#sacrificing to the narrative etc etc

[shallowseeker]

Real quick... do you think of Sam and Dean (and other hunters) as blue collar jobs?

Hunting can take on a couple of different meaning, I think, depending on how you go at it (i.e. criminal, American action-hero, cowboy, outlaw, low-class/working class, even humble/noble.)

With respect to how many characters talk about hunting, it's definitely low-class... ish? Many angels look down on humans as maggots and mud monkeys, of course, but specifically, you get Henry from the MoL calling hunters "apes" and Dr. Hess calling hunters "dogs." Henry Winchester was horrified to learn about Sam and Dean being in the hunter class. (Legacies are obviously better, more noble.)

SAM: Our father taught us how to be hunters. HENRY: [laughs] You're not. Are you? Hunters? Well, hunters are... Hunters are apes. You're supposed to – you're legacies. & HENRY: You're more than that, actually. My father and his father before him were both Men of Letters, as John and you two should have been. We're preceptors, beholders, chroniclers of all that which man does not understand. We share our findings with a few trusted hunters – the very elite. They do the rest. 8x12 As Time Goes By

&

DR. HESS: Hunters are dogs, Mr. Davies. You give them an order, and they obey. That's how it works. 12x17 The British Invasion

At the very least, hunters looked upon as soldiers to be used, who do the dirty work but have little agency.

///

There is a certain disdain that angels use with regards to humans, but Cas seems to regard hunting as noble, even humble.

Of course, compared to the brutality of angelic warfare, perhaps it is. Angels are hunters on steroids.

The worst thing Mary could imagine for her sons was them becoming hunters; perhaps the worst thing Cas can imagine for Jack is him becoming like an angel/soulless. He's more worried about Claire's vengefulness and being used by Randy than he is about her striking out under Jody's tutelage to become a balanced hunter. And with Jack, he's proud of his hunter-mindset:

CAS (to JACK): Well, what you did today made me so proud. You know, learning to hold your own in a fight without your powers. That takes time and training, but today you proved that you have the mind of a hunter and the heart of a hunter. 14x03 The Scar

///

And while not hunting per se, I feel like Kelvin the Angel also looks down on Earth and hunting with a big of disdain that feels "low-brow." "Smells like hay," he says.

What Cas views as noble and down-to-earth, Kelvin finds rather... kitschy.

KELVIN: I don't. Look, I know you're working with the Winchesters. Sam and Dean -- their hearts are in the right place, but wouldn't it be better to have us waiting in the proverbial wings? All the power of Heaven behind you? [Cas considers this doubtfully] KELVIN: You ever miss it? Upstairs? I mean, don't get me wrong. I love Earth. It's quirky. It smells like hay. But it's not home, is it? 12x15 Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

///

Then, you get the heroes! Like Claire, who has a bit of a romanticized vigilante perspective, as she tries to save "younger versions of herself" from slipping through society's cracks:

MAN: Who the hell do you think you are? [CLAIRE breaks his nose and gains the upper hand; she pulls out a knife from her boot and stabs him.] CLAIRE: I kill monsters. That’s who the hell I am. [CLAIRE walks over to AMANDA, her lip is cut and bleeding.] Your mother’s been looking for you. It’s going to be okay. 13x10 Wayward Sisters

///

In general I think hunting is higher in the pecking order than (or at least "cooler" than) minimum-wage work. This can be seen in Dean's attitude towards gas station jobs: i.e. his "You're better than this!" attitude when faced with gas-station-clerk-Cas.

(Aside/// Though admittedly, Dean was motivated to convince Cas to quit. "You're better than this, so become a hunter with me!" It seemed like the whole episode was Dean warring between wanting to take Cas home against Gadreel's wishes and with the idea of Cas being better off where he is.)

But that said, they're definitely lower than most regular jobs and stuff we see in the 'burbs. The Campbells've got a chip on their shoulder, for example, when they see Dean's fancy house and his leisure-class-coded golf clubs.

We also note that many of the hunters are Scots and Irish (Rowena MacLeod Scottish, Eileen Leahy Irish), while the "higher class" BMoL are clearly more "British," and high-class British at that. "Lady Tony Bevell" etc.

The use of flannel is also meaningful in this regard... Although historically linked to aristocracy and family identification, in today's world, the flannel tartan is more commonly associated with casual wear... and is often linked to working-class and outdoor or country lifestyles. (I think it's very meaningful with Cas's coat becomes plaid-lined!)

And while not universally true, there's also weight to "lower classes" having less resources and needing to do more communal styles living/familial support/resource sharing—all things that more uppity classes seek to tear apart and/or identify as Weird/Unnatural (TM). The old divide and conquer, maestro. It's weird when we share nepotism, but corporate nepotism is just gravy.

Historically, families often lived together in larger, more communal units, and the division of family members into separate, independent households is a relatively recent phenomenon in human history. The historical trend of families living together in extended units was altered by the forces of industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of consumer capitalism, which favored the nuclear family structure as a way to segment the market and increase consumption.

IMHO: Today, many folks are taking a hard look at the benefits of communal/extended family living, because a lot of us need to collective support and shared resources (over consumer-driven independence). You would not believe the difference I get in commentary today about living with my extended fam versus even ten years ago.

////

I think my favorite angle to take on hunting is actually something a bit related to the idea of, for lack of a better culture term, an "religious untouchable." Hyam MacCoby talks a bit about this is The Sacred Executioner. Sacred executioners/ritual killers are a respected-but-despised designated underclass, necessary for many historical societies to function.

Typically, this underclass is outcast due to the complicated nature of their work. There is duality in the sacred and profane. They are seen as agents of justice or ritual purification, but their work also associated them with death and impurity, leading to social ostracism, a parallel to "untouchability."

Demons are obviously a bit lower than hunters but still analogous in the "work they do" is unsavory:

NAOMI (about MEG): She does know the location of the crypts. But working with a demon is... unclean. 8x17 Goodbye Stranger

This is a little controversial as a topic, as some scholars feel like it's an idea that people pretzel around to "force-fit across cultures." But narratively, I think hunters fit this well! (Angels even moreso with their immortality and via Naomi “slaying of the first-norms.) It accounts for the duality of being both revered and hated (not to mention its complicated relationship to purification i.e. Sam and purity, Purgatory, Natural born Killer Mary, even salt, and so on...). I personally favor it, even as a niche explanation because it fits for me in a way that more modern class distinctions do not.

[yazzy-khan]

if twelveclara and thasmin had met I know clara would’ve seen the way yaz was being treated by thirteen, gently taken yaz’s hands in her own, and said “I think it’s time you level the playing field and traumatise her back.”

[hallaslin]

Might fuck around and play dragon age backwards. Think about it.......

[moongothic]

I see some people often wonder out loud if Luffy might get a weapon or something to wield eventually, for no other reason than Roger and Shanks (and even Kaidou) also use(d) weapons, and it'd give Luffy some "extra strenght" in combat so he wouldn't have to rely on his Devil Fruit so much (and the Awakening especially, since it drains him so badly)

And the thing is, as most would probably agree, most weapons and blades especially just would not fit into Luffy's combat style. He, much like his grandpappy, fights with his fists, so it's hard to imagine him using any kind of weapons to fight

But that just made me wonder... Like...

Okay so people have been speculating for ages that Luffy might die at the end of the story or something, right. I do not buy that for a second, but it is true that Luffy is willing to throw himself into a lot of danger and has sacrificed literal years off his lifespan to protect those around him. And that has been escalating. It'd be natural for Luffy's self-endangerment to escalate to a point where there'd be actual, severe and tangible concequences for it. Aside from death.

And you know.

There's been some allusions to Luffy losing his hands, right

And you might wonder

How would Luffy losing a hand translate to him gaining a weapon

Well

You know

And the funny thing is

Luffy might not be one to use a HOOK, per se

But we have seen him wield a giant ball of gold to smash Enel's face in. So a metal mace/morning star/etc could actually work

(Also since his Awakening can mess with the fabric of reality itself, even if one of Luffy's fists was replaced with a solid ORB of metal, he could probably/totally reshape it during combat to fit his needs, into an axe or a morning star or knife etc)

Also.

There would be something poetic about Luffy sacrificing a hand to protect someone dear to him, much like how Shanks sacrificed his entire arm to protect Luffy in Chapter 1.

Like you'd get the pay-off/concequences to the escalation of Luffy's constant self-sacrificing, but nobody dies. Luffy gets a weapon to add to his arsenal, but it fits into his pre-existing fighting style and character. And we could get that poetic full-circle.

That all said, if Luffy did somehow lose a hand.

I'm sure Franky would HAPPILY give Luffy a prosthetic hand with a ✨BEAM✨ Can not imagine Luffy turning such an offer down lmao

[wildchives4]

I was rly surprised talking to my mom the other day.. was saying I'd taken an interest in the 2008 financial crisis bc it'd sort of defined the latter bit of my childhood in a way and my mom was like "YES, it did." My parents never rly wanted to talk about money unsurprisingly, they'd be like "you don't know what you're talking about" and that was that. So I expected her to be like "really, you got that impression?" But she was rly emphatic, like yeah, that fucked up our whole shit.

[cosmicjoke]

I saw @acmeangel's analysis post on this scene, which is fantastic and which everyone should read, and I was going to add my thoughts to their post, but then it got too long (as usual), and I didn't want to hijack their analysis, so I decided to just make my own, haha. This really is an important scene which essentially encapsulates the difference between Levi and Erwin and which I think ultimately showcases what makes Levi such a genuine hero.

One of the overarching messages of AoT is that we shouldn't give up our humanity in pursuit of an ideological goal. I've talked a lot about how Levi puts his trust in Erwin and admires him so much because he sees Erwin's ability to set aside his personal feelings for the greater good as a virtuous quality, one which Levi hopes to be able to one day emulate. Levi sees Erwin as superior to himself for this ability, because Levi, no matter how hard he tries, isn't ever able to do the same. He's never able to set emotion aside. He's never able to make decisions detached from emotion. He's never able to send soldiers to their deaths without it tearing him apart and creating in him a sense of conflict. He's never quite able to convince himself that the thing these soldiers are dying for, which they choose to die for, is actually worth it, which is also why he works so hard to bring their goal to fruition. He can't accept that those lives were given in vain, but the only way to ensure that they weren't is to make their dream comes true. Because to Levi, it's their lives that have value, not the cause itself.

One of Levi's most defining traits, one which makes him stand out from basically every other character in the story, is that he has no dream of his own. Rather, he carries the dreams of others, makes himself the custodian of those dreams, and dedicates himself to their realization.

When he says in this scene that a pointless death doesn't suit anyone, what he's saying is that the cause Erwin is sacrificing soldiers for has to prove itself worthy of their lives, that it has to amount to something equal in value to those lives. Because that's the thing, Levi values life above all else. He sees each, individual life as being as important as the whole of humanity, and I think that aspect of Levi's character is demonstrated fully during the RtS arc, when he makes the choice to end Erwin's suffering. People argue and claim that Levi made the wrong choice here because they don't understand the thematic significance of it, getting caught up in speculation about whether Erwin would have been able to prevent the war between Paradis and Marley, whether Erwin would have been able to stop the Rumbling, etc... By getting caught up in that, they completely miss the point of how the story wants the audience to understand the importance of not giving up our humanity for any cause. It's trying to show us, through Levi's choice, why we can't let any cause or ideological movement turn us cruel. Levi's refusal to be cruel, his refusal to throw away his humanity, is meant to be seen as a good thing, and ultimately, ironically, it's Levi's humanity and compassion that makes him a superior man to Erwin.

Erwin tries to assuage his own guilt by telling himself that the lives given were for a cause greater than any, individual life. The cause of humanity. This is a narrative he clings to until he's forced to admit to himself that what he really was after in sending all these soldiers to their deaths was his personal pursuit of knowledge, in another attempt to assuage his guilt for the death of his father. Erwin sacrifices his humanity for a goal which is self-serving, and as he's forced to contend with that reality, his guilt grows tenfold, fracturing his psyche and self-identity. But even if his every decision had been for the so-called greater good, even if he'd been 100% dedicated to his duty as Commander, he still would have been left with a sense of guilt and self-loathing for sacrificing lives to this nebulous cause, just like Hange ultimately was, because the whole point of the contrast between Levi and Erwin is to show that, in the end, Levi is the one whom the audience should strive to emulate, not Erwin.

This moment in the story is driving home the point of choosing compassion over ideology, or even duty. Levi's choice is imperative in demonstrating to us that if we sacrifice our own, personal humanity, if we give into becoming cruel and unfeeling, if we lose sight of the very thing that drove us to wanting the world to be a better place to begin with, that being our compassion and desire to end the suffering of others, no matter how justified the cause may seem, we're essentially sacrificing humanity itself. Because it's when you start becoming cruel, for any cause, that everything turns to shit, both for ourselves and the world around us. It's cruelty that leads into justification of more cruelty, which leads into justification of atrocities. Bringing Erwin back, forcing him back into that role which was tearing him apart, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, would have been purely an act of cruelty. But Levi isn't a cruel man. He's exactly the opposite. He's a man defined by his compassion and kindness. And what is AoT advocating for if not greater compassion and kindness in the face of a cruel world? It's telling us that the kind of compassion that Levi showed to Erwin in his dying moments is how we should choose to fight against the world's injustices and cruelties.

Because all the bad things that happen in AoT, essentially, happen because of a willingness to sacrifice ones humanity for ideology or for personal, selfish desires, and because it's those of us who retain our humanity and compassion, despite the cruelty of the world, and despite any supposed duty to any professed cause, that end up being able to live, as Levi says, with no regrets. This idea of sacrificing what we know is right for some abstract, nebulous goal of a better tomorrow is what leads to the destruction and corruption of our inner selves, and that, ironically, makes a better tomorrow impossible. If we become corrupted, if we allow ourselves to be lost to this idea of the greater good, in the end, it will only continue on the cycle of destruction.

Levi never sacrifices what he believes is right, never acts in any way which goes against his conscience. He never betrays his humanity. He maintains his compassion from beginning to end, and he never wavers in what he's fighting for, which, again, is every, individual life. That's what makes Levi a hero. His inability and refusal to set his personal feelings aside is, in the end, meant to be seen as the correct course. Because Levi's personal feelings have nothing to do with a dream or a goal. They have nothing to do with an ideology or movement. They aren't rooted in self-gain or greed. His sense of duty isn't to a cause, not to a country or an empire, or a sense of retribution or revenge. His duty, his obligation, is to doing what he feels, in his heart, is the right thing, what his personal feelings tell him is the right thing, no matter the situation or circumstances, no matter, even, if it turns out to have been the right choice or not. And that ties back into Levi's extraordinary compassion and empathy. It's his compassion and empathy which dictate his personal feelings of right and wrong, and his dedication to not betraying that sense is what ultimately dictates all his choices.

Levi thought of himself as a lesser man than Erwin because of this. Because of the way he wasn't able to set his personal feelings aside in the choices he made. It's why he chose to follow Erwin, because he thought it made Erwin superior to himself. But in truth, it's that quality of Levi's, that deep seated empathy, that makes him the better man. He can't detach himself from his compassion, he can't make choices without considering the consequences and impact of those choices on others, or even without making that consideration the principle factor in his choices, and that's a good thing. That's humanity. That's what makes the world a better place. By caring about how our choices affect others. That's not meant to be seen as a bad thing. Levi's kindness and empathy isn't meant to be seen as wrong.

Levi never betrays who he is, and he never betrays what he believes in, even as everyone around him does, at one point or another. That's true strength, that's true courage, that's true heroism. Someone who cares so much about people that he can't make a choice without factoring in the thoughts, feelings and desires of those people. Levi is meant to be the audience's role model, the character we're meant to want to be more like. Not Erwin. Because no matter how noble the goal we pursue, if we stop caring about each other in that pursuit, it all becomes for naught.

[emirnemim]

Asagiri is a GENIUS. Shin Soukoku Analysis

Ok so WOW. There’s been a major shift in both Akutagawa and Atsushi in the newest chapter that I can’t even begin to express the importance of! It really ignited a SSKK fire in me, so I’ve decided to finally get my thoughts about their dynamic out into words. This is really long my bad...

As we all know, Atsushi and Akutagawa did not clash well when they first met, AT ALL. They both harboured intense anger towards each other, but why? Why did they hate each other so much?

The abuse Atsushi endured drilled into him that he was worthless, unlovable, a monster etc and he internalised his pain. Atsushi feels a desperate need to prove these statements as false, he feels a desperate need to prove that he is good. To do that, he uses himself as a sacrifice again and again and throws himself around carelessly. He’s so focused on the idea of proving himself that he becomes self-sacrificing to the point of self-erasure. So focused on being the good guy that he doesn’t care what happens to him in the process. He’s reckless and selfless in the most self-serving way.

Akutagawa on the other hand, has come to believe that pain = power and power = worth. The survival of the fittest mindset followed him through the slums so he and Gin could survive, Dazai reinforced this belief again and again with the abuse he put Akutagawa through. Once he was an adult, the belief that pain = power and power = worth was heavily ingrained in his mind and he chases after Dazai as the one who can prove his pain made him strong and worthy. He externalised his pain, and instead of fearing he’ll hurt others, he fears of being too weak to prove his strength and defend what he cares about, even if he has to hurt others to do that. 

Then, these two opposite forces meet and immediately repel…

Atsushi sees Akutagawa as someone who lets their pain define them. He sees someone who leaned into the suffering they endured and embraced it, projecting it outwards onto the world that wronged them. He sees someone who gave up, who let that internal darkness consume them and drive them to hatred. Atsushi sees everything he fears he’ll become in Akutagawa, and it scares him. 

Akutagawa sees Atsushi as someone weak, so weak that it's pathetic. Someone who pushes themselves down and muffles their voice so much that they’re harming themself in the process. He sees someone soft, emotionally expressive and vulnerable, yet despite this, Atsushi is someone who has been chosen. It ignites a rage in him. Atsushi’s very existence threatens the fragile narrative Akutagawa has built to justify his suffering.

It goes deeper than this though. Atsushi and Akutagawa not only embody what the other hates most, they embody what the other hates most about themselves. After all, they’re both human.

Atsushi was hurt badly, he suffered, and it left a hole in his heart. He’s angry. Deep down he’s hurt and upset and he feels hatred towards all who wronged him, but that anger is what he’s so afraid of. For someone so set on proving his abuser wrong and proving he’s a good person, he hates the anger he carries because he believes it's the very thing that's proving he IS a monster, it's the very thing he’s desperately fighting against. Atsushi sees in Akutagawa what he’d become if he stopped suppressing that anger and it terrifies him.

Akutagawa feels sadness and fear, he has a soft side, he has vulnerability. These are all things that make him weak. He needs to be strong. He needs apathy, indifference and brutality to be worthy in this world, so he hates the softer side of him that he can’t muffle no matter how hard he tries. His humanity is the very thing proving that he IS weak, the very thing he’s desperately fighting against. Akutagawa sees everything that proves he’s weak in Atsushi, but then he sees Atsushi getting chosen and praised for that weakness, which breaks apart the entire system he’s built his beliefs on. It terrifies him.

Here’s where the most amazing thing happens; they start to understand each other. As the manga has continued to progress, we’ve seen Atsushi and Akutagawa understand each other more and more, and care about each other more and more. The more they learn about each other, the more they realise how similar they actually are. The flaws they saw and hated in each other at the start, become things that they accept about one another, learning that they were both just trying to survive. The thing is, while they slowly accepted the things they hated about each other, they were forced to confront and accept those same things about themselves. Throughout their journey, they’ve been learning to love not just each other, but themselves too. <3

For two people who had the belief “I am not enough” carved into their souls, seeing them care so much about each other, so much so that they SACRIFICE THEIR LIVES for each other,

Is a silent reassurement they give to themselves and each other that they ARE enough. That’s what makes their bond so beautiful - they can’t truly see the other’s worth without accepting their own.

So when Akutagawa says this,

He’s finally admitting what his actions have been saying all along. He cares for and loves Atsushi, which subsequently means he’s admitting that he now cares for and loves himself. For the first time in the entire manga, Akutagawa’s will to live shifts from getting Dazai’s approval to Atsushi, but not just Atsushi, what Atsushi has awakened in him. He no longer needs a reason to live, he no longer needs an external strength to keep fighting, because HE is enough, Atsushi is enough, together THEY’RE ENOUGH.

That’s what makes this such a special moment in Akutagawa’s journey. It’s just so beautiful and I’m so proud of him.

Unfortunately we haven’t seen an equivalent in Atsushi… YET… but he's SO close I swear, we’ve all seen his recent growth in the newest chapter,

This scene obviously means a lot, and it has a lot of symbolism towards Atsushi healing, but on top of that…

He’s letting his anger out :) he’s not so afraid of that part of him anymore, he’s already at the point of embracing the part of him he’d feared this whole time <3

Shin Soukoku the soulmates you are! Wow!

[shhhhimwatchingthis]

My Golden Blood Theory:

So the show has not clarified why Mark is protecting Tong until he is 21. Personally I think 'What happens when I turn 21' should be Tong's immediate next question, but I understand baby girl is going through it with the whole vampires are real, and I'm not actually sick (my whole life has been a lie) and I actually have magic blood that makes vampires cum....thing...

Anyway in my opinion there are 2 ways they could go with this

1. When Tong turns 21 his Golden Blood loses its power, he can live a normal life. This is both less likely and less narratively interesting than my other theory, but not impossible with what little we know of the world building so far

2. When Tong turns 21 his blood will reach its peak power and he will be given to an important vampire who will drain him for his blood's power. With what we currently know: a) the vampire Mark works for is Thara b) Thara's power is weakening it is possible there will be a twist where Thara wants to consume Tong's blood to maintain her strength (and she'll argue maintain peace for vampires/humans) + possible implication of her being behind Tong's parents death for this same reason (assuming Golden Blood is hereditary) Personally I think this would actually be a wicked direction to go in because it means Tong has essentially been raised like lamb for slaughter, protected by Mark his whole life, but only so he can be sacrificed later. which is dark as hell and this is a vampire show, let's get fucking dark.

Mark probably won't know about this if that's the case, but it's possible he's been in on it from the start. Either way, when the reason Tong is being kept alive till he's 21 is revealed it will create excellent angst for Mark and Tong.

It is of course always possible Nakan will remain the main antagonist,as has been implied, be the one responsible for Tongs parents, etc but he could also be a red herring. As is Mark doesn't seem to take orders from him , so it's unlikely he'd be the one to have Mark keep Tong on ice.

(PowerPoint slide ends with dissolve effect)

[starcurtain]

Hello! Wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed your analysis on Aventurine’s theming - and yea big agree that part of the charm of the guy is that he’s a weird paradox (he got everything one should technically want, and he also lost absolutely everything he cares about) - and also I like your comment that he is, as a character, actually pretty obnoxious (it’s an odd character charm point to me)

Also your post on the way he interacts with the ladies in the cast kinda reminded me - I know folks tend to focus in Ratio’s note but I ended up zoning in on his convo with Acheron more than anything else - because a lot of Penacony is Aven butting heads with other aeon-touched people (Acheron, Sunday) - but Acheron seems like a fun foil because she also has a pretty double-edged metaphysical blessing that is associated with losing everything she loved, but she ironically hasn’t given in to full meaninglessness.

I think one of Aventurine's defining character traits is that he "tests" everyone he encounters to judge whether they are trustworthy or whether they are a danger to him (I guarantee you, he has some kind of mental ranking scale for how likely people are to dislike or mistreat him), and I think his being obnoxious is actually a direct offshoot of this.

Kakavasha clearly was raised with manners; he knows how to be polite and to tone down his responses to social situations as appropriate, which means that, in every other scenario, he is actively choosing to be obnoxious, even in situations where it seemingly won't benefit him (like talking back to the slave master or being too forward when first meeting Sunday, for example) because it allows him to gauge exactly how others feel about him and exactly how much they will let him get away with.

People who play along are potential allies (Robin, the Trailblazer) and people who act grumpy but actually tolerate the obnoxiousness are safe (Ratio, Sparkle, most of the rest of the Express Crew), while people who respond poorly (Sunday, basically everyone else Aventurine dealt with in the past, etc.) are forced into showing their true colors. If minor obnoxious behaviors can provoke them, then it means their core response to Aventurine is likely to be one of dislike and disrespect. He's just forcing that response from them out into the light sooner, rather than later, by being obnoxious from the get-go.

(And, to a certain extent, I think he also just finds it fun to be a bit obnoxious. Like, he's free to say and do whatever he wants now--who is going to stop him from being a brat if that's what he feels like doing?)

But on to Acheron... Yes, I do think there are a lot of parallels between Acheron and Aventurine (came from a doomed people, lost everyone, both determined to hold out against nihility and live just for the sake of living, "blessed" by aeons), but I think narratively speaking, the story puts Acheron in a different position when her tale entangles with Aventurine's: the surrogate big sister role.

Acheron's a very good parallel to Aventurine's sister in numerous ways: First, she essentially sacrificed herself to defeat the evil threatening her people, but is ultimately unsuccessful, resulting in the permanent loss of all she knew.

This loss also resulted in Aventurine's sister actually dying, while Raiden Mei experienced a symbolic death, taking on the name "Acheron" to evoke the Underworld, getting a ghostly, bleached white form, and prowling the river of nihility like a wandering spirit of the dead.

Second, the philosophy Acheron espouses is nearly identical to Aventurine's sister. When even as a child Kakavasha was doubting the value and meaning of life, his sister was the one constantly reaffirming that life has meaning, despite its hardships, and that continuing to exist is the way to honor those who have sacrificed for you. Just as Aventurine's sister expresses that people must hold on to faith, Acheron reminds everyone she encounters to cling to the last bit of color and light in their lives.

This ends up being echoed by the role of guidance that she plays for Aventurine, with him both directly relying on her for his continued survival:

And turning to her in his moment of greatest emotional need:

(Sound familiar? It should. This is the exact same question Kakavasha once asked his sister.)

But there's also a very, very nice visual parallel that goes on with Acheron and Aventurine's sister: the dusk rain that accompanies her.

For Aventurine, the rain has complicated emotional connotations. For the Avgin, it was desperately needed, life-giving water, and thus was considered a direct blessing from Gaiathra. Rain on Aventurine's birthday was the sign of his being favored by the aeon, and yet it also rained on the day he lost everything and had to flee from the only home he had ever known (conveniently also his birthday, dude this guy's life sucks).

Meanwhile, the rain for Acheron is equally complex--rain can bring life, the renewal of barren, lifeless lands... But we also see the rain accompany Acheron through her worst loss, the final collapse of her planet:

It also is said to rain constantly within the shadow of nihility, a lightless gray that washes away all that people wish to cling to.

For both Acheron and Aventurine's sister, the rain accompanies the end of their "lives," the backdrop to their ultimate sacrifices.

Yet it is also in the rain that they both send Aventurine onward, escaping from the cage of his destiny into a "better" life. From beneath the shadow of the storm, they both bid him to go and not turn back, freeing him and permanently changing the course of his life.

The rain that took everything from both Aventurine's sister and Acheron is ultimately what saves him.

It's all a very tidy and well-written parallel.

[imustbenuts]

eito aotsuki meta appreciation thoughts, ie why i like this character the most in THL. im like 50% done with the game maybe. spoilers spoilers spoilers etc

simply put hes actually how i feel when i see takumi doing things in a lot of routes, and his character often reflects that quite well

casting aside the possibility of certain routes just having weird or off-putting writing for whatever reasons, takumi has some major characteristics that makes him a very effective villain protag. hes like. mundanely evil. he can be heroic once in a while, but the road to the heroic routes involves a lot of "WHY WOULD YOU DO ANYTHING BUT X HERE"

to be clear takumi can be selfless as evident in route 0 but after the events of that first 100 days, he becomes dogmatic about surviving to the end at any cost with his friends, and will repeatedly convince himself he did the right thing despite... often not actually doing the right thing in whatever route he's ended up in.

his inability to basically break out of his circular reasoning mentality is his biggest flaw. seriously this kid would rather honkshoo than go "fuck it i ball". he does not plan. he's not curious. he cannot do abstract thinking. he's sometimes a massive fucking dick. things happen to him. its not exactly his fault but it so very often is his fault. (and i will stand by that he also triggers cute aggression so hard and still treasures his friends (+ eito) that takumi as a whole makes me want to clobber him with a steel pipe affectionately)

for example, the multiple eitos route. the reason why eito decides to fuck with takumi so hard here seems to be mostly out of anger at him. takumi doesnt want to find the truth to the war here, he doesnt try to think beyond sirei's orders to kill eito, and he, with the decision to kill eito, shows that he deeply does not care beyond whats infront of his nose.

in the killing game route, a similar anger seems to be present from eito wherein hes present to fuck with takumi because this timeline's version of him got killed. assuming hes aware of the greater scope of the war thats going on as with the other timelines where he consistently figures out a good chunk of whats going on, hes still understandably peeved at takumi here for taking the easy way out.

so far im seeing the most chill eitos in the truth and rebellion route where the choices to get to this route involves doing the most difficult thing and just rolling with the punches. this means sacrificing a willing kyoshika to banzai on vesh, and sparing eito bc eito has information and has technically not committed a crime in the eyes of humanity. these routes involves examining and tackling whats being fed to the group by Sirei, and then having the proverbial rug pulled from beneath them as a whole. the eito in these route chills out and is on even footing with takumi having learned that they're all cannon fodder monsters and the war is xenophobic genocidal rubbish.

the routes im not familiar with are the s.f, cult of takumi, coming of age so i cant comment on those yet. so this is an incomplete understanding of the game possibly. mengo.

eito gets as bad as takumi does and as good/heroic as takumi does narratively speaking.

theres also the whole naming shit going on.

eito addresses takumi as "takumi-kun", his given name plus friendly address, which feels like him breaking directly into takumi's bubble and breathing all over him for a pair who just met. in jp context anyway

takumi addresses eito as "aotsuki", his surname which feels very respectful with a distance, and appropriate for a pair who just met. but, he doesnt change this address AFAIK no matter how much eito behaves himself

its no wonder then they have this dynamic where takumi behaves like a skittish freaked out cat around eito. and eito just really wants to do ???? things to takumi.

theres also the fucking wordplay here

済野　sumino = empty/vast field. so 拓海takumi 済野sumino = crashing waves, empty field

衛人　eito = defender. so 衛人eito 蒼月aotsuki = defender, pale/blue moon

if you pair the dynamics of whats going on it gets fun too

Eito + Takumi addressing = fair standing as equals, and would be Defender + Crashing Waves. kinda... oxymoronic bc how do you defend the shore being eroded by crashing waves

Eito + Sumino = Defender + Empty Field. honkshoo.... youre defending nothing... nihilism mayhaps, or optimistic nihilism maybe if its gotta be interesting.

if its Sumino + Aotsuki = also fair standing as equals, and would be Empty Field + Pale/Blue Moon. fucking poetry chefs kiss

Takumi + Aotsuki = Crashing Waves + Pale Moon. actually kinda poetic since the ocean's tide is effected by the push and pull of the moon. its as strong or as weak depending. this is their dynamic of most part of the story. also the ocean also reflects the moon or whatever.

doomed toxic yaoiful poetry. its very neat.

[heartofbusan]

Best laid plans of stomach bugs and men.

The chemistry is the point.

Some people underestimate the effort and toll it takes on ones body and schedule to fly 14 hours to visit another person. 14 hours to spend 72 hours together means commitment. It means bro's before ho's and I am frankly HERE FOR IT.

The discourse I am seeing is extremely telling of how fickle people are about their support for jikook. People watch too much scripted reality tv 🙄 bcs they really expected this relationship, this reunion if you will, to play out in multiple angle close ups and medium shots and several wide angle shots with dramatic zooms and heavily directed post-moment recaps with dramatic silences or eye rolls to play up the drama? The lack of moments, the MUNDANITY if you will IS THE POINT. They are so real to me, so life like, so domestic goals!

Being quiet with each other. No uncomfortable silences, but comfortable togetherness.

That's what leads to horny bed fighting, which in my eyes could lead to more if not for the cameras 👀 just me?

When they said unscripted, this is what they meant. When they said unplanned, this is what they referred to. Not directed, not scripted, not fanservice 🙄 to fit a planned narrative. This is how their relationship plays out. I'd go so far as to call it a documentary instead of a reality series. While documentaries have tons of genres within itself, this genre is one where there's a broad range of planned activities, but where the narrative is constructed in post production: editing. Id know, since im an editor. This tells me that they counted on the natural chemistry between 'JeonJi' (SO CUTE) to 'lead the way' instead of a multitude of directed interactions that they (the producers) would have needed to tick a dramatic narrative box.

So what does that lead to? In my professional opinion as a director/editor the first two episodes lacked a dramatic arc. There was little directing going on to force one

the chemistry is the point

The flirting, the lulls in conversation, them being together, seeing them have fun, and reconnecting is the point. Instead of what they're doing or what they're talking about. The episodes, therefore, are kinda boring in the sense of entertainment, but wildly exiting in the sense of what we get to see play out. And it's incredibly nuanced. And nuance often flies over people's heads..again, the crowd that expects to be held by the hand when it comes to drama: reality tv.

It's a huge risk to take as a production. Let's not underestimate that! 'Are You Sure' was so unscripted that they didn’t even have a title until halfway into the second or third day. Again: they were banking on JeonJi to build upon their chaos to lead to a narrative and a title, etc. That is so telling to me. That them being together is the raison d'etre of this show. Jimin 'sacrificing' his time to fly to the US, Jeonkook making space in his busy schedule time to spend time unwinding, JeonJi making good on their need to finally spend time together after the booked and busy year they've had.

Jimin enjoying the hell out of Jungkook having fun.

Because that is who Jimin has always been: his adventurous spirit takes him places because he loves exploring and being in tue moment. He'll willingly travel to have those moments. Jungkook on the other hand doesn’t. He dislikes leaving the comfort of his surroundings because he doesn’t see the pot of gold that being adventurous brings him while he's comfortable in his home. I relate 😩 so much. Just planning trips alone makes me enter a comatose state, so I'd rather not go than sacrifice my rest to plan an adventure. I don't even know I'll get anything out of. That is, until Im actually on that planned trip and having the time of my life! They've always been like that. Jimin had to be the incentive to get Jungkook out on that trip. Take.him.by the hand if you will 😭😭

And then there's the stomach bug. YOU DAMMNED CURSED THING. It threw a HUGE wrench into their plans, and if anyone doesn’t take that into consideration, then you haven't had a stomachbug EVER while still having to face up to your commitments. Park Jimin will NEVER back down from his commitments, his promises *pinky promises* are sacred to him, and this bug took away the catalyst of this duo. Jungkook suddenly had to be the extrovert of the two, and boy, does he struggle in that role. He was to me his usuall baby elf self. So adorable and cute with his nose focused on food and Jimin’s care. But my man loves to rely on Jimin to lead the way in shenanigans and to make any moment entertaining, and you could just tell Jimin wasn't in his feels enough to overcome his lack of energy. Poor baby. Really, he's the best of us because I would have straight up refused to be filmed in that moment. A whole night of diarrhea and still showing up to film the next day?! NO MA'M NOT ME.

If you've read up to this point, I commend you. It was just supposed to be a short rant, but it became an entire essay because I can not with the overly reactionary nature some people show. Drawing entire conclusions based on two hour long episodes. I know, I might be contradicting myself here but extenuating circumstances and all. Jimin wasn’t on his game, and Jungkook was also recovering. When a show is banking on the chemistry between two people to shoulder the brunt of this show and said people are extremely sick, well then what can I tell you?

We need to sit back and enjoy the fact that we are getting such access to them, so unfiltered. Jikook enjoying each other, come rain or shine, in sickness and in health, whatever the mood brings, because that to me is more valuable than DRAMA or NARRATIVE. We'll probably get a bit more of that once they're going to Jeju, and they're both hopefully healthy. We're even getting a new element for them to play off of: Tete shows up! Like a jack in the box, and Jungkook seems to not be having it, lmao...see..unscripted and natural. I love that for them!

Idols are people first, and we need to celebrate that, not demand more.

[agentaace]

ITS CHILD LABOR AND EXPLOITATION ALL THE WAY DOWN FOLKS

This post is about Severance the TV show

!MAJOR SPOILERS!

the reveal that theyre raising/killing baby goats- nope, they're sacrificing kids. for the company. and the innies are equated to children so often, like when mark s says something like "we're not children we didn't do anything wrong" when theyre in trouble for bullshit reasons like not obeying your supervisors, or when areghabi says that mark's innie, at 2 years old, is basically literally a baby and that outie mark did not get his consent to be born and then used like a tool, when helly says her outie dresses her like a doll, when helena berates helly for trying to be an individual from the person who created her (literally the speech from matilda: "i'm smart, you're dumb, i'm big, you're little, i'm right, you're wrong), when dylan's adjective of utmost sincerety is "awesome", when cobel force-parents mark in both innie and outie form, when milchick distracts them with toys, flashy lights, silly dances, and animated cartoons to keep their attention, when they take them on a fun lil camping trip with marshmallows and read them a goosebumps novel, when devon and ricken infantilize mark s. on sight, when devon's pregnancy and childbirth is such a huge part of the narrative, when the first other example we see of severance is for childbirth too. and when mark scout gets frustrated at mark s for having his own priorities and says "he's a fucking child!" in a derogatory but not literal manner.

and then harmony fucking cobel and her horror show of a childhood. a townfull of child factory workers, drugged with ether fumes to forget whatever awful shit they experience but still alert enough to work an assembly line, all before the tender age of eight. and here i will also just link a fantastic post, because it says it way better than me but TLDR; the factories probably were producing something other than ether, which means the ether vats' primary purpose was to cause this primative severance. also, imogene was likely a child factory worker whom kier married because he saw her as pure/innocent. this is based on the embodiment of woe being a girl half the height of a normal woman, miserable, and is pictured wearing a wedding dress/white lingerie (in the waffle party + irving's dream).

this is a cult that believes humans are slaves to the four tempers, but that children are innocent. childlike innocence and ignorance is the ideal, because kids don't know better and won't put up as much of a fight if they don't know what they're missing! its a form of ironclad control over members of the cult company. its doctrine is so effective because theyve never been exposed to outside ideas, which is why the innies are then so enraptured by ricken's dumb book

ms huang! ms child labor herself!!!! people keep asking her why she's here, "why are you a child?", is she okay, etc., and she always seems politely baffled. like she's thinking "why wouldn't a child be working for a corporation with absolutely no systems in place to keep her safe from abuse?" because she doesn't fucking know better. and they're doing the exact same grooming that they did to harmony with the wintertide fellowship and sending her away to boarding school, comoletely uprooting her, without any warning, pushing her to devote her life to kier. she's not allowed to question it, disobey, or even have any opinion on it at all because "i make the decisions. you do not." (to quote helena, who was also definitely groomed into believing that about her agency as a child.) and i KNOW that eustice was excited to eat those marshmallows! milchick made her throw them in the fire! jail for ten million years!

which brings me back to gabby! this woman was severed to experience labor and the pain of childbirth in the stead of the wife of a senator. so gabby has lived for a total of maybe one week, three different times, three childbirths. like gemma, she doesn't experience a gap between these and literally doesn't rest between birthing. she was born innocent and pregnant and she was made solely to reproduce like livestock. fuuuuuuuuck that. thats a pregnant child. thats a fucking child.

innies are kids being born straight into the lumon world, obedient and pliable blank slates, raised and trained one purpose, used as tools for as long as they're able to be used, then eventually gently led into "retirement" and down a hallway they'll never come back from. but we won't call it death because killing is wrong. they use euthanasia on the baby goats (kids), not bullets. theyre lambs raised to be sacrificed. the work is mysterious and important. may kier's mercy follow you into the eternal dark.

they've clearly perfected the process. but literally why the hell are they doing any of this

children irl should also probably unionize

[ienjoybeingahater]

Dean Winchester is the open wound in the body that is Supernatural. He is an infection that spreads until it poisons everything around him, no matter if It's a person or a plotline.

At first, he was just annoying and borderline abusive, something that could be explained by his upbringing, that could’ve been explored. There was potential for him to grow, to evolve beyond the toxic traits he inherited from John, to show that people can get better, that your upbringing didn't define you and for a bit, it seemed like he might. But as soon as he showed signs of becoming better, he ripped off the scab of progress and let the wound fester instead. Season after season, rather than improving, he got worse, getting more selfish, hypocritical, and abusive. Instead of healing, he became the rot at the show’s core.

The infection spread beyond just his character however, it consumed the entire narrative. Everything began to revolve around what Dean wanted, how Dean felt, and what Dean needed. The other characters stopped being people with their own agency and instead became tools, existing to serve and cater to his every whim. The story bent itself around him, sacrificing logic, depth, and complexity in favor of ensuring that Dean never had to face real consequences. It ruined the show’s potential. Instead of telling a story about how a bond like Sam and Dean’s (or even Dean’s relationships with Cas, Charlie, etc.) could help someone grow into a better person, they doubled down on Dean’s worst tendencies. Instead of evolving, he dragged everyone else down with him.

One example of how Dean’s toxicity didn’t just warp the narrative but completely destroyed a character is Castiel. Castiel represented something meaningful at the start: the idea that humanity, despite all its flaws, was still worth fighting for and that people can change and form their own opinions even though they've been controlled and manipulated before. He was proof that even among corruption and destruction, there was goodness that made it all worthwhile, that people can forge their own path if they believe in something and act upon said belief.

But, once the writers started throwing rotting breadcrumbs at the Destiel shippers, they stripped Castiel of his character and made everything about Dean. Instead of being a character with his own beliefs, struggles, and development, he was reduced to nothing more than an extension of Dean, an accessory whose only purpose was to suffer for him. And what did Dean do in return? Nothing good. He never treated Castiel as an equal. He constantly belittled and ridiculed him, acting as though Castiel’s sacrifices were either expected or irrelevant.

Castiel went from breaking free of heaven’s control, from questioning blind obedience and learning to think for himself, to willingly throwing himself into another toxic, one-sided dynamic where his needs and wants didn’t matter. He lost everything, his family, his power, his home, his life, and for what? Are we supposed to find it meaningful that Castiel’s entire existence was reduced to a last-minute, half-baked confession that Dean didn’t even acknowledge? That his death scene was brushed aside with no real grief, no impact, no weight? He deserved better than that but the writers decided it would be a good idea to have Castiel’s story amount to nothing. In the end, he was nothing but a footnote in Dean’s narrative, something that mattered for a few minutes before it lost its relevance.

But if Castiel was collateral damage in Dean’s story, Sam was the biggest victim.

From the very beginning, Sam had potential, potential for something beyond hunting, beyond the endless cycle of death and violence that consumed their lives. He had dreams, ambitions, and a future that should have been his. And every step of the way, Dean was there to tear him down. Long before the show even started, Dean was already keeping Sam small, making sure he never realized that he deserved more than a life of blood and misery. Dean wanted Sam trapped in hunting, dependent on him, tied to him forever and that pattern never changed.

He is obsessive and possessive, acting less like a brother and more like an overbearing owner who refuses to let Sam have any independence. The second Sam does anything without telling him, whether it's texting someone, making his own choices, or simply not answering a call, Dean immediately acts like Sam just opened Pandora's Box. He treats Sam’s autonomy as a threat, as if the moment he isn't constantly under surveillance, the world will fall apart.

But he's not just abusive he's also incapable of accepting his mistakes considering that Dean becomes aggressive and defensive as soon as they get brought up. Examples include breaking the first seal which was 'understandable because he got tortured', tricking Sam into getting possessed which was 'something he needed to do because he didn't want Sam to die' (no matter how much Sam wanted to), and locking Sam in the panic room to die because he'd "at least die human". Still, he never hesitates to throw Sam’s mistakes back in his face. Sam is never allowed to forget drinking demon blood, never allowed to forget trusting Ruby, even though she preyed on his vulnerability and caused his addiction to manipulate him. Dean also holds him responsible for being Lucifer’s vessel, even though that was quite literally decided by God. And yet, when Dean makes mistakes suddenly it’s not his fault, and everyone just needs to move on because they all made mistakes (especially Sam, apparently).

But Dean’s hypocrisy doesn’t stop there, oh no. Because when Sam was blamed for "freeing Lucifer," by mistake he alone was expected to fix it, but when Castiel knowingly freed Lucifer suddenly all of them needed to take care of it. The double standard is obvious and tells us the following: Dean plays favorites when it suits him, and when it doesn’t, he shifts the blame onto whoever is most convenient which more often than not, means Sam is getting blamed.

And yet, despite treating Sam like a scapegoat, he also treats him like a trophy, a possession, something he has complete control over. He needs to know where Sam is, who he's talking to, and what he's doing or he'll pretend like the world is ending.

But he doesn’t just control Sam, he's not just hypocritical and abusive, he also sabotages his storylines at every turn. I'm saying that because every time Sam had an interesting plotline, something that could have made the show richer and more compelling, something that could've made Sam stronger, Dean was there to ruin it.

Sam's demon blood arc? Reduced to a mistake Dean never let him forget about, rather than the complex story about addiction and manipulation that it could have been. Not to mention the fact that even before Ruby used Sam's grief to get him addicted Dean judged Sam for having the blood inside him in the first place; as if it was his fault Mary made that deal, as if Sam could have stopped yellow eyes as an infant.

Sam as the Boy King of Hell? Dropped without explanation and never picked up again (until years later for one minute that is). I personally think they dropped that particular arc because Dean would have been insufferable towards Sam during it which they couldn't do considering 'Dean is such a cool guy'. It was the same with Sam being psychic: Dean would never accept the fact his brother wasn't what he wanted him to be so the plotline was scrapped.

Sam's hell trauma? No need to explore it or show the lasting effects because Dean would be sad if Sam wasn't perfectly fine after his mangled soul got forced back into his body (by Dean, mind you).

Sam being suicidal? Why explore that if you can do other, more interesting things with Dean instead?

Even Sam’s relationship with Jack was downplayed. The parallels between Sam and Jack alone make it obvious that the relationship between the two of them should have been the focus of Jack’s introductory season. Sam, who spent his life struggling under the weight of what he was supposed to be, who was told time and time again that he was dangerous, that his powers made him evil, was the perfect person to guide Jack through the same struggles. But that wasn’t explored. The fact that Sam was raising the child of the man who abused and controlled him, the child of the being that essentially destroyed Sam's life and psyche even though he was probably scared to death every time he saw Jack wasn't explored either.

Jack’s entire story should have revolved around his relationship with Sam, the person who treated him with kindness, and who tried to help him even though his father was, like I said, the being who abused him for centuries. Their relationship should have been so much more but it wasn’t and why?

Because they needed to shove Dean into Jack’s story instead. Even though Sam was the one who treated him with kindness, who defended him, and who saw him as more than just a weapon, the writers made sure to include forced bonding scenes between Dean and Jack so that they could pretend Dean had always been the father figure. I'm sure they did that so Destihellers and the writers could pretend Cas and Dean were Jack's parents even though everyone who watched the show should know that isn't true no matter how much certain people might want it to be.

Alone the fact that Dean threatened to kill Jack should make that obvious.

The sad thing about all of this is that Sam was supposed to be the main character but when fans decided Dean was cooler, the writers catered to them instead of telling a story about the person that's objectively more interesting.

So in conclusion, Dean Winchester wasn’t just a toxic character; he was an infection that spread through the entire show, warping the story, ruining the characters, and dragging Supernatural down with him. Every plotline, every relationship, every moment of potential was sacrificed so that he could remain the center of attention. The show could have been so much more, but instead, it chose to revolve around the worst thing in it: Dean.

(I will make separate posts about Sam and Castiel as well)

Side note: I wrote this at 3 a.m. because I couldn't sleep and saw people waxing poetry about Dean on Twitter.

[michanvalentine]

So, as you know, I like writing down my thoughts on Astarion and his narrative arc. In the past few days, I’ve been attacked by several people for what I’ve written. Things like calling me ridiculous, a “genius” (sarcasm, of course), saying my arguments make no sense, and that I should keep my thoughts to myself. The first two are straight-up personal insults, by the way.

Naturally, that pissed me off—first of all, because even if I were talking nonsense, I still have every right to say whatever the hell I want and express myself (at least as long as I stay within the bounds of decency and civility). Especially on my own blog. So no, I won’t keep my thoughts to myself—no one should have the arrogance to say that to another person. Secondly, I found these reactions completely over the top.

Fortunately, I went out, rode my horse (nothing better to clear the body and mind), played with my daughter, and spent a nice evening with friends. Now, with a cooler head, I can put this into words.

I don’t care how you play your adventure or what you like. I don’t go under AA fans’ posts to share my opinions. He didn’t lose his soul? Okay, who cares. Tav/Durge is his vampire bride and not his vampire spawn? Whatever, that doesn’t affect me in the slightest. AA isn’t a narcissist and an abuser? Your romance, your business. Not my problem. With all sincerity, I wish you happiness in your relationship with the ascended vampire—aeterna amantes, until the end of time. Amen.

Do I have an opinion on these things (about the game, not the players)? Of course! And if I want to express it, I have the right to do so—without being insulted for my intelligence.

I don’t hide the fact that I prefer the good ending for Astarion and don’t believe that ascension is the solution to his problems. If I say I don’t like AA, I don’t mean narratively—it’s still a valid ending. (If he has two, if the devs went through all the effort to write, script, voice, and act it out, there must be a reason for it—and that applies to both Ascendant Astarion and Spawn Astarion.) But as a romance or as a healthy ending for him? I don’t like it. Not in my playthroughs.

Hell, I have my own tastes, and I can say that. I can have my own opinion on the criticisms of the redemption arc that I see floating around on YouTube, Reddit, etc. I talk about it, I express my thoughts. If you don’t agree, that’s fine—we can both exist on the same planet.

Here’s a little secret: I’m not the voice of truth. Don’t give me all this power.

Relax, enjoy your fantasy to the fullest without feeling threatened. I can’t change the game, and I don’t want to change your point of view. At most, I can offer some food for thought. But if you do feel threatened by a few written words, maybe take a moment to reflect on that, and don’t turn it into a problem for someone who is simply writing without malice.

So, since I’m not going under AA posts writing “Monsters! Don’t you think about the 7,000 sacrificed souls?”, do me (and yourselves) a favor—ignore me and let me express myself freely, without replying, “Monster! Don’t you think about his eternal hunger?”

Or, if you really want a discussion, keep it respectful. And don’t make it a fight.

Otherwise, the only ones looking bad are you.

Because Astarion is a fictional character, but we are real, living human beings—and we deserve respect and kindness.

[wingedshadowfan]

⚠️arcane s2 act iii spoilers // criticism ⚠️

i kind of hated the end of arcane. hear me out.

i don't wanna rain on anyone's parade but we can all agree season 2's pacing was super breakneck. not a lot got explained or was given the proper time to develop or be addressed (at least in front of us, the audience, that is - but even then, some things could've been hinted at better) and this goes for both lore, motivations and interpersonal character relationships. (and i can give many examples such as the black rose, maddie's true motivations, caitlyn and vi's fight, jinx rallying up the undercity, viktor and ambessa's plans diverging, etc. but instead, i'll tell you what i think went wrong with what we got to see in the last three eps)

seeing where ep 7 left us made me think "okay ep 8 will start from the same exact spot and we'll see from there" and ofc my expectations were defied but that's not my main problem. i needed to know what happened to ekko, jayce and heimerdinger but even more than that, i wanted to see jinx grieve isha in her own way (by herself and not through being asked or guilt tripped to help someone else's agenda bcuz she clearly had little intrinsic motivation to unite the undercity over a common goal after silco's death) and internalize what she'd meant to isha - and that becoming jinx's catalyst to rally up the undercity. i wanted her to understand why this orphan from the undercity's mines sacrificed herself to save jinx - the symbol of a cause greater than her. i needed her to see what unifying zaun and making tangible institutional change to the undercity would mean in a way sevika never would've been able to show her. it would mean no more powders, no more ishas. not one more. breaking the cycle of violence, poverty, oppression, somewhat like what silco said in ep 9 (which she interpreted as 'you're the problem, so kys' and she attempted to until somehow ekko convinced her to help. how, why and did she even unite the undercity at all or just make her big hot air balloon late-to-the-party entrance with the firelights to a stray kids banger while sevika did all the work down in zaun?).

anyway, ep 8 threw us in for a loop in an alternative universe (and i loved it, don't get me wrong, but considering there were only 2 normal length eps left, it scared me just as much). instrumentally to the plot, we got to see ekko's main ability develop, and we saw jayce's reasons for shooting viktor. the main conflict of the show, the piltover/zaun one, if those 1,5 seasons so far were anything to go by, just got set aside for the time being. over halfway through the season, we've got a new big bad - the possibility of everyone getting possessed by the viktor/hexcore and becoming part of The Glorious Evolution™. it felt like a movie about racism and police brutality added aliens in the last 5 minutes to force oppressed and oppressors to (not all that successfully) work together, massive losses were suffered by everyone, and then the overarching motif wasn't about love or humanity or rebuilding (things that have come up repeatedly in other episodes, including the one ep literally called 'the messege hidden within the pattern'), it was "bad things happen sometimes, but good things happen sometimes too. it is what it is. i guess." like. duh?? as a viewer, this was quite the disappointing ending takeaway from such a masterpiece of a show but more on that in a second.

narratively, we saw a butterfly effect situation in ep 8 that answered the question of 'what could've been?' but even that answer confused me. the undercity was already oppressed and in socioeconomical peril before jayce's hextech - vi's death during that last job (which makes me believe zaun was the same in both universes because why else would they be poor enough to steal from piltover?) prevented it from being invented and thus stopping other things in piltover from happening but how did it lead to progress in the undercity? what happened and what was the key to it all along? why did shimmer not get invented, how did zaun and piltover seemingly unite, why were zaunites all of a sudden seemingly so much materially and culturally richer and better educated in just a few years? (that aside, i love ekko's determination to get back and save his universe's zaun. i loved the alternative jinx and i loved how everyone was wearing vests 10/10)

then, ep 9 felt like a bunch of confusing things happening one after the other to the point it almost overwhelmed me and i was left thinking i didn't understand a single thing from it (except maybe that one scene - that, i understood spiritually). and the first maybe 90% of ep 10 felt like i was just repeatedly getting hit, and again - no time to breathe, no consolation, no resolve, just receiving bad news after bad news, like getting beaten to the ground with stones.

and at the very end, after some of the ends get tied, caitlyn has her speech, which to me, sounds more depressing and hollow than anything else. she talks ambiguously of history and of ups and downs and of a story not yet over, but there's no promise for the future, no motivation to keep going, no bigger picture, no lesson learned. we're not shown much work being done either (and i'll make a separate post examining why it felt that way to me and a separate one abt how i interpreted her conversation w/ vi at the very end). i was left a bit confused, somewhat unsatisfied, and very, very sad.

did anyone else feel that way too? what did i miss, did i misinterpret or misunderstand something? please i'm going insane i had two different friends tell me they had no idea what i was talking about and that the ending was everything they wanted and more

[indigosfindings]

replaying super paper mario, sporadic thoughts post-chapter 2:

very easy so far--& although ttyd was also easy, spm's gameplay is sadly substantially less rich thab ttyd's was

having said that the game design in spm is! unrelentingly charming!! the use of platforming as a framework for a varied stream of stage styles (straightforward levels, dungeons, towns, the entire 2-3 Situation) is creative in a way that imo predicts the sort of things the mario maker community later ended up making. chapter 2's set pieces in particular are extremely quirky (the rooms with traps, the rubee thing, the mazelike basement, the merlee game show lmao)

few platformers have boss fights that feel like genuine Combat, so that's pretty cool

i will confess that as a First Dungeon, yold ruins doesnt have half the sauce of hooktail castle--it's much more linear in layout, with far less of that zelda-y "explore & comprehend the space" principle that made ttyd's dungeons hit

in a similar vein, it's kind of crazy how tippi has like a fraction of the personality that goombella had. it's a bit sad for the character doing the vast majority of the talking to just.... not really have any opinions on anything

the momentum of the chapters likewise means very few npcs ever get to stick out. like, even the "first town crotchety old mayor" character was a total one-and-done, one dialogue and you never have a reason to speak to him again (mostly just speaks to the game structure, which is as mentioned a bold enough exercise that i feel i cant really fault it for that)

bringing up a menu to use items In A Platforming Context is not at all natural to me, so im finding myself just not really using them

this game is a masterclass in visual design imo. the npcs & enemies & pixls being made of primitives that reconfigure themselves into different shapes really elevates the interplay of 2d & 3d, the backgrounds/environments are extremely aesthetically satisfying (the Mathmosphere in lineland, the optical illusion in the sky in gloam valley, all of castle bleck), & i love how the constant "digital/tech" motif (eg the "dragging selection boxes to flip/teleport", the trees & shrubs looking like something youd make in ms paint, etc) is an ingenious progression of paper mario's core aesthetic design

dimentio is so fun

i ADOOOORE nastasia

the inter-chapter dialogue flashbacks are surprisingly earnest? for such a tongue-in-cheek game where almost every line of dialogue contains a joke of some kind, those exchanges feel humourless & sincere. that probably contributes to the Space the game occupies in all of our memories lol

likewise it was really interesting how peach's "escape" sequence after chapter 1 was (while, again, still extremely sardonic) aesthetically & narratively framed with such a sense of Hopelessness. that's not to say like "woahh this mario game is 10x darker than you thought!!!!", more that it's just not a space the series commonly ventures into

the Ancients stuff is being leaned into extremely hard lol. ttyd mostly teases at that kind of "mysterious rpg lore" thing peripherally (the riddle tower inscriptions, grifty, etc) so it's interesting how spm puts it front & centre in contrast, without ever sacrificing the sense of mystique

this game really highlights how interesting the wiimote is as a controller--pressing the A button while holding it sideways (ie removing your left thumb from the direction input to press a button) is something that i cant think of any other controller doing, & it projects onto that button a really interesting sense of, like, Valence

it's the kind of game that seems to beg for one of thsoe posts like "things that ACTUALLY HAPPEN in _____"