Hope you don’t mind if I share some TTM Rayllum thoughts because as someone who really doesn’t like conflict in stories to be derived from his favorite relationships in that story: this is how you do it, and I’m thoroughly delighted by how it has been portrayed!
Here, you have two kids who love each other so much. That is never a question in this conflict. The problem is that there is a lack of communication about what they both need in that moment, and it is realistically shown through a, might I add, INCREDIBLE depiction of how trauma can affect a person. Callum needs Rayla to not leave him, like so many other loved ones in his life have. Rayla needs to know Viren can never hurt anyone she loves again, like he did to so many of her loved ones before.
This? This is good conflict. It’s also so sharply realistic in the fact that, yes, there are complications in relationships. Healthy relationships will have issues come up that need to be addressed. That doesn’t mean the people in question don’t love each other deeply, and honestly, kudos to TTM for showing that in such a well-developed way.
Yes!! It reminds me of one way I distinguish good conflict from bad conflict - at least in terms of my preferences - where the question isn’t “Do I love you / want to be with you” but “Should I love you” or “How can I be with you”? Because it means the characters (romantic platonic whatever) have some solid principles - of course they love each other, of course they want to be together - but it demands a more complicated situation than that. It demands a more nuanced solution.
And it’s exactly the sort of thing Callum and Rayla have stumbled into. Of course they love each other, of course they want to be together. But the situation is more complicated, and more compelling, than that. In some ways I think the aftermath of TTM is going to mirror aspects of early season one - where of course Callum wants to trust Rayla, but should he? And Rayla wants to accept his friendship and support, but how can she, when she knows what she knows - or has done what she’s done? And those aspects of their season one dynamic is some of my favourites in the whole show and already pretty emotionally loaded, except now it is going to be even more so, and I could not be more excited!
Next episode of the podcast is up, even ahead of schedule, with another Q&A. Featuring lovely questions by @mynewgroove, @thearcadialedger, @lookatallthesetakenurls, @ashe-is-here and @lolnetazo, we discuss s4 and s5 speculations, and hopes and thoughts concerning TDP’s upcoming graphic novel, “Through the Moon”!
anyway! blue, hot orange, fashionable olive, science cyan, gay.
blew: let's go to build-a-bear together. we would make great parents, probably
I've never been to build-a-bear before... I'd give my build-a-bear virginity up with you <3 we would make great parents, probably
hot orange: my soulmate, my true love. i am embracing you so tenderly right now.
so so so so so true. embracing you and holding your hand, even
fashionable olive: you are a genius and also very beautiful and witty. why do you even follow me?
you know the answer to this bestie. because fate threaded me across your tumblr dashboard oh so delicately and I saw your light. there's not much more to it
science cyan: i would study you under a microscope. i wouldn't even ask for money.
BESTIE WHAT ARE YOU STUDYING!!! I'M LITERALLY JUST A NORMAL PERSON I'M SO NORMAL IM SO NORMAL IM LITERALLY JUST A LITTLE GUY
gay: i want to pick you up and keep you in my pocket.
okay please give me a blorbography on these unhinged middle school kids you keep putting on my dash
THANKS FOR SENDING ME AN ASK ABOUT MY UNHINGED MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS BESTIE <3 <3 <3 genuinely if you did not do it I would have sent myself an ask and just answered it as though it wasn’t me at all
hee hee. I'll do my avian men first because the series is half as long so there aren't as many choices, and I’ll do Kekkaishi down under that lol
Birdmen
blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): I hate doubling up on my choices and I want to torment Eishi more than he is my favorite character so I suppose Takayama Sou has to be my blorbo by process of elimination. I do seriously think about this guy all the time. He will really say shit like it’s nothing. “One finds prodigious strength at the scene of a fire...” like he just says that??? unscripted??? he just drops lines like “the secrets to the universe? which one?” and “there’s no way to make everyone happy, right? then why not change the rules of a world like that? from the outside.”???? like holy shit bestie. I think you have some issues!! but by god!! go king give us inscrutable and inexplicable actions!!! Show up in my dreams unprompted or whatever!! go off!!
scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): SAGISAWA REI. he is SUCH a scrunkly scrimblo. he keeps wanting to go to the lourve despite the fact they’re trying to decide the fate of birdmen and humanity at large. he has the best taste in women. the inside of his brain is like schrodinger’s cat. both full and empty at the same time. when it’s full it’s filled with rose jam. I think I’m being influenced by bells here, but I do think he is SO charming. he’s like “wow we should make a club!! that’s a normal activity normal people do, right?? I am getting a good grade in enjoying my student life and making friends”. I would love to be besties with him
scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): I feel like I could pick anyone not from the bird club and they would qualify as a scrimblo bimblo. I guess if I had to pick ONE I’d pick Jonathan :((((( And I don’t mean Fox, I mean Jonathan specifically. There’s just something so tragic and compelling about his relationship with Jasmine... like good lord. what was going on in his head when Lily was pretending to be Jasmine. was he thinking that he deserved whatever she did to him and that’s why he didn’t tell Fox? on god. shoveling gravel in my mouth.
glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): Gabriel (NOT Raphael). Look, I know it's kind of a pick from the left field but you can't be a glup shitto if it's not like that!! Gabriel just has excellent vibes idk what to say!! She's lovely and gorgeous and I love her swag!! I was so excited that Milan was getting laid I was like wow!! go besties!! get it!! I was so happy that Gabriel survived the fighter jets and I was really really looking forward to when she woke up again. You don't understand. I YELLED when she jolted awake. And then it turns out that her baby is piloting her comatose body like a mecha now?? That will haunt me for the rest of my life. What the fuck? Rest in peace, Gabriel.
poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): LOL. TATSUME NAOYUKI LMAOOOO. Yes yes yes I know, I know I say Eishi's the wettest most pathetic guy all the time but truly. he has nothing on Tatsume <3. Eishi could NEVER dream of being kidnapped as a middle-aged professor and confessing to stalking an elementary schooler. He's not unhinged enough to stab himself in the torso on three separate occasions and lay down in the street simulating the circumstances where he ran into Takayama for the first time just to try and get him to show up again. Literally nobody comes close to the pathetic feralness of Associate Professor of Tokyo University and evolutionary biologist Tatsume Naoyuki
horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Do you even have to ask. Karasuma Eishi <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): I would send Robin’s supervisor to superhell, except the problem is that he WANTS to go to superhell, defeating the purpose. My second choice is Wang Guang Feng. idk what it is about that guy but his vibes are just off, big time. I can see why Takayama didn’t choose him.
Kekkaishi
blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): uuuaaaHGGHAAAAA SUMIKO SUMIMURA MY BELOVEDDDDD. SHE LITERALLY LIVES IN MY MIND RENT FREE... She’s trying so hard, and even so she still fails to connect...she spends a decade building her grave where she'll serve penance for the rest of her life... so beloved by everyone around her and still constantly feeling like she’ll never be human enough to be worth loving... good god I’m going to cry. I’m going to lay down on the floor listening to Dante by R Sound Design while I murmur “let my use my monstrous powers for your sake” over and over
scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): LOL PROBABLY SEN KAGEMIYA. he is just SO scrunkly!! I could grab him by the scruff and shake him around like a ragdoll!! I want to feed him those jelly cups they make for hercules beetles. he’s soooo hypocritical. he will be like “nope I am a rational guy who makes excellent decisions so I will definitely not go save you nope nope not a chance” and then be like “argh you’re such an idiot! I hate that I have to save you!”. Even tanabe says that he’s the closest thing to a tsundere. truly a scrunkly.
scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): SOJI HIURA. WHERE IS EVERYONE’S LOVE FOR SOJI. WHY AM I ALONE ON THIS HILL. Soji is literally one of the most guys ever!! He likes chocolate cake because the color is nice!!! He likes mechanical pencils and watching washing machines and writing kanji and he’s also a perfect killing machine who’s learning how emotions work what more could you want??? he TAKES NAPS in the AFTERNOON!!! WHY DOES NOBODY ELSE LOVE HIM LIKE I DO??? I GENUINELY DON’T UNDERSTAND....
glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): GOD WHEN SHUUJI SUMIMURA HAS A MOMENT... like you know. most of the time he is just chilling. just saying “ohhh sweetie go take a nap I know you’re tired” “omg I made too much food would you like to take some home” etc. etc. but Sometimes. Sometimes. His overwhelming love for his wife who is off at war all the fucking time comes out and boy. does he shine in those moments. He loves his wife so much. Did I mention that he loves his wife a lot? He’ll throw tea at you if you badmouth her. He is really such a guy. There isn’t a better father in fictional media.
poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): You know usually I gravitate towards the “otherwise pathetic” aspect of this one but you know what? We’re going with problematic and controversial this time. Kakeru. Absolute girlboss. Oh yeah you made a spell to cause the heat death of the universe because your beloved mentor got killed?? You’re so valid have a nice day. I usually hate characters who are like “HAHAHA I WILL DESTROY YOUR TOWN! VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION. AS A TREAT.” but something about Kakeru just hits different. idk she’s fun :3
horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): LOL. Yoshimori and Toshimori Sumimura. Yoshimori’s obviously a given since he’s the protagonist and he gets attached to people so easily and he’s so soft and lovable yet so unhinged and reckless. it’s really an awesome combination to violently hurl against a brick wall!!! Now, Toshimori might be a weird one. But in my head I have an AU where he gets kidnapped by Soji and starts hunting mystical sites with Kakeru and Michiru and man... he is going THROUGH it in that one specific scenario and I am loving it. I keep dropping him in the plinko over and over again trying to see whether different things will happen. what a lil guy. what a shame he could be broken
eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): Kaguro. Hate that guy. vibes are absolutely rancid. if anyone deserves to get sent to superhell it’s him. he already knows he’s going to superhell he’s just trying to have as much fun as he can before he’s gone. he didn’t deserve to be in Yoshimori’s shinkai. get lost loser
Okay now that I’ve written out my blorbos for both series, some observations: I just really like characters who are one step removed from humanity, huh? I mean my faves are apparently Takayama, Sumiko and Soji. They’re all definitely in the same genre of characters. inscrutable. difficult to communicate with. difficult to control. but still so beloved. still so beloved.
I also see a strong pattern in the characters I wanted to send to superhell LOL. I feel like I simply don’t like evil characters!! I was SO ready for Guang Feng to become an antagonist of some sort, because he’s coded EXACTLY like an asshole guy who Eishi would want to beat up in a fistfight except there’s not a single fistfight he could ever win!! But I understand from the narrative themes that it wasn’t going to happen-- a distinct lack of conflict between birdmen is integral to the plot. Regarding Kaguro... I just don’t know. I just don’t think the Kokuboro arc was very compelling. Byaku, Kaguro, Matsudo... I just didn’t find any of them particularly interesting, and I didn’t get attached to any of them. Kaguro tried really hard to be evil but yoshi’s right. he really has no substance at all. just go to superhell king.
regarding the horse plinko. genuinely if you’re not putting the protag through the horse plinko what are you doing?? writing domestic fluff about them???? couldn’t be me (THIS IS NOT A CRITICISM OF FLUFFY CONTENT. I LOVE READING IT!! I JUST CAN’T MAKE STUFF LIKE THAT. ITS JUST NOT HOW I WORK...)
anyways bestie thank you so much for allowing me to go off about my blorbos <3 <3 <3
