#but i mean yeah i do tend to have some issues with the portrayals i guess??

[cosmics-beings]

Hello there!! I hope this ask isn't too invasive, but let me girst say that I am a MASSIVE fan of your Transformers writings. Every once in awhile I go back to binge them and I'm always excited when I get updates from your AO3! I just finished reading 'Poets and Veils' for like the tenth time and I wanted to ask if you're still wanting to write a part 2 to it. But I remember you saying somewhere that TFP Megastar is a bit sore for you atm so I don't want to cross any boundaries!! Thank you all the same for reading. 😊

Omg this isn't invasive at all, thank you so much ! I am so happy you like my writing, that means a lot to me. Poets and Veils was one that was so close to my heart, one of my favorite ones. I do one day plan to write a part two!

I do have some feelings about TFP Megastar adjfal;fja BUUT as always, I love tfp megastar, it was the first TF ship i shipped and I actually did write a TFP megastar fic recently if you're interested! I'm always gonna love and write for them!

You certainly aren't crossing boundaries. i am always going to be down for talking about megastar, thank you so much!

Summary:

“Get up, you weak fool.” Starscream sneered, lowering his internal blaster.

“You aren’t going to…”

“We have a movement to run, or rather reform. You and I both know, we work better together.”

-

When the Predacons unleash their wrath upon Starscream, he is saved by the person he least expected, Megatron. Ready to exterminate him, Starscream realizes there is a change within his master (if he can even call him that) and realizes that perhaps their bickering is in the past. Now it is time to work for what they fought for.

#idk where to tag this #but i mean yeah i do tend to have some issues with the portrayals i guess?? #i love m*gastar #but it's not lost on me how like...tfp m*gastar is always like the worst portrayed i guess??? #i know each to their own but i wish that not all of the content regarding it was so violent and abusive #that sounds funny - like an oxymore #*oxymoron #but i just find that with tfp m*gastar it's like the fans tend to amp up the abuse #and that is what the majority of tfp m*gastar shipping content is #and i just don't really like it #idk if i've mentioned this here but im really picky about m*gastar and for me i really can only ship them and approach them as a form of #redemption and healing #like they have to be post war they have to be going thru healing and changing and they have to put aside the violence because #both are victims of abuse and i want them to heal with each other #no shame to the way others ship tfp m*gastar but that's just not how i like it #on the other hand #i've been at HUGE ODDS with TFP st*rscream #how can i say this?? #a group of his fans a while ago really made me dislike the character because i associated them with him #basically some not so much shit went down #but someone i used to like and trust #and associate with the character #kinda made me feel bad and shitty #and their whole group in turn kinda made me feel that way #so i associated tfp st*rscream with them #and i really REALLY REALLY hated the character #i even felt teh same with like predastar #a ship i had loved #i associated it with that group of people and i accidentally hated it #i hated tfp st*rscream

[greyeyedmonster-18]

Do you have any fic recs for maybe the best Sirius portrayals you've come across? Thanks!

ahhhhhhh

okay well, im obviously biased, and i love my own fics, the end.

but, if you don't want to read my nonsense, here are some of my favs:

-the son and heir of nothing in particular by @steelycunt (aeridi0nis on AO3) as well as on the issue of fever and delight and in lieu of beaujolais.

as you can see, i'm particularly fond of their writing and despite loving to be mean to Sirius (in the best sort of way, he is our barbie doll that gets chewed on sometimes, shaken like a rag doll), always do a phenomenal job of capturing his demons and the vibe. there's a particular line in OTIOFAD where sirius is there trying to apologize, and he, like, can't figure out how to slouch enough to do so, and it just hits right where it should. yes.

-the shape and sound of god by @dykefever (dykesiriusblack on AO3).

this is a fleabag AU, and Sirius is the star of the show. I am in love with this sad, sad, depiction of him. What I love a lot about sirius is how raw he is, like literally an open wound walking around and he pulls people into it, but he's always honest about that too. and is just like trying trying trying to be better, but the wound is just festering and. this. also, if you're in the mood for more dykefever, i highly recommend (in my room) i want you here

sweater weather by lumosinlove; look, i am a cult member too. i am nothing but a cult member. (i'm not tagging because I'm sure they get tagged 80x every day, yall know where to go)

Beneath a Big Blue Sky by @eyra; also a cult member for this one, i can't help it. There's something so delightful about sirius in this. and understanding. our sweet silly boy. everyone's comfort fic is also my comfort fic.

Boys Don't Cry by @blitheringmcgonagall (YouBlitheringIdiot on AO3);

i don't tend to read about the Prank because it makes me feel too much and drives me insane but THIS ONE. THIS ONE. yes. will read. and Sirius's characterization in this is top tier.

Drifters by twentysevensummers; the insane times i have read this single chapter.

At the Healing Edge of Broken by @heartofspells

OKAY LOOK I HAD TO COME BACK AND EDIT THIS POST. so fair warning (and i told tumblr user heartofspells this when i was reading as well), i had to do some skimming with some of the subject matter in this fic. BUT that does not erase the fact i LOVED this sirius. i loved how sweet he was with harry. i loved his humor. i loved his arrogance and forced vulnerability. I binged this and then went straight to the authors DM's to scream so. yeah. whoops.

(please let the record show i dont generally make rec lists because I'm always afraid someones going to be sad they weren't on it. but here are some of my favs that i find myself returning to.)

#asks #grey answers #grey recs fics sometimes #also apologies to ridi and laura for getting tagged again #i will never stop shouting about your writing #i am a fan girl front row with a sign

[utilitycaster]

Hi, first religion anon (NOT the same as the second religion anon). My main complaints are with TUC (mostly s1 but the ‘Jesus is real’ thing in s2 really bothered me) and the way that Laudna and a few other characters engage with the gods on CR. I have 0 complaints with Sam, I think his engagements with religion as both Scanlan and FCG are fascinating. I think things like ACOC and Kristen on D20 are done fine, but when they move outside of Christian allegories they tend to stumble. I know Brennan and Ally have philosophy backgrounds and Emily has a religious studies background, but frankly I’m not super confident in American universities’ ability to make people deconstruct Christian hegemony, and things like Emily using the phrase “Judeo-Christian” aren’t super encouraging to me.

thanks for clarifying, I was wondering about the second anon bc I was like "the first anon came in being fairly normal even if I don't agree and this feels...bad and also just a hunch but it feels like it's coming from a Cultural Christian who is not American. (also I did get your follow up question and I want to answer that one separately bc I think it's a good but separate point).

I know it's not terribly popular to say but being weird about the term "Judeo-Christian" feels like one of those things that Jumblr and other people in Jewish Millennial/Gen Z spaces online made a big deal about and I'm like "uhhhhh this was a thing my actual Jewish middle school teachers said sometimes; it's not the best term, no, but it was the go-to term in a lot of contexts until quite recently to the point that yeah, Emily going to school in the 2000s would probably hear it even from Jewish profs, and so it's not so much a red flag as a sign that she graduated before 2010."

I also honestly don't mind Jesus being real in TUC 2; at some point if you've decided all other mythology is real why not Christian religion. It feels, in a way, far more Christian-centric to treat Christianity as something that cannot be incorporated, as too real, as compared to say, Norse or Greek myths or Golems.

I will say that I agree that Ally and Marisha do tend to be a bit more limited in how they engage; I actually don't mind Laudna's frustrations with the gods from a "I think this comes from Marisha's personal feelings" perspective more so than a "could we...actually explore this as a throughline rather than a bunch of random-ass statements." I do think that Ally does tend to pull from their own experience; understandably so, but yes, it's very different than my experience as someone not raised Christian let alone strictly so.

I guess, and this might just be difficult to do as an anon ask thing, that I am looking at this very holistically. I am looking far more at what the GM is doing than an individual player, and I haven't had issues with Matt, Brennan, Murph, or Aabria's portrayal of divine forces. I find that Worlds Beyond Number has been explicitly very not Christian (and indeed, heavily influenced by Shintoism and pre-Christian Irish religion) in how the spirits are portrayed, and while I think Matt does tend to draw a lot from Catholic architecture and imagery and vibes, the way the gods engage with the players does not feel exclusively Christian (notably in Campaign 2; none of Fjord, Caduceus, Yasha, nor Jester's experience feel inherently cultural Christian beyond the fact that Travis mentions he doesn't feel like he can connect with the Luxon because 'it's a shape'). So it means I'm not looking to Ally for example for an exploration of religion that is as accessible to me, but I do find that actual play on the whole feels fine. I find a lot of the claims do feel like they get really hung up on specific details (eg: the Santa jokes in Chetney's backstory) instead of the overall feeling (eg: the fact that many of the deities have a very open, fluid, and at times intellectual form of engagement; the fact that the general message is that suffering is not purifying but rather simply sucks; Melora death domain traditions and especially Caduceus's philosophy which is very much outside American Protestantism; the polytheistic society of Vasselheim.)

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag

[bthump]

Hi dear bthump! I was thinking about this earlier today and was wondering your thoughts on it, even if it’s not directly griffguts related; what do you think of berserk’s stance on the concept of “ambition” or of the pursuit of one’s “dreams” ?

When I think of the way griffiths ambition is presented, it’s on face value an obvious condemnation of his over ambition- he chooses his “dream” over his comrades and friends, over the most important person in his life, guts, and becomes a literal monster/demon as a result.. and throughout the story, even though there are times guts himself (no less because of Griffith ofc) feels self conscious about being “unambitious” and just drifting in life, without strong goals etc. But when I think of the story as a whole with everything that’s happened in the eclipse and afterwards, I guess we’re meant to see guts as kind of the better, more grounded and humane alternative to a super focused, obsessive, dream chaser like Griffith, who ends up literally rejecting his humanity out of ambition? But then when I think of more recent neo Griffith chapters, that chapter where Griffith is talking about essentially revolutionizing the educational system in his utopia really stands out to me as an more obviously positive example/consequence of his “ambition”..

I wonder what you think about this? I think in another post you wrote about how, in many ways a lot of berserk is commenting on internalized homophobia/masculinity. Does this play into that?

As always love your posts and thanks for everything you do:) (also I’m really thrilled you liked my recommendation of human sadness!!)

Thank you, and thanks for the ask 💖

I think Berserk's take on dreams is a little nuanced, but falls on the negative side. As that one guy during the troll plotline says, "Dreams can make for courageous challenges but also opportune escapes."

Or much earlier you have Guts' Statement(TM): "The cost of ambition too great is self destruction." Which definitely feels like a narrative statement to me, not just reflective of Guts' character. Dreams are what motivate people to become apostles or godhands, dreams are what ruin everyone's lives in the Golden Age, and dreams are generally presented in opposition to genuine healthy relationships, requiring the sacrifice of one for the other.

But I do think Miura showed us the positive side of dreams too, in part to show why they're so seductive and the characters are obsessed with them, and in part just because it's realistic, probably. Griffith's dream of creating a utopian kingdom is genuinely pretty awesome and could do a lot of good in the world. But it was still bad for Griffith on an individual level, because his motivation was essentially a desire to escape from trauma, as neatly illustrated here:

And ultimately in Berserk, that's what dreams tend to boil down to. They're ways of coping with trauma, and they're not particularly healthy ways. They're band-aid solutions to make someone feel better about themselves that don't solve the deep-seated issues causing pain in the first place.

I have a post here that gets into the story's portrayal of dreams a little more in depth, and probably answers your main question pretty well.

And yeah along with that I think you can take that internalized homophobia and/or toxic masculinity reading and apply it very easily - I mean Griffith's dream comes complete with a princess to marry and is placed in direct opposition to his relationship with Guts. Guts' dream is to be the best swordsman ever, so he can be the strongest and most powerful guy around and never be victimized again, and you can at least argue that that plays into some of his shitty arrogance in the latter half of the Golden Age, though it may not be intentional.

I think realistically dreams and ambition are neutral at worst and can be great and have great results and Berserk acknowledges this, but the story itself is much more interested in exploring the negatives, and I feel like that works very well with the story's themes.

Ultimately I do think we're meant to see Guts' initial attitude during the Golden Age, pre Promrose Hall speech, as the more correct one: live for your day to day life and the people you care about rather than for a distant goal. This is a sentiment I think we can see echoed a lot throughout the story, from Godo and co telling Guts to stay with the remaining Hawks rather than going monster hunting, to Troll Arc's old man talking about wanting to escape his hardships at home but ultimately finding greater fulfillment staying with his village, to Guts' realization that he should never have left the Hawks, etc.

#ask #anonymous #a #b #theme: dreams #theme: trauma

[this-acuteneurosis]

Okay, 2 things I really, really love about your writing and DLB (be prepared for praise)

1. Your commentary and meta on the Force. Reading through your post on how western (Christianity) theology ruined the prequels— yes! I have been saying this for years but I never knew how to put it in words or explain why the force felt so different in the PT vs the OT, and why I always preferred the force in the OT more than the PT (you hit the nail on the head). And I appreciate that this is the route you’ve taken in your writing, and I have to say since I’m writing my own SW fic I have been reading through that post and applying it to how I write about the force in my own story, and looking at things with a more critical eye and being mindful of what the force is and how it does/doesn’t work.

2. Your characterization of Anakin. I think yours is the best characterization of him I’ve ever read in a fic (I mean it). When I read DLB, I feel like I’m actually reading an Anakin from the PT. I think when it comes to a lot of fics about Anakin, I think authors tend to write him more like he is in the TCW, which is totally fine (I love the TCW) but DLB is just refreshing to me, and I know it’s because you’re sticking mostly to the movies with added bits from the TCW. For me, TCW Anakin feels a lot different from PT Anakin (sometimes it feels like they’re two different people), and Ive always preferred the Anakin in the movies (which is why I LOVE DLB). And it’s not just Anakin, but all of the characters are just written extremely well and true to their portrayals in the movies: shmi, padme, obi-wan, the list goes on.

3. (I know I only said 2, but I feel like being a Rebel). I think you’re one of the first authors of a SW time travel to bring up the very poignant point that just because it’s a time travel fic does not mean that we’re owed a big reveal. I mean, honestly, if I was Leia and I was dropped into that situation, I would do the exact same thing. My mouth would be wired shut, you’d have to tickle/torture me to get that out of me. Leia doesn’t owe anyone that part of herself and it’s not super relevant either, so why bring it up just to bring it up. If it does end up being relevant to the plot then I would very much enjoy a reveal, but you’re such a good writer that no matter where the cards fall I know I will not be disappointed either way— I am all here for how you write it. But the way you’ve written so far feels realistic and authentic to how a real person would react in that situation

I’ll end it here, but yeah! I appreciate you and DLB and I look forward to seeing where you take things.

I am blushing like crazy, you're so kind.

1) I know my rejection of an even semi-sentient Force isn't popular and doesn't mesh with current canon, but I prefer and stand by it. I'm glad that it resonates with someone else!

2) I agree that Anakin characterization is So Hard because he's not really consistent between the OT, PT, and TCW. I find my interpretation strongly influenced by TPM Anakin specifically (another Anakin!). That bright, kind little boy who was too smart and too talented for his own good! I love him and I want to protect him!

3) Be a Rebel! :) The "reveal" issue is something I think about a lot. I get lots of comments--ever increasing as the story goes on and the silence holds--about how excited or anxious people are for a reveal. What they think people's reactions will be. Why it must happen at some point. I can understand the underlying tension issue, and how people are probably on the edge of their seat. But I agree with you anon, Leia doesn't owe her past to anyone. There have been, are, and will be consequences to her silence. If and when she chooses to break it, it will be a Big Deal for whoever she trusts with the truth.

But for now, get comfy folks. Leia isn't going to break so easily.

#Duty Bound #Don't Look Back #people are so kind #Anakin Skywalker #time travel

[myrddin-wylt]

Hi! Could you say more on the yao and gilbert disability HCs you put in the tags? This is my shit because I’m legally blind!!! Jazz hands

Yeah! readmore for post length

Gilbert's eyesight and skin sensitivity are complications from his albinism. the NIH says that lack of melanin tends to cause several issues:

poor eyesight – either short-sightedness or long-sightedness, and low vision (sight loss that cannot be corrected)

astigmatism – where the cornea (clear layer at the front of the eye) is not perfectly curved or the lens is an abnormal shape, causing blurred vision (mood!)

photophobia – where the eyes are sensitive to light

nystagmus – where the eyes move involuntarily from side to side, causing reduced vision; you do not see the world as "wobbling" because your brain adapts to your eye movement

squint – where the eyes point in different directions

vulnerability to sunburn, inability to tan

Those are, to my knowledge, very very very common with albinism and I wish they'd be depicted more because there's such a contrast between how albinism is treated in fiction vs irl. Fictional albino characters are usually considered exotic and glamorous whereas people with albinism irl are often shunned, and imo part of the reason for the contrast is that fiction sanitizes the condition (gives them dark eyelashes and brows, doesn't depict unfocused eyes etc) so that the characters are .... basically not disabled. often fictional portrayals of albinism just totally ignore the aspects that make it a disability rather than an oddity.

regarding Gilbert, something very strange I've noticed is that back in Ye Olden Days, it actually wasn't super unusual to see depictions of Gilbert's albinism as having some sort of effect on him (whether it be social or physical, and running the gamut from minor inconvenience to significantly disabling) but I nowadays I just never see it acknowledged at all. that's so strange to me. which is a shame, because you'd think it'd have a significant impact on him, whether that means in his Teutonic days - especially pre-Prussia, where he would've been running around the Levant in all the sunshine and heat that entails - or Kingdom of Prussia and onward. like presumably Gilbert has good reason to be Less Than Thrilled about things like, for example, the popular rise of eugenics.

my thoughts on Yao's disability are more tentative, mostly because unlike Gilbert's albinism, Yao's disability isn't congenital; if anything, Yao has the same problem Arthur has in that centuries upon centuries of injury, misuse while recovering and thus healing incorrectly etc have left him with permanent mobility issues that affect him even when he forms a completely new body. specifically for Yao, it's his shoulder that's fucked up- he can't lift his arm further than parallel to the ground, and even doing that is a struggle for him as it is. the rest of his arm isn't much better and he routinely suffers from muscle weakness and pain, though his shoulder is the biggest issue.

a big problem for Yao is that not having full use of his shoulder completely destroyed his ability to use a bow and arrow, which really fucked with him because my headcanon is that Yao is considered one of the single best archers in history. I'm playing with the idea that his shoulder issues are actually something that contributed heavily to the advent of early firearms; if he can't pull a bowstring, maybe he can still aim a hand cannon? not sure about the success on that and it's entirely likely early firearms just worsened his injuries. whoops. but I do really like the idea as it acknowledges that a lot of inventions came to be as a result of someone trying to accommodate for their disability or that or a loved one.

(Obligatory but important side-note: POC with albinism get significantly worse social ostracization and fetishization than people who would still be considered white without their condition. There are a lot of reasons for this, and it's worth pointing out because the albinism does not make a POC count as "white" - at least in current American culture - even if they're literally white due to lack of melanin, and the because race is a historically-contingent social construct and not determined by genetics etc etc. this has nothing to do with hetalia or Gilbert except that I thought I'd mention it while I was on the subject.)

#ask #anon #myrd's hcs #hetalia headcanons #hetalia hcs #hetalia hc #hetalia headcanon #hws prussia #hws china

[rai6en]

                                             𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑 ⋯

    Hello, & welcome to my blog. This is a plot driven roleplaying account ft. Mei Raiden & Acheron, with a heavy preference for Acheron. I will be tying my own personalized headcanons into my portrayal, which may carry over into plotting ideas if they feature the trailblazer. Don't worry, these will not be forced onto people who write trailblazer, or any character I have pre-made ideas for... I am very flexible in what can be done. Due to this, I tend to take a highly divergent stance on my writing, as it just makes it more fun & opens our little worlds to new things to build off of.

    I would firstly like to say, Acheron nor Mei Raiden are available to romance. I am not interested in pairings that go beyond Black Swan & Kiana Kaslana for the respective pair. However, this will not be forced onto others who happen to be writing these characters; Acheron & Mei Raiden will simply brush off any flirtatious affections that may occur. Please respect this, & do not force anything on myself. ( To add* Acheron/Mei is a lesbian. I will not interact with people who have an issue with this or create drama with me over this. Just block & move on. )

    Due to Acheron's & Mei's nature, along with the story molding them into who/what each other is, some heavy topics will be featured here. Such as, but not limited to: Death, PTSD, Suicide mentions, heavy depression, descriptive blood/gore, mature language, artistic nudity & descriptive sexual encounters. <- Both Acheron & Mei are over 21 years of age. However, anything sexual in nature will be reserved for people I am fully comfortable with, such as those who are my 'associations'. This offside mature jokes are alright to throw Acheron's & Mei's way, although they will more than likely brush it off or find your character annoying.

    This space is a drama free zone, meaning I want nothing to do with callout culture, hateful messages, or coming to me as an unknown person to warn me about how apparently horrible someone is. That does not account for those I'm close to, & consider friends. I know how a majoring of dash vaguing commentary goes, how hurtful it is because people tend to make assumptions & point fingers at others without a shred of proof, or they often splice screen shots to look worse than they are. I've had many things said about myself & friends that I have that are just simply not true, due to jealousy, among other things. & for this, I want nothing to do with those who are overly dramatic & take issue with 99% of what they find online... I will block you if you like to stir the pot for no other reason than to do it & get clout. If you share callouts, or try to tell me who I can & can't talk to. I'm pro-free mind, as in not following the crowd on harassing someone over a callout. Please respect this. Otherwise, block & be on your way. Thank you.

    Too add on to the above: On blocking/soft blocking/unfollowing: I don't just unfollow or softblock, I always out right block. I don't like being questioned on it, as my reasoning for doing so is such a long list. However, it's almost never personal... If I don't vibe with you anymore, don't enjoy your tone of speaking, overly aggro in your own guidelines pages, try to police people on how they write or what they write (i.e.; saying they should end their life over something fictional... yeah, no.) I block if you're a person who genuinely believes what media someone likes is a direct reflection on their own views & morals... grow up. I will also block, if I'm just simply not interested in your blog or character.

    The PSD used here is from my good friend, S. She has given me the pleasure of using it, which you may see featured on the Rai6en, Shaidow, & Combicry's blogs. Along with the carrd (coming soon), S has also allowed me to share with her. S is allowed to share with whom they wish her materials, however, I will not be giving these out as that is not my right to do so. Please, do not ask for it.

    The overall aesthetic & icon border creations are of my own. I ask that you don't try to emulate or outright copy, for respect. Although, it does not mean you can't feel 'inspired', plagarism & inspiration are two separate things. I would much appreciate it if you brought your want for inspiration of anything of mine to me, first.

    I think that's all, so here's a little bit about me: My name is Archeon, "Ark", 1995 is my birth year. I've been together with Yuri 6 years as of May 2024... She is my everything. My favorite color is red, my favorite Pokemon are Gengar & Umbreon. I also write a few characters, mostly known for Makima, Dame Aylin, Mei Raiden, Shadow & Dante... Currently, I am learning Chinese along with going through a weight loss journey - as of typing this, I'm reaching my 6 months! I will be sharing updated photos on my progress for documentation purposes, across all social media I'm on. However, it is almost always under read more. My intentions are not to make any feel insecure, as I myself am still working through insecurities.

    Special notes**

    i.    I am against users who create art or feed writing/roleplay responses with the use of AI, or artificial intelligence. Please refer to this post for further info ->

#guide* #it is long but necessary. #thank you for reading in advanced. #archeon.

[holly-fixation]

The Perfect Voice

Summary: Genesis did not consider the consequences of using his reading voice as a sleep aid to the silver soldier himself. 

Inspired by this ask to @altocat 

…

This life was more than they ever hoped for, years after they abandoned Shinra. Neither one of them expected to be so happy in a small home of the Sector 5 slums, yet here they were, joyful and content. Former SOLDIER First Class: Sephiroth and former SOLDIER First Class: Genesis Rhapsodos, who escaped together on an old mission. 

They certainly didn’t expect to be raising a child, but Genesis, of all people, wanted one. He wanted a chance to continue his legacy, and he did it with his greatest and closest friend. They adopted from an orphanage in the slums to stay off Shinra’s radar and give the child a good life. Though Genesis wanted a warrior or a mini him, Sephiroth instantly bonded with a sickly, weak little girl all the way in the back of the building. She was young, maybe five years old, and pale with brown hair and blue eyes. And her name… well, that solidified his decision completely. He always liked astronomy, his eyes saucers whenever he talked about the stars. It took enough convincing to get Sephiroth to even attempt walking into an orphanage, so Genesis accepted that this child, though not what he expected, would be perfect if they made Sephiroth so happy. 

Which turned out to be more perfect, because while Sephiroth began training her and teaching her, Genesis showed her Loveless and she loved it. The themes, the story, the tragedy, the different portrayals in movies and plays, all the theories; she was almost as attached as he was. She happily read the poem on her own, occasionally told to read out loud so her adoptive parents could gauge what she was learning and how she was improving. 

Today was not one of those days. Today was a normal day with a new discovery. 

Genesis was busy cooking and tending to their dinner as Sephiroth helped their daughter with her homework. 

She stared intensely at the words on the page, glaring and analyzing the meaning of the passage against the questions the teacher assigned. She slowly dragged her finger along the passage, attempting to read carefully, but to no avail. She huffed and sat back. “I don’t get this, Father…”

Sephiroth immediately skimmed through the passage and the questions. They weren’t too complicated, only simple questions for reading comprehension. She was only seven years old, but she should be able to answer these without issues. Surely there was some way for her to realize that. “Hmm…”

She gave her father a tired look. This was the third and final passage in the assignment. She just wanted to stop. She knew enough by now, right? “Dad?” She turned and called across the room. “Do I have to finish this right now?”

Ah, yes. Of course she asked Genesis, the fun dad, if she could procrastinate her homework. Sephiroth gave her a soft but stern look that she clearly tried to avoid for the possible input in her favor. 

“No, Nova,” Genesis scolded smoothly as he kept his eyes on the pot he stirred, and she looked down while puffing her cheeks. “You can’t just ask me to get out of your homework. You’ll be much happier if you finish it now than having to think about it through dinner. Is that fair?”

Nova gave him a small glare, but she was the spitting image of Genesis in that moment, all her features exactly the same as when he gave his frustrated little reactions to things. 

Sephiroth had to hide a chuckle, but he was also grateful that Genesis decided to parent today. 

“Okay…” She groaned sadly, attempting to understand the paragraph once again. 

His eyes narrowed curiously as he watched her. “Would you be able to answer these questions if they were about Loveless?” His tone gave away that he meant no disrespect. He was truly curious. 

She shrugged. “Well, yeah. But Loveless starts to make sense. There's so much more to explain everything. There's just not enough here to say what this theme is.”

“When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end

The goddess descends from the sky” 

Genesis began quoting the poem without any further prompting, simply reciting it to himself as others would hum songs to pass the time. He only continued cooking, his eyes on the stove, cutting board, and sink. 

“Wings of light and dark spread afar

She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting”

He had no idea what that voice did to his best friend, at least in that moment. He spoke cleanly, calmly, as if reading the pages themselves rather than reciting from memory, which usually had a different tone. Whenever Sephiroth was sick, or Genesis thought he needed rest, Genesis would bundle him up and read to him. His practiced and expert reading voice would always, after enough time, completely soothe him to sleep. It was an effective tactic, but extremely short sighted. Now, after much conditioning, it took little more than the third act to force his eyes closed peacefully. 

Sephiroth shook away the unintentional thoughts of sleepiness and focused on their child’s assignment. 

“Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess

We seek it thus, and take to the sky”

The girl slowly placed her pencil down, supporting her head with her hand as she tried to read, but she was slowed. Sephiroth noticed immediately and caught her eyes. 

“Ripples form on the water's surface

The wandering soul knows no rest.”

Oh. Uh oh. Of course. That made sense. Genesis read to her every night, and every time she was sick, he read to keep her company until she fell asleep. She loved the poem. She read it all the time. But that didn't change what her red headed dad taught her. 

Genesis had absolutely no consequential thinking. 

“Three friends go into battle.

One is captured

One flies away

The one that is left becomes a hero.”

Nova’s breathing slowed as her weighted eyelids closed slowly. 

“Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul

Pride is lost

Wings stripped away, the end is nigh”

Her arm started to slip just as Sephiroth's blinks began to slow. Still, he caught her, carefully holding her by her far shoulder. She jolted awake long enough to catch her balance and take her arm off the table. 

Is he really going to quote the whole thing right now? 

“Father…”

“There is no hate, only joy

For you are beloved by the goddess

Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds”

“It’s okay.” Sephiroth pulled her to his chest, and she stopped fighting it. She was already exhausted from the homework and the long day before Genesis opened his mouth. She curled up against him and fell asleep almost instantly, warm and comfortable and safe. 

“My friend, do you fly away now?

To a world that abhors you and I?

All that awaits you is a somber morrow

No matter where the winds may blow”

He kept his arm wrapped around her so she wouldn’t fall off the chair, but his oblivious friend continued the world’s most effective sleep spell against the world’s strongest soldier. 

“My soul, corrupted by vengeance

Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey

In my own salvation

And your eternal slumber”

Maybe he could close his eyes for just a moment, just long enough to get his strength back and wake the child before the meal finished cooking. 

“My friend, the fates are cruel

There are no dreams, no honor remains

The arrow has left the bow of the goddess

My friend, your desire…

Is to completely pass out doing children’s homework while listening to a masterpiece.” Genesis tossed the now unneeded cutting board in the sink, the clanking and crashing against other unclean utensils waking both his friend and their child. Though his friend was much more attentive, pupils sharp immediately, their child rubbed her eyes and squinted helplessly at the lights. 

Sephiroth looked away, blocking his eyes with his bangs and letting the child go. 

She looked down, small guilt in her eyes as she stayed silent. 

As punishment, Genesis forced them both to sit in the uncomfortable silence for a solid thirty seconds. Then he scoffed. “Am I so boring to you?”

Sephiroth spoke as the little girl shook her head, “It’s not like that.” 

“Oh of course not. Why would it be?” He crossed his arms. “Pray tell why you’re both so rude to the man cooking you dinner.”

The silver haired man adjusted in his seat as the child tried to hide in her own hair. “...well…” He did not want to admit something so childish, but he didn’t want his daughter punished for this infraction. “You…”

The redhead tapped incessantly against his arm. “I?”

Nova grabbed her father’s arm, trying to admit what she knew was true. “I’m just really tired, and I…-”

“No. What were you going to say, Sephiroth?”

He curled slightly, attempting to avoid the gaze and tone, terribly embarrassed. “...your reading voice…”

His tapping stopped. He stared at his friend, taking a moment before connecting the dots. Then, he chuckled lowly, and the unsettling response glued both offenders to their seats. “Are you trying to tell me, me, that you physically cannot handle hearing me talk?”

“You have a very different tone when you’re reading,” Sephiroth defended. 

“I read Loveless all the time!”

“You quote Loveless and you speak differently when you do.”

Their child nodded shyly in agreement. 

He scoffed, throwing a hand in the air in defeat. “Well if you two can’t handle my recitations, then I guess we’ll just have to do them together.”

They both stared in confusion, but Genesis thought it was a fine idea. 

“Yes, we’ll rotate per stanza and make Loveless a family activity.”

“Absolutely not.” Sephiroth immediately countered.

“But I don’t know Loveless by heart…” Their little girl mumbled at the same time. 

“No ‘buts’ on this. It’s the least you can do for being so disrespectful.”

“But, Dad-” 

The silver father actually stood up, and the daughter silenced. “Genesis, this is ridiculous. You brought this upon yourself.”

“Oh so for helping you two I have to suffer now. Is that it?”

“How are you suffering from this?”

“Apparently now I can’t quote my favorite story because someone can’t handle it.”

“You can quote all you wish, but now you’ve seen the coming result.”

“Yes, and to prevent the same result, you two will join me.”

“Genesis, I don’t know Loveless either.”

“Well now seems like the perfect time to learn.”

This was going nowhere, and he would no longer waste time on this. “Nova, grab your coat. We’re leaving.”

She nodded and took the opportunity to ditch her homework immediately.

“Don’t you dare!”

“I apologize for our reaction, but I refuse to participate in your poem readings.”

“All I’m asking is for some kind of prevention for this!”

“And if I think of one, I’ll let you know.”

“Sephiroth!”

He felt a tug at the side of his black coat. 

“Father, I’m ready.”

Sephiroth immediately lifted her into his arms and carried her out the door as Genesis yelled at him for his disrespect. About twenty minutes later, they both returned from a simple walk around the neighborhood. Genesis, now a bit cooled off, only made angry muttered comments that made their daughter struggle not to laugh. 

.

.

.

.

Thanks for reading!

Author’s Note: As amusing as shoving Genesis in a cupboard is, that’s a bit too comedic for this situation. I tried my best with what I could reasonably do! (Genesis would absolutely break out of the cupboard anyway!)

#cute and fluffy content #sephiroth #genesis rhapsodos #ff7 genesis #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #crisis core #crisis core reunion #sephgen #I don't actually ship it I just thought this was really cute #it may be a different daughter but Sephiroth's child will always be star themed #fight me

[seventeenlovesthree]

I know you like to spread positivity about all kinds of ships but I still wanted to ask if there are any digimon ships you really hate? Not meaning to be negative about it just curious.

Oh, that reminds me of that post I reblogged about how people can't openly "dislike" things on the internet anymore... And I would also maintain that I don't actually "hate" any ship, but that there are some dynamics that are simply not for me, whether it's the canon depiction or the fandom portrayal. I still enjoy playing my ship dynamics game, because it allows me to dive deeper into certain (potential) relationships. And I still think everyone should be able to ship whatever they like and lighthearted banter is also completely fine, as long as they don't harass others, vandalize art, write hatefic, start ship wars and so on. Believe me, I have seen people lose interest in fandom and pull back completely because of petty ship wars and it's just sad.

That being said, there might be a few dynamics I tend to avoid romantically, even if I enjoy most of these platonically (or at least in very specific contexts):

Taichi/Yamato: I recently wrote a huge analysis on how I perceive them and why I think they're rather tragic. I guess my inner child has always been kinda annoyed by their trope-y over-exposure ever since I had access to the internet and I simply am not enjoying "rival" ships (even though they still aren't even classic rivals in my book). Doujin portrayals are filled with angst or mainly physicality too and I don't like how those artists usually ignore that these two have OTHER PEOPLE in their lives too, which, again, makes it really tragic and sad and I really want them to HEAL for once, so... No, they're not for me.

Koushirou/Mimi: The fun part about them is that I actually liked them as a ship when I was a kid. And once again, I pointed out a lot of their good qualities before - but Tri really summarized everything I don't enjoy about their portrayal (and that doesn't even include certain fandom corners yet that go way too hard with their kinks on them, which make me just... Uncomfortable. The same/related corners also can make me have issues with very specific Taichi/Mimi fandom portrayals, but I will not go into further detail here, because it's just cruel). I absolutely adore them as friends, but there are just way too many things that make me believe they'd struggle to be compatible romantically with each other long-term.

Yamato/Mimi: I get that they are very popular in various fandom corners and I maintain, ship and let ship! As for me personally, I simply do not see them being compatible, mainly due to their lack of (positive) interactions, even though I did try to outline their potential before.

Yamato/Sora: Disclaimer, I do NOT hate them - in fact, I will probably always be one of those who will defend their parallels to one another AND them being mirrors to Taishirou (and in a lot of my AUs, you will find them as complementary ship to them after all). However... I mainly like their potential. What I don't like is their canon portrayal, because it simply doesn't give me enough to see them in a romantic context, especially long-term. Short term? Heck yeah, why not? But everything beyond that... We all know what I am referring to here, ahem. There was art out there that said they were each other's "comphet phase" and I will never get that out of my head. I also maintain that they both may just want Taichi. Which makes it even more tragic.

Daisuke/Hikari: Again, disclaimer, I think fandom tends to portray them rather nicely and I do believe they have a lot of potential. And I don't hate them, I am just annoyed with how they tend to be depicted in canon, because it feels like an unnecessarily cruel running gag that doesn't let either of them shine in their best light.

Edit: Small shout-out to Ken/Miyako and I know it's cheap to dump on the canon ships like that, but I still feel like it's very one-sided in its portrayal (even if The Beginning made a bit progress in that regard, but I still feel like they should go poly with Daisuke, period). Again, don't hate it, just wish it was more visible.

#anon #personal #not gonna tag anything here of course #also can you tell that i really think there is only one character out there yamato is compatible with romantically?

[oddygaul]

The Hunger Games Cinematic Universe

To preface, it does feel a little weird to critique these movies as if they sprung from nowhere. They’re all pretty faithful adaptations, which is relevant because many of my problems with this series are structural / worldbuilding issues, and so aren’t necessarily the fault of the adaptation as much as the source material itself. On the other hand, it’s pretty easy to rattle off some adaptations that took risks and made something fairly transformative - Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, or anything Masaaki Yuasa has adapted come to mind  - so fuck em, they’re fair game.

(I’d seen the first two movies a decade ago, and read the trilogy after that. Ballad and the Mockingjay films were new to me.)

The Hunger Games

Okay, so the original holds up as far as I’m concerned. What sets it apart from much of the post-apocalyptic or action YA that I’ve seen is ultimately how grounded it manages to keep its portrayal of all the kids. I think a lot of fiction with a similar premise tend to falls prey to Anime Syndrome: yes, all the characters are 16 or 17 or whatever, and the authors will make them do some classic teen angst things like get into stupid arguments and be deeply hormonal, but they fail to have the kids react to the horrifying situations they find themselves in convincingly. This is the plight of any battle shounen: the characters are literally fighting to the death against some manner of horrible supernatural monster, or even other human beings, yet will be written like a little devil-may-care badass, or even be stoked about getting to tEsT tHEiR LiMitS! If you’re going for a fun action show, that’s fine, but if you’re trying to sell it as a drama, you’ve already lost your biggest chip.

The Hunger Games (the first one, mind) never forgets that all its characters are young as hell. The absolute shaking terror of the cornucopia, the wide eyed panic as Katniss and Foxface come face-to-face and realize that neither of them wants to do harm, even Cato’s eleventh hour realization that his entire life and persona are ultimately meaningless*, all fill the story with a pathos that makes the movie work, despite some inherent YA cheese.

*Probably my favorite addition to the movie.

I really love the stupid-ass beard they gave this guy

Catching Fire

Yeah, this is where it starts to fall apart for me. The first act prior to the Games is pretty compelling; our look into Katniss’ PTSD, her and Peeta’s inability to reintegrate into society as if nothing happened, and the acute, sudden horror they’re slammed with upon realizing they’re being forced back into the games are all handled incredibly well. The first half hour of this movie feels like slowly waking up from a bad dream, only to realize you’re still asleep.

After that, though… eh.

I think what bothers me about the Games themselves in this one is that everyone taking part is an adult now. Part of what makes the concept of the Hunger Games so brutal is the age of the contestants - and not merely in a pearl-clutching, oh-jeez-it’s-so-horrible-to-see-this-violence-done-upon-the-youth sort of way. There’s just a special abhorrence tied to watching a bunch of children, who ought to have their whole lives ahead of them, slowly have the dawning realization that their whole world is now this mere microcosm, in which their only options are murder or death. Watching this emotional turmoil play out differently for each character is what makes the setup compelling; horrible, wrenching, but compelling.

So, having the idea for this one be that these grown-ass adults, each of whom has (by definition of being a victor) gone through this incredible trauma before, is willing to go back again and fight like it was the first time? I dunno, it feels goofy to me. And I’m not saying they have a choice to participate - I know it’s mandated - I mean that once they’re in the arena, half of them seem to go “oh well, here I go killin’ again!” like they’re clocking in for a job. It’s not like they’re sliding back into their old psychology by force once they’re in the arena, either - even in the training center, the careers are doing their usual sneering badass routine. You could make the argument that successful careers are the most likely to have child actor syndrome - that they stopped emotionally maturing after the Games and are stoked to be back in their element, Football Player That Peaked in High School style - but that feels so reductive.

I guess the fact that half of the tributes get in on the Secret Rebellion Plan kind of addresses this - they are working toward a goal in the background - but it still feels off. I wish the movie spent more time exploring the mindset of all the contestants before the games started to flesh out their motivations. As is, the Games here no longer feel like blood sport exploring the psychological response to trauma - they’re just blood sport.

Also, the violence feels very sanitized. Say what you will about the shakycam used in the first movie (it is undoubtedly excessive at times), but the confusion it provides combined with the blood makes the 74th Games feel absolutely terrifying. It gives the sense that no one is prepared for how primal things are becoming as the situation descends into a barbaric haze of violence. In Catching Fire, meanwhile, the bloodbath feels like it’s by-the-numbers for everybody - Katniss and friends group up and just start killin’ Bad Guys** right off the bat like it’s nothing, barely even watching their backs as they talk to each other. I read that the director of #2 and on made an intentional decision not to show blood, because he doesn’t like ‘glorifying violence’... I truly don’t understand how showing a bunch of characters cleanly and effortlessly killing other people like they’re in a Marvel movie is any better.

**This is just a symptom of my larger issues with the worldbuilding, but I really think the careers and their motivation get such short shrift in these movies. They explore it a bit in the first movie, but in Catching Fire they’re fully content to have the careers be easy Evil Bad Guys that the viewer isn’t supposed to feel bad for when they die. It’s another touch that betrays its YA roots, and reminds me of Harry Potter - “Welcome to Hogwarts! We’ve sorted you into the evil house for evil, no-good children, which exists because we need to have antagonists.”

This is also where the rebellion bits start popping up, but I’ll talk about those in a moment because…

Mockingjay I & II

…that’s what these entire movies are about and it’s so, so dicey.

Honestly, to me it feels like Collins had a great idea for a standalone book, but then, by dint of it being YA, was obligated to have the characters eventually band together to take down the big bad Capitol, and just didn’t have a great grasp on how the wider world worked or what a strong revolution story looks like. I think this story worked the best when it was only a small snapshot of the world, with all the periphery implied; the more it’s forced to get into the real nitty gritty of how the setting works, the more ramshackle and unbelievable everything feels, and Mockingjay is where it hits a breaking point. It’s not that there are plot holes, exactly, it’s that we see so little of the wider world that everything feels grossly oversimplified.

I think this is where these films’ dogged adherence to the source material really screws them over. While the books are also lacking in worldbuilding and context from the perspective of other characters, it makes sense there because the books are all first-person POV. Of course we don’t get cutaways to citizens in the Capitol ruminating on their role in all this, or seeing the inner workings of the Peacekeepers to give them any characterization whatsoever outside of being blank plastic suits, because Katniss doesn’t see that. Since the movies have fully done away with this conceit, though, the omission of these supporting scenes feels glaring - especially when the movies are trying so hard to push this theme that everyone has their own fight, and both sides have a reason for their actions.

So, on that note, thematically it’s a fucking mess. It dips its toes into a dozen different themes without really firmly exploring any of them, leaving it feeling indecisive and tonally inconsistent. For example, Mockingjay I spends its intro showing the effect Katniss’ PTSD is having on her, and challenging the idea that just because someone has gone through trauma, they’re a hero and ought to be set up as the mouthpiece of the revolution - how can you ethically put the responsibility of leadership on someone who gets the shakes every time they hear a bang? …but then, not to worry, show her a cool superhero outfit and she’s out there shooting down gunships with fuckin Hawkeye arrows by dinnertime.

And the wider revolution story has many similar issues. What’s your message? Dictators are bad? Wow, what a take. Both sides committed atrocities, so they’re both bad? Politics are hard and messy, and you just gotta keep your head down and hope you can retire to the country? Yeah, way to really take a hard stance on that one.

If I put all that aside, it generally works as a character piece - Katniss and Peeta’s development over the course of the story, in particular, is well done through and through, and it feels rare to see a broad appeal series like have the nerve to take its leads to such dark places. There’s also a lot of surprisingly great character acting throughout; my personal standouts are Hutcherson, Stanley Tucci, and (surprisingly) Woody Harrelson, but there’s honestly not a bad actor in the bunch, which is impressive. Still, with the subject material being so heavy, it’s hard for me just to take it at face value like that, and I wish they shored up the weaker elements a bit.

I’m just saying, if you spend that much of your screentime showing crowds of children being murdered by IEDs, I think you ought to be building towards a strong statement. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Yeah, this one felt like a waste of a movie in a really weird way. The execution was incredibly well done - lots of solid acting, production design, etc, which is a huge waste because the basic premise of the movie is fucking worthless.

So, the whole point, I would say, of doing a prequel is to flesh out interesting parts of your universe that you didn’t have time for in the original work. Unanswered questions, a character’s past that you want to learn more about, a deeper dive into parts of the world or lore that weren’t touched on but caught people’s imagination. The Hunger Games series has plenty of gaps that need to be filled: I said above how incredibly small the world seems due to barely exploring any of the capitol, other districts, etc., so it was ripe for a prequel or spinoff! Let us spend some time in other districts, see how other people live and feel about the whole thing. Even if we’re not going post-war, and are going back to the era of the Games (which of course we would), there’s 75 years worth of questions to explore.

Instead of focusing on any of that, the premise of this movie (/book) is “Hey, you know the villain from the original story that seemed like a huge, irredeemable piece of shit? Let’s spend a two and a half hour runtime telling you his backstory, which will show you that actually… he’s always been a piece of shit”. Wow. Spellbinding.

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a main character being a bad person. Particularly, if your character is charismatic, they don’t necessarily have to be right or good to be interesting to watch; there’s a certain magnetism to watching that for a lot of people. It’s never been my cup of tea, to be honest; whether pegged as comedy (Always Sunny) or drama (Breaking Bad), I get fed up really quickly when I hate everyone in a piece of fiction. But done correctly, it can still be interesting - showing how a character ended up where they are, showing you a rare good side of them you’d never seen, or showing that they used to be moral, but just happened to be tested one too many times and fell off the deep end.

Snow is none of these. He’s a piece of shit from the first time we see him, he consistently acts like a piece of shit to everyone around him, and then he ends up, in fact, being a piece of shit***. What’s interesting about that?

***I think the most generous interpretation I could give of his character is a piece of shit who briefly dabbles in transactional friendship after Lucy Gray saves him from the rubble, then shortly thereafter returns to being a piece of shit. Which I still do not find especially compelling.

Even outside of that, it’s one of those prequels that does nothing but make the world feel smaller - rather than expanding on any of the dozens of untouched ideas in the series, we spend a bunch more time in District 12, and show that, actually, it turns out Snow and his hangups are the only reason anything happened in this universe for nearly 100 years. From Katniss’ name to the Hanging Tree song she sings, turns out half the things we learned in The Hunger Games resulted from this one particular guy’s life story. In a series that already felt like the world was too small and was in desperate need of expansion, further narrowing the scope feels like such a misstep.

Why yes, I did need to know exactly what the Kessel Run was!

Odds & Ends

I mostly blocked out my memories of Mockingjay the book from the single time I read it back in the day, because I thought it was booty, but the one thing I remembered liking that they changed up was Finnick’s death. In the book, he’s just there one moment and gone the next, without any fanfare or time to grieve, which serves to make his death feel especially cruel. I suppose it was inevitable, but counter-intuitively, the Big Hollywood Death Scene they gave him here felt a lot less impactful.

-------

A point about the series in general: boy did the costume design bother me. It’s interesting, because all I remembered about it from when this series blew up was the gaudy Capitol style and how crazy the internet was about it. Watching these movies again, I feel like that success was a total fluke, because everything else is goofy as hell. The way that every district has their own bespoke fucking Civil War re-enactment outfits is wild - look, the ‘District 11 is just one big Southern plantation’ thing was always really obvious, but seeing each district dressed up like they're from competing historical re-enactment groups was wild.

The prequel turns this up to 11. I feel like someone on the team though they were real clever - this one’s set 60 years earlier, so let’s make all the outfits and design retro! What? People in flapper clothes, the lake scene with their 1940s swimsuits, even the logo and graphic design in the Hunger Games broadcasting room looking like it’s from the 50s - it doesn’t make any fucking sense. Yeah, they’re set decades before the original books - in the year, like, 2300. What, everyone just forgot how to do graphic design again after the war? Fashion is cyclical, but not like this…

--------

Also, movies 1 and 2 in particular definitely have some uncomfortable racial dynamics going on. I was already weirded out that a lot of the districts seem to be separated by ethnicity, but as you go on, it’s hard to ignore how nearly every Black person seems to exist solely to help Katniss along in her quest before dying horribly and usually on-camera. Rue, Thresh, Cinna, even that old man that flashes the salute in District 11… it’s remarkably consistent.

#will's media thoughts / virtual brain repository #movies #the hunger games #catching fire #mockingjay #the ballad of songbirds and snakes

[sysmemes]

wait omg so it doesnt have to be a total black out and I do not have to instantly forget stuff . that changes a lot

in the end I dont think its DID specifically but OSDD-1 is very much on the table .

BPD is something I considered but I got myself in a better place emotionally and a lot of the symptoms of BPD are just . not there anymore so yeah (and I do have autism, but schizophrenia is very much not an option)

also yesterday after sending in the ask I also had a very not Average Person Experience that got me considering that I could actually be onto something here . in short i just got mad and stressed and I just started feeling like I was very much physically out of my body (and my head started hurting but idk of that's related or just me) and I ended up being much more . basically mean towards everyone . I managed to reel it in so that I wasnt harassing people that made me upset or taking it out on my friends but I am just not like that . like me I do not do that

weird stuff . and tysm for the reply I forgot to mention !!!!! very helpful

glad I could help!!

I definitely recommend reaching out to a therapist if you are able! I can't recommend the ISSTD therapist directory enough (linked at the bottom of my previous reply). Even if you don't have a CDD, therapists you find through that site are likely better equipped to treat trauma and dissociation than most. If price or location are an issue, I know many offer sliding scales and video appointments!

That sounds like a rough experience, I hope you're doing ok now ❤️❤️

I know you weren't really asking for advice here, but I'd feel Off if I didn't add this stuff:

I didn't say it earlier, but it's good to be pretty cautious about the online system community. Misinformation is everywhere (usually unintentionally), so it's good to read books and studies on CDDs to get a better understanding of how they work. People don’t share a lot of the harder parts of their disorder on social media. Some people might emphasize other parts because it makes for Good Engaging Content (I am not saying these people don’t have a CDD, just that their portrayal of it online, like the portrayal of just about any illness, is curated specifically for social media). Also, the “system content” that gets the most Publicity tends to be what people without CDDs find the most sensational, and what's portrayed in that content might not be something every system experiences (for example, blackout amnesia!).

Another piece of advice I’ve heard pretty frequently boils down to “If you're regularly in these spaces, it can become very easy to pathologize yourself. Taking a week or two away from system spaces and simply letting yourself exist as you are—however that may be—is going to be most beneficial to figuring out how your brain works.” (ty Numb Circularsys for helping me word this!! <33).

All said, I hope you're able to figure this all out and everything!!

#not a sysmeme #askbox

[moistvonlipwig]

Some other frog fandom trends I've noticed:

-You mentioned how people sand away or dismiss Anne's flaws, but even many people who do fully acknowledge Anne's flaws tend to end their acknowledgement with "which she no doubt picked up from Sasha", implying that all of Anne's flaws she has to grow out of are solely Sasha being a bad influence on her, even though the show itself never says this (and even people who speculate how Sasha's flaws come from her parents divorce don't use this to disconnect her from her flaws the same way its done with Anne, i.e. Sasha's seen as more one worthy of being regarded with complexity, even by people who hate her).

-It also seems most of the fandom takes Sasha being more muscular and stronger than Anne as an excuse to forget that Anne is an athletic jock who can keep up with Sasha in every other physical field without any issue. I note this b/c as people use this to portray Sasha as super-masculine, they at the same time portray Anne correspondingly as super-feminine in ways that seem really dismissive rather than true to her character, and these two portrayals then bleed through into a lot of Sashanne fan art I've seen. I love buff Sasha, but the way some portrayed Anne in regards to this always felt weird to me.

-Relatedly, all of Sasha's feminine traits being ignored is usually associated with Anne's feminine traits being over-emphasized, and masculine traits ignored, to provide a contrast in fan art between the two.

-When Matt did an interview going over the finale, and how Anne and Marcy represented his goal of providing a more multi-faceted depiction and rejection of stereotypes for Asian people, both in real life and in fiction, the reaction of most fans was to ignore this and focus only on a gag question asking Matt about a joke in a S1 episode, that the fandom complains about being the worst episode -"Cracking Mrs Croaker"-, to proclaim that Anne was now canonically shippable with Sasha or Marcy.

-While people complain about Marcy not being mentioned enough in S3, they tend to complain way more about it for Anne than for Sasha. The implication for the fandom for some reason seems to be that its acceptable for Sasha to not want to confront what happened to Marcy, but for Anne its inexcusable, b/c, even disregarding the fact its a kids show, trying to avoid a breakdown over traumatic events means she's being written as a sociopath, apparently.

...Okay I promise I'll get to the rest of what you wrote in a moment but I have to call a big ole pause to go get my eyes checked because they're telling me that you just wrote that Amphibia fandom thinks "Cracking Mrs. Croaker" is a bad episode but that can't actually be true...right??? Please tell me you were joking because that can't POSSIBLY be a widespread opinion that people have. That's one of the BEST S1 episodes. It's got MRS. CROAKER in it aka THE BEST FROG CHARACTER. Hello???

I'll move on to your other points now but frankly if that's true then that is the biggest strike against Amphibia fandom yet. What the hell, guys. How is your taste that bad. (And if it's not true, then that was a very cruel practical joke to play on me, anon!)

Anyway, addressing each point individually:

ANNE, SASHA, & FLAWS

Yeah, now that you mention it, I've seen people attributing Anne's flaws to Sasha that way. Perhaps most bafflingly, I recently saw someone attributing Anne's behavior in "Girl Time" to Sasha's influence, saying that clearly Sasha must have forced Anne to enjoy girly things and that's why Anne was pushing girly things on Polly. (I guess they didn't get the masc!Sasha memo the rest of the fandom did lol.) What's extra ridiculous about this is that they apparently never considered that societal forces exist beyond Sasha "The Most Evil Girl In All The World" Waybright and that maybe, just maybe, the reason Anne acts like a sexist jerk in that episode is not because her best friend controls her every thought like some sort of mind-puppet, but because she has grown up in a deeply sexist world that reinforces sexist messages at every level and she has never properly been challenged to rethink any of these ideas she's absorbed and she certainly hasn't bothered to reexamine them on her own.

So again there's a refusal to engage with Anne's complexity. She is reduced to a victim, an empty vessel for other people to pour negative traits into. But I don't know that I agree with you that people are willing to afford complexity to Sasha either. It seems to me this reading generally flattens their dynamic as a whole and simplifies them into Anne the poor put-upon good person who has been led astray by the machinations of Sasha the evil toxic bad person who just sucks. Neither are granted the space to be full people. Which is a shame because part of the magic of Amphibia is that the characters are so well-drawn and do feel like full people.

SASHANNE, MASCULINITY, & FEMININITY

Yeah, Anne is someone who strikes me as having both 'masculine' and 'feminine' aspects of her gender presentation. On the one hand you have episodes like the aforementioned "Girl Time" which shows that she does clearly enjoy 'girly' activities and outfits, but she's also been shown to be a jock like you said and sometimes she dresses more 'masculine', like her suit from "Anne of the Year". Sasha on the other hand, while muscular and skilled in combat, is pretty strictly feminine and even the sport she's into is cheerleading which is considered classically 'girly'. I think fandom often conflates 'muscular' with 'masculine' or 'butch' which is...problematic to say the least. (Throwback to the days of She-Ra fandom when people insisted on describing Scorpia of all people as 'butch'. *shudders*)

MATT'S INTERVIEW

I think I know the interview you're talking about! So I'll say a couple things about this. The first thing is that I've seen an odd trend crop up in some fandoms lately, particularly children's cartoon fandoms, of fans feeling like they need the creator(s) to validate their headcanons in interviews and other extra-textual material. Not just wanting that kind of validation, mind you, but feeling like they need it in order to keep having that headcanon. For instance -- I don't always keep up with Owl House-related interviews and BTS stuff because, well, I just don't care as much about that show lol, but I know that lately Dana gave an interview where she basically said that the only thing that's canon is what's in the show and that her headcanons are just that, headcanons, and a lot of people for some reason were, like, taken aback by that? And I just don't understand that reaction at all, like...of course only the text itself is canon! Of course the creators' opinions are just their opinions!

So in the case of Matt's interview, I reacted to his statement about Anne finding Mrs. Croaker hot with a nod and smile and then moved on. Because to me...sure it's nice to know that was his intention, but also, with all due respect to Matt, I don't really care if he intentionally made Anne sapphic or not. I don't give that kind of weight to creators' statements. She reads as a lesbian to me, so to me, she's a lesbian. And she'd be shippable with Sasha and Marcy and other female characters regardless of anything Matt did or didn't say. But I also say this as a grown adult who's been in many fandoms before, so, maybe that's the difference? Maybe if you're a lot younger -- and children's cartoon fandoms do skew younger for obvious reasons -- and Amphibia or The Owl House is your first or second fandom, that kind of creator validation is more important to you? IDK.

I think the other part of this is that, in general, white-dominated queer fandoms tend to prioritize queerness over discussions of race. (Granted I have no data on the racial makeup of Amphibia fandom but most fandoms on Tumblr are white-dominated so, forgive the assumption.) Personally, if I could ask Matt about the show, I would be more inclined to pick his brain about the other things you mentioned, like how his experiences growing up Thai-American influenced the show and its portrayal of Asian-American identities and themes of diaspora, immigration, and the experience of being othered. Oh, and I might specifically ask about the show's portrayal of mixed Asian/white friend groups that are majority-Asian because I find that aspect of the show really interesting, especially as someone whose middle/high school friend group had that racial makeup.

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE MARCY??? :(

You're right, I do see more people complaining about Anne not mentioning Marcy vs. Sasha not mentioning her. I also see more complaints about Anne not mentioning Marcy much in 3A vs. her not mentioning Sasha much in early S2 even though S1 also ended with Anne witnessing an extremely traumatic near-death (and in fact near-suicide in Sasha's case) of one of her friends.

A big part of this is I think general Marcy-favoritism. Now I love Marcy. If hard-pressed I would probably rank her over Anne in terms of favorite characters, although it's really close and some days I might feel the opposite. But the Marcy favoritism in Amphibia fandom is...a bit extreme. I guess it's something that for once it's not the one white character who everyone is obsessed with? Lol? But it still annoys me, I think largely because it leads to a lot of poor analysis of the show. It's one thing if the fandom favors a particular character and analyzes them correctly; it's another thing if they favor that character and then get them, and the show as a whole, wrong.

But yes, there's also probably a double standard at play. Now, granted, Anne is the main character and we do spend way more time with her than with Sasha in S3, and we also have a way better sense of Anne's relationship with Marcy than we do of Sasha's relationship with her. So to be fair, I think if you're going to be mad about the characters not talking about Marcy, then I do get why you'd be more frustrated when it comes to Anne. But to accuse Anne of being a bad friend or whatever because of it without saying anything about Sasha is just silly and unfair.

But that circles back to my main problem which is that I just don't think it's a valid complaint for either character. Especially since Anne clearly does think about Marcy throughout S3 because in "The Beginning of the End" she has basically already forgiven her and come to understand why she did it. That took some serious thought on her part! (To be clear, I think Sasha also thought about Marcy, but while in 3A Anne had Marcy's journal in hand and the clarity of being safely on Earth with her parents and the Plantars to think the situation through, Sasha was trapped in a terrible situation as a consequence of Marcy's actions just as she had been for...um...the whole show. Hence why they come to different conclusions.)

But I also think that beyond this specific case, this complaint points to a general problem I see in some fandoms which is a lack of understanding that sometimes what we might want for the characters isn't good television. Anne moping around and constantly talking about a character who isn't there would not only not be in the spirit of the two seasons that came before, it just plainly would not be fun TV. Especially not for kids, who generally have much shorter attention spans than adults. Writing for kids is hard. Because if a kid isn't entertained by your show they will probably just turn it off and go hunt for bugs in the backyard or something.

You know what is fun TV? The Plantars being fish frogs out of water on Earth, Anne and the Plantars interacting with the Boonchuys, Anne making mistakes and learning from them, and Anne and both her families trying to avoid the Cloak-Bots and the FBI while trying to open a portal to Amphibia, with occasional interludes set in Amphibia showing Sasha growing as a person, Marcy being consumed by the Core, and Andrias trying to capture Anne. That's fun TV. That''s in keeping with the spirit of the show. And that's exactly what 3A did.

#thanks for the ask anon! hope you liked this long ass post lol #frogblogging #long post for ts

[skadren]

I keep seeing a bunch of live and let go, boundaries are personal and not moral stances posts about writing and i largely agree ppl should be able to explore what they want in fic but also. Is there a way to balance or talk about "hi um white author so you kinda reinvented racism/blood eugenics and unilaterally present sex work as inherently degrading and etc etc etc for Shipping Angst Drama fodder, when the text is like. None of that" in fandom or even just in like. A server community. Maybe I'm a bit sensitive bc i feel constructed/projected misery is kind of tacky to begin with and i wouldn't do it with a complete stranger but idk my guy. I don't want to alienate myself but it's weird to go completely uncritical here

i think there are a couple items you need to check off the list before you can go "yes talking to internet stranger #37461239 about a highly sensitive topic is a good idea"

is it tagged appropriately? if it's tagged trust me the writer knows. they have probably gotten way more unsolicited feedback than they would really like

is the portrayal you're concerned about reinforcing an unhealthy or discriminatory predominant social narrative? if it is and you think the writer is genuinely unaware, then yeah, it might be worth bringing up. the emphasis here is on predominant please i am begging on my hands and knees

will this result in a productive conversation? if the intent behind this is to get people to reconsider, it isn't helping anyone if you know it will just lead to them doubling down and doing it even worse. at that point you're only making a performative statement to validate your own stance

if it really is bothering you that much, is there a compelling reason why you can't just block and move on? it isn't your responsibility nor is it feasible to fix how a fandom is doing things, especially if it's a group of people you don't really know. your own mental health always comes first, and a bit of salty venting in private with your friends never hurts anyone

if it IS a friend or acquaintance who is doing this and you think they would be open to discussing it with nuance, then you can probably bring it up. if that person has a basic level of consideration and respect for you it tends to go well, but i've also seen people double down because they already know there's something wrong with their attitudes but get mad at you for wanting them to change, and then it creates a whole ton of drama and people get hurt and it's not pretty. so. ymmv

ultimately, someone's views on racism or sex work or whatever is reflective of a broader social norm, and fandom is not the best space to try to fix that through confrontation-- it's usually someone's "safe space" where they want to retreat from the world, not come face-to-face with any sort of personal reckonings. do i think it's a mark of privilege that some people have the luxury of ignoring these issues when they "just want to have fun"? yes, but again, this is about being able to have productive discussion, not about what's "fair". unfortunately.

my two cents: if you're in a server community or some other space that makes you uncomfortable there's really nothing wrong with going "hey, we have fundamentally different standards when it comes to [x], and i don't think i want to be here" and moving on. the best way to challenge these things is quite literally to make your own food. there's a much better chance of the people you're worried about coming across it and realizing they like it than magically being able to argue them down with well-placed logic and reasonable points or whatever

EDIT: OH ALSO IM STUPID if you mean talking about it in general. not naming writer names but trends in the fandom. yes absolutely-- not in a public space like social media but definitely find a group of people who you trust who you can talk about these things with!! it is good and healthy. just make sure it isn't just a discord server open to the public or smth tho so you personally know and trust everyone who can see it (and you don't accidentally shit talk someone who is in that space lmao)

#skadren rambles #long post #tldr; fandom is allowed to be your safe space too and you dont need to cater to anyone. or fix them. or whatever #it's less that 'people writing these things is okay' and more #starting drama is never a good look and it shits on your mental health and the internet is not a good place for nuanced discussions anyways #if you're planning to take on a whole community you will NOT be able to win i promise

[autumnslance]

I noticed you doing character bingos again! I’d like to see one for Zenos if possible. I had fun with him in Stormblood, but found that joy to drowned with how he was handled in Endwalker. By the end I just wanted to be done with that monster. If the game had let me walk away without fighting him, like he suggested, I would have.

Wild, we're about the opposite; I disliked Zenos a great deal in Stormblood--he was bloody useless and an annoyance out of nowhere--while I feel they finally figured him out and mostly hit their stride with him in Endwalker, as he gave up pretending to care about military and political matters and became the wandering blood knight he actually is.

Almost got a bingo, but let's be real; I always have too much to say about major characters.

I also won't say anything negative about folks' WoLships, which are by far the most popular Zenos pairing; folks have their fun and they're welcome to it. But fandom is a good chunk of the issue with Zenos. One either loves him or hates him, and both sides tend to take it to extremes and flanderize / mischaracterize the man rather than dealing with the canon portrayal.

In my opinion, he's not that deep. Yes I have read "The Hunt Begins" thank you I own a copy of Chronicles of Light. It told us nothing new about his history and personality, just gave us a glimpse of where he started to find his focus, exactly as the title tells us. The thing is, Zenos doesn't have to be "deep" (whatever one means by that) to be compelling and do his job as a character in the story. Given his straightforward viewpoints, especially in EW as he gives an answer to Hermes' questions, Zenos himself might scoff at the need to find hidden depth of meaning to his personality and existence.

I've also said somewhere, probably my other big Zenos write-up, that he's not quite tragic, though there's tragedy all around and through him. He chooses to not deal with it in any fashion, a creature of the present entirely.

I think he needed a better introduction, seeded over the HW patches, even just in discussion and rumors if we still didn't see him until that patch 3.55 shot. I think he should have done something in StB other than be a "lose the fight the right way" plot checkpoint and just handing Doma and Ala Mhigo back to the heroes without having to really work for them.

I really think a massive part of the dissatisfaction many folks have with StB's story is that the victories are hollow after so much misery in those lands, who are then each shorted due to sharing the expansion. And a lot of that comes down to the misuse of Zenos, whose attributes are mostly told to us as he sleeps on the throne and bullies his underlings. For a supposedly brilliant man, we never see it in his military strategies, and he's played handily by Fandaniel, who knew just how to pull Zenos's strings.

So yeah. I was ready to be done with him in EW; "In From the Cold" is horrifying but I see it more as Fandaniel's scheme that Zenos goes all into. My WoL stopped caring about Zenos the moment trial 1 ended and Fandaniel's scheme became clear. I eye rolled whenever Zenos came back onscreen, though I think the scene in Garlemald with Jullus and Alisaie were good for him and lead directly into the finale.

I know what I just wrote and that I checked "too much screentime" but honestly he got a shade too little in EW. I DID dread/expect some kinda 11th hour teamup, though the "how" made me laugh incredulously. It worked in its weird way.

The final fight he still didn't understand my WoL but she was done and wanted to make sure it was finally over and he wouldn't darken her door or threaten anyone again. The solo duel is not unknown in other FF games, and I rather enjoyed it and the final punch-out at the end as they exhausted themselves entirely.

Mileage varies, depending on one's WoL, feelings on Zenos, and on that tropey duel of mirrored characters. I've also already spoken to the gripes about him being truly gone per Word of God and while one can do whatever one wants in fanfic, there's a lot of reason it does, in fact, work to leave his corpse at the edge of the universe and I'm OK with it. His part in the story, and how that affects Assumed Default Warrior of Light's self-understanding, is complete.

Like the Ascians, he's done. Interested to see what's up with his Avatar, since we also got nothing on his being a Reaper (could have used more on that too!!) as we move into the 6.x patches and build up of the next arc.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Lyn Prompts #character bingo #memes #character analysis #Endwalker #6.0 spoilers #Zenos Galvus

[pseudo-hero]

A Little Conversation About Batman: Fortress...

I read this comic some time ago but didn't get a chance yet to talk about it. I have...thoughts.

*Spoilers, I guess*

So first, let's start with the good/ish:

1. Although I'm probably less of an expert on Batman and his media than I am on Superman (who I don't claim to be an expert on either, but I do know and appreciate a lot about him/his media) I know enough about Batman that I think I can say with certainty that he was portrayed pretty well in this book. Especially personality-wise.

2. Some of Batman's lesser known/utilized characters were present, including DC (Detective Chimp) himself! What I presume is an old Green Lantern character was there, too. Just less common characters from across DC Comics tbh, along with two big ones. All brought something to the table.

3. Artwork was strange but in a good way. It was hard to look away, that's for sure.

4. Lex Luthor was there and he was funny, like he tends to be. But he was being the snobby, "extra" version of himself here, so even funnier. Also he's president in it because this alternate universe story takes place during the time period that he was.

Now, the straight up BAD:

This may possibly be the worst portrayal of Superman and/or his origins that I've witnessed or heard about in decades, and JLA: Act of God still exists (that comic probably deserves its own post, tbh).

Not only is he absent for almost the entirety of this 8-issue series until the very end of the final issue (with his sudden disappearance and his being searched for a huge plot point in the story), not only is it revealed that he came from a family of kryptonian technology/bio thieves or genocidal war starters of some sort, whose greed and arrogance led to the hatred of Krypton by other planets/races and its eventual demise (what could have been a cool plot point for another story but was poorly used here and felt just tacked on in this series), but he actually hides from the main alien villains in this story while they travel throughout the area murdering innocent people.

Even worse? His reasoning for doing so. Clark in this story actually thought that if he hid from the big baddies, that they would eventually just leave instead of continue to look for him and be willing to kill anyone and everyone to do so (they didn't kill everyone, but damn if it wasn't made clear that they easily could have). What type of ridiculous thought process is that? Why would Superman ever think hiding was the answer? Did yet another person (probably a Batman fan) with a vendetta against his character write a story, with the express goal to make Clark look as foolish and synapse-defunct as possible?

Also, in the end, Clark decides to give up his Kryptonian powers to Batman as a means of "making up for" his ancestors past crimes and giving these idiotic alien brutes some peace of mind. Like...huh?? So him being a kryptonian/a descendant of kryptonians is the only issue, not the heart of the person who wields his powers or what the wielder intends to do with them or even the powers themselves?? And then Batman says at the very, very end that he's going to do a "better job" than Superman did with his powers by "lead"ing. Uhhh, what is Superman if not a leader?! And what exactly will leading the world look like for you, Batman? He admits he himself was always in the shadows but that he's now leaving them... To do what?? Abuse the crap out of violent villains even harder and quicker than he did as Batman? Good for you Batsy! Joker sure is gonna miss ya though! Maybe a currently chill and happy, de-powered Clark can now become the new Batman in his place.

Also, Lex in this story gets turned into a flesh cube for trying to throw Clark and co under the dum dum bus right in front of the main villains. I don't know how other Lex fans would feel about that, but I know that I found that shit to be comical in super disgusting way. So I thought I'd share that, too.

Yeah. So that's basically Batman: Fortress for you. Looking to read it now? Well, just remember: You've been warned x 1000.

#Batman #Superman #Lex Luthor #Clark Kent #Batman: Fortress #comic review #pseudo-hero comic review #warning: bad story #Goodness that was infuriating and repugnant to read!

[cacaitos]

somewhere lies the question of whether the subtle differences between the homunculi of men and women tend to be are deliberate. if they are, i mean they wouldn’t be any less patronizing for the reader, but they could very easly serve reveal a lot about intentional facts about nakoshi. 

IF it is intentional, then the fact that the great majority homunculi of women (or well them as characters or non-characters anyway) are sexual in some way or another... it is deliberate the portrayal of him objectifying women after he got plastic surgery, and started obsessing over the image of money etc, to say the attention he gets is shallow and this way of looking for it is too. but, that mindset came even before he got all that, when he was ugly and ignored. equally SCREAMING to be seen, but not putting the consideration to do the same, emphasis on women not doing so. like mf is/was just an incel and the residuals are leaking into his present perception of even the random women of the street. maybe the sexual part faded, but that same entitlement still persists, though he doesnt seem too counscious of it.

IF it is not deliberate. lol. like even if it were i’m betting an eye part is just the author’s also lack of respect for women and need to sexualize them at any given moment like the average mangaka lmao. It’s a mix of both if you ask me.

first of all, the physiscal forms of men's homunculi usually are some kind of hard protective shell, solid, that contains a human inside (gundam-esque mecha w a kid inside, egg-shaped mirror with the man himself inside), their cases usually involve having physically (usually with some sort of blade for some reason) hurt someone they appreciated and thus becoming detached/avoidant. while women's usually involve shape shifting, fluid shape, or hence lack thereof ("sand", face changing, lack of face), generally concerned with the pervasive nature of other's perception.

second of all that means men's cases here are worth shit thematically, they're an catalyst, an introduction but nothing more that in the big picture. yeah you have recognized now you have unresolved issues you're running away from, that itself doesnt mean much. it's on yukari and nanako's arcs that it really slams home the central thematic and emotional cores of the manga, Lies (symbols) v. Thruths respectively.

and again idk if it’s used as a visual device for integral characterization even outside of nakoshi's POV, but the middle ground that uses it as an intentional indicator for the reader I would say it's ito, like even if you're not all that aware of what's going on. like at the point of the manga Ito's conflict begins to get brought up, since we were still on the second with yukari, we don't have this (again, possibly unintentional) context of that difference between homunculi I'm discussing, that only comes in retrospective.

first we/nakoshi interpret ito’s homunculus as invisble, and shortly thereafter undertand it’s actually water. as ito explains (in some part subconsciously) yukari and her are actually very similar, their respective homunculi also begin to feel the same too; water and shapeless sand are not that far away from eachother, both are shorthand for a lack of consice identity and conformity to others’ molds (then see the pattern of womens’ homunculi). once ito is forced to use avoidant defense mechanisms and to act unbothered by yukari the water becomes better defined as ‘water inside a mold’ since the mold starts showing more distinctive characteristics instead of being nebulous and faceless. you could imagine that solid mold as.. a shell, even.

by the time se we ito again, in the arc after yukari’s, the mold is not only fully visible, but it has taken the form of ito’s father. it’s not shape-shifting, it’s a consolidation of the made-up image (also as a performance of the roles she's to perform relative to the sternity and stoicism of The Pathernal Figure) ito wants to show so as to avoid further interrogation after the no-involvement tactic becomes useless. she can concede talking about her parent, since yk it was one of the first things we/nakoshi notice in the story and the thing that sort of comes through as shes’s explaining yukari’s issues to nakoshi, but she wants it to stay in the comfortable awknowledgment of a ‘complicated father-son relationship’ and nothing more. 

so this mold-water dinamic doubles as expectations of both the general expectation of correctness (in the general sense) of fathers and society bestow into their children/ the apt performance of masculinity resulting as the neutering of individual personality/non conformity. 

i call ito's arc (and her) a bridge just by the way it and this stage in nakoshi’s life and arc are in a sort of limbo, being stuck between two worlds, it being the middle and mechanics-wise most particular arc (no homunculus tranferance), ito as the same but inverted image of nakoshi, and them coming over their refusal to look at their past.

bc ‘hardening up’ and image/identity issues are not limited to gender like i explain at the top i just said it was a trend in the main cast and some extras, but i do say that it uses those patterns and gendered associations (be them from nakoshi or the author) to visually signal the underlying dilemma of one or various of his characters.

#txt #im a reading too muchi nto it yes denintely but i couldnt help but notice (bc it bothered me in the first place 🤡 but yk work w what #youre given of smth) #homuncurusu