#Shadow surprisingly enough does not suffer from this issue

[coockie8]

i for one kinda hate that they seem to be making sonic games more a more difficult over the years despite them already being like barely functional cause you know the way you play a game that regularly clips you through the ground while refusing to acknowledge your controller input and think "this is great but you know what would make this better? if it felt a little like a was playing speed-based dark souls for babies! :D"

"Modern Sonic is just speed-based Dark Souls for Babies" is going to live rent-free in my head for the rest of my life I think lmao

[planetformer-central]

New Oc because I have no self control! This is Null, based heavily off Bioshock's Big Daddies, he's my newest creation and I already love him.

Lore and rant below the cut.

Null was forged an Outlier. His unique ability? The nullification of other Outlier abilities when they are within a certain radius. However, this power has not been without consequence. His spark produces his nullification field by producing a severe excess of energy. This doesn't hurt him in the slightest since the energy seeps right out of him as he goes about his business. But for those around him? Their sparks can desynchronize or otherwise become unstable due to the influx of outside power. Interacting with him can cause sickness for normal Cybertronians and even death through prolonged exposure.

For these reasons, the Council took him when he was still very young and melded him with a suit they created for him. The suit is now as much a part of him as his original frame and it takes all his excess power and stores it within the canisters on his back while keeping him from remaining a walking biohazard. With his suit, he can control how much power he exerts and when he does so. Additionally, he can turn his excess energy into fuel for his inbuilt blasters, powerful weapons that are practically military grade. The cost of this is that he is incapable of interacting with the world normally and occasionally has aggressive fits due to being unable to project his excess energy normally. He desperately needs time outside of his suit, but he is forbidden to exit the armor, and so has largely dealt with his bursts of aggression by taking it out on anyone who looks at his wards wrong.

He had the Council on his side to give him free reign to do as he pleases so long as he fulfills his function.

To make use of him, Null was made into the Outlier Overseer. His entire function is to watch over Outliers, specifically the young ones, and keep their powers under control. They do not suffer from the usual side effects of his ability due to their similar level of oddity and instead find him soothing to be around since they naturally absorb the power he emits without issue. Null has been shadow played to be obsessed with his role, so much that he does not care for any faction. His only function is protecting Outliers. While intelligent and fully aware, he is so dogged in his duty that he can and will fall into bouts of what could be considered insanity when on a mission. The younger the Outlier, the more protective he will be.

Surprisingly, he does not mind in the slightest when his wards decide to leave of their own free will. He only acts when they are taken from him forcefully.

With that said, He can and will go on murderous rampages against anyone and everyone who tries to harm an Outlier. This has led to many sticky situations where, with the rise of the war, Null has found himself protecting Autobot and Decepticon alike. He refuses to take a badge, instead wandering in order to better care for his wards and keep them safe from harm. Even still, there have been several occasions where he has protected Tarn from a few stray missiles, Soundwave from a reign of bullets, and strangely enough, Prowl, from oncoming enemies.

(His care for Prowl raised many MANY questions. To this day, the Autobots chalk Null's behavior up to assuming Prowl's processor augments were the work of an Outlier ability.)

Null wears an Autobot badge, but kind sparks on both sides of the war have helped him with repairs he cannot do himself from time to time. They know he is a victim of the Council, and so long as he is left alone, he is a peaceful being. The only times factions have actively made use of him where during the final years of the war while it remained on Cybertron. The Decepticons lured Null in with an Outlier and actively placed the Outlier in front of an incoming Autobot assault. Null was quick to protect who he saw as his charge.

He fought well, but was overwhelmed. His injuries were severe, but the Autobots had no desire to kill him, and so placed him in stasis. He has only awoken again now that the war is over, and he is trying to return to his role in a healthier manner with the help of medical professionals and quite a bit of aid from what little data Shockwave left behind.

He's really quite a softie, albeit very very cautious of his proximity to others. Well of course, right up until someone touches one of his wards.

[angstandhappiness]

Hi, do you have any theories about Rumble and Savage? How do you think they could appear on the show?

I would love to hear your theories/ideas on Rumble and savage

Hello! Keep in mind I am not exactly a dedicated fan, more of a lurker. If we start at how Rumble and Savage came to be, I theorised that they were made from Macaque's remains, because that monkey DID die, whether SWK was the culprit or not, so the two monkeys were made from his flesh and bones, with some bit of DNA from SWK maybe a stand of hair, for his power. I want at least one of them, preferably Rumble, to be vehemently hostile towards Macaque the same way he was towards SWK previously, for funny irony, because they blame him for their existence, because being created into life as someone's tool with no say over your own life and ending up with your progenitor's emotional baggage as your own would send anyone into a bit of rage really. And LBD is definitely involved with their creation, directly or indirectly.

While the project succeeded, Rumble and Savage's creation was NOT intended. The entity that was supposed to be the end result ended up splitting into two to stabilised itself and the overwhelming power it was infused with, so the twins were created with their powers halved from its original strength, which they make up for with innate telepathic mind link they have with each other and extremely resilient healing. They looks so similar to each other that the only way to tell them apart outside of battle is how they carry themselves.

The twins were born with Macaque's traits but divided between them, so you have Rumble, who ended with Macaque's baggage and anger issues, and Savage, who got his more quiet traits and introspective nature. Think of the Elric brothers from FMA Brotherhood anime. Thought born at the same time, Rumble declared himself as the older twin while Savage is the younger one, and looks after her in his own way.

Rumble is a he/they, slightly shorter than his twin, and isn't shy about being loud and venting his anger at anyone he can get away with. He lashes out very easily, but also would run out of steam for it quickly if the situation doesn't provoke him constantly so. He tends to stew on his emotions if not given an outlet for them, but is surprisingly more open with his thoughts and feeling, whether asked about them or not, though very violently. He's picks fight very easily and quite enjoys it, and is confrontational enough to seek them out if he feels ignored. Though he does have a soft spot for his "sister", and is more likely to listen to her first. Uses a chain whip as a weapon and his shadow powers to keep his opponents off balance while he attacks them easily.

Savage is a she/they, a bit taller than her twin, is seemingly ironic with her name as she's quite hesitant and more polite compared to her twin, but as she doesn't enjoy fighting and dragging things out the same way her twin does, despite her timid and meek demeanour, she'll act on her missions in a brutally efficient and ruthlessly relentless manner, just to get them over with. She holds herself back quite often when it comes to her thoughts and opinions, repressing herself until it boils over into something explosive. Rumble was the only at first who can spot her tipping point before she snaps and get her to let it out before that happens. She can be quite surprisingly cruel and terribly blunt with expressing her opinions even if she doesn't realised it. Uses sickles as her weapons and her shadow powers to keep her opponents in place for her to attack without them moving away.

They're both incredibly bitter due to being forced into a life of servitude against their will since birth, with a deep existential anger about their existence on Rumble's part. Rumble has a deep hate towards Macaque, seeing him as the reason for their painful creation and will not rest until the Macaque is dead or at least suffers for their pain. Savage is more open to cooperation and truce than her twin and does not share his violent fixation on Macaque and is less likely to be aggressive from the get-go, but is just as wary in letting others in. They both have an unhealthy co-dependancy with each other due to the nature of their lives, and while Savage really wants more to her life and not be alone, she's just as afraid to be let down.

If they were introduced into the show, they'd be the antagonists lackeys, tasked to obtain items and fight the enemies, in this case the Monkie crew. They'd hint themself by only being seen in mobs and in the background at first, until the first "quiet" adventure happens and they reveal themselves fully. In the fights, Rumble would be more focused on Macaque if he's involved, but would strongly enjoy himself toying with his opponents while Savage is less likely to get carried away by her emotions and would focus more on completing the mission hand.

For their redemption arc, it's more of a healing arc, with Rumble learning to let go of his hatred and rage towards Macaque as an unhealthy coping mechanism, and Savage would try to learn to let her guard down around other people other than Rumble.

Rumble and Savage both enjoy savory food, though the former has quite a sweet tooth. Rumble has Macaque's love for the theatre and enjoys acting out the roles, while Savage is content to be merely a spectator. They both can be very dramatic, especially more so when they feel safe, with inside jokes only they get. They both can be quite mischievous and enjoy pranks as well, though Savage is better at covering up their tracks.

That's all I've got! Sorry if it doesn't reach your expectations. Have a good day!

[pa-panda-heroes]

No one asked but take it hERE YOU GO bc I’m suffering and I just need a 2d baby to help me with my shit spine-

Megumi, Yuuji, and Nobara helping out their s/o with back issues!

Megumi:

He doesn’t know a thing about it and what it’s like, or even heard of your issue. That said, he’s quick to look it up on the internet to figure out exactly what’s goin on, what might help, and what he can help with. Really wants to help if he can’

Need your shit put back into place? Megumi’s your guy! He’ll watch dozens of videos to learn how to do it, and while he may be nervous about cracking your back and shifting things back into place, he’s a natural at it. He’s gentle with you, refraining from manhandling and yanking you around when he doesn’t need to, and he somehow knows exactly how much pressure is needed and where.

Even though he does so well, he’ll always remark a firm “You really should see a professional about it, though.” He’s just pushy like that, even though he’s always happy to help where he can. Megumi just thinks it’s better to have someone trained and licensed to do something like this.

Probably won’t be too thrilled when you ask for a massage for the first time. Again, he’s fine with learning, but he doesn’t feel apt enough and encourages you to have a pro do it. You need to be as stubborn as Nobara to convince him.

Once you do, though, he realizes it’s kinda nice. The two of you can chitchat idly about anything that comes to mind and it’s really peaceful. It’s quiet. Void of the “excitement” that daily life has, be it fighting for your life against curses or trying to keep a tight leash on Yuuji and Nobara. And if you fall asleep? He’ll swoon.

Eventually he’ll pick up on what aggravates your back and what doesn’t, as well as what helps and what doesn’t. Megumi will also quickly notice cues in your body language or demeanor that call for his help, painkillers, or a much-needed break.

If you’ve been out and about all day exorcising curses and the pain gets unbearable, asking him to carry you on his back can yield various results. If the others are around or if you’re in public, he’ll be pretty adamant you take some pain pills and rest for a little while.

It’s not that he sees it as a burden or anything; he likes that you’d ask him. However, the thought of carrying you on his back in front of other people is quite flustering to him, but if you’re actually wounded aside from your usual issue, he’ll follow along with a bit of grumbling. When no one’s around, though, he’ll offer before you can ask.

Yuuji:

You’d think he would be clueless and utterly confused, but nay! Yuuji knows lidocaine patches are a gift to this world, hot pads are a gem, and hot baths are an absolute miracle. Well, they can be. He knows that when it’s especially bad, it’s bad and your best bet is to find the most comfortable resting position as possible and leave it at that.

Sympathetic as hell. Yuuji has seen what back pain can do to someone - he saw that with his own grandfather, even if the old man’s issue was brought on by his age. While he doesn’t experience it himself, Yuuji just knows. He doesn’t know how to pop you back into place, though. The old man was stubborn about letting him do that, so he has no experience.

Great at cracking things back into place once you teach him, even if he can be a bit clumsy actually getting into position to do it. “No, you have to stand so that I’m facing you.” “Oh, so... like this, with my hands this way?” “Yuuji, sweetheart, you can’t pop my hips back into place from my knees-“

He tries so hard to help out. Whether it’s popping up out the blue (and giving you one hell of a fright) with painkillers, keeping a literal stockpile of lidocaine patches in his pockets, or constantly asking if he can “crack” you (much to the bewilderment of everyone else because he gives no context-), Yuuji nearly smothers you.

It’s cute, though, and he’s smothering you for all the right reasons! When you happen to be in the city after a job well-done, he’ll offer to buy you ice cream, “since you worked so hard today and your back is probably killing you.” “Yuuji, are you using my shit back as an excuse to gorge on sweets?!” Yes, yes he absolutely is. And with the massive puppy eyes he gives you, there’s no way you can say no.

Loves loves loves to do the thing where he hugs you from behind, squeezes real tightly, and jerks you up. He’ll say it’s because it seems to help and the relief he sees on your face afterward is wonderful to see, but it’s really because he just likes squeezing you.

Gives you piggyback rides all the time. You can refuse and tell him your back is fine to walk all you want, but it won’t work. He’ll come up with an excuse along the lines of preventing your back from getting bad. You have to somewhat admit he has a point, and he honestly does believe in that. But he’s just happy to carry you.

Horrible masseuse. Dear Fujisan keep this boy the hell away from your muscles. Popping and cracking you entails quick, hard pressure and maneuvers, while massages entail constant pressure over periods of time and slow, graceful movements. Yuuji is neither slow nor graceful. He tries so hard for you, tho

Nobara:

This poor girl has no idea what the hell is going on with you but still somehow does everything right. And she’s totally bewildered when a wild guess in the dark actually works, like.... what?? Are you sure you’re not faking it so she doesn’t feel bad for being clueless?? Y/n?? Hello??

Scared of her own shadow when it comes to helping crack you or put your back into place. Remember Noboara’s little “muri muri muri” dance when she found out Yuuji ate a cursed object? That is exactly what you get when you bring it up to her, because she’s afraid she’ll hurt you.

You will have to show her on her own body what you need before she’ll consider doing it. Or, you can taunt her. That always works! But once she’s got it down, Nobara might even ask you if you can work on her back or refer her to the chiropractor that you go to when you’re able. She’s curious to see how an adjustment could help her even though she doesn’t have any problems.

Pain killers and heating pads galore. She has so much stockpiled in her cabinet, you wonder if she eats pills like candy. In reality, she just likes to be prepared. She keeps plenty of other things of a medical nature, too. “Hey, hey, hey, y/n! Have you tried a back brace? I’ve got this kind, and this kind...”

Actually gets super interested in your condition. Nobara will scour the internet trying to learn everything she can, be it looking at x-ray samples or treatments. She even saw a video detailing the process of drilling screws and metal bars into the spine to treat scoliosis, once. Needless to say, she gets a handle of what your condition is rather effectively.

Unless you’re a fair amount under 160cm/5ft3 in height, you’re probably not getting any piggyback rides from Nobara. You can bet she’ll try, though, especially when the others (or you) tease her about it. She’ll pull it off out of hard spite, just to prove them wrong because she can do anything she puts her mind to and she’s stubborn.

Ask her for a massage. Do it. You will not regret it! Nobara’s lithe fingers are perfect for rolling out any built-up tension. She knows just what kind of pressure, where to put it, and how to move her fingers over your muscles to help reduce pain, tension, and just overall stress.

And she has fun doing it, too! She loves helping you out, and every once in a while when she’s really focused, you can catch her humming to herself with a tiny smile and cheery glint to her eyes. Nobara is surprisingly a quiet masseuse because of her intense focus, so you’ll have to do most of the talking if you feel like it.

[krabmeat]

𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: Wilbur Soot

𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚜: he/him

𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: physical pain descriptions, paranoia, overdose, hospitalization, alarms, descriptions of hallucinations

𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎:

this is the 2nd part to my 7 part series of making all of the songs from YCGMA into short stories! this one is for saline solution, hope ya like it! :]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One, two, three and four

The seconds tick by on the clock in my workroom. The sound sensitive LED border of the clock lights up whenever I cough. I find it hard to breathe, the wheezes between breaths are loud, so I take a puff of my inhaler sitting on my desk next to my pc. It’s been difficult to walk lately, I’ve made a steady recovery but my legs sometimes feel like the pores are being replaced with lead- heavy and cold. Despite this though, I make my way over to my bedroom. My roommate isn’t home yet, despite how late it is. The walls of the hallway echo my footsteps, the pain I’m in not reflecting with the sounds. ‘I need to take my meds…’ My room, surprisingly not as messy as I thought. Clothes here and there, an undone bed, but overall everything is where it should be. My legs shuffle into the bathroom connected to my room, locating my paracetamol and prozac.  Click, click!

I think this time I'm dying

I open the paracetamol with ease, it hypnotizes me. Quickly opening the prozac, my breath becomes jagged- confused. Water flows after the pills, hindering the struggle it would have been, but I feel the same. Panicked and afraid. What's wrong with me? Do I need more? Is there something else? I'm scared, pissed off and lonely- ‘I'm overthinking this.’  But am I? Nonetheless, nothings happening. My legs still feel like hell, and the cold invisible hand is pinching the skin behind my neck, but when I claw at it nothings there. My eyes distantly shift to the pill bottles on the counter. I can feel myself trying to look elsewhere, but my general focus is on the pills. I need more.

I'm not melodramatic

Just 1 more of each should do. Just to be safe. I'm just being safe! 

I'm just pragmatic beyond any reasoning 

Better safe than sorry, right? I take another drink of water and wait for the relief to set in, but it never does. My legs are aching even more and the fact that there's no effects is just making me panic more. What's wrong with me? Why isn't it setting in fast enough-?!

For thinking I've got f*cking rabies or something.

More. I need more. Maybe that's the problem, I'm just not taking a high enough dosage! I look down at each of the bottles, reading the label for the prescription. “Take 2 per day when symptoms arise. Contact your psychiatrist if a higher dosage is needed” ‘I know what I'm doing.’  There's something wrong with me, I can't bother contacting anyone. I need relief now. Out of impulse, I down both of the bottles and drink more water to allow the pills to travel with ease. Then, I just wait. 

I think this time I'm dying

Pain shoots up from my stomach and sprouts to my head like a sapling. The room morphs and shifts and scrunches up like clay. Am I in a dream? I look down at my hands to pinch myself, shaking, blurry and full of vibrant colors.   

I think this time I'm dying.

F*ck. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I've lost my mind. 

The world morphs and moves without my eyes permission. My stomach hurts more than my legs do. The reflection in the mirror, a pale, sad and confused blur. The pain isn't going away, it's growing worse and worse. Pins and needles pricking and scraping along the inside of my abdomen, there's millions of them. Every deep breath I take is a dulled stab into my chest. Was the original concern as big as I've made it now?

Blurring the fact and the fictions

Everything is so unreal. Why did I do this again? Where am I? My memory becomes a flickering bulb, dying out from being strained of its power. My concept of time and object permanence is foggy, but that's how I know something is wrong. But what? Am I blowing things out of proportion or is this bigger than a prescription?

While simultaneously fixing myself up with a girl named panadol.

I looked down at the empty paracetamol bottle, I did the right thing- right? My intentions feel like they've been beaten and whipped with a fork, scrambled and confused with each other. But I did what I did, it still hurts though. A pang of regret stabs at my throat for a second, but the desire for relief overrides it.

Bite the tablet, elixir

The elixir! My hands swiftly open the cabinet again, desperate for elixir. I quickly find, it- half a bottle of elixir should do. As quickly as I found the bottle, I downed half of it and quickly drank more freezing cold water from the sink.

Disintegrate, mouths a mixer

That's 3 different types of pills. 3 different remedies! I'll be alright now, right? I should be, but I can't stand steadily anymore. My arms are violently shaking and my legs are about to drop. The sight is horrifying, everything is flickering from absolute darkness to furniture and walls melting like an ice cube. Am I blinking? I can't tell.

I think I've lost my mind

I can't handle this. Am I in mild pain or are things dire? I want the pain I had before, less overwhelming. I have no control anymore. The front door opening and closing shut was barely audible for my ears. “Wil? Sorry I came home so late, I had a client come further into the day.”  My legs give in, and a loud THUMP rumbles through the house as I fall onto the tiled floor of the bathroom. I feel the satisfaction of my eyes rolling into my head as my eyelids stay confused on whether or not to close or to stick open to stay alert. “Wil?! Wilbur are you alright?!”  Her footsteps rush to my room and into the bathroom to see my frail and hurt body on the ground with the pill bottles strewn on the counter.

I think I've lost my mind.

“WILBUR!!”  She rushes to my side and drops to her knees. Her shout was so loud, it made me snap back into the present. After checking my pulse and checking if I'm still breathing, she frantically digs through her coat pocket and dials 999. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I could just break one more night

I can hear my roommate crying distantly after hanging up and putting away her phone. I don't understand...why do I need an ambulance? I was helping myself, wasn't I? 

Maybe I could wake up and feel alright.

I could have gotten past on my own if she hadn't found me. I would have been just fine. I'm tired, just in general. 

I optimistically set my alarm clock time

I had something to do today? I forgot. I can hear my alarm clock from my bedside table blaring at me, screaming at me to get up. There was a subtle jolt of excitement that shot up my neck, or was it anxiety? Fear? Adrenaline? Denial?

Serves only to mock me with flashing lights.

The sound seems to go on for longer, despite my roommate rushing to turn it off. Its turned off, but I can still hear the sound of it echoing through the room, bouncing into my ears. My hands raise to cover my ears, but the sound just gets louder and louder. I haven't gotten up yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I've made my choice

Everything is jumping around slightly, the paramedics in the ambulance looming over me, reaching for tubes and clear pouches. I feel something warm on my right hand, my roommate is sitting there with my hand in hers while trying to keep herself together.  “Don’t worry Wil, they're gonna fix you up and you'll be just fine...!”  She says it like she’s trying to reassure herself more than me- she's more worried about me then I am for myself. One of the paramedics sitting next to her speak up with a clipboard in hand. “You said he overdosed?” “Yes, I came home from work and there was a loud thud from his bathroom. I ran over and he was barely conscious on the floor with pill bottles all around…”

I’m a deceased playing victim

I...I overdosed?  How did I not notice? No no, there was something wrong with me, that's why I took so many! But...was I wrong? I was just scared! I didn’t know that this would happen, its not my fault!

Slip the face, slip the victory.

I can't run away from myself, I’m my own shadow. I was scared. I am scared. This is all my fault. I took the pills, no one forced me to. It was me who did this. But, I’m not too angry with myself. Despite my impulsive actions, I don't hate the situation I've thrown myself into. 

I think I’ve made my choice

If I don't make it out of this, I won't be disappointed. If I do, then that's alright too. I dug myself into this, so don't I deserve to suffer the consequences?

Sit secluded in hatred

I’m such a bother to her, this is the second time she's had to deal with me like this. The hospital probably hates me, but I won't bother to apologize. I meant what I did both this and the last time I was sent there, they shouldn't be helping me. But I’m not suicidal, I insist.

Void the plans friends are making.

I shouldn't have set my alarm. I would have stayed asleep, made things less stressful. Why did I even set my alarm? Nothing special was happening today, I don't have plans with anyone and the only thing I was supposed to do today is work, and that's later in the day. Most of my friends don't even like me that much, they don't invite me to places or acknowledge me so can I even consider them friends? The only person who even tries to pay attention to me is…is…

I think I've found my voice

“I...I’m..-” My roommate quickly looks down at me when she hears me speak. Her eyes show it all, shocked and relieved. Her skin is still puffy and red around her eyes, but she doesn't bother to hide it. “Thank the lord your alright...what were you thinking?!”  She speaks in a hushed tone, intending to not startle or overwhelm me more than I already am. She doesn't deserve this, my paranoia and issues aren't hers. “I’m...I’m sorry..” I hear my voice for the first time in a while, it's gravely and dry. She looks down at me and her features seem to have softened.  “We're almost at the hospital, you're gonna be alright.”

I'm a leech sucking blood bags

I've been living off of her this entire time. My hardships were always nonexistent, weren't they? All of my tolls were never mine to begin with, her generosity is what she replaced it with. And this is what I'm giving her, more and more to deal with. But she doesn't have to, right? It's her choice, it's her fault. I'm not guilty.

Taste defeat, it's a sandbag

As soon as the vehicle stopped, I was urgently rolled out the back and rushed into a hospital room. I can hear the doctors and nurses arguing back and forth rapidly, one after the other.

Saline solution

I hear from the wad of voices.  Hm, so they're desperate as well it seems… My mind decides not to bother with their procedures, instead I just leave it all to them. It won't be on my hands if they fail after all, right? 

Saline solutions to all your

A set of doctors rush into my hospital room while a nurse rolls in a cart filled with who knows what for me. IV tubes are hooked up to a hanging pouch and attached to my arms.

Saline solution to all your

My eyes are squinted from the obnoxiously bright lights scattered in the hospital, the white walls making me develop more of a headache. My head flops to the left, seeing my roommate outside the window in the hallway. She's pacing around frantically with her phone up to her ear. I then turn my head to the right to see a slightly foggy pouch of saline hanging above me, the IV tubes connecting the liquid to my internal damage.

Saline solution to all your…

One of the doctors helps me drink a small amount of the saline solution and then hands me a small trash can. My stomach is crying and screaming in pain and mercy. Tears prick the corners of my eyes from the guttural pain, but it'll be out of my system soon.

Problems. 

[acephysicskarkat]

Redemption, Forgiveness and She-Ra S5

So just to spite the anon who told me to stop posting my opinions, I’m gonna post another opinion!

This will contain spoilers for SPOP, Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Good Place, and Steven Universe.

So the most common take that I’ve heard about S5 from Catra stans is that it’s a story about redemption and forgiveness and that if I’m in any way critical of it then I’m saying abusers can never redeem themselves.

To which I say: the second part is a strawman argument, and the first part doesn’t help because it’s a bad story about redemption and forgiveness.

Part 1: Redemption

The problem with S5′s stories about redemption is that they are, universally, undercooked.  For things that the fanbase had been wanting for months, they’re surprisingly lacking in meaningful impact.

Catra’s is the least bad, because Catra is at least on-screen long enough to tell us that it seems to be sticking, but it’s still not good.  It’s rushed, it’s weightless, and it feels like they didn’t even check what she’d done in the past three seasons that she would need to find redemption for.

At no point does she meaningfully confront her actions (which, in case you’ve forgotten, ranged from bringing about the death of Queen Angella (S3E6), to repeated attempts to murder or permanently harm Adora (S1E11, S1E13, S2E5, S3E4-6, S4E3), to bullying Scorpia (present throughout but most obvious in S4E6), to taking part in a war crime (S4E8)), nor does she really confront the jealousy and spite that drove them.  Indeed, the episodes that could have been spent showing us her character development are spent showing us that she still has a very unhealthy attitude towards Adora (S5E6) and telling us that she underwent her character development offscreen, while we were distracted by Double Trouble (S5E8).

Hordak’s is even worse, because Catra at least admits she wronged people, even if the focus is put almost entirely on Catra feeling bad about it.  Hordak realises, accurately, that being made into a cog in a machine of conquest is bad (S5E13)...but he never makes the leap onscreen to it still being bad when he did it to other people, as he did to Adora and the other Horde kids (S2E7).  It treats Hordak’s decision to break free of Horde Prime as if it in and of itself makes him good, overlooking that the life he’s trying to go back to was the one where he ruled over an empire of stolen children.

I don’t even want to get into Shadow Weaver.

AtLA gave a compelling redemption arc to Zuko by having him confront the consequences of his actions.  SU gave a compelling redemption arc to Peridot by showing us, in great detail, her evolution from antagonist to ally.  SPOP just kinda tells us that characters are good now and expects that to work out okay.

And the really depressing thing is that both these characters actually could have sustained really compelling redemption arcs!  I would have loved to see Hordak meaningfully realise onscreen that the universe does not consist of him, Horde Prime, Imp, Entrapta, and a bunch of largely interchangeable pawns for him to treat as he sees fit.  I would have loved to see Catra wrestle with and overcome her resentment of Adora, maybe come to understand that being Shadow Weaver’s favourite fucking sucked actually.  The show just didn’t bother, and so what we got was on par with a bad fanfic or the backstory for a D&D character.

Part 2: Forgiveness

For my money, one of the best stories about forgiveness in modern media is in a third season episode of The Good Place called “A Fractured Inheritance”.

Explaining it with as few spoilers as possible, protagonist Eleanor Shellstrop discovers that her cartoonishly neglectful mother Donna faked her death and seems to have built a new life where she’s a good stepmother to a child.  Eleanor spends most of the episode convinced that her mother is running a scam, but eventually concludes that this does appear to be sticking and gives up her plan to reveal Donna’s secret, cautioning her not to go back to how she used to be.  At the end, she opens up to a friend about the trauma she sustained as a result of her upbringing.

SPOP could never.

"A Fractured Inheritance” tells a more compelling story about forgiveness in 15 minutes of screentime than she-Ra S5 managed in four and a half hours because The Good Place cares about Eleanor’s trauma.  It’s portrayed as pretty understandable that she has a grudge against her mother, and working through that takes time and sustained proof that Donna has changed.  More than that, forgiveness isn’t portrayed as a magical button that instantly solves Eleanor’s issues; just because she’s letting go of her anger towards Donna doesn’t mean that the harm she suffered as a result of Donna’s neglect goes away.  Her fear of opening up or being vulnerable, stemming from a childhood of constantly being shat on when she did, is still there, even after reconciling with her mother.

Contrast this to She-Ra S5.  The second Catra says she’s sorry, Adora is willing to forgive her and go across the universe to help her (S5E3), even though in their last interaction, back in S4E3, Adora actively tried to kill her for pretty darn compelling reasons (you may remember those reasons from S3E4-6).  Adora gets, like, a brief rant in S5E4 where she seems to be confused about this, but there’s never a point where she meaningfully seems to process the trauma she’s suffered as a result of Catra’s treatment of her, which we know has been toxic, controlling and unhealthy since they were kids (S5E3).

More than that, there’s never really a point where any of the people Catra victimised in the first four seasons gets to deal with that.  Glimmer seemingly never realises that Catra is why her mother is dead (S3E6), which is especially jarring given that the effects of Angella’s death on Glimmer drove the entire previous season; Entrapta barely remembers that Catra betrayed her and sent her to her presumed death (S5E6); Bow thinks someone who’s done nothing but attempt to hurt his friends for as long as he’s known her is adorable (S5E8); Scorpia forgives her before she even finishes saying sorry (S5E13); and both Frosta decking her in S5E9 and Perfuma’s understandable irritation with the woman who bullied her GF in S5E10 are portrayed almost as jokes, the latter never escalating beyond mild rudeness.

This also extends to Hordak, who, after his tissue-thin face turn in S5E13, gets a baffling montage that tries to portray his picking up an abandoned child and indifferently turning her over to an abusive sorceress (S2E7) as somehow heartwarming and a big bonding moment, and then the notion that Mermista might have some grudges against the guy who burned down her home and displaced her people (S5E7-8) is framed as comic.

I’m not even saying that neither of these characters should never be forgiven by anyone!  Just that the forgiveness they get in the show is lacking in dramatic weight, because the actions that are being forgiven don’t feel like they mean anything.  Catra has hurt Adora, Glimmer, Entrapta, Scorpia, Mermista and countless unnamed innocents, and it’s all treated like it has the same impact as borrowing Adora’s Xena DVDs and forgetting to give them back.  Hordak should be considered Etheria’s greatest monster given the number of people who’ve died as a result of his actions and maybe one person is slightly irritated at the prospect of having to send him a Christmas card this year.

(This is without getting into the fact that Glimmer and Entrapta are expected to deal with the consequences of their actions to some degree, with each getting an episode focused around that (S2E2, S2E4).  It’s kind of wild that Glimmer nearly destroying the world because she took a reckless risk in a desperate gamble to try and save the people she cares about from the Horde blitzkrieg, a gambit that she immediately tried to fix when she realised she’d fucked up (S4E10-13) is treated as something that causes a notable rift in her friendships, but Catra nearly destroying the world because she was just that jealous of Adora (S3E3-6) is breezed past with an “I’m sorry.”  Entrapta building the robots causes the Alliance to hold grudges; Hordak waging 25 years of warfare is [shrug] Just Horde Clone Things.)

3. Salvaging These Plot Points

Now, as I implied above, the notion that I think these characters are irredeemable is a bullshit strawman, a thought-terminating cliche that Catra stans use to dismiss criticism without processing with it.  So how would I go about it?

Catra

I would start by having Catra and Glimmer be in the same escape.  Having her attempt to sacrifice herself in S5E3 had some weird thematic issues given her previously established self-destructive streak (S2E5, most of S3).  If we have to keep the bad plot point where Adora recovers the friend who loves and cares for her and immediately goes “well, we gotta leave our friends back home to deal with a colonial invasion while we charge across the universe to save my abusive stalker ex who’s never respected my personhood or autonomy”, I’d probably look at the two biggest missed opportunities in the season: S5E6 and S5E8.

S5E6 is terrible, and should just be expunged mercilessly with fire for its baffling endorsement of the sentiment “yes i abused u but now u hate me so i’m the victim really”.  Its replacement should probably be focused around Adora genuinely processing the harm she’s sustained as a result of Catra’s treatment of her, probably deciding at the end that she’ll accept Catra’s help but is still understandably suspicious of her given the established mistrust (S1E8) and hostility (S4E3).

S5E8 is easy to fix, though; instead of it mostly being the characters bumbling around a haunted house, I’d make the setting actually do stuff for the characters’ arcs.  We already know that First One ruins can bring up memories, so I’d turn it into a reversal of S1E11 where Adora and Catra’s friendship can actually be rebuilt, probably culminating in Catra saving Adora from falling off a cliff as a symbolic rejection of the resentment she would have been struggling with throughout the episode.  This is probably where Adora starts to actually believe that Catra has become a better person.

Basically, the goal here is to show the audience that Catra is working to overcome her issues and become a better person, instead of telling us that it happened offscreen.

Hordak

The problem with Hordak’s face turn is that at no point in the show, including after we’re supposed to treat him as Good Now, does he seem to give a shit about anyone not on a list that contains maybe 4-5 names.  I’d probably put in some scenes earlier where his experiences seem to be actually changing him for the better: maybe his response to Entrapta asking him to spare Catra isn’t to commute her sentence to a suicide mission, or he feels a sudden sympathy with a captive Etherian after the fall of Salineas, as the shared feelings of loss line up, and orders their release.  Basically, the idea is to put in some groundwork so that it actually feels like he might be safe to have around, instead of him betraying his tyrannical overlord because he misses his life where he was, himself, a tyrannical overlord.

I also would not play the idea that people might be a little bit suspicious of a man with a 25-year history of ruthless oppression, colonial violence and unprovoked warmongering as a joke.  Just one of those personal quirks.

4. Summary

In conclusion:

S5 is a bad story about redemption because it doesn’t give the characters being redeemed engaging or compelling redemption arcs, favouring a blind rush to the ending, and it’s a bad story about forgiveness because it treats the actions that are being forgiven as though they don’t mean anything, even when episodes or entire seasons have been built on the effects of those actions.  It’s not that these ideas are bad in general, that these characters axiomatically couldn’t be redeemed or that forgiveness is problematic; it’s just that the execution is bad.

Anyway, thanks, jackass anon, for inspiring me to set down my thoughts in detail like this!

[cheseyre]

good news, sluts! my brain's no longer being completely stupid (only mostly), i've seen the new asides and...have some thought-y thot thoughts:

*deep inhale*

Okay, first things first: this art style is soooo fucking cUTE and I'm a jealous, squealing bitch. Anyone who knows who the artist is, could you link me to them, stat? I think Thomas mentioned them at the beginning of the ep, but nYeh, brain hurt, doesn't wanna do wooork-

Okay, I'll admit, I was a little...apprehensive when I first saw the thumbnail and title. Part of it's just me being a bitter Remus Stan, but also...okay, deep breaths, controversial opinion time, get ready:

I don't ship Prinxiety.

Like, at all. 

I can see the appeal, and these dorks were so very, VERY cute in this particular ep, but I was honestly turned off by the ship long ago due to how overwhelmingly popular it is and how some fans characterize these two and treat this relationship as if it's the only valid one, y'know, the works—slight tangent, but that's also why I don't ship Logicality or Remile. I honestly vibe much better with ships like Roceit or Analogical, y'know?

Cutting in for another brief tangent: I'm surprisingly okay with Demus/Dukeceit/Receit/Trashnoodle/Whatever-Their-Ship-Name-Is-Oh-God-Why-Do-They-Have-So-Many-Fucking-Names; maybe it's cause they haven't actually interacted in canon and the fan content gives me such good Gay Disney Villain content, idk man im weird—).

Still, their interactions were both hilarious and sweet and like I said, I see the appeal, it's just not my cup of tea. y'all Prinxiety fans got fucking FED and I'm happy for you nerds. Enjoy ze happy boys!

I guess another factor in my...low-key hesitance when I first saw what the ep was about is that...okay, get ready, another controversial opinion, le gasp: well, I'm not a big Virgil fan. In fact, at times, he swaps places with Patton as my least favorite sides—especially with some of his recent behavior in eps like DWIT (the "prohibit your breathing comment" really triggered me, for example). Sometimes, his attitude, especially around other sides like Roman or Janus, reminds me a little too much of my sister, who I don't have...a very good relationship with. Add to that how the more...intense side of the fandom has a disturbing tendency to turn him into the 'uwu precious woobie emo baby who can do no wrong' while unnecessarily villainizing other CERTAIN sides in the process, and...I think you all see where I'm going with this little rant 😅

However, upon actually watching the ep, he wasn't...that bad? I don't think? I enjoyed watching him be a flustered, disaster-y mess and genuinely excited at the end, his interactions with Roman were nice enough, and him literally pushing Thomas to make a move with Nico despite his obvious panic attack was a nice moment of genuine character development. I like seeing that, that's the good shit right there. And him being all flustered and shit, and smiling so much at the end of the vid was just...well, adorable. This man has no fucking right to be this cute, my god

alsoooo 

pURPLE EYESHADOW

PURPLE EYESHADOW HE LOOKS?? SO GOOD?? WTF?? SLAY EMO, SLAAAAAAAY FUCK, DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE TO CHANGE MY HALLOWEEN COSTUME NOW?

alsoooo 

hAPPY ROMAN

YESSSSS~ MAH BOI MAH SON MAH DUMB BITCH HIMBO PRINCE MAH EXTRA MESSY CINNAMON ROLL

ITS  BEEN SO  LONG

AND HIS LITTLE HEART EYES THROUGHOUT THE VID, OH MY GOD-

IMMA JUST IGNORE THAT "ADDING [MISTAKE] TO THE LIST" COMMENT I AM LOOKING AWAY I DO NOT SEE IT LALALALALA

THOMATHY, SIR, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT MAKING THESE TWO GAY IDIOTS SO BAEBY

Okay, but Virgil not realizing that "cyberstalking in real life" is literally just stalking is both a big ass mood and further proof that, yes, Logan is indeed the only one holding the braincell out of this disaster of a lot. God help them all if he ducks out in the next ep.

👀

And Thomas x Trash Can is my new OTP.  I dub thee ✨ "Trashmas" ✨

we sTAN TRASHMAS

Wait, does that mean Remus actually WAS in the ep? Cause, y'know, trash man?

hmmm

👀 👀 

Okay, okay. 

With how much Virgil and Roman were going off about Thomas constantly lying, I was (understandably) a tad bit disappointed my snek son didn't even make a fucking cameo, but y'know what? In hindsight, I'm okay with this it's fineee~

He was just off playing with shadow puppets and stealing money from us desperate, content-starved peasants with his sheer extra-ness and, honestly? Gotta respect the hustle. 

Get that precious, precious coin, dapper snake! Wring us poor losers dryyyy!

*evil snek laugh*

Also, this is a breather ep and adding Janus in probably would've caused unnecessary drama with the Roceit breakup and the constant antagonism between Virgil and him. It probably would've distracted from the point of the ep (flirting with social anxiety, exactly what it says in the tin)—much like it wasn't really Virgil or Remus's place to show up during POF. Does that make sense? I think it makes sense. Sorry, brain going brr-

Still, I can't believe the "Fuck Janus Sanders" Club is actually canon now 😂

God, first Patton in a skirt and now this. 

Thomas Sanders, you delight in fucking feEDING this gremlin nest of a fanbase, don’t you? You RELISH our screams of joy and pain and suffering, dON’T YOU?

What's next, actual canonical Janus and Remus interaction? Patton saying the fuck word? The Dragon Witch comes back? Janus's bowler hat gains sentience and takes over the world, Doris-style? What do you have planned, Thomas? Joan? WHAT ART THOU PLANNING, I MUST KNOW YOU HEATHENS YOU FIENDS-

And Virgil's little "would it be fair to him" comment, tho.

👀

Like, I get in the context of the ep, he was likely talking about Nico and how it wouldn’t be good for a potential relationship with Tomas to be founded on lies, but still...my anxceit heart aches, man. 

Gimme that sweet, sweet angst with a side of mutual regret and possible future reconciliation and maybe something more wink wink nudge nudge on top, pls

...and fries.

Honestly, tho, that entire bathroom monologue was fucking beautiful, man. And relatable, too—i can't tell you how many times I've talked to myself in public restrooms because I just didn't know how to get the words I wanted to say out. It's...kind of embarrassing, tbh

Speaking of embarrassing, uh, crying stall guy.

Just...

Crying Stall Guy

Like, I was expecting someone to come out the bathroom stall after Thomas stopped talking, but...I honestly wasn't expecting that. God, that whole scene was so cringe worthy and fucking hilarious

Honestly, Thomas in the ep in general was a huge ass mOOD and we collective gay/bi disasters ALL related with him, and if you say you don't, you're either lying to yourself or a demon. 

There is no in between 

sorry I don't make the rules

Like, I get this series is literally a gay disaster talking to himself for thirty minutes or longer, but like- EMPHASIS on the 'disaster' part 😂

Like...Thomas, you're lucky you're such a goddamn bean, because GOD, I cringing so hard when he first started talking to Nico

Although, I too have apologized profusely for genuine mistakes and am a flustered bi mess around my crush sooo

😅

And god, Roman's "thirty = old man" jokes made me feel old...and I literally just turned twenty, like, come on, man!

Maybe that's because I was literally watching this ep after finishing my ACT and had been sitting with a bunch of high schoolers, with their tiny fucking desks and tiny fucking water fountains smeh

*clears throat*

Anyways, uh, we STAN Nico Pintrovert Florés in this house

Like

He gives me such big Carlos from WTNV vibes for some reason and this makes me sooo happy

and YESS, he's a WRITER

And he's??? So sweet?? A pure bean?? Just sits on his laptop at the mall food court all day, like a god-fucking iCON?? A Nightmare Before Christmas fan?? weARS GLASSES??

my hEART

*cries*

The fandom seems torn between "Nicomas" and "Karrot Kings" as a ship name atm—personally speaking, I'm casting my vote for the latter

*crosses fingers* please dont be another janus x remus multiple ship name issue guys, please please please I can't keep track of them all-

*clears throat*

On that note, I'm guess I'm gonna go try and whoo over my crush with carrots now. If THIS disaster can do it and make it actually fucking work, god damnit, so cAN I

Meanwhile, in hell, my brain's just screaming "CANON LOVE INTEREST CANON LOVE INTEREST CANON LOVE INTEREST-"

God, I hope Nico isn't just a one-shot character, he's too pure and Thomas and him are adorable gay Disney fans and I stan

Oh, I wonder how the other sides'll react to him.

Wait.

Oh god.

Oh god.

This ep just unleashed a new fresh hell of potential Nico x Sides ships, hasn't it?

Welp, time to prepare for ze incoming flood of fanfics, I guess. I'll get my umbrella and rain boots.

That last shot of Virgil during the endcard was so fucking ominous oh my god mom im scared can you come pick me up-

Goddammit, Thomas and Joan, I'm NOT fucking ready to be traumatized again, fUCK

I wish I wasn't a broke ass university student so I could contribute to Thomas's gloriously extra Patreon—both so I can support my favorite content creators who make this amazing blessed content and also, to join my boi Janus in fucking  destroying society by giving money to the people who actually deserve it, fuck YOU GOVERNMENT-

Okay. 

Okay. 

New headcanon time as to why Patton, Remus, and Logan weren't in the ep: they were helping Jan film that Patreon promotional video. 

Like

Remus directed it, Logan helped with the lighting and script, and Patton was just there as the cheerleader. 

The reason Janus made a dog with shadow puppets wasn't just to flaunt his deity status and prove how he is truly above us mere wretched mortals 

despite that being the absolute truth and we all know it, don't lie to yourselves

No, it was really him trying to do something cute and silly for Patton, because Moceit rights, daMMIT

*inhales*

noww 

guys, gals, and nonbinary pals

it’s time forr

the most wonderful time of the yearrr

WAITING FOR THE NEXT EPISODE

Step right up, folks! Hear ye, hear ye, my prediction for the next episode: Prinxiety v. Moceit! With special guest stars: Karrot Kings vibing in adorable gay and Intrulogical, bitter at being excluded aGAIN

Who will win? Who will lose? 

here’s a hint: we all will because in this sick twisted game they are no winners only losers-

Place your bets, folks! ✨

Haha im not readyyy~

tl;dr

this episode has cleared my skin, watered my crops, and ended my suffering—an adorable calm before the... angsty fucking shitstorm that’s coming far too soon. Prinxiety stans, enjoy your food. Place an 'F' in the chat for me and my fellow grieving Remus stans. Trashmas is the true OTP, but Karrot Kings is cute too I guess. I've only had Nico Florés for 24 minutes, but if anything happens to him, I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself. Purple eyeshadow Virgil makes me question my sexuality aGAIN, and happy gay disney prince rights y'all. Say a big ole 'fuck you' to capitalism by giving your local dapper snake moneys. Concussion makes brain go brr and imma go buy some carrots and be gay now.

psst hey @quarantinevibes2020​ you wanna join me in being disaster-y? i’ll bring my best gay stare and you bring the wine

Until next time, my lovelies! ~ Ches 🖤

[notthatiwilleverwriteit]

I don’t usually give these kinds of deeper analyses on the chapters because people who are way better at deciphering how I feel but just can’t put into words usually beat me to it (@casually-inlove and @call-me-ala to name a couple). Writing analyses can also be exhausting, and I tip my hat to those people who take the time and energy to answer all the asks and whatnot. But ch 297 just wouldn’t let my brain rest, so I decided to gird my loins and give you my thoughts.

Yesterday I answered an ask by @i-got-these-words about what was my favorite 19 Days quote, and even though I will stick to my answer, a very strong contender might have come to challenge my original pick. What He Tian said about Mo Guan Shan - and essentially about himself - just keeps on giving the deeper I dig into between the lines. It felt like HT and Tianshan have somewhat come a full circle.

“I chose you because there’s something I admire about you.”

What a nice callback to ch 138 and the origin of Tianshan in general:

HT “picking” MGS is an interesting aspect of their relationship. After the fight with ZZX, MGS’s palpable disdain of HT is surprisingly enough met with HT saying he admires MGS for that exact reason. Imagine finding someone respectable because they look down on your character. And not only that, you choose to pursue that person. I think that says a lot about HT’s struggle to distance himself from his “destiny” and the heritage of his family.

For that, we have to go even further back, all the way to when we just started to see other sides to HT. Why HT is living by himself in his uncle’s empty apartment isn’t fully clear to us. He said it’s more convenient because of school but judging by how tense his relationship with his father is, I bet there’s more to the housing situation. My headcanon is he’s living alone as a truce to ease the atmosphere at home. I also suspect He Cheng had something to do with it. Maybe it had gotten so bad he suggested HT lived by himself and used the school as an excuse to persuade their father.

Be that as it may, the obvious bottom line is, HT doesn’t agree with his father and the world his family is involved with. He’s been raised according to certain principles, but the older he grew the more they sickened him and the more stubbornly he wanted to defy them.

Before HT got involved with the fight between MGS and ZZX, he seemed to be somewhat of a lone wolf. Sure, he had his horde of fangirls but no one knew the real him. This, I think, is especially apparent in ch 115:

It’s as if he’s living a double life. His destined place in the world is in the shadows. The shady underworld he despises so much. But at the same time, the shadows seem to serve as a refuge of sorts. It’s a familiar place. From there he can observe people, deep in thought, and be himself. Out in the open, we rarely see him that serious but rather he often plasters a fake, outgoing smile that doesn’t scare off his classmates.

He doesn’t seem to have any real friends. JY and ZZX appear to be more of acquaintances, maybe something more, but they don’t know much about HT either. The way HT is with JY and ZZX makes me feel like he’s “above” them. He knows more about the world and life in general, he’s not a teenage boy they are despite often acting like they do. The difference becomes clear when JY bumps into MGS and HT steps in to effectively put an end to it. He has the confidence to take on delinquents without hesitation, even openly look down on them.

But he’s not doing that just out of the goodness of his heart. It’s true he wants to help his friend but he’s also on a mission to become something better than his father and brother. He Cheng told him to grow strong, but HT wants to use his strength for good instead to exploit and submit others. The more he will not become like his brother the better he will feel about himself and like he’s not a part of that shady world. His goal is both admirable and selfish.

MGS becomes a project of sorts for HT. Someone for whom he can be the hero he so desperately wants to. But also a living, breathing beacon of light to remind him to not give in to the darkness and use his strength for good. And no one is allowed to corrupt or snuff it out.

But that kind of relationship is quite one-sided. To be a hero and constantly strive to better oneself is exhausting, and in time, HT’s armor appears to have more and more cracks for MGS to see. He can’t just power through of it all by himself and see MGS, who is a person with his own will, that passively. Without necessarily even realizing it, MGS is forcing HT to admit certain things to himself and acknowledge them.

“You are not fake or sneaky, and you don’t cheat.”

For this analysis, I’ve used the translation by @yaoi-blcd and it seems they’ve used the word “fake”. I’ve seen a couple of others which had translated it as “hypocritical” (I don’t speak Mandarin, so I can’t say which is more accurate). I suppose there isn’t a big difference between the two but I find “hypocritical” quite interesting.

It reminds me of She Li in ch 294:

SL isn’t wrong in saying that HT and MGS are from different worlds. Or rather, they’re from the opposite sides of the same world; the villains and the victims. MGS’s family has suffered greatly by the hands of people like HT’s family. The connections between those two families aren’t clear but I don’t believe it’s far fetched to think MGS’s father might have been mixed with some shady people. For example, maybe he had had to borrow money from them and then had trouble paying back. And it’s from this injustice and the hardships that followed that MGS’s disdain of HT and people like him ultimately stems.

SL obviously doesn’t recognize HT’s efforts to befriend MGS because he doesn’t believe in that kind of approach (but that’s a whole other story). So, to take out his frustration on something, he goes with the truth even HT can’t deny and reminds HT of his “destiny” and place in the world.

HT might see himself as a hypocrite for trying to play a hero for MGS when he’s in fact meant to be the villain. Does he have the right put himself into the victims’ lives when his side of the world is the problem? This becomes even more of an issue if HT’s family was directly involved with what happened to MGS’s father.

Either way, words like “fake, “sneaky”, and “cheat” yet again speak loudly about the kind of world HT lives in and the kind of people he’s surrounded by. The opposite of those words is what he admires in MGS but is he also admitting those words describe him? Does he already see himself in them?

Which leads me to “You aren’t afraid ‘darkness’.“

This was probably my favorite part of the quote. Obviously, HT isn’t just talking about plain darkness although it’s another nice callback to HT being afraid of the dark.

One of the many things I love about Tianshan is that the power dynamic is actually more balanced than meets the eye. HT might be physically stronger and often push MGS’s buttons but MGS is in no way weak. HT can be quite forceful in his affections, so he needs to be paired up with someone who can push back and hold his own. In MGS’s case, all of that comes down to his pride and not wanting to depend on anyone (which is also mentioned in some of the translations instead of “cheating”).

“Darkness” can refer to the violent criminal world in which HT grew up. Interestingly enough it’s the common denominator in both of their lives. They might be from different sides of the darkness, but it’s still the same darkness they’re both familiar with. And MGS won’t back down when it comes to holding his ground, so he’s tough enough to survive in that darkness.

Also, HT needs someone strong enough to handle him at his worst. The latest case in point, ch 295:

It took me a while see behind that behavior. My initial reaction was to be disappointed because I thought we had gotten past HT being like this already. I didn’t like the way he barked orders and was physical without the usual mischevious undertone. Then I realized that despite being mature for his age, HT isn’t really good at using words. Instead, he often chooses action. It was obvious SL’s threat had upset and unsettled him. And it made him even more uneasy when MGS seemed oblivious to the danger. But he wasn’t being forceful and possessive but in need of reassurance.

He literally went from “bad mood” to promising to kill anyone who gives MGS trouble before we finally got to the root of the problem: he’s worried about losing MGS.

Now, he can’t be that way with the girls or his classmates. With them, he couldn’t act out every time he’s upset about something. Ideally, he will grow out of it or at least work on it, but in the meantime, he needs someone who can handle him at his worst.

It’s also obvious HT carries a lot of darkness in a form of trauma, as in his inner darkness. MGS isn’t a stranger to that either given that he’s also been through traumatic experiences at a young age. HT’s nightmares might scare him but he didn’t run away. Instead, he offered what clumsy comfort he could. This is connected to my earlier point of HT not just seeing MGS as someone who needs protection but also as someone he can rely on when it becomes too much. In the process, HT is “forced” to deal with his problems when he can show them to someone.

As an interesting side note, HT is kind of looking down when he talks about the “darkness”. Is he ashamed of being afraid of the “dark”? It’s a weakness, and I’m sure something that wouldn’t be accepted by his father.

“Don’t abandon me.”

HT finally ends his confession of sorts with the kind of plea we’ve never heard out of his mouth. It’s his greatest fear that’s always been in the background and the motivation to his actions but something he’s never said out loud. Not to mention while openly facing MGS like that.

Obviously, that line is heartbreakingly sad in and of itself but take a moment to really think about it. Imagine if the worst happened and MGS wasn’t in HT’s life for some reason anymore. What would he have left at that point? To go back to lurking in the shadows and fake smiling through his days? His goal of a better person would become that much abstract again, and he’d lose the one thing that grounds him in this side of the darkness.

It’s a very thin thread for HT to cling onto. I think @mestizo-efp had a good point in their answer about HT looking defeated. He’s used to being ready for anything and everything and is also asking for MGS to keep his guard up. In that light, HT’s plea is almost unfair. Anything could happen, and realistically speaking neither HT nor MGS could do anything about most of those scenarios.

Also, given HT’s somewhat difficult personality and shortcomings, it can also be read as a plea for MGS to put up with him. As in “I know I can be an ass but don’t give up on me”. It’s the fear of MGS losing hope in HT which could be even a worse punch than losing MGS some other way.

So, yeah. This might, in fact, be my new favorite quote.

[bytheangell]

I Only See Daylight

Fluffotber Day 3: Sunlight (Read on AO3) When Raphael first became human again, one of the things he was most concerned with was that all of the friends and acquaintances he had in his life - all of which were part of the Shadow World and had been for decades - would find him boring.

Some of them did, but not all of them. Not the ones that mattered. Surprisingly, among those who mattered Raphael finds himself noting one Maia Roberts.

“You’re a difficult person to track down,” Maia says, sitting down beside him. “I showed up a few times to check on you but Magnus just kept telling me you were ‘out’.”

Raphael laughs at that. “Yes, well, I think I’ve been indoors long enough to last a lifetime,” Raphael says. He’s sitting on a bench at the park, jacket off and sleeves rolled up despite the chill of the fall air around them. His face is tilted up toward the sun as he speaks, eyes closed against the light.

“Good point,” Maia admits. “You seem to be doing well,” she observes. “I mean, it’s totally weird to see you smiling for no reason, but it’s nice.”

Raphael opens his eyes and sits up properly, turning to face her as they speak. “Why were you looking for me?” He asks, his mind catching up with what she first said about him being difficult to track down. “Please tell me Lily isn’t causing issues with the werewolves already-”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Maia’s quick to stop him. “I was just… looking for you. To check-in, see how you were holding up. That’s all.”

Raphael raises an eyebrow at that.

“What? The way I see it, turning human again isn’t any different from being turned into a vampire or a werewolf. It’s a huge change. And having people around during it helps.”

She isn’t wrong. In fact, despite his initial desire to insist he’s fine, she may be right about the benefits of not isolating himself for once.

“I’m holding up just fine,” he says, but adds. “Thank you for checking, Maia. I do appreciate it. You’re welcome to stay if you’d like.”

She does. She stays much longer than he first anticipates.

----

Maia doesn’t stop after that first visit. She shows up again, and again, and again. If it were anyone else Raphael would’ve told them to go away. In fact, he does tell several others to stop bothering him, but not her. She doesn’t push the way others do, or treat him like he’s fragile now, or lesser. She treats him the same as she always did, and he appreciates that more than he can say.

It helps during the long winter months when Raphael’s forced to wear numerous layers to combat the cold he can suddenly feel, the kind that chills him to his bones. Maia invites him to the woods for fires and marshmallows and on bus rides to the beach after it snows, showing him the beauty of winter even though he now feels, and hates, the cold of it.

One night, after he falls asleep on her sofa, she asks if he wants to stay the night. He’s afraid that this is it, that this is the night it all falls apart when he admits that he isn’t interested in anything physical.

Maia stays even then, content for whatever they have forming between them to form without that expectation. That night it’s Raphael who chooses to stay as well, curled up along the length of Maia’s body under the comforter in her room, and falls asleep with someone he cares about for the first time.

---

Winter gives way to Spring, and once more it’s impossible to keep Raphael indoors. Maia slept in after a late night at the Hunter’s Moon and Raphael didn’t want to wake her, so instead he scrawled a hasty ‘Going to the park. Be back later.’ before heading out early.

Raphael is still at the park around noon when Maia finds him, this time stretched out in a patch of sunlight in the grass between the shadows of two trees.

“Are you sure you weren’t a cat in another life?” Maia jokes. “Maybe we can get Magnus to chip in and buy you one of those expensive penthouse apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows on every wall.”

Raphael shakes his head. “If I were a cat in another life, I don’t think Chairman Meow would hate me as much as he does,” he points out. When he looks over he’s surprised to see Maia spreading out a blanket next to him, still carefully in the strip of sunlight.

“What’s that?” he asks, more out of surprise than anything else.

“It’s a picnic,” Maia announces proudly, bringing a bag onto the blanket and pulling out cans of soda and sandwiches from one of Raphael’s favorite Deli’s. “I can’t just let you wither away in the sun all day, so I figured I’d bring the food to you.”

Suddenly, the warmth Raphael feels isn’t coming from the sunlight on his skin, and he feels the care behind the sentiment Maia manages to say so nonchalantly. He walks over and sits himself down beside her on the blanket, then leans in and places a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth, moving slowly enough that if she wants to move away at any point she can.

He expects her to.

She doesn’t.

When he pulls away Maia catches the expression on his face and laughs lightly. “Why do you look more surprised than me right now?” she asks.

“I wasn’t sure how you’d react. It’s difficult to tell sometimes, without the physical intimacy, if someone’s feelings are romantic or platonic,” Raphael points out.

Maia hums in consideration. “Hmmm. In that case, would now be a good time to admit I’m falling in love with you, and it definitely isn’t platonically?”

Raphael smiles. “That makes two of us.”

The picnics become a frequent occurrence that spring, as does the occasional exchanging of casual kisses. They’re all he’s comfortable with, but just as Maia was more than willing to be with him without them, she’s just as willing to accept them as the extent of what Raphael wishes to do, physically. He realizes after a little while that she never kisses him first and decides to bring it up.

“You know I’m always okay with it. I wasn’t sure if you were all the time, or if it was more particular, so I figured the safest bet was to let you instigate,” Maia explains. Raphael never imagined it’d be this easy, to find someone so willing to let him set the boundaries and not question them, to be so willingly confined to them for his sake. He never imagined having someone he could be entirely himself with, and never once feel like it’s a burden.

He isn’t sure it’s possible for him to love her more than he does at that moment.

---

“Listen. I know the beach is like... a quintessential warm summer day thing, but I really don’t think you’re going to like it,” Maia insists.

Raphael rolls his eyes. “I’ve been to the beach before, Maia. I was human before I got turned.”

Maia purses her lips together. “If you insist,” she relents.

When they get there it’s particularly windy, with sand kicking up into his face every time it blows. By noon he can feel the start of what he fears may be a particularly bad sunburn, which is entirely his fault because he dozed off once or twice in the sun and didn’t turn over or put on more sunscreen.

Raphael has to admit by about 2:00 that Maia was right. He hates the beach. There’s sand everywhere, and when he went into the water to both cool off and wash off some of it that only made even more stick to him by the time he got back to his towel.

To Maia’s credit, she doesn’t say a word the entire trip back to the city. At least, not until they’re home and Raphael takes off the t-shirt he slipped on as they left, exposing what is now the fully set-in sunburn radiating off his red back.

“Oh, dear…” Maia says, literally biting down on her lip to not laugh.

Raphael sighs. “Go ahead, you can say it. You told me so.”

“I did,” Maia says, trying not to laugh. “Good thing you like being warm so much, considering the fact that you’re a human radiator now,” she adds, this time allowing the smallest chuckle to break through.

It’s true. Raphael feels as if he’s giving off more heat than could possibly be healthy, suffering the lingering, pulsing burn until Maia vanishes into the bathroom and comes back out with a bottle of aloe to soothe the worst of the burn.

There are no more beach days that summer, or any summer to come if Raphael has a say in it.

---

As the weather cools and Raphael switches shorter sleeves for scarves and jackets once more, he’s surprised to find that he isn’t dreading the upcoming months as much as he expected.

In fact, watching Maia roll over in bed and greet him with a lazy Sunday morning smile, he finds himself thinking (with the sort of sappy sentimentality he often berated Magnus for) that he has all the warmth and light he could ever need right here.

[dappercritter]

Random She-Ra Season 4 Thoughts:

After much thinking and suffering, here are some random thoughts I had about season 4 inbetween feel episodes.

Going into S4 be like.

Coming out of S4 be like.

Grief and failure to communicate. This season is off to a great start!

You know, I still like Swift Wind but I’m starting to see why most people, uh… don’t.

If you told me before I started the show that I would hate a sexy catgirl and feel sorry for a creepy-looking cyborg conqueror, I would have called you a liar, paused, then said, “No, wait. Yeah, that sounds like me.”

Queen Glimmer looks nice, but I’m definitely going miss her old Cutie Honey-esque hairstyle.

Shame that Huntara didn’t join the Rebellion full-time but it’s for the best. Not just so she can liberate the Crimson Wastes, but let’s face it, nobody in the Rebellion would be able to think straight with a butch Amazonian warrior goddess hanging around.

I really can’t give Double Trouble enough praise: they have so much personality, a fantastic design combining reptilian and theatre-kid traits (two of my favourite kind of characters!), are morally ambiguous but likeable, and help alleviate all the dramatic stress that this season is packed with.

Flutterina and her village has thoroughly convinced me we need more moth people in fantasy.

Why? Simple. THEY’RE SO FLUFFY

I have some minor issues with the Flutterina controversy: yes, Adora and the Rebellion recruited a young girl to fight in a war and took her from her home and all that, which is a valid concern to have and indeed just a little hypocritical given that was how she was forced to grow up, but I feel like the fact that Flutterina is actually Double Trouble, a young adult spy with what I assume is a fair amount of combat and espionage training, makes it ring hollow for me.

Also, do we know if there’s a real Flutterine that Double Trouble impersonated or is she just a persona they made up?

Either way, it’s funny to imagine the Elberon locals trying to make sense of this little girl that just showed up out of nowhere, went off to war, and then the real one shows up right after and everyone just has to go along with it otherwise people will think they can’t keep track of their own kids.

Okay, so I’m not happy about Shadow Weaver slowly being treated as just another member of the cast, but I’m also sort of glad that it’s being implied that we’re still not supposed to trust her either.

That said, leave it to Shadow Weaver to go and potentially destroy Glimmadora on us.

Rogelio confirmed for best boyfriend.

Watching Kyle’s near sacrifice gave me some Chaos Vortex PTSD. (Pit-Truama Stress Disorder)

(If you understood that reference, you have earned my respect for life.)

Light Hope, you’re scaring the adults now, too.

Emily has a holographic projector and was at one point wanted by a ruthless conqueror of worlds. So I guess she qualifies as an astromech droid now?

Speaking of holograms, seeing Catra, Scorpia, and Entrapta when they were all friends was the worst kind of bittersweet.

(After watching Scorpia leave her toxic friendship to embark with Emily on an adventure to save Entrapta) *on the verse of tears* Fricking superb you funky little lesbian! *sniff* Fricking superb…

That’s right, Catra. You reflect on the consequences of your actions like a good kitty-cat.

Sea Hawk surprisingly looks the part for a good noir protagonist.

In his own head, of course.

Is it just me, or is Frosta acting mature again? Hyperactive Little Sister Frosta is fun, but The Only Sane Person in the Room is a Literal Child Frosta would be a missed opportunity.

Oh no, Adora and Glimmer are fighting!

Yay, they were just pretending to catch Double Trouble!

Oh no…

“Boy’s Night Out” or, “How to Delight and Emotionally Destroy Your Audience At The Same Time”

Believe it or not, Sea Hawk possesses special abilities like the Princesses. Those being:

Great singing

Superhuman positivity

Nigh-invulnerability

I’m not sure if Madame Razz is a time-traveller, a Doctor, or just has some sort of Alzheimer’s, but regardless, I’m proud of how the crew handled it.

Swift Wind might be annoying at times but if showing concern for the elderly doesn’t make him a likeable character, I don’t what does.

Looks like I can add “Hero” to the list of She-Ra episodes that deserve an Emmy or Annie.

Words cannot describe how happy I was to see Scorpia pop-up in Bright Moon amid all the drama.

Glimmer is tip-toing the line between “pure-hearted character forced into morally grey responsibilities” and “grey-area wet wipe” and I am not loving it.

So between She-Ra, Huntara, and Scorpia, we all agree Perfuma has a type now, right?

I know it’s just Double Trouble making fun of her (and my love of Elvis Presley, Johnny Bravo, and Kishidan showing) but I think Adora looks pretty dang cool with a pompadour.

Beast Island: It’s Annihilation for Kids!

Yay, King Micha really is alive!

However, he still doesn’t have a wife to come back to and his daughter is making some poor life choices. Bummer.

Nice to see Bow’s still on the Hates Shadow Weaver bandwagon.

Entrapta’s got a Kamen Rider mask now and no one call me otherwise.

And she’s got a mecha that used Godzilla’s roar.

Well, even if my She-Ra-fan-heart is dying, my tokusatsu-geek-brain is happy.

How Entrapta adjusted to life on Beast Island is both nothing and everything I expected from her at the same time.

Well what do you know, Glimmadora saves lives!

BREAKING NEWS: Non-binary reptilian theatre-kid makes breakthrough with angry lesbian cat!

Light Hope, you’re breaking our hearts…

I’m glad that the show is hopping on the anti-power-up bandwagon as well. As someone who grew up with shows like Power Rangers where everything was immediately solved by new merchandise or powers, I get a sort of twisted satisfaction seeing that the shiny merchandisable new toy is more trouble than its worth.

Oh, and of course, it makes a for a good lesson on the danger of absolute power.

Before I started S4, I hated Horde Prime because he wasn’t a giant eldritch cyborg monster anymore, but I’ve actually gotten quite accustomed to his new design. Now I hate him for being a callous perfectionist world conqueror with no sense of personal space that may or may not be into selfcest.

(*praying intensely*) Please let Adora turn into She-ra through sheer-will power next season, please let Adora turn into She-ra through sheer-will power next season, please let

Yup, I was right! This season didn’t fix damn thing the last one broke!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Character Bio: Jack Fairchild

[TW: Jack the Ripper]

Yes, he gets his own trigger warning when it comes to book related stuff, mostly just as a precaution because he gets up to a lot of fucked up stuff. Let this be your warning because at the very least his bio mentions some of the disturbing things he did.

Also, to clarify, though this gives him a tragic backstory, please don’t think this is an excuse. None of what happened to him in his life justifies what he did. Do not stan him. He may be sexy but he’s evil.

Born in 1860 to the prostitute Mary Anne Browning, Jack spent the first thirteen years of his life being smothered with affection by hi mother and being told what a great man his father was. At age 13, Jack finally was able to reconnect with his father, a surgeon by the name of Arthur Fairchild. Fairchild, seeing an opportunity, decided to take young Jack under his wing nd etach him his ways. Arthur Fairchild was a firm believer in might makes right, and that hose weaker exist to serve those stronger. He attempted to prove this by having Jack’s mother shipped off to an asylum where she would later die, which led to the beginning of Jack’s downward spiral.

Over the years under his father’s tutelage, he suppressed a lot of rage and resentment, especially towards his father. At age twenty, Jack set out into the world, hoping to get away from his father and find somewhere he could live in peace. Eventually, he found himself at Dracula’s school, and there he met Rose Milliner. He fell for her almost at first sight, and the two soon became rather inseparable. Rose often felt deep concern for him due to the serious anger he had inside him, but he promised her it wouldn’t be an issue, as he was in control.

During his time at the school, he grew rather close with Eve as well, speaking with her often whenever she decided to visit. She would often claim he would make an excellent vampire, but he wanted Rose to be the one to turn him when the time came. Eve, for her part, respected this, but soon enough Jack’s attitude began to shift as Rose began to suffer more bullying and harassment from peers after a heated interaction with Marianna Cross that inadvertently led to Rose getting the nickname “Rotbrained Rosie.” Jack began snapping at other students more frequently, getting into fights, and in general was far more belligerent and protective of Rose.

This came to a head after the Order was disbanded and Eve was weakened by Dracula and Yefim Rasputin. Going to Jack, she promised him the power to gain revenge on everyone who hurt Rose, and in a moment of anger and weakness, Jack allowed himself to be turned. The amount of venom Eve filled him with exacerbated his rage and unleashed the madness he had suppressed for years. He went forth and butchered nearly every student in Dracula’s school, as well as cornering Rose and begging her to stay by his side. When she rejected him, he snapped even further, and it was only with the intervention of Amon and Rose’s brother Rex that Jack was able to be subdued.

After regrouping with Eve, he went to Whitechapel where he would go on to become known as Jack the Ripper, although his killings were not random; he killed prostitutes as a point, one which he presented to his father. If his father’s philosophy were true, then why was the public so appalled by the so-called lowest humans in the city being so horrifically butchered? His father was unable to respond, and so Jack spent the next week slowly dissecting him while still alive, utilizing the very techniques his father had taught him. His madness had internalized his father’s old philosophies, that might makes right and the weak exist to serve the strong; now that Jack was a vampire, even the strongest mortal was insignificant compared to him.

His anger and bitterness was not quelled until a trip to Berlin, where he picked up a young man from a bar and had a night of intense sex with him. That man, Johan “Jojo” Fuast, was also a vampire, and so Jack shrewdly asked him if he might be interested in joining his coven. Excited to meet others like him, Jojo agreed, but in the time it took him to get settled in, Jack acquired an obedience collar from Rhiannon Rhydderch and put it on Jojo, making him into a compliant slave for Jack’s sexual desires, much to Marianna and Amon’s disgust and to Eve’s indifference.

Jojo suffered for a few decades until Jack met Alexis Icke, one of the Five of the Silverwings in the 60s. The two fell in love and soon she was spouting secrets to Jack, which eventually caught the attention of her superiors. She was taken away and Jack never saw or heard from her again, once again inciting his rage. Jojo began to be tormented and abused by him again until the late 70s/early 80s, in which Jojo went off with Rex and visits from Jack became very infrequent.

Jack is one of the few vampires Eve fully considers a child, and ‘loves’ him to the extent she can love anyone. Likewise, Jack completely and utterly loves Eve and views her as a surrogate mother, and greatly admires her power. Jack is a cannibal, occasionally eating his victims so that they do not go to waste. Surprisingly, aside from Jojo, he does not engage in sexual assault. He has severe mommy issues thanks to what happened to his mother, which is just another issue on top of all his myriad of mental health problems that were exacerbated by Eve’s venom. He also has a foot fetish (this is entirely canon, I swear).

He has the power to sink into and travel through shadows. This makes him almost impossible to defeat in the dark. He is incredibly fond of knives, and has a specially made one from Rhiannon known as the Holy Nail. It is supposedly made from the nails that were used to crucify Jesus, and the knife causes incredible pain even from the slightest cut.

Jack is obviously based on the real life criminal known as Jack the Ripper. He also draws inspiration from characters like Alex DeLarge of A Clockwork Orange and Patrick Bateman of American Psycho, namely in how he presents himself as a handsome, charming individual while being absolutely demented and vicious beneath it all.

[dragonloverdoran]

Adding on from the Paff ask, I really love how DQ handles trauma and mental health issues, better than most examples of mental issues in media (which are often in series intended for adults or teens, curiously enough), Doom was and still is horribly traumatised, for eleven years and more, and that enabled him to empathise with Paff, much to his detriment, because he wanted to spare her the consequences of her actions, but ultimately didn’t because Lief asked. (1/2)

Paff herself could be interpreted as an example of an emotionally vulnerable person being used as a weapon (like with child soldiers irl) and perpetuating the cycle of violence that she herself suffered through, alongside being isolated and left alone to deal with her trauma. The struggle against the Shadow Lord can be seen as a metaphor for battling depression or PTSD, he can only be repelled and never truly defeated, etc, which makes it surprising, because this is a children’s story.  Basically what I’m saying is that DQ is surprisingly sensitive in its handling of mental health issues and trauma and how they can never be cured completely. I think the Star of Deltora touches on this but I haven’t read it yet. Compare to ninety nine percent of media showing an easy way of healing (Snap! You’re all better because gave you a pep talk!) and that’s the last thing you’d expect coming from a children’s story of all things. It’s one reason why I love them as much as I still do.

I’m definitely with you, anon. I’ve read the books many, many times since I was like 8, but one thing I remember distinctly from the first time around was being taken aback by how the characters just... weren’t suddenly OK after the first series, the way kids’ books usually go. For example, I definitely expected Doom to go back to being Jarred and a doting dad to Jasmine, as well as becoming generally more pleasant. None of those things happened, but really it was much better to show the character moving forward, carrying experiences both good and bad. I think it’s amazing how Rodda not only tackles these challenging concepts sensitively in general, but also does so in a way that kids can understand and handle, even if they’ve never encountered the ideas before.

[eldritchsurveys]

641.

Would you convert to a different religion if your fiancé/fiancée was of a different faith? >> Fortunately, this was never an issue. Even if she did have a religion, there’s no obligation for me to share it. I tend to be the one interested in religions (although the jury’s still out on whether I’d ever actually feel comfortable adopting one).

The world is ending, and you can save one group of five people: who would be the five people that you save? >> First of all, if the “world is ending”, then I do not want to be stuck as one of the six humans left to deal with the aftermath and trying to survive in an inhospitable landscape. Also, this is just way too implausible a situation for me to take seriously.

Is happiness a delusion? Is happiness only real when shared? Why or why not? >>The idealisation of happiness is a bit delusional, I guess, but it’s a shared, social delusion -- just look at all the “wellness” “self-help” “self-care [the “buy this thing” kind, not the real, practical kind]” nonsense being peddled to us on a daily basis. Any feeling that is not happy-cheery forced positivity is aberrant and pathological and has to be “fixed”. That’s not a healthy way to think, and I hate that we’re all made to feel that way about perfectly normal ass emotions. I don’t know if happiness is only real when shared. I’ve always had someone(s) Inworld to share my happinesses (and everything else) with, so I can’t speak as to what it’d be like if I didn’t.

What would the cover of your biography (presumably written by somebody else who never knew you, postmortem) look like? >> I... really have no idea.

Write about a really good or creative Tumblr URL that you see frequently on your dashboard. >> inflagrante-delicatessen is a funny one.

If swear words were not things like “shit” and “fuck” what would they be otherwise? >> That’s, like, impossible for me to predict.

Write a very vivid description of what is/would have been your most perfect way to lose your virginity. What is your exact definition of ‘losing your virginity’? Also: will you/would you have liked to save your virginity for marriage? Why or why not? >> I don’t really care about this, you know? It’s not like if my first experience was earth-shattering, it would have somehow made up for all the horrible experiences I had later. I don’t have a definition for “losing one’s virginity” because that’s not a phrase I like to use. I don’t like making a point of dividing people’s experiences into “before sex” and “after sex” to begin with, but also, just focusing on a certain kind of sexual act as a “goal” to reach or whatever is... kind of weird to me. The whole shit is just weird the more I think about it.

Write a six-word fortune cookie. >> I’d rather not.

Why do you think eyebrows exist? >> I don’t have a hypothesis about this, but I’m sure there’s some educated theories out there if I was ever curious (right now, I am not).

If you could only have one contact on your phone, who would it be? >> Sparrow is the only person whose phone number I actually use on a regular basis, so, her.

Your bucket list is limited to three items. >> I don’t have a bucket list, period.

Do you wake up first or do you open your eyes first? >> I assume that I wake up first, and then open my eyes? But maybe it’s the other way around, what do I know.

Write a love/thank you/appreciation letter to someone you take for granted. >> No.

What makes you feel infinitely sexy? >> Can Calah makes me feel sexy. King Crimson makes me feel sexy. Sexiness isn’t something I feel outworld.

Make a video and talk about something for two minutes. Anything. And don’t edit out any parts of it. >> Uh, no.

Write a poem you’d stick on a refrigerator. >> Also no.

Are you afraid of aging? Why? >> I’m not afraid of ageing. I actually look forward to seeing what the rest of my life will bring, especially internally. What I am afraid of is infirmity, degenerative illness, that sort of thing. I’m afraid of losing my personal quality of life. (I know there’s a lot to unpack in regarding one’s quality of life as diminished if one develops a physical disability or something, because people live full lives with those things all the time. But I cannot predict how a change of that magnitude would affect me, personally, and I worry that I will not be able to adapt.)

Describe one time you basically thought you were the shit, when your self-confidence was soaring through the roof. This is meant to be a positive thing. >> Hm. I can’t remember a time like that right now.

If there was one person you could get drunk with and kiss and then later blame it on alcohol, who would it be? >> I would not do that.

Does perfection exist? If the word perfection did not exist, what word would be in its place? What would perfection mean instead? >> I guess the concept exists, at least. I don’t know if it’s something I can measure and perceive.

The next book you see that has over 300 pages, open up to page 136. Find a sentence you like, copy it down, and then write about it. >> I don’t feel like getting up to grab a book.

Who makes you laugh the most? >> ---

What is one thing that you are proud of, that you think lacks praise/lacks appreciation from the people around you? It could be a simple thing; it could be a secret thing. >> I don’t really seek appreciation from the people around me, so I don’t know.

If you could accuse somebody of being fake/a bitch and not suffer any repercussions, who would you accuse, and how would you do it? >> I’d really rather not. What even would be the point?

What is the funniest one-liner Tumblr text post you’ve ever read? >> Dude, there are so many funny ass posts on this website. I collect them at @officialaynrand.

Rewrite a verse of lyrics from your favorite song. They have to sound good when you sing it out loud along to tune of the song. >> Nope. But I will say that my brain insists on hearing the “heavy metal broke my [heart]” line in Fall Out Boy’s Centuries as “heavy metal Pokémon” and even though I know the lyrics I still sing it like that because it just kills me every time.

If the SATs/grades did not exist, in what way should colleges/teachers evaluate applicants? >> I have no suggestions.

Do you feel at home in your home? Is home a place for you? A book? A thing? A person? What would you want your home to be? >> I feel at home in Xibalba. I feel at home in my room here in the apartment, too. But I guess I’d feel equally at home in any place as long as I have a room of my own, a controlled environment that belongs solely to me.

Write your own eulogy. >> “Mordred Shadow Lastname wishes to inform us, the gathered, that it is just as surprised by this turn of events as we are. Except it actually isn’t surprised, or anything else, because It’s too busy being dead. Surprisingly. The unbelievably-deceased would like to request that if someone asks how it died, it will haunt whoever dares to say something stupid like ‘natural causes’. Make up a good story or pass the mic to someone who will.” Dunno what else I’d put in a eulogy about myself. That’s not really for me to write, anyway. Funerals are for the living, they can write the damn thing.

What is something you felt like you deserved or should have belonged to you, but you never got? >> There is nothing I feel that way about.

Do you feel ‘connected to nature’? Do you frequent outside? Do you believe that a connection with the earth we live on is necessary in the first place? >> I mean... I love to be outdoors, but I also love to be in a server room. I feel the same sense of awe and connection in both settings. For me, there is no real difference between the organic states and the transmuted states of matter. It’s all matter, innit? I don’t believe that feeling connected to Earth is necessary. I believe it’s healthy, sure, and common, but I don’t believe it’s unhealthy to not have that connection, or to feel connected to something else instead. It’s possible that some future generation of Homo sapiens will be born on another planet. What happens to that supposedly-innate “connection to the Earth” then? (Will they feel connected to their home planet instead? Or, something else? Or, nothing?)

Your opinion on oral sex? >> I don’t have an opinion on it, exactly. Just a preference: I prefer not to give or receive it. That’s all.

If one TV show could be real, which one would you want it to be? Which one would screw our world over? >> That is a complex question with a lot of variables and I don’t think I feel like devoting mental energy on it right now.

How many kinds of love are there? >> I… don’t know? As many kinds as people can conceive, I imagine. Or maybe it’s all just one kind, with different expressions. *shrug*???

Which word needs to exist (or be used again)? >> I mean, if I thought a word should be used again, I’d just use it. That’s literally how it works. If it’s been phased out completely enough that no one remembers it and it’s not recorded anywhere, then I can’t want it back, because I’d have to know a thing used to exist in the first place in order to want it to exist again.

What is the absolute hardest thing about staying alive? >> This pesky nag called “death” that keeps asking, “are we there yet?!” from the backseat.

What is a book that has been recognized as ‘great literature’ that you dislike? Why? >> Oh, I don’t know. The only time I ever read “Literature(tm)” was in high school, so I don’t know how I’d feel about any of it now. I'm just not really interested in it.

What is one change that you would make/have made to your life that will make/has made it better? >> *shrug*

Is everything you do for yourself? Can you truly be selfless? >> No, not everything I do is solely for myself. I do things for others as well. But I don’t like doing things for others if doing so threatens my quality of life, survival, or mental health. I don’t think it’s possible for a human being to act without a single note of self-interest. I mean... isn’t the survival instinct an instinct of self-interest?

Are you the same person you were two and a half years ago? >> I’m not the same person I was a second ago. (I also am not the same person I was about... 5 or so years ago, but that’s a... different thing.)

Can you possibly conquer the labyrinth? >> What labyrinth? Jareth the Goblin King’s? I’d try my best to conquer it if only to get to dance in the ballroom scene with him.

As a hyper intelligent pan-dimensional being, what is the answer to the ultimate question, the life, the universe and everything? What is the ultimate question? >> The ultimate question is obviously “how the fuck does CatDog poop?”

[bnha-imagines-and-hcs]

I'd like to hc that the ex villain s/o grew up in am abusive villain family? Like all they know is how to do harm and havent experienced people being patient with them. With this is mind, please may i request hcs/a drabble for the s/os toxic family member trying to hunt them down, maybe as revenge or in deluded hopes that their family wants to get back together? How would class 1A react? Thank you for reading all of this haha :"^)

Hey sweetie! Thanks for specifying your request! I did my best to makethese not to repetitive because let´s be honest no one is just gonna sit thereand do nothing when this is going on, so I apologize if some of these aresimilar!

This post turned out ENORMOUSLY long, so the scenariosare under the cut! Also short warning: Tokoyami´s and Todoroki´s parts are mildlyangsty.

YugaAoyama: Aoyama might not be the bravest of them all,but he stays surprisingly… calm? He has full trust into UA´s security system sohe doesn´t see you in immediate danger. Yet he understands that to you this isnot light issue. At first, he doesn´t really know what to do so he startsacting a little awkward around you. After a few days of wondering you noticethat he is giving his all to distract you from what is going on. All he wantsis for you to get through this unharmed so he does all these weird things thatwill keep your attention on him and nothing else.

MinaAshido: Is your knight in shining armor. Shehelps you by staying very positive about the whole thing. She´s the firstperson you´ve ever really trusted and to hear her say that everything is goingto be fine somehow sounds more convincing than hearing it from anyone else. Shecalms you down with her confident attitude, making it easier to believe thatthe past can´t get you anymore. Mina poses as a role-model for you to become justas bright and confident!

TsuyuAsui: Possibly the best s/o you could have in asituation like this. She really sees things for what they are and nothing else.And she sees that in any way the thought of your past coming after you has tobe extremely pressuring. She doesn´t really mention it in your day to dayconversation as to give you something to hold onto. Routine is extremelyimportant in troubling times. If you want to talk about it Tsuyu will listencarefully and talk about the matter calmly, similar to Ojiro. She´s always byyour side in these times cuddling you even more often than usual.

TenyaIida: Immediately begs you to consultauthority. He can´t stand the thought of you being in danger especially sincethis is someone from your past that could not only physically but psychologicallyhurt you. He can barely hold back tears when he thinks of how far you´ve comeand this is something he absolutely doesn´t want you to ever have to go throughagain. He feels a little better as soon as you´ve told authority about thisfamily member but will not budge from your side unless he absolutely has tountil the issue is resolved. He simply cannot risk having another person heloves hurt by a villain.

OchacoUraraka: She provides you all the emotionalsupport she can give. She helps you get through the day never missing a chanceto make life easier for you because “You never ask for anything. But when youdo I´d do anything to fulfill that.” Honestly, she´s just always thereencouraging you to go on with your life as you are right now because it´s theright decision and you have nothing to be afraid of since you´ve got theentirety of UA on your side. She´s so happy that you two have met and wants youto feel loved at all times just like you deserve.

MashiraoOjiro: Helps by being the rock in the surf. Hestays exceptionally calm to show you that you are safe where you are now. He actuallysits you down to have a talk about the current issue. He calmly tells you thatUA´s security system is completely waterproof and almost all of the staff areworking pro hero´s that have successfully apprehended villains many times. Helistens to your concerns and understands that you still feel scared since thisperson was part of your family and you know very well what they are capable of.He takes you seriously which is something you haven´t really experienced yet.Ojiro tells you that you don´t have to be afraid as often as you need to hearit to believe it.

DenkiKaminari: Positively does not know what to do. Howdoes one handle this? He just wants to hold you and tell you everything isgoing to be okay and that he´ll protect you no matter what. But he doesn´tbecause he doesn´t know how that would make you feel. However, should he seeyou acting out of the ordinary or look even a little sad he immediately forgetsabout that and just comforts you and smothers you with attention even if youshould tell him that you´re okay. He keeps on muttering while stroking yourhair and telling you how sorry he feels and how much he loves you. He´s justthe sweetest until you can´t help but feel a little better.

EijiroKirishima: Kirishima deals with the situationexceptionally well. He just has a good sense of how other people feel and how toimprove their condition. He texts you first thing in the morning asking how you´veslept. When you see each other, he can immediately tell what you need that day.Even the teachers notice how big of a help he is to you. Aizawa and All Might talkto him at one point giving you and him permission to meet up even after curfewshould that be beneficial to your mental health. He´s just that good.

Koji Koda: Koda is not the aggressive type at all. So instead of getting angry andfocusing on the person that is trying to get to you he focuses on making surethat you feel safe and comfortable. If you´re feeling anxious he´s thereto hold your hand and help you through it. If you have a lot on your mind, he´sthere to listen and help you collect your thoughts. If you can´t sleep at night,he will go as far as disregarding the rules and sneaking into your room orletting you into his at night depending on where you feel more comfortable. Hedoes everything he can so you can rest assured that nothing´s going to happento you at UA and that your decision to come here was the best you ever made.

RikidoSato: He just turns into the biggest worriedsweetheart in existence. Asks you if you need anything at least once everytwenty minutes. Sato monitors your behavior immediately sensing when somethingis wrong. He helps you to keep up with your schedule and your needs. He cheersyou on whenever you are eating even though you don´t feel like it. He waits downstairsfor you in the morning, so you don´t have to go to class alone. He supports youeverywhere he can in daily life. Again, routine is important for a person in emotionaltrouble. He sees that and makes sure that you always have an anchor to holdonto.

MezoShoji: Shoji is just…the best at making you feela little safer. Even though he is a sweetheart, most people wouldn´t start afight with him due to his appearance. He is also very hard to ambush due to hisinformation gathering skills. But the best part about this? Shoji is so good athugging. His form is large enough to almost encase you completely and there´sless things more comforting than that. Not to mention that he´s actually verysensitive to your needs and your thoughts. He helps you by just being there foryou.

KyokaJiro: Jiro is the one that freaks out most ofthe bunch. She is very close to demand for you to get personal security by thepolice. In UA of course that is not necessary, but she only calms down when youyourself say that you believe the protection of the school should be fine. Shecan´t help but be more nervous than usual though. It does comfort her thatshe´d always be one of the first to be able to tell should something be out ofthe ordinary thanks to her quirk. She comforts you. But you also have tocomfort her from time to time.

HantaSero: Just does his best to cheer you up everyday. He´s fully prepared to make an ass out of himself multiple times per dayif it leads to you smiling. Sero is bending backwards to let you forget aboutthe gravity of life for a while when you´re with him. You´ve had enough darktimes in your life, he´s decided. You don´t need to have that ruined bywhatever pathetic moron would try to take you from him. Doesn´t say it but isabsolutely ready to hurt someone badly if it was to keep you safe. You shouldn´thave to worry about anything.

FumikageTokoyami: He starts having trouble sleeping atnight. Because Dark Shadow is even harder to control when he feels angry. Eventhough it´s not easy for either of you this experience brings you closer. Onenight you sneak out of bed and knock on his door because you´re feeling toanxious to do anything. When he opens up, he doesn´t appear to have slept either.He just silently lets you in and you spend the night holding each other’s handtightly and silently suffering together. Not being alone was the only thingthat made that night bearable for both of you. The night before was the last timeyou slept in your own bed for the next two weeks.

ShotoTodoroki: Todoroki is in a cold sweat when he hearsthat an abusive family member is after you. It almost causes a panic attack inhimself as he can´t help but immediately project this onto himself. After theinitial strike of fear, he feels anger and hatred bubble up inside of him. Heknows that his own childhood was nothing to sneeze at, but he can´t even imaginehow it must have been for you. He doesn´t talk about the issue with you as heis too uncomfortable thinking about it. He becomes attached to your hip though lookingout for you and demanding that you come sleep in his dorm room. He simply can´tsleep without you for as long as he deems you in danger.

ToruHagakure: Very frazzled. What should she do? Whatdoes one do in this situation to be a good girlfriend. She eventually settles on makingyou feel good often holding your hand, cuddling you or just giving you simpletouches. She´s invisible so she thinks it´s very important that you feel herthere. The last thing she wants is for you to feel bad just because some horribleperson decides to make things harder than they need to be. Tries to make thematter as easy to take for you as possible.

KatsukiBakugo: At first you weren´t sure if you shouldtell him because it was hard to tell what he would do. When he found out, he wasangry. After you tell him your reasons and what´s really going on however hisblood really starts too boil. You´ve been fucking ripping yourself apart tofinally have a better life. You´ve come as far as being able to build arelationship based on mutual respect and trust other than fear and now someonefrom your past DARES to show their ugly mug around here?? Yeah right, Bakugoisn´t having any of that. You really have to hold him back so he doesn´t runoff going after them by himself. You can bet your sweet ass that the personthat´s after you will NOT get close to you.

IzukuMidoriya: Is thoroughly shaken when he first hearsabout it. He is among the ones who has had the most experience with villainswhich means that after the initial shock he gets over it pretty quick andstarts thinking about what the best possible course of action for him is inthis situation. He decides that making sure your mental health isn´t affectedhas the highest priority. He asks you what he can do to make you feel better andfollows your instructions to a T. He asks if it is okay if he follows youaround for a few days. Just so his heart can calm down a little. As soon asthere´s a sighting of your toxic family member he´s off. Against the rules ofcourse. But let´s face it this is Midoriya he will not sit around when his s/ois in danger.

MinoruMineta: I think this one comes as a bit of asurprise since Mineta is generally considered a coward. But he is so not okaywith what is happening. He admires you so much for how you made it out of yoursituation. Coming from an abusive “family” if you could even call it that.Knowing nothing but the principal of eat or be eaten. And then you pulledyourself up with your own strength that came from nothing and managed to get afresh start in life with almost no help at all. He is fully aware that he couldnever do what you accomplished and for someone to have the audacity anddisregard all of the obvious rejection you have shown them just makes him…mad. It might not sound very convincing but trust me. Mineta is looking out foryou. There´s no way someone is taking you away from him.

MomoYaoyorozu: Momo worries a lot. This doesn´t bodewell with her. She asks you if you´ve told anyone and advises you to do so. Shetries her best to stay calm around you as to not worry you further, but she isvery nervous about the whole thing. She almost needs more comforting than youdo. But don´t be fooled she is prepared for every single eventuality. She has aperfect plan if she should ever come across this “family member” of yours. Andit´s not pretty. Momo rests uneasy until the issue is resolved. She just wantsyou to finally be able to live a life where youset the standards.

I hope this is what you were looking for my lovely anon!

-Love, Mod Anni

[vanilla-blessing]

Why you should check out summer 2019 anime despite my previous blog post

I was mostly wrong about this season here’s qb’s revised

Hype rankings for Summer 2019

Cop Craft (Funimation)

COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED is the biggest surprise of the season for me. Coming from Millepensee, the studio and director team known for such Art as Teekyuu seasons 4-9 and Berserk 2016, this extremely sincere and wildly stupid Americanized take on anime fantasy adventure colliding with a hard-boiled cop drama is surprisingly highly enjoyable to watch for both intended and unintended reasons. 

The intended appeal of COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED hinges on a well-realized mashup of genres from a long running novel series, the buddy-cop teamup of an anime girl with a magical sword and a gruff but kind-hearted cop, and the dramatic thrill of one of the weirder spinoffs of law&order. The show promises an interesting setting where a magical portal ring to the fairy forest where anime-chans are real has naturally slotted into the organized crime of a New Yorkish city, resulting in a fresh take on well-trodden ground, and it actually kind of succeeds at this. In practice, watching loose cannon cops shoot guns at wizards while busting a drug ring who sling fairy dust is maybe the dumbest thing I’ve seen in years, but the story is so overly detailed, thought out, and delivered without an ounce of irony, unlike the recent terrible movie from Netflix that also attempted to do this premise almost word for word, that it wraps around to legitimately compelling. It also helps that this anime adaptation is being scripted by the novel’s author.

The unintended benefit of watching COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED is partly how completely absurd the words they are saying appear in English, producing some of the funniest out of context screenshots imaginable, the animation in execution ratchets between cool, frenetic action that contains distinct shades of a certain tennis club, and the hysterically awful cg that you’ve come to expect and love from the only team capable of producing Berserk 2016. When it’s good, it’s good, and when it’s bad, it’s incredible. 

In short, COP CRAFT DRAGNET MIRAGE RELOADED is a two-for-one deal of the best of both bad and good anime. It’s also getting an English dub by Funimation and I can’t even imagine how good literally any line read from that will be.

The Demon Girl Next Door (Hidive, VRV) 

Despite my earlier protests, this is actually totally fine, good even. It avoids the fanservice problem I predicted completely and instead sets a relaxed comedic tone that quietly highlights small gags in a way that feels natural, which sounds impossible but they found the only director who could pull it off (Hiroaki Sakurai, known for some quite good comedies like Cromartie High School and Majokko Tsukune-chan). The content is actually pretty funny when delivered in a non-hyperactive way, since a story about a girl who is bullied into making friends after her family circumstances tell her to murderize a magical girl, told naturally, hits that level of low surrealism that works. Her friends also take this in stride, encouraging her to use this as an opportunity to go out more, open up socially, and suffer for their amusement. The magical girl in question, after heroically saving Yuko from being run over by a truck, also encourages her to defeat her and drain all of her blood, because Shadow Mistress Yuko is so much of a non-threat that Momo takes advantage of their impending ultimate confrontation to trick her into being her gym buddy. It takes place in a post-season magical girl anime landscape where the world has already been saved, normal people are used to weird episodic junk, and hitting demon puberty just another thing your friends will tease you over. 

It still probably shouldn’t be full episode length, but it actually does something with that length, and is definitely the least painful iteration of this kind of slower, long-form comedy that you don’t usually see in anime because it’s usually a terrible idea. Predicting this would end up like other entries in the incredibly cursed magical girl parody genre was a safe bet, but this anime is the rare exception and it’s actually worth checking out. 

Given (Crunchyroll, VRV) is on the noitamina block and it’s about boys in a rock band who might become more than friends. You’ve probably tuned out at this point and you’d be right because you know exactly the tone and style of this from that description but it’s executed well and written well and directed okay, so if you’d like this sort of thing try it out. There’s an interesting range of ages (the band has members in high school, college, and graduate school), a fun sense of humor, and the music is a standout in a season that has Carole and Tuesday in it, so that’s something.  

I forgot to mention Fruits Basket (Crunchyroll, VRV, Funimation) in my last post because i didn’t know it was continuing. It’s hitting its “stride” in being massively depressing so check that out still. It’s tragic and great. 

Granbelm (Crunchyroll, VRV) is a magical girl show I watched on a whim and turns out it’s actually a magical mecha battle royale. The color scheme is overly bright and the mechs look squashed, but it has girls snarling and yelling their heads off summoning beam swords so it’s different from what I expected. It’s got a G-Gundam energy with the multiregional cast and how the mecha fights are playing out, so if you’re fans of that, and magical girl, this is both at once. The second episode introduced a unique motivation for the main character, that piloting the mech helped her get over crushing nihilism, and I want to see where that goes, if at all. Combining the sometimes bleak and fun-sucking writing of overly dark and philosophical magical girl with what I can only describe as Domon Kasshu energy is a choice and I would like to see where Granbelm is going with that.

Misc variable hype list

O Maidens in Your Savage Season (Hidive) 

This looks gorgeous and it may be the most Mari Okada thing ever written, move over Dragon Pilot, but the manga has some uncomfortable elements that would translate poorly to anime, in terms of keeping me watching it.

Crunchyroll actually did pick up Symphogear AXZ and XV, against my pessimistic attitude. 

Ensemble Stars (Funimation) is okay.

Fire Force’s animation is fire af but the girl who lives in her own hellish fanservice series is about to be introduced and this part of the series is kind of slow so it would take a lot of effort to elevate the material until it gets to the “good stuff”. David production seems willing to give it their best shot though, so we’ll see.

Vinland Saga started slow, quiet, chronological and ultimately strong, but it took multiple episodes to get there, which is why they aired 3 episodes in the first week. I think I still prefer the high octane opening chapter of the manga, but they’ll get there soon enough so it’ll be a non-issue in a few months anyway. I recommended this before and I still do. WIT studio is clearly playing for the longer game, setting themes that encompass the whole series first rather than the fleeting themes of watch the bad ass viking slice the mans, but it is currently missing the energy people associated with that opening volume or two. It will probably pay off though.

[kyokosdiary]

Miu Kyoko

Hi there, its @sabaku-no-livna‘s BNHA account here ! 

I’m gonna introduce you my BNHA main OC, Miu Kyoko ! Template from Uunearthly on DA (https://www.deviantart.com/uunearthly/gallery/)

Name: Miu Kyoko 

Nicknames: None her first name is short enough 

Hero name : Black Mirror 

Age: 15 yo 

Gender: Female

Height: 154 cm 

Weight: 39 kg 

Birthdate: 20 of August

Nationality: Japanese and Kenyan

Blood Type: O+

Occupation: Student

School: Shiketsu high

Year and Class: 2-A 

Physical Appearance:

Miu Kyoko is tiny but quiet curvy ! She has a pronounced waist line and back arch and a big breast. She has thin bones and muscles, but those muscles are strong enough for the fight ! She has the skin ebony color and the white of the eye black. Her eye lashes are almost white, like the top of her hair. She’s got long straight blue hair, in a gradient from very light blue to a more intense one. A side of her head got shaved when she was able to go beyond her mother’s power on her, in a sign of rebellion and individuality ! Her eyes are yellow and seem to shine in the dark just like her hair. 

She has on her body some white symbols that appear when she uses her quirk. The more she gets powerful, strategic 

and get some moral values, the more these tatoos appear like a reward. Each one of them as a signification.

Those on the face are symbol of perspicacity, the ones of the suns she has on her shoulder and breast are marks of hope, tenderness and bravery. Those on her belly shows she was able to cut the bonds with her mother not to reproduce the same mistakes and means she will be able to be a loving mother herself when she would be older. The one around her arm is a symbol of strength ! The one around her tight of balance. The ones on her calf of determination. 

The firsts ones that appeared were on her face, then on her breast, her shoulder, her tight, her calf and finally her belly when she got rid of her mother-mother problems. 

Her hero costume is inspired by traditional wax and quiet show off. It was chosen by her mother again. At the beginning she did not feel comfortable with such an open costume but when she got better with herself she assumed it perfectly! 

In real life she wears wax and ties her hair in braids. She likes to wear more cloths and isn’t showing off. 

Personality:

Miu Kyoko is a very shy and discrete person. She can be very friendly, caring and sweet when you get to know her, but she is too shy to go herself meeting people. 

She’s been used being in her mother’s shadow, having no choice and decision to make so is kind of lost in her own personality. She sometimes doesn't really know what SHE likes and what her mother liked for her. She will progressively get to understand who she is and what she likes. 

Miu likes dancing, music, singing, playing piano, animals and cooking. Piano, dance and sining were things imposed by her mother, but she got the best of it, and finally could find her way in it. 

Miu has a poor self esteem because of how violent her mother was to her and how perfectionist she is. She thinks she isn’t suited to be a hero and would rather have a more traditional life and job than being a hero. She believes she is useless and her quirk would never help people but put them in danger because of her weakness. 

However, her mother’s expectations were so big she is always fighting against her own will and doing her best to always be n1 at school and in everything she does. She tries to learn from her mistakes, make the best of her advantages and compensate her weakness. She is still determined becoming the n°14 hero, like her mother was but will progressively abandon this dream that isn’t her just to wish to become a good and wise hero, and not an object of her mother’s projection. 

Quirk Information:

Quirk: Reverse 

Type: Activation

Description: She reverses the opponent’s quirk against themselves. She gets the protections of their quirk if the quirk provide some instead of the opponents. On mutant quirks she just erases them and trying to go over her quirk is extremely painful. If she is put next to mirror or something that allows reflexion such as glass or ice, the strength of her counter attack will increase ! She has to have an eye contact to use her quirk. She doesn't produce anything, she only uses opponents quirks. 

Strengths:

+ With opponents with emitter quirks her quirk is very efficient and difficult to go through. 

Her quirk is quiet disturbing and allows no counter attack. 

Is avoiding close combat but allows her to get closer easily and attack thanks to her agility and speed. 

Good to end a battle. 

Weaknesses:

Cannot start herself a combat with this quirk. 

Can only defend people and herself with her physical abilities.

Her quirk cannot defend her against people with physical strength and so in close combat her only advantage is her speed, agility and flexibility developed with dance. In other terms she has almost no chance to win against someone using only their physical strength. 

Her quirk isn’t flashy and impressive for the public. So not very interesting for the medias.

Combat with people with emitters quirk can last forever with her quirk and she will get quickly tired and loose power over them.  

Quirk Statistics:

 - Power: 2 /5 

 - Speed:  3 /5 

 - Technique: 1.5 /5 

 - Intelligence: 3 /5 

 - Cooperativeness: 3/5 

Background and History

Relationships

Family : 

 Mother: Aissata Kyoko 

Aissata used to be called Coal Queen, in her country (Kenya) she was the n°1 hero, and she was n°14 worldwide until she got severely injured in a fight in Japan with a villain. Miu was 8 at the time. She married the Japanese business man Ari Kyoko, it wasn’t a love marriage but an arranged one with the two families. Aissata was very young when she got engaged and was raised accepting she would be married to a man she doesn’t love. She doesn’t have real affection for Ari and shows no consideration for him. She is a very proud and egocentric woman. There was no space for a child unless her daughter was just a duplicate of herself. When she had to retire from her hero career she became even more strict and cold to her daughter and husband. She felt her incapacity as an humiliation and found a way to fix it : her daughter will replace her. She had always been a strict mother, but there she became a tyrant, imposing her activities, a school, a training … She wanted her daughter to be as good as she was and to look just like her. She was putting a lot of pressure on her daughter, and when she wasn’t good enough she was using very violent words toward her. Their relationship was toxic as Miu progressively lost all individuality. She pushed her so much she skip grades and finally entered Shakiest high (a school chosen by HER) at the age of 14. She controlled everything about her daughter’s life : her weight, her dressing, the choice of her friends, her love life … She wanted full control on everything and to do so she is calling her 4 times a day, and sometimes even going physically to Shiketsu hight to assist at the trainings. She is a very tall woman and was frustrated her daughter was so short. Also she never hided her disappointment with her daughter’s quirk, not powerful and flashy enough. 

 Father: Ari Kyoko 

Ari Kyoko is from a big family of business men in weapon industry. He did not get the choice of his wife, but immediately fell in love with the stunning African beauty Aissata. He did everything to please his wife, he would have given her the world, he treated her like a queen but it was never enough for the capricious Coal Queen. His quirk is to copy a quirk he already faced. He can use a quirk he learnt only once. When Miu was born he was the most happy man on hearth, unlike his wife who suffered from baby blues and couldn’t even hold the baby in her arms. He was a loving and caring father, full of humor and joy. He got truly affected by his wife’s accident, and the fact of her being more violent towards him and his daughter probably caused his decay. As months passed his migraine became stronger and stronger, he was loosing weight and strength progressively until he couldn’t even walk. His breath was harder and harder and his heart weaker and weaker. Nobody knew exactly what was killing him, but his agony last 2 years. These 2 years have been a torture for Miu. He was her only loving parent, her sun, she admired him for his intelligence, tolerance and capacity of judgment. She was relying on him to protect her from Aissata. But when he died he left her alone with her mother. He never wanted to give up the fight, because he loved his daughter and wife so much. Until the end he kept hoping for the best and his last words were written by the doctors and directed to his daughter « Dear Miu, I want you to remember me as your loving father, not as the living corps I’ve become. Please remember my smile, my voice, my laughter but not my tears and decay. And also one last thing. Never forget who you are Miu. You may look like your mother but you are nothing like her. You are my beloved daughter. I love you more than anything in this world. My sun. Daddy. » 

Friends : 

She gets along very well with those of other schools. She met some of UA high outside of exams in fact, during a villain attack. She got to interact with Bakugo, Kirishima, Midoriya, Ochako, Todoroki and Iida. 

She appreciates Ochako Uraraka a lot, she highly admires Izuku Midoriya for his wisdom, optimism and determination. She was able to meet him several times and they get along together very well. 

She also have a strong admiration for Shoto Todoroki, for his intelligence, self control and how he was able to get off Endeavor’s clutches. She saw him first on TV during the sport festival, then during the attack where she met the other of class 1-A. They got along well, surprisingly he showed interest for her because of her personal issues with her mother. He’s like a mentor for her because he showed esteemed and helped her realizing how much she was her mother’s puppet and that she could become herself. He used what Midoriya taught him to help her out. She’s got a crush on him.

Rivals : 

She doesn’t really have rivals. She got to fight with Katsuki Bakugo and was a disturbing opponent to him. Also because she was trying to make him chill insisting on « you should try Yoga. ». However she finds his anger quiet cute and funny and this makes him even more upset and willing to destroy her. 

Her only real challenge is her mother, but Todoroki by acting as a mentor keeps her motivated to always try to challenge him even if she doesn’t really want to win. She only wants to make him proud of her. 

Love interest : Shõto Todoroki

   Hobbies: Playing piano, dancing, singing, composing, cooking, horse riding, chess (all hobbies were chosen by her mother) 

Fears: Thunder, Mineta, disappointing the others, abandon, her mother

Habits: Miu is often making braids on her hair, she cooks cookies and pies for people she loves and she is always training her flexibility and moves with dance and music. She also does yoga in the morning. 

 Likes: Colors, sun, animals, humanity. 

   Dislikes:  Rain, cold, loneliness and informatics. 

Goal: First her goal was to be good enough for her mother to love her. Then her goal became being good for herself and being the best and the more fair hero as possible and making the persons she loves proud of her. 

Hair style before and after getting rid of her mother’s oppression