#k meta

[skyflyinginaction]

Yata wanted to feel needed by others. He felt that he needed to take care of his mother, but when his mother got married and started a family, he saw that his mother was taken care of by her new husband and happy with her family. He felt that it wasn’t a place for him.

When Yata lost his home, he was in a sad slump and blamed everyone for leaving. When Kamamoto was injured, he said Anna was kidnapped. What broke him out of it was that Anna needed him, so he had to act. 

Before, Yata assumed that everyone liked the same things. That was until he saw Anna struggle with controlling her powers. Her talk with Kusanagi made him realize he never understood what Mikoto was thinking. He realized that Anna would not run things like Mikoto does. He chooses to follow her and Honor Anna’s opinion. He grew from that self-centered mindset. 

When Yata spoke to Munakata, he realized that Fushimi didn’t betray anyone initially but was just faithful to his way of life and that the Blue King was his king.

[ridiasfangirlings]

Why did Yata in the novel "side: Red" notice that Fushimi was unhappy with the fact that they did not communicate much, since Yata's social circle expanded, but nothing changed? Because in the story after season 2, Yata noticed that they spent little time just together, and this began not only when Fushimi left in scepter 4, but earlier when they were in Homra. Why didn’t they begin to communicate more often and spend time together?

That Yata noticed it later I think we could chalk up to his character development, that he’s getting better at reading things that aren’t said. In the Homra years I think the fact that they didn’t communicate is basically one of the main points that led to the issues between them, because Fushimi wouldn’t say anything and Yata couldn’t understand things that weren’t said. There’s something Gora mentioned once about how the two of them are like a married couple where the wife says she wants a divorce and the husband thinks ‘but we were doing well weren’t we,’ I like to bring that up in a ‘lol they are married’ way but it also illustrates the mindset they were both in at that time — to Fushimi, these issues are huge and glaring and obvious, while to Yata there isn’t any issue at all and everything is fine. 

Yata’s aware as soon as Side Red that he and Fushimi haven’t spent a lot of time together and that Fushimi’s become harder to hang out with, but the important thing here is that Yata doesn’t realize that this is problem. Like to Yata, they’re still partners, they’re still best friends. Sure, Fushimi’s being more standoffish than usual but hey, that’s just how Fushimi is, he’s not a personable guy, he’ll come around. Yata knows that they aren’t communicating as much but he also I think just figures this is something Fushimi will get over. Plus, it’s not like Fushimi is doing all the heavy lifting here — the part where Yata mentions noticing all this in Side Red is when he and Fushimi were supposed to watch Honami’s place, and Fushimi bailed on it. Here was a chance for them to hang out and communicate, and Fushimi rejected it. Similarly at the amusement park later in the novel, while other people were there it’s not like Fushimi couldn’t have stuck close to Yata to hang out even with other people around, but Fushimi went off on his own. Since Fushimi was so openly avoidant to spending time together I could easily see where Yata gets the idea that this is just Fushimi being Fushimi and there’s no need for him to ask if Fushimi’s all right because surely Fushimi would say something if he was upset (Fushimi: lol no).

Post-ROK on the other hand Yata’s grown and realized that he can’t just assume the feelings of other people, he wants to try and understand the people he loves. So while he asks Fushimi to tell him things in a way even an idiot can understand he also takes the time to understand Fushimi too. Yata realizes that he can’t just assume everything is fine because it seems fine to him, he needs to be proactive and think about others. He wants Fushimi to be his friend again so he specifically goes out of his way to make sure they have time to spend together, realizing that with Fushimi being how he is Yata can’t just assume they’re always on the same wavelength, they need to open communication both ways. In Homra I think they were both too immature at that point to realize the real problem (let’s face it, even if Yata had directly asked, Fushimi likely wouldn’t have been honest anyway), but now after everything they’ve both grown a little and are able to bridge that gap together.

[wwillywonka]

rewatching where no man has gone before and it's wild how different spock's characterisation is in this versus the rest of the series. like i know logically (haha) that the episode was so early that the show and nimoy didn't really have a grasp on the character yet (made evident by the "one of my ancestors married a human woman" line), but it also strikes me that this is technically kirk's first episode in timeline (production) order, meaning jim and spock have barely started to get to know each other. it's obvious from the chess game that they're already very close and likely have been joined at the hip since their very first meeting, so i like to think that spock is almost, ya know, giddy at this point, adjusting to the comforting warmth and joy and security he feels just by being around jim all the time because it's all so new, because he's never had anything like this before. spock likes jim so much and so immediately and wants to get to know him better and feels safe enough around him to let jim get to know him better, too. the interaction at the end, "i felt for him, too" and "there might be some hope for you yet, mr. spock." followed by a very not-subtle, fond smile from our dear vulcan first officer, just stands out so much against the rest of the series. young spock and his brand new blossoming crush for his captain and he hasn't gotten to the point where he's afraid of those feelings yet, just basking in how nice it feels to have a proper friend. so damn cute. it fills me with butterflies.

[skyflyinginaction]

his character development is a lot more subtle in the series.

Kuroh Yatogami character analysis

Can we talk about Kuroh’s character development for a moment, like… Wow he really grows during the series. Like a lot.

  Keep reading

[no-psi-nan]

Teruhashi analysis iceberg meme 🧊

[kernsing]

never over the fact that han yoohyun remains also a victim of child neglect/abandonment/having adult responsibilities foisted upon him too young even as he grows up under yoojin’s care. it’s not yoojin’s fault, he did his best and he did good raising yoohyun but. you’re not supposed to be able to hurt your parent, you’re not supposed to learn how to manage your parent’s emotions/wellbeing/public image, you’re not supposed to have to fear for their physical safety and desperately try to figure out a way to protect them, you’re not supposed to be capable of real cruelty toward them, not supposed to be able to fuck up their life. but your parent is your brother who is only five years older than you, and suddenly the new and dangerous world demands you (you who are new and dangerous too) in its spotlight, and you are just a child and he was just a child. the world is so wholly unjust to both of them and i will never fault either for how their relationship was in shambles for three/eight years, even when han yoohyun makes his terrible decisions with terrible consequences, paving the road to hell. you’re not supposed to be able to hurt your parent like that. you’re not supposed to be a brother that he needs to rely on, just as much as you rely on him, both of you abandoned.

haven’t even mentioned yet how you’re not really human you don’t understand humans you try your best for your brother but you Don’t Get It, how and why society works and the full emotional harm its hatred can wreak. you might see it but you don’t get it like physical danger and there is so much of that latter danger in the world now. you might see him and keep tabs on him but you don’t get your brother, that he needs you like you need him because of the very fact that you need him and children realizing their parents are complete emotional beings is not something that should happen before you learn to stand on your own. and learning to stand on your own, paradoxically and inevitably, takes much longer when you are forced to grow up too fast. you are forced to mature too early and so you are immature in ways invisible. so many flavors of terrible responsibilities foisted upon them that no one should ever bear (raising a child while you are a child/the world is on fire and so are you/your parent also needs you to bear your shared emotional burden).

it’s so unfair. i’m bundling them both up in a blanket. han yoojin’s childhood was stolen away so he could give this simulacrum of a childhood to his brother but the world is terrible and yoojin is just a child too and it’s not possible it’s not his fault that the wonderful beautiful childhood he built is not, cannot be the bulwark in the face of brutal reality, that delicate childhood shaped by hands still so small too.

[regainingparadise]

Relistening to TMA Season 5, I am again struck by how goddam badly Martin and Jon need couples counseling.

I love them both. I ship them very much. But oh lord they have issues

Like, these are two individuals who, under the very best of circumstances, would really need therapy both individually and together. They are both people with plentiful quantities of relational trauma from childhood that neither of them have worked through even the slightest bit.

And then you throw them into the apocalypse. And you add a metric fuck ton of guilt, helplessness, and the dynamics of being "The Antichrist and +1"?

On a surface level--Jon is in a perpetual state of information overload. Martin is in a perpetual state of "can you please just explain the basics of what's' going on in a given situation and not just say "it's complicated" or launch into a gruesome monologue"

But on a deeper level, their childhood relational traumas have left them each with opposing avoidant tendencies: Jon is unwilling to broach a difficult conversation, which leads him to hide information until he's confronted. Martin, on the other hand, has a finely honed ability to ignore information that he doesn't like until he no longer can hide from it.

Biggest example of their avoidance tendencies: Martin's Domain

Way early on, when we barely understand any of how the hellscape works, Jon mentions it, Martin shuts it down hard and deflects quickly with a bid for affection from Jon

Martin is in deliberate denial, but Jon admittedly wasn't particularly clear to start with.

"We all have a domain."

Jon means it, presumably, as "Me, You, and other 'Avatars.'" Jon is used to being grouped with those empowered by the Entities. Martin isn't. (see also: MAG185: Martin" Is that how these creatures see us now? As one of them?") But that's not what Jon says. And this is MAG167--they've only been through four domains, at least that we've seen. Jon is speaking from a place of knowledge, and assuming his listener has that same knowledge.

And when this issue comes up much later in MAG183, Martin has spent 17 episodes ignoring or forgetting that he has a domain, not letting that information in so that he has never processed it. (See also: Mag170: "Sometimes I wonder if I forget things on purpose. Easier not to think about them, I guess. Easier to just let them… slip away. They can’t hurt you if you don’t think about them.").

Martin confronts Jon on his avoidance (because while Martin may be good at ignoring things he doesn't like, he's far better at bringing up challenging topics), Jon is able to manage some A+ communication on his feelings and the genuine challenging of figuring out how to share upsetting information when he has All The Information, Martin accepts that. I just desperately want a therapist to be there and make them continue this conversation and practice ongoing good communication skills!

Though they resolve this, even though Jon has an explanation that makes sense...he was really leaving this conversation to the last minute. Would he have "[brought] it up at the crossroads" as he claims to Helen? Or would he have avoided it entirely, as she accuses, or waited till they were at the threshold, as he does with The Desolation and the Hunt, leaving Martin to confront terrifying situations without forewarning or planning or explanation.

Again, Jon kind of tried to bring up some of the potential issues with Basira and Daisy before entering the Hunt domain, but kept it Vague and Ominous ("Things aren't...good"). Martin took that vagueness as an opening to avoid engaging with potential bad news. The teensiest bit of therapy for either of them about their communication issues could have let Jon add "I know you're exited but FYI here are some specifics that you should know" and/or Martin go "I'm excited to see them but given that nothing is good right now, can you be more specific?"

Instead, Jon approaches difficult conversations by being Vague and Ominous, Martin gets snarky or passive-aggressive at the vagueness, upset or aggressively avoidant at the Ominousness, Jon closes back up like a turtle into his shell, and the conversation only comes back up when the situation has drastically escalated, leaving them both more upset.

Jon wants Martin to trust him, because explaining what he knows implicitly is an ordeal for him, and because his upbringing by his grandmother has suggested that communicating is generally unwanted and burdensome (See: MAG081 A Guest for Mr. Spider).

Martin wants to know what is going on, because he's in an awful hellscape of shifting rules about what can and cannot hurt them, completely dependent on a brand-new romantic partner for his survival and purpose, and also because his upbringing and coping mechanisms as a caretaker rely on him knowing enough to help, and his time as an archival assistant has given him some not-inconsiderable trauma about being left in the dark (See: MAG118 The Masquerade) (There's also another post in my head about how MAG118 primed Martin for both the Lonely and his development as a more confrontational character in S5)

All that to say.

Martin needs therapy to deal with the way he chooses not to absorb information he doesn't like. Jon needs therapy to understand that sometimes it's ok to bring up important topics even if the other person will be upset. They both need therapy to cope with all the guilt and helplessness around the apocalypse so they stop taking it out on each other. They need therapy together to learn how to work through their conflicting coping mechanisms.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Why Katara's Lines Come Off As Rejecting In EIP

Like I said in a previous EIP meta, this will be a doylist meta and an isolated look into the scene and the second half of book 3. So first things first, what are Katara's lines and body language?

As soon as A\ang brings up the kiss, she turns away, and just says she doesn't know.

When he asks her why doesn't she know, she seems slightly irritutated for a second, gives him a perfectly reasonable explanation, but doesn't hold eye contect for too long before drifting off.

A\ang keeps pushing, so she puts an end to this. This time she stays faced to him to say she is confused, signifying she's more comftable now that his questioning has ended.

Now it is clear as day that A\ang violated her boundries and she is pissed off.

Her lines and body language tell us two things I wish to break down:

Katara is very uncomftable talking about the possibility of a future romance and can't commit to an answer.

The reason she gives is that she is because she's confused.

2. Katara States That She is Confused

Let's try to take her at face value here. She's genuinely confused about her relationship with A\ang. Do you know what is the first role of storytelling? Show don't tell. If the writers wanted to show us that Katara trurly is confused, we should be seeing Katara grapple with that.

It wouldn't break the "Will They Won't They" tension, if anything, it'd amplify it. We can see this in action all the way back in season one, where Katara also is confused and considers if A\ang is a possible partner.

So, is that what we see? Small moment/moments of Katara looking at A\ang, being confused and considering him as an option? No, we do not. Instead, what we get from Katara, is...

We are told that Katara is confused, but what we're shown is Katara completely ignoring the source of her supposed confusion. What we're shown is not confusion, it's denial.

This is a sharp contrast to how well the writers made sure to remind us that Katara is still angry at Zuko over the course of these very episodes. From her threatening him when he first joins, to a mean spirited comment (at 0:21), there was a clear effort to keep up the tension, to make sure you know that Katara hasn't forgiven Zuko yet, until said tension is resolved. Meanwhile with Katara and A\ang what we see is the show, and by extension Katara, in denial to the whole event.

1. Katara is Uncomftable and Unable to Commit

If she is in denial and A\ang is making her face reality, would her behavior in the scene be compatible with that? Would she keep on avoiding the topic? Could her words register that way based on who she is? To know that, we could ask: does she have a history of shielding A\ang from reality?

(If the scene was revealed to be her shielding him), this isn't to say that Katara would consciously shield him the way she does here, she could've genuinely thought she was confused. There would be many ways to interpret the scene. However, it is in character for her to want to keep the peace to protect him from being hurt. Therefore, her lines in EIP could easily register to be of a similar fashion.

The show continuously refused to show Katara being confused, showing us nothing but denial. When she is faced with the reality, she refuses to commit when having a history of trying to shield A\ang for as long as she can. And this is why Katara's lines in EIP come off as rejecting.

[onwhatcaptain]

To Star Trek TOS fans that say "TOS was so bad, but I love it."

One thing I noticed is that Star Trek TOS fans really will throw their own show under the bus out of pure self-consciousness. Star Trek TOS fans hate themselves a bit and will immediately make it known so others won't attack them for liking it, as if pre-emptively admitting TOS was bad will protect them from any criticism of it. They'll be like "yeah I know it's garbage YEAH everything sucks the plots the costumes the effects the acting blah blah BUT I LOVE IT!"

I mean, not really. Actually, I don't think it's bad. I think plenty of it is fantastic and has some misses and moments that warrant criticism... like everything does.

But frankly, it's no worse than shows they make today. I mean, Riverdale exists. Even Star Trek today can be garbage, like the SNW episode where they said Spock's bowl cut and every single Vulcan behavior is genetic.

You're allowed to like TOS, people. It's really not that bad and tbh the insistence that it was just awful totally contributes to the popular culture image of the whole womanizing rash captain in space concept. Star Trek TOS was great. The costumes and the effects and yes, the acting. Star Trek would not have survived without every single aspect you insist is really bad. I have no idea why we insist on being embarrassed. The effects and costumes were actually fantastic given what they were working with. Let's not be so quick to admit that TOS was shit but we love it. We love the fun, the characters like our lovely and amazing Uhura, Chekov, Scotty, the plots, we love the intense chemistry between the leads and if you're in the same circles as me then, especially K/S, and there's a lot to love—and plenty that was good.

It was good and we love it.

[nerbos]

I love you return to dreamland

[goathouseofficial]

let's talk about team dynamics

of course we must start with jammer. the leader. the guy who steps in when shit hits the fan and no one knows what to do and says, "here's the plan" and immediately things are gonna be okay. jammer decides if you're in or you're out. jammer will pull you back and push you forward as needed, and you can trust his judgement. jammer knows individual strengths and weaknesses and knows how to maneuver in whatever way is best for the group. and it's so fun because he's not really the guy who's pushing ahead, who's going first and dragging everyone else behind him. he's the leader that calls you back for the huddle, that you look to for the game plan. ugh I love him.

evan. evan is the guard dog, and i think this fits really well because a guard dog is big and scary with sharp teeth and the drive to protect at all costs. which pretty obviously applies to evan, the way he looks out for the team, the way he makes himself a barrier between them and danger. but that's not actually a guard dogs main function, and to me it's not really evans main contribution to the group. a guard dog barks when there's danger. even if they get taken out, the element of surprise is ruined, people know to call for help. evan does not let any sort of danger go unwarned and unprepared for. he's always watching, and always alert.

sam my beloved! this was more of a tricky one, because sam uses charm rather than, like, shadow monsters, and on the surface that can come across as gentler than the others in terms of team dynamics. however. if i was gonna give sam a role, it would be the defender. no one is getting to her friends without going through her first. she is the first line of defense, always. her style is so less physical, I guess, than the others, but she steps in front of the blood snake and sweet talks it. she gets up in philtrums's face and says, "did y'all pay your bills?" she is never not ready to throw down.

for k, it would be really really easy to say she is the fixer, after last episode. but as per this last episode, that's not actually the niche they occupy in the group dynamic. k would love love love to be the fixer, but they are not. k is always watching, always noticing, in a way that's much broader than what evan does. they're not blinded by danger, so she picks up the information to analyze and run through and report back. i could call them a planner, but considering the whole dark web conspiracist thing, plotter might be a better word. there is never a moment when k is not plotting. scheming, if you will.

[skyflyinginaction]

on Jungle,

On the jungle and their purpose in the narrative. I haven’t really made any K project metas for the series due to how convoluted it can get but I wanted to talk about something about Jungle. Jungle are the main antagonists of the series I wanted to talk about since I am confused about them so 

I wanted to know how they are written and what purpose they bring to the table in K. There was a question that went around in K, 

what if we had powers that would change the world?

Jungle was the answer, jungle centers around the theme of change but what does that change mean? 

change can lead to betterment but the jungle doesn’t have any betterment, the members are highly self-absorbed they never fully involve themselves in others' lives and are focused on their own personal self-interests. They don't see anything around them making them highly self-absorbed this in turn causes them not to consider other people who were hurt or involved or even think about their thoughts and feelings jungle does not think about the repercussions that there consequence cause that's the flaw that caused them to fall sort Even fushimi saw just how flawed they are. 

When I looked at the members of the jungle, the members themselves do not represent change they are stagnated and stopped moving forward at one point in time. However, looking at this from a different angle 

I found what their presence means in the narrative and what they set up the members of Jungle don’t represent change they instigate change.  The jungle is supposed to instigate change in the plot they move the story along.  

The reason why Jungle acts like this is that it is written to be set up to fail, that the entire point Jungle is set up to fail through Jungle wasn’t wrong they weren't right either seen best in Hisui’s approach. Gora may not be too consistent in writing their characters but narrative they excel in it.

jungle’s members are written as foils of the main cast, to show how much the cast of characters changed compared to the first season.

Fushimi, Yata and Sukuna

these characters are obvious foils of each other there are so many parallels between them that I might need a list but when it comes down to it they have summaries. 

as Yata puts it Sukuna is like Yata and Fushimi in the past and he is right Sukuna is a lot like yata and Fushimi in middle school. Fushimi used gamer terms like Sukuna such as he used points to evaluate Yata. 

Both Fushimi and Sukuna grew up in wealthy abusive families where Sukuna grew up under intense parental control from parents who saw him as a possession rather than a person this made him hate adults as a result even hated being controlled by others, and and Fushimi came from a neglectful household who was tormented by his father Fushimi has a dim view of adults and hates adults due to Niki influence is disrespectful to his elders.  Both Sukuna and Yata faced betrayed by people they thought as friends, 

Yata was betrayed by his own friends when he found out that they were trash-talking him on jungle. Sukuna finds out that his friend was chosen by his parents prompting him to run away. 

the reason why Sukuna liked games is because games Are something that was chosen and not controlled sukuna used games as an escape from his reality sukuna played games to escape the control that was put on by adults. Sukuna escaped into the game to get away from the confining reality put him under this is why he used gamer terms when talking to other people to disassociate himself from reality

the jungle was the only place that Sukuna felt free and not lonely he wanted bond happiness and warmth In k side green What Yata said "Goes home" references that the Jungle is his home the only place that he ever felt any happiness. This is yatas attitude with homura homura is yatas place of refuge. Jungle is Sukuna’s refuge But also is an escapism from reality. 

Like Sukuna Fushimi ran away from reality too before Yata and Fusumi had a world of their own where they became each other's support fushimi relied on Yata for stability and support but after Yata joined Homra he didn’t feel any stability in Homura from his traumas and issues that might be why he joined sector 4. sector 4 provided fushimi with that stability that he didn't have from his issues. 

the small world both he and Yata created is used as escapism when he doesn’t want to deal with anything. Fushimi runs away from his problems He runs away from his emotions he's never open about them and hates confronting which is why he makes excuses. When it comes to something he can’t do he runs he has many issues.

The whole reason why Fushimi never tells Yata the truth about why he left Homra is because he thinks he wouldn’t understand if they told him He doesn’t believe that Yata would understand. Throughout their confrontation yata pushes him away Fushimi doesn’t make an effort to reach out. How do you expect someone to understand if you never tried to reach to them Never once tried to reach out to them? expecting and demanding for people to understand you and never making an effort to be open to someone is childish, to say the least, you can’t expect to understand and It’s childish to demand someone to understand Fushimi's reasoning is childish at best And that’s the point it highlights Fushimis immaturity

That is why Fushimi's words to Sukuna are him acknowledging That he can’t run away all the time when it comes to something he doesn’t want to deal with this is an example that Fushimi did change like Gora said. When Fushimi tells Yata after the battle this is him making strives to reach out 

sukuns attitude toward Fushimi joining and beating his score earned Nagares attention He grew jealous this may seem like petty childish jealousy but that’s not it. later he confided to Yukari revealing that Sukuna was insecure that Fushimi was going to take his place by Nagare's side he was worried about being unneeded by Nagare.

This bears resemblance to how Fushimi acted in Homura when he first joined Seeng Yata grew closer to other homra members making Fushimi feel jealous and resentful of homras taking place in Yata's life that he might fade into the background. Fushimi values his bond with Yata, The only person who genuinely cares for him he wants to keep himself in yatas life as possible this might be one of the reasons he joined Sector 4 and taunted Yata this is a childish attempt to regain yatas attention not wanting to fade in the background of yata s life

One thing I like to mention is Sukunas bond with Nagare sukuna saw nagare as the only close friend after finding out that his friend whom he thought was an equal was given to him by his parents this made him quickly latched on to him since he never had any other friend that he can play games with. Nagare is the one Who provided him freedom from his controlling family which is one of the reasons why he values him he does care and values Nagare sukuna values his bond with Nagare and grew upset over his death. 

Sukuna doesn’t know what he wanted growing up in a controlling family where everything was provided for him he doesn’t have a sense of what he wanted Sukuna is directionless he doesn’t know what he wants so He relies on Nagare's dream as a sense of fulfillment matches on nagares dream because it gives a sense of what he wanted there was a bit of a co-dependency. There is a bit of Codependency in their relationship where He depends on Nagare's dream this wasn’t healthy for Sukuna's friendship with Nagare Mirrors Yata and Fushimi friendship, Fushimi is codependent on Yata as  Sukuna is codependent on Nagare. 

That is why after Nagare death, He is forced to figure out what his dream is on his own he needs to find his own dream to live on his own he has yet to find his own dream so he travels with Yukari to find it

Sukuna is someone who never fully grasped how his actions can hurt others so always runs away like a scared child by saying it is not my fault in Anna's short story he is owning up to his actions even letting Anna punch him. 

Sukuna and Fushimi are loners independent and mostly prefer to do things by themselves, there are limits to doing things in doing things alone the best example is seen when Fushimi beats Sukuna on his own. the battle of Sukuna, Yata, and Fushimi showed sukunas limits in doing things himself which is seen in his fight this showcases when Sukuna was losing confidence in being beaten by Fushimi and Yata it revealed one thing about Sukuna, Sukuna has no life experience but Yata and Fushumi does, they had life experience And learned from it is not run away this is why he lost it was his lack of experience beats out his strength

sukuna represents Fushimi and Yatas past and how at the end of the battle reconciled with their pasts. When Yata said go home to Sukuna, yata didn’t know the condition of sukunas family when he told him it was time to go home he might have talked to himself its time to go home and grow up you could say that Fushimi and Yata grew up 

after the battle Fushimi lets Yata go this symbolizes him letting each other go shedding away negative feelings no longer antagonizing him To have him stay 

Kuroh and Yukari 

When it comes to talking about Kuroh and Yukari I only know about Kuroh I sparsely read about Yukari's past but one thing I know is that he is meant to be the foil of Kuroh one last obstacle that Kuroh needs to overcome.

Yukari and Kuroh have parallel to each other Both of whom had tragic pasts and lost their families in tragic circumstances kurohs lost his family when a truck hit it, and Yukari’s own family was killed by purgatory Yukari is not any different from Kuroh in how they both lost their relatives in a tragic accident And are found by ichigan.

both Disciple of ichigan Who choose different paths they Go through opposite arcs in the series.

Yukari chose a path of selfishness he decided to live selfishly which might be a coping mechanism for losing his family which is why he can live however he wants

Is thinking for yourself important yes But at the expense of others no this is meant to be flawed and that's what Kuroh comes in. 

Ichigan gave Kuroh a purpose and saved him from death this made him grow attached to him and even follow him around. 

After Ichigan he entrusted Kuroh with a task to judge to see if the colorless king. Kuroh felt directionless and alone in the beginning of the series has seen relying on ichigans words to guide him to make decisions and ichigan words and recording to take action. 

throughout the series this slowly changes as Kuroh is seen questioning and doubting as he follows Shiro he chooses to spare Shiro unless it's proven that he is the colorless king even chooses to protect him from Munakata he embarks on a quest with Neko to find him those Feelings are that of own his will. 

this leads to the final battle where Kuroh and Yukari come to blows

kuroh wants to defeat Yukari these feelings come from his own will even Shiro comments kurohs selfishness leading to him defeating Yukari. 

as Yukari lay defeated He embraced a life of complete selfishness from his relative's last words but then He was told to live by Kuroh the same words left by his mother. Kuroh recites a poem i think this demonstrates that Kuroh acknowledges they followed the same master but chose different paths he acknowledges Yukari still respects Ichigan in his own way. The poem he recited to Yukari is his own this Shows how much Kuroh has grown 

Yukari Followed Kuroh's example when he Decided to live to teach Sukuna It was one act of selfishness and that says a lot when it was the First act of selflessness not for himself but for someone else.

Kurohs and Yukari’s swords' names and given to them were deliberate. Kuroh's actions are one of selflessness but still retains thinking for himself, not anyone else kuroh was made to show the error of his ways and teach Yukari the correct course of his path. One can say that Ichigan probably put Kuroh on this journey so he could find himself and show Yukari the error of his ways in a way Ichigan sent Kuroh to correct Yukari.

Iwafune and Munakata

if there were two people that are unlikely foils it's these two at just a glance they may not be similar to each other in design but in writing they are in fact there are many parallels to each other.

Iwa is the foil of Munakata with later in the series revealed to be the grey king this introduction is supposed to solidify that Munakata and Iwa are written as foils of each other. 

Iwa was once the gray king until after the kagutsu creator incident, he became the shell of who he used to be and forwent his ideals 

he was a lot like Munakata before the creator incident iwa stated that Munakata reminded him of his younger self. iwa hated Munakata because Munakata reminded them of his past failings so He took it out on Munakata

Munakata is a lot like Iwa even if he doesn’t realize it, Iwa couldn't prevent kagutsu creator much like how Munakata couldn’t prevent Mikoto from taking revenge and spiraling out of control and had to kill him Munakata lost someone he felt similar kinship with the second time is when he couldn’t percent jungle from take the slate this is his second failure where He experienced that his ideals failed to reach reality 

they both approach things alone but If there is one key difference between Munakata and Iwa It’s in how they react munakata nearly considers resigning himself to his fate because he fails to stop the jungle but due to Anna and Kusanagi's encouragement and Mikoto's words he managed to get himself back up to stop jungle, iwa was alone munakata wasn’t that could be why he can stay on track its the people around him. This is why he can carry the burden that Munakata did not divert his eyes from reality. what sets them apart is their choices Munakata carried Mikoto's death by his own hands shoulded the weight of reality called king slaying.  through it all munakata chooses to press forward with unwavering conviction Proceeding with unwavering ideals and beliefs. this is why the members of the blue clan followed their king, it was his unwavering ideals and beliefs that inspired them to take action munakata didn’t expect his clansmen to come to his aid. 

In the end, it's about personal choice, It is a fact that Iwa chose to run away abandoning both his clan and ideals this is considered disrespectful of the people who died serving under you but Iwa became so disillusioned after the creator's accident He was trapped in his despair which distorted his vision. 

one thing to bring up is why he didn’t save other people aside from Nagare neko is a survivor of the tragedy that took her parents but he focused on Nagare? It is because he projected his failure to prevent the creator incident to save lives in Nagare which is why he didn’t look to see if there were other survivors like Neko he was in his own grief to other things around him he would have found survivors like neko but instead, he latches on to nagare. 

There is symbolism in his fog powers fog is symbolic of hiding the truth and a person's memory it notes a form of mental fog this references when Munakata pointed out that Iwa denied the reality of Nagare's plans and created a similar tragedy to the one at Kagutsu creator.

he denies the reality of Nagares plans this is seen in how he remains complacent in his plans

and doesn’t scold or take action the whole reason he agreed with Nagare's plan is a way to make up for his failure to the people who are dead in the kagutsu creator when he didn’t do much for the people alive. 

"the higher the ideals the bigger the disappointments” When he was saying this iwa was speaking from his experience of his failure to prevent the kagutsu creator even though Iwa was right he fell short as I discussed before he ran away from reality and the tragedy and made a new one happen this only served to make him sound important than he does.

Self-absorbed selfishness is a common trait among the members they never face any of their problems and instead return to escapism the self-absorbed jungle does not notice anything else. and that Selfishness that the jungle is known for blew up in their faces. 

Iwa is in so much despair past the point of caring about what happened and doing what he pleases though Iwa actions were understandable they were largely self-centered. he didn’t try to look for survivors other than Nagare, he put himself first before others and that is a very selfish way to go. he ran away from the tragedy he ran from his duties and responsibilities, and wallowed in self-pity this just shows Just how self-absorbed he is

sector 4 stopped helping others amid the chaos which is something that Iwa himself didn’t do to check to see if there were other survivors or use his powers as king to protect them. 

iwa wanted to create a utopia to act as a sanctuary but was crushed by the incident so much that he abandoned it to create a sanctuary for the dead, not the living who survived. Munakata sought to protect the innocent but where iwa abandoned the innocent. 

Iwa was defeated by Munakata and Munakata's clan. As he lay on the ground, he accepted his defeat and his past. Gora stated that the fog in his heart cleared up.

Nagare and Shiro

last but not least Nagare and Shiro where do I begin shiro and Nagare are so similar they could basically be called mirrors of each other. 

Gora said that Nagare is like a big kid similar to Shiro who is just as childish but are both extremely intelligent. Both of them awoke their power of kings from tragedy, Nagare lost his heart, friends, and family from the kagutus creator and Shiro lost his sister from the bombing and became immortal after her death. Nagare does not have a sense of consiqunce to what his actions could bring he is like Shiro when he was studying the slate not aware how it affected others. Shiro, he didn’t know that he was helping create a super weapon and Nagare didn’t understand the reality of the harm he created on others.

where Shiro abandoned humanity after the death of his sister hiding from the world like a scared child as Daikoku puts it ran away. his inaction led to the kagutsu creator and totsukas murder destroying homras happiness 

in the series, he overcomes his fears of the world. Here in season 2 he got out of the ship on his own shiro is taking responsibility for his mistakes he stops the green clan but fails preventing Jungle from taking the slate he worked on a new plan after a minor setback as Gora stated he grew 

their powers are symbolic of their personalities, Shiro its immortality, and Nagare its change both their clocks stop, and cannot move forward from the tragedy the green clan Symbolizing change is ironic because Nagare himself doesn’t change. 

this was something that Fushimi realized about Nagare when he asked

"Hey, "Green King". Are the clan members motivated by interests?”

Kotosaka blinked rapidly. Although Fushimi asked a question, 

"That's probably the case with the people who are playing hardball at the top. They go with those who are likely to win and stay away from those who are likely to lose. 

That's true. Nobody wants to be a loser.”

"But what about the people around you? Did they become members of your clan because they thought you were going to win?”

As Fushimi points out Nagare didn’t really think too hard about the thoughts of the others around him the two examples are how he reacted to nekos words and was confused as to what Iwa meant not noticing that Sukuna was sulking because Fushimi beat his high score.

Nagare used technical terms to interact with others because he didn’t understand the complicated mechanisms of people. he doesn’t fully grasp complex emotions or thoughts and feelings of other people. As it was stated nagare doesn’t understand people he studies them with cold logic but doesn’t understand feelings all that well which leads him to clashes with others. he is being presemous thinking he knows what's best for others when he never actually understood other emotions and feelings. that led him to  incorrectly assume that Neko is similar to him in the way he thinks he conquered the tragedy and was given powers but that is all based on his own childish self-centered logic and thinks that Shiro would agree with the plan  he made assumptions about other people but did not understand them 

self-centeredness is a common trait it is something that all the members have, this can be why Nagare grew sour when Shiro disagreed with him and even accused Shiro of not believing in humans he sounds like a kid in that scene. 

there is some self-centered in this exchange he wasn’t referring to humanity but to himself, if Nagare survived the creator and gained powers then maybe that can happen with others, and if a human can’t handle it then neither can he that is what he was angry about Shiro for children have the egotistical self-centered mindset to how the world works Nagare likens to a child in this scene. because he felt that he was being disagreed with by Shiro.

There was another thing that I realized about Nagare, you realize in the novel that Nagare envisioned his dream the type of freedom that Nagare wished for won’t be bound by a straighjacket he wanted freedom life without the straight jacket. thats when I found out that releasing the slate doesn’t benefit others than Nagare himself. he was projecting all of his wants and desires onto others which its pretty self-centered, to say the least just like the jungle members and doesn’t see the reality of the harm of what his plans created. 

being tied to a slate is not freedom Nagare is wrong when he thinks that he conquered the tragedy by gaining power when in reality he was chained by it. Nagare life is tied to the slate being bonded by the slate is not a good thing it is not freedom it's a cage he was trapped in a cage not freedom by the slate he was doomed the moment he became king nagare wasn’t lucky that he might think and that led to his downfall.

Nagare believed that if people had power it would help prevent a tragedy like the kagutsu creator but forgot that the kagutsu creator happened because someone couldn’t control their powers.

 another thing that Nagare misunderstood one thing it is how power isolates people, in the series Shiro thought that power can bring happiness but later realized that the power he thought could bring happiness actually brought loneliness. Neko, Anna, and Maria are good examples of this their powers made them outcasted by others and treated as monsters which brought loneliness due to their powers. 

you can’t prevent tragedy from happening that's a fact you can’t change what already happened all you can do is accept it there will be bad things to come but as long as we can be with the people that we live then we will be okay. wanting to be with people that they love this comes with the theme of k full circle being bonds. 

the silver clan regects power in favor of bonds which Nagare was trying to destroy this led to his defeat in their hands. The members of the jungle did not come to back him up when he faced the silver clan head because they focused on their self-interests whats why the jungle lost they were too self-absorbed to notice anything around them which is why they failed.

when I look I believe the whole point of Jungle is to show just how much the characters in the series changed when compared to the beginning.

[skyflyinginaction]

Totsuka is a complex person I don’t think he has a darker side to him but when I first read about him being called cold hearted there was a contriction. 

hes a warm person towards others becuase I saw in the way he acted around his fellow clansmen even anna noted this if he was actulley cold hearted than he wouldn’t be this warm or caring. I don’t think totsuka is a cold heart person my impression is that hes free so free in fact and I thought it was beautiful. it doesn’t take away what I thought of him 

totsuka is detached from others he never formed any attachment until he met mikoto 

you could of been right that that could be a mask but it might of been totsuka muted his emotions in order to deal with his situation in life we don’t see him have any emotion when he was about to die he was shedding tears and thinking about his clansmen 

the reason why he is called cold hearted is becuase of how he rarely showed emotions of distress for others or himself its commenting his lack of reaction to most negative situations. 

Do you have any thoughts on Totsuka? Because I've been trying to get a grasp on him and honestly I can't. Is the friendly guy thing an act? Is it real? Is it a complex picture of a defensive mechanism to keep people away but not too far away and a genuine desire to help but without the knowledge of how t do it effectively? I'm just really confused, sorry for bugging you.

I don’t think the friendly guy thing is completely an act but I do think it’s a bit of a mask for Totsuka. I feel like on the surface Totsuka shows the image of a very carefree, kind person but in truth his personality is more complex than that. It’s mentioned in Side Red that his adoptive father called him a cold-hearted person because even though he was interested in everything he never clung to anything. Then he meets Mikoto and kind of “clings” to him and to the desire to see Mikoto be King, even though Totsuka knows that Mikoto himself may not be so happy about it. When Totsuka tells Kusanagi in Side Red that he doesn’t regret Mikoto becoming King he thinks “…Even if I find something so important to me that I want to cling to it, in the end, I’m still cold-hearted and selfish.” I think Totsuka may be being a bit hard on himself here but I also think there is some truthfulness to it and Totsuka’s well aware of that. On the one hand I think he does care about other people and wants to help when he gives advice and such but at the same time I think there’s sometimes a bit of his own selfishness underlying there too, like he’s also inserting himself into the situation just because he finds it interesting regardless of how the person he’s dealing with feels (like when he deals with Fushimi, while it does often seem like he’s trying to help a lot of the ways he does it in Side Red are clearly not working and possibly making things worse but Totsuka keeps pushing anyway). And there is a sense I think that he keeps a lot of people at arm’s length even while seeming friendly, like even though he’s clearly a beloved figure in Homra I feel like the only people who really fully understood him were Kusanagi, Mikoto and possibly Anna. I definitely think Totsuka is a more complex person than he appears at first glance, that while part of him really is just friendly and kind there’s definitely a darker side to him that he tries to keep hidden from everyone but the people he’s closest to.

[wwillywonka]

SPOCK: CHILD OF TWO WORLDS

[no-psi-nan]

How Saiki wants to be perceived:

Not at all. He's just generic mob character #7536, thanks.

How Saiki's friends perceive him at first:

Projection Central... Depending on the person, he's a scaredy-cat, romance novel protagonist, former punk, flustered fanboy, a slacker who just needs some inspiration to become a sports star, etc...

How Saiki's friends perceive him at the end of the series:

Quiet, a little glum, kinda boring, but a good guy. Says "good grief" a lot.

How the Psychickers perceive him:

Sarcastic, stubborn, tsundere, a little childish, back-talker supreme, confident, a bit arrogant even, incredibly intelligent, lonely, silly, uptight, a soft touch, kind.

How Saiki ACTUALLY IS:

Sarcastic, stubborn, tsundere, a little childish, back-talker supreme, confident, a bit arrogant even, incredibly intelligent, lonely, silly, uptight, a soft touch, kind.

-> Only the Psychickers (and to some extent, his family) know and appreciate Saiki for who he actually is by the end of the series.

That's because Saiki is only ever comfortable revealing his true personality once the other person knows about his powers.

Until then, he will always try pretending to be a passive nobody, unless he thinks it can get a girl off his back (ex. against Teruhashi at the arcade, against Imu in the locker room).

Saiki remains nervous about telling his friends about his powers despite seeing it go off without a hitch in the alternate universe, and despite losing his powers first, because his friends might not like his "new"/actual personality.

We see early on in Kuboyasu's introduction that Saiki fears his relationships with his friends are fake because they're based on a huge lie and an even bigger pretense. We see that anxiety about his personality/persona not being palatable enough at the wrong-day birthday party. We see him mourn the fact that he can't be his real self at the mixer.

THAT is the great tragedy of Saiki K, that almost none of the people he loves actually know him in any meaningful way, not even by the end of the series!

[kernsing]

ORV as a story about fervid devotion through life and death/the desperate lengths taken to save the one(s) you care about more than anything/the paradoxically futile yet worthwhile endeavor to know and understand and love someone—all without ever developing into romance—is just so near and dear to my aromantic heart. Even past the grand gestures, the heroic journeys, the sacrificial acts, this one dream: “I want to buy a really big house and live together with everyone.” How do I encapsulate the amount of yearning inherent to my reading of that sentence. Like it was clawed out from the deepest parts of the soul. How wondrously heavy and real it feels, this hope for a future I can see much more clearly than any vision of dating/partnership/marriage.

I want to buy a really big house and live together with everyone.

Me too, Dokja. Me too.