#to acknowledge the intent)

[madohomurat]

trans women are everywhere and are so eager to be seen and heard but only if they feel safe around you. if you hardly ever have trans women interacting with you, especially online, then consider there might be a reason for that and you should address it

[transrevolutions]

I don't think les amis are actually doomed by the narrative. in fact I think they're commended by the narrative. justified by the narrative. supported by the narrative. however, in an unjust society the 'narrative' of a text does not always have the final say in realism, and les mis quite deftly illustrates this.

[the-meme-monarch]

reason i think Arthur is aromantic:

+ also i like him

reason i think Delilah is aromantic:

i just like her

[robbyykeene]

“She wasn’t forcing him in any way” YOU chose to show Robby so drunk he couldn’t talk and could barely stand. YOU chose to show Robby come out of that room and say he couldn’t remember what happened. YOU chose to show him stand there like a zombie unresponsive while she kissed him and then stumble away like he didn’t know what planet he was on. YOU chose to depict a situation where one party so obviously could not consent, and the other was acutely aware of that fact. Stop playing fucking dumb and admit you’re a pathetic rape apologist and move the fuck on.

[circuitcircus]

in defense of kabumisu……..

addressing things I see people say about why kabru being shipped w mithrun is ‘bad’ or why their canon relationship ‘doesn’t mean anything’ while also clearing up misconceptions of the characters some fans have

listen it keeps popping up and I just gotta do this or my brain will melt (if you don’t see it around then god I wish that were me) there’s an age gap!- erm there’s also an age gap in farcille (ily), the most popular ship in the series...also chilchuck looks like a kid but a lot of fans recognize him as a dilf because of his relative age, so there should be no age gap discourse among adult characters because it feels so conditional tbh

kabru taking care of mithrun is racist!- marcille likes to take care of others as well. is that sexist, or just an aspect of her character?

kabru isn’t treated like a servant, waiting on mithrun hand and foot…I mean he gives mithrun a foot massage but no one told him to do all that lmfao

he's also not the only one to care for mithrun. pattadol is shown to worry for him and milsril was the one to start taking care mithrun in the first place after he…...y’know. speaking of which-

they probably met when kabru was a kid!- neither of them showed signs of recognizing each other the entire time mithrun was introduced nor when they were together. and im pretty sure KABRU of all people would show some kind of recognition if they'd met before. it's kabru!!! the people person!!! mr. "i-noted-down-50+-characters-in-this-dude's-backstory-for-fun-and-actually-enjoy-social-gatherings"

you would think some kind of memory would come back to him especially after hearing mithrun’s backstory if milsril had even told kabru about him as a kid. but nope. it’s just fan speculation unless there's a side comic suggesting otherwise that i haven't seen

mithrun doesn't care about kabru, his shapeshift double looked like shit!- it's obviously because of mithrun's (then) lack of desires that it looked like that, but they really grow on each other

i think it's safe to assume it'd look more like kabru after they spent so much time together (also laios can barely even remember kabru's name..also saw his face multiple times and didn’t recognize him when they talked for the first time)

mithrun is racist!- he’s actually the least likely character to be racist since he lost his desires and that includes a desire for superiority over others. he even calls his past self out on that part of himself. the other elves in that side comic were being just as racist to shorter lived races but just didn’t use ‘outdated slurs’

(unfortunately literally every main character in dunmeshi is at least a lil prejudiced, but I believe it’s worldbuilding and a sign of the times rather than a reason ryoko kui is giving to hate each character)

taking care of others is a pain in the ass!- saying this as a reason kabru and mithrun shouldn't be together is basically saying disabled people shouldn't be allowed to have romantic relationships because they're a "burden"...if someone is actually willing to put in the work, then let them be.

that's not even all of their relationship, mithrun is the fighter of their duo and kabru would've been killed by the shapeshifter or something if he'd fallen down the hole on his own since he sucks at fighting monsters. mithrun helps collect ingredients for cooking every time, too (barometz fruits and griffin egg). he pulls his weight and then some!! i feel like people forget that part of mithrun a lot somehow.

+senshi literally cooks for everyone all time. it's kind of an important aspect of the narrative.

+also, while it is a popular fan thing I see around that kabru handfeeds mithrun, he literally never does lol this is mithrun using his own hands to eat:

also here we have him washing his own body

just saying because people like to treat mithrun like a baby even though the narrative respects him as a capable adult who also has special needs because of an accident. he’s captain for a reason

kabru hates taking care of mithrun!- not exactly, he was initially surprised and put off but got used to it quickly. i’m sure he’s grateful for all the times mithrun saved him from a monster and teleported them out of danger as well

he even starts doing “unnecessary” things for mithrun’s comfort and safety like when mithrun pushes himself too hard fighting, even after his mission to take care of him was complete when the canaries came back

here is even kabru resting while mithrun keeps watch (mithrun let him sleep for 5 hours before waking him up from the nightmare earlier, too):

there's nothing more to their relationship!- they actually have had a very tight and consistent dynamic since they met and they incite the most change within each other by the end. kabru is the one who inspires mithrun to create new desires so he doesn't waste away, and mithrun is the first person we see kabru being genuine with and it leads him to be more honest with others by the end instead of tiptoeing around everyone all the time (that mask was also the reason some ppl initially disliked kabru…)

kabru’s relationship with mithrun is honestly so important for his character and vice versa, but it’s often disregarded because of one over exaggerated aspect of it (an aspect that isn’t even the first way they interact with each other) or because people want to just straight up ignore it for some reason 🥲🥲

kui dedicates many panels to them that don't particularly serve the narrative as a whole in order to demonstrate this and i think that's pretty significant

you're taking this too seriously!- as if i'm the first person in the world to be crazy about a ship or the characters 😭 i love analyzing text and it's upsetting to see them mischaracterized when kui lays out the characters so clearly and deliberately

also they end up touching each other like all the time and have the kind of canon validation most ppl can only dream of lol i feel so insane look at this:

and this is just when they're first getting to know each other cuz there's a fuckload more

kinda hard to explain how i don't actually need them to get married or whatever but i'd die on this hill for them and i enjoy their dynamic immensely

haha you thought you were reading ship discourse but it was actually a character analysis 🤪🤪🤪

also don’t somehow take this to mean I think anyone has to ship them, I just need everyone to understand these accusations kind of don’t make sense especially when they can also apply to other pairs or characters

bonus kabru just looking at mithrun:

[neenarchive]

was anyone going to tell me cats actually watch tv or did i have to find that out when 1917 was on in the background at my sister's house and i accidentally showed her new baby kitten the horrors of war

[astroreoreoreoreoreoreoreo]

remember that one boss concept art I did a while ago. He has a friend enemy(?) now

"Though I'll take a stand, I'm still only human/ the goddess you need can't be me"

[eye-of-the-hawk]

“Yes. Stole my own hypothesis and turned it against me.”

“Fascinating. I’d love to meet her.”

“… Ah. So you’re just like her here, aren’t you?”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“*Sigh…* unfortunately, you’ve already made it quite obvious.”

[epiphainie]

no but "tommy's good people. he's good for you" was INSANE like why did they make bobby say that three eps/couple months into their relationship? especially in a scene that was a long-time coming moment of bobby acknowledging how much buck grew up over the years and how proud he is of him, a moment so important to buck and bobby's relationship and extra important to bobby at that time because of what he was going through. like they didn't have to?? bring up tommy?? at ALL?? i feel like im going crazy

[little-alien-thoughts]

So I'm only halfway through Strange Case so I could be talking out of my ass here-- but I wonder if it was intentional that in TGS, part of the reason that Jekyll refuses to ask for help is that he is attached to the fantasy that he'll be able to deny that he is suffering, but someone will look past it and see that he is suffering even if Jekyll tries his best to hide it. And if you consider the kind of person that would fulfill this sort of fantasy, it kind of looks a lot like Utterson?? Like in Strange Case, Utterson keeps pursuing Jekyll in order to figure out what's up because obviously Jekyll is not doing ok, despite Jekyll going to great lengths to push Utterson away. And this is TGS Jekyll's fantasy isn't it? To have someone say "no, you're not fine, even though you keep acting like you are" despite his own refusal to admit his own problems. I mean Jasper calls him out on this in Sad People Dance, Too.

There's probably more that could be said on this but I'm not smart enough to figure it out. I just find it fascinating that Utterson fits that description for TGS Jekyll's fantasy almost to a T yk?

[helbrides]

political thriller where padme and dooku are besties/toxic mentor-mentee/weird grandpa-adopted kid in a leo mcgarry + josh lyman style. padme accepts dooku’s offer in a sudden move because she’s sick of the chancellor and finds anakin fascinating but unnerving. dooku is all like “oh my evil plan is working” but they both slowly realize that they’re fucked once dooku and padme realize the scale of palpatine’s ambitions. dooku as a way for padme to express rebellion against the chancellor and the failing republic by sneaking secrets and helping the CIS. padme as a way for dooku to have a second chance and the hopefulness of the youth. leftist infighting. kotor influences and the understanding of the failures of the jedi in being tied so intimately w the senate. “we will watch your career with great interest.” is this anything???

[vivika-ka]

Love Endeavor all you want, but please don’t be delusional about what he’s done canonically 😅

The number of people convinced Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo weren’t abused makes me concerned about media comprehension nowadays. I’m not an expert and certainly not as well articulated as some fans, but this stuff is missing surface-level interpretation.

The dismissal of neglect as abuse is rampant in the fandom as a whole and shows people aren’t aware of how it mentally destroys a child. The dismissal of what drives a person to self-harm is also rampant (with both Touya and Toga).

“Child neglect can have severe detrimental effects on children’s physical health, psychological well-being, cognitive and academic abilities, and social development. The severity, timing and chronicity of neglect influence the extent to which children are negatively impacted. Children’s development is cumulative in nature, such as children’s ability to accomplish new developmental tasks builds upon achievement of previous developmental milestones. Children who are neglected early in life may suffer impairment and subsequent developmental tasks.” (x)

People often read the scene in which Touya confronts Rei as him being a little shit and nothing more, but it confirms Touya knows (and has known for quite some time) that their family isn’t built with genuine love; it is a contract. This is major for a child his age.

I don’t think some people understand what that does to a child psychologically. To know not only the twisted notion of love in their family is conditional, but also their existence (which is why Touya emphasizes, “I didn’t even know why I existed”).

But this is a perfect example of how Horikoshi’s backpedaling writing tricks the viewer in forgetting that Endeavor is central to his family’s suffering.

Hori instead places a part of the blame on Touya by urging the viewers to see him as a “naturally evil” child. However, once the image of Enji as an abuser has been established, and when the relationship the family seems to have with Touya is demonstrated through Natsuo's outburst and Fuyumi's dedication to his shrine, Touya’s actions still come across as a child desperate to find meaning in their existence and be loved again. Going from golden child to scapegoat at the snap of fingers is quite traumatic.

It’s kind of crazy how people will be so quick to blame Touya for not being a "perfect" victim when he was 8-13 years old. People blame him as far back as when he was 16 years old. The creator of the video these comments belong to blames Touya for not calling out to Endeavor when he went back home, as if Touya wasn’t witnessing his father abusing Shouto, like 🧍

Liking these characters isn’t wrong, but refusing to acknowledge Enji’s role in the downfall of his son is. Enji being a hero and vowing to atone for abusing his family, doesn’t immediately discount the pain every family member went through, nor does it discount the fact he had 20-15 years to realize what he was doing; meanwhile, his children are expected to be more virtuous and do so while suffering in silence.

[m1zisu4]

hylk from a colorblind lens is, simply put, an insufficient framework with which to view hyuna and luka's characters.

there's a lot of heartbreaking things about this frame. the control heperu exerts over luka strips him of his autonomy and his ability to grow. hyuna develops the maturity to understand that luka didn't have the capacity to make better choices, or to process and "account" for his actions. yet she loves him so fully, so completely, that her first instinct is to protect him from harm. her vulnerable, childish luka.

and isn't that a familiar torture, loving someone who hurts you in ways they can't understand? a betrayal that ruins both your lives. their inexpressible, deep-down remorse. it's a privilege to be seen as childlike—vulnerable, ignorant, inherently deserving of protection, care, and guidance—by someone you love. it is not a privilege afforded to everyone.

something that strikes me so deeply about hyunwoo's relationship with hyuna (particularly in actor au, but i believe it applies universally) is that he wants to protect his older sister because he sees her as a bit naive. she's not just a wise and worldly badass, or a caretaker. she's chaotic, ditzy, and openhearted, possibly to a fault. when jacob meets hyuna, he sees her in a similar way: deserving of protection. care. guidance. faith, in her ability to heal and to aid them. to work toward something better.

it's significant that the two places hyuna is seen as a 'child' or a 'kid,' or someone who deserves nurturing attention and protection, are 1) in her relationship with her brother 2) outside of anakt. the conditions of the garden and the stage are not conducive to this view of her, especially with the lens that they are sites where colorism is practiced and enforced as the norm.

luka is miserable. he is tortured and abused. his fair looks, which are decided and maintained by heperu, win him attention, accolades, and affluence. heperu's abuse and "their" (luka does not have a say) engagement with segyein society mean that luka ends up stunted, and deeply cruel. hyuna recognizes that he is both these things.

killing hyunwoo was brutal, unjust, and traumatizing, no matter luka's intentions or his level of forethought, and hyuna does not forgive him. in spite of their world's bleak conditions and the inherent cruelty of the system that subjugates them both, she acknowledges the discrepancies in their power and assigns responsibility for her brother's death to luka.

consider how important luka is to heperu as a commodity, and the punishment that would come if hyuna or hyunwoo had attacked him instead. consider that phan forgot hyuna and hyunwoo existed at all. from conception, hyunwoo and luka's lives were valued differently. vivimeng may have written that into the series to further their critique of colorism in the k-pop industry. but colorism's insidiousness extends far beyond the stage; it pervades our most private relationships and our thought patterns through unconscious bias. regardless of vivimeng's intent, these are the circumstances of their brown characters.

i just think it hits on something very real. being forced to mature through trauma while your pale, light-eyed friend recedes into a childlike state. recognizing their innocence, their ignorance, and loving them so deeply you hate yourself for it. the love is there, and it is mutual. it always has been. the power relations are there, too, and all the pain. it poisons the love, but the love is there. it was never a question.

my favorite panels from arise and walk are the ones below. i feel they capture the feelings i describe so succinctly. hyuna acknowledges the scars luka's left her with, and we get a sense for the depth of the injustice she faced. it is followed by another line, which contrasts the coldness of the first—at last, action. confrontation. but also, that familiar tenderness.

you, who betrayed me so cruelly

i finally hold you in my arms

[lagginguniverse]

Hey. hands you a bug

[theoryofwhatnow]

i like to think that nigel does more than just follow alex.

i like to think that other students are also nauseated by what happened to him and they can almost claim to feel his presence in the school halls and in his bedroom. like there’s a soft whistle or cry near the tracks where he died or a heaviness to his name now that even someone like raj or other students who barely knew him can’t deny. his old desk feels cold and his books were destroyed because nobody would take them. the colbie house sits empty and won’t be bought because there’s just this feeling. this inexplicable grief that lingers for him, and maybe it’s his own sadness that has bled through the veil and seeps into the places he used to inhabit.

i like to think despite it all, the universe still recognizes nigel as a victim of what happened even if no one will come right out and say it.

[akuma-tenshi]

he finally posts on swiftspace and he's vaguing about his ex. god i love him