#and presents it as it is: monstruous

[streets-in-paradise]

now that I think about it, so far i think that old italian archeology dude was kinder and more humanizing of andromache than the average consummer of tumblr trendy modern retellings is.

[thedinanshiral]

Blights

I tasked myself with analizying the Blights to check for patterns. I had already started this ages ago and had a draft or two including a very basic and improvised map to help me visualize the main events in each Blight.

I think i may have found it, the pattern. Everything is all over the place for hundreds of years but it's there.

After making a summary of each Blight and sleeping on it for like a week i started asking questions i frankly don't remember seeing before, in game or by fans. "What are the Archdemons doing, where are they going?". Everything is presented as drakspawn evil, wake up evil Archdemon, rawr destruction, Grey Wardens yay. Rinse and repeat.

But why? Why are the darkspawn searching for, waking and tainting OG dragons into Archdemons? Why are the Archdemons controlling hordes and entire armies of darkspawn advancing over the surface of Thedas? What are they doing, where are they going, what is their goal??

As i considered all these questions and some others, i found myself accidentally realizing several theories and ideas can be weaved into a single, convoluted one that explains everything. I'll try to keep it as short (lol) and easy to read as possible, so keep reading and watch me fail terribly at it (´:

Old Gods of Tevinter.

Who are they? According to established chantry dogma, they were spirits created by the Maker who in their envy, jealousy and whatnot decided to turn their back on them and cross the Veil, into the physical world, where they took the form of dragons and had humans worshiping them as gods. For this grave offense the Maker imprisoned them underground where they allegedly remained for ages until the Blights began.

Origins of the Darkspawn.

Unknown, really, but the Chantry teaches that when the Magisters Sidereal, following instructions from their Old Gods broke into the Golden City to claim godhood and corrupted it, the Maker punished them with the taint, turning them into the monstruous creatures known as darkspawn, who then spread their corruption as the Blight over the world, rotting and destroying everything on their wake.

Many questions come from this. The Old Gods, while imprisoned, continued to be worshipped by the humans of northern Thedas -Neromenians, then Tevinter- as these self-proclaimed gods would reach them in dreams and whisper ancient knowledge to the dreamers, teaching them blood magic as well. With their guidance Tevinter grew into the largest and most powerful empire in Thedas, until one day their gods spoke to them no more. All fell silent, and the Imperium fell into despair; why would their gods not speak to them anymore? Their fears and anxiety left them vulnerable, needy, so when the gods spoke again they not only were relieved, they were wiling to hang on every letter of their words.

And so when their gods made the most outlandish proposal they accepted it. To cross the Veil into the Golden City and claim godhood for themselves per their gods invitation. No effort, and no life, were spared to perform the ritual. Countless elven slaves lives were sacrificed -for their blood had special magical qualities- and almost all the lyrium available in the Imperium was reserved for possibly the biggest blood magic ritual Thedas had seen in many ages.

But as Corypheus, High Priest of Dumat, would much later share, the Golden City was black, corrupted, and the throne of the gods was empty. Yet they still were punished, deformed, blighted and thrown out back into the world to wander and be lost in ever growing madness. This event triggered the Blights, the first one being after the ritual with Dumat risen as an Archdemon with hordes of darkspawn at his command, and the first Blight would go on to last 200 years, with the Archdemon slained multiple times without truly dying until the order born to protect Thedas from him, the Grey Wardens, devised a plan to end him permanently.

So the questions, some of many, could be: Why did the Old Gods stopped comunicating with their priests? Why did they resume communication only to give instructions for a massive ritual to break into the Fade? Why promise godhood and power only to deliver a curse?

Evanuris rebranding.

One of the main theories around the Evanuris and the Old Gods is that they're the same. Both groups have 7 members, and in several cases by their names or attributes and even constellations associated with these deities, it's almost imposible not to see an equivalence between them. Both groups are imprisoned. Both groups are related to dragons. I already wrote on this here but in short:

Imagine the Evanuris had dragon mounts or vessels that they're connected to and control via a piece of their soul implanted in the creatures. As physical beings the dragons remain on the ground. Yes, they were shapeshifters too, but the codex about a servant taking on the dragon form reserved for the gods strikes me as very odd; if even servants could shapeshift to that degree, why did the Evanuris allow them to even have the remote possibility of shapeshifting at all? That story sounds more to me like that servant "borrowed" a dragon and took it out for a ride, the expression is "took wings" and the servant was convinced -if not forced- to do it by Ghilan'nain.

These dragons would have caretakers assigned to them, and when the Veil was created severing the connection between the Fade and the physical world, they must have been cut off from everything. Underground, for millenia, left to decay, left in proximity to or even inside Titan remains that without the control of the Evanuris may have corrupted them. Or maybe these dragon forms were already corrupted by the taint, as Andruil had already caught it in the Abyss and spread it everywhere.

Maybe some of the Evanuris were already blighted and either didn't felt affected by it then or the taint, much like how red lyrium works, made them feel stronger as it consumed them. Maybe Andruil's madness had spread to the others and that's why they had become so warlike and had become a menace to their own people. So Solas imprisoned them in the Fade, most likely under several different barriers, and created the Veil at great cost to everyone, to the whole world. For ages the Evanuris slumbered in their prison, until maybe they recovered just barely enough to try to reach out, and when they did all they could reach out to were the humans that had been building an empire on the remains of their own. But a dreamer is a dreamer, and a human easy to manipulate. Now imagine the Evanuris, under a new identity as Old Gods, essentially groomed Tevinter for hundreds of years for the sole purpose of them reaching a point in power and resources that would allow them to perform a ritual to let the Evanuris out.

Remember the ancient elvhen could develop spells through hundreds of years, in their inmortality time was barely perceived and so their way of planning could afford all the time in the world. So the Evanuris did that, they played the Imperium, ghosted them to make them desperate, and instructed them to release them without them knowing it.

Prison Break.

As it was designed to keep them in and was sealed from the outside they couldn't open the barriers from the inside, they needed others to do it for them, and those others were the Magisters Sidereal.

It's likely that to imprison such powerful beings Solas put up more than one barrier, so maybe the Magisters only crossed one, the Veil, and thought they had found the city empty. But this opening in the Veil must have been enough for one of the Evanuris to take effective control of one of the dragons underground, "Dumat".

Maybe -most likely IMO- there was no Maker punishing the Magisters Sidereal for their sin but it was the Evanuris spreading their own disease on to them, marking them forever as their new servants, casting them back into the world and condemning them to an existence devoted to releasing their dragon vessels so they might at least in part escape their prison in the Fade taking on their wings.

The OG dragons being the Evanuris mounts or vessels preserving a fragment of their souls would add to explain why Solas was so against the Grey Wardens' plan of preemptively killing the remaining OG dragons, or what Flemythal was doing at the end of Inquisition with Urthemiel's soul, sending it through an eluvian. Was she sending it somehwere else to keep it safe, or was she sending it into the prison, to return to its owner?

....But all this was supposed to be about the Blights! Getting there..

I first summarized each Blight, then with that info i took the map of Thedas and tried to visualize three key points: where darkspawn and Archdemon appeared, where they moved to, and finally where the Archdemons where slained. Because some Blights have been way more chaotic than others and they vary greatly in duration (compared the first lasting 200 years while the fifth lasted barely a year), the pattern wasn't immediately obvious.

Apologies in advance for these disasters..

The First Blight (-395 Ancient) had darkspawn overrun the Deep Roads first, and this is a constant in every following Blight: darkspawn in the Deep Roads. Always. The Dwarven kingdoms are the most affected. A few years later in -380 Ancient they reach the surface and the hordes advance over western Thedas

There's a battle of Nordbotten in the Anders where the newly founded Grey Wardens finally get a victory, but it would take them a long time to find a way to kill Dumat permanently -as the Archdemon was jumping from its slained body into the closest blighted creature over and over again until the Wardens caught up and came up with the Sacrifice that has since then become THE way to eliminate Archdemons -. The final battle and definitive death of Dumat took place in the Silent Plains. Afterwards it was a matter of pushing the remaining darkspawn back into the Deep Roads.

The Second Blight began in 1:05 Divine and lasted around a century. Darkspawn began appearing in the surface from the Hunterhorn Mountains in the Anderfells, eventually reaching the city of Hossberg and later laying a brief siege on Minrathous where the darkspawn were defeated. Other hords moved south into Orlesian territory, the battle of Cumberland ending in victory against them. Weisshaupt was also layed under siege but recovered by Orlesian forces. Meanwhile more darkspawn surfaced in Ferelden only to be defeated and pushed back by Alamarri tribes unified under a leader who would later become the first teyrn of Ferelden. More darkspawn also poured out of the Abyssal Reach in the Western Approach, which explains the Warden presence in the area and all the fortreses they built or made use of like Adamant Fortress.

Eventually around 1:95 Zazikel was slained in Starkhaven.

The Third Blight (3:10 Towers) was under the Archdemon Toth and with most of its activity around the central area of Thedas.

Darkspawn presence on the surface spread from north to south of central Thedas, hitting specifically Marnas Pell and Vyrantium in Tevinter, the city-states of the Free Marches along the Minanter river, and Churneau, Arslesans and Montsimmard in Orlais. As the Darkspawn advanced East over the Free Marches, Toth was slained in Hunter Fell in Nevarra in 3:25 Towers

The Fourth Blight (5:12 Exalted) is the most curious so far, in terms of darkspawn presence and movement on the surface.

On top of the darkspawn hitting the Deep Roads all over Thedas as usual, this time in particular attacking Orzammar, different hordes surfaced in opposite sides of the continent. Darkspawn appeared in the surface on the Anders in the northwest as well as on the northeastern coast, taking over Antiva city, reaching over Rivain, and also Wycome. Darkspawn over the Free Marches moved west, which i find a bit odd as the archdemon Andoral was moving from the Anders in the opposite direction (maybe they meant to meet halfway?). Hossberg was sieged once again, and darkspawn advanced over Marnas Pell, again. There were some minor incursions on Orlesian territories but Orlais quickly pushed them underground. Andoral was finally slained in Ayesleigh.

Lastly we have the Fifth Blight (9:30 Dragon) that we all know and adore..not. The shortest in history, so short it seems pointless..

It affected Ferelden, particularly Ostagar, Orzammar, Redcliffe, Lothering, Denerim..Lasted but a year, and Urthemiel was defeated just outside of Denerim.

Now, where's the pattern? The easiest one is Blights are becoming shorter each time. They've lasted, i order, 200, 90, 15, 12, and 1 year; if this tendency is sustained the next Blight might last just a couple of months..

Then I noticed, checking the final battles..

The Archdemons have been going East the whole time. And the Darkspawn activity moving south into Orlais repeatedly was very likely in an attempt to awaken more Archdemons, one known to be in the Western Approach (the circle south of Ferelden is where i think Razikale could be but there's no real evidence of this, just her cult moving south from Tevinter searching for her, as seen in the ruins of the Frostback Basin).

So the darkspawn never stop. They're always in the Deep Roads, surface when an Archdemon wakes up and follow their command while a portion of them keeps trying to go south of Orlais. And meanwhile, the Archdemons continue to try to go East.

Why? Maybe they know what lies across the sea. And this pairs up nicely -too nicely- with this idea i got about the Executors being Evanuris loyalists, perhaps a remnant of Elvhenan on the other side of the Amaranthine Ocean who have been working on the outside; nobody knows what and everything about them is a near complete mystery.

From their notes to the Inquisition we can tell they do have a certain power, i suspect it could be some form of mind control because how else can complete strangers convince everyone in an outpost to just ..join them. Leave the place abandoned, no signs of struggle, of violence, people just ..gone. The Executors claim they "prepare for the day and hold vigil", heavily imply they know what's coming and say not to look for or mourn the lost people for "they have given themselves of their own will to a higher cause". What could be a higher cause than the Inquisition's at that time?

In Tevinter Nights Solas prevents us all from learning what the Executors have learned about him, as he petrified the one present in that meeting, and later warns Charter of the danger they represent. Knowing the Inquisition is so close behind him and having the almost certainty that they won't be able to stop his plans, just what was so dangerous about what the Executor had to share about him? Solas is now a very powerful man on an apocalyptic mission for which he's willing to sacrifice even his own life, but the Executors are too dangerous? Suspicious.

An executor is someone charged with executing someone's orders. Whose orders? Not to mention Solas doesn't kill lightly or without good reason. I try to imagine just what sort of power could make him do that, when right now he is the most dangerous man in Thedas those across the sea couldn't be worse than him on his Dinan'shiral...could they? Maybe if the ones they follow are the ones he imprisoned.

In the Thedas Calls trailer just as we're shown the Rivaini coast the voice says "Glory to the risen gods, they've come to deliver this world". Who would say that about Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain escaping from the Fade, if not their loyal subjects?

Aaand that's all for now, thank you for your patience in reading this far!

[vasito-de-leche]

Arcana is so trans to me but not the mtf trans but like eldritch horror being realized that she likes to be perceived as a mortal woman

nonnie we are holding hands, we share the same vision, the same dream, the same eldritch transgenderism <3

there was a tweet recently (I think it was a tweet?) about a very specific type of character design--non sexualized, nude humanoids presented as otherwordly and entirely alien, off kilter, merging monstruous characteristics and that's exactly what I love and think about when it comes to the thing Arcana summons, the Guiding One's Creation

Arcana is so transgender to me in a very specific way of using the feminine figure as a way of both luring and keeping everyone at bay <33333

[lightlessons]

How to Read 108: A Chapter-by-Chapter Death Note Analysis

Hello everyone!! Welcome to my revived Death Note blog. I recently had the opportunity to rewatch the anime (twice) and fell back into my old obsession, so I thought I’d re-read the manga with a more critical eye and share some of my own thoughts as I go for anyone craving more meta and analysis from one of my favorite pieces of media ever.

Mainly I will concentrate myself on analyzing dialogue, narration techniques and characterization, since that’s what I mainly take note of when I consume anything, but I will also try my hand at doing some research on contextual information and artistic choices, dividing my analysis chapter by chapter.  Something to keep in mind is that this analysis is fully made for people who have completed the manga in its entirety and will be riddled with spoilers for further chapters. Sometimes I will break down a chapter analysis into two parts, like in the present case.

Without further ado, let’s go!

Chapter 1: Boredom. Lilith’s Breakdown. Part 1

Key takeaways:

Themes and Parallels: Ryuk and Light

The main antagonistic forces in the story.

Themes and Parallels: Ryuk and Light

We begin our story and the very first thing we are presented with is a parallel between two worlds: The Realm of the Shinigami and our own Human world. Through the juxtaposed dialogues of our initial characters, this exposition directly links their character motivation and narrative arcs. They have a common problem: Their worlds are rotting, and every day seems like and endless, tired routine for them both.

It’s interesting to note the artistic choices to depict this sense of forlornness. We have to keep in mind that Death Note is a Shonen and aimed at young boys from ages 12 to 18, so what better scenario to mirror a dour fictional realm than a packed middle of the day class where all kids wear the same uniform and very few, in any, seem to have any interest on what’s going on in front of them. If you look very closely to all the students in this picture, none of them are actually looking towards whoever is giving this lecture, in the same way that Shinigami are not interested in doing their task.

Light and Ryuk are both non-conformists in their respective realities. Creatures who stand out from the crowd and who, by their acute awareness of what’s wrong in their world, feel boredom more deeply and painfully than the rest. Ryuk is not a shining being of intelligence like Light is, but we will see throughout the story that he’s a pretty self-aware and insightful Shinigami, when compared to every other that we meet.

Ryuk as a choric narrator

In classical Japanese Noh Theater, there is a figure called the jiutai (地謡), sitting at the outskirts of the main plot happening on center stage, they serve as the chorus that helps narrate parts of the story, reveal inner thoughts and emotions of characters, and offer reflections of the unfolding events, much like the classical Chorus in a Greek Tragedy. They, however, do not affect the narrative and serve more as a mediating connection between play and audience.

Although Ryuk’s role is certainly not confined to a mere commentator, seeing as he is the one who instigates the main narrative (and eventually ends it), Ryuk’s status of not only a God, but an apathetic one who is barely physically or emotionally affected by the events of the story, gives him a role above and separate from any of the other characters’.

Clad in skin-tight dark bodysuit meant to highlight his monstruous, lifeless appearance, gothic accessories consisting on spikes, chains and skulls, black, tattered wings and feather accents, Ryuk immediately gives the appearance of a preternatural, terrible bird of death. However, the face paint-like make-up, unmovable grin and feathers reminiscent of a medieval suit also give the impression of a clown or a jester, which Obata, Death Note’s artist, will expertly use to his advantage depending on the role Ryuk will take on at each present moment.

This is Ryuk’s dual nature in the narrative: he is there as an ironic chorus, laughing at every tragedy and obstacle the characters and the world faces, providing comic relief, and breaking the tension in a rather grim and suspenseful story, but he is also there as the Grim Reaper, a constant reminder of the destiny that looms over every character, and specially our main character, for as he first states it:

Ryuk may not have chosen Light, and Light is anything but a man without agency, and yet the series often makes you question how much of Light’s fate was set in stone since the start (We will analyze this tension between chance and destiny through the story) Ryuk, the dark figure literally hovering over Light during his whole time as Kira, emotionally detached from the human drama around him, will often be used to remind us of the irony of this whole story, as well as of the inevitability of death every human has to face.

Which brings me to my next point.

The Antagonistic Forces: L and Light.

There are few instances in Death Note where an extradiegetic narrator appears in the story, so let’s examine this first moment. Immediately after the opening scene in the Shinigami world, when Ryuk makes the first disruption that sets forward the story’s events, the following narrative is introduced as an all-out battle between two chosen people.

Now, with our understanding of what befalls one half of this pair, we will examine how well this premise holds as the story unfolds. For now, however, the narrative presents itself as a man-versus-man conflict between the 選ばれし者 (The Two Chosen Ones), and yet again we are compelled to question the role of fate's hand in shaping their paths.

We could interpret 選ばれし者 in two ways: one tells me that Light and L are two extraordinary individuals whose abilities led them through a certain path since the moment Ryuk dropped the Death Note. However, the use of the word “chosen” invites deeper questions. Chosen by whom? Was their all-out battle an inevitable consequence of their existence—fated from the start? Does a cosmic force guide the events of this world, or were they chosen specifically for this conflict? Alternatively, does the concept of a “Chosen One” imply that they would have remained special, even if the notebook had never entered their lives?

I did some research both online and with Japanese-speaking friends and the consensus seems to be that the phrase carries a dual interpretation to it, suggesting both fate and merit when used in literature. At the same time, the archaic grammar し in 選ばれし gives the phrase a poetic or elevated tone, which strongly suggests a higher, almost divine selection to a first-time reader.

That external narration, and this first panel are all the hints we have about the other half of the "two chosen people" in this first chapter. A man working from the shadows gathering information from the world’s largest international police organization, his identity hidden even from us as readers by obscuring his eyes, exhibiting a weird-ass floor computer set-up for some reason. He’s lean, he’s black-haired. He’s mysterious. As a first impression, you’d probably expect a cool Byronic type of anti-hero. Brooding yet charming, dark and isolated yet wretchedly attractive, with a troubled past, but good intentions at heart. Well! In the following chapters we will see how both L and Light continue to fulfill or challenge our expectations and examine how well L fits the shoes of our protagonist’s antagonist force.

Next up! Chapter 1: Boredom. Lilith’s Breakdown. Part 2

3. Establishing the protagonist:

Light and expectations

Light’s resignation

Light’s cognitive dissonance

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your own thoughts.

[dekusheroacademia]

Looking back at Horikoshi interviews (mha 394 spoilers) - Hawks, Bakugou, Togachako

Hawks

Looking back at Horikoshi's interviews... it is clear now that the "beacon of hope" moment for Ochako was her speech (that interview where hope is mentioned comes from Dark Deku chapters, around that time)... but what was Hawks?

This was the interview from April 2021 (at the time of Dark Deku):

Monoma, Shoji, Shinsou and Ochako as hope are done, so we are missing Sero... but what was Hawks' moment of hope? I do not remember him doing anything in particular if not helping Endeavor during the fight against AFO?

Bakugou

The other interview I wanted to look at comes from Jump Festa 2022 which was in December 2021. December 2021 was during the Aoyama traitor chapters:

His apology was already done, so it is clear that something EVEN bigger will come. So Bakugou fans should not be worried!

Togachako

In the same interview we also have this:

I wonder what this scene is, but after chapter 394 I think it might be the scene of Ochako and Toga falling from the sky. It is identical as the one from Spirited Away:

This interview came out December 2021, the MHA Art Exhibition came out in April 2021:

This is the exhibition where we have Toga with that monstruous figure (which was used in chapter 394) and that Izuo/cha art of Deku and Ochako falling from the sky:

As said by Horikoshi this art is directly inspired by Spirited Away, just like the current Togachako chapter (which almost is the same as in the movie, scene by scene).

I wonder if after drawing this exhibition piece (which was presented with a comment saying "this is their relationship if I were to develop them")... he decided to co-opt it for Togachako. Maybe he felt like the relationship between Deku and Uraraka could not progress in time for him to represent his scene, so he decided to instead focus on Toga and Ochako?

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

Happy birthday to YOU, Asaka! Hope you'll have a great day! 🥰🖤

Here is your birthday present:

I think the reason I like Hajime so much is because he represents, through the evolution of his thoughts, his character development and the scenario of the 2nd game’s plot twists (related to Izuru), some ideas I deeply relate to about my relationship to others.

I think his conflicted relationship with Nagito, mixing his fear of him and lack of understanding with some kind of fascination and the sincere desire to get to know him better, creates a frustration coming from all these contradictory feelings that he can’t help but try to put in order and try to explain rationnally (while the others don't get why he tries so hard to put himself in Nagito's shoes). All of this comes from the fact that he deeply knows (this is how i see it, at least) that he isn’t so different of Nagito. Of course he finds his hierarchy placing the ultimates above fucked up and his self-loathing absurd, but he can’t help but feel a closeness to him, even if he can’t understand it at first. But deep down, he finally gets that these feelings that he finds repulsive in Nagito are, in fact, existing in himself. AND in the game’s scenario, it is precisely BECAUSE he finally gets to understand Nagito through his trial, that he’s able to fight Junko and understand himself; why would he have done the Kamukura project this to himself, if he didn’t feel like the ultimates were better than ordinary people, like he wasn’t worthy at all himself, just like Nagito feels ?

This dynamic between them is something I’m experiencing on a daily basis with people around me (sometimes, I feel like some people are monstruous, and then by getting to understand them I get to understand parts of myself I tried to erase in the past. Sometimes it’s the contrary, and I try to shake people’s assumptions and be closer to them, even when they act like I’m a freak, because I see these contradictory feelings in their contradictory actions towards me, and I know that if I gave them theopportunity to understand why I'm like this, we could be at peace with each other). This is also why I love talking about the post-game so much, because I feel like this is a way to imagine a future in which people understand each other better, with all their flaws and fears, with courage <3

This is the reason why Hajime is the best protagonist to me, and why he’s one of the best-written characters in the whole series !

Have the greatest of all the great days Asaka! 🥰🌟💕💕💕

Ahhhhhhh thank you Alcibiadeeee!!! 😭😭😭✨

I didn't expect you would draw based on my post-game drawing! Thank you so much for showing me this beautiful sunrise over a collapsed world, Hajime and the kids, and the adorable Zigzagoon! 💖💖💖 Your art always has a very clear concept and I like that a lot. I am very happy to see such a wonderful scene that suggests that even though the world is in a mess, there is peace in their own way and their future is bright. I am also glad that you included the stuffed bunny that the girl I drew has! 💕 Actually, my choice of the bunny was intentional, because I think bunnies are a very special animal for Class 77-B, and that's why I drew them. I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but you drew such a detailed part that made me very happy! 😊

And your story about why you like Hajime is exactly what I wanted! I really love the way his thinking evolved and grew and the way he approached others, so I really connected with your story, and on the other hand, I found it interesting and fascinating that you feel like you relate to Hajime.

All of this comes from the fact that he deeply knows (this is how i see it, at least) that he isn’t so different of Nagito.

I totally agree! I think he realizes that he and Nagito have a similar sense of value. I think they have some things in common at the core. Nagito's view that "no matter how hard you try, it is useless if you have no talent" is clearly shared by Hajime. If he did not feel that way, he would not have wanted to be a subject of the Kamukura project.

They are somewhat resigned to their lives. Nagito has resigned himself to the life of being driven by his talent, and Hajime has resigned himself to the life of being unable to break out of his mediocrity, no matter how hard he tries. But even with such resignation, they haven't completely lost their desire to make a difference in their lives, as Nagito wondered if he could be an ultimate hope in his last message before his death in chapter 5, and the reason why Hajime accepted to be the subject of the Kamukura Project is that he couldn't give up on having a talent. I think the story of Danganronpa describes "hope" as a heart that never gives up, so I think they actually had hope all along, even though they didn't realize it. Hajime was a person who had kind of given up on life, but because of that, I can relate to him more than someone who has a strong heart to never give up from the beginning, and I was really moved by his growth.

Aah, I feel like I still have more to say but it's getting long so I'll do it another time. It was really nice to hear in depth why you like Hajime! Thank you very much for your wonderful gift! 🫶💕

[beevean]

...y'know Isaac hammering on about how much of a changed man he is while ignoring all the people that he's killed to get there....kinda reminds me of Griffith

Except Griffith is explicitly presented as an unfeeling hypocrite and his Messiah complex is a part of his villainy

🙂

You know what? Griffith had the decency to feel sorry for the people who died for his dream, even if he (literally) used their corpses as a justification of why he couldn't give up and just had to accept the Godhand's deal. (this is not even taking into consideration that fate literally engineered the perfect way to bring him to the lowest point of his life physically and mentally)

He felt so bad for a dead boy that he prostituted himself to earn money so that no other boy would meet the same fate. This boy impacted him so much that he reappeared in the vision Ubik gave him. His entire philosophy that his soldiers are not his friends but mere pawns comes from the desire to emotionally distance himself from the pain that their deaths would cause him. Griffith used to care, in his own twisted way: it's after becoming Femto that he lost all empathy, to his rejoicing.

Isaac just killed people who in his mind "deserved it" and defiled their corpses to create demonic creatures (that is, when he didn't outright say "nah you can eat these fuckers, i'm just killing them because they were mean to me"), and then the most he did was to tell those largely mindless demons "oh you can choose to be more than tools <3 just like me <3 see I've been Enlightened <3" (because sure, FlysEyes can talk, and I could maybe make a case for Abel being sapient even if nonverbal, but the others? There is no indication they are even sentient). I'm meant to be touched that he took six weeks to bury the people he has carelessly killed in pursue of his goal, but it's clear that the only people in his mind are he, him, and himself. He's not leaving behind a city to be resettled because he feels sorry for his actions and wants to make up for it: it's because he, off-screen, has come to the conclusion that he enjoys the feeling of making positive changes to the world. Which sounds noble until you see him killing mercenaries in Styria, because they are in the way :)

I always loved his phrasing during that scene with FlysEyes: "And I would remind you that everyone here was a victim." Of what, Isaac, dear? Of whom? :) what's with NFCV characters and their alleged remorse being expressed in "mistakes were made" words?

also Griffith went through such a terrible hell that you almost feel bad for him by the time he crossed his moral even horizon (no such justification for what he did to Casca and Guts, though). Isaac just got all the happiness he wanted on a silver platter, which makes his supposed "arc" feel unearned and unfair. Griffith sacrificing his own band was a monstruous act, but at least he had to give up something!

[songsofbloodandwater]

1, 6, and 10 for the december ask game

1 ⟡ How do you cleanse or purify yourself from the past year?

A good deep cleansing bath ! But I don't just do a general cleanse, I first do an in-depth reading of different areas of my life and my overall spiritual health, to see what I need to be rid of, and build a more personalized bath from that. Each year carries different experiences and grievances, so each year's cleansing is different.

6 ⟡ When was the last time you did an uncrossing? how would you know if you need one?

Last time I struggled academically 🤣 I don't do them too often, I like letting things flow on their own and I genuinely think that 99% of problems don't come from someone crossing you, it's either your own entanglement in life's issues or just coincidence (which I'd treat and prevent differently from a baneful crossing, since it's a matter of all internal and external factors that make up your luck). Every so often I'll find myself surrounded by individuals that very clearly don't have my best interests in mind, and if I keep hitting a wall, I do a reading to check, and then do some work to untangle myself from the situation based on what I see in that reading. It's way too rare a situation to need recurrent work. I also don't necessarily feel like crossings are always magical, almost always it's not somebody doing magical work against you. A big enough (monstruous really) evil eye case can present as a crossed condition. I don't know how widespread or not this is outside my family but when someone hates you deeply we say "they've crossed you" or "have you between their brows" in reference to how their eyes and mind are always wishing (and sending you) harm. That can cause crossings in any and all areas of life, not just spiritual, depending on the individual and why they feel that way about you. That's the type of issue I've encountered more often and even so it's only a real problem once or twice a year max tbh. Not everyone feels that deeply and not everyone has the ability to do that type of thing either.

10 ⟡ What scent reminds you of the magic of December? where do you find it? (incense blend, warm drink, food, other source maybe?)

Smoke. The kind of smoke you get from burning coal or wood to make fires for cooking. The fragrance of spices and herbs being prepared over the stove, rosemary, oregano, peppers, garlic, and more. Breathing in fresh air and the cold wind carrying a light woody and minty feeling typical of high mountains covered in evergreen forests. That pungent smell of sparklers and fireworks everywhere you go.

Thank you for asking ! ♡

[aliciavance4228]

Idk if you are gonna answer this since this bit of late explanation but I’m somewhat of aficionado when comes to decadent literature so I can hopefully provide a very satisfying if somewhat unacademic answer. Anyhow the idea of monstrous femme fatale was popularized by romantic poets such as John Keats, algeronon Swinburne, Dante Gabriel Rossetti who have written poems such as

lamia(keats), Lilith (Rossetti) , Dolores (Swinburne) and these are only the examples on the top of my head . All which would influential on the decadents . One these decadents would be the most famous which would be Oscar Wilde who given your enthusiasm for gothic literature (one which I share as well) needs no introduction but he important because as far as I know was the earliest to paint the sphinx as femme fatale in the 1894’s poem the sphinx and just two years later fernand khnopff would paint the caress which would present the sphinx in similar manner (though he wouldn’t be the first gustave Moreau would have painted subject 32 years earlier as well sketch by Rossetti In a similar style ) all in all the sexualiztion of the sphinx mostly occurred during a period in literary history when female monstrosity was highly eroticized.hope this block text makes sense.

Khnopff sphinx

Rossetti sphinx

Moreau sphinx

for something much later Franz stuck kiss of the sphinx

This makes a lot of sense, actually.

While there are a lot of mythological figures who went through several modifications throughout the history of literature and art (and by extension started to gain new meanings and symbolism depending on the historical period and intellectual/cultural movement which occured at that time), I find it simply dissapointing that a mythological creature who was intially described as hideous and monstruous despite of having a human head and resorted to trickery in order to kill people ends up being cosmeticized/sexualized centuries later.

I quess my dissapointment is similar with those who see Medusa depicted in the Media as a conventionally attractive woman or a feminist symbol, despite the fact that the earliest mentions of her are in the Iliad, where her face was on Agamemnon's aegis (because at that time Medusa's head was the equivalent of a gargoyle and it had nothing to do with protecting women specifically).

[yanderefairyangel]

Monster in Fire Emblem Engage

What is a monster ? We read about them ever since the youngest age, those weird creatures that haunt our nightmares. However, did we ever questioned what they represent ?

A monster is a individual or a creature whose shape, behaviour, surprise by how far it is from what is considered to be "normal". It creates fear, disgust, hatred, disdain, loathing.

If we go back to the original meaning, it comes from the latin word monstrum, which comes from the latin verb monere "avert, indicate, enlight" and originally used to refer to miracle and any extraordinary event, without any negative connotation. Another etymology is that it is derivated from the latin verb monstare meaning "to show, to point out" because the monster is what is pointed out as extraordinary, out of the ordinary. In japanese, the common word for monster is 化け物/bakemono which is formed from the verb  化ける meaning "to transform, to disguise, to take a different form/appearance". If in our western conception a monster is what is different, in the japanese mind, it's what has the ability to become different and change it's shape.

In the traditional story of heroism, the hero always have to fight a monster, usually portrayed as an hideous creature with either zoomorphoic attributes or anthromorphic one. There is actually a much deeper level : the hero must fight and defeat a monster in this journey in order to defeat his own demons. See, monster's traditional representation are always linked to how in the human mind they are supposed to represent a part of the human monstruosity. We aren't pure and clean being, we human can commit absolutely awful acts, therefore the opposition to a monster is supposed to show how we manage to overcome the monstrusosity lying within us. This is also present in the traditional representation of the Devil. It's not accurate, it's meant to represent how human perceives it : as something worth fear. Monster in general are all based on the feelings and sensation they create. Their ugliness is motivated by the fear and hatred they create.

Therefore, whether an author is aware of that or not, this symbolic is bond to that scenario meaning that simply adapting it will recreate this symbolic.

Fire Emblem in general is no exception. It's all about the hero's journey to defeat the evil dragon that represent the worst, the one thing the hero must overcome. I link you to that thread :archie | currently playing sacred echoes! on X: "Like it's like we joked too much about recurring dragon final boss and forgot that they're...more than just a big dragon. Medeus represents lasting hate/war. Duma the tunnelvisioned pursuit of strength. Idunn is a walking war crime. Fomortiis works as the devil-on-the-shoulder." / X (twitter.com)

While this apply to a FE as a whole, I will focus on how Engage deals with the topic of monstruosity because of how it doesn't embarass itself with more then one plot line and focus on this one : on Alear defeating Sombron. And also because Engage is the perfect summing up of what FE is.

We already discussed this in my blog, but Sombron is the perfect embodiment for hatred. His serpentine form is actually unique to him. The snake is the symbol of Dvesha, one of the 3 poison of existence : it represent hatred, aversion, anger. Sombron is also an arrogant and egoistic person, the complete opposite of Alear. Sombron isn't only representing everything that Alear isn't, but what they must overcome, as well as their great fear. Sombron's monstruous appareance is based on how he lives in Alear's mind as the representation of their trauma. Sombron is the one person Alear hates the most, defeating him is the final trial for Alear to liberate themselves from hatred and to overcome their fear and trauma.

Likewise, Rafal turning into a monster/dragon in the Xenologue is showing how he is falling into his monstrous side. Here however, defeating Rafal is to help him gain freedom, overcome his own monstruous side. His dragon forms share a similarity with Sombron's however, it's still distinct enough for them to be very different when you take the time to compare them side by side. And this actually make sense. Sombron is a being consummed by hatred, Rafale by regret. This is visible in how he behaves when alone with Nel. And Rafal's form isn't so much about how people perceive him then how he sees himself. A monster. Knowing how he yearned for nothing but the approval of others and was considered to be worth "pointed out" by his other sibling for being a failure, it's no wonder. His skeleton design gives him a grim reaper looks, which makes sense with how he was the one to doom this world.

This monstruous aspect is also worth pointing out when discussing otherness. From a xenophobic point of view, and by that I mean "fear of the stranger/other" human have always tried to deem those they hated and feared as being non humans, in other words, monstruous in a way or another. They are deemed as "savages", "monsters" by judging "barbaric" some of their own customs, practices, belief etc. In Engage's case, this is represented by the hatred of Fell dragon that Veyle experienced. Veyle saw her mother tortured to death and almost experienced the same fate, all of this because she was a dragon, thus deemed a "monster". This made her relationship with other even harder. This made her hate her self with this self loathe being animated from the scar of being a dragon, making her wish to be human sometimes envying them, hating anything that reminds her that she is a dragon, because she interiorized the idea that she was indeed a monster. Hence, when she committed those awful deed, Veyle felt as if she became a monster as well, hence her will to make ammends for the sin she committed.

We can also view this on how Brodia and the believer of the Divine dragon antagonize those who believes in the Fell one and Fell dragon.

Veyle rejecting her dragon side is showing of how much this scarred her. She is rejecting her "monstruous side". Hence she get rid of her dragon stone, hence she tries to lessen her dragonic impulse wearing chains. Hence she tries to hide her identity and the fact she doesn't age. She tries to appear as close as human as possible as to not scare them, which result in her reject her "monstruous nature". In fact, I think the reason why dragons on the positive side have so few fature to distinguish them from human is to lessen the difference between them and human physically and how they are so similar to us, bare the transformation.

This however, is not the case of Zephia and Sombron. Their role as a monster gave them appearance that are more distinct from human then the other dragons, Sombron in particular whose form can be called humanoid at best. Zelestia's appearance being similar to Zephia is therefore her being in the same situation as Veyle, in which she is treated as a monster for something she can't be held responsible for : her appearance as she looks like a monster, but not because of the horns or the pointy ears, but because of her being Zephia's alter ego, someone who behave monstruosly. And Zephia herself used to view herself as monstruous for having destroyed her own home and killed her family, but while those action where something she did out of control, her action in the game are all done out of her own agency, making that Zephia ended up turning into the monster she though she was long ago... the irony

And also, the drastic difference between the Fell twins and the Fell sibbies is how they can turn into a dragon whereas the Fell sibbies cannot. I already pointed it out but the Fell twins still have a dragonic form that stands out as being different from Sombron as being less snake like and more alike to asiatic dragon as they retain a lof of lizard features. I already share my thoughs on how I think that it is because of how in their world, they have like a quater of divine blood (ok maybe less) but that's not the point here. Rafal and Nel have their own self loathe, but unlike Veyle and Alear it's not linked in a way or another to be a Fell dragon. And that's mainly cause of the positive influence Alear (isekai) was to them and helped them being accepted. Veyle however ? If her dragonic form looked even remotely close to Sombron's, that's no wonder she doesn't want to turn into a dragon as she doesn't want to be like him. It's her not wanting to be a "monster" once again, because it is her father's shadow that weighten on her.

In Alear's case, their lack of dragonic form steams from having forgotten about it however, Alear seems to have a post traumatic amnesia so once again, the fact they can't turn into a dragon is also indicating of Alear wanting to forget about the "monstruous" part in them. They hate Sombron and want nothing to do with him so sharing a form that looks even remotely close to his might break them as well. They can accept others, but not that from themselves. But most importantly, the comparison with the Corrupted.

When I made a post about the banditry in Firene, someone remarked that the presence of bandits with dead living in FE was done on purpose, to deshumanize bandits and I agree. But probably not in the same sense as that person. While FE always had instance of nuancing with the reason leading someone to banditry, the most "vile" of them we'll say are portrayed as cruel, merciless, committing awful acts. In that sense, they are acting like beast, monsters. In Engage it's the same, with the difference that we fight bandits only 4 times (not counting the squirmishes) because the threat of the Corrupted is made more important then the human one ever can. The Corrupted are obviously monsters, but their monstruosity ties within their name, how being revived as one of Sombron's pawn deprived people of their true nature, their humanity. And in Alear's mind they are doubly monstruous as they view them as the monster who killed their siblings and that they feared all their life. This also explain why Alear had a negative image of themselves : them looking like a Corrupted makes them a monster as well, therefore they view their past selves as being just as evilish, their past action made them a monster as well.

The only case of dragon whose form is not seen as a negative thing are the twins and Lumera's, which is not a sign or monstruosity there, showing that it is not the shape of the dragon that makes one a monster, but their actions.

[streets-in-paradise]

I'm in the mood for other short troy meta debating with some of the most common perceptions I have seen about the film.

Following the line of my other posts on the topic, I want to talk of how I never understood the claim that Achilles' thirst for vengeance was cheapened or downplayed because it was made about a relative.

Here i'm going for the " WHO cares that much about their cousin?" argument.

Look, I totally understand people can be frustrated because they expected romance and the movie made it about family, but HOW is it any less of a tragedy because they are related? In the film, Patroclus is not just his cousin. Not only he was little brother coded, the story makes it clear that Achilles feels very responsible for him since the lad became an orphan.

Fun fact: in the (luckly rejected) first draft of the script he was going to be his son. When Benioff did the rewriting, the family relation was changed to cousins, but something of the spirit in the first script remained in their dynamic.

Like i said before, it also had a plot function creating a pretty much in your face parallel with Hector and Paris.

Patroclus being like the little brother Achilles feels responsible for and he failed to protect brings him even closer to Hector. He is moved by the same motivation causing the death of Menelaus, Hector knows he is a dead man the same way the spartan king seiled his demise when he threatened Paris. It even creates a tragic parallel between Achilles and Agamemnon!

At the start of the film Agamemnon has for Troy the intentions of a colonizer. Destroying it is not in his original plan, he wanted to take over the economical and militar control keeping the trojan rulling class enslaved to mycenaean interests. The death of his beloved brother triggers this monstruous thirst for vengeance the movie uses as vehicle to explain the horrors of the sack of Troy.

In a similar way, Achilles' plans for his eventual combat with Hector were merely about personal glory. When he has the first chance of killing him, he doesn't do it because he doesn't have enough audience to make it epic, and he has nothing personal against him. With the death of Patroclus, he ends up desecrating the body of Hector guided by the same blind rage Agamemnon keeps since the death of his brother. The marks he leaves on the remains of Troy's fallen hero are an omen for the wounds Agamemnon will inflict in Troy itself later on.

In both cases, it leads to their deaths, but with different meanings. Agamemnon is at the peak of his vengeance during the destruction of Troy, he orders for no one to be spared and attempts to attack Briseis as perfect culmination of it.

His death is not only a defensive act, but a revenge for the whole fallen city. In contrast, Achilles feels remorse for what he has done, gets inside the horse with the sole purpose of fixing something up, and ends up paying with his life when Paris gets revenge for his brother.

Unlike Agamemnon, who is surprised by death while going through the more evil version of that peak on revenge satisfaction he experienced when he dragged Hector's body with his charriot, he embraced the death he knew was awaiting him as a redeeming experience.

Achilles cares for his cousin with the same affection Agamemnon and Hector had for their little brothers. He killed Hector moved by the same grief leading Agamemnon to destroy Troy in memory of his brother because Hector couldn't watch his own brother die.

The film presents a tragedy structured on a chain of revenges moved by family. You are totally valid in disliking that, but it doesn't make it any less tragic.

[ihopesocomic]

Tbh I wish Proud was less of an asshole to justify his "It's just what a mane has to do to survive", to show how patriarcal societies, while much more opressive towards females than to males, are still toxic to men.

There is just no nuance. Every male is a sexist (sometimes homophobic because we can't have a story about LGBT+ characters without homophobia🙄) piece of shit who really loves Pride law even though it forces them to leave their homes and family to a world who gets harder to survive thanks to the longer dry season (Which is supposed to be happening but we don't see any evidence of it 🙄🙄🙄) , and gives a higher success rate to those who are monstruous enough to kill Fathers and their children.

I guess his name is a good indicator of how much he is practically the living incarnation of Pride Law (His name is fucking PROUD), which could just be a really bad way to show that he's Lite, but I dunno, I feel like it would be much better if the show made him more of a morally gray character to show how destroying the patriar- I mean Pride Law would be better not just for lionesses, but for manes as well.

I suppose what I want is Proud to be completely transformed into a whole new character because this dude right now is just the walking and talking embodiment of everything wrong in MP's world and I think that's boring.

Ugh you have no idea how much I agree with you on how this show was a completely missed opportunity to show how the patriarchy negatively affects men and it's perpetuation just further hurts the future generation, even if people can sit down and think about it and agree with how it's harmful. But then again it was a missed opportunity for many things, and considering how much this show revels in demonizing its male characters no matter how little sense it makes, I can't say that I would've expected them to handle such a complicated topic with any ounce of sensitivity.

One of Proudmane's biggest problems is he's just Quickmane But Worse™ so Quickmane could've easily just existed on his own as being the talking embodiment of everything wrong in MP's world. And Proud should have been something different, to present the opposite side of Pride Law of someone who isn't Fire, someone who's been out on their own for longer and the consequences of that. But he's not, he's exactly the same as Quickmane, right down to having the same exact purpose to his entire existence lol

Proudmane's other problem is, they literally set him up to be sympathetic right after setting him up to be an asshole, only to make him become an asshole in the end anyway (which begun the 'Quickmane may be ableist but he's better because he's not homophobic' conversation lol)

Even then the whole "Its just what a mane has to do to survive" is not only debunked by what we see with our own eyes in the previous episode, which is that he was in a big group of males and eating well, which even according to Fire was a good ol time. The statement is also directly contradicting what he did... seconds beforehand. Which was... what was it... oh yeah threatening to kill Nothing, who wasn't a hinderance on his survivability lol Pretty sure killing cubs is also not a hinderance to his survivability, since 1) This aspect of Pride Law isn't exactly reinforceable, and 2) This particular pride has no qualms about accepting a mane who doesn't kill babies, case in point, uh...... the first fucking episode.

That whole scene in episode 5 annoys me for a variety of reasons lol like Proud having a literal debate with Nothing about why he should kill her, when he could. I dunno. Just do it.

But let's pretend for a moment that being a no-mane/prideless (is there really a difference here? Do we really need two different words for males and females? lol I hate the word 'no-mane' it's so dumb) in this universe is as bad as everyone says it is. Let's pretend that being prideless is closer to being a death sentence.

We could've had first-hand insight into a typical male lion's life in this world. From learning that their father murdered someone else's father, and children, in order to have a pride (and that the feelings of the pride itself on the matter is irrelevant to one's own survival). The near-constant fear knowing that one day that same thing could happen to you and your siblings and father, and knowing one day he's going to have to do the same. Being raised to believe he's worthless unless he gains control of a pride, taught to treat lionesses like they're inferior. The traumas of being forced to leave his home, and be subjected to starvation and facing other dangers alone, and how being alone can seriously impact a social creature's mental health. But he believes that in order to survive he has to be just as horrible as everyone else, and his justification is Pride Law and survival. In order to live, you have to exploit everyone's weaknesses, because it's for your own good. And then he's going to raise his children the same way. Not only showing the cycle in real time, but that also could've shown that Pride Law doesn't in fact benefit males like everyone is told it does, and that in many instances they're victims of the system as well, just differently.

And that's where you'd bring in Fire or Feather to be his foil, to show no, you don't have to be awful in order to survive, and you should reject everything about Pride Law. (And Nothing could raise Feather that way, and/or Fire could come to his own conclusions since he was allowed to live in the first place, but only because his sister went against Pride Law from the start, and he either didn't think it an option to do so, or felt too scared to do it himself. Him being alive to this day should allow him to have new perspectives on Pride Law. Either way Nothing's sole duty was to end Pride Law, but the writers don't permit her to succeed lol)

But nah, its more dramatic and therefore more entertaining if you just have your villain be a homophobic sexist prick that the show tries gaslighting you into feeling bad for. Instead of having the villain be the patriarchy, it's just men who are the villains lol And if you're a nice guy, you die, sorry.

As a super huge lesbian, man-hating (intentional or otherwise) is not the progressive messaging people think it is. - Cat

[hello-nichya-here]

Why do you think Tywin had a much more negative reaction to Tyrion marrying Tysha than did to Jaime and Cersei's incestuous affair?

For a few reasons.

Tyrion is Tyrion

That one fact is always very present in Tywin's mind. Tyrion is a dwarf. He is barely considered human by most people, and in fact, many assumed he truly was some monstruous abomination when he was born.

He brings shame to the Lannisters just by existing, and his first action in this world was "murdering" his own mother - Tywin's wife, the one person he genuinely loved.

Tyrion could have been the best person in the whole world and the perfect heir - and in fact he IS Tywin's "true son" even more than Jaime due to how simmilar they are - and it still would not have mattered. He is Tyrion, therefore everything he does is wrong somehow, and requires a severe punishment.

Elitism

Cersei and Jaime's affair might be taboo, but it is still between two nobles, two Lannisters. Not to mention, the Targaryens used to marry brother to sister all the time, and Tywin grew up knowing that, sometimes, that kind of thing is excused and even seen as a sign of their basically divine right to rule - provided the family in question has enough power to get away with this.

Tyrion marrying a common girl is a completely different story. When we hear Jaime explaining their father's reasoning to Tyrion, we find out that Tywin is 100% sure Tysha was only marrying Tyrion for his money, not for genuine love, and therefore was no better than a whore.

From Tywin's perspective, Tyrion was an idiot who fell for the first woman - the first whore - that told him some sweet little lies, to the point that he would disgrace the entire family just to marry her.

Tywin sleeps with prostitutes, in fact, he even slept with Shae, Tyrion's replacement for his first wife. But he is discrete about it, and would never even dream of letting any of them to become anything more than just a whore he pays to pleasure him every now and then. Tyrion marrying a common girl (which again, means the same as whore in his mind) is not just shameful, it's a disaster.

Even in his brutal punishment for both of them, when he forces Tyrion to watch Tysha be raped and then do the same to her, Tywin has the guards pay her with copper coins, while Tyrion gives her gold one because a Lannister is worth more.

Open Defiance

While Jaime joining the Kings Guard (so he wouldn't be forced to marry another woman and be set away from his twin) was not at all in Tywin's plans and is definitively something he'd consider bellow his first-born, his heir, that is still a position of great honor, and one could easily imagine a man like Jaime being genuine when he says he'd rather be a fighter his whole life than have lands, a wife and children.

We also see Tywin spending YEARS trying to make Jaime break his vows, and even uses Tyrion's trial to achieve that. He went easier on his favorite son, yes, but he did NOT accept Jaime's choice, just like he didn't accept Tyrion's.

And there WAS a punishment for the twins. He took Cersei back to Casterly Rock with him, so they couldn't be together, at least not until Cersei was to marry the king - which she was fully willing to do, despite her love for Jaime, and their affair was a secret, which likely contribuited to Tywin sparing them a harsher punishment.

Tyrion meanwhile married Tysha completely behind his father's back, and anyone who knew Tywin would instantly know that he did NOT approve of this. This was Tyrion screaming that HE decided he'd live, not his father, and that shit just does not fly with a man like Tywin Lannister - hell, Cersei got a taste of that too when Tywin wanted to force her to marry again to try to silence the rumors of incest, despite her terrible experience with Robert making her understandably only want to be with Jaime, the man she chose for herself.

If you're Tywin's child, you do as you're told. You're his property. Which leads us to:

Loss of a potentially valluable asset

Tywin hates Tyrion. But that hatred never stopped him from using Tyrion's wit to his advantage, and he even had Tyrion marry Sansa to make sure the North would be under the control of house Lannister.

Sure, the fact that he is a dwarf made it harder for Tyrion to be "useful" when it came to marriage (hell, he was often offered to families as an insult) but it was not at all impossible.

Not until Tyrion went and married a girl that had literally nothing to offer to house Lannister. No lands, no money, no allies, no influence, no great historical relevance, nothing. Just an "ambitious whore" who forgot her place, and is giving a ton of happiness for the deformed monster that killed Tywin's wife.

Once again, compare that to Cersei marrying the freaking king, and Jaime taking an oath that was bellow him but still honorable and a reason for pride, and tell me which of his kids Tywin will be mad at.

[anormaladn]

I know no one asked but I'm gonna answer the question where tf is Ogrest in the middle of my otomirgas

Short answer is I Don't Know What To Do With Him

Long answer is

Otomaï and Tamirga's relationship mostly built up in between the Great Flood and the ovas so he wasn't there back then. Think I'm set on them officially becoming an item pretty much right after Ogrest comes back.

This is where idk what to do with him because I'm not super convinced by the "everything is Fine, Ogrest is a kid again and gets to make as if nothing happened lalala" that's in the show, like, Ogrest lived what, over 100 years minimum? Of pain and resentment and god-like power? That's... you can't come back from that anew. (at least that's not super satisfying a story to me I guess) Even if we know from the Ogrest manga that it's the dofus that made him monstruous... He still killed a lot of people and nearly destroyed the world, that's gotta weight on him and how people see him

Sooo idk. I think in my version Ogrest is still big and monstruous, if less than when he had the 6 dofus. No one really knows how to deal with him. He doesn't fit in Otomaï's house, so they build him one nearby. In a calm place. With a big orchard so that he can eat enough. There are guards, always. Otomaï comes by every day. The whole deal of reconnecting and mending all the hurt is long, complicated and painful sometimes, but he's determined.

Tamirga is 100% out of his depth but. He loves his boyfriend a lot and tries to help out.

THEN in s4 Dathura comes back huhhhh yeah. She still seems to like Ogrest, they'll probably reconnect. If she keeps a high role in the Sadida Kingdom (as she was protecting the Tree of Life) maybe it'll help him not wall himself in

Also hhhh dunno where to put it in there but I'm under the impression that Otomaï's island was destroyed during the Great Flood, since it's not there in the Wakfu mmorpg? I could be wrong. The fact that he presents himself as Amalia's occasional messenger makes me think he lives in the Sadida Kingdom now (and that he has a special relationship with the royal family? maybe? which would explain how both he and Ogrest didn't get locked up/punished after the whole... [gestures]) Any goddamn way that's what I'm going with

[whirling-fangs]

[ nightmare ] sender wakes receiver up from a nightmare // from mamabira c:

𝑵𝑶𝑵-𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑩𝑨𝑳 𝑨𝑵𝑮𝑺𝑻 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑷𝑻𝑺. // accepting!

A bead of sweat rolled down the little boy's forehead. His agitation was palpable, little quivers shaking his lips, as if he was trying to speak up. Trying to beg for something, someone to drag him out of his slumber.

He didn't immediately wake as that gentle hand came running across his cheek. His expression progressively softened, like her soothing motions were seeping into the dream and chasing the monsters away from it. By the time his eyes open, wide emeralds staring back into hers, he almost seemed peaceful.

"You came to save me..." He mumbled dreamily, struggling to tell the dream apart from reality. "The monster was going to eat me, but you scared it away..."

It had been a rather simple dream. Inosuke running across the forest, chased down by a beast whose jaws dripped with the blood of its previous victim. A beastly, monstruous creature, whose only distinctive feature was a set of gleaming eyes. Oddly human-looking, iridescent eyes. Just when the monster was about to catch up, Kotoha leapt down from a tree, holding a mighty branch in her hands. She let out a fierce cry, so fierce that it scared the beast into submission.

Inosuke found himself chuckling. The Kotoha from his dreams was a far cry from reality, but the result had been the same. She had saved him.

He closed his eyes again, dragging his head into her lap as she kneeled beside him. The present was slowly catching up with him, making him realize that perhaps the dream hadn't been so far-fetched – only their roles were reversed.

Reality had its own monster. One that he had to protect her from. He would soon resume the fight, face those prismatic eyes and rise to protect his mother from him...

...maybe in five minutes.

[magicalgirlagency]

*Quielty manifesting from your shadow* Hey, can I ask you a question?

How would you rewrite the YuYuYu series (main story + spinoffs)? There aren't much fix-it fanfic for it, and the ones that do exist are all dead fics by now. I'm intending on writing a fix-it au myself, taking main inspiration from pretty cure and random Rival's songs. However, as I don't have much skills in writing and I don't have time either (my country schools is a bunch of monster honestly), I was hoping to find some way to cope with my pain after watching all of the yuyuyu seasons (even the horrid 3rd season).

Since you've already save the Hero Club and some of the other Heroes from the show... How about rewriting the series as a whole? To channel all your spite at how shitty the Taisha and the God tree of pedophiles *Shinju-sama* are?

Thanks for listening to/reading my questions. Here's you shadow back

*Return back into my Void to give back your shadow*

Oh, boy... it's been a while. I may be a little rusty, so I apologize in advance if anything's off...

Alright, before we get started, I'd like to point out some things about this reboot:

NO post-apocalyptic world. It'll be set in the present day, with all of the other countries and continent still intact;

NO ableism. The other heroines won't lose their body parts while fighting;

NO magically-healing disabilities. Tougo will be a wheelchair user from beginning to end, and her magic will properly accomodate her disability;

NO nationalism/militarism. The themes in this reboot will be environmental/ecological;

NO sexualization of minors. 'Nuff said.

With that out of the way, let's get this show on the road:

The Shinju/Divine Tree is an ancient mystic tree of unfathomable power that sustains the whole world. Unfortunately, due to humanity's carelessness, it's defenses have been weakened, giving the Taisha an opportunity to strike.

The Taisha are an evil cult; the very personification of humanity's greatest sins (greed, industrialization, deflorestation, etc...). Their goal is to seize the Shinju and its powers all to themselves, so they can bring forth a New World Order.

And to ensure that no one dares to stop their plans of conquest, they create the monstruous Vertexes, kaiju-sized beasts that were concieved through dark magic to cleanse the world of its impurities. In desperation, the Shinju spreads its magic seeds throughout the world, in search of young pure-hearted and well-intentioned humans to make them bloom.

In Japan, lives a young girl named Yuuki Yuuna. Lively, energetic a little bit scatterbrained, she inspires herself in the ideals of heroes, so she joins an after-school club called the Hero Club with other four girls, dedicating themselves to do community services for their beloved town.

Until one day, she stumbles accross a goofy and chunky cow-looking creature that introduces themselves as Fairy/Spirit born from the Shinju. They alert Yuuna of the Taisha's schemes and gift her with a compact mirror known as a Terminal, that allows her to transform and communicate with other Guardians.

The plot twist is that the other members of the Hero Club were already granted with their own Fairies and Terminals, and they were eagerly waiting for the newbie Yuuna to be blessed with her own powers so they could explain to her the whole story to her.

And so, the whole story is about Yuuna meeting several other Guardians and going on a journey learning what it really means to be a hero.

I was personally inspired by Puella Magi Magia Record, HeartCatch PreCure and Healin' Good PreCure when I wrote this draft. You may as use this as a base for your concept, if you please!