#she's isolated herself and forced herself to become mature

[wyfy-meltdown]

The fact that Mami is only 15 screws me up a little. She's barely older than Madoka and the rest of the girls and yet she forces herself into the "mature responsible caretaker" role. I get that magical girls don't live long, but I expected the 16-18 age range for her.

[atamascolily]

There is a tendency I see in PMMM analyses and discussions to treat the witches simply as monsters that can be overcome with sufficient force regardless of other circumstances--and thus Homura's failure to ever win against Walpurgisnacht on her own terms is something that could be easily fixed with more firepower and different tactics. And while there's nothing wrong with this interpretation, it's not one that particularly interests me, either.

What I like about PMMM and what makes it so engaging for me, is that it can be read on multiple levels--both as a literal journey and as a symbolic one. In-universe, witches are the shadow selves of magical girls; is it really so surprising that they also serve as narrative foils to those who face them, thus making victory or defeat as much of a character issue as a tactical one?

It is not a coincidence that Mami Tomoe, a girl who was forced to grow up too fast and who could have wished to save her dying parents but didn't, meets her end at the hand of a particularly childish and immature witch, a lumpen, misshapen doll that transforms into a clown--a girl who never grew up, who could have wished to save her dying parent but didn't. Mami, an experienced veteran who wiped the floor with the Rose Witch and her familiars earlier, is completely caught off-guard and is eaten alive by a witch who embodies all of the issues she herself struggles with and has yet to overcome within herself.

Yes, Mami was careless and overconfident, which led to her doom--but she had also fulfilled her role of introducing Madoka to the world of magical girls. On a narrative level, her death was necessary--not only to free Madoka from her impulsive promise to become a magical girl too early in the story, before she'd learned all the facts and could make a fully informed decision, but also to teach Madoka one final, horrific lesson about what life as a magical girl is really like.

This is not to say that AUs where Mami survives are wrong or missing the point--I've written them myself and I love them! (It helps that Mami's survival is usually the result of someone else's interference, not something she accomplishes on her own.) Nor do I mean to suggest that Mami's death is a moral failing on her part--merely that I think that Charlotte represents Mami's own particular brand of kryptonite at that particular point in her life, one she might have been able to survive if she had been able to move beyond the psychological issues hobbling her.

Meanwhile, Homura is able to easily defeat Charlotte, because metaphorically she's moved beyond the childish worldview that Mami is still stuck in. From that same symbolic perspective, it's this relative level of maturity, as much as her time stop and pipe bombs, that allows her to win.

Likewise, it is not an accident that the next witch Madoka encounters is one that specializes in extracting the memories of its victims, trapping Madoka in a spinning carousel as she is tormented by her own grief and guilty conscience over Mami's death. She is freed by Sayaka, who has moved beyond such angst by her decision to take on Mami's role as an idealized magical girl protector. Later on, Sayaka's descent into dualistic thinking is symbolized by her fight against a witch whose world is literally black and white--whom Sayaka defeats, but only at the cost of pushing herself dangerously to her limits.

As with Mami, Sayaka's death is directly tied to her own psychological issues--in this case, by her incredibly strict rules about how magical girls should behave and her refusal to cut herself any slack whatsoever. Her metaphorical self-denial results in literal self-denial, and her death as a magical girl and rebirth as a witch.

Then we come to Walpurgisnacht, a witch made of cogs and gears--the one witch Homura cannot beat, no matter what she does. Homura is stuck in her loops, unable to imagine a future beyond them, increasingly isolated from any meaningful connections or relationships--Walpurgisnacht may be the "fool that spins in a circle", but so is Homura. The inside mirrors the outside; when we watch Homura fight against Walpurgisnacht, we are also watching Homura's struggle with herself. Unlike Mami and Sayaka, Homura's magic allows her to fight this battle over and over again--again and again she is forced to retreat and start over, unsatisfied with the results and determined to do better next time. She doesn't die, but she doesn't win, either--instead, she's locked into perpetual stalemate with no end.

Madoka, however, is able to see beyond the vicious cycle represented by Walpurgisnacht and thus easily and repeatedly defeats an enemy that Homura cannot, regardless of her relative power levels in any given timeline. It's probably too simplistic to say that hope triumphs over despair--and yet, that's exactly what happens, every single time. Homura has numbed herself through repeated exposure to where she no longer feels hope or despair, thus existing in perpetual stasis with her purpose the only thing driving her. Paradoxically, the one thing she needs to do to win is the one thing she cannot do--and the thing that Madoka can do all too easily.

(This is not to say that Madoka doesn't have her own issues--she does!--just that her issues are different from Homura's, meaning she's not tripped up by this particular obstacle in the same way that Homura is. And it's not that Homura's struggles were pointless--they were what allowed Madoka to get to point where she had both the power and the knowledge that she could save everyone, including Homura.)

Homura's final battle with Walpurgisnacht shows Homura going to insane lengths, including a wall of C-4 explosives inside a refinery, a flaming oil tanker, and a submarine with Type 88 Surface-to-Ship missiles--none of which has any lasting effect on Walpurgisnacht whatsoever. That episode goes to great lengths to show that Homura's approach to fighting Walpurgisnacht fundamentally isn't working; I don't think adding more nukes would help.

The one time Homura gets the closest to her happy ending is the one timeline where she and Madoka fight and fall together--the one timeline where they are shown as equals, and the one where they debate becoming witches together and destroying the whole world before Madoka thinks better of it. This is also not a coincidence. If there is ever to be a truly happy end to this franchise--or an end at all--Homura and Madoka must be equal and willing partners, not one protecting/sacrificing themself for the other again and again. It is also likely that they will remake the universe in the process, through the combined power of their mutual wish.

[It also wouldn't surprise me if that line foreshadowed future plot elements--after all, Madoka technically became a witch in the final episode of the TV series (she got better, thanks to the nature of her wish), and so did Homura in Rebellion--but we shall see if the series ever follows up on this.]

This is why I'm so excited that Walpurgis no Kaiten seems to be laying the groundwork for Homura creating her own enemies and her greatest enemy being herself--once again, making the metaphorical literal. I'm excited about the prospect of Homura getting a do-over with Walpurgisnacht, which would represent a chance for her to confront her narrative foil one more time, and show us how her character has changed. Though it may play out on a larger stage, the real battle will be inside Homura's mind and heart--and, I would argue, always has been. The only way the outcome will change--the only way we can move beyond what's been and into something new--is if/when she changes.

I want to be clear that there's absolutely nothing wrong with the strictly literal interpretation of witches, and I think people should write what they want to write; if that's the story you want to tell, then go for it! For me, however, I find it far more compelling--not to mention richer and truer--if the actions and words on-screen correspond to the characters' emotional and psychological journeys, and there's no question that this preference how I interpret media in general, and PMMM in particular. And it's not that I think Homura couldn't defeat Walpurgisnacht in an AU scenario--merely that any story where she achieves this victory without changing in any way or addressing her own psychological issues in some fashion removes exactly the elements that drew me to this series in the first place.

[autistichalsin]

Both Karlach and Halsin are buff capable adults with strong morality, but inside THEY ARE KIDS FULL OF JOY TO BE ALIVE IN THE WORLD FULL OF WONDERS as Oak Father Intended

So strong, so fragile, as life itself LET THEM LOVE LET THEM BE

GOD BUT THIS PART.

They're adults, traumatized, with both having experienced the worst the world can offer, having their freedom and autonomy denied to them, socially isolated. Both have the Outlander background. Both lost their families, both are war veterans.

Yet they both are still so full of love and joy. Halsin is unable to show it the way he wants to when we meet him, while Karlach never wavers from it, yet at the end they're both able to show who they are. How they love LIFE itself more than anything, how they're so full of kindness and compassion and love to protect the weak.

Karlach isn't certain she wants kids at first, but Halsin is- yet when you bring the idea up to her, she warms to it at once. She also teases the idea of getting a "really mean goat." You know who loves all life, all animals? Halsin.

If you bring Karlach to the love dryad and are asked where she'll be in 10 years, you can say "worshipping Selune"; Karlach responds that she's nice, but Karlach is more of a sunshine girl herself.

Sunshine.

What is Halsin's quest about again? Bringing something back to a certain cursed land?

... Right. SUNLIGHT. "If the sun shines on this place once more..."

Sunlight is essential for life. Essential for plants to grow. Halsin wants to infuse life and light back into the Shadow-Cursed Lands, and Karlach alludes to the god of sunlight as being perhaps the only one she'd consider becoming a follower of.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE? If Karlach asks Halsin for stories, he mentions how while everyone wants the most exciting chapters, he spends plenty of time hibernating in bear form. Karlach gets excited, saying "sleep AND adventure! Maybe I'll come back as a bear in some future life!"

IF THAT ISN'T SYMBOLISM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS!

Both are protective of those who need it most. Both have a great deal of empathy. Karlach is more childish in many ways than Halsin, but this could help him let his playful side out more, while Halsin's maturity could help ground Karlach when she needs it. Karlach is always raring to go for a good fight, never straying from what needs to be done, while Halsin is more pragmatic and able to understand when a fight will accomplish nothing. They offset each other in so many good ways while retaining the same core personality- warm, loving, full of life and care and compassion.

Both are touch-starved; you can see how Halsin reacts to being hugged in the epilogue, stating that he always needs a hug and if he ever refuses one, to assume he's been replaced by a doppelganger, while Karlach went without for TEN YEARS. Both are socially isolated, Halsin having been made a sex slave, lost his family, endured the Shadow Curse, and then forced into a leadership role, while Karlach lost her family too, was dragged into hell to fight for ten years where none of her "comrades" would have been worth talking to, and now faces a terminal illness on top of that.

In all the party banters in the Shadow-Cursed Lands, it's KARLACH who shows the most concern for Halsin's mental state, who is horrified when he talks about what he witnessed and how it still affects him. A soft "poor man" in one, and a "stay strong, bear man, we're still here" in another. Karlach is able to see that just once, Halsin wants to be soothed the way he does for others. And similarly, it's Halsin to tell her he "will not try to soothe her with gilded words" but that he "is still here" for her when Karlach finally realizes the truth of her impending death, because Halsin can see that in that moment, Karlach doesn't want to be told it'll be okay; she wants to be told that she isn't alone, that her presence, for however short a time it'll linger, will be cherished by those close to her. Instinctively, they understand these needs the other has at their worst, darkest moments.

I just love them a lot, okay?

[almadesarrollo]

MLB SEASON 6 FELINETTE'S BIG TRACK IN JEREMY ZAG'S VIDEO (new Miraculous scenarios via Instagram) ANALYSIS AND FELINETTE CLUES FOR S6 PART 3 marinette's balcony : THE BALLS AND color symbology

PART 2 marinette's balcony : flowers and HYDRANSIAS.

2 BALL: the balls of light have undergone a color change, here you have a scheme AND their color palette and order.

Ok, we can see that the balls are not placed like that because yes, if not, there is a color pattern that repeats, both on one balcony and on the other, before analyzing the color pattern, which says a lot, we have to think about what it represents in Yes the balls on Marinette's balcony.

For me it is clear, they represent her self-love and her ability to shine.

Let's look at the two characteristics, 1 they are round and the circle or mole is the figure that represents Marinette, it is in everything, her aesthetics, her clothes, her design and of course in ladybug since this is a pattern typical of ladybugs. This speaks to us about her, her self-love and her way of being,

2 these give light, which tells us that Marinette is a soul of light, a pure soul, they shine in the night which tells us that even in the DARKEST moments of life Marinette is able to move forward and shine.

NOW LET'S GET TO THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, THE COLOR PATTERN.

1 PATTERN SEASONS 1-5

Well, each color represents a character and from there we get clues, right? That is why as we look at the order we have, white, yellow, hot pink, red, light green and start again. What does each one represent?

- white: kagami and tsuguri are in all their aesthetics, but it is also representative of marinette, which tells us that part of that development and self-love and billiards ability, it will be kagami who starts it and it doesn't take long considering what we have said above.

-yellow: represents Chloe and Queen Bee, yellow is a very characteristic color of hers but also, she combines a lot with white, Chloe resettles Kagami, which would confirm the first color for us, (remember that white was both Marinette and Kagami , one of the 2) that this pattern begins with Kagami, so Marinette's evolution will occur through her actions, realizing that Chloe is nicknamed queen just like Kagami who is nicknamed queen, there you have another confirmation.

-hot pink/fuchsia; Zoe, MARINETTE INVERSE, this color is a very particular color because we find it in a certain aesthetic, a colored wick, aha, you have this wick for Zoe and Marinette from the inverse miraculous so it represents both,

What does this mean? Well, it is confirmation that Marinette is going to become more characterful and evolve.

Zoe represents Marinette, but a more adult, more liberal, more confident Marinette, which is why they both have a similar aesthetic,

Now, if we remember especially MIRACULOUS INVERSE, bad Marinette also had it and also on the same side of her bangs, what do we know about that Marinette? that her life was a shit (to sum it up hahaha) so what happens to that Marinette will surely happen to ours, this is going to make her become cold and isolate herself from everything, but also make her very strong, she It will be "broken" to be "built" again due to several factors, because they are going to damage it from all sides and the causes will be kagami and lila, but above all kagami, but this will force her to mature and become strong Well, only in the darkness is where we can shine, right? and that is where we would have "zoe", a very sweet girl but also very self-confident and brave...

-red: kagami and ladybug, red is clearly the color of ladybug and kagami,

Now which of the two are you referring to, well clearly Ladybug, because Kagami was already represented before and remember, we come from that hot pink, what does this mean? Well, the fact that Marinette becomes stronger in herself will logically influence her form as a heroine, it's like this side is going to reinforce it more, but also she won't have as much of a complex type of "if she doesn't" "I'm nothing" she will understand that Ladybug is part of her and she is part of Ladybug, overcoming her insecurities", but that is if she had a bit of a bad time before, the inverse special gave clues.

-Neon green: chatnoir and adrien,

Yes, we could say that it is black but the truth is that neon green is the color that we see in many of their patterns, together we see it in their transformation, logo, print, etc... so it is a very characteristic color of theirs. , What does it mean? WELL, the relationship with both Chatnoir and Adrien is going to end, because, well, because of Kagami (and Lila's lies and Marinette herself) all that domino effect will also ruin the relationship between these two, and to confirm this , then the pattern is repeated again, leaving white, and again the same order, thus finishing one thing, and for that reason in this new season we have a new pattern of colors and balls.

2 PATTERN SEASONS 6,7....

Well, the order of this pattern is as follows, red, indigo blue, green, yellow and then this series repeats, red, indigo blue etc...ok? Well, knowing the order and what the colors and balls represent, let's do it.

-red: kagami and ladybug, represents both,

and it tells us 2 things:

1st: Kagami will be the one to ruin Marinette's life completely and the fact that she appears here means that S6 YOU WILL HAVE MORE THAN OBVIOUS CLUE THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN, to summarize, Kagami is going to betray Marinette by revealing her identity to the world, this movement will be given by lila from the shadows with manipulation.

and this should no longer be a surprise, the Félix chapter already gave clues that SHE IS UNITED WITH CHLOE AND LILA.

esto ser aun batacazo doble para marinette porque uno se puede esperar traicion por parte de chloe y de lila, pero ¿de kagami? la serie va a ser como hermanas, así que imagínate.

[this friendship will be broken]

This is going to destroy Marinette, so she will be left alone and this was both in civilian life and as a heroine (not counting the whole mess with Adrien and the lies and what Lila is going to get into their relationship)

2nd after all this, Marinette will really focus on being Ladybug seriously, and she will take her place, by then, her life will be chaos and of course she will not be able to trust anyone (not even in chatnoir) so she will have to search to a new partner, IT COULD ALSO BE A CLUE THAT WITH THE MESS HE'S GOING TO BE IN, HE MAY EVEN HAVE TO CHANGE MIRACULOUS AND USE THE DRAGON,

THAT MIRACULOUS IS ALSO RED AND THAT'S WHY SHE APPEARS AT THE END OF LS3 WITH THAT MIRACULOUS (S3 IS KAGAMI'S SEASON, IN IT WE TELL US ABOUT EVERYTHING SHE WILL DO AND INVOLVE IN MARINETTE'S LIFE)

-índigo blue: Argos

THIS COLOR REPRESENTS ARGOS, Argos and Félix, will play a crucial role because in S6, as we already see with my previous posts, and with all the chaos, Marinette will have the only person who will take care of her and protect, it will be Felix,

Now, it should be noted that this color is Argos, not Félix, which would indicate that on the one hand, we will see in this S6 MUCH MORE OF ARGOS HIMSELF THAN FELIX, and that the help will be more on a heroic level than on a civilian level, Argos is going to Being Ladybug's right hand, the only one she will be able to trust, will lighten her burden as Ladybug and little will replace Chatnoir, this is because of all the loyalty, affection, care and understanding that he will show, that's why appears here, this confirms what we mentioned in many of our posts, that felinette and argonette will be real, what's more, since this is on Marinette's balcony, it is possible that we even have a scene where Argos visits her on her balcony (how romantic aww).

Now in fact that it appears after the red one, I think it is confirmation of the Argobug ship, both will be a great team AND THAT IS WHY IT APPEARS IN THAT ORDER.

-strong green: carapace,

This color represents carapace, and you will say, what about this one in all this? It is not in itself that he is going to play an important role, it is what both Carapace and Nino represent, both represent Argos and through him they give us a clue (like with Chloe with Kagami)

Here I leave you a more extended link where we analyze everything about wayzz, nino and carapace and their connection with Argos/Félix

HERE A SCHEMATIC SUMMARY

This tells us about HOW he is going to protect Marinette, and the reason why he will become her constant companion, above all she will have protection from him, this will surely be at the end when Marinette's life falls apart, and He will be in charge of protecting several things; his heart, his secret identity (when she loses everything) his freedom, his friendship etc… EVERYTHING.

AND THAT IS WHY THIS COLOR GOES AFTER THE INDIGO BLUE, BECAUSE THEY ARE SPECIFYING A LITTLE WHAT IT IS GOING TO BE, THAT THEY ARE A FUO is the only clue to this.

-yellow: Zoe

According to the INFO that we already revealed above, it could be Chloe, but this does not make sense because as we have said through her, they tell us about Kagami and her intentions and that was already clear at the beginning, from the sequence of colors, in this case it is just zoe,

Zoe appears because through her she tells us about Marinette, as we have said, her identity will be revealed, so she will have to change in every aspect, (she will probably get blonde hair and get highlights) the fact that she is here only confirms to us that the seeds for this and its flowering will be in S6, for some reason "the end of ladybug" was announced, because it will literally be its end and they are preparing the ground, only here they will be Clues SO OBVIOUS THAT THEY WILL NOT BE OVERLOOKED, until it is It is possible that she even changes her miraculous temporarily, this could be a clue that she uses the bee one.

AND THAT IS WHY THAT COLOR GOES AFTER GREEN, BECAUSE IT IMPLIES PROTECTION FROM ARGOS FOR MARINETTE WHICH IS HIDDEN AND WITH ANOTHER IDENTITY.

HERE THE SEQUENCE ENDS, WELL AGAIN IT BEGINS RED, INDIGO BLUE ETC…

THEN LET'S MAKE A SUMMARY: what does the ball change and all that mean for the S6? From now on, Kagami will betray Marinette's friendship, reveal her identity, all of this motivated by Lila, this will destroy her and cause a great catharsis in her that will force her to mature through pain, she will have to change her entire style of life. life, Félix and Argos will be his greatest support and protection, all this will make them come together quite as friends and then as something more.

WE WILL READ YOU IN THE NEXT PART (I WILL TRY TO MAKE IT SHORTER)

Reblog, like and follow me for more content of this type.

See you in the next post.

[itsmaferart]

Twiyor parallelism • Romantic approach

One great thing about Spy x Family is the way Endo tries to frame his own idea of what "a romance" is. I'm not sure if this is a deliberate decision, as he prefers to focus on denser and more influential themes, such as war, consequences and the search for peace in each character…. Or if simply, Endo is not so comfortable and sees the typical romantic moments as a forced construction of a relationship between two characters….

And it's in the way it draws a linea between idealized fantasy and the genuine feelings (of love) of a family. This is not only a difference you can notice within the SxF universe, but also as a viewer.

If we analyze Nightfall and Becky's perspective a bit we can clearly see that their idea of love/romance for Twilight/Loid are actually projections of their own desires on a person who fits perfectly

According to Nightfall logic, she will prove that she is perfect, to the extent of being the only woman worthy to be at Twilight's side. She has been his student and comrade on missions, so she has been by his side, has examined multiple roles, memorizing his exemplary 'fake smile'. Nightfall loves Twilight, the perfect spy, the man of a thousand faces, a professional in the art of espionage who foresees a thousand scenarios in his head long before they happen.

Then, Twilight would suddenly discover how perfect she is, having an epiphany of feelings that make him fall madly in love with her (?)

Which makes Nightfall unaware that the man she's in love with (or at least, his spy side) is totally removed from that illusion.

That is a FANTASY

The initial Twilight (her teacher) is a cold, distant man who is not interested in having a relationship because he has discarded that kind of personal happiness, much less would he do so with a WISE colleague.

Twilight is someone with many emotional conflicts, due to the barriers he has created for himself because of his own past. Nightfall wants to awaken those buried feelings while pushing the distant Twilight fr to love, and who has always told him to isolate himself from his own personal desires and feelings.

So… Nightfall's love for her master may be genuine and born out of her genuine admiration for Twilight's motivation to create a better world. But it is unsustainable when it comes to building that love into a marriage, because the Twilight that Nightfall dreams of doesn't really exist, rendering her efforts to impress him futile.

After all, this is not what Twilight is really looking for (at least, his true self).

In itself, Nightfall loves the perfection of Twilight, the perfection of the spy. Because that's what she longs for the most, a love story where she is perfect in someone's eyes perfect.

.

And well…. Is it necessary to talk about Becky? I think it's much more obvious how everything Becky dreams of is a much more exaggerated fantasy, a love story where she fights with her rival to get the heart of her prince charming (for starters, Twilight could literally be her dad xD).

It is here that Endo's joke about romance becomes more blatant and obvious. The perfect romance is a childish fantasy straight out of a soap opera.

We know that Becky does not love Loid. She loves the fantasy she has created around him. For her, romance is synonymous with maturity, and Becky projects herself as a more mature child than the rest of her age group. At the same time, she wishes for a love story full of drama and happiness.

.

In contrast, the relationship Loid (Twilight) and Yor build is perhaps the most mundane. (in a good way).

Yes, they are an assassin and a spy, who got married each other to the sound of a grenade. But at the end of the day, it's the two of them sitting comfortably in a living room, on an armchair, drinking a cup of hot tea/coffee.

Endo shows us that many times, that real and genuine love is made of those small moments of intimacy, where nothing big is happening. Just two people talking from the sincerity of their feelings, two people supporting each other, remembering that "you don't always have to be perfect", "being yourself is what matters".

.

It's wrong for romance to be fantasy?

No, of course not!!

It is natural that the first desire you have with a partner is to have an approximation, especially if it is physical. Like the idea of him holding your hands while he professes his desires of you (As Fiona and Becky would say, "make a move.")

The problem with idealized romance, is that it creates a sweep that prevents us from genuinely getting closer to the real person we love. There is so much focus on personal wants and desires that we are blind to the true needs of the other person.

Nightfall's biggest drawback is that she is so focused on what she wants and what she thinks Twilight needs that she is not able to see the emotional needs that her master has (although, being fair… He doesn't know either, right?). The funny thing about Becky and Nightfall's love is the huge contrast to Loid (Twilight) and Yor's real relationship. Both are constantly looking for perfection in Loid /Twilight's actions, forgotten that there is only a tired man with stomach aches from his ulcers.

The difference for Yor, is that she is not expecting greatness in Loid, or if she really dreams that he is an idea man she is looking for. He is perfect, just the way he is. Twilight and Yor may not be very intimate for many, because of the lack of physical closeness between them, and because every time something seems to happen, someone gets hurt (sometimes Yuri, sometimes Twilight)…. or because we don't see them caught up in these fantasies for each other.

But …. is it really like that?

The amazing thing about the fake marriage between Loid (Twilight) and Yor is that the kind of intimacy they have is perhaps the most difficult to achieve but the most valuable in the long run. And that is being at peace with each other, talking about those things you would never talk about with anyone else, enjoying each other's company only, speaking from the sincerity of your feelings and affirming a thousand times that you would never change anything about each other and would choose them as your partner again and again (for life).

This is the true romance within a marriage.

.

So… we haven't seen progress in their relationship?

Sure we have, lots of times. But these are much more subtle and simple than we expect. We know that they both cook dinner together (as a couple), and have selected the stores to buy what they need for the house (as a couple), they buy the ingredients for dinner or cleaning products the other asks for (as a couple), Yor takes her husband's clothes to the dry cleaners, Loid makes delicious food for his wife,They say goodbye at the door (as a couple).... both look at each other as if they were the most wonderful people they have ever met in their lives.

(If these two have not kissed it is because they are basically two idiots).

Every time a romance is forced between them, something bad always happens, simply because it is not the right way it should happen. Unlike when the two approach each other being authentic.

I don't think that in the future, these two will have problems with physical intimacy. We're talking about a man who took a second to REALLY ask his fake wife to marry him (I'm sure if Yor didn't kick him to the curb he would have asked her for a wild honeymoon that very night)...Or that Yor in a fit of confidence pushed her fake husband, cornered him, and climbed on top of him.

I'm serious, these two are craving for physical love, what they want to admit!!

In the end, the engine of a true couple is not in the touch of their hands but in the touch of their hearts.

[yanderes-galore]

How would a xenomorph queen be as a yandere?

Didn't even make it on the list because I wanted to do this so fast, sorry.

Yandere! Xenomorph Queen Concept

Pairing: Animal/Pet-like

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Kidnapping, Murder, Possessive behavior, Isolation, Punishment, Drooling, Scenting, Forced relationship (?)

Well, to get a Queen to like you... you had to know the Xenomorph before she matured.

Before she was fed royal jelly to become a Praetorian, soon a Queen, she came across you.

Like a typical Xenomorph drone with their darling, the drone followed you everywhere.

To the point she felt the need to start nesting, forcing affection upon you before fleeing.

You would have known the Xenomorph for months as her life cycle matures fast.

You were still attempting to get used to her and her strange affection before she... stopped coming-

You weren't worried for her in the slightest, relieved actually.

Now you didn't have a beast coming up to you to chitter, coo, and drool at you....

You were at peace.

Meanwhile, your Xenomorph was simply gourging herself on royal jelly to mature.

She'd be a good Queen for you!

It's her duty for you and the hive.

By the time she emerges from her coccoon as a Praetorian, the pre-Queen wants to look for you again.

She misses you.

Maturing is so difficult when she isn't comforted by you and your reluctant care.

Her Queen, who she soon will not answer to, tells her to be patient.

She must be a fully mature Queen before she can successfully take her human.

Listening to her "mother", she sets out to create her very own nest.

She has drones create the nest she'll reside in... resin coating walls of a cave she picked out with you in mind.

Once set, she spends more time maturing with royal jelly... before emerging as an adult Queen, pumping eggs to make drones of her own.

Drones for her and you.

This will be your family.

By the time you overcome your fear of the Xenomorph you met, you're abducted by drones.

Knocked out, you're dragged deep into the depths of the hive.

The Queen hisses in approval when you are set in her arms, drool covering you in the scent of the hive.

Her children will not attack you... as they are yours too.

Her scent is all over you.

Having a Queen so attached to you will be impossible to escape from.

Most of the time she'll keep you in her arms, sitting on her egg sac and cooing.

She is capable of leaving the egg sac, although then she can't lay more eggs until it regrows.

She wants to have more children for the both of you, though....

She'll let you go sometimes, but you're never allowed far.

Facehuggers tend to activate by motion triggers, although due to "being part of the hive", you're fine.

She adores you, often scooping you up with her tail to trill at you.

She seems to always know where you are, she has eyes everywhere.

Drones constantly watch over you, chittering at you with respect as you walk around the nest.

Try to leave, however, and they'll tattle....

They'll screech and drag you back to their mother.

Said Queen is upset at you for trying to leave the family she created for you.

Why are you trying to leave?

She spent months away from you!

To a Xenomorph, that's a long time.

She created everything for you.

The hive, the eggs, the drones...

Your children.

Would you really just abandon them?

No... her human needs discipline.

Her drones would resin you to the wall of her nesting area.

You're stuck there, forced to accept the food they find for you while the Queen continues to lay more eggs.

She thinks with some more learning you'll be a good parent to them.

A Queen removing her egg sac from herself is painful, but if she has to, she'll leave it for you.

This is usually if you're taken from her by force.

A firing squad tries to take you?

She's fighting for this hive.

You try to warn them about the Queen's temper, yet...

They're overwhelmed by the drones and a newly detached Queen, snarling with rage.

They'll pay.

They'll pay for trying to destroy this family.

Once the squad died, trampled by the bug-like beasts, the Queen scoops you up.

Nuzzling you with her foreign mouth, she tries to comfort you.

Why else would you be crying?

That squad clearly scared you!

You're not scared of her... can't be!

She's family.

She's taking care of you like you did with her.

Isn't this what you humans do?

She wants to understand your way of love.

It's impossible, but she's determined.

She'll do whatever she can to make you feel like family...

Even if you're hurt in the process, she can't even understand your pain.

[lazyveran]

i think its interesting to point out that azula and katara are both people that value and strive for control, however they value different types of control

katara is someone who's been forced to become an adult at a very young age. she was given the responsibilities of a caregiver without the room to be a child. i think she focusses on an orderly, stable emotional/domestic dynamic and laboriously denies her own needs to achieve that. its also the fact she is, no doubt, attempting to emulate her mother in a way that a child cannot really comprehend. there's an expectation afterall for her to fulfil that empty space. so it comes off as controlling, perhaps even emotionally manipulating at times, while she in turn can be stubborn and wild with her own emotions. it's a fascinating dynamic because she constantly needs to be controlling people, not so much their action but their manner, headspace and so on, but also accepts help from others (when shes not being stubborn)! it's not healthy, per say, but she accepts people as people with their own thoughts, feelings and desires, and moves to accommodate that after they push back

azula on the other hand needs to control everything, all aspects, at all times. she too was forced to be an adult as a child, but she also never had a healthy example of an adult to begin with. her caregivers either left her at a key developmental stage or were. ozai. and as a princess, she's been taught to be a certain role with a country wide responsibility as soon as she could talk. alongside her military training, too! (all of this is taught, might i add, by people who are required to maintain a professional distance. even if she's a child, their society requires her emotional isolation) azula values absolute control and order in all aspects of her life, she's never allowed herself room to contemplate what a fufilling emotional dynamic is. she views everything on a wider scale, so much so she's always a politician, military leader and absolute ruler in every aspect. and in turn, everyone else is not allowed to have their own desires in the face of that. azula quite literally cannot approach people on an equal level, her background and her desperate need to control actively dehumanises them. while intellectually, she's a genius with an innate knowledge as to how people tick, they are always below her in class, in skill, and in her eyes, maturity in itself. which is ironic, really, since that very mindset is more childish than anything - viewing people like toys to play with, rather than humans with thoughts and desires outside her own

there's just. no separation for azula between her inner self and outer self need to control - unlike katara. because despite katara's need for control too, she's FAR more conscious of how a relationship should function. she's far more mature, really, than azula ever will be. in fact i'd argue katara being 'immature' is more an indicator of how stable she is than azula's demeanour. she feels her emotions, feels others emotions, and takes them at a human level. azula tantrums when someone doesnt dance to her tune

[cometblaster2070]

i'm here to peddle my crystal and farrah agenda so that means it's everyone else's problem now too.

i'd personally like to revamp crystal's entire character. like instead of being the snow king's daughter (which is fucking stupid might i add) she's just the snow queen's daughter, and in this version, the snow queen is a very cold and neglectful mother who couldn't care less about her daughter.

i think it'd be cool to have it established that canon crystal's personality is basically what crystal acted like as a child when ashlynn and briar knew her; as a fun-loving, carefree child with far too much power, but ultimately someone with a good heart who just wants to have fun.

but then crystal grows up. she grows up in a cold, isolated palace, entirely alone save for her callous and uncaring mother and hordes of servants who fear and hate her because of her mother.

this crystal is one that grows up and turns into her mother. she grows up bitter and spiteful and powerful, and she grows up with zero checks on her behavior, because the servants are too scared to ever say no to her, while her mother doesn't really care about what she's doing.

i'd like her to grow into someone so confused and upset; someone who very, very badly suffers from a lack of love or a loving home or parent. someone whose only happy memories are of the friends she made so, so long ago. someone whose happy memories are pushed so far back in favor of all the terrible things that have happened since.

anyways then the entire epic winter plot plays out, those shards in her mother's eyes or whatever, and instead of just being neglectful and cold, her mother becomes downright tyrannical and EVIL, and crystal's forced to go down to ever after high to get help from the only people she has left, who are, of course, ashlynn and briar.

and then, instead of having a whiny fucking little bitch who can't tie her laces and complains at any given moment, we'd have a crystal who is numb and unfeeling (something which i want ashlynn and briar to visibly question and be concerned about; i want them to CONSTANTLY be asking themselves about what the fuck happened to their friend and how can they help), and someone who is very, very selfish and is used to taking care of herself and only herself.

but then throughout the special we see crystal grow, we see her mature and we see her learn to love others and realize that she has a lot of people who love her and care for her too; and then gradually, we see her soften and see how her relationships with the other characters deepen.

and here is where i would want to put farrah in, because the crystal x farrah agenda is getting to me i think it'd serve to highlight the contrast between the two of them.

because on the one hand, we have farrah goodfairy, who loves helping people, who always puts people above herself, who risked literally death in order to ensure that ashlynn had a happy ending with hunter. farrah is someone who is said to exist to make others happy, that is her "job" as a fairy godmother; her own happiness doesn't matter.

but then there's crystal winter. crystal winter, who has cared for only herself and has learnt about the cruelty and harshness of the world from a very young age. someone who was not awarded any warmth and love and has learned to turn acrid and bitter and turn away all and any love. crystal is someone selfish. someone who thinks that she's self-sufficient and would not care to help anyone other than herself.

and then throughout epic winter we see them interact and we see them grow through their relationship with each other. farrah is baffled as to how anyone can be so selfish and self-centered and crystal can't believe anyone as optimistic and naive as farrah exists.

soon they get to know each other however, and crystal learns about farrah and her struggles with realizing her own happiness and farrah learns about crystal's lonely upbringing, and we see how crystal learns to be less selfish and care more about others while farrah learns to finally put herself first and prioritize her own needs sometimes.

and then they kiss in the magical epic winter fever dream because i said so and because all of my favorite ships had cute moments in the dream. i'm not really sure about the end, honestly, i'd just like to change crystal's character.

anyways sorry for this horrible ramble, i just have really strong thoughts on crystal and her ruined potential and epic winter, and i couldn't resist mapping something out.

[cyllres]

Devil | JJK x Makima! Reader

a gift to those who are loyal

#3 - a deal with the devil

The moment she died, her last thoughts were consumed with an overwhelming grief. She knew she would never again be there to protect her little brother, Ryo. Her precious Ryo, who everybody else saw as a monster—a living curse. They couldn’t see what she saw in him: the innocence, the pure heart hidden beneath the label of a cursed being. She refused to let the world hurt him, refused to let Ryo believe that his very existence was a curse.

Determined to protect him even in death, she decided to make a deal, a desperate gamble with forces far beyond her control. She had always known how dangerous it was to trust the very beings that thrive on chaos and suffering. Yet, when she encountered that lonely devil, an entity as isolated and misunderstood as her brother, she saw an opportunity.

This devil, a being who had never known the warmth of family, yearned for companionship as deeply as she yearned to safeguard Ryo. In a moment of shared understanding, she proposed a deal—a deal where both their wishes could come true.

Her offer was simple but binding: the devil’s wish for a family would be fulfilled, but in return, it would protect her younger brother. Her words were laced with a rare vulnerability as she explained the condition. She would offer herself as part of this newfound deal,'no, not as a companion , but a pawn or medium the devil could use to get what the devil wants’. She offers not only her entire soul and body but also her life up to the next reincarnation. In exchange, the devil would ensure Ryo's safety, shielding him from the world's cruelties and allowing him to live without the burden of fear, without the threats of getting hurted.

The devil, intrigued by the prospect of finding a semblance of family, agreed. And so, as her soul intertwined with the devil's, she felt a fleeting moment of peace. Even in death, she had found a way to protect Ryo, ensuring that he would never have to face the world alone.

This pact, born out of desperation and love, was sealed with a promise. But the devil sure has twisted ways of fulfilling her wishes.

The cruel devil, with its powers, fulfilled the little girl’s wish by making her little brother as strong as the amount of people who loathed his existence. As the devil's magic took hold, a dark aura began to envelop the drowning boy, flickering and pulsating like a living shadow. His eyes turned a deep crimson, reflecting the hatred and disdain of those who despised him, tattoos began to litter his bruised and battered skin. Every negative emotion directed at him surged through his veins, fueling his strength and amplifying his power.

The transformation was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. The boy's once frail frame grew muscular, his skin hardened to an almost impenetrable armor. Veins of black energy coursed across his body, a visual testament to the malevolence that now powered him. He clenched his fists, feeling the newfound strength.

Every whispered insult, every scornful glance, every malicious thought directed at him from across the world now served as an inexhaustible wellspring of power. The more people hated him, the stronger he became, an unending cycle of loathing and empowerment. The boy, now a living embodiment of their hatred, stood ready and angry, ready to face any challenge, and angry for his older sister's death. His power grows with every passing second.

At the tender age of five, she understood a truth that most would never grasp in a lifetime: she had become a mother. Not in the traditional sense, but in a way that demanded a maturity far beyond her years. Her little brother, Ryo, with his innocent eyes and unspoken fears, depended on her for everything. The world saw Ryo as a monster, a curse, but she saw only the fragile, vulnerable child who needed her protection.

In those early years, the weight of responsibility settled heavily on her small shoulders. Other children played and laughed without a care, but she was different. She never knew the freedom of being called a little girl who could run to someone else for comfort. Instead, she was forced into a role that demanded strength and resilience beyond her age—a mother in every sense but name.

At the young age of eleven, she faced the end of her short yet profoundly burdened life. The pain was excruciating, but what hurt more was the thought of leaving Ryo behind. As darkness closed in, memories flashed before her eyes—moments spent comforting him, shielding him from a world that saw him as nothing more than a curse. She had always been his protector, his silent guardian in a world filled with shadows.

In her final moments, she found herself standing at the crossroads between life and death. The prospect of never seeing Ryo again was a jagged knife in her heart, but her resolve did not waver. She had one last act of love to perform: a deal that would ensure Ryo's safety long after she was gone.

She was scared of what Ryo has become but she knows it is the only way.

As her spirit faded into the unknown, she felt a strange warmth—a comforting presence that she hoped was a sign that Ryo would never be alone. In her final moments, there was a sense of victory. She had faced the darkness, made a deal with a devil, and ensured that her beloved brother would be safe. It was the ultimate act of love and sacrifice, and for that, she had no regrets.

With that F/n L/n ceased to exist, her whole entirety surrendered to the devil, her essence merging with it. In that same instant, a transformation occurred—the birth of Ryoumen Sukuna, the cursed.

[mdhwrites]

Do you find it rather funny that some (not all) of the people who wanted Amphibia's third season to be filled with angst, panic attacks, tears, grief and parental drama, also wanted a perfectly happy ending to the story rather than the bittersweet one we got? Like, ironic much?

There's a reason why I frame fandom desires for angst to be about shipping and prestige. That they want the high emotions and the claims they can make because of those elements but not what actually comes from it. In other words: Fandoms want Yesterday's Lie's ending from The Owl House.

For those unfamiliar, this is EXACTLY at the half series mark for TOH. Luz's, the main character, mom has just found out that her daughter ran away for the Summer to a different world and when she had to choose between going home or staying there, she chose to stay there. She immediately starts blaming herself and pleading with her daughter that she'll do better but next time, she promises to return, please!

And, Luz, to her credit, is a good daughter and says yes. The sequence is powerful, real, human and tragic. A real acknowledgement of how awful Luz's original choice was while keeping Camila in character of being as caring as she is. A moment that will theoretically solidify the two's bond but to undo will take a LOT of work as Camila will now be forced to stew with this pain as in the moment of the promise, her daughter is ripped away from her again.

It was also a moment I knew COULDN'T matter.

The show simply didn't allow for it. This isn't Amphibia where the girls had to adapt to their surroundings and still had elements about the human realm they liked. Luz isn't surrounded by creatures who are entirely unlike her and thus will always have to deal with some slight element of isolation. The Boiling of Isles of TOH is Luz's home. The show CONSTANTLY reinforces that this is where she belongs. That this isn't just where she can be happy but potentially the ONLY place she can be happy. Her social anxiety vanishes. She can find like minded people. She can live out the fantasies that she always chooses over reality. By the time of Yesterday's Lie, she has not just a found family but also the first friends she's implied to have had in a long time and her first girlfriend. Her life is on the Isles.

So you have literally spent HALF of your runtime reinforcing this. That maybe Luz needs to learn some lessons but her life is with the weirdos. On the Isles. You can't just pivot from that thematically. Not without shifting the show HARD. You have to take a show where Luz's every action has either been shown as positive or able to be fixed and now acknowledge this very real act of monstrousness on her part and the lengths one has to go to fix such a break in trust, let alone when the very next episode wants to portray it as something that is actually really messing with Luz's head.

Of course... That episode also includes Luz lying. And not just that episode. In fact, she will CONSTANTLY lie and break the trust of her girlfriend, and her friends, for literally the rest of the series. This cardinal sin of Luz's, lying to her mother, suddenly becomes a defining trait of hers to an extent never present beforehand. And mind you, it's not universal. To Luz and Eda, she is willing to tell them literally ANYTHING. Her girlfriend though? Fuck her.

It does make the show darker to constantly have your main character be a fucking asshole who whines about the consequences of their actions more than they actually learn from them but does it make it better? Does it make it more mature? Does it make enjoyable? No. Because it's a thematic and tonal betrayal of EVERYTHING that came before. Not that Luz ever managed to really learn anything before but they weren't nearly so blatant about her REFUSING to learn. Worse yet, this isn't a character flaw thing. Lying is one of those things we can all agree is bad but there are NEVER consequences for it because, well, the show still commits to Luz not just being the protagonist but also the hero.

And so this big moment, Yesterday's Lie's ending, is eventually just dropped. Something I could have told you was going to happen the day after the episode came out. It couldn't fit what the show had said about its main character so far and NO ONE would be happy with an ending where she actually keeps to the promise. Undoing the promise also would have cheated the moment, which dropping it does too, not without truly proper build up and reasoning, something the show struggled with in general.

So like many a fanfic, it does this big, super angsty moment... And then never continues it. Those most affected never actually show growth or change from it. It's almost episodic levels of bad how much people just keep forgiving Luz's actions and seem to forget about these really important statements, or how Luz blatantly keeps ignoring everyone around her, and eventually her own words in S3, to keep angsting about this but not actually dealing with it.

And Amphibia, to finally loop back around, did this itself. It took Marcy out of the story in order to have its big break in tone but not have to really deal with the fact that that moment should have had a big impact... On Marcy. Yes, it's brutal for Anne and Sasha but for them, it's just a complicated friend getting potentially killed. For Marcy, it is a betrayal, near death AND she has been pushed away by her friends for her actions. She as a character just isn't compatible with the show, not without the tone of a finale or her being effectively high/drunk to keep her from actually properly acknowledging anything.

It is a narrative tightrope, let alone for kid's media, but Marcy IS a much more expendable character than your main character. Even then, S3 of Amphibia is genuinely about many of the things that the fandom wanted. Her parents are TERRIFIED about what might happen to Anne. Anne can barely keep it together for the first few episodes and makes mistakes she might know better about if not for how she is trying to make her life any less complicated and scary than it already is. The Plantars are really the only ones who don't follow this stuff but even then, episodes like Spider-Sprig still let us see that being outsiders here, when Anne is accepted back in their home, digs at their brains. They also help even out things and keep the tone consistent with the rest of the work, even while it does deal with some of the ramifications of its choices.

It's not perfect but it is what AMPHIBIA can do. Without a future series, it was never going to go as far as these fans wanted.

Though... If you are looking for an Amphibia that might even be tiptoeing up to the line of being for Adult Swim rather than a main kid's programming block, definitely more teen rated with the amount of damage it has, while keeping spot on with the tone of the original and genuinely trying to be mature with its storytelling, I recommend checking out Dr. Neque's Amphibia vol. 2. I jumped in once the trio got back to Amphibia and have been loving it so far.

Even that version of Amphibia knows that it can't be doom and gloom all the time though. That the charm of Amphibia is partially from how absurd and fun it is. How over the top it can be with its silliness and fun. We admittedly just had a fight that was... ROUGH but for similar reasons as to why True Colors was so brutal in its ending but in a state that I think is better narratively by not quite going so far. That's all I will spoil though.

All of this to say that fandom likes the emotions of angst but not its consequences or how it can damage a narrative overall. How you do need to actually be ready to tackle that properly if you want to tackle it at all or else a small trickle of angst can quickly spoil the pot, let alone an entire, rancid apple like what would happen if most fandoms even got a single episode of what they wanted.

After all, TOH fans got what they wanted from the end of Yesterday's Lie and that is the episode that turned my heart on the show. I am SO happy that there is no equivalent for Amphibia.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[hopepaigeturner]

An Offer from An Avid Reader: Eloise's Storyline

So, I’ve touched upon this before, but Eloise will be another significant storyline within S4. Primarily because she can push along bigger plot points, but also because I think S5 will be her season.

I’ve touched upon my hopes for Eloise, her character development and her season here and here—go check them out if you want. But this post is going to be delving into the specifics of Eloise’s character arc in S4.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From talking to doing.

This season I wish for Eloise to do something. Now, whether this is taking up Whistledown from Penelope (which I’m not 100% about) or starting her own column—that is up to the S3 writers. But I would like her to do something.

My idea is that she starts doing a column, a little more political than Whistledown, but along those lines. Why? Because it works. Penelope showed that it was a successful model to grab people’s attention—so why wouldn’t Eloise be able to achieve the same thing? Surely Penelope showed that this is the only successful way to get your voice heard?

 Expect that Eloise is not Penelope, so while Whistledown was very popular, Eloise’s will be less so. It’s not a complete failure but everyone compares it to Whistledown in the negative.

And ofcourse it is not as good as Penelope’s! Opinion columns were the best way for Penelope to express herself and her talent. Eloise is not Penelope; she needs to find her own writing form.

Consequently, throughout the season we get Eloise running around Bloomsbury with a very faithful footman and her slightly exasperated ladies’ maid—Sophie.

Links with other storylines:

Eloise will be in a prime position to be the one who publishes the servant scandal that Whistledown did in the book.

The trios hijinks around London can set up the scene where Sophie almost gets spotted by Araminta…which leads to her panic attack…which leads to Benedict helping her…which lead to that sofa scene.

By the end of the season Eloise has matured in her writing, realising that she should do what she wants to do, not what everyone else does. And this leads her to submit the manuscript of her novel to a certain publishing house that is run by a plant-loving herbologist…

Feminist Education:

In this season Eloise will learn the true plight of working-class women and how they have even less power than herself.

She will also come to understand a fundamental truth of all justice seeking movements; justice movements should be constructed based upon what the oppressed want, not what their more privileged counterparts assume they wish for. As Sophie shall say;

“You have passion, you have the mind…you just need the heart, Eloise.”

Scenes/Plot:

The Lady in the Black Veil scenes

Sophie talking back/truth talking to Eloise

Episode 4: Eloise becomes a maid for the day and learns about needing empathy.

Eloise publishing the servant scandal.

Link with other storylines:

Sets up/teaches her skills for empathy, ready for Phillip in her season. More here.

A key avenue to Eloise's softening this season.

Gradually eroding self-esteem and isolation.

This is the season where Eloise starts feeling ‘left behind’, isolated and useless. I like how in past seasons we have seen flickers of how, yes, Eloise has distaste for the ton—but she still feels an overwhelming pressure to succeed in it.

All her sisters have been a success in the marriage mart, a force compounded in this season by Francesca’s love-match to an Earl.  Her mother continually misunderstands her, (even though she tries quite hard) and even heightens Eloise’s shame and insecurities. And the pressure increases because Francesca has a love-match so there is only Eloise and Benedict left. I think we can all guess who Violet would focus on more…

Further, Eloise no longer has Pen.

Penelope is off living a life full of love and adventure with Colin (as she should be). And if she returns it is no longer Eloise who is her favourite Bridgerton. It is not Eloise who Penelope wishes to sit next to. It is not Eloise who Penelope will share her hopes, fears, and jokes. In Eloise’s eyes, Colin has replaced her.

And other than Penelope, Eloise doesn’t really have any friends. She’s socially awkward at the best of times and combative at the worst. She does not care for dancing or dresses or suitors like most of the ton, so conversation is bound to be stilted. And she really struggles to put on a façade with anyone. What you see is what you get with Eloise Bridgerton and that is refreshing for the audience but at the same time, in a culture where pretence is a necessity, very jarring.

Consequently:

Eloise is more likely to wish for a friend, and latch onto Sophie throughout the season.

Secondly, it will set her up to be in a position where she stands at the beginning of TSPWL. A place where she is a little desperate…and desperately lonely.

For ofcourse, all her friends have chosen another Bridgerton over her. And ofcourse, her greatest allies shall be married and living far away from Bridgerton House—this being Benedict and Sophie.

She shall be the disappointment of the family, the spinster who sits unnoticed in the corner as her baby-filled, love-gushing family swirl around. Now pushed further on the fringes, her voice maturing but also quieting…

Overall, while Eloise grows as a writer and feminist in season 4 she shall have growing isolation, and lack of self-worth.

Why, a marriage of convenience might be a very intriguing concept…especially as at the end of the season when Eloise has her pen pal.

Just think: desperation +rashness+ lovely garden-adoring botanist, (who happens to own a publishing house) = just enough motivation for a little trip to the countryside…

*~*~*~*~*

I’d love to hear your ideas/corrections/opinions and always open to chat or requests. So...

Check out the list here, for more of my ideas.

Check out the general arcs of my prospective S4 here.

Thanks for reading--go grab yourself a cup of tea!

[naniwagusto]

I think Asuka's new wind attacks and vfx she has going on in 8 are her manifesting Kazama powers. She will either never get the ability to cleanse devils OR this is her precursor to getting that down the line. Even if she were to get her family's holy powers it would have to come from a moment of deep catharsis or emotion; Asuka would have to sincerely want for someone other than herself. In fact I'm still deeply glad 8 had Jin be the one to cleanse himself, due to a laundry list of reasons I believe that would have made Asuka terrible in that role, as opposed to him being the one to fix/better himself in the allegory.

But back to her and wind, wind makes perfect sense as an element she can be associated with. It fits with her bird motifs from the very beginning as a thematic symbol for her free spirit. For her taking pride in her freedom. For the storm that she is and exudes with all her strong headed turbulent emotions. For her self sufficiency. She's always been someone to do what she wants; someone blown in many directions by the circumstances that find her or she pursues. And it implies her movements have only grown in power that the force behind all her attacks is now becoming visible. Her power isn't getting stagnant it's growing meaning she's working at it and her body is responding.

She's gained a nature association like the other Kazamas but in a way that manifests from within herself, not a connection made with the world or the spiritual around her. From 5 to 7 she was forced into being alone. The battles she threw herself into then left her with no choice but to rely on herself and her own inner strength, running opposite to both Jun and Jin who matured their powers because of and in response to outside connection.

The new dragon install mechanic they gave her with 'Naniwa Gusto' is exactly this in practice to me. It's a rise in power and focus because Asuka off camera and through time became in touch with herself more and gained deeper understanding of her own spirit and power, but more importantly how to better control it. A lot of her new animations while in Naniwa Gusto exhibit precision, deliberately telegraphed control, focused aggressive bursts that make her active over reactive in only using her opponents against themselves before. And she's a Kazama from the inner city so detached from the heavy nature and spiritual tradition emphasis of the now dead main branch. Of course it would make sense for someone isolated like that to instead reach within themselves to connect to those sorts of concepts and forces. Most likely subconsciously when it started.

This is personal aesthetic choice too but I like to think when she does activate Naniwa Gusto, her eyes briefly glow whitish blue green to match her wind and the aura she gains in that state.

But I do really like the idea of Naniwa Gusto and her Rage Art now being able to summon wind on purpose down her arm/punch, giving her the Kazama dive kicks with massive gales behind them etc. Asuka has always been a self contained, opposing take on what it means to be a Kazama. So it's only fitting even when she gains power a Kazama is naturally expected to have her version of it manifests from her individuality, not conforming to her family.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

art | Wallace Polsom, The Absent Father (for Sylvia Plath) (2019), paper collage, 16.6 x 24.2 cm.

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The Absent Father Effect on Daughters There is no question that fathers play an important role in their daughters lives. An involved father is crucial for psychological, behavioural and general health and well-being. Having a related father figure helps a daughter as she needs his wisdom, experience, imparting of skills and kindly guidance. When fathers are actively present in a loving nurturing relationship, daughters have greater self confidence, perform better in school and are able to avoid risky behaviour. The father is ideally an anchor, giving the daughter a foundation, a solid point of reference. Yet when absent, her experiences of self are achieved against the background of loss. This influences how she does or does not cope with the inevitable vicissitudes experienced throughout life. When the father is absent, she is susceptible to the invasion of negative images and behaviours. The mirroring of father to daughter is made up of his empathic responses to her needs, wishes, experiences, behaviours and gives legitimacy, validation and a sense of worth. The search for the father is the search for herself. It resides in the place she doesn't yet know. The longing for the father, for good attention and support are never met and can prevent her from receiving and expressing pleasure. When the father has emotionally disappeared or is a stranger, the daughter is left with a gap where the kind and loving father should be. His absence is a haunting presence as daughters report bleak, tonally inert, intimately blank relationships. The influence can create unreal mechanical reactions. Too few opportunities for good experiences between a father and daughter pass on a legacy of non involvement and personal detachment. Her actions become inhibited, emotional development arrested and adult maturity faked. Without sufficient emotional connection, attachment becomes disjointed and inhibited. Internally alone, she might be sexually frozen, unconsciously preserved in a childish way, appearing helpless, dependent, or at times, inappropriately aggressive. Psychologically she is affectively deadened and unable to move out of the internalized isolation. She is either so self-focused the other is not included or so other-focused that she is eliminated. This is what she picks up from the father not there for reciprocity of interaction. In reaction a daughter might become defensive, the complexes rigid and persona over or under developed, her natural self absent. The internalisation of this form of the absent father threatens the daughters separate identity. Defenses are forms of narratives, created in imagination and fantasy to support a positive sense of identity and personal worth when these are threatened by cruelty, hostility or indifference from those on whom we are most dependent. She had not allowed herself to feel. From her emotionally absent father she learned forced adaptability, vigilant and watching behaviour and to quell her desires. The desire to know him was the desire to know herself. When the childhood paradise is destroyed too early with a father's absence prior to the time of natural separation, the emotional disturbance can feel like a crime against the daughters personality, often resulting in self persecutory actions and internal vengeance. The negative father complex can alienate her from her body, and various physical reactions point to anxieties about unmet needs and desires. A daughter learns to compensate with persona formation, as if there is no problem. But this persona is like a carapace or shell and is not always internally connected to the real inside. It becomes a deceptive pseudo covering to compensate for the discontinuous emotions, identified with filling a role and acting. ~ Susan E. Schwartz, The Absent Father Effect on Daughters. 

[meltthefrozenheart]

Why Hans is not simply a "Villain", and why his absence in Frozen 2 is justified:

Frozen is not a franchise about Villains going around, creating a "Good Vs Evil" situation, as it's not a franchise where the Love Interest is the main sentimental force: it's about two Sisters growing and maturing in response to terrible trauma and years of isolation.

Hans moves perfectly and is so impactful when he reveals himself in F1 because he's the "first important person" Anna meets outside the castle, but it's also the person whose behavior and actions are in "contrast" with Elsa's troubled and dangerous one during the whole story:

If we wanted to simplify Anna's journey in a schematic way, we could put it down like this: Elsa is her Point A, Hans is her Point B and Kristoff is her Point C.

Kristoff is put in the middle of a situation where Anna moves from Elsa to Hans, and from Hans to Elsa.

Her unusual need for romance is driven from the lack of a relationship with her sister, but it's also mediated by the fact that she was "raised in a castle", used to a certain view of who the "perfect man" his and this creates her own "narrative constrast" with Kristoff, something that's only hers, impacting thing even more when she realizes "too late" that Kristoff loves her:

Then, why leaving Hans out of Frozen 2 works? Because of two important reasons:

Frozen 2 is focused on Elsa's POV, a search for answers about her powers and her true destiny, diving in their parents and family history, and that creates the subvertion about romance and villainy in this context;

The events of Frozen are the base for the characters insecurities, even if they all think everything seems perfectly fine because of Anna's belief in "Happy Endings";

Hans would've capitalized far too easily the situation. I would remind how Frozen 2, focusing on Elsa and her powers's origin, showing her taming the Spirits, forced the directors to limit the Kristanna content and relegate Kristoff to a secondary role, while, in one of the previous versions, his arc saw him already engaged to Anna from the start (Get This Right), but also hiding his unsatisfaction regarding his life in Arendelle (all things we saw Anna enjoyed and craved in F1), causing a temporaly break up when he was forced by the Nokk to reveal his own truth, with Anna clearly reliving Hans lies and cruelties;

In regards to this last point, there is another a important detail: if we recall HOW things happened in the fist movie, the only caracter that actually saw and lived Hans full cruelty and selfishness was Anna herself, while Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff & Sven only based their experiences on what she told them of him, or purely believing his lies and then facing the consequences of his actions:

That's probably both the most unresolved aspect from the first movie, but also the reason why Hans could've been such an heavy burden for the narrative, without having the other main characters "prepared" like they are now with this new status quo: how giving him space and getting to know who he truely is, without becoming easily overwhelming for the characters is they were in the same context we saw them at the end of the 1st Frozen?

[dwellordream]

Notable American Women: BLACKWELL, Elizabeth (Feb. 3, 1821 - May 31, 1910)

“..This favorite daughter was a diminutive blonde (five feet, one inch tall), plainer than her sisters and reserved, but with resources of strength and courage which marked her as a leader even in childhood. In maturity her expressive hands and resonant voice were her most commanding features. From her early years she sought challenges which tested her powers of endurance, as if unconsciously preparing for a life of trial; as a schoolgirl she occasionally slept on the bare floor to “harden” her body.

…From girlhood she admitted she had been extremely susceptible to the “disturbing influence exercised by the other sex,” but whenever she “became sufficiently intimate with any individual to be able to realise what a life association might mean,” she “shrank from the prospect, disappointed or repelled.” 

…When a woman friend urged her to study medicine, the idea at first repelled her, for she “hated everything connected with the body” and from childhood had been “filled... with disgust” by “the physical structure of the body and its various ailments.” But after “many a severe battle” she determined to seek a career in medicine and thus place a “strong barrier” between herself and matrimony.

..To her joy she was accepted by Geneva College in west central New York. Only later did she learn that the administration at Geneve had referred her application to the students, who had accepted it with much hilarity, supposing it was a spoof perpetrated by a rival school.

Miss Blackwell began her studies in November, and soon tasted the isolation and loneliness that would attend the course she had chosen. Ostracized by the townspeople as “queer” or immoral, and at first barred from classroom demonstrations, she was sustained only by the excitement of her work; but with quiet dignity and gentleness masking her iron will, she soon turned curiosity into respect. The professor of anatomy, James Webster, became a friend and defender, and the students, though occasionally rude, were in general friendly, even admiring. 

…On Jan. 23, 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell received her medical degree from Geneva. Realizing that she must seek further education abroad, she went to England that April-first, however, becoming naturalized as an American citizen. In England she visited family and old friends and was cordially received in hospitals in Birmingham and London. 

Paris was her ultimate objective, but she was disappointed to discover she could secure practical experience only through enrollment as a student midwife at La Maternité, a large state institution. With characteristic good humor, she made light of this frustration and found profit in the opportunities offered. 

Her training came to a half, however, when she contacted purulent ophthalmia after treating a child suffering from the disease. The anguish of the following eleven months was partly physical but largely mental, for the eventual loss of sight in one eye meant abandonment of her cherished hope of becoming a surgeon. 

…August 1851 found her back in New York, eager to begin her medical career. For the next seven years, however she experienced every possible discouragement. She was barred from practice in city dispensaries and hospitals, ignored by medical colleagues, and insultingly attacked in anonymous letters. Unable to find anyone who would rent decent consulting rooms to a “female physician”--a term then used by a notorious New York abortionist, Madame Restell--she was forced to buy a house (79 East 15th Street) she could ill afford.

…In 1853 she opened on a part-time basis a one-room dispensary in a tenement district of New York, treating two hundred poor women the first year. After several years of fundraising, she expanded this to a hospital, the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, established at 64 Bleecker Street in 1857. By this time she had two strong and capable allies in her sister Dr. Emily Blackwell, who returned from postgraduate training in Europe in 1856, and Dr. Marie E. Zakrzewska, newly graduated from Western Reserve, whom Elizabeth had previously helped and encouraged. 

…The Year 1868 brought the final realization of Elizabeth Blackwell’s plan for a medical college and her own appointment to the first chair of hygiene. There were medical schools for women in Boston and Philadelphia, but she wanted to set higher standards than these schools could offer, conscious that women would receive particular scrutiny from the medical profession. 

At the Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary she established entrance examinations (ten years before they were made compulsory by state law), a three-year graded course with longer terms than commonly prevailed, ample opportunity for clinical experience, and, to attest to the high caliber of the training, an examining board, independent of the faculty, appointed from among the most eminent physicians in the city. Now women could at least obtain a better-than-average education, in an institution connected with a hospital where they could receive the necessary clinical training and experience.

…Not all her views were soundly based. She was a vocal opponent of vaccination because of the death of a young patient from infection early in her professional life, and her hostility to animal experimentation made her unable to appreciate the work of Claude Bernard, Pasteur, Koch, and others. But despite these negative stands, and although she made no direct contribution to medical science, her stress on the importance of preventive medicine, sanitation, and public health, and her willingness to speak out on problems of sexual behavior were in advance of her time.

- Notable American Women, Volume I: A-F, 1971

[love-bxte]

I will never be over how doomed Bella swan was the moment that Edward took a liking to her. Edward being able to project his own image of Bella onto her and actively seeking her out despite knowing and acknowledging the risk in favor of his own desires. His natural vampire charm that lures humans in, something they can't resist, got Bella hooked. His vampire nature puts her in so many life threatening situations that in the extremely short time they're together Bella has gone through so much as a 17/18 year old kid. Edward even acknowledges it multiple times throughout the series, that he's to blame for the horrors Bella is facing, Yet he does little to actually stay way. Everyone in his life urged him to keep away from Bella for her safety as well as the safety of the cullens, but he didn't. Repeatedly Edward states Bella shouldn't be friends with him, that she should stay away, but he is actively seeking her out. Edward constantly follows her, breaks into her room, watches Bella sleep, and approaches her because he is obsessed with Bella.

New moon we can see these effects Edward has had on Bella clearly, she's going through hell without him due to how dependent he has made Bella due to his own obsessive behavior. Her whole life at that point was revolving around him, every single day together, every single class was spent together, the two have become so dependent on each other, neither can function apart. Then we see Bella healing, hanging out with Jacob and becoming herself again with the company of someone who is willing to help her through grieve. There isn't this underlying supernatural force driving these two together or a fascination of some kind. There's care and friendship as the foundation of their relationship. Jacob helps her become herself again, helps her laugh and gives her a place where she can be herself. Joking about their metaphorical ages let her be the younger one. She has always been the one taking care of the people around her, maturing quickly in order to do so. She was healing. But with the wounds Edward left on her still bleed. Hallucinating visions of him, seeking him out much like he used to. Bella needed to see him in any way she could because she was addicted to Edward. He branded her that even through the path of healing, he stumped her growth, leading her to jump off the cliff and his return.

I whole heartedly believe that if Edward did not return, stayed away like he promised, Bella would've been happy. She would've worked through the hallucinations of him, would've had the support from her friends and father to work through these issues, even gone through college. But he didn't.

He reintroduced himself into her life and reversed all the progress she made, risked her life again because of his actions, involved her with the volturi and essentially sentenced her to death. He started isolating her from her friends, started "protecting" her from the only people who truly had good intentions for her well-being. This obviously soured Jacob as well, making the sweet boy Bella knew into an aggressive person trying everything in his power to make her love him. They turned her into a prize, into something both were fighting over without considering what was truly best for Bella. Who was truly best for her.