#i wish it wasn't like this

[weaselle]

i started in the dishpit. I worked every position front and back all the way up over the course of 20 years. By the time i was a restaurant manager working 65 hours a week, i could no longer afford the same broke-ass lifestyle i had as a dishwasher working 35 hours a week.

I had a better life and could afford more things as a 35 hour a week dishwasher than as a 65 hour a week restaurant manager.

That's what has been happening in this country.

i don't think it's going to get better anytime soon. I am posting this as a warning to the young. Your world is extremely broken. Many of us saw it breaking and tried to figure out something to do about it. I'm sorry we could't stop it. We're still willing, we're still trying. Don't let the ones who did the actual breaking convince us that we are on opposite sides. If you find some answers, call on those of us who are left. Even if it's too late for us, we hope it is not too late for you.

#just feeling very close to helpless about the state of the world #i didn't really do anything wrong but my life looks like the life of someone who made just about every bad decision a person can make #i wish it wasn't like this

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

#writeblr #warm up #this is longer than i wanted i really considered removing that part about myself and what i went thru #but i think it really fucking bothers me that EVERY time i talk about being an artist #ppl assume i just like. had the skill and ability to drop everything and pay for grad school. #like sir i grew up poor. my house wasn't a safe space. i gave up a FREE RIDE TO LAW SCHOOL. for THIS. bc i chose it. #was it fucking hard? was i choosing the hard thing?? yes. #but we need to stop seeing artists as lazy layabouts that can ''afford'' to just ''sit around and create'' #when MANY - if not MOST - of us are NOT like that. we have to work our fucking ASSES off. hard work. long and hard work #part of valuing artists is recognizing the amount we sacrifice to make our art. bc it doesn't just #like HAPPEN to us. also btw it rarely has anything to do with true talent. #speaking as someone with a chronic condition i hate when ppl are like u have it easy. like actively as i'm writing this my hands r #ACTIVELY hurting me. i haven't been posting bc my left hand was curled in a claw for the last week #this isn't fucking luck. after a certain point it's not even TALENT. it's dedication & sacrifice. #''u get to flounce around and do nothing with ur life'' is a narrative that is a direct result of capitalism #imagine if we said that about literally any other profession. #''oh so u give up 10 yrs of ur life to be a doctor? u sacrifice having a social life and u get SUPER in debt? #u need to work countless hours and it will often be thankless? well i wish i was that lucky'' #we should be applying that logic to landlords ONLY #''oh ur mom and dad gave u the money to buy a house? and all u did was paint it white and rent it? huh.''

[lotus-pear]

lore accurate chuuya canonically drives a 2006 sparkly barbie motorcycle

#for the love of god someone pls take away my artist privileges #this came to me in a fever dream except i wasn't actually sick just delusional #the pink leather jacket was a gift from kouyou for his sixteenth birthday and he's obliged to wear it everytime he takes the motorcycle out #dazai finds it absolutely fucking hilarious and probably takes blackmail photos except you can't blackmail a bad bitch like chuuya so #every time you open his photos he's probably the only one getting embarrassed bc it's all pics of his partner👹 #anyway he looks so bbygirl in pink i wish he changed his outfit for smth other than official art #but alas #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #nakahara chuuya #chuuya nakahara #lotus draws

[love-to-love-puppies]

TW: Trump and casual extreme trumpism

This is just a vent post about my family and how far they've fallen down the trump hole

My sister and her husband went to the American Freedom Winter Gala. Which, (don't look it up, it fucked up my targeted ads) is basically a black tie trump rally on Mar A Lago. I cannot imagine how much money she spent to go there considering they paid $40,000 for them to go to the Austin trump rally and have dinner with that shit stain in May, so my guess is they likely paid in the neighborhood of a minimum of $80k, probably closer to $100k or more.

Among the hashtags my sister added to her posts were: #Trump2024, #proudtobeanamerican, #maga, and the one that scared me the most: #ultramaga. She was also photographed in a rhinestone cowboy hat that said "Trump Won."

There is something so gutting about all of this. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's basically like watching someone you care about be sucked into a cult. And a cult that basically hates everything I stand for and much of who I am as a bisexual woman.

I'm unsure if my sister knows about my sexuality. My mother forced me to come out several months ago and while I told her specifically not to tell my sister, I highly doubt she listed to me.

Regardless, I'm scared.

I have no desire to have a relationship with my sister, it's never been much ot one anyway. She only talks to me when she needs something and everything I've ever said to her in confidance was relayed right to our mom. So, I have no problem cutting her off.

It's really our parents who are the problem. They're conservative, not quite that conservative, but they certainly don't disavow my sister's behavior or approve of mine and my mom especially has been a source of a lot of pain in my life. Still, my relationship with my dad is fairly good and as much as I know I should just go no contact to all of them, that's so much easier said than done.

Even though the prospect of maintaining a good relationship with my parents seems to slip farther and farther away by the day as the tendrils of the trump/fox news cult snare them tighter, they're still my parents and cutting them off completely would cause me pain.

None of this is needing a response, I just feel so frustrated and helpless and I needed somewhere to vent.

#tw: maga #tw: trump #I wish it wasn't like this #I know it's been a long time coming but I never expected my family to be like /this/ #I guess I probably should have #it's such a strange thing to mourn those who are still living #because I barely recognize them anymore #I don't recognize my sister at all

[fiepige]

Compilation of EVERY single time they changed Hobie's filter in the digital version:

Left: Theatrical release Right: Digital release

You might have to click on some of them to get a better look at Hobie, sadly I don't have a video editor that allows me to make better edits than these :')

#This took so long to make lol #cause I had to edit every scene with Hobie from both versions so I could watch them right after one another to compare them #I did this with ALL the scenes he's in also the ones where he's on screen as spider-punk #but they only changed his filters in these scenes so it was a waste of time :') #sidenote: no it wasn't it's never a waste of time to look at hobie I just couldn't use it for my GIFset lol #I also made a bouns one but I'm not allowed to post more than 30 GIFs in one post apparently so I guess I just won't add it then... #but Hobie was basically filterless during all these scenes in the theatrical version #I like that they gave him more different filters in the digital version #the only change I don't like is in the first GIFs #cause like that one post pointed out it looks like they removed his lipstick for some reason #also really wish I had a better video editor so we could get a closer look at Hobie but I did my best with what I had #also slowed some of them down to get a better look at them #been having this idea for a while and now I finally finished it! #which means I can go back to working on my fics now #hopefully lol #also lemme know if there are some other scens you guys want me to make comparisons of #cause I have both versions #the theatrical release isn't the highest quality though so if you know where I can get my hands on a better version lemme know ;) #hobie brown #spider punk #miles morales #spider man #peter b parker #jess drew #miguel o'hara #spider man across the spider verse #across the spider verse #across the spiderverse #atsv #theatrical version

[skymantle]

glados saying "once testing starts, im required by protocol to keep interaction with you to a minimum. this will be our only chance to talk." during the beginning of portal 2 only to immediately talk to chell during every single test is funny on its own but that along with the cut scene where she stops the elevator between tests to ask if there's "anything you'd like to say to me? anything at all?"...she's so lonely and desperate </3

#another line i wish wasn't cut was ''you really are doing great... chell <3'' like she sounds SO HAPPY. ...🥺🥺 #i also REALLY enjoy: #''did you ever stop to think that eventually there's a point where your name gets mentioned for the very last time? well here it is. #im going to kill you.. chell :-)'' #i get why it was cut but. something about it. #logs #chelldos #portal #ok to rb!!!! #it would be so fun if i had two popular chelldos textposts

[asbealthgn]

(i am not immune to peer pressure so here's a continuation. part one here)

It’s so rare that Steve meets anyone nice anymore.

It’s just hard to find people. Dating apps suck, and ever since Robin and Nancy got together, they hardly ever want to go to bars together. And what’s he supposed to do, just drink alone and hope he stumbles across someone? 

Well, that’s exactly what happened today, sans drinking. He was heading for the bus stop, a tiny bit lost but he had a map and was pretty sure he could figure it out. He realizes he’s a tiny bit directionally challenged, and he’s still relatively new in town, and Robin and Nancy just moved to a new place, so it all came together to mean that getting there would take some puzzling out. All the same, he was prepared to figure it out on his own right up until he saw the super hot guy sitting at the bus stop and figured a little help couldn’t hurt.

And that’s how Steve ended up with an unexpected date (sort of) to Robin and Nancy’s baby shower (not a real baby shower).

Robin answers the door and smiles, then does a double take when she sees Eddie. Whoops, Steve probably should have texted her that he was bringing someone. He’d gotten a little caught up in the moment.

“Hey, hope you don’t mind I brought a plus one,” Steve says, hugging her before walking inside. Eddie follows him.

“No, no, that’s fine,” Robin says, voice a little strange as they take their shoes off and she shuts the door. “We’re all in the living room.”

They follow her through the kitchen and into the living room where half a dozen calico kittens and several adults are on the floor.

“Oh my God, they’re adorable,” Eddie says, leaving Steve’s side to get down next to the kittens. Steve gets a huge smile watching him. Fuck, he’s super hot and he’s now holding a tiny kitten, cooing at it? Steve might just get on one knee right now. Or both knees. Honestly, either one works.

If he were paying more attention to literally anything other than Eddie, Steve would notice that nearly everyone else in the room is also staring at Eddie. The only exception to that is El, who’s sitting cross-legged on the floor with the mama cat in her lap, both watching the kittens with the same wide-eyed intensity.

There’s a tap on Steve’s shoulder, and he turns to look at Robin. “Can we talk for a sec?” she asks, voice still odd.

“Yeah,” he says and follows her back into the kitchen.

She crosses her arms and leans back against the counter. “So are you gonna tell me what Eddie Munson is doing in our living room?”

“Oh, have you already met him?” Steve asks.

Her eyes widen. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Uh. Yes?”

“Steve, that’s Eddie Munson,” she says, “From Corroded Coffin?”

“From what?” he asks, though as she says, it does sound a tiny bit familiar. 

“Corroded Coffin?” she says, “It’s that band the kids love. Along with like half of America if they’re not completely scandalized by them.”

“So what, you’re trying to tell me Eddie’s famous?” Steve asks. Robin nods. “Hold on, this isn’t like Paul all over again, is it?” Paul was a guy Steve briefly dated a few years ago, and Robin had somehow convinced Steve that he was an Olympic athlete. In his defense, she had mocked up some seriously convincing news articles.

But Robin is shaking her head. “No, I’m serious this time,” she says. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone. After a second she turns it around to show him the Google results for Eddie Munson. There are a lot of red carpets and pictures of him onstage. And damn, Eddie seriously is so hot.

“Alright, well, you definitely didn’t have time to photoshop these,” Steve mutters. Robin nods, patting him on the shoulder. How did he accidentally bring a famous guy over?

Just then, Eddie comes into the kitchen, a kitten in his hands. 

“Stevie, look at her,” he says, holding the kitten up.

Stevie? Robin mouths. Steve kicks her as he reaches out to scratch under the kitten’s chin. It mews at him.

“I asked Nancy—she’s terrifying, by the way,” Eddie adds to Robin, “And she said I can keep her.” He lifts the kitten to his face and it purrs as it rubs its cheek against Eddie’s. Steve is actually going to combust.

“Alright, well, I’m heading back in,” Robin says, voice back to that strained quality as she escapes the kitchen. Eddie doesn’t seem to notice, too busy whispering praise to the kitten.

Steve scratches under its chin again and it purrs at him. “What’re you gonna name her?” he asks.

“Don’t know yet,” Eddie says, “Isn’t she per—oh, hold on.” His phone is ringing, so he moves the kitten to one hand as he reaches into his pocket and pulls it out. “Hey Gar….Yeah, ‘cause you abandoned me….No, I’m in Japantown getting a kitten….No, that’s not a euphemism….Listen, I’m kinda busy, I’ll call you later, alright?…Yeah, see you, man.”

While he was talking, the kitten clawed its way up Eddie’s shirt and into his hair. “What’re you doing in there, sweet girl?” he asks, tucking his phone back into his pocket and reaching for the kitten. It’s gotten very tangled in his curls, though, and apparently really likes being there. 

“Lemme help you,” Steve says, stepping closer to Eddie and extricating the kitten. Eddie’s hair is very soft. Good to know. “Here you go,” he says, holding the kitten out for him.

“One sec,” Eddie says. He ties his hair up quickly (also hot, fuck) before taking the kitten back. He boops noses with it. “Such a mischievous little girl.” 

“Well, can you blame her?” Steve asks. He brushes a loose curl behind Eddie’s ear. “Your hair seems like a nice place to be.”

Eddie smiles at him, a dimple appearing on his cheek. “I’ll be honest, Stevie,” he says, voice getting a little lower as he moves closer, boxing Steve against the counter. “At first I just came along because you’re gorgeous, but I think I’ve fallen in love.” He holds up the kitten in one hand.

“You think I’m gorgeous?” Steve asks, feeling his face heat. 

“‘Course I do, big boy,” Eddie says, leaning closer and putting his free hand on the counter by Steve’s hip.

Maybe this is stupid and way too forward, but Eddie is so dreamy with his eyes and his dimple and his hair and the kitten in his hand, so Steve leans in and kisses him. It’s a little relieving when Eddie kisses him back, free hand lifting to his hair while Steve wraps his arms around his waist.

Steve doesn’t notice the front door opening or a new group of people that includes Dustin Henderson coming inside. He doesn’t notice them entering the kitchen and freezing as they take in the scene.

That is, not until Dustin shouts, “Holy shit, is that Eddie Munson?”

tagging a few people who asked for a continuation/asked to be tagged (sorry if i missed anyone!): @nburkhardt @stargyles @csinnamon-fox @manda-panda-monium @silly-jellyghoty @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @starquirk

edit to add that this ficlet is complete and the last part is here

#gareth after finally coming to pick up eddie: oh my god that wasn't a euphemism?? #meanwhile eddie is just sitting there grinning like an idiot holding a kitten in one hand and steve's hand in the other #okay also everyone's tags on the last one were amazing #i wish i could have stolen all of your ideas but they did not all fit together #unfortunately #steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #ficlet

[sergle]

When I talk about something bad I've experienced, Baked In to my experience as A Woman, I am not "making my little cousins feel like shit for being women", because I am talking in a space with, allegedly, adults. I am not bringing my problems to children in the first place. That said, I don't HAVE to make my baby cousin feel bad, because she's already experienced sexual harassment in her life, and she's only 8, and doesn't even understand what any of it means yet. And everyone in her family can try to instill confidence in her, and never talk about our bodies in a negative way. But she can still feel like she's too chubby, because she still goes to school, and talks to other kids and their parents, and still sees ads, and still watches tv. We can be positive, but we can't fix the root of the problem. And I don't HAVE to tell trans women that "pain is a rite of passage", because that's not a Rule being enforced (by me), because I've already sat and listened to my friend complain about constantly shaving as a Baseline necessity and how it hurts her skin and she has to put makeup onto fresh cuts on her face because going out without a full face of properly feminine makeup would make her life worse, and being anything less than thin and lithe makes her "less feminine", and ALL the things that can make her "more feminine" are behind a paywall. And I can try to make her feel better, and I can hear her experiencing the tenfold version of problems I relate to, but I can't fix the root cause of her problems by just telling her not to complain. Forcing happiness as a core personality trait for women is not the Girlboss Feminist move that you think it is, and no amount of gender euphoria in the world will make you immune to systemic oppression.

#sergle.txt #you cunts learned the term 'toxic positivity' years ago and forgot it instantly #putting a bandaid on a fuckin severed leg is what it is #do i wish i wasn't a woman? no #do i feel pretty in a dress? yes #have i suffered? OH MY GOD YES #do i think any woman alive today has lived without suffering in these ways? NO. #unless she is being raised by wolves. in which case. good for her. #again I am still flabbergasted by that post having used trans woman as a last ditch effort scapegoat. #like. shocked. as if ANY trans girl's problems are because other women complain abt the way they're treated. #she's got her own problems bitch!! and they are directly correlated to my problems!! #it's like. it's infantilizing almost. the way the dickheads in that post went from ''kids'' to ''trans women''. #adult women who know how gender works. #condescending.

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

So I finally watched Puss in Boots 2....

#it was so great???? #like holy shit it caught me so off guard on how good this was #the animation alone was something to marvel at but i was taken aback on how enjoable this film was #i wasn't much of a fan of the first film and didn't pay this one any mind but i got intrigued by the positive reviews #for me it's up there with Shrek 2 on the list I'm not joking #puss in boots: the last wish #puss in boots the last wish spoilers #puss in boots spoilers #puss in boots #puss in boots 2

[ari-the-arotistic]

Guys, Hermes told them where to go to find the entrance of the underworld, and probably told them about Crusty, of course they know who he is, literally chill

#like yeah that scene wasn't as satisfying as it could've been #and I wish they had kept the doa scene instead #but y'all need to stop acting like these kids #WHO WERE RAISED AT CAMP(or taught by his mom in Percy's case) AND WERE TAUGHT ALL THESE MYTHS TO PROTECT THEM #can't be smart and know whats going on sometimes #they didn’t get Echidna right away #and the lotus hotel is another example of someone telling them the info beforehand(ares) #like chill fr #pjo tv show #pjo series #pjo spoilers #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians

[itsalrightmeow]

Haunted by the past...

#dannypocalypse #dannypocalypse 2023 #19 years!!!!! AHHHH wow!! #I remember doing my first dannypocalypse drawing 2 years ago and it's still my most popular post eheh #I wish I wasn't working so I could draw more #I feel like I'm losing all the progress I made :( #hopefully I'll find more time to draw this year!!!! #I love drawing danny and the gang #danny phantom #myart #okay I just was scrolling through last year's drawings I realized I basically redrew what stove drew for 2022 #stove!!! I'm sorry!!! it must've been in my subconscious orz

[kyouka-supremacy]

If he's your “rival” why is your mouth on his neck

#C'mon peoples. I can't do this anymore #Like I've been wishing and praying for a bloodsucking scene for soooooo long if I wasn't. literally in class rn I'd be screaming #ryūnosuke akutagawa #sskk #shin soukoku #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd ch 110.5 #mine

[ariadne-mouse]

Still thinking about just how deep in it Liliana Temult is. Like in the eyes of the narrative she went from

absent & possibly dead, very sad -> alive just estranged?? mysterious! -> possibly involved in a cult, tragic, can her daughter reach her? -> uncomfortably high up in said cult -> the cult's goddamn General and striking such terror into the local population of the Ruidus that they are afraid of even her appearance or someone who looks like her

Ordinary people who are trying to resist the dictatorial Imperium/Ruby Vanguard alliance and their iron control of the populace are terrified of her. You don't strike terror just by "being there". Terror happens because of actions. And it leaves us to wonder what exactly Liliana Temult has done during her time on the moon to make the citizens fear her so much.

#all of this has happened so fast #but I wonder whether Imogen mourns the version of her (dead/vanished) mother that she held in her mind #the one who was ostensibly good in that way children hope their lost loved ones to be (or at least not full ham evil) #Liliana has at times given off this vague air of regret - mostly regarding Imogen like 'i wish it wasn't like this but it is' #but in general that all this violence and terrorizing Ruidus and killing all the gods - it's unfortunate but part of the Greater Purpose #and that makes her all the more detestable tbh #she sees and understands and maybe even empathizes with those that have been or will be hurt by this campaign for Predathos #and has decided that it's still necessary. unfortunate but necessary. this sort of quiet and awful conviction #the kind of person who will hurt you while telling you it's for your own good and it's better this way #cr spoilers #c3e88 #critical role #liliana temult #op

[dollya-robinprotector]

Yeah

#dol pc #dollya art #wren the smuggler #degrees of lewdity #To be fair tho we PC are way too op #At least I think Wren have their funs too #sabotage Remy's properties and all #they seem to REALLY enjoy doing so I doubt they're worth calling “favors” at all #All in all Wren is a fun person #I wasn't wrong to give them some smoochies while doing Mickey' task #Just wish I could give Landry and Darryl smoochies too boo hoo I love them so much they're like my BROS #degree of lewdity

[direquail]

One of the many things I find funny and irritating is the slant of a lot of interpretations of Alecto's name (that it's about feminine rage)--on this here wlw internet in the year of our lord 2024, it's easily made to figure as rage against God, or rage against patriarchy, or religious oppression, and therefore an allusion to the idea that she's going to get her vengeance on John for betraying and oppressing her somehow, but like

John is the one who named her Alecto. He's the one who named her that. So, naming her "Alecto" is alluding to the embodiment of John's rage--their rage, since they are joined inseparably (John even explicitly says that when he first perceives her: "You wouldn't stop screaming. You were so scared. You were so goddamn mad").

He says of Alecto to Harrow, "In a very real way, you are [Alecto's] children". At a very surface level, Alecto is (depending on the text or tradition), one of the Furies--famously, in several surviving Greek tragedies, who punish Orestes for the crime of killing his mother. In fact, in Aeschylus' Oresteia, they declare that they are specifically bound to avenge matricide.

So the name "Alecto" alludes to the nature of John's mission and how he sees it.

It also implies that his divine rage, the rage that gives him power, the power that makes him divine, that he either represents or wants to represent, is feminine rage. He was chosen by Earth (which, Furies are sometimes the daughters of Gaia); he is her champion, however he's managed to fuck that up. Once the truth of that comes out, it becomes clear that all of his power comes from her.

And that's why you get statements from Tamsyn Muir like:

“[T]he God of the Locked Tomb IS a man; he IS the Father and the Teacher; it’s an inherently masc role played by someone who has an uneasy relationship himself to playing a Biblical patriarch. John falls back on hierarchies and roles because they’re familiar even when he’s struggling not to. Even he identifies himself as the God who became man and the man who became God. But the divine in the Locked Tomb is essentially feminine on multiple axes – I think Nona will illuminate that a little bit more."

So yes, he plays the role of Emperor and God and Teacher, with all of the things that implies. And I don't think it should be discounted. But he also is (and partly sees himself as) the chosen champion of a goddess, or what is for all intents & purposes for a human like him a goddess. He is her avenger, and while she sleeps, her avatar.

And I don't think we're meant to read him purely as a parasite who's taking advantage of her to gain power for himself, either. Or an oppressive, Kronos-like figure. Especially if you consider Palamedes' theory of the Grand Lysis, even if he was purely motivated by desire for power before (which I really doubt), there are parts of each in the other, now. What was clear and separate before is uncertain and interpenetrated. Is his rage his own, or hers? Is his mission of revenge his, or hers? If he wants power, is that his own selfishness, or her desire to survive?

And does it matter?

#the locked tomb #tlt meta #john gaius #i really wish there wasn't such an intense desire to find the worst possible interpretations of johns' actions #because like. they're plenty hurtful on their own! they're plenty shitty! #there IS however something tamsyn muir is trying to express through the series and it's fairly complicated-otherwise it wouldn't be a serie #and i don't think it actually helps us to turn john into a cardboard cutout labeled 'evil' #or apply tropes we've marinated in from radfem-informed segments of online wlw culture about how men are parasites on the Divine Feminine #or apply the messages of other shows with a big emphasis on queer and wlw themes--like spop--to something that just fundamentally isn't the #there is more than one way to talk about lesbian religious trauma and there is more than one narrative around it #and more than one perspective on it #i wish that people would try harder to experience the story on its own terms

[niinnyu]

Cursed.

Explanation for this below the cut heh [mild manga spoilers!!]

In ch181 (?) We see this one panel of her super focused very scary, like she meant business (i cannot find the panel tho im sorry). This happens right after Yuuta vs Takako and Ishigori.

I remember thinking ooh maybe Miwa and Yuuta would team up, but then also why??

Then I had this thought of Miwa now having Mechamaru as a curse and going to Yuuta for advice, but because for Yuuta it comes much more instinctively because of his relationship wih Rika,he doesn't have much to offer (mostly because I'd like her to not have to rely on someone else too much) and she has to navigate having a curse with her.

Her recent appearances do make her look like she still has her brand of nervousness, which I like about her, so I've drawn her like that too. I also gave her Kokichi's ear piece thingy, wonder if that's what created the curse oohh.

For Kokichi I've mixed his human form with the bandages and hair and his mech from his fight with Mahito, because I like to think that was his sorta freedom form compared to the usual metal/wooden mechamaru. It was after he got his body ofc but also after trying to right his wrong.

I talk about why I wouldn't wanna exactly see this in the tags tho lol I'm am my own naysayer ✌️(Miwa has to find her happiness!! And that doesn't have to be a person or romantic!!+ more!!)

#miwa kasumi #kokichi muta #mechamiwa #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk fanart #jujutsu kaisen fanart #jjk art #shibuya arc #culling games #muta kokichi #kasumi miwa #i do wonder if what they had was enough for a curse to be born though #because in my interpretation it seemed more like miwa was curious and mechamaru was fond of her #and ig thats a kind of love not everything has to be like stsg level for it to be real #but i just think it is an interesting concept #BUT EVEN WITHOUT A MECHAMARU CURSE I WISH WE GOT MORE MIWAAA #one of the few characters who's gone head to head with kenjaku (albeit not for long because she wasn't allowed it) and did give a fight #i also dont want her whole thing to be mechamaru? #she mentioned that she has siblings to take care of AND I LOVE THAT #as a motivation that is #but she's one of the few female characters who's connection with a guy is somewhat believable also at least by jjk standards #for my taste ig #anyway wow why're you still reading pff obsessed with me or something hah?? #jjk manga #jjk manga spoilers #jjk spoilers #no nickel for niinnyu's thoughts #niinnyu arts