#whether I'm right or wrong i don't know

[epickiya722]

Thinking about this post again and I noticed...

How Alma and Yomi's eye and hair colors are reversed.

As you can see, Alma has red hair and silver eyes (some coloring it has a slight blue tint to them). Yomi has silver/white hair and red eyes.

Yep, they are connected somehow in this story.

How? I don't know, but I'm going to take a guess here.

Now, I will warn you that I do talk about the story here, so if you are not caught up (as of this time, there would be 21 chapters) or not have at all read the manga, be aware of spoilers ahead.

Let's continue!

I'm guessing some of things here.

Yomi "created" Alma himself, turned him into a Maga just as he did with the others.

Could be created from the same person, related maybe.

Alma is 15 and Yomi looks to be in his 20s. He could be older than that.

About to go on a full on ramble here, folks. Stay with me.

Other than the rings, the more I think about it, the more I see there can be some things in the story that hints at their (Alma and Yomi) connection to each other. Of course, there's the obvious, right in your face stuff (like the rings and how Yomi talks about Alma) that you're about to see and then subtle hints (such as their colors).

I know, some of what I'm about to say may be a stretch. Honestly, just me sharing a thought I have. So, you don't have to agree with me here.

Anyways!

Let's reiterate from the story a bit.

In chapter 4, while talking to Yoru, Yomi mentions how he knew Alma and been watching him since his birth. However, he mentions "being rejected once". This could be referring to being rejected by Alma himself or someone else.

A part of me is banking on Alma being the one to reject him at some point. Staying on chapter 4, there's this bit. [Press images for closer view.]

Yomi talks about having a "constant" in life. When you lose it, you become your most fragile. He then states that he'll be patient until Alma has his "constant".

I'm guessing here that once he is sure Alma has someone close to him, possibly Tao, he'll get rid of that person so Alma can be at his most vulnerable and take that spot. Become his "constant". Manipulate Alma into accepting him and being in his family. Making sure that Alma doesn't reject him again.

Maybe he was that "constant" for Alma before getting rejected and is why he says what he said to Yoru. Maybe he is banking on Tao being that current "constant" he wants to get rid of and is using Yoru to do that task. Why Yoru? He's a Maga made from Jin's body, Jin who is Tao's younger brother who felt that his big sister lied and left him behind. (Check out chapters 14 - 15.)

Yomi lied about that "being patient" part because come chapter 8, he shows up to see Alma.

It just seems to me that Yomi has this eagerness to want to have his ideal family. Maybe even possessive in a way, especially over Alma, that he feels entitled that those he changed into Maga must stay in his family. Here's something from the previous chapter (7).

Yomi insists that Kanata and Alma belong right there with him and the others.

As I mentioned, I think Yomi created Alma. When Yomi states he was there since Alma's birth. What if "birth" doesn't necessarily mean "when Alma was a baby"? What if he meant since Alma's change into a (half) Maga?

However, what as I mentioned with my other guess, Yomi witnessed Alma's change into a Maga by someone else? He learned to do that from that person?

"It hasn't been long since Kanata was born..." I'm guessing he meant that Kanata didn't become a Maga until recently. What if this is the context Yomi meant back in chapter 4?

On Alma's end, he doesn't know Yomi. He didn't recognize him when he encounters him. He relates this to Tao even in chapter 16 that he didn't know him.

What he does know is that Yomi has the same ring as him (chapter 10), a ring that Alma has made clear is important to him as he demanded Utsuro to return it to him after she snatched it away (recognizing it as the ring Yomi wears) in chapter 19.

That leaves me questioning as to why the ring is important to Alma. Something tells me he doesn't even know why, but he just feels that the ring is significant.

Those rings could have been given by the same person and something happened to that person. Which left Alma and Yomi alone, something happened between them that caused the two to become distant and Alma not remembering Yomi and also Yomi creating his "family" with the others.

Factoring out that "maybe mystery person", it could be that Yomi gave Alma the ring. Again, something happened between the two and lead to where the story is now.

With either scenario, I do feel certain that Yomi's actions are out of loneliness and possession.

For now, I'll leave off here and continue on another post.

◇

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

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[quillvice]

also like okay it's not like The Worst Thing In The World but I am disappointed that I found a book by a Mizrahi Jew that seemed like it'd be a very interesting read ("The Wrong Kind Of Jew: A Mizrahi Manifesto") because the Jewish world can be EXTREMELY Ashke-centric from what's considered stereotypically Jewish features to the Jewish branches (largely an Ashke thing, Mizrahim & Sephardim AFAIK don't really have branches) to traditional Jewish foods etc, and I googled the author (Hen Mazzig) to learn more about him and he's a a pretty hardcore Zionist who also pushes information not based in reality and like... again I'm not saying this is the worst thing in the world, but like... it's disappointing you know?

[pocketgalaxies]

marisha ray and liam o'brien truly will just sit there and roleplay and make me Think Things

[nobodybetterlookatme]

Once again, my favorite part of my job is pissing off my medic and ruining their day lmao

[nekrophoria]

.

[fluffypurpleglitterdemon]

I really did not expect how early the idea of "inflict Human Face Disease on Yong'an" would come up. I thought Bai Wuxiang would suggest it as revenge after the war! Bai Wuxiang didn't even say in as many words that Xie Lian should inflict it - he told Xie Lian how this outbreak happened, and Mu Qing first brought up turning it on Yong'an in as many words. (Mu Qing was basically picking up Bai Wuxiang's implications, I'm not saying it was Mu Qing's idea. Mostly I'm saying I'm surprised Mu Qing and Feng Xin were even there to give their input on this matter in particular)

[callmehere-iwillappear]

FOR LIKE. CONTEXT. idiot's guide is broken up into two arcs, arc 1 is... almost done i think. hopefully. there's still kind of a ways to go for arc 2

so essentially i'm thinking about, once i do finish writing and editing arc 1, starting to post those chapters on a once a week schedule. then if i haven't finished arc 2 by the time i run out, i'd take a break from posting until it does get finished. if it is finished by then i'll just continue posting lmaofjdsklfjd

[shadowkira]

Another thing since I'm apparently venting today:

While it is perfectly fine and honestly encouraged to headcanon characters as trans fem, trans masc or nonbinary... Don't use a canonically cis dude to bash a canonically nonbinary character.

Saw someone dunking on Venture being too feminine and then showing four "masculine nonbinary characters" as examples.

....One was a robot and the other was a cis man, Asra from the Arcana. He's very pretty but this doesn't strengthen your argument, especially when Venture is arguably more masculine visually than Asra. They're a cute little dirty gremlin and I honestly am considering going back to playing. I miss the game but I'm so tired of all the negative shit in the fandom and that the devs get put through.

[notmoreflippingelves]

So I know, I know, we all hate it when people add comments and especially lengthy ones to posts that are no openly encouraging them. Nevertheless, I'm gonna do so in this particular case because the novel that I was writing in the tags just got too too long and I was frighteningly close to the tag limit.

The things that would fix Esteban Flores are (in roughly this order)

A found family (preferably one totally divorced from connections to his bio family) and/or a small child to take care of.

A heartfelt apology from his biological family (definitely Luisa, probably Elena, and maybe Francisco as well).

A hug x1000

Being shaken

Enough sleep

But most especially the first two.

Esteban's issues stem from being made to feel like an afterthought and/or an obligation to his family of origin. In his mind, he was not chosen or wanted. He was liked, loved even--but he was loved because he was familia--not because he was Esteban. He was not enough in and of himself, especially not when compared to Elena.

Do you know why he continued to tend the cacao trees during the Dark Times? Yes, it was out of love for his family, but I think there's a bit more to it than that. His abuela shared something private and meaningful (i.e. how to take care of the cacao trees) with him that she didn't also share with Elena. He was welcomed into Luisa's world--if only for a moment. This was his, the rare thing that he didn't have to sacrifice to or share with Elena. No one could take this away from him--the moment of feeling seen and chosen. Not even the fact that this moment was very very much an anomaly and the rest of his youth (and his adulthood) consisted of him being shoved into the corner of some family portraits and left out of others entirely---and no one noticing this for years.

In "Something I Would Never Do," Esteban outright states "Years ago/ I did not know/Just how much they cared for me." He's just now realizing after 40+ years that his family just might love him (50+ years if you go back to when Esteban moved into palace); he's genuinely surprised about it and terrified that he's going to fuck it all up. Yes, Esteban has atrocious self-esteem, but these impressions did not come from nothing. Even now, his family keeps him largely at arm's length. He doesn't appear (or isn't even mentioned) in the two family vacation episodes, suggesting he was left behind. His Navidad plans (the ones he has been dreaming of , all alone for 41 years!) are rejected outright by Luisa, and no one even bothers to ask what the Dark Times were like or how he is coping. Everything has changed and yet nothing has changed. He's there, sometimes he is shown attention and affection, but he's still made to feel that he's not really a part of the family in the same way the others were.

All this is pretty bad in and of itself, but it's made worse by the fact that he's not getting his emotional needs fulfilled from outside the family any more than he is within it. As far as we can tell, Esteban's only real friends as a child were Elena and Victor. (Maybe Felicia as well, but she was far more Elena's friend than his). And neither Victor nor Elena could give Esteban what he needed: the feeling of being liked and chosen for himself and that alone.

Elena is family--the same family has made Esteban feel like an afterthought and obligation, merely liked at best and tolerated at worst. But that's oversimplifying things. Elena is also the impossible gold standard that Esteban will always be measuring himself against. (And it's especially galling that she was 1-2 years younger than him, and he was still nowhere near her level). She's the favorite (and Luisa is not subtle about hiding that fact), the priority, the important one. She's the one who has always been and will always be secure in power and confidence and their familia's love--the exact opposite of Esteban.

Victor, meanwhile, was a horrible influence on Esteban, and not just where Shuriki was concerned. His selfishness rubbed off on his amigo, and his competitiveness and callousness brought out every one of Esteban's insecurities and worst tendencies. It's also very strongly implied that their friendship (at least on Victor's side) was rooted in how 'useful' Esteban was. Through El Segundo, Victor got closer to power/the crown and also found someone that he could feel "superior" to. Someone that Victor could consistently beat at races, so that he could feel like a winner. Someone who wouldn't tell Victor to go to hell if he subjected unflattering nicknames upon.

So yeah, Esteban's childhood primary source of affection/attention outside his family were two people who exacerbated Esteban's already huge inferiority complex. One of whom was part of said family that enabled said inferiority complex in the first place, and the other of whom is wrapped up in the event that caused Esteban to lose his family as well.

And then, Elena was trapped in the amulet and Victor was banished from Avalor, and Esteban was without anyone at all for 41 years. His primary source of attention and affection during this time was the woman who conquered his kingdom and took away his family. Someone who had preyed upon his vulnerabilities from the very start and who kept him alive only so long as he remains obedient and "useful" to her. There's nothing even remotely close to equal or mutual about this dynamic, and Shuriki did even more damage on Esteban's already battered psyche than all of the others combined and multiplied by ten.

Even after Shuriki is gone, Esteban still doesn't have anyone in his life that voluntarily chose to be in his life. His entire social circle is comprised of people that he knows through his family and/or his role as chancellor (and later his magical abilities). There's Naomi, except there isn't, because their dynamic is rooted exclusively in their shared devotion to Elena and their roles on the Grand Council (which is also directly tied to Elena).

Similarly, Doña Paloma interacts with Esteban almost exclusively in reference to his role as Chancellor. Would she give him the time of day if he had no political power or influence?. Doubtful, especially as she seems to really dislike him most of the time. There's a bit more potential for a genuine friendship to develop with Julio or Professor Mendoza, but again, these connections were formed through Esteban's job and we don't really see any interactions that aren't in service to that.

Higgins is explicitly Esteban's employee and given how insensitive he can be to Esteban, it seems unlikely that he has any real non-professional loyalty or affection to him. Same with Armando, except things do seem to a bit more cordial between them.

Esteban seems to have a good rapport with Avalor's allies, especially Toshi and Shoji, but these are unlikely to be anything more than friendly diplomatic connections and ones separated by distance.

So yeah, my boy literally does not interact with a single character on the show without at least one of them doing so out of obligation/duty/job requirement and/or ulterior motive. Fifty years later and almost nothing has changed, Esteban still has nothing and no one to call his own.

[transmasc-tabris]

Anyway

[ave-immaculata]

ok but am I considering this unknowable explanation to cope or because it's legitimately a likely explanation

[askshivanulegacy]

It's that time of week again for people to wholesale pirate newly released comics and post them online as spoilers.

And for me to delete them off my dash with the spam button.

[homunculus-argument]

Hey I know I'm not that much of a punk circles kind of guy, but just in case you kids don't have anyone more credible to tell you this: do not put endangering badges on your back.

Yes, your battle jacket should consist exclusively of whatever the fuck you want to put on it, but if you've got political badges, rainbow pins, or anything advertising yourself as a member of a vulnerable group (whether that's trans, disabled, any kind of ethnic or refugee background, you probably know what yours are better than I do), only put them in places where you can see everyone who can see them. I'm not joking this is a safety measure. Punk scenes can be rough and sketchy places and not everyone who attends them is safe to be around.

You don't need to come tell me that this is unfair, because you're right. You don't need to come tell me that I shouldn't be telling you not to put a target on your back, but that I should be telling people who assault people to not assault people, because you're wrong. Yeah no shit it sucks but unfortunately if nazis gave a single fuck about who is morally correct, they wouldn't be nazis in the first place.

Be yourself by any means necessary, but protect yourself by any means necessary. Rainbows go in the front of the jacket.

[teaboot]

On of the less intuitive things about love, I've found, of any kind, is the importance of needing things.

I didn't realize it until recently, but I've always seen love as something requiring sacrifice, selflessness, patience, and generosity- to ask for nothing is to be the best person I can be, small and quiet and never in the way, always happy and helpful, self-sufficient and present when desired.

It's only as an adult, now, that I'm beginning to see the selfishness of wanting nothing.

I cut my friend's hair in my kitchen the other day. They wanted a trim and I had the skills, so I offered, and was genuinely excited when they stopped hesitating over "bothering me" and took me up on it. It was a peaceful afternoon, and we had tea and chatted for an hour or more.

My brother and I shared popcorn at the movies a while ago. When I came time to pay, I pulled my card out like a wild western sheriff and slapped it on the machine before he could fight me for it first. The satisfaction was delightful.

Someone called me crying on the phone the other day. Kept apologizing for disturbing me at work, talking about how they were bothering me on my lunch break. I was telling the truth when I told them that really, I was flattered and honored and relieved, knowing that if they were hurting I would know, that I didn't have to worry in silence. It felt good to hear them slowly come down, and to know that they knew it would be better soon, and to hear them laugh wetly on the other end. We're getting together for a visit next week.

It's hard to need things, if you've trained yourself not to. It's hard to want things, when you don't know how to want anymore. Trusting people is difficult, and so is relying on them, but I don't know where I'd be without the people who rely on me.

I've heard a lot of people say, "Nobody will love you unless you love yourself". I've had a lot of thoughts about it. It's not right, but it's not wrong, either, I think.

"Nobody will love you unless you love yourself"... I've always taken that to mean, "You will not be lovable until you develop a positive view of yourself as a person".

Now, I think it's sort of inside-out.

"Nobody will love you unless you love yourself"... because nobody can show their love to you in a way that you can accept until you treat yourself kindly, and learn what you need, and what you want, and how to ask for it, and then give that vulnerability away.

Love, for me, is someone I ask for a ride to the airport. Whether they end up doing this or not is irrelevant.

It's not needy, or selfish, or taking up energy. It's giving the gift of being wanted, and needed, and thought of. It's giving someone the security of being part of someone's life.

[ihavedonenothingright]

Watching a classmate who once told me that my visible queerness made them feel safer turn around and endorse a transphobic acquaintance's business, ignore Project 2025, and aggressively push for third party votes in favor of SEEMING PROGRESSIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA makes me angrier than anything from my vocally conservative family ever has. Why am I seeing this so often from people who self ID as queer? Is it because they personally don't need the healthcare and legal recognition I'm going to lose? This person is nonbinary. I feel like I'm going insane.