"You smell of lemons..."

based on the tweet i quoted here (i would hope you would forgive me but i'm not sorry [/silly])

after several hours of processing, a rewatch and some other peoples tumblr posts analyzing the whole situation I actually don't think that izzys death was in it's concept entirely bad (the execution was terrible but I can see where they were coming from) so first of all: the entire ending was rushed, the wedding, stede randomly giving up piracy to open an inn even though they didn't have a conversation about this at all? and yes, izzys death but honestly I blame that on hbo not david jenkins (plus I also refuse to believe that he just didn't care about the character and didn't think about what effect it would have, so far he's done nothing but care about his characters, the fans and izzy in particular he said this season he was super important and he really liked the character)

The thing is that he explained his decision making as "the mentor dying while the student lives on and has to deal with the death of a father figure" now the thing is that I feel like between the 5th and the 6th episode and between izzys death and the ending there's just a huge chunk of plot missing that probably got cut and I personally believe that that part between 5 and 6 was supposed to show ed and izzys relationship more. David said Ed viewed him as a father figure yet we've never seen that before. Every interaction between them has framed them as an abusive (on both sides) romantic relationship (somebody said that their relationship showed the whole daddy issues thing pretty well because it shows ed viewing izzy as literally every kind of relationship a friend, a father, a partner just everything) now that does make sense but we only know that now after david said it not because the show made it visible (which is probably because they didn't have the time (i mean they cut an entire hour of runtime which is like a fifth))

And generally I think if we had seen that father figure-dynamic a little more they actually could've pulled that ending off because then it would've been more apparent what the show was trying to show.

My interpretation of the whole thing is that izzys death symbolises the end of piracy, rather than the death of a character that didn't "deserve living anymore" hear me out:

1) he was the most competent pirate in the entire show, always used as comparison and on several occasions it is showed that he doesn't only teach everyone how to be a pirate but is also the most respected pirate in the republic of pirates. Even when ed isn't recognised anymore, everybody knows who izzy hands is. He is basically THE pirate, the unicorn of piracy.

2) the unicorn plot: when they called him a unicorn for the first time I thought it was just the crew accepting him on the ship and in their family but the term of "the last unicorn" makes much more sense in this context. He's the concept of piracy, the mythical creature and the view everyone has of piracy, yet if he dies, piracy is over the last unicorn is gone and that's pretty much what's happening and what's fully gonna happen next season. him dying is the beginning of the end.

3) ed and stede quitting piracy and staying where izzy is burried, they basically burried piracy to then move on to the land. Also because izzy was a teacher for both of them and was therefore what tied them to real piracy. Especially for ed he symbolised piracy and his past life.

Also izzys thoughts about piracy and ed changed. In the first season he says stede is not a real pirate and neither is ed when he's not blackbeard, in season 2 he says piracy is about belonging somewhere and finding a family he also accepts ed for being ed and tells him to just be himself. with him the concept of piracy changes in itself.

The entire thing also could've been a great deal better if they had actually had the time to show everyone mourning him because they immediately after had a wedding and just moved on but once again that was probably just cut screen time.

I also don't think that they exactly dean winchestered him (i mean yea but also no) he died for the crew, his newfound family ("it's about finding a new family you'd die for when your actual one is already gone") And yea he was already getting his will to live back and taking that from him was awful but he was also fully ready to die for the cause, one he believed in. Because he believed in his family and that piracy and his spirit would live on even if they were all dead because "we are good". So his death wasn't entirely pointless.

messy and long text but over all I think that, even though it is sad and could've been handled better, it isn't a bad ending in it's concept and, even though I wish he would've survived i don't think that the death of this character ruins the entire show or is in any way offensive to queer and disabled people....It's just very poorly executed, which is on hbo for cutting the season short by a fith

I do think the moment where Bruce slaps Dick after Jason’s death is the best written instance of physical abuse between them. It really does mark a change in Bruce’s character, and Dick is shown going to therapy afterwards—it feels like it has the most follow up. Even then, I think it would be interesting if Jason found out how unhealthy Dick and Bruce’s relationship was even before the physical abuse, and how devastating it would be to discover how Bruce really isn’t any different from the men he feared before. It could be the only time that Bruce raises a hand to Dick, it could be that Bruce realized his abusive nature and improved himself, but at the end of the day Jason would no longer see him the same way…but I think that Jason, like Dick, couldn’t completely stop himself from loving Bruce

I think the punch after Jason's death is the only one that actually makes sense, and the others are very obviously just to be grimdark which is my least favorite (and to me, the least interesting) interpretation of Bruce.

(Tbh I think everything with Spyral is so fucking stupid. It's peak Someone Had An Idea They Liked But Didn't Think It All The Way Through, something that's really common in long running works where the main plot line wrapped up and no one knows what to do now. The fight between Bruce and Dick is especially bad. It's melodramatic, it's corny, it makes very little narrative sense... no one ever finds out that it was all Bruce, so only Dick faces any repercussions-- just make it a mutual decision oh my god).

I digress. Anyway, I think Bruce and Dick's relationship is inherently messy. They're codependent, Bruce treated Dick as a partner rather than a child, they just don't function as a family. Even without a romantic or sexual bond, their relationship is kind of inherently incestuous because of how tangled it is. I've said before that I often think Bruce thinks of Dick as the other part of himself, rather than as a full person, so it doesn't matter if he hurts Dick because he's only hurting himself.

That kind of mess would have gone completely over Jason's head as a teenager, recently rescued by Bruce and idolizing the Batman and Robin dynamic. I wouldn't even doubt him considering Dick the bad guy-- "why don't you treat Bruce better." "After everything he's done for you, how dare you talk to him that way." "He loves you, and you act like this."

When Jason returns, and he and Dick are more equals than anyone, I think Jason slowly starts to see that Dick is really just not okay. All of his fire is gone, and as much as he complains, when Bruce clicks his fingers Dick comes running. Maybe one day Jason will ask, and Dick's only reply is that things changed after Jason's death.

I think the real turning point would be Jason's friendship with Roy and Kory. Maybe one day he's ranting about Dick's goody two shoes behavior, or Roy and Kory will be reminiscing, and someone will say something that makes it all click.

Hi! What r ur thoughts on OhmLeng's Kidnap the series?? I mean we all know Ohm is a great actor and he can have chemistry with a rock if he want. But for some reason the chemistry is unbalanced here?? I might be biased because of my now and forever bad buddy hang over, so I wanted to know your opinion. (This is not an hate ask on the series or ohm, just a genuine question)

First of all, thankyou for asking me that! I didn't know i had this many opinions about the show from that teeny trailer until i wrote this answer hehe.

And to get to my answer yes I kinda get what you mean anon. I also am supremely biased towards ohmnanon's chemistry. That being said i don't think that's the issue here. I just rewatched the trailer again, and idk what they said about the series or if they're adapting this from somewhere, but it really looks like took a bare thread plot and made the trailer and left the actual developing of the story to be done for later. And if that's the case then both actors don't have the entire background and story to give their performances the depth they should have. So it feels like a very surface level performance and not the kinda stuff we know ohm can pull off.

Also I saw this post and in the light of that and the fact that we did not get a kiss in the trailer (not that having a kiss is the be all and end all of a bl or a romantic relationship but still it) makes me wonder if it is in that queerbait bracket after all. What if the showmakers made the trailer in such a way to give us hope but not to guarantee it to us ykwim? Like if you few it from different angles you know you can interpret their actions and their implications in very different ways.

Their dynamic in that scene where ohm is asking leng to take off his brother's gift while having bl undertones, felt more bickering sibling-ey than budding lovers ( i hate that word but i cant think of anything better to use here). That scene right before the end where ohm stretches out his hand to lift leng up and then the nodding with the smiling gave such strong friendship vibes i just could not ignore it. We had the cliche (usually) romantic tending to each other's wounds scene and they ended it on a scene where their faces are super close and towards each other, but that could be the queerbait part of it.

It could also be that the story is all fine and perfect but it's just that as a cast and a pairing they're new to each other and so their chemistry is of course something that cant be compared to what ohmnanon with their years long friendship and acting experience were able to create. Maybe spending more time together working on the project will help iron any and all rough patches out.

So yes long story short i do agree that the chemistry did feel unusual. And i'm mostly attributing it to the actors (and even the showmakers/gmmtv) not knowing which direction to take and just winging it. So for all we know it could be a bl with an excellent romance. Or it could be an unlikely friendship blooming in the midst of adversity story. And ngl, i find the second one far more compelling. There's also the thing that I'd rather watch a kidnappee befriend a kidnapper (however reluctant a kidnapper he was/is) than they become romantic partners. I feel like it could be a much more beautiful meaningful relationship and story that way. But that could also just be the aro-ace in me talking :3

Have you read the fire and blood books? If so, ok this is a very dumb question but I haven’t read the books and everyone keeps telling me daemon cheats on rhaenrya after they get married with mysaria and other women. It’s been confirmed that mysaria comes back next episode and for the rest of the season sooo like?? Is this canon or was it a rumor that he cheats? Apparently rhaenrya didn’t care either but with the way the show is going it looks like he cares more about her than book readers are implying?

literally the entire book is rumors, so "canon" in relation to the show, especially for the relationship dynamics, honestly isn't really relevant. It is a fake in-universe history book, and like real history is full of bias, errors, and huge amounts of rumor and uncertainty about what "really" happened. My favorite example of discrepancies between the "historical text" version from Fire & Blood and the "real" version so far is what we see in Episode 2. According to Fire & Blood Daemon was going to marry Mysaria, she was pregnant, and he wanted a dragon egg for their baby. But in the show we find out that Daemon wasn't actually engaged, Mysaria wasn't actually pregnant, and he said all of that and stole the egg for attention. I like to interpret that change to: all the historian had access to was that triggering letter Daemon sent to bait Viserys saying that he was getting married and having a kid -- so that is exactly what history remembered.

All that to say, the character's personalities/relationships/dynamics from the book aren't really relevant to the show at all, because that is literally a Maester's interpretation of what these characters might have been like based on hearsay and rumor and the Maester's own biases.

So you tell me if you think Rhaenyra would "be okay" with Daemon cheating on her based on what we've seen, because I don't think that is the dynamic they've built between them AT ALL. Like, please imagine them doing all this build up, and paralleling all their storylines even when they're apart, and making their romantic tension a huge part of the show and their character's arcs, and establishing how strong of a bond they have with one another and how much they care about each other, and making their other long-term partners basically irrelevant, and having them reunite after years and finally sleep together, and then finally get married -- and then after all of that Daemon just randomly sleeps with someone else, and Rhaenrya is just fine with it, because they are just so uninvested in their relationship even though all we have seen is how overly invested they are in each other. Literally nonsense.

Let me reiterate a theme (& evolution of that theme) the show has been harping on for both Daemon and Rhaenyra, both together and separately, literally from the first episode: I don't want to be married to anyone and/or I don't want to be married to someone I didn't choose -> Marriage is a political necessity, but you can still have a side piece -> Maybe marriage wouldn't be so bad if we were married to each other, but that is not an option anymore -> We are married to other people now, but we can't be each other's side piece because that would be depressing and diminishing -> We are finally single and able to not only choose who to marry, but also to have a marriage that is not a placeholder or a show we're putting on for other people 🎉

That throughline is not narratively building to "...and then they slept in separate bedrooms and fooled around with other people on the side with zero emotion, #politicalmarriage"

what are your opinions on ch14? its one of my fav chapters tbqh so im curious to know why u didnt like it initially and what changed

Thank you for this question! Writing down your thoughts is always fun eheh. Predictable negativity on bsd storytelling and Higuchi characterization under the cut, so please don't read if that's something possible to ruin your mood!!

So here's the thing. We need a bit of context first. Okay, you might know I'm not a big fan of bsd's poor female characters writing in general. My first contact with chapter 14 was when I was watching the bsd anime for the first time. Higuchi is introduced as this woman who is very cool!!! She lured the main character into a trap, pulled out these massive riffles and started shooting everywhere. It was nice. Then, she's badly mistreated by Akutagawa, and it's gross; Higuchi's relationship with Akutagawa is so fucked up. And then the following episode 11 (that is the corresponding of chapter 14) is all about it, about Higuchi's fucked up relationship with Akutagawa, but like... Romanticizing it? Saying it's good for this woman to stay at her work place where she's made miserable on daily basis?

What's most distasteful isn't the beating up itself from Akutagawa, although that is sure to leave a very bitter taste (after all, as a shonen-ish series, violence is nothing out of the norm); what's highly disturbing is the clear unbalance of power between Higuchi and Akutagawa, or how Higuchi is constantly depicted as being obsessed with Akutagawa while Akutagawa is openly violent with her. And the way he reprimands her! And the way she's clearly distraught at his words- not to mention the countless times it's shown how emotionally hurt she was by him. This kind of stuff is depressing. Because like!! What if we didn't romanticize men hitting their female partners!!!!! The bar is *that* low!!!!!!

And Higuchi is portrayed as being obsessed with Akutagawa. She was willing to die trying to save him, even being aware she alone couldn't do anything to win over an enemy organization... Because apparently dying trying to save him would be better than living without him? Girl, you deserve so much better. The “it's not easy to leave the Port Mafia, but it's not impossible. I've thought about it many times. Yet I didn't, because... ” sentence is sorta implied to refer to the fact that she didn't leave the Port Mafia because she was in love with Akutagawa (Ryuunosuke), right? I interpreted it that way when I first watched the anime, and I still believe it's the phrase's main implication– also because the actual closing sentence “because it's my job” doesn't make any sense, as she's basically saying “I'm not leaving my job because it's my job”; it's evident there's a deeper meaning to it hinting to Higuchi having romantic feelings for Akutagawa (unless... the circular phrase is used to metaphorically express how she's hopelessly stuck in a toxic work environment, but I can hardly imagine the author going such lengths to express a concept they visibly have no interest in developing). Point is, the fact that she's basically saying she's willing to keep working for a job that makes her allegedly unhappy just because she loves a man is... Not great. Besides, Higuchi going “it's my job” at Akutagawa after he asked her sorry like???? Now, after ten months of being into bsd, I can find it vaguely cute, but you can bet the first time I watched it I was like. bestie, beloved, light of my life, your job can NOT be to endure abuse after abuse from your coworker. Get yourself a new job asap, and feel free to deck Akutagawa too while you're at it.

What's nasty about Akutagawa beating Higuchi again isn't the beating itself, as much as Higuchi being obsessed with Akutagawa despite of it, and their whole dynamic never being framed as negative. It would be one thing if the whole situation was framed as toxic but... It's very much not. It's not like the reader is lead to despise Akutagawa for what he does, it's just something that's there. The narrative doesn't look like it's going in a direction of Higuchi emancipating herself either, but rather learning to roll with the abuse thanks to fleeting rewards of acknowledgement which is, once again, gross. It's gross to display a model of woman who would stay in a work place that constantly mistreats and disrespects her because it's worth her abusive crush telling her “I'm sorry” once every blue moon. Hell yeah you are sorry Akutagawa! If Higuchi had chosen to cut off his life support right there I wouldn't find it hard not to consider it rightful and legit on her side. The way they handle Higuchi's character is gloriously catastrophic and there's maybe not a better example of how the author doesn't know how to write women, has literally no clue on... The fact that women are p e o p l e and any sane person would leave such a toxic environment at the first chance. But of course they would rather think any woman would stay stuck with a terrible job if it's for a handsome, brooding guy (bruh??? Bruh???????? Sorta crying right now sorry)

Then again, the issue isn't even the relationship being toxic itself– I mean, it sucks for Higuchi, but one can decide to portray a toxic relationship in fiction. The issue is that it's evidently not intended to be perceived as toxic. Nobody ever sides with Higuchi, or voices the fact that she's evidently being abused; Higuchi easily forgives Akutagawa when he apologizes (it doesn't even count as forgiving because she never was even angry or frustrated at him to begin with what the fuck). Akutagawa hitting Higuchi is even used as a gag and like. What the fuck. Who in the world could ever find it funny. What the fuck.

Tbh when I entered the fandom I was very surprised to find out the cycle of abuse was typically framed like this:

Mori → Dazai → Akutagawa → Kyouka

when after watching the anime I definitely had an idea more of the sorts of:

(Mori) → Dazai → Akutagawa → Higuchi

(Very side note but at this point Mori towards Dazai barely counts as abuse, like what did he even ever do to him? Emotional abuse barely stands too since Dazai is, on admission of Mori himself, extremely hard to manipulate)

I feel like Higuchi and Akutagawa's relationship mirrors a lot what used to be Akutagawa's relationship with Dazai when Dazai was still in the pm, especially in the way both Higuchi and Akutagawa are obsessed with their own senpai and gaining his approval. And honestly, just as I am a firm supporter of Akutagawa growing out of his infatuation for Dazai and never forgiving him for what he's done to him, I also believe Akutagawa doesn't deserve Higuchi's forgiveness and could rot in hell as much as I care (joking, but also, don't hurt Higuchi and then expect to have my sympathy).

Plus, THE WHOLE “this female leader becomes useless and powerless as soon as her talented partner is out of the game” the episode carries through like NNNNGGGHHH biting biting chewing wood then why did you even make her leader in the first place???? Like what's the point???????? The rethoric that women are literally useless without a man?????????? I get that this chapter came out around 2013 but like. C'mon. So did Kill la Kill and Psycho-Pass. C'mon. (Also the “we won't recognize the legitimacy of this woman's authority until she demonstrates she's willing to die / throws herself in a suicide mission” but that's a whole different category of “saving other people's lives gives me permission to keep living” “people can't live unless someone tells them ‘it's okay to go on’ ” bsd fucked up morals this post is already too long to get into)

But like (and here starts the nicer section): time has passed since I watched the episode and read the chapter. I reluctantly grew fonder of both Akutagawa and Higuchi. And despite the fact that everything I've said still stands... Akutagawa did say sorry. We never saw him interact with Higuchi after that, which leaves space to hope he's changed in the way he behaves with her (more likely author has realized how fucked up and nasty the whole thing was and opted to never show them interact again, but eh). And while Akutagawa saying sorry didn't effect me at all when I first watched it, because what he did to Higuchi is unforgivable (that much I still believe)... He still apologized. When I first watched the episode, I didn't care the slightest about Akutagawa– besides despising him for how he treated Higuchi, of course. But as the story unwraps itself, it's hard not to grow sympathetic of him, especially after learning about the Dark Era events / the Heartless Cur events / seeing him act in the Moby Dick fight arc too to an extent. I still firmly believe Higuchi shouldn't forgive him, and I don't either for what he's done to her, but as a reader I at least now have an explanation to why he acted that way towards her, and I can understand him. I can now catch more layers to him saying sorry, the effort it must have took him, the admission of having been wrong (which is a huge thing, like, what other character in this series has ever admitted of being wrong? So many characters believing they're infallible), the real intention of making amends and learn from his mistakes which is... Admittedly nice. I mean, character development is great. Everyone is weak for character development, and Akutagawa's is a huge one. What were before words I would have forcibly shoved back in his throat are now reluctantly heartwarming, because they show an Akutagawa who's willing to change and become a better person. But from Higuchi's point of view, that still doesn't change how much harm and suffering he caused her, you know? That doesn't change the fact Higuchi should never forgive him for what he's done to her, just like Akutagawa is entitled to never forgive Dazai for all the abuse he was perpetrator of. I just overall think one's redemption does require amends to be made, but can't demand forgiveness. Akutagawa's step of apologizing is important and necessary for him to make amends and start to become a better person; but that does not and never will entitle him to Higuchi's forgiveness. I now like that scene some more because it's a big first display of development for Akutagawa's character, and because despite the bad writing I could never dislike Higuchi; I like it because I like to imagine that being a moment of growth for both of them, if I make myself forcibly forget about their displeasing canon characterization. I like it because I now like both characters and, despite rationally thinking they're most likely better off separate ways, it still compells me to imagine them being happy and in good terms together. I like it because Higuchi in Harukawa's art style is so freaking pretty

Mandatory tl;dr: I don't like the chapter because it perpetuates and romanticizes the rethoric of women being destined to be made miserable by a man their whole lives with no chances of getting out, as well as displaying a huge systematic unbalance in Higuchi and Akutagawa's relationship with Higuchi being constantly made weaker and dependent; I like it more now because I got attached to Higuchi and Akutagawa, because it shows a growth of Akutagawa and because I wouldn't be able to hate Higuchi no matter what.

Dear Op‚ you said chapter 14 was one of your favorite chapters so you've probably thought about it longer and way more thoroughly than me‚ and it's possible that after reading this there wasn't a single thing you agreed with. And that's okay!! I hope reading this made you view the chapter from a new perspective even if you ultimately disagree with my takes.

ya know chances for gojo having a loving partner in the manga have died alongside geto no literally, i could never realistically imagine him with anyone else, even he never showed any interest besides geto if we gonna interpret it that way? but at least i can rest easy that his fangirls got him covered in fanfics

like listen, as much as i try to avoid them, i've seen some pretty good and well characterized fanfics where he actually finds love in another person (aka self inserts, ocs, readers you name it)

bottom line, this is kinda outta nowhere but i've seen one of ur posts about him so i just wanted to share, hope u okay with that :)

if we go super realistic, then unless his partner is super strong and capable of protecting/defending themselves, they will automatically have a target on their back. like gojo had bounties on his head as a child, but he became stronger and basically unkillable when he got older. anyone he is too close to is a target for people who want to get to him somehow, we even see this with people who are under his care/his students. the people in power playing politics will use these people to hurt gojo because they can't get to them. ie realistically gojo's biggest weaknesses are the people he chooses to let in. (this is literally also canon with the sealing, flashbacks and basically everything that happened with geto, and what not). so like, realistically the best option would have been yuki if they were attracted to each other. i suspect gojo keeps most people out either consciously to keep a distance or because he has emotionally just developed that way and unconsciously keeps an emotional distance. hence the playboy appearance but i don't think that's him being an actual playboy, just personally. it feels more like he doesn't go much further than light-hearted banter and flirting, and it's pretty clear to anyone that he's not emotionally attached (if we're talking short term relationships/dating or something like flings even. he's not breaking hearts by being deceptive, if he's breaking hearts it's because people want him but can't have him. just what it seems like to me personally)

[Also I've literally never thought about this before. this is just what came to mind right now after reading your ask.]

If we disregard any of those things and give gojo a little bit of a nicer hc world to live in where things didn't go as wrong, it seems like geto was basically the only person he ever learned to rely on for anything, someone to share his burdens, and he was the only person who got to him as a person, not the strongest, not a weapon, not the power ceiling size eyes user but as simply satoru. he probably learned to be emotionally vulnerable for the first time ever with geto because geto was strong and capable of taking care of himself , but also saw satoru as the lost and lonely teenager he was (look how serious/scary he seemed as a kid. that kid saw and knew too much. the "fun" personality he developed is probably a result of some kind of nihilism to deal with the reality that he would be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders). so no matter what the nature of their relationship was, it was likely gojo's strongest bond and the one that had the most impact on him. and then he couldn't save geto, despite being the strongest, which made him question what that power was even good for if he couldn't even save the people closest to him. he decided he needed allies that would be just as strong if not stronger than him. because then he wouldn't have to keep saving or losing people alone.

[as an aside, personally, power dynamics in a (romantic) relationship, ie one person having significantly more power over the other person in a relationship, is my personal biggest nightmare/pet peeve. i hate unequal relationships. if the person with power isn't a narcissistic manipulative asshole, then the relationship sucks for both people. sure you can probably learn a lot but there are other ways to do that]

anyway, I'm glad we get to discuss some of the emotional and relational aspects of jjk because there's so much subtext. most people in the story have heavy heavy trauma in their lives. more than half of the cast don't even have a family or, well, anyone other than the people at jujutech to rely on. and it was understood from the character dialogues that a lot of them (aside from gojo's students, who are specifically being taken in a different direction) choose to keep their distance from other sorcerers so they don't have to keep mourning the deaths of their friends and peers all the time. so yeah.

sorry your ask seemed light-hearted and this got a bit heavy. i'm just at a point in life where i have to consider relationships with other people way more than i want to so these topics have become relevant in my life now

I don't even remember how we got here lol. Sorry

bestie i need to ask a clarifying question about t*ss and joel in lavender. in my mind i think of them as friends who boink occasionally, but they’re not in a relationship or otherwise loyal to each other romantically or sexually. but i feel like from what some of the other anons are saying, maybe i am misunderstanding what it is? like are they actually together? i thought they had a dynamic similar to doc and tommy post-breakup where they’re friends who have sex sometimes (ideally t*ss and joel fuck less than doc and tommy do bc i’m petty lol). idk i’ve just seen other anons describe them as “together” but i never thought they were together, joel just uses her for sex occasionally (which i am still not happy about, don’t get me wrong!!)

also, keeping up the trend of censoring t*ss name lmao ✊🏻 solidarity, sisters

Bahahahahaha the anti-Tess solidarity always sends me.

Here's how I always kind of interpreted their relationship based on the show and how I'm writing it in Lavender: besties with benefits (at least from Joel's side.) Given Tess' saying "not to feel the way I felt" my thought is they had a conversation at one point about being something more (prompted by Tess) and Joel was like "no, I can't do that" and they stuck with being business partners/best friends who also have sex at least every now and then. I also figured that, outside of the sex part of their relationship, they'd be reasonably physically affectionate toward each other - when in private - in a more platonic way just because they had no other outlets. They're both loners but touch is a basic need and it's going to show up somewhere (hence things like Tess climbing into bed with him and shit though that may have been more feelings driven on her side.) (Also maybe I'm weird and an overly physically affectionate person but I cuddle like all my friends lmfao so this is just like "oh yeah, this makes sense" to me. Like when one of my besties comes to visit my husband just expects to either a. get kicked out of bed or make room in the morning for bestie cuddle time or b. have me disappear and go to the guest room for bestie cuddle time, this is the way of things)

So yeah, in Lavender at least (and in my interpretation of the show as well), they're not really romantically entangled just somewhat physically involved. Very much like Tommy/Doc (though Joel didn't really know Tommy and Doc were still fucking just that they were good friends, Tommy basically never slept over and preferred to just leave it unsaid to try to dodge Joel's wrath.) STILL MESSY AF BECAUSE DOC but still, they're not in some kind of committed relationship or anything.

ANYWAY YEAH SORRY TO WRITE A BOOK HERE BUT THERE IT IS BESTIE! Thank you for reading, love you!

"Ships are romanticizing and normalizing pedophilia!!!" Tw: Grooming, CSA, pedophilia.

"You're romanticizing and normalizing pedophilia and abuse." No me simply shipping something is not normalizing romanticizing or glorifying anything an actual person has been through and let me explain why.

When you romanticize something you are trying to make the act committed against someone seem not as bad or better than it actually is. In a sense you are trying to spin it in a positive light. When it comes to a ship they are two fictional characters who never and will never go through any trauma, the trauma that is being "romanticized" does not even exist to being with. In a fictional world everything is made up, it doesn't have to reflect the real world at all so. A ship between a 15 yr old character and a 30 yr old character may be seen as romantic because the fictional 15yr old can't and will never experience the trauma and pain of being taken advantage of unlike real life. The ship may be seen as romantic because the 15yr old in the ship may not even act or represent in any shape or form an actual person let alone a child. There are many factors on why someone may like a minor x adult ship, most have little to nothing to do with the age of the characters. In real life a child being in a relationship with and adult can bring so much baggage and hardship this is why the act is nothing to be praised. In fiction however the concept can come with many different interpretations one being that the "victim" isn't even a victim at all but a willing partner. This doesn't make the person seeing it that way a "pedophile trying to justify pedophilia" it's a person simply exploring dark topics with fictional non existent characters. it's a person who likes the idea of two characters being together, it doesn't mean they would enjoy seeing the two together if they were a real couple.

Normalizing is when you try to make something seem normal when it is and shouldn't be that way. I've seen so many say that pedophilic ships normalize the act of pedophilia and that's the furthers thing from the Truth. Pedophilia is and will never become normal or something seen as okay by society. Hell even if it was it would take way more then some Eri x Deku to make it that way. Going by the "pedophilic fiction can normalize it irl' we'd also have to use that logic for violent or media displaying other illigal activities. There are many shows and movies that display murders in a positive light, in one where you are supposed to root for the killer. This has been a common trope for many many years now. Even in saying this we are still taught that killing and hurting others is wrong no matter what we see on tv.

"when I was a kid I found pedophilic media and thought it was normal." The way media is interpreted is up to the audience who consumes it. It's up to the individual or the guardian of said individual to shape and mold how they view media and how they let it affect them. No, you seeing a ship didn't cause you to think it was normal and okay. Your parents not teaching you that pedophilic acts twords real people is wrong caused you to think that. Your parents allowing unrestricted access to the internet allowed you to stumble across theses things and then in turn internalize them. It's not up to authors and artists to tell your kid right from wrong, it's up to those children's guardians to monitor and also explain theses disgusting concepts to their children in a way that's age appropriate. Media should not have to spell out in bold letters that the concept displayed is nothing to praise in the real world. Young people should be taught first the difference between fiction and reality and then why certain things in fiction are fine but will never and shouldn't be in real life. The first exposer a child has to a topic as heavy as pedophilia shouldn't be them finding a ship drawing or fanart representing the dynamic, a child shouldn't feel as if just because a fictional character is doing something it's fine for them to do it as well. A child should be sat down and explained what pedophilia really is.

This isn't to say that some sick people don't use these ships as a way to groom victims. Unfortunately these ships can and have been used to groom children into thinking this behavior is okay in the real world. This however is not the fault of the artists. Grooming can occur with any type of explicit media no matter the content. These ships existing is not the problem, the problem comes when people try and use these ships as a representation of what they think in the real world or want. It becomes a problem when sick people use these ships to lure in young people into thinking it's what they need. When the media is just veiwed as his it's intended it's not harmful at all. It's useless to blame media for the shitty people using it in the wrong way, these people as proven before will do ANYTHING to get what they really want.

I didn't want to reblog my own tweet AGAIN so let me just say I'm soooooo so glad that someone else compares marcy's choices to glimmers I've been thinking this pretty much since I watched the show and it's so validating! and you're so right about the anne and bow parallels, I didn't even THINK about those but now I am and hhhhhh it's so good thank you so much

I would like to thank my friend for making me realize this, since the way Marcanne is structured and how it could potentially go when it comes to the aftermath could be executed very similarly to Glimbow more than Catradora to me.

You have Glimmer and Bow. It was just them at first, yeah? And of course things seemed to be good until they had to expand their relations and friendship circles, and we begin to see that Glimmer's fear of being alone becomes a key thing that made communication between her and Bow a bit tense during the dance in Season One.

But of course, it gets reassured by Bow and they are able to talk.

However, as the plot progresses and people leave and get added to the mix, the stability of what seems to be a perfect relationship gets tested, and one begins to see the choice to change for the better regardless of the hurt created. Just like what Noelle said in a specific article about these two, they are "two people who have been each other's person for as long as they can remember, but needed to grow apart, needed to grow in their own ways, apart from each other, and then come back together and repair a relationship that always had issues with it, or a friendship that wasn't always equal."

There's a lot of other stuff he talked about, like how Glimmer and Bow's relationship always wavered between the definitions of romantic and platonic between the partners themselves, since they've been together for so long it's hard to really understand how to define what their dynamic is all about. (My Marcanne analysis actually dives into the whole 'redefining one's relationship' part too, but I don't want to spoil much about my interpretation of it until it's finished).

The way Noelle talks about the growth of dynamics could be interpreted a lot with the main trio since there are a lot of communications and boundaries that need to be established and healed, but I think there's something heartwarming with Matt's theme of change, and trying to place it into the perspective of what that means for the girls themselves.

I want to talk about Sasha someday when it comes to what I believe her direction of change will be to the endgame, but that's gonna take a while to write (and I want to give that girl justice because she's complicated as Hell). But for Marcy and Anne, I do interpret that the change is not only complete trust and transparency, but also the evaluation of what it means to be "Marcy and Anne" respectively.

Not in a trio dynamic, not influenced by old definitions of who they were in pre-Amphibia, but in the now, where they both need to change and actively get better to see each other on equal length, and then ask "Who are we when it's just the two of us?"

Kind of a random question, but what are your favorite incest tropes? :0 Like from following you for a while I've learned your favorite is probably siscon and you generally dislike parent/child ships but what about other incest dynamics like for example brocon?

Ohh anon that's an interesting question! Indeed I really like siscon but I wouldn't be opposed to brocon or brosis either 👀 though I don't think i have many ships in those areas. does s.ylki count as brosis? It feels like brosis in my heart but ik the s.ylki nation would excommunicate me for saying that 😂 speaking of s.ylki I can also enjoy a certain brand of selfcest depending on the context. Thinking about it, I think I only like it when it has some form of canon base to stand on? I'm thinking about yes s.ylki and... the lutece twins from bioshock infinite, maybe? Were they canon? I can't remember if they were canon but iirc they had some sort of vibe going on. Like they had an actual relationship with each other to begin with. For example I couldn't really pull an onceler fandom and cut a characted in half myself 😂. Again, s.ylki nation would hang me in the town square for implying selfcest is sorta like shipcest but come onnnn come on come on come on that's what gives it spice 😭

As for parent/child... it's not that I dislike it, it just seems like such an oxymoron in my mind. Like, I can't imagine a romantic partner that is also your parent, it just makes no sense to me, and you couldn't hold me at gunpoint to "do my research" because I don't want to read about instances like that irl, I don't even want to think about them. I have nothing against people who ship them and it's not like I have any STRONG EMOTIONAL REACTION when encountering momcon in the wild but ehhh I think I will pass. As for aunts or uncles and niblings... you probably already know my answer 😂 the age gap is a bit off-putting in most cases but I'm open to making exceptions (brulores my beloved).

What else? mmm I want to say I like step-siblings or adoptive siblings but sadly a lot of shippers will take any gap to thrust in an argument as to why noooo it's not actually incest, see cos cos cos their adoptive parents are horrible and to imply they're siblings would imply their adoptive parents were real parents which is clearly not the case, they are childhood friends to lovers and victims of the same abuseeeee or noooo their parents got married for political reasons so it's not a REAL family or nooo they clearly don't have the same DNA or nooo they don't see each other as family etc etc and you can't really argue there because everyone is allowed to see this lowkey pseudo-incestuous ship as whatever they want, but it does make me lose interest when the majority tries to force their interpretation on others and it becomes hard to find like-minded people.

half-siblings... mmm i think the interesting thing about half-siblings is the idea of separate family members, possibly with negative feelings about each other, coming to know each other and become family again. It's interesting to see two characters not fully knowing where they stand with each other trying to figure out their relationship (which is kinda what we're working on with the black moth au 👀) though again some people will take any chance to un-incest the incest and say that nooo they didn't know about each other's existance until now so it doesn't count and again, there is nothing wrong with that perspective. I disagree with it in terms of personal taste only. In fact one of my favorite EA fics has roughly that same premise. But I usually don't like that approach. Call me old-fashioned but I like my incest incestuous 😭

i only vibe with grandparents if some sort of time travel is involved 😂 hello there Anna and Marnie

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AND ABOUT NARRATIVE TROPES: incest guilt. it's always incest guilt.

i mean it's a bit more complicated than that but ahhh to be scared of yourself and your own attraction and being moved to confront understand and forgive yourself and live a life that makes you happy, all inspired by the forbidden love between you and your sibling >:3c

Random Word Prompts: Nami & Sanji (platonic)

(ask meme link)

meant as friendship headcanons/analysis, but may be interpreted romantically. for most of it anyway lol

Wood: Do they have any bad habits?

↳ They make fun of people all the time. Like when the Strawhats are docked at a town, I could see the two of them people watching in a bar, just judging strangers together lmfao. The "mean bisexual & even meaner lesbian" dynamic is so strong with them, it's just *chefs kiss*

↳ Some of Sanji's outfits are actually horrid (sports-mode gold crocs with striped board shorts and white brimmed hat, I will never forget you) so he's not always in a position to talk, but. Usually he's fine though so Nami allows it

Stone: How easily do they get drunk? What are they like when they're over their limit?

↳ Just going on vibes alone... I feel like Sanji would be more of a lightweight for his size, and Nami's pretty good at holding her liquor for her size. But between the two of them, Nami would drink more so she'd def get drunker, faster

↳ And the two of them getting drunk together are the worst lmfao. When they're over their limit, the "bad habit" from the previous question is like, ten-fold, but now minus the volume control. When she's drunk off her ass Nami is very mean-girl-clique, it's so powerful

↳ Someone comes into the bar wearing the goofiest fucking hat and Nami just loses it. I could see her grabbing at Sanji's arm and literally just pointing and giggling, she's so out of line lmao. She knows she can just sic the love cook on em if they get all feisty about it

↳ "If Nami-san thinks you look stupid that's your own fault"

↳ Also I'm imagining this moment where drunk Nami makes fake-puking noises at a guy who was trying way too hard to cozy up to her, but then actually almost pukes & gets all panicked trying to stop herself lmfao. Usopp & Luffy laugh so hard they fall out of their chairs. Sanji's already beating the guy into next week

Thunder: Do they argue with their S/O each other - if so what about?

↳ They hardly ever argue. Honestly I feel like they're on the same page for most things, especially since they're kind of the only members in the crew (Jimbei being the other) who can and would care to stick to a plan lol. Even if they're not on the same page, in a sticky situation they're comfortable trusting the other person's judgement, so there's not really an argument.

↳ I don't think Sanji is incapable of disagreeing with her though. He can be reasonably firm with her, but I don't see him ever getting in a shouting match with her or anything.

↳ Their argument (is that the right word for it?) at WCI is an obvious point to mention but I go into it more in the next part

Glass: Are they open with their partner each other? Do they allow themselves to be vulnerable around them?

↳ I don't think they're very vulnerable with each other too often.

↳ Nami was kind of forced to bare her guts to the East Blue crew because of the whole Arlong Park situation. But before she officially joined the crew, she probably didn't see Sanji as much more than another man she could charm and use. He just made it so easy with the whole lovey-dovey act, yknow? I feel like they bond more sincerely post-Arlong Park, just because she's more willing to view him as a friend at that point.

↳ As for Sanji... I think he really wants her to see him as a strong person, so he only wants to show her what he considers to be the best side of himself. So he inconsequentially sort of held her at arm's length (as he does with basically everyone tho), but the events of Whole Cake Island probably really changed their friendship by instantly narrowing that gap.

↳ He didn't want any of the crew to know about his childhood, but with Nami it was particularly shameful for him. Not necessarily because of something specific to their relationship, but because she saw his conflict with Luffy. She saw him reject their captain's help, beat him bloody while he was refusing to fight back, and talk down to him like a prince looking on a peasant. It was repulsive behavior and he really wishes she didn't have to witness it.

↳ Beyond that, she'd seen him succumb to the ugliest part of his past– the Vinsmokes– and she was like yep, you're right, you're completely awful, and you deserve to be slapped for that. He didn't think his predicament could hurt more than it did at the time, because he already felt like the biggest piece of shit, but getting that message from Nami definitely hammered another nail into the coffin.

↳ After WCI, I could see Sanji apologizing to her directly for this. Not that he did it, because he believed it was a necessary evil at the time, but he was sorry that she had to see him like that. She'd forgive him, of course– she's just glad he came around in the end, and despite the impression she gives off, she doesn't hold grudges when it comes to her friends.

↳ So any lasting "change" in their relationship probably comes more from Sanji's end. He doesn't view her differently, he doesn't treat her differently. But he carries the knowledge that she came to help him escape a nearly impossible situation; that she was there during an incredibly ugly moment for him, and still forgave him and sees him as her friend. He never wants to hurt her like that again.

yucky yarnes for the ask game :)

Al why would you call him that but here you go

How I feel about this character:

I love him. I'm rooting for him, and just like Steve Rogers, I would start a civil war to protect him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

1. Natasha Romanoff

From what I know of their comic storyline their romance is pretty epic and also I think MCU Nat would be a great person for MCU Bucky to have in his life, and I'm kinda bitter that we never really got a dynamic between them at all.

2. Steve Rogers

These two were in love and you can not convince me otherwise, honestly.

3. Sarah Wilson

I think this would be pretty cute, and I enjoyed the little hints of it we got in TFATWS.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

1. Sam Wilson

This is no disrespect to the Sam/Bucky shippers, I just don't ship it personally. Especially after TFATWS. I think it's so important for Bucky's life that Sam remains a platonic figure given that I think there's a little imbalance of power in their relationship right now. And it would be cool for Sam to have a love interest that is unique to him because inheriting Steve's shield is fine but inheriting Steve's boyfriend is kinda weird.

2. Natasha Romanoff

I really just wanted to see their dynamic and I would not have been mad if it was platonic, honestly.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I can not express how different I think my view of Bucky is from the general fandom interpretation of Bucky. I don't think he would call women "doll". I don't think he'd be down for any kind of violence or abuse between partners, even in a role-play scenario. I imagine he'd be kind of a shitty boyfriend actually, because he doesn't really communicate well and that'd be challenging. In general, I think Bucky's pretty complicated as a person and that he doesn't really have a stable identity. I find his voice really hard to pin down sometimes because he's been a completely different person in every movie.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

Therapy that was constructive and good? Him making out with Steve? Really any screen time dedicated to his relationship with Steve after Civil War because it didn't feel resolved or lived in? Like, I wanted to see them being friends a little more. But there's a huge universe with tons of characters I get why that's weird.

send me a character and I'll answer these questions

"Something that didn't happen but did. But only for a minute" Can you elaborate on what you think this means?

(Okay,hopefully you are still here, anon (carpal tunnel = me reluctant totype much of anything, sadly, bc I need to save my loser hand for myjob…Gird your loins or w/e, this is long…and meandering…)

Ithink I stuck that in the tags of a post, but I was just paraphrasingPaul’s lyrics in ‘The Pound Is Sinking’, where he sings ‘hear me,lover/I can’t be held responsible now/for something that didn’thappen/I knew you for a minute/oh, it didn’t happen/no, only for aminute/your heart just wasn’t in it anymore’ (probably you knowthis, but just for background…).

So,just let me like riff on my interpretation a little, and don’t be toooffended if I get off track, it’s all related in my head:

Incomparison to the kind of nether-world of John and Paul’srelationship with each other, we can maybe look at theirrelationships with their (eventual) wives to see what wouldconstitute, at least in Paul’s mind, something that actually'happened’. No matter what we think DID happen between John and Paul,it was clearly never a 100% fully fledged relationship, right? Theynever got married, they never bought a house together, they nevermade each other breakfast every morning, they never adopted kids,etc. They never actually ran away together – at least not withoutcoming back. Paul wrote those lyrics after 10 years of marriage withLinda and 4 kids, and in comparison to that level of day in, day outcommitment, whatever John and Paul had is something that onlysemi-happened, or only happened for a minute (or happened in 'anotherlifetime’ or 'was I just dreaming or was it only yesterday?’).

Awhole range of possibilities exists for what their relationshipactually was (I have another ask that I am trying to formulate aresponse to that will be more along those lines), and so these lyricscan be interpreted a lot of different ways…but essentially…nomatter how far they went with each other, romantically or sexually, Idon’t think either of them ever got quite what they wanted out ofeach other, you know? Neither of them was ever fully satisfied by it– there was always SOMETHING in their relationship that was out ofreach – unattainable – whether because of their ownpersonalities, conflicting demands and desires, fame on a level noone could possibly understand (I mean…really…the ENORMOUSpsychological pressure on them is simply unfathomable and somethingwe should always try to have deep, deep empathy for), exteriorpressures, homophobia, the hard slog of being in a band together,jealousy, competition (!!), differing drug habits, etc.  

Like,I think we can get a pretty clear idea of WHAT John wanted out of arelationship by comparing his relationships with Paul and Yoko. Whydid John swap Paul for Yoko? Presumably because he was gettingsomething from Yoko, at least in the first couple of years of theirrelationship, that he COULD NOT get from Paul, or wouldn’t ask forfrom Paul, or couldn’t expect from Paul. Paul was never going to beat his beck-and-call 24/7; Paul was never going to go on about himbeing a genius without also expecting him to actually producegenius-level work; Paul was never going to BLOW UP everything theyhad built, their whole world, for John, on an impulse; he was nevergoing to tear the Beatles apart for John; he was never going todevolve into junkie-ism for John; he was never going to stop writinggreat songs because it made John jealous when he did; he was nevergoing to stop being the prince of swinging London because it madeJohn feel stultified in comparison; he was never going to…put hiscock on the front of an album, or mail back his MBE, or put on artshows that are designed solely to rile/exasperate/pull-one-over-onpeople (Paul’s art, in contrast, is almost always 'invitational’). IfJohn was into his 'great debunker’ mode in '68, Paul could not be hispartner in that – but Yoko could, since she never put in thefucking hard work of building their Empire (though she has happilyreaped, for decades, the benefits of what she helped destroy).

(Also– Paul could never stop being a man in order to bolster John’smasculinity, or to quiet his gay panic, or lessen his probablepost-Brian-dying existential crisis about what-the-fuck theirrelationship, or any gay relationship, could ever be. A best friendwho you can fuck but is also a woman (so it’s alright)? That’simpossible for Paul, he can only go two-for-three there.

Also,not unimportantly – for all John described Yoko as a genius, blahblah blah, she was NEVER EVER going to write a number one hit. Youknow? She was NEVER actually competition for him – he never wasgoing to look at her and be like, “Gosh, I like your songs on thisalbum better than mine…”, LOL. Yoko and his post-Beatles work wasa way of REMOVING himself from the game – how better to escape fromthe pressure of coming up with another Ticket to Ride than byproducing Life with the Lions, or whatever-the-fuck? He TALKED a shitload about his genius after the Beatles were over – but by thatpoint his genius (which was being the leader of a ROCK 'N’ ROLL BAND,btw, in case anyone (Yoko) ever forgets) was atrophying. The world will never love Yoko the way it loves John or Paul, which allows John to win that competition BY DEFAULT -- with no effort! -- while also getting to play a bit of a martyr vis-a-vis her and her treatment by the press/society/fans.

Also, Iwould compare what Paul was able to get from Linda to what he gotfrom John (it’s a valid comparison, obviously – Linda and John werevery different Libras), but doing so doesn’t quite make sense here,since Paul never actually made a choice between John and Linda. WhatPaul chose Linda over was dying – literally fucking dying – of abroken heart.)

So,having hashed out some dynamics or dysfunctions that were presumablypresent no matter what 'level’ their relationship went to, and whichpresumably drove them apart, you’re probably saying…what the fuck,dude? Because all of this is sort of putting the cart before thehorse, right? Since John’s impulse to do all of theseBeatle/Paul-ruining things, which necessitated 'Yoko boat’ ratherthan 'Paul boat’, had to come from somewhere…

Myactual shortened timeline-sort-of view of their relationship and myCONJECTURE on how it may have happened: sometime between 1964 ('If IFell’) and May 1968 they moved into a semi-stable phase of theirrelationship which is semi-explicitly romantic (the sexualinterplay/experimentation presumably far pre-dates this period, maybedating back to their first months together ('Baby Elvis’ – John wasphysically/sexually knocked-the-fuck-out by Paul from the start)), inaddition to being ten dozen other things. One or both of them mayharbor the notion at this point that some day – when the demands ofBeatlemania are done, when things are more settled, when they haveaged out of fucking around so much, when they buy an island, when thepress hounds them less, when homosexuality is more destigmatized inaddition to being decriminalized (1967 in Britain, which may playinto this) – they will be in a yet more stable, more exclusive &more serious relationship.

Atsome point it becomes clear to one or both of them that this is notgoing to happen: Brian dies which fucks everything up (nothingharshes a buzz like death, especially the death of one’s gay mentor, which may then precipitate a decisively un-gay turnaround), Paul gets engagedto Jane in a last ditch effort to save their relationship, and Pauland John as-a-couple fizzle out. Possibly it’s even amicable atfirst, like they’ve agreed to put it on hold because they acknowledgethat they can’t give each other what they want – which wouldexplain why Paul is so docile and accepting of the Yoko thing atfirst. Not only does he not think it will last (another of John’swhims – Chip Madinger puts the Two Virgins recording on the VERYSAME DAY that John announces that he is Jesus fucking Christ! (*)) andmaybe it’s actually in-line with what they’ve agreed to, but Paulalso doesn’t yet understand that John will at some point becomewilling to destroy the whole dang thing, all-or-nothing, 'if we can’tbe lovers we’ll never be friends’, etc.

Withouttheir being lovers, all the little resentments John has towards Paul– over leadership, talent, looks, personality, music, etc, that heis able to overlook when they’re fucking – boil over. If John’sperception becomes that Paul has managed to wrest the band away fromhim by sexually manipulating him (**), then that’s one more reason forhim to now try to assert his dominance – by foisting Yoko on all ofthem, which only drives home further how not-the-leader he is (in hisown mind), since if he WERE the leader, they would accept her(especially because he thinks she’s cool, and they generally thinkeverything he thinks is cool is cool!). Having Yoko nearby all thetime also conveniently keeps Paul-and-his-sexual-wiles away from Johnand gives him a continuous alternate sexual outlet. For John to’re-take’ the leadership position (which has always actually been aco-leadership, of course, since the moment John and Paul were theones wearing matching blazers while everyone else had plain shirts)would require that he start writing better songs than Paul – onlynow he’s too heroin-addled to effectively do so and he’s got writer’sblock something major, so instead he withdraws further into Yoko andheroin and non-communication. At the point where Paul is begging himon bended knee – writing Oh Darling for him and then repeatedlyTELLING him it’s for him – Paul is at his lowest point yet and he is STILL writing more songs than John andpretty soon he’s refusing to go along with Klein, too, which onlyfurthers the resentment. And especially if Paul’s love andprotectiveness towards the band partially caused him to put thebrakes on the relationship with John, what better way for John toessentially fuck with Paul and get all his latent heartbreak anddisappointment out than to leave Paul with nothing by destroying theband, too?

(*) John really seems to have experienced a BREAK with reality at this point, and it’s bizarre how rarely this is explicated in discussions of him finally getting together with Yoko. After years of compulsively drinking/drugging they go to India where, at least at the start of things, John is STONE COLD SOBER and meditating for hours on end – anyone’s psyche would be shaken up by this! And then Paul LEAVES – which, even if it wasn’t precipitated by any argument or whatever (I’m agnostic on this), had to be massively destabilizing for John because suddenly he has HOURS to ruminate on Paul and their relationship and what he is and isn’t getting from it, and he no longer has Paul actually physically there to ground him, both in reality generally and in his Paul-ness and how essentially lovable and fascinating and alluring John finds him and will always find him. 

(**)Paul may well have been the first guy that John was physically turnedon by – bisexuals supposedly realize their same-sex attractionslater than their opposite-sex ones and comparatively later than gaypeople do – but moreover Paul seems to have SET and embodied thepattern of John’s male attractions for the rest of his life. Not fornothing was John’s intended panty-dropper line to Tony Manarosupposedly 'you’re prettier than Paul’. Practically every rumor I’veever seen of John’s sexual encounters with males in his later yearsemphasizes that he liked PRETTY BOYS (and who’s the toppermost of thepretty boy heap?). So if John was conflicted about his attraction tomen, it makes sense that he might manage to blame that on Paul, too.

Hopefully this makes a slight bit of sense…at any point in there at all, lol. Feel free to ask me again if I didn’t quite hit the mark or if you want clarification. :)