#make happy is really the most prevalent which is interesting
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Reading your blog, I'm starting to see my relationship with my bf differently (we've been together for over a decade). Like, I've been questioning my romantic orientation for some time, suspecting I might be somewhere on the aromantic spectrum. But I realise I don't really have a clear image of what romance actually is and if it's something I have in my relationship. Like, he's my best friend. But what makes it different that a very close friendship? Apart, you know, the fact we live together and see each other every day. I'm also asexual so we don't really have sex, but for the very rare time I feel like doing something for him, but it's not really something we do, though I know sex and romance are to different things, straight people tend to say that the difference between friendship and dating is sex. I've heard allos saying "if I don't have sex with my s/o, what are we? Friends?" Anyway, I'm just more and more confused by what those criterias are for defining what is and what is not a romantic relationship. Love? I mean, love can have so many forms, how am I to regognise which one I feel? I just care about my bf. I like spending time together. We help each other on a daily basis. And when one of us need alone time we give as much time as the other needs. We do our things each in our corners and meet in the middle when we want company. We're happy this way. And that's great! I just can't comprehend what this all means. Sometimes I'm confused about the feelings I get for other people. Am I attracted to them or do I just want to smother them with my intense friendship? Which is hard. I sometimes feel like I love my friend to hard and I shy away during our interactions for fear to overwhelm them with my love. What's the difference between the two? Between my relationship with my bf and the friendship with those people I have to keep away sometime for fear to be "too much"? I'm sorry for these ramblings. You probably don't have the answers to this, but I needed to tell all this to someone that might understand at least some of it. I love your blog btw.
Sorry I'm replying so late – but thank you so much for all of this input, it's actually so interesting to hear your take on your own experience.
You're right, I don't have the answers, because every experience is very personal and I don't wanna project onto others, but there's a lot of points I actually relate to very much – like, I don't have a clear idea of what romance even is either, I just feel in my gut that it's not what I have with my queerplatonic partner. I guess in my own case I've also always had a bit of trouble with the idea of a "best friend" (like, I HAVE entertained the idea that this or that person might be my "best friend" at some points in my life, but I always end up coming back to the thought that I don't feel OK putting one person above others in my head – I work more in tiers made out of several people at once).
I might also be overthinking things but I often hear in the long-term-relationship discourse that romantic partnerships often wind up turning into friendship over time and that's OK – no idea how that works but it's interesting to think about, and I wonder if there's any truth to that on an aromantic spectrum basis? Like maybe... If both of us are on the aromantic spectrum, then maybe we just didn't get the "romantic high" part because we don't feel romantic attraction or feel it less than most people, and we're straight to that "friendship" part people talk about? ...Either way, what you describe with your bf sounds like a vibe, a healthy vibe to me. Sounds like you guys have it figured out and I wish you the best, honestly.
Also lol it really IS a useful and sobering reminder that to most allo people, the "sex = romance" idea is probably very prevalent still... Makes it even harder to figure ourselves out
Either way sorry for rambling and thank you SO MUCH for sharing your self-reflection, honestly, whatever conclusion you come to I hope life is good for you^^
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DPS: Life and Beauty
The dps slander that I hear from some people makes me so sad like you can’t look at it from a surface level perspective. It’s so much more than people think and it makes me sad that they don’t understand the true meaning of the film.
Dead Poets Society is a film about beauty and the nature of life seen through each of the characters. I think this is so obviously seen through Neil and Charlie as they both experience the roller coaster that is being alive.
Neil starts the film re-engaging with his friends which are quickly established as a positive force in his life. His celebrations are quickly cut short as his father enters the room. Neil’s father is a symbol of oppression and social standard whereas Neil symbolises freedom and passion. Neil’s character takes us through a variety of emotions, most notably joy and sadness to both extremes. Neil is a symbol for life and how it can take dramatic turns unexpectedly. This can be seen most obviously with his father. Neil goes through periods of happiness which is then followed by an entry from his father which introduces negative emotions and thoughts. I think the best example of this (other than Neil’s suicide) is the night before the play. Neil’s father has finally found out about Neil’s involvement in the play at Henley Hall and confronts his son, forcing him to quit the play. Prior to this, Neil had been at the highest point in his happiness only for it to be stripped back down and leave him feeling empty. However, the next day we see Neil reach his real peak as he performs in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and it seems as if nothing can bring him down. But, as life goes, it comes crashing down which ultimately ends in Neil taking his own life.
Charlie is also really interesting to look into as his story isn’t as prevalent as say Neil or Todd. His story goes through the same up and down formation as Neil’s does but it is shown very differently. Charlie is quickly established as an outspoken person who isn’t one to shy away from controversy or risk. The first notable rise in Charlie is in the Phone Call From God scene in which he holds up a phone during an assembly and says that God is calling for a coed future at Welton. This is then quickly followed by his first dip as he is disciplined and warned with expulsion. As Mr. Perry is to Neil, Mr. Nolan acts as a negative figure in Charlie’s story as he is the one who continues to ground him. Charlie’s happiness continues to grow for the rest of the film until Neil’s death where his positivity is ripped from underneath him without an explanation.
Neil and Charlie are both symbols as they literally experience the roller coaster of life that is references throughout the film. Dead Poets Society isn’t solely a movie about poetry and its beauty, but it’s about the delicacy of life.
When Mr. Keating introduces the soon-to-be-Poets to the Dead Poets Society, Knox asks “so it was just a group of guys sitting around reading poetry” and I think this reflects an outside view of the film. The first few times I watched it, I don’t think I could truly grasp how deep and intellectual it is. Knox’s interpretation of the Dead Poets Society is a literal representation of how people who don’t understand the film think of it. Whereas Keating’s response (“we weren’t just guys, we weren’t a greek organisation, we were romantics. We didn’t just read poetry, we let it drip from our tongues like honey”) represents the people who can understand the intricacies of the film.
It just makes me so sad when it’s dismissed as a movie about guys reading poetry when it’s so much more than that.
~
If you can’t tell it’s my favourite film. I will not tolerate the dismissal of dps as “guys who read poetry”.
#dead poets fandom#anderperry#dead poets society#dps#neil perry#todd anderson#writeblr#writers and poets#writers on tumblr#charlie dalton#Mr Perry#Mr Keating#Steven Meeks#Knox over street#Gerard Pitts#Walt Whitman#writerscommunity#writblr#writing#writer things#puckspoetry
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Your post about how the clinical process surrounding mental illness and addiction was really interesting!
I wonder what your thoughts are about Housing First models and Common Grounds models? Because I feel like they speak directly to your points and provide the needs but also a structure that can be relied on if one wishes to change oneself.
my job as a research assistant is actually doing an evaluation of the benefits of a massive housing first project in boston! i am a fan of housing first particularly because i think everyone should be housed + the possibilities for life shrink dramatically the second somebody is unhoused, regardless of their substance use status. unhoused ppl are treated as less than human (sometimes less than animal tbh) in many spaces. i also have a personal investment because my brother overdosed in part because of the fact that he had been kicked out of his living situation for using + was forced to use with a depressed tolerance in a remote location. if he had been in a housing situation which was not contingent on sobriety, where others may have been present to narcan him or he would not have had the immense stress + trigger of dogshit menial labor jobs needed to pay the ridiculous, price gouging rents at sober living- i mean, i can't speculate, but it's something i do think about.
i think my hesitation with how it can be implemented is, again, the assumption that the end goal for everyone is recovery. my position is not "well some people can't recover" or "well some people can't recover until xyz is met" but "nobody is obligated to recover, ever, and recovery is a subjective concept which can be put to extremely reactionary uses. i want to reduce people's suffering and increase their possibilities for life."
i do think, based on my work, that it's really important for people who are using substances to have access to resources which facilitate their safety and happiness + a lot of them would probably choose either sobriety, MAT, or safer drug use habits if that was something which was easy for them to do. they often express genuinely felt desires to "get better" (in whatever way that means to them or whatever way they hope it means to me) but similar, competing desires to continue experiencing the benefits of their drug use, as well as avoiding the negatives of sobriety. while i chafe at the idea that all people's "true selves" want to recover (in the specific way that recovery is constructed by substance use treatment providers), i do think that most people want to suffer less. things like methadone/suboxone (or safe, legal, surveillance free supply!!!), medications provided on site, easily accessible, non judgemental medical treatment, etc can save lives.
it's important for ppl to be very skeptical of who is allocating/managing the resources for these interventions + their motivations. to be frank, i get scared about the future of the (admittedly imperfect) housing projects i work with because they are funded by the state of MA with the primary goal being to get ppl off the street, because housed members of the community were complaining about the encampments. the state very clearly wants to see that these projects 1) reduce the prevalence of visible homelessness and 2) reduce the rate of drug use among participants. my job is very explicitly to collect and produce data that indicates this + the questions i ask when i collect data are quite explicitly centered around figuring out if being housed makes ppl use less drugs. the point here is that the state absolutely can + will revoke the massive amounts of money it has allocated towards these programs if they don't see them as making people Stop Doing Drugs or Stop Wandering the Streets. this is why i think harm reduction responses should be grassroots responses originating within + for communities, as described in some of the chapters of Saving Our Own Lives. unfortunately, these communities rarely have the infrastructure or the resources to implement these projects, so they must rely on the state + all of its messy biopolitical motives
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tell me more about this "mono isnt a human" theory thats really interesting
Thanks for asking! A few people have asked for my thoughts on Mono’s identity, and because I will take any opportunity to ramble about Little Nightmares, I wrote up my (hopefully intelligible) interpretation of Mono, and why I think he was always a Resident of The Nowhere, instead of a kidnapped human child like most of the LN kids. This theory is super connected to a few other ones I have, so I’ll rattle descriptions of them at the start for context. Also this post is insanely long I’m sorry
The Nowhere
The Nowhere is its own world that real children get kidnapped to, it feeds off of humanity and kinda functions like your local mall. A weird amount of emphasis is put on jobs in The Nowhere, Residents are often referred to solely by their job titles (The Janitor, The Doctor, The Teacher, etc. etc.)
Besides having a job in The Nowhere, a Resident's proximity to humanity seems to give them a higher status as well. In a LN1 interview, it was said that ALL residents wear masks (as opposed to just the Twin Chefs); we even see in LN2 that The Doctor makes and presumably sells these masks. A humanoid appearance is something that most Residents want. The more humanoid a Resident looks, the more powerful they are perceived to be (not always, because of The Ferryman, but he’s just chill like that.)
Kids and valuable teens/adults (like the circus performers and Otto from the podcast) feed The Nowhere kinda like how animals feed humans. Some Residents are given jobs to maintain this system. Some jobs require more power than others however, typically these are the jobs that require a Resident to keep control over an entire area, which leads me to…
The Cycle
The head honcho Residents like The Thin Man and The Lady are more humanoid and more powerful than the others, this is because they are handpicked and raised from birth to inherit these forms that are passed down over time. This one is super important to most of my points about Mono, so I’m going to spend some time defending it.
The Lady (prior to the Six stuff) had 4 predecessors, each represented by a different mask/hat that you can collect in VLN; This means that The Nowhere (at the time of the first loop in LN2) is on its 5th cycle. The Thin Man is also a mantle that is passed down, we see the previous one interact with Mono before Mono has even entered a time loop in the LN2 comics. This Thin Man, when datamined, notably wears a different hat than Mono’s iteration.
Furthermore, when asked if Thinny Lad is a mantle that is passed on or Mono in a timeloop in an interview, the devs had this to say:
The Pretender (VLN) is a good example of what I think Mono is supposed to be, and what the child forms of the 5th cycle Residents were. The Pretender is a humanoid child with supernatural powers and a strong sense of loneliness. She has her own mansion and Resident servants. The Pretender is the heir to a currently unknown position. She has a portrait of her and five past iterations on her wall, followed by another one of her and her two Resident parents. The Pretender is native to The Nowhere.
But… who is the boss of all the Residents? Who assigns these jobs? Who creates the natural Residents and brings others into The Nowhere?
The Eye
(you could argue its the ferryman but i think he works under the eye too. employee of the year)
I think most fans agree on this one so I won't spend too long on it, but basically I think the Eye is the unseen overall antagonist of Little Nightmares, overseeing everything and everyone in The Nowhere all the time. The Eye feeds off of misery and has a fate planned for everyone, it is not happy when anything throws a wrench into these plans. I don’t think we are meant to know The Eye’s motives, not yet at least, but if I had to guess; they have something to do with an extremely misguided and angry feeling of loneliness, as that is a prevalent theme in an insane amount of Residents. This finally brings me to Mono.
Mono’s Familiarity with The Nowhere
Mono is very familiar with Pale City, he is much more aware of his own fate, abilities, and world than he’s given credit for.
In the door/boat cutscene, Mono watches every TV in the water until it exits the frame. This early in the game, Mono already has an inherent connection to TVs.
Before Pale City comes into frame for both Six and the player, Mono is already standing, he is familiar enough with the route to Pale City that he knows they arrived without even having a clear view of their destination. This is because Mono has been to Pale City before, in the sixth episode of the LN2 comics:
In this comic, Mono met (and wasn't killed by) The Thin Man shown earlier. So to list off the amount of things Mono was already familiar with at the start of LN2: His connection to TVs, his connection to The Thin Man, and how to navigate Pale City. Mono having a lot of experience living in The Nowhere is demonstrated somewhere even more prominent too:
Kickass Character Design
Six’s character design intentionally makes her not fit in with her environment. While the color scheme of The Nowhere and its residents is mostly bland, monochrome, and washed out (sans the lighting), her jacket is highlighter yellow. This represents that Six does not belong in The Nowhere, she’s from the human world.
With this information to ride off of, Mono’s design becomes interesting. Mono’s design is a beige button up, tan trench-coat, and tan pants: A monochrome, muted outfit that fits in perfectly with the aesthetic of The Nowhere. Mono’s outfit including a key ring and a useful color scheme for camouflage further implies familiarity and experience with the way The Nowhere works. If Six’s simple, bright design represents her not belonging there, Mono’s muted, practical design represents the fact that he does.
His Mask
We actually know why Mono wears his mask, we have a direct answer:
You can interpret this as a representation of Mono being shy or insecure or a combination of multiple things, but I think it’s mainly meant to represent, as the description states: Mono hiding from The Nowhere, Mono running away from his fate. The Eye wants Mono to grow up and be the next Thin Man, but he doesn’t want to. Mono’s mask represents his fear, his refusal to use his Thin Man powers, his refusal to do anything that connects him to the world that hates him and wants him to fail; he wants to hide from that world, his future, and the reality of what he is. But ….
(straight up a post of Mono running from his fate)
Unexplained Powers
Mono’s OP reveal was the moment that shook me the most when I first watched my sister play the game; I’ve honestly always been shocked at how little it’s talked about in the community. To me, it was a reveal that told us we Did Not REALLY know much about the character we had been playing the entire time, and that was exciting.
When Mono fights the Thin Man and contorts the structure of Pale City, it is with ease. This is not his first time doing any of this, his body language does not match that of someone who just discovered/unlocked a new ability, him busting out the moves is framed more like a choice that he decided on just before removing his mask. The Thin Man boss battle is easy on purpose; because it's not too hard for Mono in universe, all he does after is wipe off his head nonchalantly and then he proceeds to warp reality. The ominous boss theme that plays during this fight isn’t even for the Thin Man, its MONO’S boss music. The Thin Man is the one who helps control The Signal Tower’s influence, Mono is the one interfering with it, he is the “Signal Interference.” The theme continues even after he’s defeated The Thin Man, further hammering in that it is his.
Mono has his own ominously powerful boss theme and the abilities of one of the most powerful Residents at his disposal; he is not a normal kid.
Mono even shares a power with the established Resident heir that we already know; The Pretender.
When The Pretender sees RCG eavesdropping on her crying, she yells so loud that it physically hurts RCG, causing the screen to glitch. I don’t think this is just a visual effect to show how loud it is to the player; I think this is an in universe ability. You know where else we see a powerful child amplify their voice on purpose to harm an enemy with a screen glitch/distortion effect? Mono in Chapter 5.
Mono and the fifth Thin Man
I think that Mono ran away from wherever it is he’s supposed to be, (probably the Signal Tower) and The Eye/ Thin Man want him back; this is why Mono is not killed by The Thin Man in the comic, just pursued by him
Loneliness
I don’t think I even really need to dissect how loneliness relates to Mono’s character, but he’s not the only character who deals with it. A huge recurrent theme with Residents is loneliness; the sense that they need something, they are missing something. The Lady has a bunch of dolls, The Janitor has.. a bunch of dolls in his own way. The Hunter too. The Pretender runs off to cry when her human doll friend gets messed up at her dinner party. The Resident we meet in Chapter 3 of the podcast is the most direct example so far of intense loneliness in a Resident, and not so coincidentally, it has a ton of parallels to Mono.
Narrative
For the rest of this post, I’m going to focus on how I think this theory fits into the story; because I think factoring in the cutscenes and storytelling beats is important when putting together something’s lore.
A little chatter about Mono
Mono is often characterized as a shy little boy who plays the straight man to Six’s feral goblin who loves eating rats, which is a whole other can of worms, but with this characterization I feel like some fun and interesting parts of his character are neglected, such as: The fact that Mono is an ominous little weirdo. His attempt at trying to save and comfort someone is to hack down her door with an ax with no warning, then proceed to chase her through the house she’s been trapped in; Mono is not too familiar with human interaction. Mono isn’t really a dashing hero who tries to save every kid he comes across either. In the comics, Mono finds an area that is away from the monster killing all the kids, but it’s not like he tells the other kids or tries to bring them with him or anything. I don’t think that this means he is a toxic manipulative character or anything because he is. 9 or 10 years old. I think if anything, this is a trait that experienced characters in The Nowhere have: RCG and Mono both know that indifference is the way to survive in The Nowhere, good deeds usually get you killed. It’s the way things are. I think overall Mono is a well meaning boy who just talks and acts ominously, because that’s what he is used to; he’s an eldritch overpowered being who lives in hell if it had a 1940s aesthetic.
I think that Mono doesn’t start the game a sweet perfect little boy whose ending is sad because he gets betrayed, that’s not a character arc. I think Mono starts off relatively morally gray out of necessity, mostly helping Six out because it was kinda his fault she got captured. He develops into someone who is willing to fight his fate, fight the Nowhere and stop resorting to the escapism his mask provides, only to get crushed to rock bottom in spite of his growth. After all, the villain of Little Nightmares is The Nowhere itself.
How this creates character conflict in the plot
Anytime Mono goes into a weird TV trance, Six is horrified. Her body language tenses and she moves away from him. Six has seen first hand that even the kids like her in The Nowhere cannot always be trusted or relied on (RCG shutting the door on her). Some kids like the Pretender aren't even normal kids, they have powers they use to kill people. The one person Six is starting to trust, and he’s showing signs of possessing supernatural powers? Terrifying. Mono notices these reactions, they give him more cause to hide what he truly is from her. Residents scare and disgust Six, he doesn’t want to lose the only person he has.
This conflict leads me to another point; you know those moments of Six being sadistic and angry towards Residents? How an ominous music cue plays when she kills the bully and breaks the mannequin’s fingers? Earlier in the game, when Six first catches Mono, his part of Togetherness II plays briefly to show his feelings in that moment, which implies that the music cues we hear when a story beat happens are Mono’s reactions. I don’t think these scary music cues are because Mono is scared of Six being creepy, Mono himself likes to beat up Residents. I think that Mono is scared in these moments when he sees the extent of Six’s hatred towards Residents, because even though he doesn’t like them either… Imagine how she’d react if she knew about him.
It is only the Thin Man fight when Mono is finally pushed to the point of using his powers, because in the plan to get Mono to the Signal Tower: The Thin Man took Six as bait. Six was constantly pulling Mono out of his TV trances, Six was supposed to die back at The Nest, Six has been a problem for the Eye since the start and now it’s time to kill two birds with one stone, to sentence Six to her new fate and to crush Mono’s spirit so hard that he finally resigns to his.
The drop is its whole own debate, but whatever you think about it, I think at least one factor in Six’s decision is that from her perspective: Mono has revealed himself to be an entity she cannot trust, he didn't tell her either; he's been hiding it this entire time. Why didn’t he use this power to help them all the previous times they were in danger? What are his motives? What IS he? This, mixed with other factors, causes the drop. (a lot of manipulation on the part of The Nowhere is involved too imo but this isn't a Drop analysis)
Mono is crushed, he loses Six and any true feeling of empowerment that he had before. Rather than The Eye trapping him in the Signal Tower and forcibly transforming him into a resident, I think Mono actually accepts his fate because hes just. That depressed. He actually ages pretty normally for most of the sequence (except for being straight up like 12 feet tall, the podcast confirmed that Residents are just super super big as opposed to the kids being really small, bros got Resident genes) This sequence from the art book leads me to think that Mono knows what the hat entails, Mono chooses to run the Signal Tower like The Lady runs The Maw. The chair sequence is not actually him sitting in a chair for that long, I think it just represents his resignation more than anything.
BUT! Mono is an “uncommonly single minded boy,” who also has control over time, i.e. Mono Thin Man slowing down time in his chase just to fuck with you or the clock sounds in The End of The Hall. Whether you think he goes back for revenge or to stop the downfall of everything, he goes back in time. I think it's on purpose, I think every TV in the background of the first scene implies that Mono has gone back to this point in time over and over again, failing repeatedly, leaving a new TV behind and forgetting the past attempt each time.
This could all be wrong, maybe Mono is just a really badass 4th grader from the human realm who got his abilities like Six, just off screen. But one thing I love about LN is all of the different, creative and interesting interpretations of the fans. So here’s mine regarding Mono lore. Sorry this was so long and I write posts weirdly it is 4 AM. I hope you enjoyed
#little nightmares#little nightmares 2#mono ln#six ln#little nightmares theory#i meant it when i said i could talk forever abt this franchise. the floodgates were unleashed#sorry i don’t usually post theories so i know this isn’t like#super polished game theory levels of organized at all#but little ominous eldritch being mono means a lot to me#some of the achievement names are in first person and it’s so funny like he words shit like dracula#the achievement for holding hands with six for six minutes is#in the palm of my hand#what an ominous way to refer to hand holding#love u lil weirdo
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The Intertextuality of Magic and Purge March
(CW: Child Abuse, Torture, Cults)
So, Intertextuality is defined as the relationship between two texts, and is usually used in literature to discuss the interplay and intersect between two (usually separate) works.
Now, Milgram isn't a book and since it's a Series the MVs are naturally interconnected with each other. But the Way those MVs connect and the nature of there relationship is fascinating to me and I'd like to talk about the way Magic and Purge March connect with each other, since I think the way the two MVs shape Amane Momose's story is really interesting and well-written.
A Lot of scenes, events, and objects in Magic can be mapped onto scenes in Purge March, and a lot of things that Did Happen/Are Involved aren't in Purge March but in Magic and vice versa.
For example, As people have noted, Amane actually has Two murder weapons.
The umbrella, which is presented in Purge March and not in Magic.
And the taser, which Isn't in Purge March but Is in Magic.
We already have an incredibly important detail that isn't included in Purge March but Is in Magic.
Except, this detail probably wouldn't have been noticed in the first place if it wasn't for Purge March Establishing that a taser exists in the first place.
Purge March also does a lot of fun recontextualization of elements in Magic. See, the stagelight and the cat.
Most people Assumed this was a literal stagelight (myself included) except Purge March doesn't have this light Anywhere. Which seems strange considering how important it is in Magic as the thing that causes the cat to be hurt in the first place.
The cat was also something taken as a stand in for a human that got hurt. Not a literal cat.
Except, not only is the cat a Literal cat, the the injury on the cat in Magic isn't even the same in Purge March!
But wait there's more! Because Amane is paralleled with the cat
So not only is the cat a literal cat, it is also a stand in! Just for someone we didn't expect.
While the stagelight is most likely just a metaphor, since Magic is a TV SHOW and a Tv show needs lighting. The Stagelight falling being a metaphor for how the cat lead to the destabilization of Amane's "ideal" reality. Purge March completely contextualizes one of the most important parts of Purge March.
Which leads to even more interesting implications and themes, since we can take the cat's death by her abusers as...a metaphorical killing of Amane Momose.
Something that she does To Herself in Purge March.
(Though The cat is also...multiple different metaphors stuck inside a girl and a cat but we do not have the Time to unpack all of that and it's not too relevant to this discussion.)
This is what really makes me love Magic and Purge March, it's their ability to recontextualize each other in interesting directions and the way information is hidden and obscured by the both of them. Only being able to be seen if you look at both of them together.
And while that is true for the other MVs I think it's the most prevalent in Magic and Purge March!
The way the lyrics interact with each other is also really interesting and how it helps show how conflicted Amane is about her situation and how she should Feel About it.
Even I can say "I'm sorry"
Even I have hope
I swear! I'm going to be a good girl now! That's it!
----------------
After you cry, repent, and kneel, it’s now your turn to say that hopeless “I’m sorry”
Not meaning to brag but I’m pretty happy
I’ve made up my mind so they don’t make that face at me again
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If you become a bad girl, monsters will come out
This is the magic that stops that from happening
It's inaccurate to call Magic Amane a less aware Amane because I'd argue she's Very Aware to some extent.
This is a show she's acting in and she knows it. Magic is a plea in a sense, to her parents, to Es, to god to forgive her. That she Can Be a Good Girl. Not that she is, that she Can Be.
I won’t say “I’ve had enough”
Will you laugh with me and forgive me?
While Purge March Amane is happily dealing out justice by destroying "sin." She's not presenting good girl as if it's something she isn't, she's presenting it as something she Already is.
We must not give into them, they are the ones that should be judged
With pure, unsullied body and soul, let us preach all that is true and right
Sure she might have some weaknesses but she gets rid of them easily and efficiently!
And these two Amane's are the Same Amane.
That medal, the cape, the wings, the feathers- This the same Amane. This is the Ideal Amane. Just recontextualized and framed in a different light. Magic Amane is on the path to being a good girl while Purge March Amane is. This change in perception being a consequences of our "condemnation" of her actions in T1!
Amane is More Critical of herself, More Punishing, More Strict in Purge March. But also more sure of her own righteousness than in Magic.
However, Magic and Purge March both downplay Amane's pain in some way.
Even with how sure she is of her own righteousness Amane still diminishes her own suffering.
You see my point- these two MVs are constantly discussing and interacting with each other and I just think that's cool.
I could talk about it more but if I did we would be here forever, plus I've already discussed alot of these points in different posts. I just wanted to talk about why I think it's so interesting.
#milgram#amane momose#008#milgram amane#cw child abuse#cw cults#milgram meta#milgram analysis#I FINALLY DID IT!#its shorter than I thought but thats because Ive talked so much about a lot of this that it would be redundant if I talked about it here lo
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On Gendered Storytelling
Okay, so.
For the purposes of this discussion, I'll be basing my arguments on the two most prevalent genders; those being cis men and cis women. There are other genders, and any time anybody tells me there aren't, we'll add another, but this is going to be a broad-strokes analysis which such nuances won't really assist in dissecting, so I'm going to gloss over that stuff. Know that when I say "men" and "women" for the purposes of this mini-essay, I'm referring to the "average" man and the "average" woman. I'll be making plenty of generalizations in the proceeding text, but every rule has exceptions aplenty, especially when discussing gender, and nothing I say is going to be universally applicable.
Okay? Okay.
My household consisted of four men (myself, my two brothers, and my father) and one woman (my mother) for the majority of the 2000s-2010s. During that time, our family got very much into the Marvel Cinematic Universe; or at least, most of us did. Despite repeated attempts to engage our mother in the universe, my brothers and I failed to capture her interest. More than once during trips to the theater to view installments of the films, she fell asleep halfway through. This made sense during Thor: the Dark World, but less so during our viewing of Ant-Man, which, despite several notable plotholes, was overall an engaging experience for 15-year-old Aro.
More recently, mom has been trying to connect with us through communal viewing of reality TV based on our interests; LEGO Masters is commonly playing, due to my brother's interest in legos, and ever since I got more into cooking, we've also added Chopped and Master Chef to our repertoire.
And it's all boring as sin.
Oh, we watch it. It's nice to see mom happy, and to spend time with her; she spends so much time at church nowadays, and given how the rest of the family has stopped attending mass since the youngest turned 18, that means that the reality shows are about the only social time we get with her. And I do like spending time with her, but I frankly couldn't give a 15-minute ice cream sundae who wins this episode of Chopped.
So I got to thinking why that is. I voiced some of this to my parents, wondering if it had something to do with the culture in which we are raised; men are typically seen as active participants in society, expected to be breadwinners for their families and more involved with social progress; while women are typically put in a more passive role, as the caretakers and raisers of the next generation.
My father pointed out that you can't knock the biological component; men, generally having higher levels of testosterone than women, are typically more aggressive and competitive than the fairer sex. As such, they'd be more receptive to action-heavy films that otherwise lack substance, a la the Transformers franchise. I don't love to reduce things to biological essentialism, but I do think he's got a point; we know that testosterone, like all hormones, has a significant impact on mood and behavior.
That said, I don't think it's purely a matter of people with more testosterone finding action more engaging; the shows I mentioned above are all competitions, after all, which you would expect to resonate well with competitive people (generally men). I also know for a fact that many action films, made poorly, fail to resonate with audiences of either gender. Green Lantern comes to mind as an example of a superhero show that nobody liked, and I already mentioned Thor: the Dark World above, just to solidify my point.
I think the main difference is in the stakes. In a lot of action movies, the stakes are extremely high; the stability of nations, the power of an organized crime syndicate, the world at large are all common stakes in such films. Meanwhile, a lot of reality shows have much more personal stakes; the relationship between family and friends, the love between two strangers, the bereavement of a widow. Both stakes have their place; I want to get along well with my family, but I also want the planet to not explode. But for some reason, media targeted towards men seems to focus mainly on the former, while media targeted towards women often focuses on the latter.
And I don't think it has to be this way. There are action movies, for instance, which focus a lot on lower, interpersonal stakes. I seem to recall that Venom was a lot more popular among female audiences than expected, and conversely a lot less popular among male audiences than expected, for basically telling the story of a man and his symbiote like it was a romantic comedy. John Wick has a dark order of assassins operating in the background, but the debut film is just a story about a man getting revenge for the death of his dog. Women love John Wick! (Here I'll remind you of the notes about generalization back in paragraph one.)
Meanwhile, there are stories with very high stakes and not a whole lot of action. Interstellar threatens the extinction of the human race, but only due to a global famine, with nary a punch thrown throughout the entire film. Yet it seems to resonate with men just as well as with women, perhaps even moreso.
I would assert, therefore, that it is the difference in stakes which resonate more with one gender or the other, and that men typically prefer situations with grander stakes, while women typically prefer situations with more personal stakes. I'm still not sure precisely why that is, but I'd love to get the input of others, if anyone wants to contribute their two cents! Or maybe you think I'm wrong! I'd love to hear about that, too! Leave a reply and let me know why I have no idea what I'm talking about! Thanks!
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Some people think the word "gringo" is a slur. It literally means something like "foreigner", someone that comes from another country. But I just realized that when a Brazilian says "gringo!!!!" like they are genuinely happy to see you it's really because they are glad you're here and they want to teach you stuff about Brazil and integrate you to the culture and learn about yours and make friends with you, we are just really extroverted and we love other cultures.
Like, last week I was at a Buddhist temple that had all types of Asian culture related things (even though Buddhism isn't prevalent in every country in Asia, here you will get white christians praying on the temple because historically we incorporated so many religions into our own culture and people think "well, what if it works?" and sensible people don't think it's heretical). It was a also a celebration that incorporated a Brazilian festival called "June parties", that became so popular that they start in the end of May and go until August instead of actually lasting for only June and it was based on catholic beliefs but people from all religions go just to have fun, dance and eat. And then we were doing that, but adding multiple Asian cultures in a Buddhist temple. All at the same time, same place, everybody having fun.
Anyway some gringos were there and they were a bit overwhelmed but really happy to see all the different cultural things going on, when to us it is just another year's festival and sometimes we forget this doesn't happen everywhere. And people were trying to explain to them why we do that, what you can do at those festivals and they were sunburned and everyone just wanted to integrate them to the festival. English was not even their first language and everyone was struggling a bit to communicate but we tried because it's so fun when someone is genuinely interested in the mix up culture/faith/ethnicities we have here.
In some rare occasions, if people say "gringo." and it sounds too serious and they say it with a bit of a condescending tone, you just did something racist or disrespectful and then it becomes something that means "this person thinks they are so superior and they haven't even tried to get to know us", kind of like when people say in English "this is white people stuff" right after they said something racist that shows lack of awareness and privilege. That's what I think might come closest to an English expression in that context.
If you get offended by someone's "very excited that you're here" tone of saying "gringo!!!" then you might get offended by the monotone "gringo." which basically means that you were going racist/xenophobic. Most people will try the "welcome" tone of the word, and they might give you "gringo" as a nickname and it usually means that you are well-liked. Just make sure you are the type of person that will continue to get that happy emphasis on the word and don't say racist shit.
Tldr: it's not a slur and people are usually genuinely interested in you and trying to integrate you into the culture and happy to see that you wanted to come here in the first place. But if anyone is openly racist, and people get irritated, then the very monotone way of calling someone a gringo serves as a warning to other Brazilians that you were saying racist things without even trying to get to know the culture or the people in it. The word exists in both Portuguese and Spanish but I am talking about Brazilian Portuguese since that's where I'm from. It's all in the tone and it's never a slur, and in its negative meaning it just serves to tell other Brazilians that you are saying racist stuff, but it usually has a sort of "hey, it's cool that you're here and I wanna show you some nice stuff to do around here".
#on the word gringo#Brazilian culture#it's all in the tone#and it is not a slur#it has more than one meaning#cw racism against latinx#cw religion mention
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LGBT Yume Nikki fangames to check out for pride month
As you're all probably aware, I recently submitted Okami no Yume for DDJ 6, in the time leading up to the jam I started digging around to see what kinds of fangames are out there - the pool is so vast. These are some queer games I found that inspired me.
For this list I've tried to focus on games that are explicitly queer rather than ones that are maybe more abstract, games that might have effects that alter the character's gender expression may not truly pertain to the queer identity as much as they're trying to be "quirky" in some way. That or the queer identity of the character is not really explored as much as it is just presented as a tidbit or side note.
This may also be a list I update at some point, but I wanted to showcase these while it's still June since I've managed to finish - who knows? There may even be more candidates for it by the time the week's grace period for DDJ6 has concluded. I'm also very happy to take suggestions for new games to try that might apply!
Madotsuki's Closet
Required reading in my eyes, and one of the better known of this list. If you haven't experienced Madotsuki's Closet please check it out. It's both a personal recount and a very interesting study on how games allow for a means to explore identity. Also gets points for making me cry at the end.
Reach
If you're looking for something horror geared, rich in lore, fascinating puzzles and charming characters look no further than Reach. Sewa and Hiru's relationship is a pivotal aspect of the game - in ways the player might not even realize at first.
The prevalent themes on persecution and having to conceal one's identity in order to survive prove both compelling and cathartic, this game is really a treasure.
The game was also just completed for this jam and is now in 1.0! It's been really exciting to watch Saibibi work on it and be making an entry alongside them! ^^
Dialogue
It's not a secret I have a soft spot for Dialogue, although there are aspects of it that elude me still. Dialogue is a traditional fangame that ironically has no dialogue to be found, mostly focusing on gathering effects. However throughout the game, you will also find events that give the player windows into the lives and relationship between the main character, Ai, and the girl who appears constantly in her dreams, Yui.
Dialogue is a poignant look at troubled love and stage fright. I would love to see more people play this game.
Change
This deserves a shoutout at least because it's one of the most explicitly trans themed traditional Yume Nikki fangames out there, and even in it's unfinished state has fascinating concepts. Change has a mechanic where you must choose selves to sacrifice in order to progress to the deeper parts of the game, one of which fascinatingly involves choose-your-own-adventure style branching rooms with associated dialogue paths.
Would love to see this game fleshed out but I appreciate it for what it is.
Re:flexion
Honorary mention, even though this fangame didn't go far, there seems to be some heavily implied themes of identity and trauma relating to it. What I've seen of it really makes me wish there was more.
Album
Another honorary mention for the bridal event. Unfortunately the current version of this game is a very early prototype and there isn't too much else to say about it except that it looks very promising. Whether there will be an update of any kind has yet to be seen.
Strange Memo I also thought worth a mention at least, probably the most obscure one on this list as it's not publicly available anymore.
While it doesn't quite fit the criteria, I've been watching a playthrough of this one and I really wish it was still available because this fangame is just so lovingly weird. I know the fan favourites tend to be the more eye-candy fangames, but Strange Memo's strange and surprising mannerisms are very endearing to me.
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TITANS #1: OUT OF THE SHADOWS, THOUGHTS.
I’m evolving from a manga blogger to my final form a comic book blogger. If you know anything about me, you know Teen Titans is my favorite thing ever, so after neglecting the Teen Titans and pushing them to the side for years DC’s push to finally put the Teen Titans in the spotlight has me really excited. So I’ll be trying to write up my monthly thoughts for each new issue as long as the comic is running!
Happy comic book Tuesday everyone! My thoughts on the first issue below!
First and foremost, after two successive reboots the newest run of Titans has returned to the original New Teen Titans lineup, Nightwing, Donna, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, with Wally as a member at least on rotation.
How much of the old continuity is back has yet to be seen, but considering Roy and Lian are back in the Green Arrow comics, they mention that Garth, Donna and Dick are founding members of the original Titans Team I am going to assume they’re bringing back old continuity.
From what I can tell, Infinite Frontier did a sort of soft reset of both of the New 52, and Rebirth Teen Titans series, and our current team is continuing on from what was probably a few years after the events in (2003).
I base this off the fact that the newest Young Justice comics also mention the fact that Tim, Connor, Bart and Cassie all were on the Teen Titans at one point before they went back and reformed Young Justice, so graduation day still happened.
The fact that Beast Boy and Raven are dating too is something that indicates we’re continuing from the events of (2003), because them officially getting back together is the last thing they did on panel before the reboot hit.
The New Cyborg comic that came out today as well also mentions that the first team he was ever on was the Teen Titans, with a flashback that looked like the 80s lineup.
Anyway, I went out of my way to establish what continuity I think we are working with, because since we’re back at the New Teen Titans lineup, there’s a lot of interesting parallels in this first issue.
1. Garfield Logan / Beast Boy
A pretty commonly overlooked fact about Beast Boy is that he suffers from C-PTSD, and depression. He’s basically been orphaned twice. This was especially prevalent in the start of New Teen Titans, because when the Doom Patrol had just recently died when Garfield joined the team.
Garfield’s mental illness is more disguised because unlike other comic book characters that tend to lash out a lot more (like say, no one is ever going to argue about the fact that Jason Todd has c-ptsd it’s pretty hard to miss there), Garfield instead spends most of his time playing off his trauma like it’s nothing to him.
That’s not to say Garfield doesn’t lash out, he has multiple times. He’s tried to kill Slade Wilson, he nearly killed Madame Rogue (and then she died anyway). However, Garfield tends to spend a lot of time trying to hide his symptoms, so he can come off as a friendly, safe, reliable person to be around.
Which is what makes Garfield so unique of a character to me, his unaddressed trauma manifests in subtle ways. Beast Boy’s immature, and kind of an eternal child because he doesn’t want to grow past his trauma since that would require facing it. He’s also like, compared to Dick Grayson who is a well-oiled machine who is THE LEADER, the HERO, a lot more incompetent and whiny. Which is because they have similiar traumas that manifest in different ways, Dick’s trauma makes him overwork himself to death trying to be good at his job as a hero because that’s the one thing he does well, and Beast Boy’s trauma makes him self sabotage.
Beast Boy’s writing is unique because his trauma stunts his growth in a way that’s really down to earth and realistic. A lot of people complain about how fifteen year old Beast Boy is constantly making women uncomfortable by hitting on them, or how his relationship with Terra is about HIS FEELINGS and not hers and therefore selfish, and yeah, both of those things are true but it’s because Beast Boy is a child who doesn’t know how to behave that’s looking for validation and in this case he’s looking for it from women in his life.
New Teen Titans isn’t the most progressive comic in the world, but the writers were aware of the fact Beast Boy’s behavior was not alright, he gets called a chauvinist multiple times. So Garfield is capable of being immature, selfish, and he can even have some toxic attitudes and deeply repressed anger and these things are all deeply hidden under the surface, because he’s also Beast Boy and he’s Baby.
The new Titans run has said that Beast Boy’s trauma from being shot by Slade Wilson in Dark Crisis is going to be one of the themes explored starting out in Titans, and as I’ve established above Beast Boy’s always been a sufferer of CPTSD.
The fact that it was Slade specifically who shot him too is interesting, because Beast Boy had a pretty long running relationship with Slade in new Teen Titans (more of a relationship than he ever did with Dick, TBH). Starting with the fact that Slade nearly murdered him, Beast Boy’s relationship with Terra, all led to a point where Beast Boy tried to murder Slade out of vengeance.
Which is where I once again bring up the point that, Beast Boy’s just repressed all of his trauma he has not processed literally any of it. However, when Beast Boy tries to kill him, of all things what happens is they end up sitting down at a diner and talking things out. I have mixed opinions on this scene I definitely do not like the victim blaming of Terra that goes on, but there is something about Slade having just enough humanity to talk Beast Boy down off of a ledge. The gist of the conversation is more or less “Don’t become like me Beast Boy, I’m not a good person.” I credit Slade “I hate children, I’m glad I was never one of them” Wilson with having at least that much self-awareness.
It’s actually a pretty nuanced take to point out that Beast Boy only wanted to murder Slade, because he wanted to vent all of the hatred and anger he was holding inside of himself because he didn’t have any way to express it, and killing Slade for those reasons would not have made him feel better.
After that conversation, Slade and Beast Boy have a weird relationship where Beast Boy starts seeing him as more human, to the point where when Slade becomes Deathstroke again post Titans Hunt he’s really disappointed in him because he wanted to see the good in him. Which makes sense because Beast Boy has like no healthy role models for masculinity in his life, of course he’d cling to one guy who was kind of nice to him once when he was at a low point.
So Beast Boy being shot by Slade of all people, and then rocking an eyepatch covering the same eye that Slade has missing is a neat visual parallel to Slade considering all their history. Which is interesting because Slade is an interesting foil to Beast Boy. Beast Boy has some hidden toxicity inside of him as a result of his trauma he has trouble processing, and which often causes him to act out, and Slade Wilson is toxic masculinity personified.
Slade is also a sufferer from PTSD, he’s a vietnam vet, and evil captain america, he’s said multiple times in his series that coming back from war he basically felt nothing which is what made him adopt the Deathstroke persona. Slade’s like the worst, most toxic possible future for Beast Boy, the bad ending fromt he darkest timeline. It’s why he was the one who talked Beast Boy down from that ledge originally because Slade knew, that violence never fixed anything about him.
In action comics 1051 they dive inside Beast Boy’s mind because post-dark crisis he’s been losing control of his transformation, and his inner world is represented by several angry animals lashing out to defend their territory, and then a little baby boy. Because Beast Boy is Baby, but like once again Beast Boy will act incredibly aggressive and violent to defend the child within himself.
Because Beast Boy’s reaction to his trauma has always been about hiding it. Which is more or less why the child within hasn’t grown up. So considering all of his past trauma, if they’re still in continuity then you could even look at being shot by Slade as him being re-traumatized. Especially since he’s almost been killed by Slade in the past before, and it was a pretty major trauma for him at the time too.
It seems like in this issue, Beast Boy’s way of dealing it so far has been his usual one too, which is just to you know, avoidance and passing himself off as fine. He transforms into a mouse in his sleep because Beast Boy wants to pass himself as harmless and someone its okay to be around.
The sentiment in this first panel though, sort of reminds me of what Beast Boy said to Raven in the last issue of the 2003 Teen Titans run, about taking the good with the bad.
Which you know if we’re really just continuing Beast Boy and Raven’s relationship from where they were in 2003, growth for Beast Boy because he’s not just seeking validation in a relationship as a way to fix himself, he’s just looking for comfort and support from his partner.
Okay, that was the longest section of the post, but I like Beast Boy so I’m biased. Moving on!
2. Raven / Rachel Roth
Raven’s New Teen Titans characterization, and her post revival in 2003 characterization are wildly different. This might just be me wanting her old characterization back, but I caught a couple of signs of old Raven in this first issue? The first is the way she talks, she’s not being snippy or sarcastic she’s talking in a kind of reserved, stiff and formal way.
The second thing is she’s not throwing things around with telekinesis or participating in the fight, while everyone else was fighting we saw her doing crowd control and teleporting which is what New Teen Titans Raven did. She had two moves which was teleporting in and out of places, and calming people down.
3. Dick Grayson / Nightwing
There’s not much character work for Dick per-se in this first issue, but the push DC is doing to have the Titans finally step up and act in the place of the new Justice League has a lot of implication for Dick’s character.
Number one, the move to Bludhaven means that for the first time in decades being the leader of the Titans is a big priority for Dick’s character again. Basically post Dick quitting the team, and the Chuck Dixon era, Dick operated solo in Bludhaven for a long time, and even when the team reformed with Dick as a leader he was still operating solo out of the Bludhaven which I always thought didn’t make a lot of sense to split his focus like that.
Moving the Titans Tower to Bludhaven pretty much solves that problem, it allows Dick to still have solo Nightwing things in Bludhaven, but also make being team leader a priority of his character as it ought to be. Not only does most of Dick’s character development come from separating himself from Batman and being with the Teen Titans, it’s also just Dick’s greatest strength as a character is his leadership skills so when he’s separated from the TItans he loses that aspect of his character.
Number two, the Titans replacing the Justice League as the mai defender of worldwide threats. Which is again, another good move for Dick’s character. Dick was never going to join the justice league, he can’t be Batman because honestly he’s already better than him. If DC actually sticks to their guns here and lets the Titans actually step up it’s a pretty interesting premise.
The Titans have handled worldwide threats before, so it’s not really a problem of whether or not they’re strong enough. The Titans in their prime weren’t really a one-city team, they flew all over the place and got into all sorts of adventures. The lack of members isn’t really a problem either, unless you’re watching Justice League unlimited, it’s usually just one core team of members with the Titans, and the Titans have a bunch of auxiliary members they can call on. However, there is one pretty big difference between the League and the Titans which would make them function differently.
The League are Earth’s Greatest Heroes, they’re like the All-Star Team that gets handpicked from the best of the major leaguers. They don’t really have the kind of complex in-group relationships that the Titans do. The Titans on the other hand are just kind of a bunch of traumatized kids who were thrown together at one point. As a whole too, the Titans are more likely to work without the system than within it.
So, there is an interesting conflict you could set up for Dick which is to have the Titans take on the level responsibility that the Justice League had, but with a team that functions in almost an entirely different way than the Justice League did, because they’re living together and they all grew up together. The Titans solving the Justice League level problems, but learning to do it in the Titans way.
4. Aqualad / Garth
So, Garth’s totally been brainwashed by Brother Blood, right?
On a more serious note, the scene with Garth is interesting because both Garth and Roy have been despite being founding members, more like sixth stringers of the Teen Titans as a whole throughout most of the Titans runs. Basically the only run where they are regular members of the team is the Titans run in the 90s.
One of the events that caused the breakup of the original Teen Titans from the silver age is the fact that Garth was so insecure about his place on the team that he literally faked an illness so he wouldn’t have to go out on missions.
If he’s not being brainwashed though, Tom Taylor has explored ideas of the atlanteans being a little more extreme about environmentalism before in the Injustice 2 comic. It’s a potentially interesting plot-thread considering DC recently has been taking a more sympathetic view of environmental extremists like Poison Ivy making them lean more into being anti-villains / anti-heroes.
It could be an interesting turn for Garth, because he is a distant member of the team, and he’s also got other priorities besides being a hero on the surface. I for one, think it would be great if Garth turned into Namor, but that’s just my huge crush on Namor speaking.
That’s pretty much all of my thoughts for now. If you enjoyed me rambling about Beast Boy, and some other nerds whatever their names were, please feel free to send me asks!
#teen titans#new teen titans#tt meta#teen titans meta#dc comics#dc comics meta#dick grayson#starfire#nightwing#raven#beast boy#cyborg#donna troy#titans 2023#dc titans
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Cg!Bo Sinclair x Little! Reader, ft Vincent and Lester head-cannons
TW: Slashers, reference to m*rder and tort*re, reference to child ab*se. Not super prevalent, and not graphic.
I think Bo would actually benefit from being a caregiver. One of his worst fear's is being an abusive piece of garbage to his kids or his partner- anyone he cares about really, like his parents were.
He does have issues with anger as we all know, but knowing his s/o has the mind of a child encourages him to let out that anger in a less... Terrifying way!
After not receiving any genuine, soft, or affectionate love his entire life, having a little that will push past his misdeeds to snuggle up under his chin anyway? Oh you bet your butt he'll try to be the best Daddy you could ever have.
When he found out about your regression however, you were mortified. Absolutely convinced that he would be disgusted, and have Vinny turn you into a candle right then and there.
After watching the beginnings of a panic attack, Bo showed you the most gentle side of himself that you had seen up until that moment. Trying to show himself in the most non-threatening light while attempting to help you calm down.
He kept a non-threatening posture and spoke to you in a low tone,"It's alright sweetheart, you don' have to hide here. You're one of us doll, there's nothing you could do to make me get rid of you. S' Daddy clear on that?"
Now that sent you into INSTANT babie mode, and he could tell. In a moment you began subtly rocking back and forth while fiddling with your fingers.
Not trusting your voice, you nodded which caused Bo to lift your chin to meet his gaze so he could say, "You gotta use words baby, Daddy can't hear you that well!"
"Mm, yis Bowie.. Don' gotta hide" you said, the word Daddy sounding unfamiliar and uncomfortable given your lack of having a previous caregiver.
"Aww.. Bowie! Aint you precious.. Don' worry baby, you do whats comfy for you" he said while petting your bright red cheek as you averted your gaze.
Eventually he wants you to feel safe enough to call him whatever you want and be as small as you want. Bo can be patient, and he'll support you for however long it takes to fully feel confident.
Bo will ask you a ton of questions about what you like while you're small, and is very happy with any kind of Babie or Kiddo he has. He loves the dependence and clinginess of a younger littles though, but also an older little who can help their "Bowie" in the shop!
He's also absolutely fine with anything that comes with being the CG of a very small Little. Pacis, Bottles, Pull-ups, etc. You name it baby bear! He's got you! There's nothing that can deter him!
Bo's first step was creating a "Little Space" (ha get it?) in his room with a blankie, pillows, a decorated shoe box with your little items in it, and all of your stuffies. He also refuses to let you try to hide your little items or any attempt to conceal your regression from his brothers.
In fact all of the brothers are very supportive about your regression, you bring a sweetness and sense of joy to Ambrose. They're also very adamant that you feel comfortable in being authentic in your home with your found family.
Vincent and Lester eventually become "Uncle Vinny" and "Uncle Lettie" and are 100% okay with their new position along with being interested with the prospect of babysitting.
Obviously you cant just ✨magic away✨your anxiety or intrusive thoughts, that stuff takes time. But when you're surrounded by people who know that and are determined to prove those thoughts wrong? It helps that worry ease faster.
Vinny really likes to color with you and will let you do crafts in the basement sometimes! He'll let you play with clay or wax too! On one condition though, you can't go in to the basement without one of the Brothers when you're small.
You don't have many rules but "No babies in the basement without a big present" stops babies from seeing things they should not see!
Lester tells you stories and promises you stuffies in return for an invitation to one of your elusive tea parties; And as much as your shy lil self doesn't wanna come across as "greedy", any CG knows no little can resist the art of Stuffie Bribery for long.
Overall, it doesn't matter who you are. Once you've been accepted as a Sinclair, you ARE a Sinclair and they will accept whatever strange or unfamiliar quirk you come with. Because lets be honest, they come with some pretty funky ones too and they know it.
Daddy Bowie and your Uncles will do anything to keep the littlest Sinclair of them feeling safe and happy. Whatever it may take. <3
(Sorry that was so long! Thank you for reading! This wasn't proofread too much so pardon any mistakes! This is mainly based off of how my little space works and is for the most part indulgent lol.)
#agere caregiver#slasher x reader#bo sinclair x little! reader#little!reader#agere little#agere slasher
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Given the interpretations of JTTW/Xiyouji - what is your opinion on when media or even solo creators make a romance for Wukong?
Especially since most of Wukong's romances in media end up played for tragedy as well as the fact that from a textbook analysis he seems very no love/no sex/only friendship.
Innocent interpretations for their personal enjoyment or does it feel more harmful to the character of Wukong as a whole and fetishy?
Given Xiyouji and Wukong in general has such an influential swathe over culture/pop culture as a whole and the uh...quite gross mishandling of him at times from Western culture (Ex. Making him some musclebound meathead who only cares for violence which doesn't only devalue his character but the East-Asian view of masculinity as a whole.) or Anime culture. (Ex; making him a 'Yandere' style obsessive partner which may be interesting when played off his previous lifestyle as a Yaoguai - but most of the time isn't and is simply played to be a 'love me or else' danger boyfriend.)
What do you think of it all? Especially with the prevalence of a lot of this stuff propping up due to LMK?
Feel free to read more if you want to watch me complain lmao
Hmmmm OKAY so I do need to preface this by noting that I've now run across a number of retellings/presentations of Sun Wukong composed by eastern creators that made me deeply uncomfortable or even straight-up be like "well I hope I forget that exists forever!" because of the ways in which the monkey king was oversexualized and/or painted into extreme grimdark territory. So it's pretty obvious that western creators aren't unique in some of the ways that Sun Wukong gets flanderized to hell and back.
And while being very much aware that what one sees in the west for free on youtube is a very small sample size of big-budget retellings of Xiyouji, a LOT of those retellings with a Monkey King romance have an incredibly samey plot of "Sun Wukong is a dick-->he encounters some lady and is a dick to her-->she likes him anyway-->he softens up a bit-->she dies-->he's sad-->her death still gives him the powerup needed to defeat the big bad." I know that the angle is tragedy but oh my god at this point the 500 year old text that presents Sun Wukong as a communal grandpa that will do literally anything for his family including challenging the heavens & how this comes back to bite them all in the collective ass BUT they still love each other very much and Sun Wukong never stops fighting for them and doing everything he can to make them happy and safe speaks far more to tragedy that's balanced out with hope & is far more original than many a contemporary retelling in my opinion! tbh i wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the reasons why Monkey King: Hero Is Back became so popular that it basically revived Chinese animation; it's one of those rare retellings that puts the emphasis on dad/protector of children Wukong rather than lover Wukong, and as a result 2015 SWK still seems to have a special place in the hearts of many.
But turning back to western creators in both individual and big-budget productions, I guess my main gripe would have to be not so much that your meathead/yandere/destructive monkey presentations of SWK exist (you'll find such depictions across the globe), but that these often seem to be undeniably the most popular, the most common, and at times the ONLY ways that the Monkey King is understood in the west. As it is eastern countries like China do seem to have their share of such depictions, but there's also a abundance of other understandings/portrayals of the Monkey King, including those of him being a dedicated and quick-witted being, a tireless protector of children, and oh yeah a literal buddha! I've joked before about how hellbent many western creators seem to be in taking the "intelligent" out of "intelligent stone primate," but looking over the ways that SWK is commonly presented in the west...well, can you really say that this isn't the case? Honestly at times SWK really feels like he's become yet another victim of narrative monoculturalization in the west, where one version becomes the Official one and barely anyone deviates from it. Personally I feel it particularly sucks that this Official version seems to have become one where the Monkey King is routinely presented as a destructive idiot whose only worth lies in this weird frenemies relationship to the Six Eared Macaque :( (though I will say it's kind of fascinating how western creators so completely rewrote the True and False Monkey King arc that it's the Six Eared Macaque and not Sun Wukong who's become the definitely preferred individual. Dude finally achieved his goal of replacing the Monkey King lol).
In a number of ways this disparity does make sense. Besides Xiyouji definitely not having the same cultural impact in the west as it does in the east, there's very few decent English translations out there, and even fewer that give due course to the entire story. As far as I'm aware the Anthony C. Yu translation is the only one to do so, and yeah it's understandable that many people wouldn't or couldn't make their way through 1,400+ pages worth of narrative and footnotes. Plus there's the added fact that the east has more traditions of monkeys being understood as tricksters, whereas in the west primates have long been framed as man's poor imitation with ties to the Devil himself, so you can get some sense of why/how SWK's destructive tendencies would be emphasized above all else. Plus it certainly doesn't help that the two(2) primary ways that western audiences are learning about the Monkey King & co. are through cartoony retellings, which are fine in of themselves but when that's the ONLY popular version you have well you are not going to end with a complex or even a positive impression of the Monkey King. And it definitely definitely doesn't help that one of those versions--even while it is a silly lego show--consistently presents Sun Wukong as an absolute failure that basically everyone either has good reason to be mad at or just flat-out hates. And yeah you see this getting emphasized even further in fandom creations a lot, with many a popular fan work being all about how Sun Wukong ruined everything and/or getting yelled at & punched for being a cataclysmic moron. Like hell there's a very good chance I'm not looking hard enough but I don't remember coming across a single piece of recent fan work for Monkie Kid that shows Sun Wukong actually being a good mentor or actively doing something positive. The emphasis is pretty much only ever on his relationship with Macaque, and for that how thoroughly he screwed it up.
So going back to your original question anon, I would say that in it's abstract the idea of giving Sun Wukong a romance isn't inherently a bad thing. It's just that (and maybe it's just me) for a variety of reasons, in both eastern and western creations, in both individual fandom and big-budget works, I've pretty much never seen it done well lmao.
#anon answered#monkey critical#sun wukong#monkey king#also romance for sun wukong seems to almost always make him an abrasive jerk#can we please explore some facets of his character besides that & being a goofy monkey
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a post about nipple equality.
in the blissfully ignorant cishet-society, it makes sense to censor female-presenting nipples and let male-presenting nipples be seen. women are delicate flowers who must be protected from the predatory gazes of strange men by men. and men are strong individuals who are much safer being topless because their nipples are not nearly as vigorously sexualised. and men in general aren't as sexualised as women, since men are usually the sexualisers and women are the sexualised.
but if we hope to achieve or even strive towards a world where gender equality is prevalent, we should let go of those standards and treat all nipples equally. especially since these standards crumble to mere dust when the existence of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people is considered.
it's very easy to figure out which nipples to censor in a gender binary world. but things start to get more complicated when gender diversity comes into place. we have to come up with weird and rigid rules to figure out, for example, for how long can a transfeminine person be on HRT before she has enough breast growth for her nipples to have to become censored.
but that type of frantic rule-making for the sake of a nonsensical, sexist standard really doesn't benefit anyone except for misogynistic, transphobic cishets. the best option would be to simply free the nipple. gender isn't binary, and neither are nipples, so we would be saving ourselves a lot of trouble by simply giving everyone equal treatment.
it seems simple enough. but the world isn't simple. the people in power don't have the best interests of people in mind, especially those of minorities. remaining within the status quo is the most pleasant option. any change, especially change which benefits minorities, is undesirable. most people are cisgender and gender-conforming anyway, so why bother changing a system most people are happy with, even though it doesn't treat everyone equally?
this is why we have to fight for it. the system won't do anything in our favour unless we force their hand. i, as a young depressed artist with not much money to spare, can't do much on my own, so i just make art about nipple equality in the hopes that it changes at least one person's mind about this unfair system. (if you want to support me, you can follow my art blog @sandu7174 and reblog some of my posts. i'd greatly appreciate it ❤️🏳️⚧️.)
the act of censoring female-presenting nipples stems from a very old, deeply-ingrained misogynistic idea that women must cover their bodies to prevent men from being attracted to them, which is exactly why it has to change. these aren't the 1800s anymore. women aren't men's property anymore (at least not in western countries). it's time we let go of this ancient and ridiculous standard for women and let all nipples roam free.
gender equality is worth fighting for. women's rights are worth fighting for. trans rights are worth fighting for. intersex rights are worth fighting for. nipple equality is worth fighting for.
#free the nipple#nipple equality#gender equality#women's rights#trans rights#transgender#nonbinary#intersex#feminism#feminist#misogny#genderqueer#my post
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totally understand if you don’t have anything on hand and i’m gonna do some research myself but i was wondering if you have any reading recommendations about anti-psychiatry? really interested in the whole idea but haven’t done a lot of reading about it or anything
hmm i link a few resources & blogs in this ask (link 1), i definitely recommend checking out Mad in America in particular; of course, as a platform for a wide range of psych survivors’ experiences & opinions, i don’t agree with everything presented (including within specific articles i’ll rec), but it’s a great starting place for challenging & developing your own views & learning about our community.
specifically, this article (link 2) is a good starting place on diagnostic violence, especially as it pertains to systemic racism, and this one (link 3) is an amazing example of community knowledges as it pertains to tapering medications without approval of the medical system.
& then i’ll just cite some articles i’ve read, most of which are available online & all of which i’m happy to send pdfs of if you can’t find something & dm me! some of these aren’t directly about Madness & antipsych but are good starting places for unpacking related forms of oppression such as institutionalization.
The ethics of survivor research: Guidelines for the ethical conduct of research carried out by mental health service users and survivors by Alison Faulkner
R. Whitaker, ‘The case against antipsychotics: a review of their long-term effects’ (Mad in America, July 2016)
A. J. Withers, “Disability Divisions, Definitions, and Disablism: When Resisting Psychiatry is Oppressive” in Bonnie Burstow, Brenda A. LeFrançois, and Shaindl Diamond (eds), Psychiatry Disrupted: Theorizing Resistance and Crafting the (R)evolution (McGill-Queens University Press 2014)
Gerard Quinn, “Reflecting Will and Preference in Decision Making” [17 October 2016] Australian Guardianship and Administration Council 2016 Conference
Laing, J. (2017). Preventing violence, exploitation and abuse of persons with mental disabilities: Exploring the monitoring implications of Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 53, 27-38.
Sixty Years in the Institution by Thomas F Allen
K. Stegmayer, S. Walther, and P. van Harten, “Tardive dyskinesia associated with atypical antipsychotics: prevalence, mechanisms and management strategies” [2018] 32 CNS Drugs
S. Kasper and E. Resinger, “Cognitive effects and antipsychotic treatment” [2003] 28 Psychoneuroendocrinology
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Happy WBW! What does coming of age look like in your world? At what age is someone an adult and what does being an adult mean? Are there ceremonies to mark this, less formal social shifts, or just a legal change?
I'm so late to respond to this one lol. But thanks for the ask, @acertainmoshke! It's greatly appreciated <3
The thing is, most of my stories actually take place in the real world, so it's hard to answer this one in a particularly interesting way haha. It's basically whatever it is here! The majority of my stories take place in the UK (unless stated otherwise), and over here, you are legally an adult at 18. The legal consent age is 16, though, which is... yeah. For a while that used to confuse me a whole lot lol.
I have experimented with different genres like fantasy (because I love reading it!) and I have tried my hand at creating fictional worlds and lore and all. But at this time of my life, that doesn't tend to be the type of thing I focus on.
What I will say, though, is that the idea of coming of age is very prevalent in my work a lot of the time, even without directly intending for it. I often write characters that are around my age or younger, and growing up/shifting to different stages of life is such a big theme by default. I'm also a very character-driven writer a lot of the time, too (planning to make a YouTube video all about how I create my characters, actually! Stay tuned for that), and so a lot of the time when I address the theme of coming of age, it will affect different characters in different ways depending on who they are and what their life is like. Some of them want to get tattoos. Some of them don't. Some of them look forward to getting their driver's licence. Some of them don't. Some of them like to drink and party and some of them just want to chill at home in their rooms (like me).
Some of them are religious, which adds a layer to things as well. There are little coming of age elements to a lot of faiths... I grew up in the Catholic church, for example, and one big thing in primary school (I was about 8 years old when I did it) was First Holy Communion. It was a really big deal at the time lol. I got to dress up all pretty and everything... anyways, I integrated that into one of my main works (the Steph trilogy). Basically, two characters used to go to the same Catholic primary school, and they would often reminisce about their time at primary school, as you sometimes do. Sometimes they'd reflect on their First Holy Communion as well, especially when a younger relative goes through the same thing themselves and need to prepare for it. It's fun to write this stuff, especially since I've been through it myself.
So, yeah. Hope that answers your question! Thanks again for the ask.
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not to be autistic but i hereby present
A (Very) Brief and Rough Summary of Themes in IF
For some context, IF is my largest OCverse, which i have been working on for over half my life at this point. while it can seem like just a bit of a silly fantasy story with tragic characters, there's some really strong themes throughout.
The main themes are:
1. Mortality
2. Death
3. Life
4. The accepting of these both
Obviously, these all go hand in hand. In fact, they can all be grouped under number one: mortality.
It's interesting that mortality takes such prevalence in a story where the main character is, essentially, immortal. He is a form of god, not by choice, and therefore cannot die via conventional means. He does, however, "die" quite a while before the conclusion of the main story.
I put "die" in quotation marks because that doesn't quite describe what happens to him. In reality, he is "taken by time".
In this universe, time and fate are controlled by a being named Timekeeper. He is immortal, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is a child of The World-Father, who created the universe as we know it. He is NOT all powerful, though he may seem that way. He has his own domain, but cannot touch others.
Years before the start of IF, one of the original main characters imprisons her sister in an alternate dimension that would slowly drive her insane in an attempt to subvert a prophecy. In doing so, she fulfills it. Timekeeper does not take kindly to this, and vows to take her and the three people closest to her at the times they are needed the most. This is called being "taken by time".
Out of the four original main characters, none of them survive to the end. All of them, apart from one, are taken by time. The one "survivor" of this simply dies too soon, under circumstances that Timekeeper did not foresee.
The theme of mortality develops through their deaths. Despite everything they did, they could not live forever.
Keycodes hubris in thinking she could subvert a prophecy led to her death. Rai's loyalty to his home and his people led to his untimely murder. Chuck wasted his supposedly never-ending life, refusing to see the part he played until the moment he was taken by time. Adrian thought herself free, had started a family and settled down, but her contentedness was not enough.
They all died too soon. Keycode had dreams for what she wanted the IF to become. Rai had a family, had four children and a dimension to rule. Chuck was finding his own identity after decades of being told exactly who and what he was. Adrian was finally happy, finally living an actual life that she never got to actually begin.
There was nothing they could do to prevent their deaths. They were all mortal - even if they didn't think they were. Everyone dies, eventually. It just so happened they didn't get to live as long as they should've - Rai especially.
Being taken by time isn't like dying. To everyone around them, they just disappeared. They woke up one day and they were gone. There were no warning signs. For Adrian's son, this lack of closure was killing him.
Helix embarked on a quest to discover what had happened to Adrian. He would never find answers, despite his efforts. The only closure that he got was the closure of knowing there was none.
Basically, the story is trying to get across that everyone is mortal. You cannot outrun your mortality. Those you love will die at a time you deem "too soon", but there is no other time for them to die. Sometimes there is no closure to someone's death. Sometimes knowing that is closure in itself. Fearing death and mortality will just make it worse when you are faced with it, and you will be faced with it, so why bother being scared. It will happen.
Each character has their own view on death. Keycode is trying to outrun it. Chuck thinks he doesn't have to think about it, because he believes himself exempt. Rai will accept it, if it will keep his people safe. Adrian just wants her life to matter, and prays that with her death there will come some form of confirmation that she did something, anything.
Their deaths answer their questions. There is an afterlife, though only Rai gets to experience it. Timekeeper keeps the others on the Time Plateau, as a sort of purgatory. It serves as punishment for Keycodes hubris, Chuck's apathy, and Adrian's naivety.
Helix does not die over the course of the story. He will die one day. How or why does not matter, what matters is that it is coming for him, and he cannot outrun it like his mother's best friend tried to. He has accepted this. He has accepted his mother's death, and in doing so he has accepted the rest of the IF's deaths. He never knew Rai, Chuck, or Keycode, but he had heard stories and seen photos. He gains closure for all of them, despite his doomed quest. IF ends without any of the characters possessing any the knowledge of what truly happened, and that is what is best. That is life.
#wowee autism popped off here. whoops#theres a LOT more this is just basic surface level stuff#i love the themes of IF so much but its hard to get them across well without having 5 hours to describe all the conflict and lore#oc posting#IF#long post#oc lore
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Hi Court! Happy 3k! Can I scan my ticket for Folklore? I’d like to know if you think Frank would date a black woman. I’m very dark skinned, like Lupita Nyong’o black, and I struggle with finding myself attractive because a lot of my friends are more light skinned and they get attention from all kinds of guys. I feel like you know and understand Frank’s character very well, so I’m curious to know your thoughts.
Also I want to thank you for being so inclusive in your writing. You’re so descriptive, but in a way that doesn’t pull me out of the story because you mentioned a specific trait that I as a black woman don’t have. You’re so talented, and you deserve every bit of 3k and more! 💖
my darling sweet nonnie, do not let a man's preference dictate how you feel about yourself. I bet that you are absolutely stunning, and I think lupita is one of the most gorgeous women in the world and has such a beautiful skin tone
i'm very happy you find my work inclusive. I want everyone to be able to insert themselves into the story and feel fully immersed, bc I write selfishly for myself sometimes, but a majority of the time I write for y'all. I want everyone to feel included 🖤
I absolutely think frankie would date a black woman and i'm gonna ramble about this under the cut bc I have many feelings about it
I do find it a bit odd that we didn't see frank with a poc bc pretty much all of the other netflix shows have characters in interracial relationships
matt had claire and elektra
jess had luke
billy had dinah
danny had colleen
trish had malcolm
but yet all 3 of frank's love interest were all white women (maria, karen, beth). [i'd count curtis if they weren't so sibling coded] bc it's so prevalent in the other shows, i'd like to believe this was some kind of oversight in the casting department and not intentional
I feel like frank values personality over looks. now he definitely notices when someone is attractive, but I think his attraction to someone is based on whether or not he feels a compatibility. I mean, the man literally has chemistry and sexual tension with everyone
in conclusion, yes, he totally would. and now that he's coming back, and it's still not looking good for karen returning (which means no kastle which lowkey makes me sad), i'd really like to see some more diversity in his love interests
i'll be opening my requests back up once I finish this celebration so if you'd like a frank fic x black reader fic just for you, let me know :)
thank you again, my darling!
#court's 3k followers celebration#court's 3k friends celebration#the eras tour (court's version)#court answers#frank castle#the punisher
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