#it seems like the arc would have to be her repressing her feelings even more and then its over and whatever

[saulbaby]

Thinkin abt my me3 sequel to white black gray.....the vibes and start are so clear 2 me but I can't see a definitive and satisfying ending that goes with Canon

[couldtransitionsaveher]

NAKAMOTO "SHIRO" TOSHIRO from DUNGEON MESHI

JUSTIFICATION:

"- Shown to have been uncomfortable with male gender roles since childhood, sensitive & feminine to the point that the girls she was friends with poked fun of her about it, and her governess literally terrorized her into giving up her interests in cute bugs so she could spend more time training to fight (she was not enthusiastic.) - The most repressed and shy person to ever live, constantly forcing down all her own desires and interests just to live up to family + societal expectations... - But the first time she expresses any real wants of her own as an adult is when she meets a girl with huge transfem vibes (Falin) and develops a huge unrequited crush she has no idea how to deal with non-awkwardly (which in turn has led an insane small number of fans to treat her like a creep for just having a crush on a girl despite being consistently respectful, considerate, and not at all pushy?? even her haters must subconsciously know she's trans, that's how they know to be transmisogynistic lmao) - Her single attempted friendship with a man was a whole mess because they couldn't relate to or understand each other at all (mostly for cultural reasons but lbr the fact that she has no genuine interest in traditionally masculine subjects and the man in question very much did had to have been part of it), but seems to have a substantially easier time communicating & getting along with women whether or not they're from the same cultural background (her best & seemingly only close childhood friend, Hien, was a girl, and she has no problem getting along with even more brash, blunt women from sharply different cultures like Namari) - Her entire character arc is about how she needs to learn to stop putting herself under insane, unhealthy pressure to live up to family & societal expectations, repressing and rejecting anything "weird" in the process, and should learn to express & advocate for her own feelings and wants instead. Give Her Estrogen it would be narratively sooo fitting & coherent I believe this in my heart - Vibes. There's just something so transfem about getting your first crush at 25 because it's the first time you met another girl who also thinks bugs/crustaceans/etc are cute and nice actually" - Anonymous

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[dekusleftsock]

I think that there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what exactly is…happening with Izuku’s character. Specifically in regards to chapter 425.

I’m glad that a lot more people generally recognize that Izuku is not a character that can be read at a surface level, given that he’s both a repressed person with built up emotion of basically everything and also a very glaringly HUGELY unreliable narrator, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with the ways I’ve seen this most recent chapter spoken about.

I see posts, comments, etc with ideas like “Izuku don’t suppress your emotions! Open up with people! It’ll be okay I promise!” When that’s fundamentally not what is happening here.

There’s always always ALWAYS been a distinct difference in character throughout horikoshi’s writing when he is showing that a character is:

A—Avoiding emotions, thoughts, ideas less than ideal for them. Not opening up when they probably should about their problems given that they’ve been handed the space to do so. Just genuinely not acknowledging, feeling, or expressing emotions that they don’t want.

B—Reflecting on the ways they feel about the world, themselves, or other people given their new perspective on a situation. Not outright reaching out to others to talk about these problems/feelings, but instead waiting until the moment they feel they have the most confidence to do so with their new outlook on their own life.

And genuinely, guys, to grab your BkDk attention rn, this is the exact reason why Ochako’s reflection on her feelings for Izuku and thereafter decision to pull away from them WAS NEVER GOING TO END IN OCHAKO EXPLODING WITH HER LOVE FOR HIM.

This was another common interpretation I saw of Ochako and Izuocha for a long time. That because she pushed these feelings away, they were somehow going to explode in this unbelievable way and she would “get the boy” because of it. That her arc would surround accepting her romantic feelings and that she can’t just push away how she feels for a career.

But yk. That didn’t happen. At all. Nowhere close even.

The same kind of goes for Katsuki, allmight, etc. They all had moments in their arc where it was spent genuinely reflecting, and the only reason we as the audience never connected it in the same ways we do ochako or Izuku was ALWAYS BECAUSE the narrative showed their inner thoughts while doing so (mostly because Allmight’s arc after losing OFA and Katsuki’s arc on what it means to be a hero were so intrinsically tied, both starting at the same time and ending at the same time during the final war. And because they were so tied this caused their own reflections, development, and thought process to be broadcasted to us frequently throughout their arcs… to each other. They also somewhat shared aspects with Izuku, but these were cherry picked more often than not, like dvk2 for example).

To us Katsuki never seemed to be.. idk, suppressing his anger in any way because we were always told what he was doing and why (side note: this is why I’ve always thought arguments against Katsuki were so weird, bc unlike characters like endeavor or Ochako he wasn’t like… hiding who he was and how he was changing. Ever. Like the audience knows at all times past basically season 3 what Katsuki is thinking and doing. Like how do you watch this happen, stare me dead in the eye, and tell me how much of a terrible and awful teenage boy he is. Like damn I didn’t think we were this dumb. This is also my theory as to why he’s most popular, his arc is very… in your face if that makes sense). Katsuki’s entire mini arc on reflecting his mistakes and his childhood and his future is spent TELLING YOU that it’s what he’s doing. (I’m referring mostly to the endeavor internship arc, the provisional license exam makeup, and basically everything in the war arc related to him leading up to bakugou Katsuki rising here)

And see, Horikoshi will stare you dead in the eye, tell you “this girl has taken into consideration that she doesn’t want to waste her time training her career focusing on a boy because he kinda caught her fancy”, and y’all will still say that this will explode in her face.

Y’all this is a series about learning how to manage emotions, maturity in relationship to one’s emotions, how to feel an emotion, but in a way that is helpful. Horikoshi isn’t telling you “go buck wild, feel everything all the time and always express it”, in fact he explores why you DONT do that! Through Toga or Shigaraki, they show how grief and anger can genuinely consume you. But he also shows why you shouldn’t just put everything in a box to never look at or acknowledge, or why you shouldn’t just let your grief destroy the world around you, or pretending that some emotions simply don’t exist.

I can’t say this enough, so let me say it now, mha is about the extremes of your psyche. That you should control something, but not too much. Everything can be harmful. Everything can be good.

Izuku is not controlling too much, he’s expressing just enough.

I LOVE shaming this dickhead at all times in all my posts. I love saying he’s an ignorant dipshit with a weird amount of distaste for a girl who just confessed to him. I’ve joked that chapter 348 is basically an entire chapter spent on Izuku calling Himiko a mean dyke. And yet I also believe he’s doing nothing WRONG here.

In fact, I’ll even say that this moment right here?

ISNT EVEN IZUKU DOING THE SOCIALLY APPROPRIATE THING ABOUT IT! But he’s still TRYING to reach out to someone he thinks MIGHT be able to understand. (And frankly, this moment is far deeper than what it’s being made out to be, to me it reads more like an unrequited friendship that Izuku both desires and has thought of them to have, while simultaneously showing the distance Ochako has successfully wedged between them for her own sake. Maybe it was always there though, maybe in weird, miscommunicated Horikoshi fashion, this is a representation of how Ochako always read all those “fun friend hangouts” as a little more than that, and without those feelings the friendship never really held any substance to her in the first place. Where Izuku saw his first real friend at UA, she saw little more than acquaintance)

Simultaneously, Izuku is genuinely reflecting on what it means for the world to change, to be a hero, to live after loss—and trying and failing to gain the connection he desires from individuals who can not and will not afford him that.

Izuku is ready for the world to change, a few select characters are also ready for the world to change (mirio, for example), but not nearly enough are. So maybe I’ll have to take this back if I’m proven wrong and I accidentally looked into this far past what everyone else did for no reason, but I genuinely believe with moments like this

And this

Aand this

That Izuku has come forward with that aspect of his character development. He’s reflecting on his new beliefs, not repressing his emotions for them.

[overleftdown]

this is going to be my somewhat-brief analysis (buckle in, it's not brief at all) of preluding scenes to farleigh and olivers... scene, lmao. because i can't read micro-expressions and social cues IRL, but i can for movies! also, i want to give my understanding of farleigh's character using the most substantial part of his arc. i disagree so much with a lot of people's takes on farleigh. i needed to talk extensively about it.

[0:58:46] farleigh makes eye contact with a footman. this is one of the footmen that farleigh mentions to felix in a later scene, which i'll also go into. what's interesting about this subtle interaction is how wildly differently you could consider it, depending on how you choose to view farleigh as a character. if you go the "mirror of oliver," route, then this eye contact could be the moment farleigh decides the route he's going to take to confront felix.

on the other hand, the hand that i believe makes more sense, farleigh is genuine in his confrontation with felix. the eye contact he shares with the footman is reciprocated; the footman holds it, even as his body pulls back and his head turns. this gives the idea that they are making a connection. the expression farleigh makes afterwards is also an indication that farleigh isn't plotting or scheming to earn pity points; he feels a connection and comradery with the only other black people at saltburn. when the footman turns away, unneeded anymore (this can be a parallel to farleigh), farleigh glances down, back up, then purses his lips. he looks dejected, in my opinion. this is immediately followed by farleigh's dig at oliver; "i think oliver looks like he'd rather throw himself out of a window.

food for thought.

[0:59:9] elsbeth: you can invite all your friends. farleigh: what friends?

this can obviously be a petty dig. and it is, in some ways. but i think a lot of these petty digs are because farleigh has been here before. he has watched his cousin drag home mediocre and tragic (presumably) white boys for perceived self-benefit. whether felix wants entertainment, wants to quell his guilty conscious (both of which are motivations for his mother), felix seems to have these fleeting possessive relationships with the friends he brings back to saltburn. he could also be queer and deeply repressed, lmfao.

i digress; farleigh is sick and tired. the first thing he says to oliver, before oliver even got to felix, was bitchy as all hell. after that, farleigh had more incentive to belittle oliver; yes, his comments about mannerisms, class, and overall character were petty. they were also all of the qualities that farleigh couldn't afford to have. farleigh is pointing out that oliver has no social life, yet still gets a 200-person party full of people that don't even know his name. this is tragically unfair, at least in farleigh's mind.

[1:01:25] felix: and fucking farleigh, what a little shit stirrer. oliver: well, someone has to entertain us all. felix: ...right. oliver: that's why we love him.

there's a clear disregard of humanity and depth, when felix concedes that farleigh is "entertainment." the sheer fact that felix would immediately believe oliver, a "stranger (as venetia so eloquently puts)" over a close family member, is odd on it's own. there are probably more reasons for distrust; everyone in saltburn is a shit stirrer, and farleigh does put on a particularly good show.

that's intentional, though. farleigh is very intentionally entertainment. otherwise, why would the cattons keep him around? they're welcoming people to their house as family, because they want a break from the reality of soul sucking wealth. because they want entertainment. elsbeth with her friend, who's only real personality traits are being pitiful and visibly different. felix, with his summer pet projects like oliver. farleigh can't be a temporary show; he needs to keep coming back. he needs sir james to support his mother.

[1:02:40] farleigh: i'm not saying my mother isn't completely idiotic when it comes to money. felix: you just have to be firm with her. farleigh: well i can't call her and tell her no! felix: i know, i know, you've said that. i know, i understand. farleigh: no, you don't know! you don't, it's humiliating. felix: it's very hard.

felix's approach to discussing other people's issues--that he does not relate to--makes me giggle sometimes. not that he's malicious or a fumbling idiot, but because of this scene specifically. in just this chunk of dialogue, you have the "i understand" and "you don't understand" conflict. an age old one. a common representation of someone who has never lived a specific struggle yet frames themselves as knowledgeable. felix seems to enjoy the "it's very hard" verbiage. the manner in which he speaks to oliver about his supposed impoverishment and struggles is very similar to the way he speaks to farleigh, in this scene.

i don't know what else to say about this. you can make your own inferences on felix's dialogue, i suppose.

[1:02:50] farleigh: i'm sorry, but it's a bit fucking shitty. you're all throwing oliver a party for 200 people while my mother lives in squalor. felix: well, she's hardly living in squalor, mate. farleigh: well she can't pay her bills so she will be! okay? at the rate she's going, she will be.

GAH. again, this dialogue can be considered in two different ways. farleigh could be hyperbolizing in order to play into the catton savior complex. or he could be completely genuine in his anxiety surrounding his mother's finances. it's very important that you recognize the fact that farleigh isn't arguing about himself, in this situation. he's talking about his mother. later in the conversation, he recenters himself as a person of color. but the original conflict is about whether or not his mom is living comfortably. this arguably affects him, but not entirely. he could continue to maintain his oxford-student-and-saltburn-resident character and continue to frolic around while his mom struggles to make responsible decisions.

[1:03:02] felix: right, well that's exactly why dads concerned about helping her. he doesn't want to enable her. he wants her to learn how to stand on her own two feet. farleigh: yeah, like he does?

and farleigh ate.

[1:03:09] farleigh: i mean, you know how this looks, right? making me come to you with a begging bowl. felix: what are you implying? farleigh: i think you know what i'm implying, felix. why don't you ask liam and joshua? felix: who... who the fuck are liam and joshua!? farleigh: ...your footmen.

farleigh's mannerisms in this portion of the scene GAG me. the easy confidence, the self-assured and confrontational attitude. the cocky wave of his shoulders and tilt of his head. he smirks, scoffs, makes and holds eye contact as emphasis to what he is accusing. the way he says "i think you know what i'm implying" even though i'm not quite sure if felix did. this really hammers in the implicit nature of the cattons' treatment of farleigh.

[1:03:33] felix: oh, oh. that is... that is low, farleigh. farleigh: okay. felix: jesus christ, mate! seriously, is that where you wanna take this!? farleigh: right. felix: make it a race thing!? what the fuck! i mean, we're your family, we hardly even notice that you're... different, or anything like that! farleigh: mmm. felix: i never know our footmen's names!

GAGGED. i eat up this scene and lick my fingers. "wohohoho, i don't see color! i can't believe you'd make it a race thing!" i know i should cut felix some slack, but this is just a little too real. although i've cut farleigh some slack for his classism.

the complete change in farleigh's mannerisms from the previous timestamp to this one is EDIBLE. i can't cope with it. his smile as felix says "that is low" is so painfully real. it says "i've been here before and maybe i was expecting this." for a second, felix is almost entertainingly cliche. then the exasperation hits. farleigh just looks tired. he blinks rapidly, smooths over his eyebrow with his hand, vocalizes his disbelief in felix's denial. "we hardly even notice you're different," to which farleigh crosses his arms (defensive), raises his eyebrows, nods along.

i won't include the final few lines of this conversation cuz i'm blabbing FAR too much, but farleigh's expressions of absolutely exhaustion and disappointment as felix says they've "been more generous then most"... i'm so sick. it doesn't matter what other families would do, because this family passes out charity like it's their favorite pastime. farleigh is your best american girl.

oliver, overhearing this conversation, immediately knows what his next plan of action is. compare himself to farleigh. and really, it's funny, because oliver misses the obvious differences between him and farleigh. just like everyone else. he will never feel different, not in the same way farleigh does. not with farleigh's relationship to the cattons, the legacy of his parents, and his blackness.

[1:06:32] (godfather's karaoke scene, AKA apple bottom jeans. he's a disgusting manchild and he throws his jacket at his wife.) is it odd to point out that another one of the only visible black characters is being degraded/mistreated/disregarded? not crazy, right? especially following the conversation about bias two scenes ago.

[1:07:02] farleigh: y'know, i think i'd fuck richard the III. he's so insecure, so you'd know he'd put in the work, right? oliver: or you could just fuck me, right?

here, i think there's a level of projection that farleigh is using in his line about insecurity. not only is it made known that farleigh uses sex as a tool (with teachers, specifically), but it's also made known that farleigh believes/knows that he is treated differently due to his race and/or family history. oliver seems to have clocked this, considering he relates himself to richard the III, then tells farleigh they have similar experiences.

[1:07:34] oliver: y'know, if you ever wanna talk to anyone, you can talk to me, farleigh. farleigh: ...what do you mean? oliver: well, i know you're going through a hard time at home. i know how that feels, when things are so precarious. it's terrifying... and lonely. and it must be so fucking weird, having to ask them for everything. and i know you fucking hate me. farleigh: i... i don't hate you. oliver: but... if you ever wanted me to talk to them, to see if there's... if i can help in any way... just ask. farleigh: ...okay.

i love this movie. have i said that yet? i bet you definitely couldn't tell by this post. this conversation is so... there's so much to talk about.

i'll start with some of my favorite of farleigh's mannerisms/expressions. when oliver first cuts their... tensions with "you can talk to me," farleigh pulls back slightly, sits up slightly, looks across oliver's face. there's a level of shock to it, but. farleigh was comfortable with oliver, his sworn enemy, flirting with him. yet, he pulled back at a genuine offer of support. some see this as farleigh always wanting oliver sexually, but i think it's more nuanced than that. when oliver says "terrifying... and lonely" that's when the camera cuts back to farleigh. he previously wore a half-smile that is now dropping; "lonely" was the hardest word to swallow. his lip is quivering. he looks up in an almost-eye roll when he says, "i don't hate you." he's laughing when oliver finishes, like he finds it all funny, yet the way he says "okay" makes him seem genuine. however... clearly not, considering the next portion of this scene!

even though oliver is lying out of his ass, everything he's saying is a description of farleigh. people grossly misunderstand farleigh's character, even when it's laid onto a banquette sized table through this portion of the movie. he's insecure, desperate, terrified, unsure, and lonely. farleigh, with so many friends and so many scandalous choices, is so fucking lonely. he knows he doesn't belong here, so he jams his ill-fitting puzzle piece into the saltburn jigsaw and crosses his fingers.

he tells oliver he doesn't hate him, and he looks like he's struggling to spit it out. he looks up towards the ceiling, closes his eyes like he's gathering himself. again, people take this as a bonding moment. the next portion of the scene contradicts this. honestly, i'm not completely sure, either. i think he's honest when he says he doesn't hate oliver. so, what? he's jealous, definitely. he wants to hold the same power as oliver, a foreign entity with somehow so much more privilege than farleigh. maybe that bred a certain kind of infatuation; the need to emulate what you'll never be. of course, he sees himself in the boys felix brings home; they, just like farleigh, need or want something from the cattons (although i object to the idea that farleigh is somehow "a mirror" of oliver). do what you will with this word vomit, i don't know where i'm going here.

and OH MY GOD "if you ever wanted me to talk to them, to see if there's... if i can help in any way," is diabolical. so terribly diabolical. the sheer idea that oliver knows, is pummeling it into farleigh's face, that he has authority over farleigh's life like that? that he knew felix for six months and he can somehow "talk to" farleigh's family about treating farleigh better... vomit inducing. farleigh is actually your best american girl.

[1:09:39] (karaoke scene) elsbeth, so uncomfortable with the idea that oliver is using them. i suppose that's the manner of wealthy people; they don't want to believe that they're only good for their money. but... they did that to themselves, in a way. they enjoy the pet projects, the charity work, the ego boost that comes with inviting the "lesser" to saltburn. hanjob on a haybale, golden big boy summer, right? everyone in the room is scandalized. farleigh is having the time of his fucking life. yet, here's the kicker,

[1:10:10] oliver: this is your song too, farleigh. come finish it. farleigh: only if you insist!

and then farleigh gives the performance of his life, by the way. people died. but... nobody is uncomfortable. literally no one. no one shudders or gasps at the scandal of oliver saying "this is your song, too" over the karaoke microphone; everyone heard. nobody cares. they all know. they start clapping farleigh on, cheering. elsbeth relaxes back onto her bed of cushions, because farleigh is entertaining. the change in mood is soooo... interesting.

[1:10:45] curse this scene, i don't even want to talk about it. it was hot, oliver and farleigh are so homoerotic, whatever yadayada. just like every other sexual scene in this movie, it is riddled with a suffocating kind of uncomfortable tension. we are made intimate third-party witnesses to carnal, sinful, emotionally ambiguous scenes. when i pointed out farleigh seemed more comfortable with flirting then comfort, when i said farleigh uses sex as a tool, when i said farleigh was projecting with "he's so insecure, so you know he'd put in the work." i just overthink. but any person that has sexual relationships with teachers needs intensive therapy and that cannot be denied. however, it's oliver, that uses sex as a tool throughout this movie. another uncomfortable parallel between the two characters.

something about farleigh's expression throughout this scene is... kind of hurtful. the way the moonlight just barely illuminates the light in his eyes, whereas any detail of oliver's face is shrouded in darkness. it make's farleigh look young, innocent, real. (sidenote, as i'm watching, i have to mention this. the way farleigh says that second "no" is so funny. "...no...?" LMFAO). man, i don't even know what to say, past this. the whole dominant dynamic, farleigh saying "i'm going to behave" is a little too painful considering the context leading up to this scene. it's freaky. it's so very oliver.

this is way too long but i could make so many more connections with their final confrontation at oliver's birthday party. i'm drowning in thoughts. what i really wanted to highlight was how ambiguous farleigh's character is, and how differently a lot of his scenes can be perceived. i've decided that farleigh is a sympathetic character, similar to oliver but so much less powerful. some people hate farleigh! so. there's that. the end! thanks to anyone who read this whole thing!

[nynyhaha]

Thinking about the way Chrollo represents apathy and passion.

When I first saw him,he gave the impression of someone who is both very serious about his occupation and on some kind of mission,and someone who just lets things happen.

The reason he seemed so enigmatic compared to other troupe members is because we couldn’t grasp what he actually values, besides obviously the spider.This whole line of his about not caring for money,glory or fame.The fact that he sells the loot soon after stealing it.

It doesn’t make sense for a thief to be this indifferent towards the treasures he steals.And while the troupe risked their lives trying to steal from the auction,when things went wrong the loot was the last thing they considered.I always wondered what happened to all the boxes at their hideout.I hope they didn’t just leave it there??But it was never the main focus,

I think he occasionally finds something that fascinates him,just to discard it afterwards.It’s almost like he tries very hard to,excuse me, “fill the emptiness inside him”,with material possessions but is painfully aware that it’s not possible.The troupe are primarily known as thieves but it seems obtaining stuff can’t be that satisfying,at least not to Chrollo. Even if he tells everyone to “just steal” in his character song.

The scarlet eyes might’ve caught his attention at some point but again,he’s very dismissive of the whole kurta theme even when Kurapika demands some response.

So I don’t believe it’s greed that drives him.In fact,he doesn’t know what drives him.

And the reason he’s able to commit all those horrible deeds is because of his disconnection with PEOPLE. Being the leader,he’s somewhat set apart from the rest of the spiders.And there are rules that put the good of the organisation before the well-being of the members.That’s supposed to prevent members from caring as much for one another.Which is tragic.

It all only started because they all cared.

How are characters humanised in hunter x hunter? Trough forming bonds with other characters.

Killua and meruem are excellent examples.Both of them grew to care more about humans in general trough meeting a particular person.

Chrollo lost someone important and that very personal grief lead him to stop caring about human lives.Not just his own,but the ones of his fellow troupe members.

Obviously it didn’t work and they still feel very strongly for each other.The whole yorknew arc focuses on those repressed feelings of camaraderie that aren’t allowed to be experienced fully as that would interfere with the Spider.Pakunoda has to break the rules if she wants to save the life of her friend.

Chrollo can’t do that because the Spider with its rules is all he has.He’s very good at “severing ties” with things like living a save life,the authorities,possibly religion,connections with other people,seeing dead bodies as something to be respected and not as objects.He’s willing to give up everything that made him who he was,but what does he have in turn? Nothing.

The Spider needs to have a purpose but it seems that purpose is lost.Chrollo is lost,all his sacrifices lead to nothing.

He doesn’t even feel hate or anger at the world.He rarely takes things personally.

I think there was some revenge based reason for murdering the kurta clan.The troupe seem like they’d have some reason,even tho it could never be good enough.

But my thesis is that Chrollo’s biggest sin isn’t greed,pride,anger or whatever.It’s apathy.

Nothing prevents him from hurting people who have nothing to do with him,therefore he does.

He’s afraid that things will start mattering again,but at the same time we see him constantly searching for that something.He is scared of it,but he really strives to strive for something so that he can break out of this indifference he feels for everything.

So maybe Hisoka will awake some of this rage buried inside and with it make Chrollo once again seem like a very distressed human.

[cedarxwing]

The ending of Hannibal the novel explained

(aka the breastfeeding scene)

Here's the passage (end of Chapter 101):

I thought everyone was kidding about the breastfeeding kink jokes until my partner read Hannibal and the whole ending flew over their head. Their main takeaway was "that was weird." When I checked reddit, it seemed everyone was confused there too. I was gobsmacked to see one guy say that Thomas Harris was playing some cruel joke on the reader by writing an ending that didn't make sense!

How many people are reading Hannibal like this, completely missing the resolution to Hannibal's character arc? They must finish the book confused about what it was all about in the first place. So here's how I understand it!

First, I need to get this out of the way: a lot of people hate this scene, and from what I understand it's because they're weirded out by the "breastfeeding kink." Which is fine, but it makes me want to gently hold them by the hand and tell them that it's ok for someone to suck on a nipple. It happens all the time. Sometimes it just feels good, sometimes it's part of a breastfeeding fantasy, and sometimes it's literal breastfeeding. Between consenting adults, this is all fine and normal. Let's all move past this knee-jerk repulsion (or alternatively, sit in our discomfort and expand our horizons) so we can analyze this piece of art together. :)

Next, authors LOVE Freudian psychoanalysis. Even though it's all nonsense, it's full of literary allusion and makes for compelling narratives and character studies (childhood maladjustment, repressed memories, etc), which is basically catnip for a writer. Thomas Harris was no exception, and probably creamed himself (as I did) when he learned that Freud's oral-sadistic stage was also termed the "cannibalistic stage," referring to the time when an infant is growing teeth and begins to bite at the breast--the psychosexual urge to devour and destroy the thing you love. What could be more appropriate for Hannibal?

Next, consider the pattern of Hannibal's Il Mostro murders. He killed young couples in one of the most romantic cities in the world, then arranged them as Chloris and Zephyr from Botticelli's Primavera, exposing Chloris's left breast just like in the painting. In classical art, an exposed breast is often a symbol of fertility. Chloris is associated with spring, new growth, and transformation.

Perhaps, at the time, Hannibal rationalized these murders as retribution for rude behavior. Maybe the couples were performing disgusting PDA. Maybe they were obnoxious tourists on their honeymoons. Either way, it's clear to the reader that Hannibal has some deep-seated hang up about sex and romance.

The particulars of this hang up are open to interpretation, but based on Hannibal's obsession with the rape and transformation of Chloris as well as his embarrassment at the paintings of Leda and the Swan in the German's house, I think it's safe to say that Hannibal feels like any relationship he has with a woman who isn't aware of his true (monstrous) identity would involve a degree of violence/lack of consent. He is forever barred from normal romance.

Having given up on sex/romance, Hannibal is unable to consciously recognize his desire for Clarice, so he sublimates it into a more general familial love. He longs for a return to innocence, to return to the time before he ate Mischa and became an unlovable monster (cue the teacup metaphor).

But even familial love seems like too much to hope for, so he sublimates it further into something that seems more attainable: resurrecting the person whom he loved and devoured, and who loved him in turn (Mischa) through Clarice.

So we have the breast as a symbol of sex/fertility (Chloris/Clarice), as an object that is loved and devoured (Mischa), and as a literal source of sustenance that must be given up during infancy (mommy).

Big brain Clarice connects all these dots and, in the very same style of therapy that Hannibal has been using on her, distills Hannibal's psychological problems into a single poetic gesture that completely fixes Hannibal in an instant, proving that she's not only his intellectual equal, but is, in some ways, his superior.

When Clarice asks, "Did you ever feel that you had to relinquish the breast to Mischa? Did you ever feel you were required to give it up for her?", she's ostensibly asking Hannibal if he's stuck in the oral stage of childhood development (which yeah he probably is). On a deeper level, she's asking Hannibal to consider if he's given up on love.

When Clarice exposes her breast in the same fashion as Chloris, says, "You don’t have to give up this one", and suspends the drop of wine from her nipple, she is shifting his perception of her breast from familial devoured sustenance to a sexual object. Basically, "Why do you want me to pretend I'm your sister when we could be banging?" Hannibal is being aged out of his childlike mindset, not regressing into one.

There are other layers of meaning in this act. The hedonism of using thousand dollar wine for food play is a sign of Clarice's character development. The way Hannibal kneels before Clarice is a position of subservience, but could also be interpreted as devouring Clarice in a way that's new to him. It's the most self-actualized thing Hannibal has done since escaping prison (LOL) and marks the end of his hero's journey (as one of the first things we see him do in Hannibal Rising is nurse).

Personally, I don't read this scene as breastfeeding kink. Yeah, Clarice talks about breastfeeding, but that was more a metaphor for other stuff. Considering the direction of Hannibal's character arc, I understand this scene as him briefly licking the wine off before they have sex. But to each their own! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ANYWAY, yeah, it's unsettling. It's obviously meant to be. But it's beautifully unsettling! Hate it all you want, but this is peak cannibal romance, to me!!

[sevensoulmates]

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on Tim saying in that recent interview that the choice to bring Marisol/Edy back was Ryan’s. We’ve seen how deeply Ryan understands Eddie, so I’m wondering why he specifically wanted that character back who has less than zero chemistry.

Mmm. Well, there's been a lot of talk going around about storylines being switched up. Apparently, both Buck AND Eddie were in talks for this coming out storyline (which--I'm still mind blown that this is info we even know). So obviously, there had to have been SOME conversations with Ryan about it.

It seemed to me like Tim's original plan was Natalia because he said he wanted to do something with her (not necessarily keep her around for a while, but give them an ending story arc). When the actress declined to come back, I think his second plan of action was Lucy. Okay, Lucy comes back and what? They explore a relationship? Idk. But when the actress ALSO couldn't come back and Tim was looking for someone else, I think the idea of bringing Tommy back led to a question for Tim: do I have him with Eddie or Buck?

Tim also says in the latest interview that he couldn't just have both of Buck and Eddie's love interests fizzle out over the hiatus, which says to me that Tim probably wasn't all that interested in Marisol either. I think that if Natalia had stayed as originally planned, Marisol would've been the one written out.

Lou said that from his first call with Tim, he was aware that his character was going to be gay and getting with one of their two main single men. I think that probably their earliest conversations was about him being with Eddie. And if Tim was talking to Lou about Eddie, I'm nearly positive the conversations had already happened with Ryan.

I think that the original plan from Tim was to have Eddie's arc this season be getting with a man, Buck's being with Natalia, and maybe having Lucy come in to once again throw in a wrench. But no Natalia led to Lucy possibly being his main LI. But no Lucy meant that now Tim was in a lurch with Buck. What can he do with him? Well, if the plan was always to get Buddie together eventually, and to have both characters have a coming-out arc at some point, they can do a switcheroo.

I think most likely Ryan suggested Marisol because he was aware that they were in a lurch for Buck, and probably because he felt the storyline fit better into Buck's story at the moment than Eddie's.

Tommy can get with Buck, and have Buck be the one to realize he's queer first. It makes sense because while Buck may be oblivious to his own feelings, he's not repressed like Eddie.

We still have Marisol around so we can use her as a backup and as a vehicle to have Eddie continue to deconstruct his compulsory heterosexuality, which in the end, Ryan probably realized was a story that needed to take its time to be scrutinized and handled well. He's aware that all of his past love interests (Ana and Marisol) have been "filler" in his words. He probably wanted to suggest that Marisol finally be given a bit more so that Eddie can actually LEARN something from these relationships instead of just the unending cycle of date random woman -> break up with random woman, ya know?

So, to answer your question, no. I don't think Ryan specifically asked for Marisol to come back because he particularly loved the character and wanted her around in his storyline. I think he recognized that there was somewhere his character could go with Marisol that would be interesting and fit his character arc and so he suggested it and Tim agreed.

[kaurwreck]

There's certainly Something about singularities in Bungou Stray Dogs presenting as massive, myth-derived creatures with more than passing resemblances to kaiju given the setting predates its analog to World War II.

Gojira and the kaiju genre were born in the aftermath of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Lucky Dragon Incident (in which an American hydrogen bomb test rained radioactive ash on a Japanese fishing boat and much of the South Pacific). Life form singularities (like Chuuya and Verlaine), the Seven Traitors, the Transcendants, Mori's fixation on skill-based warfare, and everything else about the Great War all indicate that skills are akin to nuclear arms.

But unlike nuclear arms, skills are generally framed as intrinsic to their user. They're neurological; as much as part of skill users' wiring as the rest of their synapses. Even for Kyouka, whose skill was inherited but not fully integrated, her skill more resembles hereditary neurochemical wiring than it does nuclear proliferation.

Gojira (1954) ends with Dr. Serizawa's promise that hydrogen bombs would always assure nightmarish, monstrous manifestations of the horrors of war. You'd think Dazai's gift, then, would be the enigmatic focal skill of the series; he's capable of nullifying hydrogen bombs, after all.

But it's Atsushi and his celestial Byakko that Shibusawa calls the antithesis of all other abilities. And, as explained in 55 Minutes, Byakko doesn't heal or regenerate Atsushi, it negates his wounds. Atsushi isn't only a particularly tenacious shounen protagonist, Byakko compels him to stand when he's been cut down. When Atsushi is at the edge of death, Byakko consumes him completely, and Atsushi is lost within him, moreso than even Chuuya is in his Corruption state (Chuuya is fully conscious in Corruption— if Atsushi is conscious, he's either repressing or sluggishly recalling the memory of what occurred). Akutagawa also mentions during the Cannibalism arc that Atsushi's claws cut through skills themselves (even Rashoumon, which eats space). Akutagawa also becomes aware, in 55 Minutes, that Byakko can be triggered by Atsushi's peril, and Akutagawa does so to negate the manifestation of a seemingly transcendant skill that otherwise had utterly defanged them (although he seems sorry to have to do it).

Nevertheless, although Atsushi's Byakko seemingly negates the metaphorical horrors of the Great War illustrated by the others and their relationships with their skills, it's Atsushi who posits that perhaps skills aren't innate. He says to Kunikida, "Maybe they come from somewhere else and stick to us. Maybe they're something we can't understand... I don't really know how to put it into words, but that's how I feel."

Much of 55 Minutes is colored by Atsushi's fear of Byakko and his understanding that Byakko could devour him. His fear is seemingly validated by the antagonist, a manifestation of a skill that seemingly swallowed its human. But although textually consistent with his expressed fear, Atsushi's tone, demeanor, timing, and thought processes from when he speaks that line until the light novel ends aren't. His musings reflect his namesake's exploration of and uneasy relationship with the nature of existence, which he understood to be constructed by one's culture and environment better than most due to his somewhat rootless childhood.

I think it's interesting that someone with a skill capable of cutting through other skills, negating wounds, and antithesizing all skills challenges whether skills are innate at all. And if they're not, what does that imply about the parallels between skills, the horrors of war, and the fear of nuclear holocaust?

It's important to me that the scars of American imperialism and disregard for the sanctity of life are not erased from the narrative when discussing the world wars and nuclear proliferation. So I hesitate to posit anything about what skills may be in Bungou Stray Dogs that is too abstracted from trauma wrought by Western imperialism, Japanese imperialism, or the horrors of World Wars I & II. But perhaps that's it; when Atsushi speculates that skills are something that sticks to you, I'm reminded of how trauma has shaped and informed his own. He is certain that Byakko's negation and restless hunger are connected to his birth and subsequent suffering. At first, I thought we were being teased with his early background. But there's no need to tease; the reason so many characters in Bungou Stray Dogs are orphans directly relates to the Great War and the generational trauma still reverberating in its aftermath, and amid the threat of another, even more destructive war.

Perhaps Atsushi was implying that skills are constructs born not from any innate self, if there's such a thing, but from traumas, experiences, needs, cultures, and environments. Which is to say that skills aren't separable, exactly, from their users, but they're not innate either. They're like our personalities: immutable once shaped in the crucible of our most formative years, but nevertheless reflections of not only ourselves, but of what we need and who we become when confronted by others, in all of their beauty and horror.

Thus, perhaps it isn't Atsushi's skill that's so very antithetical to all others. It's his understanding of it, his ability to cut through to others, his compassion, his cowardice, his curiosity, and his separation from his sense of self that both inflicted him with Byakko and which will allow him to transcend it to become who he desires to be. It reminds me that, shortly before his death, his namesake decided to become a writer. And that although he wrote and lived only briefly, his sincerity, thoughtfulness, and introspective skepticism cut, and continue to cut, with a brilliance emblematic of life.

Anyway. Atsushi is both the main character and protagonist of Bungou Stray Dogs. Dazai knows this, too; even if he can nullify Byakko, he's just as impacted by Atsushi's brimming earnestness as everyone else Atsushi encounters. Atsushi liberates the narrative so that it's not a warning that the horrors of war will proliferate so long as we are capable of mass destruction, but instead it's a promise that hope needn't be intrinsic to persist all the same.

[akria23]

Sharing my Investigation charts before Ep6 comes out. (Images best seen on desktop rather than mobile)

The first page is relationship lines & the mystery arc notes for the each group. The rest are my suspect theories.

These charts will likely drastically change as we go along.

NUTH: Is the obvious choice because he's the character the writers are pointing all the obvious clues and behavioral tendencies at. It makes it feel too easy. Granted - I know it feels too early to reveal the killer (if there is one) at this point but it’s not unheard of for a writer to reveal the killer early if there’s another aspect they want the audience to focus on (the kdrama Beyond Evil is a great example of this). He could be a lower level lackey (secondary) in the killing or he could actually be an all out red herring.

PROM: I look at Prom through 2 separate theories - the one where he’s on a revenge arc & this one where he’s the killer. The thing about Prom is he’s incredibly sus, there’s so much mystery around him, he’s so measured in how he speaks, what he holds back & he always feels like he’s in the know ahead of Nont.

Even if he’s not the killer it feels like he’s hiding something of great importance or has his own motives going on. The way he interacts with Nont comes off as if he knew about him before he revealed himself. Let’s take the wine for example - when he offers Nont wine in the room he says it’s cause he thought he’d changed enough for wine…but he also offered Nont wine the very first night they got together at Playboyy - and this was intention cause he himself was drinking brown liquor but gave Nont wine rather than beer (which is what Nant) likes. - he’s NEVER offered Nont beer. So it wasn’t due to a shift after Nont started acting differently than Nant around him. He inserted himself into the investigation and then started to lead the investigation from behind by pointing Nont in the direction he thinks he should go.

Where I lose confidence in this theory is in the motive. I doubt he would’ve killed Nant in a possessive rage the way Nuth might have - he’s too calculated & represses his emotions. Even with that bout of jealousy with Nont he didn’t push the issue, instead he revamped excused affection instead. Prom seems to be the type that finds a way to do what he wants no matter what others may have wanted. There’s a possible drug connection- through sell rather than through use. Again there’s the intones of the invisible force, the behind the scenes mover and I could very well see that being Prom. It seems like a lot of guys in Playboyys are on drugs but would Prom really need to push drugs if he’s the Host of the club? His need for it is what I question right now rather than his ability to push it.

There’s always a question for every answer and maybe that’s why I have two separate theories about Prom & don’t feel fully comfortable yet saying which I think is more correct.

NOBODY: There is obviously a possibly that there is no killer, that Nant wasn’t killed by another. There’s the possibility of suicide - Nant had been under a lot of extreme pressure and lack a good support system. Mental disorder (split personality) - this one is rather popular but I have trouble wrapping my brain around the photo of the twins cause it would mean dying his hair, taking a photo and then photoshopping two pics together…just feels like there’d have to be some level consciousness for that. Or Nant could b hiding out, on the run, from a debtor - considering he was supposedly on drugs and had a previous issue (with Soong) it’s possible.

PORSCHE: This is probably my loosest theory built mostly from the bias I have against Porsche. I don’t know what is but I don’t trust him, I don’t like him. But all his violent and brattiness could boil down to an inferiority complex rather than murder and I know that but he still makes the cut cause everything about him rubs me wrong and I wouldn’t mind him be the bad guy (def if it’s in the stead of Prom 😭)

[anthurak]

One very interesting factor I think we should be keeping in mind while theorizing about Ruby’s character arc in Volume 9, is that it is very possible, even likely, that Ruby’s conflict with her self-destructive hero-complex WON’T actually be resolved by the end of this volume. At least not fully.

Let’s all remember that while these subtle nuances of Ruby’s character might be obvious to those of us who have spent the last 3+ volumes going over every last one of her scenes with fine-tooth comb, they have still yet to come into the forefront of the show itself in the same way as, for example; Ren’s PTSD or Nora’s identity issues. That’s not to say that these issues haven’t been present. Rather, they’ve been more looming in the background. At this point, none of Ruby’s friends, nor Ruby herself, seem to be fully aware of just WHAT Ruby is struggling with, and how serious it is.

And I think THAT is (one of) the major shift(s) that Volume 9 is going to introduce: Finally bringing Ruby’s long-repressed issues into the forefront and focus. And finally letting Yang, Blake, Weiss and ultimately Ruby herself see just how serious her problems actually are.

I think Ruby’s big character breakthrough this volume won’t so much be something like ‘resolving her problems’, but rather simply recognizing that she HAS a problem to begin with. This feels like it fits in far better with RWBY’s long-form style of story-telling and character development. The problems and struggles characters face are not ‘fixed’ so quickly and easily as a single volume. Just look at Jaune, Ren, Nora, Yang, Blake, Weiss and basically EVERY major character in the show. And I’d say it only makes sense that our shows main heroine would have the biggest and longest struggle of all.

This is where I think it makes sense for Ruby to do something really crazy like cutting out her eye and/or hanging herself from the Ever After Tree’s limbs and impaling herself on Crescent Rose as part of some ritual all to learn how to get her team home. It’s a shocking, dramatic reveal to both Ruby’s team and the audience as to just how BAD Ruby’s problems truly are.

To use an example from a very similar character, Ruby cutting out one of her eyes Odin-style with barely any hesitation would be very much akin to Suletta Mercury turning some poor bastard into tomato-paste and then laughing off with a cheery smile.

It’s a moment that is a dramatic ‘Oh SHIT’ reveal to both the audience and other characters of the true scope of the heroine’s emotional and psychological problems. Problems that are far worse than almost anyone expected. And it’s not the sort of thing that will be quick or easy to resolve.

I mean, I think image of Ruby walking up to an utterly shocked and HORRIFIED Weiss as blood seeps out from her freshly scarred and empty left eye socket and jokes with an empty, unsettling smile ‘Hey Weiss, I guess we match now, huh?’ is a scenario that is all too easy see happening...

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: The Worst Duke in London by Amalie Howard

4/5. Releases 9/24/24.

vibes: 10 Things I Hate About You, weird crunchy heroines, Big virgin heroes, sex deals

Heat Index: 7/10

The rather slimy Lord Huntingdon wishes to court Viola--but Viola can't be courted until her rather odd and aloof sister, Evangeline (sometimes known as Effie) is courted as well. That's where Gage, the completely broke new Duke of Vale, comes in. Huntingdon offers him a deal: if Gage courts Evangeline, Huntingdon will settle the debts Gage's late brother left behind. It seems easy enough. What Gage didn't expect was Evangeline's prickly nature--or, that when she did warm up to him, she'd offer a deal of her own. Sexual exploration with no strings attached? It sounds great to her. But Gage might not be able to keep himself from falling...

Obviously, this is a 10 Things I Hate About You retelling. I actually don't like that movie; after a somewhat more recent rewatch, I realized that it super isn't for me. Fortunately, this book is a lot more fun, with a much more endearing heroine (who is a weirdo, yes, but not an asshole) and a hero who basically falls headlong.

This is very much a romcom--and probably the most antihistorical of this series thus far (more on that later) which isn't a bad thing. It fully embraces its roots while dialing the heat up a good bit and throwing in some rather zany hijinks that you can really only get in a historical romance.

Is it perfect? Not quite--the pacing is a bit off to me, which leads to a pretty rushed finale. There isn't ever any major reason why our hero and heroine can't be together (I mean, at least none that she's aware of). But the book is a solid romp, and it's QUITE sexy. In fact, I would say that the sex is the best part of the novel, which is a compliment. This is a refreshingly sex positive book, and while Gage and Evangeline obviously fall in love (and fall hard) there's never any sense that either of them should feel any type of way about having casual sex for the sake of it. And they're both virgins!

Quick Takes:

--To go back to that antihistorical thing... While I wouldn't say any books in this series have been accurate or cared to be, this one felt less so? That's not a critique. I sincerely don't care about historical accuracy, as long as the writing and story is good. This did push it a bit, to the point that I felt like it was trying a bit hard. But for the most part, I found it funny, and I look forward to the handwringing over everything.

--There's a rather fabulous author's note in which Howard details the history of sexual education and pleasure for women of bygone eras, especially those we typically see depicted as repressed sex haters in certain historical romance novels. I loved every bit of it, and I so appreciate the resources!

--Briar and Lushing have always been the couple I was most excited to see, and the set up we got here has me even more hyped.

--Evangeline is truly an odd girl, and Gage is absolutely about it. Her obsession with animals led to some super funny moments--Gage is covered with kittens and rescues lambs and plays with her dog, and she is so horny she could SCREAM.

--Gage claims to be English versus Scottish (because his dad is English; his mother is very much Scottish, and he loves Scotland) but from the moment we're told that he's Big as Fuck, it's clear that he's a classic Scottish historical romance hero. Evangeline is all too happy to have him in a kilt.

The Sex:

Like I said earlier--the sex scenes in this book, as well as the way sex is discussed, are really the standouts. Gage and Evangeline have great chemistry. There's a real playfulness to their dynamic fairly early on, and this doesn't let up in the bedroom. Both Gage and Evangeline are virgins, and there isn't much dithering or concern over why he's chosen to abstain (somewhat--I mean, he clearly did STUFF). It's just a thing, and it does lead to a first penetrative sex scene that's rather funny, and also rather tender.

You get some stuff we're only now started to see more of in historicals--sex toys! There's some semi-public sex. "I need you now" sex (OOOOOH I LOVED THAT SHIT). An untouched orgasm that made me read the scene twice to ensure I'd read it right. DELIGHTFUL!

If you're looking for a blithe, irreverent, and super sexy historical romcom, this is what you want. It does get a little caught up in the weeds at points, but it stays funny, and it stays hot. Which I'm certainly not mad at, personally!

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[padme-amitabha]

I read your opinions on Ahsoka and while I like her I agree, I think her fandom is making me dislike her, the final straw for me was reading takes that Ahsoka was Anakin's child more than Luke ever was because he spend more time with her than with Luke despite Anakin ALWAYS aknowledged Luke as his son, I mean remember the iconic "I'm your father" scene? And how after that he always called Luke in his mind as "my son"? Anakin may had not raised Luke, but he always loved his son, ever since Padmé told him that she was pregnant he considered his baby a blessing and the happiest moment of his life, so no wonder those feelings resurfaced when he found out that Luke lived between ANH and ESB, I mean, he came to the Light for him! His baby boy. I even read a Youtube comment saying that when Anakin said Luke before dying "Tell your sister...you were right..." now it refered to Ahsoka when those words were for Leia! Yes, we know Leia sees Bail as her father and has zero connection with Anakin, but even so, those final words were for her. Canonically Anakin saw Ahsoka as much a younger sister, he always refered Luke as his son and Leia as Luke's sister and thus, his daughter. I dislike reading how people are trying to server Anakin from his family (from Padmé to now Luke and Leia) to place Ahsoka in the picture, guys, you can have both! (sorry for the rant)

I totally get it. My issue with her character mainly started from the fact that she is shoehorned into anything that involves the skywalkers. Imagine if she was in the movies, I would think her arc would be very redundant in the PT because we are closely following the Jedi masters and council as well as politicians as they are central to the plot and conflict. The fact that she wasn't in it establishes she is an afterthought. And I think she wouldn't have been so bad if she was a character with a standalone arc and story but now she's just everywhere and I disliked her introduction as Anakin's padawan because the PT establishes Anakin is quite young and flawed and its his journey we are exploring from little Ani to Darth Vader throughout the six films. He is allowed to be an innocent kid, brooding emotional teenager and also a hero. He is the Chosen One but not once is he a Gary Stu, in fact he goes through phases that annoys other characters like Obi Wan. He isn't overpowered either because we see him suffer two huge defeats in the films. He makes mistakes and the wrong choices and can be selfish at times, and other times he tries to be a good padawan and follow the rules and sometimes he disregards them, he lets others boss him around too, he is scared but wants to be a good father and husband etc etc. you get the idea. He's not perfect and that's the point and I think Hayden nails the repressed monk persona. The only reason Ahsoka was introduced was part of "fixing" Anakin's character and to make him more fun but it seems so unbelievable the council would assign someone like Anakin with an impressionable youngling (who is strangely rebellious despite having the same upbringing as the rest?). I just don't see Anakin as being a big brother to anyone or bantering with kids when he seemed understandably awkward and reserved. Also, Ahsoka's thick plot armor and her continuously inflated significance just confirms how much of a creator's pet she was and her whole character (especially when she's interacting with Anakin) feels very fanficy and the fact that she has almost zero flaws and she takes over the roles of every other important person in Anakin's life in the original story. I try not to pay attention to Filoni's pet because it just feels like pure wish fulfillment for him at this point. We could just have more of other cool female jedi like Shaak Ti, Depa, Aayla, or Yaddle as they were preexisting characters and weren't dependent on the Skywalkers for their arc - because I doubt Ahsoka would have been popular at all if she wasn't Anakin's padawan or acting like an Anakin wannabe (and getting away with it almost always while Anakin the CO was given no special treatment). At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if Ahsoka is revealed to be the new chosen one or she's some insanely overpowered demigod lol. And I mean I guess her fans like her for many reasons but she just feels like a Mary Sue to me like you know a character is doomed when a creator admits he's too attached to the character for anything drastic and openly shows favoritism. Let's be honest she is kind of a nepo baby and acts like one too in the SWU. I guess some people are just seeing her as one now but I always thought she would be a Mary Sue because even the emotional moments she has and the few hardships or "deep" moments she gets is just by interacting with the Skywalkers or just dealing with things everyone else is going through. So I don't really feel the emotional value if she tells Luke he is like her father when literally anyone else who knew him could have said that. At least characters like Boba don't rely on mentioning Anakin in everything they appear in. I don't think her arc would even be well developed if she was detached from the existing prequel characters so it's like she just reinforces the same emotions we should feel except she's supposed to be fun and badass so the audience and her fans would empathize with the events more.

Like do people even really like her screentime in Rebels except from her fight with Anakin? And that scene's so memorable because it's with Anakin, a much more realistic and developed character. It's really Anakin who carries the scene and the emotional impact. Replace Ahsoka with any other padawan and it seems like she has no inherent value. She only seems to shine in moments she is interacting with PT era characters due to the backstory and flashbacks and the rest of the time she's just a token strong female jedi character. What is Ahsoka when she is not breaking Jedi rules constantly like she's special or getting in Anakin's business or running into other characters and reminiscing about the past? I could watch a standalone show on Anakin, Padme, Obi Wan, Qui Gon, Yoda or even Dooku just in their solo adventures because they bring a slightly new perspective to the SWU and there's some room for individuality. I could be wrong maybe they explored some of her personal ambitions than being a Jedi and making Anakin proud but I'm really not interested when her role is just so interchangeable. Even Padme has an entire movie around her (TPM) where we see more about her. Despite being Anakin's love interest, we can see how she is a main character and can carry a film without any romance with Anakin. Same with Obi-Wan. He had an entire movie solving mysteries and plots while Anakin and Padme were romancing. That's why they should be the main prequel trio because its always been two force sensitives and a non-force sensitive member. Just like Han, Padme brings a new perspective and skills in the team.

I wouldn't be too bothered about such claims as they always existed. Ahsoka is closer to Anakin than Obi Wan, Padme, Leia and now more than Luke. It's sad and funny how far Filoni will bend space and time to make room for the OC. As far as I'm concerned, she doesn't exist.

This channel has some good videos on her and I highly recommend these: part 1 and part 2

[smallandalmosthonest]

considering that they said they dont wanna make a guy queer and then have him crush on his best friend immediately (cause cliches or whatever) i think eddie is going to be the one to take The Step which makes buddie canon. do you have any ideas or wishes as to what he could do or what could happen?

i mean if i’m being perfectly honest i think being in love with your bestie is a quintessential bisexual rite of passage and the whole ‘cliche’ thing always seemed a silly argument to me.

my wish would be that eddie’s “this doesn’t change a thing between us” come back to haunt him. i’m a playwright/new play dramaturg for my day job and that line feels like such a loaded gun — if this were a script i was developing i would IMMEDIATELY flag that line. he could have said anything else to the same effect (“you’re always gonna be my best friend,” “i’m proud of you,” “i love you no matter what,” whatever) but that line plants a seed for the audience; THAT LINE is what introduces us to the IDEA that anything between them COULD change. because before eddie said it, I Highly Doubt anyone watching the show was like “ohhhhh he’s gonna have a problem with buck dating dudes.” other than his bitch4bitch bickering with josh while at dispatch, we’ve never been given any indication that eddie could or would have any ~discomfort around queer men; that line might feel necessary if eddie were a different character, if the show had fewer queer characters, or if it wasn't LA in 202?, but it went off like a siren when i first watched the scene.

they’ve also just set up a beautiful context for eddie to have a queer realization arc:

eddie diaz was basically a teen dad; shannon was "the first woman he slept with"/dated, and he's been Shannon's Husband/Christopher's Father/Shannon's Widow ever since. but NOW christopher is temporarily out of the picture, and eddie has to confront what his life looks like when he's not being a father first and a man second. unless the writers really fumble this plot point going into s8, eddie is all tee'd up for some major self-reflection revelations/forced exploration of the self

we've established the boy has catholic guilt out the wazoo. he acknowledged a "reservoir" of this guilt that lies dormant; he basically admitted to being Deeply Repressed About Shit onscreen while talking about how he couldn't get it up for his gf

beyond "my gf was a nun and now i can't fuck her and this has nothing to do with her moving in with me whatsoever" we also have "someone assumed my gf was my wife/my son's mother and i had a panic attack so severe i ended up in the hospital"

i'm not even gonna talk about the kim thing

plus, buck is bi!!!!!

buck "checking out a hot guy's ass is normal ally behaviour" buckley is one of the most important people in eddie's life. i think it would make perfect sense for eddie to see buck's coming out journey, to see a masc dude have a queer realization in his thirties, and have some feelings about that.

"so, you always knew?" "no, man, not at all. it's more like NOW that i know, everything else makes sense." <- you know what i mean???? scenes i would write if i were in the writer's room tim if you can hear me

PLUS, eddie is friends with tommy! they canonically instantly became super close! so not only could we see eddie's queer awakening through scenes with buck, we could ALSO see them through scenes with tommy! we've seen it in the fanfics, my siblings in christ: eddie goes from loving tommy and hanging out with him always to suddenly being Weird about it.

at the end of the day this is an ensemble show and i think i would want to see eddie having big conversations with either bobby or hen about it and i do solidly vote for the whole third-party thing (i can totally see chimney can't-keep-a-secret han losing his patience and basically telling eddie "you're in love with buck" like the gif)

this ask got away from me. i want it to be mutual. i want to burn for a whole season or more, where they're both slowly realizing they're in love with each other, until finally one of them grabs his keys to go to the other's place and just tell him but when he opens the door to leave the other one is standing right there, and they just say each other's names and it's awkward and stilted but they're both there to say i love you

[starcanwrecked-confessions]

Nerdy Prudes Must Die is wrong about what purity culture is and how it affects people. Purity culture is not "never have sex ever" and it's not a blind hatred of anything sexual in every circumstance, it's "your body belongs to this hypothetical future person you will have to have our one approved version of sex with whether you want to or not."

With this in mind, Grace Chasity's story would be so much more impactful, and so much more tragic, if she had been depicted as a sex-repulsed asexual vs "just really repressed".

(Abstinence Camp LITERALLY DID depict her that way if you ask me, even if it suffered from the same misunderstanding of how purity culture works that NPMD suffered from.)

Her "fantasies" about Max feel much less like fantasies and much more like intrusive thoughts. In an environment where everyone around you is fixated on and obsessed with sex to an absurd degree, whether in a purity culture way or a horny teenager way, it's really easy to have those kinds of decidedly not-fun ruminations as a repulsed ace person.

When she has sex with him at the end of the play, the narrative seems divided on whether it was actually her GETTING what she wanted all along, or her GIVING UP a thing that she cherished most. If it's the latter (which it would have to be, otherwise it wouldn't have worked as a sacrifice) is it really her chastity she's giving up? Or is it her boundaries and feeling of ownership over her own body?

As a sex-averse ace who grew up having my brain fried by Christian purity culture and sees a lot of myself in Grace, I really do not vibe with many of the choices that were made for her portrayal in NPMD. The character arc we got is not the character arc I wanted.

~~~

[dropintomanga]

Vinland Saga's Grand Moment of Forgiveness

I knew fans of Makoto Yukimura's Vinland Saga were talking about this moment when it happened. And when I finally got to it, I was just overwhelmed.

I recently confronted some feelings about a situation that happened to me a long time ago. After a few conversations with friends about the ordeal, I realized that the person involved in that situation was toxic for my heart. They used me as way to ignore their own trauma. I think I repressed my anger out of genuine love when I should have respectfully expressed my frustrations with that person.

I'm fond of the Hild character, even though it doesn't seem like she has a lot of fans at times. I liked how she wanted to keep a close eye on Thorfinn, who was trying so hard to to define his life after the Farm arc, out of vengeance. Hild didn't believe that people could change for the better. I mean, who would think a person who's killed many people (including your father) can be redeemable? I myself have been disappointed in people over the years and have seen them change for the worst.

But like Hild has, I've gotten to understand why some people do bad things and ruin relationships. Then I stopped being so angry. I actually feel sorry for them. I started to forgive them quite a bit. Everyone's trying so hard to live and figure things out, even if the paths they take might be goddamn awful. It never helps when outside forces try to make us fight one another.

Although therapy helped, I think being out more with communities around me made me understand people better and forgive them as needed. Seeing Hild grow alongside Thorfinn's crew and coming to her own truth made me reflect on my experiences.

I cried so hard after hearing Hild said "I forgive you." I know people say "I love you" is a powerful statement, but "I forgive you" is even more powerful. I really think people want to do good, but either don't know how to, just gave up, or no one ever believes in them. We also are too damn stressed about making mistakes. There's so many times where we get too apologetic (myself included) as if we really hurt someone, but people who care will tell you not to be.

Also, forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting what happened to you. It's okay if you can't forgive someone for wronging you. Forgiveness is difficult. What matters is finding peace with yourself first and foremost. Once that happens, beautiful things can start to happen and you can make healthier connections that show how much people can change for the better.

Maybe it will make you forgive the world just a bit and help you move forward.

[ranbling]

https://www.tumblr.com/ranbling/752109192401305600/the-thing-i-hate-most-about-the-kim-storyline-that

This was my issue with basically the entire season. Every story lead to ultimately nothing.

Bathena still hasn’t gotten their honeymoon. They now have no house. The cartel storyline besides how over used and harmful stereotypical it was, was pointless, Amir as much as I loved his character, after 4 episodes that arc also lead to ultimately nothing.

Madney didn’t really have much going on except for their wedding and instead of the dream wedding they both deserved, it ended in a 2 minute hospital room scene, with Phillip walking her, and Buck not even standing in the room ? He was literally standing outside in the door.

Henren they didn’t get to adopt their baby girl. They were then given a foster daughter only to then jk have her taken away as well. And ultimately after more pointless drama for drama sake, have her given to Madney so now Henren can visit her instead. Like where was the fight for custody they said we’d see? And not to mention the message it sends of yet again we don’t let the lesbian couple adopt or foster with out problems galore but the straight couple has no issue doing it at all and can step in to save the day.

Buck he came out as Bi which yessss. So much yes. Only to then what. Nothing. It’s gone no where. They didn’t explore it more. They didn’t develop it more. There was no journey of him with this new piece of himself. He got slapped into yet another rushed relationship with someone who yet again barely seems to even like him, and some shitty jokes ( looking at you closest space and daddy kink) and then ultimately shoved completely aside like a background character the entire season.

Eddie- where to even start. What was the point of Marisol ? Like truly. Tim said he brought her back because he didn’t want two off screen break ups. Ok fine. No development. No growth. No real storylines beyond a joke to bring up repressed religious guilt that went no where. And ended with an off screen break up anyway. Like what was the point of making fans suffer through Marisol’s actress presence after all her phobic ranting when it ended with exactly what Tim said he didn’t want. Then the Kim of it all. I had hopes that would lead somewhere. Eddie finally getting closure snd moving on from Shannon. Eddie starting to get a clue in relation to Buck. Healing with Shannon’s ghost with Eddie and Chris. Something. And instead we got, Eddie running around on 2 women, Chris leaving the state for a indefinite period of time, Helena looking all to happy to take him, Ramon using his own guilt to make Eddie go along with it ruining any progress they made on their relationship, Ryan saying he feels like the Kim as Shannon at the end did nothing but make it worse ultimately so not even any growth or healing. Like none of this lead anywhere except for lazy rushed drama and ooc moments for all.

I’ll say that they did manage to land the buddie moments in every episode that Tim wanted so there’s that I guess. And they were good scenes and cute moments. But again ultimately…. where’s it going because there was no real movement forward. If anything there are even more massive roadblocks for them. Especially with the Eddie and Chris of it all. Ryan specifically saying for Eddie it’s now every time he tries to do something for himself, it takes from Chris. Buck is Chris second most stable and important person after Eddie. Eddie is never ever going to risk that now in the thought of dating Buck because he is not going to want to risk taking him from Chris.

Yes!! I agree with everything you just said

(also thank you for reminding me that Henren was supposed to adopt a babygirl, too many things happened and I totally forgot about that)