#there’s also something about learning a new way of existing

[adragonsfriend]

There are no trash takes on Jedi philosophy, there is contextual analysis.

As may be obvious from the title (humorous--I have gone through several common misinterpretations myself), this is about that infamous scrap of poetry,

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

And the other version,

Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.

I've seen quite a few interpretations of these along the lines of "the second version is reasonable but the first version is crazy and stupid," so here's why I think both versions are actually communicating the same idea, and the wording doesn't really change the meaning much at all.

So just like I did in my post about "do or do not there is not try," let's start by asking some questions to establish context before we look at the text itself.

Is it THE Jedi Code or just a mantra? Legends says it's the Code, canon says it's a mantra. The fact of the matter is that no matter what, it's really a scrap of poetry which couldn't encompass the entire philosophical basis of a culture even if it was trying, so we'll consider it a mantra.

Does the fact that it's a mantra rather than THE Jedi Code mean that we can't get anything deep or meaningful out of it? Of course not. Just because it's not the whole of or a full explanation of Jedi philosophy doesn't mean it's just a nice sounding string of words.

Who is saying this to who? This mantra is often used to focus a meditation, with the first phrasing used by adults in the culture, while the second phrasing is more often used by children.

What were George Lucas' inspirations for Jedi culture that relate to this mantra? (borrowing from this post) A combination of christianity, buddhism, and his interpretations. I'm not an expert in any religion, and definitely not in buddhism, but I know enough to know I'm about to make some sweeping generalizations, so take this with a grain of salt. Disclaimers aside, this mantra, and the way it is phrased, indicate it is being inspired more by buddhism. The way christian texts, specifically the Bible, are written typically goes "here is a story about people doing something, and here is how big G god and/or Jesus reacted." There are metaphors sprinkled in, but they are mainly there to clarify for readers. Buddhist texts on the other hand (and lots of other eastern belief systems as well, like daoism, hinduism, etc. It's an important note that these belief systems don't necessarily conform to the western idea of what a religion is, and often their original languages don't even have a word which is equivalent in meaning to "religion") use metaphor in often deliberately contradictory ways, to make the reader think about things which are difficult to express in words alone. The ongoing struggle to reconcile contradictory descriptions is the point. This doesn't mean those texts can be interpreted however a reader would like. There may be multiple right interpretations, but there can also be wrong interpretations.

What the mantra does NOT mean:

"There is no ___ …" =/= "The experience of ___ is fake news."

"There is no ___ …" =/= "___ is not a useful concept."

"There is no ___ …" =/= "We should totally ignore ___ and pretend we've never heard that word before."

The mantra is not realy a set of advice on how to act. It's a set of statements about Existance. And I do mean capital E, philosophical, epistemological, weird, deep, think-y, Existence.

Temperature Metaphor

You know the first time someone tells you as a kid that cold isn't real, it's just the absence of heat and you're like… "but I'm touching something right now and it feels cold???" It sounds wild the first time you hear it, but as you think about it more, maybe learn about it a second time in science class, get some more context about how molecules work, etc. it begins to make more sense. It gets easier to grasp, until eventually the knowledge feels intuitive--especially if you're a STEM person who thinks about it a lot. We still talk about cold as a concept, because it's useful to us as well--lack of heat can have damaging effects on our bodies after all, and a cold drink is great on a hot day--and it's more efficient to say "cold" than it is to say "lack of heat." But there are some situations, like developing refrigeration or air conditioning, where it is not just useful but essential to think of temperature as it really is--heat exists, cold doesn't--and thinking of it colloquially can only hold us back (if this isn't actually intuitive to you, that's fine, it's just a metaphor--you could also think about dark being the absence of light, vacuum being the absence of mass, any number of things mirror this).

Probably the easiest like to get one's head around, imo at least, is "there is no ignorance, there is knowledge."

Taken hyper-literally it would mean "why seek out knowledge ever when everyone already knows everything?" But if we say knowledge is to heat as ignorance is to cold, then we can understand the real meaning--knowledge is real, where ignorance is only the name of an experience.

The Whole Mantra

This is the way the Jedi are understanding of emotion, ignorance, passion, chaos, death, etc. They are introduced, as children, to the idea that whilst they may feel all of these things, what they are actually experiencing is the lack of the other things--peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony, the Force. That's why they start with the "___ yet ___" phrasing--it introduces them to the first steps of understanding:

They can feel emotions, yet peace is still real and out there to reach for no matter how overwhelming those emotions may be at the moment,

They can feel ignorant or unknowledgeable, yet knowledge is out there to find,

They can experience passion (meaning suffering or pain in this context), yet know that serenity will return to them,

They can find their surroundings chaotic, and yet look for the harmony in the noise,

They can understand that death happens, yet be comforted by the fact that the person dying is still as much a part of the Force as they ever were.

Eventually they move onto the full mantra:

They will always feel emotions, but if they always reckon with those emotions and pass through them they can always return to a place of peace,

If they feel ignorant, they must seek out knowledge, rather than acting rashly. Also, their own knowledge is not the limit--others may hold knowledge in places they consider clouded,

They may experience suffering and pain--it may even feel like a good thing--but there is no wisdom in pain, it is the distraction from serenity, which is where truth can be found,

No matter how chaotic the world appears, it is actually a part of an underlying harmony that makes up all the patterns and the beauty in the world,

Death is not an ending, no matter how much it may look like one. It is a natural transition back into the Force, the place all life comes from.

A Jedi youngling is someone for whom this understanding is an essential part of the culture they are being brought up in.

A Jedi Padawan is someone who is beginning to learn to apply this understanding outside the confines of the Jedi temple, in a world where not everyone shares it.

A Jedi Knight is someone who has learned to apply this understanding on their own, without supervision.

A Jedi Master is someone for whom this understanding has become intuitive and automatic, no matter their surroundings.

All this is to say,

[yannaryartside]

Carmy will have to decide between two types of love

I keep thinking about why Carmy (possibly) deciding between Claire and Syd is taking so much time on the overall plot of the series. We have used a entire season of him falling for Claire, and my theory is that in this season the Syd vs Claire is gonna be toe to toe, and then in the final season he goes for Syd.

Now, if that happens this way, I have been analysing it from a writers perspectives, how this love stories create Carmen ultimate character arc. I am gonna propose to you two narratives and why I would go for the later. Character analysis ahead.

The Claire option

Walk with me here. If you ship Claire and Carmy and believe the trailers, you could say this whole thing is about Carmy learning to accept love and good things. That is why the last season ended with him rejecting the relationship out of trauma just to realize that Claire loved him. This season could be about him healing to a point where he learns he deserves love, apologizing to Claire, and getting back together. And you know what, that does make sense, writing this show as an exercise for learning to heal childhood wounds. It is clean and makes sense. Then in s4 his new self can make all the good decisions, have a couple of kids, bum you have an arc.

But the background noise, or the clues floating around, to call it something, doesn't make sense. Here insert all the Sydcarmy clues the fandom has talked about.

The show is trying to tell us that Claire is the love Carmy wants because he is trapped in his wounded self mentality.

As I said in this post, Claire's behavior looked extremely naive but manipulative sometimes. Her relationship with his family and the trauma surrounding it. How everybody seems more enthusiastic than him about the relationship at times.

The reason: the wound.

Claire is uncomplicated love, love with no expectations or boundaries, with only space for his needs, never hers. That is the kind of love a child expects from a parent. My theory is that Carmen, being with Claire, wanted to experience that kind of love, the one he didn't get from Donna. with a touch of his teen self fantasies and sex included.

And that also makes sense. Everybody that has been abused, particularly in childhood, will tell you that picking a partner without relying on your wounded self is very difficult.

A little bit of TMI on healing from abuse when you look for a romantic partner: One of the reasons I got into therapy is because I was terrified to end up marrying a man as abusive as my dad was with my mom and me. I had a problematic episode with one of my exboyfriends that made me realize I was repeating specific patterns, even when consciously, I thought I was picking men who didn't act like my father. It is something difficult precisely because you are not aware of it. It is all happening subconsciously.

So maybe that is why the writers want to give Carmen the chance to choose a partner as a healed person (Syd) and not as a wounded person desperate for love (Claire)

You cannot choose a romantic partner looking for the love of a parent, because parent to child love is the only type of unconditional love that can exist. Some therapist will tell you that the only way to cure that lack is with self love and forgiveness, but that is besides the point of this post.

Romantic relationships cannot be unconditional, it is a partnership. There needs to be expectations of grow, sacrifices and compromises, the two people need to get their needs met. You may heal together, but you partner may trigger your wounds sometimes, the same as your other relationships.

Syd definitely forces Carmy to evolve, while Claire enables him and keeps him in his past self.

Now here is where I think the twist of the series will come.

Remember when I said that Carmys core wound is ther he felt he was not good enough for Donna to love him? Because he could not be like Michael? This is the post

Syd is Carmy’s anchor and his peace. She is also characterized as someone who helps people to grow, who gives grace and sincerity when mistakes are made. She is the actually healthy woman/parent he never experienced.

Carmen has not healed his core wound. The lie he believes that he has to go the extra mile to earn people's love. The way he became the best chef in the world, dreaming of just getting a “good job” from his older brother.

But because his wounded self doesn't feel like he can be enough for somebody he actually wants (Syd), he felt for a woman that didn't asked anything of him (Claire).

That (never giving but always receiving) dynamic is what allowed Carmy to accept the relationship in the first place.

Thinking of all this made me realize that not only has Syd been the only person Carmy had chosen for himself (as other posts have brilliantly pointed out), but Syd is literally the only person who can make a relationship with him work. She had seen the worst of him (Donna) and had the capacity to make him think of himself beyound all that, hence the peace that she brings him “you are the best cdc” as in “you are great, you are good, a good partner, a good leader, you are my friend” you are not just the bear (your wounded self). He smiles because the person that he wants can see this even if he doesn't dare to belive it yet.

So I don't know how they could make Carmy realize all of this. I also could be wrong and the meaning of all of this could be something completly different. I also don't know of this opinion is controversial. Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.

[nightcolorz]

Another Armandtism q: how do you think he would relate to the modern conceptualization of his neurodivergence? Would he see himself in the concept of autism and find some measure of comfort in it, or reject it out of hand as something that doesn’t apply to him? How would someone who was born before the field of psychiatry react to being told that part of who they are is considered reflective of a “condition” or a “disorder”?

ahhhh omggg I love this question!!! ❤️❤️ I think Armand would have trouble applying it to himself partly bcus he is much more spiritually +philosophy minded then conscious of like modern medicine and science. So I think it would be easier for him to understand his autism as a hypothetical characteristic then a diagnosis, bcus that’s what he’s used to. I doubt this dude has ever even been to a doctor so I imagine trying to understand himself through that modern perspective would be uncomfortable and feel foreign for him.

But! Armand is a fast and eager learner, while characters like lestat and Louis have that old person bitterness that keeps them from wanting to understand the modern perspective (bcus of pride that tells them that what they’re used to is better) Armand rlly wants to evolve with the times and to understand all the new technology and scientific advancements that come with it. So I don’t think he’d be so hesitant to explore the world of modern psychiatry. I think his natural curiosity and desire to understand things outside of his comprehension would overpower his fear of vulnerability + fear of exploring his own mind + lack of natural understanding of what he’s being exposed to. I don’t think it would be out of character for Armand to seek out an autism diagnosis just out of interest in learning about modern day phycology and neurology practices 😭.

Also, on my earlier note about how understanding these things from a modern perspective would be hard for Armand bcus of how spiritual he is, Armand has already tried adopting the spiritual explanation for his autism into his self perception (the whole “not made by human hands”, u r in some way other and inhuman bcus of ur connections to god, thing of his childhood), and that mindset has caused him nothing but pain and confusion. I can say from experience that being unaware of and undiagnosed autistic, for me and for someone as overthinking as Armand, feels often like always looking for an ambiguous answer that u can not even identify u r looking for. And I see that in Armand, I feel like for a lot of his existence he has been searching for an explanation for “why he is the way that he is” and the older he gets the more distressing and hopeless this search feels, bcus it seems that there is no answer, and he is just weird and unknowable and forever isolated for reasons he can not understand. So!! I think if he was able to get past his barriers, like his fear and difficulty when it comes to talking about himself, and the vulnerability it would take to open himself up to that, Armand would find the explanation that he is autistic rlly comforting + validating! Despite his spirituality, Armand finds science more comforting them God, bcus of all that religious trauma he considers modern secularism and technology almost soothing and reassuring (which is probably part of his fixation on it). So I think being given a diagnosis, a reassurance that this ambiguous wrongness about him is in fact a scientific, concrete neurological disorder that isn’t indicative of some spiritual destiny or devil influence or whatever, would rlly be pretty comforting for Armand to hear. “You have a fairly common disorder” I feel like is less scary and difficult to cope with then “you have an ambiguous, inherent wrongness that separates u from other ppl and is probably connected to ur divine fate” (which is what Armand has been internalizing for his entire life 😭)

thank u sm for the ask AHHH!!! I love Armand autism asks SM!!

[bingeeaterblog]

RE TOUKEN REWRITE

Starting this by saying, this is gonna be messy and not super in depth. Just a timeline of things I think should've or could've been done differently. You're still allowed to enjoy original re touken this is just how I would've liked to see it.

Dragon kaneki also doesn't happen because I think that was a stupid arc didn't make sense

So I'm just gonna be vague about that kaneki will be injured and missing that whole shabang

And all those people died because of war the ccg vs ghouls lead by aoigiri(all started by kaneki so he gets that good sexy guilt for the death of thousands of people without the butchering of ghoul biology) this is actually an idea I've had for awhile but that's for another time

I will make a post on what I think would've worked better

Touka thinks kanekis dead, that during the owl extermination he was put down. she creates re in hopes of helping ghouls just like yoshimura did.

We start off with Haise and Toukas first meeting, him and quinx are coming in to re. Touka sees them, Haise sees touka. The whole crying thing happens but not how it actually happened. Toukas too overwhelmed... he's not dead? Yomos the one who has to serve them. Haise can tell he's tense, curious but he doesn't ask. Why was that girl so .. familiar?

Haise begins frequenting re, out of pure curiosity and well the coffees great. Toukas collected enough to actually see him this time, she smiles and puts up that sweet catering waitress front. She's.. confused.. it's obvious he doesn't remember her but .. why? What happened during the time he completely disappeared? Why is he a dove? Her anger is overtaken by this wonder. For the time being.

Haises sweet and is very subtly flirting. He is DISGUSTINGLY bad at it and all touka can think is "yeah .. that's kaneki alright."

She speaks to nishio about this and he tells her his encounter with him. Talks about the freak out he had, the moment of clarity. Touka hopes there's still a way to bring him back ..

Touka doesn't actively seek out haise, him coming to re is enough. It's like seeing the corpse of a man you once loved being dragged along by a parasite. While she does enjoy his visits it leaves her tense, aching for the kaneki she once knew. The green haired boy with the eypatch reminds her of him... The soft nervous smile just his behavior felt like kaneki just... Different... Tooru was his name? She can't recall

Something in haise makes him /ache/ for touka, that familiar pouty face just makes something inside him stir. They yearn for each other

"Meeting" haise has given her a new insight on the doves, she doesn't know how to feel about this.

Part of her wants to hate him, he's the sole reason he's like this now because he wanted to be a "hero" wanted to save everyone. But she also knows haise isn't to blame for that, she also knows haise isn't supposed to even exist. It's conflicting, so many emotions with no way to express them.

She thinks of Ayato, someone who also left her alone... Was he also trying to protect her? What about hinami? Why can't anyone just stay with her?

Eventually... Haise stops showing up at re. It brings touka to a state of deep sorrow, anger, and calm. Shes worried for him, but not having him around anymore is sort of peaceful... She doesn't need to think about him, but she does anyways, that's all Touka does . Think and long for a past where anteiku stood, where yoshimura was in the backroom, where kaneki was still kaneki and hinami was still small. Where she wasn't so alone

She doesn't want him to come back, it'll only make things harder.(She definitely does want him)

Touka... Begins to move on? Sure she's always thinking of him and tsukiyamas intrusion didn't help but... She's learning to live again. She's sad but.. content she helps the ghouls that come in with their wounds or their hunger. She's even looking into going to college, something she always wanted to do and almost actually got to do before.. everything. Her love for biology never faded just got put on pause. Maybe she could look back into it! Or.. wait for kaneki a little longer.. just a little longer.

Ever since he "came back" she's realized how dearly she missed him. She was fine (?) when she thought he was dead why couldn't he have just...no no she could never wish that.

We are now at the tsukiyama family raid, while I have my problems with this, overall I think it was one of res peaks, only saying this so you are up to date on what point in the story we're at.

When kaneki finally wakes up, he thinks of his goal, the one goal that stayed even during his dormancy. To protect the people he loves. With haise asleep he can do that. To protect hinami... Shuu... Touka . He won't fail them like he did Hide.

And apparently shirazu? I guess😭

Black reaper is here, and boy is he overcompensating, the tough guy act is back . He's cold. He's mean. He "nearly" kills eto, someone he was actually supposed to save. And.. part of him... does? I don't know what that whole deal was don't ask me it's still confusing this is all canon here I am so confused about the black reaper vs eto fight yk what? Bad time back to touken rewrite back to non canon that should be canon

He throws shuu off a fucking roof yeah that happens I guess maybe it was a last ditch effort to save him. do I really have cover all this I don't think so actually but whatever his resolve his back the savior complex is back full force you get it

When touka sees kaneki again, after he's got hinami, she's angry. She knows kanekis back, nows her chance to finally get out that frustration. It's a bad time, not now... She pushed down her rage. "I'll see you." Not knowing kaneki intends to die by the hands of his father, Arima. Touka intends to see him later, to finally give him a piece of her mind. Oh tragic doomed lovers

During him and Arimas fight, all he thinks of is his friends, the people he needs to protects. Especially Touka, her words run through his head "I'll see you". I'll see you.

After his internal talk with "Hide" he realizes, he wants to live. "You just haven't found a reason to live, you'll find one in no time" and he had.. he just hadn't realized before.. he wants to live for everybody,, for touka.

If you noticed, not much has changed for black reaper and Touka

That's because I really love them for the most part, touka has been watered down but not nearly as much as she is in later parts of the story. This is where we fall out of canon touken almost entirely, because this is where my real problems with it start. Not just my problems with Touka.

After arimas death, Kaneki his heir, becomes the new one eyed king. Yomo and ayato had gotten hinami safely back to re. Touka stays behind to look for Kaneki. He wants to apologize but he's met with a clean punch to the face, just like the first time he left. Touka screams at him, unleashing all sorts of anger that she had kept bottled up

Using her kagune she slices at him, eventually they end up on the ground. Her hands are wrapped firmly around his neck not quite choking. She begins to cry, her grip softening as she crumbles before him. He sweetly holds her face with a hand and gives a pathetic "I'm sorry."

They stumble back to the coffee shop leaving cochlea, on the way kaneki tells touka about the quinx, his time at the ccg. He's filling the empty silence as touka just ignores him. She's still angry.

"Why did... You leave." It's asked in a sad voice, she's gritting her teeth with clenched fists.

"I thought it'd be best, I wanted to protect you, hide,, everyone at anteiku. It's what I had to do to get stronger"

"So you push me away? You take Tsukiyama with you?? But not me?"

"You had your studies"

"You know damn well that's not the reason! You thought I was weak!" She slams a fist against the door. Her tears are starting back up again.

"I didn't think you could.. I didn't want.. I was trying to protect you" he tries to reason, he really doesn't wanna do this now.

"You're selfish. You're still that fucking book nerd from before! Now you're trying to be someone you're not!'

She'd grab him by the collar of his shirt, kaneki doesn't fight it. He places a relaxed hand over her tense ones. They walk back into re.

A month has passed, just trying to recollect. He and many others are staying at the most notable being hinami and ayato. Nishio frequently visits. The air between touka and kaneki is thick but, there's an understanding. She knows why he left, she doesn't like it but she understands

Kaneki gets why she's upset, he hates to see her sad.

She makes him coffee for the first time since he was Sasaki, now he can truly appreciate how good it is, now he can truly appreciate her. Re is lovely, it feels like anteiku, like home. Touka outdid herself.

Touka talks about random things, trying to fill the air. It's weird having him again, she's trying to make it a new normal.

"Are you.. really back, kaneki?" An affirming nod is all Touka needs. It honestly makes her mad, makes her wanna hit him again, but she doesn't. She wants to learn to forgive.

(In canon touka DOES hit him here but like, then she's over it??? Like huh??? I thought that was stupid I want her to hold some real resentment not just hit him once and be over everything)

Kaneki starts "GOAT" which is STEWPID it's a stupid name that's not relevant I just wanna say it's stupid. Also to clarify the timeline again

Kanekis is sweet on her, and Toukas sweet on him. Situations are dire but they still make time to flirt... poorly. Kaneki smiling like an idiot and touka staring at her feet with a nervous blushed look. It's weird, they're both new to relationships, sure toukas been in a couple flings that last 4 months at most but never a real relationship. They're not dating but,, it's more than just old friends.

When touka asks to talk to him later kaneki assumes it's something about the mission, or something about the ccg

"So have you uh.. done it yet" She asks. Did he forget something?

"Done what?"

Her face is red

"Like,, y'know..."

"I knowww what?"

Touka looks frustrated after that, oh dear what as he done this time.

"Sex."

"Ah." Kaneki nearly spills his coffee

"Why do you uh.. ask."

Touka hides her face in her hand "whatever just.- forget it you wouldn't wanna be up for it anyways too much shit going on ha" she nervous laughs, avoiding eye contact.

Ohh.. kaneki gets it. Wait.

"No no now you have to tell me" he eggs on

Touka shakes her head, mouth firmly shut.

"Cmonn!!"

"I wanted to know if you'd like wanna do it with me which I mean you obviously dontcauselikeyeah no thatssoweird I'm so weird for asking" she begins to ramble clearly embarrassed

Her gibberish speech is stopped by a hand gently holding hers

"I really like you Touka."

She freezes.

Touka doesn't even have time to say it back before there's a short peck on her lips

Her eyes focus on kaneki, his face most likely redder than hers

"Was that.. bad?" Toukas both dying internally and cheering a mix of LETS FUCKING GOOOO and OH MY GOD NOOO Is the best way I can describe it.

"Remember when,, you said you'd be sad if I died" it's a distant memory but he nods

"I think that's when... I started to. Like you." Her sentence has pauses, she finally looks him in the eyes again.

Their moment is disrupted by a CCG raid led by tooru. Touka rushes into help, she's lost him once there's no way she'll let it happen again.

Res raid happens in a flash

After all that is said and done

He talks about hide, says all he wanted was to see him, touka can empathize. She misses Yoriko more than anything.

Toukas the one who initiates the kiss, they fall into the room together with messy kisses and promises to never leave each other again are prominent. Fingers digging into soft skin is welcomed it's all toukas wanted since she can remember

"Stay with me,, stay with me.." and "I love yous" are all that can be heard. They're close but not close enough all either of them want is to melt together as one. Then.. there's a bite.

Touka sinks her teeth into the nape of his neck, solidifying them together. He won't leave again, he promised. They'll keep each other safe.

They watch Yorikos wedding from afar, she longs to be there with her. She would've made such a good maid of honor. All kaneki can think about is when he's finally gonna get to marry touka.

Touka begins to wear her father's ring around her neck more frequently, starting to imagine a future with kaneki. Maybe he'll wear it someday, if he'll have her.

Days or weeks pass, touka feels sick to her stomach? She's worried she's... Late. Now would be a shitty time to be pregnant huh? It may just be stress. Looking back probably should've used protection.

Huddled in a bathroom holding a now used pregnancy test waiting for results.

Negative.

She's both relieved, and disappointed. Mostly relieved. There's time for that later. This scare only fuels her want to have a family with kaneki, one day. Just not yet.

She doesn't tell kaneki about it, another time.

Their time planning isn't left without kisses and reassurances that everything will be okay. Sometimes kaneki will get too stressed out and touka, oh touka you've never been good at comforting will /demand/ him to calm down. It ends with kaneki laughing and "that's not how that works!" and touka playfully pushing him away.

At some point they're sitting together, touka lazily resting against his shoulder.

"Thought I was pregnant.."

Kanekis heart sinks

"Are you?"

"No.. but I'd like to be, some point maybe.." it's grumbled and she's pulling away. Kaneki gently squeezes her hand

"We'll get there at some point" it's said with a sweet smile

"Dyknow how ghouls get married?"

Kaneki shakes his head. Toukas finger trails along that bite mark on his neck.

"A bite. Sorry, should've asked you.. heat of the moment"

Suddenly they're moving, kanekis, hands on her shoulders as he leans down

"Will you have me?"

"Always" she somehow stammers out and he reciprocates the mark on her, teeth sinking in almost feels like a prayer.

There's no wedding ceremony, that won't be for awhile. But it's good to know they have each other. Just in case they don't get the chance to.

Here's where we really get off canon

There's a war, it's started by kaneki and furuta slipping up and saying something wrong to mutsuki I won't get into the details but it's all their mother fucking fault furutas the main cause he's instigating BLAH BLAH BLAH

People die he's missing it's essentially ccg vs aoigiri and ghouls in general I hate the dragon arc I told you this would happen you were warned Im not going into details because this is about touken not the general story of re and what I would do to fix it

There's a search for kaneki, the ccg needs to find him for execution and the ghouls need to find him cuz duh he's their leader the one eyed king

Touka talks with hide on the roof (he's back now whatever I just didn't mention it assume things I don't mention are just stuff that happen in re you fill in the blanks)

They both talk about their love for him, there's an understanding, fighting to save someone who you're not sure you actually can save. Two sides of the same coin. Toukas almost mad he stole kanekis first kiss.

He's found half death buried beneath a sea of bodies, touka pulls him out. She can barely hear a heart beat, what did you do kaneki... He's dying, touka drags his almost lifeless body out. His body oh God his BODY has been slowly being consumed by his kakuja, it covers his face his chest. It's trying to eat to heal not knowing the damage it's causing.

There is no life in this city aside from touka and the dying light in her arms. She won't give up she can't now, they still have to have a family

Kanekis brought to a room, in a dazed rc cell deficient coma

The ccg is on hold with their plans of execution, they'll wait for him to wake up. Not sure if he ever will

Touka is at his bed side when he finally wakes, instinctively enveloping him in a hug she makes demands of "don't you ever scare me like that again" with eyes full of tears, probably got a lil snot on him too ugly crying, she offers him her father's ring, which he accepts.

There's kakuja scars lining down his body now, but it's good to be alive.

With the war still raging and furuta as it's lead there has to be something done but . There's good news for once

Kaneki learns that hides alive, he wants to see him. Kaneki meets with hide and that whole scene doesn't change cuz I love it

Kaneki, now fully healed needs to finish what he started.

Whole furuta vs the ccg fight yada yada yada it ends with a peace treaty between ghouls and humans you don't care you came for touken and I don't care I came to talk about touken

With furuta dead, the world at peace, they can finally do what they always wanted.

In the epilogue, there's a gathering at the kaneki house, the wedding was years before and isn't shown. Everyone they knew is there, and there's a small figure being held by Touka, a smiling baby girl named Ichika after kanekis mother. She's beautiful with dark purple roots like touka with white filling the rest like kanekis. Touka went back to school and became a biologist, working on ghouls and figuring out how they all work. Kaneki became a middle ground ghouls and humans, the ambassador of both sides. Finally having the family they've always wanted. It's a beautiful day.

This should not be as long as it is, I'm so sorry it's still a rough draft of what I actually would've wanted😭

And to clarify some of the war stuff I will cover how I think that arc should've went in a different post so I'm sorry if things are confusing fill in the blanks with stuff already from re

I reread re in a DAY to write this and looking back re touken is not as bad as I remembered. It's just ... Bland.. a nothing sandwich with a side of water. But that's me being mean sorry they do have some cute moments

Thank you for sitting through this incomprehensible ramble with many many plot holes but those aren't relevant it's a touken centric post not the general story!!! Thank you I'm Cody!!

[mask131]

There is a trope I really like when it comes to magic in fantasy, and it is the "inhuman wizard/witch".

In fantasy nowadays, the origin of magic mostly boils down to two things. On one side: "learned" magic. It is an art and knowledge you can learn, train and develop and anybody can be a wizard, witch, sorcerer, warlock, whatever. On the other side: you are born with your powers, magic is something inherent in you, that you cannot control.

But the third way is the trope I enjoy and I don't see it being brought up a lot: certain characters have magic because they are NOT human. (And I am not speaking of The Owl House style where witches are just a separate species, no, no no).

This trope is literaly as old as time, it being highlighted by folkloric, legendary and mythological characters like Merlin, Circe, Baba-Yaga, Vaïnamoïnen: most of the great enchanters and sorcerers of legend, most of the powerful witches of myth and folklore, were demigods, half-devil or even minor gods themselves. Being a wizard wasn't just a random business, and it wasn't just being born "special" - it was about belonging to an entirely different level of existence.

I do note that it is quite strange for this trope not to have gotten more of a success because it was a key part of THE great work of the fantasy genre, The Lord of the Rings, + The Silmarillion. In it the Five Wizards, the Istari ; but also Sauron (in his necromancer/sorcerer persona), and Melian (the closest thing Tolkien had to an enchantress or sorceress), are all applications of this trope. They literaly are Middle-Earth's embodiments of wizards, witches, enchanters and sorceresses, but they are such powerful magic users precisely because they do not "come from this world" but rather are divine spirits made flesh, angelic beings disguised as humans/elves, minor gods who bound themselves to these appearances. And yet, when you look at the many Tolkienesque imitators or renewers (Shannara, Belgariad, Wheel of Time, Fionavar Tapestry) they all insist on the wizards and witches being... human.

C.S. Lewis, in his Narnia books, also followed Tolkien's trope, by having his wizards be literal fallen stars stuck on Earth - a concept of "astral magic" that will be reused in works such as "A Wrinkle in Time" where the trio of planet-travelling witches are pointed out to have had previous existences as suns and other stellar phenomenon. Lewis' witches also originally were depicted as otherworldy, inhuman entities (half-giant half-jinn entity working as a sort of angel for the fantasy equivalent of God, giant demonic snake taking the shape of a lady) before he gave us a new Jadis backstory making her more "human", so to speak, or at least part of a neat and clear-cut species.

There's also Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, where the two great magic-users, Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, aren't just hyper-powerful and very weird sorcerers, but also strongly implied (if not outright said) to be interdimensional alien entities.

This trope does creep up and shine in some fantasy works from time to time, but it is quite rare. A recent example I ABSOLUTELY adored is the Witch of Sarnwood, from "Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone". The trope is also used frequently in French fantasy (probably because it has closer roots with fairytales and medieval tales, where enchanters and witches are more inhuman) but since it probably won't evoke anything to people here I won't do a full list, just point out the character of The Enchanter in Michel Pagel's great "Les flammes de la nuit". (But it isn't very surprising given Pagel's work is part-Shakespearian fantasy, and Shakespeare was a famous user of this idea of "inhuman magic users", with his Weird Sisters from Macbeth, for example)

And of course, I have to speak about The Lich from Adventure Time, which is probably THE big highlight of this trope in modern day. The Lich is presented as, well, a manifestation of a D&D lich, as just your typical undead "evil lord sorcerer", but then as we move more and more down the story it is revealed he is literaly the embodiment and vessel of a cosmic force of destruction and mass extinction that dates back to the primordial monsters before time itself... This is notably such a Tolkienesque move, because I don't think I ever saw such a big character-exploration/twist reveal since Tolkien slowly revealed the Hobbit's Necromancer was Sauron, and then who Sauron originally was - in fact when you look at Youtube "lore videos" trying to piece out the background and evolution of the Lich, you will notice they do bear a striking resemblance to videos discussing the "Necromancer" of the Hobbit and how it ties to Sauron... Someone should one day point out all the Tolkienesque elements in Adventure Time, but that will be for another day.

Conclusion? It is quite fascinating to see how magic-users started out a lot of the time as these otherworldy divine or demonic beings, these inhuman forces that merely appear human somehow, but today people seem to REALLY like and REALLY prefer their wizards and witches to be human, and I guess relatable? The biggest example being the Harry Potter phenomenon, and even more recently the Owl House because while they are not "humans" per se, they are still basically an alternate humanity, instead of being stars in human masks or unique alien beings travelling time and space like Doctor Who.

(By the way, did you ever notice that Doctor Who was literaly designed to be a sci-fi version of the fantasy genre? If not, then I have another post to make... But yes, the Doctor is literaly an alien, sci-fi version of a wizard/sorcerer, down to the magic wand/sonic screwdriver.)

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Something something about the alien hand call in 7x05 and Buck being the one being strangled.

Something something about Buck grappling with this new part of himself and coming out to people. Something something about the ‘fear’ of being judged or treated differently having him in a stranglehold because it’s still new to him and he doesn’t have it figured out himself yet.

Something something about being in 2 minds about telling people, about revealing himself - because the alien hand syndrome in this call occurs when the brains two lobes are separated - the connection severed - the brain is split in two

[tomwambsmilk]

fr tho @staff why are you trying to make tumblr more like other sites why are you destroying your niche in the market please there have got to be ways to make tumblr more accessible to new users without sacrificing the very things that your existing userbase loves

[antirepurp]

it's weird that while digimon world next order is like mechanically a better dw game and lets you have more control over how you raise your digimon, digimon world redigitize decode has a better gameplay loop to me anyway. like in next order after a few generations and lifespan upgrades the digimon just Don't Fucking Die which is a real ordeal when it comes to actually completing the beastiary, and it makes it really difficult to estimate when to do important story fights and when to fuck around bc your fellas are about to die anyway. redigitize seems to have a set lifespan for your digimon that doesn't increase with generations, it's just base stats that do, and it gives you this neat about 15 in-game day cycle of raising your dude up (which can be done entirely in the gym) and exploring in-between if you need to adjust your stats carefully for specific evolutions. if redigitize had the evolution control of next order i think i'd say it's the ultimately better experience just for that tbh

[toytulini]

i made an oc thats at least nicknamed "Stupid" and im constantly thinking about what a power move that is tbh

[musical-chick-13]

.

[dredshirtroberts]

hey. hey universe. hey fucker universe.

no one said you could bring back the Wednesday Curse, bitch. fuck off with this shit i didn't need any of this first thing today.

[cashmere-caveman]

rewatching being human in my twenties and after getting my brain thorougly scrambled by various things both in my personal life and the media ive discovered in the years in between is so funny bc back when i was an angsty fourteen year old i was like "oh my god they were in love and all was well but then it Turned Bad OHMYGOD i love tragedy"

and now i am older than both annie and mitchell were at their points of death and i am steadily approaching george's age and now i do stuff like look for motifs and patterns etc instead of just going "oh wow all of these ppl are so hot i am definitely bisexual" (even tho i still do that. do not be deceived.) bc i am now Older Smarter and Wiser and i just fucking love picking things apart at the seams to see the scaffolding holding up the theatre stage and make myself violently ill about it but at the bottom of it all behind all the ways in which i am telling myself that i am so much more chill about everything this time around it is actually Worse and i just think that is so funny

me and my teenage self are just holding hands juming up and down in the living room and screaming "can you fucking believe it oh my god they were in love and all was well but then!!! it Turned Bad!!!! OHMYGOD i love tragedy :D" and honestly i fucking love that! i love revisiting old fandoms and realizing not only is the love i had for this story still here but since i last visited it has festered and grown and now i actually have so many more ways to express it like!!!!! babes!!!!! isnt it FUN!!!!

[arthur-r]

would it be ridiculous to major in classics

[mrmallard]

This thought has been rattling around my brain for over a year at this point BC I don't know how to phrase it, but basically if you've ever had a Foundational Fandom Shipping Moment involving a character voiced by Mae Whitman we're basically cousins

[exoexid]

your girl found and registered her first animal bone today!!!!! ^-^

[pleasedontanalyzeme]

I'm ill and at the time of the month where I both can't sleep and have vivid and terrible nightmares

so i've decided to start binge watching the x files idk maybe that'll fix something