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Saw an old lady today that looked like an old lady and was dressed like an old lady except she was wearing big goth stomping boots like this

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"you are gay and chinese" continues to be such a profound and emotionally impactful work to me which is rly funny

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fuck my stupid superstar life

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this heat is crazy

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I am praying for this series to give us some nice and heartwarming shot of Rudo's proper smile at the end of the story. I need it for my mental health

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@silvyavan I genuinely can't believe I haven't thought to look at it from broader angle. The themes are very much here

When Noerde fights with Riyo she believes in herself. Winning not only will confirm she's a good warrior, it will take her from a rookie to an actual raider— step closer to Zodyl. It's this goal that helps Noerde save her hair and Riyo can't take it away. But when Zodyl leaves her behind, Noerde gives up. She still proves she's a powerful warrior, but in a self-destructive way. She lost the last thing she looked forward to and after it didn't mind to lose everything else

Amo had no autonomy over her hair, just like over everything else in her life. The rapist kept her in the same dress she was bought in and kept the same haircut (just a bit longer), as if to preserve the image of that little girl she once was. Cleaners saved her and gave her opportunities to grow and change. She really wanted that. Amo tells this to Riyo and then asks to fix her haircut a bit to fit Amo's liking. She doesn't look back at her mother and the rapist anymore, she cut them off and choose a new way of living

The fact that Riyo is important to both of theirs stories is just. wow. no wonder her name sounds similar to "riyoushi" (barber)

Her own deal is much less about the length of the hair than it is about the hairstyles. Most of the time Riyo ties up hair in a way that visually keeps most of it above her shoulders, even if there are braids/twintails coming down like in a dollfest outfit. It is the look Riyo is most comfortable to present to people. Similar to how she keeps up a certain front even in tough situations. No matter if she's upset or scared she tries to smile and keep cool.

When we see Riyo with hair down is when we see another part of her that is vulnerable and willing to open up in some way. She tells Rudo about parents giving us both good and bad. She reveals to Noerde her ex job and a promise not to kill anyone else. Going by the "hair = memories" logic, Riyo doesn't want to forget about her past and it holds a lot of meaning to her, but she's also very unwilling to let random people know about it.

Headcanon/overanalysis about significance of hair in Sileian culture

Hair by itself doesn't seem to be sacred or very meaningful for Sileia. Young and elder women are allowed to cut it short. And Noerde was less offended by the comment than by a possibility of Zodyl thinking of her as "airheaded damsel"

Despite this, post Sileia destruction both known characters from there have very long hair

Noerde keeps it long because of her jinki, it's a part of her power. Pair it with strange loyalty to Zodyl— who gifted her the comb—and one might argue she grew it out for him specifically. I disagree with this point for a few reasons, but will explain why on some other day

Mildretta, however, is not a giver. She doesn't have to keep it long, but still does. It's a cool design choice in isolation and a coincidence when standing side by side with Noerde, but I thought there might be more to it

Some real life cultures cut their hair to grieve, because it serves as a physical reminder of the loss. Maybe Sileia instead grow out hair to show grievance. By keeping it long they symbolically keep the memories from before the loss. For both Noerde and Mildretta it means holding on to memories of their tribe, their home

And this play on the concept of hair holding memories ties well with Noerde's arc. One loses everything dear to them to cross the border. She already burned off most of her hair and all that was left were memories and her pride of being a Sileia warrior. Border most likely stole that from her. Now she's left with nothing

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Headcanon/overanalysis about significance of hair in Sileian culture

Hair by itself doesn't seem to be sacred or very meaningful for Sileia. Young and elder women are allowed to cut it short. And Noerde was less offended by the comment than by a possibility of Zodyl thinking of her as "airheaded damsel"

Despite this, post Sileia destruction both known characters from there have very long hair

Noerde keeps it long because of her jinki, it's a part of her power. Pair it with strange loyalty to Zodyl— who gifted her the comb—and one might argue she grew it out for him specifically. I disagree with this point for a few reasons, but will explain why on some other day

Mildretta, however, is not a giver. She doesn't have to keep it long, but still does. It's a cool design choice in isolation and a coincidence when standing side by side with Noerde, but I thought there might be more to it

Some real life cultures cut their hair to grieve, because it serves as a physical reminder of the loss. Maybe Sileia instead grow out hair to show grievance. By keeping it long they symbolically keep the memories from before the loss. For both Noerde and Mildretta it means holding on to memories of their tribe, their home

And this play on the concept of hair holding memories ties well with Noerde's arc. One loses everything dear to them to cross the border. She already burned off most of her hair and all that was left were memories and her pride of being a Sileia warrior. Border most likely stole that from her. Now she's left with nothing

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im at th parking lot attacking people with chains & scythes & shit

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Eyebrowless women are my favourite genre of Kei Urana's designs. I love how she just keeps adding them and hope she doesn't stop

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The other night husband and I were watching a documentary about the yeti where they were doing DNA analysis of samples of supposed yeti fur, and every one of them came back as bears.

Anyway, the next night we watched a thing about some pig man who is supposed to live in Vermont. People said it had claws and a pig nose but walked upright like a man. Now, I happen to know that sideshows used to shave bears and present them as pig men. So every piece of evidence they gave of this monster sounds to me like a bear with mange.

So now the running joke in our house is that everything is bears. Aliens? Bears. Loch Ness monster? Bear. Every cryptozoological mystery is just a very crafty bear.

Bears. They’re everywhere. Be wary. Anyone or anything could be a bear.

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I wish Americans fucked with more foreign music. You don’t have to know the language to appreciate a good record. Folks in other countries listen to our music and don’t speak a lick of english. Music needs no translator

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just started playing the first Ace Attorney game on my train ride -- it's always been on my periphery but i had NO IDEA you actually got to play as Mia Fey in this, the first case is such a great tutorial and an absolute banger. mia fey i love you and your insecurity and outspokenness and determination in the face of sexism on literally all sides of you, genuinely why have i never heard more about her as far as female video game protagonists go

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wrote a very salty post but I have chosen piece and love on the planet earth by keeping it in the drafts

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aside from any ethical or political discussion, the use of generative AI in amateur projects really sucks to me. I think video games where you can tell all the voice acting was done by one of the developers buddies is great. I love when indie album art was painted by someone who doesn't really know how to paint. I really believe that there's a lot of value in amateur projects where it's clear the people making it didn't have a lot of resources.

If you use AI in projects then it'll be distracting, and if you do everything yourself you'll fall short, and it'll still be distracting, but instead of being frustrating or just plain cheap it'll be endearing.

that's not to mention that using generative AI usually garners a lot of ill will, especially in indie spaces.