#just english major things

[tenderbittersweet]

I’ve really been slacking when it comes to the “studyblr” side of my blog, so here’s a throwback meme:

You know you’re an English major when...

...you’re having just as much fun roasting a classic novel as you would if you actually enjoyed the novel.

...you and your friends text each other pretentious comments about the texts you’re reading.

...you actually laugh out loud at a passage in a 200 year old novel.

...you annotate while you read, but amidst definitions and insights are comments like “lol,” “too real,” and “excuse me?”

#studyblr #study blog #just english major things #classic literature #literature #books #reading #personal #op

[neversetyoufree]

I'm fascinated by the Noé stuff in this chapter. I feel like Mochijun has been working toward calling more attention to his particular comprehension problems as we move into the new arc (like the "be a little bothered" reaction back in 57), and I can kind of see a way this slots into that.

One of Noé's biggest issues is that he seems to be utterly incapable of processing most trauma as trauma. His optimism goes beyond the point of what's healthy to straight-up incomprehension of reality. I don't even want to call it denial, because I think denial requires some small degree more of awareness than what Noé has going on. I've used this line before, but it's like bad things roll off of him like water off a raincoat, never making an imprint in his conscious mind. The guy was abducted by human traffickers while mourning the death of his foster parents, and he seems to have been injured in the process. Yet he laughs it off and says the experience was fun! Like taking a trip!

And I think I see that same tendency as the roots of how he acts in this chapter.

Noé is aware that mistreating and/or de-personing the Dante and co is wrong. And that's what all the other vampires are clearly doing in this scene when they refuse to call them by their names—they're de-personing them. But! Noé likes the other vampires in that scene. He likes Nox, Manet, and Orlock, and he thinks the world of Domi, so I think he really struggles to comprehend that they're purposely doing something he knows is hateful and wrong. "My friends whom I respect are being hateful and actively de-humanizing other people I care about" is not a concept that's going to find easy purchase on Noé's denialbrain. So his lovely toxic optimism lands on the easier answer instead. They must just not have been introduced!

To take Dante's phrasing, I don't think he's doing it on purpose, and he's not stupid. He's just sheltered and hopeful to a truly spectacular (and unhelpful) degree.

Thus far, Noé's over-optimistic incomprehension of reality has only been with regards to things about himself. His friends might get a bit concerned when he brushes off his suffering, but he's never accidentally hurt others or brushed off their pain before. However, this time his inability to confront or even process the Bad Thing—the fact that his friends are dham racist—has affected other people (the people actually suffering the racism). If nothing else, it's a really interesting way to call more attention to his slight disconnect from reality.

#vnc #vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #vnc spoilers #vnc 61.5 #english major hours #noé Archiviste #noé my beloved #he just can't process that they're being bad on purpose #my dude there is such a thing as being too charitable

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

it is so so interesting to me that one of the most popular forms of a Hallmark movie is that a woman is returning to her small town either for an emergency or because things didn't work out in The Big City™, and realizing that what she needed was in that small town all along

It's so rare that it's a man returning to his small town for any such reason

I'm just interested in what that may say culturally? Like, a woman leaving her home and family for the sake of her ambition

And either that ambition doesn't pan out, or despite her success, she's going to leave it behind because hometown dick is just that good

What does that say about a woman's ambition, and what script writers think an ambitious woman is most likely to regret and subsequently value? And furthermore, what does it say about the ability and ambition of the men in their stories? Does it tie into the "traditional American home/family values" (I am using the heaviest of quotes around that)? Or does it point toward the writers believing that men are more firm and certain in their choices and values? Or does it point to the idea that men have no ambition beyond their immediate lives?

I dunno. I'm just. I'm just thinking

#maybe it's just the english major in me and the fact that I watch a lot of Hallmark movies #it's probably that actually #Dany Watches Movies #not fic #Hallmark Meta #Is that a thing?? is that a tag??? #It is now

[genderisareligion7]

Character AI's Psychologist is a TERF

#lol I once tried asking GPT these kinds of questions and it immediately shut me down like #but we have to be sensitive to how everyone feels #you can judge me for fucking with this thing this is just the only decent one I've found #I'm an English major and possibly interested in comp sci so despite the dystopia I try them

[canisalbus]

While the trick-or-treating comic was very cute, I cannot imagine Vasco not being a little treat kinda guy

Are you telling me he doesn't randomly buy himself candy just for the dopamine and the child-like joy? That he doesn't indulge on halloween spirit and buy spooky candy just for him and Machete?? (who barely eats it but halloween spirit comes first, practically second)

.

#I actually thought about that for quite a while before choosing to go with a simple and neutral soda can #because yes I do think Vasco is a little treat kinda guy #but the treats he goes for probably aren't straight up candy #he's into hot chocolate and sweet coffee drinks #ice cream (particularly odd and seasonal flavors) #pastries and desserts probably #I can see him being a nutella enjoyer #and if he buys actual sweets I think he'd go for chocolate bars #(not like mars bars but thin flat sheets of chocolate that you break into smaller pieces) #(do those have a specific name in english or are they both just chocolate bars?) #none of the above are very easy to share unexpectedly with unfamiliar children #like I said in majority of Europe halloween isn't widely/officially celebrated and trick-or-treating isn't customary #families with young children teens and young adults might do halloween activities on smaller scale #but a childless couple in their thirties (and living in an apartment) is unlikely to have halloween candy in reserve methinks #Machete doesn't eat that many sugary things regularly #if Vasco is having something he probably goes along with it #but his health anxiety kind of affects what foods he deems acceptable and which ones should be avoided #which is ironic because modern Machete has a history of stress smoking #as a habit that's quite a bit worse for you than having an occasional ice cream sundae #I think he managed to quit when their relationship turned serious #answered #anonymous #modern au

[animalcrossingshowdown]

or if you've never played, just pick the one that seems the coolest

#misc polls #this one was the hardest to stick to only 12. I could probably make a second entire poll #I could probably do a 64 contestant tournament for features new & unique to NL #you can tell I combined things here that could be separate options so I could fit more stuff in #NH was pretty hard too but NL just added SO MUCH #again one of the japanese exclusive games had what were essentially public works but I'm not counting them #bc that was a MAJOR new thing for english audiences

[saltyyetbland]

i love how every perspective in the qsmp is a biased narrator cause guess what?? us as human beings are biased narrators to our own lives. from a story perspective, you can say that they are unreliable narrators or whatever but at the core it is just bias due to each individual character's experiences and worldview.

we, as the audience, are able to take these different perspectives and make a more complete picture of what is going on in the whole of the qsmp. but we are still biased people as the audience. we have povs that we prefer, characters that we are more sympathetic to etc. so there is no such thing as an objective stance on the qsmp. there is no objective right or wrong, just opinions that are generally perceived as more right or wrong.

and if that isn't the most humanizing characteristic of this entire medium and server I don't know what is.

#i am solely an english major that loves talking about how storylines and medium are shaped #its so interesting that there is no one that is 100% objective #there is no one sole author that knows what is coming #everyone is as lost as each other and isn't that a beautiful thing #cause that is what life is #people just trying to live the best life they can in their own perspective #qsmp

[brookheimer]

the one thing i feel pretty certain about for this episode is that america will not decide the election. a decision will be made, a president will be elected, but america will not be the deciding factor.

succession can’t mimic 2016 or 2020 point blank, that would be boring and have nothing to say. it can’t try to outdo trump because it’ll go too whacky and fall flat like veep’s last season (sorry conheads, no way he’s winning). but what it CAN do is illustrate the immensely corrupt, often arbitrary, and hugely influential nature of news media and conglomerations on political processes. i think probably jimenez will be in the lead, then atn/waystar does something to, i don’t know, discount votes or cast suspicion on jimenez or call the election for mencken early, and the tide will shift, even though the votes are already in. the votes don’t actually matter. the actual result doesn’t actually matter. that’s the power logan (and as an extension, billionaires and CEOs in general) hold. shiv says it herself to logan in s4e2: “just cause you say it’s true doesn’t make it true. everyone just fucking agrees with you and believes you, so it becomes true and then you can turn around and say like, 'oh, you see? see? i was right.'” but it doesn’t matter that logan’s “a human fucking gaslight,” everything he says comes true anyways. not because he was right, but because that’s how it works. he says things and then they happen, regardless of what the truth is or what should actually come to pass. that’s been one of the key throughlines since the very first episode of the entire show when, in response to kendall calling logan out of touch because times are changing and logan isn't changing with them, logan hisses that everyone always says you’re wrong until you do it and prove you were right: “you make your own reality.” you can't miss the bus if you're the one driving it. the election, the votes, the political process? none of that matters. it was always going to come down to the roys and their ilk (allies or enemies, just the top 1%) — that was the whole point of “what it takes” (the mencken episode) last season, after all.

i’ve seen lots of theories about what america will choose and how the candidates will respond and all that and i just don’t think that’s the show’s focus; i think the whole point is to demonstrate the lack of agency, the illusion of democracy. because, i mean, we’ve already seen the fall of democracy via fascist election and fascist election-denial, both in real life and in the countless (usually mid) satires created afterwards. it would be disappointing to see succession use the election to reiterate that same point of 'ohhh alt-right ahhhhh!!!' i don’t think it’ll be about ‘fascism’ at all — at least, not ‘trump-y’ fascism. it’ll be about fascism in the broader sense, the kind that doesn't sport a KKK hood (even when it keeps one tucked away in the attic). it's the fascism that every single roy (very much including shiv and kendall) aid and abet -- the fascism that so many succession fans don't seem to regard as fascism, despite it quite literally being the definition of fascism. trump wasn’t the entrance of fascism into our political process. he wasn’t the lone sign of the failing of american democracy. democracy in america has long been illusory, trump just made it more blatantly evident with his particular brand of hate-speech-ridden masculinist in-your-face fascism.

so i think that’s what this episode will hopefully focus on — america will not decide. corporations, news media, and the roys will. thus, the president will most likely become president not because the country supports his policies the most, but because he’s likely to agree to help block a business deal for a major media empire, and the other candidate is unlikely to. and this will likely come to pass due to said major media empire's interference and influence: they create their own reality. they say it, and everyone agrees with them and believes them, so it becomes true.

#WOOF okay here's my unnecessary ~thematic prediction~ for this episode #i have some more like random thoughts ab what'll happen but those r less thought out and more throwing shit at the wall etc #but i've been thinking a lot ab this ep n idk i just can't see any other way it could be done satisfyingly -- they can't just do 2016/2020 #again. the focus has to be elsewhere. i have some specifics thoughts on details but again those r kinda random n will be in another post #after bizarrely getting a lot of things right this szn i know a lot of people are looking to me to see what i'll say for this ep and let me #remind yall that I AM LITERALLY JUST GUESSING BASED ON MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE SHOW AND HOW NARRATIVES #TEND TO WORK PARTICULARLY IN SUCCESSION! if i am wrong which i very well might be please do not crucify me. i know literally #nothing more than anyone else i'm just a random english/gov major who likes speculating about media ! that said if i end up right again #somehow then yes i am a prophet i am jesse armstrong i have never been wrong about anything in my life. etc #watch this age so poorly tho. #LOL #also fwiw i dont think the Shock etc is going to come from the election results - maybe possibly from the way things happen (i could see a #line of miscommunication resulting in fucked up outcomes etc which i can get into in another post) or a roy sibs moment but i just #don't think there's any way the results themselves cld be surprising. it's jimenez or mencken. it's not gonna be connor guys. #succession #succession spoilers #except not really. just succession speculation more than anything else #long post #succession speculation #100

[raayllum]

one of my favourite aspect of foil dynamics is when you have a pair of (although not always) foils who switch narrative positions. for examples i’ll use frankenstein and the creature and burr and hamilton from hamiltion bc hamilton is good from a literary standpoint good god.

frankenstein starts off in creating/playing god in order to gain recognition and glory, but also as he increasingly isolates himself for his cause. the creature awakes in a world where he’s rejected by his creator & by all other humans and endures then painstaking isolation. after killing/threatening to kill some of frankenstein’s loved ones, the creature demands victor make him a wife - an eve to his adam - despite knowing it’d condemn her to a similarly lonely life, save one person, and frankenstein refuses. the two then become mutually hellbent on killing one another, even as they’re cognizant that whoever completes the murder will truly then be alone in the world and without purpose

for hamilton and burr this is even more clear. both orphans, though in increasingly different upbringings, and both ever cognizant of mortality and the notion of history. burr never takes a stand, hamilton arguably takes too many. but over the course of the play, burr becomes more like hamilton and hamilton becomes more like burr. this means that while they switch perspectives, they still fundamentally never understand each other, and it’s this misunderstanding that makes hamilton assume burr would never act like him and shoot him, and burr assume that hamilton would never act like him and throw away his shot, yet this is precisely what happens.

we even see this in star wars. luke chooses to save leia & han, just as anakin tries to protect padme and obi-wan. anakin cuts off luke’s hand, luke cuts off anakin’s hand. farmboys on tattooine, ace shot pilots, etc etc. and luke is nearly successfully turned to the dark side, yet reaffirms his father’s place by refusing to bend... in the last movie. that point couldn’t have come any earlier because 1) it’s the triumphant victory and 2) the narrative tension of the foil dynamic means it has to go on as long as possible.

arc 1 is kind of a perfect example, where viren starts out powerful and close to the king and magically strong, and ends the season falling to his death thanks to his elven guide, and callum starts out powerful and close to the new king and magically strong, and ends the season literally soaring to new heights thanks to his elven guide. but like - that’s arc 1. that’s the arc where the heroes win. of course it ends that way.

but now we’re in arc 2. 

we’re in the arc - s4 to s6 - where the heroes Lose. 

and we know that TDP is aware of these principles when it comes to callum and viren precisely because they are in many ways already in the process of being switched. in arc 1, callum is the one going through a season without magic and being pursued before a powerful creature can be reunited with its place in xadia’s hierarchy; in arc 2, that’s viren, even if he’s far more passive about it and callum is more active. they’re brother-mage-advisors to the king, placed in proximity to power but never allowed to fully wield it, they both chase magical agency in s2 beat for beat (2x04 -> 2x07 -> 2x09) only really diverging in the finale of the season. viren is now going to be having dark magic dreams while callum is presented with the coined elves viren imprisoned. 

like yes it’s true that they’re not the same person and won’t make all the same choices, but in a show that’s all about the younger generation struggling to not repeat the same choices as their predecessors, and still getting caught in the cycles of their own journeys... it’s like “i have always been ready to do anything to protect my family however dangerous however vile” and “i value those close to me more than anyone and anything” when callum means it even more than viren does (because viren is and has been willing to sacrifice his family - hi soren - pretty blatantly) is like... yeah they’ll Diverge. just not till s7 lmao

#the english major strikes again #it was just red #like if s6 was our last season. they'd Diverge then #bc for callum to take viren's place is a Tragedy #so it can't be the end of the story #but we have 2 Tragedy Seasons coming up so #mini meta #analysis series #analysis #and then u have the blatant terry-callum claudia-callum parallels running underneath it all #all pointing to the same thing #even callum & rayla's foils dynamic where they perpetually hit the same points / walls like. a season apart #ALL POINT TO THE SAME THING #going to dark places and making hard choices in the name of love

[blueskittlesart]

feelings on the ‘link who went into the shrine of resurrection isnt the same one who came out’ theory/hc? apologies if this has already been clarified

sigh. this theory occupies the exact same niche in my mind as the "link is dead in mm" theory tbh (by which i mean its the bane of my fucking existence.) Technically, i believe it is possible within the preestablished lore of the franchise. However, I think the only way you come to a conclusion like this is by deliberately ignoring a lot of the writing of the game.

in my opinion, loz as a franchise is at its best when it functions as a thematic narrative. my favorite games in the series all function as narratives on two levels--the first is the obvious one, the hero's journey story that the player actually physically plays through. the second level is the one that really hooks ME on these games though, and that's the thematic level. oot, for example, is essentially a story about a young boy going on a journey to save his kingdom. But on a thematic level, it's about the relationships between adults and children and the trauma of growing up. breath of the wild functions similarly. essentially it is a story about a boy waking up with no memories and saving a princess from a monster. but on a thematic level, botw is a commentary on trauma and growth and healing.

the gist of the theory you're talking about is that the original pre-calamity link was unable to be resurrected and the shrine of resurrection just made a new one in his place, and that's why he has no memories. depending on how deep into the theory you go, some suggest that everyone the original link knew pre-calamity is in on this conspiracy and are deliberately gaslighting the new link into believing he is the same person as the original. to be entirely honest, i think it technically works on a purely literal level. COULD the shrine of resurrection have probably made a new link? yes. COULD zelda and everyone else be conspiring to convince link he's a real boy? sure. technically yes. there's not REALLY anything wrong with this from an in-universe standpoint. it's all technically possible. but imo the only way to come to this conclusion is to ignore the fact that botw functions on a secondary level as a metaphor.

I think there's a tendency among a certain type of superfan to forget that media is created by PEOPLE, and that writing decisions are made deliberately. especially in a game as vast and immersive as botw, it's admittedly easy to forget sometimes that the world and the narrative were crafted by human beings and therefore narrative and worldbuilding decisions were made for a reason. but if you take a step back and analyze it from a writer's perspective, botw's thematic narrative is almost richer than its face-value story. it's built into the characters, the world, the lore, EVERYTHING in the game is structured around its central themes. this is part of what i believe makes botw such a successful and relatable game. Its central message, that it's never too late for growth, that healing is possible, that just because things are broken doesn't mean they can't be fixed, is woven so beautifully into the very bones of the game. There's a REASON that link wakes up with no memories, and it's not because he's a victim of a kingdom-wide conspiracy about his own death. it's because he is meant to seem broken beyond repair. he wakes up on the near-abandoned great plateau--DELIBERATELY abandoned, because the player is meant to view the world as broken beyond repair at this point in the story, with no memories, no heart containers, no stamina. A shell of the warrior he once was. and the rest of the game is dedicated to the discovery that he can heal. he can find his memories, he can grow stronger, he can form new relationships and he can do better. hope was not lost when he fled hyrule castle 100 years ago. hope is never lost so long as there are people who are willing to keep trying to rebuild. hyrule is not a dead, abandoned kingdom as it first seems when you awake. Hyrule is ALIVE. there are cities and stables and merchants and travelers and people living and dying and continuing on every single day.

to suggest that link didn't actually survive requires you to, at best, deliberately ignore all of that thematic setup, and at worst, retcon it out of existence. if link isn't really link, if the whole world is conspiring against him, then that means that the original link really was doomed. that he can never heal from what happened to him. that he was exactly what he believed himself to be--a failure who doomed hyrule to a century of suffering. it removes link's agency and his impact as the main character of this story--if he was never hurt in the first place, he has nothing to heal from. there's no message there, nothing to be learned. he's just going through the motions of the story because he's been told to--arguably falling into the exact same trap that the original did.

again, is the theory technically plausible? yes. in-universe, the groundwork exists for it to have happened. but if you refuse to look at a narrative outside of its own governing universe, it's easy to forget that people tell stories for a reason. botw is written the way it is because its writers had something to say. Why does link lose all his memories after the shrine? In-universe, this is a mystery, yes. to someone who is only willing to examine that plot point within the confines of that universe, yeah, it seems like a plot hole, and yeah, this theory might explain it. but from a writer's perspective, it's not a plot hole at all. it's a clear, deliberate writing decision. just because a story asks you to suspend your disbelief a little bit for the sake of the greater narrative doesn't mean that the writers are actually secretly plotting a conspiracy and link isn't really link. it means you're being asked to either willingly suspend your disbelief, or examine why you're being asked to do so from a writing standpoint.

#this is one of those theories where im like. ok so you didn't understand the game. #like that's really it its not that deep i just think the only way you can believe in it is if you don't understand the game. LOL #and like do i really care if people believe it? no. but i have the mind of an english major #so i can't just ignore the way things are written. and i know that analysis like this doesn't come naturally to some people #but i WISH people would take the time to learn about writing and how writing works. ugh whatever #asks #zelda analysis

[tenderbittersweet]

I committed the very common studyblr fuck-up of packing up my backpack with everything I need to take my essay-based exam...except my wireless keyboard..

#studyblr #study blog #just english major things #personal #op

[love-rats]

i am quickly becoming sick of the new 'media consumption' phenomenon. like congratulations we invented another swagless phrase

#like girl. i am an english literature major. my whole life before this has been dedicated to reading books and analysing them #i feel like boiling down a lot of hobbies like reading or even watching films to fuckin. 'media consumption' is just ridiculous. if i may b #so bold. like of course it's valuable to have hobbies where you make things with your hands. #so just say that instead of devaluing the way we as humans interact with and love art. #in short i hate the phrase. nothing wrong with the intent shown in the posts tho. i just think it's off a bit. #rambles

[neversetyoufree]

God it just hit me.

Names are power in VnC. We call the piece of the world formula that defines a vampire their "true name." Learning and altering a vampire's true name gives you near-absolute power over them. Vanitas hides his old name as part of his "Vanitas" persona—a defense mechanism to hide his vulnerable self.

And names are an axis of discrimination too. The main way we've been examining discrimination against the dhampirs is through the lens of vampires refusing to call them by their names. And Luna, the perennial outsider, seems not to have been given a real name. They certainly didn't have a name that they liked or identified with for most of their life.

So with all that context, even more than it might be in another series, Teacher's whole name shtick becomes such an insane power move. He changes his name constantly and will brutally punish anyone that gets it wrong. Nobody has the power that would come from knowing whatever his first/true name was. He has the physical and social power to punish and correct anyone that doesn't call him what he wants to be called. He is in complete control of how people address him, or at least close to complete control, which is such a big deal within this story.

#this was just gonna be a post about how it's interesting that names are the vehicle through which dham discrimination has been emphasized #and then I thought of teacher when I was thinking of counter examples #and then this hit me like a bus #if power comes from knowing someone's true name. and safety comes from hiding it #and calling someone what they want to be called/calling them their name is a sign of respect #teacher's found a way to ensure he gets all the safety AND all the respect #(if only out of fear) #also I realize me calling him teacher through this whole post might be a little ironic #but at this point it's just automatic #vnc #vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #vnc spoilers #vnc 62 #<<not super directly. but with the dham name thing #english major hours #teacher my beloathed #comte de Saint Germain #the shapeless one

[thou-babbling-brook]

assassin’s creed fans are wild because I just read a fic yesterday that had an accompanying BIBLIOGRAPHY in proper MLA format. nobody works harder than y’all fr fr.

#assassin’s creed #babblingbrook babbles #fanfiction #ac fanfic #it was ac valhalla based it was like Eivor x Basim #which is not usually my thing but I’ve been dying for Basim content #the fic is called ‘on the far side of our doom’ #it’s on ao3 #it fucks im not even gonna lie #the bibliography is a separate fic just look on the author’s account #I’m a psyc major so i use apa and i got my english and history double major friend to look at it #it is indeed in proper MLA format #bro Ubisoft needs to start hiring you guys as that shit is bonkers #imma start doing that (I am only half joking) #next time I write an ac3/turn crossover it’s over

[peachcitt]

actually if goncharov were real it would never live up to the standards the insane tumblrinas have built it up to be. there is a triangle of homoeroticism, political commentary, and inevitably tragic in which any live, real adaptation would only conceivably be able to achieve two of to their fullest extent. added on to the fact that this is a film that supposedly is filmed and takes place in the seventies makes the possibility of it truly containing all aspects of what we have made it out to be even more far fetched. however, tumblr has been able to spin gold on far more real and disappointing media than goncharov through its analyses of media such as supernatural, sherlock, and a secret third piece of media that the subsequent creation and analyses of the ‘greatest mafia movie of all time’ goncharov is simply a natural step that tumblr as an ecosystem is willing to take. in this essay i will,

#goncharov #unreality #peach stuff #goncharov 1973 #someone accused me of being an english major (true) (god forbid women do anything) so this is also the natural step to take i suppose #anyway i do think i have a point in that we’re all already so used to performing in depth media analysis on media that simply. is bad. that #creating media from almost literally nothing and performing media analysis on it is just . i mean how can anyone be surprised #also before anyone says anything about it i didn’t mention doctor who in my list of bad media because well ive actually never seen #any episode in its entirety and i do know (as an english major) that science fiction is a fantastic way to deliver political commentary #ive also heard that the most recent season has been doing important work (at least from a meta standpoint) in gender politics #sherlock is. well. other iterations of sherlock holmes have certainly been better. and we all know supernatural is bad #i only listen ‘a secret third thing’ because traditionally it’s good to list three things to cite in your thesis. oldest trick etc #and anyway. that’s all my disclaimers. expect the essay never because im already overworked and underpaid<3

[where-i-overanalyze]

religious symbolism in Soul Eater (Crona specifically)

okay hello, i am one of those people who experiences tumblr posts through pinterest, so idrk how to use tumblr. this is gonna be a learning curve, but i've got shit ton to say about Soul Eater (specifically the manga) and this can be my inaugural post. i use religious terms in this post loosely, it's just for parallels, i think too much about religious symbolism. spoilers for the Soul Eater manga, it's old but for the majority population who hasn't read the manga, be wary ig

Crona Soul Eater and religious symbolism and trauma! let's begin with the fact that Crona is simply born to be in Medusa's grand plan of world domination. Medusa never truly sees Crona as her own child; she only sees them as an experimental opportunity. she never lets them experience anything outside of their life as her experiment. thinking about religious undertones here, this is how a lot of people are born into religion. people just spawn in religious families when their religious parents have kids and a lot of the time there is very little chance to explore other beliefs.

Crona themself is also literally fused with the experiments Medusa has put them through. there is no separating them from Ragnarok and he constantly bombards them physically and mentally. he serves as a constant nagging in Crona's mind of where they come from, what has happened to them, and what Medusa actually thinks about them. she literally planted those constant thoughts and worries in them that they cannot escape from. Crona has been conditioned to think that this experiment, this "religion," is all about them serving Medusa and her wishes. whether this comparison works better with the experiment or Medusa herself being the "religion" doesn't really matter, it's mainly just the fact that Crona was brought up and trained to not doubt what Medusa told them to do. Crona cannot bring themself to question this truth they've been told their whole life because, up until a certain point, Medusa was never wrong. there is even this sort of "chosen one" language used around and referring to Crona because of this experiment, much like the language christians use when talking about how they are god's children and all that. there's this pride in "bringing up" a child that serves some sort of purpose, the greater order, a "miracle" even.

despite all Medusa's hard work of preventing Crona from seeing any life without her, the arc after her "defeat" (when she slithers away and possesses little girl Rachel) allows Crona to experience the world. for a brief month or so, Crona is able to be "of the world" and realizes that there are people out there that aren't using them for an experiment, that they're allowed to be their own person without Medusa's influence.

they make progress!!! they make friends!!! they actually start liking the academy and experience a life that isn't full of Medusa's demands in the name of the experiment to create a Kishin (or worse)!!!

but, of course, Crona cannot "be of the world" because they are just "Medusa's experiment." after finally experiencing the joys of a normal and non-toxic environment, Medusa returns and provides a horrible reminder that Crona is different from their friends. they can't possibly be more important than what Medusa's bigger plan has in store for them. of course they must choose between the two, of course they must be a spy on shibusen, it's what they were made to do!!! (god i hate Medusa)

though, Crona has already "tasted the fruit" so to speak. Crona knows that this shit for Medusa is wrong to do, but all they can do is fall back into the one thing they've known their whole life: they're Medusa's experiment and they must not fail. they've strayed from the path that was set out for them, so when they start doing things for Medusa again, the internal conflict has set in. they are following the destiny Medusa has laid out for them and she is glad that Crona's listening to her again, so why does it all feel wrong? it feels wrong because they left the path, they stopped living for the "religion" and now everything is falling apart around them when they try to live in both realities. it's just like Medusa told them, they cannot exist in the world because they do not understand the world, so they must continue being Medusa's experiment.

the praise doesn't feel good anymore, these promises of something greater don't seem worth the sacrifice if it means Crona must give up the glimpse of happiness they've finally experienced. and yet, despite all of their conflict and turmoil about betraying everyone, they return to Medusa because it's all they feel that they truly know; she's the only thing that can provide them with any sense of normalcy though they know something about it is wrong and cold. the torture is normal.

after Crona's return to Medusa and the experiments continue, Crona is essentially going through the motions for her grand plan. they're in too deep now, they've devoted their whole life to her because that's all they've ever known. maybe they do want to get out, but who would understand their purpose like Medusa does? even when they're presented with opportunities to be snapped out of it, they can't break free. they've given up every chance to live a regular life, but of course, they're part of a bigger plan, something that will put them above everyone else, and it will all be because of what Medusa has done to prepare them.

all the sacrifice, knowing that they are past the point of return, they're finally ready to finish what Medusa started.

and then Medusa shatters everything Crona's founded themself on. this belief that Medusa treated them this way because it was part of the plan, that Medusa had to be cruel in order for everything to work out, it initiates a crisis when Medusa suddenly dons the appearance of a loving mother. up until then, Medusa only refers to herself as Crona's mother as a way to manipulate them, to spur them to action because she is their mother and she deserves their loyalty. Crona's suffering and success was based on the fact that Medusa was treating them harshly, abusing them, experimenting on them, and the reality comes crashing down that this was never about Crona, it was always about Medusa's sick game to see how much they could get out of Crona. this "religion" has only been torture with the promise of . . . something good at the end. Crona hasn't gotten that "something" yet, so why has the "religion" stopped being cruel?

in her final moments, Medusa no longer resembles the mother Crona knew, and Crona kills her as they (probably) hear her say "I love you, Crona" for the first time. from this point on, Crona makes a desperate attempt to reclaim this purpose, this "religion" they've founded their whole life on. they are ready to meet the Kishin, to become the entirety of evil and madness and fear, and yet they return to the church.

the fact that Maka and Crona meet in a church is too easy of a symbol, that the first and (almost) last time Crona sees Maka is in a place where someone can find salvation, but i love it nonetheless. other than the fact that it is literally a church, there is a Lot to think about with the doors that only open inward. the church lets people in, it's welcoming, they're for the lost and the broken to come inside, but those doors are made for the people coming in, not the people coming out. obviously, doors are still doors, you can still open doors from the inside, but Maka gets stuck on them the first time they meet. it makes it hard for, oh idk, people getting attacked from the inside to escape. if you're trapped in that church for so long, used to getting worn down and used, maybe you give up on trying to open those doors.

like, you've gotta be kidding me. it's their choice to keep going with all of this, it's their choice to continue despite salvation standing right next to them, it's their choice to break down those doors and make this their own path. it's evil, it's horrible, but it's a last ditch effort to reform the broken foundation they were raised to believe.

but then it doesn't work. they obtain that horrible, promised power for a while, but it swallows them whole. it was never something they could handle because they were the test subject, the experiment to see how far someone could devote their life to this cause, only for it to not work out in the end. their religion has been crumbling for a while, but now it's turned to dust. they are no longer needed for its agenda, so it has abandoned them.

a quick return to the "place of salvation" point i made earlier, i think it's insanely interesting that the church is where all of the violence takes place when Maka and Crona interact, but it is actually inside the soul that Crona's redemption happens (i know they're technically like in the Kishin at the end, but still). there could be some stuff said about the corruption of the church, how a physical place that is deemed holy could never truly cause someone to reach any sort of salvation. salvation and peace is someone who extends their hand out to someone who is suffering, not a building or mantras or enduring torture in promise of a greater reward.

Crona's redemption, salvation, it all comes from abandoning what Medusa told them to do. they've technically done it all; they perfected the black blood, they became one with the Kishin, and now they can go on to choose a path that is entirely their own. they actively choose to counteract their past actions, to "atone for their sins" and fix everything for everyone else. they become a sacrificial lamb in the act, or even a christ figure in terms of dying for the safety of everyone else. and i mean, this entire time Crona was obeying their mother, and who was jesus but a man who was obeying his father?

i have to give my gf credit for that last line, she sent me that and i lost my mind. i will also give her credit for pointing out the fact that Crona's theme in the anime is literally a prayer to Saint Mary for forgiveness.

there is definitely something to be said about the fact that Mary and Marie are very similar names, Marie provides Crona a healthy mother-type figure while they're at the academy, and that Crona betrays her and she's the only other person who Crona somewhat remembers in their madness haze. i'd say that role is stronger in the anime than the manga since the anime gives Crona way more of a redemption arc and they interact with Marie much more. it still totally works, Crona is just riddled with religious symbolism there's no escaping it.

anyways, idk how to end a post. if anyone is reading it and you made it through all of that, good job!!! i've been dying to say this shit somewhere and i will definitely continue to do this because it is cathartic.

#soul eater #crona #crona soul eater #crona gorgon #soul eater manga #religious symbolism #religious trauma #medusa gorgon #medusa soul eater #maka soul eater #idk how to use tags #do i just keep adding tags? #manga #anime #crona x maka #kind of #overanalyzing #english major things #Youtube