#Spoilers and random thoughts behind the readmore

[makingshortstorieslong]

I just finished episode 9 of Konya Sukiyaki Dayo

!!!!!!!!!

I would be happy enough if it ended here - I can't believe I get 3 more episodes! Looking forward to seeing what's next.

I really love when they mix up the end credits to get the boys in there. Shinta I have loved from the beginning; Yuki had to grow on me but now I adore him.

I like this living in the same apartment building deal... I do imagine a 3 bedroom apt/house scenario and wonder how that would work out. After seeing how Aiko sleeps (lol) I want her and Yuki to please please get a bigger bed (I recently shared a like king sized bed in a hotel with a friend and omg ??? There's so much space we may as well have been in separate beds) (not sure you can find apartments in Japan with room for that though idk) in one room but also still have separate rooms like they talked about. And of course I want Tomoko and Aiko to keep living together. What I'm curious about is how Tomoko and Yuki would feel about living together... would that work out or would everyone dislike it? The current arrangement seems good, I just wonder.

it's a shame hyphenating their surnames doesn't seem to be an option. I mean ideally they could get married with no one changing their name but if the rule is registered families must share a name it seems like Ota-Seguira could be an option. But I guess that just isn't done. But I also wondered if they can't legally change their name and then keep using their old surname professionally and personally. But anyway pulling out rock paper scissors at the family dinner was fucking iconic. Seguira-soon-to-be-Ota Yuki you are a legend. He really said "if the Seguira family traditions are going to make Aiko unhappy then we will simply not be the Seguira family" and I respect him for it greatly. (also I feel like I'm spelling that surname wrong am I missing a vowel or inserting an extra one? Idk)

also I hope one of these remaining 3 episodes gives some more room for Shinta. He's a star.

also also: shoutout to Japanese dramas making up fun new ways to say "queerplatonic partners" / "platonic life partners". Kazoku kazu kakari / Family (Subject to Change) has a deeply special place in my heart to the point that genuinely if I did ever form a partnership I would probably refer to it that way sometimes. But Clownfish-Anemone makes me smile a lot :) yes! Mutualism! Symbiotic partnership!

#Konya sukiyaki Dayo #Spoilers and random thoughts behind the readmore

[ineffably-ryuu]

The first chapter of my post canon fix it fic is finally out. This fic means the world to me, so I appreciate any reviews, reblogs, etc. The AO3 is linked below, or you can continue after the readmore. Thank you to everyone who has waited and supported me during this fic, especially my betas! The second chapter will be done soon. 💜

dream a little Dream (of Him)

Chapter 1/2: In Your Dreams

Words: 1897

Rated: General Audiences

Relationships: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Hob Gadling (QPR); The Endless & Hob Gadling; The Corinthian & Hob Gadling

Warnings: COMIC SPOILERS, Canon Character Death -> Noncanon Character Undeath/Temporary Character Death

Summary:

Hob sleeps, and he dreams of his Stranger’s farewell and final gift.

Hob wakes, and there is a bottle of wine on his bedside table and the stench of death in his nose.

Hob sleeps, and he dreams of his Friend’s wake, his own chance to say farewell.

Hob wakes, and his Friend’s sister meets him and tells him the stories behind one more he has loved and lost.

Hob sleeps, and he dreams of walking side by side with his Friend along endless shores one more time.

Hob wakes, and thinks of how a thousand dreamers once changed the world and changed his Friend along with it.

Well then. Only 999 more to go, and all the time in the world left.

“Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me / While I'm alone and blue as can be / Dream a little dream of me”

Six-and-some centuries ago, Hob Gadling was born both too much for this world and not nearly enough.

He was born the second child of three, the only son, and thus the best suited to working the fields and learning how to provide for his family. He was also born with the shadows of famine still fading and a layer of frost upon the ground even in summer, yet another hungry mouth to feed for a starving family.

The blacksmith’s son shunned him after the heat of summer had passed, something unsettled in his eyes whenever he met Hob’s from then on out. The baker’s daughter turned him down on the spot, citing that she was quite content with what she had and that there was nothing more he could offer. When the Black Death came, he survived when they did not, clinging to life so tightly that Death merely passed him by with a rueful smile.

His determination was not enough to save his sisters, their bodies pale and cold to the touch where they lay in his own bed. It certainly had not been enough to help his parents, burned and buried by his own hands almost a fortnight previous.

When at last Hob left the town he had grown up in, he did so alone, nothing more than a stolen horse and whatever he could carry in hand… and the assurance that their owners were six feet too deep to protest. With little more than fifteen years of life for guidance and a fire beginning to blaze behind him in the ruins of his home, Hob Gadling set out to face the world for the first time.

It was that day he had first noticed it, the beast that caused the flicker of unease in the smith’s son, that kept his family’s bones visible just beneath their skin even as he grew taller and stronger - far taller than any other in town, even the men. Hob thought that everyone had one, something that they kept buried in themselves. Even nearly 700 years later, he still thinks that.

And yet.

Maybe Hob’s was a little different. A little hungrier. It wrapped around his head and his guts and his heart, squeezing and shifting and growing until he could feel its presence beside his with every breath, every swing of his sword and pitcher of ale. It lived there, the pang of hunger and growing pains, the ache of shifting organs and muscles stretching until they rip. Everyone had something inside. But a beast lived in Hob Gadling, lazy and greedy and so, so hungry it would devour everything, right up until it started eating its own tail.

And then everything had changed, that night in what had been a random tavern in 1389. He hadn’t known it then, hadn’t understood the tug in his chest or the burning in his gut, but the beast inside him had. It had released its own tail and latched onto the memories of his Stranger, his Friend, onto the acknowledgment of this wonderful gift, this glorious life, he had been given.

For all the years that passed, for all the wonder and tragedy, he had never once felt well and truly alone ever since. Had not felt the gnawing need for something, someone, more. He hungered, yes, but never starved, not even after a century in the gutter. Not even with his own guts splattered across a battlefield, or with his love(s) lying stiff and cold in his arms.

No matter how dark and tragic and terrible it got, Hob Gadling had always had a spark of hope, even before he met his Stranger, even before he was gifted eternal life by this being straight from a storybook, hair like night and bone-white skin adorned with a crimson ruby like a splash of freshly spilled blood upon the snow. And that’s how it had felt, for years. Almost like a fairy tale - one of the tales of old.

If he lived long enough. If he just kept going. Then at the end of the century, he would have a friend for just one night. He would never be entirely alone because someone was always waiting for him. As long as he lived long enough, things could always get better.

Even with nothing, he had one thing - one person - that no other did. No other that he knew of, anyway. Even with nothing, it was enough.

Life was so rich.

And it still was. As far as Hob Gadling was concerned, it always would be.

It was just a little poorer now.

There still was someone, technically. A woman who had introduced herself as his Stranger’s - his Friend’s - elder sister, who between one blink and the next shifted from someone familiarly pale-skinned and messily dark-haired to a dark-skinned woman with tight curls.

Both had the same kind, black eyes, and it was those he recognized the most.

She was the one who confirmed his fears, that what he had seen as he lay asleep that night was more than just a dream. Or not more, exactly, but both a dream and reality.

It was all a bit much for him, to be honest.

But that didn’t matter. The important part was the message, that what he had seen and felt was true, that his Friend was no more. Her face was sad when she spoke, her eyes distant. Hob didn’t know if she had noticed his lack of surprise or if she had thought anything of it.

He had already known, as soon as he awoke. He knew as soon as he opened his eyes and felt his once-tamed beast open its own, knew as soon as he felt the twist of his intestines as his mind began to race, a dog chasing its own tail, the serpent at last biting it to close the loop. There were bruises across his knuckles from a blow thrown in a dream, against a fucking centaur of all beings.

Hob had already known the truth. He just hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it.

But that option was lost to him, now.

Some part of him was gone. There was a hollowed-out section beneath his ribs, a chamber of crystalline salt from dried tears that pierced his heart with each beat, that blocked and constricted his blood until it felt like he would burst from all the bottled-up grief. A dam on the edge of breaking, a monster of the deep on the verge of being woken by a storm. Or perhaps it was the cause of the storm, or even the storm itself.

Hob didn’t know. He felt like he didn’t quite know anything, anymore.

He was missing something. Someone had taken some part of him. He wasn’t just missing Morpheus - for that was his Friend’s name, his name that he had only learned after his Friend’s death, that was his Friend - he was missing himself. Missing from himself.

For all his injuries and should-have-been deaths, Hob Gadling had always recovered. Blown-off limbs, crushed ribs, and rivers of spilled blood had always fixed themselves to good as new.

He had never before lost a part of himself that he couldn’t get back. He didn’t know how to deal with it.

He especially didn’t know how to deal with the fact that this was the part he lost. This piece that he hadn’t even known he could lose until it was too late.

Hob knows more about his Stranger, his Friend - Dream of the Endless, Morpheus - from his sister than his Friend himself. He had fought long not to let the lack of knowledge bother him, contented himself with epithets and titles when the lack of name pressed on him too heavily. Morpheus had smiled at their last meeting when Hob had asked. Just a tiny quirk of the lips that tugged a bit too much to the right to be completely innocent.

“Perhaps next time,” he had said. “Perhaps next time, you will guess it yourself.”

The next time they met, Hob hadn’t even realized it was real. The next time they met, it was in a dream.

It wasn’t the first time he had lost someone without being able to say goodbye. Far from it, really. But it was the first time he hadn’t even known there was someone to say goodbye to . Had only known that something was wrong, that he feared for his Friend’s life for the first time. When he had woken in a cold sweat, he had sought comfort in Gwen’s arms and assured himself that it was just a nightmare.

Gwen was gone now, too.

The bottle of wine still remained.

******************************************************

When Hob slept that night, he dreamt of his Friend and a somehow familiar stranger. They walked along an endless beach, shoulder to shoulder. The sand shifted as they walked, sun-warmed and silky smooth. The broad man to his left laughed as Hob stumbled, both him and his Friend chuckling as Hob dusted the dirt off his knees.

Hob had never heard his Friend laugh before. It was terrible. It was wonderful.

Morpheus’ hand was cool against his as he pulled Hob up, the smile upon his lips softer and more unbalancing than the sand beneath his feet. Neither of them let go as they continued walking.

When Hob woke, the scent of the sea still lingered in the air and his hand was strangely cool beneath the covers.

He promptly curled into a ball, tugged the covers over his head, and sobbed what remained of his heart out.

It was hours later that the thought hit him, face buried in an uncomfortably warm and damp pillow. The sheets were tangled and sweltering around him, an entire tissue box used and discarded somewhere on the floor.

Hob surged out of bed with the adrenaline it brings, scrambling to grab the bottle of wine resting on his dresser. He never had got around to drinking it, never quite made the time to take it down to the kitchen or the pantry or the wine storage either.

The bottle was there the same as he remembered, perhaps a bit dustier than before. The liquid shone a purple so dark it was almost black as Hob holds it in his hands, tilting it under the light. He could hear the slight swish of the wine against the glass as it rolled between his palms, trace the edges of the label and seal with his fingers. Could feel the weight of it in his grasp.

Solid. Real. And all from a dream.

Death had told him many stories about her little brother, who he was in both function and personality. Among them, she had included how he gained the title of the King of Cats, how in one world, cats had been the rulers, before a thousand people had come together and dreamed so fervently that the world itself changed in response.

A thousand dreamers to change the world.

Hob wondered how many it would take to change his - their - world.

Well then. One down, 999 - at least? - more to go. No matter.

They had all the time in the world. Hob would make sure of it.

#the sandman #Dreamling #dream of the endless #hob gadling #the sandman fanfic #the sandman spoilers #the sandman netflix #the sandman comics

[klugpuuo]

I am HERE to ask questions!

2 fooorrr Quem'e, Masa, Zismith

3 Berro, Remy, Masa

5 for Nate

16 Zismith, Masa

2: Is there a meaning behind their name, or a particular reason why they have it? (either in the story, or why you as the author decided to give them their name)

this is sort of a funny question, considering the other two ocs this isn't asked for are the ones with very large reasons for their individual names (...sorta.)

REGARDLESS!

(everythings under the readmore it got too long)

for masa there was actually a big reason! i forgot most of it, but what i DO remember is i took her original name (alavistora or something), minced it up and slapped some nice-sounding names to it (with random gibberish) and thus masarath was born!

for qeum'e it was just sorta something that popped into my head while i was thinking of the void language i was tryna make (i've since abandoned it but w/e) it was mostly just "what kind of name is totally unpronouncable" and then i made. that. i like how there's 70 different ways of pronouncing it. sillay

zismith is...... uh. mostly random letters but also smith hehe bc q used to be arson snail. yay!

3. What does their voice sound like, in a couple of words? (ie soft, scratchy, seductive, high-pitched, etc)

for berro it's... his voice is v twinkly

remy... that'd have to be demure. soft. small

masa voice pretty. girls. she

5. Does their fashion sense reflect an aspect of their personality? (ie bright and colorful outfits symbolizing that they’re an upbeat person)

okay so uh-

nate isn't actually my oc-

BUT-

i got ahold of my very good friend who owns him and asked him and this is what he had to say:

yay!

16. How do other characters in the story view them?

oooh good question!!

for masa...

berro obviously views her as Mom but also as a really good friend. she's got the best stories and some of the best jokes (that he heard when he was REALLY little, at least;;) also!! she's a magical girl! that's SO COOL!!! (he's the only one who knows)

w/ zismith it's sorta weird. like obviously they have a sibling relationship and they're best friends but around the start of humaliens their relationship starts falling in and out of Being. near the end of humaliens they'll definitely be friends again but before that it's a really rocky road. she doesnt like his friends and he wishes she would get out more type deal

q doesn't have many thoughts on her other than "zis's cool younger sister" and masa feels aaabout the same tbh. they stream together sometimes but outside of streaming they aren't super duper close

there's a currently unnamed and underdeveloped oc i have who was masa's coworker before masa became a magical girl and they have. tons of thoughts on her. "a hard worker, a good friend, funny and sweet and also really really really shy. needs to get out of her shell more, should hang out with me more. i think she an i should hang out more-" yeah her coworker is fuckign gay.

for zis uh that's spoilers. also i havent thought abt it enough and it's like the same as masa's. so you get to see that..later

#humaliens #puyo puyo #klug's ocs #klug answers #THANK FOR ASK [EXPLODES]

[coolfire333]

Random (Spoilery) Steven Universe Thoughts

Ok I haven't been really active in the steven universe fandom because I stopped watching for a while, but I do know some of what’s been going on with the movie and future and all that stuff so I have some thoughts below. Spoilers specifically for future below although I haven't seen the episodes so I don't know how much of this is accurate lol but I’m hiding it behind a readmore just in case. 

Man the last time I made a post this dense about steven universe was either when I first started shipping pearl and peridot around the time of back to the barn or when all of the bismuth episodes were coming out and everyone was trying to pick apart her characterization down to the bone hahaha so sorry this post is so dense, this is legitimately just how I think/talk about something I get fixated on, whoops :P

Also I’m planning on catching up on all of the stuff I’ve missed once I’m done with school, so in about a week! I’ll probably watch all of the episodes to catch up and also I like watching them together with my mom :>

Basically I think that pink pearl (white pearl? volleyball?? idk what people are calling her anymore so I’ll just stick to calling her pink, told you I wasn’t fully in the loop lol) and pearl are really cute together from what I’ve seen of the new episodes, and pink pearl in particular seems really sweet (new favorite alert??? hmmmm)

I still am a diehard pearl/peridot shipper because that was the first ship I got attached to in the show. There are so many people on tumblr that I have met and followed and talked to and even befriended because of it so it’s really special and nostalgic for me and so I don't think I’ll ship pearl or peridot with anyone else (unless the new episodes change my mind but it’ll be really difficult for me to let go of pearlidot because it’s so important for me haha).

Either way I’m really happy that different gems are interacting more and having their relationships explored deeper, I’ll probably end up shipping pearl and pink pearl as like a platonic thing, like really close friends or maybe even a sisterly relationship unless it goes in an explicitly romantic direction, but part of me is also happy at the fact that so many other people seem excited about the ship, gotta admit they’re cute either way and from what I know of pink pearl’s background it makes sense that she and pearl would form a close mutual bond so it’s exciting to see them getting along!!

I’m really excited to get back into watching, I hope that peridot and bismuth and jasper and lapis lazuli in particular get to interact with the crystal gems (and each other!) one-on-one more, like when peridot was having her episodes where she was mainly hanging out with garnet, or amethyst, or pearl, etc, because that close interaction between two gems is what I think made the show so special and fun back when I was really really into it.

Anyway these new pearl/pink pearl interactions make me hopeful that they’re gonna start doing that more again, I hope they go back and do that more with older gems interacting with each other more deeply and not just more recently introduced ones but it’s promising!! I just still have a soft spot for steven universe and there wasn’t really a reason I stopped watching besides that I was getting busy so I wanna keep up with it again!

#steven universe #steven universe the movie #steven universe future #SPOILERS #talking #long post #pearl #pink pearl #peridot #bismuth #jasper #lapis lazuli #garnet #amethyst #shipping #theory

[jewlwpet]

Space Pirate Mito, overall impression

This is a shounen anime from 1999. It’s sci-fi, as you might expect from the name. It has a wacky sense of humor, an endearing cast of characters, a fascinating and unique storyline, and some deeply affecting emotional scenes. It also featured numerous LGBT elements, the execution of which was... so-so. Could’ve been much worse, but also could’ve been much better. I do think it tries to present a positive message, and it isn’t always effective, but it is certainly memorable. There are numerous things that could’ve been improved, but I think the show as-is has a lot of value mainly coming from its uniqueness.

If you live in the U.S., it’s available for free (both seasons) on youtube from Nozomi Entertainment, just like Revolutionary Girl Utena is. Season 1 is also on both Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime; I don’t know what other countries this applies to. Piracy sites have this show too, of course, so you have options regardless. It’s also available on DVD for a surprisingly reasonable price, 22.49 USD from rightstuf, and that’s if you get it new.

Here’s the synopsis I like best for season 1, the one from animenewsnetwork:

Mito isn't just another space pirate, she's a three foot tall childlike alien with enough guts to outshine a supernova. She's known as the galaxy's most dangerous pirate, a wanted criminal who destroys a dozen police space cruisers every day before breakfast. But all she really wants is to be called "Mom."

Incidentally, Mito is voiced by the late Tomoko Kawakami, who also voiced Utena Tenjou! This was shocking for me to learn; they sound nothing alike, which just shows the versatility of her talent.

Wikipedia gives the following synopsis:

The first series of the farcical sci-fi title mainly revolves around the small space pirate Mito and her fights with and flights from the galactic police force, as well as her relationship with her half-human Earthling son Aoi, initially largely ignorant of his mother's spacefaring life.

This is basically accurate; however, there’s also a complex and compelling story that begins to unfold in the later episodes.

It’s in the unravelling of this story that the show’s LGBT themes are first introduced. I’ll insert a readmore here, because this post is getting long, so I might as well cut off before getting into plot spoilers: But if any of you goes off to watch it based on the above, there is a high chance you’ll end up checking back here at some point to determine if it’s worth sticking with.

If you’ve watched Simoun--another LGBT-related series that I adore and appreciate for its originality despite some serious flaws--this’ll sound familiar to you.

For Mito’s species, “sex differentiation” happens once a person is 10,000 years old. It’s not something that happens by itself, though; it is undergone by “choice.” I’m putting that in quotation marks because it certainly isn’t a free decision. Children are allowed to be flexible with their gender presentation, but “growing up,” in the eyes of society, means to become either a man or a woman, by fixed, preset standards. Those who don’t are socially ostracized.

In Simoun, at least, if you have your heart set on one role or the other, you can be sure to get it. Here... it’s not really clear, it seems that there is no such guarantee (I’m not sure if it’s just random, or if it’s arranged by one’s parents). Hence, it’s easy to imagine why some would find such an event absolutely horrifying.

One of the characters has a backstory that involves resisting this; I was really impressed with how this was established, except for the fact that this character did happen to be a villain. However, he (the character is shown saying “I’m a boy! I’ve already been differentiated” in his backstory, so that’s what I’m going with) joins the heroes’ side in the second season and is never made to conform, nor are the show’s protagonists ever anything but respectful.

However. For plot reasons that really do make sense in context (...sort of. it’s still contrived), Aoi ends up having to undergo sexual differentiation even though Aoi had been following a human pattern of physiological development up to that point. Aoi has no control over the process, and when it ends, everyone is shocked to find that Aoi is now “a girl.”

...Well, the humans are shocked. The aliens mostly take it in stride.

Aoi is also queen of the galaxy now, because sometimes that just happens.

For the record, this all happens in the final episode of season 1. This means that we don’t get to see the initial period of Aoi adjusting to this new role. Ultimately, I think that’s probably a good thing because it leads to many of the usual uncomfortable tropes being glossed over, but it also limits our insight into Aoi’s thoughts and feelings about this, which is pretty important. There are some mixed messages.

Something decidedly Bad is the way that the viewers are clued in on what happened to Aoi, which is... a couple of girls accidentally seeing under Aoi’s clothes and being shocked... and then the teacher wanted to look, ugh. That’s as bad as it ever got but it’s Pretty Bad for sure.

Onto Aoi’s reaction.

This is going to require some context. What first happened was that Aoi’s body became impossible for the aliens’ machines to detect as male or female, which led Mito to realize and explain that Aoi must be going through Sex Differentiation now. Only, the one weapon that could defeat the villain requires the user to have undergone it and be recognizably one or the other. This was the villain’s plan all along; he did “experiments” on Aoi to induce this, not out of a desire to cause suffering but for pragmatic reasons which still sound extremely contrived (though I was pleased to find that season 2 actually addressed why the weapons were built like this, whose decision it was, who was benefiting from it and how).

Consequently, Mito was demanding that Aoi “become either a man or a woman immediately.” Because Aoi had no idea how to control the process, the decision was made for Aoi’s (female) love interest to kiss Aoi and potentially “turn him into a man.” The reason I’m bringing this up is because notably, Aoi is not necessarily very keen on this idea, saying, “What about my feelings?” But it happens, and even, annoyingly, works long enough for the weapon to be used. (Not gonna lie, I was totally hoping that the opposite would happen and this would be the catalyst for Aoi taking on her True Form as a lesbian. That would’ve been epic). That said, it doesn’t last, and s2 leaves absolutely no room for the idea that kissing girls is inherently a “male” thing, so I don’t consider it a big deal on the whole, just such a missed opportunity.

Mutsumi, Aoi’s love interest, said in the end that her feelings for Aoi were the same regardless of what happened, but then ruined it by adding “Besides, I’m sure I can turn him back into a man.” (Aoi had not said a single word this point; she just thought that was something she could decide on her own, ugh--Mutsumi has clearly gotten over this by season 2, though; it never comes up again). At this point Aoi ran away “to find a planet where I can become a man,” according to the note left behind. It’s very possible Aoi just wanted to escape from everyone’s incessant comments and questioning, but that’s only speculation on my part. The next thing we see is Aoi being crowned queen, appearing somewhat exasperated and resigned.

Now onto season 2! Things get better... a lot better. Season 2 has its own unique and compelling story arc, with a new, more powerful villain. But the first thing to talk about how it opens, with an OP that seems to show a typical romcom with a scifi twist, one that happens to be about two girls. I love it.

S1′s OP centers around Mito, with this one centering around Aoi; because of that, it doesn’t feel like “now that we have a Female Protagonist we must make it a Love Story.” Just in case that was on anyone’s mind.

What the song tells us about Aoi’s perspective is interesting, but it can be hard to connect it to what’s shown in the show itself. It starts out with the line, “I’m a happy but lonely girl,” and includes the line “Hey, can you understand a maiden’s heart?” but Aoi certainly makes no such pronouncements withing the show (this would really make the show more comfortable to watch, because then it would certainly be Good and Right that everyone considers Aoi a girl now) and in my opinion would probably not feel comfortable doing so. I can imagine Aoi listening to a song like this and secretly strongly identifying, but that’s just speculation on my part.

I’m probably taking it more seriously than it was ever intended, but I will say, I don’t think it was made to be a mean-spirited joke. It doesn’t feel ironic. The visuals match the lyrics and melody rather than contrasting with them, and the upbeat tone is the same as that of the first OP. My best guess as to the motivation behind making it is that it’s to really bring the point home to the viewers that Aoi is a girl now and that that wasn’t just a silly joke ending to the first season but represented a major change in the status quo.

Early on in the season, Aoi has a dream about becoming a boy again and being with Mutsumi. If you want to believe the OP you could say that this is because Aoi feels that being with Mutsumi (romantically) would necessarily require being a boy. And this is a worry that Aoi canonically had, early on, but I think that most viewers would take the scene at face value and it might not be any deeper that that.

There was one other scene in the season that suggested Aoi would prefer to live as a boy, this one towards the end. In fact, Aoi shouts outright, “I would go back to being a guy if I could.” That said, the context is that a villain is torturing Aoi in an attempt to make that happen. Considering Aoi had already surrendered to that villain to save others (don’t worry, it all works out in the end), this could be as simple as “I would do what you wanted if I knew how.”

What I was hoping for, and what I think would have been awesome, is if at the end, Aoi would get a choice and would choose staying queen of the galaxy over becoming a man. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that. We do see that the experience has made Aoi a stronger person, more confident and expressive, and the show does end on a good note: The galaxy has been saved, and Aoi is free to be with the girl she loves, and looking as happy as in the OP for the first time ever, and has taken control of her life in general at last.

I didn’t mention this, but there’s another girl who has a huge crush on Aoi in season 2, and I was worried she’d be a “predatory lesbian” stereotype, but to my relief, this was not the case, and she ended up being one of my favorites.

She’s just like Nanami (from Utena--the director of this show actually directed Utena’s third ep, On The Night of the Ball) but openly gay and I LIVE for that. She has some great character development too.

#space pirate mito #uchuu kaizoku mito no boukugen #stellar buster mito #aoi mitsukuni #mito mitsukuni

[bootydragon8]

Hereditary SUCKED

I am a huge horror fan and went to see it last week. SPOILERS AHEAD IM A MOBILE SLUT THAT CANT DO READMORES

It was pretty decent and spooky until after Charlie died. Charlie dies and so does the fucking plot. Why did the grandmothers ghost like never appear again. Why didn’t they show us more about the 8 or 7 Kings of Hell or whatever the hell it was.

When the mom is possessed and is floating around behind the son (whose name I forgot) everybody in the theater burst out laughing because it was absolutely ridiculous.

Why wasn’t the son pulled around like a puppet more? That would have been so cool to see! The mom being pulled around as a puppet? TERRIFYING! But no, they threw in random shit that didn’t correlate to each other.

How did Charlie not know what an allergic reaction felt like? She obviously has had a bad enough experience for them to get an epi pen.

The moms terrible life was not thought of after being said. Why’d the husband die? We never got a real reason. Just whoops the book burns him now lol. I don’t have any beef with the miniatures the mom was making...but if I saw someone remaking the death of their child I would send them to a psychiatrist.

It pisses me off when people obviously have a shit ton of money because the special effects are amazing (like Charlie’s head) but it’s almost like the script didn’t go through a rewrite after writing it for the first time. Nobody went through and thought about it. So many fucking plot holes.

Also not really their fault but for some reason I couldn’t focus and get lost in the movie like I usually can. I’ve been able to do it with other movies but not this one.

NOT the scariest movie of the year, if the movie has people laughing during the climax it’s not scary.

I’m not the only one that thought it was shitty, the two people I went with felt the same way.

Watch the Babadook or A Quiet Place if you want a scarier movie. Even though A Quiet Place is more of a thriller....

#hereditary #ghost talks #ghost reviews movies #new tag because i wanna do this more #horror #babadook #A quiet place

[ifuckekureto]

Thoughts

Putting this under a readmore because it got way longer than I intended it to lol. To summarize, it’s my thoughts on some character interpretation in the ONS fandom (not meant as discourse!!!). Sorry in advance for being a bit disorganized.

I feel a bit distanced from the ONS fandom, but I get a general impression that most people dislike Kureto. And just to preface the next few sentences, I of course think it’s completely natural for everyone to have their faves/non-faves and individual interpretations of characters. That’s what being in a fandom is all about! With that being said... well... I think my interpretation of Kureto differs from the rest of the fandom. And I’m probably just being salty, but this does bother me in a sense because: A) I’ll totally admit I’m a Kureto Apologist™ but more importantly B) if you look at Kureto on a superficial level, disliking him is a natural conclusion... but I feel like not many people look beyond the superficial level when it comes to Kureto. I guess it’s not so much that I think their analyses are incorrect, just incomplete.

In one sense, yes, he does bad things - he experimented on a helpless child and killed innocent people in order to activate a magical superweapon. Killing innocents is usually where I draw the line. But Kureto did this not in the name of power, but in the name of humanity. The vampires were planning to destory the JIDA headquarters, and he stopped them in their tracks. Don’t get me wrong, if I was there, I would be slapping Kureto upside the head. I always believe another solution is possible. This theme of finding another solution seemed to be prevalent in the light novels too (though *a bit spoiler-y for LN 7* such efforts seemed to be largely meaningless in the end). But it does raise the question, what would have happened if Kureto hadn’t initiated the ritual? Would the vampires’ assault have been stopped? Would the JIDA still exist? Would our beloved characters still be alive? Kureto also said that the deaths of the soldiers would be an honorable sacrifice. He wanted to respect their lives, though you would think he would have the respect to tell them ahead of time... rip... In a sense, it is a bit odd to me because you would think there would be plenty of soldiers in the JIDA who would willingly sacrifice their lives, making a surprise murder ritual unnecessary. Of course, you have the elements of maintaining top secrecy and some humans being born outside the world of magic who probably don’t have an unflinching loyalty to the Hiiragi. And there are a bunch of other complicated factors that could be a whole post of their own. (Not to mention the mechanisms to keep the plot rolling, haha.) Long story short, Kureto believed he was doing the right thing, and while I vehemently disagree with his methods, it is a bit different to me than a villain. One of my favorite quotes ever comes from the Mass Effect series, and it describes such a situation as part of “the ruthless calculus of war,” with the idea being that you have to make incredibly hard sacrifices here to save countless lives over there. 

As for his ambition to take over the other human organizations... Honestly, I’m not sure what to think of this yet. I think I will need to see more of this ambition explained before I can form a proper judgment. My first impression is deeply negative. Kureto... what are you doing... One could say it is coming from Raimeiki, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t think that is necessarily the case. Seeing as the vampires have almost globally domesticated humans, my thought is that Kureto either seeks to upend the current way most other humans live or replace other human resistance organizations that exist due to the JIDA having been the only organization to unlock the Black Demon cursed gear (Kagami confirmed this about the JIDA on Twitter, I think). My guess would be the latter. But that’s the Kureto Apologist™ within me... I actually don’t have a positive outlook on what this ambition will lead to.

Anyways, as for the LNs... God, they fit my headcanons for Kureto almost perfectly. So much I could comment on. In my opinion, he really is a good guy by the end of the 7th LN. But many people seem to leave the LNs with the impression that Kureto really is a bully. I did not get that impression at all, to be perfectly honest, especially since he willingly put up his life as a sacrifice to save the world numerous times (though thankfully, it always worked out in the end). The only thing I can think of is when Kureto was on the phone with Mahiru and discussed the brutal ways in which he would torture Sakae. I actually just messaged a friend about this because I do not have a good memory of this passage. I do remember thinking that Kureto was bluffing, and I think Mahiru said so herself, but I really am not sure about this at all. This could be the Kureto Apologist™ within me, though, so take it with a grain of salt. One day, I’ll find the passage and reread it and update this post.

Well... this is somewhat related to the ideas of the first paragraph (but not to Kureto), but a lot of fans seem dissatisfied with Chapter 53. And yes, this will obviously have Chapter 53 spoilers... So if you haven’t read Chapter 53, just skip this paragraph. But some fans seem to think Narumi was a jerk to Mikaela. I... disgaree. First of all, Mika was involved in the skirmish in which two of his squadmates died. I don’t blame Narumi for being a bit wary of a vampire, especially with a demon poking and prodding around in his heart. Secondly, the issues he raised were extremely valid. If Mika can’t restrain his desire for human blood, they’re going to have a tough time on the battlefield together. But Mika lasted soooooo longggg without tasting human blood, that I’m sure he’d be fine. Narumi probably does not know much about this, though. Mika even had to explain how long he’d lasted without tasting blood. And full-blood vampires aren’t always bloodthirsty, as Chess remarked she was full once after drinking from a human. But again, Narumi wouldn’t know this. Also, as a plot device, Narumi’s questioning of Mika also provided much exposition for the reader in terms of what it really means to forsake humanity and become a vampire. And, at the end of the day, Narumi didn’t come off as particularly hostile to me.

And Seishiro... Haha... honestly, there’s not much in canon to redeem him at this point... Just the cute things like he feels relaxed when fixing his dumb hair or the fact that he loves Star Wars enough to name his dog (he has a dog!!!) after Chewbacca. I do think he will be important, though. Kureto said he would be useful. Which... okay, I really hope Kagami explains more of their relationship because Kureto was a big meanie head to Seishiro :’( I guess the biggest thing about Seishiro is that I saw some discourse in which someone called him a would-be rapist (in reference to LN 2, I think... Idk, I got the English version which combined the first two LNs, so I’m not sure). And... hoo... I just... I mean, obviously, he was attempting to humiliate Sayuri, which is just mean, but I’m not sure that there was really any sexual motivation behind it. Also, they were in a school-sanctioned fight. The Hiiragi family is crazy. But this means to me that it wasn’t just some random incident. It was part of the school’s examinations where students are expected to go all-out. The novel mentions that students have even died in these fights, and deaths were not exactly a rare occurrence. That shows the degree of sanctioned brutality in the fights. I use the word sanctioned here a lot because it really carries across the idea that the school’s environment fueled the circumstances for such a situation to happen. Also, Seishiro is just a dumb insecure 15 year-old trying to get approval from his peers who were egging him on. Not an unfamiliar narrative. I know it sounds like I’m defending Seishiro, but unfortunately, I don’t think I can communicate effectively enough to discuss the other layers to his actions without it coming across this way. Also, since there’s so little information on Seishiro, I have a myriad of complex headcanons about him and his behaviors... so I know that I myself am adding a biased layer to this discussion. Anyways, I just think it would be hard to grow up in a society driven by ambition and be inherently less powerful than your peers. He has probably been overlooked for most of his life, and I think his actions in the LNs are desperate ploys for attention and acknowledgement. Gah, heading into headcanon territory here, I better stop myself now.

Yeah... this had less to do with Kureto than I thought it would... But... one last thing... It seems that a lot of people in the fandom still like Ferid even though he gruesomely murdered children (and I don’t think this is offset by his implications of resurrecting them). But Kureto makes a tactical decision and gets h8 for it? Just sayin’ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Though I actually don’t really care for this argument because I have soooo many double-standards myself that this is actually pretty hypocritical of me haha.

Sorry, this isn’t meant to be discourse! And I’m definitely not hopping off the ONS hype train anytime soon. And this isn’t meant to be a complaint about the fandom. It’s just that I figured I might offer my perspective too since so little seem to share it. Gah. If you read this far, thanks, lol, and feel free to send a message if you want to discuss it further.

#kurethoughts #i didn't proofread this #rip