#mania meta

[artist-issues]

I’m bored and I really enjoy your opinions on Disney, so I thought you might have something interesting to say to get my brain ticking. I came across a post on Frozen and I was like, “Ah, a perfect starting place for dropping you an ask.” I’ve never really been that bothered by Frozen and I don’t know what it is that I’m just not fond about. Maybe it’s that I dislike the characters? Maybe it’s that they didn’t really have any established rules for the way magic worked in that universe and thus had anything they wanted happening? Maybe it’s the twist villain? I don’t know, it’s probably just the characters that they tried to make so cool and girlboss!

Elsa is made out to be this awesome protagonist that is never in the wrong and that grates me. She has flaws, but the film doesn’t act like they’re flaws. She runs away out of fear and shame for not being able to control her powers, but then two seconds later she’s singing “Let It Go” and making giant ice castles and bringing snowmen to life?! And “Let It Go” is super annoying for the fact that Elsa starts off worried and upset (fair enough, she’s just ran away from her home, her kingdom, her sister whom she hasn’t seen in years, she lost control of her powers) but then immediately turns round and is like, “Actually, it’s not my fault and I’m fine as I am and I don’t need any of those responsibilities!” Which would be fine, but she also finishes the film with the same attitude!

Anna, too! Naive and optimistic and perhaps a little too trusting, she never realises that even if Han hadn’t turned out evil, Elsa had every right to be worried over their marriage. She never realises that it’s partly her fault for revealing Elsa’s powers (and she definitely doesn’t apologise). There’s a lot she doesn’t realise, and the only lesson she takes away from it all is that Christoff loves her instead of Han.

Oh my days, I’ve just realised how ridiculously long this has gotten, super sorry! Have a lovely day!

Let’s do this! For fun!

1. They don't need to establish exhaustive rules for how magic works in their world.

Red Riding Hood doesn't explain how the Big Bad Wolf can talk-it just explains that he can. Cinderella doesn't explain how Fairy Godmothers work, or why the spell should only last until midnight—it just explains that she casts one, and it does only last until midnight. Beauty & the Beast does not explain how, after The Beast has died, the "breaking of the curse" could bring him back to life. After Belle confesses her love, he should just go from dead beast to dead human, for all the explanation they give.

Beauty & the Beast also famously refuses to explain (explicitly) why all of the household were cursed, along with the castle and the Prince. But what it does explain is, "there's a curse, it was put in place because of a defect in the Prince's character, and there's a time limit on it's ability to be removed, which can only happen if the defect in his character is overcome."

The whole point of having magic in the story is just as a tool...to create a plot. You don't have to explain everything; you just have to explain what will affect the characters. So, Frozen says, very plainly in the beginning: "you can either be born with magical powers or cursed with them in this world, and trolls are the experts on how magical powers work. The way Elsa's specific magical powers work is, they're beautiful, but powerful, and they're tied to her emotions. Therefore, if her negative emotions control her, her negative emotions control those powers. Also, if you're struck with magical powers in the head, the effects can be removed with memory alteration. If you're struck with magical powers in the heart, the effects can only be removed by an act of True Love.

Also, here's an explanation of what counts as 'True Love." They actually do way more explaining than the average fairy tale. And they set you up really nicely to receive that explanation by having the opening scene be a song that describes Ice Magic as “beautiful/powerful/dangerous/cold/ice has a magic can't be controlled.” Etc.

If you were wondering what limits there are on Elsa's powers, and whether or not she can just make anything out of ice, and how it's possible for her to bring inanimate snow to life

—well, you're focusing on the wrong things for this kind of story.

It's not that important for a fairy tale like this one. In a superhero story, limitations on powers would be important. Because the point of a superhero story is, "how am I going to take selfless responsibility for what I'm able to do?" And if you don't know the boundaries on "what I'm able to do," then you can't communicate that point clearly. That's why we need to know that Superman can see through just about everything, but not lead. That's why you need to know that Elastigirl can't stretch in the cold. You can't know how to take responsibility for your abilities if you don't know what they are and are not.

But Elsa? The point of Elsa having powers is not as a metaphor for her unique skills. That's what it would be in a superhero movie.

Like, in superhero movies, Spidey's ability to stick to walls is supposed to be a reference to like, your ability to...l don't know, draw really well. How is Spidey going to use his ability to stick to walls for the good of others = how are you going to use your ability to draw for the good of others, because it's something special and unique to you, you have something to offer, are you going to use it selflessly, etc.

But for Elsa, that's not what it's about. Her powers are just a metaphor for how what's going on inside of her effects everyone around her, relationally. And it's still relatable. But not in a "skills" way. Just like all of us non-superpowered people: "if you let fear control you, you'll hurt everyone around you. But if you let love cast out fear, you'll love and be loved."

That's what's so good about this movie. When you look at it like that, you realize the powers aren’t the point.

Elsa isolates because she thinks that'll keep her from hurting everyone (fear controls her) but actually, by isolating, she's still hurting everyone-nobody in the kingdom gets to see their beloved ruler, and her sister is hurt, relationally, and feels unloved and shut-out, enough to trust the first scoundrel she meets-etc. See how the powers just make the story interesting, but they're not the point of the story? If Elsa's powers were replaced by "frantic outbursts of human temper" the story could be told in a lot of the same ways. But that's a post for another time.

So I don't think you disliked it because of the powers not being "established." "Whatever they wanted to have happen" did not happen, in the story. They laid out the rules that were relevant—“if fear controls you, it'll lead to great danger/but an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart."—and then they followed those rules in an interesting and consistent way.

2. The "twist" villain worked perfectly for the story.

A good villain is supposed to be the opposite of whatever your story's message is. Frozen's is, "Self-Sacrificial Love Casts Out Fear." Elsa is afraid she'll hurt everyone around her, and afraid that makes her unloveable-so she's a control freak over her circumstances. Anna is also afraid she's unloveable-simply because she's shut out and unknown-so she's always trying to control who she keeps in her life. Hans is both "unknown" and "controlling." He's "unknown" in two ways—1, nobody sees him in the shadows of his brothers in his own kingdom, and 2, nobody in Arendelle "knows" his true nature, especially not Anna. But the difference is, where our heroes don't like being unknown, Hans does, and uses it to his advantage, because he's also "controlling." But unlike our heroes, who learn that "control" is not the way to love, Hans is willing to do anything to stay in control. Which is, always, rooted in fear, too. Hans is just afraid he'll never get a throne. So. You see that he foils the two main characters perfectly.

But the main point of Hans is that he's not self-sacrificial, he's self-serving, which is the opposite of what the story claims "True Love" is.

Why's the "twist" part important? Because he uses the main characters' fears as a weapon to serve himself, and he couldn't have done that, for these two particular characters, by being anything but a liar. Anna is afraid she won't ever be loved, so he pretends to love her to get something for himself. Elsa is afraid she'll hurt everyone, so Hans pretends to be protecting everyone from her. And honestly, that's another core of the movie-love that is self-sacrificial, true love, can't be separated from truth. Anna can't really "truly love" Elsa in a way that HELPS Elsa feel loved if she doesn't know Elsa's flaws. Elsa can't "truly love" Anna if she's refusing to know Anna by always shutting her out. And Hans comes along and doesn't let himself be "truly known." Perfect.

So, the movie says "Self-Sacrificial Love Casts Out Fear" and Hans, the villain, says, "Self-Service Uses Fear As a Weapon."

So I don't think you disliked the "twist" villain. Because it wasn't just an empty "shock-jock, look how edgy we are, to make the Prince the bad guy" move. It was the right move, for this story and these characters.

3. I think your definition of "so cool" and "girlboss" might be different from what l understand those terms to mean, because none of the characters fit those descriptions.

Anna (as we understand her throughout the story) is introduced like this:

And she's constantly dropping stuff and getting into awkward social situations-and she basically makes zero correct decisions, for the entire adventure. Tries to fight wolves like a girlboss-and instead accidentally knocks her guide out of the sleigh and has to be thrown to safety while she ruins his livelihood. Tries to climb a cliff with zero experience-looks ridiculous and falls. Tries to talk her sister into lifting a curse and insists that she knows best because her sister would never hurt her-gets crippled, because her sister absolutely does hurt her, and totally fails. Tries to marry a handsome prince-really bad judgement of character, totally duped, basically would've died without help from the weakest and most mentally-confused character in the movie, Olaf. The only "girlboss" moment you could argue she had was punching Hans in the face at the end of the movie, and I would argue that that one moment, in the face of all her failures and humiliation throughout the movie, and in the face of him as a vile villain? That moment is okay.

Also, the whole way they pace that moment is still in-character for Anna. It's still like she's not doing the "dignified" thing. She delivers her little one liner, "the only frozen heart around here is you," and then turns around to walk away with her nose in the air, like she's

"above it all." Which frames the moment where she turns around and punches him like a joke. It frames that moment like it's a satisfying, but still "not decorous, not dignified," thing to do. It would've been "cool" and poorly received if Anna, the character who's always jumping into doing the emotional, awkward thing, had suddenly become the bigger person and risen above her hurt in that moment.

So instead, she punches him. And whatever. He deserved it, blah blah blah. The point is, even that moment isn’t supposed to be strictly “cool” or “girlboss.” It’s just supposed to be “in-character funny.”

See, usually a "girlboss" character knows exactly what the best thing to do is in a situation, and does it well. Or, she gets knocked down, but consistently gets back up and hits harder. Anna does not do any of those things. She keeps trying when she fails, yeah-but it's not because of an inner strength, it's because of an inner weakness. She keeps pushing because she's desperate, and insecure, not because she's awesome and never-say-die. Eventually, after Elsa strikes her and Hans betrays her, Anna does give up. She tells the snowman "we won't (come back.)" after Elsa strikes her. She tells Olaf she doesn't know what love is. It's not until she learns that lesson that anything she tries to do works—and she gives herself up to do it. And that's finally a moment of strength from her, not weakness. As for "cool"-gimme a break.

There's nothing "cool" about Anna. Anna's not good at anything except, at the very end, self-sacrificially standing in front of a sword and getting one punch in on a villain who's already disarmed, defeated and probably slightly concussed anyway. She's not supposed to be "cool" or "girlboss." She's supposed to be "Desperate to Love and Be Loved." And that's what she is, perfectly. "Desperate" is not a characteristic that fits the definition "girlboss" or "cool."

But maybe you just meant "Elsa is so cool and a girlboss." Okay, well, again, depends on what you mean by that. If you mean "having superpowers are cool" okay, well, are they? Is that what the movie is telling you? Because powers basically ruin all of Elsa's childhood and life until the last 3 minutes of the movie. You could be like "come on, she can make snow and ice monsters, glitter gowns, and an entire palace just by dancing. They totally tried to make her 'cool." That's like saying Simba's ability to eat bugs and belch and fight with Nala is "cool." She does all those things at her "Character in the WRONG" moment, in the story, just like Simba living in the Hakuna Matata jungle. Therefore the movie is not trying to tell you that Elsa is cool, it's trying to tell you that Elsa is wrong, but you can understand why she's wrong. You can understand why she feels triumphant for a moment-and then the movie shows you that triumph is misplaced.

I mean, she's taken out by her own falling chandelier. Every time she's confronted with a problem, she runs away. When she gets into "battles of wits," she says the wrong thing, or the shy, shut-down thing, not a girlboss one-liner that shuts the other person up. Elsa's not cool either. She doesn't have the answers, she doesn't save the day-she gets saved.

Both of these characters are desperate, open wounds-—they're needy and they're in the wrong, each in their own way, for the majority of the movie. They're weak, and they have to learn to find strength in love, for most of their story. There's nothing "girlboss" or "cool" about them.

I think maybe what some people make the mistake of is noticing the Frozen mania, and the fact that the two main characters are girls and one of them has superpowers and they other doesn't get with a Prince, and then they get the impression, from that, that the characters are "cool girlbosses." But like...that's like saying Dory from the first Finding Hemo movie is a girlboss. She's so totally not. She's a wreck. A funny, appealing, sometimes-relatable-human wreck. And a good character, but the hype doesn't change who she is, as a character. And who she is, like Anna and Elsa, is just a good character.

4. Elsa does not finish Let it Go with an "I'm Fine As I Am" attitude, and she doesn't finish the movie that way, either.

She finishes "Let it Go" with an "I'm fine up here, isolated from everyone," attitude. And then the movie very quickly proves her wrong by having Anna show up and reveal to her that no, actually, she is not fine up there, because the person she cares about most can still find her and be hurt by her, and the whole kingdom is still reeling from the problems she ran away from.

At the end of the movie the only thing I can guess you got the impression that she's "fine as she is" from was the fact that she's using her powers again.

But like. Elsa's whole problem was never her powers. She wasn't supposed to learn to stop using them. She was supposed to learn to stop living in fear. Instead, she was supposed to lean on love-love that sacrifices for her, flaws and dangerousness and all-and stop trying to control her image and what everyone knows about her.

Because in trying to control what everyone knows about her, she was controlling whether or not they loved her or treated her like a monster. And even running away and singing Let It Go was still an effort to control everything-by not being around people who could treat her like a monster or be hurt by her. Instead, accepting that she might hurt people because she can't always control everything, and trusting that they'll still love and forgive her, was her character arc.

She lives by faith in sacrificial love by the end, not by fear. That's the arc. She does that perfectly.

It was never, "I'm fine as I am." Because the point was never "there's* something wrong with me." It was, "I don't need to fear a lack of control, because true love covers what I can't control." That's all.

4. Anna does communicate to the audience that she's sorry and willing to understand the reasons behind Elsa's secrets.

The lesson Anna takes away from all of this is not "which guy loves me." It's "what is love?" And you know she's learned that because she demonstrates it. If Anna had died-frozen forever-or been cut down by Hans' sword, you realize that Elsa would never have been able to repay that gesture, right? But Anna still made that choice.

Even though it meant Elsa would never repay her. And the point is — excuse me, I know this is long enough, but I feel like you're missing out on something wonderful here—

Anna could have left Elsa to be killed and ridden off into the sunset with Kristoff.

They make it very clear that that is her goal when she stumbles onto the ice, free from the room Hans trapped her in. Elsa is no longer her motivation. She isn't looking for Elsa. She's not trying to get that love she's looked for, from Elsa, in that moment. She's trying to get it from Kristoff, not just for her emotional need-but for the "breaking of the curse" that's killing her in the moment. That whole scene where she realizes he loves her-truly loves her, because he fits the description Olaf gives-is in there to communicate to the audience that he could save her. He could give her what she needs.

And the reason that's important is that it proves that this is character development: when she chooses not to go to Kristoff, and to go to Elsa instead.

Because it's her, choosing to turn away from the person who could give her something (even if it is "love") and to turn toward the person who can't give her something (Elsa.) Who has repeatedly failed to give her something, for their entire lives.

Anna at the beginning of the movie would've run to Kristoff. That was the whole point of Hans, when it comes to Anna-he represents someone who can fulfill a need in Anna. But when Anna turns away from Kristoff and runs to save Elsa instead, Anna is demonstrating what she's learned —that love isn't about her own needs. It's putting someone else's needs before yours. She stands between Hans and Elsa, with the full expectation that she's not going to get anything out of it, not even a guarantee of E/sa's love in return. And her own needs will NOT get met if she puts Elsa's first.

And that's what she does. Whereas, at the beginning of the film, Anna would not have done that. Because that's not what she thinks love is. She hasn’t realized that yet.

She thinks love means closeness. And that does come with love. But that's not love. Love is, like Olaf says, putting someone else's needs before yours. But the whole movie, Anna is not working to put Elsa's needs before her own. She's working to change Elsa's mind, now that she knows the truth, so that she and Elsa can be "close again." She's climbing that mountain and arguing with Elsa, because she thinks that all that stood in their way before was this secret that's been uncovered. And sure, Anna has always been willing to “be there for” Elsa, but you have to see that Anna wanted that to come with Elsa being there for her, in return.

Which would be nice. But it's not true love. True love is being there for someone even when they refuse to be there for you. Because that's putting their needs before yours.

Thanks for the super long ask! That was fun! I hope you enjoyed reading as much as l enjoyed writing-I think sometimes we judge Frozen by the mania that followed, not the good quality that actually caused the mania, and deserved the mania, though. Anyway 😂

Guards! Take them away! Back to the theater with you! Watch the movie again!

[shippyo]

Kirby doodles with Meta and Susie :3 🩷💙

Bunch of idiots i can't take srs but i need to squash in my hands wbbsshh

[dreadfuldevotee]

Like the song is so trashy; the lyrics, the vocals, they've run those guitars through so many petals it sounds insane and its absolutely everything I wanted. sleezy, blow your ear drums out, getting an entire sold out arena moaning at you, horrible rock music

[tyriongirl]

Tyrion's Heterochromia as an Analog to Lann The Clever Stealing the Sun

This is inspired by this post by @jackedup180 and further conversation with them.

Tyrion does not fit the mold of Lannister looks (fully blond hair, fully green eyes, and, in Tywin's and the rest of abelist Westeros' views, able bodied) and instead is this mix of both blond and dark haired, eyes both dark and bright, supposedly not looking like a Lannister 'should' look.

Tywin clearly thinks Tyrion isn't "truly" Lannister, and this is strictly because of his looks and his highly hyper visible disability:

"[...] Men's laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors, since I cannot prove that you are not mine. To teach me humility, the gods have condemned me to watch you waddle about wearing that proud lion that was my father's sigil and his father's before him. But neither gods nor men shall ever compel me to let you turn Casterly Rock into your whorehouse."

However, Lann's looks weren't "Lannister" either. In reality (or actually, imagined history / mythic past) Lann wasn't blond, even if that part of the story is being de-emphasized.

"The Lannisters were an old family, tracing their descent back to Lann the Clever, a trickster from the Age of Heroes who was no doubt as legendary as Bran the Builder, though far more beloved of singers and taletellers. In the songs, Lann was the fellow who winkled the Casterlys out of Casterly Rock with no weapon but his wits, and stole gold from the sun to brighten his curly hair."

[AGOT, Eddard VI]

Lann The Clever didn't fit the mold. There was no mold, and there still isn't one now. There's no 'right' way to be or look a Lannister. The story itself is only a legend, a myth, a tale with no actual or very little basis in history:

"Names such as Brandon the Builder, Garth Greenhand, Lann the Clever, and Durran Godsgrief are names to conjure with, but it is likely that their legends hold less truth than fancy. [The World of Ice and Fire, Ancient History: The Age of Heroes] "It is highly unlikely that such a man ever existed; like Lann the Clever [...] the Winged Knight is made of legend, not of flesh and blood." [The World of Ice and Fire, The Vale: House Arryn] "Lann the Clever supposedly lived to the age of 312, and sired a hundred bold sons and a hundred lissome daughters, all fair of face, clean of limb, and blessed with hair "as golden as the sun." But such tales aside, the histories suggest [...]" [The World of Ice and Fire - The Westerlands]

Tyrion's looks stopped Tywin from seeing that he was the essence of what house Lannister was about, before Tywin's bizarre "traditional"-made-up house values that didn't exist until him. Tyrion is a trickster, Tyrion does use his words as his weapon and assets, Tyrion can and have tricked his way into getting what he wants - as we can see with his first trial in the vale, and his deal with the mountain clans.

Instead of acknolwdging that, Tywin prefers to see it as a fault of Tyrion:

"He closed the shutters, frowning. "You have a certain cunning, Tyrion, but the plain truth is you talk too much. That loose tongue of yours will be your undoing." "You should have let Joff tear it out," suggested Tyrion."

[ASOS, Tyrion VI]

Tywin can pretend forever that Tyrion is not a 'true' or 'proper' Lannister ("this was the last time I will suffer you to bring shame onto House Lannister." ASOS, Tyrion I), but in the end it is clear that Tyrion is both a Lannister in values, deeds and character, and inherently Tywin's true and undisputed son:

"Now that's where you're wrong, Father. Why, I believe I'm you writ small." [ASOS, Tyrion XI] "[...] But Tyrion is Tywin's son, not you. I said so once to your father's face, and he would not speak to me for half a year. Men are such thundering great fools. [...]" [AFFC, Jaime V]

Also I just think being the og Lannister would be the cruelest and most fun revenge Tyrion could enact on Tywin <3

[shark-myths]

POWERPOINT PART TWO IS HERE!

[o-wild-west-wind]

it’s messing me up thinking about how as much pain and grief as Stede is in right now, he doesn’t know the full extent of Ed’s death spiral yet. he knows things have been bad—he’s probably assuming the worst—but he still hasn’t heard the full story. the thought of Stede learning about the “finally” scene actually makes me want to throw up

[danothan]

i can’t wait to meet the other speedsters to see how they adapt to their powers and which unique traits/struggles are emphasized between them. especially the adhd-coding! we have the general baseline stuff like fast talking and restlessness, but i’m so curious abt all the other things you could explore with each character

i can only speak for barry, but the way his speed-mind is described deeply resonates with me

(“a moment of regret… is an eternity” sounds a lot like rejection sensitivity disorder, but i digress)

it is so easy to translate timeblindness with the speedforce: the feeling of being overwhelmed by your thoughts, being out of touch with reality, not having any sense of how much time has gone by… it really does feel like the world is passing you by at a different rate

and it’s one thing to lose track of the clock, but it’s another to actively be considerate of the time and still miss the mark by a mile. i couldn’t even make an estimate for human error if i tried. all my life, i’ve felt like i existed in my own world, always lost in thought, and it was like being trapped by my mind

you can imagine my catharsis seeing barry go through the same internal struggle

ngl i cried reading this. the contradiction of being so slow bc your mind works so fast is a very familiar feeling. being overwhelmed by choice, unable to separate the sheer force of your thoughts from reality…. maybe i’ll talk abt this in a separate post too, but i genuinely used to think that i was jumping timelines bc my reality was so contradictory. i straight up had to make up a multiverse theory to cope with my neurodivergence. and y’know what else loves multiverses? superhero comics 😎 (fun fact: the flash was the very introduction of multiverse theory to superhero comics! rly coming full circle here)

when i say speedsters are adhd-coded, i don’t just mean the hyperactive connotation you see with that trope. having these comics write barry’s struggles within the frame of his superspeed has done so much for me. in a roundabout way, it put my adhd experience into words

are the flash writers okay, do they know their oc has adhd

[nerdymariamania]

One day I will write my Gravity Falls parody musical... one day!

[27-royal-teas]

look ive been looping the light behind your eyes by mcr for the past HOUR and i am having so many emotions i cannot even COMPREHEND right now so i am going to ramble about mania because i have twenty minutes left in computer science class and nothing to do. this is complete word vomit i did not go back through and edit read at your own caution

the thing i really love about mania as a whole is the juxtaposition of the symbols it uses; its literally going insane. It seems kind and pretty and aesthetic on the surface but scratch the top and you’re falling into a pit of maniac despair. There are llamas and purple and the ocean and sure those seem peaceful and lovely on the outside but thats the thing theyre NOT its a juxtaposition. Its something beautiful combined with awful traits (never in my life did i think i would watch llamas stab pete to death but cest la vie i guess) and that just makes things so much more horrifying. The overuse of purple feels like a panic attack, or a point trying to get through. the llamas, which are a symbol of peace and royalty, are constantly used in a creepy/harmful way that really ruined llamas in general for me. Sunshine riptide is a fantastic song and i love it so much but its REALLY FUCKING DEPRESSING AT ITS CORE. AND !!!! the constant use of royalty as a pedestal!!!! purple is the color of royalty!!!! The purple llama’s name is Royal-Tea!!! LLAMAS ARE A SYMBOL OF ROYALTY!!!! Its like a motif idk i just think its so interesting. And then theres the song champion which is. obviously linked. 

As i write this my playlist hits me in the face with Calm Down and then Fake Out in quick succession its making me so depressed ajskfhewincn

mania is also a really interesting experimental album but the new elements are incorporated so flawlessly its rlly difficult to tell theyre new things that fall out boy hasnt done before. Also in this they add a lot of Black influences, like burna boy featuring on sunshine riptide (AUGHHHHH ANOTHER SAD SONG JUST CAME ON IM DYING INSIDE) and heavens gate is very soul influenced. but since i am not black, im just some random chinese american (i might as well just be white), i feel like whatever i say im going to get wrong and i really, really do not want to fuck up talking about cultural things, but i really do love how different cultures are peppered into this album and it just feels so NATURAL. Like for instance i also saw in the youtube comment section of hold me tight or dont that it’s kinda like salsa music? Im not positive i just thought id add that in there. 

My favorite tracks on mania are ranked as follows

Bishops knife trick (a true banger, ive talked about this already)

stay frosty royal milk tea (everyone likes it the least but it is a certified bop) 

Church (aaa)

Young and menace (my musical wife)

Sunshine riptide (everytime i hear it i want to scream. in a good way)

Heavens gate (ITS SO FUCKING GOOD)

Champion (i listen to it before i perform, every time without fail)

Last of the real ones (brings me back to radio memories from 2018. Very good)

Hold me tight or dont (idk if youve ever heard the spotify acoustic version but it SLAPS)

Like to be completely honest with you there is no way to reasonably rank these. Theyre all fucking great. Honestly i love them all so, so much. Mania has my heart forever i just kind of ranked them by how often im in the mood to listen to them

There is definitely more i want to talk about but now class is over so i am going to go pass out on the floor of my debate teachers room. im sorry this was incomprehensible. you find out too late i am insane 

[maestro-of-clockwork]

[[ MAGGIE’S META MANIA ]]

[[ a metanarrative study of hyperfixation and comfort characters ]]

It seemed they would always return to this place.

How many years had it been? Half a decade? Quite a long time, especially when you’re young. All of the pain and all of the suffering that had been caused inadvertently had not kept them from finding refuge in the void after all this time. After all, their best friend was there.

They knew it wasn’t real, they knew He wasn’t real. But that didn’t matter, because His impact was real, it was to them at least. He was the one thing that remained for them, the one part of this ordeal they had kept near and dear to their heart. And for Him, they were willing to return.

Maggie stood at the door to the study, preparing themself to return here once more. They had always been in out and out of this place quite a bit over the past few years, but it seemed time to return again. This… macabre fixation of theirs would not leave their mind easily, it seemed. Especially when that fixation could speak to you personally.

Despite everything about Him, they couldn’t help but find a bizarre sort of comfort in His presence, a comfort that lasted despite everything that had changed around you. He was still there, He would always be there. And they liked that, that’s why they always returned to this dark place. Always knocking politely at the door of His study, hoping He would answer.

“Uncle Antonio?”

He'd been so immersed in his writing, humming away for so long that the knock had almost made him jump.

Despite not having even seen who was at his study door yet, he already knew who it was. No matter how drastically a person changed, he always seemed to recognize their presence.

"Yes, my dear~...?"

[comic-chick]

I was manic/in psychosis last year around the time of Facebook changing its' name to "Meta" and I told everyone I was taking a big break from social media but I didn't tell anyone the reason was because my polyamorus ass was like "pfft, 🙄 Mark Zuckerberg is NOT my meta. I must be in the wrong universe again"

(for the non polyamorus folks, metamour or "meta" is what you call your partner's other partners)

[ladyzorasmain]

He's just really good at keeping his emotions under control! Honestly, that just makes him even cooler!!

translated a new chapter of dedede de pupupu na monogatari (also known as kirby manga mania) by hirokazu hikawa! meta knight appearances are a rare treat in this manga, but i always absolutely love hikawa's take on him. a cool, popular DORK.

[tyrannuspitch]

guy who thinks of himself as washed-up and past his peak because he doesn't post as much on tumblr as he used to

[tomboymikayla]

Source: Premydaremy

[eroguron0nsense]

The Mysterious Mysteries of Mr Sir Crocodile (Character Analysis)

(Apologies in advance for discrepancies from my usual tone and for holding off on everyone who voted for this on my last poll. Honest to God I hope y'all enjoy this in some capacity because I've been procrastinating on this meta so long it's derailed ALL my other One Piece writing and I only accomplished it through addy-fuelled mania)

This was such a fucking pain to write. I really wanted to say something about Crocodile and what makes him so fascinating that wasn't like, another fan theory or just a set of headcanons, but that's easier said than done?? We could boil it down to immaculate design, screen presence, attitude, or just the fact that he got brought back as an unlikely ally who shocked everyone by saving the protagonist, but I don't know that those factors in and of themselves make for a villain who's become such an object of fandom obsession.

Whatever it is, it's certainly not backstory or depth, because 24 years and hundreds and hundreds of chapters after his introduction, we still know nothing about Sir Crocowani's past beyond a vague confrontation with the Late Great Edward Newgate (that apparently like, ruined his dreams or something?), and some totally-not-just-a-threat-to-out-him-if-he-betrayed-the-alliance blackmail material the Queen of the Queers is holding over his sandy reptilian ass. I was born and grew into adulthood in the time it took Oda to tell the world fuck all about where he's from or his inner thoughts, or his actual honest motivations and traumas.

All we have about this character are questions. Why did he save Luffy and Ace –very conspicuously after both of their lineages were revealed to the world– against all logic and reason? Does he have ties to the revolutionaries? Is he the long-lost son of Rocks D. Xebec? Did he bounce on Comrade Dragon's Monkey D and squirt out the fucking Warrior of Liberation? I assume Oda's going to tell us more about him, but at this point, he's managed to keep a tighter lid on Sir Crocs, Inc.'s past than the fucking Secret History

You may be wondering, dear reader: what the fuck is my point? What is there, at this final stage of Long Running Pirate Manga, for me–Frankie EroGuroNonsense, OP Tumblr Community Z-lister with like, 7 mildly popular meta posts under my belt–to write about the legendary Sir Krokorok that hasn't already been said or theorized? What eagle-eyed observations did I make while rereading Alabasta and writing toxic Crobin fanfic? Am I going anywhere with this? Sorta. Yeah.

Let's start with listing things we actually know about Crockpot, in roughly chronological (??) order: –attended Gol D.'s execution way back when he was my age, along with anyone else who's anyone from his generation.

–At some point, met and was known well enough by Iva that she could effectively blackmail him

–Made it far enough on the Grand Line, somehow getting to the New World, and managed to pick up an 81,000,000 bounty (low end for a warlord, presumably scouted fairly early in his career)

–Wanted to be Pirate King until he gave up on it, not 100% explicitly confirmed but most likely due to getting his ass beat so badly by Whitebeard that he settled for picking off small fry and racketeering behind a government desk job. This makes him profoundly relatable to the rest of us depressed fucking losers who acquiesce to our own mediocrity.

–At 30, after presumably licking his wounds for a hot minute, sets up shop in Alabasta, comes up with a clever evil plan to quietly build up enough arms to conquer the world with a WMD, and then gets his years-long bioterrorist coup attempt foiled by a 17-year-old.

The rest we know: after a brief moment of glory as the unsung MVP of Impel Down/Marineford, he immediately reverts to Failguy Mode, gives all his money to a literal clown, and consequently gets roped into the neverending uncontrollable PR nightmare that is Cross Guild. It's still super vague and we know little to nothing about his past before the Alabasta Saga (for all we know he had a fling with King Cobra)

...Onto his personality and mannerisms. This shit's a lot more revealing. Superficially, he's everything: immaculate Bond villain levels of charismatic villainy, unbelievably ostentatious, dripped out like a Pimp, constantly smoking cigars, absolutely dripping with smugness and grease and disdain. Owns exotic pets and a giant casino, and spends every waking moment either grinning like a maniac when he's got the upper hand or storming around in a fucking mood when anything goes mildly wrong.

He's also pretty hardened underneath all that, obviously couldn't have lived a day on the grand line or survived Impel Down Torture otherwise. But even in Alabasta, Crockery gives off an air of being distinctly more grounded and willing to get his hands dirty than other flashy, established villains who flaunt their wealth and status. A big part of it is just his really hyper-masculine indomitable tough guy persona, but even early on he's very much micromanaging his operation, fighting people hand to hand in (as opposed to, say, Doffy, who literally puppeteers people while lounging around) and makes a point to keep almost all of his followers at a distance and rely on them as little as possible. He rants a bit about how dreams and whatnot are pointless follies, as One Piece antagonists tend to do, and repeatedly taunts Vivi about how her idealism can't save her, but with the context that he wanted to find Laughtale himself, it feels a lot like projection.

The character trait that's harped on a LOT in canon, and probably the most pertinent one to whatever demons he has, is Croconaw's profound pathological distrust for everyone around him. It's a huge part of what makes him a good early foil to the Nefertari family and the Straw Hats, whose collective strength is derived from organic human connection; Crocalor, by contrast, makes sure that up until the very last moment, he keeps most of his people so distant from him that they genuinely have no idea he's even their boss. His relationship with Robin is interesting, but he turns on her immediately when he realizes she either can't or won't give him the location of Pluton and has his dramatic stabbing/"I forgive you" lines about how he never trusted her or anyone from the start. He says the same shit to Mihawk when he suggests they join forces, even citing their mutual distrust as a kind of paradoxical justification for why they'd actually work well together.

Arguably the only exception is Daz Bones, but even that relationship is still a pretty reserved one; one of the few traits Daz exhibits is a similar avoidance of human connections to his boss and even though they've ironically formed a bond despite it, I can't imagine that they're emotionally close. I find these more explicit declarations of paranoia a lot less indicative of what's actually going on in Croconut's head than subtext, but I feel inclined to mention them just because it more or less tells us that his background/trauma has something to do either with betrayal or alternatively just being jaded and deprived to the point of self-isolation.

Krookodile's character gets a little bit more interesting when we get to see him again in Impel Down being a smug little manipulative rascal right up until he gets blackmailed by his endocrinologist, which is definitely medical malpractice but also funny as hell. I also appreciate that literally the first thing he does after getting out of his cell is change into a big coat and cravat to keep up appearances, but it's not until Marineford proper that things get really complicated. Saving Luffy and Ace is the first selfless thing we see Crobat do–while yelling at Luffy that he needs to protect what matters to him properly, no less– and he just keeps fighting for them after that, teaming up with his most hated rival crew to cover Luffy's retreat and telling the entire WG to go fuck itself multiple times over. He fights everyone on sight with no regard for his own safety, talks mad shit to Doffy, and demonstrates a genuinely compelling amount of honest to god chivalry.

For a short time, we see Crocomotive less as a really entertaining cartoon villain and more as a person with hidden, profound emotions and a confusing moral code that's seemingly incompatible with the vicious little creature we met in Alabasta. We come to understand, in a few very brief lines that give us way more questions than answers, that Cromagnon has deep-seated, emotional convictions he actively suppresses, and that whatever baggage he has is probably tied to wanting to or failing to save something of his own. His resentment of Newgate, who he really really wants to have a go at (despite theoretically no longer caring about the ambitions of his youth) is indicative of a desire to revisit the fight that probably ruined his dream and ego, but it's also tinged with a deep-seated grudging respect for a living legend.

Crock–Afire Explosion's obvious seething hatred of Doffy also gives us a few more insights into what's wrong with him. On a surface level, it makes sense that he dislikes a profoundly obnoxious, even flashier fellow warlord who achieved more or less the same goal he set out to in a shorter time, fucks with his business, and then mocks him/tries to recruit him right after his very public defeat and imprisonment. He postures a lot, especially with his lines insisting he's on a higher level and that Doffy could only ever join him as a subordinate, but he's visibly steamed in their initial encounter and clearly hasn't liked him for quite some time. I bring this up because if we stretch our interpretation a little (for the sake of my argument), Croc Holliday's distaste for someone who's (outwardly) so much like himself and embodies all of his villainous characteristics from back in Alabasta might also suggest that deep down, he doesn't actually like the things they have in common; he sees right through Doffy because he's done the same shit and he hates what he sees.

Having gone over all that, I've come up with some key characteristics of Crocomelon that I'll use going forward:

–Extremely performative: puts an ungodly amount of energy into maintaining a carefully curated persona, and projecting a certain amount of power, masculinity, and prestige. Not necessarily an unnatural or inauthentic one, but a constructed and purposeful one nonetheless

–Deep-seated paranoia, hidden secrets; probably intertwined. Keeps personal details on tight, tight lockdown, probably afraid of being known.

–Constant projection of his own insecurities and failures onto other people, making a point to be uniquely cruel in Alabasta to an idealist who loves her people and a dreamer who wants to be the Pirate King.

Ironically, he demonstrably respects and defends two people–Luffy and Whitebeard–who theoretically embody everything he hates or scorns (ambition, goodness, love, connection, romanticism, greatness in the traditional sense) and he intensely dislikes the villain most like himself, or at least the one who shares a lot of his worst characteristics (ostentatious manipulative scheming rat bastard backed by people stronger than himself) –The Grinch's heart grew three sizes at Marineford because of like, the compelling power of brotherly love and reminders of his youth or something

SPECULATION, CONCLUSIONS??

The difficulty with writing anything definitive about Crocko's Basilisk is that he's such a mystery, which functionally lets the fanbase project literally whatever weird personality traits, potential backstories, or anything else they could possibly come up with onto him. So I want to be clear that I have absolutely no interest in theorizing about the specifics of his past or secret identity or potential baby daddy or anything along those lines; I'm only interested in what we can infer about his personality by extrapolating from canon. And the conclusion I keep coming back to, the one that I'm convinced is true on some level, is that Crocodile is living a lie and he fucking hates himself. Everything he does, from how he acts to what he claims to believe, is a desperate effort to cope with his own insecurity and failure and cover up a past version of himself he's deeply ashamed of.

Now, unfortunately, Oda did not conceive of Crocodile as a trans man but stories belong to the people and we can do what we want let's forget about that and play it straight because he's constantly performing gender as a means of compensating for a deep-seated shame and self-loathing from whatever traumas and secrets he keeps hidden. Even assuming he's a cis man, he deliberately chooses a hypermasculine persona with a Capital V Villain moniker and pimp outfit and speech pattern he's carefully curated to project masculine power–physical, political, and financial–and we know it's performance because we see him break kayfabe and get legitimately fucking angry whenever he's confronted by a person like Luffy, who's crazy and brave enough to try and do what he couldn't and risk everything for love and hope that he cannot bring himself to feel for another person, or reminders of the past he tries so desperately to bury.

The lessons he's wrongfully obtained from his past are as follows: Idealism is a weakness. Dreaming is a weakness. Connections to other people and being known are crippling liabilities (If he is, in fact, trans and closeted, that's all the more reason to be existentially disgusted by what he used to be). All the hope he brought to the Grand Line, all the excitement of trying to carry on where Roger left off, needs to be purged and buried because all he got to show for it was loss and humiliation. But he can't stop wanting more, and ironically, after he gives up on conquering the Grand Line, he ends up chasing the same fucking poneglyphs and weapons because his ambition's still there; it's just compromised and much more jaded.

Everything he does that's seemingly contradictory makes sense when you realize that Crocodile resents his failure and wants to avenge himself. He makes a big show of talking down to Luffy and Vivi's petty ideals and shit-talking Newgate and his family, but he still wants to fight Whitebeard like he did way back when and help Luffy protect what matters to him. He hates Doffy, who's honestly just a more successful schemer than he is because it's a constant reminder of what he settled for when he took that warlord post and fucking gave up. He claims to trust no one, but he keeps Daz by his side and rewards his loyalty because he can't help but trust someone who respects him so deeply and follows him to the ends of the fucking earth long after losing the material incentive to do so. He claims to look down on people who aim for the stars and fight for love and joy and freedom and yet, in his most vulnerable moments–not in the face of violence or imprisonment, but when he's emotionally compelled to defend a child and help save his brother–we see how badly he wants that for himself.

TLDR: Crockman Holic is deeply insecure in his masculinity, desperately needs psychological help, and his character/potential redemption arc in One Piece is just dealing with his midlife crisis.

[minzart]

Mas q porra é o tumblr~

Uma tentativa de guia de uma br q usa saporra desde os 14.

Como pode imaginar aqui é bem espaço de gringo mas q se dane isso meu bem se tu persistir vai da certo confia.

Seguinte

Primeiro passo: mude seu ícone.

Tá vendo essas porrinha? Provavelmente são seu ícone se vc n mudou eles ainda

Aqui temos uma mania de bloquear seguidores com esses ícones pq geralmente são bots q querer fingir ser humanos pra manter link pra site pirata/porno/q rouba seu cartão de crédito, eles fazem isso tendo seguidores q engana os bots do tumbrl temporariamente. Ent é melhor mudar se pode fazer isso(no cell) assim :

[Mais abaixo]

2. Ache povo pra segui: pra esse site funcionar como uma benção tu precisa começar a achar povo pra seguir

Dica: Q VC GOSTE DO Q ELES FAZEM, pelo amor do krl não vai se meter num ninho de cobra e achar q não tem escapatória pq aqui a regra é "se não gosta não siga, não leia, não interaja, continue rodando pra baixo e vá ser feliz", se alguém te bloqueou? Nada pessoal, genuinamente isso é comum por aqui eu já bloqueio povo pq tem uns q fala q gosta de X do que Y e eu não concordava, a pessoa n sabe e eu continuo minha visa sem dor de cabeça(e ja trombei em blog q me bloqueou sim, morro de curiosidade? Tb mas bola pra frente q qm remoe o passado é velho mal amado)

Mas como q faz isso? Vc vai achar um icone de lupa bem embaixo da sua tela no celular, ela vai te levar pra cá:

Ali vc vai escrever geralmente uma ou duas palavras chaves, q chaves seriam essas? Pois bem, fandoms, estéticas, nomes e sobrenomes. Eu ando mais pelo lado de desenho e animação portando o exemplo q eu vou dar é vc escrever "Undertale", ou pro povo de rpg "ordem paranormal" sem os aspas(""), aí vc vai achar o povo q posta sobre isso e vc escolhe qm segue.

3. O q krls são tags? Resumo da opera: são o q permite vc achar os posts na lupinha de pesquisa, são esses # cinza no fim dos posts

Aqui no tumbrl as 20 primeiras tags são importantes pra vc colocar seu post no mundo, sem elas n tem como facilmente acha-lo, mas tb temos uma cultura de falar nelas, o q, qualquer bosta, seja meta comentário do próprio posto ou responder reblogs, pq tags n carregam de um post para o outro sem a outra pessoa propositadamente colocá-las novamente .

Ent quer dizer q eu tenho q colocar um bando de tag pro povo me achar? NÃO, se vc fizer um post de undertale e mete nele as tags de dragon ball e naruto só pq vc quer mais atenção vc vai tomar bloqueio E ser denunciado por spam de tags, aqui é pra relaxar e crescer DEVAGAR, o povo vai gosta de vc só tenha paciência, spam de tags é infuriante e inútil pq vai mais afastar pessoas de vc to q conquista-las. Aqui não é instagram.

4. Ok troquei meu ícone e segui povo, e agora? Agora vc vai se aventurar nas configurações, mas pq? Isso é pq o tumblr permite vc customização sua experiência de diversas formas, dentre sua primeira aba ser somente feita de posts de pessoas q vc segue, de ocultar seus gostei e lista de qm vc segue, para retirar posts recomendados pelo algoritmo etc.

Foque em "acount settings" e "visibility"

No primeiro se atente nessas opções

E no segundo essas:

Eu confio q vc saiba ler/ouvir e usar o tradutor pra configurar de acordo com a sua preferência as opções q ele te dá.

Caso vc n ligue pra nada disso e tá gostando de como ele tá nessa forma base ent pula essa etapa mas pelo menos vc já sabe se quiser mudar tem como ;)

5. Blz, fiz tudo isso, agora posso ir embora? Calma, tamo terminando só falta as últimas dicas.

Primeira dica: a subcultura mais forte no tumblr são fandoms, se vc quer crescer te aconselho a fazer seja fanfic ou fanarte, coisas originais são difíceis de vingar aqui sem muitos, MUITOS, seguidores. Ou interagir em tudo, nós artistas somo tudo esfomeado por comentários e elogios, tá escaço aqui disso e nois br somo um povo bem amigável e meu bem é só falar um "q lindo" nas minhas criações q eu já tô chorando de felicidade

Segunda: Reblog. Sabe o retweet e o quote do Twitter? É. Aqui é reblog, e ambos dão visibilidade pro blog q criou o post original, vc pode comentar tanto no reblog quanto em suas tags q é tudo bem vindo aqui.

Terceira: vc é dono de si, aqui qm cria sua experiência é vc, siga blogs q só reblogam, siga blogs q postem arte, fanart, fic, ocs, se aventure para ter uma experiência vasta. Devagar vc vai pegando a manhã do site, e qm sabe se com um pouco de persistência uma comunidade q fale br mais do q inglês, pq queira ou n a maioria aqui e gringo mas vc pode mudar isso ;)

Crie 30 subblogs se quiser cada um com.um tema diferente, só viva de um blog, poste arte, aconselho a não postar foto sua pq aqui anonimidade é o q mais atrae pessoas e o q me atraiu pra cá em primeiro lugar, se divirta, use tradutor, use extensões, fuçe em TUDO. E no fim do dia o q era mais amedrontador vai parecer instinto

Bem vindo ao tumblr, eu amo seus cadarços e euprometo q não é tão assustador assim,vc só tem q aprender a sujar as mãos um pouco ;)