#but idk this is just analysis

[odetojupiter]

andrew being in the foster system for 13 years before juvie, his home with cass being his 13th, bee being andrew’s 13th therpaist, the ravens scoring 13 goals in their first match against the foxes on the 13th of october, there are 13 ravens drills, neil’s interrogation with the fbi lasting 13 hours, andrew and neil’s numbers adding to 13

andrew: do you believe in luck?

neil: only the bad sort

13 being the ‘lucky number’ of the series despite it being a superstitious sign of bad luck. mirroring the subversion of expectations within the series that starts with andrew and neil beginning to understand each other after a shaky start, and ending with the foxes beating the ravens.

[bixels]

I watched Starship Troopers tonight.

[haematoclan]

Leo's relationship with death

Leo really doesn't like to think about death.

I mean, we all saw how much impact Karai's death had on all of Mad Dogs but Leo was the only one that had to be dragged from her, yelling after her, he really, really didn't want to lose her.

And I think when he lost her it left a deep scar.

I saw posts talking how Leo wants for things to get back to normal and pretend nothing happened, which I completely agree with. I think it's in big part because of his fear of repeating losing a close one.

He REALLY doesn't want to even acknowledge death.

Here Raph seemed to be getting through to Leo-

-but the moment he mentions possibility of his family dying?

Nope, time to deflect, joke and feign ignorance.

Leo's aware that death is a big part of being a responsible hero and that's why he'd rather goof off with his brothers and not train.

Because obviously when you ignore something it just dissapears, right? So if they ignore severity of certain situations and possibility of dying it won't happen, right?

If they don't treat it seriously they'll be fine! Totally!

Then Raph shields Leo from the Krang and sends him away.

And it's as if Karai's death stared right in his eyes.

So Leo picks up the slack of leadership in order to save Raph. He behaves carelessly during this time but can you really blame him, he desperately wants to save his brother, to stop yet another family member from death that he is so scared of.

He still tries to be positive and nonchalant, that "pfff obvioulsy everything will turn out alright!" but at the end of the day, it's not that simple.

Casey's speech had hard time to really hit Leo, he's still avoiding confronting resposibility, literally and metaphorically turning away from it. But the moment Casey says Leo's whole family died?

Now that made an impact.

And every time his family is in terrible danger he looks absolutely terrified and basically every time Leo has to be dragged away to not just return and try to save them again.

And when there's nobody to drag him away?

First thing he does is sacrifice himself. Because I don't think Leo is scared of his own death, or at least he is not as scared of him dying as his family. He'd rather give away his life than live through another grief.

Obviously I'm not sayin that the rest of the fam isn't terrified of close ones dying. But while they seem less aware (Mikey) and/or more ready for the possibility (Raph)...

Leo's wholly aware but he'd rather not be and ignore his fears until he can't anymore.

[alltimefail]

Random thought that could could absolutely be nothing, an over-analyzation of sorts even, but I have always found it interesting that in the Devlin house episode Charles gets sucked into the loop starting from the point he snaps at Edwin about him "Not being the all-knowing expert on all things." It's especially interesting to me because after he does so, Edwin tells Charles that he's "...Not acting like himself at all."

In theory, Charles could have just reappeared when Mr. Devlin turns the corner or when he approaches Mr. Devlin here:

because if the point of repetition here is to show us that the abuse Charles suffered at the hands of his own father is what causes him to get trapped in the loop, either of those moments would have been sufficient in supporting that idea. The dialogue shared beforehand between him and Edwin has little to do with the point at hand...unless...

Charles feeling pain about his own father isn't the whole sum of why he gets trapped in the loop; his fear that he's just LIKE his father, that he's not a good person, that he's "Cruel for the shits," and capable of hurting the people he loves (and thus undeserving of their love) is also what traps him in the loop, and that's why his "loop" starts with him snapping at Edwin.

Even though we as viewers can empathize with and understand why Charles snaps at Edwin given the circumstances, it's very unlikely that Charles extends that same grace to himself. I would argue that we see the multi-faceted layers of his trauma explored in various ways from this moment on. Charles himself even later admits that all he feels is anger despite the fact that he wants to be "a good guy." Charles has yet to understand that it's possible to be good and feel anger, that anger in and of itself is not bad, and that feeling strong negative emotions like grief or anger does not make a person dangerous or abusive like his father was...nor does it guarantee that he would use his anger to harm others. So, with that in mind, of course Charles' loop would start with him lashing out at Edwin, as opposed to it just starting with him lashing out at Brandon Devlin; it's not just about feeling powerless to stop the abuse, it's about feeling like you play a role in it. It's about the deep-rooted fear that maybe you actually deserved the abuse you suffered because you are not good, and just by being related to an abuser you are damned to be just like them, or worse. Charles worries about who he truly is, deep down, and that maybe Edwin is wrong when he says that Charles isn't acting like himself: maybe the darkest parts that he works so hard to bury are actually who he truly is, and his ability to throw careless, harmful, biting words at someone he loves deeper than anyone else may be a reflection of this. After all, his father loved his mother, he loved Charles, and look what he did to them... how he hurt them beyond repair. What if he is the same?

OR: the trauma Charles deals with isn't only the violence his father enacted on him (shown through what Brandon Devlin does to his family), but it's also the violence he feels capable of enacting himself (shown through his ability to throw harsh words toward Edwin who Charles openly claims is the "most important person in the world" to him).

What furthered this idea even more for me (and added a bit of salt to the wound frankly) was Crystal and Edwin's reactions to Charles being pulled into the loop. Out of shock, confusion, and frustration Crystal immediately turns to Edwin for answers but for a moment he is just frantic and uncharacteristically frazzled, only able to say, "Charles was right, I don't know everything..." and OUCH, right? But it emphasizes that 1) what Charles said to Edwin was quite hurtful, 2) that it did have an (unintentional) impact on Edwin, and 3) that Charles himself very well might have realized it was hurtful as soon as it left his mouth thus, again, why it would make sense that his loop began there.

It takes a strong emotional reaction to be pulled into a loop; the possibly that this moment was written to work on two levels of Charles' inner turmoil is quite clever (and extremely heartbreaking).

Again, it could absolutely be nothing... but it's worth pondering!!

[jazforthesoul]

every time someone reduces CAPTAIN !!! elizabeth "lizzie" lafayette down to "a sad lesbian" a fairy dies bc i shoot it with my gun. like you're telling me you were spoon-fed a character that has one of the most realistic and RAW representations of grief and perseverance in the series and all you got from that was "she's sad" ????

is she a constantly happy character? Fuck no! that's acknowledged!! but to take EVERYTHING that she is, which has positive and negative aspects THAT ARE BOTH SHOWN, to take the fact that she is THE DRIVING FORCE OF THE MAIN BACKGROUND PLOT, and reduce her down to NOTHING but her relationships?? ?what the hell!!!

[spirk-trek]

trying not to think about how balance of terror ends with jim trying to comfort a member of his crew who just lost the man she was about to marry

then in the next episode we see one of his "fondest wishes, either old ones you wish to relive or new ones," and it's his first love, ruth who I'm PRETTY sure is dead

he doesn't do any of his usual kirk things, doesn't go for the kiss or the charm, just stares at her in awe, wonder, shock... confusion. and it must've crossed his mind then, right? the lieutenant who died on his watch, causing the same pain he had gone through with ruth... were they engaged too? was he going to marry her?

and i'm definitely NOT thinking about how after bones is killed, his desire changes back to his academy bully, but instead of venting out an old rivalry he gets his ass kicked (how often do we see captain james t kirk beaten like this just from a fistfight??)

his fondest desire is punishment, for not being able to save ruth, for losing bones, for being the reason that poor girl lost her love, for everyone else he hasn't been able to save

i'm not thinking about it i swear i'm not i would never (lie)

[chronurgy]

Gortash designs and builds mechanisms so I imagine he has to be able to sketch fairly decently in order to sketch his projects and designs. And I'm imagining a pile of charcoal sketches of Durge, done over their entire acquaintance, starting out with sketches of them in battle and then slowly becoming more detailed and intimate and as they do, the titles changing from things like "The Bhaalspawn" and "Bhaal's Chosen at Their Bloody Work" to "The Chosen in Contemplation" and finally just Durge's name

[blogquestionmark]

about this scene

i feel like this scene implied that theres more than lloyd not mentioning his ancestry bc "it never came up" to him. the expression when life called him "descendant of the first" i find it an odd reaction, why did he made a sad face?

maybe deep down he hates his ancestry that he keep it away from his mind and subconsciously treat it like its a trivial fact or he felt like he doesnt deserve to be called fsm's descendant

[adriancatrin]

just a reminder that azulas hair arc is just as important to her character as zukos is to his

her first real intro draws attention to the perfection of her hair (“only one hair out of place”)

after ty lee and mai betray her, while she’s attacking the western air temple & zuko, her hair frays and she eventually pulls out her hairpin to catch herself on the cliff side, a hint at the self destruction she’s willing to endure to achieve her goal

and ofc when she becomes firelord and has her psychotic episode, she cuts her hair into a ragged mess

zukos arc is about rejecting the original idea of what honor is and coming to and achieving your own sense of honor, and azulas is about failing to achieve perfection and losing control of yourself in the process. the evolution of their hair shows this so well—zukos is just more obvious

[thranduel]

some facts about astarion that i find very cute/meaningful :)

i wanted to share this so more people can learn about him and appreciate who he is deep down, behind the mask he wears. before cazador turned him, he was just like any other person; he had hobbies, passions and emotions. those things are still there, but they’re just hidden amidst all the darkness. he was so young when he first turned that he barely had a chance to enjoy life or figure himself out. so many people miss out on the complexity of his character due to only focusing on his physical appearance or labelling him as a cruel villain, but in order to see that he’s so much more than that and he’s capable of growing as a person, all you need to do is show him a bit of love!

- he loves embroidery and poetry

- he approves when you pet the owlbear cub because most people view it as a monster (the same way people have always viewed him). it’s like he finds comfort in the fact that you can love and care for something that most people are afraid of, and it gives him hope that you may feel the same way about him too

- if you put a flower on his grave, he smiles and says "cute"

- he comes up to you in camp just to thank you and tell you how grateful he is that you allowed him to make his own decision (after you defend him and don't force him to drink the drow's blood) because he is so used to being told what to do and he was forced to use his body for so many years

- in that same scene, he will hold your hand whether you choose to stay in a romance with him or be friends instead, because he loves and appreciates you no matter what, and any sort of relationship with you is so important and meaningful to him

- if you try to romance karlach and astarion at the same time, he tells you to choose karlach over him, even if he loves you and it hurts him to do so, because he can see that karlach loves you too. he says that normally an arrangement would work for him, but after everything karlach has been through and how fragile her heart is already, he doesn’t want to get in the way or see her hurt

- if you try to romance halsin and astarion at the same time, he just wants you to do what makes you happy, even though you can tell it hurts him if you choose halsin. he’s also worried that you’re unhappy because he hasn’t slept with you (he should never have to worry about that ☹️), so he doesn’t want to stop you from enjoying yourself. in this situation and the one with karlach, you can see that there are moments where he puts others before himself and thinks about their feelings more than his own

- if you’re playing as the dark urge and you’re trying to resist it, he is so incredibly comforting and tries to give you strength and encouragement. one of my favourite astarion lines is this: “you’re not alone in this, none of us are.”

some more lines that i love:

“i don’t hate you. because this is not you. but whatever it is, you’ll get through it. and i’ll be here to make sure you do.”

“whatever it is that’s controlling you, we can fight it. i know that better than anyone.”

“this thing won’t have you. it won’t win.”

“easy now, darling. you’ve got this. and i’ve got you.”

- when you try to break up with him because you’re transforming into a mindflayer and you tell him you’re becoming something horrible, he gets so upset that you would even think that way and tells you that you’re wonderful and he doesn’t care about what you look like. then he says he would get more stares walking down a street than you to try and make you feel better

- if you love and care for him and remind him that there is still good out there, he genuinely wants to grow, be a better person and break the cycle of power and terror that started centuries ago

- he approves when you help people that are considered outcasts or "freaks" because he has felt that way too

- he risked his life and got punished for letting a man go instead of luring him back to cazador because it’s implied he cared about him in some way and he couldn't hurt him (not entirely sure about this one, this is just how i interpreted it based on his voice and mannerisms when he was talking about him)

- he approves when you give an orphaned child food (act 3)

- he becomes vulnerable, honest and more gentle with you once you start treating him like a person, because for the first time in his life, he actually feels safe with someone

- he's extremely insecure despite the mask he wears at the beginning of the game and he doesn't believe he is capable of being genuinely loved for who he is as a person. when you get close to him and tell him you care for him and give him a hug, he is taken aback at first, but then he believes you and hugs you back. also, when you're playing as the dark urge, you get this line: "you like him for more than his looks, but he will never believe that." this is proof that astarion is so used to being reduced to his physical appearance after what he was forced to do for so many years, and he thinks that's the only reason why people like him. he struggles with intimacy and forming strong emotional bonds, so that's why it makes your relationship with him even more meaningful when he realises that you truly do love him for who he is, not just for his looks and body

- when the drow you met at moonrise shows up in act 3 and tries to make you drink something, astarion tells you to say no, because the only thing she's offering is pain and he doesn't want to see you hurt

- if you romance him, stop him from doing the ritual and help him defeat cazador, he tells you that you are the only person he's ever truly cared for

- if you defeat cazador without him and tell him you just wanted to protect him, he gets upset at first because you left him behind without telling him and he wanted to take revenge himself, but then he becomes understanding and says “maybe this is what’s best? the kind of power that ritual offered could ruin a person. even me.” this shows how much he’s grown and matured as a person and he’s aware of the consequences of too much power. the scene also ends with him telling you that he’s grateful for something that you did to help him (again).

- he becomes more self-aware, straightforward and honest over time and he doesn’t pretend like he’s perfect. he tells you that you were by his side through all the bloodlust and pain and misery, despite all of his flaws and mistakes. you remained patient with him and trusted him even though it was an objectively stupid thing to do, but he is so grateful for it because you believed he could become a better person (and he did)

- this is sad but he remembers some of the names of the people he had to lure back to cazador and even the memories he shared with them. you can see this during the scene with sebastian, and it’s clear that he actually cared about him (not sure how many situations were like this, but there was definitely more than one)

- if you say “i’m sorry we couldn’t save the other vampire spawn”, he says:

“we could have tried. we could have given them the same chance i had. i was able to go out into the world and make better choices. to go against my nature and become more than a blood-sucking monster. maybe they would have done the same. or maybe not - but did we have the right to take that choice away from them?”

this scene shows how much astarion has grown and how compassionate and empathetic he can be towards others. he understood what it felt like to have his own freedom taken away while cazador made all his decisions for him, so he didn’t want to put the other vampire spawn through that too (especially because he still feels so guilty for luring them there in the first place)

- if you romance him and he stays as a vampire spawn and you choose to help him look for a cure so he can stand in the sun again, this is revealed during the epilogue scene:

“one night, he tells you that these last six months of happy memories are the counterweight to two hundred years of misery.”

he’s finally truly happy and free, and the short time he’s spent with you is already so incredibly powerful and important to him. being with you has positively impacted his life in such a massive way that it makes all those centuries of pain and misery feel so much smaller

- another sweet line from astarion during the epilogue scene after he tells you to go catch up with your other friends and see how they’re doing:

“i’ll be here when you’re ready. i’ll always be here, my love.”

THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH 😭🫶🏼 he’s become so kind, loving, respectful, genuine and sincere. i’m so proud of him 🥹

[mumbledramblings]

i had a vision from god the other night

anyway i love how some of wolfwood's first character-establishing scenes in both animes is him trying to scam people

[gojosbf]

what is also interesting about yuuji's domain expansion is that sukuna looks more like when he was in yuuji's body, it is not his real form neither how he looked when he was in megumi's body, it's almost like he's a part of yuuji and we are seeing sukuna through his eyes, that yuuji will always associate sukuna with himself. it almost tells you the amount of guilt, blame and responsibility he's been carrying, also maybe through this dissection he means to set megumi's soul and body free.

[fluentisonus]

relatedly always thinking about this particular bit of javert's perspective

[adrift-in-thyme]

Despite how obviously chaotic the other boys are I think that two things are actively disadvantaging and maybe even endangering Time rn

1) his worry for Twilight’s welfare and that of the others

2) his penchant for distancing himself from others.

He’s healed a lot from his adventures and the trauma of them thanks to time (heh) and Malon’s kindness, patience, and unconditional love. HOWEVER the things we endure remain with us even if they do not hurt quite so badly anymore (especially when they occur in such drastic ways during such formative years). Somewhere inside (perhaps not so deep now) is that terrified little boy who won’t allow himself to trust or love again. Who doesn’t want to get too close cause “nothing ever lasts”

He’s used to going it alone. He’s spent longer being solo than he has being married or teamed up with the other Links. His approach to tackling dungeons — whether chaotic or organized or somewhere in between — has always been the same.

Alone.

He’s the one who plummets down endless abyss.

He’s the one who bleeds and breaks and gets lost.

He’s the one who figures it out in the end.

And that’s okay. Because it’s lonely. It’s scary. But it’s only him who is in danger. And he can deal with that.

“You laugh because you know it’s true”

“You laugh because when it’s you who drags yourself home half-dead, it’s ok, it’s under control, but when it’s one of our boys…”

When it’s only him he doesn’t have to worry so much. He’s got a certain degree of control (real or imagined). And that is what he’s grappling for right now. Control to change a terrible fate he still sees looming. Control to keep his boys from suffering the way he has.

But now, with this last update, he realizes he doesn’t have it.

And while his expression here makes me laugh, it also saddens me. Four’s right and he knows it, he’s trying to resign himself to it.

Them remaining together — remaining with him, under his watchful eye — will end in their deaths at this point. It’s just not working.

He’s virtually powerless to keep them all safe. He’s the Hero of Time and he’s virtually powerless.

And that might just break him. Because the fear is still there. The fear that something will happen to one of his boys and he should’ve been there. He should’ve been there to stop it.

But he wasn’t.

Like he wasn’t there to protect the others from the Iron Knuckle

And that will consume him, weaken him. Until the Shadow can exploit it

Image credits @/linkeduniverse

[anticidic]

Doing my at least bi-annual reread of the manga, and I kinda just glossed over this bit the first time around because it wasn't something that I considered to have much significance until later. But the fact Dazai refers to Chuuya as partner and not ex-partner, or even just Chuuya can be interpreted in a bunch of different ways knowing Dazai and his propensity to kid around, especially with Chuuya. But the panels after where Steinbeck asks what kind of duo they are, and Dazai responds with terrible rivals rather than enemies or the sort makes me lean more toward the fact that even though they're on opposite sides now, nothing's really changed between them. Certainly not for the worse. They were also supposed to only be partners for the night and Chuuya set aside his grudge just this one time, but we know that ends up not being true because of the entirety of Meursault. Sure, Chuuya was likely at least irritated (and rightfully so) by Dazai's sudden disappearance the night he defected and went out with a literal bang by blowing Chuuya's car up, but I think if Dazai sensed any real animosity from Chuuya he wouldn't be so eager to refer to Chuuya as his partner still, even if he was teasing. But also, like, if Chuuya harbored an actual grudge toward Dazai, he would've been more hesitant about using Corruption, and yet he still trusted Dazai. Dazai knows he can be a little shit. He's definitely self-aware that he gets under people's skin. But over the duration of their partnership even he's had limits he wouldn't cross when messing with Chuuya—hasn't brought up the Sheep, the Flags, or rubbed any of the losses or betrayals in Chuuya's face. And vice-versa Chuuya to Dazai with Oda. I fully believe Chuuya knows why Dazai left, and that it was probably an open secret Mori obviously wanted to keep hush-hush about to save face, but Chuuya probably found out regardless. And that's why I think Dazai is still comfortable with Chuuya even after the reunion they had in the dungeon—Chuuya doesn't have to agree with what Dazai did and he has every right to be annoyed that Dazai just upped and betrayed the Port Mafia, but he understands because Dazai was driven off in an almost familiar way as when Chuuya was ostracized from the Sheep.

[imaybe5tupid]

Laios and Marcille play the Daltian Clan CRPG part 2

Marcille is 100% a terrible backseat driver with games. And she is also baring her heart and soul with her most beloved media property and most beloved character (who got her through many lonely days growing up as a half elven child with no one else like her around) and Laios is doing the equivalent of looking at his phone sometimes and only paying attention to the character he has a crush on, or acting in murderhobo ways instead of paying full attention.

Also, for the record, I personally think the person who resembles Forva most is actually Rinsha (and it’s not even close, like the exact hairstyle and clothes are the same too! she’s even brooding and quietly sensitive too) But Laios dgaf about her and it’s just like him to be reminded of Shuro in that juvenile way that he likes to think of him sometimes lmao. In my marcille x rin Yuriverse Marcille also would Realise its Rin…and gaf…but I already made that joke in my other comic.

rambling hcs and criticism of Kui’s deisgn choices for the elves under the cut

I saw people pointing out how like every single elf who appears is silver-haired or blond, with light-coloured eyes (I think Mithrun’s eyes being dark are a stylistic choice, they’re canonically silver imo still). Kui kind of shot herself in the foot with her aesthetic preferences because silver hair is canonically supposed to be rare (Mithrun’s backstory, Flamela’s omake) but like every random elf in the background has it 😭 She had that one elf with black hair in her canary concept art, as well as one bg character I think? But anyway her doing this gave me a brain-blast moment about how Marcille can still be the princess of Wasia I know her to be in my heart (you don’t need canonical basis for hc ofc, but it bums me out when nonwhite interpretations have to settle for less connection to the thoughtfulness of canon in media). I like to think of black hair and dark eyes in elves as being like the equivalent of naturally silver/white hair or rare light-coloured eyes (like purple etc.) in tallmen. Theoretically possible but so rare, and overrepresented in media for their novelty. It’s also interesting to me if mixed elves all have dark hair in media as visual shorthand, but ACTUAL mixed elven individuals with that hair and eye colouring are extremely rare in reality. Similar to how dark hair and eyes are dominant IRL so its unlikely for a child of a union of a parent who is dark haired/ dark eyed parent and a light haired/light eyed parent, to have light hair or eyes. But like the reverse for elves! Few mixed elves actually have dark eyes and dark hair, but the incidence of that colouring is still higher than the general population of elves. 🤔 Also I think its an interesting (and imo realistic) kind of cultural concept/way of thinking for Marcille to internalise. I also like the idea of long-lived ethnic groups being kind of like Ancient analogues of modern ones among short-lived races. Since long-lived races often have this like Ancient History theming you know hearkening back to Rome or Greece etc. Marcille’s mom is from fantasy Zhou dynasty.

I personally have always been somewhat annoyed by Kui’s choice to do kind of “aracial” designs for the elves. You can really see it strongly when comparing the little bonus pages for each race which feature a collection of varied designs (she clearly tries to depict different features in the other races). I understand what she was trying to do, they do successfully come off as strange aliens and it plays on established tropes for elves (who are themselves hrgh…there is something so 🙃 about white fantasy nerds fantasising about a race of Naturally Beautiful Exceedingly Conventional Aryans, Kui came up with better lore reasons for Elves to be admired for their beauty) while conserving the information that needs to be used in her story. It also makes you focus more on the differences between fantasy races and similarities within them which she is trying so hard to convey. Of course there’s also the limitations of her own art style, but I don’t buy that as an excuse since it hasn’t stopped her making such distinctive white characters. It feels very cowardly (from an author who normally is braver than you’re average mangaka) to me..particularly with how the majority of elves who appear and have actual characters are quite unambiguously interpreted (and imo meant to be interpreted ) as white. The elves who appear also are very specifically from abroad (so there’s no “regional” reason for them to be so homogenous), and there are clear attempts via background characters being darker skinned to imply a multiracial society. But in that toothless colourblind way you often see in fantasy. The kind of Roman/Greek aesthetics used for the elves (both visually and in their lore/worldbuilding) already naturally lends itself to more compelling explanations PERSONALLY but also I genuinely think she just hasn’t maybe thought that deep about it or arrived at a conclusion maybe? She cares more about fleshing out the fantasy aspects and I respect that.

But you compare how much she gaf about researching historically accurate European clothing, and making the designs for her white characters and its like…girl. Many such cases where Kui has so deeply thought out and researched things, that the areas that she didn’t put so much care stick out like a sore thumb. The nonwhite characters (with the PARTIAL exception of Kabru in like doodles, and ofc the Japanese characters which she’s already familiar with) get kind of…comparatively no thought at all. It is also troubling that the most prominent dark skinned women are like evil and sexualised asf (cithis, love her down though) or aggressive (flamela, though literally being obsidian skinned I doubt even Kui would have intended for her to be read as someone who would be a dark skinned tallwoman, since she’s clearly based on drow and theres been MUCH AND MORE about the Everything of them that there’s no way shes not aware and would make a blunder like that. But I think it’s still worth noting, even though Flamela’s personality has a lot of thoughtful lore explaining it). Personally I think this happened in that kind of unthinking 2014 non black tumblr way of being like yessss sexyyyy in an inappropriate way about dark skinned women, without thinking deeper about the reasons they percieve these women in these ways. Like she did it because she thinks its hot and appealing to her. The cursed asf way that Kui drew Hexxat and Dynaheir in her Baldur’s Gate drawings also makes me less inclined to be generous to her about this. The absence of black characters too in a setting that’s literally the Mediterranean is also kind of crazy to me lol. I’m not black myself so I can’t offer much here but like I think it’s worth for Dungeon Meshi fans to have space for these critical conversations more among all of the praise of Kui as a creator.🫶 There is no reason for the kid gloves that are often afforded japanese creators from the anglosphere, for her or anyone. Like we can and should expect better, its not that she’s just a product of a society where the rarity of positive/thoughtful representations of black characters are Just How It Is (also a disingenuous concept in itself).

ANYWAY just my thoughts I’ve had for a while and they’re tangentially related to my comic so it’s going in here.