#I LITERALLY WANNA DIE

[mischievouslittlecreature]

This is about to be the worst weekend ever.

For those not in the know, I'm leaving tomorrow to go to a celebration with the rest of my mom's family for my grandpa's 80th birthday. This was already gonna be a stressful as fuck weekend, because my grandmother is a nightmare to deal with even under the best of circumstances.

And then we found out today that a family member has received a very significant, negative health diagnosis. Which is already awful enough on its own, but has also sent some of my mom's family (including the aforementioned crazy grandmother) into a tailspin.

OH. And my mom got me super sick and no one cares and I'm expected to just soldier on through even though I'm practically incapacitated and just wanna stay home and sleep until I feel better 🙃.

So anyway if responses/updates aren't as consistent or as quick as usual, that's why.

[vilnan]

gotta love migraines. i've thrown up three times today <3

[outlaw-apologist]

When you edit your writing 4 times and somehow there’s still errors

[lostsoulsoffallenteens]

What the actual fuck is going on?? Like I feel myself breaking down more each day ( possibly worse than I have ever before but idk) and I can't do anything about it but why?? I don't understand cuz I'm technically ok rn like I have a place and my cat and shit but I have no friends ( well I have 2 but one lives 6hrs away from me and the other is dying.. plus both have cancer so like fuck?? ) and I don't leave my house like at all cuz why? I have nothing 2 do &no friends so like that makes me wanna die but other than that I guess I'm fine...? Lol fuck me I just needed to put this somewhere I guess.. sorry

[satan-is-obsessed]

it can't get worse and yet by some miracle it keeps getting worse

[it-was-all-eyes]

.

[iknowicanbutwhy]

Hello, do-not-make-Mirabelle-angry gang, I present to you @ksenya-and-the-artistic-cucumber being really funny with scattered context

[aroaceleovaldez]

Nico and Percy's dynamic through the series is eternally funny to me, because it's just. like.

Percy's having a constant mental struggle between his fatal flaw of loyalty with a promise he made to Bianca to protect Nico, versus his Big 3 kid desire to maim other Big 3 kids / Poseidon descendant urge to totally maim Nico specifically. He hates Nico so so much. He thinks Nico's annoying and weird at best, and creepy/sketchy when he's older. The only positive thoughts Percy has towards Nico are "He's Bianca's brother and Bianca was my friend and I owe her/He's Hazel's brother and Hazel is my friend and would kill me if I was mean to him," "He's a powerful asset and useful ally (if questionable)," and "He's kinda pathetic and I feel maybe a little bad about it." Percy has multiple occasions throughout the series where he strongly considers - and on one occasionally actually goes through with - throttling Nico.

Meanwhile, Nico is following around Percy like a lost puppy. He explicitly can never bring himself to even dislike anything about Percy no matter how hard he tries. He has a whole bit in BoO where he's mentally going "UGH he's so stupid BUT IT'S ENDEARING HOW DARE HE." He's totally smitten. He's making deals with his dad for Percy. He's making convoluted plans to help Percy stand a chance against Kronos. During the entirety of BoTL it's like he's playing tsundere - "I'm helping NOT PERCY SPECIFICALLY with this quest! Me helping Percy would be SILLY because I DEFINITELY HATE HIM." Then he proceeds to show up to Percy's birthday party to basically ask him on a weird date and spend the entire next book scrambling around trying to help him or protect him or impress him. And Percy could not give less of a shit.

Just. That dynamic is so funny to me. Percy is the founder of the Nico Protection Club in that he's the one they're all protecting Nico from and meanwhile Nico is throwing himself at Percy to the point where the literal god of gay love calls him out on it.

[lover-of-mine]

Buck, Eddie and The lightning mirroring the well.

[shakingparadigm]

what is the theory that ivan manipulated the event where till and mizi met the wagyein?

It's not a theory, actually! It's confirmed that Ivan orchestrated the whole event. The true reason as to why however is still unknown. The information provides more context to this scene, though:

During the earlier times of ALNST the most rational explanation for this scene was that Till ran after a flower crown (presumably Mizi's) and Ivan followed him in out of curiosity. Now we know that Ivan was conveniently just standing there because he was waiting.

Side note, I find it heartbreaking (and maybe a little funny, sorry) that Till most likely didn't notice Ivan in this scene. That's just like him, isn't it. Always too busy running after Mizi while Ivan trails behind, an ever-present shadow.

I'm not sure how Ivan manipulated the circumstances for both of them to end up there, but it is confirmed that everything was intentional. What strikes me most is how they describe this particular scene:

I can't copy down what they said word-for-word (Patreon info), but they described Ivan watching "creepily" as Till and Mizi are faced with danger. We know that Ivan was familiar with the Cerberus wagyein beforehand, enough to touch its teeth and even to rest himself inside its maw. To Ivan, the wagyein is not dangerous, but to Till and Mizi, it could be. Ivan prepared the wagyein, led them there, and watched "creepily" from afar as Till fell on his knees, seemingly injured.

The closest I can get to making sense of Ivan's "scheme" is that he wanted to see how other children would react in a dangerous situation. Ivan's always been an observer, after all, and he's learned to survive by copying the more "normal" behaviors of his peers. This situation occured when Ivan was still young and had not yet developed his more charming mask, so perhaps he staged this encounter to study a situational response, to learn and mimic the emotion of fear. And what better subjects for the experiment than two of the most expressive and reactive humans of their batch? It helps that he was already fixated on Till beforehand, too. I think Ivan became irreversibly obssessed after this incident, especially since it's framed as a turning point in Ivan's life, comparing Till to the stars.

This is just my attempt at an interpretation, though. It could very well be for another reason. He most likely chose Till and Mizi specifically for personal reasons, not just for reaction. I'm still not sure on the purpose behind the whole thing.

The team wanted to capture Ivan's "dark emotions" through the shot of his stalking, which could relate to his more sinister intentions. His gaze can be read in a few different ways, though. Curiosity, interest, fear, etc. Maybe that's why they decided to redraw the shot in ROUND 6.

I think this better sells the feeling they were trying to convey.

[beatcroc]

what kind of frivolity would you engage in, mecha?

<

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[timetravellingkitty]

I'm not listening to a white person on what's racist or insensitive to brown people. read orientalism by edward said before talking to me or my son ever again

[losersage]

There is something generally wrong with me

Anyway ART

[solaestial]

Heather - Conan Gray

[breadandblankets]

read Wayne family adventures and want a more accessible path into comics than a billion issues reading lists?

scared of what you heard about Bruce in comics?

curious as to what duke fans get all huffy about when a new wfa issue comes out?

introducing:

[thousand-winters]

Never forgiving Hunter Noceda fandom for pushing King to the side when canonically Luz and King consider each other siblings.

I got reminded of the trivia question in the TOH picnic where the question was who was Luz's brother and the person who got asked that said "Hunter".

Excuse me, but Hunter did not say "Luz, I'm so happy I had you as a big sister" 😤