#which would add a whole nother layer to this

[ambssssssssss]

YALL - I teach 7th grade and the one thing these kids genuine enjoy about school is giving me shit

They were talking about online dating apps that I should/shouldn't be on and the following conversation happens:

"Miss, what about that gay dating one - tumble something"

Me: "The what one?"

A different kid: "the gay one miss! You know!"

Me: *sweating because how do 7th graders know about grinder*

A different, different kid: "Tumblr!"

1st kid: "yeah! The gay one!"

2nd kid: "Tumblr isn't for gay people it's for those weirdo emo kids. Miss isn't that weird"

Me: *laughing hysterically and dying on the inside"

[willosword]

markposting number 500 bajillion feat. this lil guy ^_^ i hope they show even more evil marks without their masks. really makes you grapple with the reality of the multiverse shenanigans when you see first hand how mark-y they are

[atamascolily]

some thoughts about the Clara Dolls

A year ago, I posted a very long essay about Homulilly and her familiars which was inspired by all of the questions I had about the Clara Dolls (specifically, why there are so many of them). While I feel like I have a decent grasp of their canonical attributes--at least as they have been revealed thus far--there's one area that still puzzles me, and which by definition, doesn't have an easy or authoritative answer.

Over my time in fandom, I've noticed that many people have a radically different interpretation of the Clara Dolls than I do--that they pay far more attention to them as individuals than you might expect for minor background characters that are never directly named in their source material, especially given their limited screen time. Which naturally begs the question: what is it, exactly, about the Clara Dolls that appeals to people so much, more so than any of Homulilly's other familiars?

Here is my guess: the Clara Dolls are compelling precisely because they are so individually detailed. Unlike the interchangeable masses of Lieses (birds), Lottes (soldiers), Lilias (teeth), Lisas (airships), all of which are variations on the name "Elizabeth", each Clara Doll has its own name and costume. While they are all still clearly variations on the same theme, both in terms of their doll-like bodies and the "sins" they represent, each of them is unique in a way that the other familiars aren't, and the supplementary material released with Rebellion goes into great length about their different personalities.

Most media follows what TV Tropes The Law of Conservation of Detail, meaning that there is a tendency for any given details to be relevant; unlike real life, superficial and unrelated details are omitted for narrative convenience. Thus, I think it's only natural that people would look at the individualized Clara Dolls and assume that they must be important, or else why would the creators go to so much trouble to distinguish them from each other?

To be honest, though, I'm not sure the Law of Conservation of Detail applies to Rebellion, at least not in its entirety. Rebellion's defining visual characteristic is its copious attention to details, many of which are barely visible or discernible outside of freeze-frame. Rebellion is a kind of fever dream, dominated by excesses and so packed that I've spent years untangling the meaning in each still frame, and barely made a dent in it.

It's not that these details aren't important. Far from it--they greatly add to my enjoyment of the film and my interpretation of Homura's character. And while I enjoy unpacking the symbolism, I'd argue that the film's meaning does not depend on any one in particular--that they support what is already there. They are icing on a particularly complex and elaborate layer cake, but it's possible to enjoy a hefty slice without ever digging into them.

And I think the Clara Dolls fall into this "decorative" category, in the sense that plenty of casual viewers watch Rebellion without ever realizing that there is more going on with them than is apparent on the surface--to the point where you could remove their scenes entirely, and the general plot would progress more or less without a hitch (and casual viewers or first-time viewers might not even notice their absence!) They are excellent, but I'm not sure I would call them essential.

Narratively speaking, the Clara Dolls are a mass, a mob, a chorus. Unusually for such a group, they are also visually distinct from one another. Hence the disjunct, I think. This is true for a lot of things in Madoka Magica as a whole, and can be best summed up as the difference between Gen Urobuchi's script and Inu Curry's vision of it, but that's a whole 'nother essay in and of itself, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Inu Curry very clearly loves and cares about the Clara Dolls or else they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of creating them--but that's different from how the Clara Dolls appear in the final product, which is a composite of multiple peoples' work and effort and all the competing priorities that go along with that. What works for a worldbuilding draft or a still image doesn't necessarily work for a finished film, and while I enjoy the Rebellion Production Note and other supplementary materials immensely, I will always treat the finished film as the primary canon, which supersedes all else.

Thus, I find it hard to get excited about the Clara Dolls as distinct individuals or to believe they will play a larger role in future installments. It's not that they couldn't, it's just different from the role that they were playing before in Rebellion, which seems like a dramatic shift to me--especially if we're talking adding 14 distinctive characters into a 2-3 hour movie! The question I ask myself is, "what would be gained, narratively speaking, by doing so?" and I keep coming up blank. Maybe Walpurgis no Kaiten will surprise me by providing an answer, but I doubt it.

This is not to suggest that people who see the Clara Dolls as individual characters or who want to see them with an expanded role are doing something wrong, by the way. I think it's fine if other people want to flesh them out in fan creations--that's the whole point of fanworks!--just that this particular aspect doesn't appeal to me personally, and I don't think it will ever be of major canonical important. You do you.

It probably doesn't help that I don't have a very sympathetic view of the Clara Dolls in general--there are strong hints that Homura was horribly bullied as a child and that the Clara Dolls are simultaneously the dolls she played with as a substitute for friends and the bullies who tormented her. They don't seem to have any respect for "God" ("Gott is Tott!" and the thrown fruit at the Madokami stele) or their erstwhile master (they mock Homulilly on her way to her execution and cry crocodile tears; they throw more fruit at devil!Homura at the end of the movie). Homura can command them, but it's not clear to me that they will obey; they are wild cards more than anything else. The Clara Dolls are only interesting to me inasmuch as what they reveal about Homura herself, not as characters in their own right.

For what it's worth, I have the exact same reaction to Hitomi: I've seen a lot of people get very excited about the idea of Hitomi becoming a magical girl, to which my reaction has always been a blank stare and a ".... and what would that accomplish, exactly?" Hitomi's narrative role is to be the Ordinary Friend who gets drawn into the protagonists' problems, the perpetual victim who must be rescued from the monsters again and again. Hitomi is defined by her normality; removing it would completely change the character and derail the story as it stands.

Would that divergence be an interesting story? Sure. But that doesn't seem to be the story Madoka Magica is interested in telling. You can sense that in Gen Urobuchi's most-likely-unserious answer to the question of what Hitomi would wish for: "for Kyubey to disappear immediately". Kyubey is the messenger of magic, his narrative role is to guide Madoka and her friends into their roles as magical girls; for Hitomi to reject him as her wish sends a pretty strong message. But it's a moot point, because it will probably never happen--as soon as Hitomi became a magical girl, her role would have to be filled by someone else, and she wouldn't necessarily add anything else to the existing team. (Again, not to say that she couldn't, but that it would be a very different story if she did.) Madoka Magica is centered around a core cast of five magical girls, with Nagisa Momoe already serving as an impromptu Sixth Ranger in Rebellion--what else is there for Hitomi to do?

As I mentioned earlier, I think many, if not all of the disjuncts between various fan interpretations hinge on the difference between Gen Urobuchi's script and Inu Curry's interpretation of it. AFAIK, the Clara Dolls as distinct individuals only exist in the latter, but it's an open question for me how much Walpurgis no Kaiten's script will build on the visual elements in Rebellion versus ignoring them or going in a different direction. So much of the movie ultimately hinges on this question, and I think the role of the Clara Dolls is definitely one of them.

Given that Walpurgis no Kaiten appears to be focused on mirrors and reflections, with at least two different Homuras running around, I think it's natural to wonder if the Clara Dolls are involved in all of this in some capacity. That said, they're not the first thing that leaps to my mind in all of this, and I find the divergence between my assumptions and that of other fans absolutely fascinating. Can't wait to find out what is actually going on when the film is released!

[naavispider]

Hi! What do you think the reaction of the scientists and Sullys would be if Spider, after being tortured, started acting like a human, eschewing the Na'vi's old ways? I mean, deep down he has some kind of trauma that makes him unable to go back to his old ways for fear of being tortured for it. I'm especially interested in the reactions of Kiri and Loak, although Jake and Neytiri's reaction interests me as well. Have a nice day/night!

This is a sad one because they'd notice how he wears clothes now, keeps his hair short, but there's not a lot they could actually do about it. Sure, they'd probably talk to him and ask about it, but in this scenario Spider closes down. He doesn't want to tell them what he went through, even if he could find the words. So they just sort of... have to accept it. Do you know who I think would be the first adult Spider opens up to?

Norm. It's Norm.

Firstly, Norm is a human and was probably the most involved person to raise him (outside of those useless McCoskers or whatever their names are). Spider needs someone close to eventually talk to about the conditioning he went through. Norm is steady, reliable, and kind. He is a safe person.

But what about Jake? He used to be human? Secondly, Spider does not completely idolise Norm like he does Jake. It's kind of on the edge of hero-worshipping to be honest, which adds a whole nother layer to their possible attempt at a father-son relationship. Can you ever really open up to somebody that you hero-worship, in a meaningful way? I'm not sure, maybe. But Spider is already close with Norm, so to me he is the obvious choice.

I think he'd tell Kiri first, whose eyes would fill with tears and she'd immediately encourage him to tell Jake. I think he would, with her support. She'd be super hurt that he no longer wears the anklet she made him, never wanted the new beads she carved for him, wouldn't wear the tooth necklace that Tonowari gifts him. Worst of all, he wouldn't wear his stripes again.

Kiri would miss helping him with the Yovo berry juice. She'd miss the intimacy, the carelessness of it. Spider had been gone for so long, and now she finally had him back... he was so different. She would confide in Lo'ak, who shares her concerns. Together, they decide to try and talk to him again.

"Bro, what's wrong? Why do you wear SkyPeople clothes now? Why don't you want your stripes?"

Spider's easy going smile slid off his face. "I'm just not into it anymore, bro. Leave it."

As for Neytiri? Idk, I feel like she'd just try and ignore him, obviously feeling a little bit guilty, but what good could she do now? Spider didn't even want to talk to his best friends, there's literally no point her even trying. She lets Kiri, Lo'ak, Jake and even Norm deal with it.

Spider's scars from the bleach are easily seen, and no one knows how he got them, but they couldn't imagine how depraved the explanation truly was. How brave he had to be, and just how loyal he proved himself.

[thespianinthebackcorner]

An AU for the Coroika gang AND the promo kids gang!!

So who here's seen Shadows House???

yeah, i figured it's be nobody. Allow me to extremely badly explain the premise of this AU: Take two characters who look extremely similar if not the same, turn one of them into a literal living silhouette, and put them in a master-servant exploitation dynamic in a shady ass Victorian mansion with a shit ton of rules to follow. The Shadows, due to being pitch black, have Living Doll doubles that serve as their face, which means Dolls have to learn to act in perfect sync with their masters. and when I say pitch-black, i mean if you look at them head on they are a silhouette. it takes five minutes of the first episode for us to learn Kate has eyelashes and a nose because we don't get any side shots. there's a bunch of other details too but i'll go into that later.

Fun, right? Probably not for them, but Shadows House has such an original concept I can't help it. Splatoon has a LOT of characters that share similarities (a lot of promo kids get Coroika equivalents!) so this is a really fun AU for me to think about. Let me explain my thoughts, because if I have the time I'll write this out as a fic.

So, I explained the premise up there. But not everyone in Coroika has a double! So who's in the AU? Well, everybody- in a way.

First of all, we have our Shadow and Living Doll pairs. These are the characters with doubles- basically, everyone with a promo kid or Coroika equivalent- or similar, since there's an exception to that rule. For the characters that only have small gear differences (such as their shirt being different) I've counted them in, but if there's too many differences they won't show as a pair. (N-Pacer is in because I wanted more than one person from Team Emperor in, lmao.)

The Shadows are:

Goggles, Specs, Bobble, Headphones, Gloves, Half-Rim, Prince, N-Pacer, Hachi, Nana, Ocho, Mitsuami, Shady, 8-Bit, Barreleye, Shellmet and Hornmet. (if there's anyone else that bears extremely similar resemblance to a named promo kid, do tell please, I'll add them in.)

Their Living Dolls are, in the same order:

John, Rui, Mizuho, Kaori, Cuttlefrsh, Kensaki, Emperor, Tof-U, Steven, Patricia, Hiro, Veronika, Calamar, Anemone, Yarrwhal, Takotruck, and Stephanie.

Well. you might be asking, "hey Thespian, if it's a master-servant dynamic, why is Prince the Shadow and Emperor the Doll? Why is Mitsuami in control of Veronika and not the other way around?" well. that is extreme spoilers for the Shadows House plot, so I Shall Not Say. But, as you might've noticed, some of the characters put in Doll position are quite headstrong... so that dynamic will be rather fun to see. Which characters will be in perfect sync by their Debut, and which will have trouble matching up?

Oh, and an extra layer of Shadows House canon- if a Shadow and a Doll can't mesh well enough and don't put enough effort in getting to know each other, the Shadow dissolves and dies, and the Living Doll is forced to become a masked doll that does tasks around the mansion in absolute silence. Not like they're told that, but they're gonna wanna avoid it anyway.

What's a Debut, you ask? in short, a trial young Shadows undertake to prove their Doll is in sync enough with them to be let out of their rooms as a pair and interact with everyone else in the children's wing of the house. The adults wing is a whole nother can of worms that i am NOT opening unless someone actually wants me to.

ANyway, if anyone else is interested in that... well. talk to me about it!! i would gladly ramble! or push me to write the fic for it, haha.

[sumerianlanguage]

Hello! Finding this blog has been a complete lifesaver. I've always been interested in the Sumerian language and culture, and recently I've been trying to figure out how to say some phrases for a story I'm writing.

I dont't think I need whole translations, I've been using my own research, but I'm a bit stuck when it comes to some grammar conventions. My main question is, how would "of" be translated into cuniform and then pronounced. For example, in a phrase of "Heart of God" (I know Heart is Shag 𒊮 and God would be Dingir 𒀭), what would there be in place of "of"?

Another part is other words like "of", such as "in", "to", "the"? You don't have to answer all of them, but the "of" question being answered would be VERY appreciated. Thank you!

Hello, and thanks for the kind words!

One important distinction between Sumerian and English is that Sumerian doesn't use prepositions, words like "of, in, on, to, for, from, towards, like", etc. These are instead conveyed by case endings, of which Sumerian has ten. Each case ending can have any of several meanings, and operates in subtly different ways. I recommend the posts in my Sumerian case tag for lots of examples & details!

In general, "of" is replaced by the genitive case, which is kinda complex, because it actually attaches the two nouns in question together. The basic pattern is that "X of Y" becomes "X + Y + {genitive case ending}". In the case of an isolated phrase like this, the genitive case ending generally appears as -a after a consonant and disappears after a vowel. (This recent post has more details on its different appearances.) So "heart of (the) deity" would be shag + dingir + -a, shagdingira.

Unfortunately, the way this -a ending looks in cuneiform adds a whole nother layer of complexity. Following dingir and most other words ending in R, it uses the sign 𒊏, so shagdingira would be written 𒊮𒀭𒊏.

As for "the, a, an", there are no articles in Sumerian, so when translating into the language you can just delete them. I hope that helps, and if you'd like any other examples let me know!

[glsneeg-enthusiast]

both. i want both.

pleahs

cannibalism and gay sex

so franks fr a corpse right just under the filter i hope you know that. and he was canonically friends with sneeg and its. implied. theyre in love. if you just watch the show. and the gay sex is funny haha unless you think about it and how mlm couples are always portrayed in media. like brokeback mountain for example (praying youve watched it) was turned into a big fucking joke about the characters constantly having sex when thats not at all what it was about and im using that as reference. gay men are always portrayed/watered down to three tropes (constantly having sex, gay because its funny, or guy thats "straight") and thats what showfalls all about. and clearly austin represents the last one and sneeg and frank were the second but theyre also the ones that have sex jokes centered around them so you can only Assume right. anyway sneeg still sees frank as The Real Guy so whats stopping him from doing things youd normally do with your boyfriend yknow. and theres also like. sex holiness metaphor but thats a whole nother thing and idk if youre deep into the rc thoughts like that

and i have like a whole thing about the cannibalism that ive sent to someone before that im not rewording and typing so im just pasting it -> sneeg ate frank which is caused by a whole thing in itself right because slimecicle wasnt feeding him in the cage and he didnt even get through the cooking show where slimecicle tried to feed ranboo like twice but even if he did get that far he probably wouldnt have eaten any of it anyway with how he talks about slimecicle right. and its more or less implied that sneeg had been in the cage with franks body for atleast a little while and he would still have to eat something. and slimecicles a cannibal so why would he even bring sneeg food in the cage when theres already food in there with him? and even if you were to ignore all that sneeg was still the only one that consistently ate throughout episode two. and its really implied that all the food in general is organs n such just under a filter because slimecicle was eating it and then in episode two in the candy room when vinny tries the candy he spits it out and says its disgusting but sneeg didnt have a problem with it he was eating the entire time they were in there. sneeg knew frank before he died and if you take the "everything about the characters is a metaphor for how media portrays things" seriously you can assume that they were in love with eachother which leads to really the main reason i think showfall would kill frank and not bring him back like they do with everyone else because evidently theyre homophobic. anyway you put sneeg in that cage with franks body and nothing to eat he will eventually have to eat frank to stay alive whether he even knew frank was dead or not. and cannibalism can be a metaphor for so much like sure i guess from a meta perspective you can take the cannibalism in the show as a metaphor for how audiences just take and take but in universe they really are eating people. and innocent cannibalism is traumatic and awful and would add the layer to the characters that everyone always talks about but i really do think the idea of sneeg eating franks body is so much more compelling than charlie unknowingly eating some guts that was served to him. cannibalism isnt an easy thing it takes hands and teeth and bravery and you really do have to be set on it to do it. and it wasnt like he could leave the body after eating or get rid of it or anything and no matter what kind of cannibalism it was he still was carrying around whatever was left of frank and talking to it like frank had never died at all and in the bad hat scene when the filter broke for sneeg he had to have seen that frank was dead and fucked up from getting eaten. and with the idea that they were in love you can take the cannibalism as a metaphor for it because even after frank was permanently dead he wouldnt leave sneeg because sneeg ate him and its not like showfall could just undo that even with how powerful they are they could never undo that sneeg had bloodied himself and touched and tore and consumed and loved frank no matter how many times they reset him or how many times they kill him in gruesome ways

[youdontknowhowtodiequietly]

this is probably gonna sound insane, and like i’m not genuine or making it up or smth like that, but i’m too tired and unmotivated to be trans.

like, god i want to be a boy, i wish i was born one, i fucking want to be one. but i can’t be bothered? there’s just so many hurdles in the fucking way and i can barely lift my legs up enough to walk let a lone jump a hurdle.

i’d have to tell my family (which is a big one) i’d have to explain to my mum that it’s NOT a phase (i’m fucking 18, nearly 19 ffs) i’d have to explain it to my dad, and deal with my borderline-transphobic brother-in-law. idk how my actual brothers would be. i’d have to explain it to my 16 yr old autistic niece and my 12 yr old autistic nephew and my 5 year old nephew and every fucker else. and not to mention WORK. i don’t think i’d get fired or anything like that but i’d have to actually tell people and have to correct them whenever they fuck up and i just don’t have the energy to do that?

and, like, the actual transitional phase? god, i just can’t be arsed. luckily i’m in the uk so i dont have to worry abt money unlike other people, which i am grateful for, but having yo live two-years as a boy, and then wait on the fucking 6 or smth year waiting list to have ANYTHING done? and what does the living as a man for 2 years even mean??? does that mean i have to wear “boy clothes” and all that shit? can’t i wear a skirt or dress when i wanna and still be classed as a boy? like, what’s the deal there?

and abt wanting to wear a skirt/dress and wear makeup, that just adds a whole ‘nother layer of complicated. i’d have to explain that if cis men can wear makeup and dresses and skirts then why can’t i just because i wasn’t born male? what’s going on there?

i’m just so tired, man. i can’t be alone in this, right? idek why i’m asking, or writing this, if it does get seen, no one will reply and if they do it’ll just be to tell me that i’m faking it or smth.

idk

[notmuchtoconceal]

"you melt a little when you see my big goofy scary dog teeth smilin back from my big broad furry face, you don't know what to fuckin do."

I love that you perfectly understand one of the most alluring physical attributes about yourself. This sentence right here. You KNOW what you were aiming for, you KNOW what you look like, and you KNOW that you're executing it exactly how you want to execute it. You came here to brainwash, and brainwash you will.

Oh my fucking god, bro. You're 100% correct with that, down to the animalistic connotation. You absolutely make me melt with that. You hit the nail on the head. Aces.

I wanted to add to this by saying there is a unique thing you do with your facial expressions that I've seen in nobody else. I've seen some others come close, but not like you. How to describe it?

So you know how most people, when they make an expression, you can see the thought behind the expression? And if they're trying to deceive you, the thought and the expression don't match up. Well, with you, there's a whole 'nother layer. Best I can describe is that it's the thought behind the thought behind the expression. I think it has something to do with your value of souls. It's not the same thing as when someone's soul shines through. It's more like an expression that only a Licensed Soul Appraiser can make.

It's not judgmental. It's not manipulative. It's not self-reflective. It's not egomaniacal. It's not predatory. It's not empathetic. But it does have elements of all those attributes. It IS, without a doubt, highly metaphysical. I can only use adjectives to describe it, and almost solely in a deductive relationship with it, because it's not seen before, and therefore can't be referenced elsewhere.

My point is: you are extremely attractive. Physical you, not just the wordsmith. And I'm glad to know you're aware of your own hotness and have control over what makes you hot. It's like Museum Bro's perfect skin. You think that motherfucker can't see your soul perfectly with a skin routine like that? You're kidding yourself if you think he can't.

I love how much you love being brainwashed by me.

I love how the more you speak, the more you express the sheer depthless appetite of your lust for me, the sheer investment in my aura, my potential and love of mankind which you see radiating from my work.

I would give you everything, should you only surrender all you are to me. You are now Underaged Jennifer Connoly, not being a bad actress on purpose, but being a good actress playing an amateur actress in a teenage girl's plushie-hump coming of age awakening. I will be Your Goblin King. I will only make you weaker and long more to surrender. You will be lost in my maze, succumb to my traps, stumble facefirst into flat panes of forced perspective and give yourself willingly to my stench.

When the bell tolls, you will belong to me forever.

You remind me of the babe not, for you are her.

You are all I long for, all I worship and deplore.

May our Magic Dance never Draw to a Close.

With you, I am my Best, For you Bring Out My Worst.

My Toxic King.

My Queen I Don't Want.

athleticbrutality ain't shit.

You're one of the worst people I've ever had the displeasure to meet.

I can't get enough of you.

You are so stupid, you are definitely fit to be my number #3.

[proship-angel]

idk only making this post here bc i don't want it on my main blog out of kind of fear? that people might get angry at me for it

but the body positivity tag on tumblr always makes me feel so sick towards myself because of how often i see them push away positivity for any body type outside of fat/plus-sized people

warning for body image issues, eating disorder talk, and body shaming ig? i think those would be the warnings and i'll tag them too

the constant statement of thin privilege in the body positivity tag makes me feel like my experience isn't real and leads to me spiraling on

'am i fully misremembering the only clear years of my life?' or 'have i been taking this wrong?' which i literally should not be questioning some of the clearest memories that spurred on my disordered eating and severe body image issues.

i am tiny in so many ways; height, weight, everything. i am a small person and i've always been self conscious about that because it makes people think i'm a teenager when i'm an adult. i work a job. i can legally drink. i have to start doing taxes. hell i went to college for a year. yet people see me as a sixteen year old based on my appearance and behaviors (i'm audhd so that adds on a whole nother layer)

but despite that self-conscious nature, i get told by my mother constantly that i am going to get fat like it's a purely negative thing. that i am going to become overweight. she constantly comments on my eating habits and it is never that i seem like i'm eating well. it is either "oh you've been eating so little, are you okay?" so i start to eat more in hopes she'll stop. but than she'll go "if you keep eating so much, you'll get fat".

for more clarification on the eating thing. i have a really high metabolism, i always have. i've always had to eat a lot to actually feel satisfied or to keep myself functioning. as i currently have to eat a certain amount within certain time frames or i full on faint from a lack of food. way easier than most people based on what i've heard. so i have to eat a lot yet i'm shamed for it.

the biggest thing was, when i was in middle school (specifically thirteen to fourteen years old) my mother used to have to check me for things. not going into that but i think it's easy to tell what it was. and she saw my stretch marks on my inner thighs near my crotch. my mother has stretch marks herself, she knows what they look like. yet upon seeing my stretch marks she accused me of self-harm and basically implied that i had no reason to have stretch marks. i physically get sick seeing them because i still feel like they are my fault.

i just wonder, am i overreacting? or do i have a genuine right to feel upset that i can't find body positivity to help myself? is there a different tag for what i'm experiencing? (i refuse to touch any eating disorder tags simply because of bad experiences with them)

[bathtubbbbbbbbb]

This is so so interesting, I didn’t know about that tweet from Amanda, neither did I know about the Inx! Gosh I’ve been in this fandom since the show came out & im still finding out new things.

I always felt Vi & Jinx were meant to have this subtextual connection to the brothels as the first time we see one it’s absolutely decked out in ONLY red & blue, like even the employees are wearing those colors. As well as Bebette seemingly being a trusted figure by Vi — & in the scene where Vi asks where Powder is & Babette tells her where to find Sevika, Babette’s line “it’s nothing.. really” just seems so soaked in baggage all of which seems as though it doesn’t JUST have to do with her lying by omission about Jinx/Powder. My personal belief for why this is, is that their mother may have been a brothel employee/prostitute alongside Babette.

I also always felt both local cuisine boy & the princess who Ambessa kills share some strong design similarities to Powder/Jinx — I don’t think they’re related to her or anything (though I do think they’re related to each other) but I feel those design choices were made on purpose to invoke a subtle feeling connection between them for whatever reason… I’ve felt for a while it’s probably a set up to a scene in season 2 where Mel spares Jinx simply on the bases of her resembling the princess from her memory.

Jinx being friends with LCB would add a whole ‘nother layer to it all that ^ since he’s both a brothel worker & allegedly related to the princess.

— Also the reason why I’m adamant Mel’s survived even tho there was discourse at some point about “her arks finished so it would make sense that she dies & her death can be used as a plot device for Jayce’s development blah blah blah” NO actually her CHARACTER ARK ISN’T COMPLETE SHE’S GOTTA HAVE THAT SCENE WITH JINX — & I simply can’t have ANOTHER black womans death being used to further a male characters ark, THEY ALREADY DID THAT WITH SKY & VIKTOR THEY CANT DO IT *AGAIN* THATS JUST RACIST *&* SEXIST, anyway…

What If Jinx and Local Cuisine (LC) Were in Cahoots?

A writer for Arcane confirmed that Jinx does have friends that will be revealed next season, and I realized LC might actually fit the bill as one of them.

First, I should explain what kinds of traits make people gravitate towards Jinx.

From the few scenes we see of LC, he actually demonstrates the kind of traits that would make him compatible for Jinx's circle. People in Zaun, from regular chempunks to Inx members admire (and even champions like Sylas) Jinx because she satisfies/inspires their desire for revenge against their oppressors in Piltover. These are people that accept the necessity of violence and choose to go further by reveling in it as a source of catharsis.

What does this have to do with LC? Well the first time we meet LC is at the brothel where he was seen wearing the Wolf's mask. The Wolf is a part of a twin personification of death in Runeterra, known as the Kindred. The Lamb represents quick and painless death and wears a wolf mask, while the Wolf wears a white lamb mask and represents violent and painful death. The Wolf associated with punishment because when you refuse the Lamb's "gift" by resisting death the Wolf will relentlessly hunt down the fying to tear them apart to make them submit.

LC's association with the Wolf, related to violent death, has fueled speculation on his purpose going into season 2. Even if you don't subscribe to the theory that he's related to the princess beheaded by Ambessa and he's on a revenge quest, the show chose to depict him as an entity kills with a violent passion.

If the theory's true why wouldn't LC want to see Piltover burn as much as the Medardas if the theory's true? The princess theory offers solid motivation for why he wouldn't just be targeting the Medardas, but Piltover too. While Noxus is the warmongering expansionist empire that killed the princess, Piltover is the nation that facilitates its survival as vital trading partner to the empire. The advent of the hexgates has likely only improved the efficiency of Noxian warband supply lines. People like the Medardas invest in Piltover to keep themselves wealthy and on top, hell the practically run it now.

A righteous thirst for revenge and no compunction with violence against Piltover makes Jinx and LC potentially birds of a feather. If that's true then LC could theoretically fulfill a critical component for Jinx's operation, information.

For Jinx to pull of even half her exploits she needs an intel source, and LC is the most obvious connection. LC is the only character from Zaun that can regularly move between the two cities on legitimate business to meet his high profile clients like Ambessa without drawing attention. If most of his Piltovan clients act like Ambessa, then they probably talk about sensitive topics at and around him all the time, like the one between Ambessa and Jayce that led to the refinery raid. LC is probably the best source of informal knowledge on ongoing developments in Piltover's highest circles of society.

There's no way Jinx could pull of the heist without prior inside knowledge. The shipment raid and the heist all happened on the same day, Progress Day, within a handful of hours. Jinx would have had to know that there was a hexgem to steal in the first place, because that was a guarded secret. Even the first time she robbed a home in Piltover required an outside party, Ekko, to case the joint for her. Instead of robbing a nice trinket from a great house for Silco as an apology, which she was entirely capable of, instead she KNEW to target the hextech workshop. Jinx knew where the guards would be posted and what abandoned building to set on fire and rig with explosives. Almost like she already had intel on the hexgem and decided to strike when it was convienent.

I'd also like to include the fact that even in the concept art for Jinx's hideout we see Jinx in the zone on her work bench while a mysterious figure comfortably leans into her space.

While the figure has few discernible features that matches with most of Zaun's cast in the show and the concept art, there is one determinable feature. The figure has a sleeve with a red and gold stripe pattern similar to the one LC wears at the brothel.

The mysterious figure also lounges on the rail in a similar fashion to how we the audience were first properly introduced to LC.

Personally, I think it makes sense for Jinx to make friends with figure like LC because not only do the have similar goals, Silco would likely approve of it too. Silco doesn't like Vi or Ekko because they threaten his relationship with Jinx, someone like LC, who doesn't work for him, but is still under his purview won't do that.

And honestly, LC gives the same vibes as Chadd, a violent, organized, and prominent member of the Inx (Jinx followers), just with less hero worship.

Sidenote: Wouldn't it be hilarious if it were the case that the only reason Jimx knew how to break into the Kiramman's home is because LC told her about it. You can bet this dude went on jobs as an escort to atleast one Councilor's party in their home.

[party-gilmore]

For all the ribbing about Disney's Nth 1st Gay Character (which was well deserved AND enjoyed)

Jungle Cruise actually did it... really really well?

He was less "effeminate because he's gay" and much more "a dandy because that's what good british boys of good breeding and proper etiquette of the times should be like Lily I'm begging you to follow some standard decorum" (as I read him, at least, this is obviously up for interpretation)

And, considering the main point of this movie is the action-adventure and he currently is fairly preoccupied with, you know, not dying? I really don't mind that his sexuality was only brought up twice. There was no contextual REASON for it to feature more heavily. Boy was BUSY.

And the two times it mattered? PERFECT.

1) an open heart to heart explaining some backstory about why he would go so far for his sister, in a not-at-all-forced-feeling conversation, to which DTRJ's male lead toasts in some... rather bi-implication heavy commiseration, then immediately moves on from as they get to the main part of the conversation at hand.

2) not specifically brought up, but prior knowledge of his sexuality is KEY for some very carefully chosen dialogue SOLELY for the purpose of the innuendo implications being funny as FUCK. And I don't mean in any kind of "gay is the punchline" kind of joke way, I mean in a "these lines are clever as hell and I'm laughing my ass off because his being gay adds just a whole nother layer of I Cant Belive They're Getting Away With This Shit 🤣." Big "my Gender is whatever is the funniest at the time" vibes.

As the kind of bi who overshares when emotional and drunk AND takes every opportunity to pun about my sexuality even at the risk of accidentally coming out because I forgot/didn't read the room? The fact that these are the ONLY two times his sexuality is relevant fucking warms my heart amd gives me BIG MLM solidarity feels.

[booasaur]

Different anon but would you be able to explain how the Station 19 baby storyline is misogynistic because I don't see that. Thank you.

Hmm, okay, so, the choice to center a male character in the storyline of an f/f couple trying to get pregnant is both because of homophobia AND because of  misogyny.

Wlw characters and couples tend to face the individual and combined bigotry of being women (queer or not), so less focus, less screentime, having their stories be eaten up by men’s (even the actual lead Andy falls prey to this sometimes), etc. as well as being queer, their relationships and identities aren’t as valued or written with the same care and thought and time, thoughtless bigotry may creep in from ignorant writers, intentional bigotry from network pressure or literal censorship, and so on. 

And they’d take on even additional layers if one or both were WOC or on other axes of marginalization. Each of these layers both adds to and changes how the couples or character are seen and treated. The issues with how f/f couples are written aren’t identical to what m/m couples face, right. You don’t hear nearly as much when it comes to canon m/m couples how obsessed they are with kids or how women are pushed into their storylines, for example.

Here specifically, they could have gone with an anonymous donor and actually, every objection they used for that is only made worse in Jack? If they want to make sure they know the donor’s family history and it’s solid, Jack is not your guy. If they want someone who will look out for Carina in case Maya, in her risky profession, is ever unable to, he’s...also a firefighter?? If they’re looking for someone reliable, his literal role in the show is that he’s the least reliable and dependable of EVERY single member of that firehouse, that’s his whole thing. I mean, Beckett is maybe worse for the time being?? I guess if they absolutely HAD to pick between the two, Jack would be the less worse option? Good thing they aren’t limited to just them!

They could have chosen a donor like Travis, which would have been not a big deal, they could have picked Maya's brother like they hinted at, which might been its own dramatic arc but he wouldn’t constantly be part of this pregnancy and their lives on screen like Jack is going to be. But they picked Jack, because they WANTED to give him importance in this. They wanted the drama of it being him and therefore the weight of screentime that it would result in. Carina needed to become friendly colleagues with him and she needed to suddenly point out all the ways he was likable and such a great guy, making it about how he is worthy and good.

The misogyny is also the fact that it's simply expected that him being the guy that Maya cheated with should be forgiven and should be no big deal. Being the unreliable guy who sleeps around and hooks up with everyone is considered his charm, when that would NEVER be how people look at a woman who would exhibit the same behavior. Look at the resentment Andy is met with for doing even a fraction of that. And again, not just forgiven and friendly now, but picked and praised as the donor for their child??

And here’s another way my friend brought that I hadn’t even specifically been thinking of, but on some level just knew and accepted, I guess. Jack's place in this family's life is much easier digested AND encouraged because it’s two women, and a man's role is just considered important in a child's life, because kids need a father figure. 

Sure, TV places too much emphasis on biological parents and family to the point of making adoption/IVF seem a distant second class last resort, that’s a whole 'nother issue, where older kids always seek out their bio parents to bond and get to know them because they just gotta, but at the having-the-baby stage itself, when m/f couples are having trouble conceiving, there’s hardly ever the push for the surrogate or donor to stay in their lives, right. Just as with m/m couples there’s almost never the message of "But surely the surrogate/egg donor will be part of the future family! Kids need a mother figure!" I get that they wanted to parallel Danielle’s story, in which case they should have asked a friend of the couple, Travis, and not the guy one of them cheated with.

They could have done this all so differently and I’m sure if asked, they’d be like, well, we just wanted to do three characters’ arcs at the same time, as a lot of good storytelling is, right, you combine threads. But it’s just funny how often certain characters’ arcs suffer at the expense of others’.

[mygogglesdosomething]

Not only that, but there’s a fic that I can’t remember who wrote it that points out that Kirk would have to have been a teenager when he survived the famine and massacre on Tarsus IV which adds a whole nother layer of trauma.

Need to see more fics where Spock finds out about Kirk’s terrible childhood and is just dumbfounded.

In Vulcan society the idea of inflicting physical abuse upon one’s child is unheard of. Utterly illogical. So after Spock learns about Kirk's shitty stepfather, he has a crisis trying to comprehend the idea that a parent would hurt a child and also that someone would hurt his husband. From then on anytime Jim makes a joke about his abuse he notices that Spock tenses and gets angry and he's just like "???" and then later in the quiet of their quarters Spock just softly tells him that he'd murder Kirk's stepfather if he ever came across him. Kirk is half freaked-out, half touched at the sentiment.

I think this also goes for any other Vulcans hearing the idea of child abuse, if they were to overhear a conversation between humans being like “Yeah I remember when I broke the screen of my Dad’s new tv and he hit me so hard I think I blacked out haha” “that’s nothing compared to the time I told my mother to her face that I hated her cooking, she brought out the chancla on my ass lol” the Vulcans would just be downright horrified and spread this news back to other Vulcans about how savage some human parents can truly be and soon enough any human who mentions any type of violence in their childhood is receiving the highest level of comfort Vulcans can offer to a stranger: A hand to the shoulder and intense eye contact 😐🖖

[memoire-de-vanitas]

CH 55.5 established a parallel between vanitas's relationships with noè and jeanne

im so obsessed with chapter 55.5 not only because of the really satisfactory closure we get for what happened between noé and vanitas

but also because this page

parallels this page:

in jeanne and vanitas's relationship. which means SO much to me. like... idk maybe my interpretation is off

but whenever vanitas tells jeanne that he has to be the one to kill her if she turns into something she never wants to become, it feels like it comes from a form of love. like it feels like, "i have to be the one to kill you because i love you."

SO TO BEGIN WITH, TO SEE VANITAS DISPLAY THIS LIKE GESTURE OF 'LOVE' FOR NOÉ IS LIKE. PHENOMENAL. STRAIGHT SEROTONIN TO THE CRANIUM.

but like.

maybe im being gay as fuck here, i also think it's INSANELY more interesting that the roles are reversed and that vanitas himself is the one who reversed them, so to speak.

like, not to get into the intimacy of murder... BUT TO GET INTO THE INTIMACY OF MURDER, the act of it is intimate. it's life changing and vulnerable for both involved. applying it more specifically to vanitas and noe's situation, there are more layers of this like... vulnerability?

which like i said it's vulnerable for both involved, but the difference is in the depth of the vulnerability.

in jeanne and vanitas's pact or promise, vanitas is the one to kill jeanne. vanitas is the one who has control over the situation and that while killing jeanne would mean he will share a moment of vulnerability with her, that vulnerability and moment he shares with jeanne will be gone within a second. everything he shares with jeanne will die as she dies. he keeps everything in that moment; it's not just his emotions and experiences, it's also jeannes.

jeanne is the most vulnerable in this situation. she has everything to lose. she gives up her life, her death, her emotions, this final moment of her life. she keeps nothing. she gives it all to vanitas. vanitas loses nothing, he opens up only to close again.

there's a clear, extreme imbalance here.

BUT that's why its SO SO SO interesting and compelling that VANITAS reverses the roles in his relationship with noé.

vanitas who, up until now, pushed people away, kept them at an arms length, REFUSED to let ANYONE see his memories, chose noé to kill him. vanitas who refused to be vulnerable with anyone chose noé.

so now the roles are flipped. in vanitas's wish for noe to kill him, it's vanitas who is the most vulnerable. it's vanitas who is the one truly opening up. vanitas loses all control he had over their relationship in this scenario. in this scenario, he can't close up. he cannot take information from noé and withhold what he knows or feels, he has no choice but to give himself to noé in this situation. he can't take away his own moment of vulnerability here. it's no longer vanitas taking a life, someone else's raw emotions, their final moment.

it is noé taking vanitas's. it is noe who gets to take vanitas's life. it's noé who sees vanitas's death, vanitas's emotions, sees vanitas's final moment of life his life. he's choosing noé to keep all of that. he's choosing to give so much of himself to noé.

ADDITIONALLY... to add a whole nother layer to this,

it's also interesting that in both cases it's vanitas making the decision. i mean, jeanne agrees to vanitas killing her if she were to become something she would hate, but she is not the one who proposes it.

so, it makes an interesting and very subtle difference in the dynamics.

i cannot quite articulate it currently, but it definitely sets the two apart. the difference in timing also sets the two apart, but i think these last two layers will need another post because i don't quite know how to word them exactly lol

TLDR;

the parallel implies the action as a form of love. in reversing the roles, vanitas offers vulnerability to noé, which he hasn't given anyone before.

[peninkwrites]

SONG:

will wood - ...well, better than the alternative

THOUGHTS N OPINIONS ON THE LYRICS:

After all of that's been done to me

Could you tell me how, could you tell me how

Could you tell me-

What's so wrong about what's wrong with me

I'm just trying to do what's right by you

---

LIKE MAN THERES SO MUCH I WANNA COVER BUT MY IMMEDIATE THOUGHT WAS LIKE TDDD!TOMMY ASKING THIS TO TUBBO, PROBABLY KINDA EARLY STAGES WHERE TOMMY STARTS TO NOTICE THAT SOME OF HIS JOKES AND SENTENCES HE SAYS ARE SUPER WORRYING TO PEOPLE SO HE LIKE JUST GRABS TUBBO AND WANTS TO SCREAM UNTIL HES OKAY

×

Would they kiss your cheek or yank the bandage off

Let you speak or take advantage of how

If everyone's sick, well then nobody can catch it

---

DREAM AND TOMMY I'M NOTTTT SPECIFYING IM PRAYING TO GOD THERES JUST AN UNDERSTANDING WHY ON /GOD/

Okay. Okay.

There are LAYERS to this my god.

I googled the full lyrics and Will Wood has sort of confirmed it's about parent-child relationships and the fact that they are always fundamentally rooted in an authority basically forcing another to live and exist without their consent. That is. That is everything.

And like. So thematically tddd leans more into the abuse of someone with a god complex rather than a parental authority, but creation is creation either way and whoever takes credit for your existence is in a very specific position for an abuse of power. Which is just. So relevant. In canon as well, since the prison arc, Dream taking credit for Tommy's very existence has added a whole 'nother layer of fucked up to a relationship already with a heavy power imbalance from exile. Tommy escaped exile by regaining his sense of autonomy and choosing for himself to leave but the prison arc took that away. And in tddd's case, Dream claiming and taking credit for Tommy's life even sooner took away Tommy's chance to reclaim his autonomy briefly as he did in canon.

That kinda ties together my thoughts on the second bit you sent me. It's so clearly grounded in parental abuse and that's very easy to mold into the power imbalance Tommy and Dream have. I Am curious for your thoughts on "if everyone is sick, well then nobody can catch it." That one feels like Something. I can't quite grasp it but there Sure Is Something. Something about Dream "curing mortality" by killing Tommy over and over again??? Something!!

And the first bit is. AAAAAAA. /pos

That's tddd clingy duo alright!!! I have nothing to add. You said it perfectly. That's just. That's tddd Tommy holding onto reality by a thread. Woooo boy.

Thank you for this. This shit is my bread and butter it made my night.