I’m surprised nobody is talking about this moment.

There were many heart-wrenching moments in Reaching Out, but this scene in particular hurt to watch, and not in a cathartic way.

Luz is tired. Between missing her mom and missing her dad - not to mention the frequent struggles of her loved ones and whatever Emperor Belos is planning - she isn’t allowing herself enough time to process her traumas and the near-constant reopening of her wounds.

The crux of her character arc was founded in her longing for a place that accepted her, warts and all. Now Luz bears the responsibility of choosing between two worlds while saving one of them, and it’s wearing her down.

anthurak:

Looking back over Volumes 6 and 7, something I feel is pretty interesting is how Ozpin and Ironwood are effectively painted as two sides of the same coin by the narrative when it comes to their strengths and flaws.

For Ozpin, no matter how much insight he had on the human condition and how his humanist ideologies of compassion, understanding and empathy, and how much he wanted to help all of humanity, I think it’s pretty clear that his actual idea of how to deal with Salem was very much the WRONG one. His plan was to effectively delay Salem indefinitely, with an ingrained, unshakable assumption that Salem cannot be fought directly. Also, Ozpin’s idea of fighting Salem in the shadows only seems to have backfired, with Ozpin and his followers keeping untold secrets from the rest of the world, all while Ozpin keeps more secrets from even his closest allies. This gradually erodes and destroys the trust those allies have in him as we saw in Volume 6, and also keeps humanity unaware of the threat to them and makes it all the easy for Salem to keep humanity divided and turn them against each other.

In short, Ozpin has the right philosophy, but the wrong idea of how to deal with Salem.

And in Volume 7, we see that Ironwood is the flipside to that coin.

By all rights, Ironwood has the right idea. He wants to take the fight to Salem directly and put an end to her once and for all. Not only that, Ironwood wants to reveal her existence to the world, shine a spotlight on her as the true enemy of mankind and unite humanity against the common enemy to all. But at the same time, Ironwood’s ideology is horribly flawed. In contrast to Ozpin’s humanist ideologies, Ironwood’s beliefs are entirely militant. He believes that simple military might will win the day, and also believes whole-heartedly that ‘the ends justify the means’ and ‘any sacrifice is worth it’. We see in Ironwoods conversations with Oscar that he considers his own humanity to be a weakness that can be exploited. He pretty much views Mantle as dead weight and is ready to cut the whole city loose as a sacrifice to what he believes is the ‘greater good’.

Basically, Ozpin had the Wrong Idea, but the Right Ideology. And Ironwood has the Right Idea, but the Wrong Ideology.

And it is between these two sides that I believe Team RWBY falls, and in particular Ruby herself.

I think it’s clear that Ruby is the one that has the Right Idea and the Right Ideology. Like Ironwood, she is staunchly determined to battle the evil that Salem represents and end the threat she poses to humanity. But like Ozpin, Ruby is an equally firm believer in the importance of keeping hold of our humanity and all that entails. I think we can see this most clearly in how Ruby has come into conflict with both men, with Ozpin in Volume 6 and Ironwood in Volume 7.

Finally, I think there is one specific quality Ruby possesses that sets her apart from both Ironwood and Ozpin and allows her to be this: Her Defiant Optimism.

Both Ozpin and Ironwood both seem to possess these cynical assumptions about the conflict against Salem: Ozpin believes that Salem cannot be destroyed and Ironwood seems to believe that great sacrifices must be made to ensure victory.

But Ruby possesses none of these assumptions.

mightyjensblog:

rwbyanalysis:

I JUST REALIZED

On her journey, Dorothy-

meets the Scarecrow that wants a brain-

theTin Woodman who desires a heart-

and the Cowardly Lion who needs courage

I cannot belive I just realized this.

I’ve always thought that the Wizard of Oz reference only presented Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, and general Ironwood. But I was wrong.

Another crazy thing I just realized is that they all got what they were asking for through this adventure that Ozpin put them through.

Rubyunited the team to go on this journey

Yang learned to control her emotions and semblance and become smarter

Weiss had the heart to change herself and go againts her father and run away and fight with her team. She doesn’t even care about not being the heiress of the Schnee company anymore

And last but not least. Blake gains the courage to go againt Adam, her abuser, the shadow that haunts her

And of course with the help of her Scarecrow ;)

BLESS THIS SHOW!!!

They’re all also Connected or have Similarities to the other Oz Allusions.

Weiss and James are both From Atlas.

Leo and Blake were both Faunas.(And Lions are a type of Cat)

And Qrow is both Yangs Uncle and both of there arcs have themes of trauma and dealing with it.

harostar:

lore-of-the-silvereyes-rwby:

bardock1991:

maswartz:

harostar:

Interesting point I saw on twitter, that got me thinking about the Ironwood Debate. 

Ironwood spends Volume 2 criticizing Ozpin for inaction, and ultimately uses the Breach as evidence of his incompetence. He uses this single incident as the damning evidence that Ozpin has failed, and swears that “I will keep our people safe”.

But what people does he mean, exactly?

Because we have volumes of build-up to the arrival in Atlas, giving us hints about how Mantle suffers. We have Ilia’s backstory about her parents working in unsafe conditions that ultimately killed them, while she was forced to hide her Faunus heritage. How that was her one chance to move up in the world, and live a better life. We have Adam’s similar tale of abuse in the mines, and world-building about how Mantle has essentially rotted from neglect over time.

Then we actually arrive in Mantle, and see how the city is quite LITERALLY falling apart. Its people live in poverty, struggling to survive with neglected infrastructure. We’re told again and again that things have gotten WORSE since Ironwood began his Embargo and then locked the kingdom down entirely.

But “worse” doesn’t mean these are new problems. We keep hearing about the holes in Mantle’s defensive walls, and see them a few times. They’re massive and evidence of long-term neglect. YEARS of being neglected, being allowed to reach a point where the people are facing regular Grimm attacks. These things have been happening under Ironwood’s watch for YEARS, while he goes to Vale and criticizes Ozpin for a single incident.

Roman Holiday further paints Vale as having been incredibly prosperous and safe under Ozpin’s watch. Even organized crime was, until Roman started screwing around, basically subtle and with an understanding of not rocking the boat. It was there, but it was a kind that knew to stick with white-collar crime or back-room deals instead of theft and violence. 

Ironwood comes to Vale stating his intention to protect the people, then undermines Ozpin and risks getting him kicked off the Council. All while HIS OWN kingdom is rotting away, while his people are unsafe and unprotected and living and dying in horrific conditions.

Becausethose people don’t matter. 

Mantle doesn’t matter.

Ironwood sees himself as doing an exceptional job, as being the man to be the World’s Protector and Champion……because he protects his shining city in the clouds. Atlas and its citizens live charmed lives, safe and protected from not just the Grimm but the harsh conditions of Solitas. 

He makes grand speeches about keeping the kingdom safe, but did he really? 

Because most of his people lived in poverty, struggling to survive in the harsh cold and unsafe mines. With defenses severely compromised defenses, with broken walls and hacked systems, and robots patrolling their streets. 

But he gave them Penny as their “protector”, smiling and cheerful but not allowed to really befriend them. A PR campaign that didn’t do much to address the worsening situation. 

Ironwood cited the Breach as Ozpin failing, while his own kingdom was seeing a significant increase in Grimm attacks. One incident in Vale was enough to prove Ozpin couldn’t handle things, but Ironwood’s failure to address the worsening conditions in Mantle meant nothing. After all, no one IMPORTANT cared about Mantle.

It was easy to ignore, since he could barely even see it most of the time. Just a few city blocks, without any strategic value. (Until it did have value, because his enemy knew People matter and not things.)

Ironwood ultimately cared more about another Kingdom than he did his own people. And then, when that backfired on him, he turned so far inward that he couldn’t save anyone much less himself. 

It says volumes that even after Atlas’s cyber-security failed in front of the world Ironwood refused to update Mantle’s.

And by the end, when he made his speech about blowing up Mantle he let’s it slip. He says how he wants to defend the kingdom, it’s technology, but never mentioning the people.

I’ve already made TWO huge posts about Ironwood, talking about his hypocrisies, his contradictions, his huge messiah complex, his massive arrogance, his unwillingness to change, improve or take responsibility; as well as comparing him to REAL LIFE examples of Ironwood’s character, like Maximilian Robespierre from the late 1700s late revolution. So I’m not gonna do ANOTHER one again, at least not right now.

All I’m gonna say is this… Ironwood was NEVER MEANT to be a Hero in this story, he was NEVER MEANT to be a Shining Light of Hope or the thing that would inevitably stop Salem once & for all, save Remnant from itself & be its great savior… Kaosi recently made an amazing character study video on Ironwood, which i HIGHLY recommend watching (I’ll post the link to it below, just make sure to have subtitles on) & How different he is from Ozpin, as well as what Remnant would’ve become if MANTLE won The Great War instead of Vale. As well as how for all of his talk about sacrifice, making tough choices “for the greater good” (Goodness gracious, i loathe that ridiculous statement) he never TRULY does ANY of that. He NEVER truly sacrifices something that’s HIS (Or as Winter stated, Ironwood has sacrificed EVERYTHING & EVERYONE else) nor has he made any REAL hard choices & No, his arm back at V7 against Watts doesn’t count!

https://youtu.be/76Iv-LBeXWI

Sorry for the delay @bardock1991 had a lot going on

first the video link no longer works and i think the video had been deleted

But in short as i have talked about this in many posts about the subject and in similar posts Yes ironwood despites his protests or arguments wasn’t meant to be anything more than a team beneficiary or the guy who can lend you some resources and assets like $100k or a private jet

But instead he tried to start a war and make power grabs to give meaning to his life which in other words can be described as sad, mediocre, boring and meaningless  because of the way rwby story has been set up 

At his core Ironwood was a soldier and conqueror in a word than didn’t need those things as they only cause more harm and damage and make it easier to lose what little the people of said world had

Like what do you do with a soldier when there’s no war or purpose

what does a conqueror who has conquered all the land he can do now that he has conquered what he can but still wants more 

V6 already foreshadowed and confirmed Ironwood’s irrelevance and needless purpose in the world of remnant and instead of accepting it and stepping back and down for the people who can help and do what he couldn’t he just made things worse to save face 

these are my thoughts let me know what you think?

But in short as i have talked about this in many posts about the subject and in similar posts Yes ironwood despites his protests or arguments wasn’t meant to be anything more than a team beneficiary or the guy who can lend you some resources and assets like $100k or a private jet

This in particular stood out to me, because I think it highlights the times when Ironwood is at his best. He’s the most effective when he’s a SUPPORTING player, when he’s providing the heroes with logistical support or being a field commander working alongside others.

IE: Where does he have the most positive impact in the story?

1. When Ozpin gives him a direct order to oversee the defense of VALE (not Beacon) and the evacuation of students and festival-goers. He shines at the Fall of Beacon, because he’s supporting everyone else in making sure the PEOPLE escape harm and that the nearby capital city is protected. He’s working with RWBY, with Qrow and Glynda, to carry out Ozpin’s orders.
2. When he’s working ALONGSIDE Robyn, when they have a plan TOGETHER. When he is providing the logistical support and manpower to deal with the larger plan that everyone came up with together.

Ironwood is a Support that desperately wanted to be the leading man, the lone hero of the story, instead of excepting that his strengths lie in figuring out how to give THE ACTUAL HEROES what they need to succeed.

The last arc of Volume 7 is a tragedy that shows what could have been. How Robyn Hill is the LEADER and the hero that Ironwood wanted to be, only the real deal and working with incredibly limited resources. When given Ironwood’s unlimited support, she accomplishes so much in such a small amount of time. Robyn is the kind of person that needed to be in charge all along, a capable leader that could see what people really needed and simply lacked the kinds of logistical support and resources to make it happen.

Ironwood’s a man that simply wasn’t suited to this particular story. He’s a soldier in a world without war, from a culture that valued Stoicism and Pride over all else, that saw emotions as a weakness instead of a strength. 

It also kinda makes him a more direct parallel to Weiss in Volume 1, where she wanted to be the leader despite not really having the character growth or mindset needed to be a good leader, being more at the time about validating her own self-worth to a father who would never truly value her than being any good at leadership. And her ultimate growth leads her to be a powerful support character to her leader Ruby, using her vast resources (at least until Jacques cut her off) to try to aid her team, and ultimately being willing to put others before herself.

It’s interesting to me that when Wei Wuxian comes back to life Lan Wangji is known for his compassion and Jiang Wanyin is known for his cruelty.

But the reason it’s interesting to me is because after Wei Wuxian’s death Jiang Wanyin should be all set up to be the hero of the cultivation world that took down the vile Yiling Patriarch and yet when Wei Wuxian comes back Jiang Wanyin doesn’t seem to be respected as much as he is feared and disliked by others.

And then you have Lan Wangji who was completely absent from the siege and even tried to save Wei Wuxian after Nightless City (though I don’t think this was widely known) and yet he is highly respected by cultivators and civilians alike.

And this is because more than that one moment it was actions they took day after day, year after year, that formed the public’s opinion of them. Jiang Wanyin, more focused on torturing demonic cultivators than saving people; and Lan Wangji, who was known for caring little about fame and taking even small night hunts with little reward.

Kaz is a control freak. He needs to be in control of every confrontation, conversation and he needs to be able to control every person around him. Kaz does not act without meticulous planning. I can’t think of a single instance where he improvised. He improvised a PLAN after the Ice Court job fell apart but he was never blindly acting on instinct. Everything went according to plan, if it didn’t he had a backup plan. He’s basically a Moriarty crime boss. The spider at the center of the web and he knows exactly how each one of them dances. 

He needs control so he will never have to depend on another person for safety or food. Like he depended on Pekka Rollins. Like he depended on Jordie. He longs for someone to have his back, to have Jordie there again. He blames Jordie for leaving him alone and being foolish in trusting the wrong people. 

This character is so interesting and it’s astounding how Leigh made him so sympathetic despite the fact he kind of awful. Do I love him? Yes I do. Do I know why? No I don’t.

character design is my passion

character design!!!

WRONG HORDAK ANALYSIS

@argentdandelion here ya go

Wrong Hordak’s first appearance is in “Save The Cat” after he gets separated from the hive-mind of Horde-Prime. What I find so interesting about Wrong Hordak, is that he is representative of losing one’s-self and is a middle ground character that can connect to all of our main characters when they are all facing issues with separation from their true selves. We all are aware that Entrapta names him Wrong Hordak because despite being genetically the same, he is vastly different from the Hordak we know. In this season the characters are struggling with feeling lost and there is a lack of unity. This is shown with the Best-Friend Squad’s semi-breakup after Bow, Adora, and Glimmer separate over their opinions on what to do to handle the heart of Etheria, and how to deal with the threat of their home. When Glimmer, and Adora fight and separate, while Glimmer turns to Adora’s abuser for help, the viewer comes to understand that the character’s all lose themselves a bit. Adora loses herself and her powers as She-Ra, Bow loses his place as a mediator and Glimmer loses her influence over others by becoming so absorbed into her role as queen that she fails to maintain her relationships. The splitting of the trio causes a rippling crack. At this point in the series when Wrong Hordak arrives, all of our main characters are displaced. Catra has lost all her influence in the Horde, and loses herself to Horde-Prime after having pushed the only person she had left (Scorpia) away in her arrogance. Adora and Bow have one another but it is clear in many ways that Adora feels alone in her experience at this point. Bow may attempt to comfort Adora, but her intense fear of letting others down, and savior complex stemming from her childhood abuse are feelings that make her feel isolated. To add on, Glimmer is feeling disconnected after realizing that her actions caused quite possibly the worst outcome for all of her loved ones. We can make a comparison between Wrong Hordak’s feelings of isolation to Adora’s once she realized she had broken away from the narrative the Horde had indoctrinated her with. Wrong Hordak is a middle point for all the character’s issues at this point in the series and this is because all of the characters have individual ways to relate to him. Starting with Adora,

“Where…am I? I cannot connect to the hive-mind. I am…alone? [begins to sob] I am alone…” - Wrong Hordak, Save The Cat

“I did it. I turned against the Horde. I turned against the Horde! Why did I do that? I can’t go back now. Where am I supposed to go?”- Adora, The Sword: Part 2

These two quotes show that both experience the shock of separation and are both taken in by people who they meet briefly and distrust them. Wrong Hordak is a parallel for Adora being taken in by Glimmer and Bow in the first season. Adora and Wrong Hordak are both thrown into new environments in which they are suddenly swept away by “enemies”, and now have to unlearn all of the programming that they were fed their entire life. Wrong Hordak comes to learn that his life spent serving Horde Prime was not bringing about peace, just like how Adora had to realize the Horde was not fighting “evil princesses”, but rather innocent civilians. This is something that Catra cannot relate to as from a young age, she was fully aware of the atrocities that the Horde were doing, but was ok with it because she had Adora with her. Therefor, Wrong Hordak is someone who can represent earlier season versions of Adora, specifically seasons 1 and 2. This is especially important because Adora regains her powers as She-Ra in this episode, but Wrong Hordak is representative of the Adora who had just found out she was She-Ra. Having this comparison allows us to be reminded of the reason that Adora chose to start her journey in the first place, which is an important thing for Adora herself to remember in order for her to regain her strength as She-Ra again.

Now the reason we needed to have Entrapta in this moment rather than Glimmer because of the emotional significance of Entrapta’s relationship with Hordak, and the Horde itself as she was the only Princess other than Scorpia to work for the Horde and find comfort in the odd community that stemmed from inside the Fright Zone. Entrapta was important to have instead of Glimmer in this scene because she manages to find humanity in everyone no matter what side they are on, which is something Glimmer severely struggles with throughout the entirety of the show.

Now when it comes to Entrapta’s personal connection with Wrong-Hordak, we know it stems from her missing Hordak, but it also relates to the fact that Hordak was one of the only few people who found a way to connect with Entrapta in a way no one else could. Entrapta has always felt misunderstood, and felt trouble connecting to others.

Lines such as “I just wasn’t made for friendship.” (Beast Island episode), and “I don’t fit in. I became friends with Adora, but she abandoned me. Then I became friends with Catra, but she doesn’t talk to me anymore.” (Season 3: Huntara) Are explanations as to why Entrapta is the most understanding of outsiders, because the others always had a place, or someone to go to, so Wrong Hordak feelings of being completely alone are something that Entrapta knows incredibly well. She is one of the only people in the show who can form bonds without bias and Wrong Hordak is so naive that he develops this trait as well because without the control of Horde-Prime he is solely reliant on perceiving the world by himself. There is no one there to think for him, and Entrapta is someone who knows way too much about being purely self sufficient.

For Catra, we will discuss how Wrong Hordak is also someone who is now an outcast from his original home, but not by choice. unlike Adora, Catra strived her entire life to prove herself and move up the ranks in the Horde only to eventually be pushed out without her consent. This is something that Wrong Hordak also deals with as he is forcefully removed from the hive-mind and taken in by Bow and Entrapta. Another important connection here is that both Wrong-Hordak, and Catra were welcomed openly by Entrapta despite the fact that she was supposed to be their enemy. Obviously in this episode, Save the Cat, Catra is being controlled by Horde Prime, and lost herself to them after having lost everyone and everything else. What is so interesting about this is that losing everything for her at this point in time meant she had become one with Horde-Prime, and for Wrong Hordak, it meant separation. What I find so interesting about this is that it represents the shift in perspective that Catra develops over the course of the show in which before, losing her place in the Horde was the worst thing that could have happened to her, and that narrative changes as she grows to understand the true nature of what being in the Horde really means, and then develops to the point where the last thing she wants to do is associate with the Horde. Wrong Hordak is representative in her shift from codependent to independent and her decision to not stick beside the Horde after being forcefully cast out. Catra, like Wrong Hordak, used her place in the Horde as a way of comfort and reassurance, and the fact that we see that contrast between both these characters in this episode is a wonderful reminder of just how drastic of a change Catra has made in her mentality from season 1 to this point. We also witness the reminder of her change from literally begging Adora to return to the Horde with her, to actively sacrificing herself to keep Adora away from it.

In conclusion, Wrong Hordak is a crucial character because he is in fact a reference point for all of the characters to connect and relate to and despite him being used as comedic relief, also allows the viewer to be reminded of the true beginnings of the characters that they are now seeing in one of the most crucial episodes in the series.

Would you guys want me to do more character Analysis essays bc I like doing them. I’ve watched She Ra, ATLA, Hannibal, Fruits Basket, a ton of other anime. So like…if you send a character my way I’d be willing to do an analysis of them

It’s so funny how Techno plays his character in the lore/rping. Someone will set him up for lore that, in order for it to make sense, he needs to go along with. He does not do that. Instead, he’ll usually joke or, in the case of the big ass fuckin training room, completely disregard the whole thing and straight up deny everything.

I saw another person say they want c!Techno to lose something important to him so he’d become more angsty and interesting but he’s been through a ton and continues to just,,,not and that’s so funny I love him

yama-mochi:

I am very amused about the fact that Marius and Vyn both crave the MC’s attention and time so badly, it’s just Vyn hides it really well and Marius just comes out of the gate like “PRAISE ME, CHOOSE ME,PICK ME”

Since this is actually getting notes (which I didn’t think would happen??) I kinda wanna expand on it just a tad bit.

I feel as though all of the four LI’s seek MC’s attention, it’s just in varying ways. Artem doesn’t really understand HOW to speak to MC in the ways that Vyn, Marius, and Luke can, so his most often approach is simply giving himself the option to be near and close to her physically.

This is why he goes to get coffee from the pantry instead of his office, or requires work in order to properly talk with her without outside help! While he wants to speak to MC in those situations he’s too unsure of himself and how to interact with her so he simply enjoys being near her instead OR needs work/another’s influence to properly start conversations with her.

Luke, Vyn, and Marius do not have this issue due to the fact that they are either:

A: socially adept enough to interact with the MC even outside of work settings (Vyn and Marius)

OR

B: have known MC long enough to be comfortable around her (Luke)

Vyn, while able to communicate with the MC, still has a wall between them due to his view of needing to be perfect in order to deserve MC’s attention. This is why I always feel like there is a wall of vulnerability between Vyn and MC due to this. While MC has been vulnerable with Vyn, Vyn believes that if he shows weakness or flaws that MC will not want to spend time with him anymore, and thus even plans trying to be vulnerable with her to receive comfort (Fake Tears story is an example of this).

Marius and Luke I feel have both been the most open and vulnerable with the MC, all while being able to interact comfortably with her. While Luke is more stunted on openness due to his health situation and not wanting to burden the MC, he has still shown moments of vulnerability and comfort with her. He seeks her attention due to wanting to spend as much time with her as he possibly can (especially after the second act of his Personal Story) and openly joking around and bantering with the MC in ways the other LI’s cannot due to their shared history and comfort from being childhood friends.

Marius is also able to converse comfortably with the MC, and their back and forth allows him to retain her attention for longer. The MC is also able to read his struggle with being a CEO but also it wanting to lose his passion for art along the way, despite him not explicitly confiding in her. Her opinion is one of the most important things to him, and because of that he constantly wants to know what she thinks of him and wants her praise and admiration.

This is why he is constantly vying for her attention in a similar way to Vyn. Both crave MC’s attention, but Marius simply banters and teases the MC to get her to focus on him, while Vyn projects an image of a perfect professional in order to get MC to BELIEVE he is worth spending time with him, since he thinks that he can only be worthy of attention from those he cares for by being perfect. Marius doesn’t have this self worth issue, so while their goal is the same (attention and praise from the MC) their methods are different!

Scum’s Wish is really underrated and I believe that more people should give it a fair try. I did a character analysis of its characters and talked about what it presents in this video. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Nagisa Aragaki Should Have Been The Main Character of Hanebado! (はねバド!)

I made this video expressing why I feel Aragaki should have been the protagonist and why I prefer her over Ayano as a protagonist. I hope you enjoy the video. Let me know what you think cuz I worked hard on this video.

Thank you!

earthstellar:

edgymegatronus:

this is their whole relationship

As funny as this panel is, it’s actually somewhat sad, because recurring situations like this are a huge part of why Rodimus behaves the way he does. 

Not only does he compare himself constantly to Optimus and to the general concept of being a Prime and what that “should be” and how Primes are “supposed to be”, everyone else compares him to Optimus, too. They were both Primes, and nobody ever thinks beyond that one, dazzling, blinding point of similarity.

Rodimus is constantly dismissed, ignored, called out for doing questionable or overly-flashy or loud things, for making mistakes– For distorting the popular image of what a Prime, or ex-Prime, is supposed to be like. 

So he’s up against actual legend and folklore, social expectations, and direct comparison to someone who has centuries more experience and is a completely different type of person, who has lived under completely different circumstances, who has had actual formal mentors and guidance…

But nobody cares that the comparison between Rodimus and Optimus is totally fundamentally impossible and unfair to make, because again, the Prime title means so many things to so many people, the idea of a Prime and what that should be and how that should work, is so legendary that it’s impossible to reconcile. 

And Optimus is a living Prime, fresh in the minds of everyone, so much the image of wartime leader and a near religious figure to their entire faction. When it got handed off to Rodimus, there was no way he could possibly live up to that.

He was more valued as Hot Rod than as a Prime by most if not everyone he regularly interacts with.  

When he was Hot Rod, it was fine for him to be playful and goofy and touch-focused and loud and make brash decisions. It’s just how he is, he’s high energy as a person all around to the point that his actual frame is designed for motion and speed, and for the most part he never actually messes something up beyond saving even when the decision wasn’t really the best one to make. He makes mistakes, and he goes and tries his best to fix them. He’s not perfect the way Optimus seems to be, to Rodimus himself or to anyone else.

So when he suddenly becomes a Prime, he tries to fix the situation. By picking up the pieces, trying to be the best leader he can be, when he never received any of the preparation or training, had zero notice, had zero actual support from anyone– He still tried. 

Rodimus has excellent traits for leadership, foremost being perseverance. 

He doesn’t give up, even when he screws up monumentally, or when shit has really gone wrong, or when odds look insurmountable, or when hard decisions have to be made, or when he wants to give up. He doesn’t. 

And when we see him as Captain of the Lost Light, it’s almost as if he’s willingly being a half-assed Captain, because he’s surrounded his command with notoriously experienced and competent people (Ultra Magnus and Drift), and experience and competence were the two things he was always raked over the coals by everyone else about. He was questioned so much that he questions himself, but actually, instead of questioning himself, he seems to just try to Rodimus-proof his own mission.

Which of course, leads to mistakes anyway. 

When he takes the advice of others because he doubts himself too much? It’s bad advice. Listening to Prowl was a mistake.

He’s hurt when he finds out there was a mutiny plot against him, but he wasn’t surprised. 

He hates being called Hot Rod, likely because it reminds him of all the friendliness that disappeared from his casual interactions with others once he became a Prime, and he is a friendly person. It hurts when your friends who used to mess with you are now genuinely questioning and grilling you and above anything else, doubting you… And then afterwards? Everyone just ignores him. It never went back to friendliness, those relationships were nearly all lost.

Rodimus doesn’t like himself, and the way others treat him feeds into that constantly. He is always dismissed, ignored, pushed aside, or sometimes even outright belittled. His experience, comments, and ideas are, generally, not respected even when he is in a significant role of involvement. 

He hates himself so much that he’s almost obsessed with himself; The Rod Pod and the Rodimus Stars in MTMTE are great examples. Other people just see it as being self-absorbed for the sake of being self-absorbed, but I feel like Rodimus does that kind of stuff because he wants to reassure others and pretend like he’s fine, like he’s confident in a way that he’s not, and it works. It works way too well. 

Nobody values him for his strengths and they overly focus on his flaws or errors; Even in MTMTE, I think he’s complimented maybe twice on his people skills/friendliness and his desire to genuinely do good for other people. One of those times, it is a begrudgingly given compliment. 

And that’s it. 

People look at him and think he’s just a loud dumbass who acts before he thinks and makes for an incompetent Prime. 

Optimus got people through a war, sure. And that’s not insignificant. 

Optimus is a great at managing wartime. Strategy, tactics, battle plans, the classic beloved romanticised leader. A cult of personality, a figure to his bots. 

And Rodimus isn’t the kind of bot who does that particular type of leadership very well.

But Rodimus is better for dealing with the actual effect of that war on people; He saw people hurting while he himself was hurting, and made the rash decision to say fuck it and follow a legendary story into deep space with a bunch of fellow disillusioned, messed up people, and by the end of it, those people felt better.

Rodimus is a good leader, he’s just been expected to be a kind of leader that he’s not. But when he goes off and does his own thing? The road is long and winding, but he will get to the finish line one way or another, even if it’s not the way he was expected to do it, even if nobody else would have done it that way. 

Wartime leaders and peacetime leaders require very different approaches and personalities. 

Some people say Roddy didn’t deserve the Matrix. I think he just got the Matrix a little too early in the timeline of events.  

I haven’t slept in like two days, so this is the best I got for now, but I have serious Rodimus thoughts. 

I know book!Christine is getting a lot of hate. And some of it I think is deserved: her first interactions with Jeremy were pretty rude. But like, I think there might be a whole side to her we’re missing out on. The story is first person POV, so it’s kinda hard to pick up on exactly what the deal is with the secondary characters. And I guess that’s kinda the point of the book: people are more complicated than you might think they are, they’re a force to be contended with, and attempt to manipulate them at your own peril.

Given that premise, I can’t help but notice some things that keep coming up for Christine and Jeremy in the story that kinda explain where she might be coming from and why she behaves the way she does:

( **Warning: spoilers for the Be More Chill Novel below**)

▪Christine and Jeremy have a similar need to bring order into their social lives: Christine through her “system of stages” for relationship classification, Jeremy through his “Humiliation Sheets”.

▪Jeremy is a loser raised by cool parents.

▪Christine is a cool person raised by nerds.

▪Jeremy is wired into what other people are saying about him and about each other. To the point of it being an obsession at the beginning of the story.

▪Christine is described as being in her own bubble, seemingly unconcerned with what other people think of her. (Until Jeremy inadvertently makes the assertion that she should, at which point she becomes resentful.)

▪Christine believes intelligence is correlated with success. (“Successful people are always smart.”) Jeremy points out an exception (“My dad’s pretty sucessful. He’s an idiot.”)

▪Jeremy assumed Christine is going out with Jake because of his social status, but she later tells him that his success as a student and leader was only one factor that attracted her to him: she was drawn to him because he’s a writer (of journals).

This is where I kinda go into speculation/headcanon territory, but it makes her character make more sense and it’s loads of fun:

1) Its possible that being raised by nerd parents reinforced in Christine the concept that social standing shouldn’t matter as much as it does. Intelligence should matter, competence should matter. And the fact that her father’s intelligence and competence have not been rewarded is supremely unfair to her.

The idea that what other people think is of suprime importance is something Jeremy (a kid raised by “cool” parents) takes for granted. Even when he recognized that it puts people into unfair situations, he’s quick to dismiss it as ‘that’s just the way the world works’.

2) Jeremy’s mom (the parent he seems to most identify with) is a successful lawyer. Quick with words, encouraging and supportive, but not necessarily the most perceptive when it comes to the emotional needs of her family members. Jeremy clearly wants to talk to her about some of his problems at school and tries to invite a more personal interaction, but she’s too preoccupied with work to notice.

Christine’s dad is a formerly successful computer engineer-turned-amusment-park-ride-supervisor. His preferred mode of expression is writing and his daughter seems to have become close to him emotionally through writing letters . It is possible he has difficulties with communicating verbally or maybe he has social anxiety because later on in his career, when he loses his job at AOL and takes a job closer to home, Christine and her dad seem to have lost a bit of the psychological intimacy they used to share through letter writing, even though they live at the same house full time now.

3) Christine’s relationship with Jake was at least partially formed with the hope that she could provide her with that, and it fell apart because he was more interested in sex.

So Jeremy confronting her about a non-existent letter upsets her because she’d really LOVE to receive a letter like that and she hasn’t. (She’d love to have the type of psychological intimacy with someone, the way she had with her dad when she was younger.)

Christine, at least, has some idea of what she’s looking for in a partner. Jeremy isn’t even aware, or can’t articulate, why he’s drawn to Christine more than the girls who are more physically attractive. But judging from the “furry” reveal, I think it’s safe to say that Jeremy recognizes that the expectations his body preferences/fetishes orient him to are unfair to women (because women with tails don’t actually exist).

But he suddenly there’s Christine…and she’s exceptional because he likes her exactly the way she is: as a normal girl (a winged Halloween costume doesn’t hurt, but it neither does it make her more attractive than she already is to him.)

I like to think that there is something a little more substantial to his attraction as well: the fact that she’s chill when he’s wired. Jeremy is slowly comming to recognize that there’s something deficient about his upbringing and the way he’s been taught to veiw the world, and now that he’s “not a little kid anymore” he wants to correct that. If that’s the case Christine isn’t just someone to attain in a relationship, she’s someone to aspire to be like.

On Christine’s end, I think it’s hard to read because she doesn’t display a lot of sexual or romantic interest in Jeremy (aside from a chaste kiss on the cheek she wasn’t uncomfortable doing in front of Jake). But for her, I think that would come after they became confidants.

And the fact that, at the end of the book, Jeremy is being so totally honest. Painfully honest. He’s even honest about the parts of the story he’s omitting/censoring! And the fact that he’s doing it in written format: in a method of communication that is preferable to her, that she has fond associations of…

She’s still angry, and at this point rightfully so, but as a girl with an expressed interest in psychology I think Christine would also be intrigued.

I think that bodes well for the future of their relationship.

atundratoadstool:

Henry Tilney’s unabashed love of muslin and Ann Radcliffe, when contrasted with John Thorpe’s dull-headed dismissal of novels and refusal to shut up about his stupid, blinged-out carriage, is this perfect example of how modes of masculinity that depend on rejecting feminine-coded pleasures are sort of doomed to fail on their own terms. You cannot be a tough, self-assured man when you’re too self-conscious to allow yourself the pleasure of a genre containing such winning titles as Necromancer of the Black Forest just because it’s associated with the ladies.

3.11 thoughts

i don’t even know where to start about how good i thought this episode was—just overall well paced, fun, the drew crew ™ working together again so seamlessly even when they’re all kind of fraying at the edges (except bess! we live for this bess arc! drive that bus!), with a plot that both explored personal storylines as well as the overall murder mystery. 

(nick! what a speech! tunji is such a good actor, i hope they give him more powerful stuff to do) 

but obviously i am mainly trash for the romance plot lines so i want to talk about this moment!!

(gif from x)

the sigh, the eyeroll! it’s just so defeated and already ready to accept rejection—in the scenes, he’s worried about not only how it’ll change everything but that he’s afraid that he doesn’t match up to park. all season he compares himself—disparaging his job, his achievements, calling himself a couch-surfer with derision. 

ace’s confidence has been so carefully explored but it’s actually remarkable how slowly they’ve taken it; he’s afraid of being a townie, but so softened by nancy instead calling it “growing where you’re planted.” instilling in him what all good relationships should do, platonic or romantic: show us how to be our best selves.

and it’s the little details of finding his interests—he’s clearly been drawn towards being a medical examiner since s1 with the other dude from out of town whose name i can’t remember—plotted over time. it’s just refreshing to feel little seeds growing. 

but—to my point, with this gif—it represents all of that growth! it’s every fear, every insecurity he has, manifested in the most vulnerable thing he can do, which is put it (read: dishwasher, slacker, couch-surfer, as he sees himself) on the table for someone he respects and loves to reject. and he did it anyway! i’m so proud. it was such a good moment—on a romance level, on a character level. which is what romantic stories should DO

(i will prob do a companion mini meta about nancy’s own revelations last season bc i don’t think i did?? but yea i’m still spinning)

yadda yadda yadda i’m dead

Teh

Teh is one of the most beautifully complex and flawed character that I’ve had the pleasure of watching in a Thai series. He only has about two working braincells, the rest of them are busy sniffing coconut and writing “Nan Zhu Zhue” 20 thousand times. He’s a certified dumbass, and a master in the art of self destruction and sabotage. He’s a jittery little thing with a baggage of emotions he can only hope to carry, but he tries his best and is a solution seeker to a fault. He isafraid of change and seeks validation from the people he loves. But the main thing about him is that he has feelings. So many of them, an overflowing amount, and he seems to drown in the excess. He feels too much and thinks too much: too many thoughts and too many emotions, and he doesn’t seem to know what to do with either of those things. Teh, at his core,loves with all his heart. He is never fickle, never unsure. Be it with his love for acting and theatre or Oh-Aew. From the time that he could admit to himself that he loved Oh-Aew, he has never been unsure about what he felt towards him. So what the fuck is ipytm episode 3, huh?

I don’t know if it’s bad writing or not. I kinda see how they were leading up to this, I kinda don’t. Because on one hand, Teh is just…so rash. So fucked in the head. There’s so much psychology going on here, I don’t even know. On the other, I would’ve never imagined he would actively try to hurt Oh-Aew like this. Always thought whenever he did hurt him, it was circumstances out of his hands (the aftermath of the underwater scene) or by mistake (whole of ep5 in ITSAY).

So honestly, I don’t know if it’s in character or not, I don’t know if the writers ruined Teh’s character in s2 or if he was always meant to be this asshole, I really really cannot make up my mind.

What I know is, I don’t understand the when?

When did Teh went from being…Teh to a person who went around kissing his theatre friend behind his lover’s back?

When did he change from looking at Oh-Aew with the utmost adoration, to being this careless, non-attentive boyfriend who won’t even invite him to a play?

When did he go from crying in Oh-Aew’s arms in fear of abandonment to ditching him for Jai?

When did he go from the supportive study partner who would wake up at 4am just to help Oh-Aew study, to not giving a damn about his good grades in uni?

I don’t know when this pure dumbass became this calculative person who would edit his text to “hanging out with friends” before sending it to Oh-Aew.

I don’t know when this passionate, filled-with-love-and-longing-cutie, stooped down to sleeping with Oh-Aew for “research purposes”.

I loved Teh, he was my comfort character.

I related to him so much. His ambitiousness and his drive towards his dreams was something I saw reflected in myself and my life. How he believed in himself, even when his friends laughed at him when he told them his “unattainable” dreams. Even when the teacher didn’t choose him for the main role, or any at all. I know these things, I get it, I get him. It was amazing to watch this character run towards his goals and fall flat on his face, and then get back up, only to drag the person he loves down with him. He was so flawed, so honest, so human, I loved his character arc and growth and loved that he came of age and that his life is such a story that is just begging to be told.

I related to him so much. How, when he fell in love, he literally drowned in the excess of his feelings. He was so helplessly in love, carried so much of it inside him because he just couldn’t pour it out yet. His yearning, longing, mistakes, denial, EVERYTHING was so human. So wonderfully human, because a dumbass he might be, Teh’s erratic heart was always, ALWAYS in the right place.

So again, I don’t know if it was in-character. Don’t care if it was a long time coming. This human character was made to do such a messed up thing that it feels like he has been snatched away from me. He made mistakes before, but his heart was always in the right place. My comfort character is gone, I can no longer look at Teh and think “yes him, I relate to him” because he just turns out….awful?

And I I might agree with the writing, admire the execution, LOVE the acting, and still finish watching the series, but you know what? I’m fucking pissed. I’m pissed because I don’t have my comfort character anymore, and it honestly just feels like betrayal at this point, however in-character. And I think that’s reason enough to be pissed. I’m pissed that they did Teh so dirty, that it’s always his fault, his mess ups and never someone else’s.

And I’m so pissed that it makes sense, so pissed that this coming of age is true to the real world to the point it’s basically horror. So pissed that they’re doing everything right, and this is the exact reaction they wanted from the audience and they’re getting it. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT??? COMFORT-TEH IS GONE! EVEN IF YOU TRY TO REDEEM HIM IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY, HE IS NEVER COMING BACK. I am furious.

@shortpplfedup tagging you because I’m hoping you’d have some answers to my deranged questions of “WHEN?” Meanwhile, I’m gonna go touch some grass, like the whole fandom probably needs to.

mysticdragon3md3:

Still thinking about how Claude, despite usually being fairly guarded, evasive, and careful with his words, just confesses anything and everything, during his S Support. He doesn’t even try to word things in a way that make him look good. He just word-vomits everything, good and bad. He completely trusts that the person he loves won’t interpret him in a suspicious light, so he confesses everything.

Please forgive this rant I’m going to give under the cut:

ALT

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It’s takes like this that made me post a while back about Claude’s love confession, where he didn’t bother to word things in an advantageous way.  So many people hear “I originally wanted to use you” as “Claude never had any kind of loyalty or affection for others at all, still doesn’t, and is lying in wait to discard people once his goals are fulfilled”, as if his whole character arc wasn’t about him learning and growing into someone who could be that sincerely and earnestly connected with others.  And as if his goals aren’t all about creating a world where people genuinely empathize with each other.  In the end, _HE’S_ the one shouting “But we have the strength to scale the walls between us! To reach out our hands in friendship and open our true hearts to one another! That’s how we win!”  He had to grow into that ambition.  

During his childhood, he grew up with VALID reasons to not trust in anyone, nor even believe in the goodness of the world.  Maybe if he hadn’t grown up with that defiant disposition (probably inherited from Tiana), maybe he would have let the world convince him it was evil and people are just cruel and of no worth (besides being used for one’s own selfish survival).  But instead, he rebelled against such hopelessness, and reached to defy it, by believing that even seemingly cruel people could become understanding of others, and thus even a cruel world could become a safe and happy place for kids like him.  Maybe Claude isn’t running on Spite, to get through his past traumas, but he is running on Defiance, to survive them.  

He continually works for a dream, that is DEPENDENT on an unwavering faith in others.  He has to believe that people could get along if they just understood each other, enough to empathize with each other.  He persistently works to solve problems through conferences, diplomacy, talk, and persuasion, which is fully dependent on sustaining belief in people always having the ability to understand, compromise, sympathize, and work together, regardless of how buried such aspects of people are.  He has so many cutscenes with the Golden Deer, where he reasons them out of preconceived notions and explains his goals, for them to understand him.  Claude also maintains an unbelievable patience, for his faith in others to be proven justified.  Heck, in Azure Moon, the last time he saw Dimitri at Gronder, Dimitri was ready to fight him, even though, from the Alliance perspective, the Kingdom had turned against/betrayed them for no reason, even after the Alliance had *just* helped them—and yet still, Claude soon afterwards asked Dimitri for a rescue at Derdriu, having full faith that somewhere, even inside that angry prince at Gronder, was still the Dimitri he met at the Academy who was always so selfless and eager to help others.  At Derdriu, Claude even tells Dimitri, “I knew you wouldn’t hesitate to put yourself second and come running to our aid.” (And then Claude goes on to advise Dimitri, “both the living and the dead cling to us without any regard for our own lives. It’s up to us to break free of that weight and follow the path that we believe in.” As if Claude had thought long and hard of how to understand Dimitri, during all this time, even after Gronder.)  Claude canonically proves he has an UNREASONABLE amount of faith in other people’s goodness.  No matter how buried it may be behind callousness, he will still believe and patiently wait for it.  This trust in others, as well as the emotional sincerity, that Claude idealizes and aims for, is his ambition, because he has to believe that a better world than the one he grew up in, can be created by people coming together, in trust and sincerity, to understand and sympathize with each other.  

There is a constant struggle inside Claude between his childhood experience which tells him that “it is not safe to trust anyone”, vs his ambitious dream of “everyone understanding and sympathizing with each other and accepting each others’ differences”.  So I think it’s reasonable that even while Claude is working and gradually progressing towards this dream of everyone being sincerely empathetic with each other, he is still struggling to feel those emotions himself.  He uses people, he makes strategic friendships, he tells himself to not trust anyone too much or else he’ll get stabbed in the back.  (He even warns others to not trust him!)  But at the same time, he’s dreaming of a world where people can be honest and sincere with each other, and for those leaps of faith to be met with empathy.  Inside Claude is a struggle between his lived experience vs his idealistic ambition.  But he understands that to make such dreams into reality, he has to fight against his own reluctances and fears, his own weaknesses, and gradually learn to be as sincere and open with others as he dreams people will be in his perfect world.  He is working towards becoming a Stronger version of himself that he dreams of.  Because how can he dream of his idealistic, empathetic world, without making such changes within himself too?  Even if just to prove to himself that his world can be forged out of the current unempathetic one, starting with himself.  And I think Claude demonstrates his willingness to face his weaknesses and grow past them, when he has his preconceived notions challenged during his Support conversations, and always ends them with a respect for the other person’s new perspective. He proves to be always willing ot change and grow.  The Support with Cyril opened Claude’s eyes to Almyra’s failings vs Fodlan/Church.  That’s why Claude never falls into seeing the Church or Rhea as purely evil or just an enemy to defeat, even though he recognizes that Fodlan might be better in some ways without the Church.  His Supports with Ignatz and Raphael, though too brief, brought Claude to appreciate a *little* better the values he never paid much attention to, like religious devotion and knighthood.  But maybe more importantly, during these shorter Supports, where it doesn’t seem like Claude has his mind changed drastically, he still allows himself to get roped into their dilemmas and help them with whatever THEY FELT was important, rather than insisting they were ridiculous, wasting time, or Claude simply not trying to understand.  Maybe it was more a demonstration of Claude’s practice in trying to empathize with others.  Even during Claude’s Support with Petra, where half of it is just them agreeing with each other and hinting at Claude’s “secret” foreign status, Petra introduces an idea to him (sleeping in a tree vs on the ground) which doesn’t personally make sense to him, but he still tries it anyway, several times, and comes to appreciate it. Even during Ingrid’s Support conversation, Claude tries to accommodate her by awkwardly trying to act more formal, like a typical nobleman.  And Claude’s Support with Shamir seemed to have been his way of confronting his own fears about “not belonging anywhere” by exploring Shamir’s example of being comfortable with “not belonging anywhere”.  Many of Claude’s interactions with others seem to center around him growing out of his weaknesses.  Now maybe a more cynical perspective may say that he purposefully chose to interact with his Support partners, in order to face his weaknesses and strengthen himself for his own advantages.  But doesn’t that just describe a good person?  Or a normal friendship?  I would hope that all participants in a friendship help each other grow or at least support each other towards such.  Isn’t that what friends are?  Even if just enjoying each other’s company to rejuvenate one’s emotional state.  Getting too cynical in interpreting Claude’s motives sound more and more like the old argument that “there is no completely selfless altruistic deed, because people can feel good themselves for doing something good for someone else”.  As if that was a bad thing.  I would much rather the world be filled with people who take joy in doing good for others!  Sounds like a good world, filled with good people.  Isn’t someone who takes joy in being as altruistic/selfless as a human can within human limitations, just describing a good person?  In the same way, interpreting Claude’s motivations with cynicism seems to just be going around in circles for no reason.  Maybe he wanted to become stronger by eliminating his weakness, by confronting his fears of genuine rapport with people, by proactively interacting with people in positive ways, until he became practiced at forging bonds, and eventually find genuine emotional rapport with others.  What’s so sinister about that?  If that’s what counts as “selfish”, then we’re back at the fallacy of calling people “bad” for “selfishly” taking joy in helping others.  Ultimately, Claude has good intentions and a dream of an empathetic world full of understanding and acceptance.  Maybe he has to force himself into earnest actions, until his emotional rapports with people become genuine.  But he’s making that effort, it says a lot that he wants that goal, and reaching his goal would create a world that’s good for everyone.  And anyway, with the frequency that Claude confronts and reckons with his flaws and misperceptions, he demonstrably keeps himself in-check, too much to expect him to no have self awareness at any time he was becoming too selfish or evil.  He questions himself too much and seems to enjoy exploring and fixing his flaws.  He’s not the type to let his ideologies become too extreme and detrimental to others, without self awareness about that and a need to immediately fix it.  

It really gets me that so many of these takes assume that Claude’s ultimate goals, for which he’s “manipulating everyone” for, are cold, cruel, and selfish ends.  He blatantly says during FE3H that his dream is for people to get along peacefully together, to understand and empathize with each other, and have tolerance for each other’s diversity.  This is the guy people are assuming has “MaLiCiOuS” intent, just because people are whispering his reputation to be a “schemer”????  

For the record, most of those rumors come from Claude himself.  Likely because of some internalized low self worth that’s been conveyed to him by his childhood home environment.  Thankfully, seems like he’s winning that struggle, since he can joke about it, but he still makes a show of portraying himself as “untrustworthy”, though jokingly.  Or maybe it’s just a habit to throw people off balance: a common survival tactic.  Or maybe he’s testing people, to see if they have the will to see past the surface and have faith in others, as he does.  Maybe he’s issuing a challenge for people to do so.  Though it may be a mistake to assume everyone is motivated by Defiance, the same way he is.  Or maybe he’s just throwing around so much misinformation, so that if his secrets (being an Almyran prince) were ever revealed, it would be difficult for anyone to be sure if it was just another rumor or not.  

Ultimately, don’t fall for Claude’s “schemer” image. As someone once said in another post, anyone who’s actually talked to Claude for 2 minutes will discover that his “big scheme” is just for everyone to get along and end racism.  And his relationships may have started as “manipulations”, but he obviously wants that genuine rapport and earnest caring for others, that the beginning motions of friendship may grow into.  And this is evident in the type of empathetic dream that he’s been striving for.  And if you want proof of his dedication to a such an altruistic dream, then look no further than the fact that if he didn’t believe he could make the people into a better world, then he’d have to give up on all hope in his life, given all the ways life tried to make him give up on good in the world.  

thehumantrampoline:

realized y'all never got this one so here u go. lots of different thoughts not mine glued together into a construction-rated composite building material

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRnVUHTN/

Although he likely doesn’t possess real emotion the way humans would (and I believe Takahashi said as much in a Q&A), I do find these moments where Otoya seems to exhibit feelings such as shock or irritation very interesting.

Particularly when Mao’s kodoku jar is stolen, Otoya’s determination to catch the thief struck me as emotional - whether through his choice of words or the dark background framing him, it gave off an angry feeling that caught me be surprise on the first read.

The exact mechanics of Shikigami vary across all kinds of stories and media, but one popular notion I like is that they’re spirits bound their master as servants, and should a shikigami gain an overly strong sense of ‘self’ or start feeling things on their own accord, there’s a risk of breaking their bindings and possibly turning on their former master.

So then I wonder, should Otoya start to exhibit real emotion, would that be a good thing? Or a bad thing? Otoya has been an ever reliable rock for both Mao and Nanoka. Should he turn into a potential threat by becoming more ‘human’ or ‘willful’, I think it would be a very interesting trial for our protagonists to overcome.

Well, basically… if Rumiko ever felt like pausing the main plot by exploring the nature of Shikigami more thoroughly, I certainly wouldn’t complain! But if not, I’d be just as happy to read fics on it one day ^^

fuckingfaceache:

I love how Serizawa’s technique is using his ability through objects, that’s so badass. First the umbrella and now the business cards that he got from Reigen. Perhaps the difference between the business card and the umbrella can show some symbolism hmmm… rubs chin. The umbrella was specifically given to Serizawa to shelter him, he RELIED on it completely to the point he panicked heavily without it. The business card is not only much smaller, but it serves as a reminder that he is his own person (name on it and all) and that the job at Spirits and Such was something he probably joined more on his own terms rather than CLAW, which was something that he saw more as his ONLY option— a way out. The business card isn’t meant to be something to be relied on, it’s meant to feel more empowering and be used when he WANTS to use it. And from observation of the trailer, he does only use it sometimes. In simple terms, amidst my rambling, the business card ™️ is something of symbolism to show that he is his own person and can do what he wants now, much more than he ever could when he was in CLAW