#this is a really interesting analysis!

[etherealspacejelly]

im so jealous of people who have special interests that are facts based. like how am i supposed to communicate to people that my special interest isnt star trek the tv show its star trek the story. the characters. the themes and motifs.

people ask me stuff about the lore or the production and im like nah nah nah. idk any of that stuff. but i could spend 30 minutes analysing the scene in corbomite manouver where spock says "im s-" and what implications that has for his character and his relationship with jim.

i dont know how a mind meld works or what powers a phaser but i could write you an essay on the themes of found family in star trek v, including the significance of row row row your boat in the cyclical narrative.

"how does a transporter work" fuck if i know. can i tell you about 'good luck spock'???

[cait-sith]

Hey what if Starscream repainted himself post-canon

Unnecessarily long thoughts and ramblings (mostly about Starscream) under the cut.

This was originally in the tags but then it became an actual wall of text so. Keep Reading be upon ye.

So in IDW Till All Are One 12 Windblade shows Starscream his “true” form quote unquote and it's like this blue-white-and-red colour scheme. And while I don't really know how to feel about that; got some implications vis-a-vis transgender stuff, Starscream clearly took it as something that was taken from him, something that defined him, something that would have made him different (more likeable, more successful, unclear). On the other hand, I also think that Starscream sort of clings to that idea, because it's more painful to believe that he couldn't have changed anything, that it might just be a flaw in him. Something external to blame, y'know.

Windblade kinda points that out, it wasn't really the point of showing him that, but maybe that's just my personal interpretation. “I could have been so much more had I just been allowed to be born as I was meant”. Missing Windblade's point that he is still the same person in his spark, regardless of frame, it is ultimately up to him who he is. His actions define him, not his appearance. BUT. I feel like that kinda misinterpretation would be in-character for him, and so maybe in post-canon he'd... well really I think he'd reframe but maybe as like an attempt to reclaim what he thinks he should have been (even if he doesn't need to, even if he was perfectly capable of changing who he was without that). He frequently sabotages himself, because he doesn't believe in trust and he's so used to being in adverse relationships where he cannot rely on anyone being on his side. So then he gets everything he ever wanted, and it's.. not really what he wanted. Metalhawk, Wheeljack, Windblade and Bumblebee all sorta get under his plating, in different ways, and he admits to liking them, but can't bring himself to trust them. He's constantly at loggerheads with Metalhawk and Bee at the start, but Metalhawk tries and gets murdered for his troubles.

Wheeljack, well, he's just kinda mostly nice and willing to forgive and help, even while he's wary. In a way, I think Starscream gets attached to him because he's safe to get attached to, because Wheeljack doesn't take the shot when he's vulnerable, offers to help, to be on his side. From a distance. He doesn't really... actually initiate much of a friendship, but he talks about the idea.

Windblade, I think that relationship is a bit more fraught. They end up working together a lot by necessity, given their positions, and Windblade frequently has to fix or contend with Starscream's messes, and she has none of the prejudices of the others, but again, she's a threat to his power, to what he wants, can't really look past that. She tries, though, and I think he does sort of like her as time goes on. It just doesn't stop him from doing what he always does. No trust and all that. As for Bee. Bee. While he's alive, he's much like Metalhawk and Windblade: A threat to Starscream's power, with the added issues of being a major enemy and an autobot, with all the prejudices that brings. They don't make friends. Only Bee "dying" changes that, and only because Starscream is utterly convinced he is a ghost. In his own mind, he's *almost* okay with admitting to his flaws, his worries. Bee's ghost becomes his conscience, his confidante and companion, and because he's fictional, a fragment of Starscream's mind (or so he thinks), he's safe. Safe in ways none of the others are. And Bee tries, he has nothing really left to gain, no power to hold onto. For all intents and purposes, he *is* a ghost.

That was probably terrifying when Bee turned out to not be dead. Someone who saw all of Starscream's vulnerabilities, with so much power to hurt him. He can't help himself. He does have moments, though. Rare choices where he does trust, sometimes for lack of better options but still. And by the Unicron-finale, he's, well, still not friends, but he admits to everything, he comes clean, kind of.

So. We're going to ignore that he dies for the sake of this. <3 Just temporarily. In a hypothetical post-canon, I think he'd try to get a bit of agency back, try and follow that dream of his better self. And I think Windblade, Wheeljack and Bumblebee are the closest thing to friends he's had since his trine. And Metalhawk, technically, but he's kinda dead and also with the dead universe revival wasn't too happy with Starscream lmao. Perhaps Bee's the most comfortable, after that, if he ever gets over himself, because he's already spilled his guts to him, if accidentally. I don't think Starscream would ever be *easy* to get along with, and Bumblebee doesn't really take shit, but I'd like them to be friends. Squabbly-bantery friends, but still. Wheeljack seems a bit gentler, while Windblade's a bit more professional, she's kind but responsible.

Point being: this is Bee helping him repaint himself to leave the past behind.

Thanks for listening lmao

[calmlb]

Higuchi’s Unrevealed Ability

my theory on what it could be…

i think that Higuchi’s ability will be called “Takekurabe” (Growing Up/Child’s Play) after her most famous work, and i believe it might have something to do with reincarnation. here’s why…

in this official art she is featured with red spider lilies, which are symbolic of death, but are also thought of as a bridge between heaven & earth…a reminder of the “cyclical nature of life & death”

Takekurabe also explores themes such as how life is fleeting. & also abt being forced into a role that you didn’t want, or wouldn’t have chosen for yourself

(plus potential foreshadowing: in this official art, Higuchi is surrounded by pinwheels— which symbolize childhood, but also the cycle of life, & the buddhist teaching of reincarnation)

back to reincarnation…

after being told that Akutagawa may never wake up, she reached out to him & a glow appeared around her hand— like she was activating an ability— before pulling away bc she remembered that he didn’t want her (or anyone’s) help

but this means that she’s able to give help in this sort of situation

additionally, the fact that she almost always appears in official arts w Akutagawa indicates that she will probably use her ability on him at some point, which makes sense considering his terminal condition

(note the pulse in the background, his bright eyes, & her white suit)

because we have yet to see her use her ability, i’m assuming that she can only use it once, so she’d be giving up her life for Akutagawa’s (a life for a life— his reincarnation)

this would imitate irl Higuchi’s unfortunately short life— with her having died at only 25 years old. it also makes sense to give her such a powerful ability since irl Higuchi is such an important figure in japanese history— japan’s first professional woman writer of modern literature

now for a less likely, but fun theory…

i wonder if Higuchi’s sister has anything to do with her ability (in bsd she’s unnamed, but her irl sister’s name was Kuniko so that’s what we’ll call her)

according to Higuchi’s bungo episode, despite her literary genius, irl Higuchi was practically useless without her sister

Kuniko was the one who made what Higuchi did possible & kept things functional behind the scenes

so i think it’d be super interesting (& a cool irl reference) if Kuniko was involved in some way with Higuchi’s ability (i also just want to see more of her bc this sister duo is so cute :’))

bonus: when i watched this anime adaptation of Takekurabe, this was the ending scene & i wonder if it was harukawa’s inspiration for this official art 🥹

white lilies represent purity, & since they were off by the side of the road, they might have represented the character’s fleeting purity. white lilies are also used at funerals to represent a soul’s return to purity & its journey to the afterlife… which circles back to the reincarnation theme 👀

[carlyraejepsans]

there's an insane amount of people both mutuals and non who reached out to thank me for being so loud and angry about the fandom's reception of toriel because they felt the same and they were starting to feel crazy when no one said anything about it. if you want someone to smile and nod and make you pretty art you can go to the other 99% of this fanbase, SOMEONE has to be the rabid feminist bitch around these parts.

[un-till-the-end]

The lack of Ivan in Till's memories is actually a positive thing

It's important to understand: when we see Till's POV in the music videos, what he is focusing on remembering is his abuse. It may seem like he's focusing on his infatuation with Mizi, but that's just what he relied on to survive.

Ivan going ahead and throwing all that extra stress and upset and turmoil on him is just the cherry on top. Still, Till doesn't associate him with his abuse and trauma, as evidenced by the fact Ivan never shows up in memories from his POV.

Essentially, the lack of Ivan means Till does not associate him with his abuse nor as a coping strategy.

The one time we do see Ivan in Till's POV, it's from Ivan traumatizing him too.

[harpyomlets]

A beforus feferi design (:

[tiredandoptimistic]

Radar really is in such an interesting position relative to the 4077. The rest of them are doctors. Hawkeye frequently bemoans his role as "weapons repair" and is clearly uncomfortable with fixing people up so they can go back and get shot, but he's still fundamentally only engaging with the war as a healer. When he's off duty (and even while he's working), Hawkeye is able to focus his energy on "the war against the war" by throwing parties and pulling pranks. He takes every opportunity to show his disrespect for the whole military machine, and only plays by their rules when it goes along with his moral imperative to heal the dying.

Radar, on the other hand, is the motor that keeps MASH running. He helps Hawkeye and the others with their schemes, but he also has to be the one to deal with the fallout. When Hawkeye gets his shift as "Commander Pierce," Radar is the one frantically trying to get him to actually fill out the required paperwork, because Hawkeye's "this is dumb and I won't engage with it" attitude to the army doesn't work for someone in an organizational position. The rest of them turn up their noses at army bureaucracy, but Radar is the one to understand how it all works and get them what they want despite the layers of red tape. He has to be the guy delivering bad news and sneaking around to steal people's stoves, and he isn't choosing to do it but it still has to get done. He's the one who announces incoming choppers, meaning that he basically always has to be the person to spoil everyone else's day. Fun's over, Radar's here. His name is literally a direct symbol of his role as a harbinger. He isn't the one responsible though. If he wasn't there to sound the alarm, there'd be just as many wounded and even less time to prepare.

He's got a bit of separation between himself and the casualties (unlike the doctors who are literally digging around in blood and guts for twelve hours at a time), but his position as company clerk means that he's also unable to truly clock out. Radar literally sleeps in his office, because it's his entire life. He's always going to be the guy with a foot in reality who tempers the officers' wackiness. Even when he got offered a ticket home, his first instinct was to turn it down because he didn't think that the 4077th could function without him.

This is significant to me because of how it reflects on the characters role in the war overall. Hawkeye is able to act like he's separate from the military, but he's sometimes forced to reckon with the fact that he's a cog in the machine like everyone else. Radar is often forced to serve as the hand of the army in the 4077th, but his job of keeping things running smoothly does just as much to save lives as any of the doctors. They're all soldiers who have to play by the army's rules to some extent if they want to keep anybody safe.

[iamhereinthebg]

I've been thinking a lot about Hakubo lately because of the season's annoncement and the importance of flowers for him.

His youngest appearance is him watering lotuses showned by the only thing he could have called his family

Flowers crowns have always been associated with Sumire in his life.

They are also always showed next to the Kannagi statuettes. He even brings flowers to Sumire's when he is not able to hold them for too long.

It's the first things he offers to Aoi, having the whole boat filled with them, to calm her after bringing her into an unknown place. Knowing that Sumire used to love them a lot and not understanding why she doesn't seem pleased with this offering.

Hakubo also spared the children who were weaving flowers baskets, creating the school rumor and tradition because of it.

He is the mystery confirmed to have been assigned by Sakura who is clearly associated to flowers (hence the Cherry tree in this chapter guiding Sumire to make them reunite)

Flowers are a leitmotiv throughout Hakubo's whole arc especially compared to any other mysteries which don't have any flowers in their boundaries, his being the only one with so many in it. (Yako's doesn't have flowers when it's under her command)

I just think it's so sad that he can't be in contact with something that has been present his whole life and reminds him of the only person important to him.

[dolls-and-dead-roses]

Something about romance and love for people and art and humanity being it's own form of rebellion, something about both music and art being taken less seriously, something about the narrative role of a love interest, about seeing a character through someone else's eyes. Something about the protagonist being told a philosophy by the one they love, (People are okay, it's what the world dose to them{...}It's up to us to stay on the right side of that line/ Just because the sun rose yesterday, dose it mean it has to tomorrow{...} Stop that sun from rising/I want to still be me, more than a piece in their games, I want to show them they don't own me) and the different ways they reflect on and enact on them. Something about a captive capital audience during an interview and a rebel message written in orange and a boy symbolising hope and spring, something about soft, like the sunset, something about luck and coming home. Something about a girl who looked after her family forever changing history before being erased from it forever, all for knowing how to put on a show, for preforming and charming her way out of certain death, for using music and creativity to craft the song of the future rebellion, for leaving like her name sake forever a mystery to a boy she couldn't trust. Something about a girl who showed empathy for a grieving mother and sung forbidden songs and displayed her rebellion thought art being killed by poison to punish the boy she loved. Something about a boy being tortured to punish the girl he loved, a boy who painted a dead girl to hold her killers responsible and sweet talked the capital and calmed a woman he didn't know into a peaceful death and had to relearn who he was, a boy who bakes and creates and builds, who's favourite colour is the sunset on the reaping.

[watermelonsloth]

Hiruzen and Danzo are more complicated than people give them credit for

It says it all in the title.

Hiruzen and Danzo are among the most hated characters in all of Naruto, and I’m not entirely removed from that crowd of haters. They’re probably among the easiest characters you can argue are just bad people. Or, at minimum, people who did horrendous, unjustifiable things (or allowed them to happen in Hiruzen’s case). However, I think that because people hate them so much, no one wants to take a closer look at their characters and the more complicated/human reasons why they make the choices they do.

Hiruzen is spineless and that’s a hill I’ll die on, but he’s spineless in one of these most sympathetic and realistic ways I’ve seen depicted in media. Specifically, he’s the walking talking representation of the fallibility of compassion. Hiruzen cares about so many people so deeply that he would rather stand by and let people get hurt than to hurt them himself. He ignores the fact Danzo keeps trying to kill him because he knows he’ll likely have to execute him as retribution and he doesn’t want to kill his best friend, he turns a blind eye to Orochimaru’s dark side because he doesn’t want to fight/kill his student, Tsunade isn’t labeled a rogue ninja because he doesn’t want to put a bounty on his student/mentor’s granddaughter’s head, he let the Hizashi situation and Uchiha Massacre happen because he didn’t want to risk subjecting his people to the horrors of war that he experienced, and he died because he couldn’t bring himself to go all out against his mentors (even if they were reanimated and emotionless versions) or student.

I’m not defending Hiruzen’s actions or lack thereof. Obviously, this is a deeply flawed way to go about life, especially as a leader of a country where you have to regularly make difficult trolly-problem decisions. But Hiruzen is meant to be a deeply flawed individual. He’s like the family of an abuser that refuses to properly step in to stop the abuse because they love the abuser and don’t want to face the idea that the abuser is a bad person. I’m not saying Hiruzen is a good person or in the right, I’m just saying he’s realistic.

If Hiruzen is “the few over the many”, then Danzo is “the many over the few” with a sprinkle of “the ends always justify the means”. Danzo is, at his core, someone who is always trying to do what’s best for the village. He turned Hanzo against the Akatsuki to keep the group from gaining too much power and becoming another threat to Konoha (keeping in mind that Amegakure is adjacent to the Land of Fire), he pushed for the Uchiha Massacre to keep a civil war from breaking out, he killed the messenger toad to keep Naruto away from Konoha and the nine tails out of Pain’s grasp. He created ROOT to make sure that Konoha had a back up fighting force that was highly trained, wouldn’t turn against the village, and were willing to do what even ninja wouldn’t. Even Danzo’s choice to essentially turn on the village by trying to kill Hiruzen was motivated by him trying to do what he thought was best for the village. After all, he knew better than anyone how bad of a Hokage Hiruzen was.

A lot of people oversimplify Danzo into “the selfish, corrupt asshole”—and while I can agree that he’s selfish and corrupt, he’s selfish and corrupt in very specific ways. The corruption is the most obvious and easiest to explain. Danzo is willing to do anything he thinks will benefit the village; that includes working with bad people and using backhanded tactics. As for his selfishness, it stems from one specific thing: Tobirama telling Hiruzen to become Hokage over him.

For a while I was confused why Danzo got a flashback flashbacked to this scene before he died. Now, I think I’ve settled on it being because the scene was at the core of Danzo’s character and greatest character flaws because it was also his greatest regret. It’s pretty clear that Danzo wants to become Hokage and it’s implied that he’s had this dream for a long while. However, Tobirama—his mentor, the former Hokage, and one of the people to define what it meant to be Hokage—chose Hiruzen over him. Because Hiruzen was willing to sacrifice himself for his comrades while Danzo, who knew he should’ve done the same, was too cowardly to offer himself up.

Then he never really grows out of that cowardice. Instead, he looks down on Hiruzen to cope with his own sense of inferiority, gives himself body modifications to become a stronger ninja more capable of defending the village, and obtains as much political power as he can. He remains a coward who prefers letting other people take the fall over fighting his own battles (setting up Hanzo to fight the Akatsuki, asking Orochimaru to kill Hiruzen, ordering Itachi to kill the Uchiha clan, etc.) right up until he uselessly “sacrifices” himself right before he was going to die anyways.

Most of Danzo’s selfish actions come down to him not being able to accept his failure at becoming Hokage while also refusing to learn from his mentor’s final lesson.

I honestly think that Naruto has some of the best representation of bad people simply because it consistently acknowledges two things about bad people: 1. People who do bad things usually do them because they grew up being taught that doing bad things were okay or necessary to survive (being abused, societal normalization, never being punished, early exposure to things like domestic violence, etc.) and 2. Even if they don’t necessarily think they’re good people, the large majority of people don’t think they’re bad or evil. Both Hiruzen and Danzo were raised by a generation haunted by war only to be thrust into two world wars themselves (one at a young age and one when they were older). This left them both traumatized and willing to do anything to avoid experiencing it again. And even if they acknowledge that they’ve made mistakes, they still don’t (seem to) see themselves as bad people, only people who are committing the lesser of two evils.

[snevins]

the day people stop dropping brain dead john walker (mcu) takes is the day i will finally know peace

like he’s such a morally complex and interesting character who was a perfect narrative foil to sam and the long-standing arc of what it means to pick up that shield and be captain america. he perfectly displays the sentiment we got back in the first captain america movie “not a great soldier, but a good man”. the us government picks a great soldier, the greatest one they have available. they do not understand that being captain america is so much more than that. a guy like john walker thrives in the morally grey environments of war but you make him the beacon of morality and goodness that is captain america and he crumbles. he was not made for it. the us military made him into a soldier, a weapon, and asked him to be something else. he acts the way that a soldier acts, does what a soldier would do, but captain america was never supposed to be a soldier, so he fucks up and makes the wrong decisions at almost every turn. he’s doing his best but he wasn’t built for this so it isn’t enough

his character is also such a good commentary on the us military, how the government asks terrible and life ruining things of its soldiers and then leaves them behind at its earliest convenience.

like john walker is the definition of “i am what you made me”. they made him exactly who he is, he lived his life by their mandates, he did everything they ever asked of him, and it wasn’t enough because they asked him to do something he could never do, stop being a soldier

[nico-saurus]

I was thinking how Sanemi's and Tanjiro's story have lots of parallels between them, and how that makes their relationship a lot more interesting.

Both of them had to become the providers of their really big family at a really young age because of their father's passing and shared the responsibility of taking care of their family with a younger sibling, with whom they had a particularly close bond.

Both them lost their entire family, with the exception of said younger sibling, to a demon attack and saw one of their family members become a demon (in Tanjiro's case, both of these things happened to the same person, and in Sanemi's it was with two different people).

But Tanjiro and Nezuko were able to stay together even after everything that happened, while Sanemi had to kill his own mother after she became a demon and hasn't spoken to Genya since then.

No wonder Sanemi hates Tanjiro so much; even with so much in common, Tanjiro was able to keep so much of what Sanemi had lost. So of course looking at this kid who was able to help his loved one after they became a demon while he couldn't do anything to save his mom and stuck together with his sibling regardless of all the terrible things that happened when Sanemi and his brother had been estranged for years filled him with rage. Sanemi was envious of Tanjiro 'cause he was everything that he could had been.

[the-silliest-lad]

In DBDA there are two appearances of Death (of the Endless) in the show. There’s her first appearance in Episode 1, where she brings a WW1 soldier to the afterlife, and the other is in Episode 3, where she guides a family killed by an abusive father. Both of these are possibles outcomes for both Edwin and Charles. If Edwin had lived to past 16, he very likely would’ve been drafted in WW1. If Charles hadn’t been killed by his “friends,” it’s not outlandish to think he might’ve been a victim of his own father. In both of these scenarios, the spirits also move on to their seemingly tranquil eternities, something neither of the boys have any intention of ever doing.

[cuddytism]

the turn from cameron and wilson being our house-related co-conspirators to it being cuddy and wilson is so fast you don't even realize it. you go from season 2 to season 3 and all of a sudden wilson and cuddy are around each other so much more, and the premiere of that season solidifies them as our new co-conspiring duo.

i think it's really easy to go through the entire show and feel like wilson and cuddy were close the entire time but... they weren't. prior to season 3 they had very little to do with each other. i wouldn't necessarily call it a relationship retcon; Meaning seems to imply that they had grown closer in the two months between the end of season 2 and beginning of season 3, and even before that with the date in Forever. but there is a very distinct jump in their closeness and likelihood to share a scene or scheme between seasons.

prior to season 3, it was pretty firmly cameron and wilson playing the roles of The Ones That Care About House--not that cuddy didn't care about house at that time, just that she did it solitarily--so i find it interesting that they all but completely ditched the cam/wilson duo for cuddy/wilson in this season.

the reason that i believe this happened is quite the boring one; cuddy needed more screentime, and it evens out the character dynamics. they're trying to solidify her as being a Main Character, now that she's getting her own storylines, as well as the fact that this season is the one where the role of 'love interest' for house undoubtedly shifts to cuddy, where it'll stay for the rest of the show. the closer cuddy gets to house, the closer she has to be to wilson. the less that cameron is interested in house, the less she feels the need to seek out wilson, and vice versa.

it's strange how unnoticable this change is when you aren't paying attention, though. because it doesn't come out of nowhere, it does build, it isn't like wilson and cuddy have never plotted before (hello! Detox!) or that cameron and wilson stopped having scenes together completely. it's just that things are changing. in a way that feels... sort of natural, so it doesn't really catch you off-guard. it's kinda jarring on paper, but in practice i think it works.

character dynamics are changing. character roles are changing. change is a big theme of the season, and though it's quite hammered in by the finale, it starts at the very beginning. with these two!!! there's a reason the first real scene of season 3 is of cuddy and wilson conspiring in her office. it's solidifing this change, without us even realizing it.

[blanceyblance]

Lance is such an interesting character to me in part because of how the narrative wants to portray him to the point it becomes contradictory.

His "arc" is supposed to be "cocky and immature teenager grows from his need for glory into a reliable team member"

And he does! He becomes Keith's right hand man, taking charge in battle, covering the team's backs and becoming an emotional support for other members when the time was needed.

But he is also a Comedic Relief™

Other characters have comedic relief moments too, like Hunk's love for food, Pidge's excitement about tech, Keith being socially awkward, etc.

And as aggravating as Hunk's fat jokes can be they don't contradict the fact that he is a brilliant engineer and became a brave paladin. Keith's social awkwardness doesn't contradict the fact that he became a capable leader.

But then you have Pidge and Hunk, making fun of Lance being "naturally dumb", and then a space deity calling him "the dumb one"one moment then following Lance's orders in battle and having him give emotional speeches to others the other.

The writers want us to take him seriously and see he is growing only to make fun of him when its needed for a laugh.

I feel the episode The Grudge is a good example of this:

Lance finds a way to find where they left their Lions.

Hunk and Allura seem impressed but Pidge dismisses it.

That would be the end of it until later when Veronica is talking with "Keith" (actually a hacker pretending to be him) and the says "Lance has it figured out", Veronica then in a sarcastic way says "Lance, the navigation genius".

Keith agrees and that's what clues them about something being wrong.

Is it a joke about Keith being openly nice to Lance? A joke about Lance's navigation skills?

Either way, the joke is at his expense, even when early in the episode we see him actually suggesting a way to correctly navigate.

In the end what I'm trying to say is, that the writers want to have their cake and eat it too. Showing Lance growing and being capable but also making fun of him and not really having that much respect for his character.

[starcurtain]

What do you think Aventurine would be like as a boss?

Aventurine's first character story tells us that people both outside the IPC and internal to the Strategic Investment Department are explicitly racist toward him, so I would say first that I suspect Aventurine's team is much, much smaller than other Stonehearts like Topaz. For example, we constantly see Topaz's dumb "support squad" following her around in most of the events she shows up in, while we've never been introduced to a single "Aventurine support squad" member.

My suspicion is that, between the rampant racism and the undoubtedly common rumors about Aventurine's dangerous behavior, very few people are even willing to be put on his team in the first place. I suspect he's much more likely to be paired up with one or two "strategic partners" (like Ratio) and sent to handle things that way, rather than actually having a large group of underlings he directly supervises.

But just logistically speaking I'm sure he does have a few underlings, and I think... He's probably a very difficult person to work for, for a couple reasons:

He will almost certainly beat assholes to the punch. If a majority of the people who have been assigned to work with him don't want to be there, you can bet he's not going to wait around for new people to prove they are racist garbage. I imagine that, for the most part, he's off-putting and offensive to new people from the get-go. You ask which desk is yours and he just goes "Oh, feel free to set your things anywhere!" then turns around like: "Wowwww. Jim, this rookie is trying to steal the desk you've had for ten years! How inconsiderate our new friend is proving to be~!" New people on his team probably have the worst few weeks of their lives. (Because... If people are going to hate him on principle alone, he might as well give them a reason, right?) However, this has the effect of weeding out most of the people who are incapable of dealing with Aventurine's antics, so I imagine that the few who persevere through the hazing are probably genuinely decent folks. Those that make it past the initial "Let's see how much you hate Sigonians and disrespect me personally" vibe check probably end up on Aventurine's good side, and I think he eventually eases off his newbies after a while. (Not before they've proven their exceedingly high tolerance for shenanigans and even higher ceiling for shock factor, though. If a new employee makes it past the first month of working for Aventurine, literally nothing else will ever phase them. An elephant-sized Warp Trotter could warp them all six galaxies over and they'd just be like "Anyone got a working cell? I need to tell my babysitter I won't be back by 9.")

I think he's just never there. Absentee boss in the extreme. It's not that he ever slacks or doesn't do the work--it's just that he's constantly going off and doing the missions all on his own. It doesn't matter how many times the higher-ups assign him to do a team task, tell him he has to take the full squad... He just scampers off and does the deal entirely on his own, comes back covered in blood, and is like "Hey guys, I took care of the problem; enjoy some comp time on me!" I don't think he drags his average-level underlings into his dangerous gambles; I think he just does all the work with their clients by himself or with a high-caliber partner. You would think this would make him a great boss to work for, but I implore to put yourself in such an employee's shoes: You go into the office every morning only to see your to-do list is empty. Your boss isn't there to give you any new direction. After twiddling your thumbs for four hours, you find out the reason he isn't in the office this morning is that he's recovering from betting he could take an entire pack of Borisin in a fist fight. He's not in the hospital because of the fight (which he won). He's in the hospital because he was then promptly shot in the back by the guy he was betting with. Why is your life like this? Why must you be subjected to the soap opera of your boss's own self-destructive spiral?

Even when he's around, he's probably weirdly awkward. Don't get me wrong, I bet when he's in a good mood he throws all kinds of extravagant parties in the office, and his employees would never lack for bonuses and perks. But I think he has never really bothered to learn--or perhaps simply does not care--about normal managerial behaviors and boundaries. Like, you slip up and tell him your mother-in-law is in the hospital. He comes back five minutes later to tell you he's just bought six bouquets (sent from your address), commissioned a personally embossed card for her with your monogram, and contracted the services of the best-reviewed individualized medical team in Pier Point under your name. He's patting himself on the back for being an incredibly thoughtful boss. You don't know how to tell him that you haven't spoken to your mother-in-law in years, not since her last attempt to poison you. Every six months he buys the whole team new cars. You have no idea what to do with all these cars. It's too many cars. Put some cars back. He calls everyone his "friend," but even after working for him for years, you still have absolutely no idea about his likes, dislikes, or hobbies outside of the IPC. You could not name his favorite food if someone put a gun to your head. Does he exist outside of the workplace? You literally can't imagine him anywhere but on a mission or at a poker table. He's constantly bringing an "I am the party!" vibe to the room, but everyone else is a bored 8-5 worker who doesn't have a drop of enthusiasm left in their veins. It's like when a singer asks the audience to cheer along with a song, but nobody in the audience makes a peep. Absolutely no one in the IPC cubicles can match his particular freak. Aventurine's a smooth-talker and a street-smart cookie for sure, but something about the way his smile looks like it's made out of plastic when anyone tries to engage him in chitchat at the water cooler gives you the vague impression that he's probably never had an actual friend in his life. If "uncanny valley" was a vibe a workplace could have, Aventurine's office would have it.

Long story longer, I think Aventurine has very few people willing to tolerate him as a boss, whether because they are racist or simply because his quirks are just too quirky. However, I like to imagine the few who have hung in there are ride or die. You know they have an "Aventurine Protection Squad" group chat. They probably all wear peacock-teal and gold accessories in solidarity. They have definitely disappeared people for talking shit on their boss before. Aventurine has no idea how much they actually like him.