#also don't hate me here but I don't know that making an egotist character say he's got an obligation to rule over others adds complexity

[highdio]

WAIT! did you see my submission that asked about the whole "show me your fear/how will i rule" flashback? i wanted to ask a lot what you thought. can you dig it up? i remember asking you if it gave nuance to what Dio thinks about his egotism. Seeing himself as so powerful, he's the "only" worthy being who could lead humanity. seeing it as a obligation of some sort. please i am really curious about your view.

I don't think I ever got your earlier ask so it’s good you followed up. Re: the "show me your fear" sequence in CDDH, if I'm being honest it made me cringe a little when I read it, like it came across as tryhard.

The best way for me to explain this is by comparing it to the anime scene where Enya says a lot of the same stuff:

Here Enya does the talking, like she's Dio's hypeman. Dio? He doesn't say anything, and honestly it's kind of funny: she's there going on and on about the Joy of Fear while Dio's sort of just there, chilling in his bedroom with a bunch of naked women.

imo having someone else talk about fear while Dio barely acknowledges that we're doing a scene here is more in-character than the battle monolog in CDDH that you're asking about. That's the thing about how Araki writes Dio, and I think this gets lost sometimes: Dio doesn't usually go out of his way to impress you. An obvious early example is when young Dio's introduced in that boxing match but he's off to the side on the hill, nowhere near the ring, leisurely lacing his gloves. There's a lot of scenes like this, where Dio assumes this passive, unhurried posture (from not leaving Egypt to go after Jotaro, to turning his back to Hol, sitting down and reading a book during the 'Shooting Dio?!' chapter). He doesn't have to go out of his way to do much, instead people get drawn toward him. Once you notice this, it becomes a blueprint in terms of how Araki writes him.

I've have the same criticism with the scene earlier in CDDH where Kadono has Dio boastfully reveal to Kakyoin that he orchestrated Kakyoin's family's trip to Egypt (??).

Anytime he's got Dio taking that pro-active a role I think, no, Dio's too lazy for that. While it's all true that Dio's ambitious and plans for contingencies, he's just not going to go out of his way to lash out or attack. He just sort of waits. Araki says it this way:

“DIO is more of the reactionary type, so [if he'd beaten Jotaro and a new opponent appeared] he probably would have continued to take root in Egypt and wait for his prey to come to him.”

Going back to the CDDH "fear" scene you asked about, while the gist of what he's saying is consistent with Dio's character - he's always testing people's fears, limits and motivations - it still comes across as if it's written too in-your-face, like he's saying a bunch of stuff he doesn't need to say. Even the stylistic choice of putting Dio's dialog in speech bubbles bounded by thick, jagged black borders feels tryhard.

Please remember that Dio is a guy who got his minion to cut off his own head by saying very few words interspersed with a ton of ellipses.

This is what I mean about Dio being softer in approach/more passive in canon than in CDDH and in fanon. It's charisma that draws you in rather than him over-acting.

The other part of your ask about Dio seeing himself as the 'only being worthy of leading humanity' as an obligation also seems a little off. I don't think Dio feels obliged to humanity at all, only because Dio sees himself as a top-of-the-food-chain being and humans as prey. fwiw I still think Dio's primary driver is more along the lines of a top-level athlete in the sense that at some point he's competing with himself to 'transcend' his current peak performance level; ruling over humanity doesn't factor into this as much. ofc you could probably get away with headcanoning him as more interested in ruling mankind, but imo he'd do that for the ego-trip or as some sort of sociological experiment rather than through any perceived indebtedness.

[azrielbrainrot]

I Laugh Like Me Again... She Laughs Like You

Pairing: Azriel x Reader

Description: Whether in the solitude of his room or surrounded by family, all Azriel can think about is you. He would give anything to hold you one more time.

Warnings: Angst, Mourning, mention of suicide

Word Count: 3652

Notes: I don't even know where this came from. I was listening to sweet music by hozier and thought "what if I gave Azriel more trauma". The idea popped into my head and it basically wrote itself. I can't believe I have to say this but with this fandom I'm not risking it: this wasn't written to hate on Elain (or any other character) or incite anyone else to do so. Keep your stupid fights off my post, please and thank you. Hope you enjoy!

Part 2

Another family dinner at the river house meant another night of watching everyone around him happy and in love. Azriel didn't think of himself as egotistical, would never think the love his brothers are experiencing is undeserved either, but it reminds him of a time where he was the only one in the Inner Circle with a partner, of when his brothers were the ones confessing to him how jealous they were of how he had found someone that loved him so much, of a time he never thought would have an end. It reminds him of you.

He looks himself in the mirror as he buttons up the navy shirt, trying to ignore the vacant room behind him. If you were here with him you would have been making jokes about his insistence on keeping the blue theme going in his clothes even though he swears he doesn't think too much about what to wear or his appearance in general.

On a good day, you'd be helping him with the small buttons right now, with shadows swirling around your legs and looking up at him the way you knew would take his breath away every time. On an even better day, he'd have your back pressed against his chest, his fingers inside your familiar heat, the other hand wrapped around your throat so you could watch him play with your body, panting his name and clawing at his arm, pleading with him to keep going, to let you touch him. He'd be late for an entirely different reason, not for getting held up talking to his spies, and then getting lost in his memories.

Sensing his thoughts, his meddling shadows move to his desk, filtering into the drawer they knew held a small velvet box. The dark wisps carefully picked it up and set it on top of the dark wood. Leaving it there and moving back to their original places around the darkened room, letting him decide for himself if he wanted to open it or not.

It had been a while since the last time he touched it, busy as he was these days. There were times he would sit and look at it every day, sometimes without even daring to open it and look inside. But there were also times where even the sight of the navy velvet would suddenly suffocate him with the reminder of your sweet scent, one he would never be able to smell again. It would make him hide the box at the back of his drawer, the back of his mind.

Over the last few years, his reactions to it had gotten milder, an unwilling acceptance of the fact that he would never see you again allowed him to reminisce on the happy memories you had together, even the sad ones, every little fight you had seemed so inconsequential now, he'd give anything to be able to have any moment with you back, to hear you say his name one more time.

He walks to the desk, only hesitating for a beat before grabbing and opening the box. His heart throbs as he stares at the ring sitting inside, thumbing at the empty space left behind by it on his finger instinctively. He had never liked rings, didn't like anything that brought attention to his hands or rubbed against the rough skin but the moment you slid the silver ring into his finger it felt right, he had never wanted to take it off. Azriel would wear a ring on each finger if it showed the world he was yours.

He wore the ring for an entire decade after you died, even after all hope that you could still be alive had left him, he couldn't bring himself to let go of it, to let go of you. His mother had been the one to tell him he needed to stop wearing it, that holding onto it, onto the past would only bring him more heartache. He could still hear her begging him with tears in her eyes, not bearing to see her son in such a state, but he had only actually taken it off when Rhys was taken by Amarantha.

He had thrown the ring into the Sidra that night. He's not sure if it had been anger, frustration or simply hopelessness that drove him to it in that moment. He was tired of not being able to protect anyone, tired of losing his people, the people he never thought he would even find when he was just a boy sitting in a dark humid cell. It must have been that boy's pain, still inside him, that drove him to act like that. If it hadn't been for his shadows immediately flying after it he would have lost it, wouldn't have this reminder of a happy time sitting in front of him right now, it had helped him ground himself more than once during the years following that night. His shadows had saved him from himself once again.

He closes the box gently, rubbing at the smooth texture of the velvet, trying not to let himself get lost in your memory and the bitterness that followed at the injustice of it all. Your marriage had only lasted a little over a decade, he's had to live with your ghost for much longer than that now. Still, he knows he won't forget that time no matter how many more years he lives, and, even if it's another five centuries, he knows he'll still wish he had had the chance to spend them all with you.

Some of the pain has dulled, most days at least, but the guilt still eats at him. He should have known something was going to happen, should have reached you sooner, should have told someone to go with you, should have gone himself, should have been the one to die in your place. The millions of possibilities will likely invade his brain until his last breath, after which he'll finally be able to see you again. That was another thought that had consumed him far too often in the beginning. If it wasn't for his mother, his brothers and Mor, if it weren't for the pain it would cause them, he would have taken Truth Teller to his neck just for the chance to see you one more time.

Azriel? His wings go rigid and he tightens his hold on the box at the sudden intrusion. He tries to push his thoughts as far back into his mind as he can before lowering his mental shields, almost letting out a sigh of relief at finding them in place, hoping his brother couldn't get a glimpse of his thoughts. He hands the box to his shadows so they can safely place it back inside his drawer. Are you still coming, brother?

Yes. He moves back to the mirror and finishes buttoning his shirt while trying to keep his tone as nonchalant as possible. However, the hesitation on the other side tells him Rhys sensed exactly what was holding him up in his room, he knows him better than anyone after all.

Hurry then. We're all waiting for you. Azriel closes his walls as soon as he feels his brother's absence in his mind. He knows they miss you too. They had welcomed you with open arms and considered you part of the family after their marriage. Everyone in the Inner Circle took a big hit when you went missing. He will never forget Cassian's face when he arrived to see Azriel kneeling down in a pool of your blood, with no body to be found. His brother wore his heart on his sleeve and it had shattered that night. There were countless sleepless nights for everyone following that moment.

They all threw themselves at finding you in any way they could. There was enough blood on the floor to tell them you had died but none of them wanted to believe it. Azriel talked to every single one of his spies multiple times, ordering them to track every movement in their respective areas. Rhys sent letters to every ally he had and then joined Cassian and Mor in searching every corner of Prythian personally. Even Amren, ever the logical emotionless one, searched for you with every means she could, contacting friends the spymaster didn't even know existed. But, one by one, they all had to accept the truth, Azriel ending up being the most hesitant to.

He had long since killed the attackers, putting them through as much pain as possible for as long as he could keep them alive, making them regret ever touching you. But that didn't help with the gaping hole in his chest, nothing helped. They didn't know how to find your body either. Rhys looked through every corner of their minds and only found them leaving you behind, bleeding on the cold ground.

Rhys refused to show him the memory, no matter how much he begged him to let him see you one more time. Now he knows his brother was just trying to protect him, not wanting that to be Azriel's last memory of you, with the amount of blood left behind he knew you couldn't have been in good shape, but at the time he lashed out at his brother like he had never done before, probably would have killed him in blind rage if it hadn't been for Cassian trying to hold him back and if Rhys wasn't Rhys. Thinking back he should have thanked him instead, for holding onto such a painful memory and keeping it to himself so no one else had to suffer from it.

Even if he couldn't see you again, he still wishes that he had your body to bury at least. Azriel doesn't know how the Mother could be so cruel as to not only let you die so soon, so painfully without at least letting him find your body so he could put you to rest next to your parents' graves. It would also give him a place to talk to you, to feel as close to you as possible.

The pain almost came back in full when Rhysand first told him about Feyre. Jealousy had reared its ugly head at the fondness in his brother's gaze, the slight tint to his cheeks at just saying her name. He was happy for Rhys, especially after everything he'd been through, but that happiness couldn't hold a candle to the pain he felt. He remembers the night he confided in his brothers about the lovely female he had met, how she had told him she loved him, it had been much like that one.

To make matters worse, the first thing he remembered when Rhys told him about his mate was a stupid bet the two of you had made - you had been adamant that Cassian, as sweet as he is, would be the next to get married, Azriel had voted for Rhys, one of his many conquests were bound to work out one day. He won and yet he didn't feel victorious at all. He couldn't even tell you of your loss, see how pouty you get when it happens, ever the sore loser. Didn't even remember the prize but there was no way for you to give it to him now either way. What hurt the most was that he couldn't even tell you his brother had found his mate. These were the best news in over a century and he just wanted to share them with you, wanted to share everything with you.

He takes another look at the mirror with a small sigh, straightening his wings and making sure his face doesn't give anything away before calling to his shadows. He feels them wrap around him slowly, giving him some comfort before taking him directly to the river house.

“Almost thought you weren't coming.” He was still half covered in shadows when he heard Cassian's voice. Everyone was standing around talking to each other, waiting on him. The guilt was tugging at his heart strings again. Why would he ever feel like he needed more than a family that loved him? Who was he to think this wasn't enough for him? It was something he could only dream of when he was younger.

“He's here now. That's all that matters,” the smile Feyre gave him was warmer than usual and her hand lingered on his shoulder for a second too long. Azriel looks over to Rhys, finding him already looking at him, studying his face. He had told his mate of whatever he sensed in his mind then. He hoped neither of them brought it up at least, now or later. What good would admit he misses his dead wife do? No one can bring you back to him.

“Finally. I'm starving.” Cassian clapped his shoulder as he passed by him on the way to the already set table, sitting down immediately. Everyone followed in his footsteps, greeting Azriel and finding their seats. Seems he really had kept them waiting.

Conversation picked back up naturally and he let himself fall into the usual rhythm of these dinners, letting his body relax around his family, forgetting about his old life for the moment. He walked over to the already set table and took his seat next to Elain, as it usually was these days. The seating arrangements had moved around a bit over the last years to accommodate not only the new additions to their little circle but also the relationships in them. He used to always sit next to Cassian but now had given the seat up to his beautiful mate. It left him next to Elain most times since they were the only single fae at the table.

Elain gave him a soft smile as he sat down and he nodded at her with a smile of his own. They had been getting closer ever since she was turned to fae and started living in Velaris. Her quiet nature quickly drew him to her, feeling at ease almost immediately with the middle Archeron sister. But he had to have been blind not to see the way she looked at him, not to notice the enamored smile she gave him.

Sometimes he let himself wonder if things could work between them. She had a mate but it was clearer with each passing day that she didn't feel anything for the male tied to her. It was also obvious how well Azriel and Elain got along, fitting into each other's lives almost seamlessly. He didn't love her but couldn't say seeing himself fall for the lovely female was such a far-fetched idea. She was a beautiful and kind fae, loving her would probably be as easy as breathing.

When everyone had been made aware of the mating bonds, he had even considered if the Mother had made a mistake. His two brothers had ended up with two of the sisters after all. Now he can see he was just desperate for a bond like theirs. In truth, he wouldn't even know what he would have done if Elain had truly been his mate. Would he finally put you behind him? Would he have thrown the ring away again, for good this time? He knows he couldn't bring himself to even with the power of a mating bond. You were etched deep into his skin just like the bargain marks inked into his shoulders.

As the dinner moved on and they made their way to the sofas in the sitting room, his family was already more than lively. Mor had busted out one of Rhysand's old wine bottles, setting the mood for the rest of the night. Azriel had completely relaxed by then, letting himself enjoy their company, his shadows retreating almost completely around the room. Finally having some reprieve from the particularly insistent thoughts that were plaguing his mind today.

Cassian was telling a story he had heard a thousand times now but he still laughed along with everyone else. Listening to Cass tell the story so many times wouldn't make the fact that he had flown straight into a river any less funny. Azriel even remembered the following part, the one Cass doesn't include in the story which was after they pulled him out and he had gotten sick for a week, making him miss practice and lose every spar with him and Rhys for the next months.

Even old stories had a new life with new people around, it was the first time the sisters heard this one, judging by the slight tint to Nesta's cheeks as she laughed at her mate and how hard Feyre was clutching at Rhys' arm to ground herself. Even Elain was laughing hard enough that her body was shaking. Her laugh was soft and melodic, a lovely sound really, but it suddenly opened a familiar pit in his stomach. It reminded him of you. She wasn't quite as loud and her eyes didn't immediately water like yours but the way she raised her hand to her face was similar. And just like that the illusion of happiness he had created shattered.

She was nothing like you but he still found you in every thing she did, in everything anyone did. He couldn't go to half of the city's bakeries and shops without thinking of you and every moment you spent there. He had even changed rooms in every one of Rhysand's houses, not bearing to sleep in the same bed you had held him in. Everyone in the Inner Circle had learned to avoid certain topics, certain stories in fear they would remind him of you. Even your name was rarely mentioned unless he did so first or strictly necessary. Every thought of getting over you was nothing more than wishful thinking. It was like his entire soul was begging him to go to you, but you weren't anywhere in this world.

This had to be one of the worst parts of his routine lately, having to take extra care to school his features when spending time with his brothers and their mates. If his face showed any sign of how much he missed you, how much he wished he could hug you to him just like they can do with them, they would immediately look at him with pain in their eyes, pain for what he lost and will never get back.

It had taken too long to get used to how differently they treated him after what happened. He had to start a fight to get them to stop treating him like he could break at any second when it was the truth. They knew it as well as he did, but they also knew that they had to let Azriel mourn in his own way, that there was nothing they could do besides stay by his side.

You weren't mates - maybe the pain he feels would never compare to what his brothers would go through if their mates ever met the same fate as you - but that had never mattered to him. His soul sang for you the same way he sang for his shadows, you were written into his very being just like they were. And, most importantly, there wasn't a single fiber in his body that wanted to live without you.

Even a mate could never erase you from his memory, even if you had been alive. He doubts if a mating bond had snapped between you two at the time, you would have gotten any deeper into him than you already were. He can't imagine loving you, wanting you more than he already did was possible.

He felt his shadows move to him, almost sending them away thinking they were coming to comfort him again, hiding him from the world as usual. Their urgency gave them away, and by the way Rhysand's body tensed across from him he also had noticed something amiss.

“What happened?” The High Lord's voice cut through the atmosphere immediately, everyone looked to him for an explanation and got ready for any possibility. His entire body stood still when his shadows told him they felt someone winnowing into the townhouse.

“Someone's in the townhouse,” he stood up as he spoke, sending some of his shadows out to find out as much as they could and the rest around Velaris to check if there were any other disturbances.

“Who could get past the wards?” He felt a shield around them, Rhys had likely set it up around his house. Cassian's siphons were flickering red as they all prepared for what could come next. Velaris was more than well protected, especially after the attacks before the war, but the High Lord's homes were nearly impossible to get into uninvited, Azriel himself had helped make sure of it.

“I don't know,” he held onto Truth Teller as he waited for his shadows or his High Lord and Lady to find something. His shadows were being strangely lax about the whole situation, maybe this was someone who knew of a way to go around his gift, keep them distracted.

It took longer than usual to receive a response from them, making him and everyone around him more concerned by the second. By now everyone was donning a sword or weapon of some sort, only waiting on more information before splitting up to keep Velaris safe and find the intruders.

When his shadows finally appeared they wasted no time rushing to his ear, at last sensing his urgency in the matter. Their answer was one nothing could have prepared him for, his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest.

His shadows came back carrying a once familiar tune. They came back singing your name.

[graveyardcuddles]

If you attack ascended Astarion at the epilogue party as a mindflayer, all the rest of the companions will join in the attack with you. Which doesn't make a ton of sense from my perspective because frankly, they should all be just as scared of mindflayer Tav as they are of ascended Astarion, if not even more so. Let's just be real and admit that Astarion, as "mean" as he is when he breaks up with mindflayer Tav, is 100% correct. Tav is not Tav anymore. Ilithids don't have souls. They're not a person anymore. And Tav can prove it by attacking him out of the blue at a peaceful-ass gathering. Even Astarion with how cruel and egotistical he becomes when ascended is still more "human" than a mindflayer because he at least retains his soul and personality, as warped as it becomes. That's all besides the point, though.

My main point it I just find it weird how so many so-called Astarion "fans" revile in this scene and find it so funny how Astarion "gets his comeuppance" in this scene or whatever. And I don't know about anyone else, but I find this scene incredibly sad and tragic. Both Astarion and Tav have lost themselves completely (Tav even more so than Astarion, I would argue). And it kinda baffles me how so few fans of Astarion can see how much he's clearly hurting here as well?

He claims he hasn't thought about Tav in the past 6 months, and he delivers the line in a way that is clearly meant to sting as much as possible. People point to that moment as a "gotcha" moment that Astarion genuinely doesn't miss Tav. But he then immediately contradicts this a few sentences later when he says thinks all the time about what could have been if they had stayed his consort and never became a mindflayer. And that all his power is nothing without Tav by his side (paraphrasing).

"OH he's just manipulating Tav" why would he say anything that would make him look weak or vulnerable? If anything, he should be bragging about how GREAT he's doing without Tav. How awesome his life as a vampire lord is without them. And at first he does just that, the first half of the conversation is all bragging. But the longer he talks to them, the more the little hurtful truths slip out behind the hateful words. Like for as much as fans claim to understand that Astarion will often say one thing but mean another some of them sure are shit at being able to tell when he's clearly covering up his hurt with vitriol.

And again there's something weird about cheering on mindflayer Tav when their turn can be considered just as tragic as Astarion ascending. Like don't get me wrong I enjoy letting a monster do their thing. But it's like this weird double standard where mindflayer Tav's monstrosity is good and cool to idolize and joke about them wanting to eat the brains of their friends but the second someone has fantasies about being Astarion's consort they need to be psychoanalyzed.

And it's also ridiculous that if you even so much as suggest that hey, maybe there's more going on with ascended Astarion than meets the eye, maybe he actually is suffering in his isolation, ect. you get called a delusional idiot because people just really want to believe Astarion is truly a 100% different person from his ascended self when that's simply. not. true. Again the writers have confirmed the ritual didn't consume his soul. The ritual amplified all his worst personality traits that he already had.

I'm not saying you need to love ascended Astarion BUT if you love his character for what he is you should be able to at least appreciate him. You should be able to at least find him tragic and compelling. Kinda annoyed that many fans, who are seemingly uncomfortable with being confronted with this side of him, would rather turn him into a big joke or reduce his full spectrum of emotion to just "smug apathy."

[kaleaido]

So... episode 16 huh?

Okay guys, what the FUCK WASTHATTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!1! that was. wow. oh my god. wow. okay I need to sit down. I'll be doing the bullet point breakdown again cause my thoughts are everywhere:

THE ANIMATION IS PHENOMENAL??? The art in general is AWESOME ii2 always had really fluid and cinematic animation imo but GOD this is such eye candy

Seeing the III contestants ISFUCKING SCARY I DIDN'T THINK WE'D GET TO SEE THEM AT ALL??? I THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA BE MENTIONED??? They look soo weird in the old art style but this is cool I like it

okay I did NOT expect Taco to be doing her apology thing so early BUT OH MY GOD????// THE ENCOUNTER IS EVERYTHING I FEARED BUT IT WAS SO GOOD EVEN WITH THE SHORT TIME SPAN OHGUEAHGH......PICKLE........SORRY BUT I WAS CHEERING FOR HIM HE KIND OF ATE THAT UP........... AND THE PART WHERE HE FUCKING DIED AND TACO WAS CRYIGN?!?@!@KASJKADSDJWHATTHE FUCK WAS THAT. WHAT TWAS THAT BRIAN. BRAIN. WHAT. I thought they were having a fight or something but NOOOIT WAS WAY WAYWAY WORSE. HELLO???? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL ABOUT THIS . Actually! I'm not feeling okay. I don't like this.

II SUDDENLY TURNED INTO A MUSICAL WHATT!!! Steve Cobs song certainly was not on my bingo card but here we are. hate that guy but man he got a good voice

I'm digging the payjay angst but I didn't think that was a segue TO KILL OJ?????WHY WAS THAT SCENE SO GOOD. I'M FOAMING AT THE MOUTH IT WAS HORRIFYING!!! THE ENTIRE SEQUENCE OF MEPHONEX APPROACHING THE CONTESTANTS WASSOASHDGHWAHWASHJD But real talk, does this imply that Toilet was created by Mephone in some ways???

Hi guys I'm actually not okay with us seeing characters that are in pairs be separated. Mm yeah. OJ, Soap, Nickle. Yeah. I'm not okay that they spent the episode showing these characters hanging with their friends only for them to die. Yeah.I'm not okay seeing their friends being in complete shock of what just happened. Yeah. Mh yeah.........

THE HAUNTED MANSION GUYS ARE BACK YAYYY!!!!! and they were roomates <3 (dough i hope you die the second time)

Knife and Suitcase interactions are so well written I can't get over them. Also the way both of them handle 3GS isSOOEUAHGH I lovee 3GS

Knife and Trophy. Need I say more

Suitcase, Nickel and Balloon. Need I say more

Steven Cobs is horrible I hate him but he was also the most entertaining character in this. Him putting Mephone on speaker phone isEVIL I HATE HIM!!!!!! also never realised that he was so egotistical to name his products with "Me" in them that's such Steve Cobs things

THE PLOTTWIST IS SO. DEVASTING. IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT FOR HOURS NOW. SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT MEPHONE WAS JUST ROLEPLAYING WITH HIS OCS????? SERIOUSLY???? This just makes so much sense but it's also so horrible. like how many of the stuff tthat contestants did was intentional??? Is this why Bot was one of Mephone's favorite contestants? because they were "real"???

Also quick thing but I just hopped off from Brian's stream just now and he said something along the line of how BP is the opposite of Steve Cobs. Which just makes me wonder if like. did Mephone ALSO make BP??? Did he make someone he could look up to as a healthy father figure??? This is making me insane

yeah my brain is absolutely jumbled right now. if anyone still want to yap on about ii16 hit my dm please I still don't know how to feel about this act. LIKE YEAH It's awesome I love it but wow......is the emotional damage really worth it....

[alice1505]

I made the mistake of rewatching Sherlock because I never did finish it back in the day (I was -clenches fist- seething over the queerbaiting and rage quit after not fully watching episode 1 of s4) and I'm here to make my side hyperfixation (what year is this??? Who am I???) Tumblr's problem. The more I sit with s4, the less I like it 😂 There were pieces and elements I liked, but overall, it left a bad taste in my mouth. Forgive me if any or all if these points have been talked to death, I missed all the discourse and I'm hella late, but I need to flail and send my thoughts into the void because what even WAS that season? I can't believe I avoided it for years, got drawn in by a couple of tiktoks making fun (affectionately) of superwholock Era and That Scene about the fucking phone charger port, binged all of it, only to be left with..... that. Not nearly as disappointing or rage inducing as spn's ending but by God, did it leave a hole in me. So please ignore my rambling thoughts as I slap them down here for my own sanity.

• First and foremost, what - and I can't stress this enough - the fuck was UP with the assassination of John's entire character???? What was that??? Why????

• Related to that point - I can appreciate the angst point and potential it provides, as I'm reading many, many fics, but AYO WHY didn't anyone rip John an entire new one for that beat down he did on Sherlock????? Hello???? 911?????

• Tell me why everything felt so stilted and borderline icy. Like I get the high emotions and shit, but after a certain point... 😭 was there a falling out between Benedict and Martin that I'm not aware of? Did they just try to ungay everything so hard and were so pissed at the audience picking up everything THAT THEY PUT???? into this show and their interactions that they just hit the brakes hard enough to make everything feel weird???

• A lot of it felt weird. Off kilter a little. Forced in some places, toned down in others (and toned down where it shouldn't have been), a nod to ships but weirdly/hatefully??? Idk if that makes sense. Like the whole Sherlock and Molly phone call (I do not mean any hate to this ship, I really hope it doesn't come off this way. Not my cup of tea but you are valid). Why was Molly so upset BEFORE the call? Did I miss something? Also I don't personally think or feel she'd still have those feelings for him??? I??? I am bamboozled.

• to that whole point, Eurus was.... Hmm. Mmmm. She was. Something. (Confused derogatory)

• I like Mary as a character. I also hated her. (Definitely biased by my shipper trash ass self for johnlock, I'm sorry). Wtf were those messages, please. Edit: AND ANOTHER THING. John's reaction to Sherlock's death - awful, gut wrenching, beautiful, my heart breaks with and for him, utterly devasting. John's reaction to Mary's death - had me sitting there like🧍‍♀️(it was weird. so weird. awkward. w h y. (we know why, but also the acting choices were Something TM, in both cases! for different reasons!) i'm sorry i just can't get past my anger and put off-ness with mary, fun as she could be)

• why did mycroft and John switch roles 😭 pls. The last episode was just. So Much. The lackluster responses from John, to John, to Sherlock, between them, like.... hello???? Who are these people?? Help me. Moriarty saved me for a brief shining moment tho, God bless.

There's more I could spew, but that's what's sitting right at the top of my head. I guess all this just to say, if a show runner/writer really just fucking hates the audience they got (instead of the one they wanted), they probably shouldn't have fucking become a show runner/writer in the first place. Either hand it to someone who can actually handle it and listens, or fuck off. I will never understand when shows and plots and characters gets kamikaze'd because of a show runner being pissy and egotistical. Like ????? Grow up. Learn from Bryan Fuller and Hannibal or something.

Sorry for all the rambling, bless anyone who reads this and makes sense of it 😂

[lemonhemlock]

I do think some hate Criston because they're racists, others because he insulted Rhaenyra, even though his crimes aren't worse than what others have done (DAEMON for example, who is loved so much by tb) and some are a mix, but one part of me thinks it's because he is the character who Rhaenyra did wrong to

He's the one persone that the show let her do something horrible to just because she wanted (young Rhaenyrayou had so much potential), even though the narrative then tries it's hardest to demonize him over and over again, so then what Rhaenyra did isn't so atrocius to the public eyes

Most who point the finger saying it's not that deep, he shouldn't have gotten his feelings hurt, he's an "incel", simply don't understand the world created by Martin, it's theme and culture, because they are pushing their own narrative and agenda, with a modern view, that the show itself pushes

Rhaenyra is never wrong and the one time she did something bad because she's CAN (she can take and do what she wants because she's the heir, she's a Targaryen) the writers then bends themselves in trying to make Criston a "villain", one more hateful than the others put together

The new Joffrey & Ramsey of hotd (I saw more than one person saying this and let me just laugh because what? Lol)

Not to say that is the only act that Rhaenyra does for herself (her relationship with Harwin and having her three sons with him for once, but the narrative never truly show it as a BAD thing she did - and I say bad because it's egotistical and she put in danger her own children etc)

So, Criston hate could come from so many different places, but one place it'll never come? Here, from me, because how can I say no to a man with beautiful brown eyes?

The writers can do what they want, they won't change my opinion of the characters themselves (And they are trying so much to destroy the greens and even the black which lol) and I will still write my Brat compilation of oneshots for the green, because it's their color and theme so cheers ahaha

(I still can't understand how in driftmark, when Rhaenyra said to Alicent "now they see you for what you are" or something like that now I can't exactly remember lol, was that gotcha moment... like... how?)

I hope you're having a great time, aside from the witcher anon jump scares lol

💖

yeah!! the way the writers insist on framing criston like a villain while simultaneously not even giving him particularly villainous things to do is so weird to me. are they stupid?*

i do think his disproportionate amount of haters is a mix. if you think it's reaching, think about what a bane targ stanning is in the asoiaf fandom and how dany worship has turned so many spaces toxic. their mental gymnastics in justifying their delusions is equal to none. and now, unfortunately, for lack of other content, all that dany rage has been employed in the service of rhaenyra (so silly considering they're all fake people but you know)

also, thanks, anon! i am genuinely curious to know how witcher ship antis found their way onto my page. like, what is the thought process there. 😂

i keep repeating this dumb meme, SORRY ✊

EDIT: also. brat compilation of the greens?? yes sir!!!!!!

[unfilteredcurse]

100% agree on the entire tekken fandom being so fucking weird with jin kazama smh (especially fucking reddit, twitter, and the youtube comments section which is why i rarely look up tekken content on those sites in particular). that would be like if you were a star wars fan and you can't even enjoy luke skywalker without someone talking about how "luke tried to kill his own nephew yet he forgave his father, he is a hypocrite and a bad hero you're a bad person if you like luke". just like luke in star wars the last jedi, jin was ooc as fuck in tekken 6. even the writers themselves admitted they didn't want to do this, it only happened because of harada and they got so much backlash for that character assassination back when tekken 6 was first released. so why...why for over 10 years do i have to constantly see so many unfunny repetitive jokes, hate, and slander about jin kazama. why is the only thing i see when i look up jin is "ww3" for the billionth time. why did i have to see people making customizations of jin dressing up like h*tler, p*tin, and fucking s*suke uchiha. why do i have to see fucked up fan fiction of kazuya, miguel, or fucking s*suke uchiha raping and torturing jin kazama to "punish him for his war crimes and also because he never suffered what kazuya/miguel/s*suke suffered from". i'm also so sick and tired of seeing fucking s*suke uchiha stans and r/Tekken daring to comparing my boy jin kazama to that stupid uchiha from naruto who is a misogynistic egotistical narcissistic irredeemable skinny femboy twink asshole. jin would never try to kill xiaoyu multiple times, unlike s*suke who tried to kill two women who admired him. jin has no ego unlike that ego obssessed jerk s*suke. jin is actually handsome and hot, he's a muscular toned man and not just anohter generic femboy twink. jin was never cruel to either her or hwoarang. if anything jin was always more like itachi uchiha, jin always said "forgive me" to his opponents and his motivation, both jin and itachi have the whole black feather aesthetic, both jin and itachi hate their own bloodline, and jin's goal is to kill/stop his own bloodline for the greater good just like itachi. jin would fucking choke and then brutally murder s*suke for what he did to both team 7 and team taka. damn it harada, why didn't you just retcon it like how you retconned kazumi having the devil gene but not jinpachi. why didn't they just say that jin kazama was brainwashed by azazel or something. sometimes i can't help but think about an alternative timeline where tekken 6 scenario campaign never happened, jin was still loved and the side characters (ex. Asuka and Paul) were not made irrelevant joke characters and had something to do.

forgive me if i got a bit too extreme here, but i...i...i just had to let out my emotions now. jin has always been important to me, he's my childhood crush and also one of my biggest comfort characters (along with mitsuru from persona 3 and kiryu from yakuza). which is also why i'm so glad i found posts like these, my feelings feel validated.

Oh believe me, I feel ya, anon. I guess this is just what they call the pain of loving a cursed character doomed by both the fandom and the narrative... but in the end, we all know what's actually beneath all that and that there is much more than meets the eye to Jin (and other characters too).

Also, comparing Jin to fucking P*tin and H*tler is.... something entirely else and I am honestly terrified of those people if their reading comprehension leads them to these comparisons. I just-

You don't know how much patience I have to build up to (sort of) stay in the fandom with all these "jokes" still running around kn freaking 2024. I wanna say that I sincerely hope it will get better, but seeing the overall state of the fandom now and 5-10 ywars ago... I kind if doubt it will get better any time soon.

[justaguylukas]

Art Dump!! Ronda two!!

BUDLEY EXOTIC ESCAPADE OMG I LOVE HIM!! This is probably my favourite drawing I've made of him yet lol. The basis of this drawing is funny. Apparently, I have a "zesty hand" according to my friends which I'll show below here...

... and there was a beta image of Budley doing a similar pose and so my friend made the comparison and I HAD to draw Bud doing my "Zesty hand" pose. That's all I love Budley Exotic Escapade.

Here's some birthday art I made for my best friend, Enri :D Like with Bud, this is also my favourite drawing I've done for Zee complete with Olivia Von Trashpanda here to celebrate. Me, Chase, and some whale are here to also join the party.

Here's Tom from Disventure Camp that I made for one of my friends! I even made a shirtless version because... he likes Tom LOL. Speaking of shirtless, I'm still somewhat new to drawing shirtless characters so it probably doesn't look too great. And the anatomy in general is all over the place lol. And because I'm stupid...

I- Uhh...

Sigh. Yeah I made the Hooters outfit. It was a hot topic for the DC fandom that lasted like 3 days lol so I decided to join in on the fun. It even appeared in MachemRodez' video with my permission :0

Also while drawing Tom, I noticed that all his scars basically have the same design lol.

HERE'S DUKE DOG!! Ok ngl, I thought this looked good until I saw the face. I don't think it looks horrible, but it could look better. Drawing faces was NEVER my strong suit, and it still isn't. This is my first time drawing a plus-sized character so I hope that I did a good first try on it.

I have mixed feelings on this drawing. I love the idea of Budley and Zee getting to know each other but I'm just not feeling it with this drawing. It's not terrible but I think I can do better. I also HATE drawing backgrounds with a burning passion!! Anyway, Zee is drinking orange soda and Budley is drinking some green tea because he is painfully British

HERE'S SCARY GIRL (I like to call her Scary Bitch)!! This is the first time I've ever drawn her. I always forget about Scary Girl because she's such an anomaly from the cast, which is weird because you would expect her to be the most memorable to me. But no. I still like Scary Girl but she's tied with Axel for my least favourite reboot character. I DO NOT HATE THEM!! ALL OF THE REBOOT CAST IS GREAT!!

What a mediocre drawing of Kaison Kekoa lol. Usually when I draw a character for the first time, it's usually p mediocre, which is to be expected from almost every artist (I think?). But for the first time, I don't think it's too bad. At least I'm getting better with drawing shirtless characters.

I don't know if I'm egotistical or confident for saying this, but I think this is one of my best drawings, especially when it comes to the anatomy. I also drew him as somewhat chubby because it makes him look more hot ngl.

I think I drew Kaison much better here (The ponytail kills me omg I kinda hate how I drew it). Also Ean's here. Not much to say but this drawing holds a record because this is the quickest drawing I've made, taking me 1 hour and 59 minutes to make. If I had to change some things, it'd be to make Kaison's eyebrows thinner and change Ean's body position since it looks kinda awk.

Not much to say here. I like how I drew Blitz EXCEPT FOR the hands and arms.

We're on a roll with the Exotic Escapade drawings! 5 in a row! Kaison, Levi, Ean/Kaison (again), Blitz, and now Carter! This is birthday art that I made for my friend Mitch who absolutely adores Carter.

Speaking of birthday art...

Here's birthday art for Josu!! :D (While also breaking the Exotic Escapade trend)

You may know him for making those amazing Minecraft models of the reboot cast, and I decided to draw one of his models for his belated 18th birthday :0

Drawing this was kind of tedious and fun because I am HORRIBLE with drawing 3D but it was also a fun lil' experiment.

Three birthday art in a row!? Man! Here's my birthday art for another good friend of mine, Vikkstar :D

This is also my first time drawing a female Exotic Escapade character.

It's been a while since I drew some TD art (Does Minecraft Wayne count?) so enjoy this Nichayne art :D

I'm kinda annoyed with how Nichelle's body looks but overall I'm still very proud of this drawing. Nichayne is such a cute pair I love them sm!!

And to end off this art dump, here's Millie!! Not much to say here, I just think she's SUPER underrated and/or overhated!!

[trojanteapot]

Alrighty folks buckle up because I'm gonna rant

Just feel like some of you out here just don't really understand nuance? And it's like what was I expecting because it's social media nuance is dead.

Anyway so all three of you out there who follow me that aren't bots, or people that I know IRL, know that my favourite character in Infinity Train is Simon Laurent, the French incel bastard man. And yeah I know he's terrible but also I must ask the eternal question: Is he actually though??????

Hear me out. Because look I know dude is a murderer and a hypocrite and a whiny little bitch but also consider the facts:

he's a teenager

he got trapped on some nightmare train when he was only ten. TEN!

his denizen was THE CAT, who from his POV manipulated him and then abandoned him!

Now I know what some of you already saying at this point:

-"uh that doesn't justify all the murdering!!!" -"he's an egotistical jackass!" -"he's not a child he's 18! he would go to adult jail in real life!" -"he died in the narrative thus justifying my hatred!" Okay well consider this: it's pretty much canonical that Grace did exactly the same amount of murdering as Simon but y'all are so ready to embrace and forgive her because she had a change of heart?

And which one of you when you were 18 made completely rational not emotion-driven decisions based on pure facts and logic??? Which one of you are capable of doing this now????

And he didn't have a normal childhood to develop his brain in a normal way, again he boarded the Train at age ten!!!! And finally which one of you was a teenager who wasn't a little egotistical???

If Simon was egotistical then what does that make Grace, the leader of the Apex who made a throne for herself???? What does that make Amelia who rejected the Train's attempts to help her move on and instead tried to recreate her dead fiance to the point that there are just renegade failed clones of that person just running around????

Also, I feel like it's important to mention that Amelia probably did more crimes than both Grace and Simon combined but she just didn't get her face eaten by Ghoms just because she was an adult at the time and could outsmart the Train. You guys are willing to forgive her and all the stuff she did... as an ADULT, but not Simon, a teenager, because... reasons???!!!

And other stuff I feel like should be mentioned here:

I think it's important to consider why episode 4 of season 3, came right before episode 5, you know the one where he kills Tuba. Episode 4 was when we learn a ton of info about Simon. Notably that the Cat was his denizen and we all know how the Cat is!

I'm pretty sure we were supposed to draw several conclusions from that episode namely:

- Cat is a schemey little shit - he was a kid when he knew the Cat - he seems to claim she was fake and manipulating him - that seems believable from what we know of the cat - ep 5 hits, Tuba and Simon have heart to heart - Simon then kills Tuba

So why did Simon kill Tuba? IT'S BECAUSE SIMON THINKS TUBA IS MANIPULATING HIM LIKE THE CAT WAS

And my friend brought up a good point where if you think about it, the Train was using Tuba to manipulate him, and using Hazel to manipulate Grace.

The Train we've seen just runs on pure algorithms and doesn't give a shit about the passengers. The Train just sees them as a number that increases or decreases. It just calculated that if Hazel & Tuba met Grace & Simon then it would have the maximum likelihood that those denizen + passenger combos could get their numbers down the most efficiently. It of course did not account for the fact that the Cat went on vacation and then ran into Simon, thus reminding him to not trust denizens.

Simon had as much of a likelihood to do a change of heart like Grace did! But hey, spanner in the works and all that.

Some of you just like hating on him because he's a white guy and coded cishet and it really shows.

I'm sure y'all are gonna say I'm defending the patriarchy or whatever for defending cishet white guy colonizer man Simon Laurent as a queer femme POC but also fuck off with that bullshit and just look at the actual text of the narrative presented to us instead of reading bad takes on Twitter.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[ryuichirou]

Hey I recently read your opinion on leona, I adore leona but your analysis on his is everything me and my friends have been saying! I honestly don't think his character is there except for older fans ,since he is 20, to be attracted to. Can I ask your opinion on characters like Jamil? I personally think his hate twords kalim is misguided as it's not kalims fault that they are in the positions they are in. I also wanna know what you think of vil! I have a pretty negative look on him since he seems to be so egotistical and it's almost as if he decides what is proper or beautiful and what isn't. That just rubs me the wrong way, like it feels wrong! Oh! Call me 👾anon!

Hi, 👾Anon! Sorry for the late reply. Whenever I get asks like this one, I always end up replying like a week late, because I really want to collect my thoughts and make sure that I’ve said everything that I wanted to say… And since I love both Jamil and Vil very much and am quite passionate about talking about both of them, this is probably going to be quite a long reply lol, I hope that’s fine with you. In any case, thank you for giving me an opportunity to talk about them, I’ll do my best to reply to you properly.

First of all, I’m glad to hear that you agree with my points on Leona despite being his fan. It is unfortunate that he underdelivers as a character, because he does have potential, but oh well. I also think that you made a good point here – he does seem to be quite popular in that particular side of fandom. Not saying that this is a bad thing necessarily, just not our thing, I guess.

Alright, about Jamil.

I’ve talked about Kalim and Jamil’s relationships in this reply, so sorry if I repeat myself. I really love how difficult their situation is. In my opinion, it’s the situation when no one is really guilty, but at the same time both of them kind of are to some extent.

I agree that Jamil’s hatred towards Kalim is misguided, but at the same time think that it’s easily understandable, maybe even justified to some degree, simply because in Jamil’s eyes Kalim symbolizes the thing he actually hates – the unfair system that forced their roles on them. And Kalim is a direct beneficiary of the said system and participates in it, even though there is absolutely no malice in this fact from Kalim’s side, this is just the way he was raised, he doesn’t even fully realise how harmful this whole situation is for Jamil. This is exactly why he is so heartbroken when he finds out about Jamil’s true feelings about him and about their relationship; he’s so deeply upset by it that he completely ignores the fact that Jamil’s just betrayed him and yeeted him to the edge of the Earth. Kalim feels so guilty and so bad for Jamil, he blames his own obliviousness and his own naivety that he never noticed that. But I don’t think it would be fair to point fingers at Kalim and say “how could you not notice that? Everything is your fault”: once again, this is how he was raised.

Still, even though after that shocking revelation Kalim is eager to change their relationship with Jamil and proposes to him to stop being his servant right away, this problem won’t be fixed that easily, even if Jamil would’ve agreed to it. The system is very difficult to break: both of them are stuck in it indefinitely, and Jamil knows it. That’s why Jamil’s go-to is to aim all his bitterness and anger at Kalim, who basically owns him.

Of course, Kalim is a sweetheart. And he is definitely not the worst master a servant could have: even though he’s clumsy, naïve, a little dumb, very unreliable and spoiled, he is extremely kind and gentle, fun-loving and overall nice. Even if he lacks the understanding to fully get how severe the gap between him and Jamil is, he loves him dearly and appreciates him, as well as acknowledges all the things that Jamil does for him. And once he realises just how hurt Jamil is, he is very eager to do anything to make him feel better.

But it doesn’t change the fact that Jamil had to hide in Kalim’s shadow since they were kids, had to devote his entire life to Kalim, and had to endanger himself constantly because of Kalim. Kalim is nice and it wasn’t him who forced Jamil into this position, but Jamil’s life is still miserable because of Kalim.

Both of them have much growing up to do; they need to communicate better and to handle this problem together. It’s unfair to blame everything on Kalim, and Jamil should probably get over his grudge, because it takes him nowhere: we’ve all seen how horribly his evil plan in Chapter 4 went. But I still think his feelings are understandable. And Kalim has a lot of things he should probably reflect on as well.

I really love these two.

So yeah, about Vil… Vil, Vil, Vil. My beautiful misunderstood swan lol

Please don’t think that I’m dissing you or any other person for that matter, Anon, but I feel like a lot of people didn’t fully get Vil’s motivation and what the main theme in Chapter 5 was. It was about beauty, but it wasn’t really about any specific beauty standard one has to oblige to be a valid human being. Of course, Vil promotes beauty-care, wears make-up and high heels, but I don’t think this is the ultimate factor he judges other people by. The focus of his story is self-presentation, self-expression and art.

Vil is not only a very beautiful person who does a lot to keep himself beautiful (according to what he himself thinks he wants to look like, please note that he doesn’t really fit an appearance standard for his gender and age: he is a 18 year old boy dressing up as someone’s evil step-mother, for Pete’s sake), he is also a hard-working actor, model and dancer, and who wants to be perceived and appreciated as such, as well as being acknowledged for the amount of effort that goes into achieving that.

During Vil’s flashback scene, some comments the staff members made while discussing Vil and Neige were that Vil is just “way too beautiful and perfect to fit the role of a relatable protagonist”, not verbatim, but something along those lines. So, the problem isn’t really that Neige is prettier than Vil in any way; the problem is that Neige is perceived by others in a completely different light. While Vil is the main character (an antagonist), Vil is celebrated for his beauty and acting skills, called professional, which is a high praise, but not what Vil wants – he keeps being put inside that box that he just can’t get out of.

So Vil, who is very used to working hard to achieve his goals, does the best thing he can do: works even harder, hoping to become a star for the first time in his life. But the thing is, one can’t control the way others perceive them, and one can’t control the way their art is interpreted.

This is like the whole idea behind this chapter: the only thing you can control is whether or not you’re satisfied with your own work. Others might dismiss you even if you work hard, or they can praise you even if you’re dissatisfied with your work, or they might even choose some other person even though you think you deserve it more. Fame is fickle, the way others see you is also fickle, so you shouldn’t  look for other’s approval and shine the way you want to shine. This is Vil’s “beauty” that Rooks wants to protect so much: the way Vil loves theatre, loves performing, loves expressing himself with such passion and honesty.

And as a hard-working person and a huge perfectionist, Vil is strict both to himself and to others. Especially when he’s leading a dancing group, like, he was pretty brutal to other kids with the way he controlled their diet and schedule. But there is a combination of two things we need to keep in mind: first of all, Vil does all of this (dieting, exercising, sleeping schedule, skincare, etc) everyday anyways, so he naturally assumes that others won’t die if they stop whining for a moment and try living like him for a couple of weeks (doesn’t mean he’s right, but still, this is just the way he treats himself anyway, so he doesn’t see it as that huge of a deal); second of all, Vil wasn’t really alright during this whole preparation for the competition period. He was so focused on winning over Neige, it literally resulted in him overblotting because the stakes (and he set them himself!) were way too high and he snapped. So yeah, Vil isn’t perfect, but what I love about him is that he owned up to everything he’d done and actually took responsibility for how brutal their training was. I think the only other person to own up to his mistakes like this was, I don’t know, Riddle probably?

What I love about Vil and Epel’s conflict is how nuanced it is. I’ve said it already: Vil is definitely forcing his own ideals on Epel because he desperately wants to win and thinks that he needs Epel to do so. So yeah, he makes Epel do things he doesn’t want to do. But at the same time, Epel is in the wrong too: what kind of reasoning is “well I don’t wanna do that it’s too girly and lame”? Of course Vil would get mad at that.

This is a spoiler for Chapter 6, so ignore this part if you haven’t played/read it yet, but at a certain point we find out that Rook wasn’t initially a Pomefiore student. And before he joined Pomefiore, his hair was a mess, his skin was a mess, his nails and fingers were a mess and he wore ragged clothes, simply because he didn’t care about how he looked (even though he could’ve easily at least gotten himself some new clothes, the boy is rich). This is where one might chuckle and say “lol Vil forced him to cut his hair and start wearing makeup just so they could look good together”, but this literally isn’t what has happened?? Vil was shook to his core by his looks, of course, but he never forced him to do anything. Long story short, Vil inspired him and helped him, but it was pretty much Rook’s decision first and foremost.

So with Epel, well, these two just rubbed each other the wrong way from the first ever second of their conversation. I feel that Vil thinks he should discipline Epel because of how much conservative junk he has inside of his head. It frustrated Vil, and the way Vil acts frustrated Epel, so of course they attack each other constantly. A lot of their conflict is about their mutual disagreements and difficult relationships between them, not just “well, Vil is forcing Epel to act cute because he doesn’t like village people” or something.

Vil is demanding, and as a house-warden he wants the students from his dorm to take care of themselves, and in that sense he’s a bit of an overly-strict mom at times. Which is… I don’t know, look at it however you want, I just think it’s much deeper than just a guy who’s forcing others to wear concealer. And why is it so much worse than whatever Riddle and Azul are doing, for example? Vil’s rules make more sense and are ultimately focused on self-improvement, at least. I’m saying it as someone who’s never worn make-up, by the way, and I don’t think even Vil would force me to do so lol, but I still respect him deeply. Maybe because he is, in the first place, an artist, and when you look at him that way, it’s pretty easy to see why he is so demanding and strict.

I won’t rant about this topic though, it’s way already too long of a post (and I haven’t said all the things I wanted…), but Vil is much more open-minded than people give him credit for.

So yeah, love him lol

[thedistortionsno1simp]

Tropes I like even though no one asked

So you know, this is my little corner if the Internet and nobody really sees what I post so sometimes I just tend to ramble on here.

Ambiguous/complex relationships

I love when two or more characters are in a relationship but no one really knows the nature of the relationship for example Jude Perry and Agnes Montague from TMA. It's never actually straight up told to us how Agnes and Perry relate. Nobody knows if there's anything romantic involved, not even Perry, herself. There's just love and yearning and just layers of doomed yuri but also doomed platonic relationship and doomed worshipper and God relationships. It's just so aitgoyri9y5ighjt. Also the fact that Jude is confirmed to be a lesbian, probably a butch lesbian, makes this so much more better.

2. Gay flamboyant egotistical bitches

This. This is why I live Elias as a villain. I love the flamboyant egotistical gays, and the way their heels clack to announce they've entered a room and yes, I know the trope is somewhat problematic but let me live damn it. It also weirdly refreshing like here is a guy a lot of ppl hate just because of their sexual/gender preferences and mannerisms but they don't let get them down. Instead they love themselves tp the point it's annoying. Like they're just spitting in the face of queerphobia in a way(even though some of them are the product of queer phobia). Also they just are fun to write and to watch. Like to the point all my villains are some flavour of this trope. Also, when I say gays, I mean gay coded too like Scar from Lion King.

[babyloniastreasure]

karna for the character meme : D

oh? karna? karna my beloved? oh! how unexpected, what luck! an anon also asked for karna so lets GO

Sexuality Headcanon: he's ace, his only fiery desire is for battle. However he's panromantic. if he loves you, he loves you, and who you are is not a factor in why

Gender Headcanon: if you listen closely, you can hear me shouting from the rooftops "TRANS KARNA"

A ship I have with said character: honestly? i LOVE karna x jinako. it warms my heart!!!!! even if its a basic ship its the best one!!!! love for jinako forever!!!!

A BROTP I have with said character: Ashwatthama. 100%. and also obviously Duryo now that he's here, but Ash came to mind first. They beat each other up in the void for a thousand years for fun, dude. what more could you ever ask for in a brotp

A NOTP I have with said character: Do I Have To Say It. karjuna. karna x arjuna. hate it. it dies in a fire tonight by my hands.

A random headcanon: he gives off a lot of heat in a certain proximity, but he isn't hot to the touch. like, i think he has a normal body temperature when you touch him. snuggling up with him is probably just as cozy and comforting as with anyone else (if you ignore the spikes). BUT sitting in the chair next to him in the break room is equivalent of being next to a hot oven. Either get in close to get past the heat, or back off to get away from it. Furthermore, I don't think he understands this is the case, or that this happens at all, because HE himself is not hot. He assumes its because of his fire cape and not his own radiating sun-heat

General Opinion over said character: oooooooOOOOOHHHHH KARNA MY BELOVED. I adore him. I admire him. I see bits of myself in him. He's a silly little guy and a loyal friend who knows what he's about. He's incredibly kind, he's a dork when it comes to showing his kindness. He's both selfless and selfish, he's egotistical, he's logical and straight forward, he's always making sure others are satisfied and safe. He gets carried away a LOT but his heart is in the right place. He's a passionate dude with too many cool powers and too much pride to use them. Karna is very important to me and often inspires me. I enjoy him, I think about him constantly, and I'd like to steal his gender. Karna is my love, my heart, my stars and most importantly...my sun

As you can see, I have a totally normal and reserved general opinion about Karna Fate/Grand Order. in the remainder of this essay I will--

[yingren]

🖤

send 🖤 and my character will answer about yours.

filled out below the cut.

attractiveness:

repulsive / hideous / ugly / not attractive / unappealing / not unattractive / meh / no preference / ok / mildly attractive / nice looking / cute / adorable / attractive / pleasant on the eyes / good looking / hot / sexy / beautiful / gorgeous / hot damn / would tap that / perfect / godlike / holy fuck there are no words.

note: "emphasis on cute and adorable." yeah fucker i put it in bold an italics what else can i do? he doesn't like the phrase "pleasant on the eyes" so there's that too. also he wishes to know why a doctor is that jacked. "there's no reason for it." trust me i know? i'm not blind? he says jacked or not veritas ratio is c u t e. and there are words for it so that one he decided to strike.

personality:

grating / irritating / frustrating / boring / confusing at best / awkward / unreasonable / psychotic / disturbing / interesting / engaging / affectionate / aggressive / ambitious / anxious / artistic / bad tempered / bossy / charismatic / appealing / unappealing / creative / courageous / dependable / unreliable / unpredictable / predictable / devious / dim / extroverted / introverted / egotistical / gregarious / fabulous / impulsive / intelligent / sympathetic / talkative / up beat / peaceful / calming / badass / flexible.

note: i held him by the scruff of his neck to get him to mark flexible here. he also says it's important to note that he circled bossy ca 12 times but that ratio would get it. not sure i agree. also i don't understand how one person can be both unpredictable and predictable at the same time but ren says it makes sense to him. ratio is the most unpredictable thing that happened to him but there are many small moments where he feels as though he knows exactly what he can expect from him. whatever the hell that means, you tell me if you figure it out.

how likely they would have sex with them:

not if they were the last person on earth and the world was ending / fuck no! / never / no way / not likely / not sure / indifferent / I’m asexual / maybe / probably / it depends / fairly likely / likely / yeah sure / yes / would tap that / hell yes / fuck yes! / wishing that could happen right now / as many times as possible / we are already having sex.

note: i don't wanna talk about this. ren does, a lot, but i'm putting him in a cage.

level of friendship:

never in a million years / worst of enemies / enemies / rivals / indifferent / neutral / acquaintance / friendly toward each other / casual friends / friends / good friends / best friends / fuck buddies / bosom buddies / practically the same person / would die for them / true friends / my only friend.

first impression of them:

i hate them so much / i don’t like them / i don’t trust them / they annoy me / they’re weird / I’m indifferent / meh / they seem alright / they’re growing on me / truce / I think I like them / I like them / I’m not sure if I trust them / I trust them / they’re cool / they’re genuine / I think we’re going to get along / I really like them / I think I’m in love / oh fuck they’re hot / I love them.

current impression of them:

i hate them so much / i don’t like them / i don’t trust them / they annoy me / they’re weird / I’m indifferent / meh / they seem alright / they’re growing on me / truce / I think I like them / I like them / I’m not sure if I trust them / I trust them / they’re cool / they’re genuine / I think we’re going to get along / I really like them / I think I’m in love / oh fuck they’re hot / I love them.

note: there it is, that funky development we love to see. ren says ratio is weird and he's right for marking that with 43 circles. also he thinks it's funny how ratio didn't annoy him first but now he does because he knows ren better. still, it's not a bad thing. it's small domestic things. we ignore how he filled out the last part and then tried to erase it. please. ren says there should be a different kind of feeling that is between liking someone and being completely in love with them, a feeling that describes falling in love. he points out ratio should know if a word like that exists and he should share that information with us. spread that knowledge, doc. he would also like to add that he is not afraid of eating divorce papers.

[x-kiwi-03]

Here, have this shitty, ancient Chisaki origin analysis I wrote bc I lack content (I just babble throughout the entire thing)👍

His origin: We really don't know a whole lot about his childhood. We see him at quite a young age on the streets, dirty, seemingly homeless during the scene where Pops (the Boss before Kai) takes him in. We also have another scene in the flower garden where Pops is getting onto Kai after he got into a fight at school, then Pops patting Kai on the head and thanking him for sticking up for the Yakuza. With those flashbacks we could make the assumption that Kai had an ok childhood, he seemed to have a good relationship with his adoptive father figure, was getting an education, lived in the large Yakuza compound, etc.

So then why did he end up so messed up? Why is it that there are so few good memories of Pops shown? If their relationship was as good as Kai talked about it, then why wasn't there more to show? Like the little things, helping with homework, playing ball, watching movies, saying goodnight and being tucked into bed, hell, we never even saw Kai smile. There was only those two memories of being taken in and patted on the head. Which leads me to believe Kai didn't have all that great of a childhood. I believe Kai was deeply emotionally neglected, which is why he felt such a strong need to repay Pops, so that he could get that same recognition that he got that one time in the flower garden. Kai craves Pops' attention because Kai loves him. Who wouldn't crave the attention of those they love, especially when it's been denied over and over again?

Later one in Kai's adulthood, we see Pops getting onto Kai for disobedience and breaking Yakuza rules by selling drugs. Kai defends himself by saying he was doing it for the greater good of the Yakuza, so Pops sorta let's him off with a warning, telling him not to "stray from the path layed out before him." This is the same way Pops dealt with Kai after he got into a fight at school, Pops didn't agree with Kai's actions but also didn't discipline him. This is a type of neglect, and it teaches a child that they can get away with anything unpunished, and in Kai's case, with praise. Discipline is a crucial part a child's upbringing, it not only teaches them what not to do in the future, and why they shouldn't, but also how to discipline themselves as adults. You know that little voice in the back of your head that tells you to eat an entire package of Oreos because they're so delicious? Do you know what stops you? The voice of your childhood discipline. "You know, I'll just eat a few and heat up some leftovers if I'm still hungry," or, "No, you fat fart, you've already had your daily almond!" Whether it was healthy or unhealthy discipline it still stopped you from making a dumb decision. That is the reason people don't give into dangerous impulses, like drug abuse or alcoholism, and Kai very obviously hasn't been taught that.

Real quick; no, the undisciplined adults I'm talking about aren't "Karens," those people are undisciplined children that could change their parents answer with whining. Those are egotistical mega narcissist, I believe Kai is a sociopath, but back to the point.

In that same scene, Pops says something along the lines of, "I know you're just trying to thank me for taking you in, but you always take things too far." Insinuating that situations like these have often happend throughout Kai's upbringing. For each time Kai was "gotten onto," he also got what he craved, attention.

Skip to after Kai puts Pops in a coma and starts using Eri for drugs, that character was his facade. Overhaul I mean. We see his real self during prison break. Kai isn't full of himself like the way Overhaul is represented (not as much, anyway), Kai hates himself. He feels unworthy of care, unworthy of a home, unworthy of a family. That's why he cares so much for the Yakuza, he wants to feel worthy of having it. That's also why he hated being called "Kai Chiskai," he no longer wanted to be himself, so he threw Kai away and became this Overhaul character that felt worthy.

I hypothesize that this is also why he dislikes Eri, because he feels unworthy. I've seen things about Kai seeing himself in Eri, and since he hates himself, he let's all that hatred out on her. I think that's part of it, but not all. I think there's a bit of jealousy in there. There's no proof, but maybe Pops was very loving to Eri because they were blood related, and maybe he wasn't as close with his daughter, so he decided to make up for it with Eri. Maybe she got that parental attention that Kai craved from the beginning; the bedtime stories, board games throughout the day, late night ice-cream. So when Pops ordered him to figure out her quirk, he felt like a pawn, a man who worked for Pops, and no longer a son, he felt replaced.

Maybe after Pops' daughter left that's when he found Kai, maybe Pops always claimed Kai was her replacement. That Kai filled a hole in their family and that made him special, that made him needed. So when Eri came along, his place in the family was threatened. He was loved, he was the bosses son, he was the hier, he didn't want to leave another family, he didn't want to be replaced, and in his experience in the yakuza he's seen how easy it is to be replaced. So, Eri had to go.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Listen there is so many characters that represent intergenerational trauma in bemis run, (Ra as Khonshu's dad and a foil to Elias, Ernst as the personification of the people who killed Marc's family) but then Bemis doesn't explore that or botches the exploration

Like we already the Khonshu-Elias foil from Lemire run and then there's the grandfather Marc never knew. Who he only knows about through Yitz. and like I hate Yitz and Ernst being the same person (and a rabbi, it's not egdy it's just antisemitic) but Ernst is compelling to me (you are allowed to also be bored by him).

Here is the personification of what your father escaped and hey maybe if you kill your grandfather's murderer you'd get closure? Ha ha no.

But also clearly that's a story that Jews, not edgelord messianics get to tell.

I refuse to ever say anything nice about Bemis.

So the characters that represent intergenerational trauma do NOT come from Bemis' run.

Let's head back to "Death of Elias Spector" by Zelenetz.

This is where we get the story of the generational trauma and start to understand Moon Knight… Where we start to understand Marc Spector.

Up to this point, we have seen him be angry about Antisemitism, fight neonazi scum, and protect Jewish shop-keeps and the likes. We see him get angry about the bombing of a Synagogue and we see him become emotional over the loss of friends.

Before Zelenetz, we understood these to all be proper responses for a Jewish man. Or even just a man in this time period.

But it's when we see the generational trauma that was put so heavily on Marc's shoulders that we start to see those responses as more. We start to see his inner struggles with identity and expectations. We see him be a good man that sees himself as a bad one.

Bemis didn't see any of this.

Bemis said "What if the Rabbi is a Nazi and Marc witnessed him killing people?" He wants it to be more about personal betrayal and revenge than about the horrors of what an actual Nazi is!

There was no undertone. There was nothing deep. This was a man TRYING to tell a deep story for the sake of feeling an egotistical rush so he can pat himself on the back and let people think he's a good Jew.

You don't have to make a Nazi into a supernatural serial killer out for blood to make them into a horror figure.

The real horror lies in the fact that they were regular people that did these things because someone with a little power told them that it was okay.

But let's play with the story a moment. For argument's sake.

Ra as Khonshu's father SHOULD have been a fantastic foil to Elias. Much like in MCU when Ammit was a foil to their mother.

We should have gotten the dissapointed father. We should have gotten the failure for Khonshu to change the world for the better. We should have seen Khonshu change and grow and be able to rise up and declare that HE protects the travelors of the night. That he has chosen a perfect Avatar that can change the world. That he is the Pathfinder, the Embracer, the traveler, and the Defender.

And with that, there is more than violence and fighting. that he can be gentle and kind too.

But we didn't get that.

And Khonshu remains the same.

Moving on to the grandfather. Marc's whole family was murdered in WWII. None of them made it out except for his father and mother.

We don't need an enemy to be a murdering Nazi that specifically targeted his grandfather to make Marc angry.

We don't need a revenge story. That isn't what Moon Knight is about. Because he can't forgive a Nazi. And a Nazi should not live. And there is no way Marvel is going to show him killing a former Nazi out of pure revenge and not have that mess up the character of Marc Spector.

This isn't a revenge story of him hunting down Nazi.

He should never have touched on this. Because there ARE real Nazi that got away with it. There are real Nazi fucks that did terrible things and then wandered off to live normal happy lives.

Having him hide in plain sight AS A JEWISH RABBI is such a kick in the teeth.

And I'm going to do a review specifically on this run in a bit. Expect that soon.

I liked having Yitz as YITZ. Marc getting close to an older Rabbi because he couldn't get close to his own father is a good story. It shows his disconnect with people his own age and his father. It also shows him studying the Torah and working hard to be a good perfect Jewish boy, which leads into Steven's side of things and then further into Jake's take on the spiritual protector.

Heck, an interesting story would be if Yitz had done something that he felt betrayed his trust because then we have a good solid role model that somehow abandoned him or hurt him in some way. And it wouldn't have had to be something terrible. Maybe he left to another state to be with a different Synagogue without warning. Maybe he died suddenly? Any of those things could have hurt him and made him feel alone, since he already didn't connect to children in his school or his own father. We know that Marc feels alone and worthless. It's not a far stretch to show that maybe it started from losing someone he looked up to as a good Jewish person and then not having a role model anymore.

I did not like Ernst. Was he interesting? Probably. I get where he can be compelling as a villain. We all want to hate a good Nazi villain. It's one thing Hollywood has shown time and time again.

But there is no closure in this. There will never be closure in this. Marc still lost his family. His grandfather was a drop in an ocean and if they REALLY wanted to put Nazi fucks in the story, they should have just had young Marc accidentally walk into a KKK rally or something. Because we don't need the threat of the old Nazi. The Nazi just changed their hats. They're still out here today.

This is a story Bemis should never have touched.

I apologize it if sounds like I'm angry. I'm not angry at you by any means!

I'm just so pissed off at Bemis. I respect your wanting to see a better story from the stones Bemis laid before us. It's nice to dream that he could have been a better writer.

Marvel has a lot to answer for and this is just one more thing they managed to really screw up.

[4uru]

Narcissistic art rant

Tw: anti cc

[I only take constructive criticism if u don't like/agree with my post either keep scrolling or *politely* express your opinion, i am a fragile little tea cup who doesn't like conflict and i will cry and overthink]

I know i might sound egotistical, but i don't like how any official art (the art posted by cc) of alastair carstairs looks.

I will 100% reblog an Alastair Carstairs fanart that maybe doesn't fit my vision of him, i wont criticise it or anything bc they did this from their heart. They were passionate about it. I will shut my mouth and appreciate the hell out of it. Also i know that my fanarts will also clash with some ppl's perception of him

But, I actually hate coming across official art of Thomas and Alastair, here are my reasons,

> the proportions are always wack on these two specifically for some reason. If y'all remember thr scarf one, i remember trying to figure out the proportions there, Alastair's arms were short and it just irks me. Bc ppl are paid for this. This isn't a fanart, this is a Commission prolly, and it just takes me out of the whole piece immediately.

>Thomas doesnt have a single, solo art that actually looks nice. One that i actually like started to bother me for some reason, so i tracked the proportions and his forehead was too big, and just the whole thing tuned me off from the piece.

He also has a chariot (?) fanart, (him on top of a chariot) and im sorry to say that was one of the fucking ugliest of Official art of thomas, his whole thing was off, it was a perspective drawing, and it just failed, his head looked to big, his face was stiffer than wood, his body' perspective made my brain hurt, it was just not good.

>for some reason only the alastair and thomas are non sensical (im talking their solo character drawings) like why is Alastair

Evilly reading a book? Why is thomas just flexing?? It makes no sense compared to the rest, matthew is laying there like a girl boss and that makes sense for him, like just these two are kinda awkwardly standing or sitting

> they make Alastair a twink. Theres nothing wrong with being a twink. But Alastair is literally a shadowhunter. An ACTIVE shadowhunter. And its not even that he looks like a twink compared to Thomas, no they actually make him a petite little boy. Wtf???? It feels like they are trying to put Alastair and Thomas in a heteronormative box. Doesn't help that almost the whole fandom agrees on the opinion that Alastair is the bottom. (Trust me i tried searching for bottom thomas lightwood....i found a barren land)

Their art feels forced to me...i dont feel jack shit. And these are my favourite fucking characters i have seen absolutely beginner stuff, and i have cried over it. I just dont feel anything when i look at these official arts.

Here ends my very narcissistic rant. At the end of the day...cc can just make characters and fuck em up, i will take them, put them.in a box and shake it violently until i like them.

I will have to say, i love the coloring of these fanarts, even the ones that make me want to die, but yeah the drawing is just not there, they feel hollow and wonky, and i dont care how smooth and cool the colors looks when it feels completely emotionless.