at which stage the eggs start producing, but his body starts producing them a couple hours to a day before he needs to expel them, so the window for potential fertilization is oddly short. It's probably an unrealistic timeline. I just didn't want him to have to walk around bloated for days or weeks. Maybe since he has six months to recuperate, the fast egg production reads as a little more feasible :thinking_emoji:

You're spot on with the egg size! I didn't even consider implanting the fertilized eggs back into the womb. That's a really cool concept. It's definitely interesting to consider which mammalian characteristics Steb's species has if any. I've been writing him as warm-blooded, so that's one thing. But to get back to the eggs, while I was writing, I was envisioning something like your second idea where the fertilized eggs are ideally placed in a special pool, tub, or pond. The embryos develop inside the eggs for a bit before they hatch into fish-like infants, and just like you said, they begin to develop humanoid characteristics later on in their maturing process. I imagine they'd look like regular fish for a year or more. If there's already in-universe lore about this and I'm super wrong, lol oops.

I also agree that I don't think Steb and Scar are reproductively viable, and I like your idea about fantasy fertility clinics. I didn't see a lot of furry-like humanoids that look like a combination between multiple animals in the show, so I'd imagine if they do exist, it'd be inaccessible to the average person. And god, I hope birth control exists in their universe. But if it does, I once again think it's not readily available, or Steb would definitely be using it.

And trust, this is the perfect amount of insane! I wrote that unhinged fic, so I'm very honored to inspire other unhinged thoughts and conversations. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and for reading the fic! <3

[maoam]

Hello, I hope you're doing well. You're one of my favourite blogs and i hope you never leave tumblr.

Genuine question, what is it about Naruto the series that make people get on so absurd and obnoxious? I'm not even referring to ss or nh fans, in every fandom of Naruto. Naruto fans and Sasuke fans (outside of the sns ship), Itachi fans, Sakura fans, Hinata fans, fans of some problematic ships, sasunaru/narusasu fans. The manga will say something like "The sky is blue". And those fan's logic will interpret is as "The sky is red.... also it's not the sky but the ground." Basically Interpreting the context and text as everything BUT how the author meant it to be understood. How can the text and context of the manga mean anything else then what it's meant to mean?

I know other fandoms can be obnoxious but it doesn't beat the level of absurdity in the Naruto fandom. What is it about Naruto that makes people behave in this way?

I do think there are other series fandoms that reach the level of absurdity that Naruto fandom has. Even snk and jjk fandom has bizarre behaviour. Harassing the staff, harassing other fans, saying the author deserves to die or suffer, stanning the characters in the most obnoxious way possible, having terrible misinterpretations of the source material... they have it all.

Look at Yuji, he's a sweet boy, yet even he has some terrible stans out there. Some shippers who like him as bottom will harass everyone who doesn't agree on twitter and in general hate on other characters, especially Megumi. And it's all just because they relate to Yuji or whatever. So they misinterpret him and act like everything needs to be about him. And some dudebros do the same, just in a different way. They think Megumi should die, some of them think Yuta is a bum who should die and so on. Because everything needs to be about THEIR fave. Some Gojo stans harass people who like Sukuna and attack them if they even dare to write analysis on Sukuna's character. Plenty of snk fans are disgusting too, like the way some people talk about Historia or Mikasa is gross. The way people misinterpret the characters to death is rampant in that fandom as well.

Itachi stans (the specific ones) can be so damn corny I don't even bother talking about them. Like they're the type who would put Senya as bg music on a video with Kafka quotes or some shit and act like they're deep. What's truly bizarre are the Sakura stans and Hinata stans, because neither of those two are impressive or likeable, so it's baffling why they have such a dedicated fanbase. Kishimoto intentionally made them unlikeable. Sakura is supposed to represent a shallow and self centered person who acts like they're a big deal and bites more than they can chew while getting her ass handed out to her constantly. She's supposed to be a laughing stock. Hinata is supposed to be a wallflower who has nothing else in her head except a boy who doesn't pay much attention to her. And yet. Their stans act like these are the most admirable characters in fiction... lol.

Shonen series tend to be "relatable" to a degree so it attracts people who need to make everything about themselves and interpret things to suit their own preferred view. Fans also tend to get angry at the author if the series doesn't follow the typical found family/mc triumphs all the time/other cliche formulas. Because those are what the readers find relatable. They're not that inclined to give chance to a different type of experience. Hence why Kage arc was so hated by many when it came out, and why Pain arc was so loved.

[hypergamiss]

Maybe it's just me but do you ever feel like in the past few years, since the hypergamy, level up, etc topic has become louder online, it's been over run by girls who's main objective is to attain beauty and a well off man? There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm finding it hard to find women who have any sort of substance and it makes me sad. During the Trump legal stuff the past few months people have been ripping his attorney, Alina Habba to shreds due to her clear incompetence. An interview resurfaced where she was saying that she'd rather be pretty than smart because you can fake being smart (fyi, you can't fake being smart and she's proof lol). These are the type of women I'm talking about. It's embarrassing. Those are the types of conversations I was having with friends when I was 7. I just think it's not a good sign, socially, that we have more and more women focusing on just being attractive and the quality of their partners over anything else. I'm very educated and gravitate to intellectually stimulating topics, but I also love all things beauty and aesthetics. When I try to join the "It girl" groups I never fit in because they're only interested in frivolous conversations. I get dead stares when I try to talk about philosophy and science. But the academic, intellectual groups usually reject me right away because of the way I look and assume I'm one of the Alina Habba types. I just wish it wasn't an "either or" situation.

Unfortunately people will always take a niche or topic and create an extreme version of it that is clearly driven by their biggest insecurities. The ones who are the loudest usually have the worst advice and the ones who are more subtle are always the ones dropping the real gems. Their content might be unorganized and they might not have the best set up/equipment, but what they say will be so real and genuine.

I actually think that things have always been the way you describe your experience. Attractive people do indeed get away with a lot in general, and very few of them choose to not take advantage of that and put in the work that everyone else does. I think it's a very interesting subject and complex because everyone goes through different experiences in life that will end up shaping them into who they eventually become. Some will say "I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't," as they express some sad truths. For attractive females you can choose to either take advantage of your looks to get ahead, or go through the motions of constantly being underestimated and having to prove yourself because you were born attractive. I had a friend who was a very attractive male in medical school. He looked like a football or rugby player and no matter how much he tried to prove that he wasn't just your typical jock, he was always doubted in class by all of his peers and professors. It was wild to see the roles reversed and I'm sure that he is still an outcast till this day when he goes to conventions and meet ups with other doctors.

"I just think it's not a good sign, socially, that we have more and more women focusing on just being attractive and the quality of their partners over anything else."

I haven't looked at the numbers lately but I do know that more women are getting educated now than ever as of 2023 so I like to think that this issue isn't going to be a growing one.

"When I try to join the "It girl" groups I never fit in because they're only interested in frivolous conversations."

Oh I know exactly what you mean... I will get invited to outings based on my looks but rarely show up because I know that the crowd will be the shallow type with not a lot of substance. I have to know that I can talk about real topics to actually enjoy myself. I have plenty of stories where these kind of people end up realizing I'm more of a nerd and their reactions are so obvious!

"But the academic, intellectual groups usually reject me right away because of the way I look and assume I'm one of the Alina Habba types."

I've learned that to be accepted in these groups it helps by being the one to initiate conversations that will really make them forget about what you look like because the topic is that impactful. If it's an online group I won't add a profile picture until my personality is established first, so by the time everyone knows what I look like it doesn't matter anymore. I know that can seem annoying, but it works.

"I just wish it wasn't an "either or" situation."

I agree, stereotypes are the worst.

[paintingformike]

I got really curious after one of your latest posts about your thoughts on bi mike vs gay mike. what's your main evidence for bi mike?

personally, I was a bi mike truther until I started my latest st rewatch a week ago. I always thought that mike had a genuine crush on el in season 1 but this time I noticed that mike didn't really show any romantic interest in her until lucas pointed out that mike likes el. before that, it was just mike being his friendly and caring self. and idk, every romantic moment between them seemed so forced to me, like mike was just doing what he thought he was supposed to be doing. and yeah, that whole dialogue before their first kiss was also weird. I haven't started season 3 yet, so maybe there will be some moments that'll show that mike is bi but for now, my only evidence of him being bi is byler/rockie parallels because vickie is clearly meant to be bi. I'm just so confused now, honestly, because I was so sure that mike is bi before this rewatch lol

sorry if some of these sentences don't make sense, my English is really bad...

nooo anon dont worry about your english, you’re perfectly understandable! to me personally i do see them portraying mike having genuine (but shallow) feelings for el via the inherently romantic tropes applied to them in s1-s2 (getting interrupted, the tiny bit of tension between them and all that), but that’s it, and the way i interpreted the painting plotline also makes me believe he had a shallow infatuation for el, but i’ve read a lot of gay mike analyses that have made me reconsider my stances on his sexuality and the byler storyline.

the byler/rockie parallels are also strong evidence of bi mike (and byler getting together in general) but it’s not really enough for me to discount the possibility of gay mike in the show considering a lot of points that make me believe they might go that route are narrative choices for his character. one example being the way he only showed interest in el after it was pointed out to him by other people, like you said, the stark contrast in how they make lucas and dustin show interest in multiple women but little to nothing from mike in comparison, they’ve also made him mirror will in this aspect (the way they both react to max in s2 compared to lucas and dustin).

season 3 was the most “i’m just doing what i think i’m supposed to do in typical het romantic relationships” season for mike because...he really was just being coached around by lucas constantly, looking totally clueless without him and most of his actions just him trying to adhere to societal expectations like getting his girlfriend a gift (?) and just. not initiating anything himself out of genuine love for el, he really needed a third party to hold his hand through navigating his relationship 😭 also the byler fight in s4 and how he said “thats because shes my girlfriend will” emphasizing the status of their relationship instead of saying something more genuine like el being important to him so obviously he’d write her letters...the majority of it was just him putting up a performance.

tbh he can still be bi and conforming to whats considered “normal” and thats what i was always firm in, but it can also be that they’re trying to portray how he really has no clue how to act when it comes to girls because he just feels no attraction to them. like the reason he needs his hand held through his relationship with a girl is because as a gay man it was never meant for him from the start, and the reason he can’t tell her he loves her is because...it was always impossible for him to feel anything towards her. he didn’t realize it at first (he wasn’t even sure of the difference between platonic and romantic before they kissed) but by s4 he was fully aware he only felt platonic care for el and was scared of losing her if he was honest about his true feelings (which explains the desert heart to heart he had with will.)

the duffers (or any other person from the writer’s room) have watched shows that portrayed internalized homophobia and characters that dated women while being cloested gay men, such as dawson’s creek and eyewitness, so that’s another factor that makes me think they could be writing mike to be gay because they’ve already gotten ideas of what it’s like, they’re not completely clueless. anyway this got too long (sorry anon i got carried away asjdksj) but the bottomline is i think both bi and gay mike have equal chances of being canon and are strong contenders in their own right, and while i used to think they wouldn’t explicitly confirm his sexuality, i realized they basically have to because they also need to clarify in the plot the true nature of mike’s feelings for el throughout their relationship and if he ever really loved her or felt attracted to her, it goes hand in hand with his sexuality arc and they can’t really just brush this over without leaving some kind of gaping hole in the storyline. mike’s gonna have to express how he really felt about el throughout their relationship so yeah...those are my two cents 👍

[castlebyersafterdark]

oooh so your man would be a good gauge of noah's apparent cringe levels! does he think he is cringe in a cute way, or not at all and just cute? is he just looking at him or does he follow/see what he does like his videos? then we can see whether people think noah is cringe for the way he acts or his whole vibe, you know? if he's just looking at still images i guess thats different to following him and seeing how he speaks about his character etc. for example many of noah's shoots dont look like him imo! or rather, they dont capture his adorkable nature. he looks very serious and too cool for school in lots of his pro shoots. thats prob the clothes and posing, but some people can never look that way no matter how they pose lol.

noah is a man with many sides and we love it.

I'm adding two older ones that got lost in the mix from 2 weeks ago I think?

First off, Z is so not a fandom guy. He's a "watches the show and thinks about it but that's it" kinda fan. A lot is distilled and simplified through me. Mostly I regale him with theories and sometimes an idea for a story I'm working on. The guy's not really online in the way I'm VERY online. Like I've off hand mentioned that people think FN might be an item and his reaction was a head nod and a "wow, good for them!" kinda thing. He's hysterical to me. I love my normie fiance.

But - rewatching the show and the osmosis from my antics - he's admitted he finds Noah adorable and really hot. He looooves Will. Will is his fave (and Eddie...) 🙄 So it's all surface level, he's not watching his tiktoks regularly, he's barely aware of all the shit that went on. Not his world and I like that we've got much different interests. Idk what that man does online but it's not what I'm doing, that much is true. Noah is just... really his type of guy. I know this. I'm with him. I know what he likes in prn and what he's attracted to, we're sending each other/showing each other stuff. It's fun. I'm not surprised that our boy Noah checks a lot of boxes and I really love that, truly hahaha. Maybe that's hard to understand the openness but we're lovers and besties simultaneously, it's so wonderful. I always want to know all of his thoughts. There's zero jealousy between us. Might be hard to understand, but what we've both been through... we have so much fun. There's no secrets. Why am I rambling? I can't help it with him!!!

Re: the question about "why does it seem taboo for gay men to discuss the emotions amongst each other?" and I think just to keep this one brief - it's very much what you're exposed to, it's very surface level online. I'll admit that - see how this devolved around here the last day or so, all talking about body parts and physical appearance? When typically I'm very sentimental and insightful? Haha. A lot online is a space to just riff and thirst and it's all very pointed based on where you're looking. Sure, of course on a sex forum or hyper-focused twitter pages or in the thirst comments on photos posted to social media - it's going to skew very shallow and superficial. Bodies are easier to talk about in casual passing. The internet is massive.

But in the real world, it's not like a total shallow horn fest 24/7. Normalcy. Maybe there is a line I refuse to acknowledge because I am the way I am, I know I'm a little different, but I wouldn't discredit guys as all being the way perception might skew. I admit I don't think most people in general are acting the way I and many fandom-focused people are online. I think the line is personality type - and I'm a romantic creative. I'm an artist. It's different. But... you're also right in that I am taking the time to talk about the emotional aspect as well.

For perspective, I've been an observer and participator in some forums (Reddit, mostly) and it's so interesting and touching that time and time again when the threads start as the question posed "What is your ultimate fantasy?" I've seen guys say filthy things, and then when someone speaks up and talks about desiring pure love and passion and companionship from a lover, wanting a husband, dreaming about marriage to their perfect guy?? The filth kinda takes a backseat. Love is the fantasy. It really makes me emotional when I see that. Listen. It's there. It's just harder to talk about and be vulnerable. I wear my heart on my sleeve, not everyone does and that's ok. The hearts are beating, they're just not as easily displayed. I don't know why, it's just my personality 😌

This ended up a lot less about reactions to the actors and more introspective but I needed to ramble I guess to offset the ridiculous of yesterday hahaha

[simplystefanie-rae]

Do I just do bullet points, like???? also why is the text functions so fucking different, c'mon man

people band wagon hate mike wheeler for almost (key word, almost) no reason

worst thing mike did this season was refuse to support lucas just because he had an interest outside of their nerd shit, but dustin and eddie (EDDIE, an adult, couldnt reschedule the fucking dnd session??? youre an adult and lucas is just trying to find a foothold in high school, reschedule your stupid game!!!) are equally guilty but they get no shit for this

mikes probably a little oblivious (regarding wills feelings) but that's the worst you could really say about him in this situation. It's not like he can read will's mind. i will say they could have did that scene better in ep 8 where will is crying like right next to him in the van and mike supposedly doesn't hear him even tho it was super obvious. He was clearly meant to not hear him, so maybe they should have blocked that out better.

I was really hoping will was asexual/aromantic for some good honest rep (last season I swore up and down that was the direction they were going), but eh, whachu gonna do. This still works well enough. I'm curious where they're gonna take his character and this arc next season. I am looking forward to him getting back into the thick of the plot.

The nancy/steve plot confused the fuck out of me the entire season and i still can't really pinpoint... the point of it. From steves perspective I totally can, but nancy's side of things (and subsequently jonathans) i just got huge fat question marks over it.

i loved steve/nancy in season 1, was disappointed they decided to break them up even though they turned steves archetype on its head, but was willing to compromise for a thruple cuz like...cool. I coulda dug it. But they never did it (mainstream media really aint about poly relationships yet which is a shame), and learned to like nancy and jonathan well enough that to rehash this in season 4 with one season left seems... i don't wanna say questionable, because this has to go somewhere, but if it's just to reaffirm nancy and jonathans relationship while steve is just left to move on, again, i will be wondering why they bothered. You could say the point is for nancy to reject the idea of a typical suburban family lifestyle, but she already did that in season 1 so again...why? Definitely dug the tension between her and steve tho, and all his vulnerable moments with her. I'll enjoy it while it lasts lol

LUCAS. god, lucas. I hope they continue to give him great material next season because damn have they been sleeping on calebs acting. the only time i ever teared up this entire show was when he was holding max and crying out for his sister, which was improv!!! I hope he has a damn good storyline next season, he deserves it

i do have issues with some of his storyline this season tho. his stuff with max was amazing, i wouldnt change that for anything. but i really feel some type of way that they had his friends NOT go to his game... and wrote this in a way where lucas was in the wrong by framing his interest in basketball as a shallow quest for popularity. That is such shit, especially after they had a line where lucas said he was doing this because he was tired of being bullied, which is very understandable, tho i don' know why they couldn't simply have it as him really loving basketball since he seems to actually enjoy it, but i digress. I was waiting all season long for a scene between him, mike and dustin, where lucas got to be rightfully upset with them for ditching him when he stressed how important it was to him. But instead, naturally, we got lucas telling jason he was wrong for looking up to him and wanting to be like him... like look, just because Jason turned out to be a...bit of a dick (more on him later) doesn't mean lucas was wrong for wanting to focus on a sport he really liked and wanting his friends to support him in it. There was no way for him to know that the basketball team was gonna pop off like that, that's such manipulative writing and i hate that kinda shit. #justiceforjocklucas the team needs more jocks anyway!! steve cant be the only one punching the shit out of things

....i really zoned out of joyce and murrays storyline, it was just so boring compared to what was going on in hawkins. Hoppers was good tho, especially when he got to play off of enzo (forget is real name, antonov?) tho i do think they could have left him dead, it would have freed up so much more time for other characters that desperately needed it (mike, jonathan, and will most notably)

i got more to say but ill do it in another post, don't want this to be super long. I have stuff to say about max, el, vecna, eddie, chrissy, and jason

[bthump]

You probably already answered this before, but why did Judeau stop Rickert from telling Guts that Griffith was so broken up about him leaving? Does Judeau not want Guts to feel guilty or emotionally overwhelmed? Is it because he is trying to protect Casca's feelings (she's not even present in the scene)? I'm just not sure what was up with that.

Oooh man I love that moment so much, I have talked about it before but I'm more than happy to talk about it again lol. (Here's the short version if you prefer, but I want to thoroughly dig into what Judeau's doing here in one post.)

Judeau has pretty much one role in the story at this point and that's to convince Guts and Casca to fuck. Seriously lol that's like his sole function once the gtsca subplot kicks off. Especially in this scene - on the very next page Judeau changes the subject to Casca taking over as leader and then mentions that he thinks it's unfair to her.

Later in the scene he straight up tells Guts that she was calling his name in her fever dreams while recovering from arrow wounds, and ofc this all comes after Judeau initially planted the idea in Guts' head right before Guts left, in chapter 33. And finally he finishes this scene with the unsubtle suggestion that only Guts can do something to save Casca from the burden of leadership:

Note Rickert's little question mark after Judeau finishes - it's calling attention to Judeau's clear agenda and the artificiality of what he's saying. It's a way of highlighting his manipulativeness here. This is further cemented by moments like the aforementioned headshake, or Guts giving him a straight up suspicious look when Judeau tells him to leave with Casca again shortly before the Eclipse:

It's funny like, the first time Judeau directly brings up the possibility of Guts hooking up with her Guts is surprised and calls his suggestion random:

At this point this reads like Judeau being a bro and giving Guts genuine helpful advice, and Guts awkwardly protesting because he hasn't considered the romantic tension between him and Casca, so he needs a friend to point it out for him. Basic romance trope, right?

But then it just keeps happening, until Guts flat out looks annoyed and questioning the final time Judeau suggests it.

Ultimately I think Judeau is an instance of Miura adding a little bit of realistic complication to the typical matchmaker/good advice friend character. Judeau isn't just trying to set Guts and Casca up because he thinks they'd be good for each other or because he wants his friends to be happy - Judeau is lowkey in love with Casca, doesn't think he's good enough for her, but thinks that Guts is, because Guts is a master at something and Judeau isn't, and that's how Judeau judges people's worth, because he's got some self-esteem issues. He explains this in the very same chapter he starts encouraging gtsca to happen:

And of course his final words before he dies are an expression of regret that he never told Casca "that important thing."

Basically what I'm getting at here is that Judeau is consistently the one who encourages Guts to bone Casca, from getting Guts to first consider it when he never had before, to subtly (and later less subtly) influencing Guts to take Casca away from the Hawks with him. Our attention is drawn to this through characters' reactions to Judeau's words, like Rickert's questioning and Guts' irritation. And when we learn that Judeau is in love with Casca, we should also then be able to realize that his role was not your classic, shallow "good friend giving good advice" dude, but rather "biased friend giving biased advice because he has his own issues too, because Miura enjoys playing with classic tropes" dude.

SO ALL THAT SAID, when Rickert tries to tell Guts how Griffith feels about him and Judeau subtly tells him to shut up? That is directly telling us that Guts understanding how Griffith really feels about him is incompatible with his relationship with Casca. Judeau wants that relationship to happen, which is especially highlighted in this chapter, and he doesn't want Guts to know that Griffith destroyed his own life because Guts left. Guts and Casca only connect romantically when Griffith and his feelings are out of the picture.

And honestly, that tracks completely.

Guts textually initiates sex with her as a distraction from thinking about all the painful Griffith-related shit he let Casca stab him over and Casca tried to kill herself over:

Much the same way Griffith initiated sex with Charlotte while telling her to take all the sad and frightening things and cast them into the fire.

After having sex with Casca he manages to bury the realization that Griffith loves him for a good three days even after he let Casca stab him out of guilt for abandoning Griffith (not to mention Rickert telling him), and only fully accepts that knowledge in chapter 71 with the line "Why do I always see these things after they're done and gone?" Appropriately enough, right after Casca has broken up with him.

More generally, Guts and Casca start feeling jealous and getting weird during the rescue mission as they get closer and closer to Griffith, Griffith is why Casca breaks up with him and also why Guts privately chooses not to leave with Casca after all but to stay with Griffith before that, after the Eclipse Guts abandons Casca to chase Griffith, after Hill of Swords he chooses to stay with Casca after Griffith tells him he has no feelings and ditches him in the snow, the Beast of Darkness tells Guts to leave Casca to find Griffith, Casca wakes up and can’t look at him while Guts can’t get Griffith’s intense stare out of his head...

Casca, imo, is a method of repression, a straightforward goal Guts can focus on to avoid thinking about his complicated feelings, and to keep thinking of Griffith as a godlike, unreachable figure.

uhhhhh yeah so tl;dr that panel means Judeau knows that Guts isn't gonna want to fuck Casca if he finds out he can fuck Griffith instead.

(or yk phrase it as “judeau knows guts isn’t gonna want to leave with casca if he finds out griffith fell to pieces when he left the first time and therefore the whole become griffith’s equal to get his attention thing was bullshit all along’ but same difference)

[simonxriley]

All I those questions back, because I'm so original!😂💕

 Pearl: if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

There are so many places i want to visit, the top one would be Italy, mostly cause i want to visit Rome.

Sails: describe your perfect partner?

Ok, i have no clue tbh, i guess i’ll know when i find him/her

Lighthouse: how much makeup do you wear?

None unless i have too (i’m very lazy, and i’m more of a tomboy and never really worn it lol)

Shells:would you prefer to be a vampire or a werewolf?

Werewolf definitely, how cool would that be, you be a totally normal human with a job/life and during the full moon you’d turn into a werewolf and do whatever they do, and if you have someone you hate, oh look you could just kill him (i mean what) i’ve thought about this way to much lol 

Mermaid: most embarrassing moment? 

i don’t really have any embarrassing moments cause i don’t give a shit and make myself look like a fool anyways but this was kinda embarrassing, when i was in high school, i was out for like a week cause i was sick and when i returned my friend and i had a different class in the morning and she didn’t know i was gonna be there so anyways she spots me from down this long as hallway we had and she yells “Megan you slut” that wasn’t the embarrassing part tho, she said it in front of my crush at the time, now that was embarrassing.

Turquoise: weirdest dream you’ve ever had?

ok so i had a dream that i was with Nate & Sam on some random treasure hunt anyways we get to this like room and there’s a person in the room which ended up being Zoran, which was weird since he’s suppose to be dead, anyway we were gonna fight him for some reason and when i go to look at the Drakes…THEY WEREN’T THERE, THEY FUCKING DISAPPEARED ON ME, so guess what i did? i started to cry and that’s how it ended, just me crying my eyes out in front of Zoran Lazervic.

Waves: favorite season and why?

Autumn because it means football season starts and i love the changing of the leaves and you get to wear boots and cozy sweatshirts and drink apple cider and hot chocolate and pick apples, i just really love fall :)

Breaker: would you ever consider getting married?

Yes i would, in the future though.

Seafoam: describe your ideal summer vacation?

I’m not really picky but somewhere on the beach, don;t care where just give me a good book and i can lay out there all day.

Rain:  if it were possible, what exotic animal would you keep as a pet?

I would LOVE an owl, they’re one of my favorite animals and i just love them.

Sunlight: least favorite song? 

Friday by Rebecca Black, i hate that song so much

Marine: would you ever consider plastic surgery?

No i haven’t.

Sea Glass: what do you consider to be your best physical feature?

My ass ;) tbh tho 

Storm: do you like piercings and tattoos? Why or why not?

Yes i do, imo i think it cool especially when i see someone with tattoos and i think to myself that almost all their tattoos has a meaning with a story behind it and i think that’s awesome how you can have memories permanently on your body.  

Boardwalk: who is your favourite fictional couple?

Nathan Drake & Elena Fisher from Uncharted

Coral: if you had to describe your personality as a food, what would you be and why?

idk, this one is actually hard lol

Nymph: old-fashioned or modern decor?

I’m a fan of both but i lean more to modern decor.

Seawater: scariest movie you’ve ever saw? 

Killer Clowns from outer space, this was also the first horror movie i ever saw, but give me a slasher film or even a paranormal one and im fine but if it has clowns nope not happening.

siren: in a fantasy setting, would you be a warrior, rogue or mage?

Probably rogue 

Tempest: your favourite Pokemon?

Pikachu and Charmander

Tropic: what is your least favourite thing about your appearance?

my height and/or teeth

Aquamarine: describe your dream date.

I’m pretty basic, dinner and a movie, maybe a walk around town, then back to my or his/her place for whatever happens afterwards.

Brine: gold or silver?

Gold or rose gold

Tidal: what is a colour that best describes your personality?

Dark blue.

Azure: what is something that you do that makes you happy?

Play video games, watch movies, go though tumblr, annoy my niece

Fog: describe where you think you’ll be in five years.

Hopefully back in school, and i have my license (yes im 21 and i still don’t have it)

Coastline: what is your favourite flower?

Roses and lilies

shallows: what is your typical Starbucks order?

I’m more of a dunkin donuts kind of girl, and it’d a french vanilla ice coffee extra extra (extra cream and sugar)

Voyage: what are your favourite names?

Phoenix, Wyatt, Ellie, McKenna, and Kingsley to name a few.

Shipwreck: do you have an OC? If so, describe them.

No i don’t.

Cerulean: do you believe in true love?

Yes for the most part.

Shoreline: if you could become fluent in another language, which would you pick and why?

Italian, Romanian, and hieroglyphic Egyptian, i don’t really have a good answer as to why lol  

Tsunami: describe a dream outfit of yours.

It’s skinny jeans with a pair of doc martens with a black shirt of some kind can be a band tee or not and a leather jacket, i actually wear this a lot except i don’t have a leather jacket yet :( 

Riptide: are you introverted or extroverted? Are you happy with this?

Introverted and yes i am

Hurricane: describe a strange habit of yours.

I don’t have a strange habit’s but during football season, i have to wear the exact same thing or i feel like we will lose.

Thank you :) and sorry it took me so damn long lol