#it's just that he isn't used to think about himself like a living person with feelings and desires instead of acceptable collateral damage

[thatshadowcomic]

Sometimes I think about how shadow feels when he looks to sonic's team. They're all so comfortable and loving towards eachother.

I think he would crave that closeness but fear it at the same time. And shadow seems to become angry when he's scared or insecure. A lot of us do. He isn't sure how to approach it, how to be that open again. A lot of people mistake his uninterested demeaned for just that, disinterest. But really, I think he just gets stressed out by groups like that-- so much energy is hard to manage when you've been so sheltered and betrayed over and over.

I think knuckles would try but Shadow would keep his walls up, and knuckles would just take it for arrogance... Which, granted, shadow can be, but this isn't usually the case. I think knuckles would be ready to fight, which would only make it worse until sonic's casual attitude chills everyone out.

But by that point Shadow would scoff and leave. "I don't have time to play games with you people."

But I think Sonic would understand. Shadow puts too much pressure on himself to be the ultimate lifeform, the guardian of earth, protector etc etc. But in reality, Shadow is just nervous and defensive, even if he doesn't feel nervous. He just needs the right setting...

And really, I think both sonic and shadow like spending time alone in peace and quiet, hearing their respective white noises of nature or machinery. Sonic is just better at handling the social part of life.

I know rouge has changed a lot, but I always felt like she's tempt shadow into doing stuff outside his comfort zone, but never really pressure him into anything. She would support and stand by him, which would surprise him, especially given she's a thief and spy. The traits that make shadow live sonic would be the same traits that would make him love rouge, although these traits would be expressed in different ways and with different personalities obviously, but the understanding and support stays true and would impact shadow deeply.

I think shadow cares a lot for rouge, and outside of sonadow, I ship him and rouge a lot.

[harmonyrae]

My Mom Meets the Boys😶

I had my mom react to the "meet the family" dialogue.

When I first told her about game, I mentioned it’s "kind of embarrassing" (cause how do i explain this game tbh). She just goes “Are they naked?!” And I just…😂😏

Doctor Ice (Zayne)❄️ - "He's got a sultry voice." - "He doesn't appear to be a doctor… like I wouldn't have expected if I looked at him I wouldn't say he's a doctor." ("What would you say he is?") "I don't know, a performer or something, like singer or something."

The Dragon Man (Sylus)🐦‍⬛ - Sylus shows up on screen "OH!" - "I'm a humble business owner." ROLLS HER EYES DRAMATICALLY - "… I own several properties of various sizes. They'll be convenient for when she wants us to live together." "HOLD YOUR HORSES!" - "If you need any heavy lifting done around the house, I can send my… employees." "Oh come on, you can do it!" - she just stares at him "You're just staring at him… he knows!" "He knows what?!" "That you're staring at him!" gets closer to screen to stare - Sylus mentions the damn oranges that went missing "I did not take them!" Sylus says our fingers smell just like them she smells her fingers "I think you don't need to be blaming somebody for oranges!”

Fish Artist (Rafayel)🐟 - “He’s got a good name for an artist.” - Rafayel asks if we poked him just now she immediately pokes the screen - Immediately selects for him to introduce himself as my boyfriend - Rafayel bragging about his cooking skills “Well aren’t you special!” - “I liked him better than the last one.” (Sylus)

Space Pilot (Caleb)🚀 - Caleb shows up on screen “He looks like the guy before!” (Rafayel) - “I’ve entrusted my savings to her.” (I literally go - “I didn’t know he gave us money!”) - “I just want her to be healthy and happy by my side.” “What about MARRIAGE?” - “Thank you for raising her to be a wonderful person.” completely deadpan “You’re welcome.” - “I hope they don’t think I’m just an immature punk.” “Well I think it but I won’t say it.” - “I like him. He says what he feels.”

Neighbor Coworker (Xavier)✨ - Xavier shows up on screen “Oh he’s a child!” (me - “He’s literally ANCIENT!”) - “Would she fall in love with me faster if I had your blessing?” completely deadpan “No.” - selects the “you did great” option “Really? I talked so much I don’t even remember what I said…” both of us giggle and “awww”

Who would you give your blessing to based on the first introduction? picks Caleb🚀 Mom - “Is that for me or for you?” Me - “You can’t do that! They’re my boyfriends!” Mom - “Fine you can have them all!”

Who would you pick for you (as your favorite)? instantly picks Zayne❄️ (He's never beating the parents favorite allegations and I love that for him. It's cause he's a doctor isn't it?)

Who do you think is my favorite? immediately points to Sylus🐦‍⬛(like how did she KNOW) Me - “Why do you think that?” Mom - “Because he’s tall. Let me see him again.” puts him on screen, she looks him up and down “Yeah.” I do the heart interaction & he gets closer Mom - “Ooo he has red eyes! Why?!” Me - “He’s a dragon!” Mom - “Oh yeah, that’s right…”

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I just realized that, in the 5 seasons finales, LB&CN NEVER won :(

-S1: Origins, the start of everything so it doesn’t exactly count. Volpina is the last chapter before those, but now that Lila seems to be the new HM, and since it was LB’s “mistake” that made her a nemesis, their victory comes empty in the long run.

-S2: Heroes’ Day, I consider it a tie, because the status quo changed to HM’s favor. After all seemed lost, LB&CN got a second wind and they managed to corner him, pointing to their victory; there was no way to foresee Mayura’s arrival. HM didn’t win, but is no longer alone against them. From a narrative pov, in my humble opinion, it is a nice season finale to set up S3.

-S3: Battle of the Miraculous, LB makes a mistake born of jealousy, leading to the capture of Master Fu, HM claiming the Miracle Box and Chloe’s betrayal. Aftermath: Fu’s gone, temp heroes’ identities revealed to HW and Mayura, the translation of the grimoire is in enemy hands, allowing him to repair the broken Peacock miraculous, and Chloe starts hating LB. The heroes recovering the miracle box at the end is just a small win contrasted to everything else.

-S4: Shadow Moth’s Final Attack, the Miracle Box is in HM’s hands after LB makes another love-related mistake by being deceived by Felix into thinking he was Adrien; behold the rise of Monarch. Our heroes have their worst defeat so far.

-S5: The Final Day *insert TLOZ: Majora Mask’ Last Day theme*. Gabriel, the person who antagonized our heroes these five seasons, the one who was supposed to be defeated, brought to justice, manages to outsmart Bug Noire because she had faith in the man, and makes the wish. (Though I heard that Mari won because Gabriel didn't wish for Emilie at the end, so... it is supposed to be the heroes' victory, I guess?)

I'm pretty sure this came up somewhere in the comments or reblogs of my post about Marinette being written like a villain, but in the context of the finals, Gabriel is written like a classic superhero. The only exception being Origins which isn't really a final so I don't think it counts. Instead we'll do Volpina into Collector.

Season One: The heroes almost out Gabriel's identity, but he makes a last minute brilliant plan to save himself and beat his enemies, forever putting himself off their radar.

Season Two: Gabriel almost loses, but an unexpected ally swoops in to save him at the last second. She then becomes his new teammate for the rest of the show.

Season Three: Gabriel almost wins, but fails at the last moment due to a deus ex machina. Still, he ends the season with new knowledge that will make him stronger than ever as he faces his enemy in the coming fights.

Season Four: Gabriel once again loses the battle, leaving him in his darkest hour, only for another unexpected ally to swoop in and give him a major powerup, allowing him to go into the final season ready to put it all on the line.

Season Five: Gabriel once again loses the battle, but when all hope seems lost, his enemy's hubristic monologuing gives him the win, allowing him to achieve the victory he's been fighting for all along. He even gets to change his mind on what victory means for him, showing more growth than anyone else in this mess of a show. (For this, we're going to ignore the insane and deeply insensitive idea that being unable to live without your spouse is a happy ending and meaningful lesson about grief.)

To be fair, it's not totally unheard of for heroes to fail at the start or in the midgame, but I'm struggling to think of another show that did it this poorly. Usually, the heroes lose as a way to set up the plot for the next season or arc. During this follow-up plot, the heroes usually earn a new power or skill so they can come back and win. Miraculous doesn't do that. Things like Gabriel's season four win lead to nothing for the heroes even though a lot of us were expecting season five to see something like the heroes recovering a different miraculous every episode as Ladynoir came back stronger than ever now that the season four nonsense was done with.

But season five wasn't about getting the Kwamis back or about Ladynoir being stronger than ever. It was about Adrienette getting together and Gabriel being against that even though he was seemingly fine with it in both what-if episodes begging the question of what changed?

Season four wasn't about cool new guardian powers or rebuilding the team from scratch. All of the status quos were maintained. The only big difference was that Gabriel got the ability to use the peacock without dying even though it would have been infinitely more satisfying if season five had him dying from a broken miraculous instead of a cataclysm. Same plot, just without the complication of Adrien technically killing his father.

Season three wasn't about figuring out how to stop new villain Maurya. She only goes away because she gets too sick to fight. The heroes don't do anything to stop her. They just got lucky.

When you look at the various power ups that the show introduces - the potions, unification, new miraculous, etc. - there is no overarching narrative logic for why those power ups are being introduced. That's why they're often only used for something interesting in their intro episode. After that, they're just kind of there. I don't think they ever come back to save the day in a season final like you'd expect. The only one who gets lasting power ups that effect the whole season is the villain.

Heroes can also have less-than-perfect victories in satisfying stories. A lot of my personal favorites are a little bittersweet. But none of Miraculous' losses fit that bill either. The closest we get is the season five ending because the heroes did get the miraculous back, but it's hard to call that a victory. I'm not even sure why they need them back. Unless the story randomly decides that Ladynoir isn't enough for today's fight, the temp heroes aren't needed. That's why Ladynoir was perfectly fine for all of season five even though they were fighting a villain with every other power! It's actually really funny when you think about it. Heroes like Viperion should be at every fight because their powers feel essential. Yet Viperion only shows up a handful of times. Times when Ladynoir is suddenly struggling to win even though they've faced plenty of one-hit K.O. villains before. The show's internal logic is a mess.

Then again, this is also the show that consistently lets the villain's love empower him while the heroes' love leads to the end of the world, so I guess this is just kind of par for the course.

[rosinkreutz]

Category 5 Rambling Alert:

If I were writing the Strive story mode, I think I would have had the conflict with Jack'O sacrificing herself to destroy I-No be that only one of the personalities got destroyed and not both... I don't really know why they did it the way that they did tbh, because if both Aria and Jack'O were destroyed, then that's unequivocally bad. But if it's presented as a choice between them, then that's actually in line with the internal conflict of her realizing she's become her own person that wants to live and not just a disposable vessel.

Like, Jack'O would be say "No... This body was made for you... You're the one that Frederick and Asuka want..."

And Aria responds: "This isn't about them... It's about you..."

And they go back and forth until the end of the story.

I-No is ascended, and then instead of Jack'O going to try to defeat her first, Sol does the bit with the Outrage laser pretty much immediately while the others distract her. Except this time, it actually is killing him for real since he doesn't have the FOC anymore. Jack'O is desperately trying to get him to let go of the trigger, saying like, "You can't die! Don't you want to see Aria again?!"

Then Sol says something to the tune of "Have I ever called you Aria?"... He looks at her with so much love and closes his eyes (expecting to die).

But then... He comes back into consciousness and looks around, confused... He sees one of Jack'O's minions sitting where she was, holding a piece of the now broken Outrage. It waves at him and goes "Bye-Bye!" (like in the game), then disappears- to which Sol looks up in shock just in time to see Jack'O hurl herself into I-No to sacrifice herself instead.

About this time Asuka is also waking up (passed out after being turned into a book) to see the same thing, and they both shout and try to stop her.

Time freezes around Jack'O once she reaches I-No. She looks to see one of Asuka's mecha hands just inches away from her back, and Frederick in the middle of trying to stagger up into a run. Here, she talks to Aria one more time, and Jackie finally says something like "I guess I just didn't realize it before... Or I thought it was just your feelings tricking me... But I think I feel... No... I know I really, really love him!"

She finally lets Aria take the SOJ to destroy I-No.

And then she and Sol reunite and hug and what not...

Then a little later, Sol and Asuka have their final confrontation (which is mostly Asuka getting mad at Sol for not wanting to kill him anymore- itd be the first time seeing Asuka show any intense emotion). Afterwards, Jack'O joins them but before anyone can say anything, she just completely decks Asuka and knocks him to the ground. Immediately, she kneels down beside him and apologizes profusely, saying that Aria had asked her to do it before she destroyed herself.

Asuka looks very solemn and understanding (and in pain), but then Jack'O says "But she also wanted you to know that she forgives you..."

At this point Asuka is clearly just barely, by sheer willpower alone, not shattering into a million sobbing pieces. He goes on to reassure her that even though she didn't fulfill her original purpose, he'll always be so proud of her. It ends with the three of them watching the sunrise over a beautiful sea of clouds. That's my vision anyway.

Wait one more thought. The outro credits are shot like they're going around the world checking up on people (maybe like its following a bird? Raven?), and then at the end it starts zooming way, way out and takes us to the moon. Many quiet shots of a desolate Tír na nÓg... Finally, we reach Asuka, sitting alone in a big empty room meant for hundreds. He looks longingly at the Earth through one of the massive windows and says to himself, "This really is the loneliest place in the universe..."

Aimless, he wanders around (very large hallways to make him look even more small and alone) until he enters the main area with that weird floating piano. He gets it to land and absentmindedly starts testing the keys... Then, after a moment of hesitation, he plays the first notes of Freesia, which segues into the song as the screen cuts to the last of the credits.

Then it ends for reals.

[yanderes-galore]

Oooh how about Yandere Macaque who grows attached to his new student ;)

Sure! Made the pairing vague as it can go either way.

Yandere! Macaque with Apprentice! Darling

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Controlling behavior, Gaslighting, Possessive behavior, Fear of abandonment, Isolation, Forced companionship/relationship.

Macaque struggles when it comes to forming personal connections.

Ever since Wukong's betrayal, he hasn't let anyone get close to him.

That's been the reason Macaque acts the way he does, after all.

Macaque didn't expect to get attached to you.

In fact, he was hoping he wouldn't in fear of getting hurt again.

Macaque is manipulative and cunning....

Originally he took you in because he felt he could use you.

Similar to MK, Macaque felt you had potential.

He originally intended to make you a rival to MK, a way to continue sticking it to Wukong.

Not only that, but Macaque knows of the dangers the future holds...

He wants you prepared.

Macaque is a manipulative teacher.

He probably picked you as you were going through some negative things in your life.

As a being forced to be in the shadows, he understands your feelings all too well.

Isn't he benevolent when he takes you in?

He has you stay at a dojo with him, promising power and lessons.

Macaque preys on the vulnerable, which would make him be able to get in your head.

Macaque normally starts off as isolating.

He wants you to rely on him so he can influence your development.

He dismisses the idea of you having friends or family to go to.

You have duties to attend to.

He can't have his student falling behind if they wish to get stronger, right?

Macaque may actually be... anxious when his obsession starts.

Why does he feel excited when you pay attention to him?

Why does he enjoy your smile and presence?

He... He doesn't need companionship.

Yet it gets harder and harder to believe his own words when he looks at you.

He hates the idea of him being attached.

He doesn't need anyone, no recognition or anything.

But... Why must you be so adorable to him?

Why must he like it when you try your best?

You're trying to impress him... You look up to him...

... and he loves it.

Macaque craves that feeling of validation.

To see you look at him so eagerly, to want his praise?

It's more addicting than anything.

This results in Macaque using his earlier tactics... but for a different motive.

He still wants to isolate you, to make you focus on just him....

Yet it's not for lessons or to get back at Wukong.

Now it's because he craves your gaze on him.

Macaque needs you to look at him, to trip over yourself trying to impress him.

He's your teacher, your master, and now he's enjoying every second of it.

Sure, he's possessive, but he's always been selfish.

Macaque only cares for himself.

You make him want to give in to your comfort... to make you all his.

He feels no shame in keeping you with him at the dojo.

When you ask to leave, to speak with friends or family, he vetoes it....

"Friends? Family? Did you forget what I taught you? You can't trust anyone out there... No one but me, your teacher. Understand?"

Of course you listen, he listened to you when no one else would.

How could you not listen to teacher?

Macaque makes sure to keep you busy.

More lessons, more training, more chats....

At this point you live at the dojo.

Macaque always follows you around, practically becoming your shadow with how he looms over you.

To Macaque, it's all about messing with the mind.

He doesn't have to harm a soul himself if he wants you to himself.

He just needs to make you think you need no one else....

Macaque enforces this with his words, praising you and making you reliant on his praise and gifts.

Essentially... He love bombs you to make sure no one else gets your attention.

You can't betray him if he's all you have.

He tells you that you need him.

He says you're too weak on your own, that you need him to be strong.

Do you really want to be alone again?

I feel him manipulating you as your teacher and friend is bad enough.

But when romantic?

He's going to cling to you, he'll make you reliant on his touch just to drag you deeper into his web of lies.

Macaque doesn't care about showing off to Wukong and MK anymore.

Now he just wants you to be his, to keep him company.

He's scared he'll lose you, just like how he was hurt in the past.

So he'll hurt you just enough to make you reliant on him.

He can't lose you if he breaks you and builds you up.

He'll make you forget your old life, he'll have the darkness swallow you.

You'll be his student, his toy, all he ever wants and needs.

He won't need to hurt a soul as long as no one pries too much.

Even if they did, he's used to fighting.

He'll convince you anyone trying to come for you is trying to turn you against him.

You'd never leave your teacher all alone, would you?

No, He knows you wouldn't.

He'll do every dirty trick in the book to make you stay with him.

He'll gaslight you to make you trust him..

He'll bribe, lie, threaten, scold... everything.

As long as he gets in your head, he's won.

By this point, you'll always listen to teacher.

You live with him, train with him, eat with him, sleep with him...

Macaque knows by this point he'll never lose you, not when he's broken you in like this...

You'll be all his once you need him as much as he needs you... master and apprentice bound forever.

[gold-rhine]

like its literally insane how beat for beat this lantern rite goes into the same notes as natlan final act, but just does it well. the contrast is crazy-making. SPOILERS 2025 LANTERN RITE i guess

like. oh its a story about pyro girlie who had to lose her family very early and tragically, and then she came under huge amount of dire responsibility, but she didn't let it break her and she stayed positive and bright. she is now confronted with a critical situation where she has to do hard decision and be ready to die to save her country. she says goodbyes to her friends, trying to not let them know she's going to sacrifice herself, but they realise it and do everything to save her. in the end, she realizes her life isn't over, its too early for her to go, has heartfelt reunion with ghosts of her family and is saved by unified efforts of her friends, showing how much she's loved and wanted in the world of the living. (im joking, last part didnt happen to mavuika lol, i'll get to it)

but like you can actually see how liyue kids are ACTUALLY friends and how they like each other, they have palpable chemistry that is shown, instead of just like. flatly declared in natlan. hu tao pestering embarrassed yun jin into performing her silly cringe hilichurl song in operatic style has more character than mavuika had in all acts of natlan and her story quest COMBINED. and hu tao visiting friends to give them goodbye gifts under the guise of holiday tradition with half-jokey heartfelt well wishings is what i think natlan tried to do with ancient name thing, where characters like say why they like traveler. except in lantern rite it works because its personal and meaningful, and in natlan its just flashy anime poses and random cliches. "i love being traveler's friend!", "surely she comes from a good home!" like??? its fucking nothings that coworkers awkwardly say at the birthday party because they don't know you.

and suddenly in liyue they know that characters can have differences and STILL be respectful and well-intended, with hu tao and baizhu exchanging jabs about being archenemies, instead of entire cast being blandly okay yay all the time in natlan. hu tao's conversation with zhongli exploring her mental state before going into danger, bittersweet, but finally honest, just straight up doesnt have a parallel in natlan because they never give mavuika any fucking way to express herself. not to mention that hu tao has more conflict and complicated feelings about her lost family and grief than mavuika ever has with her sister where they talk about fucking nothing and just like politely nod at each other.

and the theme of unity actually works in liyue because it does have all other characters uniting to share hu tao's burden and save her, instead of capitano ex machina just showing up and solo taking her place bc he's here to hijack the narrative and make it about khaenriah instead of natlan. so natlan's theme about unity just never goes anywhere except of characters standing in the circle and yelling "for natlan!!", there is no tangible effort for this unity, nothing they have to overcome together. they just wait for everyone to awaken their ancient names, stand in a circle to power up mavuika, and then she solo finishes everything with carpet bombing. and then she solo beats up abyss boss. and then capitano makes it all about himself. like. much unity.

and even traveler being a descender isn't really used in natlan despite making a big deal out of it, her ability to challenge fate or whatever literally never actually comes up. meanwhile in liyue it is used within established lore reasons - not being connected to irminsul, BUT, very importantly, just being special descender would not be enough to save hu tao, its the fact that they are friends, they share a bond and care about each other, i.e. only by using the plum's branch traveler is able to connect and find hu tao.

[electricneonvalkyrie]

Owen Moore: The Nice Guy Who Isn’t So Nice After All

Believe it or not, I actually don't hate Owen. He irritated me the whole game, so he'll never be a favourite... but I don’t think he was altogether terrible. Similar to the other characters in The Last of Us, he was flawed but also surprisingly layered, with a mixture of good and bad traits.

But I can’t emphasize enough how badly I wouldn’t want this guy dating my daughter, and I certainly would not want a partner with his character traits as someone living with PTSD, so let’s talk about that.

I’m fully aware this is going to ruffle some feathers, but I’m all about a healthy discussion. If it leads to further deep dives, the nerd in me is pretty chuffed about that, too!

This is my opinion, based on my lived experiences. It’s totally cool if it doesn’t match yours.

Owen is the biggest goddamn coward.

There. I said it.

Throughout the game, Owen's cowardice is evident in his indecisiveness and unwillingness to fully commit to literally anything (Abby, Mel, the WLF, or even his dreams of peace).

In a game so focused on the importance of community, Owen is shockingly bad at fostering it. I find his isolation of the women in his life extremely problematic. Not only does he cut Abby and Mel off from himself, but he also keeps them apart from one another.

The kicker? Mel was Abby’s friend first.

There are some serious manipulative dynamics at play, with the way he keeps Abby tethered to him emotionally, even as he pursues a relationship with Mel.

I get it. Abby wasn’t making it easy for him.

He ached for a different her, untainted by the trauma and guilt that clung to her, a her she couldn't be while so deeply entrenched in her past.

Rather than understanding Abby's emotional limitations, Owen's unmet desires created tension and resentment, likely intensifying Abby's overwhelming guilt.

Does it make him a bad person for wanting more? No. Does it make him an ideal romantic match for Abby? Also, no.

But isn’t that the nature of human relationships? We often fall for people who aren't right for us.

This isn't intended to belittle Abby's relationship with Owen; it's clear she deeply cared for him. But considering the betrayal and selfishness inherent in this relationship, it's absurd to call it healthy or in any way safe.

Poor Owen, Abby couldn't let go of the past!

Abby wasn’t the only one stuck in the past, let me tell ya.

Owen fixated on who Abby used to be, while her present was irrevocably shaped by trauma, grief, and a desire for vengeance, a space Owen would only ever enter half-heartedly. He oscillated between trying to pull away from Abby and gravitating back to her when it was convenient.

He wanted Abby, make no mistake. But was he willing to support her and love her to the degree she needed at the time? I mean… fuck no. Give me a break.

Wanting someone and loving someone are two different things entirely.

It would be wonderful if we could remain the optimistic people we were before experiencing trauma. Unfortunately, that isn’t based in reality.

Owen’s nostalgia wasn’t just unhelpful—it was actively harmful because he clung to an idealized version of Abby that no longer existed.

No matter how much Owen tried to remind her of who she once was, Abby's past self was irretrievably lost. What she needed was someone to support her during difficult times, showing her how to find her own inherent goodness in a different light.

Now… which badass, bow-wielding characters come to mind in that regard… hmm.

You want to know who also consistently rose up to meet Abby where she was—who genuinely cared about supporting and healing her relationships with other members of The Salt Lake Crew? You want to know who actively desired Abby's freedom from isolation? Manny. But I’m saving that for another deep dive.

(Stay tuned, because it’s going to be a juicy one.)

Speaking of the people Owen's actions deeply affected, let's discuss Mel.

I hope it goes without saying, that pursuing your ex-girlfriend’s closest female friend, after your ex-girlfriend has tragically and brutally lost her father, is the least sexy thing I have ever heard of.

To me, this was just another staggering example of his cowardice and selfishness. The betrayal is multifaceted, given Mel's close mentorship under Abby's father. However, a romantic relationship with someone who appears to have spent more time with Abby's father than Abby herself is, at minimum, unsettling.

The psychology behind this is so interesting to me and something I may actually get into down the line. Was Owen truly as empathetic as he let on?

Owen felt empathy for the elderly Seraphite, yet paradoxically, he demonstrated very little empathy towards Mel and Abby, two of the most important women in his life.

Now let’s dive headfirst into the meat and potatoes.

He got Mel pregnant. Abby’s words, not mine.

Owen's actions toward Mel caused significant and far-reaching harm, rippling out to Abby as well.

Emotionally abandoning a woman during pregnancy, a time when she needs stability and reassurance more than ever, is horrific. That abandonment wasn't merely negligent; it was cruel, particularly in a world demanding trust and strong alliances for survival.

Emotional infidelity isn’t a thing anyone wants to own up to, until it happens to us, right? But Mel likely sensed it long before Owen’s physical betrayal, which would have left her incredibly insecure and isolated.

Owen’s inability to communicate or take responsibility for his actions likely diminished Mel's sense of agency and worth.

You either have it in you to cheat on a woman you're involved with or you don't.

This man not only carelessly contributed to getting Mel pregnant in tumultuous, uncertain times, but he turned around and risked doing the same to Abby in a fit of passion.

Kinda don't love a guy who behaves like this. Kinda think he's a creep in this regard.

Again, I wouldn't want any daughter of mine anywhere near him.

Abby would have eventually recognized this betrayal of Mel as part of his larger pattern of selfishness and avoidance. If he could emotionally and physically abandon Mel, the mother of his unborn child, what would stop him from doing the same to her? And for Christ’s sake, don’t say love, because that’s not a realistic notion whatsoever.

The destruction of Abby and Mel's bond sent a shockwave through their already fragile group, and Owen’s involvement shouldn’t be ignored if we want to have honest, interesting conversations about these characters and their dynamics.

Ironically, Owen's idealism was pretty selfish too; his vision of peace and his plan for a better world were merely a personal escape, ignoring the needs and well-being of others.

Yes, he was weary of the constant violence the WLF demanded of him. But at what cost was he willing to escape it?

While I could itemize his selfish behavior, example by painstaking example, it feels unfair and ultimately unproductive, as everyone is imperfect—in their world and ours. But Owen Moore's irritating self-importance and obnoxious behavior were impossible for me to ignore, solidifying his place as one of my least favourite characters.

But do I hate him? Nah.

I just think Abby would’ve made a much better father to Mel’s child by a long shot.

Uh oh. I did a controversial take, didn’t I?

😉

[thatuselesshuman]

Six of Crows: Representation Done Right (in my opinion)

Six of Crows, for those who don't know, is a series written by Leigh Bardugo, who you may recognize from works such as Shadow & Bone and King of Scars (sister series to Six of Crows). Six of Crows is the second series in the collection, and tells the story of 6~7 teenagers with a chip on their shoulder and the ability to treat overthrowing a government figure like it's just another Tuesday.

It is one of my absolute favorite series ever, and I would gladly give my firstborn to Leigh if she asked. It has many things going for it: beautiful plot, angsty teenagers, sad backstories that spell out peak fiction, and amazing characters. In this Tumblr essay, I'm going to focus on that last point, mainly in regards to how representation ADDS to the characters, instead of feeling like a shitty Target t-shirt during pride month (forced and hella cheap).

Disclaimer: I am in no way qualified to be talking about this. I literally have just about every privilege imaginable except being a rich old man. However, I do read a lot and love literature in all shapes and sizes, so know that my yaps are coming from a good place.

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Now, with that out of the way...

The 6 main characters of Six of Crows (SoC for short), are Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Wylan, Nina, and Matthias. They are all very different, so I'll go through them one by one and explain what, why, and how representation.

Kaz Brekker:

So, in terms of usual representation, Kaz is one of the more basic of the group. He's not a minority of any noticeable kind, like LGBTQ+ or a POC (person of color), but he is physically disabled. Due to an accident, Kaz walks with a limp and uses a cane.

Now, I know some people who would say that physical disability isn't as important when it comes to representation, since it's "unrealistic" for a disabled person to be kickass. And to those people I would say: have you ever met a disabled person? Like, genuinely, I'm physically disabled myself and use a cane much like Kaz, and while I could never pull off some of the crazy shit Kaz does, some of the strongest people I know have worse disabilities than me. You and I do not live in a world where a disability determines someone's worth.

And, to that point, I think Leigh proves this exceedingly well. Kaz isn't strong in spite of his disability, he is strong because of it. His disability isn't something shameful or something he needs to hide, it's something that people actively fear. He'll be the first to call himself a cripple, and the last to seem weak in any right.

But if that's all it was, the representation would be decent, but nothing special. What makes it special is that it's realistic. There are certain things Kaz can't do. A lot of simple things like walking cause him pain. In spite of this, however, Kaz wouldn't get rid of his disability. In the story, when given the chance, he chooses to keep it. Why? Because he turned a weakness into a source a strength. Kaz is literally my role model for this reason.

To conclude this, I'll leave you with a quote that can explain this way better than I ever could.

"There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken."

Inej Ghafa:

Past Kaz, I debated what I would talk about with each person. Most of them have multiple things that count for representation, which is good, but I decided to chose one for each. For Inej, I decided to focus on her Suli background.

(I'm not even going to lie, this one was the most challenging for me to write bc I wrote it last 😭)

In media, a lot of stories fall into the trap of saying the same three things about POC: 1) they aren't Caucasian 2) They have a life (sometimes) 3) they aren't white. Aka, what we would call the "token black character." No substance, usually feels very forced and fake. These type of characters seem to be written in purely for "representation" reasons, which actually leads to the representation being trash because the character's feel like corporate cutouts instead of people.

Inej, on the other hand, has a culture that feels alive. The Suli culture has conscious thought put into it on behalf of Leigh. They have proverbs and a language, they have costoms and a tangible effect on Inej. She is Suli and she is more interesting for it. Her culture doesn't feel tacked on or forced because it's a staple part of who she is, there is no Inej without the Suli.

And that's not to say that's Inej's entire character, as that wouldn't be good good either. No, Inej is many other things too. She's a girls girl, a fantastic acrobat, she's scarily good with knives, she's kind, she can be a bit scary, she's so much more than her ethnicity but that, is also a distinct part of her character. Her depth is not her ethnicity/culture but her ethnicity/culture is a part of her depth.

Jesper Fahey:

Jesper! We all love Jesper, right? I could talk about him being a different ethnicity like Inej, but I'd say a lot of the same things. Instead, I've decided to focus on our favorite bisexual disaster.

Now, for those unawares (i see you lerkers who haven't read SoC), Jesper is a bisexual character who is in a relationship with another character, Wylan. They're relationship is very wholesome, and their kiss scene is one of my favorites in the book (topped only by Kanej, sorry Nina and Matthias). I could just spend this part of the essay waxing poetic about their relationship, but that's no fun is it?

The main thing I want to focus on is how SoC treats their relationship (ie LIKE ANY OTHER RELATIONSHIP). They don't make a big deal out of it AT. ALL. past the normal relationship things. Hell, Kanej's relationship is treated as more different because they're both angsty teenagers, and that relationship is straight. The biggest trap authors fall into when it comes to LGBTQ+ relationships is that they make them either something super taboo or something so stereotypical that it hurts to read. Even though stories where the relationship is taboo are valid because of worldly bigotry, it's equally as important to stories where the relationships are just a fact of life, same as any other romantic entanglement.

In the same vein, I also want to mention the lack of stereotypes. We all know the stereotype right? One macho strong guy who's super masculine and one submissive (usually feminine-coded, go figure) guy who is typically younger, but that's more interchangeable. I, among others, hate these stereotypes for many reasons. Leigh, thankfully, avoids all of it masterfully. Yes, Wylan is a bit more reserved, but he is in no way weak. Jesper also isn't a strong macho guy, he's thin lanky teenager who likes to gamble and shoot things. He's not the super 'dominant' one in their relationship, because their relationship is EQUAL.

In conclusion, Jesper, in his relationship with Wylan, manages to dodge most-if-not-all typical downsides that would lead to certain elements to being bad or a bit bland representation. Jesper doesn't feel like a poster board LGBTQ+ guy they slap on shitty political add campaigns, he feels like a real, breathing person that just happens to have a (healthy!) relationship with a guy.

Wylan Van Eck:

I know I talked about Wylan some in Jesper's, but for this part I want to focus on Wylan's dyslexia.

In SoC it is explicitly stated that Wylan in unable to read because of severe dyslexia, leading to him being neglected/abused by his father and eventually him running away to join the Crows.

Now, let's start with the practical side of the equation. Although, as I said in Kaz's section, a disability doesn't define you, it is an unfortunate reality that some people try to use that to define you. This is unfortunately the case in Wylan's story, where his dad neglects/abuses him, sends his mother to a psych ward, then ultimately tries to have him killed. What I like about SoC, however, is that it doesn't just say "that's just how the world is, suck it up" and move on. No, it goes so much further.

During the course of the story, Wylan grows from believing his father and feeling shame about his condition, to using it as an accepted part of himself. He grows as a person not because of his shitty father, but in spite of his shitty father. Many people, having seen Wylan's story, may say that Wylan's father is what made him who he is, and therefore Wylan's father was necessary. You know what SoC says to that? It gives those people a big ol' middle finger.

Wylan, in order to grow in both self-confidence and happiness, had first get AWAY from his father. Wylan isn't who he is because of the abuse he endured, no, the abuse was a hindrance to his growth. He was only able to become who he was after he had people who cared about him and truly didn't care what others deemed "shameful" about him.

These things both make a statement about how society treats people who are different, and makes Wylan seem like a real person. It is simply not reality that a totally fine person can spawn out of a broken, abusive household, but it is also not often that the person is broken forever with no other qualities. Wylan is not his dyslexia or his trauma, but instead he is a normal boy with many interests and tendency to blow things up that had to grow out of his self-hatred sowed in him by his father.

Nina Zenik:

The wise, the woman, the icon, Nina Zenik. I love Nina to a fault. She is one of the few that her story extends outside of the Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom timeline into King of Scars/Rule of Wolves. That's not to say we don't see the others, but a good chunk of her story is seen in the KoS series. Now, even though this is the case, we're going to mostly focus on Nina in SoC/CK with how she artfully uses and discards gender roles at her whim.

We all know the traditional 'gold standard' for women, right? Blonde, ultra feminine, skinny, and above all: submissive to men. There's nothing explicitly wrong with most of these attributes, but when they're forced on everyone? That's when it becomes a problem. Through Nina, Leigh shows that, while most of these attributes aren't inherently harmful, you can still be a badass while not exactly fitting the mold.

Nina is a bold and outspoken girl with brunette hair, a plump body, and a love for all things food and fashion. She's the first to tell Kaz that his haircut is ass and the first to down every waffle in the room. Not only are these attributes realistic to women, since I too love myself some waffles, they also break the traditional 'gold standard' while still keeping Nina feminine.

Some authors, in the pursuit of breaking gender roles, make a super tomboy character that basically forsakes being a woman. While those people do exist and are valid, most women aren't like that. I don't think those characters are always good representation because they aren't breaking gender roles, they're just reinforcing the idea that you have to act like a man to get anywhere in life.

Nina is good because she still has feminine attributes. She loves fashion. She's a girls girl. She's sexy and she knows it. While you don't have to have those attributes to be feminine (obviously), it shows that you don't have to abandon your feminity to be badass.

Matthias Helvar:

Matthias! Some of you are wondering how I'm going to connect Matthias to representation, aren't you? He isn't a POC, LGBTQ+, or even disabled in any (canon) way. He is like me, truly the default settings of the world. This seems to disqualify him from the representation talk, but I would disagree. He aids the representation not by being apart of it himself, but showing how two different cultures can coexist, even with opposing values.

Matthias is from the country of Fjerda, which is characterized by it's highly traditional ideas about women, religion, and just life in general. They believe that women should be subservient to men, and that Grisha are witches that should be killed without mercy by a special army called the Drüskelle. And guess what? Matthias just so happens to have been raised as a Drüskelle!

Throughout Matthias/Nina's backstory, Matthias first captures Nina as a Grisha but then falls in love with her. Nina soon 'betrays' him and they have a falling out, but they eventually rekindle their relationship (that was a small no nuance summary for a huge arc spanning multiple books, so I suggest you read SoC/CK if you haven't). Through this arc, we see Matthias go from bigoted to acceptance WITHOUT losing his culture or religion.

I think a lot of stories get the bigotry -> acceptance pipeline wrong in that a lot of the time, a character completely loses their culture and/or religion in the process. While that does happen sometimes, it shouldn't be the meta. Not being a bigot boils very simply down the principle of not being an asshole, regardless of your culture. I have my stakes in this as I'm Christian, yet here I am making a whole Tumblr essay on representation. You don't have to lose your entire culture to not be an asshole.

Leigh does this very well with Matthias, as by the end of the story, he's still a Fjerdan and still wholeheartedly believes in Djel, but he's changed in that he's no longer an asshole about it. He still has that part of him, just without the added bigotry. My favorite part of his arc is at the very end when he tries to convince a fellow Drüskelle that he doesn't have to live that way. He coexists and accepts other cultures without losing himself, and that's very important when it comes to representation.

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In conclusion, what makes representation good representation is that it adds to the character, not takes over the character. No one wants a character where their only character trait is that they have dark skin or that they like someone of the same gender. They want depth, they want humanity. Representation isn't a crutch to add depth to an otherwise blank character but a tool that can reflect real life in the way that none of us are exactly alike, and we don't have to be.

[nurselynn]

so, this is miss magnolia lynn! aka maggie aka mags aka “big ass crybaby”

she is, as you may have guessed, the baby sister of everyone’s favorite school nurse, lynn. the two of them had a really rough time together when maggie was young ━ which is to say that lynn bullied her as a child lol. things are weird between them now that he’s back in her life, but they’re working on it. they don’t like to talk about it with others.

maggie is a sensitive soul. she cries over everything ━ animal shelter ads, sad stories, things that have only happened in her imagination. she's just a delicate flower. she also has very strong attachment issues and doesn’t really know who she is as a person outside of her personal relationships. some might say she’s clingy, or annoying, or even obsessive ━ and they’re not necessarily wrong. 

outside of acting like someone’s lost puppy, she enjoys painting, being on the school yearbook committee and in the art club, and playing singles tennis. 

she’s very tall for her age, around 6’, and twiggy. she tends toward pastel / boho / whimsical clothing and loves the colors green, purple, and pink.

maggie has gone to saint sara belle since kindergarten and is in the same year as the jerks, so even though she isn't in their group, she’s still fairly acquainted with them ━ for better or for worse...

nate was maggie’s very first friend ━ despite not necessarily wanting to be. but when he was the only person to stand up for maggie against her older brother, maggie’s obsessive attachment to lynn quickly transferred to him. she idolized him and wanted to follow him around wherever he went, which stressed nate out tremendously. he slowly began to accept her presence in his life, especially when she tried (and failed) to stand up for him against everett and his friends. nate keeps maggie grounded in reality and maggie helps nate deal with his emotions, and even though they might grate on each other's nerves because of just how different they are, they're still very close; maggie would have said that they were best friends for most of their lives, if it wasn't for everett butting his head in where he didn't belong.

everett has always gotten on maggie's nerves, ever since they were small and she saw that he treated nate poorly. they would bicker and squabble over stupid things, just because they didn't like each other. even as things got better between everett and nate, maggie still hasn't been able to get over it ━ she never wanted nate to become friends with everett to begin with, and told him that much. but they still did, and even became roommates, and maggie struggled with it considering how overly attached she was to nate. though she and everett don't argue as much anymore, there is a silent resentment between them, each wanting more of nate's attention than the other gets.

when shiloh first came to school, maggie liked him a lot! he was so nice to everyone, and maggie thought they could be good friends. that is, until shiloh endeared himself to others he considered more useful than maggie, and began to outright ditch her for his “better” friends. this hurt maggie a lot, especially considering this was at the height of her power struggle / attachment crisis with everett and nate, and she's really never forgiven him for it. shiloh is still nice and civil, of course, because really it was nothing personal. they were never terribly close, and barely ever speak at all now. she still doesn't understand what his game is. though lately, he has seemed to want to win her favor once again...

bae is another one who maggie doesn't understand. she's quite naive, and so a lot of his sarcasm / patronizing went right over her head at first. but one day, bae said one little thing that maggie caught and realized, “oh, this guy actually thinks i’m dumb as a bag of rocks, and maybe i am” and bawled her eyes out about it. of course that wasn’t bae’s intention, and he apologized for it, but things between them have only ever been awkward since then. they just simply don’t talk.

jeremy actively avoids maggie more often than not. she emotes entirely too much for him to be comfortable with. maggie, however, has a bit of a fascination with jeremy. not a crush, but just... an interest. that leads her to possibly overstepping boundaries and being a bit clingy when he’s around. when she acts like a normal person, though, they are able to get along, mostly, though she’s too sweet for his preference. their biggest bonding point is over talking shit about everett.

pran… is the newest object of maggie's attention, and significantly more so than jeremy. they share an art class together, and when she sees just how talented he is (PLUS the added mysterious broody allure), she quickly develops an attachment to him… even though they had never spoken. and even when she does take the leap and tries to acquaint herself with him, it's like trying to pull teeth. it's only when they're paired together for a project that he reluctantly begins speaking to her. but she really hopes she can crack his shell and understand him better.

jb intimidates maggie. maggie already feels like she has to vie for her friends’ attention, but now that a beautiful girl has come in and also wants to get to know them (and her brother!!) it's only made things worse. she doesn't want to dislike jb for that alone, because maggie wants to be a girl’s girl — but her jealousy issues and possessiveness take over sometimes. 

her other friends include alicia, chand, and adrian. she has no interest in the school cliques, but does have acquaintances in the artsies, troublemakers, and others groups. (when you go to a tiny school  your whole life, you tend to just know everyone else around you.)

all of these relationships are evolving, and things do begin to change once their junior year of high school properly starts.

also these lol

[mwagneto]

cbs watson really is fascinating as a case study coz like, holmes and watson are so essential to each other that i think any adaptation that doesn't get their relationship is doomed to be bad, let alone one that doesn't have one of them in it (unless it's specifically about that absence which can be interesting, albeit miserable, to watch), but it is possible to make something that has holmes and doesn't have watson. like you can kinda do anything with sherlock holmes because he's an extremely recognisable figure who can be stretched and transformed any way you like and even if he's not even remotely book accurate, as long as you give him a name that vaguely resembles "sherlock holmes" everyone will get who they're dealing with. you CAN make an adaptation without watson. i mean you shouldn't but you can. but does that apply to watson as well?

(mini essay under the cut this got away from me. and for the record i am NOT complaining i'm just thinking. pondering even)

like you can move holmes out of england to america, change his name, job, appearance, personality, etc etc but literally all you need is his last name's initial and him being good at figuring things out and everyone will understand that gregory house is sherlock holmes because he's such an iconic character. but what about our less often described pov character, watson? what makes him himself?

obviously their lives centre around each other the same amount and again *i* think it's essential to have both of them but what is watson without holmes? i mean there's a reason the original stories skip the time between the final problem and the empty house because what is there to say really. he's just this sad shell of a man til he gets his friend back. but in all other aspects he's still dr john watson. so what about here? he's been taken from his era and put in the modern day, removed from his home in london and placed in america, isn't disabled from the war (unless they're gonna touch on that later?), isn't a journalist, and ofc doesn't have holmes... so what's left? is there anything else to john watson that cbs can use to make the audience really feel that they're watching watson and not just a nice smart doctor who has the same name as him?

i'm just ruminating, i don't have the answers but i do think it's gonna be very interesting to see if and how the show will try to make itself feel more like a holmes adaptation even without the era, the country or, y'know, the holmes. i do think the insane amount of references to the original canon are one of the main ways of doing that but i also think that while that's fun, it should not be the only thing they have because the cynical part of me keeps thinking that if they're gonna change everything about the character, why even call him watson other than brand recognition and the knowledge that being a holmes adaptation instead of Generic Medical Drama inherently has a higher chance of success?

in any case i'm very glad to have a new holmes adaptation and even more glad that it's something i get to think about, excited to see what's coming

[shitpostingkats]

Terra Kingdomhearts is literally the story about an oldest son born with something Wrong inside him and his whole family expects him to outgrow it, or ignore it, or defeat it, and then he gets bigger and he is still Wrong. Terra Kingdomhearts is the story of being isolated and sheltered from anyone willing to acknowledge the Wrongness inside you and so when he finally, finally meets someone who treats the Wrongness as no big deal, not a Wrongness at all, it's instantly a lifeline to this poor man and he will do anything to learn more about how he is not Wrong forever, actually. It's a story about how if you live your life with no community for the Wrongness that lives inside you that your very first lifeline can be used to strangle you. Do you understand what I'm saying

[shakingparadigm]

what is the theory that ivan manipulated the event where till and mizi met the wagyein?

It's not a theory, actually! It's confirmed that Ivan orchestrated the whole event. The true reason as to why however is still unknown. The information provides more context to this scene, though:

During the earlier times of ALNST the most rational explanation for this scene was that Till ran after a flower crown (presumably Mizi's) and Ivan followed him in out of curiosity. Now we know that Ivan was conveniently just standing there because he was waiting.

Side note, I find it heartbreaking (and maybe a little funny, sorry) that Till most likely didn't notice Ivan in this scene. That's just like him, isn't it. Always too busy running after Mizi while Ivan trails behind, an ever-present shadow.

I'm not sure how Ivan manipulated the circumstances for both of them to end up there, but it is confirmed that everything was intentional. What strikes me most is how they describe this particular scene:

I can't copy down what they said word-for-word (Patreon info), but they described Ivan watching "creepily" as Till and Mizi are faced with danger. We know that Ivan was familiar with the Cerberus wagyein beforehand, enough to touch its teeth and even to rest himself inside its maw. To Ivan, the wagyein is not dangerous, but to Till and Mizi, it could be. Ivan prepared the wagyein, led them there, and watched "creepily" from afar as Till fell on his knees, seemingly injured.

The closest I can get to making sense of Ivan's "scheme" is that he wanted to see how other children would react in a dangerous situation. Ivan's always been an observer, after all, and he's learned to survive by copying the more "normal" behaviors of his peers. This situation occured when Ivan was still young and had not yet developed his more charming mask, so perhaps he staged this encounter to study a situational response, to learn and mimic the emotion of fear. And what better subjects for the experiment than two of the most expressive and reactive humans of their batch? It helps that he was already fixated on Till beforehand, too. I think Ivan became irreversibly obssessed after this incident, especially since it's framed as a turning point in Ivan's life, comparing Till to the stars.

This is just my attempt at an interpretation, though. It could very well be for another reason. He most likely chose Till and Mizi specifically for personal reasons, not just for reaction. I'm still not sure on the purpose behind the whole thing.

The team wanted to capture Ivan's "dark emotions" through the shot of his stalking, which could relate to his more sinister intentions. His gaze can be read in a few different ways, though. Curiosity, interest, fear, etc. Maybe that's why they decided to redraw the shot in ROUND 6.

I think this better sells the feeling they were trying to convey.

[mad-hunts]

i like how barton went from being like... a hippie in terms of how he viewed sex in his early twenties, then kind of abstained from it for a few years / became sexually repressed, which... definitely isn't such a good thing. BUT then he became even more of a freak (and i do mean that in the good way this time LOL) around the time he started residency because WOW is that shit stressful. though that was also unfortunately around the time when he really started to spiral as well 😬 but we don't need to talk about that ahahhh

like the way this man learned how to express his sexuality REALLY came full circle in the end considering he was like 'yeah, back in the early days that i was in college, i was a freak. but now i'm not anymore... though do you want to see me do it again anyway?' like 💀 JSJSJ if he weren't so demented, i'd almost be inclined to say good for him, y'all LMAO feeling comfortable with your sexuality and perhaps even having a bit of fun with it (though maybe too much in barton's case, because he literally weaponizes it in order to lure in his victims. BUT once again, we don't need to talk about that right now psshhh. i actually fully intend on talking about that in the tags NGL) is more often than not a good thing after all

[sadlynotthevoid]

I want to read a LCF x Assassination Classroom crossover only for the sake of seeing OG!Cale interact with the principal.

They would fight and OG!Cale would win because he's such a little shit and fears exactly one thing— and manipulative assholes aren't that.

Principal Asano (whatever his name was) would have an aneurism trying and failing to intimidate him.

This brat (because any version of OG!Cale would kick his ass, but teenager!OG!Cale would be funnier) not only isn't affected by his bloodlust (he grew up around Ron, that was rather pathetic), he can see through his manipulations and plotting as if he was reading a book— an easy one, at that—, and had been going in circles around him since he entered through the door!

What is worst, he has been switching back and forth between almost calling him out and playing dumb since he tried to use one of his usual tactics with him. He's laughing at him inside— he knows it.

He ends up giving Asano a nervous tick.

So, AU where teenager Og!Cale transmigrates to AssClass world— maybe he appears near Karasuma's colleagues so he has to deal with him (because whatever God that delivered him knows that kid needs a responsible adult around)— and proceeds to take it really well. Can't say the same about some people (cofcof Asano cofcof) who fucked around him and now find out.

Meanwhile, Karasuma is very busy with his job, the supersonic octopus, getting his teaching license, and the strange kid with self-esteem issues that crossed worlds— who's now living with him.

Curiously, helping Cale to accommodate to a whole different world and society is the less difficult task out of all of them. The hardest part so far was explaining him why his happiness and reputation isn't a "good price to pay" for someone else's wellbeing.

(Although the talk about "why exposing yourself to any nocive substance was a bad idea even if you have a great tolerance or immunity to them, and therefore, is forbidden" had been a close one. Seriously, why does he knows how poisoned food tastes like?)

[badgirlcoven-official]

No you misunderstand tumblr user writing long analysis post the people saying ACAB about death note are fully aware that the theme of the anime is "no one should have the power to kill" it's just that this message is fucking stupid and idealism perpetuated mainly by the privileged to stop their victims from violent uprisings

And the fact they chose a cops son and he only really targets criminals (an oppressed class, even if the things they've allegedly or assuredly done are awful) to illustrate this point further highlights how self-righteous and poorly thought out this message is

[llatimeria]

Just finished The Santaroga Barrier by Frank Herbert (my dad likes to play audiobooks in the car on trips) and I didn't like it much (and there's quite a bit of Yikes in it, because frank herbert and the 1960s in general,) but the aspect I found most interesting was the concept of like. A world's subconscious desire to kill The Other.

In the book an investigator visits a small cultish town in order to investigate it for a market study after a few other researchers mysteriously died. he gets into a frightening number of "accidents" while he's there (like the former investigators) and starts believing that there was a conspiracy among the townsfolk and all of them were intentionally trying to murder him.

tl;dr, it turns out it actually was a subconscious yet intense phobia/hatred they had of The Outside they had as part of their personal traumas, childhood indoctrination into their local cult, and the LSD-like drug they were constantly on. They didn't mean the investigator any harm, if anything they were extremely welcoming, kind, well-meaning people, but this background radiation of fear and rage kept making them accidentally do things to kill him - mixing up insecticide and spices in his food, gas fumes being pumped in his hotel room after a botched maintenance job, a torn carpet tripping him off the railing of the balcony, and Many Other subtle attempts on his life that he just happened to avoid by sheer chance.

But all the townsfolk don't really think anything of it - the town doctor, especially skeptical, "diagnoses" him as "accident-prone" until the investigator begs and pleads with him for days after several brutal accidents in a row, and only then does the doctor start believing him but even then only comes up with the theory that all of this supposed malice towards the investigator is "subconscious" - later shown to likely be correct when the investigator himself, after overdosing on their special drug, "accidentally" shoves his colleague off a roof, killing him, but the investigator physically cannot see it as anything but an accident anymore. it simply doesn't reach his mind that he killed a former friend of his. it was just an accident. he just fell, all on his own.

the idea of A Town That Wants To Kill You, But It's Nothing Personal resonated with me from the perspective of being a disabled person, especially one in a generally welcoming, accepting environment. when you're disabled, not a lot of people will come to you bearing their ableism between their teeth. They'll be nice, insensitive maybe, but nice, and are often outwardly willing to accomodate you. But they also stick out their leg as you're walking along to trip you. They'll apologize, and you'll maybe even believe it, even though to you, from your perspective, it was obviously an attempt to harm you. You excuse it once, maybe twice, but after a point, you realize that this world, this community you have entered, is actively hostile towards you and everyone like you. so you start screaming it to the rooftops. you tell authorities that the world wants to hurt you, but they begin affixing labels to you like "paranoid" or "anxious". they know no one actually has it out for you, personally, after all. that would be ridiculous.

but you still keep getting tripped down the stairs. the rat poison and the sugar at your favorite coffee shop still keep getting mixed up, but only when it's your order. in the hospital, recovering from your previous "accidents", a nurse will still accidentally pump you full of saline instead of medicine.

after a point, doesn't the fact that all of these are "accidents", and that no one WANTS to kill you, just... stop mattering a little bit? Yeah, no one wants to hurt you, but they just keep doing it. They keep making stupid little mistakes. They know everyone like you who has visited their community has died or been seriously injured under suspicious circumstances, but the idea that they, themselves, could be a little bit at fault just doesn't even register to them. they don't even consider that they might have to change their ways in order to protect people like you. After all, you can't prepare for every "freak accident". Even when the solution could be as simple as "stop putting rat poison next to the sugar", every time it happens to you, or a person like you, it's just an "accident", that no one "meant" any harm, and "nothing could be done".

it doesn't cross their mind that a string of unfortunate accidents ceases to be accidents, but serious negligence. it can't cross their mind, because they're not the victims here. they only even begin to acknowledge something might be wrong when the victims are screaming in their face, day after day. even then, they come to the conclusion that even if you're right, and the community does want to kill you because you are Other, they won't immediately see anything wrong with that. To Them, the answer is clear as day: just become one of Them, and you'll be safe. They take care of their own.