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every autistic person watching this episode of dungeon meshi:

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the need to talk about the characters vs the fear that all of my analysis is just empty prose and surface level understanding

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I rewatched a few of the early episodes of spyfam today bc getting to see the movie gave me an itch to scratch, and in particular episode two made me finally able to conceptualize what about fandom twiyor that irks me so deeply. If you like widespread fandom interpretations of them I would uh, look away bc none of my opinions on it are positive.

Episode 2 of the spyfam anime remains one of my favorites because of all the little flourishes the studios add to sell you on Yor as a character while also expanding a bit on the manga's original commentary on the stigma that follows older single women. What draws Yor and Loid together as a family is that neither of them are capable of having conventional relationships. Both of them are war orphans forced to grow up far too soon and who threw away aspects of their humanity to fight for what they believe to be a better world. While Loid's position as a spy and mastery of deception allows him to avoid the stigmas that would come from the ordinary person discovering what he does, that is not something that holds true for Yor, whose weakest point is that she simply cannot understand "normal." She's aware of the way her coworkers demean her and insult her but can do nothing about it because her only conflict resolution skill is murder. She is constantly reminded that she is an outsider, hence why Loid's declaration at the party is so meaningful to her, and what convinces her to ask him to continue the facade as a married couple.

Underneath it all however, is a quiet showcase of amatonormativity that drove both Loid and Yor to their arrangement. Eden requires a student to have a perfectly nuclear family. Societal conventions dictate that Yor, happily single at 27, is someone pathetic (to her coworkers) or someone in need of help (to her brother). Marriage is an expectation that Yor is pressured to commit to, and a societal requirement that Loid must uphold for the sake of his mission. And while this showcase begins in episode 2 it is something that spyfam continues to highlight when it comes to the expectations both Loid and Yor struggle to meet when they try to hard/become to anxious over what is "expected" as a married couple vs what the other person is actually thinking/feeling.

Now, what the fuck does this have to do with fandom you ask? Here's the thing. Spyfam reached the broad range of anime fans when it exploded in popularity, which is when I started engaging with it beyond just comments on the latest manga chapters. Modern fandom already has the issue of classifying ships into tropes rather than actually like, shipping characters as they are. And that's exactly what happened with twiyor. People began going "oh my gosh this is the moment she fell for loid," "oh he's so in love with her just look at him," before we had even reached episode 10. Which was incredibly frustrating to me because clearly Loid and Yor are not anywhere near in love that soon in the story- and the basis for that frustration starts in episode 2 for me. Because Loid and Yor's marriage is one that is unconventional from the very beginning, and it is that factor that defines their dynamic an allows them to function as healthily and sweetly as they do. People don't need to be in love to be married or to be a parental unit. None of that requires romantic love, it is simply an expectation of our society, the same sort of expectation that cripples Yor and makes her think she has to find a partner, then that she has to find a husband to appease those around her. Seeing that completely erased in a large portion of art/commentary/fics written about them angers me because its something baked into the foundation of their dynamic and something I feel enhances them as a potential romantic pairing rather than detracts from it. But we can't have that because of course a man and woman living together and caring for a kid fell in love almost immediately.

And don't even get me started on how people misinterpret Loid for their far more romantic interpretations of his motivations and relationship with Anya and Yor or else I will start losing teeth from how hard I am clenching my jaw

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THE LOVERS Trailer by Studio Heartbreak

An animated thriller about the romantic tension between a seafood chef and a siren, set in a dark fantasy Philippines

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FAQ/guidelines

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Thanks for replying!! (I may have forgotten to pen this response whoopsie). I had known about the translation of Himmel's name but your point about how so many scenes are specifically shot in clear bright blue skies makes me feel like I should roll myself around on the tile floor for a long time. Like. God damn can this show stop trying to impress me for 2 minutes there is only so much awe I can hold. T-T the sky representing Himmel bc that's just how vast his influence is im gonna cry myself to sleep

I'm sure this has been talked about plenty but I'm still awestruck at how well Frieren handles Himmel and Frieren's relationship. I have never seen the 'character haunts the narrative' story beat done to such effectiveness.

Frieren's regret is that she didn't know Himmel before he was gone- but he exists in everything Frieren does without her fully realizing it. Frieren is a fundamentally different person and we *know* it is mostly thanks to Himmel's influence. The constant flashbacks, the way in which Frieren's logic and everyday routines have been altered by his memory. She collect spells because he and the others complimented the mundane, random spells she had found. The way that instead of her master, Himmel is the person who the monsters choose to immitate.

The flashbacks too, are so so potent in characterizing who Himmel was- not only in regards to Frieren, but in regards to Himmel as the hero. The person who lead his group to kill the demon king. The person who did everything in his power to help those around him. The person who was so clearly in love with Frieren but understood intimately that Frieren would not love him in the same regard and even worse, would be walking a very long and lonely path.

Hell, it's at the start of every chapter, in which time is only kept by the years before and after Himmel's death.

It all comes back to him, in the end

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this is such a non-issue but truly no greater tragedy than seeing a piece of media furryfied and they've made your special guy the wrong animal. like that animal does NOT align with the themes in my little guy's story, do it again.

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whoever said that dokja would have terrible media literacy is so wrong i cant explain just how incorrect that opinion is like??

shit taste =/= poor media literacy!!

kim dokja was explicitly taught by his mother to not only read stories, but to extrapolate meaningful information from those stories and apply them to his own life. like, that’s kind of one of the biggest parts of media literacy—being able to not only read a story, but understand what is being told and how that information affects/can be applied to your world.

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im not the unreliable narrator im the narrator who stepped up

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@gatheringkeepsakes OwO sky symbolism? I would like to hear about the sky symbolism pretty please

I'm sure this has been talked about plenty but I'm still awestruck at how well Frieren handles Himmel and Frieren's relationship. I have never seen the 'character haunts the narrative' story beat done to such effectiveness.

Frieren's regret is that she didn't know Himmel before he was gone- but he exists in everything Frieren does without her fully realizing it. Frieren is a fundamentally different person and we *know* it is mostly thanks to Himmel's influence. The constant flashbacks, the way in which Frieren's logic and everyday routines have been altered by his memory. She collect spells because he and the others complimented the mundane, random spells she had found. The way that instead of her master, Himmel is the person who the monsters choose to immitate.

The flashbacks too, are so so potent in characterizing who Himmel was- not only in regards to Frieren, but in regards to Himmel as the hero. The person who lead his group to kill the demon king. The person who did everything in his power to help those around him. The person who was so clearly in love with Frieren but understood intimately that Frieren would not love him in the same regard and even worse, would be walking a very long and lonely path.

Hell, it's at the start of every chapter, in which time is only kept by the years before and after Himmel's death.

It all comes back to him, in the end

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It is a little funny seeing people bring up Legendary's monsterverse vs Godzilla Minus One especially in regards to Godzilla x Kong because like. Minus One is a movie with something to say, it has impactful themes and is a glorious return to form that truly pays homage to the original film's thematic intentions while telling its own story. And Godzilla x Kong is a saturday morning cartoon crossover with a blockbuster budget. Hope this helps <3

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reading orv in the semester im doing a class on intro theatre studies is one hell of an experience. prof said ‘the death of the author is the liberation of the reader’ and i went through the psychological equivalent of getting hit in the head with a baseball bat

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As a fan of manhwa in general for the life of me I will never understand the praise that Revolutionary Princess Eve/The Princess Imprints the Traitor gets because it is straight up one of the most racist plots I have seen in a hot minute save for like, the general nonexistence of melanin in anything manhwa related (technically not all of them but like, cmon yall know what im talking about). To me that’s what makes it more insidious? Like people can call out the blatantly racist bs but the moment its more casually interwoven into the narrative it’s praises all around. What is awful even further is that this manhwa presents itself as the exact opposite, our protagonists are on the side of good, undoing the system of slavery, and with some very minor tweakings, you would actually have a gorgeously done story about how to best inspire large scale societal change, to what lengths should we use violence to further our righteous goals, changing the system from within vs using external pressure of retribution/rebellion, the nuances that come from being in a privileged position but still genuinely doing their best to help the people around them, the struggles that it takes to actually unite a group of people even if you are part of an oppressed class, and more themes actually very much relevant to the story it is theoretically trying to tell. Instead we get a flaming pile of garbage because the author refuses to actually engage with the themes and world set up.

Keep reading

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hey look up "[your birth month(in numbers not words)][your birth day] pokemon". if it's over 1025 remove the last digit. that's you as a pokemon now what did you get

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