#INCREDIBLE parallel op

[meteortrails]

I know I made a post about this already but I feel like I cannot stress enough how vital nami’s role as a protector is to her character… like she literally spends her entire adolescence protecting her village near entirely on her own. she’s willing to do almost anything, make deals with whatever devils she can, so long as it keeps what’s left of her family safe. and luffy saves them, and she moves past that desperation, but she doesn’t move past that ruthless protective instinct. it comes up constantly; after luffy, nami’s probably the person who impulsively drags the crew into other people’s business trying to save them the most! and especially with her crew, she’s just so fucking persistent in her acceptance and her love and her desire to keep them all safe and happy. she’ll fight women so sanji doesn’t have to; she’ll take charge in the haunted castle so usopp doesn’t freak out; she’ll lay down her life before she denounces luffy’s dream. idk I’m just kinda in love with her about it

[cloudbends]

WE GOT A CONFIRMATION

[deerspherestudios]

THEORY!!

i have had this theory for a while now , but i feel like MO is based on the sleeping beauty. how so? 1.) Mychael's three hens parallels with the three faeries in the sleeping beauty 2.) Menu screen theme but thats more obvious lolol 3.) The princess in the sleeping beauty was cursed to prick her finger on a spindle's needle , when it was time for the curse to take it's action she was almost in a state of hypnosis[?] and walked up to the spindle wheel to prick her needle. NOW mc in MO is sort of hypnotized too because we see on day 3 how mc [sort of] willingly walked upto a mushroom ring [if your choices lead to that] and attempts to touch it. i think i've connected the dots..... /silly 4.) this might be a little farfetched but mychael watches us sleep.... sleep... sleeping.... sleeping beauty,,,,, honk mimimimi.... 5.) Maleficent cursed aurora because she was considered an 'outsider' and wasn't invited and welcomed to the grand celebration. guess who else is the 'outsider' [sort of]? MYCHAEL!! humans do not welcome him well! 6.) the forest themes... yummy.... i loved the aurora living in a cabin in woods parts of the movie... who else lives in a cabin in woods? you guessed it!! mychael!! 7.) my memory is hazy but i think one of hen's name is a direct reference to the sleeping beauty... primrose was aurora's name when she had to hide her identity as a civilian. thats what i think so far... i might've not worded some of it correctly but i hope this made sense! i really really reallyyyyyyy enjoy MO<3 thank you for sharing this piece of art with us :DDD have a lovely day i hope this ask finds you and doesn't get consumed by tumblr algorithm TnT <333

,,,I'm actually stunned speechless because hey? I kinda see it,,,?

I can debunk it wasn't based on Sleeping Beauty but I commend you for connecting dots I didn't even realize I'd made haha! It's just incredible coincidence you were able to find pretty decent comparisons here.

I don't usually add much to theory posts because that's the fun of theorizing but enjoy me yapping below if you'd like!

Of everything above, the only thing I can confirm is

4.) this might be a little farfetched but mychael watches us sleep…. sleep… sleeping…. sleeping beauty,,,,, honk mimimimi….

is exactly what I was going for; since Mychael did indeed discover you while you were sleeping (ironically the one point you thought was farfetched haha) and that's what made me choose the main menu theme!

The reason it happened to be a music box version of Once Upon A Dream is because (get ready for Cheea lore here) I played an OFF fan-game titled UNKNOWN as a teen, and in it was a music box version of A Cruel Angel Thesis; it changed my brain chemistry about music box covers ever since. (I don't even watch the anime 😭!)

In fact, I almost used the music box version of Waltz in E-Major, Op. 15 Moon Waltz by Cojum Dip in Astronought's ending scene!

It's also a major part of the reason I gave Mychael a kalimba! I recommend looking up music box covers of songs you know if you enjoy the sound!! <3

Everything else was a coincidence!

Also just an extra tidbit for people who read this: when I was deciding Mychael's favorite Disney movie, it made me think how much he'd want to be Prince Phillip, (I mean genuinely the movie was never about Aurora it was about the fairies lmaoo but I digress) especially after the finale with him defeating Maleficent with the fairies' help.

He'd never consider himself a princely hero but he wishes he could be. And something about meeting your soulmate in the woods by accident really spoke to him.

[soft-niku-and-sake]

Luffy and Zoro are also Summer and Winter

Official One Piece Illustration by Takashi Kojima

In an official OP illustration, Luffy and Zoro are depicted as Summer and Winter respectively, the seasons which are a complete opposite of each other (the hottest and coldest season). And these parallels just didn't end there--

In an SBS about Law's nicknames to the Strawhats, a fan also asks which prefecture the Strawhats would be in Japan.

I find it particularly interesting that Oda put Luffy in Okinawa and Zoro in Hokkaido.

Because Okinawa and Hokkaido are literally the farthest and opposite prefectures to each other.

Hokkaido is the northernmost island in Japan, known for its snow, longer winter that sometimes lasts for months, and a popular winter tourist destination.

(I mean Hokkaido would also really suit Chopper since it's Japan's winter wonderland but it's interesting that he put Zoro there specifically like he really wants Luffy and Zoro to parallel each other. I mean if I were to assign a SH to a region that snowed the most, I would choose a freaking reindeer, right!? But yeah, Zoro needs to match Luffy. You ain't slick, Oda )

Whereas Okinawa Prefecture is a group of islands located in the southernmost part of Japan, known for its long summers and mild winters, subtropical climates and beaches.

Winter and Summer!

It's really incredible that Oda had purposely shown Luffy and Zoro numerous times as opposites: Red and Green (complementary colors aka opposites), Sun God and King of Hell (Demon), Sun and Moon, Pirate and Pirate Hunter and many more!

I will never stop fussing about their dynamic, because what's great about their relationship is that although they are clearly depicted as opposites, they work so well together with their same mindset, their passion for their goals, and the complete loyalty and utmost trust of each other.

The complete Yin and Yang!

Also check my edit :) (shameless plug lol)

[anistarrose]

[ID: drawings of the Red Robe from The Adventure Zone. The first design shows him without his robe, as a slender figure with skeletal features taking form out of black smoke. His mouth is open and there's a single white eye on his forehead.

The second design is the same, but with his robe on. It's long and trailing, slightly tattered at the end. End ID.]

Messing with a lich/Red Robe design! spooky lad..

Daily drawing 1330

(ko-fi | commission info)

[croik]

Am I an insane person or does Malevolent kind of have like. A thing with queer coded villains. Not in a positive or reclamatory way either; it genuinely reminds me of like, old Disney movies and 2000s anime where all the most evil and inhuman male characters would also be written as campy and effeminate. And it seems like Harlan has no idea that he's doing it which is... interesting...

Like. Kayne is the most obvious example ofc. He's flamboyant and flirty and gives John and Arthur pet names. And at first I really liked it but the more it became clear that Kayne was a major antagonist and not just a mysterious neutral actor the more it started to put a bad taste in my mouth. It honestly still could have been okay if Harlan had maybe leaned more into the idea of Kayne and Arthur being parallels/foils but that ended up not really being a thing at all. Atp in the podcast I just get this really strange vibe where Kayne is simultaneously an incredibly violent, deceptive and predatory individual, and he's being written as basically canonically attracted to Arthur and it just. Seems like those two things are kind of connected. Again maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there but it seems like there are some "predatory creepy gay without boundaries" stereotypes being expressed here.

Similar issue with the Butcher. He actually has the closest to any sort of textual queerness of any Malevolent character, since he "falls in love" with his victims. Ummmm I kind of thought we had progressed past the "gay/queer serial killer who has an erotic fixation on the people he murders" trope. Apparently not. Again Harlan almost does something interesting/subversive by making our Perfect Protagonist have a weird connection/companionship with the Butcher, but in the end it seems like everyone agrees that they didn't actually have that much in common, obviously Arthur is unequivocally morally better than him, and then the Butcher gets his head exploded.

It's been longer since I listened to seasons 1-3 but Larson definitely had some similar queer-coding going on with him, as well as some other minor villains (Kellin comes to mind). It just seems like a pattern of Arthur being contrasted with characters who are not just morally corrupt but also written as (subtextually sexually) predatory or creepy, especially towards Arthur. And then Arthur is disgusted by their unnatural desires and heroically defeats or evades them. I could be making something out of nothing but it just feels... icky.

You are absolutely not an insane person of any caliber, this is something fandom has murmured about for a long time! It is definitely a thing in the show that just about any character that encounters Arthur becomes immediately obsessed with him. When it's an ally, like Noel, Oscar, even Daniel and Alia, they are almost immediately convinced of his goodness and go to great lengths not just to help him, but to reassure him that he's A Good Man (tm). But when it's the villains? It's this invasive flirtatious thing, where they're threatening not just to kill him but to lock him up in their basement or something, intimate tortures and such. (Larson maybe less so - he seems more like Southern Gentleman approach but much less handsy than Kayne and Collins). And then there's Antoine, whooo boy. If Antoine really is meant to be gay, and thus was also gay in Arthur's prime timeline when he was a Supervillain? Yeesh I don't want to think of the connotations from CoC1.

I don't believe it's intentionally homophobic, necessarily. I think these villains all represent pretty common horror tropes from over the decades, and Malevolent just co-ops them without thinking that deeply about it. In the same way that the entrance to the Witch's home is a smelly vagina wall: vagina walls have been gross in horror movies and games forever! It's here because it's a thing that all people find gross, right?? I don't think it's any different to him than shoving Arthur full of maggots, or the guy in Deviser having his fingernails torn off. These are default things people are scared of you can plop into almost any horror plot.

But in 2025 it's not wrong to want a writer to actually think about the greater context of the "things everyone thinks is scary" they put into their work, like straight men being threatened with sexual violence, or old women living in filth. Yes horror has been here hundreds of times before. But does it need to be here again? When the sexual violence is the only overt queerness on display and half of all women on the show are old and live in filth?

And of course, the fandom is doing really deranged and kinky shit with these villains, which I 100000000% support. But I don't think he fully grasps the difference between "fans making things legit queer for their own amusement and wish fulfillment" and "the creator playing at making things queer because it's creepy."

Thanks for the ask anon <3 It's very interesting stuff to talk about, especially as a queer person who sometimes writes horror.

[dmbakura]

OK so I want to stress that this is NOT a slight against OP of this post or how they feel about the way the game presents certain options, but I've seen sentiments like this before and I feel like people still aren't quite grasping WHY the game doesn't allow the option to do a "slow burn romance where you can show him you truly care about him beyond sex" if you ascend him. So I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about Astarion's route and objectification, and the very intentional limitations of player choice regarding the ascension path.

Objectification is the act of degrading someone to the status of a mere object. It often involves a sexual component, but not necessarily. It's reducing someone to being a tool or toy, as if they have no feelings/opinions/autonomy of their own. In Astarion's case, his objectification is very much tied to his sexuality, but also his own views on power and control, and how that reflects on both him and his romantic partner.

I think people get too fixated on Welch's quote "it's reducing your relationship with him back to being a kink/form of gratification... it's very much admitting you failed to think of him beyond a sex object" and take this as commentary or judgment on the players choices, when it isn't actually that. It's quite literally the story that is baked into the route and Astarion's character as a whole. There are obviously reasons to ascend him that have nothing to do with how you personally feel about him as a character, ie you want stats, you think it's just more fun, or interesting, or you like the tragedy, etc but in regards to the story itself? It's actually more commentary on how Astarion views himself more than anything else. He is an intentional subversion of the seductive vampire trope. You cannot engage with his story without interacting with this aspect of his character.

Even if you had a dialogue option to try and initiate a romance with him without that first night of sex, Astarion wouldn't take it. If you had a dialogue option to "show him you cared and want to protect him" he would either scoff at it or get angry, as he does if you try and express similar sentiments about protecting him from Cazador. He doesn't want to be coddled. He doesn't trust mindless heroism or altruism. He initiates sex because he uses it as a tool for manipulation and insurance of his own safety. You can either play into that manipulation or don't (and he seems to respect you more if you don't, which says a lot about his self worth). You can't initiate a slow burn romance because Astarion is so distrustful of EVERYONE and has no ability to conceptualize genuine care at this point in the game due to his mistreatment as a vampire spawn. This is an incredibly important aspect to his character and to change the foundation of this is to rewrite his character entirely.

(There is ONE exception to this: Karlach. Karlach is the only character that can initiate more of a slowburn with Astarion and won't sleep with him the first night because she quite literally, physically can't. And Astarion doesn't immediately accept this either. He belittles Karlach, to the point of calling her frigid and basically defective, wondering if he's wasting his time, before she chews him out for being an asshole. Again, he has no idea how to approach a relationship without using sex as a transaction and it shows. He only goes along with it because he quite literally cannot do his normal routine. This is the only reason he won't start a relationship with Karlach using sex.)

So anyways, that choice at the start? The way Astarion's romance initiates on the first night? It intentionally parallels the way ascended!Astarion will offer you an ultimatum: become his spawn or leave him. At the start of the game, Astarion intentionally plays into the sexy vampire trope to get what he wants, is highly paranoid, afraid and distrustful of everyone. At the end of the game in the ascended route... he's intentionally playing into the sexy vampire trope, is highly paranoid, afraid and distrustful of everyone, only this time he has power to back him up. Nothing about his views has been fundamentally challenged if you ascend him; he's completely validated in his beliefs about power and control and entirely in the mindset that he has no value without becoming the ascendant.

It's not about whether you personally find him sexy or not. It's not about having sex at this point. It's not about you or your character. Astarion objectifies himself, fully playing the only hand he knows (as he himself puts it) because that is all he knows how to do. In the ascended path, he has been shown no other option. Your character, good intentions or not, has not given him the tools to see himself as anything else. There is no way too make himself see himself as anything else, except by not ascending him! Either you let this man degrade you as he degrades himself, or don't. That is the option provided, and anything otherwise wouldn't make sense without rewriting his character completely.

Do you value what he actually wants (freedom) or do you value what he says he wants (power, because he views it as the only way to get that freedom)? To me the game makes it obvious (ESPECIALLY with the newly added epilogue) that walking in the sun again or gaining the power of the vampire ascendant aren't the keys to Astarion's happiness. Stuff like that, while nice, doesn't magically grant him peace and it's not a substitute for character growth and self reflection. It honestly just feels like people want the personality and development of spawn Astarion but in the ascended Astarion path, which doesn't make any sense with the way the story unfolds.

Anyways, I just wanted to say that objectification can be more than just seeing someone as a sex object, and doesn't necessarily have to do with sex itself. It can tie into views about power and degradation and a lack of self respect. Furthermore, it's not the game telling you you're a bad person or some sex addled freak if you ascend him, it's asking you to engage with what Astarion's personal story can say about sexuality, cycles of abuse, trauma and recovery - for better or worse.

[ewingstan]

This narration from Mister Sinister in Immortal X-Men #1 is trying to walk a line that I've seen increasingly often in comics. Hickman has radically changed Essex's characterization from past appearances, towards being an incredibly campy, sassy villain. A world-threatening villain, yes, but a villain who nevertheless is meant to be seen as "fun" by the readers.

However, Mister Sinister has previously been portrayed as an explicit believer in race science and personal assistant to Joseph Mengele. Its harder to have readers see a character who experimented on Jewish children in death camps as "fun."

Plenty of authors have found themselves in similar positions: they want to take a character in an interesting new direction, but that direction can seem kind of disgusting in the context of a character's history. Hell, even returning a character back to their archetypal characterization can seem kind of disgusting, if it means papering over what they've done during darker periods of characterization. And what character hasn't had a dark period of characterization? Who in comics hasn't destroyed a small town/nation/world when an author was feeling especially cynical?

This isn't really a problem for DC characters, since there isn't an assumption that all portrayals of their characters share the same history. Batman being abusive or faschistic can be brushed off as something true of that older batman unrelated to a more feel-good batman of a current run. Earth-2, pre-crisis, aborted New-52 version, you name it. But Marvel tries much more to have all portrayals of a character be part of a single extended history, so it can't pull the same trick of having a radical new take on a character appear while divorcing it from the actions of past iterations.

There seem to be three main ways of dealing with this in Marvel. There's of course the old mainstay of "We won't bring it up if you don't," which is probably the most common. Then there's the reconstructive angel, where authors try to show how the character is trying to actively move past what they see as dark periods of their lives (or reflecting on how they fell from their happier days—I always recommend Ewing's Rocket miniseries as an excellent example of that strategy put into action). And finally, there's the in-continuity "pruning" of characterization we see with Sinister: give some reason why these past aspects of characterization have been excised from the new version. Maybe the new version is from a parallel universe, maybe the old version is revealed to have been a Skrull all along. It wouldn't be too long after this issue that they have to use this trick to keep a usable version of Hank McCoy—after having him perform all manner of black-ops depravity to the point of being completely irredemable, he gets killed off and replaced with a McCoy with only the memories of his younger, kinder self.

I'm always of two minds on how I feel about this trick. On the one hand, it does neatly allow you to get on with using the toys in the toybox. It seems stifling to have a character be beholden to the history of every author with a competing vision for who they want them to be. On the other hand, in the case of Mister Sinister specifically, you start to wonder at a certain point whether the X-Office should've just used a different character to be the campy mad scientist. There's a worry that "oh I just cut out my racist gene" inadequately papers over the ways eugenics and real-world atrocity have been key aspects of what this character is for a while now.

[dokjak]

This blog will be much less active soon ✌️ orv is special to me but it’s been like 5 years since I finished it.

List of other novels I recommend:

Longer reviews after this TLDR;

Return of the Mount Hua Sect — Martial arts novel. 100 years after he died to stop the end of the world, Chung Myung reincarnates to find his sect in ruins. This novel is hilarious, thrilling, and heartbreaking all at once. I also like it because Chung Myung is insane and his personality sucks.

Debut or Die — The OG idol novel. Ryu Gunwoo wakes up in the body of Park Moondae and must debut as an idol, else his System will kill him. I like it because Moondae is an intelligent but unreliable narrator who doesn’t realize people care about him.

Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols — Kim Iwol, an exploited office worker, wakes up as the next member of his manager’s daughter’s favorite idol group. I love it because the more you learn about Iwol, the more you realize he’s a Freakk. His pre-transmigration life is so horrible it’s funny, and his System is mean to him too 😭

The Trashy PD Has to Survive as an Idol — Seo Hoyun, an unethical TV producer who “evil edits” idol shows for drama and ratings, transmigrates to a parallel world and needs to debut to return home. I like it because Hoyun is a petty bitch and straight up a bad person <3

normal reviews:

1. Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Summary (Shortened):

The 13th disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, one of the greatest third generation swordsmen, the Plum Blossom Sword Saint: Chung Myung. After defeating the Heavenly Demon and ending his reign of chaos, Chung Myung breathed his last on the summit of the Heavenly Demon Sect's mountain.

Hundreds of years passed, and he was revived as a child.

But... What was that? Mount Hua Sect has fallen? What kind of bullshit is that!?

Why you should read it:

it's my goat 🐐

Chung Myung is a real freak. He's got a bad personality. He's been compared to a rabid shih tzu.

It’s not a power fantasy, and it doesn’t just follow an OP protagonist around. The biggest regret of Chung Myung’s first life was focusing on his own strength instead of ensuring his sect’s survival, so there’s a lot emphasis on the supporting characters’ growth.

It's SO funny. Again, Chung Myung has a personality that makes everyone want to throttle him at all times.

It's touching. This is what I love most about RotMHS, apart from Chung Myung's personality. Given how funny and batshit insane he is, you tend to forget that he watched everyone he loved die in front of him. His grief hits when you've let your guard down and is all the more effective because of it.

It has great prose and some of the best action sequences l've read in a translated novel.

It respects women. Whenever men look down on her, Yu Iseol viciously crushes them. Tang Soso also has a massive girl crush on her because of it. They’re very sweet.

The webtoon is INCREDIBLE. Incredible character design - no two characters look similar, down to the silhouettes. Not everyone is deathly pale, and monolids exist!! The composition, especially for fight scenes, is striking. It also stays very true to the novel. You can tell the artists love it.

my rotmhs blog is @tangsoso :3c

The remaining recommendations are for idol novels. I don't even like kpop, they're just really good.

2. Debut or Die

Summary (Shortened):

A student who had been preparing for the Civil Service examination for 4 years suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar body, 3 years in the past. Along with it came a status window displaying a threat right before his eyes!

[Outbreak!]

[Status Abnormality: 'Debut or Die' occurs!]

A diary about the transformation of the main character, who was suddenly challenged to be an idol even though he had never been in the industry before, due to the sudden threat of death.

Why you should read it:

This is the OG idol novel. If you want a story about idols, people will always point you towards DoD first, and for good reason.

Park Moondae is a fascinating character and unreliable narrator. He cares a lot about others even if he thinks he doesn't, and doesn't realize that people care about him too.

Later on, there's an interesting mystery surrounding how and why he's in Park Moondae's body, what happened to the original Moondae, and what happened to his past identity, Ryu Gunwoo.

It has a good webtoon adaptation too!

3. Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

Summary:

Not only does he have to fangirl on behalf of the manager's daughter, but now he has to debut as an idol himself?

Assistant Manager Kim really hates idols.

Why you should read it:

The more you learn about Kim Iwol, the more insane he seems. He's not normal.

He lived such a HORRIBLE life ong.... His job was hilariously, cartoonishly abusive and the more you learn about Iwol's past the more you go. oh honey... this explains so much about you. He thinks working 22 hours a day, 7 days a week, is normal, and he's GOOD at it.

He's one of the most unreliable narrators I know of.

His System is so mean to him. please give him a break 😭

4. The Trashy PD Has to Survive as an Idol

Summary (Shortened):

[Congratulations Seo Hoyun! You have been selected as a player in the Unknown Idol Tycoon.]

The good-for-nothing PD, who is criticized by everyone, becomes an unknown idol in a parallel world. Only his younger sibling remembers him. To return to the original world, he must become a top idol and clear the game!

His specialty is blackmailing, his hobby is persuasion. The survival story of the unscrupulous PD-turned-idol who will stop at nothing!

Why you should read it:

Seo Hoyun is, above all else, a petty bitch. He's a straight up bad person. I love him.

I see people comparing him to Cale from TCF because they're both schemers, but l disagree. Hoyun is actually a bad person. If being a gaslighting male manipulator was an Olympic sport, he would be the gold medalist. Is he irredeemable though? Probably not...

The fact that his brother remembers him from pre-transmigration is intriguing and unique for this genre.

He's very protective of people he considers his own, which at first was just his brother. It's sweet to see his group members slowly be added to that list.

A webtoon adaptation is coming out on March 8th!!!

anyways @tangsoso has become my non-orv webnovel blog so come hang out with me there :)

[applestorms]

ok, well. if last time i talked about parallels between near & light, i guess it’s only fair that this time i talk about parallels between mello & misa. yap central on this blog lately.

the main thing that stands out the most about mello & misa, and the reason why i will forever Defend them and their place in the story, is that in my mind they both function in a similar way on a narrative level: namely, both of them are incredibly active wild-card characters that keep the action going and the story moving forward when the other main characters like light, L, & near start getting too passive.

notably, while i often see this trait praised in mello, usually in the context of a comparative criticism of near for his overly-abundant passivity, i have also seen it used as a criticism of misa's character, that she breaks up the status quo of DN too significantly and thereby makes the story feel less realistic. this last point in particular is an odd argument to make imo, as if anything misa's presence only increases the realism of DN by adding some extra luck/random chance into the story in a way that is ultimately still character-motivated and thus easier for the audience to go along with-- something DN in general is very good at, often introducing elements through pure chance but keeping them grounded in characters enough that you almost don't even notice.

take light meeting naomi misora, for example: the only reason he runs across her at all is because he offers to run an errand for his mom on a bored laundry day, literally stumbling across her right at the exact moment she is divulging important insights she is literally the only person capable of making about kira. yet this moment does not stand out as particularly aggravating or out of place in the story, as ultimately the only reason why light is able to get out of that situation is his own quick thinking and ability to calm himself while under immense pressure, squeezing his way out of a potentially run-ending situation he didn't even know existed moments prior.

(not a fan of that big joel video, if you couldn't tell. lmao.)

point is, mello & misa both fulfill about the same narrative function in the story by being so aggressive in their actions, catching the others off guard even if their plans aren't as well thought out or careful as they could otherwise be. they're both incredibly passionate, dedicated characters as well, tough enough to take the hit when it inevitably comes, and in my opinion neither of them are nearly as stupid as the other MCs like to make them out to be. to some degree, i think both of them are aware of the fact that they can't win at the Mind Game Cold War Bullshit the others are inclined to get involved in, so they instead choose to carve out their own place in the story through sheer perseverance alone.

which, speaking of passion: one of the most interesting parallels i think you can make between mello & misa is the ways in which they idolize their respective heroes, misa's obviously being light while mello's is L. allow me to elaborate.

as this post points out, DN has some very interesting use of its religious imagery & theming, and in particular its use of christian/catholic gothic imagery in its story and especially its art. however, as op notes, a lot of this is quite superficial, ascribing to an aesthetic of "kitschy Catholicism," that was characteristic of a lot of early 2000s japanese goth style. yet, while i admit that a more serious consideration of religious elements in the art & story could add some interesting flavor to the story, i also think that, regardless of intention, the superficiality of DN's religious elements works really well in the context of this particular story. as i stated in my tags on that post: light is a superficial god. he is a fake, a scam, some idiot human that stumbled across the powers of a real shinigami and got his head up his ass about it. and a lot of the arcs of other characters in DN is about their reaction to light's claims-- whether they choose to follow him (e.g. misa, mikami), follow somebody else (e.g. mello), or follow nobody at all (e.g. near, also kinda soichiro?), and the implications that has for their lives and personalities.

this is all to say that while you can, on a surface level, connect misa & mello pretty easily as the two aggressive, fashionable blondes of the series, i also think that these somewhat superficial traits betray a greater connection between the two of them. if we understand the christian/catholic elements of misa & mello's fashion as a demonstration of their connection to not just a higher power but a lie, a superficial deity simply reflecting the sunlight of powers greater than himself, then i think we have great insight into another key element of both their characters.

do not forget: in the world of DN, heaven & hell do not exist. at least in the context of death itself, the realm & lore of the shinigami reign supreme, a point which the DN musical makes even more overt: "Isn't it a laugh? / Isn't it a shame? / Thinking there is someone in heaven to blame?" and "Going through the motions / as if there will be a reward / Oh, while we stay eternally bored!" (BEST SONGGG.) everyone is destined for the same fate of MU, the same void of nothingness awaits all. no reward, no punishment, no greater deity looking down upon us than the bored, slothful shinigami, lazing about in their realm and picking people off only when necessary (for the most part).

misa & mello are thus dedicating themselves to false idols, and we can see the negative effects this has on them in almost every facet of their character-- particularly for mello, who is perhaps more self-aware and has more of a mixed emotional outlook on his idol, but maybe even to a more extreme degree for misa. i keep going back to this idea of equating boredom with depression in DN, but where light/L/near are all "bored" in a very quiet, passive, stewing-in-bed late at night kinda way, misa & mello are characteristically a lot more aggressive and intense about it-- while neither of them are super overtly suicidal, necessarily, their actions still betray a distinct lack of care for their own safety or lives, expressing the same thematic sentiment as the others. even if they still don't straight up say it, through their actions they're a lot louder about not liking themselves, and seem to take the problems they see in the world more personally, shouldering the blame as a failure within themselves instead of projecting it outward like the others: e.g. light taking his unhappiness at the emptiness of his life at the start of the story & placing the blame on the world for "going to shit" & humanity's moral failings, versus misa being willing to literally & figuratively give up her life for KIRA the second he demands it, whether that be in the form of shinigami eyes or killing her own friends w/o second thought-- all because he was the only thing to bring justice to her own parents' deaths, an almost undoubtedly traumatizing/horrible experience for her considering how much value she places on KIRA/light afterwards.

to clarify, this is not to say that all of these characters are actually and literally depressed and/or suicidal, though you could certainly make that argument for some/all of them-- this is just one way that i think you could interpret their roles in the plot, and their thematic attachment to the story. even if DN isn't all that interested in considering the True Moral Answer to ethics/the justice system/human society/etc, it definitely takes at least some interest in the emotional viewpoints of characters in relation to those concepts, so i think this is a fair enough approach to take. or to say this another way, it's less about justifying the claim that "the world is shit," and more about trying to understand the emotional motivation & experience of feeling like the world is shit, if that makes sense.

that being said...speaking more on the whole "not liking themselves," thing: even if she doesn't say it aloud often, if ever, i think that misa is deeply aware of the fact that she was not supposed to live this long, that her existence at all is a pure stroke of luck that let her live on past her destined date. she dedicates herself to light so fully, not even necessarily expecting reciprocation (though she at least reserves herself the possibility of such), because being a disciple to her god at least gives her life some kind of purpose. similarly, i think mello is also aware of just how out of reach the one thing he wants is, how his desperation in and of itself is ironically the one thing keeping him from surpassing near and truly being #1. it's important to note that pre-time skip misa & post-skip mello are almost exactly the same age, around 20 years old at the time of their main arcs. they're immature, and in the case of mello especially, are lashing out at the world in whatever way they can because they know they don't quite fit into it in the way that they want to or should. regardless of the intent behind it, mello & misa both still make the conscious decision to kill with the DN-- perhaps in a way that still keeps their humanity, at least following near's logic, but it's a decision to end a human life either way.

anyways, going back to my previous point, this "worshiping of false idols," idea has some interesting implications-- for misa & mello yes, but also for L and the ways in which he contrasts again light, as under this logic mello's treatment kind of inherently gives L a similar status as a sort of false god/idol. which-- actually makes a lot of sense? or at the very least, viewing wammy's house as a kind of mystery cult a la the eleusinian mysteries is a neat approach to take. L & light's mutual alienation from humanity fits them both filling a false god status, anyway. also there's another thread of analysis you could follow here where near is instead fit into the role of the person mello is fixated on which AAAAAAAAA has interesting implications but jesus fucking christ, this post is long. some thoughts for another time, i suppose.

[aesthetic-olive]

My "Andor is The Best Show a Fangirl Could Ask For" Masterpost:

These are all my favorite moments from the S2Ep7-9 Arch (and some from earlier in the season)

(spoilers, obviously)

Okay so in no particular order -->

When the empire brings in what's-his-name-scarface-dude to start up the Ghorman Massacre then he starts things off by bringing in a bunch of New Recruits? Ohhhoho that was such a good incredibly foreboding moment. Then when the Empire has the green recruits assassinated by the sniper?? INCREDIBLE. One of those moments where I didn't expect it until it was happening then it just seemed so obviously inevitable. It's giving the USA's FBI/CIA. Absolutely horrendous despicable behavior 15/10

Also I am OBSESSED with the one Ghorman laborer singing when he notices the Molotov cocktails being passed around. Such an incredible mini character arch for him seeing as how he's introduced as someone seemingly ready to start violence at the beginning of the season. Also just the parallels it gives between this protest and Maarvas funeral in season 1 gave me chills.

On that note, the Brutality of the massacre was So Insane and I couldn't stop watching jaw dropped in horror as bodies were literally flung everywhere. I forget her name but the one girl that got flung and literally bounced across the ground??? HORRIBLE actually terrorizing to witness and the way she was so instantaneously dead with her eyes still open also reminded me of Ferrix's insurrection in season 1. A terrible time for everyone involved 1000000/10

The way Syril figured everything out was sooo well done bc you could watch the gears turning in his brain trying to find every way to avoid the inevitable conclusion of what was really happening. Then when he does finally accept it what does he do? Commit a Domestic Violence on Dedra!!!! Like this man is literally just a Bad Person no matter who he's fighting against and just bc Dedra is also a bad person doesn't mean we excuse the moment where he actually made her say "you're hurting me."

Actually Syrils entire character arch was just so incredibly well done way better than I ever could've asked for. Ive seen a lot of people talking about it already so im not gonna take too much time but literally every frame of him in the middle of the massacre, then him fighting Cassian, the face he makes after "who are you?". Absolutely perfect television zero notes they understood the assignment completely.

Cassian has so many perfect moments during the Ghorman Massacre it's hard to even list them all so I'm just gonna do my best knowing that I'm probably forgetting some. First off his convo with the bellhop who recognized him was awesome. I loved watching Cassian take a step back when he realized that he was actually figured out, then relaxing when he realized the bellhop is also on his side. Also the Genesis (that we know of) of "Rebellions are built on hope" being a random rebel that probably didn't even survive that day is just so true to the shows themes and so true to War. I saw someone else make a post about that and I can't remember who it was and I can't find the post so whoever op was thank you for noticing it and saying something before I had a chance to. Also the makeup did SUCH an amazing job during the massacre!! All the dust and debris cakes onto Cassians face as he gives the Signature Haunted Tear that absolutely summed up the entire ordeal he just lived through added so much to everything and makeup artists don't get enough credit for that. I normally am a hater of the Tough Guy Gives Single Tear to His Traumas but fuck if that face didn't give me chills.

Andor and Mon Mothma talking to each other! From him picking her up and having to literally get in her way and say the code phrase all the way to her noticing his comfortability in the safe house on coruscant. Every moment between them was perfect and I Need More. A duo I didn't know I wanted but now can't stop craving. Someone please give me fics of the two of them working together or even just eating dinner together.

Speaking of Mon Mothma, the build up to her speech was so incredibly well done. Her making the decision to do it while talking with Bail, her finding a listening device, crushing it in a panic, then instantly regretting it, her having to find a place to rehearse, no one having any clue of if she was even going to go through with the speech, all the other senators spewing lies and propaganda (especially the one senator Absolutely Crashing Out over his One (1) citizen that died in the Massacre). Everything built up so much tension and then? One of the single most succinct and poetic monologues on the horror that is Fascist Control over Objective Reality I've ever seen, in or outside of fiction. Genevieve O'Reilly the Woman you are 😍

A small moment but something I loved was when Cassian and Wil come into Ghorman hot and Wil's bugging out and Cassian's completely calm then gives Wil a little "you good?" After they've leveled out. An incredibly wholesome and human scene but also an awesome way to casually show off Cassian's amazing piloting skills.

Kleya also had so many small but mighty moments in this arch. I was surprised by how much of a range of emotions we got to see of her. When she's talking to Cassian about him being Done and says "I thought that's what we were fighting for" I feel like I saw a little bit of Genuine Surprise in her expression. Like how could Cassian not think he's allowed to make his own decisions? OR How could Cassian give up when the alternative is never getting to make your own decisions? OR maybe even oh no are we controlling people the same way the empire does? Idk maybe I'm crazy and it wasn't actually surprise she was showing at all but that's how I read the scene and I Loved it.

Jumping around a little the way Dedra was staying so Composed during the entire Massacre compared to her full blown panic attack/breakdown once she had a moment alone was so so good. Something something the way Fascism turns every complicit being into monsters sooner or later. And we already knew that Dedra wasn't a good person (cuts back to S1 her torturing Bix) but this is the first time SHE has to look herself in the eye and accept that for herself. It really made me look at all the little villains in Star Wars differently. Whats the story of all the officers that the ghost crew fights in rebels? How did they get to be where they are? Have any of them had to face the realities of what they were doing? Did any of them Like Doing It?

I also loved Vel's convo with Bix (another duo I didn't know I needed). Not a lot to say about that other than I wish we got to see them interact more.

Also about Vel going back to That Scene, the sheer uncomfortablility she creates when she forces that crying snot nosed kid that killed the love of her life to stare at her as she monologues about how horrible a thing he's done. Such an intense power move and interesting way to depict grief I loved it (and by that I mean I had to cover my face and watch between cracked fingers out of the awkwardness but couldn't stop watching bc CINTA 😭)

Cassian still holding onto his Avoidant Attachment Style with "the day I can't come and go as I please is the day I'm gone" as he leaves against orders to go assassinate Dedra. Such I nice little foreshadowing to the ultimate decision he makes to start the battle of Scarif in Rogue One.

Partagaz's repeated "I'm sorry I kept you waiting" to Dedra was such an awesome little detail. For one: who hasn't been kept waiting by their boss, teacher, authority figure at some point? Such a relatably annoying experience. And two: the way the chain of command in the Empire has disrespect for ones inferiors so baked in to its culture that people inside it don't even recognize when it's happening. Also I can't exactly remember but I'm pretty sure Dedra also kept Syril waiting when he was the one in that room so I thought this was an interesting continuation of that pattern.

Anywayssss if you made it to the end thanks for sticking through it and listening to me ramble!! Andor is/has been/will continue to be one of the best and most well crafted pieces of media I've scene in years and even when I get annoyed with little things I've got to give it the respect it deserves.

[pynkhues]

What do you think of the read that Lestat physically abused Nicki in TVL? I saw a Lou/mand blog post about that and I don’t know if OP’s read is true or if they were being biased.

They had an odd read of Lou/mand’s relationship in opposition to Loustat and they seem to want Lestat to be a worse abuser than Armand is and absolve Armand of his control of the Trial? But I haven’t read the books so I don’t know if their Nicki/stat abuse read is true.

I’ve seen some people say yes Lestat abused Nicki and some others say no Lestat didn’t abuse Nicki but I trust your read of the books the most.

Mmm, I'd say it's a pretty bad faith read of their relationship, anon, especially as I think if you were to talk about abuse in Lestat and Nicki's relationship, you have a much bigger case for it as being the other way around.

I have seen the argument you're referring to before though, and I'm unsurprised to see it gain traction in particularly mm, let's say motivated parts of the fandom. Lestat does hit Nicki once, and hard, but it's not supposed to be depicted as a normal part of their relationship at all, and it actually comes after Armand's abduction and torture of Nicki, so it's kind of funny that it's being used to absolve him of his sins.

What happens is that after Lestat's turned and after the trauma of Magnus, he retreats entirely from Nicki, but he can't stop himself from sending him gifts with all the money Magnus left him with. Nicki's obviously (understandably!) extremely hurt by Lestat's disappearance, and his depression worsens as he alternates between performing at Renaud's and trying to find Lestat. When Gabrielle arrives in Paris incredibly sick, also looking for Lestat, who's been avoiding her too, Nicki ends up sitting with her a lot until Lestat finally caves, and goes to her, something that culminates in him turning her.

Nicki doesn't know this at the time, and Gabrielle asks Lestat a bit about whether or not Lestat will turn Nicki, and Lestat doesn't want to at all. He wants Nicki to live a full mortal life because he loves him. This all goes belly-up because the Paris coven finds out about Lestat and Gabrielle, and Armand abducts, feeds off and tortures Nicki in a bid to get Lestat and Gabrielle to come out. It works, they rescue Nicki, but the torture has really aggravated Nicki's mental illness and bubbled up a lot of his resentments towards Lestat. They have a really ugly fight and Nicki tries to coerce Lestat into turning him while Lestat wants Nicki to leave Paris and try to leave the vampiric world behind him. Nicki doesn't take to that well and feels like Lestat's being deliberately withholding, and it's then that Lestat hits him, only to immediately cave and turn him. It's an upsetting scene, but it's not abusive. They're at the end of their relationship and both trying to trick themselves and each other into thinking turning Nicki could let them start again.

Nicki and Lestat's relationship is more complicated I think than it gets credit for, and I think a lot of people don't necessarily understand the power dynamic between them which is very much steeped in the era they come from. I've talked about it a bit on here before, but Lestat might be an aristocrat, but he's penniless, untitled, uneducated, illiterate and fundamentally really naive. Nicki's a member of the bourgeoisie which is about to literally overthrow the aristocracy in the book (and will be in the midst of doing it in the show's timeline), and his family is wealthy, with a strong profession (his family makes clothes, which is kind of a fun parallel with Madeleine), he's highly educated given his father has sent him to Paris to school, and he's worldly as he's pretty well-travelled. This really underpins the dynamic between them which see-saws when Lestat gets turned and Nicki ultimately feels entitled to what Lestat has because Lestat's never really had anything that Nicki hasn't already had.

And again, this is made starker in their break-up when Nicki tells Lestat that he only went with Lestat to Paris with the intention of them both dying there together. I actually don't entirely think that's true - I do think Nicki loved Lestat very much and briefly felt the hope that they could escape their abusive fathers' together, but he grew to really resent Lestat when Lestat's light failed to counter his own darkness, something he pretty much says explicitly.

Their love story really does start as something beautiful, but it ends extremely badly, and there are a lot of complicated and toxic parts to it in the process. I wouldn't describe it as abusive at all though, and if you're looking at the balance of power between them, I think for most of it, Nicki has a lot more.

[abitcaughtinthemiddle]

Furthermore, I find it fascinating how they both have flipped ways of expressing their outward feelings to their friends and family.

Generally, Benedict has been more open about his feelings outside of the bedroom, allowing his true personality to be at the forefront.

Meanwhile, Colin has always been a people pleaser, hiding his own feelings to placate others, however; he allows himself to be emotionally vulnerable to his partner.

I know there is mixed opinions on Benedict’s escapades this season but they do contrast Colin’s feeling about sex and intimacy very well…

Benedict gets both emotional and physical fulfillment when it comes to being sexual relationships. But he draws the line at commitment and intimacy. Benedict ( as of end of s3) would be completely fine with just sexual relationship, no strings attached. As soon as Tilly expresses her feelings, he backs away.

Colin (beginning of s3) only gets physical fulfillment when it comes to sexual relationship. But he craves intimacy and commitment. He kissed Pen once and felt so much intimacy, he cut off all other physical relationships. And we see in ep7/8, he holds intimacy so highly that he can’t be physical with pen because he’s feelings are in the way.

[sugarcube-stillabookworm]

Wot 3x08 musings

alright apart from The Thing which i'm still... thinking through let's say, i need to write down my thoughts about the finale. spoilers for the entirety of season 3! (i thinks i avoided any later book spoilers but if i accidentally put something in pls let me know!)

It had really high highs and a few lows for me. Firstly, everything that happens in the Waste plotline was amazing. With maybe the exception of the very first scene where Rand tries to meet his toh to Alsera, which I felt could have used more time to breathe (and also Aviendha instead of Egwene), it was all very charged and also spectacular from a visual pov. Rand finally confronting Lanfear with the full understaning of what she is, that she is jealous and petty and cruel, and that's why he leaves her (she never had him as much as she thought, but she loses any connection with him) in this time just like LTT did back then. Rand and Moiraine's conversation... damn. She is ruthless and he comes to appreciate it, because he's also starting to distance himself from Rand al'Thor to immerse himself in what he thinks he is and needs to be as the Dragon Reborn. He lives to win the Last Battle for the Light, and finally feels on the same page as Moiraine, even about her willingness to kill him. This conversation almost had me fully convinced she was going to die/[redacted] in this episode, despite having spoiled myself that she wouldn't, because she and Rand cement their relationship and Rand recognises her importance to his journey, right before she goes off to protect him. Instead, I guess it will have even more emotional impact if it happens a few episodes down the line in S4 (hopefully) when this new stage of their bond has been established for longer... I do hope if the conflict continues to be mainly with Lanfear that it won't feel repetitive.

mostly on a side note: so, Sammael was indeed alive just to die. lmao. it continued to show just how far the forsaken are willing to in-fight and, well, brutally murder each other, and also that means Rand still needs a teacher for saidin. i did like how disturbing his death and later state was, reinforcing how creepy moghedien is and how horrifying and powerful these people are compared to the protagonists. and visually: horrible in a satisfying (?? not the right word but i cant rn) way. it does feel maybe a bit underwhelming for a Forsaken to be introduced and killed so fast, but the fact that it's from another forsaken makes it more interesting

plus Lanfear's outfit for her little meeting with Rhavin... damn

On everything Alcair Dal: chilling showstopping spectacular. it's clear when they're walking there that Rand has grown willing to do extreme things to make the Aiel follow him, and Rhuarc's warning doesnt have any effect. when it comes to it and he needs to counter Couladin's claims, he doesn't hesitate to reveal a truth that was carefully guarded for thousands of years. him screaming "oathbreakers" was gur-punching. he did actually put in effort to connect with the aiel and understand their ways, he was emotionally affected by rhuidean, and then he used it to bend these people and claim his prophesised role. to do what he believes he "was born to do", no matter the cost for others even if means some will break, and certainly no matter the cost for himself. i thought it was a very powerful and (good) chilling moment, and then him channeling to make it rain in the desert was both visually stunning (there is so much taint in his power! and the more he channels the more there is!!) and an incredible OP Dragon Reborn scene. even more so when storms gathered across the continent too. and connecting it with ending the season on moiraine reciting that the dragon is one with the land and viceversa is fascinating. will they lean on that a lot?

and the heart of stone having to remember tears (which is also a nice wordplay) and the soul of fire having to remember love, oh. a parallel and foil of sorts to nynaeve's "remember who you are, rand al'thor" from ep1, an ominous warning in the moment when rand is starting to descend more and more into being only the Dragon, of stone and fire. he needs to be both!

on a small side note, egwene being the only one standing under the rain with rand while the aiel kneel: great for narrative foils and future roles, maybe a bit too reminiscent of the last scene of dune 2?

moiraine vs lanfear. again, visually stunning, i really like how the true power looks and that it's distinguished from the taint on saidin. lanfear at her full unhinged is very scary and enjoyable, and i don't have much more to say. i did genuinely think this would be their final confrontation, but i guess not. for most of this season they were sort of hateful allies, will they spend a few episodes of s4 fully against each other before a final showdown? they already had their big battle though, so i'm not sure what's planned there

right, lan and melindhra. eh. cool to remind lan of his duty to malkier and set him up for future plotlines, but it felt a bit disconnected to me. maybe it won't on a rewatch. and "death is lighter than a feather, duty is heavier than a mountain" coming from melindhra was... a choice. it's true that she says it as she accepts death for breaking her oaths to the dark in order not to betray what she feels is her true duty to malkier, but i don't know. especially with the whole question of moiraine and death this season, maybe there could have been a way to bring it up that felt more organic?

another thing i might appreciate more on a rewatch is the entirety of the tanchico plotline. it had its great moments and the shenanigans in ep6 were great, but overall... i don't know, at the end of the day it didnt feel like they accomplished a lot to me. one thing at a time.

Mat got hanged!! i was very very hyped for this moment and overall it was good, although maybe a bit abrupt even after all that foreshadowing. he just walks in there?? accurate mat i guess. right now i feel like after ep3 there weren't a lot of reminders of the struggles mat is facing with the memories in his head and thus why he's here in the first place, so in a perfect world i would have liked to spend a bit more time on both that and the question of the power - because i think the first time he refers to having an issue with the one power is right before going into the doorway? i might misremember. he did have a good setup with the imprisonment from last season, but it was a bit underdeveloped imo. but overall it works.

the Aelfinn. I... might have laughed a bit. rare wot show make-up fail, perhaps? i suppose they were going for otherwordly alien and disturbing, but to me it was mostly disturbing. and reminiscent of shark boy and lava girl cgi. i did like the costume! especially the back, where it looked like a skeleton spine.

donal was really good in the scene, imo. confused and scared, and finally allowed to say fuck. then mat was hanged and min cut him down and gave him cpr. again, works overall. i was crossing my fingers for nynaeve to actually have a role in helping him. i am a bit confused as to where they're going with mat *not* remembering things after he wakes up? does he actually make another trip to have his memories back?? or did the aelfinn steal his present self memories, which he didnt lose from the dagger in the show, and leave only the battle ones? that's an interesting way to bring show!mat to a similar position with book!mat

as for nyn, she finally broke her block. in this case too, i know that in-show she's been struggling with it for a very long time, so it makes sense to solve the issue here. it felt a bit... underdeserved? to me, like she didn't really have any build up to getting over it beyond the conversation on the sea folk ship. it didnt feel as big of a moment as it was supposed to, to me, but again, maybe on a rewatch. and the parting of the sea was certainly impressive.

Re: the plotline in general, they go into the palace, nynaeve hides behind a bed and finds the collar and then immediately loses it to liandrin. although it was interesting to see nynaeve have hope for liandrin (and does liandrin wait for a moment after throwing her in the water to see if she would emerge?), hopefully all the time of this plotline will pay off in later seasons. yay for elayne and balefire, and thom exposing gaebril. Jeaine insults Morgase and gets balefired about it, which, nice

and that's it i think. apart from the Tower plotline, which i will ponder for some time more i think. it's A Choice for sure, but a confusing one. i do have to say that, everything else set aside for a moment, on first watch i thought that the final sequence's interweaving of the scenes from Rand at alcair dal, moiraine, and siuan's last stand with her speech was beautifully constructed and powerful. and the last prophecy spoken by moiraine to end the season with the last scenes playing was a rather epic sending off into the core of the story.

[grainjew]

Nikaposting Pt 3: Joyboy was Shandian

This is the third of a series of posts about Nika & associated religious practice in the One Piece world. As I write and post the rest of the series, I’ll add links to this header.

Pt 1: Crypto-Religion | Pt 2: Symbology & Syncretism | Pt 4: Sun God Tropes

Enormous credit to @oriigami for being my discussion partner through all of this and having a substantial influence on the final product. Check out our ao3 series Joyful for a narrative rather than analytical take on the Nika tradition, and definitely go read her OP blog @kaizokuou-ni-naru for meta and translation fun facts.

-

Joyboy. What’s his deal?

Context note: This post makes the assumption that Joyboy was an awakened user of the Nika fruit. I don’t think that’s a particularly disputed take but I wanted to make sure we were clear on that to start with: To these posts, Nika is a mythical figure with a cult of worship and an incredibly potent wish attached to his name. And Joyboy, like Luffy now, was a user of the fruit created of that wish and harmonized enough with its nature to awaken.

We know basically nothing about Joyboy, but there’s just enough there for some really fun theorizing. This post will be shorter and more speculative than the rest of the series, but I think it’s a fun enough concept that I wanted to add it in.

So: Here’s why I think Joyboy was Shandian!

Let’s start with the obvious- Oda definitely re-read Skypiea while he was planning out the Nika stuff. It’s widely known that the Nika pose and the rhythm of the Drums of Liberation were pulled directly from the Skypiea dance scenes, especially the mid-arc one with the wolves. I’d add that the concept generally of Luffy being silhouetted against the sky in a pose & percussion instruments taking on a symbolic liberatory role (the bell and the drums) can also be traced back to this arc. The visual choice to have Who’s-Who’s imaginary version of Nika dressed stereotypically “tribal”—not a design choice I feel particularly positive about but a design choice Oda would make purposely—also evokes Shandora.

Skypiea was also the arc where we encountered the Shandora poneglyph, which is eventually revisited in the same arc we’re introduced to Nika and Gear 5 (that is, Wano), and which is the poneglyph pointing to the location of Poseidon, the Mermaid Princess, in Fishman Island.

We know from Joyboy’s poneglyph apology that he was a surface-dweller who was nonetheless a great friend of Fishman Island and of the Mermaid Princess of the time. His apology was addressed directly to her, for breaking a promise to her and her country. Similarly, the Shandians held the protection and eventual delivery of their poneglyph as a tenet of extreme importance until Robin took that burden from them onto her back. I doubt such a precious friend of Fishman Island would leave the location of Poseidon with anyone other than a nation he trusted absolutely- with his own people, the shandians.

Skypiea and Fishman Island are also arcs with a very pronounced thematic parallels/opposites thing going. Briefly:

They’re both set either 10 000 meters above or below the surface of the blue sea, in unfamiliar environments that require their own methods of fighting and navigating.

They feature longstanding conflicts the Straw Hats have sort of blundered their way into regarding oppression, power imbalances among cultures and classes of people, and very flawed but ultimately compelling depictions of real-world issues.

Their ruling parties are named after real-world religious figures (Skypiea’s God; Fishman Island’s King Neptune and Queen Otohime).

And silliest of all, Luffy has to be nerfed in both arcs because otherwise the final battle will be over in about one second lmao.

I think it’s safe to say they’re at least connected on a thematic level, and it’s my connection that once upon a time in the forgotten history, Joyboy, shandian friend of the Mermaid Princess, was that connection point.

It’s also notable that Shandora was a great nation back in the Void Century (indeed one of the three disconnected rays sun symbol nations, as well as a sun god-having nation - see pt 2 of this series of posts), and is the only nation other than the Ancient Kingdom that we have been explicitly told was brought to ruin during that time. Of course there’s infinite reasons the Twenty Kingdoms could have had to wreck the place, including “they were in a war,” but a strike at the home of that most problematic user of the Nika fruit seems particularly in-character.

And even if none of this convinces you that Joyboy was a child of Shandora, I sure hope you can agree that we should all be giving Skypiea some very close reads in the coming years!

[fictional-orphan-smackdown]

ROUND 3, MATCH 4!

All propaganda and what each competitor is from under the cut

Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings)

Frodo demonstrates incredible tenacity, intelligence, and heart. His growth and struggle is amazing, and he’s a hero who fails!! But because he inspires such love and loyalty in his friends, his quest succeeds. He’s a tragic hero, a model that so many fantasy books misunderstood and even still were inspired to copy nonetheless. I think the fact that he is an orphan isn’t as important as it is for some characters, but it is important to some extent, emphasizing the loneliness of being a ring bearer, as well as the strength of his relationships with his friends. His parents are also descriptive of his personality, his mother being a descendent of the Tooks, the most adventurous Hobbit lineage, and his father being from the more genteel-in-bearing Baggins’. Frodo is a reluctant hero, only accepting the role, and enough adventure for a lifetime, only once it was clear he was the best option. He was polite and refined, even in absolutely foreign circumstances, and, in a bit of parallelism, not only saves his best friend from drowning, but in the end, sails away in a boat to a new life.

The things this guy endures to save the world are horrifying. There are plenty of other stronger people who think they can do it better than this humble, meek, unassuming halfling but they can't begin to understand. This mission isn't a privilege, it's a burden. He's trying to do the ultimate stealth ops when he's public enemy number one, with the enemy's life force wrapped around his neck like an anchor, corrupting his body and mind with every single step. Think about the most exhausted you've ever been. Then imagine having to walk nearly 2000 miles with that exhaustion, little to no food or water, getting stabbed, poisoned, hunted down, while carrying the full weight of the worst person you can think of as they try to drive you insane every second of every day. And he still makes it, for the sake of his home, his friends, his whole world. Is it any wonder he struggles to find peace after an experience like that? He deserves so much.

Chuck e' Cheese (Restaurant/family entertainment center chain)

Charles Entertainment Cheese grew up in St. Marinara orphanage and he loved singing, especially happy birthday. But he didn't know his own birthday (because he is an orphan) so all he could do was celebrate other kids' birthdays. His favourite part was the pizza. He also loved playing Pong and he went to New York City after winning $50 in a Pong tournament.