Ramble Sideblog

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this is an attempt to filter all the nonsense on my mind away from my other blogs

Of course, Toby wrote up this double entendre of sorts in relationship to chapter 4 being pretty heavy/dark. Chapter 5 is presumably going to be a lighter chapter that serves as the final calm before the storm (likely Roaring).

A lighter chapter.

There’s a lot of light symbolism at play here, such as just generally how chapter 5 is heavily centered around plants. Bibliotox theory suggested “Synthesis” was going to be a relevant title later. Synthesis - like Photosynthesis, which requires light. The flowers are a symbol of the light in some way.

But this isn’t necessary saying that “light” and “hope” are synonymous, maybe even far from it. The final shot of the new trailer shows a sunset, but wait, why is there a sun in a dark world?

It’s almost like… the light is creeping in from somewhere else… the light world. The balance of light and dark is being distributed in the opposite direction that it was in chapter 4 which was overwhelmingly dark.

And ultimately, when light and dark become blurred together, the worlds as one,

That’s what causes the Roaring.

• it’s so cute! Guys like my post 5 times please!!!

• Asserts Phantom as a woman/sister based on a dubious line of dialogue serving as sole evidence

• Aligns Lace/Phantom as bound by the legacies of the Weavers and GMS’ obsession with daughterhood

• Doesn’t really parallel anything in specific besides Silksong’s general trend of relational titles. There’s like, Sister Splinter? I guess?

Silk Siblings ✅

• Affirms Phantom’s gender identity

• Deconstructs the essentialism of GMS’ lineage and shows that Lace now has the freedom to carve her own path in the world beyond at the end of Silksong

I think a heavily traumatic experience can do numbers for your ability to connect and resonate with others. And in this sense, clearly Jax’s character is predicated on a major traumatic event that shaped the trajectory of his life. Maybe he forced Ribbit into abstraction. Maybe he ran over a child like I saw a theory say. Who knows! But something fucked him up bad. And instead of living with the consequences or grieving in the aftermath, Jax makes his grief everyone else’s problem. “I suffered something horrible, so now you will as well” is what I would say is the thesis of his character.

And as someone who’s witnessed several “abstractions” in my life, so to speak, the best step forward always was to keep going and keep being positive. That’s never an easy ask of course, but evidently it’s something other people in the Circus are capable of like Ragatha/Kinger. And the others are willing to share that solace with Jax, to find meaning in a stagnant life. What ultimately makes Jax the “villain” here, then, is his refusal to change and his refusal to believe in a world beyond what he had before.

Jax fucking sucks but for a reason. I enjoy seeing him suffer don’t get me wrong, but I can sympathize with him, somewhat. And I think the ending is leaning towards something big for Jax (perhaps the humble estrogen). He is grief’s ultimate manifestation and, as someone who sometimes feel as if their entire life has been grieving, I know how to handle situations like this and well, it’s certainly not the Jax way I fear

Euphrasie is a fascinating character in the sense that a lot of my appreciation for her comes from headcanon and theories (shoutouts islander Euphrasie theory). But I’m also a Dess and Gaster truther so that doesn’t surprise me and something something death of the author

She’s a character I’ve considered selfshipping with? I mean, tall pretty woman who’s collected and knowledgable and of course, transgener. She also has a bit of a freak side (not in a sexual way of course) and is sinister/cryptic in a way that reminds me of myself. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t pondered what a polycule dynamic of us would look like given Claude exists. But I find a lot of solace in her character and the implied grief of what she stands for. Peak “do I want to be her or do I want to be with her?” character

When the island was erased, what became of those on it? We know Siffrin was on a boat when it happened. I imagine King and Croissant Incident Guy were as well. Yet… Siffrin remembers his mom. Surely she was on the island during its erasure (or maybe she too was traveling?) there is someone in Vaugarde who forgets all about their sister so perhaps Siffrin’s mom indeed was travelling if she could be remembered. But then, perhaps his other parent was lost to time, if he ever had one

She’s very much just, an orientalist stereotype of a boy-crazed petite Asian girl who wants to be obsessed and serve a man, at least in the original canon. But idk, something about her vulnerability really resonates with me. That she’s a caricature doomed by the narrative to suffer, and she’s still allowed to kick ass when she’s heartbroken. I can relate to her a lot with my BPD, her backlash to the rejection is played up for comedic effect I’d wager but these are emotions I do relate to with BPD. Having such a strong fear of abandonment and “splitting” hard when someone uses you as an object that you find yourself becoming a different person. This is a painful reality that permeates my intrusive thoughts a lot when faced with rejection, and it can be hard to figure out which one is the “real” you

I need to watch Takes Off still but I’ve heard good things about her there. She’s very passionate about music and very knowledgeable in it and that helps her find leverage in the industry. It’s very cool to me that, even if her older iterations were, well racist, she gets to be more of a person now.

It’s tough at times struggling with Moral OCD and engaging in media you find problematic - say what you will but most of Scott Pilgrim is a caricature fest and I think it knows this. But to see past the caricature and find solace in a character doomed both by the narrative and the culture of which she was written by is captivating to me. And I’m really glad Knives’ character got to become more than that original stereotype because she is without a doubt my favorite Scott Pilgrim character

...Which makes it all the more disheartening when I've seen this innocent cute plush be weaponized for so much "ironic" fatphobia. Fat/chubby Teto potrayals have been more commonly recently which is really cool!!! I think most Vocaloids are portrayed with a very specific conventionally attractive thin body so the variety is awesome.

But I've also now noticed this trend where people joke about Teto being this total glutton with insatiable hunger. "Don't let her into your kitchen she'll eat everything haha!" People like Miku calling her a fatass in comics. Gifs where the joke is that teto plush is massive compared to other smaller vocaloid plushies. Gifs where the joke is that teto plush's weight crushes things. This is just fatphobia! I feel like I'm going insane! This is such run of the mill fat character stereotyping and it's baffling that these sort of jokes with Teto are so common-place. It makes me horrified to even check comments on places besides maybe Tumblr because if you as so much give Teto a baguette in art people are going to start making a joke about she's a disgusting women who eats too much.

Women are often policed so much for their bodies and to see this be so common with Teto is really disheartening (Teto isn’t necessarily a woman - chimera woah - but most people will depict her as such/like one). I grew up seeing my older sibling treated like this any time they dared eat more than bare minimum calorie level. That the fat body is inherently worthless and a moral failure, so you better bend over backwards to stay thin even if it means destroying yourself. To see something of that nature turned into a haha quirky joke for one of my favorite characters really sucks. God what is wrong with people just let teto be fat and beautiful you weirdos