#I mean both can coexist don't get me wrong

[the-busy-ghost]

Look I respect the art of past ages, but it's the 21st century and personally I'd like to see less depictions of the Greek Muses as ethereal sexually objectified fairy women, and more art of Thalia doing stand-up

[eggonthemoon]

How Mizisua and Ivantill is often mischaracterized.

(this is entirely my own opinions and interpretations of Alien Stage, you are entirely in the right to disagree with any of my points here)

I feel like a lot of the time, people often water down mizisua and ivantill into something shallower than they are:

Mizisua is sweet and healthy because their love is mutual.

Ivantill is toxic and unhealthy because of it's one-sidedness.

That's probably just me oversimplifying it and I could word it a little better, but that's my point here. There's more to the dynamics than what is on the surface.

And I want to talk about it.

First things first though!

None of the characters are raised in normal, healthy upbringings. And thus don't have a normal or natural foundation to base their relationships on

I feel that's super important to recognise here. How can we expect them to understand things like boundaries and healthy communication when no one has bothered teaching them this. They are left to figure that all out on their own.

Which leaves me to my first point:

Mizisua is not healthy!

Not in the slightest even. I feel like a lot of the time, at least in fandom, people will claim that as long as there's no abuse and both parties feelings are mutual then it's healthy. That's not the case here.

Mizi and Sua has a dangerous level of toxic co-dependency with each other. To cope with their hopeless reality, they pour their everything into their love for each other. They become the other's salvation. And in turn when one of them dies, the other is ruined.

Both of them are selfish in their love for each other. Mizi loved and cherished the soft side of Sua that only she got to see, it made her feel special, blessed even. And Sua purposely left Mizi in the dark about the truth behind Alien Stage, so that she could indulge in her and Mizi's blissful days of youth.

Neither of them are in the wrong for that. They only ever wanted to see the other happy but because of that, they didn't get to be truly vulnerable with each other. They were the other's utopia, their escape.

To me Mizisua is not just doomed because Sua died.

To me Mizisua is doomed because they were never afforded the chance to truly grow their relationship into healthy relationship I know they could be. One where they don't have to always be together and where even the rocky patches are allowed to coexist.

But the segyein never afforded them that chance.

Onto my point on Ivantill...

Till doesn't hate Ivan, he in fact cares for him a lot

Lots of people write off how Till feels about Ivan as "he doesn't give a fuck about him" simply because Till doesn't have any romantic feelings for him. That couldn't be further from the truth. In the artbook Ivan's affection rating on Till's page is 70% which is a lot for someone who supposedly doesn't care about him. Personally I think Till is mostly just confused by Ivan's behaviour.

He likes him but does things to make him mad.

He likes him but he steals things from him and then return them to him later.

When Till punched him after Ivan ruined his flower crown, Ivan laughed, enjoying their fight.

Till is smart, a genius even according to his peers. But when it comes to love he barely knows anything. I'm not sure where this was said but apparently his initial reason for liking Mizi is as simple as:

She's pretty.

Maybe those feelings were eventually accompanied by feelings of admiration for her genuine love of singing but it doesn't change the facts here.

Till's love for Mizi was rather shallow.

But much like Mizi and Sua made each other their escape from reality, Till did the same. Mizi became his everything because he had nothing. No happiness, no comfort, just his talent and a "father figure" with big ambitions for him. "Love" was just yet another means of survival. For someone who has endured violence for so long...would he ever begin to even consider the guy who provokes him, steals from him and "supposedly" enjoys violence, to have feelings for him?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think Till feels responsible for Ivan abandoning his chance of escape. Till didn't want to leave behind the person he made his entire reason for living but he didn't even once consider that he himself was that to Ivan.

Only when Ivan returned did he understand why.

And that's why I think Till can't stand looking at Ivan. The guilt is too painful. He and the guy might have fought a lot but they were friends. And he took away his one opportunity to escape this hell that is Anakt Garden and Alien Stage.

Till cares deeply about Ivan but doesn't realize that pushing Ivan away only hurt and wounded him more deeply. I think he only truly understood that fact once it was too late.

Till and Ivan both care for each other.

Just not in the same way.

[bibibbon]

I made a huge mistake in going to the MHA subreddit. The braindead takes on 427 have me convinced I'm stuck in a parallel universe where we're reading a completely different story:

"It's great seeing Deku play therapist with the LOV, but all it seems to have done is make things worse!" A) Izuku shouldn't be having to play therapist to begin with, considering he's a 16 year old kid. B) most of the LOV don't see anything they did as wrong, so idk what the fuck Izuku can do about that. Also, WHY AREN'T PEOPLE HELPING IZUKU WITH HIS OWN GODDAMN FEELINGS?!

Apparently Bakugou killed Kurogiri, and there's absolutely ZERO reaction to it both in and out of universe. So of fucking course Izuku is a murderer, but not their precious Bakugou 🥱.

"I feel like Hori's really underrated as a writer!" Horikoshi doesn't know Show Don't Tell, how to actually develop characters, and how to craft actual stakes in the narrative from a hole in the ground. Also, MHA is one of the most popular mangas worldwide, so you're not even using underrated right.

"I feel like Horikoshi sees our discussions and then implements them in the story!" This I can kind of agree with, considering how much y'all hate Izuku and worship Bakugou. But on the other hand, I really doubt Horikoshi thinks the MHA subreddit is as important as you think it is.

"Bakugou's totally going to ask Izuku to start their own hero agency together at the end!" Jesus fucking Christ, just say you hate Izuku. How would that be a great ending for him? He not only has to see the source of his low self esteem and borderline suicidal feelings achieving the dream he'll now never have, but you want them to WORK together?!

@nutzgunray-lvt 👋

Well a lot of the time looking into Reddit is always a mistake unless you're asking a very niche question and you get an answer from 9 years ago or something.

I feel like a lot of people whether that be in universe or in fandom forget that izuku is a 16 year old child soldier. Izuku is more than a decade younger than a lot of the villains in the leauge. He is a child who has been exploited by the system and abused. We have seen in 425 izuku try and talk to someone but simply get brushed aside and while I don't blame shoto or ochako for doing that as they probably didn't mean it and are traumatised themselves it kinda of shows how much this has effected izuku. Also this doesn't help BECAUSE HORI GAVE US NO FLIPPING INTROPSECTION ON IZUKU'S BIT AGAIN!! Also Iam not sure if it's just me but Izuku's eye bags are heavily prominent in this chapter especially when he is talking to spinner.

The fandom especially the lov stans side of it love babayifying the actions of the leauge and hyper fixating on the humane soft side they may have while completely ignoring the horrible actions they commited. I talk about this better in one of @palesweetscherryblossom asks

I still can't believe that bk may of killed kurogiri. I don't even know when that happend and I checked the wiki but it says that kurogiris status is unconfirmed so I will be waiting until the last chapter to fully acknowledge if kurogiri is dead or not. However this brings up the point that the fandoms is being quite hypocritical if they're calling izuku a murder but not bakugo. They both killed people but for some reason it's izuku thats put into public light and bashing instead of all the other characters that have killed in the series including villains.

Yeah sometimes it feels like hori is looking at discussions of his series and implementing ideas but I think that goes more for his Japanese fans than us to be honest because after all they're his target demographic. I remember when I first joined Tumblr one of my earliest posts talked about how horikoshi's writing decisions were heavily influenced by his fans which may or may not be true.

At this point IAM convinced that izuku isn't getting a proper happy ending. Every time I think it can't get worse it does. Just by your comment of them starting an agency together haunts me just like the possibility that bk may become the number one hero

[stuckinapril]

Hi Cianna, just wanted to say I really admire your study ethic and general vibe on this blog (you inspire me to do better!)

Do you have any advice/tips for good study habits and staying focused? I find that I get some work done, but after a break I can't get back on track

Sorry for the long ask/ studyblr type of question;; what is your favourite hairstyle that you do with your hair! (I also have curly brown hair :)

Have a lovely day also <3

🌻🌻

hi! i touch on a lot of points in this other ask, but a few specific learning techniques i abide by are:

parkinson's law. parkinson's law states that work expands to fill the time. basically if you have an essay that's due in a week, it will magically take you one week to get it done, even if the task itself could've been done in one day. to counter this i just set artifical deadlines for myself--even if an essay is due in a week, my personal deadline has it due in two days.

prime your brain prior to learning. if you need to study a biology chapter, pre-skim it the night before. this is not the time to go into detail--it's the time to familiarize yourself with the overview of the topic, so you should only be making a quick scan of the chapter. another priming method is to make a concept map of topics before diving into a chapter. as you skim write down key terms haphazardly, google those you don't recognize, and draw a concept map linking them together. this is effective bc it requires you to actually put effort into connecting the topics, takes no longer than 15 minutes, and speeds up the learning process that follows. it doesn't matter if you find out you're wrong once you dive in; what's important is you're actively thinking of how these topics coexist, as opposed to mindlessly taking notes or highlighting only to forget what you learned a couple hours later. i'm also a fan of concept maps bc i get to go back and highlight stuff i'm weak in, which is always a plus.

if you like to take notes, use it as another means of active recall. don't just passively take notes as you go along. what i like to do is i read a paragraph, close the book, then try to take down notes based off memory alone. this helps me both phrase the topic in my own words and realize what my learning gaps are, rather than just passively summarize without putting effort into truly understanding/memorizing something. anything i get wrong i hammer into my brain until i can't get it wrong anymore.

take notes effectively. our brain does not learn in sentences and paragraphs. it learns in bullet points, diagrams, and figures--and that's how i like to frame my notes. first i ask myself if i actually need to take notes to begin with, or if there are online notes out there i can use to save time (which, as a stem student, there typically are). if i do decide to take notes, i never mindlessly summarize. i always condense the material into bullet points, diagrams, concept maps, or visual representations. i also like to phrase my notes as questions rather than just passive summaries, so that when i review them i'm already testing myself in a way. most people would not understand my notes bc they're either very low-yield stuff, stuff i'm weak in, or bare-bones fragments of information.

always prioritize weaknesses. if you're weaker at chapter 18 of your textbook vs chapter 1, maybe start with chapter 18. don't spend 6 hours taking notes on chapter 1 if you're already strong in chapter 1. always attack your weaknesses first.

practice practice practice!! so so important. i owe all my As to mock exams, quizzes i make myself, end-of-chapter questions etc etc. imo practice matters a lot more than passive content review.

interleaving concepts helps with retention. an example of this is i like to do biology and chemistry one day, biochemistry and organic chemistry the next day, physics and psychology the day after... i'm not just doing biology all day, every day. another thing i like to do if i'm in a massive rut is i hop between tons of different subjects on the same day, which keeps me from getting bored/helps me understand the subjects better through distinguishing their differences.

retrospective timetable. an example of this is if i find i'm pretty weak in a particular physics topic, the next few days will disproportionately focus on physics over other subjects. inversely, if i just breezed through a biology chapter, the next few days will have less biology than initially planned. i'm constantly going back and revising my study timetable based on my performance of the day, rather than relying on a rigid prospective timetable that doesn't take into account my progress.

less passive learning, more active. spaced repetition is a big one. i love anki for this bc there's an algorithm that dictates how often topics come up again based on how well you answer them. other methods include active recall, having friends quiz you, and trying to teach the topic to others (or the plushie in your bedroom haha). if you find you're struggling to simplify topics and explain them, that's a sign you don't understand them very well yourself.

[statementlou]

why do you talk about Louis using blue and green signalling as if it isn't about Harry, that what the blue and green are- do you not believe in larrie?

short answer for the reading challenged trolls to cut down on asks yes I am a larrie, not that anything is wrong with not being one. But longer (much more interesting imo) answer: We know H and L were together, but no one really knows if they are still or again- I personally mostly believe that they are, but I get why people don't think so and can't see any reason to get pressed about it. But you make a solid point- blue and green and certainly things like Louis wearing the H shirt don't potentially signify anything other than larry right? Well that's what makes it so interesting to me- I kind of don't think Louis IS using those things that way! As my recent anon pointed out (and I agree) he wants people to think he is Freddie's dad, he is not presently trying to be perceived as gay in the face of people trying to force him in the closet- he is in charge of his image and is choosing to publicly put forward that he is a guy who got someone pregnant and dates women. And I do think him and H are together, but I don't think he particularly wants to talk to us about that, if that makes sense? But I believe he does want to connect with his beloved fans on a more personal level, to revel in the acceptance and love and shared wink, I know you know I know, me and you until the end, our eyes meet, together we're the greatest- and I think he uses the larry imagery to do that, rather than to talk about his relationship. I could do this for days he gives us SO MANY examples to choose from but just to pick one: the all blue and green lighting for All This Time. Think about it- if he actually had images of a rainbow flag on the screens at his shows or waved one or something, it would make the articles and press and be a whole thing and revive every rumor ever about him in every tabloid! But if he makes the entire lighting and screens for a song blue and green (or wears a shirt with a giant H on it or any of the other one million coded things he does), well so what? No journalist would think a thing of it, nothing to see here- but the larrie majority of his fanbase hears him saying "you were right about everything and yes I am gay and I love you for seeing it" and go completely bananas! It's fucking ingenious tbh, SBB at his finest! And the fact that the song he chose for his current unhinged bluegreener fest was All This Time was for me the thing that really cemented this theory for me; I know some people disagree, but to me that song reads as being about him being closeted and his public life and the fans and choosing this lighting for that rather than for like We Made It or something really feeds my conviction that he is bluegreening on main as a way to tell us that he is gay rather than to tell us anything about his personal relationship. TLDR yeah I DO think he is signaling, a lot, but I don't think it tells us anything about the status of his relationship with Harry or anyone else and the reasons I think they are together don't have anything to do with Louis' stage lighting choices, but also that means I don't think it makes sense to say he's not signaling anything ever because you don't think they're together; both can coexist and I think it's just weird to act like he's not making pretty clear choices

[goyurim]

I agree that sol has loved him and tried to save him selflessly but so has he to the same extent? He loved her in two time lines and will in this third one as well for 15 years selflessly without knowing at all that she has feelings for him, he also saved her life multiple times risking his and is ready to do it again paying the price with his life. The reason she has to go back and save him is literally because he saved her spent 15 years miserable because of guilt he couldn't save her legs and then got murdered for it. No to mention the other thousand things small and big he did for her safety and care in all 3 timelines. I don't think I have seen a character love someone so selflessly or devotedly as sun jae so I have to disagree with you there.

you're very welcome to disagree with me! we don't have to agree on everything anon, that's the beauty of it, as @sunlighthroughthe-ashes so eloquently put it, "the beauty of art and entertainment media is the subjectivity of its interpretation. one little show can mean so many different things to so many different people, and i think that's wonderful."

i think you've misunderstood me slightly though so i'd like to address that - you seem to interpret my statement about sunjae liking sol selfishly as some sort of bad thing - as if being selfish in love is wrong and cannot coexist with being selfless, too. you're absolutely right about sun jae being selfless in the way he loves sol, in everything he's done for her. but he's also been selfish in his devotion to her too, he wanted her to love him back, he wanted to be someone special to her. he gets mad at her in the woods during the retreat when she's been avoiding him like the plague, and even back when she bought him all those self-help books, he shuns her away out of his house by saying "you can't give me what i want so just go". does that make sun jae a bad person? of course not! when you love someone you want them to acknowledge it, that's perfectly valid and true. doesn't make it any less selfish. sun jae choses to be selfish, that's why he ends up with sol, and tae sung does not. tae sung's love, in my eyes, is truly selfless. the kinda love that wants their object of affection to be safe and happy, even if that means they themselves will never be on the receiving end of the same.

to me, the whole "i like you" "i love you" scene was a direct continuation of the scene where sun jae misses his flight and returns to sol after finding everything out. he literally asks her to stop worrying about him and allow herself to like him. sol doesn't respond, she's too overwhelmed with everything that's just happened. the "i like you", this time around, was her response. she tells sun jae that she's listened to him. that she's allowing herself to unabashedly like him. his response being "i love you" encapsulates everything he told her back then, but also somehow something more. when you love someone so much, the lines between selflessness and selfishness begin to blur, bc it's not about doing the right thing anymore, it's about doing right by this person. bc your compass of morality isn't a direction anymore, it's a person. sun jae's verbalising these thoughts to her, through his "i love you". these two have loved each other through time and space, over and over again, and their love has evolved over time. from a crush and a fan, silent and afar, to truly devoted, unapologetic love. but neither of them knew! what they've been doing for one another! all this time! the "role reversal" i was referring to might sound weird to the audience bc we know both their feelings from the start. but they don't! they never got to lay their hearts out so openly in front of one another. they're finally doing that now.

[spookycattowo]

I might make a video on how to create a diverse cast because what Lily Orchard has in all of her fics is not a diverse cast. I'd be redesigning a separate cast of characters that isn't diverse as an example of how diversity actually works. Like it or not a diverse cast will have cishet white people as well as black people and gay people and that's not often acknowledged by people because our culture is so based around media that has no minorities. People often assume that diversity means that all your characters don't confirm to the norm when in reality nonconformity and conformity coexist and both contribute to diversity. Writing a cast of characters that are all lesbian women is not diverse character writing. You're writing the same group over and over again and claim to have a colorful cast of characters that are all different from each other.

An actual example of a diverse cast would be the owl house. Despite the implied lack of straight characters, there are characters from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, genders and sexualities. You can take any two characters and immediately see contrast in their backgrounds, personality, belief systems, romantic interests and goals.

Don't get me wrong I love shameless sapphic fluff as much as the next person, but claiming you have a diverse cast when your entire cast consists of nice lesbian women who usually have super powers and are put into a fluffy low stakes environment and are usually white or white passing is not the paragon of a diverse cast everyone seems to think it is. If you want to write the same character archetype over and over again that's completely fine, but don't advertise your work as including a highly diverse cast of characters.

God I'm so tired

Ps I'm gay

[cruyuu]

I love that theory! I like to think yuji and Sukuna will coexist like Angel and Hana! Maybe yuji will become a fire fighter and summon Sukuna to help him from time to time

I unironically think the only way sukuna can be saved is if he loses.

Sorry for a late answer anon. My answer got lengthier considering 268.

Angel/Hana and Yuta/Rika coexist. If they can, why can't Sukuna/Yuuji? Especially considering now that we know killing one is killing the other, that they share practically everything and that– despite not being able to share memories (which is alright because to Yuuji people exist outside of that)– it still works for them.

They are an anomaly when it comes to what we know. Despite being polar opposites, literally "hating" each other, Yuuji and Sukuna had coexisted quite successfully. Unlike Hana/Angel, they do not worry nor warn each other over anything yet they still survive, and unlike Yuta/Rika, even if separated, they are still able to use each other's techniques (Sukuna can still go through other people's memories and talk with them which we know is Yuuji's thing and Yuuji can use Dismantle and is practically like Sukuna– his soul, and by extension Sukuna's, dwells in his fingers.)

They're still tied to each other totally and Yuuji had reached great heights despite the narrative telling us (with Maki/Mai) that twins never do so, unless one of them dies. Also, the whole Gojo and Geto thing, too. Basically opposites are meant to kill each other, never to coexist. Either one must live or they should both die. That is a curse. If Yuuji is to be the breaker of that, then he shouldn't kill off or consume Sukuna (because that would be literally Sukuna's route all over again), but instead coexist with him.

Also, Sukuna disappearing goes against Yuuji's own words. If humans aren't good or bad, and if Sukuna and Yuuji do not represent 'bad versus good', then them dying together, or one living instead of the other, falls flat. jjk never followed what is right or wrong so... Sukuna choosing to live might be a possibility. (Also... considering these two are technically tied together and that death of one is death of the other... maybe Sukuna is still alive.)

And– I almost forgot to mention– Kenjaku and Takaba died together. Considering we didn't get the dying together end with the main villain but rather a second villain, and the fact that these two are forced to coexist via a soul bond (basically), that again gives me hope that Sukuna isn't really, truly dead and that they might actually start anew right now, and not in another life.

The fact that Yuta/Rika's bond was shaken and that his fate is up to chance leaves a lot to imagination, however. As you know, Yuta's a direct parallel of Yuuji whose story got told before his (while Rika, as the Queen of Curses, parallels Sukuna, the King of Curses). He chose to embrace Rika, told us their love was pure, only for him to end up abandoning her in favor of wearing Gojo's body. That panel of her crying over him means that she didn't even realize that Yuta was in Gojo's body, and that because of that (Yuta not wearing the ring which is proof of their love and their coexistence), she believes that he truly died.

I believe what might happen (don't be surprised if it doesn't) is that Sukuna might get reincarnated into Rika, and by extension, wake up in Yuta's body. Call me crazy and delusional but it's a strong possibility. I know the majority will not like this (Yuta fans pls do not start) but it's there and it would be such a Gege thing to do.

Keep in mind that the finger Rika swallowed is apparently Yuuji's own but that could always turn out to be a lie. Still, a more probable explanation is the fact that Yuuji and Sukuna are technically one and the same and hence hurting Yuuji's soul equals to hurting Sukuna's own. By extension, if Yuuji is carrying but a tiny piece of Sukuna within him (the residual in his hands which instead of disappearing might've been eaten by Yuuji wink wink) , it would still be enough for him to awaken in his finger and overpower a curse.

Now, there's also the fact that Sukuna cannot reincarnate (via his finger) into cursed spirits. Rika, however, is no longer a cursed spirit, but merely a curse which Yuta embraces via putting the ring on his finger. The ending of jjk 0 had Gojo explaining that and we also get Yuta and human Rika parting ways.

So! Rika is left without Yuta's connection, Yuta is trapped in Gojo's body (or is just dead) while his own remains an empty husk, and Rika swallowed Yuuji's finger. Sukuna is dead. Or is he? Big plot twist! Sukuna reincarnates via Rika directly into Yuta's body.

If this ends up being true I'm going to laugh lmfao but it's the only open possibility outside of them dying right now and reincarnating later on (plus might be why the cheeky "whats going on with Yuta?" comment is there).

That song one anon pointed out to me (called Why Haven't I Fallen In Love Before?) has these lyrics:

Yes, to compensate for the time I wasn't in love Lately I've been doubly excited After all, it's such a happy love story This is no time for watching TV drama I should have realized sooner That romance is going to be the protagonist My heart is racing, fluttering, pounding…

The music video of this song got shot in the same place where Sukuna's finger is located at so we can assume that it is, by placement, his song.

If you check out the lyrics, it lowkey fits this ending lol. If anything, it's so sappy and romantic that it's making me tear up lmfao. And yes! It is the reversal of the ending of jjk 0, where Yuta parted ways with Rika and stayed with what remained of her, not her (which is literally 268), only to continue living with her as a curse. That's technically the curse/vessel situation Yuuji had with Sukuna.

The way Yuuji's parting words read like a proposal (just like Rika proposed to Yuta) isn't lost to little old me.

Considering they had always been specialz, sukuita could easily own this approach. Considering Yuuji's rather strange words to Sukuna (that he- a curse- is, in fact, a human) and is the one asking Sukuna to live (paralleling Rika) and he got his own body (unlike Rika), it is more than fitting for Sukuna to get his own as a human. It's basically a whole inversion of everything because real love conquers all, doesn't it? It never dies. It has no ending.

Yuuji is the main protagonist but Yuta was considered a main protagonist before Yuuji so it fits that. Also, Sukuna's cleverness could shine again here, with the way he swiftly avoided death via his parallel (the Queen of Curses) and reincarnated into Yuta (effectively ending up in the same spot that Yuuji is now). Two main protagonists. Yuuji is no longer a side character and neither will Sukuna be. They'd be more than just a vessel/curse and wouldn't just repeat history. Instead of hate, they'd be awfully in love. Surviving despite the odds and breaking the cycle.

I should have realized sooner That romance is going to be the protagonist

That is to say: Setting an example and giving real meaning to Yuta's own (wrongfully put) "This is pure love." (because you embrace someone no matter what and if it was pure love, Rika wouldn't part ways with him, would she?)

Ofc Gege could debunk this entire thing. There are 3 chapters till the end after all. Maybe they'll simply let Yuuji consume what remains of Sukuna and let them RIP together.

[doubleedgemode]

Some character thoughts

I wanted to write down some ramblings about Dizzy's Strive arcade route plus other character things aside and ended up with like, eight paragraphs so here you go I guess!

Under the cut because it's long and so you don't get spoiled if you haven't watched yet. As always feel free to comment and add stuff like agreeing or disagreeing. :)

Omg so that video I watched before wasn't even the extreme route.. So after watching, yeah, tdlr: Dizzy is a queen in all senses and a.b.a is a miserable ugly thing I want to comfort.

Sorry for focusing on my main even if she's not as relevant as Dizzy but you know how it tends to be in my blog.

Longer text: I still stand I'm not a Dizzy expert by any chance of the imagination (as I have said before, outside of my homunculus pond, I feel like my knowledge about this series characters' is not that big. Plus the queen especially, I feel she has a lot of lore to tackle haha) but Strive sold me enough on her. I'm proud of her! and her philosophy, is refreshingly well-written:

it both comes out as like she's this mature, wise, self-realized person who speaks from a higher plane so to speak but also like a normal person (echoing Goldlewis' statement of forgetting he was talking to a queen for a bit) who has recieved a lot of bad hands but somehow managed to heal and maybe their philosophy is too optimistic, maybe it's correct, but she sure will try to make it because of her drive. At least, I want her to make it.

She also strives (hah) for peace and embodies being a sovereign ruler, yet won't let that change her character and will to fight.

This must sound like an oxymoron after all I said about her and change but, just like how she sounding regal yet casual works, this somehow works too! She isn't rejecting changes in life. She knows they'll happen. She embraces them whatever they might be. But that doesn't mean that she has to be a pushover (for lack of a better term). Her character, that is the ONE thing she can change and she chooses to do better and make it so if changes have to occur to people and herself that they're good ones. I gotta bow down to her.

It makes sense to me from a design (?) storytelling (??) perspective that now Necro and Undine are more minimalistic. They're still important to Dizzy's character but she keeps them more in control so to speak, since she's now more in control of her situations. But they're still important, and their relationship towards her seem warmer, too... Like making peace with oneself, in a way. Also, them having a way more unified colour-scheme might not only be so the design is streamlined, but as both being equally important to Dizzy perhaps? (but keeping their attitudes of course)

Now for a less healthy attitude towards changes we have...

A.B.A... That rejection of change cuts deep when you think about, how it can be interpreted that most or at least some of the most impactful of her life experiences feature this encompassing opposition to change, be it whether because outside factors didn't permit it (she couldn't go outside and just stood a decade inside the metaphorical Frasco flask ffs, she wanted a body for Paracelsus but they couldn't get it..) or because she didn't want it (she knew what she was doing to Paracelsus was wrong, and yet kept on knowingly doing that).

Now, I say most or some, but not all, because she has equally important moments of change, (meeting Paracelsus, going outside, even her appearance change after finally deciding to involve herself on human stuff), but I believe her upbringing, solitude and mulling attitude influence this looming presence of stagnancy in the back of her mind, whether she wants it or not. But hope also coexists in her heart so, she might want to believe in Dizzy's words. Just a little bit.

Also I like the headcanon I've seen floating around of Dizzy's route happening before A.B.A's own route (explaining why Paracelsus is yellow), so maybe these encounters and other offscreen things were important pieces to help A.B.A's character do a click. Really fitting that both Dizzy and Testament can have this positive influence about changes to people. Of course, it is the person themselves, in this case A.B.A, the one that has to realize, but it doesn't hurt that the overtly optimistic winged girl you kind of captured ends up beating you up and giving you life lessons lmao. I wonder if they hang out together now, at least sometimes that is... Edit: somehow I missed one of the scenes where they do see eye to eye in husband-liking and A.B.A begrudgingly decides to accept having some tea time together so... Win at least?

Plus, while Paracelsus looking like if he were being curious at Dizzy's proposal is probably because, well, the existing model has both him and A.B.A going :0 at people... Maybe you could see him as him getting moved by Dizzy's statements, too...

[changbinsboiledegg]

hello~🩷 can i request a skz reaction where reader is taller than hyunjin and gets nervous when they try to pick them up? please and thank you🙏🏽

Hellooo 💜 I got you! Thank you for your request :))) I hope these are what you hoped for, alas, ily. 🫶 Also thank you for your patience! Also, did you mean like reactions for each skz member or just for Hyunjin? cause I did all 😅 Hope you don't mind either way!

Tall GN! Reader X SKZ

Warnings: height insecurities, petname usage, injury mentions (sorry, lmao, I wanted to have a variety in why they were trying to lift you.)

Note: Before y’all read this, I’m pretty sure you can tell, but I’m short so if anything is wrong or offensive/ sounds offensive, I’M SORRY! I promise, I did NOT intend to sound offensive so PLEASE let me know!!! As always, if no one told you today, ily. 🫶

♥���♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Chan

It had been months since he'd last seen you and when he saw you, he couldn't contain his excitement.

He ran to you and wrapped his arms around you, lifting you to a height that you weren't comfortable with.

“Hey, please put me down!” You were already taller than Hyunjin— standing, but being lifted in the air? That brought on an onslaught of insecurities that you were trying to keep at bay.

Chan quickly set you down, “I'm sorry! I just missed you, are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

He was worried he overstepped a boundary. You looked around, seeing it was just the two of you. “No, I just don't want to be in the air when I'm already tall.”

You weren't sure how to voice your feelings, but Chan always knew how to piece the missing parts in.

“Love, your height is perfect. No need to feel bad about it.” He tried to cheer you up, not wanting you to be insecure.

Lee Know

“Woah! No!” You nervously shouted as your feet left the ground once Minho’s arms had strongly wrapped around your waist.

He was quick to stop trying to lift you in the air. He didn't mean anything by it, only wanting to have his arms around you in some way.

“Sorry.” He quickly apologized, his arms still around you, but loosening.

You took a deep breath to calm your nerves, “it's okay.”

Minho was quiet for a moment, trying to think of a way to make the situation less awkward. He removed his arms from your waist and suggested the first thing that came to his mind; a movie night.

You accepted, also seeking a way to ease the awkwardness of what just happened. “Sure.”

Minho even let you pick the movie, no arguments or judgement, he was just happy that you weren't upset by how he lifted you in the air moments ago.

Changbin

“Can I lift you?” Changbin asked. It was very out of the blue and unprovoked as you were both coexisting in each other’s company.

“Why?” You sounded more nervous than you intended to show. You were taller than him— by a lot.

You were even taller than Hyunjin. The last thing you wanted to do was be taller than you were now.

“Just for fun.” Changbin answered. Judging by his expression and tone, you didn't think he had any malicious intent.

You were still nervous, though. And it didn't make you feel any less nervous knowing it would be your boyfriend that would being lifting you.

But thankfully, no one was around. Because of that, you gave in. “Sure.”

“If you want me to stop or if you change your mind, tell me.” Changbin sweetly reminded you that it was okay to say no or change your mind.

You felt safer and more sure about letting him lift you, even just this once.

You were lifted in the air for about five seconds before you tapped out, which Changbin stood true to his word and put you down immediately.

Hyunjin

Hyunjin loved your height. You understood what it was like to be as tall— or taller than him.

“How tall would both of us be if I lifted you?” Hyunjin asked out of curiosity.

“Can you lift me?” You asked, challenging him almost. Deep down, you were nervous he would try to actually lift you.

Hyunjin thought for a moment as if contemplating whether he should try.

“Want to find out?” He asked, moving closer to you. The nerves inside of you bubbled up and you stopped him before he could attempt to put his arms around you.

“How about we just look up a height calculator?” You suggested. Hyunjin sensed your nervousness and left it as that, understanding why and not wanting to force you into letting him lift you.

“Alright. Yeah, if Google has one.” Hyunjin pulled out his phone, and searched one up for you both.

Han

You sprained your ankle after missing a step down a set of stairs when you were on a date with Jisung.

“Are you okay? Can you move it?” Jisung asked, panicking on your behalf. He acted as if he was the one with a sprained ankle.

“I can… Agh!” You were holding your ankle, wincing from the pain. Jisung looked down the road and checked his phone, looking something up.

“On my back! There's a hospital nearby!” Jisung bent down for you to piggy back off of him. You were hesitant, nervous that your height would be too much for him.

“No, I—”

“No time to argue! You're in pain! On my back!” He pat his back, leaving no room for arguments.

You reluctantly got on his back as he slowly and carefully lifted you.

“I can walk, you know.” You mumbled, but Jisung wasn't listening. He had one goal and one goal only; getting you to the hospital.

Felix

It was one of those times you and the guys were hanging out. You and Felix were inseparable, as per usual.

You were all playing a game together and so far, you were winning. Felix was proud to be your partner, knowing you were bound to get the win.

And you did, causing Felix to triumph over the win. You grinned happily at the others, who accepted their losses.

“I knew you could do it!” Felix gloated, wrapped his arms around you. As you felt your feet lift off of the ground, you quickly pulled yourself away from him and planted your feet back on the ground.

Felix’ expression turned into that of concern, wondering why you seemed uncomfortable.

“Are you okay, darling?” He asked. You noticed the others were watching and you felt even more nervous.

“I'm fine, just,” you lowered your voice, not wanting the others to hear, “please don't lift me.”

Seungmin

It was a few days after you broke your leg, confined to your bed or crutches until you could get the cast off.

Seungmin was there for you when you broke your leg, he was there for you in the hospital, and he was there for you everyday to check on you.

“Don't try to stand! If you need anything, I will get it for you.” Seungmin said sternly, rushing to your side and gently pushing you back onto your bed, careful not to hurt you.

“But—”

“Nope, what do you need? Water? Are you hungry? Bored?” Seungmin asked, prepared to get anything you asked for.

“Bathroom.” You sheepishly answered, knowing you shouldn't feel embarrassed but did anyway.

Seungmin nodded, “okay. I'll carry you.”

He put one are under your knees and the other securely around your back. You immediately got nervous and shook your head.

“No, no, stop! Don't,” you paused, seeing the confusion and concern on his face. “Please, don't lift me…”

Seungmin removed his arms and nodded, not wanting to make you uncomfortable in anyway.

“Okay.” He reached for your crutches and held them steady for you until you managed to stand up from the bed yourself, still towering over him even slightly hunched over.

“Let me spot you on the way there?”

This, you were fine with.

I.N

“What if I picked you up?” Jeongin suggested, see as neither of you could reach the back of the highest shelf for the snacks that had gotten pushed back.

“What if you don't?” You gave him a quick grin before trying to reach them again, attempting to use your height to your advantage.

“Maybe I can help you reach them if—”

“Jeongin, no.” You cut him off, grunting as you still struggled. You even started to consider letting him lift you, even if it would only help your fingers graze the package.

“Fine.” You sighed, growing more nervous now that you've granted him permission to lift you.

“seriously?” Jeongin hesitated, waiting for a confirmation that you're allowing him.

You didn't speak for a second, thinking it over.

“… Seriously. Go ahead.” You muttered, sticking your arm to the top shelf. Jeongin came behind you and wrapped his arms around you, lifting you slightly— just enough for you to grasp the package of snacks you two were craving, and pulled them down with you as Jeongin let go of you.

[lady-raziel]

I feel like you are missing the forest for the trees on the fanfic thing just because you keep insisting that there is good fanfic out there and pretty much nothing else. Like yeah obviously. But also bad fanfic has merit, has purpose. Fanfiction provides a relatively low risk space for people to experiment and learn how to write. How many Bad Fanfics are written when people are like 13?

Hello! I've included your second ask as a screencap so I can respond at the same time.

I agree with you, quite a lot actually. I think maybe these comments come from the fact that I could have made it much more explicit in my other post that part of "finding what you like" in fanfic means reading and enjoying stuff that isn't perhaps the best written, for whatever reason. Maybe the author struggled experimenting with characterization or narrative arc, but the idea of their story is unique and cool enough to read anyway. Maybe the author struggled with formatting, or some other thing that makes it hard to read. The important other aspect of consuming fanfiction (and media in general, but that's it's own post) that I didn't really touch on to keep an already long post from getting longer (but should have, if you're thinking I'm out here saying I think people should only read 'good' fanfics) is getting comfortable with engaging with things that bring you enjoyment even if others think they are 'bad.'

I don't really think I've been trying to imply that there are only the "quality" fanfics worth reading and everything else is just shit, but I can see how that might have come across given the way I pointed to how some fics go the extra mile as an example of why it's wrong to characterize all fics as badly written. I think maybe we're talking in different directions about two conversations within fanfic discourse that can coexist with one another. My previous post was more about people who disregard ALL fanfic because some of it is, in their opinion, poorly written, and how this may come from not engaging with the medium. What you're really getting at with these asks is the idea that all fanfic has merit in some form.

And you are right! People's efforts to put themselves out there and try writing, whether they are 13 or 30, and crucially regardless of whether or not their writing skill ever improves, have value! To me, it's not really even a question of 'writing bad stuff to get good later.' It's more of 'all attempts at creativity have inherent value.' Someone's bravery to post their fic as a teenager should be applauded just as much as a seasoned fic writer who's been doing this for a long time.

I think we are both on the same page when it comes to understanding why all this matters. I could have made the underlying point of 'fanfic is worth reading if you decide its worth reading' much clearer in what I wrote earlier, and I'm sorry about that!

[astroboyanalysis]

7. The Greatest Robot on Earth

oh boy here we go

As a warning, this liveblog may take me multiple days (or like, a week, I literally don't know) to get all the reblogs on. The way you will know I am truly done is 1. I will say so on that reblog above the readmore and 2. I will post the next story. Won't do that until I'm done with this one, obviously.

Let's get started.

(I begin the first panel and am immediately affronted with what I must acknowledge is racism) ah

I am not the best person to speak on this. I am also likely not the first (although a quick google search has not revealed essays to me) to see this and recognize its heavy anti-arab racism and caricature. Because I am not the best person to speak on this, aside from pointing out that I do in fact recognize this and asking that you as the reader of this blog also recognize this, there is not much I am planning to discuss on it. I can't imagine there's much that hasn't already been said. It was wrong to portray a person or culture this way then, and it's wrong now. That's all I'll say for now.

Glad he has such a convenient visual for us. Also, I'm so fond of these robot designs. I love Pluto but boy are these silly and fun.

This sounds both normal to want and achievable as a goal, yeah

This is one of those just actually horrific moments, lmao. The gore of it all. The fact that his horns seem made to simply pass current through whatever touches them, or to arc electricity almost, is just wild. If I'm understanding the visual correctly and its meant to bring forward arcs of electricity like a taser, but at such a large scale, I'm fairly certain it would simply melt one of these robots if it didn't blow them up.

I'm glad we've moved past this visual.

I am somewhat curious if it was meant to be received as funny at the time. It must have been, right...?

Atom's characterization in the original manga is so starkly different to how its developed over time (and especially with multiple authors at this point). He's so ready to fight and doesn't stop to think at all - I'm so fond of the (cough, 2003, cough) idealistic and pacifistic Atom who only fights when there is no choice we've come to love now. The parallels between his appearance (childlike) and his views on the world (naive) are clear and the way that clashes with the events in the world around him and pushes him into these really difficult situations is just so much more compelling to me, idk. I really do love the "I don't want to fight you, I want to help you, I want to be your friend" (and actually meaning it) approach.

Some of what I really love about Astro Boy is that Atom's idealism has truth to it, but it puts him in conflict with others. The truth is somewhere in the idea that everyone has a right to exist, that everyone has value, that robots and humans can coexist - But just because it's true doesn't mean it's uncontroversial, and his existence being in opposition to others interests is what pushes him to make hard decisions. He's being shown again and again these conflicts that arise when humans make robots with bad intentions, when humans mistreat robots, when they try to live together, etc. etc., but his childlike and naive approach to the world LETS him keep hope that the better future he believes in will come to pass. His permanent youth is paralleled by his permanent optimism and the fact that he simply won't become jaded - or at least, not for long.

Gosh I can't wait to get to 2003 again.

I could talk about how the antidote to apathy and becoming overwhelmed with the horrors of the world is in what kids bring to the table forever. But it's all there, isn't it?

Anyway "I'll teach you to make a fool of me" while being inches away from certain death is very funny. "You think that's funny? I'm about to be hilarious"

Can't argue with that!

I love when Ochanomizu gets to have a moment like this.

This moment directly parallels something Atom said earlier, actually:

Anyway. "If it was only about strength" is a very important quote here and I'll probably come back to it at the end of the story. He really sums it all up right at the beginning though. What a good father figure. Although he does say ""only"" 100,000 horsepower which seems silly.

Uran what the hell lmao. He's clearly upset why are you egging him on like that.

Ok I do love how angry and ashamed he is here. The Atom we see in this comic specifically seems to base a lot of his value on his ability to win a fight through brute strength, which is kind of interesting. It's also interesting when we see this sort of character be so submissive to authority - It indicates there's a heirarchy beyond strength that they do have to acknowledge (social capital, respect of elders, something in there), yet they value strength so highly maybe because it's the heirarchy they can control, somewhat. And yet here he's been told he's not allowed to get stronger to win.

(Guy that likes bugs) I'm getting some real bugs vibes from North #2's design

He's shaped like a praying mantis to me, sort of. I'm about to say the same thing when we see Gesicht as well, but he looks more like a fly.

The idea of this being impersonal is very strange to me, but also very compelling. I will ignore how much I love Pluto's approach to this manga because I'm not commenting on differences here, and I'm just going to talk about it as its own characterization. Like a normal person.

Why would Pluto have any amount of hatred towards the robots he's meant to destroy? They're more alike him than the one commanding him to kill them. There's a kind of tragedy in this, I suppose - although he's not particularly against hurting them, either. But the fact he feels a need to tell them it's not personal is interesting.

Uran also having the same idea of Atom's value that he himself does, but having very little care for Ochanomizu's wisdom on the matter (while Atom dejectedly accepts it as fact) puts them in conflict here - She expects more of him than he's showing - Why is he bowing down now? But Atom also values his own niceties, his deference to power, and his acceptance of the authority of the one who, in a way, owns him.

We do see that Ochanomizu tells Atom he's free in the first comic, yet Atom continues to treat Professor Ochanomizu as if he created him, and values his authority above all else. As of yet, we haven't seen him directly disagree with Professor Ochanomizu or his authority, and he does act basically the way any owned robot (or a child born to a parent) would (seems to stick around Ochanomizu, listens to what he says and obeys, etc.), just with far more freedoms and independence.

Basically, in this first iteration, their relationship is very difficult for me to parse out. He's certainly paternal, he's certainly a guiding figure, and he certainly has authority over Atom that Atom does not question, but Atom is given a full family unit outside of the Professor, and the Professor is not his creator.

We have not (yet) seen a reason for Atom to understand that Ochanomizu's authority is earned, like, for example, him disobeying and then finding that Ochanomizu was right all along. This iteration of Atom lacks the tendency of children to push boundaries or to think independently, it seems.

her pajamas are just so cute

CONFIRMED they're pants in this iteration and not a permanent part of his body.

Great question, Uran! It'd be awesome if we had any introduction to you or your creation before reading this comic so that this would strike us in any way at all. But alas, that is not the order of the omnibus.

Still, she has a good point as far as we're concerned. Why didn't he do that? Why aren't there a bunch of Atoms flying around all the time? I'm curious if the manga itself will actually answer this.

Pluto himself is so deeply interesting to me. He does smile while he fights the robots he's been ordered to fight, and while he kills them, and yet he seems to value robots in general on a basic level. He made it clear it was not a personal issue and was because he was ordered to, but it's still interesting to me that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other about violence. He doesn't like it enough to enact it when he hasn't been ordered to.

Ochanomizu has the authority to Forbid Atom from fighting. It's clear Atom is choosing not to, at Ochanomizu's request, so taking a hostage to force him into it also indicates to me that it's a choice to obey that can be overriden if Atom wills it (and that, without this motivation, he simply doesn't, or prefers to defer to Ochanomizu out of respect, obligation, or otherwise).

"Baby sister" is so cute considering that she never was a baby

His kindness.... What made him like that. I do love him so much

I do love that Atom's mercy plays a major role here. I think it's interesting that Pluto asks in the first place.

"That's what I was designed to do" is an answer that isn't immediately rebuffed by Atom with anything about freedom to choose your path or anything. He seems to mostly stay quiet on what other robots do in their positions, from what we've seen, and doesn't particularly care to help anyone liberate themselves if they don't already want it in the first place.

Can any Astro Boy scholars let me know what the original text says in Japanese and what the meaning of the word used is? Tomboy just seems so strange here and I'm curious how faithful the translation is to the original text. I'm not even sure how to go about finding a copy of the story in Japanese, frankly, because it's so old.

But why....? His father doesn't even seem to have his own take on this or care that it's dangerous, it's all about the fact that Ochanomizu told him to.

He's just very flylike to me

Again. horrific.

Okay I don't have anything to say but Cobalt's really cute in this panel. Anyway I'll continue this in a reblog because I've run out of images!

[blainecus]

In Love in Paradise, I thought Odysseus was cut off in saying, "I made a mistake," instead of crying for "Athena"

knowing Jorge loves doing throwbacks and tie-ins with other songs, I truly believed at the time this was a callback to Different Beast when a newly changed Odysseus commanded a slow death for the sirens

Obviously I heard it wrong, but

"Hearing" him try to say "I made a mistake" had me gasp

And here's why:

(Be forewarned, I have some fun and deep dive lol)

Distracted with cleaning while listening to the Wisdom Saga for the first time (couldn't stay for whole livestream), I wasn't paying close attention to the screen

and when Odysseus screamed out "Athena!" on the cliff, I had initially thought he had broken down and yelled out in defeat, "I made a--" which was meant to finish with "mistake"

Immediately I thought back to Different Beast

[SIRENS] Spare us Oh, spare us please

[ODYSSEUS] Why? So you can kill the next group of sailors in this part of the sea? Nah, you wouldn't have spared me I made a mistake like this, it almost cost my life I can't take more risks of not seeing my wife Cut off their tails! We're ending this now Throw their bodies back in the water Let them drown

Throughout their journey, Odysseus had two goals in mind: get home and everyone make it back alive.

He would try to lead by his heart to accomplish this, but that ended in death and severed bonds. So despite good intentions, Odysseus saw his actions as naive mistakes and drew the personal conclusion that these two objectives could not coexist and continuing down this path would have him achieve neither.

So to accomplish at least one and partially another, he became a ruthless Monster that ruled without mercy, making choices like drowning a whole group of sirens and sacrificing 6 of his own brothers-in-arms to Scylla. He was now led by bloodthirsty rage and a bone hungry need to get back to his family.

He made these choices in belief that this was the right way, that this is what he should have been doing all along.

(It's interesting actually how he changed his strategy to mitigate costs, but all he did was was eliminate his caring that anymore costs were made.)

(Deep down too I want to believe though that there was still a sliver left of Ody that felt wrong in what he had become, especially seen/heard in the sound of his voice in Thunder Bringer when he chooses his life over the crew)

We reach Mutiny and the metamorphosis of Odysseus' character turning into a full-blown monster is displayed when he announces he won't let even Eurylochus, his best friend, get in his way. The song is written to strongly suggest that they are in a physical fight and at this confession, Odysseus is basically saying he will tear down Eurylochus, maybe even end his life, just to achieve his now individualistic goal to "get home."

Odysseus' reasoning for his actions has shifted his belief that none of what he does now is a mistake if it means he gets back alive to his wife and son.

(It's sooooooo interesting too when you look at this transition broken down incident by incident: kill the sirens (looking out for all of the crew, we don't want another run-in with the sirens) -> sacrifice 6 men to Scylla (sacrificing few for the many) -> willingly fight Eury and give up the whole crew to Zeus (just me, myself, and i))

I will note that while Odysseus is now a complete monster in both Mutiny and Thunder Bringer, I believe that there is a slight (but powerful) difference between the two songs. Odysseus does not hesitate to fight his comrade for selfish gain in Mutiny (loss of his humanity), but Odysseus quivers, begs, and cries when sentencing all his shipmates to death in Thunder Bringer (his humanity still remains! but his friends are now dead boo)

NOW. We come to Love in Paradise!!

We can all only imagine what Odysseus endured while trapped on that island with Calypso. What was broken inside that man was impossibly broken even further, and now it has leaked entirely through his pores, the exhaustion the pain the tortured spirit, painting his whole exterior clear as the eye can see on a sunny day but yet while standing in a storm at cliff's edge, ready to do something to end it all.

[CALYPSO, spoken] Odysseus?

Everything, everything from before is tearing apart this man's mind,

[ODYSSEUS] All I hear are screams...

[CALYPSO, spoken] Ody, get away from the ledge!

Everything he's endured,

[ODYSSEUS] You don't know what I've gone through! You don't know what I've sacrificed,

All that he's witnessed with unblinking eyes, each plea and yell and cry he's heard rung in his ears, everything that has befell him and worse befallen others, these 7 long years, all due to his own actions, all due to his great many many mistakes.

[ODYSSEUS] Every comrade I long knew, Every friend, I saw them die. And all I hear are screams...

Cue Calypso trying to talk him down with gentle words and phrases, Odysseus barely tuning her out as he fights all the yells whispers shadows in his head

This is my own creative spin, but while listening back on all the voices of those he's lost (I wanna selfishly add into the mix too Athena's voice when they said their last goodbyes), he's not thinking of how he should have been craftier, or wiser, or stronger in his role as a monster against a sea witch, starving shipmates, and a wicked God. He's not thinking where or when he should have sooner turned colder, so as to spare his men from turning into pigs, so as to avoid Poseidon's wrath that sent soldiers to their watery graves, so as to save his best friend from entering the swinging path of a giant club. He's not thinking why he didn't bury all emotions and sentiment to keep him from losing the mentorship of a wise, warrior Goddess.

He isn't cursing himself for holding on as long as he did to his humanity. After the pain he has endured, from all that he's lost, he's remorseful for giving his humanity up at all.

I know that you're tired of the war and bloodshed

I was. I am. Please.

[CALYPSO] I love you, my dear, I love our time here. Life would be so much worse,

Odysseus squeezing his vision shut, "Just let me close my eyes!..."

[CALYPSO] If you had died. Please stay from away from harm!

Tell me, is this how we're supposed to live?

No. Enough, no more.

[CALYPSO] Stay in my open arms!

He laments again, "All I hear are--"

[POLITES] This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms

Polites.

His loved ones, their voices and words that haunt him, join alongside. Eurylochus, Mom, Athena, members of his crew, each distinct but deafeningly loud.

[POLITES] Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart

He was right, Odysseus thinks as his mind crumbles from all he's ultimately lost, Polites was right.

Death was unavoidable. No future comes fully prepared for. Cold-heartedness hadn't kept him and others any safer than compassion and benevolence had. But while the latter softened the hardships, the former left him stripped, bare, bloodied, bruised, and irreparably broken.

This error in choice cost him all life.

And so he screams under the crushing weight of realization and mind-breaking defeat,

"I MADE A--"

--

Across the cosmos, Athena hears her old friend's soul shatter in that last spoken word, and knows, "He needs my help."

[theia-eos]

How old do you think the dragon laguz are?

I'd like to preface this answer by, an answer to this question will vary from person to person, as there is no hard set answer given and so the answer depends on how you want to interpret various canon and canon-adjacent facts (Canon facts being explicitly what is contained within the games and nothing more, canon-adjacent coming from artbooks or developer interviews and such things).

I've already explained in depth how I get to my interpretation here, but the basic gist is that the canon-adjacent chart that's commonly passed around as "canon aging" comes from pre-development of FE9 and it: contradicts canon facts; contradicts things the devs say in interviews post RD; and contradicts the hawks' designed ages in the same art book. Therefore, I mostly throw it out when I'm setting up how laguz age within my own interpretation of the age of various laguz and Branded within the games. That's not to say other people who use it, or people who came up with their own ideas, are wrong, but I have my own opinion and they have theirs and we can coexist.

But you asked me, and so I will provide my interpretation. The tl;dr for quick reference:

Dheginsea: 862 in FE9; 865 in FE10

Rajaion: 365 in FE9

Almedha: 304 in FE10

Kurthnaga: 103 in FE9; 106 in FE10

Ena: 233 in FE9; 236 in FE10

Nasir: 563 in FE9; 566 in FE10

Gareth: 451 in FE9; 454 in FE10

More info and details about how I arrived at these answers are below, but it is according to the detailed chart I provided here when going over how I think laguz likely age.

Dheginsea: Since the Pact with Ashera's heroes occurs in the year 131 BT ("Before Theocracy" which is a term being made up by me to function as BC/BCE does IRL), and the flood occurs in the year 155 BT, and the games occur during 645 BE ("Beginion Era" which is used by Almedha in RD) and 648 BE, and Dheginsea is designed to appear around 50 for a dragon, my best guess is that he was born around 217 BT, and therefore around 86 when the pact was formed and 862/865 in the games. (According to my timeframe of laguz aging, he was about the equivalent of 16 during the war against Yune. Young, sure, but Ike is 17 in FE9, so I'm chill with this).

Rajaion: Well, he was fun, because in his profile, he is designed to appear around 23, but Almedha, his younger sister, is designed to appear around 26, so one of those had to go, and it was Rajaion's designed age. With the freedom to pick my own age for him, I settled on a rough equivalent of 30, meaning that he was born around 280 BE and is around 365 years old in FE9, simply because I don't think dragons are having kids back to back to back seeing how long Ena is pregnant for (anywhere from ~4 to ~23 years, and I'm siding on the ~23 end of things).

Almedha: As stated above, Almedha is designed to be around 26, therefore I set her to being born around 344 BE, with an age of around 304 years old in FE10.

Kurthnaga: We do have, per canon, Kurthnaga is at least 100 years of age, so with him being designed to appear around 17 and the canon facts in mind, I see him being born around 542 BE with a rough age of 103/106 in the games, as it appears the Japanese description of his age is "roughly 100" (ああ見えて、ざっと１００年は生きているはずだ, and I am, as always, using Google Translate, so I am unsure of the accuracy of this translation), whereas the localization says "more than 100" and 103 is true on both counts.

Ena: While she was designed to appear around 18, that would only make her around 122, which just bothers me thinking about the fact that she and Rajaion were an item at least 20 years before the game, if not earlier (making her 16-17ish). Therefore, I decided that she was born around 412 BE, was around 233/236 years old in the games with an equivalent age of 23. It makes me feel better.

Nasir: He has a designed age of around 32, but that would only make him around 414 years old, or 181 years older than Ena, which is not grampa age (292 years older, while at least possible, is also not really grampa age for dragons, if I had stuck with the looking 18 thing for Ena). Therefore I set him to being born around 82 BE, giving him an age of 563/566 years of age in the games, and an equivalent age of 38, and he would be 330 years older than Ena which would allow him and his child to get to around 165 years old each before having a child (20-21ish) and not bothering me with how long dragon pregnancies seem to take.

Gareth: Thank Ashunera, we are finally no longer dealing with anyone who has to account for Rajaion and Ena's relationship. He has a designed age of around 35, so I set him to being born around 194 BE with an age of around 451/454 in the games.

[abby118]

Originally, I didn't want to make a post about this, but some of you really need to learn how to take things less seriously. I am tired of seeing a silly post, only for OP to be practically bullied for what they'd said, and subsequently drowned in discourse.

And don't get me wrong, I am all up for metas and meaningful discussions, but not every single thing in a fandom is meant to be elaborately thought out and flawless. Sometimes, people just want to make a crack post, or say something when they're not exactly in the mood to analyse every detail and articulate their thoughts perfectly, and that's okay. Shocker, I know. It doesn't automatically mean that they are disrespecting the source material, nor making fun of you, or being stupid. Let people have fun. This is not meant to be an exam.

I do agree that educating others when they might not know everything (yet) is all well and within reason, but that can be done without condescention. And seeing someone, you know is familiar with the content they post about, making a non-serious post that is meant to be taken light-heartedly, and then unnecessarily nitpicking is just discouraging.

I often see complaints about fandoms losing engagement and turning into a bitter mess, but why is that? We used to be able to make jokes and talk about serious things equally. Both are important, and there are places and times for each. These two things can coexist.

As someone who's been in the same fandom for over a decade, I have seen this shift, and it's leeching the fun out of fan spaces. If it continues this way, soon you will have no people to interact with, and the ones who will stay will probably be too afraid of saying anything that might be taken the wrong way.

[katyspersonal]

If I had a nickel for every time a person that quite seriously helped with public slandering and humiliating me for fake ass reasons, supported drastically ableist stance on me and took the side of my stalker (that also I remind you bullied other fans for headcanons) then got upset and "insulted" at the fact that I vented about how much they hurt me and my friends, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but what the actual fuck.

Like... Maybe consider not spyoning on a blog of a person that "makes you uncomfy"? You will be happier if you don't check up on things and people you hate, seriously. And if you do, why you act so shocked that I express my pain and disapproval of your actions and mindset, the very same that hurt me and my friends? In fact, why DOES it hurt you to learn what I think and feel after your words and actions? Why do you CARE about feelings and opinion of a person you despise and disrespect so much that you deemed them worthy of all this, and even their friends deserve to be hurt by association? Like... NOW you consider my feelings? Of course I fucking disapprove of backstabbing me and my friends after over month of pretending to forgive me. Of course I fucking disapprove admission that you are willing to help slandering and humiliating a person that you were not even scared and hurt by. I wrongly assumed that if you hated me that much, I must have actually done something wrong, but now I know I still didn't because you admitted that you were willing to harm someone and even shun their friends without even as much as hard feelings, because they are a "heretic"?

Is what hurts that I had very high opinion on you and then flipped on a dime when something drastic came out? But isn't it the same way for you? Didn't you both like my blog and thought I was cool and then one day it was over? I think it is safe to assume that unfortunately it can work like that. And everything can be fixed and worked into neutrality and 'cold peace' coexistence, but you don't want that. You'd rather keep getting upset and self-isolate from everyone that likes my company, or isolate them from me, so this hole just keeps growing and growing and all good things that could have been keep falling into it. Or you really expect me to leave just because of all this? When I was a kid and a teen and a bit of a young adult, I've dealed with bullying to the point of having literal stones thrown into me, and never once I avoided the places where it was happening. Because it made no logical sense that some jerks could decide who belongs or not belongs in a place that is for everyone. I tried to enjoy my time anyway. I was not, listening and enduring all that, but I tried. Sometimes I'd get really bad for me and I'd snap and fight back, and I remember they were scared when I did because anger of cornered rat is a terrifying thing you know? One time it got especially bad with one of them and I snatched the bat from her hands and smacked HER over the face, worse than she hurt me but I've had enough. Then finally adults bothered to get involved, and what I received from the bullies was "but why didn't she just leave this area? :(" Why the question is "why won't you go away?" instead of "why I feel entitled to bully out a person that didn't even do anything bad to me but just makes me uncomfy with not being like us?"

In the end, I walked a full circle. Some autists just have a power of bringing out the worst in people with how much they don't understand unspoken social cues, cultural rifts, even the language and semantics often times. I have a friend with similar problem, he had a bad luck of using combination of words that make people go blind from rage without meaning to, and you find out he actually made a perfect logical sense after talking to him for context and reasoning. I thought it was a curse, but it is a blessing. I decided I will never fix what is "wrong" with me, if it really helped to separate fakers from real ones in such a short time. Without it, I'd be friends with traitors, cowards, bullies, fools, conformists and stalkers. And the worst part, I would not ever learn it.

Yet again: you are NOT harmed by me venting in MY blog about how I was hurt by your words and actions. If you two were okay with slander and public humiliation of someone and their friends, sure you must be okay with someone venting about actual harm. Or else you have double standards. You are not supposed to care about what I think about you either, you are supposed to crawl into your Discord groups to share screenshots of my posts and mock me there for "being so butthurt" like your kind of people always does. And if you do not want me to hold grudges, you've had enough chances to neutralize me. I was not having you blocked for a good reason. But you chose to keep throwing stones. Too bad for you, I've been trained for this shit, when your spoiled soft asses cry harm and trauma over a single slightly negative experience. Heck, over even reading something you don't like!

Here is a thing: I do not namedrop you. I only namedropped two people when it was relevant, and only because they made themselves public first so I didn't "out" them. And if some people read "he reblogged posts bullying me 50 times too often and was too eager to hate on me, like to the point it was scary" and instantly think of you, then consider what reputation you have. Why? Why? Why you'd throw me (and. my. FRIENDS.) to the wolves and then get angry that I react? Tell me why! It is your problem that you are willing to harm people willy-nilly without considering their feelings or bothering to actually learn whether they deserve stalking and bullying and their friends getting collateral damage, and in the end you don't even have the honor to be genuinely mad and scared as your motivation for it. It is """not personal""". So getting unhealthy obsession with helping slandering me was "not personal"? So acting oh-so-supportive towards my friend who got to talk about her identity and then instantly dropping her upon learning she was interacting with me, after previously having been thankful to her for being one of the first to support YOU, was "not personal"? And the worst thing, I believe it. This is just your Tiktok generation of cruel, overly-judgemental people. You did not get to learn about real life and real relationship and real complexities, and you never will. And I was such a fool doubting myself thinking that you were scared of me.

So tell me why. Tell me why NOW you care what I think of you? Why you care that I vent in MY blog, without namedropping? Why you care what I say and feel if I am nothing but a name of "heretic" to block and pass along for you, a person you don't know and don't think has feelings and nuance worthy of considering before mistreating? Why do you CARE about my opinion? Is this because I effects your self-image? But I am just a stupid bigot in your eyes, so how can my opinion have any power or credibility for you? Are you scared that people will find out? But I do not namedrop! Are you upset that "I don't know you" to say such things? But you do not know ME, and yet that didn't stop you from accepting and helping to spread extremely hateful and uncharitable headcanons about my personality, beliefs and motives your friends crafted, so clearly you are okay with "saying things"? Why? TELL ME WHY! Tell me how it is supposed to hurt you, because it does NOT! The worst I can do is to yell at you and run away crying, and I didn't even do THAT!

Unless I just did, because yet again you decided to sneak around and check my blog. Dude, you hate acknowledging my existence to you point of abandoning mutuals that answer my asks, so why would you check my blog? Just don't do that? Just not check it? There were 4 coincidences about your art that made me think that you were snooping on my content, I am helpful with the lore I know, and took some stuff for inspiration, and one time was passively-aggressive about how I drew a certain female character. But I've got a relief that no, they were all coincidences, and you were not stalking me. So now I have to worry about it again? So I should give into my paranoia, because there was a reason in the end?

Just go away, okay? Just go away. The alter that grew from guilt and pain, and admiration, that you've triggered, is dead, anyhow. It was painful and felt like getting the whole entirety erased and written again, but it's done, so you don't have to worry about it either. Just not sneak on a person you dislike, because, again, me venting without namedropping won't effect you, nor you should care what "just another heretic" thinks. I am not a human for people like you, after all your drama-hungry kind does, and stop pretending that I am. My friends aren't either, they are just "traitors" that refuse to cooperate for your group, and I hate every single conformist bastard that blocked them by association. Not you, them. I won't have a gaslighting of "it is not us vs them!!!!" when actions speak louder than words, and all effected people know what they did.

So far I do not have an incentive to stop digging myself deeper into a hole of "wronged intellectual" self-image, which is a bold claim for someone with quite large intellectual disability as myself, I know. But none of this makes any sense, and doubting that maybe I just don't get something about people availed me nothing. I do get it, society IS just as bad as it seems, deny it or not.