#i know this is not a mind blowing intellectual analysis

[retiredficwriter]

due to popular demand, here is the evolition of how rose sees/thinks of sydney throughout the books

before we start, we have to take in consideration rose’s state of mind when she meets sydney. not only was dimitri just turned into a strigoi and rose decides to search for him and kill him, but she just broke up left lissa and all her friends/family. throughout blood promise, rose feels alone. she is only focused on her goal of killing dimitri and thinks everyone has moved on from her.

so when she meets sydney and they are forced to go together to omsk, rose is annoyed.

but the thing about rose is that, no matter how much she tries to act tough, she is secretly a softie. despite sydney’s upbringing and personality being completely opposite of rose’s, they get to know each other and bond. sydney provides to rose the company that she misses from lissa.

so when sydney leaves, rose is clearly upset. she is alone once again.

now let’s jump to spirit bound. rose has all her friends/family back. sydney only shows up in one scene, but the way she is described is very telling:

rose is aware that sydney still has her alchemist views and might not feel the same as her. but there is that part of rose that considers sydney this unlikely friend and is open to that if given the opportunity.

now, last sacrifice. we (and rose) slowly see sydney not too hung up on her alchemist views and reciprocating (in her own way) her friendship with rose. and because of that, rose starts worrying more about sydney.

when rose and dimitri get separated from sydney at jill’s house, rose regrets leaving her behind and what that means for sydney when the alchemist deals with her. i’m serious, she mentions it almost every single page.

if that’s not friendship, i don’t know what that is.

literally as soon as rose meets with sydney again in bloodlines, the first thing she tells her is how worried she was!!

obviously in the rest of bloodlines, rose barely shows up, but when she does she is always friendly with sydney. also correct me if i’m wrong but it’s only in silver shadows where rose says that sydney is her friend.

but yeah, i love the friendship between these two and how despite their differences at first, both come to care and respect each other (very similar to sydrian if I say so 🫢) and it’s not talked about enough!!

[mindful-of-ideas]

Headcanon: Umbrella Academy

-The Umbrella Academy as Greek Gods (Klaus and Five)

Part 1

Klaus as Dionysus (Διώνυσος)

I know you’re going to say that this one is obvious and easy but hopefully, I will blow your mind because you are not ready for the depth of my analysis for this one. So we will start by getting the obvious out of the way. Dionysus is mainly known for being the god of wine and madness. This, of course, fits perfectly well with our drug-addicted-hissing-at-a-ghost Klaus. We will talk more about madness a bit later, so let’s focus on wine for a minute. Dionysus is associated with wine as a drink but as well as everything around it such as viticulture and the consumption of wine. In Ancient Greece there were two main events, where wine was important, that were considered dionysiac: symposium and komos. Symposiums take place after dinner and are reserved for men. It’s a moment to drink wine and talk about poetry, politics and love. It is reserved for an elite group of people that are part of the aristocracy and is held in private. This is very reminiscent of Klaus’ time in 1960. While he turned away from drugs and alcohol, he did end up being the leader of a cult, a very rich and elite cult. He was honoured in a way that is similar to Dionysus during symposiums. As for the komos, it is a celebration held after symposiums. After everyone is properly drunk, the party takes to the streets and people go around knocking on doors and inviting themselves into other parties. There’s an amazing example in Plato’s Symposium if you want to check it out! And this, this is exactly like Klaus in season 1. From the moment we meet him, we understand that, at this point in his life, he is someone who thrives when he is high. He will transgress any social norms without any second thought. He wants to be partying all the time. I also want to mention that Dionysus is associated with music and dance, but a kind of music and dancing that is liberating and not so much intellectual. You see, Dionysus plays a kind of flute named the aulos. Since it is a flute, it is impossible for him to play and talk at the same time, he cannot teach through his music. This combined with madness gives a more liberating aspect to his music. Now, we’ve seen Klaus dance, more than once. While all the Hargreeves seem to have fun dancing, Klaus is out there having the best time. The Footloose scene, he’s giggling like a little girl. The one when Hazel and Cha-cha end up kidnapping him, it is pure chaos. He truly doesn’t care about how he looks and clearly just wants to have fun. Dionysus is all about that kind of freedom and liberation, there’s a whole cult dedicated to Dionysus Eleutherios, literally meaning Dionysus the Liberator.

Before moving on to madness and mania, it’s worth mentioning some of Dionysus’s characteristics. Dionysus is all about ambiguity. He is man and woman, Greek and foreigner, God and mortal. And so is Klaus! Klaus is man and woman. In season 3 he basically comes out as non-binary but even before that, we get to see him embrace his more feminine side. I do think however that there is a difference here. Dionysus’s ambiguity regarding his gender is often questioned. It is part of the plot of many Ancient Greek plays. However, Klaus’s gender identity never seems to be questioned, not by his siblings or anyone else for that matter. So even if he, just like Dionysus, doesn’t care about the way he presents himself, others’ reactions do differ. Dionysus is also Greek and foreigner. He is a Greek god for sure, but in most stories, he is described as coming from another country, often Lydia or Phyrgia, and coming back to Greece to impose his cult on some cities like Thebes. Klaus also presents this characteristic. There is no denying that he is part of the Umbrella Academy. However, he is often forgotten by his siblings and seems like he doesn’t truly belong among their ranks. In season 1, he literally gets kidnapped by Hazel and Cha-Cha and no one notices it. In season 3, he goes on his own little adventure with dear old Reginald to learn about his immortality and once again, his siblings don’t really seem to notice his absence. So isn’t he like a foreigner in his own family? But at the same time, he is always there for them. He will pretend to be Five’s dad, he will make sure Allison and Viktor are having fun (and getting drunk), he cares about Ben a lot and they all do care about him in return. Diego will make sure he feels okay, Luther will protect him, Five will go see his mother with him and so on. At the same time, Klaus is part of and alienated from his family. Finally, Dionysus is, yes, a god, but often he is mistaken for a mortal. His mother, Semele, was a mortal woman, while his father is Zeus. So the fact that he could become a god is very unique. Many also thought that Semele had a child with a mortal and not a god. Similarly, Klaus is immortal. We know it for sure now, but there was a time when even he himself did not believe it. It is my opinion that when we meet him, in the ambulance, that is actually the first time we see his immortality at work. I’m convinced Klaus overdosed many many times but always thought paramedics were able to revive him instead of believing it could be his powers. But just like for Dionysus, there is an ambiguity. Did he always have these powers or did he just get lucky a lot? Ambiguity is at the heart of Klaus’s personality.

Now it’s time to talk about madness, or should I say mania. It is the right word to use when talking about Dionysus. The word ‘mania’ comes from the verb mainomai (μαινομαι) in Ancient Greek meaning to become crazy or furious. There are two types of mania as well, one is good, white mania, and deliberate, while the other, dark mania, is bad and imposed on someone. Usually, in myths and stories, dark mania is the one in cause. Both mania are the same in every other aspect. There’s no way really to differentiate them except for the willingness of the participants. Those afflicted by white mania are Dionysus’s followers, while he will inflict dark mania upon others. Right, so now we have enough info to move on to Klaus. Because, just like Dionysus, Klaus does gain a large following of people. Obviously, in season 2, he has a whole cult following him almost blindly and you can see how they are similar to Dionysus followers. They willingly decided to follow Klaus, just like people afflicted with white mania willingly follow Dionysus. They are very loyal to him and will do basically anything he asks even if it is dangerous. But, he doesn’t really abuse his power to make them suffer, as he does not feel the need to. Similarly, Dionysus won’t mess with those afflicted by white mania, since they already follow him willingly. However, more importantly, Klaus has one really unwilling follower, Ben! He does not want to be around Klaus yet is stuck with him. Or at least that is what we think is happening for most of the show. We are made to believe that Klaus’s need for Ben was what made him come back as a ghost. That Klaus was the one to make him stay around because of his emotions and powers. This is very similar to dark mania. Dionysus’s want for trouble and respect is what pushes him to use his power and inflict dark mania. Even in the end, once we learn the real reason why Ben stayed, we could argue that Ben did it because of Klaus. Not because Klaus was forcing him to stay, but because he was allowing him to do so. Klaus was allowing him to take his time and ‘cross to the light’ when he is ready. His mania ended once its purpose was fulfilled, which is very alike dark mania in myths. Dark mania doesn’t last forever. Once Dionysus is content, it goes away and people are faced with the horrors they did while afflicted by mania (like dismembering their own son). So, Klaus’s relationship with Ben can be seen as similar to one of dark mania but with a much nicer ending.

Lastly, Dionysus is also the god of theatre, and boy oh boy is Klaus a drama queen! For this aspect of Dionysus, I would like to talk about one play in particular, The Frogs (βάτραχοι) by Aristophanes. Why this play? Because it’s my favourite! But seriously, because I really do think that Dionysus in this comedy is a lot like Klaus. Fun fact, comedy in Ancient Greek might have came from ritual chants that took place during komos, which I talked about earlier. We don’t know as much about comedy as we do about tragedy, but this is still one of the possible origins. Moving on to the play, it is roughly divided into two parts. In the beginning, we meet Dionysus, who wants to go to the underworld to bring back Euripides, a real-life tragedian who died the year prior. He comes up on stage disguised as Herakles, as he is one of the few who came back from the underworld. These first scenes really are a mix of slapstick humour and misunderstandings. It is very crude humour but there are still some very witty comebacks. This is a lot like Klaus when we first meet him. He is this very absurd and comedic character who once waxed his butt with chocolate pudding and hisses at a ghost. Though we still have to acknowledge that there is a kind of cleverness to him. He did manage to steal from his father for a long time without getting caught. Even in the extreme, he still keeps a certain control over the chaos. Like when he pretended to be Five’s father in season 1. He played a role, a character, which is in itself related to Dionysus. But more than that, he created a really chaotic and unbelievable story but still managed to come up on top… kind of… The whole scene uses the very same kind of humour as the beginning of The Frogs. The play goes on and Dionysus reaches the underworld. Once he’s there, he realizes that Euripides is having a fight with Eschyles, another real-life tragedian that died. Suddenly, the whole play takes a turn and Dionysus improvises himself as judge of their conflict. The two playwrights go on to have a very intellectual fight where they try to prove how their own tragedies were better for the Athenians. This is a complete shift in the type of humour. Suddenly, it is required to have a good understanding of not only theatre but also plays, authors and tragedy to be able to understand The Frogs on all levels. We can see a similar shift in Klaus. Once he loses Dave, he changes. He’s not this always-happy-and-nothing-is-ever-bothering-me kind of person anymore. But he still is, in a way, the comedic relief. He still is one of the characters you look to when you need to laugh, but it’s much more subtle now. As the show goes on, Klaus does achieve a kind of balance between this more absurd and physically comical character and a more intellectual and sarcastic one. Similarly, this play, which is about Dionysus and his characterization by Aristophanes, does require some balance to work and make any Athenian citizen laugh and have a good time.

Five as Prometheus (Προμηθεύς)

For this one, I have to start by explaining the name itself. Prometheus or Προμηθεύς in Ancient Greek comes from the prefix pros (προς) meaning ‘before’ and the word metis (μῆτις) which is a more complicated word. You see metis generally means ‘skill’ or ‘intelligence’, it is the name of the goddess associated with wisdom, skill and craft. However, this word is specific to a more cunning intelligence, one where you trick people. You can think here of Odysseus. He is the perfect example of someone who uses his metis, especially when tricking the Cyclops (and I could talk about this for days!!). So, Prometheus’ name literally means ‘the one who uses his intelligence before’, ‘the one who thinks before’. He has forethought. And this is exactly like Five! How many times have we seen him make plans and calculations to figure out what will happen next? Yes, he’s been to the future and in some situations knows what will happen next, but it doesn’t stop him from thinking about every possible outcome and being ready for every single one of them. He is a lot like Prometheus and it will be even more flagrant when retracing what Prometheus did in the myths.

The first mythological episode I want to talk about is actually one that is very important, the trick at Mekone. Why is it important? Because it basically explains why sacrifices in Ancient Greece were the way they were. It’s what we call an etiological myth, stemming from the word aitia (αιτια) meaning cause in Ancient Greek. But let’s get on with it! The story starts with the gods having a meeting with the mortals at Mekone where the division of a sacrifice between them is to be decided. The ox, killed, is divided into two piles, one with the meat and one with the bones. Prometheus, to trick Zeus into choosing the bad pile, puts nice fat on top of the bones and the ox’s stomach on top of the meat. Zeus goes on to choose the bad pile, while the humans get the one with the meat. Did Zeus know he was choosing the bad pile? According to Hesiod, yes. But that doesn’t really matter to us. What matters is that Prometheus just decided to help the humans and just showed that he doesn’t like Zeus very much. Well, this sounds a lot like Five. On one hand, Five is just constantly helping humanity. He is willing to try and stop the apocalypse over and over again if it means saving the world. On the other hand, he also is, in a certain way, in competition with Reginald, the Zeus of the Umbrella Academy. The thing with Prometheus though is that his competition with Zeus is solely based on intelligence and ruse. He will try to outsmart Zeus in any way he can. And this, this is exactly like Five. Right off the bat, he tried to prove to Reginald he knew better than him when he decided to try time travel. He had to prove him wrong by being more clever. This goes on throughout the whole show. Five constantly need to prove to everyone that he is more clever than them but especially Reginald. He didn’t have to go around and quote the beginning of the Odyssey in the original Greek but he did it anyway!

The second mythological episode is the one where Prometheus steals the fire from the gods to give it to the humans. After the trick at Mekone, Zeus, still mad at Prometheus, decided to hide the fire from the mortals. Prometheus then stole it and gave it back to the mortals while also teaching them the arts of Hephaistos and Athena. Zeus admits that Prometheus outsmarted him before taking his revenge by sending Pandora to the mortals and sentencing Prometheus. If this isn’t exactly Five then I don’t know what it is. Five disobeyed Reginald, keeps finding a way to get what he wants from him, goes behind his back, seeks out his enemies and old friends with only one thing in mind, saving the world from the apocalypse. But there’s more to it. When Five learns valuable information from either Reginald, Pogo or his own older self, he doesn’t just keep it to himself. He tells his siblings so they can use it to better themselves or change their view of the situation. He’s not always good at it and can be really harsh but you can tell he truly wants what’s best for them Similarly, Prometheus did not only give the fire back to humans, he taught them how to use it to make their lives easier.

Finally, for all his crimes against the gods, Prometheus was sentenced to eternal torture. An eagle is to eat his ever-regenerating liver for the rest of time. However, generations and generations after first being sentenced, Prometheus will be set free by Herakles (that is Hercules’ name in Ancient Greek). Similarly, Five is in a way sentenced to save the world from the apocalypse over and over again. Ok, it might have only happened three times, but saving the world is a whole lot to do. Especially more than once! Eternal torture is also extremely lonely and Five did experience a similar kind of loneliness and pain when he got stuck in the future. I’d also add that Herakles is a son of Zeus. So far, we’ve talked about how Reginald is similar to Zeus. Logically then, one of Reginald’s children would be the one to save Five from his eternal torture which is what happens in the show in my opinion. Five’s siblings, Reginald’s children, decide to help him save the world from the apocalypse, to stop him from having to endure this torture alone. In a way, they save him just like Herakles did.

[communistchilchuck]

Hi! So first, I love love love your tags on the Anarky panels I posted because you're absolutely right, the direction of the 99 comic was... A Choice tm. But second of all, I wanted to ask, because I was curious as to your thoughts on the initiatory violence thing: do you think Lonnie might consider the oppression/oppressive systems that he fights to be first blow, and so in punishing them, he is instead reacting? I just thought that could be a character motivation that might explain that line! No worries if you disagree; I'm just curious to hear what you think! Full respect to you and your blog, and I'm so glad someone else out there loves Lonnie! :D

first of all, i really, really appreciate it! anarky fans are very few and far between, and i get really excited when i find people talking and posting about him. he’s one of my top favorite DC characters and i only have one or two friends who share that sentiment, so i feel much the same way :)

you know, as someone who’s read a lot of anarky comics (including ones i really, really hate) and has put a sizable amount of thought towards him and his characterization, that never really crossed my mind when i considered why that line was put in despite past instances of lonnie initiating violence towards others (i mentioned johnny vomit, but there’s also him poisoning Bates, him shocking Pantalone in Robin 1993 Annual, him electrocuting a man to near-death in Green Arrow, etc. i ignore everything penned by tim seeley, because red hood vs anarky and robins was a messy mistake of a character assassination TO ME) it’s a really interesting thought and im glad you brought it up! that particular motivation seems like it could track for him really well and is something that can be found in actual anarchist schools of thought, so i definitely don’t disagree! most of those people were participating in the systems he targets, though i do think he does tend to get too into what he does sometimes and isnt always the best at being an anarchist. side effect of being an angry bleeding heart kid, but his heart IS in the right place.

i’ll be honest with you though - after my first couple reads of the 1999 solo and the 1997/8 miniseries, i tend to skim when i reread. it left a sour taste in my mouth because it’s when alan grant went full Randian Neo-Tech and decided to pivot lonnie in that direction, and the ways in which the character changes from a smart and cocky yet theatrical and emotion-driven little punk with ancom-adjacent views into an “I Read Atlas Shrugged Once” Rational faux-Intellectual make me a bit sad, so i think i have the habit of sweeping everything that i havent picked out for my analysis of the character aside (i’m especially interested in just how damn lonely and self-isolated he is… PLEASE get some friends!). i do acknowledge this is probably a result of him growing up, but i wish his views would’ve strengthened instead of getting… weird. what I do find noteworthy about this is that some of my favorite parts of him aren’t completely changed. he’s still very expressive and emotive and full of compassion for people, has a dry wit, and his moral compass remains pretty intact. he’s still a bit of a weirdo teenager. with everything that grant DID try to do with him however, i always chalked up inconsistencies to his constant upping of the ante (in part to editorial mandates, so the bizarre stuff isn’t entirely his fault. to a point he was doing his best with what was given him, but.) and the fact that grant himself stated that lonnies “evolving philosophy” was reflective of his own. lmao

sorry if this makes no sense and devolved into a rant or something, im out right now and got really eager when i saw this so i was like i have GOT to say something ASAP. here, have a him as thanks for reading ⬇️

[nierreplicantver122474487239]

(serious thoughts about the k/fka blog)

I never really started the blog with specific goals or guidelines in mind but generally speaking these were things I tried to promote

a sense of humor

being an autodidact (to the degree that someone who went to public high school can be an autodidact)

critical eye towards the cultural establishment (the actual establishment based on practices and institutions founded by like European nobility and the Catholic Church not ghostwriters being paid by the word)

he's not a remote figure

obviously none of these things are possible or palatable in the current climate which seems to be half last-minute power grab before the perceived rapture and half weird gay people looking for even weirder and gayer people to bully. this would be less of a problem if 1. people responded by actually participating in the serious quote/analysis parts of the blog and 2. it didn't create a massive vacuum that misc. reactionaries could astral project into. literally the only people left on the blog are people who think he's a representative of whatever genocidal pet project they have in mind and people who are so obsessed with cultivating this proper intellectual image they can't handle the parts of him that aren't perfectly beautiful and victimlike. like benjamin's essay about the 10th anniversary of his death isn't even particularly nasty or irreverent and it's still not as appealing to the "snobs" as a random flowery snippet from the letters. it's just so deeply dishonest and not good for the environment. why are you blowing a gasket about how it's racist to relate to him on a personal level when you're spamming the crying uwu emoji in every brod post and completely ignoring all the birds-eye view posts about the state of austro-hungarian medicine or the publishing industry in fin de siecle prague. you do realize that there is a person on the other end of this that can see your activity

and of course throughout all of this there's a bunch of people trying to be friends with me or looking up to me as some kind of political/moral paragon while being blissfully unaware of the fact that I'm actually in (insert group) that they wanted against the wall yesterday. this has sort of been a running theme with my germanistik experience where competence in western art forms/languages has frequently been the only thing separating me from being treated like complete garbage (or in the case of vienna, the only thing keeping me from being assaulted) and the feeling doesn't get less creepy the more times it happens. I neither like nor trust using him as a shield as he wasn't able to really defend himself this way in life and there's no reason to believe it'll work out better in death. I mean I personally know and understand that there are external points of contact and similarity between the two of us that would justify me relating to him on a human level in front of any sane historian but the people who are making a half-living panicking about bad femininity and autism are generally not historians or operating in good faith when it comes to history.

in conclusion the situationists were right and I'm gonna do my best to end the blog on a bad note and then it's just gonna be my private archive for all the clippings I've accumulated over the past 6 years. it would be kind of fitting for the blog to begin with a stalking incident and end with a completely different stalking incident but I'm gonna hope that people have moved on. or not,

[closertotruth]

David Bowie STARMAN hidden meaning [Verse 1] **Didn't know what time it was, the lights were low “When an Alien spacecraft approach to somewhere it seems to freeze time, the closer the more” **I leaned back on my radio **Some cat was layin' down some rock 'n' roll **"Lotta soul," he said **Then the loud sound did seem to fade “Bell of silence” reported in many encounters like in the Ariel School **Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase “Telepathic communication, reported by John E Mack minute 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhTnidrohU4 ” **That weren't no DJ, that was hazy cosmic jive [Chorus] **There's a starman waiting in the sky “The Aliens are waiting in the sky” **He'd like to come and meet us **But he thinks he'd blow our minds “The Aliens think that presenting themselves to us would cause chaos on earth because humans are not yet prepared (not evolved enough physically and mentally) for such an historical event” **There's a starman waiting in the sky **He's told us not to blow it “The Aliens told to the millennial elites (Summeria–+ Rome/Etruscs–+ Venice Nobility – Actual Nobility” to do not disclose among the sheeps (human 99,999999%) their existence and millennial earth link or maybe the elites pretend or that this was told to them, who knows. This would be similar to say that in the Rat experiment Universe 25 (https://www.iflscience.com/universe-25-the-mouse-utopia-experiment-that-turned-into-an-apocalypse-60407) some Rats told to other Rats that they are doing business with the human goods who feed them ( the scientist) and they and the “human Goods told to the Rat elites to do not disclose the human scientist existence for the god sake of the non illuminated rats”. We know that scientists will still go on and follow their own rat  experiment  schedule without even wasting a minute trying to communicate with the rats (Well at least in this type of experiment) . **'Cause he knows it's all worthwhile “All worthwhile  means human progress, physical  evolution and path to enlightenment” It is worth it because the aliens take some knowledge of how we humans slightly evolve and some other  profits (fast food? Cattle mutilations )and  by studying life on earth by using their super cosmic highly advanced technology. **He told me “The Aliens told to the elites, probably telepathically to some random individuals but the information reached the  structure of power of the elites who collect the information for them” of course  I still have no evidence about this. **Let the children lose it “Probably lose their innocence and virginity”  https://www.ritualypropaganda.com/2011/06/origenes-y-tecnica-del-control-mental.html **Let the children use it “To use their sexuality” **Let all the children boogie “Boogie means dance energetically but under this pedophile/elite/ritualistic/satanistic/symbolistic/monarch mental control environment would mean literally let the kids to have sex with other kids and/or adults” Analysis of the movie the Labyrinth (1986 film) and it’s link to the mental control program “Monarch”, it is in spanish feel free to translate with some online tool: https://www.ritualypropaganda.com/2011/11/laberinto-protagonizada-por-david-bowie.html [Verse 2] **I had to phone someone, so I picked on you **Hey, that's far out, so you heard him too “Probably the only two sentences without double/triple sense, if I am wrong please someone to illuminate me” **Switch on the TV, we may pick him up on Channel Two “"to broadcast programmes of depth and substance, something more intellectual not for the masses, sleepy masses created by the elites through psychological and social warfare " **Look out your window, I can see his light “UFO sighting” **If we can sparkle, he may land tonight “The elites might know some way to call the alien entities, Alien implants were located and are used by the Aliens to find recurrent abductees”, this abductees seem to “sparkle” from the Aliens point of view. **Don't tell your poppa or he'll get us locked up in fright “Not sure about the meaning of this sentence, probably to hide the secret of sexual abuse to your parents” Sources: 1-https://www.moredarkthanshark.org/eno_int_nd-mar16.html 2-https://www.ritualypropaganda.com/2011/11/laberinto-protagonizada-por-david-bowie.html 3- my own blog and Alien topic literature.

[gokupowers]

do you have any tips for writing dave or rose?

!!!! i am no expert but!

dave: rambles, asks a lot of questions without waiting for the answer. his raps are truly shit. in terms of actions, i usually think of repressed closeted gay guys who compensate w hypermasculinity + the kind of people that are overly chill bc theyre super emotionally repressed. hes clearly a smart guy but he can't help but bring in a million references in all his jokes, and he remains very casual/flippant about most things (if he got stabbed, he would quip before reacting properly). later in the comic, he becomes more rambley but this is more clearly out of anxiety/habit than to be funny. it depends on which characterization you go with (early or late comic); pesterquest kinda makes him this shy blushing guy who poorly hides behind the cool guy mask, but 2009 dave was a genuine menace/vibe terrorist. like remember him and tavros' first interaction? thats p much what i think of most when i try to write him aggressively. for his rambles, i have ADHD and i have a rambley thought pattern so i just let my thoughts wander, though you might have to force yourself to do it. sometimes theres emotional beats i want to hit so i plan it out, but usually his main dialogue can be broken down into (genuine sentiment) (pop culture reference) (train of thought rambling to hide genuine sentiment) then rinse and repeat. he has a fixation on sex and dick jokes and hes very irreverent. sometimes he can be defensive. honestly the best tip is trying to remember his main character motivations: for me, i think his is being invulnerable. he's all about being the strongest person in the room; that can translate into social capital (cool guy persona/being perceived as cool), physical prowess, or whatever u want it to be. dave is a character that constantly wants to prove to himself and others that he cannot be hurt, even though he's actually kind of a sensitive guy (a pacifist whos forced to fight). his "coolness" (which is actually just being a fucking weirdo? i dont think dirk or dave actually know what being cool means other than apathetic. i def think he was homeschooled) is a mask and a compulsion, so keep that in mind! also, i think its good to have people as contrast to him bc hes so weird/aggressively chill to emphasize the weirdness of his own actions/behavior, cuz that gets lost when hes next to the other strilondes (karkat is a good comedic striaght man). one of the biggest flaws, i think, when people write him is when they make him this shy traumatized guy who can do no wrong. he clearly is capable of hurting people (and has done so!), usually as a result of his antagonistic bluster or violence. his whole character journey is about strength and confidence in a very masculine way, and that means that people can get hurt.

rose: she's literally susan sontag. most of her writing style is very similar to 70s-80s feminist scholarship, when most essays were about freud and phallic imagery. she has mommy issues and a penchant for passive aggression. like dave w irony and coolness, she hides behind big words/intellectualism and freudian psychoanalysis. they both deeply dislike not being in power/having control, though dave's comes from being conditioned into it and rose's is a genuine compulsion from her childhood. she has trouble being vulnerable/relinquishing that control. it should be noted that her psychoanalysis, while i think she's a smart girl, is almost entirely for show bc fruedian analysis is not really regarded as helpful/viable among contemporaries. she is constantly on the defense; she interprets her mom's well-meaning actions as cruelty, and doesn't trust easily/assumes the worst out of other people. when i think of her, i mostly just think: what would a lesbian with mommy/trust issues do? and its usually pretty straight forward from there. she pretends to be calm, but is prone to a lot of impulsivity and petty anger (blowing up eridans computer, blowing up her own planet/house). ironically, she's one of the easier characters for me to write, bc her character schtick is pretty much my academic writing. if you're struggling with dialogue or tone, just read some of sontag's writing LOL. like how in detective pony dirk plagiarizes a lot of derrida, i think rose would do the same with sontag. against interpretation is a good one if you're up for the read! also shes cuttingly sarcastic and smart/sees through things easily, but that can make her a really difficult person to get along with. dont be scared to make the characters unlikeable. cuz all of the HS characters kind of are unlikeable as people, esp if you dont know them well. like, shes the type of bitch to tell you john berger style all the flaws of marvel as a piece of military propaganda when you're just trying to watch chris evans' man boobs. for her, everything is deep/more than it appears on the surface. + her alcoholism is interesting because she hates giving up control, and alcoholism is what enables her to do so. i dont think most people understand inherently that she is a darker character. people do the whole horror terror stuff fine, but i mean that she is prone to cruelty and manipulation because its how she reacts to perceived danger. shes very girl dirk in that sense. people make her hyper-competent and hyper mentally healthy, but in my opinion? dont be afraid to make her a bitch, LOL.

if you get the chance lmk how your writing goes!! ^_^

[levok]

AUGUST THE LEO! ♌️

Okay. This will be long. So buckle up! But this is TOO good for you to miss!!!

So last night, it got a bit out of hands, when @swedishyr and I talked about the birthdays of the character, and whether or not Lisa has considered them, and if we will see some - and of course their zodiacs.

Some of you probably are aware of my opinion about Simon and Wille's zodiac, but I actually haven't dived into a full display and analysis of it. It's mostly based on my basic zodiac knowledge and meme pages - but before we get to Simon and Wilhelm. AUGUST!

It was actually August that fully convinced me, that Lisa has considered this, and has considered zodiac traits when she made her characters. Because August is called August. He is of course born in August - every month named child always is. So August is a Leo. And what a Leo he is!! What I'm gonna tell you now, I did not make up myself. This is from an actual zodiac website, and it's a fucking August prototype!! 😨

Disclaimer: I know and love Leos. You guys are not evil Augusts. The thing about fictional Characters is, that you can mold them as you want - you, as a real person, is of course a nuanced human with good and bad sides! (and because it's fictional, you don't have to actually believe in zodiacs to buy this theory of Lisa molding them after zodiac traits)

Let's start with the basic traits.

We obviously don't see every side of August, but I underlined those who popped the most for me. Especially the last 'dislike'... I mean!! come on guys!

Okay, next on. The description of a Leo. It's a bit long, but it's worth it! You can't tell me, Lisa didn't base August on this exact description. Colored the most mind-blowing parts (if you don't bother reading all of it).

"People born under the sign of Leo are natural born leaders. They are dramatic, creative, self-confident, dominant and extremely difficult to resist, able to achieve anything they want to in any area of life they commit to. There is a specific strength to a Leo and their "king of the jungle" status. Leo often has many friends for they are generous and loyal. Self-confident and attractive, this is a Sun sign capable of uniting different groups of people and leading them as one towards a shared cause, and their healthy sense of humor makes collaboration with other people even easier."

No doubt August is the leader of the group. He is the king of his world, and should be treated as such. He view himself as top of he hierarchy and always has a plan figured out.

"They are in search for self-awareness and in constant growth of ego. Aware of their desires and personality, they can easily ask for everything they need, but could just as easily unconsciously neglect the needs of other people in their chase for personal gain or status."

This is August treatment of Simon 101! All about his personal gain and status; not caring about Simon, his financial situation or anything that doesn't affects himself.

"When a Leo representative becomes too fond and attached to their achievements and the way other people see them, they become an easy target, ready to be taken down."

Again, a precise description of what happened between him and Wilhelm, when he outed his financial issues.

"They will take the role of a leader in any relationship, and strongly rely on their need for independency and initiative. This can be tiring for their partner at times, especially if they start imposing their will and organizing things that aren't theirs to organize in the first place. Each Leo needs a partner who is self-aware, reasonable and on the same intellectual level as them.

August being a super control freak, and managing as much as posible! We also see it when he constantly wants to plan things out for Wilhelm.

Sex life of each Leo is an adventure, fun and very energetic. This is someone who has a clear understanding of boundaries between sex and love, but might fail to see how important intimacy and emotional connection is to the quality of their sex life.

August in no need of an emotional bond to Felice to be with her.

Family matters won't be the first thing Leo will think about when they wake up in the morning or lie to bed at night. Turned to themselves for the most part, they tend to become independent as soon as possible. Still, a Leo will do anything to protect their loved ones, proud of their ancestry and roots in good and bad times.

Biggest of them all. His family status is everything to August and above everything else. The worlds perceptions of him is his no. 1 priority.

Leos love to be surrounded by modern and trendy things, and although money comes easy to them, they spend it less responsibly than some other signs of the zodiac. Extremely generous, they could provide many friends with financial help, supporting them through bad times. Although this doesn't always prove to be wise, it always makes them feel good.

A Leo man wants to be treated like a king in their intimate relationship and this is not their narcissistic characteristic, but a true inner need that all people with deep self-respect have to feel. Plans with him are always big and dramatic, and showering with admiration, devotion and attention come really natural both ways. This is a man who gives many gifts when they are in love, often expensive and posing as a statement of his effort. Any partner that wants to stay with him has to prove that they are worthy of royal treatment and ready to give enough of it back. A Leo man will love compliments, and although he appears confident, he needs a lot of praise to start feeling safe around their loved one too.

His way to Felice is the biggest Leo move. He sees his total over the top invite to a fancy restaurant abroad as the biggest move of romance.

However romantic and passionate, this man will rarely choose a woman that doesn't "go well" with his appearance, or doesn't make him look good in the eyes of specific groups in the outer world. He is known to easily take the roll of an eternal bachelor, always on the hunt and celebrating love and life. He will put himself in the center of attention, and his partner could compete with a number of admirers, but their relationship is not in danger for as long as he is adored the way he loves to be. When treated right, he will stick around forever.

The foundation of his love for Felice lies in her status! He is all about status and how they could be seen as a power couple.

If you made it this far, I applaud you! It was an emotional rollercoaster for me reading how accurate this is to August. Are you convinced yet?

Just wait to you hear about Simon and Wilhelm. You will actually cry!

[dwlrmoon]

Astrological Analysis: I.M "Duality"

An astrological analysis of I.M's solo album "Duality" & how his astrological placements manifest through the songs. Changkyun said that he poured his entire soul into this album, so I thought it'll be really cool to dissect the songs in the astrological lens because I'm in love with his artistry.

REMINDER

Observed & analyzed through western tropical astrology; we are missing information due to lack of confirmed birth time, so I can only deliver using the traditional 7 planets (mainly the personal chart) without a house system.

DUALITY

Having the album entitled "Duality" with songs expressing this topic (esp. the title track) reminds me of his Aquarius placements, mainly the Sun. I.M has his Sun in detriment, meaning that his Sun is "weak" or uncomfortable in that sign. As the sister sign of Leo, Aquarius symbolizes celebrities, fame, the star in tarot, as well as hopes & dreams. Aquarius can represent notoriety & infamy while simultaneously having the stereotype of the loner or outsider, not wanting to be perceived or "understood."

Using traditional rulership, Aquarius is ruled by Saturn who also rules Capricorn. If Capricorn rules authorities & conformities, Aquarius is the rebellious younger sibling refusing to conform & rather revolt, deviating from the norm. I.M placed his artistry in precedence; convincing SSE to use God Damn as the title track despite the profanity requiring him to release this album digitally in addition to him creating the tracks in his own style that may or may not be in line with k-pop or Monsta X.

GOD DAMN

In true I.M fashion the song & MV are very concupiscent, & since I already talked about the duality that is expressed through this song, let's talk about the MV specifically. Pisces rules escapism & addiction & his Pisces Venus was very on brand to go with alcohol as the imagery of getting high to hide from his frustrations. This piece is highly self-reflective & he encourages listeners to read between the lines, it's quite Saturnian in nature. I also love how the lyrics have that duality of hating & loving whoever/whatever that is ruining/comforting him—I really associate this with his Martian Moon (him assigning Misbehave as the song that represents him is so... Aries Moon).

HOWLIN'

No more taming 'bout my color I swing 'till I get, what’s the problem? Problem I ain't follow simply what I see I go follow what I need 'Cause I see that I'm loyal Imma go on my speed, even I'm slow

The 1st verse reminds me a lot of his Saturnian + Martian energy—no more wanting to be someone he's not, doing his own thing without care of what others may think. However, the last 2 lines really highlight the fixed modality of his Aquarius: I love that he says he's loyal even if he goes on his speed which can be slow; he doesn't care as long as he gets there.

I don't celebrate 'till I make it till the end Ain't time for the 'hol up' You want me be a shade but I'm made for a big wave Ain't time for the 'hol up'

This song has a lot of Saturnian themes esp. the chorus. It reminds us that Saturn rules time—he doesn't succumb to the challenges & distractions or "hold ups," rather focusing on his goal & only celebrating once he reaches the mountaintop. Saturn is karmic, it takes its sweet time to give you your rewards that you must work laboriously for. He knows he's made for something bigger (Aquarius), & with his perseverance (fixed), determination & passion (Aquarius Mars + Aries Moon), he will be rewarded despite all the struggles (Saturn).

Don't call me, I'm drivin' I just wanna keep on ballin’ Even though when you are hatin’ Woah Grab me when I'm fallin’ 'Cause I make myself so lonely You know that I'm howlin'

However, Saturn can be extremely isolating & Aquarius is akin to the underdog. Of course we don't know where his placements are, but his Pisces Venus contributes to that isolation. He feels lonely & he knows that, but he inevitable makes himself lonely which Aquarius natives can do when they develop that mentality of me v.s. the world sometimes. Keep in mind that Aquarius rules community yet the outsider, showcasing that wanting to be alone while wanting someone to be there for him. Saturn is burden & he's a lone wolf used to being alone carrying all that burden himself.

BURN

The night has become cold and now it's a meaningless fight I don't wanna waste my time on the past time Endless shot, let me head to the top I don't wanna waste my time on the past time Burn the accumulated emotions, burn Burn everything without leaving anything, burn

An Aries Moon anthem? I find that Aries placements love having fire/burning imagery if not in their songs then in their MVs. Aries is Martian, cardinal & fire by nature, which means that Aries Moons may get irritated fairly quickly—a quick temper? But they get over it super quickly, kind of like blowing off steam & then letting it go right after. The Moon rules our emotions, & I think the lyrics speak for itself here. The allusion to the fight is very Martian as well.

I'm mixed and complex, yeah I don't know myself well, eh Yesterday I couldn't empty it out, yeah I'd rather burn it, yeah The tears that fell are oil Make the flame burn higher Pour it out, no more regrets Burn it all up and high, yeah

I really enjoy I.M's introspective & intrapersonal nature; he always says he doesn't know himself well & accepts that rather than fighting it. He accepts all facets of himself, & that's very refreshing. The 2nd verse made me chuckle a little bit because the first 2 lines look Aquarius while the rest is Aries. Not to mention he has an Aquarius Mars conjunct Sun, so, more Martian energy there. Cardinal + Martian give me that attitude he portrays very well in this song—throw some more oil, let it burn more so that there'll be no regrets. Another Aries placement who wrote something like this? Yoongi.

HAPPY TO DIE

I could die right now, yeah I can never lie, yeah You bring me to sky Let me be yours till I die When you say goodbye, yeah Bury me on your heart, yeah Don't you say that word Could you keep it till I die? You brought me back to the real love I wanna get lost here forever

There is so much to unpack in this little song... The chorus is a mixture of Saturnian commitment & Aries headstrong, passionate reckless energy motivated by his romanticist Pisces Venus. The title itself, the whole concept of this song, is fundamentally Pisces (his DSC would be really cool to talk about here, if we had the birth time, but we don't, so).

We're childish like we were when we used to play back then I let go of rationality as if I'm drawn by the wind I don't know what this feeling is Even if I try to pretend I don't know, everything seems to be obvious, yeah I don't know, I like it the way it is I don't know me well, I don't know I guess it's not a lie that I really like you I'm happy to die right now

Verse 1 truly has my heart in a grip. He has a rational & intellectually-minded Saturnian Mercury & Sun, yet once he's in love he gets enamoured & childish, rendered completely irrational. It's giving me Aries meets Pisces—of the moment, idealistic, just overwhelming emotions taking control of his Saturnian mind, which I find funny because he has Moon square Mercury.

Things of mine might go away and shape Will just change, but don't you change When I'm low, could you make me not alone? I could die right now if we were just this crazy about each other

Pisces is sentimental & can represent past lives, that feeling of being stuck in the past? Pisces Venus is visionary & idealistic, they're more in love with the idea of love than love itself sometimes. Here we see that theme of isolation again, his Aquarius could play a role here, but his Pisces placements are also desperate to be loved. The last line, like said before, is utterly Pisces because Romeo & Juliet is known to be a Pisces type of relationship, plus with that Aries Moon... it just makes sense since Aries Moons love the rush & passion.

시든 꽃 FLOWER-ED

Somehow I have no strength to resist I stay right where I am It's not like I'm longing for someone But I'm standing there

Personally loving how his songs gradually grow more & more Piscean? The overwhelming emotion of yearning with no one to long for is so Pisces/Jupiterian Venus in general. Like I said, they're idealistic & in love with the idea of love more than anything—not the happy kind of love either. I notice that Jupiterian Venuses play with the theme of wanting a lot, mainly because they are ruled by the planet of expansion. Distance is a huge theme in Jupiterian signs, & they idealize that.

When you step on me like it's nothing I desperately want you to come back and hug mе I deeply remember your smilе that laughed at me While I was being illuminated by you

Because Pisces placements love the idea of love & the feeling of longing for someone they can get into the habit of sacrificing themselves, hence their association with the hanged man in tarot. They are too focused on the fantasy of love to take off their rose tinted glasses.

I don't really blame you I know your days by my side Have faded away Please don't disappear, oh

The hand that held me, the eyes that captured me are all blind The scattered hands, the shining eyes are gone

I don't know what else to say here, like, I think you guys understand how these verses really depicts his Pisces Venus very well... With a Venus conjunct Saturn it can really emphasize isolation & rejection as well—this aspect feels like they are deprived of love, so they crave it desperately even if it hurts them which is a theme of Pisces. Him titling this track "withered flower" in Korean is so Pisces Venus of him overall.

[shrimpanalysis]

SIMON LAURENT ANALYSIS

Simon is mostly known infamously as the Villain of this season and a murderer to boot. He seems to be very insistent about his own opinions and beliefs. Going so far as to outright deny other peoples attempts at correcting him.

Due to this he is seen as narrowed-minded and egotistical, outwardly hating being wrong and giving people this intellectual leverage over him but internally rethinking all of his views. His inferiority complex I mean pride- is what I think to be one of the major factors that causes his character regression.

His pride (No, not the group of lions) is shown throughout the season by holding his ground. Most people interpret it as him being close minded at adamant to his own beliefs but I feel like the beliefs are only the basis to his inferiority.

An example, his own hatred towards Nulls. This can be quite a weak link to bring up as everyone in the Apex has this belief. However, the way he continuously reacts to them despite them showing humanity to him as compared to Grace who has gradually seen the other side of them and starts to understand and develop meaningful relationships with them-

Simon reacts negatively the nicer the nulls are to him.(Tuba’s death)

I interpret this as his own damaged pride, he hates being wrong and the more he is proven wrong the more angry he would get. This fear of being wrong could stem from past experiences of being the butt of arguments and made a fool out of it.

Him experiencing these feelings brings himself to adopt this mentality that other people are perceiving him as an idiot or a fool, causing him to try to justify his beliefs as much as he can in order to victimize himself into thinking that everyone is against him and he is the only one that is right to boost his self-esteem which causes him to adopt this narcissistic and manipulative persona to hide his own weaknesses.

(Simon looks away from Grace displaying emotion, he would be more susceptible to mirroring the reactions of his closest friend and he does not want to show weakness.)

Due to his narcissism, he also displays what the viewers might perceive to be a lack of empathy. He does not display much compassion and can be outright apathetic to other people's circumstances, Such as his dismissal to Hazel bringing along Tuba despite her looking clearly distressed when they said she couldn't bring her and completely ignores her feelings about the subject.

He perhaps reacts this way due to his own internalized hatred of himself and displaying compassion would be showing a less hardened in his eyes as he is perhaps taught from a young age that being sensitive or vulnerable is showing weakness and he does not want people to think less of him.

Him being unempathetic also stems from his ego and beliefs as he usually displays this attribute towards Nulls specifically throughout the show which is because if he was indeed wrong about Nulls, it could cause him to start questioning his own feelings about them which is something he does not want to think about as it conflicts with his own victim complex.

Due to him not wanting to be more exposed emotionally, he lashes out in anger. Anger at himself that he projects onto his relationships with others as he is unable to understand and handle his emotions effectively, this can be caused by not having a stable guardian like figure to help him through such issues.

Simon is also shown to outwardly control his anger by kicking and punching objects.

This is shown to be counter productive as it does not allow the person to understand where their anger is coming from and only prides a temporary outlet for his aggression.

His aggressive personality can also be shown in his interest with making war replicas/models.

This can be taken as him being someone who likes being in control and feels like conflict is the only way to progress which can be found in his own toxic relationship with grace where he tries to control her, not knowing that she is her own person which ties into his lack of empathy. This trait is especially shown almost at the end of the series where he commands the Apex like a leader and donning a military general like coat.

His inability to cope with his own emotions and expressing them outwardly to others is the main reason for his attachment issues.

His own paranoia and lack of trust in Grace by invading her memories when she doesn't tell him that Hazel is a Null which shows us how Grace knows his aggressiveness and acts very secretive around him as she predicts he is going to blow up when he finds out.

Him finding this out himself causes even more hurt as he is hit with the realization the only person that he thinks that ever cares about him has betrayed him. He is alone now, a reminder of the time when Samantha left him behind.

And it angers him and forces him to project his sadness as vengeance against others such as manipulating grace and using her memories against her, causing her to be stuck in her own memories as Simon just walks away.

Put yourself in Simon's shoes, you are stuck in an unfamiliar environment,

no idea where to go and the only parental figure you trusted in this whole place was just using you for her own self interest and

your closest friend seems to be tip toeing around you.

You also feel like everyone is out to get you and that your flawed beliefs are wrong but it was the basis of keeping you sane throughout.

Not wanting to believe that any of these things happened to you, you disregard all emotion and lash out at others because you don't want to feel that any of these things are real.

It sounds like a fever dream doesn't it?

Congratulations, you are basically in denial.

I would say the beauty of Simon's portrayal in season three would definitely be the lack of context behind his actions. He is very easy to dismiss as a one sided evil character. (I don't deny it, he is one.) Due to this we don't really see him as a fleshed out individual and he feels like the Tom Riddle of the season.(slowly devolving into a villain.) His own deterioration into this ultimate descent to becoming a murderer and attempting to murder his childhood friend; the instances to solidify his own inferiority complex (the mentality of "Grace already perceives me as an evil character, what use is there to better myself when it's already too late?") Which is what I think to be the cause of his inevitable demise.

I doubt it is going to happen but I do wish that the next book will cover some parts of Simon's past. He isn't a redeemable character, and never has been. He is someone molded by his own upbringing that we do not see, the most integral parts of his development. Many people have made the comparison that Simon had just as many chances as Grace, if not more to redeem himself.

I feel like he does not need chances, he needs to build himself from the ground up and truly look deep into himself and figure out why is he acting this way. None of these chances provide him with that opportunity and this is where him and Grace deviate.

The train has improved Grace and supported much of her character development as shown in the series where he becomes more empathetic, more trusting and open to others such as Hazel and confronting her own demons in her own mind.

She also finally manages to stick up for herself after the emotional roller coaster Simon put her through.

Simon on the other hand, uses this opportunity on the train to cause much destruction and chaos. He has a disconnect with the plane of reality inside the train as opposed to real life and this stunts his development. In my opinion this would be due to the faults of the train and the limitations of the amount of people that it can help. Yes, some people get off the train and become better. People like Tulip, Jessie and Lake. But we don't really see the people that the system has failed. This is where Simon comes in, he is the very person that the train has failed and it shows how counter intuitive it is with the limited opportunities and the disregard for the different circumstances of the people in it, bundling them together.

I doubt Simon will be the first, or the last passenger to be ruined by the whole system. I do like how his character gives us an insight into something not many of us have thought of before that is; how can a train be designed to be so perfect that it can help every single person on board? It is impossible. Even Artificial Super Intelligence like One-One would have trouble doing so. Which can represent how people can only change if they want to, and if they genuinely don't they have to be stuck the feedback loop of hell.

_____________________________________________________________

Big thanks to my homeboy @useful-crew-too​ for supplying all of the screenshots for this analysis

[unohanadaydreams]

Hello again! I'm probably gonna chuck a few different asks at ya but first I wanted to invite that ramble on Mayuri and the dynamic he has with Jizo or about him in general if you'd like~ I'd love to read more character analysis about our fave clown scientist.

I am reserving my spot to over analyze Mayuri. It’s very rambly sorry.

Okay, so Jizo is a protector of people/deceased souls of children.

This tells us a few things.

1. Mayuri is protected by Jizo.

2. Mayuri craves protection.

3. Mayuri either died as a child or went through something traumatic enough as a child that it immediately ended with the event aka. the metaphorical death of childhood. My guess is on the latter.

Mayuri is protected by Jizo through the obvious means of poison. But also by his zanpakuto itself. Jizo’s appearance and abilities are off putting. This heavily reflects Mayuri--his appearance and abilities (extendo arm, ect) are off putting to most people.

I believe Mayuri calls attention to himself through his appearance, while also masking himself in strange, off putting attire so that people do not look TOO close. They see what he wants them too.

And likewise, people see what they want out of Jizo, while ignoring the meaning of the zanpakuto’s name and TRUE nature. Jizo is part of a shield Mayuri has constructed to hide his vulnerabilities as a person with feelings and flaws. (He refuses to alter his brain in the same way he alters his body bc Intellect)

Mayuri craves protection and it’s evident in how he raises Nemu as well as how he attacks others AS WELL as how he treats Jizo. Nemu, from the very start, bodily shields him even when it isn’t explicitly necessary. She was created by him and therefore her feelings of gladness for him continuing to live and her arc of understanding that her true objective was ALWAYS to protect him was pretty fitting.

Mayuri can not even face let alone acknowledge his love for his daugther until she is dead and he does so vaguely, merely calling her a great Experiment. His kindness was relayed only through Akon and even then, he does not refer to her as anything other than an accomplishment to lord over Urahara (which like BIG LMAO).

Literally admitting to Nemu that he even viewed her as his biggest accomplishment, as one would speak about an object, was embarrassing for him.

He straight up can’t admit he is PROUD of making Nemu because that would imply he in any way cares about her. Fucking astounding, the lengths he will go through to deny he knows what affection or love or anything approaching those emotions are.

With his attacks--he often uses methods physically impede his opponents from approaching him. He prefers long range or ‘stealth’ methods. Blowing up his own people, stabbing opponents through Nemu, ect. He does not have any large, impressive displays of sword fighting. He prefer to flex his mind and be creative in proving he is Superior to others.

And with Jizo, he literally punishes his sword for attacking him. While many captains would understand that an enemies abilities were at fault, Mayuri isn’t one of them.

He snaps off Jizo in Szayelaporro’s body and states directly that it’s because the sword attacked him. Obviously there is a large theme of ‘control’ going on here in tandem with his need to be protected. But nevertheless: he purposely breaks his sword like a kid having a tantrum that caretaker didn’t keep them from scraping their knee.

Mayuri’s childhood ended suddenly/early or he simply never had one. It was gone before he realized he should’ve had one, maybe.

This is evident in how he treats Nemu, yes, but also how he treats Akon. From the very start, Akon is not treated with the same kiddy gloves we see Hiyori, Nanao, or even Byakuya given in the pendulum arc. And Mayuri isn’t even fully in control here.

And that’s not even getting into how Urahara releasing Mayuri with no further consequence or stipulation and then leaving him the research & development center was essentially rewarding whatever behavior got him in isolation within the Maggot’s Nest and is the start of his decent into what he be becomes.

Or that Urahara knowing he was down there means he knew what he did and knew that only the promise of Control and Power would sway him out--presumably a promise to restore or trump what he lost when arrested.

It’s further evident in how he acts as a person. He explains things to excess, a sign he did not feel listened to or his opinion valued as a child, and will go off if he feels ignored.

He is quick to throw literal foot stamping fucking fits. Like a toddler. Over small things. He seeks approval from people like Urahara and intellectual opponents alike--he wants it to be acknowledge that he is Smarter.

Trauma wise, he has low empathy for others and the people he does care about are still treated like shit. This is VERY common for abused children. He does not value his physical form. He’ll turn himself into fucking goo--he doesn’t care. That goes beyond ‘scientific improvement’ and straight into ‘i have only been valued and validated for my intellect so that’s all that matters’.

He also hides his physical body behind clothes baggier even than the soul reaper uniform already is, paints over his skin, and generally wears eye catching clothes that distract from HIM. Making one’s body repulsive and offputting is specifically a common response to sexual abuse.

Which would also help to explain his adversity to affection tbh.

It’s very possible that all of this happened while he was a living soul and his arrival to the rukongai was after for a further and more literal interpretation of ‘deceased soul’.

ALSO Look at literally anything the science department designs and tell me it doesn’t fall into the following categories: 1. edgy my chemical romance teen who reads cosmic horror or 2. legitimately cute and child friendly designs that activate your Animal Crossing brain.

IN conclusion:

Mayuri was abused, he craves protection, he finds any form of emotion that pertains to human connection horrible, he portrays only valuing intellect, and Jizo is not ironically named such.

I DEFINITELY went off on some tangents but uuuuuuuh (:

[nomoney]

If there’s anything I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that fealing fearful is good for you. It means your brain is functioning properly. If you didn’t have fear, you would walk right up to a lion and let it eat you into oblivion. Your fear instinct is there to keep you alive. But just like you, I lived a cozy spoiled life with no real-world worries until I was like 27. My parents provided me with everything I needed so that if I failed I still had a safety net. It’s what parents do. They keep their kids safe from lions.

Experience is the only real teacher and as much as this fear sucks right now, we need to experience it and get comfortable with moments like these because moments like these help us reflect and discover who we are and what skills we have. This level of uncertainty frees your mind from expectations. You can now intrinsically explore radical different visions for your own futures. You can improvise and measure how well you handle ambiguity and ambiguous environments. The systematic expectations that held you and your peers hostage are now gone. You don’t have to do well in school or be the smartest kid. I sucked at school for my whole life. I hated doing the school work so much that I used to copy the math examples from my textbook and put it on a piece of paper just to prove to my already suspicious mother that I finished my homework. I liked doing everything but the stupid school work. At some point they labeled me a lost cause but I was generally nice so I wasn’t an “at-risk” kid either. “At-risk” is a label for kids who don’t have strong family support and failing school. You could be nice to others and still suck at school. School is social. We like it because we like our friends. That’s why I’m trying to create for you a global environment where you can experience the same fun amongst your peers but where we put you in the drivers seat of your own education. You would be able to travel the world without money, volunteer at cool organizations, do college level research and volunteer your time helping the elderly. Your parents will be so proud. Because all those worries and expectations that held them hostage, will have vanished. You’ll learn how to rely on yourself to live and still having fun with your friends. You’ll become a developed person so that you can be helpful to others. And if you want to stay with your family, they can actually come with you and they will have their own opportunities to do research and learn something new.

But that vision of the future doesn’t come easy. It’s a journey and journeys are experiences. Bullies will be apart of that life experience. They come in all shapes and sizes and it’s not entirely reduced to physical shoving or cyber bullying. So understand that the way you handle the inevitable bullying will determine the quality of your journey. Because I wouldn’t be here if I gnored my bullies. I faced them to study them and I attacked them strategically with a caring brutality. If you look at the aftermath, my bullies lost their global empire.

I will guide you moving forward but if anyone is bullying you, be ready to respond with strategic brutality. Even if it’s scary..Because the bullies only do it because they love that you are scared. Because I was scared.

They bullied me through their mass media and fake social media accounts. Basically heavy duty cyber bullying. They spread rumors, tried to shape my personality for me, and used deep-fakes of me to trick people into believing that they were watching authentic videos of me saying controversial things. And despite my extreme disadvantage, I reponded with strategic brutality. As the cyber bullying comes to an end, some notable highlights were the dollar collapsing, complete distrust of mass media by global population and the creation of a system that makes money irrelivant. And no one will ever trust them again.

I was hacked, followed, and taunted in my own h ome. My parents had their personal space invaded. Be prepared to respond with defensive aggression.

Apply 10x more force when a bully invades your personal space: it keeps the other bullies away. Even if you are going to lose. It stops them from messing with UU. Even Your average general chubby school bully doesn’t want to bully you if it’s going to be a lot of work. They bully the easiest person. It’s a dominance thing that humans do. Be prepared to respond appropriately when the asshole comes around.

Most of the time, the bully just has no intrinsic confidence and they will bully the weakest link as a way to gain some confidence. If you are subjected to one of these confidence situations, just remember, don’t be a con artist in a confidence match. Sometimes the bullying comes in the form of indirect communication or in the form of public challenges to your work. I’m not a con artist, so those who challenge my line of thinking will lose embarrassingly if they aren’t being intellectual about it. If they are trolling, they are a con artist. People who maintain an image as an expert in a certain field unfortunately fall into the con artist category. Because they are challenging my work as a response to a blow to their ego and not as an intellectually sincere gesture. They are con artists when they don’t articulate their “expert” analysis clearly up to my standards of simplicity. Either stay silent or admit that the argument makes sense because adding technical jargon as a response is a suicidal move to credibility.

Some of you may have already made that suicidal move. And in that case, you didn’t realize that you also freed your soul from expectation. Because Admitting loss is the correct response. If they choose to respond. Because admitting loss is the incredibly less embarrassing way to free yourself from societal expectations of your “expertise”

You wanna remain a child in your thinking. Children aren’t worried about their image when they make mistakes. There’s no such thing as failure. ‘Failure’ as a concept is pretty anti-intellectual. We like to brag about “failing” after we succeed but we never like to admit it during the process. Cause to talk about failure is not something a child would talk about. A child doesn’t rumble to other children about their failures. They just try again or do something else cause a child is an explorer. Mistakes and failures are learning lessons. We took “trial and error” and renamed it “failure”. That’s a heavy label. That instills fear into people. Now you’re not a child learning the environment through trial and error but an adult who keeps “failing in the acting business”. Every time you fuck up, you learn something new. I don’t mind fucking up because it also becomes my highest quality lessons in my journey. I now know not to trust certain things or make confident assumptions about specific people publicly. I see these things as trial and error as I map out what’s in front of me. I mess up all the time by ignoring everyone in front of me and focusing on me only. But those mistakes help me learn what’s out there.

There’s no such thing as failure. Failure is failure to meet someone else’s expectations of you. Stop trying to impress people that you don’t like 🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠

[askderynsharp]

wow, tenth leviathan anniversary. i feel old tbh. as i am currently obsessing over dnd, what class and race do you think deryn and alek would be?

I think about this too much. 

Obviously based on their personalities the first inkling is to make alek some kind of wizard and dylan some kinda knight, but dylan doesnt actually know how to sword fight and Alek is referenced multiple times to have more combat training. Furthermore, one could argue that Dylan is more fit to be a scholar class because of his extended knowledge of the natural world due to being a Darwinist, whereas Alek’s knowledge is more... diplomatic in nature. so, based on that, lets see what skills and stats the kids showcase in the books!Dylan:

For all he’s a soldier, we dont see Dylan get into scraps that often. And when we do, he usually just uses his fists so its difficult to pinpoint what weapon he’d use. But we still shouldnt consider him a martial artist too easily, because you’ll notice that the three times he is referenced getting into a fistfight the text implies he’s not super good at it. 

The first inkling we have of Dylan’s fighting prowess is when he mentions off-handedly that he couldn’t take the other middies in a real fight and thus would have to get revenge in other ways. its also mentioned that he enjoys getting 'rowdy’, but this could easily be in reference to the sneaky ways in which he takes revenge, like pranks and sneak attacks. 

The second we get is a little snippet in Behemoth in which he tells Alek that there is only one guard stationed in the Orient Express’ control room, and that he thinks he can take him. While this implies he is a good fighter, i think Dylan is more relying on the element of surprise. We dont see how Dylan takes the guard out, only hear a quick grunt from him before he hits the floor and Dylan opens the door for Alek. This implies he hit the guard fast and hard without a chance for him to fight back, and i’ll explain how this was likely when we get further down. 

The third instance of Dylan getting into a fight is hypothetical, during his and Alek’s fight in Goliath. Alek mentions that he was punched fairly hard but that Dylan’s stance was all wrong and he could easily counter attack. We dont actually see how right Alek is, but considering he was specifically trained for combat and Dylan’s used to winning fights on the first blow, I think its fair to say he would have beaten Dylan.

Now I know i’ve made a case for how weak Dylan is, but we know from the Bonus Chapter that Dylan is physically stronger than Alek when it comes to power. This power is attributed to the time he spends climbing the ratlines, and which we see in his rescue of Newkirk that he can do without hooking his legs. I dont know if you’ve ever tried to climb a rope without hooking your legs, but it takes a tremendous amount of upper body strength. Dylan laments that he is handicapped by being afab, but i’d remind you that later when he needs to wear his formal shirt he notices that his muscle mass has doubled. 

Furthermore, we learn during Dylan’s stay in Alek’s castle that he can apparently toss an apple and throw a knife through its heart. We dont get many other examples of his proficiency with daggers but he prefers to keep one on hand when skulking in Istanbul. I think its safe to say that his preferred weapon is a dagger, but also that he shows a high dexterity as well. Most of the badass moments Dylan has in the series are attributed to his dexterity, from being able to catch the flailing ladder of the stormwalker or when he spice-bombs the saboteurs on the dauntless. Theres too many examples of him being quick on both his feet and with his thinking for me to go into them all like i did with his fist fighting, but if you read the books you’ll know that Dylan’s main strength lies in his acrobatic abilities: jumping, swinging, balancing, and striking a target. 

Moving onto his mental ability, I think a lot of people overlook just how smart Dylan is. 

He’s described as a ‘quick study’ in most subjects from aeronautics to natural philosophy, and Dr. Barlow openly laments Dylan’s interest in ‘tying knots’ over exploring his intellectual potential. During The Storm Scene he’s shown calculating the weight of the water on the ships back, he picks up on the german conspiracy when meeting with the sultan before even Doctor Barlow, and he’s able to ace the entrance exam with what he’s already studied from the Manual of Aeronautics. 

But the single most impressive mental feat Dylan has showcased is his proficiency with language. In their initial meeting, Dylan is shown to not understand a word of German, which Alek and Volger use to their advantage. Its fair to say that in the following three weeks they kept up this contingency since Alek didnt completely trust Dylan yet. This means that by the start of Behemoth, Dylan’s german vocabulary is limited to the word ‘dumbass’.

He then spends time with Clankers in Istanbul, and once returning to the ship, is able to understand and speak casually with Alek’s men who cannot speak english. This means that Dylan picked up enough of the german language to hold a conversation in just over a month, and based on how he spent his time in Istanbul, purely through osmosis. Now, some people pick up languages easier than others, but the fact he was able to essentially teach himself german by ear is widely overlooked in how impressive that is. 

Now everyone knows the differences between wisdom and intelligence are a meme in themselves but the official definition for wisdom is perceptiveness and insight, which i think his accomplishments showcase. I’d argue that despite the case i’ve made for his overall smarts intelligence actually lags a bit behind his wisdom, due to how he handles the whole Alek situation. 

I’ve stated this before, but Dylan has a painfully low emotional intelligence. I’m gonna keep this brief because I’ve written that analysis before and this is already super long, but a lot of his issues with Alek could have been resolved early on with a self-aware heart to heart. He doesnt understand Alek’s feelings, he doesnt want to understand his own feelings, and he’s consistently surprised by other people’s opinions of him. Lilit’s very obvious infatuation, for example. I know this doesnt really factor into combat and stuff, but i think this makes the case that both intelligence and charisma are on the weaker side. 

With all of this in mind, its fair to say he’d favour daggers and his stats would fall somewhere in this order:

Wisdom

Dexterity

Strength

Intelligence

Charisma

Constitution

So I’d put Dylan down as a dual dagger Ranger, considering his top 3 stats are optimal for that class and the play style is similar to what we’ve seen in the books. 

Wow, this is long. I might actually need to stop it here and do a part 2 in another post. I guess I favour my son too much, heh ^^;

[chaotic-bells]

Share your natal chart tag game ✨

Rules: go to this website and generate your natal chart if you can (you’ll need a place of birth + time of birth). Report the results for your Sun, Moon and Ascendant, and bold the statements that apply to you

Thanks for the tag Anni @whatagreatproblemtohave 😁 I’ll do under the line thingy too cause this is massive.

The Sun is in Capricorn Capricorn is a feet-on-the-ground, eye-on-the-prize sign. Those with Sun in Capricorn have a realistic, grounded approach to life that can be seen no matter how dreamy the rest of the birth chart suggests. These people know how to do things, and to get things done (this is something people say frequently to me, specially at work, so I’ll go with that). Some Capricorns naturally turn their backs on things they deem too frivolous. They are very much concerned with things that are worthwhile--and that includes their own lives. Capricorns want to do and be something worthwhile. Like their Earth signs relatives, Taurus and Virgo, they need to feel useful and effective in the real world in order to be satisfied with their lives. But the Capricorn spin on the earth signs is that Capricorn possesses a stronger need for recognition in a worldly sense. They have a strong sense of society and its framework, and they feel most secure when they feel they are doing their part within that framework. (geez, way to call me out at the end there) Capricorns like to pare things down, and take pleasure in the simple things in life. However, many are attracted to status symbols and these ones will wear the best clothes (tasteful ones!) and drive quietly impressive cars. Comparing Capricorns to their symbol, the goat, brings up some interesting analogies. Solar Capricorns can see into the future, and plan for it. They don't mind taking things slowly, but they absolutely aim to get to the top of the mountain in life! They make their way steadily and sure-footedly; and their strength and singleness of purpose are admirable. Capricorns can sometimes be rather lonely people, although they rarely let it show. They are often a little reserved--even standoffish. This is generally because they value all things practical, and they'll seldom wear their emotions on their sleeves, unless they have a particularly flamboyant Moon sign. This is a sign that is surely the most resourceful of the zodiac. To some, Capricorns come across as unimaginative, but they can be enormously creative when it comes to the material world (hello my craft loving self). They are generally very capable people with a strong sense of tradition and responsibility. (sometimes too much, but I don’t know if this is a older sibling thing or a capricorn thing) Many Capricorns have mastered the art of making people laugh (don’t know if I mastered, but I love it). Their sense of humor can be of the deadpan variety--they're generally excellent at keeping a straight face. They can be bitingly sarcastic, too. Capricorns are not known for taking too many risks in life. They value the beaten track and things "tried and true". This is not to say they are stick-in-the-muds -- they simply value the hard work laid down by those who've been around before them (....well yeah. why ignore the past if we can use it. doesn’t everyone?). Turn to your Capricorn friends for help when you need to really get things done. They'll have practical advice, and they'll help you organize and manage your life a little better. Capricorns are generally good with their "word", dependable, and rather loyal people. Short description: She is honest, reserved, circumspect, honorable, and strong-willed. Quietly ambitious within the realms of the possible, she likes and takes on responsibility. She can work in the social domain. Possible issues: A sometimes bitter and mistrustful mind.

The Moon is in Gemini Lunar Geminis are usually pleasant, witty, and charming people (hopefully?). At home and with family, however, they can be moody and irritable at times (I just need my alone time, ok?). People with Moon in Gemini are always interesting people--they have a finger in every pie, are curious to a fault, and are generally well-informed. Nervousness and worry are common traits (so now I know who to blame) with this lunar position. An underlying restlessness is common, and many Lunar Geminis need more stimulation than others. They usually read a lot, talk a lot, and think a lot (ok, this is definitely me) with this airy, mutable position of the Moon. Their homes are often a perpetual work-in-progress (😅). They generally dislike housework, but are big on home improvement. Re-organizing their homes in little--and sometimes big--ways seems to keep them happy, as Lunar Geminis are easily bored by both routine and constancy. Often, this is a reflection of their inner world--"the grass is always greener..." applies here. Inwardly, Lunar Geminis are often unsettled (...so that’s why my room changed 150% during lockdown). Moon in Gemini parents are generally more adept at handling the intellectual needs of their children than emotional ones. Others' complicated emotions, in general, can be difficult for Lunar Geminis to handle. In their families, Lunar Geminis often take on the role of organizing get-togethers. They are at their best when they have plenty of things to do beyond routine (usually reading, or crafting, or sewing... gimme something to do). Moon in Gemini people almost always have a way with words. They are clever and witty, and more often than not can be found chatting with others (... so yeah...). They are sociable and friendly, and feel comfortable in crowds (no. definitely don’t). Some pay too much attention to what everyone else is doing, and lose touch with what they really want to do. Generally, Lunar Geminis have a million and one projects going. They are impressionable folk, and their imagination is boundless. Their openness to new ideas is admirable, although decisiveness and persistence take a blow as a result. Still, versatility and adaptability (sounds like what I say in job interviews...) are some of the stronger traits of this position of the Moon. When irritable, they can easily become snappy. Their moodiness is complicated--this is not the same kind of moodiness you'll find with water sign moons, for example. Usually, difficult behavior stems from inner restlessness. Lunar Geminis want to do it all, and have trouble sticking to any one project. When problems arise, the first instinct of Moon in Gemini natives is to talk things out. Their tendency to analyze can give them the appearance of emotional detachment (my mom likes calling me cold. she also said to several friends I was autistic. I’m not). In fact, Lunar Geminis may be especially comfortable talking about their feelings, but feeling their own feelings doesn't come as easily. Those that don't take time out to really emote and understand their own needs may end up baffling others. Feeling misunderstood is common for Moon in Gemini natives. The only real solution to the problem is learning to get in touch with their own feelings (...no thanks). Short description: Sharp intellect. She likes literature, and will adapt to all situations and social groups. Work in contact with the public, literary occupations, travel (I work in a call center with focus in hospitality, and studied Literature in college...lol). Potential issues:  Lack of follow-up of ideas, indecision, may go back on decisions. (my capricorn my balance this out. I’m def not an indecisive person, and I finish what I start)

Ascendant is Gemini Those born with Gemini rising see the world as a place to learn. They are curious about the people around them. Sounds similar to Sagittarius rising? Well it is, but there are some important differences. While Sagittarius seeks to expand their mental and physical horizons in a broad sense, Gemini is mostly interested in moving about in their social circles. These are people who love to ask questions, to move around freely, and to mingle. Definitely restless and often quick in physical expression, natives of the Gemini Ascendant exude an air of impatience even if they don't mean it. In fact, there is a cleverness to Gemini Ascendants that can intimidate some, especially sensitive folk. Their facility with words can be a wonderful asset, although sometimes Gemini rising individuals identify too much with their mental agility and forget, in their personal interactions and communications, to nurture the people around them. A certain lack of warmth in presentation can be the result (so I’ve heard), and although this style is generally a facade, it is not immediately apparent to most. People with, for example, predominant Water signs may feel a little ill at ease with Gemini rising people (that is, before they get to know them more personally), while strong Air types more fully appreciate the fun and cleverness of these individuals. I have found two styles of presentation most common with Gemini rising people. One style is bubbly, changeable, talkative, and a little quirky. These natives are interesting and fun. They constantly explain things, whether it's their own behavior and opinion or those of the world around them. Another distinct "style" is a rather cool and intellectual demeanor. These natives are often quite witty and clever, but they present themselves in a less cheerful and changeable way than the first group. Their observations are sharp and the overall manner is a tad brusque (the first is me online or with people that know me well. The second is around people who don’t know me and usually my main ‘reputation’). No matter the style, Gemini rising natives are given to analysis and making sense of their world. Their powers of observation are well-developed, they are mentally active (more often than not, their minds are racing!), and they almost always have something bright or witty to say. It is easy for individuals with this position to get sidetracked, as their curiosity is large, their minds are quick, and their attention spans rather short! As children, natives born with a Gemini Ascendant are often labeled as the intellectual, inquisitive, and perhaps odd child. Many feel their upbringing lacked some warmth. In one-to-one relationships, Gemini rising people often seek a certain amount of personal freedom and space. They enjoy intellectual debates and exchanging ideas. Although they often demand a fair amount of freedom, they are often just as willing to give their partners room to breathe.

[veliseraptor]

sometimes I am just really struck by how smart and articulate and full of good thoughts and opinions my friends are, like, raise your hand if you know a whole bunch of rad creative intellectuals who blow your mind regularly with their thoughtful analysis and criticism *raises both hands*

[dragonofyang]

From the Sock Puppet’s Mouth

Well folks, good news and bad news.

Good news: the ABTV interview on March 4th confirmed for us that WEP is the reason for the last-minute changes and that certain things were fought tooth and nail for until they came down and axed it.

Bad news: WEP is still using the EPs as their meat shields to hide behind, and despite not being really able to refuse, Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery still said some fucked up shit in this interview and the one before. And we probably should gird our loins for the next interview with Let’s Voltron!

But Yang, why in the fuck are we not going after the EPs, then?

The answer to that and why this is happening is three little letters, my friends.

NDA.

Non-disclosure agreements.

AKA the bane of your existence. And ours. And almost certainly JDS, LM, voice actors, animators, and literally anybody who has to comply with the season 8 we got back in December and the resulting fallout.

These are fairly standard in lots of situations where you’ll be working with confidential material, stuff like stories, military paperwork, movie production, that sort of thing. They generally tell you that you can’t spill the beans until a certain date when the contract expires, or when the information becomes public knowledge and the need for secrecy is lifted. Pretty standard in the entertainment business, keeps people from getting spoiled to trade secrets or important plotlines and ensures that you can trust your employees with whatever you need done for the project in question.

One other thing that these pesky little pieces of paper do is give your employer (say, the owner of a franchise or a superior officer), the ability to order you what to say just as easily as what not to. Don’t believe me? Look up interviews with the people who were in The Last Airbender (yeah… THAT movie). During production and when it was new, they all said how excited they were to work on the movie and be a part of it, but once those magical dates came by to free them of their legal obligations, they spilled more tea than the American revolutionaries did back in Boston. As soon as they wouldn’t get sued, they changed their tune about working on TLA.

Sometimes you just don’t like a project, sometimes your boss is a dick, whatever, but the fact is, if you sign one of those little things titled “Non-Disclosure Agreement”, you are bound by law to say whatever your boss tells you to. It’s very much a “they say ‘jump’, you say ‘how high’” situation. The only time this sort of shit doesn’t apply is if it implicates you in a crime. So like, your boss can’t embezzle money and then tell you to say you did it, or that you helped, or whatever. If it means you’ll get pressed charges, then you’re free to stand up and say “fuck this noise” and leave.

But JDS and LM aren’t being forced to admit to a crime, as heinous as some of what they’ve said in the past two ABTV interviews was. I’ll admit, I saw red the first time I heard the interviews on February 25 and March 4, but ya know fuckin’ what? That was the goal. Those interviews were meant to be a targeted blow against those of us in the VLD fandom who want the real s8 and for the characters to get their stories told correctly, rather than the slipshod stoic nonsense that ultimately created a story with zero meaning.

WEP/World Events Productions/Bob Koplar holds the Voltron intellectual property. JDS and LM are their puppets right now because unless they’re ordered to admit to a crime or otherwise break the law, they could be ruined legally, financially, and closed off from their trade. Would it be nice if they stuck to the scruples they displayed back when the show first started? Fuck yeah. I’d love it if they said, “screw it, here’s the real s8 with the heroine’s journey and the parallel storylines and the ending you deserved to see and get catharsis with.”

Fact is, they can’t, but we, who have never signed an NDA with WEP, DreamWorks, or Netflix or whoever the fuck else is involved, can.

They’re lying, yes, and they said despicable things that would make anybody’s blood boil, but the fact is they’re just the unfortunate human shields that will let WEP get away scot-free and it sets a very dangerous precedent about what happens when a story is being told and someone up top doesn’t like what they see. The narrative LM and JDS are being told to spin is that when the writers left, they went ham and ruined the story and that the real season 8 would be worse than the concoction we got on December 14. LM and JDS have said awful shit as WEP tries to demoralize fans and chase them off from going after the original season 8 and deflecting blame off where it should be aimed. But why would they have to write a story that’s animated and would have been completed before the writers left? LM said it herself that animation is extremely ahead of schedule compared to releases, and if you’re a fan of HTTYD like myself, you’ll know that the third movie’s release date had to be pushed back multiple times to account for the animation schedule because they failed to accurately project when it would be complete, and so pushed it back as opposed to releasing a shoddy product.

It’s simple enough to realize that the story being spun is just logically fallible and factually untrue, but because so much of what’s been said has been attacking the fandom, it’s easy to believe it. I almost wanted to believe that, too. It’s easy when there’s already a face and a name to blame. It’s harder to dig through stinging nettles, even if you know there’s a pot of gold under it all. Luckily I brought work gloves and have friends who know how to wield gardening shears.

We knew before that there was last minute edits to season 8, and @leakinghate did an excellent breakdown of that here in case you want to settle in for a nice read to see what should have been. But the interview on March 4th confirmed multiple times that the problem with the changes and story didn’t come from the EPs or even Dreamworks. The pushback came from the IP owners. JDS says so right toward the beginning, about 12 minutes in when he’s talking about Adam and Shiro’s romance. JDS and LM both discuss how it was the IP owners who gave the order to change an already-storyboarded and approved plotline for Shiro, which directly negates their tweet on March 1 claiming that the store has no creative control and the letter Bob Koplar wrote to a few fans, also written March 1, which claimed the same thing and seemed intent on absolving him as a responsible party for s8. Sure, the person tweeting and the person handling orders might not have to approve things, but that account and the store are both owned by WEP, which is easily proven if you dial WEP’s number. But the IP holders got discussed multiple times throughout the entire episode, more towards the first half than the second, which is when what they’re saying gets really screwy in terms of logic and what they’ve said before and general bullfuckery. Until JDS and LM are thanking the hosts for the unprecedented two hour interview and JDS says, “I don’t agree with myself” at 43:03, they were thanking the fans and apologizing for what happened and explaining that it wasn’t them or Dreamworks, but rather the IP holders who were pushing back.

Don’t believe me?

Click to 12:10 of the March 4 interview. JDS talks about Adam and Shiro’s relationship and how it was originally meant to be portrayed, and at the 12:50 mark he says that they got pushback about their relationship, not from Dreamworks, but from “other controlling parties with Voltron.”

Click to 18:52, where JDS mentions how they didn’t have the position as being creators of the IP. He also points out that, “We were, for all intents and purposes, like, started as a show for boys 6 to 11 to sell as much toys as possible.”

Does that phrase bother you as much as it bothers me?

Because it should.

Ever since VLD ended and the fans started pushing back against what got published as season 8, the EPs have been silent, at least for the first two-ish months. They didn’t say a word anywhere publicly about the show or if they liked it, because their NDAs probably had an “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” clause. Generally, that’s the case because part of your job is to build good PR and hype up your project. Don’t believe me? Look at how they were after literally every other season, they came out immediately saying how much they loved it and how much they hoped the fans would too, and when there was pushback about Lotor’s abuse and the colony plot they were like, “please trust us, we want to do his story justice” even when it probably would have served them better to remain silent.

Not with S8.

Until these interviews, nobody talked. And when they finally did start talking?

They all kept saying the same things.

“This is a show for boys and their dads” and “this is a show meant to sell toys to little boys.”

At no point before this did anybody on the production team say anything even remotely related.

You can look for yourself, but I guarantee you won’t find anything. “Boy toy show” has been the go-to phrase for everybody ever since the silence around season 8 broke, and it’s not their words.

It is, without a doubt, from the IP holder.

We were promised that Lotor’s arc would continue and that “there’s a lot that is at play in his brain and his mind,” in the GeekDad article about him. Narratively, Lotor and Allura were meant to foil Zarkon and Honerva/Haggar. We should’ve gotten an alchemist-versus-alchemist showdown and a cool Lotor and Lance arc. Many things that were built up in seasons 1 through 6 were dropped, and if you refer back to Hate’s meta “Seeking Truth in Darkness”, you’ll find her analysis on what was cut, why, and the plot she pieced together based on the inconsistencies in the details of the season 8 that got released. In the latest interview, JDS said, “We were just trying to break the trope, our own trope. You know what I mean? Like Voltron was its own trope and the sort of little nook that we inhabited was, like, sort of boys toys was its own weird tropey situation.”

And despite all this talk of family and love and complexity and breaking barriers, we received two things from December 14 and on: VLD season 8, and silence.

Complete and utter silence.

The VAs were trotted out to face the wrath of the fans at SAC Anime 2019 and there was nary a word to be heard from the EPs, Dreamworks, WEP, Netflix… Nobody had anything to say about the final season of Voltron. The VAs even commented that there were things they were and weren’t allowed to say. And if they wanted to say anything, their NDAs and general social etiquette prevented them from saying whatever was actually on their mind, because I guarantee you nobody happy about the season would have kept silent. Even when all the season 7 backlash happened, JDS and LM asked us as a fandom to please wait and see, because there would be narrative payoff.

Which is why the latest two interviews with ABTV are all the more rightfully infuriating.

In the February 25 interview, LM specifically says that the initial pitch was to kill everybody, everybody would die and that would be the end of it, and that they had to back off from that. After the broken promises of season 8, that’s pretty damn believable to a fandom who’s rightfully hurting and grieving what could have finished a great show. But then with this March 4 interview, she says that she wanted to go Sailor Moon with it and have Allura come back as a baby after sacrificing herself. Kind of hard for those two stories to mesh when the person LM says would raise Allura would also have been one of the ones to die in the initial pitch.

So what exactly is the truth there?

Frankly, I think neither of those ideas is the truth. At least completely.

Why? A) It sounds like a super early pitch idea and B) because their general behavior disagrees with every interview leading up to season 8. Because if LM and JDS were proud of this product that got released, they would have said so and behaved as normal, if maybe a little more reserved due to fandom backlash. Because they wouldn’t be silent and only coming out with interviews after two months and several of #TeamPurpleLion metas that poke massive holes in what exists of season 8, CallVoltron has been sending letters, and #FREEVLDS8 garnered over 30,000 signatures. WEP has been trying to do damage control ever since we as a fandom started putting two and two together about where these disastrous last-minute changes came from, and only when the petition got updated to include WEP as a point of focus did WEP start trying to discredit the fans and meta writers who were coming too close to the truth. Here is a complete list of everything that’s happened since December 14, to give you an idea of just how wild of a ride this has been.

One main consistent thing throughout everything that’s happened since season 8 dropped is that everybody from the EPs up is lying, whether by omission or outright or through someone else, people have been lying like mad. WEP doesn’t want you to know that they own the IP and have strong input, despite confirming it by liking a tweet on February 13 and how you can be directed to their store if you call WEP’s phone number. WEP doesn’t want you to know that they gave the original season 8 the axe. WEP got scared that we got close and so they trotted out their EPs after two months of silence to try and break those of us hunting for the truth. These two interviews, which, mind you, came after what was scheduled to be the last one.

The official story continues to fall apart with every word of these last two interviews, too. JDS says that they were crafting the epilogue for season 8 during the aftermath of season 7, but according to him they completed season 8 back in June.

Again: which is the truth?

I stand with @leakinghate and the rest of #TeamPurpleLion and think that the original season 8 was completed back in June, but that the backlash from s7 and the general disapproval of a story of empowerment caused the truly-eleventh-hour edits to s8. The EPs are being forced to lie to you due to their contracts, WEP wants to keep hiding and lying and calling their customers liars and mocking them. But the funny thing is that the more intricate the lie, the harder it is to keep it straight versus the truth, as evidenced by how JDS and LM seem to be confusing what was in s8 versus what was pitched versus what they were told to say.

So what’s it all mean, then?

It means you should be watching and writing letters and calling WEP and calling them out publicly whenever WEP and Bob Koplar lie to the consumers and customers that express dissatisfaction with their service and their products.

WEP forgets that there is more to fandom than diehard dads and young boys.

The more they ignore the majority of their consumers, the more money they lose, the more faith they lose, and the less people will want to follow their future projects (like if they decide to do an MFE spinoff). Let’s Voltron is coming up with a new episode with JDS and LM, and they’re hoping to get it up soon. I’d just like to remind y’all that it’s scripted and pre-recorded, it’s not live, and it benefits from being the official Voltron podcast and has to keep good relations with WEP in order to retain that status. So don’t stop calling, write letters, hell just leave a Facebook or Twitter review of the business to express your satisfaction or lack thereof with how WEP treats customers and its show and everything. After all, the road to s8 is paved with honesty.

@felixazrael @leakinghate @crystal-rebellion @voltronisruiningmylife

[fictionalcharactertypology]

The Umbrella Academy - Typology Thoughts

Personal Ramble: I tentatively started this blog mid-way through last year, and am trying to get in the groove of doing more with it lately. I’ve wrestled a lot with finding a theme I like, determining how I want to organize typings, etc. etc. I’m happy with my current format with the quotes and all, but it would probably be more helpful and get some good discussions going if I actually, like ... you know, provided some explanations for my typings? Mind blowing idea, right. I’m not really interested in typing up some sort of professional, academic analysis for each character, though, as that’s not really the process of how I type, and I’d rather share my thoughts in a more free-form discussion style format. It may not appeal to everyone, as a lot of my process is more “vibes” and it can be hard for me to point out separately what is coming from each function, enneagram type, and instinctual variant.

Umbrella Academy Thoughts: I’ll start by saying that we’ve only got one season to go with. Especially since this show has such a large ensemble of main characters, our information about each character is still pretty limited, and I really wish I had more information to go on. That said:

Luther - ISFJ 9 so/sp: The man’s a giant, lovable fluff ball. He’s a softie who has trouble standing up for himself and going after the things he wants, but is protective of others (some aux Fe and 9ish qualities here). Likes to stay in his comfort zone, seems good with routine, sentimental, dependable, reliable (dom Si). Manages to live alone on the moon for years without going crazy, so likely leading with an introverted function. Loyal, duty bound, traditional, sticks with what he knows (Si). Calm, fuzzy, nebulous quality about him (9), with strong group orientation and good practical common sense (so/sp, Si).

Five – INTJ 5w4 sp/sx: Curious to see how this character evolves. So far, he seems intellectually curious, intense, cerebral, a disembodied mind whose physical presence feels like a bit of an afterthought (some Ni-dom, 5 here, sx intensity). Long-term planning and goal to stop the apocalypse, and working backward from the goal to try to find the steps necessary to reach it, with a fairly good understanding of how to get to said goal based on future predictions of if-this-then-that, but still more comfortable with thought/theorizing rather than action (dom-Ni). Can be quite blunt with people, feels intellectually superior, no patience with people perceived as stupid or incompetent (Ni-Te, so-blind), pretentious (dom-Ni, lol).

Diego – ESTP sx/sp: Not sure about core enneagram. Fairly obvious xSTP vibes – adventurous, spontaneous, a bit reckless, jumps into action quickly, street smart (high Se). I felt like he had enough charm or charisma about him to go with tert-Fe instead of inferior. We’ll see. Gives off some cool sx/sp vibes due to being fairly intense, passionate, loner with a mysterious vibe, edgy.  

Klaus – ESFP 7w6 sx/so: Does well and responds quickly even in difficult situations such as getting kidnapped or abruptly time-travelled into a warzone, street smart, quick witted, impulsive and reckless to the point of being actually quite a problem, fairly party-hardy, living in the now, super aesthetic and always looks “cool” or “hip” even when wearing very tattered clothing, room also super aesthetic and well-decorated in a Se-vibe way, grunge, lighting, *mood* (various Se+sp-blind things), artsy bent, concern with personal aesthetic and showing off his unique personality and style, whiney or self-absorbed, fairly moody, melancholic (some aux Fi here, also 4 fix). Our dear sp-blind child that we must protect, lol.

Allison – ENFJ 3w2 so/sp: Might actually be sp/so, more information needed. Fairly obvious dominant Fe vibes, currently I’m leaning aux-Ni as she seems more interested in listening to people’s problems and psychoanalyzing them than offering practical, hands on assistance. Has some very flashy, showing off tendencies, enjoys the lime light, maybe coming from Ennea 3 and tert-Se. Manipulative or bossy, but only because she thinks she knows what’s best for you, mother-dearest type issues (dom-Fe, 2 wing).

Vanya – INFP 4w5 sp/sx: Strong feelings with deep sensitivity, authenticity and creative self expressed in music, melancholic, wistful, dreamy world inside her head (Fi, 4), reserved, reclusive, loner type who doesn’t let many people in, pretty much keeps to herself and the things she’s passionate about (sp/sx). Didn’t get a strong feeling of which way she leans on the perceiving functions – didn’t seem in her body/the moment enough for high Se, fairly hesitating cautious person. The very unbridled reaction from her at the end of the season makes me lean more Ne. Just from experience with high Fi/Ne being … when I see incredibly loud and unbridled Fi screaming the fuck out, it’s usually xNFP, as xSFP generally has their Se to keep them a bit more chill? Still, there’s a lot of character development going on here.

Aaaand that was quite a longer ramble than anticipated! Hopefully that was of help or interest to some of you out there.