#i mean it IS a thing it’s got a lot of thematic significance but it’s also only a very small component of what that story is about

[grimark]

the thing about golden kamuy is that if you took basically any of the characters and slotted them into another series they would be the most batshit insane character in that series. but you line them all up together and they’re just one of the boys.

[carlyraejepsans]

UTY!Flowey, "lore" and how to criticize a fan prequel without being an insufferable pedantic, a guide by Biscia.

(for my muskless fellows, here's a transcript of my thread on Undertale Yellow that I posted on Twitter. enjoy!)

There's this really frustrating attitude in fan spaces i like to call "lorepilling" where people are substantially more concerned with encyclopedic knowledge of details & minutiae (so called "lore") in place of full-text thematic/narrative analysis as if the two are mutually interchangeable.

It's especially common in large franchises and story heavy videogames, and it's like... Are You Treating This Piece Of Art Like A Trivia Battle Or Are You Treating It Like A Story

This is coming from a person who is also deeply autistic about UTDR trivia btw, I'm just saying that when it comes to transformative *stories*, depending on the impact it has on character, themes, and narrative structure... lore is expendable.

Ultimately this is why most of the UTY criticism i see (on twitter specifically) falls flat. What does it matter if "lore" means Flowey couldn't chronologically be there when the justice human fell, as long as the game narratively justified his presence in the story in a compelling way?

The real criticism, in the end, is that it didn't.

He's a plot central, main cast character from the canon returning in a cast of mostly OCs and what does he have to show for it? An admittedly sick boss battle in 1/3 endings, sure but... not much else. He has no significant "presence" in the story, no tie, interaction, or even just... an opinion on the rest of the cast. Which is a huge miss when Flowey's meta role is to be Thee completionist player mirror. He's the OG lorepilled UT fan! He's an opinionated little shit!

This isn't to say that UTY *didn't* engage w/ his metanarrative. When me and @a-town-called-hometown first started playing the game (we were both skeptical of Flowey's inclusion), he immediately said "It would be really cool if they made it so this has been going on for a while and Clover has no idea". Which is precisely what the game did in the neutral ending, and what I will openly say was the most well written & well executed part of this game's story...

...a part we almost didn't see, because the pacifist ending disappointed us so much we lost all will to replay.

To put it in the words of my friend Mel @clowwwnbytes, there's a deafening hollowness to UTY Flowey's motivations & core principles where his guilt towards Chara—and resulting black and white thinking—should be. You're telling me Mr Kill-or-be-killed, "sacrificing yourself to do the right thing is stupid", would stand there after 1000s of failed attempts to make Clover survive, look on as they make the same mistake Asriel he did, and fondly call them friend? Cue the guitar, roll the credits?

He would lose it. Oh my god he would lose his goddamn mind, he would throw the nastiest temper tantrum in the world. Are you serious? How dare you. How DARE you. All this effort, all my patience, and you just let yourself DIE for a few worthless idiots? I should've let you ROT!

*clears throat* sorry got a bit too into character. as i was saying.

I can understand a UT prequel wanting to distance itself from the canon Chara storyline in order to form its own identity, but then turning around and choosing Insane About Chara The Character™ for a sidekick is... far from optimal. In the end, Flowey comes across as underutilized and inconsistent, with a whole lot of wasted potential.

This is an issue I have with UTY's character writing (original AND returning) and story structure as a whole. Lots of inconsistent character arcs, tonal dissonance, overuse of situational sadness... it's an amateurish work, after all, and you can feel it. There's no shame in that.

(Though, there ARE some issues that i take more seriously with its writing, especially when it comes to its two main female characters—Ceroba's lack of narrative agency and depth borders on misogynistic writing imo. But that's a topic for another day)

Over all, UTY was an incredible piece of collaborative transformative work, with gorgeous art and a genuinely incredible OST, which... would have benefited from more experienced writers. But hey, you can only ever learn by trying!

For all it could've been a better story, it certainly did not fail to entertain: both when my friend was playing it, and after in our many discussions of its writing, its faults and how it could've been improved (royal scientist!ceroba character fix you will always be famous. to ME!)

I'm sure this project served as an incredible source of experience for the developers: as individual creators AND as a team. I look forward to their future projects!

but also if i have to see another person say UTY is better than Undertale i might turn into The Jonker.

end of the essay! really couldn't stand any of the pedantic ""criticism"" I'd seen of this fangame so far, so i had to say my piece as someone more versed in analysis. happy to elaborate on anything in the replies or in my inbox!

[not-xpr-art]

Len and Tommy's life told through nine photos ~

A fanart based on the Inside no 9 episode 'Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room' because I loved it so much!

(09/2024)

See below for close ups and unnecessarily detailed explanations of each individual artwork lol

First wanna say that I spent wayy too long on these (like 25+ hours), especially trying to make them look like actual old photos lol... also trying to get their likeness right for the various ages was really bloody hard lol, but hopefully each photo has the essence of each character even if it might not look 100% right pfft...

Second thing is that the dates & locations are very much my own subjective thoughts on their life and not particularly rooted in the canon of the show lol

Also I did go really heavy with the colour symbolism lol...

Ravenhill School, 1965.

The year they met, both are around the age of 10 (give or take). Len is 3 from the left in the top row, Tommy 2 in from the left on the bottom row (also I tried to include references to the other 2 League Of Gentlemen guys... Though I think the only vaguely recognisable one is Jeremy pfft)

Also shout out to @lapis-lazuliie for the idea that they met at school!

(side note, this is the least detailed of all the paintings not just because I was too lazy to render all those children's faces pfft but ALSO because of the significance of them being less recognisable or prominent in each other's lives in this point...)

I was planning on making another childhood/early teen photo but couldn't really think of any good subject matter that could also fit thematically with the episode (also the fact both are coming from poor families who would have had limited access to cameras in this era means we can just pretend that there are just no photos that really exist of them at these ages pfft...)

Photo booth in Leeds, 1974.

Both in their late teens, they'd (well, mainly Tommy) gone to a photo booth in Leeds with the intention of getting some professional looking photos only for Len to immediately make Tommy laugh once they got in there lol

The middle photo is covered in lines as Tommy had planned on throwing it away, only to find he couldn't bring himself to do it in the end... Is it platonic? Romantic? Both? Who knows, you decide lol! I mainly wanted it to be a candid moment between two people that love each other lol

(final one is them play fighting because that's kinda just what 19 year olds are like pfft... also I think photo booths technically gave you 4 photos? so let's pretend there was another photo that they did throw away for whatever reason lol...)

Rehearsals, 1979.

Deep in the midst of practising their routine for some of their first performances!

I'll admit this photo was mainly me wanting to include something more episode specific lol and also to get in some much needed heavy handed symbolism (the crease in the photo separating them, the bottle in front of Len's face, etc)

Polaroids taken at Tommy's flat, 1985.

In-between shows the two often spent a lot of time at Tommy's place (featuring that god awful sofa the previous home owner had left). I did originally plan to have them in the sofa shot together, but was finding it hard to figure out who would have been taking that kind of photo so figured it made more sense to make it shots they took of each other.

Also marks the beginnings of Tommy's weariness (& Len's over drinking...)

Outside the Glasgow Pavilion, 1988.

The morning of that fateful performance...

Ok not much else I wanna say about this other than the reference I used for the pose had Reece sorta awkwardly clasping his hands in front of him which I really liked but unfortunately in my art it just looked like he was trying to cover his crotch so I had to change it pfft...

Tommy standing at Len's grave, 2024.

The sixth anniversary of Len's death, and the sixth time Tommy has travelled across from France to lay flowers at his grave. Photo taken by Leanne from the inside of a taxi (I'd like to have had more references to her in these photos but was unsure of dates/ages where it would have fitted...)

She couldn't get her phone to not focus on the raindrops on the window as she tried to take a picture of Tommy at her father's grave but then realised that she actually liked the pathetic fallacy and had it made into a print anyway lol (look I'll be the first to admit that this is the least 'realistic' in terms of a photo that people would take, but I couldn't resist the symbolism of it lol...)

There were a lot more ideas for photos I wanted to do but for obvious reasons had to keep it to just 9 lol

Also will be posting these on my ao3 with snippets of stories to go with each photo so keep an eye out for when I share that link!

[canmom]

Comics mini-Comints: Dungeon Meshi

reread dungeon meshi through to the end. still such a great manga. here are immediate thoughts - if I end up having time and energy I hope I can write something that goes deeper!

ironically i was only a few chapters from the end when I stopped keeping up, but I was struggling to remember all the characters and context, so reading it through in one go was definitely an ideal way to achieve maximum impact there.

ryoko kui does a very elegant job of handling a transition from 'silly antics' to 'big dramatic fantasy' while still keeping the central thematic throughline - eating and being eaten, belonging to an ecosystem, the significance of sacrificing others to achieve your own desires. a lot of setups pay off in a way that feels meticulously planned - and of course the crux of the final showdown revolves around characters attempting to eat each other, of course the big payoff is a huge feast that symbolically unites all the conflicting factions. it is maybe a bit too neat and happy for my taste, but it's undeniably tightly executed - it never loses sight of what it's about. especially compared to something like Frieren, it's an incredibly coherent serialisation, up there with e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist.

kui's art style deserves all kinds of praise - it feels effortlessly simple, but it clearly communicates all sorts of different shapes and body types and it's really fun to see her play around with remixing the different visual elements when she switches the races around. in general Laius's autistic monster loving ways clearly reflect kui's own deeply felt appreciation for all the ways people and animals live (accentuated further by all the extra sketches the scanlators tuck in). in a way you could kinda call it like Parts Unknown the fantasy manga.

the stakes of the final conflict are interesting - there is much to be said about the framing of 'desire' and its fulfilment, of this occult idea of 'the infinite'. lots you could put in relation to other manga, and also buddhism. (in particular I really want to develop a comparison to Made In Abyss, there are so many parallels, it just might be too spicy for tumblr lmao).

one thing I really like about it is how much its fantasy dungeon-exploring setting owes to D&D and other TTRPGs, rather than videogames. monster ecology has been a fascination of that game since the early days of Dragon magazine, and Kui sharply zeroes in on some of the intrinsic conflicts baked in to that fantasy milieu, notably the lifespan thing, while smartly avoiding the traps of 'evil races'. there's some really fun nods to the weirder monster manual entries. and in a story with so many characters and factions, it does a genuinely incredible job of furnishing everyone with understandable, reasonable motivations, conflicts drawn from their context just like the monsters are explained by their ecology.

and one thing that I particularly appreciate is like... how much it is able to simultaneously understand and sympathise with a character and also show us how and why they'd rub others the wrong way. it's impossible not to like our main group, they're all such charming dorks and the manga leads you along with all the crazy rpg party shit they do, but at the same time you definitely find yourself thinking 'guy's got a point' in the kabru chapters lmao. I'm projecting hard bc i don't really know a thing about ryōko kui but laius def feels like the sort of depiction of having an autism that you can only do if you've lived it.

but yeah, it's a fuzzy ending where it all turns out well. but what's the deeper thrust of it all? there's a funny moment where marcille is like 'maybe in the end our journey is about learning to accept death' and the grouchy old gnome guy completely laughs this off as naive, because death doesn't mean anything. and indeed their big plan pays off, and falin does indeed come back just fine. but still, through all of this it asks you to bite the bullet that being a living creature means eating to survive, at the cost of other creatures, with the other side being that one day you too will be eaten. in contrast to this honest way of being is the beguiling fantasy of infinity, where all your desires are immediately fulfilled - this is shown as a dangerous path of corruption that produces madness and manipulability. having limits and rubbing up against the wishes of others, or 'doing things you don't want to do' as izutsumi's arc puts it, becomes necessary for having some kind of definition as a subject. the thing that makes the demon concrete as an entity is a desire, or appetite, that can't immediately be fulfilled.

of course we can connect this to the idea of narrative conflict. a standard advice for putting together a plot is to ask what each character wants and why they can't get it. wanting something implies movement. and indeed over the course of this story, we see that while having too many desires fulfilled too readily leads to incoherence and callousness, equally a character who is left catatonic as their desires have been eaten by the demon must be reawakened to activity by finding a new desire.

it's kinda Buddhist innit. neither the opulence of the palace nor asceticism. desires are what tie you to the world. but mixed with ecology: what a creature does to find the energy to live is what defines its lifestyle, its form.

this is probably where I'd start talking about entropy gradients and shit if i wasn't typing this on a phone at 1:30am lmao.

but yeah - it's a powerful move to go from 'D&D monster recipe show sendup' to 'living with the inherently violent nature of being an organism fated to live in a finite sum game' and yet Dungeon Meshi makes it feel natural and convincing, while remaining tremendously charming and funny throughout. ryōko kui is definitely some kind of genius, and I can't wait to see what her next act is gonna be. it's all definitely making me appreciate the act of eating a lot more.

next story on my plate is probably The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, which sounds like it will present a very gnarly thematic contrast.

[ckret2]

The way I see it, I've got two potential promising avenues:

I can work the word "goldilocks" into a pun, like "Goldilocked Up" or something—that's a dumb title but it shows you what I mean. That would also help the title fit Gravity Falls naming conventions, they LOVE pun titles, and I'm always happy to make the fic feel a little more canon-ish.

(Shoutout 2 the asker who sent "Under Goldilock And Key," I don't think it quite feels enough like the fic i'm writing but You've Got The Spirit)

So, with a pun, that opens up any phrase that includes the word "lock" or "gold" to be riffed off of ("Fool's Goldilocks," "Goldilocked and Loaded," etc etc y'all know how to make puns.) Considering doors that can't be opened are a big thing in the fic, there's SOME kind of potential with (goldi)locks and doors

OR, i can make an allusion to the Goldilocks principle—the idea that for something to work (in biology, in economics, in psychology, lots of fields), conditions have to be "just right" in between two possible extremes. The most prominent use of the Goldilocks principle is the Goldilocks Zone, which is the narrow criteria for earthlike planets that can support life (not too hot, not too cold; not too big, not to small, etc). I think i can work something with that, BUT i'd need to find a way to thematically work it into the fic. I think it's possible. Something something portal project, something something goldilocks zone of possible universes he can target?

(Plus, @thedemonsurfer pointed out that Bill being in the shack is sort of a Goldilocks zone for his redemption arc: not secure enough that he can default to all his usual defense mechanisms but not so insecure that he's constantly lashing out. Which is brilliant, I'd been trying to find some way to slap the goldilocks principle onto his current situation but couldn't figure out what two extremes he was in between.)

If I wanna go with a Goldilocks principle/Goldilocks Zone allusion, I've got a whole lot of fic left to write, I have time to make it seem like an actual theme I did on purpose. If I can find a way to tie it into the repeated Plato's Cave+Flatland+cosmic horror allusions I'm using, I've struck gold lmfao. (Something something a safe midpoint between the darkness of ignorance and the blinding light of full madness-inducing knowledge?)

My mind's spat out the idea "Wasting Away Again in the Goldilocks Zone," I don't think I'm sold on it yet.

Song allusion's to a guy trying to act carefree and chill in a vacation town as he gradually realizes he's the source of his own problems, which is true of the story and is gonna be even more true once he has enough freedom to properly pretend he's carefree and chill; Bill is a fan of margaritas; he definitely feels like he's wasting away; it mixes quirky fun summer vacationy vibes with subjects of cosmic significance; it firmly avoids the Goldilocks fairy tale OR calling Bill "Goldilocks, which is great; and it definitely don't sound like any other fic titles out there.

But on the other hand it's longer than I'd prefer; it's gonna be harder to remember for anyone who DOESN'T know the song allusion, plus anyone who doesn't know the allusion won't have any idea what the title means; I literally forgot until I checked 15 minutes ago that the line is "wasting away again in margaritaville" instead of just "wasting away in margaritaville" and apparently there's common confusion about whether it's "wasting" or "wasted," so there's multiple avenues via which it would be really easy to get the title wrong.

But like, it's a B- title. In spite of its logistical flaws, I actually like the sound of it. I think it's moving in the right direction. Leaning on the "Goldilocks zone" concept has potential.

[iamthedukeofurl]

Fantasy High Spoilers It's fascinating to me that Kipperlilly hated RIZ from day one of freshman year. Like, the origin of her resentment towards the Bad Kids seems to be that she feels like her lack of any sort of compelling or tragic backstory put her at a disadvantage compared to them.

Which, okay, I could see her hating Riz by the end of the year. Kalvaxis, that year's big bad, DID eat Riz's dad, and the missing babysitter Riz was looking for was tied up in the whole Kalvaxis conspiracy, but on day one? The only things about Riz were that his dad was dead and that he was looking for his missing babysitter. But look at the other Bad Kids on day one: Kristen is the Chosen One of Helio, Fabian is the son of a man who seems to have basically Won at Piracy, Adaine is the daughter of an extremely powerful and influential elven family. Heck, Fig is the daughter of an accomplished adventurer who recently had a Dark And Mysterious Revelation about her own past. Riz's Backstory? A dad who, as far as anybody knows, died under perfectly mundane circumstances, and a missing babysitter. If her big hang-up is about backstories that give an advantage on adventuring, why would she specifically focus on Riz? Why not Fabian, whose backstory literally gives him a significant advantage as far as resources and training to being an adventurer? I can only think of two options 1) Kipperlilly is genre savvy enough to recognize the backstory potential of "Dead Parent", and kind of got obsessed. Pok Gukgak isn't just Riz's father, he's ALSO Sklonda's husband, so he features prominently in the backstories of not one, but TWO detectives. Kipperlilly figured it was inevitable that his death held secrets around at least one of their stories, and got obsessed. or 2) Kipperlilly is a Mastermind Rogue. Riz Was an Inquisitive Rogue (I think he's an arcane trickster now, but w/e). The Rogue class in D&D can mean a lot of things mechanically, but thematically there's an assumption that a Rogue is a criminal of some sort. The rogue class was called the Thief in earlier editions, and that sticks around. The very name "Rogue" implies rulebreaking. Kipperlilly arrived at Augefort fully intending to one day mastermind a sinister conspiracy. Riz shows up being detective themed, and Kipperlilly, being a wannabee Moriarty herself, instantly despises him. Recognizing that the Mastermind and the Detective will inevitably clash, she develops a hatred of Riz in anticipation of being his nemesis. The disparity in their backstories becomes a source of frustration for her. How is the boring girl with two living parents supposed to remain sympathetic in opposition to the scrappy detective with a dead dad. When it's revealed that his dad was killed by Kalvaxis, it just solidifies thing. Ironically enough, Kipperlilly isn't even the mastermind of Junior Year. From what we can tell, that's all Porter.

[sarahjacobs]

“If I’ve done my job right, it makes a statement that’s bigger than the newsies,” [Fierstein] said. “It’s about a bunch of kids changing the world, about handing over the world to a new generation.”

[source]

i find this quote fascinating because fierstein seems to imply that the 92 film didn’t “[make] a statement that's bigger than the newsies,” which is why he changed the framing of the strike from being about the rich vs the poor to the young vs the old. from a class struggle to a generational divide. and i really want to take this opportunity to think through newsies through a politically nihilist lens, keeping in mind that a) i don't think the film is a perfect political text either, nor do i believe such a thing is possible, and b) this is a springboard of sorts to critique a broader pattern of how leftist movements and history are represented and talked about.

katherine often unfairly catches a lot of flak when this thematic overhaul is critiqued, but the issue doesn’t lie in katherine’s inclusion. it’s more about how she was written to say things like “their mistake is they got old,” in conjunction with how the writers cut out every adult ally who wasn’t medda and roosevelt (and slotted in hannah to replace seitz as the sole advisor who pushes back against the price hike). denton was cut, of course. and sure, the trolley workers still serve as inspiration for the newsie strike, but we don’t actually see them like we did in 92. mayer, who is similarly used as a reason to strike (“if your father had a union, you wouldn’t be out here sellin’ papes right now”) but isn’t shown. the mention of his overwhelming support for the strike was also cut.

it’s even in the little things. compare and contrast the small moment in which, after denton bails the newsies out, a waiter tries to refuse when denton gives him money to cover their food expenses, to how on broadway, jacobi still charges two cents for seltzer, then shoos the newsies away to make room for paying customers.

(also i would be remiss if i didn’t at least briefly talk about how sarah was cut entirely, not even a passing mention reserved for her. and while her potential was never fully realized in 92, the fact that sarah, a child laborer who worked in the garment industry, helped produce and distribute the newsies banner feels significant to me in further marking the transition from a purely newsie strike to a more generalized children’s strike.)

additionally, more dialogue and lyrics that criticize adults were written in. and to be fair, there’s a trace of this in 92, as they sing, “and the torch is passed,” as well as “and the old will fall / and the young stand tall” in twwk (i believe these are the only instances of this). but on broadway, it is wayyy more recurring and explicit. i’m not going to list them all out because the only instance i actually want to talk about in depth is this —

ROOSEVELT: (recognizing this historical moment) Each generation must, at the height of its power, step aside and invite the young to share the day. You have laid claim to our world and I believe the future, in your hands, will be bright and prosperous.

— which is a deeply revealing line, one that shows the progressivist heart of the broadway production. and by progressivism, i mean the myth that history is a linear story of progress, and no matter what, we are always marching towards a brighter future. as bædan argues, politics revolve around futurity, which revolves around the image of the Child — think of how often children are evoked in politics as an unassuming, blank slate that deserve unique protection from evil. in left wing spaces, this is often expressed in the desire to improve the world for future generations; “the future is kid stuff,” as lee edelman claims.

but the Child, futurity, and progressivism are all problematic — it's a kind of cruel optimism. these ideas ask people to be content with horrifying conditions today, and with bitterly disappointing reformism, because progress is slow while simultaneously being certain. and yet the future, and the utopia it promises, is always hovering on the horizon… but never within reach. all of this points to a general “[misrecognition of] promise as an achievement.”

i would also argue that anything that uncritically valorizes youth movements, or the Youth more generally, plays into this. and don’t get me wrong, youth liberation is a real thing, and the age of the newsies and katherine does play a role in how they’re perceived (“i'm young, i ain't stupid”). but resistance is always delegitimized, most often by discounting them as violent, illegal, or outside agitators... and flatly rendering the conflict of newsies into a matter of age obfuscates precisely what they are struggling against — complex power structures that privilege the upper class and men. as mayer and the trolley workers show, it doesn’t really matter if they’re kids or adults, the newsies would still be crushed under the heel of the boss because they’re workers, doubly so because they’re poor.

and being young, just like the future, doesn’t guarantee anything, least of all a kind of politic. young people aren’t exempt from engaging in and replicating harmful dynamics. many are privileged in some way — because of their whiteness, class, gender, etc — or they’re desperate to attain privilege. and as a result, they have a vested interest in the uninterrupted existence of varying systems of domination, rather than its abolition. take the delanceys, who are around jack’s age, and yet they’re actively involved in breaking the strike. their age doesn’t automatically guarantee their allyship; as hired muscle, or “rent a cops,” they act in favor of protecting capital and the state, as all cops do.

too often movements populated by young faces are turned into feel good spectacles of how “the kids are alright,” that these so called revolutionaries are going to be the leaders of tomorrow, and how the future therefore looks “bright and prosperous,” to borrow roosevelt’s words. but implicit in this messaging is not only the continuance of the current social order, which is fucked and rotten to the core and needs to be destroyed, but the Youth assimilating and integrating into these systems.

take a look at how the skills jack used to rebel (his charisma and art) were met with repression at first but praised and rewarded at the end.

PULITZER: (to JACK) I can’t help thinking… if one of your drawings convinced the governor to close The Refuge, what might a daily political cartoon do to expose the dealings in our own government back rooms?

it’s worth noting the framing of this job offer — jack is not only being given a chance to climb the professional ladder, but he's specifically being hired to use his artistic skills for what essentially amounts to activism. and i use the term activism critically; it packages resistance, something anyone can do, into a specialized/professionalized role, a class of people separate from ordinary people. this makes it similar to a job, or, in jack's case, an actual salaried position. and as “give up activism” points out, all of this renders activism an “accepted form of dissent.”

additionally, jack using the world as an outlet for his discontent with the current state of affairs automatically defangs him. after all, how much social change can jack really push for in the inherently exploitative context of a worker-boss relationship? how effective can jack really be when his ideas are mediated to the public via a company like the world, which ordered a news blackout of the strike and used its wealth and power to violently crackdown on the newsies? that concerns itself with whether or not its papers are marketable to the masses and therefore profitable? anything jack publishes will have to go through a process of approval, filtered through a boss who derisively calls roosevelt a socialist, then a communist. this means jack can continue to publish his drawings, continue his activism, so long as he’s not threatening the interests of the world. what a huge constraint!

more broadly speaking, integration and assimilation can be seen in the recurring idea of power being transferred throughout newsies — from “just look around at the world we’re inheriting / and think of the one we’ll create,” to “you’re getting too old, too weak to keep holding on / a new world is gunning for you, and joe, we is too.” and finally, roosevelt claiming that the future “in your hands,” as in, under your leadership, is bright. but i take issue with the very notion of power, of leadership itself. as katherine quotes, “power tends to corrupt,” and while she proposes that corruption can be avoided so long as “[we] stay young forever,” having youthful, friendly faces in positions of power is meaningless when the very systems that facilitated any abuse of power are allowed to persist.

i want to close this out with an excerpt from serafinski's blessed is the flame:

The “progress of society” might be better described as the “evolution of systems of power,” and as Bædan reminds us: “any progressive development can only mean a more sophisticated system of misery and exploitation.”

think of the differences and similarities between the 1899 that newsies portrays and where we stand now. how history has been an unceasing transfer of power between generations, by virtue of the previous one dying out. and yet misogyny still prevails in the workforce and in everyday life, workers remain exploited, police continue to be employed against any social unrest, and the prison industrial complex has only expanded. have we really improved?

[nanomooselet]

My Brother's Keeper (I)

So, uh, I have seen the complaints that Stampede is "poorly-written". Often enough, really, to get... somewhat overly bent out of shape about it. Stampede was my entry into the story and I may have mentioned once or twice that I like it. You know. Just a little. This is not to say it's without its flaws, but it's technically very skilful, at least to my eyes. It's just… skilful in roughly twenty-two minute chunks, so it crams a whole lot into those chunks.

Vash tells Wolfwood he can "see [kindness] in his eyes" half an hour tops after hitting him with a truck. It's assumed that they're relying on previous characterisation of the two to carry this beat.

They're not.

See, animated shows or films (and definitely in the case of Stampede) aren't only written. They're story-boarded, rendered, scored etc. and all the parts interlock with the other parts. It has to be taken as a whole: spoken, written, visual, musical, situational, compositional. These are twelve instalments of a single story where everything in it develops, comments on, or reflects what lies at the work's thematic heart, but you have to figure out how. It's not going to explain it to you. If the relationship between two characters appears strange, that's because there's more to it. And whenever you see something in it that visually echoes something else in it, get out your pasteboard and stick in two thumbtacks connected with string because the show's letting you know it's important.

Now, because I viewed Stampede first, my reaction to this part was very much like Wolfwood's ("???") but the more of the show I watched, the more sense it started to make, and the more I appreciated what it did for Vash's characterisation. Having since read the manga, in my opinion the boys aren't at all interacting like they're accessing past-life memories. Vash is too busy silently reeling over Jeneora Rock and dreading his confrontation with Knives to keep up the whacky act that the older WW pierced. Wolfwood is too young and trapped by his own hurt to empathise by seeing through Vash's false smiles.

There's something else going on with these two, and if you think carefully, it's clear what it is. There were two loved ones that Vash lost tragically early in life, and we can assume it's not Rem he's thinking of.* The heart of this series is "the song of the brothers."

Whose side are you on?

I have to choose.

Lo and behold, through that lens the character interaction made a whole lot more sense. And I want to talk about how.

So, according to the show's language, right from his very first appearance Wolfwood has a connection with Knives.

In the ensuing scenes/episodes, it was then clear to me that Wolfwood isn't just connected to Vash's brother. He's a representative, serving as a sort of understudy while Vash journeys to confront the real thing. Anything and everything Wolfwood does or says is with that role in mind, because he's either playing along or fighting against it. It dictates his development as the show unfolds. He's got a job and he'll do it, but which of the twins' agendas is he ultimately serving as he does? Even he can't yet be sure.

This is a significant change. It has a huge effect on Wolfwood's characterisation; it's why he comes across as less confident, more surly - he's rebellious, but conflicted and immature. In the manga, the first time we meet Nick he's (mostly) his own man and he (mostly) makes his own decisions. While he isn't honest about his agenda, he is trying to temper Vash's idealism for honest and well-meaning reasons, albeit in a bitchy way. When he reveals himself, throwing down the coin halves, you feel the man is protesting too much so it'll make what's coming easier on Vash. Despite how deeply the two came to love each other they couldn't communicate their forgiveness, but Wolfwood is at his core a good man first who lost his way, then finds it again in Vash. **

Again by contrast in Stampede, Nick's identity isn't his own to shape (yet). He standing in for Knives, and he doesn't much like it. He does know more about the actual shape of things than the reporters - for instance, he doesn't bat an eyelash when Brad mentioned how long they've known Vash. So he can readily talk with Vash and test his convictions. They basically both know each other's biggest secrets already, so they don't have to make a whole production of getting to know each other.

But standing in for Knives is also why the introductory aw-look-he's-nice-really scene is so quickly revealed to be staged. Knives is the primary antagonist, not a neutral agent - he's the most dangerous and personal opponent the protagonists face. He's also cruel, controlling and manipulative. His "help" is anything but. Any gift he seems to freely give, like a protector, will either extract an awful cost down the line or have some hidden purpose (if he isn't "solving" a problem he himself created). Approach with caution.

(You know how Nick did something no one asked him to do then hit Vash, Meryl and Roberto with a massive bill for it like a dick? You know how he then violently rescued them from a situation he himself engineered so they'd have gratitude? Those are Knives's most basic manipulation tactics, when he isn't just hurling verbal abuse: I help you/I love you so I'm entitled to take this from/do this to you. Wolfwood is causing problems on purpose by acting out because it's funny, and knows he won't get whatever he's demanding. Knives thinks he's helping, and rarely hears when he's told "no".

Also, both the English and the Japanese have Roberto calling Wolfwood someone who kills with a smile on his face. He doesn't, really, but we have met someone else who does.)

That means like every other character, Wolfwood isn't quite himself. Not yet.

And that's actually awesome. Because it speaks to who the other characters are - specifically, about Vash.

(Part II)

(Part III)

(Part IV)

(Part V)

(Part VI)

(Part VII)

* OR COULD IT BE, as inevitably assumed on tumblr when two men are in proximity, unspoken romantic desire????

I'm not saying it can't be a factor, but it doesn't explain why they start having discussions over their principles like they've known each other for years. Or at least, to me it doesn't. As I've said I don't ship them. If you disagree, it's totally fine! Hear me out and decide for yourself. There's no reason to believe both can't be true.

** By what's coming, I mean the same development that eventually comes to every iteration of Wolfwood. You know the one. And by "they loved each other" I don't mean necessarily mean romantically. My personal belief is that there were mutual feelings along those lines, but they're both too emotionally reticent to acknowledge them and might not have regardless. But that's just me!

[hongluboobs]

That’s why our ribs are cages

(The insane amount of symbolism at play under the cut)

Unfortunately cheesy caption but it’s ok!! because I am Insane about this thing!!

This was inspired by a scene in Dream of the Red Chamber where Bao-yu rips open his chest to give his heart to Dai-yu! (within a dream) I’m not at that chapter yet but. You understand how this would make me insane.

Hong Lu’s face is stylized to resemble a comedy mask. He hides his true feelings and deflects through a carefully constructed mask. Also dehumanization! He smiles in most (i think there’s one ID that doesn’t) of his stagger/damaged sprites there is something SO wrong with him!

His clothing is rendered in higher detail than his face/hands/body. Hong Lu places a lot of importance on appearance and is the only sinner to wear the full uniform (properly, which means unfortunately Don does not count.)

The place his chest is torn open mirrors where his tie would be, down to the color. These elements all work to de-emphasize the fact his chest is ripped open. Hong Lu is VERY much about dehumanization/objectification! This is why he’s the fanservice character! The chest rip also mirrors his Dimension Shredder EGO :)

The name on his coat is ambiguous! It can be read as either bao-yu or dai-yu! I have no idea who hong lu is. There’s more theories I’ve entertained about who or what he is than there are sinners. But ambiguity is a big thing in red chamber and I wanted to include it here

The bottom part of his jacket begins flowing like blood, and in the negative space there are teardrop shapes. Hong Lu has an insane amount of water symbolism, and especially tears when we consider all the gloom associations and the Tearful Thing! Dai-yu also owes Bao-yu a lifetime debt of tears she eventually dies repaying!

I think that’s everything! (Aside from the super secret symbolism you can find on your own and should definitely tell me about :) ) Typing on my iPad sucks but hopefully u get the gist and enjoy my art! I usually don’t put this much symbolic thought into my work but it was a refreshing change of pace and I rlly liked making it. I’ve wanted to do a thematically significant piece like this for SO LONG and finally got around to it

PLEASE talk to me and ask me about Hong Lu. I’m insane right now there’s SO much to him and I need to share it

[hamliet]

Hey, you still talk about ASOIAF? Really would like to know your opinion about Sansa/Sandor relationship throughout the narrative. That is one of the popular topics from ASOIAF that I see causing different opinions on the internet.

I will always talk about ASOIAF!

I mean, it depends on what you're asking specifically? I see Sansa and Sandor's relationship as a textbook chivalric romance.

Yes, the age thing is weird. No, I'm not excusing it. I am just saying that it is there and fans aren't wrong for picking up on it. I do think it's worth remembering that GRRM originally planned a significant timeskip that would have removed a lot of the weirdness, but then didn't, so.

Nothing about it has to be romantic, though. The thing about chivalric romances is that they are never consummated and remain plausibly deniable. So. Just because there are romantic tropes at play doesn't mean I think Sandor is romantically into Sansa at this point.

The emotional core of their story is that Sansa's arc is a deconstruction of fairy tale princesses that affirms the beating thematic heart at the center of those stories: love wins. Not power. Not titles. Not wealth. Just, love. And it makes a better world.

Sandor is a cynical deconstruction of a knight and is self-aware of it. He's like the GOT showrunners: gritty! Dark! No room for romantic ideals when there's real life and real life is horrible! But it's all you've got so get used to it or die.

But through his relationship with Sansa, as a protector thus far, we start to see embers of actual bravery, kindness, and appreciation for life start to burn in Sandor. He calls Sansa's belief in true knights stupid, but is at the same time challenged to act more like an actual knight who protects kids (like Sansa and like Arya) rather than one who hunts them down because another kid told him to do so (Micah on behalf of Joffrey).

The ideals Sansa holds up, ideals that come from fairy tales, aren't stupid. In fact they're the only way to live in a sense that actually makes the world a better place--and while they may not ensure physical survival, they ensure another kind of survival in those you love (see, Ned, Dany's likely ending, etc).

[physalian]

Am I the only one who likes Heroes of Olympus less and less as I get older?

Sometimes I think about how much better Heroes of Olympus could have been if there was A Plan. I have reread my copy of TLO so many times I have to be careful with it because the spine is falling apart, meanwhile I don’t think I’ve opened my copy of MOA. Originally read it borrowed from a friend as the copy I have came with the box set.

I don’t know what went on behind the scenes or why choices were made and they weren’t written that far apart so it can’t be nostalgia interfering—I was in middle school when the first few HOO books came out, I distinctly remember being a little jealous seventh grader that an eighth grader in my criminology class had the hardback of Lost Hero. But I wish I did know what went through either Riordan’s mind or his editor’s or the people at Disney-Hyperion because this series… just pales in comparison in so many ways to the original.

Not to say it’s all bad! So before anyone starts screaming, here’s the shortlist of things I liked:

I think SON was probably the best written overall as a cohesive story between all POVs, never got bored waiting for Percy’s POV to come back around and Frank and Hazel are awesome characters

Still adore the Tartarus sections in HOH, I loved all the callbacks and how it felt like a hellish road trip through everything that brough these two legacy characters to this point, digging up even the oldest of old foes

The main seven are solid, more so now as I get older and can appreciate them all for what they brough to the table, however the changes in characterizations for the legacy characters is… something else

I liked a lot of the minor gods and villains, despite Cupid’s role in the story, he was fantastic. I liked the exploration into both wider known Greek myths, like Narcisus and Heracles, and myths you’d definitely have to google, and the exploration outside the US

But regardless of what the actual plan was, it doesn’t feel like there was a plan, and a lot of that comes down to the plot and the complete lack of a thematic throughline. There was so much plot, that there was just no time for theme.

What I mean by this is that a message really front and center in PJO was the neglect of the gods and how they became their own self-fulfilling prophecy, by treating their kids like tools and toys, they can’t be surprised when the actual human children wake up to their neglect and attempt to do something about it, and that whole story was anchored by the different paths of Luke and Percy—Luke is what could have happened to Percy, whether by not having a slightly-less-shitty god for a dad, or having a mom who wasn’t cursed by the Oracle.

Fully admit that my memory of HOO is less than stellar because I haven’t read it nearly as much, but there was no Luke of that series, there was just Gaea and a couple secondary villains like Octavian, who is not nearly present enough or significant enough to be more than an obstacle. Kronos did a whole lot of nothing for the entire series until the final book, just whispers and threats and moving pieces around his chessboard, but his proxy was Luke. Luke was a personal, meaningful villain to Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, the Camp as a whole. He wasn’t just some guy. Gaea didn’t have a proxy—she had the giants and little short-lived minions, but none of those gave personal stakes to the story. If, say, something catastrophic had happened and Jason became the New Luke for the same damn reason—didn’t have anywhere else to turn and thought a world without the gods would be better than this—after spending a whole book getting to like him, maybe?

Obviously a big difference is the pacing, but I won’t fault it for the attempt at telling one huge, months-spanning story. Making a bold choice like that and seeing what sticks was always going to be interesting, but doing so did sacrifice seeing these new characters grow over five years like we did with Percy, and then having to share page time with multiple POVS, and not showing up at all for an entire book, either in TLH or SON. Not only was it less time with the former protagonist, but on top of all this plot, we’re having to race through it with a majority of new faces.

Another thing is the very intentional meta rivalry between the Greeks and the Romans. When I was a kid people hated Jason. We got incredibly protective of Percy and didn’t like Jason creeping in on Percy’s spotlight, this dude who we’ve never met and are simply told “he’s the Roman version of Percy but slightly better” and yet the book reinforces that idea constantly. In SON, I can’t pull specific page examples, but the Roman condescension of CHB’s way of life—like the campers being split by godly parent—isn’t just a condemnation of their ancient enemy, it also mocks the older books themselves, like “oh, you thought this was cool? Well you’re supposed to hate it now”. In MOA, literally, on the front cover, is the repeated skirmishes between Percy and Jason, once again asking readers to pick sides instead of thinking of these two as a team. If Jason really is Percy But Better, contrived fistfights never would have happened because they’d respect the fuck out of each other—and they didn’t happen organically for that reason. They had to be possessed and brainwashed. For…tension?

But I think the treatment and the arcs of the legacy characters, Percy, Annabeth, and Nico [no footage found for Grover], is the most confusing decision. I really don’t know what was going through their heads when they decided not to give a single POV to Percy, the sole narrator of five years of books, to the (presumed at the time) last book we’d ever see him in. So many choices with his characterization, too from MOA on, like the lack of meaningful reaction to Calypso, or Nico randomly getting kidnapped, to just… just the whole climactic nosebleed in BOO. He just became a caricature of himself, popping up to throw out a Persassy one-liner or getting weirdly jealous of Frank for being able to shape-shift. One of the only lines I remember clear as day from him, probably because it was a quip and not anything with substance, is “I can’t drown and neither can my pancakes.” If this isn’t his first line in BOO, I do remember waiting like, 60 pages to hear this boy speak. He was at his best in a return to form in HOO, and man was that a fall from grace from the last chapter of HOO to the first chapter of BOO.

Annabeth… is Annabeth. Ironically it was because her character didn’t change that makes it worse. I only recently had the “she actually is hell abusive” revelation, but beyond that, I know there are fierce defenders of her not being useless, but she… kind of is? Not in the vein of her not having combat powers, and I know she has her role with the Parthenos, but so much of her skill overlaps with or is overshadowed by Percy (he's incredibly clever and saves them at least half the time, and is a perfectly servicable strategist and tactician who, when he doesn't know something, consults his friends), and always has been. She’s the only character whose fatal flaw bites them in the ass without them even realizing it, more than once. Percy’s loyalty sees him drop with her into Tartarus, but it’s Annabeth’s hubris that got them into that situation. I will always appreciate a character who has to be clever because they aren’t strong, but she is also abusive and arrogant and instead of trying to exercise her fatal flaw, she keeps it in her corner like it justifies her every decision.

Nico. I do have more to say about him than the “lone queer character forced out of the closet at gunpoint in a shocking twist reveal” trope but I still, to this day, am confused about what the heck he was doing for two books only to suddenly get kidnapped by giants because the plot demanded it. “Oh we have to rescue Nico he’s suffocating in a jar with pomegranate seeds as his only lifeline.” Why couldn’t we see that battle? It feels like he only showed up as the “Ambassador of Pluto” so audiences could do the DiCaprio pointing meme, sometimes. But of course, the Cupid scene, and how Nico’s entire character is now and forever more defined by his sexuality and the traumas associated with it. Loved the scene for the tension, hated it for what it did to his character.

A few other legacy characters did pop up, like Thalia, but I don’t remember her role well enough to properly comment on it in this post. All I remember is Phoebe getting killed rather suddenly and graphically.

And then the whole “at least one of you is going to die” bait and switch, which could be a whole post on its own. For a series that was supposed to be darker and more adult, more for teenagers than the YA audience, for a book that got as dark as HOO did with everything in Tartarus, to then completely wimp out on the promised major character death on a technicality was definitely. A choice. That was made.

Look I don’t hate these books, I just feel mostly apathetic toward them and I think that’s worse. I don’t need every story I read or watch to have a moral and a message, but when the moral and message was so strong in PJO, to have just nothing to say for a series with a 50% longer wordcount was a letdown. We have to stop Gaea because the world will end. Yeah, okay, we know you’ll do that.

When you have stakes like the end of the world in a fantasy setting, the tension rarely comes from “are they gonna let the world end,” but from what the cost of preventing catastrophe will be. We knew in the back of our minds in PJO that Kronos wasn’t going to win, but TLO opened with a kid blowing himself up in what amounted to a vain effort to end the war early, who’s death haunted his surviving girlfriend so much, she then also died trying to redeem herself for her role in getting him killed. The cost of stopping Kronos was the possibly-avoidable death of a teenager who, at the last second, woke up to his grooming and gaslighting and killed himself to kill the villain.

If I’m not mistaken, BOO opened with Jason in cosplay and he and Piper on yet another fetch quest. Leo technically did die, but he didn't stay that way for long, and the climax was so confusing that I don't recall even being upset about him dying.

I might not remember the story very well, but I do remember this confusing uncertainty while reading BOO for the first time just… waiting for it to get good. The only thing I was holding out on by the halfway mark was somebody important dying to stop this, to make any of this matter. And that did not happen. Considering how manipulative the cliff-hangers were, I wouldn’t be surprised if “oooo somebody gonna die” was just a carrot on a stick to keep readers’ attention to the end.

PJO, what did it all mean? The tragedy of child heroes and the consequences of neglectful parenting, the lives it ruins and the means hurt people turn to just to get the respect and attention they were robbed of by their parents and those who were supposed to care about them.

HOO, what did it all mean? I guess… when the world’s at stake even the oldest of foes can set their grudges aside for the greater good? Even though the main seven weren’t foes, or rivals, and the big climactic Greeks vs Romans battle was kind of background fodder for the grand plan of singing Gaea a lullaby.

Not awful books by any means, but books that were full of bizarre choices in everything from characterization to pacing to conflict both internal and external and a lacking throughline of meaningful tension without a decent, meaningful villain.

[maxwell-grant]

Do you have any thoughts on Rose from Street Fighter?

(Art by Jo Chen)

Lots of them, because despite everything I'm gonna complain about she is a very personally dear character to me, and not just because she is why I got into JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and therefore irreversibly altered my life as a result. Rose is an excellently designed foil to M.Bison, a character who allowed the series to poke and unveil the mystery of his origins and greatly expand the worldbuilding boundaries as a character who opened the doors for new supernatural vistas. M.Bison broke the rules and defied convention with his non-traditional abilities, and Rose helped fix up new ones by establishing the balance through which the forces and powers of the series work. M.Bison stomped into battle in ostentatious dictator garb, and Rose glided gracefully in a fashionable bouclé dress, neither of which were remotely traditional or indicative of their true fighting prowess, establishing them as a class of their own in more ways than one. The dictator bent on domination versus the teacher striving to liberate, Bison is all take, and Rose is all give.

In battle, Bison is an oppressive force, his moveset revolving around his barrage of hateful kicks and stomps and fiery claws and sadistic techniques that maximize cruelty above all else, where as Rose is ever careful, ever gentle, using her powers to misdirect and counter and disarm you into quickly ending the fight. Rose was the character who introduced a projectile reflector into the series, a solution to fireballs that radically altered their dominance in fights against her, via a move that forces you to reconsider tactics and punishes you for your aggression towards her. She was a mysterious middle-aged woman (and even if she doesn't show it much, that fact alone makes her a unicorn in fighting games) who fought with zero aggression, all elegance and sophistication, and every now and then a bit of playfulness poking through with a smirk or a wink or a finger wag or a sudden card-between-breasts trick, little icebreaker moments like those that go a long way.

And as the entryway to mysticism in the series, she adds to the existing characters because her win quotes against them are all about highlighting singular thematic depths or secrets to them that she alone is privy to. Everything Rose says to other characters generally articulates their struggles dramatically, or highlights a unique and defining depth to them, or sets up things that lend retroactive weight to their future plotlines. Rose helps make all the other characters cooler, because she lends significance and weight to them via proxy. She is the voice of fate and sometimes the voice of fate wants to tell you that you've been searching for the wrong things, or wants you to pay attention to the guiding stars and looming shadows that hang above you, or it wants to warn Ken that he probably should try to get his shit in order before the next game, or that Dan can carry on being an idiot and oddly do just fine.

There is a lot that self-evidently works about Rose, which is why it's weird that everytime I remember that she's considered fairly popular I actually get kinda shocked? She doesn't come up often in conversation, she's rather gloomy and lore-heavy and even kind of a downer character a lot of the time, not exactly the kind SF fans tend to flock to. I honestly thought I'd never see her again after Menat took the internet by storm, the fuck you mean she got voted above Zangief, Ibuki and Bison? I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, it's just I tend to lump her in with my beloved niche Alpha freaks like Adon and Birdie and Sodom, whom I love but never expect to be a priority in a line-up.

I think part of that is because Rose might be the character who is hurt the most by the patchwork lore of the series and by the general lack of larger narratives that she is called for. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking of her lately, since SF6 just came out with what seems like FINALLY a proper set-in-stone confirmation that she always was her own person and not Bison's good side/other half of his soul, as was previously mentioned (and not just in Capcom USA mistranslations). I've been scouring plot guides and bios and translations since forever and could not begin telling you the origin/what was really going on with this identity mix-up and, frankly I like it better the way it is now without her being a weird Bison soul clone, even if it still leaves questions about her storyline hanging open. Which is a reocurring thing with her that I think hurts her as a character (not even gonna get into what the fuck was that SFV "she exists in a time loop/return to zero" thing and the implication she'd have to time travel to fix stuff or something, Rose you put that Mortal Kombat reboot bullshit back where it came from or so help me-)

Rose is weird and mysterious by design, that's a huge part of her appeal, but Rose also kinda demands a greater degree of coherence and narrative focus that the series doesn't really give her and probably won't unless she makes it into 6 (and I'm not expecting her to). She is very comparable to Nash in the sense that they were both designed around a prequel context with a clear story and a tragic ending in place from the get-go, since Bison clearly outlasted their missions to stop him and neither of them were around circa SF2, but then Bison came back for IV and both of them came back to pick up their missions, but with nowhere near the narrative importance to actually see them through, which kinda damned the two to have nothing to do. But where as Nash got a sacrifice, Rose has kind of spent the last two games she's been in running in place, and Menat aside it seems like they can't do anything more with her other than just have her wait for Bison to come back and threaten the world so she can ominously react and prophesize some other guy must take care of it instead.

Regarding the JoJo thing, Alpha 2 was my entry into SF and the one I played the most growing up, and when I dug around for info about the characters I learned about Rose being modeled after a character from a manga series. That was when I was a kid and before I could really read English proper and before the JoJo anime came out, so from what I could gather at the time via pages about the Capcom game and the Street Fighter connections, I thought it was a series about weird tarot mystics duking it out, and that this character Rose was based on was the protagonist, and for most of my childhood that's what I thought JJBA was about, some weird mystery thing waiting to be uncovered with this really cool mystery protagonist like none I had ever seen before, this weird fashionable older witch lady that wasn't like any protagonist I had heard of before was very intriguing to me.

And I guess this is more of a personal gripe but honestly, I never got over my dissappointment with Lisa Lisa. Less so that she wasn’t the protagonist (although that was there at first), but moreso that she turned out to not be a particularly cool or effective character despite her build-up. That's part of why I get annoyed at Rose being boiled down to just being Lisa Lisa first and foremost everytime she's mentioned, because people didn't do that until the Battle Tendency anime, and I didn't think Lisa Lisa was that great to begin with. And yeah I'm not happy that "cool powerful mystery lady who always gets put on the backburner so she can do commentary and chumps out at the climax so a male character can rescue her" is also something Rose shares with Lisa Lisa, and therefore I kinda got to be dissappointed twice. I guess it's the same cause with both of them, that they are so powerful that they kinda have to give way to the protagonist so as to not deflate the stakes. Rose is an excellently designed foil to Bison, but being set to fail from the get-go, she was never going to be any kind of meaningful threat to Bison, which unfortunately deflates her mystique.

Although when I stop to look at it now, with hindsight and SF6 reviving so much of my hopes for the series, there is a lot to appreciate in the fact that Rose's story has consistently leaned towards the subversion of her own self-assured doom. That from her debut she's been dead set on sacrificing herself to stop Bison, that there was never any other way and it had to be her and she had to face it alone and she had to make amends for Bison's corruption of their sacred power and stop him from destroying the world, and much of her dialogue in the Alpha series reflects this miserable burden she's tasked with and that other characters like Guy or Dhalsim tell her she might be taking a too fatalistic approach on, but clearly she can't stop her walk towards her inevitable demise.

"In every world, only the righteous survive."

"I have no intention of boasting about my victory. I'm no fighter..."

"Strength is not something to show off, but something to hide inside."

"I too… Maybe I shouldn't stay too long in this world…"

"God is helpless, and can't stop the flow of time."

Dhalsim (SFA3): "Even if it is for your mission, why do you close your heart...?"

And then it simply wasn't the case. She can see with perfect precision into the hearts and fates of every single character she interacts with, but has a major blindspot regarding her own. Three times she lunged herself to stop Bison and three times she failed at both stopping him and at dying while facing him, and in two of those occasions her proximity to him only enabled him to survive and turn the situation in his favor. Being the person who stops Bison simply wasn't where fate was going to lead her, and instead her purpose was one she had to find in taking a backseat and guiding others, joining the likes of Dhalsim and Oro as powerful but gentle mentoring forces in the background, and it's a beat I find more meaningful with her given her whole initial drive was to kill the man she once thought of as a master.

She's not just mentoring others to pass along her devoted fighting style or to pick up her slack and save the world, she's keeping alive the counterweight to the evil Bison unleashed on the world, she's replacing her former teacher so as to be his total opposite in every way, carrying on the torch that Bison sought to extinguish by murdering their master and fellow students, and she's imparting it to those under her care so they may reach beyond her limits in doing so. Rewatching her and Guy's IV endings gets me feeling something about Guy desperately calling her back to life when she's always been so ready to throw it away, imparting on her how much the world needs her. Not because she is going to stop the great evil, but because the world needs something more than great evil. There needs to be more than just evil dictating the rules.

Whatever happens in this upcoming Shadaloo vs Neo Shadaloo conflict they've been setting up it's going to feel awfully incomplete without Rose or Menat in it, given that Ed fights for the same things Rose did, stands as living proof of how even Psycho Power doesn't have to be a force for evil, and now Bison is back to challenge this bright new future they fought so hard for. In truth, while I'd prefer for Rose to come back, I wouldn't be bothered at all if it was Menat, I like her too (maybe let's go deep enough in the JoJo reference and have Menat fight with Rose's spirit accompanying her, fuck it let's make Rose a Stand why not). And more importantly, I like and need the series to continue being serious about putting forth the new generation. There is something important in a story about coming to terms with not being the main character, and that there is no value in action and sacrifice for the sake of it, but instead value to be found in staying alive to do good in the here and now with what you can. Death and mastery over fate are Bison's obsession's, not hers.

Gouken (SFIV): "Do not cower before your visions. Believe in your own power!"

T.Hawk (SSFIV): "Do not think your powers are your own. The spirits allow you to see things."

Guy (SSFIV): "Do not underestimate your importance to the world, Rose!"

Oro (SFV): "Look too far ahead and you may miss your very first step."

[semi-imaginary-place]

jjk 265

In the end the ultimate technique to end sukuna's whole career was the same one that ended gojo, yuji sent him to a public transportation hub. I'm still disappointed sukuna hasn't killed and or eaten more characters. Tomas the Tank Engine about to shred sukuna, isekai'd and reincarnated into a jrpg world as like a baguette or something.

Real twin vibes this chapter with the banter like the crayfish. Sukuna making up excuses for knowing what a hydrangea because Yuji's mocking him about it, bro's a poetry snob and traditional Japanese poetry is all about nature and flowers, he's cultured, a contrast to Yuji's typical teenager action movies and manga tastes. Yuji's arms are back to how they were before and his hair is down again, is this how he sees himself? His eyes for most of the chapter have the single pupil but at the end where he downs down the ultimatum of get back in his body or die, Yuuji's eyes have the same rings as Sukuna's. Two worsties wandering an empty city, I love the vibes of 265. Sukuna is having the worst day of his life being forced to follow Yuuji around while he prattles on about his childhood memories while not being able to commit violence. Sukuna's just simmering there in anger and hatred without being able to vent it as violence all he can do is make snippy comments here and there and insult Yuji. Also my religious iconography isn't too good but is that Kannon/Guanyin when Sukuna questions is this whole chapter has been Yuji's mercy/compassion?

https://tcbscans.me/chapters/7778/jujutsu-kaisen-chapter-265

Someone on reddit brought up how jjk's delulu brother sequences with Todo and Choso previously shown might have actually been a result of Yuji's soul resonance abilities since Yuji is shown to be able to affect souls. And so in a way Todo's false memories of going to a normal school together with Yuji and Choso's false memories of all the Death Painting siblings eating together foreshadowed 265 where Yuji shows Sukuna the town he grew up in. As for why this didn't happen with Sukuna earlier, a lot of it is probably narrative and thematic flow, it's rather fitting that it happens at the climax of the manga. Sukuna and Yuji have always been kinda special. For most of the manga there's also been a significant power gap between them. Yuji was never powerful enough to effect Sukuna, until Yuji got his offscreen power ups and sorcerers threw themselves at Sukuna for 40 chapters straight to wear him down.

Yuji talks a lot of his grandpa the most important person in his life. He wonders if his grandpa would have died alone if his friend hadn't died first. Just like how his grandpa was sick, bedridden and alone, everyone's lives have meaning. It isn't about how someone dies but how they lived.

In 265 Yuji has stopped forcing himself into a role resigning himself to being a cog in a machine. He also reflects and discards his literal interpretation of his grandfather's dying wish, the thing he had been clinging to to guide him lost and directionless as he was in life after his grandpa's passing, realizing that that was an excuse he used for his anger. And this is the part I'm unsure of I think what Yuji's saying is that the value of life in in the acting of living itself and the ways your life touches others. Comparing the translations I think it's an existence proceeds essence answer Yuji's saying it's not memories and the past that determine value and a person's purpose, instead through living and creating memories that value is created, pretty Buddhist.

I talked about this previously. Yuji's erasure of his selfhood to make himself a cog in the machine of Jujutsu society formed an ideological opposite to Sukuna's self centered hedonism and this forms the primary philosophical battle underpinning the series. With strong sorcerers repeatedly being those who just do whatever they want unbound by the wills of others, this forms a sort of anti-Buddha archetype, with a consistent theme of subverting Buddhist motifs (iconography, mudra, lines, imagery, etc) when it comes to these characters primarily Sukuna and Gojo. With this framing in mind Yuji was always going to lose until he changed his mindset.

This is why there was so much speculation about Yuji taking up Sukuna's philosophy and "becoming the new Sukuna". I never believed that jjk0 reveals Akutami's optimistic intentions. The subversion of the twin trope also offers hints as to the future. With Maki and Mai, irl Ryomen Sukuna, and Akutami's interview statements about being inspired by conjoined twins, the audience was led to believe Yuji and Sukuna were twins or Yuji was part of Sukuna's soul (same thing according to sorcerers). But this is partly subverted when their real relationship is revealed as Yuji is Sukuna's reincarnated twin's son, created by Kenjaku with one of Sukuna's fingers. Their connection is thus messy, not two pure opposites or halves but like a distorted mirror. As such I don't think their fates will directly mirror each other. If they had actually been halves I think them dying together or ending back in the same body would be extremely likely. But since the duality is warped Yuji's survival chance increases. Yuji plans to shove Sukuna back into his body and that might succeed or Sukuna might finally die.

Yuuji stakes his life and identity on his role as Sukuna's vessel. He'd already envisioned their destiny of eating all the fingers and dying. But Sukuna never needed him, took over Megumi, and shattered Yuuji's world. What is he if not Sukuna's vessel? The loss of both his friend, and the loss of his role his world view his place in the universe is what has driven Yuuji up until dec 24.

"Jin's name in Japanese are written in kanji as (仁), which means benevolence; consideration; compassion; humanity; charity. Interestingly, Yuuji's name, (悠仁), also contain the very same Kanji with an addition of the kanji (悠), which means composed​, distant; boundless; endless; eternal​. ... Now, we know Sukuna Killed Jin in the womb, considering Jin's name, it's as if the moment Sukuna killed Jin, Sukuna also killed HIS Jin (仁), His HUMANITY... It's as if The HUMANITY (double meaning as Jin and the actual humanity) that Sukuna Killed and trumpled upon all these years are blessed with stronger representative to get revenge on Sukuna" (MasterNature9559)

"This would also explain the lastest chapter (265), why Sukuna doesn't feel a thing for the value of humanity that Yuuji explained, and why Itadori still pity Sukuna despite everything" (MasterNature9559)

I (and many others) did hypothesize that Yuuji was Sukuna's discarded humanity before the Jin twin reveal. I didn't predict Yuji being the son of reincarnated twin. In some ways since Sukuna ate Jin/humanity once it makes sense that only a remade stronger humanity in Yuuji that could take down Sukuna.

Sukuna wouldn't have gotten angry at the end if Sukuna was apathetic about this chapter. He participated this chapter, he got drawn into stupid crawfishing competitions and wanted to show off archery. 265 was Yuuji's attempt to show Sukuna humanity, the worth of a life by showing the little shattered memories he has of the town he grew up in. And Sukuna of course rejects this but something about Yuuji affected him.

Notably Yuuji's recognition in the meaning and worth of life is anti-Buddhist which would be consistent with the rest of the series where Buddhist symbolism is brought up and subverted repeatedly.

[mandatory-blog-stop-asking]

Shilling my queer fanfic for calendar reasons

Hey everyone, since it's Pride Month I figured I'd post some of... well you read the title, you know what's up.

Easily the most accessible thing I got out right now with explicitly queer characters is a little trilogy of Amphibia fanfic I like to call "Lost in Amphibia". It's three individual stories, each of them accompanying one of the girls in their adult lives. The first one is "Coming Out", about Marcy going to a therapist to talk more openly about Amphibia for the first time, but then ends up doing a tangent and coming out as aromantic.

This one is specifically aromantic representation, not asexual or aroace -- I just felt like aroace usually gets mushed together all the time, so I figured I could try to talk about one of them without the other.

The second one is Anne's chapter, "Missing". in which Anne, while not queer herself, eventually confides about her mental health with her friends, and during it, Sasha shares a personal story about how it was to have a trans significant other around her family, who doesn't support her.

Being transparent -- this story is a lot more about mental anguish from Anne's part than about Sasha's queerness, and I wrote Anne as straight. Don't want to start Pride month baiting you, but if that sounds interesting, hey check it out--

The last and third one, however, is about how queer Sasha is, and a lot of other things, but her queerness is pretty key to the story. It's long, it assumes you read the others, I don't quite know how well it ages thematically, and please feel free to just tell me if it reads poorly. It's called "Fear Not" and it ends the trilogy.

Fuck that was a lot, okay. I have other stories with queer themes that I am less confident recommending -- one would be the Steven Universe fanfic The Diamond Authority, which I am holding back because it is incredibly long, and the other would be X-Men fanfiction Check, which is about Magneto and Xavier being there for each other in a bad moment, not quite having the language to say to each other what their relationship is, and pussyfooting around it. You know, like the comics! Which is why hey if you're interested feel free to scroll down my finished works, I haven't put that many stories there so it should come up soon.

I also got an original story I might publish on Amazon for the minimum amount which is about a lot, but also about a protagonist figuring out their assigned gender is not the one they want to use after a significant life event. More to come on that later, especially if there's interest.

Either way, hey, I was born in Pride Month and I never celebrate because for most of my life I didn't really consider myself a part of it, so I figured it would be nice to do it at least once now that it's... shit, sinking in, I guess. A lack of community means I don't really very secure in the flag I believe I was assigned by the internet, but I do like writing about identity a lot, so the thoughts come out one way or another.

Hope you like the art! Or at least don't get annoyed reading it! Happy Pride Month and please feel free to tell me if this shit is tacky, people have such strange relationships with fanfiction that they don't have with fanart, I never know how this comes off.

[real-life-senshi]

10 (Mostly) Spoiler-Free Reasons to Watch Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 2003 Live Action

A countdown to the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Reason 4: The Costumes!

Yes, I'm serious. No, I'm not necessarily talking about the Senshi costume, though they aren't bad especially once you can appreciate the bulkiness is due to the necessity to protect the cast wearing them - let's be honest, wearing a skimpy sailor fuku isn't that realistic for battles (yes, I said it). And they get points for being more faithful to the manga material than ‘90s anime was.

Thematic, colour-coded, stylistic choices for the Senshi

Many fans know that Takeuchi Naoko is a fan of high fashion, just look at many of her official art that uses runway fashion! While the live-action isn't about that, the costumes team was certainly phenomenal in providing the Senshi with a stylish and thematic selection of everyday clothes that speak to their respective personalities. And frankly, the girls' daily wear feels pretty timeless for a series that's 20 years old.

Their costume choices were even explored in the "PGSM Complete Edition Memorial Book". As a treat, I translated the comments here:

In addition to this, generally speaking, Usagi, Ami and Minako's outfits are pretty feminine, next is Rei's which is a bit more of a mix of feminine and unisex, and Makoto's is mostly unisex, though I wouldn't go as far as say it feels masculine.

Symbolism in colour!

While the girls supposedly are matched with their own signature colour and stylistic choices for casual wear, they do switch up the colours often. The girls' costume per episode is occasionally symbolic of their dynamic and relationship when there's significant character interaction in the episode's plot. Some examples:

I’d also say that Minako's general style of black and white is quite symbolic as well given her character story in PGSM. But I'll leave that for another time when I introduce PGSM's spin to Minako's character later.

Seriously, this show is one where you can rewatch time after time, and you'd still find MORE symbolistic things slipped into the product, either subtly shown right in front of your face or hidden in the background. It brings me much joy when I feel like I caught another glimpse of symbolism in costume choices.

Past life Earth Kingdom style(?)

The Shitennou, Queen Beryl and Prince Endymion's costumes all got a huge upgrade in their design. The overall designs are a lot more ornate with golden or silver trims, and the intricacies seem to be of the same design, suggesting that royalties and guards of the Earth's Kingdom from the past life get their uniforms designed by the same designer?

I truly love that they colour-coded the Shitennou! The original manga/anime design was so plain it almost makes me think they feel more like foot soldier's uniform, only Kunzite had a cape to be fancy. In the live-action, all of them have capes and they are well-used! There are many mighty and flashy cape-flicking in the series!

I especially appreciate Beryl's costume, the ornate design just seems a lot more befitting of the queen. They managed to make the costume sensual but not sexual and also found ways to make the random horn on her shoulders stylish without making it seem like she's grown horns. Honestly, it was an amazing casting choice too!

Fun random costumes:

Similar to Usagi's gadgets allow her to transform into different costumes and personnel for sneaking into situations in the manga/anime, all Senshi have the means to copy any costume/clothing for situations as needed.

This leads to some hilarious and generally awesome scenes with the ladies dressing up in all sorts of random clothes. Some examples:

Like I said, the show doesn't take itself too seriously, despite some twists and turns they added to the storyline!

You can watch the subbed versions of the series at:

Miss Dream Fansubs

Sea of Serenity Fansubs

The series is also on other online streaming sites, but be cautious to only visit them with good adware and firewall installed.

7 days till the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

[boinin]

“The biggest blindspot on the field...”

Here's our teaser for how Isagi and Hiori's idealised goal is gonna go down. Any thoughts? Here are mine:

The second to last panel from chp 237 shows us the situation near the Ubers goal.

There's no defenders in front of the goal, so it's up to Fukaku Gen alone to fend off scoring attempts. (RIP buddy)

Isagi is double-marked by Rico and Aryu—who has incredible reach and excels at aerial battles.

Aiku and Niko are closing in on Hiori. They have the ability to predict actions using MV in a similar way to Isagi, but lack his imagination. Isagi sees more possibilities.

Finally, Kaiser is moving in from Hiori's left—who also has MV, is just as imaginative as Isagi and has better stats... but who's also experiencing frustration-induced tunnel-vision, hampering his judgement.

Isagi can't receive the ball where he is—Aryu would intercept it, even if Hiori gets past Niko and Aiku.

If Hiori hesitates, he'll get pressed by the defenders and/or Kaiser.

So, it seems like Isagi wants Hiori to send the ball to an unoccupied part of pitch, within his reach.

Where's Isagi thinking of?

Where... or what? Has he got another tactic in mind?

More in-depth speculation under the cut.

Nomura and Kaneshiro love foreshadowing outcomes in Blue Lock. It's infuriating, but I love that kind of storytelling.

On a character level, Isagi is driven to win this match with his own goal, winning his bet with Kaiser. He faces steep opposition by Ubers naturally, but also by Kaiser himself.

Two further considerations: Isagi must ensure that neither Kunigami nor Yukimiya profit off his playmaking.

Kunigami is trying to prove his relevance as a striker against all odds and won't hesitate to poach a fumbled kick by Isagi.

On the other hand, Yukimiya has been willing to assist Isagi in this match so far... but will he sacrifice a chance to score himself in order to support Isagi?

Hell no. Isagi understands their individual protagonism. So even if they join the fray, Isagi's goal idea can't involve them. It's between him and Hiori only.

I keep coming back to this panel of Isagi's eye from chapter 235. In chapter 237, we see a version of it in Hiori's eyes.

His main weapon is his direct shot, which is his ability to score on a pass without stopping the ball's momentum. From Hiori's perspective, we see a slightly hunched or twisted Isagi, kicking.

Remember how the creators love forshadowing? Well, Isagi's positioning in Hiori's vision reminded me of something shown much earlier... before the Ubers match started at all.

Do you remember when Isagi is training with Kurona and Yukimiya between matches? It's from chapter 208.

Here's what came to mind:

Here, Isagi moves in Yukimiya's blind spot (I'll see myself out 🤓), then uses him for balance to pivot and score with his direct shot.

It's actually a sick goal. Downplayed, since it's during training, but Igaguri comments afterwards that Isagi's become a monster.

Who sent that ball Isagi's way in the first place? I'm glad you asked...

...it was none other than Hiori.

They're in trickier circumstances. There's way more players in the mix. But this is a goal they've both achieved before.

As Hiori puts it:

For Kaiser, nothing is impossible.

This isn't the case for Isagi. He is limited by his physical abilities. There's no way he's pulling off a bicycle kick, the way Kaiser did.

But he's been working hard to increase his number of possibilities: increasing his 'luck', per the meaning Ego gives. Back to another thematically significant moment in chapter 213:

For Isagi, this match has been all about proving his worth as a striker. He spent a lot of it defending and being a midfielder—but now he has Hiori by his side, he's free to focus on offence... utilising his weapons' potential to the fullest.

So, to finish things off? Isagi will be scoring a goal that's unique to his skillset and weapons. He'll position himself using MV, and he'll score with a direct shot. In addition, I believe he and Hiori will exploit another character's blind spot, to distract all the defenders.

Who will that be? Well, Nomura/Kaneshiro might have hinted at that too, towards the end of chapter 237:

Kaiser? Barou?

It'd be a risky play. But Hiori does call this idea totally crazy...

Roll on Friday's leaks! ⚽