#because of the pieces of his background shown before? no no i don't

[epickiya722]

I'm calling it and I hope I'm wrong about it.

If Gege drops a backstory for Sukuna, folks are still going to be like "well, it's not the backstory I want for him".

[bones4thecats]

hello, I would like to make a request to Ignihyde with a reader like Magara from Hercules (note, magara! reader being Idia's boyfriend(girlfriend) please

The Reader Being Twisted From Megara

Characters: Idia and Ortho Shroud Requester: @marinahavik A/N: Heyo there, Marina! I know this has taken a while to get out there, but I've been busy with some extra side-hassles with the blog. Note; there will be an announcement after this comes out! Anyways, I do hope you enjoy this pieces despite coming out a while after requested😅 Spoilers/Trigger Warnings for: Book 6 and mentions of Death

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»»———————————- 　 Idia Shroud 　———————————-««

🎮 Wow, talk about opposites attract

🎮 This guy is literally known around Night Raven College for being a shut-it, meanwhile you are known for being a fairly obvious and cynical person. One that is hailed at being worse than Professor Trein when upset

🎮 Now, for the many years you and Idia have known one another, he by far believes that he deserves to have a friend as cool and chilled out as you around him. He’s a 'weird otaku' for crying out loud

🎮 When you guys first met, you were settling down from fight with another classmate. Apparently, he had tried to hit your younger sister, and in a fit of rage, you grabbed his hair and began to beat him senseless. And while you were fairly cynical when replying to the principal’s questions, Idia was more timid

🎮 You and him were released from the office, and when you introduced yourself and found out he got in trouble for messaging his parents because it was the date of his younger brother’s death, you swore to stand by his side. No take backs

🎮 Ever since then, Idia has been hooked onto you, which led to your relationship blossoming into what it is today

🎮 Idia is definitely nervous of being in a relationship with you, as you had a bad experience with your past boyfriend who was known by many names, Donovan or Don, or even Adonis! Talk about a spoiled narcissist

🎮 But, every time you notice that he is burying himself into these awful thoughts, you would jump in and begin to help him by reassuring him that he is far better than Donovan ever was to you. As he actually listens and talks to you instead of ignoring you and belittling you in front of his friends like Donovan

🎮 Speaking of Donovan, when he came by and tried to offer to rekindle your relationship, Idia showed a whole other side of him that scared all that witnessed the event

🎮 As the golden-haired man held your hand while bent down on one knee, your boyfriend literally blew up in flames, but, instead of blue ones, they were a hellfire-red and orange. And once he saw just how pissed the dormhead was, Donovan lunged out of there, but not before he praised on how you would regret rejecting him and for 'embarrassing' him

🎮 Please, he's an embarrassment on his own.

🎮 But, despite your cynical and disgusted-appearing nature, you really were a sweetheart inside. This was shown to Idia when you first interacted with Ortho, or, the robot-him that is...

🎮 You held his hand as he walked to practice, you'd allow him to recharge in your lap, hell, you would even allow him to do whatever he wanted with your extremely long and thick hair- sometimes the tiny mech would even match both you and his brother's hair

🎮 Don't mind Idia, he's just rebooting in the background- something about losing to much XP or whatever

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»»———————————-　 Ortho Shroud　———————————-««

🤖 Ortho is absolutely the biggest sweetheart you have ever met in your life!

🤖 When he first came back to life after Idia's overblot, he had no idea what happened or who you were. But, once you explained everything about you and Idia's bond, leaving out his death date and such, since he was no doubt overwhelmed with the fact his brother had an S/O

🤖 Ortho hugged your tightly as you just chuckled and gave him pats on his tiny robotic back

🤖 Idia awoke from his small nap in the nurse-ward to see you and Ortho curled up on a nearby sofa, the younger male being propped up in your arms like a toddler would with his mother

🤖 The younger Shroud would be lying if he said that he didn't love teasing you and his brother! He's the younger sibling, and as the younger sibling in a family, it is our job to make the oldest regret wishing for us. I can guarantee that, I have two older brothers

🤖 Like I mentioned earlier, you allow Ortho to hold your hand whenever he walked, have him recharge/rest in your lap, and let him style your hair

🤖 Speaking of your hair, whenever he does both you and his brother's to match, he just chuckles mischievously in the background as you hold Idia up and try getting a bottle of water in his mouth to cool him down from his embarrassment

[purpledemonlilyposting]

I didn’t know whether to send this ask on the lorch blog or the main, but re: why people view Dios as a villain from your last stream, I think there’s 2 main reasons:

- his entire portrayal at the end of adolescence where he’s taunting Anthy and begging her to come back to Ohtori as she & utena are riding away

- when he’s shown on the carousel after Utena gets stabbed. It’s the same carousel that’s shown before Akio goes to unlock the gate, and I’ve seen a few people claim that his speech to Utena is almost mocking her for her efforts

I’m not trying to be a lorch here, just wanted to give my 2 cents on this topic

It's best for Utena asks to go here I'd rather not clutter up my main blog XD

That's Akio at the end of the film. Dios is only seen once in the film when Anthy has a vision of him in Utena's place during Juri's duel.

(Edit: And like a couple glimpses of him by Juri and Miki which don't even ask me wtf it means the movie is nuts.)

The second argument is the one that really drives me crazy. If you've paid attention at all to Utena's symbolic language: when you see a character who is a dark silhouette you're not seeing the truth.

The "Dios" mocking Utena on the carousel whose sentences Akio finishes is not the real spirit of Dios. Akio has been trying to convince Utena that he and Dios are still the same person in order to get Utena to do what he wants.

But far, far away from the carousel with the mocking false version of Dios another Dios appears, one whose face we can see, one who seems to be the same one that came to Utena in her coffin. The one that exists because of Anthy. I don't think it's a coincidence that Utena meets him once again in a space between life and death.

This Dios says to her: "Don't look so sad. You've tried so hard until now. Don't blame yourself. You've treasured the Rose Crest ring until now. A kiss, to show my appreciation".

He then leans down to kiss her ring. The ring that is, remember, a promise that Utena will retain her childhood nobility and free Anthy from her eternal suffering.

Unlike the false puppet Dios this one is laying there crumpled on the ground with her. They're both far away from the carousel in a quiet, intimate moment. Akio is unaware this is happening. I see the true spirit of Dios kissing the ring the same as Anthy blessing the sword.

And he blesses her ring as the chorus in the background swells with the words: "I have vanished yet I still live. I exist. I am here. I exist. I am here."

And then in one of the most badass moments in anime Utena slams her fist into the ground and lifts herself back up. Refusing to give up on saving Anthy from this. She's only been stabbed once, Anthy is being stabbed a million times.

Now what seems to have happened is some people have gotten it in their head that Utena slamming her fist with the ring on it into the ground is her rejecting Dios. You know, cause they desperately want this to be "feminist" in the way that Utena don't NEED no man to help her! Despite the fact its more sexist to act like you can't be inspired to act by someone of the opposite sex.

Utena embodies Dios' spirit. She has since the beginning. Dios has been her ally throughout the entire show. That's why Anthy's heart has been moving to her instead of her memories of what Akio used to be. How is anyone possibly reading it as a rejection other than a willful misinterpretation based on what they WANT the show to be rather than what the actual text is communicating.

I even had someone try to tell me the ring is smashed to pieces here which uh... no?

The ring is a symbol of the promise to Anthy. The promise to become like the prince Anthy once loved and believed in for HER sake.

We see this true spirit of Dios two more times in the final episode. First he's lounging around listening to Akio brag about how Utena is going to lose. To me it seems like he's just waiting for Akio's defeat now that he has passed his purpose on to Utena. A purpose he's known he can no longer fulfill, because Akio exists and he no longer does outside of Anthy's wish and will that he could.

Akio doesn't notice Dios at all in this scene. He's just monologuing to himself about how Utena, the one who embodies the spirit of the Prince he once was, whose power he is hungry to regain, is a fool for being so persistent. And that's why Akio will never change the world. Because this twisted world and system only exists due to the hold he has on Anthy and his efforts to fully control every piece of her.

And then my final piece of evidence that Dios is Utena's ally: he vanishes behind the drink Akio is sucking up that represents Utena's remaining lifeforce. Dios quietly disappears forever behind that glass. And it's that exact moment that Utena opens the way to Anthy.

It's also worth noting that the fake puppet Dios peaces out when this happens too.

So anyone saying "Utena rejected Dios in the end" I have to assume is hearing this through 2nd or 3rd hand information from someone who has never experienced the actual show as anything beyond a "sword lesbians" mood board on Tumblr.

[twitter-bores-me-to-death]

Chapter 212 Notes.

● Short but vey enjoyable chapter. The art was more stellar than ever, the backgrounds especially eye-catching.

● Although it mainly seves as a breather and a recap of sorts, I think there were many intersting aspects worth inspecting closer:

▪︎ Are they being monitored?

I couldn't help but notice how often Ciel and Sebastian paused mid-sentence or trailed off at the end of one, especially Sebastian, which is very uncharacteristic of him.

He's taking the time to choose his words very carefully. Speaking of which, does anybody else find it incredibly weird that they're going into such detail about their plans in public while enjoying tea in broad daylight? They're so obviously going out of their way to seem careless.

Edit: I forgot to point out that unlike many (all?) of their past investigations, Ciel chose to not go undercover. He's blatently flaunting his identity, fully expecting to be recognized. It's part of the plan. It does seem like he's trying to lead the police somewhere and use them to restore his public image.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out they're being tailed. Sebastian noticed it from the second they got on the train, and alerted Ciel through this silent exchange:

He prompted Ciel to get out of the cabin. Then, I guess Ciel decided to remain in the dining car for the entire ride because his pursuers likely won't make an attempt at his life a crowded area, alarming and possibly endangering innocent civilians. Seb got Ciel's drift hence his sarcastic remark:

Our duo might clash with said pursuers the second they reach the station however, they might opt for keeping a low profile and swiftly bypass them.

(Note: We've got some shots of the curtains/windows for no apparent reason, too... Maybe this is the BOM fan in me speaking but it is very suspicious lol.)

▪︎ Our duo will have to transfer at Redhill before resuming their journey to Brighton. I don't believe we were given this piece of info for nothing. Perhaps we will witness some action with the Yard/their pursuers before the hotel nightmare begins.

▪︎ Lastly, from the title page with the train ticket, to the cabin, to the dining car, Ciel and Seb were always facing each other. Not once were they shown to stand or walk next to each other. Is it hinting at a future confrontation/separation? Or are they finally seeing eye to eye, sitting at a table as equals? 🤔 hmm. Perhaps it doesn't mean anything lmao. Still, on my second read, the way they were positioned/framed really caught my eye.

That's all! I don't think we will get to Brighton right away, next chapter but I can't wait to see my scheming devil spawn and his demon of a butler in action!

[bluesgrxce]

Yandere Gavin Reed x Reader

I know he's not an android but I'm a Gavin Reed apologist (even though I recognize he's a piece of shit and that's shown here haha) and btw "Gavin Reed's cat" is a character tag I can add on Quotev and Ao3?? He doesn't even canonically have one??? But I like the headcanon and seeing that gave me the idea to write this, so yeah, thanks to that for inspiration :)��

The text notification sound nearly makes you jump off of the couch. The blanket wrapped around your body would've fallen off, too, if it hadn't been for the way it holds you tighter than you suffocate the sofa pillow in your gripping hug. Tear stains fade against the pillow's surface. 

Your phone flares to life against the dark living room of Gavin's apartment. It lays on the low coffee table before you, distracting you from the torturous sound of the TV's background noise. You had to leave it on a children's show, because every other channel displays some kind of ugly argument about the newfound freedom of androids. 

The phone's light extinguishes. You had hesitated too long. Realizing that makes you take a sharp breath and reach over to correct your mistake, just in case it's who you think it is. It's a mistake you can't afford to make right now. You read the text. 

Gavin: Gonna be home soon. You fed Bastard right? I forgot to this morning

Your fingers dig into the phone case like you want to tear it apart. Still, you text back a quick confirmation and prepare to throw your phone to the side. But you bite your lip and set it down on the cushion instead. When another notification sound pops you, you don't bother to look at the screen again, knowing it'll just be a thumbs-up emoji or something equally stupid. 

Your body aches as you sink back into the sofa. You definitely left left a deep indent on the furniture by now, but there's no point in getting up. You know there's nothing worth doing in this dim apartment, and yet, your bored mind scans the room anyway. Your gaze lands on the loveseat positioned away from the sofa.

A cat lays on it. Her collar jingles as she digs her claws into the cushion beneath her. Various scars are scattered around it. Even if a stranger saw the seat without her on it, they would be able to tell where her favorite spot is. Her nametag shines against the light of the TV; Bastard. 

You used to laugh whenever you heard her name, but now it only makes you roll your eyes. It's just so like Gavin to give his beloved pet a vulgar name. It's just so like him to keep a pet that is so very clearly his, with her dark brown fur that's reminiscent of his hair, and her arrogant stance that makes you feel like you're not even part of her little world. But... at the very least, she looks much softer and warmer than the pillow you've been clinging onto for the past few hours. 

Memories of her viscious hisses and destructive actions tell you that you're stupid for even considering it, but she might brighten your day a bit, and that potential is good enough foe you. 

You jump off the sofa and head towards the corner of the living room, where a cat tree tower looms over you. Just one of many gifts you never saw her touch. Gavin likes to tell you that she uses it all the time, just never when you're around. 

You bought it for her over a year ago. You thought for sure that she would've warmed up to you by now, but even when you grab the mouse toy that hangs off of it, she narrows her eyes at you. 

You take your time as you approach her. You hang the toy over her head, which makes her eyes soften and her body sit up. You smile. The first smile of the day even though it's now dark outside.

She follows the toy's every move. You begin to laugh as she tries to stand up and reach it. You crouch down, letting her snatch it between her paws.

With that same smile, you lean over to grab--

She slashes her claws. You gasp and flinch away, holding your arm against your chest. Blood leaks from a long cut on the side of your lower arm. Her hiss only makes the pain sear. She steals the toy in her mouth before running off deeper into apartment, where it's untouched by light. 

You speed towards the kitchen and flip the lights on. You find the first-aid kit in the cabinets and throw the bandages on the counter. After turning the sink on, a torrent of water hits your wound and drowns the blood in the drain, just as your thoughts do-- Of course she would do this. She never wants to play. Why do you keep wasting time on her? Why do you keep being so dumb? Why are you such an idiot? 

You press down on your wound. A whimper breaks out of your throat, but you don't stop. It's not to stop the bleeding, but to make your inner voice shut up. 

And yet, you can't block out the truth that's now pouring into your bloodstream, through the cut that forced you open. No matter what you do, you'll never truly have a good relationship with this cat. You can try all you want, but even if you find something that feels like it works, it won't be long until she lashes out again. 

Your eyes dart back to your phone for a second. She's not the only one who treats you this way. 

That thought sticks in your head above all else. You turn off the sink and gaze at your arm. The bleeding has passed and the blood's gone down the drain. Another question arises-- Why do you bother staying in a place that'll just make you unhappy?

Almost as if you had been waiting for this moment subconsciously, a list of excuses sound off. Gavin won't let you leave him so easily. Even if you left right now, you'd be leaving a lot of things behind. Building a new life without him isn't something you can even imagine right now. The worst part is that all those excuses are true. You try to come up with arguments against them... until you hear the sound of the front door opening. 

Your injury suddenly feels much worse than before. You rush around in search of the bandages you left. The call of your name makes you freeze. 

Gavin strides through the entrance hallway, ready to say something, but he stops when he sees you staring back at him like a deer in headlights. He squints his eyes in confusion. "The hell's up with you?"

You stumble over your words for the next few seconds. He playfully scoffs as he approaches. You can't flee before he snatches your shoulder and crashes his lips against yours. It takes too long for him to pull away, just like it always does. 

"I had a great day, thanks for asking." A light-hearted chuckle accompanies his sarcasm. His hand shifts from your shoulder to your waist. "The plastic prick wasn't at the station today. Hank said something about Sumo having to go to the vet, so he let the android have the day off. Can you believe that?"

He laughs until you say, "Why couldn't I?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're an android fucker," He laughs again, but with a much snarkier tone. "You think it's okay for them to be able to take breaks, while I gotta bust my ass all the time, and they don't even get tired."

"It's not really taking a break if he's taking his dog to the vet."

"Hank's dog, and look, lets not get into this shit the moment I get home." Now both of his hands land on you, and it makes you tense. He brings his face closer. His whole body seems to trap yours into a corner. "After all, I've been waiting all day to see you..." 

You slap his hands off. "Do you seriously think I wanna be around you after what you did this morning?"

His eyebrows furrow and he stares at you. It goes on long enough that it feels like he actually forgot about it, and the mere idea of that makes your teeth grind.

Right as you open your mouth to remind him, he sighs. He pinches his nose in exasperation. "Fuck, I didn't think you'd still be mad about that."

"What?" Your eyes shoot open wide. "You threatened to throw my phone off the roof!"

"I was joking, obviously!" He threw his hands up.

"Joking? You were yelling at me! You tore it out of my hands and waved it around like you were gonna throw it at me any moment! You told me you'd never let me visit you at work again!" 

He bares his teeth, letting his hands fall back against his sides with a loud sound, and he tries to speak. But you cut him off. "And it was all for nothing! Connor wasn't even there, like you said, so all that did nothing."

"But I bet you still texted him while I was gone, right?" His bared teeth twist into a grin, though you can see twinges of pain laced within it. "Maybe even invited him over and had some fun? Bet you kept playing me for a fucking fool--" 

"No, I didn't, because you made me block him, and..." You gasp for desperate breath, before forcing your wounded arm into his face. "I was too busy taking care of your cat, who did this to me!"

His jaw slacks. It's almost as if you can feel his surprise pour into you as his eyes peer through your injury. Then, after a short pause, he lets out a slurred swear and tugs your arm forward. 

You try to pull out of his grasp. He takes the bandages you left behind and yells, "Stop being difficult, damn it!" 

Gavin traps you against the counter as he dresses your wound. He concentrates entirely on your arm and keeps a strong grip on it so you can't struggle away. Frustration teems your whole body, but there's nothing you can do in this position, so you stay silent. His eyes occasionally sneak glances at you, and with each time he eases into a smirk. 

After the finishing touch, he rests your arm back to your side, but he never lets go. "You realize now why I named her Bastard?"

"I realized why a long time ago."

"Yeah. She was the one who gave me this." He points to the faded scar across his nose. "Heh, she probably meant to aim for your face instead. Wanted to give us matching scars."

He still smirks like he expects you to laugh. When you only give him a glare, he returns it with greater intensity. 

"You're looking at me like I'm the asshole, but you're the one who was talking to someone else behind my back, to a--" He grunts. "A thing you know I hate. You think I don't have a damn good reason to be mad at you?"

"I only hid it from you because I knew you'd get like this again. You never listen when you're mad. You just start yelling. You always, always yell at me..."

You have to pause for a moment. Is he even listening now? His eyes fixate on you, but his hard expression makes it difficult to know if your words reach him. Still, you continue. "I can never explain myself to you. I swore so many times that he's just my friend, but you never believe me!"

"Oh, so now you want me to believe you?" He speaks like he's bewildered. "I asked you this morning if you still loved me... If you still loved me over that thing... and what did you say?"

You stare back at him. 

"That's right. You didn't say shit." He attempts another grin, but it crumbles and collapses the moment he tries. He opens his mouth to say more, but it clamps shut when pain flashes across his eyes. 

Before you can even process that glimpse of vulnerability, he pulls you into his chest. In a strained tone, he says, "I'm not losing you to a goddamn android. Get that into your head so I don't gotta knock it into you somehow."

He squeezes your wrist one last time before finally releasing. You hold that same wrist and step away. The urge to say something gnaws at your tongue, but there's nothing you can say after what he just said. 

"I'm gonna go take a shower. Think of what we're gonna have for dinner while I'm gone, okay?" Even though his voice sounds softer than it's ever been, it leaves prickles on your skin. They roll back and forth with each heavy footstep he takes down the hallway. When he slams the bathroom door shut, they pierce through you. 

You stare down that hallway with an empty look. It feels like the bandage constricts around your arm, cutting off your blood flow, like Gavin is still holding onto you even after he left the room. You'll never be comfortable if you leave it on.

You'll never be comfortable if you stay here. 

So you won't. You speed around the apartment to gather some of your things that you left laying around (you can't grab everything; it's been so long since you've left this place, and remembering that makes you grimace) before heading towards the entrance. For a while, it's like nothing can stop your rampage. 

But you freeze when you reach the front door. 

Bastard cements herself on the doormat with her back pressed against the door. She leers at you like she thinks she's a tiger. As she sinks her claws into her mouse toy, its stuffing leaks out. 

Just looking at it makes you wince and hold onto your injured arm. She doesn't stop tearing the toy up even once it's limp, and it makes you wonder how many other toys have held the same fate: one of many honest attempts from you to get on her good side, only for it to end up in the trash, and replaced by you just to begin the cycle again. It's a waste of money... and love. 

Just being here is a waste, but... You shake your head as you watch Bastard crush the toy underneath her chest. What's going to happen if you try to leave like this?

You already know. There will only be yelling, and blaming, and threats. Potentially, not-so-empty ones. But you'll have to deal with that regardless if you stay or not-- As long as Gavin is in your life, that's all there will ever be. So why not at least choose the option where you might get away?

Your heart races, but you reach over to open the door anyway. Bastard hisses and gets up to strike. You step outside without another look back. 

× × ×

I probably won't make a sequel but you most likely get kidnapped after this lol just so you know :P don't get too happy :]

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

House of the Dragon 2x03: Review

I think the episode was very interesting even if it was the "worse" so far. Nevertheless the devil was in the details in this episode.

First of all, it was such a pleasure to have seen the conflict between Bracken vs Blackwood. Because I believe that those two houses are important for the ASOIAF's history.

We also have seen the aftermath of a war, with blood and bodies lying very where. It was perfect. To the liking of GRRM.

Rhaenyra is combing her hair with Visenya's braids.

Rhaenys would have been a great queen (but maybe also a bit weak), but I didn't like that she took Alicent's side. That didn't make sense at all.

The detail of the Hand's chair. Incredible.

I hate more and more Ser Criston Cole.

Aegon is still throwing tantrum during the council meeting.

There was a focus on Aemond's hand and the piece of money he was playing with (foreshadowing?).

It was some incredible picture when Seasmoke was flying in the sky during Mysaria and Rhaenyra's conversation.

Interesting does Mysaria's knows about dragon? And their loneliness after their rider's death?

There is the mention of two new dragons.

It's confirmed that Rhaena doesn't have a dragon yet.

Was it the God's eye showing before Harrenhal?

Speaking of Harrenhal, the castle is so devastated. It seems that everything in Harrenhal needs to die eventually.

The presence of weirwood trees is impressive.

Could you notice the sound or more likely the scream of burning people in the background when Daemon was inspecting the castel.

The visual of the castel was stunning.

Daemon was left with himself.

The detail of the different fire were incredible, for example with the lord's chair.

The place is so terrible.

I like this new Strong character, especially when he said to Daemon that Larys killed his father and brother.

This Strong mentioned again the battle between Bracken and Blackwood, and forgetting the why they hate each other so much.

It was a very interesting discussion during the supper at Harrenhal.

We meet Ser Gwayne Hightower finally, Alicent's brother. I thought he was younger in the book.

Alicent and Ser Cole are so hypocrite.

The hanged men are still at the same place.

I didn't like the dynamics about this episode, meaning it was men vs women.

There is definitively true love between Corlys and his wife Rhaenys.

It was interesting to see four dragon's eggs.

Did you notice that they put the song for kings while Rhaenyra told goodbye to her legitimate sons (foreshadowing).

I like very much Rhaena and Baela's sisterhood.

Did Helaena make a foreshadowing about baby?

Helaena's braid was incredible too.

She shouldn't have forgiven her mother at all.

Interesting to know that Aegon's armor still exists.

Layrs is a fucking liar.

Aegon II put a Maester of whispers inside the council.

Even the White Cloak are laughable, reflecting Aegon II's picture.

We are shown a lot of smallfolks' life in King's Lading.

Was it truly the son of Bealon the brave? Or more likely a foreshadowing of the dragonseed.

We know more about Aemond's fondness for Madam Sylvi. She was his first. Strange that they didn't put the theory of him and Helaena's forbidden relationship. Did you notice that they don't have any scene together.

I wasn't expecting this full frontal.

Sorry but Rhaenyra is so fucking weak in this episode. She is definitively not like the Rhaenyra in the book.

I loved seeing Baela taking some actions.

Finally, some high valyrian with Baela. She was the revelation in this episode.

Harrenhal is such a dope.

I really liked Daemon with loose hair.

And it's very interesting that they confirmed that Harrenhal is a magical place.

It felt so good to have seen young Rhaenyra again.

Daemon had a vision in front of the weirwood tree and then after the lady said that he would die here, said in front of a lake (prophecy).

Even the chandelier in Dragonstone are incredible.

Finally, the confrontation between Rhaenyra and Alicent never happened in the book. They weren't the same age and they were friend at all! Because it is completely stupid, unwise and foolish.

Or maybe it was a way of showing us how easy it is to enter to King's Lading.

Is it me of there is a Kristen Bell ressemblance when Rhaenyra was wearing the uniform of a septa.

This is something in the picture with all the candles and the rond.

Also the two characters were so in contradiction with each other. Back to the beginning but with inverted role.

Who's Alicent's mother? We never knew her.

I didn't understand Alicent suggesting to Rhaenyra concerning Aemond : "You know what Aemond it?" Meaning a monster ? a bastard?

But in the end it is such a terrible and sad story with an inescapable ending.

[honeii-puff]

So me and my friend had a debate and it made me realize how you can see which characters are favored by the creators by how much of their backstory (how the grew up, what happened before s1, their family lives) we know of them.

For this, im going to be using characters that got introduced in S1, as they have had the most time to be added onto (almost a decade), plus Max as a shoe-in.

This list would be: The Byers(+el), the Wheelers, The Hendersons, the Sinclairs, the Mayfields, and the Harringtons.

The Byers:

Joyce married Lonnie and had Jonathan and Will before separating (I don't remember explicitly why, probably because he was a piece of shit). Jonathan and Will live with Joyce with no visitation from Lonnie, and are very close. Joyce isn't the most stable parent, so Jonathan helps around, kind of co-parenting Will. El grew up in the lab, and we see all the stuff that happens when shes younger, which makes sense since she is the main face of the show, so she's kind of exempt from this list.

The Wheelers:

On the outside, they're seen as the perfect suburban family, but in reality, Karen and Ted are in a loveless marriage, especially proven in s3 when Karen is having a weird relationship with Billy. The Wheeler siblings have a normal sibling dynamic of shouting and a love-hate relationship, with (this mainly applying to Nancy) the pressure of having to hold up the "perfect family" image.

The Mayfields:

Max's mom married Billy's dad when Max was young (I dont know if they mentioned what happened to her dad or if i just forgot), after Billy's mom had died. They lived in California until they were introduced in s2. Billy's dad is physically and verbally abusive, which has influenced Billy's actions towards Max. After Billy's death, we know that Billy's dad left, and that Max's mom isn't in a good mental state, leaving Max to take care of herself while also coping with her brother's death.

Now lets compare that to what we know about the Hendersons, the Sinclairs, and the Harringtons:

The Hendersons:

Dustin's dad isn't in the picture (we dont know why), and his mom likes cats.

The Sinclairs:

Lucas has both of his parents, who are in a loving relationship, and he has his sister Erica, who he has a generic sibling relationship with.

The Harringtons:

Rich background, Steve's parents are never around, but it's never expressed as to what his relationship with them is like. (Ik he wasn't meant to be a main character and he was supposed to die in s1, but its been a decade, they could have added onto it at any time)

We can also see this in how their trauma affects them

El and Will both have similar "im the freak" mindsets, which gives them the struggle of being able to make new friends and expand their circle. They also have a lot of trauma from the upside down, and El unknowingly blocked memories of what happened with 001 due to how traumatic they were.

Mike was bullied his whole life, which does reflect in his character, making him quick to react to situations rather than analysing them before responding. His trauma doesn't come from his family, but from other people he has been around. With both him and Nancy, it is shown that they both struggle with telling people that they care about "I love you" (Nancy with Steve, Mike with El), probably from seeing how "love" affected their parents.

Max's mental health had a steep decline after loosing Billy, and it is explicitly shown and a large part of her character in s4, so that one needs little explanation due to how blatantly obvious it is.

Now, Dustin, Lucas, and Steve have all been dealing with the Upside Down just as long as the others have been (besides Max), and little trauma is shown from it.

Dustin and Lucas were both bullied like Will and Mike were, yet it doesn't seem to actually affect their character like it has for Mike and Will. Both also have their share of events happening with the Upside Down.

Steve did go through a character arc, but we don't see how trauma has affected him, especially since he seems to be the shows punching bag. He got tortured by russians, almost got shot by his ex, has gotten into fight after fight for these kids, and got dragged to the bottom of the lake by his ankles and proceeded to get strangled and attacked by bats.

And none of them seemed to be affected by any of it.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

If there are any other ST characters you want an analysis on, send an ask!

[iwannascreameurekaa]

I don't understand how any of the seven get so much hate. They all have amazing characteristics, designs, personalities, backgrounds, etc. 

so I'm gonna explain why they're all amazing

Yay

Percy

Percy is the main character to the first five books so he has the most information shown about him than the seven since we read from his point of view in pjo and the Olympians. His whole thing of loyalty is incredible and the things he risked to save people he barely knew made him an amazing protagonist. 

Annabeth

Hello??? I know she's smart but that's not her only characteristic. She's blinded by her own powers and doesn't know how to handle things thrown at her when she can only rely on her emotions which is amazing cause ME TOO GIRLY she's a badass who also went through so much during HOO 

Leo

Built a whole ass ship, was manipulated and controlled into KILLING HIS OWN MOTHER OMGS MY HEART, was always singled out and felt like he didn't belong, SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR HIS FRIENDS, and so much more!!!

Jason

This is where ima start defending for my life bc people who say Jason is boring don't understand his story. He was taken from his home, raised by wolves until he was around 2/3, raised the rest of his life until his was 16 in a camp where he was trained to be an actual child soldier, kidnapped and had his memory erased, watched his best friend DIE, and died for his other best friend !!! WHAT MORE DO YOU PEOPLE WANT????? OFC HES GOING TO BE BORING HE DIDNT KNOW WHO HE WAS OR WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE

Piper

I will hold you by the shoulders and stare directly into your soul until you give me a good reason to hate Piper bc she did nothing wrong. She just wanted her father's love and she never got it so what happened? She was sent or a wilderness camp where she was also manipulated into believing a random boy was her bf which entirely messed her up and it took her MONTHS ALMOST A YEAR to realize that she didn't have the feelings she was lead to believe. THEN SHE SAW HER EX HER BSF DIE IN FRONT OF HER????? I WOULD BE RUINED AFTER THAT OMGS 

Hazel

Excuse me, didn't she DIE in the 1940s to prevent the world from ending, came back, only to have to save the world AGAIN??? Not to mention that fact that she was bullied and harassed all her life before and after her death. Before her death she was always treated like the devil bc of her curse, even by her own mother. Her mom even neglected Hazel which is something NO ONE SEEMS TO TALK ABOUT. Then she has an unknown brother save her from the underworld and have to completely rebuild her life from scratch. At new rome she still wasn't treated right and was left out and made out to be a weird girl just like her old life. Tbh if that was me I wouldn't be shaking crying every time I saw someone. Also she learned how to control the mist which is pretty fricking cool okay I love her 

Frank

Let's just point out the obvious first. The reason Frank is not one of the most loved characters is because he is/was chubby. I'll say it, that is the reason. If he was skinny/fit more people would love him. That's probably why Rick did the transformation thingy thing where Frank got all buff. Which sucks because Frank is incredible and having one of the only character that's not skinny or muscly or as conventionally attractive have to change to those things just to be slightly more popular is STUPID!!!! I'm not hating on Rick I'm honestly hating on the fans who didn't love Frank because of the fact that he was chubby, whether they knew that was the reason they didn't like him as much as the other seven or not. His story is incredible. His mom going to war and her dying made my heart break while reading. his entire life force being attached to a piece of wood, so easy to be burned to nothingness, is SO GOOD. His awkwardness is so refreshing to see when characters are often portrayed as nonchalant and cool when in reality we're all losers 😭 

Really, there's no real reasons to hate any of the seven. You can have favorites, I have my favorites of course, but putting the other seven down doesn't do anything. You're just an asshole. 

[blueberry-bubbles130]

So I've been reading a few of the Barbie Princess and the Pauper essays that are floating around the internet (mostly Tumblr) and I've got a theory that Preminger killed the King, before the movie takes place.

First of all I'd like to give a lot of credit and a big thank you to @rin-the-shadow for their brilliant analysis of the timeline of the movie that helped me massively in figuring out when Preminger would have killed the king for the theory. Since the ages of the characters are not stated anywhere, or even implied, within the movie itself. So there's not a lot to work with in terms of timing. 

I'd also like to thank my two close friends who helped me come up with this theory. 

So first for a bit of a background, in the movie the King isn't mentioned at all, and we only see him once at the beginning of the movie, which is in the prologue. From this evidence, it's incredibly safe to say he is dead by the time the movie takes place. Now If we look at Rin's analysis and the evidence they use from the movie, they state Preminger comes into the role of Queen Genevieve's advisor when Annaliese is around 6 years old.

From here the timeline becomes messy, as we don't know when Julian becomes the tutor to Annaliese. I'm assuming that he becomes her tutor at least 3-5 years before the movie begins. This is a bit clearer if we again look at Rin's analysis, in which they theorise about the difference in time between Julian and Preminger's arrival at the palace: as they state with more movie evidence in which Julian can remember living in the village. As well as this Annaliese and Julian are really close at the beginning of the movie, which shows they've gotten to know each other really well. So I think that Julian is a bit older than Annaliese, not by much though, so I'm going to say he's about 2 years older than Annaliese.

This leaves about 5-6 years maximum for Preminger to get rid of any evidence he may still have lying around from him murdering the King, from him coming to the castle to Julian's arrival at the palace.

So for the theory itself, I think that Preminger murdered the King a year or two into his role as the Royal Advisor. Now you may be asking why Preminger would kill the King?

That's because I think the King was incredibly close to discovering Preminger's plan to steal the gold, so he decides to murder him in order to truly get rid of him, and keep his plan secret. This is because the King was probably the smartest out of him and Genevieve at the time, therefore the King would question Preminger more. And lets be real for a moment he probably realised that Preminger is clearly evil. While Annaliese would be about 7 or 8 according to the timeline, so she'd be too young at the time and less of a concern to Preminger. 

Now by doing this, Preminger in fact gets a few things out of murdering the king. The main one being that he can keep his plan secret much longer, allowing him a greater chance at succeeding. The second thing he gets out of this, is now an increase of power through Queen Genevieve.

Throughout the movie, it's shown that Preminger has Queen Genevieve completely under his thumb, a massive example being when he proposes to her (we'll be coming back to this piece of evidence later). And from this we can assume that for a while before the start of the movie, Preminger was essentially making the decisions for the Kingdom while manipulating Genevieve into agreeing with him. Or making it look like she's the one truly making the decisions.  (Because as much as I love Genevieve, it's clearly shown, at best she's completely dependent upon Preminger, and at worst dumb on her own)

Once Preminger kills the King this leaves grieving Annaliese and a vulnerable Queen Genevieve. She's now a widow, with a kingdom and a child to not only look after, but make sure she's an experienced heir to the throne. On top of that she's going to be grieving and that's going to make things a lot harder for her. 

This is where Preminger's manipulation of Queen Genevieve truly begins. Through her grief Preminger can manipulate her by making it seem like he's helping her work through her grief, while also making it seem like he's the answer to her problems of taking care of the kingdom. As a result this increases the power and wealth Preminger holds, whilst making Queen Genevieve completely dependent on him over time. 

This leaves the timeline looking like this: 

.Genevieve and the King become a couple

.Annaliese is born

.Preminger is hired as the Royal Advisor when Annaliese is about 6

.The King is murdered by Preminger when Annaliese is about 7 or 8

.Julian is hired 

.The events of the movie happen

All that is left now is to figure out how the King was murdered. Now if you've seen the movie or have seen a review, you know that when he has to, Preminger is 100% willing to murder people. This is shown when he tries to murder Annaliese and Julian by causing a cave-in, within the Royal Mine. Which happens because Julian and Annaliese are smart enough to realise that Preminger is evil. And by this point murder is Preminger's only option to secure his plan. 

The evidence is also important, as it reinforces how experienced Preminger is when it comes to manipulating Genevieve, because the next two scenes are when Preminger exposes Erika and then the proposal scene. The proposal scene shows how he uses Genevieve's own grief against her, to marry her in order to become king (and completely disregarding any emotions she may have about this situation). It not only shows that he has total power over her, since she doesn't even make a verbal response she just turns around and holds her hand out for the ring to be placed on her finger. It also shows that he is very used to doing this and knows that in this situation all he has to do is present himself as the solution to her problem. But this time he's gotten so desperate and thinks that he's won so he doesn't even bother hiding his evil intent from Genevieve. As by this point he's managed to figuratively and literally back her into a corner where he is her only option. 

Going back to how Preminger murdered the King, he has a few options for how he can do it. 

He can make it look like an accident or natural causes

He can make it look like someone else murdered him

Not care at all how it looks and get rid of the evidence later

Again from looking at the movie, when he tries to murder Annaliese and Julian by collapsing the mine, he at least tries to make it look somewhat like an accident (at least I think he does, please correct me if I'm wrong). So I'm more inclined to go with option 1 for his method. We also have to remember that the movie is set loosley somewhere in the 16th century. So there's more ways to get away with a crime, and it's before Julian arrives at the palace, meaning Preminger has less to worry about when he commits the murder. 

Preminger also seems like the type to not have much physical involvement in a murder, that is yet again shown in the mine collapse scene. So I'm going to say that Preminger most likely poisoned the king. 

This is because poison was widely available at the time, with apothecaries selling poisons as some poisons had functions apart from murder. This means that he can easily get it and get more if he ever needs to. 

So to summarise the theory, Preminger murders the King because he's coming too close to discovering Preminger's plan to gain power and chooses to kill him by poison. This leaves Genevieve vulnerable to Preminger's manipulation that while not making him just yet, gives him a bigger increase of power while pushing his plan further along. Then the events of the movie occur that force him to change his plans and in turn bring about Preminger's downfall and defeat. 

So that's it! Sorry this got a bit long. 

Thanks for listening to my rambles. 

[asingleshampdition]

Sympathy for Jin Shirato

In all honesty, I actually feel just as, if not worse for Jin, than I do Chidori; especially in Reload, despite Chidori being the most fleshed out of the Strega three. This character analysis will not include developments from Shadow Cry, as I'm not aware of most of its contents enough to include it. (P.S. There are no visuals because for some reason, Tumblr doesn't want to save with them.) I think the motivations of the three Strega members are very important. All of them came from the same background, as child experiments; and thus, we can draw fair conclusions from them.

Takaya wants to get back at the world for hurting him. He's a man who is very weak-willed, and wishes for death, as long as it means others come along with him. He's adopted this view in which his only purpose in life is to bring everyone down with him: as he's been granted the power to do such (in the form of Hypnos), he's under the impression that his life is meaningless otherwise. This is why he's so unwilling to give up the Dark Hour to SEES; he's unwilling to start over, because in his mind, he's built up meaning for himself. Takaya doesn't really care for anyone; everyone he comes across, to him, is either an asset he can use to achieve his goal (Jin and Chidori), or an obstacle (SEES). As much as I'd like to believe Takaya genuinely did care for Jin and Chidori, I can't see it. At the end of the game, Takaya becomes a cult leader; Strega had always had parallels to such, and cult leaders, like Takaya, don't typically care about their followers. Rather, they see them as tools, to get their way. From my point of view, Takaya is an irredeemable piece of garbage, in the games, and cannot compare to Jin or Chidori in terms of sympathizing potential. As previously stated, I'm not accounting for Shadow Cry in this post, so I don't really know how the pathetic wet cat man is portrayed there. Chidori's motivation is that she, quite literally, has no motivation. She finds no purpose in life, and therefore, doesn't really care what happens either way. In her eyes, dying just means she'll never wake up again, and the end of the Dark Hour? "Cool, more days to live until I inevitably die," is probably what she would've made of it. Either that, or, "oh no, Medea!" Chidori's motivations are so radically different than both Takaya and Jin's motivations, and I believe this is why she was able to break away from such a cynical, nihilistic line of thought, much more easily than the other two. The only reason she followed, and was loyal, to Strega, was because Jin and Takaya were similar to her. Other than that, she held no regard for them, and did not consider them friends. It did not matter, to her, who she followed. If Takaya had been a better guy, maybe with hopes of reform, she probably would've turned out better as well. The only person she really cared about, until Junpei, was herself; as selfish as that sounds. She considers Medea her only true friend, as a representation of how she isolates herself, in order to not be afraid of death. So, where does that leave Jin? I believe Jin, unlike Takaya and Chidori, possesses a trait that neither of the other two have: genuine care for the few people close to him. The reason Jin doesn't want the Dark Hour to disappear is very similar to Takaya's; however, as shown in Reload, this isn't really the case. We have to remember that Takaya, essentially being a cult leader, even before he starts such, is incredibly manipulative and charismatic. Think of Jin as a young, impressionable dude, who is at an incredibly low point in his life; someone who is emotionally vulnerable, someone who can be targeted. The perfect candidate for a potential cult member. Then comes along Takaya: someone who is kind to him. Someone who treats him with dignity, with respect; someone who is there for him when he needs it most. Someone who 'saves' him. Kind of like Chidori, I believe Jin could've fallen for anyone; it didn't have to be for Takaya, it just had to be someone who was kind to him during the darkest time of his life. Unfortunately for him, Takaya does not truly care for him, unlike the vice versa, and whatever kindness Jin experienced from Takaya may or may not have been an act of manipulation. Kind of like how cults usually target young, impressionable, emotionally vulnerable individuals. Jin was manipulated into siding with Takaya; and kind of like a cult member and a cult leader, the member would align with the leader's ideals. Therefore, I do not believe Jin's true reason for standing against the Dark Hour's absence is the same as Takaya's.

This is not to say Jin doesn't have a 'real' reason; unlike Chidori, I believe he does. His statements on 10/31, being: "If the Dark Hour disappears, we might forget everything that happened, won't we? / I'd forget you and Chidori, the things we did together, our time at the facility... All of it." I find this line an incredibly simple way of painting Jin in a sympathetic way; and yet, it's incredibly tactful. Jin values the time he's spent with Takaya and Chidori; he values them. To him, they're like family. They are what SEES is to Makoto/the protagonist: his friends, the only friends he's ever had, and he'd rather die than forget about them. The only problem is that both Takaya and Chidori hold little to no regard for him. I'm somewhat sure he knows this, and yet, he still chooses to view them in such a way; even after Chidori pays virtually no mind to him as a person, and when Takaya separates from him in the final stretch of Tartarus, knowing that Jin would probably die.

This conclusion does raise some questions, though; when Chidori sacrificed herself for Junpei, why didn't Jin say anything? Rather, why didn't he try and stop her? After all, he's mostly silent, and Takaya does most of the talking during the sequence. Strega's philosophy on death is to not fear it, as it is inevitable. Perhaps this is also why Jin does not show sadness when Chidori dies? To Jin, as well as Takaya and Chidori, they've accepted that they will all die someday, because of the suppressants, as well as their Personas. Jin doesn't view Chidori's death as sad, not because he doesn't care for her, but because Strega has already established that death is inevitable for people like them. Another potential reason for Jin supposedly not caring for Chidori's death is the presence of Takaya. As a cult member is to a cult leader, Jin is dependent on Takaya. Since Takaya only views Chidori as a pawn, perhaps Jin would take on Takaya's view on the matter; to Jin, Takaya is wiser than anyone else. I really can't think of any other reasons as to why Jin wouldn't show much emotion during Chidori's death, other than either one: Jin specifically referring to Takaya, and only adding Chidori in as an afterthought, in his quote, or two: bad writing. The first one I doubt, as I feel like Jin would be one of the last people to tell a half-truth (to Takaya, of all people, to boot); especially since his last name is Shirato (white door), referring to how he can't keep his fatass mouth shut when talking about important information with SEES. I don't really think the writers would make such an oversight; adding Jin's sympathetic statement, and then forgetting to make him sympathetic otherwise. Not saying it's not possible; it definitely was, considering the quality of the villains' writing in the older versions of Persona 3. I just find it unlikely. This all just goes to show that Jin could've ended up just like the SEES members, if not to a greater extent than Chidori. He loved the ones he was close to, and he believed in bonds, to some extent. Of course, maybe not in the way SEES does, but the point is that he did; and bonds are the entire premise of the Persona series. Takaya never believed in bonds at all, throughout the entire game; he's too focused on himself, so he's out of the question. Chidori doesn't believe in bonds until Junpei shows up, even with Jin and Takaya in the picture. Jin is the only Strega member who would go as far to die for his found family, the only member who loved his companions from the start.

The more I think about it, the less I really blame Jin for who he became. Like I've mentioned before, you have to think of Jin as a cult member. A cult member who was 'indoctrinated' by Takaya, because he was naive, impressionable, and a lost soul; looking for someone to love him, respect him, stay by his side, and 'save' him. Would you fault a lost soul, someone who is incredibly emotionally vulnerable, as well as naive, for being manipulated into a cult? Sure, you could view Jin as 'stupid' for falling for Takaya, but that's the thing: people who become cult members aren't always stupid. They could be the brightest, most mature person you know; and that's not the point. Cults target people who are lonely; who want love. No matter how bright, mature, talented, well-read you are; at the end of the day, you are not immune to manipulation, if the manipulators pull the right strings. I think that's what's most scary about Jin: his story revolves around how someone so bright, so talented, someone who was one the right track, who more or less had the right mindset about relationships, was thrown off course, because he was also lonely, naive, and lost. It's very similar to many people who join cults; his character, even in Reload, can be written off as just some cynical, Takaya-obsessed bomb maniac, kind of like how a lot of people write cult members off as off-putting, evil, and sadistic. I think Reload did a terrific job at exploring this part of his character, even if it was just a few extra scenes. Or maybe I'm just overanalyzing because he's my favorite character lmao, who knows?

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Legato, Meryl, and Devotion

When first reading, I was struck by the similarities in these two scenes, especially since they are shown so closely together – one at the end of Volume 13, the other at the beginning of 14.

[ID: Two screenshots from Trigun Maximum. The first is from Volume 13. Legato rushes over to a prone Knives, who is practically torn in half. He cries as he desperately tries to gather his insides up with his hands. The second is from Volume 14. Meryl holds the hand of a prone Vash, still holding his gun, and leans her head against it, tears in her eyes. She says "It's okay... you don't have to carry everything on your own. We're in this fight together. Please never forget that." Livio, Milly, and a man from the Earth Federation are in the background. End ID.]

The Independent, severely wounded, is seen by the person who steadfastly and strongly believes in them, devoted to their ideals and persons. The devoted party begins to shed tears over the state of the person they believe in so strongly, while holding them in their hands.

Of course, there are significant differences in the reactions of said Independents to their allies. Knives essentially tells Legato "how dare you cry over me", while Vash, a little later, thanks Meryl for her bravery and steadfastness.

There's also a difference in the way Legato and Meryl react to the scenes as well - Legato, understandably, is the picture of desperation, livid at Vash, grasping at Knives' literal insides as if to try and piece him back together all by himself. Meryl, while no less distressed, reaches out in what is a tender gesture to hold his head and then his hands, and tells him they're in it together. And to me, these differing reactions go a long way in showing us the differences between the kind of devotion they have.

Firstly, the commonalities. Both Legato and Meryl do a lot on a very self-directed basis - they help of their own volition, and do an awful lot of instrumental behind the scenes work to support Knives and Vash, respectively. They both strongly believe in the vision that the one they assist has for the world, and they act accordingly.

But Legato's entire sense of being is based on his connection with Knives (through no fault of his own, really), and his understanding of Knives is based entirely off of the image he has constructed - as the one person who shares his sense of vengeful justice, the one person who could accomplish what Legato had been helpless to do. Meryl has a life and personhood outside Vash, and her understanding of him is a lot more in-depth and personal than simply his ideals - she knows what it means to him to hold a gun, and the weight of taking and sparing a life, something Meryl understands also. Knives and Legato do not ever get the chance to connect in this way.

What all this really leads to is Legato having to make assumptions about who Knives is as a person - and because their meeting was such a pivotal moment for Legato, anything that happens afterwards that doesn't fit the idealized image he constructed there becomes "wrong". When Knives does things that Legato does not understand (typically regarding Vash), Legato tries to remove the source of the "problem", regardless of Knives' actual wishes. Despite Legato's desire to know Knives more personally, he is unable to actually achieve this, and Legato is left to make his own judgements about what is "best" for Knives, which becomes horrifically distorted by his own need for approval and his jealousy. As I've said before, Legato's devotion is ultimately self-serving, and rather than accept that Knives' brother is very important to him, Legato instead takes this as a challenge - since he sees devotion as the height of strength, it does not make sense to him that Vash should have Knives' regard so easily, when he works against him and Legato does so much. To Legato, devotion is loyalty is love is power. It's all the same, tangled up in itself.

What this all leads to is Legato feeling compelled to prove his devotion over and over, and Knives becoming more dismissive as Legato grows more desperate; this paradoxically shoves a wedge even further between them and any understanding of the other's person they could've come to. Legato wants to be instrumental to Knives, but this is really an individual need Legato has - not a true desire to form a collective. Legato wants to be of sole importance to Knives, and Knives, as we know, is the master of self-isolation, going so far as to merge with others of his own kind, but still rejecting mutual understanding.

Meryl, on the other hand, is forced to reconcile hard with the image of the mysterious traveler and pacifist she knew with the horrors of July and the pain the actual person, Vash, walks with every day. Her understanding of this allows for her to share in his ideology while seeing him as a person with flaws that are not things she can simply "fix" - the flaws and wavering are a part of him, and always have been. Meryl's proof of devotion isn't to uphold Vash's image as flawless, nor is it to make decisions in his stead - it is simply her standing at his side and offering support - something that Vash eventually will come to accept (at least a little). It's a shared front that Meryl, Vash, and others like Livio, Milly and Luida put forward to face things head first - they're in it together.

Devotion is simply steadfastness to Meryl, and neither Vash nor Meryl have imposed a formal hierarchy on this - Meryl doesn't serve Vash, she assists him, and calls him out when need be. Devotion to the world he wishes to see. Loyalty and love and respect for his person. But Meryl's strength and power doesn't come from her devotion or from recognition by Vash, it comes from her own propensity to face down her fears. It comes from her.

I think there's a lot more that could be said on this topic, but for now, I'll leave it off here. Maybe on a re-read, I'll have something a bit more substantial to say.

[saotome-michi]

Another unpopular One Piece opinion:

Carrot and Yamato not sailing with the crew after Wano did not feel like a cop out to me. The two are clear parallels to Nekomamushi/Inuarashi and Oden, who were also part-time members of Roger's crew. Carrot clearly has her part to play as leader of the minks and Yamato as "Oden". Sure, maybe Oda could've done a better job of building that up and saying "goodbye for now" to these characters at the end of the arc, but "too much to do, not enough time" has been One Piece's MO since the time skip.

I guess that's all easy for me to say though, since imo neither Carrot nor Yamato felt like full-time strawhat member material. There's a certain template that all the strawhats mostly follow and it can be summed up in three steps:

1) They're shown to be a loner, the "black sheep" of their village (or whatever environment they're introduced in).

2) They're saved and/or inspired by Luffy.

3) They have meaningful interactions with the other strawhats before they officially join the crew.

All of the strawhats tick these three boxes, except for Jinbei, who was never shown to be a loner or the "black sheep" of Fishman Island. However, he is introduced as the only Warlord who is strongly against the War, as well as the only Warlord who's a fishman. Plus, he's the only fishman who agrees to give blood to a human. So, maybe he does tick that box.

(Oh there's also Robin, who doesn't have that many interactions with the other strawhats before she joins at the end of Alabasta.)

Now, let's look at Carrot.

Carrot is not portrayed as a loner or the "black sheep" of Zou. There is nothing really that makes her distinct from the other minks... perhaps her strong desire and daring to leave Zou and explore? But other Minks also expressed their desire to leave with the Strawhats and it doesn't seem like Carrot's wanderlust is seen as a bad thing by the community.

Carrot is not saved or inspired by Luffy. Yes, she likes and admires Luffy, but there is no particular moment where he saves her from her personal demons or inspires her to keep going, live, or to fight for him. He plays no pivotal role in her character growth, that's all Pedro.

The only box that Carrot ticks is that she has meaningful interactions with the other Strawhats throughout Whole Cake.

So 1 out of 3 for Carrot.

What about Yamato?

Loner? Sure, he's def the black sheep of Onigashima.

Saved or inspired by Luffy? This is an interesting one, because while Luffy does in effect save Yamato by taking off his handcuffs, it's not a scene with a lot of emotional weight to it. If anything, Yamato's savior and "light" was Ace. Yamato and Luffy only interact for a little bit before Yamato's assigned to Momo for the rest of the battle, so they don't really have much of an emotional connection either. Compare Luffy and Yamato's interactions during Wano to Luffy and any other strawhat's during their introductory arc and it's lacking. Yamato's desire to sail with Luffy feels more impersonal, because so much of it is tied to Yamato's background knowledge of Luffy, knowledge that he got from third party sources (Oden's logbook and Ace) than from Yamato's own interactions with Luffy. So while I understand why other people might tick the box, for me it's a no.

Meaningful interactions with the other strawhats before they join—a big NO. Yamato literally only meets the other strawhats after the battle is over. Sure he spends time with them post-battle, but we see very little of it.

So Yamato is also 1 out of 3.

I think from this comparison, we can see that neither Carrot nor Yamato really build up that special connection with Luffy that the other strawhats have, and that's why I'm perfectly fine with neither of them fully joining the crew. Personally, it would've felt odd if they had.

[stupendousfoxthing]

JK's crazy schedule in Q3/Q4 last year was very interesting to me. He was constantly traveling and would just be in SK for a few days then fly back to the US for few days again. It didn't make any sense to me coz he was tiring himself out and even caught colds multiple times.

I thought it would be more cost-efficient and logical plus healthier option for him to just stay in LA for the whole duration and perhaps bring his family with him if he wanted to spend time with them coz I assume they would have more flexible schedule. Also, they can travel and explore US together on his days off. This was under the assumption that he chose to fly home each time to SK to spend time with his family coz he is enlisting soon.

Now I will enter my delulu theory: he was coming home to SK to someone who can't travel to where he is, and was spending any time they could together before MS. As a TKKR, I will be pointing out that the period where JK was constantly flying back and forth, was Tae's promo period. Tae can't be where he was for many obvious reasons, but he was also busy. When Tae flew to Japan, he was able to come home just few days before JK has to fly again.

Tae went live, played longing songs and shared that JK sings To Find You for/to him. The next day, a man was beside him on his bed on his 3AM live. The same day that JK came home from a long trip to US and Japan. Assuming that was JK bcoz of the series of events leading to this plus the breathing sounding so much like him, JK went straight to Taehyung after his trip. In another JK trip to US, Tae was seen sporting a pair of NY exclusive Moncler shoes the day after JK came back to SK from NY.

With my theory that JK was coming home to Tae, I thought how they probably just wanted to spend whatever private time they can with eo. It didn't have to be a trip or something grand but even just the thought of getting to share the same bed after coming home from work was more than enough.

If JK chose to endure jet lags and crazy schedule to be able to spend time with Taehyung, these are sacrifices we aren't privy of coz it isn't shown nor shared to us.

I know I am reaching with this theory, tho I am also piecing moments that happened within that busy period and I don't think I am far off. 😂

Oh wow! You know there's been plenty of talk about how Taekook always seemed to find time to spend with each other between travel schedules, even if they weren't in SK for long. But I've never seen it framed like this before. I think you could be onto something. I do wonder if after enlistment he won't be spending a lot more time in LA if he's going to keep his career going in this direction. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. We know he's building a home in Seoul, but I wonder if he'll sort of live part-time in LA. I don't think your theory is delulu at all, it's perfectly reasonable and would make some sense of JK's sometimes baffling and exhausting schedule last year. It would fit the pattern we have plenty of receipts for. We know of times they were together immediately before leaving. Bowling with Wooshik's brother for example, I still think the morning JK went live at like 8am and said he'd just stayed up all night and Tae was at the airport a few hours later telling a reporter he had done the same was a hell of a coincidence. We know they often met up when they got back to SK. Paradise Hotel, Tae having plans for JK to cook for him when he was only back in SK for a couple of days for SimInvest, in Tae's apartment the day he got back from Japan in October. Their living situation was a good set-up for this with their apartments being so close to each other. Meeting up whenever they found time would not be difficult. I'll throw my own wild theory out that I haven't shared until now because it's related to this. I was very amused by the incident in August when I saw the ghost hunters talking about another noise in the background of Tae's live and I popped in my earbuds so ready to roll my eyes again only to hear what was undeniably a man coughing in Tae's apartment after midnight. We knew Jungkook was sick at the time. They really got me that day. It humbled me a little.💀 So I'm letting myself speculate here. I think it's generally agreed upon by Taekookers that when they met up at the Paradise Hotel Jungkook went straight there from the airport because it's right there. When the video of Jungkook at the airport on September 5th last year got posted there was the usual "who was in the car????" discussion. Another thing I normally dismiss, but I thought it was funny that his managers rushed so quickly to close the car door. It wasn't until I realized that Tae was definitely at the Paradise Hotel the night before that I started to sweat a little. 😅 Like, what if though??? We know Tae had been busy filming during Jungkook's birthday...what if???? they found some time???? before Jungkook left???? Tae was at the Paradise Hotel for the Frieze Seoul Art Night event there. He streamed the beautiful sunset for just over a minute on Weverse which a lot of people were saying was him on his way home and I accepted it just assuming they knew something I didn't. But the event happened that night so I think he was on his way there. He also posted the sunset on his IG story. I'll just leave the last dot here.

[menelaus-blue]

i had a very important realization while i was out walking today. out of the main four vnc characters, noé is the one we know the least about. he fits into a category of what i would call the glass protagonist–a guy who basically exists only to narrate the story, joining the ranks of those like nick carraway and richard papen, except he's just like way more mysterious.

see, part of what makes a narrator like nick work narratively is that we know just enough about him to 1) understand his perspective on the events of the story and 2) know what his role in the story is. nick is able to give his insider/outsider view of gatsby because he is neither part of the buchanans' world nor part of gatsby's, and his role in the story is to serve as a kind of mediator between the two of them. he's daisy's cousin in long island, but he's also a working man in city, etc, etc.

the funky thing about noé is we just...don't know anything about him. we're told a couple of things about his childhood; that he was adopted by an old couple in the human world, that they died and he was somehow on sale in altus, and that the comte took him in. but really, the time before and after louis's death is uncannily empty for the guy who we're following through this world. yes, of course it's fair to say that we know the most important things about noé, but we honestly know way more of vanitas's childhood than his, and that's a big part of the central mystery of the story.

(there's an element to this, of course, that comes from both of the examples i gave before, the great gatsby and the secret history, being novels. as readers, we get an extra level of introspection from nick and richard that is very difficult to translate directly into manga as a medium. however, i would argue that it's not impossible, and all that being said it does sometimes feel intentional on mochijun's part just how little of noé's background she's shown us.)

both nick and richard narrate their respective stories onto the reader from their position as outsiders, which we know is noé's role in vnc from the get-go. i mean, he says this explicitly in chapter one: "this is the tale of how i met vanitas, and how we walked together, of all we gained and lost, and of how, at the end of that journey, i would kill him with my own two hands". he's the narrator and this is his story, just like nick and richard, right?

but while nick and richard are the narrators, and give us, the readers, an excuse to look into their worlds, they are not exactly essential players on the board. both the great gatsby and the secret history give the impression that, without their narrators, they would have continued nearly exactly as written; the characters were doomed to fail long before the story began, and the intervention of some white guy isn't enough to either stop that. and yes, vanitas is doomed as well, but we are introduced to his death as an event that is intrinsically tied to noé himself.

"with my own two hands", noé says. he is not only an actor in the saga leading up to vanitas's demise, he is a starring player in it. (and yes, we ofc later learn that vanitas is going to die with or without noé's intervention but i think it's important to understand that this is our introduction to noé, vanitas, and the story itself) in this way, noé differentiates himself from his glass counterparts, in that he inserts himself irrevocably into the plot. he is both a character in the story and an observer, a chess piece and the one playing the game. this is why the gaps in his backstory feel so jarring, at least to me, because we are not meant to view him as solely a window into the world of vnc, but as a character all on his own.

anyways, all that being said, i'm hoping with the introduction of lady archiviste we're finally going to learn more about noé and his time with the comte, just because it's like a HUGE gap in the story.

[savrenim]

watched the first 30 minutes of the new live action ATLA bc I was Curious and they have already committed three different mortal sins that I can't Not Rant about, spoilers for the first 30 minutes below the cut

1. They rearranged the order of storytelling to open with the Fire Nation attacking the Air Nomads.

And I'm not.... totally sure why? Like, my guess is either "we need to make an immediate dramatic hook for the people who have never seen ATLA before!" or "we need to explain the background for the people who have never seen ATLA before!" But the truth is, people never saw ATLA before it came out, and they were perfectly fine catching on to learning about what happened to the Air Nomads and the geopolitical state of the world in media res!! That is not an excuse!

By opening with The Attack On The Air Nomads, not only do they rob the audience of getting to do my favorite thing throughout, which is the ability to piece together backstory via being told details as the story goes on, but it also..... vastly undermines the impact that That Attack Happening is going to have later in the story. Instead of piecing together tragedy from 100-year-old ruins and getting the moment of "oh god" and imagining it, we're shown it directly upfront onscreen, which not only to me comes across as unnecessary and gratuitous violence, but it means that every time in the story that The Air Nomads Are All Dead is going to come up, instead of it being this weighty thing that we can only imagine that each small detail adds even more to that weight, the payoff was all upfront. We've seen it, there's nothing to imagine, any detail they give us is not adding to our understanding of the tragedy and increasing the tragedy to us at all, it's just a reference to the opening scene.

2. STATUS!!!!!

So 'Status' is a concept that I rant about a lot and am highly sensitive to in writing, probably bc in the gay theater camp day camps the first thing you need to teach your 8-year-olds in improv workshop is How To Respect Status if you want to have at all a reasonable adventure game; otherwise you have kids interrupting the king's big dramatic speech and hence Undermining The King's Authority and the adventure game falls apart but also so you don't get trapped in scenes where you've got two characters yelling back and forth "well I'm [this thing] so you should respect me!!" and the complete lack of respect between them totally undermines what both of them are saying and the fiction falls apart. I kind of joke but not really that I stopped watching Supernatural in like. season 8?? 9?? because there was some episode with Greek Gods and you got to the finale of the episode and Zeus was going "dO YOU KNOW WHO I AM??? I'M ZEUS. I'M A GOD. PUNY MORTAL" and Sam and Dean went "dO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE??? WE'RE THE WINCHESTERS. WE TOOK DOWN SATAN AND ALSO SATAN'S MORE EVIL OLDER COUSIN. PUNY MONSTER OF THE WEEK" and I went "by day three of camp my nightmare 8-year-olds can do Status better than this. Why am I even watching this?"

In the first scene, the live-action ATLA severely undermines the status of the Fire Nation and Fire Lord and then continuous to do so throughout the entire opening.

The initial scene is some random Earth Kingdom spy running away with Fire Nation plans to attack the Earth Kingdom and getting captured and dragged before Fire Lord Sozin (to be?? monologued at by Fire Lord Sozin of 'HAH you fell into my TRAP, those plans were FAKE, we're attacking the AIR NOMADS' which is just. dumb. kill the spy, don't monologue at him and kill him, but also why the fuck are you letting an Earthbender spy into your presence in the first place???????) which besides the aforementioned letting?? an earthbender spy??? into his presence in the first place????? He:

is not wearing particularly fancier clothes than the other people around him; like, they're okay, but the 'total desaturation of all colors including/especially in the clothing' aesthetic that Netflix has going makes it not look very royal. that shit should have been BRIGHT red or 10x fancier to make up for the fact that it wasn't Bright Red

they are STANDING IN THE THRONE ROOM and INSTEAD OF BEING BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF FLAMES he's just STANDING DOWN THERE on the SAME LEVEL AS EVERYONE ELSE????? WHY ARE YOU EVEN IN THE THRONE ROOM IF THE FIRE LORD IS???? NOT ON THE THRONE?????? JUST STANDING AROUND???? THE FIRE LORD DOES NOT JUST STAND AROUND WHERE IS THE POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE OF THE OFFICE????????????

and then beyond the absolute idiocy and letting a nobody no-name spy into his presence like that and dramatically revealing battle plans fucking idiot deserves to be assassinated for letting a spy earthbender get within three feet of him that's just extremely bad royal security, Sozin personally Murders this Random Spy. with his own firebending hands.

One of the whole things that makes ~the Fire Lord~ so terrifying is the sheer amount of weight around The Institution Of The Fire Lord, the courts and the backstabbing nobles of the fire nation, both the extreme imperial politics and complications there but also the almost deification of the office itself. The Fire Lord is untouchable, I forget if it's fanon or canon that they've got a 'descended directly from Agni / divine right' thing going but if it's fanon at least canon has those vibes, and one of the biggest aspects of the finale of the whole show is the combination of Azula's meltdown making it so that even though she was 'Fire Lady' she.... wasn't particularly scarier because in panicking and banishing everyone she'd totally undermined her own power structure, but also realizing that Ozai was Actually Just Some Dude Who Sure Was Pretty Good At Firebending And A Really Shit Person And Terrifying For What He'd Done With His Power but he wasn't a god, he wasn't impossible to defeat, when push came to shove he was just a firebender and as such his power could be stripped.

Fire Lord Sozin standing on the same level as his advisors and a random earthbender spy, and then doing things with his own hands, instead of, you know, sitting on that throne behind that wall of fire while this scene was happening if this scene really needed to happen in the first place, totally undermines that sort of deification level of status that the Fire Lord is supposed to have. Sozin becomes an Evil Scary Murderer Villain, sure, but what proceeds to be established about his character is. Nothing to set him apart from "a particularly skilled Firebender." Hell not even that, as nothing ever demonstrates that he's substantially more skilled than the firebending soldiers around him!!!!!!!

And it undermines the severity of the threat of the whole Fire Nation to undermine the status of the Fire Lord and hence the Thing That Makes The Next Fire Lord So Scary. hnnnnnnnnnng.

3. Every single character keeps giving extremely stilted monologues about how they're feeling?

It just feels like Bad Writing. And it also kind of feels like incorrect characterizatons? Big "he would NOT say that" mood but also just, like. Aang giving a three minute monologue purely to Appa about how he never asked for the responsibility of being the Avatar, he just wants to be like other kids, that just feels. So Cookie Cutter. So "gotta check off our refusing the call so our protagonist is Relatable!" and also just he would not say that.

This doesn't quite bother me as much as the other ones because it doesn't feel like a fundamental undermining of the narrative and/or the setting but it is Highly Annoying.

anyways defs not worth the watch. 30 minutes of my life Wasted. some of the costumes are kind of nice tho so might go back for the costume refs.

[chromatic-lamina]

one piece 1091 spoilers (including things you won't see in viz)

Hey! Well everyone's going OPLA crazy, so 1091 might just fly under the radar, which is a shame, cos' it's a good chapter! I usually only do these commentaries on the chapters with Law, Kid, characters I really like (and I like the Straw Hats, but you know where my heart lies!), or small things that catch my attention like:

Is that Chuji (from Wano) helping Sanji out with the cooking for the crew? AND did

Doflamingo and one of his clones pop in to spice up the party? AND where

are Robin and Franky? Love seeing Jinbei helping out with the cooking, and Brook and Chopper politely enjoying themselves. Chapter's title is Sentomaru!

So the Pacifista and the weaponised sea beasts are taking on the navy (and the Vegapunks don't know that their defenses have been breached yet. The sea beasts are cute in a Big Mom way:

But never fear because

Doll is here! And another of the new vice admirals who was to the right of those two frames above. Beating up sea beasts, I think, and making their way to the Pacifistas (Doll already arrived!).

It seems that

if Kizaru hadn't breached the defences that the navy wouldn't stand too good a chance against the Robo beasts, OR, if Kizaru was with them, maybe they would. Also, love Usopp with his sniper specs (or whatever they are).

Also, it seems that Vegapunk is pretty blind to

the weakness in the control hierarchy. As shown earlier with the whole seraphim debacle, it's too easy for one person in the chain to wrest control. Then again, there is or was an assumption that everyone is trusted. Going out of order, but Jay Garcia Saturn Kizaru saying (thanks @darkspock)

that it would be good to keep Vegapunk alive (he is alluding to Vegapunk here, as Kizaru confirms he's set to kill him in the next panel) in the same way Jay Garcia Saturn says that

it was a shame to lose the weaponised beasts, and that losing them, and ultimately Vegapunk, because they are the less valuable or even dangerous assets, show how far removed he is from humanity. BUT, he does want to keep one Vegapunk! (Edit in: And I wonder now if Kizaru is talking about Sentomaru)

York! Love me a good villain. Ahhh. And also the power station, and Punk Records cannot become collateral damage. Elimination fo the rest of Vegapunk is the top priority. I still think the Victoria Punk might have a link to all of this too! (just from the name).

Anyway, back to the linear storyline. Before Sentomaru

bites the dust, Usopp, Nami and Brook sight Kizaru, and Brook mentions Sabaody. It's not forgotten, throughout the piece.

AND, I just had a thought, they weren't taken out by Kizaru this round, far from it, but Kid and Law (and all the other supernova, other than Bonney, Luffy and Zoro) were taken out by other forces before they got the chance to flee from (or fight) Kizaru again. It's a good way of showing the high stakes and who is left in the game. (Usopp still has his specs).

So Vegapunk is not aware of Kizaru's determination to let Sentomaru fight from his own morals, and Sentomaru's resolve to protect Vegapunk at all costs. The very small background story (we had some before) is sweet, as always, especially the relationship between "Uncle" Kizaru and Santomaru.

And speaking of cute and hoodlum and maybe awkward, but so at home in one's skin to not even be aware of it:

Young

Kizaru. SO Kizaru wipes out Santomaru and it affects

Stella Vegapunk (Atlas too?). But York is unaffected, and won't give up the code! (And Usopp has lost his glasses).

What if the "Old Friends" that Jay Garcia Saturn Kizaru refers to were

this treacherous bastard, and his now bubble-wrapped

colleague, Kaku!

Smart move on Sanji's part, but let's reel it back a little:

Rob Lucci takes Stussy out (and Oda did say in the most recent SBS that he finally learnt how to draw bums, so he's taking every opportunity to draw bums. Butt only female bums, apparently!) And declares:

that he and Kizaru are besties and everyone's days are numbered, BUT, what if Jay Garcia Saturn Kizaru was talking about Rob Lucci (and Kaku) when he said it was a shame to lose old friends. Lucci is one of those kinds of villains who should be on the most-hated list (like Spandam and Walpole). He's good looking for sure, and CP9/0 have sad stories, but dammit!

Also, Big News Morgans is not gonna be happy about Stussy. But Sanji's move against Kaku above was so swift and cool. And it's Nami declaring Stussy Chan, isn't it? I don't think it's Sanji, due to the positioning of the text bubble, but I could be wrong.

This guy (Zoro)

is on the offensive (looks great!). And so is

this guy! Also love that Luffy uses 'we' to describe the whole crew (the whole generation?) being stronger.

And Santomaru's Japanese attack names and their meanings, apparently won't appear in Viz:

T/N: "TIN: "SUMO STRIKE" IN VIZ.

ASHIGARA IS THE MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THE LEGENDARY KINTARO WHO INSPIRED SENTOMARU'S DESIGIN.

I'm sure I've missed a ton, but there you go! Oh, where's Robin? (and Chopper). Were they going to the Sunny? Also, these two scenes were superrr cute! Bonney and Luffy should definitely be besties.