Postcards on the Wall

the phantom thieves are still friends with joker in the new reality. they have the new years party. they are happy to see him. but he is now an afterthought. there is no more texting him to go to the palace or hang out or darts or anything. he has become secondary in their life because the problems he helped them work through never occurred in the first place-- and their bonds are largely built on him acting as an assistant to them. I dont doubt that there will still be phantom thief hangouts in maruki's reality and that they'll stay good friends, but joker no longer gets priority nor special attention. he's facing a degree of abandonment which, potentially, can explain some of his motivation to get the old reality back. He no longer has a use to them, and depending on how you read joker that could be a worst fear realized for him.

this makes the akechi thing even worse because he does seek joker out specifically. joker is the one person who remains a priority for him because joker is the single person he currently cares about, whether he admits it or not. it's possible to read 2/2 as a double failsafe on maruki's part, then, because it could be a way of signaling "your friends don't actually need you deep down. you are nothing but a tool to fix their problems. there is one single person who doesn't view you that way, who actually values you, and I will take him away from you if you don't comply."

I dont think the pts actually dont care for joker of course. my optimistic reading is that it's an internal logic error: ren came into their lives as a consequence of something they lost or needed, so once that thing is returned or fixed their history is wiped. this can be seen whenever joker reminds one of them, i.e. ryuji or morgana, about how they met and they become confused. it's difficult to form a deep bond with someone you don't have history with; I have friends in passing that I'm not close with and I treat them with the same general pleasantness the pts do to joker during the start of third sem. obviously if they dont remember him their feelings won't run as deeply. I think this is also supported by the fact that that when they start to have doubts, even before fully snapping out of it, they go to Leblanc to seek joker out. that single act of wanting to right a wrong or sort out a misunderstanding makes me feel as though they do have a vested interest in their friendships-- it's just unfortunate joker isn't there to see it happen.

Butterfly kisses

So, this thing is absolutely not trying to be a brainless fun teehee girliepop movie. It is indeed a deeply stupid film, but not on purpose. You can tell there's a genuine effort there to be artsy and meaningful! They're trying to use color symbolism and to make commentary about arousal and sex and abuse and offer some perspectives on gender and classism! This thing wants to be deep so badly that it's actively got a shovel in one arm and a fire hose in the other.

And that's what I've sort of found with most of this white woman made media with underlying racism and/or major insensitivity, which is that it's not that it's all supposed to be I guess "brain smoothing" good times.

It's that for a lot of it the lowkey racism isn't incidental, but rather a vital component of the fantasy they're trying to sell. They don't want you to point it out because that is a load bearing bit of bigotry that actually appeals to them.

White supremacy often gets sold to white women on the idea that they are desirable. Yes, ladies, you might be a second class citizen, but you're a beloved second class citizen who will be cherished and protected by your strong husband, who will keep you from being stolen away by savages who want to rape you. And isn't the idea of being so desired that there are savages who would risk dying to steal you away kind of exciting too? It's akin to the poor white men getting sold on the idea that they at least get to be part of the same group as the rich white men, that they are allowed to be above other men, even if they're still getting fucked over by classism.

White women on the whole are usually well aware that the second class citizen thing is at least kind of bullshit-y, but, it's harder to pry some of them away from the appeal of being the object of irrational desire. Heck, in some ways embracing the appealing aspects help with embracing the idea that it's also a bogus deal, since a component of it is that white women are beautiful victims and martyrs whose suffering is an aspect of their appeal. Which on the one hand is like, yeah sure y'know that makes sense, a lot of people want to be desired and to be told that their suffering is real. The trouble is that this comes as a package deal with the white supremacy baggage, it's not just being desired, it's being the desirable white, it's the dangerous exotic savages, the victim of the covetous gaze of said savages and also of masculine aggression in general, it's the only truly finding your match with a white guy, it's being innately and universally more desirable, and etc etc. It's a whole specific romantic fantasy that you can't really leave intact and pry away from the racism.

Princess: an effeminate and relatively youthful male homosexual or lesbian (1931-4)

Daffodil: effeminate young man (1925)

To throw a fuck into: to have sex with (1919)

Top sergeant: a masculine lesbian (1939) [‘she takes command of the girls’ privates’]

Lily: penis (1919)

Wolf: sexually aggressive man (1847); a homosexual top (1918)

Soul kiss: a deep kiss, involving putting one’s tongue into one’s partner’s mouth (1907)

Tom: a lesbian (1909); [in 'old tom'] prostitute catering to lesbians (1966)

Church mouse: a male homosexual who frequents crowded churches in order to fondle any potential sex partners. (1941)

Discover one's gender: to accept or acknowledge one’s homosexuality (1941) / Lose one's gender: To return to living as a heterosexual

Minty: a masculine lesbian (1941)

Also a lot of early 20th century vulgarity is recorded in Letter from My Father, which is a collection of letters published by a man who's dad was, in short, a major slut and human disaster who wrote about his sex life for his son. It's insane. You can find copies of it online & it's a wild fucking read (literally!) and I think a really interesting look at the life of a person who goes against our stereotypes of what people in the past were "supposed" to be like.

note for writers: these are dated to the first time they were recorded, not necessarily to their first use. I imagine for many of these, they came about naturally through spoken language before they were written down anywhere. This is especially true of more underground slang because it's probably being recorded (in ways we still have) the least. So if you wanna use a term but it's a little off date-wise, give yourself some wiggle room.

also gonna take this moment to highlight two more i found recently:

Best boy: a sweetheart, a boyfriend, a husband. (1893) [w the obvious equivalent term 'best girl']

Honeydripper or honeydrips: a sexual partner (1917)

Mossroute - Bus Stop wallpapers are ready

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