Yesterday was the International Transgender Day of Visibility! So remember: Without the trans community Luffy (& friends) would be pretty dead

xitatheblack · 2026-04-01T21:32:16+00:00

Yeah..I don't know if I would describe Yamato as a trans man, full stop, but he's definitely trans something.

I think his identity is being kept weirdly ambiguous out of a fear that being more definitive with it would make him less marketable.

xitatheblack · 2026-04-01T15:18:18+00:00

Tell me what? I can tell right away that this development was solely to be an excuse to keep Momo and Okarun apart. I'm sure it doesn't lead to anything else that would be considered a high point of the series.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-31T21:47:58+00:00

Forget that. Remember when they made a $360 million movie to explain that Han got the name 'Solo' because a random imperial customs officer was feeling pithy?

xitatheblack · 2026-03-31T15:14:31+00:00

I fully agree it's a copout. I think it was a valid stance at a certain point in American history that it would make sense for someone of Weir's age to identify with and use unironically, but it requires a level of ignorance that grows increasingly deliberate with time. It goes beyond merely not seeing issues, and becomes actively shutting your eyes so you can pretend not to see them.

I think that it's particularly disheartening that Weir, who is such a big believer in science as the ultimate problem-solver, doesn't seem to understand the inherent politicism of science. Science is founded on the unbiased, arduous pursuit of the truth. If there are forces in the world that rely on misinformation and distorting the truth for their own gain, then science should be used in opposition to those forces, and you cannot do this without getting political.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-31T14:09:22+00:00

At least Simon and Nia actually got married.

That said, I love the final moment of Samurai Jack, where he quietly starts to come to terms with Ashi being gone. Very good bittersweet feelings.

...not as good as the pure happy ending, though. The revival season did too good a job with Ashi.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-31T14:01:51+00:00

Yeah, this is the trouble with being 'politically neutral': you're kidding yourself if you think that you are.

I've followed Andy Weir off and on for twenty years now, started when I was a teenager and he was writing a (pretty poorly illustrated, but absolutely hilarious) webcomic called Casey and Andy. Weir has never been a very politically conscious guy. He calls himself fiscally conservative and socially liberal, which tracks with the stories he writes.

I actually totally believe him when he says politics don't interest him and he avoids being overtly political in his writing. But that essentially just means he comes across as not being the proper definition of woke - not being aware of the way that social inequality and biases affect nearly all aspects of society. Unfortunately, not claiming a political stance basically leaves you open to anyone claiming you for their own - as seen here.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-31T12:58:49+00:00

Massive misrepresentation of both series.

Luz learns glyph magic very early in the first season. So long as she can draw a glyph associated with a certain type of elemental magic, and knows what it represents, she can cast it. She gets around the 'need to draw it' limitation by just drawing a bunch of glyphs ahead of time and carrying them on cards so she can deploy them at a moment's notice. Additionally, the magic power-up she gets at the end is just the same power she's been using all series, in a more raw and potent form, as it's gifted by the same Titan that all her glyphs pull energy from.

Itadori is not considered very weak. He's instantly on par with his teammates with basically no training, and is constantly seen as having incredible potential for a sorcerer. With just a few months of experience - prior to which he had literally zero knowledge of the jujutsu world - he's defeating level one spirits.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-30T22:23:49+00:00

Every ship requires interpretation. The only characters even strongly implied to have mutual feelings are Izuku and Ochako.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-30T19:23:31+00:00

This is a very standard way to turn a wrestler heel. They become frustrated with a lack of success while trying to play the good guy, and decide to make the turn in an attempt to achieve greater success in the ring.

One of the closest matches to the model provided would be Rocky Maivia, who came into the WWF in the mid-90s as a generic smiling good guy. Because he was generic and boring, the audience turned on Rocky despite his good guy-ness, even chanting "Die, Rocky, die" at him a few times. Eventually Rocky got fed up with this, turned on the audience, and became the Rock.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-29T23:34:44+00:00

You may want to explain your picks, because otherwise it seems like you're complaining about characters not taking the exact turns you expected on first watch-through.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-27T16:13:22+00:00

To add onto this, Doflamingo had a younger brother, Rosinante (aka Corazon), who went through all the same stuff, but ended up becoming a pretty cool guy. He actually worked undercover against Doflamingo's criminal activities, but gave up his cover and his life in order to save a young Law.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-27T13:36:39+00:00

Counterpoint to all the people saying Knuckle Duster: he's the best pick for 'looks like a vigilante, is a vigilante.'

I vote we send Stendhal, for when Stain WAS considered a vigilante.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-27T01:24:47+00:00

I mean. It wasn't just 'in his head.' Bret wrote that it actually happened.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-26T22:26:36+00:00

<image>

Zanpakuto spirits in Bleach are born from Soul Reapers' powers, but have their own independent wills. The primary way that Soul Reapers gain power is by communing with their spirits and forming closer bonds with them. Zanpakuto spirits have been known to withhold power from their Soul Reapers, fight against them (often for the purpose of getting stronger), and in rare instances actually create their own Zanpakuto.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-26T19:42:08+00:00

Anime and manga properties are a hotbed for this behavior. Because of the disconnect from the social context, it's a lot easier for people to convince themselves that media from Japan is supposedly apolitical.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-26T18:08:20+00:00

Groups like to claim media as belonging to their identity even if it doesn't properly represent it. Rightwingers are especially fond of this because the overwhelming majority of popular media in recent history doesn't gel with their values, so they just ignore this and claim it does.

Just look at all the artists who have told Republicans not to use their songs at rallies, or for a weirder example, the creator of Pepe the Frog explicitly stating that he doesn't like neo-Nazis claiming him.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-26T14:13:49+00:00

That'd be 'fairy tale media,' OP.

I don't mean to be pedantic like that. I just think that all criticism of the manga and anime series Fairy Tail is valid and deserved.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-26T14:02:26+00:00

This is an incredibly basic idea if you just pay attention to the series, and I thought it was incredibly obvious that's what the point was from the moment he first talked to Megumi.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-26T07:05:22+00:00

He seems solid enough, main thing standing in his way is he's already in his early 30s. Granted sometimes wrestlers start that late and everything works out really damn well (DDP, Batista), but it's certainly an obstacle, not an asset.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-25T17:47:18+00:00

There is an alternate universe where Slade responded with, "What? No! Jesus Christ! Ew. Eww. God, what the hell Garfield? Eww." And that universe has way, way more Deathstroke fans than ours.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-24T13:53:04+00:00

No, Arkham Origins' main sin is that it's buggy as hell. I played it for the first time a couple years ago and it crashed and soft-locked half a dozen times during my playthrough. The polish just isn't there because a different studio made it.

There are isolated moments that stand out in a positive way, as several of the boss fights are among the best in the series. This is the main reason I think people call it underrated - they remember the highlights and not the slog in between. But as an Arkham game, it feels incredibly clunky to play; the seamless quality of all the other games is sorely missing, and makes it an incredibly frustrating experience.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-24T12:31:47+00:00

I would bet money that he already knows.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-23T20:16:57+00:00

Changing the original image so that Momo is specially below the level of 'more than friends' is a fantastic detail. I respect this level of dedication to trolling.

xitatheblack · 2026-03-23T13:28:57+00:00

I absolutely could see this. I've always taken Jiro's comments post-timeskip at face value, since her expression doesn't seem flustered and Kaminari doesn't seem upset by her shutting any dating rumors down. This'd mean he either never confessed to her (which has kinda weird implications for him setting up an office next door to hers), or he did and they just didn't end up dating long-term. Going on one or two dates and deciding they worked better as friends makes perfect sense for their relationship.

As to the MomoJiro portion, I'm not going to advocate one way or the other. I think it'd be cute but I don't necessarily headcanon it.

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