aliceinwonderpants

[aliceinwonderpants]

I agree with pretty much everything above. Just want to add some more analysis. Youth exploitation is a constant theme in Dandadan. It's in how aliens believe they have a right to Momo's body, how an entire clan sacrifices children and their families to maintain a status quo that benefit them, how every one of these teenager is made to feel responsible for basic decency from Seiko (who, to her credit is very much against it), and so on.

I've seen a lot of commentary that dandadan is "too rapey" "too fan servicey" and it's not "necessary" and that it could just leave it out , and a lot of others saying yes that's the point . And yes, that is the point. However, I don't want to ignore the people who find it uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable. And if you don't want to watch something that makes you uncomfortable, that's your right as an audience member. But I think that them saying that it's unnecessary or just it doesn't need to be included are missing the point of the story. It's not a fun , zany romcom, it's a story about people and a society that removes agency from people and teenagers, and the consequences of those actions. It's about a group of disinfrachised people coming together and building a community despite of that.

Lots of people watch anime as a form of escapism from their life. And that's ok. Just don't watch. But to say that the parts that make you "uncomfy" should be removed and are unnecessary. Not ok.

Do you think it's uncomfortable that a girl who presents as a gyaru is constantly being assaulted? A nerdy boy is kidnapped and also sexually assaulted? A handsome jock who's home life is a wreck trying to keep up a cheerful facade because that's what expected of him?

How about the way the people in power , whether that be technologically, monetary, socially ,physically, taking advantage of people who live in the social outskirts?

To say that something would be better when you take out the core themes?

Isn't that just another form of censorship?

[aliceinwonderpants]

I'm sorry. That's just cool af. Why does it only have 100 some notes?!

[aliceinwonderpants]

Thing is. Even a lot of what we now consider forest at least in the US and Canada (idk about anywhere else) is ridiculously young. The actual old trees have all been chopped down for lumber or paper manufacturing. Forests as we often think of them are what was replanted afterwards. Even wildness is sanitized

When you're a kid you just take trees for granted. Then when you get to be an adult you realize that a fully mature tree cannot be created in an amount of time that fits in a convenient landscaping timeframe for love nor money nor all the powers of science. Then you realize that people are very very very cavalier about chopping them down

[aliceinwonderpants]

H*ck that's literally my post. Hell yeah

Screaming

[aliceinwonderpants]

i love when sibling characters are fucked up from the same event but in opposite ways

[aliceinwonderpants]

Trans fem Ishmael and Trans masc Gregor make the last April Fools event much sadder.

I’m a transfem Ishmael truther

[aliceinwonderpants]

Reblog to open a rail line from your blog to the person you reblogged this from

[aliceinwonderpants]

I've gone fifteen years on this website without absorbing any information about homestuck and I'm not about to start now

[aliceinwonderpants]

If I may offer some perspective as someone who returned to college after 10 years and grad school in completely different field. I was as baffled as you from the perspective of a fellow student. Talking with my classmates however had me realize something. The cost of living is even higher and those kids went through some of their formative student years during the covid epidemics. Many have been on a survival mindset ever since. They have even less free time than we had as students, needing to work sometimes twice as many hours just to get by, even with loans and tuitions, so they end up focusing on what gives the most direct results. They pick and choose what to complete because there's no way to get through everything, at least not as new college students. Often with not completing assigned readings, or ungraded assignments comes great anxiety as well which can further freeze some students. I don't know what field you're teaching, but my best advice would be to quote assigned readings whenever it comes up. Have your students know where they can find more information if needed and what can be learned from those readings.

Just my 2 cents as a physics grad student going back to college to be a daycare teacher.

Hey, wanted to write a note of support as a grad student who has been teaching for two years now. I began my PhD after a pretty serious break from college (7 years) and yes, it's true that "back in my day" some students did not do the readings. But I can tell how much the situation has changed in the past 10 years noticeably. It's super visible if you are in academia/have been for an extended period of time. It's sad and bleak, and so much is being sacrificed at the altar of professionalization (in addition to other literary-related issues).

Hi! Thanks, and also: solidarity. It's grim out here. I agree with you that students' very narrow-minded focus on what they think of as "career prep" is part of the problem. One of the things I'm trying to figure out at the moment is why they refuse to make the connection between "college is often a gateway to better employment opportunities" and "this is in no small part because of the knowledge, attitudes, and skills cultivated in the liberal arts disciplines that have been at the core of a university education for generations."

...I mean, yeah, systematic social devaluation of the humanities. But surely some young adults still get a thrill out of deciding that some social orthodoxies are wrong, actually.

[aliceinwonderpants]

[aliceinwonderpants]

[aliceinwonderpants]

Ok but like. I adore the idea of the spooky kids squad all being friends.

First time drawing them in quite a while and it’s a fucking shitpost of all things

Based off of this meme:

[aliceinwonderpants]

What trans people mean: You don't know what's in people's pants. The way you interact with them is through perceived gender norms. Sex has very little to do in day to day interaction and even if you're used to not seeing difference between it and gender, there is one.

What cis people hear: So we make it about what's in your pants. Got it!

idk how controversial this is but we never should've ceded ground on the whole "sex vs gender" thing with cis people tbh

[aliceinwonderpants]

Honestly the potential possibility that there is even a 1% chance that a confused cis person mistakenly gets a gender surgery they'll later regret should not be a reason to make gender-affirming surgeries harder to get. Not just because trans peoples' lives should be easier, but also because I find that thought to be fucking hilarious.

Like dude how do you accidentally sign up for get-your-dick-inverted-and-your-balls-removed surgery and now you're shocked that you got your dick undone and balls removed? The fuck did you think that was gonna do. lmao fucking idiot.

[aliceinwonderpants]

One that stands out to me is Momo's old 'popular' friends are genuinely nice. They're not bitchy or stupid, they love fashion and makeup and are supportive of her developing new relationships, both romantic and platonic. They are also just as weird as Momo and the crew. When they thought Momo and Okarun were getting bullied, they set up a whole interrogation/investigation thing complete with poses and lighting.

Ways I can think of that “DanDaDan” differs from other shonen series:

* Female MC is as important as male MC

* Canon romance gets consistent development through the series. I think that’s part of the reason why the MC ships with the rivals (Aira, Jiji) aren’t as popular with the fandom for once. The main ship is actually getting good development, so the fanbase doesn’t have to make up headcanons to fill in the space.

* Flips the found family trope on its head by having the main group despise new people whenever they show up and they even actively try to kick them out. The new people only end up staying because they keep lingering around to the point that the main group just gives up and lets them stay.

* The rivals aren’t emo or angst-ridden. Aira is a delusional tryhard popular girl while Jiji is a himbo drama queen. I’d even go as far to say that the MCs are the ones who are emo and angst-ridden.

* Supporting cast is more than just important, they become integral to the story. I’d say that the further you read into DanDaDan, the more it becomes an ensemble cast where everyone is a protagonist in their own right.

* World-building is all over the place, but in a good way. Most other shonen are pretty consistent with what kind of world their characters live in. MHA is superhero-based, Naruto is ninjas and magic, Bleach is spirits, and so on. DanDaDan feels like the author just throws whatever cool shit they can think of into the story. That’s actually the reason why I wrote in a different post that DanDaDan reminds me more of Marvel/DC than any other shonen series, it manages to capture the catch-all insanity of those comics.

* Doesn’t rely on hidden power-ups. The main characters either have to outsmart the villains or they have to train to get better with the powers they already have.

* The pervert comic relief guy is actually endearing for once. Not because of his pervert tendencies, but because he’s so oblivious to how socially inept he is that it’s kind of funny. This is gonna sound strange, but he sorta reminds me of Thor in Thor Ragnarok. Full of himself and oblivious to how dumb he can be. He’s Thor without the good looks lol.

* Flips the “nerdy outcast loser somehow gets a harem” trope. Instead of making Okarun cooler than how he actually is, the story emphasizes that the women who fall for Okarun are as weird as him. Momo is a weird outcast, Aira has main character syndrome, Vamola doesn’t understand how to human because she’s literally not one, Rin thought Okarun was a vampire (and wanted him to be).

* Flips the “elderly figure in charge of the teenagers” trope. I don’t really get motherly figure vibes from Seiko Ayase, I get more “cool wine aunt who is stuck with her niece” vibes. In fact, there was the arc where Okarun showed up to her in spirit mode to get her help with fighting off the alien invasion and Seiko’s response was, “Well, I’m not in the area and I have other shit to do, so you kids figure it out.”

* The series takes the piss out of the trope of mystical/magical items that the group acquired to get their powers. I mean…the main mystical MacGuffin in the series are Okarun’s balls.

* Okarun was about to go into an “I’m weak / I wish I was stronger / I want to get stronger for my friends” breakdown, but Turbo Granny told him to shut up and keep fighting.

* Not afraid to put the “cool girl” in as many funny situations as possible. Off the top of my head, the series built up Momo as this cool, tough girl who doesn’t take shit from anyone…then several chapters later, Okarun found out she got a job at a maid cafe.

(Feel free to add to the list!)

[aliceinwonderpants]

Playing through 1987 Cosmic Overture and I’m dying they brought Voyager into Laplace basically like an emotional support dog for Kiperina

[aliceinwonderpants]

Interesting….