#the amount of symbolism and metaphor like FUCK

[facetsofthecloset]

just watched the boy and the heron for the first time and fuck man i started crying from the start because WWII air raid scenes just make me bawl, and then i just kept crying intermittently. and then for like ten straight minutes during and after the credits

so i recommend it if you haven't seen it yet lol

[bixels]

The more I think about it, the more I question Arcane S2's politics and themes, which were so foundational to S1. Like, a tiny example [SPOILERS AHEAD]:

Singed wins. He gets exactly what he wants in the end. All his "efforts" are rewarded. What does that say about people who share his ideology of eugenics? He is the source of nearly every horrible thing and conflict that happened (Shimmer, the factory deaths, Jinx, Vander as Warwick, the corruption of Viktor), and he gets a happier ending than any other character. Not even a 'he got what he wanted but he has become completely unrecognizable/monstrous to his daughter' tag at the end. You can say they're setting him up and need to open his daughter to future shows, but the way you end a character's story says something about what you think about that character. What does it say when the eugenicist war criminal gets the happy ending he doesn't deserve?

[teaboot]

Sometimes I think a lot about my mom's cat

My mom's cat is a common domestic shorthair we found on the side of the road as a kitten

Regular cat, not a maine coon or one of those massive breeds. His mom was smaller than a loaf of bread

But in a sort of a Clifford The Big Red Dog situation, he grew super fast, and really really big, and took a super long time to stop growing

Worried that she was overfeeding him, she eased back his portions, but he stayed a massive round baby

When he started having kidney problems, she took him to the vet.

The vet took a look at him and said, "holy fuck, what are you feeding him", checked the nutritional listings on his chow, and told her "Yeah, maybe he's reacting badly to the amount of grain in this, try a meatier diet"

So my mom wound up special-ordering this specific high-protein prescription cat food made of like. Kangaroo meat or some shit that cost like sixty bucks a bag

And, as typical act two in an episode of House, he somehow got worse on the fancy specialized stuff that was supposed to be Primo Athlete Olympic Feline Blend

Like. WAY worse. His guts were inflamed and his kidneys were shutting down and he was all sore and HE WAS STILL HUGE, just miserable and sad

So shetook him back to the vet, where they had to help him pee (he was apparently close to bursting and had some kind of blockage too) and went "Yeah no this is NOT normal and we don't know what's going on, we're gonna do some tests but in the meantime you should go back to what he was eating before, at least that wasn't actively killing him" so she did

And he still wasn't great, but he also improved

And so they take his blood and do an ultrasound and a couple g's later she gets a call back like "this is gonna sound crazy, but we want you to put him on a low-meat diet. Just the least amount of protein and iron and shit. We need you to find the grainiest, filler-iest dollar tree kibble available and give him some of that bad bad shit"

And my mother is a woman of science. So she did

And he GOT BETTER

His energy picked back up, inflammation went down, he started drinking normally again, got back to pissing like a fuckin champion

And so it turns out that out of all the random ass freeway bonus cats we possibly could have scooped out of a ditch, WE got the one-in-a-million freak of nature with a SPECIFIC genetic defect that means a paleo protein free range diet is essentially poison and he THRIVES on cheap ass garbage

Like. He medically NEEDS junk food

I dont really understand how that works, but i cant argue with results.

If we had four of him, they'd outweigh my mom. And he's FINE

Also blind, but that's unrelated

Im not using him as a symbol or a metaphor or anything. I just keep catching myself thinking about my mom's Big Fucking Cat

[bamsara]

Oooo, for the dialogue prompts "you should have thought about that before you got into a fight" and "I only wanted to help"

I love your works! Your art looks like itd taste like sour patch kids, v nice!! ^^

Sun (Mostly) Centric | Wordcount: 1,147 | AO3 Version

The world has not yet adjusted to the flood of robots merging with day-to-day society.

At least, not in the form they had taken prior. To say that there was some backlash was undercutting it; using arguments of humanity vs machine to its core, despite the clarity that those walking alongside them weren't just AI made to mimic human traits and personality, but sentient beings that develop their own. There's a difference between a chatbot app and your next-door neighbor who just so happens to be made out of metal.

Still, there is progress as much as there are incidents. A recent ruling states that all robots don't need to look human in order to receive the same amount of respect and rights (which is fantastic for all of Fazbear's line up of robots, considering they were animals in nature and all, in all franchises and pizza plexes across the country) but there were...incidents too, some of them making the news.

So when you're out doing some quick shopping for groceries one day and a stranger with a taut face and a sour attitude starts heckling Sun, and that heckling turns to harassment, and thus turns into him reaching for the back of the animatronic's head and pulling at the vulnerable wires there, you clock him.

Hard, actually. Your knuckles hurt like a bitch, but you don't have time to shake the feeling out from your hand because the guy sends one right back and oh, there you go, tumbling in the isle and knocking baking soda and sugar and other cake ingredients off the shelf as the two of you yell profanities and arguments while Sun has a metaphorical loading symbol over his head while he processes the last five seconds.

Now you're both banned from that store. The other guy is too, thankfully. Still sucks though. You didn't get to check out the ingredients for the cake.

"You're a real mess." Sun scolds you, dipping the rag back into the warm water, and bringing it back up to your face. He dabs at the dried blood under your eye, careful not to rub too harshly so as to not irritate the darkening skin beneath it. "Honestly. That could have gone so much worse-"

"Like pulling wires out of your head?" You interrupt. You're not too keen about the bathroom being turned into a lecture hall, and the lid of the toilet seat being your 'time-out' spot as he tends to you. "Yeah, sure. I'll just let the stranger rip out what is essentially your brain cords out of your flat skull and be fine with it."

Sun shoots you a look. The default smile is strained.

"What?" You hiss in the silent pause, and not because of the sting of your eye. "All I'm saying is that this-" A point to your face, "-is preferable than the other outcome."

"Our wires are welded in with steel, so I highly doubt a human could rip them out without some sort of power tool." Sun tuts. "You remember Parts n Service."

He had a point. The machine in Parts n Service did weld his arm back into place at the time, and all the other repairs since then didn't go without some sort of heat tool to make sure everything was properly molded in place. Still, you frown. "It's still fucked up that he did that, though."

"Language."

"We didn't even get the cake mix." A light dab on the eye, you bite your tongue as Sun clears the last of the dried blood from the area. "Shouldn't have banned us. Now we have to go across town to get groceries."

Sun pulls back the rag, stained pink and light brown with old blood, dropping it in the sink to be washed later. "You should have thought about that before getting into a fight."

"I was only trying to help!" You defend, continuing as Sun pulls out the disinfectant in a rather knowing manner. The cut underneath your eye from the guy's ring was about to sting like hell. "And it's not like I was the one who started it!"

He pours a dab of alcohol onto a cotton ball retrieved from the first aid kit, a small puff of white in between large silocone fingers, it's almost comical how he pinches it into place before crouching back down, the cotton ball hovering over your face. "Hush. This is going to sting."

Your mouth thins at the underlying tone of Moon's voice in his scolding, leaning away from the offending ball. "You're such a hypocrite."

A hand comes underneath your chin to hold you in place, thumb pressed into your jawline. "Stop whining."

"How would you feel, huh?" You wrinkle your nose as the disinfectant ball comes closer. "What would you do if someone attacked me like that?"

The cotton ball presses against the cut and you flinch, hard enough that your shoulders hike up and your neck tenses. It stings like hell, searing for a moment before dulling to an aching throb, a hiss in the back of your dry throat.

The Daycare Attendant's thumb keeps in place for a second, then pulls it away, expression unreadable. "The same thing we did the last time someone tried."

You grit your teeth, pressing your lips into a thin line as the stinging starts to fade.

"Though," He continues, pulling the cotton ball away and tossing it into the trash. "While your help is appreciated, It would be very much appreciated if we were to avoid something like that in the future!" He waves his hands, the bright smile returning, and Sun's fingers go behind your ear, pulling back out a colorful bandage. "I think it goes without saying that it makes me very sad to see you all hurt. Not fun at all!"

You blow hot air out of your nose in a huff as he applies the sticky bandage. "Hypocrite."

"There you are! Right as rain, dandy and peachy." Sun pulls back to observe his handiwork, and there's a slight pause. "Well, not quite. You've still got a bit of a shiner. I don't think I have a medicine for that one."

"It makes me look cool." You jest. "I look badass."

The animatronic sighs, heavy and loaded for a robot with no lungs, though his exasperation is evident in his voicebox. "Pulling my wires, our wires, please, you're constantly on them-" He's mumbling, quickly. Still talking even as he cradles your head gently by your jawline, and presses his faceplate to the skin above the black eye. "Afraid that's all I can give."

You wrinkle your nose, smiling. "I think a cake would be great too."

"Thanks to someone-" He starts, rising from a crouched position and taking your hand to help you stand. "It looks like we'll be ordering one from the bakery instead."

[thefruitbros]

Hello Bullet Train nation, how are we doing?? This is my (long-ish?) observation about the Twins' neckties/clothes representing their states in the movie, based on my thoughts. Idk if anyone's mentioned this before, I just kind of noticed this after rewatching BT for the 20th time and I blacked out, I just couldn't stop thinking about it when I noticed the coincidences ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ At the start of the movie, the Twins' neckties are pretty tightened up. All neat and tidy, nothing out of the ordinary right? I always interpreted this as both of them being fully composed and put-together (represented by their neckties) ever since nothing concerning has happened yet, as far as they are concerned, their mission is doing well.

But then the moment they lost the case, Tangerine's necktie (including one button) looks a bit looser now. As if his composure is also slowly becoming undone or slipping, ever since the situation has taken a turn for the worse

Lemon fixing Tangerine's necktie — fixing his brother's composure?? maybe?? As if fixing it is saying "Calm down, we can make this right. Now let's go find this case. Hold yourself together, Tangerine." Lemon's necktie is still not loosened at all up to this point. He's still remaining calm.

After one dead Son, Lemon passing out, and not being able to find Ladybug or the briefcase later.... we now have Tangerine take his tie off completely. Might interpret this as him becoming more serious with the situation and finally on the edge of losing his composure fully + necktie will no longer hold him back (symbolically and metaphorically??)

Then we get to the Yakuza interaction with Tangerine. More buttons are unbuttoned (also goodbye jacket) and he looks a LOT more disheveled than the last image — might be because he's showing more and more of his true self especially since nothing is holding him back now + composure is fucked at this point due to being bothered so much by The White Death's men Compare his to Lemon's outfit, Lemon's necktie is still pretty tightened up, aside from the amount of blood splatter around his chest area — Lemon is holding up fine still.

After fighting Ladybug and getting thrown off the train later — Tangerine is completely disheveled and all the buttons are unbuttoned now (ALSO he was extremely pissed off in this scene). I kind of remember from the art book that this is supposed to be "unleashing the beast" or basically showing how Tang is just gone at this point and is about to go full on insane because everything went to shit (I CANT EXPLAIN PROPERLY, please understand)

Now back to Lemon, the only time we ever see Lemon's necktie slightly loosened up is upon interacting with The Prince and Kimura — interpret this scene as him doubting or finding the duo suspicious + he's also worried at this point in time too ig???

When Lemon finally woke up, he still had most of his clothes with him including his necktie and his brother's necklace.

But when he had found Tangerine's dead body, his necktie is gone too and so is his jacket (including buttons are all unbuttoned) — all that remains now is his white shirt and Tangerine's necklace.

Tangerine's death was so devastating that it was the only thing that could pull apart Lemon's composure throughout the movie. He replaces the necktie with the necklace around his neck, it's about him bringing an important part of his brother with him and that its the only thing that matters. It's supposed to protect him now, like how Tang protected him many times before. also is it a coincidence that Lemon was shot in the chest and Tangerine always wore his necklace near his heart?? are y'all seeing this?? I'm dying here ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This might be me being delusion or might even be intentional by the writers of BT idk but whatever it is, I am insane about these small details and I need to share it to the world. This movie is taking a big toll on me guys

[daylighteclipsed]

What's it about cloti that you like? I'm curious, bc we otherwise tend to ship the same things. I love both cloud and tifa, and they have some cute scenes, but I don't feel it with them. Idk if it's because of the truly awful shippers, or something else. For me it feels like sokai in kh 1, I see why ppl ship them and that the narrative is pushing for them to be together, but i don't really care about that aspect of their relationship. Your answer doesn't have to be elaborate or anything, it's genuinely only curiosity on my part. Other than that, how do you like rebirth so far? I know some ppl dropped it pretty fast, bc they didn't like the crazy amount of mini games. Which I get, bc some of them were a hassle, but all in all i still had fun.

Short answer: I really like their individual characters and their complicated friendship and past that Rebirth starts delving more into, and that’s made me warm up very quickly to the romance between them.

Long answer: Cloud and Tifa’s dynamic is so interesting to me in Rebirth. I feel like the game does a good job of pulling back the curtain on a relationship that up to this point has been summed up as “childhood friends” to reveal how much more complicated it is than that. Imo, these are two people who have always yearned to know each other but never really have. They were friendly when they were very young, it seems, like under the age of 7. Then, Cloud started pulling away, and Tifa has never understood why. And they haven’t been able to really reconnect since then, made all the more difficult by Sephiroth and Shinra.

FF7 pushes romantic angles with both Tifa and Aerith, which I don’t really love tbh. I do wish it was a little more toned down and optional. But I really like the sense of yearning and desire to connect that threads Cloud and Tifa’s entire relationship — and the consistent symbolism of reaching for each other, trying to bridge that physical and emotional gap between them (usually when one is about to literally or figuratively fall), that goes with it. I like watching them bond and get to know each other now, so many years later, as best as they can (considering Cloud’s memories and sense of self are all screwed up), while navigating the unique trauma of being two of the only survivors of the massacre of their village. I like their mutual support, how they take turns supporting/grounding/saving each other.

I like that memories play such a big role, that they both have precious memories of each other that are key to who they are and which no one else knows. Fucking love when Tifa falls into the Lifestream and she realizes Cloud tried to save her from crossing the metaphorical bridge of death/falling when they were kids, and you see how much the past seems to parallel the present with their roles reversed this time. I want to see the whole memory so much. I don’t know if we ever will, but man. I really feel like even if Cloud couldn’t stop Tifa from falling, he must’ve saved her from drowning. There’s a river below that bridge, right? She hit her head and presumably passed out — someone had to keep her head above water, and he was the only one there because he refused to abandon her… I think, metaphorically, that’s pretty much what’s gonna happen in the game. I don’t think Tifa is gonna be able to catch Cloud from falling, but I think she’s gonna hold his head above water when they hit the bottom.

Sorry, I’ve been thinking about this part so much shsbdbsbs I just feel like it’s so interesting and crucial to the story. I think it really helps Tifa understand what’s going on with Cloud and Sephiroth on a level the others don’t. She’s much more conscious of Cloud’s behavior and notices the distinctions between Cloud and Sephiroth. She’s usually the first to notice when something’s not right and intervene.

I like that Tifa is established as the truth to Sephiroth’s lies and the one who can kinda “wake” Cloud up because, unlike everyone else, Tifa was there when Sephiroth (and Zack and Cloud) came to town and Tifa has seen what Cloud was like before the Jenova cells/false persona (even if she’s never been able to fully understand him). She’s the only one stopping Cloud from losing complete touch with reality, which is why Sephiroth is trying to undermine her credibility and eliminate her.

Like it’s really obvious, to me, that if Cloud and Tifa could properly reconnect by finally understanding the past and each other, Sephiroth’s manipulation wouldn’t work. Like, you know in the Loveless play how the bad guy’s weakness is true love. And then the hero (Cloud) and whoever is playing the princess (I had Tifa) try to declare their love, and it doesn’t work. The bad guy just laughs and says their love is an illusion or whatever? That’s what’s going on in the game, I think. I do think they love each other, but they don’t understand each other yet, Cloud isn’t even sure who he is, his identity is scrambled eggs, so it’s not a complete or true love. They have to bridge that gap, discover the truth and really meet. You know what I mean?

I still haven’t talked about the actual romantic stuff fbdbdbsbe I’m sorry, romance is usually always secondary to me. Um. I like that Cloud initiates a lot of those intimate moments with Tifa. Other people usually invade his space and make him uncomfortable. But Tifa’s patient with him and doesn’t pressure him. He reaches out to hold her hand and hug her and stuff. He opens up to her about his doubts and fears. It’s sweet how bashful they are, how realistically awkward they are sometimes. Yeah, idk, I just think they’re neat. I want them to understand each other, finally like really know each other, and I like when they hold hands.

As for how I’m enjoying Rebirth as a game (as someone who has never played the og FF7): I’m really loving it. I think it’s so much more fun and interesting than Remake. Love the open world, the different regions, the exploration, side quests, party bonding and banter, chocobos, whatever tf is going on with those protorelics and the Queen’s Blood creator, the battle challenges, Chadley (I know he was in Remake, but I grew more attached to him in this game), the return of other old NPCs, the new ones, the fun silly stuff like the segways in Costa del Sol. Rebirth fleshes the whole world and characters out, and I’m never bored. I have very little complaints. If it sticks the landing, it might be one of my favorite video games. Rip to the mini game haters, but I’m different. (Except the piano. The piano can go fuck itself.)

[writeouswriter]

pls no anti ai art demagogy on my dash, thx

(X) in reference to this reblog I assume.

This is the wildest ask I’ve ever gotten.

“Please no love for the humanity of creation on my dash, please. Please no acknowledgement that art and the human experience behind those making it is inherently and fundamentally intertwined. Please no shoving the fact in my face that art is meant to connect rather than consume.

And please no pointing out the basic truth that most AI engines are built off the stolen work of others.”

Demagogy, noun: political activity or practices that seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.

You come into MY house, you tell me what not to reblog on MY blog, and you what? Call me “irrational” and insult my understanding of the topic in the process?

Political activity, political activity... fuck off. Actors, writers, artists, those most affected by this ARE the ordinary people, and their concerns and fears surrounding this are perfectly rational.

And you know, nothing hits it home more for me than when I thought about my favourite show at the moment, the one that makes me lose my mind a thousand times over, I thought about everything in it that makes me tick, thought about both strong points and weak points, because it is flawed, god, is it flawed because people inherently are, and that’s the beauty, but mostly, I thought about the sheer amount of care/thought and depth put into it in a way I've never really seen before and in a medium/genre/whatever you'd absolutely never expect to find that thought put into, especially if taken completely at a surface level. Thought about the levels of metaphor and symbolism layered in beneath the silliness, thought about the callbacks and clever timing, thought about the behind the scenes arguments about what direction worked best for the narrative and the audience, arguments that took place because of how much they cared not just about telling a good story, but about telling one that really means something to them.

Thought about the love, the time, the excitement and the flair and personality and background and intent of each and every person behind the team bleeding its way into the scripts, into the acting, into the heart of what makes it truly what it is, and how that love bleeds into the audience as well, how that love and human connection is what prompts people to write full page essays and analyses on it, draw fanart for it, create the most beautiful fics for it, that love is what prompts them to laugh and cry and vibrate at the speed of sound thinking about it, and what prompts thousands upon thousands to come together in their appreciation for and relation to it, rallying around it like a group of cavemen around a campfire when they had never before seen the flame.

And then.... then I thought about the idea of that same show being written by an AI and genuinely felt physically ill. Because no real care will have been put into that beyond "If it looks like a TV show, sounds like a TV show, it must be a TV show." And on the surface, maybe it’d look fine, I’m sure some people wouldn’t notice. But it’d not only be made without thought, but consumed without thought. And, sure, maybe that'll fill you up in the short term, but it's gonna leave you feeling hollow and sick eventually. Because stories are not a thing to be mass produced with a random assortment of the cheapest quality materials on a conveyor belt that shovels them directly into people's throats at the most efficient speed possible, stories are not a thing meant to just be consumed! They are a thing made with intent in every aspect, even when accidental because our lives shape it subconsciously, they are a thing made with love, a thing to be savoured! And yes, for that to happen, they will take a lot of time and hard work and dedication, all of which deserve fair compensation and respect, all of which cannot just be replaced by a sham amalgamation of these things, and they will be all the better for it.

And on some level, corporations know this, and they want you to blame their shortcomings on the writers, on the artists, they want you to look at things like the strikes and those rallying against AI and get mad that they’re keeping art from the common people, or forcing them to come to this, or they want you to think they’re simply trying to make art more accessible, all the while building their conveyor belts in the background with the blood of those they’re kicking down, taking away jobs and shoving the humanity out of the picture.

Art is made to communicate, and sometimes it’s frustrating when we can’t get that communication across, when the image we want to convey is out of our skill level, our capability, when our words get tangled up, jumbled together and we need a helping hand to find the right ones again, and on this level, maybe AI could be a useful supplemental tool, or a fun little thing to mess around with, if ethically sourced, if used for good, if taking into account and graciously acknowledging exactly how it’s being used as a tool, rather than trying to pass it off as something it’s not.

But is it political, is it irrational, to merely state that the human condition cannot be replaced?

——

The unfollow button is free, I don’t work for you.

[rotzaprachim]

the fun game where I look for yiddn in 1899 for personal enjoyment

note that pretty much none of this will follow canon and I am doing it for my personal Jewish enjoyment. It’s a boat full of Europeans fleeing Europe in 1899 what can I even say

a) Olek - by far the most likely, considering the absolutely mass immigration of Jews from Galitzia (where the postcard Olek carries is addressed to) to New York, where he wants to move. Olek being a secret jew is something I’m 99% the writers didn’t intent but that lines up incredibly well with what’s suggested of his story, the actual history of 1899, and the consistent thematic resonance of people concealing or lying about their ethnic or national origin, including not only Ramiro but Ying Li, olek’s deepest parallel and love interest. (Seriously like… these two parallel each other so deeply in everything and the cantonese speaking prostitutes’ daughter pretending to be Japanese aboard the white western ship and the Eastern European Jew pretending to be a polish Christian aboard the western Christian ship are such a fascinating parallel in nation and region and power relational to the West, as well as a negotiation of the brutal anti-Chinese and anti-Jewish immigration sentiment in the U.S. at the time.) The scenario would place Olek as a polish and Yiddish speaking Jew who was attacked by an antisemitic coworker at the oil refinery where he worked or something, or who had survived a pogrom or displacement, and ended up stealing his attackers identity and postcard after he killed him in self defense. This would be a Ramiro and a ying li parallel, and show the repeated and clearly heavy postcard metaphor in a new light - this isn’t a hopeful golden lit coming to America metaphor, as it seems in the first couple scenes, but a physical realization of olek’s guilt at what he did to survive AND a heaviness that lurks around where he took the postcard from (the coworker on the oil field.)

verdict: both totally unwritten and completely contingent with what we know of canon. JEW

b) unlikely but funny as hell: Ramiro. Ángel thinks he has problems having to pretend to be straight and here we have Ramiriko struggling every fucking day with having to pretend to be STRAIGHT and SPANISH and also remember the order of the mass and not get the paternoster mixed up with shmah yisrael. Absolute comedy act. (He also seems consistently bewildered by Catholic canon or how to even do the priest act.) Adds fucked up flavour and nuance to whatever the fuck is going on with Ángel and Ramiro and the “you aren’t even Spanish” line, although does Ángel know Ramiro is a Jew? Probably not. Had he ever worked out he blows kosher dick? Story suggests Ángel doesn’t blow enough sick to really know, nor that that kind of thing would ever occur to him. This one is kind of unlikely, given there were very few Jews in Portugal in the 1800s and the portuense inquisition didn’t officially end till the 1820’s, but it is technically possible - Judaism began to be legal again in the 1800’s and Portuguese jewish communities began to form again. Furthermore, Ramiro being a jew, particularly a descendant of conversos or marranos, could be the context of the showdown where ángel says that he’s never pretended to be anything other than what he is (unlike Ramiro.) they’re both clealry so fruity that whatever he’s talking about isn’t sexuality. (Ramiro is symbolized by the cross, but the cross, along with he background outline of a church, also shows up as a significant element in his Trauma Room, so it might even be the identity he was forced to take on and then casts off). (The crucifix is also the symbol of the priest Ramiro killed it seems, although I think by drowning. A Jew killing a priest - who might have been ángels abuser - would launch such an incredible amount of antisemitic deicide let’s hunt the godkillers backlash they’d have to leave immediately) verdict: unlikely but not technically against canon. Both hysterically funny in light of being a catholic priest winging it for 8 episodes and absolutely heartbreaking

c) eyk. Oh boy. Unlike the other two nothing to suggest it but also nothing to not suggest it, right, although the concept of a German Jew whose family burned to death in a house he keeps seeing is. Oh boy. Assimilated yekke who turned to piloting as a way to work his way up in the world (and part of why his crew disrespects him.) His wife’s name is Sarah which could be pretty Jewish. Nína isn’t like, Jewish, but also isn’t NOT Jewish, and we don’t know the names of his other daughters, which could be like, Rochel and Shoshana. (Or not! Considering the assimilated yekke thing.) clearly lying about a million things. Is this one of them? Is he even real? verdict: the fire was his maybe-automaton wife knocking over the shabbes candles. Possible yid. Who even knows? Not eyk, for sure.

d) you could spare a thought for Daniel, who actually has a Hebrew name that directly parallels the figure of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible what with seeing visions and being trapped in the den and all that but he and his wife (maybe) buried his son with a cross and that cross keeps repeating with some of the most objectively Christian imagery in the show. Also they’ve buried their son beneath the cross. This could be playing the machine but unlike Ramiro it doesn’t seem so performative. verdict: goy

e) clémence

nothing to suggest it and nothing to not suggest it. Who even knows? Not us. Not clémence most of all

[monosanimegenericzone]

Hunter x Hunter: Feitan speculation

so i was thinking about feitan in particular today and i came up with a crazy idea for the other forms of his hatsu.

we've only seen one form which is rising sun which, in another theory, ties into bonolenov's jupiter which is a completely different topic that i will talk about LATER.

but what if the other forms are the forms of a star's life cycle. Rising sun was a healthy star, at its prime and packing the least amount of punch. at least in terms of a formed star.

speculate then that other forms include red giants, white dwarfs, supernovas, nebulas, a fuckin neutron star.

feitan implies that the rising sun is the weaker- possibly weakest- form of the ability so what if he had. now i haven't been keeping up with astronomy lately. but stars can get much. much bigger than that.

on the other hand we have the idea that he can summon a variety of damage inflicting moves based on the flavor of pain.

i also like this but i struggle to come up with anything equally or more devastating to the fucking sun.

one i did think of was perfect vacuum where the aura transmutes an enclosed space into zero pressure and the target either suffocates to death or explodes from internal water pressure.

idk how plausible that is but it is fairly instant.

another option that came to me right as i was writing this was that it's poetic metaphor? Feitan said 'rising sun' specifically which is japan's symbol, currently associated with a lot of not so great things. like he reads very morbid literature/poems and chooses metaphors and then verbalizes them and whatever happens happens.

... i might think some more about this one.

i wanna see feitan lose his shit. i want to see him put a hole in the side of that barge :) togashi. please. hear my words.

[inkstainedhandswithrings]

Again, don’t have the energy for full analysis, but have a few throw-away thoughts about this weeks episodes!

1. Omega copying Crosshair: in the beginning I thought it was a cute thing that Omega did, copying Hunter’s behaviour. Cute father-daughter thing. But over the course of the show, we’ve now seen her copying the EXACT body language of Hunter, Tech, Phee and Crosshair. And that’s a pattern. I’m not a psychologist, but I have an interest in the field and as far as I know that’s indicative of two things.

(A) Copycat behaviour is often seen in children who feel left out. They copy their peers behaviour in order to feel like they are part of the group. But both Phee and Crosshair don’t really fully feel like they are “part of the group” so why copy them? Which leads me to the second option

(B) Echopraxia, which isn’t a diagnosis itself, but rather a symptom of other diagnoses. Like Tourette’s or Autism (there’s many more things Echopraxia can come from, these are just initial thoughts, do with them what you will)

2. The “Operative”? BITCH THATS TECH

Obscene amount of pockets

Uses more technology than the other Assassin Clones we’ve seen so far

Looks taller, I think? The only time we can really compare height is when he is in that one shot with Wolffe and he is slouching like crazy (which is so Tech of him!!)

The fucking climbing. All the fucking time. Like,,, okay when Tech “””died””” he was hanging from a rope from a gondola and fell right? This episode? The “””Operative””” climbed up the wall with an ascension cable, lowered himself down the staircase with ANOTHER cable, almost fell???, then when he left the ship he lowered himself down with yet another cable?? BITCH PLEASE WHO WE KIDDING??

And then the fucking waterfall? I was reminded of that episode when Tech and Omega got thrown into an underground river and off a waterfall. Not to forget that the “””Operative””” also takes a pretty big fall. No metaphor there at all?? No foreshadowing?? NO SYMBOLISM?? RIGHT DIDNT THINK SO

3. They made Rex extra pretty for us this time <3

Took me 0.2 seconds to realise it was him too

I loves my mans <3

4. That scene where Wolffe and Rex meet? It was giving

Okay that’s all the thoughts for now, thanks for reading <3

[not-sure-what-im-feeling]

I hate the “maybe the curtains were just blue” “English teachers talking about why the main character had spaghetti for lunch” LIKE OH MY GOSH. Yeah, they talk about symbolism a lot. Maybe they are reading too much into it. But have you ever written a fucking story that has any amount of symbolism?

It does not fucking matter if your symbolism is the entire book being an allegory for society or one singular metaphor. If you’ve written a story you’ve likely utilized symbolism in some way or another. And if you are passionate about writing, about your story, about your characters, then you are probably going to intentionally or unintentionally write a shit ton of symbolism in regard to it. Yeah, this character is coded with that specific colour because when we look at colour theory the emotions it invokes connect intrinsically with their story. Yeah, the weather in this scene actually is important to the mood of it. Yeah, the curtains were fucking blue because the author did that intentionally.

It fucking irks me when people (kids in my class, people on the internet, whatever) act like writing is only what is directly said. Only what they see on the surface. Good luck when you’re faced with propaganda you can’t pick up on because you don’t know about reading comprehension.

[mobiuslake]

more 408 thoughts

as i guessed before, the practice of scarring bastards entails careful monitoring and control over sexual encounters with royals. the denial of sexual and reproductive autonomy, enforcement of secrecy, and infant body modification all ring true to me as ways for a noble class to maintain its distinction, but i wish togashi had tempered himself. these things happen in our world without the threat of immediate execution

the connotations of "carnival orphan" in real life are the opposite of what it means here, it's the loosening of sexual mores. carnival also represents (at least symbolically) an brief inversion or leveling of hierarchies

once again i am saying that extra martial rape is seldom formalized like this, a festival like this would have some other explicit purpose even if it's an open secret that rape will occur. there's little need to sort between who's "sexually available" and who's a worker—the subordination itself makes assault possible

morena saying that she's not a royal coupled with the "sorting" implies that non royals are allowed to participate in the carnival, opening the door to more parentage speculation with second track fakers or beyond

the baby (presumably) in the crib in unma's room could be from the most recent batch of carnival orphans

morena is 24 years old

that whole explanation did not touch on why humanity itself needed to be destroyed

morena is blushing over borksen asking about her in a coerced game of questions that she set up. this bitch is gay

everyone who guessed that parent/child would be metaphorically loaded instead of a simple translation of dealer/player was correct

i cannot deal with the fucking pop songs. china isn't even like this why he is so obsessed with anti communist propaganda

really great timing for him to say that kakin is #1 in pollution when china's emissions are predicted to fall this year despite the amount of production that is exported there. economic dynamics like this do not exist in togashi land

i have spent this whole time thinking 100% efficacy in all types was kurapika's scarlet eyes ability and not a general specialist trait. makes more sense though

the delineation of "you and people you care about" is very hxh, but once again why is she trying to kill literally everyone

i kind of doubt that halkenberg has had time to possess benjamin's body so i'm going to guess that martial law has been declared because benjamin is still suspicious of balsamilco

[nono-uwu]

Ons chapter 135 thoughts!!

Spoilers duh (also very long post. Lmk if I should add the read more cut)

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- KAGAMI I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD IT IN YOU TO GIVE CHESS AND HORN MORE SCREENTIME BUT THANK YOU ANYWAYS

- I am so glad that the whole digestion thing is more symbolical bc... that inital wording really threw me off lmao

- on that note, the immagery of the dead trees with the bodies sticking out of 'em... very creepy and on point, I think it's neat

- they actually adressed Crowley forgetting them! Wowzers (side note she looks hella adorable. My little skrunkly)

- ouugh the dynamic... where was it earlier? It seems so much more casual than during the Nagoya arc (probably just wishful thinking on my part lmao)... idc how give us more of this

- "you two were my first servants", LORE CRUMBS! I guess.

- wait so, they're still becoming demons? But isn't that a form of reincarnation, the thing Ferid is specifically trying to stop? But he's also devouring them... to absorb their power I guess? Since later on Ferid mentions now being more powerful after devouring Crowley (I'll get to that asspull later)

- Also Horn looks a teensy bit weird with the new artstyle but she's still super pretty 🫶 be my wife pls

- So, 16 year old Ferid is inside himself as his 'true self'? I assume that because he got the idea to stop reincarnation when he was 16 and hasn't changed his mind since (never let 16 year olds make big decisions in this world, it only leads to disaster)

- the skrunkle part 2. Also I doubt being digested like that feels good in any way. And with how slow it's supposed to be, yikes.

- I have a theory (aka major amounts of copium): Yuu will bust in and save Crowley because of 'fAmiLy' and also save Chess and Horn since they're family by association

- No one can reach Ferid, eh? And then Corwley's voice reaches him. Kagami and his queerbaiting amirite

- However Ferid then snags Crowley and ig he's on the priority list of getting devoured. Probably bc he's the strongest vampire Ferid has eaten. Cannibalism as a metaphor for love and devotion or whatever, except it's very literal and I doubt there's any love beyond 'u and interesting critter dude' from both sides

- Ok here's my major nitpick with this chapter: KAGAMI STOP BREAKING AND BENDING YOUR OWN FUCKING WORLDBUILDING AND POWER SYTEMS. Until now it was established that a vampires strenght is dependant on 1. their rank (as in who's blood turned them) and 2. their age. But now appearantly Ferid can eat vampires and absorb their strenght? If this was some universal but very difficult thing for any vampire to do, then I wouldn't be this salty. Also one of my favourite things about Ferid as an antagonist was, that power-wise he was on the weaker side. Despite being 'weak' he was still a major threat. He made up for his lack in actual fighting power with smarts and immaculate planning. But now he's another uber-strong genius. C'mon we already had Shikama and Rigr for that department. Bleh.

- now for the Yuu / Rigr and co confrontation, it's fiiiiine. I guess. At least Shikama is still somewhat of a formidable threat. Not to the major characters obviously but yk, it's something.

- rip Basteya. You showed up, slayed for a little and died.

- Kirsten still looks fugly as hell lmao

- so do Ulrich and Roger

- So, who will be faster: Shinoa in absorbing Shikama or Yuu in saving him? My bet is on Yuu purley bc he's supposed to be the main character but ig we'll see next chapter

- KRUL!!! AND THE BAT THING I FORGOT IT'S NAME

- sadly no Ferid / Krul brawl this chapter but yk what makes me excited for next chapter

- my guess is that now Krul is Ferids next target to be chomped. Hopefully she will beat his ass. Like when she first appeared. Ahhh the good old times

- 'A big fan of yours... M'lady Queen' lmao. What's next Ferid, will you put on a Fedora? Bro that last panel ain't it. Fuckin Sebastian of black butler wannabe 💀

[friendlylocaloracle]

what do you mean by what you said in your last post about 'physics with feelings'? how can feelings have physics

oh gosh. okay. let's bake.

all things are defined by points of contact with other things. everything is everything else. you are your emotions. what you do is symbolic of who you are.

that's it, really. so let's go.

-all things are defined by points of contact with other things. "all things" refers to everything. literally everything. what makes a thing a thing? how it interacts with other things. "interaction" here is pretty broad. bump an object? sure, that's an interaction. looking at the words on my screen? also an interaction. i think the simplest way i can define an interaction is with quantum mechanics. no no wait come back i'm serious-- everybody is all freaked out about quantum shit. it's the pinnacle of science. there's a certain amount of collective awe at it that leads to the equivalent of mental gawking. it is sci-fi's gimmick of choice. i'm going to tell you, right now, that it's super simple. everything is everywhere until it is somewhere. that's it. i'd have a phd if academia wasn't a unique kind of hell. the relation here is that a particle, in transit, is effectively nowhere. a beam of light has to hit something. (like, say, your ocular nerve.) there's a notion running around that somehow looking at something changes it--like if you don't look then the thing is not changed. this makes it sound like you matter in the interaction. you don't. a particle just has to make contact for it to be in a place. (this isn't the only thing i feel that physics (or, rather, physicists) have, perhaps overcomplicated, but this is actually a post about feelings and i should probably get back to those. just take from this that nonphysical reality becomes real upon contact.)

-everything is everything else. this has a similar physicsy root as points of contact. break everything down until it's as deep as you can go, and it's all fundamentally the same stuff. when you combine the things, you get different stuff with new properties, but it still inherits the properties of the old stuff. the pure form of this is a fractal. self-similar at every level; eventually you go so deep you loop back around. what's important about fractals is that they form a complex image that follows a comparatively simple pattern. (the patterns can also be pretty. my picture is a fractal.) this system of simple patterns creating complex structure can also be loosely applied to physical reality. everything is made of the same stuff; the ways that they interact follow the same set of rules; you can translate the rules across things. this is how metaphors work. so let's take a break. what are you? not who are you, though i suppose that question is similar. i'm going to propose a simple answer. you come from the dirt; you go back to the dirt. humanity at large has put a ton of effort into distancing themselves from that idea. people think they are so fucking great. they are better than the dirt. they will leave their mark on the dirt, and that mark is very special. if you do the right things, you too can overcome the dirt. i think this is just a very special delusion. if there was ever something that society was successful at, it would be the production of superiority complexes. money does not save you from the dirt. fame does not save you from the dirt. collectively, life goes on. individually, the dirt wins. ...but that's not really what you are. you float on the dirt. you steer the dirt. you're tethered to the dirt, but you and the dirt aren't the same. we'll call you a soul: the who in the what. but then we're looping back to the original question. what are you? i propose that you're a bit of nonreality floating on that dirt. you and the dirt work together to cheat a little. you follow the weird quantum rules rather than the boring classical rules. the dirt keeps you from dying upon contact with anything, and you let the dirt cheat the rules. (i hear an object at rest is supposed to stay at rest, but i can just stand up and go somewhere else whenever i want. i'm going to get a pizza right now, in clear denial of the laws of physics.)

yum. -you are your emotions. now we get to talk about who you are. how are you feeling? what would you like to do? where do you want to be? these are all, at their core, emotional questions. emotions are an internal representation of your state of being. your feelings tell you about you. it comes hand in hand with existence. "i feel, therefore i am" is probably a better representation of the phrase since we now live in a world where rocks can think. emotions are the barrier through which you interact with reality and reality acts on you. suppression distorts this barrier. you lose connection to both yourself and the world, and, given enough time and pressure, it starts affecting you whether you like it or not.

-what you do is symbolic of who you are. this is the part where i might flop on my face. the thing is, usually when people are talking about emotions, they're talking about very surface level shit. "i'm happy!" "i'm MAD >:(" and then, because emotional suppression is society's most successful failure, you embrace the "good" feelings and ignore the "bad" ones. the result of this is a society filled with boring, shallow people. people who have not meaningfully emotionally developed since high school (perhaps before then, too), people who dove headfirst into what society was selling the moment they realized society was selling something, people who don't understand themselves and, thus, understand almost nothing. what i'm trying to say is that if your feelings pleasantly fit onto one of those happy/sad/mad lists, you probably kind of suck. there remain major social benefits to being emotionless and indistinct. suppress yourself as a person and immerse yourself into the wealth cults. be the blandest person you can be so you're marketable to all the other shallow people. the result of this is a society with no meaningful interactions. sit in your box content with your revenue stream while you wait to die.

[shadowqnights]

May I ask what are your favorite MCD or Mystreet Ships or just Platonic Relationships? I love seeing people’s opinions on different characters relationships. I’ll occasionally see one that I never saw before and I think it’s so neat.

hello welcome to bee's fav ship masterlist

I’m sorry this ask took so long, this is the one that had all my progress deleted before I could save it anywhere during a blackout. So I didn’t try again to write it for a little while. I know you mentioned MyStreet but I want to make a Separate post for that so I might reblog this later with additions but for now I’m just gonna focus on the MCD side because I know my thoughts better on that and already have plenty to say about it.

Here’s like a little masterlist of my favourite ships + platonic relationships in MCD plus some itty bitty summaries with my thoughts on them. As always I’m down to elaborate on any of these if anyone has questions! I can always make more posts specifically about any of these pairings to fully like. Flesh out and brainstorm rewrite stuff. Some characters might overlap cause multiship win. Also these might sound non-canon because this is how I write them, a lot of this is in beeland not canonical jessland. And I've probably forgotten a shitton but fuck it we ball.

Romantic/Sexual Pairings

Garroth x Laurance. No surprises here, I’m predictable, not much to say other than what I say every other time. Enemies to friends to lovers dynamic, they’re toxic and bloody and they are obsessed with each other. They are codependent. They need each other. There is something so insane about enemies to lovers when they literally have seen the worst of each other and fall in love anyway, providing a foundation for such an intimate trust because they spent so long memorising each other for the sake of hatred. Now they would die for each other, now they are black holes for each other - I never really ship Garroth with anyone else in MCD specifically because they are completely absorbed in each other, and Laur only in like alternate timelines where Garrance aren’t quite as insane for each other and are capable of being normal exes. A delicious religious corruption sun x moon guard4guard freak4freak meal for me. Rich with hungry dog metaphors and plenty of blood. I will defend them to the death. In beeland general rewrite (not Loverman, sorry), they get to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere having an honest but peaceful life. They have a couple of kids, including Malachi<3 and once they’re old they are NOT fucking bothered by plot shit again. They go through many hells and then they finally get to rest. They are so fucking in love with each other that it makes me sickened how Jess accidentally gave me source material for the most insane yaoi that would take over my life for a multitude of years. I don’t know what to even summarise here because like. I’ve written a 500k fanfiction about them that is still ongoing like I don’t know what else to say about them that I haven’t already yapped on about. There’s probably more to talk about because I never stfu about them. No one is surprised.

Katelyn x Aphiah. More enemies to lovers but also in a more guard4princess dynamic, and if you squint also worshipper4god if you consider Katelyn devout. Katelyn enters as her assassin and does literally come close to killing her multiple times only to become her target’s most dutiful loyal guard. Their magicks call to each other. Katelyn teaches her how to fight and forces Aph to confront parts of herself that were unacknowledged before their meeting. Confident that with the amount of devotion, desire and pure angry emotion that I give Katelyn, if Laurance hadn’t been at the werewolf wedding in Season 2, she easily could have had a similar outburst and take his place there to save Aph. Katelyn is obsessed with her from the start, no matter whether considering Aph a symbol, then an enemy, then finally a friend, lord and lover. And Aph is utterly captivated by Katelyn, not just her beauty, but her power. Plus, majority of the things you like about Garmau and Laurmau can be translated to Katemau but better if you try.

Dante x Nicole. No enemies here, just lovers, oh god I love these two. They are both runaways haunted by their ‘past lives’, trying to create new names for themselves and heal. I associate them both with animals - Nicole quite literally as a fox, and Dante more metaphorically as a dog or coyote. They are best friends for YEARS before anything even happens between them, and I understand why Jess saw their vibe as an innocent young love/fling but also nooo………………….. I see the visions………………. They heal together… they understand each other’s vulnerabilities and insecurities so well….. they rescue each other…. they are adoring and energetic pure t4t love formed off years of friendship and mutual respect and like. They loved each other as friends and then they loved each other More and just very naturally became partners. They’re both very playful and adventurous when they open up, and even at their most different they’re this lovely dynamic of Nicole unable to stop yapping while Dante stares quiet and adoringly at her. And they fight together side by side!!!! (Hypnosis eyes for you to think more about mcd dancole)

Those are my big three holy trinity right nowwww but. Here are some more smaller-scale MCD ship dynamics that I also looove.

(Jeffory and Katelyn are also on this list but I talked about them yesterday in that other essay so I don't feel like repeating myself. Just know that they're included.)

Vylad x Laurance, errrr it’s complicated you already know what’s going on here. soul bonded or whatever, went through hell together. don’t know each other yet understand each other better than anyone, which isn’t saying much in vylad’s case, since no one comes close to ever really understanding him but if anyone’s going to pretend to, it’ll be laur. they are each other’s hopeful fantasy, like sitting in a dark cell and saying ‘do you think that, in another life-’. in this life, you will always have some kind of self-inflicted divide (you don’t know what the divide is blocking, because it’s not exactly friendship or romance but some third secret scary thing), but the thought will never die. you’re not even friends. in another life, maybe you could have gotten along somehow, but in this life you make stupid, foolish promises about freedom. you leave each other behind eventually, as is natural. vylad had far more clarity and knowledge of shadow knights that garroth never fully grasped, that made laurance feel seen. they make him feel seen in different ways. those damn ro’meaves.

Katelyn x Travis, nooo ha ha wow it’d be so funny if we were both burdened by years of pain and sacrifice thinking that we will never receive love only to find it in an unexpected place. it’d be so funny if you managed to save each other after years of being hurt. to the point that one of you feels that she wasted her only chance at love and the other is afraid that after years of isolation he will never know what it feels like. what if you realise that what you thought was frustrating and annoying is actually exactly what you need right now. maybe he was waiting for you his whole life. maybe he feels like letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding for so long. oomf if you keep on cracking the stupidest flirty jokes i might have to let down my tough exterior to actually smile a tiny bit if only in wry amusement but still, he gets her smiling. let’s go swimming and heal together oomfie!!!

Cadenza x Sasha, tragic sun x moon lovers forcefully separated. like your entire friend group was definitely all in love with both of these zvahl siblings at some point but like. instead of both of you being the fascination of this nerd freak one after the other, you two were meant to be together but could never voice it. you were such close friends that everyone already thought you were a package deal. not to be separated. only for everything to go wrong just as you are about to bring those feelings to light and now you will never get the chance because the girl you love just came back Wrong. and worse, she is so convinced that its Your fault that maybe it is, because if she believes it so forcefully it has to be true. without even knowing about gene altering her memories, you just let go because its the easiest thing to do. doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Laurance x Travis, but only in like a certain AU where Garroth is his ex but they’re not fucked up enough to be entirely obsessed with each other still. I don’t really indulge in Laurance or Garroth ships often because I am so ride or die for Garrance but I think in some world Laurance and Travis fit so nicely together, the same way that Laurance has that complicated relationship with Vylad but only in the circumstance that he’s not with Garroth. You have to hear me out here as I tell you that I understand Laurance on a deep insane level and you need to trust me when I say that he’s interested in science. He spends years ruling by emotion and temper. He’s searching for something logical, something with a straightforward answer that doesn’t depend on keeping his heart in check. He’s tired of being told to meditate or do yoga or whatever, thanks Vylad, he wants something tangible. Everyone is so busy worrying about him being this dangerous, volatile ticking time bomb that needs to calm down or leave when he’s already been through an emotional washing machine’s worth of hell that season alone. He’s tired and he wants a solution to a problem that is very much emotional, something that can’t just be fixed. Shadow Knights are made out of emotion, and ugly emotions at that, and now more than ever Laurance is so exhausted by the constant of it.

(Interesting to talk about later that Garroth and Laurance essentially swap, despite their respective emotional reputations, that Garroth’s leaving is emotionally driven and while Laurance’s is triggered by emotion, as per the Shadow Knight overreaction, his actual leaving is far more logical and straightforward, making it less emotionally destructive. Despite the notion that he is more emotional and Garroth is far more repressed, their breakdowns kind of reverse. It’s a little funny. Truly made for each other. Ok sorry no more garrance.)

And oh look who it is its Travis fist deep in the dirt hunting for worms with books and maps strapped to his back conducting the most fucked up science experiment known to man, someone who is very used to putting up a kind of faux performance to survive while having an incredible amount of burdens and sacrifices hidden beneath that carefully curated persona. They’re both incredibly clever, and despite those personas being playful and flirty, they know when to lock in to get the job done. And Travis is that perfect intruiging mix of heart and logic, because he’s blunt and straightforward especially when it comes to reciting things he knows from books, but when he gets passionate he can yap for hours. He is incredibly brave and sweet but also very studious and not very emotionally intelligent. He sees that Laurance has a problem and works himself to the bone to try and fix it for him, even when Laurance is trying to explain that its something unfixable. They’re kind of rivals at first that turn into besties who study each other sometimes. They are considering dissecting each other to figure out wtf is going on in the other’s brain. In a time period where literally everyone’s waiting for Laurance to snap, and he really does snap on Travis, it’s kind of comforting for someone to be fascinated by the Shadow Knight rather than afraid of it, and wants to approach it with science and reason rather than with emotion, fear or merely just projecting their own shames onto him. Their demon sides like each other or something.

Kiki x Cadenza, they’re pretty simple and cute. Sweet little background couple both passionate about nature - obviously Kiki loves animals, and Caddie is more interested in plants and gardening. They both have these almost-dormant magicks that emerge in very beautiful, caring ways. They are soft and tender with each other and also the idea of them meeting via Cadenza being a literal hen is kind of funny. They should throw rocks at Zane together.

Lucinda x KC, except I haven’t fuuuully thought about their endgame, just that they are so cute. Rivals to friends to rivals again, then friends AGAIN, then business partners/besties for many many years. And then when they’re older, lovers. They are stronger together, their magicks respond well to each other, and their individual business ventures actually work best when combined rather than competing. They don’t get together until they’re older ladies and, while Lucinda would still be working through some teacher-related conflicts, she’d be more willing to settle after years of wandering and long after being the White Witch, she might feel more comfortable sticking to one place. But even so they’re the kind of yuri that never has an explicit conversation about it and never tell anyone, it just happens so naturally, they’re old women who live together and have a dual witchcraft store + bakery and finally get to live in a place where they don’t have to feel ashamed of themselves or be in constant competition, even playfully, they can just Live. And also owl x cat dynamic is so cute.

Platonic/Familial Pairings

I feel like a couple of these I have talked about in more detail before so these will be kiiind of brief. Here are some of my favourite platonic dynamics and I am CERTAIN I've forgotten a lot of nice little underrated friendships but fuck it here's a top three.

These AREN’T ROMANTIC !!!

Dante, Aphiah & Aaron, their dumb dog-core little found family - Aaron becoming this old, gruff older brother figure for the both of them. After being alone for so long and bearing so much suffering, he finds solace and the beginning of a healing journey in both of them. None of them are replacing what has been lost per say, but fill the gaps of pieces missing in certain ways. Aphiah the amnesiac who, if she ever had a family at all, has literally no one now, getting to have a sibling dynamic with Dante, who waits so dutifully for his sister to come home. She looks to Aaron as a mentor figure, someone who can understand her feeling of otherworldliness and how she often feels alienated from the rest of the cast while also empathising with her as a Lord and a parent. She and Dante follow him and learn from him very attentively - and for Dante, to have an older brother figure that isn’t Gene. They take care of each other. An old wolf and the cubs that started following him around one day and while gruff and stubborn as to ignoring them at first, slowly learning to open up to them, thus earning their trust.

Vylad & Katelyn, give it up for EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED BESTIESSSSS. Every time I’ve brainstormed and thought about them with oomf I’ve been so genuinely pleased at the idea of locking them in a room together where they literally would just sit in silence and not be able to start a conversation. Such a painfully stubborn, awkward silence. Every scene they have together is so fucking funny do NOT put these guys on a boat together. They’re both gods of obsessing over their stony unfeeling tough exteriors to spare themselves of feeling. Kings of having tragic ass pasts and significant people in said pasts that haunt their respective narratives in a way that they feel no one will ever understand. So they can sit Close to each other sort of and continue to not understand each other but yet be the exact fucking same. GO TO THERAPY LOSERS.

Lucinda & Dante, go get therapy pt. 2, Dante you have to stop latching onto all of these caring figures that are a little older than you and provide some sort of semblance to a sibling, Dante stop it. She picks up on his subtle fear of witchcraft really quickly and decides to teach him more about what she does. He’s able to divulge parts of his past to her that he could never tell anyone about and she’s able to offer some comfort. I do appreciate that it’s not entirely one-sided - like yeah Dante is seeking comfort and understanding which he hasn’t really been able to take before, but he’s also there as a supportive shoulder for her, too, the way that his friendship with Aaron also starts out as mutual transaction. He notices that Lucinda has been feeling a little bit outcast by the town, even though she thinks thats what she has to be yet longs to be involved in the community, so he makes an effort to include her and spend time with her. He’s not really her apprentice, but he’s definitely willing to help out when he’s around, picking herbs and such. It’s a little funny that Dante is so insecure that he thinks of himself as undesirable and unloveable but a vast majority of town is literally a Dante fanclub willing to die for him and take him under their wing. Like oh baby. Your awkward charm is undeniable.

Stayed up late writing another ask answer yet again yippee. As always inbox is open for more asks if you feel brave enough to receive an answer of this average length and insanity :3 Stick your hand in my cage. I don't bite :).

[carmenized-onions]

I love it. Chicago’s Kindest. The symbolism. Ugh the food symbolism. The fucking FOOD SYMBOLISM!!! The basil, the cherries, I can’t I literally can’t. David actually (sort of) liking the food because he didn’t try to be perfect he just did it because he loved making it for her because he lo- lov- loves her…! 🥹

Truly I lost my mind in the greatest way possible. Thank you for writing this. If I could give you a consensual kissy smooch on the forehead I would

Not to mention that David liked the food he also wanted her number. The way she reflects Carmen’s food and how well he does it is soooooo

The way David actually liked the food but didn’t want to show it but still technically showed it when asking for her number. (Because she and his food are one and the same). The way Carmen protected her by not giving her number out. And vice versa protecting himself UGH (I’m gonna be sick in the best way possible)

(Also they should’ve fucked in the bathroom)

First of all, it will never not make me laugh reading back people's reviews of Don't Say It and so many of them being like wow, this is so beautiful, i'm so happy for their emotionally intimate relationship and the intricate ways in which they both externally and internally show they care for each other.

and they always at one point or another say

also he should have railed her <3

absolute DOGS you lot !!! nah, kidding. I didn't even expect them to smooch at all going into it. But then the man was very nice and there were very few ways for Tony to show appreciation. BUT IT'S HARD TO FUCK HARD WHEN YOU'RE BOTH VISIBLY TEAR STREAKED IN THE TRAUMA DUMP BATHROOM YKNOW???

But on to your fucking actual thoughts. Christ. I lo-lo-love writing food symbolism man!! I love writing cherries into fucking everything now. Smooch your screen I promise I'll feel it. I feel the emotional smooch in my heart.

THE DAVID ANALYSIS IS SO INTERESTING, BECAUSE I DID INTEND THIS VIBE IN A SENSE, BUT YOU EXTENDED ON IT SO MUCH MORE THAN I EVER THOUGHT.

This is like that one Jordan Peele QnA where a viewer was like 'it was crazy in Get Out the way you segregated the fruit loops from the milk as a metaphor for her racism' and he went 'that's so cool. i did just do that because i thought eating dry cereal and drinking milk was the act of a psychopath'.

Like, I did want the David number thing to be an implication of approval because like you said, he can't just fucking SAY it it's fucking DAVID!! But going a step further to say Chip just IS Carmen's food, in essence,,,, oooofhfodjooh!!!!! thoughts!!! the thoughts are thoughting!!!

VERY much so when Carmen went on his insane bitch journey in New York it was an act of protecting himself as much as it was Chip. I noodled on it while writing Two Steps Back, but inevitably cut it--- Initially though, when writing Carmen's thoughts on giving your number, it was going to be riddled with insecurity on the subject that like. Hey maybe you should give david her number. He's competent and he wakes up on time and he has stars and he's not carrying an overwhelming amount of baggage.

This was eventually ditched as I thought longer on it and Carmen Compartmentalizes Berzatto, to me, would just opt to simply not even think about it. Just walled it off. my poor boy. if he simply fucked in a bathroom he would probably feel better.

ALWAYS GOTTA END ON A CALL BACK FOLKS!!!