#i sense a theme in my life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jemmo · 1 year

Text

ive been thinking a lot about age in the eighth sense, in terms of age gap and the roles of hyung and sunbae and dongsaeng and the behaviours they entail, and the label of the country mouse, and how, with the events of the end of ep 6, they are paralleling jihyun against jaewon’s younger brother with the accident and how I think there’s a crux at the heart of this that is jaewon needing to see jihyun as not his younger brother. and i get that’s weird and kinda yucky considering the nature of the relationship between the two, it’d be very weird if jaewon simply thought of jihyun as a stand in for his familial little brother, but I don’t think it’s like that, it’s not as simple as that.

I think it’s very clear jaewon misses his little brother, plain and simple. and perhaps that extends into missing having a little brother figure in his life, and when I say little brother, I don’t mean familial. that’s why that initial ‘dongsaeng’ messed with our heads in the first place, bc it can be familial and not, so here, and from now on, I mean not. this is not weird incest territory, don’t worry. I think he misses having someone younger, someone to look after. he misses being an older brother. maybe that’s why he so quickly befriends jihyun. attraction aside, maybe he wants someone to care for, and a freshman, a country mouse that knows nothing of the city, being his friend, teaching him city life and uni life, that’s the kind of thing you’d do with a younger brother, and that’s an experience he’s missed. and I think a sense of responsibility also plays into this, bc that’s probably something he feels he lacks after losing his brother. he was supposed to be responsible, supposed to look after him but he couldn’t, and so now he wants to feel like he can be that responsible hyung, he can look after someone, not so much to redeem himself or prove something, but more for himself, to fill an emptiness by fulfilling that role. idk, I don’t think this is something he does consciously, but his body language, his constant touching and how it’s guiding and comforting, at first I thought it was just a desire to touch and filtered through this acceptable closeness between men, especially from someone older. but now i think there is a sense of actual brotherly-ness to it, which I think adds to this confusing want to be close jaewon has that to some degree comes from jihyun filling that younger brother space jaewon has had empty for so long. again, i think people are tentative to approach this topic bc it does get into weird territory, but I think this whole thing is more… how do I say… it’s like how people say you get with someone like your parents, like how often is the phrase “she reminds me of your mom” said between a father and son in movies and tv. it’s not that you want to date your mom, it’s more that you like and value traits that are similar, they bring you comfort bc you’ve literally been raised to be comfortable around someone like that. it’s not incestuous. and I think a similar thing is happening here, even though I don’t think it’s a driving force, I think it’s part of it. which is important, and I like, bc of how this theme progresses.

as the show continues, we see jaewon’s mask slip more and more, and we see jihyun become bolder, which are two important factors that lead into what I think jaewon ultimately needs to realize. jihyun is not his little brother, and he needs to separate the two. there is this obvious path leading from ep 6 where jaewon thinks jihyun’s accident is his little brother all over again and he regresses and distances himself and blames himself, but what he needs to see is that the accident is different. he needs separation. and that comes in the form of jihyun, jihyun becoming bolder and more confident and forthcoming and, most importantly, responsible. at the end of the day, he is not a child, and in that ocean he is responsible for himself just as much, if not more, than jaewon is. he goes into that ocean knowing he’s not the best swimmer and still does it. is he swept up by jaewon and emotions and the kind of heightened vibe of the day? yes. but is it still his decision? yes, and it’s a bit reckless. he can say no to jaewon when he offers to surf and catch the big waves instead of the safety of the shallows where they were before. you’ve seen him bite back and sass and poke and joke with jaewon before, he is not a cowering little mouse (more on that in a sec), and he still agrees, so he has to take responsibility. maybe jaewon was responsible for his little brother but he’s not responsible for jihyun, an adult with their own mind. and jaewon seeing that, that he can’t blame himself when he’s not responsible for anyone here, might just be the thing that helps him get out of that mindset.

and it’s not like jihyun is adverse to this. If anything, I think in this next ep we will hear jihyun blame himself, accept the fact that what he did was maybe a bit stupid and he should’ve thought first. bc we see time and time again jihyun not wanting to be that innocent, naive country mouse. just think about how much he refutes it time and time again, like in that library scene. he doesn’t want to be that person. that’s why he came to the city. It’s why he’s trying new things and being brave, he wants to grow up and be responsible. and I love that this becomes almost a reversal of the classic hyung and dongsaeng roles in later eps, as jihyun becomes more confident while jaewon regresses into himself. jaewon shows his weaker side and jihyun, the younger, looks after him instead. look at ep 6, how he initiates both conversation and physical contact, something we saw jaewon do in earlier eps. I love it both in terms of this theme but also just for romance sake. as an extension of these roles, you expect the older to make the moves and such, but I love that there are equal moments in this show that jaewon gets to be the one getting hit on, be it the scene where jihyun teaches him to draw or calls him cute when he’s drunk. you’d so typically expect to see a hyung doing those things to someone younger, but it shows equality in their relationship that counters those stereotypes in the simple and subtlest ways and I adore it.

this show has a strong theme overall of what’s expected vs how people actually are, be it from drinking etiquette to romance, but just like in that first scene with jihyun’s bar owner, one thing may be expected, but what people actually want, what makes people comfortable, can be something else. and by jihyun so simply not conforming to the country mouse persona initially put on him in such simple but outright ways, he acts as such a great challenge to jaewon, who wears his mask of expectation so frequently. it may be what’s expected, but have you ever considered that it’s not what people actually want? that they might actually want the real you, and all the so-called imperfection of it? bc when does that mask stop being a burden and start being a safety blanket, that shields you from the pain of actually being hurt in a genuine relationship, that hurts more than the pain of pretending. jaewon says over and over again that he’s tired of wearing the mask, but the mask is, ultimately, self inflicted, and as much as you can blame society and parents for expecting things from him, there’s a point when you become an adult where you get to decide for yourself who you are. again, he said it himself, just as he was afraid to leave the safety of the military, he’s afraid to leave the safety of uni, the bubble where what’s expected is clearly defined and can be performed. after that, the rules aren’t as clear. so much more of it depends on you. it’s the process of becoming an adult, of growing up. it’s a process jihyun is on, but jaewon, to be at least, seems further behind in. maybe bc he never got the chance at a fresh start like jihyun and is trapped by preconceived notions the people around him have of him by knowing him for years. maybe it’s bc of the loss of his little brother, and feeling trapped in that time, and a fear of growing up out of that person he was when his brother was there. maybe it’s bc he still feels trapped under his parents thumb, bc despite becoming an adult, you can never really be free of your parents.

I said this before, but it’s just like how they both said they’re jealous of each other, but what they’re jealous of is a preconceived notion of youth and age, not-knowing and knowing, naivety and experience, when again they don’t match these stereotypes. jihyun is not naive, and jaewon doesn’t know everything. Life experience is not all it’s cracked up to be bc it can’t all be good, but knowing nothing isn’t the bliss ignorance is often expressed to be. I’ve rambled on and waxed pathetically poetic long enough about these two to be embarrassing, but as a show that actually involves an age gap, and neither hides away from it nor exploits it for it’s played up romantic tropes, I adore that they let this factor naturally play into the bigger story being told, bc age actually means nothing here, and more than anything, jihyun and jaewon strive to be equals to each other, in their world void of expectations.

#it’s 2am in the morning and I wrote a thing #I don’t even wanna know how many words this actually is but all this stuff has been gnawing at my brain for a while now #so I just had to get out out in a big luscious overly emo ramble #but I’d love to know what you all think about this #bc going into the territory of jihyun replacing jaewon’s little brother has always been weird to me bc of the whole romantic vs familial t #thing but this show seems to be doing something interesting with it and it actually plays into their themes and I think ultimately wants to #convey that it isn’t the case jihyun isn’t a replacement he’s his own whole person and someone in jaewon’s life that only he can be #and he can fill an emptiness that jaewon feels without having to fulfill an empty role #the eighth sense

237 notes · View notes

oltammefru · 4 months

Text

#arknights #kal'tsit #kal'tsit arknights #the relationships that kal'tsit has toward her patients and the people she cares for is also an encapsulation of how she as a person #in general. like how her demeanor in general comes off as very cold but she is a person that cares so so so much #the concept of “medicine” and “being a doctor"#both in a literal sense and a metaphorical one are so central to the game's themes #it's about caring for others and the intimate relationships you form with them and passion and art #(in like multiple senses of that word) (remember how the RI logo #quotes the part from the hippocratic oath that goes “may i enjoy my life and practice my art”?)

39 notes · View notes

rockium-z · 6 months

Text

the star of the show!

@entityneo

#entity neo #napstablook #mettaton #mettaton neo #undertale #ah yes for today’s art shenanigans: how do i vibrant my colors hard enough to cast light mode #this is. a little off from the vision that hit on the train last friday! but Still Good #did not intend to try painting (sorta) but who needs art style consistency when i can pull this shit (/pos)#+bonus ramblings from me notes:#it’s all about the ✨symbolism✨. it’s all bright and all that fun shit because they’re the star.#except they’re not. except they are in a sense.#wings are vaguely shaped like that of a butterfly. which is extremely funny actually.#symbol of change and life and death. who else has all three as a theme?#they’re the star of the show! they’re not happy about it. all eyes on them and they’d probably hate that so much.#>:D

68 notes · View notes

liquidstar · 4 months

Text

Between commissions I finally managed to finish this OC set of parent characters! If the looks aren't enough to show you who their kid is, the background colors match them ^_^ but of course more details below!

Name: Thuban

Name origin: The former pole star, before the north star (Polaris), it's name means "Large snake" and is referred to as the “Dragon's tail”

Pronouns: He/him

Age: N/A

Relation: Raised Polaris, though they're not related by blood and have a somewhat distant relationship, until he suddenly went MIA

Weapon: Spear (Same as Polaris's)

Ethos (Power): N/A

Flaw power is based on: N/A

Notes: Make no phallic jokes about the large snake thing and you'll be rewarded

Name: Ananke

Name origin: A moon of Jupiter, named for the mythological spirit of necessity, inevitably, and compulsion

Pronouns: She/her

Age: -

Relation: Bella's mother, she raised her to be a warrior

Weapon: Bardiche

Ethos (Power): Indomination (The ability to freeze the movement of objects and people, and lock them in place)

Flaw power is based on: Her strict enforcement of obedience through authoritarianism, and a lack of concern for the wishes of others

Notes: She believes in tough love. It's better in the long run to give your kid strength rather than affection.

Name: Rhea

Name origin: A moon of Saturn named after the Titan known as the mother of the gods

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 38

Relation: Saiph's mother, though she gave him up to the guild when he was very young

Weapon: None

Ethos (Power): None

Flaw power is based on: N/A

Notes: Was unable to take care of a baby at the time, and gave Saiph to the guild. She wishes she'd visited beyond that but it's probably too late now...

Name: Arche

Name origin: One of Jupiter's moons, it's name comes from the muse of new beginnings and is associated with springtime

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 7

Relation: Saiph's half-brother. Neither currently knows the other exists

Weapon: None

Ethos (Power): None

Flaw power is based on: N/A

Notes: He's just a little guy. He likes flowers and playing with toys. He wants to be a cool hero like his dad

Name: Poerava

Name origin: A star in Tucana, the Maori word for a black pearl of mystical beauty and perfection

Pronouns: She/her

Age: -

Relation: Al's mom. She mostly raised him on her own while her husband was with the knights.

Weapon: None

Ethos (Power): None

Flaw power is based on: N/A

Notes: Probably the best parent of the bunch if we're being real.

#Finn's ocs #Finn's art #oc references #i wrote the descs while w the kids so hopefully they make sense. my attention was split #but anyway here in the tags I'll talk about the designs in relation to their kids lol #polaris is emulating thuban moreso than anyone else. her color scheme and outfit motifs are the same as his- they ARE his #her original outfit is clothes she took and diy'd into her own so she could go off into the world and well presumably look for him at first #the truth is she always wanted to see the world that's why she loved maps. in a way this was an excuse. in another way she was just lonely #but doesn't understand loneliness. also the fact that she's not his daughter by blood is part of that #bc of her actual parents (not as relevant character-wise) she sees all relationships as temporary and she has issues connecting #ananke i wanted to mostly look intimidating in a way that Bella really isn't #Bella puts on skull hairties and fishnets and stuff but she's very much. a cute softie trying to look edgy. she has pink twintails #she's so different from her mom in pretty much every way but she still did have that ideal of strength drilled into her #still her take on it is softer. she's the team leader now but she's really pretty lenient aside from the important No Killing rule ofc #w Rhea and Arche i had a bit of a flower theme. pussywillow (lol) means motherhood and buttercups mean childishness #so. mother and child #but rhea is interesting bc she's raising a whole different kid now that she's in a different place in life #if you do the math she had Saiph young. and it was alright for a while until his dad (again not as important) died #so she didn't have support or money. but she had a connection to the guild because his dad's old sword teacher is a member (hmm)#but she was too scared/ashamed to visit. she just left him his dad's old knife because that's all she had (THE KNIFE IS IMPORTANT)#arche is her kid with her second husband and her new beginning. this will cause some inner problems for Saiph when he meets them...#Poerava was kinda designed to have rich lady vibes because remember Al's family is practically nobility #but more importantly she's designed to look like a mom. with the low ponytail and tired eyes #the black pearl of her namesake as the centerpiece of her outfit too #again she's got the healthiest relationship with her kid here by a longshot #but i mean don't worry Al still got the daddy issues so he's not getting away unscathed #I already drew Taurus with the zodiac knights though so i didn't feel the need to reintroduce him #anyway Mira really has 0 connection to any family at all she was found as an orphaned baby after a monster attack #obviously she had parents but beyond town of origin it's unknown who so she has no connections to any sort of past parental figure #the guild is her one and only family and that's how she wants it. she wants to be with them forever the past doesn't matter

39 notes · View notes

planetsallalign · 4 months

Text

Today at Walmart while do errands I bought a nightgown that I 100% can call a Nana nightgown. In fact I’m sure my Nana had many in this style. The pattern kept calling to me, I bought it and tried it on at home. Upon trying it on I learned not only is it so comfortable, it’s 100% cotton AND it has pockets. I’m leaning into my dressing for comfort and in things I like. Not for anyone else’s gaze or consumption.

#I also finished my apron! and the apron pattern is very close to my new Nana nightgowns pattern 😂#I’m sensing a theme here but I like the little hobbies and enjoyments I’m curating in my life #if my sourdough starter would get just A LITTLE more rise I’ll be able to make bread soon

27 notes · View notes

suffarustuffaru · 6 months

Note

Not to be negative or a hater, but I personally don't find some of emilia's seemingly "adorkble idiotic airhead" moments and related speeches "cute" or "funny" rather...cringe and baffling. it seems like tappei simply doesn't understand the difference between a naive person and someone with an extremely low IQ, maybe tappei tried to create some comedy with that way to show emilia's dorky charm but honestly it's SUCKS unfortunately that big troll seems to be very stubborn to portray emilia that way over and over and over again without finding it kinda problematic at all, and honestly it's starting to piss me off about him. I know that emilia actually has a lot of smart moments in the story, but for some reason I just can't get into characters like her despite her kindness and thoughtfulness as well as other wonderful qualities,sorry.

hi anon!! thanks for the ask, this is something that i think a lot, actually. the thing with rezero is that it has a few glaring major flaws and then all the smaller flaws stem from those things. and by major, it is major. its genuinely problematic. i dont use that word lightly. and emilia is one of those characters that suffers from it the most, especially when shes rezeros deuteragonist. but you wouldnt know that from the way tappei treats her sometimes.

also uh quick disclaimer i hope no one kills me for my opinions in this ask haah i promise ill explain.

i will preface this off by saying - yeah, emilias one of my favorite characters in all of rezero actually. shes one of my favorite characters of all time in general too.

tappei does do some things right with her - her base character is lovely, her backstory is complex and explains so much of the foundation of her character, her role in the story is fascinating, her arc 4 development is amazingly written imo, her kindness despite all the pain shes been through due to factors out of her control is very admirable... to me personally, shes someone i can relate to and a character that i love a lot. i see her and i understand why subaru wants to help and protect her so bad because she truly is a sweet person trying her best but she is continually fucked over. i want her to succeed!! i want her to struggle but eventually prove everyone whos ever been against her wrong!! i want her to find true happiness and grow and change as a person!!

but at the same time shes not just fucked over in universe. shes fucked over by the way tappei writes her, because he keeps dropping the ball when it comes to these things. so i really understand anon a lot for not being able to get into emilia, and i also really understand anon because i too am getting a little pissed off at tappeis writing sometimes hah. so in regards to not being able to get into emilia for some reason—yeah, i think theres a lot of reasons for this due to how tappei writes rezero.

for example. emilias “dorkiness” is sometimes good. and then sometimes its bad because tappei wants to keep making her “stupid” and “childish” in very insulting ways. having a low iq and being childish isnt bad. the way tappei treats it in his story is.

rezero in general is kind of weird in its treatment of women in that it has all these varied female characters with unique backstories, personalities, motivations, etc etc. there will almost always be a great foundation for all these characters, but tappei will continually do things to ruin it a bit down the line and waste potential. or there will be flaws from conception that get worse over time. its a huge mixed bag.

and its also really obvious again in media like this because if youre paying attention, its very easy to notice that male characters will always get more attention and more consistently higher quality writing compared to the female characters.

(warning ahead for more discussion of rezero's misogyny and tendency to sexualize children, by the way)

tappei's poor writing with women also kind of applies to children. because treatment of children and women in rezero are very intricately linked. im gonna explain this in a hopefully handy and useful and understandable list that goes through a lot of tappeis usual tropes regarding children and women in rezero:

tappei continually writing excerpts that go way too in depth about womens and young girls breasts and bodies in general in very objectifying ways. im gonna be entirely honest a good number of sentences in rezero belong on r/menwritingwomen. why do we need to keep hearing about their body parts like this? ESPECIALLY when it comes to the children. its frankly disgusting.

women/girls who are in love / involved with an older man in some capacity, likely highly dependent on him in some way, sometimes this will become their main motivation (examples of this include emilia (YEAH. EMILIA.), rem, petra, ram, frederica, liliana, yorna.............). like yeah i know guys in rezero arent exempt from (co)dependency or some form of obsession, but kind of telling that theyre still extremely fleshed out characters outside of it, right? (key examples include subaru, otto, and roswaal.)

^^ adding onto this. age gap romances. tappei did that thing where he shoehorned emilia being "mentally 14" or whatever, and also even if roswaal wasnt centuries old he still practically raised ram since she was a child (she literally helps dress him in the anime?? like shes seen taking his underwear to him???). clind also is an adult who knew frederica as a child and clind is. something else. also in a recent arc 8 madeline moment where she and balleroy have a romance-coded scene together and its like? even if shes not a child, SHE LOOKS LIKE ONE. BALLEROY IS A GROWN ASS MAN.

creepy men who are into kids but tappei justifies it in universe because theyre not actually into kids, but everything about their behavior would be creepy and wrong either way (clind and kiritaka come to mind)

female characters who are more submissive and soft hearted so clearly this means they need to be protected all the time and they cant make decisions on their own. lets talk over them a whole bunch and control them. and yeah this is a purposeful writing choice that leads to character development and narratively calling out this behavior (we see this with arc 3 emisuba conflict) but then tappei keeps doing it after the fact anyway without batting an eye. this is so so painfully clear with emilia especially. her whole character is about trying to break out of that mold but then tappei (and subaru, due to the nature of rbd + his own goals, and also puck, who hasnt been completely called out for being a shit dad yet) keeps shoving her back into it

^^ infantilizing female characters in general........ like realistically speaking emilias lack of sex education is extremely dangerous. its not funny. lack of sex ed in real life often leads to serious consequences. she nearly gets sold into slavery in frozen bonds, and iirc there are implications of what kind of slavery it is. and also her being mentally 14 makes no sense, is highly insulting, and its completely unnecessary. if tappei wants to hold off on emisuba romantic development, he already has the explanation of theyre too busy for that right now and also not mentally ready for it yet, but theyre still extremely close with each other.

^^ adding onto this there are several female characters in rezero that are airheaded. subarus mom, naoko. emilia. medium. shaula is another big example of this also. shes sexually harassed (at. at best iirc.) Multiple Times and it feels a little too brushed aside. on top of her repeatedly being sexualized with her design and her behavior, apparently, on top of being airheaded. there is a consistent pattern of infantilizing and sexualizing some of these characters and its Frustrating. having multiple characters with similar personalities isnt bad at all of course, but im putting this on the list because as anon said, tappei is problematic with this when it comes to female characters. yeah, subarus mom is well written. but emilia? shaula? its so painfully clear to see. he cant write a naive character without being a little gross about it.

sexualizing children in general. schult apparently helps priscilla get dressed iirc and also is. iirc. into priscilla's feet????? ....... and then you have typhon, whos skirt is so disturbingly see through that the anime fixed her design, and louis, who makes a few sexual comments in arc 6. also excerpts talking about petras chest. excerpts talking about anastasias body in a manner that feels both infantilizing and sexualized once again... weird comments in arc 8 regarding child subaru iirc, etc...

female characters who get overshadowed by others even when theyre supposed to be the focus. anastasia gets replaced by echidna for almost if not all of the entirety of arc 6. vollachia saga has been so hectic that priscilla hasnt really gotten much if at all major development. emilia for the entirety of rezero. crusch for the entirety of rezero AND her own centric ex novel. crusch will be in pain and severely injured and the narrative will focus more on how this affects anyone but her. and again, i know its a possibility that these characters may develop in the future. but stuff like ana getting replaced by her scarf for all of arc 6 + emilias entire existence as a character is sad imo T^T let them shine!! please!! i also know these characters also have side stories, especially anastasia and priscilla have great ones, and a lot of ss are required reading now but there needs to be more of them in main story content. im very glad that anastasias appeared again for arc 8.

rem and louis/spica getting "reset" in their development while other female characters are stagnant. they didnt actually grow and change, tappei just cheated by gluttonying rem and resetting louis's mind to a toddler. they went from Point A to Point B in an instant, there wasnt any actual development there. this might change in the future, but imo reading about rem and louis in arc 7-8 can genuinely be a bit of a slog because they didnt actual develop. we were cheated out of that. and of course tappei has to juggle multiple characters and characters will take turns having development, naturally, which such a big cast, but characters like emilia fall by a wayside far too often. she hasnt had major development since arc 4 even though she is. again. the deuteragonist. that was four arcs ago. certain female characters, i feel, have to deal with the cons of this character arc system more often.

male characters whos behavior isnt called out enough sometimes. roswaal’s relationship with ram. kiritaka. clind. puck still needs to be called out more in canon i think wjdnd. also al making comments about priscillas breasts or iirc creepy comments about schult being a shota and other things of that vein. honestly priscilla doesnt behead that guy Enough.

male counterparts with the same exact themes as their female characters will always have higher quality writing.

(of course theres exceptions to all of these—female characters like echidna are fascinating and well-written, theres several other female characters that are great too, etc, but theyre exceptions. theyre not the norm.)

ill also elaborate on that last point more here regarding male counterparts.

emilia and rem are big examples of this. we have very handy male counterparts for certain important aspects of emilia and rem's characters that are far better written because theyre guys and tappei cant write women at a consistent quality. of course emilia and rem both parallel subaru, but im gonna get more into what i think is their stronger Foils in certain aspects—

reinhard and otto.

im a fan of reinhard, otto, emilia, and rem. but the thing is, reinhard and otto have some very similar traits to emilia and rem respectively.

reinhard is guilt ridden, blamed for things out of his control, has some learned helplessness, deals with being controlled by others and trying not to crumble under the weight of the world’s expectations, has Intense Family Trauma also triggered by pandora (remember what happens to petelgeuse? remember the fortuna=sirius theory? remember elior forest?), and a deep seated trauma regarding Hurting Others. and also a generally soft demeanor and deep seated loneliness. its no coincidence that reinhard and emilia in pride if also parallel each other—emilia the half devil turned “hero”, and reinhard, the hero who falls from grace.

otto has less similarities with rem than reinhard does with emilia but to keep this short. otto and rems major motivations are being devoted to subaru. but the thing with reinhard and otto is that they dont have the pitfalls that emilia and rems characters do—the infantilizing and other problematic details, poorly written/choppy development, etc. with reinhard and otto it feels more consistent, like their time on screen is well-used and respectful to who they are as characters and it satisfies us enough to take a break from them until tappei brings them back into the spotlight again.

i cant say the same for emilia and rem.

tappei cant even write emilias naivete and stunted emotional growth (which is due to trauma and pucks poor parenting) without infantilizing her, while tappei effortlessly writes reinhard being emotionally stunted due to trauma, poor parenting, and his DPs. you dont see reinhard with cringeworthy dialogue T^T

its just kind of insulting how there is so much you could explore with characters like emilia lacking agency because others keep taking it away. her airheadedness, her naivete—shes been shaped by her environment and trauma too, those character traits stem from these things as well. how do you lead a camp and become king and grow as a person when youre in the shadow of a witch who nearly destroyed the world? when thats what people often see you as? how do you move forward when your family and people have been ruined by things you couldnt control? when your father figure has failed you in all sorts of ways? when even your closest friends talk over you and try to dictate you? when you and your loved ones keep getting in danger because of all these horrible people that keep pinning the blame on you? thats awful. i cant even blame emilia for being a little empty in the head after all that. i cant even blame her in general.

and then theres the horror of subarus rbd because emilia is his main motivation. like thatd be a nightmare come true for anyone—while subaru is good intentioned, he is yet another person stealing emilias agency. yeah, most of it in his case is understandable because emilia keeps being targeted from factors outside of her control, but its still awful. emilia quite literally has had very little will of her own for all of rezero but i have my doubts on whether tappei will actually explore it or not because he cant even write emilia dialogue right sometimes!!

its baffling to me. arc 3-4 were all about how emilia is her own person and she needs to leave the nest and grow but then tappei backpedals on it by the time we get to arc 8. again, it feels a bit insulting T^T which is why all the “dorky” emilia dialogue stings even more. its salt in the wound. i am getting a little annoyed after four arcs of seeing that pop up time and time again in between all the other well-written stuff, yeah. including other emilia moments because i did enjoy her more active moments in arcs 5+!!

tappei just needs to stop treating emilia like she cant do anything by herself T^T the core problem with his treatment of her is that he usually goes shes naive so basically shes a kind of useless child and so she cant understand anything or have any choices of her own without being scrutinized, peer reviewed, and micromanaged by all the men around her 👍

theres also this excerpt that i think a lot thats from the tsuchigumo side story (aka the three idiots set out!: earth spider episode side story) where one of rezero's female characters, a girl named marone lisbon, says -

marone also appears for like two seconds in side stories that not everyones gonna read, so she didnt have enough time to get "ruined". so to speak.

but yeah. this dialogue reminds me of what couldve been. it has all these themes and all these feelings that apply to SO MANY female characters in rezero, especially emilia. it proves even further that tappei is more than capable of writing good female characters. and we already know that tappei is more than capable of writing well-written characters.

but ultimately i just dont trust his writing sometimes because he can never consistently keep the quality up with writing characters because either theres too much going on so things fall by the wayside sometimes, or theres sexism, or tappeis inability to be normal about kids sneaks in again!!!

however i love rezero a lot. its an important piece of media to me, and i dont intend to leave this fandom for a While atm. but i think its important to recognize when media gets things Wrong, and rezero has a good chunk of flaws. and rezeros english fandom being the way it is does make me hesitate to bring up rezeros flaws in the sense of. yeah its rooted in sexism. and weirdness about kids.

but ultimately im very very cautiously hopeful to see what happens to emilia from here. hopefully she does have more development soon? but all in all—yeah anon on this one is speaking facts and i agree a lot.

also sorry if i got a bit intense with this response akdndnd i just feel very passionately about this. tappei stop being weird about women and kids challenge please T^T anyway im gonna finish off this ask with a meme i made.

yeah so thats why emilias writing is very iffy and also why a bunch of other female character writing in rezero is a bit iffy also 👍

#rezero #emilia #ask #this isnt even getting into how tappeis treatment of these characters + english anime fandoms = the worst mix youve ever seen in your life #a fandom usually reflects its media and the ideas its media has often. is the thing.#or at least thats my running theory on the state of things wkdndn bc rezero will have such thought provoking themes but then the sexualized #anime merch kind of spits on it. and also tappei too spits on it.#but yeah sorry this response is so long anon wkfnd but i hope this makes sense!!#you brought up such good points akdnd and i really have been thinking of it for a while now. im tired of tappei doing this stuff 😔#arc 5+ spoilers

52 notes · View notes

fictionadventurer · 5 months

Text

By the Shores of Silver Lake was my least favorite Little House book as a kid, and upon starting the reread, I could see why. Earlier books had Laura as a child observer--not engaging in or totally understanding the wider world of the adults, but still engrossed in the simple joys of childhood. In this book, Laura is neither child nor adult--she's too old to play like a child, but she's too young to take an active part in adult life, so she's stuck in this awkward middle ground.

Yet as the book went on, I started to see that that was the point. This book is about growing up, about being on the brink of adulthood and trying to hold onto childhood while also becoming someone new. Laura's growing-up is paralleled with the "growing up" of the country around her. Both the old and the new ways of life have their benefits and their downsides, and Laura has to figure out how to hold onto the best of both.

The prairie is beautiful, wondrous, free. Laura would love to just roam forever, always traveling west, always seeing new places. She doesn't want to marry, doesn't want to teach school, doesn't want anything to change about her way of life. But one can't stay a child forever. Eventually, the infinite possibility of childhood has to turn into the definite identity of adulthood. She has to take responsibility and settle down. The arrival of the town brings that adult life to the prairie, and in doing so, it destroys the innocent wonders of nature--the majestic wolves lose their home, the buffalo are gone, and the ducks no longer land at Silver Lake. Laura has to wrestle with this--is childhood, for herself and the prairie, gone forever? Does she have to let go of childlike wonder and embrace the mundane responsibility of adult life?

This theme is resolved when Laura finds Grace in the buffalo wallow. It's a place of impossible magic and beauty, a carpet of fragrant violets hidden away from the world with butterflies flying overhead, so perfect it seems like a fairyland. Of course Grace, the innocent child, is the one who was able to find it. When Laura asks Pa about it later, he explains that the "fairies" that made this magical ring were buffalo. There's a mundane explanation for the phenomenon, but that doesn't destroy the wonder and beauty of the place--adult knowledge enhances, rather than destroys childlike wonder. The buffalo might be gone, but there's still beauty left behind. Laura can move forward into the future and know that there are still wonders to find. She can be an adult and still maintain a childlike wonder, can take responsibility and still find comfort in the safety of home and family.

This thematic resonance made so much about the book so much deeper. It's the message of the entire series distilled into story form. Remember the past, children, but go forth boldly into the future. It's a message much easier to see with an adult's eyes, so I'm so glad I gave this book another chance.

#on the shores of silver lake #little house #laura ingalls wilder #i probably only saw this theme #because i just read her collection of fairy poems #and read a bunch of her farm columns where this theme is very prominent #she loves the simple joys of life #emphasizes the importance of hanging onto wonder and joy in the face of simple tasks #her descriptions of how much she loved taking out the cattle as a child made those scenes hit much deeper #those are the times when she gets to see the beauty of nature!#it makes the mundane chore a chance for beautiful reflection!#that kind of thing is all over this book and you know it's my jam #the point where this book really started to make sense was the scene with the wolves #laura faces this majestic wolf in the moonlight and it's like a fairy tale #the fading away of a fairy king #and suddenly everything about the theme just snapped into place #if i were a scholar my dissertation would be #'these books aren't just an old lady's memories or her daughter's libertarian tracts they're art and can we please talk about them like art

29 notes · View notes