#meta-ing

[chenpire]

I keep thinking about tanthamore from Jade's pov because I feel the deepest gay sympathy for this women like she's so restrained. She's grown up falling ass over kettle in love with someone who is off limits and betrothed to someone else, they're not equals in more than one way, because Kit outranks her but also because Kit is an oblivious obnoxious brat (affectionate) so she lacks the emotional maturity and combat skills to be a reliable partner to Jade even if it weren't for their status incompatibility. Jade probably doesn't think Kit is aware that there is a thing between them, and probably assumes it doesn't consume Kit quite the way it does her, that Kit just needs her because she's familiar and ever present, and because she has hang ups about people abandoning her. When she's trying to tell Kit she's leaving, primary to pursue her dreams but almost certainly on some level to protect her heart, you can see how everything about Kit in that moment is making it as difficult as possible for her; hanging off her, looking like that, saying nothing has to change and making fun of her fiance like he's barley relevant to their life together, causing a scene and going to hang performatively off her fiance who she was just making fun of in the aftermath. The way everything suggests this is always the way with Kit, that she makes things difficult for Jade by her very nature. Like she kisses Jade goodbye because it's clearly something she's always wanted to do and this might be her only chance, so she does, because Kit runs on instinct a lot of the time, but even if it isn't her intention, kissing Jade once and disappearing from her life, leaving her with the memory of what that feels like only to never have it again when Jade's been terminally in love with her for years, is borderline cruelty. And Jade is also sitting there with the knowledge that Kit can't actually defend herself, and it's kind of Jade's fault she thinks she can, but also the fact that Kit has never noticed, or addressed anything between them when the ball is essentially permanently in her court because of their difference in status...like Jade is clearly frustrated with Kit most of the time but it is a miracle she is not absolutely seething. 'Expert on breaking my heart' indeed, it's like Kit was designed to do so I'm so-

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[womaninwinter]

i love this analysis so much

I think it's 100% deliberate on Mr Stroud's part - he loves to make his cases echo The Themes of the book and nowhere does he do it better than in THB. (THB is a master piece). He even has George call this out later, by having him say "Were you feeling particularly vulnerable or needy?" to Lucy after the Wintergarden case (I can't remember the exact wording). Wintergarden is an absolute masterclass <3

Ohhh. Idk if my third eye has been opened or I'm reading too much into this (isn't that always the way), or maybe this was just extremely obvious to everyone else so no one else thought to mention it - but the way Robert Cooke's ghost interacts with Lucy on the Wintergarden staircase really is a perversion of what she's looking for from Lockwood at this point in time, isn't it?

Right before the final manifestation, as Lucy's getting grumpier by the second about Lockwood including Holly too much at the same time as he's kept so many secrets from her, she's musing about how losing Jessica might have impacted his approach toward their jobs, and wondering what it would take for him to really let her in. She observed that Lockwood's approach to ghosts - his approach to emotions, as a parallel that was finally obvious to me on this third read - is always Eradicate the ghost. Don't engage with it. Destroy it. - as in, eradicate the feelings, don't engage with them, destroy them. The emotional safety switch cranked up to eleven.

And then Lucy, misguided, overly compassionate at her own risk, tries to rescue this ghost without considering her own boundaries or limits: But the thing about animals [other people's feelings, or one particularly reticent boy] was, you could tame them. You just had to prove they could trust you. I moved closer, holding out my hand. The whole thing in this interaction is that she can't see the ghost as it really is because she's bringing all these preconceived notions to the table and coming into it with something of a savior complex. Sound familiar?

And she's so desperate to hear the truth, to hear what the ghost - Lockwood - needs; she's thrilled when she seems to be on the verge of accomplishing it, and irritated when Holly and George interrupt. The ghost keeps smiling at Lucy (her obsession with Lockwood's smile - this is what triggered the comparison to me), and it sounds just like Lucy silently begging Lockwood to open up to her after every crumb he gives her: The ghost was smiling at me. If I could just get it to speak again...

Then you've got sort of the reverse of the Hollow Boy going on, as death grows too powerful beside life: And how watery and hesitant my smile was beside the boy's grin. And then, turns out they got it wrong - ack! terror! - but Lucy hears from this ghost a twisted version of what she desperately wants to hear from Lockwood:

Lucy needs to know Lockwood needs her, wants to hear him admit it. (She's not anywhere near ready yet to accept that he wants her; she has some work to do first, untangling all those internalized messages.) She could help him, understand him, if he lets her in - but right now that would be a threat to both of them, in one way or another. I think, to Lockwood, this would be confirmation that he can't open up to Lucy that way - not that he's consciously making the connection, of course, but I still stand by this being the moment he realizes he's in love with her, either when he races up the stairs to save her or when he wakes up after, and for as much as he was shutting Lucy out before, he really starts distancing himself now. And for Lucy, this is when she starts to realize she can't have a life with Lockwood in halves, unfortunately right as he's determined not to need her because of everything her Talent - their emotions - could open them both up to.

Then back to the comparisons with the Hollow Boy coming later, as Lockwood launches a dashing rescue, parallel complete with one half of the pair concussed, even. So I guess that makes two false premonitions/versions of himself he destroys for Lucy in this book (before he gets around to besting the real hollow version of himself for her, but that comes later).

I dunno, I started this post thinking maybe I was adding symbolism where there was none intended, but now I've done a pretty good job convincing myself this is yet another example of intensely brilliant writing from Mr. Stroud that further reveals itself on every reread, my goodness.

[mx-anthony-janthony-crowley]

aziraphale's relationship with heaven vs crowley's relationship with hell in S2 serves as this beautiful, heartbreaking metaphor for the choice that so many queer people with unaccepting - and in many cases abusive - families find themselves forced to make. crowley has made the leap. he's cut himself off, and when they've tried to stay in touch or even bring him back, he's always resisted. "we're better than that, you're better than that!". in a way he's been through it before - he was rejected by heaven, and so it makes sense to him to take the opportunity to reject hell on his own terms. it doesn't come without consequence, of course. so many queer people find themselves having to suppress their identities until they're financially independent - cut to crowley living in his car. but he's made the choice, and he's free to do his own thing now. aziraphale, at the start of the season, is also more or less completely separate from heaven; we know from crowley "they don't talk to him anymore", and he's not making any effort to get in touch with them. but then when they ask him to come back, they manipulate him again. the metatron offers him coffee and then tells him "i've ingested things in my time, you know" - a world away from gabriel's "why do you consume... that?". he's assured that the things which he thought made him too... different, too not-good for heaven, are in fact okay. aziraphale was finally living his own life, far away from them, and doing the things he enjoyed, the things that they always shamed him for. but now he thinks, maybe he can go back and this time they'll accept him - it doesn't have to be like it was before! he's changed and maybe they have too, and if they haven't then maybe they'll listen to him! he can show them how to be better, he can make a difference. he isn't yet ready to face the reality that he can never be the person (well, angel) that they want him to be, not without losing sight of what makes him him. he might wish he could bring himself to say no, to cut them off, but he can't do it. because despite it all, he still has hope that they can change. and of course he does - years of trauma have told him time and time again that they're the good guys, after all. so he thinks, if they can't change, then who can? if they can't accept him, who will?

[starjunkyard]

(hands u a domestic hudson sketch)... Take this.......... for the journey...............

[cassandracain52]

A canon compliant guide of Bruce Wayne’s officially adopted children

I noticed there has been some confusion about who all in the BatFam is actually legally adopted by Bruce Wayne so I thought I’d try and help clear some things up.

(Full disclosure you can of course headcanon whatever you like, I made this is strictly to help newer fans know what is actually canon💕)

Dick Grayson: Adopted

(Batman: Gotham Knights #17 and Batman #600)

Many fans argue over whether or not Dick is officially adopted, many saying it was never official and he is still just his ward.

Though he does admittedly usually spend the majority of his actual childhood as a ward, Bruce ends up officially adopting Dick as his son(as I have explained before here)in multiple timelines

Barbara Gordon: Not Adopted

(Batgirl and the Birds Of Prey Rebirth)

There was never a need for Barbara to be adopted because she still has a Dad. She is however still very much in the BatFamily and has trained under and with Bruce

Jason Todd: Adopted

(The New Titans (1988) #55 and Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying)

Now I couldn’t track down a comic where we actually get to see Bruce adopt Jason, but there are plenty of instances in which his adoption is referenced -including but not limited to these two- throughout several timelines and reboots

Cassandra Cain: Adopted

(Batgirl 2008 #6)

Now this one is a bit more debatable as aside from this one instance, Cass’ adoption is never really mentioned again even after the timeline gets rebooted. Still the general consensus is that Cassandra’s adoption is considered canon.

Tim Drake: Adopted

(Batman #654 and Red Robin #4)

Though Tim declines Bruce’s offer of being adopted at first, we get to see Bruce adopt Tim as his son about a year or so later. His adoption is also referenced across multiple reboots

Stephanie Brown: Not Adopted

(Batgirls #13, Robin (1993) #174, and Robin (1993) #126)

Now the main reason Stephanie is not and probably will not be adopted is because both her parents are alive. While her Dad is a villain and out of the picture, her mother is a nurse and fully capable of taking care of her.

Bruce does however train her during her brief stint as Robin and much like Barbara she is no less apart of the BatFamily, she’s just not in the Wayne Family

Duke Thomas: Not Adopted (technically)

(All Star Batman #1 and Batman & the Signal #3)

Now Duke is never officially adopted because technically his parents are alive just insane due to Joker’s toxin of which there is no cure. However Bruce does take him in and let him stay at the manor and it is heavily implied he becomes Duke’s foster parent so do with that what you will

Damian Wayne: Not Adopted/Biological child

(Batman and Robin (2011) #0)

Damian is Bruce’s one and only biological child -of the main canon- and therefore does not need to be adopted because you don’t need to adopt your own child

And that’s all of Bruce’s official and unofficial children in the main canon!💕🖤

[gretahayes]

badly phrased but nobody is “saving the batkids from bruce”. they have their own agency. they choose to be devoted to their mission or utterly devoted to him. they don’t need to be saved. they do not want to be saved. you can call them a tragedy because if things were just a bit but fundamentally different it would be better for them, but it isn’t and this is how their story goes. they’re hurt and always come back, but they’re hooked on it. this is the path they’ve chosen time and time again and don’t know why this rubs me the wrong way but like. there will be no “seeing the light and walking away from bruce and/or vigilantism fully” in comics, and there should not be. if there is, it won’t be with the batkids. that would be taking away from the very heart of their stories, of their beings. they’re not...innocent babies. abuse doesn’t work that way, even if we all agree bruce is their abuser, especially when you get The Mission tangled up in it. just...i get the soul of the statement, the wish for a “perfect happy ending”, but this isn’t the genre or story for it and stripping away all nuance and context and background in favor a black-and-white view of something that is complex isn’t. a good read on it? and this is a bad take sorry

[barkrocks]

i get why everyone is obsessed w the other rat grinders (criminally underused in canon get those children a personality STAT) but mary ann skuttle is one of the funniest people in the world to me. every day since the finale i have thought about her asking gorgug if it "made him mad in real life" when she destroyed him at bloodrush. an icon if we are all being honest

[essektheylyss]

Alright, deeply circumstantial conspiracy theory time.

Remember how we never fucking figured out Vence Nuthaleus's deal? Ludinus's annex, who supposedly was working outside of Ludinus's knowledge or orders?

The Nein found two Abyssal Anchors in Xhorhas while chasing the Angel of Irons cultists, ostensibly to cause chaos and distraction during the war. These anchors were created by Vence based on tech used by demon generals during the Calamity to invade the Material Realm with more ease, and Vence created crude approximations of them, that Obann then deployed in Asarius and Braan.

(If only Caleb hadn't incinerated that goblin in Braan. We could've cracked this case wide open years ago.)

under a cut, as this is long—and does contain spoilers for c2:

The last anchor the Nein come across directly is in the Chantry of the Dawn; Jester scries on Vence delivering it to Cardinal Respa, along with two scrolls that are supposedly from the vaults of Vasselheim that provide guidance for establishing a ritual in the Chantry, upon a fane that was one of six holding Tharizdun at bay. Respa notices the scrying, and ends it, and the Nein immediately head to the Cathedral, though Vence has already left, and the anchor is set up as a distraction, while the main ritual happens elsewhere.

This is primarily notable because the timeline is fairly compressed. Jester scries on Vence while they're already in Rexxentrum; they go to the Chantry and fight assorted cultists under Respa's watch, the demons coming out of the portal, Obann's crew of cultists, and then Obann the Punished. They exit the basement fairly quickly and talk to several officials who have arrived at the Chantry, and then are immediately marched to Dwendal's throne room for an audience.

This is the conversation in which Ludinus admits that Vence had "recently" asked for an Amulet of Nondetection, and he granted the request. Given that Vence hadn't been attuned to it prior to going to the Chantry, he evidently takes the time to attune to it within the two hours (accounting for travel times around Rexxentrum) between those periods.

Here's where we start to get circumstantial: if Vence had obtained the amulet before, why hadn't he attuned to it immediately? It's possible he hadn't even gotten the amulet until then, at which point there was already a Kryn attack underway, as well as a significant disturbance at the Chantry of the Dawn. This seems an odd time to request such an item, as well as a rather foolish move on Ludinus's part to grant the request with little information.

With that in mind, let's go back for a moment to the Abyssal Anchors.

They're said to be crudely-reconstructed versions of Calamity-era technology. They create a planar rift between realms. They were not designed to assist in the ritual to summon Tharizdun, and instead seem only to have been a distraction—though a rather odd one, as they created minor nuisances that were, in both cases, dealt with by the Nein, and never on the direct orders of the Dynasty's leadership. The war itself seems as though it would've been distraction enough.

We also hear that there have been similar anchors discovered across the Empire, collected, and destroyed—words that come only from Ludinus's mouth.

The Nein had considered that perhaps Ludinus knew what Vence had been up to, but they had no tangible evidence of that, and he of course denied it. I recall considering the possibility at the time that he had even been involved, and mostly discarding it because he seemed to have no motivation to do so.

But now we know that something notable happened about six years ago, in the timeframe of the Material Plane: according to the Calloways, Ruidus became visible in the sky in the Feywild, and presumably with it, the Shadowfell.

We know that at the time, Ludinus was using the findings from his stolen beacons to create the dunamantic liquid that was used to make an assassination attempt on Keyleth. We also know that at some point, an annex of Ludinus obtained scrolls from the vaults of Vasselheim that gave instruction on creating a ritual to "release the fane" beneath the Chantry. (Fanes are, generally, places of power—which is similar to the list of locations across the Feywild that Ludinus looked into in order to absorb power from, per the notes that Team Wildemount discovered in Gildhollow Tower.) Incidentally, we also know that Ludinus oversaw, in 835 PD, the excavation of crash site A2 in Eiselcross, which held both the corrupted forest akin to the Savalirwood, and a threshold crest just beyond that. All of this happened roughly around or just before Ruidus was tethered to the Feywild.

Though we may never know for sure that these things are related, my theory is that these crude iterations of the Abyssal Anchors were the test run for whatever arcane device that Ludinus used to tether the moon in the echo planes, finally allowing him the ability to put his long-considered plan into motion.

[dreemurr-skelememer]

i have been thinking deeply about resetmare and how different they are in terms of trauma compared to all the other dreamtale AUs

their story shifted right when the apple incident happened.

imagine the worry and confusion if they ever met any the half-a-millennia old dreams and nightmares. because to them, the most that's happened is almost losing each other to the villagers' greed

for the other dreams and nightmares, that's just...not the case. as a matter of fact, they detest each other. they fight because it's all they know and that's what they are now.

the resetmare kids are considerably younger and less troubled by these things. they don't even know the multiverse exists yet.

is that a worse or better thing? will they even understand what the older dreams and nightmares had to go through???

[wizardofahz]

Saw a Criminal Minds gifset and suddenly started thinking about canon vs. fanon JJ.

TL; DR: Fanon JJ is the facade canon JJ puts on to hide trauma.

(This discusses JJ's sister, so content warning for suicide)

The obvious starting point for understanding JJ's characterization is her sister's suicide. That's a traumatic event for anyone, and even more so for an eleven year old child. So it's quite understandable that JJ decides she will do whatever she can to avoid experiencing hurt like that again.

In episode 3.17, JJ tells Will about their relationship, "I didn't want to tell anyone because the minute I do it becomes real, and when it becomes real, people get hurt, and I've always run from getting hurt. Always."

But JJ didn't only lose her sister.

In episode 14.12, JJ's mom admits, "I got so caught up in all my troubles that I forgot there was another little girl under my roof who had just lost her sister. You needed me, and I wasn't there."

At eleven years old, JJ was a traumatized child without a support system. So she learned to rely on herself. Other people were just avenues for hurt, and she decided that wasn't worth it.

All of which leads to this confession from JJ in the season 14 finale: "There are only four people I trust in this world."

My three non-negotiables are Will, Hotch, and Emily. The fourth is between Reid and Garcia, but I lean towards the former given Garcia's penchant for invading people's privacy.

Even if anyone disagrees with that list, there's not a lot of room for choice. At any given time, the BAU usually has seven members, and given the amount of turnover they've had, JJ hasn't learned to trust most of them.

Do they know that? They probably know her facade masks trauma, but I doubt they know the extent of it. There's a reason that episode starts with the team playing poker, and JJ showing Reid he doesn't know her as well as he thinks he does.

So let's talk about that facade. In contrast to Reid, who wears his trauma on his sleeve, JJ buries hers as deeply as she can. She takes care of the people around her, and while it's not disingenuous, it's part of a prettily painted reinforced fortress wall that says, "hey, look at me, such a put-together person that doesn't have problems of my own, so I can help with yours."

And it does the job because it has fandom fooled too.

[homeless202]

the fact that he left the face mask and earplugs aside shows he's not afraid to there anymore. the ghost dorm is his home now. he's back home again <3

[throwup-yourguts]

Foodlogs | September 22th 2024

METADAY

.

Breakfast

4 slices of bread

20g marmalade

.

Lunch

2 mozzarella sticks

2 nuggets

1 burger

Southern fries

.

4pm snack

1 beer

.

Dinner

Skipped

.

Total: ???kcal

.

I didnt count today's kcals because I'd freak out lol

I'm obviously over my limit but it's fine I'm back in a liquid fast (7 hours 30 minutes in)

[moongothic]

i would love trans crocodile but im very cynical that oda would write him in a respectful manner. thats not even thinking of how horrible that one portion of the one piece fandom would treat him

Yeah the fandom sucks and I'm going to strangle everyone (including the cishets who claim to be trans allies and then use "Crocomom")

But with Oda it's weird because like. The more I think about it, the more I'm like... 50/50 about Oda being able to actually deliver good, respectful trans masc rep.

Like I've posted about this before but One Piece does have this on-going theme of having characters "stuck in wrong bodies" or "having one's body changed" (sometimes reversably, sometimes irreversably; sometimes against their will, sometimes consentually). Which, in theory, in my mind, does kind of signal that on some level Oda understands the idea of being "the wrong sex" (whether or not that's a good way to explain The Trans Experience™ is a whole different subject but it's an old fashioned explanation that Oda would probably be/is familiar with) But at the same time, while the concept pops up again and again in One Piece, Oda doesn't really dwell too deep into the idea of what that's like. Like, emotionally. How it feels like to like, get turned into a toy or be a child who gets aged 20 years or to get turned into a cyborg or a giant child or have parts of your body permanently turned into animal parts (sometimes with a will of their own) etc

And like. Part of me understands why, Oda does tend to want to focus on writing a story he thinks teenaged boys would be interested in reading, and he has often stated he wants to have fun with his story too (like that's partially why Luffy's a Rubber Man, because Oda thought giving Luffy a ridiculous ability would make him more fun to write and draw long-term, which is valid as hell) This is why for example Oda has avoided doing any romances in OP, and while there are dark themes in the story, often he has done his best to avoid making them too blatant, as some things would be too mature for his youngest readers (like, for example until Kuma's backstory, it was never explicitly stated what would happen to the slave wives of the Tenryuubito, even saying it was "implied" would be pushing how that subject had been treated until now)

So like. Because of that, I understand why Oda hasn't dwelled into The Feelings™ part much/at all despite the "stuck in the wrong body" narrative appearing time and time again

Either Oda thinks it'd be too boring either for himself or his readers, or he hasn't dwelled into it because he doesn't really understand gender dysphoria and can't relate to the experience (despite how often it shows its face in OP). Or it could be both, even

The thing is though, as OP has gone on, while I wouldn't say Oda has "broken his writing rules", Kuma's backstory alone has pushed them to a new limit with the love-that-never-was story and the all-but-explicitly-stated storytelling.

So a part of me wonders, if Crocodile is trans, could Oda actually like... take a slightly deeper look into his feelings and explore his queer experience? ('Cause god knows, if Crocodad Real, then there really would be a literal coming out-story built into his backstory that would be extremely unavoidable, and as I've mentioned before, the fact that we haven't gotten to learn almost anything about his backstory yet is Kinda Fucking Sus)

Also I do want to mention how... like Oda gets a lot of bad rap when it comes to queer rep in One Piece, but the more I think about it, I think it's more an issue with the terminology and how translators have gone about either localizing it, or more often than not, leaving it unlocalized 'Cause like. Yes the "okama" would be horrible trans rep but... really... they're not trans representation. They're representation for draq queens. Piss poor draq rep, but still, they're draq queens. And just like our very real life drag performers; some of them are cishets. Some of them are gender non-conforming gay men. Some of them are nonbinary*. Some of them are trans women. Obviously lumping all of these people into one group is kinda offensive (which is why "okama" is (as far as I understand it) such an unpopular term even amongst queer people in Japan), and the way Oda often chooses to draw these characters looks no different to how gender criticals choose to present trans women in their propaganda.

*Like Bon-chan, who explicitly states they are both male and female. And Iva-chan, who switches between boy-mode and girl-mode from time to time, could arguably be called genderfluid (though any specific terminology is up to debate). Both are nonbinary draq queens.

And yet, despite all that. It can not be understated how if you put aside the nameless background gag-characters, Oda does treat the actual, proper queer characters with respect. Everyone would agree that Bon-chan is an absolute hero, we would all die for them. Iva-chan (and Inazuma too) is explicitly presented in a heroic light, seen as someone who helps people and fights for justice (with the Revs)

And then there's the first binary trans characters we've actually gotten, Okiku and Yamato. And I'm pretty sure we would all agree Okiku is 10/10 perfect trans fem representation (I am not entirely serious, I'm not trans fem so I can't speak for trans women here, it's just that I can't see anything Horrendously Wrong with how Okiku is presented within the story- not actually perfect but all things considdered, damn good). She is stunning, people around her (INCLUDING SANJI!!) don't just view her as a woman but would go out of their way to date her (as in, she is seen as "desirable", and not as some kind of a disgusting freak to avoid), she is heroic and sweet and kind and just. IDK I love her And while I'm sure many trans mascs would agree Yamato may not be how they want to be seen by the world (though having Yamato ID as a man while having the biggest moobs is surely validating for a lot of people, including anybody who might not want or be able to get top surgery and/or HRT), again, he is only presented as heroic within the narrative and respected by the characters around him, Luffy especially, which is by far the most important part; the protagonist going out of his way to be respectful of trans characters does represent the values of the story.

And like.

Think about how Oda has treated Crocodile so far.

Like, although we're all having a bit of a laugh over the whole Cross Guild thing, Oda is still treating him as a cool character whom he presents seriously and treats with respect. Like Oda wants the readers to see Crocodile as at least a little bit cool. So I can't imagine him pulling a full 180 with how Croc would be treated in the story if he was revealed to be trans, especially when the potential foreshadowing for that was laid out in the story years ago already.

All this to say; Oda is not perfect at all, but considdering the things he has gotten right so far, I think there is hope he could pull it off. Because Oda is for Queer Liberation.

Really, my only concerns would be whether or not there's a risk Crocodile could get somehow detrans'd during the story (I'm praying the Haki theory isn't an option, really Doc Q might be the only true risk here), if he's stealth and that got presented as "a wrong thing to do" (which I'd hope not, like our previous queer characters have been okay with being openly queer but that may have been more for the readers than anything else. At least, I hope, god knows if Crocodile is and wants to be stealth trans then that's his right and he shouldn't have to out if he doesn't want to, and yeah, I don't want him to be demonized within the narrative for being stealth (if he's stealth, for all we know he could be out)) and like, most importantly, what'd end up being Crocodile's "motivation" for transitioning in the first place

Like. God. I just. I don't want there to be a twist where Crocodile transitioned because "being a woman was weak" or because he "wanted to be acknowledged by Whitebeard" ('cause WB doesn't take women into his crew) or "the scar in his face made him so ugly he decided he should be a man instead" (seen unironic Redditors suggest that. Almost lost my mind) or something

Like I hope someone's at least tried to explain gender dysphoria to Oda. Like the man does have actual queer friends in real life (some of whom inspired characters in OP), so I'm hoping at least someone's tried to explain the feelings that come with The Trans Experience™ to him so that, if Crocodile's trans, then Oda can actually try to base his reasoning to transition on those feelings instead of any stupid "reasons" that no actual queer person would relate to

But it all just boils down to... Is Oda willing to actually dwell into those feelings and explore them in the story.

It... it really could go either way with Oda

So yeah. Anon, I'm with you, I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was at least A Little Worried. But also... I want to be hopeful. Because I do believe there is reason to be hopeful.

Only time will tell how it'll go

[winterprince601]

do you ever listen to the obscure indie music spotify recommends to you and think about jon snow or are you normal? (song is kitchen sink drama by junodream)

[widowshill]

A song you’d put on a playlist for a character you love!

MUSIC ASKS.

"A Well Respected Man," The Kinks, 1965. the satirical angle of this song works really well for Roger — who, notoriously, does make his regular trips to the office only to fuck around and do absolutely nothing there — as a character who is both given respect in his community as one of the Collinses of Collinsport and yet sneered at for being unequivocally the least of the them. The Kinks' discography pokes the same kinds of holes in the image of the upper class bourgeois as Dark Shadows, and no one embodies the selfish, ridiculous, incapable rich man who only has his position because of his family's efforts before him quite like Roger Collins.

this verse is a great one:

And he likes his own backyard And he likes his fags the best 'Cause he's better than the rest And his own sweat smells the best And he hopes to grab his father's loot When pater passes on

which captures the mien of Roger's character from two sides. there is the rancorous self-absorption — the belief that Collinwood is the nonpareil of domestic civilization, at least in Collinsport; that he and all he owns are god's gift to Collinsport-kind (you could substitute liquor for fags, or you could use it as a double entendre and Americanize the phrase); that his relationship to Jamison is purely one of greed — not entirely unfairly, given that Roger immediately blew his inheritance upon his father's death and auctioned off his shares to generate more.

But the tone of the song undercuts the one-dimensional view of the protagonist (and of Roger), not only in pointing out his vanity and egomania, which is obvious, but in revealing deeper failings and weaknesses in the worldview. Roger simultaneously reveres Collinwood, his backyard, as the crowning jewel of his family's success, as his family home, and yet reviles it as mausoleum and prison — backyard invoking the image of something enclosed, private and perfect, but ultimately restrictive. he may enjoy the best of all possible vices — upscale, expensive brandy, or enviable partners in the other interpretation — but they remain vices; he is not above common humanity — the fishermen and cannery workers whose labor provides for his lifestyle — but sweats the same as them. The use of pater is particularly cutting in describing his relationship to Jamsion because of the Latin connotation. The death of his father left Roger the voids not only of father to son, but paterfamilias in Collinwood and Iuppiter in Collinsport at large. All of which the subject in the song is clearly incapable of filling and in Dark Shadows falls to Elizabeth instead: heading the Collins family, running the town and the business, and raising Roger's son.

I also have to point out the last verse before the final chorus:

He adores the girl next door 'Cause he's dying to get at her But his mother knows the best about The matrimonial stakes

In the present day, the girl next door at whom he's dying to get is obviously Vicki, only next door down the hallway rather than the street — and the matrimonial stakes being that he forgets, he's already married, and Vicki would like to get married someday and not have her virtue compromised for that future. Liz (as mother-figure) impresses this on him at the very beginning when she catches him trying to get into her room, and much later on Roger puts his personal feelings and jealousies towards Vicki and her fiancés aside in order to see that Vicki has the best chance at marital happiness (and part of the adoration absolutely stems from the fact that he can't get at her — that Vicki is in another class virtuously and socioeconomically and thus completely unattainable).

but you could just as well apply this verse to before the series begins when he marries Laura ten years prior, a captain's daughter who Elizabeth regards as a golddigger, instead of marrying apropos to his station — or being besotted by Miss Murdoch and her fisherman fiancé both, neither of which meet the matrimonial stakes for the heir to the Collins fortune (concerning class and money as well as producing a well-bred heir to continue the Collins name ... though in a funny twist of fate Burke does give him a son!)

Roger is of course part of a proud Collins family tradition of being more interested in the servants than his social peers or his wife — and this gets a mention by the Kinks as well, with his father pulls the maid while his mother passes looks, as well as bills at every suave young man. which is to say that his inheritance is as much the money and the house and the position as well as all the accompanying nuclear ills, key thesis of "A Well Respected Man" and Dark Shadows, alike!