#so I don’t think we need to necessarily dissect this so much

[taylorrepdetective]

I know she had era tour but I don’t think I can do it w a broken heart is actually eras tour

I thought of this too. Maybe sometime down under? No way to know, but I did think the line she threw in at the end “Try and come for my job” might have hinted at something. I can read it both ways. As always, we’ll never know for sure. But I think it’s fair to say she has felt this way many times. It reminded me of Katy having to go on stage immediately after having her husband tell her he was filing for divorce. And it’s relatable. We’ve all had to put on a happy face at work and pretend things are fine at home.

[21loveatfirstsight]

Dissecting Billy and Agatha's conversation

-Power doesn’t interest me.

-Keep telling yourself that.

She knows that dance. She has danced that dance before. Agatha has a unique power that can make her very powerful, so she seeked knowledge in order to control/hone it. But as she gets more power, she gets more knowledge. That’s how she walked the road and came out, that’s how she got the Darkhold. I don’t think she necessarily is just power-hungry, she is also knowledge-hungry. So she knows what path Billy tries to walk.

Or it could be more plain: witches who want to walk the road are all power-hungry, ready to embrace their darkness.

-I had a feeling when we first met. 

I already talked about that “feeling”. But more on this, I think one of many reasons Agatha hopes he is Nicholas is because he appears almost the same time as Rio, so this could be Rio playing some sick trick with her son's soul (given how they behave with each other, I won’t look pass that lol). After Rio told her and Billy’s angry talks, Agatha finally tried to confirm the other possibility by provoking Billy.

-Even with the sigil in the way, you and your mother have the same tell.

The “tell” being (for lack of a better word I will go with) the heroic righteousness: Wanda tried to save it all in WandaVision: release the town people and save her family (that she created); Billy tries to walk the road but wants his moral intact.

-Which is?

-Very inconvenient for you.

She tries to warn Billy here, that if he walks the witches road, he needs to abandon that heroic righteousness or he will fall like his mother did.

Her whole vibe right now is just taunting him, “poking that bear”. But there is still some care leaking through the crack (i love it). She doesn’t admit it, but I think she hates to see witches walk the same path as her and fail because of the common moral holding them back.

-It’s nice to see you again, Billy.

She tries to connect here. She knows with the sigil, no one has ever said his name, at least those of his kind.

Now the next part is amazing acting by Kathryn Hahn: 

1. Billy said his name, Billy, and Agatha’s eyes got teary. I think those are for Agatha. She cries for herself, for a little surprise at how she can still get so naive after all those years, how she let herself open in front of people for stupid reasons.

2. Billy said William, and Agatha realize his problem, which needs to be resolved if they want to come out of here alive. That’s why she starts to talk about Jen and Lilia in that fancy act of hers, and you can see how awkward she is, she doesn’t know how to comfort someone about people’s death.

-I’m not like you.

-Where have I heard that before?

The eyes, the smile, the look back at Billy, chef kisses, you go Kathryn Hahn she throws it right back at Billy’s face, yeah at least people like me stay alive, lol.

-Where did you come by this fresh body you’re wearing?

She tested him with that question. By this question, she knows he feels guilty having that body. That’s why the talk after, the talk she dreamt for someone told her many years ago.

Next is Billy retaliates, telling her he doesn’t need him. And Agatha is surprised, because what does he mean he doesn’t need her? He has power but no knowledge, she has knowledge but no power. The laugh after seeing (and confirmed) that Billy can use his power without getting all emotional, he is truly like his mother.

And the “deduction” part is just pure evil of Agatha. Also the tongue clicking sounds so much like a witch’s evil laugh, I love it. But she shows Billy his goal/plan isn’t that well-covered, it only takes her a minute to unveil it, plus how the past trials have had all the witches, can he even survive passing one alone.

-Gosh, you really are a Maximoff. Otherwise, none of this would be nearly as dramatic.

Everyone love this line, lol. I think it pissed Agatha off because Maximoff witches are power af but clueless like a 3 year olds.

Now the next part is truly amazing describing Agatha’s nasty character (which I adore). As Billy said that they would walk together, but he doesn’t trust her and will not do so, Agatha doesn’t say anything to mock him back right there, she just inhales softly, doing some silly thing with her hair. She is laughing at him, silently. Because she knows from here on, he will actively hate her, and she can’t wait to see the look on his face when he realizes he has to trust her, because that is what the road required the witches to do. She is in for a treat.

[twoa-plus]

dissecting stanford pines and finding organs that don’t exist but like in a metaphorical way

that’s it that’s the title i’m going with. this is a long one folks o7

most of this isn’t sourced or canon at all it’s just personal interpretation/headcanon/whatever else u wanna call it, but!! since more people are seeing my deranged gravity falls ramblings now i figure i should probably give some perspective as to why i like/defend ford as much as i do

(in my other gf posts i do try to stick to canon to back up whatever point i’m making - this is just about my personal opinion of ford as a character, and should be able to be thrown out in regards to my other posts)

so for some background/setup/whatever (it’s important i promise bear with me), different people have different instinctual responses to anxiety/stress. i come from a family (genetics are fun) where the default response is to start (metaphorically ofc) biting and hissing like a cornered animal. this doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any actual hatred or malice or anything towards the people that end up getting scratched - they might just be at the wrong place at the wrong time, they might’ve done something super minor and insignificant that added on to a preexisting pile of stress, etc etc

i cannot stress enough that i am not saying this is ok. you dont need me to tell you that hurting people who don’t deserve it is a bad thing, lol. what i am saying though is that sometimes people can kind of suck for reasons other than just genuinely wanting everyone around them to be miserable

this is the last “background” part i swear BUT another thing thats less genetic and more just me being weird is that i’m the type of person where like. any minor environmental change can really stress me out lol. like even just reorganizing my desk can be pretty emotionally taxing

SO. finally back on topic. stanford pines. i see a lot of the behavior/patterns i just described in him. like i’ve spent my entire life around people like this, and while i understand why a lot of people see him as just some asshole, i can’t help but see him as a guy who’s just kinda going through it lol

just talking about the more recent events as of the series, he’s just spent 30 years god knows where doing and seeing god knows what, he has an abusive ex who wants to murder him and his entire family (plus the whole dimension, really), and in the three decades he’s been gone the entire world - including his own house - has changed and left him behind. add onto that that he went missing in 1982, way before we had all of the emotional/mental health resources we have now, we all saw what the stans’ childhood was like, and that ford is terrible with people - including, imo, himself. if there’s anybody out there who would have Feelings and not understand what they are or where they’re coming from or what to do about them, it’s this guy

this entire setup is the perfect circumstance for fear and anxiety and stress and uncertainty to all get translated into anger. a really big example of this, to me, is how he talks about dipper in journal 3. i’ve talked about this before somewhere so i’ll try to summarize as fast as i can lol

reading his initial entry about dipper would make u think he like. hates this kid lol. but i really don’t think he ever did - he was really excited to meet the kids in the show and already seemed to care about them just by virtue of existing, and his opinion on dipper in journal 3 seems to do a complete 180 pretty quickly which ,,, doesn’t really fit ford as a character. like i love the man but that guy can hold a GRUDGE

here’s how it reads to me:

ford gets back to his home dimension after 30 years and everything is different

he’s subconsciously kind of struggling with the fact that he doesn’t really have a “home” anymore - the sense of familiarity and comfort that would normally come with the word is gone. (i specify that it’s subconscious because, like i said earlier, i do not get the vibe that he’s particularly aware of his own emotions)

he finds out that journal 3 - something he made with his own two hands and considers part of his life’s work - has also changed in the decades he’s been gone. this adds to the feeling of unfamiliarity with the world around him

it’s easier to blame that “final straw” and say that he’s just upset about his work being tampered with rather than address the actual root of the problem, so that’s exactly what he does. this still doesn’t mean that there’s any genuine hatred towards dipper. anger in the moment, yeah, but not hatred

again, this is entirely personal interpretation, and i completely understand if u don’t see it like this!! this is just a pattern of thoughts/behavior that i’m very familiar with, so it’s easy for me to apply it to situations like this even if it’s not really part of the canon

i also think there’s a big problem in this fandom with just ,, not seeing ford as a Person with Emotions? idk how to explain it but it feels like people expect him to always know exactly what to do in every situation just bc he’s old and academically smart. like whenever another character does something objectively bad it’s “well there were extenuating circumstances,” (which is usually true and i agree !!) but ford never really seems to get that treatment. if he does something bad it’s just because he sucks

a big example of this i think is the fight between him and stan (y’know the “you ruined my life”/“you ruined your own life”). you cannot look me dead in the eyes and, in full seriousness, with the context of everything ford was going through with bill at the time, say that he was fully mentally/emotionally stable during that conversation. “oh so you’re blaming stan-“ NO!!! stan was also going through it!!! that’s the entire point - they’re both people with their own lives and emotions and everything else that comes with that, they had very human reactions to their respective situations, and they both ended up hurt!! hopefully i’m explaining this right but i just don’t like it when people pin everything on ford, like there was a lot going on and at the end of the day he’s just a human

wasn’t really sure how to work this in so i’ll just put it here - i don’t think ford ever truly hated stan, either. familial bonds are complicated, and there can be a whole lot of anger towards someone without true hatred being present. i briefly mentioned the stans’ childhood sucking earlier, and i don’t just mean stanley - it’s easier to pinpoint him as a victim of abuse/neglect, but that doesn’t mean ford had it great either. their parents (specifically filbrick, but caryn didn’t exactly do a fantastic job with them either) expected nothing of stan and the world of ford, both of which would weigh heavily on any child. plus, ford being the favorite doesn’t mean all of his emotional needs were met - filbrick seeing him as an opportunity to make money doesn’t mean he was suddenly an emotionally present and caring father towards him. WCT wasn’t just an opportunity for ford to go be a famous scientist or whatever - it was a chance for his father to love him, something both of the stans desperately wanted. (WCT was also on the opposite side of the country from where they lived but i’m sure that’s completely unrelated !!!)

do i think stan deserved anything that happened to him after the science fair incident? no, absolutely not, he was a child. do i think it was right of ford to just stand there as his brother got thrown out? no, absolutely not - but he was a child too. as for them not speaking for a decade after that, like i mentioned earlier ford can hold a grudge like no other. (this doesn’t just apply to stan, either, ford dedicated half of his life to trying to kill his ex lmao.) i think ford’s ability to hold on to anger like that is actually a pretty major part of/flaw in his personality, but again, anger - even the strongest, most long-lived of it - is not synonymous with hatred. stan, who ford has always gone to for help when he truly needed it, it not what ford’s hatred looks like. bill, who ford actively wants to die, is

anyways!! i never know how to close these things lol. ig in summary i just see ford’s behavior (in the show at least) as more of a sign of internal struggle rather than like ,, genuinely hating the people around him and wanting their lives to suck. did/does he have an ego problem? absolutely. is he incapable of love and human connection? no. is he immune to manipulation/abuse/neglect/etc and everything that comes with that? also no

he’s an interdimensional criminal why can’t he go to the theraprism. i think he should

[lxmelle]

Do you think there's a way/chance Gojo might still return.

I very very very much don't want that but some theories around here started getting to me.

For example the fact that we don't know Kenjaku's technique and how it works, also in the recent fanbook in Gojo's timeline the airport scene was referred as "a certain place" not afterlife.

Also his end was uncharacteristically 'happy' for jjk. Yes, his body is still used but his soul escaped the exploitation.

Soooo I'm curious as to what you think?

Hi, Anon 😊

Thanks for submitting a question - I don’t get many of these! What an honour that someone wants to hear my thoughts 😆 You’ve opened the floodgates of my mind, so proceed with caution 🙈

I’ll preface by saying that I generally feel that people can believe what they want to, so I don’t typically go out of my way to impose my opinion if I disagree with someone about their views. It’s just about being respectful I guess? I kinda wonder what theories there are out there about his revival, because I don’t engage with the content-makers much at all.

I will say I’m not ignorant to them, and do sometimes come across some posts on twitter & Reddit of that nature. Nobara and Gojo seem to be the most popular for revivalists. I get the impression that these posts dissect phrases / how things are described, or focus on the symbolism of specifics like that of lotuses’ regarding rebirth… but I think it doesn’t change what cannot be changed. Gege has hinted at his stance of them not returning for some time with how the story has been unfolding. Correct me if I’m wrong, and I know satosugu fans also do this for their “ship”, the only difference I perceive is that theorists exclude evidence that refutes their opinions (i.e. cherry picking things that become twisted into conclusions) and therefore it becomes a confirmation bias.

For example, the lotus symbolises many things, including purity due to how the blossoms grow in the murky depths of muddy water. Not necessarily rebirth in isolation. The lotus also carries some meaning in enlightenment. Resolve for growing despite its conditions. So... ince again, it’s not necessarily just rebirth.

In terms of the permanence of death… The have been too many reiterations of the narrator and reactions of characters that describe Gojo’s death for it to not be fact. I know this will disappoint those hoping for a comeback, and I think this question wouldn’t be posed if there wasn’t a sliver of hope that Gojo would “return”. I dunno, I guess I have mixed feelings about this because why just Gojo? Because he was the strongest, therefore he “deserved” to live again? His students need him? But… What about Choso? He didn’t get to be more of a human. And Nobara? Was that all her young life amounted to? What about Yaga? Didn’t panda need his dad? And Nanami? He didn’t get to go to Kuantan or retire with his riches he slaved for as a salaryman. Countless others, really. And let’s not forget Geto. He deserved to have a better life too. Did he not? (I, for one, would love for Gojo to come back on scene if Geto could as well... but... yeah. Alas. 😔)

So I guess I naturally have to ask: If it was so easy for the dead to rise again, why was it not possible for others who have died before Gojo? Also, unlike others, Gojo didn’t seem to reject the possibility of his death, so unlike Sukuna who had an interest in becoming cursed objects to extend his life or Kenjaku who body hopped, of Tengen who erased people... Gojo had no such wish, and felt he would “win either way” whether he lived or died in battle. This was his philosophy that was akin to a Military General. He was, to his core, very objective and accepting. It was both a strength and a weakness - just as Gege described in his character book.

Speaking of being a character… within Jujutsu Kaisen, Gojo Satoru was just one person. Gege spoke about his process behind Yuji as the main protagonist over Megumi and how Gojo’s role as the sensei was sealed after JJK0, whereas Yuta could be omitted. What remains true is that Gojo wasn’t the lead protagonist of the series. It would narratively be a disservice to Yuji, Megumi, and Yuta as members of the new generation.

What remains also true is that he was loved as a character. His legacy had been left. He made a significant dent in combatting the biggest threat to humanity. His role has been fulfilled... as fans we can continue to love him and recognise his impact. I think Gege depicting him in so many flashbacks is an ode to him in many ways. I don’t think it would be done like this if he were “returning”. It just does not make sense.

If we also think about what Gojo wanted as a character, or as an individual - I think he also found his own fulfilment. He didn’t want to return. I’ve come across some interesting perspectives of international fans who opened my eyes to a different perspective too: that Geto was happy to support him “as long as he was satisfied” and wasn’t going to urge him to go back - if going back was even possible in the first place. Because Geto prioritised Gojo as a person and not as the role of sensei or role as the strongest. So if Gojo was satisfied enough, Geto was satisfied that he was there to stay in the afterlife.

Let’s talk about directions too. North, according to Mei Mei, seemed to mean... rebirth. To become someone new. No where does it say that returning back to life was a possibility. Was she even right in the first place? Was the plane actually going to take off? So many questions. Whatever it was… Gojo also said he wished that the airport scene was not a figment of his imagination. The strongest sorcerer. Praying? I mean... why shouldn’t he get his wish? 😪 I think Gege said that the airport scene was like a reward for those who died. There is a better word for it but I can’t remember what it was. Will edit this post when I can remember.

I mean, these are my personal views and I guess people will believe what they wish to believe and hold onto different pieces of what’s shown to justify their beliefs. I suppose I wonder what has begun to sway you if his comeback isn’t something you particularly want? Is it a hope that he can continue something that you feel has been left unfinished? Is it out of love for him?

Hmm… I guess I feel like the baton had been passed, and he’d done all that he could possibly do, as the strongest

…even to the point of letting his body be used once he could no longer use it.

I know it is disturbing on many ways. However, within the series itself, it was a necessary strategy from the perspective of those not knowing how things would transpire.

Everyone there experienced a desperation to survive - to find any potential way to defeat Sukuna without the umbrella of safety that was Gojo Satoru. And Gojo cooperated - he never bothered with collaborating with to others since he always fought alone. This was character development too. This was for the next generation too. He couldn’t fight all battles for them. Some things, they needed to do themselves. Just as how he and Geto, as teens, were assigned to a mission that nearly got them all killed. This was the screwed up jujutsu world.

Ultimately, Gojo did his best in the battle. He did his best before the battle. Killing the higher ups included.

We may not know what Kenjaku’s CT is, but only Yuta can body-hop now… Gojo’s body, without Yuta in it, will not have a functional brain. Remember: he was also brain damaged from the fight with Sukuna.

It isn’t possible to survive without a brain. We don’t know how they’re keeping Yuta’s body fresh and how fresh the body needs to be in order for Yuta to return to it. These are the strange questions we can only speculate since we also don’t know how Kenjaku managed to enter the body of Geto in the state he was in, and then regenerated his heart and arm. Gojo’s body was stitched up in preparation for Yuta, for example. Yes it is mysterious. But. As it stands, again, only Yuta can hop. Gojo... I’m sorry to say 😪😢 is lifeless.

I think some theorise that it’s about the soul. But honestly, I believe Geto’s body with Kenjaku in it did not have Geto’s soul in it. It’s not a “Megumi’s soul co-existing with Sukuna” situation. Nor was it “Yuji with Sukuna”. Geto’s body was imbued with his CT and his memories, just like a cursed tool would - e.g. Nanami’s weapon. So Kenjaku can pilot it and receive information from it as part of his CT. It’s like a humanoid mecha.

It reacted to Gojo’s voice like a “dragonfly without its head” - it was merely a physical reaction.

Just like how a human body will twitch and move even after the person has expired.

Like the tail of a lizard that twitches even if detached from its head. It is involuntary. A residual instinct.

Kenjaku’s perspective of how the body and soul is one directly contrasts with Mahito’s view. So I don’t think we should pick one interpretation as more correct than the other when they both agreed that it was dependent on Cursed Technique in the end.

So... I guess those are my views. I really like how you phrased it - as his soul escaped exploitation. I suppose I see this as being true, since we saw Gege describe Gojo in this kind of “afterlife” that he doesn’t try to explain. I mean, this is an afterlife specific to Gojo, so who knows where it is?

Gege is funny like that I think. Multiple characters have been shown to hold conflicting views, and even as the story creator, he doesn’t play God who knows all and sees all that is able to describe a definitive afterlife. It’s both poetic and frustrating at the same time imho.

Honestly, I also find it challenging to accept. A part of me wonders if he wanted it to be an actual delusion, but I’m reminded of how he talked about souls and reincarnation - so I know in the verse that souls exist and that what Nanami said about his death was something Gojo couldn’t have just imagined in his dying moments.

Sorry it took a while to respond! Hopefully it’s... thorough enough? If you have something else to follow up, please drop me a comment or another Ask!

[o-wild-west-wind]

I’m making an extremely spicy take for one second after seeing how divisive recent episodes have been and then I’ll be returning to our regularly scheduled programming but a truly double-edged sword of this show is that it doesn’t hand-hold its audience. It leaves a lot to subtext, it’s driven by themes over real-life morality (with different lenses of morality per character, even), it gives characters dialogue that contradict their actions, it operates in symbolism and metaphors; it’s very show vs. tell, as most well-crafted media is. And this is part of what makes it so addictive and compelling; you can spend hours dissecting it under a microscope. But it also means that if you’re watching this show literally, you’re going to miss a lot of its intention—and because the show implies but does not tell, it can be easy to take things at face value even when the implication is something else entirely (or else extremely nuanced).

This isn’t necessarily an issue, but I say all this partially because I don’t think it would be so uncomfortable for us POC to see Izzy’s lack of apology to Ed et. al if the harassment in fandom didn’t exist. Because we know that this is how the show operates—a lot is assumed off screen, and long beats of open dialogue aren’t really a thing compared to the way characters are tonally portrayed. Tonal growth speaks more than words here (basically, Izzy’s silent growth speaks volumes). But this show vs. tell/taking things literally is also why the harassment started in the first place—because people took the literal violence of the toe thing more heavily than the tonal presentation of the “this is Blackbeard” scene, for example. So on some level, it now feels a bit like the show needs to do something about a problem created by fandom itself.

Do I want the show to change all this and be more obvious about what it’s trying to say? Honestly, as a viewer, no; I personally think it would be way less impactful if it was. But it’s definitely a cautionary tale that I’m genuinely not sure how much the creative team is even aware of. And what I think is most important is that while you as a fan are welcome to interact with this show however you damn well please, there are 2 things to keep in mind: a) POC are a part of this fandom space too and their feelings and discomfort shouldn’t be steamrolled just because you love your meow meow (you can love him, even I’m growing to, but you’ve gotta be mindful!) and b) this show, while a rom-com, is also so much more than that—and while you don’t personally have to engage with the themes of toxic masculinity and the question of what it means to be a man, you have to be okay with others doing so (and yes, that does include critiquing and critically analyzing Izzy for his role in these themes).

[sugarcryztal]

Hey! I really like this account and the stuff you have been doing. May I have a SFW romantic CRK, MHA, or Mystic Messenger matchup?

I go by He/Him pronouns and I am gay (MLM). 1 am 5'5" and chubby. I have my hair cut short and plan on dying it soon. I often wear piercings, using only ear piercings. I often wear nice button ups with sweater vests or just horror movie shirts.

I would describe myself as introverted, but not necessarily shy. I am a very blunt person, which has caused some people to like me while others don’t. Though I just prefer to relax alone. I am overly cautious with myself and the people I love due to conditions I have lived with. So, I accidentally come off as too paranoid. I am intelligent and often love literature and media because of it. I am very much an artistic but also a writer.

I like spicy food, world building, fantasy stories, sci-fi settings, coffee, cats, supernatural stuff, RPGs, niche RPGs, TTRPGs (not just d&d), vintage wear, good cooking, taxidermy, rocks, horror movies, horror books, card games, niche history, niche internet cartoons, old rock music, metal music, unique art, stop motion, and anime.

I dislike overly sweet foods, the "I ain't reading all of that" or "it ain't that deep" type of person. anybody who thinks cartoons and/or horror have any real substance to them, minimalism, most romance movies, toxic positivity, and people who chew with their mouths open.

My hobbies are media dissection, writing, playing TTRPGs (both as a player and a GM/DM), drawing, playing video games, making them too, binge watching horror movies, and collecting vintage items.

I’m just going to do Mystic Messenger so if you want another fandom you can just resubmit with a different fandom you want!

I’m going to match you with . . .

Yoosung !

- okay I don’t like Yoosung that much but I am going to TRY MY BEST!

- When he first met you he was probably lowkey intimidated because of how blunt you can be and he’s a very sensitive guy.

- But he was determined to be your friend because you looked like you needed some! (not in a bad way)

- A while after being friends, he’s stuck to you like glue!

- He grows to admire how intelligent you are especially when it comes to media dissection! Because that’s a rare breed now.

- HATESSS toxic positivity! But that’s just because he likes giving genuine and straightforward compliments! Especially if it’s for a special cool person such as yourself!

- In his pining stage he probably starts to steal certain articles of your clothing when you aren’t looking. Most likely one of your sweater vests.

- Also becomes a lot more touchy, while making sure you’re comfortable of course!

- But when I say a lot I mean a LOT! Like at every greeting and farewell he hugs you and when you guys are walking together he wraps an arm around yours as he claims it’s so “he doesn’t get lost”, but I think we all know the real reason.

- When ur in a relationship:

- I’m sorry when I say this… But he probably chews with his mouth open because he’s trying to talk and eat at the same time. You’re going to have to be the one to tell him to swallow his food before he talks. 😭

- On another note, COFFEE DATES ARE A MUST!

- He doesn’t really like coffee though because of its bitter taste, so he orders hot chocolate instead thinking you don’t notice and spoiler alert, you do. 😭

- HE WOULD NEVVVVEEERRRR say “I ain’t readin allat” or anything like that because he is your #1 simp bruh. He IS readin allat!

- Takes your feelings seriously to because again he’s a very sensitive guy. So you will never hear him invalidate your feelings because why tf would he?! You are entitled to feel whatever you want!

- Also likes playing games with you. I don’t know what they’re called, but you know those meetings or cons where they all gather to play? Yeah he goes with you to those.

- He never knows what’s going on though, poor Yoosung 😭

- Confused, but happily cheering you on because you’re amazing!

- Boundaries with him are also important, keep in mind he’s mentally ill and will probably cling to you a lot more. So you will have to ask for space when you need it because he doesn’t get subtle hints.

Yoosung whines. A lot.

You were trying to get out of bed to start getting ready for a meet up with game friends, but he wouldn’t have it!

“Don’t goooo!” Yoosung whined. He was upset because you couldn’t take him with you this time. So to prevent you from leaving, he had his arms wrapped tight around your waist. You didn’t listen, standing up from the bed and kissing his forehead softly. But he wasn’t giving up!

He stayed with you through that whole morning, trying to constantly put his hands on you, but you would always swat them away when you were doing something!

Eventually you were preparing to leave and he was at his wits end. He tested out one last trick.

That’s how you found yourself passionately kissing your boyfriend, he was not giving you any room to even speak. It was kiss after kiss. You gently nudged him away with your arms and he whined loudly, immediately going back in for another kiss. Soo… Now you had to cancel your plans.

sorry it was short!

08.22.24

[hollow-l1es]

i wanna clarify that when I talk about ghoulia g1 being autistic coded i mostly take it from this official bio thingy that was on the monster high website!! (Idk if that site still exists but i was obsessed with it as a kid fkdksksk) A couple things I want to highlight here:

-ghoulia states that she needs a proper schedule to function. similarly many autistic ppl struggle with things such as organizing and planning (ie executive dysfunction) and sticking to a specific schedule or routine is very helpful and reduces stress a lot!!

-"[does] not process last minute change very well": this is actually mentioned twice, in the freaky flaws and in the pet peeve section! It’s a common thing in autistic folks to struggle with last minute changes. Neurotypicals often see this as "rigid thinking" or stubbornness but it’s really often (at least in my case and other ppl i know) a case of needing time to adjust to changes of plan or unexpected events

-"trouble making facial expressions": i think this one is self explanatory, a lot of us autistics tend to have little to no facial expressions or or will force facial expressions to appear "normal" to neurotypical

-can only speak zombie: okay someone pointed this one out in one of my recent posts because in my memories i believed she was actually non-verbal! It was my mistake, but i still made some research to try to understand where my confusion came from and it turns out that certain ppl actually interpret ghoulia as being non-verbal, and her zombie talk being a parallel for the way autistic ppl will sometimes communicate with grunts and sounds instead of words when they go non-verbal. I don’t necessarily believe this is what was intended with ghoulia since in the monster high world zombie is just another language that ppl speak and understand easily. there’s much more we could say about this topic but regardless, i still think ghoulia literally communicating differently from the other characters is a good parallel with how autistic ppl often struggle to connect or keep up with neurotypicals’ way of communicating!!

-ok that one is obviously a stereotype but if my hypothesis that she was purposely coded as autistic by her creators is true, her being a nerd who loves books and studying (also activities that are often done alone, since many autistics are also introverts) is definitely worth mentioning

-at the "favorite subject" question, she replies that she can’t choose just one, which is a common reply for autistic ppl when asked their favorite x or y!! A lot of us struggle with decision making, even when it comes to small and innocent things like picking your favorite subject at school!

There’s more that could be added obviously but I really wanted to just dissect this bio since it’s what made me realize that she was autistic-coded! As a child when i got into monster high i never really got any of that (and tbh i didn’t watch the webseries that much so i definitely can’t say much about how she acts in it) but now reading this i think it’s not a stretch to think that this was intentional. With all the basic/widely known autistic traits that are explicitly stated in her bio, i think it’s reasonable to say that this is not a coincidence. Ofc everyone is allowed to have their opinion on this but this is mine!:))

Tl;dr: Ghoulia from monster high g1 is definitely coded as autistic and i wish i had noticed earlier!!!

[men-and-their-monsters]

I think the most important understanding of conservative and patriarchal gender is the binary construction of gender and any traits attached to it. If men are one thing then women are the other. If you are one and poses the traits of the other than you are a “failed” [gender]. This is how the binary breaks those people that dare to step outside of this construction, and it’s something that everyone has to consciously work on in order to defeat.

To add to extend @_trickypockets point. The binary means that if one gender is biological and immutable and discrete, then it also stands that all genders in that system are as to explicitly maintain the gender relation. If men to this than women do not this and if women do that then men do not that.

The most important reason to understand this concept is because when we talk about this in queer spaces without dissecting this, we end up with “all men are bad”, because we have internalized patriarchal messaging about gender without successfully neutralizing it. We have to destroy the dichotomy of gender. Men are not defined by anything other than themselves describing that they are men. Women are not defined by anything except what you want it to be.

The other critical reason is that the patriarchy incredibly and increasingly sexist to men and women. Misogyny is a large part of this but it isn’t the only part. Separate from the misogyny there is a hatred of women and womenhood. I don’t understand this concept from experience, but I define this hate as the de-valument of women and women’s labor. I think it’s important that we recognize that so much of women’s ideas thoughts and work are not given the respect, appreciation or attention that they deserve. I’m trying to get into baking and sewing and if people were to by my stuff it would be unaffordable. an experienced seamstress could produce products that cost a months wage even if we are just talking about basics, and all the while many people will offer 70 dollars for this product. I don’t think society while I do think society overvalues men’s labor and input I also think that this has several asterisks. Men of color do not necessarily see this benifit in relation to their white peers even if they do make more that their black counterparts. Likewise labor overall is undervalued. Minimum wage is worth way more than 7.25 and for skilled labor 25 dollars not nearly as much as it used to be. But this isn’t just about labor. This is about what we associate with womenhood and girlhood. It’s about the way we don’t believe emotions matrer or are real. It’s about the way that we don’t think of women as people or the way we group them with children. It’s about the way we believe that women are inexperienced and incapable unless we know for certain that they have an expertise. It’s the way society is eager to strip women’s rights of authority and autonomy.

Why am I discussing this? Because I want to answer the question possed by tricky-pockets. “Why can’t I tell if this is about cis men or trans men” but I can’t do that just yet. I need one more thing.

Misogyny comes from the attributes that society enforces on women of which there are a great deal. But in naming this misogyny we must also recognize that we do the same for men. It would be a disservice to our understanding of the binary to only name the way women are forced into a box without thinking about the implications of the binary. And sure, many people will argue that we don’t need to focus on this because we believe many if not all of men’s traits are good. Hyper-competency, physically and emotionally rugged, ability win bread, protector. These are all good traits under the patriarchy, but are they good traits for humanity?

Now I can finally answer the question, Why do I bring this up? because it doesn’t matter who this post is targeting. If they are talking about cis men then they are telling the men they know that if they are “real” men then they can’t use pronouns. If they are trans me.mn then the same thing is true but with the addition of transphobia and the possible consequences of failing to not consider pronouns in that stealth. If the is just about masculine women then it’s forcing those women to make a choice about gender online and while I think it’s silly that this person said what she said. It has serious ramifications for all people. Under the binary any statement about a specific gendered group is also a statement about every other gendered group. It’s partially why we don’t have a lot of public discourse about what is a man. Because we are already having it about womenhood and that kills every gender with one stone. (Though it is also because society cares about the purity of womenhood for whatever reason).

I think to talk about the trials of trans men inherently means that we have to talk about what it means to be a man. Yes there is a lot of misogyny wrapped up in that. A lot if not most of the violence that trans men experience also contains misogyny and this extents to the lateral violence from inside the community whether they intend to or not. But a critical aspect of this violence and oppression- manhood - is left out of discourse intentionally or not, because in order to have a thoughtful conversation about the violence and oppression trans men experience, you have to think about the way men experience the patriarchy. You have to challenge the notion that trans women don’t experience violence for their connection to patriarchal masculinity. You have to challenge the idea that men are always immune to the effects of the patriarchy.

[a-place-to-exist]

fjskxklzkdksbxjs I’m so frustrated. I want to go back to last week. I don’t know why I had a sudden realization. I should have written it down. Now all I want is to forget about being a system. I don’t remember what I thought before if I was or I wasn’t but it’s been taking so much space in my mind these past days. I want to go back to the past weeks were I simply concluded I was doing well and worked in cooperation with my body. The system paradigm makes everything so confusing.

It’s easier to understand with only 2 parts: the mind (me) and the body/nervous system. I don’t feel mentally anxious, so the anxiety goes to my body. This is one type of mind/body separation. It’s not necessarily systemhood.

Only there are moments where I’m not… I am not. Is it auto-pilot? Maybe. It can be auto-pilot.

But what about the moments my voice, speech patterns, opinions, posture, reactions all seem strange? What about the moments I feel only partially in control? When I’m there and conscious but confused? Can it be only depersonalization?

I’ve known for some times now that I am a control freak. Deep down, maybe I see systemhood as playing Sims with myself. Only I also know that this is obviously not how systemhood works. I CAN’T control alternate parts of consciousness when it comes down to it. That’s the point. I can’t control who is out or who is how. Maybe this is why the gatekeeper wants to hide everything for me - if that really is their wish, which I have been feeling for a long time, but I could be wrong. Because:

I keep having ideas of how other parts are but I have to realize it’s just my perception of them. I will always remember when I made a picrew pfp for an alter, and when this alter fronted they didn’t feel it was accurate, even though it really was them. I realized after this that even though we all share the same systems (physical and mental) we are really not… how should I say… We are separate. That is the point of a system, of course, but it is hard for the fact to really sink in. To realize what it is, especially since I don’t experience much amnesia.

I don’t even know where I’m going with this or what it’s even about. I just feel frustrated from not understanding. Thinking I am a system makes me think an issue still has to be resolved - if there are other me s in my brain I want to talk to them - when I think the best thing to do is to leave it alone. I said it before, my system runs smoothly. I don’t have mood swings and unexplainable emotions anymore. I think wanting to reach out to alters (in my/our case) is born of a selfish desire to know. To control. To keep in check. To examine. I need to stop dissecting myself.

This is also partly why a few months ago (I can’t remember clearly) I decided to stop actively thinking I was a system. Partly because I also felt it was reinforcing the idea of victimization, that I have suffered and am bound to be a victim forever. I have agency in my life and my suffering does not define me anymore. I want to stray from this label of constant suffering I grew up with. This is why I don’t want to use disorder labels anymore, only system, but as this post explains even system makes me feel like there is something I need to do about it.

The only thing I should do is let it be. I realized this years ago but the least frustrating way to achieve a goal is to forget about the goal.

[goodmiffy]

anon bc i am also afraid of people pointing swords at me… i think the way you phrased the question presents a little difficulty. in asking “would all babies be fundamentally better off with a mother,” you’re discounting a lot of variation. people who were abused by their mothers might say they’d be better off without ever having had one. i don’t mean to parse your words, i just think the way we ask this question is important and requires specificity to get good answers/discussion.

from what i know about babies, they can develop equally intense bonds with a parent of either sex (meaning that hormonally these relationships can be identical). in practice this is rarely the case because mothers wind up spending way more time with a baby than fathers, but in terms of how those relationships are created and developed and the role oxytocin plays in them, there’s not a difference between the ability of men and women to develop a parental relationship with a baby.

you have to also consider biological differences, not between men and women necessarily, but between biological mother/person who carries the baby and anyone else. breastfeeding can impact health outcomes, particularly immunity. this isn’t a question exclusive to gay men, this is for anyone who adopts or even mothers who just don’t get a good milk supply. i’m not making any moral judgments about that, it is just the case that breastfeeding is likely to result in a stronger immune system than formula. of course, milk banks exist, but the supply doesn’t even come close to meeting the demand.

breastfeeding and the sound of mother’s heartbeat, her smell, etc, are the main obstacles imo. fathers can still do things like skin to skin contact, they even make those fake breasts that let fathers “breastfeed” in the same position (not sure how much of a difference this makes if you’re using real breastmilk, idk if that’s been studied).

all things considered, i think the answer is probably that babies are “fundamentally better off,” by some slight metrics, being with their mothers. but i think this really applies to biological mothers (not egg donors, the woman who carries the pregnancy), and that gay men are on fairly equal footing with mothers who adopt/use surrogates/etc. i do think there are differences between female and male children - if the child is female, it’s especially important for her to have women in her life she can go to and learn from, particularly once she hits puberty. that could be aunts, grandmothers, friends, whatever, but i do think it’s wrong for a girl to grow up without any close female influences who can answer her questions that men may not be able to. i think boys should have some female influences and role models as well, but particularly for girls raised in a household without a female parent, it’s really essential.

i appreciate this but it really wasn’t/isnt that deep to me, i mentioned gay men because that’s what i was referring to. when newborns are taken away from their mother and immediately handed to a man i feel that it’s bad for them a disservice because those early moments are crucial for development. men actually can’t provide the same skin to skin contact infants as their own biological mother, which imo they need. that’s just one example but there’s a lot that newborns get from their mothers immediately after birth.

obviously not all mothers are good and there’s a million people who are better off without their own mothers, but infants need their biological mum while they’re young if it’s possible, in my opinion. that’s why i said babies and not children/people. I think gay men can raise children for sure, but it really doesn’t sit right with me when newborn babies are taken from their mothers and handed to men, we don’t even take puppies away from their mothers until they’re like 8 weeks or so.

i don’t see the need to dissect my words it feels bad faith when it was essentially one sentence. no, obviously one sentence isn’t full of nuance, so if you want clarity on what i meant just ask for it?

[yukidragon]

How far do you think Ian could go to get us back?

Ok, I know you have already written many scenarios where Ian loses his sanity and tries to get closer to M/C but seeing more there is... do you think that Yandre Ian could be worse than Jack?

Apart from that I saw a post where someone made a hypothetical scenario where Shaun stays with M/C and they start a family, only for Ian to show up...in that hypothetical scenario, How far do you think Ian or Yandre Ian would come?

It’s hard to say for sure how far Ian is going to go to try and get back together with MC in the game. So far, he’s resorted to making numerous phone calls, leaving a ton of voice mails, stalking their socials, talking about past memories in an uncomfortably manipulative way, swearing he’ll fix things, making promises, and he has a plan to “fix” things that involves his new job with a starring role in a kids show.

While I did theorize that all the love interests in the game are yandere for MC, it’s admittedly not a theory that has much in the way of evidence. It’s mostly a “wouldn’t that be cool and these things might foreshadow it” sort of theory. It’s hard to say for sure how far Ian will go, even if this teaser gives some yandere vibes. For all we know, he won’t go that far.

That being said, I am still inclined towards this theory, if only because I think it would be very interesting. I think a yandere character can be taken in many different directions, as there’s more than one way to be love sick to an unhealthy degree. (I still need to get that post dissecting the yandere trope done, but, alas, I am easily distracted by rambling about Jack headcanons.)

Jack is canonically a softcore yandere. He has stated he can’t and won’t do anything his sunshine doesn’t want. It seems as though he supernaturally is unable to do anything without MC’s consent. There’s limitations in place for how far he’ll go when it comes to MC.

The same wouldn’t necessarily be true for another yandere.

I think if Ian is a yandere, it’s hard to say just how far he’ll go exactly. I wrote a what if where he poisoned Shaun due to that one yandere AU picture Sauce drew where he was covered in blood and holding a bottle of (presumably) poison.

Given the nature of the game, I doubt any yandere character is going to go as far as non-consent. I certainly don’t want to go there in any of my headcanons either. So while they are technically capable of that, from a meta perspective, there’s a hard limit on how far they’ll go there.

A yandere is someone who is not well mentally. Their feelings of love for someone have taken to an unhealthy extreme. This can be taken in a lot of directions, so it really comes down to your preferred flavor of yandere, I suppose.

For me personally, I think a yandere Ian would probably go as far as the what if scenario I wrote, not being intentionally violent against MC, but going to desperate lengths to have them back. Given how rough he is with MC when it comes to sex, he could make assumptions about his advances, but given too how apologetic he is, I think it’s entirely possible even in his most yandere mindset, he’d genuinely regret making MC uncomfortable with, say, an unwanted kiss.

A yandere Ian might even apologize for slaughtering other people in order to “fix” things between them.

It would be kind of twisted for a yandere to do some unspeakable acts of violence, only to cry and apologize afterwards... but still be willing to do more in order to keep the one they love. It kind of fits Ian to be this sort of yandere given what we’ve seen of him so far.

I doubt I’ll go as far as Ian poisoning someone in Sunshine in Hell though, even if I do follow through with the yandere route with him. I’m still deciding on the exact flavor of yandere for each love interest, but, in the end, it’s hard for me to not want to give these characters a happy ending. Sure it might be bittersweet that Ian and Alice can’t reconcile, but sometimes that’s how things go.

With a non-yandere Ian, I can imagine him seeing MC move on with someone new is going to break his heart, but he can only hopelessly regret the relationship he ruined, knowing it’s all his fault that things ended the way they did.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore  

[myinterestsvary-writes]

For me, she’s easy to adore because I see so much of my close sister and some of myself in her. I hate that many parts of her character are willingly reduced down to being the motherly one by the fandom, which ok, she is, but there are nuances here. I’ve seen the reduction less within the show as being compassionate and empathetic aren’t always synonymous with being motherly. She came across as a relatively normal teenaged girl, however delving deeper into her central trauma, it’s easy to understand how it’s shaped her as an adolescent and why it’s necessary to mention it at least. I believe however that those were innate traits to her and the mothering (the more potent and desperate behaviours she takes on - “I will never turn my back on people who need me!”) was learned to be exacerbated in situations necessary for it. She’s self-sufficient and independent and doesn’t necessarily learns to let that go given what she has to fight for, but in the end she is validated in a lot of her beliefs and actions and is almost encouraged to remain the same as she has been because of the war, yet there’s still hope for her in achieving complete liberation now that she’s gained peace. However, what would be compelling right now for Katara in my opinion is her not being the “motherly” one when the time came in her friend group as is and to see her reaction to it. Other than Zuko, I’d love to see either Aang or Sokka take up some of the things she does and see how they cope. Had that been done, I’m sure more people would’ve more easily empathized with her, because not everyone wants to be in Katara’s shoes which explains the hate. Through it, she’d hopefully see that it isn’t the role she should be adhering to at all anymore, not only sometimes. Through it, their group could evolve to not need that kind of role anymore.

I believe Katara did need to process her grief and pain as shown in The Southern Raiders, but I don’t believe that her feelings were rarely if ever not taken into account during the show, not only with the key exception of Zuko. People have pointed out that her rage comes from her compassion and her compassion from her pain and I definitely agree. However, we see her supported by her peers numerous times in perhaps selfish seeming endeavours for the goal of getting justice, not exclusively talking about TSR. We see them express apprehension at her actions but ultimately going along with her and all benefiting from it as a result. We see their acceptance of her while not being afraid to call her out because she can’t be as pushy as she can be with people at times. I do think Katara feels underappreciated, she does want to be unconditionally supported as right sometimes as many can relate to but there’s good in her being wrong too and learning. I don’t think she asks for the same as she gives in return because she’s glad to do her part if it meant things get done, I do think it has to be natural however in making her embrace herself fully as an individual and let loose outside of dire places they find themselves in, and her peers throughout the show do in fact do that. With the bickering and petty arguments with Toph and Sokka, the encouragement of fun by Aang to everyone throughout the show when appropriate, and not just the first season, as distractions and gateways to healing, and her anger and pain she projects onto Zuko that evolves into another mutually beneficial friendship for her.

About that Kataang part: I’m going to need a better understanding of your thought process here because the Kataang dissections usually are bewildering for me generally, especially when expressed shortly here. Usually convoluted yet somewhat understandable.

The Southern Raiders is a good episode in my eyes in showing that Aang does understand Katara, that he sees her grief, anger and pain as shown in the equally infamous line, “How do you think about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?” harkening back to The Desert episode where he was feeling and acting similarly.

Yet, I get why this wouldn’t convince you seeing as she’s not calmed by anything he says and seemingly doesn’t consider anything he’s said or done throughout the episode in her decision to spare Yon Rha. I don’t know, I’m just going to need elaboration here. Also, a genuine, “Thanks for understanding, Aang.” From Katara but yeah.

I don’t know if this is futile to say to you however considering you just watched the show and these were your takeaways anyways. (Only responding because this was the first cross tag in ages.)

I just watched Avatar for the first time all the way through, and yeah, it’s great, but the one thing that surprised me was how different Katara was compared to the fandom interpretation I’d seen and internalized before watching.

Like, before you watch Avatar, you’ve seen all these memes about Katara and her mom, and based on those memes, you assume it’s one of those lines you have to get used to hearing at least once every episode. But then you watch the show and realize that she only talks about her mom maybe five or six times per season and you also realize she only brings her up when she’s trying to comfort someone or empathize with them because that’s how she processes her grief and that’s one way she connects with people.

Or you hear the infamous line, “then you didn’t love [our mother] the way I did” and you prepare yourself for one of the worst character assassinations ever only to see the scene after nearly three seasons worth of context and realize she was kinda right. She’s been the mother, the nurturer, the comforter. She’s been patient, gentle, and accommodating where everyone else has gotten to be insensible and reckless and childish, and the one moment where she allows herself to feel her grief, suddenly she’s this evil bitch and not, y’know, a 14 year old girl whose been thrusted into adulthood in a way no other character has. A 14 year old girl who should be allowed immaturity and raw emotion and anger instead of the patience and grace she’s been forced to extend to every character without even the smallest amount of gratitude or even consideration in return.

Or you see all of the clips where Katara puts Aang in the “friendzone” and you expect to have this wishy washy back and forth where Aang is putting his feelings out there only to have Katara neither commit nor express any clear reciprocation or rejection. Then you watch and realize that, as cute as the ship is initially, that there’s never a point where Aang returns any comfort or grace to Katara despite her always doing this for him to the point of coddling. That for as much as Aang says he loves her, he never seems to outgrow his perception of her so he can recognize her as someone who feels grief, anger, and pain as much as she expresses love, kindness, and maturity. And instead of having moments where he learns to see her beyond her strength or compassion, you’re instead given moments where Aang forces his feelings onto her, both romantic and non-romantic, and Katara is expected to just…shoulder those feelings the way she shoulders everyone else’s.

Katara is the most misunderstood character in the show. As much as people recognize the complexities of Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, they struggle to do the same for Katara because they see her struggles as somehow lesser, and therefore, less deserving of sympathy. They can handle her so long as she’s being endlessly patient and loving and kind, but the moment her endless love, patience, and kindness runs out, she’s suddenly this annoying bitch who can’t shut up about her mother or reciprocate Aang’s feelings. But Katara’s trauma does matter as much as anyone else’s. No, she wasn’t banished from her kingdom. No, she didn’t lose her entire community, and no, she isn’t the only one who lost her mother. But the difference between her and everyone else whose experienced loss because of the Fire Nation is that she’s never given time to process her trauma. Aang gets to lean on Katara constantly. Toph gets to express her feelings to Katara, and yeah, Sokka also lost their mother, but unlike Katara, he isn’t put in the position of being a substitute for everyone’s parent. He even admits that he sees his sister as a mother. The only characters who ever comfort Katara or allow her to vent is Zuko and her father and that’s, like, three scenes in a show where the other characters are consistently given opportunities to seek out Katara for unconditional support.

The fandom interpretation of Katara has been so bastardized that even those who haven’t watched the show know her for this fanon version and not for who she is. She’s such an interesting character beyond her fandom limitations, though. She’s brave, hot-headed, and hopeful as well as gentle and caring. She wishes to learn waterbending, not only because she wants to fight in the war, but because she wants to continue her culture’s practices because, and people often forget this, she also lost an entire subculture within her already fractured tribe. And she wants to defeat the Fire Nation both because of her deep love and empathy for other people, but also because she wants to avenge her mother. But because some of the fans have reduced Katara to a bitch who constantly whines about her mother and friendzones Aang, you wouldn’t know any of this, and it sucks because she’s the only character whose been dumbed down to such an extent.

[cerastes]

I think the two intertwined crucibles of Kaguya Wants To Be Confessed To are that it is fundamentally a comedy about two explicitly exceptional individuals (1) that are locked in a brand new psychological Tom & Jerry fight with each other every chapter (2).

When dissected and pointed out like this, it’s all the more obvious that the set up is, possibly intentionally, the complete antithesis of romantic comedies:

In the archetypical romantic comedy, you usually have multiple possible love interests surrounding one character, usually male, whereas here, there’s no such options, and the draw isn’t about the Will They Will They Not, but rather, the How Will They.

The romantic comedy (let’s assume it’s hetero and aimed predominantly at males) tends to open up with how much of a regular joe the MC is (even though it tends to be subverted later on on about half of romcoms and harems), surrounded by a cast of incredibly quirky and exceptional girls, whereas here, we are shown from second one that Shirogane and Shinomiya are both beyond insane in the things they are capable of, something that is only strengthened as we see them fight each other in 4D Chess With Time Travel-level psychological encounters to make the other confess. These two are actual superhuman geniuses at their best. At no moment does the manga even pretend these two are normal, regular people.

Thus, the supporting cast here in Kaguya, instead of being largely composed of other possible options for the MC and for the readers to get invested into as possible romantic options, are instead supplements for the events that occur in a way that doesn’t necessitate anyone to second guess their affections, and that doesn’t necessitate one or more characters to be ~*~dense and oblivious~*~ to the affections of others, in other words, they get to be characters with their own thing going on, primarily as humor enhancers for any given event going on, as well as characters that we can see get explored in one way or another at some point (like the Ishigami Arc in the festival).

Now, when you have genre subversions of this level, a terrifying word comes to mind: Deconstruction. But we are civilized people that know of language, numbers and fine arts, and we don’t shit in the hallway, so we’re not going to use that word. A subversion of this level is risky, because it tends to be conceptually interesting, as any big twist on convention tends to draw the avid fan’s attention when they are invested in the genre or can at least see its potential, but that doesn’t mean the execution will be good necessarily. You can point at tons upon tons of subversions of (excuse me, I promise I use the toilet) deconstructions of This and That genre and what usually comes to mind is “the show’s idea was cool but the execution sucked” and it ends up being a pretty bad show, I don’t think I need to list examples of this, we all probably know at least one such case, so that’s a Handle With Care situation already. In the case of Kaguya, there’s definitely some parts that I Don’t Think Were The Best (the whole Kaguya Is The Princess of Frost Again Arc was a pain in the ass) but overall I think it’s an incredibly enjoyable manga because it manages not only to twist the genre conventions to the point of doing an 180 turn with them, but also manages to be entertaining about it as well, good concept AND execution, which is in no small part due to Akasaka, the mangaka, being downright hilarious and very creative when coming up with scenarios.

[sparklespectres]

SPECIFIC THINGS THAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE IN SEASON 3 THAT WE MAY OR MAY NOT GET BC OF -The Shortening- BUT I STILL WANNA PUT OUT THERE

Gus, Willow, Hunter, and Amity just generally not knowing how to act towards ANYTHING

But also the four of them and Luz being able to lean on each other bc they understand what they’re going through (this is a traumatizing moment for them! They have no clue what’s happening to any of the people they care about aside from each other!)

OH and ALSO Gus, Willow, and Amity having to adjust to not being as reliant on their magic bc of ~insert reason why they can’t use their magic a lot in the human realm here~

Gus and Hunter exploring the human realm! Bc Gus loves human stuff and Hunter is kind of technically maybe a human and we get a little heart to heart moment about that

The boiling isles is descending into pure chaos and everything is falling apart at the seams

The “so you tried to get my daughter dissected a few months ago and now you’re her girlfriend?” conversation between Amity and Camila bc I feel like Luz is gonna (lovingly) embarrass Amity in front of her mom just a little bit- like it’s not a serious conversation at all and Camila is laughing about it from the beginning but it still Happened

But then she tells her about everything that happened in reaching out and we get to see Camila being all sweet and accepting of course

Willow just being Willow because GOD she is so cool and I love her?? I want Willow and Camila interaction like I feel like they’d get along really well

Hunter and Vee having a ~we hate Belos~ bonding moment

No but seriously like I imagine the collector is playing with the titan’s bones like they’re building blocks rn someone needs to intervene

Lumity date!!! Just lumity moments in general!! There’s SO much potential here and like we aren’t gonna get as much as a whole season would have but like there are so many things you could do and I imagine the fic writers are gonna go WILD (tbh the whole scenario of the group being in the human realm is gonna generate so much good fan content)

Luz and Camila finally having a face to face talk about everything! They have a lot to work through and like this is a very emotional time and I’m excited to see how they support each other as everyone is trying to get back to the boiling isles. I think this set up REALLY works in favor of showing Camila just how much Luz has made a life for herself in the boiling isles and will open her up more to letting her return in the future!

More of just Willow getting to prove how awesome and strong and powerful and threatening she is, especially in ways that don’t necessarily involve her magic! (I cannot for the life of me think of specific things for her rn BUT I WANT A LOT OF WILLOW CONTENT IN S3 PLEASE)

There’s definitely more stuff in my brain that isn’t coming up rn if I remember I will ADD

But seriously!! As much as I’m heartbroken that Luz has been separated from King and Eda, I think that having the hexside squad with her in the human realm was SUCH a good scenario! Like I think there’s a good amount of emphasis in s2b (especially from Eda) about wanting Luz to just be able to be a kid, and although tensions are gonna be high and there won’t be much down time, I think that this allows her to do that a bit more while also reaffirming how important Willow, Gus, Amity, and Hunter are both within her life and as characters in the show. As much as King’s Tide ended Very dramatically and very devastatingly, I think I was pleasantly surprised with this (from a writing standpoint) bc it’s SO DIFFERENT from what I was expecting and allows for a lot of dynamics we haven’t seen!

[randomidiocyncrazies]

having more time to think about Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (Gwitch), here are some of my very loose and disorganized thoughts:

as people have pointed out, Gwitch ep 1 shares a lot of similarities with Utena, and i’m really hoping it goes hard on dissecting the systemic oppression like Utena—it’s a very capitalistic society, and Miorine’s dad is playing that system like a pro and using it to crush the people in his way... sometimes literally. (and i gotta say: even though he’s only a product of the corrupt system, someone needs to take Miorine’s father down a peg. hope he rots in hell!)

Guel Jeturk is very much an expy of Saionji in Utena, and seeing him get what he deserves is so goddamn satisfying. imo, what made Saionji compelling even taking his nightmarish behavior into account is that he’s obviously a laughing stock to the characters with power (this man eats shit constantly, and you love to see it!) He also has moments of clarity about the effects of the system he’s operating under—it’s a little tragic as he comes to the realization that participating in the duels (the patriarchy) is folly, but can’t help himself from being goaded into doing it all over again.

Now, Guel similarly is treated as a laughingstock—even his fangirls laughed when Suletta sassed him—but it remains to be seen if he gains enough self-awareness to recognize how the system he’s participating in harms him and the people around him. (that said, i don’t think a ‘redemption arc’ is necessary; it’s fine if he remains a jerkass who gets what’s coming to him, as long as he’s a complicated jerkass.)

We see two other guys and one other girl on the dueling committee, and i’m assuming they’re Miorine’s other ‘official’ suitors—though given that anyone with a MS could enter a duel with the current Engaged (and maybe even with other students), maybe there’s no concept of ‘official’ suitors, and committee members are paper-pushers who deal with dueling logistics. it’s interesting that the dueling system obviously favors pilots to inherit the company (via engagement to Miorine); Miorine’s dad is ex-military, so it makes sense that he’s biased towards having a fighter as his heir (instead of his own non-combatant child).

(this does make me wonder what it’d be like if Miorine was his son instead of his daughter—would he have sold his son to the best MS duelist the same way he’s doing to his daughter, or would he have pushed his son to become someone who could wield a MS?)

given that gay marriage and queer relationships are commonplace in the setting outside of “provincial” Mercury, I hope that there are other queer characters too—Suletta and Miorine are cute, but we should see evidence of other same-sex couples if it’s as normalized as it’s stated to be. (I also hope other queer identities are normalized in the setting as well).

as for our leads, i like them! i don’t necessarily need Miorine to become a badass elite pilot, but i wouldn’t complain if she does become one (as long as the journey is convincing). I’d prefer it if she was able to take the reins of her own destiny without becoming one though, because i think it’s more powerful to show that there are multiple ways to take down an abusive system. I really hope it’s not going to come off as “manipulative woman gets people to fight for her”—but judging from the materials released so far, I don’t think we’re in danger of that kind of framing.

on a related topic: it’s clear that Miorine’s male suitors are mostly in it to inherit the company, and there’s no indication that they—along with most of the school’s population—have any respect for Miorine as a person. it’s an interesting dynamic in that she’s technically the princess of the school, given who her father is, but is treated like dirt by most of the student population due to her father's dehumanizing treatment of her. i hope the other students start respecting her later in the show, and not just because of how strong her fiancee is.

[wisteria-lodge]

badger primary (bird model)

Oh no. Here we go. I am a bird primary. I know it. Everything about me is constructed. Any belief i have is because it makes sense. From the foods i eat to the principles i follow. My life has been well thought out and i love discussing everything. Dissecting why i think the way i do, why i do the things i do, why Other people think and do things. I want the answers to the big questions. My carefully constructed (yet always mutable) values and morals guide me. I am a bird! 

Except… except this one teeny tiny part. This part that screams Universal Badger. All living things are equal. This can sometimes even extend to plants. Ever since i was young, i was like this. This was never something that i discovered. It wasn’t constructed. It is the core of my very being. 

One time, when i was very little, my parents had to cut down a willow tree and i had a nervous breakdown because i felt like this beautiful tree was being murdered before me. I bawled my eyes out. Its simply a part of who i am. 

But i hate the idea of groups! And i don’t want to be part of one. Groups separate us from one another. They tribalize us. I don’t belong anywhere and i am happy with that. I am one with the planet gosh darn it! And when the planet is harmed by those who would gain from doing so, i go into a moral rage. If any of my beliefs harm living things, i carefully reconsider them and maybe tweak my lifestyle to do less harm. I, of course, have to be practical though. If i didnt harm ANY biologically living thing, i would starve. There’s always fruitarian, I suppose… but what about all the other things that need to eat to survive? Its the circle of life, man. And we are lucky to be a part of it, if only for an infinitesimally small amount of time. 

Doctor Isley! It’s so good to hear from you. I hear Wanye Enterprises has gone green recently, that’s fantastic news. (Bet you had something to do with it ;)  ☠️ 🌿 Say hey to Harley for me, and congrats on the new HBO show. 

(Not too much to say about this submission, apart from that I’m loving it.) 

Speaking of time… fuck that shit. I hate time. You know, i think this bird part was kind of forced on me. I’ve always been quirky. Set apart from others. But not necessarily birdy. 

Every night, starting when i was about 15, my dad would debate me. About politics, mostly. But this was before i could just go on a phone and look up anything i wanted and say, “ha! Gotcha!” I couldnt really prep for a debate and i was fairly uninformed, simply because, well, dial up. I can still remember that noise vomit dial up made. Good times. But yeah anyways so i had no way to really defend my position. All i had to go on was my universal badger. But you cant win with that and my father and i have naturally opposing views. He made me explain to him my position to convince him. I realized that if he heard me use logic, he would approve and maybe, just maybe, i could get through to him. 

I see your dad being a *really* intense Bird primary… and I see some young Badger primary in that need to keep the family community strong.

Maybe i could win. BUT i was still sorely uninformed about the things he wanted to debate. My end game plan was to construct my positions AROUND my badger reasoning. I tied all my arguments back to that. I was able to frame them in a way that sounded logical, while not betraying my badger morals. Useful skill to have. 

The debates would often get heated, but it was only after my patience wore down and he started threatening the world with his words. At least, he did in my view. All muslims are evil terrorists? Uh, no! That’s stereotyping. Categorizing. Clumping them all in to a GROUP of undesirables. Maybe thats why i hate groups so much. Lets all just hold hands and sing “you are my sunshine” or something instead. But… i love this bird of mine too. This is also an integral part of me. In fact, my partner and i fell in love through our birds. We can discuss things for hours.

 But i get scared when he touches on topics that threaten humanity. I know he is simply toeing the line and it doesn’t mean anything. He doesnt believe these topics. In fact, hes one of the most honorable, good people i know, but it makes me dreadfully uncomfortable and squirmy inside sometimes. 

Yeah, don’t worry about that. He’s just playing. Birds like to try on crazy hypotheticals for fun sometimes. But as a felt primary, deep down, I see how that could get to you. 

So, in conclusion i think i MAY be a badger that hates groups and traditions and societal standards, but loves the whole world and everything on it. With a REALLY strong bird model that is basically my primary unless the world is threatened. Does that make sense?