#take it for what is WRITTEN in the post

[manyu-ten]

I'm convinced some of y'all don't even like Helena the way you guys are reducing her to a side piece without having even read a comic that isn't OUT yet. I've seen so many people call her "Dick's sloppy seconds" or a "sidepiece" or "Jason's bitch".

You don't want her in the comic cause you think she'll be reduced. Okay, valid concerns. You fear DC will uphold some misogynistic stereotypes. You don't want her in the comic, so DC doesn't put her in the comic but then she's not in any comics and DC is still misogynistic because omg why are you not putting women in comics!!?

Babes. I am scared for Helena's characterization too. I am. I love her character so bad. HOWEVER, I'm not so far up my own ass that I'm going to start shitting on a Transwoman's writing of the comic when the comic isn't even OUT yet.

I get that many fans want a mlm and wlw story for both Jason and Helena. Hey, that'd be great! Some of y'all love Helena so much you will actively disregard how important Oliver is to Dinah and use the same horrible misogynistic mouthpiece to shit on Barbara.

My dears, you pointing out DC "passing" Barbara along (which is a HUGE issue and should have a CONSTRUCTIVE dialogue that doesn't still reduce Barbara by making it all about how DC lifts the Batboys balls) but STILL using misogynistic language against her by insinuating she IS something to be passed around and not another human character is still upholding patriarchal rhetoric. Y'all are still male-centered even when you think you aren't.

Stop masking your anger towards DC with hatred for some characters in order to APPEAR like you are a visceral supporter of the female characters you wish to see stories about. You aren't HELPING these wonderful female characters get any storylines that will uplift them, you alienate what they might need from a publishing standpoint to have a segway into their own major stories.

[the-woman-upstairs]

Really fucked up that, when they’re young, Patrick and Art are SO tactile with each other, so comfortable sharing the same space. Art lets Patrick touch him and move him and physically overwhelm him and easily acquiesces to it, if not outright enjoys it.

Then in the present, they’ve been so far out of each other’s orbit for so long, held such animosity that when they have their moment alone in the sauna, Art physically recoils from Patrick’s close proximity! It’s so painful to watch because even as Patrick’s goading him, it’s so obvious he wants to be able to get back into Art’s space. But Art has erected all these walls around himself, he refuses to give Patrick an inch or even admit to missing how close they used to be!

AND THEN we see Art and Tashi later and he wants her to hold him, to be gentle with him, and just TOUCH him. Like, he does miss that kind of close physical contact! He either doesn’t know how to ask for it or is uncomfortable being that openly vulnerable. Worth noting that he pretty much always defers to Tashi in regard to initiating physical intimacy (with their first kiss, though he does state his desire, SHE has to be the one to make the first move). And it seems pretty obvious that Tashi herself isn’t comfortable providing that intimacy, whereas Patrick actively seeks to provide it (the hug/forehead kiss after their win together in the early years, dragging the stool closer to him).

Art has tried very hard to act like he doesn’t need physical affection and even though his discipline and devotion to Tashi has made him a stronger tennis player, it’s made him a hollow person, which, in turn, has kept him from becoming a GREAT tennis player.

All of this, of course, is why the ending hits so damn hard.

[doublxpresso]

Face-off

Part 1 - Lu Guang & Qiao Ling

page 29 - 30 (end part 1)

page 27 - 28 < .

main post

[anghraine]

kjfd;jkadj my last two posts collided in my mind—the one I just posted, about Kirk and Uhura not only caring intensely about each other behind their professional personas, but also handling said personas in essentially similar, synergistic ways as communications and commanding officer + the ramble last night about how I haven't yet found a fic that takes up the concept of Kirk making a fantastic psychologist (I've only seen direct role-reversals with him and Spock thus far) that's mentioned all the way back in S1 of TOS.

The psychologist!Kirk post basically split into two scenarios which I babbled more about in tags: one where Spock is captain, most likely of an all-Vulcan Starfleet vessel like the Intrepid until Kirk is transferred to that ship as part of some human-Vulcan collaborative effort going on, and another where they're still on the Enterprise, with Spock remaining chief science officer and Kirk as head of the psychologists and counselors on board. The TOS psychologists are always science division, so in that version, it's Dr. Kirk answering to Spock (likely his direct superior would be McCoy but ~mysteriously he ends up working more directly with Spock).

But I did think idly, "I wonder who the captain would be if it's neither Kirk or Spock, the next in the canonical command chain is Scotty, but I don't see that at all, certainly not McCoy, I'm not sure Sulu is all that suited to it at this point—"

BUT UHURA. CAPTAIN UHURA. Her age is never mentioned in TOS and I don't care about anything else for these purposes, but iirc Nichelle Nichols was actually close in age to Nimoy and Shatner, so it doesn't beggar belief that she could have gotten so far, so fast. And her professional accord with Kirk makes her a less plot-disruptive choice than someone really dissimilar like, idk, Pike or whomever.

SO. In this scenario, Spock is Captain Uhura's unflappable chief science officer/XO, Kirk is essentially her Troi (still virtually psi-null—just an incredibly incisive and adaptable judge of people and perfectly ready to share his observations with Uhura), Scotty is still living his best life communing with the warp drive, and McCoy is basically unchanged.

Kirk's notoriously demanding class at the Academy (implied to be a philosophy one in TOS) was an ethics course informed by his specialization. Elizabeth Dehner worked directly with him before, well, events, and he's along on the attempt to stop Mitchell and Dehner. The "Dagger of the Mind" mission is an Uhura-Kirk field trip. Uhura defies Starfleet to get Spock to Vulcan without even knowing why—Spock won't explain and Kirk won't break his confidence, but she knows whose judgment she values most and her trusted chief counselor >>>> some asshole admiral. Uhura also goes on a bunch of planetary exploration missions as captain, still in her mini-skirt and boots and winged eyeliner (though her clothes don't get torn quite as much as Kirk's), and is a natural diplomat who is not above a) lies or b) fighting if necessary. Something like "The Corbomite Maneuver" is resolved largely the same way, for instance.

Spock and Kirk still play chess games that Spock more often loses, but this regularly happens in the science labs. McCoy and Kirk are still old friends and regularly talk shop with some mildly illegal beverages involved. Uhura is split into Good Uhura and Evil Uhura that one time but is also still the one to bring the tribbles onboard.

I'm going back to outlining my f/f K/S AU but. do you see the vision

[doomedclockworkdotmp3]

heeyyy gaaanggg

the pose and the background of the album version (left) are based on oingo boingos only a lad album art. not cause i think he has anything to do with it but just cause ive been wantin to draw that pose for like. weeks and i didnt know who to put there. so why not my latest bug man.

[thatneoncrisis]

i think gamzees existence as "the universes living punch bag" "canonically one of the most evil characters in that universe" and "a literal thirteen year old drug addict that all of his friends hated before shit hit the fan because he was irritating and dopey" makes him very tricky to write and uh i dont think he was written well. i think gamzee was a net L in the story. he just kind of existed to plug holes. "how did that happen" the fucking clown. duh. he was there. hussies comedic loathing overtook any actual nuance that could exist. he was bad the whole time. he was aware of everything. he always kills his friends. hes not a person hes this thing you can flip on and doom an auxiliary timeline. hes booboo the fool. hes a sex pest. oh yeah and all the weird early 2010s antiblackness baked into him cough ANYWAY

[colorfullyminded]

TLDR

Okay I cannot believe I'm about to go off like this, but this has been bothering me for awhile, and it's only making me more spiteful. I have been enjoying the influx of Billford art lately. Amazing, great wonderful. What I have Not been enjoying, is the absolute vitriol the Billdip fans have been getting since the influx of TBOB. I was a billdip shipper for awhile. Hell I was a billdip shipper when I was a Parapines shipper-- I liked shipping Dipper with boys. I was also like 14 or 15 at the time. Obviously, if you follow me now, you'll probably notice what my main ship for Dipper is. I grew out of Billdip, and moved on to Pinescone. I have been shipping Pinescone for 10 years. However, not once did I go around saying "Lol, glad I matured and became a better person and shipped something healthier", nor did I post in the billdip tag, condeming people for a fictional ship! And saying mine was better because it was less problematic.

"I'm really glad people stopped shipping Bill and Dipper together. Bill is a 1000 year old triangle demon, and Dipper is 13--" Stop. Repeat what you just said.

"Bill is 1000 year old triangle--"

Repeat that last word to me. "....triangle?" TRIANGLE! I'm sorry what?! This ship is already completely wild enough. You're getting mad at this fictional age gap-- AND BILL IS A FUCKING SHAPE! A FUCKING SHAPE! This ship was weird from the moment GO! And Billford isn't any better. IT'S STILL A SHIP WITH A FUCKING SHAPE! And you're going to sit on your high horse and look down on the Billdip community. On top of it-- they have an age gap too! Bill is still thousands of years old or whatever-- however long it's been, who knows? And Ford was in his 20s or so when he met Bill. That's still a huge, ridiculous age gap-- that Bill could easily use and manipulate; which he did....and then also caught feelings and became a sad ex, but that's beside the point~ Both of these ships are still insane. And again, the bigger thing I think people are just ignoring about these ships--is that Bill is a TRIANGLE! THREE LINES CONNECTED TOGETHER! And this is the hill you're going to die on? ...Cause apparently it's mine. First of all-- as many people pointed out-- Ford Pines did not exist until the second half of the final season. People couldn't ship Fordbill because there wasn't any Ford to introduce.

"Well, even before Ford, I never shipped Billdip! I always disliked it." ...Okay, that's totally fine. Not everyone needs to like or agree on the same ship. Lord knows there's probably people who don't really care for Pinescone either. There's a lot of popular ships that I can't stand. But I'm don't go into a ship tag I don't like, screaming to a void for self validation. I don't go around mocking other people for ships that they had in 2014-- or even still today! It doesn't matter! I did that when I was a kid-- and then realized that was rude, and it was better to just ignore the ships I didn't like and enjoy the ones that made me happy. And grow a community of kind, like minded friends. And listen, I am all for safe spaces and being able to block things that make you uncomfortable. I am not saying people who find the BillDip ship uncomfortable to be idiots or babies or overly sensitive-- or anything like that. I think if something makes you uncomfortable, that is okay and I think it's perfectly fine to blacklist a tag that you don't want to see. I also think it's imperative that people tag things as accurately as they can so people looking at your work can know if one of your pieces has a thing that they don't like-- and therefore can avoid. What I don't appreciate is the fanhate for this ship that is sprouting up like weeds. You can not like something, you can be disgusted by it (I have my Gravity Falls ships I can not stand, nor do I feel comfortable with), but attacking real people for a FICTIONAL SHIP-- two characters who are drawings on a piece of paper and can not be affected mentally, physically or emotionally by fanwork; who still retain the same shape after everything we put them through-- to the point that you send death threats, or threaten to Doxx, or just harass relentlessly, I have always found that more childish and disgusting. You are causing real world pain to people. Me fucking up Dipper Pines is not going to do anything to him-- because he doesn't actually exist. He's a cartoon character. I could squash him and stretch him in Wonka's taffy machine--- I could throw him mock speed at a wall and watch him explode on impact-- but he still exists. He's not dead; I can pick him up and dust him off, and If I wanted-- I could decide that eh, 'Not a scratch on him'. And I'd be right. Because he is a cartoon character, and I am just a fangirl. I can not change anything about him-- I have no ability to make anything I headcanon canon. And even if I was the original artist-- it doesn't change the fact that Dipper would still be nothing more than a creation. A construct of shapes; he can not be hurt or traumatized in a way that leads to real life consequences-- because he is not real. I am not a cartoon character. My friends are not cartoon characters. Artist and Writers who stay in their lane...are not cartoon characters. If you hurt us...it will linger. It will leave a scar. If you can not tell the difference between Fiction and Reality, then I think maybe media might be too much to handle-- and I think you need to really reevaluate yourself.

And just to vent some other things that i keep seeing that are frustrating: You can't claim the twins are only 13-- and then on August 31st go "Happy 20-something Birthday Mabel and Dipper!" And then proceed to drop a picture of them as adults. Well which is it? Do they age or not? Because Gravity Falls showed them canonically aging. If you think the twins age-- then you can't suddenly turn around and go, 'no you can't ship them-- Dipper is a child!' but you drew him as an adult. So sorry, it looks like you can't draw the twins grown up anymore. You claimed they're 13, so better draw them 13 forever--. Aged up stories and works exist for a reason, especially for a fan who grew up on the series. The characters might have grown up alongside them. It's not unlikely for a person to ship Billdip when Dipper is much older.

And on that note, for people who are like 'well older billdip is fine-- it's just people shipping him during the show that deserve to die.' Okay... and like I said, this rant is coming from a recent influx of Billford shippers spitting on Billdip shippers. You know? The TOXIC Old Man Yaoi!

You're still shipping something that is problematic. You are still shipping something twisted and wrong. And I am not judging you. I am here for this divorced arc. I am thriving. But you can't just pick and choose what is and isn't okay. And let me first off explain; if there is something that personally triggers you about a toxic ship, and you want to avoid that-- again, perfectly understandable. Perfectly reasonable. You are the makers of your content space. And I am not judging anyone for that. I want people to be safe. I want people to have a good time in fandom spaces. I want people to not have to deal with the things that upset them or frighten them, or disgust them. But you can not say one is fine, and one is not. They're both bad! They're both toxic. In real life, these ships would both be charged with serious crimes! And yes, there are some crimes that are worse than others, and if you asked me what I thought was more problematic-- I'd say Billdip-- but both of these ships are extreme, and severe in their problematic content. You are still consuming problematic content. If it's a personal thing, that's fine; avoid it. But don't sit there throwing stones from your glass house.

[purplecatghostposts]

*Holds up Félix and Chloé* It’s not obvious because it’s all WIPs and very little has been posted but I care them so much. I love putting them in a room together and locking the door to see what happens. They’re two somewhat territorial cats who are fighting one minute, then totally chill the next. They’re judging each other. They like to hang out and judge other people. They’re mocking each other one minute and then planning each other’s parents’ (Andre and Audrey’s/Colt’s) murders. Amélie invites Chloé over and treats her like a daughter. Chloé is breaking down crying in Amélie’s arms because she feels loved one moment, then smirking at Félix because she’s stealing his mom five minutes later. Sabrina knows Félix by his full government name due to Chloé’s ranting but has never formally met him. They both love Adrien so much but they’re not the greatest at remembering to tell him. They both have so many issues. They complain about each other. They have blackmail material for days. They would kill for one another if it came down to it. Do you feel me. Do you get me. Did any of that make sense. I know I’m taking a five second interaction and allusions to what their relationship was before and blowing it up out of proportion but they interest me so MUCH and I WILL make headcanons about it.

[patema-introverted]

Finished The King in Yellow and I have THOUGHTS. They are good ones, I enjoyed it and recommend it

I read it because of Malevolent, I’m not gonna lie. But if you go in expecting lore then you’re gonna be frustrated and disappointed. This isn’t a lore bible it’s the Origin Point.

I went in knowing that the last few short stories were not even explicitly horror, that did not stop me from being bored and wishing that the KiY would show up and fuck up these dumb lovesick French artist students. I will admit that I skimmed parts. They were good stories but KNOW what you’re going into.

THAT BEING SAID, I DON’T THINK THEY WERE UNIMPORTANT TO THE MAIN THEME. In fact I don’t think the main theme of the book Clicked with me until I was reading those stories

Because the subject of the book isn’t necessarily the King in Yellow– he actually features less as the book goes on. The book is about these different characters’ relationships to their past. When a character has a past they are ashamed of, and they either 1) idolize it or 2) try to run away from it because they’re sure they’re unlovable because of it, THAT’S when they fall prey to the King in Yellow. Characters who admit and accept their past not only survive the horrors, but find acceptance from the same loved ones they were so afraid of disappointing.

And if you don’t see that main theme in Malevolent, we’ve been listening to different podcasts.

tl;dr–

Things I did not learn: lots of KiY lore Things I did learn: Why this book has resonated with so many people, including Harlan Guthrie. In fact this is a callout post, Harlan you have a type, I can see you bitch,

[nebulaedaniel]

since we’re now talking about the racism in the phandom, i’m very glad it’s being brought to light so thank you to @dapg-otmebytheballs @demonqueenart and everyone else talking about this, i want to talk about cancel culture.

now i’m as white as they come, so before reading any of this i need you all to read the posts made by some of the people starting this conversation. here’s some links. xx xx xx xx xx

the reason i want to bring this up is because it’s something i noticed in a lot of the posts bringing up the behavior that dnp have/have had. its bizarre to me that we as a society, but especially we as a fandom, feel the need to disclose that bringing up problematic behavior isn’t an attack or call to ‘cancel’ someone!

to be able to have an open discussion where people CAN evolve and learn, bad behaviors need to be brought up without the immediate assumption that the person talking about it wants to bring harm to the other.

i am not here to defend dan and phil, they are well old enough to have these realizations on their own and stand for their actions, but, without the space to point out these behaviors, there will be no change. if these questions are being brought up within fandom spaces, why assume that the person means harm? excuse my metaphor but why would they set fire to their own house? i can understand wanting to take something with a grain of salt if it was coming from someone not in the fandom spaces at all, or someone not familiar with dan and phil whatsoever, but since it is the fans bringing this up, the absolute least you can do is believe them and listen.

wanting to see change is far from the same as wanting to see someone ‘canceled’ or lose their platform. these discussions are good and important to have, and i want to again thank everyone who has taken time of their days to speak up about this. it’s labor you shouldn’t have to do, and i really hope that we as a fandom learn from this. i know i will.

[housecow]

i’m so happy y’all like my writing ngl 🥺 for a long, long time i wanted to be an author and part of what made me okay w gaining this weight was knowing that even if i get too fat for many things. i won’t be too fat to write :3

but fr i wanted to write a horror/fantasy novel. paleontology and body horror. i still dream of this but im BUSY and writing is hard when u have to write academically constantly

[oceanwithouthermoon]

ive had several people tell me that my take on teruhashi is overdramatized but like. it genuinely isnt and i say that with my whole chest.

i KNOW that the girls in saiki k are written pretty stereotypically and yeah im 100% sure that asou didnt really mean to make his character a deep take on beauty standards and misogyny, but he was writing a parodied take on the perfect girl trope and focused a lot on how people objectify her and how shes never truly satisfied because shes always trying to fit what men want from her... so thats how it turned out. im not overdramatizing it, im just using more descriptive terms for it 🤷🏻‍♀️

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 83 (Belated) Father's Day Posting

Yes I know it was last week but this chapter was intended to release that day, so... let's get into it, dear void.

Editor's notes: First Page: 座村に斬られ一度死んだチヒロが目を覚まし... [Samura ni kira re ichido shinda Chihiro ga me wo samashi...] "Chihiro wakes up after being killed by Samura..." Last Page: 明かされる7本目の宿命その力を示す刻が来た- [akasa reru 7-pon-me no shukumei sono chikara wo shimesu toki ga kita-] "The destiny of the 7th blade has been revealed. Now is the time to show it's power..."

Kunishige's Intentions and IRL Effects

Tell, don't show is actually okay in some situations like this!

And so we get... Enten's backstory! Awesome! I gotta say, Chihiro literally sinking into his memories of forging Enten with his father was gorgeous. Absolute 10/10 imagery and a huge reason I love reading this manga.

So once again we see another through-line from the past to the future. And another contrast between Kunishige and Samura. Both of them had massive regrets about the war haunting them, both of them looked towards the future through their children- then Samura faltered and was manipulated into retreating into his own head. He abandoned Iori and adopted an extremely myopic view of what needed to be done. Meanwhile Kunishige never lost sight of the light Chihiro cast for him to follow. Therefore Samura's ready to destroy himself to amend the past while Chihiro was given the power to reshape the future that the previous generation directed the younger one towards. Once again, I love this manga. I love it so, so much when we're focusing on the core themes.

It's the difference between two viewpoints: atoning for the past and improving the future. Both of them can look extremely similar from the outside since they're rooted in prior events. But atonement doesn't always guarantee a better future while looking forward at least opens up the possibility.

I mean, think about it. Saying "sorry we did that, let me fall on my sword as penance" doesn't do anything to help the future really. Samura's hellbent on killing the other Bearers to set them free from the contract before killing himself alongside the Sword Master. But what will that accomplish? Even if Samura succeeds, all he'll accomplish is dying and eliminating one potential source of another Malediction. It does nothing to solve the Kamunabi's corruption and propaganda issue, the lingering resentments of those who didn't believe that propaganda, nor do a damn thing to stop the Hishaku. The societal issues will still be completely unaffected. The nukes will still be around and available to be used by anyone who gets their hands on them. The only "positive" outcome is that Samura will get the death he feels he deserves.

Meanwhile, Kunishige tried to save the future by creating a sword that can undo all his other works. He made the ultimate nuclear disarmament tool by working with Chihiro! Sounds a hell of a lot better, doesn't it?

The implications of this are so, so clear: Samura, as the older generation who refused to involve the younger one, is doing what he thinks is best and telling the kids to sit down and shut up. He's going to do things his way and they can pick up the pieces once he's done. But Kunishige wanted to show Chihiro how to manage everything from the start. They worked together: Kunishige teaching Chihiro, Chihiro inspiring and guiding Kunishige. They made Enten together in order to secure a safer future. And doesn't that second scenario sound like a much better foundation than the prior one?

I feel like this is the author's voice coming through loud and clear: hey, adults, let us help you. Involve us. You don't have to carry that burden of what you did alone to try and spare us. We can handle it. And we need to know so we can actually make things better.

Remember, Hokazono's only 24 years old. And Japan's got some really touchy discussions over what and how much to teach the kids about what the country did during WWII going on. Even if it's not a direct or fully conscious thematic inclusion, it's still very much present this arc through Samura and Kunishige. And the author seems to be on the side of "stop only telling us what to do and involve us in the process". Very admirable and reasonable.

Disarmament is the way!

At any rate, all signs are now pointing towards Chihiro's mission being to break the blades. That's what he inherited from Kunishige; even if the sword wasn't especially forged for him to use, it's in his hands now and he's committed to taking it on. He'll pick up where his dad left off and see his vision through. The only necessary deaths are those of the blades... and the Hishaku.

The wrinkle of the Hishaku's exact role in all of this will probably complicate things for Chihiro's vengeance journey. Well, not "probably", but "definitely". It doesn't really affect what he's going to do with the blades though. It's clear that the best course for the future is to disarm the nukes and make sure they can't fall into the wrong hands again like what happened with Sojo. I'm incredibly glad that this is where the narrative went! I feel like the theme of undoing the wrongs of the past by directly addressing the root cause/issues instead of performative actions is the best possible way to look at this situation, both in fiction and IRL.

The nukes/swords aren't beings with agency that can act on their own for a particular cause. They can theoretically be stored away in safekeeping as some kind of implied threat to prevent another large-scale conflict. But as Kagurabachi makes clear -as the author is arguing- their mere presence is also an incentive for people to attain that power for their own ends. The "good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun" mindset breaks down when we're talking about weaponry that can cause mass deaths with ease. You don't stop nukes with more nukes. You can only get rid of them entirely.

I love it when Chihiro looks like the kid he really is.

Then why the hell are we cheering for Chihiro? Isn't he just a "good guy with a gun"? Yeah. But he's kind of the only true good guy with good reason to act in this situation. It's his own dad's legacy that he's trying to deal with AND he's trying to get rid of them, not just manage them. If he was trying to do the same thing Kunishige did at the start -only give them to skilled people he trusted- then it wouldn't be very clear if he was the right person for the job. But ever since the Sojo fight it's been obvious that Chihiro's got to be the one to do it. He was given the tool to dismantle the otherwise indestructible weapons, has the moral and familial imperative to do it, and clearly believes in carrying on his dad's wish to destroy them.

This will undoubtedly set him at odds with the Kamunabi down the path. Like any government, some of the the Kamunabi higher-ups will most likely want to keep them on-hand as that unspoken deterrent. Why destroy something that saved the nation once? That power could be needed again! Can't wait to see what happens with them after this arc... it also heavily depends on what Hakuri manages to do with the Shinuchi and what happens to him after. There's so much to look forward to once we're done with this fight!

The Fight, Though?

Okay that was a lot of yap. But what will happen to Samura? Poor misguided and insanely stubborn Samura, who just wants to do what he thinks is best for everyone?

Chancla to the face for not respecting one's elders.

For one, it's obvious by now that Chihiro won't be killing him. He's not some evil guy that needs to be put down like Sojo or Kyora. So what will happen? Well, the good outcome will probably be along the lines of Chihiro breaking Tobimune -proving his will is stronger than Samura's grief- then Iori talking to Samura and getting him to stand down.

After that, though... well, the pinky ring to signify the pact made between Samura and Yura was shown to us in chapter 59 for a reason. I have no doubt that if Samura must die then that will be what does him in. It would also be great motivation to keep Iori around and involved with Chihiro's quest. I don't know if I can handle Chihiro having to watch someone else get orphaned in almost the same way he was though.

Past vs. Future

As for the immediate circumstances, I'm pretty sure this fight with Samura won't go on too much longer. Chihiro's resolve is set and Samura's hand is starting to shake; he's feeling it now, Mr. Krabs. All those stunts he pulled off earlier are probably catching up with him- not looking so great for Mr. I Must Die Alone For Someone Else's Sins. Sorry Samura, but you ain't Jesus. You're just a mentally tortured war veteran, father, and widower.

First stop: breaking Tobimune, probably.

I also want to say something about Chihiro's resolve here. Again the official TL isn't bad by any means, but the formal tone of it didn't carry over very well.

この淵天を以って…俺 が真打を折る [kono enten wo motte... ore ga shinuchi wo oru] "I vow... to break the Shinuchi with the Enten." or something along those lines. Chihiro's not just making a statement here- he's making something of a solemn vow.

What About the Other Blades?

*Depending on where it is and who has it after this fight

Well, we can probably assume that Chihiro will try to break them as well since Kunishige explicitly wanted to destroy all of them after the war. How Chihiro manages to do that will be what keeps the story moving forward though.

As we know, the Hishaku are in possession of the two unknown blades still- and Kuguri's definitely got his eyes set on the Sushi bearer's. Meanwhile Hiruhiko's bonded to Kumeyuri but it's currently with Ro, who is allied to Samura and the Kamunabi. So Chihiro can ignore the other swords and make a beeline for the Sword Master once he's done with his business here at the hotel. It won't be so simple though- it never is when there's a set number of objects to seek out and destroy.

I have a feeling that there won't be much of a victory for Team Goldfish here.

Ch. 72

Chihiro's probably not going to want to kill the two Bearers still bound to the blade, so they will have to have their Eternal Contracts broken somehow before the Sword Master is dealt with. That means seeking them out and killing them or "killing" them with Tobimune's Suzaku ability. But if Tobimune breaks or Samura is killed, then that ability vanishes. Remember, Suzaku is Samura's True Realm ability- that's Tobimune responding to his strong desires. It won't necessarily work the same for someone else. So even if Iori or someone else is able to bond to the blade, they may not be able to use Suzaku.

Then there's the tidbit that the Eternal Contract itself needs the Sword Master to be alive, else the other bearers will die. This may well apply to Chihiro too.

Also ch. 72

Either Kunishige spent 15 years making a blade with a life-death contract independent of the Shinuchi, or he used the same binding technique and took his time on intentionally imbuing the blade with the ability to break the others. Maybe both, depends on Kunishige's idea about who would wield it and other intentions while he and Chihiro were making it. But for now, it's fair to assume that Chihiro could also be affected by the bond to the Shinuchi- and that's one of the big reasons why Samura went out of his way to kill him.

So the goal now must be to break the Shinuchi first. There's no other easy option to go for: killing and reviving the other Bearers is much less practical, especially when the Hishaku are waiting for exactly that to happen so they can have their own members bond to the other blades in their possession. That's a terrible outcome (and another very good reason to stop Samura). If Chihiro breaks Tobimune in this fight -which seems incredibly likely- then they really will have no other option.

This means that Hakuri and Uruha's situation is absolutely vital and likely won't result in something good for our protagonists. Hakuri's on his way to isolate the Shinuchi by putting it in his Storehouse... but whether he succeeds or fails will still be fine for the Hishaku. If he succeeds, he's now a primary capture/torture target that Chihiro will likely have to rescue. If he fails, then the Hishaku have the blade and will either kill The Sword Master or hand it to him- both very good ways of triggering another Malediction.

Basically, all signs are pointing towards Magatsumi remaining out of Chihiro's reach for the forseeable future. It's his goal to chase while dealing with other issues along the way in service of it.

As for Kumeyuri, I don't think it's getting broken here. Instead I think it will somehow end up back in the Hishaku's hands so Hiruhiko can train with it properly once he picks himself up. Hopefully without the Masumi making an exit from the story... please, let them live. It along with the other two blades will still have more time to shine before they're taken out and collected by Chihiro like Kuregumo was.

Okay. Sit tight and don't get too impatient. Try not to, at least. We're definitely coming up on the climax of this arc! See you next week, dear void.

[disordercinema]

When Ekko released in 2015 it was so awesome, he had a great voice actor (at least in Brazil his voice is really well known), he had a cool design, fun powers and an amazing backstory. He was a black kid from a poor upbringing who, despite the environment he grew up in, learnt to create incredible things basically out of scrap. He was a genuine hero in a land where most of the characters were bad people or chaotic monsters, he fought for what was right and tried his best to save the people he loved.

Over the years he became the face of resistance in Zaun, every story was about him fighting for the people, every voice line with other champions showed how much people admired him. Fuck, I know it's probably not canon but Azir of all people treats him well in their interactions, that's how cool he is. So it bothers me a little that the freedom fighter/symbol of resistance in Zaun role is being shifted to Jinx in the show.

She, and the Inx (her blue haired followers), are literal antagonists in his game, he has to fight them because all they care about is chaos. I understand though what they are building up to in Arcane and it is very well written, but it makes me a bit sad. Especially because of how I see most of the fandom treat Ekko, most talk about him has to do with Jinx and fair, I guess, Arcane barely gives him solo screen time. But y'know, I wish after this they give him another game or a comic book, Idk. I really don't want Ekko to just become a background character on someone else's narrative.

[bugsbenefit]

genuinely still baffled by the "they don't need to address Mike's sexuality, all that matters is that he's in love with Will" crowd. especially when people say it who claim to care about Mike's character (when you could also just say you don't really care for that part of the show, which would be fine, no one cares about all characters/arcs)

because Surely you realize how him being gay or bi would change his entire character, right. whether he's attracted to girls or not would change the way all his actions up until now are to be interpreted. not even making a statement on his sexuality here, this is generally speaking

if he was actually attracted to El you'd have to address when and why he suddenly stopped loving El since in fiction "it just happened" isn't usually a satisfying answer to breaking a multi season couple up. Why is Will it for him? he's been acting weird for ages so when did he realize? and what made it click he fell out of love with El for good? you'd have to give some explanation for why he was able to proclaim his love for El accidentally in s3 and then fail to do it in the same season while looking uncomfortable with kissing her and so on since his pov was so majorly withheld

if he's not attracted to girls his arc in s5 needs to focus more on comphet and how dating El affected him/why he felt he couldn't break up with her/homophobic attitude in his surrounding slash Hawkins. or the idea of platonic and romantic love in general. there would be no how he got from point A(El) to point B(Will), like what the focus of a bi!Mike s5 arc would have to be on to explain what happened, but a focus on how he ended up at point A in the first place and why he was stuck there/how it affected him

and even core moments of the series would have entirely different meanings depending on if he's attracted to girls. "it's not my fault you don't like girls" being a peak example. if he's gay it's easy to explain it with projection. if he IS attracted to girls though it would read as a much more intentional (even if blurted out) act of homophobia, since it would be him pointing something out that Will genuinely does (not liking being around girls) but he himself can't relate to

and that's all just the surface level differences. Mike being attracted to girls or not being attracted to girls would give his arc an entirely different focus in s5. AS WELL as make his past actions have entirely different meanings. the idea that "it doesn't matter for his character" is so insanely wrong it's wild how many people confidently peddle it

[dancedanderevolutionangel]

no ok I wanna make this post

every once in a while folks over here (on like.. jumblr and stuff?) talk about leftist antisemitism, and how the people who reblog it have "flowery pink blogs" and stuff and. sure, sometimes.

but sometimes they reblog fandom posts I make on main and I only clock them as antisemitic because their url is something like "fuck-israelis-die" and they have an unrelated flag (in the green-red-black-white color scheme that most majority-islam countries get in the middle east. notably not actually a palestinian flag, but they sure think it is) in their pfp. sometimes I look at a blog spouting antisemitism in a thread because I don't want the act of blocking them to make me lose the thread in the middle, and I see them interacting with posts my (culturally christian atheist) mutuals make. sometimes they have a piece of fanart I reblogged a while ago as their pfp. sometimes those big posts everyone reblogs are on their blogs, reblogged around the same time I reblogged the same joke post

they're not always the sparkling kawaii type bloggers who over-romanticize death and destruction. sometimes their blogs are near-indistinguishable from my mutuals, except for the antisemitism. sometimes they post fun undertale theory posts and immediately follow them up with blood libel conspiracies (dess deltarune us the knight. also, israelis are harvesting organs from palestinians for human experimentation)

I just wanted it out there. they're still people who we might not obviously see it on. there's a reason so many of us lost our mutuals on october 2023. they're so like us. they just hate us anyways. and that sucks