#nothing exists in a vacuum

[your-alien-friend]

I don’t like that they killed Izzy, but I don’t think they did it for the wrong reasons like many others have said. But I also don’t blame them for feeling that way. Sure, the show is full of old, queer, kinky, disabled characters. But Izzy is the only one we get to see reckon with that in real time (besides maybe jim but that is done really quickly with minimal discomfort).

I’d argue he’s among the most important queer rep in the show because he does struggle with those things. Ofmd created a wonderful world where aside from little peaks of the outsiders views here and there, everyone is accepted. I love that and would not have the show any other way. It was so important for me to see people like me be treated as just… normal. But there does create a kind of dissonance with relating to those characters because we don’t live in that world.

That’s where I felt Izzys presence allowed them to excel in that respect. He let them paint a complete picture. Ed and stede remind me of my early teens, the discovery of an attraction that feels right in a way nothing else ever did, the sweetness of that first true love (along with the ups and downs of homoerotic friendships lmao). They’re the experience you have with another person. The crew of the revenge remind me of getting older and finding community, the safety and camaraderie and relief you get with that. They’re the experience you have with a community. But Izzy, he reminds me of myself through all these stages. He is all the self hatred, the misplaced aggression, the isolation. And then he gets to be the beauty, and acceptance, and levity that comes with truthfulness to who you are. He is the experience you have with yourself.

And that’s exactly why his death is so devastating. He was such a heavy lifter.

I think there’s also something to be said about Con O’Neil opening up about being a queer man himself and experiencing some of Izzy’s journey with him through the show, and perceiving him loosing that as well.

So yeah I think it’s a big loss that outweighs the narrative benefits. And I think we all have a right to mourn that. But I don’t think it’s fair to throw around all these baseless accusations at the creators. While there’s more nuance to why loosing Iz is such a big deal, this is undeniably not because of writers being against who he was. It’s the classic archetype for his character type, you sin, you make amends, you die. I do think maybe more input from queer writers could have prevented him not being fully appreciated outside of his ‘literary’ function, but that’s speculation.

I’m sad and angry too. But I’d rather focus on what we were given with Izzy and all the work Con O’Neil put in to fully flesh that out. Their story really is a monument to how community and fiction can change lives, and just how closely the two are intertwined.

And I’m grateful for what Izzy got to be. He could have easily been thrown away as the bad guy but instead he got to be so so much more. I’m glad we got to see that, even if his end wasn’t befitting of his journey.

Anyway rip Izzy Hands you were a real one and I’ll love you forever. Everyone else stop bullying David Jenkins I’m in your walls.

[reggiemess]

Whenever you see something someone is doing to their appearance on purpose and you find it unattractive, consider this- it's not intended for you. Doesn't matter how major or minor, mundane or extreme. It's not meant for you, mind your own business.

[smokeys-house]

Is my work derivative? Perhaps!! But it is mine and all things must be derived from something

[trisockatops]

Two queer black people and one basic ass white man in The Summit finale. Of course the white dude got the extra money. There was literally no other way that was going to go.

[kaurwreck]

Another reason why I don't love quotes out of context (and maybe this comes from having been raised in the Deep South and Southern Gothic literature), but I think it encourages sanitization and censorship where language isn't acceptable. It's harmful.

I'm against glossing over the realities of the stories that shape us and our cultural histories, even where uncomfortable. Ignoring context dulls our ability to recognize the implications of what we're taking in when we engage with any media.

Hello I was wondering if you had a post of atsushi and chuuya quoting their IRL books? I thought I saw a post like that but I may be wrong

I've invited games in which I've responded to asks with lines from my favorite Nakahara Chuuya poems.

But, I haven't done the same with Nakajima Atsushi. I love reading Nakajima Atsushi's works, but his short stories, much like Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's, are tightly written; it would pain me a bit to pluck quotes out of context, when the punchiness of their stories can't be divorced from their overall construction.

(Which implies Nakahara Chuuya's meter and narratives aren't as clever, but really, I'm just far more ignorant regarding poetry and my ability to interpret poetry than I am short stories. I'm slightly more capable when navigating free verse like Arthur Rimbaud's, but what can I say, other than perhaps Nakahara Chuuya was right when, according to Kazuo Dan, he drunkenly shouted at Osamu Dazai, "There is no way a novelist can comprehend the soul of a poet!")

That said, there are other blogs that will share quotes from the irl works like @bsd-bibliophile, so perhaps that's who you're thinking about!

[stromblessed]

pretty much all analysis naming Mel any kind of "flawed" character, villain, or as problematic in any way, is terrible analysis. which is a phenomenon that goes against all my instincts but it is so real all the energy and interest I possess leaves my body every time

the thing is, Mel is a hero, Mel's intentions in season 1 are not as pure as the driven snow, Mel benefited from class divide pre-canon and during canon, yet Mel would have benefited from war and colonialism pre-canon only for her to reject it, she is both noticeably "nice" to all the protagonists in season 2 and removed from most of the plot, she is so many things because of her story and because of her writers and (unfortunately) because of the fandom -

and these "nuanced" analyses of her flaws and negative impact on the narrative are worthless

i can't even explain it. i get one sentence in and it immediately sucks. doesn't matter how true or technically correct the words are. i would rather read my linear algebra textbook and make a fandom for eigenvectors than engage with any level of Mel "criticism" no matter how mild. it could be one sentence in an otherwise long and carefully thought-out essay and i will quit that thing faster than my anxiety medication makes me fall asleep

the fandom or the writers can call Mel a manipulator, a liar, a capitalist, a billionaire, a seductress, "benefiting from zaun just like all the privileged characters", "kind of mean that one time, she should've been more polite" - whatever anyone can dream up - as many times as they want, and it won't be anything the entire fandom hasn't seen approximately 1,000 times since 2021. and it won't be anything every person who consumes any kind of media hasn't seen approximately 10,000 times since we each took our first breath in this world - when that media has women in it

why push this same analysis over and over again. what do you get out of this. does it make everybody feel smart to point out the obvious without bothering to go even one level deeper. do you think it makes her character more interesting to equate well-recognized surface-level negative tropes with negative morality, even when all of those tropes are either actively subverted or massively outweighed by her true role in the story? (it doesn't.) no amount of pointing at and highlighting and underlining Mel's morality or lack thereof will make her any less of an interesting character worth loving and engaging with, and she is probably the most interesting character in the entire show even considering season 2. it won't make the other characters around her "better" by comparison either. nor will it make competing ships more compelling or more justified

[thefudge]

You're really here. Yes. I'm here. Owen? No. I'm not Owen.

[vitaetmorsfilo]

i wonder, could be that slay the princess, which as far as i understand it about a lot of things but i think most of all is about choices, could also be about art?

the thing that gets me intrigued is that the princess herself has said that she is what player perceives her to be, "if you believe i can do it, then i can", and that what makes the shifting mound, different perspectives of her

that sounds to me a lot like commentary on some modern art nowadays, that modern art is not just a thing, but your feelings towards it that shapes it. there was a little comics snippet, where man was looking at malevich's square and called it useless, and the second panel was the painting itself screaming at man that he is useless (i can't for the love of me find it). so, the mans feelings towards the picture shaped the picture itself in his mind.

some may say that it is what is art, a sort of conversation, an exchange between the piece of art and the viewer.

and i think it falls neatly into place the dynamic between the princess and the hero/player. the former is the art, in all it expanse and variety, while the latter is the viewer, who brings it clarity, whose feelings shape the world around this art in one moment of a time, while having conversation not just with art, but themselves, too.

[mabaris]

another thing that i just noticed is that the dwarves have now had done to them by the elves what we’d thought the elves had done to them by humans, at least before inquisition. cut down in their peak and permanently ruined, left to scrabble for the broken pieces of their history

not to say it’s an inherently bad choice because oppression isn’t that straightforward, but it sure was an interesting choice to shift the “they destroyed our way of life and fractured our society and we ARE allowing ourselves to feel angry about it and reclaim our history and maybe use that to rebuild what we once had” narrative from the elves to the dwarves. like if that’s the story you really wanted to tell, you could have also given it to like. bellara

[redeyedryu]

Excuse me?? There's a new Devil May Cry anime??

[ros-sauce]

A lot of people in the world are wearing "cringe culture is dead" hats while also mashing the button that sends wolves to the homes of people who have spent more than eight collective minutes of their lives thinking about sex

[aprito]

(English is not my first language, so I apologize if what I say is not very understandable).

It left me thinking what you said about some people only being interested in your account to escape reality through fandom.

Have they even stopped to think that the canonical history of the fandom they follow is full of wars, and children used to kill?Aren't we all worshiping Sasori, who lost his parents in the war and then became an active participant himself, being just a child?

Are they so oblivious to the fact that these characters made us see the gray of a world full of death and violence, that they cannot realize that all these stories are a representation of the real behavior of our humanity?

Don't delete anything, please say everything you feel necessary to say. These people have me in shock.

Naruto's ""darker"" themes has always been an analysis of how inherently evil militarism, feudalism, hyper nationalism and exposing literal children to the horrors of war and death can be and how these systems enabling these horrors shouldn't exist. It's not black and white like you said, but there are beliefs that will always be red flags to me. Take the Uchiha massacre for example, which would be the closest comparison we can make to current events.

Unfortunately, partly due to Kishimoto's shitty centrist writing and due to how predispositioned and pre-propagandized the audience is, all of these conclusions can get glossed over and lost. How many in this fandom defended Konoha's violent pursuit of Sasuke for the longest time? Saying that he wasn't allowed to deal with Itachi, and then reprimanding him for turning his hatred towards the village? Worse, how many fawn over characters like Obito, Shisui, and especially Itachi - who had no qualms about endangering their clan and ultimatively agreeing that none of them deserved to oppose their oppressors and live? Konoha, not just Danzo, in turn had kept up a heavily propagandized image of the Uchiha due to their own personal hatred and beliefs. In Danzo's case, an excuse to get access to their organs for personal profit. Worse, they (Itachi, Shisui) didn't bother being honest with their own people, ultimatively not allowing them to escape or fight back. Contrast this against the hatred for Fugaku, who not once decided to act on his own and correctly pointed out that they have been ostracised and dehumanised for things they didn't do and feared it would get worse. Sound familiar? People are correct when they call the Uchiha massacre a genocide because that's what it was, but those are the people who actually drew from real life examples to criticially engage with the material.

Analysing real world struggle and applying that analysis to the narrative is the reason I continously empathize that Sasori's hatred for Suna shouldn't be glossed over for cushy high ranking positions because he just so happens to be talented. It's integral to his character and his actions, and it's a valid hatred to have. I honestly wish Kishimoto would have a fraction of enthusiasm for exposing the systems of oppressions as Oda has (a lot of conflicts in One Piece heavily, I mean HEAVILY, draw from the Cuban Revolution), because Naruto as a story would be far better off and probably would have more to say.

This also means, of course, that I recommend the audience to engage with this subject, and not fall for the propaganda of their oppressors <3 Palestine: A Socialist Introduction is currently free as an ebook for a start.

[rachymarie]

Frick

I had a hell of an art idea i scribbled madly into my physical notebook in recent memory, and now i feel like a recently-released season of a show I'm watching somehow snapped up that idea (albeit a different version of it)

I don't believe my idea could have gotten onto my tech devices to be harvested by apps tho bc i specifically chose to go oldschool pen and paper in recording it so as to keep it from prying eyes (digitally speaking) cos I have a (thus far) healthy distrust in tech companies they all tryna mine our data (another reason i wish i rambled my thoughts into my phone/online less lol

So i guess it's the nature of being quite in tune with the cultural zeitgeist and chronically online, you may come to the same conclusions and predictions as other folks keeping an eye on such things

Also the schizospec struggle is real. But damn this is is a great episode (tv show) so far

[gnomebud]

it would be so nice if it really was exclusively nintendo/sony/microsoft/aaa developers' fault that game pricing is increasingly inaccessible 😭

[jadetheblueartist]

I needed to post all of these together bc they are quite the saga and I love them (pretty sure I drew a few of these…)

For you, dear @banana-pancake5

[prophecyofgray]

i could fix voltron legendary defender. i could do it i swear. this show is REALLY GOOD at doing a lot of things but also REALLY BAD at doing a lot of other things. she's so close she's sooo close i could fix herrrrrr