#(in the same coin i think the lack of those is its own kind of beauty but thats off topic)

[rychlostthespacewizard]

No matter where I look, the one most common tips i see in the worldbuilding community I see is:

THEMES AND PRINCIPLES

and it seems to be very important for the entire process so you dont end up with a clusterfuck (although i already made sure that my world is one by adding anything i think is cool into it)

So i decided to show you all the ones that help me make Aeloria:

Never One Without the Other

A grand tapestry woven from opposing and inseparable forces: life and death, light and dark, self and other. Life finds meaning in death; light defines dark; individuality exists because of the collective; one cannot have a coin with only one side. Every element is essential and interconnected, forming the true magic of the world. Your existence is inextricably essential to the greater whole.

Everything stays, but it still changes

There's a constant cycle of change and continuity in the world. Remnants of the past stay, but they transform slightly with time. History repeats itself, but never in the same way. Sudden events, seem to come out of nowhere, but they are always rooted in the past. People, instituitions and figures take roles that have been played before, as if they were reincarnations of the past. Ruins dont disappear, they become faded and overgrown, but they are still there, waiting to be discovered until they become the landscape itself.

Elements

Magic, reality, energies and matter are all made up of elements. These elements are the building blocks of the world, and they can be combined in different ways to create different things. The elements are not just physical, but also spiritual and emotional. They are the essence of everything, and they are what connects everything in the world. Each element has its own unique properties and characteristics, and they each represent many different things, they can appear in different ways in our words, like fire can be passion, or anger, or warmth, it can represent the desires and heart of a person and many other things. Some elements are more common and manageable, while others are rare and dangerous. The elements are the foundation of the world, and they are what make everything possible.

The First is More Powerful but The Last is More Refined

The first of a kind embodies raw, untamed power, while the last represents refined, distilled wisdom. The first holds primal strength but lacks control; the last offers stability and knowledge but lacks raw potential. This rule applies to all things, from the first dragons against the new ones, and the first spells agains the recently created ones. The cycle of creation and destruction is a constant in the world, and it is what keeps it in balance.

Many Pasts, Many Proofs

Multiple pasts exist, each with its own truths and stories. The past is a complex, multifaceted entity defined by collective and personal beliefs, revealing different aspects through exploration and interpretation. When one discovers evidence of the previous world, the narrative created by them reveals more about those that created it than the past itself. No one is safe from their own biases, not even the gods, as they are also part of the world.

The Rule of Twos and The In-Between (This is not really a principle but I think it fits here)

All things come in twos or exist in the in-between. The world is shaped by duality and the spaces bridging opposites. Represented by twin deities Aena and Kryela, it highlights balance and unity in duality. The In-Between signifies the spectrum between extremes, blending black and white into shades of gray. This motif guides adventurers and scholars in understanding Aeloria's complex reality, emphasizing that existence is not just black and white but a continuum of possibilities.

[silverskye13]

This might be worldbuilding spoilers, or it might be something I just missed, but do Helsknight and Wels have an equivalent to the reflection thing with Tango and Tanguish, or is that just a Tanguish exclusive? Either in terms of Hels being able to go straight to Wels or just another way of them being connected. Started wondering because of your description of Hels polishing all his armor + Tanguish's knife and how it didn't seem to affect Hels at all

I wouldn't call it spoilers! Its been left intentionally ambiguous for awhile, because I still want to use it as a surprise in the plot for a couple of the plot points. It's also been a little bit since it was discussed in the plot itself.

Most of where Tanguish's reflections have been talked about are the first 3? Chapters? Before he really starts to befriend Helsknight. And Helsknight's have only been really explained once, in two? Paragraphs in his POV chapter. So! Squishy teleportation worldbuilding below the cut.

Whether or not a hermit/helsmit pair can meet each other is subjective, and how they can do it kinda varies. The only thing I've decided for sure, as a rule across the table, is that their links are exclusive.

So Tango/Tanguish can see each other, and hear each other, through reflections, and they can travel to each other through reflections [if both of them are available/near a reflective surface]. But they can't see anyone else, and no one else can see or hear them. Tanguish looks like he's talking to himself when he's talking to Tango in a reflection, and vice versa. They can see hazy shapes/silhouettes of what's happening behind the other person [Tango being able to tell when Tanguish is stealing, Tanguish being able to see Welsknight's silhouette standing behind Tango] but they can't hear conversations or see expressions. They can only see impressions of the world near each other.

Helsknight and Welsknight channel their link through shadows. When Helsknight travels to Hermitcraft, the world around him gets darker, like he's falling through cracks in the void. It has a very physical radius that other people can see. While Hels/Wels can hear each other through that dark, no one else can. They also can't do the same two-way radio type talk. If one of them yells a challenge through the space, they can hear it, but Helsknight couldn't stand in a dark room or talk to his shadow and have Wels hear it. Instead, they share emotions. I feel like it has to do with how Hels started as the voice in Wels's head, he's inherently tied to Welsknight's self worth [and lack thereof]. Particularly strong emotions come through. I imagine Helsknight can feel Wels's self righteous vengeance when he commands Tanguish, but has no idea the context. Most of what Wels feels from Helsknight is anger, which he mostly ignores, unless its very strong. If he thinks Helsknight is violently angry, he will often pull him through their link so they can fight instead. He thinks he's doing a kindness to someone [mostly though, he wants to justify doing violence against his other half, who he blames for his own uncontrollable emotions.]

Both Helsknight and Tanguish [and their doubles] can pull people through those links if they so choose. There has to be physical contact [Helsknight carrying Tanguish through worlds to Hermitcraft, Tanguish holding onto Helsknight when he flips his coin]. I also think, if someone were to latch onto them and be dragged through, it would be risky where they would end up. Being able to pull another person through worlds hinges on you holding onto them so they follow your link through worlds. If you were fighting when you fell through, trying to force someone to let go, and they did, they could follow you, or they could fall free somewhere else.

[exilley]

i love kozue please talk to me about kozue

OMG YAY!! Alr. I have to pull up some of my notes from my last rewatch

So it actually took me quite a bit to really appreciate Miki and Kozue's character arcs because theirs is arguably the most subtle out of the the entire cast (which I understand may not be saying a whole lot, as Utena emphasizes a visual approach to storytelling, where everything is more or less completely out in the open for the viewer to relish-- it's just up to the audience to decide what those symbols mean). The thing that tripped me up about Kozue is that you can't really understand her until you've understood Miki, since her whole narrative niche hinges on her relationship with her brother, and of course given RGU's egalitarian disposition in regards to textual intent, however you've understood Miki will then inevitably color your perception of Kozue. That said! I don't think it's a completely one-sided dynamic, because of course Miki is impacted by Kozue's actions all the time. I just think there's a stricter analytical chronology to dissecting the twins, and that's a departure from the rest of the series' writing, and it makes them stand out a bit more.

Blue is assigned to three characters over the course of the series: Miki, Kozue, and then Ruka. Any thematic commonalities, though, appear to be entirely lacking at first glace; after all, all their personalities and archetypes are oppositional to each other. I definitely had a hard time figuring out this one, but I think my primary (and preliminary) conclusion as to their point of contention has to do with their status as accessory characters. Ruka appears with Juri as a masculine foil, Miki's own status as a member of the student council is consistently undermined by the greater authority of those around him, and Kozue attaches her social worth to her promiscuity. Of these three, Kozue exclusively is a woman, in addition to which she is in the transitional period of adolescence along with Miki, kind of representing an ambivalent force among Ohtori's constructs. She doesn't fully belong to any class of Ohtori's residents. Sure, she has a leaning, but it's just that-- a tendency set up to exacerbate extremity. It's also the binary complement to Miki's own nuances (here we can get into RGU's exploration of Childlike Purity but that deserves its own essay lol; the point I'm trying to get across is whatever Miki is, Kozue represents the other face of the coin).

The bulk of what I managed to gather from Kozue's character actually comes from her duel song, Utopian Paste Tense Incantation. The lyrics lay on really hard with nostalgic imagery and diction.

From this.

We can grasp the core tenant of her character motivation, that being that she's wanting to return to the past when she was figuratively and literally a child, presumably to before the incident with the failed piano recital (parallel that I haven't quite managed to place is the one related to sickness. Miki and Ruka both lost their metaphorical "other" because of illness. Hm). Here, the desire to return to the past is metaphorical in nature-- obviously she doesn't want to turn back time, she wants to replicate their past dynamic, reclaim her innocence, undo metamorphosis, reject the expectations of change the world demands of her.

**Note: The 7-5-3 referenced in some of the lyrics is referring to a Japanese rite of passage and annual festival celebrating the lives of children. Traditionally, girls aged 3 and 7, as well as 5 year old (occasionally 3 year old) boys undergo a ceremony that demarcates their transition into adolescence and womanhood/manhood. Here's the Wikipedia page on it if you're interested

But THIS. This is the catcher

There's a passing mention of an amusement park, which we come to associate with Akio.

The amusement park is the place where fantasies thrive. Its attractions are bound for the same path each and every time. There's no change at an amusement park, no revolution-- only the burden of comfort. And here is the fool who rides a carousel of violence round and round for eternity, the fallen prince. Kozue's own childhood with Miki was like this, and whether it's riding a merry-go-round or playing to his brother's naivete, she keeps herself going around in circles, chasing after a prince who always had his back to her.

Kozue's resentment is mutual- Miki does not approve of her sexual activity and projects his own ideal of the past onto Anthy- but it is not inhibiting. Rather, it is passive, and most of it manifests as self-hatred. She's manipulative, not in the way that she means to hurt Miki as a form of vengeance, but in the way that she advertises a very specific persona of herself to Miki. She's performing the role those around her demand from her (princess), to seek confirmation that somewhere in Miki is the brother who she believed was kind, gentle, and chivalrous. It's fear-- she's driven by the fear that Miki will completely reject her. She was abandoned once, after the recital, and she slipped out of one phase of her life into another. But surely, surely, Miki would still take her back, right? He hasn't changed like she did (or so, I suppose she believes). Her pursuit of an incestuous relationship is the apex of her complex-- it's unhealthy and mired in presumptions of intimacy that aren't conducive to her actually getting any closer to her brother. Similarly with the other sibling pairs, we see this type of sexual abuse used as a way to spotlight the harm that stems from endorsing the caricatures of masculinity and femininity that we're conditioned to view as desirable.

Kozue presses her own vision of the past onto Miki as much as he does to her. He's her "shining thing", her relic of nostalgic antiquity. And therein is their tragedy, wanting to move on in totally different ways, unable to see eye to eye, believing in a flawed history that was never there to begin with. Neither of them want to face the future and place blame on themselves for the loss of a memory that was never once genuine. They're birds who refuse to leave behind their nest, their birdcage. And I think the most fascinating element is the conclusion for Kozue's part of the story, in the scene at the end of Miki's Nest Box, where she finally calls out Miki for being a "coward" and walks away from him, leaving him to finish the nest box on his own. I interpreted that as being symbolic of her finally discarding her own preconceptions of Miki and coming to see him for who he is rather than merely as an extension of her personhood, disavowing the connotations of princeliness she'd come to expect from her brother. He cost them the duel and their attempt at reclaiming their past because of her intrusion on his idealistic fabrications, and seeing firsthand just how fragile his worldview was allowed her to break through her own.

There's so much I haven't addressed, but this is the gist of what I think she's all about? Do add more if you have any thoughts of your own! I will say. Common misconception for Kozue I see frequently is that she's actively aggressive towards Miki because she doesn't like him for reasons ranging from "she doesn't like being objectified by Miki" to "she's been irreversibly hurt emotionally by the incident with the recital" (and that Miki doesn't like Kozue because she simply doesn't fit into his own ideal of femininity). The objection here being the correlation of causality, as I don't necessarily think that Miki's objectification or even the recital are what *caused* Kozue to behave more coldly towards her brother. I hope my train of logic makes sense here because I tried my darndest to shoot down this specific misconception... uhmm. This took a long time to write LOL

[moonspirit]

do you think that if Reiner had Died instead of Porco that the ending with the ambassadors would have still been the same?

Hmmm. Oh god I'm very bad at canon-divergent analysis T_T

I think what makes Reiner's eventual survival so impactful is that for the greater part of his life, he was so fraught with guilt over his actions that he wanted to die. His suicidal wishes and attempts were never successful and in the end, he comes out of everything alive, at long last allowed to live freely as someone who helps others, which was the type of person he always was, right from the beginning.

@aquietjune in her Pieck Essay (an extremely well done write up and a fantastic read, I highly recommend it!) talks about the final lineup of "heroes" to counter the Rumbling, and the balance in numbers. Specifically she talks about how Pieck joining the alliance balances the numbers in terms of Paradisians & Marleyans present (Armin, Jean, Connie, Mikasa, Levi.... Reiner, Annie, Pieck, Falco, Gabi. You see?). While I leave the essay to speak for Pieck's character and significance, I think another perspective to the point June makes, is how Reiner's presence affects those in the alliance in their fight for what they believe is right.

Reiner's character is not only integral and crucial to all the events that unfold in S1-3, it's also incredibly important to understand the Marleyan point of view when we are finally introduced to the Warriors in S4. We don't know Pieck, Porco, the warrior kids, Magath. We know Zeke, but not much. But we do know Reiner, his past, his life on Paradis, the kind of big-brother figure he used to be to the 104th... which is why when he ends up fondly reminiscing about his life there in front of a shocked Gabi and his family, we already KNOW the reason behind his lack of hostility even before Gabi questions it. Reiner is the link between the Scouts and the Warriors when Isayama flipped the coin to tell us the story of the other side.

Reiner's true personality (kind, helpful etc) is what helps us empathize with his guilt and intent when the Alliance forms. What he tells Connie and Jean on the flying boat is important: that despite the wrongs they've all done in the past, they should still do what's right in the present. It's the hand he extends that puts the last of the hesitance between the Scouts and the warriors to rest. Reiner's significance in the story, from where he began to where he's come, is the final link in the chain for reconciliation. It is very poetic then, that he jumps to his apparent death to stop the Hallucigenia, something that is struggling to just survive in its own right, a.k.a. fighting the very thing that gave him life, only to survive at the end of it and live on instead.

Anyway.

Our "proper" introduction to Porco is through a stunning display of his arrogance and ignorance when the Scouts land in Liberio and quickly overpower him. Porco is our classic Warrior adult, unlike Pieck or Zeke or any of the kids, he's blissfully unaware of the Devils on Paradis being... well, not devils. He's very prideful and prone to lose his temper, but all that aside, what sets him apart from any of the other warriors is his loyalty to HIS purpose and his friends. Even in the end, his sacrifice is for Falco, not for anybody else (imo).

Porco being the one to survive instead of Reiner makes me wonder if he would've been a smooth-functioning limb of the Alliance at all. What would he have fought for? Why would he have fought for it? Knowing all his friends in Liberio are dead, would he have agreed to join hands in the first place? I think there would've had to be a drastic reckoning of the cruel reality before Porco agrees to become an Alliance member. A "hero", if you will.

And if it happened, I think it would be quite rough and uncomfortable with the Alliance six, in the end. I can't see him getting along with anybody except Pieck in that bunch ahaha xD Reiner then becomes prone to being bullied by both Porco and Annie, Jean hates Porco and vice versa, Connie thinks he's an idiot (and vice versa!, both of them don't have any general knowledge) and Porco straight up calls Armin a naive weakling which... doesn't help Armin's lack of self-worth. Pieck's the only one who's able to "calm" Porco but really, how much do you think she can do?

[fivie]

hello! just wanted to say i so dearly love umw!!

i wanted to ask—how faithful do you think your umw versions of enj and r are to the book characters? how much do you consider your story to be original with canon inspiration, and how much do you think the characters you write are literally what hugo's characters would do if put in the positions you've put them in? is it both? neither?

I ask, i hope it's obvious, with the utmost respect—umw is the best fanfic i've ever read and literally the last time it updated and i got the notification, i threw my phone across the room i was so excited.

thanks so much!! I love the story!! i hope your summer has been going well!!

Hello! Ooh that's an interesting question 🤔

I don't think they're particularly close to their book selves? They're completely displaced from their original time period and context and Grantaire is now an ageless celestial being instead of just a regular sad drunk man 😂 I think (hope) that they retain certain core characteristics that would remain constant to them in any universe – e.g. Enjolras being an idealistic, big-picture, self-sacrificing kind of person, Grantaire lacking much personal sense of direction or belief but idolising Enjolras and putting all of his faith in him. But they also definitely have...fanon traits? I started writing UMW at the height of post-2012-movie Les Mis fandom, with all its fanon characterisations of Les Amis that are now widely disparaged, and I was definitely influenced by that. I think almost all the UMW characters started out with at least some of those extremely fanon traits, but the story has gone on so long that they've had a chance to evolve and grow along with me, which I think (hope) has rounded them out a bit 😂

Also, and very importantly – I think that, as a fanfic writer who wants a romantic element in my stories, it would be impossible to write Enjolras and Grantaire as completely canon-accurate and get the outcome I want. I'm struggling enough with their AU selves! I think it's central to their book selves that they can never truly find and understand each other until the moment of their deaths. They're two sides of the same coin, but that means they're always facing opposite directions 😂 I think that's why so many of us are so compelled by their relationship! If I think about it really rationally, I don't think there's really hope for a happy ending for their canon selves. Enjolras can never compromise on his beliefs to meet Grantaire halfway, or prioritise his personal wants and happiness over the fight for liberty. Grantaire can never get his shit together and stop self-sabotaging enough to earn Enjolras's respect on his own terms. And that's important, because in the book they are less characters and more symbols and they have a symbolic purpose to fulfil. But as fans, we obviously want to explore them more as human characters and imagine a different outcome for them, and their relationship is so compelling that we want to see it develop; we want to find ways that they could come to understand and appreciate each other and fall in love. But I think to make that happen, there always has to be a certain amount of compromise with their canon characterisation 😂 That's just my opinion though, others may disagree!

I hope that sort of answers your question?? Thank u for the kind message, I'm glad you're enjoying the story 😊💕

[anthonybialy]

Israel Turns the Page

That’s the kind of news worth getting beeped for.  Teaching terrorist crotches a lesson is a satisfying update to see scroll by on my pager.  My very modern device remains at room temperature, which is a sign I didn’t tick off the virtuous nation that will contact anyone out to destroy it to let them know why that is a very bad idea.  The reason will be simple for terror-minded newfound virgins to spot.  Recipients will have a special role in the afterlife.

Mossad provided birth control where it's needed most.  Citizens of the neighborhood’s only democracy who watched The Price Is Right on sick days, snow days, and over the summer heeded Bob Barker’s advice about spaying or neutering the terrorist population.  Judaism’s enemies are ticked about a method for circumcising malefactors.

The Congressional Hezbollah Caucus is upset that their pals aren’t getting pages.  Israel-loathing subversive legislators are sad so many of their top MySpace friends are gone.  Their community is in pain if their groins count.  Representatives of American districts who wear Hamas Decoder Rings call you a bigot for noticing they’re upset about wounded evildoers and not murdered Israeli concertgoers.

Those able to distinguish between right and wrong know the very special alert was a remote operation against vile actors and not a religion.  Calling condemning terrorism Islamophobic is Islamophobic.

The hot details are not safe for work.  A most satisfying attack was as minimally invasive as laser eye surgery.  Deserving victims wish they couldn’t see the results clearly.  Any risible claim that the simultaneous product failure endangered civilians show how daft the case for the abominable faction can get.  Those complaining about everything Israel does are not going to like how the Allies won World War II, and not just because they think the good guys lost.

I'm supposed to be upset there may have been collateral damage while setting off explosions very close to terrorists who deliberately inflict nothing but.  The usual defenders of demons bitch about weaponizing civilian items without applying the same to music festivals.  

Did Israel offer a discount?  Using a communications object purchased with Hezbollah’s PayPal is an easy way to identify wrongdoers.  It’s like when cops send fake giveaway letters to those with outstanding warrants.  If you show up for your free TV, you’re a felon.

Those experiencing neck soreness after perpetually shaking their heads at Israel for fiend castration are the same ones who’ve shrieked regarding every instance of fighting back against an unprovoked terror assault.  People don’t change even as technology does.  Is the freakout over exploding items held by rather vile persons about moral equivalence or contempt for that one particular county?  Flip a coin.

A completely screwed-up sense of right and wrong is nothing new from apologists for wickedness.  The same people outraged by a rather warm feeling in the pockets of heinous operatives blame Donald Trump's rhetoric for his near-assassination.  Hypocrisy is just the start of aligning with villainy.

False empathy lacks true context.  Outrage over detonating beepers is presented as a mean thing you wouldn’t like if it were done to you.  But you haven’t plotted an attack based on free people of a certain religion for the crime of minding their own business.

I don’t want to freak anyone out, but terrorists have already tried to think of ways to blow up iPhones.  A noble country fighting terrorism threw miniature Molotov cocktails at gadgets possessed by Earth’s worst humans if anyone engaging in moral equivalency would like to distinguish between sides.

The righteous functioning nation found the most satisfying, cleverest, and funniest way to emasculate dastards out to exterminate its existence.  Note who’s fuming.

Israel just detonated Hezbollah’s turnip.  The latter naturally used the coolest way to reach your friends in 1998.  Primitive communication is the norm in a Third World hellhole that results from a society dedicated the sole industry of anti-Semitic slaughter.  Everyone at Hezbollah headquarters is afraid to touch the computer.  The Tandy is collecting dust.  They won’t even check their Buddy List.

Contemporary troglodytes can’t go back in time much further.  The next funeral will feature exploding soup cans connected by string.  Hezbollah used pagers to evade Israeli detection.  It doesn’t seem to have worked.  I can’t wait to see how the Mossad disrupts smoke signals.

That's what Hezbollah gets for not switching to BlackBerry.  Israel wants their enemies to think brick cellphones are safe.  Terrorists are going to have to give up their ham radio hobby.  The best part of shutting down talking about evil plots is how participants isn’t reading this.

Turning pagers into personalized mushroom clouds. is the funniest and most satisfying way to make terrorists miserable. Their sympathizers lecturing about collateral damage that didn’t happen while scolding us for laughing is the only thing that could make it better.

There is more than one kind of damaged goods.  Stop giggling about a most appropriate punishment for the worst persons.  It’s not funny.  Correct that: it’s not funniest unless it’s set to Yakety Sax.  Hezbollah is full of Sex Pistols fans who have to decide which song from Never Mind the Bollocks will serve as their anthem.  Please rise if possible.

It’s a quality control issue.  One of the world’s last manufacturers of the once hip accessory can’t help it if terrorists prefer a certain type of beeper that just happens to be manufactured at the plant with kegs on the assembly line.

Progressive Israel performed gender-affirming surgeries.  The left should adore the only Middle Eastern jurisdiction that allows rainbow flags.  As for an enemy of tolerance, Hezbollah capos must flinch at any ringing sound.  Are there numbers to call?  I’m here to help.

[chloe-spade]

Prince and the Pauper Prologue: I'll be Free

Long ago, in a seldom-lived kingdom nestled in the lush greenery of the countryside, a King and Queen lived in relative harmony. They longed for a child to call their own, an heir to the throne, so that the kingdom would live on. The kingdom, though small, was prosperous, and its people were content.

One day, it happened. The kingdom was blessed with a baby boy named Amore, and the kingdom rejoiced as a new heir was born. However, the king died soon after, leaving the Queen in a world of loneliness, heartbroken, and the only person to take care of her son. Her heart ached with the loss of her beloved husband, and yet, it swelled with love for her newborn son.

In fear of the evil that is the outside world, The Queen keeps Amore inside, never leaving the castle, regardless of the situation, and never leaving unless he wants to get hurt. Isolated and alone, Amore chooses to study, and he does as he learns more about science and spends his time doing experiments. Though he would want to go outside, he already knows how to have fun inside.

💙

In the bustling village below, a retired knight named Lilia, with his weathered face and kind eyes, adopted a young boy he dubbed Silver, seemingly born on the same day as the prince. He was Lilia's joy, and he adores his son with all his being, even though he now lives under the cruelty of Lady Eliza, a seamstress he worked under.

Lilia taught Silver to be brave and loving to the less fortunate and always chose Silver over everything, despite his now poor lifestyle. Silver was always kind, though soft-spoken, and always chose to help, not harm.

As he grew, he started working as a seamster for Lady Eliza. Despite her harsh words and treatment, he never let her words damage his spirit or slow him down. He always did what she asked, never complaining—at least not to her face. But he always wanted a better life for himself and his Father and planned that one day they would leave the place and live a more peaceful life. His determination was unwavering, his spirit unbroken.

💗💙

Both of these men, with the aspirations of freedom, have never met. Little did they know, their paths were destined to cross, their fates intertwined in ways they could never have imagined.

Until…

🩷

The Queen, Serena, was told some terrible news. The royal mines seemed to be dry of jewels to make royal coins, and without that, the kingdom had no more money to support the village and its people. If the public found out, it may cause an uproar.

She had to speak with her royal advisor, Duke Divus Crewel, about the solutions. He kindly suggested combining the matrimony of another kingdom, which could help their kingdom flourish brightly.

But to do that was for his son, Amore, to wed the prince of the kingdom of the kingdom of his choice.

After a long week of discussion, Serena took a moment before she broke the news to her son.

"Amore," called Queen Serena, walking into the throne room, "Amore? Are you here? I have an important announcement to make."

Amore looks up from his book and looks at his mother in confusion. "Yes, Mother?"

"I have a special announcement to make." Amore nods, letting her continue. "As you know, our kingdom is going through a horrible money drought, and I have asked the next kingdom to order any help they can offer, and they have a solution for us."

"What is it, Mother?"

"Marriage."

Amore paused for a moment. "Pardon."

Queen Serena took a soft breath. "Yes, the Queen has asked us if you could marry her grandson, Prince Ruggie, and we could share our finances. Amore, think of this as a way to help our people, to help those who can't help themselves!" Amore silently put his book down and looked at her with disappointment.

"So, you're saying that you basically offered me up for marriage, without my permission and I'm basically in an arranged marriage because of our kingdom's lack of wealth?"

"Don't be like that." Queen Serena sighed.

"Mother, I am not ready for marriage and even if I was, I don't think it's a solution for a wealth issue."

"Then I suppose you don't want to help your people then?"

"Mother, don't be like that, "Amore sighs, "Of course I do, and I…I will marry Prince Ruggie for the kingdom."

Queen Serena smiles happily and hugs Amore, "Thank you, my darling. You'll be helping everyone so much with this."

Amore sighed and hugged his mother back, trying to fight any negative emotions he had within. But she was right; he had to do it for the kingdom, as it was his duty as the prince.

"Splendid," Serena grinned. "Crewel is on the way to get a wedding suit just for you. And he's going to your favorite seamstress, Ms. Eliza."

Even that news didn't make him feel better.

But he faked a smile and walked away, his book in his hands.

💙

"Excuse me," Silver squeaked as he carefully walked around town, carrying stacks of silks and fabrics that Eliza had demanded him to get. But it was one of those days when everyone was in the village, and no one cared to notice him. Luckily for Silver, he walked inside the dress shop without scratching the fabrics or himself. He let out a sigh of relief as he entered.

"Ah, Silver," Lilia greeted. "Have you got everything?"

Silver nodded and carefully put the items away. "Yes, Father," he looked down. "Rush hour on the village today."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lilia sighed, "I would've gone if it wasn't for my horrible back. Thank you for helping your old man out."

"You're welcome, Father," Silver nodded and continued stacking.

"You two, come here immediately," demanded Eliza, "We have a guest! An incredibly special one!"

"Who?" Lilia asked as he went up the stairs, followed by Silver.

There was a man, one Silver didn't recognize, but with his attire, he knew he was one of the few rich people living in the village. Behind him were two Dalmatians glaring and growling at Lilia.

"Ah, Advisor Crewel," Lilia smirked, "how many years has it been since we've seen each other?"

"Many," said Crewel, "still look as young as ever I see. What sort of witchcraft you worked on this time?"

"Oh, this is my natural beauty, unlike yourself, as the last time I saw you, you had a few wrinkles. So, I may ask what kind of spells you've used on yourself?"

"Lilia, enough," lectured Eliza. "He's a guest from the royal palace."

"Yes," Crewel clears his throat. "I would like you to create a wedding suit for the prince."

"For the prince?" Silver wonders.

"Yes, the wedding's in two weeks and we need everything to be in order before the big day."

"Ah, of course, with all the news of bankruptcy, of course, I understand where this is coming from, so let's see what we can do."

Silver nods along with Father's prideful words and sighs. "Another piece of work."

"And I expect it to be done by tomorrow, at the very best," Crewel demanded. "Please do not be tardy with this. The Queen can be rather impatient as you know Lilia."

"Oh, do I," Lilia muttered to himself.

"And pardon me for being intrusive," Crewel chuckled. "But I did not know that you had a son. And what is your name, my dear?"

"Silver, sir," Silver nodded toward the man.

"And polite, unlike your father," Crewel laughed, examining Silver. "And such beautiful eyes. I must know, what color are they?"

"Uh, aurora-colored," Silver answered politely.

"Thank you," Crewel smiled. "Oh, I must be going, the queen hates it when I am gone for too long."

With that, Crewel departed, leaving Silver confused and uncomfortable.

Silver looked at Lilia and said, "Our work is never finished, hmm?"

Lilia laughs and leads Silver downstairs, "Oh, don't I know it."

🩷

A day has passed since his officially arranged marriage to Prince Ruggie, and this was the only thing he could do: Hide.

Amore hid as he heard the footsteps of the royal scheduler, listing so many of his duties for the day and how bad they were. He didn't need this, as a wedding was already a stress on his shoulders.

"Oh, we're late, late, late, "Cried the royal scheduler, "We have twenty, maximum twenty-two minutes for your royal fitting. And then it's move, move, move to your speech at the Historical Society. After that, we have to rush, and I mean rush, to the Horticultural Society Tea. And then there's your math lessons, your geography lessons, your science lessons…"

Amore was careful as he passed him. He sighed in relief as he walked down the hallway.

💗

All my life, I've always wanted

To have one day just for me

Nothing to do, and for once, nowhere I need to be

💗

Amore looks around before entering one of the hallways, watching how they were decorated and polished for the wedding. He sneaks by to watch the clouds swoop, looking down at the gardens in dismay.

💗

With no lessons, lords, or lunches

Or to-do list in the way

No one to say when to eat or, read or leave or stay

That would be the day

💙

Meanwhile, Silver sets up the mannequin with many fabrics for his wedding suit in the village. He starts to daydream as he cleans up the mess, humming and singing.

💙

All my life, I've always wanted

To have one day for myself

Not waking up with a pile of work on every shelf

💙

Silver walks by the window let a bird land on his finger and enjoys how the bird begins to sing along, as birds do.

💙

With no hems in need of pressing

And no sleeves in disarray

No wedding gown with a thousand stitches to crochet

And no debt to pay

💙

Footsteps alerted Silver out of his daydream, and he immediately started to work, trying to act less suspicious when she came around.

"What do you think I'm running here? A cabaret?" Eliza scowled.

"I would've said a debtor's prison." Lilia chuckles towards Silver, "How much do I owe you again?"

"Father," Silver hushed.

"Keep laughing, you'll be working for me for another thirty-seven years," Eliza sneered towards Lilia, " since you think this is funny to you."

"But he's already paid off more than half!" Silver protested.

"But there's an interest, isn't there? Your Father should have thought of that before he borrowed so much," Eliza scoffed, walking back up the stairs.

"He did it to feed me!" Silver argued.

"His mistake." And the door slammed hard.

💙

What would it be like to be

What would it be like to be free (Free)

Free to try crazy things

Free from endless IOUs

Free to fly

Free to sing

💗

Amore gazed at a romance book and sighed, thinking of meeting someone, not just by marriage but by meeting up and getting to know them more realistically, as he dreamed about it.

💗

And marry whom I choose

💗

Queen Serena walks over and pats his shoulder, alerting him to a hug, "I'm so sorry, my darling. But as you know, you must marry Prince Ruggie. It is the only way to take care of our people."

"I know," Amore sighed. It's my duty."

The maid walked in and handed Amore a gift, carefully wrapped in stings and ribbons.

"Oh! And look!" Queen Serena cheered, "Another engagement gift!"

Amore sighed and faked a smile as he walked away. Looking at his unopened gift, he almost ripped out the strings.

💗

You would think that I'm so lucky

That I have so many things

I'm realizing that every present comes with strings

💙

Silver hums as he dances with a long fabric, followed by many birds as he gets more for the wedding suits. Lilia couldn't help but smile at the sight as he sewed the cuffs of the wedding suit.

💙

Though I know I have so little

My determination's strong

People will gather around the world to hear my song

Can I come along?

💙💗

Amore finally found his way to his room, looking around for anyone not to disturb him as he rushed to his balcony and sighed in the afterglow of the fresh air. The only way he could be alone was to get rid of all the stress he had because of the wedding.

Silver opens the small window, helps the birds out, and watches as they fly into the air, going to whatever they want, and no one can ever stop them. Silver knew someday he could be free as the birds that fly high in the sky and go somewhere else, away from this forced work.

💗💙

Now I fear I'll never be

Soon I will forever be

Free

I close my eyes and feel myself fly

A thousand miles away

I could take flight, but would it be right?

My conscience tells me "Stay"

💙💗

Amore watched and looked down at the village below them and knew that he couldn't be so selfish and that the town should matter to him. He wanted to save his people from a future of debt forever, and he could not forgive himself if he could not.

Silver watches his Father struggle, only for a short while. He knows that Lilia can handle himself, but he hates that he has to watch his Father struggle, not only physically, but with the debt that he had caused by him. Silver never tells Lilia, but he feels guilt for being the reason Lilia is in debt and does odd ways to make money for them.

💗💙

I'll remain forever royal

I'll repay my Father's debt

Duty means doing the

Things your heart may well regret

💙

Amore found a pink rose resembling admiration, happiness, and love. It's a sign that things will get better, even during the most challenging times, and that he may find real love and happiness if he continues to hope and believe. He smiled before putting the rose in his hair and looked at the sunsets.

Silver found a blue rose resembling aspiration and admiration. He knew that he could keep going and that helping his father and his Father was his goal. Even when he was abused and belittled, he never backed down or gave up, like his Father before him and what Silver inspired him to be now.

🩷

But I'll never stop believing

She can never stop my schemes

There's more to living than

Gloves and gowns and threads and seams

In my dreams

I'll be free

💙💗

💜

The night shined brightly as Amore looked out his window, watching the stars shine brightly above him. He watched the knights travel around the castle, guarding. But he wasn't happy.

"Why?" He pondered, "I don't know why life has to be surrounded by sadness and loss…after this, what should I expect from life afterward? Being a wife in a loveless marriage? I don't want that, and I don't want to be stuck here. Maybe, I could have one day of freedom, even if I have to wait, just one day is what I want."

Amore's eyes noticed Crewel walking out, his Dalmatians following him out, and walking out the balcony, watching him leave. "That's… odd," Amore muttered. "Why would Crewel go to the forest? At this late at night, too."

Amore sighed, closed the door, and walked inside. "I can ask him in the morning," he yawned and lay on his bed, his eyes slowly closing.

💟

Two men were inside the royal mines, codenamed Dee and Dum, as they were associated with bad business, i.e., finding and stealing gems so the kingdom could stay bankrupt, until…

"Dum?"

"Yeah, Dee."

Dee grabbed a rock from one of the carts and held it out to Dum, "What is this?"

"Oh," Dum chuckled, "I put that there."

"You idiot! We are supposed to find gems, not stupid boulders!" Dee hissed and threw the boulder away, "Do you even remember the boss's plan."

"Yes?" A tremble was heard, like a rock slide, alerting both men.

Thinking that someone had found their location, they rushed inside a cart.

A light went closer and closer until Crewel entered his head, grinning wickedly. "Hello."

He whispered. "Ah, boss," Dee gasped, "We thought you were someone else."

"Who did you think I was? The Queen?" Crewel sighed.

"Of course not." Dum laughed, "We knew it was you."

Crewel's face palmed, and they looked over at the duo.

"What did you find?"

Dee smiles and hands Crewel a golden nugget, which is big enough for Crewel as he snatches it. "This is perfect! This will be enough to save this kingdom and make me richer than the Queen herself!"

💟

I've been bowing, I've been scraping

I've been lying like a rug

And for ten long years,

I've had to pay my dues

But today, I am escaping

For the last, gold has been dug

It was waiting there, so how could I refuse?

💟

Crewel imagined himself delivering the gold, getting praise from everyone around him, especially the Queen and Amore, and becoming the king in progress.

💟

I'm returning home a hero

Who's discovered mighty wealth

And what better husband could a prince to choose?

I'm the suitor who will suit him

Bring the kingdom back to health

And I'll wear the crown, for how could I refuse?

Raise every glass and rouse every cheer

Praise that the reign of Crewel is here

Master in charge of all that I see

All hail me

And by marrying the prince

I get all that I desire, Like a moat, an ermine coat, and palace views

Even though he treats me coldly

It's a sign of inner fire

For inside, he's thinking, "How can I refuse?"

💟

"Does he know about the.." Dum mumbled to Dee.

"What are you two muttering about over there?" Crewel demanded.

"Well, the engagement," Dee answered, "Remember? The prince is destined to marry Prince Ruggie? In two weeks?"

"Hm, oh…that was happening," Crewel snarled.

"Yeah, I mean, the queen is a queen, she had a crown, a specter, and has a big fancy chair, and-"

💟

Silencio! No! I won't let go!

This peasant son won't turn and run because some reckless royal chose another beau!

Ah!

💟

He smirked and clutched the gold as a plan soon entered his hand.

💟

It's a temporary setback

It's a momentary lapse

But conveniently, my ego doesn't bruise

And the moment that I get back, I will show them who's the boss

You can bet your bullion there'll be no "I do's"

💟

"What's the plan, boss?" Dum asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, let me explain." Crewel laughed.

💟

Yes, suppose the boy goes missing

So the prince says "Au revoir"

Then I find him, bring him back, and make the news

Then the Queen will be so grateful

That she'll pledge the heir to Moi

And I'll humbly tell her

"How can I refuse?"

When our ceremony's over, I'll arise and take the throne

And that nitwit Amore can kiss my shoes

For the kingdom and the castle Will be mine and mine alone

If the crown should fit, then how can I refuse?

💟

"So you two, kidnap the prince by the end of this week, hide him in that desolate cabin in the woods, and keep him there until the prince leaves and the wedding's off," Crewel ordered.

"Of course, boss!" Dum proclaimed happily.

"Happily!" Dee added.

"Then I'll be king, and no one can stop me!" Divus cackled.

💟

So get ready with the roses (So get ready with the roses) And stand by with the champagne (And stand by with the champagne)

When you've got a brilliant plan, you never lose (When you've got a brilliant plan, you never lose)

Yes, before this chapter closes (Yes before this chapter closes)

I'll be big as Charlemagne (He'll be big as Charlemagne)

It's a thankless job, but how can I refuse? (It's a thankless job, but how can he refuse?)

How can I refuse? (How can he refuse?)

💟

Crewel laughs echoed within the caves, causing bats to fly out into the dim night above.

[almadesarrollo]

MOANA 2 TRAILER, MY OPINION AND THEORY (THE NEXT SHIT, I'M AFRAID) PART 1

Hello everyone, let's talk about Disney again, and how it destroys everything it touches hahaha, including its own products!!!

As you know, a trailer for the Moana sequel, Moana 2, has officially been released:

It had been planned for a long time to make a Moana series after the success of the movie, but until recently it was announced that in the end this was going to be a movie, and here we have the first trailer… why do I feel that this is a shit?

Ok, let's be fair, not all Disney sequels are bad! There are some successes:

It all depends on how it is handled, there is a little bit of everything, but as you know, Disney is very heavy with the WOKE theme, and lacks creativity, which is leading to ruin…so as they are the things, they choose to touch what will give them guaranteed success, but touching these products I think is the worst thing they can do…

Well, the trailer looks wonderful, the animation too, and the music WAAAA, and Moana looks beautiful, more adult of course, but beautiful nonetheless, but that's not going to be enough, we need a good story,

MOANA SET THE BAR VERY HIGH, I love this movie, you love this movie, WE ALL LOVE THIS MOVIE, THIS SEQUEL SHOULD EXCEED IT AND IF NOT, AT LEAST, EQUAL IT. WILL THAT HAPPEN?

Well, we still have to wait for another more extended trailer and more information but… it seems to me that they are one of those cases of lack of creativity, well, I'm going to tell you a little about what this movie reminds me of and then my theory of what What is going to happen?

FROZEN 2 (recycling)

I feel that this sequel has the same vibes as FROZEN 2, I mean, I think they are going in the same direction but within their universe, and with their own mythology, MOANA 2 would be like the twin of FROZEN 2, but with WATER, HEAT , THE SEA CREATURES, ETC….2 sides of the same coin, very similar but different…let's see their similarities:

- according to the trailer, we see how the village is being attacked just like in frozen 2 by a natural element, in this case lightning, in frozen 2 the attack was received by Arendelle and the 4 elements attack at once, both attacks happen at night.

- in Moana, she was supposed to go to deliver the heart of Te Fiti, but this call was from the ocean, he chose her, however, from what we see in the trailer, her ANCESTORS IN THIS CASE CALL HER, Just like in Frozen 2, a mysterious voice calls Elsa and she feels that she must answer the call since it is really her family, her mother.

- it seems that this call will be through this whale that will guide her on the journey, something that we also saw in frozen 2, the voice guides Elsa and certain creatures help her.

- Moana goes with a team of sailors, just like Elsa goes, not only with Anna, but also Olaf and the rest of her friends, one of the members is magical, in frozen 2 Olaf, in Moana 2, Maui.

-Both Moana's and Elsa's teams enter unknown territory, encountering all kinds of creatures and dangers, the difference is that one does it in the forest and the other in the sea.

-lThe light colors and pastel colors, tending to white, are part of the MOANA design just like in Elsa's designs, we also see a shape similar to the print of the 5th element in it, on a fabric of a similar color.

- We see how Moana now has a sister, why give her a sister now and not before? I mean, she could have appeared in Moana 1 and appeared little, and thus not overshadow the protagonist, in fact it was planned that she would have 6 siblings, but they removed it because of the last thing I said, not to mention that she is dressed like Moana herself, this is suspicious, right?

- We can see in the poster how she is looking at the horizon at an island at dusk or dawn, guess what, in frozen 2 Elsa looks at the horizon at dusk, Ahtohallan, which is similar to an island, only it is a glacier, something from her world and element.

-Guess what, we know that frozen 2 EL Ahtohallan is Elsa's new home, because she is an element and must reside there controlling the spirits, we know that from what we saw in Moana, her people were explorers, they went to islands and They settled there, so it is possible that the island is the new home, where she led a new tribe. For some reason we see the change in the crab, she goes from one conch to another and notice that the crab wants to go to the Moana's conch but she removes it, as if changing something in her nearby home to something unknown.

My mother, that's crazy, right? hahaha there are many more similarities but I think these are the most important, I'm going to tell you what I think is what is going to happen because it is very predictable, this will be seen in part 2 if it is not a very long post.

Like, reblog and follow me if you liked the content and to see more of this type.

see you in part 2

[dynamimight]

cw: THIS IS NOT A FIC, the internet is simply my diary lmao. just a lil thing to get stuff about tumblr rn out of my head. read if you please, i also rly want to talk about this w/ppl 😭😭 (readmore bc i put this in fandom tags)

i recently have been feeling a certain kind of way about reading fanfic; if i find myself scrolling (bored/looking for fun stories as always) i kinda just quickly scroll through the whole page and give?? up??? like im not as excited as i used to be. this is for a few reasons:

1. i feel like a lot of fics are the same now 👍🏼 not a terrible thing, but i really look back to the quarantine era of "forced creativity" (a different conversation) and think about just how much people were writing; not to "give out content," but to truly explore an online writing community and do something that was worthwhile. the resurgence if the "[as]" trend on tiktok really put that into perspective for me: quarantine forced ppl to explore creativity, created job opportunities based on that (influencers/content creators as we now know them), and really pushed artistry to the point of basic normalcy. even though this was a cool kind of thing (seeing so many ppl create), our level of understanding art and its brilliance was lowered. which brings me to point 2-

2. a good amount of the "creative era" of quarantine was simply ppl replicating other ppl's original ideas, or straight out stealing them to add an extra topping of fame, bc ofc "everybody wants to be famous." my best examples of this are the two sides of the tiktok coin: dancing & damelio.

dancing became a big thing, and it made sense to start dancing trends; a trend is just popularity + replication. but charli damelio becoming famous for creating one of those trends and it later being stated that a completely different girl, jalaiah harmon, created it and had no recognition until the news came out?

and yes, she was on ellen, but that pales in comparison to the millions of dollars that the damelio family made bc of one instance of improperly following a trend.

and that's what i see now with multiple online spaces; they've become boring bc everyone is doing the same thing w/o giving proper credit to anyone. before content creation & whatnot became huge, no one irl would go around seriously saying tht they created some huge, celebrity-reach trend without being checked.

now, the difference between tiktok and fanfic pertaining to "trends" is based on power imbalance. no one is gonna believe a middle schooler saying that they started the trend of wearing skirts over jeans when it was very obviously some a-list celeb. in writing, you look to your favorite authors, poets, etc. and formulate your own writing style. whether that's word choice, plot format, or anything else you can cultivate to your own writing experience.

while you can always put your own spin on new dance/fashion trend, writing is different. you wouldn't put a spin on a classic in the same way: it would be a modern retelling, or smth symbolic of the original. adding an extra move is is not equal to adding an extra sentence. and that is what leads me to my final point-

3. writing is becoming/has became very formulaic. a good amount of fics in the most popular fandoms here follow a similar style. we see this with the short cycle of complaints that went around when the fic format of "short blurb with a group of character names under it" came about. along with the fact that the format probably came from the notoriously unoriginal & wattpad-esque booktok, everyone who wanted activity in their notifs was using that format. and so now, with every new group of teens that comes here to enjoy stories and explore writing, the new "trend" isn't a fully fleshed out story: it's like pushing out content.

i'm not complaining, and i'm not saying that everyone lacks originality. i enjoy whatever ppl put out bc i know that any form of writing comes from some place within. i am simply making a written observation of something i've noticed happen over the last couple of years- being a younger teen when it started, and now growing into the basics of adulthood.

the internet is my diary lol

[feathery-dreamer]

Freefall (webcomic) quotes

fair warning, there's a ton of them

"Coming together to make music and sing is as old as the human race. It was likely the first non-survival related gatherings we did. For what is a community other than a friendly setting where you can make a complete fool of yourself?" ~Gregor

"If microgravity caused rapid fat loss instead of muscle loss, humans would have had a vastly overfunded space program and been an interplanetary species by the 1970's." Sam

"Benevolence. Philanthropy. Altruism. Thinking like an alien makes my brain hurt. Though in this case, totally worth it." Sam

"His Dad's is starting to warm up to me. His Mom, if she warmed up any more, she'd combust." Florence

"Encounters hardship and concentrates on solving the problem rather than complaining or blaming others? That is nonhuman." Tess

"Artificial intelligence won't be fully human for a while. They're too closely supervised. One day you'll read about a bowman's wolf embezzling from the pension fund and then you'll know they've finally reached parity with us." Tess

"In wartime, human officers who fought with the men they were supposed to lead sometimes got fragged. A fragmentation grenade tossed into the tent to remove that officer. What we're seeing here is an unpopular manager getting economically fragged." Sam

"Helix, I'm proud of those guys. I offered one ship, they want three and a station. The robots have learned how to mooch." Sam

"You can be part of humanity without being human. It's culture, not biology. It doesn't matter if you're organic, mechanical, or virtual. If you share the same core values and goals, you're part of our society." -Tess

"If an employee can go on line, create a new account and order a part from Amazon easier than he can get a part out of your own warehouse, you have a problem." Sam

"So we know to get people smarter than us to help. That's a kind of smart all on its own." Sam

"Well, if something is inevitable, the only course of action is to figure out how to profit from it." Sam

"In order to learn from your mistakes, you have to survive them." Sam

"Tell people you're doing something for them out of the goodness of your heart and they'll be suspicious. Tell them you're doing it out of self interest and you'll gain their trust." Sam

"Every now and then, I find it profoundly disturbing that someone trusts me with their life and even more disturbing that I want that trust." Sam

"It is strange. Humans are often more concerned over how something gets done than if something gets done." Rover17

"Most people get along just fine knowing less than one percent about most subjects." Sam

"Negotiation. Extortion. Two sides of the same coin." Sam

Rover17: "Should I take advice from someone who fails to magnetize their feet?" Sam: "People who lack common sense are the best teachers. We've learned from experience!"

Sam: "The Station manager is trying to trick you. By deliberately putting humans in danger, he knew robots would come to the station and provide low cost labor." Rover17: "So to avoid endangering humans, we have to be well paid?" Sam: "Bet you didn't know greed could be altruistic."

"This solar system is filled with people who made the leap to form a new colony. Pioneers, adventures, gamblers and explorers. If given a choice between an overprotected life of ease in the garden of Eden, or a life of hardship with the chance of greatness, they'll go straight for the apple every time." Sam

"You have tiny feet and yet you still find a way to make me worry when the other shoe is about to drop." Niomi

"There's no point in becoming a legend if no one remembers your deeds." Sam

"Hearts and minds sounds good. But if you really want change, you have to get wallets involved." Mr De Morel

"There are those who want power so they may command the wealth of others. Then there are those who want power so their wealth can not be commanded by others." Mr Hillman

"It's also about purpose. It's about being able to contribute to your community. People may not like going to work on Monday. What they like even less are Mondays with no job to go to." Mr Hillman

Mr. Hillman: "Your whole species lives on just one planet? Man, that would make me twitchy! Anything happens to that one planet and BOOM! It's all over." Sam: "Yes. It's a worry I never had until I met humans."

[pazodetrasalba]

Game Theory

Dear Caroline:

I'd guess this kind of criticism would come from either people who are more ruthlessly utilitarian than you, or from people who really enjoy, as you say, 'the object level of their life'. In the first case, I would suspect they are taking their principles too far, to the point that they become robotic slaves of Optimization, perfect +EV machines, which to me feels slightly inhuman and undesirable. At the same time, though, there might be this very EA disdain for fame, glory, recognition and doing intellectually stimulating things, which are meant to be sacrificed on the altar of Utility. After all, EA's stereotypical heroes are people who went into neglected areas and got high impact but little to no public recognition, like Stanislav Petrov and Victor Zhdanov. It seems to include an ethical distaste for conventional rewards in status, fun and pleasure.

As for the second type of objectors, I can find it easier to agree a bit with them, but am still more in your camp here than theirs. You are an incredibly smart and sophisticated person, which matches well with those meta levels of enjoyment that you mention. To a certain point, I suspect this is true of everyone: we are actually hardwired to enjoy the good things in life much less than how we suffer their lack and the bad things in life -an evil but effective motivator of sorts. Even if actual experiences are pleasurable, I would concur that imagining their realization, and turning the into levels passed in some ever-going Game of Life is much more inherently satisfying.

Complex aesthetic and intellectual self-cultivation tends to work for me better than the activities that society generally considers high-status, but I've probably pushed in this direction to a fault. In my socio-economic background, work was inherently tough, unpleasant, dull - each and every coin drenched in the sweat of mostly mindless and physically extenuating activity, which probably communicated the wrong message to my teenage self: strictly search for a job that is intellectually satisfying and that gives you enormous amounts of free time for learning and reading. But I am aware that this might be too egoistic and self-serving, and that one should also cultivate a moral inclination to improving the world and other people's lives, even if not maximally. And I feel that in some people, helping others through sacrificing some of your own appetites is its own, weird source of pleasure and happiness.

Quote:

I agree that it’s good for my job to be optimized for effectiveness and stuff. But I think a lot of my leisure time should be optimized for what I enjoy, and it so happens that signaling is one of my favorite leisure activities.

Caroline Ellison

[viridescent-lament]

my stretch marks are fading :[

[baeddel]

When discussing gender, I see the term "toxic masculinity" being thrown around, in an often unclear/imprecise way that has left more confusion than clarification. What do you think of it? (Wanted to thank you in advance for your insightful posts on transmisogyny, it helped me a lot!)

thankyou! well, you can enjoy surprising your friends with the following information: 'toxic masculinity' is a phrase we inherit from the men's movement. here's an amusing article about it: Carol Harrington, 2020, What is toxic masculinity and why does it matter? she says she's been teaching gender studies since 2000 and never once heard the term until 2018, when she found her students using it with perfect confidence. so she takes it on herself to find out where it comes from and she figures out that it was coined by a gentleman named Shepherd Bliss in the 1980s, who she went and spoke to, and he told her he coined it to describe "his father's militarized, authoritarian masculinity" (pg 3). he belonged to a movement called the Mythopoetic Men's Movement, which was a sort of school of New Age popular psychology leaning on ideas by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. their account is a psychodynamic one and they meant 'toxic' more or less literally, at once an individual pathology and a social disease, with a single structural explanation: because fathers are emotionally distant from their sons, those sons grow up without realistic male role models. as they develop they frustrate themselves trying to realize misplaced aspirations, and finally satisfy their rage on petty, impotent exercises of authority. this leads them to be emotionally distant tyrants towards their own sons or burnt-out deadbeats who derelict their families, upon which that son will suffer the same emotional distance and lack of role models, into infinity. you can see why it's an attractive theory; many of us did grow up with emotionally distant fathers, felt bewildered and unaccompanied in our adolesence, and many of our peers do beat or abandon their children. but it's about as 'just so' a story ever soed, and anyway, why the exclusive emphasis on fathers and sons? it relies on, Harrington writes (still pg 3) "an essentialist notion of masculine emotional development", where boys are born boys, who by their nature suffer a psychological need for male fraternity. but the notion became valorized in mainstream psychology, and the effect was to pursue policy through organizations like the U.S. National Fatherhood Initiative, which claimed they could treat the violence in youth culture when they were called to testify in the Columbine trial (!) (pg 3-4). something called the Thriving Families Program (which still exists and has branches all over the world) was established in the late 90s "for low-income, mostly minority, parents" to "[promote] heterosexual marraige and engaged fatherhood as, in the words of the program's executive director, 'a civilizing influence on men' " (pg 4). if you go to their website right now they say they're working with the White Earth Nation (an Ojibwe nation) and other "tribal communities" to "[redesign] our country’s approach to ensure child and fam­i­ly well-being", to "instead of separating children from families," referencing the U.S.'s ongoing genocide of indigenous people using its child protective services (not in so many words), "[strengthen] fam­i­lies with the kinds of resources that will keep chil­dren safe at home and fam­i­lies stronger together" with a "focus on pol­i­cy and sys­temic reforms at the state, trib­al or ter­ri­to­r­i­al level" (see).

well, doesn't that just make you want to puke? but whatever, that's not really what people you know mean by it. Harrington talks about it in the context of contemporary feminist media studies and suchlike (pg 5), as well as the progressive language of state propaganda (pg 5-6), including a remarkable instance where "branches of the Turkish National Police disparaged other branches as toxically masculine." she comes to an unsurprisingly dim view of the term's utility and like you she notes a lack of precision, saying that "more than half of the top 60 [journal articles using the term] provide no definition: the term is used descriptively, without theorization or operationalization."

but if i was going to tackle it (which i won't do right now as i have hoovering to do) i would be interested in analyzing its renewed relevance alongside other contemporary toxicities: toxic negativity, toxic positivity, toxic gamer culture, perhaps even the imaginary toxins removed by detoxifying cleanses. these concepts range from demonstrable to nonsense, but what i'd be more interested in asking is why: why this metaphorical preoccupation with pollution, purgation, and so forth? it puts me in mind of Sloterdijk's You Must Change Your Life, about what he calls anthropotechnics, "techniques of individual and collective self-transformation," because that reminds me of the two levels of toxicity in toxic masculinity, the individual's psychology and society's malaise, which i think is an organization present in some of the others i mentioned. a person can have a toxic attitude and belong to a toxic enviornment, we must make (vague but) urgent structural changes and at the same time check our privilege. the technical ape. well, those are thoughts for later. right now I Must Change My House, that is, into one a little cleaner than it is now.

a little less manly and all the more sick. yours, Stupid.

[ichorai]

pearls and pastries ; j.jk

pairing ; pirate!jungkook x baker!reader (gender-neutral)

summary ; a crew of pirates have been pilfering your village for several weeks now and one particularly keen buccaneer has stopped by your bakery practically every visit; whether it be for the delectable pastries or for the sweet baker he's taken an interest to, jungkook couldn’t say. but there’s a catch - the baker doesn’t know that he’s a pirate.

themes ; fantasy, angst, fluff, pining, slight action, pirate au, baker au, medieval au

words ; 3.6k

warnings / includes ; descriptions of weaponry, stealing (from the rich), jungkook being a sad lovesick sap, pirate!bts, poetic sadness but when do i not do angst lmfao everything i touch turns into written sorrow </3

a/n ; written for the @ficscafe fic exchange event for @sunshinerainbowsbts !! i hope you like it <3 i'm definitely considering writing a part two to this :D

Jungkook wasn’t quite fond of parrots. Well, his mislike wasn’t necessarily directed towards the multi-hued rotund bird itself, but the fact that the wretched thing was squawking out a poor rendition of what Jungkook had announced earlier whilst clambering down the crow’s nest.

“I’m going to the bakery! I’m going to the bakery! I’m going to the bakery!” the winged devil screeched from atop Jimin’s shoulder, ruffling its bright feathers as if taunting him.

Shooting it the nastiest of scowls, Jungkook reached behind his head to untie the vermilion bandana holding his overgrown locks away from his narrowed eyes. “You better shut that bird up before I toss it to the sharks, Jimin.”

“If I let you do that, I’d also have to throw you overboard. The both of you are equally annoying,” the other pirate snorted in contempt, glancing up at his younger friend striding across the ship before moving his gaze back to the knapsack he was emptying for the pilfer. Out fell several empty bottles of rum, a few gold pieces glinting in the harsh midday sun, two jewel-encrusted daggers, and a worn eyepatch that suspiciously looked to be the same as the one Yoongi always wore over his left eye. “You seem to forget that we’re here to steal from the rich, not buy fancy breads! You’re lucky that Namjoon has half the decency not to kick you off the boat. Jin, however fond he is of you, still calls you a moocher.”

Rouge faintly dusted across Jungkook’s cheekbones as he coughed into his fist, lifting his shoulder in a half-shrug. “I steal stuff sometimes,” he muttered under his breath. It was useless to defend himself against someone who saw straight through him.

“Sometimes, my foot!” Jimin scoffed, hiking the bag over his shoulders. “Bringing back a goblet you found rolling down the street doesn’t count, you know that, right?”

Jungkook rolled his eyes to the cloudless sky, far too stubborn to admit that Jimin was right. With not another word, the young pirate clambered off of the large vessel and onto the rickety docks, grunting upon landing. It didn’t bother him much that Jimin was irked at his lack of contribution. They were rich enough as it is; what was the rush?

The air was tangy with sea salt and damp wood as he inhaled a deep breath, setting off for your bakery. Walking there took exactly three hundred and seventy two steps. Jungkook had memorized the shortest route to your little shop, mumbling the numbers under his breath with a growing grin blossoming across his lips. He subconsciously rolled the sleeves of his white tunic down, the fabric concealing the pirate tattoos inked all over his arms.

When the youthful sea wolf stepped foot into your store, a familiar chiming of the bell hooked atop the door echoed across the cream-walled room. At the reverberating sound, your head peeked out from the kitchen situated in the back. An illuminating beam danced on your features, eyes lighting up with mirth at the sight of Jungkook.

It made the muscle within his chest slam against his ribcage, desperate to be freed from its confines because it belonged to you, and only you. He wasn’t quite sure when the sudden fixation for the village baker his crew was stealing from started, but he had acclimated to his own change of heart by visiting you as often as he could.

“Fancy seeing you here today. Are you coming in or are you now my human door stopper?” Your heavenly voice floated towards Jungkook, snapping him out of his thoughts. Sheepish, he shuffled inside, engulfed by the warm scents of chocolate cakes, powdered pastries, caramelized fruits, and toasted almonds. His stomach gave an impatient snarl at the sight of tempting desserts. You had also walked to the front of the counter, dusting your flour covered hands on an apron. Some of the white powder had managed to smudge on your cheek, and Jungkook had to resist the urge to reach over and thumb it away.

“Hi,” he said with the brightest of grins. “I’ve missed you.”

At his bold statement, you suppressed a chortle. “I think you missed those chocolate cream puffs you like so much, not me. What’ve you been up to while you were gone?”

Jungkook hesitated at that. For the short amount of time he’d been visiting you, not once had he mustered the courage to tell you of his true origins. A savage pirate like him shouldn’t even be around the likes of you. You had no idea that he was part of the crew that was robbing your village, and the very thought of you finding out had him terrified. You were a taste of all the goodness in the world, and Jungkook was afraid you’d crumble into ash if he dared touch you. The sinner had no rights touching an angel, after all.

“Visiting family,” he hummed, quick to move on. If you noticed his strange demeanor, you didn’t say anything. For that, Jungkook was grateful. “I brought something for you.”

There was something about your smile that seemed to expel any and all feelings of gloom in a room. Jungkook was no exception to this feat, his knees almost buckling against the soft pink counters. He righted himself by leaning his elbows on top and propping his chin up with a palm. Gods, he didn’t know he was in this deep.

“Oh?” you set your hands on your hips, tilting your head to the side. “To what do I owe such pleasures?”

The corners of his eyes crinkled. “For those cream cheese tarts you made me last time I visited. Thought I’d repay you.” Whilst saying this, he used his free hand to reach into his back pocket, fishing out a string of authentic pearls, adorned with a glimmering clasp of gold the same hue as the sun.

Your smile melted into a confused pucker, brows knitting together in a muted painting of hesitance, yet you ogled the expensive necklace dangling by one of his spindly fingers nonetheless. Where on earth had he gotten such a valuable treasure? “But you already paid me with money. I really can’t take that, Jungkook.”

Disappointment was easily detected as he slanted his lips to the side. “Alright, then.” He tucked the pearls back into his pocket. It surprised you how easily he had complied.

The worrisome atmosphere was quick to dissolve when the bell jangled once more. A small child meandered in with a toothy beam, holding a small pouch of clattering coins in their palm. They were no taller than Jungkook’s midriff, and he liked it a little more than he should have watching a certain softness adorn your features at the sight of the kid.

“I recommend the cinnamon apple pie. Or maybe the brown sugar crepes if you’re looking for something sweeter,” Jungkook said, gesturing to the treat behind the display glass. The child angled their head to stare at the taller man with wonder. “Anything Y/N makes is to die for, though.”

The child excitedly babbled something in return, but you didn’t quite pick up what they had said. You were far too focused on Jungkook’s animated features when he kneeled down to point at some more desserts. Sure, he was a handsome man, you’ve known that since day one. You’ve never really looked at him in this light. It was as if he were carved from pure luminosity, whittled by the hand of the most skilled sculptor. Everything about him was practically perfect; the gentle slope of his nose, the angles of his raised eyebrows, the dappled rouge of his lips, the beauty marks mottling his dewy skin, the dangerous cuts of his jaw, the twinkle of gaiety you found in his irises. With the sunlight filtering through the windows, it basked Jungkook within a golden radiance, the shadows casted along his face only highlighting his best features, doing nothing to aid your fluttering pulse. Has he always been this beautiful?

“I’ll have a slice of apple pie!”

The sudden clinking of coins being dumped onto the counter snapped you out of your trance, and you kindly wrapped up what the child ordered and handed them the paper bag. Both you and Jungkook watched as they smiled in thanks and trotted out of the bakery. Curse his handsome physique.

A little flustered by your earlier thoughts, you busied your hands by sorting the coins the kid had coughed up. Jungkook, ever the kind soul, merely stood with you as you worked, engaging you in entertaining conversations to keep you occupied while your store was empty. Where did the sun go once it disappeared down the horizon? Why did everybody else seem to enjoy the bitter taste of coffee except him? Why did his heart beat so quickly when around you? The last question he couldn’t muster the courage to ask, and much to his perturbation, he already knew the answer. You enjoyed Jungkook’s company very much; to the point where you couldn’t quite remember what it was like before he had sauntered into your life.

Before the both of you knew it, the sun was already setting. Jungkook noticed the way you deflated just slightly when red kissed the sky. It was a telltale sign that Jungkook was long overdue to go back to his ship. Yoongi would have his ass if he was late again. The whole situation was ridiculous, really. He felt like a fairy tale princess running away from the ball before his clothes grew into tatters. Well, in his case, he supposed it’d be pirate-wear.

Your smile betrayed only the gentlest hint of disappointment as you thrusted a bag of warm cookies into his arms. “Take this for the road,” you had said.

And so Jungkook did, smiling like an idiot the whole way back. A part of him absentmindedly wondered what your face would look like when you noticed that he had left the pearls on the countertop for you.

The ship rocked as the young pirate scampered across the deck at a startling speed, flinging the doors to the cabins open. Six older pirates stared at his panting form, a few looking on with unsurprised indifference, most glaring at him in disappointment. Jimin merely stuck his tongue out, his childish way of saying I told you so. There was expectancy in the captain’s eyes, but it waned away at an instant upon seeing that Jungkook carried nothing of value. Namjoon pinched the space between his brows in mild frustration.

Stiffly, Jungkook jerked his arm to thrust the bag in his hand forward. “Cookie?” he asked. Nobody said anything. Jungkook slowly brought his appendage back down, guilt roiling in his abdomen. “I take it you guys don’t want the cookies?”

With a huff, Namjoon stalked forward. “Of course we want the cookies, give me that.” He snatched the bag out of Jungkook’s hands and tossed it to Taehyung, who caught it with eagerness vividly splayed across his ruffled features. “I do have to admit, we’re getting tired of you bringing back nothing but sweets every time we go on raids, Jungkook. C’mon, kid, this is a team effort here. Look, just today Yoongi managed to steal a dozen coffers from a nobleman. The least you can do is try.” True to the captain’s word, there was a mountain of chests and boxes full to the brim with gold coins and shimmering jewels piled to the side of the cabin.

Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Jungkook nodded in understanding, though not without a miniscule frown twinging his lips. What was a pirate without his treasure, right?

Taking note of his glum demeanor, Namjoon clapped a hand to the younger man’s shoulder. “We’re not mad at you—”

Yoongi snorted at that.

“We just… want to help you help us,” Namjoon finished, ignoring the salty pirate’s quip from behind him.

The youngest man on deck raised his hand to his forehead in an awkward salute. “Yes cap’n!” Shame prowled within his chest; just thinking about the dishonor he brought to the pirate reputation by loitering in a bakery all day, ogling at sugary treats (and the sweet baker, but Jungkook digresses).

A part of him felt even worse knowing that he’d see you less and less, what with the other pirates breathing down his neck. He could only hope that you’d still look forward to his visits, though few and far in between.

Authentic bottles of expensive wines were shoved into his knapsack by Taehyung, lacing chains of aureate crammed into his hands by Hoseok, bars of cold silver wedged into the pits of his arms by Jimin, and more treasures thrown at the youngest pirate to hold as they lithely ran across the village. Being one of the stronger and more agile ones of the group had its downfalls, after all. He was being treated like a pack mule, hauling all the treasure for them. Not that he was going to complain; Jungkook knew that he deserved the rough-housing.

“Hold onto these for me, will you?” Yoongi gruffly uttered as he slid the thick hilts of gem-encrusted daggers into his belt. Jungkook complied hesitantly, but not without a suppressed groan of annoyance. “They’ll sell for more than a pretty penny, so don’t lose them.” The older pirate seemed to be in a grumpier than usual mood, considering he lost his eyepatch and the mottled scar crossing over his eye was on display for anybody to gawk at. It would’ve been worrying to Jungkook if he wasn’t aware of the fact that Jimin was merely prolonging his juvenile game of ‘keep away’, attempting to dance away from Yoongi’s inevitable wrath.

Perhaps being a pirate wasn’t his true calling, because Jungkook found that his mind kept wandering off to the matters at hand—running away from the guards. Though it was a relatively easy task (the guards were quite thick-headed in this village), he thought about the pretty plants dangling from the balconies of a building they jogged by, or the scents of exotic spices carried by the souq market not far from where they were. Most of all, much to his expectancy, his thoughts were centered around you. Had you gotten many customers for lunch rush? Were you lonely without him? How many times have you smiled today? Jungkook was all too fond of your smile.

Blinded by his unsaid affectionate ramblings, he only barely caught on to Namjoon’s quiet, “We shook the guards off for now. Be careful next time, Seokjin. The sun’s about to set soon; we should head back to the ship before it gets dark.”

Jungkook hissed out a small sigh of relief, bending over to catch his breath. Jogging across the village would have been no problem, but running with treasures twice his weight draped all over him was a different story.

When he righted himself back to standing, the sudden pit of shocked trepidation unfurled within his abdomen. There you were, beautiful as ever, but a terrifying sight to see. Normally you’d be the only person he would want to see, but as of this moment, you were the absolute last person he fancied bumping into.

Why now? He had the most rotten of luck.

Today you weren’t wearing your regular apron, but a pair of fitted grey trousers and a soft beige blouse far too large for you, hanging off of one of your shoulders as you cradled a basket of breads and cheeses and other groceries in your arms. It was a simple outfit, but one that made his heart clench nonetheless. The glinting of iridescent pearls draped over your décolletage had his breath stolen away from him as raw sentiment overtook his form. You were wearing the pearls he left for you and you never looked more beautiful. Jungkook, on the other hand, was clad in clothes that practically screamed pirate; a golden-clasped corset tightened about the small of his waist, a tattered white button-up tucked into his dark trousers, worn sea boots covering his feet. A large gun was also slung over the belt cinched around his hips, along with multiple daggers of the like, and not to mention all the riches and jewelry the other boys had thrown at him.

You couldn’t see him. No, it would absolutely ruin Jungkook.

Perhaps dropping everything he was holding in a panicked effort to dash away as quickly as he could was the worst possible thing he could have done to not warrant any attention.

The concerned and confused questions erupting from the other pirates as they whipped their heads towards their youngest comrade went completely ignored. He scampered away from them, lunging towards a shadowed alley and hiding behind a teetering pile of musty boxes. A stray cat nuzzled against his leg, but Jungkook merely shooed it away with a frustrated glare and not-so-subtle shushing gestures.

What a fool I am, the young buccaneer berated himself, pressing a knuckle against his temple in frustration. He waited for another minute, before slinking out from the shadows, peering around the corner to see if you were still there.

No sign of you. Relief seized his chest, but not without the gentlest flower of disappointment staining whatever solace he felt, a weed amongst the roses. Jungkook’s mind was still reeling from the fact that you were wearing his pearls.

Treading carefully, he strode out of the alley, turning the other direction before halting in his tracks completely. A queer, garbled noise tumbled past his lips.

It was you, a confused smile gracing your features, and all Jungkook could think about was how the sunlight was made for you, how you glowed in front of him, how he wanted to cradle you into his chest and murmur confessions of his pure, unadulterated love into your ear. But Jungkook didn’t do any of that. Instead, he merely stood there, as if he was imitating a statue in all of his pirate glory. Terrified, regretful, and ever so angry at himself.

Fate was a cruel game.

The pearls shone prettily on your skin. A reminder of the best mistake he’s ever made.

Your eyes had yet to wander down to fully take in his appearance, for your expression still held fondness for the man that’s visited your bakery so often, still having no idea that he was a filthy pirate, locked into his molten gaze. “I think you dropped something…?” The golden chains dangled loose between your fingers as you held them out to him. Jungkook didn’t take them, frozen on the spot.

It was as if he could pinpoint the exact moment you found out his true origins. Your brows furrowed upon seeing the weaponry strapped onto him, one of his pirate tattoos on display (Jungkook cursed himself for not thinking of rolling his sleeve back down), and the six other men watching in silent despondency behind them. You had always been a sharp one, far too smart for your own good.

Or, perhaps, it's always been obvious. Jungkook was only wishing for the impossible.

“You’re a pirate.”

The statement wedged a stake into his chest, splintering his heart into pieces. When you stepped away from him, confused horror marring your beautiful features, Jungkook knew that it was over.

He lost you.

A flurry of emotions, overwhelming and tumultuous, evidently took over you at his lack of denial. You looked to be just as heartbroken as he was.

“You’re a pirate,” you repeated, dazed. You wanted him to say something, anything. Much to his surprise, you didn’t sound angry. You took several steps back this time. The weight of pearls around your neck suddenly felt choking.

The sudden calling of his name had his head whipping around to look at his captain, watching the brutal exchange with gentle sternness. “We have to go.” The guards’ll be coming soon, no doubt.

Jungkook looked back to you, any and all words lodged in his throat. Despite the fear in your irises, a soft expression of acceptance folded over your visage, for under all his pirate exterior, he was still the same man that you thought so fondly of from your bakery. The look was short-lived however, quick to fade away when Jungkook reached out for you hesitantly. A part of him pondered how a simple baker managed to steal from the stealer. You had robbed him of his heart, and Jungkook didn’t even try to stop you.

Upon seeing you inch away in mortification at your new revelation, Jungkook retracted his arm and pursed his lips. The agony clawing at his stomach was begging to be set free. He wanted nothing more than to get onto his knees and plead for your forgiveness.

I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry I’m not the man you thought I was. I’m sorry I fell in love with you.

His name came out again, this time from Yoongi. That meant it was serious.

“I’ll come back,” Jungkook said, tears rimming the bottom of his warm doe eyes. You watched him start to trek backwards. “I promise.” The words felt heavy on his tongue, like he was swallowing down a knot of thorned ivy.

Before you had the chance to say anything back, he was gone, bounding back to his ship with his comrades. Not long after, the distant barks of guards pursuing them rang throughout the village. You took that as your cue to leave. Swallowing down the urge to cry, you forced your eyes away.

You hoped he wouldn’t uphold his promise, for the both of your sakes.

[maxellminidisc]

Genuinely love that Gon and Killua's weaknesses as characters is I think their immaturity and unique naivety that makes children soft despite how much shit they may have been through. I think it adds to that whole thing HxH has going on where it never let's you forget these are kids when other shonens act like it's no big deal that kids are fucking fighting for their lives in these stories. Their lack of emotional control seems very understandable for their age, and extremely understandable in context to their individual situations. And then on top of it the way they express those weaknesses are in contrast to the other that elevates that kind of both sides of the same coin dynamic.

Gon is a selfish kid, but it's not like a vicious or cruel selfishness, it's a selfishness of impulsivity; a complete burst of emotion that comes from a place of deep care but also of attachment to others (as a result of Gin being a deadbeat bitch) that I think he tries to deny it. Its selfish because it comes with a lack consideration for consequences or how those consequences will effect the people closest to him (which again is ironic because for example, his attachment to Kite as a father figure ultimately hurts his best friend who he also expresses deep attachment to). He absolutely has like emotional blinders on that lead him to do whatever he is feeling.

Where as Killua's has deep deep sensitivity that he tries to hide and bottle up in contrast to Gon's constant uncontrolled expression. Yet, it doesn't stop him from being ultimately a incredibly kind kid who expresses his care with CONSTANT considerate actions he has to take for others to his own detriment and further emotional turmoil. He is selfish in not being trusting of those closest to him with letting them help him (and its completely understandable as to why, given his family, he has never learned to trust). When people help Killua it's of their own initiative and he seems slightly embarrassed but still appreciative of it. And the one time he does do something for himself in doing what he wants against his father's plans for him, he feels selfish and guilty not having considered his younger siblings. Some might call Killua's thoughtfulness, "maturity" but I see it more along the lines of kids who try to do their best to not cause problems for their parents when things at home are rough, only in his case he does that shit for Gon. It's a maturity that comes at the expense of the peaceful experiences of childhood and its paid in emotional pain a kid cant quite understand isnt good for them either.

[arlakos]

Miraculous Rant

Actually, you know what, while im still mad from the previous post I made, lets go off on a rant. No punches pulled. Lets do this.

The lovesquare is the most terrible ship in this fandom. One girl is a hyper obsessed stalker who tracks her crush with her planner for 3 whole seasons, while the boy couldn’t learn to take a hint and stop flirting for 3 whole seasons until he decided to move on with another girl. Ironically that makes them perfect for eachother, but its in a creepy kind of way, not a loving kind of way.

Adrigami and Lukanette in the S3 Finale were wasted events and never should have occured because they were immediately axed in the first few episodes of the next season. I feel sorry for those that were hoping their ships could be real for at least a short actual while, and it makes me want to curse the writers for their story-boner for the status quo of teases

Despite what I said earlier, none of the girls are good for Adrien. Marinette’s stalkery and a borderline yandere, Kagami’s somewhat controlling and too similar to Adrien help him grow as a person, Chloe is a queen bee beyotch and honestly too much like a sibling to Adrien, and Lila is garbage. Fuck it, have Luka date Adrien and they can play some sweet music together (not like that you pervs, I meant they both play instruments).

Nino needs more love. Not only that, but there needs to be more Adrien/Nino bro moments. If Marinette and Alya can have moments together, why not the bros?

Chloe’s character is a mess, and is neither redeemable, nor notably evil. Her role as a villain in season 1 is very hamfisted, such as in the episodes Mr Pigeon and Kung Food. Not only that, Chloe also lacks any of the qualities that makes a good “bully villain” or rival to Marinette, and her sympathetic moments (which are Written by Sebastien) are mostly overshadowed by the fact that Astruc wants her to be a bully, so it just makes her bipolar and confusing when her character is tugged between two writers.

Chloe should not have joined Hawkmoth in Miracle Queen, see my other post as to why I think so. TLDR, its kinda ooc  for her to go full on 2d villain like Hawkmoth especially after Miraculer, plus Lila was being build up to be the main antagonist of S3

Chloe got kicked from the Team in Miraculer because people know her identity? Fine. Kagami gets to be Ryuko again despite being known to Hawkmoth in Ikari Gozen? Not cool. Ladybug shouldn’t be a hypocrite and be willing to break her own rules just because “Kagami is my friend and Chloe’s not”. Same goes for her breaking the rule with secrect identities with Alya, only for her to go on and on about the rules to Chat when he pries.

Zoe is a bland character who’s only notable trait that she likes Marinette, which automatically makes her worthy of a miraculous after two episodes and no actual development.

Astruc is a petty frick who makes episodes that give the finger to fans of the show that have a different opinion than him. Queen Banana, Miracle Queen, and Reverser are good examples of this (Reverser did Nathaniel dirty).

Master Fu is a shit guardian. Read my post for more.

FRICK THE FEAST EPISODE. Not only did is ruin Fu as character, it ruined all the good theories as to why the order fell, and wasted the idea of a new villain being introduced or even taking over as the main antagonist! Speaking of Feast, despite the sentimonster destroying an order when he wasn’t even big, he still go beat by 2 kids even when he was supersized!

Marinette is not a good Guardian. Her ability to choose heroes does not make her capable, and just because “tradition is stupid” doesnt mean that Marinette shouldn’t be tested like others before her!

Despite the Kwami’s being ancient magical buildings, they seem to act like kids a lot, and that annoys me when in S1 they are supposed to apparently be mentors to their wielders, like how Tikki was before she was mentally de-aged.

Lila is trash and should be removed from the show. The only reasons her lies work is because the writers dumb down every other character in the show and ignore the fact the people have smartphones with google.

The “Miraculous” Ladybug spell should require both Ladybug and Chat Noir to cast, because not only does the power have nothing to do with creation, but it also “destroys” anything created by the akuma, which thematically makes no sense. Also it would place more emphasis on the two heroes being equals and “two halfs of the same coin”

On that note, Ladybug has too many powers. Not only is she the only one who can purify akumas, and can cast a spell that can fix Paris time and time again like its no one’s buisness, but she also now gets a new suit and the ability to nullify Hawkmoth’s akumas. Like COME ON! Give Chat some powers too.

Mayura’s feather’s shouldnt be able to be purified by Ladybug since they have no dark energy, and (thematically speaking) Chat should be given an ability that allows him to “vanquish” the energy in Mayura[’s feathers similar to how Ladybug can purify Hawkmoth’s akumas. At least it would develop a rivalry between Chat and Mayura, and would make Chat necassary against Shadowmoth rather than being replacable with any other hero.

The are too many temporary heroes. They should have just stuck with the 3 heroes from s2 and leave it at that. Sure, new heroes were cool, but the overuse has made the whole hero thing feel less special. It made sense for the first 3 to have them, but now it’s just like Oprah where everyone gets a miraculous. Except Gabe.

Chat Blanc was a stupid reason as to why secret identities cant be revealed, also Chat could have told LB who Hawkmoth once he returned back to normal was and the show would be over.

Hawkmoth should not be Gabriel. Frick the lore about Gabriel’s wife dying and him going evil to get her back, it makes the story feel too much like a star wars/Darth vader reference and leaves Gabriel acting bipolar, flipping from wanting to save his wife and doing this out of necessity to being a power hungry madman wanting to take over the world ( which is said in his canon music video). Having Hawkmoth be his own character means he can be an actual maniac who wants world domination and not just have villanous plot that rely on obtaining magical jewellery (perhaps doing other evil things/taking a more active role), while Gabriel being his own character means he can be a father that has become estranged from his son due to the lose of his S,O, and thus can have a plot about him reuniting with his son (I liked the end seen in Simon says, ok?)

On that same note, I think Mayura shouldn’t have been Nathalie. Considering Hawkmoth’s plans were repetitive as heck for most of the show, when I heard about the Mayura leaks back in Season 2 (when she was called “le Paon”) I was theorising that Mayura would actually being Hawkmoth’s boss, the villain the was responsible for giving him his Miraculous and the one who destroyed the Order of the Miraculous, and would take over as the main villain in season 3 due to Hawkmoth’s failures. However, that turned out not to be the case.

Not only that, but Mayuras power is a copy paste power with some modifications to make it complement Hawkmoth’s power, by basically giving his akuma’s magic pokemon.

Speaking of Hawkmoth’s power, for a miraculous that is supposed to be used for good, how can his power mind control people and make them become evil? More importantly, for a miraculous that is supposedly weaker than the main heroes of the show, having it be able to multiply and posses people to create an army is kinda strong.

Fuck the Maribat ship that the salt fandom came up with. Its trash, it was made to bash most of the Miraculous cast sans Marinette, and anyone thinks it is good are either those same salters or are the same people who think that Rey-lo and the Twilight Saga are masterpieces of romance.

Whew! I needed that vent. Hope you enjoyed it as as much as I did, and Tune in next time on the next episode of:  Arlakos loses his Mind and Rants for 2 pages of writing!