#'cause he did and I don't think we as a society talk about it enough

[toodrasticallydumb]

Not to invalidate any of these ('cause I mean they're super interesting and fancy ~symbolism~ that is so on-brand for Strickler), just wanted to share what I've personally always thought the chess piece represented or more or less what it did to have Strickler switch sides: remind him that he cares about Jim.

Stay with me here.

The first time the chess pieces are used or referenced at all is when Jim and Strickler are talking in episode one (yes I know Jim picks up the knight but just wait) Strickler gives his advice to Jim and knocks over the king piece, specifically to represent James leaving. At which point, I think it's fairly safe to say that Strickler cares about Jim, at least on a deeper level of student and teacher than is expected, and is worried about the kid having way too many responsabilities.

So I've always thought that the chess piece being knocked over in that moment in Unbecoming brings him back to a kind of muddled memory of his conversation with Jim, more specifically the care he harbored for Jim at that time (which makes him stop right then and question actually killing him) and, considering his next words are "A human Trollhunter?", maybe it even remind him of the shock that came directly after that conversation: Jim has the amulet and is the new Trollhunter. Which would explain how he completely switches and fully believes Jim, since maybe he remembers (however vaguely) that this shock isn't new.

So yeah, that's what I always thought it meant but who knows? I'm prolly wrong lol

I’ve watched this episode so many times (my favorite episode!), yet this part confuses me everytime. The King chess

I have some headcanons about it:

-Strickler realizes if he continues to be on Jim’s bad side he will also fall and be killed by the blade of a true “king".

-He realizes what Jim’s saying is true, there are 3 chess pieces. Two are standing (Jim and Walter), while Gunmar, the “king”, has fallen.

-Jim symbolizing the king piece. He saw the king fall over pointing his cross at the pawn at the same time Jim fell over. Strickler realized that if he didn’t help, all would die in the mass destruction.

-The king chess is Strickler. He realized the future he will happen to him. He knew that he shouldn’t kill Jim.

I’m probably wrong lol

[libraford]

I'm not bothered by the conversation so much as I am a growing approach to activism which makes it impossible to interact with other people. Which echoes a lot of that conversation I had with Ginger this week.

He refuses to have friends that are not faithful to Jesus. Like, he can have a productive conversation with a non-believer and nearly connect with them socially, but if he learns that they don't go to church or don't believe in christ, he finds it difficult to take them seriously because their words were not god-inspired.

Ginger was in a cult. I do not mean this colloquially- Xenos/Dwell is a prominent pseudo-christian cult in central Ohio that preys on college students in need of community. There are rules about who you can date, who you can hang with, they practice gay coversion therapy, and will tell you not to visit your family if they're not Christian.

There is a lot of focus on purity. Actions, thoughts, social groups- it's very controlling about what you can and cannot do.

So. When he goes out into the world with us sinners, it becomes difficult to interact with general society.

We were talking about Merve, one of our foremen, and I said: "the first time I was in a car with Merve, he introduced himself as a Democratic Catholic Pervert. And honestly- yeah that's a good summation."

Ginger didn't like that at all. "Well he's not a very good catholic with all that talk of pornography, he should be ashamed of himself- honestly shouldn't even call himself Christian."

Merve is very much a womanizer, but it's all talk. He's gross about it sometimes and it rubs me the wrong way, but in all fairness- he warned me. Outside of that, he's what I expected from a 60-something landscaper.

"Well, I think whether he's a good Christian or not is up to God, not us."

And he got a little pissy over that comment because I caught him judging.

He only hangs out with 'the faithful' at work, which consists of three guys who are religious in a similar way and it's caused a bit of a rift in the culture. It's gotten a little... preachy. It wasn't preachy before.

So I am making... parallels to this behavior and a particular strain of activism that's been affected by purity culture.

Nothing is ever good enough. If it touches racism, it's banned forever and you have to spread the word about how it's racist. Where doing things that are well-intended puts you in the spotlight for the underlying and actually bigoted reason you're doing a nice thing. And prevents you from doing the nice thing in the future.

Because yes you did a nice thing, but it wasn't enough- you could be doing more.

Yes you did a nice thing, but you did this nice thing instead of tackling this bigger issue.

Yes you did a nice thing, but it was through this program that you didn't know was funded somewhat unethically.

Yes you did a nice thing, but your motivation for doing it wasn't the goodness of your heart, it was motivated by guilt.

Yes you did a nice thing, but it took a horrible event to do it when you should have had the morals of goodness ingrained in you and you should have done this from the start.

Yes you did a nice thing, but you only did it when it started impacting your life and you should be thinking of others first.

Yes you did a nice thing but the nice thing doesn't align perfectly with my worldview.

The goalpost is forever moving backwards.

No one likes to be called 'racist.' It's a really easy weapon to use when something does something you don't like. If you look at anything closely enough, you will see it's racist roots. You could say the same for misogyny, homophobia. Our society is built on hatred and inequality. Untangling it and living a morally pure life free of ridicule is impossible.

Recognizing the roots of an action to be bigoted is the first step. The second step is knowing it when you see it. Step three is pointing it out.

But there are more steps.

Pointing it out, or calling it out, and chastising someone for ignoring or not knowing something actually isn't all that helpful. Because it leaves you to wonder- okay, now what? What can I do to remedy this situation?

Which is the next step- actionable items. Yes, I have done something wrong- I am sorry.

I am sorry. Now I will try to make it right.

I will try to make it right by donating, by volunteering time, by listening to the people who have been hurt and lifting their voices.

Part of healing from an oppressive Christian community is realizing that people are going to sin whether you like it or not. And barring harm to themselves and others, you're gonna have to let them.

If my tarot practice is derived from a 15th century racist, then it was derived for a 15th century racist. Refusing to participate in a past-time that helps me connect with my family doesn't make it not racist. It will still be racist. But I'm not sure who it's hurting in 2024 and I don't have a time machine and I'm not being given clear instructions for how to unracist it.

[fxllfaiiry]

─ callin' it quits now, baby, I'm a wreck ੈ✩‧₊˚

✶ pairing: miguel o'hara x fem!reader

✶ synopsis: the aftermath of the argument with miguel.

✶ warnings: angst, hurt with comfort, occ miguel (for one scene only dw), shitty humour, one or two swear words, reader being slightly mean, mentions of death.

✶ notes: part two of "you're the sunflower" this part was originally 8k words long and i was like nope, so i had to cut it down, I'm sorry. I really hope this isn't bad ‼️

At first, you didn't quit the team. 

After the blow-up with Miguel, you thought about leaving the team for good, but yet you decided to show up, hanging around for a bit before quickly leaving. 

But slowly you stopped showing up altogether. The looks of pity were too much for you to handle, and frankly, you deserve an apology, you deserved better.

Every day was torture, and seeing Miguel only made it worse. No one thought this whole ordeal would go this far. 

Everyone noticed the changes, you were more serious, and your usual sunshine self was gone at this point. Everyone noticed the day you stopped coming in. 

You felt so lonely, sure, you had friends in your universe but yet, nothing felt the same. You sometimes wondered if they missed you or not. 

It had only been a few weeks and yet it felt like months. 

A part of you secretly hoped someone from the team would show up at your doorstep pleading for you to come back, but nothing. 

"You'll get used to it eventually" You'd tell yourself. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

It had been two whole months since you left. Nothing felt the same without you. 

"Does anyone else miss Sunflower?" Gwen said sadly. She missed your hugs, and your little girl talks with her, she missed everything about you.  

"We all miss her, kid," Peter sighed. Without you, he had no one to talk to about Mayday. 

"I hope she comes back soon," Miles said. 

"I think she just wants space right now," Pavitr replied.  

"This is all Miguel's fault y'know?" Hobie added bitterly, how dare Miguel take his friend away from him. 

"Someone should talk to him, maybe if he apologizes, she'll come back." Miles was hopeful, he knew you'd come back eventually. 

"Sure, kid. As if Miguel ever listens." 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Miguel on the other hand was depressed. 

He'd gotten used to your presence and it felt odd without you.

He felt horrible about yelling at you but he was scared. The thought of you dying terrified him, and his way of dealing with that wasn't the best. 

He thought about apologizing many times, but he didn't know how to. The last thing he wanted was to cause more damage. 

"You know a simple "sorry" could fix this all right?" Lyla said, breaking him out of his trance. 

"It's not that easy, Lyla." He sounded so broken to his own ears. 

"Well, you gotta try, Boss." 

"Sunflower used to call me that." 

"You're joking, right? Wow, you really are pathetic." Lyla snorted. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Dude, you're in love with her. You are absolutely smitten." 

"Lyla, that's enough-" 

"No, you love her and that's why it's bothering you so much." 

"I don't-" 

"Nah, Lyla's right, you do love her." He turned around to see Jess standing in his office. 

"Jess, not you too, and where did you come from?" Miguel groaned, he did not love you. 

"The door…? Anyways, just try to fix things, the first step is you apologizing." Jess stated matter-of-factly. 

Miguel thought about it for a minute, these last few weeks had been pure torture for him, Jess was right, the first step is apologizing.

"Fine, I'll do it first thing tomorrow, but I don't love her." 

"Sure, whatever you say, man." Jess snickered. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

You got somewhat used to your new life. It was the same old plain routine every day. You tried to throw yourself into other things. Finding new hobbies, jobs, literally anything. 

But eventually, it all started to feel okay.

Things were finally starting to look good for you. 

You thought about the spider society way less and finally started living your life to the fullest. 

You were moving on. 

Crime fighting was easy today. You got to hang out with your friends and an old lady gave you a cheerio, which is something. 

You swung around the city for a bit, enjoying the view and temporary peace. 

Soon it was time for you to head back home. You climbed in through your bedroom window and quickly changed out of your suit, slipping into more comfortable clothing.  

When you went downstairs to get some food, you weren't expecting to see Miguel O'Hara sitting on your couch. 

"Holy shit, what are you doing here?" You scared him, because he jumped violently at the sound of your voice. 

"I was here t-"

"Humiliate me further? Because I thought we were done with that." You felt bad saying that, but he deserved it. 

"No, I'm here to apologize." He looked down, ashamed. 

"It's a bit late for that, isn't it?" You chuckled bitterly, walking past him into the kitchen. 

"Just listen to me for a second." 

"I thought I was incapable of doing that." You muttered to yourself. 

He got up and strode towards you, but he received no acknowledgment of his presence. 

"I'm sorry for yelling at you in front of everyone; it was wrong and I shouldn't have acted so immaturely." 

"Uh-huh, it's fine. You can leave now, the door's right there." You weren't buying his ridiculous apology. Even a five-year-old could do better. 

"I understand you're mad, but please give me a chance." That was pretty much the last straw for you.

"I'm mad? You humiliated me in front of everyone! You made me feel like shit, you made me think I don't belong on the team! You're an asshole." You were screaming at him, taking out all the anger and sadness you felt in the past two months.

"I'm sorry." He sounded so small, so vulnerable, and for the second time in his life, he didn't know what to do. 

"The best you can say is I'm sorry? At least give me a proper explanation." You scoffed, rolling your eyes. 

"I'm in love with you." What? 

"Right, if you're here to joke around and mock me just leave okay."  You open up to him and he mocks you in return. Amazing.

"I'm being serious. I'm not mocking you or joking around, I'm in love with you. You want an explanation, so I'm giving you one." He breathed, looking at you hoping to receive some reaction. All he got was a small head tilt which he took as a sign to continue. 

"The reason I yelled at you was because I was scared. I thought you were going to die and that terrified me, I've lost everything, and I don't want to lose you too. I didn't know how to handle it, so I lashed out. I truly am sorry, Sunflower." You froze trying to process everything, was he telling the truth? 

"Lyla and Jess helped me realize my true feelings for you." He whispered. 

When you said nothing for a few minutes he started to get scared, he was ready to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness if he had to. 

"Can you… say something? Please?"

"I can't forgive you just yet." He would never admit to what happened next but he started sobbing. All this was too much, being vulnerable was an unknown feeling to him. 

"Woah, wait hey, don't cry. Let me-" Before you could finish your sentence he fell to his knees, arms clutching your waist like a lifeline. 

You were beyond confused, you thought this whole interaction was some sort of weird dream. Miguel O'Hara down on his knees, for you? Wow, two months ago you would've scoffed and rolled your eyes at that. 

Nonetheless, you ran your fingers through his hair trying to soothe him. 

"Miguel, honey, listen to me. Just because I'm not ready to forgive you now, doesn't mean I never will." His face was still squished against your midriff, and his breathing was slowly returning to normal, with a few sniffs here and there. 

"So, you'll come back?" Seeing him in such a state broke your heart, you were still upset with him but were willing to give him a chance. 

"Yes, I'll come back tomorrow." At that, he smiled properly for the first time in weeks. 

He stayed there for a few moments, letting you comb through his hair gently, he would cherish this brief moment forever. 

"I should get going then. The multiverse needs saving." He said hoarsely, standing up, he was slightly embarrassed by this side of him. 

"Maybe use the door this time." He lightly chuckled at your statement, the warm feeling took over him once again.

Miguel did not want to leave, he wanted to stay here with you, but he knew that wasn't an option right now.

Before he left he had to get one last thing off his chest.

"Could you, not tel-" 

"Tell anyone about this? Don't worry, this stays between us only." 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Everyone was surprised to see you back the next day. 

The second you walked in, everyone was all over you, hugging you and filling you in on everything you missed. It felt good to be back. 

"I'm so happy you're back," Gwen whispered, hugging you tightly. 

"I'm happy to be back, Gwendy. I missed you guys so much." 

"Hey quit hogging Sunflower, it's my turn to hug her now." Miles huffed impatiently. 

"Me next!" Pavitr bounced enthusiastically. 

"Hey, not cool. I called dibs, man." Hobie groaned. 

"Hey, Sunflower, I have some new pictures of Mayday to show you." Everyone was so excited to see you again, it was chaotic, but it felt like home. They were your family. 

Miguel watched the scene from afar with a smile, he was glad everything was okay now. 

"So you fixed things up with her, huh?" Jess said, popping up behind him, once again taking him by surprise. 

"¡Ay, coño! Jess, stop doing that." 

"Sorry, not my fault you don't have a spidy sense." Jess hummed. "So, how did you get her to forgive you?" 

"I have my ways." 

"You got down on your knees and begged her, didn't you?"

"How did you know?" Miguel whisper-yelled. That was supposed to be a secret. 

"I have my ways." Jess winked. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── 

In a few weeks, everything was back to normal, you were back to your old self again. 

Except for the fact that you and Miguel were now closer than ever. That was new. 

You were always by his side, sticking close to him and he felt comfortable around you, always relaxed in your presence. 

He wasn't sure if you forgave him just yet, but he was willing to wait for as long as you needed. 

He did small things to show you he cared, sometimes it was bringing you coffee, other times it was giving you your favorite flowers. 

You knew he was sorry, and in your heart, you forgave him a long time back. 

So, you finally decided to tell him. 

You guys were in his office having lunch, he didn't like to eat out in the cafeteria. You both would usually sit in silence enjoying each other's company. 

"Hey, Miguel." 

"Hm?" 

"I forgive you." 

He raised his eyebrows in confusion taking a moment to realise what you meant. When he finally got it, his eyes widened almost comically. 

"Oh, you do?" He was trying to hide his smile but failed horribly. 

"I forgave you a long time back, but I just… needed some time." You nodded.  

"I understand that. Thank you for giving me another chance." 

"Actually, to forgive you fully, I want one thing from you." You declared, confidently. 

"I'll do anything, Sunflower." He'd indeed do anything for you. 

"I want you to go out on a date with me." 

His brain stopped working. You were asking him out on a date. 

"Miguel? Is that a yes or no?" You grew nervous at his lack of response. Did you cross boundaries? You thought he liked you. 

"I would love to." You quickly beamed at his response, after months of waiting it was finally happening. 

"So, how about tomorrow, at 7?" You giggled. 

"Sounds perfect." He sighed, softly smiling. 

He couldn't wait for tomorrow. 

[twyisontheline]

What if Alastor did try to fall in love with Vox

Thought to share an old radiostatic fluffyangsty headcanon... features internal-angst-about-his-aromanticism!Alastor

CW internalised arophobia

Alastor has never felt romantic attraction or feelings towards someone, in life or death. Now, with how strong amatonormativity is, he did try. He knew (thought) he was supposed to. It never worked. He reached the conclusion that he is fucked up. When he starts killing people, it almost makes sense - he's a psychopath, a monster, it must be related to not being able to love how other people do, how he should. How his mom would want him to love. He feels shame and guilt, even if he tries to push it all back down and tell himself that others are weak because of their feelings and it is something he would never want.

And it is something he doesn't want. But society tells him it makes one's life complete and makes you happy and fulfilled and he wonders. Is he broken in a way that prevents him from experiencing something so important and special?

Then he dies, and overall, life gets kinda easier. In the whole depravity and fucked-upness of Hell, there isn't an ideal happiness to wonder about. There isn't a society wanting you to marry and have kids and be normal and quaint. He can embrace being 'fucked up'.

Then he meets Vox. And slowly, the TV Demon finds a place in his heart. It's not unusual - Alastor does feel affection and platonic love, he knows he is able to feel that. And it has never been an issue that he doesn't feel romantic love, since none of his friends has ever wanted that kind of relationship with him.

Until it becomes an issue. When he realizes that Vox has feelings for him. Feelings that are romantic. That kind of love that he, Alastor, is not able to feel. And this opens the wound again. His fucked-upness could very well make him lose Vox. He doesn't want to lose their friendship - Vox gets him and spending time with him is pleasurable in an unique and special way, and he is not risking it. (He has found something special, regardless of it not being what society says it should.)

So he thinks: "I can make myself love him." He forced himself to be many things in his life and death, he won't let a weakness, a fault, a lack-of-ability, be an obstacle. He is not the weak powerless boy he once was in life. He is the Radio Demon. He takes what he wants. If learning to feel romantic love is what he needs to do to obtain what he wants, he'll do it.

So he tries, and lies to himself a bunch of times in the process, but eventually, he realizes that he is failing. And he sees it as that: a failure. So the mix of shame and guilt is back, like an emotional flashback from his human days that mixes with the shame of not being able to do something. Of being powerless in front of his own faults.

Fluff ensuring after all the angst could be that he finally confesses all this to Vox in a mental breakdown scenario - cause we know Alastor loves to freak out dramatically when he feels powerless - and Vox is like: "Man, calm down, it's not that big of a deal. I am not exactly thrilled at the idea you don't reciprocate my feelings but the idea you have to fake stuff with me and you tried so hard to be something you are not is even more upsetting. ...Plus kinda flattering, honestly, but let's not digress. What i am saying is, you don't have to do it. I am not going to end our friendship over it." And actually, realising that Alastor did all that just not to lose him, it’s more than flattering – it is proof of how deeply Alastor cares for him and loves him, even if his love is platonic. Vox doesn't need more.

And also, while Alastor has no idea that being aromantic is something that exists as a queer identity, Vox, unlike Alastor who doesn't pay attention to most of Sinners cause he lists them as not-entertaining-enough and avoids any place that has a even remotely sexual-relatedness, actually goes out and talks to people and did talk to people while figuring out he was queer. So we can insert here a speech by Vox about sexual/romantic orientation not being an illness etc etc with a bit of backstory about Vox being queer in the fifties and then dealing with his internalised homophobia after his death.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Chapter 10. Lilacs

Summary: Lately, you seek his approval and he finds himself disliking it, it's more fun when you only seek to amuse yourself.  Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Words: 2,174 Listen to: 'Too Sweet' -by Hozier A/N: I love parallels my beloved -Danny

This author can't say for certain if an artist is better company than the crown, but there must be at least some level of mutual fondness.

Lady Whistledown, October 1815

Dear Diary,

Knowing I should nourish the friendship does nothing but make my lust grow claws and teeth, and each day spent in his company yet lacking his advances makes my soul wither, much like the flowers I press between your pages. 

To have my thoughts held by your spine is no longer enough. I need Benedict to hold me as well, like I feel so very clearly when I sleep.

"You bought a house?"

"Yes."

"Whatever for?"

Benedict stares at you with amusement. "To live in, of course. Just because you sleep out in the open doesn't mean we all enjoy grass, critter."

"Oh please, what you saw that day was a slip of manners caused by jitters. Why would you buy a house when you could rent one?"

"I can do whatever changes I please," he reasons, "I'm not very good at following rules. Better to have my own place and answer to no one."

You hum, appreciating his desire for freedom where society could not meddle. "I suppose congratulations are in order. Will you be hosting a dinner or will I have to invite myself into your home?"

Benedict reigns in the lewd thoughts your wording brings, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "Wouldn't that be too mundane of an activity for a Princess?"

"You forget how much I love the mundane," you retort, shading the lilacs you're working on with utter gentleness.

"No, I do not," he says. "But being an introvert does not make you a fan of dull evenings, does it?"

"An evening with you is far from dull," you appease sweetly.

Benedict chuckles. "You do realize that if I host I wouldn't be able to entertain you? You'd be on your own. I doubt your sister would like to waste her evening in the affair."

"You underestimate the allure of the situation. Besides, you're my friend, not a monkey I bought to amuse me, I can survive without your attention for one evening."

The man tilts his head playfully, feeling ten times taller. "Whatever did I do to be considered alluring?"

"The list would be shorter if I went over the things that annoy me," you brush off. "But if you think I'm not ready to face this frigid society..."

Benedict scoffs out a laugh. "Such harsh words from someone who claims to love London!"

"I love it! I love the architecture and its fashion—but I detest your old-fashioned culture. Why on earth am I not allowed to wear my trousers?" You gesture at your legs. "It's not like men don't know what's under the skirts! And children care more about the sweets I keep in my purse than of my body shape."

Benedict laughs, one hand holding his stomach. "Of course, it is well-known what's beneath your garments, and what we hate the most is to have a more defined view of your figure knowing we can't have it! If we can't have fun, neither can you."

"That's hardly my problem, is it? In Genovia, people who harass strangers get fined, and if they get physical, they pay double and get locked up for the number of times the victim asked them to go away."

"Each equals to a day?"

"A month," you declare with sanctimonious air. "The number of offenders decreased since the law was created."

"Your country is Eden to progressive folk," he concedes. "Such a pitty the heir struggles with talking to large crowds."

You glare at him, tossing a tiny piece of chalk at his head. "I suppose that having all this freedom makes it daunting to take the first step," you eye your drawing, struggling to figure out the proportion. "Organized spaces make my brain go at a proper pace. I thrive in order, so I shall make a grand queen one day."

Benedict stares at your drawing, reaching to correct some things with his chalk, his movements fluid. "So your prudish conduct is only sustained thanks to the lack of steps to follow when it comes to misbehaving?"

"I'm not prudish!" You redden. "And that's not what I was saying, either."

"But if I gave you a list," he says, trying to conceal his amusement, "would you be tempted?"

"Can we go back to the lesson, please?" You ask flustered.

"Now we care about the lessons," he teases you. "I suppose I should stick to it. After all, you were so careful to make it so you didn't have to go around exploring new things."

"Enough!" You snap. "You think I'm cowardly, but I'm more scared of being Queen and failing my people than I am of being caught sneaking out of the castle—so test me if you want, we can bet on it!"

Benedict hesitates, unfamiliar with your temper. "I'm only teasing."

"Let's bet," you press stubbornly.

"That is beneath you," he resists.

"Benedict."

The young man leans back and studies you with mild annoyance, he doesn't think you're a coward, but admitting that out loud would bother him more than letting you believe the opposite. Lately, you seek his approval and he finds himself disliking it, it's more fun when you only seek to amuse yourself. 

Benedict tries to come up with something that you'll say no to, better if it makes you think he's a bit of a cad so you go back to not caring about his opinion. "How about a visit to the Academy of Arts?"

You frown, finding his challenge boring. "That's—"

"At night, just the two of us." He finishes. "Some students stay and experiment with art and... other things. You may find women in trousers—or a gentlemen in skirts, if you arrive at the right hour."

The opportunity you've been craving has been given to you on a silver platter... and you're paralyzed in terror at the prospect. His gaze holds untold memories, he's lived things that would make the catholic guilt of thirty very regretful nuns take possession of your juvenile body.

Marie was right, you don't need to know what kind of lover he is to know your experience isn't enough for what he could do to you. Nevertheless, your longing to feel him squeeze you with his bare hands makes you cave like a house of cards, and before you can think it through, you speak. "I accept."

"You—you do?" He stammers.

"You can wait for me five minutes away from the castle's main entrance," you say as collected as possible. "How late is it late enough? Eleven? Midnight?"

"Eleven, but—"

"When?"

"Your Royal Highness, are you—"

"I say what I mean. Yes. When are we going?"

He swallows thickly, unable to take it back. "Thursday?"

"Thursday—eleven. Bring a carriage." 

You offer to shake his hand. Benedict has never seen anything more enchanting than you right, with your brow furrowed in determination and the devastatingly loose material of your shirt resting on your collarbone, he wants to pull it downward just an inch and find out if your voice goes higher or lower when you're kissed there.

He shakes your hand, squeezing a bit more than he should. "And if you don't show?"

You smile. "I'll show up, Benedict. What if you don't?"

Benedict pulls his hand away, closing it in a fist and rubbing his thumb over the patch of skin where your warmth remains. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

You sit with the Queen and your sister while watching the Eros and Psyche dancers, tapping your foot impatiently as you sneak glances at the box on the far right, where Benedict is dutifully chaperoning his sisters Eloise and Francesca. 

Marie presses a hand on your knee. "I can feel you moving, you're distracting me."

"Sorry," you mumble. "I'm bored."

"You love plays," she rebukes, eyeing you with irritation. "What has you so..." As she speaks, understanding dawns upon her and she looks around, quickly finding the reason for your impatience. "Oh..."

"I'm fine," you blush.

Marie holds back a grin. "Right. Why didn't you ask your gentleman to join us? You could've spent the hour giggling with each other and mocking the dancers."

"Neither of us would've done that. He's an artist, and I enjoy a well-told story," you argue with apprehension. "Besides... I did ask." You make a face. "He's escorting his sisters."

"Oh no," Marie pouts mockingly. 

"I said I'm fine."

"He's looking at you."

You turn so fast only to discover he's focused on the play. You look back at your sister with a murderous gaze and step on her foot, accidentally tearing a bit of your skirt in the process. "Oh, bollocks..."

"Y/N!" Marie hisses. "Oh, you—"

"Is the play not to your liking?" The Queen turns her attention to you, slightly vexed by the noise you're making. 

"No, heavens no, Your Highness," you blush. "We—We are..."

"We were just talking about it, in fact," Marie turns to the Queen charmingly. "About the story."

"What about it?" The Queen questions with impatient curiosity.

"I just... think Psyche was rather silly," you say clumsily.

"Do you know, Your Highness, my sister thinks love is silly," your sister comments in a conspiratory whisper.

"Marie!" You chastise her. "I don't think love is silly—but in this story in particular I just think she was silly to believe her sisters. Whether he was a monster in disguise or not, wasn't of any relevance, was it? She had her needs met, Eros satisfied her, whatever he was. What was the point of digging deeper?"

"You are a woman dedicated to the arts, are you not, Princess Y/N?" The Queen comments, with a sort of motherly air. "Isn't it the point of it, to dig deeper into what we find pleasant?"

"Indeed, but Eros was quite clear in his instructions—"

"Yes, but she was restless," her sister interrupts her, "precisely because she liked him so. No one who falls in love can sit still and ignorant of their lover."

"Hmph," Your heart quickens with guilt, not liking that your sister seems wiser on the subject. "I'm not sure it's worth risking life as you know it."

The Queen returns her attention to the play and you take the opportunity to glance back at the Bridgerton's box, happy to spot Benedict already looking back. He nods in acknowledgement, and you nod back.

As you take a stroll around the ballroom, an elderly couple stands in your way and you politely stop to greet them.

"Did you enjoy the ballet, Mr Bridgerton?"

"Very much," he says with total sobriety, an expression that feels completely out of place within his features. "So much so I wonder if I may have missed my calling... as a dancer." He pouts mockingly and nods with faux pity. 

The elderly couple laughs at his charming display and his face splits into a crooked grin, and you take a weird amount of pride at the way he succeeds so effortlessly. "I must say, I do not know that the male dancer needed to be in such a state of undress."

"He certainly could have put on a shirt."

Benedict prepares to play along and pretend he's equally as aggravated but you speak up, itching to enlighten the elderly couple. "He's playing Eros—he's a representation of erotism. It is part of his characterization, and using his skin to represent the wings instead of having him manoeuvre with a costume was smart. The way ballet dancers dress is meant to better their performance, when telling a story you cannot mind etiquette if its boldness serves a purpose."

The old lady reconsiders. "I can't say I fully understand what you mean..."

"I do," Benedict says with a special twinkle in his eyes. "And I agree."

The old man huffs out a chuckle. "No wonder you've taken Mr Bridgerton under your wing, Your Royal Highness, you clearly have a deeper knowledge of the arts that needs an equally well-versed mind to discuss it."

They excuse themselves as they see another pair of acquaintances and you look at Benedict with a playful air. "Is it comfortable, under my wing?"

Benedict rolls his eyes, shaking his head a little. "Please."

"What?" Your smile widens. "Is something the matter, my equally well-versed mind?"

He laughs, lowering his face to hide the sound from other guests. "All is well, my bohemian princess."

"I'm far from bohemian," you admit, dropping the teasing. "I couldn't possibly live that way, not with my routines and aspirations."

"And I cannot picture a life without the thrill of disruption," Benedict replies lightheartedly.

You look at each other with equal amounts of fondness and irony. "How come we get along?"

"Have I ever said that?" He narrows his eyes in playful confusion. You elbow him, and Benedict takes it in stride; otherwise, you would've struck a servant's platter.

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

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[extremely-judgemental]

This got me thinking about Amarantha and Ianthe, so let’s talk.

I don't know what her obsession with female villains having sex slaves is but it was already tired the first time she did it. A woman can and should be taken seriously as a villain without being a serial r**ist.

@lady-tragedy on violence in SJM's books.

Outside of her romances, sex is still a core part of SJM’s books. As an ace reader, for me, these scenes are nothing more than an insight to the characters’ beliefs and behaviours. When I read about the sexual crimes committed by Amarantha and Ianthe, it felt like a desperate and unnecessary attempt to make them villains.

Amarantha is a ruthless warrior of Hybern who comes to Prythian as a courtier. Once she settles in, she tricks the High Lords, steals their powers, keeps them captive so they can’t topple her dictatorship. Her cruelty is already established with Lucien’s mutilation, Jurian’s fate, and her relentless pursuit of Tamlin since he was a boy. She’s highly prejudiced, creatively cunning, and sadistic. Knowing Tamlin’s loyalty to the lands, she forces him to be the cause of his friends’ deaths. She sets impossible challenges for Feyre knowing her mortal body might give out before she completes even one.

She comes off a bit cartoonish with her grand monologues and threats while not doing much (until that last chapter) than being a puppeteer. But her drive is interesting and gives her that sense of evil in her nature. Her sister dies at the hands of her mortal lover after being tortured. This reinforces her goals to enslave the humans again. Since the faeries were divided during the last war, she unites Prythian to eliminate any opposition. Even her hatred for Feyre is driven by this. She wants to prove that every one of the mortals is like Jurian—unfaithful and merciless.

Amarantha is a true villain and there’s more than enough proof of her villainy without Rhysand’s sexual abuse. If we remove that from the plot, her potential isn’t weakened. With it, her actions are out of character and pointless and raises a lot of questions. There are no other hints that she’s sexually sadistic. If she was, who are her other victims UtM? Why does she hurt the most evil High Lord who doesn’t shy away from putting on such shows in this way? If this is to humiliate him, why continue when he pretends to enjoy it? And if this is about dominance, why doesn’t she go after the other High Lords?

Moreover, it undermines her core reasons. Amarantha wants to rule. She’s obsessive and ambitious. In the fifty years, she grows comfortable being Queen of Prythian but her tyranny is not an elaborate plan to trap Tamlin. He’s a game which she improvised to achieve everything she wants in one move. Tamlin offering himself wouldn’t have saved Rhysand or the others UtM. Her refusal to release Prythian when Feyre completes the tasks proves it. But because of the last minute addition of Rhysand’s abuse, all of Amarantha’s real causes and crimes are shadowed and she becomes a woman driven by lust for two men.

Ianthe is a priestess who associates herself with influential men for her means. Since she has no magical abilities or a high position in the society except for the priestess title, she uses her body to get what she wants. Her motivations are not as clear (iirc) but the time she’s in hiding with her family could be concurred as a driving factor, or the lack of influence in a patriarchal world, or like Amarantha, she wants power, plain and simple.

There are many moments that show her evil side. She actively encourages the separation between Tamlin and Feyre by manipulating them. She betrays Nesta and Elain’s location to win favour from Hybern. She pushes Tamlin to carry out barbaric acts in the name of upholding traditions which is underscored by her desire for power. Despite this, the only ones remembered are the sexual crimes she committed which leads to many questions.

Ianthe’s exceptionally beautiful known to win any man she wants. She’s a childhood friend of Tamlin and when she returns, his relationship with Feyre is already beginning to crack. Instead of targeting him, she goes for Lucien who neither trusts her nor shows interest in her. If she wants power, why choose the one who wouldn’t play by her rules and won’t ever be a High Lord? Why doesn’t she target one of the others recently crowned UtM?

Pursuing Rhysand makes sense as he’s the ‘most powerful High Lord’. But he has a reputation to have whores as he pleases and his response to her isn’t in line with the mask he wears. He doesn’t have his evil attitude nor does he behave like the manipulative mastermind he’s claimed to be. Considering this, the memory of Ianthe harassing him serves to drive Feyre’s hatred towards the only support left in Spring other than Tamlin and Lucien.

Duality of sex and abuse in the series

I’m not denying that these two women sexually abused men. Plotwise, it doesn’t conform to Amarantha’s character or support Ianthe’s cause. Let’s say it’s a random incident because characters can be unpredictable sometimes. But then, the only two notable villainesses in the series turn out to be sexual predators.

On the other hand, sex is a rite of passage for the ‘good’ female leads—Feyre accepting the role of Rhysand’s whore, Morrigan becoming sexually hyperactive and Nesta having multiple partners. And they use seduction as a weapon which becomes part of their strength and identity. Even before Ianthe assaults Lucien, Feyre disapproves her acts of pursuing men. But when she takes charge of her life, she does the same with Tarquin. She also exploits Lucien’s friendship and ruins his reputation across courts. These are considered her accomplishments. (And, it’s hard to say how far she’d have gone in her vengeance if things hadn’t turned out her way. She isn’t abusive but her inner thoughts in Lucien’s bedroom felt more than suspicious.)

Also, none of the victims are equally sympathised in the narrative. Female victims don’t talk about their abuse or heal from it on page. Among the men, only Rhysand earns compassion from the characters and the readers while Lucien’s is forgotten and Tamlin’s is ignored. I’m not entirely convinced either of these women would be hated as much had Rhysand not been their prey because it’s become the highlight of their crimes, and Tamlin is still heavily criticised for not sacrificing himself and blamed for the sisters’ deaths.

What truly stands out is that Ianthe parallels Rhysand while Amarantha, Cassian. Ianthe has a goal and goes as far as to assault someone for it—similar to what Rhysand did to Feyre. Amarantha's control and punishment of Rhysand reflects Cassian’s behaviour towards Nesta. He also mirrors Ianthe if we consider his stalking. In SJM's world, while the men are forgiven and their acts are fetishised even, the women are considered a disgrace and fated to die. They are reduced to mere temptresses erasing any ingenuity in their characters. This double standard reinforces the idea that the gravest crime a woman can commit is abuse a man. She’s only a villain when she acts like a man, pursues like a man, aspires like a man.

[shouldiusemyname]

Some thoughts about Kawi, Sexuality, and Sex

When it comes to Kawi, ep 10 of Be My Favorite is really about his relationship with sex. Some people see him as being ace (or ace coded) but I'm not 100% sure it's the issue here.

As I read it, Kawi is an observer and not a participant, and I will try to explain what I mean.

When the show starts, we are told that Kawi has no friends. His experience is that no one wants to be his friend because he is a sad loser. However, we soon find out that the reason he doesn't have any meaningful relationships is that he himself refuses to take part in them. People around him don't see him as a sad loser, but he does. The reason that he is successful being Pear's secret buddy in that game (can't remember what they called in the show), is that he spends his time on the outside looking in. He observes the people he wants to be around as a replacement for actually engaging with them in a relationship.

He knows he did good with the game because he knows Pear and he knows he made her happy with his gifts, but he doesn't get the payoff because he is late and at that point he has to watch someone else (Pisaeng) be that image of coolness that he can't achieve. All this while being physically outside of the room looking in, observing what his life could be like.

This causes him to further retreat, understand that that's his place in society. Even his choice of profession in the original timeline - a subtitler! The ultimate observer and the safest way to engage with life - he knows what's going on, but he doesn't have to take part in it.

OK, so how does this have anything to do with sex?

Well, here is what we know so far:

At the beginning of the story, Kawi is a 30 y.o virgin.

Every moment of intimacy he has with Pisaeng up to ep 9 happens while Kawi is drunk. I say ep 9 because I'm not talking about the kissing, I'm talking about intimacy in general. Like the only times he is able to let go of his barriers and allow himself to be real with Pisaeng are when he's drunk.

In the most recent version of the future-present that we get, Kawi is no longer a 30 y.o virgin. He has spent a considerable amount of time being in a relationship with Pear and sex doesn't seem to be an issue in that relationship.

In the current present-past, Kawi is terrified at the idea of having sex (or any kind of physical intimacy) with Pisaeng. He doesn't have a problem using the word love when he talks to pisaeng's mother however. And we know that he is pursuing a romantic relationship with Pisaeng.

What I see when I look at this is that drunk Kawi has no issues with intimacy. Drunk Kawi was the one in a relationship with Pear. Drunk Kawi has no problem initiating physical intimacy with Pisaeng. Drunk Kawi has no problem actively looking for intimacy with pisaeng.

However, sober Kawi does not engage. Sober Kawi keeps a safe distance at all times from everything. Sober Kawi doesn't enjoy physical touch in general. He does feel more comfortable with Pisaeng, but up to a certain point. He will not let sober pisaeng touch him, but he does allow drunk pisaeng to be more touchy. That's because he still has control of the situation when he is the sober one.

If I'm reading this correctly, Kawi is so afraid of intimacy that he becomes intimacy starved. He spends years actively avoiding and actively staying at his observer position, that when the time comes to actually participate, he is at war with his instincts. I think he wants to stay at "holding hands in bed" because it's safe. This way he gets to engage without actually taking part. Even the park date - it's enough to just be there. He doesn't need to take part and go on the rides. He is there to watch everyone else do what they're supposed to do at an amusement park. He is in his observer position. He is safe.

Another issue with people who are intimacy and touch starved, is that they become afraid that once they have it it's going to be too much for them to take and they won't be able to contain it. They are also afraid the other person is not going to be able to contain and provide what they need because it's too much. As a result, they take an additional step back just to be on the safe side, creating even more distance between them and the person they want to be intimate with.

I get why Max's advice feels off for many, but for me there are two points he makes that make sense in this:

he says to Kawi that holding hands is fine as long as both him and Pisaeng are fine with it. And I think that what he's trying to tell Kawi is that he is not alone anymore looking from the sidelines. He is inside, in this relationship, and he has no choice but to be an active participant.

He tells Kawi that having sex will help him know himself better. This is terrifying for Kawi and it shows in his face. One of the main things observers are proud of, is the fact that they are always prepared because they never go in blind. They take the time to observe the people that they want to engage with, they learn how they react and adjust themselves to the situation. If they don't know how to adjust, they keep away. Having sex means going into uncharted territory, losing control, and having someone else to experience that with you. Kawi has no way of observing that specific situation (of himself having sex with Pisaeng) beforehand to help him prepare and find a way to make it safe for himself to engage and take part. Meaning making sure he's not too much for Pisaeng and that he can be there for Pisaeng (much like he could be there for Pear during the secret buddy game). He HAS to go in blind and it's going to require a huge leap of faith on his side.

If you've gotten this far, I appreciate it and I hope this makes sense to you. Feel free to let me know what you think.

[cielcreations]

"Slay The Prince" - Prologue: The Hero and The Prince

AN: So I'll probably only be posting this one chapter to Tumblr, just because I want to color coordinate all the text (as if I don't have enough work for myself, lmao), and Tumblr is very limited with what you can and can't do.

However, I will not be leaving y'all empty handed. If you want to read the full book/future chapters, here's the link to the AO3 page, where there will be a rainbow of colors, different fonts, and more exciting stuff. This is literally my passion project, so please enjoy!

"You're on a path in the woods." A voice told him, causing the man to look over. A man with dirty blonde hair, pale skin, and glowing green eyes rested on a nearby boulder. He was dressed in a simple black suit with a red tie, scarlet macaw wings on his back. He smiled at the man, "And at the end of that path, is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a prince."

He looked up at the path of trees, the wind blowing leaves around, the twigs lifting themselves a bit and flowing with the wind. The path up the hill was steep, with dirt and gravel leading him up towards the cabin. The trees were bent in such a way, beckoning him to come closer.

A prince really lived up there?

"You're here to slay him. If you don't, it will be the end of the world."

The man looked back at the other, confused, "The end of the world? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the end of everything as we know it. No more birds, no more trees, and, perhaps, the most problematic, no more people. You have to put an end to him."

"But how can a prince, locked away in a basement, end the world?"

"Don't... linger on the specifics." The avian brushed him off, "You have a job to do here. Just get in there and do what needs to be done. We're all counting on you."

"Do you have any evidence to back this up?"

The avian sighed, "Look, you're already on the path that leads to the cabin. Why would you be here if you weren't to complete a very important task?"

The man blinked, thinking.

"You've made it this far, you might as well reach the end of your journey."

"...How did I even get here?"

"Does that matter? You got here and that's a fact. You got here because of your task that needed to be done. Who cares about the how. Let's focus on the now."

The man stared for a second, before asking his next question, "Have you considered that maybe the only reason he's going to end the world is because he's locked up?"

"While I appreciate the mental exercise, we are running up against a bit of a ticking clock." The avian groaned. He then sighed, "Nevertheless, let me assure you; the prince is locked up because he's dangerous. He's not dangerous because he is locked up." The man went to say something, but the avian stood, holding his hand up as he began walking around him, "And before you decide to waste even more of our time by asking how I know that, let me suggest a more pragmatic lens through which to view this situation." Once he stood in front of the man again, he looked up, glowing green eyes digging into his skull, "Causality doesn't matter here because the end result is the same, no matter what led us up to this point. If the prince leaves the cabin, the world will end, and there is no changing that. It's no use arguing semantics over a metaphorical chicken-or-egg, because the egg is hatched and it's about to ruin everything."

The avian then smiled and poked the man's chest, "Unless, of course, you do your job and slay him!"

"Killing a prince seems kind of bad, though, doesn't it?" The man crossed his arms over his chest, a bit uncomfortable.

"Does it? Are you a monarchist?" The avian hummed, beginning to circle him again, "Is slaying a prince that much worse than slaying a fisherman or a miller or a seamstress? If anything, slaying a prince is much better than slaying a fisherman! A fisherman contributes something valuable to society."

"Can't someone else do this?"

"Oh, if only that were the case, but, atlas, I do not make the rules!" He hummed again, his hand going to his chin, "I have to say, I'm surprised at your reluctance thus far. But, unfortunately for the both of us, you're the only one who can pull this off! Like I said, I don't make the rules." He sighed, stopping in his tracks, looking at the dirt, "No matter how much I wish I did..."

"Do I get some sort of reward for doing this?" The man huffed.

"Yes, but you'll have to slay him before you get it."

"Can't you tell me what my prize will be for doing a good job?"

"It's a secret, but I think you'll like it~! It's a special reward, just for you!" The avian winked, "And whatever you think it might be, I can promise you, it's going to be even better!"

The man continued to hesitate, "Have you considered that maybe I'm okay with the world ending?" He shrugged.

"Of course I haven't. Why would I even consider that? Nobody wants the world to end!" The avian huffed, his wings growing stiff as he narrowed his eyes. He then thought for a second, "...Well, I mean, maybe some people do, like nihilists or very, very, very evil people. But surely, you're not one of those, right?"

The man shrugged, "Forget it, I'm not doing it."

"Are you serious? No, you have to do it." The avian hissed.

The man narrowed his eyes, "Okay, look, I'll go to the cabin and I'll talk to him and if he's as bad as you say he is, then maybe I'll slay him. But I'm not committing to anything until I've had the chance to meet him face to face."

The avian spun around, turning into a scarlet macaw and landing on the man's shoulder, "Then I guess we'll have to see what happens. But, a word of warning? If you go in prepared to hear him out, he could easily trap you in his web of lies. And the more you listen to his honeyed words, the harder it'll be the pull yourself out." He then whispered in the man's ears, "Then each and every one of us is doomed."

The man stiffened.

"So, sure, go and talk to him! See how that turns out for all of us!"

The man shook his head, ignoring him as he made his way up the path. Upon doing so, he reached the bottom of the hill. Looking up, he saw a nice, normal, wooden cabin.

"You make your way up the short path to the cabin."

"Are you just going to narrate everything I do?" The man asked with a hiss.

"Hey, that's my job! My job is to say the facts!" The avian hissed back, huffing, "You'll find the prince within!"

"We're not going to go through with this, right?" Another voice asked, the two turning. Beside him was a brunette man with tan skin and yellow eyes, wearing a black prince coat with golden buttons and a yellow trim, black jeans, black boots, and a black cape with a yellow trim and yellow i on it. He had a sword strapped to his side, but he didn't touch it. He looked at the man, a look of concern on his face, "I mean, he's a prince, right? Aren't heroes suppose to save princes and princesses? Not slay them!"

The Narrator, the avian, flew and landed on the Hero's shoulder, turning into his human self again. He pinched the brunette's cheek, smirking, "Ignore him! He doesn't know what he's talking about!"

The brunette glared at the avian, "You always did annoy me, Narrator."

The dirty blonde just smiled, sitting on the Hero's shoulder, his new perch.

The man hesitated, staring at the two before looking at the cabin, hesitantly proceeding.

"The interior of the cabin is almost entirely bare. The air is stale and musty and the floor and walls are painted in a layer of dust. The only furniture of note is a plain wooden table. Perched on the table is a pristine blade." The Narrator explained, "The blade is your implement. You'll need it if you want to do this right."

The man hesitated before taking the knife.

"You take the blade from the table. It'd be rather difficult to slay the prince and save the world without it."

The man slowly opened the door.

"The door to the basement creaks open, revealing a staircase faintly illuminated by an unseen light in the room below. This is an oppressive place. The air feels heavy and damp, a hint of rot filtering from the ancient wood." The Narrator chuckled, "If the prince really lives down here, slaying him is probably doing him a favor."

The man and Hero glared at him.

"Who's there?" A voice called.

"He sounds... dangerous." The Hero commented, "It's almost as if he's the one in charge down here."

"He will do anything if it means setting himself free. He will lie, cheat, and steal, anything he thinks he needs to do to run." The Narrator grew serious, "Do not let it fool you. It's all part of the manipulation."

The man ignored them, answering the voice, "Uh, just checking in on you?"

"Oh? It's been so long since anyone's come down here. I was starting to think they forgot about me." His voice carried in a calculated way.

The man walked down the stairs, the Narrator continuing his... narration.

"You walk down the stairs and lock eyes with the prince. There's a heavy chain around his wrist, binding him to the wall of the basement." 

The man stared, holding the knife, looking over the prince. He had dirty blonde hair, though his was brighter than the Narrator's, as if the sun was somehow shining down on his hair, despite being down here. His eyes were a beautiful ocean blue, calculated, reserved, secretive as he stared at the man. His skin had a nice tan to it, freckles dancing across his body, wearing a simple white button up blouse, black jeans, and white socks, a small golden crown resting on his head.

On his back were two beautiful, golden yellow wings.

"He's so... coldly beautiful..." The Hero spoke, "Is he really a threat to the world?"

"Focus on the task at hand." The Narrator hissed.

The prince lifted his head, a sneer appearing on his face, "And there you are. Are you here to kill me or something?"

"I'm... just here to talk." The man tried to reassure.

"Oh? Then why did you bring a knife?" The prince accused before smirking, "How about you drop it and then we can chat."

"He makes a compelling point. What if we just drop the blade and talked?" The Hero motioned to the prince, "Look at him! He's not a threat!"

"Don't you dare!" The Narrator warned.

"It's fine. We can decide what we want to do after we talk to him. Maybe he really is a monster, but killing someone in cold blood isn't very becoming of us."

The man dropped the knife, "There."

The Narrator sighed, "The blade tumbles out of your trembling hands and drops to the floor with an unceremonious clang."

"Thank you." The prince mocked, "Maybe now we can just... talk."

The man ignored his quip, "May I step forward?"

"My, my, so polite." The prince motioned to the place in front of him, "Go right ahead. But try anything and it will not end good for you."

"Against your better judgement, you step forward to speak with the prince. Face to face. Unarmed." The Narrator groaned, making his disdain known.

"We'll be fine." The Hero reassured.

"I don't know what you're hoping to accomplish here, but I can assure you there's no reasoning with him!" He sighed, "Just make sure you don't forget about the blade on the floor. You're going to need it."

"So, here we are." The prince looked away, but still kept his guard up, "What an awkward way to start a relationship."

"What's your name?" The man asked.

The prince looked at him, raising an eyebrow. He then puffed out his chest and wings, "You may call me your royal highness, his majesty, or any other honorific, really."

"Uh, yeah..." The man looked away.

"I mean, what did you expect? He's a prince." The Hero reminded.

".....Solidarity..."

The man looked back up, the prince looking at the floor, "...Or you may call me Solidarity..." He looked up again, "...And you?"

"Oh, I'm Impulse- oh, wait, sorry..." The Hero chuckled.

"...I go by Tango." The man smiled.

"...Tango, huh... Interesting name. I don't think I've heard of you before." He then snickered to himself, "Then again, I've been down here for so long, I might've forgotten."

"Just long has he been down here?" Impulse, the Hero, questioned.

"Too long. Which is why you must slay him!" The Narrator hissed, looking at his nails.

Tango asked, "So, um, how would I go about getting you out of here?"

"You can't, don't bother."

"I'm guessing you don't have the key, then? I'm sure there's a key somewhere around here. And, if there isn't, well... we could put that knife to good use."

"He isn't suggesting what I think he's suggesting, right...?" Impulse asked.

"He is, I'm sure of it."

Tango ignored the two, "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Ohoho, hero, are you?" Solidarity snickered, "Don't bother. You were sent here to kill me, right? Do you even know why?"

"...You're meant to end the world."

"DON'T JUST TELL HIM THAT!" The Narrator yelled.

The blonde prince laughed hysterically, "Ahahahahaha! Is that why they threw me down here?!" He giggled maniacally, "If I'm supposed to be capable of ending the world, then how did I wind up here, chained to a wall? Have they told you why I'm allegedly so 'dangerous~?'"

"No. They haven't. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me."

"Ending the world seems like an awful lot for just one person to do. I wouldn't even know where to start!" He hummed, "However, at the end of the day, whatever the two of us have going on down here is about trust. Whoever sent you to 'slay me,' claimed I was a threat to the world, but didn't tell you why. That doesn't sound right to me, and I'm sure it doesn't sound right to you, which is why you dropped the knife and why we're talking." The prince then smiled brightly, "I could easily say I'd love to just live a nice, peaceful, quiet life in a cottage in a flower field, or how I'd like to open up a ranch with a ton of chickens, cows, sheep, horses, maybe even a couple of cats!" Solidarity's smile fell, face going cold, "But what good is my word? I can say any number of 'good things' or things I think you want to hear, but at the end of the day, you don't know me. So what good is my word in a situation like this?" He then looked down at his nails, "It's all about blind trust. And tell me, who do you trust? The prisoner, the victim, the prince clearly incapable of ending the world? Or do you trust whoever put me down here?"

"Okay, I think we've talked enough." Tango stood.

"Oh? Have you figured out what you want to do with me?" Solidarity raised an eyebrow, body stiff, still on guard.

"You know what you have to do!" The Narrator exclaimed.

Tango grabbed the chains, looking over them, "I'm getting you out of here."

"What- You've got to be kidding me!"

The prince looked up at him with wide eyes before smiling slightly.

The Narrator groaned, "You walk up to the chains binding the prince to the wall and give them a tug. They're large and heavy, far too solid for you to even imagine trying to break them apart."

"Damn." Tango hissed.

"If you don't have the key, maybe you should go looking for it. I'm sure it's somewhere upstairs."

"Doubtful. Only thing up there was a table and the knife."

"Yes because whoever threw him down here intended to keep him here, never wanting him to see the light of day again." The Narrator hissed.

"Oh? Then I don't mind loosing an arm." Solidarity spoke with complete nonchalance.

"If we were stuck down here for long enough, I'm sure we'd be nonchalant about cutting our way out. Anything to finally be free." Impulse shrugged.

"I'll be right back." Tango reassured, going to the stairs.

"You attempt to make your way out of the basement-" The Narrator leaned against the wall, a smirk on his face as the door slammed closed, "-buuuuuuuut the door at the top of the stairs slams shut. You hear the click of a lock sliding into place."

"Is someone else here?" Impulse asked.

Tango ran up the stairs, trying the door, banging on it, "Hey! Who's there?! Let me out!"

"You're not leaving until your job is done."

"You set us up!" Impulse hissed.

Tango made his way back down the stairs, Solidarity looking at him.

"Seems you're locked down here as well." The prince commented.

"It would have been soooooo much easier if you'd simply slain her like you were suppose to!"

"Easier for who?"

"Easier for everyone."

"I'm really sorry..." Tango apologized.

"No matter. The knife." Solidarity pointed to it, "Pick it up and cut me out of here."

Tango hesitated, but did as he was told. He grabbed the knife and took the blade. He put the edge of the knife against the prince's skin.

"What're-?! Uggggh, against your better judgement, you place the blade against the prince's arm, just above the massive, unyielding chain. The blade is sharp and you make quick work of it. Before long, you're able to crack through bone. Soon enough, he pulls the bleeding stub of his arm through the iron gauntlet."

"He didn't so much as utter a sound..." Impulse said with concern.

Solidarity stood up.

"Free from his bindings, the prince turns to face you, his fierce gaze meeting your eyes."

"A-Are you okay?" Tango asked.

"Fine." The prince responded.

"How is he so composed after loosing an arm? It's like he's not even bothered by it!"

"Thank you. Now, let's go." Solidarity began to walk to the stairs.

Tango followed after him.

"No. We won't have any of that." Tango felt his body freeze up, unable to react. The Narrator held his wrists and Tango suddenly felt like he was merely wearing a suit of his body, unable to control it, "The stakes are too high, you can't just let him escape into the world! I can't just let him escape into the world!" The man watched as the prince approached the bottom stair, "As the prince approaches the bottom stair, your body steps forward and raises the blade."

As the man narrated, Tango felt himself sluggishly preforming the action.

"Wait, this isn't fair!" The man watched as Impulse's hand grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him, "You can't just do that!"

"Watch me."

Tango struggled but choked out, "M-MOVE!"

"Stop that."

"I thought this was a little too easy..." Solidarity murmured.

The Narrator growls, "Your body lunges forward to sink the blade into her back, but the prince swiftly moves out of the way before you can connect." He hissed, "Stop resisting me!"

"R-R-Run-!" Tango choked out, attempting to stab Solidarity again, the prince dodging one more.

"I am trying to get you out of here alive!"

The man held his own wrist down, struggling against it, Impulse trying to help him fight the Narrator, "P-Please-! Get a-away!"

"The blade! Move. The. Blade!"

"You're doing your best to help me, aren't you?" The prince asked softly. He gently tilted Tango's head up, the two meeting one another's eyes, "I can see the conflict in your eyes." He cupped Tango's cheek, "I'll make this quick."

"He steps forward and pries the blade from your rigid hands." The Narrator sighed, giving up control.

"Maybe I'll see you in another life?"

"And then he slits your throat with an almost clinical ease."

Tango sputtered, coughing as he grabbed his throat. He fell forward, Solidarity catching him. He gently fell to his knees, holding Tango in his lap as the other bled.

"His face remains unchanging as you both fall to the ground, blood flowing from your butchered neck."

Tango looked up, seeing an unreadable, blank expression placed on the prince's face. Behind him, stood the Narrator and Impulse, the brunette covering his mouth in shock.

"T-This... This is the end, isn't it?" Impulse asked.

"I'm afraid it is." The Narrator closed his eyes, with a sigh.

Tango looked at the prince, who smiled softly at him. Gently, Solidarity closed his eyelids.

"Everything goes dark, and you die. I hope it was worth it."

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"You're on a path in the woods-

[spinji]

Do you have any idea why Nana continued to dehumanize Shigaraki after learning that her murderer groomed him to be evil?

I think what a lot of people don't get with the whole "you might have to kill Shigaraki" thing is that Nana (and Torino by extension) aren't removing his autonomy when they say that.

At a certain point, it doesn't matter who's fault it is for turning someone into a villian. The entire purpose of Deku's rematch with Muscular is to make it clear that some people aren't going to stop destroying things and hurting people by talking about their abusive dad or their dead mom or whatever tragic circumstances led them here.

Tomura has also reached a similar point, refusing to compromise on his goal to destroy the causes of his suffering. That includes both All for One and the society that left him to rot. AFO meticulously planned a lot of Tenko’s misfortune but he didn't manipulate the strangers that passed him on the street. He didn't create that feeling of abandonment, only pointed it in the wrong direction. Tomura not making this choice for himself because he was groomed genuinely doesn't matter anymore because these are his choices now. He's shown multiple times to understand that AFO is using him against All Might and for his own ends, but he doesn't try to get away and turn to the heroes; he tries to get away so he can be a villian on his own terms.

It's easy to forget, since he's the protagonist, but Izuku's optimism about saving the crying boy at the core of who Tomura is, is a massive outlier and his leaps in logic aren't always solid. Nana is very callous when she talks about it, my personal guess is it's because she's still not fully willing to face her sense of guilt that her attempt to save her son from AFO led to the creation and abuse of Tomura. But she is still correct, regardless of what pain lingers inside Tomura, it is too late to help him.

Even when Izuku reaches his hand to Tenko when he is at his absolute most vulnerable, he maintains his loyalty to the league. He's been cast from society for so long that there's nothing that can convince him to stop. He would rather die destorying than live in a world he couldn't change.

In fact most of the major deaths in the league maintain this theme. Twice would rather die fighting than let his friends get screwed over by his own shortcomings again. Toga would rather die a free girl that lived as she pleased than fall in line with society. The heroes didn't choose to kill any of them from the outset, they could have gone quietly at any time to save their own skin, but their cause was more important.

This is what Nana means when she maintains that Shigaraki dying is a possiblity that needs to stay on the table, because he won't allow anything that isn't victory or death. It's tragic but I think it helps convey the message that the ending wants to, that change in how we treat the strange and disparaged doesn't just need to happen, but it needs to happen sooner. You can't just wait until a villian tries to blow up the country to try and help them, you need to give that kindness to everyone before those villians can even exist.

Sorry this got off topic because I really hate how people simplify the ending as bad writing when to me it seems really obvious that Horikoshi was going for a bittersweet ending with the league. They did destroy society but didn't live long enough to see what it rebuit into because even trust in one person trying to save them isn't enough when you're this far gone.

Either way, Horikoshi's writing style leads to a lot of necessary intuiting about the characters to actually understand the motivations for how they act. I think Nana ends up being a particularly rough victim of this because her stoicism and blunt attitude is very obviously supposed to be a front.

She opened herself up to others and All for One killed her loved ones, so she guards her heart the best she can to avoid showing more weaknesses. She does feel like a failure to her legacy; she never fully believes she made the right choices regarding Kotaro or Tomura. But if she cracks then not only is she done but AFO will make it his duty to twist the knife and hurt the people she cried for too.

She's a contrast to Izuku serving as a cautionary what-if scenario if Izuku's big open heart just makes more people targets by association (which it does!). She's not entirely right when she calls Tomura a monster but she isn't being entirely honest with herself either.

[moonsb1996]

How much do we trust this information?

Hello everyone, I haven't been into MHA because I'm currently hooked on Kaiju #08 (it's so much fun, I'm afraid it'll end). What I'm back with this time is my own question, and that is:

quirk singularity

From my little monkey brain diving to understand, it is a Doomsday belief of AFO's psychopathic doctor who owns this idea and it was not accepted as much when it first came out. But there are quite a few people who believe in this. Because even foreign cults (Movie3) and Overhaul still mention it.

There's even a Bible!

And from my monkey brain (I may mention monkeys often, Wukong is strong, sorry in advance) what I can understand is Humanity who have quirks when they give birth to the next generation, the quirk will be more powerful until it cannot be controlled. Movie03 spoiler: A cult releasing a type of chemical weapon / drug (sorry, I threw out all the names) caused an incident where people released quirks like crazy until the city collapsed. In Movie03, the people who survived this incident were the ones who did not have quirks.

I won’t go into the possibility of a Doomsday belief from a psychopath (what was that guy’s name again, never mind), but what I’m posting is: How much do we trust this information?

From what I've researched further, being a stupid monkey, from the information of the great Hori (I'm being sarcastic) with "tell, don't show", the only person who believes the psychopathic doctor is AFO, which you can argue with me because AFO stole a lot of quirks so he sees the possibility, and we see from Shigaraki/AFO who transforms like Akira.

But… it's just two old men and a cult??? who believe in this with all their hearts?! Yes, it might be possible, but in the world of MHA where quirks have become a major driving force of superhero society, it would be impossible to have two old men one is a scientist who later became a psychopath and the other is an old man who is a Bracon who never graduated (I think) with no history except for being born to be evil and a cult that believes that the world will end because of an uncontrollable quirk and to make matters worse, it comes from a disease caused by rats being the carriers of the disease! (A quirk is a disease that people in this era see as normal!?)

Okay… If quirk is the big driver of the world in MHA, with 80% of the population having quirks (sick people) and 20% not having quirks (healthy people) If it's something that everyone talks about, why are there only 2 old people and 1 cult that care about it? Wouldn't there be anyone else talking about it? To say that only 2 old people are smart enough to understand the problem of extinction of humanity on Earth, leaving only the best creatures that survived natural selection. Wow, I'm a stupid monkey who should be thanked, because we don't have the right to survive?

This is very convincing information (even if my brain is a monkey, I can be sarcastic, you know). Okay, here's my next topic, and that's Quirks have the effect of controlling people's personality (Are we in the era when kids were excited about which house they belonged to in Hogwarts?)

Wow, Horikoshi Kohei will not "show not tell" , right? Okay! Here we go again. Choosing to enter Hogwarts house through the use of Quirks. What kind of person will you be? And what will you become from your Quirks without having to sit and create your own identity! Starting with Toga Himiko (I hate her) A girl with the cutest smile in the world. But her "like" for Quirks related to blood makes her have a desire to get "blood" of that person to satisfy what is called a personal feeling that she calls "love". She can't stop that desire because her Quirks need blood. So she takes a box cutter to slit the throat of the male student she has a crush on and sucks his blood until he bleeds to death.

She was able to stop her desire for "blood of love" because Twice wasn't dead yet because Toga never cut his throat while he was sleeping to suck his blood. Okay…

Next up is Tomura Shigaraki. With Quirks (spoiler: he got it from AFO), he has a desire to destroy everything he touches, so he has no other desires except destruction. Okay… And the belief of many MHA people is that this is my Quirks, my expression, my identity.

I wonder if there aren't any witch doctors or fortune tellers opening shops where parents can take their kids under 4 to see if there are any Quirks. Don't you think this is a good business to invest in? But yeah, what parent would take their kid to a fortune teller to see if there are any Quirks? It's not credible at all (like the two old men and the cult that believes in Doomsday). And like the leader of another cult that believes in liberation to create a world where only the strongest predators will survive because the stronger the Quirks, the more likely they are to survive the extinction of humanity. Alright everyone… This monkey will take his leave. Let's talk about what you think: How credible are both stories in the MHA world where the possibilities are so regrettably thrown away… And most infuriatingly

[codenamesazanka]

The word used here is actually "extermination" 「退治」 which is very much in the context of getting rid of evil/harmful things, like pests and demons.

I was going to let this one go because, fair. Shigaraki killed her friend, or did something to lead to the friend’s death.

But then I remember that you could say the same about Hawks. Twice passed away. Hawks is a damn murderer! Yeah, yeah, Hawks killed a terrorist, Hawks was doing it to protect people. Hawks is still a murderer, and someone was very angry with him for it. Shigaraki paid for killing the girl's friend with his life, as he should; Hawks is now President of the Hero Public Safety Commission.

A little confused about what this lady means, but it sounds like she thinks Shigaraki couldn't control himself? In any case, in the context of her being the lady that stopped to help but ditched Tenko because he looked wrong to her, this becomes a lie. He could've been stopped. If she had fucking helped him.

(Or, well. With the 419 Reveal, I can't see how AFO wouldn't have just eventually snatched Tenko out of the police box or orphanage even if he had been helped. But at least in Shigaraki’s telling, this lady did make him feel that itch again.)

Also noticed that her occupation is listed as ‘housewife’. I know it's been 16 years, and she’s 70 now, so maybe she retired (wouldn't her occupation be labeled as ‘retiree’, then?) But now I have to wonder if she didn't just lied about needing to hurry to work just to abandon Tenko.

This is false. We know it. Shigaraki wanted to destroy the society that rejected him and his friends. He wanted to destroy the illusion of peace All Might gave everyone. He wanted to be a Hero to the League, to the Villains, to those who suffered under Hero Society. He was never able to release a statement about it, so I can't blame people for thinking this of him, but he did have a cause and he did have ideas and it wasn't just a tantrum.

And because the League is an Alliance, the goals of each of his teammates was part of his goal - Dabi wanted to destroy Endeavor (succeeded, portrayed as right just last chapter); Toga wanted to destroy the idea of normal; Spinner wanted heteromorphobia dealt with; Compress wanted reform.

(Unless—Shigaraki meant what he said to Deku. That he was just a crying child. However, that is also later contradicted by him depending on Deku for the destruction to be staying and complete.)

This is the thing that Spinner’s book can counter… Like I said before, it seems like he's valorizing empty destruction, but it really isn't. But will it seem that way to anyone else?

Talked about the "police investigation" and "tragic past" here. Does this mean people know about the Shimura and AFO and the grooming? Do they know???

Do they know about Shigaraki’s tragic past or not??? That he wouldn't have existed without All For One? Or do they think kids like that do get kidnapped and groomed into evil often enough for the next Shigaraki to already be existing and is in fact waiting for a chance to strike?

As for All For One, people definitely don't know his past, so of course they think he’s just an evil that pops up. I wonder if they think he’s evil because he's a lonely man (what Deku said) or because he has a too-strong quirk that is easy to take advantage of people with?

Mostly I think they should make sure there’s no homeless people out there without healthcare (AFOFA Mom).

[snownorites]

I was never gonna like ytmk cause I find most m/f ships bland af and their dynamic is already the blandest of the bland when put through a ship lense but man there's something about them I really I can't exactly put my finger on that just makes me so dissapointed that Gege really did that lmao

It's def partially cause of the nobamaki of it all... cause like wdym we never even got to see Norb and Maki interact even once after Norb came back?? Not to mention the comphet aspect lmao. It makes me really love how itafushikugi are written in comparison honestly because there's never the assumption that she gets with either of them because she's a girl and they're boys.

I think it's also kind of annoying that they're just the classic "girl is bristly towards guy cause she's in love with him" trope in a way where like her whole character shifts around Yuta. And don't get me wrong with how emotionally constipated Maki is I can buy this to a reasonable extent, it's just that it's played in such a boring way instead of having anything to do with Maki's characterisation. Panda literally looks at the camera like "MAKI LIKES YUTA" with no actual good romantic build up and we're just supposed to accept she does because he's a boy and she's a girl. Idk for a character whose whole thing is talking about gender norms, the abuse that nonmen face under society and breaking free of the restrictions placed on you it's so annoying that her supposed endgame is some guy we barely saw her build any relationship with. And they're a ship just cause lmao

And don't get me started on the implied grandkids lmao. I want to believe that the reason it's left vague af is because in actuality her and Yuta didn't get together and like there's literally nothing that said they did. Panda is obnoxious enough to have said "Yuta and Maki's grandkids." I think what pisses me off the most is the fact that I even have to rationalise that they're not her grandkids. It's like we're working from the assumption that it is implied and have to counter and that's so annoying

[markantonys]

The show hasn't really gotten into the Breaking as much as I think they should have at this point. Which does kinda go into the fact that Lews Therin doesn't seem to be feared by the general public at least as far as we know? Which does make me a bit concerned as that is important. It does seem like the AOL flashbacks are leading up to Dragonmount and therefore the Breaking so maybe that's why it hasn't been addressed as much yet? Rafe did say there's less knowledge of the prophecies or at least less belief that they're 100% accurate since they're over 3000 years old and translated a million times so that might play a role too? Idk I'm curious for them to get into the prophecies more so we know what the world thinks and believes about the Dragon.

i just wanna say that as someone who studied ancient history and ancient literature, it is completely accurate that the current people of randland know very little about what happened 3000 years ago, that the average population outside of scholars doesn't care about what happened 3000 years ago, and that nobody is willing to put full trust in the accuracy of the few ancient texts and prophecies that survived to the present.

and mind you, i ran into all these things in my studies of events that happened only 2000 years ago. 3000 years, we are talking the late bronze age collapse in the mediterranean region - an event that's infamously mysterious precisely because we have so little surviving evidence to say what caused it.

when it comes to human history, 3000 years is a MASSIVE amount of time, and to be honest i don't think RJ/the books really understood just how massive (for example, randland should have been able to advance more, technologically, in 3000 years than it did, even considering how destructive the breaking was and how destructive the taint & false dragons & shadowspawn continued to be). the general population outside of scholars does not spend a second thinking about things that happened 3000 years ago or specific people who lived 3000 years ago. they just don't. realistically, lews therin shouldn't be anything more than a vague fable to the average population of present-day randland. of course they're not afraid of him. why would they be? he's insanely far-removed from and irrelevant to their lives - for now. i daresay they'll start to get nervous once they start to see true signs that the dragon has been reborn and that the last battle will happen in their lifetime. but until then, i cannot emphasize enough how much any dragon- & breaking-related shit is not on the general population's radar. they don't care about the bronze age collapse. they don't care about any sort of war or destruction or apocalypse until it starts to affect them personally (see: nobody caring enough to help falme in s2, just as nobody cared enough to help manetheren).

i will also add that as someone fresh from reading the books for the very first time, i can comfortably say the show is NOT lagging behind on Breaking Info-Giving compared to where the books were at this point. we had zero clue about the bore or any of that stuff until rand's rhuidean trip (and even then, i didn't really understand what the hell was going on in his visions until quite a bit later, and in large part due to learning some extra-book information that explained it better). as a show-only during s1, i can assure you that the 3000 years later flashback showing us a futuristic society made me go OH SHIT and hit home the full impact of the breaking far more than anything in the books, where we don't even see any AOL scenes onscreen aside from the rhuidean visions (which are very confusing to a first-time reader) and the dragonmount prologue (which isn't very useful since it's the first scene in the whole series and a first-time reader has zero context for anything learned there).

honestly, i think longtime readers forget just how much of our AOL/forsaken/breaking knowledge comes from extra-book sources like the companion, Word Of Jordan, etc; the books alone are very vague about so much of that stuff and i remember being repeatedly bewildered as to how you guys knew so much about the AOL when the books either didn't have those details at all or had them so vaguely that they flew right over my first-time reader head. i'm not 100% sure, but i believe latra posae decume isn't even MENTIONED in the books and comes purely from "the strike at shayol ghul", as do many of the details about the strike and the bore and the breaking. and so i definitely think the show has already included more information, and more CLEAR information, about the breaking than the books alone had by the end of TDR and in fact for much of the series.

[destinysbounty]

Not sure if this counts, but how do you explain the ninjas ages? How are they teachers but also like 16? I always love hearing people's thoughts on this

For a while now I've been entertaining a headcanon that I think would perfectly explain this in a way that makes sense. Note that this is just a circumstantial theory with no explicit basis in canon, so feel free to take it or leave it as you see fit.

Okay, so. To understand the teacher situation (as well as my theories for why Ninjago's education system is fucked to hell and back), we first have to talk about the Serpentine War for a sec. Bare with me, I promise this will make sense.

This seems like a no-brainer, but a war requires people to actually, yknow, fight in it. Which means large demographics of people have to leave their homes, families, jobs, and communities. Naturally, this forces the ones they've left behind to compensate for the economic deficit caused by their absence. Anyone familiar with American history could tell you that this happened to the US during WWII - as swathes of men shipped off overseas to fight in the war, women back home had to take charge of the economy and participate more actively in the workforce.

I think it goes without saying that this kind of situation probably happened to Ninjago during the Serpentine War. But the thing is, we know women fought in the war stood at the front lines alongside the men - we've seen them. So if that's the case, then who stepped up to help run the economy while Mommy and Daddy were away?

I think you can guess where I'm going with this.

That's right. With so many people leaving to fight in the War (and also dying from Serpentine raids), I don't think it's unreasonable to conclude that some subset of kids and teens had to step up to the plate and take up some of the vacancies their parents had left behind. Obviously I'm not saying all the adults were gone, but it was enough to warrant kids entering the workforce prematurely.

And of course, if kids are getting jobs at younger ages, then I think it's valid to extrapolate that to teacher positions as well.

As you can imagine, this shift created a few new social precedents: 1) expectations for kids, especially teens, to get jobs and become mature at younger ages was normalized; and 2) requirements for certain careers, including education, became much more lenient.

This labor expectation imposed on older kids and teens would actually explain a lot more than just the s3 teacher situation, when you think about it.

Not only are unqualified teens allowed to become teachers, but also undead skeleton warriors from the Underworld (see s1ep4). I'm sorry, but you can't convince me that Kruncha and Nuckal are licensed educators.

The existence of Darkley's, and how it was able to exist for so long without any kind of administrative intervention. The education system is in shambles, and it's because Ninjago's infrastructure never fully recovered from the Serpentine War.

Disparities and gaps in people's historical/world knowledge. No one knows shit about anything. Because again, the education system in in shambles. (If you doubt the validity of this point, let me just remind you I'm from the US. I once met a college student who didn't know what 'north' was.)

The existence of the Paper Boys - how they can devote what seem to be entire workdays to an extremely dangerous job, with minimal adult oversight (if any).

The entirety of Ninjago society seems totally chill with the fact that their saviors are a bunch of kids. To them this isn't cause for concern or even distrust in the ninjas' capability, it's just the norm!

In s15, Lloyd was able to get a job, presumably without a high school diploma or GED of some kind. Or, yknow, any formal education past grade 3 (although we know from supplemental material that he did get some kind of tutoring from the ninja, so this point is debatable).

If some kind of in-universe CPS equivalent exists, then they certainly don't do anything. No one has ever reported or raised issue with Lloyd being homeless, Cole also being homeless for a while, the ninja not being in school, Kai and Nya being parent-free since the ages of ~6 and 3 respectively, and other such things that would ordinarily be cause for alarm.

While there is canon evidence that Kai and Nya received some degree of aid from their community, especially when they were younger, this seems to be completely absent by the time the series begins. Perhaps the community's assistance began to withdraw over time as the siblings faced increasing expectations to become self-sufficient despite still being children. Like, "you're 10 years old now, Kai, it's time for you to start pulling your weight and taking care of the shop by yourself. You need to grow up."

If we approach Ninjago's worldbuilding from this context, suddenly the teacher arc becomes less of a plothole and more...depressing, tbh.

And in a weird way, this interpretation actually fits in nicely with Ninjago's themes of generational trauma. Think about it. Society was damaged by the Serpentine War. And because they never really healed from what happened, the kids of future generations continue to face the normalization of their childhoods gradually being ripped away from them before they're ready. Kinda like kids in a broken home taking on adult responsibilities to cover the slack. Kinda like Cole handling house chores while his father grieved away from home. Kina like Kai and Nya running the shop while their parents were gone.

And everyone is just...used to it. The only times in all 15 seasons that anyone stakes a complaint about this system are in seasons 1-2 when Lloyd was a little child, in season 8 when Harumi was ridiculing the ninja, and in season 15 when Wu refused to lead the Paper Boys into battle.

(I do think it's worth noting that young children are still regarded as kids, of course, as seen with how the ninja were treated when they got de-aged. But this isn't really a refutation of my argument, as much as it is a clue to help us identify society's cutoff for childhood innocence.)

Again, it's more of a circumstantial theory than anything based in fact. So you're free to dispute it as you like. But you have to admit it would explain a lot, wouldn't it?

Anyway, that was...a lot longer than I was expecting it to be. Damn. I'm beginning to think that's gonna be a running theme with these theory posts.

Thanks for the ask! <3

[stairset]

Aight now that I've slept a bit and am less tired and have had some time to think about it, here is my hopefully coherent enough attempt to get my thoughts across on the Degenerate video, because I'm The Starset Guy and this is like the first major controversy they've ever had and even I have concerns about it and thus feel the need to get my thoughts out there. Cut-off for those who don't wanna scroll past all this cause it ended up being kinda long:

So first off just to get it out of the way: the song itself is great, as is to be expected with Starset. Vocals great, lyrics great, etc. No surprises there. Now to the actually controversial part, the music video. If you even wanna call it a music video, the video title calls it a visualizer instead but whatever. Semantics. Not the point.

So yeah, to start, I'm not exactly a fan of AI "art" for well, all the reasons everyone else has already brought up about it. But as other people have pointed out, in the case of this video there ARE some nuances to its usage that are worth discussing before jumping the gun and canceling the band. So first I'm actually gonna defend it a bit by going over the artistic intention behind it, then also point out the reasonable concerns that people have with it in spite of that intention.

So, I know this band. I know the lore and the narrative and the central themes and all that. The band's story centers around how technology shouldn't be abused by greedy corporate shitheads lest it ruin our society. Literally just a few months ago they released a book where the main antagonist was an AI that gained sentience and tried to enslave humanity. I'm not parasocial enough to pretend that I Know Dustin, but I know what he's about. And he's smart enough that I have to believe he didn't just make a move like this for no reason with no self-awareness. So yeah, I 100% get what the intent is here. As Dustin has said and others have repeated, the AI usage is clearly meant to be "ironic" and satirical, which becomes pretty clear when you actually watch the full video. Essentially it's using AI imagery to make fun of AI images. Real "I used the stones to destroy the stones" moment I guess. Lyrically, the song itself isn't SPECIFICALLY about AI, but it definitely is a big criticism of modern consumerism and commercialism in general, essentially talking about how we feel the need to stuff our faces with corporate-produced shit while our society is slowly falling apart around us. And while AI certainly isn't the sole problem there, it has certainly become a notable aspect of that larger problem, so it makes sense to satirize it to get the larger point across. The visualizer is gross and uncanny to look at on purpose. And it's clearly not trying to trick you into thinking it's NOT AI or anything, not trying to pass as something an actual human made with their own hands. It doesn't want you to be impressed by the visuals, it wants you to be disturbed by them. I compared it to the video for Linkin Park's "Lost" from last year since that was also made with AI visuals and as much as I also love that band and that song I'm still not exactly a fan of that particular choice. But the reason I bring it up is because I do think there's an interesting contrast in how it's being used in these two videos, as with the video for Lost it really did feel like it was using AI just for the sake of using it, riding the current trend, whereas here with Degenerate there's at least an actual reason for it, a reason that one can at least understand even if they don't like or agree with it.

Apparently Dustin's also said that they did pay artists to make the images for the specific purpose of running them through the AI for the video, though didn't really elaborate beyond that. But just based on what we know it does sound like these were consenting artists who knew what they were getting into here and were compensated for it. So it's not like it's a case of just stealing art or trying to replace actual humans to save a few bucks or anything, which is good since that's obviously one of the main concerns with AI in general.

There's also the fact that, as much as I don't like AI shit, the harsh reality is it's not going anywhere anytime soon. Personally if I had a magic button that could indefinitely halt all development on AI stuff until I can be sure that everyone will use it ethically and not abuse it then I would definitely hit that button, but the fact of the matter is that, for better or worse, it's here, it exists, and it will continue to evolve and be used. We can't just un-invent what's already been invented. And I'd argue that specific, limited, one-off uses like this are probably just about the most ethical way to implement it. Though of course I personally would rather this STAY a one-off thing, I absolutely do not want this kind of thing to become like, a regular thing for them. Or a regular thing in general.

But of course this video doesn't exist in a vacuum, there are other nuances here. Because as still more people have pointed out, using AI to make fun of AI is still using it. It's not like the video is in a completely neutral position, just commentating on the situation from afar. Even if it's making fun of AI, the fact that it's using it to do so means it's still feeding that AI, it is now another step forward in the evolution and proliferation of the thing that it's criticizing. One could argue that they maybe could have found a way to poke fun at it without actually using it. There's definitely a certain irony to be discussed in Making Fun Of The Thing By Doing The Thing. Is it being clever and meta? Or is it lacking forethought? Or maybe it's a bit of both. I don't know. Either way it's not exactly the best look, regardless of the intention and thought process behind it. Insert Torment Nexus joke here.

And although I SAID earlier that the satirical intent is pretty clear, it might not be clear to everyone. Even if the video isn't MEANT to set a precedent, it could unintentionally set a precedent anyway by inspiring copycats. Because unfortunately some people are simply too stupid to get obvious satire, especially if they're the ones the satire is aimed at. So it's entirely possible certain people will just see the trippy weird AI visuals and either won't realize or won't care what the the purpose behind them is and will just want to do it themselves because they think it's cool. And then THAT raises the whole question of "how much should you blame the person who made the satire for people being too dumb to get it, especially in cases like this where the satire is incredibly unsubtle and on the nose?" But then that's getting into a whole 'nother topic entirely so I'm not gonna dive into that.

And then of course there's other concerns like how research has shown that AI has a negative effect on the environment. As far as I know THAT particular concern hasn't been addressed so I don't know if they even considered that, but if they didn't then yeah, that's pretty irresponsible and lacking forethought.

There's also just the matter of personal preference, like even if you get that it's satire you might just think that it's not very good satire which is a fair opinion to have. Like personally I just didn't even really enjoy watching the video despite knowing full-well what The Point of it was.

So, in summation, taking all these points into account, I don't think that this particular usage of AI tools is THAT bad. I might even go as far as to say that it's like, fine I guess, at least in isolation. I think many assumed the worst before it came out but I don't think it's worth suddenly denouncing the band or going all "well actually they sucked the whole time and I totally never liked them anyway" or anything like that. Though I'm sure some people will start doing that. I'd say this is a somewhat questionable but not-too-egregious move, that there are legitimate concerns to be had and that I do share those concerns, and as I said I don't want this kind of thing to become the norm for them or for any other band, but I also don't think we should immediately conclude that the band has been Ruined Forever or anything. This kind of thing is a slippery slope, so I guess all we can really do is hope that Dustin doesn't end up falling down it. But that's my take on the whole thing. Maybe I'm being fair and nuanced and unbiased. Or maybe I'm just a hypocrite who's bending over backwards to give my fav the benefit of a doubt. I don't know. All I know is I just wanted to get all this off my chest at once so I can hopefully stop thinking about it and just enjoy the song on its own.

[brookstolemybrand]

Saw this post and I don't really want to respond to it directly because 1) it's old, 2) it's clearly meant to be funny and not taken overly seriously (and I don't have any actual beef with it to be absolutely clear)

But it did get me thinking

Like firstly yeah it makes sense that Sabo would be the real hoodlum and Ace the more respectable one at heart, just because Ace was never even given a chance to be a Good Kid while Sabo actively chose not to be one

We have no way of knowing what Ace would have been like if he'd been (for example) allowed to grow up peacefully with his biological mum without being persecuted for his biological dad's crimes. He was given no choice except to become a delinquent, that was the only option available to him

Sabo had every chance in the world to grow up to be a respectable and polite gentleman, he was given all the education and training and a status that was apparently high enough to even rise all the way up to royalty (as proven by Sterry), but he didn't want it so he said fuck that and actively chose to become a Bad Kid

So yeah, it makes sense Sabo is the more rebellious one, the one who has less respect for authority, because unlike for Ace, for him this was all a choice

Under different circumstances, maybe Ace would even have become a marine like Garp wanted, who knows. Sabo was never going become a respectable gentleman, much less a king

That said, it's worth noting that it's not like Sabo was doing well at home. He was unloved, he struggled fitting the mould he was expected to fit, he felt trapped. He was driven to lash out just like Ace was, just in a different way. In Sabo's case it was about him not fitting into society because of who he was. Ace wasn't allowed to even try to fit in, because of who his dad was

I don't actually think either of them is the more "responsible" one, though. Because they're both responsible in different ways, they just have different priorities:

Like that post I reblogged earlier talks about Dragon sacrificing his personal relationships for the cause, that's kinda what I think Sabo is doing too, at least to some extent

Here's my take:

Ace is the more responsible one when it comes to interpersonal relationships, but Sabo feels a responsibility for the whole world

I mean he IS still reckless about it but well, so was Ace about his own responsibilities

I get it though, this is more about making the point that Ace is not the rude miscreant of the two and Sabo isn't the polite and peaceful one, Ace just looks like a hoodlum (... which he is, to be fair, he's a pirate) and Sabo like a gentleman (which he also kinda is but only due to an accident of birth) but that doesn't indicate anything about their personalities

Ace is the polite one, and Sabo is the rude one. Ace is friendly and caring despite appearances, and Sabo is kind of vicious and ruthless despite his gentle demeanour. And Ace might be a pirate but when we meet him he's trying to maintain stability and order (among pirates, but still), while Sabo might be a nobleman but when we meet him, he's actively trying to start a revolution to overthrow the government

And Ace is the one who stepped up to take care of Luffy and to look after him, while Sabo fucked off to the sea and joined a rebel militia

I just don't think "responsibility" is the right term for the distinction, I guess? Because as I said, I think Sabo is actually still motivated by a sense of responsibility. I mean that was also why he decided to leave Luffy and Ace in the first place, thinking that him being friends with them was putting them in danger, but I also think he was feeling a more general sense of responsibility as a member of the upper class who caused all this suffering in the first place

I actually wonder if it's a thing with both Sabo and Dragon because one was born a noble and the other is a former marine (and son of a navy hero), that they feel like they have to commit to the cause to make up for their origins?

And Sabo cares about this even to the point where he's willing to sacrifice his own dream of freedom to fight for the freedom of others. This wasn't what he wanted after all: he wanted to be a pirate, just like Luffy and Ace, and he could have chosen to follow that dream when he regained his memories but he didn't, because he decided that the revolution was more important