#impoverished upbringing
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
The "Whitman Fever" .
#Revy#Two-hands#Whitman Fever#anime & manga#Black Lagoon#Season 1#Disassociated look#Rebecca Lee#Chinese-American#Seinen#rei hiroe#Hair down#Girls with guns#action#thriller#Crime#Mentally unstable#Mentally ill Characters#Impoverished upbringing#had a shitty childhood#Had a traumatic childhood#Black Lagoon company#Modern pirate#set in the 1990s#early 2000s#gunslinger/mercenary#gun wielders
6 notes
·
View notes
Photo
"Jesus!"
#Revy#Two-hands#Rebecca#Gunslinger#Mentally ill characters#Mentally unstable#Chinese-American#Heavy Smoker and Drinker#Nihilist#Seinen#Crime#Action#Thriller#girls with guns#anime and Manga#Rei Hiroe#Modern pirate#In the Garcia household#impoverished upbringing#had a Grim/shitty childhood#large quarter/half-sleeved Tribal tattoo#Asian-American#Can't smoke here Revy
612 notes
·
View notes
Text
Kid Rebecca Lee,age 14, Revy in her teen years.
#anime and manga#seinen#Madhouse studio#Childhood flashbacks#Kid Revy Lee#Rebecca “Revy” Lee (kid)#Chinese-American character#mott street new york#Abusive and impoverished upbringing#Teen Revy Lee#Black Lagoon OVA#black lagoon roberta's bloodtrail#Revy Lee (kid)#born into poverty
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
Being abused by her own so-called dad. Coming from a broken home.
#Childhood flashbacks#seinen#Black Lagoon OVA#chinese-american#black lagoon roberta's bloodtrail#Revy Lee (kid)#rei hiroe#anime and manga#Rebecca “Revy” Lee (kid)#Shitty and impoverished upbringing#Mott street Chinatown new york#Tomboyish character design
0 notes
Text
A very underrated part of Phantom Blood is when Dio tearfully pleads that his abused and impoverished upbringing is to blame for his villainy and he only lost sight of what it meant to be good as a result of his alcoholic father, then Speedwagon, a man we can infer has a very similar origin story, emerges from the shadows out if nowhere and says "Nah dude you just fucking suck."
#jojo no kimyou na bouken#jojo's bizarre adventure#jojo part 1#phantom blood#speedwagon#dio brando#robert e. o. speedwagon
13K notes
·
View notes
Text
"Lizzie has so far kept it very loyal and as traditional as can be. She’s put up with a lot and remains with her husband, but I always think about her reasons for why she would remain in a marriage like that. She was a woman of the streets, and she was impoverished. She came from a very, very hard upbringing and I think it might have been a worry to have to go back to that." — NATASHA O'KEEFFE
#thomas michael shelby can you fight?#literally noir vibes mwah lizzie give me a chance your marriage with tommy is already a trainwreck#lizzie shelby#lizzie stark#natasha o'keeffe#peaky blinders#peakyblindersedit#femalegifsource#dailywomen#ladiesofcinema#ladiesblr#dailyflicks#tvedit#cinemapix#tvarchive#femaledaily#perioddramaedit#weloveperioddrama#perioddramasource#by jen
192 notes
·
View notes
Text
Chilchuck, family & alcoholism
Collection of thoughts and speculation on Chil’s upbringing, his dynamic with his family and how alcoholism ties into it all. If you want the groundwork info on Chil’s background I recommend my masterpost on his family, here beyond a summary of the facts it’s really just me speculating from the crumbs we get of his parents and siblings, how it’s all affected him and in turn affected his own wife and kids etc etc.
There’s nothing more I��d like on mother’s day than to speculate about Chilchuck’s maladaptive attachment style. I’m fascinated by how distant everyone is and how much he’s been devoted to them all despite having been so absent. Intergenerational trauma get over here
Actually it’ll be easier if I make a rundown here too, it’s just stuff I reiterate from my masterpost tho.
Tiny table of contents: 1- rundown: family facts 2- rundown: alcoholism 3- dad 4- parenting 5- daughters 6- wife
^ Every time his dad gets mentioned. His mom never gets mentioned. His siblings I think are only ever mentioned in this extra, and then there are more ambiguous relatives cameos.
We know is hometown isn’t Kahka Brud, but we’re not sure wether he moved there upon getting his own house (presumably around when he got married at 13), or if it’s only after his wife when he rented out his place to relatives then rented the place in Kahka Brud.
If he rented it out to relatives, maybe that meant it was in his hometown? Especially if he and his siblings are "almost strangers" so presumably he doesn’t really keep in touch with his family. And I mean, he hasn’t seen his wife or daughter in 4 years so you can imagine how he’s like with his more distant family…
Additionally half-foots and Chil are very coded to be from an impoverished opressed working class people. So that’s the context.
I’ll say that I mentioned intergenerational trauma at the beginning, and I def think the distrust of elves is part of that, but here I want to focus on the interpersonal effects rather.
Copy pasting my masterpost thoughts overall: Chilchuck is hinted to have had a rather dysfunctional family himself (alcoholic father, distant siblings, etc). So he doesn’t really have the best model on how to raise someone and such. I imagine it was a sort of neglectful home situation, where the kids are encouraged to be independent. If they didn’t have to work or help around much, then a free range parenting sort of thing.
We do see how the family has full and warm feasts, where someone cleans his mouth with a rag, so it’s not like he didn’t have caring people or had a tragic childhood though! I don’t remember if it’s explicitely stated but he’s heavily implied to having grown up poor, as most half-foots, and I just think it’s the hardened hardworking family type of childhood where just like he does with others, they instilled somewhat harsh life lessons in him, which in turn encourages him to indulge in the simple pleasures of life like alcohol and sex, or at least women’s beauty and crass jokes. We do see he seems more optimistic when he’s younger in flashbacks, so a bunch of his harsh view on the world is still likely learned and earned rather than taught.
I still think he inherited many flawed views from how his father acted, like his attitude about excessive drinking not being a big deal, it being worth it. That work hard play hard, enjoy life die young mentality he has, shown mostly in the “alcohol” section of his Adventurer’s Bible profile, could very well be partly a result of the general poverty half-foot communities are that he grew in as well, like how he doesn’t hope for things to be as best as they could be and contends with good enough. As far as I remember, his mother is never mentioned, but I doubt it implies she was out of the picture. She was probably a regular sort of mother that took care of the home and was still around when his father died, not unlike how Chil’s wife was implied to be a housewife. It looks like there’s a good age gap between one sibling to the next, that could be interesting to speculate about too. Mostly though I think it’s big family because it’s just sorta what happens when you regularly have sex and you don’t have contraception, being poor often makes family planning harder for various reasons and leads to more children.
Alcoholism context rundown:
Good Chilchuck analysis baseline here. Alcohol seems to be his main stress reliever/coping mechanism, especially for how emotionally constipated he is, and his job is being stressed about his party’s safety. Then he also mentions as a changeling that having his senses dulled feels relaxing to him, further confirming alcohol, as a drug that dulls senses, is something that he likes for the intoxication aspect and feels it’s relaxing. Alcohol also acts as a hunger suppressant, so it for sure has played a role in his dieting and unhealthy eating/diet habits, especially since he shows the instinct to drink to soothe hunger, all of that about how going hungry for 3 days used to feel manageable. Chil dieting info compiled here.
Chilchuck is at his most effortlessly cheerful when drunk or drinking. Compilation of every time he was drunk here.
And to be clear, a cheerful drunk is still a drunk. He literally will drink anytime he gets the opportunity to even if he’s aware overdrinking leads to health problems and death. Like canonically. He does NOT see how drinking should be a problem and does not seek to show restraint with it.
Dad of the dad
Marcille and Chilchuck having a talk on how losing a dad be like "You lost your dad young too…? I know how it is, it must have hit you hard…" "No not really tbh. Do you want lasagna or chicken for dinner?" <- either genuinely doesn’t feel much about his dad’s death or has 10 layers of repression, idk which is worse
I think Chil not making a big deal out of his dad’s death, not having worries in following into his footsteps that way in the least, is super interesting.
As a buddy @saccharineomens puts it: " I kinda imagine chilchuck and his dad didn't have a bad relationship, but in general chilchuck is so blase about drinking (he sees it as a delightful time, a wonderful thing! he wouldn't mind dying doing something he loved!) that he's not very upset about his dad's passing? like "yeah, he died, but i was already an adult, he was an adult, he made his choices, i make my choices, it's cool" " And I’ll nitpick that we don’t know how old he was when his dad died, I always assumed it was pretty early since Chil left home when he got married, and like I’ve gone into he doesn’t seem to be the keep in touch type. It’s on the table though, and he could have learned about it through letter if nothing else and that contributes to the "meh" reaction.
And that is very Chilchuck, the whole "we made our choices, it is how it is, he died doing something he loved", and you can totally believe that that’s the crux of it, but I do think the nonchalance hints at the family overall being distant and not only the siblings, that there’s dysfunctional shenanigans going on in there more than just… Healthy coping and having moved on.
I wonder when Chil first drank… And I wonder how he came to realize he liked alcohol a lot. His father probably gave him sips… Or he stole them
No because, with how disaffected he is about his father and siblings I could definitely see him having started to kind of numb himself/dissociate with the help of alcohol in that home environment that felt so… Either devoid of feelings or too messy to get attached. I can totally see his family being one that encourages dealing with feelings by bottling them up.
Because too… We saw him have a family/community feast of some sort presumably when he was a kid, in that chapter cover, so it’s not like there’s no warmth or sense of family at all, but then like… What went wrong? If as I theorize that girl with short black hair in that panel is his future wife, since she’s his childhood friend and all, what if his family/home life was always kind of cold and distant, even when gathered and cheery or despite those occasions? So then it’s like, at the family gatherings, she’s the most important person there to him, the one he actually connects to the most, the warmest presence he has…….. Someone he jokes around with that feels on the same speed as him, that doesn’t have the same connotations as everyone else present, a bit of a haven, someone different, a breath of fresh hair and a regained sense of childhood… Spitballing of course of course
I feel like they had a pretty big family and they were poor and such so there were always chores to be done etc, so their household might have operated like a mini busiess of sorts where everyone’s too busy, always has this and that to do and the mother asks them to go do tasks. I used to think it might be more of a neglect situation, where the kids are expected to provide for themselves and so cook their own meals and whatnot, both parents distant, but I don’t think so with the feast illustration. Chil at the beginning of canon used to see eating as a practical thing more than anything, you have to eat to live but don’t eat much or your weight will make your job more dangerous, might as well skip meals and have beer instead, etc etc. So the thought that he doesn’t know how to cook all that well despite this speculated background where he cooked for himself and keeps cooking minimalistic, since he does tell Senshi he taught him about cooking, is fair, but still… There could definitely be a situation where his older siblings were pushed into a parental role too, where they helped with the food and raising the younger siblings etc etc. As mentioned, the age gap between siblings may play into the dynamic as well. But on this front I have less ideas…
So yes my general take on Chil’s family is that everyone was too busy to emotionally connect as much as is normal, the parenting leaving things to be desired with alcoholism and emotional neglect.
Fathering
And I think that’s especially interesting considering he hasn’t been keeping in touch with his daughters either. It’s "they’re independent now" and that’s kinda it. His daughters haven’t sent him letters or visited him or tried to make him talk to their mom again. It does feel like with his own parents and siblings to me, where people are almost strangers, where relationships grow apart and everyone shrugs and goes ‘that’s how things are’. Is it that everyone including all his daughters gave up on trying to keep in touch, or is it that they all went "well divorced or not he’s absent, this is our normal tbh", and which is worse?
So yes, I think his relationship with his daughters is probably similar to his relationship with his parents, sort of hands off. Chil's dad was probably not a good dad but probably not quite a bad dad. A definitive He Was There, to quote another friend heh
Imo the thing with Chil is that he was pretty absent bc of work travels to dungeon dive, right. He’s working hard to provide for his family but in the process he’s not spending much time with them, slowly making a gap grow between him and them as they drift apart and change as people. He’s a career dad who never realized spending time with his family was more important and threw his pager into the ocean— But also here’s the thing!! You want to say being his family is more important, but money is arguably more important! They’re poor, they don’t have the privilege of free time as much. Sure he’s not there, but he is providing for them what they need to keep living and growing healthily. Similarly, you want to say Chil should stop doing harsh dieting for weight management, but, he has a point, maybe starving is still preferable than dying in traps. Of course the ideal would be to change jobs, but again, life is a struggle and that’s not always an option.
^ Truly the classic "if you don’t listen to me, your parent, a cryptid is gonna kidnap you!" international experience………
He is so so so the "What? My way of parenting is kinda bad? But my father raised me like that, and look how great I turned out!" <- emotionally dysfunctional…….. "Pshhh what do you mean having an alcoholic parent negatively affects you? My father was an alcoholic too and look at me" 🤡
All of it was behavior normalized to him. And listen, I’m saying this but not as like, shirking of his part in it. This isn’t a teen or young adult, he’s middle aged, he’s become the one giving and not receiving the generational trauma. He’s chosen to never think deeper on the topic.
And like, he himself is so indifferent to his father and what their relationship was like, of course he wouldn’t notice if a parenting choice wasn’t great for his daughters. He doesn’t have a relationship with his dad, he’s not (at least not consciously) traumatized by him, so from his perspective it’s mission success! He got raised decent enough 👍⭐️ Except he doesn’t realize that like, not particularly caring if he died is sign of a problem between them in itself… And this even as he remains somewhat of an important figure in his life, especially since that’s who he sees on the other side of the life river in the ghost chapter. It’s implicitly the biggest instance of loss through death Chilchuck has in his life I think.
But despite it all he obviously does love his family a lot, right. So I do believe that like, while he has imperfect standards when it comes to parenting he still tries to be better than his dad was, that even if it’s necessary that he has a lot of long work travels, he spends time with them. And there’s sort of this dissonance that he’s both "it doesn’t matter wether i’m here or not, they’ll live, they’re tough girls. Oh they didn’t like my scolding earlier? It’s just how kids are" dismissive and "I love them so much and I want them to have a good life. I want to do my best by them" devoted and so so caring. And like that’s why he works so damn hard, he does it for them, but also that’s why the girls grew up with an absentee father and aughhhh AUGHHHH the unsolvable dilemma of it all Chilchuck in Dunmeshi truly represents like, the harshness of reality & the world and how sometimes things will just suck no matter what, and then of course balancing that with Marcille in their shared arc where she tacks on "And despite that there is beauty everywhere even in the small and menial things, despite that your flawed relationships and dreams are still worth fighting for" ie giving reconciling with his wife a shot, etc.
All that said I think the very strict "you’re gonna grow up to have a stable job by god, young miss" attitude, those strong work ethics he highly values and focuses on and no doubt tried to instill in is own kids, is something he somewhat inherited from his own upbringing and parents.
In my masterpost bit on his parenting, I said I don’t think he’d do any kind of corporeal punishment, but. I do wonder about spanking aftee all. It can be so so easy to rationalize it… Sigh
Daughter pov
Again, my general interpretations for the daughters are written in my masterpost. I think Patti knows her father the least and is the one least worried about jobs and stability and least settled down as a result. Flertom is the more social one who I imagine tended to be the one worried about her parents’ couple and their emotions the most. And Meijack… Ohh Meijack.
When your father tried his best to provide for you but he worked all the time and even when he was home he was either tired or stressed and he’s always liked to get drunk to relax and cheer up. When you know he values work ethics and respectability so you grew up to be capable and quiet. And when he says you’re like him you’re sort of puzzled, does he really know you so little, or does he know himself so little? But you like the feeling of your father ruffling your hair so you accept it and still you stand next to your mother just as quiet and just as stoic during family gatherings. He leaves again and again and when your mother leaves him nothing changes, really. You wonder if it’s more telling that you know him better than he seems to himself or that you don’t know him as much as you wish you did, or that you don’t think about him all that much these days. Out of sight out of mind
Thinking of those posts about how kids never forget and during the "draw your family!" things at school, some of the kids draw their working parents seperate from the rest of them...
Absent father and when he’s at home you get the crumbs of him that you get and you’re grateful for it and that’s that <333
She doesn’t know how much he loves them bc he hasn’t showed them in a long time </3
The horror of drunk Chil in my fics is often about what in this state he can’t do rather than what he could do, how someone who’s as proud of his skills and work ethics as he is has truly changed, not comprehending how he could become so sloppy or how he could allow himself to get like this, marred the values he preaches above all else. It’s in the way that he fumbles with doorknobs, that he could never lockpick a door if you were to lock it, and it both being your salvation and bringing you extreme distress at the thought of it all. His footsteps usually featherlight now sound heavy as stone, like a troll’s.
You know the thing that gets me so bad with alcoholism angst is when people describe the drunk person as a stranger. Often making a metaphor that they’re monsters, have some monster they shapeshift into uncontrollably once in a while, as a way to split the unreconciliable halves of the person sober and drunk in your vision of them……. It gets me soooo bad Little Puckpatti growing up on tales of trolls kidnapping disobedient kids and replacing them with doubles so no one even knows they’re gone… Coming face to face with a drunk Chilchuck that roams the halls of the house with heavy steps in the night, because she wanted to go drink a glass of water, too thirsty to sleep………..
And this is where I reveal that I wrote a fic about just that!! Trolls that thump and tiptoe through the night Mei @ Chil, You made me of stone and still every day you wear me down and chip away at me bit by bit
In the end notes I describe my takes and interpretations: With Mei I tried to give the sense of a kid who sacrifices some parts of childhood to feel closer to her parent, like not playing games to spend more time with him no matter how empty, or wanting to be worthy in his eyes. With Fler, since she was the one in canon to take in their mother and write Chil a letter explaining the situation, I feel like she’s always been the one most involved and aware of the problems in their family. The one most there to emotionally support or to understand what the vibes in a room meant. Puckpatti I think knows her father the least, since with time I think Chilchuck was more and more away from work and more and more cynical like the flashbacks of younger him dungeon diving. I think because of her not minding unstable odd jobs that she’s the most passive, that she’s the most go with the flow. I do also love when Mei is the one most aware of her parents’ flaws and most critical as the eldest, but not in this fic. Meijack grows up to never touch a drop of alcohol, what people joke is the one difference between her and her father. Flertom drinks, too much sometimes, but she considers drinking should be a social activity rather than a habit. Puckpatti only drinks on special occasions when she has the chance.
They already don’t have that much time together because of his work, I wonder how big of a percentage the amount of memories the daughters have of him are when he’s not himself truly… How they kinda reconcile it all. It’s their normal.
And the thing that’s gutting too, is that Chil always looks so so much more open, relaxed, cheerful and happier when drunk than he usually is. He doesn't know how to get his defenses down without alcohol
"you're all that's good"
Because we do see how he truly used to not be so closed off and bitter. But distrust and fearing for betrayals from both coworkers and then his wife aka the person who’s supposed to be closest to him (he doesn’t even have close family besides his daughters. Does he even have close friends) turned him into what he is now. He was so cheerful!! Happy and trusting and optimistic.
He leaves and she left
God there’s the whole ‘wife leaving him’ trauma too is the thing… It had to have fucked him up so bad like no wonder he got paranoid and decided not to open up to ANYONE like. He never saw it coming is the scariest thing. He didn’t expect her to just up and leave. He didn’t see the warning signs. He won’t know if it’s coming this time either.
….. But then also, why he didn’t reach out to her (besides hurt) was because it was a petty silence treatment, like "oh she left without saying a word? Fine well I won’t reach out to her either" <- man who is so not fine and collected about it. It’s been FOUR YEARSSSSSSS I wonder if he always was like… "This week she’s gonna send a letter. … Ok fine, this month she’s gonna crack. … Within the year she’ll come crawling back." and it’s a bit why it was allowed to go on for this long unchecked like… Why he still considers her his wife even though functionally she’s more of an ex by that point after 4 years.
I can never stop thinking about him and his wife they’re fucking crazyyy. Him not reaching out to her started as a silent treatment from frustration. She never reached out to him either, she just up and left, didn’t even leave or send one last letter she’s just gone and has left this all behind, the house and everything in it. It’s been 4 years but he still considers her his wife and considers themselves only "estranged", "due to circumstances we haven’t seen each other in years". His face in the panel he said this is interesting too, trying to be casual but defensive and exasperated, already dreading the judgement and questions. He moved out of his house to rent a place in Kahka Brud instead. How much of him not reaching out was avoidance… Guilt, frustration, sadness, confusion, just procrastinating and dread and fear of a rejection more concrete, or something else… Maybe realizing he doesn’t miss her as much as he should, not enough to chase after her or try to get her back, just resigning himself to it… Is he a bad husband, is he a bad person? Should they reconcile?
Not seeing it coming… It’s half trust, that this person who’s so dear to you could never just up and leave and hurt you like that, half entitlement, thinking that she would never think of leaving, and third it’s blinding himself to the warning signs, not wanting to believe or acknowledge them. Because like, there WERE some, he said she "suddenly fell into a bad mood on the way back [from the outing]" and I don’t think he’s too dumb to be aware that something was off, he literally just dismissed it and then went surprised pikachu face when it turned out things were indeed off.
Part of it is definitely, how do you even react if your wife walks out on you without warning. If it happened to me I think that I wouldn’t reach out for a while either, wait for them to reach out to me first, give them space. As I put it in one of my marchil wips, "I respect your right to be rid of me too much to try and shackle you to me if you want to leave". Inaction is easier than admitting he’s scared to check and find out that the worst case scenario is true. It’s been years and he still hasn’t worked it out why she left. Do you think that’s on purpose. That he doesnt want to know for sure. It’s so so so scary to try and do anything about it
He said he didn’t reach out right away when she left because he was petty and wanted to give her the silence treatment back. Ok but is it that he blames her for their marriage falling apart or does he blame himself and he’s just misdirecting the conflicted feelings? Did he not reach out because a part of him was too scared to know why she left or if she would refuse to come back? Did he just think that she’d come back on her own, and things would get fixed while still staying unsaid and unconfronted like they always have, the first month, then the next and the next, until it was a year in and it sunk in that oh, maybe she wasn’t coming back?
He seems genuine here when he says that he was angry about it and gave her the silent treatment, but it is an habit of his to lie to make himself look worse instead of showing vulnerability, so who knows.
He is so so scared of being affected by relationships. Same thing with his compulsive habit to disguise his worry for anger. It’s why he doesn’t want people to have expectations of him, "I’m a coward I’m selfish", because then they can’t be disappointed, they can’t be surprised if he bites, they can’t leave when you lose what they’ve been staying for.
He has avoidant tendencies too. Every time there’s an interpersonal issue he just accepts it’s out of his control immediately. He’s passive when it comes to relationship problems, just like with coworkers, relationships are a ticking time bomb to him, and he just wants to be left out of it and come out unscathed. It comes back to his pessimism. He doesn’t think that like, things could be better. According to him life is tough and cruel, you accept your lot in life and make the best out of it and that’s it. If people are scummy you don’t whine about how unfair it is, you close yourself off and work to not be taken advantage of again and adapt. So then with his wife, when Marcille is like "Have you tried… Talking?" it’s such a crazy idea that it might work at all, that he could have the power to fix things… And that’s why it’s such a big deal when he goes "Alright I’ll try… I don’t know if it’ll go as well as in the stories, but I’ll try". That CRUMB of allowing himself to be hopeful is so huge
Honestly for the longest time I misread this bit, I thought she left in the night like how Marcille framed it, but no she left after he left for work. She left after he left again.
The way it’s told, it really sounds like Chilchuck just came home from work, stayed probably a couple of days in which they went to that outing together, then left for work again right away/soon after and it’s like. Was that outing the most special thing you guys did together. You came home from like a month of work, you had one outing where she ended up having a bad time, y’all didn’t talk about it further and then you left for another couple of weeks. Are you kidding me
Your married life is waiting for your husband to come home, spending mediocre time together, being shut down when you voice discontentment, and things being left unaddressed before he leaves again.
She left when he was gone for work, but did she leave the day of, or did she flip flop on it and took a while before working up the strength to leave? Was she waiting to see if he’d say anything before leaving and when he didn’t that was the last straw?
Chilchuck trying to prove a point that half-foots can make it out there, trying to rely more on himself because that’s the only person he can trust. His wife feeling like he's leaving her behind (because he does. over and over and over and over.) This guy just keeps throwing himself into work because he thinks it's what's best for everyone. Hey sir neglecting emotional needs can be kinda detrimental to everyone involved, I think you might wanna know that ^ quotes courtesy of @soappox
And to come back to alcoholism for a bit, alcoholism is alcoholism, and someone asked why I thought that a Chilchuck with depression would drink and cope through alcohol, since drinking seems to be something cheerful to him. It does puzzle me a bit but it’s worth going over, so… I don’t think him using drinking as a coping mechanism is far fetched at all. Cheerful drunks that are alcoholic still can absolutely use alcohol in ways like that. If something makes you happier, or even just more numb which translates to you feeling more free etc etc, then I definitely think it tracks that he’d keep drinking. Like personally I do think he’d drink a lot after his wife left him, and in rough patches like that. Depression -> not wanting to have to think, the days are blurring together and you either don’t want to be conscious or you want to feel something etc etc -> drinking for the alcohol. Alcoholics tend to be, well, dependent on alcohol. If something bad happens etc they’re usually more likely to go harder on it rather than stop. We can debate on when and why Chilchuck first started to drink but it’s straight up his favorite food now and it’s deeply ingrained in his life, in his favorite outings and activities and priorities and moods and meals. A CHEERFUL DRUNK IS STILL A DRUNK!!! They drink to get happy not drink because they are happy, though obviously the two can have overlap.
Chil represses sooo much. His solution to interpersonal conflict and feelings is just don’t think about it and dull your feelings & senses to everything ✨ I love him. I need to kill him with hammers Like the other day I was thinking about an AU where he might have ran away from his neglectful home or something, but then I remembered he deals with everything including his family by dulling his feelings and senses to things 🫠 He wouldn’t leave
I’d say he doesn’t look troubled by loss through death, moreso loss through mistakes. His nightmare is his daughters dying yes, but moreso them being killed, there’s an axe in the wall etc, it’s about having failed to protect them.
If he can’t fuck something up or if he’s already fucked it up there’s this pacifying sense that he can’t have the rug pulled from under him, because that’s what having connections is, having a wife isn’t an insurance it’s a rug waiting to be pulled. And his brand is sort of Flawed Mr Mistakes Man so he’s kinda been having to cope lol. I do think he throws himself into workaholism, because it’s sort of the only way to live he knows, making yourself capable and useful and spending his days working like that, less time to think, too tired to think. Senses dulled, senses that are usually too sharp, cutting with clarity that he prefers ignoring and avoiding. Work is something he doesn’t have to feel through, something that gives him pride and self-esteem, something through all the danger and life or death risk feels safer, emotionally. No one taught him how to deal with things another way, it’s always been suck it up and work.
Conclusion
Stop smoking we love you and we don’t want you to die
No drinking will not externalize your feelings no it won’t vent them out well please Chilchuck ple-ea-ease…….
</3 They should invent an alcoholism that doesn’t make you dysfunctional and hard to be around
^ Drunk, by The Living Tombstone
I’ve been thinking about enneagrams and Chil is 6w7 highkey. Becomes 3 when stressed, a little 8 but it’s more that he wants security so much that he becomes paranoid rather than having the core of an 8 y’know. I haven’t dug into it for quotes yet but this paper goes hard if you’re curious.
Dropping my relevant Spotify playlists here bc why not: Chilchuck & his wife, marchil angst
#I’m allergic to making short casual speculation posts apparently#Dungeon meshi#chilchuck tims#chilchuck’s family#Chilchuck’s wife#theories#meta#analysis#It was mother’s day when I decided to gather my old discord message and work on posting this so. Not fixing that intro#I’m always too late </3#Marcille singing A Girl Worth Fighting For @ Chilchuck#Spoilers#i lost half of this post TWICE. This is my Joker arc#Hopefully i can finish my web weaving about this today#Chilchuck is so cool I wish dads were real#Chilchuck “my family doesn’t need me” tims#This almost killed me it’s not even the topic it’s bc tumblr wanted me dead. This silly post. It was supposed to be CASUAL and SHORT#Analysis#i just ended up talking about chil a lot again. Give me excuses to talk about him more#Character analysis#meijack#Puckpatti#flertom#fanfic#Fumi rambles
224 notes
·
View notes
Text
🧍♂️Mental illness has won, I've written a little in-depth essay exploring Dale as a character and breaking down his personality, actions, and how it relates to Dev and Doug. Also I threw in a bunch of my own little headcanons 💀
⚠️ CONTENT WARNING ‼️ This post will contain mentions of abuse, mental illness, and eating disorders. I don't go into uncomfortable detail, but still! Keep this warning in mind when reading on. Obviously, you are very much free to disregard any takes I have if they don't align with what you perceive, especially in regards to what I personally headcannon lololol. I am highkey projecting onto Dale because I like where they took his character compared to his first appearance in the original FOP. It presents MANY questions regarding what led him to end up the way he did, and that's something I always LOVE exploring!
Anyways, please also feel free to expand on anything I bring up here! There's a LOT, and I'm sure I still forgot to mention something somewhere... 😭 (Also, keep in mind I am only on episode 20 atm, so I have more Dale content to analyze besides the fact, so I may add onto this in the future or change my onions JSKDJSKDJLSJDKSJ)
The way Dale has been portrayed in FOPANW as one of the main antagonists presents a compelling exploration of Dale's character development, particularly in relation to Dev and Doug. It suggests that Dale's journey to becoming the father he is today stems directly from the influence of Doug, who, upon Dale's release from Vicky's lemonade dungeon, very briefly acknowledges him before shifting his focus entirely to Timmy. Dale doesn't even get a moment to greet his father before Doug redirects his attention to Timmy... This moment encapsulates the emotional neglect Dale experiences at the hands of Doug literally in an instant, as Doug doesn't even let his son get a single word in before moving on to prioritizes another child he doesn't even know, no doubt leaving Dale caught in a whirlwind of emotions—from initial excitement to a profound sense of emptiness at the realization that he's just going from one location lacking in proper support to another.
(Literally "WOW IT'S MY DAD 😃" to "... 😐" in seconds when he is ignored after 7 years of trauma just so his dad can yap at some other kid 😭)
Moreover, I believe that Doug’s obsession with monetary success profoundly impacted Dale's own self-worth. Before living with Doug, Dale was already fixated on hard work to please Vicky, aiming to generate wealth. Living under Doug's influence only magnifies this mentality, leading Dale to internalize that his identity is tied to his status as a Dimmadome, where financial success equates to personal value. This relentless pursuit of wealth distorts Dale's perception of self-worth, establishing a direct correlation between his earnings and his sense of purpose. If he fails to meet his own financial expectations, he feels worthles. It's been pointed out before that he falls into despair when his ability to make money is hindered.
While I don't think Doug was as absent in Dale's life as Dale is in Dev's (obviously we can't know for sure unless ANW explores that), the emotional absence is certainly palpable. I personally like to think that Dale is aware of his own flaws, yet his pride prevents him from acknowledging them. Maybe he has the incessant voice of Doug in his head, reinforcing the belief that he must constantly generate income to avoid feeling useless... This toxic mindset might lead Dale to distance himself from Dev on purpose, as he recognizes the love he never received and perceives Dev’s lack of gratitude for his own circumstances as a stark reminder of his own impoverished childhood. Dale's bitterness and jealousy manifest in a misguided perception that Dev has everything he, Dale, has ever desired, failing to recognize that Dev's true yearning is for paternal love and attention—elements Dale is ill-equipped to provide due to his own upbringing and emotional immaturity due to having never received unconditional love and support from his own dad, which can be assumed based on Doug's priorities and personality as portrayed in the original show... (If we get more seasons for A New Wish, I hope that they get a chance to explore Dales dynamic with Doug one on one, that could be something very interesting, I think, even if it is only mentioned briefly...)
Dale's behavior is UNDENIABLY selfish and manipulative, painting him as a narcissist. However, these traits can also be viewed as a defense mechanism, a survival strategy developed in response to a lifetime of neglect and abuse. There is a possibility that throughout his life, Dale has learned to trust no one but himself, leading to a bottled-up emotional state that makes him appear aloof on the surface. Consequently, he mirrors the tactics used against him by Vicky, employing similar strategies to cope with his own vulnerabilities, manipulating others and prioritizing money over the well-being of others. To outsiders, he may appear as a self-important narcissist, but this could easily be a façade that masks his desperate need for validation on his self-worth, which he vainly seeks through material wealth and accolades. When someone has no control over their life, they seek control through other means...
The accumulation of wealth becomes a means for Dale to convince himself of his greatness. Surrounded by paintings and statues of himself, he clings to the notion that financial success equates to personal value. It's a tragic cycle of self-deception; he rationalizes his wealth as proof of his worthiness, seeking external validation to fill the void within with which he lacks the proper tools to confront in a meaningful and healthy way. This could very well be an example of him attempting to take control of his own thoughts and feelings towards himself.
Dale clings to his wealth as a tangible affirmation of his worth as an individual, a testament to his perceived success and brilliance. 'Look at all this money I have! I have literally everything I could ever want and more! Don't you agree? Don't you think I'm rich? Aren't I doing well carrying my father's legacy as a Dimmadome? (Please recognize my status. Tell me I’m good. Validate my worth by giving me money.)' That type of mentality. This desperate plea for acknowledgment underscores a deeper insecurity, revealing his need for external validation to reinforce his self-esteem. He is the kind of man who believes that money solves all your problems, and maybe there's a chance that he has told himself that enough times that he finally started to believe it. He even seems to speak of his own traumatic experience working for Vicky as something that built his character. He LITERALLY carries a picture of his trauma around in his pocket and happily shows it to Dev...
"When I was you're age, I spent my Saturdays working in a FACTORY underneath a lemonade stand, for SEVEN YEARS. That's 364 Saturdays, do you know how many Saturday morning cartoons I missed out on!? ALL OF THEM... And look at the man I turned out to be." This quote vividly paints him as a bitter and jealous adult because he missed out on having a proper childhood, all while emphasizing that he views his trauma almost like a GOOD thing... Because otherwise he wouldn't be where he is now, so it HAD to be good, right? Just look at the man he turned out to be! (This guy is coping so hard! 😭)
In contrast, Dev appears to be navigating his OWN identity through the lens of his father's image, perhaps in an attempt to earn his approval. It's a common phenomenon for children to reflect their parents' behaviors, whether through mimicking their language, fashion, or taking on their parent's interests as their own... I believe it was Dev's choice to emulate his father's style... The white jacket and boots with gold accents paired with dark pants and slicked back hair... It suggests a conscious effort to mirror Dale on Dev's part. It seems unlikely that Dale actively encourages this mimicry; rather, it appears to stem from Dev's own desire for recognition, and the age old inclination nearly every child has with idolizing their parents and wanting to grow up to be JUST like them... Whether Dale is oblivious to this or simply indifferent remains a bit of a mystery.
Something else I've thought about is that Dev's tendency to wear sunglasses could also signify his own struggle with vulnerability, as he often obscures his eyes, maybe in an attempt to shield himself from the world or prevent himself from revealing to much emotion, much like his father. Yet, I've noticed a pattern with Dev. Sometimes, when he is feeling particularly vulnerable or upset, he removes the shades, revealing a desire to be seen and understood— a stark contrast to Dale, who prefers to hide behind his wealth and image and avoid eye contact at all costs unless the topic of discussion is money.
I like to think that Dale’s tendency to avoid eye contact could be interpreted as a defense mechanism against the judgment he feels from others, as if he can't stand seeing the way people judge him (This is just my own personal HC). This avoidance would stem from a deep-seated insecurity that was planted in him at a young age and never got uprooted before it took hold. Perhaps he feels scrutinized and exposed, with the exception being when the conversation shifts to financials... In these instances, he may feel a temporary sense of control, something he has lacked his WHOLE life, on top of never being properly loved when it mattered most in regards to the development of his brain.
I feel like Dale's pride would keep him from confronting his emotional turmoil, leading him to suffer in silence. He guards his vulnerabilities closely, perhaps fearing that revealing his pain would make it 'real'. The prospect of others discovering his deep-seated feelings of inadequacy terrifies him, reinforcing his need to maintain a façade of success. Because of this, he ends up reflecting narcissistic traits on the surface to make up for his own incompetence.
I also HC that Dale's emotional distance from Dev is a conscious choice rooted in his own experiences of fatherly love—or rather, the lack thereof. His upbringing under Doug no doubt left Dale with a warped understanding of affection and how one goes about loving another person. I mean... Just look back at their first interaction in the original cartoon where Doug didn't even give Dale a second to say anything before turning his attention to Timmy, basically saying 'You are not as important as the thing that can give me money or free labor', which is an attitude he carries into adulthood with Dev.
Dale's perception of his son also seems clouded by envy, as he watches Dev embrace the childhood experiences he himself was deprived of. This dynamic could explain why Dale sometimes appears 'burdened' by Dev's presence; he may be grappling with the painful reminder of what he missed out on. The interplay between their identities and emotional needs highlights the complexities of familial relationships, particularly in the context of legacy and the expectations placed upon them. The cyclical nature of this dynamic becomes a poignant exploration of how unresolved issues from one generation can profoundly impact the next if left unresolved. In this context, it becomes apparent that Dale’s deliberate push against any emotional attatchment with Dev is a projection of his own unresolved feelings.
Dale's existence has been predominantly defined by work and money, reducing him to a mere instrument for generating wealth—essentially, the heir to the Dimmadome fortune. This is not a matter of opinion, but fact... And this type of upbringing has deprived him of the fundamental aspects of being treated as a person with emotional needs, to which he passes onto his own son. To Vicky, Dale was barely human. Left with a gaggle of other presumably kidnapped or trafficked children that she used to generate money for herself while neglecting their basic needs, like providing them with food, water, proper sunlight and places to sleep. Just look at Dale's body right after he is freed compared to his appearance when he's older. He was significantly skinnier and much paler than Timmy and his dad. Not to mention the tattered clothes that barely fit him and the dirt and grime covering his body.
Expanding off his abuse under Vicky, if we consider the realisfic ramifications regarding that whole situation, I HC that Dale would struggle with food consumption in the sense that he might over indulge due to the ingrained fear of not knowing the next time he's going to eat, and then feeling self conscious about himself after the fact and 'punishing' himself by not eating for extended periods of time. Additionally, though it's said as a joke in the original show, Dale expresses his discomfort seeing natural light... "The light! It burns!"
(Also note how skinny the kid in the background on the right is! Holy shit! Vicky was obviously NOT concerned with their well being, this would absolutely affect Dale mentally)
But if we take this throwaway line seriously, it's important to note that people who are kept in the dark for extended periods of time can have their vision permanently damaged. So, I like to imagine that Dale wears contacts or even reading glasses on occasion when no one else is around. (Just cause I think reading glasses are cute... 😭 Also I love over analyzing cartoon men... 🫶 Also I love taking things too seriously in regards to my headcanons teehee 😇)
Ultimately, Dale's emotional landscape is one of confusion and disconnection, leaving him with no framework for how to genuinely love someone. His interactions with Dev reveal a complex web of projection, unfulfilled desires, and a tragic inability to break free from the cycle of emotional neglect that has defined his life.
In conclusion...
#fairly oddparents#fopanw#fairly oddparents a new wish#dale dimmadome#dev dimmadome#doug dimmadome#headcanons#headcanon#long post#I enjoy psychoanalyzing cartoon characters 🫶
102 notes
·
View notes
Text
For me, the award for character growth has to go to Jin Xiaobao. 🥇
I know Huai’en has developed so much with regard to emotions—it’s like night and day going back to the first episodes—but overall he’s still mostly the same person. He was always smart, and his moral code was always questionable at best because of his upbringing. The biggest difference there now is that he cares about Xiaobao and makes decisions based on what will hurt him. He’s still okay with watching things burn or sacrificing himself if it will help Xiaobao, though. Not a criticism, just an observation. It’s not entirely fundamentally different from the early Huai’en who said that the world beyond his father’s plans wasn’t his concern and fought like he had a death wish.
Xiaobao, on the other hand, is fundamentally different. He has changed at all levels of development. Hear me out.
At the start, he would throw his affections at anybody who caught his eye in the moment and was extremely fickle. Now, he has been told people will set him up with lovely ladies so he can start a family at least twice, but he doesn’t entertain the notion because he knows there are bigger priorities, like his illness and taking care of his family and friends. Given that one of those offers came at the height of his disdain for Huai’en, it’s unlikely that it boils down to simply being lovesick, though that’s surely part of it. He’s been burned badly by that fickle attraction of his this time, so he’s far more discerning about his priorities. He doesn’t leap back into a relationship with Huai’en; even finding out about him giving up his title and getting the emperor to pardon them sent Xiaobao running to warn him about the trap, not running into his arms. His forgiveness isn’t so easily won anymore because instead of acting on a whim, he’s setting aside emotions and willfulness to emphasize prior experience. He knows his emotions and how he acts on them don’t just impact him anymore, so now his willfulness is tempered by his sense of responsibility.
On the subject of emotions, they were also far less stable and more manipulative before. If he didn’t get the responses he wanted, he’d toss a small fit, and his emotions could be like a rollercoaster at times. (“Pour me some water,” anyone?) He even planned to use that tendency to convince his mother their relationship was all right by turning on the waterworks. Now, he’s far more stable even with everything happening to him. By all accounts, this guy should be an absolute mess. He should have flipped his lid when Que Siming insinuated that he wanted to take Jinbao away—permanently. Instead, he doesn’t fly off the handle at things and takes a moment to think rather than base his responses on assumptions, especially self-centered ones.
Speaking of, he’s not at all self-centered anymore. He has repeatedly made mention of the fact that he can’t be a spoiled young master forever and that there is no going back for him. When confronting his feelings about Huai’en, he mentions his parents now being impoverished and homeless before his own struggles; he even talks about Xiaoyu being taken away and glosses over any sense of betrayal in their relationship in favor of focusing on the general betrayal of taking the account book. Even in moments when he could be justifiably angry with Su Yin for trying to keep him from doing whatever he wants with regard to Huai’en, he takes a step back and seems to consider why Su Yin is doing all this. He doesn’t expect Su Yin’s approach to change with his emotions or whims, given how unreliable he knows those have been before, and tailors his arguments to make it about logic and reason instead.
Another segue! Intellectually, Xiaobao has grown so much. On two occasions, he’s had to ask people to basically use smaller words; he passed the brain cell around with Jinbao and Zhaocai and was quite happy to take custody of it as seldom as possible. He still has moments where he doesn’t pick up on things, like not knowing his idioms or Su Yin’s sarcasm about selling Jinbao going right over his head, but he thinks now. He’s so insulated and protected that sometimes he needs a hint to spark his suspicions, but he thinks. All Que Siming had to say was “dahlia” and “Yuxia,” and Xiaobao was able to put together that something in Su Yin’s story didn’t add up. For someone who was teased about not understanding when he asked what Prince Li wanted Su Yin to return to Annan for, he’s repeatedly put together the intricacies of court politics in light of Huai’en’s identity and Su Yin’s plan with Shaoyu. His reaction is a culmination of all the aforementioned changes: not self-centered enough to make it about him even when he knows it really is, not overly emotional enough to be angry about it when he has plenty of reason, and smart enough to know how to address it in conversation. (Does it stop Su Yin from knocking him the hell out because he didn’t come this far for his little brother to hop back into what he perceives to be an abusive relationship? Nope, but you can see that it still means something to Su Yin to hear him speak that way all the same.)
I’m excited to read the book because a story like this really can’t be fully told in twelve episodes, but as far as his portrayal in the series goes, Xiaobao gets the gold medal in development for me. All of the characters have grown immensely from the start, but for me, Xiaobao is the one who has become the most well-rounded as a person through his experiences—including those unrelated to his relationship with Huai’en. He’s still the sunshine boy, but he knows when to rise and set now rather than burning himself and everyone around him out.
#meet you at the blossom#myatb#myatb spoilers#jin xiaobao#sorry had to get those thoughts down somewhere#myatb meta
84 notes
·
View notes
Note
How are you feeling on Absolute Superman as a character? I dunno, Absolute WW and Batman are right out on the gate with their massive changes, but this Superman still feels like it's business as usual despite not being Clark Kent. Maybe it's 'cause I've seen some of this stufff done by Morrison already.
Absolute Wonder Woman is straight up the same person as her mainline counterpart despite her different background. I cannot think of a single moment where she's done something yet that made me go "Earth 0 Diana would never do that". I imagine that's Thompson's intention, she's changed Diana's upbringing, powerset, and gear but not her character. Despite everything, this is still recognizably Wonder Woman. Tradeoff is that I don't know if Thompson will take advantage of the opportunity to give this Diana her own unique personality quirks, to really make this Diana "hers".
Absolute Batman is different specifically from Scott Snyder's New 52 Batman - but not that different from "regular" Batman. By that I mean Snyder wrote New 52 Batman as a chatterbox. Either he was constantly talking and even dropping quips, or he was monologuing to himself in narrative boxes. Absolute Batman is much more terse, helped by how Alfred is the POV character instead of Bruce, but that's how writers usually write Batman. Usually he doesn't talk much, which means while this Batman is a departure from the mainline version under Snyder's pen, he's not that different from the regular guy. More brutal to be sure, mainline Batman doesn't usually maim people - but even then he sometimes cripples them. Batman isn't too different either.
Snyder advertised the AU as maintaining the core of the heroes while changing the circumstances and some of the details. Keeping that in mind, it's no surprise Superman doesn't diverge too much from his mainline counterpart either. For the record I thought issue 2 did a great job in laying out what this Superman's deal is. As Lois notes, he's still testing and coming to terms with his powers. He has mixed feeling regarding Earth and humanity. He's proud of his heritage as the son of workers, we see that in how he tells Lois he's another "Child of the Dirt". Kal claims solidarity with the human working class, even calling them by the same title he gave to the Kryptonian laborers: People of Steel. In other words they are his people. We've gotten a leftist Superman before in the early Siegel and Shuster as well as the Morrison New 52 Action run, but this is the first Superman who openly says "yes I am a working class hero and a proud one at that". Everything about Aaron's revamp of Superman emphasizes that. His parents are laborers instead of nobles, his first foe is a megacorp that uses Peacemakers as a Pinkerton-esque organization to beat down the workers. Superman's first act as a hero we see isn't catching a helicopter or smashing a car, it's singlehandedly clearing out a mine of diamonds and asbestos so the impoverished miners don't have to risk their lives. Even the new backstory for his s-shield, which recasts it as the mark of laborers, on Krypton feeds into that.
But he does actually say something that mainline Superman wouldn't: he flat out tells Lois she's everything wrong with Earth. When Clark acknowledges humanity is flawed, he usually follows it up with an impassionate defense of how humanity is good despite their flaws. On some level Clark needs that to be true, because he views himself as human (at least at the start), as one of us. Clark needs to believe we're good in spite of our flaws because he needs to believe the same of himself, and wants to think we will accept him. Kal meanwhile just let's that accusation hang there. Clearly he has seen the worst of humanity, and he's not making excuses for us. Some of us are bastards. Some of us might be irredeemable. To me that was very illuminating in how it teases certain aspects of Kal's backstory. Kal is an outsider, he's Kryptonian, and he's viewing us from outside the box.
Biggest difference between New 52 Superman and Absolute Superman? New 52 Superman was cocky. Even downright arrogant at times in his early days which I loved. Clark would openly taunt the cops and criminals alike. Know why? Because he had the happy Smallville upbringing! His earliest memories of life on Earth were of loving his parents and being loved. Smallville was a happy place that instilled in him a sense of self-worth. When the Kents died it was when he was already almost a man, and he had Lana still. All of that gave him the confidence to challenge the world, because it was his world too. Absolute Superman? Doesn't have that same confidence. Presumably he saw how his father and mother were treated for being Labor Caste. Kal knew they weren't valued the same as the higher castes, and you can imagine how that might have affected his sense of self-worth.
On Krypton Kal learned that the people in charge rarely have the best interests of their underlings in mind. However the morals he was instilled by the Els were of the same nature as what the Kents traditionally teach. Kal is compassionate, courageous, and determined to make a difference. As Lois notes, his ethos are solid. It's his purpose and place in life that remains a question mark for now. What we have gotten so far I like, but we won’t know the whole of this Superman until we get more details on his wanderings across Earth prior to where we see him in issue 1.
Funnily enough, Absolute Superman is the only one of three who actually feels like he's living up to Snyder's pitch of "underdog heroes". He's on the run with zero support. Batman has his mom, Alfred, and his childhood friends, he's working a six figure job, he's not isolated. Diana has Steve, her Pegasus, and the military backing her up (for now). Kal? He's got no one except his suit AI, and while Sol is helping stay alive, it's not supporting him at all in his heroic ambitions. Even Lois, while coming around to supporting him, hasn't actually quit her job and ran off to join him. At the end of issue 2 he's still a lone wanderer. All those people he worked to save in issue 2? Brutally gunned down by Peacemaker. Of the three it's Superman who feels the bleakest, and I'm loving it. Finally have a Superman book with the balls to ask the question: "is it worth it to try and be a good man in a world that spits on anyone who wants to better it?" Looking forward to seeing how the book wrestles with that central theme.
46 notes
·
View notes
Text
Volume 11 ft. Revy.
#Revy Lee#manga covers#Manga volume cover#Official art#Blacl Lagoon#BLACK LAGOON#Rebecca Lee#Mentally unstable#rei hiroe#Gunslinger/mercenary#black lagoon company#Asian-American#Chinese-American#had a shitty & impoverished upbringing#seinen#anime and manga#in her mid to late 20s
24 notes
·
View notes
Text
How Attack on Titan Speaks to Nature over Nurture
I think one of the themes of AoT is this idea of how our nature's are the things that really drive us to be who we are, and to do the things we do, rather than the circumstances of our lives. Not in all cases, but in general.
Nature versus nurture is a long standing conversation, of course, a constant argument when trying to understand what motivates us and what shapes us. Is it our nature, who we're born as, or is it our experiences and the environment we're born into? This can be asked of humanity in general, and this idea is demonstrated by the end of the story, that humanity as a whole is, by nature, a warring, tribal, violent species. That humans cannot, ultimately, overcome their own natures.
AoT takes the stance, by and large, that it's our natures that define us, over whatever experiences nurtured us, and I think that particular theme is most clearly embodied by Levi and Eren. We can understand it best by contrasting them, and their lives, and seeing where it is they end up.
If one was to take the stance that it's nurture which defines us, then by logic, we would see Levi becoming a monster, and Eren becoming a hero.
Levi had a devastatingly hard life. Born into extreme poverty and deprivation. He watched his mother die in front of him from an illness likely contracted from her life as a sex worker, and he nearly followed her from starvation. The only person who came to help him, in the end, was a serial killer who did his best to instill his own lack of empathy for human life into Levi, before abandoning him on the streets of the most dangerous and desperate place behind the walls, a place where Levi would have had to engage in morally dubious behavior simply to stay alive.
And then there's Eren, born on the surface, into a loving family, a doctor for a father and a doting mother, two parents who cared and provided for him, and a sister in Mikasa who followed him like a shadow and protected him, the only danger he ever encountered being the fights he himself would start with other children.
And yet, despite the circumstances of each of their respective lives, it's Levi who became a hero, and Eren who became a monster.
In the end, Eren isn't able to overcome his monstrous nature. He cares for and loves his friends, genuinely, but his childish nature, his selfish nature, is ultimately what dictates his course and actions and who and what he becomes. His life was privileged, but it wasn't enough to turn him away from his destructive and violent inclinations. We see Eren for the last time, truly, sitting in a pool of human blood, hair and teeth, amidst the victims of his selfishness and monstrosity.
And in the end, for Levi, his nature wins out over the desperate and violent circumstances of his birth, childhood and young adulthood. Levi's nature wins out over the legacy of violence and cruelty he was born into to become a selfless and caring man. His life was impoverished and deprived, filled with brutiality, but it wasn't enough to turn him away from his naturally gentle compassion and kindness. We see Levi for the last time sitting amongst a group of children, handing them candy out of a box, amidst their smiles and laughter.
Each case highlights nature over nurture.
Both Eren's and Levi's natures win out over their circumstances. Through these two characters especially we see how our natures, not our upbringings, are what decide for us how we'll turn out. We don't become good or bad people based solely on our experiences. We may do bad things, we may have to commit bad acts in response to otherwise unwinnable situations, engage in violence in order to survive, but those acts in and of themselves don't determine who we are, and those circumstances don't act as an excuse for what sort of people we are in our hearts.
Essentially, Attack on Titan shows us how each person is, ultimately, responsible for their own choices, their own actions, their own being. Whether you're the type of person to do the right thing when the time comes, or the type of person to do the wrong thing, isn't decided by how you were treated, but by who you are.
227 notes
·
View notes
Text
14 year old Rebecca.
#Seinen#Rei Hiroe#Black Lagoon OVA#Anime and Manga#early 2000's anime & manga#Black Lagoon Omake#Season 2#Rebecca “Revy” Lee#Childhood flashbacks#teen Rebecca “Revy” Lee#Abusive and impoverished upbringing#Born into Poverty#Chinese-American character#black lagoon: the second barrage#Roberta's Bloodtrail OVA#Rokurou “Rock” Okajima (teen)#Japanese character#Madhouse studio#Early 2000s
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
taranza definitely had a noble upbringing but idk whether he’d have grown up like, legitimately rich or merely an impoverished patrician with a noble title to inherit and not much else (up until he became his best friend’s court wizard, in which his standards of living became far more comfortable). he’s definitely wealthy now at least
23 notes
·
View notes
Text
I am not about to sit here and claim that any work is above reproach, but so many criticisms of RENT are either directly addressed within the show or are just. not true. and this perennial discourse about how Problematic it is annoys me, so here we go
Why don't they just pay the rent?
are you kidding me
did you watch the show??
they don't have any money
the situation established at the beginning is that Benny has allowed them to stay in their apartment rent free for the past year because Roger was unable to work and he and Mark wouldnt be able to afford living expenses as well as Roger's medication otherwise.
Benny then tells them that unless they break up Maureen's protest, they will not only have to immediately start paying rent, they will also have to pay back the entire previous year's rent or else be evicted
needless to say if you ware barely scraping by, you do not have a year's worth of rent and then some just sitting on hand
Mark was cosplaying poverty, he could've gone back to his parents' house at any time.
perhaps
all we know about Mark's parents from canon is that theyre pushy and he doesnt want to live with them. We don't know any details of their living situation or home life
but even if he would have been fine moving back home, it would have meant abandoning both the community he had grown into, and Roger.
Roger literally had not left the apartment since April died, and was not well enough to work to support himself at the time. Mark leaving would mean leaving Roger without support.
Mark's view of the homeless is often voyeuristic and expoitative.
yah
the conflict between Mark's comparatively privileged upbringing and the poverty amongst which he now lives is a major part of his character
remember when that homeless lady told him to fuck off
that didnt just slip in by accident
The whole show is about not being able to afford things, and then Mark quits his job for his Ideals.
Mark was not entirely jobless before being employed at the magazine. He wasn't going from having a job to unemployment. He always had money for food, clothes, medication, etc., even if it was tight
he just wasn't employed in his field. it wasnt a question of Having A Job or Not; it was about whether Mark was willing to accept the chance to get closer to making a living off of his art, even if it went against his morals, or whether he could be content carving out filmmaking for himself in a way that felt right
I thought Jonathan Larson was gay and died of AIDS.
not his fault??
neither Larson nor his estate ever claimed either of those things, you just jumped to a conclusion and made it everyone elses' problem
I can't believe this is a common "criticism"
A straight man has no right to write about the AIDS epidemic.
I dont know how to tell you this, but AIDS is not a gays-only disease. what are you, a politician from 1986?
RENT was not about being gay, it was about the disease. Roger, Mimi, Mark, and Benny- half the main cast- are all straight as far as the audience is aware. other than gay people, the most at-risk groups at the time were IV drug users, sex workers, people of colour, and impoverished people, all of whom are represented in the show
Larson may not have had AIDS, but many of his friends and loved ones did, and died of it. how incredibly callous to say that someone cannot write about the tragedy they personally lived through, just because they are not of the demographic you most associate with it
Larson plagiarized the whole cast and all the major story beats from Sarah Shulman's People in Trouble.
this is one that cropped up on tiktok a couple years ago
have you read the book?
I have
the only similarities are that they are both about poverty and AIDS in New York, and there are characters who cheat on their partners. that's it.
it's like saying Veep plagiarized The West Wing because theyre both about white house staffers. or like those guys who claim any fantasy story featuring swords and the hero's journey is a Star Wars ripoff. it' absurd.
RENT is directly and openly based off the opera La Bohème by Puccini, as well as incorporating autobiographical elements from Larson's life
stop just repeating things you hear
in conclusion: there are real criticisms and analyses to be had with RENT, but these are not them
31 notes
·
View notes
Text
mild observations from the hagio moto/hideaki anno interview
this is the first mention I've ever seen of anno's upbringing straight from the horse's mouth. I always assumed that he was private about his early life for his own reasons, so it's fascinating to see him describe his upbringing as unremarkably normal, albeit a bit impoverished. it's also kind of nice finding out that the reason he let all those grade school kids dunk on him during that one tv interview was because he's deathly afraid of accidentally hurting a child's feelings.
concurrent with that its actually crazy to see him acknowledge that he views miyazaki in something of a fatherlike capacity and also sees him as someone whose approval he vys for. for years it was speculated that a lot of the negative emotions channeled into nge stemmed from his time working directly under miyazaki in his time at studio ghibli- in particular shinji/gendo and rei/gendo's relationships...and he just admits it here. Fun fact: miyazaki stole anno's SDAT player during the development of Nausicaa so he could listen to a particular song on loop, broke it by accident and then gave it back to him.
I loved the "otakus are uncool" conversation because it runs entirely in conflict to anno's temperament in the whole interview. he opens by gushing about much of a fan he is of hagio moto's work, how much he loves her sense of style and direction, and he even asks her when the next volume of A Cruel God Reigns is releasing. she provides a cool perspective on nge, but he's literally talking to her from the perspective of a fan! "otaku are uncool" but its the only thing he can be. when he calls The Matrix uncool (much to hagio and sato's surprise) it almost felt like reflexive self depreciation.
hagio's manager stepping in to stop her from talking about her mother was funny. girl we Know.
46 notes
·
View notes