#moral of the story is that people are paying WAY less attention than you think so like. do whatever you want lmao

[pinktinselmonstrosity]

my flatmate of eight months, who i see almost every day, only JUST realised i wear glasses, despite me wearing my glasses consistently around her almost every day for the past eight months 😭

[somewhereincairparavel]

˚➳❥“Can I put makeup on you, Dada?➳❥

Jason Grace as a girl dad! Hcs list

Warning: aged up Jason Grace! (duh), just cuteness overload tbh

-He would so be a girl dad. I can see him having atleast 3 girls lol

- ugh he's the attentive and spending quality time dad- all he ever wanted from his own father was time. So no matter what, he's always paying his kid attention, it doesn't matter if it's the most insignificant thing ever, hes going to listen to his children's yapping

- he'd let his kids give him design ideas for his temple diorama project, and he'd actually use their ideas by changing it up a bit 🥹 he just wants his kids to feel included and important.

- a very patient dad. Wouldn't yell or raise his voice at his children no matter what. I feel like he himself hated being yelled at it when he was a child, and he'd hate to do it to other people, let alone his own children.

- but he's pretty strict when it comes to his children being good people and having strictly healthy morals. He doesn't care if his kids get bad grades or don't excel talent wise, just don't be a bad person and be nice to people.

- he ain't raising no ungrateful brat. Hes been happy his whole life recieving less than the bare minimum, so he knows ungratefulness when he sees it.

- definitely cried when his kids were in their "neglecting-their-parents-and-being-moody" teenager phase :( he'd think he had done something wrong and immediately have nagging thoughts that he turned out like his own dad 🥺

- his kids would be so hella polite, and I mean, elegant "please and thank you" royalty kind of polite.

- would so take his daughters on a piggyback ride and little flying trips 🥹

- he'd pretend to be an airplane while having them on his back and goes "jason grace airlines, ready for take off!" And all that cute shit ughh

- would tell his children so many dang stories, we know that this is technically canon with jason telling his grandkids stories in his vision- like he doesn't care how busy he is or if he had an argument with his kids that day, they are still getting spoiled with bedtime stories. Nobody's going to come between that.

- speaking of arguments, I feel like jason is super hard to anger, so if does get mad at his children then it's probably because they risked their lives, or got themselves hurt physically emotionally or mentally that really drives him over the edge.

- when it comes to disciplining his children, he does it sternly but gently at the same time. He doesn't overwhelm them with harshness, but gets his point across clearly

- kind of overbearing but in a sweet and endearing way I swear. Like his children would get a minor paper cut that even they don't care about but he'd freak out and hug tf out them while asking them if they're okay atleast 3 times.

- speaking of which. Hugs. Such a good fucking hugger. He gives his children bear hugs every day. - he's the "no you can't go to class before giving me a hug I don't care if you're late" type of dad

- He doesn't care if his children are like 45, like you're still my precious little girl, you always are and always will be. (He'd say this trust)

- is very verbal with his affection. Hes been brought up in a very intimidating and cold environment where people couldn't even hug properly without it being awkward, so he'll not be ashamed to be openly affectionate. Hes had enough coldness for 15 years

- overall just a big sweetheart of a dad that his children adore with all their heart and vice versa 🥹💙

[nohoperadio]

Some of my coworkers (I work in a bookshop, I'm getting kinda tired of having to add that parenthetical to every work story I tell on here but it's often essential context, I wish there was a better way. Why can't you just fucking pay attention and remember where I work, that would be nice?) are very smug and proud of themselves about the fact that they make a habit of ratting out teenagers to their parents when they're trying to buy books (to be fair I could probably have just let the context do its own work in this particular post, I didn't really need to say anything. I'm sorry I spoke to you like that earlier) which are, according to the bookseller's no doubt eminently wise and edifying judgment, not age-appropriate--not outright refusing sales, but like when a teen and their parent are both at the till, saying something like "oh just so you're aware this book has some controversial stuff in it"--and I hope I continue to successfully hide how much this pisses me off because oh my fucking god.

Mostly this happens with Colleen Hoover books, who if you're unaware is a very tiktok-popular romance author whose books are sometimes accused of glorifying abusive relationship dynamics, I haven't read her and don't have a good sense of to what extent this is a fair accusation vs people misrepresenting the books to score backlash discourse points, neither possibility would surprise me, but also I don't think the answer to that question is very relevant to anything.

And look, I accept that my free speech absolutist radical position of "teenagers are less stupid than you probably think but even the stupid ones probably should be allowed some intellectual liberties maybe, they're going to be adults in like five minutes jesus christ" is not something everyone can embrace, I do. But the sheer glee with which this one guy the other day was telling the story of a mom getting quite angry with her daughter when he told her about what she's trying to buy, like "haha someone's gonna have an awkward conversation when they leave the shop!", is so so ugly to me... like it would be much easier to believe this was a principled moral stance if you weren't actively making fun of the people you're claiming to protect! And holy shit do you not remember this exact experience, of being a teenager and a bunch of adults who are clearly not actually smarter or better than you nonetheless having strong opinions about what kinds of things you ought to be enjoying and spending time on and thinking about? Do you not remember how much that sucked? (I'm like a decade older than most of these booksellers, I should be the cranky old person whose heart has been consumed by cheap cynical moralism, not them!!)

I could add a little bit here about how obviously it's only the books that are girl-coded that receive this higher level of scrutiny and shaming, but sadly it's getting dark and I had intended to make this a short post so I could go for a run after and I should really do that now if I'm gonna do it at all, you'll have to think about that part in your own time. Sorry for ranting everyone I hope we're all having a chill Saturday apart from me. Are we having a chill Saturday?

[cruyuu]

same anon from before here! i agree with both of your answers. i really do just hope we'll get something outside of these two being total opposites of one another... maybe reach a middle ground? it seems impossible but i'm hoping hard for it lol what do you think?

Hi anon!

Well, it's pretty hard to say. I would also really love if these two stopped being so contradictory with each other but you know what they say- Opposites attract. If they were the same, I wouldn't really enjoy their dynamic as I am right now.

Still, I get where you're coming from. It remains unsaid and yet it is so glaringly obvious, yet they can't acknowledge it because they piss each other off and hurt each other. Both of them would rather die than admit they felt anything outside of anger at the other, despite the fact that both of them do complete each other.

maybe reach a middle ground?

Well... it is not impossible, I'll tell you that. The more you pay attention to them, the more it seems like that's exactly what they need to do lol.

I still don't know what to make of this but as we progress further and further into the story, I am starting to believe that Kenjaku wanted Yuuji to be the next Sukuna. The next ideal. The next strongest. Not evil but good. To use all that strength not for himself and his ego, but for others, because Yuuji surviving can fix the problems of the society where the weak ones are shunned and plucked off. Yuuji can protect them. He wouldn't fight to show off his strength, unlike the jujutsu sorcerer of history (Sukuna), but would use it for good.

Basically, if Yuuji survives he can be the change of the entire jujutsu society, so to speak. He could be an example to teach everyone that strength comes from protecting the weak, protecting humanity, and not just for status.

That would put him as an antithesis of Sukuna, a complete opposite of him and that ending can work for me.

Loneliness as strength - Sukuna

Companionship as strength - Yuuji

Still, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm discrediting the middle ground approach because it would truly change everything.

There's the weak and there's the strong. There's the selfish and there's the selfless. Humans are dual by nature. Each of us have the good and the bad. Each of us are both selfish and selfless. We're not just a single emotion, we embody a lot of others. Just like how Sukuna isn't entirely evil, Yuuji isn't entirely good.

Sukuna ate his brother just because he wanted to live and now the same fate is creeping up on Yuuji. If he wants to live, then Sukuna must die. You could say that is Sukuna's route all over again, except less brutal and guided by moral views. But history will repeat. Considering that we know that curses can reincarnate, who's to say Sukuna won't come back wearing someone else's body in the future? If his twin brother managed to be reincarnated than that must mean that Sukuna might too.

So would it be a satisfactory ending? Depends on the way you view it. The only positive thing is that Yuuji might die of old age but maybe Sukuna can reincarnate even before that so it's truly up for debate.

In fact, I do think that them reaching a middle ground would be a totally fitting ending. Making both of them acknowledge the faults within themselves that they're trying to ignore. Yuuji doesn't want to die, and neither does Sukuna, yet instead of co-existing, they're forced to kill each other because they think it's the only way. They don't want to meet in the middle because they look at each other in black/white. Yuuji sees Sukuna as evil and just evil and Sukuna sees Yuuji as good and just good.

Yet against others... they continually acknowledge the other sides of them. They acknowledge their differing viewpoints and everything. Look at all their fights against others and then take a look at when they're fighting each other. It's hilarious really. Like Yuuji keeps assimilating everyone into his found family (which are people who wanted him dead) and yet won't acknowledge Sukuna nor try to change his mind and Sukuna keeps praising everyone who dies against him yet won't praise someone who survives (Yuuji) even though he should, really lol.

Their hands are forced against each other, even though, as we have seen time and time again, they work well together. They unconsciously match each other. They're twins basically, but they won't ever admit it lol.

Precisely because Sukuna loves to yap how he abandoned his humanity (even though he has empathy for his opponents??), and Yuuji abandoned his selfishness when taking on his grandfather's wish (even though he's taking more lives than helping at this point??). Funnily though, both of them do their best to act a total opposite to each other. I've already mentioned that in one response to an ask (and also touched upon it here).

And if they can only acknowledge this, who knows, maybe that is the real change which is necessary. But this is just my opinion. Who knows where the author will take us and what else we may get along the way. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[drdemonprince]

Heyyyy. I just had an unsettling thought. So I’ve been learning about the oxygen of amplification and thinking about whether I’ve been giving “free food” to bigots by paying too much attention to the wrong things.

You’ve written about being “a vault” being a benefit especially when it comes to health care, and lying to employers, and, basically, intentionally using masking to get ahead.

Over the past five or so years, I have tended to go in a different direction - being more vocal about my disabilities and the disabilities of others, in the hope that I’m being an advocate for awareness and acceptance. I’ve had a lot of people tell me I’m “brave” for behaving that way and it always confuses me, because it’s easier for me to be honest than it is for me to lie or hide the truth.

But I am reminded of being on a conference call with the California board of law examiners (the people who make the bar exam for California) at the start of the pandemic. I spoke on the call about how law school makes people (if I remember correctly) as much as three times more likely to be depressed between the time they enter and the time they leave. There’s additional context here that I could add but I’m not sure if it’s necessary.

Anyway, while I was speaking, one of the people on the board (at least, my colleagues and I were pretty sure it was) very loudly yelled at me to “FUCK OFF.”

I wonder if disabilities are something, unlike other categories of oppressed people, where the more evidence you provide that we are human and deserving of accommodations, the more bigots get pissed off and want to deny us those accommodations. Because they think our disability inherently makes us undeserving.

I think, because I’m in a position of privilege economically (and my family culture isn’t particularly tumultuous), I get into this moral headspace where I think, okay, maybe others have to lie to get ahead. But if, because of my unique set of circumstances, I don’t have to lie to get head, isn’t it my duty not to?

I actually think I wrote a paper about that in law school. Maybe I’ll try to dig that up and we what I had to say.

But now I’m wondering if I’m just making things worse by being so vocally honest. Giving ammo to judgmental people who will hold what I say against people who are not as fortunate as I am.

You’ve also spoken about how you’ve become less of an advocate and I wonder if this sort of thing factors in to that decision.

Yeah for me, it's about developing a greater sense of tactics.

Most people are not persuaded by data or objective information. Most people do not have coherent or consistent political ideologies, either (see Phillip Converse's groundbreaking work on nonattitudes -- most people, when asked about a political topic, will just make up an opinion on the spot based on what they've heard most recently, and that opinion will not remain consistent). There's a robust research literature attesting to this. I abandoned the field of political psychology because the research on fostering attitude change and open-mindedness is so dismal.

Instead, what most people find the most compelling is a combination of emotional appeals, social pressure, and their own material, economic self-interest.

What this means is that a great many people will not be moved by additional information on a topic, until it becomes economically costly or socially perilous for them not to rethink it, and even then, they might just dig in their heels if they've already incurred losses in order to justify the pain they've been in. It also means that if someone has an ignorant perspective and no desire to change it, well, you talking more isn't going to change their perspective, but they will try to shut you up so that it doesn't change anybody else's.

The liberal perspective on change is a highly individualistic one. Disabled people are supposed to share our stories, victims of sexual assault are supposed to name our abusers, fat people are supposed to just feel more positively about themselves, Black and brown people are supposed to spell out to us white people exactly what we should do to guarantee their liberation, but only in a very gentle tone, and everybody, everywhere, is on the hook for fixing the injustice of their own social position.

This is a perspective on change that employers, governments, and institutions benefit from us believing in, because it keeps us busy showing off our vulnerabilities and behaving as individuals, rather than pooling our power and demanding something better for all of us collectively.

And this individualistic approach is of course is never how change actually happens. The federal government didn't suddenly start unrestricting access to AIDS meds because some individual gays came forward and told very persuasive stories about their battles with the disease. ACT UP activists crowded federal offices and covered politicians' homes in giant condoms and marched AIDS victims' corpses down the street.

Sickle cell anemia did not become a subject of medical research because Black patients individually shared their stories of the disease. The Black Panthers created their own health clinics to test for the disease and educate the public about it, and they also gave out free childcare and food, and the federal government found this so threatening they began taking sickle cell seriously themselves so that more people wouldn't go running to a communist, anti-racist group.

The ADA didn't pass because disabled people made ourselves vulnerable, it passed because we made ourselves strong, clawing our way together up the statehouse steps and blocking traffic with wheelchairs during rush hour.

We've been propagandized by capitalist individualism and representation politics to believe the most empowering thing a marginalized person can do is stand solidly as a single person. But it's not true. In fact, some of the steps we take to broadcast our marginal status and tell our stories makes us more vulnerable in the end.

Many companies now encourage their disabled employees to come out and be proud of their status, for instance. I've given workshops at companies like that. At every single one, I've later heard from Autistic and ADHDer employees that the second they actually identified themselves publicly, it became a target on their back. They were scrutinized, denied accommodations, pushed out of the office, threatened with their boss calling 911 on them, forced to quit.

The real way to make a change happen is through organized, collective power, not through personal vulnerability, individual pride or sharing every last drop of energy that we have educating people who have a vested interest in not understanding our concerns. Winning the hearts and minds of the ones in control is not the answer. We must organize to take control.

I've done all kinds of activism all my life since I was fourteen years old, from phone banking to voter registration drives to jail support to writing my congress people and more, and much of it was a waste of my time. It was designed to waste my time, to convince me that by being a good little boy and playing within the system I would be freed, when really I needed to be joining forces with other people to dismantle it. That's the way forward, that's truly what I believe now.

[jonasgoonface]

Happy anniversary of Willem Van Spronsen's attack on the Tacoma ICE detention center. Here's a thing I drew a while back. Here's a manifesto that he wrote, it's v good. ------

What follows is the written manifesto of Willem Van Spronsen:

there's wrong and there's right. it's time to take action against the forces of evil. evil says one life is worth less than another. evil says the flow of commerce is our purpose here. evil says concentration camps for folks deemed lesser are necessary. the handmaid of evil says the concentration camps should be more humane. beware the centrist.

i have a father's broken heart i have a broken down body and i have an unshakable abhorrence of injustice. that is what brings me here. this is my clear opportunity to try to make a difference, i'd be an ingrate to be waiting for a more obvious invitation.

i follow three teachers: don pritts, my spiritual guide, "love without action is just a word." john brown, my moral guide, "what is needed is action!" emma goldman, my political guide, "if i can't dance, i don't want to be in your revolution."

i'm a head in the clouds dreamer, i believe in love and redemption. i believe we're going to win i'm joyfully revolutionary. (we all should have been reading emma goldman in school instead of the jingo drivel we were fed. but i digress.) (we should all be looking at the photos of the YJP heroes should we falter and think our dreams are impossible, but i double digress. fight me.)

in these days of fascist hooligans preying on vulnerable people on our streets, in the name of the state or supported and defended by the state,

in these days of highly profitable detention/concentration camps and a battle over the semantics, in these days of hopelessness, empty pursuit and endless yearning,

we are living in visible fascism ascendant. (i say visible, because those paying attention watched it survive and thrive under the protection of the state for decades [see howard zinn, "a people's history of the united states.") now it unabashedly follows its agenda with open and full cooperation from the government. from governments around the world.

fascism serves the needs of the state serves the needs of business and at your expense. who benefits? jeff bezos, warren buffet, elon musk, tim cook, bill gates, betsy de vos, george soros, and need i go on? let me say it again: rich guys, (who think you're not really all that good,) really dig government, (every government everywhere, including "communist" governments,) because they make rules that make rich guys richer.

simple. don't overthink it.

(are you patriots in the back paying attention?)

when i was a boy, in post war holland, later france, my head was filled with stories of the rise of fascism in the 30's. i promised myself that i would not be one of those who stands by as neighbors are torn from their homes and imprisoned for somehow being perceived as lesser. you don't have to burn the motherfucker down, but are you just going to stand by?

this is the test of our fundamental belief in real freedom and our responsibility to each other. this is a call to patriots, too, to stand against this travesty against everything that you hold sacred. i know you. i know that in your hearts, you see the dishonor in these camps. it's time for you, too, to stand up to the money pulling the strings of every goddamn puppet pretending to represent us.

i'm a man who loves you all and this spinning ball so much that i'm going to fulfill my childhood promise to myself to be noble.

here it is, in these corporate for profit concentration camps. here it is, in brown and non conforming folks afraid to show their faces for fear of the police/migra/proud boys/the boss/beckies... here it is, a planet almost used up by the market's greed.

i'm a black and white thinker. detention camps are an abomination. i'm not standing by. i really shouldn't have to say any more than this.

i set aside my broken heart and i heal the only way i know how- by being useful. i efficiently compartmentalize my pain... and i joyfully go about this work. (to those burdened with the wreckage from my actions, i hope that you will make the best use of that burden.)

to my comrades:

i regret that i will miss the rest of the revolution. thank you for the honor of having me in your midst.

giving me space to be useful, to feel that i was fulfilling my ideals, has been the spiritual pinnacle of my life.

doing what i can to help defend my precious and wondrous people is an experience too rich to describe.

my trans comrades have transformed me, solidifying my conviction that we will be guided to a dreamed of future by those most marginalized among us today. i have dreamed it so clearly that i have no regret for not seeing how it turns out. thank you for bringing me so far along.

i am antifa, i stand with comrades around the world who act from the love of life in every permutation. comrades who understand that freedom means real freedom for all and a life worth living.

keep the faith! all power to the people! bella ciao

don't let your silly government agencies spend money "investigating" this one. i was radicalized in civics class at 13 when we were taught about the electoral college. it was at that point that i decided that the status quo might be a house of cards. further reading confirmed in the positive. i highly recommend reading! i am not affiliated with any organization, i have disaffiliated from any organizations who disagree with my choice of tactics. the semi automatic weapon i used was a cheap, home built unregistered "ghost" ar15, had six magazines. i strongly encourage comrades and incoming comrades to arm themselves. we are now responsible for defending people from the predatory state. ignore the laws of arming yourself if you have the luxury, i did.

[evilhasnever]

man the replies and tags on my last reblog are so wild... people are so adamant that jgy and wwx have NOTHING in common, as if it offends them personally that the protagonist and the antagonist are intentional parallels to make a point about society (and not about their individual morality)

"jgy did it for himself" (nothing wrong with wanting to be respected/ not insulted everywhere he goes)

"jgy killed people for ambition" (no, he killed people for self preservation + everyone in the jianghu kills people for less?)

"jgy married his sister and killed his son" (the in/cest was accidental, he married her to protect her reputation instead of repudiating her, and he ALLEGEDLY killed his son, but this accusation is only raised by notorious gossip sect leader Yao in the novel, so ymmv)

"jgy never helped anyone else (unlike wwx)" This one is just WILD? Even ignoring all of the above, this one just shows you have not been paying attention to him. What about that time he won the war for the Sunshot forces, saved NMJ's life in Nightless city, saved Lan Xichen in hiding, rebuilt the Cloud Recesses, built the Watchtowers that saved thousands of commoners over the years (many more than some random night hunt by the gentry ever had), and single handedly gave a decade of peace and prosperity to the jianghu?

That is not to say he did not commit atrocities to protect himself (again, he was hardly the only one to do so) but... way to absolutely ignore all of the significant, enormous good he did. He saved so, so many more people than anyone else in the story. Tenfold, a hundredfold more. I have to assume not much thought was spared to JGY's motivations to have such an incomplete and two-dimensional view of him... I encourage you to think past the villain bias and go back to the actual story to fact check (and for what it's worth, if you've only seen CQL/The Untamed I assure you you don't have all the facts!)

The salient point is that mxtx makes these parallels between wwx and jgy on purpose, and none of it is about who is "good" or "bad" and what is "deserved". You do the story a disservice by flattening it to good vs bad., and besides it simply does not work if you read it that way: if the story were simply about good people winning and bad people getting their due, how do you explain what happened to XXC, WQ, WN, etc?





[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Re your meta: How has immortality not been a good experience for Darkling? He grew to be quite powerful because of the immortality and time.

I’ve talked about this before in a slightly different context.

He does have power, but that power has been acquired at the expense of all other potentials for happiness.

I would frankly argue that immortality bringing him misery isn’t necessarily a matter of interpretation rather than outright text. The narration often brings attention to his bleakness. He is isolated, feared by even the people closest to him— rightfully so. His most important relationship is with his mother, an equally miserable and bitter woman who he blinds, who eventually commits suicide in a bid to stop him. The sincerity of his desire for some sort of connection with Alina is debatable (I think it is genuine) but it is fact that he basically has no one else.

His life just doesn’t sound particularly fulfilling! And you may attribute that to his actions rather than it being an inherent effect of immortality. But immortality is what has shaped him into the person that he is by the trilogy.

In my opinion, the story doesn’t function if the Darkling is happy. If he were happy, he wouldn’t be so unchangeable in his perspective or *afraid* to be proven wrong. If he were happy, he wouldn’t need Alina to turn out exactly like him and to validate his choices. He is a character that is ruled by sunk cost fallacy.

He is positioned in the narrative as Alina’s foil and the threat of what she could become. The story draws a direct line between power and immortality, and the main theme it is concerned with is the inherent corruptive nature of power. Therefore immortality itself, as a concept, is presented as a corrupting state.

I don’t tend to approach the trilogy and the duology as a single narrative, because I feel they thematically contradict each other and aren’t written with the same ideas in mind. But it’s worth bringing up that the other immortals we see in KoS are uniquely warped, completely othered from humanity, and also distinctly miserable. Even outside of their purgatory, Elizaveta would simply never be happy. Neither would the shambling, shape shifting mass that is Grigori. The series pretty consistently presents immortality as a cruel and wholly transformative fate that, ideally, should be avoided.

That’s why in Demon in the Wood we see the Darkling so young and so vulnerable. He has a capacity for cruelty even then, but it’s explicitly due to the direness of his circumstances. That’s also why the faint nods to his insistence of the Grisha following peasant customs is, imo, really integral. Likewise, his claim to only being motivated by the greater good of his country and Grisha as a whole, is a farce now. But it wasn’t always. To fulfill his role in the narrative, he cannot have always been an unfeeling, selfish mass murderer. It’s his long life that has slowly transformed him into that.

He starts out ambitious, but that ambition has eaten at him from the inside until he’s nothing but a husk. The sheer force of time has slowly worn away at his morals, has made him discover that there isn’t any line he wouldn’t cross if it‘s for a good enough purpose. And over the years, the bar he needs to clear for “good enough” drops lower and lower.

The longer he lives, the lonelier he becomes, the less he sees other people as people, they’ll all die in the blink of an eye anyway. The more he sacrifices for gaining power, the more he becomes convinced that power is the only thing that matters. He cannot even consider any other way to live, because if he did, that means acknowledging that all those centuries of being miserable were for nothing.

I know your question wasn’t a moral one, rather than approaching it from his perspective of happiness. But with such a (formerly) ideals driven character, I think the realization that he’s sitting on centuries’ worth of accumulated corpses for absolutely no pay off or greater purpose is itself a looming source of anguish that he’s trying very, very hard to avoid.

[evelhak]

Feeling daring today - Haizaki for the character and ship bingo ;)

Your takes are much more interesting, so there may not be anything illuminating here but I tried. xD

*Non-sarcastically normal. Haizaki is a pretty neutral character when I think about him by myself, I just don't have that special connection to him.

*However I love him when you talk about him and I'm sure I would love him more if I just had an incentive to write about him. But I don't feel anything like that because you're already giving him justice. My brain doesn't really work unless I feel like I have something substantial to contribute, which I don't.

*Haizaki definitely still gets a lot of unjustified hate, because he was framed as a villain and people then interpreted his every action as coming from the worst place imaginable, while other characters' actions get understanding just because they can see those characters' sides but can't see Haizaki's since he wasn't written in a sympathetic way. On one hand, that's fair to me, if your fic needs a villain it makes sense to pick a character whose motivations were not discussed deeply, so you can turn him into as much of a villain as you want, because you have no need to think about that particular character so deeply. However, the rate at which this happens to Haizaki perfectly exemplifies how the same dynamic happens in real life, especially at schools. He has the outward characteristics of the person who is always the easiest to blame. Not that there isn't stuff to blame him for, it's just that when he gets blamed for more than his share, it becomes a vicious cycle. Not to say it would affect his likability to me even if he never grew less violent or got his shit together, because my like and dislike for fictional characters is not based on morality or whether or not I would like that character in real life. 😂 I didn't pay that much attention to him solely because I just overlooked his story as pretty been there done that. Any character depth he has is implied at best, because he's a side character. I would much rather see an actual depiction of the dynamics that get projected onto him. And you are doing that, so, I'm not complaining.

*I do think Haizaki is pretty silly, he's so macho but he's also kind of wishy-washy about it. Like, one minute he can be thundering on like any of the other macho characters but then his line for changing his mind and going like "you know what, not worth it, actually" is much lower. And somehow he gets depicted as pathetic for that, even though it may actually just be common sense and self-preservation.

*Honestly I need to remind myself that Haizaki exists, sometimes. I'm sorry. He just wasn't that compelling to me initially. I didn't demonise him (I'd like to think that I don't demonise anyone) I just wasn't interested enough. I knew there were reasons he acts the way he does but I didn't make actual effort to find out. You've done some good to me, reminding me that my perception is more limited than I would like, because I tend to pride myself for considering everyone's viewpoints. (Not 100% possible, but I try.)

*Well you said it, Haizadick is not an inaccurate term, no matter what way you look at it.

I didn't ship anyone with Haizaki because I didn't think about his life much before talking to you, so...

*Congrats, your Haizaki and his relationships are now basically canon to me. : D

*I just put that second tier text there because I imagine it's where the relationships that last a bit longer would go, and I think Haizaki just has many short relationships before maybe ending up with his end game.

*I mean I assume he has had fun short relationships with many girls.

*And probably many one-night stands.

*I literally just got it in my head that maybe he experimented with a guy once, while I was making this. He seems like a curious type even though I'm kind of assuming he's straight.

*Yeah, I theoretically get why these are ships but no I don't really get it, I would be lying if I said I truly deeply understood it.

I know my shipping tiers are a mix of "I actually root for it" and "I just sort of think it would happen" but that's what you get from me. : D

[epickiya722]

🌙 🐇 THE RABBIT DUO 🐇 💚

I just thought about this thinking about my BotB AU because I have a side story planned for it.

Anyways!

You know what else I find appealing about the idea of Miruko being Midoriya’s mentor during the Work Studies?

Her learning from him.

Listen, listen, hear me out.

Look, the majority of us find that Miruko could have been just as good as a mentor for Midoriya because their fighting styles is so similar. I mean, truth be told it did make more sense for Midoriya to have trained under Gran Torino because he works with speed and kicks. He even learned a new trick from him.

(And as iffy a lot of the fandom feel towards Gran Torino, take note he trained All Might who later became Midoriya’s mentor, who initially Midoriya was using similar punching moves from. When you think about it, Midoriya was already learning from Gran Torino before even meeting him. Hm. But I digress!)

So no doubt, Midoriya would have progressed just as much under her guidance like he did with Endeavor.

But! Let's consider the other way around!

I'm not talking powering up or anything adjacent.

I'm talking about morality, character and values. Those sort of things.

Miruko is all about working alone, right? She's brash, she's fearless, she speaks her mind. She goes in fighting with the instinct to end things right then and there.

Opposite of early!Midoriya who was more timid and insecure about himself. By the time, Work Studies came around, he was a lot less so. But who is to say he still couldn't learn to be more confident in his abilities under Miruko?

And it could work in reverse!

Here's something I noted about Endeavor during the Work Studies when it comes to Midoriya.

He gains empathy and even respect towards Midoriya. Even before that Midoriya serves as a catalyst to the Todoroki Family's changes in their relationships. Shoto would probably still wouldn't learn to hone his fire powers, pursue rekindling his relationship with his mother and probably would have became more cruel. With Shoto changing, thus a chain of events within the Todoroki Family happens.

That is just an example of how Midoriya can affect people, make them realize something about themselves they haven't recognized before.

They learn from him. We seen this with plenty of characters.

Miruko would be no different.

With Midoriya, she could learn to be a little bit more compassionate. She would have grown attached to him and soften up because who doesn't? It's Midoriya!

Also, self reflection.

What I don't think what's realized is while she shares personality similarities with Bakugou, she holds a lot more similarities with Midoriya.

I already wrote a post about their similarities and I just mentioned their fighting styles, so let me just note the one other similarity they have.

THEY DO NOT KNOW WHEN TO QUIT IN A FIGHT.

They both hold their drive to win, not because they have this ego to win. But because they don't want to have regrets. They get reckless.

Miruko herself says she fights for the greater good, regardless of her condition in a fight. She wants to get the job done because there are people who need saving. Even if that person is stronger than her, she doesn't give a damn and continue on until she can't. It took her to pass out to not fight anymore.

JUST LIKE MIDORIYA.

Both have got into fights where they disregard help, but don't mind assisting others. They're selfless and selfish.

They're practically immune to pain at this point. They improvise and are attentive.

With that, when it comes to bettering yourself, changing your flaws and whatnot who is the biggest influence into doing that?

Yourself.

You can have other people in your life change who you are and make you realize your character, but it starts and ends with you.

And sometimes, it takes someone who is a lot like you to finally see those flaws.

Midoriya is just a taller, male version of Miruko with a nicer personality, green curls and eyes and freckles.

If Miruko, who does pay attention to others, stood on the sidelines and watch Midoriya in a fight, she will probably see those similarities. She will have that self-reflection because she's looking straight into a mirror.

She will learn her flaws from him because she feels them.

Let's be honest, it's how a lot of us recognize our own issues. By seeing the same ones in someone else.

So, in my opinion, Miruko training Midoriya during the Work Studies, hell, just being his mentor in general would have been great. Maybe even better.

Midoriya could have still learn how to handle his powers with her guidance, learn some more skill sets from someone who shares a similar fighting style. But also Miruko could learn from him, see how she is as a person, built that connection.

And really, they could have been this (the current in story) generation's Nana and All Might.

[siflshonen]

Sometimes I think people project too much about the effects of Bakugou's bullying on Izuku's mental health/thoughts in general

And most of that stems from them considering both Izuku and Katsuki as one dimensional characters and ignoring that it's a manga set in the Japanese society

I'm not here to say that Katsuki hasn't done anything bad or that Izuku was totally unaffected!

But it's so fucking annoying how people talk about Izuku as if he's only the sweet and too good victim and Katsuki only as the violent kid who doesn't care about anything and anyone (which imo has always been a false statement, Katsuki always thinks about what happens around him (sometimes even too much))

And I don't understand if it's about people lacking reading comprehension skills, not wanting character development/characters with more than one personality trait, or (more likely) using online takes and moral compass to decide which character has to live happily and who doesn't

Anon, I don't know exactly why folks like to paint Katsuki and Izuku into a black-and-white villain dynamic, but I have a few general guesses. Though I'll admit I don't find that the most interesting thing to point out regarding this.

Katsuki and Izuku are like a litmus test for their whole society.

Their relationship is one of the most central to the manga not just because it's compelling (or at least detailed), but because almost every other character story or character dynamic is reflected off it or related back to it in some way - be it a compare/contrast, in the main text, in the subtext... you name it. You've already pointed it out by considering the circumstances and factors surrounding Toga (and her parents and classmates), Dabi (and his family), and Twice (and his clones. But do you think Twice corners the market on having a breakdown over his identity being a constant question? All of these characters I've mentioned so far, as well as Ochako, Shouto AND ENJI Todoroki, Shinso, Monoma and Tenko/Shigaraki, among others, are struggling with their individuality and ego as part of their main, non-subtext plot on some level! It's probably the other biggest thing to pay attention to in their arcs even if it isn’t the main point of contention! But less on that now.) People don't just "do bad things" without other factors at play. In fact, you can't even label what they do "good" or "bad" without a society to make that framework.

I think a failure to grasp the intricacies and implications of the Katsuki-Izuku dynamic is a failure to grasp the point of BNHA. Not because they are the most important part of it, but because they're the constant compendium and illustrative example of the central problem and the in-story universality of it. How does one understand the Todoroki situation without also understanding the Katsuki-Izuku situation? The Tenko/Shigaraki-AFO situation? The Toga-Ochako situation? Somehow, I doubt one would.

I've expressed this sentiment in schmoopy poetry and I'll say it again in fanfiction and also here: When the world is in balance, Katsuki and Izuku are not afraid to love one another. Their society is not in balance if the two of them aren't also in balance and in sync.

[matan4il]

Good morning, sweet Alice. I want to write and comment every day! But my mood fluctuates from anger, sadness, rage, and disappointment that sometimes it's hard to find the right words or tones. Especially because it can feel petty in regards to what you are actually living through.

So I thought you know what I couldn't share anything new with you. Why don't I tell you a story back??

This has been an interesting few weeks in my corner of CA for how many people are actually paying attention now. I don't think Iran expected Hamas to succeed this far and now........ it's fucking out there. In ways that show their evil to normies that can't be ignored. In reference, especially about the baby in the over.

I had one friend call me to ask, what exactly is Hamas and for once listen to me about the answer.

I had a younger family member remove their palestine river to the sea post from a year ago and actually call me. To ask questions.

On a sad note, I have one friend whose little sister is leaving her college and coming home at the end of the semester. We can't be there to help her, but we have been door dashing and locals checking in on her. She's terrified to leave her dorm. With that, though, it's actually opening people's eyes to the leftist extremist on college campuses. At least she can come home and be safe with friends and family. She's not the only one!!

People are finally asking questions and paying attention. I think it will get uglier before it's better. But it's a loud disingenuous loud. There is push back finally. People can not comprehend the evil acts that Hamas executed. And they won't be shamed into moral equivalency it.

I hope you're all staying safe!!! Thank you for always updating us!!!

My darling friend! *hugs*

Thank you so much for this. For all of it. Your words are always kind and meaningful, and simply knowing that you wanna write daily is so beautiful, I feel blessed that you found my blog, and I got to meet you! I felt that way even before this massacre, and I feel that even more since... <333

IDK what Hamas and Iran expected. The amount of ammunition and weapons that Hamas brought with them was meant to allow them to hold entire town hostage for way longer than the 24-36 or so hours that they did (depending on which town we're talking about). I heard estimates ranging from several days to a month. Either way, they came prepared for longer than they lasted. So, did they manage more than they expected, 'coz at first they did get to kill so many defenseless civilians with no interference, as they managed to neutralize the security forces? Or did they succeed less than expected, since they lost control of Israeli towns faster than they intended? I don't know.

I do believe that Hamas (and maybe Iran as well) expected Israel to strike back, but without taking down Hamas, which is what happened in previous cases. In 2014, they kidnapped and murdered three Jewish teenagers. But for a while, the fate of those boys was unknown. The Hamas launched rockets at Israel for arresting their terrorists as Israeli security forces tried to find out what happened to the kidnapped boys. Then, by the time the bodies were recovered, dumped in a field, Hamas used the terror tunnels that they secretly built into Israeli territory in order to kidnap and kill Israelis. I'll never forget the tunnel they dug into a kindergarten. They only managed to kidnap the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. No living hostages. Maybe they thought that if they got away with that whole sequence of events, they'd get away with this, too. Maybe they really believed Israel didn't take down Hamas back then because we're cowards, not because of the cost in human life to both sides.

But as for the west's reaction, I find it incredibly reassuring to hear from you that some people have not become SO radicalized, that the massacre of Israelis is something they can justify, ignore or deny. That's comforting, but IDK how representative it is. Because I don't remember people being this bold in their antisemitism in the past, either. I don't remember that people just flat out said that Jews deserve to die for something we are not. I do not remember Jewish students being this scared on college campuses or in their own homes before this false narrative that casts Jews as colonizers of their own native land. And while I'm glad that there are people waking up, I think others are sinking even deeper into the pool of Kool Aid. I've seen people who I hadn't seen posting against Israel before doing just that, and I have seen people shamelessly denying the atrocities of the massacre... And I have no way of knowing what's happening more, people being shaken out of their apathy to the well being of Israeli Jews, or people even further de-humanizing us.

I'm so grateful for your dose of optimism! I am very much embracing it to my heart, and keeping it close to me, and I will pray with all my might that at the end of the day, people are kind, and they do recognize the reality of the threat that Israel is facing. I'm even more grateful to you for speaking up, and educating others, making sure to pass on our voices to those we can't reach. What you're doing is truly essential, and I wish I had a way to show you just how thankful I am.

Sending you all my endless love, always! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[elliewiltarwyn]

Top 5 Mounts! I love seeing which mounts people are drawn too!

ohhh, that's not something I think about often, and I'm lucky enough to have acquired a hefty number of rare ones, so this is going to be fun and sentimental! and maybe a little humblebraggy im sorry im not trying to be! :D

-------------

Eden

like many players I'm sure, Shadowbringers was when the game really for good hooked me for life, and Ryne is a significant part of that. I loved her character so much that I was overjoyed when I realized the raid series was not only going to expand on her as a character, but give her a girlfriend.

But that's not the only reason; Eden's Promise is also the tier my static formed and we began to take on savage raids, and one of my greatest memories of this game is defeating the final E12S boss alongside them like 0.7 seconds before she enraged. The Oracle of Darkness is still one of my favorite fights in the whole game, and between that, the fact that the whole raid storyline is a handwrapped gift for lesbians who have Ryne as their favorite character, and a personal fondness for FF8 YEAH THAT'S RIGHT I SAID IT SUCK IT GAMEFAQS BOARDS FROM 1998...well, getting to ride Actually Eden in this game kind of rules.

I do wish it played The Extreme though. :V

2. Sunforged

Meanwhile, Abyssos was extremely memorable for, unfortunately, much different reasons. A lot of our group started facing a lot of personal problems IRL, and we had to say goodbye to some very good friends we had made and then bring new ones up to speed on the tier, so it took us an immensely long time to make it all the way to P8S, prog both phases of the fight, and get eight clears for all of us; we were struggling so much that even when the tier unlocked, we weren't able to clear him more than once a week. I still think P8S is too rough around the edges and I like the fight a lot less than the other Pandaemonium finales - not necessarily poorly designed, but extremely demanding to the point it was actually taking a toll on us.

...So basically, to me the Sunforged represents us dragging our broken, battered bodies over the finish line of the raid tier, succeeding despite all the shit both it and real life threw at us. We fought really fuckin' hard for this fucker, and as difficult as it was I'm really, immensely proud of us for managing it.

Also the mount itself is just sick af. Big fire snek!

and it turns into a godsdamned phoenix for flight, come on!!

3. Garlond GL-II

i mean come on this thing was built for biker girl femroes!!

4. Megaloambystoma

I am BEYOND LIVID that the Axolotl mount is locked behind Savage. Savage is for neckbeard no-lifers who play this game 24/7. Give them a crappy Magitek mount or something but cute mounts do NOT belong to raiders!!!

okay but seriously look at this dope. what a good boy. and in addition to being cute AF he ALSO has a sentimental story about my static's experiences with the relevant raid tier: for some strange reason, for the last bits of phase 1 and all of phase 2 of P12S in particular, I was the one who ended up studying the fight, writing down explanations, walking the group through the mechanics, and making callouts. it'd be a little aggrandizing to claim that Pallas Athena is my victory because obviously it's the whole group's... but it is the fight that somehow made me the one confident enough to lead my friends through it.

So in a weird way, this little dope is like, a representation of my self-esteem. I love him.

5. Fat Cat

I'm a cat person. I was morally obligated to buy this. Pay no attention to the mount description that posits that it is either a VOIDSENT using a BLOATED CAT'S CORPSE AS ITS CORPOREAL VESSEL, or a DECEASED PET REANIMATED by one well versed in the NECROMANTIC ARTS. these are lies and slander. look at this :3 face. is this the face of someone who would hide their true insidious voidtinged nature? clearly not. stop worrying about it. you don't need to sleep with a knife under your pillow with this baby around. >:3

this was really fun to reminisce and write about, thank you @disciple-of-frost for the ask!!

[tfw-no-tennis]

csm 133 thoughtz....

I realized today that I read this every week and i love liveblogging so why not combine those two things. wow

I'm loving the completely objective signs that state factual things such as ‘not human’ and ‘chainsaw devil,’ thank you for those, chainsaw man protestors lol

yoshida let denji out of the yaoi dungeon?! interesting

‘I'm a good boy’ denji ily 

I loooove all of denjis delayed reactions to things lmfao

I feel like denji fr has brain damage from all his head trauma and lobotomies lol its like in the john wick movies how he gets less coherent as they go on bc, imo, he’s gotten so many concussions that by the 4th one he can barely talk

really like the panel of denji and yoshida sitting calmly and all the anti and pro csm people are clashing in the background. 

especially w/denji saying he kinda likes people fighting over him...but none of them realize that denji, sitting right there, is chainsaw man. poetry bro

oooh, getting political. I do (sometimes) love like, anime superpower’d world politics. it can be well done

love how vastly different yoshida and denjis priorities are 

like, yoshida is playing 5D chess and denji just ate a rock he found on the ground. and I don't mean this derisively for denji, its good that his priorities are nayuta et al

‘you no longer have sole control over chainsaw man’ is interesting. denji - chainsaw man - is becoming a figure beyond denji and chainsaw man himself. the IDEA of him is being used almost more than csm himself

oh damnnnnnn 

yoshida literally w/the ‘quit your job’ ‘what’ ‘join my emo band’ bit. except he doesn’t even offer to let denji join his band smh. I KNOW yoshida has an emo band just look at him

denjis facial expressions are the best lmao

YOSHIDA THATS FUCKING DARK GODDAMN 

I'm not shocked tho. he’s so sketchy!!!! I seriously STILL cant pin down what his deal is. whose side is he on!? what's his agenda, personally?!

damn. simplistically put, yoshida is kinda right. denji can live a normal life if he stops being chainsaw man voluntarily 

EXCEPT NO, because the apocalypse would still be happening or whatever, and denji is all fucked up and traumatized, and integrating with the ‘normies’ isn't gonna work as well as hanging out with weirdos and freaks like he’s currently doing

speaking of, WHERE is asa I miss her:( 

lmfao @ yoshida being like ‘ill be your friend if you quit being csm denji!!! I prommy!’

loooove those panels of yoshida describing what denjis ‘normal life’ could look like, over background of protestors fighting

DENJI ILY............

again with the 5D chess vs eating a rock. denji is so great because he’s so straightforward. he wants everyone to pay attention to him and fight over him!!!! he likes the attention, positive and negative, he gets as chainsaw man!!! he’s not too proud or ashamed to admit to that - he’s not the type to even attempt to be modest and pretend that he’s only chainsaw man to help people...if anything, that's a side effect of the rest of the deal

and to denji its simple: he doesn’t want to stop being csm, and he also doesn’t want nayuta to be killed. c’mon yoshida get with it

yoshida telling denji to be selfless, essentially...lmao bro who do you think you’re talking to

denji CAN be selfless but This Is Not The Way To Achieve That

HE CHOOSES BOTH. BOTH OPTIONS. lmao I love him

also I really question public safety’s ability to hold nayuta captive. js. 

denji trying to assemble the protestors to kill yoshida lmaoooooo

oh yep lmao there she is

OH AWWWWW they’re so cute uhghhhh I’m so glad they reunited

love her pose when she’s calling for denji. weirdgirlcore

I will say I’m still wary of nayuta...I feel like the story is purposely vague about her morals - like last chapter with her telling her classmates to give her their desserts - where’s the line between typical amoral tween behavior and like, not valuing human life? im excited to see more of her tho

yoshida w/some HILARIOUS facial expressions

nayuta not swearing lmaooooo

I wonder if yoshida thinks that denji agreed to his terms lol

we haven’t seen basically any of public safety this part...I wanna know how its been going there. is kishibe still involved???? did kobeni rejoin lmaoooo

the fact that they’ve had such little presence makes me think they’re pretty powerless. I wonder if their threat against nayuta really holds any weight

yoshida at the end hahaha ‘did he not understand me?’ dude I’m telling you hes playing -2D checkers MAYBE. this is the guy who recently lobotomized himself rather than face his trauma. plsssss

great chapter and I’m excited to read more as always. I wonder if we’ll catch up with asa next...

[mdhwrites]

Molly McGee is great... But

I absolutely see why it’s not a hit on social media. There’s two elements of it versus TOH and Amphibia that really highlight why I think Molly McGee is a great kid’s show, why I would personally want kids watching it over TOH but why Cartoon fandoms aren’t interested in it the same way without judging its quality. And I can do that with a funeral metaphor of all things. The first element is each show’s interest in morality and how well it delivers both the basic messages and the deeper messages that kid’s shows are meant to be doing. After all, they’re kids. If the parents aren’t spending time teaching them how behave, the show better be doing it itself. It’s why so many cartoons are effectively centered a single moral per segment/episode. The Owl House’s morals are the ones being mourned because most of them are six feet under in the grave that was just dug. It technically has them but has no interest in them and will actively undercut its own messages because parts of its main cast aren’t exactly good people and the show struggles with even using them once they do gain a mostly black and white morality. And frankly it’s just best if you don’t think about the morals of the show in the end. Meanwhile, Amphibia made the tombstone and Anne is working on finishing the little details on it that make it all the better. The picture on the front is enough to commemorate the dead though. Effectively: It not only manages straight forward morality but also is very sly in the elements that work to elevate some of the messages to an even better one than most kid’s shows manage, such as toxic relationships that start being hinted at as early as episode one. But you don’t NEED to be paying attention in order to get it. And then Molly is using the shovel she dug the grave with to smash someone in the face with her morality. It’s effective... But blunt. About as blunt as most kid’s shows commonly are which is part of the quality of the episodes can vary a bit because the less interesting the moral, or the less that needs to be said about it, the more the show struggles. But it ALWAYS gets its point across. And blunt morality is simply one of those things that kid’s shows are blasted for. People don’t like being talked down to and it’s seen as lesser art if a story is talking down but sometimes it’s better to be blunt than it is to risk missing the point. At least in my opinion. But the point stands that from an ‘adult’ perspective, it’s not a good thing so why share about how good the morality in Molly McGee is when it is genuinely good but people checking analytical boxes will dismiss it for being blunt? But... Let’s invert this with the second element: The progressive/subversive element. The ability to say that this show is unlike other cartoons. Eda has crashed the wake to tell you exactly, EXACTLY, how she’s the best and has fucked the L, G, B, T, Q, I, A and is working on the plus AS SHE SPEAKS. If Molly McGee is blunt with its morals, TOH is blunt in how special it is, regardless of the quality of those claims. Meanwhile, the lesbian mechanic couple from Amphibia are working on serving drinks and cooking the food that people are enjoying. They’re willing to be in the background but they are definitely and putting in the work. And Molly has dived into the ghost realm with Scratch to apologize profusely and fight the ghost council to make up for killing the dude with a shovel earlier. It has no interest in being anything other than what it is. And again, these aren’t value judgements. My blog has been dedicated to ripping apart ALL of TOH’s claims of being special because they allow me to talk about various of writing for MONTHS NOW. I’m personally surprised about it. Meanwhile, it’s not like being irreverent is perfect either. There are episodes that lose me some by being too childish or that I do think muddy its blunt message by trying WAY too hard in its over the top elements. But if we’re simply talking about what will make a story popular on Twitter... TOH’s approach is very effective. The show GIVES you the talking points in how to say it’s special where as Molly McGee has no interest in being special. It manages it sometimes, I think it is being an overlooked gem, but it’s not by design, it’s simply by being itself so the elements are easier to miss. And yes, in S2, I know Molly has a straight crush. The show hasn’t really shown an interest in championing LGBTQIA+ causes even though it’s not being negative towards them either. They just haven’t been mentioned, even as other minorities, and a CANON NUERODIVERGENT PERSON (autism specifically!) enters the cast. Buuuut shipping is a powerful force in fandom and while you absolutely can ship with the Molly McGee characters, it’s not really leaning into it like TOH specifically does to its detriment. I personally push that people check it out. I think it’s a show that deserves more eyes than it’s getting, especially as its ratings continue to crater so I’ll surprised if it gets a third season, if maybe pulled faster than that and see a real cancellation, but I also can’t tell you specifically why. It has a lot of great traits but nothing wholly unique to it. Though, I do want to shout out the animation. The concept is the GHOST and Molly McGee and they are not afraid to squash, stretch, etc. that Ghost in every way possible to sell what Scratch and every other ghost in the show is. It REALLY works with its concept and is not afraid of just getting bonkers with its animation to do it. And the human characters aren’t bad either. I ADORE Molly’s expressions especially. So yeah: Go watch The Ghost and Molly McGee. It’s not perfect but if you’re just looking for a good time, you’re not really going to be disappointed. Just make sure to let it be the kid’s show it is.

=======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[mystech-master]

Why I Defend Ragna the Bloodedge (Part 2)

Based on recent stuff I have seen I need to make a continuation of Part 1

I have seen a lot of Jin defense posts both here and on Reddit and now I feel the need to expand on my points.

Long Post Below

The real reason I am obsessed with Ragna, is this massive level of "Take it in the ass" that the story is enforcing.

Yes, life is hard and kicks your ass but find the little things that make it worth it. But how does Blazblue present that?

A lot of Ragna's friends and allies give him a lot of shit for very understandable reactions as I brought up before. And I doubt the few that are good to him would be enough to any other person. Tao is nice but she isn't really someone you can talk about your problems to. Ragna interacts with Noel a lot less than you'd think, Celica has a similar role to Noel as a "cute girl who smiles when you do good and will cry if you do bad" which is its own thing.

The other characters are assholes and Ragna is supposed to deal with it b/c they are superior and also the cute girl wants him to.

I don't believe that being a girl should be why someone cares about you. We are not all Sanji from One Piece. Being a girl doesn't mean you should be treated any better or worse than anyone else. It doesn't mean people should be coddling you, treating you with kid's gloves, or being worried that you're gonna cry (these people should be in their late teens to early 20s FFS). And before you say "BUT NOEL IS ACTUALLY 5!" No, she is chronologically 5 years old, but that doesn't mean she is literally a diaper baby. She is physically and mentally (or at least should be) around the same age as Makoto and Tsubaki, stop infantilizing her.

And I get it, there are sometimes assholes in life that you have to just deal with. Who hasn't had to deal with an asshole classmate, co-worker, work superior, or customer? But the difference here is that when we have to deal with those people, we have a life outside of that to look forward to. Friends and family who help even out the BS. A lot of these people are both the friends/family AND the BS that makes his life more difficult!!! 1-2 cute girls smiling should not make people being assholes to him okay, and just b/c he isn't responding with being calm, cool, and collected doesn't;t mean his feelings shouldn't;t be ignored.

As for the Jin part, I have been reevaluating what I think of their situation.

I have seen many people defending Jin, from a psychoanalysis someone did on Reddit where they do point out that Ragna did show favoritism towards Saya in their youth and that gave him issues. As well as someone saying that the Church scene in CF wouldn't be where they work out their issues due to complexity.

Let me break down what I know about Jin's development in the series.

Same as Ragna, raised in a lab where he was experimented on, but he had his big bro to protect him, saved by Jubei and brought to the Sister's Church where they were raised in the middle of nowhere. Ragna pays more attention to Saya which breeds resentment.

Terumi tells Saya to give Jin Yukianesa which he uses to break the protective barrier around the land and Yukianesa (also the Power of Order and Terumi's Mind Eater) makes him kill Ragna. I forgive Jin for this because he is a kid with like 3 superpowers forcing him to do this so I don't hold this against him.

He is then adopted by the Kisaragi Clan where he becomes a prodigy but also is hated by his new adoptive family and assassins are sent after him. This barely comes up and I kind of view it the same way I view the whole "Tsubaki being inbred" thing: just edgy background fluff to make the characters sound more tragic. He is nice to some people but again I can't tell how much of this is a lie considering his inner asshole comes in. Tsubaki just makes it seem like he can be nice but he's just being a selective asshole about it (and I have said that it just feels like their ship just exists to give Jin SOME morality, and I have seen some other people have said that their ship feels like 2 homosexuals being forced into a hetero-ship).

He fights in the Ikaruga Civil War and apparently based on the novel he resists Yukianesa's urge to murder everyone (even though Jin at this point in his development has no reason to give a fuck, I feel like they had Jin's CP-CF development in mind when they were writing this and if KAGURA can say he killed people we can believe Jin did), he kills Lord Tenjo but realizes some truth before Terumi mind wipes him. Apparently, him losing this memory and being branded a war hero upsets him, but IDK if he is upset about the past memories b/c "I did something wrong and I care" or f it'd be something more like "Grrrr, my pride". Or maybe I am missing something

He gets the position of Major with Noel as his secretary, and he is kind of shit. Like I said before, skipping meetings and not doing paperwork, as well as treating Saya like ass just because she LOOKS like the little sister that got preferential treatment. And unless he has the anime-6th sense that tells him the plot that everyone but Ragna has, as far as he knows this is just a stranger that LOOKS like Saya.

He gets notice of Ragna the Bloodedge destroying NOL bases and he then goes after him, not out of duty to the NOL, but b/c Yukianesa makes him REALLY want to murder him. Ragna kicks his ass and he is hauled off to be treated when Hazama and Noel find him. He still goes to try to find Ragna while resisting Yukianesa AND the Power of Order (which basically exists to say "You must fight Ragna b/c you are Shonen Rivals") while saying that he must kill Ragna to save him b/c of his suffering, which IDK HOW he'd jump to that conclusion when he's barely talked to him at this point, if AT ALL.

He fights Tsubaki who tries to get him to come back to the NOL, where he then talks about all the corruption and how much they suck, trying to give a moral high ground to him where he was aware of all of it but he never did anything about it, and he basically rejects Tsubaki so hard she becomes a Sith Lord.

He and Ragna fight again with Ragna telling him to not let the sword control him. They put aside their differences and fight Mu-12. Then after Izanami makes her grand entrance, Jin reveals that Saya gave him Izanami after Ragna reveals that THIS is Saya.

He then goes to train with Jubei to master the Power of Order so he can save Tsubaki from the Imperator's Mind Control. He saves Tsubaki by using the Power of Order to resist the Immortal Breaker (even though it feels like that shouldn't matter sense the Immortal Breaker isn't just "So strong it can kill Immortals", it "Makes them Observe their own Death" so it can only kill Observers,, basically it could kill Schrodinger-Alucard from Hellsing. I mean it is still a big ass Pike so him using the PoO to basically pull a Guts and survive would make sense, but needing to use it's IB function isn't necesary.

He then just sticks around, even though he said he was only there for Tsubaki b/c he has nothing better to do. He fights Ragna after he goes berserk in the ending and gets so fucked up that not even Celica can heal him.

CF is hard b/c a LOT of it is exposition and outside of the big shit (everything around fighting Nine to the Church to Izanami to Susanoo) I have a HARD time remembering the finer details of this.

Jin tells Tsubaki about his backstory before the Kisaragi's and that Ragna is his brother, Tsubaki says he shouldn't kill Ragna since he is his brother, and she wants to take up that burden (even though it'll never happen). In the Arcade mode, he defends Noel, saying that "What good is saving the world if we sacrifice the lives in it", while still saying he'll kill Ragna.

Then the Church scene. I believe that this, THIS, is where Ragna and Jin should've dropped the exposition and talked about their situation like actual people. Give us some development and closure for this and not just say "They have been fighting and arguing all this time but it's okay b/c they're brothers". But no, apparently their issues are too complicated to be solved like that.

Then why have I been watching this?

Why give me this plot point and NEVER GO ANYWHERE WITH IT!? Once CP comes around and everyone is being forced to focus on the big plot, none of the interpersonal conflicts come into play. the 3 Power of Order guys wanting to kill Ragna, Ragna and Jin's messed up family situation, Noel being a friend of Ragna and well as being a clone of his sister and how that'll reflect her relationship with Tsubaki, Celica being Ragna's greatest supporter vs Tsubaki hating him for existing. All interesting inter-personal conflicts that either don't exist b/c Rachel/Kagura/Kokonoe have to pull everyone into "Main Plot" mode, or when/if they ARE acknowledged it is just an excuse for every Arcade/Story Mode fight o have some Big Climactic Story Moment but it never actually GOES anywhere.

Jin is the Power of Order meant to kill Ragna, it BARELy comes up b/c once CP comes along they are focusing on the bigger threat and Ragna is erased at the end anyway. Making that whole role seem meaningless and just exists to make them fight for fighting game reasons.

A last-minute hug between them doesn't make all the BS before between Ragna and Jin okay. It just makes it feel like they are saying that "Being family is a get-out-of-jail-Free card for being a total asshole". Yeah, they are probably just expecting us to exaggerate the usual Sibling Drama for this, but with all the other BS in this franchise. When are we supposed to view it literally/seriously, and when are we supposed to see it as "dumb/crazy/quirky/edgy anime BS"?

I am probably missing a LOT of details about Jin and maybe misinterpreting information that I haven't seen in a LONG while here, but I do kind of hyper-focus on Ragna b/c his status of the Butt-Monkey and how HARD it goes is just more compelling than "Jin is an asshole but everyone is cool with it". Just goes to show what parts of the story have stuck with me all these years.

It's not that I don't want there to be internal conflict in the/a story. Conflict from the villains is to be expected (which is why I don't rage at the villains as hard, they are VILLAINS doing what VILLAINS do) but inter-personal conflicts between the cast members I expect to be dealt with via proper development.

EVERYONE will Defend Jin b/c he has the more apparent/obvious tragedy, and Noel b/c she's a cute girl. But Ragna is the "man up and power through it" protagonist so we just expect him to take it in the ass b/c powering through adversity is the way of the protagonist.

But THIS is TOO MUCH!

BlazBlue has made me question a LOT of things in the past 5-6 years:

What people are worth respecting/defending?

How much is "doing good for the sake of doing good" actually worth it?

Is being "Worth it" enough, or should things be better? WHY can't they be better?

Why do we love/care about Family, and how far should familial love go?

Should there ever be such a thing as unconditional love?

Why would anyone want an anime-style friendship where you do nothing but argue/fight/insult each other but then have to wait for some big crisis for them to show they care?

Does caring about someone give you permission to treat them badly?

Where is the line between bad behavior that you just need to accept/deal with, and the behavior that you need to stop?

Do you need to be calm, cool, and collected all the time for your opinions/feelings to matter?

If someone isn't having fun or joining in on the silliness, should you get on their case about it?

and a lot more I can't think of right now

I might just be a stupid westerner/American who doesn't have the collective "respect the status quo/the whole" deal that Japanime land has, and I can see where it comes from. But it just goes way too far in this case.

It has almost ruined other franchises for me b/c I am now judging every relationship between the characters in a similar way I view this..

I have a lot of AUs/Crossover ideas in mind where I just turn Ragna into the most OP guy ever and have him question his bonds with everyone because I want to give this guy the higher ground for once. Yeah, it might go against the point of Ragna's character, but the o.g. point was presented horribly and it sucks ass. But I have been entertaining the idea of it not ending horribly, but I NEED a better understanding of all the other characters and how they can be better as well. B/c as they are now, unless you LIKE seeing everyone argue or having people be annoyed, it is just too much.