#'that was the lesson. I will create an era of peace'

[adhd-merlin]

Ah someone else who has discovered the joys of Camelot (1967) a movie that I am completely normal about. Have you watched it? Because the delivery of the lines is everything and if you need someone to talk to about it I am, once again, completely normal about it. The scene where Lancelot and Arthur first meet?? A masterpiece in sharing a single braincell. And don't even get me started on the way Guenevere first treats Lancelot "have you jousted with humility lately". It's unapologetically at the top of my Arthuriana movie rank list and has gotten me to reread The Once and Future King

I have not watched the film yet!

I've been listening to the original cast recording on Spotify but, most importantly, I've read the book of the original Broadway production (1960 libretto) and I love it?? It's a delightful little read on its own, even without having watched the musical. (I want other people to read it please it's very funny I promise)

I guess the 1967 film script won't be identical to the libretto but I assume it's fairly similar.

The scene where Lancelot meets Arthur was hilarious it made me laugh out loud. Lancelot utter puzzlement ("Gone a-Maying, Your Majesty??"). Arthur's sudden self-consciousness.

And don't even get me started on the way Guenevere first treats Lancelot "have you jousted with humility lately"

I know!! Lancelot's grating self-righteousness coupled with his complete lack of self-awareness is so funny.

And I loved the gradual tone shift. It starts out so silly and the tragedy sneaks up on you — I thought Guinevere and Lancelot's affair might be played for laughs with an oblivious Arthur but no, it turns out he's fully aware of what's going on and he's forced to watch it unfold because he's powerless to stop it? and he loves them both and doesn't want any harm to come to them even as they betray him??

(He continues talking, looking from one to the other, feverishly — painfully) — Excuse me??

and King Pellinore is hilarious, he enters the scene wearing a monocle followed by a little mongrel named Horrid and talking like a character from a P. G. Wodehouse's novel. Extremely validating because when I read that chapter in Le Morte d'Arthur in which King Pellinore first makes an appearance my first question was "is he meant to be this funny?" and the answer from this script is a resounding YES.

I think I might perhaps watch the 1968 stage production first, merely because it's available for free on Youtube (at least in the UK).

I might try hunting for a free streaming link to the 1967 film, though I don't mind renting it if I can't find it.

[honeytonedhottie]

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[thechanelmuse]

Juneteenth is a Black American holiday. 

We call Juneteenth many things: Black Independence Day, Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day. We celebrate and honor our ancestors. 

December 31 is recognized as Watch Night or Freedom’s Eve in Black American churches because it marks the day our enslaved ancestors were awaiting news of their freedom going into 1863. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. But all of the ancestors wouldn’t be freed until June 19, 1865 for those in Galveston, Texas and even January 23, 1866 for those in New Jersey (the last slave state). (It’s also worth noting that our people under the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations wouldn’t be freed until April 28, 1866 and June 14, 1866 for those under the Cherokee Nation by way of the Treaties.)

Since 1866, Black Americans in Texas have been commemorating the emancipation of our people by way of reading the Emancipation Proclamation and coming together to have parades, free festivities, and later on pageants. Thereafter, it spread to select states as an annual day of commemoration of our people in our homeland. 

Here’s a short silent video filmed during the 1925 Juneteenth celebration in Beaumont, Texas:

(It’s also worth noting that the Mascogos tribe in Coahuila, Mexico celebrate Juneteenth over there as well. Quick history lesson: A total of 305,326 Africans were shipped to the US to be enslaved alongside of American Indians who were already or would become enslaved as prisoners of war, as well as those who stayed behind refusing to leave and walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. In the United States, you were either enslaved under the English territories, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, or under the Nations of what would called the Five “Civilized” Native American Tribes: Cherokee, Creek (Muscogee), Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminoles. Mascogos descend from the Seminoles who escaped slavery during the Seminole Wars, or the Gullah Wars that lasted for more than 100 years if you will, and then settled at El Nacimiento in 1852.)

We largely wave our red, white and blue flags on Juneteenth. These are the only colors that represent Juneteenth. But sometimes you may see others wave our Black American Heritage flag (red, black, and gold).

Juneteenth is a day of respect. It has nothing to do with Africa, diversity, inclusion, immigration, your Pan-African flag, your cashapps, nor your commerce businesses. It is not a day of “what about” isms. It is not a day to tap into your inner colonizer and attempt to wipe out our existence. That is ethnocide and anti-Black American. If you can’t attend a Black American (centered) event that’s filled with education on the day, our music, our food and other centered activities because it’s not centered around yours…that is a you problem. Respect our day for what and whom it stands for in our homeland. 

Juneteenth flag creator: “Boston Ben” Haith 

It was created in 1997. The red, white and blue colors represent the American flag. The five-point star represents the Lone State (Texas). The white burst around the star represents a nova, the beginning of a new star. The new beginning for Black Americans. 

Black American Heritage Flag creators: Melvin Charles & Gleason T. Jackson

It was created in 1967, our Civil Rights era. The color black represents the ethnic pride for who we are. Red represents the blood shed for freedom, equality, justice and human dignity. Gold fig wreath represents intellect, prosperity, and peace. The sword represents the strength and authority exhibited by a Black culture that made many contributions to the world in mathematics, art, medicine, and physical science, heralding the contributions that Black Americans would make in these and other fields. 

SN: While we’re talking about flags, I should note that Grace Wisher, a 13-year-old free Black girl from Baltimore helped stitched the Star Spangled flag, which would inspire the national anthem during her six years of service to Mary Pickersgill. I ain’t even gon hold you. I never looked too far into it, but she prob sewed that whole American flag her damn self. They love lying about history here until you start unearthing them old documents. 

In conclusion, Juneteenth is a Black American holiday. Respect us and our ancestors.

[incorrectmahabharatquotes]

i love the incorrect quotes, but i dont agree with your political views. if its not much, could you explain why ur so anti bjp?(thats what i assume anyway)

You know, I actually think that the memes and the quotes are sort of a natural extension of our political views. I'll explain but it might get a little long. Stay with me here.

Firstly, I want to say that I think this way of perceiving politics is so fundamentally wrong.

"Anti-BJP", "Pro-BJP", "Anti-Congress", "pro-congress" etc etc. This isn't a cricket match where you're rooting for your favourite team. Politicians, as a general rule, are a bunch of liars. They lie to gain power and control. It's OUR duty, as CITIZENS, to keep them accountable and in their lane so they actually do their goddamn jobs. That's how the democracy is supposed to work. If they don't do their job properly, you vote them out of the seat. They work for us, and not the other way around.

In India, we grow up with this idea of not questioning your elders. Papa ne keh diya, bas keh diya. As children our natural instinct of curiosity and inquisitiveness is stifled. We go to schools and the same pattern follows. Don't question the authority. Keep your head down and colour inside the lines. We internalise this lesson to colossal degrees. Is it any wonder that we all struggle with critical thinking? If you're spoonfed "the correct answer" your entire life, you never learn to find if what you were told is correct or not. This exact thing is used by all politicians across the entire political spectrum. They use our learned behaviour of deferring to authority and never questioning power against us. The leader of the country becomes the patriarch. Papa ne keh diya, bas keh diya.

I have various issues with various political parties in India, in fact. I have no love lost for any of them. I don't exactly believe in unconditional loyalty to politicians.

Since you brought up the BJP, let's talk about that. My biggest issue with them is their politics of communal hatred. All they keep yapping about is hindu-muslim this and hindu-muslim that. For what? They could spend their time talking about actual issues but the low-hanging fruit of stoking communal hatred is easier to grab onto. Remember when the British did the same thing? It was bad then and it's bad now. All this unrest just to get votes. Imagine fucking up the mind of an entire nation like this and then demanding to be praised for it.

Their foundational roots are from the RSS and that entire organisation's existence is just insane to me. It's even more insane that they managed to go from a fringe ideology to becoming mainstream. "Hindu rashtra", it seems. Who even wants that? WHY do they want that? Is it such a bad fate to live in peace and harmony with other religions? A lot of their talking points are about how much they hate the islamic nations and how those are horrible and then they want to turn around and do the same thing?!? Is the hypocrisy not clear? So what if other countries are religious states? Why can't we try to be different? Maybe I'M the stupid one for thinking all humans are the same that we should treat everyone the same. Who knows.

There are also a bunch of other issues that the BJP has racked up during their rule. The demonetisation disaster, mismanagement of government funds to create public infrastructure, letting the interests of billionaire business ruin PROTECTED FOREST AREAS for mining coal that they didn't even need, introducing and passing HORRIBLE bills through the parliament without any thought or discussion, literally ignoring the plight of people dying in riots, CORRUPTION, destroying the public sector and letting for-profit capitalists free reign in a country which has practically no proper labour laws, aiding in creating a historical record of INCOME INEQUALITY that is higher than it was during the fucking colonial era, fucking up the press even more somehow to the point where they control all of the media houses.

This is not even scratching the surface. I could keep going.

My issue is not whether people vote for the BJP or not. Even if you like the BJP, my issue is that people seem willing to turn a blind eye to all the issues with the government and not even hold them accountable for it.

Vote for whoever you want. My only request is to keep your government accountable. Keep the power in check. The politicians should be SCARED of the citizens fury if they do something wrong. They shouldn't be free to do whatever and get off scot free.

That's our political stance, really. It's Pro-Exercise-Your-Democratic-Rights-As-Citizen.

We will always encourage others to be wary of people with too much power.

Now coming back to why I said the memes reflect our political stance, it's because it's obvious to see why we happen to be willing to risk being a little critical of a literary text. You have to be a little transgressive, in a sense. Perfect obedience and perfect reverence stifles people from engaging with something to their full potential.

I'm sorry to say that if you enjoy the memes and the quotes, you are also being a little transgressive like us. You're also questioning the authority of a religion to an extent. Perhaps our political leanings aren't as different as you might believe.

-Mod S

[mariacallous]

Today, the flames of violent nationalism still flicker in the Balkans. Revisionist grievances and autocratic instincts animate leaders in Turkey and Hungary. The fallout from the 2009 European debt crisis and the years of hardship and austerity that followed showed that resentment of German influence—in this case, economic influence—is never deeply buried. Even today, as Putin gives European states every reason to work together, tensions between Ukraine and Poland or between France and Germany occasionally flare.

There are worrying political trends, as well. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has spent years deconstructing Hungarian democracy and touting the rise of the “illiberal state.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is carrying out a similar project in his country. Parties such as the National Rally in France are rising in the polls and trafficking in a hard-edged nationalism that can easily turn into zero-sum geopolitical thinking, with centuries of historical grievances ready to be awakened. The far-right Alternative for Germany remains a political contender even as it becomes more extreme. The triumph of these movements might well be aided by a Russia assiduously waging political warfare, all too eager to set European states against one another.

A fractured Europe gripped by its ancient demons is a nightmare scenario, and nightmares usually don’t come true. But what is crucial to understand is that a post-American Europe would be fundamentally unlike the Europe we have come to know. The geopolitical shock absorbers provided by U.S. power and its umbrella over Europe will be gone. The destabilizing uncertainty over status and security will return. Countries will no longer feel so confident that they can ensure their survival without resorting to the behavior—the military buildups, the intense rivalries—that characterized earlier eras. Today’s Europe is the product of a historically unique, unprecedented configuration of power and influence created by the United States. Can we really be so sure that the bad old ways won’t reassert themselves once the very safeguards that have suppressed them for 75 years are withdrawn?

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Europe’s transformation into today’s peaceful EU can never be undone. After all, Europe experienced stretches of relative peace before 1945—in the decades after Napoleon’s defeat, for instance—only for that peace to collapse once the balance of power shifted. And don’t think that tragedy can’t befall a continent that seems so enlightened: The history of Europe, prior to U.S. engagement, was the history of the world’s most economically advanced, most thoroughly modern continent repeatedly tearing itself to shreds. Indeed, if there is a lesson from Europe’s past, it is that the descent can come sooner and be steeper than currently seems possible to imagine.

In the 1920s, the forces of liberalism seemed ascendant: British writer James Bryce hailed the “universal acceptance of democracy as the normal and natural form of government.” The newly founded League of Nations was offering novel mechanisms for crisis management. Countries were slashing their militaries and settling outstanding grievances from World War I. Just a decade later, it was the forces of fascism that had the momentum as the continent careened toward another world war. Europe’s own history is testament to how quickly and completely things can all fall apart.

America Firsters may think that the United States can have all the benefits of a stable Europe without paying any of the costs. In reality, their policies risk reminding us that Europe has a far nastier historical norm. That would be a calamity—and not just for Europe. A weaker, more fragmented Europe would make it harder for the democratic world to cope with challenges from Russia, China, or Iran. A violent, hypercompetitive Europe could cause fallout on a global scale.

If Europe has benefited from being part of a thriving liberal order in recent decades, that liberal order has benefited from having a peaceful, gradually expanding EU at its core. If Europe turns dark and vicious again, it might once more export its conflicts to the world. On the day that the United States retreats across the Atlantic, it will be placing far more than the future of Europe at risk.

Trump’s Return Would Transform Europe

[troius]

"idk I kinda wish his bankai had been like Unohanas" "just a total reversal from what you'd expect"

Im sorry but I have to dissagree here. Unohana´s bankai worked as a reversal because it was an actualy reversal, we were lead to believe she was a peaceful person, but in reality she was bloodthirsty.

Her bankai reflects her hidden bloodthirsty nature. Kenpachi´s arc wasnt about growing out of his brutish fighter ways, or revealing something hidden, it was about becoming the best version of that.

His bankai is straight forward because thats what Kenpachi has always been. There may have not been an epiphany moment that leads to this end point, but the end point itself is perfectly fitting

But Unohana was a peaceful person, that's the trick.

Yes, she was, back in the day, the most notorious criminal in Soul Society, a brutal swordfighter who helped Yamamoto carve out Soul Society from an era of blood, and probably killed her fair share of Quincies in the first war.

But she was also the peaceful healer, the mentor, the quiet pillar of strength that supported all the other companies of the court guards. That's who she chose to be, and while you can say it was a facade...at some point, the facade has enough impact on the world that I don't think you can discount it as a part of the person. If that Unohana was never real, then who wrote that last letter to Isane?

And I know we're all in love with badass Yachiru Unohana, but she was really a terrible person! She apparently used to go to the outer districts and just butcher people in the hopes that somebody would resist, and once again provide her with the sweet taste of mortal combat. That's not just unhealthy, it's horribly immoral. And it created a monster, Zaraki, who behaved in more or less the same way.

But Unohana changed! She's not the only one-- it's a big theme in Yamamoto's fight with Yhwach as well, this idea that actually being a hard-ass killer isn't what should be valued in life. Yamamoto left his arm in ashes back in Karakura town so that he wouldn't again misplace his priorities, and he dies to Yhwach in part because of it, but he leaves Shunsui in charge, somebody who he specifically taught not to value the monster he used to be.

And that's what Unohana does to Zaraki. She brings it all out of him, he finally has everything he wanted, and then he kills her, and realizes well fuck. Maybe fighting to the death isn't the goal of life. Maybe it happens, but it's not your purpose, it's something you do if it has to be done for something in your life, something you care about.

It's the exact same lesson Zangetsu was teaching Ichigo during that first fight against Zaraki in Soul Society, and it's not a coincidence that Zaraki's first fight after this is rescuing Isane, the other person that Unohana deeply cared for. Fighting for a purpose, in sharp contrast to all his previous fights, which were fought more or less because he wanted to fight somebody.

Anyhow, my point with all these words is just to say that Zaraki should be growing out of his brutish fighter ways. Being a brutish fighter is not cool, it's literally how hollows exist. Zaraki's first fight with Ichigo is even titled "the Undead". But I'd prefer it if he lived, life has so many possibilities.

[1galaxia369]

LEO RISING ♌️

❤️ Timeless Reading ❤️

For my lovely Leo risings, I see that you're at a beautiful point in your life. You have been handed support and abundance by the universe, she has been favoring you. It's for a reason, you have a lot coming in and your purpose and soul fullfilment is prominent for this new journey. Your spirit guides need you to be prepared because once this starts coming in there's no turning back and no going back to your comfort habits and coping mechanisms. They're trying to teach you to be intentional with everything you do. You're on the right track, I need to clap yourself and be proud of yourself. You learned your lessons and overcame some tough stuff, that's admirable. Now I see that you're having trouble with the "what next?"

Your ancestors are at work right now. You have things to do in the meantime though, you're worrying about what to do next and the tasks that you have been saying you were going to do are sitting there undone. All those creative skills you have and are planning to use to achieve your goals need to be worked on more. Your Spirit team is working to arrange and bring forth a lot of opportunities for you in the meantime perfect those skills, have some fun,do some soul searching, spend time in nature, unblock those chakras. You have an abundance of things to do that will heal and make you better. Worrying about what next is showing that you're not focusing on the right things and that will lead to self doubt and procrastination.

I see love coming for you, alot of peace and balance and harmony in relationships. You successfully removed all the negative people from around you and now the people that are in your life are bringing harmony and support. You have people that love you and are stepping up to support you, I'll suggest trusting that, use discernment but still trust. I'm seeing boss energy coming in for you, I see a lot of Mr/Ms "I don't play that shit". I love that for you guys! Stop accepting peoples bullshit and stand up, who cares if they think your being cocky or acting like your better than them. You have to take care of your self FIRST before anyone else. Self love is choosing to do right by yourself regardless of what people say or how they feel. You know what you want/need and you took the time out to learn yourself. You learned your own love language and do all the things you need to be happy and feel loved…for yourself. This is what the universe wanted and now you’re about be rewarded for your hard work and self improvement.

I understand your restlessness at this moment but that energy needs to be put into something else. I already told you about your neglect towards your creative endeavors and skills. Get on that. It will lead to something, go revisit them and review those old plans and mood boards and journal entries. Get your stationary and start your revision and rewrite things it'll be better now that you have more information and a better idea of what you want. The universe is about to open doors to fulfillment and you need to be ready for it, practice meditation and breathing, you need to maintain a sound mind, clean from clutter. The field is cleared and I can see the gears turning but you need something to direct that energy into something hence why suggested to you to go look back at your goals. There's no confusion or illusion, you're creating that yourself and it'll throw you off we need some creative focus right now. Congratulations again on doing away with the bull shit. Enjoy your "We only entertain peace" era.

I recommend Carnelian,Amethyst,celestite, smoky quartz,rainbow flourite. Aura cleansing is needed, egg cleanses are good, go see a practitioner for one good cleanse(you don't have to tho), Try putting florida water into a spray bottle to help with quick cleansing. Crown chakra and third eye needs some attention. Stay away from people that drain you.

12:12 12:22 12:34

[bnhaobservation]

Why Tōya and Himiko were saved and yet weren’t: observations, ramblings and speculations

So an answer I gave to an ask about Enji triggered an interesting discussion between @certainaestheticfictionmuffin and @hotdiggitty95 that overall made me ponder...

...on how, in the end, Tōya doesn’t feel saved. Yes, they saved his life, as he didn’t blast himself and the others away, but Tōya is still filled with anger, he’s not smiling, even when his father admits he’s sorry, even though the visual might make him seem like he’s crying (Tōya can’t physically cry but the manga had many ways to depict him making him look like he’s crying even when he’s physically not),

he’s still claiming he hates everyone and wants everyone to die… opposite to Himiko, who’s smiling and wanting Ochako to live and… she’s dying.

So, although both Shōto and Ochako managed to stop Tōya and Himiko from killing people we can see that on one side we’ve Shōto, who managed to save Tōya’s life but not Tōya’s soul and from the other we’ve Ochako, who managed to save Himiko’s soul but not her life.

I’ll add to them Shūichi, who’s not saved at all. Shōji managed to stop the uprising, so he saved people… but he didn’t save Shūichi’s soul as he didn’t reach him at all, and he was left lying on the ground of the hospital. I like to think he won’t die but who knows, the Quirk All for One gave him might have made more damage than good.

So…

PREMISE: What follows are merely my speculations. I’m not Horikoshi, I don’t know the end of the manga and my theories are as worthy as the ones of everyone else. Also this isn’t absolutely to be taken as a critic to Shōto and Ochako (or Shōji as he gets mentioned too). Those three kids did the best they could with what they had. If they couldn’t fully save their Villains, if all this might seems unsatisfactory, and indeed it is, it’s likely because it’s the whole point, because it’s up to the main character, Deku, to save Tomura/Tenko’s life and soul both, as well as stopping the destruction, accomplishing the perfect saving and Shōto and Ochako’s only partial success is only here to remark how hard what Deku wants to do is, so that we’ll be all properly impressed when he’ll accomplish this.

Now though… what’s needed to save someone completely?

I’ll start in a roundabout way.

BNHA in a Shōnen and Shōnen generally have along with the purpose to entertain readers with a good story, also an ‘educative’ purpose.

We might end up thinking the lesson is that Deku will solve the problem that the League of Villains has created, stopping the desperate state Japan has slipped into but it’s likely not that. Why?

When the story starts and for a long while during the story, the status quo that All Might established was in place. The status quo got destroyed only much later on, with the Paranormal Liberation War. Yes, when All Might retired it was weakened but it was still in place. If Deku were to rewind the damage the war has caused, the world would go back to how it was when the story started.

In short, while All Might changed the world and started an era of peace, Deku wouldn’t be able to change the world, he would just manage to maintain what All Might has created.

In the same way as One for All is a power that each user make grow, Deku also needs to improve the world. The story has to end not with a world that’s how it started but with a world that’s IMPROVED.

It’s only by improving the world that you can save the League body and soul.

In fact the reason to be of the League is that it was created with the purpose to CHANGE THE WORLD. Tomura/Tenko explained it well. The world rejected the members of the League, so in return they’re rejecting it. Since they felt destroyed by the world, they are destroying it.

As Himiko summarized is ‘win or lose, live or die’ or, if you prefers Tōya’s words, society is ‘reaping what it sow’ with them.

Tomura/Tenko, Tōya, Himiko and Shūichi couldn’t fit in the world they were in.

Basically the League and the Heroes are fighting for the survival of two different world, the League wants a world in which THEY can live and all those who previously rejected them will now be rejected, the Heroes wants the previous world, which ironically was the one in which the people who rejected the League would be accepted and the League would be still cut out.

It’s still ‘live or die’.

When Himiko explains why she chooses to die she points it out. She believes it’s the world the League will create the one in which she would live easily and with live easily she means, as a normal person.

Ochako’s way to save her would be to visit her in prison and make her those blood donations until Himiko were to die. Now true, Himiko did commit crimes by now and she should be punished… but the point is… if the Heroes win the world will go back on being the same. She’ll go back on being a freak for everyone except Ochako.

Even if she could rewind things and resurrect everyone she killed, erase everything she has done, it’s just Ochako who accepted her (yeah, we know Deku and the rest of U.A. would likely follow but that’s for us to know, not for Himiko at this point in the story). She would have one person by her side, which would make the world a little kinder but… it would still be very hard for her to fit… and anyway she views that chance as not worth pursuing. A life in jail after a life of misery by being rejected by the world isn’t something worthwhile.

And there’s a huge irony in this because, differently from Tōya, Himiko didn’t want to die, but doesn’t want the only person who saved her to die as well. Likely she could have saved Ochako just by giving her some of her blood, she didn’t have to try give her it all, she choose to do so because she now can’t live in a world where the League win but there’s no Ochako nor in a world where Ochako is there but there’s no place for her.

And now we move to Tōya.

Tōya is saved physically, which is always what his family does with him, they worry he won’t burn himself and doesn’t worry about his psychological wounds.

This time though, they try to address the pain inside him, Shōto by acknowledging how impressive Tōya’s fire was, Enji and Rei by apologizing to him. Why it doesn’t work? Partly because it’s too little too late, which is what Tōya had thought when he realized the family was looking at him but decided to blow up anyway, but mostly because the answer is written already in chap 1 & 2. When Inko apologizes to Izuku, all Izuku can think is that he wanted her to say something else. Tōya feels a failure, his Quirk burns his body, which makes impossible for him to be a Hero. His parents look at him and apologize for their mistakes but doesn’t erase his sense of having been a failure. Where Ochako accepted Himiko and made her feel normal by telling her she has the cutest smile in the world, they, same as Inko early on, didn’t.

I’m not saying they don’t love Tōya, just that what was given wasn’t enough to soothe his psychological pain.

So, where Ochako was the one who always worried about making everyone happy and therefore worried soothing Himiko’s psychological pain, the Todoroki always worried about physical pain and couldn’t save Tōya’s soul.

Mind you, Ochako wanted to save Himiko physically as well, she didn’t mean for Himiko to die, she didn’t try to kill her, she did all she could to also not hurt her and the Todoroki wanted to also save Tōya’s soul, they’re looking at him, they’re apologizing but, same as for Himiko, they aren’t interested in creating a world that would accept him.

Natsuo says from then on it would be hell for them.

Again, it’s not a point of ‘but Tōya had killed people and deserves to be punished’, it’s a problem of ‘if we could rewind everything and get back to before Tōya were to decide to murder people, Tōya’s Quirk would still burn him and he would still be judged not Hero material'.

The Todoroki as well aren’t trying to create a world that would accept him the way he is.

It’s something that gets lost in the west, where we appreciate diversity, but in Japan there’s a big deal in conforming with everyone else.

Tōya and Himiko aren’t rejected at random, or because they’ve bad parents, but because they’re different.

This is still the world that said that Izuku couldn’t be a Hero because he was Quirkless, Tsukauchi remarks it by saying there’s no point in All Might facing All for One Quirkless because he can’t win and instead there’s A LOT of point. Because All Might showed that, even Quirkless he could hold the battle for a long time and make considerable damage.

He wasn’t garbage, something useless that had no place in the Hero world. It was never All Might’s Quirk that made him a Hero. It was All Might all along. And, in a way, what All Might is doing, will start to change the world because he’s showing the world itself that a Quirkless man can be a Hero. And his act in a way change the future as everyone starts to pray for him to survive.

And now it will be probably up to Deku and Bakugo to realize the perfect score. All Might opened the way, they will probably manage to save Tomura/Tenko’s body and soul not by returning everything to the status quo but by working so as to change it, so as to improve it in a way.

At this point it won’t matter if Tomura/Tenko will get into a jail or not, because society will be changed and the goal he wanted to archive (changing the world) will be archived.

Deku will accomplish saving his body as well as his soul by giving him a world in which a person like him could fit.

I like to think that, when Deku will accomplish this, it will turn out that Himiko didn’t die and that this new world is also a world in which Tōya can fit (as well as Shūichi) so that all the League will be saved body and soul regardless from what will happen to them afterward. But maybe it’s just me.

[mageofseven]

Obey Me World Origins

This a mythos-style history lesson on how I see the Three Realms forming. I hope you will give this a try! I've been thinking and adding to this for a while and am honestly in love with this origin story.

Please read it! It'd mean a lot to me 👉👈🥺

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

In the beginning of the world, all that existed was magick--light magick and dark magic.

Over time, these particles of magic became self aware and gave themselves form.

These were the days where the concept of race was not thought of all. Terms like demon and angel simply did not exist; all beings were magick and unity between all were the standard.

As each Magick developed their own sense of self more and more and changed their appearance further to express that change, the sides gradually saw the differences between themselves.

The two Magicks found themselves becoming more and more divided, but still at peace. The Light Magicks formed their home high up in what they called the sky, creating comfy clouds and a beautiful sun to shine down on them.

The Dark Magicks kept down below in the abyss, where they found peace and comfort in the darkness.

While the Dark Magicks spent their time learning and reflecting, wanting answers to questions like "Why am I here?" and "What is the limit of what I can do with my existence?" the Light Magicks took a more social path to their existence.

Though such questions sounded fascinating to the Light Magicks, they decided the answers to such mattered little and that what did matter was that they were alive and that was such a joyous thing! The Light Magicks wanted to share this joy and make more like them and so were the first of the two Magicks to discover procreation.

Divided but at peace. Different but equal. Such beliefs did not stay long.

Eventually, a being of Light expressed such foreign beliefs to his people, that the dark beings should live life as they do.

While Light Magicks created more of their kind and took care of one another, dark being rarely reproduced and 'selfishly' focused on pursuit of knowledge that 'benefitted no one'.

Unfortunately, this belief in the Dark Magicks' selfishness permeated through the clouds and tension between those above and below started to brew.

This lead to war between the two Magicks, both sides with their owns strengths.

The Light Magicks had their numbers and determination to make the Dark Magicks submit to them.

The Dark Magicks had their carefully collected knowledge and their strong will to live.

Eventually, the war came to a stalemate and the two Magicks closed themselves off from one another, creating the Celestial realm and what was once called the Abyssal realm.

This marked the end of Primordial era and pushed the new races into the Era of Seclusion.

Numerous millennia went by without a single word being said between those who were now known as demons and angels

Until the founding of the Royal Family in the Abyssal realm, started by a demon simply known as the Devil.

The Devil wished for a world like the one they read about in the parchments of history from the days of the Primordial era.

Ever the academic, as all demons saw themselves, the Devil felt there was so much potential to learn from the Celestial beings and rallied his people to try just once more to open their hearts and minds to the angels above.

At this point though, the angels were very different from the Light Magicks before them. Their entire way of being was changed.

Now led by a being simply called Father, the angels no longer procreated in the vast manner they used to and their population was tightly controlled by the higher being.

Concerned, but highly fascinated, the Devil still pursued his plan for knowledge and peace.

The Devil was captivated by the beauty of the being who ruled the Celestial realm and the being too was intrigued by this demon who was so determined to make their way through the gates.

The ruler of the newly named Devildom and the Father of angels fell madly in love and together, the two realms reached a small period called the Loving Enlightenment period.

During this point, both races freely interacted and love bloomed endlessly between the two races.

Eventually the Devil fell pregnant with the Celestial leader's children.

In order to keep their children somewhere safe and comfortable, the Father of angels created a realm solely for his youngest children, who he already loved so dearly.

And so the Human realm was made and the Devil birthed their celestial lover's children's there, beings made of both light and dark magick.

Raising these first generation humans became an inter-realm project. Demon and angel alike, working together to give this new race a good lease on life.

Eventually, more angels started procreating with demons though and the Father of Angels felt his control slipping from his flock.

This caused discord between him and his demonic lover, one that could never be repaired.

No matter how much he loved the Devil and their children, this being could never love anyone more than himself.

Tension brewed and war came once more. Any children created from the union of angels and demons were thrown into the Human realm and anyone who tried to retrieve their children from there were destroyed on sight.

Both the Devildom and the Celestial realm locked their gates once more.

Young humanity, once loved and cherished, was forgotten and alone.

Both demons and angels were forbidden from interacting with the humans in anyway because their leaders feared it would result in another war.

Centuries went by and both realms slowly start to interact with humanity once again.

First, they tried to be subtle, but it slowly grew to the level of a cold war staged in their children's realm.

To what degree, it fluctuated throughout humanity's existence.

Till a prince of the Royal Family too read about peaceful times long forgotten and was captivated by the grandiose idea of finishing what his ancestor the Devil started by bringing lasting peace between the Three Realms in the form of schooling and cultural exchange.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group B Round 2: #B7 vs #B3

#B7: Kid epicly procrastinates during class

#B3: Samurai on motorcycles!

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#B7: Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time

Summary:

All Rumi Yokoi wants to do is focus during school, but she is constantly distracted by Toshinari Seki, her neighboring classmate. Paying attention during class is the least of Seki's worries, as he obsesses over intricate setups created using an assortment of items, from an elaborate domino course on his desk to a treacherous war played out with shogi pieces. Yokoi desperately attempts to focus in class, only to be repeatedly sucked into his intriguing eccentricities; however, they always seem to end up with her getting in trouble with their teacher. Fortunately, lessons will never be dull with Seki's antics around!

Propaganda 1:

Seki-kun is the sort of anime that stays underrated because it seems overly simple, but it really shines in its simplicity. The episodes are short tales of Seki’s epic procrastination and they’re absurdly amusing. Both the opening and ending are super funny and really well-thought-out.

It’s the anime equivalent of a hard candy. You can have an episode at the end of the day or between tasks, and it entertains you well without asking for much.

Propaganda 2:

It is a really short anime with very short episodes but is still very entertaining, and we never hear the character whose name is in the title speak but we still get a really good feel of his personality. It’s just really funny and a lot of fun to watch.

Trigger Warnings: None

#B3: Orient

Summary:

Freed from the rule of samurai 150 years ago, the people of Hinomoto live peaceful lives and revere their liberators—demons whose true forms remain elusive—as gods. Fated to mine rocks for the demons to feast on, Musashi knows the grim truth: humanity is enslaved by these otherworldly beings and the samurai are the last bastion fighting for freedom. Hiding his true opinion from his peers and growing distant from his childhood friend Kojirou Kanemaki, Musashi lives in angst until the day of his graduation.

When the fresh graduates arrive at the mine, they are horrified to see the inhumane treatment of miners and the uncanny physical appearance of their overseers. However, Musashi manages to endure thanks to Kojirou's help. As the demon leader wreaks havoc on the quarry, Musashi is saved once more from certain death by the Takeda samurai clan. Recovering from humiliation and yearning for adventure, Musashi embarks on a journey to become a samurai and form his own clan!

Propaganda:

Ohtaka has done it again in creating a world full of characters with more depth than can be portrayed limited amount of screen time that each of them get. This leaves the viewer with a whole lot of potential to imagine on their own, even after watching. It’s kind of unique that it is set in the samurai era of Japan, but thanks to crystals left by the demons, motorcycles and flying castles are a thing outside the main characters’ mining village. There are plenty of gags throughout and dynamics between characters. Personally, I loved the second half a lot more than the first because of the cast introduced then. For example, the detail given to Kuroku with the lace she wears–it’s so intricately beautiful! Plus, most of the mechanics of how the world works is covered by then, so we can get into the action.

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse

The third main character comes from a mentally abusive family situation, but the other two help her leave that situation. Main character’s child abuse is in flashbacks for character development to rise above that and break the cycle. Don’t know if gore or fan service need a trigger warning, typical shonen stuff.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how they’re presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[thegreatwicked]

Unbreakable Bonds: Chapter Eight

Unbreakable Bonds 

A novella in the ‘How it Should Have Ended’ Universe. 

TheGreatWicked

Summary:

In a galaxy where Anakin Skywalker has resisted the dark side and fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One, the Jedi Order faces a new dawn. With Palpatine's arrest reshaping the galaxy, Anakin steps into the role of a Jedi Master, guiding the Order into a transformative era where the nature of attachments is under scrutiny.

During an urgent council meeting, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi encounters an unexpected and enigmatic young boy waiting outside the chambers. This chance meeting stirs something deep within Obi-Wan, pulling him toward a revelation that threatens to upend the fragile peace the Jedi have fought to rebuild.

As the Jedi Council grapples with the implications of their evolving philosophies and the resurgence of past secrets, the balance of the Force teeters on the edge. The galaxy stands on the brink of profound change, and the shadows of Obi-Wan's concealed past loom large, with the potential to reshape the future of the Jedi and the Force itself.

Pairing: Obi-wan/OFC (Cressida Vox)

Rating: Explicit, depictions of violence and sexual encounters between consenting adults.

Chapter Eight

Obi-Wan reminded himself (more than once) that both he and Solan were on a journey of learning and growth, and it would require patience, especially on his part, to navigate this new and complex father-son relationship. Solan's demeanor was, initially, quite different from what he had experienced before, and he had to bite his tongue when he wanted to remind Solan that he wasn’t entitled to learn what he wanted, when he wanted simply because he wanted to. Solan was the student and Obi-wan, the teacher. 

Obi-Wan had to adapt to his new role as both a father and an instructor, and Solan needed to learn the ways of the Jedi. Balancing their needs was going to be a complex task, one they would need to discover together.

He wanted to gauge Solan's ability to conjure a successful force shield. It would be a test of both Solan's defensive capabilities and his emotional control, both vital aspects that any youngling would learn. As they stood in a serene chamber within the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan began to explain the exercise to his son.

"Solan," Obi-Wan began, "I want you to create a strong force shield, as strong as you can manage. Focus on creating an impenetrable barrier, one that protects your innermost thoughts and emotions. And I will attempt to find a way past it."

Solan emitted a sigh, as if reluctantly accepting a lesson that failed to spark his enthusiasm. He settled into a cross-legged position, closed his eyes, and directed his focus inward. A subtle shift occurred in the air around him as Solan connected with the Force, sensing its dynamic energy. With deliberate concentration, he initiated the creation of a formidable shield to envelop his mind. Solan exhibited a distinctive and remarkable proficiency in force shielding, showcasing a talent that surpassed the usual expectations for someone of his age.

Obi-Wan was genuinely impressed. Solan's force shielding was not just a simple defense; it appeared to flow with an innate understanding that belied his youth. As Solan created the shield, he seemed to slip into a calm and serene state, showing a renewed engagement in the exercise.

"Good, Solan," Obi-Wan encouraged as he paced closer, finding it surprising how much he enjoyed praising Solan, seeing so much of his younger self in his son. "Now, I want you to think of something. Anything at all. It can be a memory, a thought, or a secret. Focus on your shield, and use it to protect your thoughts as if your life depended on it, but don't be afraid. Keep your attention on maintaining your shield."

Solan nodded, his focus now fully on the shield he had erected. Obi-Wan took a seat in front of Solan a few feet away mimicking his sons’ posture, extending his hand and began to reach out with the Force, searching for any gaps or weaknesses in Solan's defense. It was surprisingly no easy task; Solan's formidable shield presented a considerable challenge, one that brought a small smile to Obi-wan's face.

Several quiet minutes passed, with Solan maintaining his focus and Obi-Wan persistently probing for a means to break through. Solan's shield held strong, but like all defenses, it wasn't flawless.

Within the guarded walls of Solan's mind, his subconscious shifted into a vibrant dreamscape, bathed in a warm glow that matched the golden hue of his mother's tales. The memory he chose to focus on was a pivotal one, a moment when the fabric of his reality seemed to shimmer with the promise of adventure.

He found himself sitting on the bench within the warm halls of the Jedi Temple, the day he met Obi-wan. A moment that bridged the gap between the fantastical narratives spun by his mother and the tangible reality of meeting a living legend.

As the memory unfolded like a well-practiced holo-drama, the figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi materialized before Solan as he swung his legs on the bench. Obi-Wan, the hero General of the Clone Wars, stood before him – a beacon of Jedi wisdom and courage. Solan, in the innocence of youth, couldn't contain the wide-eyed awe that painted his face, and even in the exercise hips lips curled up into an almost imperceptible smile.

The memory was a kaleidoscope of vibrant emotions – admiration like a melody playing in the background, awe as a visual spectacle that unfolded with each step Obi-Wan took. Solan's heart beat in sync with the excitement of that moment, the thrill of meeting someone he had only heard tales of until that day.

And as Solan immersed himself in this cherished recollection, the exercise began to weave its magic, fostering a connection between the past and the present, between the hero of his childhood tales and the father who stood by his side.

It was as if the young boy had gathered a torrent of hyper-concentration around himself, using his focus to cover up his emotions. It was a different kind of vulnerability, one that Obi-wan hadn’t expected, but one that he knew he could overcome. Solan was trying to block out his emotions entirely.

A smile adorned Obi-Wan's face as he acknowledged the genuine emotions. Reflecting on how he reached out through the Force to touch the shield, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of remorse at how effortlessly it shattered. At that moment, the shield faltered with the slightest preassure, allowing Obi-Wan a glimpse into his son's unguarded memory. Waves of excitement, happiness, and awe from the encounter with his hero washed over Obi-Wan, deepening the connection between them.

 As Solan's force shield collapsed like fragile glass, his shock was palpable. The young boy sat there, staring at the ground with an expression of surprise etched on his face. 

However, much to his surprise, Obi-wan greeted him with a smile and a nod of approval, despite his failure. "Solan," he said softly. "You did well."

Obi-Wan could sense the depth of Solan's confusion. He realized that this test had pushed Solan in a way he had never experienced before, and by Solan’s understanding he probably failed, but Obi-wan’s wisdom shone through as even in failure there is knowledge to be gained. He disliked seeing the look of disappointment in Solan’s eyes, the exercise served a valuable purpose. Obi-Wan wanted to ensure that Solan understood what had transpired and why.

"Do you understand what just happened, Solan?" 

Solan shook his head, a frustrated grimace on his face, the hallmark look of a frustrated child who hadn’t expected to fail. 

"Solan, your force shield demonstrated remarkable strength; your concentration on safeguarding that memory was a commendable instinct. Nevertheless, your emphasis was on suppressing all your emotions rather than harnessing them as a source of assistance. Emotions possess great potency, yet they can become a detriment if we let them dictate our actions or if we disregard them entirely."

With an irritated huff, Solan folded his arms across his chest, a display of youthful frustration. He didn't like this lesson, and it was evident on his face. His eyes remained averted, avoiding Obi-Wan's gaze until instructed otherwise.

Obi-Wan decided to provide a more detailed explanation to his son. "Solan, by supressing your emotions entirely you disconnected yourself from your shield," he explained. "You cannot force the Force; it doesn't belong to you. Instead, you need to find the balance between your emotions. The Force is meant to be used in harmony with your emotions."

Solan stayed quiet, grappling with Obi-Wan's words, a blend of confusion and lingering distress evident on his face. Obi-Wan empathized with his son, recognizing the weight of what must have felt like an utter failure. He allowed Solan a moment and space to collect himself, understanding the need for the boy to process this newfound awareness.

“Do you understand?” 

“Not really.”

"Solan, let's try again. This time, I want you to think of something with a powerful emotion. But, instead of suppressing the emotion attached to the memory, imagine it passing through you like you're standing in the current of a river, and the river simply flows around you. You are as steadfast and immovable as an ancient stone." Obi-Wan maintained a watchful eye on Solan, recognizing the resilience it took for his young son to gather himself and face the exercise once more, as they prepared to repeat the shielding exercise.

Solan seemed surprised but intrigued by this approach. After a moment of contemplation, he nodded slowly and took a deep breath. He shook out his hands and adjusted his posture, sitting up straight and breathing out a heavy and shaky breath, and he tried again. 

This time, when he created his force shield, it felt weaker to him. He spent a few minutes concentrating to make it stronger. Once he felt it was stable, he decided on a memory with a strong emotional attachment to practice on.

Obi-Wan observed Solan's deep focus and felt the young boy's force shield rising up again, slower this time, as if he were trying to build it more deliberately. It was a promising sign that Solan was taking the lesson to heart. 

When Solan nodded his readiness, Obi-Wan concentrated his efforts and he delved once again into the Force. This time, he didn't feel the overwhelming hyperactivity or the absence of emotion that had been present before. Instead, he sensed a different kind of sensation within Solan. He sensed a hazy source of emotional turmoil, a well of sadness that radiated from the memory Solan was trying to protect. Drawing on the swirling pool of sadness, Obi-Wan tapped into that vulnerability and gently pushed against it. He had instructed Solan to think of a memory with a powerful emotion attached but he hadn’t anticipated what he saw. It wasn’t a river and Solan wasn’t an immovable stone, it was a maelstrom of churning waters and Solan may as well have been a piece of driftwood, being tossed almost violently under the current of emotions he struggled to maintain control over.

Obi-Wan pushed gently against Solan's shield, seeking a way through, but this time, he decided to do more than just that. He called out Solan's name within his mind, his voice echoing gently. It was an unexpected intrusion, a father addressing his son in a moment of vulnerability. Solan was caught off guard, his focus shattered by the sound of his father's voice within his mind. 

As the breakthrough unfolded, the floodgates of Solan's guarded memory opened wide for Obi-Wan. It was as if a hidden chamber of the young boy's mind had been unlocked, revealing a poignant recollection from Solan's earliest years—the first memory he could consciously recall. Despite the passage of time, the edges of the memory were clouded and fuzzy, bearing the mark of age, but within this haze, the emotions were crystal clear.

The scene played out like a poignant tableau from Solan's past. In the memory, he was a mere three years old, left in the care of a service droid as his mother embarked on a mission. The loneliness and vulnerability of the young child were palpable, his small form sitting alone, tears streaming down his face. The sadness and fear etched across his innocent features were heart-wrenching, unaware that Cressida would return to him, calling out for ‘mommy.’

As Cressida prepared to leave, a look of distress and heartache shadowed her face, mirroring the emotions that raged within Solan. The memory captured a moment frozen in time, Solan reaching out his tiny hand towards his departing mother, a silent plea for reassurance. The image of Cressida walking away, her figure becoming smaller through the eyes of the young child, held a weight of separation and sorrow.

Lightsaber in hand, Cressida turned to glance back at her son. In the midst of her own turmoil, Solan saw the glint of glassiness in her eyes. The pain of this shared moment was palpable, the glass partition between them acting as an insurmountable barrier. Obi-Wan observed Cressida's poignant gesture—placing her hand first to her lips and then on the cold surface that separated mother and son. And then, with the heavy finality of a closing door, Cressida left, and the memory dissolved into the mist of time.

Obi-Wan's heart ached as he touched upon Solan's deep emotions, seeing the memory as a powerless observer, unable to reach his son in his time of distress. It was this well of sadness that had ultimately allowed him to penetrate Solan's formidable force shield. As Obi-Wan gently withdrew from Solan's mind, he looked at his son with a mixture of concern and empathy, understanding the young boy's struggles with his emotions a little better. He hadn’t expected such sorrow.

Solan had attempted the exercise twice now and failed on both occasions. His young face reflected shock and defeat as he stood before Obi-Wan, his lips moving as if he were trying to find the right words but ultimately failing to speak.

His features contorted with distress and the sorrow of the memory he had been trying to shield, its raw sadness breaking through. His eyes were glassy, and his hands trembled, unaccustomed to this level of emotional exposure brought about by the exercise.

Acting on what he could only explain as instinct, Obi-Wan, was again, by Solan’s side with a hand on his shoulder to steady him. When he asked if Solan was alright, he just looked shaken and didn’t answer. He asked if he understood what had happened this time. Solan, his frustration mounting, shook his head. It was clear that his emotions were giving way to sadness now rather than annoyance.

"Solan, initially, you suppressed your emotions, severing your connection with the Force. This time, you allowed them to overwhelm you, like a tumultuous river in full force," he clarified. Solan's expression reflected bewilderment as he grappled with the idea. He hadn't yet realized that neither the extreme of complete emotional detachment nor letting emotions run rampant would assist him in this exercise. He was exerting considerable effort, perhaps too much, and needed to discover that delicate balance. Additionally, it didn't help that he was still shaken by the depth and power of the emotion associated with the memory he had chosen, he sniffled several times and rubbed at his eyes, trying to hide any evidence of his sadness.

"Look at me, Solan," Obi-Wan gently commanded.

Reluctantly, Solan met his father's gaze, his eyes filled with shame at his repeated failure. He was finding it challenging to strike that balance. He appeared to withdraw into himself, his shoulders slumped with a weight that seemed too heavy for a young boy to bear. It was just as Cressida had said. 

Obi-Wan, determined to impart this crucial lesson, told Solan that he had one more opportunity to succeed. Now that he had experienced both extremes of the emotional spectrum, he could try to find the middle ground—the balance between the two. Balance was what would lead to success.

Obi-Wan resumed his seat across from Solan, a subtle shift in the distance between them that spoke volumes. Solan still didn't seem keen on trying again. He muttered that he didn't want to do it once more, complaining that it was too hard. But Obi-Wan wasn't about to let his son give up so easily.

The training room seemed to hold a hushed anticipation, carrying the echoes of the emotionally charged moments they had just shared. Solan, still recovering from the emotional release, stifled a lingering sniffle, his attempts to compose himself evident in the way he straightened his posture.

In a tone edged with firmness, Obi-Wan addressed Solan not as a father but as a master, posing a question:

"Who led you to believe this journey would be without difficulty? You gave your word to Master Windu that you would make an effort. Are you prepared to abandon the task at the first setback, especially when it's merely a training exercise? There will be instances where much more will hinge on your capacity to surmount challenges—perhaps even your own life or another's. If you falter in your commitment after a failure, your path to becoming a Jedi may be insurmountable."

Solan's mouth dropped open, and he stared at his father. His shoulders slumped, and he shrunk into himself, giving a reluctant nod. Obi-Wan, unyielding in his determination to help Solan grow, encouraged him to try the exercise once more. It was a lesson in perseverance and balance, and one that would help shape the young boys’ journey.

Obi-Wan observed Solan's progress with a mix of patience and encouragement. As they stood in the tranquil training chamber, he could sense the boy's determination to master the art of maintaining a force shield. Solan had initially struggled, but his determination was admirable.

"Try one more time, Solan," Obi-Wan gently encouraged. His words were meant to convey a sense of "don't worry; we can always try again later." However, Solan interpreted them differently. He perceived it as an ultimatum, a challenge to prove himself right then and there.

The increasing pressure bore down on Solan, and his palms became clammy. He paused briefly, feeling the weight of expectations on his young shoulders. Suddenly, in a burst of nervous energy, he leaped up, bouncing on his toes, shrugging his shoulders, and shaking out his anxiety like a playful child. After letting out his pent-up energy, he confidently marched back and resumed his seat, his expression a mix of frustration, determination, and sheer stubbornness.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but be amused. He had seen Anakin, his former padawan, do many things, but never had he witnessed such a display of childlike animation and anxiety. For a moment, it was a welcome sight, as it reminded Obi-Wan of the age and innocence that Solan carried.

After a few seconds, Solan calmed himself and turned back, determination etched on his features. He sat down and breathed deeply, eyes closed, attempting to find the delicate balance between emotions and control that the exercise required.

Solan sat in silence for a few minutes. The air around him trembled slightly, mirroring the unsteady rhythm of a hesitant breath. He struggled to visualize the river once more and to allow his emotions to flow through him, not controlling him but guiding him.

Obi-Wan's words about protecting others had taken on a profound resonance, revealing a truth that had already woven itself into the fabric of his past.

Solan could do this. He focused on visualizing the river in his mind, feeling its current without allowing it to drown him or push him down. The emotions from the memory surged through him, but they didn't control him. He was determined, knowing that one day he might have to protect others, just as he had protected his mother.

His mind was awash with that determination, and it took him several long minutes to reconstruct his force shield. It built slower than before, and every so often, it crumbled slightly under the weight of the pressure he was putting on himself. But he continued to will it back, never forcing it.

Memories of the fear he felt coursed over him as the shield neared its completion. He stood in the raging torrent of his emotions, just like he had as a young boy when he believed only he could protect his mother. It was challenging, and his mind became cluttered with many voices, his own, his mother's, and Obi-Wan's.

Obi-Wan watched with both concern and admiration as Solan wrestled with his emotions. He observed the storm within his son as he struggled to find that delicate balance. The gentle river Obi-Wan had described seemed more like a raging torrent, and he could see Solan losing his footing, on the verge of being overwhelmed.

In this memory, Solan saw himself as a four-year-old, a pint-sized guardian in the making. His mother, Cressida, returned home from a mission, battered and injured. The little boy's heart raced as he witnessed her weakened state, blood staining her clothes, and her steps faltering. Solan, driven by a sense of responsibility beyond his tender age, reached out to help her, tugging at her arm with small, determined hands.

The portrait of maternal strength that was Cressida, struggled to stand, her body betraying the toll of her recent ordeal, clinging to life out of what he knew to be sheer stubbornness. In Solan's memory, he could feel the fear pulsating through his veins, an unspoken understanding that he had to do something to help his mother. The word 'bacta' echoed in his mind, a mantra he repeated with all the conviction a four-year-old could muster.

The scene played out as if in slow motion: Solan guiding his mother towards the bacta tank, uttering words of encouragement like a mantra of hope. "Come on, Mama," he urged, his voice a tiny beacon of support. "Almost there," he assured her, his small hand reaching out as if trying to bear the weight of her injuries. "It’s ok," he declared, his determination turning a mundane task into a sacred duty.

In his own innocence, Solan clutched a blaster, feeling an unspoken responsibility to protect his mother. The imagery was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching – a child shouldering a burden far beyond his years out of love. The memory revealed a snapshot of Solan's early understanding of what it meant to be a guardian, a sentiment he would carry with him into adulthood.

But as the memory unfolded, a poignant realization washed over him. The pride he once felt was soon replaced by the vulnerability of a child who had underestimated the severity of his mother's injuries. When Cressida emerged from the bacta tank earlier than expected, Solan's world crumbled. He begged her to return to the healing waters, his tears flowing as an outpouring of worry and love.

The memory ended with Solan, still a child in his mother's arms, the weight of responsibility momentarily lifted. Yet, the memory left an indelible mark on his young heart, planting the seeds of understanding that love and protection sometimes come at a cost.

Obi-Wan observed with a mix of concern and admiration as Solan grappled with his emotions. The storm raging within his son's heart seemed more like a tumultuous torrent than the gentle river Obi-Wan had envisioned. Solan appeared on the brink of being overwhelmed, struggling to find that delicate balance. Throughout the ordeal, Solan's lips moved, uttering a repetitive mantra that carried both determination and a poignant vulnerability, "I can do it, I can do it."

Obi-Wan didn't attempt to push past Solan's struggling shield. Instead, he merely spoke Solan's name gently, and the force shield shattered into oblivion. The memory rushed out with such force that it knocked the breath from Obi-Wan's chest, and he knew that they had taken an important step forward in Solan's training.

In the training chamber, a somber silence prevailed, broken only by the desperate gasps for breath. Etched with despair and frustration, his youthful visage struggled to grasp the intricacies of the recent ordeal. The focus had shifted from the mere physical exercise to the profound emotional scars that Solan carried from the tumultuous first decade of his life.

Obi-Wan, was in an instant in front of Solan. He held onto his son, sensing that Solan was not just physically unsteady but also emotionally overwhelmed. It was as if Solan had been caught in a rushing river's current, and now he stood shivering and taking in deep, ragged breaths as though he had nearly drowned.

Obi-Wan meant to steady Solan until the boy could regain his balance and find his footing under his own willpower. But he was taken aback when Solan threw himself at his father, small arms wrapping tightly around Obi-Wan's neck. Solan's body quivered under the weight of his failures, and Obi-Wan found himself momentarily frozen, unsure of how to react.

He was clutching onto Obi-Wan for dear life.

Obi-Wan remained still, feeling the weight of Solan's trembling form in his arms. The young boy struggled to regulate himself after the intensity of the exercise, and Obi-Wan called Solan's name gently, repeatedly, like a lifeline. He had experienced similar intense moments with Anakin, but Anakin had never hugged him the way Solan did, and he certainly didn’t have the relationship with Anakin that he shared with Solan. Obi-Wan had no guidebook for this unfamiliar territory.

Solan clung tightly, his grip unyielding, yet Obi-Wan persisted in calling out to him. His voice acted as a calming anchor amid the internal tumult Solan grappled with. Obi-Wan's words were a reassurance about the present, assuring Solan that everything was fine, and that he was right there by his side. In his soothing tone, Obi-Wan reminded Solan that Cressida was safe, emphasizing how he had protected her. It was as if Solan remained ensnared in the memory of the earlier exercise, and Obi-Wan was resolute in his determination to pull him back to the present moment. The memory that had seized Solan's consciousness was a poignant one, and Obi-Wan experienced a profound pang of sorrow witnessing a fragment of his son's childhood burdened by fears and hardships not intended for him to bear.

After a long and agonizing minute, it worked. Solan gradually loosened his hold on Obi-Wan, though his eyes were still wide, full of turmoil. Obi-Wan shifted his hands to rest on Solan's shoulders, his voice gentle and reassuring. "You did well, Solan," he said, despite the apparent failure of the exercise.

Solan's voice quivered as he responded, questioning how he could have done well when he couldn't do it at all. Obi-Wan regarded the young boy with a profound wisdom that stretched far beyond his years. "Failure is a part of life," he said softly, his eyes filled with understanding. "It is how we learn. Without failure, victory would be meaningless. You will get there, Solan, in time, and I will help you. I promise you."

Following the shielding exercise and the unsettling memories Obi-Wan had witnessed, he considered meditation a natural progression for the day's lesson. However, his immediate concern was Solan's well-being. While he had always been aware of Solan's unique and perilous upbringing, the vivid images and memories he had glimpsed during the exercise had been emotionally distressing. Taking a walk through the temple grounds, father and son engaged in a conversation where Solan shared what he could remember from the two dark memories. Though challenging, this presented Obi-Wan with a unique opportunity to deepen his training with Solan.

The absence of Cressida, though notable, allowed for a more personal connection between father and son. Transitioning from the training room to a quieter space within the temple, Obi-Wan took a moment to contemplate the events of the day.

"Mastering the art of shielding is crucial, Solan, but equally vital is the cultivation of meditation. It forms the bedrock of a Jedi's connection to the Force," Obi-Wan began, his tone gentle yet unwavering.

They found themselves in a tranquil chamber, enveloped by the soothing hum of the temple. Obi-Wan continued, "Meditation goes beyond mere stillness and mental quietude. It is a practice that tunes you into the Force, heightening your awareness of its currents and the energies that course through every living being."

"Like the river you mentioned during the shielding exercise?" Solan inquired, drawing connections between the two practices on his own.

"Exactly! You've grasped it perfectly, like the river," Obi-Wan affirmed. Solan absorbed his father's wisdom, prompting Obi-Wan to gesture for them to sit in a cross-legged position, mirroring the traditional posture of meditation.

"So, they're intertwined, right? Meditation and shielding can strengthen each other?" Solan sought clarification, piecing together the components.

"Yes, that's precisely right. The two are connected." Obi-Wan's grin widened, and he nodded, commending his son, "The Force is always there, Solan, like an invisible thread connecting all living things. Meditation allows us to feel its presence, to understand its will. Close your eyes, focus on your breath, and let your mind become like a calm lake. Observe the ripples, but don't let them disturb the stillness within."

Solan followed his father's instructions, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Obi-Wan guided him through the process, encouraging him to let go of external distractions and turn his attention inward.

"As you meditate, you'll begin to sense the Force around you. It will reveal insights, guide your actions, and grant you a profound understanding of the world. Patience is key, Solan. The Force moves in its own time, and as Jedi, we must learn to trust in its wisdom."

A serene quiet settled over the room as father and son immersed themselves in the meditative practice. Through these shared moments, Obi-Wan aspired to convey not only the techniques of a Jedi but the very essence of the Jedi path – a journey that went beyond lightsabers and combat, delving into the profound connection with the Force that meditation could unveil. However, the tranquility was intermittently disrupted by the unmistakable growls emanating from a small, empty stomach. Each occurrence prompted hearty chuckles from Obi-Wan. When it happened for the third time, he had to insist that they make their way to the refectory for a belated lunch. 

"I hadn't realized how time had slipped away. Come, Solan, let's get something to eat. I'm sure your mother won't be pleased with me if I send you back to her on an empty stomach."

As the afternoon sun bathed the Jedi Temple in warm hues, they sat in the Jedi refectory, the atmosphere between Obi-Wan and Solan was a blend of contentment and familial warmth. The training had been intense, yet fulfilling, and now they found themselves enjoying a well-deserved meal together upon realizing just how much of the day had slipped away. Obi-Wan leisurely sipped his tea, savoring the moment and appreciating the simple pleasure of baked dru'un slices with fish sauce, while Solan attacked his waffles with the voracious appetite befitting a ten-year-old boy, the occasional muffled words escaping from his mouth as he spoke between bites. His speed and urgency in consuming his food were noticeable, prompting a chuckle from Obi-Wan. The contrast in their eating styles was comical, the measured and deliberate pace of the Jedi Master versus the hurried and eager appetite of his son.

Observing Solan's rapid approach to meals, Obi-Wan couldn't help but ponder the source of this apparent urgency. He mentally noted the need to discuss it with Cressida later, suspecting there might be more to Solan's eating habits than initially met the eye.

Amidst the clatter of utensils and the hum of conversations in the refectory, Solan's eagerness to absorb information from earlier training sessions spilled over into a barrage of questions. Obi-Wan, wearing a patient smile, found himself navigating through the inquiries, gently reminding Solan to take it one question at a time.

"One query at a time, Solan. I'm not going anywhere," Obi-Wan teased, his words carrying the weight of a deeper understanding of Solan's past and the gaps in his training. "And slow down, chew your food."

At one point, Obi-Wan simply stared at his son, as though he were watching a holodrama. He had never seen anyone devour two plates of waffles as quickly as Solan did, not even Anakin, who had known a life of slavery and sparse meals. Eager to address the issue, Obi-Wan reached forth and stopped Solan's hand, preventing a forkful of food from reaching his mouth.

"Solan, could you please slow down a bit?" Obi-Wan voiced his concern, and Solan, seemingly aware of it, adjusted his pace, taking the time to chew his food slowly. Obi-Wan attempted to continue, "Solan,--"

"I don't like foodstuffs," Solan cut in unexpectedly. His response was swift, almost defensive, as if anticipating trouble. "They don't taste very good. And I hate how they're cold a lot of the time." A silence settled over them for a few minutes all that could be heard was the ambient noise of the refectory.

"Well, on that point, we agree. There's nothing quite like a hot meal, is there?" Obi-Wan sensed he had stumbled onto a sensitive topic for his son. "Did you eat them often?"

Solan nodded, "Mom tried to make sure I had real cooked food, but a lot of the time, foodstuffs were all we had. This tastes way better." Obi-Wan still had more questions, but he was uncertain about how to approach them. "I never went hungry, though. But Mom did sometimes so I wouldn't have to." Once again, Solan seemed to understand what Obi-Wan wanted to know, as if he had plucked the question from his mind.

Solan wore a somber expression, staring at his waffles as if burdened by guilt. "Well, we mustn't waste them; finish your food." There would be another time to address this particularly sensitive issue, but not now, especially after how Obi-Wan had challenged Solan today. "I liked waffles quite a bit too when I was a boy."

Upon hearing his father share this similarity, Solan perked up a bit and smiled, seemingly pleased to have something in common with his father.

Observing Obi-Wan's cup of tea, Solan looked thoughtful, as if a question lingered in his mind. "What's wrong?"

Shaking his head, Solan replied, "Nothing. I was just wondering, did you and Mom ever drink tea together?" Obi-Wan was taken aback, especially since he knew for a fact that Cressida didn't like tea; she much preferred caf.

"No, your mother has never liked tea as long as I've known her. Why do you ask?"

"I know she doesn’t like tea, but she always drank it during when we were off-world. Every day, I watched her make Sapir Tea. Then I started making it for her when she came back after being away. She always looked kinda sad when she drank it, and I never knew why. It didn't feel right to ask, so I wondered if the two of you used to drink tea together or something. Otherwise, why would she drink something she didn’t like?" 

Why indeed? Solan's observations were unexpectedly perceptive for someone so young, revealing more of his close connection with his mother. Obi-Wan had a theory, but perhaps he'd test it later.

"Maybe it reminded her of home," he suggested, reaching for a sip but hesitating. "Would you like to try it?"

Accepting the cup from his father, Solan smiled when their fingers brushed. He cautiously sniffed the cup, made a skeptical face, took a slow sip, and then grimaced, sticking his tongue out.

"No wonder Mom doesn't like tea; that's gross."

Obi-Wan's laughter echoed through the room as he reclaimed the cup, saying, "It can be an acquired taste, I suppose." Solan, determined to rid himself of the bitter aftertaste, continued sticking his tongue out in an exaggerated manner.

As the two continued their banter, their attention was suddenly diverted by the approach of a familiar voice. Obi-Wan and Solan turned to see Cressida striding towards them, a playful amusement in her eyes. 

"Well, I can see you two have had a very productive day," she remarked, taking a seat next to Obi-Wan. “I leave you two for training and I come back to waffles…”

Obi-Wan, feeling slightly caught, muttered, "His second helping..."

"Only his second? He'll eat five if you let him," Cressida replied, relishing the shock on Obi-Wan's face.

"Five!?" he exclaimed incredulously.

"Growing boys, you know?" Cressida teased, savoring Obi-Wan's expression. She accepted the forkful of waffle that Solan offered her with a smile. "How are they?" Solan nodded happily, and she took a thoughtful bite. "Tastes like waffles," she mused with a smile.

"Better than foodstuffs," Solan added eagerly. Cressida nodded in agreement, and it seemed the small family was in unanimous accord on that matter. Solan turned to his mother and asked, "Are you going to eat something, Mom?"

Cressida winked and nodded, "I think so." She rose once more and strolled away. Once she was out of earshot, Solan's smile faded, and he looked as though he had just tasted the bitter tea all over again.

Obi-Wan finished chewing his mouthful of dru’un, setting the utensils down as he observed Cressida interacting with the surroundings in the bustling dining area of the Jedi Temple. Solan's keen perception had drawn his attention to subtle details that Obi-Wan had overlooked. The father-son duo had their eyes trained on Cressida, silently communicating through shared concern.

“Somethings wrong.”

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked, glancing at Solan as he voiced his unease. “She seems fine to me.”

Solan shook his head, his expression thoughtful. "I know her tells."

Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow, intrigued by Solan's assessment of his mother. "Tell me."

"She's shifting her weight to her left foot when she stops walking but she's right-handed and usually places her weight on her right foot, it’s like she's trying to be ready to act or strike," Solan explained. Obi-Wan followed his gaze and saw Cressida unconsciously favoring her left foot, a subtle sign of her sentinel training. As Solan continued his perceptive analysis of Cressida's behavior, Obi-Wan couldn't help but marvel at his son's keen observation skills. It was clear that Solan had inherited not only his mother's Force sensitivity but also her knack for reading people. Obi-Wan considered it a valuable trait, one that would serve Solan well in his future as a Jedi.

Solan continued with his astute observations. "She also has these little things she does, like she's trying to be guarded or defensive. She rubs her arms like she's cold or trying to comfort herself, closing herself off. And look how she's clenching her fists; I bet she's clenching her jaw too. Even though there are people nearby, she's keeping a bubble around herself, like she's trying to self-isolate." Obi-Wan focused on her, now noticing the nuances that Solan had pointed out, each movement spoke volumes about Cressida's emotional state. It was a side of her that Obi-Wan rarely witnessed, and it concerned him.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but be impressed. Solan's insight into Cressida's demeanor was uncanny. "I remember she used to tap the toes on her right foot whenever she was nervous as a Padawan," Obi-Wan remarked, a touch of nostalgia in his voice as he observed Cressida.

Solan nodded in agreement. "She still does that too, not so much in public, though. It's more of a behind-closed-doors thing. She doesn't want anyone to think she's afraid." The idea that she still carried these habits, even in private, hinted at the depth of her experiences and the challenges she had faced throughout her life.

As if on cue, they both watched Cressida's right foot anxiously tap on her toe, a telltale sign of her inner turmoil.

"I think she got some not-so-good news," Solan said, wearing a sad expression. "Means she'll be going somewhere soon.” Solan's statement hung in the air, a mysterious proclamation that left Obi-wan speechless. At times he was a paradoxical blend of childlike exuberance and sage-like insight, and he had just dropped a cryptic statement that lingered in the air like an unspoken riddle. Obi-Wan, still getting accustomed to the unpredictable nature of his son, couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity and concern.

"How can you possibly know that?" Obi-Wan questioned, his gaze searching Solan's face for any clues. Solan, however, remained stoic, as if holding a secret that transcended mere words.

"Just do," Solan replied cryptically. Obi-Wan's mind raced with various possibilities. Was Cressida planning something? Was she facing a threat? The Jedi Master wrestled with the urge to probe deeper, to uncover the source of Solan's intuition.

As thoughts whirled through Obi-Wan's mind, he hesitated. Would pressing Solan for more information breach the trust he sought to build with his son? Would Cressida share her concerns with him if he asked? The haunting memory of her cautionary words echoed in his mind: "Two may keep a secret if one is dead."

“Well, I’m sure your mother wouldn’t want you to dwell on this,” Obi-Wan finally said, opting for reassurance over interrogation. Solan nodded in agreement, and a sense of relief washed over Obi-Wan. "Let's not give her anything to worry about," he added, hoping to steer the conversation toward lighter matters.

Solan nodded again, diverting his attention to the plate of waffles before him. Obi-Wan seized the opportunity to inject a bit of levity into the moment. "You know, when I was a padawan, if I'd wasted food, I'd be in the kitchens long after training, washing dishes." Solan's eyes widened briefly, the realization of potential consequences sinking in. Without further ado, he resumed devouring his waffles, seemingly content to avoid extra chores at the moment. The weight of the unspoken lingered in the air, leaving Obi-Wan to wonder about the mysteries surrounding his family and the enigmatic bond between them.

"You're going to get a stomachache if you keep eating like that or—" Cressida's voice was cut off by Solan's immediate onset of hiccups, confirming her prediction. She shook her head with a knowing smile, her voice cut through the hiccuping, adding a touch of humor to the situation. "Yes, or that too." She gestured to his water and gave him some rather unconventional advice. "Drink, hold your breath, and swallow three times."

Obi-Wan watched with a curious and slightly skeptical expression as Solan followed his mother's instructions. To his surprise, the hiccups vanished. "Better?" Cressida inquired, and Solan nodded before returning to his waffles.

Curiosity piqued, Solan inquired about the steaming bowl in front of Cressida. "What's that?"

"Nuna Noodle Soup. Try it?” Solan looked skeptical and shook his head a bit hesitantly.

 Obi-Wan interjected with a playful comment, recalling Solan's previous encounter with tea. "He might be less than inclined; he tried my tea. I don’t think he approved."

“Coward.” She playfully scolded her son who in turn stuck out his tongue, Obi-wan felt a little surge of nostalgia, recalling the time she’d called him a coward and the memory it led to.The steam rose enticingly, and Cressida took a deep, appreciative breath before taking a bite. The warmth of the soup seemed to have a comforting effect on her. It was a moment of vulnerability, a glimpse of Cressida beyond the stoic shadow sentinel. "Had dreams about this," she muttered, savoring the taste, clearly feeling the same as Solan had about the edibility of foodstuffs. Obi-wan wondered how long it had been since she had a comforting meal.

The trio continued their meal, unaware of the inquisitive stares directed their way in the refectory. Jedi Masters, knights, padawans, and younglings observed with curiosity, concern, and perhaps even a touch of envy. It was an uncommon scene – two Jedi parents and their son sharing a meal, embodying the semblance of a regular family. The sight hinted at the potential shift and change they might bring.

Nine

This one felt a little longer but I packed it full of dad Kenobi goodness, maybe a few tears too! Hope you guys liked it! Feel free to like, comment, reblog and don't forget your tags make my day! If you want to join the taglist all you have to do is let me know and give me a reblog if you can!

Taglist

@heyhawtdawgs @pickleprickle

[rainbowbarnacle]

For the ask meme: Emet-Selch

The love meme: put something in my inbox (an activity, a fictional character, a food, a time of day, anything you can think of) and i’ll tell you something i love about it

MASSIVE SHADOWBRINGERS FFXIV SPOILERS AHEAD BEEPBOOP WEEWOO okay:

Aaalrighty, for those of you who don't know, this is Emet-Selch:

He's one of the main baddies for the Shadowbringers expansion.

To sum up: There was once a wonderful world where Ascians lived in peace, experimenting with creation magic and being philosophical, and then tragedy struck and that planet was sundered into fourteen reflections of itself.

When that happened, everybody with the exception of three Ascians (Emet-Selch being one of them) was also sundered into fourteen reflections, including you. What Ascians want to do is combine the reflection planets into one big planet again, so they can have their home back.

Unfortunately, in order to do this, Ascians have to induce a rejoining on each of the reflection planets, which not only destroys that planet but also creates a calamity event on the Source planet, (which is where you're from) and since there's people (sundered people, but people) living on all of these planets, it's not exactly great for them, but the Ascians have decided they don't care: you have to crack a few eggs to make a utopia, after all.

Emet-Selch has been trying to do this for a good few eons now, and he's a little bit tired. Right now, he'd rather see what you'll do next. Maybe there's a way that his goals and your goals can coincide.

Also remember when I mentioned up there that you got sundered? It turns out the unsundered version of you is someone he knew and deeply misses. His way of dealing with this is to follow you around on your quests, being profoundly unhelpful and making snarky remarks and wistfully wishing that you'd remember your unsundered existence, because he sure does.

Incidentally, that's also what the fic series I've been working on is about: he's trying to make you remember, and it's actually sort of working.

So, all caught up? GOOD, now:

What do I like so much about Emet-Selch. There's lots of things, he's amazing fun to write! But if I were to pick one, it's that he's a bitter old drama queen who loves theater. The devs even threw in a Lauren Bacall quote for him, which implies that he sits around in his pajamas watching old black-and-white movies when he's not trying to bring about the end of several worlds.

His personality is very Theater-y, fluctuating between glorious, gleeful biting sarcasm, childish displays of prickly peevishness, and occasional moments of soppy fondness. He emotes and gestures and postures all over the place like he's performing something. This is a man who is incapable of being embarrassed. He simply does not care. He has done everything, he has seen everything, he is bitter as 90% cacao chocolate about it, and now he's going to monologue to you about your old life that you don't remember because he's feeling maudlin.

People tend to compare him to Cruella Deville a lot, because they have a similar shamelessly evil, vain, selfish energy, and also they look alike, what with the hair and the big coat and flamboyant mannerisms:

But what fandom might not know is that Cruella Deville was a caricature of my favorite silver screen era hollywood trainwreck: TALLULAH BANKHEAD! :D

There is a beautiful correlation between Emet-Selch's justification of his actions later in the game and Tallulah declaring "DON'T THINK THIS HAS TAUGHT ME A LESSON!!!" as she strolled out of the hospital after receiving an emergency hysterectomy due to gonorrhea.

Anywho, this post got long didn't it? X)

[elisabethbabarci]

RECLAIM YOUR LIFE

We as a collective are embracing a new era of higher awakening of the internal self which will enable us to have empowerment.

If you are seeking answers, go within and listen to your intuition. Only you understand what is best for you. Drown out the noise, the chaos, or anything that is wreaking havoc on your life.

Allow yourself to take the sacred time to devote to yourself to heal, rejuvenate, unplug, and regain your inner peace, sovereignty, and balance. State “I declare I will not allow anyone to disrupt my inner peace and my inner balance.” Engage in meditations to help assist your inner core, soul, body, and mind to release what does not serve your highest good.

No matter what is occurring around you, embrace hummingbird spirit of being in the now, the present, to enhance your concentration and focus. Never allow anyone with negative intentions to influence your peaceful state of mind. Give up the need to fight or to seek an enemy.

Meditative journeys are always encouraged to go deep within for the souls internal answers to metaphysical questions about life and the self. Set the intention before the meditation for what answers you wish to seek.

When you are aligned, centered, balanced, no one can take away your sovereignty, liberty, inner peace, power without your consent. — Elisabeth Babarci

Restore yourself back to a perfect state of health. Rebuild yourself to become the best, powerful and strongest version of yourself for you and others.

The greatest legacy is how you treat others, your words, your actions are powerful! What you decide to do as you act and not react becomes your future. Always be the change that you want to see.

We might not hear this very often but I will speak on behalf of the collective, no matter what we encounter we always have support during our journey. Understand that you might experience feeling lonely but you are not alone. You are never alone. If you feel helpless, get another perspective. Help and assistance are always available in any capacity. Others that are healthy for our development will support us as we evolve and grow. Many individuals will teach us fundamental and important lessons that benefit our self growth and awakening.

What do you do when you experience the feeling of powerlessness? Often we get into a space where we are pushed beyond our limit and we feel that there is a need to respond in a negative reaction. Never give your energy or time or attention on any experience, situation, or individual that has proven to not have your best interest in mind.

Practice grounding while you are experiencing the state of uncertainty. You can not control circumstances however, you can master the self. Why? Everyone will always be in a place of self judgement, reacting not acting and living in fear. Our awakening occurs when we focus on what we can control, which is ourselves. Circumstances may make you feel defeated and powerless however, never allow anyone or any circumstance to override your inner peace.

Always be mindful how your actions influence and have an impact on others, especially your words, when we do anything in anger it has the worst impact. Realign, re-assess and regain your strength and move forward in the direction that is best for you. Stop concentrating on the problem and work towards positive solutions. If a situation, experience, or individual causes you to feel a negative emotion, release them, they are not in alignment with your life. Move forward. — Elisabeth Babarci

The question that all masters ask is this , “when we give our liberty power what occurs? Do we create more? Do we experience life more? Do we feel we have the freedom to express and be who we are? No one can force you to do anything that is not good for you. How do you know? You will feel it in your core when things are right or wrong, utilize your intuition.

What occurs when you give your power, your emancipation, your rights away? What in your daily life makes you feel your liberties are being eroded? Remember, once you give away your power, you set the tone for others to do the same. No one deserves your power, time, or energy that does not have your best interest in mind — that is abuse. It is a visious cycle. Ask yourself, what part of you feels that you deserve to be controlled? Restricted? Powerless? Identify these challenges in your life and move forward in a peaceful manner to take the time to work on yourself. True transformation only occurs within. No one under any circumstance can walk your journey for you. You are meant to achieve greatness. Everyone has the ability to be who they want to be. You were born with a mind to think. Why give away your precious talents to those who do not believe in you?

Respect authority — those that have lived, experienced, and are willing to teach and impart their wisdom to you to overcome challenges.

Give yourself the permission to let go of things that you can not control. If you experience injustice, have the knowledge that there are periods of time when you will never receive an apology, find within yourself to forgive so that you are not attached to the situation any further. Do not worry what others are doing, focus on your own inner alignment, balance and journey.

When you release the need to control you free your mind, body, and soul. Release the experience that has hurt you or that has left a mark on you on a deep profound level. When we hold onto negative emotions we are giving the circumstance or the individual the power over us because you are reacting.

Learn from the perspective to release what is not needed any longer. Uncertainty is always certain, we will face challenges that we need to overcome for our greater awareness and self growth. That is evolution.

How do you block the good from coming into our life? When you force a situation that is not in alignment with you. Circumstances might be flowing in a certain direction but if you alter the course because you want to control, are impatient or greed it will delay what is supposed to come to you. Allow the sequence of events to flow , while focusing on your self development. You can not be someone else, so why compare? No one made you do anything, it is what we allow and decide. I.e. You can not force someone to love you, if it is meant to be it will work out. Allow situations to flow with ease and grace.

A true leader allows everyone the emancipation to have freedom and choice, to allow their creative potential to flourish and blossom. Remember, if something is not right for you at the period of time there will always be opposition. When the timing is right, everything will be balanced and aligned for your highest good.

Love has no limits or boundaries. Love is not control. Love is the most powerful force in the world.

Ask yourself these fundamental questions, “What aspect of me wants to remain dependent? controlled? powerless?”

What is occurring within us will be mirrored externally. If we feel powerless then you will keep attracting those that want to erode and diminish your freedom.

Always be in the position of higher awareness and empowerment for yourself and others. Stop. Think. Listen. Observe. Stop reacting to situations and act to rebuild yourself and create. There will always be obstacles, it is how we navigate them. Never give into negative emotions, rise above it. Encourage higher empowerment and growth for yourself and others.

Forgive — release — rebuild. Do not limit yourself. You matter. You are loved. You are accepted. You are important. You contribute many gifts and talents to this earth. Be brave and be the best version of yourself from this day forward. Discover and embrace who you are.

[murfpersonalblog]

Thinking about Loustat in Dark!AUs

So I just finished Chapter 7 of lesfleursrouges' Dark!AU The Splendour Of Us, and OOF! Emotional Damage! 😭 After I recovered a bit from the TRAUMA, I got to thinking about Loustat in general.

Louis' problem's that he's fundamentally a spoiled princess who's been so sheltered/closeted that he never really grew up--he reacts best when people gaslight him into giving him exactly what he wants. And Lestat's problem's that he's fundamentally a spoiled prince who's been so deprived/starved of affection that he grew up too fast--he reacts best when he can lovebomb people into liking/loving him. Loustat was best when Lestat was wooing & courting Louis. It's manipulation, sure, but Loustat really can't handle honesty either, so it is what it is: TOXIC AF. ☠️ Eff the AU, Loustat is inherently Dark. We're just fortunate enough that AR lived long enough to give them a happy ending together in canon.

But Loustat also needed friends, and momentary distractions, and periods of separation, cuz they're both vampires who suck each other dry, and that's when the big blowups happen. The Chateau Era worked for them cuz they had already lived through those necessary growing pains without hovering around to pick at each other's wounds.

Louis had Armand (an old little boy), and Lestat had David (a young old man), who were reflections of themselves, revealing just how hollow Louis & Lestat were without each other. Armand was there to support/nurse/spoil Louis during his 2nd depression era (the gaslighting of it all...), before he got tired of Louis and dumped him for Daniel. David was there to give Lestat some much-needed adult supervision (the daddy/mommy issues...) during his cockeyed adventures, and when he got fed up with Lestat's mess David settled into giving other vampires a shoulder to cry on (ie: writing their memoirs as Daniel 2.0).

But during the final trilogy, we see Louis and Lestat finally matured. In Merrick, Louis has come to grips with losing Claudia and accepting his part/fault in why she hated Loustat; that Lestat is NOT the only villain/devil Louis painted him as in IWTV. Louis finds a new family in adopting Rose (and Viktor by association), cuz really what he wants is a FAMILY. He's at peace with his newfound powers, and has found it in him to forgive Lestat, proposing to him this time around in RoA. For Lestat, he has to learn some harsh lessons about thinking before he acts, and what it means to be responsible and held accountable, as he takes in the Core/Amel, and takes charge of the Chateau & restores the village--cuz really what he wants is a FAMILY.

Louis & Lestat are polar opposites, but opposites attract, and the reason they're so passionately compatible is cuz they're two sides of the same coin. They complete each other--I'm reminded of a line in another Dark!AU fic, bluebloodbruise's Go Fetch God, where Louis says: "I need you to put your fists down and look at me. Not like some object you created, but like an equal, your husband." That really sums up Loustat perfectly. They needed to learn how to stop fighting, and start communicating, and working together, cuz in the end they both want the same thing, they just didn't know how to ask.

[mitchipedia]

Ezra Klein: Israel is giving Hamas what it wants

Klein:

Israel’s 9/11 — that’s been the refrain. And I fear that analogy carries more truth than the people making it want it to. Because what was 9/11? It was an attack that drowned an entire country — our country, my country, America — in terror and in rage. It drove us mad with fear.

And in response, we shredded our own liberties. We invaded Afghanistan. We invaded Iraq. Our response to 9/11 led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. It made us weaker. It made us poorer. It made us hated around the world. We didn’t pull our forces out of Afghanistan until 2021, 20 years later. And when we left, we did so in humiliation and catastrophe and defeat, abandoning the country to the Taliban.

Our politics still haven’t recovered from the ravages of that era. It was, in large part, the invasion of Iraq that discredited the Republican Party’s leadership class, leading directly to the rise of Donald Trump. 9/11 created a permission structure in American politics to do incredibly stupid brutal things, and we are still paying the costs. Perhaps we always will be.

…

I think vengeance is a legitimate and even necessary goal here. It cannot be safe to murder Israeli civilians. But vengeance cannot be the only goal. Israelis, no less than Palestinians, deserve peace and security. Those need to be considerations, too. And that requires considering things.

…

The brutal facts of the occupation, the architecture of control, and humiliation, and checkpoints and work permits and blockades that Palestinians live under, it does not justify Hamas’s murders. But it helps explain Hamas’s strength, its persistent appeal to at least some of the Palestinian people. Hamas is built on Palestinian despair. And if you radically increase Palestinian fury and despair, if you create a new wave, a new generation of fathers who lost their sons, and brothers who lost their sisters, and people now dedicated to revenge, have you actually made Israel safer, or have you made Hamas or something like it stronger?

Hardliners feed on each other. Hamas’s political strength has been an excellent excuse for Netanyahu’s government to abandon even the pretense of a real peace process. If Hamas is on the other side of the table, then there can be no peace process because there is no partner for peace. Israel is right that it cannot make peace with Hamas, that Hamas’s actual aim is Israel’s eradication.

…

Hamas and its backers in Iran want this war. They fear the normalization of Israel’s relations with the rest of the Middle East. The misery of the Gazans is and always has been their strength/

…

We’ve spent decades testing the proposition of whether inflicting more punishment on the Palestinians will strengthen the moderates or the extremists in their midst. The answer is known.

…

If you loathe Hamas, and you should loathe Hamas, you should assume that the place they’re trying to lead us is not where we should be trying to go. If you don’t think Netanyahu’s rule has made Israel safer, or more united, or closer to a resolution of the fundamental threats that face it — and it hasn’t — you should not yourself be cowed into trusting his instincts in this moment. That’s a lesson Americans learned, or should have learned, from 9/11, the one we have to pass on now.

Terrorists want you to act in a haze of fury and fear. The only antidote is to open yourself to criticism and second-guessing.

…

There is no country in the world that would not hunt Hamas’s leaders to the ends of the Earth right now if their savagery had been visited upon them. And that is to say nothing of the hostages Hamas is still holding captive. But the idea that you’ll destroy Hamas this way, I doubt it, particularly if this becomes not just a generational trauma for ordinary Israelis, but also for Gazans, with thousands dead and who knows how many maimed and homeless and displaced.

…

The hardliners make each other stronger. Is it possible for the peacemakers to do the same?

[bluerthanblue-excerpts]

a prelude to another springtime

i. still healing

I have this thought that it will resurrect or came back. It did. Now. I have to pick the pieces of my sanity again and on the road to healing once again. I really don’t have an assurance that it will just fade into nothingness but it’s just a blackhole waiting to be freed after years or a time when I’m too low or too confused with what’s going on with my life. In my late teens, I had this three hundred sixty degrees changed in my life. It was smooth back then with rocky patch sometimes but still I got to my destination. I thought it’s a destination but I encountered a boulder and a destructive storm that I subsconsciously created. I didn’t see the forming clouds or the lightning or even the thunder, I ignored them and just focus on my goal – to finish and to be what I liked to be but I realized, it was just a false image of me. I was too naive and young that everything would fall into place that time. Even though, I experienced my ‘past experiences’, It shaped who am I am ‘today’. I’m still on this battle, for almost a decade and I admit that I will probably spent my 20s, surviving in this ever-changing world. I may yearn for the peacefulness but only I can do to have a peace of mind – a corner where I can be as authentic as I can be.

ii. the 20s

20s is the era of uncertainties. Unlike in our childhood and teen era when we were cooped up in our studies, for a slightly ‘overachiever’ like me, I mostly focused on school and house chores at home. A student who’s conscious with my grades and such yet sometimes slack when I felt lazy and lethargic. But those were the days of spending it on little things, appreciating the 3-peso mango and ranting about my schoolmates who rushed to their homes instead of cleaning the classroom after class. Not this era wherein I struggle with leaving my job because it’s a security, struggle with maintaining it despite the relapse, trying to be fine even though I am not totally fine, and just surviving through the day. The hollow keeps getting bigger and this longing for a peaceful and solitary life keeps on piling up. And I have this worry of going back to square one. Maybe, I just want to stop this madness for once, stopping the time and just let me rest until I got tired of resting and slacking off. Does burnout can pay the bills? No. It’s not. I won’t let my whims and fluctuating emotions or mood can affect my decision to leave. I’m in this ‘in-between’ limbo, quitting or not. Quitting on life or not. The destructive and negative thoughts are now still here, waiting to pounce at my lowest moments. Do I have to stay when my mental health is at stake? It’s a sign to quit but I keep holding on. Because I have to force it. I am not the teen or a child anymore who can just quit anytime when everything feels overwhelming. I have to think of the pros and cons. But do I have to hold onto something that’s changing? That even me can stay for long in that moment. ****We have the final decision on what path should we take after this madness. After this phase. We are at a crossroad where paths get blurry and the scenery arounds us is misty, unclear of the path we are going to walk through.

iii. a letter to the universe

will i just turn into dusts after my lifetime? maybe, just maybe, i will be part of the universe. will always be. soon enough, our stories die with the stars, the blinking and unblinking stars from far, far, away. and we will burn brighter, signifying our colorful life on earth. maybe, we are meant to be here, to just live and meet people for different reasons – a lesson, a detour, or a butterfly effect. maybe, we are meant to touch others’ lives or serve our faith or living with nature, despite the drastic changes in our world now. we have different seasons in our lives and i, look forward to the spring time. after the warmth of the summer, the exhilarating joy and temporary bliss to sudden drizzle and falling of leaves, to the desolate and snow-filled surroundings, to spring time. i always love spring time, it brings hope, a brand new season when the flowers bloom, the plants grow again, and the trees are green. i hope that we are not or i am not just waiting for the candle to run out until 30s – the tone of just surviving the 20s.

iv. the springtime of my life

i’m still on the process of letting go of the winter and embrace the springtime little by little. the sprout and small flowers from the bare trees is slightly appearing and i hope, it will grow again or bloom again. healing is not linear. healing may even take years or even a decade. my springtime or your springtime may even take 6 months or a year. we are living in the world that changes too fast or that we are living in a fast-paced city where almost everyone worries about traffic, not getting caffeine, or not getting a proper rest from a long-hour commute. we may stuck in a waiting shed, waiting for a jeepney or letting the rain passes by. but we forgot to remember that we have good memories of our life – lessons, achievements, even how small it is.

sometimes, i forgot that it’s manageable now than before and i’m thankful that i am still functional, still breathing, and still holding unto life.