#the problem is that most of my ideas are about analyzing relationships between characters

[musical-chick-13]

What if I made this as off-putting as possible instead of romantic.

[my-mt-heart]

Putting the "ew" in EW

There are a lot of things wrong with the article, but let's start with the glaringly obvious...

Instead of letting Daryl's and Carol's connection speak for itself and letting fans get excited to see the connection as they've understood it for over a decade, Dalton Ross tries to project his own POV onto us, overemphasizing a platonic friendship as if it's the only right answer and ignoring the core of Caryl's fanbase, who are well within reason to want payoff to a romantic love story between Caryl that was earned time and time again in the flagship show. If his goal was to define the relationship for us once and for all, he completely fails. All he's really doing is exposing himself as yet another deeply insecure and toxic middle-aged white man who can't fathom a middle-aged woman with gray hair as a romantic partner for the middle-aged male protagonist. It's ignorant at best and at worst, it's aiding an effort to hurt Melissa's viewership (worth noting that Dalton Ross is one of Gimple's connections). But sadly, his spin is not even the worst problem...

This has to be one of the most ridiculous exchanges between a showrunner and a lead actor that I've ever read, but to cut to the chase, if the former is so disconnected from Daryl that he doesn't know the first thing about how this character forms attachments with others or why it takes him so long and what that says about his relationship with Carol, he shouldn't be the showrunner. That's been clear since S1 and in every interview he does, so at this point, AMC is shooting themselves in the foot the longer they keep him on or even just let him open his mouth.

In case I haven't made myself perfectly clear a million times, I am here for the Daryl I connected with when he became the most loyal and loving man to Carol and his family in the flagship show. I am here for The Book of Carol because I want to watch Carol rise above her trauma as she's risen above so many challenges in her life and I want to watch her finally claim a love she didn't think she was worthy of before, which is true love/romantic love/soulmate love with Daryl (look, I can overemphasize too). I want to watch Melissa McBride, who has also had to rise above so many challenges as a woman in the industry, give one powerful performance after another after another. I want her to get all the praise from fans and critics that she deserves and I want her to have more creative control since she's the one who really knows how to do Carol's story justice. Imagine if all we had to analyze was her own words...

I am so fucking tired of other EPs trying to turn the beautiful things she has to say and the beautiful things she brings to her show into a footnote because they always have to be so overt in their misogyny, ageism, arrogance, and stupidity first. I am fucking tired of feeling unwelcome to a show being marketed as #TWDCARYL when I am both a Carol and a Daryl fan who also ships them together. The perpetual mess doesn't speak to Melissa's value or to her fans' priorities. I will continue to direct my blame at the other EPs, and I need AMC to start doing the same. Stop giving David Zabel, Greg Nicotero, and Scott Gimple a platform. Stop giving into their need to promote themselves. Stop losing viewers over them. Let's get a showrunner who understands Carol's and Daryl's characters as well as their relationship, and here's a new idea, let's get journalists/reviewers who don't try to shove their own insecurities down our throats to cover the aspects of the show that we actually connect with. Believe it or not, those of us who are loudly complaining do want to be here.

[mikuni14]

Takara's Treasure - Ep 4

I admit that I watch Takara's Treasure with morbid fascination 😆 I don't vibe with this romance at all, I watch it like a scientist wondering what will happen and how the show will handle this relationship.

I read with interest the opinions about Taishin from people who explained his behavior and respectfully, but I disagree. (I would like to emphasize the word respectfully just in case 😘). First of all, I fully accept that I may be misreading this character because I may have a completely different background and character than those who understand him. That being said, I think the problem with Taishi lies largely in the script. First of all I think Taishi would be more believable in this story if he were YOUNGER. Second, the script is not consistent in showing his character, because sorry, but either you create a completely clueless person who is clueless about everything, or you make this character innocent, naive, or having difficulty "reading" people and themselves, and it applies to everything. Taishin correctly recognized the threat in the form of his stalker and correctly called for help, just as he correctly recognized the figure on the roof as someone who might want to commit suicide, rather than just standing and gazing at the clouds. Going out involves panic about what to wear, which is 100% just the behavior of an ordinary person. Somehow he got into college, and if I'm not mistaken, in Tokyo (?), so I assume he's a good student, which means he must have had some education. At the same time, the series portrays him as someone who is so clueless that someone else has to silence him so he doesn't sound "weird" (???), someone who has been still wondering about the concept of people being attracted to someone of the same sex, and is completely unable to connect the dots between how he panicked when someone invaded his space and him invading someone else's space by rummaging through their bag (edit: I forgot the most important thing, which is him interpretating of his feelings towards Takara, which the series shows as both comedic and romantic). For me it just doesn't add up.

We've already had characters in BLs who are clueless, uninterested in love, characters who are just figuring out what's happening to them, what this new feeling, new state, new reactions of their bodies are - including people in college. But these characters were consistent, their behavior was logical, and above all, it didn't make them stupid and problematic at times (I feel like if Taishin was not a sweet uke, but a macho guy, and Takara was a cute, petite girl, the reaction to him , his stalking behavior and "weirdness" would certainly be different). Ae from LBC analyzed his new feelings, consulted with his friend, Chu Sang Wu from Semantic Error had a whole meltdown because of his new, unknown feelings, Mork from My Ride was also confused about his feelings for a guy, in many other series the characters were surprised with their often new, anxiety-provoking, unknown feelings, they panicked, analyzed them, discussed them. But in each of these cases everything was logical. And series still can keep as much as possible that the characters are clueless and "do not fit into generally accepted norms" (that's why so many viewers identified with Ae - many called him our demi king ^^ and Chu Sang Wu as a neurodivergent character, or with Mork and him discovering his bisexuality as a grown man).

tl;dr imho Taishin should be clueless in all social situations, not just the select ones that fit the script. And he really should stop his stalking, strange actions and rummaging through people's things (and.. it's actually getting worse! and it's presented as funny, cute and romantic!). There are limits, and quite often legal limits to finding out something about your crush (in Chery Magic, Adachi/Achi had no idea that he was someone's object of affection and that that person knew almost everything about him, because his boundaries and right to privacy were never violated). Sorry to all Taishin fans but for me what Taishi does and what he says is not romantic or cute in any way 🤷‍♀️

[ilikekidsshows]

Thoughts on Marinette being empathetic? i saw someone saying that she was super empathetic but I can't really get behind that idea cause I see her as more sympathetic instead. Like she can feel sorry for someone but I don't think she's all that good at putting herself in their shoes and actually realizing the situation beyond "this person I know/care about is sad"

---

I myself have actually analyzed Marinette’s method of relating to others as empathetic rather than sympathetic, because Marinette is completely incapable of figuring out what someone is thinking or feeling from context clues. Neither can she anticipate how someone might react to something. She can only project her own emotions or fears onto others. This is actually a skill Gabriel is incredibly good at, which I once noted as the number one difference between the two.

But, I also think that Marinette's empathy is highly situational. Marinette can't understand logically or emotionally how someone is feeling, unless it's a situation she herself is or has been in. However, if she can recognize someone's situation in her own life, she's suddenly so empathetic she can't contain herself. Notice how she was totally fine with bullying and sabotaging Kagami, until she found out Kagami was desperately yearning for a boy she has no relationship with, just like her. Then suddenly Marinette “My Adrien Problems Are The Number One Priority Always” Dupain-Cheng is so empathetic that she actually feels conflicted about getting in the way of their romance.

Still, when the situation someone is in is something she hasn't experienced, Marinette just can't relate or understand at all. She has seen a parent abusing their child in three different contexts, yet she insists all these parents are good parents because her parents are good to her. She completely ignores Cat Noir trying to tell her that he’s not emotionally fine, projecting her idea of Cat Noir onto the real Cat Noir, until his problems directly affect her, and then she proceeds to project her own thoughts and feelings on what's going on, like assuming that, just because her biggest problem is unrequited love, that's all that's bothering Cat Noir as well when he has been telling her otherwise for weeks if not months.

Marinette's main problem is projection. She acts like she's the center of the universe and the main character. Like, she is both of these things, but a fictional character isn't supposed to know that unless the writers are trying to be too meta. So, Marinette doesn't know she's the universe's creator's daughter, but she acts like she does and that makes her act entitled and selfish. She can't be bothered to take basic manners or decency into account when she needs to score a date with a hot guy. She will humiliate a classmate and supposed friend and deny him something he was really looking forward to if it means she gets to do something she could also do any other day of the week if she wasn't a coward, like asking the guy she likes to play video games with her. Marinette is absolutely convinced that her crush problems are the most important thing going on at any given moment and everyone else are just supportive characters in the drama that is her life.

While Marinette doesn't seem to live in a fantasy world entirely, she certainly goes around one foot in one. She doesn't go around outright calling her classmates extras and bit parts, but she certainly doesn't treat them as real humans with real feelings either. Even when she helps them she does it like a video game protagonist trying to max out a relationship value. She acts like she already knows what to do, like she's reading a guide, but she gets it wrong so many times so the guide is faulty, but she still gets a free pass every time because “she had good intentions”. I’ve never seen a 14-year-old get granted this much slack for such blatant disregard of others’ opinions.

Whether it's empathy or sympathy, whatever method Marinette is using to relate to others, she is bad at it.

[schoolmysteryno69]

META ANALYSIS - Mitsukou (part 1)

General topic - how they’re written as a one of the romantic couples in the story

Before I start, I need to say few things:

1. I’m not native english speaker. I’m probably going to make a lot of errors and mistakes, mix times, have a lacking vocabulary etc. Please be ready for it. I want to write my meta post anyway, so I would be happy if you will stay to the end with me!

2. If you do not like Mitsukou/hate this ship or anything like that - maybe this post it's not for you. It's totally okay to ship different thing and like different things, I don’t mind. My post is not a starter for a discussion tho, I’m not interested in discourses, argues and hate. I don’t really plan to “prove” anything to anyone or force you to change your mind, whole post is only MY analysis and my point of view. You are not obligated to feel the same way I feel, to see things the same way I see them. 

3. I’m not interested in proving if Mitsukou is going to ever be canon or anything. I don’t know that. I’m also not going to analyze if they’re ever going to be a CANON COUPLE or an ENDGAME COUPLE. It’s only about if they’re written as a romantic relationship, and being written as a romantic couple =/= being a canon couple, they’re a lot of pairs in media that definitely are written as a romantic relationship without them being together ever or being an endgame. I’m not going to speculate about endgame, especially when one of the characters is supernatural and one is a human. 

Okay, I think we can start now!

Let's start from the beginning. Because my first language is not english my post may be a little bit chaotic, putting all my thoughts in at least some order and with at least some sense it's actually hard, haha. In part 1 I will try to cover the first meeting between Kou and the ghost of Mitsuba.

So!

They first met during chapter 18. And it was meeting between Kou and ghost of a Mitsuba Sousuke, so it wasn’t our currently Mitsuba - it worth to mention they're not the same person, even if they are extremely similar, share a lot elements of their personalities, they look nearly the same, and current Mitsuba even share some dead Sousuke's memories because of School Mystery No. 4 Shijima Mei and her Picture Perfect arc. Still - not the same person and Mitsuba Kou met in chapter 18 is not the current Mitsuba. 

At the beginning they're not really that much written as a romantic, their short arc was more like something starting Kou’s personal arc and his development. He got some background, some motivation, some angst, he changed. For most part Kou behaved pretty normal, just like himself - a selfless, lively boy that really wanted to help a lonely, sad ghost that Mitsuba was. (he wasn’t traumatized yet). Even if some of their interaction could be readed with a shippy glasses, there wasn’t anything that was inherently romantic about them. 

I think it's kind of ironic how this is literally their first panel in the manga. Mitsuba literally looks like some kind of eldritch horror and he says “Did you forget about me?”. Yeah Kou, did you? This quite sums some elements of their arc. We know that Kou actually did forget about Mitsuba, who was one of his classmates. Also, Kous' trauma, related to everything that happened to Mitsuba, hunts him for the rest of the story. He also, clearly has a problem with recognition of both Mitsubas, with dealing with Ghost Mitsuba death and with the idea of forgetting someone and leaving someone. We also know that, when current!Mitsuba was made by Tsukasa, he didn’t remember Kou. That's why this quote here is very ironic. 

There is nothing really to analyze here but I find it funny. Yeah, you quite literally just haunted the wrong guy and it’s going to be a problem for you and said guy for the next 15 volumes of the manga. Good luck. 

Even after calling Mitsuba an “evil spirit” Kou still tries to help him and even decides to “take the big tough guy approach” to make Mitsuba feel safer about him. Kou is not really “the big tough guy”, even if he tries to pose as one. He is a 14 yo kid with kind of fucked up situation in life, even, if he doesn’t recognize it yet. 

Maybe you could learn something from Kous stupid earning, mr. boy who DIED in the car accident.

It's definitely not an accident that Mitsuba died hit by a car and Kou has a BIG earning with a big caption “TRAFFIC SAFETY”. Even after reading all chapters up to 103 I’m not really sure how I should interpret this exact symbolism in their relationship, but it's definitely done on purpose by the authors. I think it may symbolize that Kou, with a “traffic safety” earning will save Mitsuba, who previously died in a traffic accident from dying another time? Like, now Mitsuba have Kou by his side and maybe Kou will manage to keep him safe. His earning is mentioned by Mitsuba too many times, it's done so we can notice it, for sure. And I wonder how it turns out. 

It’s the first time Mitsuba suggests that Kou either has some kind of feelings toward him, tries to do something dirty towards him or something similar. Every time he just jokes or tries to provoke Kou or something like that. At first I thought it's just how Mitsuba is, some people love to joke like that, but then I noticed, later in the story, that Kou is quite literally the only person Mitsuba ever does this to. Sure he does not have many friends “his age” but still during the manga it would be possible for him to behave like that toward other characters, but he does not. He jokes like that only toward Kou and I think during the next parts of my writing I will point it out more.

Even after 20 minutes of insulting he is still concerned about Mitsuba. That's so funny and sweet. 

Yeeeaaah sure it totally does not relate in any way to the fact that ghost Motsuba got to die after taking a photo of KOU out of everything yeeeeaaaah nada nope. It's crazy how the authors planned this because Hanako really started as some kind of funny manga about kids and ghosts and supernatural things, but the angst we get later is actually top notch and kinda scary. There was few moments I really had to like, stand up and walk in my room because of the emotions I felt after reading.

Look how happy he is with the idea of being a model to the Mitsubas photos. He is bright, smiling and even blushing. The next ironic thing is how he cried after actually seeing a picture of himself made by Mitsuba. Also I like how prominent his earning is here.

Mitsuba is very particular, he really made pictures only of animals, plants and other non-human things. That's probably why his photo of Kou hit me like a train. That's literally narratively confirming that Mitsuba saw Kou as something (someone) he likes, someone that is important to him. Kou also realized it after seeing the picture, that was one of the reasons why he was so devastated.

There are few things about that whole scene I would like to point up. The first are doves. Mitsuba, especially Ghost Mitsuba, is often presented with doves as a form of his symbolism. Doves and cherry blossoms are probably the most prominent symbols of his character. I’m not really that good when it comes to symbols, but I think doves symbolize things like peace, but also some form of innocence/purity and love. Some sources also say about transformation and spirituality. I think one of the reasons for choosing doves is to symbolize how he didn’t deserve to die like that, that his soul is actually good and seeks for peace. In Kou’s eyes he is also someone innocent, definitely. Especially when we are talking about ghost Mitsuba at the beginning of a story. 

ALSO I’m pretty sure birds are foreshadowing to current!Mitsuba being made from the school mystery no. 3 who looked like a bird and who current!Mitsuba gained a lot of his characteristics from. Current!Mitsuba hair looks like feathers, his hand looks like talons etc. He is heavily associated with birds from the beginning. Even if Ghost!Mitsuba is associated with doves more and current!Mitsuba with ravens or crows. 

The next thing about this scene is Kou finally realizing he knew Mitsuba and it hit him. Understanding that Mitsuba actually KNEW Kou and it was Kou who didn’t remember him probably made him feel remorse and generally really bad about himself. That’s not a nice thing if you forget about a boy who was with you in a class, and the fact that ghost Mitsuba actually tried to talk to him and asked him “Did you forget about me”... It's hard for me to even imagine what Kou felt at that moment. 

Also, Mitsuba surely didn’t know about Kou being from an exorcist family, so he wouldn't expect that Kou will take direct action after meeting a ghost lol. If it comes to Mitsuba, I’m pretty sure it was very scary.

I wish we could see more of them like that. Just like two boys having fun with each other. I love angst, trust me. But I think they deserve rest and to just have a chance to play and talk a be… normal for once. Everytime when they get a chance to have fun they’re cute and hilarious together. 

Rain can symbolize sadness and hard emotions soooo yeah, I’m not surprised it started raining. I think it sort of symbolizes feelings of both Kou and Mitsuba here.

They’re going to the third floor and I’m sure it's foreshadowing to Mitsuba becoming a School Mystery no. 3. 

I’m still impressed how much foreshadowing is during their first meeting (chap 18-20). Like the birds, nr 3, traffic safety earning, motif of remembering/forgetting etc. You could also think that photography would be something like that but… it's not. Photography becomes a thing that is helping recognizing human/ghost Mitsuba from current supernatural Mitsuba. They’re similar but not the same person. Photos were one of the main characteristics of the original Mitsuba, both in this arc and during a moment with Mitsubas mother later. It was always about photos, but it's never about photos when it comes to our current Mitsuba.

Yeah, that kind of explains why Kou didn’t remember him immediately, even after seeing how Mitsuba looks and hearing his surname he should know. Because, like, Kou should remember him, they were in the same class, sit close to each other etc. But the mask that Mitsuba created was so strong that made him nearly imperceptible (like, you know, a ghost hah) and at this point tbh I don’t think Mitsuba liked it very much. He is actually a pretty bold and cocky person and all of this probably bugged him. Of course he wasn’t bullied, but was it worth becoming somebody different, somebody boring and bland to others? I think there is some form of regret. But also I don’t think that ALL of this was a mask, because Mitsuba definitely has some of a calmer and more sweet side to himself, he showed it a lot of times.

He tries to fix it up by recognizing him now for who he is. With both his positive and negative aspects, even if he points out mostly his flaws. Still, this is the Mitsuba he met, the Mitsuba he knows and the Mitsuba he IS GOING TO remember. Mitsuba he befriended now. It actually means a lot for Sousuke. He is dead, he may have thought that it's the end for him and for all of his relationships he ever had. Its funny how Mitsuba said he is a ghost because he still wanted to do photos, but the truth is he wanted relationships, but the true ones. Not based on his “fake” nice self, but on real him with all his flaws and that's why he haunted other students rather than just… go do photos or something. He tried to connect to others, because he subconsciously thought relationships and friends he had when he lived weren’t really true and real. It’s ironic how it resembles the current!Mitsuba in Picture Perfect act. 

Kou started to realize who Mitsuba was and how tragic his situation was, he started to empathize. Kou has a martyr complex, so he wanted to help Mitsuba any way he could. It was also shown that he does LIKE Mitsuba even with his twisted personality, Kou said it himself and it surely means a lot for Mitsuba who wasn’t liked before for his true personality. That was probably the moment Mitsuba felt a real bond towards Kou and become attached to him. 

And Kou even blushed a few times.That would still be read as platonic and sweet tho!. I think it was, personally. The most important thing during their first meeting was, of course, how it ended, because, in my opinion, it was a moment when most (not all tho) Kou's mental problems started. There was still his family, of course. Teru loves Kou very much, but still his mentality and behavior was a root for Kou’s low self esteem and some other elements of his personality, tho I think it may be a topic for a whole different post.

In this small arc, in my opinion, the moment that was the beginning of me perceiving them as written as one of the couples, a romantic relationship was this exact moment:

“I don’t know… maybe something important to me?” 

And also a moment when Kous saw this picture for the first time, when he developed photos, and how this cracked him.

Generally, becoming friends with Mitsuba was very important to Kou. Not only because he wanted to help him (and, internally, also making Kou feel better about himself) but also it was probably the first time when… Kou may feel somewhat special? He always was in the shadow of Teru, he wasn’t an “official” exorcist, he wasn't going to missions in the town, he wasn’t very strong (Hanako literally KO’ed him without a sweat and Kou couldn't do much to Hanako), the girl he got a small crush on (Nene) clearly had something with Hanako… Kou was always pushed back and now, with Mitsuba, he made an actually special relationship between the only two of them. He felt NEEDED, and we all know how much Kou desperately needs to feel NEEDED. In his own mind, he was the only one that could help Mitsuba and that understood Mitsuba, that's why Mitsubas ghost death was so hard for him. He finally got something special for himself and he couldn't even protect it and he let lonely, poor ghost tragically vanish. That's some trauma for you.

I’m not going to write much about Mitsubas feelings there because it was Sousuke Mitsubas feelings - and currently I’m going to focus more on a School Mystery Mitsuba. Tho Sousuke definitely perceived Kou and his help as something special to him. That's where their fated bond started. 

“You can help me develop them tomorrow and then… I think I’ll be okay”.

Yet we can’t see his eyes when he speaks, and that suggests he thinks something different that what he speaks. Not showing eyes is a common motif to show that a character is lying or saying something he does not think or hiding something. Here is just like that - it’s not about photos, it's about KOU. It’s because of Kou he is going to be okay, not because of the photos he took today. Something changed for Mitsuba when Kou recognized him for someone he actually is and wanted to become friends with him. For Mitsuba it means a lot because when he was alive he couldn’t get true friends and real relationships with others. 

Yeah walk walk trauma baby. I know I mention  ‘trauma” a lot when it comes to Kou, but the whole manga is like a one big parade of traumas for this boy and it's not even funny. I’m not surprised he is starting to become more and more insane with every next arc. Especially in the Night Out small arc we can clearly see how detached from actual reality Kou starts to be and how he stops recognizing differencs between supernatural and real word, good and evil, selfless and selfish behavior etc. It’s all the result of the traumatic situations he was put in for like 16 volumes straight. And he is bearing it A LOT WORSE than Nene is.

Ouch. 

“You wished for people remembering you but now youre happy with just a one person?” That hits hard but also I’m angry at Tsukasa, like leave that boy alone.Even one person can make a change in someones life, and thats what Mitsuba felt at a moment. For Kou he was someone, he was real, he had a personality, Kou recognized him and that gives him a true sense of identity. For him it was enough

You met like half of a day before and you are calling him your friend and fighting for him with an unknown dangerous supernatural who looks exactly like your other friend. Bruh that's some dedication. Kou is desperate to save Mitsuba, but Kou is generally desperate to be a savior. He tries to “save” Nene a lot of times even if it’s not really necessary, because Nene also has other friends and people who support her and is pretty clever and capable of bearing problems on her own (most of the time). Yet Kou still treats Nene like some damsel in distress that need his protection when it's CLEARLY not like that. Sadly, Kou mostly fails anyway. He fails now with Mitsuba and if it comes to Nene, if she needs saving, the person who (usually) saves her is Hanako. Kou rarely has something he can actually do and it's cracking him up mentally.

Yeah, “I’m supernatural who grants wishes” not “I’m a ghost of a boy who once lived in this town”. Yeah. It was right here from the beginning.

I just hope it’s not a form of foreshadowing.

His last words were “Minamoto-kun”, it's so sad. On this last panel he actually looked a little brighter than on the previous panel of his transformation, and that's because he looked at Kou. 

I need to say, seeing a person you treat important to you and calling a friend dying in a horrible way and hearing their last words being your name must be pretty stressful. It would probably haunt me for a long time and I’m sure Kou is still affected by it.

On the 20 chapter cover Mitsuba is together with the rest of the main squad (Nene, Hanako, Kou). It was pretty weird back then - he literally died and looks like he was going to be a one-arc character that started Kous character development, but this cover was a hint that it's going to be different and Mitsuba, probably, is going to play a whole different role in the story. He, also, had a hand around Kous head and nearly touched his hair gently - its a symbol of intimacy. 

That was a proof how strong, narratively, their relationship is and is going to be during the progression of a story. And, in my opinion, a foreshadowing to Mitsubas feelings. Because I think currently, our Mitsuba is aware of his feelings toward Kou, but I’m going to cover this topic a little bit later. 

On this cover there is a lot more symbolism,especially with Hanako and his role in the story, but it's also a thing for a whole different post. 

What Tsukasa said was that Mitsubas wish was ‘“ want to stay with my friends forever and ever”.

That’s literally what I said earlier. 

It’s a recurring topic with current!Mitsuba and his relationship with Kou.  Mitsuba feels lonely and… Kou also feels lonely. Even if he has a brother, father and friends (Nene and Hanako and other school friends) Kou is incredibly lonely because of his inferiority complex. He desperately needed to be needed, needed to be special to someone, needed to be important to someone, and that person was Mitsuba. Right now, he is the most important person to Mitsuba and that's both good and very bad for Kou. Good because he finally feels like someone important and someones one and only, but bad because of how traumatic his relationship with Mitsuba is to him and how unhealthy it is. And by it I don’t mean  they’re toxic or bad people - they are kids who want to be loved and who want to have their place in the world. But Mitsuba is a monster, he is a supernatural, whos life is stained away by his instinct, who needs to eat other monsters and who does not really… have any actual bright future and Kou is traumatized boy with low self estem, problems with his selfworth, with martyr complex and some sort of suicidal tendencies. They have a lot to work out.

Kou is going to be a supernatural / is going to try to be a supernatural / is going to be forced to be supernatural - hint number one. 

Yes, I will go back to this topic, because I’m literally scared of it so much. It's prominent during the whole story that Kou is foreshadowed to have a plotline related to becoming supernatural in some way. And when this topic is touched it's usually related to his plotline with Mitsuba. I’m kind of scared of HOW it’s going to happen or if it’s going to be only a try or Kou really will become supernatural in some way. But it's too much of a recurring topic of Kous WHOLE character arc to not being important and to not happen. It's even hard to call it foreshadowing, its literal hints everywhere. 

Kou spent with Mitsuba literally… one day, outside of being in the same class for a while (Kou didn’t even remember this time THAT much, time they spend together this day was more important) and yet he CLINGED SO HARD to the idea that Mitsuba is his “friend”. He desperately needed to be wanted, needed, to have a special bond, to being able to help, to save someone. And yet he lost Mitsuba at this moment, he couldn't do shit to save him, he was absolutely… just useless during a fight. It affected him a lot. 

During the scene when Hanako “kills” Mitsuba, there are sakura petals. They’re heavily associate with Mitsuba and are one of his symbols:

This scene, narratively was a scene that said to us he is GONE. For good. It was a “goodbye” for him and Kou, he is dead. That's all. At this point we couldn't know we are going to meet current!Mitsuba, so we could thing that is the end of Mitsuba and the beginning of a Kous arc. And… it was both of these things but in the whole DIFFERENT meaning. Of course it was goodbye to the Sousuke, he is dead, he can’t come back. Of course it was a beginning for Kous development. But… it was also a beginning for our current!Mitsuba, for slowly progressing Kous insanity as an effect of his trauma and the beginning for Mitsuba and Kous actual arc and relationship. We thought it was the end but it was actually the beginning that changed… the whole Kou, to be honest.

I think it's related not only to Mitsuba but to Hanako, too. Imagine what Hanako could feel at that moment. He is a ghost and a supernatural who know how doomed he is and he only protects school and Nene. But Kou said it's bullshit and clearly believes in what he says. Sadly, Hanako is so stubborn.

One of the symbols related to Kou is a lion. Lions may symbolize a lot of things, like strength, courage but also - protection. Just like Kou tries to protect everyone and tries to be strong and courageous for others. I actually think it suits him quite well. Lions also symbolize the sun and it was shown a few times that Kou is like a sun to Mitsuba.

At some point of a story he is definitely going to do some crazy shit I’m telling you. He really tries to believe that he can find a way to change how the world works and it can end up good but.. it can also end up INCREDIBLY BAD. It’s not that good to mess up with life and death and when you cross up a border there is no coming back. With every arc the manga is becoming a little bit more dark and serious with topic it shows and och boy I’m kind of scared for Kou and Mitsuba.

You can literally hear me crying. It was probably the first moment in the manga that actually had any impact on me, I was really like… I had to stand and walk for a bit before reading. Kou sees a photo of himself and remembers Sousuke saying “Who knows? Maybe something important to me?” and starting crying was like. I wanted to cry too. I can’t even imagine what Kou felt at this moment, it was probably absolutely heartbreaking. 

This small arc finished with chapter 20.During the next arc, Kou, already  affected by Mitsubas death, gets to know that Nene also has a shortened lifespan and it's going to die very shortly. That wasn’t too good for his mental state and he literally fixated on a goal in saving her. When Kou learned about Nene’s situation, Hanako even related it to Mitsubas situation, so we can clearly understand these two examples are related to Kou. He doesn’t want this situation to happen again.

“Just like with this boy, there is nothing you can do” - Hanako you little shit

But yeah. Again Kou understands how useless he is. How weak he is, how he can’t save anyone the way he is. How he could do nothing about Mitsubas situation and how he can’t do nothing about Nene’s situation. That's tragic. And it's clear Kou doesn’t know what to do about it. Thats why, when current!Mitsuba appeared, he started to find such a ridiculous (and unhealthy) solutions to Mitsubas (and Kous) problems. He don't know what to do but desperately needs to do… something. Anything. To help, to be important. 

It's sad. He said he dont know what he is gonna do, but HE WILL DO SOMETHING. And yet… we know how it all goes for him. He is a brave kid, who is determined and wants others to be happy and alive. 

He even tried to stop a kiss between Hanako and Nene after reading Nenes book and failed. He always fails.

There is also an special page

It is titled “Love stories” that should be about Mitsuba. And it contains both Mitsuba and Kou. It's just a joke, but I need to point out that Mitsuba generally wasn’t shown to be interested in any girl during the progression of the story or never talked about it in general. He also does not crush on Nene, even when both Hanako and Kou felt something toward her at some point in the story.He also talks about how cute he is A LOT and I’m going to say something about it someday, but not now.

I think it's enough for part 1! I think I covered everything I wanted for their first meeting. Let's see at Mitsubas resurrection in the Hell of Mirrors!

[moments-on-film]

Moments on Film: Carmen Berzatto and Connell Waldron - Character Analysis

For the past few weeks, I’ve been a lot quieter on this site, and my analysis of The Bear, and that’s because I have been deeply engrossed in finally watching Normal People. I realize the show came out in 2020, but for whatever reason, I missed it when it was first released. Knowing that Paul Mescal has multiple films on the current/upcoming film festival circuit, All of Us Strangers, and Foe, the first of which, already garnering stellar reviews, and the latter, based on a sci-fi book of the same name, which I read and enjoyed, I decided to watch this piece of work from his oeuvre so I can better assess his range.

To put it simply, I found Normal People very compelling, moving, and heartbreaking. The acting from the two main characters is stellar. One of the other things I noticed, are the seemingly endless connections to the main characters in The Bear—in particular, Connell Waldron and Carmen Berzatto. Although these characters are different and a world apart, one in Chicago, Illinois and one in Sligo, Ireland, watching this show was like viewing many of the same problems through another character’s eyes.

On the surface, there are so many obvious similarities, (like the fact that they both religiously wear a chain necklace, Connell’s silver, and Carmy’s gold), but underneath there are multiple traits, insecurities, weaknesses, strengths, and patterns of behavior that stood out so clearly to me that I felt compelled to start writing this piece. In my opinion, both The Bear and Normal People are coming of age stories, because both feature multiple protagonists who are on a journey to discover who they really are and what actually brings them purpose, peace, fulfilment and joy. In a prior piece, I analyzed why I believe Carmy Doesn’t Know Who He Is Yet, and while the reasons may be different, the same is true for Connell Waldron. Below are several examples I noticed of the shared similarities between Carmy and Connell.

Please note: If you watch The Bear, but not Normal People, or vice versa, and you want/plan to, heart this post and come back to it after viewing to avoid major spoilers. If this doesn’t bother you, please, read on, and thank you, but I wanted to give fair warning. 🧡

Communication

Both Carmy and Connell struggle with this desperately. In The Bear, Carmy has trouble putting words to feelings, but he has them, he feels very deeply. In Normal People, Connell struggles to identify what he is feeling. These issues cause both of them, and the people in their lives, so much pain and suffering. Carmy’s life of abuse and trauma has forced him to stifle how he feels about situations he’s in, placate and appease others, and silence himself. In 1x6, Carmy tells his sister Natalie, “most of the time, I feel sort of trapped, because I can’t describe how I’m feeling.” Connell, on the other hand, is so worried about what others will think of him and his choices that he denies his true feelings, to the point where he often can’t even identify them himself. In 1x2 Connell tells Marianne that he struggles to know what he feels, “I might look back on something and think how I felt at the time, but, when it’s happening I never have any idea.” There are so many moments in both stories where one or two sentences would save them and their loved ones a world of hurt, but neither one is capable in several key moments that really count.

Crippling Indecision

Both characters suffer from this. In S2 of The Bear, Carmy is trying to straddle building his dream restaurant, and being in a relationship that is pulling him from everything he needs to be doing to open it. In 2x8, Sydney tells Carmy, “I just think you need to decide...” I have read much into this line because, due to his past, there are so many questions in Carmy’s life that he’s never been allowed to/allowed himself to explore enough to answer. In Normal People, Connell starts out not even knowing what he wants to study in college. He only comes to a decision when Marianne tells him very clearly what makes the most sense, based on her observations, and she’s right. Both of them look to the women in their lives go help them make key decisions.

Talent for Their Craft—with Barriers

Carmen is a talented and award winning chef. Before he’s left The Beef in his brother’s will, he conquered the world of fine dining. He’s risen to the top of his profession. He was even awarded the James Beard Rising Star Chef award from his time as a chef at Fairest Creatures, in Malibu and retained 3 Michelin Stars as CDC of Eleven Madison Park in New York. However, in S2, he struggles with crafting the menu for the new iteration of The Beef, The Bear. He’s torn between incorporating nostalgic dishes from his past, and new forward moving dishes created in partnership with Sydney. Connell is a talented student and sports player when we first meet him, and he goes on to be a “star” student at Trinity College, in Dublin, recipient of a prestigious scholarship, and editor of the publication of the literary society. However, in his work, (at times), as in his life, both suffer from his lack of communication. He receives a letter in response to a short story he submits that says his work “lacked a clear voice and confidence.” This problem affects all areas of his life, not just his professional one. Both Carmy and Connell’s work suffers because of their personal issues which they have yet to work out.

Soulmates

The relationships between Carmen and Sydney and Connell and Marianne have many parallels. Both couples (yes, couples) trust and confide in each other exclusively. They are each other’s confidant, and safe place. This gets tested for each couple when they are not truly honest with themselves about what the other means to them and when they let outside forces mess with their cosmic connection. Carmy ends up going out with Claire, partly due to the outside pressure from his family. Connell has a beautiful budding relationship with Marianne in the beginning of the show, but capitulates to outside pressure from his group of friends to do what is expected of him and be with the popular, but mean, Rachel. When he does this, it illicited the exact same response from me as when Carmy ditched Sydney to help Claire run an errand. Both moments had me yelling at my TV, “what are you DOING?! How could you do this to her?!” The thing is, both sets of characters have such a magnetic pull on each other, that outside forces can only penetrate for so long. Their paths are deeply intertwined. Carmy essentially asks Sydney to join him in opening a restaurant, and Sydney says yes. Marianne effectively asks Connell to join her at Trinity College, and he says yes. Both decisions will advance their relationships, personally and professionally. I must note that I don’t believe either ask is selfish. Carmy sees Sydney has talents and skills that compliment if not exceed his, and he wants her to shine. Marianne sees Connell’s talent and passion for English and knows Trinity is the best school. Another beautiful parallel is the fact that they are so deeply connected they they can literally read each other’s minds. Carmy and Sydney regularly start and finish each other’s sentences. They think alike, they dress alike. Carmy selects a chef coat for Sydney that could have been designed by her. In Normal People, Connell actually tells Marianne, “you know sometimes I felt like I could read your mind…..but I don’t know…maybe that’s normal.” Marianne stares at him deeply and pauses before saying “it’s not.” And it isn’t. These two sets of characters have a connection that is unique, special, and written in the stars.

Wasting Time with the Wrong People

Both Carmy and Connell go through trying to force relationships with other people that are just not right for them. Marianne does this too. We have not seen this yet from Sydney, but we may, as the show (hopefully) goes on. Carmy, for a variety of reasons, tries to be in a relationship with Claire. Early on, Connell succumbs to pressure to be linked with Rachel, who he doesn’t even like. Later in the show, he is in a placid and passionless relationship with Helen Brophy. Both Claire and Helen are or will be Doctors. Claire is in her last few months of residency, and Helen is at Trinity studying medicine. Neither woman is right for Carmy or Connell, which pulls them from their respective soulmates.

People Pleasing and Trouble Saying No

Carmy’s abusive upbringing has made him a people pleaser to some extent. He has had the completely arduous task of literally being in charge of managing his mother’s emotions and mood swings, as well as his brother’s. He doesn’t want to rock the boat or make people upset. This makes him say yes to people and situations he may not actually agree with and is another reason why he has trouble expressing his feelings and what he wants. This is a reason why he drops his work and Sydney to please Claire when she asks for a favor. Connell, from what we know, has a loving mother, but he is an only child and has no father, and seeks outside validation from friends. He’s very aware that his relationships are conditional and he very much goes along to get along, much to his detriment. An early example of this is when Rob asks to copy his French homework and he hands over all of his hard work without question. In the background of this scene, you can hear another character ask someone else for theirs and they give an unshakeable, “no.” Carmen and Connell struggle with boundaries that would protect them because they don’t want to risk making people upset.

Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Gif source: @birthdaysentiment

Both suffer from this. Actually both shows do an excellent job at uplifting the struggles of mental health, particularly for young men. Among other things, Carmen has undiagnosed PTSD from his trauma that manifests in sleep walking nightmares and severe panic attacks. When panic overtakes him, he literally is gripped in its clutches, and can barely breathe or move. The first time we witness him having a panic attack, it’s because he gets a phone call from someone asking for his brother who doesn’t know he has died by suicide. He gets so shaken, it impacts him physically and he has to physically remove himself from the restaurant. Connell has his first panic attack the moment he experiences just how conditional his friendships truly are. In 1x3, after he finally defends Marianne, his secret girlfriend who he loves, but is unpopular, to his friends, helps take care of her and takes her home, he shows up at school the next day and is relentlessly teased. Experiencing the way his friends will just turn on him on a dime causes him so much anxiety, he has to run to the bathroom and has a panic attack in the stalls. Connell also struggles with depression after his friend, later in the show, dies by suicide. He has a panic attack, so bad, he can’t even leave the house. Unlike Carmy (so far), Connell eventually gets treatment, and we see him start to even out emotionally. It must be said that during the final panic attack we witness Carmy endure, it is the thought of Sydney that pulls him through. Connell has treatment, but he also has the support of Marianne during his most major time of need. Both turn to these women in their lives for their strength in moments of great distress.

Al-Anon / Counseling Share Session

Gif source: @birthdaysentiment

Season 1 of The Bear culminates for Carmy emotionally when he reaches a breaking point, and in an effort to get help, makes a decision to not only attend an Al-Anon meeting, but get up and share many details about his background and his brother and it becomes crystal clear how deeply his absence has and continues to impact his life. Jeremy Allen White acts this 7 minute uncut scene with his whole heart, making us feel for him in every moment. He is spilling his guts, while restraining his deep, deep trauma, sadness and pain. His eyes brim with tears the whole time, tears he has still yet to shed. In one of the final episodes of Normal People, at the recommendation of his roommate, Connell goes to a free counseling session, sits in a chair, and starts for the first time ever to truly speak his mind, including how the suicide of his friend has impacted him, what Marianne means to him, and how he hates his current station in life but feels like there’s nothing for him to go back to in his hometown. Paul Mescal, like Jeremy Allen White completely carries this scene with the power of his acting in an extreme closeup. Unlike Carmy, Connell breaks down, and his emotions gush out in free flowing sobs. Both actors make the correct decision to barely make eye contact. Sharing this much is new for them and makes them uncomfortable, so for the most part, they keep their eye-line down, but despite this, the vulnerability is palpable we can really and truly see, hear and feel all of their pain.

Coming to Terms With What They Want

Gif source: @birthdaysentiment

I think the ultimate goal of both characters, Carmen and Connell, is to decide what they want, free themselves from the expectations, opinions, thoughts, or suggestions from others, and go get it. As I said, both Normal People and The Bear are coming of age stories. Both stories highlight the transformative power of love and the confidence to make choices for yourself with that knowledge that there will be someone there to love you no matter what. For Connell, it has been such a journey for him to come to terms with the fact that writing is his true calling. In the end of the show, he has the incredible opportunity to go to New York and take his place in a prestigious MFA program. At first, he is so scared to leave. Marianne is his rock and he loves her. He’s scared to leave and be alone in a strange city without support, without her. He asks her to come with him, but she knows this is a journey he needs to go on alone and she wants to stay in Ireland and live the life she’s living. She encourages him to go, and reassures him they will be ok. In The Bear, Carmy is not at this place yet. As I mentioned earlier, I have written about how at the present, Carmy doesn’t really know who is is or what he wants. However, we as an audience can see that his gentle spirit is attracted to art, drawing, and creativity. This has been beaten out of him, but I believe art is his true calling, he’s just never been allowed to pursue it. If we get more seasons of The Bear, I hope we will see Carmy have a similar breakthrough in reigniting and going after his dreams and letting go of what no longer serves him or brings him joy. I truly believe that he and Sydney will be a part of each other’s lives no matter what. In the kitchen or outside of it, in Ireland, or away, Carmen and Sydney and Connell and Marianne are connected in ways that time and space can’t break.

There are many, many other parallels to be made in both stories (which I may continue to write about). Connell and Marianne’s stories have come to an end, as Normal People was one season, and based on a book. We know where his journey takes him, but we can only speculate where else he may go, and if he and Marianne find their way back to each other. Carmy, on the other hand, is a character on a show that hopefully will have several more seasons, so his future is unclear. I just hope he can get the help he needs to heal and the strength and support to discover who he is and what brings him joy. I hope he, like Connell, mends and maintains his relationship with Sydney no matter where life takes him, especially if it leads him out of the kitchen.

Both The Bear and Normal People are at times, beautiful, tender, heartbreaking, poignant, and hopeful. They shine a brave light on what it means to be open, vulnerable, complex, flawed, trying, failing, succeeding, and most of all, human. Both series also show so beautifully how we need community and each other to raise us up, lift us out of our darker places and reach and keep reaching for light in our lives to be our truest and best selves. As Marianne tells Connell in the final episode as both she and Connell cry, “we have done so much good for one another.” I see this in Carmen, in Sydney, in Connell, in Marianne, and in so many other characters on both shows. And in this life, at the end of the day, isn’t that the most important gift? And we each have it—the ability to change someone’s life for the better.

©️moments-on-film 2023

[moranice-solvej]

I've been doing quite a bit of soul searching this year about writing and I think it's time I try to reanimate my long-forgotten habit of writing down personal reflections. I've stopped doing this about a decade ago for a variety of reasons, but it felt right to try and do this again.

I think I'm getting to a point where I begin understanding why I am so alienated in my opinions about it from general public and so-called universal quality standards.

I've been an avid reader for most of my life. But I've never been someone who goes deep into analyzing books. When I pick up a book, I don't go in there with any real expectations. Well, I always hope to love a book. At the very least have a good time with it. But a book is in general a blank slate for me. An adventure an author crafted, waiting to unfold. I don't care about tropes. I don't expect a story to play out with regards to a specific genre framework. I couldn't care less if a book stops without a traditional ending because it had to be split into two tomes due to size. I don't mind a huge cast of characters. There are no scenes I would ever think to call irrelevant. And, most importantly I suppose, I don't expect it to be written to appease me.

It feels like a lot of expectations stem from stories basically being a product an author either sells or offers the audience. The audience becomes someone that needs to be appeased in order to make the sale or receive praise. The focus shifts from putting a story to paper in the way that feels natural to an author to hit all the marks of a good product. I understand why it happens. I just... there is an undying and ever louder screaming voice inside my heart that feels this simply goes against what the soul of storytelling is. Because art, in its nature, is the domain of freedom. Of expressing feelings and imagination. A writer will of course learn certain techniques that help frame a book into what it is, often unconsciously and simply from engaging with other stories. But there is an entire ocean of difference between natural limits of storytelling and tons of those artificial ones that have been erected and are expected to be followed as gospel.

To me a book embodies this: a literary translation of an author's imagination. And imagination is boundless and unique and very malleable. Different people shaping the same idea into a story will end up writing books with different voices and I think it's precious and how it's all meant to be.

And it is because of it, because of the sheer richness of possibilities in stories, styles of storytelling itself, and ways to wield the language, it feels antithetical to me to expect an author to follow a system of extremely rigid rules that have been established as a golden standard of published writing and have permeated reader expectations down to hobby writing too. Yes, these rules are fluid and change based on genres and trends and whatnot, but they also remain extremely rigid and shape the public's opinion and expectations.

I've tried talking to a few people close to me this year about writing and be very honest about how I perceive it. I said things like 'the story doesn't have to surprise you to be good; a well-crafted story will keep you engaged and enchanted even if you know exactly how it ends because a journey to a destination is no less captivating than the culmination of it' and like 'I'm tired of classic character drama; I yearn to read stories where characters respect one another, are genuine friends to one another, where their romantic or friendly relationship stems from trust and desire to be kind to others; give me relationships without artificial tumult, characters who are capable of being emotionally intelligent, show how people who have formed a strong, unbreakable bond work together through logical interpersonal problems and/or towards the external goal they have'. And all I've received in response was 'pffft, such stories are boring' or 'it's the reveal that matters, when you remove it everything else is redundant'. And the feeling of alienation that comes with it is so intense that, some time after these conversations were over, I inevitably ended up taking a moment to privately cry about it.

Storytelling is an integral part of my life. This is the closest I feel to practical magic of the world. And it hurts to be so lonely with how I perceive it.

And then it all suddenly clicked for me. When it comes to things that are important to me, I'm a hopeless perfectionist. Of course I want to write the best story possible. To do it justice. To create something that will touch another human being as deeply as my imagination touches my soul. But that's the crux of it - what speaks so intensely to my soul is simply not what moves other people. So many of them see things that make stories special to me as unforgivable flaws.

I've been mulling over what makes a good story for me. It boils down to these: an author's mastery of a language (which includes good grammar and forgives an occasional typo along with being appropriately rich with language; think a lush, detailed style that doesn't devolve into unreadable purple prose. I will admit I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to oversimplistic writing – to me literature is meant to be a rich display of language and not a soulless retelling of events, there’s a reason as to why language has evolved to encompass so many ways to convey the same thing or to highlight a miniscule change in tone of a word to better capture the right emotion, and I expect authors to strive for this mastery); a harmony between action and introspection; and a story that makes sense in confines of the world along with neither betraying the characters nor the narrative itself. If these marks are hit, I'll be swept away on the journey and emerge on the other side very satisfied. I don’t even hope that stories explore character archetypes or themes that I am personally extremely passionate about – I’ve all but lost hope to find the right flavour in the writing of others and took it upon my personal mission to bring my own vision into life. No one owes me the kinds of stories I want to read but me.

I was also thinking what makes useful writing advice for myself, and it ended up being this: corrections of grammar and general sentence readability; pointing out factual errors I've made in the confines of the narrative or characters, or things that perhaps haven't been set up well or explained, or things that didn't make sense. That's it.

And lastly, I realized that as a writer this is what I do when I sit down to write a story: I am merely a narrator of what my characters go through. They live a life of their own, with moments grand and small but precious, and I'm just up there, peeking down on them from behind a metaphorical curtain and doing my very best to capture what they go through and what they feel so I could craft a narrative that could put a reader into their shoes. Not imagine themselves taking the same steps as my characters do, but rather feel exactly what my characters feel. Remove yourself from an equation, turn on empathy to the maximum, and live in the moment in the flesh of a fictional character. When I craft a story, there is inherently no space for reader themselves in it. Of course, a reader is someone who will experience it. But the story is made for the sake of itself and the characters that embody it.

So then it is no wonder that so much of writing advice leaves me wanting to scream in desperation at how often it is misplaced or unnecessary. How it is so focused on shaping a book into a product or appeasing an audience. How it steals away author's voices and makes stories sound and feel the same. How it weeds out all the little moments for the sake of endless action and high points and drama that keeps up tension. How it leaves so much substance on the cutting room floor due to the need to fit a traditional format or word count or, my favourite nemesis, to 'not waste a reader's time'.

And yet. How human it is, to understand that you do not fit into a certain box, that you do not under any circumstances actually want to fit into a certain box because it stands against everything you believe in your soul, and still be desolately sad because it means you're so, so lonely.

When I started posting my writing online, I knew it wasn't perfect of course. But by then I've read so many books and stories that were wonderful and so many that were mediocre that I knew this: I'm no genius, no prodigy, but I can craft a good story. I would re-read my chapters and I would be swept away with emotions and enamoured by the flow of sentences. I would be immensely proud of what I've achieved and still always strive to do better with every new piece of writing. Because writing is the best way I know of expressing myself. It's the best thing I can offer of me to other people.

But in the last two years or so, after actively working on a completely original story (without any intent or hope for traditional publishing, worth noting; I’m all too aware that stories I write are inherently unpublishable as traditional books, no matter if by a publisher or through a self-publishing service, and I’ve never been writing with any hopes of making money from it. It’s a beloved hobby for me, nothing more) and being exposed more than ever to writing communities and as a result writing advice and reader expectations even without publishing my writing, the pride I used to feel has diminished. I haven't become a worse writer. It simply became painfully clear that my vision of what makes stories good is exactly what other people hate and belittle and don't think it's worth their time. They think I disrespect them and the craft by writing the way I do. And so the chances of me being able to touch another person's soul with my craft, which I already knew are extremely low, now feel pretty non-existent. There is only one person in the world who I know for sure may love what I write. And as for everyone else, it feels near a certainty that they would inevitably hate it or be bored with it.

It doesn't stop me from writing, of course. Stories will live in me and with me so long as I live. But damn, I miss the time when I was so proud and full of hope. When I could just post things without this grim, soul-draining gnawing feeling that I'm releasing them into utter void. Where a terrible, sinuous, cold voice inside me didn't dampen my excitement and elation at finishing the chapter with murmurings about how amateur and naive I am.

Every artistic soul dreams of being good. Of being cherished. Of leaving a gentle mark in another soul. I... I just suppose I wish that we allowed more liberties in art. Been less scathing about it. Loosened up rigid rules a little more to allow for more creativity to flourish. Just so less people in this world felt lonely with what they create because they do not perfectly fit a set of predefined boxes.

Would that be too much to ask...?

[paragonrobits]

Hobbes, from Calvin And Hobbes, has always been one of my all time favorite characters. Including Kirby and Yoshi, he's one of the earliest characters I hyper-fixated on that I am AWARE of having done that. There's probably a lot of interpretations to be made from that. Along with Vivi (Final Fantasy 9) and Knuckles (Sonic the Hedgehog), he's a character that lives in my brain so long and so ferociously that most of my online persona used Hobbes-Vivi-Knuckles as an acronym just because i liked them so much

so, naturally, when i eventually went to fanfic ideas, Hobbes poses a few unique challenges as a character to focus on.

Most specifically is that Hobbes' ambiguous nature makes it difficult to really figure out how he interacts with others. He does do it, in his own strange way. Part of his source material's dynamic, however, is that we see everything through Calvin's lens of perspective. When Hobbes does stuff, its done filtered through Calvin's perspective.

(This also makes C&H a fantastic training for the concept of the unreliable narrator, not as a negative concept or villifying the viewpoint character, but simply stating that their POV is not necessarily what Really Happened, in an objective sense, or that there is even a concept of objective-ness at all, but that's besides the point.)

So how exactly do you write a character who specifically is always interacting with one viewpoint character, who has thoughts and feelings and independent action, and has his own perspective, but is always specifically linked to another person? We know what he SAYS, and what he DOES, and how those infer character and perspective, but because he almost never really does things unrelated to Calvin himself, it makes it hard to figure out additional aspects of his character that would be simply in other stories.

One obvious way to change things up is to drop the differing reality perspective gimmick and make Hobbes just a tiger-thing that lives there. I think, back in the day, this was a pretty common fanfic approach, and perhaps not coincidentally also leaned very hard to giving them an explicitly brotherly relationship, or outright had Hobbes adopted by Calvin's parents. This opens up some things, but the central problem remains:

how exactly do you write new aspects of his character, or find innovative elements WITHIN his canonical character, when a lot about him is simply inferred by what he says and does with Calvin, and not always in a way that communicates character in an explicitly true way?

This, funnily enough, makes him not dissimilar to Homestuck's characters. One of Homestuck's particular quirks is that the story is communicated primarily through conversation logs between characters, and brief narration from a viewpoint character OR an omniscient narrator. A key point here is that we, again, hear what they say and do, but we do not see things directly from their perspective. This means that just about EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER is an unreliable narrator. We can infer things, but it can be very difficult to work out what they think and feel based on WHAT they say but you can't always take it at face value.

You must, instead, analyze what they say and do and determine how much of it is their own persona vs it being authentic in some way. This is harder for some characters than others; for instance, when Terezi plays with a mock trial that ends in her hanging a plush toy, is this just another example of the brutality of her culture that even her imagination is violent? Is she a brutal, draconian pseudo-lawyer that looks for opportunitiess to indulge her bloodlust with the flimsiest of excuses?

Or, as I think, is the fact that she is doing this to a senator (an assuredly high position, presuming it even exists in her world), over embezzlement (a crime that, given her world's brutal nature, probably isn't seen as a crime at all), a hidden sign that she is more genuinely Good than she believes herself to be, as this is about making someone face punishment for an abuse of power? Her being more noble at heart than her self-doubt lets her believe?

Hobbes works in a similar way. Through his interactions with Calvin, we can infer a few things about him. He's very philosophical, much like Calvin. Unlike Calvin, if things are bad, he simply accepts them and tries to deal with it as best they can rather than raging against it. He's mischievous, playful, has a vindictive streak that flares up before it cools down, he's a LOT more openly whimsical than Calvin ("WHAT'S THE POINT OF BEING COOL IF YOU CAN'T WEAR A SOMBRERO" says Hobbes). He is not nearly as pessimistic about the nature of people as his real life inspiration, but he clearly sees humans as colletively taking the world to Hell in a handbasket but in a melancholy 'I suppose this is how the world is' sort of way.

Part of all this is that, at his core, he IS a tiger. His nature informs his character in a way not exactly common to comic strip characters that are talking animals or animal-like beings; he's fierce, food-motivated and doesn't really sweat the small stuff. He's not disinterested in the tragedy of the world, and indeed in some way he functions as a moral compass of sorts, but he doesn't really agonize about it. This even informs his character design; his very long body, proportionately short legs and long arms make him look charmingly odd, but when he moves on all fours its surprisingly realistic, and his proportions look the way they do because its basically what a tiger WOULD look like if they could stand up without any other alterations.

[beryllineart]

Should Have Been Me

Guys, this comic made me cry while I was making it. You don't get how crazy that is, I was listening to a comedy podcast and I was still tearing up. Anyways, this is my 66th post, so I wanted to do something Gaster related and decided to do something from my Uncle Gaster au.

Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

I'm gonna analyze my own characters now ('cause I want to) but if you are curious about this au, feel free to send me an ask!

Okay, so this comic was originally going to be about Dana and Gaster having a fight after the death of their brother, but I couldn't figure it out, and I realized that that didn't really fit the idea I have for either of them. In fact, Gaster has had a shell around him for most of his life, and he only lets people through (like Dana) after it breaks or weakens. This is one of those times.

Since the idea of this au is that Gaster separated himself from his family, cut off all contact with them, etc, how does him opening up and being vulnerable with his sister end up in separation? Well, this is actually one of the healthiest moments in their relationship, when they were feeling the same way and were just grieving together.

The main problem is personality differences. Dana and Gaster are polar opposites. Dana is cheerful, extroverted, optimistic and confident. Gaster is quiet, very introspective and doesn't open up easily. Roman was a good bridge between the two, and he would often encourage Dana to be a little more thoughtful and would teach Gaster how to just have fun (Roman's personality is a lot closer to Dana's, but since he's closer in age to Gaster he spends a lot more time around his brother and has learned the ins and outs of what makes him comfortable).

Anyways, Dana (and their parents) seem to move on too fast after Roman's death. They adjust to this new life and they start being happy again, but Gaster's not ready for that yet. He's still got a bad case of survivor's guilt, plus he and Roman were really, really close. He needs more time to adjust and accept, but more importantly, he needs time to grieve and he needs someone he can talk to. Unfortunately, he doesn't feel like he can talk to anyone in his family because they are all happy now, and they wouldn't understand how he feels. (They would totally be down to talk, by the way.) He starts to feel like he's forced to cheer up and act like everything's okay.

Eventually the sting of Roman's death fades a bit, but Gaster can't fully find closure because he never fully mourned. He can't handle being around his family anymore, so he just leaves and cuts off all communication. (There have been a few fights between him and his sister and parents that helped this decision as well.)

I don't think Gaster ever hated his family though. That's not in his nature. He gets angry at and hates himself. Dana tends to get angry at other people, and ooh boy, when Gaster didn't attend their parents' funerals, she was mad... She and the rest of her family did nothing wrong, so she doesn't understand why Gaster would punish them like this. What she doesn't realize is that Gaster thinks there's something wrong with him, and he doesn't feel that he deserves to be a part of his family anymore. He's punishing himself.

Anyways, here's the other post I made about Uncle Gaster, and sorry if this was a bit too wordy, I just love overanalyzing these sorts of things. You should see me feverishly figuring out every aspect of my Steamtale Undyne, why she hates her prosthetic arm but wears it anyway, how her childhood impacts her captaining style (and how she treats Monster Kid because of it) and... alsdjf;alkdfj, I'm rambling again.

[kooki914]

I know this may sound like a silly question, but specifically for the undertale version of Asgore: what coud a partner do to help him become more assertive? Asking because I'm planning to ship him with an OC and I still despise how basically in the ending Toriel gets to verbally tear intro him and he doesn't bother to defend himself (specially with the "just get one soul and leave to kill 6 more ppl to break the barrier" wich she coud have done herself but refused to while living inside her own little bubble ignoring the suffering of her fellos monsters, I undestand she was grieving but I feel it coud have been done without making her seem on the right and nobody speaking agaist her). I also know that by doing this he may appear out of character or that "he changed just for his partner", but knowing that a partner can help you to change for the better while highliting you best personality traits, and I was wondering wich coud be the most coherent way (my plan is for them to spend at least 5 years together, and that Asgore also helps his parter change for the better since they arrive having strong biases agaist monsters).

I don't think this is a silly question at all! It's something I've tackled somewhat in my Spadesgore fics, the idea that someone's habits rub off on Asgore and what can seem like a negative change to outsiders (him being more closed off and assertive) is actually a positive one in the long run because he actually, y'know, gets a spine and stops putting other people's needs above his own.

With Undertale specifically it's a VERY complicated question because I feel like step 1 of any Asgore development in Undertale is that he needs to fully face the brunt of his actions. I'm actually somewhat of the opposite opinion to you about the "confrontation" between him and Toriel, I think the narrative very clearly spells out that his "violence when you're faced with violence" response was the INCORRECT one (while Toriel choosing pacifism in the face of a bloodthirsty nation was, arguably, the least morally dubious choice any character could've made), but Asgore never... confronted the root of that problem? He essentially got a slap on the wrist for the murder of 6 children, and while that WAS narratively satisfying for a game about forgiveness and letting go of the past, I think a bit of self-discipline is in order for Asgore, post the events of the game. Him confronting HIMSELF rather than relying on someone else to do it for him is kind of pivotal to that, in my opinion, because this isn't something a relationship can mend FOR him. Let me elaborate.

WARNING - since this post is analyzing Asgore, there's implications of suicidal ideation, but it's not discussed at length. And, fair warning, this post is less "proper character analysis" and more "wayward speculation based on narrative beats for the sake of shipping" <3

While Asgore is the type of person to feel borderline incomplete when not in a relationship with someone (see: all of his behavior in Deltarune; and in Undertale the way he just Stops Speaking once it's clear Toriel wants nothing to do with him, it's like he's just entirely shut himself out of the conversation as if he has nothing to offer anymore, only ever speaking in vague platitudes until the final boss is defeated and he's osmosed into the friend group), contrary to what he thinks a relationship Won't Fix Him NOR his issues around self-worth. It's something he has to tackle on his own because, if he enters another relationship without doing so, he's gonna end up in the same cycle of trying to impress his partner, exhausting himself, and putting his partner between a rock and a hard place because he's both extremely emotionally needy while NEVER communicating his needs properly, closing himself off while desperate for intimacy.

It's borderline masochistic, his tendencies to just passively wait for outsiders to judge, reward, punish, and practically command his every action. It's why he's kind of a bad leader? He's community oriented, but in that way where he wants to please everyone instead of enacting lasting change, because (I think) he can't really envision a greater good because he's got anxiety up the ass. He's REactive rather than ACTIVE, and while that's typically not THAT big of a deal (again, his Deltarune self as an example of how you can have a normal-ish life even with that weird mentality), when you're put in the position of a leader and then refuse to make conscious choices out of a fear of hurting someone, you're inevitably going to hurt Everyone, which is exactly what happened in Undertale. I guess an easy way to make Asgore a little more self-assured is, paradoxically, give him less power. This may seem antithetical, but if he's allowed to, like, sit and breathe for a minute without everything resting on his shoulders, and small, inconsequential decisions are up to him without the title of "King" looming over him, it might make him feel more confident in THOSE choices, specifically. This doesn't fix the core issue, though, more just gives him a safety net where he can hide from his royal problems with someone who sees him as more than just his title and duty, which is valid (and honestly really cozy and cute), but I'm here to break people and put them back together, so strap in.

You mentioned your OC is a human who has a lot of bias against monsters initially, so allow me to run (a mile) with that for a minute. You probably already have a meetcute in mind for them, but it's honestly a really good setup, I can't help but throw my two (or three) cents into it. It forces our POV character (the OC) to go through considerable change throughout the events of the narrative (whether you fic this or not you've already implemented character development into your romance plot and I Adore that), and in turn a changing perspective on Asgore himself. Try to think of things a human might hold him accountable for, justly or otherwise, someone who heard of mythical monsters and a terrible king who slays children. Your OC might start off somewhat siding with Toriel at first (as she was the only monster who attempted to SAVE humans rather than kill them), but gradually grow to sympathise with Asgore once they get to know him, not just because he's a walking pity party but because that human and Asgore might have more in common than they first thought. (This is where I run out of info on your OC and can't really fill in the blanks LMAO go wild with this part. It can be something as simple as gardening or something as deep rooted and psychological as "the need to please other people in order to feel like you're worth anyone's time". Bonus points if it's both and the gardening is symbolic of the psychological issues.)

From Asgore's perspective, though, this would be utterly baffling. To this day, I don't doubt he somewhat idolises Toriel, he clearly still longs to be close with her, so to see someone (a HUMAN no less) stop empathising with her feelings and instead side with his own? He'd think they're nuts! ... But also, it'd be deeply validating in that guilty-pleasure kind of way (guilty because he doesn't think he deserves redemption). It actually starts turning gears in his head, though... If someone in a position like that, someone belonging to a nation he's hurt so badly, can see the GOOD in him and try to nurture a bond with him despite it all... doesn't it mean he's genuinely worth something? Even if he himself can't see it yet?

(This is, you may note, similar to what happens with Frisk in most fan-plots, but also highlights where I think Asgore's "redemption" in Undertale falls a bit short on the character level. Frisk never really gets to spend time with Asgore, since it's narratively irrelevant whether they like the guy or not, because the point of their conflict is that Frisk refuses to kill him, and refuses to be killed BY him. It's a conflict that re-states the core moral of the game, while also partly dismissing a genuine bond between the characters because it's necessary for it to stay vague for them to properly represent the narrative forces that they do (humanity and monster-kind). The popular fanon is that Asgore adopts Frisk similarly to the way Toriel does, but, in the game there's literally nothing to support that. The equally valid interpretation is that Frisk sees Asgore as just Some Guy they're lukewarm with for the sake of not kickstarting another monster-human war, even if they genuinely don't like him on a personal level, just like Toriel doesn't anymore. Because, again, there's nothing in the game to support Frisk being besties with literally EVERYONE, they just hang out with monsters sometimes and Don't Kill Them, it's not a high bar.)

IF you don't want to take the angle of your OC siding with Toriel (if the monster bias is THAT bad in the beginning), I'd instead propose really hammering home the monster hatred. Just by existing, by being someone hostile to Asgore over something he DIDN'T expect to get hostility over (the fact that he's a monster, and not the fact that he's a murderer) would maybe make him question why he WANTED to be told he was irredeemable, and why it's so strange to receive that input for the wrong reasons. Maybe he tries convincing the human that, actually, monsters are good and HE'S the one who's to blame for everything bad, and when he's brushed off with "no all monsters suck" it just baffles him more. Bonus points if later on it hits him like a truck that your OC developing feelings for HIM specifically made them get over their monster hatred. He thinks it's a case of "if you learn to love the worst of something you'll love the best too" but then has to come face to face with the idea that he ISN'T the worst of monster kind! That they actually prefer HIS company over other monsters! And not even for superficial reasons! And maybe there's still prejudices to overcome with the human, but they're trying FOR him, not in spite of him, and it's yet another little sign from the heavens to Asgore that maybe, just maybe, he's not as irredeemable as he thought.

Another potential avenue, that's less directly correlated with shipping, is to give him a kid that is his responsibility alone to take care of. Whether that be a literal adopted child, or a kid he has to impromptu take care of for a while, I feel like having someone (anyone, really) other than himself to provide for sort of nudges his priorities back in place (even if it doesn't really dismantle the core of his issues). (My reasoning for this being a potential avenue is how much Asgore's let himself go in Deltarune when no-one lives with him, juxtaposed to his well-maintained house in Undertale where he's constantly taking visitors and patiently waiting for his wife to come back.) Something small and defenseless that depends on him for support and protection is something that could really make him realise how much his well-being actually means in the grand scheme of things, that even if it isn't pleasant he has to stand his ground if only for the sake of this child that depends on him for literally everything (which was, incidentally, also his motivation for starting the war in the first place - avenging the children he failed to protect with a fiery vengeance as the only concrete decision he made in his time as king (that we know of)).

Maybe the point of contact/conflict between your OC and Asgore in this scenario is someone who doesn't believe he should be allowed to take care of a child (what with the 6 dead in his basement), and while the feud may start as mild, it might get more and more out of hand and forces Asgore to actually put his foot down and Demand custody rather than ask politely, maybe because the kid in question trusts him and nobody else for backstory reasons, or because they're literally His Kid (Chara slots in really well into this role IMO but you don't have to go with that route if you don't want to tackle revival shenaniganery). This is, imo, much harder to execute in literary form? (If you're not gonna fic this, ignore this part) It bumps up the conflict from slowburn to full on enemies-to-lovers, even if it speedruns the process of Asgore getting a spine, and if you can pull that off hats off to you but I always struggle with proper enemies to lovers with no intermediary of "friends" in between.

IN ANY CASE, past the "will they - won't they" phase, once they're actually together, I'd suggest your OC lightly nudge Asgore into that self-assuredness he's desperately missing, and moreover I suggest it not be on purpose. While it's probably the healthier option to talk to your partner if they're having self-esteem issues, this is fiction and I love drama, if you expected anything else you came to the wrong person, and ALSO this is Asgore we're talking about. He's the king of "never talk about my emotions, ever" so even if something is brought to the forefront he'd probably just apologise and privately cry about it without fixing literally anything. It would be more impactful (imo) if Asgore chose to adopt some of the habits of his partner without him being prodded over it, or pushed into it. At first, small things, like actually asking for the pickles in his order himself (/ref, meme), but slowly it might evolve into him realising just how much he's been neglecting himself. Scenario example of what I mean - his partner has actual self-preservation instincts and can help themself when in a tough spot, and Asgore is caught off guard when that same kindness is offered to him (as the king of monsters, his subjects revered him so heavily they kind of forgot he can actually get hurt or might need help with otherwise ordinary things, and Asgore stopped helping himself along the way because of it).

A different scenario might be something benign, like an insult or backhanded compliment Asgore brushes off, but his partner doesn't. Asgore might hold the (correct) position that, as a political figure, there's literally no point in trying to stave off every insult or mean opinion, and (incorrectly) asserts it doesn't have an effect on him overall. Because, in reality, it DOES stick. He has a hard time shaking off disapproval and hatred when he's carrying around so much guilt (juxtaposed to how genuinely confident he seems in Gerson's stories of Asgore before his children fell down and before Toriel left, when Asgore could ACTUALLY roll with the punches and not mind public embarrassment because the opinion of the masses didn't matter to him as much as it does now), and maybe his partner can point out to him that he seems weirdly more fixated on the actual Contents of the insult than they do. Where they just didn't like someone's tone or intent, Asgore's actually focusing on What they said, and it's a clear indication of the way he compartmentalises and somewhat takes in every criticism he's ever received. Because depression and low self esteem just does that to a motherfucker sometimes.

Overall there's also a sort of... tricky line to tread when trying to write around/through one of the character's defining flaws. Asgore was always described as a pushover, so what are you really left with when trying to override that fatal flaw that makes him what he is? This sort of trope, "your strongest attribute is your biggest weakness", stems all the way back from ancient Greece because its a GOLDEN trope, and when making fan content I think there's an interesting line that can be drawn. Asgore's best quality is his friendliness and approachable-ness, so how do we NOT diminish that while actually diminishing the FLAW part of that core character trait? Maybe Asgore's more confident and self-assured now that he has a partner that supports him basically unconditionally, but ALSO he still cracks under pressure easily and gives into demands if pressed enough. Maybe he stands his ground more and can actually tell people off without being a total pushover, but ALSO he ends up feeling a lot of guilt over doing so and maybe regresses back into old habits soon after.

Because, again, a relationship won't fix him, and to me that's part of the appeal. Instead of finding someone to "make him whole", it's more about finding someone that's gonna be there for him during the good and the bad days, someone who maybe fills in for some of the traits he lacks, but never overrides what makes him who he is. Because, let's be honest, him being a pushover is probably what allows him to properly consider a relationship with someone who started off so heavily biased against him. Having little self esteem paved the way for him to not dismiss this person outright, opening his arms to someone who started off with genuine hatred towards him, and it's not a good habit(!!), but it's woven into his vary nature as a character, and I always find it interesting to see that push and pull between progress and loving even the bad parts of someone's personality. Again, especially because it's fiction, there's a lot to explore when it comes to that line of thinking, "do I want to make you better or am I trying to change a fundamental part of you"? I don't think Asgore would be abandoning his nature by having a spine and not taking shit from literally everyone, BUT it might be a line of thinking HE falls back on, because he's had literally hundreds of years of this habit built up, it's gonna be hard to make any progress without immediately taking two steps back again. Especially because it's Asgore, he's basically a smiling boulder that refuses to move or change (and I say that affectionately).

TL;DR:

I think finding a way to instill a sense of Inherent Worth in Asgore is a good way to shake him into being a little more assertive. It's what I did in my own fics (and a lot of this post was me re-treading the same ideas with different characters to pair Asgore with), and the premise of someone who dislikes him from the get-go but learns to love him in time is (in my opinion) the best vessel to do that through. Because, if this person, who means a lot to him, can get over their biases and love him, (like ACTUALLY love him, not the way his subjects love their king, but the way a person loves another person) doesn't that mean there's worth to him being himself, and not just what people expect of him? Is the fact that he's beloved by someone he loves not reason enough to try and survive another day, and thrive in the long run?

It's difficult to instill worth in a character that's had hundreds of years of literal and figurative dehumanization on his hands, but it has to start with small things. Him being more than just a king. Then, him being more than just a friend, more than just a person you're eventually going to grow tired of or disgusted with, and eventually someone who doesn't need constant approval to feel like he's allowed to breathe. Small kindnesses go a long way, and if he starts to see himself in someone he wants to protect, or ends up in a position where he's being provided for by someone he loves, it can build up those ideas of worth and (ironically) independence, because it's less about pleasing a crowd and more about Not Dying because he's actually not that bad to have around in the first place.

[thelunarfairy]

What is your wish?

It's been a while since I've been postponing talking about some specific topics related to JSHK, heavy topics that are part of the plot's theme. Many of these themes are very important in the story and development of the characters (or their past)

So, out of respect for you, I preferred to avoid talking explicitly about them initially, because I don't know if you would feel comfortable talking about it.

Topics such as suicide, depression, cannibalism, sex, incest, physical abuse and others.

I have several analyzes and hypotheses on all of these topics that I would like to share with you if you feel comfortable with it.

Remembering that these are analyses, it is not related to what I specifically like, but the analysis of the situation and the signs that the story is guiding us.

Many people don't like the idea of talking, for example, about sex, which is strongly linked to JSHK, sometimes explicitly or implicitly, as well as other topics. Considering that most of the characters are teenagers/children, it is common for many to feel uncomfortable talking about this, but that is what exists in the manga. My intention will never be to sexualize any of them, but to talk about what this represents in the manga or for that character.

I was apprehensive after sharing some posts about the relationship between Hanako and Tsukasa, the way they interact with each other, anyway, after that I received two asks asking me if I shipped Hanako x Tsukasa and another about me sharing too many images of ships from both hahaha (it was actually about the way Tsukasa treated Hanako, but they interpreted it in a romantic way for some reason)

Don't get me wrong, I just like analyzing their relationships in a raw way. The theory that Tsukasa abused Hanako doesn't exist for nothing, does it? Won't you assume this theory makes sense? And it had all this repercussion precisely because many people considered it a valid hypothesis because of the way their relationship is shown to us.

It has nothing to do with my personal preference :3 If you want to know my preferences, just ask me, I like to show what I interpreted about that character, situation, relationship, in the most raw way possible.

And that doesn't mean that I like or dislike the character, or that I ship them, or that I like what the character did, or that I like what the story is telling. I just say what I interpreted about it. (And if I really like it, I'll say it)

Anyway, I wanted to know if it's okay with you if I talk about these topics, or if you feel uncomfortable with them

Don't worry, if I talk about these topics, it will be as subtle as I can, out of respect for you :3

Remembering that there is no way I can't ever talk about them, because it is impossible hahaha they are rooted in the manga, there is no way to escape these themes.

If you participated in the poll, thank you ♡

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[leventart-den]

I apologize in advance for this giant post. In short, I'm thinking here about how the topic of soulmates and the omegaverse can be scary and how it could be done in a more light-hearted way (if necessary). These are just my thoughts and I in no way impose anything on anyone or judge anyone. I'm totally okay with people who love the omegaverse and soulmate theme and I don't condemn it in any way.

Oh and of course I'm thinking about all this in the context of the idea for ZoSan 👀

I see a lot of omegaverse and soulmate fanfiction in the one piece fandom on AO3. Unfortunately these topics scare the crap out of me. Although when I was in my twenties I was completely okay with this, I even liked to read something. I can logically understand the appeal of these themes as fictional elements. Because when you write something (be it omegaverse, or in my case angst dark themes) it is an environment you control and it cannot harm you. For the reader it's different, all they control is the choice to read or not based on tags. I choose not to read what bothers me. But I am a person who really likes to analyze and delve into the reasons. Why I personally can't read most soulmates and omegaverses.

And I realized. The main reason is that for me personally, in both of these themes, the relationships between the characters are perceived as “forced”. Like the characters had no choice. In soulmates, this is imposed by “fate”. In the omegaverse it is imposed by biological characteristics-needs. Again, I can understand why this might be attractive and/or interesting as fiction. And I am aware that fear of such things is my personal problem. I'm writing all this simply because maybe someone has the same problem or wants to write soulmates and omegaverse more "safely" and in a lighter version. Because after realizing the reason, even I’m okay with writing a light version.

So. How can these themes be portrayed more lightly and less forced and still retain their core?

It's actually very simple. In the case of soulmates, the symbol of connection, whatever it may be, should appear only after the characters have sincerely begun to become close to each other. Like, it’s already there (their friendship, brotherhood or love) and is starting to blossom, no soulmark has given them the idea that they are soulmates and therefore should be close even if they are unpleasant to each other. It's like an engagement ring in this case - you won't get engaged to someone you don't love (in most cases). So signs of a soul connection appear when your soul feels that this is “that important person.”

In the case of the Omegaverse, it may be the same. There is no heat or anything like that, no manifestation of a second gender until the two characters meet each other and fall in love. There is no imposition factor and nothing that binds you to another person if you are not in love.

Of course, in both of these cases, things can start out as one-sided for angst and intrigue. This could actually be quite interesting in the case of Sanji and Zoro, for example x))

So yes. I've said a lot here and I apologize for it. I'm starting to want to delete everything I wrote and not post because I'm afraid that people will start attacking me, but if what I wrote gives someone ideas or helps with something, I'm willing to take the risk.

Please don't be rude, I have no ill intentions with this.

[leportraitducadavre]

Naruto

Related content on my blog for cellphone users

Disclaimer

I’m not a shipper of any of the problematic four. I analyze canon and enjoy some crack-ships. Shipper to none.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING LINK IMAGES: The images provided in each post are subjected to manga4life's domain, the site modifies the server where the images are stored to keep them online if the prior server is threatened by anti-piracy attacks.

If you see that one of the images doesn't take you to the image and you have an "error" pop-up, try changing the prior link for this one: https://hot.leanbox.us/ [followed by manga/naruto/xxxx-xxx.jpg]

Naruto re-read

#posts - if this doesn't work, try searching the hashtag that follows: #naruto re read (spaces necessary)

Feminism

About feminism and my female characters critiques.

Inclusivity: The woke fandom's drug.

Female empowerment in the Naruto fandom and Feminism without feminists (a companion piece).

Fictional works vs. real historical events. Is it ok to use parallels?

The infinite “who’s strongest Kunoichi” debate and the sexist erasure/degradation of female characters. And a response to it.

Contradictory traits in a character = Bad writing?

Political review

Revolution! Is Internal Reform possible for the Shinobi System? Or is too corrupt to be changed from within?

The Curse of Hatred - or a poorly constructed theory based on bias.

The Chunin Exams -and their actual purpose

Naruhina/Hinata Hyuuga

Hinata’s suicide or why her intention to fight Pain wasn’t to save Naruto.

Hinata endorses slavery. A quick explanation of why.

NaruHina A full analysis of their relationship. Plus, could The Last have worked if it didn't reduce Naruto's character?

NejiHina or the possibilities of the pairing.

The Hyuga clan. And the Caged Bird Seal.

Sorry, no, Hinata never hit Pain.

SasuSaku/Sakura Haruno

Debunking the idea that Sakura was born into a “clanless” family.

SasuSaku a full analysis of their relationship, part one.

Sakura isn’t stronger than most characters. And a small addition. 

Sakura and Ino, an analysis of their relationship.

Sakura and Naruto, an analysis of their relationship. Part 1

Sakura as Orochimaru's apprentice and Sasuke as a Medic AU.

Sakura's personality. A defense of Kishimoto's writing. Additionally

Other pairings

ShikaIno. Why this ship has problems.

My opinion about the idea that Kishimoto "planned SNS".

Uchiha clan

How the Uchiha are perceived, a short exploration through Kishimoto's writing.

Were the Uchiha truly oppressed?

Minorities using violence, is it ok?

Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke and Kakashi’s relationship. What went wrong?

How Sasuke and Obito surpassed their role in the manga (meta).

Sasuke as a Medic AU and Sakura as Orochimaru's aprentice.

Itachi Uchiha

About Itachi, his fandom, and moral standpoints.

Can Itachi's character be fixed? Spoiler alert: It's the fandom's perception of him that should change, not his character.

Debunking an Itachi stan

Madara Uchiha

Madara Uchiha and sexism.

Madara Uchiha’s characterization.

Obito Uchiha

Obito Uchiha. A character ruined by the fandom and his relationship with Minato.

Obito’s redeemers. A small debunk of their arguments.

Shisui Uchiha

Shisui Uchiha. A quick analysis of his participation in the manga.

Fugaku Uchiha

Fugaku Uchiha, the neglectful father.

Naruto Uzumaki/Naruto the series

The white boy, the hero. Parallelisms between Santiago Maratea and Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki, an underdog or a genius?

Naruto Uzumaki and the hero concept

Other characters

Team Taka. Their relevance.

Kakashi of the Sharingan.

Shikamaru‘s Sexism. Analyzing Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

Minato. A fandom-perceived hero that might not be such.

Jiraiya. My thoughts against the fandom’s obsession with calling him a hypocrite.

Neji vs. Kidomaru. An analysis of their fight.

Yamanaka clan techniques. and a quick rambling of the clan.

Rock Lee.

Hiruzen Sarutobi

Tobirama Senju

Tobirama. The Scientist. An exploration of Tobirama’s academic status and a debunking of his COH theory.

Does Tobirama defy masculinity? No, he doesn't.

Fear and Racism - an analysis of Tobirama’s advocates.

Boruto

Sarada Uchiha and the non-importance of her MS. A small rant about why the quote "she awoke her MS out of love, unlike the others" is false.

[castlebyersafterdark]

i just read a really interesting article on attraction to fictional characters which i think is a big component of rooting for fictional romance, and the expression of that, shipping.

i personally don't know finn or noah and never will meet them, they don't know i exist, so to me they are as unattainable as fictional characters. for all intents and purposes, they are fictional in my sphere of the world. so i find this an interesting way to view shipping real people in this context. if there is no contact with them, and seeing as our ideas of what is going on there are 99% made up or inferred, its essentially just another version of fictional character shipping.

Combining two older ones as I go through my deeply stuffed full inbox 🤭 And also outing my new discovery that you can change the dash colors and I'm obsessed a little with making it this banana yellow. Anyway!!

I really agree with the first!! This is part of what leans into my continuous thirst posting for the actors while in reality not pining for them or actually wanting them for real, for real. It's fantasy, it's almost fiction, and yes there are real life things going on that we analyze and scrutinize and gossip about - but it all kinda feels like observing reality TV, rather than real life. Even if it is real life. Paradoxical. That's why the observable things are appealing and the up in the air intrusivity is not what appeals. I don't know them and I don't want to know them like that. I just want to watch and observe.

Difference to me between oh that's cool, you met them at a meet and greet or ran into them at a cafe somewhere. That's its own thing. And the problem behavior - stalking, harassing them online, trying to get involved in their personal lives, sending them fandom stuff to their personal social media - there's the difference. I think many people who don't like the celebrity interest and shipping stuff assume that most are doing the latter when that's not the case. It's mostly the same activities that fandoms always do. Fanworks and blogs and talking with friends online. What's the problem? I think fandom should be an isolated environment.

It's human to be interested with relationships - there's a reason it fascinates us. We're all looking for connection and part of fandom for media shipping is a way to explore the possibilities of connection and emotion and relationships. Whether that be two fictional boys or the actors who play them. I don't think there's anything wrong with this passion and curiosity as long as it's kept to designated spaces as to not interfere with real life.

[neuroticbookworm]

Soulmate Skepticism vs Romanticism in La Pluie

I am a soulmate skeptic. I don't believe there's one person destined for each of us on this planet.

I'm also a staunch pessimist on matters of romance and love. I constantly conduct a cost-benefit analysis in my head for every romantic relationship I see in my life. "It doesn't make sense" is almost always the first thing that pops into my head when I see people in love.

Do I sound an awful lot like someone from La Pluie? Why yes, it's our resident Soulmate Skeptic and Slenderman wannabe, Lomfon! That must mean that I liked him immediately, right?

Love is not a competition that you can win or lose. It's something you feel and share. There are a million things in and around love that can be made sense of, and added up like a math problem, like interests, hobbies, morals, desires, and fears, but the feeling of love itself is not logical. And I hate the part of me that can't get over that fact, and I'm working on it.

That's why I was initially so wary of Lomfon. I thought the show was gonna let him run amok and then teach him a "lesson" about love, after all the destruction is said and done. And then, episode 8 came around, and Lomfon became the character with the most potential for growth in the coming episodes, and I was so excited to see how the show would take him on this journey.

How do you teach a skeptic to believe? You give him a situation that he cannot logic his way out of, aka, two potential soulmates. This is the story I expected to play out last night, but of course, they subverted this expectation because this show is made by people who are much smarter than me.

Episode 9 is crafted to make skeptics believe in spontaneous, head-in-the-clouds love, rooted in coincidence, but the target is not Lomfon, but me. And possibly you. And all of us, the audience.

I'm going to take a broad, but confident guess that the people reading this piece are non-believers when it comes to soulmates. It sounds too good to be true and so fantastical to ever happen in real life.

Soulmate trope exists for a reason. It's comforting to think about a person who exists right now who might cross paths with us on a random day and change our lives for the better. When life is cruel and relentless and we long for better times, we wish we could reach into the future and get a hug from the person we haven't even met yet, but who will someday mean everything to us and more. When life is kind to us, on a warm sunny day, we could be hit with sudden melancholia for a lover we have not loved yet.

In La Pluie, Patts and Tai wanted to defy their destinies at different points in the show. And they did, in their own way. In episode 8, they decided to be with each other not because they could hear each other when it rained, but because they like each other and choose to be together.

The show constantly puts the soulmate trope under a microscope and analyzes it, criticizes it and subverts it. But episode 9 was different. It leaned into the trope. It established a connection between Patts and Tai that was completely circumstantial and could end abruptly at any given moment. And it did, with the death of Patts' grandma.

I've been wondering since last night: why take this detour? And I believe that the show knows its audience, know that our cynical brains would get extremely excited by a piece of media dissecting the idea of fated love and commenting on it. How choice matters more than anything else. And I see episode 9 as its attempt to nudge us in the opposite direction, ever so slightly. Because while the Rainverse of La Pluie can bring many complications to the love lives of the main characters, real life is much, much worse.

In the sport of modern dating, a clear mind with sound logical abilities is the key skill required for success, according to all the self-proclaimed relationship experts on social media. Our guts are not to be trusted anymore, since we are all traumatized and will automatically seek a shitty relationship because that's the one that feels familiar. Love-bombing is a manipulation technique, you must read about it and be aware of the ways to spot it. Do you know what Negging is? The red flags, green flags, and beige flags? Every action, every gift, every romantic gesture might have a sinister intention behind it.

Finding love is an exhausting process. Yes, it is important to be informed and safe, but in the process, we tend to forget the beauty of the very thing we are trying to find. The beauty of love is not singular in the choices that we make. Mature and time-hardened love is beautiful in its strength and choice, yes, but budding, fledgling love can also be beautiful in its spontaneity. And while finding your perfectly compatible person can feel pretty amazing after hours of meticulous swiping on apps, so can the knowledge of finding out YEARS later that your lives were ever so briefly intertwined in the past and you didn't even notice it at the time.

Emotional maturity and compatibility are necessary to sustain love, but spontaneity, silliness, and sometimes, happenstance are the ones that sweeten it. The show appreciates the skepticism about destiny and fate, but it also makes sure to never position itself against romance. Against the possibility of life surprising us in the moments we least expect it. Because while we strive everyday to make some sense of the chaos life throws us into, it might not hurt to let our heads float to the clouds, every once in a while, and see the beauty in chaos.