#in relation to power for meta may

[anthromimicry]

[sayruq]

Dear Mark Zuckerberg and Leadership, This letter is a follow-up to the letter that was circulated internally on Dec 19, 2023 and deleted and dismissed due to our Community Engagement Expectations (CEE) on what can be discussed internally. Hence, we are sharing our concerns externally. We, Meta employees, wish to express our disappointment and astonishment at the lack of acknowledgement and care the leaders of this company have shown toward the Palestinian community and its allies. In private conversations, we hear from our Palestinian colleagues about family members they have lost in Gaza and family they are working tirelessly to find safety for. However, any open support for our Palestinian colleagues or the millions facing a humanitarian crisis in Palestine is met with internal censorship of employee concerns, biased leadership statements showing one-sided support, and external censorship that is raising public alarm and distrust of our platforms. Internally, we have called out the months of silencing within our workplace forums. While we loudly display “Your voice is valued”, CEE is used as a guise to delete dissenting opinions and silence employees that may simply be seeking solace from their coworkers or raising awareness about building safer products. While in other companies, employees within Employee Resource Groups (ERG) are allowed to connect and speak freely with each other, ERG’s such as Muslims@ and Palestinians@ have faced so much censorship that an employee proposed just deleting the ERG altogether instead of giving the illusion that we can freely build community at Meta. CEE claims to reduce disruptions in our workplace, yet censorship from CEE has caused many of us at Meta to feel disrupted, unheard, and unsafe to the point that several of our Metamates have decided to resign. In the words of our former colleague, any mention of Palestine is taken down - Even when the post was from a colleague expressing their grief. Even when the post was to celebrate the UN International day of support to the Palestinian people. Even when the post is a link to a fundraiser to help the Gazans. Even when asking questions about product bugs that affect Palestinian voices.

One of the original core values of Facebook was to “Be Open” and our current values claim that “We create a culture where we are straightforward and willing to have hard conversations with each other.” Employees have always been first responders to surface issues raised externally to those internally with the power and knowledge to fix them. However when over 450 colleagues came together to sign a letter similar to this one in December, CEE was used to delete the letter and restrict one of the writers from their work devices for over two months while the workplace, product, and policy concerns brought forth were completely ignored. Employees have attempted to raise product concerns related to the conflict only to have their posts and comments censored or dismissed throughout internal channels. Most recently, questions about investigative reports indicating the possibility of governments, ISPs, and coordinated bad actors using Whatsapp data for military targeting have been met with dismissive and insufficient responses or outright deleted throughout internal forums. Meta leaders have posted numerous strong statements of support for our Israeli colleagues along with condemnation of the attack on Israel on October 7th that took the lives of ~1,200 civilians, both on internal and external platforms. Mark stated on his public Facebook - “The terrorist attacks by Hamas are pure evil. There is never any justification for carrying out acts of terrorism against innocent people. The widespread suffering that has resulted is devastating. My focus remains on the safety of our employees and their families in Israel and the region.”

However, bias and inequity is painfully apparent when those same leaders do not similarly share support for our Palestinian colleagues and allies nor condemnation of the attacks on Palestine, which have now taken ~35,000 civilian lives and created a humanitarian crisis of displacement and starvation for ~2 million Palestinians. This has created a hostile and unsafe work environment for hundreds of our Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, anti-Zionist Jew, and anti-genocide colleagues at the company, who have felt consistently alienated and uncomfortable at work. Many have tried to articulate this through posts on Workplace only to be censored, rebuffed, and/or penalized. Feedback shared directly with leadership on Workplace Chat has been met with dismissiveness. Bias and inequity for the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is also apparent when compared to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after which there was an outpouring of leadership support on all fronts, including additional resourcing and investment through various social impact initiatives. The lights in the Dublin office were even painted with the colors of the Ukraine flag. Leadership must do better to achieve true equity and inclusion. Externally, when it comes to Palestine, the dismissive tone and lack of investment by Meta is not new and the company has consistently failed to thoroughly take action on years of evidence of suppression of Palestinian voices on our platforms worldwide. In 2024 the company is still slowly addressing the findings of an independent audit influenced by Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) 2021 letter to Meta on the Palestinian conflict 3 years ago. In the wake of October 7th, Meta has ignored reasonable requests for transparency on our content policies from Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers around the globe. Numerous civil rights organizations, some of whom are Meta partners, have been met with dismissal on the censorship concerns brought forth - leading to external petitions such as one against Meta’s proposed policy of treating “Zionist” as a proxy for "Jewish”, which collected over 52,000 signatures. While Meta denies any Palestinian censorship or bias to the public, internally groups of employee volunteers have found numerous product and policy issues with disparate impacts to Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab communities since October 7th. The few improvements that have been made were achieved only by appealing to isolated product teams, with minimal senior leadership support or resources. Furthermore, in the wake of global criticism of censorship and moderation, leading into the biggest year for democracy in history, Meta has updated its policy to no longer recommend ‘political content’ by default across Instagram and Threads without clear guidelines of how this would impact content originating from global conflict zones. Meta has continued to fail the Palestinian community through its policies and lack of investment.

“Meta.Metamate.Me.” We believe we are all Meta and are committed to respectfully working together to address the issues internally and externally, while holding firmly to the demands we have been echoing for months: We demand an end to censorship - stop deleting employee’s words internally in order to foster an inclusive environment where all communities feel seen, heard, and safe We demand acknowledgment - share internal acknowledgments of support for Palestinian colleagues and acknowledge the lives lost in the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza to recognize our shared humanity We demand transparency and accountability - allocate dedicated resources to investigate issues of censorship and biases on our platforms and openly disclose findings to build trust among employees and the public We implore you to end the silence - issue a public statement urging for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza As tech workers, we have a tremendous privilege to work on products that serve the world, and with that comes tremendous responsibility. We have been proud to work at Meta – and want to continue believing in its mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

If you're a current or former Meta worker please sign the letter here

[jon-sedai]

We don’t appreciate enough how GRRM made House Targaryen the poster children for his de/reconstruction of the fantasy chosen family trope, and we don’t appreciate how Jon and Dany are the main lens through which he does that. House Targaryen is fantasy on steroids—magic swords, magic look, magic lineage, perhaps the most magic pet one could have in the genre, and a magic destiny that’s specific to them and only them. There’s a foretold magical conflict and its main hero (as many would think), “the prince that was promised”, specifically has to be a Targaryen. This House’s history is so rich, but from a genre perspective, it is Aerys II’s reign and Robert’s Rebellion that’s the most interesting to analyze. Aerys isn’t special himself, but he is to sire the future savior of the world. Then Rhaegar is born and tragic as they are, all the signs point to him being the promised messiah. And Rhaegar becomes THE fantasy hero on steroids. He’s the perfect heir to House Targaryen’s legacy because not only is he to be the best of them, and many think he would have been had he lived, but he is the most perfect manifestation of House Targaryen as the personification of fantasy. There’s absolutely a point to him living and dying as the heir, the inheritor, the eternal symbol of what could have been of the Targaryen’s old glory.

Part of Rhaegar’s legacy extends to his son Aegon. Aegon had everything Rhaegar didn’t. A comet was seen at his conception—and this is an most important herald for the chosen one. So he is given a song, “the song of ice and fire”, and a king’s name to match his status as the new messiah. He didn’t live long but he inherited Rhaegar’s look in his youth too; the fantasy protagonist look. But Aegon died before he could be the hero.

You see Jon and Dany as chosen ones only works so well because of their House’s history, especially as (anti)parallels to Rhaegar and Aegon. They are the unexpected inheritors and challengers to their house’s legacy but in different ways.

Dany is the most immediate and obvious heir. There’s a beauty to her being the last of them and thus, the one bearing the entire house’s legacy. Dany is THE Targaryen. And in being that, she becomes THE hero. She’s got the hero’s look, the hero’s magic and destiny, and better yet, she got the hero’s sword and pet all in one. And, she’s legitimate! She is House Targaryen. But there’s a problem….shes a girl. And we all know House Targaryen’s history with girls.

Maester Aemon’s “no one ever looked for a girl” is quickly becoming my favorite Dany-related quote because it pretty much encapsulates her entire arc, especially as an inheritor to her house’s legacy. The hero they died knowing and expecting was the boy: first Rhaegar, then Aegon. But father and son are dead. Yet Daenerys lives. She inherits everything else they did and more! The Targaryens tried and failed to bring dragons back, but it was Dany who ultimately did it.

Now, Jon is Dany but flipped. From a meta point of view, he’s more fantasy protagonist than she is. He’s a boy, he’s got a big magic sword that he can swing about, and he’s perhaps fantasy’s most prolific trope in action—the magical hidden prince. But within this story, GRRM flips these two characters. Jon’s fantasy protag-ness doesn’t go away, it just morphs into something else. Unlike Dany, he may be a boy and he may have a sword, but he lacks literally everything else. He doesn’t have the look, his magic powers are from his other family, so is his magic pet, and his magic destiny has thus far developed outside his immediate association with House Targaryen. Dany is “what if Rhaegar was a girl?”, but we can’t even begin to ask these types of questions with Jon because there’s so much that precludes him from the fantasy hero role in story. He’s Rhaegar’s heir…but he doesn’t look like him…and he’s not even legitimate. So what do we do now?

GRRM destroyed his fantasy protag house and decided to build up again from the ground up, but did so by challenging the two most critical points—primogeniture and exceptionalism. With Dany, he makes a girl the Targaryen’s outward successor. This works really well because the Targaryens have a history of denying their female heirs. But now what’s left of them is a girl, and she is literally everything they could have hoped for. And she is a a reflection of her house, but her arc has at many times seen her be the antithesis of her ancestors. And I can’t help but think of the oncoming meta-textual showdown between her and Young Griff. On the surface Young Griff, a boy, is the preferred heir. But Dany is, in truth, the one.

Jon is interesting because, in my view, he challenges the Targaryen idea of exceptionalism. He’s easily the fantasy protagonist from the outside looking in. But he doesn’t have the Targaryen name, nor does he have the look. He has the blood, but what makes him special is that it is mixed with the other major fantasy protagonist house’s blood—he’s special in that he’s a hybrid. And this is interesting because if Aegon conquered the seven kingdoms because of a prophecy regarding him or one of his princely descendants, it’s quite the twist to have this messiah not even be a Targaryen prince (not in name anyway). That’s why all the hand wringing around “is Jon legitimate?” or “no one cares because he doesn’t look like Rhaegar” really isn’t the point. The point is for Jon to be the manifestation of the hero—the king—outside of that narrow framework. And if he succeeds, then GRRM would absolutely still be subverting prophecy and genre conventions.

There’s something to Jon and Dany being born as or after House Targaryen falls. House Targaryen has no crown, no throne, and their prophetic mandate has been usurped. But GRRM is so attached to them, and he certainly wants to rebuild them and hold fantasy to account. But to do so, everything we know about the Targaryens, everything the Targaryens knew about themselves, has to be challenged and put to the test by the personifications of all that a Targaryen hero couldn’t be: a girl, and a bastard.

[kirby-origin-swap]

Origin Swap AU: Dedede, Meta Knight and the Dees

EFY here, I just remembered this is Tumblr, I made a new blog for my Kirby Role Swap AU.

Excuse the radio silence. Have a two (and a half, IG) for one entry.

So before going with my absolute faves, I decided to show my ideas for the main players of the series.

Kirby

A pink traveler from outer space. He arrived during the Autumn Chill in the mist of Meta Knight's rule. Once freeing Dream Land's denizens from his clutches, Kirby decided to settle down. He vows to protect his home from whoever threatens it.

Let's get the pink puff first. He stays the same. A few characters don't get swapped at all, many from the distant past. With Kirby, I just felt right, he's a character that mainly reacts.

Of course, details of his story are different, like arriving much later than canon, giving Meta Knight time to take over.

Dedede

Dream Land's former self-appointed king. A target Meta Knight had to take down to establish his power. The disgraced ex-monarch now lives at the feet of Mt. DeDeDe, honing his skill with the hammer through mochi. He's been helping Kirby a lot in his adventure. Does he have ulterior motives? Is he plotting so one day he can recover his stolen pride?

So, in this AU Dedede was dethroned six months before Kirby arrived. Enough time for some self-reflection. Here he has no grudge against Kirby, but Meta Knight; but it expresses differently than canon as his personality has mellowed down a little.

As he is swapped with MK, he takes the role of Kirby's mentor. He's more straightforward, being openly friends with Kirby, with some food related rivalry.

He trains him in the art of the hammer. Though he might be using Kirby to take Meta Knight down a peg. Dedede gives him mochi, though. Kirby is kind to teach him how to fly too.

I pictured Dedede as a rogue living in a cabin at the bottom of a mountain, but he's not alone. There are still a few loyal waddle dees by his side, like

Bandana Waddle Dee

One of Dedede's loyal waddle dees that evaded Meta Knights watchful eye. Donning a blue bandana, this fellow seems to be somewhat of a leader to the other waddle dees, taking charge when Dedede's not home.

In this AU, Bandee takes a bit of a back sit as he is swapped with Sailor Dee. Here he is in charge of keeping Dedede's cabin in order. He's still good friends with Kirby as they do get to see each other often.

Meta Knight

The enigmatic knight that took over Dream Land long before Kirby arrived. With his many control bases and the battleship Halberd, no one dared to challenge his rule, until now.

In this universe Revenge of Meta Knight happened, and he won. So technically this is a Darker AU, I guess. A heavily militarized, but miserable Dream Land, with denizens in high alert until Kirby frees them. I guess this version of the first game would have been harder in general.

Of course, once Kirby comes, Lord Meta Knight loses a lot of his power. But he is not exactly mad. Somewhat angry, yes, but mostly intrigued by Kirby and his potential. In his attempts to recover some power, he has also tried to get Kirby by his side, make him his protegee.

But he loses again and again.

Meta Knight gets to have the years-long character development to not be such a control freak. His confidence is a bit inflated due to the power trip. But eventually he will stop trying to force Dream Land to his military lifestyle, become its protector and appreciate carefree moments.

He also gets to be possessed more than any character.

Instead of getting a masked power up like King Dedede, his power ups include him getting a second phase where he keeps fighting despite his mask getting cut in half. I refer to it as Unmasked Meta Knight.

Sailor Waddle Dee

A member of Lord Meta Knight's crew, usually seen aiding at the Halberd. Though that is his role, he secretly wanted to be like the Meta-Knights. May be that's why he's challenging Kirby. But is he skilled enough with his parasol?

I hope the lack of Bandee can be made up by giving the spotlight to Sailor Dee. He has a very similar character arc, prove himself to MK and later become Kirby's friend.

As a character with little screentime, my vision for the character might not be what others have in mind. I see him as less shy than Bandee, with dreams of being a fighter from the get-go. A bit upset that the parasol is his only weapon, but he learns to make good use of it. Also, he drinks grape juice instead of apple juice.

---

Oh well that's it for now. From this point forward all entries will be posted in this blog. Thanks for reading!

[evilminji]

God, I am... so obsessed? (SI-OC thoughts)

PIDM/SVSSS/Xanxia let me gooooo .·°՞(¯□¯)՞°·.

Back on my bullshit, with another Treasures Maker™. But like... make um TANK. Go ALL in. No being coy about it. No holding back. Balls to the wall, batshit insane Treasure Maker.

A real "w-why would you..." Sort of creator. Tentacle with a knife sort of "....wanted to see what would happen." Kind of gal. No one is safe and EVERYONE is nervous. Put the crafting supplies DOWN, shimei! Back AWAY from the crafting rooms! You KNOW you have to be supervised in there!

No one wants another... Incident™! (WE DO NOT SPEAK OF THE INCIDENT™!!!)

Cause like?

They? Had a brother. That brother? Was gross. We love um, but teenagers, man. Violence and boobs. 2 Edgy 4 U media. That sort of shit. It was his bread and butter for like... Puberty.

Not! To say he was a bad kid! God, no! But he WAS basicly soaking in sweat, hormones, and teenage "oh god I'm so horny I couldd die but also AaaaaaAAAAAAA-!!!!" Brain fuckery. Not fun. She survived it, does NOT recommend, but still retains the Sisterly right to ROAST his deeply shit reading tastes (lightly).

After all? Who amongst us? Has not read terrible, terrible Smut based power fantasies? People in glass houses and all that.

.....she DOES wish she, you know, stuck it out. Read that trashfire COMPLETELY. Not just the spark notes, wiki, and that hilarious rant compilation of the Honorable Cucumber Bro (A Legend, we stan. God, what a psycho(affectionate)). But like... not her genre, man. She's an otome nerd. Her Meta knowledge aint worth SHIT.

But! Trying to relate to her brother? Listening to him excitedly talk about the latest chapters and current arcs? DID leave her with SOME knowledge. Enough knowledge.

Specifically?

This world is SHIT to women.

Like? A legit horror reality. Everyone has somehow? Still got that bullshit, purity culture, your honor is stored in your virginal, mint condition, breeding stock hoo-haa. While being surrounded by more natural aphrodisiacs then any Hentai universe could excuse! Like? EXCUSE ME!?

You can't SPIT, without hitting three Fuck Or Die plants and the aphrodisiac poisoning monster that LIVES IN UM!

But we, the WOMAN, would be a whore, should we be struck by the damn near inevitable? Airplane... you sexist HACK! (*Qinghau... feels like he's in danger*)(He swears he DIDNT MEAN IT! He just didn't think of the implications! About A LOT OF SHIT!)

Not to MENTION?

The fucking (quite literally) BODY HORROR fuckboi Protagonist! With his MONSTER DICK! Like? Look... she is a GROWN ASS WOMAN, okay? She KNOWS how sex works! Apparently, she is one of the privileged few in this universe who DOES. And while her little brother and that hack author may buy into the troupe "all women want huuuuuge, big, improbable, monster dicks"?

Ha ha! GOD, No. They do NOT. That is PURELY a male thing! It's a masculinity thing. Some power fantasy, male envy, "look how manly I am" bullshit. WOMEN? Have ORGANS. And while there ARE outliers (gods bless, we salute you. Go for greatness, you mad, mad queens.) MOST of us? Like bits that FIT.

You know... WITHOUT the Protagonist's so called "blood Gu". (Thanks! That's a HORRIFYING THOUGHT! Both on the "what do MEAN he, a non medically trained fuckboi, LITERALLY REARRANGED THEIR INSIDES?" lvl AND on the "WHAT DO YOU MEAN PARASITES IN THE BLOOD‽‽‽" lvl.)

So SI-OC? Rightfully? Wants Mr "All Women Are Belong To Me" NO WHERE near her. The fact that he's a demon? Irrelevant. The fact that he's an unrepentant MONSTER of a man? With a body horror dick? VERY relevant.

BEGONE XANXIA SATAN.

Leave her and her orifices the FUCK ALONE. You psychotic, sect murdering, realities destroying, selfish, narcissistic Fuckboi!

Not that she remembers much of the "cool motive, still murder" Phase of his life. Nor does she care, with how many people he fucks over. She wants to get far, FAR away from that mess. And more SPECIFICALLY? She wants to SURVIVE that mess. Which requires power.

She doesn't HAVE power.

But? She DOES have some Meta knowledge... and a shit ton of patience.

Cause after all, what is better then a protection talisman sewn onto a robe? Ten Thousand Protection Talismans sewn onto a robe, which is only ONE of a SET. And that? She can do.

To hell with pretty embroidery. Flowers and bamboo. Birds in flight. No, with Qi enhanced sight, and steady hands? The finest needle and the strongest, thinnest, thread? Script so tight and small it light grains of rice. Over and over and OVER. Each of her layers, holding thousands upon thousands of words. So small it's near impossible to read.

Which, of course, is to say nothing of the ribbons. Such long HAIR, after all! Only a FOOL wouldn't make USE of that space. Portioning out her head into hundreds of tiny braids, talisman written ribbons woven all the way down.

Every bit and piece of her clothing, a masterwork of steady repetition and patience. A fortress, built brick by brick. Not inconquerable. But strong enough, that even the heavens would strain.

Of course... only so long... as she's WEARING such armor.

Everyone must sleep eventually. Must bathe. You can not wear only one thing FOREVER. And that IS the difference between the strength you create and the strength you simply possess. One of them? Is always with you.

And like? Imagine it.

Big Sister. The penultimate Immovable Object facing off against Bingme's Unstoppable Force. Her DECADES of quite preparation unfurling like the waking of a slumbering GOD. All those traitors to the Sect. Women who BETRAYED their own. Betrayed their bothers and sisters, the CHILDREN they were supposed to guide and teach. For DICK. Having their attacks against her turned back against them.

Lethally.

As the remaining Peak Lords fight, a literal beacon of power. Of Safety. Sweeping through and grabbing survivors. Tossing them into a hidden realm she's literally wearing around her neck. Small but stable, her graduates work in progress. It's sparse in there. More bare earth and barely planted medical plants then anything. A few fruit trees.

But? It's beyond the reach of these invaders. And unless Luo Binghe kills her? Gets past her every defense and prys the anchor from her cold dead hands? Then they are safe. For now.

The sect may be lost. At least in terms of buildings, land. But it's PEOPLE? The important part? Not so long as she lives. The selfish dramas of demons and men are none of her concern. She has students, children, and the injured to protect.

And obviously, this makes her a target. She's shining like a God damn mini sun. It's not subtle. But the sect is burning, there's demons everywhere, she kinda expected that. At least she gets to kill a few of those traitorous "wives" on her way out.

(They betrayed their sisters. Their students. Their FRIENDS! This was their FUCKING HOME!! If they thought the Sect unforgivable? They should have LEFT. Not attacked as children fled for their lives. Cultivators are meant to kill monsters, not BECOME them.)

She takes them, her copies of as much of the libraries as she could manage on her own (it's not enough. Forgive her. She had to prioritize.) and heads for the border of the map. As fast as Cultivation can travel.

Did the Realms truely merge? Or did this portion collapse together? If they fly far enough, will they find the edge? And should it ALL have collapsed... he's not explored it yet. They have time to rebuild. Heal. Train and grow stronger..

All is not lost. Not yet.

Besides...

Who's to say that Fuckboi is the only Protagonist in this world? The only child of the Heavens? Maybe there are other gods. Maybe... maybe those gods are pissed. At the presumption. The arrogance. Maybe... just maybe, those gods will help. Who can say? It's never been done.

But is that not the duty of a righteous cultivator? To do what is right? To fight against monsters? What greater monster is there then this? The child not embraced by the village, will come to burn it down. But Luo Binghe? He has decided to burn the WORLD to ashes. And such madness must be stopped.

It doesn't matter how it began. They're gonna end it.

Together.

@mayfay @legitimatesatanspawn @spidori @babbling-babull @hdgnj @leftnotright

[aventurineswife]

Hi Rin! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)//

Another request, related to the movie: "Alice in Wonderland" This time with the Mad Hatter!!

The point is that the readers are the Mad Hatter. Where they come from, people usually think they're from the path of exaltation, and they don't deny it, but they don't claim to be either. They just continue with what they were doing. Did you forget something? Don't worry! I have it in my hat! Which is weird but useful since they seem to keep a lot of things in their hats. They can even pull out a table and chair when it's time for tea (which is when). Also, like the Cheshire Cat, they're capable of breaking the fourth wall, making light jokes about how someone must be very interested in the characters. Also, every time he tries to say the word "gamer," small bubbles come out of his throat, a clear sign that they're going to censor anything he tries to say about the players (or in general).

With the characters: Aventurine, Sampo, Dr.ratio, and Moze.

—–· ☀️🌻 ⟩ anon

“We’re All Mad Here, Darling”

Tags: Aventurine x Reader, Ratio x Reader, Sampo x Reader, Mad Hatter!Reader, Whimsical/Surreal Elements, Fourth Wall Breaking, Humor, Light Fluff, Emotional Subtext, Flirtation, Mild Angst (Aventurine), Intellectual Banter (Ratio), Chaotic Romance, Found Family Vibes, Magical Realism, Reality-Bending, Slow Burn Potential, Mild Power Imbalance, Wordplay & Riddles.

Warnings: Mild Mentions of Trauma and Past Abuse (esp. Aventurine), Surrealism/Reality Distortion, Implications of Psychological Complexity, Mild Language, Manipulation (emotional undertones, subtle), Reader is Unreliable & Unconventional (may confuse some readers), Bubble Censorship for Meta Topics (like “gamer”), Mild Body Horror (if pulling large objects from hat unsettles).

Aventurine had seen strange things before. Things that defied logic, crumbled under scrutiny, and still somehow made it onto investment portfolios. But you? You weren’t just strange—you were the whole deck of strange, and perhaps a few jokers too.

“Did you forget something?” you asked, voice lilting, sing-song, already halfway through pulling a full tea set from your absurdly tall hat. "Don't worry—I have it! Also, I borrowed a raccoon. Don’t ask."

He blinked, lounging against his chair with an amused expression, hands steepled beneath his chin. "I do like a person who plans ahead. Or… was this preposterously convenient coincidence?"

"Yes," you said, nodding sagely, and sat down at a table that had most definitely not been there three seconds ago. He narrowed his eyes in delight. You were a walking contradiction—chaotic yet deliberate. Unpredictable, and yet somehow playing from a script he didn’t recognize.

“You know,” you continued casually, lifting your teacup, “I heard someone was watching us. Right now. Maybe they're rooting for you, hm?” You winked directly at a spot just above the sky.

He chuckled. “Then they have excellent taste.”

When you tried to say “gamer,” bubbles puffed from your mouth like champagne foam, floating upward with a faint pop. “Oops. Still censored,” you said, sticking your tongue out and blowing a bubble from the next word.

Aventurine leaned forward with interest. “Fascinating. You seem to play by your own rules.”

You grinned. “No rules. Just tea. And maybe a war against linear storytelling.”

He smirked, leaning closer. “Care to wager your reality against mine?”

“I already did,” you whispered, tipping your hat. “Check your pocket.”

There was a playing card inside. The Fool.

And it was smiling back.

You twirled in place, letting your coat flap dramatically as you adjusted your oversized hat. “I prefer ‘chaotic consultant of candied consequences,’ but sure! That works!”

“Do I know you?” Sampo asked, raising a brow and slipping one hand into his coat, clearly ready for a bribe or a smoke bomb. “Wait—don’t tell me. You’re my new supplier of invisibility confetti and tax evasion tea, right?”

He tilted his head, chuckling. “You’re something else.”

“And you’re something less,” you replied with a wink. “But hey, math is hard. And rules? Overrated. Let’s have tea.”

With a snap of your fingers and a flourish of your hat, a mismatched tea set clattered into place on top of a barrel that absolutely hadn’t been there before. Sampo blinked.

“Where did you even—”

You put a finger to your lips. “Shhh. Logic is taking a nap.”

As you poured tea, a small fish swam up from the pot. “Wrong pot,” you said, tossing it back into your hat. “That was Wednesday’s brew.”

“You are delightfully dangerous,” Sampo said, raising a brow. “Like me, if I were more… hallucinatory.”

You leaned across the table, eyes glittering. “Tell me, ever been kissed by a paradox?”

“…Is that a riddle or a promise?”

“Yes.”

When you tried to explain what a “gamer” was, you hiccupped a bubble that spelled out CENSORED BY THE SYSTEM in sparkling letters before floating away. You stared after it.

“Foul sorcery,” you mumbled.

Sampo smirked. “Let’s keep breaking things, you and I.”

And you smiled, because you already had.

Ratio stared at you for a solid minute without blinking.

“I’m not hallucinating, right?”

You took a long sip of tea, then pulled out a duck from your hat. “No, he is. But I’m real. Mostly. Depending on the narrative device.”

The duck quacked ominously.

Ratio sighed. “Wonderful. Another construct defying Euclidean space and rational thinking. And they’re charming, too.”

You beamed. “Why, thank you. I do practice irrationality with a side of existential flair.”

He rubbed his temple. “You're a disruption to order.”

You leaned in. “You’re addicted to it. We make a good contrast.”

He paused. Then… he smiled. Not sarcastic. Not smug. Just… intrigued.

You tried to say “gamer” and immediately blew a bubble that popped with a squeaky "BOOP."

Ratio blinked. “Did that bubble say boop?”

“Yes. Also it tried to teach me binary once, but it only got to 010101 before it popped. Tragic.”

Ratio crossed his arms, clearly battling between intellectual revulsion and sheer curiosity. “You’re either incredibly dangerous or an enigma masquerading as a punchline.”

“I’m both! And also your tea date.”

You clinked your cup against his flask.

“Welcome to the mad side, Ratio. We have recursive metaphors.”

He took a sip of tea, and for once, didn’t argue.

[myvillainacademiafan]

Bones Studio Screwed Over The Meta Liberation Army So I’m Doing An Analysis To Complain:

(Slight Spoilers: Mentions of Season 7 and the Manga)

So, As the title suggests, I’m going to be complaining about Bones Studio and how they handle my favorite arc and my favorite characters and how basically they water them down where it’s kind of lame. As I have written this, This could change after written/posted. We’re on Season 7 and while they showed the very important battle of certain hackers. They missed an important part...

That is Geten and Mr. Compress talking in prison about Geten’s family being toxic. This was an important part to not only Dabi’s backstory to reveal the harmful ways the Himura family bred for improved and better quirks, but also important to Geten’s story as well since this revealed, Geten is related to Dabi. They removed that scene even though this involved Dabi is loved by fans. This is truly beyond me since I believe it was a crucial part of the story. In my personal opinion, I believe it’s a personal hatred of the Meta Liberation Army on Bones’s part…

Which is why… I’m making this post, talking about everything Bones Studio did wrong with the MLA Arc and the Meta Liberation Army, why this makes me angry, and the created differences between the Manga to Anime.

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How Bones Studio Handled The Meta Liberation Army Arc:

This is an arc I absolutely love and is one of my favorites, Even in the anime it’s still my favorite. HOWEVER, I can’t forgive them for what they done to it. I personally believe that if the arc was animated properly and included the scenes missing, The MLA would have been almost as popular as the other villain groups and a lot more fans would be on board with them. Have you seen the merch for the MLA it is very little and usually exclusive to Japan. Now you must be thinking but “Myvillainacademiafan, They cut a lot of those scenes out to make it work for the anime!” I’m aware you gotta make room for time and other purposes. I’m aware some scenes don’t seem relevant. And yes, I’m aware some scenes might be inappropriate for a TV-14 rating. I “MAY” have forgiven them if it was only like a couple of times. BUT THERE WAS OVER A DOZEN SCENES CUT OUT, CHANGED, CENSORED, AND MORE. At that point, you might as well either create a new story with the amount of changes and bonuses made. Now let’s get to the changes…

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Re-Destro’s Introduction And The Proper Introduction Of The Army:

In the Manga, instead of the introduction of the Meta Liberation Army being the call with the League of Villains in the episode “My Villain Academia”. It’s actually when the UA students are hanging out and a certain commercial comes on the tv. It’s Re-Destro advertising for his company Detnerat. The commercial shows how the company is to help people in society with mutant like quirks or abilities live in the world easier with the help of their items. (I would also say that in a way, whether his company or the army, he wants citizens to live freely with their powers and this commercial was a perfect way to show that). After the commercial plays, it turns out it was being watched by Re-Destro and his assistant as well. (they don’t even reveal his assistant in the anime. Rip Miyashita for not getting an anime adaptation…)

The two talk for a bit when suddenly Re-Destro lets the word “Meta Ability” slip. Miyashita questions this and this was a perfect time to advertise Destro’s book “Meta Liberation War”. While he was hoping the assistant would be on board of the Meta Liberation Army, Miyashita however wasn’t convinced and saw this book as harmful and Destro nothing but a “Ranting Criminal” So with a slight uncomfortable and chilling scene, Re-Destro makes sure the man didn’t have any close loved ones before cracking his neck. After doing so, He expressed not only disappointment in Miyashita disliking the book and insulting Destro, but mourned the loss of the life taken…

After this we get the familiar scene we got with Re-Destro walking in to the lieutenants of the army to talk about their updates of the league in the episode “Revival Party”…

Why Removing This Scene Was Wrong And Makes No Sense:

While starting with the call for the League Of Villains is good at giving Re-Destro a mysterious feel to him, I believe you still would have gotten the same even if you included the original scene. Not only that, but it gives Re-Destro some unpredictably with how he’s going to react when you insult basically his lively hood. The commercial was a smooth and charming introduction of the character himself and having him talk and introduce the book was an excellent way to introduce the reader/viewer to the next arc. The murder of Miyashita was also an excellent way to introduce the threat and uneasiness of the Meta Liberation Army and what’s to come, Especially since it perfectly transitions to the fight with the ice villain fighting Shoto and Bakugo and that the villain was using Detnerat products. (Revealing panels later that Detnerat also helps villains in the black market as well)

In the anime, nobody is going to understand the ice villain and why his weapon was destroyed after he was caught because the manga explains better with the context. People were confused at first on Slidin Go’s sudden appearance and relevance to the story, (however, that could be a fault on both ends). When you go straight to the phone call for the introduction and appearance of the army. A lot of people were confused on who the hell those guys were anyways. So, instead of seeing them along the story and getting excited to see them finally go into action when the League of Villains do fight in Deika City. You’re left a bit confused with the anime…

AND SPEAKING OF CONFUSION, Is anyone going to talk about Giran in this?…

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Giran’s Sudden Kidnapping In The Anime:

While both the anime and the Manga don’t reveal how Giran got captured in the first place. The Manga added a bit more understanding compared to the anime. Before they show Giran in the Manga, We cut to the Meta Liberation Army talking with each other about Re-Destro’s black market items. (Which was played exactly after the ice villain was arrested. Literally a perfect transition and explanation on to the MLA as a threat and why everything happened the way it did) To which Skeptic told Re-Destro their “Guest” has arrived. We see Giran being dragged in by two body guards. And while the army has tried to beat and threaten the information out of Giran. He refuses to sell out his clients/League… And then after that we cut to the introduction of Gigantomachia like how we have in the anime.

…For the Anime, He’s just already there… He’s already Kidnapped, tortured, and had his stuff recovered while looking sad… Where’s the stubborn refusal and where’s the context on the anime’s part? While I guess it could be forgiven, they went easier on Giran in the anime given that his bruises are a lot more tame compared to the manga. It’s just confusing to have him suddenly there with not really any context. BTW, in the manga, they LITERALLY showed Giran’s fingers being placed around the areas the League has been. The anime really cut down the gore for that. (Not to mention the small dialogue revealing Skeptic got the information from Giran’s files after he thought he deleted them) Anyways, It’s just giving me earlier Mario games where you hear Princess Peach is kidnapped but they don’t show it. At this point, I feel like Re-Destro is going to tell the League “Their Broker is in another castle.”

The Mistakes With The Beginning Fight Of Deika City:

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I’m not going to go over the missing details with the League of Villains and such because this post is talking about the Meta Liberation Army. So here’s a list of missing mistakes until we get to the major big con of the anime again (While these are not really a big deal, I felt it would have been more cool if they kept these)

*After Trumpet welcomes them to the Revival Party and the fight begins. We see several shots of security cameras around the city. In the anime, They usually show the security cameras like once or twice. (While I can understand this being cut out. It’s a way that not only shows this is being recorded and that the citizens of Deika City are constantly watched. But it is also implying the incoming threat of Skeptic)

*Theres a shot of a hero trying to stop a worker from heading in Deika City area and Re-Destro talks about how it’s a city in a far away place covered with trees, Explaining it’s a perfect place to lay low in. (This one is understandable too and anime fans may already get the point. It’s still a way to show how the MLA haven’t got caught yet)

*The small dialogue removed from citizens/soldiers defending the army (Personally. I like them all to have a word. It just makes it more lively).

*The gore and violence being toned down. (I’ll talk more about, this but Bones Studio tends to have this thing where they either tone down certain things, Go off screen, they even clean them of blood. I understand it’s for TV-14 but if you’re going to develop the manga. Develop it right.)

And Finally, How they handled Curious’s Death which is my next topic…

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Curious’s Death And How It Had Much More Effect In The Manga:

From what I described in the little difference above after Trumpet introduces the army and the fight with Curious, There wasn’t a lot of major changes to complain about (I still will though) However, one thing I found specifically interesting is Curious’s death and how it was almost completely brushed away in the anime…

In the Manga, When Curious fell down it was brutal. They did not shy away from hiding the bodies dropping to the ground. After her death and Toga finding the shed to hide in. We cut to Re-Destro talking about Curious’s death and mourning her as Skeptic comes in. We see Re-Destro actually cry at the loss of Curious. Which brings me to the next part of this topic…

How The Lieutenants Handled Curious’s Death In The Manga:

While neither the Manga or anime showed Geten’s reaction to the news, The Manga showed how Re-Destro, Skeptic, And Trumpet handled the news of their comrade.

As I mention, we seen Re-Destro cry. He has cried TWICE. And yet, Bones Studio decided to cut those scenes out! (It’s like they don’t want Re-Destro to show emotion) But removing this was such a huge waste to his character because having a villain that cares so much about his subordinates is so rare to see these days and while we know he cares, It’s good to see this.

Now back on subject, Skeptic then talks about how they can’t use the footage of Curious’s death because “Toga isn’t a good fit for the tragic lead of narrative they’re pushing” Giran asks about the footage and Skeptic lectures and nags Giran about being stupid and to ask properly. Just like with Re-Destro’s scenes, Removing this is also a waste since it shows Skeptic’s character and behavior that could have been entertaining in the anime. (I will go over how they toned down Skeptic’s character in the next topic)

After, Skeptic goes on his tirade, Giran questions the MLA, and Re-Destro remains determined, We cut to the scene of the league fighting (It’s the same scene we see after Toga kills Curious however with a twist) Trumpet comes in on his political van and announces some tragic news. He announces the death of Curious and the soldiers/citizens are distraught. Trumpet uses his words to let them know of Re-Destro’s wishes and to fight harder making the crowd even more determined and angry, A harder challenge for the League of Villains.

Obviously with the anime, Curious just dies and nobody says anything about it. Removing those scenes is also a wasted opportunity because Bones isn’t showing how the lieutenants value one another, They don’t show the effect on everyone and how it would make the MLA fight harder after the league killed a valued member. It also makes it look like they just don’t care that she was killed to begin with. She just dies and we’re done. If Anime!Curious was in the afterlife watching them move on just like that, I bet you she would be fuming…

While Geten’s and Dabi’s fight remains the same, As we move on. There is some slight differences we notice with one Lieutenant with the Manga compared to the anime…

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Skeptic Being Toned Down In The Anime:

(Btw we never got this scene with the manga, Below is merch. While I love the art, I find it frustrating he was never seen animated like this) Anyways, while I’m aware this one isn’t really too much of a big deal and I’m happy to see Skeptic anyway I could since he is my favorite character, I believe Bones Studio toning down Skeptic really effects his character and removes the charm from it. It’s like Bones studio shoved chill pills down his throat.

For the manga, we get almost the same scenes we have from the end of “Revival Party” and the Beginning of “Sad Man’s Parade” Despite some subtle and not too much of big deal things, it’s a bit noticeable that Skeptic’s attitude is toned down. We talked about the reactions of Curious’s death, there was a scene cut out between Giran and Skeptic. Bones Studio has removed his nagging moments. (They removed another scene with him nagging at Slidin Go after the war so it just seems like Skeptic was always watching and collected. Interesting way to go at it but where’s the spice, You know)

But throughout his thing with Twice in the manga, Skeptic’s movements and behavior was slightly more chaotic. His poses were more backbreaking and animated yet his dialogue stayed similar to his character (And how it is in the anime). It was a way of showing that Skeptic doesn’t care how he acts, he’ll do whatever he wants and get the job done.

One more scene was cut out and as a Skeptic fan, It really frustrated me and that’s when he uses his quirk in action. After we get Twice becoming stronger, Skeptic telling Re-Destro he didn’t fail, the League fighting hard, and Dabi and Geten fighting (All which we have in the anime) We cut to Twice trying to clone Toga to do a blood transfusion. One of the Twice clones gets knocked back and they see that it’s one of Skeptic’s anthropomorphs to which soon… More start appearing! We see Skeptic looking insane and determined as he began to make multiple clones, commanding them all to go after Twice and capture him as he began to run after him. He was determined to capture himself because Skeptic “did not” fail.

Bones removing that scene was ridiculous because not only would that given Twice more of a challenge and show that the MLA will get their hands in there if it means success, but it also takes away showing how Skeptic’s quirk works in action. Having the scene removed and he’s just out in battle is a little strange, Like he’s just roaming and standing around? That isn’t like his character at all, he would take action! We finally got to see how his quirk works in season 7, however it was a little late when it should have been included in Season 5 to begin with… It would have been so cool to see the animation of the anthropomorphs forming and Skeptic running through the city madly and it would have been so cool to see the nagging scenes animated. (Think of it like Deku’s mutter scenes. But instead, It’s an a slight creepy nag with a dark background and the words “Nag” popping up haha)

And there is several times where Anime!Skeptic was toned down more compared to Manga!Skeptic however this is talking about the MLA arc so that’s a complain for another time probably…

Before we got that scene with Skeptic running after Twice, Most of the scenes are pretty much similar to the anime (With a scene from Hawk being placed in the middle of the MLA fight instead of earlier in the anime. That’s the only thing I will agree with for the anime’s decisions.) But one detail was also changed strangely that I also can’t help but notice…

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Regards Of Re-Destro’s Relationship With Destro In The Manga Vs Anime:

I don’t know what Bones Studio was thinking when they decided to make this choice, But in the anime Re-Destro claimed and was heavily hinted to be Destro’s son, when all actuality and in the manga, Destro is just his ancestor. There is so many reasons wrong with this and why this couldn’t work.

First of all, the time of Destro being alive wouldn’t work with Re-Destro’s because this was a time quirks were starting to appear and this was a time All For One was starting to make his ways in the world of villainy and All For One is confirmed to be over a hundred years old. (If Re-Destro was Destro’s son then he would be so old and wrinkly at this point of time… Or dead because how?)

Second, It’s just incorrect. It’s not true. Destro is just an ancestor to Re-Destro, Not his father. And when you talk about Re-Destro and Destro to fans who only seen the anime, They get confused when told Destro is actually an ancestor to him and not a father. At this point, If Bones Studio is mixing up the characters’s information. We should too, why not make AFO Shigaraki’s Biological father or make All Might related to Mineta. Because it’s fun ig!?! (Obviously people can have their headcanons, I have mine too! But when a whole studio is just getting information wrong, It’s just annoying)

@Stillness-in-green made a very good post talking about this and explains it much better then I could. So definitely check that out!

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More Minor Mistakes Before We Talk About The Final One:

*More dialogue from citizens/soldiers missing. (I already explained why this annoys me)

*Some dialogue between Trumpet and Spinner was removed. (Especially since it helps with Spinner’s character development and trimming while still works in the anime in terms of understanding and plot is still frustrating to manga readers)

*A scene of Slidin Go blocking a van from entering at the outside of Deika City when suddenly loud booming noises are heard and the hero mistakes it for earthquakes (While not really a big deal or a must have scene. This would have given Slidin Go more on screen moments… Maybe where he wouldn’t be forgotten).

*A scene/panel of a page from a children’s book talking about being kind to those with Mutant based quirks. (While also not a must, It would have been cute animated. Plus it would have been very funny if that plays after Trumpet gets offended to be compared to Spinner).

*Even though I said I wasn’t going to talk about the scenes missing with the league, this one I will. There’s a scene/panel with young Shigaraki looking on at a mysterious man leaving as his mother bows in apology. (If you’re caught up in the manga, You would know why removing that scene was a big mistake. Once again, Bones Studio picking and choosing what they want to add or not. I had to point this out because that’s what they did with this whole arc.)

*They removed Spinner clinging on Trumpet’s political van as Trumpet tries to reach Re-Destro, Basically clinging on to the van as it drives. (Suppose Spinner just ran over there quick in the anime)

*Re-Destro’s Claustro slowly breaks down in the manga. (Not much to complain. It just would have been cooler animated like that)

*And finally the last thing to complain about is the gore… Or less gore in the anime…

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Bones Studio Censoring The Gore Of The Meta Liberation Army Arc:

When people complain and talk about the comparison of censorship between the manga and anime of My Hero Academia, it’s this arc that has a lot of examples… A lot. While I’m aware and understand that this is a TV-14 rated show, it’s still in the manga and it should be represented to keep it faithful. The violence was toned more down with Giran’s bruises, to Toga’s bloody face from Curious, Shigaraki getting his fingers snapped off, and finally to the one picture above where Re-Destro’s legs were chopped off to save himself from decaying from Shigaraki’s quirk. The final scene with Re-Destro bowing to Shigaraki as his new leader was so chilling yet so cool in the Manga. It’s cool in the anime, But we could have had much more of it if it wasn’t toned down. It just feel like a cop out and lazy on Bone’s part…

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In Conclusion:

After the scenes I talked about, Everything is almost pretty much the same in the anime as in the manga as well, leaving my talk of the Meta Liberation Army Arc closing.

While I’m thankful for Bones Studio animating the anime I love, I feel frustration with how they handle not only the Meta Liberation Army but characters that are not as popular to fans or the main characters, Villains or not. Bones Studio usually will focus on characters that are more popular and give them as much screen time as they can while depriving others who aren’t as popular with scraps. (If you also notice, Throughout my talk, I had no complains of Geten’s scenes because he was usually seen with Dabi who is considered a popular character. So Geten’s scenes remain in tact because Bones knows Dabi is popular)

What caused them to do what they did to the Meta Liberation Army in the anime adaptation is beyond me? Whether it’s simply not caring about them, putting more focus, time, and money on characters that are more popular, Someone even theorized it was to put the budget of animation on the filler episodes or the movie that was coming up at the time. Whether it was, the fact that the characters I love were discarded and basically fans either don’t know or don’t like/care about the MLA and/or Arc, Hurts because THIS IS MY FAVORITE ARC. And I’ll be damned if I lie and say it isn’t because a lot of people say otherwise.

Whether anime or not, The MLA and the arc will still remain my favorite even if the studio working on doesn’t think so. These are characters I love and value a lot when it comes to My Hero Academia. But with how the Meta Liberation Army was handled and continued to be handled in the anime to this day is just frustrating. In Conclusion, Bones Studio do better…

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[randomfoggytiger]

Fox Mulder: Jewish, Dutch, Or Other Some Such (UPDATED)

In my curiosity to explore Jewish cultural practices, I stumbled on an enlightening article (and a couple noteworthy theories.)

AUTHORIAL INTENT AND OTHER INTERPRETATIONS

I've briefly explored this concept in another meta post here, but it's wisest to tackle the subject as thoroughly as possible.

**Note**: This post has been shelved, since it failed to achieve its original goal. Proceed at your own peril.

Chris Carter named the Mulders in honor of his mother, a descendant of Dutch-Americans.

April 2001:

Loyal “X-Files” fans may know that Fox Mulder, the brainy protagonist played by David Duchovny, was named after Carter’s mother, the late Catherine Mulder Carter. (Scully was named for longtime-Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball commentator Vin Scully – no relation). But very few people know that Carter’s mother was born to a Dutch-American family in Manhattan, Mont.

According to McCoy [Carter's cousin], the Mulder family moved to the Amsterdam-Manhattan area from Grand Rapids, Mich. Seven of their nine children were born in the Gallatin Valley and after an unsuccessful turn farming here, the Mulders moved to Southern California to start a feed and grain business in Bellflower, Calif. Norman Mulder was the only one of the nine children in the family to return to the Gallatin Valley. While McCoy and Mulder are Carter’s closest area relatives, there are probably many distant relatives still living in the Gallatin Valley’s Dutch community, McCoy said. She added that the California and Montana Mulders have always been, and remain, close.

(**Note**: While Kuiper, Tena Mulder's maiden name, is also of Dutch origin, that does not exclude the possibility of Jewish heritage.)

Meanwhile, David Duchovny and Vince Gilligan had a differing view. David inherently played any character through his experience of the world-- culturally-ish Jewish-- while Vince worked in a reference to Mulder's "Jewishness" in a deleted portion of Drive's script:

Crump: You know... what kinda name is Mulder, anyway? What is that, like, Jewish?

Mulder: Excuse me?

Crump: Jewish. It is, right?

Mulder: No it's not, yes I am....

But there is, yet again, another schism of dissent: Howard Gordon, write of the episode Kaddish, agreed with Carter's perspective, stating that he didn't think Mulder was Jewish "or even half-Jewish." The purpose of his work was to set Mulder up as the outsider peering inward: "We had never dealt with the horrors of antisemitism and the power of the word [on The X-Files]. And because I'm Jewish, it was something that was really compelling to me personally." As explained in Paula Vitaris's Cinefantastique article, Gordon purposefully wrote in three references to Mulder's Gentile identity: Mulder is unable to identify a Jewish book, does not read or speak the language himself (" I don't speak Hebrew, I don't know what that means"), and is unwilling to pass up a reference to Jesus Christ's Christian resurrection ("A Jew pulled it off 2000 years ago") in response to an antisemite. Gordon's Mulder, then, is a man who related to all people while still remaining, fixedly, an outsider.

CHANGES IN JEWISH CUSTOM

When toying with the idea of Mulder's Jewish ancestry, I had assumed that matrilineal lineage was the opening and closing authority on the subject.

Not so, apparently (or not completely.)

REFORM

Chabad.org

The Code of Jewish Law clearly states that a child of a Jewish mother is Jewish, regardless of the father’s lineage (or whatever else may show up in a DNA test), while the child of a non-Jewish mother is not Jewish. Matrilineal descent has been a fundamental principle of Torah since the Jewish people came into existence.

The code, however, has gone under intense scrutiny in recent years.

As My Jewish Learning explains: Although the Hebrew Bible defines Jewish identity in patrilineal terms (determined by the identity of the father) the Mishnah [a record of the oral Torah in the aftermath of the destruction of the Second Temple, 70 CE] states that the offspring of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father is recognized as a Jew, while the offspring of a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father is considered a non-Jew. This talmudic position became normative in Jewish law.

This continued as the religious and ethnic norm for many centuries until, about, 1947: ...the CCAR adopted a resolution that stated that if a Jewish father and a gentile mother wanted to raise their children as Jewish, “the declaration of the parents to raise them as Jews shall be deemed sufficient for conversion.” And though the wording changed somewhat in 1961 ["The insistence on a “conversion” was dropped completely...."]

But it did not become-- in effect-- law until 1983 resolution:

By 1983, the CCAR was ready to spell out the patrilineal descent resolution in greater detail. By this time there was a broad-based commitment to egalitarianism. To many, it seemed unnecessarily biased to accept the child of a Jewish mother and a gentile father as Jewish while rejecting the child of a Jewish father and a gentile mother. 

[Rabbit Alexander] Schindler initiated a process that eventually led to the CCAR voting in favor of what became known as the Patrilineal Descent Resolution....

What this meant was that if a child was born of either a Jewish father or a Jewish mother, and was raised as Jewish, that child would be regarded by the Reform movement as Jewish. They were, however, expected to participate in the various Jewish life-cycle ceremonies which usually mark the life stages of a Jewish person.

1996 brought another development:  ...the CCAR created an 11-member task force to interpret and develop guidelines for the successful implementation of the patrilineal descent policy. The task force recommended that the resolution be referred to as “equilineal descent” or simply “Jewish descent” rather than patrilineal descent since the resolution accepted descent from either the mother or the father.

The radical shift, encapsulated, is as follows: While Jewish children had always been asked to prepare for their bar and bat mitzvahs, their Jewishness was never contingent upon successful completion of that ceremony or any other.  The Patrilineal Descent Resolution shifted the emphasis from birth to conscious choice.

DISSENT

Regardless, there is still broad disputation between Conservative and Orthodox Jews and Reform Jews:

...However, patrilineal Jews are likely to encounter problems later in life if they decide to become more traditional in their observance. A problem arises if Reform Jews who are Jewish by patrilineal descent choose to participate in ritual or celebrations at more observant synagogues. 

...Conservative and Orthodox Jews do not recognize patrilineal descent as a valid means of passing on Judaism. “Who is a Jew?” has been a controversial issue for several decades, and the Patrilineal Descent Resolution deepened the division between the opposing viewpoints. 

The article also raises an intriguing point:

Interestingly, this created the possibility that someone who had a Jewish mother, but had not been raised Jewish and had not had any public religious acts of identification such as a Jewish baby-naming ceremony, a��bar or bat mitzvah, or a Jewish confirmation service could theoretically be regarded as a non-Jew despite his or her lineage. However, many rabbis recognize lineage alone.

SECULAR JUDAISM

If we work off of the assumption that Tena Mulder was a Jew, then Mulder's heritage is without question, as matrilineal descent is a core part of the Jewish identity.

It would then inherently inform Mulder's branch of Judaism, nonbeliever that he is--

Phoebe Maltz Bovy, The Canadian Jewish News:

Secular Jews are in some sense a process-of-elimination category. If other Jews register you as Jewish, if antisemites hate you for being Jewish, but you are not a practising member of any religion, then you are a secular Jew. It’s roughly the same as being nominally Jewish. It’s Jewishness, rather than Judaism, perhaps. A convert from Judaism to another faith might be culturally or ethnically Jewish but is not, obviously, a secular Jew. I will not belabour the terminological aspects of this....

“Secular” is a spectrum, and means different things to different people. It might mean avowed atheism, it might not. Secular Jews pick and choose from elements of their—our—religious heritage, but tend to interpret these as cultural, rather than spiritual, traditions. Though “pick and choose” suggests more intent than may enter into it.

MULDER'S EARLY PARENTAGE: A DIFFERING THEORY

Early canon states that Bill Mulder was Mulder's father, while later canon debates the issue back and forth a bit before settling on CSM in Season 9. In spite of this, the world en masse wouldn't have known the murky nature of Mulder's paternal origins; and, thus, would have regarded him in line with Bill's (and Tena's) ethnic heritage.

That being said, I do find it interesting that Mulder wouldn't have been considered a Jew until the 80s by the broader, entrenched community had his father-- and not his mother-- been a Jew.

Regardless, this speculation bears little weight on canon; and is just an interesting thought exercise.

CANONICAL INTERPRETATIONS (AND GAPS)

We are shown three Mulder family funerals: Bill Mulder's in The Blessing Way, Fox Mulder's in Field Trip, and Fox Mulder's again in Deadalive.

For Bill's funeral, Tena Mulder made the executive decision (or carried out his expressed wishes) to involve a minister, not Jewish Rabbi, in her ex-husband's final service:

For Mulder's Season 6 funeral, Scully glimpses a cross of white flowers standing above her partner's casket; and doesn't bat an eye:

For Mulder's Season 8 funeral, Scully chose a Protestant (or derivative thereof) minister-- not rabbi or priest-- to read from scripture and pray over her partner:

We aren't shown Tena Mulder's funeral; however, her burial wasn't within the traditional twenty-four hour timetable for Jewish custom (i.e. her body was likely preserved for multiple days while Mulder was tracking his sister.) Barring Shabbat or other religious observances, this points to two possibilities:

Tena Kuiper-Mulder was, like Carter originally imagined, a "generalized" American with Dutch roots.

Tena Kuiper-Mulder was a nonsecular Jew (with or without Dutch roots.)

Both interpretations work for her son, as well. Referring back to Howard Gordon's Kaddish, Mulder can't read or speak Hebrew; additionally, he is nonreligious (and devoutly so.) However: as @waxworkdaughter and @leiascully both pointed out (here and here, respectively), Jewish identity is a complicated, personalized topic that expands beyond simplified, black-and-white thinking. Mulder's lack of familiarity in Gordon's script could (and can) easily be explained if Tena Mulder distanced herself-- and by extension, her children-- from her heritage, for a myriad of reasons. Mulder's familiarity with other religious observances (i.e. kneeling in a Christian church and weeping for his sister in Conduit) could as equally be explained by many other factors without erasing a tie to that Jewish heritage.

With reference to the end scene in Conduit, Mulder's observance could simply be a shadow of Bill Mulder's WASP upbringing: Protestant symbolism tied to his father's upper crust, in-group sensibilities-- a societal expectation passed down as tradition.

CONCLUSION

Church and prayer, funerals and flags, could all be part of the nostalgic American 90s, symbols of meaning rather than actual belief.

Mulder could have been raised Christian, Jewish, agnostic; or all three. Mulder himself could be Jewish or Dutch or Dutch Jew or generic American (or a combination thereof.)

Tena Mulder could have been Jewish. Or Bill Mulder. Or neither.

The truth is, ultimately, what you make of it: everyone has their own perspective.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[telomeke]

THE SIGN – CULTURAL REFERENCES, MYTHOLOGY AND META

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This post comes on the heels of the one by @respectthepetty about mythology and meta of The Sign, linked here. 😍👍 If you've not read it yet, I recommend you do before watching any more of this series, because it will help things make more sense (especially if you're not familiar with some of the cultural references thrumming in the background).

Anyway, I'd previously done some research on the legend(s) of the Garuda and the Naga in Southeast Asia, and so I'm writing this post to share what I've found because it does have relevance to at least some of what we're seeing onscreen in The Sign, and elaborates on @respectthepetty's post.

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The Garuda and the Naga are mythical beings with origins in Indian mythology that have been transposed into cultures across Southeast Asia.

In Hinduism, Garuda is a single deity, depicted in either full-bird form or part-bird and part-human, and is the king of birds and also a divine sun-bird (with physical attributes similar to an eagle's). His elder brother, Aruna, is the chariot driver for Surya the sun-god, while Garuda himself is the mount of Vishnu.

In Buddhist mythology, the garudas (sometimes also spelt garulas) are a society and race of gigantic predatory birds, sometimes also depicted as part-human in form. The garudas are intelligent, social and blessed with might and magical powers.

Thailand may be predominantly Buddhist, but it has also been strongly influenced by ancient Indian culture and Hinduism, and thus both the concept of a single deity Garuda and the race of garudas co-exist in Thai mythological beliefs.

The nagas on the other hand, are snake-like or dragon-like creatures, whose realm is the water world. (The word naga is derived from Sanskrit and is also etymologically related to the English word snake.)

In mythology nagas and garudas are perpetual enemies, although neither side is actually identified with good or evil – they are simply two groups eternally at war with each other (so occidental-leaning minds should dispel any preconception that the water serpents are necessarily the bad guys in The Sign, even though the narrative seems to be tilting in that direction).

When borrowed into popular culture (as has been done for The Sign) you may sometimes see influences of Chinese dragon and phoenix mythology (as Chinese cultural influence is also present in Thailand, and the dragon/phoenix motif of Sinitic culture nicely parallels the naga/garuda conflict pairing). And because of Garuda's association with the sun in Hinduism, and a parallel with the fiery phoenix of Western mythology, you may sometimes see garudas portrayed as aligned with the sun and/or flame as well.

There are some hints of these in The Sign. The naga that Phaya encounters while struggling underwater during the open sea training challenge in Ep.1 is very Thai in appearance (especially with the curved, forward-pointing crest, making it look much like the nagas that adorn Thai temple architecture). But the array of pronged, backward-pointing horns and trailing antennae appear to be a design nod at Chinese or Japanese dragons (East Asian dragons are also strongly identified with the watery realm, by the way). And in the graphics of the series (e.g., in the poster at the start of this post), the sky (the realm of Garuda) is suffused with sunlight and speckled with what look like drifting sparks, referencing sun and flame.

Because of the wings tattooed on his back and his time in the air force, Phaya is most likely the reincarnation of a garuda in human form (and this is why he struggled with the water challenge, as he was completely out of his element).

This is also possibly why we see him smoking early on in the series (because of the alignment of Garuda with the element of fire), and significantly he does this while Naga Tharn (irked by Yai's teasing at the dining table) seeks refuge in the washroom (which is ห้องน้ำ/hong naam in Thai, literally water room):

‌Billy also describes Phaya's character in the promo video for the series (linked here) as being "like fire, always hot and burning... quite hot-headed." 👍

Elsewhere in the same promo video (linked here), Tharn's good friend Chalothon is explicitly identified as the reincarnation of an important naga, which immediately signals that he and Phaya will be at odds in the series:

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The water deity that saves Phaya during the open sea challenge – Wansarat, whom he drew in his sketchbook – is not just Freen Sarocha in a fancy scuba suit. 😂

If you look at her arm and hand when she reaches out to save Phaya (before she turns into Tharn) the green scales meld into the skin of her human wrist – they're part of her natural covering, and she's really a nakhee/nagin/nagini, a female naga, appearing in human form to save Phaya.

The narrative has made it strongly obvious that Phaya is a reincarnated garuda, while Tharn is the reincarnation of Wansarat, from the lineage of the nagas. And the teaser-trailer (linked here) tells us that Phaya and Tharn/Wansarat are lovers bound to each other through time:

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However, the special promo video (released 24 November 2023) also tells us (in Heng's interview linked here) that Chalothon and Wansarat were lovers in past lives, even while it is Phaya and Wansarat (reincarnated as Tharn) who are paired by fate in The Sign.

And as the nagas and garudas are bitter enemies, the love story between Phaya and Tharn/Wansarat that transcends time and reincarnation cycles is also one that must have been (and will continue to be) forbidden by their respective naga and garuda tribes (especially since Tharn/Wansarat also used to be naga Chalothon's lover), and will undoubtedly be a source of conflict in the series. This is way beyond the Montagues and Capulets! 😍

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So with this as the base, I took a look at the characters' names, and those belonging to Phaya, Chalothon, Tharn and Wansarat especially also reflect their garuda/naga origins. 🤩

Phaya's name (พญา) means lord, king or leader. While it can be applied to the nagas (พญานาค/phaya naak refers to the King of the Nagas) it is also used for Garuda (the Thai national symbol) – พญาครุฑ/phaya khroot, or Lord Garuda (and is what his name references in The Sign).

(above) Billy Patchanon as Phaya

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Chalothon's name (ชโลทร) is rare, but it is derived from Pali/Sanskrit and means river, sea or body of water, reflecting the watery homeland of his naga persona.

(above) Heng Asavarid as Chalothon

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Tharn's name (ธาร) also has a connection to his water-dwelling naga roots. Tharn/ธาร is short for ลำธาร/lam thaan and means stream, brook or creek (and he is thus a naga nong to Chalothon's phi).

(above) Babe Tanatat as Tharn/Wansa

However, Tharn is his chue len. His formal name is Wansa, and is the same Wansa in Wansarat (which the narrative lets us know at Ep.1 [3‌/4] 9.35).

(above) Freen Sarocha as Wansarat

Now Wansarat is spelt วรรณษารัตน์ in the subtitles (at Ep.1 [3‌/4] 9.02), and I can't find any translation of it that makes sense in the context of The Sign's world-building.

But Wansarat's name is spelt differently elsewhere on the Internet (on Thai drama websites, and movie databases, etc. like thaimovie.org), and I assume they've all based it on official releases from Idol Factory because the spelling is consistent across these other sources – it's วรรษารัตน์ there.

And Wansa/Wansarat spelt this way also reflects the nagas' dominion over water, because วรรษา/wansa (an archaic word, referenced in an older dictionary but not newer ones) means rain or rainy season (from the Sanskrit varsha) – in Thailand the nagas are also associated with rain control, and prayers are offered to them for timely and abundant rainfall when it is needed. (The -rat part of Wansarat is a feminine ending meaning jewel or gemstone, and may echo with meaning for speakers of Indian and Sri Lankan languages, since it's derived from the Pali/Sanskrit ratna).

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Just out of interest (because nobody asked 😂) some of these naga/garuda elements were also present in the early episodes of KinnPorsche – the den of the Theerapanyakuls (nagas, wealthy beings of the underworld) was full of watery elements (e.g., the waterfall, the various pools, and Tankhun's carp – which in Chinese belief are the original, natal form of dragons). The -nak in Kinn's formal first name Anakin (which is not a traditional Thai name) is also a nod at the word naga. Porsche had the tattoo of a fiery phoenix on his back, and was out of his element whenever water was concerned (e.g., his failed pool challenge, the mermaid costume punishment, his misadventure with the sprinkler when he tried to smoke in the store room – water vanquishing the flame). Kinn was unable to make fire when they were trapped in the forest, despite claiming to be friends with the flame, while Porsche could immediately do it.

But I didn't see the KinnPorsche narrative taking the naga/garuda themes much further than these random nods in the earlier episodes. Maybe it did (like Kinn and Porsche could be seen acclimatizing to each other's realms more), but I just couldn't be bothered to look at the show more closely since it didn't really stand up to deeper scrutiny, and after the first few episodes I just went along for the exhilaration of the ride instead. 👍

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Anyway, I'm totally bedazzled by the level of world-building going on in The Sign and look forward to more from the series. If the first episode is anything to go by, I think Executive Producer Saint Suppapong may be on to something! 😍

[daisukoth]

How Jevil is a mirror of Susie - A character analysis

(NOTE: I was originally going to start explaining how Spamton mirrors Berdly, to explain the logic of this theory, but it has been done already, this reddit post explains it best)

Why would the Darkners mirror the Lightners?

This is because Deltarune is probably using the concept in occultism of "As Above, so Below": "That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above." There are better explanations out there, but a short one would be: “What you do on the material plane will be replicated on the spiritual plane; what happens In the cosmos will be reflected in our mundane lives. What happened at a micro scale happens at a macro scale.” The Dark World being the microcosm, and Light World being the macrocosm. This is why the Darkners are representations of objects and people in the Light world.

Why Susie and not Kris?

I have seen some say that Jevil is a mirror of Kris, and while I do think there is some truth there, Kris actually relates to Jevil in the meta sense, and so does the rest of the Fun Gang, with how they’re all puppets in a game. But Susie is the one that relates to Jevil in a personal level.

Some analysis of chapter 1 say the King may be a parallel of Susie- what she’s gonna end up like if she keeps going in the wrong path. By this logic; Lancer is a younger Susie- mischievous, still a child, but growing their meaner side. So couldn't Jevil be a more present facet of Susie?

The Joker 

The joker card is seen as the wild card, not bound by the rules that govern the other cards. This is why Jevil speaks of freedom, and chaos. How he “can do anything”. Not bound by any rules, he’s the freest of all cards. Susie is also a wild card, she’s unpredictable, chaotic, and ruled by no one.

But Jevil’s freedom is limited to his game. Much like Susie; she's free to do as she wants, and is not bound by rules. But she is also limited by her world. Jevil believe's he's the free one, despite being inside his cell. Susie's freedom is a cell without bars;

How Jevil relates to Susie

Jevil understands that nobody in this world is truly free, by having this knowledge, Jevil considers himself free, even despite his cage. But despite his freedom, Jevil is lonely. he shut himself from the world, and became all alone, with nobody to play with. Much like Susie. Who shut herself off from the world, and is now alone, telling cruel jokes that only she thinks are funny.

Jevil is what perfectly describes the kind of person Susie was before her change of ways in chapter 1. He is a jester whose jokes stopped being funny long ago. he no longer entertains people, only himself, and what he considers ‘entertainment’ is inflicting violence and cruelty on people. Now he’s just a sad and violent clown, locked away from everyone else because they got tired of dealing with him. And as soon as someone does approach him, unlocking his cage, he only sees it as an opportunity to "play" with them.

Like Jevil, maybe in the past Susie was funny. But Susie’s ‘jokes’ aren’t funny anymore. They’re cruel, violent… And maybe even criminal, seeing as how Undyne is looking for her for “comic mischief”.

This is why after Susie’s change of heart in chapter 1, she mellows out and becomes truly funny and charismatic. she’s learning to not drive others away with her cruelty, learning how good and fun friendship can be. Her jokes aren’t just cruelty any longer, she’s trying to make others laugh for the sake of their happiness.

Susie & Lancer duo fight

Just like with how Berdly and Spamton's fight are very similar- so is Susie and Jevil's:

For their attacks; Susie throws spinning axes at you, and Jevil throws spinning scythes.

Jevil is able to use the attacks of all card suits- Susie having Lancer by her side is playing at how she’s able to “use” the power of other cards.

The pacifist way to defeat Jevil is by exhausting him, making him tired and putting him to sleep. Susie is defeated the same way in the fight with her and Lancer, putting her to sleep is the only way to get to Lancer and defeat them peacefully.

I dont think this is a coincidence, as Toby went out of his way to make Jevil and Susie's weakness the same Whats interesting is that, for the Genocide route, you cannot kill Jevil. Unlike Spamton, who you can snowgrave like Berdly.

Jevil and Susie interaction

A lesser point, but you can feel by their interactions how Susie and Jevil match each other’s energy. Its like they’re trying to outmatch each other.

Noelle and Jevil's items

Noelle has a pretty good insight of the dark world, her dialogue to the secret boss items are very interesting, and may be a hint at their nature:

When given the Devilsknife, she will comment how It smiled at her:

..? It smiled at me? [When attempting to equip it to Noelle]

And when given the Jevilstail, Noelle will whisper to herself that she likes it:

... (I like it...) [When equipping it to Noelle]

Both of these are characteristics that Noelle takes notice of in Susie: her scary teeth, and her tail

Jevil and Susie have the same fanged teeth, and odd tails (Susie having a small tail, and Jevil a J shaped tail, rather than a normally pointed imp tail)

TLDR; Jevil and Susie share a similar story; a similar boss battle; match each other's energy; and have similar physical characteristics (according to Noelle)

So what does this parallel mean?

I dont think beating the secret bosses are meant to be the turning point for the characters, like they're "defeating their dark side". Thats what the main story is doing already So what is their purpose then? I believe their purpose is more for the sake of the player, to give further understanding of the characters, giving an extra layer to their character arcs. With Spamton, you learn about a man who was driven to despair due to his greed and ambition, much like Berdly may have ended up if he didn’t have a turn around. With Jevil, you learn about the despair of a clown, who became trapped and isolated due to his freedom and ego, much like Susie.

[crowdusk]

Putting it out there briefly before ep 51 comes out so i can come back to this.

I think some of what the Citadel is catching heat for (especially what Tefmet was saying using poor evidence) around binding, creating/breeding and conjuring Great Spirits is actually the work of the Saraz Imperium/Crown. I don’t think the Citadel is completely uninvolved or doesn’t itself do fucked up things to Great Spirits (see: the Great Bullfrog), but I’ve been thinking a lot about Morrow’s derrick, the way we saw the Crown move in Arc 2 during the raids, Tefmet’s evidence not actually fully pointing back to the Citadel, and especially most recently the wizard Keen and the introduction of the crown prince in Arc 4.

These guild mages (Morrow and Keen) are both involved in using spirits somehow. Morrow must have needed a huge amount of resources, magical and otherwise, to build the derrick - not to mention administrative sign off. We never learned who in the Crown was involved because of how things went down in Port Talon. Keen seems to have an understanding of witches and spirits, and specifically wants to trap Eursulon. We have a horrible idea of what happened to Ghost.

We also now know that there is at least some level of tension between the Citadel and the Crown, as evidenced by Steel’s call in episode 50. Clearly the Citadel depends to some extent on the administrative, logistical and civil management work of the Crown so that it can focus on war and academic progress. But, like the wizard Gray hinted, the real power of the Empire seems to be held by the Citadel, and that kind of unequal division doesn’t seem very stable. The Emperor may be a bit of a bozo (we’ll see) but he has a whole bunch of guild mages working for him - wizards who were drummed out of the Citadel, may be bitter and bear a grudge, or have a chip on their shoulder. They may well want to prove they don’t need the Citadel and are in fact better, by advancing their magic using spirits. More importantly, if I was the Crown, some part of me would always be worried that the Citadel could one day decide to overthrow me (especially given Antivoli/Accordati wizard history) and I would not want to be caught off guard with no defence and my opponent controlling the entire military. One thing to do, then, would be to secretly develop alternative forms of wizardry or use of magic.

My theory is that I wouldn’t be surprised if Prince Olfgang has a particular interest in/has been supporting wizards of the Crown in developing the (ab)use of spirits for their magic purposes. Maybe partly for the war effort, but also in relation to the threat of the Citadel. And from a meta perspective I think that’s why, narratively, Brennan has taken us to Sarazmir and highlighted the prince.

Lastly, I do still think the Citadel has been interfering/messing with the Lingua Arcana in ways that are having an impact on magic in Umora as a whole (for example, with the Axiom of Proliferation, and more I think that is yet to come about the aerith system etc). I think what keeps the Citadel and Crown together is their shared interest in maintaining control over the use of magic/the lingua arcana, so as to concentrate power.

Let’s see what happens in these last 4 episodes!! Ahhhhhh

[maddie-grove]

What do you think are some legitimate things (trends, author problems, etc) to criticize about in romance novels?

So, romance novels can be offensive in all the ways that fiction in general can be offensive, but, if I had to pick one thing that's pervasive yet fairly specific to the genre, it's the rigidity of gender roles in m/f romance. The hero is more often than not physically bigger, older, richer, and (especially in historical romance) higher-class than the heroine, and, when he doesn't have the advantage in every category, the narrative frequently (a) makes him even more powerful in the areas where he does have the advantage (i.e., she may be more aristocratic but he's very, very rich and he's friends with aristocrats now and he's big and strong and blah blah blah) or (b) is super-self-conscious about the dude being less powerful in some ways (i.e., over-explaining why he's still worthy as a partner and/or isn't put off by the heroine being taller or older or richer). I think this is sometimes a trend that comes from the top (I remember Courtney Milan saying something about getting flak for not making a hero a duke back in the early 2010s, even though he was still a confident, good-looking gentleman with money) and sometimes one that comes from readers (there was a romance review blog that I lost patience with because the reviewer couldn't relate to tall heroines). Plus, when the heroine does have more power in some way, it's usually not by a lot; like, it would be totally unremarkable if the genders were reversed. I remember reading a romance novella anthology specifically about older women/younger men, and I think only one novella had an age gap of ten or more years. (In one novella he was literally a day younger.) Meanwhile, how many historical romance novels have a twenty-year-old heroine and a thirty-year-old hero and it's treated like nothing?

On the more meta side: I think it's generally bad when authors have to spend a lot of time doing self-promotion on social media. That means less time to actually write and sometimes more self-consciousness because the book is kind of being written for people the author knows online. That's not exclusive to romance, but it is a genre largely written and read by women, and I think that results in a lot of pressure to be Nice (which includes not giving a negative opinion about a book).

I'm not a fan of the move towards "rom-com" contemporary romance, but that's largely because that's not my thing inherently. However, I do feel like many authors simultaneously want the hijinks of a romantic comedy and a romance that would be Healthy in Real Life. Which isn't impossible, but it takes more finesse than they usually have.

[vldunchartedregions]

If Lotor was meant to be redeemed would we see more from Romelle then? I can’t even imagine how she would have reacted to his return after what we saw of them interacting in s6 / what happened to her brother.

Oh ho ho. Thank you for this question.

You've unlocked Pandora's Box... 🍿 Strap in, everyone.

We have a very telling conversation at the beginning of Launch Date:

Romelle: You know, back on the colony, Luca and I didn’t always get along. But despite that, I always respected Luca. She had an inner strength that many did not and a desire to be a part of something greater than herself.

Allura: If she was so desperate for something to believe in, it may have made her susceptible to being manipulated.

One of Keith's biggest mistakes was bringing Romelle to Voltron. To Lotor.

She's on the wrong side of the war. She is being manipulated. She is a set up. She is a spy.

Luka died by Honerva's mind power in S8E1.

Luka was shouting at Romelle about how she betrayed them, how Honerva is going to save them, and this would've potentially alerted the entirety of the Atlas with her shouting carelessly about Honerva's plan.

In season 8, episode 1.

Honerva really said, "No thanks. Too early into the season for you to ruin it now."

She was also very insistent that Allura goes on this date with Lance despite noticing her hesitance, goes shopping with her to build her trust with her, and then speaks to Luka ALONE, immediately asks if she's alright, and then abruptly asks where the Altean Colony is?

"It's not like that!" and she's right.

She's working with Honerva to gain more insider knowledge on Voltron.

Honerva can access the Alteans through their minds via the dark entities, but it doesn't mean she can see through their eyes; she can only preach to them, control their thoughts, and kill them at will.

Romelle has been set up from day dot to betray the paladins by being Honerva's spy cam from the inside (allegedly). Keith and Krolia fell for it. Keith trusts her story immediately.

Why wouldn't you? She's the first Altean they've seen.

We also found it insanely telling of their characters that Lance is visually suspect, while Keith immediately trusts her and wants to find Lotor right now.

Ahem.

She's also suggested to be a traitor -- not once, but twice by the Alteans on board the Atlas, including Tavo, who's she claims she's grown up with. He says it to her during the episode Day 47.

Another question that was raised after one of our many rewatches of the episode Clear Day: How would Honerva know that Lance & Allura were dating during Clear Day?

How would Honerva possibly know to use Lance as a convincing point for Allura to absorb the dark entity? At this point in the story, Honerva wouldn't know that at all... unless she had a spy on board the Atlas.

Isn't it strange how on Clear Day when this all happens to Allura, she is absolutely nowhere to be found? She's not on the ground playing the games. She's not aboard the Atlas -- at least that we see as the viewer.

This is a set up.

Romelle also achieved a goal when she helped to set up Allurance for Honerva's greater plans.

It's a distraction.

Launch date sets up several subplots related to Lotor, the Altean Colony, the Love Triangle™, Romelle, and so, so much more. Romelle's is one of them.

I'm really excited to finish writing some pieces of the meta and dive more into this topic. It is fascinating.

So, that is all we will say about this for now.

By all means, you can read more about Romelle's arc in this meta and this meta by @leakinghate and Team Purple Lion, which also reinforces Romelle's behaviours and gives us a better understanding of her story.

---

To answer your question, OP:

When Lotor is revived by Allura against the team's wishes? When Keith finally puts his trust in Lotor? When the team puts their trust in Lotor? When they truly learn about the Altean Colonies on the Moon?

It ruins everything for Romelle.

Does Honerva care? Not particularly.

She's a fearsome foe. She accounted for it. She's ready.

Season 8 is not what we think it was set up to be...

...But then it ended up on the cutting room floor along with Lotor.

Thank you for the question.

[foreficfandom]

Alastor and his relationship with MASCULINITY and VIOLENCE

“When men feel small they are dangerous.” - Nina MacLaughlin, Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung

One repeating characteristics of real life (serial) killers is their toxic masculine sexuality. And from there, we see that toxic maleness seep into how we design and perceive male antagonists.

Hazbin Hotel is trying to break the mold in many ways. It's an inverse of a 'Disney princess fairy tale'. It bring to the forefront the most vulnerable of the queer population. It has its most popular character clearly set up to be a future antagonist ... we just don't know when or why.

In real life, male killers are known for their insecure, pitiful efforts for control and domination, very often stemmed from sexual repression. They target those that they want to violate. They try to ensnare those that they're attracted to. Their violence is intertwined with their masculinity.

Alastor is written to be different. Not just on a meta scale - the creators have gone on record to say that Hazbin Hotel isn't a true crime drama - but I do believe Alastor has very particular hangups about his masculinity that is bleeding through in the form of violence.

Let me explain:

Alastor's Physical Design = overall masculine score of 8/10

Al has many masculine traits. He's got buck antlers, a padded suit, a towering height, and a full body cane. On many characters, these would all be nods to a male patriarchal figure. Like a southern sugar baron, or a British aristocrat.

The biggest visual hint to Al's masculinity is his antler rack. It grows bigger when he gets bloodthirsty. In the show proper, it's probably a visual cue of a manifesting 'animalistic' side. But it can also mean that Al relates his masculinity with violence.

Antler racks are very culturally masculine. A hunter displaying a huge mounted antler rack is basically just a less crass way of showing off the huge chub of a rival male he's slain.

Alastor having antlers was most certainly one of the few ways of making demonic form look more like his animal inspiration, like Vaggie's segmented white hair, or Vox's hidden gills. Notably, sinner designs with animal traits tend to not prioritize sex dimorphism: Husk doesn't have huge chunky tomcat cheeks. Angel Dust doesn't have spots of shiny iridescence.

There's only one example of clear sex dimorphism can think of: in Helluva Boss, Stella and Andrealphus are clearly female and male peafowl. Andrealphus displays a huge train, while Stella has a less extravagant tail display if any at all. But in that case, they wanted to show something of a species lineage between the two siblings. They had a female peafowl design, so her brother would be the more flamboyant male.

Gun to my head, giving Al antlers probably wasn't "this is MASCULINE SYMBOLISM" and more like a "this is a deer character". The only other 'male' deer trait Alastor uses is an elk bugle. Which is a sexual tool. It's used to attract females and challenge other males. I seriously doubt the creators are implying that Alastor is in rut when he bugles. Like his antlers, it's there for the directing and not the literal.

Al's actual body is also more masculine than it may seem. He's got huge shoulders and a wide chest compared to his hips and legs. These don't get skinnier the more elongated he grows, they get even wider and bigger.

Think the sexual violence of Silent Hill's Pyramid Head, mid-life crisis dad Mr. Incredible, Bluebeard-equse bride killer Barkis from Corpse Bride, Zeus-expy Lord Gwyn from Dark Souls. It's about that inverted triangle figure that speaks to adult maleness. And from there, a common theme emerges - the dark sides of masculinity in the form of murder, assault, infidelity, and abuse of power.

Designs that want to add androgyny sometimes include both a hyper-masculine chest and shoulder PLUS a lithe emphasis on the limbs, like the xenomorph, or 80's rock glam.

Along those same lines, what softens Alastor's masculine silhouette is his shingle bob haircut. I have no idea if this is the intention, but Al's hair (as has been pointed out before) is a very close rendering of the female shingle bob of the roaring '20s, complete with shaved nape. Only his coiffed bangs break the clear comparison.

(Jordan Baker from the 2013 Great Gatsby film had a classic shingle bob. This flapper mainstay was intended to be androgynous and youthful.)

Alastor's beginning (humanized) designs were more 'scene' raccoon-tail hair. As time went on, the length shortened, but the shaggy edge cut remained. Perhaps at some point, the designers took to designing it after the shingle bob, as opposed to the Sasuke chop or Visual Kei rattails, but it's perfectly likely its just the modern evolution of Al's middle school beginnings.

Alastor's Acting Direction = overall masculine score of 2/10

Al's body language took a 400% increase in fruitiness since the pilot. A stage/entertainment persona will always be more flamboyant - and therefore 'less masculine' - but now he's got the limp wrist, the hip checks.

I hypothesize that this change came with Amir's acting. Sometimes the artists reference how the actor gestures during their recordings. Sometimes it's a case of going, "hmm, the body language is kinda understated compared to the VA, let's up the camp".

On a meta level, his effeminacy pairs well with his androgynous appearance ... HOWEVER, androgynous men can have strong feelings about their own manhood. The cross dressing queen of the 1980s expresses his masculinity through sex, not clothing, whilst the closeted stock broker husband does the opposite. An OnlyFans femmeboi has a purely male identity that morphs 'girls clothes' into 'HIS clothes', and his straight weeboo fan goes in the completely opposite direction to trans-spot people based off of length of hair or color of socks.

We don't know how Alastor's 'old fashioned'-ness translates into his relationship with masculinity, but we've picked up some cues: he tips his head to people and offers his arm to a lady. He takes the 'male' lead during partnered dances. He always covers 90% of his body, even in supplemental merch designs.

But he also dressed himself in a nun's habit for fun. He uses flamboyant hand gestures and modern campy slang. Al's been in hell for nearly a century at this point, and his appearance alone would be improper for a man of the 1930's (long hair, no hat).

Plus, people of the past weren't always as conservative as we might think. It's for sure a man living in roaring 20's/great depression-era New Orleans would have had close contact with the local queer crowd. Add onto that his mixed race, you've got a man who spent his living years with as much potential for social equity as the modern audience.

(The 'Pansy Craze' of flapper nightlife referred to drag performers and lgbt+ visibility in both American and European mainstream media. It would remain strong until the Hays Code and rise of Fascism.)

At the same time, the progressives of the past could hold views we'd find very shocking. The pioneering civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois was an advocate for government eugenics (which was considered a liberal movement, btw). Susan B. Anthony HATED the idea of the black man voting.

For all we know, Alastor represents the man who loves women, but also the practice of being more competent than the woman. He's there to provide his services 'cause women need him. And on that note, we've one more angle to tackle Al's masculinity:

Alastor's Motives = overall (hypothesized) masculine score of 7/10

There's one Alastor trivia that we pay extra attention to: his reputation as a 'momma's boy'. From there, a lot of us have headcanoned him as being the neglected, illegitimate child from a mixed union. The Jim Crow laws during the turn of the century would have forbidden anybody of the "one drop rule" of marrying a white person. Was his father a white man who abused his illegitimate family?

There was a very, VERY slim chance that a woman of color with a bastard son had disposable income. Alastor was in his early 40's when he died in 1933, which meant he lived through the latter years of the 1800's. The times of horses and dirt roads. You ever played RDR2 and strolled through Saint Denis? Yeah, if mom and Al lived there, it would have been in the shanty shacks of the segregated slums.

(Rockstar made great lengths to condense real-life 1899 New Orleans into the fictional Saint Denis. On the outskirts of the city, populations of color live in neglected neighborhoods.)

We don't know if show canon will ever make a character's living years a plot point. After all, Angel Dust was a full on WW2 vet mobster. Vox was (supposedly) a cult leader. Husk lived through 5 wars and the moon landing. We can see hints of these origins in the show proper, but not a full-on flashback of someone's tragic origin story.

By Alastor's estimated birth date, USA slavery had been outlawed for roughly 40 years, but it was a slow process that involved individual states doing their own thing, and lobbies disrupting the process, A 24-year-old mother in Louisiana wouldn't have been born into the slave trade, but her own parents likely might have been involved.

This is assuming Alastor is mixed Black specifically. We don't know for sure: his creole ethnicity and association with voodoo screams Haitian descended, but perhaps he's First Nations, or SEA, etc. But all nonwhite races suffered during his time. It would have been illegal for him to work in the same building as white people. He couldn't touch the same bibles, or the same watering holes, or the same seats in public transit.

Common work for the financially insecure woman would have been hard labor like a laundress, farm labor, livestock husbandry, scullery maid, and other dirty jobs that had her enter through the back door, out of sight. She might have earned 30-50 cents a day. As attitudes changed for the slightly better, she could have found work as an in-house maid, nanny, seamstress, retail clerk, or a switchboard operator for the new-fangled telephone industry.

During all of that, we have an adolescent Alastor who's starting to find his way. He could have wrangled a spotty education from the nuns at church, which got his foot in the door when it came time to earn a proper payroll. Perhaps he has a military career from WW1 to help cushion things. Perhaps he was able to pass 'white enough' to work directly for the privileged white man.

(Being an Overlord is a dead-ringer to being a slave owner. You become more powerful by the quantity of those you 'own'. The imagery of chains is unmistakable. Having the two black characters - both having Overlord experience - be the ones who bring it to the forefront muddles the waters of Hell's soul economy.)

Vox is a much more blatant visage of toxic masculinity, and he makes an effort to broadcast himself as a sea captain, a pope, and a chef. Lucifer follows the same lines and has himself be a referee, a 'Boss', and another chef role. Alastor, on the other hand, he's the nun and the busboy. His two hired minions become the maid and bartender, while he has a not-particularly-glamorous-but-vital job of facilities maintenance.

Vox and Lucifer - two grandstanding masculine characters - see themselves as the leaders. Alastor in comparison values the hidden labor of domestic staff. Even down to the eggbois. In life, there would have been almost no way a man of color would be the chef, captain, ref, king, boss, whatever. He'd truly be the busboy, the maid, the bartender.

If we're gonna take his mixed heritage at face value, we already have a mess of suppression he had to contend with. Then he gets his demon powers. And suddenly, the hierarchy of race and privilege gets to be toppled. By his hand.

Maybe not as a conscious 'fuck the white man' sort of decision. But instead a 'I worked HARD to get to where I am now, and I'm gonna milk it for all its worth."

("Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.")

The male entitlement of the white man is different from the man of color. But it's still there. My Asian brothers compare themselves to whiteness for sure, but they also compare themselves to their Asian sisters. And there is a certain masculinity entitlement that's implanted within them.

Simply put, men of color see themselves as the main contender to the white man. If they get that slice of pie, they don't see themselves standing next to their women counterparts. They don't see themselves working next to - or under - the white woman. If it was a 'fair' slice of the pie (from their perspective), it's a matter of breaking through the white male barrier in lieu of the man of color. Women are an afterthought.

Alastor isn't after the Senior Manager promotion or whatever. We're not sure what he's after, but it rings of a bid for freedom. He feels constrained and chained down. His abilities are muzzled. He's likely had a long time of 'earning' his place as a feared Overlord, and now it's threatened.

And look: I get it, liberty is certainly not a gendered aspiration. If anything, it's associated with the downtrodden, not the entitled. But its the situationship of a man suddenly losing his birthright liberation that would make aspirations for freedom drenched in his masculinity.

We see this in ep. Dad Beat Dad specifically. He is seething with contempt the moment Lucifer barges into the hotel doors, and immediately tries to fill the 'paternal' shoes of Charlie's emotional support. Al only calms the fuck down once he gets to monster-munch a large group of hotel invaders, and from then on, he's seemingly not threatened by Lucifer finally making a proper fatherly connection to his daughter.

(A king is the 'father' of his people. As an actual christian angel, he's the divine emperor patriarch of hell. There's something to be said about a man who feels very threatened by this.)

'Cause Alastor's 'father' beef isn't so much for Charlie as it's for the hotel. Lucifer and Alastor battle for the position of 'dad', but more accurately they're battling for the position of 'patriarch'. The Hazbin Hotel is Alastor's labor of love as much as it is Charlie's. It's a position of power he'll fight hard to prove.

There are those who see the sexless man as less masculine. And not just sexless as in 'not sexually active', but also the man who has no relationship to marriage and fatherhood. The boyish, slobbery, depressed Eddie of Silent Hill 2 has no interest in protecting the wandering child character, whilst James (the player character) is stuck in Silent Hill 'cause of dead wife problems and he expresses concern for the child. By the end game, it's the sexless Eddie who packs this huge magnum revolver and initiates some fucked up boss battle in a meat locker full of hanging pig carcasses. A villain of toxic masculinity whose aggression stems from a lack of healthy sexuality.

In a different world, Alastor might also be the sexless masculine disaster. He is not a sexual figure in his wardrobe, or canon sexual orientation (asexual). His relationship with women lack romance, sex, or marriage. He's a cannibal; someone who desecrates flesh.

He DOES have this ... very tentative, spotty, and developing relationship with fatherhood. Not just with Charlie, but also with Niffty (who is 22 compared to Alastor's early 40's). Even singing to the children of Cannibal Town could be a nod to a grown man not being entirely sexless.

True to Hazbin Hotel being dedicated to breaking the mold, Alastor's sexless character instead softens him. We make an abrupt switch from the 'evil deal-making devil man' to 'cute guy has an actual human side his friend pokes fun at' within 10 minutes. This is in stark opposition to the sexless male archtype before this point.

In a world where the sexless masculine monster becomes murderous because of his sexual problems, Alastor is an outlier.

I believe he's still written to have his masculinity linked to his violence, just not through the sexual lens.

Alastor's Overall Masculinity Score = 7/10

Higher than you might have thought? It surprises me, too, but I retain that the current canon Alastor of Season 1 is a very subtle exploration of maleness through violence and a yearning for power. We see it in his bid for freedom - which is actually a self-entitled bid for power. We see it in his mark of ownership of the hotel. We see it in his self-reliance as a man of competence and skill.

The male antagonist of this caliber can go in so many fascinating directions. We want to see him crash and burn, for sure. We want to see that maleness taste a bit of well-earned karma.

[purplealmonds]

🧧💊👹Paper Talismans in Relation to Kusuriuri and Hyper's Evolving Powers

The paper talisman's primary function is to detect and ward off mononoke. Kusuriuri and Hyper have the unique ability to telekinetically manipulate them. Let's break down that ability further.

Manually sticking them to surfaces one by one is rather tedious and I bet less initiated medicine sellers may need to resort to that tactic.

Buckle in, this is gonna be another long one. (I nearly maxed out the 30-image upload limit)

Part 1: Talisman Deployment

Kusuriuri is capable of deploying multiple talisman at once. Though, in his early Bakeneko days there's no rhyme or reason in his arrangements.

At least he has enough precision to accidentally stick the talismans on the humans. Though he should really work on his tact.

Hyper doesn't deploy talismans in this arc, but he does summon a shield created from his golden markings which has a similar warding properties to the talisman. Not to mention, it uses the same sound effects as activated talisman if you listen closely.

From a meta animation production standpoint, making Hyper have the same talisman-deploying abilities as Kusuriuri instead of his own unique shielding abilities is more efficient and narratively consistent.

For a lore standpoint, this leads me to believe that there's a connection between the Hyper's golden markings, Kusuriuri's crimson ones, and the red glyphs upon the paper talisman.

Later, in the Umibozu and Nue arcs, Kusuriuri deploys them in a less wasteful manner. Note how they no longer overlap one another.

Tact is still not his strong suit.

Hyper once again doesn't use talisman in Umibozu, but in Nue he finally takes a page (heh, paper puns) from Kusuriuri's books. To illustrate his raw, yet controlled power, these talisman are nigh impenetrable by the Nue, and are manipulated into an organized grid-like enclosure floating in thin air which only the exorcism sword can destroy:

Naughty mononoke go into the exorcism box

In the Zashikiwarashi arc, which in the manga adaptation implies takes place after Umi Bozu, takes this precision even further.

Note how Kusuriuri brandishes them in this iconic (and marketable) pose and how they're arranged in a neat row instead of an ungovernable masses on the walls:

Hmm, the innkeeper and her assistant may be freaking out, but at least Shino (the person he's protecting) isn't. Character development, hooray!!

Although he has the capability to deploy more of them, he's now internalizing the economical "less is more" method.

It is not to say he's incapable of deploying huge amounts of them. In the Nopperabou arc, he is capable of:

1. Deploying not one, but eight rings of talisman at once:

2. Wrapping the talisman around an organically shaped object (the fox mask):

3. Constructing an entire-ass enclosure out of thousands of them - without using walls or other flat surfaces as scaffolding.

That's an insane amount of control. I'm actually a little sad that we don't get to see an evolution of Kusuriuri's ability in the final Bakeneko arc.

Hyper does technically deploy them at the very end. At first glance, it doesn't seem to be a creative improvement of his abilities. He's able to deploy large amounts of them in two neat sheets to ward off the Bakeneko's angry foot stomp, big whoop:

It almost did not occur to me that these talismans are deployed not in the mortal realm, but in the metaphysical domain of the Bakeneko. Although Hyper's not nearly as creative a Kusuriuri in using the talisman, that's one hell of a level-up.

Part 2: Object Manipulation

A less commonly discussed ability is that these talisman act as an extension of Kusuriuri. Objects with talisman adhered to them can also be telekinetically manipulated by him. A classic example of this is the fusuma screens from the first Bakeneko arc and Nue arc.

Sliding screens are relatively lightweight objects to manipulate. But the paper talisman - and by extension Kusuriuri - are capable of manipulating much heavier objects. Case in point, the barnacle-encrusted lid of the utsuro-bune in Umibozu which the combined efforts of most of the humans on the ship were unable to crack open:

So far, only Kusuriuri has leveraged this object manipulation ability. This makes sense, since he's connected to the physical human world while Hyper deals with the metaphysical one. But if Hyper does eventually use this ability, the implications are pretty damn massive.

If Kusuriuri's strength is enhanced from his normal white talisman, what would Hyper be capable of? In a pinch, if, say, the exorcism sword is knocked out of his grasp, could he then deploy some talisman to yeet a building, nay, an entire-ass mountain at a mononoke? The possibilities of badassery are endless!

Part 3: Manipulation of Sentient Entities (!?!)

Note that I did not say "humans"

In theory, it can be quite the useful ability. Stick a talisman on a human. If a mononoke stalks near them, it is repelled. If they wander into harm's way, you can yoink them to safety. If they try to attack or restrain you, you can yeet them so hard that they fly Team-Rocket style into the sunset.

Self-agency morality implications aside, I think there's a good reason why Kusuriuri takes care not to plaster talisman all over a human's body.

Consider the talisman's stuck on Shino's pregnant belly in the Zashikiwarashi arc. Look what happens to Shino when she removes a single seal:

When the seal's protective properties are activated, removing it abruptly takes a dangerous toll on a sentient entity.

Shino was "lucky". She was not the direct subject of the talisman's protection; the mononoke living within her was. Yes, not her unborn child. A mononoke, whose creation were the twin triggers of the potent emotions of the Zashikiwarashi residing in the former brothel and Shino's fear of not being able give birth to her unborn child. A mononoke which she met and bonded with prior to Kusuriuri sticking the seal on her:

Even before the seal was removed I believe the seal was already tearing Shino's Zashikiwarashi apart from the inside. It is simultaneously trying to ward it off from Shino's body and "protect" it from the Zashikiwarashi existing outside of the womb. This is why, despite her apparent "miscarriage" of the Zashikiwarashi, her actual child seemed alive and well at the end of the story arc:

I'm pretty sure if she didn't misplace the good luck doll around her wrist, she wouldn't have been infected by a mononoke in the first place. But then the assassin would have killed her and her child so I guess this traumatic mononoke encounter was her best case scenario?

If applying a seal indirectly to a Mononoke can kill it, what toll would it take if the object of its protections is a human body?

I believe that originally, the seal's protective properties are derived from small but potent fragments of the Medicine Seller's influence. When that influence is destroyed by a mononoke, the seals disintegrate:

Since this Kusuriuri is aligned with wood (see my theory regarding eye colors and elemental alignments here), I think the destruction of his influence manifesting as paper burning to cinders is apt.

However, when applied to a sentient being, I theorize that the seal begins sapping that being's life force to sustain itself. If that being remains in constant danger, a negative feedback loop forms and the talisman becomes increasingly parasitic in nature.

There's also one more incredibly obvious example of this. Remember how I said in the beginning of this analysis, that "there's a connection between the Hyper's golden markings, Kusuriuri's crimson ones, and the red glyphs upon the paper talisman?"

What are Kusuriuri and Hyper, if not the paper talismans in humanoid form? The talisman's abilities, after all, are an extension of their powers.

And when Kusuriuri, this humanoid talisman, seeks to protect the (mostly undeserving) humans in the first Bakeneko arc...

Yeah, he's not doing too hot. I think this equates to the state of the talisman when the glyphs become dyed blood red to ward off the the mononoke.

And when he further overextends himself...

If he didn't stop shortly after this, I think the damage would go far beyond the rupturing of superficial vessels and rapidly coagulating blood dribbling like tar out of aforementioned vessels.

What if those blood clots start forming in his lungs? His heart? His brain?? This is a very, very dangerous line for him to walk which could result in irreparable damage to his.

I theorize that if it ever gets to that point, the markings emblazoned on his face will spread like bruises and envelope his failing body - similar to how the paper talisman turns fully dark crimson before dissolving.

Kusuriuri's desire to protect these humans is destroying his body. Paper talismans would sooner disintegrate into a pulpy mess than allow the objects of their protection to be harmed a moment sooner. Thankfully, our medicine seller knows when to give up.

This is why after the first Bakeneko arc, we don't see Kusuriuri overextend himself like this again. Seeing his partner go through this near-fatal ordeal, I can also understand why Hyper decides not to use his built-in shield too.

They found creative ways to use those paper talismans, which are a less risky way of offering similar, albeit less potent protections. The tradeoff is worth it. After all, they can't continue to sleuth and slay mononoke if their bodies are permanently out of commission.

[tmtquickcomics]

Soooo, when noticing this I noticed something else.

Alot of the fandom has theorized the Sins are ranked and/or have status or power based on the placements of their rings. Crimson's comment on Oz being 'the weakest Sin' being used to support this theory. With the rings going from strongest to weakest from top to bottom.

While I personally theorize that none of the Sins are necessarily stronger or weaker than each other. They just have different strengths and weaknesses. There is evidence that says that there may be power ranking based on their Ring placements but with the lower rings being more powerful.

Not including Pride in this, lets look at those who live in each ring, their environments, and how they're viewed.

Wrath: Origin of the Imps

Their environment is desolate and harsh. Not a lot of infrastructure or signs of leisure. Imps are viewed as the lowest class. They're working class and are the 'poor'. They're also treated poorly.

They're also implied to have no natural magic and/or a small amount of magic. We've seen Crimson make a death clock and the one imp at looloo land lighting his finger on fire. But these could be explained away by the use of magical artifacts or possibly being a hybrid.

No signs that Imps would have any innate reason to go to Earth.

Gluttony: Origin of the Hellhounds

Their environment is lush and bountiful, but seems to be over grown and potently hostile (carnivorous plants). Has infrastructure, but from what we see seems to be in pockets. One of the lowest classes, but seems to flip flop a little if they're above or below Imps. They're not represented as being poor, but they are a working/guard class that are also treated like property. They don't seem to be treated poorly, but they're not given a lot of respect.

They don't appear to have a lot of magic, but they do have magic based on what we've seen with Loona. She can create a human disguise with no obvious signs of a artifact, she has tracking abilities, and heightened senses. I also theorize hellhounds having a slight connection to magic is why IMP had her being the one using the book all the time.

Signs that Hellhounds would have job related/situational reasons to go to Earth.

Greed: Origin of the Jester Demons (and maybe the -Loan- Sharks)

Greed is a little harder to talk about. We haven't interacted with the jester demons a lot and I'm not sure if the sharks are from Greed or Envy. So it's inconclusive. We don't know if they have magic or not.

Best guess is that Jester demons are a entertainment class, and are a mid class. Not treated poor or lesser like Imps and Hellhounds, but don't seem to be in positions of authority, power, or respect.

What we do know is Mammon and thusly the greed ring runs the banks. Mammon is rich, but people living in his ring are all over the map. Some places seem decent enough to live in, but there's also major areas of pollution.

Like I said Greed seems to be mid.

And as a side note: We've only seen Mammon truly interact with Oz, and Mammon backs down and back downs quick every time Oz gets pissed at him. If Oz was actually physically/magically weaker than Mam I doubt he'd back down the way he does.

Lust: Origin of the Succubi (and implied the Ars Goetias)

infrastructure. infrastructure everywhere! Dismissing the pros and cons of not having any nature near by. The Lust ring is the first one to show that not just the ruler has riches, but the people do as well. The ring is well kept and clean. Appears to be very safe to live in. the Succubi also look to be the first group to not have a singular assigned purpose. They seem to have the freedom to choose what they do from regular type jobs, factory work, or being a pop star. They're treated well.

They poses magic and have the ability to fly.

They travel to Earth regularly to help spread lust.

Envy: Origin of Sirens and Fester Demons

We haven't seen Envy yet but between Hazbin, Helluva, and meta content It's the richest of all the Rings. Most fans have assumed that Levi and Oz are inventors with Oz focusing more on things connected to pleasure and Levi being more branched out. It's also been implied that nearly anything high end luxury are made in the Envry ring. Sirens and Festers are the higher class. On par with the Succubi, and possibly higher class on a more consistent basis.

They clearly have a fair amount of magic and abilities.

We don't know the full extent of it, but we know Fester demons have a roll on Earth and it's an easy conclusion that Siren also have a roll on Earth.

Sloth: Origin of the Baphomets

Haven't seen much this group, but we do know their ring is similar to lust and envy. It's clean and well built. The ring is wealthy and houses and can profit off medical needs and relaxation centers. We haven't seen them treated bad or good outside of Blitz. But Blitz is... Blitz.

Don't know if they have magic, but it is implied with the addition of their ever burning candles.

Don't know if the baphomets go to Earth, but we do know demons can go to Earth on behalf of the Sloth ring. As seen with Barb.

Bottom line is:

the top two rings house the poorest and worst treated hell borns

Greed is the middle ring and is mid with living conditions and treatment.

Bottom three rings appear to be wealthy, higher class, maintained, and well treated.

So if the Rings do mirror the abilities and/or power of their patron Sins, the bottom rings are more well off.