Nora : In My Defense, I Was Left Unsupervised.

Fruits Basket is not about “the power of unconditional love” 

People say a lot of things about Fruits Basket and its themes and Tohru as a character. They say it’s about “the power of love” or the importance of “unconditional love” or “love and forgiveness”. Then they say that Tohru as the main character exemplifies these themes.  

But let’s really think about this. 

Fruits Basket is not about the power of love, or unconditional love, or forgiveness. 

Now Fruits Basket does have a lot to say about empathy, but it says both positive and negative things about it, and at most it is one subtheme of the larger themes of the narrative. 

People will say Furuba is about “love and forgiveness” and even just the positive side of “empathy” because they see this as what Tohru displays. Particularly they feel this is what Tohru displays as her “saving power” in the first climatic moment of the story’s end where she talks to Akito and offers her a hand in friendship. 

But “unconditional love” or “forgiveness” isn’t what Tohru has going for her in this scene that allows for such a powerful start of a resolution with Akito’s character. Nor is it ultimately empathy. Yes, Tohru has a lot of empathy for Akito in this scene, but as stated above, this is at best a subtheme of something larger going on that is the much more powerful play in the story. 

The true crux of this moment in the story is that Tohru relates to Akito. That of course leads to understanding, which leads to empathy, but it’s what Tohru relates to Akito about which is the main driving theme and purpose of the scene and the overall narrative of Furuba. 

Firstly, let’s acknowledge that Tohru isn’t empathizing with Akito in this scene simply because she has some otherworldly power that makes her “unconditionally love” even the most awful of villains. She relates to Akito because she isn’t relating to her as a “villain”, she’s relating to her as herself. Tohru is seeing herself as a villain and understanding her own flaws through Akito. Tohru is having a moment of personal development and growth as she faces down Akito with a knife - Tohru’s focus is as much on herself as it is on Akito. This is even more clear in the manga where these scenes between the two of them have tons of internal dialog from Tohru, where the bulk of it is about her own issues currently going on (with Kyo and her mother) and very little about Akito in front of her. She is talking to herself as she talks to Akito. Tohru is only able to understand where Akito is coming from at this moment because she recognizes that she has been coming from the same place - the untenable desire to hold onto unconditional and everlasting bonds. 

Now let’s talk about that theme. “The untenable desire to hold onto unconditional and everlasting bonds”. Note the word “unconditional”. Now there are a lot of dimensions to the Bond, but one key piece is that the Bond in Fruits Basket is an “unconditional love”. The Zodiac are bonded to (and love) God no matter what God does. There is also bitterness and hatred there after years and years and being bound by this feeling. But that “unconditional love” is supposed to overpower all other conditions - bitterness, oppression, abuse, desire, freedom, individuality. And it does. That’s why the Bond works, because it demands “unconditional love” from it’s members, and is set up to enforce it as the primary feeling they experience. 

So saying that Fruits Basket is about the “(positive) power of unconditional love” could not be further from the truth. Saying that this what Tohru “saves” Akito with could not be further from the truth. The story recognizes that which is unconditional and everlasting as something negative - love included - and, ultimately, impossible. The love between God and the Zodiac. The love Tohru tried to create between herself and her deceased mother. Tohru doesn’t reach Akito through a display of “unconditional love”. She reaches Akito through a recognition and a mutual acknowledgement that “unconditional love” does not exist. 

“It is terrifying to exist in this world, with no guarantee that I’ll be loved”. 

When Tohru offers Akito her hand in friendship, she is showing her that relationships (love) do not have to be unconditional in order to exist. At first, Akito rejects Tohru, saying that the first time she does anything undesirable, Tohru will reject her. Tohru doesn’t say anything and she doesn’t object to what Akito has said. She simply offers her hand again. She is not telling Akito that “I will accept you no matter what” - she is telling Akito that even without a guarantee, it is worth a try. That things don’t have to be unconditional and everlasting and frozen in time in order to exist or be worthwhile. Akito is terrified that if she leaves one absolute (the Bond and the love it guarantees her) then she can only possibly be met with the opposite absolute (no bond, no relationships, and no love ever in her life). Tohru is showing her that this isn’t true. Right here, now, she is offering Akito a chance to form a new relationship - one that may be imperfect, conditional, and limited in scope and time, but nevertheless real. 

This is what Fruits Basket is about. It is about ambiguity and change. It is about the lack of guarantees. The existence of both light and dark. The fallacy of absolutes. The false dichotomies we let rule our lives. 

So there is no absolute love. There is no absolute forgiveness. There is no absolute empathy. Tohru is not a character who, in the end, embodies any of those things. Tohru embodies hope in impermanence and the importance of change - and only after she’s learned to embrace those things herself when her character has been fighting against them for so long, just like Akito. - Mod Red (Christa) 

damn, like every major theory was confirmed in one episode.

hunter is a grimwalker ✔️

hunter is based on belos’ brother ✔️

belos is philip ✔️ 

belos remembers luz and lilith ✔️

darius (and eberwolf) is working with raine ✔️

like, theorists were seriously well-fed today.

Ooo that's one cute tag game 🥺 Here goes !

5 things that make me happy ♡

- listening to music (while walking somewhere with no deadline) - animals & lucky seeings of them (dogs in the streets, ladybugs on the grass, deers in the forest) - DnD nights with my friends and roleplay - pretty sunsets - finding songs that fit perfectly a character/ship/show, making characters playlists

And for the tags : @eternelia @dracomalfoythebouncingferret @fuuzi @inasaturn @rubyinasnuggie @spicyroysauce @shutupaboutrwby @znthra @kae-and-the-lost-dragons @meganschoonbrooddeservedbetter (idk why it's not working so i'm adding 1 more) @cant-even-sit-straight

Pass the happy! When you get this, reply with 5 things that make you happy and send this to the last 10 people in your notifications! 🦋 (u don’t have to!!)

- drawing

- writing

- talking abt my AU’s

- being around friends

- being curled up in a blanket in the dark

@captain-of-the-roses @floofdroid @pretend-im-normal @collectingsparechangemadeeasy1 @theladypeace @greenbeanstan @lampsandclovers @nexyra @otterdoesart

Okay so This is just a way to let out some frustration so I can put it out there and stop mulling on it bc I'm bad at this sort of stuff - Feel free to ignore it

I'm putting this under Read More; if your fav past-time is to call anyone who likes Ironwood's character or was disappointed by his V8 turn to villainy a stupid bootlicker who "should have seen the signs he was always a tyrant !!" please don't interact with this post. You're ultimately free to think what you want but honestly I see enough of that in the main tag when left alone, I don't need it on my blog it doesn't make me feel good.

Anyone else... well you can read if you're interested but you don't have to either. Feel free to respectfully disagree though, I'm not that bullheaded that I can't partake in a friendly argument =) I'll just be listing some things about Ironwood's reading by the FNDM who get old or draining as someone who doesn't like the V8-characterization they went with

Can people please stop just... copy/pasting real world issues on a world/characters that have nothing to do with them or a completely different context ?

Like,, I genuinely try to educate myself on real-world issues. I know I'm rather privileged so I try to listen and hear out people who speak out about the issues they live through day by day. I know why the "ACAB" moniker exists. I understand the problem that lies within the american police system (and likely other countries as well). I see why the army, on our blue planet, is criticized & its many failings. Etc, the list can go on...

But I'm sorry to say, Remnant isn't OUR Earth. Their Army's primary job is to fight actual evil soulless monsters, not people. The Ace Opps or Huntsmen are not an organization directly inherited from slave-hunting groups. James Ironwood isn't the US army general bombing Middle East. Clover Ebi isn't the racist cop you want in prison. So WHY are they treated as such by so many people ? Stories are not a 1-1 where you can take everything you know and just apply it to a completely different world.

Has Atlas been presented as a country that suffers from racism & classism ? Certainly. Has it be shown this way ? That's already more debatable since the only racist arguments we got were in Mantle (which is the city we're supposed to be rooting for so that's a weird choice but eh it's whatever). Are the characters, as persons, shown to evoke these issues in a way that deserve our scorn ? Not really.

Is Ironwood depicted as particularly racist for example ? I wouldn't say so seeing as one (or more considering Tortuga) of his Ace-Opps are Faunus & it seems perfectly accepted; and he hates Jacques Schnee's guts. So why does he get to shoulder all of our real-world issues as if he was responsible for them, in a context where (pre V8) his army had most likely never killed anything else than Grimm and was shown to elicit very positive reactions from most of the population (V3) ? (In direct contrast to the polarization that the US army might evoke for example.)

You can totally hate Ironwood because of the feelings he evoke, the trope he stems from or the parallels to be made. That doesn't mean however, that he IS truly guilty of every one of OUR world issues (pre-V8)

Just because classism is prevalent in Atlas society does not make Ironwood the figurehead & leader of this issue.

Is classism an issue in Atlas ? Yes. That's been made clear because of Mantle's state as well as Jacques Schnee entire existence & even Cinder's backstory. Does that mean every single one of Ironwood's decisions reeks of classism ? NO

Trust me, as someone who found Ironwood's V8 characterization not... well-executed & too much; there's nothing more annoying than being assaulted by posts about his fall going "it was so obvious !! look at -" only for them to then list reasons in a really biased way or even headcannons based on (again) irl problems. An exemple...

Reasons his turn was good that I see thrown around : "Ironwood left Mantle behind because he only wanted to save the rich. He's a selfish coward & an asshole !"

What we were actually given : "Ironwood suffers from PTSD, and faced with Salem's imminent arrival, he tried to save what he was CERTAIN to be able to protect aka the flying city and all the people on it including Mantle evacuees. There is absolutely no text backing the idea that he wanted to leave with Atlas because it's rich. We could even suppose that he would have left with the 'poor' Mantle if it was the flying city and rich people were hanging safely on the ground. There is indeed an issue with Atlas & Mantle disparity, but Ironwood isn't directly responsible for it."

Does that make his decision to leave Mantle behind a morally right one ? That's of course NOT what I'm saying. The situation is still very ambiguous. But the classism theme has NO place here.

"Ironwood leads Atlas & Mantle. As such, he inherently holds responsability for the issues plaguing it." THIS is an acceptable reading according to me. I would probably argue that even if Ironwood's the only Atlas leader we're shown; he actually only oversees the military & academy (where we haven't ever seen classism issues), so putting Atlas' classism issues on him still doesn't sound fair to me. However the idea & argument is sound.

Acknowledging only how his actions look/the tyrannical surface reading and not the reasonnable justifications or glimpses we were given (pre-V7) of Ironwood being more than his trope

I'll probably stop after this one, but the last thing that is both tiring & annoying after too much of it; is seeing people boil down all of Ironwood's character to the most basic summary, inherently written to paint him in a bad line. And then saying that everything led up to his downfall by using these watered-down versions of the show's events to justify it. Or worse (imo), saying that people who are not satisfied with his V8 characterization that THEY don't understand how good a character he is and don't really appreciate him.... All the while only ever highlighting his characters flaws. Please stop this.

"Ironwood brought an army to the peace Olympics why are you surprised he turned out this way ?" ==> Ironwood brought an army to a country where the civilians visibly have no issue with said-army, to protect a peaceful event that he KNOWS to be targeted by foes. It's definitely overzealous & his conviction that threats should be dealt with by blunt force IS one of his flaws; but pretending that he did it for fun or because he's a tyran is just as misplaced.

"Ironwood said he'd shoot Qrow if he were one of his men why are you surprised he shot Oscar ?" ==> Do I really need to flip through every joke in this show and consider it as absolute truth & proof that the character would enact these words if given the occasion; even when we're shown with certainty that they actually don't mean it ? (IW hugging Qrow to welcome him, refusing to attack Qrow when he's certain Qrow IS attacking him...)

"Ironwood has his military all over Mantle, there's a curfew, all of this is tyrannical why are you surprised he's also down for genocide" ==> Damn, it sure is criminal to have Mantle defended from the litteral monsters roaming inside & out, and to make sure with a curfew that the people are not at risk during the night. I wonder if any recent events could make us reconsider our stance on how evil a enforced curfew is. Mhmmm maybe a pandemic ? Nah I must be imagining things. For real though, at what point did Tyrian's framing/lies (IW has his soldiers all over Mantle because of politics/he's a tyran who refuses opposition) became the truth of the situation for the FDNM too ? Again Mantle's situations SUCK, and that's a problem in itself. Making up problematic reasoning for the situation is dishonest though.

To end this, I'll just make clear. I do not condone any of Ironwood's actions post-V7. I don't think he had to be the big hero of the Atlas arc. Nor that he was without faults. I merely think that he'd have been a better antagonist than villain. And that it'd have been nice to keep the ambiguity/morally greyness that surrounds him; the knowledge that he's TRYING hard to do what's best for everyone; that he has good intentions. That he cares about individuals too to a lesser degree, and that he had people who cared about him as a person.

For short... Ironwood as an antagonist with understandable issues, flaws & failures; making questionable choices but with good intentions ? Hell yeah. Ironwood as a villain, more irredeemable than Hazel, willing to kill people for NO reason or even wipe out a city ? I'm not convinced.

Wanted to say, I love your palette concept !! I love seeing people reblog them on my dash. It's very neat. I propose... Mercury in Rosebird ?? If you like the idea !

Awww thanks, I’m glad you like the palettes! It took me like a million years to make them all, so it really means a lot :]

Here’s a troubled boy

what if during their life changing field trip toph and zuko picked up a new chill hobby

As always, some characters are in more than one spot :P The greyed out ones mean it sort of applies but they fit better in another category, but I didn’t really go in depth with that (like the people in *cries over cube* all would try to solve it first)

I both welcome criticism and will offer explanations if asked ✌

Everyone’s got one huh

RWBY Characters in Song ♦ Yang Xiao-Long & her family

Piece by Piece - Kelly Clarkson

And all I remember... is your back Walking towards the airport, leaving us all in your past

I traveled fifteen hundred miles to see you Begged you to want me, but you didn't want to

But piece by piece he collected me Up off the ground where you abandoned things. Piece by piece he filled the holes, That you burned in me at six years old.

And all of your words fall flat. I made something of myself, and now you wanna come back ?

But your love, it isn't free ! It has to be earned. Back then I didn't have anything you needed,

so I was... worthless

Piece by piece, I fell far from the tree, I will never leave her like you left me

And she will never have to wonder her worth Because, unlike you, I'm gonna put her first !

And you know : he'll never walk away, He'll never break her heart. He'll take care of things, he'll love her

And piece by piece he'll restore my faith That a man can be kind and a father should be great

☼ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ☼

A song about the Xiao-Long & Branwen family

➸ Yang suffers from Raven's abandonment, knowing that her mother left and didn't consider her daughter important enough to *stay* for. For YEARS she knew nothing of her. And saying that Raven didn't want to want Yang seems pretty accurate.

➸ It's thanks to her father & uncle that Yang is so very aware of what love (actual love) is. It's why Yang is so different from Raven, why she cares so much and isn't impressed by Raven's attempts at "kindness". She wanted to know her mother & why she left. But after years and years wondering... the time to "come back" is long lost. Yang is far from impressed by Raven's philosophy.

➸ All in all, it's clear that if Yang is so well-adjusted most of the time it's because she had her own family, without Raven, that she could always count on. Her father who, having given up on the Hunter life, took care of his daughters & loved them as best as he could. Her uncle who, unlike his twin, chose to STAY as much as he was allowed. A credit to how fiercely Qrow loves as well, that shows how different the twins are.

➸ Raven might have abandonned Yang, but Yang isn't planning on doing the same. She'll be there for Ruby as much as possible, and she can feel safe in the knowledge that Tai & Qrow will always be there for the both of them as well.

Winter : Truth or dare ?

Ironwood : Truth

Winter : How many hours have you slept this week ?

Ironwood :

Ironwood : Dare

Winter : Go to sleep.

Ironwood : I don't like this game.