#kos meta

[pesky--dust]

Guys, I just realized something.

We know that many small details matter in Hannibal. Traditionally, seating positions at the table are important: they indicate the degree of closeness between the host and the guest.

Hannibal usually sits at the head of the table as the host. This isn't new knowledge in this fandom, but... have you ever thought about table seating positions in Naka Choko, Ko no mono and Mizumono?

In both Naka ​​choko and Ko no mono, after Hannibal believes that Will has killed both Randall Tier (true) and Freddie Lounds (not true), he is sitting across from Will - as if they are equals.

Screenshots from Naka Choko

Screenshot from Ko no Mono

However, do you remember how Will and Hannibal are sitting in Mizumono, during the last supper, when Hannibal already knows that Will is lying to him, that he didn't kill Freddie Lounds, that they didn't eat her meat?

Screenshot from Mizumono

Hannibal is sitting at the head of the table, alone. Will is sitting to his right - he is important, but he is not an equal.

Furthermore, the lamb served by Hannibal in the script is described in such a way that its ribs resemble hands folded in prayer, as if Hannibal was praying not only for Will to choose him, but also for Will to truly choose to be his equal.

This freakin' show, I swear...

[pencildragons]

thinking about how gideon understands wake's conversation with john so she must have been speaking her oppressor's language to her oppressor. thinking about how wake's full name is italicised, a literary convention indicative of foreign words. thinking about whether wake even knows the meaning of her name at all or if it is just about keeping it alive at this point. thinking about if she knows any of the destroyed languages of the planet that her ancestors escaped ten thousand years ago before they were erased entirely. thinking about wake and how two thirds of her name is derived from anglo/western culture just so the devastating impact on indigenous people of the erasure of their traditional knowledge and culture could be contextualised in a way muir's (predominantly) white, anglo/western audience could understand. thinking about wake and how she was angry enough at the imperial systems of power she spent her whole life fighting against to exist as a ghost for twenty years after the fact of her death. thinking about how all augustine offers her efforts twenty years after the fact of her death is belittlement of her people and a toast. thinking about [a giant shephard's crook emerges from the wings and yanks me sidestage]

[skania]

Oshi no Ko Chapter 154 Thoughts - Or the many many parallels between Ai/Kamiki and Akane/Aqua

In my post about last chapter, I listed a number of parallels showing that the way Kamiki felt about Ai is very reminiscent of the way Aqua felt about Akane.

I also said:

if Aka pulls that, then that would confirm that all of these parallels are very much intentional.

And what did Aka pull this chapter?

To top it off, now it isn't only Kamiki's feelings that parallel Aqua's. Ai's feelings are very much like Akane's, to the point that she nearly quotes her word for word at times 😭

I'll start chronologically because the amount of parallels is just insane. To keep this short, I won't bring up the Kamiki/Aqua parallels since I already went over those here. I'll just focus on Ai!

Ai didn't want to break up with Kamiki, but she did it because she feared that she and her children would be burdens to him, who was almost on the verge of breaking due to the weight of life.

Does that ring any bells?

Akane didn't want to break up with Aqua, but she was willing to do so because she feared that she and their fake relationship were burdening him by worsening the weight of his guilt.

Ai wanted to stay with Kamiki forever, just like Akane with Aqua.

Ai wanted to carry Kamiki's burden and walk into the future with him, just like Akane with Aqua.

Ai didn't know what loving someone felt like, but Kamiki was the first time she felt she wanted to love someone that way. Akane didn't know what loving someone that way felt like, either. Aqua was her first.

Most importantly:

Ai wanted to save Kamiki, just like Akane wants to save Aqua. While it was translated as "help" in English, in Japanese Ai uses the exact same verb as Akane when she says that she wants to "save" Aqua.

Even their expressions when thinking about their wish are similar 😭

And the thing is that — technically, logically — none of this can be a coincidence, because this is a fictional story and Aka is nearly using copy-pasting to stablish these parallels. But since this is Aka we're talking about, whether this will lead anywhere or turn out to be just bait remains to be seen lol

I feel like Ai isn't only paralleling Akane this chapter though, it's also possible to establish parallels between her and Aqua. Namely, Aqua also broke up with Akane to protect her, Aqua didn't understand what love was and he showed that he wanted to love Akane despite it.

Plus, when Aqua broke up with Akane to protect her, he did so in a way that would deliberately paint him in a bad light — just like Ai with Kamiki.

I'd also like to point out that in this chapter, Ai's feelings are described as, well, "Ai" 愛. In Japan, "Ai" 愛 is the strongest form of love, which can be either platonic or romantic. This is very relevant, because by making Ai's feelings for Kamiki so strikingly similar to Akane's for Aqua, Aka has essentially confirmed strongly implied that the kind of love Akane feels for Aqua is "Ai" 愛, too.

And Ai's "Ai" 愛 was romantic.

For those who aren't familiar with the concept of "Ai" in Japan, I feel like this post explains it very well:

愛 (Ai): sacrificial, unconditional, love for the other person's sake (often parallels the Greek agape, but can extend into philos as sawa mentions) 恋 (Koi): selfish, conditional, love for one's own sake (often parallels the Greek eros) While both can be used for romantic love, you cannot simply swap out one for the other. The contrast between the two shows up clearly in the したい forms of 愛する and 恋をする: 愛(Ai)したい I want to love [someone in a deep, unconditional way] 恋(Koi)がしたい I want to [fall in] love [with someone and experience the "high" of being in love]

If you ask me, the contrast between those two types of love perfectly exemplifies the difference with the way Akane's and Kana's feelings are being written. Coincidentally, Kana herself described her feelings as 恋 (Koi) in Chapter 150 lol

So considering all of this, I'm having the hardest time not seeing Kamiki and Ai as a sort of "failed" Aqua and Akane. Kamiki and Ai were too broken, and neither could handle their relationship in a healthy way despite their best intentions and how much they loved each other. Kamiki was too dependant on her, Ai broke up with him in the clumsiest way possible and Kamiki lashed out in a selfish, tragic way.

I'd argue that despite their mishaps, Aqua and Akane have already shown that they're healthier than Kamiki and Ai were. Even when he was at his lowest, Aqua was self-aware and did his best to not depend on Akane too much. When he faltered, Akane reminded him that it's important that they remain independent so they can have a healthy relationship.

Which takes me to something I think is very important:

Ai thought that Kamiki would be fine without her, but she was wrong. If she had been right, then maybe she would be alive today and she and Kamiki would've gotten back together later down the line.

I'm sure that Akane, too, thinks that Aqua will be fine without her. Aqua most definitely thinks the same thing about Akane.

And for them to be able to have a healthy relationship, it's important for them to be right. They need to be able to be fine without the other, and as of now, it seems like Aqua is finally making progress in that regard.

But what about being happier? Akane was at her happiest when she was with Aqua, and according to Aqua himself, it was the same for him. If we forget all the recent fiascos for a second and entertain the thought of Akane and Aqua once again, I feel like this should be the biggest factor into whether or not they get back together.

After all, if they get back together it shouldn't be because Aqua can't function without Akane. It should be because he wants to be with her (and she with him). So if Aka were to be a good writer allow them to find their way back to each other, this time spent apart could be crucial to let them restart on a healthy base.

But I digress! 😂 Instead of getting ahead of myself, I just want to enjoy the fact that these parallels are right there for everyone to see. At least no matter what happens, we now pretty much have confirmation that the way Aka wrote Aqua and Akane was both, romantic and the strongest form of love.

As for the plot, the fact that Ai's wish was this clear kind of opens an entire can of worms questions-wise. Moreover, I feel like if telling Kamiki that Ai loved him was Aqua's revenge plan all along, things like these would make very little sense in retrospective:

So for the sake of logic, I'm inclined to believe that Aqua, who didn't know what love was and who held a grudge against Kamiki, may have wanted to believe that Ai truly couldn't love Kamiki. He may have desperately wanted to believe that Ai was saying the truth, because otherwise taking revenge against Kamiki would mean going against Ai's wishes.

I feel like Aqua originally misinterpreting Ai's words is supported by the fact that even during the movie recording, Aqua was shown to not understand Ai.

So, what changed his mind? What made him finally realize that Ruby's portrayal was right and that Ai truly did love Kamiki?

Plus, Aqua has had that DVD for years now, which means that nothing was stopping him from realizing that Akane herself was echoing Ai's feelings for Kamiki throughout their relationship.

But I better stop myself right here, because if I start theorizing about this there will be no end to it. The possibilities are endless, so I'd rather just wait and let Aka either pleasantly surprise like he did this chapter me or continue to disappoint me as he is prone to do 😂

edit;

I just realized there are even more parallels when you get down to it. I mentioned before in my Chapter 97 post that during the phone-call that ultimately leads to their break-up, Aqua and Akane are like two ships in the night. They both want the same thing (to stay together), but in her haste to help him, Akane makes a choice that leads to their separation.

The same thing happens with Ai and Kamiki. They both want the same thing (to stay together), but in her haste to not burden him, Ai chooses to walk away from him.

Ai doesn't understand her own love and is thus unable to understand the extent of Kamiki's. She makes the mistake of thinking that the best way to save Kamiki is to not impose more burdens on him, when all he wanted was to stay with her. I'd argue something very similar happened with Akane. She made the mistake of thinking that the best way to help Aqua was to carry out his revenge for him, when all Aqua wanted from her was to remain by her side.

[madfanatic]

Kirby and their friends asking for candies in a nice and a lovely halloween day 🎃

You can buy a full quality version of this ilustration! (and also a a PDF version to print it as a poster) right here on my Ko-Fi!!!

[phantomchick]

The ending of Oshi no Ko vs The beginning (chapter 166 vs 10)

So as you can see, there's clear evidence of intentional parallels happening here. This is the aftermath of Ai's death that mirrors the aftermath of Aqua's. Aka already claimed to have the ending planned well in advance months ago so it's not a big surprise that even the ending panels of the first (not counting the prologue) and last chapters match.

And yet Oshi no Ko still falls flat despite fulfilling its promise of a revenge-tragedy.

I think the biggest problem it has is the way the last chapter tells us instead of shows us as chapter 10 did.

Yes chapter 10 also used narrative text boxes a lot, but I argue that the effect then was much more immersive.

With them being used with precision to move us through a time skip with only the most necessary information about the fall out for the characters, even the distance had the effect of doing characterisation work with Aqua describing in a narrative text box how the policemen hid the scene from Ruby but Aqua felt his mother's body going cold beneath him as they arrived - this use of the text boxes casual tone over child Aqua sitting in his dead mother's lap gave a sense of disassociation and shock to the scene.

Even the textboxes turning black to mirror Aqua's dark emotions concerning his revenge as the star in his eye turned black showed how much attention was being paid to their use.

Ruby.

Ruby felt much more real in chapter 10, her rant about the internet's callous response to Ai's murder felt real and emotionally charged. In comparison, for all she's the main subject of the last chapter, she feels like a 2d cut out of herself, barely in there for all we see her struggling through Akane's observant gaze.

She expresses her motivation to be an idol despite hardship by acknowledging that Aqua's right about idolwork being difficult and cruel but reminding him that despite the darkside of the entertainment industry, their mother 'shone' very brightly. The talk about how Ruby shines more the darker things get and how this is a good thing because it reaches out to people trapped in darkness of their own (just like her when she was a terminally ill cancer patient) is clearly meant to echo this idea.

Frankly it fails.

Ruby feels hollow.

To the point where we barely get any insight into Ruby's real feelings at all or any emotional connection with her in comparison, by 166 it's genuinely unclear whether or not she's lying even to the portrait of her dead family when she's 'alone' on her way out the door.

We don't see a conversation between her and her adoptive mother about Aqua, we don't see her talking to Akane at all. We see her grief and her success from a deified distance, just like the fans do. And it alienates us from the character.

Lies are love and she has two stars in her eyes. Just like her mother did.

I think this more than anything condemns the idol industry, she has to keep lying even to herself about her job being fun because otherwise what was all that pain and suffering and loss for?

Aqua died in a murder-suicide (shout out to Taiki for experiencing a loved one doing this twice, poor guy) to give his little sister success in a job that she has to get up at 5.30 for, devote her entire youth to and will have to quit in less than a decade. It has to matter, that she provides escapism for people who are suffering like she did, but it doesn't change the grim reality of her exploitation.

I think the lack of dialogue in the final chapter and the loss of voice for Ruby in the last few arcs mirrors the loss of agency she experiences as she becomes the ultimate idol, everyone's star.

But that doesn't change the fact that from a reader perspective it's just bad writing. Aka failed to carry his audience with him to the finish line and his messages about the idol industry were blurred by the rushed plot after the movie arc began.

If it weren't for Mengo's art hard carrying the clumsily executed story, I can honestly say that I don't think many would have read this manga all the way to the end.

[chaos0pikachu]

Is BL Being Overly Influenced by Modern Western Romance Tropes?

Short answer: No. anyways, in the following essay I will explain that James Cameron is a weeb...

(okay fine~~ lets actually do this)

TLDR: discussing what media globalization is, how fandom can distill it down to only American/European cinema, showcasing how a lot of current BL is influenced by countries within it's own proximity and NOT "the west" but each other, also James Cameron is still a weeb

I had seen a post that basically proposited that BL was being influenced by modern western romance tropes and had used things like omegaverse and mafia settings as an example. I found this, in a word, fucking annoying (oh, two words I guess) because it's micro-xenophobic to me.

It positions western - and really what we mean by this is American/European countries, we're not talking about South American countries are we? - cinema as the central breadbasket of all cinema in and of itself. Inherently, all following cinema must be in some way, shape, or form, influenced by American/European standards, and as such America/European countries are directly responsible for cinema everywhere else, and these places - namely non-white countries - do not influence each other, nor have their own histories in regards to storytelling or cinema and do not, in turn, also influence American/European film making either.

Now like, do I think all of that~~ is intentionally malicious thinking on behalf of folks in fandom? No, so chill out.

I do, however, think a lot of it is birthed from simple ignorance and growing up in an environment where ~The West~ is propagated to be central, individual, and exceptional as opposed to the monolith of "Asia" - by which we mean China, Korea, Japan don't we? How often in discussions of Asian countries is Iran, India, or Saudi Arabia brought up even tho they are all Asian countries? - or the monolith that is South America - in which some folks might believe regions like the Caribbean and/or Central America belong to, but nope there both North America.

Anyway, what we're talking about here is the concept of "media globalization":

"The production, distribution, and consumption of media products on a global scale, facilitating the exchange and diffusion of ideas cross-culturally." (source)

"The media industry is, in many ways, perfect for globalization, or the spread of global trade without regard for traditional political borders. [...] the low marginal costs of media mean that reaching a wider market creates much larger profit margins for media companies. [...] Media is largely a cultural product, and the transfer of such a product is likely to have an influence on the recipient’s culture." (source)

Typically when I see fandom discussing what falls under MG the topic is usually focused on how "the west" is influencing Thai/Korean/Chinese/Japanese media.

Enter, Pit Babe.

Surely Pit Babe was influenced by Supernatural right? Omegaverse is huge in the west - love it, hate it, meh it - it originated in the west - specifically via Supernatural after all.

Nah.

Omegaverse has been popular in Japan and China for almost a decade, if not longer. The earliest omegaverse manga I can think of is Pendulum: Juujin Omegaverse by Hana Hasumi which was released in 2015, almost a decade ago.

(what if you added furries into omegaverse? WHAT IF?? - Japan)

There's countless popular omegaverse manga too, and the dynamics only moderately resemble the ones we're familiar with in the west. Juujin is part omegaverse and part furry/beastmen - the alphas are all beastmen the omegas are humans - while something like Ookami-kun Is Not Scary only slightly resembles omegaverse dynamics as a hybrid series - beastmen are really popular in Japan in part b/c of historical mythology (you see the combination of romantic Beastmen and Japanese culture & folklore in Mamoru Hosoda's work The Boy and the Beast and Wolf Children).

Megumi & Tsugumi (2018) is so popular they're an official English edition published by VIZ's imprint SuBlime and that's a straight up omegaverse story.

(look at the omega symbol on the cover loud and proud baby)

So if Pit Babe was influenced by anything, it certainly wasn't "the west" it was Japan, Korea and China. Because those countries have a thriving omegaverse sub-genre going and have had such for 10 plus years now. Supernatural is popular in Japan, yes, and that may be where Japan and Japanese fans originally found omegaverse as a fictional sub-genre.

HOWEVER

Japanese fans took the sub-genre, bent it, played with it, and evolved it into their own thing. As such, other countries in their proximity, like Thailand, China, and Korea who read BL and GL manga, found it and were like "hey, we wanna play too!"

(is that an omegaverse yuri novel I spy?? yes, yes it is)

When I watched the Red Peafowl trailer, it had more in common with Kinnporsche, History: Trapped, along with films and shows like: Jet Li's The Enforcer, and Fist of Legend, Donnie Yen's Flash Point, Raging Fire, and Kung Fu Jungle, Han Dong-wook's The Worst of Evil, Kim Jin-Min's My Name, Lee Chung-hyeon's The Ballerina, Baik's Believer & Believer 2, Yoshie Kaoruhara's KeixYaku, popular Don Lee films The Gangster, the Cop and the Devil and Unstoppable alongside BL manga like Honto Yajuu and Bi No Isu (probably one of the most well known yazuka manga to date).

Like, we're seeing a rise in mafia based BLs and people think that's because of "western influence" and not the absolute insane success of kinnporsche??? Especially in countries like China, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and other Asian countries???

Mafia films and gang shows aren't even that popular here in America/Europe; don't get me wrong, they still get made and exist, but the last full length film was The Irishman which did not make it's budget back, and while Power is still on-going it's not a smash hit either. The heyday of Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, The Wire, Goodfellas, and Scarface are long gone. And if you've watched any those shows or films they have very little in common with Kei x Yaku, Kinnporsche, or Red Peafowl in tone, or style.

(who knew martin just wanted to make his al pacino/robert de niro fanfic come to life all these years?)

Another example, The Sign, which is clearly taking inspiration from Chinese costume dramas: Ashes of Love, Fairy and Devil, White Snake (and it's many adaptions), Guardian, & Ying Yang Master Dream of Eternity. Alongside Hong Kong and Korean cop and romance shows like Tale of the Nine-Tailed, Hotel Del Luna, Director Who Buys Me Dinner, First Love, Again, and previously mentioned cop dramas.

Like, I know y'all don't think Twins is influenced by, what, American sports classic Angels in the Outfield?? Gridiron Gang?? Rocky?? Nah that shit is inspired by the popularity of sports manga like Haikyuu!!, Slam Dunk, Prince of Tennis (which even has a Chinese drama adaption), and the like. And also probably History 2, & Not Me but I'm like 87% sure Twins is just Haikyuu fanfic.

So like, does this mean that there's NO history in which American and European cinema influenced these countries? What, no, obviously that's not true, American/European totally have had media influence on countries like Korea, Japan, etc.

Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka considered "the father of manga" was inspired by Walt Disney's work on Bambi. Another more recent and prominent example is director Yeon Sang-ho and his film Train to Busan.

"And it was Snyder’s movie [Dawn of the Dead, 2004], not the 1978 original, that filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho recalled as his first encounter with the undead. “That was when I started my interest in zombies,” Yeon said, in an email interview through a translator from South Korea. Even today, he added, “it’s the most memorable and intense zombie movie I’ve ever seen.”" (source)

HOWEVER, the global influence doesn't stop there. It's not a one-way street. Yeon Sang-Ho was inspired by Zack Synder's Dawn of the Dead, a remake of George Romero's own work, but Yeon Sang-Ho's work has inspired countless Korean film makers to make their own zombie media; following Train to Busan there's been: Kingdom (2019 - current), All of Us Are Dead (2022), Zombie Detective (2020), Zombieverse (2023), Alive (2020), Rampant (2018).

And hey, wouldn't you know it now we're starting to see more zombie media coming out of places like Japan (Zom 100 the manga, movie, and anime) and High School of the Dead.

Do you know what Domundi's series Zombivor (2023, pilot trailer only) reminds me of? It's NOT The Walking Dead (which is the only relevant zombie media America has created in the last decade) it's Korea's All of Us Are Dead (2022). Comparing the trailers, the settings, the tone, it's clear where Zombivor is pulling inspiration from: Korean zombie cinema. NOT American zombie cinema.

In fact a lot of Domundi's shows - Cutie Pie, Middleman's Love, Naughty Babe, Bed Friend - are all very clearly inspired by Korean filmmaking, specifically that of romantic kdramas from the 2016 - 2020 era. Not always in story, but rather in technique.

This is media globalization. It's not simply ~The West~ influencing non-American/European countries but countries who are often more close in terms of: proximity, culture, and trade are going to have more influence on each other.

It is far more likely that Aoftion (Naughty Babe, Cutie Pie, Zombivor) was influenced by watching Train to Busan, All of Us Are Dead, and other Korean zombie shows and films than a single episode of Walking Dead.

My point isn't that this goes one way only, but rather it is very literally a global thing. This includes American and European film makers being influenced by non-American and European cinema.

Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Darren Aronofsky, Christopher Nolan, the Wachowski sisters, George Lucas and James Cameron have all been influenced by Japanese film making, especially the works of Akira Kurosawa, Satoshi Kon, and Mamoru Oshii.

John Wick's entire gun-fu sub-genre is heavily influenced by classic Hong Kong action films, specifically John Woo films. Legend of Korra, The Boondocks, Voltron, Young Justice, My Adventures with Superman are all obviously inspired by Japanese anime but animated by a Korean animation studio (Studio Mir). Beyond that, the rise in adult animated dramas like Castlevania, Critical Role Vox Machina, and Invincible to name a few are very clearly taking inspiration from anime in terms of style. The weebs that were watching Adult Swim's Inuyasha, Bleach, and Dragon Ball Z have grown up and are now working in Hollywood.

Okay so like, what's the point of all this? What's the issue? Since American/European cinema does influence et all cinema does any of this really matter?

YES.

I take contention with this line of thinking because it centers "the west" and our supposed individual importance way to much. Declaring definitively that "BL is being influenced by western tropes" and then including tropes, narratives, and film making styles that aren't inherently western and actually have major roots in the cinema of various Asian countries, removes the existence of individual history these countries have which are rich, varied, and nuanced. It removes the "global" part of globalization by declaring "the globe" is really just America and Europe.

It distills these countries down to static places that only exist when American/European audiences discover them.

BL doesn't exist in a vacuum you can trace the development of Korean BL to the development of Korean het dramas almost to a T. You can also trace their development to the queer history of each country and how Thailand interacts culturally with China, Japan, Korea, etc and vice versa. It also ignores the history of these countries influencing American cinema as well. Don't mistake "the globe" for only your sphere of experience.

Anyway James Cameron is a damn weeb y'all have a good night.

Check out other posts in the series:

Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition | Aspect Ratio in Love for Love's Sake | Cinematography in My BL - Our Skyy2 vs kinnporsche, 2gether vs semantic error, 1000 Stars vs The Sign | How The Sign Uses CGI | Is BL Being Overly Influenced by Modern Western Romance Tropes?

[like these posts? drop me a couple pennies on ko-fi]

[aihoshiino]

I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea of "Dark/Evil/Black Hoshigan/etc" Ai lately - not for any real particular reason, just because as a fixation of the fandom, I've always been weirdly fascinated by people's eagerness to leap to it as an assumption of her character despite it being in such obvious conflict with the text. I think a lot of this comes from, as I've said before, people seeing Ai herself and other characters describe her as a 'liar' and instantly concluding that her entire front-facing personality is an entirely fabricated act with no footholds in sincerity or authenticity. And it's baffling to me because Ai really isn't that complicated or dramatic as a 'liar' character - she's just doing her best to be liked by other people because she's so desperate to connect with them and she hates herself so much that the only way she can imagine doing so is editing every singe potentially objectionable part of her personality out of her worksona lol.

And the thing is, I don't even necessarily hate the idea of exploring BH/Dark Ai! I've done it myself before in RP and other stuff and I think it's a suuuuuper fascinating concept. It's just that the way I see it done in fanworks and fan theories is always kind of… shallow? It's Disney Twist Villain tier - it's not about building on and exploring the character that exists in the text, it just replaces her with an entirely different one and goes "isn't it crazy that she was there all along". And that's just not as fun to me!

The thing about dark/manipulative/'evil' Ai is that it's unavoidably, inherently OOC because she doesn't really have a malicious bone in her body. If it's already out of character behaviour, why not lean into it and make the OOCness part of the premise? Why not really examine just how fucking miserable Ai would need to be to finally give up all hope and go down this path?

One of the most important things about Ai is that because she just naturally struggles with empathy as a result of her neurodivergence and because she has so consistently been mistreated her whole life, her kindness and her warmth and compassion are to a degree things she actively chooses to put out into the world. Because she wants to love other people. She wants to sincerely form connections with them and be with them. So, in a situation where she comes to believe that her end goal of loving and being being loved as a real human is impossible, it's not really that hard for me to imagine her deciding like. well okay. If people don't want a human being, why should she try?

Becoming an idol is all people want from her. That's what makes people happy. So if that's how it is, the best thing for everyone is for her to ruthlessly dedicate herself to it no matter how many things she has to break in the process.

They asked for something that "wasn't human", after all. So that's exactly what they'll get.

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

I cannot take that message from Shadow and Bone trilogy "All power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" seriously for three reasons:

It's used to demean and shame having any kind of power, no matter how well it's used. And it's directed to an oppressed minority. Basically, the message is that it's better to sit around and do nothing rather than take matters into your own hands and fight back for liberation of your people, even if it risks your own corruption.

The author later somewhat realizes her mistake and goes back on her words. But her favoritism is clear and while one character is shamed and punished for reaching for "too much power", the other is rewarded for it.

Everytime I read that quote, I remember this absolute gem of a scene from Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber novel series. The proof that adult/high fantasy does it better than YA (not always though):

Flora pursed her lips and let go of us: "Now you see what absolute monarchy is. This is how power corrupts, debauches a man."

"I was debauched and corrupted long before I had power" - Random responded cooly. "You can leave us now, sister."

[lifeismarvelous]

Woe, major special interests be upon ye

[hamliet]

Oshi no Ko's Angel of Light: Kamiki Hikaru

So, I wrote a review of Oshi no Ko previously, just not on this blog. I talked there about the meaning of Hoshino Ai as a name (it's literally hoshi no eye, Ai spelled in katakana to reinforce that it's a loanword, meaning starry eye, and of course, eye/ai is a homonym for love) and how Oshi no Ko uses wordplay and puns to introduce its themes.

Naturally, I wanted to talk about the other parent, whose name is just as significant.

Kamiki Hikaru is literally "god of light/shining god." Well, okay, sort of. It's technically "kami of light," and kami doesn't translate super well into English. It's often referred to as a god in Shintoism, but it's not quite the western perception of a god. Spirit is another popular translation.

Of course, this references the supernatural themes of the story, as well as Hikaru's role. See, "angel of light" is what the Christian Bible calls Lucifer, the Christian devil. Pretty fitting for Hikaru's role in the story as the main villain.

But wait! There's more! Lucifer itself, as a name, refers to the planet Venus, known as the morning star. Which, of course, is the "star" we see in the story associated with Ai.

(Yes, the story is very much using distinctly Christian allusions alongside Shinto ones.)

Hikaru, like Lucifer, is known to, well, want everything for himself. That doesn't mean he wants all the worship of the world like Lucifer literally did according to mythology. No, instead it's far more insidious but no less disturbing: he sees himself as entitled to dictate how the world runs. He decides whose life is worth living, and makes others pay for mistakes of people they don't even know. He's playing God, in other words--exactly what Lucifer did to fall from heaven in Christian mythology (it's not actually super biblical hence why I'm using "mythology").

Lucifer is also called "Satan" obviously, which literally means "accuser" in Hebrew. That's kind of the perfect summary for what Hikaru sees himself as: he's visiting his hatred of an abuser he has every right to hate on everyone and everything that remotely reminds him of her.

The thing is, as said above, Hikaru does have the right to hate Airi, just like Aqua has the right to hate him. But following the path of revenge is Not The Way.

So, is Hikaru Satan?

No. He's a person.

The Path To Hikaru

Hikaru is not all that different from the other characters we know and love--Ai, Ruby, Kana, Akane, and especially Aqua. Fitting since they're all idols of sorts (yes, Akasaka is constantly using religious references to add social commentary to the idea of an "idol" as a false god/object of worship). They're also all actors.

Hikaru is what Aqua risks becoming. No, seriously. Hikaru was traumatized as a child via rape that led to the creation of a life.

As a result he's pretty anti-life as a whole, and especially anti-woman. He's constantly seeking revenge on women, hence his murder-happy spree. The problem is that he's not seeing these women as individuals: he sees everyone and everything as a representation of Airi, the person who assaulted him.

Also, society as a whole's attitude towards male victims of sexual assault, especially male victims of attractive women, means that Hikaru would not be seen as a victim. One of OnK's major themes is how messed up society is and how it dehumanizes people via fitting them into roles, and this is a perfect example of the harm that can come from it. Hikaru would be seen as a boy, and all boys clearly want sex. A famous actress slept with him? Lucky him! Even though this never came out publicly, Hikaru absolutely knew this was the case and it certainly plays a role in his grudge against the world.

Even though Airi is dead (probably as a result of him provoking her husband by revealing that he wasn't the father), he still isn't satisfied. No, Airi is still everywhere. Killing the perpetrator, making them pay, did not erase his trauma.

If Aqua kills Hikaru, his trauma will likewise not be erased. Not his trauma as Gorou, not his trauma as Aqua. Hikaru's death will fix absolutely nothing in his life besides stopping more murders, but there are ways to do that that, y'know, don't involve killing. If Aqua kills Hikaru, he will lose the best part of Gorou (valuing life) and the best part of Aqua (the future Ai wanted for him, a future with Kana and Ruby).

Aqua, You are Your Father

Aqua, you are your father. It's almost like the entire series has been trying to give you this message and you keep ignoring it. (By the way, because I know I'm going to get asks about this, I am NOT saying Aqua and Hikaru are moral equivalents. Not at all. I'm just saying that Aqua is walking a path that will end with him being just like Hikaru if he doesn't get shoved off said path.)

From being the violent stalker who attacks someone who has never felt loved in his first acting job after Ai's death to scenes like this:

The story is asking Aqua to take a good long look at himself, and he's trying desperately to avoid doing this. Why? Because he's also playing God, same as his father, same as Satan in Christianity. He thinks he is responsible for everything; a natural, childish attitude that people grow out of as they age.

Of course, Aqua is not nearly as toxic in this as Hikaru--he's not attacking innocent people--but the root of this is still a belief that he somehow controls what happens, when he doesn't. He doesn't at all.

Aqua, too, is just a person.

But Aqua struggles to understand what it means to be a person, to be Hoshino Aquamarine.

He struggles to see other people as people, too. This ranges from sabotaging Ruby's auditions to how he treats Akane to his protecting Kana without considering what she wants. It's been brought up multiple times in the story so far:

Aqua also fundamentally does not see Ai as a human being, either. Unlike Ruby, who calls Ai "Mama," Aqua only ever calls her "Ai," her persona. Aqua and Ai are foils to Kana and her own mother, in that Kana's mom lived through Kana only to abandon her, and Aqua is living through his mom... but ignoring what she would actually want.

(Ruby isn't flawless or perfectly healthy, and the story certainly doesn't frame them as good twin bad twin, but Ruby's overall worldview is absolutely more in line with what the story wants to endorse.) That's why we have lines like this, where Ruby reveals that she has a healthier view of their mother than Aqua does. She knows Ai was flawed.

This is extra notable because he has 0 problems calling Hikaru his father. It's almost like Aqua is drowning in self-hatred, in feeling unloved, in the idea that he brings bad luck just by existing.

He'll call out Ruby for her negative traits, but Aqua thinks he deserves them. Aqua dehumanizes himself, the same way he dehumanizes Ai, and he has to see both his mother and himself people before he can step off this path.

Essentially, what he tells Ruby here is exactly what he needs to realize, but he has not done so.

The root of Aqua's God complex is that he cannot move past his trauma. It's actually psychologically realistic that a child who experienced such an event would be stuck in a childish mindset wherein they feel guilt for not being able to save their mother.

But it's not just Ai that Aqua couldn't save. It's Sarina, too. She is the one who introduced him to Ai, after all. He didn't move on from her death in his past life, either, which can probably be traced back to his own tragic birth circumstances--the idea that he only brings death, because his mother died giving birth to him. Gorou even states that he became a doctor to help people like his mother, but the point is also that he wanted to bring life, not death.

Except, he isn't God. Neither Gorou nor Aqua are. He can't save Sarina, and that isn't his fault. But Sarina ends up okay as Ruby, not through his own intervention. Aqua couldn't save Ai, but that's not his fault.

The point I'm making here is that Aqua needs to heal the hurting child within him. The story has also brought up the theme of children suffering at the hands of the entertainment industry numerous times:

His path towards healing would involve taking a long look not just at the hurting child in himself, but the hurting child in Hikaru, too. Which is not the same as excusing. After all, we already saw what happened with Aqua thought his dad was dead: despite the supposed justice and his proclamations about being free, he was still every inch the trapped, terrified, traumatized child afraid to live. Killing Hikaru won't be any different.

Becoming Human

So, is there hope for Aqua?

Yeah. A ton of it.

Despite the tragedy of Ai's story, every other arc has ended optimistically. The story's optimism, also, is fundamentally rooted in humanity. Every character, even the ones who seem like exploitative jerks like the producers who edited Akane to look bad and the self-centered mangakas, end up having their thoughts and motives explored, and we see where they are coming from. Not only that, but they have the best of intentions.

Frankly, this is true to life as well. Precious few people see themselves as the villain. Almost everyone thinks they're doing the right thing. It's very human.

The end of the reality dating show arc is kind of what I expect in the end here. There, all contestants came together and pooled their unique individual talents to exonerate Akane. I would expect Ruby, Miyako, Kana, and Akane (who herself has finally realized that she can step into her own personhood instead of trying to be Ai/whatever Aqua needs and vowed to stop him) to come together to save Aqua from himself.

Aqua is incredibly loved, and he doesn't seem to understand this. Love is what enabled Ai to die smiling. A lack of love, feeling undeserving of love, is what torments Sarina/Ruby, Aqua, Kana, and more. The bastardization of love is what torments Hikaru.

Love allows someone to be themselves, truly, to individuate. This is what Aqua needs to learn:

He also doesn't need to earn the love of those around him, nor the love of Ai. She loved him just because he was her son, and all she wanted was for him to be happy and to live.

Imo, it's pretty unlikely Akasaka plans to end the series with Aqua becoming Hikaru 2.0. My guess is that Hikaru will be stopped because of Aqua, and he'll even likely die, but not at Aqua's hand. I suspect Akane, Ruby, and especially Kana (the one person Aqua has consistently placed above Ai) will help save Aqua from himself.

[avinkusprince]

^ me when i'm not at all suspicious and definitely don't have any intimate knowledge of the subject

[aspoonofsugar]

Akane + Kana = Blue (Shadow) + Red (Light)

Here come 2 great girls and 2 great characters! Akane Kurokawa and Kana Arima are Aqua's 2 love interests, but more than that they are key for the story and themes of Oshi No Ko.

SHADOW AND LIGHT

Akane and Kana are linked to 2 opposite ideas:

Akane is a person who accepts others' shadows

Kana is a person who gives others hope and light

Akane is the most perceptive character in the manga. She is incredibly sensitive to the people around her and able to guess their secrets from little details. For example, she infers Ai's personal life by looking at some records. Not only that, but people feel they can trust Akane and share with her intimate information. This is true for both Aqua and Ruby:

Both siblings tell Akane a part of their previous selves' story. Akane doesn't ask for it, but listens to them. She is so accepting, she is even ready to compromise her morality for others:

She looks straight at people's darkness and doesn't flinch. She welcomes the shadow.

Kana is strongly associated with light:

The acting who makes her famous as a child is her ability to shine on the stage. Not only that, but she chooses white as her idol color and sings about becoming a full moon. She brings light into the night and helps others shine. So, she fittingly becomes a beacon of hope for both twins:

Aqua is drawn to Kana's cheerful and strong personality and wants to see more of it. Ruby wants to help Kana, even when she is going through her DarkRuby phase. For a moment, her friendship with Kana brings back Ruby's inner light.

So, Akane is so empathic she accepts people's flaws, while Kana is so cheerful she brings joy to people. Still, their juxtaposition doesn't stop at what they represent for others.

BLUE AND RED

Akane and Kana have opposite color schemes. Akane is blue and Kana is red. Blue and red are complementary colors and they are generally associated with different ideas:

blue is mind, shyness and introversion

red is heart, impulsiveness and extroversion

These personality traits fit Akane and Kana and their acting methods:

Akane studies alone and immers herself into the script. She looks inside:

Her acting is understanding the characters.

Kana reacts to the people around her and matches their performance. She looks outside:

Her acting is interpersonal relationships.

Akane is introspective and focuses on the characters (blue). Kana instead is reactive and focuses on the actors (red). That said, the 2 actresses' color juxtaposition hides an additional meaning:

Ai is purple, which is the combination of blue and red. Similarly, Akane and Kana (just like the twins) are 2 sides of Ai. Still, who is Ai?

I have never been loved by anyone Nor have I loved anyone else

Ai is a person who has never loved nor has ever been loved.

TO LOVE AND TO BE LOVED

To love and to be loved are the 2 sides of Ai (love). Akane and Kana too explore these 2 concepts.

Akane is surrounded by people who love her. Her parents genuinelly want her to be happy and they support her career and relationships. The same goes for her manager. Still, when Akane gets cyber-bullied, she struggles to call for help. Not only that, but later on she states she is not sure she loves Aqua:

In short, Akane has trouble understanding relationships and approaches them in the most complicated way possible. She admires Kana and wants for her to shine again. Instead of conveying her feelings properly, though, she starts a rivalry. She wishes to help Aqua and to build a relationship with him. Still, she both lies and silently accepts Aqua's lies.

Kana is instead very upfront with her feelings, but she ignores people's darkest sides, which makes her easy to manipulate. After all, Kana often gives in to others' requests, even if it is not what she wants. This tendency stems from trauma:

As a small child, Kana is abandoned by the adults around her because she stops being an asset. Both her mother and manager ditch her and nobody gives her work anymore. As a result, Kana becomes a push-over in the hope of being accepted.

So, both Akane and Kana have self-issues which prevent them from developing healthy relationships. Akane doesn't know how to love, while Kana fears to be unloved. These 2 complexes make so that Ai gets sometimes reborn in the 2 girls:

Akane is actress Ai, the genius performer, who lies to both others and herself

Kana is idol Ai, the girl, who shines brightly in her genuine search for love

Akane and Kana's similarity with Ai is why Aqua feels drawn to both in different ways. He projects his mother on his 2 love interests. However, Akane and Kana are not Ai, but their own people. So, their arcs break this dychotomy between them and show that they are 2 girls growing up. Not only that, but they are deep down very alike.

AKANE = BLUE + RED

Akane is associated with blue (blue hair and eyes), but her name means red. Why is there this contradiction? A possible answer is that Akane is strongly disconnected from herself. Or to better say, Akane has no idea of who she is. This is precisely why she struggles so much throughout her introductory arc.

True Love is a reality show, where the participants have to play themselves and flirt with others. For example, Yuki uses her true feelings as an inspiration for her performance. However, Akane can't do the same because she is confused by romance and lacks a personality of her own. This is why she is a genius actress. She forgets herself and becomes someone else. It is Akane's modus operandi and she eventually uses it also in True Love. And who does she become?

She plays Aqua's ideal girl. Not only that, but she keeps on this role throughout time, as she becomes more involved in Aqua's revenge plot:

Akane knows Aqua is not in love with her. Still, she decides it is fine to be used, as long as she is aware of it. Later on, she realizes Aqua has feelings for Kana, but accepts them in exchange of his honesty. Akane believes that with time her bond with Aqua will become the real thing. However, she is wrong, as a lie stays a lie:

In the end, neither Aqua nor Akane are honest with each other. Aqua violates Akane's privacy and Akane keeps silent about Aqua's father. She decides to solve things by herself, just like she did with the cyber-bullying. Akane is full of people who love her, but she refuses to depend on them. She tries to deal with everything alone and puts her life in danger:

She is very much like Aqua in this, which is why the moment they come clear they break-up. Akane and Aqua genuinely care for each other. However, they can't have a proper relationship because they choose to lie and to self-sacrifice.

Akane gives up her whole sense of self to properly play the part of Ai. Still, she isn't Ai and her break-up with Aqua is the perfect chance to realize it. Right now, she is determined to save Aqua by herself. She still believes she can be Aqua's perfect girl, one way or another. However, she is wrong. She can't and shouldn't save Aqua alone. She should open up to others and ask for help. In this way, she can finally break character and show her genuine self. She can embrace her inner red.

KANA = LIGHT + SHADOW

Kana is linked to light, but she is currently stuck in shadows both in her career and in her personal relationships. This is made clear since her introductory arc.

Sweet Today is a low budget production whose real goal isn't to tell a good story, but rather to advertise models. Kana is chosen because of her good personality and fame. She sees this as an opportunity and a sign of appreciation. However, the producer's words reveal she is being taken advantage of. Nobody cares about her second chance in the enterteinment world, but they only use her because she is convenient. Not only that, but Kana is forced to match the other cast members' level of acting. The result is that she hides her real self.

Luckily, Aqua is there for Kana and eventually she is able to shine a little:

This is a recurring dynamic between Kana and Aqua. Kana tries to hide her real talent for the sake of harmony on the stage. However, Aqua takes care of things, so that Kana can shine:

In short, Aqua is a healing presence in Kana's life. She feels invisible and unwanted to the point she is ready to do anything for some care and appreciation. However, Aqua gives her selfless support:

Still, Kana herself is unaware of Aqua's shadows:

She has known him for a long time, but knows nothing of his revenge plan, his past as Gorou and his manipulative streak. It is telling that when Aqua masks as Piyo Kana is unable to see through the mask. She can't because she doesn't know who the real Aqua is.

Here it comes a contradiction in Kana's arc. Among all the characters, she is the one mostly linked to truth:

She is so honest she makes her feelings for Aqua clear five minutes after meeting him. She even ends up confessing her crush on a stranger out of loyalty towards Aqua and her own emotions. Not to mention that it is to protect her that Aqua reveals the truth about Ai. And yet, she is kept in the dark of others' machinations. She is oblivious to her friends' struggles and seems not to notice their strange behaviours.

So, her arc should really be about overcoming this flaw. If Kana wants to shine, she needs to experience shadows. If she wants to have healthy bonds with others, she needs to discover and accept their darkness. She is slowly going through this process.

As a child, she shines, but is self-centered. When she grows up, she painfully realizes she has to value others more and becomes much more selfless. However, at the beginning of the series, she is being consumed by this approach and is helped by others to re-discover her selfish self a little bit more. She realizes she is beautiful when she steals everyone's attention and that her brutal honesty can help people grow.

Right now, she needs to reconcile her caring personality with her personal need to shine. Her trust in people with the knowledge even her loved ones can make mistakes. In short, she must find a way to shine, while helping others to shine too:

She doesn't have to sacrifice herself to be accepted, but at the same time Kana herself is at her happiest when all the actors play together to the utmost of their abilities. She must be the sun who selflessly makes others shine.

AKANE AND KANA'S ENDINGS

So, what will be the conclusion of Akane and Kana's stories? So far, it is too soon to say, but some hypothesis can be made.

First thing first, let's address the elephant in the room. I think Akane, Kana and Aqua's love triangle will resolve in Kana's favor. Imo the story has been very clear about it.

Aqua's reaction to Akane and Kana is opposite:

He involves himself with Akane to pursue his revenge and he is drawn to her because she resembles Ai

He stays away from Kana because of his revenge and his fear Kana is gonna end up targeted like Ai

In short, Aqua projects on both girls with different results. He projects on Akane his wishes and on Kana his fears. So, it makes sense that by the end he lets go of Ai's ideal (he says goodbye to Akane) and overcomes his fears (he acts on his feelings for Kana).

Of course, recently, there has been a shift in this dynamic. Aqua has in fact broken his bond with Akane to protect her, while he has started a manipulative relationship with Kana. Still, this inversion is due to the story entering its climax. It is in fact necessary to challenge all the characters.

Structurally, Akane and Kana do not have the same focus. Akane's storyline serves Aqua and Kana beautifully. She supports their arcs, while developing herself. Kana instead is the tritragonist of the manga. A lot of focus is given to her feelings and career each arc. Moreover, these plotlines have nothing to do with the main conflict, which means Kana is basically having her own story. Still, obviously Kana's story and the main plot are meant to become one in the climax. So, she is meant to have a big role in Aqua's arc.

Finally, a conclusion where Aqua and Kana are together fits both girls' individual arcs.

Akane should stop imitating others and discover who she is. For her to succeed she should go back to what she originally desired:

Akane's true desire is a genuine connection. She starts acting not because she thinks it is cool, but because she wants to become friends with Kana. However, Akane's strategy to grow closer to others is to change herself and become an ideal:

She wants to win Kana's friendship by becoming like her. And yet, this backfires as Kana is already struggling with people discarding her to favor other children. Surely, a girl who imitates her is not the kind of friend Kana wants by that point. Interestingly, Akane is mature enough to figure this out and doesn't really resent Kana for it. To the contrary, she deep down wants Kana to go back to shine, but her attempts to inspire Kana do not work. So, what can Akane do to grow close to Kana and help her shine?

Maybe Akane simply has to tell Kana the truth about Aqua. She could let go of her stubborness and open up to another person. After all, the only way to forge bonds is to show who you are and hope the other will accept you.

Such a resolution on Akane's part would help Kana. Kana's problem is that she ignores everyone's shadows. She can't hope to help her loved ones if she has no idea of who they are. Kana's test will be to accept Aqua's darkest part and to keep on loving him.

She will 100% succeed. Kana is great at pursuing what she loves, even when it's not perfect. She is the character who has been a part of the enterteinment world the longest. She has been broken and let down many times. However, she still loves acting and the people she meets in her job. She may not be a genius anymore, but she is a strong, dependable and flexible actress. She likes the enterteinment world despite its flaws and will keep on loving the twins and Akane.

This is why Kana is the brightest star:

She has more passion and attachment to life than everyone else.

[mars-graveyard]

it is complete. i took two photos because my shadow was getting in the way a bit fhgdsf.

artists because they deserve credit:

'family ended with adam and eve' piece - @narcissisticnugget

ai chibi - oshi no ko official art

matthias and nina piece - @kolarpem

ai at the beach - also official art afaik

arte pollo and lady conchita piece (<3) - @ozeca

arte and pollo/hänsel and gretel piece - @thepixelblender

dull domestic/ill-natured maid piece - caprice-farci-deactivated201505 (that's where i found it anyway)

EAT prologue piece - @manquesit0

arte doodle covering seth up - @tiny-evillious

meta chibi - ichika

arte styling - @ozeca again :>

gluttony crew sketch - ichika. coloured by lady conchita i think but i'm honestly not sure on that one ;-;

[skania]

Let's talk about Aqua "using" Akane

So Aqua makes a very big deal about "using" Akane, but... did he actually use her at all?

I mean, he makes it quite clear that he is only keeping her close because she's useful, right?

So, what is Akane useful for, exactly?

Aqua's entire premise is that Akane understands Ai better than he does. He can't lose Akane because she may help him figure out Ai and find out who his dad is.

But we never, ever see Aqua asking Akane questions about Ai. At the contrary, most of his time with Akane is spent either on Aqua and Akane helping each other, or on Aqua talking to Akane about himself rather than about Ai.

(Spoilers for the entire manga below the cut!)

Let's take the TB arc for example, since this is the arc where Aqua and Akane interact again. What do we see?

First, Aqua helps Akane voice her concerns about the script:

Then he helps solve the disconnect between the ones in charge of the script and the original author, thus doing Akane and everyone involved a big service:

Then he helps Akane win against Kana, going as far as to agree to do emotional acting in order to accomplish it:

And then he helps Akane draw Kana out into the spotlight:

In other words: Aqua spends the entire arc working as a team with Akane. He makes no effort to use her at all.

What's more, all the occasions he had to get Akane's insight about Ai? He uses them to give Akane insight about himself instead.

Which is ironic, because we eventually find out that he even went as far as planting a GPS on her sometime after Love Now, in the off-chance Akane came in contact with the culprit. He obviously was pretty serious about making the most of Akane's deduction skills...

... but how was Akane supposed to deduce anything when Aqua never gave her any info? After all, Aqua only shares that information with Akane after he thinks his revenge is over and he has no use for her anymore.

Which means that, up to the point where Aqua temporarily drops his revenge plans, we don't actually see him using Akane at all.

Despite this, we still see Aqua going on and on about how he has "used" Akane.

So, let's take a closer look at all the ways he has "used" Akane, shall we?

• "About my father" is the simplest one, since that's what Aqua wanted to use Akane for in the first place. Except that, as we saw, things don't go quite as planned and he literally doesn't do anything to have Akane find his dad.

So yes, Aqua did intend to use Akane to find his dad, but he doesn't actually put her to use. In fact, Akane finds him all on her own by pure chance much, much later.

• "The corpse" is a very interesting one, because by Aqua's own admission, he trusted Akane's capabilities enough to think she may be able to find his corpse, and fed her information to help her achieve this.

This is indeed true, except for two things. One, when Aqua starts looking for the corpse, he actually tells Akane to stay behind. She's the one that chooses to follow after him. Aqua makes it sound like Akane finding his corpse was his goal from the get-go, but his actions are at odd with his words.

Secondly, Aqua stops looking for the corpse the moment Akane suggests it may be buried, but he still takes her to Goro's house either way.

Nothing he tells her about Goro is relevant to the search of his corpse. It's completely irrelevant, in fact. But Aqua still opens up to her, sharing everything about Goro, from his upbringing to his goals to his feelings.

Once again, his words say one thing, but his actions tell a different story. Akane is the first person Aqua has opened up to about Goro, and he does so without any ulterior motive.

Which leads me to the way Aqua has "used" Akane:

• "And many other things."

This is what Aqua means by "many other things". Ever since that day, Akane has been giving Aqua emotional support and he has come to treasure it, so much so that it "saves him little by little".

I'd even say he has come to rely on it, as his monologue later shows.

Now, you may say, but isn't receiving and giving emotional support a normal part of every relationship?

And you'd be completely right! But Aqua isn't a normal guy.

Aqua is guilt-ridden to the point he is in pain whenever he enjoys anything. Since the guilt he feels colors basically everything he sees, it permeates his relationship with Akane as well.

Instead of seeing all the good he has done for her, he just sees all the ways he ties her down.

Instead of seeing how much of himself he has shared with her, he focuses on what he has kept from her.

He is such a guilt-ridden, self-deprecating person that he even apologizes when Akane finds his corpse. As if getting murdered and not being found for 20+ years was his fault!

Akane puts it best: Aqua is always trying to carry the burden on his own, always acting like every wrong is his fault.

It's no surprise then that Aqua feels guilty over allowing himself to cherish Akane's support. It's also no surprise that he tries to paint it negatively as him "using" her, because Aqua has been trying to convince himself that his relationship with Akane is a lie.

If he repeats it enough, if he makes his every action about using Akane, then it will be easier for him to let go of her — even when that becomes the last thing he wants to do.

This all comes to a head in Chapter 98, where we see Aqua cutting ties with Akane to keep her safe. This was the perfect time to use Akane, for real this time — but "using" Akane has become a lie that he can't keep up any longer.

Akane has become too important to him. So important in fact, that leaving her side marks the moment he makes a wrong turn and gives himself into the darkness of his revenge.

TL;DR Aqua did want to use Akane, but he never gets around to it. He comes to rely on her emotional support and feels so guilty for it that he sees that as "using" her. Ironically, by the time Akane becomes the perfect "tool" for him to use in his quest for revenge, she matters too much to him and he lets her go to keep her safe. In fact, Akane only makes herself "useful" to him by pure chance! lol

[microsff]

This is just to say...

This is your irregular reminder that if you like what I do, you can support me on: Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/MicroSFF LiberaPay - https://liberapay.com/MicroSFF Ko-Fi - https://ko-fi.com/microsff Or just keep sharing my stories, I appreciate that too! Reblogging brings my stories to new readers, which makes me happy.

Also, you might not know I have two collections of microfiction out, available to buy from all reputable ebook peddlers. One of them is also a) available in print, and b) available in German translation. More info, and links, on my website: https://microsff.com/books

If you have read any of my books, a review on GoodReads or the shop you bought it in would be greatly appreciated.

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Thanks for reading, liking, and reblogging.

(Oh, and thanks for the peaches, they were so sweet and so cold.)

[theromanticscrooge]

Drawing Parallels Between Glinda and Elphaba With Elodie and Enid

As of writing this, I haven't checked out the Wicked book series or the theatrical movie yet. This is making reference to just the stage musical.

The core of Wicked is the meaningful but tragic friendship between Glinda and Elphaba. Glinda is an overachiever; the prettiest, the most popular, and the girl who usually gets everything she wants. She feels lost when she's not just handed the position for Wizard's apprentice. The same headmaster dresses her down in public: her abilities are weak and she'd never live up to the qualities needed for the role. While Glinda benefits from pretty privilege and natural charisma, she's seen as just her looks and nothing more. She works to maintain her image and social standing, but she doesn't know if someone legitimately likes her for her or only likes her at surface level. The headmaster's harsh comments slice to the core of Glinda's character: She wants to be acknowledged and understood on a deeper level. She wants to know that she's capable and hardworking; that she can live up to more than just her shallow image. That she's worthy of all the love and adoration she receives.

In stark contrast, Elphaba has been looked down on and belittled by everyone in her life because of her green skin. She's underestimated, feels invisible, inferior; she has to work harder than others for any ounce of recognition and still feels undeserving despite earning something or having a genuine connection with someone else, romantic or otherwise. As a whole, Wicked explores the consequences behind the fever pitch of a fascistic regime in Oz. Elphaba herself can be read as an allegory for queer people, ex-Mormons, people of color experiencing racism, or anyone that feels "othered" by an existing system with a very specific vision for the what the ideal person is and model behavior.

Rising tensions lead to anthropomorphic or 'speaking' animals like Dr. Dilimund being stripped of their rights and autonomy in full view of a grossly apathetic public. Dilimund and his colleagues are forcibly removed from teaching positions, careers, and having any presence in society because they are literally seen as less than human, let alone sapient beings. The metaphors aren't subtle. Its blatant, it's powerful, and it works. In a nutshell, Dilimund is a scapegoat and the hanging guillotine of the question 'Who's next?' His fate acts as a counterbalance to Elphaba's budding friendship with Glinda. For a moment, Elphaba still believes there's a place for her in the existing system because of her newfound talent/affinity for magic that grants her prestige and social power she's never held before.

These feelings are further validated when Glinda, the peak of social desirability, also shows genuine interest in befriending her. Her belief in society at large is completely demolished after she discovers the truth about The Wizard. Ultimately, The Wizard is viewed as a benevolent, generous, and larger than life figure that makes dreams come true. He's the guiding light for a more 'utopian' society and because of how powerful he is as an icon, his role and influence in politics is easily separated from draconian policies and political unrest. Elphaba is convinced that all she has to do is ask and he'll fix the problems facing citizens like Dilimund.

Instead, the Wizard really is just smoke and mirrors. He only wants her as a means to sustain his role as a powerful leader and maintain the current status quo. Where Elphaba leaves society completely and becomes a covert, one-woman resistance movement, Glinda stays and becomes the polished PR figure and go-between for the Wizard's machinations. She's grossly conflicted and manages to hide that she knows something about Elphaba after Elphaba escapes. It also takes her longer to pinpoint what about society is broken. She hasn't been burned in the same openly bigoted way Elphaba has. Glinda has benefited heavily from the existing social system. As someone that not just believed in but benefited from it, she takes longer to disentangle herself from her broken worldview and an increasingly corrupted system. Despite obvious proof to the contrary, she believes that the system can be fixed from within. If she makes compromises, she can keep the status quo as well as create a comfortable space for Elphaba if only she'd return; she can have her cake and eat it too.

Fiyero serves as an interesting complement to Glinda's and Elphaba's respective character stories. When he starts dating Glinda, he's a reflection of how shallow and ignorant Glinda starts out. The two are content 'dancing through life' with little thought or consideration for the existing history of Oz or self-improvement. Fiyero's cavalier attituderesults in him getting kicked out of schools. He can skate by on looks and reputation alone; he's more likely to get second chances just because of who he is. Besides the headmaster's opinion of her, Glinda has mostly skated by on her looks and reputation. Fiyero is more a boost to her status and general morale because of how pretty they look together.

When Fiyero plays off of Elphaba, it both shows the surprisingly sweet, considerate side of his character as well as emphasizes how earnest, compassionate, and selfless Elphaba is. Fiyero's breakup with Glinda is messy and brusque, but his developing romance with Elphaba reflects Elphaba finally coming into her own and showing stronger confidence and conviction. She takes something for herself after years of ignoring her wants, needs, and self in the endless quest to avoid making others uncomfortable. Fiyero himself grows beyond his surface level image. He falls in love with Elphaba as he works on better understanding her situation and a desire to help push against a corrupt system.

In a nutshell, Glinda is a figure of someone struggling to understand her privilege, how that same privilege made her more of an idea than an individual person, and the further problems with the system that gave her said privilege. Elphaba is a tragic figure that desperately wanted to fit into a system, kept getting rejected, and was so betrayed by said system that she started defying it both out of self-preservation and sheer necessity.

Glinda and Elphaba became friends despite coming from very different worlds. Elphaba was the first person to see through Glinda's glamour and show honest support towards and encouragement for her goals as an individual rather than just as an image. She finds the strength to kick out the Wizard as well as start rebuilding Oz because of Elphaba's influence. Despite their circumstances, Glinda was the first person that loved Elphaba unconditionally. Because of Glinda, Elphaba finds the strength to love herself and become who she wants to be despite pressure from society at large to be something else. The tragedy is that despite Glinda rooting out the more corrupt leaders in the Emerald City, the propaganda against Elphaba was effective enough that Oz will never be safe again. While Wicked takes place in a fantastical setting, the story has very real depictions of the consequences and aftermath of a culture that's deeply steeped in a mix of colonialism and fascism.

There's some echo of Glinda and Elphaba between Enid and Elodie from O.K. K.O. Both aspire to enroll at POINT Prep to become strong heroes. Though where Glinda comes from a privileged background and easily gets everything she wants, both Enid and Elodie come from Lakewood. It's illustrated more through visual cues and dialogue but Lakewood is equated to low-income communities and small towns. There's limited opportunities here. There's some fear of getting stuck and stagnating. POINT Prep is a window to hopefully bigger and better opportunities elsewhere. Enid is on a similar wavelength to her colleague Sparko: POINT Prep is a means to an end. She doesn't have a specific vision or hope for her future. What she does know is she doesn't want her background to define who she is and what she's capable of. This is similar to Elphaba not giving immediate consideration to the potential of becoming the Wizard's apprentice. She enthusiastically embraces the opportunity in the hopes that she'll finally be accepted by others and have some chance at normalcy.

In stark contrast, Elodie has a very specific goal and vision for her future. She grew up watching the heroic feats of Chip Damage and aspires to become a beacon of hope and role model like he was for her. Dr. Grayman sets the stage for what the hero landscape looked like after Laserblast's death and the public losing faith in POINT. As far as regular civilians knew, POINT was a chaotic and disorganized mess. They couldn't be trusted with the health and safety of POINT members, let alone the public en masse. Chip Damage was an attempt at a rebrand. He became a living icon; the image of what the ideal hero looked like. He inspired hope. He encouraged the upcoming generation to follow in his footsteps and become heroes themselves.

Chip's example led to Elodie looking at POINT Prep as the penultimate segue from amateur to the next greatest hero the world had ever seen. POINT Prep was a means for Enid. POINT Prep was a destination for Elodie. Becoming the Wizard's apprentice was the next logical step for Glinda in her journey as a beloved, appreciated, and glamorous social figure. Becoming her unique take on Chip Damage was Elodie's entire life goal.

Elodie and Enid's friendship starts with Elodie showing genuine appreciation for and interest in Enid's abilities. She's good at pretending she's more skilled and worldly than otherwise, but it's a mask. They have an earnest and sweet relationship; they gel in an organic way. This also illustrates the caring and considerate part of Elodie's personality. The pomp and dazzle of her image is a tool for reassuring people. Its not just presentation; its a staple in earning someone's trust more easily. Enid is probably the only person that's seen the 'real' and vulnerable side of Elodie before the later events of the POINT Prep arc and Dark Plaza.

Glinda and Elphaba start becoming close because Elphaba leverages her position as the most promising candidate for Wizard's apprentice to enroll Glinda in the training she wanted. There's a competition for a full-ride scholarship at POINT Prep. Enid and Elodie enter with the assumption there's a mutual understanding of and support for 'may the more skilled hero win.' Enid fully intends to keep their friendship regardless of the end result. She deeply values anyone that sees and loves her genuine self. While her parents are generally loving and supportive, they have criticized her desire to be a ninja so harshly that she hides her preferred outfit and weapons at home. She had an ambiguous amount of time where she was a witch full-time at school and home; holding onto dreams and stories until she switched to public school. The ability to explore her true self even just part time was enough that Enid felt hopeful enough to take a chance on both Elodie and Rad. Unfortunately, both Rad and Elodie hurt and betrayed her trust in a way that she closes back up for years after.

Enid wants to be recognized and accepted as her full self by her parents and friends alike. This is roughly comparable to Elphaba's struggle as the black sheep in the family and unwarranted reputation as a social pariah. All she wants is to be seen and recognized as a full human being despite her green skin. She generally poses as a wall flower and makes herself small to avoid any more commotion than she gets by just existing. Elphaba starts opening up and becoming her true self when someone finally recognizes and accepts her as a person despite her outer appearance.

In Enid's case, she starts learning to trust and be vulnerable around others again when Rad, her parents, and Elodie show real attempts to apologize and make amends. She also learns how much she started relying on snark and sarcasm as an extra defense mechanism. She anticipates others taking pot shots at her interests or who lies under her cool facade. If she strikes first, then they don't have the opportunity to hurt her. When she and Rad are on better speaking terms, he feels like he can call her out on this and ask her to course-correct.

Granted, Enid closed up as a result of getting hurt by two different people taking drastic measures to uphold and furnish very specific masks for themselves. Rad leans into toxic masculinity and tries to neg her on their first date. He's convinced that he looks cooler and far more desirable if he's an obnoxious jerk with big muscles. The hyper-masculine image keeps his friends. He's too insecure to openly acknowledge his more 'feminine' interests, let alone that he's a very emotional and sensitive person. Where Enid faced pressure at home to match her family's cultural background and traditions, Rad feels embarrassed by his parents and falls prey to general social pressure around gender roles in a patriarchal system. Rad starts connecting with and more easily talking to Enid when he opens up. He finally meets Enid's vulnerability years later and that's what makes their friendship work.

Elodie was placed in a situation where she felt like she had a very black and white choice between Enid and her ambition. Capitalism exists in this fantasy world. The POINT Prep competition stems from a system that heavily relies on creating scarcity and fostering tense competition between persons. There's only one spot at POINT Prep. Elodie is thoroughly convinced that she has to fight for that spot and, as a result, push others out of her way. Her personal role model Chip Damage is also depicted as the height of individualism and how powerful one person should be. POINT started as a team effort that relied on mutual trust and collaboration.

When POINT pivoted towards showcasing Chip Damage as their posterboy, shameless advertising and merchandising included, POINT became back-up or supporting players to one star player. The new model relies on Chip and Chip alone. He is POINT. This paints Elodie's world view: She has to be ready to shoulder the lion's share of challenges and obstacles that come with professional heroics. She can't be vulnerable or lower her guard. Rather than seeing her friendship with Enid as a strength, it becomes an obstacle. If Enid makes her feel vulnerable, it means Elodie has a direct, exploitable weakness. This mindset is the cornerstone of why Elodie sees Enid as a rival and treats her with passive aggressive hostility.

Elodie's struggle is further echoed by Foxtail. In Wicked, the Wizard starts as a well-meaning guide and starts reshaping Oz to his preferred vision and standards as he becomes more powerful and influential. He's a direct comparison to historical events like British colonizers coming to the United States and forcing the existing populace to conform to their culture, standards, and way of life. That said, O.K. K.O. explores a very different fascistic figure with Foxtail. After Laserblast dies and POINT starts scrambling, Foxtail installs herself as an immediate leader with designs on building an effective, uniform fighting team. Her recruits need to fit her specific idea of what a powerful, effective hero looks like.

Chip Damage is the template. Recruits have to be self-sufficient in a capitalist pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps respect. They're expendable and replaceable in the vision of meeting a greater good. The Wizard shapes society with a mix of propaganda, soft power, and bringing in a violent authoritarian hand against anyone that challenges his societal designs. Foxtail steps in and directly confronts whatever she considers a direct threat or obstacle. Chip Damage is propaganda, but he's propaganda directed at an ideal for people to meet vs a specific figure people rely on. Chip entices new recruits to conform and enforce. The Wizard enforces complacency and dependency.

When Enid becomes disillusioned with POINT Prep, she has a support network back in Lakewood to return to. There's emphasis on how much stronger Enid is because of Rad, K.O., and in this systemMr. Gar. She can openly express her thoughts and concerns with K.O. and Rad. She's on even footing and standing with her mentor and teammates at the Bodega. Mr. Gar benefits from his students as much as they benefit from his experience and feedback. The key difference between Mr. Gar's more independent training and POINT Prep is his tailored, individualized approach with K.O., Rad, and Enid. Everyone receives equal attention and encouraged to learn at a rate or pace that fits them. POINT Prep has specific standards for students to meet. This is blatantly abused by Foxtail threatening failing grades when students don't meet her expectations or follow her orders. There's also Chip's exclusive classes for 'advanced' students. Only those few that meet Foxtail's vision for the ideal hero receive a special power-up that gives them a brief burst of extra power. This is triggered by the need to win or competition period.

Elodie is the highest achiever and the most popular student at POINT Prep. She's part of this exclusive group of students. While she does help Enid disarm and stop Chip Damage, it's equal parts in hopes to salvage their friendship and to rescue the integrity of POINT Prep as an institution. Similarly to Glinda staying next to the Wizard even after discovering the truth of the man behind the curtain, Elodie believes in the standing history and infrastructure behind POINT. She won her spot, but she's worked hard to further cultivate and maintain her position. She honestly believes that she can fix existing issues by sticking around and working within the existing system. Unplugging Chip Damage and pumping the brakes on secret society meetings was only the tip of the iceberg. Foxtail is still in charge. And while Chip acted as emcee at events or taught a few classes, Foxtail is the connective tissue between students like Elodie and their significant overall progress within POINT. Everyone, including Chip, were cogs carefully installed and set in motion according to Foxtail's machinations; only allowed to stay or get discarded by her final word. Elodie continues to follow Foxtail's orders, albeit begrudgingly, because in that moment, Foxtail is POINT.

POINT managed to capture the imagination of someone like Elodie. Chip Damage helped redeem public trust. He was key in painting a very idealistic vision of the POINT pipeline: get recruited, go to POINT Prep, become a successful hero. POINT is only as successful as someone believes they are. Foxtail lost faith in the previous way POINT operated. Though, she still believes that POINT can be a strong and powerful institution that just needs redirection. She seizes control and forces recruits to conform, comply, and enforce her will because she doesn't trust in anyone's abilities or intuition as an individual. Conversely, Elodie believes and trusts in POINT as an institution to the degree she overlooks her reservations and concerns. She sank so much of herself and her convictions into this system that it's difficult to question the possibility it isn't working. POINT holds her imagination hostage; her future, the potential of other heroes, and what the world looks like rely on POINT as a lens to look at and evaluate these things through.

Originally, Elodie follows through with Foxtail's extreme measures because she's more convinced by Foxtail and POINT than Enid and the Plaza at large. While she did join Enid to stop Chip, she also chose to remain at and stand by POINT after the fact. When Elphaba originally asks Glinda to run away with her, Glinda refuses because she sees, and even describes, Elphaba's behavior as 'delusions of grandeur.' Glinda understands how much more self-realized Elphaba becomes outside of Oz's restrictive system; but she doesn't understand the full picture of exactly how incompatible she is with what creates Oz's status quo, especially with the more 'radical' ideas she has. The disconnect is that either one would be sacrificing a large part of their personal values and sense of self to follow the other's lead. Glinda would have to completely reinvent herself; Elphaba would be compromising on things that are absolutely non-negotiable now.

Thankfully for Enid and Elodie, they aren't tragically incompatible. When Elodie sees the resistance force in "Dark Plaza," its a real, tangible example of what she was looking for and hoping to build at POINT. Enid and other Plaza residents show a group of very different individuals coming together and collaborating as an effective, multi-pronged team. There isn't one specific person in charge or strict uniforms. Its teamwork that echoes what POINT looked like before Chip Damage. Seeing a real-world effect that challenges Foxtail's POINT is enough to give Elodie that extra nudge to defy Foxtail. She was scared of a world without POINT; its a significant part of her moral compass and world perspective. Authoritarian POINT on par with villains and confidence in what support she could find with the Plaza is enough to push against Foxtail regardless.

Honestly, "Dark Plaza" is more of an introduction to what kinds of themes and social issues Wicked tackles. Foxtail is portrayed as a redeemable, sympathetic figure. POINT's corruption is effectively defused because Foxtail surrenders, presumably starts unpacking the grief and trauma that kick started her authoritarian campaign, and passed the reigns to Elodie as a kinder, more understanding, and effective leader. The hanging question after Elodie takes charge is how to address the existential hole that Chip Damage leaves behind.

Chip himself reveals that he was just smoke and mirrors; he chooses to tell the world that they can and will persist without such heavy reliance on a Superman. Overall, O.K. K.O. places emphasis on the importance of a strong support system, that its ok to ask for help, found family, and messages about the power of community. Killing Chip Damage is one of the bigger gut-punch scenes for this message. He's never a fully actualized character; he remains an image and an idea. Elodie and K.O. encourage the disgruntled crowd to love themselves. In effect, a strong community consists of people that love their neighbors as well as themselves. Your strengths are just as important to the bigger picture as someone else's shoulder to lean on.

Elodie plans to restructure and rework POINT, but Enid does not see a place for herself there. She's still figuring out what she wants to do next and the Plaza is a better fitting interim space for her values, approach to training, and otherwise. Head of POINT Prep is the best end result for Elodie period. So much of her character rests on her wanting to be a role model and encourage other upcoming heroes. Her current role is more direct and hands-on than just echoing Chip Damage could be. She had some hand in rehabilitating Foxtail, she already defies existing prejudices about Lakewood heroes as a former Lakewood resident herself, and has more say/input on how POINT Prep programs work. Given how much friendlier she is with Enid, Elodie could direct hero hopefuls towards the Bodega if POINT Prep isn't a good fit for their respective abilities and interests.

Glinda and Elphaba end on a very bittersweet note that they had a strong impact in each other's lives and love each other unconditionally but can never see the other again in large part due to forces outside of their control. Enid and Elodie repaired their friendship, but they have a very new, different dynamic. They aren't as close as before; they can't be quite as intimate as they once were but they have figured out how to agree to disagree on certain topics, respect each other's opinions, and actually value the other's insights or intuition on given topics. In a nutshell, it's interesting to look at these sets of characters, how they live in/navigate the societal systems they live in, and how that affects their respective relationships.