Is someone actually here?

Ask yourself, how does this piece make you feel? (No wrong answers)

Look for an artist statement nearby. What does it say about the artist and their relationship to their work? What does the artist say that they are trying to convey with their art? What contextual clues can you pick up from what they say about their background, or what they omit?

Look at the title of the piece. What is the artist saying about their work by naming it that, either explicitly or implicitly?

Look at the medium. Is there anything about the piece that stands out to you, knowing what it's made of?

Look at the year it was made. What cultural events might have been happening around this time? Was this piece part of a particular art movement? What was the purpose of that art movement, and what was it trying to say?

randomly thinking about her again...crazy little creature....

It's funny you ask that because I was actually thinking about that recently.

The short answer: Not really, but things will change.

I don't think the blog is going to completely shut down for a long long while, but I need a break. By the first episode of season two, this blog will have been running for 1264 days straight.

My plan right now is for the 12(or 13? depending on the amount of episodes) weeks that the anime is airing, I'll slow down to weekly posts. Probably every Wednesday to remind people to go watch the show.

a very tasty, radioactive onion, with a fascinating texture to it, and after chewing for a bit you start to debate yourself whether you should swallow or not

anyway ive come to the conclusion that there's actually 3 tanyas and she's functionally plural; 2 of which are obvious and basically text, and 1 which takes some explaining:

-the salaryman: name unimportant; an efficient cog in the wheels of capitalism, fully indoctrinated in its ideals. reddit atheist despite being too much of a workaholic to be online in any meaningful way. apparently had functionally no meaningful personal relationships at the time of his death, and the few childhood flashbacks we get seem to indicate his parents were emotionally distant and very focused on educational prestations and career progression, with little to no room for anything else.

tldr: lonely middle-management workaholic who might have been pitiful if he didn't suck so much

-tanya von degurechaff, the imperial mage: ruthlessly effective living weapon of mass destruction who seems to be constantly chomping at the bit to kill, while simultaneously being educated and smart enough to find legal loopholes and physical workarounds to optimise it all. an inhuman means to an inhuman end, a monster in the guise of a little girl. reliable subordinate. too reliable. capable of rationalising anything

she sucks too! she sucks so bad! peel back the rationalisations and almost all you're left with is a deeply egotistical mass murderer!

almost

which is where the third tanya comes in. the least noticeable one unless you're paying attention. but she's there.

-the little girl: the previous 2 tanyas focus on the monster within the little girl, but the further you read the more obvious it becomes that there's also an *actual* little girl here, the actual 幼女, even if we never explicitly hear or see her. not overtly, never overtly. always hidden behind those afformentioned rationalisations, just as much if not moreso than the atrocities! but she's there, the emotional truth between the horrible moral framework and egotistical self-centeredness she keeps emphasising is definitely her only motivation. she doesn't care about anyone else. definitely not. she's risking her life to protect her "meatshields" for selfish and rational reasons, you must understand. she doesn't care at all. she is perfectly rational. she is perfectly rational. she is perfectly rational. she remains perfectly rational and has always been perfectly rational. she hasn't changed at all. she will not be changed. any changes were made for rational reasons only. she's rational. reason. facts and logic. reason. logic. facts.

she doesn't care at all.

she doesn't care about anything that isn't logical.

Boyfriend: So does being an ant person

Me: Again, baby, they’re not ants

Boyfriend: YES THEY ARE. They communicate via pheromones— LIKE ANTS.

Me: So back to the soulmate thing….

Boyfriend: You could trick them into following orders and thinking they’re dead by spraying them with a spritz bottle. I think they need a queen.

Me: So back to the soulmate thing…. Seems hellish!

Boyfriend: Not really. If being around the other person is what triggers the changes, if you want to go back to normal… all you need to do is leave.

Me, writing: (You found your soulmate. It’s changing you in scary ways. All you need to do is leave… how difficult would it be to leave? What pressures exist to stay?)

Boyfriend: So these ant-people—