#And she’s part of the root cause of this problem and the people who willingly enable her by allowing her to continue ‘localizing’

[childofaura]

The localization/censorship debate and why people need to do their damn job

… I know I’ve been making too many posts for someone who’s supposed to be on break. I may have to modify it to “I won’t be engaging with anyone right now and I may just pop in once in a while to talk about issues going on”.

Because right now, this issue is pretty important and as you all know, I hate censorship or dishonest localizations. That was my big issue with Fire Emblem Engage, and you can find my post with the video from Censored Gaming here: https://childofaura.tumblr.com/post/711372254663131136/so-as-ive-been-playing-engage-with-the-japanese

ANYWHO, there has been a MASSIVE shitstorm in the anime/localization community happening the past week or two. This has actually been brewing over several years but it’s now been gaining traction. And right now I’m here to divulge it to Tumblr so people understand what’s going on. Putting a Read More because this could get lengthy.

So as far as I can reach back to see where this recent maelstrom of drama has started, it began with this recent announcement:

(Sorry, had to post the IMDB article, the official tweet doesn’t mention AI)

Now personally, I still stand firm by my AI stance, but I don’t defend official localizers. If I can make the decision, I’d go with fansubs; I’ve watched Ginga Densetsu Weed and currently am watching the OG Urusei Yatsura anime with fansubs (fansubs are charming and I appreciate the context they provide with translator notes. Yeah we all clown on the “According to keikaku” meme but it’s harmless to the overall sub).

Personal note aside, this has caused many localizers to start flipping their shit on Twitter, and somehow infamous “localizer” Jamie Marchi, the one who was responsible for the cringy and insecure “pesky patriarchal societal demands” and the infamous rewrite from “But we’re girls” to “But I don’t like girls” (which from general consensus comes off as a homophobic rewrite), catches wind of this. And she goes apeshit over people calling out her horrible line rewrites:

Constantly ignoring better suggestions, the story’s own canon, and just generally throwing a huge hissy fit over the fact that people (like me) don’t fucking like their product being tampered with.

All of this was sent to a Youtuber named Asmongold TV. I don’t know who he is, I’m not familiar with him, but apparently he’s got a pretty big following, and a big Japanese following too. Thus, this video was made:

And this caused a HUGE outreach; even people in Japan are taking notice and this is spreading like wildfire:

So now it looks like people are REALLY taking notice of this issue that’s been underlying the anime/manga community.

My thoughts on it:

This is why people who inject Western culture, slang, or politics into subtitles should have just stuck to their fucking jobs. This isn’t a general statement to all localizers because I know there’s probably a few who actually care about preserving the context of the original media, but this is what happens. You have shitty players in this game who not only ruined it for themselves, but for EVERYONE. This was self-inflicted. And I’m glad that it’s starting to spread like wildfire, because accurate translations should be expected and the norm. We shouldn’t even be here in the first place.

[meretrifles]

Tipereth is the Children's department head and she is violently certain that is age discrimination. She's correct. Tipereth doesn't even like kids, never has. That's a total headcanon, but a) she's a very forceful, results-driven, practical person who doesn't like shenanigans, and b) she willingly hung out with Enoch. I think I've got a leg to stand on here.

I have less to say here because I just don't like Children's. It pings all my buttons. There are small children who I just can't understand or relate to and the stakes of not understanding feel high-- what if you damage their psyches for life? What if their parent comes around and tells you off? What are you trying to tell me, small human?? What do you mean??? My little spiel about Yesod in Children's was transparently autobiographical. I have a doodle of Yesod left in children's protesting "I am insufficiently neurotypical for this!!" (Not that neurodivergence is necessarily the root cause here.)

Children's is a fun department if you like working with children. There are crayons and picture books and summer reading toys and actual toys which probably you won't be assaulted with. There are shelves which 100% see actual climbing. Kids are impatient, they don't want to put up with you going to the computer to figure out if the latest Dog Man is in, they'll get bored and wander off. To be fair, a butt-ton of patrons of every age will do the same these days too.

But because it's Children's, there's other pressures. You don't want to try and just bar unaccompanied adults from the department, that’s hardly fair, but... pedos... drug addicts... people who will do meth in the washrooms and come out naked... god, I wish that scenario were rare enough to doxx me... Unaccompanied children are also a problem, but less of one. Still, it happens, because people think the library is a safe space. Everyone thinks the library is a safe space. It's not. It can't be.

Anyway, Tipereth lives in a perpetual state of annoyance because the backstreets kids are conniving little assholes, the nestborn are horrible brats, and their parents are the worst of all.

The absolute worst part? Most of the kids adore her.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Dancing around the halls of the Elouan Ruins

If I were to describe the Elouan Ruins in one word, I’d say somber would pretty much sum it up. I can’t say too much about ruins in general other than they’re interesting in the sense that they’re remnants of a different time. No matter how seemingly mundane and ordinary these places once were, I think the fact that they exist and carry stories is fascinating.

The ruins are located underwater in the outskirts of Marippe. Due to changes in the sea level over the centuries, the city gradually became submerged and became one with the sea. The interesting thing is that even after the city was abandoned, Elouan Hall was still run by the dragon god Scylla and his half human daughter Tiara for meetings and events. The most notable feature is its ballroom, which has somehow remained mostly intact after all this time.

I didn’t expect to meet up with Connie and the Marippe crew so soon. Jamie and the Linnea squad are joining too, which is a nice surprise. I’ve always said that winter and the rush of the holidays wears me out, so I try to push myself out of that slump by keeping my mind active.

I’m glad to say that my efforts have been paying off, though there are still times when I need to be a complete potato for a couple days. That’s just the nature of holiday season, I guess.

Beryl, Ruby, and Topaz are making good progress on their cardigans considering the circumstances. Connie says it’s a long story, but in short, Marippe had been plagued by earthquakes and floods that was later revealed to be caused by an outside faction tampering with ancient devices underwater.

Although Connie and the Justice, with help from the siblings and others, managed to get to the root of the problems, the damage had already been done. That’s why Beryl said the streets aren’t usually this quiet - it’s because they’re still cleaning up from the flood. Fortunately, the city wasn’t as affected compared to some other places, so things have been slowly returning to normal.

As expected, things have changed in Marippe, and not just because of the repairs and rebuilding. For instance, as a result of averting the disaster, Lady Roselyne was said to have lost her powers and returned to the waters, resulting in Justice Fontaine being her successor. While it’s nothing too drastic as he was pretty much running things in the first place, the people didn’t expect the Lady to willingly sacrifice her divinity to avert the crisis. And by “returning to the waters”, it just means that she reverted back into her original form and is said to be resting in Marippe’s waters.

However, Connie and Pai don’t plan to slow down anytime soon. The impending disaster in Marippe obviously took priority, so they have a lot to deal with after. A part of that happens to be admin stuff with the guild. I remember Eloise mentioning a package deal agreement regarding the siblings and her being bumped off the list again because of the Justice. Good news is that now she’s finally in, along with another new member, Madeleine, who is said to be special case.

Eloise wound up lucking out because apparently Fontaine and Connie felt bad for keeping her on the waitlist for so long because in normal circumstances, Madeleine would’ve bumped her off the list. So that’s why Connie was able to get a team up in Marippe that fast, which proved beneficial in the long run.

The bad news is that because new recruits take up time and resources, Connie and Pai are a bit tight in terms of finances. But it’s not as bad as it sounds as they’ve been through times like that, though this time it’s a bit more serious as they’re kinda in the red. Since they’re sticking around Marippe for a while, Connie figured that now’s the time to pick up more side missions, as well as train the new recruits in the process. In other words, the sooner they can recoup the losses, the better.

That’s why Connie and Pai are splitting up. I’m with Team Connie along with Jamie, Linnea, Topaz and Beryl for the Elouan mission. Pai’s in charge of the rest of the Linnea squad - Florina, Nash, and Shirin - as well as Ruby and Eloise in Le Sommet Aride. Those are the main ones, followed by a bunch of smaller, more straightforward missions in the days to come. It kinda sounds like they’re taking a lot at once, but Connie says it’s manageable, especially with Jamie and the Linnea squad helping out. After all, the sooner they can recoup, the better.

But before we went off, Connie had to take care of some “boring admin stuff” regarding the Marripe recruits. Because of the impeding crisis and how quickly things were moving, it makes sense that the admin stuff fell behind. Connie’s lucky that the guild didn’t penalize them for cutting corners - which would’ve been rude considering the circumstances - so now they have to get everyone caught up on the paperwork as soon as possible.

So, along with enjoying tea and pastries in Cafe Zephrine, I got to finally meet Justice Fontaine and Madeleine. Connie chose this spot not only because it’s popular, but also because it’s a convenient location for everyone. The Justice is usually busy with work and the administration hall’s a couple blocks away so he could easily drop by when he has time. As for Madeleine, Pai says she’s kinda difficult to keep track of, mainly because she just moved so things are kinda hectic on our end. Luckily, while on his way to the cafe, Fontaine ran into Madeleine and filled her in.

Just as Pai described him, Fontaine is the kind of person where you can immediately tell they’re a big deal. I swear, the mood kinda shifted when he showed up, not that they were intimidated by him, more like they have a great deal of respect kind of thing. Despite his status, just as Pai also said, he’s very nice and polite, not to mention that he was clearly looking out for Madeleine - who Connie said is kinda dealing with a lot right now.

I think it makes sense that after barely surviving a near catastrophe, a lot of people come out of that reevaluating their lives and maybe even making big changes because of it. Beryl said that he was surprised to find out that Madeleine had joined the team and wondered if Fontaine pulled some strings to squeeze her in, something that Connie, interestingly, doesn’t confirm or deny.

She’s definitely well acquainted with Fontaine, so maybe it’s not a stretch that she’s probably acquainted with the former Lady Roselyne too, especially since Eloise revealed her ties to Marippe’s administration - which apparently seems to be a subject that shouldn’t be discussed openly because classified information probably. I think that just further adds to my speculation that she is - was - someone of high importance.

Change can be scary, and there’s no doubt that Madeleine has a lot on her plate, so I wish her well and I hope to get to know her better in the near future. After all, aside from the adventuring aspect, a lot of people join these kinds of groups to expand their social circle, whether it be making new friends or taking advantage of the opportunities to spend time with people they’d normally never run into in their day to day lives.

To be honest, if it weren’t for some of their understandably strict requirements - like being adept in combat, for example - I would accept without hesitation if Connie extended an invitation to me. Though, I enjoy being an “honorary member”, just as someone who occasionally tags along for adventures, as well as provide a place for anyone who needs some downtime. Having the camp being designated as a hangout spot is what I consider a great honor.

So we spent quite a bit of time hanging at the cafe, which was nice. The paperwork was pretty much skimming through a packet and just signing where indicated by an X. It’s a good thing the entire Marippe crew showed up so Connie can get all the paperwork done and over with. Though, it’s a shame that Fontaine and Madeleine can’t stay for long. I hope to see them soon, whether it be at the camp or in Marippe.

Topaz, being an expert on underwater ruins, took the lead as he’s somewhat familiar with the area. For ruins, the Elouan is relatively recent, as in less than 500 years since it was completely abandoned and submerged. As a result, the structure is surprisingly intact, which is why researchers are trying to get as much out of it as they can before nature fully takes hold. Sounds like a goldmine of information for historians.

The Elouan Tower, later known as Elouan Hall, served many purposes over the centuries. It’s best known for its library and ballroom, both which were once extravagant. The main study served as a common meeting spot for various leaders like Scylla and Elysia. Around the time Tiara became the tower’s keeper, the place was known for its extravagant balls that served to bridge the gaps between the world of the humans and mythical creatures, setting an example for future generations to come. Although Tiara is generally not well known outside of Marippe, her influences and impact on immortal beings reached many corners of the world. That’s also another reason why the Elouan is a hot topic for historians - to pull Tiara out of obscurity.

Although hybrids like Tiara existed for a long time, they were few and far between. Being from two different worlds, whether it be heritage, blood, or species, it can be pretty isolating as you don’t fit into one or the other. Hybrids are still kind of a minority, but there’s obviously more of them now, and the experience isn’t as isolating. However, they still have their struggles. There are those like Sophea and Emmaline who seem well adjusted living among humans, but even they have their moments where they doubt their identities. Someone who’s lived a couple centuries, like Sophea, would have much different experiences compared to someone like Emmaline, who, for the most part, is “more human” in terms being mortal.

What makes Tiara unique as a hybrid is the fact that her human mother Eliane was a water spirit, similar to Lady Roselyne. Eliane took on a human form when she decided to live alongside the people. When disaster struck, Eliane and an army of water spirits sacrificed their divine powers to prevent the seas from engulfing the skies. As a result, she became a mortal human with a limited lifespan. Despite that, she continued to work alongside Scylla, who was forever grateful to her.

Even though it’s general knowledge now, the fact that Tiara was Scylla’s daughter was kept secret. While Eliane was well respected, she was known for getting into flings with men and women, something that sort of made others feel conflicted about her. So no one really batted an eye when she became pregnant because they figured that A, it was bound to happen, and B, she probably had no idea who the father was.

It wasn’t until about a century later, around the time Tiara took over in managing the Elouan, when Scylla came forward. He and Tiara chose to publicly disclose the true nature of their relationship to take attention away from a scandal regarding Tiara’s friend. It worked as Scylla and Tiara became the target of speculation and rumors.

Of course, people got it in their heads that Scylla and Elysia were in some secret romance, or that Elysia toyed with Scylla’s heart. And they were inevitably disappointed when Scylla repeatedly asserted that it was nothing of the sort. The short answer was that it was essentially an impulsive thing, something that Tiara remarked was mundane and anticlimactic, which was why people wouldn’t accept that answer.

Scylla admitted that he cared dearly for Elysia, but their relationship was purely platonic. They were close friends, having known each other forever, and he was devastated when she died. Even though his relationship with Tiara was not publicly known, he had always been involved in her life and took her under his wing. Out of all the dragons that once resided here, Scylla was the most well acquainted with the humans, similar to how Eliane was.

During Tiara’s final years, the city had relocated and the Elouan wasn’t as active. The library was moved to what would become the Wittenrath Institute while the ballroom was only for certain events. After Tiara died, the Elouan closed its doors for good and nature gradually took over.

The ballroom is what fascinated me the most because somehow it feels like stepping into a liminal space. Jamie once said something about how artifacts can hold memories and sentiments, and how they’re strong enough to feel tangible, like you can see and feel them. She wasn’t kidding.

No matter how seemingly mundane or dull an object is, there are usually stories behind it, stories that remind you that someone had once existed. It’s not like a grand gesture or anything, more like people have always been people kind of thing. I don’t really know why, but it’s those kinds of things that really fascinate me.

The highlight of this expedition was definitely trying to recreate what a ball might look like. Since the structure’s mostly intact, it wasn’t that hard to picture how grand it once was, even without all the decor and furniture and stuff. Even underwater, it’s not hard to see the remaining magnificence of the ballroom with its intricate architecture.

By some miracle, we managed to get the big clock centerpiece working, which was amazing! Of course, it didn’t work for long since it’s super old and probably rusted. The ballroom lit up for a moment and for a second, it was like we traveled back in time. We even danced for a bit to the music in an attempt to recreate what a ball might have been like.

As expected, the expedition was an all day thing. By the time we got back to the city, it was getting late and Pai’s group was waiting for us. Madeleine finished early so Pai convinced her to join us for dinner.

While waiting for us, Florina talked the ladies into getting bellybutton piercings, which they all now have, Connie and Beryl were initially kinda freaked out until Florina assured them that it was a reputable place and they have all the necessary equipment for care. Beryl calmed down a bit, but then Connie nearly freaked out again when Pai made the mistake of revealing how much it costs. I mean, if it’s a reputable place where everything sterilized and done properly, I guess it justifies the price? Not that I know anything about that.

They actually do look pretty neat, but I don’t know if I can muster the courage to get additional piercings. Maybe not a bellybutton piercing necessarily, but maybe on top of my ears or something. Florina knows quite a bit about piercings and can pull them off, so it’s definitely not an impulse thing.

I do think it’s kinda funny though that the ladies pulled off something like that. Florina did extend the invitation to the guys, but they declined and opted to go sightseeing instead.

Since today was kinda packed, we’re taking it easy tomorrow by exploring the city and get some knitting done as the others are very eager to make more progress on that. I wonder how the Epiphany crew’s doing on their cardigans.

Read on AO3

[superrman]

I got a couple asks about my reply to an ask where I said that I acknowledge cop propaganda in procedural’s, and believe that everyone falls for it, while still acknowledging that I have enjoyed those shows. More than one ask said they are fully aware of the propaganda and so they can still watch those said shows, this is something I want to expand on because No one is above falling for propaganda.

I have loved and watched cop shows since I was 12, and I also have studied propaganda academically for half a decade, and that is why I can say with certainty you have internalized and fallen for propaganda within cop shows. 

It is important to note that cop shows are designed with the aid of professional police for this exact purpose, they are insanely important to the normalization of behaviours of police, and justifying their actions, because you as an audience emotionally connect with the characters. 

There are many things that have circulated around tumblr that have acknowledged certain forms of propaganda - the continuous use of violence, in a way that claims that the police must in many cases resort to violence, Trevor Noah did a great small clip showing how many cop shows do this. On top of that the villainization of internal affairs and the entire defence system, claiming public defenders are moronic and don’t defend their clients well, which in turn makes people afraid to turn to public defenders, which in turn results in people not asking for a lawyer, and at the same time paint defence attorneys as evil as well, and an impediment to justice which makes people dislike lawyers in general.

These are all important functions of the propaganda system as it justifies many actions of cops, but there are so many layers of propaganda, with hundreds of cop shows, all with police consultants, all employing underhanded tactics and specific messaging impacts you, below is a small list of things I either personally have internalized or know people have internalized. In brackets I mention just a couple shows I have seen this on, keep in mind many shows do this and they all tend to overlap

1. We as a society all agree that murder is wrong, but how many times in a cop show have you rooted for the police to get away with murder? How many times has the protagonist killed someone for personal reasons? They may find a way to kill said individual in the line of duty and that is legal, and or in many cases personally hunt them down and commit murder, and then the story line is about them getting away with murder,  but at the same time many story lines in the same series say no one has a justifiable reason for murder, and they may even arrest someone for the same reason as they killed someone.

This teaches the audience that you can’t kill for abuse, country, cause, or revenge, but the police can and should kill, and if they do kill it was only for a valid reason

(NCIS, NCIS LA, The Mentalist)

2. The ‘red tape’ and intense scrutiny of police shootings is the worst, and harmful for the police, in general the scrutiny of all of the measures meant to prevent police violence and harassment of citizens is hindering the police. How many shows have you watched where the main character scoffs at the idea of mandatory counselling post a shooting, or is angry by the idea of having to justify why they took a shot and killed a man

(Rookie Blue, Cold Case, Hawaii 5-0)

3. The police are underpaid and lack the funds for the necessary policing measures. This one in particular I internalized to the extreme, I have always held the false assumption that police are underfunded like all of the other services they equate themselves too - but the police departments have more than enough funds as the protests have revealed. Yet, every cop show depicts a scene of complaining about budget cuts, lack of funds, cannot pursue a case because of budget cuts. On top of that any cop that gets caught stealing is justified because if he was paid fairly, he wouldn’t have to do that.

(Castle, Lucifer, Brooklyn Nine Nine)

4. The police can’t save ‘everyone’ in the context of the most vulnerable of society drug addicts, sex workers, the mentality ill, the sad reality is that some people ‘don’t want help’ - it says societal problems are unsolvable not that the police are not qualified or effective in solving society problems but even then there is a plucky do good cop not yet jaded that will try and try to save people, but eventually have to come to a hard realization you can’t save everyone

(Perception, Criminal Minds, Law and Order SVU)

5. The police always work with experts in the field, have the best technology and moreover, experts will want to work tirelessly for the police or the police themselves are geniuses- this is not the case, in fact in many cases police incompetence and ignoring experts leads to false convictions

(Bones, Rizzoli & Isles, all the CSI, Criminal Minds)

But the most malicious form of propaganda is the way in which police procedurals acknowledge the real world political climate and use the criticism as a way to bolster the police, by this I mean, so many cop shows will have an episode of focusing on a corrupt cop, or a civil rights activist wrongfully arrested, wrongful conviction in general, and the narrative will show outrage throughout the system, cops all banning together to undo this injustice, but with enough resistance from some bad apples to make it seem as if they acknowledge the system is not fully functional but reinforces to the audience that many cops can and do fight the system to get the wrongfully accused out of prison, to protect civil liberties and that cops do care and will willingly fight their own to do it .

Moreover, this is shown in the context of the importance of police brotherhood. Being a cop is always more than a job it’s a lifestyle, you can’t stop being a cop, and it’s a part of your identity, so its extra heroic that the protagonist challenged the corrupt cop, it’s as if he or she turned on his own family to do what is right.

There are always episodes about going after the rich and politically connected and how no matter what the protagonist will do what’s right and fight against the system to get justice for a poor, or poc , or down on their luck victim, it teaches us that even though in the news cops might not be able to stop all of the big evil rich people, Kate Beckett or Jake Peralta is out their fighting the fight, trying to take on corporations, it teaches us to go on faith that the police are separate from the corrupt system, and will try to take on politicians and corporations rather than the reality of them working for those same people

Finally, so many cop shows have minorities and women leading the charge to challenge the old guard, usually with the new era of white men, that laugh at the police brutality and incompetence of older generations. It’s hard to ignore the damage the police have done, but every show simply disregards this with a change in the vanguard, newer cops are immune to racism, classicism and agree older cops used to break the rules and where more corrupt but now that isn’t the case. It’s meant to undermine all of the arguments against police, think about how many people agree that the police during the civil rights movement of the 1960s were bad, or the police that co-operated with drug dealers were terrible but no more, cops now are much more ethical.

Propaganda is dangerous, because it is continuous and repetitive, it is subtle and seeps into your life, you internalize things because we all consume media for enjoyment not to subject it to academic rigour, and that's how they get you to sympathize and feel for cops, we constantly watch stories of brave souls putting their lives on the line for us, and of course we want to believe that this is a real life story and reflective of most cops, but we need to realize now that this is not the case in reality, and its not just a few bad apples, but a system that is broken beyond repair, who relied on the entertainment industry to spread and maintain the false face of the police industry to avoid and undermine criticism.

Just remember No one is above falling for propaganda

[foundouthatdabiistouyatodoroki]

“Maybe you’re just bad at judging others”

You said it Himiko: Dabi has a warped view of empathy.

If there’s one thing we don’t give Dabi too much credit for it’s how smart he is. Even at a young age as Touya, he was always aware of the fact that what was happening in the Todoroki household was wrong.

Touya never went to Rei and Fuyumi for his problems and there was a good reason for it. Think back on how Touya talked to Fuyumi in this chapter:

Here he was hoping to look for encouragement but Fuyumi said she was worried. This is like he was told what Endeavor said to Touya when it’s for your good and not explaining why.

He internalizes this being told that he is not good enough.

When Fuyumi said this, to Touya, it sounded like she was siding with her father. 

Additionally, the main reason he didn’t go to Fuyumi after this is that Fuyumi willingly turned a blind eye to all the problems in the household, tried to sweep everything under the rug. Fuyumi herself admits this.

I mentioned Rei’s issues before in a meta, on how Rei had a choice but didn’t act. Rei was extremely passive and complacent to the problems of the Todoroki household. This may be why she can’t understand his pain. Rei didn’t address the main root of the problems.

This is why he didn’t go to them for emotional support, both turned a blind eye to the problems in the house. Both of them were blind to their abuse and did not want to confront the main root. Neither of them acknowledged his feelings or listened to him properly.

So the whole reason why he talked to Natsuo was that he views Natsuo as the one who might understand him due to having similarities: being both boys, discarded by Endeavor and neglected by him, and called failures for not having an ideal quirk.

But he missed the mark with Natsuo. Touya and Natsuo have different feelings regarding the situation of the abuse. Touya expected someone with the same circumstances would understand but while they may have the same circumstances, they react differently to them. Touya expected that someone like Natsuo would automatically understand but that’s not the case.

Touya vents his feelings to Natsuo about Endeavor, but Natsuo wants to go to sleep and asks why he didn’t go to Fuyumi.

Touya feels rejected by Natsuo since he feels Natsuo is the only one who listens to him and understands his feelings.

His victimhood was never validated because no one in the entire family addresses the problems at the root of it because they are too scared to confront the actual problems and the parts they played in it.

Touya thought someone who was in the situation as him would understand; he hoped Natuso would understand him but Natsuo because he didn’t experience the same feelings as Touya.

Dabi judges people based on certain requirements that are just no more than a warped view on empathy.

This feels the same way he burned those thugs in the alley

he judged them based on the standards the reason why he burned them was that they don’t see them as people who are worthy since they wield power with no ambition he judged the thugs based on his standards according to Stain’s will: the thugs didn’t share the same cause, only wielded power no ambition.

His warped empathy also is demonstrated in his interactions with heroes like Snatch and Aizawa.

Dabi judged them based on the requirements of Stain’s and his own standards. He was simply baiting and testing them to see what they are as people. Maybe that’s why he looks like the hero killer so much: because he addressed the problems a lot of people ignored about heroes.

Do you need to be the same to understand someone?

Do need to go through the same thing to empathize with them?

No.

You don’t have to be the same or have the same experience.

That’s not how empathy works.

Empathy is not about the same circumstances or being fundamentally the same as someone. Empathy is about emotions and understanding the emotions of the person. Empathy is acknowledging your limits and the way you feel about it in regards to the said emotions. You might not know what it’s like; you don’t need to know what it’s like in the same situation but you can imagine what it would be like.

So you don’t have to be in the same situation as them to have empathy. Empathy is experiencing the same feelings. Empathy is the same as acknowledgment and that goes with acknowledging both your limits and emotions.

Shoto was empathic: he saw the same anger in Dabi that he once saw from within himself. 

Shoto is the only one that can understand Dabi in the way that no one else in his family has. He felt the same pain Dabi has regarding his quirk and his father; he empathizes with Dabi’s resentment.

That’s what BNHA is about: a story of surpassing one’s limits but it’s also about acknowledging your limits, in order to recognize those who need help.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 12 second part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Funsies) 

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

After locking Wei Wuxian into some comically large chains, Wen Chao has him thrown into the dungeon, with an unpleasant surprise.

This Fucking Dog

Being a fan of The Untamed involves occasional second-hand embarrassment, like when they fly on their swords, or the zombies all have the same wig, or a fight sequence moves slower than everybody’s granny. It's ok because each of these things is offset by excellence in acting, story, costumes, weapons, sets, etc.

Then there's this fucking dog. 

The department of questionable practical effects really outdid themselves with this thing. Just seeing this awful creation on screen gives me so much cringe squick I can barely look at it. But for you, dear readers, I FORCED MY EYEBALLS to watch the entire dog sequence OVER AND OVER. Then I applied some brightness adjustments and looked at it EVEN MORE. 

Let's get desensitized! I’m going all in on this monstrosity.

First, this dog does not ever move its body or its feet. Its legs are totally immobile. It appears to be made of a big sawhorse with a stick for the neck. The head swings up and down and side to side. That’s it.  

“Animatronic” is too generous of a term for this thing. The animatronics at Chucky Cheese learned to play musical instruments and host birthday parties decades ago. This dog cannot play an instrument and it has to wait for Wei Wuxian to walk over to it before it can attack him. 

When it falls over after Wen Ning K.O’s it, it’s like a chair falling over. It just topples to the side, legs sticking straight out.  

(more after the cut)

Next, It has a mouth full of teeth, which opens and closes. And it has drool the texture of Astroglide Extra-Thick Gel. But...no tongue.

Seriously you guys, it literally does not have a tongue. They just sculpted a little bump at the at the bottom of its mouth, despite dogs being known for, like, lolling their tongues out of their mouths at every opportunity.

Moving along, it has dull, lifeless eyes, and its eyelids are visibly disconnected from the rest of its head, like a doll that mechanically shuts its eyes when you lay it down to sleep.

Finally, its fur looks like a fucking muppet, and it has random shiny spots all around its eyes and lips. These are probably supposed to be body fluids of some kind, but they just look like someone was careless with the cra-z-glue.

Xiao Zhan gamely tries to act opposite this ridiculous fail prop, but there is nothing remotely scary about it.  

Here is Wei Wuxian being scared. I replaced the animatronic dog with a reversed clip of my dog Pepper asking for a piece of cheese, and I think it looks more convincing this way. 

Ok, let's be done with this stupid fucking dog. Wen Ning knocks it out, Wen Chao criticizes it in the morning, and nobody ever speaks of it again. 

Wei Wuxian is so mortified to have endured this farce that when Lan Wangji asks him, much later, “why are you afraid of dogs?” he does not say “don’t you remember that time I got chewed on by a giant animatronic dog at Wen Chao’s place?” but instead pretends that this never fucking happened. 

Wen Ning to the Rescue

For contrast, the next dungeon scene is a really touching and important encounter between Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian. 

Wen Ning comes and knocks out the creature, and gives Wei Wuxian medicine. 

Wen Ning is doing this in defiance of his clan and his sister, simply because Wei Wuxian is his friend. Yes, he feels indebted, but Wen Qing saved WWX’s life once, so the tally is already even. Wen Ning is just super attached to Wei Wuxian, and vice versa; WWX calls him Wen-Xiong in this scene. 

When Wen Ning explains how to use the medicine, Wei Wuxian changes the subject to ask how WN and his sister are doing. He is bleeding, chained up, high on adrenaline and fear, and what he really wants is to hear how his friends are doing. When Wen Ning talks about Wen Qing’s troubles, Wei Wuxian wishes she would accept help, instead of always going it alone. 

Wei Wuxian thanks Wen Ning formally, and tells him no words can express his gratitude. Whether this is a literally correct translation, the gratitude both of these young men feel toward each other transcends words. It will become a driving force in both of their lives as they save each other from increasingly awful situations. 

Wen Ning tells Wei Wuxian about the burning of Cloud Recesses....the burning of the half we never visit. It would suck to damage that exquisite set, so I’m ok with that production choice, but creates some cognitive dissonance when characters get upset about the fire. 

Wei Wuxian reacts to the news of Lan Wangji’s injury by punching the concrete floor of the dungeon, which is dumb but also highly relatable. 

After Wen Ning leaves, Wei Wuxian decides to save the medicine for Lan Wangji, who might not even need it, while WWX is bleeding right now and definitely needs it. No matter how bad things are for him personally, Wei Wuxian is always thinking about ways to help the people he loves, and constantly seeing his own needs as less important than everybody else’s. 

Breakfast Time

After his night of terror and maiming, Wei Wuxian emerges as chipper as ever. Almost like he is already an expert at hiding his trauma from the people close to him. 

Lan Wangji gives him a careful look, taking in the sight of his ripped clothes and bloody neck and hands. 

Jiang Cheng is angry at Wei Wuxian for joking about his injuries, so he shoves him, potentially causing more injuries. 

Wei Wuxian laughs off the signs of torture and attempted murder and everyone goes along with it. Nobody knows what happened to him other than "dungeon" and what he looks like right now, and they’re all just like, okey dokey, I guess you’re fine.  

He’ll carefully laugh off his months in the burial mounds in the same way, later, and Jiang Cheng will accept it nearly as readily as he accepts this. But by that time Lan Wangji will see right through him.

Nie Huaisang mentions the Lan Clan in the course of discussing breakfast, and then everyone pauses awkwardly because they know that mentioning this will make Lan Wangji think about the recent attack on his home and the deaths of many of his fellow disciples. Whereas if nobody had mentioned it, he totally wouldn't think about it. That's how grief works, right?

Insult to Injury

Wen Chao decides to spend some time gloating about battles and insulting people's families, which he does with Wen Qing standing behind his eyeline so that she can warn Wei Wuxian not to let his brother go off. 

Jiang Cheng is not going to let anybody who isn't his mother insult his father like that, but in a reversal of their normal roles, Wei Wuxian restrains him and helps keep him from doing something rash.

Monster Hunting

Wen Chao makes everyone read out loud until Nie Huaisang wisely faints and gets carried off. Then he gathers everyone for a monster hunt.  It's unclear why he wants to go monster hunting but he sure does, and bringing the hostages along might make them all die, which would be a nice bonus.

The cultivators wander around en masse in a small section of forest, thoroughly covering every inch of it. This is a great way to hunt for a dead body but not so good for living prey. 

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng stand around like bitchy queens at a dance club, talking smack about Wen Chao and his girlfriend. 

Wei Wuxian brings out a salty phrase and Jiang Cheng wonders what websites he's been going to. 

Dude. Lighten up.

Leave that Boy Alone

Wei Wuxian notices Lan Wangji struggling, and now that he knows the backstory, he's determined to help. Jiang Cheng is determined to stop him.

This is, once again, the fundamental disagreement between the brothers, and it's never going to be solvable. Jiang Cheng's specific dislike of Lan Wangji may be rooted in jealousy, but his belief in not helping outsiders runs a lot deeper than that.

For Wei Wuxian, there is no such thing as having helped enough. If someone is his friend, he will never stop helping them, and he has a lot of friends, and makes new ones wherever he goes. He's always going to be giving something of himself, to the detriment of any conflicting obligations. 

Jiang Cheng tells him that Lan Wangji won't accept his help, and Wei Wuxian says that's not the point. 

What other people think, want, say, or do, is not going to have any effect on whether Wei Wuxian does what he feels is right. This is a bit of a problem where a person's right to self-determination conflicts with Wei Wuxian's need to help them, as Jiang Cheng will eventually discover.

Jiang Cheng's least effective argument is the one he relies on most often when they disagree: other people's problems are not our responsibility. He's saying this to an orphan who was eating trash and stealing scraps from dogs before Jiang Fengmian came into his life. 

Jiang Cheng doesn’t seem to realize the underlying logic of this argument. If it's wrong for Wei Wuxian to help the people he cares about, it was also wrong for Jiang Fengmian to help Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng loves Wei Wuxian and would willingly die for him, but he, like his mother, rejects the philosophy that brought them together in the first place.  

Wei Wuxian walks away from an upset and shocked Jiang Cheng to offer a piggyback ride to Lan Wangji.

...who won't accept it, but who will remember the offer forever.

Writing prompt: Thoughts of an animatronic dog

Soundtrack:  Five Nights at Freddy’s by The Living Tombstone

[skipps-writes-for-gojo-satoru]

A short thread I found about Gojo's character that helps shine a light to how caring he is:

https://twitter.com/musikawu/status/1376984416485007363?s=19

Also, I actually just realized this recently after rewatching JJK that Gojo got super attached to Yuji really quickly. Gojo not only got very angry on his behalf but went out of his way to ask Nanami for help in caring for Yuji when he's supposed to be the strongest sorcerer. And at that time, Gojo made it clear to Nanami that he didn't ask him to do so due to Yuji's potential as a vessel. Gojo asked Nanami for this favor as an adult who wants to see the growth of a young man. Gojo was very precise in telling Nanami that he was looking not at Sukuna and Yuji's power, but at Yuji himself as not only an individual, but a child that needed nurturing and care. Before Yuji's death, Gojo had already even made preparations to have Yuta take care of Yuji cause he knew something might happen to him- even more development is that despite what Gojo says about himself, he's aware of his own flaws. What he appears to be on the outside is nothing like what he truly feels on the inside. He doesn't delude himself into narcissistic behavior that makes him unable to ask for help. He asks for help willingly and of his own accord- Yuta couldn't even fathom how the strongest sorcerer would face a problem he couldn't solve on his own, but Gojo does. Gojo is smart enough to know he needs to rely on others to move forward, and relying on someone means putting a certain amount of trust there. Gojo puts just as much faith in other people as he does himself, and the interesting part is that while it's more admirable to go out of your way to protect someone else, Gojo never brags about that. He only "brags" about things that will annoy the other person, but really he is only saying a commonly known "truth" in order to rile people up. It may sound like bragging- which it sort of is- but Gojo saying he's the strongest is not a lie. Him saying "I alone am the honoured one" is not necessarily a lie either. People don't call him the Strongest for nothing.

In fact, even more interestingly enough, besides Gojo, who includes Geto when people talk about the "strongest?" Despite being the definite "strongest," Gojo is the one who constantly says "We are the Strongest," not the other way around. He's also mature enough to recognize and point out other people's strengths, such as Mei Mei's, saying she is too strong to cry.

If Gojo truly was a narcissist, he would have mentioned everything else he's done for people, like stopping Megumi's sale to the Zenin clan and getting the Fushiguros financial aid. He could brag about being persuasive enough to save Yuji from execution or even saving Yuta from execution- Yuta becoming a special grade sorcerer soon after Gojo saved him is something you can easily brag about- but Gojo doesn't brag about his personal achievements at all- not in the way that demands respect from others, at least. Gojo only "brags" to tease others lightheartedly and to tick them off a little- and I don't think the demeaning things Gojo says to the higher ups can be used to show he's a narc because *many* people in Gojo's position would have said (and done) much, much worse things.

Also, when Yuji died, Gojo had become so emotional that even Shoko, who had been there since Gojo's youth, had commented on how unlike him it was. People irl really thought it was because Gojo couldn't use him as a weapon against the higher ups anymore, but reading how Gojo had told Nanami that he saw their relationship as an adult and a child makes me think differently. Something very important in the Light Novel is when Gojo tells Nanami that his students, because they are sorcerers, will soon have to "face the evil intentions of sh*tty humans." Not only sorcerers, but "every person has to bite into that bitterness, know what it means to give up, and pile up despairs to become an adult." People like Gojo and Nanami, Gojo had said, are capable of withstanding and releasing the "poison" that runs through the heart. However, the youngsters are more sensitive in that age, and "one poison could destroy their hearts" (I'm sure Gojo was thinking of Geto as he said this). That's why he wants to leave Yuji in the care of Nanami, "an adult who understands other people pain." Not that Gojo is unable to understand pain, but in the earlier events of the Light Novel as context, Gojo is faced with a mother who is mourning the loss of her child. While Nanami tries to gently comfort her and secretly find information on the cursed spirit at the same time using vague words, Gojo's words are straight forward and to the point, which startles the mother. It's not necessarily a bad things, however- Gojo's words had ended up allowing the mother to see her situation as it was without delusions, a tough love situation, so to speak, and the two were able to confirm their intel to be correct. It was Gojo who helped her to heal quicker by allowing her to realize her problem through his cutting words, but I'm sure Gojo realizes his "bad personality,"- which isn't really so bad in some cases- isn't for everyone. Gojo is very aware that people react negatively to his behavior, even if he is unable to understand just how deeply they despise him (*cough* Utahime) In that way, Gojo shows he cares very much for Yuji's mental growth, even in that short period of time, by entrusting his care to Nanami, who he comments would do a much better job than be could.

Therefore, I think Gojo might actually get attached to people more quickly than it might seem like. He also thinks very deeply and no matter how he acts, he's able to recognize others' strengths and acknowledge his own flaws- this is a key part of his character because he doesn't delude himself in his position as the Strongest. To those who think Gojo sees himself as a God, he is far from that behavior, and he is self aware enough to know that people need more to grow than just power and strength. Unfortunately, it seems most people either despise Gojo or are too enamoured by his looks to see past the surface of the more boisterous and childish part of his personality. That's likely the main reason he finds it hard to commit, too.

(More ranting 😭. There was this reddit post saying Gojo's narcissistic enough to be a more evil villain than Sukuna, that he would actually end up becoming the villain- like really??? And so many people really agreed that he's incapable of feeling true emotions that it's absurd. I really can't believe they even think Gojo has a God complex. Someone with a God complex, like most of the other disorders, wouldn't be able to admit their own flaws, let alone ask for help! The fact that Gojo even admits to having a "bad personality" is another tell against that. Sometimes I wonder if people are just projecting, but I also realize it's hard to differentiate between being an ENTP and being a sociopath because of how- on the surface- they seem so similar! But if you just dig a little deeper to look at their roots, they are so completely different it's a wonder how you'd get confused in the first place)

- 🤔

OH I COULDN'T AGREE MORE 🤔 anon here spitting FACTS. Yeah alot of people think gojo's a narcissist with huge ego but that ain't the case at all as explained above. I mean he was put on a pedestal since birth he gotta have some ego in that but that fact doesnt blind him. yeah sure he's the strongest but just one line "I'm the strongest" doesn't mean he's bragging it may sound like it but he's just stating facts he is indeed in fact the strongest in the jujutsu society. He knows he can't do everything on his own I mean why did he even become a teacher in the first place? Becuz he wants to make the next generation of jujutsu sorcerers stronger! No one asked him to do it he himself wanted to be a teacher even though at time he sucks at it.

He genuinely wants to do good not just for himself but for others as well. As interesting as the concept of Gojo becoming a villain it will never happen. Don't judge a damn book by it's cover even if it's a very attractive one hes just such an interesting character its shame most people don't see that.

[luna-rainbow]

I’m so sad that it looks like Wanda’s going to be the main villain of Doctor Strange 2. I know it’s what a lot of people want and that it’s a famous storyline with her, but just because a story is iconic or famous doesn’t mean it’s not ableist as fuck. I don’t understand it, I thought that we were tired of seeing women portrayed as going mad and becoming evil but everyone seems to be actively rooting for this. Idk I guess I’m just so tired of my two favorite characters (Bucky and Wanda) being constantly vilified by Marvel, not to mention their horrible vilification of people with mental illness.

That was exactly my reaction to the news too! (This might devolve into a long off-topic rant). Of what little we've heard about Dr Strange 2, there's 2 things I'm worried about.

First, I'll talk about Wanda because my rant about Dr Strange went for wayyyy too long. When I heard the news I was unsurprised (because of WV ending) but also annoyed. Wanda's entire character arc so far, and particularly in the series, was about reconciling with the depth of her trauma and controlling her powers. This girl has been through a lot, and she gets things wrong a lot too, but consistently, she is trying to do the right thing. Her growth throughout the the movies and the series was all centered around her desire to not hurt people, but also her struggles to manage her own pain and not let it manifest in a way that hurts the people around her. The resolution of WV was her willingly give up the illusion that she craved - the family, the home, the brother, her love - so people stopped being hurt. Given MCU's poor track record of carrying through character development, I feel like her becoming a villain will just mean they will ignore all the growth she's made and negate the suffering (and sacrifice) she put herself through to give it up. Sure, she caused the problem in the first place and people were hurt, but her loss and grief as she wiped her sons and Vision from existence is real.

And yes...it will continue to perpetuate the message (as TFATWS did with both John and Bucky) that people with PTSD are not only sad, they're raving mad and murderous and need to be kept away from society for their own good.

In the next part of my essay I'm going to talk about Dr Strange, so feel free to skip.

I really looked forward to his first movie (cocky surgeon, good cast, magic) but I walked out disappointed. It wasn't bad, per se, but the plot seemed eerily parallel to Iron Man (cocksure millionaire learns humility) without having the heart of Iron Man. I think part of it is because there was nothing grounding Stephen - Rachel McAdams' character was no Pepper for sure. It also never brought Stephen back to his real life to show us what the real world consequences of him becoming a superhero meant, so it existed in this weird sort of vacuum of time-space, which lessened the impact of his character development. The emotional climaxes were all derived from short term relationships. I feel like this is the first movie MCU really fumbled the characterisation - you can see the great actors trying to make something out of what little they had, but we just never got the heart of Stephen Strange. We don't know what holds him to this world - as we do with Tony or Thor or Steve - we don't know what he's fighting for, what or who he loves, what he sees in the world that makes him want to put his life down for. Remember this is a guy they established as a self-centered cynic right at the start. I just didn't get a moment where he looked at the world and thought, "Ah...as much as humans are nasty little shits, there is still some beauty in this world that's worth protecting." Not me and my cynicism on full display.

Sorry, the purpose of the long rant above is to say - it sounds like they're turning Dr Strange 2 into an ensemble movie, and we already know how the last solo-turned-ensemble fest went. Stephen Strange really needs at least another solo movie to develop him. I want to see more of his rivalry with Mordo. I want to see how he balances his superhero duties with his real life. I want to see his relationship with Christine develop into something more substantial. I don't want him to be in a movie where he gets dragged along by the plot, gets sidelined to introduce new tentpole characters, and only saves the world because that's his superhero duty. Side-eyes TFATWS.

That said, it's being directed by Sam Raimi, so maybe there is some hope.

[quentinbecks]

stillness in woe

Summary: Charlie left Hope County years ago hoping never to come back. But when she learns of her parents involvement with the local doomsday cult, she finds herself heading back to a life she thought she left behind. (Begins two years before the reaping/events of the game)

Pairing: Eventual John Seed x Non Dep OFC

Word Count: 1.9 k

Warnings: mentions of death and vomiting

A/N: I was a little nervous that introducing Charlie’s descent into the cult in the second chapter would be too soon, so I made a little filler chapter. Not the best, but the real meat of the story begins in the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Family Reunion

She hears footsteps coming up behind her. She pauses, thinking it’s only a figment of her overtired imagination. The noises don’t stop. Instead, they only increase in proximity. She’s barely turned around when she notices the red and white camo that signals Jacob’s hunters. The sight alone sends her into a panicked frenzy. Both the hunter and its prey raise their weapons at the same time. Luckily for Charlie she shoots first. Stomping over to the body she rips the red ski mask of their face. This time it’s not the usual boyish face that greets her; it’s her own.

“Charlie!”

The young woman awakens with a start. For a second she’s confused about her whereabouts, not used to sunlight first thing in the morning. After realizing that she’s in Mary May’s apartment she quickly relaxes, but that doesn’t last very long. Her nightmare combined with her current hangover causes bile to rise up in her throat. Charlie bolts upright and runs towards the bathroom, Mary May following right behind her.

She can only make it as far as the sink before her body retches into it. She feels Mary May rubbing circles on her back as she trembles, clutching the porcelain.

“You okay?”

“No” Charlie sniffs, wiping away the tears pooling down her face.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Charlie shakes her head no. She doesn’t need her friend knowing about what she was doing up in the Whitetails. She knows Mary May said things were bad in the valley, but she doubts John Seed is as much of a monster as his brother is. At least not yet. Instead of worrying her, Charlie chooses to tell a white lie.

“It’s nothing. I’m just worried about going to Joseph’s service. Can’t shake the feeling I’ll be held hostage at his compound.” It’s not completely untrue. Charlie is worried about losing herself to the Seeds. She’s heard and seen too much to not have that weigh heavy on her mind.

“Hey” Mary May says, forcing her friend to look at her. “I’m not gonna let him take you. Not when we just got you back.”

Good luck with that she thinks to herself

“My hero” Charlie says with a smile, choosing to forgo voicing her doubts. “I should shower and at least make an attempt to look decent. I wouldn’t want to show up to a Sunday service looking like a sewer rat.”

“Clearly you haven’t seen many peggies.”

In the shower she tries to wash away all of her fears, but the image of Mary May’s scar keeps flashing through her mind. How many other people in the county have been scarred by the youngest Seed? His handiwork looks painful and she doubts anyone would choose to have it done willingly. She wonders what sin will be chosen for her when the time comes. With her luck her whole body would adorned with all seven.

Charlie leaves the apartment to find Mary May helping Casey Fixman open up the bar. She gives a twirl as she hits the ground floor. “You think daddy Seed will like me in this dress?”

Mary May crinkles her nose in slight disgust. She had been gracious in Miami her friend a dress her, recently deceased, brother Drew had bought her for her graduation. On Charlie’s newly slimmed down body the white dress hangs a bit loose, the straps barely clinging to her shoulders.

“I’m sure Joseph will like a lot of things about you if you call him daddy.”

The blonde studies her friend’s appearance closely. The two of them know the importance of appearance to the cult. Due to the release of the documentary ousting the behavior of Eden’s Gate, the group has become more serious in trying to root out those that come with ill intent. And given by the knife holster strapped to Charlie’s thigh, the woman isn’t going in with good will.

“Come here” Mary May pulls on her pony tail once she’s close enough, letting her waves cascade over her shoulders. “There, see, now you look docile and sweet. Just the way the cult likes.”

Charlie wants to remind her friend no one has called her docile or sweet, not even when she was a child, but she can see something is bothering the younger woman. “You do know Nolan will there, right?” Mary May inquires before she can even ask what was wrong.

“No. No I didn’t fucking know that. I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s involved with something illegal, but I am.”

“Your ex husband is basically a glorified drug dealer. He’s helping turn the people in the Henbane into angels” Casey calls out from the kitchen.

“Angels? You know? No. I don’t want to know what that means.”

“Hey” Mary May calls out, bringing her hands to rest on Charlie’s shoulders. “Don’t think about him. Focus on what really matters. Like getting your family out of a cult.”

Charlie nods. She knows Mary May is right, but she can’t help how she feels. It’s been five years since they divorced and she left Hope County, but the wound still feels so fresh.

After promising to check in after the service, she decides to head out to the church. The warm, late summer sun and some classic rock helps Charlie relax on the ride over. Makes her realize there are bigger problems in the world than cheating exes.

The woman is shocked to see the throngs of cultists loitering around and inside the compound, making it almost impossible to find a spot to park her car.

After ditching her car at the end of the drive and doing a few sets of breathing exercises, Charlie makes her way inside. Before she can make her way past the gate she’s stopped by burly, bearded middle aged man.

“Sorry, ma’am I’m afraid I can’t let you past without searching you for any weapons.”

Choices quickly flood Charlie’s mind. She can run past this guard, try to hide amongst the crowd; the crowd wearing mostly uniformed clothing. Or, she can try her hand at improvisation; pretend she really is innocent and sweet. She chooses the latter option.

“I’m sorry” she says, lifting her dress a little to show the knife strapped to her thigh. “You can never be too safe as a woman.”

Charlie pulls the weapon out of its scabbard, holding it out to the man. “If you do me a small favor you can keep this.”

The cultist eyes her warily; unsure of whether she’s worthy of his trust or not. But, to her surprise, her charms worked on him. “What do you want?”

“Well,” Charlie bites her lip before getting as close as she can “I was just wondering if you could introduce me to John Seed. My mom works for him and I just wanted to meet the man she speaks so highly of.”

“I don’t know…” he trails off, looking back at the Seeds and the flock congregating around them.

“Please?” Charlie looks up at the man through her lashes. The man has a rancid odor to him and she wishes she had chosen to duck and run into the compound instead of flirting. “You don’t know how much it would mean to me.”

“Fine. But don’t try anything once you’re inside.”

Pathetic

Charlie flashes him a smile. “Thank you so much.”

The man leads her up the gravel path and through the crowds up to the front of the church. There stood three men and one young woman that everyone seems to gravitate towards.

The Seeds

Charlie’s blood runs cold at the realization that she’s finally in their presence. It dawns on her too late that they may know she was the one responsible for the death of the young chosen. Fortunately she doesn’t have time to dwell too long on that thought as the man pulls her gently towards John Seed.

“Brother John?”

The young man looks up and she’s struck by the fact that he’s actually handsome. He’s well dressed and equally well groomed with a lordly posture. She recognizes immediately that she can’t manipulate him with her feminine wiles, he’s clearly too worldly for that. The older man pushes past two young women who were waiting in line to speak to the herald.

“This lost soul has been looking for you.” Charlie tries not to roll her eyes at the descriptor, but she knows she can act the part if it brings her closer to her parents.

“Is that so?”

“Yes” Charlie answers for the cultist, a sudden surge of bravery overtaking her as she steps around him. “I haven’t heard from my family in years. I heard they were here and I wanted to see if they were okay. A wellness check, if you will.”

“That’s not what you…” John cuts the man off before he can continue on.

“Did you not recognize her?” he asks as his eyes light up with recognition. Charlie freezes.

How? He can’t possibly know.

“She’s clearly our accountant’s daughter” he says lightly spinning her around.

The other man studies her face for a moment. “Huh. You really do look exactly like Christine.”

“You know, there’s really nothing to worry about. Your family is doing well here, but, if you want to do your little ‘wellness check’, you best follow me, sweetheart” John suggests over her shoulder.

Charlie fights the urge to make a snarky retort, choosing to cast a smile over her shoulder instead. “Of course. After you.”

They head inside and Charlie is flanked on all sides by peggies. Two to her side, one behind her, and John in front of her. If she’s being honest she doesn’t understand why they need to guard a tiny, unarmed woman. Besides, who goes to reunite with their family just to attack them?

All of that goes out the window when she sees her mother. She barely registers John calling out to her mother before she’s shoving past him.

“Mama?”

Christine steps forward, her hands cupping her daughter’s cheeks. “Charlene? Baby, what are you doing here?”

Charlie blinks back the tears she can feel tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “You haven’t returned any of my calls in almost three years. I was scared” she whispers, hoping none of the cultists can hear.

Unfortunately for her the youngest Seed does hear. “I told you there was nothing to worry about” he says, clasping both Berger women’s shoulders. “Your family is doing well here, even better, they’re thriving.”

Her mother nods and smiles at John. Charlie can tell her happiness is real and it pains her to see it. If it weren’t for the armed militia around the compound she would punch the smug look off of his face.

“Sweetheart, now that you’re back in Hope County; now that you’re home, why don’t you move back in with your dad and I?”

It sounds like a terrible idea. The last thing she wants is to be stuck in a house with two people who only want to talk about Eden’s Gate. She goes to protest when she realizes she hasn’t even seen her father yet.

“Oh, no I really couldn’t... Wait, where is daddy?”

Before her mother can explain a deep voice from behind her interrupts, stopping everyone in their tracks “Who’s this?”

Charlie turns around to see who intruded on their conversation. She recognizes Joseph almost immediately, his man bun and glasses giving him

Shit

[sepublic]

Productively Handling an Issue

          A while back, I got an ask where an Anon felt like Luz deserved some degree of punishment for the book report incident, even if the Reality Camp WAS a bit much. I’ve also noticed some discussion of the potential danger of what Luz did. And thinking about it… Here are my thoughts, and how this connects to the show’s recurring themes as a whole;

           I do agree that what Luz did WAS a mistake… But to me, it seemed like a fairly innocent and innocuous mistake. Definitely the worst thing she had done up until that point, but otherwise… Not something that needed too much punishment? Maybe even none at all… At the very least, the Reality Camp was going overboard.

           It’s worth noting that those snakes are definitely Luz’s pets. Camila alludes to Luz having ‘reptilian’ friends… Not to mention, she and Principal Hal don’t bat an eye at Luz bringing the snake to the meeting and holding it in her bare hand! The implication is obviously that the snakes are Luz’s pets, and considering the kind of person Camila is… I doubt she’d let Luz have dangerous snakes as pets- At the very least, no more dangerous than a dog or a cat would be. Like I said; Her and Hal are completely fine with Luz bringing her snake to the meeting, in her bare hand; They don’t expect it to hurt them or Luz, and obviously this expectation is transmitted to Luz. To Luz, if her mother lets her have the pet snakes, then clearly they’re not dangerous; And if they’re safe for Luz, then surely they’re safe for other kids as well!

           Luz probably disregarded the snakes biting other students’ hair as them just ‘playing’… Which DOES point to the snakes being mostly harmless. Let’s be real here, a cockroach crawling onto a person wouldn’t actually hurt them, but it’d definitely freak them out and make them act as if they were bitten… I speak from experience, and as someone who thinks roaches are low-key interesting creatures no less!

           But of course, that’s still rather negligent on Luz’s part to disregard how other kids may feel. At the same time though –especially when one considers how she’s coded as ADHD- I’m willing to give her some slack because it really DID seem like a genuine, honest mistake… That Luz figured that if her mom and Hal were fine with Luz handling these snakes, what’s so different about other kids handling them? Definitely a mistake, but I think one that Luz merely needed to be informed of, rather than punished for.

           Then there’s the fireworks… ALSO dangerous and wrong, but- Luz isn’t exactly a criminal (at least not yet she wasn’t). Last I checked, you can’t buy fireworks without being an adult –or at least older than Luz was- so this points to the fireworks being something that was already at home, and thereby accessible to her. Not trying to shift the blame towards Camila, mind you… I do agree that Luz did a genuine mistake, and Camila is a single, working-class nurse and likely away from home a lot, just so she can keep her kid fed. I can’t entirely blame Camila for not remembering to tell Luz that even if the fireworks are accessible in their home, they’re not to be toyed around with.

           We don’t exactly know what Luz’s plans were, but I assume she planned to set them off outside. I don’t think she was hell-bent on setting the fireworks off, no matter what; She seems willing to stop when Hal and Camila indicate they’re a bad idea, so it’s likely that Luz just did not realize that they canbe that dangerous. I wouldn’t so much say that Luz was actively, apathetically disregarding the safety of others, as she was simply caught up in the idea of doing something that could dazzle and impress her classmates.

           Again, that isn’t to say that Luz DIDN’T mess up… She made mistakes, let’s be real here! But the thing is… She really didn’t seem to know better, and when Camila and Hal DO tell Luz to stop; She readily agrees! Obviously they brought up the Reality Camp as a punishment beforehand, but based on what we see of Luz’s personality afterwards –even if one takes character development into account- I doubt she needed to be threatened in order to agree with changing her behavior.

          In fact, I’m not sure if Luz even needed to be punished; At the very least, her ‘punishment’ would be something that focuses on rectifying the situation with those students her pets harassed. She’s not like Lilith, who willingly took chances with Luz’s life and risked it during her final duel with Eda, even if she probably thought Luz wouldn’t actually die! By contrast, Luz didn’t intentionally overlook the safety of her classmates, because she never realized/considered there was any danger to begin with… Impulsive, but understandable given her ADHD-coding, and certainly not dumb nor apathetic!

           I think something very important to remember is that Luz does promise to change her behavior, to not make the same mistakes again! She really was willing to respond to criticism; Which makes it all the more painful when the snake, beyond Luz’s control, attacks Hal. That scene was honestly very uncomfortable to me; Luz didn’t even get the chance to change her behavior, to fix things, before she got punished! Luz immediately being sent to the Reality Camp for something that happened as a result of a prior mistake she was already planning to fix (instead of a new one she made after her promise), a mistake she didn’t even get a moment to rectify…

           It just comes across as cruel, mean-spirited, and outright petty! Spiteful, even… Like come on, Luz made it clear she was going to change and fix things, or at least try! And Principal Hal LET Luz bring the snake into his office, and hold it in her bare hand right in front of him! Luz is just following the guidance of the adults, looking to them to tell her what’s right or wrong… If Hal let Luz bring the snake in and it attacked him, then he’s partly to blame for poorly mishandling the incident! He IS a principal, after all, he should know about de-escalating situations and ensuring the safety of everyone else at hand here, when kids can’t tell what’s dangerous or not. It’s definitely Luz’s fault for bringing the snakes to school, but it’s not her fault for bringing the snake into the office when Hal let her!

           Coupled with how Luz was willing to change her behavior, didn’t even get the chance to, and how that snake was part of a mistake that happened BEFORE she made her promise… It all just comes across as more like a vindictive punishment to a kid, than an actual attempt to help them. And, I should preface that I’m no child psychologist; But even so…

           I feel like Hal and Camila’s handling of the situation established a precedent for other problems we see in this show. Namely… Luz DID have a problem. She had a problem with genuine loneliness and not knowing how to make friends, not distinguishing reality from fiction at times, and thus disregarding others as an occasional result! Luz was clearly suffering from some issues and she needed help, that’s kind of a major point!

           But the thing is… I feel like Hal and Camila (mostly Hal) didn’t address the problem in an effective manner? Which makes sense, given this show’s critique of the American school system… Luz definitely had issues of loneliness and delusion that caused prior incidents. But clearly, punishing her for those past incidents didn’t keep them from stopping… Which brings up the idea of addressing the symptoms of an underlying problem, and not the root-cause that’s causing them to begin with! Punishing Luz the first few times for her other incidents was like a band-aid, it made her stop doing those things temporarily… But she was still a kid who wasn’t taught how to differentiate fiction from reality, and so Luz was still prone to keep causing problems as a result.

           I’ll give Camila some slack, she’s a single mother and a nurse, she’s no doubt incredibly busy. But I think this concept of recognizing that there’s an issue, but then either not actually addressing the root cause behind it, or worse, handling the issue in a manner that’s less than productive and just makes the person feel worse… This seems like a precedent established by our opening scene, which we then see with OTHER characters and conflicts later in the show!

           We have Lilith, who recognizes that she cursed Eda! However, Lilith opts to wallow in self-pity and beat herself up for it, destructively tearing down her own self-esteem, instead of constructively fixing the actual problem by sharing the curse with her sister, or at least being honest about what happened! You have Luz and Willow helping Amity learn to be kinder and happier…. While leaving the implicit awareness that until the Blight Parents are addressed, Amity won’t truly heal.

          Principal Bump saw Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus getting into trouble; But instead of addressing the issue of their unmet educational needs, he instead completely banned them from practicing magic in the Detention Track! And this is speculation, but it seems that Emira and Edric WERE concerned with how cold Amity was to other people, and seemed under the impression that their cruel pranks would somehow ‘lighten her up’- When instead they just made Amity feel even more miserable, and less willing to open up and reach out.

          It’s a recurring trend- A destructive response to an issue, instead of something constructive and meant to fix the problem itself… It’s a ‘solution’ fixated on simply punishing and hurting someone as retribution for their mistakes, while the actual problem and its effects keep going on in the background. It’s ignoring a systemic cause behind these recurring incidents; Just as ignoring the Coven System and not dismantling it would be a fatal error, because even if people like Lilith and Boscha learn not to be so terrible… The Coven System will continue to enable and encourage other witches after them to do horrible things. And while individual accountability IS a thing, the show’s messages seem to point towards tackling systematic issues (either on a personal or societal level), before then having time to focus on the individual problems that came from them.

          Camila was right; Luz DID have issues with differentiating fantasy from reality, of being lonely and unsure of how to handle social interactions, etc.! Just as Lilith recognized she made a mistake, Bump saw that the Detention Kids had caused trouble, Emira and Edric noticed Amity was becoming cold and cruel… But instead of constructively fixing the issue and addressing the root cause behind it, they instead focused on patching up the individual problems that spawned from this core issue, or even simply hurting and punishing the person ‘responsible’ for them.

           Amity messed up when she was cruel to Willow, that much is clear. But piling on more cruelty towards Amity as retribution wouldn’t have helped- It wouldn’t have fixed her issues. It wouldn’t have given her the self-confidence to actually change her behavior. It would’ve just made Amity feel worse and more terrible, more self-loathing, and believe she was a terrible person who could never do things right- So why bother trying to make a difference?

           The approach of Hal, to me, seems about as effective as slapping a band-aid over an injury… You’re addressing the symptoms, but what of the actual problem that’s causing them to spawn? And that’s even assuming he DID address the symptoms… His handling of the situation, overtly punishing Luz by sending her to the Reality Camp –again for a mistake that was literally and figuratively out of her hand- did not make things better, it likely would’ve just made things worse… Or at the very least, Luz would stop misbehaving, but at the cost of major emotional damage and self-loathing.

           It’s a theme this show has been building up to; Learning to address problems in a productive, constructive manner, not focusing on punishing the culprit, but instead diverting energy into actually making things better! Making the ‘culprit’ feel worse isn’t going to fix things. And similarly, while individual accountability and incidents ARE a thing… If you really want to make a change, one must address the systemic, root-cause of the issue!

          Just as Luz’s issues stemmed from loneliness and delusion, or how people like Lilith and Boscha were encouraged by the overarching Coven System… You can help Lilith be a better person. You can get Luz to not turn her eyelids inside out. But the core of the issue will still remain, and it’s going to cause other problems in the future; Such as Luz bringing the snakes and fireworks, or further generations of witches being indoctrinated into the Coven System’s elitism and abuse.

             I might give Hal, too, some slack since he’s a principal and really busy… But then again his entire job is to look after kids and help them do well. But just as Lilith never bothered to consider why Eda still refused to join the Emperor’s Coven, even under the incentive of having her curse cured… I think Hal should’ve considered that something else was afoot that was causing Luz to repeatedly cause these sorts of incidents at school. If punishing her with detention in the past didn’t keep other issues from happening- Then what makes Hal think that punishing Luz again, with Reality Camp, will make things any different? When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Instead of telling someone to stop doing something, maybe ask WHY they’re doing that? It calls back to when Luz posed this question to Principal Bump, who initially dismissed this as him ‘not caring for the ins and outs of rascality’- Although of course in HIS case it’s understandable because he DID know and empathize, he was just afraid of the Emperor’s Coven for a good reason.

           However, just as Lilith should’ve realized that the same old promise of curing Eda’s curse and hiding the truth wasn’t going to fix things, that maybe it was time she tried a different approach… I think Hal should’ve also recognized that repeated detentions weren’t stopping Luz’s misbehavior, at least not in the long-term. He should’ve tried a different approach, and he DID… But it was a worse one. The Reality Camp would’ve just screwed over Luz and likely traumatized her, getting her to stop causing trouble but at the cost of her identity and self-esteem; Or making her SO self-loathing and desperate for loneliness, that she does worse things for attention!

           And again… I have to wonder if Hal isn’t entirely to blame, if he himself is also dealing with the underlying issue that is the American school system, which he probably grew up in. And that all ties back to a major lesson of The Owl House; That just as the Coven System needs to be addressed, so does our education system! Maybe it’s not the kids/witches who are intentionally screwing themselves over and messing themselves up, maybe it’s actually the system…!

           TL;DR Luz definitely had issues. But not only do I think we’re exaggerating her maliciousness/carelessness in this situation, but also we need to consider what was actually causing these repeated incidents… And similarly, Camila and Hal definitely recognized that there WAS a problem, potentially responsible for all of the incidents- But they didn’t handle it any better than Luz did, and would’ve just made things worse. And honestly, with how messed-up the system is back home, those two aren’t entirely to blame for their faulty approach, either…

[mc-critical]

(Okay head’s up, I’m going to be on your blog a lot since I absolutely LOVE your takes and analysis’.) Do you think (strictly theatrically speaking, not in the non-fictional and historical sense) Suleyman really loved Hürrem? As I watched the show I found it very silly how other characters of the show would remark how Suleyman “loved Hurrem so much he refused to ever take another concubine again” because..he did? And multiple times from what the viewers have seen too. Majority of the times the concubines/other women in Suleyman’s life (Isabella, Firüze etc) were only removed from his life via Hurrem’s intrigues, not by Suleyman’s decision. What do you think?

Aww, thank you so much for the nice words! 💕 Be here as much as you wish, absolutely no problem! (there are some takes I've had in the past that are quite passive-agressive in retrospect 😅, so I might as well also give you a heads up.)

As for your question, I think yes, SS loves Hürrem, but in his own, sometimes honestly incomprehensible (even outright toxic), way.

The writers perhaps wanted to hint at love at first sight in the beggining, due to the way she fainted in his arms in the first episode and how he kept thinking about her (that Ibrahim had to tell him that where he was supposed to go was the other direction) and the wave of excitement and anticipation he felt while waiting for her. But when they spent two nights together and he truly got to know her, was where it was at. Her uncanny ability to make him laugh, entertain him in a way no one else had before, was what impressed him first. He felt calm, safe in her presence, and wanted to keep this probably forever, along with him doing whatever else he wanted in the meantime regardless.

I feel the point of contention of whether he truly loved her or not comes from the fact that, the show wanted to make their love story integral to their both historically thematic and narratively soapy story - what I mean is, they wanted to make it the central plotline. And as a central plotline, it creates and/or extends on the other plotlines, having to show the other characters' reactions in excessive detail and even center parts of their motivations around it. You see how S01 and S02 of the series played this aspect of Hürrem and Süleiman's story completely straight - it presented it as The Love, this big, (thematically and narratively) unprecedented thing, this vital aspect of the series' DNA, the very tool that moves the story forward, that is only bound to have consistent narrative opposition: and I'm not referring only to Isabella and Firuze and all the other concubine arcs that force love triangles suited for the genre, it all is also about the continuous, frequent attacks on their love, that only stopped when the show made a complete genre shift by the second half of S04 and didn't have much time left. They worked with the idea that the more this love is attacked and antagonized, the stronger it becomes and the more shall people root for it. That's where the problem comes, because in retrospect, you can honestly see that these attacks played a major part in provoking a bunch of stuff SS did for Hürrem. Mahidevran beating her to death and poisoning her? SS gives Hürrem a chamber only for herself. (the other one she shared with Ayşe.) Them accusing her incessantly? Valide complaining about her? The various attacks? He continues to care even more for her. Valide and Ibrahim arranging that attack with the bandits? He married her. And one would wonder: is this even genuine or does the writing simply use her enemies' failings to lead Hürrem to SS? Is that the only reason he actually cares? What does MC want to achieve?

There are people who say that the entire point of SS loving her was that she was so different from everyone else (and that the concubine arcs ruined it), and yes, it was like that, in the very beginning. First impression is important and he truly began to enjoy her a lot since their first two nights, for her bringing him something new. However, both of Hürrem and Süleiman's characters and their relationship overall, drastically evolved throughout the show. When the first impression had passed and Hürrem gained SS's utmost attention and she became pregnant, she very quickly started taking stuff for granted, considering him only hers (the demonstration of the ring in front of Mahi; the twinge of jealousy towards Ibrahim.) and as a parallel, him still being a Sultan, having to follow the customs anyway, and calling Gülnihal in his chambers twice. Both of their ways of living clash, because Hürrem wants a monogamous relationship and takes every sign of care for him at face value, while SS lives in an environment that wants him to do what is expected of him.

SS both loves and hates when Hürrem stands up to his will. There have been times where she acted rashly, making borderline silly accusations (like blaming little Mustafa for the fire in E10), where she made moves out of jealousy (like stealing Isabella's pendant) and where she was complaining to him for something she didn't succeed to get (like Valide's chambers in S03). Süleiman sees her rebellious nature and goes out of his way to do moves to spite her. (this guy invited Isabella on a halvet out. of. sheer. spite and nothing else! smh honestly..) But there are as many times where he simply covers what she did (like killing Isabella) and caves to her demands anyway! Why would he cave to her demands and close his eyes on so much stuff she did, if he doesn't feel at least something for her?

The different treatment she gets also comes into play, because no matter how many times she's attacked and he seemingly stood by and watched aside from more serious cases, all it honestly does, is trigger his protective instincts. Despite of all the bumps on the road, Hürrem always was his darling, his special snowflake, whom he clearly felt something for. If anything, he wouldn't have freed her and this isn't something he would do to just anyone. (as we see how he refused to free Mahidevran when she desperately begged him to in E45.; and what's important, him freeing Hürrem wasn't provoked by someone else attacking her.) And when she makes all these jealousy fits, he listens, because Hürrem's character development represents full adaption to the circumstances of the harem, and by that, getting just like the others and learning their tricks. This has turned him off numerous times and when she shows that rebellious side of hers yet again, he couldn't help, but listen. What he said to Ibrahim after he sent off the Russian concubines, is especially telling: "No. (I don't love Hürrem as much as she loves me.) But now I fell in love with her even more." This summarizes extremely well what he thinks of her at this point, because while he's ready to cut her some slack, he's still helpless to her.

Though, later down the line, it gets very abundantly clear that if he loves her, he doesn't love her because she's different and she's rebellious, but because she's loyal to him. Infinitely loyal. She loves him this much, that she's not only ready to willingly drink poison and kill herself for him anytime, but she doesn't even want to give up his throne. It is all very well highlighted by his infamous line to Fatma: "Hürrem is not an angel, but she has something that none of you have. Loyalty! Absolute loyalty... / "She never saw anyone else on the throne but me." Over the years, SS began to live with the dramatically increased paranoia of betrayal, turning his natural ego from a strength, to an everlooming weakness. It destroyed every single relation of his, except for Hürrem. She's the only person that wasn't targeted by this crippling paranoid fear, he perhaps found piece and tranquil in her presence, because he knew that she wouldn't ever turn her back on him. And all these times he got mad at her, he had halvets to spite her, he caused her to prove to him how much he loved her, it turned out to be not only because his ego was tempered with, he wanted to test her loyalty the entire time. And all the times he prevented her from digging deeper into him and told her to stay out of political matters, now in S04 he no longer does that, since she actively joins every single conversation. Hürrem and Süleiman's relationship was put in a thorough deconstruction in S03 and S04, because after the slow Cerebus Syndrome transition began occurring and Yılmaz Şahin fully took over the script, the narrative stopped playing the love story completely straight and it put in the impression that it isn't focused on as much as it was before. So its more problematic aspects began showing even more down the line and it all lead into this very realization. The last episodes of Hürrem's life, while seeming like a cop-out, are genuine love letters for the fans and for Hürrem, with having Süleiman realize who he will lose and what will happen next, giving her the attention he never did. (I think the best Hürrem and Süleiman scenes we got, were in these episodes, along with the ones in the beginning episodes and right after the wedding, in E43-44.)

[And the episodes after Hürrem's death also make us question whatever he cares for her, because all he did there was straightforwardly betray her dying wish. Still, we should keep in mind that SS was at the peak of his downward spiral and it was Hürrem's death that sealed everything for him - losing the person who loved you dearly and was the most loyal one to you in your book, only caused catastrophic and devastating results, with SS going in her chambers in E136 and begging her to forgive him, right before the big fight between Selim and Beyezid began. There is everything else he did, yes, but losing HER is what caused him the truly neverending misery and what pushed him to such extremes, the loss of her loyalty broke him and finished him.]

Isabella and Firuze and Nazenin also add to these tests of loyalty, as well as being love triangles, added in for the drama. I feel SS did this not only to spite Hürrem, but also because he liked her unpredictability and he truly never expected for her to be this loyal in his eyes. It is possible he thought at some point due to his paranoia that she would give up on him, betray him, knowing that she also has her own ambitions. But seeing that none of that happened... perhaps all these continuous rifts in their relationship strived to show how strongly she loved him after all and maybe he came to appreciate that, even if it were too late. {note: the others said that SS loved Hü not exactly because of him refusing to take in concubines, but rather not taking concubines in for a long time. It illustrates more their hopes and beliefs (Mahidevran in E61: "Did you really think that his majesty couldn't be with other women?") and arguments presented when they need to win someone over for their cause to get rid of her. (like Hatice with Afife in S03) I always considered the Firuze arc more of a thematic tool than a dramatic one: aside from showing an actual continuous rift between Hürrem and SS, it breaks Hürrem's season two finale victory in half, enforcing even further that there isn't just any true long lasting victory that the themes won't condemn in this franchise. Nazenin was more for the parallels (Nurbanu - Nazenin; Hürrem - Gülnihal), while I never fully figured out what Isabella Fortuna was for, tbh.}

{He regarded Isabella as more of a toy, unfortunately, even with him saying that it was all somehow "a political game" with her and we had only him succumbing to his "manliness", protecting her from the snake and inviting her to a halvet only to spite Hürrem. With Firuze it was, admittedly, a bit more complicated, because he sure was infatuated with her to some extent, recited the exact same poetry to her, as well, but then again, we have the poisoning as a factor, and we have no idea to what extent it began to affect his psyche, besides him having to lay in bed in E78. I don't think Hürrem's intrigues had anything to do with the feelings he had for both of them, and I believe he would at some point have let them all go, exactly due to his ego and loyalty complex.}

I don't say that Süleiman's love for Hürrem is a healthy one, because oh noo, IT IS NOT, very far from it, in fact. Especially with the writers still keeping the status-quo with them the exact same even after he freed and married her, and for a while, it never made an actual difference. However, it is something that he didn't feel for anyone else in this harem and I would say that he indeed cherished it a lot.

[jacksgreysays]

Hisoka!AU of DOS, Rokudaime(whoever you pick to end up with that job in this verse), A Steady Hand (NOTE: For Hisoka!AU, see Recursive forum pg 489 #14,655 - Snapshots From The Past Of Hisoka by donahermurphy pg 489 #14,665 - A Meeting While Fleeing The Garden & Desert by Tirfarthuan pg 491 #14,716 - A Name & A Gift Passed On by Tirfarthuan)

A/N: Thanks for the biblio [1+2, 3], dona--I did not know who Hisoka was before this, so those helped a lot! I did, also, have to reread the Lone Wolf 'verse since from what I understand Hisoka is an AU of that 'verse specifically? If not, please let me know.

Anyway, on rereading Lone Wolf 'verse, here are the facts that I gleaned:

Danzo is Hokage

Hiruzen died of "natural causes" several years before canon

Kakashi "betrayed the village" somehow and is being called Comrade-Killer more prevalently than canon

Asuma is probably dead

Yuuhi Shinku isn't an entire dick (since Uchiha Uzume can think about him without an automatic insult attached)

Shin is still alive (but very slowly dying)

and Kurenai is helping the Uchiha at the very least cover up a meeting with Kakashi outside of the village.

The facts of the Hisoka!AU are:

Shikako was taken to be ROOT

in order to protect those she cared about she mentally/spiritually maimed herself to the point where she no longer counted as "a Shikako" to Gelel

her partner for the final exam was Sai

she escaped/convinced Sai that the point of the final exam was to fake her death and became a fishmonger on the coast of Wind

when Shikako!Prime leaves via Gelel she "wakes up" from said previous mental/spiritual maiming

Kakashi finds her and they're a lovely wolf and cub pair who aim to kill Danzo (and get rid of their loneliness and maybe heal)

... okay, now that I typed all that out, did you mean Hisoka!AU of canon DoS instead of the Hisoka!AU of the Lone Wolf 'verse? Because those are different things, I think. But I kinda figured Hisoka!AU was intrinsically tied to the Lone Wolf 'verse, so, uh, here's a couple of ideas I had in mind:

1) Akimichi Chouza as Rokudaime.

Because after the absolute worst sort of "warmongering, self-cannibalizing, Konoha first" bullshit that Danzo spewed, the village needs someone who recognizes that being the village leader means making and protecting a home worth living in, not just a harsh taskmaster sending his soldiers out to die.

I considered Shikaku!Rokudaime for a similar sort of reason, but it's not as thematic and, also on a personal level, he can't. In a Hisoka!AU, he has to reconcile the fact that he gave one of his children--willingly or not, even if Danzo wiped his memory later--to a man who he already knew would exploit her horrendously. Maybe he didn't know the full extent of ROOT's training (surely not the final exam) but the fact that he was apprehensive and still went through with it is not a good look.

Even if Hisoka and Kakashi do not return to the village proper (and part of me is like, hey! They shouldn't! And I will go into that more in a little bit) he has to make amends to at least her, if not both of them, and he can't be Hokage and bound to prioritize the village over her if he ever wants to succeed.

Chouza, on the other hand, is the only one of the three who never made that decision (I'm still a little side-eyeing the Yamanaka clan, because surely a clan whose whole deal is KNOWING WHEN MENTAL SHENANIGANS IS GOING ON should have seen that with Fu, especially since he was allowed to keep his name and also, probably, had to have clan training to learn the clan jutsu, but maybe it wasn't Inoichi who made that deal? Maybe it was his predecessor. Either way, still mega sketch. I'm a little hand-wavy with Shibi and the Aburame because I headcanon that the Kyuubi largely wiped out what power they had the most out of any of the clans and they were like. Desperate to survive. And didn't have allied clans to bolster them.) And yes, probably that's because as far as fighting styles are concerned, they rely on their clan jutsu which is very recognizable and thus not great for ANBU (in the same way that I imagine the Inuzuka aren't often recruited into ANBU) but it's still a notable fact. The Akimichi are trustworthy pillars of the village and have been since the beginning.

And it helps that of the Nidaime's team, Akimichi Torifu was one of two of the full six who didn't turn into an old corruptible asshole. Sure, we don't necessarily know what happened to him, but he wasn't specifically seen as an old corruptible asshole so I think he's winning. It reflects well on his clan as a whole. Also, given my headcanon of the Akimichi actively cultivating their ties with civilians and also possibly the Daimyo's family they have, alongside military might, financial and political clout.

Anyway, while a possible Tsunade as Rokudaime would have similar vibes (and does, you know, match canon and have those canon reasons for working) in terms of "healing the village" etc. etc. This is a Tsunade whose most bitter cynicism was proven right? And there's no inspirational Naruto to convince her otherwise. And also, Tsunade shouldn't HAVE to clean up Danzo's mess. Like, the minuscule obligation she had to clean up Hiruzen's mess does not apply to Danzo. (It's a little like... Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were raised to be the ultimate team to take over for Hiruzen except they didn't know it and were dysfunctional. The fact that Hiruzen's death was by Orochimaru's hand and between her and Jiraiya she is the better choice is the only reason why she has that slight obligation to go back to Konoha. Whereas, with Danzo? FUCK THAT NOISE. That's a mess the village needs to resolve on their own. THEY'RE the ones who let it get so bad. THEY'RE the ones who need to deal with it)

And also, another reason why I don't really want Tsunade as Rokudaime is because I kind of like the idea of Kakashi and Hisoka sort of orbiting/paralleling her and Shizune. Like, there's a not-so-secret society of Konoha expatriates who aren't actually missing-nin and both love and hate the village and Tsunade is exasperatedly fond of those two disasters whereas she is sickened by the village. Maybe one day it will have fixed itself enough that she'll go back and visit and whip their Medic Corps into shape, but that is not any time soon!

Also, also, also, and I don't know if you remember this, dona, but in your In Which Someone Attempts to Kidnap Shikamaru, Instead, Inoichi brings up something called the Regency Protocol with Ino in regards to Danzo kidnapping Shikako and brainwashing Shikaku to forget and originally I thought it was some kind of Ino-Shika-Cho contingency plan where the three clans take over the village BECAUSE DANZO IS KIDNAPPING AND MURDERING CHILDREN AND THE SANDAIME WAS LETTING IT HAPPEN ON HIS WATCH? And of the three clans, the Akimichi really do have the traditional fighting prowess to wear the hat, so that's part of this too.

I just think an Akimichi Hokage would be pretty chill about it. Like. They wear power well and are good at managing people without crushing them in the fist of tyranny.

---

2) Maito Gai as Rokudaime.

This one actually for similar reasons as Chouza. Although, in terms of lineage, Gai could be Shichidaime, not that we're particularly holding to that Hokage teacher-student lineage so much.

In terms of semi-parallels where canon goes Tsunade to Kakashi, that means Gai also is a candidate. And in regards to showing the village/world a new kind of Hokage, he's as far from Danzo as one could get. He's straightforward and kind and draws out the potential from everyone and honestly real great but also wouldn't send someone into a mission he himself wouldn't do. Obviously, being a Hokage would mean delegating and sending shinobi on missions, but he would never send them out to die just because. Yes there are risky missions, but he would send those best suited to succeed with every tool available to them so they can succeed. Whereas Danzo would just throw bodies at a problem and kill the survivors for not doing it good enough.

The main difference between a Rokudaime Gai vs Rokudaime Chouza is that Gai's Konoha would rely less on the clan system. Of his three students, two were not from clans and the third is from the Hyuuga Branch (AND YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT'S GOING TO BE SOMETHING FINALLY ADDRESSED BY A HOKAGE BECAUSE WHAT THE FUCK). Yes, his sensei was Akimichi Chouza, but neither of his teammates were clan either. A Konoha under the rule of Rokudaime Gai is a Konoha that builds up those who don't have the same infrastructure as clans, who strengthens civilian-born and clan-born alike, who make sure that talented civilian-born students aren't only noticed by predatory old men who can sweep there existences under the rug.

Because truly one of the many ways that Danzo's weird self-hating megalomania harmed the village was by draining away the talented civilian-borns of Konoha. He who hated that the Shimura were a near-civilian clan, committed the worst crimes against those who could have proved that bloodline wasn't everything. He was so obsessed with the power of the Sharingan that it became a self fulfilling prophecy. Any talented non-bloodline student who could have proven a challenge were stolen and smothered before they could prove themselves.

Because imagine this: one day some random student with the ubiquitous last name of Satou or Tanaka or Honda beats Uchiha Itachi in a spar. Maybe its an accident. Maybe they got lucky. Maybe Itachi wasn't taking them seriously (after all, what could some no name civilian born do to him?). But those maybes don't matter. Satou or Tanaka or Honda gets in one good hit. Surprises the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Knocks him out.

The teacher takes a note of it. Talks about it in the teacher's lounge. One of Danzo's spies brings news of that notable spar.

By the next week--maybe even the next day--Satou or Tanaka or Honda is gone. No one beats Uchiha Itachi in a spar anymore. And ROOT adds another nameless, faceless soldier to its ranks.

BUT NONE OF THAT HAPPENS UNDER HOKAGE MAITO GAI. Because it is civilians that make Konoha a village and not just a loose coalition of clans. Because a name and a bloodline are not necessary to make a person great.

3) And here's the angsty/semi-bleak option: Yuuhi Kurenai as Rokudaime.

And I wrote a little bit for it, but I'm a little... mreh... about it because it does revolve a lot around the various men in her life which I'm not exactly proud of, tbh, but aaaaaaaaaagh this is endemic to a lot of Naruto fic. D:<

Yuuhi Kurenai is nobody's first choice.

(She was Asuma's first choice, and he was hers, and that had nothing to do with either of their fathers. Except now Asuma is--)

Her father wanted a son. A proper heir. Someone to elevate the prestige of the Yuuhi clan.

(In another universe, Yuuhi Shinku will think the only way his daughter can benefit the clan is through marriage, not her own merits. In this universe Yuuhi Shinku is a little bit more open minded enough to make do. He's still a dick, but not as much of one as he could've been. This puts Kurenai in an interesting position.)

The Uchiha clan are pursuing another ally with a little more fire power, a little more name recognition, and all the intimidation and influence that entails.

(But look at where that got Kakashi, exiled and with his reputation in tatters. Look at Gai who so eagerly and overtly wants to follow. Look at Asuma who--)

The rest of the village would prefer someone who didn't look so much like the clan of would be traitors. Someone who didn't have black hair and piercing red eyes. Someone who didn't specialize in genjutsu, an art for liars.

(Oh, but they were fine quietly suffering under a man who lied and stole and murdered. A man who manipulated and cheated and framed others for his crimes. A man who ruined everything he touched and Asuma tried to stop him, gods, but then he--)

And the world doesn't quite know what to do with a Hokage like her. Or a Kage that is a her, for that matter.

Yuuhi Kurenai is nobody's first choice.

But that's fine. She can make do.

She can make miracles out of nothing.

So the thought process to get to a Rokudaime Kurenai went kind of like such. Obviously, the Uchiha would prefer an Uchiha Hokage. However that largely depends on whether they succeed in their coup or not. There's the distinct possibility that Kakashi plus Shikako!Prime or Kakashi plus Hisoka will just kill Danzo and then leave, forcing the rest of the village deal with the consequences... AS THEY SHOULD... and thus also sort of cutting the coup off at the knees.

If the coup doesn't succeed (whether out of failure or because Kakashi and a Shikako kills Danzo first before they're prepared to do the rest of the coup) then if the political climate actually matches the one they perceive themselves being in (although, I don't think the Uchiha are as hated as they think they are, but its hard for them to see that isolated as they've been forced to be) then they're unlikely to get an Uchiha Hokage especially if news of them actually seeking an alliance with Comrade-Killer Hatake Kakashi comes out. Much less the aborted/failed coup. 

Anyway, no Uchiha Hokage without a successful coup... although, if there were a successful coup, the three Uchiha I would think would be even feasible would be Fugaku--boring, bland, but that's what they know. Shisui--friendly, well liked by those outside the clan, has an international reputation. Mikoto--this is largely based on fanon/headcanon, but she was ANBU Captain? That's pretty neat.

But, uh, to get back to the no Uchiha Hokage... Kakashi's reputation is still in tatters. Maito Gai could be a good option, but while his lack of clan is a good thing for future Konoha, he doesn't quite have the political backing necessary to get there. (Namikaze Minato was an undisputed war hero. Maito Gai hasn't quite proven himself that level yet)

If its brought up that the Ino-Shika-Cho were compromised (ie, Shikaku would have worked closely with Hokage Danzo as the Jounin Commander and also one of Danzo's top ROOT agents is Yamanaka Fu) then even Chouza's candidacy would be suspect.

The village wants Tsunade. But Tsunade does not want it. I have no fucking idea what Jiraiya has been up to, but if he didn't want the hat after Hiruzen died he sure as fuck won't want it after whatever Danzo's done with it.

The Hokage's Council is suspect. Yuuhi Shinku, for all that he is similarly important to the infrastructure of Konoha while also not being part of Danzo's corruption (in another universe, he very well would have been, desperate for power), isn't actually that strong and is old, besides. (The village has had enough of old men entrenched in positions of power telling them what to do).

But he does have a daughter. Genjutsu specialist, yes, but with potential and room to grow. And Sarutobi Asuma loved her (and, fuck, what a shitty campaign to run on, the would-have-been-widow of the Sandaime's son, but you know Shinku would be ruthless in pushing that. Remember, not as much of a dick in other 'verses, but still a dick) so she has that tether to the old regime, tentative as it is.

No one really has any major objections, but no one is really all that gung-ho about it either (except for maybe Anko who will punch all detractors in the face and may very well be a one woman Hokage's Guard).

Kurenai least of all. Because she doesn't want to be Hokage, but she'd rather step up and do it than watch her village tear itself apart even further. And maybe she doesn't know who she is just yet, and maybe it sucks that she's going to have to discover that while also being Hokage, but gods she's going to try her best because at least she knows what Danzo was doing was wrong and that there's no way she can do worse than him unless she just actively slaughtered children in the street.

...

Hm, yeah, kinda bleak ending. But as I said. The Rokudaime Kurenai one is the angsty-bleak option. I mean, it gets more hopeful, but it is a struggle I think for both her and the village.

I know its not a proper ficlet fill, dona, but hope you enjoyed this brain storm / meta anyway. :D 

[another-cancer]

Season 3 Akumatizations

Part 1 and Part 2

This is the last part of me going through all the akumatizations due to an impulse after seeing some Marinette slander. 

Chameleon - Lila willingly get’s akumatized. Therefore, her negative emotions weren’t valid. 

Animaestro - This was a collective effort of everyone but Marinette since she was the only one to know who he was, but he is also supposed to be Astruc and I mean mans put himself in his own cartoon about teenagers and god he is problematic on so many levels.  

Bakerix - This man was definitely racist to Sabine at some point in life. He got akumatized over Marinette’s bread. She proved she could do it just as well using a different technique. He lost pretty fair and square.

Backwardar - Ah one of the biggest misunderstandings on the show that tell us Mari sucks at writing ‘love’ letters. But from her perspective the love of her life didn’t want them to be together. Valid reason to be akumatized. 

Reflekdoll - Unpopular opinion this was Alya not Marinette’s fault. But guess what? At the end Mari apologizes and Alya didn’t. Alya is a queen who is way to focused on getting Adrienette together and an enabler to Mari’s more toxic behavior. Juleka’s akumatization was valid. Also it gave us Lady Noire.

Weredad - Mari caused this one by lying. But it was hilarious. The first thing she thought of was “I’m in love with you.” Tom should have listened to what Marinette and Chat was trying to tell him though and ultimately got himself akumatized by shipping his daughter too much. 

 Silencer - Fuck Bob Roth. Valid. Akuma design was questionable but that declaration of love was amazing. Kinda ironic that this comes after Weredad in production order. Luka deserves better. 

Oni-Chan - Kagami got akumatized for the wrong and right reasons. Idk this is complicated due to the fact the creator’s don’t seem like they are ever going to address the harassment issues on the show. I’m glad Kagami got akumatized I just wish it was because Adrien looked uncomfortable being kissed by Lila. 

Miraculer. - Chloe. Valid. Wait a minute tho I swear Sabrina got akumatized twice once into the invisible girl. 

Oblivio - No one caused this. They were making out in a closet and got caught. 

Desperada - Jagged. They were fired I’d be pissed too. Also this changes so much with the new things we learn about Jagged in season 4. I mean like ruin’s his character changes things. 

Christmaster - I also hate this kid. They need better children on this show one’s who don’t flip out over absolutely nothing. 

Startrain - She got rejected from a fancy space program/job. Valid.

Kwami Buster - To be fair she should have looked more carefully at her evidence before going on TV with her thing. Especially, a show with Alec as the host. As we already established he’s an ass.

 Feast (this is an amouk)

Gamer 2.0 - People were busy and that’s not their fault. The show needs to stop making it seem Mari is a bad friend while they continue to pile shit up on her. Also Max could have just waited a while. 

Stormy Weather 2 - Chloe. This was definitely valid. 

Ikari Gozen - Kagami’s mom is awful. 

Timetagger - We don’t know. But I hate Chris so much. 

Party Crasher - Adrien should have invited him as for if this is valid idk it kinda seems like an over reaction but at the same time everyone has cried once about not being invited for a party. Also how Mari was comfortable with being in a room with all men I will never know. And that party looked like it smelt.

Puppeteer 2 - Manon is the root of all problems. Goodbye.

Chat Blanc - Gabriel being an ass. Valid. This probably traumatized Mari.

Felix - Felix caused the three akuma’s in this eisode and they did this man so dirty. He was supposed to be hot in the PV and an MC. I hate this episode so much. 

Ladybug (this is an amouk)

Loveater - Gabriel, not going to go into this.

Miracle Queen - I hate that she took the akuma willingly she was doing so well. I hate this episode and Chloe deserved better. She only caused two akuma’s this season. AHHH.

In conclusion, Mari is slightly problematic but she isn’t causing akuma’s. Chloe had growth the writers threw away. All the children are the worse. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[sparrowwritings]

Final Fantasy Writing Challenge Day Twenty-Six: “Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, you might be cursed?”

Day Twenty-Five -- Masterpost -- Day Twenty-Seven Lara didn’t know where she was going until her feet were leading her down the path of blue flowers away from the tree-borne village of Fanow. All she knew was that she had to get away. Privacy wasn’t exactly something the Viis of the Rak’tika Greatwood were familiar with, and besides that she didn’t want to cry in front of her friends.

She’s supposed to be one of the Warriors of Darkness, gods damn it, and that involves being strong in the face of anything. Even after learning the most ancient history of the worlds. Even finding out that the Ascians had existed since before the races of mortals did. Even finding out that the Mother Crystal is a Primal. 

And yet it was none of this that had triggered her downward mental spiral. A painting of a burning city with stars falling from above, of all things, had made her stare in growing horror as something buried deep within her had tried to press itself into the front of her mind. All of the rest of the information had just been more fuel for the inward bonfire.

At some point she’d left the blue flowers and found herself in some sort of clearing. There was space enough that the stars in the night sky twinkled pleasantly, unhindered by a woven branch canopy. Lara tore her eyes from the sight to settle herself among the tangled roots of a tree that seemed to wish to walk on its own. Once assured that she was alone, the tears fell freely and she let the mental images she had been trying to suppress loose. 

Just like in the cave, her ears started ringing as she was taken into the vision. Unlike her normal experiences with the Echo, she felt as if she was the only one experiencing this...memory, perhaps? The sky was a blood red. Something huge was streaking towards her and she was terrified out of her mind about what would happen should it impact. People were going to die. They were going to die and something had to be done, but there was nothing she could do and she was looking at someone with a name on her lips but the face was fading as the world got too bright and--

“I take it I’ve found you at a bad time?” Lara let loose a shrill noise and recoiled hard enough that she smacked the back of her head on the roots she had been sitting in. As she grasped where the impact hit, she heard a sharp inhale from somewhere in front of and just above her. “Probably should have waited until after you’d exited your fugue state, but had I been one of the local wildlife you’d have been eaten. Lucky for you I’d already agreed to help, poor choices in places to have an emotional meltdown aside.” 

She cracked open an eye, only for it to be met with silky black, red, and white fabric. As she looked upwards, the culprit who had interrupted her merely folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her. It was clear that he was dangerously close to smirking. “...Emet-Selch…?” Lara muttered as she gingerly touched at her head again. The pain was already fading, but the place that she hit still smarted under her fingers.

“The one and only.” He unfolded his arms in a dramatic almost-shrug before settling his hands on his hips. “And I suppose I’m the one that has to play the part of one of your friends since you’ve isolated yourself so. Tell me, which one of them would be more likely to say something on the order of, ‘Just what are you doing out here this late, young lady? Don’t you know how dangerous it is?’”

Lara stared at him for a beat until she blurted, “Have you finally lost your mind or did I give myself a concussion?”

“You know, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” Just like he had already been threatening, a smirk indeed grew on his lips. “The part about the concussion, obviously. The state of my mind is far too incomprehensible for those such as you to understand. That you’d call it madness hardly surprises me. You still have yet to answer my question.” 

After another moment or so of very confused silence, she responded with, “If you go with the way you said it, probably Thancred. If you put a more flowery spin on it, Urianger.” If she already was seeing and hearing things, she might as well go along with the hallucination that scared her the least. 

(Later, Lara would realize how stupid it was to think of Emet-Selch as less of a threat than the vision trying desperately to bring attention to herself in her mind...but in the moment she didn’t care at all.)

He seemed pleased by the answer. “I thought as much. Your friend that so willingly jumped into the lifestream--and not for the first time from what you described--didn’t seem the overprotective motherly type.”

“Y’shtola’s motherly in her own way. She just lets Roger and I make our mistakes on our own.” Satisfied that her head hadn’t broken open, Lara finally sat up in a more dignified manner. As she did so, she pinched the inside of her elbow and hard. Nope, Emet-Selch was still there for some reason. This wasn’t a dream. Unless she really did have a concussion in which case she was going to have other problems. She didn’t think that asking if she could test if he was real by touching his arm would turn out very well. “I thought you were done with us after Qitana Ravel?”

Emet-Selch rolled his yellow eyes. “Much like what it appears you were just doing, I needed a moment to myself. I can only handle so much ignorance at once. ‘Tis why your answers must be given in such a piecemeal fashion. Your little minds would implode if I passed along all of my knowledge and wisdom at once.” He sighed dramatically. Lara had a feeling that he enjoyed stringing everyone along a little too much for that to be his only reason. “Regardless, I had recovered enough to speak to all of you once more when I saw you in the middle of your little crisis. When it was clear that you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings, I saw fit to snap you out of it.” He held a hand out and flipped it over so the palm of his white glove was facing up. “You may thank me for that, now.”

Not for the first time, Lara was reminded of some of the more egocentric critics from her time working for the Bismarck. The kind of people that would give a horrible review on a dish she made and insist that they were doing her a favor for even bothering to write about it. “Thank you. For making sure I didn’t get eaten.” She said flatly. 

“You’re very welcome.” He accepted graciously. The hand Emet-Selch had held out to her went back to his hip. “And now that I’ve sufficiently distracted you from whatever emotions had caused you to tunnel inward like that, why did you hide out here away from all of your friends?”

Lara paused. He was right, she had been steered away from the fear and helplessness she had been experiencing. She hadn’t even noticed that’s what he was doing until he pointed it out to her. “You’re very good at that,” She pointed out. When all she received for a reply was a folding of his arms and more stern staring, she finally answered him. “I didn’t want anyone to see me crying over one of the paintings, okay?” Lara looked down at the toes of her boots. “I should be flipping out about the stuff you told us about Zodiark and Hydaelyn, not...that. I needed to get away so none of them would worry about me.”

He was quiet for long enough that if her gaze wasn’t towards his own boots she would’ve thought he’d left already. She was expecting him to sniff and call her stupid and weak or whatever. What he said next was in a much softer tone than Lara had thought he was capable of. “Which painting?”

She blinked up at him owlishly. His expression was unreadable. There was no way to tell what it was he was looking for, so she just went with the truth. “The first one. With the stars falling on the burning city.”

Something crossed Emet-Selch’s face that Lara couldn’t quite catch fast enough to analyze. “Go on.” 

“When I saw it, I had...a vision? I guess? It wasn’t like what happens with the Echo--” She stopped when she saw him grimacing, but he gestured for her to continue. “Um. It was like I was there? But actually a part of the event? The sky was a dark red, and something huge and bright was crashing from the sky and just thinking about it made me so--” Lara could feel her breath hitch, and she rode it out til she could speak normally. “I was so scared. For myself, for the people around me, for…” Her brow furrowed. Now that she’d had some time away from the vision, the face that had been so blurry was starting to come into focus. Not enough for her to identify, but it was something. “For...someone who was with me. And as everything around me got bright, I knew that all was lost.”

Again, he stayed quiet as he mulled over the words. She still couldn’t read his expression, though his brows were definitely furrowed. Finally, he spoke. “Do you remember any other details of this vision?” His voice was back to its neutral state, though if Lara didn’t know any better it was a little strained.

Even though she didn’t want to, she tried to think back on it anyway. “There...were people. All around us.” Her eyes shut instinctively. Most of them were staring up at the sky. We were on an open plain. Everyone had armor--”

“Armor?” The sharp voice of Emet-Selch cut into her recollection. “You’re certain about that?”

She spent a moment going back over the vision. “Yeah, armor. About half of the people were wearing more piecemeal sets. The other half were in black spiky armor.” The realization hit her a moment too late. “Kind of like Garlean armor now that I think about it.”

“Right. Seems logical.” Lara opened her eyes to see him looking away from her. His face screamed that he was hurt about something up until he noticed her. Then it went back to it’s normal, almost bored expression. “It seems you’ve unearthed a rather traumatic memory. I’d congratulate you, but those sort of things tend to not be looked on well.”

A part of her really wanted to ask him what was wrong. Another, wiser part smacked the first one over the head and said that he’d never admit to being hurt about anything. For as much as he claimed that he was always truthful, Emet-Selch couldn’t be trusted. She knew this. Too bad her mouth was already open and talking before her brain could catch up with it. “Well I can add it to the collection of traumatic memories I’ve already got, then.”

He paused at that. Lara was inwardly berating herself for saying that when he snorted. “It can’t be that many. You’re barely out of infancy.” 

“Wanna bet?” She clapped her hands over her mouth. Why were her words running away from her in front of the Ascian?? 

“It’s not one you would win, even if you told me your life story. Especially not then.” Emet-Selch drawled with a raised eyebrow. “Although if you’ve truly had so many traumatic memories in such a short amount of time, perhaps you should consider that you may be cursed. It would be deliciously ironic.”

She really couldn’t argue about that, all things considered. “I...yeah, maybe.” After a moment she pushed herself off of the roots and stood in front of him. Since she only came up to his chest, Lara had to crane her neck at an odd angle to see his face. She probably could have waited for this until before she’d gotten up, but it was too late for that now. “I think I’m good enough to head back, now. Thank you.” She tried to make the words sound as genuine as she could. 

Emet-Selch gave her a dismissal gesture with one hand. “Can’t have you reneging on our deal by dying to a forest beast. Go let your twin know that he owes me gratitude for this too.”

“Right.” Lara turned and walked four paces away before she paused and turned back around on her heel. “Wait, twin? What do you mean?”

He looked back at her like she’d lost several points of intelligence. “...I mean your twin. The other Warrior of Light--well, Darkness here on the First.”

“Roger’s not my twin, he’s my friend!”

“Right, and your souls are the same color coincidentally.” He tilted his head, letting the white stripe in his hair hang down to his shoulder. “You truly don’t know, do you?”

“No! I don’t!”

“One can only share a soul color with another by sharing a womb with them. I refuse to go into the mechanics of such, but the evidence is irrefutable. Go ask your lifestream-hopping friend about it.” 

“You know what, I will!” Lara’s emotions were all over the place, but she managed enough frustration to stomp off back towards Fanow. 

Unbeknownst to her, Emet-Selch ran his hands through his hair and, not for the first time, contemplated just how in the seven hells his plans kept getting thwarted by the Warriors of Darkness when they didn’t even know such a basic fact about each other.

[formashimataichi]

Do you think Chihaya is selfish?

Yes and no. 

I think Chihaya is selfish in the sense that she’s hungry for the game. It’s her first real opportunity at having a dream for herself, and karuta is also incredibly exciting for her, so she tries to envelop her entire life within it. That means pulling people into her sphere who don’t necessarily understand karuta or its emotional merits (the most obvious example here being Taichi), which can then sometimes lead to her being unaware of said people’s personal problems, because her focus is primarily on sharing karuta and enjoying it with them. (There’s also obviously the matter of her learning how to play properly as part of a team, because she’s been used to individual play for so long, but I personally don’t think that’s as glaring an issue after their first year.) That being said, I don’t agree that she’s a willingly selfish person, as a huge portion of the fandom unfortunately likes to claim. When problems she may have caused for others are brought to her attention, Chihaya is overwhelmingly remorseful and does her best to hold herself accountable and to understand how she may have caused harm or been insensitive to someone’s feelings. She’s a very kind and empathetic person, and that’s part of what makes her desire to spread karuta to everyone she knows so endearing (at least to me), because it comes out of a place of genuine love and desire to see the game make others as happy as it’s made her. I feel like the way she goes about sharing karuta with her friends is actually quite selfless, because again, it’s not just about her own enjoyment—she’s very keen on spreading this happiness that she experiences to the people around her, even if her intentions are initially a bit naïve. Plus, Chihaya never intends to use any of her friends as stepping stones to her goal. In fact, that’s precisely what hinders her for the longest time, because she’s so worried about making sure her friends love the game that she can’t even wholeheartedly focus on her own dreams first. Her passion for the game evolves into being rooted in her compassion for others, and this is something a lot of readers fail to recognize. It’s kind of like how Hyoro initially believed Chihaya was someone who looked down on less-skilled players, only to later realize that she aims relentlessly for the top because she recognizes how lonely the people there are. It ties into her arc reflecting the need for her to be selfish in order to be selfless—she has to relentlessly pursue her own dreams to set her up to best support and inspire the people around her. It’s never Chihaya’s intention to bog people down or to rob them of enjoyment through the game, and that’s why a lot of the fandom narrative around her tends to bother me, because they pin other characters’ problems almost entirely on her behavior, when she’s only a fraction of the issue. So much of her narrative follows her holding her friends’ and mentors’ support close to her heart and wanting to pay it back tenfold. I wish more people appreciated that aspect of her character. 

[blushing-titan]

Eren as a father and Ymir as a mother motives theory never made sense. They were represented as emotionally stunned children in paths doing the Rumbling, not as adults. Ymir never cared about her children, she doomed them to suffer after her VERY SHITTY AND SELFISH CHOICE TO DIE because her abuser didn't return her "love". That was clear before Eren revealed it. She saved him and abandoned her children. She never gave a single fuck about them. She was always looking at HIM. (1)

For his part, Eren reverted to a child, talked about the sights with Armin which foreshadowed his motivation was mixed with his mental fuckery and timeless perspective. Dina and bird twist were foreshadowed via memory shards earlier. Krueger went on a rant about protecting Armin and Mikasa (and the "others") to Grisha. We've always known who Eren prioritized above all. Last chapter offered no twists, only confirmations. The story was always about EMA, Historia never had a place in the climax.

Hi! Thank you very much for writing 😀 I put my reply under the cut, so people who scroll down while searching tags don’t have problems with my long post (...because I feel like, unfortunetely, it’s gonna be another stream of conciousness from me, sorry about that 😅)

I really like your take on the "emotionally stunned children in paths" imaginery - I fully agree that it's a nicely-done symbolism!

To me, the whole Ymir sacrificed herself because of her unrequited love was not at all as clear and obvious as you say - especially before Eren revealed it. I still have a lot of problems with this plot twist, and how Ymir's feelings towards Fritz were portrayed in the end.

With the amount of abuse and mistreatment the king put her through, many fans tried to come up with different theories as to why Ymir kept on serving him. The way I interpreted it, after seeing her tortured expression over and over in many panels, was that she stayed by his side because of fear and emotional damages. With the way she was living, I was not surprised that she sacrificed herself, too - I thought that she honestly had enough, which added to the tradgedy of how she still couldn't find peace after that, and kept on being enslaved in paths.

I saw many takes and theories on her motives, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone betting on she was actually in love before ch. 139. I probably didn't search good enough, but again - with what I saw in the manga, I would have never bet on that either. My point is - before ch. 139 (...and after it too, in my opinion) Ymir was a walking mystery with unclear motives, so there were a lot of theories. Therefore, I disagree that the "parents" theory could never work - it obviously doesn’t work now, after ch. 139, but before that, her motivation could be anything really. I still wish it was something else, because what we got was too vague and problematic, in my opinion. 

I simply dislike Ymir's conclusion. I feel like there was so much potential in her backstory and motives + a few different ways to tie it back with different plotpoints and characters in the end to make it more meaningful, but what we got was a brief: She was in love with the person who abused her, I know it sounds unbelievable but I couldn't look deeper into her heart, so we have to take it as it is.

In general - I can't brush it off, but to me it feels like Ymir's end goal was rushed, not explored properly, and almost pulled out of nowhere. Unfortunately, I feel the same about Mikasa's involvement in lifting the titan's curse. Don't get me wrong - I'm not at all against her becoming the hero. Quite the opposite, I was rooting for her since the beginning, and hoped to see her develop and have a big moment, but this...this honestly also felt pulled out of nowhere and, in my eyes, didn't do Mikasa justice at all. I wish there was more proper build-up and foreshadowing done so I (...and, from what I've seen, a huge portion of fans) wouldn't feel that way, but here we are.

As for the Eren/Armin conversation, I like how they got to "see" the world together, even though just as a visualisation in the paths. My problem is the [...] Eren reverted to a child, talked about the sights with Armin which foreshadowed his motivation was mixed with his mental fuckery and timeless perspective part. Again, this should have been forshadowed (...and developed in general!) much sooner - not in the final chapter, right before we learn about this controversial motivation of his.

Instead, for many chapters, we were lead to believe that Eren was acting with his original goals and personal motivations in mind; that he had some character developement which caused him to start thinking his actions through, stop acting so impulsively - and finally, that he had a plan in mind, or at least was acting out of his own free will.

If you've never seen him in this light and his motivation/behaviour seemed in character in the last chapter to you - that's fine, all power to you! But if such a big portion of the fanbase felt otherwise (me included), then it means that there were some writing issues that led to this.

The Dina situation should have been explored more, as well. It's a huuuge plot twist, which puts our MC's motovations in an entirely new light, and creates quite a few additional plot-related questions. The way we're shown the situation: Berthold couldn't die just yet, so Eren directed Dina somewhere else, which ended up being his house.

...why not anywhere else? He could literally send her back outside the wall. On top of that - did he seriously sacrifice his mother in favour of his friends? I'd really like more information on this, but the topic is cut basically as soon as it appears. I find it especially unnatural, considering the way further dialogue goes:

Eren tells Armin about how he caused his mother's demise. Armin makes a terrified face, but drops the topic, smiles and casually proceeds with: "Let's go, Eren" - like his friend didn't just reveal one of the most controversial plot twist in the series. No, who'd want to hear an elaboration on that - better talk about Mikasa, so instead we get the entire (in my eyes - really forced) Eremika-themed talk. The priorities...

About the bird thing...if I remember correctly, there were three shards revolving around this theme. Two of them just show birds flying, one of them shows Falco from bird’s perpective. Sure, now that we know that some random bird in the end pecked on Mikasa's scarf, we can kiiiiiind of connect it to the Falco's shard...but honestly, why was Eren's soul transferred into some random bird after his death? On top of that, a bird that was already existing in the world while he was still alive, as a human...did that bird’s conciousness just go poof! one day, for Eren to take the vacant spot? Should we also look for other deceased titan shifters in barns or birdhouses? 😅 I can’t believe I’m overthinking it this hard...😆

That's some three-eyed-parasitic-jeager stuff, for sure.

Jokes aside, I guess what I'm trying to say is that foreshadowing is fun and great, but it should go hand in hand with proper developement - and, in my opinion, the examples above kinda lack it (...ok, I'd let the "bird Eren" thing slide because whatever, I don't feel the need to be that serious about it, it could stay ambigous in my opinion - but I'd definitely want some more closure as for the Dina situation or Ymir’s motivations and inner thoughts)

I've always said that Armin and Mikasa were two of Eren's closest friends - or, even more, the only people he considered family. I've also never believed that he would ever willingly sacrifice them, as some people theorized (...though guess what, now that I know what happened to his mother, I have to rethink my reasoning). I understand that EMA are the main characters, and was expecting that the story's conclusion will be tied to them somehow, but definitely not at the expense of logical character and story developement (...and sorry - to me the ending just felt that way).

As for Historia: if she was never supposed to be important in the end, then, in my eyes, it's a very poorly guided plotline that only led to unecessary drama in the fanbase. Why make her situation look sus with things such us:

Incorrect conception date,

The emphasis on how she didn't marry the father of her baby (...only to reveal in ch. 139 that she, in fact, did that),

The mysterious, cloaked figure observing her talking to the farmer,

The whole talk with Eren in ch. 130, and Eren thinking back to it while talking with Zeke.

All the Historia/Ymir parallels.

Seriously, what was the point? It would be so easy to simply make the situation clear. Why not just make Historia admit to Eren in ch. 131: "yes, I'm already pregnant with the farmer's baby - I did it to save myself."? Why not cut the bs with the "she didn't marry him" - because, in all honesty, what did that information bring into the story, aside from confusion and "misunderstanding" - and just make them married, instead? Even better - why not have at least one panel showing Historia and farmer being at least somehow affectionate with each other? Why not let go of all this retconned stuff and use these panels for shelling out other plotpoints?

The theories didn't come out of nowhere - they were based on what was shown in the manga. People wouldn't be disappointed with Historia's conclusion if it was never implied that she was still somehow important. We may argue about it back and forth, but the truth is - when so many people collectively "misunderstand" a certain plotline to this extent, then it means there had to be some storytelling issues that led them to this - simple as that.

To sum it up, I'm happy that you enjoyed the chapter and found it logical and satisfying. I absolutely don't want to take that away from you, or make you change your mind, but I also can't help the fact that I don't see it in the same light as you. You say that the final chapter offered no twists, only confirmations - to me, it was pretty much the opposite. Still, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts, and sorry it took me so long to reply! Hope you're having a nice day 😄