#PowerLust

[readersmagnet]

Lucius, a renowned soldier from Rome, is conflicted between serving Caesar and loathing the empire's power lust. A story of a soldier facing a fateful reassignment. His father, taken early, instilled in him concepts not Roman, such as hatred of slavery and a focus on respect.

Will he uncover the truth that will change him and the entire empire? Visit https://www.revmichaelhlavery.com/ to read more.

[prince-liest]

the Emperor: if you allow it, it will transform you into a greater being! open your mind, commune with the -

me, not even finishing reading the options: EAT IT

[deadrlngers]

the fact that gortash has a perfect balance between moral lacking tyrant and whimsy tacky man. That is why he bewitched me

[velvet4510]

There’s something incredible about how Middle-Earth was tormented by a master-servant team connected by the bonds of shared hatred and powerlust … and then Middle-Earth was later saved by another master-servant team connected by the bonds of shared love and humility. Really incredible.

[tobernaut]

Thoughts on Unholy Alliance so far! Bishop lore related spoilers ahead. No co-op spoilers.

If there's one thing the bishop quests showed me, it's that the bishops have not only come to terms with their defeat, but have totally accepted it in its entirety.

Not only this, but they've forgiven each other. Or at least they've begun to.

They refer to the cult as home. They don't feel that their respective realms are, well, their realms any more. It makes sense. Since they're not gods any more, the only home they have are each other. They've realized this, and they're chill with it now.

Even NARINDER is okay with this. I mean, it was clearly him who got the family together to propose to the lamb give lamb his relic. They wouldn't have done that if they hated each other, and they clearly don't. Each of the bishops in their own way talks about how they either didn't want to do what they did or didn't realize the full implications of it. Even Narinder, in his own standoffish way, doesn't blame them any more.

They all hurt each other. Shamura out of love, Kallamar out of fear, Heket out of duty, Leshy out of ignorance, and Narinder out of powerlust. They hurt The Lamb for these reasons as well, and they clearly feel bad for that.

Heket talks about how they were truly happy as a family. I think we all assumed this, but it just goes to show that nothing done was done with malicious intent. The Bishops were afraid they would lose power and die if Narinder started bringing mortals back to life. In a way, they did. They seemingly reacted out of fear and self preservation. Not only self preservation, though. They had to sacrifice each other.

Anyway, there's so much to analyze in this update and I know I'm only reaching the surface. I can't help it, though. I love when we get to see the bishops real personalities, each one of them. All this content has been a feast and I'm so excited to play more, make some art, and see what everyone thinks of it all.

[punkeropercyjackson]

In addition to not changing him into a poser,punk suits Percy better as the alternative subculture and political activism it is and not in-name only.Diy,thirft stores,underground parties and shows,constant petty crime,a lot of other staple punk hobbies,punk/metal,indie media and accurate punk fashion are way more Percy's style than the 'punk' but not really tastes and aesthetics and lbr,personality in dark Percy and those stupid ass mortal aus and Percy pr*ship spaces.His complete lack of powerlust is a very important fascet of what good punk rep he is,he's psychologically incapable of wanting authority or status and combined with his extremely impressive track record of direct action and zero care for conformity,he's canonically an anarchist and 'The sea does not like to be restrained' was a reference to this

So when you strip him of these traits,then he's no longer a punk and he shouldn't be called a punk.He's a sellout.By joining the gods,he isn't rebelling against anyone,because that's what everyone wanted for him from the start,in the sense they tried to convince him so bad they're actually the good guys but he never bought into it(since he's anti-capitalism /silly).Goes for Luke too,who had neither the right idea nor the right methods and was merely a fascist with a god in denial complex.Punk history does involve sexual liberation and exploring your sexuality boldly as a major part but Percy can't do that with men in power and call it 'sticking it to the man' when they ARE the man and it's canon he hates older men for being them so it's contradicting canon to say he ever had crushes on them.It's also more fitting to Percy to be more about exploring his gender in the form of genderqueerness,which has actual grounding in canon for his not cishet identity issues,specifically transfem and bigender/genderfluid

The point of this worddump is:Fanon punk Percy is the most basic edgy white boy with a victim complex shit i've ever seen.Please use real punk things for him,he's the realest real to ever real and he deserves the same

[geekgirles]

Oropo's OVA: Continuing a Trend

So yesterday I rewatched Oropo's OVA in order to make a screenshot compilation of Echo, and while the fact remains that in terms of plot relevance or even narrative choices the special is a hot mess that only provides information for things that, in the great scheme of things, are fairly minor or we already knew about (the markings on Echo's hands being burn scars, Grougal's blindness, how Chibi died, the fact that Oropo manipulated Nox from the Eliacube...), it should be noted that it at least doesn't change the characters' established characterisation.

With the clear exception being Chibi and Grougal, of course.

But when it comes to what would become the Brotherhood of the Forgotten, Oropo and Echo's characterisation is very consistent to what we already saw in season 3.

First and foremost, it's plain to see Oropo's Eliotrope team is his first attempt at replicating the Brotherhood of the Tofu. As every character introduced shares at least some traits, minor or even corrupted as they might be, with Yugo and his friends.

Yugo's traits are divided evenly between Oropo and Sidaire. While the former shares his physical appearance, darker aspects of his personality, and his position as leader of his team; the latter shares his child-like appearance and original position as youngest member of the group.

Echo's character is an amalgamation of Eva and Amalia's. Like Eva, she's one of the most mature and thoughtful members of the team, as well as acting as the Team Mum. Likewise, their personalities are also similar: both are motherly and poised, but can also be aloof and even aggressive under the right circumstances. However, much like Amalia and her relationship with Yugo, she's Oropo's lover and her powers are more supernatural in nature compared to Evangelyne's (I mean, just compare healing, shapeshifting, sand magic, and chlorokinesis and "voo-doo" dolls to above average archery skills and senses...).

Eva is also reflected in Desperia, who, despite her little screentime, seemed to be the most level-headed, rational, and collected member of the group.

Bouillon is a more impulsive and battle-hungry yet less redeemable version of Tristepin, as they both have a tendency to jump headfirst into battle without thinking of the consequences. But, as Oropo said, Bouillon doesn't know how to work in a team, meaning he doesn't share Pinpin's values, such as his sense of honour or care for his friends.

Atone seems to be Adamaï taken to the extreme, as he doesn't let himself be swayed by his emotions (mainly because he just can't feel anything), yet he chooses to follow the much more emotional Oropo out of his own volition.

And lastly, Ripulse seems to have Ruel's flaws (except his greed seems to have been replaced by powerlust), yet none of his redeeming qualities. As he is selfish, self-serving, cowardly, and treacherous.

Interestingly enough, while this serves to establish early on Oropo's desire to have Yugo's life, to be Yugo, it also highlights the same flaws he displayed during season 3. Namely, how he's an overally atrocious judge of character.

Once again, he's allowed a few rotten apples into his basket. As it just wouldn't be wise to have characters like Bouillon and Ripulse near. I'd like to think those two examples are self-explanatory.

On the one hand, Bouillon might be a formidable fighter, but his single-minded focus on battling and inability to "share" with his allies means he just can't be trusted to work well in a group. If you think about it, this ultimately led to his downfall, as he might have stood a much better chance against Grougal if instead of fighting him alone he had allowed his "siblings" to join him, thus, possibly overpowering our favourite black dragon.

And, on the other hand, Ripulse didn't even attempt to hide his treacherous and cowardly nature. But, much like when Adamaï questioned choosing someone as sadistic and deranged as Toxine as the next Sram goddess, Oropo still ignored Sidaire's more than justified distrust of Ripulse, which, if not for Echo, would have cost him dearly.

Sidaire: "You're the most cowardly, Ripulse. When will you get your hands dirty? Ripulse: "As late as possible."

In fact, if you remember, Oropo was genuinely surprised when Chibi turned out to be alive, as his sources had assured him he was long dead. Only for Sidaire to accurately deduce said sources were probably Ripulse, and while he claimed he had always been incompetent, his assassination attempt at the end of the OVA implies he always gives wrong information in hopes of getting Oropo killed or weakened enough to deliver the finishing blow himself.

To make a long story short, one of Oropo's flaws is that he surrounds himself with people that just can't be trusted, thus, endagering his life, that of his truly loyal supporters, and the very goal he strives to achieve.

The other characterisation they managed to nail was Echo's, even though the OVA didn't focus on her nearly as much. To be more specific, it focused on her loyalty to Oropo and how, despite everything, it actually works to the detriment of both of them.

If you think about it, while Echo is indeed staunchly loyal to Oropo and his cause, she's the kind of supporter who just follows her leader blindly, even when rebelling against his wishes once in a while might actually be more beneficial to their goals in the long run.

Once again, the best example of this is Oropo's trust in both Ripulse and Toxine, and how it almost backfired spectacularly on him.

In both cases, it's clear to see Echo is perfectly aware of how neither of them can be trusted, just like she has absolutely no qualms about punishing them or outright getting rid of them if they prove to be more trouble than its worth.

However, it should be pointed out Echo is only willing to reach those extremes if she catches the person in question trying to directly harm her or Oropo. As long as they aren't affected by their actions, they can stay regardless of the danger they pose to everybody else around them.

As I said, Echo's loyalty to Oropo (and probably her love for him contributes to it as well) doesn't manifest in a desire and willingness to do whatever it takes to reach their goal, even if it means going against Oropo's wishes or disagreeing with him. It manifests in almost blind adherence and obedience to him and his wishes.

After all, much like Adamaï and Sidaire, she knew Ripulse and Toxine were trouble and couldn't be trusted, but unlike the former two, she never voiced her opinions to Oropo or even questioned his decision to trust them. Not even after Toxine disregarded their orders and sneaked into her room to kill Eva and Flopin. Instead, she left them to their own devices until they posed a direct threat to her and Oropo.

And that in itself is another major aspect of Echo's character: her inaction and indifference to the wrongs going on around her until they directly affect Oropo or her, despite her insistence that what they're doing is precisely for the sake of the World of Twelve.

Because wasn't that what ultimately caused her to betray Oropo and save the day? The fact that Oropo betrayed her? We all know this. Echo didn't reveal Oropo's plans because she had seen the light or anything like that. She revealed his plans because Oropo had hurt her.

She had no problem with him disposing of the demigods that were no longer useful to him despite insisting they were their children. There was nothing wrong with emotionally manipulating and tormenting the Brotherhood of the Tofu or driving a wedge between Yugo and Adamaï to make sure they wouldn't pose a threat to their plans. And kidnapping children, their pregnant mother, and trying to kill their father was seen as a necessity.

But the moment Oropo revealed she had never been anything but a placeholder for Amalia, the only woman he truly "loved"? Then that's where Echo drew the line, because, deep down, she was always higher up in her list of priorities.

I guess this all comes to show that, even though Oropo's OVA was little more than an excuse to introduce some characters that would have minor roles in season 4 and to have a 40-minutes-long action scene, there are some things that weren't completely butchered by it.

[ardentpoop]

cas’s finest qualities:

bad at everything

bootlicker

permanently tied to The Church

powerlust (unsated) (though he does get to fist sam sometimes)

turns into a worm (his special trick)

[monsterblogging]

I think it's very interesting to compare and contrast Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII. These two installments have so much in common, storywise and thematically. (As I understand it, this might have something to do with FF7's production being pretty rushed.)

In the past these similarities kind of annoyed me - but now I think it's interesting to see how these two stories play these ideas out.

I know there's been some amount of debate over whether FF6's Kefka or FF7's Sephiroth is the "better" villain, and honestly? We should not be pitting these bad boys against each other. Each character embodies a different yet realistic response to the same type of traumatic origin.

Both of these characters are the result of an evil empire's attempt to create the perfect soldier. Both were infused with the essence of other beings to give them great power. In being engineered and groomed to be the perfect weapons, both were dehumanized and denied healthy and loving family relationships. And both of them are depressed as hell.

Kefka's ultimate reaction to this is utter nihilism. He has no vision of a better future, but instead lives for whatever cheap thrills his power can give him. But these acts of violence don't fix his depression, and so he seeks more and more power and ultimately escalates to trying to destroy the world.

I've seen people saying that Kefka isn't a tragic villain, but he 100% is. He didn't have any say in what Emperor Gestahl did to him as a child. He was literally just a little kid. Unfortunately, he ultimately makes himself such a massive problem that there is no choice but to take him down. (The characters actually do try to tell him that his nihilistic worldview is wrong, but he won't hear it. He's just too far gone.)

Sephiroth, on the other hand, is actually seeking a better future. He very much wants to live in a better world than the one created by the capitalist empire that created him. But he's effectively a reactionary who (like all reactionaries) fundamentally misunderstands the problem and disregards a lot of very important nuance. Sephiroth concludes that a better world is only possible if he destroys all of humanity, which he's concluded they collectively deserve for harming the being he believes is his mother.

Each character tries to address their problems in different ways, but both end up repeating the cruelty of the institutions that produced them because they're ultimately just doing what they know. As they become gods (not false gods, not godlike, but actual gods), they come to fully embody the essence of the empires that created them. Each one has different mentalities and motives, but together they show us a very simple truth: that the only endgame of boundless greed and powerlust is the annihilation of everyone.

[narutoonline]

Kakashi - he's the perfect bridge between Naruto's idealistic youth and Madara's cynical powerlust. Every eye-smile, every late arrival to battles ("Sorry, I got lost on the path of life"), every Icha Icha Tactics moment… they all whisper: "Even legends are human." And isn't that why we all keep rewatching his Chidori vs Rasengan clash? Not for the spectacle, but for the man who taught us how to grieve, grow, and never stop trolling our best friends.

[everythingwasalreadypicked]

Mr/Ms Fratricide <3 (+ lil Al)

She is one of my pjo ocs: Hayden Limestone. He is Alabaster's predecessor in terms of being the strongest Hecate kid. Also tries to kill the boy when Al's 8 but you know✨���

Shockingly, fatal flaw of powerlust was indeed fatal for her. Oopsies

[jerreeeeeee]

lydia and edward’s failing was not in becoming liches, nor were they doomed by their circumstances. their mistake was forgetting or disregarding the importance of the love that pushed them there in the first place. because it’s still there; that’s why they aren’t mindless monsters, they’re clearly still sane, if having made evil choices. but they’ve put it aside and devalued it in favor of. well. power hungriness.

i feel like what we see from barry as the red robe is that the danger of lichdom isn’t becoming evil, as if exposure to dark magicks corrupts some kind of tangible moral substance, it’s more of a risk of unraveling and losing yourself and your mind without an anchor to your identity and the bonds that make you up, and hurting people because you’re not yourself anymore. which could take many forms. maybe you’re not actually ‘mad,’ maybe you just… justify your choices differently, cross lines you wouldn’t have before. as cam explains it: “See, if a lich can, um.. can anchor themselves with a powerful enough sort of emotional attachment, then they can sort of maintain their identity and they can maintain their sanity.”

which brings the question of: are edward and lydia ‘unraveled’ liches? we have no baseline to compare to; maybe they were always cruel and greedy and lichdom only afforded them more opportunity, or maybe it did warp their perceptions of things like right and wrong and they’ve become worse. (to this point, something they say when thb make it to the end of wonderland stands out: “this resolve, this desire to do whatever it takes no matter the cost to save yourselves…” and “it was the three of us, surviving against all odds. The world against us.” it certainly seems to me like edward and lydia had a very difficult life, and turned to necromancy, lichdom, and then further, wonderland, out of a desire to protect themselves, collecting power in pursuit of security and safety). they’re not fully gone, they still have their wits about them, but it has to be said that they’ve, to some extent, lost their old selves, because it’s clear that at some point, they cared about each other and keats, but they power themselves now primarily on suffering. those aren’t entirely mutually exclusive, but i’ll elaborate later.

either way, it seems to me that they gave in to the (not uniquely lich, very mortal, but exacerbated by the magical forces at play in lichdom) temptation of cruelty and powerlust, and subsequently lost sight of what makes them themselves, not the other way around. which has interesting implications for barry’s lonely years. they didn’t lose themselves and so became evil, they became evil and so lost themselves (“became evil” being a huge oversimplification). in a similar way to other relic wielders, notably. what was wonderland like before the animus bell, i wonder?

the bond is still there, they still needed each other after all, but lydia is genuinely surprised when she says that. which seems like a far cry from a woman who practiced dangerous magic to save her brother—now she’s surprised, after seeing her twin killed in front of her, that she cares? they’re maybe not entirely unraveled; that may not be a black and white thing, either you’re wholly intact or you’re lost forever, it may be something of an event horizon you can get closer to as you give in to cruelty and isolation, and farther from as you pull yourself together and focus on your bonds. maybe there is eventually a point of no return, but you can get pretty close to it without crossing the threshold.

which, again, the idea that liches unravel as they take actions and so become farther from themselves and their loved ones is really really interesting in the context of barry and lup. did they know that was how it would work? it’s all well and good for edward and lydia—i mean, i’m sure they had to make hard choices, i’m sure it wasn’t an easy descent into the monsters they became, but it all sorta pales in comparison to the choices that barry and lup were already facing even before becoming liches. they already had the fates of worlds in their hands, and they decided to tie their own essences, their own identities, to the hope and faith that they would continue to make the right choices? we see that start to slip with the relics; they start out with good intentions, but lup can’t handle the unintended consequences (because there’s no reason they’d think the relics would even be so dangerous). it all becomes even more dangerous than lichdom seems at first. maybe that’s why taako was so afraid; not because he doubted the strength of lup’s love for him and barry, that it would hold her entire self together, but because he knew she was already so invested in the hard choices they had to make, and this ran the risk of legitimately destroying her if they gave into those more pragmatic, crueler options (options he tended to favor), no matter how much she loves her boys.

and it’s also so interesting to me that lydia is surprised when she does truly unravel. a being built on bonds, and she didn’t realize she was still held together by love for edward? how? wouldn’t you still be able to feel that? it’s a question i’ve had for a while: why do lydia and edward say that suffering is stronger than love when this is demonstrably untrue? willful ignorance? maybe they meant that suffering is easier to extract and farm from other people than love is? maybe suffering is easier to manipulate in the way we see in wonderland, forming clothes and wheels and rooms, whereas love is a magic that works internally rather than in the world?

but honestly i think the actual answer is, they think that because they weren’t able to save keats. their love wasn’t enough. for whatever reason their necromancy failed, and they take it as a failure of love. because if love truly was powerful enough, shouldn’t it have saved him? and it’s a fair question. “have you guys ever witnessed like, a magic that’s kinda more powerful than you could explain? That was kind of born out of a moment of intense passion or emotion?” cam explains liches’ reliance on emotion by evoking the moments of love that did miraculous, magical things: sloane saving hurley, jack creating roswell, etc. we just don’t really have enough information about what happened to keats to say why he died. but i think it’s fair to say the instances we do see of those miraculous bonds are also deeply involved with the Relics.

but anyway, for whatever reason, their love did not save keats, and once their beloved brother died, edward and lydia were left with suffering. their grief for him obscures the fact that they’re still held together by love for each other—and love for keats too, even though he’s gone. love that transcends death is a theme, too. they still remember him and think fondly of him after all this time. that love is still there.

edward and lydia say they became liches because they liked the powers they gained from necromancy. but i have to wonder, did they really become liches so they never had to see each other die, too? and that makes their story all the sadder; they lost their brother, turned to necromancy to try to save him, failed, and became liches so they wouldn’t lose each other. becoming liches condemns them, eventually, to an eternity imprisoned, unable to join the sea of souls and reunite with the brother they did it all for in the first place.

[cherryfennec]

Current lore draft for the Bad End AU

It kickstarts from Bowser kidnapping Peach. Basically events of the first Paper Mario game unfold but in the final battle Mario looses because he's unable to beat starpowered Bowser.

Peach, instead of making the wish to the Stars so they take away Bowsers power, judges the situation and instead wishes to get them all to safety. They retreat, with Mario being rather beat up, and decide to stay low as well as plan how they can get back at him. With time Bowser only grows in strength with the star power, he becomes more and more greedy from all this energy but Peach does still remain as his priority.

Time passess we get to around events of ttyd. So apprently theres this door and its a thousand years old (shocking). Peach wants to discover it because whatever it is hiding might help defeat Bowser. She invites Mario and events of ttyd happen. Mario encounters Doo_liss and gets his body stolen. In the end he's unable to recover it, remaining a shadow and slowly loosing his memories while wandering the land. Peach is used as the Shadow Queen vessel who has her own evil goals in mind. This makes two of the trio.

At some point Bowser and SQ Peach are reunited and there starts their dynamic that I set up.

After all this we roll to the events of spm. (or at least time when it'd unravel)

Count Bleck comes around and makes an offer to the Shadow Queen of 'An artifact of power capable of destroying all worlds.' She's intrigued and agrees to marry Bowser not from love but powerlust. Bowser is wrapped around her little finger so of course he agrees. The wedding comes around and when the Chaos Heart spawns someone starts wrecking havoc and steals it. Can you tell who that someone is?

Few months later and out of nowhere there are rumours of this weird stranger who talks to himself and dissapears without a trace. Shadow Queen manages to meet up with him and with time realises he has the heart, and it's a bit more permanently attached than she'd want... Bowser also apparently says that this guy used to be friends with the princess? Now this just got very interesting.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Trix Week Day 6: The Dark Forest

Summary: After they fall into the Black Willow's tears, Valtor cannot change the Trix back into adults.

Valtor says that he is not a babysitter and that they can show themselves out. 

He had worked for the better part of a month to reverse the reversal that the Black Willow had bestowed upon them. But he says that it isn’t worth the time sink that it has become. That he has sunk too much time already on a task that is futile. “At any rate, you’ll grow up again.” 

That is definitely true but it will take years. 

Exactly a decade. Icy is only eight years old. Darcy is just a few minutes behind. And Stormy is behind by a year.

But Icy and Darcy have been alive for 18 years and Stormy for 17 of them. 

It is with deep dread that Icy realizes that the spell has changed them not just on a physical level but in mind as well. Darcy has probably realized it well before her—she works with the psyche and the mind after all. 

It starts with the stomping of a foot. 

An impulse, really. 

But the impulses become harder to resist.

That is the first of it—a loss of her emotional regulation, not that she was the best at that to begin with. Not that Stormy wasn’t already even worse. It is when Darcy starts whining and throwing temper tantrums that she knows that the three of them are in trouble.

Soon Icy feels herself losing bits of knowledge; lessons that she learned in Cloud Tower, basic spells, chunks of her vocabulary…

Soon Icy starts to find holes in her memories. Details that had once been so vivid, now like to elude her. And Darcy and Stormy have trouble filling them in for her. They lose bits and pieces of their own memories. 

Icy swallows hard. She supposes that she should have seen it coming. That the Black Willow’s tears were more potent than just taking their bodies back several years. Should have known that the tears were potent enough to reverse time fully and completely. 

She likes to think that she has put up a respectable resistance but she can only do so much against such powerful magic. She is fighting a battle that she cannot win. She is only delaying the inevitable. She knows as much when she talks to Stormy who is more or less a child for real.

And maybe it is for the best. 

The three of them, they had promising futures as witches and they had tossed it aside for power. For world domination that had slipped through their fingers. 

Maybe this is what the three of them needed; a chance to start over. A blank slate. 

But the three of them; they are still and always will be who they have always been. Powerlust is still in Icy’s nature as much as a manipulative streak is in Darcy’s and an uncontrollable temper is in Stormy’s. 

But there are things beyond their predispositions, factors outside of their own nature. 

.oOo.

It is dark—this is of no consequence to Darcy. Darcy is rather content here in this place. 

It is raining hard, this bothers Stormy none. Stormy rather enjoys sapling in the puddles.

Nights get quite cold here. Icy sleeps very well.

But there are creatures here. Horrible groaning things. 

Things that scream.

Things that screech.

Things that threaten to pry them out of each other’s arms and into the forest where their eyes can be plucked and harvested. 

Things that give them nightmares.

Things that pull at their hair and leave scratches on their arms and legs. 

Critters that scuttle and crawl over them and try to get in their mouths as they try to sleep.

The forest doesn’t seem to have an end. And the three of them don’t seem to have a sense of direction. They have been wandering for days and their bellies are starting to rumble. Their faces are streaked with dirt and their clothes are muddy, their socks are soggy and it makes their feet all wrinkly. Icy decides that she would rather walk without shoes and socks but that makes stepping on pointy rocks worse than it had been. Regardless, her sisters follow in her lead. At least she thinks that they are sisters, they have been together for as long as she can remember. But she doesn’t remember much.

“I’m really tired, Icy.” Says Stormy rubbing her eyes.

“You’re going to get us out of here, right?” Darcy asks. 

The expect a lot from her. 

They look up to her. Probably because she is the oldest of them. 

And she can’t disappoint them so she tells them that she will and that she already knows the right way to go even if she doesn’t think that it is true. 

It is on the second day, when Stormy starts coughing and sniffling, that they start to doubt her. 

They don’t realize that they have already survived the Dark Forest once.

It is on the third day that they see a ray of light penetrating the holloway. And the two of them follow her towards it.

They don’t realize that they have done this before ten years ago.

They don’t realize that they had already come out of the Dark Forest muddy and hungry and sick and weary. 

This time three frightened little girls emerge from the Dark Forest on a different side. A side with bright rays of sunshine and sweet smelling grass and butterflies and bumblebees to fill it. This time three terrified children find themselves shaking and crying at the gates of Alfea college.

[pielove123clan]

its akward having to walk around the house like normal with my parents when my brains having a manic gore moment. not because of anything they've done, just mismatched horemones or lust. its just lust honestly. its just powerlust.

[troutwithfur]

Scenes in Laputa: Castle in the Sky and why i love them

This one is an obvious first purely bc it sums Muska's entire character so perfectly. All he thinks about is Laputa and its power. He thinks of it more than it truly exists. I would call this obsession, but obsession isn't a permanent state of mind. The Laputa he sees only exists in his mind. A whole kingdom suspended in air and all he sees is the cannon at the bottom. The light did point to Laputa. His Laputa.

Another good Muska scene is when Laputa is destroying itself and he screams about how he can't see. While he was blinded by the spell Pazu and Sheeta preformed, I think this means more. In a sense, he's always been blind. He never saw why Laputa was abandoned. He couldn't see the power it possessed and why any person with the most basic sense of empathy would abandon it to the winds. Not only that, this happens just after he lets Pazu and Sheeta talk together for 3 minutes. He was so powerlust that he couldn't see how this would be his downfall. Muska has eyes and saw everything just well, but that's the exact issue. He saw, but he couldn't see. Justly, he dies blinded. His eyes were worthless to him.

A more straightforward scene I like is when Pazu sees his father & his airship in the Dragon's Lair. After this, Pazu mouths something (idk what bc it's probably in japanese and I don't speak that). This is never brought up, later, but I think it's supposed to be Pazu reassuring himself. He saw that his father was able to do the impossible, so he can too.

Liked this one too, where Sheeta & Pazu see just how consumed Laputa is by nature. This castle isn't just abandoned abandoned, it's have-its-own-seas-able-to-support-schools-of-fish abandoned. Everything Laputa was just ended up being the stone the ecosystem built around it. This castle in the sky doesn't belong to man anymore. This symbol of pure power was taken over by nature, as all of man's creation will be. Power is just temporary.