One of my favorite things to see is random people trying to interact with unfamiliar outdoor cats. Just standing there with a hand out, making kissy noises, maybe meowing at the cat while it ignores them. Mankind at its best and least dignified
if you want to interact with a cat that doesn’t know you, sit down not facing it. glance at it occasionally and make an inviting noise, but mostly just play with your phone or whatever.
the cat will almost certainly come over to check you out sooner or later. it’ll stay out of arm’s reach because it doesn’t know if you’re a jerk. offer your hand and let the cat sniff. wait. if the cat wants pettins, it will indicate that by noofing your hand, flopping on its side, or coming in close.
the cat may want to be bros but not get pettins. in that case, it will sit or lie near you but out of reach. this is friendly! the cat is saying, you’re a person in my neighborhood! hi neighbor!
of course, it’s possible that the cat is a great big cuddleslut and will come love all over you. that happens too. but if it doesn’t, that doesn’t mean it’s an unfriendly cat. be chill and let the cat choose how close to get, and you’ll find most cats are pretty friendly.
How excited were you to reveal that [Lotor’s ships] do transform?
Montgomery: It was awesome. Ultimately, we had to draw the big guy first and then we had to work backwards to get the others. It was really exciting to finally be able to unveil this awesome design that we were really, really proud of. Christine Bian had put a ton of work into this friggin’ sweet tail … that was really what we were waiting for the whole time.
What’s in been like to see Lotor’s introduction, re-imagination, and ultimately alienating his allies?
Dos Santos: The initial idea behind this incarnation of Lotor was that you wanted to be able to look back on everything he said and see that there was a hint of truth to everything; every manipulation that he had, there was a hint of truth there. Maybe he snaps at the end, but when he’s pleading with Allura, if she had said, “Alright, let’s do this,” I believe he would have been like, “Okay, great! This is working out. Plan’s coming together.”
Montgomery: Lotor is a product of his upbringing and he grew up in the Galra Empire, so his method for going about things may not be as beautiful and peaceful as the Alteans, but his intentions were true. The funny thing is, had Allura reacted differently, it could have been an extremely different ending. But emotions were high and what Lotor did was unacceptable to her, so…
Dos Santos: But in the real world, you best believe that unions were made of much more despicable people with people who were probably good people, so there is a version, I’m sure, where it worked out between the two of them. Ultimately, he’s a super tragic character.
Alex (1976 – September 6, 2007) had a vocabulary of over 100 words, but was exceptional in that he appeared to have understanding of what he said. For example, when Alex was shown an object and was asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. He could understand that a key was a key no matter what its size or color, and could figure out how the key was different from others. One day, he asked what color he was, and learned “grey” after being told the answer six times. This made him the first non-human animal to have ever asked an existential question. [x]
Alex’s last words were also “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.” [x]
These were the same words that Alex would say every day when his owner left the lab.
I wasn’t sure I should write about this simply because it doesn’t seem like the fandom is making a big deal out of it, but I’m procrastinating on my studying so here we go:
I read your analysis of chapter 75 and I must say it's the best post I've seen so far. There're just a few things that bug my mind. It's understandable for 14-year-old Yukine to get confused after "that" and I also think he is not actually in love with Nora. Do you think Nora might have cast some kind of spell on Yukine? Also, why does Hiyori seem to approach this issue quite lightly? Like she should be more concerned about Nora's ulterior motives. Wait, does she even know Nora that much lol?
As far as a spell goes, I don’t really think so? As of this moment there’s nothing to suggest that there’s a non-verbal way of casting spells. (I use ‘spell’ lightly–it’s more logically, abilities.) They are usually cast by saying the name of the ability following the name of the target. For example, ‘Yukine, resound’.
But if you look back and see all of the subtle (and honestly, not so subtle) ways that she has influenced Yukine’s actions and thoughts, it becomes apparent that she’s been in his head for a while, now.
(A neat little tidbit I’d like to point out, look at the water surrounding the dock that Yukine’s standing on, right before he pieces Mizuchi’s advice together with the events. Usually, Mizuchi’s presence is signified by a subtle ripple in the water. But here, the ripple is much more apparent. This could just be physics resulting in the exerted force of Yukine’s counter-attack, but let’s play on the idea that it’s eluding to Mizuchi’s control over Yukine.
It isn’t even the fact that she warned him; it was the fact that she was right about it that set all of this in motion.
I’d also like to point out that it’s here that Yukine’s abilities take sort of… a turn. Don’t get me wrong, he is a powerful shinki by default. But every attack he’s used after his confrontation with Mizuchi has been, maybe even over-the-top powerful. A few mentions:
When breaking Kazuma’s ‘Resound’ spell.
When breaking Kiun’s lance without a counter-attack whatsoever.
When attacking Bishamon when she almost killed Father–to the point that he split the entire heavens on accident.
While it’s always been a simple fact that Yukine is powerful–more powerful than most shinki, these instances were even more so. And they all took place after Mizuchi confronted him in chapter 55. Something in his thought process changed after the fight with Kazuma. But that itself was implemented the moment Mizuchi told him to look out for the other hafuri.
Then, there’s the moment that Mizuchi came to him for help in keeping Father–Yato’s supposed lifeline–safe.
You can’t forget that she’s just been influencing his decisions, and even his thought processes.
But up to this point, Mizuchi was always the enemy. She was always steering Yato towards an unclean path. And he, as Yato’s guidepost, always sought to guide him down the ‘good’ path. Yukine is a good kid. He only wants Yato to be the kind of God that can help people. And that was the case, until… the situation with Heaven. Then he realizes just how easy it is to cross over the line that shouldn’t be. This will probably be his undoing, honestly. While his is a good kid, Mizuchi’s influence and manipulation isn’t.
Let me clarify: I don’t think Yukine has any sort of actual feelings for Mizuchi. Not ones he developed on his own, anyway. It’s not a spell, but it definitely is influence. Think back to how Father influenced Yato. He would praise him when he did what he was told, assured him that he was loved there when he wouldn’t be with anyone else. There was just enough positive comfort there to keep him craving more.
It 100% doesn’t help that Yukine probably went through a similar situation, in life. Meaning he is entirely susceptible to this kind of manipulation, dead or otherwise. Luckily, Yato was there to praise him when he did genuinely good, and to help him through it when he didn’t. Yukine is still learning, even with how far he’s come.
But Yato’s gone now, and will be for an undetermined amount of time. It will ultimately depend on Hiyori, Kofuku, and Daikoku to keep him straight. But the people Yukine depend on are leaving for one reason or another, one by one. First Kazuma, now Yato. There is a plan set in motion here. We just aren’t aware of it yet.
As for Hiyori, she knows Kiun talked to him. I assume she had plans to talk to him too, eventually. But then Yato showed up and… that’s out of her range of thought for now, I think. I’m also not sure that she knows the extent of the damage that Mizuchi can do, tbh. The main offender is Father, after all.
If Yukine has no one to keep his head straight, he will definitely be lead astray if Mizuchi starts hanging around him more and feeding him the things he might subconsciously want to hear.
She’ll be to Yukine what Father was (is) to her and Yato, before long.
