#thematic parallels

[grim-ghastly]

Thinking about the way Roz's full name is ROZZUM unit 7134... Thinking about how that's a direct reference to the 1920 sci-fi play Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel Čapek, the very play that introduced the word "robot" into the English language and science fiction as a whole...

Thinking about the way both R.U.R. and The Wild Robot ask the audience what does it mean to live ... What does it mean to be...

Thinking about the way The Wild Robot takes it a step further and asks us to think about what does it mean to love something? To feel? What does it mean to rise above what you are at your core and to do it out of love? To do it for love?????

[starcurtain]

Female Guidance in Aventurine's Life

One thing I haven't seen discussed in much depth yet, but which I think is especially interesting, is the consistency of female guidance in Aventurine's life: Every single person who we have seen on screen offering Aventurine assistance or making a positive difference in his life is female (with one exception, yes, I'll get there).

Under the read more cause it's longggg:

Before even diving into his family, let's just get the obvious out of the way: Aventurine is, at least supposedly, blessed by a goddess. The very origin of his good fortune--be it actual blessing or curse--comes from the literal "mother goddess" who watches over him. This is one of the only instances in Star Rail where a god character is specifically given a gender, and Gaiathra is not ever ambiguous. She is the classic female fertility goddess with all the trappings of other famous triple goddess figures of the real world. Aventurine's personal belief in the goddess may be shaky, but he nevertheless continues to treasure his people's faith. Thus, at the core, we can say Aventurine is a character who is guarded by the most quintessential mother figure possible.

Now, with the most obvious out of the way:

We know that Aventurine's father died before Aventurine was even born, and therefore he would not have any memories of his father, leaving him to be raised by his mother and sister.

Both women clearly made an enormous and lasting impression on Aventurine; they haunt every single one of his memories of Sigonia and are the key elements of the family Aventurine longs to return to. While he flirts with the concept of death as a way to see his family members again, it was also his mother and sister who instilled in him any sense of self-worth and meaning to his existence, the only things keeping him from giving up on living. His mother believed him to be blessed; his sister insisted to his face that not even the only remaining remnant of their mother had any value in comparison to his life.

It is for his sister that Aventurine first begins expressing a self-sacrificial nature, and from his sister that this self-sacrifice is reinforced when she uses herself as a shield to help him escape massacre at the hands of the Katicans.

It is also from his sister that Aventurine learns many of the deeply meaningful actions he holds onto to the present day, despite having been so far removed from his own culture.

Conversely, every one of Aventurine's early negative experiences on screen appear to have been driven (at least primarily) by men.

Although the Katican tribe of course would have both men and women, the tribal societies on Sigonia appear to be on the fairly traditional side, with Aventurine's mother staying at the camp with her child while his father was the one to go out and hunt for offerings for Gaiathra. This is also supported by Aventurine asking Jade to take him to her "chief" later on. Therefore, it is likely (although of course not guaranteed) that a majority of the Katicans' army was male, and that Aventurine's early experiences with outsiders consisted almost entirely of indiscriminate pillaging and massacre at the hands of what the Avgin viewed as savage, invading warriors. In separate instances, Aventurine was traumatized by these warrior figures three times--first with the loss of his father, then his mother, and then finally his sister.

And even their hope, supposed to come in the form of the "men in black" from the IPC, completely abandoned them, leaving Aventurine once again betrayed by masculine figures that were supposed to be there to protect him. Led by Oswaldo Schneider, another cruel male authority figure, the Marketing Department of the IPC permitted the wholesale slaughter of Aventurine's people--something which we know Aventurine is now aware of.

Then, of course, the next piece of Aventurine's backstory we're given is his male slave master. I don't really need to say anything about this, do I? This man violated Aventurine's human dignity and bodily autonomy, and forced Aventurine's hand in a life or death battle for which Aventurine still punishes himself mentally, even years in the future.

In part to escape the difficulty of his situation and rise to a position where he would have enough resources to--he thought--help his people, Aventurine joins up with the IPC. But when he attempts to make contact with a powerful man in the organization, Diamond, he is instead met by a woman, Jade, who against Aventurine's own expectations determines that she will raise Aventurine up (or use him as a tool, depending on how you currently choose to interpret Jade's motivations), granting him wealth and status beyond his imagination.

(And this line in particular is interesting, because you can take it one of two ways: 1) Aventurine comes from a patriarchal planet that traditionally put men into positions of power [thereby making his own slavery an emasculating act, aligning him further with disenfranchised women]; thus, he is making the assumption that to get anywhere in this organization, he will need to work with a man; or 2) He actually was counting on Jade taking his bet and helping him right from the beginning, because Aventurine perceives women as inherently more likely to protect and aid him than men would be.)

In the end, Jade does exactly as she claims she will, launching Aventurine into a position of power while also closing golden handcuffs around his wrists. She positions herself not only as his supervisor, but as his advocate and ally. She entrusts him with her Cornerstone, a sign of significant faith in his abilities. She even seems to be keenly aware of his bias towards the mother figure, referring to him as "child" in their conversations.

Whether this is genuine or a manipulation tactic can certainly be debated (and I'm not inclined to think at this point that Jade is a genuinely good role model or selflessly supportive person in Aventurine's life), but whatever the case, women are the only people Aventurine even remotely considers to be "in his corner."

We see this even earlier, in Aventurine's call to Topaz. Like with the example of his mother and sister, Aventurine trusts in Topaz's ability implicitly, and considers her above anyone else when it comes to completing the mission in Penacony.

Although of course we don't know if Aventurine has any other friends or allies among the Strategic Investment Department, it seems very likely that Topaz, yet another woman, is the one he is closest with. At the very least, she is the only IPC character (so far) that Aventurine has a complimentary voice line for, one that shows his respect for her talent:

Over and over again, the story aligns Aventurine with female figures in positions of authority, and demonstrates that he is comfortable (although maybe not too comfortable, in the case of Jade) with relying on them and trusting their judgment, just as he did with his mother and sister.

And this pretty much goes off the charts in Penacony, where Aventurine has more involvement with the female cast than virtually any other non-female character (even the Trailblazer!). We set the pattern off right away, with Aventurine immediately being placed into a negotiation situation with Himeko, respecting her role as the Express's leader and working to get himself aligned with the Express by acquiescing to her request for support.

Then there's the fact that Aventurine is the one who finds Robin's body, an event which, although he didn't let it show too much, was almost certainly traumatic for him, given the violent death of his own sister.

Next, twice in Penacony's story, we see Aventurine seek out Sparkle for information. He may not personally like her and her comments may be both racist and dehumanizing, but Aventurine does rely on her--being the only character explicitly seeking her aid, which no one else in Penacony seems to want.

In 2.0...

And in 2.1.

Now, say it with me, guys: Aventurine built an entire portion of his grand plan around the idea that if he looked pathetic enough, a female character would absolutely come and help him. And sure enough, the women come through for him, always! Sparkle gives him the exact last clue he needs to confirm his belief that he could use "Death" to reach the true Penacony, sealing the deal for the rest of his plan.

His plan which also hinged significantly on Black Swan's involvement too, another woman that he views as, if not trustworthy, then at least intelligent and hyper-competent.

Contrast all this, of course, with the treatment Aventurine receives at the hands of Sunday, the lone opposing male character he faces in Penacony.

Sparkle implies that Sunday would humiliate Aventurine in an unmistakably sexual and degrading way, and Sunday himself professes this same desire to see Aventurine humiliated.

Then we're "treated" to the moment in which Sunday uses the Harmony's (or perhaps actually the Order's?) power against Aventurine, in a scene which is supposed to reflect an interrogation but is also, very clearly, another nonconsensual violation of Aventurine's bodily autonomy and dignity by a man. While ostensibly seeking confirmation of the Cornerstone ruse, Sunday instead subjects Aventurine to unnecessary questions about his past on Sigonia, which recall and force Aventurine to re-endure memories of his trauma.

Even if this is what Aventurine prepared himself for and planned to have happen, the pain he experiences is very real, and he suffers both the physical and emotional consequences of Sunday's assault all the way up to his "Death" and possibly even beyond.

(Also, Sunday fans please don't get too up in arms with me for this; I also like Sunday! It's okay for characters to be morally grey!)

I think there's one other interesting example I would bring up here too, and that's Aventurine's conscious decision to weaponize his own masculinity against the Trailblazer. Through the 2.0 and 2.1 Trailblaze missions, Aventurine deliberately acts in an off-putting manner to the Astral Express crew, particularly the Trailblazer, in order to build up to the 2.1 climax where the Trailblazer is supposed to view him as an unrepentant villain and attack him without hesitation.

In order to achieve this uncomfortable, villainous effect, what does Aventurine do? Exactly what other men have done to him.

This is especially apparent if you're playing Stelle because of the ingrained societal taboo of a man entering a woman's personal space without consent, but even as Caelus, it is very clear that Aventurine is leveraging behaviors typically used to show dominance: In a complete 180 to all Aventurine's other body language in the game (normally quite withdrawn, frequently in defensive postures with his arms crossed or hand behind his back, almost always standing several feet away from other people), Aventurine violates the Trailblazer's personal bubble, looming over them (Caelus was sitting in this cutscene, lol), forcing eye contact, and commanding the space while informing them that they will have no choice.

For someone who was hunted, enslaved, had his movements restricted with chains, and due to his own slight stature has very likely been towered over by others who were intentionally asserting their power over him all his life, it is clear that Aventurine associates dominant, typically more masculine-coded physically-imposing behaviors with discomfort and even villainy.

Any girl who has ever had a man loom over her like this will realize very quickly: Aventurine wanted to make himself scary so he made himself act more like a bad man.

(Yes of course I know "not all men." I'm not saying every man behaves in this domineering way or that women cannot be domineering too, obviously, just that Aventurine had a very specific image in mind when constructing a "villainous persona," and the physically controlling tactics most typically used by aggressive men toward women was his immediate go-to.)

But where does that leave Dr. Ratio, the one male character actually on Aventurine's side?

Frankly, I don't want to derail my post about how intensely Hoyo chose to hammer on the message of "Women will protect you" in Aventurine's story with a discussion about a mlm ship, but the take-away here is going to lead in that direction anyway--so yes, Dr. Ratio is the exception.

What is interesting is that he does not come across as an exception at first, and in fact initially appears as another male character being rude and dismissive to Aventurine. Like, there are still people out there calling Ratio an unrepentant racist for this one.

Of course, it's later clarified that this is an act--likely even these insults were scripted specifically to give Sunday's spying ears the "insight" he needed to exploit Aventurine during the interrogation.

But even though it is an act, Aventurine still has noticeable trouble putting his faith in Ratio. He does genuinely doubt him a few times, despite knowing that they are working together to fool the Family.

Even his voice line about Ratio confirms that he doesn't think Ratio particularly cares for him; rather, he thinks Ratio simply tolerates him because he's slightly less unintelligent than those around them.

Ultimately, the entire act with Ratio ends up being a mirror of the real scenarios Aventurine has been experiencing with men his whole life (at least as far as we are shown his life). Men abandon him to fend for himself (unwillingly, like his father, or willingly, like Diamond leaving Aventurine to deal with Penacony alone on the inside). Ratio keeps leaving Aventurine completely alone. Men attempt to humiliate him and violate his boundaries (like Sunday and his slave master). Ratio insults Aventurine's appearance and intelligence repeatedly. Men betray him (like Oswaldo Schneider and his men leaving the Avgin to die). Ratio "betrays" him.

I'm not saying when Aventurine devised the plan for their act, he consciously drew up a list of all the ways men had hurt him in the past and had Ratio re-enact them one by one, but like... that's what happened, whether or not Aventurine intended it.

And okay, the shrinking scene in Dewlight Pavilion was just for fun and probably only slightly fetishy, the devs promise; yes, it was supposed to be a joke! ...But it's also not a mistake that this is yet another instance of a male character in a glaringly metaphorical position of power over Aventurine. Aventurine's tiny in this scene! He's completely vulnerable! He's in a dangerous position and the male character could very much hurt him in this moment.

But Ratio doesn't. (In fact, his line here is supposed to be sarcastic, very ha ha--but also, what is Ratio really saying? "I won't do anything to you without your express consent." What a good guy.)

Virtually everything negative that we see in 2.1 is Ratio doing these things as an act at Aventurine's own request. He doesn't actually disdain Aventurine; his own voiceline about Aventurine reinforces that he sees Aventurine as talented and intelligent.

Whatever you think he was apologizing for in their early scene, he's the only person we're ever shown in-game apologizing to Aventurine at all.

He worked hard to "betray" Aventurine but only as he was instructed to do, and immediately checks in on Aventurine's well-being afterward, even urging him to give up the plan if it becomes too much to handle.

And then, of course, there's the note: "Do stay alive. I wish you the best of luck."

After this point, it cannot be denied that Ratio is unequivocally on Aventurine's side, wants to help him, and is not doing so out of any sense of self-gain but largely because he is a good person who simply cares about Aventurine's fate. By the end of 2.1, it can no longer be doubted that Ratio is the exception to the "gender rule" of Aventurine's life, which--the story shows us again and again--was that guidance, protection, and care for Aventurine come from women, while men repeatedly represent dismissal, betrayal, or pain.

Ratio is, at least as far as Aventurine's story shows us, the proof that men can be good, that things are not as black and white in Aventurine's life as they might appear, and that--if you do choose to ship him with or see Aventurine as attracted to men--his attraction could be validated (and potentially reciprocated) by a male figure who would not bring additional harm to Aventurine's life. Aventurine makes the final decision to live after seeing Ratio's note--the exception to the rule ultimately proves to be the last piece needed to keep him alive.

But I promised I wasn't going to derail my own post about w o m e n, so let me get to the final point, and the one I really wanted to talk about: Although Ratio gets virtually all the credit for "saving" Aventurine in the fandom, Aventurine was actually saved by, you guessed it, another woman.

Not going to lie, the reason I started this post was specifically because I wanted to talk about how Acheron and Aventurine's dynamic was completely unexpected but actually fits flawlessly with the theme of feminine guidance in Aventurine's story.

Despite the fact that Aventurine made Acheron's life much harder and actively used her as a chip in his grand gamble, she doesn't blame or chastise him for those actions. Although she expresses some incredulity that Aventurine is actually that lucky, she then turns around and congratulations him for his ingenuity, immediately supporting him despite the fact that they don't even truly know each other.

Then it gets even more interesting. Acheron, who frequently hits her companions with deep and sometimes very emotionally fraught questions, asks Aventurine: "Have you never wavered?"

We as players know for a fact that Aventurine is constantly wavering, constantly doubting himself, his luck, and whether he'll even live--or even wants to live--to see tomorrow. But we also know that Aventurine is not forthcoming about those truths, refusing to express them to anyone, even himself. The only way we hear those dark truths is through his "future" self (who by the way, is once again another male figure cutting Aventurine down--of course it's himself but it's also, from the player's perspective, once again reinforcing the message that he isn't going to find safety or kindness in an adult male presence). Aventurine almost constantly deflects and diverts when his emotions or struggles are brought to the fore (unless he's divulging them for the specific purpose of allowing someone else to weaponize them). "I'm fine," he says, like a lying liar who lies.

But he doesn't lie to Acheron.

He chooses to be completely candid with her, to lance open the deepest wound of his life--that he can win and win and win and still have lost everything. The glitz and the glamour has all been stripped away here, at the end of everything, and Aventurine finally feels safe enough to admit that he fears he has absolutely nothing in his life worth living for.

And then, we get this direct parallel: Aventurine looks to Acheron, the woman now before him, for guidance, for explanation, exactly as he looked to his sister in the past.

He needs help, he needs answers, and he is continually seeking that help from the female figures in his life, whose support and kindness echo the lost care of his mother and sister.

"Go where you should be," Acheron tells Aventurine, guiding him across the river of death just as his sister insisted that he flee through the rain toward life.

Look guys, Acheron's even the one who reminds Aventurine to look at Ratio's note in the first place because apparently being an emanator of Nihility gives you x-ray vision, but my girl just gets no credit at all for being Aventurine's real savior, come on now!! Yes, Ratio's note was the final reminder Aventurine needed that someone would be waiting for him on the other side, but Aventurine would never have even gotten to the point of being willing to read that note if Acheron hadn't stepped in and provided him an answer to his question.

She feeds him back his own answer: "Why does life slumber? To rehearse the death for which we are not currently prepared." It is Acheron who reminds Aventurine that giving into the Nihility is pointless, and that rather than simply embracing a meaningless death, it is up to humanity itself to find and make meaning by living. It's this, not Ratio's note, that Aventurine gives as his reason for choosing to go on when asked by his own younger self. It's Acheron's words that finally give Aventurine an answer--why do we live just to die? Because there are people we can still make proud. Because when we go into death, we should do so with our heads held high, having achieved our own sense of purpose in this life.

Ratio gave Aventurine a promise: Someone is waiting for you to come back.

But Acheron gave Aventurine a reason: If life is inherently meaningless, doesn't that just mean you are free to give it meaning yourself?

She saved him, as women have been saving him all his life.

Anyway, this has already been horrendously long, but really what I wanted to say is that I think it is absolutely fascinating how consistent Aventurine's writing is when it comes to portraying where his support comes from and who he seeks guidance from. (Psst, just in case you still haven't figured it out, it's women!) In virtually every instance we are shown, we see the message reinforced that women are Aventurine's greatest allies and role models, while male figures are continually positioned to intentionally or unintentionally let him down and cause him distress.

"But women playing the supporting role to a male character is nothing new, Star, why are you so excited by this?"

Because the role women are playing in Aventurine's life is not the subservient supporter and emotional crutch role that female characters all too often play to male counterparts. None of the women in Penacony or Aventurine's past were there to do the emotional labor for him, to be a trophy or prize, or to cater to his needs. They don't exist solely to help him fulfill his character motivations; they aren't following him around waiting for his next request as their only role in the plot.

Instead, with Aventurine's story, we almost have an inversion of gender roles, where the male character eschews the stereotypical "men are leaders, fighters, and stoic heroes" archetype. Instead, no matter how hard he tries to hide it and keep a stiff upper lip, it is clear from 2.0-2.1's story that Aventurine is a deeply insecure, lonely, and explicitly traumatized survivor of genocide, slavery, and exploitation. Unlike most male characters, who are very rarely portrayed as genuine victims--because come on, shouldn't men be strong enough to fight back? Shouldn't men be able to shrug it off when they are hurt, emotionally or physically? (Of course I'm rolling my eyes here!)--Aventurine is belittled, humiliated, emasculated, and victimized on-screen, roles almost exclusively reserved for women, for whom surviving victimization in fiction is seen as noble.

Meanwhile, the women in Aventurine's life take on the roles traditionally given to male characters. They're both emotionally and physically his protectors. Aventurine's sister gave her life to guard his safety; Acheron ensured he could safely pass beyond the river of Nihility into the Primordial Dreamscape. They give him the tools necessary to succeed where he could not succeed on his own. His plan could never have gotten off the ground without Topaz and Jade entrusting their Cornerstones to him. The knowledge and capabilities of the women around him--not their "feminine charms"--are what allow them to help keep Aventurine on the right path even though he does waver. Even women who disrespect him, like Sparkle, still play a positive role in his life, able to provide him insight gained with their own intellect and talents.

When he has no one to rely on and doesn't know what to do, Aventurine is able to continually turn to the women around him, asking for and receiving not servitude or fawning, but their genuine wisdom and guidance.

tl;dr: If nobody else has him, Aventurine knows this random woman he met two minutes ago on the street will have him, because the women in his life literally never let him down.

(It's just so, so good, and ultimately, it should be very clear why Aventurine's story is as popular with women as it is! A+, Hoyo!)

[thepariahcontinuum]

Sophia/Shadow Stalker's Trigger Event definitely involved her running for her life.

Having little Miss "You're either a predator or you're prey" have gotten her superpowers whilst being the prey and keeping that as a dirty little secret that she would rather die than admit to anyone just feels absolutely perfect.

It makes her just another traumatized teenager using her powers to take back some semblance of control over her life in a world that is objectively nuts. It also fits with her relationships with a few different characters.

Emma: Sophia has no friends outside of Emma, even Madison is more "Emma's other friend who's around sometimes" and they meet during what would have been Emma's Trigger event if she was a Cape....Sophia is, in a messed up way trying to be the person she never had in her own life; revealing that there's something more to her under all of that anger and cruelty.

Brian: Shadow Stalker wants Grue to be her nemesis so hard it hurts and honestly, if Brian "I'm going to lie about my Trigger Event" Laborn is going to have a nemesis then making it a Sophia who is similarly hiding her own insecurities and refusing to show weakness or vulnerability in front of anyone is just perfect, it makes them narrative foils.

Taylor: Remember the line where Sophia sees that Taylor took up running and loses her shit about it "You wanted to be strong so you copied me by running" or something to that effect....Gives it new context doesn't it?

Imagine:

You're on the track team in junior high.

The fact that all you can do is run is what saves your life.

You get superpowers designed to help you escape and still you refuse to ever be the victim or run away again.

You're forced to stay on the track team in high school just to keep up appearances.

The girl you've been bullying finally gets a bit of a spine, she's finally getting stronger.

She did it by taking inspiration from you..... By running

[n0bluev]

THEM THEM YJEM THEM TEMM my session is almost over, just gotta do a last little (VERY VERY BIG FAST STRESFULL-) push and then schools done ^^!!!! AND SO HERES SOME SATOSUGU SKETCHES FROM A COUPLE DAYS AGO (i hadnt planned what i was going for in the drawing cuz it was just supposed to be a little brain empty sketch (cough, to procrastinate, cough, sorry teach TT), so ive got a bunch of different gojo attempts with different vibes lol (i couldnt just,,, not give geto his other half,, TT) -- none of them passed, i prolly wont finish this drawing -- ILL MAKE OTHERS INSTEAD DURING WINTER BREAK !!!! >:DDD) ---> im posting this now to give my official hello to JJK TUMBLR, HI! MY BRAIN HAS BEEN GOING VERY VERY FAST WHENEVER ITS ABOUT JJK (esp satosugu) FOR A WHILE NOW AND I JUST HAVE TO CONSUME CREATE EXIST IN 'BE' JJK SO UH.. yep

[anthurak]

So after my last post on the topic, I’ve been doing more thinking on the potential dramatic fallout of Blitzo acquiring an Asmoadean Crystal at the cost of I.M.P.’s use of the Goetic Grimoire, and with it, his relationship with Stolas. Particularly how it could also potentially ripple out to create a major blow-up with Loona, since with an Asmodean Crystal, Loona’s actual job at I.M.P., using the Grimoire to portal the imp crew to Earth and back, would be nixed and leave her with nothing to actually do at the company.

And I just had WILD idea as to where this could end up leading.

Imagine if Loona’s anger at Blitzo effectively trading I.M.P.’s use of the Grimoire for an Asmoadean Crystal isn’t just about Blitzo unwittingly taking away probably the one thing Loona felt useful doing at the company, but also because Loona doesn’t have access to the Grimoire anymore?

What if Loona has actually been secretly using the Grimoire without Blitzo’s or the M&M’s knowledge? Maybe she’s been operating her own business routing to Earth on the side? Maybe she’s been taking her own assassination contracts without Blitzo’s knowledge? Or perhaps Loona has simply been using the Grimoire as a retreat, a way to get away from her problems in hell for a while by just hanging out on Earth?

Whatever the reason, Loona wants or even needs the Grimoire that Blitzo has now ensured they won’t be able to use anymore. Not that she really lets this slip to Blitzo or Moxxie and Millie during her big fight with her father. Instead, we learn about it through more non-verbal means.

Imagine if after her fight with Blitzo and storming out of the I.M.P. offices, we see Loona pause, and draw a large circle on the wall. Placing her paw in the center of the circle, Loona’s eyes glow with magic, making it clear she is attempting to open a portal herself. But alas, she cannot. Further angered and frustrated (and perhaps punching the wall), Loona pauses to weigh her options, and then storms off down the street. A helpful camera pan-up revealing the Goetia manor far-off in the distance in the direction Loona is going.

I imagine this is starting to sound familiar to some people…

After this, Loona proceeds to break into the Goetia manor in an attempt to get the Grimoire back… and ends up running into Octavia.

At this point I imagine this is sounding VERY familiar to some people.

In short, what ensues is a meeting between Loona and Octavia which both heavily parallels and heavily contrasts the reunion between Blitzo and Stolas that we saw in flashback during The Circus.

Just like her father before her, Loona is trying to steal the Goetic Grimoire for her own use and is found by Octavia, just like her father before her.

But whereas Blitzo and Stolas spent their reunion on entirely different pages as to what the other actually wanted, Loona and Octavia are VERY much on the same page as to what’s going on. In contrast to her father, I imagine Loona would immediately come clean to Octavia as to why she was there and what she wanted the Grimoire for. If for nothing else than to simply vent her frustrations after the fight with her father.

Because unlike their respective fathers, Loona and Octavia are actually already pretty close after Seeing Stars and actually understand and relate to each other on what is likely to be a close, personal level. So rather than some awkward interaction while not really understanding (or caring in Blitzo’s case) what the other wants or expects, Loona and Octavia have an open and genuine heart-to-heart and bond over the problems they’re going through. This could show a natural follow-up and role-reversal to the pair’s previous meeting, now with Octavia being the one to hear out and provide emotional support and closure to Loona.

And to further the contrasts, this whole scene ends with Loona and Octavia establishing a kind of ‘contract’ of their own. Not one based on some weird, vaguely defined transactional relationship and sex acts like their fathers did.

But simply one based on them being friends.

This is really one of the big reasons I’m so interested in where the show will be taking these two, and why I think much of the fandom’s fixation on Loona and Octavia simply being ‘sisters’ is really selling these two short.

Because ironically, I think it’s very easy to envision a scenario wherein Blitzo’s and Stolas’s relationship falling apart actually brings Loona and Octavia closer together. We already saw in Seeing Stars that Loona and Octavia deeply relate to and empathize with each other over their respective struggles with their fathers. So as Blitzo’s and Stolas’s relationship continues to deteriorate, which in turn ripples into causing problems with their other relationships, namely with their respective daughters, I think it’s all too probable that Loona and Octavia would turn to each other for understanding and support.

Whereas Blitzo’s and Stolas’s relationship has been this messy, vaguely and ill-defined fling based on transactional sex for favors wherein neither are open about how they actually feel about each other, I think it’s all too likely we’ll be seeing Loona and Octavia develop a platonic, emotionally-intimate friendship based on their relating to each other.

In other words, I think Loona and Octavia may very well become a VERY interesting platonic foil to Stolitz.

[raointean]

Yeah, what's REALLY interesting to me is the fact that, at the end of the musical, a parallel situation is going to occur. Telemachus has a powerful father (referred to as "godlike" a few times in the Odyssey, I think) and they've been killing and eating HIS animals this whole time! Soon enough, Telemachus's powerful, godlike father is going to swoop in and the SUITORS are going to experience a mass casualty event!

If I had a nickel for every time Odysseus's crew experienced a mass casualty event due to killing an animal friend of a being with a powerful Godly father, and that God showing up to teach Odysseus a lesson of some kind before decimating his crew, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but holy shit is it unfortunate for the crew that it happened twice

[citroncynique]

If you cannot break from the eggshell, the world is naught but a prison where you are blinded and confined.

[al-luviec]

I really like this scene.

[mintytea-exe]

Grace Wilde (aka INK5OUL) having no idea what's happening to them but not minding what they're becoming vs Jonathan Sims knowing exactly what's happening to him and caring very deeply about it

[magicandmundane]

Something something Clone Force 99 breaking binders in every season finale

[chippedcupwrites]

“Never ever mistake her silence for weakness. Remember that sometimes the air stills, before the onset of a hurricane.” — Nikita Gill

[demento-mori]

More kozunami parallels because I'm entirely obsessed with them,

Forever upset that they didn't get to interact more.

[venator-signum]

hi yes if ruereguard are the patrochilles parallel then percabeth are the Odysseus and Penelope parallel BUT (and I cannot stress this enough) annabeth is Odysseus

here's why:

Odysseus is a character who is the epitome of hubris. he's the smartest person in every room he walks into, he was the main strategist for the entire Greek army, everyone was looking to him for guidance and approval. he's Athena's champion (and pet liar) but eventually loses favour with her because pride comes before the fall. the overarching story of the odyssey is that he's trying to go home to his wife and will do whatever it takes with his cunning and wits to get there over the course of 10 years.

sounds awfully familiar to Annabeth Chase, favoured daughter of Athena, general and main strategist of CHB, smartest person in the room, prideful, strong and the person everyone looks to for approval. Athena holds annabeth in high regards but will put her aside the moment she "embarrasses her". and not only did Annabeth spend months trying to get Percy back, but its approx. 10 years from her arrival at CHB and the end of HoO, in which her overarching goal is to create something permanent - and she achieves that, though changed in unimaginable ways.

Percy and Penelope may be a bit of a stretch until you look at the main thing the two of them have in common - their unending and unconditional loyalty. Penelope sat and weaved day in and day out for maybe 20 years as men ate her out of house and home, because she would not abandon her husband and the hope that he would return home. by all accounts, it could have been easier for her to simply accept whatever offer suited her most as queen of Ithaca but she didn't. and we know that loyalty is our boy Percy's fatal flaw, and that one of the only things he could remember was annabeth.

[hauntedangelconnoisseur]

Realised that I've never posted Hellsing stuff on here, soooo...

[mysterycitrus]

jason-tinted glasses blinding people to the truth: all the teen titans have non-dick favorites of the batfam and NONE of those are jason todd. i think roy would actually probs like steph or damian best if were being SO fr

i think we as a society should have to reconcile with the fact that the majority of the titans favourite non-dick bat is tim drake

[group-dynamic]

*SCREECHING*

I was watching this lovely, bittersweet edit highlighting the short, tragic friendship between Celebrimbor and Elrond as they're portrayed in the Rings of Power, and it got me reflecting (as many of us have) on the prophesy, "My father foresaw that one day Celebrimbor's life would be in my hands" and how it's too bad there wasn't anything that felt like a weighty resolution to that thread. Like, to have a prophesy directly from the foresight of Eärendil that's first mentioned in season one and invented for the show feels so significant to be used merely as a device to compound Elrond's failure, you know? The prophesy works well as foreshadowing and elevates the tragic impact of Elrond's role as commander and his inability to defend Eregion, but that feels so distant to the idiom "life in his hands." Especially since Elrond isn't even in sight of Celebrimbor's death, so how could his life really be so directly in his hands--

IT'S THE RING.

THE RINGS.

Elrond's only direct acts related to "saving" Celebrimbor on screen is trying to save his records and his city, aka the lore and legacy around him. And that fails. The records are burned, the city is reduced to rubble, the smith's greatest achievements are corrupted and certainly going to be twisted further to some evil purpose in Sauron's hands.

And Elrond's been so certain that those rings are corrupted, including the elven rings (which for a while are the only rings the Lindon elves know of in the show). But then suddenly those elven rings are all that's left of Celebrimbor's legacy and in the first and last episode of the season they're LITERALLY in Elrond's hands. When he jumps from the cliff trying to keep them from his friends, and when he finally picks one up and uses it for good--for its intended, healing purpose. I mean, Elrond future lore master has Celebrimbro's life story in his hands. He has Celebrimbor's life's work in his hands, and all the parts of himself and his craft he poured into those rings.

And one day Elrond will literally be one of the bearers and wielders of Celebrimbor's life work and legacy. Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhh==

"His life in his hands" indeed.