#Does it have anything to Anti being on the 'dark path'?

[hallowpen]

The Concepts of Community & Family as it Relates to Thai Buddhism in Peaceful Property

I really really enjoyed watching this series. I am someone who grew disillusioned with Buddhism at a young age for very personal reasons, only to find my own version of a relationship with it as I grew older and learned to appreciate it from a different perspective. So the spiritual meaning behind this series really resonated with me.

I can only explain things to the best of my personal knowledge, so my apologies if anything is factually incorrect.

There are four basic tenets that one must cultivate in order to achieve true happiness. They are known as the brahmavihara (พรหมวิหาร). 1 - Metta (เมตตา): Literally translating to mean 'goodwill', it is a genuine concern for the well-being of others. 2 - Karuna (กรุณา): Literally translating to mean 'compassion', it is the recognition of another's suffering as one's own and a selfless desire for that suffering to end. 3 - Mutita (มุทิตา): Literally translating to mean 'kindliness', it is the feeling of experiencing sincere gratification from the happiness and success of others, regardless of self-contribution. 4 - Ubeka (อุเบกขา): Literally translating to mean 'equanimity', it is the ability to remain impartial combined with the understanding the we cannot mitigate the personal karma of others.

Essentially, the brahmavihara teaches us to always place others above ourselves... while realizing that they will be responsible for facing their own consequences if they fail to do the same.

How does this play into the "family" dynamics that exist in PP? Oddly enough there are certain facets of Buddhism that preach 'anti-family' values, as family can be one's primary source of attachment and suffering. There is a quote that states, "Family is the blood that burdens you." However, when a familial bloodline has lost its way (or in this case, has been "cursed"), Buddhism encourages surrounding yourself with a community that is organized on a familial basis... what we would call 'sangha' or 'found family'. Valuing the members of that found family above corrupt ideology would realign one's path toward enlightenment. Or in simpler terms, the people we choose to surround ourselves with can spiritually save us from ourselves.

Home's family has been "cursed" by the three poisons of Buddhism: greed, hatred, and ignorance. Phon's greed and value of worldly possessions over others has led her down of path of literal darkness, toward a belief in the occult. Somkid's hatred toward his father has fueled his deceptive behaviors... which he saw as a way to reclaim a father's love (that he believed he never received) from the people who didn't deserve it. Home's grandfather was ignorant as to how his actions, or lack thereof, affected the family and community that surrounded him.

Home's own version of ignorance would have led to his own karmic downfall. The series does a great job of having Home slowly discover the true meaning of home by integrating him within a 'found family' that teaches him the values of the brahmavihara... which ultimately leads to his spiritual 'awakening' (in a sense).

Metta/Karuna: Communicating with and healing the souls of the spirits the group encounter, requires compassion and understanding... a sense of community/sangha that these spirits and Chobkol (the magician) were lacking.

There were several instances of compassion born out of goodwill, the most obvious being between Home and Peach. Forgiveness is a big deal in Thai Buddhism. It is one of the cornerstones of what we refer to as "harmonious justice", as it promotes ideals of true selflessness. Peach forgiving Home because he's seen the changes in Home and how this one action does not define who Home actively wants to become was really really important. Home and Peach exist in balance of one another... keeping them on a shared karmic path where Home can no longer 'turn a blind eye' to his family's injustices (we could get into that more, but that'll make this even longer than it already is 😜😜😜). I think having Tay and New take on these roles to almost ease the minds of non-Buddhist viewers toward a more Buddhist ideology was actually quietly genius.

Sangha is also what heals the vengeance in Kan's heart, born of the teachings of Metta: "We must refrain from inflicting suffering upon one another and be free from vengeance." It could have been woven into the narrative with a bit more finesse... but I digress.

Ubeka: Home accepts the rightfully directed anger and complaints against him and his family for the harm they have caused. His partiality toward his family, simply because he is related to them, disappears. He stands against his aunt and fights against his uncle at the risk of his own life. And he does so by still allowing them to face the karmic consequences of their own terrible crimes... whether they are at peace with it or not.

Mutita: Home celebrates Peach's dreams above his own wishes... without knowing that they would eventually coincide. I could even argue that their eventual correlation could be a result of Home's 'good karma' paying forward.

Home had to reevaluate his core morals in order to be free of his family's curse (meaning within himself). All these representations of Buddhist notions, born from within his newfound family, are what define Home's idea of the true meaning of home... and happiness.

[butchvamp]

i finished Davrin's quest last before going into the endgame and i have a lot of mixed feelings about it. i know a lot of people were really upset with what they did to Isseya (i don't know anything about the Last Flight so i can't speak on that) but i think it was interesting what they tried to do-- the Grey Wardens have always asked "do the ends justify the means" and i think his quest has potential to tie up nicely with the overall theme of choice and regret-- Davrin choosing the Wardens, choosing that sacrifice versus Isseya, who was forced to follow orders and ultimately regrets her choice.

but Davrin's quest, like the majority of companion quests, is hindered by racism (thinly veiled anti-indigenous racism filtered through the elves as well as anti-black racism). we had a chance to explore real reasons why he felt compelled to leave his clan and join the Grey Wardens-- he's a monster hunter, sure, but he is also a protector. maybe he felt he could better protect them in this role? but Dragon Age loves their "the Dalish are boring and too stuck in the past and tradition, so i left to find something better" shtick, and they are clearly caught up in dichotomies in this game which we also see with Taash (and the rest of this quest, too). Davrin cant be Dalish and a Grey Warden and proud of both-- only one. but this doesn't even really align with Davrin's attitude that we see later.

i mean he named his griffon Assan, he clearly does hold the Dalish close, and we get to learn about how he used to tend the halla with Eldrin-- he comes back to this after surviving Weisshaupt, something he probably never imagined he'd be able to do, and i wish the game had dug into his feelings more rather than shifting immediately to focus on Assan.

Davrin survives Weisshaupt, he survives killing an archdemon, and he clearly has a lot of guilt about it-- Rook can tell them that he did the Wardens proud, but he retorts, "Did I? Because I'm still here and they're not." he made his choice, was prepared to make the sacrifice, and it was taken from him, and he survived when so many others died. "I feel like a blade sharpened all these years to confront the worst darkness in the world. And my blade struck true at Weisshaupt. What now?"

so now he has a new choice, one that he doesn't feel he's earned. and they try to convey this through the griffons, trained by the Grey Wardens for one singular task until it ultimately killed them... but now reborn, Rook and Davrin are given the chance to release them from their service to the Wardens and potentially find a new path. like Davrin, they weren't supposed to survive, either, and only did because of Isseya. throughout the quest we can see Davrin shift his opinion of the Gloom Howler, insisting on calling her Isseya, giving her back her name in the end to stop her. we see other wardens who have lived past their calling, past their "purpose," and how twisted they have become-- Davrin clearly sees some part of himself reflected in Isseya because of this, on top of being both a Grey Warden and an elf, too. unlike Isseya, though, Davrin has pushed through his guilt and regret and found new purpose with the griffons.

i think this is a good set-up. but in my opinion the execution is weak because after a certain point the story just starts to ignore Davrin in favor of the griffons. Davrin is the one that is both the monster hunter and the shepherd, but we only focus on Assan, and the ultimate choice is about the griffons, not Davrin himself. with the blight ending, why didn't we get to discuss what it is Davrin wants to do once everything is over? does he want to return to the Grey Wardens? he fulfilled his purpose, he killed an archdemon. does he want to become the griffons' shepherd now instead? there is no option, the griffons (besides Assan) are just handed over to someone else in the end. does Davrin join them after the final battle? does he help train them with Evka and Antoine? or does he leave the wardens and join Eldrin in Arlathan? the fake-out goodbye with Assan makes it seem like he doesn't do either, but we really don't know, since his end slide in the credits is just about the fucking griffons! it's so frustrating.

i also think him being the possible sacrifice at the end is a poor choice. the point of Davrin's story is that he survives. he survives! he has to live with it and accept it and find a way to move forward, reconnecting-- through raising Assan-- with a life he had previously sworn off. all of that development only for the game to potentially just kill him anyways.

Davrin has some of the best banter and relationships in the game, he deserved better, i really wish we got to explore his character more beyond using him as a stepping stone to reestablish griffons in Thedas.

[bomber-grl]

General Nico Di Angelo dating hc ☠︎︎

Pairing(s): Nico Di Angelo x male reader

Nico is anti social and keeps to himself, that’s a known fact

You’d always see him around camp, mostly in the shadows or just looking bored out of his mind

And one day your lives cross paths

Tbh you really don’t remember, just that you met him- he spoke to the amount he needed to, then went on his way

And this happened, day after day

It was only when you approached him with a question or conversation topic do you guys actually speak and this continues to happen

Now you’re friends and ,before you know it, boyfriends

Nico is a pretty closed off guy and isn’t exactly what I’d describe a ray of sunshine

Rightfully so, he’s been through a lot and because of this close off ness miscommunication can happen

Of course this remains a problem only when he decides to be more open and vulnerable does this get resolved

You of course have to be patient and he’s so grateful that you’re handling the conversation well and not taking it to heart.

Nico isn’t exactly physically affectionate

He doesn’t initiate but if you’d want to hold him or hug him, he’s more than welcome to it

Just won’t be the one to make the first move

It isn’t a personal thing it’s just how he is

He’s unsure a lot of the time so knowing you want him by hugging him and stuff makes him feel nice

Ok, so ik I’ve been talking about Nico once he’s used to the relationship but let’s go back to the beginning

He’s so nervous about every little thing, if anything is initiated he’d stiffen up or use mean humor to cover up how he feels

Ofc you resolve this with him but he’s still pretty bashful about being touched

Especially, ESPECIALLY when you two first kiss

He was already evaporating when you hugged him- just imagine this

He’s obviously nervous when you ask and although he takes a while to respond he ultimately agrees

You both have a short and sweet first kiss and you’ve never been more grateful for how dead Nico looks

His usually pale skin suddenly wears this bright red blush and despite how much Nico tries to hide his face you already mentally screenshotted it

Usually besides when you fluster him, Nico is so ruthless 😭

Usually you both tease and have fun with each other and when he forgets to filter what he says he’s literally SO sorry

Like he says the most gruesome shit when your making dark humor jokes and he takes it back so fast

He’s so scrawny so at least you can use that as leverage 😼

Honestly probably doesn’t even care anymore, have you seen him? He’s falling alseep whenever you try and get back at him

Genuinely not trying to be mean but if you take it that way, well he’s glad he got you back

Anyway, Nico is SO protective

He refuses to let anyone tease or be mean to you

If anyone does so then he takes offense, as if they were insulting HIM

😭honestly pretty sweet and he’s disappointed if you don’t defend him in the same way too

If you’ve made it this far you’re probably wondering how Nico shows affection

Which, it’s pretty simple

He protects you and dotes on you in his own way

I mean you’ve never caught him doing this or else he’d commit but he always gazes at you

Sure, you can say it’s creepy but he genuinely does it because he can’t believe someone he likes actually feels the same way and doesn’t hate him just for existing

*CoUgH cOuGh camp halfblood 👀*

Nico is a sweetheart he’s just not the best at showing it

[aspoonofsugar]

Top 3 Oshi no Ko characters?

Hi!

Ruby Hoshino

Ruby's arc (which might very well end up in tragedy, I know) is by far my favorite. It stays on stand-by at the beginning, but when it kicks in, it starts rolling and it is imho the most powerful one. Ruby embracing her inner darkness is amazing on multiple levels.

On the one hand I love how good she is at manipulating people. She clearly inherited Hikaru's talent at this, far more than Aqua imho. The TV arc is basically Ruby foreshadowing Hikaru's whole modus operandi. She sets up a scandal, fixes it and comes up on top. She is so good nobody could really accuse her of anything either. She just makes use of people's flaws and personalities for her schemes. That is exactly what Hikaru does. She just has less nefarious goals in mind (more or less).

On the other hand the deep dive in her past as Sarina is the best part of the series. It is incredibly heartbreaking to see not only her pain at the hand of the illness, but her parents' abandonment too. Finally, Ruby's spiral ending, as she realizes Aqua is sensei is just a perfect catharsis to the whole situation.

Right now, we have to see how her story ends. I can think of 3 main possibilities:

Ruby keeps on being an idol to honor Aqua and Ai's sacrifice (not very sound thematically and kind of mediocre, but the whole ending is by this point- plus it would fit Ruby and Aqua's foiling)

Ruby stops being an idol and keeps on living normally (the most coherent positive ending, as it would show Aqua's sacrifice was pointless and selfish - still, I don't think we are going this path)

Ruby kills herself in what is the most tragic ending possible (it would fit with some set-up, like her unsolved idealizatioin of Aqua, which borders into incest, Crow's girl warnings to Aqua, etc. - but it would be gut wrenching tonally... that said Aqua's death did not fit the tone and set-up either, so...)

Probably we are going with the first option. Despite this possible lukewarm ending, I think Ruby will still be my favourite.

2. Hikaru Kamiki

Hikaru is a great villain and he deserved a better conclusion to his arc (either positive or negative), than the one he got, so that Aqua could have his sad pretty boy moment :P

Anyway, Hikaru embodies the anti-theme, as he loves wrong and is loved wrongly. I loved the exploration of his past, as an abusive victim. His spiral throughout the movie was gut-wrenching. Moreover, his ability to fool the twins and the readers by using the movie itself was great and it could have been such a cool set-up to a wonderful climax. I think we were robbed of a confrontation between him and Ruby to be honest. Not to talk about a final deep dive into his mind.

2. Ai Hoshino

Ai is on pair with Hikaru. Her arc is short, but wonderful and incredibly impactful. Hers is a perfectly written tragedy, with a powerful catharsis. What is more, her presence remains key throughout the whole story. In a sense, she is the heart of the series... which is why the ending shifting the focus on Aqua is disappointing... Sure, he and Ruby are the protagonists, but the conflict and main mystery and driving force of the story all lie within Ai. She is why people started reading/watching Oshi No Ko. The story should have ended with the answer to "who was Ai really?". (See, this is as if in Monster the climax decided to focus on Tenma's past in Japan instead than on Johan LOL...)

These are my top three. What about yours?

[nutzgunray-lvt]

Class 1A Dynamics (Part 2)

This is going to be consolidated, so I apologize for the long length, but it's going to serve as a conclusion as to why I believe Class 1A's reputation as a found family is undeserved.

In my opinion, the Final Exam arc and Forest Camp arc is when we start to see the cracks in Class 1A's dynamics, as well as their more problematic moments that don't match how they supposedly are as characters. We do get really nice moments of Momo offering her home and services as a tutor to a handful of her classmates (Jirou's interactions with Momo's mom were really cute), but that's it.

Kirishima hears from Bakugou's former middle school friends how they and Bakugou bullied Izuku for his Quirklessness... and promptly ignores it. Mr. Anti Bully hears that the role model he looks up to was/is a bully, and does NOTHING about it. Not even when Bakugou gets them kicked out of whatever place they were studying at and blames IZUKU for it does he do anything other than say, "Lol, classic Bakugou!"

One of the biggest moments, in my opinion, is when Ochako, Ida, Momo, and Tsu (I think it was them? I can't remember) have no objections to Bakugou backhanding Izuku. They hear Recovery Girl saying that they have no communication... and take it at face value. No trying to stand up for him, no saying that Bakugou's the instigator between them, nothing.

(To say nothing how Sero failed the exam for being taken out of the arena unconcious, even though Bakugou passed despite ALSO being unconcious when he was dragged out of the arena 🙄)

The actual camp itself was pretty nice in regard to student interactions. Shouji was worried for both Tokoyami and Izuku (Izuku looked so cute being carried by Shouji 🥹), and Izuku made sure not to place Bakugou's safety over Tokoyami's when Dark Shadow went on its rampage. Tokoyami in turn was perfectly willing to sacrifice his life for Izuku, Shouji, and everyone else's safety. Aoyama risks his life and position as the traitor by clearing a path for Bakugou to get to camp. It was extremely annoying how Todoroki had to keep telling Bakugou not to run towards the villains and not to make the poison gas worse by using his Quirk (collateral damage is a concept Bakugou doesn't give a FUCK about), but I guess that was nice or whatever.

Then came the rescue.

Shouji aknowledges how guilty Izuku and Todoroki must feel about Bakugou's kidnaping, and then Kirishima and Tsu get into an arguement about whether or not to leave the rescue to the adults. I HATE how Kirishima guilted Izuku into joining the rescue. Izuku had broken limbs and a high fever to the point of having seizures. He was unconscious for three days, and for him to be told, "You can still reach him with your arms!" when everyone in class knows Bakugou would (and DID!) refuse Izuku's help is disgusting. In theory, it's nice how they take Bakugou's ego and feelings into account when they decide a small team is going to rescue him (I'll have more to say on that later). But then, Ida tries convincing Izuku not to go... by punching his sick and injured friend hard in the face. Ida, what the FUCK? Did he ever apologize for doing that?

And then not only does Bakugou not ever thank Momo, Ida, Todoroki, Kirishima, and Izuku for rescuing him and risking their place at UA, Aizawa then acts as though the class needs to regain his trust (even though they had no idea the rescue team went through with their plan) when it really should be the other way around. Great father figure he is, right?

So they move to the dorms, and we get a really nice moment where Tsu tearfully apologizes for saying that the rescue team were acting villanous in saving Bakugou. This is all well and good, but then we get to the Licensing Exam. As awesome as it was to see Ida helping Aoyama secure a place in the final round, as awesome as it was seeing everyone defer to Izuku's judgment, it all was completely undone by the bullshit house arrest.

I've gone on and on about how it's my least favorite part of the entire story, but seeing 1A not aknowledge Bakugou's bullying of Izuku yet again really soured my opinion on them. Ida especially gets the brunt of my criticism here, because as one of Izuku's best friend, he should have figured that Izuku not only didn't want to break curfew, he's NEVER looked for a fight when it came to Bakugou. And then when Izuku apologizes (barf) for defending himself, they all accept it like he did something wrong.

I HATE it, and for a while, I hated 1A because of it.

Then we get some smaller moments between that and the stupid Dark Izuku arc that are pretty nice. They express worry and relief for those involved in Eri's rescue, Izuku encourages Jirou to not be afraid to express herself musically, and Mina teaches Aoyama how to dance before the School Festival. Everyone criticizes Izuku for running around and trying to get candy apple ingredients for Eri, and they make fun of him for getting in trouble after the Gentle Criminal fight, blah blah blah. No one cheers for him or encourages him during his mock interview with Mt. Lady, but whatever.

Then Izuku leaves UA.

Not ONCE do ANY of Class 1A consider why he left, even though he literally tells them in the goddamn letters he left for them. Not once do they call out Bakugou for being the actual reason he has such low self-esteem and self sacrifical tendancies. Not once do they consider having just his closest friends find him and bring him back. After all, most of them admit they don't really know Izuku on a personal level. They don't even stand up for Momo when he jumps down her throat for not calling him by his stupid hero name.

Nope, they all decide to just bumrush him and let Bakugou lead the charge.

They let Bakugou make fun of him, project his own flaws onto him, and not once aknowledge that Izuku is neither in the physical condition nor mental condition to be hearing any of that. They then quite literally beat him into submission. Sure, some of the classmates try saying nice things to him about how he helped all of them (Dark Shadow was so gentle with Izuku 🥺), but Sato tries guilt tripping him about Eri, which is just gross.

Then comes the infamous Youtube Apology, where Bakugou talks about Izuku's Quirklessness and how that made him lesser than Bakugou in his eyes. No one reacts to any of this, and instead of just letting Izuku sleep or getting him to the fucking doctor, they throw him in a bath like that'll fix anything. We do get an awesome moment where Tokoyami and Sato call out Bakugou for bullying Izuku again despite supposedly apologizing, but that's chump change, considering what all they put Izuku through.

And then comes the traitor reveal.

I don't blame 1A for being angry at Aoyama, considering how his actions put everyone in danger, but I think it's so strange due to two things. One, Aoyama was clearly coerced into being a traitor. His parents were the ones who made the deal with AFO, and Aoyama was obviously remorseful for his actions. Two, just look at Bakugou. He was the one who not only ran towards the villains in the first place, but everyone had to keep him from making everything worse when they were trying to protect him.

And yet who's the one that gets treated with consideration and kid gloves?

Bakugou.

I can't say anything about the Final War, because everything is so fucking messy, but I guess I will say how nice it is that the class protects the girls from Mineta's sexual harrassment and don't take it laying down.

To close off, Hori did a piss poor job in showing organic development of 1A as supposed super close friends and found family. They all deserved better than what they wound up becoming, and it's just really sad all around.

[heartofbusan]

These letters JK /they write makes me so sad. It’s this need he/they have for external validation that is so worrying to me. It’s no way to live. Even as an artist.

And mainly because most Army do not deserve his love, his thoughts or his doubts. Most are showing themselves to be vile antis.

I know he is seeking reassurance from us as fans, or something akin to it, probably because he hasn’t released anything in a while, and they are obvious away from their world right now, the end is near but obviously not near enough. But, I just want to tell them that seeking external validation is not worth it, that their self worth shouldn’t be tied to Army or recognition. That love is all that matters, but seek it from real people you know, not nameless and faceless people. I know Hobi Said he has grown up, and his words show that, but also kinda not with this need to seek out something from people he does not know, nor do they know him.

While I agree with you, I think we should respect his perspective in this. He has a deep need to be seen. If he didn't have that spotlight anymore, if he doesn't hear the call of his fans, then what is the point of continuing with his work?

It reminds me of Black Swan a song which references both Sea and Path, two hidden BTS songs that also deal with this theme of being seen, left in the dark I cry alone, seek the ocean ect.

Per doolset: "Through the mature, self-reflecting lyrics, BTS conveys its confession as an artist who learned what music means to self."

Beautifully tragic, isn't it? Maudlin. I love it when BTS brings the angst. Moreover, I am grateful for the honesty they dare show. When they let uncomfortable truth rub against another, and we can peek behind the facade of 'I'm fine'.

Thank you for this interesting ask. I agree that external validation shouldn't be the 'be and end' all. But we're talking about an artist here, a performer. It's easy to see why he desires these forms of validation in his work, as that is what they've worked for from the very start. Once they realized they had fans, and that those fans we're excited about them, their work, that's when they came to really rely on them for support: keep going. When you don't have that anymore, that might be when you have to go back to pulling it all out of yourself. Your determination and motivation need to be up to par in order to pull you ahead. JK has always been a self described 'lazy' person, needing something outside of himself to motivate him to keep going because he himself gets bored easily. Now, while I don't think he will get bored with his work, he might need his fans, then external validation, for that extra push. He spent 2023 building an even closer bond with his fans, with ARMY. Needing them when he was on a break from work to maybe get him inspired again.

Without ears to hear your song, hearts to be stirred, what is the purpose of an artist?

I'll even go so far as to attribute his weverse letter to a little bit of artistic melancholy, perhaps? This point of the enlistment is probably the worst! It's both so close to being over, yet time crawling to a still. The weather probably doesn't help either. He desires forward momentum! He wants to get back to the version of himself he had shed along with his hair.

Let's hope we can keep him feeling loved and remind him were here regardless of his 'output', but let's also accept that he may need that from us in order to get back his focus.

[gffa]

Have you watched the First Okiro's recent Star Wars video? He made a really interesting case about how TLJ Luke was a form of character assassination. When I saw the ask you answered about how Luke treasured Yoda and read the last paragraph, I thought maybe you'd agree.

https://youtu.be/r0I86ii2N_8?si=-oHY6dQsFBsSAfPv

Hi! Honestly, I pretty much refuse to watch any Star Wars video essays anymore because so many of them are anti-Jedi and I don't think it's fruitful for any of us for me to put myself through that, they don't gain anything, I don't gain anything, etc. So I have no idea what the case being presented in the video is, I'm only going on "character assassination" in TLJ and how I actually disagree. I mean, I think it was poorly executed in some ways, but that the basic concepts of it are ones I actually think are the best parts of the movie. My problems with TLJ's Luke story is that I think the extremity of it was too much, that him being on the island for six years without contact with anyone was too long for how I see Luke, as well as I think the structure of having Han die and not showing that deleted scene of Luke mourning his death, of having Luke interacting with Rey but making it all about Ben, none of that worked for me. But what does work for me is that the idea of overcoming pain and suffering is a one-and-done deal is just not how Star Wars or the Force works. Luke very nearly fell to the dark side in Return of the Jedi, that wasn't just put there for the aesthetics, that was something he was genuinely teetering on the edge of, he was raining hell down on Vader when slicing away at his arm, Sidious genuinely felt the anger and rage roiling inside Luke, he had to struggle to turn away from it and embrace what it meant to be a Jedi.

That's not a one time struggle--that's something characters face their entire lives. And if you include the Disney comics (which are really good imo), Luke struggles with loss and pain and anger after the defeat on Bespin, he has to struggle through not falling to the dark side again. And, hell, even MARK HAMILL says that Luke's fall down the reactor shaft on Bespin was akin to him basically trying to commit suicide because he was so devastated. So I think it's fair that Luke could struggle with that again later in his life, I think it's fair that after pouring everything of himself into building up the Jedi again, to have it torn down by someone he loved, someone that he may have bordered on attachment to (as Star Wars and the Jedi define it--love and attachment are not the same thing, attachment is the desire to hold onto something/someone so tightly because you can't live without it and thus you can't see it clearly, which I think I could believe of Luke, that he was so blinded by his desire for what he wanted for Ben that he couldn't be objective about him, just like he struggled with loving his sister so much that rage boiled inside of him when Palpatine threatened her and Luke's friends on the second Death Star), that he retreated because this felt so massive and he felt like he was the only one who could build this school and that he pulled these kids into this life. Like, it's fair that Obi-Wan struggled with Anakin's betrayal and cut himself off from using the Force on Tatooine, so I think it's fair that Luke struggled with Ben's betrayal and cut himself off from using the Force on Ahch-To--they both had to process that grief and it's not always a perfect path when it's someone you love that dearly and were so incredibly close to. Ultimately, the entire speech Luke gives is one that is DESIGNED to be knocked down, he is literally standing in front of the First Order and facing them down with his laser sword at the end of the movie, Rian Johnson literally says that it was Luke's personal failure, not the failure of the Jedi religion, and Luke finds his feet again. And that's my guy!!! The guy who makes mistakes, but is such a core of goodness and compassion and care for others that he eventually gets over these massive hurdles placed in front of him, and so that part of Luke's story worked for me. I'm just not wild about the finer details of how it was actually executed, even if I think it's fair to point out that Rian Johnson was handed a pre-existing situation that he then had to reverse engineer a backstory for with an extremely limited time to do it, because apparently THEY DIDN'T PLAN OUT THE TRILOGY AHEAD OF TIME for fucks sake.

[velvetvexations]

This is an edited version of something I posted to r/DaystromInstitute, a Star Trek sub. I'm proud of it and, having deleted my account, want to preserve it here.

Dukat is a fantastic example of Narcissitic Personality Disorder

I'm an individual with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. It's very, extremely frustrating to see people claim everyone from Dolores Umbridge to Donald Trump also have NPD because they're like, just the worst. NPD doesn't mean "selfish", or "controlling", or even "self-absorbed", and certainly is not a synonym for abusive, despite all the self-help books that say sniping a narcissist who came within eight hundred yards of you is legally permissible under Stand Your Ground laws.

You might expect me to not be so appreciative of Dukat, who is, after all, a pretty horrible person. I actually have a worse opinion of Dukat's supposed nobility than many, as fairly often the fandom prefers to back the idea that he really was a misguided anti-villain who only succumbed to devil-worshipping when the writers assassinated his character.

Well, unfortunately, it's harder to recognize authentic NPD traits in heroes, and "recognize" is a term I use loosely, since most writers certainly didn't have NPD in mind at all. Nonetheless, I love Dukat because he exemplifies a nuanced, if not overly flattering, portrayal of a personality disorder that actual human beings deal with, and 99% of the time is just flattened into a thing you call people you don't like.

As a child, one thing that did a lot to mitigate the more negative social aspects of NPD was having it imprinted on my brain by anime and video games that being a Hero and as good as possible was the best thing to be. While praise and attention in general does scratch a powerful itch too, once my child-self internalized the values of the media I consumed - helped along by also being autistic - the standard for which I judged myself was set. I would literally cry if I accidentally picked up dark side points in a Star Wars game.

I think Dukat went through a similar process. Not all narcissists cling to a model centering morality, but Dukat, for one reason or another, did. He sincerely believes everything he does is altruistic and fair, and more than that, he wants to be altruistic and fair, having misidentified the origin of his cravings.

Another thing that helped me a lot growing up was a book called The Screwtape Letters. If you're unfamiliar, it's by CS Lewis and is presented as a series of letters from a high-ranked demon to his nephew, who works as essentially a shoulder devil attempting to guide his patient into sin and disconnection from God. I feel like Lewis would probably be annoyed with me not getting anything properly Christian out of it, but it is an amazing manual for teaching you how to examine your own thinking and subconscious impulses. It started me down a path of being very self-aware, which made it easier to navigate NPD, because I'm incapable of tolerating the flaws in my internal logic that I'm able to catch. If I may be excused for saying so, I think I do a decent job on that count, with the downside that I'm often far too hyper-critical and it results in regular anxiety.

But Dukat never learned that skill. As a result, his attempted nobility clashes with his other competing impulses, and all his actions are reinforced, rather than rejected, by his conscious, which his NPD assures him is being followed to the letter. As Lewis said:

The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point may be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the Inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely more because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations.

Dukat's inner struggle is fueled by the need to be a revered benefactor while also having served at the head of the bastard offspring of the Iraq War and Holocaust. His solution at the time was to make it more like the Second Boer War, the conflict that originally popularized the term "concentration camp" despite the fact that those concentration camps weren't even meant to eliminate the thousands that were killed in them.

DUKAT: So in my first official act as Prefect, I ordered all labour camp commanders to reduce their output quotas by fifty percent. Then I reorganized the camps themselves. Child labour was abolished. Medical care was improved. Food rations were increased. At the end of one month of my administration, the death rate had dropped by twenty percent. Now how did the Bajorans react to all this? On my one month anniversary they blew up an orbital dry-dock, killing over two hundred Cardassian soldiers and workers. "KIRA": We didn't want a reconciliation. We wanted to destroy you. DUKAT: So I had to order a response. But even then it was a carefully tempered one. I ordered two hundred suspected members of the Resistance rounded up and executed. Two hundred lives for two hundred lives. That's justice, not malevolence. Justice.

Throughout the episode the Kira hallucination embodies the disrespected and ingratitude he feels he gets for being "nice". Cardassian values, attitudes, and objectives came first. Dukat, however, was smart enough to understand some of what was being done to Bajor was wrong, but not quite able to tear himself away from his own identity as a Cardassian and the protagonist of the universe. That was just too much to totally upend, as would be required to fully comprehend the reality of the situation.

So he tries, in his own way. Because he wants to be a good guy, the hero, the main character, and he truly believes that he is. Unfortunately, it remains pointed solidly in the direction of his own ego. He's unable to recognize that to err is Cardassian, but repentance divine, because he's already invested in so much. His identity as a Cardassian, his own past actions, his impulsive grabs for power, and being convinced he's such a good man shields him from thinking critically because it would necessarily mean criticizing himself. Dukat can only truly appreciate that he's made mistakes when it makes him feel like he's being the bigger man willing to compromise and graciously admit fault, but he was in charge of the Occupation for twenty years. It's hard to walk back from that.

And I should know, because even understanding I'm the one at fault, it's pulling teeth to force myself through accepting I did wrong, much less admitting it to someone else. I don't want to be someone who fucked up, no matter how minor. Pulling teeth. Quite a lot of NPD can be described that way, in fact. While half-brained wannabee psychologists present narcissists as being sociopathic manipulators who skillfully terrorize those around them, most of NPD is horrible, chest-thumping anxiety. It's not fun at all to want to break my controller in half every single time I get got in a game of Splatoon, even when the round is far from over.

Most Cardassians involved with the Occupation seemed to be either outright monsters or falling under the "banality of evil", like Damar. They considered the Bajorans as, at best, a bunch of backwards hicks who needed to shut up and listen to their betters. Dukat, though, fetishized Bajor and the Bajorans themselves, as quite creepily seen in his string of Bajoran lovers and his dogged pursuit of Kira throughout the show (which horrifically took Nana Visitor putting her foot down to keep from being canon!). He pursed his tenure as head of the Occupation with the zeal of someone who truly wanted his subjects to see he was doing all this for their own good.

The Dominion and most other Cardassians don't give a fuck if your subjects like you except insofar as it's convenient and makes them less likely to rebel. That's the Dominion's whole thing, they just want control, and if the carrot doesn't work they'll shrug and without a hint of emotion give you the stick. It doesn't matter to them how they're in charge as long as they are. When Dukat makes his point about having only executed two-hundred (suspected!) members of the Resistance, the Weyoun hallucination comments:

"WEYOUN": The Dominion would never have been so generous.

It's telling that Dukat is fixated on the contrast between him and the people he allied with enough for it to show up in his breakdown. Just a little before that, Dukat says:

DUKAT: Major Kira knows full well I made every effort to heal the wounds between Cardassia and Bajor. Since the very beginning it was my intention to rectify the mistakes of the past and begin a new chapter in our relations.

Dukat is capable of saying, vaguely, abstractly, "mistakes were made", but it infuriates and honestly baffles him that it's not enough for him to be recognized as the most brilliant and loving extraterrestrial patriarch the Bajorans could ever wish for. In an earlier episode, he has this conversation with (the real) Weyoun:

WEYOUN: If you ask me, the key to holding the Federation is Earth. If there's going to be an organized resistance against us, its birthplace will be there. DUKAT: You could be right. WEYOUN: Then our first step is be to eradicate its population. It's the only way. DUKAT: You can't do that. WEYOUN: Why not? DUKAT: Because! A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness. WEYOUN: Then you kill them? DUKAT: Only if it's necessary. WEYOUN: I had no idea. DUKAT: Perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life is that the Bajoran people still refuse to appreciate how lucky they were to have me as their liberator. I protected them in so many ways, cared for them as if they were my own children. But to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor? WEYOUN: I would guess not. DUKAT: And you'd be right. Take Captain Sisko, an otherwise intelligent, perceptive man. Even he refuses to grant me the respect I deserve.

Weyoun ends the scene laughing at Dukat. Because he was just advocating they exterminate all life on Earth, and yet he's amazed, truly stunned by how crackers Dukat is. The sheer depths of Dukat's psychological need for validation is as clinically fascinating to Weyoun as it is to the audience.

As it is to me, anyway. Like Narcissus and his pool, I peer into Dukat and see myself. Unsurprisingly, he's one of my favorite characters.

[codenamesazanka]

idk how to feel re: spinner's 'octopus' comment. on the one hand, i like seeing him portrayed as bitter (who can blame), maybe even hypocritical in that bitterness, but man. surely there were better ways to show that. this is spinner we are talking about, after all. was that comment that necessary. it does feel like a weird attempt at propping up deku, and remind us that, even if he's sympathetic, spinner is still a villain who "chooses" the path of shittiness (like you said). unlike deku, endeavor or even hawks (as though those have done anything other than say a few nice words and admit that they did wrong). doesn't feel like it's there not to give spinner depth, but to remind us that heroes are indeed the greatest

Hi anon, thank you for this ask!

I agree with you - this is a dark side I can/would/do like to see in Spinner. Bitter, and who can blame him! But hypocritical in that bitterness. Angry and vengeful and petty and hurtful, because that is what grief and hurt can do to someone. I'm not opposed to it!! It is a very real thing that happens. Internalized bigotry. Being a hypocrite. Simply being so hurt and miserable that you grasp for exactly that same hurt to fling out - because you know it hurts, you know exactly how it hurts and haunts, how effective it is. The best weapon in the arsenal, one that's always been there, long before you were ever a part of this. Because it's there, you reach for it. I understand such feelings very well and am always on the lookout for it to be portrayed!

It's just obvious there's no intention of exploring that. As you said, it's not to give Spinner depth. It's not a look into how systems of oppression and discrimination wears a person down, how anyone is susceptible to it, how this shit is so tough and messy and awful, and so we must find solutions. It's none of that - it's Spinner being a villain who "chooses" the path of shittiness. Possibly his very last line in the whole story. 😔

You can try to read those intentions into it, but it's supplemental. The average reader don't have to at all. I don't begrudge anyone who has a worse opinion of Spinner after this. That line is there for that purpose. Shoji has no relevance in this conservation, and Spinner himself brings up his origin of anti-heteromorphic abuse. Spinner going out of his way to call Shoji an octopus is unnecessary except as one last lasting impression and strike.

Spinner is an ungrateful asshole, and Deku is the kind boy who tried. Villains ultimately deserve most of what they get, and Heroes are the greatest.

Sorry to just repeat your lines, anon, but I must, as you're 100% correct.

Thanks again for the ask!

[therese-lokidottir]

Fucking pissed off at all the retconning of Loki’s backstory and his pain in the series. And how it rendered people virtually blameless according to some fans. The more I read, the more annoyed I get.

It’s not Thor, The Warriors 3, and Odin’s fault anymore they were so awful, it wasn’t that Loki was outcasted for being different- It’s the TVA making them that way because Loki should be a villain. Loki was born to be a villain. Also Odin “loves” Loki and Loki should have appreciated that.

Rightful king of Jotunheim? Wrong! Loki was just born to be a buttmonkey villain. It’s not his birthright. Infact, let’s not touch Loki’s self hatred over his heritage to the point people don’t even know he’s a frost giant if they haven’t seen any of the previous films.

It’s not Thanos who sent Loki- It’s the TVA who made him that way because Loki should be a villain and is naturally evil. Also he was mad at his Brother and Father and had a tantrum.

And Dark World and Hell, even Ragnarok where Loki does fucking GOOD deeds? Ignored. Loki should be a villain. He’s never done any good deeds ever and was always a villain cuz he has the TVA pulling his strings. (Let’s face it, the MCU dislikes Thor 1 and Dark World.)

All of his trauma seems to be retconned and all the people who hurt him are now considered blameless because they were puppets too, basically. Loki is supposed to be an evil punching bag and nothing more. It sucks his relativity away. It sucks his moral grayness away. It sucks his trauma away as “Not actually real, really. No one hurt him- or at least no one to blame hurt him. He’s just the evil punching bag of the MCU, but like it’s not the TVA’s fault either cuz they saved him and are just doing their job, and were brainwashed, or some shit. 🤷🤷” Fuck this series, fuck Waldron. This series has such a terrible understanding of nihilism and an anti-Free will message to boot, it’s not as smart as it thinks it is. No one writing on this liked Loki or knew anything about him, and it’s clear. And now the writers have the absolute nerve to say that “Asgard was Toxic to Loki and he finally has people who care about him”? Now???? When the people who “cared” were probably just as bad if not worse than Asgard???? I’m sorry for ranting- I’m just so annoyed. This is why nothing in the series will ever be canon to me and what they’re saying now is annoying. Not even the series Variant of Loki is canon to me. :( Fuck the TVA plot. (I’m beginning to wonder if the writers see people who were outcasted and othered as “pathetic”……)

Yeah, I get it I've made my rants as well

Really, the entire premise of the series and the TVA have an implication no one seem to realize and that they don't actually want to explore. It's frustrating because really what it is that no one is any certain way, it just that anyone who goes off the path is murdered.

The Loki of the void fighting of the example of how both shallow the writing is and how it contradicts and doesn't even explore its own concepts. They say Lokis who try to fix themselves end up in the void, but then it just goes with the idea that Loki is evil and selfish. So, why even have that line at all?

It's such a poorly written show that because of its need to make loki to be terrible any interesting end up going down the drain. Also, because it's so unclear what the actual rules are. There are no implications of what is actually true vs what the characters are claiming so you have to take what the characters say at face value and that is frustrating and often contradictory to what was established early in canon.

[fantasyinvader]

I was thinking about the shadow realm again, specifically the lords fighting their doppelgangers. Each one seems to reflect the dark truth of their character. I'm putting the original Japanese text through deepl, and this is what I get.

Edelgard: Two of me would be convenient. Don't you think so too? Edelgard: Yes, I agree with that. But …… I don't trust myself.

Dimitri: Why are you …… fighting with the emperor and others? Have you forgotten the grief of all? Avenge them quickly. …… Dimitri: ……Oh, I'm glad it was you who showed up. You are the one I want to …… kill the most.

Claude: This is an opportunity for me to fulfill my, your ambition. Why are you sitting there so still? Claude: If you were me, you'd know it. I don't like to leave things to chance!

These happen regardless of route. So while Edelgard can have an arc about her learning to trust Shez, in reality she still doesn't trust anyone. Hell, she's also saying that she herself can't be trusted, alluding to her manipulative nature explored in Safflower. Dimitri's strict morality tells him he should be fighting Edelgard right her, avenging the lost and punishing the guilty. But this mentality only serves to fuel his own self-loathing. And in Claude's case, it's alluding to his attempts to manipulate others in service to his goal rather than him pretending to be a "kind soul" like the translation says. Taken together, these highlight how Shez failed in comparison to Byleth.

In Scarlet Blaze, there's the entire arc about how Edelgard learns to trust Shez as mentioned. But we also see her taking action not out of morality, but simply because it would gain her support from X. It's in this route that we get confirmation that Edelgard does oppress the common folk and coddle the nobility despite her anti-nobility speeches. We even get that she won't simply give commoners positions because if they fail they'll make her look bad. The route is alluding to Edelgard's fake nature, how in the Japanese of Houses she admits everything she said and did with Byleth was an attempt to sway Byleth to her side. She is still the immoral character she was in the base game even when she kicks Thales to the curb because this war that she starts is still the result of her being manipulated by him. And unlike Byleth, once Shez joins the Black Eagles he doesn't have the option of doing the right thing and fighting Edelgard.

In Dimitri's case, Azure Gleam points out that Dimitri's issue isn't what happens to him during the timeskip of Houses. His issue is how he has a strict sense of morality, and how he hates himself for not being able to live up to it as he also believes it's his duty to avenge those killed and punish the guilty. Shez can't teach Dimitri to love himself, to realize his duty as a king is to the living and not the dead, and as such will go on with Dimitri to punish the empire for the war despite it being clear they were manipulated.

In Claude's case, Wildfire only furthers the motive decay Claude had already suffered since coming to Fodlan. He's willing to do anything for his ambitions, including manipulating others by saying they're really doing this or that, but he fails to realize how twisted those ambitions have become. How twisted he's become, and unlike in Wind and Moon he's not willing to put his trust in a Liu Bei-like figure. Rather, he walks the path of conquest himself because he trust no one else to really help him with his goals. He becomes another Edelgard, and Shez only makes this worse.

If anything, it feels like Hopes was intended to clear up misconceptions people had about the three lords, though in Claude's case there was a lot elements that weren't fully implemented and required the player being familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Wu's bad points.

[cdevill]

A review of Omniscient Reader.

I have caught up completely to the Manhwa or the web comic. Therefore, the review will be based on the web comic. I'm currently debating on if I should read the web novel but I have seen a few chapters. It is mostly the same from my experience. Therefore, I'll keep it strictly to the web comic version only.

Characters, it has a interesting premise and it tries to present Dokja and Joonghyuk as foils to one another. Yet, both are very secretive of their plans to their allies. If he was an actual foil. Dokja would actually be more open with information. He may not have to say, "I read the entire book." However, "I had a prophecy of the future but I have come to change it."

Dokja should be charismatic. You can have a charismatic hero that is confident, outgoing, and a thrill seeker. Yet, still has mental hang ups. It doesn't always have to be, "socially awkward guy/girl!" Remember, a foil. Joonghyuk is anti-charismatic, harsh, blunt, and cold. Therefore Dokja should counter this by being charismatic, fair yet firm, nurturing, and warm. This can be used to work on Dokja's character. There is a time you must be cold and blunt.

Constellation asking for help? Dokja shouldn't have been.

"Don't try the 2,000 coins trick on me again."

He should have been.

"Thank you for letting me know that my friend is in danger. I don't need a reward. I just need to save my friend. That's worth more than anything that you can give me."

I can't help but feel that Dokja is like Joonghyuk 2.0 but just has all the information of what happens during the events and characters of TWTS.

The story tries to focus on characters but it does little to develop them and their relationships with one another. Instead, we keep being yanked back to scenario after scenario with little to no break to develop everyone's relationship with one another. I'm bringing this up because, Min is quite happy to defend Dokja despite a pretty bad move on his part. Remember, public thinks he made a bad move because he no shares his secrets. Regardless, Min not having any knowledge of his plans, having only interacted with him at least once. Is slightly attracted to him. Since he wasn't a man that bended to her will via her beauty. This is still not enough to have her lay her life down on the line for him not once but twice. Yet, she shrugs her shoulders and is like, "we got you." It be different if they had more time devoted to establishing a very meaningful relationship. Where we see that he saved her from going on a dark path. She being indebted and grateful, doesn't know why he did that but because Dokja saved her. She knows he is doing the right thing without telling her or him just telling her that the thing is bad. Why? He had kept his word before and she is saved by keeping his word. Therefore, she puts her trust in him because of their connections.

Yet, we lack these interactions because the author wants to show us, "look at this cool fight/scenario!" There were times I stopped reading the comic and wished they slowed down to promote a deeper friendship.

The power system is just all over the olace. You're telling me that other beings can have better stats all the time but our limit for the scenario is only 50? What is the point of a flashy sword skill or incanation. If the other being speed is doubled mine? Either have a limit for everything or don't have a limit at all. As you level the cost to increase your stats staggers to where the price is too high to level them any further. This solves the problem of people being too powerful at everything. You can be as strong as a demon but lack their magical abilities.

It seems like I have nothing but bad things to say about the web comic. However, it's not all that bad. I do like the mysteries of characters and the world at large. I'm dying to find out more of their past. The two best relationships I have seen is Dokja and Joonghyuk and Dokja and his mother. Those are explored much more better than everyone else's.

The fights are okay. It seems power scaling suffers from the aforementioned restrictions and the author rushing forward to get to the next fight. If proper context was established, fights would hold more weight. Image if the author made Dokja more charismatic to his group and helped him group handle some or all of their mental hang ups. Instead of just, "next scenario, next scenario, next fight, next fight." The current near end of the manhwa would be a much more emotional gut punch.

Manhwa has a lot of mysteries that leave you wanting more but with poor time given to characters along with their developments to themselves and one another. The power scaling all over, improper foils, and Dokja feeling like Joonghyuk is what makes this Manhwa suffer heavily for me. I can't give this any higher than a 4/10.

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

A tense poker game was ongoing in the former Sedona Palace, now officially fully in service to Pleasantview's monarch. Claudia preferred to stay in her own palace or her newest property in Crystal Cove, so she'd granted her little brother, Oliver, full use of the property. He and some college friends lived there, as none of them had any romantic partners or ambitions of their own. It was good to have respectable tennents living on the property to ensure its upkeep and security, and truthfully, Claudia often worried about her brother. He didn't apply himself at university, and he didn't seem to have any interest in dating anyone.

Normally, she'd stay out of her brother's love life, but Claudia was unmarried with only one heir. If anything happened to her before marrying Miruna, Oliver could be asked to make an heir of his own to keep the throne in their bloodline. She would die before she let anything happen to Victoriana, but considering her cousin's recent loss, Claudia couldn't afford to take chances.

She found her brother attempting to play the antique piano that had been left on the property, absolutely ruining what could have been a beautiful melody.

"Oh my god, did you actually try to learn piano when Mom and Dad paid for all those lessons? You're terrible."

"Hello to you too, Your Majesty."

Oliver stood up from the piano and wrapped his arms around his sister with a surprised hug.

"I trust that the property is suitable for you and your friends. We have more renovations coming next month, but they shouldn't be too invasive."

Even if the renovations were extensive, Oliver was still living rent free in a historic castle instead of a dorm, so he really couldn't complain to her. His friends Mark Mishra, Cain Rivales, Melvin Jr Hydes, and Ben Goss were well behaved and responsible tenants. Claudia would much rather house her brother than have the castle sit empty.

"So what brings you by? Making sure none of us have broken the expensive looking busts in the hallway? You never drop by unless you need something."

Claudia frowned.

"I don't visit you just to ask for your help," she protested. "Can't I just spend time with my little brother without a secret motive?"

"So you're here to ask for help on behalf of Mom and Dad," Oliver decided, shooting his sister an irritating grin. "Probably Mom, since she's the one who always worries about me. You're Dad's favourite, and I'm Mom's constant worry. 'When are you going to find a nice man or woman to settle down with, Oliver?', 'When are you going to apply yourself in school, Oliver?', 'You never call your parents, Oliver'. Thank god she seems to be obsessed with worrying about Travis these days. If he weren't so anti-social, I might have to avoid family dinners just to escape Mom."

"You're just a brat, Ollie. You don't apply yourself in school or call Mom and Dad. Try running a country as large and as old as Pleasantview for just an hour. You'd come running back to me in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, poor Claudia. However does she manage her luxurious life without keeling over? It must be so terrible to be queen. Mom and Dad never pester you."

Claudia burst out laughing before she could stop herself. She punched her little brother's arm playfully, just as they did when they were kids.

"Yeah, right! You know how badly Mom bothers you? She grills my secretary about all of my plans when I don't answer her calls. She has to make sure that I'm not 'following the dark path of our ancestors'. Like, she honestly believes I might just start executing people for fun because my breakfast was late. At least she's not accusing you of being a step away from mass murder."

Oliver grinned a wicked grin.

"Well, that settles it then. You let me be king for a week, and I'll show Mom that I can apply myself by committing as many war crimes as I can. No, I'll conquer Crystal Cove, and you can sit in the islands drinking and being as non evil as you can. Then we'll switch back and Mom can't say that she was right about either one of us. It's perfect."

"Don't forget Travis," Claudia laughed. "If he helps you, maybe Mom will let him read quietly in the corner without bothering him in the future."

The siblings exchanged playful punches as their ideas grew wilder.

"Let's use a spirit board and ask Grandma why Mom's the way she is."

"No, we contact the Grim Reaper and ask that she gets transferred to somewhere far away. You're the queen, I'm sure he'd listen to you."

"We contact Grandpa Vrai and tell him she needs emotional support from her father because she feels inferior to the living child he raised. That man will spend the rest of his life bothering her like she does to us."

"Devious. You may actually be evil after all, sis."

"This place has a pool table, right? And a fully stocked bar? I could use a drink before we accidently summon Mom here to nag at us."

Claudia surveyed the pool table carefully. She wasn't the best at pool, and it seemed to be one of the few things that Oliver cared about. She was losing badly, though she refused to acknowledge it.

"So why are you really here? Besides wanting to bitch about Mom? I'm sure the queen of Pleasantview has better things to do than daydrink with her little brother."

Claudia sighed.

"Look, I need a favour from you," she admitted. Two glasses of wine had finally loosened her tongue enough to reveal why she'd visited Oliver. "I need you to date someone."

Oliver scoffed in disbelief.

"So you complain about Mom controlling our lives and then come here to try to control mine too? I'm not having an arranged marriage so that you can get some land or military out of it. I didn't realize that you were such a hypocrite."

"I'm not!" Claudia replied defensively. "I don't need you to marry anyone. Just to date someone. Maybe make an heir for the line of succession."

"How is that better than an arranged marriage? Do you even hear yourself? I'm not ready to be a father, and even if I was, I wouldn't have a kid just to make you an heir. You're about to get married, make your own. Any kid of mine would be knocked out of the succession anyway when you and Miruna have kids."

"Look, don't think about it as an arranged marriage," Claudia said quickly. "Think of it as a blind date, one that it's okay if you accidentally knock up. Or don't knock him up, it doesn't matter as long as he's not single."

Oliver paused from lining up his next shot to stare incredulously at his sister. Claudia realized that she'd slipped up the instant the words left her mouth, but there was no taking them back. Put her up against a god or a rival monarch and she wouldn't even break a sweat. Give her several glasses of wine and the playful brother she'd always let her guard down for, and apparently, she'd be a mess.

"Claudia, what aren't you telling me? What trouble have you gotten yourself into? You're not back with Victoriana's father again, are you? The man's married! I'm not seducing his husband so that you can break up their relationship."

"I would never break up someone's marriage to get Roman Bellamy back," Claudia hissed, looking around for eavesdroppers. "He's in the past and that's where he'll stay. Besides, he's demon married now. There's no way I'd get involved with that mess. Can you imagine how miserable it would be to sleep next to a man who's feeling his ex-husband's emotions when he's kissing you? I'll pass."

"Then who are you wanting me to seduce for you?" Oliver asked with a heavy sigh. "This is why the rest of us don't get involved with the royal games like you and Dad. It all ends up in a giant mess."

"Look, I promise that this isn't a big deal," Claudia insisted. "I just need you to keep Arterius distracted so that Miruna isn't tempted by him. At least until our wedding, but preferably for as long as possible."

The look Oilver gave his sister was a mix of disbelief, frustration, and pity. It made Claudia want to sink into the floor and never be seen again.

"Damn, Claudia, that's insane even for you. Why are you marrying Miruna if you feel like you need to order me to sleep with her ex just to make you feel better? Just talk with her or break up. It's not that hard."

"I made a deal with the Pleasantview coven to give them an heir from Casper Goss' bloodline and Ewan Maricourt's. I can't back out of a deal like that. I need the loyalty of the coven to rule."

Oliver stared at his sister in shock.

"And you're marrying her because you love her, right?"

"Of course! Don't look at me like that! This is a reasonable request from your monarch."

Claudia's face burned red as she tried to formulate a response. No, she hadn't felt love for Roman, but she had always thought that what she had with Miruna was love. If it wasn't, then it was close enough. They made each other laugh after a hard day, and Miruna was a constant support. They enjoyed each other's company and their union would bring legitimacy to the Pleasantview coven's leadership. It worked for her, but it had stung to see just how passionate Miruna had been when arguing with Arterius' parent. Claudia doubted that Miruna would fight a god for their relationship and that truth had slowly been eating away at her confidence.

"What is with you, Clo? You grew up with the same sickeningly in love parents that I did, and yet you can't seem to understand basic relationships. You ghost the father of your child for years, and now you want me to seduce your fiancée's ex so that she won't leave you for him? What kind of example are you setting for your kid? If you don't love Miruna, you can't trick her into staying with you. You can see that, right? This is insane."

"Look, just forget I said anything," Claudia snapped, twisting her pool cue in her hands irritably. "It was a stupid idea; let's just move on. Do I need to order you a suit for the Harvest Moon Ball? Your outfit for the Goldman Memorial Ball arrived the other day."

Oliver gave his sister another pitying look that Claudia absolutely hated.

"Look, I'll hit on him for you. Arterius, that is. I can't promise to run off and marry him, but I'll make a move. If he says no, then I can't do anything about that, but for you, I'll try."

"Thanks. That means a lot to me. It's a stupid idea, I know, but I have to know if he's a threat."

Claudia avoided meeting Oliver's eyes, but he could hear the relief in her voice. They'd grown up hearing all about their royal grandparents and honestly, Oliver couldn't understand why Claudia chose to live that life. It sounded exhausting.

"Remember that story Great-uncle Charley used to tell us when we'd visit? The one about Holy Queen Jasone? She had the power of a demigod and a throne in Strangetown, and because of those, she couldn't trust anyone who wanted to date her."

Claudia nodded slowly.

"And the coven leader disguised her at a costume ball," Claudia said. "She met her future consort there while she was disguised."

"If it wasn't for that plan, we wouldn't exist," Oliver replied. "If it worked for our ancestor, then it will work for you too. Pretend to be sick next week when I invite some people over to 'tour the renovations and grounds' and we'll see if I'm Arterius' type. Wear a disguise and see if someone talks to you or what Miruna does if she thinks you're at home."

"That...that sounds like a terrible idea," Claudia replied. "It's worth a shot, though. I need to know how Miruna feels without marriage contracts and expensive castles clouding her judgment. Just...invite a lot of people so it's not just the four of us making awkward conversation around the snack table."

Oliver smiled warily, unsure if he was actually doing the right thing for his sister. Truthfully, he might be doing the right thing simply because Claudia would probably think of a plan on her own that was twice as terrible.

"It's a date then."

[pinktie]

I think Jack Connery/Nightmare was meant to showcase a potential path open to Kaito as he worked as a magic consultant for the Kid Taskforce similarly to how Jack worked to catch Nightmare for Interpol as well as Kaito's ability to theoretically blackmail other criminals into doing his dirty work for him instead of either helping them or exposing them to the police. He also successfully showed Kaito's weak point of hurting Jii, which could very well happen again and Jii would act similarly if Kaito was the one threatened (it's not just limited to Jii but anyone who could potentially be Kid's accomplice) as well as a nightmare scenario of someone getting close to the truth of his Dad's double life, in this case via being a big fan, but using this knowledge to hurt Kaito rather than help him - truly his worst fears brought to life. There is the moral dilemma of wether Jack is justified in doing worse crimes than Kaito to stop his son from dying versus Kaito doing relatively mild but still high profile crimes that often put him in danger to avenge his father. Finally Kenta's voice is the trigger for Jack's fall, he was otherwise successful but despite knowing Kenta was nearby he broke persona and was fully Kenta's Dad when he couldn't afford to be which foreshadows a potential future with Aoko and how he can't simply stop loving her when he's Kid, their friendship doesn't disappear because he's hiding and she knows him so well it could expose him and therefore her. He is a thief in these situations and a murder suspect so he can't prove his innocence, comfort the child so much like himself or do anything but escape (the invincible magician is powerless), plus the constant what-if of if he did it bare handed, without the need to be careful of fingerprints/DNA as a criminal, could he have saved him?

As for the aftermath...the Taskforce still is strongly opinionated that Kid isn't a murderer, whether Kenta understood that or resembles Aoko in hating Kid to avoid hating his Dad or those that failed to stop him being taken from him is unclear, Hakuba noticed the Kid glove and concluded they attempted to save him but either by Hakuba or the Kaito and Jii team the fingerprints from inside the glove never threatened Kaito's secret. Due to the card knocking the dark knight helmet off, I'm not sure how many people noticed that Nightmare was Agent Connery or what they did with this information. Their are clear parallels to Kaito losing his father without knowing his secret identity which I hope isn't foreshadowing for him to agree to his parents' decision to leave him in the dark, Jack became a thief after Kenta and for Kenta - it's a completely different scenario to Kaito being born while his Dad was protecting his Mother and then raised to take over. People who knew Jack getting in trouble once this is revealed could be good angst for Kaito as there are potential consequences for unknowingly enabling him post-identity reveal unless he presents himself as just that good a manipulator, in which case were any of his relationships real post-becoming Kid (we know he cares about the Nakamoris but will they)?

Meta-wise this is the result of Gosho trying to delve into the potential angst for this tragic anti-hero with a dark backstory and dangerous foes (by adding more dangerous foes and talking about some of his trauma) but he made a gag-manga. Specifically one where a mad scientist can make a robot clone of someone, where literal magic exists, a rich genius teenager has a private lab and is constantly in a different country and many things can be hand waved as Kaito is just that good a magician and the manga isn't to be taken too seriously but it's balanced with Kaito being funny, clumsy, socially awkward and secretly not infallible and the rest of the cast being just as crazy in their own way. It's Gosho's earlier work before he changed his art style and realised Detective Conan was a hit so abandoned the episodic 'Kaito does crazy things to try and help/achieve his goals' to make it darker. This draining the magic from Magic Kaito is not helped by Kid being someone Conan relies on immensely due to his extremely high-level abilities and makes a good action hero for films as well as comic relief (Kaito getting hurt is often played for laughs) in the more grim world of Shinichi and company so rather than focusing on Kaito's relationships with the Ekoda Gang or his own Organisation Gosho is trying to replicate DC and the films.

Your insights are great, and I agree.

I already understand why the author included that incident, and I have recognized the potential for development for a long while now. The issue, however, is that it wasn't ever brought up again by anyone.

There's no flashback, no reassurance from his mother or Jii saying something like, "It's not your fault," and Kaito's relationship with Aoko remains completely unaffected.

The task force and Hakuba, while believing that Kaito KID isn't a killer. They should at least be wary about KID's future heists. For he was involved in the death of a major law enforcer.

The logics weren't applied to the story. Which is not good when you're trying to making it serious.

Jack's death, though heavy, holds the same weight as the other one-off characters that Kaito interacts with in every arc.

It's a shame that the author has shifted the tone for a writing style that he has grown to be comfortable with. As you said, ' This draining the magic from Magic Kaito'.

[garden-bug]

Luke's inner conflict surrounding attachment and the Jedi code from my Dinluke fic

“Love and compassion are the Jedi way.” “But not family.” Luke is again stabbed by that brief, painful conversation. Sometimes moments of it will play out in his head and it’s as if he’s there again, except in his mind he stays and doesn’t leave, and he has an answer for Din when he says that the Jedi way is incompatible with the Mandalorian values of family.  “Luke. It's normal to be afraid for the people you care about, but that doesn't make it okay to push human connection away. Yes, it might be hard to figure this out as a Jedi, but what you're doing right now is avoiding your fear, which isn't going to make you any less afraid or the reality that bad things do happen any less painful.” Leia has always been wiser than him. “I believe the Jedi lost their way. Instead of dealing with how we felt in a healthy way, we were encouraged to push our fear and anger away, and many of us, Anakin included, bottled it up. He was… scared of something, and nobody helped him, or reassured him, because it was about your mother and he’d broken the Jedi code to be with her.” Ahsoka became completely disenchanted with the Jedi. And Luke doesn’t blame her — not after what she went through. It’s no wonder she struggles to associate herself with the name. In her view, the Jedi failed his father, she failed his father — even though there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent him from turning to the dark side.  He… he would never have made the choice his father did. If it came down to it, if it was Din in his mother’s place — “I can’t choose you, I can never choose you. Can you really tell me you understand that?” Din brought a hand up to his helmet. “I don’t know.”  What did Din mean then? He didn’t know if he could understand putting someone above everyone and everything, including what you believe in?  “Had she said the word, I would have left the Jedi Order to be by her side.” And even Ben. Why would he have had to leave the Order?  The point is — It all comes back to — Leia.  “…what you're doing right now is avoiding your fear, which isn't going to make you any less afraid or the reality that bad things do happen any less painful.” He wants to make Din understand, maybe by pushing him down and kissing him, because why the Force shouldn’t he love someone like that? Yes, it’s terrifying, but he’d sure rather love Din and have that than end up like Ben (sorry, Ben) who for some reason had the idea that loving someone equalled selfishness and destroyed your ability to put anything or anyone above the person you love and therefore was the antithesis of the Jedi code. “Attachments lead to pain, pain leads to suffering. The path to the dark side, it is.” But Yoda didn’t mention that pain is caused by fear of loss. Fear of loss is a result of one’s inability to accept that loss is part of life. Attachment does not mean love. Attachment means… a desire for control over things in life that cannot be controlled. Being tied to them. And as much as Luke loves Din he would never want to be tied to him in that way. As a Jedi, Luke must love with acceptance that everything he loves he may one day lose. Otherwise, he risks following in the footsteps of his father. Can he do it?

Further:

Context for the story: Luke is trying to rebuild the Jedi Order, falls in love with Din (who decides to embrace being the Mand'alor after being inspired by Luke), has a terrifying vision that his attachment to Din will lead to pain, and pretty much runs away to Leia on Coruscant where he tries to figure the whole thing out.

Ahsoka has gone anti-Jedi because she had a traumatic experience and still blames herself and everyone for what happened to Anakin. This is a character flaw she may or may not overcome in this story.

When Din says "but not family" implying that he believes family goes against the Jedi code, he is in the wrong and later feels immensely guilty because 1) it's mean (he was upset) and 2) his idea of family is mightily messed up, having been raised by a cult. The extremity of the guilt he feels is, though, irrational, because he has a lot of issues and he was having a panic attack in the scene where he reflects on what he said which messes up your judgement (source: personal experience).

I will revise this section because I don't think it represents Obi-Wan's feelings for Satine (I'll need to think about this more):

he’d sure rather love Din and have that than end up like Ben (sorry, Ben) who for some reason had the idea that loving someone equalled selfishness and destroyed your ability to put anything or anyone above the person you love and therefore was the antithesis of the Jedi code.

Luke fully recognises here that Anakin's own choices led him to becoming Vader. (Something Ahsoka still struggles to accept.) If this is not something you agree with please DNI with this post or with me, because I will not change my opinion.

Save for that, I would absolutely appreciate any comments or insight (I may not take them into account, but I'd be interested to hear them anyway because I want to offer as rich an insight as I can into this issue and discussion is super great for that). Also I think I might have clarity issues in this passage so if anything is unclear feel free to let me know (kindly - I am human).

Also important: I am NOT writing a Luke who 'gives up' being a Jedi because omg Din Djarin! They are both incredibly interesting characters in their own right with their own beliefs that are integral to who they are and I intend to do them as much justice as I can.

If you read the story (which I will link below) please be aware that it is a first draft and therefore I don't feel that it perfectly expresses all of the messages I want to get across. Still, huge thanks if you give it a try!

[eiceocft]

" "When will it be day, comrade?" I always hear this question, that they asked each other, comrades, while an old cruiser in the harbour yelled at full blast: Revolution! "

[ QUAND FERA-T-IL JOUR CAMARADE // MIREIELLE MATHIEU]

WHEN DOES THE LEFT GO TOO FAR?

A video exhibiting all of the times the right wing/fascists have said that the left was "going too far"!

When somebody tells you your ideas are radical, communist, or "impossible" - remember that all of those things are true, within the capitalist imperialist framework. This system was not designed for the rights of the many. Those rights had to be hard fought for against the system, and each and every single time the people who fought for those rights were persecuted, were beaten down by law enforcement, and most of all - told that they were being radicals. That they were going too far.

Remember, "too far" is anything past what the current system allows. The system the powers of fascism uphold. If you find that the system has outlawed your rights, your safety, your friends and family, and you - advocating for your own life is going "too far" in their eyes. If the fascists start to sweat, and say that "you're going too far" - you are on the right path.

The fascists like having you afraid. They like making you feel isolated, small, helpless, and most of all they like to pretend that they are a big scary and unstoppable force. Thats why they hate when we organize, when we publicly show that we have the numbers and encourage people to join us - that we won't lie down, shut up, and take it - and we make ourselves stronger, more organized, and more well armed. Capitalists will fire you from your job youve dedicated your life to to save a cent, Imperialists will take your land to mine it for resources in the name of "national security" and kill your people, and the Fascists will erode your rights and hurt your family based off of ignorance. The common thread between all of these groups is they think you are prey and they are invulnerable predator.

Organize. Stand your ground. Be loud, be proud. Make fascists afraid again.

This video reminds us of some of the times that the left "went too far". Such as, in order of appearance:

Protests standing with Palestine

Protesting climate change

Protesting oil pipelines being built over Indigenous clean water zones

Occupy Wallstreet / protesting wealth inequality

Womens Suffrage / gender equality

Stonewall protest for LGBTQ rights

Anti war [Iraq/Vietnam/Cuba] protests

Nuclear weapon de-proliferation protests

Civil rights / Black rights in america

Black panthers defending communities

Ending apartheid in South Africa

Minority groups legally arming themselves

Establishing an Anti-Fascist group and counter-protesting fascists

Thomas Sankara protecting Burkina Faso from outside imperialism, and Ibrahim Traore picking up the torch

Dr. Fidel Castro defending Cuba from the Bay of Pigs American invasion

Dr. Mohammad Najibullah and Babrak Karmal, leaders of Afghanistan during the communist era that gave women equality, industrialized the country, and brought equity to all

The Soviet Union defending itself from the Siege of Leningrad by the Nazis

The USSR pushing back the Third Reich into Berlin

The Red Army liberating the Auschwitz concentration camp

Taking thousands of Nazi officers prisoner

The Soviets destroying symbols of Nazism

Not a single one of these things was done by insisting on working together with the fascists in a system of their design. This is why they get angry and afraid when you want to change that system. They have reacted the same to all of the aforementioned events. Do not let that discourage you, because despite those reactions, all of the aforementioned things happened anyway.

Not a single one of our civil rights or strides into progress was made through asking our oppressors. When the road ahead seems dark, think of all the achievements listed; and remember they all happened in approximately the last 125 years. All of that change in the span of less than two lifetimes.

Can you imagine what the world will look like in another two lifetimes from now?

With hard work, it will look like something beautiful for everybody.