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super-paper · 8 months

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Symbol of Peace/Symbol of Fear

I've read a lot of callous takes on All Might from fans who are otherwise sympathetic to Tomura (and vice versa)-- which is sad, because I feel these characters are meant to be viewed as two sides of the same coin. It's not much of an exaggeration to say that a good bulk of the story/conflict is built on top of their crumbling bodies. It's also not much of an exaggeration to say that the resolution to this story hinges on them both being allowed to heal.

Toshinori and Tenko are both victims who were repeatedly failed by the adults around them, and are now both adults who are stuck in roles that perpetuate the same cycle that wounded their childhood selves. Their particular traumas regarding identity/loss and how they've been taught to cope with pain (that is to say, not at all) doesn't allow either of them to truly be "complete" people-- instead, they shut away core aspects of themselves and attempt to lose themselves in their respective roles in a futile attempt to run away from their wounded selves. Toshi throws himself into the role of All Might, Tenko throws himself into the role of Shigaraki Tomura-- But Toshi and Tenko still haunt every aspect of this story, and their inability to completely vanish into their alter egos remains a source of pain before it ever becomes a source of strength for them.

One of MHA's biggest messages is about the importance of society's most vulnerable people having access to good social support-- so it's no surprise that Toshi and Tomura's feelings of isolation end up fueling their blind pursuits of peace/destruction. They both gorge themselves on a fantasy they think will fill them, but are never full-- at least, not until they start allowing other people in their lives who can see beyond their respective hero/villain masks and understand that what's behind those masks is someone who desperately needs help.

Brief(ish) Thoughts on the Gravity of Their Designs

"Starvation" is very much the theme of the hour for both characters-- both characters are introduced to the series in severely emaciated, malnourished states. Toshi's true form is literally skin and bones, with his stomach having been ripped from his body by AFO. Tomura is depicted as frequently vomiting from sheer stress and suffers from nearly constant nausea-- during his debut, he's so malnourished that you can literally see the outline of his spinal column. They're both unkempt and unhealthy looking (with Tomura's clothes being visibly tattered/frayed around the collar and shirt/pant cuffs in a particularly infuriating bit of visual story telling-- AFO UR FUCKING LOADED WHY IS HE WEARING RAGS I'LL KILL YOU🗡️🗡️🗡️)

MEANWHILE, AFO himself is depicted as a cannibalistic, gluttonous, greedy monster who gorges himself on the misfortune of others and spares no expense whatsoever when it comes to maintaining his own health-- all while remaining well dressed and well groomed. Hori's art direction is simple but highly effective in how it indicates who the real enemy is, while also indicating that Tomura and Toshinori secretly share a mortal foe with one another.

Less seriously, Toshi & Tomura's muscle forms are both shams lmao.

Nana's Boys-------------------------------

God, Tomura is SUCH a fucking grandma's boy and he doesn't even know it. 😭 😭 😭You too, Toshinori. Hate u both! ❤

For all her flaws and mistakes, Nana still remains a major influence in Tomura and Toshinori's lives-- She is a source of pain for them both, but also serves as a source of strength for Toshinori and a source of deeply repressed hope for Tenko. She is the unbreakable binding thread that connects Toshinori and Tenko together as "family". Nana is also completely inextricable from the origin of both boys:

There's also the ever creeping implication that all the traits Tomura latched onto with AFO actually originated from Nana and Toshinori-- the concept of an inviolable "origin" that defines you, donning an invincible smile that hides your pain/fear, pushing past your limits by remembering why it is you swing your fists. AFO intended for both his "teacher persona" and his lessons to be a dark, twisted mockery of Nana-- but Tomura still "found" Nana in those lessons and then used them to take the first step towards breaking free.

Y e a h.

Nevertheless, Tomura can't bring himself to take the next step towards being saved until someone starts to challenge him a bit more on what his origin actually *IS* . Izuku, that's ur cue.

The Kamino Incident---------------------

mmm cinnamontography......

Kamino and its immediate aftermath is definitely the meat and potatoes of Tomura and Toshi's connection, and the story is STILL reeling from the aftershocks of this arc. AFO gleefully picks up his pen and proceeds to write Tomura and Toshi into a corner they can't escape from on their own, setting the stage for the rest of the series.

It's all but confirmed through AFO's actions and internal dialog that Kamino was a set-up meant to retraumatize Tomura and Toshinori by recreating the worst moments of their lives, while also permanently putting them at odds with each other-- AFO takes himself off the playing board willingly in a way that's deliberately meant to resemble Nana's sacrifice while also ripping Tomura's trauma about not being saved wide open. My guy played the longest con specifically so he could create a hell specifically tailored to these two, then gave them both time to "pick themselves up and dust themselves off" just so he could knock them both down AGAIN in an even MORE spectacularly traumatizing way a few months later. (I am once again encouraging people to reread MHA while actually paying attention to AFO this time and while acknowledging that Tomura and Toshinori are his victims, because the dude's a fucking FANTASTIC villain)

All Might and Tomura both get their "masks" forcibly removed in a way that's meant to humiliate them and expose their pain/humanity, which causes them to both bury themselves even deeper in their hero/villain roles and further away from each other. AFO depends on Toshi's hero mask and role as a "symbol" being the very thing that won't allow Toshi to save Shimura Tenko. Kamino is to Toshi what MVA is to Tomura-- an awful tragedy that shackles both men to their masks, masquerading as a good ol' high-energy shonen beatdown.

AFO: Hey can I copy ur homework lol

Name a bigger "Ohhhhhhh This Bitch (ʘ‿ʘ)" moment

AFO gets a sick pleasure out of masquerading as a savior and turning others into the "villain"-- he has always delighted in dragging others to his level, in bringing the absolute worst outta them, in watching them make all the same decisions *he* would make without him having to force his hand, in stealing the light from their eyes so they look just as dull and unhappy as his, in making others "another him".

Tomura is an obvious example, but Toshi himself is also a victim of AFO's particular brand of perversion (for lack of a better word)-- Kamino has AFO turning Toshi into "another him." All MIght is turned into "the villain" who takes Tomura's beloved master away from him, just as AFO took Nana away from Toshinori. All Might inflicts the same trauma he went through onto Tomura, while AFO takes a bow and proceeds to laugh himself all the way to the bank Tartarus.

(Seriously, tho-- reading "All Might: Rising" and the Kamino arc back-to-back and realizing that AFO's dramatic sacrifice was *literally plagiarized* is probably one of the biggest doses of fridge horror in the entire series-- it immediately throws EVERYTHING about Kamino and AFO's relationship with Tomura into question.)

*enraged chimpanzee shriek* THE WAY HE PRETTY MUCH SAYS EXACTLY WHAT HIS PLAN IS BUT THE PLAN WAS SO FRIGGIN INCONCEIVABLE THAT NO ONE PICKED UP ON IT. FUKX>.

From AFO's perspective, Toshi's rise to power as "The Symbol of Peace" was shaped by his rage and the loss of his beloved master. This blind hatred eventually allowed All Might to corner and "kill" AFO. AFO takes his notes and ultimately sets Kamino up to mirror Nana's sacrifice, turning Toshinori into the figure who fuels Tomura's blind hate-- which kick-starts Tomura's development into "The Symbol of Fear" in earnest. He then spends 90% of his meeting with Toshi in Tartarus talking in bullshit riddles that are ultimately meant to mock Toshi-- He's basically saying "look a little closer buddy, that's you! :)" and then ominously chuckling to himself when Toshinori completely fails to pick up on what he's actually saying.

"wait so all that talk about Tomura growing and developing into a symbol and learning how to use his rage was just AFO being a perverted freak about Toshinori/All Might?" ALWAYS HAS BEEN!

AFO "writes" an "evil" version of All Might he has complete control over, then self-inserts himself into that version of All Might. Oh, and it's also a version of his brother who "willingly" submitted to him and was totally stoked walk the path of evil with him. Oh, and it's also a vessel that has the blood of Shimura Nana running through him, who happens to be the object of AFO's strangely charged derision.

Fellas, Freud would have a fuckin' field day.

>This Action Will Have Consequences.

Toshi's kneejerk reaction in the aftermath of Kamino is to chase after Tomura, to approach him as "Shimura Tenko". His first reaction is to act on his feelings as Toshinori, not as All might. Gran Torino shuts this down immediately, shoving both Toshinori and Tenko back into the hero and villain boxes and refusing to let them remove their "masks." Toshi's fear of Gran Torino is funny, until it isn't-- he buckles immediately and defers to Torino's will like a scolded child.

Gran Torino claiming “It doesn’t matter who he’s related to” in a series where familial relationships are frequently used to humanize its characters is a particularly backhanded way of dehumanizing Tomura (especially since the death of their families was the catalyst that caused both Toshi AND Tomura to start dehumanizing themselves).

Gran Torino immediately brings Toshi's "role" as All Might back up as a means of silencing him. Reading between the lines of this scene, Toshinori is essentially being told that he isn't allowed to take off the hero mask, that he isn't allowed to act on his feelings as Toshinori. Toshi is told that he can no longer act as the symbol of peace, but in the same breath, he's told that he can't ever STOP being the symbol of peace-- it's subtle, but this dissonance is what causes him to start slowly spiraling throughout Acts 2 & 3.

In Kamino's aftermath, Tomura and Toshi are both left feeling hollow and directionless. AFO mostly succeeds in hollowing out Tomura, who spends the beginning of Act 2 as a sullen and depressed mess until he finally snaps during the events of MVA. Toshinori, however, is lucky to have people in his life who begin to fill him up again with little acts of love for who he is outside the "Symbol of Peace" mask.

Toshinori, Rising.

MHA has been about Izuku's growth into someone capable of saving Tomura, but it's also been about Toshinori's growth into someone who can live outside his alter ego and finally become the sort of hero his childhood self wanted to be-- someone who breaks the cycle of grief turning into hatred. Yagi Toshinori WANTED to be the type of hero who could save Shimura Tenko, more anything. And if Hori sticks the landing with Toshinori and Tomura's arcs, then we're going to see some massive pay off in the coming chapters.

The series supports the underlying implication that Toshi's initial impulse to go after Tomura and treat him as Shimura Tenko was the correct one, and that not going after him was ultimately a massive mistake-- and Toshi has gradually been developing into someone who can now act on that impulse without being shouted down or shoved back into a box.

Side note: I feel that people who are insisting that Toshi is gonna die are severely underestimating how important Toshi and Tomura actually are to each other's respective arcs-- Killing Toshi before he gets to meet Tomura again leaves a big part of his arc unfulfilled. It also compromises Tomura's arc and MHA's message about the importance of good social support and family in saving society's most vulnerable people-- Yagi Toshinori becomes a hero that surpasses All Might through helping Tomura, and fulfills his dream about breaking the cycle of grief and hatred. Tomura gains the closure and social support he needs to finally start healing alongside what is basically his only remaining family (on a spiritual level!).

On that note.....

"You're Just Like All Might, Ten-chan."

*gazes pointedly at the SMAAAASH* Oh, Tenko.....

When Tomura/Tenko gets pushed to his mental breaking point during the UA Fortress Battle, he manifests the biggest targets of his grief and anger to "protect" him. Tomura twists his form into a childish interpretation of All Might-- one that exists solely to protect him-- then unleashes several "SMASH"es on the heroes. Tomura betrays himself and his true desires through this form more than any other.

The unstated implication scattered throughout the entirety of MHA is that Tenko has always been waiting for All Might to "finally show up and save him," but All Might never came. It's the core of the tragedy between these two. Tomura's ""hatred"" of All Might is fueled by extreme unprocessed grief, as always-- the same cycle that Toshinori dreamed of breaking when he was a child.

Midoriya Izuku's "Role"

NOTICE: THIS IS A SET. DO NOT SEPARATE. (side note: Tomura touching All Might's screen while delicately raising his pinky to avoid destroying it.... I can see u bitch.)

Izuku is Tomura's hero for the same reason that Izuku is Toshinori's hero. Through Toshinori's relationship with Izuku, he learns that his life always had meaning, that he always had a role outside of being "All Might." He learns that it's okay for him to keep living as Yagi Toshinori, and that his "origin" didn't disappear when he lost One For All-- it's easy to see how Izuku's role in helping Toshi reconcile his identity and heroic origins ultimately bleeds into his arc with Tomura.

Izuku and Tomura learn how to define heroism and villainy through each other. Both boys start off with a vague, poorly-defined goal of wanting to save everyone/destroy everything-- and both goals are equally shallow/unattainable, at first. Thinking about those "goals" too deeply means confronting an aspect of themselves that's still wailing in pain-- they only begin to confront those feelings and the origin that fuels them through their repeat contact with each other.

All Might is the one who gave Tenko and Izuku's idea of heroism its "shape"-- but Tomura is ultimately the one who helps Izuku define his idea of heroism by forcing Izuku to repeatedly examine that definition each time they encounter each other. And Izuku the one Tomura's mind instinctively drifts towards when he thinks about about "some hero"-- he's the one who consistently motivates Tomura to struggle and claw himself back to the surface from the depths of the Demon King role. If "hatred" is what allows AFO to maintain his control over Tomura, then why was Tomura able to wrench back control after Izuku asked for him? Why was he able to resist when AFO attempted to unleash decay at the very beginning of the final war arc? Because there's something other than hatred fueling him right now. Tomura's truth, as always, lies firmly between the lines and under about seven different layers of misdirection (and yes, this is just a purple-prosey way of calling him a fucking tsundere /derog).

what do u guys think they were feeding toshi at the orphanage

Toshinori gets his mask removed, but learns that it's okay for him to live without it and that lesson brings him closer to his origin than he's ever been before. He is finally "reborn" as a fully formed human, not as a symbol. And with that being said, *points at Shigaraki Tomura*

#long post #my hero academia #yagi toshinori #shimura tenko #shigaraki tomura #mha.txt

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sarucane · 6 months

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OFMD Spiral Parallels 52: Weddings

Intro: What I love most about how season 2 builds on season 1 of OFMD is the spiral narrative structure. Ground is repeatedly and explicitly re-trod from season 1 to season 2, but in season 2 everything goes deeper than season 1. Meanings are shuffled, emotions are stronger and truer, and transformation is showcased above everything. The first season plucks certain notes, then the second season plucks the same ones--but louder, and then it weaves them together to create a symphony.

---

The first wedding on OFMD is a death sentence. Literally: the wedding gift is tombstones. The bride and groom are being forced to fixate in place, forever. They're being told what they will be, forever.

Neither Mary nor Stede want this. Neither see a way out. Both have been thoroughly beaten down by their families--but not beaten. Because even though both agree, even though Mary grabs Stede's hand at the wedding and she tried, even more than him, they're not broken by their wedding and the married life that proceeded from it. They aren't going to be buried under those tombstones.

But the reason Mary and Stede aren't forever trapped with each other isn't just that they weren't beaten by their wedding. They managed to go one better: they decided to set each other free. They used their wedding--and their resulting unwanted lives--to give each other access to the lives they wanted. Mary gained permanent security in her independence, right down to the finances when Stede gave up his wealth; Stede gained the freedom to live the life he wanted, with the people he wanted. A wedding is a symbol: a marriage can be what the individuals in it want it to be.

The next wedding we get is in episode 2. The bride and groom here are nameless. The only speakers at the wedding are Ed and the priest.

The S2 priest, like the priest in season 1 (he even looks similar), seeks to determine the meaning of marriage. It is something that "elevates," something that proves certain people are better than others.

And then Ed introduces himself as the devil. On the surface, this looks like a repudiation of this idea of some people as better than others, that (heterosexual) marriage and this high-class world are "better."

But while Ed is rejecting the significance of the wedding by raiding it, he's also validating the worldview behind it. He interrupts the ceremony at the appropriate place. He doesn't truly disagree with the priest that he's "demonic," he says the priest is just underestimating how evil he is.

Ed and gang proving that violence and darkness is more powerful than this false "light," in a zero-sum game where the winner gets to live. And Ed's caught in the middle with no will to shift: he's not participating in the violence, and he's not attending the wedding either. He's just looking at it, barely even here.

It's a trap, just like Stede's wedding to Mary last year. It is a trap with an exit--just not one Ed thinks he can take. He thinks he'll innately never be worthy of love or happiness.

For the next two episodes, Ed's longing for Stede, for a life he feels is worth living, is represented by his fixation on the groom figurine.

This detritus of a wedding that was meant to "elevate" is almost a replacement for the silk cloth he let fly away. It symbolizes a desire to be part of something else, something better than this base and vile life--and something more real than a life soaring above everything.

The wedding figurines are symbols that work similarly to Ed's silk in season 1, but they are somehow both less and more full realizations of that symbolic idea of being "a certain kind of person." On the one hand, they're more because they're two full bodies, one of which Ed modifies to reflect himself. To create a version of himself that could be loved. But on the other hand, they're also less because they're bits plaster made to look like people. Ed's silk endured unchanged for years, but within one episode the paint tones on the figurines are changing--hinting at the pure despair Ed is heading for, as even symbols of hope fall out of reach.

These wedding figurines show Ed's desire to be able to live with himself again, to find a version of himself he doesn't hate through Stede. He's half-trapped, and half wishing he were the kind of person who gets trapped. And when he's giving up on life ever getting better for him again, he throws the figurines into the sea. 'Cause all marrisges end in death; all love dies.

And then there's the last wedding of OFMD S2. It's technically not a wedding: it's a mateology, a semi-equivalent of gay marriage that was really practiced by pirates for a few decades.

This wedding is basically the same as the previous two straight weddings on the show: two people stand and listen to vows. But it's also completely and in every way different.

These are two people who have chosen each other, who have lost and found each other. There's no priest, instead three of their friends ask them questions.

There's no suggestion of something "higher" happening, or some sort of trap: the questions are about love for one another, what they'll promise for each other, what they'll choose to be to each other in life and in death.

And from the beginning to the end, it's individualized. Unlike in the other weddings, the "bride" and groom aren't silent here.

They don't say "I do" simultaneously as in most wedding scenes on TV. They give responses that reflect their characters. And though Lucius and Pete technically give different answers to several questions, their answers are also both in essence the same.

They're not trying to be something they think they should be, and fear they'll never be. They're not making a statement about society, or longing to escape a "base" life. They're not trapped. They've decided that this is the shape their lives will take.

Two weddings, and a marriage.

#ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #ofmd meta #ed teach #stede bonnet #blackbonnet

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voidpumpkin · 5 months

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i know why it's popular amongst fanartists but there's something very funny about utena drawing a sword from anthy and vice versa being the image every rgu fanartist draws at least once cause symbolically utena drawing the sword symbolises utena's participation in the system that abuses anthy, how she believes she's protecting anthy but her lack of knowledge about the system means she isn't and how's she doing this cause of her desire to be a prince rather than help anthy, and on the other hand Anthy drawing the sword represents her forced participation in this abusive system and more specifically how akio is using her to groom utena

This is why they have that scene in adolescence of utena where utena refuses to draw the sword, she refuses to participate and enforce the system, instead focusing on anthy and freeing her, quite literally becoming the vehicle for her escape. This is also why anthy doesnt draw a sword from utena, she has no one forcing her, there is no system, or at least no abuser grooming and controlling the two, only anthy's own trauma, which keeps her as the rose bride.

#utena #anthy #akio #revolutionary girl utena #adolescence of utena #utenanthy #rgu

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jewishbarbies · 5 months

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Swift was “reportedly impressed by his [Connor Kennedy’s 17 year old self] "maturity," things between swift and conor would heat up as quickly as they had with his cousin, and just one day after kennedy's 18th birthday in late july, the two were sighted in New York holding hands.”

Is this not what predators say when they’re grooming literal children before dating freshly 18 year olds???? She’s a predator and nobody acknowledges it

the whole situation is so incredibly disgusting. coupled with her doing the same damn thing to taylor lautner, who face incredible scrutiny and hypersexualization by older women already at the time, and then again to harry styles. the way that both lautner and harry were sex symbols of the moment when she suddenly started dating them, and taylor was obsessed with the kennedys when she suddenly started dating conor. like, none of that is coincidental. she “masterminded” her way into those relationships because she wanted them regardless of their age and it’s so fucking disgusting.

that kinda shit is why I get so mad when people try to brush it off and excuse it. they were BOYS being preyed on by a grown woman who should’ve known better. and the failure to hold her accountable for that when people would be rioting if the roles were reversed is unforgivable.

#Asks #anonymoose #anti taylor swift #swifties dni

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simplyemm · 6 months

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Okay so I've had this Gale brainrot that will not leave me alone (not enough to write it myself, but maybe someone else will appreciate this particular thought).

Imagine a Cleric of Mystra Tav. Probably raised in the temple, not a particularly exciting or impressive person, but dedicated to her Goddess as much as someone who was raised to be is.

And then she pulls her goddess's former Chosen out of a portal and they both have brain worms.

More under the cut because THOUGHTS (also spoilers for the game) CW: discussions of religious deconstruction/trauma, mentions of Mystra being a creepy groomer

The temple definitely knew Gale was Mystra's Chosen, and maybe there was some whispering in the corners about The Incident, but I'm not sure how much the rank and file would know.

So Tav pulls this guy out of a portal and he's all like "Hello, I'm Gale of Waterdeep" and she's just like "oh shit, you're Gale of Waterdeep." Which I'm sure definitely inflates his ego just a teeny-tiny bit. And I definitely think Tav probably has a "oh no, he's hot" kind of moment before she squishes that down, at least initially.

Of course finding out about The Orb and the whole "oh yeah I definitely fucked our goddess" thing makes things slightly awkward. Like how does one deal with having a crush on your literal goddess's ex-lover? (the implications are delicious though). And I could maybe see Astarion or Shadowheart making a comment about Tav taking her goddess's sloppy seconds (jokingly, though I could see a Glare definitely putting a stop to those jokes).

They would still have their little Moment in the Weave after the tiefling party of course, with Tav definitely expressing Interest (even subconsciously) because Of Course. Probably with a healthy heaping of religious guilt, cause like how dare she, he betrayed Mystra blah blah blah.

But then Elminster comes with his message from Mystra asking Gale to blow himself up, which brings us to the part that makes me absolutely fucking feral. Tav is furious that Mystra would ask this of Gale, and even more so that he's considering it.

To the point that (at least using game mechanics) would go to Withers and demand a class change. Story wise I'm imagining that she straight up just like starts training with Lae'zel and gets even better at fighting and just straight up stops using magic. Cue the religious deconstruction and Tav coming to terms with the fact that the goddess she had dedicated her life to is actually a horrid fucking bitch who arguably groomed Gale and all that gross shit.

And I'm sure Gale would have FEELINGS about this, especially if he just happened to find Tav wrapping her holy symbol around a smokepowder bomb and just throwing it into oblivion. But also like, how romantic is it that someone would love you enough to straight up abandon their goddess? And I'm sure they'd have a "What the hells are you doing?" "Nothing." "That wasn't nothing" that devolves into something of an argument that ends with Tav shouting something along the lines of "I'm not going to continue to serve a goddess who demands someone I love blow himself up!" (which of course is A Confession).

And then his scene where he confesses would just be SO GOOD because like, how can you not fall in love with someone who has already shown such love the way Tav has?

And then even more if they go to the Stormshore Tabernacle and some of the clerics there knew Tav and there's even more stuff with that. Just a sprinkling of angst because I mean, of course.

Maybe it's my own religious deconstruction talking, but I just think that dynamic would be *chef's kiss*

#gale bg3 #bg 3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #baldur's gate 3 #bg 3 #slight bg 3 spoilers #we will fight mystra behind a Denny's with our bare hands #this has been living in my head rent free for over a week #baldurs gate gale #gale x tav #gale romance spoilers

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proudfreakmetarusonniku · 3 months

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like i know the religious symbolism in evangelion is there to look cool but rei's connection to lilith is meaningful To Me specifically even though it wasn’t intentional.

lilith, mother of demons, the first woman, who became the first succubus when she refused to be subservient to adam. rei, born from lilith in a sense, bearing her soul. in a way, almost a mockery of the idea of lilith- not only being created by force, by extracting the soul of a restrained, captive lilith, but being young, being a clone, being the furthest thing from a temptress.

but all those things affect how she’s seen, aren’t they? shinji views her like a mother figure. she's labelled as the first. and, sickeningly, her own creator, her father, views her as a subservient doll to serve as an emotional replacement for his dead wife at the minimum, grooming her into at the very least an emotionally incestous relationship she literally does not know isn’t normal. rei herself is none of those things, but she is forced into the role of lilith nonetheless. and lilith is forced into being a mockery of herself, subservient and controlled. rei is, in a sense, eve. the perfect, cloned woman. no matter if that’s what she wants or not.

and it’s not what rei wants. rei embraces lilith- embracing rebellion- and she becomes one, regardless of what her creator desires. after all, even eve ate the apple. after having adam forced upon her, like lilith was forced to lie underneath him, she rejects that and merges on her own terms with both adam and lilith. adam, eve, lilith, all in one. she is all of humanity- very literally, after third impact. gods creation usurping him.

#neon genesis evangelion #rei ayanami #csa tw #religious themes tw

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deadboyswalking · 1 year

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Why The Overhaul Arc Matters

Strap the FUCK in I just realized the actual narrative significance of the Overhaul arc.

Eri-Tomura Parallel

At a surface level, Eri and Tomura have obvious parallels, right?

Visually, they look very similar with light hair and red eyes. Quirk-wise, they both have incredibly powerful, devastating Quirks that caused a fatal accident with their real families.

Eri hated herself because of the poison that Chisaki put in her head. Tomura hates himself for the same reason but with AFO.

They both were groomed to feel fully responsible for their traumatizing childhood accidents and for their only self-worth to be related to being useful towards their manipulative abuser and his goals.

Their parallels have been discussed at length by many people, so I'm not going to go into it except to say: no, they aren't literally blood related like some people argue. I also don't think AFO gave either of them their Quirks. Did AFO give Decay? Analysis Thread

Overhaul-AFO Parallel

That leads me to my next point: Overhaul and All For One are the same character.

As leaders, they prey on vulnerable people and buy their unquestioned loyalty (the Shie Hassaikai, Dr. Garaki, Machia, etc)

They will use these people for their purposes and then discard them at will, without any emotions or ethics to consider.

Their relationship toward their charge is NOT exactly parental. There is zero affection or even pretended affection towards Eri or Tomura and, in fact, others are doing their actual day-to-day care (various Hassaikai members, Kurogiri).

They speak in the same way to and about their charges. "You're a cursed human." "Another death on your hands." "Symbol of Fear" "You have within you the impulse to destroy that even you can't control." A huge part of their abuse is based in manipulating their charges to despise themselves and think they're inherently evil, so said charges give up on being a regular human. Further literary parallel: Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Deku's Connection

AND FINALLY, my point: the Overhaul-Eri situation is directly responsible for Deku's current empathy toward Tomura and drive to save him. When Deku saw AFO take over Tomura and use his body for his own purposes during the war, especially with what he saw in the vestige realm, I think the parallel with Eri clicked.

Tomura is what would've happened to Eri if she hadn't been rescued. I fully think that if Eri had survived to adulthood without being rescued, Overhaul would have groomed her to live entirely for his benefit with full live-or-die loyalty for him (like the rest of the Shie Hassaikai, but stronger due to manipulation from childhood onwards). She would have grown to hate society for not saving her AND for being against Overhaul's goals. I honestly think she would've been even scarier than Tomura since Tomura at least had Kurogiri (who has been show to genuinely care for him on some level) rather than random gangsters as his primary caregiver.

Don't you see? It's all connected to Deku's endgame: pulling Tomura away from AFO and saving someone else who has been damned because of their Quirk and abuser. Of course, saving Tomura, a grown man who has committed A LOT of violence, is going to be much harder than saving a wholly innocent little girl, but the SEED was planted during the Overhaul arc.

I believe this is also WHY Deku chooses to see the Tenko that still lives inside Tomura.

Final Thoughts

This might be super obvious but I'd been scratching my head for MONTHS about how the Overhaul arc is significant to the narrative since the Quirk bullets storyline went nowhere and I'm not a fan of the "Eri rewinds the villains or the whole world!" take. I was so quick to discard the Overhaul arc as unimportant when the bullets didn't impact the story much, but I just completely missed the big picture.

I SAW the Eri-Tomura and Overhaul-AFO parallels but I couldn't quite figure out how the pieces went together beyond the surface parallel of two similarly abused children and two abusers. Understanding this connection also fixes what I had considered to be a huge logical plot hole in the story: why did Deku have a sudden 11th-hour change of heart and shift his focus from defeating Tomura to saving him?

Overhaul-Eri to AFO-Tomura is a direct link for Deku's endgame and the total themes of the story, I just couldn't see it before.

#bnha meta #shigaraki tomura #eri chan #bnha eri #all for one #bnha overhaul #chisaki kai #bnha analysis

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transmascutena · 4 months

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some thoughts on photography and memory in utena:

on the wall in nemuro memorial hall, there are pictures of real people. i'm not sure who they are, but i assume they're of people involved in making the show. either way, they're obviously not real; in the close-up shots of them, they change into pictures of the black rose duelists and other imagery from the show. i imagine it's there as a fun detail by the creators, but also to show how weird and inconsistent reality itself is in the black rose arc.

as for the black rose duel images themselves, it's possible that they are literal as i've talked about in a previous post, but what i think is more likely, is that utena noticing them is a visual representation of her connecting the dots of what's really been going on in this arc.

when mikage brings up the idea of memories and eternity, we see the picture on the wall behind utena, of her at her parents funeral. and behind mikage we see one of his own defining memories.

a pretty clear line is being drawn between memory and photographs. in fact, memories are so important to mikage that photographs are his black rose duel symbol. it's the one he keeps of mamiya and tokiko, altered to look like anthy's disguise, just like his memories are. through mikage we see both how memories of the past can keep you trapped in it, as well as the malleability of these memories. let's look at everybody else:

saionji has a framed photograph of him and touga as kids on his desk. he values their friendship, or at least the memory of how it used to be. he idealizes the time touga was less cruel (or maybe just the time saionji wasn't aware of his cruelty.)

miki doesn't have any literal photographs of kozue or the sunlit garden, though his memories of them are often framed as such. he also keeps a picture of anthy amidst his sheet music. she is his idealized memory now.

juri has the locket of course, inside of which is a cutout of shiori from a picture captured in the moment that ends up defining their entire relationship. is this the version of shiori that juri idealizes? not really, but she is fixated on her resentment of shiori's percieved cruelty, just not the cruelty of taking the boy away. juri keeps this photograph closer than anybody else does with theirs, but she also keeps it hidden. this could mean she treasures her memories the most out of everyone, and is also the least open about it, although i'm not sure i believe the first part.

nanami has the photo-album of her and touga; she idealizes her relationship with him, as well as their childhood. when she makes the connection that touga is adopted, the photos are scattered all over her bed, probably to represent her emotional state.

touga doesn't keep any photographs from what we see, which makes sense with everything we know about him. unlike the rest of the council, he doesn't have any idealized memories of his childhood. but he does use akio's camera, so let's talk about that.

the camera is, much like the car, a tool that only akio is shown to own (although, wakaba does mention a photography club in episode 34.) like the car, it is used to facilitate his grooming (specifically of touga and saionji when he takes those shirtless pictures with them.) and, also like the car, he offers to lend it to touga, to make him feel more like an equal part of the whole thing. unlike the car though, touga accepts the camera.

the photoshoot scene in episode 37 has a transition where the camera shutter sound effect is played over the previous scene. over the shot of utena and anthy holding hands after confiding in each other about akio. i think it's to show that he's always watching, and that they can never truly be free of him as long as they're in ohtori.

i think it also shows the idea of akio framing the narrative of the show as a whole. he plays a sort of director role in it, in that he directs the events happening, as well as how they're portrayed. it's no coincidence that he is quite literally behind the "camera" in episode 33. like the car, a symbol of akio's power and sexual abuse (which is not-coincidentally also present in all of the photoshoot scenes,) his camera (his narrative, his biased framing of events) is ever-present.

and then there's the most important photograph in the show, the frame it all ends on. the picture utena and anthy took together is, unlike every other photograph, used as a look into their future. the reason they take it in the first place is because utena realizes she has no photos of anthy, which distresses her, presumably because she worries that their friendship might not last forever, and she wants something to remember anthy by. this obviously comes with the risk of making anthy an idealized memory, like every other person put in a photograph in this show, but instead it ends up as a symbol for their love. akio may have set up the camera, but anthy (with the help of chu-chu) manipulated their positions so her and utena could hold hands. she also cuts akio out of the frame, much like she cuts him out of her life in the last episode. she doesn't want his presence to tarnish her and utena's memory anymore (although he isn't completely gone from the photograph either, as he will never truly be forgotten.)

#id in alt text #finally finished this post #these are not the only photographs in the show just the ones linked closest to the themes i wanted to discuss here #revolutionary girl utena #analysis #utena #mikage #saionji #miki #juri #nanami #touga #akio #anthy #m #the narrative

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arx-aru · 9 months

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look i don't care i refuse to buy that Malenia's second phase is "the rot god" and not her. it's totally still her. and i think there's more than sufficient textual evidence to make that case

1: Most importantly, the wings: other rot creatures, barring her knights(resolutely sworn to her), don't have them--and wings are referenced again and again as her thing. Her having wings upon apotheosis can't read as anything besides Malenia. The game flat-out says "wings symbolize Malenia." If the Goddess of Rot isn't her, then her most prominent feature upon achieving apotheosis should not be wings; rather, if she were overtaken by a "rot god," she would have the (hypothesized)scorpion features to match. But she doesn't.

2: The Scorpion Stinger does not say that there's a pre-existing rot god. It only says that there is a sealed outer god in the shape of a scorpion, the stinger of which is "glistening with scarlet rot." It does not say that said god is the god of scarlet rot--just that a dagger fashioned from it has scarlet rot on it. There's not even any reason to believe scarlet rot was the original "venom" of the thing, nor that the dagger still functions like a stinger(how would it?).

3: Literally just her presentation. If the second phase is her having given in, then why would she strike a heroic pose? Why would the game present her like that? Surely, if she were "defeated" and "overcome," her body language would reflect that. We can contrast this transformation with the second phase of Morgott, Radagon, or Godfrey--the game is deliberately portraying her second phase differently from others. It is more likely, in fact, that the presentation is heroic because it is meant to be. Her apotheosis, defending the Haligtree, is a moment of triumph.

this isn't what defeat looks like.

4: Cleaning up a few glaring counterarguments:

Her dialogue in the second phase is actively malicious as opposed to the first phase's calm and composed reiteration of her identity as seen by others? Yes, she's mean during her second phase because you forced her to sacrifice the humanity she valued. Because you invaded her home, killed her people, and--if you defeat her--rob her corpse to the point of collecting her very body parts to use and wield as weapons. You even take her hair. Of course she's acting "unhinged," the game forces you to be the bad guy if you play through the Haligtree content, and a very very twisted one at that.

Her followers that view her as the Goddess of Rot as opposed to the Blade of Miquella are presented as creepy and gross? The key is that they're presented this way on the surface; in reality, they are no different from followers of other religions in the Lands Between. Prayers and tithes are par for the course. The Servants of Rot literally baptize themselves--so what if they in so doing choose to grow rot on their bodies? That's their choice.

The theming is weird? Definitely! The scarlet rot is decidedly messy to analyze on a Doylist level because it serves as metaphor for many different concepts. Usually, it's disability--and so it is certainly easy to view the Goddess of Rot as Malenia having given in to the apathy that comes with disability... but it can also be interpreted as her accepting something of an identity in her disability and struggles. As her being okay with being differently abled and choosing to take on a world that'll view her as grotesque in spite of it.

Also, the scarlet rot at times isn't used to refer to disability--often it serves to strip away the pleasant fantasy veneer of the setting's other parties--it is a deliberately visually grotesque presentation of the standard of the Lands Between. Her apotheosis in that figurative lens, then, is her overcoming her bias to accept an identity she was groomed to loathe (as it violates Marika's worldview). But yeah it's muddy, on a Doylist level. I still believe it's an equally correct Watsonian interpretation, though, and that it can have valid and positive readings.

The Outer God plotlines would make this reading too easy? I choose not to care about this. She had an offscreen anime metaphorical battle in her head with the mean outer gods and beat them with lasers and the power of love and miquella on her side. there's no reason to think Marika's inability to overcome the outer gods is indicative of it being impossible. Ranni's questline proves this, and her master plan was so disrespectful to the outer gods' presumed power level and intelligence that u have to love it

in conclusion: rot me mommy

anyway. curious what others think. i probably missed plenty of stuff

#elden ring lore #elden ring theory #malenia blade of miquella #malenia #malenia goddess of rot #rotbrained posting #scarlet rot

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strangebossyuri · 10 months

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I LOVE PAZ ORTEGA ANDRADE <the version i fixed in my head

disclaimer: I did some major projection to get to this point and i acknowledge that most of the meaning im getting from her character was not kojima's intentions im just taking what i saw and running because im GOOFY!1!1!1!1!

OKAY SO- PAZ REMINDS ME OF THE POC STRUGGLE SO MUCH ITS INSANE- especially a latina one-

The way she has to hide all her anger and resentment just for the mission- keeping away all her actual feelings and making herself as palatable as possible- cute, demure, innocent and sweet, everyones dream girl- and most importantly non threatening- reminds me of the masking one has to do to do move up in a place that hates them- i know in the case of the game its for the sake of being a spy for cipher but at the same time- it specifically reminds me so much of the masking POC have to do- having to suck up to authority and make yourself as ideal as possible- becoming what someone else wants you to be for the sake of your "mission"- even the selectiveness of how Paz came to be- the last one standing among the other candidates for "Paz"- thats really how it feels trying to move up in society as a POC- i cant help but think of how so many systems in the USA filter out POC until theyre only left with the palatable and idealistic POC that they can parade around as a symbol of their progressiveness- SHES JUST SO- THATS HER- THATS LITERALLY HER- cipher groomed her into becoming the person "Paz" was- cipher groomed her into denying her own identity for the sake of infiltration- the same way some POC are groomed into "infiltrating" their way up society-

EVEN THE WAY HER NAME IS PAZ, PEACE, SHES GROOMED INTO PRETENDING TO BE PEACE- and in this POC struggle rep im setting up, you could say that she represents the FAUX peace- a fake peace- that "progressive" white spaces groom into existence- a peace that isnt peace at all-

MOVING ON

in MSF Paz ends up being loved and cared for and actually having fun- but at the same time none of that is real- and she struggles so much because the real her isnt receiving those things- the she that she constructed is- she wishes the self that she was forced to make was her- that it was natural to be that person because thats the person everyone loves- thats why she tries to extend the charade so long- but at the same time she knows that the person shes pretending to be isnt actually her which is what makes it so painful because then do they really love you- or do they love the you that you constructed- and all at the same time she still hates them because theyre the ones who cant love the real her- theres such a strong dissonance there and it never even gets resolved as she isnt even given the decision to move forward with things or not- her choice is stolen from her by cipher-

if i wanted to make a massive stretch this could also be thrown into the POC struggle narrative- wanting to be loved but the white people giving "love" only giving it to the palatable you- you know youre on thin ice at all times and can never be the real you- the you thats angry and resentful- unless you want to be stripped of everything- but i think the MSF being kinda- very opposite to society messes with that- but it still feels like a very relatable experience for anyone who masks to a more extreme extent (cough*me*cough)

ah but the way I fixed the construction of Paz i made in my head regarding the creepy Big Boss x Paz stuff was by explaining the weird away by believing that she was comphet projecting a crush- shes a lesbian to me and strangelove was her awakening thank you very much <3

ANYWAYS IM NOT GONNA TALK ABOUNT GROUND ZEROS BECAUSE THAT WAS JUST STRAIGHT MESSED UP AND IM NOT GOING TO DEFEND THAT AT ALL- THAT WAS JUST- WRONG- SO WRONG- the one thing i will say is that her favorite song being "Here's to You" and her death being her jumping out of the helicopter- fits very very well- that decision to throw herself out of the helicopter- really was one of the only decisions she made herself- "that last and final moment is yours, that agony is your triumph"- her first and last moment of autonomy- being her deciding what happens as she dies- it just- mmmgmngnsdhughekgliuhaeihfgiluwhi (i am crying as i write this) I love Paz

And as for phantom pain- that wasnt Paz there- she was once again made into someone constructed to be as ideal as possible- even her language in the tapes- its was so obvious just from hearing the way she spoke- but at the same time i think Paz would have been happy that her sacrifice meant something to at least one person-

ANYWAYS YEA

THATS HOW I FIXED PAZ IN MY HEAD

SHES ALSO TAN TAN AND HAS CURLY HAIR AND HAS A REAL ACCENT 👍

to me

to me at least

im just as bad as the rest of MSF i constructed a Paz that I love in my head which is super super ironic

THIS CONCLUDES WHY I LOVE PAZ ORTEGA ANDRADE AND AM THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HER <3333

#el rambles #mgs #paz mgs #paz ortega andrade #she means so much to me

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super-paper · 1 year

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MVA Appreciation Post? MVA Appreciation Post.

Rereading MVA with the benefit of some hindsight really makes me appreciate just how well-crafted it is as a story arc. Like, pretty much every aspect of it was tailor-made for the sake of exploring Tomura (like....!! even the conflicts & themes explored thru other characters are still ultimately written to service Tomura's character in ways that only a completely insane person can appreciate, lol.)

Mostly just listing some observations and things I like abt MVA that I feel lay the groundwork for Tomura's entire character + arc:

There's a lot of significance to Tomura fighting quirk based cults back to back in the same arc that delves into his own upbringing under AFO, I feel! There's also significance to his indoctrination into villainy under AFO mirroring ReDestro's indoctrination by the Meta Liberation Army. Both Tomura and ReDestro are framed as believing that they made a personal "choice" to walk this path, when in reality they were both groomed into their respective roles by predatory adults.

Underrated and potentially devastating detail that I (a known sicko) enjoy : Tomura and ReDestro aren't even allowed to choose their own villain names after being baptized into villainy.

This part is especially glaring when you contrast it with the earlier chapters, where Class 1A is actively encouraged to *choose* their own names and really think about what sort of hero name best represents them. Even when the kids ultimately choose names that others gave them (Izuku), and even when they resolve to take up the mantle of their family names (Iida)-- the distinction is that they are still very much naming *themselves* and not being named by other people. They are all allowed to assign their own meaning to their chosen hero names. There is a choice.

In contrast, Tomura and ReDestro's villain names are not an expression of their identity, but a suppression of it.

The idea of inheriting a "will" or "name" that completely consumes your own is already in play, and it only gets worse from here!

Masks are also a big theme! MVA literally opens with the LOV wrecking a group of fantasy bigots who hide behind masks.

Spinner doesn't hide his own identity behind a mask, rather, he hides his lack of identity through cosplaying as someone else.

Jin and Himiko have their "masks" forcibly removed during their respective battles-- Jin is able to verify and assert his own identity, which allows him to discard his mask for the remainder of the battle. Himiko instead scrambles to put her "mask" back on in response to Curious claiming that she's secretly miserable.

Compress gets half of his mask shattered at the same time that his aloof "we're villains not a friendship club!!" façade begins crumble, and he becomes more and more vocally concerned for Tomura's safety. This bit of symbolism is repeated again during the PLW, where the whole mask comes off once he finally admits he loves the LOV and very nearly kills himself in an attempt to save them.

AFO's face is constantly obscured by shadows, but it otherwise remains completely uncovered-- indicating that the "kindly face" he shows to Tomura is, in fact, a mask in itself.

And here's where Hori's brilliant art direction comes into play! Tomura decays Kotaro's hand-- the very symbol of his own rejection and suppression that he has worn as a mask since his debut-- but he does not embrace his identity as Tenko. The blood from Tomura’s head injury now creates the visual of a mask as he instead embraces his identity as "Shigaraki Tomura", the symbol of fear who exists to beckon acts of mourning into the world. (and the blood mask also resembles the dark shading that constantly obscures AFO’s true face in the flashback chapters! ...as does the creepy permasmile Tomura has for the rest of the arc! :D )

Visually, it also resembles the way ReDestro's (stress-powered!) quirk starts spreading across his face like a mask whenever he starts vomiting up MLA propaganda and ranting about the """glorious""" burden he inherited from the original Destro. (😬)

The mask imagery is even more explicit in the anime, where the red really makes the whole thing pop:

lowkey it's hilarious that a good chunk of Tomura's story is told through a mix of visual story telling and symbolism, but he also happens to spend half his screen time shirtless and distracting ppl from said symbolism with his eight-pack.

Seriously tho', it's little stuff like this that really cements MHA as a story that's even more enjoyable when you reread it. Moving on!

Curious 🤝 AFO, Being creepily affectionate with the victim whose story you plan to rewrite and exploit for your own gain

Toga’s failed/rejected martyrdom at the hands of Miss Curious foreshadowing Tomura’s successful martyrdom at the hands of the PLF and AFO-- the inherent dehumanization that comes with martyrdom and turning others into a "symbol", the lack of actual care for the martyr/symbol as an individual, and the idea that Tomura has always been a sacrificial lamb that's lurking just below the surface of every aspect in this narrative. Curious wants Toga to die to fit the MLA’s narrative, AFO wants Tenko to die to fit his own personal narrative— neither Curious or AFO care about Toga or Tomura as individuals, nor do they care about saving them from their circumstances. Because to Curious and AFO, their only value lies in fulfilling a certain narrative-- and that narrative is only fulfilled through their deaths. Both AFO and Curious WANT these stories to be tragedies, and you only beat someone like that by refusing to follow their script.

"Let's turn your death into a tragedy! You'll become a martyr whose tale serves as a parable for the ages!" "I'll shape him! Mold him! He will be a symbol of fear who lusts for destruction!" Toga and Tomura are both depicted as lacking agency in how their respective stories are told-- Toga manages to lash back against Curious' attempts to commandeer her narrative, but Tomura ultimately finds himself written into a corner by AFO.

The manipulation of media and the '"truth" being a reoccurring theme in MVA through both Curious/Skeptic, and this being foiled with the way Tomura’s own memories/perceptions of his past are called into question multiple times throughout the arc. In the same chapter where Skeptic discusses his plan to edit the footage captured in Deika to make the LOV look like they're the aggressors and the MLA look like brave heroes, we have Tomura lamenting how his memories are like a busted movie recording. He compares his memories to film snippets at the start of the arc, too.

Tomura's perception of his past being directly influenced by his traumatic upbringing under AFO is something that goes without saying at this point, so I won't beat that dead horse any further-- but it's legit fascinating how Hori lays out the groundwork for the readers so that we naturally reach the conclusion that Tomura's recollection is something that we are meant to doubt.

Yet another notch on the long list of Tomura wearing clothes that other people chose for him, reciting words written by others as if they were his own (.....l-literally reading from a cue card lmfaoooo it could not be any more on the nose if it tried 😭😭😭)

but seriously i could write a a ton on how Tomura's lack of agency with his own clothes is Very Much a Thing in The Story, and how him no longer bothering to self-style after MVA and just letting others dress him up however they want (or y'know... just not bothering with clothes at all!) is one of the best stealth indicators of where his mental state is actually at.

(tl;dr tomura asserting that he's "definitely his own person" and that he "controls himself" when he doesn't even have the agency or energy to dress himself the way he wants and is constantly getting treated like a life-sized dress-up doll by other villains is another one of those understated parts of the series/tomura's character design that makes me Big Depressy)

But!! When Tomura DOES actually add his own flair & individuality to his fashion, he generally accessorizes with things that tie him to the hero side and his identity as Tenko (red shoes as a connecting thread to Izuku, long flowing capes that connect him to heroism)

What "liberation" does to a mfer

As an aside: ReDestro feeling liberated from his stress as Tomura starts laying waste to the MLA/Deika (but still failing to break free from his grooming despite this!) serves as a dark parallel to Tomura “breaking free” from vestige!AFO during the final war, but still insisting that destruction is all he wants. Both Tomura and ReDestro have been prisoners their whole lives, and thus, have no frame of reference for what true freedom is. They both come so close to having a Realization About What They Truly Want™ only to immediately fall back into what they’re familiar with (ReDestro has always been a follower of cult forced to masquerade as its leader, Tomura still thinks that he wanted his family to die and takes the catharsis he felt from destroying his abusive home as evidence that he was always secretly bad). Hori is horrifyingly realistic in his depictions of the hold that grooming has on people.

Like. It's also the way that Tomura and ReDestro’s quirks are both powered by their misery, but they're surrounded by people who fail to see this as a bad thing and instead choose to romanticize their strength as something they can use to make their "dreams" into reality (and the unspoken question: is it really a "dream" if chasing after it makes you completely miserable? We have a different word for dreams that hurt you, boys!).

I'll stop here bc this is already too long, but man, every time I revisit this arc I notice something new (and horrifying) about Tomura's character. It's literally the gift that keeps on giving.

#shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #yotsubashi rikiya #toga himiko #league of villains #long post #every time I see a post complaining that hori ''can't write'' i start blasting.#mha.txt

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minthe-lover · 1 year

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Chapter 230 analysis.

Okay so this chapter fucking such, it's clear that rs is trying to remove any nuance from her story and just wants to push hades and persephone together. The next chapters are going to get worse and worse with rs just throwing away any important plot or persephone clearly stated comfort about how she wants her relationship to go. It's deeply uncomfortable to watch and it gets worse, Rs could have wrote a interesting and complicated view of motherhood in the face of immortality and in a world that abuses women. Instead rs just wants a creepy romance with nothing else to it.

Even with the amount of effort rs is putting into reckoning Demeter to be fully evil... she's still right. Plus rs just keeps drawing panels.. that are both creepy and that I can't help but see symbolize in ways that I'm positive she isn't intending the meaning. Like this panel, hades is covering her eyes to the truth of the situation and his arms are their threatening behind her a dark remember that he always has a hold on her.

Now lets start with just an extremely dumb reckon by rs with the whole dress thing. Now there are two big problems with it, the first being that in this chapter is clearly being written to be another way demeter controls her which is a connection that has never been made before. We've really never seen demeter mention the colour of her clothes.. we've seen a few mentions of persephone not wearing more provocative clothes around her mother.. which is just a completely normal thing to do.

Now the next big thing is that demeter is talking about the colour of the dress, and not like.. anything else. This completely falls flat because rs herself said that she dresses persephone in white to compliment hades black suits ie a bride and groom. We see persephone repeatedly choose to wear white in situation that demeter has no control over her... persephone almost always wears white.

Now again rs is making small things that make no sense if you think about it for like more then a few second. Before it was made very clear that demeter spring was super organized and planned, it was never described as having alot of pageantry nor as costly. The cost of spring was something never mention and it was all just magic.. their is no cost in that. Also if anything given how persephone idea of spring is explained, if anything she's the one with more pageantry.

Now again Demeter made a point that is right, Persephone has become incredibly materialistic. We repeatedly see her spending money on this unneeded and any anti-capitalism sentiments that she holds are all but disappeared. She's supposed to be this stronger willed and more self assured person but she still buckles and fails to even decided on her own coronation.

It's clear that hades is having a huge negative effect on her in that regard, he's a literal slave owner. he hasn't made any changes to how he rules or even acts as a boss. He's still a shitty and cruel person.. and persephone is following suit, she becoming a shitty and cruel person.

Now again rs keeps reckoning even simple thing that we've seen only a few chapters before. Like we saw just a few chapters ago we see demeter praise persephone but rs decided it wasn't enough so decided to change that... but even then the things that demeter brought up where like.. yeah persephone isn't fit to be queen.

At best we've seen her in charge of the mortal realm for ten years, and at least from what demeter has said she didn't really do the best. More importantly it's important to take into account that like.. yeah.. persephone isn't fit to fun the underworld. We haven't even seen her do anything in regards to that. We've mainly seen her treat the citizens of the underworld like shit, either threatening them or just scaring them.

We are supposed to take this as demeter being horrible and cruel.. but again she is telling the truth Persephone isn't ready to take control of a kingdom. She is responsible for the lives of others, we've already seen her use her status to threaten those beneath her. How is she going to deal with being a queen and the fact that people will not always like her because of that. We barely see her leadership skills, and the ones we are shown are on such a smaller scale then what she needs.

Again rs is desperate to make demeter such a huge villain but it falls flat because rs refuses to even like consider the flaws of the main characters and instead just pushes the romance of hades and persephone together.

Rs refuses to say admit how much of a huge asshole hades is! Hades is someone who has repeatedly fucked over demeter, going as far as basically verbally abusing her when she tries to become queen. We've seen him rush relationship and put his partners in uncomfortable situations they aren't comfortable in. Most importantly we haven't seen him apologize or even work towards fixing those mistakes he's made. Of course Demeter would be unhappy with her daughter dating him, especially when you take into account that she is absolutely terrified that her daughter is going to abused because she's a fertility goddess... powers that hades already has taken advantage of.

Last time demeter saw both of them they refused to properly communicate with her, and treated the mere mention of her bringing persephone home the same you would a death threat. I will admit that rs is great at writing.. of horribly one sided relationships and black and white mortality.

Again she had the opportunity to make a extremely heartfelt mother and daughter moment where she lets persephone and demeter talk about their struggles. We could let hades and persephone faults actually be questioned and have them grow into better people but nope! rs wanted a dumb plot line that *spoilers* ends up with hades having to "save" Persephone with a proposal! Cause you know just fuck persephone admitting she wanted there relationship to go slow!

Anyway my dream ending for this comic is minthe and demeter teaming up to beat the shit out of persephone and hades.

Also last note, rs please just give hestia a constant double chin. Stop being a fucking coward and half assing basically the only plus-sized rep you have in this comic.

#Demeter is the best queen in the story #lo critical #anti lo #lore olympus critical #anti lore olympus

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