#but I hope I got the point across

[jesselynmaxkidz]

Has anyone ever talked about the Gwen Stacy neck snap parallels yet?

I saw these scenes play out and I can't stop thinking about that trumatizing neck snap from like, about 10-ish years ago.

Like, the first screenshot (excuse the fact that they look horrible, I just screenshoted it from youtube) Miles caught Gwen after he accidentally distracted her, as any normal spider person would, and the way he caught her looks like the infamous Gwen Stacy scene. But if you look at Gwen, she's just hanging there.

It matches their storylines pretty well too. It shows how Gwen is just kinda resigned to the "Spiderman Canon," not really fighting or questioning it, and just going with it, while Miles is still swinging, trying to carry Gwen away from the "Canon" narrative.

He's still swinging because he hasn't fallen yet, he doesn't know about the Canon Events like Gwen does. He's not resigned to the "Canon" like Gwen does. Miles looks forward to what could be while still checking back so that Gwen doesn't get left behind or fall into oblivion.

The next time we saw it, it's the reverse (they really said let's take turns having the Gwen Stacy tragedy didn't they). It's Miles being caught this time and Gwen the one doing the catching.

Gwen looks torn. She wants to help him, but she's also following a "Canon." She's not swinging like Miles is, she's hanging on a thread that she doesn't want to let go. She doesn't know what she should do, and looks down.

While Miles, instead of just hanging there, snaps the web, signaling to her that no, he refuses to conform to the "Canon" if he can still look up and do something about it, and continued on with the chase. He won't sit still and resign himself to a tragedy that he could prevent now that he knows about it.

[nanaonmars]

i hate when people are like “it’s just a movie/book/song, etc.” because it almost never is. people can draw parallels to real life from things that happened in books or movies. in fact it might help them understand a situation better. i was rewatching captain marvel the other day and i immediately thought of palestine. the skrulls can be used as a metaphor for palestine. they were seen as a threat and their planet was destroyed. the refugees that are left have been scattered. they just want a home. the colonizers are trying to convince everyone that they’re the heroes of the story when in reality they are the villains. they’re trying to “purify” the world by getting rid of an innocent race.

i have a lot of feelings about people only understanding situations like this when you have to put it in terms of fictional people. like it shouldn’t actually take this much for you to stop dehumanizing actual people and see them as human beings in need of help, but you should never underestimate the power that media holds.

i also understand that in some situations you HAVE to make it a metaphor or you could be in serious danger. mostly in a “people that DO this are doing a good thing, but it’s the consumers that need to do better” kind of way, you know? like people are so desensitized. they don’t wanna admit it’s happening to real people but they’ll be so quick to mourn/demand justice for these fictional characters…

[mah-o-daryaa]

The Cycle Repeats: Part II

One of the key themes of the ATLA franchise is the concept of the Avatar; master of all 4 elements, the fusion of humanity and Raava, the spirit of light and order, whose sole duty is to bring balance to the world, and be the bridge between both the physical and spiritual realms. Along with this comes the idea of reincarnation, which is the premise of the Avatar Cycle, the idea that the Avatar reincarnates in a cyclic order in any of the four nations (fire, air, water, earth). Another concept related to the Avatar Cycle (although originating from the fandom) is the idea of the Avatar fixing the mistakes of their past life, which is often indicated in differences in both habitual circumstances and personalities between both predecessor and successor, and therefore differences in morality.

But what if I were to tell you that the saying "history repeats itself" is also true among Avatar incarnations? Not exactly going the same way, but rather parallels between the lives, personalities, and accomplishments (and failures) of past lives?

In this series of metas, I will be going over parallels (or in some cases, foils) between certain pairs of Avatars that lived decades, or even centuries apart, and yet could not have ever been more similar.

Elemental Foils: Avatars Aang and Kyoshi

"Aang was an Air Nomad born in 12 BG and the Avatar during the Hundred Year War, succeeding Avatar Roku and preceding Avatar Korra. As the Avatar of his time, he was the only person capable of using all four bending arts: airbending, waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. He was also one of a select few Avatars and one of the first in many cycles to learn the ancient art of energybending as well as the first Avatar known to have actively used the technique."

"Kyoshi was the Earth Kingdom-born Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Kuruk of the Northern Water Tribe, and preceding Avatar Roku of the Fire Nation. She died at the age of 230, making her the oldest confirmed human, and was also an exceptionally tall woman, towering over most people. Kyoshi was born to two criminals: Jesa, a renegade Air Nomad nun, and Hark, a thief from an impoverished family of Earth Kingdom actors. She inherited her later signature outfit from her parents, adopting her mother's golden headdress and metal war fans and her father's daofei face paint."

Similarly to the previous post, I listed the first paragraphs of both Aang and Kyoshi's respective Wiki pages, and you can clearly see foils between them both and balk at the idea of any connection between them whatsoever (aside from Raava, ofc). However, Kyoshi is actually very similar to Aang in terms of their heritage and relationships with other people, second only to her predecessor Kuruk overall in terms of similarities with Aang.

I will first list the differences between the two. Aang is an Air Nomad; Kyoshi is an Earth Kingdom citizen (what is the citizen name for the EK?). Aang's native element is air; Kyoshi's is earth, its natural opposite. Kyoshi believed in absolute justice (which, yes, included murder, although she never killed someone out of boredom--she only killed when necessary); Aang was taught that all life is sacred (which conflicted with his duty to kill Ozai).

Underneath these skin-deep contrasts, however, lie striking similarities between our protagonist and his daofei past life.

(WARNING: There will be possible spoilers for both The Rise of Kyoshi and possibly The Shadow of Kyoshi. If you do not wish to be spoiled, I suggest not reading any further and scrolling past this post until you have finished reading both novels. You have been warned.)

The first point I will make is their heritage. In The Rise of Kyoshi, it is revealed that Kyoshi's mother, Jesa, was a rogue Air Nomad, and a nun at that. Meaning both Aang and Kyoshi have Air Nomad heritage (although Kyoshi's native element was earth, not air, which I will get into later). Both Kyoshi and Aang grew up travelling, without staying in one place for a long time. In Kyoshi's case, her nomadic lifestyle prevented her from being discovered as the Avatar early on. However, like I mentioned earlier, they have opposite native elements; Aang's is air, Kyoshi's is earth.

And yet, they have similar capabilities in both elements. Kyoshi is the only known Avatar to struggle with her native element, and seems to favor airbending in combat (which could be linked to her heritage as a part of both cultures). Likewise, Aang is stated to be an airbending master at just 12, while earthbending was the element he most struggled with (as Aang struggled with learning to face his problems head-on, instead of running away from them). Ironically, although according to the fandom, Kyoshi would despise Aang for running away from his Avatar duties, Kyoshi has also run away from her duties when it became clear that she was Kuruk's successor, not Yun.

The second thing is their relationships with other people. Yes, Kyoshi befriended a group of daofei (The Flying Opera Company) and an immortal assassin who taught her the secret to immortality (Lao Ge/Tieguai), but she has a similar dynamic with the Flying Opera Company that Aang would have with the GAang centuries later: A motley crew of runaway misfits who work together and understand each other as family, and see you as your own person instead of the Avatar. It certainly beats having unsupportive "friends" who consider you the Avatar first, disregarding your own identity (looking at you, Team Kuruk--except Nyahitha, he's approved in my book). Speaking of which, both Kyoshi and Aang's father figures (Kelsang and Gyatso) were Air Nomad monks from the Southern Air Temple (like Aang), who influenced their young proteges' bending affinity. Both Kelsang and Gyatso were also companions to Kyoshi and Aang's predecessors (Kuruk and Roku respectively, completing one Avatar Cycle of each element). Kelsang was killed by Jianzhu (another former companion of Kuruk) and Gyatso took down at least 50 FN soldiers during the Air Nomad Genocide (orchestrated by Firelord Sozin, Avatar Roku's childhood friend) before laying his own life (there's a popular theory that Gyatso used suffocation to suck the air out of the room suicide-style).

Kyoshi and Aang have also hid themselves behind masks. Kyoshi donned her mother's headdress and fans, as well as her father's daofei makeup (to hide her facial expressions and to appear more intimidating to her enemies) as a part of her iconic appearance. Aang, on the other hand, went through two brief masks during the entire series: His stint as the elderly Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis III in The King of Omashu (Book 1: Episode 4) and his stint as Kuzon in The Headband (Book 3: Episode 2).

Another thing they have in common is the fact that they were both struck by lightning (Kyoshi by Xu Ping An; Aang by Azula), which mortally wounded them (Kyoshi has lightning scars all over her hands; Aang has a scar on his back where the lightning entered his body, and an "exit" scar on his foot where it left his body). Ironically, in Kyoshi's case, the lightning helped her enter the Avatar State, while for Aang, it locked his chakras, preventing him from being able to access the Avatar State.

Also, both Kyoshi and Aang's love interests are from the same nation as their successors (Rangi is from the Fire Nation, Katara is from the Southern Water Tribe). Kyoshi, however, had a brief crush on False Avatar Yun, and I prefer to ship Aang with Toph, both being earthbenders. (I also have two separate theories that both Yun and Katara are descendants of Avatar Kuruk, but that's for another time.)

The final similarity between Kyoshi and Aang is their age--more specifically, their age at death. Both Kyoshi and Aang lived to be extremely old, with minimal physical ageing (Kyoshi learned to stop herself from ageing and lived to be 230, while Aang was trapped in the iceberg for 100 years). However, Aang died at a relatively young physical age at 66 due to the heavy toll on his body after freezing himself in the Avatar state for a century (still higher than Kuruk, tho), while his chronological age was a still mighty 165 at death. Roku, by contrast, lived to a relatively normal 70 years old.

In conclusion, despite their differences in morality and overall journey in becoming fully realized, Kyoshi and Aang connect in their shared heritage as Air Nomads, as well as their ability to disguise in unexpected places. This is proof that history doesn't always repeat, but it often rhymes. In the next part, I will explore how their predecessors, Kuruk and Roku, act as foils to each other.

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[duchesschameleon]

alsdkjflakdsjflkasdj josh/sam???? yes please + 24 for the song

oh this is PERFECT. song is run by delta rae this is so good

then we’ll race like falcons to crash and burn / learn the lessons we never learned / if you kiss me harder someday I’ll turn / to you, to you / I wanna run, to feel again, to be no one / to run under the stars of Orion / and all my life I’ve been burning by the dreams I’ve had

sam walks out of gage & whitney with josh, walks into the rain, and he doesn’t care that he’s getting soaked, doesn’t have an umbrella or anything to ward off the rain.

none of it matters, he’s running off with his best friend and he’s going to run off to new hampshire and help elect the new president. he’s leaving lisa behind and new york, the stuffiness of gage & whitney, the unfulfilling droll of long days. he’s leaving it behind to go back to politics, long days of a different kind and balancing all different kinds of work, legalese and political goals with speech writing.

it’s an exciting prospect, getting back to politics and work that can really matter. and doing it as a speech writing, a deputy communications director, a senior advisor is the best way it could happen.

not to mention doing it with josh. through all the late nights, the different campaign stops, the transition, the beginnings of their time in the white house, josh is there. josh is right by his side through everything, to be a sounding board, a friend, a partner through everything.

sam’s life changed the moment he saw josh smiling, soaking wet, through the glass doors at gage & whitney. he ran from that posh, polished life in new york and quite honestly, he’s never looked back and never regretted it.

send me a number & a pairing!

[the-eccentric-eclectic]

Petition to stop counting billionaires or rich people as 'people'.

The foundation of human-ness, the cornerstone of humanity is empathy. You don't acquire and keep huge amounts of resources without exploiting or harming people, animals or nature in some way. If you are good at capitalism you are horrible at empathy.

No empathy? Not a person.

[broadwayfangirl222]

I don't ship Vox and Alastor but I adore the idea of it as this one-sided thing. Like Vox is, on some level, low key into Alastor. That his side of the rivaly, outside of the obvious old vs new debate they have, is kinda like that old, stupid stereotype of the asshole kid pulling on their crush's pigtails (as well as just being pissed off 'cause he got rejected) Meanwhile for Alastor, he just genuinely hates Vox and has fun messing with him

[bixels]

Scary Sunset.

I'm concepting things way outta order in this story, but I'm sure you can piece things together. Context is for a storybeat where, after defeating and capturing Adagio (thus having all three sirens in her possession), Sunset enacts her revenge plot to release the sirens on Canterlot as Thea discovers she's been manipulated. In a confrontation, the two scuffle and fight over the siren orbs while Sunset struggles with her conflicting wants and emotions.

[quillpokebiology]

//You know how the pokemon world doesn't have animals (anymore), but still calls pokemon things like "the fox pokemon" or "the owl pokemon"? My headcanon for that is that those names are specific genuses the pokemon fall into, not actually just a specific animal. Like, how owls are called Strigiformes, but everyone just says owl instead. So in the world, people would look at pokemon like hoothoot and say, "Oh, it's an owl!" but referring to its genus, not so much its species. You understand?

[periwinkla]

Maya Fey's character is written in such a charmingly, heart wrenchingly subtle way. She has to face all manners of tragedy, but she always has that smile on her face and presses on, feigning happiness and lightheartedness. It's honestly somewhat disturbing. How can someone smile so seemingly easily after such tragedy? Can you imagine going to your sister’s workplace, expecting to spend a quiet evening together, and instead... you see a slumped silhouette against the wall of the window? She spawns the most crazy things out of her mouth just to fill the silence sometimes. Why? Sure, it may be for the game's comic relief… but sometimes it appears a tad forced? Like it’s because she wants to build a relationship with Phoenix - like her sister asked her - and doesn't quite know how to. He’s the only person that can understand what she’s going through. She’s suffering. He’s suffering. So she needs to fill the silence somehow. And she drags him along most times, she is the one that decides they should take Power’s case, after all. After Edgeworth's trial she feels useless (even though she clearly was the reason Phoenix could save him... can you believe she just charged in against Von Karma? that's insane) and goes back home to resume her training so she can help Phoenix again. After Edgeworth's ‘death’, Phoenix didn't keep in touch. Although she didn’t know about Edgeworth, she knew that the whole year had been hard on them both in the first place... so she grew worried, and basically bargained with her client to go and get him and drag him to Kurain. Phoenix can get back into taking cases just because she's there to cheer him up. So she needs to be strong! Even though she's suffering tremendously as well. Mia isn't there anymore and now she also needs to take care of her cousin because apparently she can’t even have her aunt to rely on, because for some reason the universe decided to give her the most complicated family drama imaginable. When they face Franziska? She's awfully perceptive. She's only 18, and instead of being angry at Franziska's behavior, she wonders how she can be so strong? And she seems to admire her? Would a 18 year old accused of murder think that of the accuser? That's frankly baffling. It shows maturity far beyond her age, to think of the true feelings behind people’s behavior despite what it means for her situation. And then she gets kidnapped. And still, she feigns being fine… Then then Hazakura happens. All that and she's still thinking about other people! She tries to protect Godot, even though it's a moot point. She tries to be strong for Pearl - as Edgeworth points out - and she tries so hard to not make everything affect her. She takes everything in stride but also suppresses her feelings. And she's very very good at it, even. She seems fine. Franziska is baffled at her nonchalance, and somehow Edgeworth is the one who needs to explain it, perhaps because they had similar experiences and their tragedy is linked to the same root. Edgeworth tried to repress his feelings as well (although he is, by contrast, very very bad at hiding them) so he knows what he's talking about. I quite like that scene at the end of AA3 because that makes it deliberate on Takumi’'s part that he wanted to write her that way from the start. (it also adds to the development of 3 characters at once: Maya, Miles and Franziska) Her misfortunes don’t end here, either. SOJ happens. Kidnapped again, accused of murder again. People she trusted betray her and she finds it in her heart to forgive them? And now she also has a ton of responsibilities. And she needs to appear even stronger now in front of other people, because they depend on her. She’s still cheerful though. Because she needs to be. She first needs to be strong for Phoenix, then Pearl, then for the whole village of Kurain. And she manages to be, somehow. I love when characters are written this way. Once you have all the pieces together, if you go back and analyze their behavior, it makes the experience so much richer and so much more meaningful.

[pasteilian]

Do you have a recommendation when designing a black character? Or tips, or maybe pages you visit for references?

Suck at explaining stuff but I’ll try

‼️ Ethnic Features ‼️

So, the art world is in a very weird place when it comes to ethnic features. The conversation was about how using POC ethnic features as an insult in media was damaging and needed to stop, and that somehow morphed into people being scared about drawing people with those features.

Black people have big ears, big noses, and big lips. That's not the problem. The problem was that media was using it to make us look like giant ape, monkey, monster creatures. It's okay to give them these defining features.

Also, remember that brown people have lighter pigment under their feet, hands, and bottom lips. 🌸 (didn’t really know where to put this but drawing mix people is basically a spin the wheel we come in all different shapes and sizes and features. There’s really no wrong way to draw a mixed POC.)

‼️ It's Just My Style ‼️

I'm so goddamn tired of hearing this goddamn excuse. A style does not mean you can't properly represent POC. I would even go on to say that if your style is stunting you so grossly that you can't draw a proper black person, you have a bad art style. Sorry—not really.

Media has shown us that style does not stop representation. The only thing stopping that is your ignorance and refusal to improve. Great examples of ranging styles still being able to represent different POC are "Adventure Time," "Disney's Soul," "Proud Family," "Afro Samurai," etc. I'm just saying this because I've seen this excuse be more prevalent in the art world, and it's just better to nip that in the bud.

‼️ Whitewashing + I Don't Know How to Use the Color Brown ‼️

I've seen people make the excuse that the skin color is lighter because they use a pastel style, but they never bring up the fact that the only color in the art that's lighter is the skin tone. 💀

Also, the whole thing about people saying they don't know how to shade and color brown palettes is just completely bullshit. I would even say that trying to shade pale colors is harder than shading darker colors. Additionally, there are multiple artists and tutorials showing you exactly how it's done. You have no excuses other than you just don't want to.

YouTuber Sinix has a great video on painting skin tones!

‼️ Black Hairstyles ‼️

I love dreads. Dreads are a very pretty hairstyle. However, we have more hairstyles other than dreads. If you're going to draw black characters, I would encourage you to branch out and explore beyond dread heads. There are so many unique black hairstyles out there. We need to move on from just focusing on dreads.

YouTuber Ari has two wonderful videos on black hairstyles in video games. I would recommend checking them out.

‼️ References ‼️

I love referencing old black media such as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "The Proud Family," and "Little Bill" (before all the Bill Cosby stuff came out). I also appreciate how "House of the Dragon" implemented black people into the lore. Other references include "BOTW/TOTK Rottmnt," etc.

Some artists I reference all the time are Mohammed Agbadi, who doesn't do many art tutorials anymore but often discusses black characters in media, and his art is still amazing. Ethan Becker has a very interesting video on the racist triangle that I recommend checking out.

On Instagram, I love the art of Jojo.Dreamie, Chibichanga12 (holy shit, love their art), Bruniosktch, and Caw.Chan. I also just reference my family a lot. 💀

This is a lot of rambling, but what I’m gonna say is don’t stunt yourself by tricking yourself into believing that your art can’t include POC 🌸🌸‼️💌💖💌💌🎀💕💘‼️🧁

[unicornpopcorn14]

Dazai and his (dis)association with Guns

It's interesting to me how Dazai conically wields no firearms on him, neither in the PM nor in the ADA.

I mean, taking how dangerous both jobs are into consideration, and how he isn't as physically capable as the strongest ability users out there, you'd think he'd at least ensure a safety measure with him at all times.

But every gun he wields in the series is someone else's.

Every. single. one.

Even the handgun he wields in the Azure messanger arc, despite belonging to the agency, he doesn't constantly use:

While in Stormbringer, Dazai uses a tazer gun before meeting Adam and relying on him:

I've had many speculations regarding this pattern (feel free to add onto them), one of them being that Dazai thinks he doesn't even need guns, since strategies are his weapons, his hands alone are his weapons. In a world of crazy abilities, and users completely relying on said abilitis, being a nullifier might be considered the biggest threat, and a pretty sturdy weapon to rely on.

After some thinking, however, I found that while this might be part of the reason, it isn't enough to just disregard firearms as weapons entirely. Dazai's plans/predictions aren't foolproof, and as he'd explained, they are full of uncertanties, contrary to Fyodor's plans.

And Dazai's ability can't be relied on all the time. Having to touch the enemies/maintain proximity in order to activate it is definitely a hindrance. Besides, some enemies can be physically competent without their abilities, some might not even have abilities, but are formidable. Firearms in these situations would be extremely useful, given their range, and a good precaution.

Aside from combat, tw: suicide Let's not forget that a shooting oneself is subjectively the most painless way to die. So if anything, Dazai should be eager to have one on him and even attempt with it. But he doesn't, he never even seems interested in using guns at all in his suicide methods, hence he would have succeeded long ago...

So if it isn't out of unnecessity, then what might be the reason? I mean, having to count on your enemies to have guns in order to use one is rather inconveniet, right? Why can't he just carry the agency's gun or, before that, any of the countless PM's firearms? Well...

Here is what I think: Killing with guns is triggering for Dazai

Let's rewind a little...

15!Dazai is the earliest we see him using a firearm, and one of the few times he does shoot with said firearm, resulting in this fiasco:

He's clearly having a mental breakdown, spiraling, can't stop, and most importantly: can't think straight. This is Dazai's lowest moment in the whole series.

Thing worth mentioning: in the manga/lightnovel, Dazai does stop after shooting the man one time (basically killing him) and pauses, before he continues again and again and agian...

So I believe the triggering factor is either the death/corpse itself, or how the recoil felt.

We can't exactly determine what it might be, since remember, this is before Dazai even joins the Mafia. He's known Mori for mere weeks at this point. Whatever Dazai's going through in this moment has to related to his past prior to the mafia that we have yet to (or might never) see.

You'd get why Dazai, a person whose greatest ability is his mind above all else, would never wish to go through a moment where he can't keep his thoughts in check. Where he'd lose control.

And you know what's crazy? Dazai seems to avoid that outcome since then, as This is the only moment we see him actively kill someone with a gun in the series.

18!Dazai, through his (abusive) teaching moment with Akutagawa, shoots three times in hopes the other finally uses his ability defensively. There is a cause, and a motif, that a gun has to be involved in. And he knows Akutagawa is going to succeed in repelling them, he knows that won't kill him. Which is why wielding a gun is safe along with shooting it.

While in the ADA, in the instances Dazai wields a gun, he doesn't even shoot:

And that checks. Each one of these example were mere empty threats, but now I see that, as much as it's a threat to whoever he's pointing the barrel at, he's also under the mercy of it. Which means that every time he's used a gun since fifteen was a means to scare and not kill, if only to avoid the worst outcome which is losing control.

Dazai's sanity is on the line whenever the trigger is at the tip of his finger...

So why would he carry guns when he never even plans to shoot? When properly putting them to use threatens to send him into a breakdown, to overthrow his entire line of thinking?

One moment out of control might cost him his plans, his objectives, his subordinates, the lives he wishes to protect. And unless there is a motif for the gun (other than of course, killing) using it is a threat looming over him.

[the-daily-dreamer]

Reminder that if your feminism revolves around propping up women that partake in traditionally masculine activities/roles and shitting on or even hating women who embody traditionally feminine roles and enjoy feminine activities you’re not really a feminist.

It sets the precedent that women are only valuable and valid if they have traditionally masculine traits, which feeds a narrative that masculine traits are better simply because they are associated with men who are the ideal. It perpetuates the idea that things that are feminine and traditionally associated with women are in fact inferior to men/masculinity and should be looked down upon and belittled.

And, it alienates so many individuals that feel more comfortable in femininity, regardless of gender identity.

I think people in the ASOIAF fandom really need to learn this because feminine characters are so despised on the basis that they are not “better” women. Simply because they don’t embody traditionally masculine things like conquering or fighting.

Much of the hate comes from stans that love characters like Rhaenyra, Daenerys, and Arya (and do not get me wrong I love Arya), who are women and girls that are in positions that allow for more traditionally masculine behaviors and tomboyishness. And they will say incredibly sexist things about how the other women in media are inferior and directly contrast these women to their faves negatively by pointing out that they’re “too weak” or “subservient”. They reduce femininity to weakness and bowing to patriarchy instead of considering that some people have a different, more feminine nature. And that is OK! Just because a woman isn’t wielding a sword or fighting on the front lines or pursuing leadership roles in masculine ways (because historically women exacted and sought power in different ways than men) doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable and strong characters. Do not use feminine characters as a negative comparison to show how “feminist” and great your fave is. Because it’s just so blatantly sexist.

Don’t fall into the trap of reinforcing patriarchal rhetoric!!! Don’t reinforce narratives that traditional masculinity is superior to femininity!! Don’t belittle feminine activities and act as if they aren’t valuable!!! Girbosses are great but so are gentlewomen.

[nikoisme]

Okay so a little thing I noticed is how this random citizen flinches and calls Nimona "freak" when he sees her. This is actually a lot of people's reactions when they see someone using this style (punk rock ig, vibrant colors). And in my experience a lot of queer, especially trans people enjoy this style. You can see that Nimona's design is much different than those of the citizens', even when she is in her "human" form trying to blend in. Everyone is dressed pretty casually, like you could walk down the streets and see someone wearing their clothes. But Nimona stands out. And a lot of people are judgmental purely if someone stands out and doesn't follow their traditional beliefs, norms and roles.

[dootznbootz]

that WHO in no longer u oh my GOD

YESSSS

Like, yeah, Odysseus is like "Yandere" (joking but also not) because kills all who even go near Penelope and Telemachus and he's very protective of them AND jealous.

But I think this "WHO?!" is also a desperate plea as to who is this dangerous man who is near his wife? A warlord? A conquerer? A man who would not even care about Penelope for who she is and mistreats her?

Because even in the Odyssey, Odysseus asks about Penelope to his mother.

Tell me of the wife I married. What are her thoughts and plans? Is she still there with our son, keeping watch on everything? Or has she been married                            to the finest of Achaeans?

(Book 11, Johnston)

There's not even much resentment in his question. There could be but Narrator does not say. The use of "the finest of Achaeans" almost is a "Did she at least marry the best man? Did she at least marry a GOOD man?"

In "No Longer You", when he hears of this dangerous man NEAR his wife, he is SCARED. It could be jealousy but I feel it's more of concern. As it is in the Odyssey.

"I understand if she would remarry, it pains me but I did tell her that when Telemachus finally grows his beard, she could. I will love her always but is she at least happy? Is she safe?"

And she's not safe. She's not happy. He is terrified.

Psst. The reason why My Odysseus takes a long time to grow his beard is because of that line. He's hoping that his son will take after him and take forever to grow a beard like he did (as he doesn't really have one even when he first leaves for Troy) because he would try forever to get home. Penelope even teases him that he still doesn't have one so that's a silly request and that's the point. "I will never stop trying to come back to you. He and I will likely remain beardless forever." (it's a little funky for him when he finally grows one by the end of Troy. He's thinking "...Shit. Telemachus, stay baby-faced for your dad please.")

ANYWAYS.

I mean we all know that these two are obsessed with each other in the Odyssey and in Epic. They are likeminded and are so integral to who they are. They mean everything to one another. I think Odysseus genuinely does want Penelope happy. As even in the Odyssey with him simply asking for another bed, shows how much he loves and respects her. He could've been like "get in it" even though she had rejected him at first but he LISTENS BECAUSE HE LOVES HER. Only breaking down into a sobbing mess when he believes she destroyed their bed.

"Heaven made you as you are, but for sheer obstinacy you put all the rest of your sex in the shade. No other wife could have steeled herself to keep so long out of the arms of a husband she had just got back after nineteen years of misadventure. Well, nurse, make a bed for me to sleep alone in. For my wife's heart is just about as hard as iron."

(Book 23, Rieu)

Please note that this is his attempt to insult her in a way and yet he still talks about her being from Heaven 👀 SIMP

But even though he's deeply hurt by her rejection (poor guy would've probably sobbed himself to sleep) He still asks for another bed. After sleeping on the floor and in the dirt since he's been on Ithaca, refusing beds unless it's his own marriage bed, he takes her 'no' because he values her happiness and comfort over his own. He takes a lesser bed so she can still sleep in their own luxurious one.

I mean we know how fucking awful the suitors are. Hold Them Down is a disturbing song. (as it should be. As they are not good men) He does not even know how bad these men are yet. If his future self could speak with his past self, he'd probably be like "Yeah, don't worry about the guy who kills a bunch of people, they had it coming. ;) " or something.

That "WHO?!" is a mix of jealousy AND fear.

[beware-the-water]

what a genuinely heartbreaking reason for this persons mother to see that she is worthy as a woman. especially since being a woman is seen as worthy to her once a man says it is.

i wonder, since she seems to have recently learned about trans people when this was posted, if she’s aware of all the women who have fought and still fight every waking day to be themselves.

how these women have been speaking out and fighting long before trans people ever existed.

how we fight against the very system and the very people (men) who have created this reality for all of us.

how the men trying to cosplay as women have never faced the struggles which she or any women has faced. the very struggles that led her (and the rest of the world) to believe women aren’t worthy.

and how these trans identified men are not fighting for women but for men to be considered women. they are not doing anything for women that (actual) women haven’t already.

i also wonder, has op’s mother learned about trans identifying females? if women are fighting so hard to become men, what does that imply (to the mother)? is it now suddenly not worth being a women because women are fighting to be seen as men? (obvi rhetorical question)

i’d also like to add this rewording.

women need to shut up about womanhood. my mom was raised to believe all women were less valuable than men and cried when she learned about trans identified men because the idea that men would fight that hard to be a woman was radical for her and it meant it was something worth being.

[lyss-butterscotch]

The rule is simple @ressioo . You hurt my sunstone, i hurt yours. Because hurting them is my job dammit. I apologize to anyone caught in the crossfire.

If it'll ease the hurt to anyone...

I was in a call with friends while making this and they suggested i make an amogus brush. So yeah i made this entire comic with the amogus brush.