#but that's more analysis than i prefer to write in full before we properly see Morri next episode

[essektheylyss]

I love that, regardless of any other fey nature or trickery, Morri genuinely seems to love Fearne. There's no question in her greeting that she does see her as her own granddaughter, as much as Fearne sees Morri as her grandmother unequivocally.

#critical role #cr spoilers #fearne calloway #like not to say that morri isn't up to MANY shenanigans. she's an archfey. #but she clearly loves and dotes on Fearne without any complicated feelings #and tbh with the time dilation i get the sense that it's not even really malicious or transactional at least not consciously? #like it's just. yeah she's fey. she's up to stuff. #but it does give me the same vibes as frankly both Marion and Artagan with Jester #Jester is so bubbly and a little bit naive in some ways. so everyone just presumes that she must've been taken advantage of. #OR alternatively like if these people loved her then they can't have been wrong about anything else. #but that's more analysis than i prefer to write in full before we properly see Morri next episode #I'll come back to it though lol

[scribblestatic]

More Clown on this silly day

---

"Quirk exhaustion."

The doctor stands outside of the private room he set up for Midoriya Izuku. The boy laid in the bed, pale and unconscious with a breathing mask over his nose and mouth. His bruise, previously getting darker, was lightening up from the use of a doctor's quirk.

Of course, they couldn't heal everything. Doctors hadn't been able to heal his lungs, pancreas, or anything else in the general area. They'd done their best, and if he hadn't seen the absolute best in their field, he would've died that day. He never thought they'd done anything but the absolute most they could. He still thinks they did everything possible.

It just so happens that what Midoriya Izuku has accomplished is impossible.

"He should be fine after a few days of rest, but whatever he did with his quirk wore him out."

"Ah... Well, he confronted a villain," Toshinori says, lying. "Mild suffocation, from what I recall. His quirk saved his life by the time I got there."

"Hmm...certainly. Well, we'll be sure to do everything we can to help him. He's cleared for others to enter his room, so you can sit with him if you'd prefer."

"Thank you."

So, he does, entering the room and sitting at his bedside, the heart monitor beeping away. He'd made it to the hospital as quickly as possible after dropping the sludge villain off at a police station with a note of what his crimes were.

The delay wasn't long, but he hoped that it wouldn't hinder the boy's recovery.

...Moreover, he had so many questions.

What exactly is the boy's quirk?

He'd been doing what looked like magic tricks, playful and clownish, when he arrived. Even after he arrived, he did something of a little performance while doing the job All Might was supposed to do.

For a moment, he was afraid the boy had somehow replaced Toshinori's lungs with his own. Thankfully, a scan showed that his lungs weren't damaged.

His body simply showed high levels of stress and strain with high amounts of adrenaline and cortisol in his blood. He also had hypervalfridemia (hyper- for excess, valfri- for quirk or quirk factor hormones, -emia for blood: excess quirk factor hormones in blood), which often corresponds with excessive quirk use. That, plus All Might's own...er, fudged confession of what occurred likely led to the 'quirk exhaustion' diagnosis.

He still needs to get himself checked to figure out what the hell happened in his own body. Whatever it was, it allowed him to breathe much easier than he has for years.

"...Well, you lied, young man," Toshinori sighs.

His scar is still there. He doesn't mind that. However, whatever he'd done to him clearly took entirely too much out of the boy. Even so...

He thinks about it for a moment, then he opens a notebook that was in the boy's backpack, flipping through the pages full of...quite detailed and thorough hero analysis. Indeed, the boy seemed to be thinking quite seriously about becoming one. But that wasn't what he opened the notebook for.

He finds a blank page and, knowing the boy is a fan, writes his signature across two pages.

On the back of the second one, he pens the number for a burner cell he uses often.

Then, he gets up, patting Midoriya's shoulder.

"Get well soon."

He then leaves. After all, he has to get checked on himself.

-- --

"I don't know what you did..." Recovery Girl murmurs, her voice wavering in surprise. "But it's done you some good. More good than I've seen in years."

Toshinori also stares at the CT scans of his chest, his mouth slightly open in awe. Naomasa, Nedzu, and Gran Torino are also there upon receiving his rather hurried call. They marvel at the results, shocked to see them.

His lungs are completely healed. As good as if he'd never gotten them damaged. Moreover, his diaphragm, which was also damaged and prevented him from breathing properly, was healed as well.

Most of his stomach was still missing, and his other organs still missed parts and looked crumpled like before. But his lungs and diaphragm were exceptionally healthy.

"What the hell... What'd you do?" Gran Torino asks, turning to his former student.

"I didn't do anything. It's...what young Midoriya did."

"Midoriya?" Naomasa hums. "The boy you said you took to the hospital. I thought you said it was from a villain attack?"

"Well, it was... Rather, that's how we met. He was stalling a villain with his quirk. But, after I was going to leave, he ended up finding out about my, erh, circumstances." He pats his left side, still in awe at feeling his ribs press against his hand instead of be slightly deflated compared to the right. "He said he'd like to heal my scar and...against all reason, I know. I know I shouldn't have said yes, but I felt... I don't understand. I felt drawn to let him try."

"And he healed your lung and diaphragm instead." Nedzu put his paw on his chin.

"Yeah." Toshinori looks at his hand. "...With my lungs back in full order, I think I have another hour in me."

"Dammit, kid, don't go off running yourself ragged," Gran grumbles.

"N-No, of course not." He quickly raises his hands placatingly. "I wouldn't want to test it too much. Besides... Whatever he did, the boy, it put him in the hospital. He was unconscious when I left."

"Prognosis?"

"Doctor said 'quirk exhaustion.'"

Recovery Girl squints at the scans, simply baffled.

"...It's quite like my quirk."

They others look toward her as she continues.

"My quirk enhances a person's own ability to heal by using their internal energy. Of course, that depends on your body's ability, and our cells eventually run out of energy to repair themselves. That's why we age, why we get old, and eventually die. Even someone with high regenerative abilities often can't escape their eventual fate."

She taps his new left lung.

"But this... It's more than just giving you energy. It's as though your body got briefly rejuvenated, and it specifically repaired your lung and diaphragm. Your genetics were, in a sense, overwritten...no, put on overdrive? Temporarily given enough energy to fully recover in the span of seconds? And that should generally be impossible."

When she turns to the others, her expression is grim.

"That boy... He possibly sacrificed his own cellular energy to give you the ability to recover the way you did."

Toshinori's expression drops, shocked.

"But... The doctor said he'd be sleeping for just a few days. Is it... It's that bad?"

"Possibly... I can't say for sure without knowing his quirk."

"...Well, his ID said he's quirkless when he's clearly not."

"What did you notice from him? You said he was using his quirk when you got there," Nedzu cuts in.

"Ah... How could I describe it..." Toshinori puts his hand to his chin, squinting as he thinks. "...It's quite hard to. Something like...spatial...no... Erh, for example. I had empty soda bottles in my pockets to catch the villain--slime or sludge body, couldn't cuff 'im--but he was there, distracting him. Midoriya then...got juggling balls from nowhere and started juggling them. As he did, they suddenly became the bottles I'd gotten together. Then, he turned the bottles into a tablecloth or something? He gets the sludge villain under the tablecloth and..."

Toshinori claps his hands together before spreading them out.

"Bam. Caught and padlocked in the bottles. It was like..."

"A magic trick," Nedzu finishes. "His quirk perhaps has something to do with the work of magicians."

"Or clowns."

The others look at Toshinori, confused. But he just shrugs.

"I'm not sure why. He gave off the sort of impression you'd get from a clown rather than a magician."

"So he used his quirk...his magic tricks...to have him grow new organs?" Naomasa wonders. "That should be impossible, as Recovery Girl said."

"But quirks are always getting stronger, aren't they?" Gran cuts in, crossing his arms. "And it took a toll on 'im, however he did it. But what are we going to do with this information?"

Nedzu hums. "Well, a quirk like this sounds intriguing. I suppose it's not something he's talked about, considering his ID said he was quirkless. So, since he's hiding it..."

"Is there something dangerous with it?"

"Possibly. Or he knows it could be dangerous if someone villainous knows about it."

"Considering how powerful it can be..." Recovery Girl trails off, looking back at Toshinori's scans.

...Right then.

They'd have to keep an eye on the mysterious young man.

And, perhaps, keep an eye on the things happening around him, too.

#au post 6 #clown deku au #static writes #static drabbles #bnha au #bnha #mha au

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Laito Dark [Prologue]

ー The scene starts in the forest

Yui: ( ...I made it to the Demon World, but what should I do now...? )

( They always escorted me to their castle in the past, so I don’t know the way either... )

( Running away was the only thing on my mind, so I came here without giving it a second thought, but perhaps I made the wrong choice after all... )

ーー Guess I have no other choice but to proceed for now.

*Rustle*

Yui: !?

( Don’t tell me Wolves have made it this far...!? )

ー She starts running

Yui: Haah, haah...

( ...Seems like they’re not coming after me...Thank god... )

Haah...I’m kind of tired...

( Perhaps I should find shelter somewhere and wait for the sun to rise...Then I’ll continue my search for the castle once it’s light ouーー )

( Ah, but...But if I recall correctly, the nights here last much longer than those in the human world... )

What now...?

( For now, I’ll find a safe space to rest. There’s no point in aimlessly running around... )

ー The scene shifts to a cave

Yui: Haah...What should I do next?

( I wonder if I should just head back? Even if I continue to wander around here... )

( However, that’s where those Wolves are... )

Uu...

( It’s no use. I can’t come up with any good ideas while mentally exhausted... )

( ...I’ll rest up a little. )

Haah...I wonder what Laito-kun’s doing right now...?

ー Yui closes her eyes

*TIMESKIP*

???: Kukukuku...How lovely...Honestly...Why is a girl’s lonely expression just soーー

ーー irresistibly sexy, I wonder? I can’t get enough of it.

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: Nn...

*Rustle*

Yui: Nn...Stop...

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: It tickles...

( ーー Wait...!? )

( Something is...feeling me up...!? )

ー She opens her eyes

Yui: Kyaaaaah....!!!

???: Uwah...!?

*Thud*

Yui: ...!! Eh...!?

Laito: Owowow...How could you suddenly jump up like that, Bitch-chan...? You meanie...

Yui: L-Laito-kun...!?

Laito: I took a heavy blow right to the face as a result...

Yui: I...I’m sorry. Are you alright?

Laito: Uuu...I’m fine...

Yui: Haah, thank god...

Laito: I know I’ve only got myself to blame for trying to assault you in your sleep but...

Even so, your headbutt was nothing to scoff at.

Yui: ...Sorry. I was surprised when I felt something touch my body...

More importantly, when did you get here?

Laito: Eh? Quite some time ago?

Yui: Eh!? No way...You should have woken me up then.

Laito: I mean, that would have been a missed opportunity, no~?

Yui: A missed opportunity? Wait, how so?

Laito: This situation, obviously! Nfu~

Yui: ...!?

Laito: My cute Bitch-chan finds herself in unknown territory...

With nobody to come to her rescue, she has to spend a night full of insecurities all by herself.

Just the thought of that gives me the shivers! Don’t you feel the same?

Yui: I-I don’t...! I was really scared, you know...!?

Laito: Oh dear~? Are you mad at me?

Yui: W...Well...

( For as lonely as I felt by myself, seeing Laito-kun still be his usual self makes me feel extremely relieved. )

( I could never get upset at him... )

I’m not angry.

Laito: Fufu...Of course you aren’t~ You just love me after all.

Yui: ...How about you?

Laito: What about me?

Yui: ...Do you also...?

Laito: What’s this? You want to confirm it? I’ve said it plenty of times before, haven’t I?

Yui: Butーー

Laito: Nfu...You’re uncertain, aren’t you? ...I can tell...Nn.

*Smooch*

Yui: ( Laito-kun... )

Laito: Of course ーー I love you. (1) A lot, okay?

Feeling reassured now? Nfu~

Yui: Yeah...Thank you.

Laito: Haah, I thought we were going to be apart for a while but...Our reunion came quicker than I expected...

Yui: I’m sorry for coming here on a whim. The Wolves made it to the manor...

Laito: Oh no, Bitch-chan. This is what you should say instead.

‘I missed you so much, I couldn’t stand being apart...So while I was thinking of you...

I subconsciously found myself opening the gate to the Demon World.’ ...Something like that?

ーー Say, tell me. I know we weren’t apart for long, but while you were by yourself...You thought of me, didn’t you?

Yui: Well, of course...

Laito: Did you let your imagination run wild during those times?

Yui: Well...

Laito: You didn’t?

Yui: ...I-I didn’t have the time to...

Laito: Really?

Yui: I don’t lie...

Laito: Fufu...Bitch-chan, no point in hiding it~

I can tell. The fact that your face is flushed as red as a strawberry right now proves my point.

You see...While feeling sad from noticing how my scent slowly faded from your own body.

Your feelings for me should have only grown stronger...

...Just like mine did...Haah...

ー He takes in her scent

Yui: Laito-kun, that tickles...

Laito: You don’t like it?

Yui: Uu...

Laito: Say, Bitch-chan? Should I not put myself at ease by taking in your scent like this?

Yui: ( He really sees right through me... )

Laito: Kukuku....A prisoner of love, you’re completely in my grasp, aren’t you?

ーー I don’t think I have to say this...But you have me in your grasp as well.

The truth is, I was worried you might just follow me here, so I’ve been keeping an eye on you.

Yui: Eh...!? T-Then...You’ve been watching me ever since I set foot inside this world...?

Laito: Exactly. I was watching over you.

I figured you’d come. You can no longer bear being away from me after all.

Yui: ...

Laito: Having trouble proving me wrong because I hit the nail on the head?

Yui: Yup.

Laito: ...Why the haphazard response?

I bet you want to try and defend your case, but you find it too much trouble, don’t you?

Yui: Uu...I-I mean, no matter what kind of response I give, I can’t talk my way out... (2)

Laito: Nfufu~ You seem to know me very well, Bitch-chan.

As to be expected of my Yui-chan~!

Yui: ( ...He seems very happy... )

( I guess I can take this as him genuinely accepting my feelings? )

( In that case, I’m happy too... )

Laito: Bitch-chan, are you listening?

Yui: Ah, yeah. I am.

Laito: Really? I hope soーー

*HOOOOWL*

Laito: Whoops...It’d be troublesome if those Wolves were to show up...

Come on. Let’s go.

Yui: Yeah!

( I really am glad Laito-kun came for me. Now I can rest assured, right? )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the living room of the Sakamaki manor

Yui: ーー Wait...W-Why? We came back.

Laito: Nfu~ Exactly. That was my plan all along after all.

Yui: Is this...okay?

Laito: Hmー Let me think.

What if you’re attacked by those Wolves like Ayato-kun was...?

Laito: Well, I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it...?

Yui: Laito-kun!

Laito: Just kidding~ It was a joke.

But you know, I might just prefer being roughened up by those Wolves over having to stay at that castle.

ーー I’d rather not have to stay there for an extended period of time.

Yui: ...

Laito: Say, you feel the same way, don’t you? Rather than being stuck at that castle crawling with Vampires...

...you’d much rather indulge in some sweet private time with me here, don’t you?

ー He steps closer

Yui: ( He’s trying to beg the question. )

( I guess he really must not want to stay at that castle... )

Right. Let’s do that then?

Laito: Nfu~ You’re good at matching someone’s vibe, aren’t you? I don’t hate that, you know?

*Rustle*

Yui: Laito-kun...

Laito: Yes?

Yui: I like you.

Laito: Fufu... ーー So do I...Nn.

*Smooch*

Yui: ...

Laito: Yui-chan...

*Rustle*

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Yui’s room

Laito: ーー That being said, this place sure has known better times...The whole manor has been turned upside down...

I think Reiji would have a mental breakdown if he saw this. Nfu~

Yui: We have to try and tidy things up step by step, otherwise we won’t be able to properly live here.

Laito: Good point. However, I don’t dislike the thought of living in this mess of a manor.

Yui: Eeh!? W-What makes you say that!?

Laito: Just try imagining it! What it would feel like to ‘have some fun’ (3) in a room which has been turned upside down~ 

As you find yourself amidst not-so-ideal circumstances, you suddenly experience a strong desire for carnal pleasure and you eagerlyーー

Yui: S-Stop right there! I’ve heard enough!

Laito: Eeh? I was just about to get to the juicy part though?

Yui: M-More importantly, I wonder if those Wolves won’t come here anymore?

Laito: I’m sure we’ll be fine for a while. However, if we stay here too long, they might find us eventually.

Yui: Right...

Laito: So, I had a great idea.

All of the Vampires who live around this area have retreated back to the Demon World.

In other words, their manor is currently uninhabited, right? So why don’t we go live there?

Yui: You mean we could go to the manor of the Mukami’s, for example?

Laito: Nfu~ Exactly!

We stay here for a bit first, then go to the Mukami’s place after. Honestly, I wouldn’t even mind returning to your childhood home for a bit.

Yui: I see...If we go from one place to another, it’d be more difficult for them to track us down.

Laito: I think it’s an almost disgustingly good idea, if I may say so myself.

Yui: However, are we sure we can just invite ourselves in...?

Laito: It kind of gets me all excited! It’s like we’re eloping together. Nfufu~ 

Yui: ( He’s not listening at all. )

( We don’t know when the Wolves will make their move, so we have to stay on guard as long as we don’t know what exactly they’re after. )

( I can only pray life will be back to normal soon... )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) This might just be a stylistic choice, but when Laito says 愛してる or ‘aishiteru’, it isn’t written in kanji as it is in all other routes, but in Katakana. This is quite odd/uncommon because usually Katakana is used for foreign words or words borrowed from another language.

I’m sure there are other people who could do a better analysis of this, but I do think it’s written like this because Laito saying those words is also somewhat surreal in itself? So by writing the word in Katakana, it reflects that sense of ‘strangeness’. 

(2) Literally she says that she can’t escape his ‘pace’. 

(3) もつれ合う or ‘motsue-au’ literally means ‘to get entangled’. I mostly found it in context of tangled vines, etc. but I think we all know what Laito implies here. :p

<- [ Prologue ] [ Dark 01 ] ->

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #laito sakamaki #dark fate #diabolik lovers translation #dflaitodarkprolog

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review ch (90)- First pages ONLY.

I skimmed thro ch-89 to know the context of ch-90. it was Cinderella’s play. In this chapter, Kyo says early on, that time has passed since the play & that they are NOW starting their third year in high school. cool.

This part will ONLY focus on the 1st few pages of ch 90 abt (kyo & tohru) & stop before kyo’s memories starts, because the early pages contain:

Tons of new unexplored analysis of (kyo & tohru) characters that unfortunately was intentionally cut & worse! “changed” in the anime.

No space to add kyoko’s story in this post.

Kyoko’s story is full psychologically & socially.. I need to take a deeeeeeep breath before I unpack it. very deeeeep breath!

-Glimpses of Tohru (the silent grieving girl) Subtle Writing of Grief:

Right from the beginning, I hate how much insight into tohru’s grief & weakness as a human being is already there in the first few pages of ch-90 than the entire 3 seasons of the anime! From few pages we have:

Tohru’s seemingly delighted watching a video. Subtly, showcasing tohru’s grieve & paving the path for tohru’s trauma exploration later in the story. Grief is not sth you quickly past, that’s the most tragic misunderstanding of grief. Time will pass, so, you’ll be better & healthier. Really?!. Tohru’s inner desire to see her mom alive manifested in her words: “ like a photo comes to life” T_T.

The story/writing/manga is acknowledging tohru’s heartbreaking & NOT cute habit of talking to her mom’s cold dead photo! In the anime, tohru talks to her a lot in se01 & it’s up to you to see as as “ cute” as all the canon characters do or actually feeling it IS wrong. Kyo’s  “ what would she do if there were a video of her mom”! “ drives the point more abt tohru being a sad grieving human~not the “advice-giving, optimistic angel, & rain-stopping sunshine in the anime.

Tohru telling kyo to NOT catch cold connecting it to se01, ep 9 (haru’s ep) when tohru was afraid that yuki might catch cold & kyo noticed that! so now in se03, they’re dropping this plot altogether within the main anime, for what? we dont even know if this part would be included in whatever “ kyoko’s” spinoff content would be. -_-’.

That’s how you write subtle trauma such as (grief) for a main (female) MC. subtlety is the key. Respect the viewers intelligence & do it.

You don’t have to give her the long speeches or the many focused ep that yuki had. he’s the kind who confront himself inwardly constantly.

You don’t have to showcase drama, confrontation & force the emotions out like you did with kyo. he runs from his trauma & punishes himself.

Tohru buries her feelings! she’s different from both kyo & yuki. So, with her subtle & symbolic scenes are enough!!!The viewers will catch it if you show it, but ignoring it, cutting it & hoping the viewers will magically predict what you cut, is weird. But the anime isn’t even into us predicting nor subtly showing her cuz this tohru is NOT the tohru we have in the anime. How?

Simply cuz there is no kyo’s inner thoughts abt small things such as tohru’s photo obsession which subtly shows her grief & trauma. If kyo didn’t monologue abt her, tohru does not exist as she’s meant to be. You loose the subtle insights into tohru if you cut kyo’s inner thoughts. Not everything kyo thinks abt in regards to tohru is romance!!! That’s a very narrow & superficial look into the writing of kyo/’tohru dynamics. Flip the pages, hmm..cut this kyoru scene here & there cuz we dont want the anime to be only their love story.. But the story itself IS NOT only their love story at all. These pages/scenes here are abt tohru as a PERSON. Not tohru the lover...

- Writing Clashes between manga & anime: (Kyo’s Conscious Gradual Psychological Exploration vs Shock Value & Drama)

In ch 90 i really love all the inner self talking that kyo’s doing. It really explains why he ended up rejecting tohru so strongly. Also, going for a trip into kyo’s mind is hella exciting, new, refreshing & full of analysis-worthy exploration! Kyo’s inner psychological argument with himself is a psychologically-informed presentation of a tried guilty mind:

“ Why can’t I stop thinking of (kyoko’s words) lately? Acknowledging that he IS remembering kyoko & never forgot her. This is also supported in the anime itself. When he apologized to a sleeping tohru in se01, ep14 & se02, ep9 , confronting yuki in the stairs & other instances as well. 

“ It’s like a lid been opened & all the memories came pouring”. Acknowledging that kyo DID open his lid since se02, ep9 byt chose to run & not confront it due to his guilt of ruining tohru’s happiness by confessing his connection to her mom. 

“ pretending I didn’t know, pretending I forgot”. Here is a blatant clash in kyo’s writing (1) between the anime & manga (2) between the anime’s episodes themselves!!. In the manga, again kyo chose to ignore & pretended to forget. Death is NOT sth you forgot. Kyo saw kyoko bleeding & dying.  The anime chose to make him totally forget & it could’ve worked if they didn’t included all the canon moments of him actually remembering & pretending to forget. Is that lazy writing? or was the director for se03 different from se 1 &2 &? chose to NOT watch the two previous seasons? Why would you consciously include a contradicting depiction of your character on screen for thousands of confused viewers? Was the scene of kyo’s shocked gave upon seeing kyoko’s photo that artistically appealing that you forgot everything? I really have NO problem of kyo forgetting kyoko if that was written in the anime since se01, but it wasn't. that's why it sucks. 

“Is this payback? maybe I want to blame ME?” augh! i love this line so much! Directly hinting to the viewers that this is kyo’s one-sided guilt before his story with kyoko even started! subtly paving the path for the reason of his rejection of tohru” I dont want forgiveness. I want to blame ME.

-I don’t mind that the anime left kyo’s thoughts of kyoko until the climax in eo8, cuz ep 8 was SO well-done! Se03, ep 8 pacing was very suitable to (1) uncovering dark secrets & death, trauma, & guilt. (2)  for exploring the effects such secrets on kyo’s character, decisions, mentality. Also, the animation of kyo’s face all ep 8 was one of the most expressive facial expressions the anime has ever delivered! The eyebrows, eyes, mouth, tears, body languages, heartache was all 100% perfect. The fact that the following eps didnt have much time to express everything & chapters were cramped is not ep 8′s fault but the decision to have 13 eps. Kyo’s delayed trauma deserved to have its own ep.

-What I DO mind is the added scene of ep 6 where he freaked out upon seeing kyoko’s picture, the concept of shock is perfect & so suitable for an anime but was NEVER properly written into the anime itself from the beginning. On the contrary, the anime itself contradict such usage of such value. Good job ruining an otherwise perfect-depiction of two traumatized characters (kyo & tohru) with ONE scene.. -_-

Side Notes:

I thought tohru is narrating the 1st page in ch-90, turned it out it is kyo!!!! Kyo narrates sth? Kyo monologues? kyo has a POV? Just the setting of kyo doing that feels different! I duno if it cuz when that happens in the anime it’s always clash & drama! lol, or cuz it’s sth original!

Shigure’s “ it’s broadcasted all over the nation” is epic! XD! you know poor stupid kyo would fall for that! XD. kyo, you really are an idiot! XD... man this scene would’ve been epic comedy~ lol.

Tohru not knowing what a “dvd” is is outdated for the anime, but to still keep the sentiment of “her wishing she’d have a video footage of her mom”, they could’ve replaced her words with “ It’d be fun watching this play years from now & remembering all the details”. I know that to some, it feels weird that tohru doesn't have video footage of her mom in this era. but trust me, this is more common than you might think. My late brother, who’s way younger than me, doesn't have much video footage, he always felt awkward & preferred not to be filmed. We got photos for him tho~

Even if you want kyo’s knowledge of kyoko to be in the climax only. You can always include this scene of tohru & kyo in the first pages in the anime somehow. It doesn't even need to be abt the dvd even tho that’s manageable. Cutting this short scene of them talking abt videos, & catching cold is cutting tohru’s trauma from its core. Then, the old grandpa’s narration from se03, ep6 would at least have some backup in the anime’s canon.

Momiji & shigure are perfect as a comedic duo!

I can’t get over tohru’s art~ <3

Pinning kyo at the beginning is epic~ kyo always gets the BEST romantic lines when he talks to himself. “ burning (tohru’s ) memories into my head or forgetting everything”. The torturing fire inside him is only distinguished by loving her but is also ignited by loving her~ what’s the solution~

#Fruits Basket #manga #fruits basket manga #manga spoilers #reading paper #love the new content! #Hate the missing content #lol

[aot-snk-4238]

My thoughts on AOT No Requiem (Fanmade Ending) Part 1:

With another chapter of this story coming out soon, I thought now would be a good time to share my thoughts on the first part. Before I do that, though, I have a few things that I would like to get off my chest.

A part of me hates that this project exists. Not because I find it disrespectful, but because it serves as a bitter reminder of what a complete mess this ending caused among many fans. I'm still in disbelief how things got so bad so quickly. First, you've got the people who hated it. People began turning on Isayama and calling him a terrible or incompetent writer, regretting ever getting into the series, insisting that it was worse than Game of Thrones, the list goes on and on. People who liked the ending are now endlessly referred to as "ending defenders" or more crude names like "Isayama cockriders," as though they're a bunch of incompetent fools who don't know the first thing about reading comprehension all because they just happened to like it. And then of course you've got the other extreme end of the spectrum where the ones who were disappointed are accused of not understanding the story or they're only upset because their favorite ship or fan theory didn't become canon. This, too, is very demeaning and invalidating for those who grew up with this series that they gave their heart to and cherished for so long, only to have it do what they felt was a complete 180 at the very last second that undid every part of the story they thought was special and unique. It's one of the hardest slaps to the face you can get as a reader and long-time fan, and while I can't fully relate to everyone's feelings, I can at least understand and acknowledge that it's there and it shouldn't be laughed at. Now with all of that out of the way, here are my thoughts and analysis of this fanmade ending and how it differs from Isayama's.

To start things off, I found that part 1 started off similar to how 137 did in the canon manga, with Armin and Zeke conversing in PATHS. The biggest difference would be kid Eren being transported there and seeing his older self. To be fair though, this chapter was only about half the length of what we're used to reading, so I'm sure we'll get a lot more in part 2 onwards.

While Zeke is enlightening Armin on the history of the earth and how the life form that attached itself to Ymir sought to avoid death forever, young Eren is in PATHS too with his older self, witnessing the moment Ymir found the tree and fell in it to become the first titan. At first, there is no dialogue exchanged between them. They just hold hands and watch. Meanwhile, Zeke is still talking to Armin about Ymir and how she continued to serve her oppressive master despite acquiring godlike powers that would allow her to obliterate him whenever she pleased. This is where the team working on this project attempt to provide their own alternate possibilities as to why this happened in a way that would make more sense than what we were given in the canon story in which she simply had a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome and couldn't let him go no matter how much he made her suffer.

So what are these new possibilities? They come in the form of a question, so their validity is not made absolutely certain, but they're presented as the most likely candidates nonetheless.

According to Zeke, she was unable to separate her own desires from King Fritz and was a lost girl who sought meaning. A place to belong. Tragically, King Fritz was the only connection she had in her life, so she clung to it with everything she had despite it being toxic and abusive. I could argue that these are the very reasons why she supposedly loved the king in the official manga, as explained by Eren in 139, but they weren't explained or touched on as plainly as they were here. I feel like they could have been if Isayama had just been given more time, but sadly the whole thing was rushed and underdeveloped.

Moving on, Zeke states that despite his efforts in trying to understand Ymir and her feelings, it was Eren who ultimately was able to get to her and offer her the choice of freedom. The next page transitions to young Eren standing in the clouds with his arms spread out and a smile on his face just like in the official 137, only this time 19yo Eren is next to him. Now I'm going to be honest here, this is where things started to get a little corny for me. Yeah. I know a lot of people hate that argument, but that's just how it felt to me. And before I say anything else, I want everybody to know that I am in no way about to mock anyone's fondness of this Eren over the one we saw in 139, even if it was a little over-the-top. It's perfectly fine to prefer one over the other, I'm just going to try to explain myself the best I can without coming across as harsh or unprofessional.

Eren is drawn in these panels to be a stone-faced, determined and unstoppable force who will "keep moving forward until his enemies are destroyed." This is the Eren that many people grew most familiar with throughout the series, despite his occasional breakdowns, but something about the way it was executed just felt a little too overdramatic and exaggerated. For me, the contrast between this Eren and the Eren we were presented with in 139 is too jarring. It came across to me as the fandom's idealized version of Eren, the "chad" Eren if you will, rather than Isayama's portrayal of Eren who is cold and determined, but has also been experiencing stunted mental growth ever since the day he saw his mother get eaten; side note: I know that Eren himself was responsible for his mother's death, but that's a discussion for a later time. Not only that, but the "keep moving forward" line starts to get overused at this point. We already heard Eren say this a number of times before 137 where this first fanmade chapter takes place, so I didn't find it necessary to include that at the end, but it seemed to be the writers' way of trying to reinforce Eren's ultimate goal.

Regarding the rest of the chapter, young Eren asks older Eren what Ymir is still waiting for after he showed her that she's not alone. 19yo Eren proceeds to explain that while he was able to make her feel something again, she still needs somebody to free her. He shows his younger self all of the visions from PATHS that he's seen so far, ranging from past events to alternate realities to things that couldn't be changed no matter what. Now there is only one path left that he strives toward. The one that he believes will grant him and his people freedom. This next line is the one that stood out to me the most throughout this fanmade chapter. Still talking to kid Eren, adult Eren says, "When you wake up, you will forget what you learned, but not what you felt here. This will all feel just like a long dream." Only when he kisses Historia's hand will it all come back to him. This line more clearly explains why Eren woke up crying in chapter 1, but couldn't remember why. Then he circles back to how he intends to carry out his own plan to end the cycle of hatred once and for all. Despite his efforts along the way, he couldn't change the flow of PATHS and save the friends he lost or prevent certain events from happening altogether, so he had to accept that sacrifices had to be made. In this case, he will have to literally sacrifice the world, much to Armin's horror.

To wrap this up, I'm going to finish comparing this to the canon 137, but since the first part of this project only covers the PATHS portion of it, that's where I'll stop as well. To save a little but of time, I'm just gonna be lazy and copy the first part of a quick overview of the chapter I found as part of the wiki:

So clearly, canon 137 starts off focusing a lot more on Armin and Zeke's differing philosophies and does not provide any further insight into Eren's ultimate motives like this one does, at least not yet. Armin and Eren are bound to face off soon in this fanmade version, but it looks to me like this time the writers are planning on flipping the outcome and having Eren come out victorious instead, especially when I remember the name of this project and what it's based on. I guess that means that in a way, I already know what's ultimately going to happen throughout the rest of this project. Whether it's going to be considered superior to the actual ending is going to depend on if its executed properly. I could very well be wrong about some of this, though. I want to give it a fair shot since these people have clearly put a lot of hard work and passion into this, so I will refrain from further judgement until we get the full picture. On a side note, I just want to say that the artwork is beautiful so far and I commend every artist responsible for their efforts. I also liked the song choice at the beginning and thought it set the mood pretty well.

Thank you to everyone who read the whole thing. This took me far longer to write than it should have because I'm not always good at expressing myself in a way that does not come across as confusing or contradictory. I will continue to share my thoughts as more content is released, which by the looks of it could be any day now.

#snk #aot no requiem #snk fanfiction #snk manga #snk 137 #armin arlert #zeke jaeger #eren jaeger #ymir fritz

[happybinghe]

Shen Jiu Character Analysis:

The Misunderstandings Regarding Shen Jiu and Why I Feel Sorry for Him

Shen Jiu is a very misunderstood character, and although he may not be all smiles and sunshine, his attitude is very realistic considering all that he's been through. While I don't approve of his behavior towards Bingge, when you think about it, you can understand that he's applying the way he was treated by Qiu Jianluo who always beat him up, to Luo Bingge who, backed up by his protagonist halo, somehow manages to get things right despite Shen Jiu's attempts to sabotage his efforts. To him, Bingge's strength and spiritual prowess which seems to come easy to him, is something Shen Jiu struggled to achieve while Binghe, no matter what Shen Jiu tries to do, always succeeds in the end.

Shen Jiu has subtle anger buried in deep, but treats it apathetically. The world has done so much to him, and it seems no one is ever there to help, still constantly blaming him on everything instead.

In the extra chapters of Airplane's Adventures, Shang Qinghua/Airplane accompanies Shen Jiu and Liu Qingge on a mission. After Shen Jiu and Liu Qingge fought with each other again, where Liu Qingge believed Shen Jiu was trying to harm him instead of the demons, Liu Qingge left. Airplane, who is the writer of the original novel and creator of the characters, who knows about his characters more than anyone, thinks to himself, as written in the novel:

Ah right, he had gone to all the trouble to do a good thing, but the result didn’t meet expectations. If it didn’t meet expectations just go out and tell Liu Qingge, “I only wanted to help you out just then”, but he wasn’t willing to do it. If you’re not willing, just let me help you explain, but he couldn’t tear down his face━maybe he was embarrassed. This person really was full of twists and turns, always tormenting himself.

As we can see, Airplane knows Shen Jiu originally meant well and actually helped Liu Qingge when he was being attacked by a demon from behind, but no one would know that as the story is filtered in a way to show Shen Jiu being purely scum. There's a lot hidden under the surface, but the only way we get to see true intentions is when we see the story from Airplane's point of view, since he wrote it and knows how he intended for these characters to be.

Airplane then proceeds to advise Shen Jiu, telling him:

“If, in the future, you see someone going into qi deviation, do not panic, and do not rashly go up thinking you can save them. You must stay calm and go call for help, do not make a move yourself. Or else, you will definitely be more of a hindrance than a help, poke a big hole in the basket, and abandon yourself to despair from then on, unable to free yourself for the rest of your life. Not even jumping into the Yellow River could wash you clean!”

So originally, Airplane wrote Shen Jiu with him having in mind believing himself that he could help Liu Qingge when he had a qi deviation, not having any intention of killing him. But him being written as the villain clearly gives Shen Jiu a hand that can only destroy, even if that wasn't his intention. Shen Jiu, as well as Luo Bingge, are prisoners to the system and to a force stronger than them in which no matter what they want or intend, there are simply things they have no control over, no matter how much deep down they wish they did. I'll keep that topic for a different post.

Shen Jiu is too prideful to state his good intentions. Since they believe him to be scum no matter what he does, then let them. He doesn't care what anyone thinks, even if he doesn't want to harm them, if they believe he does, then he doesn't care enough to change their opinion about him. Shen Jiu is a self-hating person. And he won't defend himself if someone accuses him of something. The sort of attitude he has will hide his good intentions. He's the type of person to carry himself with a cold aura and look on his face, do good in secret, and never let anyone know about it.

However, sometimes when you're constantly accused of anything and everything, and to people you're considered a scummy person, then at some point, you may just throw everything to the wind, with the thought of if that's what they think, then so be it. You want me to be the villain, I'll be the villain. And that's possibly where throwing his frustration comes, towards Bingge, the boy who can clearly bear everything and not complain about it, in his perspective. Everything has led up to that, originally he had good intentions, but now, he simply doesn't care.

When he is later faced with so many accusations at the same time, in his mind, no matter what he says, it simply won't help. The people will simply only hear their own voices and believe what they want to believe.

I believe that despite if Shen Jiu has good intentions, it's covered up by the fact that he's written as a villain, with details of his past and personal view originally unknown and covered up considering Airplane Bro left out alot in his original drafts and didn't include alot of details concerning Shen Jiu's life since he wanted to mainly write what his fans wanted even if it originally wasn't what he had planned. So just as Luo Bingge has a protagonist halo that will basically bend the story to protect him from death and help him to succeed, Shen Jiu has a villain halo that no matter what good he does, in the eyes of others, he will seem guilty no matter what he does to try and fix things. Also, think about Liu Qingge and how he treats his disciples. He barely shows up, Bai Zhan Peak is always destroying things and fighting everyone, including Luo Bingge. But the story doesn't focus on that and it's considered a normal occurence, because it's filtered in a way where even if the characters all treat their disciples roughly for example, Shen Jiu is the targeted and chosen villain, so every little thing he does will become emphasized and make it seem like he's the worst person in the world, even if everyone else does the same or worse. There are a lot of people with bad attitudes, but they're not called a villain. Because there's no focus on the cruelty of others, only focusing on Shen Jiu's actions and emphasizing them, no matter how many actual villains there really are, it won't seem as terrible as Shen Jiu because he's put in the spotlight, on stage, where everyone points out and focuses solely on his flaws.

When someone is treated like a villain and constantly hated without any care, kindness, or love ever being directed towards them, it's only natural for them to become a cold, distant, and self-loathing person, shutting themselves out from the world, as Shen Jiu originally did when he was rarely at the peak as he never really felt welcomed there by anyone. No one ever shows him any genuine care, other than Yue Qingyuan, but Shen Jiu feels betrayed by him for leaving him and never coming back to rescue him when they were young, never knowing the truth of what really happened even up to his death, which I think is really sad and tragic. Also, Yue Qingyuan is a great person and all, but it kind of bothers me that he still calls him Xiao Jiu even though it bothers Shen Jiu, who prefers the name Shen Qingqiu since the other name brings back memories of a life he would really love to forget and not think of. It's like constantly reminding your best friend of their ex who they really want nothing to do with anymore. He wants to fix what happened but he's really constantly struggling to. Anyway, I just feel that it's a bit disrespectful to call someone something they don't like and they're trying to forget. (I'm using the name Shen Jiu here so you don't get confused) Shen Jiu needs for others to show their good intentions before he does. So far he hasn't seen that from people, and so he believes that everyone is intentionally against him and doesn't like him. Like when he was fighting with Liu Qingge, he later mentioned to Yue Qingyuan and asked him why Liu Qingge doesn't show him kindness and mercy first, and why does he always have to be the one to do so. Shen Jiu is like a cat, if you want him to approach you kindly, you need to approach him kindly first, even if it takes a while.

According to a psychology fact I read, it takes 7 positive compliments to make up for 1 negative comment. So if he is constantly faced with negativity and barely anything positive, how is he supposed to function properly without bitterness taking over him? He's only human. He too has feelings. The negativity targeted towards him outweighs the positive. Watching Shen Jiu's actions, he's generally trying to find a place for himself to belong, and no one ever accepts him. All of that turns into subtle and low-key hatred and anger. It hurts deep down to be hated by everyone and not having anyone you can even trust. Of the very few who were nice to him was Qiu Haitang, sister to her abusive brother who always beat up Shen Jiu, without her ever knowing. He was going to marry her, but it's pretty normal that someone written as a villain isn't allowed to be happy, and so life happens. He's always had a difficult life, constantly hated, never loved, being rejected and seemingly betrayed. He's never fit in anywhere, and I see him to be a very lonely person who wants somewhere to belong and has a human need to be loved, even if he'd never admit it.

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Rapunzel and the Great Tree Part 1

We’re now finally at the mid-season finale of season two, and it’s easily the best episode of this season. That however doesn’t mean that it’s not flawed, so here we go... 

Summary: The group makes it to the Great Tree, only to be confronted by a new adversary: Hector, the brother of Adira, the most dangerous member of the Brotherhood; sworn to keep all from reaching the Dark Kingdom. Despite all that has happened, Rapunzel is determined to continue on toward the Dark Kingdom to uncover the truth behind her destiny. As they navigate through the Great Tree, Rapunzel discovers the Moonstone incantation which overwhelms the magical powers of the Sundrop in her blonde hair and causes injury and weakness to those around her. 

The Brotherhood Is Such a Wasted Concept 

We have a group of highly trained warriors, directly connected to the series main macguffin, who consider each other siblings, who all have conflicting goals, and they’re all severely underdeveloped to the point of ridiculousness. 

For starters, in a show all about pushing sibling rivalries as parallels to the two main characters, it utterly fails to show the only other siblings who are actually connected to the plot acting like actual siblings. 

Adira and Hector should be a parallel to Cass and Rapunzel in this very episode. One that actually ties into the narrative, yet outside of calling each other brother/sister/brethren they don’t act like family; even feuding family. Adira also fails to treat Quirin, Varian, Edmund, and Eugene as family. She shows no real concern for any of them despite saving her home (which would included her family) from the rocks being her main goal. She should be just as every bit as invested in saving Quirin as Varian. Which is yet another reason why Varian should have been S2 and another entry point for him in the show’s plot. 

As for the rest of the Brotherhood, they never even interact at all. I don’t think anyone tells either Edmund or Hector what has happened to Quirin or Varian. And Edmund clearly didn’t inform Hector of Eugene, even though he logically should have. And did any of them know if Edmund was alive, despite Edmund having the means to communicate with the outside world with the crows? 

What we’re left with is a bunch of holes in the story, because there’s now a bunch of holes in everyone’s motivations and their actions never quite line up. 

And before you say, ‘well they’re not that important’, or ‘they’re aren’t meant to be a real family’; then that is in of itself a flaw because they should be. Not making them found family undermines Raps and Cass being found family, as it undermines every other sibling parallel in the show, and those parallels are the only build up we have to the sister reveal in S3.  

It also undermines the moonstone plot and the whole reason why season two exists. Don't introduce things that connect back to your story and not make them important. In fact don't introduce unimportant elements in a plot driven show like this period. 

Another Indication of the Timeline

As stated before, Tangled is really bad at indicating the passage of time, despite the passage of time being a big plot point. We’re now a ‘few months’ past the island, which itself was 6 weeks, and before that it was several weeks to maybe even a few months before getting to the island... 

So when does this take place? Well we were told that season two takes place over the course of a year by the creator, and that this is the mid-season finale so 6 months since SotSD sounds the most plausible. We also see fall trees dotted around like we did during the first half of season one. Which is the only visual indicator we get of changing seasons in the show, but it’s too understated to be properly noticeable most of the time. 

However, the crew themselves can’t even seem to agree if Rapunzel’s Return is her birthday or not, so if you’ve heard conflicting sources, it’s because this shit wasn’t planned properly first. But all dialogue and visual cues point to the first half of season two being at least 4 to 6 months. With 6 being the most logical placement.  

Just a Reminder, that Hook Foot Is Still Useless 

If all you were going to have him do is whine like a child during the only plot important episode that he is in, then why not just replace him with an actual child? 

It takes more work to leave Varian out of season two and force Hook Foot in his place, than it does just to write Varian in. There were so many potential entry points for his character, that the one they would up going with was the least natural to the characters and the story they were trying to tell. And even then, the Saporian take over they went with could still have worked had they handled things properly and pre-planned that stuff out. 

But they didn’t. By all accounts S2 was a hasty re-write to get rid of Varian and Hook Foot was shoehorned in as his replacement at the last minute. And it’s the most utterly baffling creative decision I have ever witnessed in my life. There was zero logical reason for it. 

This Plot Point Wasn’t Built Up Enough and It Goes Nowhere

Look, had they actually pointed out that Cass is a bodyguard now, and that this line from Raps threatens her career goals, that would make sense; or they could have explored the idea that Cass’s identity revolves around her job, and so feeling like her job is pointless makes her feel pointless therefore making her feel insecure about her future. Either of those would have been interesting jumping off points for her character arc and later conflicts. 

But that’s not what they did. 

I think that’s what they were initially trying to go for here, but it got muddled in the mess that was last minute rewrites. 

Cass obtaining her goals in season one is ignored in favor of a bland and vague validation goal from this point onwards. Her issues with Rapunzel are then boiled down to be about; not identity, agency, class, or wanting a future, but into fighting over a dead mom and how one wasn’t ‘loved enough’ apparently. Which makes no sense given what we know of Cass from previous seasons. 

Cassandra isn’t deep or complex; she is convoluted. The writing team couldn’t agree on what her goals and motivations should be, and so she performs conflicting actions throughout the story that actively undermines what was previously established and what she supposedly wants. 

Most people who try to defend the writing for Cassandra do so with this idea that because they had to work hard to ‘connect the dots’ for all these seemingly disconnected plot ideas, means that of course the writing is ‘deep’ but that’s ignoring one of the basic fundamentals of writing.   

The audience shouldn’t have to do the writer’s job! 

Having to think about a story doesn’t mean that you need to go digging around for basic information like the character’s goals or what happened when. A writer’s job is to first and foremost clearly communicate ideas to their audience. Plot and character analysis is about finding extras like, metaphors, moral messages, and coming up with fun headcanons that don't impact the wider story. Because all of the bare bones information needed to understand the story should already be there for everyone to see. 

If you gotta go into ‘analysis’ just explain the damn plot and why things are unfolding the way they do, then the story is badly written. Full stop. 

Cinderella wanting to go to the ball is a simple goal, but it’s an understandable one that anyone watching can grasp. You could go into a deeper analysis about abuse and what the ball symbolises for Cinderella’s character or how the story is an analogy for wider social issues at large, but at the end of the day everyone needs to be in agreement that, yes, Cinderella wants to go to the ball and we know why she wants to go, so that her actions in trying to get there make sense.

No one knows what Cassandra wants. Cassandra herself doesn’t know what she wants. So the ‘why’ part for what she does is never answered. 

Hector Is Wasted

As already stated, all of the Brotherhood is wasted, but Hector more so than most. Season two desperately needed an ongoing threat, a main antagonist to push the story forward. Hector should have been that antagonist. Instead he shows up for this one episode, and then in a few non-speaking cameos in S3. 

Then Why Not Just Stay With Them Adira?

We’re never given an actual reason for why Adira keeps leaving the group, and indeed doing so conflicts with her stated goal of getting Rapunzel safely to the moonstone. It’s just shoehorned in here to create ‘mystery’, but mysteries have to be answered at some point. You can’t throw something in for drama’s sake and not explain why it’s there. 

Lance’s Crush on Adira Isn’t Handled Well 

Look, this isn’t a judgment upon those who ship the characters. When I talk about relationships in the show I’m only talking about how well they are written on screen. I couldn’t care less what the fans do with them. 

Even when I discuss my personal preferences for ships, that is all that is, my personal preference. I don't give a shit if you ship something that I may dislike, or if you hate something that I do enjoy. I’m a grown up with more important things to do than worry over what a bunch strangers may write on A03 about a bunch of fictional characters, and as someone who hates bullies above all else, I’ll defend your right to make whatever content to want to because censorship is just a form of bullying and nothing else. 

No matter how gross or reprehensible I may personally find it. Different stories resonate with different people and for different reasons. I may debate your reasons, if the subject comes up, or critique professional media for the messages it puts out to the wider public, but I’ll never say you can’t like it or that you can’t make it.    

So with that stated, I don’t like Lance’s dynamic with Adira in the show and here’s my reasons for that. 

She doesn’t ever return the feelings. 

At best she tolerates him, at worse she actively kicks his butt when he gets too close, and most of the time she ignores him. Which is for good reason; she’s old enough to be his mom. Why would she be attracted to him? 

Like I’m not saying that age gaps between adults are inherently wrong; I’m saying that if there is a significant age gap then you really have to work hard to build up a reason for why the two characters would go for each other when naturally they wouldn’t be in each other’s usual sphere of dating options. Which the series never does because once again Adira is clearly not interested in him. 

This leads to Lance basically being an annoying ‘nice guy’ who can’t take a hint. Like constantly badgering someone who doesn’t want you to isn’t charming or endearing, and Lance is old enough to know this by now. 

Basically the writers just took the Varian and Cassandra dynamic from Great Expotations and slapped it onto Lance and Adira despite the fact that it made zero sense for their characters. Lance isn’t a lonely teen who desperately wants to fit in and make a connection with someone. He’s not out to prove that he is mature, nor mistakenly believes himself to be an equal to the only other girl in the kingdom that has ever talked to him that isn’t already married/seriously dating and still living at home. Adira never comes around to considering Lance a trusted friend and confidante after shoving nearly everyone else away. She doesn’t seek out his help or approval, nor tries to build him up with compliments, ect, and so forth. 

Now, I dislike the Cass and Varian ship for many, many reasons, but as they are presented on screen in the Great Expo it makes sense for why Varian would at first have an unrequited crush on her. Now after that QfaD he logically shouldn’t ever want anything to do with her but we’ll get to that later. That’s not the case with Lance and Adira; they’re both too old for such a dynamic. 

To add on to the weird factor, they’re both related to Eugene. Adira is technically Eugene’s aunt, even if she never acts like it. Lance is also the closest thing to a brother Eugene has. They don’t recognize each other as such, so if you want to say their just friends or ship them or whatever, there’s wiggle room. But the end effect is like Maya in Girl Meets World crushing on her best friend’s, Riley’s, Uncle Josh. Only even with less basis, and it wasn’t that great there either. 

Why Do you Suddenly Not Trust Adira Cass?

Forest of No Return was all about establishing trust in Adira, including with Cass at the end, so why the sudden back track? Especially since Adira hasn’t done anything but been honest with them, and has saved their butts several times now. All this does is make Cassandra look like an ass, which you don't need to be doing if you want the audience to side with her later on in the story. 

Everyone Now Knows Quirin is a Part of the Brotherhood, So There’s No Excuse For Later

It’s an odd way to state that fact, but yeah, both Cass and Raps are told directly that Quirin is in the Brotherhood, and Lance, Eugene, and Hookfoot are also present and presumably listing to this exchange. So no one in S3 has an excuse to ignore this plot point until the finale. 

This Backstory Goes Nowhere

Adira launches into this story about Zhan Tiri, Demanitus, and the Great Tree and literally none of it actually matters. It’s never brought up again after this episode. We never get any insight into why they were fighting, how Zhan Tiri corrupted a tree, what significance the tree has outside of being really big and holding some scrolls, nor how the scrolls got there, why the tree is still connect to Zhan Tiri hundreds of years later, nor how Demanitus magic spear works or what it even does exactly. 

Don’t introduce lore and then don't have it mean anything. 

Why Do you Care, Cass? 

Cassandra isn’t a lady-in-waiting anymore. We’ve already established that back in Secret of the Sun Drop and in Beyond the Corona Walls. So why should she care if Adira calls her one? Adira isn’t from Corona. Adira isn’t in charge of anything. Cassandra doesn’t even like her, so Adira’s opinion shouldn’t matter. 

This whole season we’ve seen Cass treat Adira like shit, but apparently we’re supposed to feel sorry for her when she can’t take clap back for all the grief she’s given. Is she really so immature that she can’t just ignore a petty insult for what it is? Why does she have to behave so insecure that she will jeopardize the mission or someone’s life over it? This is the deuteragonist I’m suppose to root for and relate to? I mean she’s twenty three for goodness sake! Grow the hell up woman! 

Also while we on the subject, a royal guard and a lady-in-waiting are both servants. There’s no distinction between the two beyond what duties they perform, and that would be the case regardless of what job Cass had. Rapunzel’s a princess, everyone is her servant. That’s how the class system works, and by all means Cassandra enjoys more privilege than most people in Corona. She’s the Captain’s daughter, was granted next in line for that position in SotSD, and lady-in-waiting means to the princess means she’s above all the other maids except for Crowley and Friedberg. Cass may hate her job, but she hasn’t room to complain when Faith is right there and has things much worse. 

In short making Cass suddenly indignant over being treated as lower class when she didn’t give a crap about the likes of Attila, Caine, Varian, Eugene, Lance, ect... just makes her look like a hypocrite. 

The Other Reason to Dislike Lance’s Crush is That It Hinders His Development

Lance’s arc is that he’s suppose to learn to be more responsible. This episode in particular is suppose address his habit of lying... only it doesn’t. We get no real resolvement on this point. We also never see Lance progress enough to give up on Adira and stop pursuing her even when it’s directly pointed out to him that she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. So in the end he still remains immature and irresponsible. 

Though this conversation just proves that Eugene and Lance still have the healthiest relationship in the show. They’re about to disagree or call each other’s bullshit without resorting to insults or getting violent, which is more than what any relationship involving Cass does. 

Questions With No Answers

We never learn why these scrolls are here, why they have the incantations on them and upon the wall, we don’t know who translated them, nor who came up with the incantations in the first place.

This is all important info that he series glosses over, because unlike the moonstone and sundrop, the incantations are things that someone had to have made at some point, and they could only have made them by studying what our plot macguffins are and how they work. Since the incantations are things that are also sought after by the big bad along with the magical objects, then we need to know how the big bad knows about them when no one else does. How they came about. 

Which is yet another reason why we needed a magic system in place. 

This Song is Catchy, But It Doesn’t Need To Exist

In a musical a song needs to either establish the plot, build the world, or further the characters. This song does none of those things, it’s not needed for Lance and Eugene’s relationship, it doesn’t actually resolve Lance’s plot as he is high when he apologizes for lying, and it wasn’t needed to established the man eating plant. I honestly think this song only exists so that the animators could just reuse assets they built to save on money. 

The Hurt Incantation Is the Coolest Thing In the Show! Shame It’s Not Utilized Well

People are suckered into this show by one of three things usually, ‘Let Me Make You Proud Reprise’, ‘Ready As I’ll Ever Be’, or this scene. 

It’s shocking, powerfull, and a really, really awesome concept. It’s one of the best scenes in the show, and an interesting idea that offers up a lot of story possibilities. 

Possibilities that’ll never actually be explored on screen. The hurt incantation isn’t useless, it does affect the plot, but it’s not used effectively. There was so much you could have done with this but it’s then never explored. Characters outright forget its existence even when they have no reason to, or it’s used to do things that should have been accomplished in other ways. It’s also never fully explained or expanded upon. They couldn’t even bother to give it more than one verse. 

All of the incantations are mishandled in this show, but the hurt incantation is the one that has the biggest let down. 

Conclusion 

So that ends part 1, join me tomorrow for part 2. 

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #anti-tangled #anti-cassandra #hector #the brotherhood #lance #adira

[amwritingmeta]

15x20

Comment from @dollysgirl04 (sorry that I can’t tag properly) on the 15x20 meta I posted yesterday:

Trying to positivey spin the hateful messages of burying your gays and only finding happiness in death is harmful. What they did was objectively wrong and you shouldn't dismiss that in a quest to make your own personal peace with the show. Dont make excuses for real harmful messaging.

Firstly, I was in no way trying to dismiss anything. I believe I even went so far as to make it clear in the post that I understand the anger, I felt it, and let me be perfectly and absolutely clear, in case I wasn’t, that I still feel it at some of the choices made. All I wanted to offer was the fact that, putting that anger aside, I can recognise why the choices were most likely made.

I agree the problematic way that, in the visual narrative, we saw both Stevie and Charlie disappear from our story, their happiness cut short and Charlie talking about how she’d dared open her heart making it seem as though love was the actual culprit all along, for us to then not have a visual reestablishing of both these characters brought back by Jack, and their relationship restored, is highly regrettable. Keeping this in the subtext is unnecessary and neglectful and yes, it angers me too, because all we can do is assume Jack brought them both back. We don’t know he did.

If there was no intention by Berens for us to draw the conclusion that these two were brought back by Jack, then I’ll concede that the 15x18 is a clusterfuck of offensive moments and that I have absolutely no idea who these writers are, yeah? But I’m not going to assume that’s what happened, because it doesn’t track with every single other episode that Berens has written, nor does it track with the subtext he established for us in that episode: the love story exists, because couple after couple was broken apart and then Dean and Cas were broken apart. Why would theirs be the only relationship where the love was established as romantic (by Cas’ speech) and yet not reciprocated, when both of the other couples were deeply in love with each other?

Cas is canonically alive--as an angel or as the soul of the man he grew into is up to us to decide--and so the bury your gays trope doesn’t actually work in relation to him. His sacrifice brought him the integration he needed to go fix what all of his previous bad choices and insecurities and lack of self-worth and self-insight made fall apart: Heaven. And his faith in Jack made all of this fixing possible. To my mind, this is an incredible way for his individual arc to end. 

Would I have preferred Heaven fixed by Jack and Cas being able to let Heaven go? Yup. But that’s not what we got, so hey ho.

All that said, your comment on how Dean is now shown to find happiness (or at least true happiness) in death is an enormous issue and I wholeheartedly agree with you on the fact that the narrative has made itself so vulnerable to this interpretation is beyond neglectful. 

Dean’s death shocked me to my core on Friday. It was such a slap in the face.

But you go on to mention how this is all really harmful messaging and I am so sorry, lovely, but on this I’m going to have to disagree with you again.

Messaging is intentional. Leaving the narrative open to this type of interpretation by its audience is not messaging. 

Do you sincerely believe that Jensen and Jared would go into this episode with the intention to send any type of damaging or harmful message to this fanbase, their fanbase, when they know that fanbase so well, when they’ve been so involved with creating hotlines and raising awareness about mental health, when Jared has nothing that is closer to his heart than this very issue?

Of course they wouldn’t. 

There’ll be peace when you are done. And all of us will be done at some point. This is an overarching message for human beings moving through life the best we know how, not knowing what waits for us at the end of the road. It’s not Dean’s choice to die. He’s not entirely ready. Just like most of us won’t be. But he accepts it nonetheless. And the reward he receives at the end of his journey is given to him by Cas: a Heaven that now knows free will.

Like I said, I can see the most likely reasons these choices were made. 

Do I like that the heart symbology was tied up through Dean’s death being linked to his heart? No. Do I like that the codependency was broken through Dean’s death, rather than active choice? No. Do I like that Dean died in a barn? No. Can I see positive things in all of these choices? Yes.

Not because I’m on a quest to make my own personal peace with the show, but because this is what I’ve done with this narrative for the past four years of writing meta analysis of it, looking at the deeper threads, finding ways to braid them together or pull them apart, see how things fit, see how they make sense with the bigger whole.

I’m quite okay with being called a clown for my positivity. I’ll even take bitch. (don’t worry someone else called me those things) But don’t come and accuse me of approaching my analysis with anything but the utmost fucking diligence and awareness and desire to suss out what the messaging is, based in what’s come before. 

And I know you don’t want to hear it, but I genuinely do not believe that messaging, in 15x20 or any other episode of this show, has ever been intentionally harmful. Neglectful and ignorant? Yes. But my positive spin wouldn’t have been possible if I actually believed that Jensen and Jared had stepped onto set knowing exactly how the visual exploration of “there’ll be peace when you are done” would be interpreted by the fandom. 

Am I thrilled with this ending? Am I full-out defending every choice made? Am I onboard with this ending now and all the disappointment has been left behind? Do I find it a fulfilling thought that Dean had to die to know true peace and, at least as hinted, even true love? Am I pleased with the brother threads that can be pulled on forever by that final visual where it’s just the two of them, rather than them together with their found family?

Of course not. I mean, I would even say a hell no to that. It sucks. But was it pure choice, or was it choice brought on by circumstance?

Either way, the fact that we didn’t get Misha in the finale will forever smart. 

And I wanted Cas back so badly that I kept that hope alive for two weeks because anything else was utterly unthinkable to me. Of course I’m still devastated. Of course I’m still aching. And of course now we’re left with a frustrating ending that many saw coming a mile away, but that I always hoped wouldn’t be necessary, given how progressive the times are.

These thoughts above are the basis for my positive meta. The questioning of why we got the ending we got, rather than something more in line with the progression of the show. There’s good in all the bad. And that’s really not me making excuses. That’s me actually fucking seeing it there. Just as I’ve seen everything in this narrative that I’ve meta’d over the years.

I’d thank you not to be dismissive of that.

xx

#commentary #spn 15x20 #representation #negativity #positivity #spn discourse #sorry if this offends #it's not my intent #I'm off to watch Misha's panel

[tanadrin]

The Botanist

Rahal called on Yaru at midmorning, when the springtime Kayuban air was still fresh and sweet. The walk down to the Botanical Institute was unusually pleasant, and put her in mind of nothing so much as Opara in the autumn, and the exuberance--and folly--of her youth. The Institute's doorkeeper directed her to a shabby little building behind a row of small greenhouses that was unassuming enough that Rahal assumed she had the wrong door, even as she knocked. There was the sound of footsteps within, and then the door opened; a pair of spectacled eyes, peeking out from below a wild mass of graying, curly hair looked up at her.

"Yes?" the man said curtly.

"I'm looking for Yaru," Rahal said.

"Oh?" He seemed to want more than that.

"I'm from the Order," she said.

"Oh! The archivist!" The man stood aside and waved her in. "I'm Yaru. I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you until later. Come in, come in."

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Rahal said. The inside of the building was no more attractive than the outside. A stack of old boxes and a chair missing a leg took up most of the cramped vestibule. The windows were dusty and did not let in nearly enough light; a couple of cramped hallways led off to what looked like small offices, or large closets. Yaru himself was small, thin, and energetic, but it felt like Rahal that he, too, had been abandoned to this forgotten part of the Institute. But Sabir had been quite clear; she seemed to think Yaru's work was of the utmost importance.

"Not at all," Yaru said. "Only preparing tomorrow's lecture. They have me teaching students again. Ghastly business."

"You don't like teaching?"

"Oh, what's even the point? They're all blockheads. Waste of time, if you ask me. That door on the left there," Yaru said, pointing.

Yaru's office was in fact surprisingly well-kept, although not spacious, and full of the clear morning light. He had made an effort to dust, it seemed, and his stacks of books and papers were neatly organized, even as they seemed to occupy most of the available surfaces. His desk was only a small writing table in the corner; the only other chair was serving for the moment as an ersatz side table. He plucked up the books off it as he came in, and gestured for her to sit.

"Excuse the clutter," he said. "I don't get many visitors."

"Weren't you a student once?" Rahal asked.

"Oh, no," Yaru said, with a faint hint of disgust. "Well. Maybe yes, in a sense. But not like these ones. They're just here for an *education*. No love of learning at all."

Rahal was bemused. She genuinely could not tell whether his horror of the undergraduates was real, or just a very dry joke.

"Sabir said you'd joined the Institute a few years back?" Rahal said conversationally.

"Yes," Yaru said. "Well, I've been in this office since I came to Kayuba. A friend found it for me--it's nice and quiet and out of the way. But three years ago they were clearing out some old equipment and found me hiding back here, and told me I could only stay if I joined the Institute properly. And then last summer thy tracked me down and told me *all* faculty had to teach. Still, I've been managing to avoid it until recently. But I think I overreached by scheduling my last lecture for three in the morning in the rector's house."

Rahal smiled. "Did anyone turn up?"

"Goodness, I hope not. Tea?"

Yaru produced a small kettle from inside his desk and began hunting for a plug.

"Please."

"So what can I do for you, Walks-With-Dawn?"

"Rahal is fine," she said. Her name sounded ungainly to her in the southerners' tongue; she preferred to leave it untranslated. "Sabir sent me to you."

"And how is our mutual friend? I didn't see her when she was in Kayuba last. A pity"

"She's busy these days." Still trying to make up for my stupidity, she did not say. "Traveling a lot. Worried about the future. Though I suppose that describes most of the Order."

"But not you?"

Rahal bit down a dark thought. "No," she conceded. "Not me."

"You Archivists have always puzzled me," Yaru said. "More pessimistic a profession I have never seen. If the Holy Ones themselves showered gold upon the city and raised all our beloved grandmothers from the dead, you'd purse your lips and mutter."

"Someone's got to look to the future, I suppose."

"I always thought the future could take care of itself."

When the kettle finally boiled, Yaru poured two small cups of flower tea, the traditional Kayuban sign of hospitality. Rahal nestled her cup in her hand and enjoyed the warm, fragrant scent.

"So Sabir had some grim purpose in mind when she sent you to me, I suppose," Yaru said.

"Perhaps," Rahal conceded. "She said your work was important."

Yaru cocked his head. "Did she? She should tell the rectorate that! Very important, to be funded generously, and not to be disturbed for any reason! They might listen, coming from the Archive."

Rahal smiled. "I'll pass that along. She didn't offer me any details, though. What *are* you working on?"

Yaru scratched his head. "I never know how to talk about it to non-specialists. Well, not that anybody asks about it, besides my wife. Do you have a background in biology, Rahal?"

"I have the general Archivist's training in scientific matters," she said. "But my own specialty was always more... human systems."

"Economics?"

"More like, politics and diplomacy."

"Ah, the real black arts, if ever there was one," Yaru said with a nod. "No wonder that in darker days they called your kind the wielders of witchcraft."

Rahal laughed. "You understand us better than most."

"So what does the Archive generalist training cover? Cell biology? Ecology? Anatomy?"

Rahal leaned back in her chair and tried to remember her youth and the hours and hours of lectures she'd sat through. Natural philosophy, as they called it in the Archive, had not been her strongest subject. "Some of each," she said.

"Sabir tells me you learn all these things quite differently than we do in the outside world."

"That's true. You learn from principles. We learn texts."

"What do you mean?"

"For you, science is an inquiry into the world out there," she said, gesturing at the window. "For us, it is something that lives in books. And each book stands on its own."

This seemed to really puzzle Yaru.

"That seems like quite a strange approach to knowledge," he said.

"It depends on what you see as the ends of knowledge," Rahal replied.

"Understanding the world, improving human lives?"

"Well, yes, On that the Archive agrees. But... well, how do I explain this. You know the history of the Archive?"

"Vaguely, I suppose. It's old. Nearly as old as civilization."

"Older," Rahal said. "Maybe by a lot. And because it's old, and because its mission can only be fulfilled on the timescale of many lifetimes, every facet of its existence is oriented around long-term survival. That's a feature we don't talk about much for obvious reasons."

"It makes you sound like jealous, knowledge-hoarding, power-hungry tyrants. Which some say you are."

"And which we can be--if we have to. But mostly, we are preservers. We are advisors when we can be, but still librarians when we cannot be, and we are careful and slow, and we think everything to death, because too often we have seen the bitter consequences of recklessness--our own, or someone else's."

"But you're also only human."

"Yes," Rahal said. "These days, we're only human. The point is, we're not empiricists, although we do care about the work of empiricists. We preserve it, where we can, but this is the preservation of works. The masters teach Uranti's Six Mathematical Classics, not mathematics. We learn Furan's treatises on medicine, not medicine itself. The difference is drilled into us early in our education: the thing we learn is not the world outside, which is rapid and changing, but the world within the work we keep alive. It is for those to whom we make these texts available to judge their merits."

Yaru nodded. "I understand. You are only human, and no less a product of our fallen age than I am. And the Archive must preserve things it cannot possibly understand."

"Indeed," Rahal said. "We have preserved theological essays for centuries, thinking they were intended to communicate spiritual truths, only later to understand they were physics handbooks, and vice-versa. We preserve designs for machines that no civilization on Ogandraa can build, and maybe never could."

"Sabir herself told me she knew of a kind of mathematics that pertained only to an electric calculating machine that does not exist," Yaru said.

"Just so."

"So you would say your knowledge of biology is..."

"Scattershot."

"Very well. But you know the cell, and the genetic principle?"

Rahal nodded.

"We distinguish within the cell between the albuminous and non-albuminous materials; the latter are the secondary element of living tissue, while the former are considered primary. The albuminous materials are those that coagulate under heat, or condense within acid, and all are composed of the same ratio of elements: thirty one parts hydrogen, twenty parts carbon, six parts carbon, and five parts nitrogen, in large and diverse configurations. By hydrolysis, the albumins can be decomposed into their constituent parts, organic acids of the nitrogenic classification. By the careful separation of albumins, and by the measurement of their individual component acids, we can distinguish and name them, despite their common chemical formula."

"And this is what you work on?"

"It's the foundation of my work--the intersection of chemistry and botany. Before I came to Kayuba, I was primarily interested in separating and identifying the chemicals operative within plant cells. Albuminic and carbonic chain analysis was my specialty. Some of my work was directed at improving agriculture, while some of it was purely investigative."

"And now?"

"As you might expect, not every organism has the same albumins, or the same carbonics. The carbonic which forms the cell walls of plants, for instance--it's not found in animals at all, and it's totally indigestible by humans. We have already for a number of years used chemical distinctions, as well as physical ones, to distinguish the greater families of living organisms. Sessile, sunlight-capturing organisms, for instance, can be divided between the plants with a chemical environment similar to our own, the endoflora, and those with a chemical environment dissimilar to our own, the xenoflora. From the former come all food crops, and all plants which our livestock prefer. The latter are almost uniformly nutritionally useless."

"Native and non-native."

Yaru smiled. "Theology lies outside my competence, unfortunately."

"It's hardly a religious doctrine."

"I know in the north it is a view more universally held. We southerners tend to be a little more skeptical of folklore, I suppose. But I suppose it's no surprise the Archive tends to be conservative in these matters."

Rahal didn't press the point; it wasn't relevant to the conversation. She sometimes forgot that the descent from the stars was considered unverifiable mythology in the south, or downright superstition. She motioned for Yaru to continue."

"In any case, a similar division does exist within some, but not all, other domains of life. The funguses, for instance, are endochemical only. Land animals--motile, sensory--are endochemical and xenochemical, except in the sea, where they are mostly xenochemical. The disease-causing bacteria are uniformly endochemical, as are all viruses. I made a discovery a few years ago, which might be of some comfort to those of a more traditional turn of mind. You see, it had always been thought that one line of evidence against celestialism was that xenochemical and endochemical organisms still have certain albumins in common, albeit in small amounts."

"I've heard this," Rahal said.

"I discovered that this was not so."

Rahal raised an eyebrow. Yaru continued.

"If you take a sample of tissue from a human, a springgrass flower, or a mushroom, and separate its albumins and carbonic chain molecules, you *will* find small amounts of certain chemicals common across all three. More in the case of the two endochemical organisms, of course, many more, but even within the springgrass flower there is some similarity. Identicality, in fact--of the albumins found in humans and springgrass, the component acids exist in identical ratios."

"A common genetic inheritance? From an early split between the two domains of life."

"That's always been the anti-celestialist argument, of course," Yaru said. "But it's not true."

"What then?"

"A separate organism entirely. Actually, a whole group of them."

Rahal leaned forward in her chair, intrigued.

"They can be cultured separately, in small amounts: an intracellular symbiont that is chemically distinct from both of the other two major domains of life on Ogandraa. Microscopic only, and quite unlike either the endobiota or xenobiota. Indeed, based on some tantalizing clues, I predict this third domain may not form cellular structures at all. If humans are indeed not native to this world, these are probably the original inhabitants. And, I believe, they are the solution to a longstanding mystery in ecology. Do you know the remote signalling problem?"

"I think--something about wildfires?"

"That's the canonical example, yes. How does the springgrass know to hide its buds when the fire is hours away and upwind? But it goes deeper than that: if you isolate the springgrass bud entirely, seal it in its own jar with its own atmosphere and soil, insulate it from all outside heat, but burn a nearby patch of ground, it will still bury itself in the soil. There are similar phenomena elsewhere in nature, however. Raspflies will swarm if killed in large numbers, even up to half a mile away. The larvae of bloodfish begin to emerge in freshwater lakes when the mating frenzy happens at the river mouth, even if it's hundreds of miles away."

"Some kind of chemical signal?"

"The most current research on the subject indicates that such a signal would have to travel at about forty miles an hour, upstream. It's possible--but rather unlikely. My belief is rather that it is this acellular, symbiotic organism which plays a role in the remote signalling mechanisms that are omnipresent in nature. When supplied with the correct stimuli, it is capable of emitting energy, even visible light. Although as you might expect, the effect tends to be very weak. Yet it can propagate rapidly."

"How rapidly?"

"More than rapidly enough to let the bloodfish larvae know to emerge and make room for the next generation."

"That's fascinating. Genuinely. But I still don't understand why Sabir put us in touch. She seemed to think it was more than an ordinary scientific breakthrough that I should be aware of."

"Ah, well. I think I know," Yaru said. He shuffled some papers around on his desk, looking for a blank sheet, and picked up a pen. He scrawled a short mathematical equation on it.

"As I said, the effect is principally very weak in nature. A stronger effect, using purified chemicals or an electric current, can be obtained in the laboratory. An even stronger effect can be produced by the application of a specific modulated electromagnetic field, and the stronger the field--and the more accurate its modulation--the greater the release of energy, and the further its propagation. Two curious facts have emerged from my experiments.

"The first is this: these mysterious microorganisms contain an enormous quantity of chemical energy." He picked up the still-warm kettle and set it on his desk, between him and Rahal. "Our most vigorous organic explosives produce about enough energy that burning a few grains of them would raise the temperature of the water in this kettle by oh, let's say, a degree and a half. A small handful--enough to blow my office door off its hinges and make us both deaf for a few hours--would boil it."

"And these organisms are comparable?"

"No. They contain far *more* energy. I've attempted to exhaust small samples of all their energy available for signalling, and I can't do it. Based on the amount of energy they can output, they must be able of storing phenomenal amounts, far more than can be stored in an ordinary chemical bond. Enough that if the water in this kettle were frozen, and you could unlock the energy in an equivalent small weight of these microorganisms, you could vaporize the ice to steam--about eight hundred times the energy of a blasting explosive. At least."

"Goodness."

"This is the other curious fact." He slid the piece of paper over to Rahal, and tapped a variable circled in the middle. "Based on signal propagation experiments, an induced energy release by a very precisely modulated electromagnetic signal would release N units of energy from the activated sample, which would signal the release from nearby organisms reduced by a factor based on distance and the strength of the original activation signal. For any signal below a certain original activation efficiency--represented by this factor, k--the energy release falls off exponentially, and eventually disappears into the background noise of normal intercellular signalling. That behavior holds true up to a k of 1."

"And above that activation efficiency?"

"As you can see, k is part of an exponential term. In theory, at k the energy release propagates at full strength indefinitely. How far, I don't know. Maybe clear around the planet. Maybe you can make Ogandraa ring like a bell. *Above* k, the energy release increases, indefinitely, with each activation releasing more than the last."

"What are you saying?"

"That in the presence of the right electromagnetic signal, you could induce an energy release that would make our biggest bombs look like holy day sparklers. You could annihilate cities. Boil seas. Set the world aflame."

Rahal looked at the hastily-scrawled letter in the exponent position without saying anything. Then she folded up the piece of paper and slipped it into a pocket.

"There are practical difficulties, of course," Yaru said. "The richness of the sample matters. How much energy it actually contains--you *can* deplete the signalling mechanism, and it only replenishes very slowly. And the fact that the world is still here, and doesn't regularly blow itself up is indicative that if this phenomenon is possible, it's not at all trivial to unlock. It doesn't occur naturally."

"But such a signal wouldn't need to be natural."

"No. Just because it doesn't occur doesn't mean it *can't* occur."

"This is a weapon."

"Quite possibly. Quite possibly the most dangerous one ever conceived."

"Who knows about this?"

"Right now, very few people. But the possibility is latent in nature itself; and the remote signalling problem is being studied elsewhere. Even if I burned every scrap of my research and decided to become a house-painter, it would be a few years at best before someone working in Ptrar or Lareth stumbled across the same thing."

Rahal was feeling a little dizzy. She set her untouched tea down on the desk and folded her arms, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"You called the Archive conservative earlier."

"Hm? Oh yes, I suppose I did. Celestialists and such. No offense."

"None taken. Do you know what the difference between being conservative and being Conservative is?" She used the Kayuban emphatic particle to make the distinction clear.

"I imagine you have one in mind."

"The Archive is cautious, deliberate, and wary of change. We're not empiricists, it's true, but we're not hostile to empirical methods. We've seen both the good and the bad that can result from such methods, and we work to increase the former at the expense of the latter. But in times of crisis, in times of upheaval and war, I worry less about the conservative approach and more about the Conservative one."

"Are you speaking politically? Scientifically? Artistically?"

"All, and none. This is something that cuts across political factionalism and scientific squabbles, and runs to deeper attitudes, attitudes that in my experience are only loosely connected to specific beliefs or aesthetic choices. I'm talking about the...." She struggled for the right Kayuban word. "We call it the-turn-inward-and-reject-the-legible-world-impulse in the Archive. The urge to fall back on the oldest and worst parts of human nature. The parts that are still frightened and soaked in blood.

"There are histories in the Archive which--well, they're not secret. We'd tell you if you asked. But we don't usually volunteer them, because they are dark and frightening and usually not very applicable to novel situations. In Kfaris, when it fell, a madness consumed the people for ninety-nine days, and in their madness the people claimed the motions of the stars ruled their fates, that the world outside the walls of the city was a deceit of the devil, and they devoured every written word in the city, even if it meant smashing stone plaques to pieces and choking down the dust. In Chopakim, when it was beset by a festering plague, every fourth son was flayed alive in the city's plaza, and their skins were given to frightened mothers to wrap their babies in--this, it was said, would spare their infants from disease. In Lalai, on the eve of war, a beggar said that God had made him king; and when the enemy came, he ordered the gates opened, and the army to lay down its spears, and every living soul was slaughtered as a result.

"I walked here this morning, rather than take the streetcar, because it was a fine spring day. Peaceful, fragrant, with a shining sun. Kfaris, Chopakim, Lalai--each of these cities was, perhaps on some day not too long before disaster, sun-painted and happy. Each, like Kayuba today, was once part of a civilization that looked to make the world legible to them: through ethics or empiricism or philosophy, or some combination of the three, and very often succeeded. Each was once possessed of honest ignorance and superstition, and slowly worked to shrug these things off, and rise above them--until one day they proclaimed they wished to partake of that struggle no more, that to behold the-world-as-it-is was too frightful, and they would prefer to inhabit only the world of their hearts. Each was ruined; and each suffered terribly in the aftermath."

"And what lesson do you draw in this particular scenario, where I have shown you a novel path to ruin?"

"No lesson in particular. But I am afraid, Yaru. I am afraid some spirit wiser than both of us, than any soul in Kayuba right now, showed each of those cities the truth; I am afraid that, in their very instance on ignorance they might have been right."

"Do you really believe that? That there can be justice in ignorance, happiness in letting our fears govern us?"

"Of course not. I wouldn't be an Archivist if I did. And although I'm not a priest, it's not rare in my vocation to have a certain kind of faith. But I do have my doubts sometime."

Yaru sighed.

"So do I, my friend. So do I."

#tanadrin's fiction #sogant raha

[caitlinsfandomthoughts]

A film fan’s reaction to reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time.

I’ve been a big fan of the Peter Jackson films (extended versions - nerd that I am) since I was about 11 and I think I know all of the big changes made in the adaptation: Arwen, Faramir, Aragorn falling off a cliff. I did read the first book around the same age (in the first of many waves of my lotr obsession) but I only really remembered Saruman of ‘Many Colours’.

However I have always wanted to properly know the book version of the story so finally started listening to an amazing full audio book reading by Steven Red Fox Garnett which I highly recommend:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwLvFU2onc7cPIEBee-_xMw

………………………………………………………………………………….

And here are my silly reactions and occasional analysis of the differences between book and film that I didn’t know about.  

The Fellowship of the Ring part four, one, two, three, five, six

The Ring Goes South:

The sword is remade already?!!!! I’m trying to be ok with this but I don’t like it. I don’t like it. In fact this and by extension the characterisation of Aragorn is the only difference I haven’t liked so far. Everything else is like I understand why they didn’t have room for this or changed that, but it works fine the way it is in the book as well, different mediums and all that.

The scene when Bilbo gives Frodo Sting and the mithril is now a nice, bittersweet scene, since Nosferatu-Bilbo is behind us. There was an air of sadness to it, like Bilbo was intentionally trying to keep his and Frodo’s spirits up, focusing on how he has to write it all up when he comes back. I felt he was trying to ignore the high likehood of Frodo not coming back. And the pain that he was sending his younger heir into danger rather than himself. In general the book has done a better job at making me care about the Bilbo Frodo relationship so far. In the film I did feel a little like I was told how much Bilbo meant to Frodo, and it wasn’t that I didn’t believe it but I didn’t feel it that deeply. In the book there is more time, and we get more of a sense that Bilbo was one of the only people Frodo felt really understood him, despite having good friends like Merry and Pippin (Sam not being as close to him YET). Frodo being a bit more of an outsider in The Shire does help explain to me why the ring messes him up so badly, metaphorically, outside of the in-universe reason that the ring just does that. In the film Frodo is shown to be quite happy and well-adjusted in The Shire, in order to contrast how depressed he is when he gets back and it works well, and always gets me in the feels (poor sweet innocent Frodo! Little does he know). But I like adding the book characterisation to flesh out pre-adventure Frodo in my mind. (Oh I’m just realising this works well with a queer reading of Frodo too).

Tolkien really wants you to know that Boromir has big, strong, thick arms.

On the mountains there is no ‘let the ringbearer decide’ which I always thought was kind silly in the film. Like he doesn’t know, and he’s not a leader, isn’t the point of a random hobbit having the ring that he doesn’t have power? Don’t go and give him a sense of power.

A Journey in the Dark:

Ok so there is some focus on Frodo’s opinion on whether they go to Moria or not but it doesn’t actually influence their decision because…

Wargs! And we don’t know if Bill will survive them, but Gandalf does some magic to protect him maybe. Bill must be protected.

Frodo doesn’t get to solve the riddle :(

It’s Borormir’s fault the kraken thing attacks.  The attack is less over the top, which I prefer, and I think this might be the case for many upcoming fight scenes. Gandalf wonders why it went specifically for Frodo hmmmm.

I think the journey through Moria so far might be the first part of the adventure where I think I’m enjoying the book version more. There is a great sense of unease, the film isn’t (and probably couldn’t be) as dark as described in the book, where only the faint light of Gandalf’s staff can be seen and everything else is just a mystery. The fact that they are there for longer also adds to the forebodingness. Whereas before the slower pace than the film somewhat lessoned the urgency, here it gives you a better sense of their ordeal.

No silly ride-the-broken-stair-and-conveniently-it’s-the-two-most-protagonisty-characters-that-are-left scene. Which I appreciate.

Frodo can sense evil and generally shady spirit things since he was stabbed by the Ringwraith! This is a cool thing I wish they kept in the films. This is some soft magic system coolness.

‘Fool of a Took!’ The Pippin Gandalf dynamic is there. I can’t wait to see how it changes when they are in Minas Tirith.

Sam wanted to learn Gimli’s song. Sam really is a songwriter! Doomed to just be a gardener because of the class system. I really like that Sam is given this character trait outside just being the amazing caring hobbit we know he is. It’s something about who he is outside of Frodo.

The Bridge of Khazad-Dum:

Ah so Balin was trying to retake Moria. That makes sense. It did seem weird that Gimli was surprised to find him dead in the film. Like Dwarf intel really moves slowly. Here he is disappointed, not surprised.

To be fair mithril is only the second most valuable and rare heirloom Frodo got from Bilbo. He’s quite protective of both.

I find the action scenes here had more tension for me than in the film. By the next two films the battle scenes had the appropriate tension and dread, but I was surprised by how much more on the edge of my seat I was listening to it described here than the film version which exaggerates the amount of orcs so much that it loses some effect (this is a credit to Steven Garnett as well).

Aragorn throws some shade on Gandalf right after they get out and is like I told you not to go this way.

#lotr book reaction #lotr book #lotr films #fellowship of the ring #tolkien #moria #death of gandalf #aragorn #frodo #queer frodo #bilbo #lotr audiobook #steven red fox garnett #lotr liveblog #nosferatu bilbo #boromir's thick strong arms #fool of a took #samwise sings #soft magic

[purplesurveys]

771

Have you ever known anyone who was homeless? I don’t think so. Families here are always willing to take in their less fortunate relatives, and being homeless is usually the case for only the poorest of the poorest of the poor. I don’t think I know anyone from that sector.

Do you watch movies with the subtitles on? Yes. I have to, I’m horrible at following any foreign accent. Some English speakers will sometimes speak too fast or mumble their words, which can be such an inconvenience for me sometimes. Did you have a treehouse when you were younger? I didn’t. Most trees here have red ants and have never really been treehouse-friendly, sadly. Sports: Would you rather watch them or play them? Watch. Feels so nice to watch and cheer for your favorites with people who like the sport as much as you do. If you were a journalist, what types of stories would you want to cover? Finally a survey question that directly concerns my degree, hahaha. I loved doing situationers more than anything, meaning to say I never liked the fieldwork part of journalism but I enjoyed the hell out of doing research. Situationers are basically research-heavy outputs that will bring readers up to speed on a current hot topic - it can be anything from an extensive timeline, an in-depth analysis, a data-centric explainer, etc.

But if we’re strictly talking stories, I would love to cover marginalized groups and give them a voice. I once had to cover an informal settlement that was in danger of displacement after a corporation bought their land to build a casino/mall complex. That was my favorite story to write, and I would love to cover similar bases like labor issues, plight of the LGBTs, indigenous people, etc. if given the chance.

Do you think American Idol is rigged? They had some super unfair eliminations in the past that made me think it was rigged, yeah. I remember reading a bit from wrestler Chris Jericho’s memoir where he says he got eliminated from a dance show he once got to be in because the producers felt that there were too many male contestants, and the they simply picked him to be eliminated even though he had been doing  well. After reading that, I started thinking most competition shows do the same practice.

Have you ever participated in any type of medical study? No. Psychological studies, yes; but I don’t think I’ve joined anything medical in nature. Do you believe humans should have the option to be euthanized? Sure, though I think it should only be kept as an option for ultimate cases, like if someone with a terminal illness was due to pass any day. It shouldn’t be like an appointment that can be very easily fixed up for anyone. Have you ever taken a road trip with no destination in mind? No. Gas is too expensive for that privilege lmao. Do you give good directions? Not at all. Use Waze, man. I get confused when I’m at campus and someone rolls down their windows to ask me how to get to a certain building like...everything is Waze-able now dude... What do you think of when I say the word 'lumberjack'? Lumberjack matches in pro wrestling. Have you ever lied about your weight? Why? I don’t think so. I never really had to. Do you know how to do the Macarena? I know some steps but I wouldn’t be able to do the entire sequence. Have you ever tripped over one of your pets? Yessssss Kimi is scattered everywhere all the time lol. It doesn’t help that our floor is white and he is white. He’s always a good sport about it though. Have you ever been stuffed into your locker? No. Our lockers aren’t the tall, vertical type; they look more like cubbyholes, so it’ll be impossible to put a person in one of them. Can you make another person blush easily? Just my girlfriend. I’m not interested in making others blush. What would you change about the way your parents raised you? Like, if I myself got to be a parent? I’d definitely be more invested with my own kid - read to them before bed, have mom-kid days with them where the two of us would have dinner or do something else to bond together, be all ears when they tell me something they’re excited about, or support them when they find a new talent or hobby. I’d want to make my kid feel super loved and that they matter. My parents weren’t bad ones; they just didn’t form an emotional connection with me which in reality is just as important as being able to provide. Do you have to look perfect before you go out to the store? I don’t always have to be perfect; just acceptable. What is your state's motto? The motto has the city’s name in it, so no thanks. Are there any holidays that you feel are completely pointless? I was never a fan of the holidays that exclusively celebrate family members, like Mother’s Day. There are toxic moms or dads or grandparents that get completely overlooked during holidays like those and I feel like it’s unfair to those who have to live with those toxic relatives. Then again, maybe I just feel this way because I have an abusive mom and Mother’s Day is always hell on earth for me. Also why wait a year to celebrate the good ones? Do it everyday. Have you ever gone to work with one or both of your parents? Yes. There were a few times when my mom brought us to her workplace. What is the funnest sport that you got to play in P.E. class? Other than table tennis which I already play, futsal was fun. It was during that quarter I discovered that my foot-eye coordination wasn’t bad at all. Have you mastered the plastic guitar yet (Rock Band, Guitar Hero)? Never. I can never get my fingers to work properly in games like those. What is one cause you know you'll ALWAYS support? LGBT rights. What animals creep you out? Cockroaches. Have you ever done a walk/run for a charity or similar cause? I haven’t. It’d be fun to join at least one sometime, though! Do you like the smell of gasoline? I'm not addicted but like I wouldn’t be bothered if my window was down and I was able to smell it. When was the last time you had a piggyback ride? A couple of years ago. Have you ever owned or used a telescope? Yeah I got to use one to look at the moon at our Grade 7 stargazing activity. Do you have to see or witness certain phenomenons to believe them? Bingo. Do you know/remember what Shrinky-Dinks are? I am literally only hearing about them now. We didn’t have that here. Do you talk to store clerks like you know them? Noooooo and I really prefer they don’t talk to me or follow me around. In your town, are a lot of stores closed on Sundays? No. In fact pop-up stalls or bazaars are active on Sundays since that’s the day most families go out. Do you dislike song remixes? Yes. When was the last time you hula-hooped? January at Rita’s place, because they have a hula hoop. Have you ever played Magic: The Gathering? Nope. What are your thoughts on role playing games? Not a fan. But then again that’s me with most video games in general lol. Do you get an adrenaline rush just from watching videos of roller coasters? No, I get sick to my stomach and have to face away from the screen haha. Do you like watching shows that deal with forensics? If they’re documentaries, yes. But I don’t watch shows like Bones or CSI. Do you want to have a bachelor/bachelorette party before you get married? I’m whatever about it. If I have one or if my friends plan one for me, I wouldn’t want anything too wild. Ever been texted by mistake and played along & acted like you knew them? No, I tell them immediately it’s a wrong number so that they stop bothering me. Would you ever get a name tattooed on you? Initials, yes. Not a full name. If you could have unnatural colored eyes, what color(s) would you choose? Does green count? It’s unnatural in Filipino/Asian terms lol. It’d be nice to have olive eyes. Do you always remember your dreams? No. If I wanted to remember them, I’d have to log them down somewhere. Who is your favorite late night talk show host? Jimmy Fallon only because he keeps inviting Robert Irwin back on his show and he’s the best talk show guest ever. Do your parents dress like they're years younger? Does it gross you out? My dad does. It’s nothing to shame a parent about. Do you know who Seth MacFarlane is? Yes. Do you try on clothes in dressing rooms and take pictures? No. I feel weird about wearing something for fun and just returning it haha as a bit of a germaphobe. If I go inside a fitting room it has to be because I’m interested in possibly buying a piece of clothing. What is a band you can't stop listening to right now? Not really listening to bands these days. I have been listening to Hayley Williams a great deal, though.

[bronzeflower]

Who The Fuck Writes A Ten-Page Rant?????

Chapter 19: A Big Ol’ Birthday Party

Given that it was kind of ridiculous to try and wrap a goddamn coffee table, you just woke up earlier to replace the old coffee table with the new coffee table.

You were feeling a little anxious while wondering if Kanaya would like your gift, but you tried to rationalize it because you worked hard on that coffee table and Kanaya hated the old coffee table. She would definitely love your gift.

You ignored your worries by starting to cook some of Kanaya’s favorite meals-cluckbeast eggs made over easy with grubsauce, along with spicy sausages and toasted baguette bread with raspberry jam.

You did you best to cook the meal, but the over easy eggs turned out a little more over medium, and the sausages turned out a little burnt, but the bread turned out well, and you didn’t manage to burn that at all, which you were very proud of.

You put the meal on a plate with some jam and grubsauce on the side along with a glass of orange juice. You brought it to the table, where you made yourself a similar meal so that Kanaya wouldn’t feel bad about getting special treatment.

You added some flowers to the vase on the table and went to go wake Kanaya up. You honestly would rather let her sleep, but she hated sleeping in and she was really excited to set up her party.

So you went to her room, carefully opening the door and tiptoeing over the Kanaya's recuperacoon, where Kanaya was sleeping peacefully and somehow wasn’t woken up by all the pots and pans that were banging around in the kitchen while you were cooking.

“Hey, Kanaya,” You whispered as softly as you could which honestly wasn’t all that soft. “Wake up, I’ve made breakfast.”

Kanaya opened her eyes kind of blearily, blinked a few times, and looked a bit more awake after that.

“You made breakfast?” Kanaya asked, her voice a little groggy and rough from sleep. “I will rid myself of the slime currently covering me and get dressed before joining you.”

“Alright,” You left the room and put the last few finishing touches on breakfast and the table.

Kanaya soon entered the eating block. She was wearing her pajamas, which trolls don’t actually need, but they function as pretty comfortable clothing. Kanaya would probably change for the party, but, for now, comfy.

“This looks lovely,” Kanaya said as she sat down at the table.

“I did my best,” You responded, allowing Kanaya to start eating before you dug in so that you could see her reaction.

Kanaya went for the sausage first.

“How is it?” You asked a little nervously, hoping that you didn’t fuck up completely.

“Tasty,” Kanaya answered, and you felt pretty much all worries fall to the wayside.

The both of you ate your respective meals in relative silence, absorbed the food and the comfort of the atmosphere, both of you completely comfortable with the other’s company.

The food was better than you expected-the eggs weren’t burned, just cooked a little more than you meant to. The burned part of the sausages gave them a little extra flavor, and, of course, the toast tasted the way toast should taste. Obviously, the things that were sore-bought like the grubsauce, jam, and orange juice all tasted delicious as well.

Overall, it was a very nice breakfast.

Kanaya helped you clean up despite your protests that she shouldn’t be doing work on her birthday. But she insisted, so you begrudgingly allowed her to help out.

“Are you ready to get everything prepared for the party?” Kanaya asked after you were finished doing the dishes.

“One second, I have to give you your gift first. Or, well, show it to you because it was a little too big to properly wrap up and hand to you in any kind of practical way,” You said. “So, like, just kind of follow me to where I put your gift.”

“Alright, lead the way.” You guided Kanaya over to the living room and sort of dramatically gestured to the coffee table that you spruced up.

“You replaced the coffee table!” Kanaya exclaimed. “And the new one matches the decor! Oh, Karkat, this is beautiful. Thank you.”

“You flushed from the praise, and, feeling a bit bashful, muttered out a ‘no problem.’

After showing the gift, you and Kanaya began decorating for the party.

The both of you had previously picked out ‘Birthday Party’ decorations, which included streamers, balloons, fake animal corpses, and passive-aggressive signs telling people to clean up after themselves. Some of the decorations were more traditional for Wriggling Day parties, but that didn't really matter all that much because it was Kanaya’s party, and she could decorate in whatever way she chooses.

So you put the colorful streamers up, and you put balloons in random places along with the fake animal corpses. The passive aggressive were taped onto trash cans and tables, with particular attention paid to the snack table for those people who exclusive hang out by the snack table and then refuse to clean up after themselves.

After you and Kanaya decorated, the two of you started working on the food. You filled the snack table with cupcakes and salads and grubslices and potato chips and many other options, along with a large punch bowl in the center that someone would almost certainly spike with something. Because people loved to get trashed, regardless of the sign that said “If You Spike The Punch I Will Divide You In Half With A Chainsaw,” which was more aggressive than passive-aggressive, but that never stopped people from spiking the punch.

The main variable would be whether the punch was spiked with soda or alcohol. Probably both, if enough people decided that they wanted to get trashed. If a person gets too trashed though, you were going to kick them out. However, you did add a drink cooler in case people didn’t want to risk the punch.

The cake, of course, was kept in a separate spot from the snack table so that a big reveal could occur.

Soon, one person arrived. Then another and another and another until the party was in full swing. Many of Kanaya’s business associates were there, along with friends and friends of friends. Basically, there were lots of people that you did and didn’t know.

You opted to go talk to some people you did know, and you saw two people that you knew.

It was Stelsa, a fashion designer known for her unique and bold fabric and color choices, and Tagora, Kanaya’s textile supplier.

“Karkat! It’s been a long, long while! Why don’t you come chat with us?” Stelsa yelled. You liked her because she, too, had absolutely no volume control.

“Hey, Stelsa. Hello, Tagora,” You greeted, and Tagora offered a sleazy smile your way. He was a little weird, but he made the best quality and most ethnically-made textiles out there, which was part of the reason why his prices were so high.

“Greetings, Mr. Vantas. A pleasure to meet you once again,” Tagora said.

“Oh, cut the shit,” You rolled your eyes. “I already see you basically monthly to get new textiles from you. I’m pretty sure we’re far past these sorts of fake-as-fuck pleasantries.”

“Oh, wow, you’re much nicer when you’re at work,” Tagora pointed out.

“No shit, you soggy pile of cheese. I know about basic fucking decency.”

“Doesn’t seem like you know about ‘basic fucking decency' based on your current interactions.”

“Oh, go fuck your kismesis.”

Tagora blushed a bright teal. You knew that he does actually have a kismesis, and they’ve been in a committed relationship for a long while. You have heard many complaints about him, and it validates your skill in helping people with their relationships.

“Hey! Stop fighting!” Stelsa ordered. “I thought you two were friends!”

“We are,” You and Tagora chimed together.

“It’s just a friendship where we insult each other a lot,” You explained, and Tagora nodded.

“It’s completely platonic. After all, I am currently in a very committed black relationship,” Tagora said.

“Well, I know that, Tagora. Why do you think I was so concerned that you were suddenly fighting with Karkat of all people, who has been nothing but kind to me.”

“Stelsa, I really don’t feel that way about you,” Tagora mentioned, causing Stelsa to blush from embarrassment.

“I don’t feel that way either! I was just making sure you didn’t feel black for Karkat!”

“I don’t, no offense, Karkat.”

“Some taken,” You responded. You figured it was about time to stop this argument, although it was basically done already, so you said bye and wandered around to look for other people to greet.

You found Kanaya talking to Lanque Bombyx, who was one of the most famous models out there. Honestly, at this point, this almost felt like a networking event rather than a Birthday Party. Also, Lanque was kind of dramatic. All the time.

Regardless, you decided to go over to the two in order to join in the conversation.

“Kanaya, Lanque, how’s it going?” You asked.

“It’s going well,” Kanaya responded. “Lanque and I were just discussing classic literature with each other.”

“Which classic literature?” You LOVED classic literature. While you would always prefer your romance novels, there’s something special about those books you read and analyzed while in high school. And you absolutely believed that analysis was important to learn because it assisted in critical thinking skills which are necessary for the world of today.

“We’re talking about the Great Gatsby,” Lanque answered. “I’m quite interested in the fashion of the book, and how it’s used to illustrate the downfall of the wealthy.”

“And how the fashion is also used to differentiate between old money and new money?” You said, fully prepared to have an extensive conversation about the motifs used in the Great Gatsby.

“Hey, folks, mind if I steal this cranky boy way?” Terezi showed up, grabbed you, and you were suddenly whisked out of the conversation.

“Hey!” You yelled. “I was in the middle of a conversation!”

“Well, it’s done now,” Terezi responded. “Also, we need to get to a dark corner because I wasn’t really invited to this party.”

“Terezi, practically no one had an invitation to the party. That’s why we always set out a bunch more than we think we need for the folks we invited just because so many fucking people arrive because they see that we’re having a goddamn party and decide to just let themselves in.”

“Kanaya always invites the most stuffy people though. Her parties always feel like a networking event before all the uninvited people come,” Terezi reasoned. “I’m just making the party a bit more interesting by being here.”

“Did you spike the punch?”

“What! No! I would never do that!” Terezi grinned. “The punch was already spiked before I got here. The only thing I did was bring a date. Speaking of which, I should probably go find her.”

“What was the actual point of dragging me over here if you’re just going to run off anyway?”

“You looked hungry,” Terezi cackled as she shoved some random snacks into your arms before running off to find presumably Nepeta.

Slightly pissed off, you awkwardly but angrily open a chip bag and munched on the chips with as much fury as you could muster.

You slowly became less angry as you ate, and you realized that you were actually kind of hungry. You took a minute to wonder if Terezi was pale flirting with you or if she was just concerned for your health like any good friend would be. Or if she was actually going to tell you something then panicked last minute.

“Hey, Karkat, watcha doing all the way over here in the dark corner by the snack bar?” Dave snuck up on you while you were deep in thought, and your bones almost escaped from the skin and muscle surrounding them.

You took a moment to realize it was only Dave before you responded to his question.

“Terezi sentenced me to this corner to eat snacks because I apparently ‘looked hungry,’” Your finger quotes were done pretty awkwardly because of the amount of snacks that you were still holding. “Here, have a few. I don’t think I can actually eat all that she gave me, and also all of this is kind of getting difficult to hold.”

You shoved a few snacks into Dave’s arms, and he seemed to get a bit redder than usual.

“Are you sick?” You asked. “You seem a little red.”

“You put the snacks you were holding onto one arm and held the back of your free hand to Dave’s forehead. His face became redder, and you almost saw the sweat going down his face.

“Ah, no, no, I mean, no, I’m not sick. At least, I’m not aware if I am. I feel pretty fine. In fact, I’m pretty sure the only thing sick about me is my sick beats,” Dave rambled. “It’s probably just because it’s really warm in here. There are so many people in here, you know? Lots of people, lots of body heat, who wouldn’t be feeling a little hot in here?”

Dave attempted to fan himself but failed due to the snacks in his arms.

“I can show you a place with fewer people if you're really that warm,” You said, even though you could see Dave's bullshit one hundred miles away. Despite this, you still thought he would appreciate getting out of the crowd.

“Yes, please,” Dave responded, and you guided him over to your own room which was locked to prevent random people from going in there and having sex. You certainly remembered one of the first times you didn't lock your door at one of these parties. You shuddered at the thought and locked the door behind you and Dave.

You dumped the unopened snacks into the desk and sat down on the bed. Dave also placed the snacks in the desk, but he turned the desk chair around and sat in it.

“So,” Dave began but failed to say anything after that.

“Yeah?” You encouraged. You could hear the music from the party blaring outside the room, along with the multitude of people conversing, but your room muted the sound.

“Did you know what Terezi wanted from you?” Dave asked. “Like, yeah, obviously she thought you looked hungry but was that really all she wanted to talk to you about?”

“I have no idea,” You responded. “Who even knows what's going on in her head at any given time. She barely even gave me a single clue on what she actually wanted to talk about.”

“Maybe she chickened out,” Dave suggested. “Like it was important and all, but she just couldn't muster up the courage to talk to you about it.”

“That seems unlikely.”

“I don't know, man. Terezi has issues that she doesn't really talk about at all with anyone, so it’s not really something I would put past her.”

You thought for a moment. You wondered exactly how close Terezi and Dave really were and why you never really picked up on that. Maybe you were just so blinded by your crush on her in middle school that you didn’t notice then, and after you got over your crush, you were too awkward about your former crush to actually get to know Terezi better.

“She should probably get a moirail,” You said, deciding not to voice your personal concerns.

“She should absolutely get a moirail,” Dave agreed.

The two of you spent a few seconds in an awkward silence all while struggling to find something to talk about.

“So, um, how are those videos going?” You asked because it was the first thing you thought of.

“They're going well, you know, or, at least, pretty well. I’ve been uploading a bunch of shit, and the audience is eating it up, loving that good ol’ ASMR. Wasn’t the original purpose of the videos, but if it helps me get more money, then who am I to not give the audience what they want.”

“What what videos have you been releasing?” You asked. You already knew the answer to this question, but you’ve got to make some kind of conversation.

“I’ve been making a bunch of food videos lately, but honestly, that’s mostly because food is perishable, so I’ve got to get rid of it pretty quickly. Which reminds me, do want some mangos? I accidentally ordered way too many mangoes, and they’re all pretty ripe, so I can’t really eat all of them by myself. I’d get sick of mangos, which is really a shame because mangoes are delicious, especially fresh mangoes.”

“...mangoes.”

“Yeah, mangoes. It was for a video testing out a bunch of different fresh food boxes, and I ended up with so many mangoes, and I don’t really know what to do with them.”

“Make mango sorbet. It’s pretty simple to make, and it only requires three ingredients, and it tastes best with fresh mangoes.”

“I don’t really have an ice cream maker-”

“I do. Bring the mangoes tomorrow. We’ll work together to make it.”

“I feel vaguely like I’m making a drug deal,” Dave said.

“There’s no drugs involved. Only sorbet. I would offer to do it today, but there’s a big party going on right now, and I can only assume we want all the sorbet to ourselves.”

“Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of letting a hundred people get into the ice cream my bro and I worked so hard on. That shit is off limits.”

“God forbid so many people find it that we don’t even get any,” You responded, and Dave put on a worried expression.

“No!”

“Yes!” You said, mostly out of reflex. “They’ll eat it like a five-star meal, and they hadn’t eaten in a week.”

“Like they haven’t eaten in months.”

“Maybe not months. The still have to be alive in order to eat the sorbet.”

“Maybe they’re zombies,” Dave suggested.

“Why would zombies want to eat mango sorbet?”

“They’re craving those mangos. Got to get that Vitamin C, man. Otherwise, they’d get scurvy, and that’s not fun for anyone.”

“Zombies wouldn’t care if they got scurvy. They have no pain receptors-they wouldn’t be able to feel anything.”

“Counter-point-they’re constantly in pain and trying to do anything they can to relieve it. They feel hunger, don’t they? Actually, do brains actually satisfy that hunger? Are they just a bunch of empty calories and they don’t actually have to eat brains, but, since eating brains is how they reproduce, that’s something they biologically want to do?”

“You bring up solid points, but, if that’s true, then there’s means to wonder if what zombies feel is actually hunger,” You continued Dave’s rambling. “I still say they don’t feel pain, but I see your point. But do zombies feel at all? Have they lost that ability? I doubt they feel love or hate or even basic emotions like happiness or sadness. Although, I guess it depends on what part of the brain is left uneaten.”

“Guess so ‘cause it’s, like, different parts of the brain are responsible for different things, so it would stand to reason that zombies are different depending on what parts of their brain had been eaten.”

“Unless the zombies systematically eat brains an a way that causes only parts of it to be eaten, leaving the other brain functions alone,” You argued.

“I guess that would give reason as to why all zombies are basically the same. That, or it’s because the movie industry refuses to show us disabled zombies in a classic case of ableism.”

“Light movie industry give us the zombies in wheelchairs and the zombies with chronic pain.”

“Go further, where’s our depressed zombies? Our zombies with anxiety?” Dave responded. “Where are the zombies who can feel love. Found family zombies, romantic zombies, gay zombies.”

“Holy shit, gay zombies.”

“Hell yeah, gay zombies,” Dave confirmed. “Going to be the best romcom of the century-two zombies against the world.”

“They fall in love at a coffee shop while one of them is trying to eat the barista’s brains. The barista shoots one of the zombies and the other dramatically and carefully takes care of them as the two of them slowly fall in love.”

“I can see it on the screen now-’Sweet Bro and hella Jeff: Zoompies in Loev,’ comically misspelled, of course.”

“That’s a horrible name,” You argued. “I suggest the much more elegant name, ‘In Which Two Zombies Named Bro and Jeff Meet at a Coffee Shop Where in Jeff is Attempting to Eat Barista #1’s Brains and the Barista Shoots at Jeff, Hitting Bro Instead and Jeff Retreats with Bro to Take Care of Him and a Relationship that was Originally Just Between Strangers Soon Delves Into One Between Loves and They Struggle to Survive the Dangers of Living People While Maintaining Their Relationship.’”

Dave stared at you. He kept staring at you. The thrum of the part outside of the room was the only thing breaking the silence. Snacks still sat on the bed and desk, still begging to be eaten, but both stomachs were full. There was a careful stillness to the room.

Dave breathed in and breathed out. He repeated the action before putting his hands together as if in prayer.

“Karkat,” Dave disrupted the calm. “That’s a terrible name.”

“It’s a working title!”

“A working summary, maybe. At least mine was ironically bad.”

“Well, shit, that makes it so much better, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“I’ve got some fucking news for you then-something being purposefully shitty is equally, if not more shitty than something that was accidentally shitty,” You yelled through the virtue of being completely unable to have your voice be quieter.

“No, making something purposefully shitty is better because it makes it ironic.”

“I think you need to reevaluate what the meaning of irony is, you shelled peascod.”

“What the hell is a shelled peascod?” Dave questioned.

“It’s an empty peapod-it’s like your brain.”

“Oh, shit, I am feeling so insulted right now. I think I’m gonna need some cold water for that burn. IN fact, you’re gonna need a shovel to bury me in the ground. Wait, not burial. It’s such a good burn that I’m being cremated, and you’ll have to get an urn for my ashes.”

“Are you sure you even deserve an urn?”

“You’re absolutely right-I deserve better. Turn my ashes into a gemstone and use it to make some kick-ass jewelry. Give it to my great-great-grandchild and say ‘Hey little Jimmy, here is a haunted rock’ ‘why, who’s it haunted by?’ Jimmy says like that’s the most important thing to be worried about in that situation. ‘Why, it’s haunted by your great-great-grandfather, little Timmy.’ ‘Dope,’ says little Timmy, who pockets the gemstone only to accidentally break it later and unleash the full force of my haunting power. Rattling shit around and makin’ spooky noises and all that fuckery.”

“Is your great-great grandson’s name Jimmy or Timmy?” You questioned, deciding not to get into whatever nonsense Dave just said.

“His full name is Jimmy Timmy STrider, and if that’s not the best fucking name in existence, I don’t know what is.”

“Hmmm,” You considered this for a moment. “I think literally any other name would be better than that festering pile of shit.”

“Wow. I can’t believe you would say that.”

You suddenly heard someone attempting to open your door before they started knocking. Three consecutive knocks, a short pause, and then three more knocks.

Well, you knew that knock anywhere. You went over to unlock the door and let Kanaya in.

“It’s good to see you again, Karkat. I see Dave is in here as well.”

“Yes, how was your conversation with Lanque?” You asked.

“It was certainly interesting. After you left, he started talking about the history of telescopes. I remember nothing from the conversation save for the fact that past telescopes were extraordinarily long, with one such telescope reaching around one hundred and fifty feet long.”

“Holy shit-that’s one long telescope,” Dave interjected. “How did they even hold it up to the sky? God, how heavy was it? That’s insane. Can you imagine a telescope that big? Wait, wait-I should do commentary for my channel on an astronomy documentary.”

“I am certain that there would be someone who would appreciate that, although I’m not sure if it would be something that I, personally, would enjoy,” Kanaya responded, and Dave kind of lit up, seemingly unaware that Kanaya lowkey insulted the idea.

“The real question here is how the formatting should be,” Dave began to ramble while you and Kanaya ignored him and had your own conversation.

“Karkat, I was somewhat worried that you were just holing up inside your room all alone, so I came here with the intent of offering you some company, but I suppose with the inclusion of Dave here, it might be more appropriate to ask if you want food.”

You looked over to the piles of snacks on your desk and bd. Kanaya glanced over as well before staring expectantly for an answer.

“I think we’re good on food. I won’t say no to having your company although are you sure you don’t want to continue partying? Or mingling with friends and coworkers.”

“I’m sure,” Kanaya answered. “I’m a little tired and was looking for a reprieve from socializing.

“And here I thought you were an extrovert,” You joked. Kanaya laughed.

“Shush.”

“I’ve never shut up in my life, and you know it.”

“What coincidence, neither have I,” Dave interrupted.

“Shit, I never would have guessed with the amount you run your mouth. It’s like you’re constantly about to die, and you desperately want your last words to be the worst thing that anyone could possibly conceive. Your last words will likely be reminiscent of the idea that you want to such a ghost’s dick, which you’ll only be able to do if you perish.”

“Now I’ve got to make those my last words. It’d be the greatest thing in existence. Your last words would be something super cheesy and nice, like how much you love your friends and shit. Nothing wrong with that, but it certainly is kinda boring. Big tearjerker though.”

“This coming from the ghost fucker.”

“Would you not fuck a ghost?” Dave asked. “Get up good and close to that gussy.”

“I’m going to make those your last words,” You snarled, the empty threat making Dave laugh.

God, he had a really nice laugh.

“Let’s go to the dance floor!” Kanaya interrupted. “I think we would all benefit from a bit of fun dance time.”

Kanaya dragged you and Dave outside the room and left you two alone.

“You had no idea if Kanaya was auspistizing between you and Dave or if she was helping out. Regardless, some gray feelings overlapped with your pale feelings for her.

“...Was Kanaya trying to do stuff in the clubs quadrant?” Dave asked, voicing your own question.

“...I don’t know,” You answered. You looked over towards Dave, who appeared to have a dusting of red over his cheeks and ears.

“So, uh, are we, are we gonna take Kanaya’s advice? Dance the night away and all that?”

“Yeah, why not?”

You and Dave then proceeded to dance until the both of you were too exhausted to continue and went to your room to watch movies until the both of you passed out.

#hometuck #davekat #pale kankat #dave strider #karkat vantas #kanaya maryam #various other characters #who the fuck writes a tenpage rant

[spiralledcupid]

Spoon Views: My Hero Academia Season 3

Episode 6: Roaring Upheaval

And here we are again after another great episode ! I have to admit, I had trouble with this one, just because I had to fit in my hour+ watching time into the 45 minutes I had before Eurovision started. I did it though !! But this isn’t a Eurovision recap, so let’s get started with what we’re actually here for.

Okay, first here’s something personal I noticed. Those of you who keep up with these review things will know I hate the intro they have going on with a passion, but today I realised I’ve been so busy hating it I don’t actually know what happens in it. So well done me for that.

Into the actually episode, is it just me who’s getting damn stressed about Midoriya’s injuries like ??

Is there not like a first aid kit somewhere, or can someone not call an ambulance or ?? He’s just badly stressin me out, like I’ve read the manga so I know what happens but even that doesn’t make it less stressful.

Onto Dark Shadow,,, Like I said before, I’ve read the manga, but the small panels cannot get across how scary this is.

Like, it’s the first time you properly realise just how powerful and scary Dark Shadow actually is. It makes me wonder whether Tokoyami was scared of his quirk when he was younger, because Dark Shadow really does look like the monsters children often see in the shadows. Juts some food for thought. Also, the soundtrack behind this scene really did emphasis the fear factor this part had, it was really well used imo.

This isn’t really analysis but-

Can u get a truer hero than Shoji honestly he’s just too good.

Honestly though, I have to pity Todoroki and Bakugou when they try to work together.

They are such bad allies. Honestly, this could be because they’re both used to being the most powerful one in the partnership, but whatever the reason, it was still a little bizarre to watch them try and work together- very badly.

Honestly though, neither of them are as bad as Moonfish

He grosses me out so much, and the fact I have to save pictures of him on my laptop for these reviews makes it so much worse lmao, I hate him and everything he stands for.

The plan they came up with to trap him was good and all but seriously

These kids need to stop taking risks! It’s just very very worrying even though I already know everything works out fine. But, y’know kudos where they’re warranted, it was a very clever plan, and did work very well.

Again, just an observation rather than analysis but-

This was such a lit shot. I love the way these scenes are being shown in the anime, they do make them a lot more hype with the way it’s stylised and honestly it just increases my enjoyment of the episodes.

So my first thought for this one was that it’s such a classic Bakugou thing to say

But on further thought, I was thinking, maybe in a roundabout way Bakugou’s trying to be kind. Like, he’s expressing it in his usual vain way, but at the same time he’s also reminding Tokoyami that his murderous quirk is still controllable. Idk, take it as you will, but to me, it seemed to be expressed in a different way than his gloats usually are.

This just made me giggle, especially after the intensity of that fight but

Midoriya looks so confused here, my poor boy. Please can someone not just force him into safety or something?

Speaking of confusion, I love how confused Bakugou is when everyone sets out to protect him.

Basically everyone and their mum has made a gif of this, and for good reason too because he just looks so silly. I would feel bad, but it’s for his own good. Even though that doesn’t make him any less moody.

I love this moody little bitch so much.

Moving onwards, I’m so excited that we’ve finally seen Toga!!

At first, I really did not like Toga. She still sorta gets on my nerves, just because I think she’s a stereotypical female villain, but there is some complexity to her that I can appreciate. It doesn’t stop her being mad creepy though.

But it did make me really happy to see Uraraka using the moves that she learnt at Gunhead’s agency to take her down.

I do have this fear that when the final showdown actually happens, Uraraka and Toga will have a fight in the ‘love interest fights female villain’ trope, but I’m hoping that the ease with which Uraraka took down Toga in his episode will stop that happening.

Also, with Toga I’m really happy with the voice they gave her. I was fully expecting the usual five year old mixed with candyfloss voice, like very childish and sweet enough to give me toothache, so I was v surprised when Toga slipped into a more creepy voice. It was quite similar to Shigaraki in tone, and idk it was just pleasant to here, because female villains are usually fit into either seductress or cute and unexpected, so for me Toga kinda broke out of the box with her non-typical voice and stalkerish tendencies- even though she still very much leans towards the latter archetype.

Sticking with the villains-

There he is !! aaaaaa I’m just so happy we’ve got Mr Compress this episode ! Although what he’s saying really is a horrific misconception of Bakugou’s personality.

Also, oh my god.

This shot really hits you with Midoriya’s distress. He’s very hurt, he’s probably tired and stressed and, at this point, he believes he’s failed to save someone. It’s so upsetting to see and I can 100% feel his distress through that single line. Nice use of language.

But, in contrast to Midoriya-

It’s very easy to look down on Aoyama for not moving Jirou and Tooru back to camp like he was told to. On one hand, it is pretty cowardly and he IS training to be a hero, but at the same time I have to think…What would I do? Aoyama’s quirk is still pretty hard for him to use, and it hurts him quite a bit, and against two villains while carrying two people he would almost definitely be defeated. Idk I can’t really disrespect him for this tbh because it would be hypocritical- I know I would be hiding too if I were in that situation so. I’m not gonna look down on him.

Okay, but moving back to personal preference.

Dabi is hot n I’m not just talking about his quirk lmaoo.

Moving very very swiftly onwards, I love how they show Yaoyorozu’s development here.

She’s very much starting to show faith in herself and it’s really nice to see that change, especially after her lack of self-confidence in the last arc. I have to feel bad for Awase though.

I would very much like to write a fic about these two, just because I think they could get on well and work together really well. Maybe soon.

Okay, final little point:

That looks like an absolute back breaker, honestly someone should get Mr Compress some ice or something.

So that concludes my episode talk through ! I cannot believe they’re still baiting THAT interaction (you all know what I mean), but they are somehow. It has to be next episode, and I cannot wait for it. Also, the full versions of the op and ed are out, so if anyone would like a lyric talkthrough- if I can find accurate translations- I am 100% down. Analysis counts as English Lit revision, right?

Anyway, as always thank you so much for reading !

#boku no hero academia #Boku no hero season 3 #bnha #bnha season 3 #my hero academia #my hero academia season 3 #mha #mha season 3 #todoroki shouto #shoji mezo #Dabi #twice #toga himiko #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #fumikage tokoyami #uraraka ochako #mr compress #awase yousetsu #Yaoyorozu Momo #anime spoilers #jirou kyouka #Hagakure Tooru #aoyama yuuga #asui tsuyu #moonfish #anyway good ep #spoon speaks #spoon views

[eloarei]

In which I discuss my feelings revolving around a rare-pair I'm really into right now, and self-analyze my shipping habits (again) and my relationships with my parents.

aka

Why the goddam hell does Elo keep falling for ships that others read as paternal?! ...2500 words of ship-talk and self-analyses under the cut! Read if you like! 

Full disclosure, this is absolutely about my love for "DekuMight" (the pairing of Midoriya Izuku and Yagi Toshinori/ All Might) from Boku no Hero Academia (bnha). But I'm definitely going to compare it to several other similar ships I've had over the years.

Point 1: I love DekuMight, and here's a little bit of why.

Point 2: Here are some other similar ships I've loved, and a bit of why.

Point 3: These ships are often read as Father/Son (etc) by the majority.

Point 4: My relationships with my parents, especially my "fathers".

Point 5: Conclusion

Alright, Point 1:

I started watching bnha a few months ago. I often go into new series with preconceived notions about ships, due to exposure from tumblr. This was, oddly, not the case this time. I like to try to watch things in an unbiased way at first, so I tried to keep the 'shipping goggles' off as long as possible. However, it quickly became obvious to me that I had found my ship, despite efforts not to. (Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly when I realized it.)

In case you're not familiar with the series (lol I write this like anyone's even reading this thing anyway), I'll explain it/the characters just a little. Izuku, the main character, is a highschool boy who befriends his favorite superhero, All Might, and then inherits his power. This is not really a spoiler; it happens in the first few episodes, and is the basis for the whole series. Izuku is presumably about 15, give or take a year because of time passing. All Might's age is never stated, but he can easily be assumed at least 35. My estimate puts him anywhere from 35 to 55. They're shown, in canon, to have a positive and friendly relationship. (Not to say that it's without its flaws, of course.)

Here are some reasons why I ship them (minus the psychological self-analysis; I'll get to that later) :

--They get along well. Izuku has been a huge fan of All Might ever since he was tiny. He clearly idolizes him. All Might is also impressed by Izuku. They seem to care about each other.

--They inspire each other to be better. Izuku has always been, and continues to be, inspired by the hero. All Might shows early-on that his drive to be a hero is reinvigorated by Izuku's passion.

--They share a secret that most others aren't in on. Both the existence of All Might's "true form" and the fact that he shared his power with Izuku are big and dangerous secrets that only a few people know. This is primarily what binds them together.

--They enable each other. In this case, it's not really a positive thing, because they're enabling each others' self-destructive habits, due to their shared passion for heroism. (Example: All Might never tells Izuku to stop breaking his whole damn body while he's training/fighting. They both seem to believe that self-harm is acceptable when pursuing their goals.)

--Other reasons revolve around headcanons, minor situations, themes, and micro-analyses.

(Examples:

Izuku had to literally ingest a part of All Might in order to gain his powers, which hits on a lot of themes.

Izuku will presumably begin to stop idolizing All Might, and begin to start seeing him as a person.

I hardcore headcanon that Izuku had a major crush on All Might before meeting him, because, really, have a you ever seen/read a story about a boy who obsessed over a superhero and wasn't super gay for him?)

I could go on with examples, but I won't.

Point 2:

Other ships I've found myself liking-- some of which I still actively ship, others of which I guiltily backed out of when I realized the context the story was trying to paint.

--Doc/Marty, from Back to the Future. This is a GREAT ship, and I will defend it endlessly. These two share most of my reasons for shipping DekuMight: they get along, they inspire/enable each other, and they share a very very big secret. While they're obviously not canon, and the age difference between them is the widest of any of my ships (uh, in the normal timeline; they're about 65/16), I think they may be the most widely accepted of these ships, even casually (if jokingly) being accepted in popular culture.

--Ples/Veser, from the webcomic Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name. This one is a little hard to properly justify, given that the webcomic went on perma-hiatus before they canonically had a chance to meet, but they're 37/19 and they're shown in sketches interacting and teasing each other. My serious basis for shipping these two deals with a source of mutual trauma, and a potential for that "shared secret" thing the others have going on.

--Law/Corazon, from One Piece. Definitely a strange one. We're first introduced to Corazon through a vague mention from Law, who we've known for years by this point. "Cora" is the name he speaks when he's on the verge of death, and also the person who he's based his entire theme/identity on. (By the way, that theme is heart-based.) We later find out that Corazon was the man who saved him from death when Law was a child, when everyone else (including himself) was ready to let him die. Their "shared secrets" include Cora's true identity, a months-long journey they went on to cure Law, and the plot to steal a valuable item meant to cure him. Cora unfortunately is murdered in the attempt, but first hides Law, smiles widely at him, and says "I love you". Lord have mercy on me, I cried several times. This is definitely awkward territory, given that flashback-Law is a pre-pubescent child and Cora is, I dunno, 30+? My basis for shipping them lies primarily in adult-Law's continued fixation on Cora's memory.

(Further awkwardness for this ship: Though I don't recall it happening in the anime, I think in the manga, Cora might have actually called Law his son at one point? Given that bnha's author is a One Piece fan, I wouldn't be surprised if Izuku and All Might's relationship mirrors this at all, in the future.)

--Several ships I remember being intrigued by early in the story, before they were explicitly stated as being paternal, including Treasure Planet and Bioshock Infinite. I'm positive there are more, but I've probably blocked them from my memory. XD;;;;

Point 3:

The majority of fans, in my noticing, tend to read these as Father/Son relationships. (This is particularly true of Izuku/All Might and Law/Corazon, and I'm mostly focusing on the former now.) I can certainly understand where people are coming from here, even though it doesn't ring true for me.

Reasons why they see this as a Father/Son pair (probably) :

-- The number one reason I think most can't help but see this as a parental relationship is the age difference. With a roughly ~30 year difference between Izuku and All Might, that does seem statistically likely. In both real life and fiction, I think people are uncomfortable with age-gap friendships unless they fall into some category like "parent figure" (or "aunt/uncle"). Even "Teacher" and "Mentor" are usually considered a type of parent figure.

-- Izuku HAS a father, but we never really see him. In the anime so far, he's only mentioned once, while his mother makes multiple appearances.

-- All Might is very supportive of Izuku. He gives him the power to pursue his dreams, and encourages him.

-- All Might calls him "Midoriya Shounen", translating to "Young Midoriya" and sort of implying "boy" or "my boy".

-- All Might is shown acting 'fatherly' to other young characters. He hugs the winners of the tournament, for example. (It was cute; I got emotional.) (Tbh though, this could also be a sign of his Americanism? because Americans are thought to be much touchier.)

-- It's an easy explanation for their relationship, particularly if you ship either character with someone else (which most people do).

Point 4:

Now we get into my own personal psychology. The TL;DR of it is that my perception of parenthood (particular with fathers) does not line up with how these characters act.

I have had a perhaps complicated relationship with the concept of fatherhood. I have (or have had) more parents than any one person really needs. Between my biological parents, my adopted parents, my friends' parents, my aunts/uncles, and older family friends, I've had more parents than I can shake a stick at, and I have truly loved all of them. However, none of my fathers ever acted toward me like the older men in my ships do towards their younger partners.

First and foremost is my adopted father, who raised me. He loved me, I'm sure, and we generally liked each other, but he never expressed an interest in getting to know me as a person, or seeing what I was interested in. He didn't encourage me to follow my dreams, and it's unlikely that we would have wanted to hang out much. He looked after me and provided for me, but as I got older he seemed to lose interest in me. (He greatly preferred when I was young and could be molded to fit his image.) He died when I was 15, which likely contributes to my views in regards to age, but that's another self-analysis post. (EDIT: My 2nd Dekumight meta.)

My biological father, I don't know very well. I've certainly spent some time with him, but we have never bonded.

My favorite allo-dad, my childhood best friend's dad, Lee, is the man I have the most positive memories of. I spent a lot of time at that house, perhaps as much as my own. He seemed to make some effort to be involved in my interests and remember my odd preferences. (Example: he bought us (me and his daughters) Pocky. He got them normal flavors but got banana for me because he knew I liked to try different things.) Of the men I spent time with as a kid, he was the one I could have most easily 'hung out' with, especially due to having some shared interests. However, even he had, at most, only a mild interest in what I was ever doing or thinking.

Most of my other allo-dads were the same: nice guys who mostly seemed uninterested in being particularly involved in my life. This clearly influences my view of what a "father" is. In my mind, a father is the man who provides for you, loves you (often due to familiarity and familial obligation), but does not have the interest (or want to take the time) in getting to know you as a person or being very involved in your life.

Point 4.9: I do have one very positive and encouraging male relationship in my life: my husband. He is a man that I easily get along with, who encourages me to be happy and to be my best self, who happily listens to my thoughts and ideas, who inspires and enables me, and who I share all of my secrets with. He is the one person I would be most lost without, who I would fight to defend, who I would team up with against the whole rest of the world.

Point 5:

I do not see DekuMight as a father/son relationship because of this. Let's look again at some of the points of their relationship which I mentioned before (the reasons I ship them).

--They get along well, they seem to genuinely like each other. My fathers and I never disliked each other, but it is unlikely we would have ever gone out of our way to spend time together.

--They inspire each other. I highly doubt I ever inspired my fathers, and they never really spent any effort to encourage me.

--They share secrets. I never shared any sort of secrets with my fathers. Assuming that this could be skewed along gender lines, I'll note I never really shared secrets with my mothers either.

--They enable each other (both positive and negative) due to shared passion. My fathers physically/financially enabled me (as a parent must), but not much further. Rarely, if ever, did we bond over shared passions/interests.

These are, however, all things that I share with my husband-- and with my other friends, to a degree.

I'm perfectly willing to accept that there may be parents (particularly fathers) out there, in both real life and in fiction) who DO do these things, and it's very likely that that's what fathers are supposed to be like. However, that's not how it is, in my experience.

POINT 6:

I actually forgot, the main purpose of this was originally going to be a little bit of a rant about how awkward and uncomfortable it is to be a shipper of something primarily seen as a parental relationship-- mostly because every time I see art of them I know it's going to be portrayed in that way, and it rather clashes with my own interpretation. I certainly don't begrudge people thinking however they do, especially as it seems to be a common viewpoint, but it makes me feel guilty ever interacting with those people (aka the majority of the fandom) because, presumably, they would be very probably 'squicked' by my interpretation.

TL;DR it's tiring and awkward and kind of saddening to have an unpopular opinion. ^^;;; In the unlikely event that anybody read this, thanks very much! Please do feel free to reblog/message me/etc if you, I dunno, feel like gettin’ all up in my discourse or whatever. As long as you’re not gonna be super rude about it.  Also also, in the extra unlikely event that anybody reading this is actually a DekuMight fan, I’ve been writing a lot of fic lately over on AO3, if you wanna check that out. =]  ALSO ALSO! I got my first-ever anon hate after I posted this! I’m super proud, haha. Check it out!  EDIT: I’ve done a second meta now! This one revolves around the age issue. Please have a look if you like.

#elo talks #Dekumight #bnha meta #I mean... sort of? #long post #sorry I hope read-mores are working on mobile these days #elo works

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