#this weird mix of superiority and inferiority complex

[lucky-clover-gazette]

i love the continuous implication that volo clearly believes that he is supposed to be the Chosen One, and is so annoyed by how impressed he is by the person who has been given the role, who is only here in the first place bc of his (volo’s) actions. really played yourself there man

[crushedsweets]

Can you draw or talk more about Toby and Eyeless Jack or even the X-Virus?

YESSSS i can. heres a lil doodle to get me started.

OKKKK the little concept in my head has slender's MAIN GOAL being to prevent any paranormal/supernatural stuff coming out to the general public. hence his proxies being made to get rid of tapes, evidence, and kill if Necessary. sometimes slender makes paranormal/supernatural ppl help out his human proxies "as payment for refuge" in his forest. SO that sorta explains how toby and jack know each other and why jack helps at all. he can't rlly go out to the public so he's stuck with these assholes. it's not really supposed to be a 'mansion' trope, moreso random cabins and shelters littered about the forest, but it could work in the mansion au too

Imma ramble abt toby n jacks friendship (in my head) under the cut + a random x virus doodle

as for toby and jack specifically. toby is impulsive, aggressive, can't feel pain, and doesn't know what's good for him, so he's forced to get help from jack a good bit. for a long while there was hella tension between them since, again, jack isn't helping these guys out of the goodness of his heart. he's helping them bc the forest their boss resides in is the only place he's relatively safe. jack has a weird mix of a inferiority and superiority complex, since he envies toby's humanity but also feels like he's 'better' due to toby's own . . violent habits. toby thinks jack is pretty cool from the get-go ('wooow ur grey..') but he gets pissed off with jack's questions and demands of 'DONT RIP UR FUCKING STITCHES' and 'u have a concussion don't fucking scroll on your phone for 5 hours a day'.

toby has no idea if these demands come from actual concern or annoyance, and frankly, neither does jack. regardless, toby's with jack a decent bit. partially since jack makes a lot of people really uncomfortable so it's easy to go hang out with jack when he doesnt wanna deal with anyone else but still wants company. eventually theyre capable of some decent banter and conversations. theyre both mamas boys so thats a very weird touchy topic that they kinda dance around but both feel very deeply and know the other relates. THEY MISS THEIR MOMS SO BADLY.. :( mayhaps one year toby helps drop off flowers to jack's moms house for mothers day. jacks way too ashamed to even get within a 10 mile radius of his mom. that's kinda the moment things really shift between them and they actually become friends.

toby also asks abt university. lyra was at community college until she passed, and toby never considered college as an option, so he gets curious on what he missed out on. he also likes to share stuff abt lyra and their old shenanigans. tim and brian have used his childhood against him multiple times before, and it's not like he's gonna trust ben or jeff with that information. jacks sort of like a void he could talk into. jack feels uneasy talking about his life before the sacrifice, since he misses it so unbelievably bad, but toby accidentally got him to talk about it while treating a burn before.

ok and to top this fucking essay off heres xvirus. i had no idea he existed until this year and someone sent me an ask about his updated design, so he's some scribbles for him :9 his concepts super cool tho so maybe ill get more into him later on

[misfitclassismyfreetherapy]

Mairuma Incorrect Quotes #3

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The long-awaited, the sequel of a sequel, ✨ Mairuma Incorrect Quotes ✨Get ready..*finger guns* to be disappointed!

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Mairuma Incorrect Quotes #1

Purson: Lied? Ah hell no he's definitely not straight.

Camui: As much as I agree he doesn't really look like a demon who only has one gender attraction however, he never really shown any other type of gender other than the wonderful females.

Purson: Fine. Bet.

Moments later

Purson pointing in a random direction: Lied! Look it's Opera-sensei being shirtless!

Lied immediately whips his head around: Where?!

Camui:

( Yes, how did Lied-kun realize he isn't only bisexual? Opera. No need I say more.)

Mairuma Incorrect Quotes #2

Kerori, literally not getting any sleep because of her akudol career: My fucking mixed complex is so weird and a pain in the ass too, like I could literally be bawling my eyes out on the floor and writing depressing inferiority lyrics, and the next second I could be boasting about my cuteness being as superior as Delkila.

Agares, just trying to get some sleep because it's fucking 3 AM but not wanting to be a prick to his best friend finally opening up: Uh-huh.

Kerori, unconciously pining over a girl she often rejects: Also Gyari, she is such an unbelievable asshole. Like she says she wants to give me some of her company's Vill because she said 'you should rest, Kerori. My beautiful gem must be at her very best for me to be happy making you mine.' like fuck you, that shit you just said made my brain turn into mush and now I can't stop thinking about it you rockhead bastard.

Agares, covering his ears with his pillow not wanting to hear the hopeless pining for the hundredth time: Uh-huh.

( 💫 Agares and Kerori, the tsundere duo because it's literally my drug 💫 )

Mairuma Incorrect Quotes #3

Asmodeus, speaking to himself : Listen here, Alice. You don't want to have a stain on your honored position as Iruma-sama's soulmate. So you shall NOT allow your insufferable feelings get the better of you.

Iruma, does something Iruma-like:

Asmodeus, being incredibly in love: Fuck.

Mairuma Incorrect Quotes #4

Ronove: You're just like me!

Zeze: Oh I can see~

Ronove and Zeze singing together dramatically: We take responsibilties~

Vine, mumbling in a corner about shiny people being way too sparkling: Oh derkila, TWO of these types now?

The rest of the student council except Ameri, realizing that they're gonna have another version of Ronove: Aw fuck.

( Student council shenanigans because I can.)

Mairuma Incorrect Quotes #5

Misfit Class: We finally have a plan.

Balam: As long as it doesn't get you illegally in trouble

Misfit Class:

Balam:

Lied: FUCK! We planned this shit for two hours already!

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So yeah that's all. I decided to be nice and give them a break on the dark humor and trauma thing. Don't expect this to be your usual. This is one-in a life time sorta thing. Anyways I hope you enjoyed my post and have a good day or night guys, gals and non-binary pals!

[princess-of-the-corner]

So, how different persona wise is Chloe in Queens Second Chance, in a day to day sense & as Queen Bee? I know we saw a little bit of QB, she certainly seemed less energetic and haughty, but still fairly casual until the trauma. But I also recall you noting LB & CN saw her acting super differently & a lot happier with her memories erased. So I assume she was in a good head-space in that fight until the horrors.

Chloé is pretty good at compartmentalizing her trauma, so she's not in paranoid depressed mode 24/7. She can shove things down and pretend it's okay for a bit.

There still is a shift though. She's ofc not playing up her 'ahaha aren't I wonderful?' ego bit. In part because the superiority-inferiority complex has shattered into 'god I fucking suck don't I?' and also she's- she's much more aware of exactly how bad things can get. She doesn't want to make mistakes as a Hero.

Swinging to what she's like as a Civilian here that's.... weird. Because she swings between modes. Sometimes she's acting better than she did before because she had character development and wants to be a better person. Sometimes she's thinking 'oh this needs to happen so this other thing can happen' and acts like she did the first time around. Sometimes it's a mix of both because she's 'better' but still doesn't fully get how to act and her new traumas aren't helping.

[pocketramblr]

Ask Game: Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shouto are the children of the stable happy marriage of Rei and Masaru Bakugo. Touya and Katsuki are the children of Enji and Mitsuki Todoroki.

Well this just feels targeted...

1- the night before his meeting with the Himura family, Enji has a hero event with a few support designers. One of them spends fifteen minutes telling him why his is stupid. (And honestly, Mitsuki could have gone on longer about why he shouldn't be wasting energy on his quirk to set himself on fire decoratively - I mean sure if he wants do that with his face it's his right and his face, whatever, but the flaming shoulder pads? When his biggest problem is overheating? Why add to the problem when a good costume is supposed to help, not hinder him. And don't give her the excuse about being strong or whatever, she won't have her work insulted just because it keeps pros at top shape instead of making their quirk the focal point when it should be how they use it: and he needs to use his more intelligently.) He talks with her for hours afterwards, and tells the Himuras he won't be there to meet with them tomorrow.

2- when Rei suddenly isn't needed and she has a free day, she tends the gardens and listens to her parents and aunts discuss why their big hero offer wasn't interested anymore- it can't have been the girl's fault when he didn't even give her a chance, and her quirk is as strong as ever. Maybe they need to find another match, but they're desperate, and the other options are... worse, not with the reward this catch was supposed to have. Rei is sent to a cousin's place for a week while they search for another match. She doesn't arrive, taking the sudden cancellation for a sign and going to her old teenage sweetheart instead.

3- when Mitsuki gets pregnant with Touya, she informs Enji they're getting married. He had plans for a whole big thing and she said "yeah in a year so we can actually plan it and design a dress I won't look like I shoved a watermelon in, in the meantime we're changing our family registration today let's go." Rei and Masaru didn't get married quite as quickly, but they also played a more medium wedding. Rei didn't invite anyone from her family, so Masaru invited a lot of his. They reunite with Inko, who was in Masaru's highschool class at the wedding.

4- Fuyumi got her mother's ice, Natsuo his father's oxidizing sweat, and Shoto got a perfect mix- where Fuyumi can generate ice from anywhere on her body, he can only do so from his hands. However, his ice is more... Explosive, especially when cracked. The only safe way to really remove it is to very slowly melt it, or to let him do so. Meanwhile Touya's sweat makes him fireproof, and Katsuki's body in general is fireproof where his sweat is extremely flammable.

5- Mitsuki's reaction to Enji's whole mini eugenics experiment was "well that's stupid and not how kids work. They're only going to be strong if THEY want to be, not if it's about YOU. Just because you've got a weird thing for All Might doesn't mean they will, I mean statistically he'll have retired by the time the graduate." Which is like. Definitely better than being on board with it, but also missing large parts of why it's really bad, and she got her own brand of not great parenting that is going to clash with Enji's and make some kids who are messed up in new and exciting ways from canon. Like yeah inferiority/superiority complexes in colors shrimp can see, but also like. I don't know if Katsuki will have ever heard the words "I'm" and "sorry" in that order before the age of 11.

Meanwhile Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shoto will grow up in a home that's so conflict avoidant that "I'm sorry" will be in the top twenty most frequently spoken phrases each week.

[chromekingkong]

I think one thing I’m noticing especially amongst non-Black castlevania fans are the analysis of the themes in the show. Let’s remember two of the main characters ( Annette and Eduard cause Eduard’s story is really something I’m excited to see fleshed out as I also felt in the previous seasons night creatures should’ve been more diverse in intelligence etc cause the entire process of making night creatures just implies it’s a mixed bag of results.) overtly escape slavery/ are coded to be well aware of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

But yes! I mean it seems everyone is on the side of Freedom actually. What many don’t consider is slavery does allow for freedom…indulgence…happiness and peace…just for the enslavers. I think one thing we shouldn’t miss is that technically EVERYONE is after freedom. The real moral I think the writers are trying to consider is do you have a right to freedom at the expense of others? Is freedom really without sacrifice? Is freedom like hope—something you just always aspire for but really is too only something to always want never have. I argue that hierarchy and inferiority/superiority complexes mutated into the practice of slavery. It is a very spiritual and personal act and I think the idea of just owners and slaves fails to gather the larger inquiries the writers may be trying to explore

Yes, slavery and colonization are experiential examples of real life compromises of humanity but technically the source of the conversation is way more philosophical and spiritual even. I’ve seen mixed reviews of Nocturne and criticisms I’m not a fan of and not saying it for this post I’m replying to but yes! Is it not being beaten over our heads? Did we literally not see Annette escape slavery? This is the most obvious conversation on the ideas of freedom. I think they try to “We all bleed red.” By having a diverse set of individuals who are traumatized by the system/higher powers: Annette, blonde girl’s mom (no I don’t recall and I’m not going out of my way to look up), Olrox, even Drolta. Kinda weird for me Drolta is happily a dog for the big ugly red headed bitch who is a colonizer and turned her but whatever (I don’t like her, don’t care to look up how to spell it.)

I do have some concern about the writing but this is as an African American consumer of media…I get tired of everybody writing about slavery or themes of Black freedom. Annette is a Haitian woman they don’t contextualize as a young black girl (not even seen a child let alone a girl let alone human) and San Domingue (previously Haiti before the revolution) has examples of some of the worst, despicable, unspeakable things to her family, loved ones, and other kindreds amongst her plantation.

The show is actually too easy on it considering the prior seasons have babies and women and children and innocents being slaughtered (and the disgusting actions of Germaine against Dracula and Lisa I won’t go further on for spoilers sake.) I actually (especially if the fandom is not really connecting the overt ideas being explored) that they need to go even harder. Don’t blend histories (I’m the nerd watching Nocturne calling out the historical connections.) It is REAL the French and Haitian revolutions are connected. Consider even as a staved peasant against the establishment you still are living off the worser lives of enslaved Black people not even thrown rotten bread.

I think the big bad of this season genuinely needs to be that heavy handed because otherwise (and I genuinely say this as a Black person whose been alive this entire time seeing how little people know about any kind of Black history or their knowledge is literal revisionist history…she needs to be this obvious!!!) I’m so sorry but I’m gonna be the person who’ll take the hate for saying most media consumers are not smart…they don’t have a working understanding of Black people in this day and age…they can’t get things that to this day higher powers try to mutate into something nicer than it was…) she genuinely needs to be this EVIL because too many people IN REAL LIFE debate the morals of fucking enslavers!!! Let her be as heavy handed as she needs to…I used to HATE heavy handed characters like her but realized….I get it…plenty others don’t.

If this fandom can stomach what’s been in the show but seemingly struggle to connect very obvious commentaries on colonization but more nuanced conversations on what freedom even is—I’m not saying this to THIS post specifically but lord do I tire as a Black person enjoying media not specifically for me…

And for the “fans” who hate the show…bitch I hate you. You’re not disguising your hatred of Black characters behind supposedly just hating Alucard’s design…be fucking serious😭. Now I’m getting annoyed with the whole thing cause it’s been weird on the slick. How much of the criticism so far has been weirdly coded in the same energy of these vampires in the show 🤫

The thing about Erzsebet is that she's a very unsubtle colonialism metaphor.

Olrox likens her to the Spaniards who invaded his land and slaughtered his people, She speaks of how she wants to conquer Europe and later the "New World" because she considers it her divine right to do so (The Manifest Destiny ideology that made invaders believe that they were divinely ordained to destroy the native population and settle on their land).

She tells the Night Creatures in episode 8 to silence Edouard's singing. During the French Revolution, music and songs were considered a fundamentally important part of it (him singing the songs he used to sing when he was a human could also symbolise his rebellion against his nature as a Night Creature, beings that were considered nothing but bloodthirsty, mindless monsters that held no memories of their past lives)

Even the great power she possesses is not her own, it was the blood of Sekhmet, an Egyptian goddess, another land she conquered and stole from (Drolta says that she was an Egyptian priestess in life, making me believe that Erzsebet was the one to turn her)

She promises slave-owning vampires that as their Messiah she will return the world to it's "natural order", where the slaves that revolted against them will become their property again.

This directly contradicts what Annette's mentor said. That slavery may seem like this practise that always existed to people like Annette who was born into a family of slaves, and lived the majority of her life in chains and people like Comte de Vaublanc who was likely born into a family of slaveowners, someone who spent his entire life enslaving and abusing people. But ultimately, humans did not come into this world as slaves and slaveowners. Turning slavery into something that is not natural and inevitable but rather a man-made evil that can be defeated.

Idk i noticed those things while watching the show and i saw no one in the tags talking about it so I decided to write down my thoughts.

[verdantmeadows]

Okay so I finished ILTV and have pretty mixed feelings on it, I enjoyed the relationship between Rae and Claire, but several things such as Manaria and the incest plotline sour it for me. Manaria would have been a really good character, and then she's just written to be a rapist for no feasible reason, which is especially irritating since she's the only bifauxnen. Her regret that she had as a result of repressing gay feelings could have easily been something else. I do not like at all how incest as a taboo is equated to homosexuality as a taboo. I also don't understand why the show needed to be an isekai? I understand it's used to set up so Rae knows what happens and so she can prevent it, but it just kinda gives her a plot armor I don't like. I think it would have been way more interesting if this was just a genuine setting and Rae fell in love with Claire organically and not because she's from an otome game. I think that the things that the plot hinges on with her knowing it happens in advance could have just been something else or done differently. It's not interesting to watch a character who already knows everything that's about to happen for the most part. I also really dislike knowing that one of the princes is "trans", but not actually! She was born female, then cursed to be male, then changed back to female! Like, why? The story doesn't need a trans/intersex allegory? The story DIRECTLY acknowledges homosexuality? You can just...have an ACTUAL trans/intersex character. It feels like the only reason that this character is made into female is to make her relationship with another character F/F. In which case...why not just have her be normally trans? Just have her be a normal trans girl/intersex trans girl? This is already a queer media. Why can't you have transgender/intersex characters? And, honestly, I see people calling her canonically transgender, which I kind of get, but her story reads much more as an intersex story to me, so I wish she was just written as an intersex trans girl or a trans girl. Generally speaking, I really hate nobility/royalty settings that are about nobility and do not attempt to resolve it at all. ILTV directly acknowledges that there is inequality between commoners and nobility, there is even a movement and there are protests against this that want equality between the groups. And yet, the commoners protesting are treated as...the bad guys. And the nobility is framed as people that need to be "protected". It's just weird. Based on what we know from the ending, they're going to be continued to be framed as villains for rightfully wanting to end the commoner vs nobility dichotomy. I know I should be able to suspend my disbelief, but this is just one thing I almost never am able to suspend my disbelief on, SPECIFICALLY in this case because the show BRINGS UP THE INEQUALITY and also has Claire have a superiority complex over being nobility. And her haughtiness over being nobility is treated as exclusively cute and charming (which yes, I agree that it is/can be!) and not something that needs to be fix or remedied. I really hope the rest of the series properly works on this and doesn't villainize the commoners further. The entire main cast it feels affirm that it was stupid for Yu to even hear out a commoner on his want for equality. I also really don't like that it doesn't give us development for anyone really other than Rae and Claire. Like, yes, side characters are side characters, but they bother to give us interesting premises, and even tell us explicitly how insecure Thane is, and then... Do nothing with it. We don't see them develop. Why have so many side characters, tell us about them, then do nothing with them? Like, okay, sure, it's just season 1, but based on what I could find online, they don't really do anything with Rod or Thane. Rod makes sense, because he doesn't really have a lot to change with, but Thane? Thane is shown to have an inferiority complex and then the show just validates it, essentially.

That being said, I liked the show! It has a lot of things I didn't like, but I liked Claire and Rae, they were cute. I wish their relationship had developed organically rather than just Rae being isekai'd, but that can't be helped. I also wish that we saw more of their actual romance than just Rae's one-sided yearning for the whole season. However, because of how it clearly does not portray things like SA and incest as serious cases of abuse, I'm not sure I'm going to look into reading the rest of the series nor am I sure that I'd watch a season 2. I don't trust how it treats sexual abuse whatsoever. Maybe I'm just really petty right now, but this is how I feel for now. The scene with Manaria deeply upset me but in a way that made me angry. I've enjoyed the show, but right now all I can feel and think about is the bad things in the show. But I did definitely enjoy it and like Claire and Rae's relationship. I just think that the setting isn't for me. It feels like sometimes, when it comes to F/F or M/M in animation, you just have to "settle" for any relationships at all, even if you don't like the setting. But I have to tell myself, it's okay to not like the setting. I don't have to settle for it or like the setting just because it's F/F. I think I'm also so upset because I feel betrayed by how much praise I saw for this show without any warning for the incest and SA (I only got incest warnings from people I knew, and, from the person who told me to watch it, long after they had already told me to watch it). I was expecting it to be an absolute masterpiece, and it just wasn't. Which is okay! Not everything has to be a masterpiece! But I thought it was gonna be way better than it was. Still, despite how bitter and petty I sound, I liked it! It was good!

[humanradiojmp]

Rise of the TMNT... but it’s MLP

I literally woke up one day and thought “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… but it’s MLP” and have spent the past week making designs for the four turtle brothers as hypothetical characters of the MLP:FiM franchise. Each one is a half-pony-half-creature character, as I figured that would be the best way to translate the four different turtles as MLP characters. I also thought a little bit of lore for each one, and thought that the characters would be part of a comic series within Equestria (kind of like the Power Ponies or Shadow Spade in the MLP franchise, or Jupiter Jim in the ROTTMNT franchise).

First on the list is Leonardo, called Neon “Neo” Brightlight in the MLP verse. This was initially done before I decided the brothers would be half pony-half creatures, but decided to leave Neo as is. He’s a full pony, a unicorn, who acts as the face man and medic of the team. He’s still the egotistic, pun making teen we all know and love, and is good at making strategies for fights. He does try to learn different spells that he thinks will help both him and his brothers, but he finds almost all of them difficult. He does, however, have a knack for portaling magic, so mostly focuses on that. [And yes, him being just a unicorn feeds into his inferiority complex, especially when he’s made the leader. Compared to the fact his brothers are half something awesome and have powers/magic related to that, he’s just a run of the mill unicorn that can barely do anything beyond basic magic. The portaling magic he tries to work at doesn’t even function half the time. Not to mention he knows he’s still the odd one out as a pony because of the weird spots he has (I imagine, before mutation, he resembled a regular pinto horse and the spots were merely a lighter shade of his coat color/white/off-white, but after mutation, the spots become brightly colored to resemble Leo’s slider stripes). He just doesn’t understand why “Draxum” had him in the mix in the first place, or why anyone wants him. But he wouldn’t trade his place with his family for anything.] With the design, I again made him a unicorn that resembles a pinto horse, having brightly colored spots to make a call back to Leo’s stripes. He has the original gear design pre-season 2 finale modified to fit a pony’s body, and has the same color green as Leo for eye color. I took some inspiration from various human designs of the TMNT and absolutely love the idea of Leo being a blond, whether natural or dyed. I just wish I made Neo’s mane a little fuller, it seems just a little too flat. And Neo is one of the two brothers that has a cutie mark, stars in a neon light like design. 

Next up, we have Leo’s twin Donatello, called Starry Haze (“Star” or “Hazy” as nicknames) in the MLP verse. I initially was thinking of making him either an earth pony or another unicorn before I went with the half-half design. In this version, he’s a half pony-half kirin who’s more focused on learning everything he can about science and tech than mastering magic. The easily prone to destruction and autistic younger twin to Neo, he spends most of his free time reverse engineering various tech he can get his hooves (claws?) on. He is often at odds with others because of his difficulties with emotions (doesn’t help that when he gets angry, he becomes a nirik and can set things on fire; I imagine the meltdown in Donnie vs Witch Town, he would just be ablaze as he says science is superior) especially when it comes to other kirin, but he does care deeply for his family. Design wise, I had a lot of fun with it and was pretty easy to churn out. I again took inspiration from various human TMNT designs and decided to give Star a sort of dreadlock inspired mane and tail look, being a little on the long side so it can allude to the would be full mane if he was full kirin. For the scales, the kirin has scales resembling leaves, but I decided to give him nine big square scales to resemble Donnie’s battle shell. Reddish brown eyes because I personally prefer that to the heterochromia look, and having his goggles around his neck instead of on his head, because otherwise it would have been too much going on in a single area. And, something specific for this, Star lost his horn in an accident as a colt and has used an artificial one since (I imagine someone had helped him and built his first version of the artificial horn and this sparked Star’s interest in science). (also, to anyone who might say artificial horns can’t work, MLP:FiM Season 4, Episode 6, “Power Ponies”. Masked Matter-Horn is technically a Pegasus with a false horn, and I’d like to think that, because both the Power Ponies and this take on TMNT take place in a fictional comic verse, the rules of how things work can be bended to fit the story; so shut up)

Following Star is this verse’s take on Michelangelo, called Speckles or “Keles”. I knew I wanted him to be a pegasus in this version because he’s so bouncy (i imagine he’s kind of like Rainbow Dash in that he’s always flying or just hovering most of the time), and decided with the half-half he would be half pony-half (metamorphosis) changeling. Cheerful and artistic, Keles brings the razzmatazz to the fights and acts as the wildcard of the group. While he is often the one to be the optimist in the group, he isn’t afraid to speak the hard truth with “Dr. Delicate Touch.” He cooks for the family and is the first pony in the group to make amends with “Draxum”, much to everyone’s distress. Being half-changeling, he can change aspects of his appearance without much of a second thought, but full body transformations take a lot of concentration and only lasts a few minutes.  Again, I knew I wanted Keles to be a pegasus based pony, so the drawing part wasn’t too hard to figure out. What was difficult was the color. Obviously orange gear but beyond that I had to come back to it. Looking at the changelings in the show, they either have a complementary or analogous color palette, so I went analogous (yellow, yellow-green, green). For the most part he’s fully pony in design and the changeling aspect comes in via his transformation ability, but he does have a few changeling aspects to the design with his “ears”, eyes, and crystal thingies on chest (I also did temporarily think about giving him insect wings, but I didn’t want to draw that so, yeah). Originally he was going to have a coat design similar to Sunburst, but I went with a more spotty design to resemble Mikey’s spots (and maybe also a call back to how changelings used to look, unintentionally). Once more, I was inspired by various human TMNT designs and gave him a curly mane, which also added to the bouncy, light on his hooves idea. And he is the only other pony besides Neo that has a cutie mark, a spray painted playing card.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Raphael, called Rimram, “Ram” or “Rammy” as a nickname. He’s the oldest and tallest/biggest as a half pony-half dragon. And it was actually the decision to make Raph pony part dragon that inspired the idea of them all being half pony-half creatures. Being the biggest and oldest, Ram is the one to often stand between his brothers and certain harm (especially because many are intimidated by him being half-dragon), taking and dealing a lot of damage. Also being part dragon, he sometimes has moments of rage and greed that are hard to control. But his love for his family and some different calming methods help curve that down. With the design, even though I knew I wanted him to be half-dragon, how that played out into his design was rather difficult to figure out. Had to futz around with it a little bit before I got something I was happy with. I’d figure his front legs could act almost like hands and he can actually hold stuff with his claws, and while it may not look like it, he can walk on just his back legs, but only for a short time. Of course, I had to make him spiky and made the decision that he has horns but no visible ears (I tried to make the horns allude to alligator snapping turtle spikes, but I'm not sure how well I executed that idea). Green with pink scales, because why not.

(Also, side note in case anyone’s wondering: With the weapons, I was thinking more along the lines of what could work with a character that can’t really grab things with hands. For the most part, unless they’re a unicorn or have some way to use magic to lift/wield stuff, most of the time ponies use their mouths to handle things and can use their hooves to a certain degree. With pegasi and other similarly winged creatures, I have seen them use their wings to hold and sometimes grab things, so they can use them as well as their mouths. So, mostly the weapons would hypothetically be used when needed, but most of the time they would be fighting with kicks and the like. Neo(Leo) and Star(Donnie) can obviously use their horns/magic to use their weapons, but they can wield them via mouth and hooves when needed. Keles(Mikey) can use both nunchakus simultaneously with mouth and wing, and Ram(Raph) uses his mouth, claw hands, and tail (since I imagine it can act as an extra limb like Splinter’s tail. Also, also, I gave Ram a jutte instead of tonfas or sais because of the mobility factor, and thought it would be better to use a single weapon instead of a dual wielding. Though I guess either one could be single use; I don’t know anything about any of these weapons outside of the show - and other TMNT shows - so there’s probably some things I could be missing.)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

It really bothers me that tumblr will shit on Christianity all day long but all other religions, especially Judism and Islam, are off limits. I'm from the middle east and literally no-one will listen to me when I try to tell them Islam isn't cute or kind. *sigh* I know the West is becoming less religious in general and that's encouraging, but I don't see many signs that they're learning more about the reality of Islam, let alone dealing with it. :( Anyway, thank you for running this blog.

It's a really weird phenomenon.

Did you ever watch the American talk show "The Late Show with David Letterman"? (Go with me here, I promise I'll make a point.) In particular, the opening. As the opening titles began, the announcer would say: "from New York, the greatest city in the world, it's The Late Show with David Letterman!" This is what American patriotism often looked like, sometimes acting like America invented freedom, and occasionally even claiming it being due to Xianity. This obnoxiousness is called exceptionalism. Essentially, "we are uniquely the best."

Just as narcissism consists of grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism, so too does exceptionalism live at two extremes. And it’s just as obnoxious.

Countries like the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, etc that have some form of secular liberal foundation have progressed far enough to be aware of and ashamed of much of their own history. However, history is to be remembered and learned from so that it's not repeated, not lived in. But there's a manifestation of exceptionalism that basically ignores all the strides that have been made, the battles fought and won, and behave like nothing has changed in 50, 100 or even 400 years. That theirs is the worst country. The most racist, the most sexist, the most dangerous, the most etc, etc, etc. Even though it's not. Not even close.

This is actually the same thing, but in a self-flagellating way; call it "vulnerable exceptionalism." A form of superiority complex of self-declaring ones own inferiority. Sort of like Xianity itself. "I'm nothing without god," for example, attesting to how wretched and sinful they are. You often see this through their accusation that non-believers are "arrogant" for not debasing themselves at the feet of this imaginary deity. It's performative arrogant humility.

The truth is, they're probably unlikely to be the best person or the worst person in the world. They're probably exceedingly average, but there’s nothing exceptional about that. Attesting to one's broken nature wins the approval of the Xian flock, and in the same way, attesting to the supposed depravity of a first world country wins approval in certain ideological circles. But it's similarly a form of humble brag. A race to the bottom, rather than to the top.

Mix into this a little Postcolonial Theory (which I won't deep dive into), and you've got yourself a nice big serving of cultural relativism. Basically, the notion that secular, liberal western countries have no real claim to being "better" than a theocratic dictatorship, because look at what they did 1000 years ago.

Except that they are better. In every measurable metric of human wellbeing: lifespan, access to health, freedom, education, accountability of the government, and so on. But you're not supposed to say this, because it would be imposing western values onto a different culture. (But I did say it, and I'm not walking it back.)

In her book, "Unveiled," Yasmine Mohammed talks about how her country threw her back to her abusive fundamentalist Islamic family. Because hanging her upside down and beating the soles of her feet for not memorizing and reciting the quran is just the way the culture works. This happened in Canada, by the way, in the name of "cultural sensitivity." As she points out, and rightfully remains angry about, this would never have happened to a blonde, white girl in a Xian household.

This relativism encourages people who live in free, liberal, secular countries, whose rights and responsibilities, their government's obligations and limitations, are enshrined in their constitutions and laws, to see themselves as sharing a common fate with those in closed, totalitarian, theistic countries, such as those under Islamic rule. it's supposedly cultural humility to think that maybe Sharia is just as valid a social approach as French secularism, for example.

So you end up with the navel-gazing of people living in free, democratic, secular societies preoccupied with imagining air conditioning, hiking, knitting, cycling or other trivialities are somehow racist or sexist, because these are just as important as whether women are arrested for removing their hijabs in Iran, or blasphemers sentenced to death in Pakistan, or Islam as a religion/political doctrine seeks to subjugate the entire world under it.

Except they're not. People in countries like Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, Iran and many others dream of either escaping to such free, western countries, or transforming their own into one of them, where secular, liberal values allow one the freedom to pursue one's own happiness.

They want to be able to tell their stories about what life is like in strongly Islamic countries - and to be heard. Because the plain truth of Islam needs to be spoken, or nothing will ever get better. This isn't even isolated to apostates either. Plenty of devout Muslims want to see islam undergo a Reformation similar to what Xianity went through hundreds of years ago, but silencing criticism to protect “religious sentiments” takes higher priority among the ideological elite.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/muslim-woman-activist-to_b_11761630

https://warsclerotic.com/2016/09/02/muslim-reformist-to-sally-kohn-stop-working-against-us/

No, free western countries might not be perfect paradises, but even where they fall down, they have the social machinery to be able to identify, address and resolve those problems. The Civil Rights Movement, Gay Pride among others, have been successful because of this machinery, not in spite of it. Liberalism isn't just a set of ethics, it's a way of resolving conflicts, not dissimilar to the scientific method. where current ideas are replaced with better ideas by making a reasoned case for change, by appealing fairness and to those Liberal ethics. And critics of Islam just want to have the same privilege of access to the Liberal machinery.

You’ll also notice there's usually some low-key racism or "noble savage" fetishization at play by Islam's non-Muslim defenders. To regard criticism of Islam as "racist" is itself racist, and invent language to shield it from valid scrutiny, in the name of signalling how virtuous and “inclusive” one is  - that’s sophistry and narcissism. This language has of course been adopted by Islamic zealots; they know the magic word that's supposed to make you feel fearful of being seen as a bigot (the same people have no fear of being called a “homophobe”). In effect, to hold up Muslim people as a human shield to protect Islam the idea.

And really, if you haven't been called an "Islamophobe" by a Defender of Islam - whether follower or mere apologist - within two posts of interaction, have you even been online lately?

I realize I've talked primarily about Islam here, mostly because I think it's most deserved, but also that I don't think Judaism is that "off limits." For reasons of Intersectionality - "white passing", which is deeply ironic considering Hitler's Aryan objectives; success in America; and the bizarre binary mathematics of Intersectionality - categorizing Jews as an "oppressor" class. There's a more thorough dive into that here. What this Critical Theory/Intersectionality mindset has done is embolden more antisemitism of late - and particularly in the current Middle East conflict - just as it has anti-Asian hate.

Which is not to say that you shouldn’t criticize Judaism, since you absolutely should, but I don’t think it’s as untouchable.

In closing, you may also be interested in the views of Sarah Haider, who founded Ex-Muslims of North America and has been frustrated by the same phenomenon. There are several interviews I can recommend: here, here, here, here and here. An excerpt from one:

“It feels like a betrayal,” she replies. “I’m still shocked and appalled by it. It’s difficult to move on. The betrayal of the left has really hurt us, because in principle these people should be on our side, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our efforts to reform Islam and bring human and women’s rights to Islamic countries. But they’re barring the gate, telling us we’re ‘Islamophobic’ or spurring hatred toward Muslims or contributing to a hostile atmosphere for them. They even say we’re contributing to Western imperialism. This is nonsense and is appalling to us.”

[nightfallgame]

INTRO

The characters here are seven “brothers”. They’re artificial children created by a mad scientist who raised them as their “mother”. They were raised in a controlled environment that amounted to a testing ground, all while psychologically abused, manipulated, and tortured by the woman who raised them. When they eventually learned about the outside world, they made an escape, and spend most of their story trying to survive on their own for the first time in their lives— as well as dealing with the lasting consequences and personality fuck-ups that their childhood left behind. 

While their appearances vary (and I’d love to go into more detail on that), the seven of them have a few traits in common. For one, their hair and eye color both correspond to their representative color. Second, their bodies are weird. Their mother was intending to breed them with each other, and since that required certain anatomy, most of them have some degree of gender issues for a very good reason. 

And as for how the brothers interact, it’s a disaster. There’s an awful mix of loving each other, hating each other, and just, so many complicated feelings... that all center back to how much they hate (and often simultaneously love) the woman who fucked them up. Mother’s attention was the ultimate thing they could aspire for, and the brothers spent years chasing it. Now that they only have each other and that central piece has been removed, the dynamic they had falls apart on top of itself, leaving a mess behind. 

CHARACTERS

Delaney — Black

The leader of the seven and the so-called eldest. Despite being Gwynn’s twin, he acts like he’s the oldest and everyone else’s superior. Ambition defines him, as does an intense greed to have everything that could make him “human”. He’s a very controlling person who always wants to lead, and despite his charming, composed exterior, he’s short-tempered and cruel to anyone who gets in his way. While he always keeps his promises, don’t be surprised if they get turned around to benefit him, in the end. He has a strong need to exert dominance over everyone around him— feeling like he’s in control is the only way his inner turmoil ever begins to ease. 

Gwynn — White

Delaney’s twin and the so-called second eldest. The white to Delaney’s black and the shadow to his light. A sensitive, delicate, gentle person who doesn’t let his emotions get the better of him. He has a bad tendency of letting people walk all over him— especially when he can’t see his troublesome brothers as anything but unruly children. It’s in his nature to mimic what the people around him want, and that usually ends in him becoming nothing but a shadow of what others expect with no personality or willpower of his own. While he loves his brothers dearly, he also resents them for being “more” than he’ll ever be. 

Braithe — Red

The third eldest of the group and the realist who keeps things together. Despite being hot-tempered and aggressive, he’s also a jaded, practical cynic who’s good at calling out bullshit when he sees it. Although he loves his family dearly, he struggles to keep his frustrations in check, especially when they’re all being stupid. He’s critical toward the world and everything he encounters, but idolizes Delaney to the point of almost seeing him as a god. Protectiveness drives his actions as much as a desire to prove himself and his worth. He’s good at insults and tearing people down and tends to be quick to jump into a fight.

Argyris — Silver

Auriel’s twin, but considered the fourth eldest. He displays intense mood swings, a vicious temper, and a stunning lack of emotional stability, all coupled with such a heavy twin complex that it consumes his life. Vain to disturbing extents, he fixates on his own appearance and fusses to make himself as appealing and “beautiful” as possible in a desperate attempt to be loved by the people around him. While he falls in love with things and people quickly, that love always turns to hatred before long. What he doesn’t want anyone to ever know is that he hates himself more than anything— and that he feels impossibly ugly.

Auriel — Gold

Argyris’s twin, but considered to be the third youngest. He grew up as a well-loved “golden child”, so he’s much too full of himself for his own good. Failure terrifies him more than anything, and it’s that fear that makes him lazy and distant. He’s the kind of person who’d rather do nothing than risk making himself look bad. Above all, he hates doing things for others, so he lives only for himself and his own wishes. A selfish person at his core, he does whatever benefits him and takes his negative feelings out on everyone around him. Argyris, in particular, makes him feel insecure, so the two butt heads constantly. 

Viorica — Blue

The second youngest of the group. A masochistic “glutton for punishment” who invites his brothers’ abuse out of a twisted sense of guilt. Some unfortunate behaviors in his childhood left him filled with regret and shame, so he does everything to compensate. He wants to be loved more than anything, especially by the family he treasures above all else, so he both fixates on being cute, pretty, and delicate-looking and turns himself into a target for all kinds of mistreatment. His desperate attachment to his brothers means that he doesn’t think of himself— and yet, his constant aim to be punished is more selfish than anything. 

Umber — Brown

The youngest of the family and more or less the runt of the litter. To put it simply, he’s a walking inferiority complex and a tantrum waiting to happen. Because he knows that he’ll never measure up to his brothers and feels useless, he puts on an act of arrogance and bosses around anyone he can. Even when around people stronger than him, he’s mouthy and bratty. He overcompensates for everything when he feels like he’s the worst. With a massive need to control people and have everything his way, he’s a nightmare to be around on every level. And yet, on the inside, he’s just a scared child who’s terrified of being forgotten. 

[beatrice-reden-official]

I KNOW EHE -Noodl

She has the attitude of a streamer -Ace

I don't know if it's worth anything but i have been told that i am the weird mix of both a superiority and inferiority complex

[elemental-daddy-neos]

YGO! Questionnaire

Tagged by @cipher-wise

Pleasantly surprised to be in one of these, so let’s go

Favorite series: *Gestures to icon* Is it any surprise I’ll be picking GX? I love GX with all my heart and soul. The story’s pacing is very good and never feels like it’s dragging its feet to get to where it’s going, most duels are over in less than a full episode with the longest one being three, there are so many good characters to get invested in, and this boy right here is your protagonist.

Look at him blow kisses to the audience after beating Crowler, how could anyone not love Jaden Yuki? I care him so much. Even the filler episodes in GX are pretty fun to watch most of the time, and it’s the good kind of filler that may not advance the plot much or at all, but it’ll give you plenty of good memories to take with you. Who could possibly forget the eggwich thief? Not to mention the soundtrack fucking slaps.

Favorite protagonist: I mean...

Yeah it’s Jaden. GX hooked me immediately when I started watching it because of how much I loved this boy. He’s that perfect mix of cocky and sweet when it comes to dueling because he’s confident in his own abilities, but he never stops having fun and being amazed at what his opponent can do, he cares about all of his friends and does his best to help them with their problems, he’s kind to strangers, and he has exactly half a brain cell. 

I feel the gif speaks for itself, but Jaden’s dialogue when he turns around here is “I’m such a sucker for things like this! I’ll help you, ma’am!” Dorothy says “No, you’ll be late... Don’t you have a test today?” And Jaden replies with “Who cares if I’m late? I couldn’t leave a lady in trouble!” Jaden Yuki is my absolute favorite protagonist.

Favorite rival: Oh man is that a tough one. Am I allowed to pick two? It’s a hard call to make between this dumb edgy bitch-

And this dumb gay bitch

Honestly they’re tied for favorite rival in my book. I absolutely loved Chazz when I watched GX, and I thought his arc about breaking through his inferiority/superiority complex and learning to accept loss as a part of life without letting it define him was wonderfully written, and seeing him grow as a person throughout the show just made me feel happy for him. Shark... I really thought I wasn’t going to end up liking Shark at first, but god he just gets so much better as Zexal goes on, starting out as this mean spirited middle school bully in episode one, and slowly ending up as Yuma’s boyfriend closest friend. It’s incredible to look back at how Shark acts when he’s first introduced and compare it to... season 3, I think it was, where just hearing the words “Yuma’s in danger” is enough to send him running to his rival’s side. Chazz and Shark. They are my favorites.

Favorite BFF: Him

Crow Hogan is an absolute treasure and he was my favorite part about watching 5Ds. This little bird man first gets introduced by stealing cards for his kids and clowning on Sector Security, and he’s a source of so much good throughout the show. Excellent best friend (technically brother but I’m counting him), wonderful father, 10/10 person all around. Plus the fact that the only thing stopping him from berating his bitchass brother even more was Yusei having to literally pick him up and pull him away is definitely extra points in my book. What a powerful little bird. His only weakness is people that are taller than him, which is unfortunately most people.

Favorite GFF:

Yuzu. Have I actually watched Arc V yet? No, but I’m still picking Yuzu for my number one here. Tea and Tori are just awful characters, I’m neutral towards Alexis, and Akiza... Did have potential to be something interesting on her own, despite how uncomfortable she made me in seasons 1-2 of 5Ds, but her relevance is alllll downhill from there. I’ve seen one clip of Yuzu yelling at a man eating pie and calling him a 100th rate duelist, and that was all I needed to know she would be my favorite. (Clip here) 

Favorite villain: Oh boy

The fuckin carrot is my favorite villain, and I say this as someone who fully believes he didn’t deserve to be in the last episode. Vector did some fucked up shit in his day, and he only continued to do fucked up shit in Yuma’s day, but I have to say he was pretty effective when it came down to his goals. He got things done and went right for what he wanted by taking direct action to seize Don Thousand’s power, and he manipulated Yuma perfectly by preying on his kind nature and love for Astral to use him to further his goals. 

...Plus I mean just look at his subbed dialogue God he’s such a slut. Evil slutty alien.

Tl;dr Vector was a horrible horrible person, but he was a good villain, and he was so entertaining whenever he was on screen that it was impossible not to like him. Still kinda wish he got what he deserved though, and what he deserved definitely wasn’t another chance.

Speaking of Don Thousand though, can we talk about how unfairly pretty he is? If I had to pick a runner up villain in terms of looks alone, it would definitely be him.

God it was not fair how pretty the big bad of Zexal was. He’s fucking gorgeous, and in my opinion, the best looking villain at the very least.

Favorite card: *Sweats in Duel Links* Favorite? There’s so many cards out there to pick from, but since I’ve already broken the rules with my two favorite rivals, I’ll be picking two of each card type: Spells, traps, and monsters. One for the aesthetic, and one for how often I make use of it.

First up, the Aesthetics group

What can I say, Vampiric Koala is such a cutie, Dwimmered Path has some really pretty card art, and Rainbow Life is an eternal flex on any heteros I may encounter while playing Duel Links. Nothing better than a gay trap card.

Now for usability

Dragon Knight of Creation is suuuper helpful in any dragon themed deck and has a permanent slot in my decks for Mokuba and Kaiba, PoG is always a fun way to boost up weak monsters to ridiculous heights, and Dark Bribe just lets you block your opponent like “Okay I know you wanna hurt me but I will let you draw another card if you do not do that thing”, and they can’t refuse you.

Favorite episode: I’ll be copying cipher’s format here and picking one for each series, but this will still only total out to five for me since I’ve yet to watch past Zexal ^^; Soon I’ll get to Arc V! One day...

Season 0: Episode 16:  Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis I’m a sucker for my son Joey, and this was a good Joey episode about him and his sister, plus it was nice seeing that doctor get what he deserved :) Duel Monsters: Season 5, episode 12-14:  The Deciding Match for Duel King - Yugi vs. Leon/Golden Castle of Stromberg/KC Grand Prix Ends  Probably a weird batch of episodes to pick, I know, but a lot of DM was kinda forgettable to me, and these are some of the few episodes I do recall. I just... really felt for Leon’s situation, and I wanted good things for that boy. I care him. GX: Season 3, episode 34: Dark Fusion! Inferno Wing!! Jim. Jim Jim Jimmmmm. This was the episode that finally made me understand why saviorshipping was a thing because it hits you with all these memories Jim has of Jaden and shows how they bonded before all this Dark World shit happened, and the whole thing was very emotional. 5Ds: Season 4, episode 2-3:  Recollections, Entrusted with a Friend's Dying Wish God Crow, my precious bird son. I really liked the backstory they gave him, despite how much it hurt. It was probably the best character development he got in the whole of 5Ds, and let you see a side to him you probably wouldn’t expect. I loved watching him get his justice. Zexal II: Season 2, episode 5-6:  Alito the Silent Fighter - Reunion of the Passionate Duelists!/ Be Revived! The Duelist Soul That Transcends Life!! I picked these episodes for Nistro and Nistro alone. He was one of my absolute favorites in Zexal, and seeing how well he and Dextra were doing was good for the soul. Just look at this good lion man right here.

Look at him!!!

Favorite decks to use: Elemental Heroes, Aromages, Red Eyes, Six Samurai, and Crystal Beasts.

Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link: I’m a simple girl, I love fusion/tributes for how easy they are, but synchro can be pretty fun, too

Years in fandom: ??? Even I don’t know the answer to this one, friends. I used to be in the fandom when I was in middle school, wrote/read a few fanfics here and there, but then I fell out of it for... Well I’m 22 now and only got back into things 6 months ago? I started rewatching the abridged series of Duel Monsters in March, and from there I just wanted to consume actual Yugioh content and never went back.

Who am I tagging: @finding-fallen-petals @dizziedaikonn​ @chazzaroo​ Go wild y’all

[kuroopaisen]

Yeah I've heard of him being like That with women, from the sounds of it the book is more "this is this dudes depressing life and bullshit views, have fun reading how fucked this was" But yeahhh. I wonder if the manga goes into dazai and chuuya more? The seasons set with them and seeing how dazai used to be were the most interesting parts.

i think the thing that confused me about ‘no longer human’ is that i’m not really sure what he was going for? like... are we supposed to think the protagonist is a Cool guy? are we supposed to be like “oh how sad and pathetic :(” because you could argue that you’re supposed to see him that way, but dazai also goes to great pains to remind you that the protagonist is Incredibly Handsome And Smart And All The Ladies Love Him 

i mean depression is really Weird and a lot of people suffering from it have a superiority/inferiority complex mix, so both being possible would... be in line, i guess? 

anyway... i know that tv shows are bound by run time and all that (and also, Animation Time-Consuming And Expensive), but i do get sad when they have to cut out all the fun little tidbits or side scenes that we get in manga :( so i’m almost certain the manga probably explores that more? but if anyone’s read it, please let me know! 

[clarkgriffon]

(I don't know if your open to conflicting options, if you don't want to deal with this please feel free to ignore it.) You said Raven had a superiority complex, I would argue that it's really more of an inferiority complex. She feels inferior when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Her mom was neglectful/abusive, her boyfriend was a cheating douche, and she's never really had anyone else she was close with that we know of until she got to the ground. (1/2)

So she overcompensates with the things she is confident in (her intellect and morals), which comes off as a superiority complex. I guess I'm trying to say I think she uses the superiority complex to cover up her inferiority complex. (2/2)

Definitely! I’ve actually made this point before on my blog, though I’ve written so much Raven meta at this point I couldn’t point you to where. I think she feels like she’s chosen last a lot in the beginning of the series. She only ever has Finn, and then Finn picks Clarke and it’s devastating. She uses her bravado to cover her fear.

I think she does have a superiority complex, but it’s in a very specific area. Her intelligence. She knows she’s smart and falls back on it as a crutch, so even while she’s down on herself and feeling she’s not good enough, she puffs out her chest and goes, well yeah, but I’m at least smart enough. It’s an odd mix of superiority stemming from inferiority. 

I think the weirdest part is when morals get pulled into it all, because the S1-2-3 Raven doesn’t really have a hard stance on morals. She does what she has to and doesn’t feel bad about it. She tortures Lincoln, she’s willing to give Murphy to the grounders in place of Finn.

Then in S4 she has this great storyline ABOUT morals and how Murphy is actually the moral one? And she’s the one rationing medicine, willing to watch the grounders die. But then we get Superior Raven in S6 which is not the same complex we get in the earlier seasons. The intelligence confidence is still there, but now we have this weird moral superiority which she never really had? Nor earned?

But as for the early seasons and her bravado, I 100% concur with you.

[artpoint420]

Melvin and the Silent Diagnosis for a Brilliantly Broken Psyche

Hypothetical Diagnosis Insecurity masked with narcissistic tendencies characterized with compulsive obsessions driven by blatant autism, and no that is not an immature insult I test extremely highly for Asperger's myself Here's the Evidence: (I will state before hand that Melvin-borg is a completely separate character in my mind, and thus will not be included in this particular theory.  Melvin decided not to turn out like him, so they are canonically separate characters) He is obviously and frequently inspired by George and Harold, but his deeply embedded fear of rejection makes him dangerously bitter, and it doesn't help that everytime he breaks out of this protective shell, he is rejected or betrayed once again. It’s important to note that while he may be high-functioning (aka: Aspergers) he is still Autistic. That’s because Asperger’s is not a form of autism- it is autism. Period. And any kind of autism or mental attypicality left untreated can develop in to many, many other severe mental disorders, or, in general, make life a metric heck ton harder and complicated than it already is. I also need to confess that I test highly positively for autism myself as well as being an INTP female (Myers-Briggs Personality Test). Not to brag, but all that combined with my naturally creative nature makes me rare af, but it also means I can't communicate or handle stress #liketheothergirls, so that has lead me to being/feeling bullied and ostracized.  I also have anxiety and depression issue which run in my family, and mild insomnia, and may or may not be relapsing into an eating disorder. Paired with psychical problems like acid reflux and severe neck tension, health, whether psychical or mental is of uttermost importance to me.  It suffices to say, autism is not easy to deal with and if not taken care for properly a person, especially if not made at least aware of what autism truly is, it can truly ruin their life. Combined with the neglectful nature of his parents (at least in the books) I and many others in this fandom truly believe Melvin is at least autistically coded. Not only does this fit the archetype of his character but it also fits the theme of the books to a TEE. At its core, CU, of all things, is a children's book series, about living your best life despite not being “normal.” Even characters like the teachers or Mr Krupp who strive for “normality” are shown to actually have deeply repressed creativity, or, in some cases, deep trauma from their own childhoods. It suffices to say that I resonate deeply with Melvin. Say what you want about him or me, I was able to relate to him the second he spoke his first line in the second book. Sorry to turn this into a long vent, but I feel it is best to use myself to support this theory as well as harder evidence, even if it is mostly a means of self-therapy. To start, we both are obsessed with school even to a detrimental degree. Ever since head-start (Pre-K but a million times better), these "book-smarts" were the first thing I ever truly excelled at. When the other kids bullied (or as I now know as teasing) me, I would lose myself in a stack of homework or a book 2-3 grades past my grade level (this is before I drew or wrote as a main hobby). Similarly, Melvin is rarely seen without a book or gadget, just like me. We both over analyze things and hide our feelings. We both have intense crushes on others but are terrified to dare express them, or do but to nothing but awkwardness. We were both science kids, and fascinated by words and/or numbers alone (I still am just in a more artistic way). We both struggle to communicate and relate to others. We both have a unusual sense of humor and are highly observant of surroundings all the while missing what’s in front of our noses. We both have interests that quickly spiral into obsessions and dropping the obsession only when sick of it. We both practice similar forms of stimming. We both not only thrive but crave control and structure with the world around us, even to the point of being "control freaks" and creating odd habits, routines, and rituals regardless of whether they are necessary or make sense. We both have an intense fear of intimacy and rejection to the point of practicing self-isolation and in some cases self harm or other unhealthy coping methods (seen with Melvin over eating sweets or over working himself. For me it’s disordered eating or self flagellation, something I have all but completely dropped but still) We also both tend to see ourselves as inferior to others and attempt to mask those feelings with a superiority complex (I feel bad for my siblings but I didn’t know what I was doing, and no it was not abusive just sibling rivalry and I’m the oldest anyway, and we are country kids and understand “rough-housing” =/= using each other as a punching bag, but accidents happen I'm sorry) We both seem to become easily overstimulated and have explosive mental and emotional breakdowns when things just . . . become too much However the harsh divide between male and female and fictional and nonfictional means we both present certain traits differently. Whereas he presents a more linear line of thinking my mind is overwhelmingly sporadic. Also, I have over sensitivities to touch and light (and sometimes certain noises, but not anything not normal? Wfk.) But maybe he does have oversensitivity but I can't think of an example off the top of my head. Enough about me however. I know Melvin and autism has been done to death.  Hell, I just did it to death.  My actual theory is more on the inner mechanisms of his mind and predicting how he will develop should the series allow for full character development. Also, similar to my Krupp theory, I will be listing his crimes out and give him a proper sentence for his age and maturity level (which will be light as I am sympathetic to his plight).   This is already getting too long, so Imma try to finally get to the point.  Characters with autism are honestly a mixed bag, sometimes there as standardized as my mystery Daddy Sherlock Holmes and other times they are as subtle as Pearl or Peridot from Steven Universe (has Rebbaca Sugar confirmed this? sorry). Honestly, it does distress me that autism is almost always used to have an evil genius character or some weird side character for brownie/ diversity points. (this makes me a bit hypocritical I guess, considering my own stories. I guess tropes are tropes for a reason) And while Dav Pilky May not be subtle with his scholastic politics or humor his one spectacular tool in his writing books has always been, when it comes to his characters, showing instead of telling. This is something I latched on to even as a kid, and I was already thinking up theories on the characters before I even knew character theories were a thing.  Like what happened to Harold's Dad (hint, hint).  Why was Harold's sister rarely used?  Does Mr Krupp actually like their comics (a now accepted theory, but not just min? And many many others I'm probably never gonna write.  It took until how long in the books to reveal George and Harold have ADHD? Before that they were simply described as being as smart as Melvin but just in different ways. Personally I feel that autism is inverted ADHD. This is an opinion I’ve recently formed so if I’m wrong bloody attack me in the comments. Anyway, Melvin presenting autism makes him the perfect foil to George and Harolds’ more sporadic antics. The only true difference between autistic folks and ADHD folks is that those with autism tend to crave a structured environment full of rules, and set goals to achieve, while such an environment is HELL to children with ADHD (aka:George and Harold). (Even though if with adults they can trust, children with ADHD thrive in structured environments if they are surrounded by adults or authority figures they can trust.)  I know some will tell me ADHD is on the spectrum, but I just learned this like actually the other day and don’t fully understand it.  My prediction is that Melvin will eventually and naturally mellow out if just because staying so high strung all the time is a huge waste of mental energy.  I know good as hell I had to.  Also, he mellowed our in the books and went from a screeching revenge exacting lil narcissistic white boi prick to a person who simply wants to pursue his interests and even helping George and Harold (selfishly, but help nonetheless). He even went from enjoying the fame and attention of hero-ing to realizing it did not fufill him. Indeed quite the opposite.  His true passion lay in solving world problems through science, and I don't think the ending for him in the books could have been any more perfect considering his character.   In the Netflix show, similar to how I think Krupp's personalities are merging, I believe that Melvin will eventually become more like his Broski alter ego (which I calmly demand more of).  Overall, given that this show needs to go back to the status quo more often than not, I don't think his core character will ever change, and it doesn't need to.  Multiple times throughout the series he's been shown to crave friendship from George and Harold, despite audibly hating him . Textbook Tsundere, I know.  He will form a friendly rivalry with George and Harold, I have almost no doubt about that, taking the season 1 finale, season 2 finale, season 3 first episode, and halloween special into consideration. (Yeah, if someone will send me clips I will give them my eternal gratefulness) To conclude, because by god this is long, Melvin is, SHOCKER, just a little kid.  A little kid who likes muffins and dolls and has big hopes and dreams.  A little kid whose love for science and unrecognized creativity is channeled into making inventions that are even more impressive than those of Professor P (sorry P).  But he is a little kid with his own needs and stuggles which at this point remain unmet.  His parents are canonically neglectful, I cannot repeat that enough times.  The effects of neglect are a hell-hole of its own regardless of growing up with undiagnosed autism.  But that's just a theory- Alright, that was a banger, I guess next up is Melvin-borg since writing this has given me some interesting ideas for him.  Let’s see how long this hyperfocus train will go!

[meggtheegg]

Oh my gosh! I can't believe that you answered my last question about the different Zoe Murphy interpretations! You are very good at these characterization posts! Would it be alright if I asked about the different actresses's Alana interpretations as well? (Diamond, Gabi, Phoenix, Kristolyn, Olivia) I love hearing about how different actors interpret a role! Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed analysis on these talented actors!

You are the sweetest! Thank you so much!For Alana, I haven’t been able to see Diamond yet, but I’ve seen all the rest, either in person or in bootlegs and they’re all so different and that makes them really interesting to analyze! Alana’s the character that went through the most rewrites, and I think she may be the one most open to interpretation because of that.

With Kristolyn, you can tell that she had some level of training in comedic acting. Her timing was consistently so good that even lines that you wouldn’t expect to get a laugh out of had you falling out of your seat! Though, you can also tell that comedic relief was one of the major things she had in mind for the character, and a lot of emotional moments tended to get passed over for comedic purposes. That said, you still definitely get glimpses into her deeper side. She puts on a smile to hide her loneliness and is willing to do and say anything to get people to notice her. She’s that kid who was told she was “gifted” in elementary school, but is now struggling, at least emotionally, which leads to a weird mix of having both a superiority and inferiority complex. She latches onto Connor’s death, partly because she relates to him on some level, but mostly because it makes her feel like she’s being noticed for doing something important. Her Alana really reminds me of a lot of kids in my school. When I was in eleventh grade, a kid in the grade below me died in a car accident. He wasn’t a particularly nice guy, and he always marched down the hallway with his group of loud, angry, self-proclaimed “redneck” friends, terrorizing a lot of other students. But, when he died, the people who had rolled their eyes or tensed up a little when he would walk past were sharing stories on social media about the tiniest interactions they’d had, talking about how “his smile would light up the room” or “he had the best sense of humor.” They believed it, too. When someone dies, especially that young, you forget about the bad things and you hold onto those little, positive instances that connect you. All Alanas do this, but Kristolyn’s, especially, clung very hard onto those little moments with Connor until she truly believed that they were bigger and more important to her than they really were.

Olivia’s Alana is very robotic and she approaches people with a very obviously pre-rehearsed speech. But, she rushes through what she’s saying. Even with practice, she’s nervous and awkward. She’s the one, out of all of them, who is the worst with people. It isn’t until the Connor Project that she even has a chance of being a part of something. Where Kristolyn’s Alana was that overly cheerful girl that nobody really noticed but probably didn’t dislike, Olivia’s Alana was probably actively isolated. She was “weird.” Different. She connected to Connor not because she thought his death was important, but because he was as isolated in life as she was. And, in convincing people to embrace and mourn Connor, with all his imperfections, maybe that acceptance would spread to every kid who doesn’t fit in. At first, it did, and she thrived, but then people started moving on and she grew desperate. The Connor Project was a chance to remind the school of that grief they felt. To keep it hovering in the back of their minds so they might see someone like her and think twice before making judgments.

Phoenix’s Alana is genuinely really sweet, but has very little perception of how her actions impact others. She goes through life kind of blissfully unaware of everyone but herself. She feels isolated, but it feels like she doesn’t even realize that until Evan tries to call her out during Good For You. Her Alana thinks she’s special, but she approaches everyone else the same way. She doesn’t view herself as above them, really. She just knows that she’s smart and gets good grades and sees nothing wrong with bragging and inflicting herself on other people because she wouldn’t mind them doing the same. She seems the least rattled by both Connor’s death and the death of her grandmother. There’s just kind of an air about her that she’s book smart but not very emotionally intelligent. She feels things, but doesn’t quite process those emotions until she’s under duress. Then, it all comes pouring out. Her involvement in the Connor Project really does seem to start out as her jumping onto another extracurricular, because that’s what she’s always done. It’s an impulse. But as it goes on, it gets personal. So personal that she’s willing to do anything to see it through.

When it comes to Gabi, there is no skirting over one major difference: she’s white. Where the other Alanas have the subtext that they probably have been told that they have to work harder and do better than their white peers just to be seen on the same level, Gabi’s Alana doesn’t have to think about that. She’s probably an overachiever because her parents are pushy. She’s expected to graduate at the top of her class, and she plans to. Her Alana seems like she would be really nice if you could actually get to know her for who she is, but she’s been shaped into a very practiced, fake person whose interactions, though not negative, never quite seem genuine. She’ll probably get to college, fall apart, and completely reinvent herself. You can see that beginning in her approach to the Connor Project. Much like Phoenix, what starts as another thing for her college applications turns into a major passion project. She starts to realize how ridiculous and fake everything in her life is, and by the end, she genuinely cares about the inherent tragedy in Connor’s story and sees some startling similarities between herself and him. As Evan gets more pulled into his lie, she’s becoming more grounded in reality, and that clashes, hard. Posting the note is her final act of desperation, and probably of defiance. She’s angry at the world, she’s angry at Evan, and she has to get the orchard built, because if people would do it for Connor, that means they’d do it for her, too. That’s something tangible and real and it means so much more to her than everything in her life that’s come before it.