#my two cents on a topic that is close to my heart

[lolitawestcoast]

I rarely write or post things on social media because I am more of an “observer”, but after finishing season 2 of HOTD, I realised that I, too, want to share my “unpopular opinions” (as some may say they are) with the world. I guess I got inspired by all of you whom I follow and whose posts I consistently read that are truly in sync with what I think about the show overall, especially the greens and other characters I like.

So you are welcome to read this rant/ mini essay and give your two cents about the topic. I will be discussing a few characters who I have firm opinions about and what I think we should actually focus or take away from the series.

I will start with my personal favourite, Alicent Hightower. I swear I am in minority when I say this, because all the people that I know (including close people and friends) dislike/hate her and that’s totally fine, nobody should force others to like a character but the way they talk about her (all completely stupid arguments that miss the mark) as if she’s this insufferable, evil, bad mother. She is so layered, so tragic, ugh, it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what Viserys himself has put her through, not ONLY Otto. I say this because a lot of the conversations I’ve had with others NEVER acknowledge his part in her trauma and when I mention it I am immediately shut down, it’s kind of sad and disturbing.

In their opinion, Alicent is a BIG part of what happened leading to the war. Excuse me? Have you seen season 1? Have you followed the plot at all? That woman is a victim. I’ve been reblogging and reading a lot of people’s posts here that were completely spot on about how many sacrifices she has made as she puts it herself (“What have I done, but what was EXPECTED of me? Forever upholding the kingdom, the family, the law.”) While Rhaneyra gets to do all she wants (“While you flout all to do as you please”) with no consequences because the king favours her and turns a blind eye to her actions, forever defending her even if he CLEARLY knows (and sees) what’s in front of him.

For example, that whole Alicent-Rhaneyra confrontation in season 1 was such a divisive discussion in my family, ugh, I felt like Alicent herself against everybody saying that she wasn’t in the right but you know what? She totally was. I would have had the same reaction (“Where is duty? Where is sacrifice? It’s TRAMPLED under your pretty foot again!”) Her life as a queen was forced on her by the MEN around her. What do you expect? How is she supposed to just take what’s happening to her and not stand up for herself and her child whose eye was fucking SLASHED. Aemond lost an eye. I just know, as a mother, I would have gone FERAL. No doubt. How can she not ask for justice, an eye for an eye (“And now you take my son’s eye and to even that you feel entitled.”) Couldn’t have said it better myself. Later on, when Aemond kills Lucerys, Rhaneyra herself wants “a son for a son”. Isn’t that the same philosophy? Why is Alicent unreasonable when she is asking for Lucerys’ eye in that moment? I don’t see much of a difference. This is one of the examples where I can’t look away and just hate someone like others do, because she has a point.

Another example is when Rhaneyra tells her that she doesn’t want to be “trapped in a castle” and “made to squeeze out heirs”. I swear, when they showed Alicent’s face after that line, I had tears in my eyes, I felt like I wanted to hold her because she DID NOT need to hear that, it was cruel. She broke my heart so many times, I almost want to say I rarely feel this way about a character in a show: “Sadness is a condition of motherhood”. My dearest Alicent, THEY WILL NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU.

Is she a bad mother as they say? Not at all. Would a bad mother literally SHIELD Aegon with her body when threatened with a DRAGON? Would a bad mother (again) use her body to protect her daughter Helaena from the smallfolk during the riots? Would she stand up for Aemond and DEMAND justice, putting herself in danger as well as in a unfavourable position with the king as a bad mother? HOW DOES SHE NOT LOVE HER CHILDREN? I mean, I have a mother who would do the EXACT same thing for me, literally take a bullet for her child. And like Alicent, my mother has her flaws, she’s been through things in life beyond my understanding (having an abusive husband), so she isn’t perfect, but she loves me with all her heart nonetheless. She has projected some things onto me and has hurt me many times with her words, like Alicent sometimes does with Aegon, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him. Even after the incident with Aemond happens, she regrets her actions, mainly slashing Rhaneyra’s hand: “It was an ugly thing, I regret it”. Otto is then the one who praises her for what she has done: “And yet, I’ve never seen that side of you, my daughter…We play an ugly game.” Once again, he is the mastermind, using Alicent as a pawn in his search for power. She is not power hungry herself.

I think it’s hard for her sometimes to look at her children, especially Aegon I think, her firstborn, whom may I remind you she had VERY YOUNG, a child herself and not see her whole grief, trauma and abuse through him. The way Emily has portrayed young Alicent, specifically in that scene where she holds her baby and she just looks defeated, sad, depressed, EXHAUSTED. While Rhaneyra gets to have children with whom she pleases (Harwin Strong is someone who she loves and cares about, judging by the loving and tender looks they give each other in some scenes) because she has an open marriage and she was lucky enough to get that. Nothing was forced on her. She had the freedom to look for her own suitors, a thing that Alicent calls “romantic” because in her mind, she would have absolutely dreamed to do the same.

Moreover, how can you say that Rhaneyra and Alicent don’t have love for each other? They make that CLEAR in the show so many times with small, beautiful details (the page, their 2 conversations from season 2, beautifully acted by Olivia and Emma). Didn’t Alicent vehemently defend Rhaneyra against the “claims” made by Otto that her and Daemon got into some inappropriate actions together? Even though his informer was right. She believed her and vouched for her to the king. She has never been jealous of her in that sense. She was envious perhaps of her freedom, yes, for sure, but who wouldn’t be, given her situation. She still loved and cared for her deeply.

When Otto is dismissed as hand and they have that conversation in the rain where he enforces on her that she has to prepare Aegon to be king because Rhaneyra will put her children to the sword otherwise, because she will be challenged by Aegon; the manipulation from Otto she has received time and time again runs deep into her adulthood. After he leaves she is alone at court, nobody in her corner. She doesn’t realise she is being used as a pawn in a man’s power games, but she becomes paranoid and determined to defend her own family. Cut to the wedding scene: after she finds out about Rhaneyra’s indiscretion with Cole, she fully embraces the colour green, representative of the Hightower house, subtly declaring war by showing up in that beautiful gown in the middle of the king’s speech (an iconic, awesome scene if you ask me). At that point, she was disappointed, angry and possibly fed up with her having to honour her duty as a queen, while her dearest friend lies and gets away with things. As much as you love and care for someone like that, you cannot overlook their wrongdoings.

I’ve also seen that she was called a “bitch” for wanting to see Rhaneyra’s child immediately after giving birth. However, she didn’t want HER to come to Alicent physically and show the baby, it was after all, Rhaneyra’s decision to go. Being her third child and Alicent probably seeing the other 2, of course she wanted to see for herself if he’ll look the same. She is the only one pointing out that they are bastards and everybody KNOWS IT. Her husband, Cole, all the people at court, hell even Harwin’s father. It is so blatantly obvious; it’s actually hilarious how Viserys dismissed Alicent and everybody who brought it up, which is fair enough from their perspective, even for Vaemond when they are discussing the succession of Driftmark. How can one NOT be frustrated? How can she not be furious? Later on, when the king states “Anyone who dares question the legitimacy of my grandsons, should have it (their tongue) removed” as Rhaneyra looks at Alicent with some sort of entitlement and power: “Thank you, father”. The rage I felt for her in that moment was so intense, because it is so unfair.

Here is another hard pill to swallow for some: Viserys has divided his family by always favouring his first daughter (he even refers to her as his “only daughter/child). He wants peace in his family but all he does is create “war”, hate, resentment, bitterness etc. Maybe he wasn’t Viserys “the peaceful” after all, at least not when it came to his own family. Never acknowledged or cared for his other 4 children he has with Alicent which in turn made them (particularly Aegon and Aemond) the way they are. Aegon even mentions how his father “didn’t like him”. Can you blame him? He yells in his face when Aemond’s eye incident happens, doesn’t give A DAMN about the fact that his son , “HIS BLOOD” , had lost an eye because he cares more that his precious daughter’s sons were insulted: “MY SON HAS LOST AN EYE FOR AN INSULT?” Yes Alicent, I was in fact, also enraged when that happened. How does nobody look at that man and see what he has done to his own family? Maybe HE has more of a role in the dance later on, together with Otto and other MEN who plotted the usurping. Maybe things would have been different had he been a better father/husband. But they sure like to blame the woman, the “scorned bitch” who’s jealous of Rhaneyra.

Even so, despite all this, make no mistake, the love and affection between the two women never fades away. That scene from season 1 episode 8, where she softly squeezes her hand (ironically the same one that has the scar she inflicted on her) and lovingly tells her not to leave after their children have an argument. You can feel their chemistry: it’s like they found each other again, after such a long, tumultuous time, at last, Rhaneyra and Alicent together like old times. That whole dinner scene was so peaceful, literally the calm before the storm. The poison runs deep in the family, it can’t be erased just like that, in one night. You can see that whatever foundation Viserys thought he had built within his family and the realm, it all crumbled down in the end.

Alicent needed someone to support her and remind her that it is NOT her fault: what happened to her, that she was used, abused and her innocence stolen from her. She was so desperate for this.

I won’t even have enough time to write everything here about Alicent’s life, at least nothing that hasn’t already been said (beautifully put by others that I read so far, you are all making me feel seen by the way!❤️)

Maybe I am too emotionally attached to her, but I can’t understand the constant hate she gets from CERTAIN people. It is so frustrating to try and explain everytime all the details in the scenes with her to others, I guess it doesn’t matter in the end. “It’s just a fictional character” they say; yes, indeed. I get very passionate sometimes because I was a film student and movies/tv shows are and will forever be my life and I am always analyzing all the details (force of habit, because I had to do this a lot for my assignments).

I don’t even have a side (team green, team black) fuck that nonsense. Personally, that strategy marketing which HBO constantly tried to shove down our throats is just bullshit; in the end, NOBODY (except Helaena) is truly a role model or a “hero”. The whole idea of this entire show and its events is about the smallfolk and the dragons who are nothing but collateral damage in this foolish civil war. While the privileged fight for a throne, the others suffer, the real innocents.

When I watch the show, I don’t even care about childish things like taking sides, like this is just a basic argument between two people, I just have a couple of characters that I root for or feel close to because they speak to me in a very specific manner. Also, the actors are tremendously talented so they literally make the characters compelling, maybe beyond what they get on the page of that script (which sometimes it’s not much or enough, if you ask me).

Hopefully I am not alone and I’ve seen here that I am not (I almost feel like part of a community at this point🥹), but in general I prefer the team green characters (which DOES NOT mean that I dislike or hate anyone in team black), I just think they are more complex, fucked up, relatable, and acted so damn well (although EVERYBODY in that cast is exceptional). I think I like the whole “dysfunctional” family vibe the greens have.

That being said, I like Rhaneyra as a character, for sure, I don’t dislike her at all, but I don’t know if I like what they are doing to her, script wise. Emma is exceptional in their portrayal of the character with what they are given anyway, but the writers are certainly making her more seem like the “hero” of the story, although I can see she has a lot of flaws. She is FAR from perfect. What I gathered from her as a character is that she is quite hypocritical in many aspects, especially when it comes to Alicent. In certain scenes in season 2 for instance, she points fingers at her for the things Rhaneyra herself has done. Blames her for starting this war when in fact, it wasn’t Alicent.

Unfortunately some fans are way too biased and are so blinded by what the show is feeding them to see and acknowledge her wrongdoings and see beyond this “rightful heir” tag she has. I am starting to see more interesting and complex things from Rhaneyra, mainly from season 2 and I am hopeful to see what’s in store for her in season 3. Although, I’ve always seen her as someone more nuanced, thanks to Milly and Emma’s stellar performances. She isn’t very likeable to me, because I see through her, for what she is. But I like when she gets more like her book counterpart (if you know what I’m saying). I like to see that: more complexity.

Furthermore, I was absolutely gutted when Rhaenys died (she really should have been queen🫡), what a great character. I love that Jacaerys got some more personality in the last few episodes of season 2, because I wasn’t convinced before of him as a solid character. This also leads me to the idea that Rhaneyra is definitely a bit selfish in pursuing her claim to the throne and totally overlooking his (valid) feelings towards the other bastard Targaryens claiming the dragons. I loved his speech and how he stood up for himself in a way.

You have to objectively look at these characters most of the time while watching the show and it is truly unfortunate that many people in the fandom are so blindly biased and defensive of some of their favourites, especially Rhaneyra because I see that happening mostly with her. You can’t judge them, but god forbid you tell them you like the greens, especially Alicent, Aemond (even Ageon) or Cole (speaking from my own experience) then you are definitely going to be judged because they are somehow seen as the antagonists of the show.

In my humble opinion, the show DOES NOT have protagonists or antagonists because like I’ve mentioned before, that’s not the point at all. Each one of us has their own “favourite war criminal” and that’s that. Let us, the audience just enjoy supporting the characters we like and stop judging each other. This is not real life, it’s not that deep. I like when I talk to someone and they express their love and passion for a character, even though I don’t feel the same, it’s quite nice to do that without criticising and getting into an argument with that person. We respect each other’s opinions and move on.

Anyways, went on a bit of a tangent there but moving on, Baela is also a character I like a lot, because I need somebody that supporting and wise in life by my side, for real. She is a gem. When she says something, I listen.

I know this might sound odd but I don’t actually HATE anybody in this show. I can say I dislike Daemon for pretty well known reasons at this point, no need to list them here, although I don’t feel hate for him necessarily. I am raising my eyebrow a bit at how Aemond turned out so far, although I still think that Ewan made him one of the coolest, most compelling characters in the show, especially in season 2. He is a delight to watch because his presence on screen is just THAT fucking gripping. I still see him as an underdog, especially looking back at his childhood and what happened to his eye and all that. I still feel for that child, for how he was bullied and undermined. I can’t completely overlook the things that happened to him which lead to the events of season 2. Although, as a book reader, I am a bit disappointed in some of the writing regarding his character (a discussion for another day).

This is a big one, but I also didn’t get why SO MANY people HATE Criston Cole, like he’s actually universally the most hated character in the show so far (based on how Fabien Frankel himself was harassed on his instagram which breaks my heart). It is such a sad, but funny thing to see at the same time.

This guy is certainly NOT the worst character in the GOT universe; if you rewatch GOT (which I’m currently doing) he really is no match for some people you see there. He was clearly wrong in many aspects in this show, especially with the event of Blood and Cheese and what followed. I would say that I disliked his behaviour and I certainly did not align with many of his actions and opinions at certain points in the show, although I do feel that he is remorseful and has had quite the journey in season 2. By the end of this season he went through quite a horrific experience (the battle at Rook’s Rest) which I think changed him mentally and you can see that, courtesy of Fabien’s great performance (when he has that conversation with Gwayne in season 2 finale, which I loved).

I’ve seen the memes with him and the constant topic being brought up of him being “bitter” and hung up on Rhaneyra because she turned him down when he suggested that they should run away together, but I don’t even think it goes on for too long, at least in his mind. Yes, he calls her names and talks shit about her at times (indirectly) but I think later on he’s moved on from that, at least since he started to be more intimate with Alicent (who he says is the “beacon” he follows) because rightfully so, she saved his life in many ways, I guess literally and metaphorically. He doesn’t have time to think about his bitterness towards Rhaneyra anymore, with all that has taken place since they had that encounter, at least I don’t think so.

He has had quite the journey and at this point I just think the hate and the jokes are getting old and more like, there is no other character we can hate so we are all pointing fingers at “Crispin” as I’ve seen and heard people call him. I just can’t even bring myself to hate him, I respect how smart he is and how skilled in battle he proved himself to be. Surely he is not as one dimensional as people are making him out to be. Yes, the memes are funny and all that, but some people are too mean spirited, it makes me think they are projecting a little bit too much. Even Fabien himself is moved when somebody praises his character or says something nice about him (I saw that in an interview some time ago, he was genuinely happy someone complimented him because he has seen the hate and I just wanted to go through the screen and hug him, he is so kind, bless him). Give him a break guys, please.

Again, this might be quite an unpopular opinion, but isn’t Cole justified in a way to be upset and resentful over what happened between him and Rhaneyra? Wasn’t he used that night to satisfy her needs and quite frankly her frustration because she didn’t get what she wanted from Daemon? She could care leas about him as a person, about his honour, his duty. Most of the time she was too carefree and ignorant of these concepts. Wasn’t there a power imbalance between them? He tried to resist, he didn’t pursue her. What was he to do? I wondered often what would have happened if he denied her that night.

After their affair, he asks her to run away with him (which I admit it was a bit funny the way he put it, to leave behind her privileged life to go somewhere and sell oranges or whatever) but in that moment, the way she looks at him and answers, I’m sure broke his heart, because he thought she might have feelings for him. I didn’t even see them as simply having “sex” but more like “making love”, it was quite tender and beautiful. I don’t think he was wrong in assuming that, after all, they were each others’ firsts. He feels hurt, cheated and used: “So you want me to be your whore?”. I can’t lie, I felt for him in that moment. Everything he had to his name, as he says, was taken from him. Can we not feel some sympathy for this man? Is he not justified in thinking that Rhaneyra is “a cunning spider”? As far as he is concerned, she has fooled him and stolen his honour, left him with nothing to his name. He was already by the standards of those times, a nobody.

Can we just be reasonable as an audience and just stop following others like sheep on this “chain” of hate?

Don’t even get me started on Aegon. I won’t even expand here why I also never hated him (although I want to make it CLEAR that I DO NOT condone what he did in the show, under NO circumstances) even though again, I am disappointed on how his character was changed from the books (if you know, you know). I feel he has been treated unfairly just like his mother and there are a lot of reasons he is the way he is. Like I said, too much to get into. But once again I praise the actors for giving such nuanced performances, THEY are making the characters come to life.

I feel I already said too much and I don’t want to get into the book and the parallels with GOT because I would have to write a thesis then and this has already become an essay.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you, I appreciate you reading this; it is my first time posting something like this. I don’t really post my opinions online because the internet is mean and toxic but I really wanted to get this off my chest. Maybe in hopes that someone else shares the same views (which I think we’ve established there are quite a few people here on tumblr who do). I am so excited to read more posts/opinions and hopefully be part of healthy discussions about this show and its characters. Please be respectful.

[kairiscorner]

HI HIIII HOW U DOING?? I HOPE GREAT!! 😘😘 anyways, can i req something? Its one of the things i wanna see and its so URGH yk what i mean? HAHAH🤭 soooooooooo HAHA this imagine is going on for awhile in my mind but i dunno if your great at angst but if u r not great at angst, just ignore this request! Dont force yourself.

Anyways this is my request ; Y/n as spider noir’s cannon.

HEHE i have seen other characters but not spider noir so whyyyyyy notttt? THANK YOUUUUU 😘 AND STAY SAFEEEEEE‼️‼️

oh my dearest @ii01vp you have no idea how long i've craved to induce tears :> BUT YES I WANNA DO THIS, thank YOU and stay safe too :DD

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

content warnings! mentions of sharp blades, blood, and bleeding please don't read ahead if you are uncomfortable with the topic ^^

blood spilled everywhere on the floor as a sharp blade was lodged into your chest cavity. it happened in an instant, the second of an instant–you couldn't even count to three, and a blade had already pierced your chest, creating a crevice in your heart, forcing blood to spill out of you.

you gasped for breath, for help, for a hand to reach out to–but nobody, not a single soul was there to save you. not even him. you prayed you'd get out of this alright, you'll come out of this alive--because what kind of person deserves a demise in the hands of a lowlife criminal that wanted to take your money.

how defiant you were not to give them a single cent. in the end, a single cent costed you another minute of your life.

you cried out, hoping someone, anyone, would hear. begging to the skies above to bring someone to you, to help you, at least be with you in your final moments as all the blood would soon be drained from your ailing body, for you didn't want to die alone. you didn't care who it was, so long as you weren't alone at the time of your death.

your vision was getting hazy, your feet were giving way as you became more and more light-headed the more the blood stained your garments and imbued in them a deep, red hue. you gasped, hoping to make up for the lost oxygen as the blood continued pouring out of you.

"someone... a-any... one..." you choked out as blood poured out of your chest, no matter what efforts you took to put pressure on the gaping wound. you felt yourself growing weaker and weaker, and to make matters worse, you felt drops of water on your head, back, and shoulders; it would be raining, and raining hard. your cries for help as you waddled on with what little strength you had left would be drowned out in the flood of noise the rain would create.

you fell to your knees, your hands keeping you steady as your breathing became more and more labored. this was it, you thought. i'm going to die. i'm going to die alone, in the rain, in an unnamed alley with rats and bugs as the only witnesses of my death, you said to yourself as the tears began to pour, staining the collar of your shirt along with the drops of blood coloring it with a bright red.

"peter..." you called out for the name of the man you loved, who once held you so dearly and promised never to hurt you or let you get hurt; the man whose kiss tasted sweet like ripe oranges and whose lips fit into yours just right, as if the universe brought you two together to worsen the pain of having you taken away from each other.

your vision was soon darkening, you were going to lose all sensation in a few moments. but before you could close your eyes, possibly never to open them again, you heard footsteps nearby, big footsteps rushing through the puddles formed by the rain--puddles that were doused in the fresh redness of your blood.

you wondered who it could be, but then again, why did it matter? they couldn't save you, not like they'd care to. you were just another statistic in the grand scheme of things--who else would care about another dead body in the alleyway? well... he would.

"l... love..." muttered a shaky voice as the figure who was rushing through puddles moved closer and closer to you, their steps getting slower and slower all the while; as if they were reeling themselves from wanting to just run up towards you. "who..." you muttered, and before you could even answer, the figure was now hovering over you. "...spider... man?" you murmured out as you faced the black and gray clad man.

his gloved hands were quaking, they reached out toward you. "how... how could i... how could i let th-this..." he muttered as he choked back tears. you were confused, what was spider man doing to a total stranger like you, reaching his hand out and weeping over a soul he never met before. "spider man... it's okay... just--please--lock... that criminal... up." you made out with a small smile and a wheezing cough that followed afterwards.

spider man shook his head. "no... no, no, no!" he shouted, which made you gasp. "i'm... i'm sorry... i couldn't... first, uncle ben, and now..." he cried out as he started to weep under his mask. with the last bit of strength you had, you shushed spider man, reaching your hand out for his that caressed your cheek. "spider man... please don't cry... over a--a stranger..." you whispered as he held your hand tightly, and soon... you were gone.

and peter... felt like he had died along with you. words can never begin to describe the sorrow and anguish he felt when he saw you there in that alleyway as he was chasing down that criminal, he could never imagine just how painful it was for you, and he feels like all the punishments in the world were never enough to absolve him for the sin of not being around long enough for you.

for not being able to save you when he could've done something.

"why... why them? why not me?" was all he could cry out to the skies above as he took off his mask and wept, still holding your cold hand in his own, as your lifeless body beat no more for the man you loved and held dearly in your, now pierced and unbeating, heart.

a/n: miguel was watching from a rooftop nearby with jess around the corner and with ben reilly narrating his secondhand grief.

tags !! @thecoolerdor @miguelswifey04 @sabcandoit @binibinileonara @luvstarrstruck @k4tsu3 @fictarian @maxoloqy @connors-cumslurper @ii01vp

[i-read-that-manga-for-you]

Given

Admittedly, I read this manga a long time ago. Like when chapters were still coming out. I was still in high school at the time (holy fuck) and couldn't really articulate my feelings as well as I can now.

I had left this review (bits and pieces of it) on a manga site and decided I might as well put it on my tumblr, finetuning it, of course. First post, because in spite of its flaws, Given is still close to my heart. And I reread it again (somewhat) to make this a better review. I hope each person who reads this will reimburse me with 50 cents each (jk don't). So here it is. My impression of Given, with !!some!! talk about how SA is treated in BL/Yaoi culture in general.

Or not, this is just my two cents with no anthropology degree.

Do take what I say with a grain of salt, a piece of creative media does not exist in a vacuum, but this review treats it as one at times because I'm not really skilled enough to talk about any wider implications. I'm just some guy giving my review.

Spoilers ahead. Go ahead.

TW: Sexual Assault.

Honestly, this manga made me feel a lot. Good and bad feelings. But let's focus on what I liked.

Ugetsu.

He's on the phone, shhh.

I found Ugetsu to be a very compelling character, and it was a huge shame that he vanished partway through the manga. Basically? I have no criticisms about him as a character, he has his flaws and he's nuanced. He's interesting and compelling, and it's clear that he's someone who is still growing and learning to walk on his own two feet. I won't deny that his relationship with Akihiko was very toxic, but I definitely think this isn't something that can be blamed solely on him.

But with this out of the way. Let's talk about the pairings.

Let's talk about Akiharu.

Kizu Natsuki is an amazing artist... Even when I have certain issues with this manga.

Well. I have a lot of qualms with Akiharu.

For starters, Akihiko assaulted Haruki. I'll never forget that. The fact that they ended up getting together anyway was a huge point of contention for me. Given was framed as a story about love more than a traditional story about BL/yaoi which (sorry) usually leans towards the sex. (This is not to say that sex and romance are separated, well they are but they are linked rather than being one in the same. You can have either, like they're hot/cold water but they come from the same faucet.)

But I feel that having this scene in rather than an argument feels completely wrong. I'm someone who will digest pretty much anything the world throws at me, but the Akiharu assault scene came off wrong and it came off scary. (Note: I say scary but I definitely mean much more than that, I just feel like "shouldn't be romanticized" doesn't encapsulate all of it. This topic is not something I'm qualified to talk about, so I don't want to overstep any boundaries.)

And to be honest, that's good because SA shouldn't be romanticised, for that, a big well done to our author. I just wish the aftermath was dealt with better.

This is terrifying. Please retract your words.

In spite of the SA scene being scary, afterwards all seemed to be resolved the moment it was revealed that Akihiko had nowhere else to go.

Everything for them goes uphill from here. Yay.

I just have to wonder what was the point of that buildup if you were just going to allow things to end nicely like that. With a scene like that, you'd think that the manga was saying that "SA is scary, it's terrifying and it's something that you shouldn't forget even if it's BL/Yaoi." But, why did it end up like this.

What I'm trying to say is: What does it matter that Akihiko apologised (twice), he still assaulted Haruki, he assaulted a friend. Even worse is the way that they're framed as a healthy couple afterwards, this just made me all the more uncomfortable. I feel like this is saying "SA is scary" but also saying "the power of love and friendship absolves everything". I've seen some people talk about the fact that SA happened, but haven't seen them say how it was "resolved". I think it's more to do with yaoi/BL fiction culture, that we've grown to accept SA that is unaddressed in our media to the point that Akihiko's apology is like a prayer more than something that's not even worth a second glance.

Saying that Akiharu started off rocky is an understatement, but if I pretend it never happened, I can say for sure that they are much healthier than Akigetsu, and they deserve each other. It's just not good storytelling especially because I don't really understand the motivations of Haruki liking Akihiko.

I once said that Haruki's character arc was based on Akihiko and that was my bad. I was wrong. Haruki, in fact, has a minor character arc, that isn't really to do with Akihiko, about how he feels insecure surrounded by geniuses in the band and this gets resolved by Akihiko saying that they wouldn't be able to function if all of them were geniuses, and Haruki himself seeing Akihiko hard at work. But I had completely forgotten about this arc, my bad, but my point still stands. Haruki deserved a better character arc.

I don't have a smart comment for this unfortunately. Eat your veggies??

In spite of saying this, I'm not an Akiharu hater, I swear. But I just found that ship much less compelling than Akigetsu in general. Akigetsu was a relationship where they were both incredibly toxic towards each other, there was an imbalance in the fact that Ugetsu literally owned the place they were living in, as well as how he'd kick Akihiko out whenever things were rocky. However, I think the end of their relationship was dealt well on both sides, their toxicity towards each other was framed in a negative light as it should have been. They ended the relationship and went their separate ways, this was the best ending for them. For Akiharu and Akigetsu: The difference between these two relationships is that one was dealt well and the other was dealt wrong. Akiharu deserve each other and Ugetsu deserves to learn how to grow by himself.

Anyway, another point of contention was, in spite of the healthy nature of Akiharu. Somehow, the friendship between the two couples seems to have waned and it was pretty disappointing to see. I think it started before this, but the first time it was obvious to me was this scene.

I know you're in the middle of something, but don't be mean to Mafuyu >:(.

Context: This is Chapter 40. Akiharu are in a moment of intimacy and Uenoyama is knocking at their door trying to get advice.

We've seen that Mafuyu is a very reserved person, to see that Akihiko was so ready to tell Mafuyu to stop coming over (even if it is to stop him from coming over so suddely) right to his face was extremely immature.

Basically, imagine if that had been Mafuyu. Personally, I feel like Mafuyu would have been hurt like hell and closed right back up. This scene is something played for laughs and that's something so disappointing. Given is shown to be a band of friends, but in the end it seemed more like two couples who hang out sometimes. Also the fact that both Akihiko and Haruki are pushing Uenoyama to get Mafuyu to rejoin the band. That's something else that bothers me heavily. That they're treating Mafuyu as Uenoyama's responsibility because they're dating. It's a band that is sure to fall apart if you are not making an effort to support each other equally. I mean, it doesn't have to be entirely equal but points for effort and they get no points here. It's funny because they were at least a little self-aware of this prior.

Dating in a band is something that is nuanced, of course. But it sure is funny to see them practically go down the same route they condemned.

That's my criticism of Akiharu.

So, what about the other instance of SA? I'm talking about Shizusumi and Hiiragi, of course.

Let's talk about Shizuragi.

Here they are! Let's talk about them!

Admittedly the first time around, I wasn't particularly into Shizuragi, I was too busy mourning the absense of Ugetsu. But it was during their sex scene where I realised something was very wrong. I was having flashbacks to the Akiharu assault chapter but this time it was played as "love" rather than something reprehensible. Once again, assault was in the manga and it, once again, resolved with badly.

I feel like sexual assault being played off as "love" and being resolved literally the next chapter with the victim being all kosher with it, should be garnering people's "??? what the fuck"s and not to bat for the opposing team for once but where are the complaints. I've actually seen some people talking about this chapter, but I would have expected more.

Hiiragi said he was scared and was crying, but they still fucked anyway. :D <- smile of shock.

Um what. Haha... ha........ :D <- terrifed smile of shock.

I don't know whether it would have been worse that he knew he was assaulting Hiiragi or whether he didn't know at all. But he knew.

Shizusumi confessed his love the morning after and it was all okay. But, to be honest, the fact that it was played off as being "all okay" makes this even worse. It's normal in yaoi/BL for SA to be played off as love, but you'd think that the last place you'd see this is in Given of all places. SA is SA and the fact that Hiiragi was so accepting of what happened to him afterwards says something about this the culture of BL/yaoi and how we just go along with it says something about this sentiment of how "yaoi is always going to be yaoi".

We're done? We're done.

There are no more SA scenes (that I can remember). But I do want to touch on Mafuyu and Uenoyama as briefly as possible (This is a recount of my experience after all). So, Mafuyama.

Ah, yes. The start of everything.

Admittedly, I didn't actually find their relationship super compelling. This is because I tend to get tunnel vision on characters I like (in this case, I heavily tunnel visioned on Ugetsu). I do like them both, they just didn't fit within my vision. I thought they were sweet but I also see a lot of complaints about how Mafuyu was stuck on Yuki and Uenoyama was getting backseated and I do agree with this. Kind of.

I think Mafuyu's story is about growth as a person, it's like what people say: You don't move on or lose your grief, you grow around it. Grief doesn't get smaller, you just get bigger. The person he loved died and I don't think it's fair to say that he has to get over Yuki. Grief is something that sticks with you everywhere, something you have to carry every day. They're still teenagers, they're still young and still have room to grow.

But as a story? Sheesh, instead of Haruki having no place in their circle. I felt like Uenoyama, even when he's the protagonist, wasn't given his spotlight in his own story. There is no character arc for him, there is nothing for him and that's just not fair. There are two people in a relationship, so why does it always feel like, narratively, Uenoyama always comes as an afterthought?

You could have had a character arc about this... Relationships are meant to be balanced, sweetie...

I just think it's a shame, but they're nowhere near as unhealthy as the other couples in Given, so I'm giving them a gold star.

(Minor irk, I do not remember when this happened but why the hell does Yayoi (Uenoyama's sister) get a character arc (where she comes to an understanding about Mafuyama feelings for each other, but also the gay in general) but the man himself doesn't?)

So, with Mafuyama, I feel like the story could have focused a little more on Uenoyama's side. But I feel like it's similar to how Haruki's story kind of got the backseat to Akigetsu drama happenings at the time. Shrug, we can't have it all.

He's beautiful...

That's honestly... all my thoughts. Wow! That was a lot of them. I think there's a lot to be said about how yaoi treats SA and dub-con in general, even in a manga that's not even focused on the sex.

With that said, I don't think BL shouldn't have SA or dubious scenes but the aftermath should be dealt with better afterwards. I think with Given, it's a start that the SA (at least with Akiharu) wasn't romanticised, but the aftermath was just poorly executed.

But I'm not the yaoi police, I hold no authority and I don't support purity culture. I'm not an anti-anything and I also believe that fiction should be fiction. What people enjoy should no way equate to a person's worldview. But, this was just all my perspective and my opinion. I said it and now I'm done. Haha... Anyway, my paypal is—

[clairedaring]

Hello Claire! It always takes me by surprise and leaves me with awe when I read your posts about thai production houses. And it's a topic that really interests me.

So, disclaimer before I mention my question - sorry if this is stupid or weird, but why did Nadao close its operation? I mean, given the fact that they had such powerhouses under them (not just actors but directors, producers, musicians, etc.) and if I remember correctly, it was right after IPYTM (or maybe after a year or so), so it felt like they were on the pathway of constant success.

~ @tipsyjaehyun

Hi Rain!

I always love talking about Nadao so thank YOU for allowing me the opportunity to talk about them. And please, there are never stupid or weird questions ever, especially when it comes to Nadao Bangkok (rip love).

When Nadao announced they were closing down, they posted this very long letter explaining why as well. Here's a summary of the contents:

In short: Nadao will terminate their roles as artist development, series & music producer. The reason is that their artists are now grownup enough to choose their own paths. Also the seniors have different goals. It is not sudden. They have been discussing it for a while. We have seen many Nadao artists moving out and continue with their own journey. This is the reason. Nadao will terminate their roles and want to give their artists more freedom to work in the industry. Ongoing series production will be passed to the director and they will make their own decision. Ongoing music production will be under the artists’ own names. Nadao will also introduce their artists to network in the path that their artists are interested in.

Nadao closing its business leaves a lot of regret in the hearts of fans who follow Nadao artists (me, i am the fan in question). Out of all the speculations, I think there's this one Reddit comment from u/Virtual_Tadpole9821 that aligns most with my speculation.

I wasn't originally going to comment because I was hoping to see some analysis emerge online, but since I'm not seeing any here's my two cents anyway. Knowing Nadao, the move is unlikely to be directly motivated by financial reasons. The company has consistently been profitable. Its financials for the 2021 fiscal year haven't been filed yet, but even in 2020, when the pandemic first hit, it still made a net profit of 29 million baht after taxes. Though this was down from 40 million in 2019, it's still more than 21 million in 2018. Things might have been worse in 2021, but it's unlikely to be too bad for them to weather. They don't appear to have that many fixed costs. As most of their income comes from artist management and the main costs are the artists' cuts, less work just means the pie is smaller, but the company still gets a piece and won't bleed to death. Not producing means not having to pay for crew and equipment, and their productions are usually externally funded anyway. If the company was facing financial difficulties, the first thing to do would be to scale back on non-performing operations, and the loss-making Nadao Music would be the first to go. But that's not what they're doing. Rather, they're shutting down all current operations at once. The move is probably more due to ideological re-questioning of the company's mission. As /u/dangrankeyi pointed out, Nadao tries to position itself as first and foremost a talent management agency. But it hasn't really been able to grow itself much in that regard. As their artists keep outgrowing their target group, they need to keep replacing them. But the scene is much more crowded now than in 2009 when the company was founded or in 2013 when it made Hormones. The company doesn't appear to have been successfully developing much new talent. Its latest pivoting attempt was when it launched Nadao Academy in early 2020, but that seems to have ceased with the pandemic. And even if the project was successful, what work would the company find for the trainees? It's not like it's doing that well with its current artists anyway. Nadao has some 30 actors under its umbrella, but apart from BKPP, things have been rather quiet for them. The problem I see is that there's a disjoint between what the company wants to do and what it actually does best. It wants to grow talent, but it's having problems finding work for that talent, and doesn't quite have the capacity to generate that work itself. On the other hand, Nadao has become best known for is productions, which for the most part have been passion projects driven more by their creator's visions than by business strategy. But such projects don't serve those original goals well enough. The only way they could have sustained this was probably to keep dishing out seasons of Hormones, but they didn't, because they knew they wouldn't be able to maintain quality, and even if they did, it would have lost steam by now anyway. The thing is, Nadao doesn't actually need to exist for its creators to do the production stuff they want, and are good at. That can be accommodated under parent company GDH and its other subsidiaries, which is where Nadao's production crews come from anyway. Looking at it this way, it isn't very difficult to see why they'd come to the decision not to continue doing the things they're doing as Nadao Bangkok.

And I would say that after two years since Nadao closes down, it's been pretty clear that the closing down of Nadao was more ideology-motivated than business. While Nadao officially shut down it's business, the actual company itself was renamed Tada Entertainment to accompany P'Yong Songyos Sugmakanan's pursuit of making the next perfect idol groups. Tada Entertainment now manages girl group MXFRUIT (under subsidiary label Ily Lab)...

And BUS (a Thai pop group formed through 789 Survival, under subsidiary Sonray Music). Khunpol (Bas from ITSAY) also competed in 789 Survival and debuted in BUS.

And DICE (consisting of the members who participated in 789 Survival but didn't make it into BUS, also managed by Sonray Music)

One must be quite confounded by P'Yong Soyos' new pursuits but watching the documentary of how 9x9 (Nine By Nine) was formed, I think it becomes very clear that P'Yong has always harboured an interest in making the next big Thai pop group, similar to Kpop idol group style. I highly recommend watching this if you have time, or at least the first two episodes of the documentary. It's honestly one of the realest documentaries I've ever watched of an idol group, the way they talk about each other here is basically how they talk about each other in real life, even now.

It was just unfortunate that 9x9 had to be a temporary thing 🥲 (understandable though, they had 4 full time lakorn actors Tor, James, Captain, Ryu, 2 singer/actor Ice and JJ and 3 music-focused artists Third, Jackie, Porsche). So their reunion on the last episode of 789 Survival was a hugeeeeeee thing.

So yeah.... before I ramble on and forget what your original question is, I would say P'Yong's general pursuit and ambitions in the music/Thai pop industry coupled with Nadao's roster of artists outgrowing its target group are the biggest reasons for Nadao closing in general.

I'm always grateful to Nadao for bringing us some of the best series in existence (crazy to think how In Family We Trust is conceived as a part of 9x9 project, with the main purpose to make a series to star all nine boys of 9x9) yet it swept the Nataraja awards (Thai Emmys) that year. This is yet another stellar example of how Nadao ended up excelling at what they don't plan to do (producing series) than what they do intend (managing artists/boy groups). 9x9 was a successful project though, don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to make the case that IFWT is more successful than P'Yong probably intended it to be (though P'Yong was pretty ambitious with this project himself, getting all the experienced older lakorn actors into this so perhaps he did plan for it to be that successful).

Even though, there were many Nadao artists that left before they closed down like James, Peach, Nonkul... I really like that most Nadao artists remained very close with their fellow Nadao peers, and often times ending up in same projects together once again. This year, a few notable reunions off the top of my head is Nonkul and Ud Awat in a horror zombie film Operation Undead (currently out in cinemas), Tor and JJ in thriller series Spare Me Your Mercy (currently filming), Nonkul and Captain in the Mouse TH remake (just wrapped filming).

I'm always sad about Nadao closing down but seeing how most former Nadao artists have no trouble finding works on their own after its closing, I'm very happy to see them flourishing and doing their own thing. I love that there's a huge family energy when it comes to Nadao because the senior artists always consider their junior like their little brothers and sisters (Ice Paris being the MC for both DICE and BUS showcases, Tor and Ice being the MCs for the 789 Survival). P'Yong has previously talked about how "Nadao isn't just a company, it's like a home. That's why when some of their artist left Nadao, P'Yong considered it more as them "graduating" so they can grow and build path on their own."

Below is a clip of Tor talking about how grateful he is to P'Yong (if you watch 9x9 documentary and some other interviews Tor did, you'll see that P'Yong can be quite harsh to him and put much pressure on Tor (and other Nadao artists as well) but they all seem to look up to him like a parental figure)

Not to mention, if you are a fan of Hormones, the girls always have their annual reunions and it always warms my heart to see how close they still are with each other.

Sighs... I almost completely forgot the question again. But yea Nadao definitely could have stayed and given us more magnum opus because I personally haven't had enough at all but it's great to see P'Yong happy with his successful groups and the former Nadao artists going on their own individual paths while maintaining good relations with P'Yong and Nadao/GDH creative crew (directors, producers, writers...)

[gralunaisland]

juvia Wasn't Needed

by: @perfectlyimperfectcharacterfan

"juvia really wasn't needed plot wise. Some would argue she help[ed] the team enter the Tower of Heaven but I'm pretty sure they would have found a way without her. Same for Battle of Fairy tail. she literally accomplished nothing there. she was absent from Edolas and Oracion Seis.

I'd ignore the filler arcs because they are trash, but in the Daphnee arc she didn't do anything either, besides blindly defending Gray even though he was 100% in the wrong (and I say this asa massive Gray fan). In Tenrou she arguably dragged the whole fight down with her obsession with Gray. she only saved Meredy because she was about to kill Gray. And it was entirely JUVIA'S fault. If she could actually put her feelings for Gray aside in a very dangerous fight, Gray would never have been so close to die to begin with.

In GMG, she didn't care about her own guild's reputation, only to be with Gray. I'll never get over her LOSING A BATTLE IN WATER. she could have changed in water and force everyone out, but got distracted by Gray, again. her winning would have prevented Minerva from torturing Lucy. she was absent from Sun village. Only in Tartaros did she do something remotely useful by killing Keith. But that was only because he was a threat to Gray.

Also the whole fight against Invel in Alvarez was forced af. It's not indicative of juvia's usefuleness. Invel would have used anyone around."

My Two Cents

Huge thank you to @perfectlyimperfectcharacterfan (I'll refer to them as "Perfectly" for ease now in this post), a delightful regular on my blog who always comments insightful thoughts about juvia and gr///via on my posts, who sent this to me in a dm and allowed me to make a post about it!

They did an amazing job parsing through the arcs, and I really don't need to add anything, but I'll just slide in my two cents at the end here.

About the BOFT arc, one could say that juvia did manage to free her and Cana from Freid's spell, but as I've said before, that was just her earning brownie points, and she kept none of the alleged "character growth" from that. Plus in the end, it was Mirajane who had to defeat Freid anyway, so her "sacrifice" really was useless.

I love what Perfectly said about the Daphne arc. I completely and totally agree with them (and I actually have an old post about this exact topic here if y'all want to read it). I couldn't have said it better myself, that juvia blindly defended Gray despite his wrongdoings, showing how she really only "cared" about Gray and not the rest of the guildmates that got horribly hurt by his stupid mistakes. That's not trust, that's insane obsession that keeps her believing Gray is infallible and perfect no matter what he does, which is so toxic towards Gray and her and everyone around them.

In the GMG, like Perfectly touched on, juvia didn't care about the guild's reputation. she didn't care that for 7 years, Fairy Tail struggled, was bullied, was mocked, was actually oppressed by the other guilds into paying absurd taxes, because they lost their most powerful members to Tenrou Island. Not only that, but they mourned for years because their friends and family had disappeared, and they didn't know if they were dead or alive. All of this hurt and trauma FT went through couldn't matter less to juvia lockser.

True FT member my butt; she doesn't love any of them, not even Gray. she didn't care enough to actually try in the GMG, and she actually wished for her FT guildmates to get hurt so badly that they had to drop out so she could participate with Gray. The wickedness of her heart is astounding. And yeah, she totally whiffed what should've been the easiest match up for her in the water battle, leading to Lucy being abused just as Perfectly said, and she also threw the Hide and Seek match by being a "love" obsessed idiot as she always is.

And let's not forget that after the GMG during the dragon battle, juvia literally gets Gray killed because she's not paying attention to anything except for Gray as always, even in the midst of a life-and-death situation, and makes it so that Gray has to save her butt for her. I mean, how much worse could this ship get, when it literally causes one of them (the victim, even) to die needlessly???

On the whole note of juvia's uselessness, one could even go as far to say that juvia is an active hinderance and blight on the lives of the people around her. she really constantly oozes toxicity and sucks the life out of everyone she comes into contact with, most of all Gray through her manipulation and abuse, but also all the women in Gray's life, as well as her fellow FT members. she is a weak link, a liability, an impediment, a stone dragging down and drowning everyone, including herself. she will never notice or care about that fact because she gets what she wants in the end, what she thinks is good: Gray's brow-beaten, brainwashed "affection".

No one wins when they rely on her. she is a parasite.

Anyway, gigantic shoutout to Perfectly again for taking the time to think so deeply about all these things, for sharing their thoughts with me, and for allowing me to share them with all of you! juvia really is a useless character, and the Fairy Tail story and her guildmates would've been infinitely better off without her.

[silent-partner-412]

there’s a big thread on reddit regarding the way diversity in ridgeside village is handled and how it deals a lot in stereotypes which… it’s a complicated topic but here’s my two cents

i’m inclined to take the mod and its npcs in good faith, even if many of the characters do fall into stereotypes. the game puts a lot of effort into making the villagers seem real and well rounded, with a lot of compelling stories pretty much all the way across the village. i found almost all of the characters people in that thread were bringing up to be extremely likable or at least somewhat interesting. i never got the impression that because some of them were a bit stereotypical that the ways that they’re stereotypical are actively harmful. but i could be wrong about this.

on a personal note, i will say that sean in particular was a character that i really resonated with and he caught some strays in that thread for not having a lot to him other than being trans and having adhd. honestly i think the fact that people read him this way does him a massive disservice, and misses the whole part about his story where his parents accept him and support him for being queer but ultimately were kinda shitty and unsupportive in every other way, which felt so uncomfortably real to me. some parents pat themselves on the back for being accepting of their queer children while still being shitty in other ways, and the way this was portrayed here felt very true to life, at least for me. also, as somebody with adhd, sean’s story regarding it mimicked mine close to exactly. if it was seen as stereotypical to some then it’s probably just because this is the way a lot of people with adhd kinda just are. i personally didn’t feel like we were being looked down on because of the way sean is portrayed, and i am not a monolith for all people with adhd but still.

granted, a lot of the conversation around this was about race, and i don’t really feel as equipped to talk about that. all i can say is i really enjoyed the stories of jeric, corine and ezekiel, carmen and blair, shiro’s family, etc. i thought they had a lot of heart to them and i ended up really loving all of those characters. if these characters were especially stereotypical then i certainly don’t think it did a lot of harm, if any.

i don’t know, i think the conversation about this is valuable and we should think critically about the way diversity is handled in games, but i still think ridgeside’s characters are really strong as a whole and i felt like the diverse cast was fairly well handled, and absolutely well intentioned. i just have a hard time coming down on the mod for it when it does so much right.

[thepalmofyourfreezinghand]

The never ending tour. I do hope it wasn't already something she was thinking about last year because it would explain why problems might have gotten worse. It's hard to manage a loving relationship, let's not even talk about marriage and starting a family, if your partner has this long term projects/hopes/wishes and you have your own career to pursue too.

This is such a loaded and hot topic and I really can't talk about it without risking saying something stupid. Because like... there's the fact that Taylor has said she wants a family, but there's also Lavender Haze, and there's also the fact that Joe didn't want to marry Taylor, and we don't know what Joe's personal views are and whether he wants a family in the future, and there's the fact that Taylor loves her career and Joe does too... like, I'm not even gonna try deducing something from this mess haha.

If you want my opinion, though, I don't think Taylor's career was ever a problem for Joe. I think her fame was, because it was making him feel like he didn't have an identity anymore, and it was making him feel like no matter what he did he would always only be known as Taylor's partner. But these are just my two cents and I know nothing.

(Plus I've already talked about this but the topic "choosing career over love" is very close to my heart, both for some decisions my parents took and for decisions I'm taking in my own life, so I don't think I can talk about it impartially).

[shuubah]

Koisenu Futari Review by a Fellow AroAce

Disclaimer: anybody commenting to tell aros and aces how to feel or their two cents on what’s wrong with us will be blocked right away. 🖤

    2023 has just begun, and the calendar has already changed to the later part of February. It’s that time of the year again. I bet you’re thinking I’m talking about the infamous Valentine’s Day that has already passed 10 days ago. But no, I’m talking about Aromantic Awareness Week that spans from this 19th to 25th February, today. I’m mad amused that it falls in this so-called ‘month of love’. I’ve been awaiting it since last year to finally write a review for the J-drama Koisenu Futari, and I couldn’t ask for a better timing! Oh, love is in the air? I’ve arrived to spray anti-love aerosol! Right about when the others were busy posting in celebration of 14th February, I started writing this in order to make the existences of aros and aces known to more people. Beware of little spoilers here and there in the review. It’s no big deal though, watching the happenings firsthand is more important than the end results for this story.

   Koisenu Futari begins with the fateful encounter of two people who feel neither romantic nor sexual attraction. Kodama Sakuko always feels out of place whenever the topic of romance comes up. It doesn’t help that she’s a grown up woman with a younger sister who’s already married and has a child. Her mother’s continual insistence for her to follow the same path soon makes even the time with her dear family feel oppressive. To make the matters worse, her coworkers harbor the same mindset, with seemingly no place for platonic mingling. Thanks to her job though, she crosses paths with the retail employee Takahashi Satoru, who happens to make an off-handed remark that there’re people in this world who don’t fall in love. It leaves an impression on Sakuko.

   Meanwhile, she plans to share an apartment with her friend and move out of home to escape her mom’s nagging, only to be ditched by the said friend later because apparently she got back with her ex-boyfriend. Frustrated by her inability to fathom people’s fascination with romance, Sakuko searches on the internet about it in the hopes of finding something for better understanding. There, she discovers about aromantic and asexual people for the first time in her life, and feels a connection with the terms. She puts two and two together, speculating that the employee she met in the supermarket just the other day may very well be the one behind the blog post. Filled with excitement to finally stumble upon someone like-minded, she once again appears before Satoru to affirm her conjecture. As they get to discussing about their identities after the confirmation, Sakuko makes a bizarre proposition for the two of them to try living together and see if they can become a family without any romantic feelings involved, much to Satoru’s dismay. He reluctantly agrees when Sakuko manages to persuade him with the problems of both of their current living conditions along with the benefits they both get if she comes to live in his house. And so, the trial for two aroaces to become a family begins.

   As someone who loves hanging around in the online aro and ace communities, and occasionally watches J-dramas, you’d probably expect me to have jumped onto Koisenu Futari as soon as it became available for the international audience. The truth is, I went back and forth for several months before finally sitting down to watch it. Because it revolves around a subject matter that’s very close to my heart and precious to me, I had all the more apprehensions that it might misrepresent us, dance around the concept of being aromantic and asexual without using the specific terms given it’s a Japanese production, and most importantly – an ending that wouldn’t be satisfying for the actual aros and aces. Let’s be honest, it’s difficult to imagine adult aroaces leading happy lives to their likings amidst the busybody culture. I’m usually all for pragmatic conclusions, but it was that one exception when I didn’t want a reality check.

    Now that I’ve finished the full series, did my misgivings hold true? I’m not gonna dillydally and straight-out say it: absolutely… not! However, don’t take this to mean that it’s gonna be a smooth ride. Because from time to time, the turn of events will make you step back and think to yourself, ‘I don’t like this if it’s really going where I think it’s going’ or simply have qualms about how they’re gonna handle a certain predicament. That was the reason why I couldn’t pass a judgment on the show until nearing the end. Several incidents arise in such a short drama, and thankfully every single one of them got an agreeable closure in the end. With the last dilemma of Satoru following his dream versus Sakuko keeping their family together resolved, I must say that I couldn’t ask for a better finale. It’s hands down one of my favorites, the most fulfilling and gratifying ending in a piece of media.

    Speaking of Sakuko and Satoru’s ‘family without romantic feelings involved’, which they like to refer to as “family (subject to change)” for the lack of better words, it can essentially be described as a queerplatonic relationship. I’m not gonna explain what that is for those who got a question mark over their head right now. You can check out this TikTok video that clarifies it better than I ever could in a few sentences (that one time TikTok became accurate and helpful). One thing though, take what I said as more of a headcanon than an absolute truth. Because it took me a while to take a step back and remind myself that a relationship is queerplatonic only when the people involved in it decide to define it as one. Otherwise, it’d be no different than alloromantic people forcibly claiming a non-romantic relationship is “romantic” regardless of the said pair’s negation just to suit their own fancy. But I’m pretty sure the real reason in the case of Koisenu Futari is because the term “queerplatonic” just doesn’t exist in Japanese, and they’re not familiar with this English word either. Yep, that’s one of my initial doubts right there.

    It’s fine though, because the two fundamental and crucial terms are there at least. That’s right, the words “aromantic” and “asexual” have made their way into the Japanese vocabulary! Albeit, they’re said in the Japanesque style. Given how the Japanese people speak English words, I thought the abbreviations – “aro” and “ace” – would be pronounced as “âro” (アロ) and “ēsu” (エース). But they turned out to be “âroma” (アロマ) and “âseku” (アセク) instead, short for “âromanchikku” (アロマンチック) and “âsekusharu” (アセクシャル). Though, â might be the wrong phonetic in these cases. I guess I should’ve known, since Japanese people have this habit of taking English words and shortening them to their liking for convenience. Though, I’ve found that there is one actual Japanese word for asexual, musei (無性). But of course, it pertains to reproduction. And it’s no surprise either that there doesn’t seem to be any word for aromantic. Ah, the temptation I feel to crack the notorious ‘asexuals are plants’ joke right now…

    Ahem! Forget that for now, because I’m about to impart an illuminating piece of information that I picked out thanks to Koisenu Futari. It’s revealed in one episode that in Japan, the very word for “romance” was conceived in the Meiji era (1868-1912), and the values associated with it were nonexistent prior to that. Doesn’t it almost sound like romantic attraction is a concoction of the modern period, similar to how queerphobics complain that aromanticism, asexuality and other queer identities are newfangled fads? When you put it that way without further context, it probably does. To fully understand what this fact actually entails, we need to elaborate on the said Japanese word, “ren’ai” (恋愛). Take this with a grain of salt as I’m not an expert, but from what I’ve gathered so far with my limited knowledge of the Japanese language as well as the culture, renai is more about the whole affair of finding a love interest, getting into a romantic relationship, and engaging in sexual activities than it is about the matter of attraction itself. So, in essence, it’s not opening up a debate as to since when the Japanese people have started feeling romantic attraction, but rather when the idea of pursuing romance came into being in the land. Having played otome games set in the Meiji and the consequent Taishou era (1912-1926), I can tell that taking a lover wasn’t a common practice back then. Sure, those aren’t the most accurate and reliable depiction of history, but when even dating sims can’t play it up, that speaks for itself.

    Looking at Japan isn’t even necessary to recognize the veracity of the bottom line of this. Coming from an Asian country myself, once upon a time, romantic relationships were frowned upon like it was one of the biggest disgraces to ever happen to a family here, if not the biggest one. Nowadays, most families have grown to become more accepting of young adults getting into romantic relationships and marrying a partner of their choice, what with dating becoming more and more of a commonplace. It’d be fine if that was all there was though, but it has reached the point where I went to listen to a popular native podcast of ours around the time of Valentine’s Day, and it started with the anecdote of a high school guy asking around on social media if it was abnormal for him to not have a girlfriend yet, and if he should do something to find someone. The face I was making then was probably a sight to behold, since I instantly turned into a fine real life specimen of the “IGHT IMMA HEAD OUT” meme of Spongebob. That, my reader, is what we call amatonormativity.

    All this fuss about being single isn’t so much about attraction as it’s about compulsively following specific customs just to fit in with everyone else (not saying everyone who desires a romantic relationship is like this), as if we’re all dolls with the same features, manufactured together in a set. If we’re really going with the excuse of loneliness, wouldn’t it mean the humans, living in the olden days when romantic partners weren’t prevalent and corporations didn’t promote Valentine’s Day for the sake of profit, were the loneliest of all? And if it’s because it’s in our nature to want to be loved and cared for, how come many of the present-day surveys and statistics tell us that humans are suffering from loneliness more than ever before as the time goes on, when everyone’s getting into romantic relationships left and right? Doesn’t it seem to say something about today’s attachments and connections that are so sought-after? You’ve probably heard of the saying, “gender is a social construction.” Now if I may, hoping I won’t be skewered and grilled for this, “romance” is a social construction. Emphasis goes to the quotation marks. It makes sense when you learn about all the different kinds of attractions that exist, and how they can be mutually inclusive when it comes to certain actions, varying from person to person.

    I may have gotten somewhat derailed from the review, but it matters not. The focus of it isn’t just on Koisenu Futari being a J-drama, but spreading awareness about aromanticism and asexuality. Besides, I can imagine Satoru nodding in agreement with me and saying the same. Throughout the series, he often talks about amatonormativity with Sakuko and sometimes the others. That was a characteristic absolutely indispensable for him as well as the drama to be so relatable to the aros and aces. Screwing with rubbish societal norms isn’t enough, the need to rant about the dozens of distresses that suck the life outta us day in and day out is at the center of this ordeal. He’s an excellent embodiment of our thoughts and feelings. On the other side, Sakuko finds herself in messes that are the pictures of of our day-to-day troubles.

     The pair’s contrasting personalities also create a great juxtaposition for two aroaces. From my observation, for Sakuko, her aromantic aspect is prevailing to her identity; while for Satoru, it’s his asexuality. Sakuko is amicable, social and cherishes those dear to her. Romantic interests of the others towards her, however, puts her at a loss. Her encounter and conversations with Satoru – who’s the only aroace she personally knows – helps her to gather her thoughts regarding her orientation and get better at dealing with those situations little by little. In turn, living with Sakuko and spending time with those around her gradually alleviates the emptiness in Satoru’s life left by the death of his dearest grandmother. He has always carried around regret in his heart for being unable to confide in the only person close to him about his identity, as well as his incapability to grant her a grandkid when he was her only family. After all, not only is he a sex-repulsed ace, but touch-repulsed altogether. To top it all off, the meddlesome attitudes and comments from his surroundings have him jaded, so much so that he doesn’t even want the understanding of others. When communication fails again and again because people refuse to see things from someone else’s perspective or just accept them as they’re due to their fundamental differences from each other, shutting them off may be the only option left. His no-nonsense, solitary disposition very much resonates with me, although personality-wise, I may or may not appear closer to Sakuko on the outside.

    Setting aside the protagonists, I must bestow the titles of honorable mention and best side character to Matsuoka Kazu. Don’t get your hopes up right away though, because he’s gonna get on your nerves as soon as he gets involved with the plot. He’s the personification of the traits that make aros and aces roll their eyes, being insufferable at times. You’re probably gonna hate him, which you’re supposed to, until you start appreciating his character development. He goes from the greatest menace to the greatest supporter of Sakuko. Not to mention, I couldn’t have discovered the above-mentioned history of “renai” without him, since he’s the reason why Satoru goes off lecturing about it! Honestly, our lives would be much gentler if more of the aphobics could grow to be thoughtful of us like he does. Even Sakuko’s family members come around to a considerable extent. I was touched by her parents’ acceptance of her, albeit one outright and one reluctant. Meanwhile, her sister’s story is a good example of how life’s rhythm can be easily thrown off when it’s mainly build around just a romantic partner.

    Keep in my mind though, this is a Japanese show, so it goes without saying that the narrative is going to follow the style of their dramas. The biggest complaint I hear in regard to J-dramas is that they contain too much of overacting, and I can totally see where it’s coming from. Koisenu Futari though, in my opinion, is the opposite of that. Subtlety is an integral quality of it, not that there is no exaggerated reactions whatsoever. Sakuko and Satoru in particular make these faint yet distinct facial expressions that seem to say more than their words. Their respective stars, Kishii Yukino and Takahashi Issei, were the perfect choices for the roles. Takahashi Issei’s acting especially feels like Satoru’s character was made to be portrayed by him. They even share the same surname and all! I was surprised and delighted to find out he’s the one who voiced Amasawa Seiji, the deuteragonist of Studio Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart. Acting is acting, I guess. As for the supporting cast of Koisenu Futari, the performances that stood out in my eyes were Sakuko’s longtime friend Kadowaki Chizuru, played by Kojima Fujiko, and Sakuko’s father Kodama Hiromi, played by Koichi Mantaro. They left an impression on me.

    In spite of all the praises I’m singing about Koisenu Futari, I still can’t say that I’d absolutely recommend any and every aromantic and asexual person to watch it. This might sound like it came from the left field, but it’s actually for their sake. Because this isn’t as simple as a fantasy show or something where two characters are specified to be aroaces since they couldn’t care less about romance and sex. Rather, it’s a true-to-life depiction of the issues that come with identifying with these labels. The alienation and loneliness resulting from being “different”, falling apart of friendships due to romantic interest of the other party, vexation stemming from the inability to relate and thus empathize with those going through heartbreaks, aphobic belief that aros have it easy just because they don’t have romantic entanglements to worry about, family and societal pressure to get married and have kids, apprehension regarding the future that’ll likely be lonesome otherwise — all these difficulties experienced by aros and/or aces are remarkably brought out. In short, the plot is all about trying to navigate this world full of amatonormativity, heteronormativity and allonormativity. And as much as it feels great to see our representation, such a high level of relatability also means it can be triggering to see the exact same things that distress us in our everyday lives.

   I, for one, was left overwhelmed by the very first episode. Sakuko’s excitement over the initial living arrangement with her friend reflects the deepest desire of my heart that has been there since forever. I’m definitely not the only one; for many aros and/or aces, it’s a situation that’s considered a dream come true. Except the ingrained relationship hierarchy, where romantic partners are put above everyone else, pretty much always turns it into a pipe dream. After finishing that episode, I had to sit in silence for a while, trying hard to contain my emotions. On top of it, what occurs between the two of them later hit too close to home, again. Watching it unfold almost felt like a personal attack, the thought ‘I’m in this drama, and I don’t like it!’ running through my mind all the while. However, I have to admit that the last scene of the drama makes it worth it. The image of Sakuko happily cycling down the road with the most heartfelt, carefree smile on her face screamed freedom to me. Then revisiting the drama in order to write this review aroused the displeasure in me along with the appreciation all over again. It’s really up to how much an individual viewer can take depending on their mental state.

    For alloromantic and allosexual people though, I’d definitely recommend them to complete Koisenu Futari. Not merely because otherwise they’d be missing out on a wonderful show, but mostly because it’s important that they come to see things from aromantic and asexual people’s viewpoint. Of course, for one thing, you can avoid upsetting them and treat them right when you know better. Now, you may ask, what’s the odd of you running into an aro and/or ace when those’re such rare orientations? The thing is, many of us go through an identity crisis at the beginning because we’re never taught about the very existences of aromanticism and asexuality in the first place. It needs to become a common knowledge like homosexuality, bisexuality etc. Even when we do get to know who we are, we still feel the need to keep this intrinsic part of our personality to ourselves because of ignorant people’s hurtful attitude. So, if you’ve already proved yourself to be uncomfortable for the topic, the possibility of you being privy to the fact of someone you know being an aro and/or ace is very low in the first place.

   This obliviousness isn’t harming only aros and aces though, it concerns you, and your near and dear ones, too. Why do I say that? Well, once you step into the world of aromanticism and asexuality, your eyes will open to a whole bunch of problems around us, as well as a whole lot of ways of life. Namely, the clutch that amatonormativity, heteronormativity and allonormativity have on us, and how liberating living can be if you get to defy them. I can’t go into the details of what they mean in this review. You can always search on Google and Tumblr to learn their definitions, etymologies and implications. All I’ll say is that the Four Horsemen (including platonormativity) of the ‘love and sex are what make you human’ bullshit go hand in hand with misogyny, sexism, toxic gender stereotypes, toxic masculinity, domestic violence, colorism, body shaming, ableism and many, many more severe social issues. It’s impossible to escape them so long as you live in the society. So when you really think about it, being aphobic is basically advocating for your own victimization and/or decadence. Although, I suppose something as ridiculous as aphobia prevails at all is because the mere existences of aros and aces challenge the beliefs and learning that alloallo people have nurtured throughout their lifetime. It’s human nature to feel threatened by something they don’t understand. But on the other hand, broadening your worldview with the aromantic and asexual perspectives serves to benefit you regardless of your orientation. Personally speaking, even if I don’t identify as an aroace someday, I’d still be grateful for everything I’ve been taught thanks to it. I wouldn’t exchange this experience and thought process for anything.

   If there’s one flaw of Koisenu Futari though, it has to be its approach of aromanticism and asexuality being largely inadequate. The matters are explored through the two protagonists only, resulting in a limitation as to which facets of the orientations can be introduced to the viewers. There is this one time when Sakuko attends a gathering of aros and aces, but it’s way too short to put enough emphasis on the briefly discussed topics: the spectrums’ independence from each other, and the variation in individual preferences. That’s right, aromantic and asexual are the umbrella terms for two separate spectrums. You must’ve already noticed my continual usage of “and/or” until now, that’s because being a part of one spectrum doesn’t necessarily connote being a part of the other. Both of them also consist of a wide range of microlabels, and those’re contradistinctive at times. I daresay, compared to the entire populace of the rest of the world, I’ve witnessed way more diversity in these tiny communities that’re more or less close to the population of Denmark. A series could cast a dozen of aro and ace characters, but many of the particularities would still end up left out. Given the acute lack of our representation in the media, a complete drama dedicated to us is already an absolute blessing. Even just two characters, who’re gateway to the plain basics, are a great starting point. That’s all well and good, but the problem is that those who aren’t well-informed with the comprehensive nitty-gritties might develop a rigid concept of the identities, and thus question the validity of those of us who don’t fit the mold.

  I’d suggest alloromantic, allosexual and questioning folks to take Koisenu Futari as a stepping-stone to learn about aromanticism and asexuality. Thanks to Kaizen Subs, it’s accessible for the international audience. They did such a fantastic job with the subtitling. I don’t wish to depreciate any fansubbers who pour so much hard work into voluntarily providing English subtitles, but I also can’t deny that I often come across translations that’re far cry from the actual speeches. I was afraid the same might happen to Koisenu Futari, especially due to the lingos in the aro and ace communities that’re foreign to the outsiders. It was an utter relief to discover that it wasn’t the case. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find somebody else’s style of translating similar to mine for the first time as a translator. Personal reflection aside, this is your cue to watch the drama. Visit this link to download the subtitles. Just rename the files corresponding to the episode file names on your device, and it’ll make the subtitles automatically show up on the videos when you open them, whether it’s on computer or phone. Oh, and where to find the raw episodes? That question’s a no-no in public, but here goes: Đ Ɽ ₳ ₥ ₳ ₵ Ø Ø Ⱡ

  My only sincere request is for people to keep an open mind, about us and about the world. Koisenu Futari’s MyDramaList entry used to have the “naïve female lead” tag before, and that was more than enough infantilization of aroaces. Look at it this way, romantic and/or sexual attractions can be considered ghosts to us. Almost everybody around us claim to be able to see them, those who’re chasing after them. They ask us why we can’t perceive them. It’s because they only ever exist in the tales of others, not in our own realm, at least not without the exact same power. Maybe some of us have barely happened to encounter them at some point, but unsure of whether those’re actual ghosts or some other apparitions. Some can only see them once in a blue moon, under specific conditions. Some adore the idea of ghosts and their stories, regardless of their ability to sense them or the wish to interact with them in person. At any rate, we all belong under the hefty green or purple umbrella, or where they both blend in to take on blue, orange and yellow colors; our very own spaces beneath the rainbow.

  It’s okay if you can’t grasp our hues right away. You can take your time. If it still doesn’t help, that’s okay, too. What’s not okay is dehumanizing or demonizing us. Don’t forget that humans are abusing and destroying each other in the name of love all the time. If you believe it’s a lie or an exaggeration, then open your eyes, strain your ears and take in what’s happening throughout the world. There’re more important things than love, attraction or even comprehension. Remember that consideration, compassion, communication and consent can go a long way to bring about happiness and peace in life. Also, please refrain from shoving “B-but aromantic/asexual people can feel romantic/sexual attraction and/or engage in such activities!” and other bigot commentaries down our throat. That’ll be all from me.

  Happy aromantic awareness week! It’s coming to an end soon, but may the awareness stick around.

Headers' credit: theprideful

“amatanormativity will not save you" flag credit: rjalker

[mollywog]

Tonight in tenuous literary parallels…

The Hunger Games

I’m startled by his intensity but recognize an excellent opportunity for getting food, so I try to keep up. “Maybe I did it for myself, Peeta, did you ever think of that? Maybe you aren’t the only one who . . . who worries about . . . what it would be like if . . .”

I fumble. I’m not as smooth with words as Peeta. And while I was talking, the idea of actually losing Peeta hit me again and I realized how much I don’t want him to die. And it’s not about the sponsors. And it’s not about what will happen back home. And it’s not just that I don’t want to be alone. It’s him. I do not want to lose the boy with the bread.

“If what, Katniss?” he says softly.

I wish I could pull the shutters closed, blocking out this moment from the prying eyes of Panem. Even if it means losing food. Whatever I’m feeling, it’s no one’s business but mine.

“That’s exactly the kind of topic Haymitch told me to steer clear of,” I say evasively, although Haymitch never said anything of the kind. In fact, he’s probably cursing me out right now for dropping the ball during such an emotionally charged moment. But Peeta somehow catches it.

“Then I’ll just have to fill in the blanks myself,” he says, and moves in to me.

This is the first kiss that we’re both fully aware of. Neither of us hobbled by sickness or pain or simply unconscious. Our lips neither burning with fever or icy cold. This is the first kiss where I actually feel stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious. This is the first kiss that makes me want another.

North and South

'You are unjust,' said Margaret, gently. 'Mr. Lennox has only spoken of the great probability which he believes there to be of your redeeming—your more than redeeming what you have lost—don't speak till I have ended—pray don't!' And collecting herself once more, she went on rapidly turning over some law papers, and statements of accounts in a trembling hurried manner. 'Oh! here it is! and—he drew me out a proposal—I wish he was here to explain it—showing that if you would take some money of mine, eighteen thousand and fifty-seven pounds, lying just at this moment unused in the bank, and bringing me in only two and a half per cent.—you could pay me much better interest, and might go on working Marlborough Mills.' Her voice had cleared itself and become more steady. Mr. Thornton did not speak, and she went on looking for some paper on which were written down the proposals for security; for she was most anxious to have it all looked upon in the light of a mere business arrangement, in which the principal advantage would be on her side. While she sought for this paper, her very heart-pulse was arrested by the tone in which Mr. Thornton spoke. His voice was hoarse, and trembling with tender passion, as he said:—

'Margaret!'

For an instant she looked up; and then sought to veil her luminous eyes by dropping her forehead on her hands. Again, stepping nearer, he besought her with another tremulous eager call upon her name.

'Margaret!'

Still lower went the head; more closely hidden was the face, almost resting on the table before her. He came close to her. He knelt by her side, to bring his face to a level with her ear; and whispered-panted out the words:—

'Take care.—If you do not speak—I shall claim you as my own in some strange presumptuous way.—Send me away at once, if I must go;—Margaret!—' At that third call she turned her face, still covered with her small white hands, towards him, and laid it on his shoulder, hiding it even there; and it was too delicious to feel her soft cheek against his, for him to wish to see either deep blushes or loving eyes. He clasped her close. But they both kept silence. At length she murmured in a broken voice:

[bnhaobservation]

Do you think Enji's mentally ill?

Hum...

I hope it's okay if I take this as a request to dig into Enji's mental state instead than an attempt at giving him a diagnosis and, as usual, these are my two cents, I'm not Horikoshi and I don't know The Truth about his characters.

So let's start with a realistic approach first.

When I was studying psychology my teacher told us: "Don't get your hopes up, no one is psychologically healthy. No one is completely free from psychological problems. The real point is if one can live with his own problems in a way that doesn't make him or the people he has around himself or society miserable."

Is Enji okay with himself?

Not really, when he was younger he was plagued with frustration, envy and ugliness of his heart, feelings he can't overcome and that push him to think one of his children could help him overcome.

He's eaten alive by his inferiority complex, self-hate...

...and anger...

...which he believes is what is keeping him alive.

Enji is many things but clearly not okay with himself.

What about the people who has around himself?

Regarding the ones close to him... he ended up destroying his own family, causing his wife to fear him and 3 of his child to loathe him, which includes also the one who looked up at him the most.

Regarding society... he's a very good Hero but he's not really leaving a positive impression since he's also Number 1 in the Heroes who look like Villains and, despite all his solved case, he's 4th among the Heroes liked by the public.

He manages to get himself rejected by Yoarashi and when he becomes Number One people isn't really satisfied. He has the highest case solving rate, even higher than All Might and yet they don't consider him reliable.

So, yeah, he's not psychologically healthy and he could benefit of some help.

I've said I won't attempt to give a diagnosys because we've nowhere near enough elements to make one even if we were professionals... and the canon is contraddicting due to retcon... but even if there weren't retcons very likely we could never have enough elements because... Enji is a fictional character, one whom his creator didn't build planning to give him a mental illness, but merely created him around negative character traits, which, if he were to be a real person, he would have for a psychological reasons, but since he's fictional, he only has them for story purposes.

Many writers write characters who're not psychologically well or who has abnormal quirks but do not bother at all giving them a mental illness. Sometimes they don't even bother giving them something akin to a reason for why they're not psychologically well, or it's a rushed, tossed in one, or it's just a trope.

That's because what they want to discuss more often than not isn't a mental illness but a situation due to certain character traits.

Where will X's character traits lead him?

Or which of X's character's traits caused such situation?

Those are often topics they want to discuss, not character X has mental illness Y so he does this, this and that.

Character traits are general enough readers can identify with them, mental illness is more specific and, what's more, to be portraied correctly, it requires quite a lot of research and can end up being 'constricting' ruling what a character can or can't do, so that the writer can't have him do certain things that instead the writer is interested in having said character doing.

It's mostly us, readers who love to fill in the blanks, analyzing/overanalyzing the characters' behaviours and find out what in his psyche pushed him to act in such a way... because that's a rather interesting thing to do.

So where does this leave us?

I honestly doubt Horikoshi dug deeply into Enji's psychological state and problems to the point he named it, studied it and realistically depicted it because BNHA isn't, after all, this kind of story... and because, as said before, the Todoroki family history received too many retcons.

The really important things Horikoshi wanted to depicts were Enji is not psychologically well due to certain character traits and experiences he had, that due to this he destroyed his family, that his psychological problems were the reason why he hurt his family but weren't a good excuse to do what he did to his family and that he can overcome them and become a better person... and this is fair.

It's fitting of an action story in which characters shouldn't be characterized in a way that's too strict because their purpose is also to let readers identify in them, a story that focuses more on themes than on realism so that heartfelt speechs from teenagers can move scared/angry mobs and cause them to pause and revise their behaviour... which is generally... not something that's going to happen... but fits with the themes the story carry on so that you might even find okay to suspend your disbelief. Or not.

This sort of things are often pretty personal.

Long story short, Enji undoubtedly has psychological problems but I doubt Horikoshi had in mind a mental disorder for him as he clearly doesn't fit in those who're the most common and he didn't really focus that much on giving him a traumatic past (yes, he witnessed his father's death and yes, he might have frozen that time too and since this is 'his origin', it likely caused him to grow up the way he did.. but the whole thing is more a rushed, last minute thing than a real exploration of what made him the way he is, almost as if it were a throwaway line tossed in just to fill the blanks, nothing in common with the care Shouto and Touya's pasts were explored).

This ends up meaning whatever reader can interpret him as they see fit since canon leaves us with plenty of freedom.

So to sum it up, if you ask me Enji has psychological problems and could benefit from therapy, through it might also as easly get quickly cured by the magical power of 'the plot wills it' because that's also what stories are made for.

At least, that's what I think. Sorry if it's not exactly the answer you were looking for and thank you for your ask!

[alittlefrenchtree]

Wanted to add my two cents to the fashion-or-acting talk.... Why not both? TZP reminds me very much of Zendaya/Timothee/Anya Taylor Joy where their red carpet outfits create an almost equal buzz to the anticipation of the film they're promoting itself. I think it's another feather in his cap: studios will look at his public profile and see that just him stepping out in a fit generates whole articles and headlines. This is already separate to his talent as an actor and his sincere and warm personality we stan a king frfr

Obviously I’m late to answer and this ask was referring to previous discussion.

Ultimately, why not both is something I agree on. Cinema and fashion are two industries that are close (in good and not so good ways) so there is nothing’s wrong about people going from one to another. Many people from the cinema industry (directors, actors and others) have been going to fashion shows for a long time. Firstly, because it’s an event to attend to when you have something to promote, either a project or yourself. Like basketball games and US Open business or whatever. 

It’s also obviously related because of the costume aspect of cinema. 

And like you said and perhaps more recently for men, because a good outfit for a movie premiere is going to drag attention to your movie. And it’s more and more common to have a premiere outfit somehow related to the topic of your movie. A dress-code of some sort. And to have a show-stopping outfit to your premiere, you have to be dressed by a designer who knows how to make a show-stopping outfit and is willing to make it for you. And to achieve that… It’s always good to meet designers. And show interest to their shows. And give them back a little bit of support of your own.

We’ve never seen Taylor on a movie red carpet of his own (which, still broke my heart to be honest) so it’s hard do tell how he will do. Not in a sense of not being capable to generate a buzz with an outfit because we know he can, but by how much and how he’ll want to do it. And which design he’ll be bonding with along the way. I honestly can’t wait to see him have his first red carpet, however he’ll be dressed. Give me (and him) all the emotional moments 🙏💜

[despairing-disaster]

I will assume (tm) means 'tell me', and I will use this to my full advantage to ramble about my opinions to one of my fav drdt blogs

Also, rest up, pls :)

While I can't deny that you raise many good points about this, I'm more on the fence that David genuinely did care about Xander. I'm not high on copium or an avid Xanvid shipper in denial, but there is some legroom to believe that Xander was someone David did sincerely care about, despite being an easy puppet to manipulate for him. Or, at the very least, Xander was one of the very--VERY FEW--ppl that David did grow to like. David snapped at Teruko during the first investigation when she tried to impersonate Xander, and he didn't have stars in his eyes. David blushed--physically blushed--when Xander said they should be friends. A physical trait you cannot fake. He also didn't disrespect Xander when he was belittling the dead, and you'd think if he was playing the part of the 'big bad villian' he would say something along the lines of "Oh, Xander was so easy" or "He worshipped me, I had him eating right out of my hand", etc. Of course, Arei's nasty personality was an easy target for him to insult, and he wasn't even close with Min (might even still resent her for killing Xander). While ppl can't deny Xander was an easy target for David's manipulation (the whole "David told Xander to kill Teruko" theory looks a lot more promising), there is also some signs that point to him legitimately caring about Xander

Not only Xander, but I also think he cared about Arei as well. Going to get a little side tracked, but still on the topic of David caring about ppl. David also blushed when Arei hugged him and said that he was nice too. Which is weird, cause (now I'm getting even more side tracked) if, according to Ace's account, Arei knew David's secret right off the bat for 'oh so conveniently' looking over Whit's shoulder, why would she take the words of a manipulator to heart? Yes, she was having a breakdown and probably needed some comfort, even if she knew it was a lie and didn't care who it was from, but she still saved Eden from Arturo, which shows that she, in fact, did take David's words to heart and tried to change

But back on topic to David and Xander. Despite my pfp and me still loving David as a character, I'm not putting any bias onto David still caring for Xander. He's a manipulator and was saying lots of insults he can't take back during the trial. I am also one of those ppl who believe he's upping the ante on his personality atm, but I also can't deny there is some truth as to what he is saying (no matter how the secret is worded, it's flat out true). Xander was a great person before the killing game, making positive changes in the world and doing his best to be a good, upstanding guy. And this was someone who listened to David's speeches religiously. Makes me wonder if David's speeches turned ppl into individuals that turned out much like Xander, it makes me raise a brow as to the line "Everyone exist to be taken advantage of", when he's making ppl change for the better

Again, I can be completely wrong about this, and David could be Nikei 2.0 and is really a manipulative and lying sociopath and proud of it. But I feel like while there is room for speculation and believing he really didn't care about anyone there, there is also some things that point to the sign that he did. While David is an S tier liar now, no one can really deduce what's a lie or not, at this point. I'm not going to say there is a 'stark difference' between how he is acting now vs how he was acting when he thought he was all alone in the prologue, but we can certainly see his personality back then is much more toned down than the show he is putting up

Anyways, throwing my two cents in your inbox. Hope you rest well <3/p

Interesting thoughts, though I should probably clarify that (tm) was meant to mean ™, though I'm not sure tumblr lets you put that in tags and I was too lazy to find out.

You raise a lot of good points, though I was mostly being contrarian in my argument in the first place since I knew it was a less popular opinion, but it was one I didn't particularly care about one way or the other. I suppose it's just a matter of interpretation. Since making that post, I've been thinking about it more and more and have decided I am going to double down on my own thoughts with the justification that him blushing was a matter of being flustered and his exclusion of Xander in his ranting was a matter of saving time from a writing perspective, but again, I have nothing against a more favorable interpretation of his character.

(editing this to say I really hoping this doesn't come across rude or dismissive, I just don't have much more in terms of thoughts on the matter. It is what it is to me and honestly, as tumblr's #1 self appointed Teruko enjoyer, I'm just mostly interested in his future interactions with her and less focused on other previous character relationships)

[daydream-cement]

Yh but the romantic ones😰

ahh yes. while i never judge what people want to read or write, it’s important to consider different moral or ethical dilemmas when writing fanfiction.

any people who are creatives hold weight within a fandom. their creations can influence their readers in positive or negative ways.

protection of minors is a topic that is close to my heart as an educator.

alas, i can only give my two cents when it comes to these issues. it is complex and multifaceted. each person may have their own reasons for enjoying teacher x student fanfiction.

this is a great discussion for us to have as a fandom so we can best understand and respect one another :)

[wretcheddthing]

If ur looking for excuses to talk about Venali! What were her first impressions of her party members, and how has her opinion of each of them changed? (Gale especially!)

for u. from me. btw. besides the fact it's super thoughtful that you're asking about Ven unprompted, this is a FANTASTIC question

it's all going under the cut :) (also if you have any OCs from literally anything i'd love to hear about them !!! don't matter from what i'm curious about the things you like too <3)

In Order Of Meeting

Lae'zel She appreciated how direct Lae'zel is as soon as they met. No questions asked, they're in a situation and they need to get out of it. She appreciated the brevity and resourcefulness Lae'zel showed on the nautaloid. As she learned more about Lae'zel and eventually Vlaakith, she started to become kind of protective of her but in a subtle way. Sorta like, "Hey not to give you my two cents unprompted but I think probably this whole 'chosen by Vlaakith' thing may not be that good for you based on the whole. Everything about her." Was also SUPER flattered when Lae'zel came on to her because who doesn't love being hit on by a hot githyanki warrior, even if she did ultimately turn her down for the wizard. By end game, I think they're fairly close. Ven would kill and die for any of her friends, Lae'zel is no exception. She was so, so proud of Lae'zel when her quest was resolved and how much she'd learned and grown.

Shadowheart Ven fought demons trying not to pry into Shadowheart's past before she was ready to share. I mean, Ven has her own secrets. She didn't begrudge Shadowheart for having hers. She is very snoopy, though. She was touched when Shadowheart started to open up to her more, and learning her deal with Shar was pretty similar to learning about Lae'zel and Vlaakith. Like, "heyyyy worship who you like I'm not gonna judge but I think probably this is not beneficial to you in any way." and she was right. It honestly broke her heart seeing how all her friends displayed resolve because it never really helped any of them. She also completely ignores how her own resolve is detrimental to her, but she's very much a "do as I say, not as I do" person. Ending Shadowheart's quest hit hard for Ven if only because seeing the change in her as someone with a mission and little else to someone with some sense of self but no direction really started resonating as she started coming to terms with appreciating the magic she was given.

Gale

She likes Gale :)

She has a lot of experience with wizards and was ready to have the exact same annoying, ego-battle interaction with this one before she learned who he was. She was pretending to be a prodigy herself, so she certainly knew of Gale of Waterdeep, former chosen of Mystra. Ven isn't particularly religious herself, but of course has heard just about all she can about Mystra, good and bad. She already wasn't huge on the goddess because it seemed to her that she was just kind of a dick (based on stories told to her from people who weren't active worshipers - thank you Minsc for talking shit about her also. Ven agreed.) Learning of her relationship with Gale, the power imbalance of it all, and the lengths Gale felt he had to go to please her left a very bad taste in her mouth. Try as she might, she couldn't help but be charmed by the guy, though. His hobbies are so domestic, it lines up with her interests Perfectly. He just also has a whole complex because he was groomed by an Actual Goddess since he was a young man. She was pretty quickly entranced by the passion he has for talking about his interests and honestly didn't have any problems helping him out with his little hunger problem because magical items are So easy to come by (also i know my playstyle well enough to pick and choose items i know will never be used. easy gale snacks). Plus, they're both huge history buffs - there is no shortage of topics for discussion between them. He also surprised her a bit with what he approves and disapproves of - his neutrality on some things aligned with hers in a way I personally didn't expect. She was already half in love with him by the time gandalf showed up to eat their cheese and tell gale to kill himself, but it Really solidified her beef with Mystra and want to stabilize Gale, both literally bc of the bomb in his chest, but also mentally. Like noooo don't kill yourself you're so hot (and also important to me) aha. When he chose her over the world at the end of Act 2, she really thought she'd marry him like right then. And Then he was like "oh hey, i can become god! wouldn't that be cool? to be god? i can probably do it better than the other gods." Man, if she weren't head over heels in love with him she would have been Way less tactful about calling him an idiot. She indulged him as far as she could without netting negative approval, but she really had to put her foot down when he started talking like it was a done deal. As far as Gale had helped her come to terms with her magic and its utility, even to some extension the beauty of it, she needed him to find the same appreciation in the mundane. And so they balanced each other out. I haven't actually finished Ven's game yet (i'm going to later tonight ;-;) but I DO know Gale will propose and she's going to accept. Without question. Just in time to see the new epilogue. I'm going to lose it. I'm going to lose it.

Astarion: She did NOT like that guy at first. Not because he's kind of an asshole just as a personality trait, but specifically because his first act toward her was an immediate betrayal (tricking her into thinking he needed help before pulling a dagger on her). Not! Cool! Sure, it was handled pretty quickly after that, but he was on thin ice for a while after. Granted, he didn't like her that much either because she kept offering to help people. She was very, Very distrustful when he tried hitting on her because as far as she knew, he couldn't stand her. It made no sense. I don't think there's a fleshed out convo for it, but Ven as a character would immediately see he's not being genuine and she also would Not appreciate the angle he was taking in trying to get her on his side. Learning his backstory changed things pretty quickly, though. She finally understood the motivation behind his previous actions and defended his autonomy at Every point she could. When he started being like "Hey so this ascension thing.... sounds pretty good for me! No downsides to that, I think" she was like. Hey what's the deal with all of my friends desperately wanting things that are actively bad for them? Sure I don't have a great sense of what's good for me either, but that's different. These guys are trying to kill themselves. In Gale's case literally. I think after dealing with Cazador, they had their first genuine heart-to-heart where they realize that there's no way they're getting rid of the other. They never become Super close, but by the end of the game there's an unspoken understanding that if one needs help, the other would come. They'll never be rid of the other. Silent ride or dies.

Wyll It's hard not to be immediately charmed by Wyll, and she didn't try to fight it. That guy is Dashing. Proficient duelist, superhero backstory, good with kids - what's not to like? He does unfortunately have the same problem as everyone else where he's resolute to a fault, but something she finds refreshing about him is that he is fully aware of this fact. He made his choice with Mizora, stands by it, and would do it again if he had to. Hell, he was punished severely for not killing Karlach and takes it in stride. He is the embodiment of a hero to the people, and she loves that about him. She just also wishes he would prioritize himself even once. Even One Time of his own volition. But since he wouldn't, she helped him shoulder some of that responsibility. She also really felt for him since her situation with magic-granting entities is very similar to that of a warlock. Since she has no easy way to control her issue, she vowed to help him with his. She talked him out of his pact with Mizora, Begging Wyll to trust that she wouldn't let his dad die as a result. And she didn't! She saved them both like she promised she would. She really loves the guy and just wishes the best for him going forward.

Karlach I will never make a character that hates Karlach becuase it is impossible for Me to hate her. Even in a pretend way. Besides, Karlach is another one of those characters it's So hard not to be charmed by. You get this whole impression that she's some murderous devil hellbent on destruction and then you actually meet her and she's just super funny and has such an upbeat physicality about her it's infectious. Ven isn't in love with the fact that Karlach would rather ignore the pressing issue of her heart exploding than think through her next steps, but she also can't fault her for wanting to live as much life with as little worry as possible given the whole Absolute thing. If only there were time to handle both with the appropriate care. Karlach's quest also hasn't been resolved yet bc. I haven't finished Ven's first playthrough, but I don't think she's gonna let her just die. Karlach doesn't deserve that. She actually stands out to Ven in that she needs to fortify her resolve to keep going. I think Ven will admire her greatly for that, despite feeling guilty that it's the only way to keep her alive. She'd wonder if she has the strength to accept her own issues the same way Karlach has.

Gonna go fast for the non-origins characters bc I just realized I wanna see the epilogue so so so so bad which means I’m about to do the final quest with Ven for the first time which is going to drive me up a wall.

She likes Halsin well enough but he had no lasting impression on her other than “man that dude is Huge”. Also she wasn’t as flattered by his interest in her as she was with Lae’zel, but it wasn’t outright insulting like with Astarion.

She really likes Jaheira and they keep up the playful ribbing dynamic throughout. I like to think Jaheira becomes Venali’s confidante. Someone she can go to for anything. Advice, to vent, someone to speak some sense into her. I also really like Jaheira. I really like Jaheira.

Ven also likes Minsc and talking to him leaves her in a better mood. If only bc he says something that no one else in the entire world would ever come up with organically and it makes her laugh.

And that’s what I got! For now! I’ll probably be posting more later tonight once I finish the game and see the epilogue. It might change me as a person.

Edit; I forgot about Minthara I didn’t get her in Ven’s first game but . I’m out of my mind about her so I’m also playing her in another playthrough and bc of patch 5 I’ll have a chance to recruit her for the first time! So thoughts on that Down The Line

[scrunchyharry]

on allowing translations of our fics: a non-native English speaker’s perspective

Here’s some 7am thoughts from my brain to your screens. This isn’t criticism, to be clear. I’m thinking out loud.

Under a cut because it’s pretty long and verging on Discourse.

I’ve been writing fics for 15 years, across four different fandoms and as many platforms. I’ve always allowed translations to be made of my fics because, I suppose que je comprends que certaines personnes ne disposent pas des capacités nécessaires pour lire des œuvres écrites en anglais.

I couldn’t comfortably read a novel in English until I was 17-18. It took me three weeks to get through Of Mice and Men in high school and when I was asked to read Dracula in my 9th grade ESL-A class, I found a French translation of it. I still can’t go to a Shakespeare play and hope to understand what’s going on. I’ve tried, numerous times. I’ve tried with Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet. I just do not understand them when they speak (to be fair, I have seen a handful of Molière plays and also struggled my way through the Ancien Régime French, so maybe I just have really bad hearing comprehension).

And I’m Canadian, so English is omnipresent in my life. I started learning when I was in the 4th grade, I only truly felt like I could call myself bilingual in my early twenties, after going to university in English. Je comprends donc que l’anglais n’est pas confortablement accessible à tous et à toutes.

the 1D fandom is the first where I see people being against translations, yet it is also the most "international" of the fandoms I’ve been in. I have to clarify: I never witnessed any discussions of translations in my previous fandoms, is what I mean by that. Whether for or against them, I never saw people talking about them. The 1D fandom is the first where I a) see it being talked about and b) see people against them.

It stands out as odd to me because I personally never had any objections to it, I never even gave it a second thought beyond making sure that I was properly credited and asking for a link to the final product so that I can verify that I was. I think, perhaps, it speaks to the fact that the English speaking world is so rarely confronted to works in a language inaccessible to them. The outcries around Parasite being in Korean with English subs come to mind, while the rest of the non-English world was like "this is a regular Monday for us? To have to contend with translated or subtitled works to be able to access the hegemonic culture?"

Being a non-English speaker in an Anglo-centric world means constantly readjusting what you thought you knew. I didn’t grow up watching The Lion King or reading Anne of Green Gables. I grew up watching Le Roi lion and reading Anne et la maison aux pignons verts. Translations are an integral part of my life. Hell, on days when I’m really tired, I’ll switch whatever I’m watching on Netflix to French (when it’s available, which is a topic for another discussion) so that my brain can catch a break.

When I say readjusting, I mean that you’re always reframing. “Oh, I didn’t know that Severus Rogue’s English name was Severus Snape. Let me keep that in mind throughout our entire discussion in my second language.” “Oh, right, Americans have middle school so I better remember what years that covers and speak accordingly so I don’t have to go down the longer road of explaining that, actually, my French-Canadian school system didn’t have middle school and oh, also, our high school ends in the 10th grade and...” you get my drift.

This post is getting away from me. I’ll try to reel it back in. When I was in undergrad, I took a lit class from the French department (remember my bit about giving my brain a break?) and it was about the early 20th century. After suffering through the inevitable Proust, we moved on to Milan Kundera, a Czech writer (I had to use autocorrect for that, see, for me Czech is Tchèque) who became a French citizen. I don’t have the exact quote, that notebook has been gone since 2012, but I remember that he considered translations to be entirely new works of fiction and that the translator’s touch made the book anew because of the interpretations they chose when translating. Here’s an excerpt from an abstract about this:

"Kundera showed displeasure at any translator who, however briefly, would impersonate the author and take some license in translating Kundera’s work. Further, Kundera decided that only his full authorial involvement in the process would ascertain “the same authenticity” of his translations as the original Czech works. Kundera thus becomes the omnipresent, omnipotent author, himself impersonating God controlling his own creation."

Margala, Miriam. (2011). The Unbearable Torment of Translation: Milan Kundera, Impersonation, and The Joke. TranscUlturAl: A Journal of Translation and Cultural Studies. 1. 10.21992/T9C62H.

I’m not just name dropping Milan Kundera to show that I’m Educated. I’m bringing this point up because this isn’t my personal perspective on translation, but I can understand how it can be other people’s. My stance on this is that I want my work to be as universally accessible as it can be. Once I’ve put a story out into the world, while I do retain the copyright of it, it isn’t mine anymore. Every person reading it will read a different story because of their own inner lives and what they bring to it. Similarly, translations may bring out other perspectives of it. My work is done, though, the moment I click "post" and send it out into the world. I am no longer in control of the way it will be understood. And I’m at peace with this. It is a true ego death to read comments and see people picking up on things you did not even notice yourself as the omnipotent little god of your own creation.

As I was revising this essay, memories of bygone discourse came back to my mind, from the time I was in the Les Misérables fandom. You can imagine that I got a kick out of being able to say I had read it in the original French, but beyond that, the most interesting conversations I had in those days were when comparing the various English translations of the novel to each other and to the original French. There were Opinions on who had done it best, and who got closer to the original, but then not quite as much, because “see, here this word that Hugo used can be interpreted in a different way and it changes the entire meaning of the next sentence.” 

More recently, a woman translated The Illiad or the Odyssey, I don’t quite remember, and her interpretation of certain scenes completely changed their meaning. I’m working off my memory, here, but I think I recall reading that where men had translated “prostitute”, she had translated “companion”, or something along those lines, and it showed how the translator brings their own worldview to a work, it’s inevitable.

I am not trying to compare One Direction fanfiction to The Illiad, let’s be clear. What I’m attempting to say in too many words is that fanfiction is derivative work, and so are translations. I, personally, will never be against people translating my work if I’m credited correctly. Without translations, I wouldn’t have known Disney growing up. I wouldn’t have known Anne of Green Gables, or Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or Winnie the Pooh, or Alice in Wonderland, or any other work that have shaped my psyche as a child. Far from me to say that my native French culture is not rich in itself with works (I owe as much to the Comtesse de Ségur as I do to Lucy Maud Montgomery), but translations allow me to be able to take part of a global conversation, to be a part of the Internet’s collective unconscious.

At the same time, with the plague that are unauthorized reposts of our works, I understand why other people are wary of anything that involves a form of reposting. There is no easy answer to this, but I did want to share my thoughts on the matter as a non-native English speaker and, most importantly, writer. 

I’ll conclude by saying that, if anyone is wondering, I’m not writing in my native French because the mere thought of writing a sex scene in the same language I use to talk to my mother is enough to Catholic-guilt me off the face of the planet, without even breaching the topic of writing in the language that has the biggest potential reach.

so, huh, yeah. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[cosmoss-express]

Astro Observations (part 6)

!DO NOT COPY, CHANGE, REPOST without permission, otherwise I'll show up as your sleep paralysis demon!

🌑 Sun square ASC are overly confident and cocky. These natives usually have been through difficult moments in terms of who they are as a person. Accepting themselves for who they are was the best way to deal with this placement

Women with this placement might be treated with hostility by men a lot

📞 Natives with 2 or more T-Square formations in their chart tend to accumulate a lot of tension in their body than those with more harmonious formations

🌑 Mercury square Saturn in synastry speak in patronising ways to each other. This is a "student becomes better than his master" aspect

📞 Libra Moons are usually well liked wherever they go, even if they're not so good when it comes to socialising (they could be extremely awkward and people would still find that endearing, like it's part of their charm)

🌑 Aquarius Moons are either the most compassionate and selfless people you've ever met, or they're straight up the most calculated masterminds. No in-between

📞 Mars square ASC tend to have sculpted faces, defined jawlines, prominent or hollow cheekbones, usually model-like features (especially is Mars placed in an earth sign)

🌑 Pluto in the 10th folks are HOT AF 🥵🥵. They're so SO freaking mesmerising, these natives could hypnotise you easily and their gaze is super intimidating 

📞 10th house lord in the 1st house indicates that your career choice has to be in alignment with your personality. You will work much better in a place that allows you to be yourself and that lets you put your ambitious to good use

🌑 Virgo Risings have such gorgeous hair 😍😍 Their hair always looks fluffy and it usually looks better in lighter colours

📞 Virgo MC in earth degrees are much harder on themselves and can have the tendency to never be satisfied with their work. These natives also tend to base their worth on how close to perfection they can get because they tend to feel the dread of failure very strongly

🌑 Cancer Risings have been conditioned to grow up much faster than their peers in order to be taken seriously. That's why they always feel the need to be the bigger, calmer, more serious person, aka the Capricorn DSC they project in connection to others

📞 Aries placements always pour their heart out no matter what they do; they approach things with such innocence and enthusiasm, it's almost endearing :'((

🌑 Cancer MC (or at 4°, 16°, 28°) can make people empathise with their agenda and public persona no matter what they do (these natives tend to thrive when doing things that make others feel welcomed and accepted) . The general public tends to feel intense attachment towards these individuals

📞 I've seen people talk about it and I'll confirm it:

3rd house synastry is so underrated but it's so important. Sun, Mercury or Venus in someone's 3rd house makes you think the same and have the same sense of humour. You guys will mirror each other and will stimulate eachother to be curious and mentally active (which is definitely needed in any type of connection)

🌑 Leo men always get slandered on TikTok and I'll give my two cents on this topic. Half of the Leo men I've met are undeveloped and don't even realise it (the other half have been really sweet and caring). Because their toxic traits are what they get praised for by other men. Other men wish to be what Leo men project out into the world, because that's what The Patriarchy ™️ expects of men

📞 Having Sun conjunct Ceres can soften the typical masculine traits of the Sun and give you this comforting and warm presence

🌑 Having prominent 5th house can indicate that you crush on people often and these people can still be friends with you once the infatuation fades. Whereas having a prominent 7th house means that you'll eventually come to hate the people you had a crush on and wonder why you liked them in the first place

📞 You might enter in contact with many people who have their North Node in the sign that's most prominent in your chart. You might even change the destiny of these people

Like, think about it, you can literally BE the turning point for someone with this type of NN, and that's so wild to me

🌑 Uranus in 7th house individuals always have someone that believes in them and supports their vision. These people also might trigger an Aquarius MC effect, where they can gather support from the crowd like it happens with Aquarius MC natives

📞 Libra Risings with Mars in the 1st house could always worry about the "imperfections" on their face a lot (like asymmetry, scars, pimples, moles etc). Because Mars rules asymmetry, scars, battle wounds, inflammations

🌑 Taurus not only rules the throat/neck but also the chin. Taurus risings tend to have defined chins resulting in a diamond-shaped face

📞 People with dominant Air element in their chart tend to be early birds while Water dominants tend to be night owls or sleep a lot

🌑 5th house Pluto can be distant and cold during the talking stage with someone

📞 2nd house Venus might enter enemies-to-lovers relationships and have a push and pull dynamic with their first partners unless there's an interception in their chart

🌑 Scorpio men 🤝 bullying their crush to get their attention

📞 Wherever Sagittarius is placed in your chart, it's likely you'll be doing too much of it until you burn out (1st house - exercising too much; 2nd house - overindulging, 6th house overworking, etc)

🌑 Fights between Fixed dominants are BRUTAL (I'm Leo dominant, my parents are Aquarius and Scorpio dominant, and two of my colleagues were Taurus dominant, and let 👏🏻 me 👏🏻 tell 👏🏻 you 👏🏻 we're DRAMATIC AF)

📞 Jupiter aspecting the 8th house lord could have extensive knowledge on the occult or illegal stuff no one knows about. These natives tend to have a more mysterious and distant aura to them

🌑 8th house South Node natives: knowing about taboo and "forbidden" subjects is already second nature to them and they might even think it's normal until people tell them that it's actually not common for people to be interested in those topics

These natives might go on a tangent about a study on sexual kinks or what is the perfect method to rob a bank and someone could ask them "umm how do you know that? 😅"

©️ Cosmoss-express (2022)