#burning hearts ask

[redux-iterum]

You know, I keep thinking, and I know part of Tigerclaw's motivations was to Make ThunderClan Great Again, but was there any part of him that was convinced that like... Fireheart is a kind, gentle, and naive cat. The other clans would manipulate him so easily, and he would only get hurt, so this is actually for Fireheart's own good? Did he have similar thoughts about Goldenflower? That her job as a matriarch would be easier if the other clans feared them? Or was his line of thinking always, "they'll agree with me once I explain that the clan is weak"? I keep thinking about the scene where Tigerclaw is being led into the forest to be killed, and Tigerclaw stops and looks at his son, afraid, and looks away, feeling shame and it just... man, Fireheart was so devastated that Tigerclaw felt shame looking at him. I also think Greystripe telling him to keep it moving was a small act of kindness to Fireheart. "Keep it moving, don't make this harder on him than it has to be, don't look to him for help that he can't give you, it's only gonna hurt him more to deny you help"

That whole chapter is so heartbreaking, as is the chapter where Tigerclaw is actually killed. I don't cry often over things I've read, but it was so heartbreaking.

This is a very fun ask.

Tigerclaw knew Fireheart wouldn't agree with his decisions, moreso than worried about Firehart being used. He figured most of the Clan wouldn't, initially. All he had to do was explain himself and make a rousing speech, and everyone would forgive him for the murders and agree that, you know what, he was right all along, actually, and we should let him lead us into a brighter, glorious future. Fireheart, somehow, was in that "everyone". He genuinely thought he could convince Fireheart to take his side and use that compassion solely on his Clanmates.

He knew that Fireheart cares for everyone, but paradoxically, he both thought that it was a weakness that would get him killed and that it was his greatest strength - something Tigerclaw was proud of. We've said before that ThunderClan values the strong, and Fireheart's compassion is more powerful than any of the fighting skills Tigerclaw could offer. He truly admired how his son is unafraid of anything and anyone, and would stand up to what he believes is wrong no matter how likely it is that he'll get hit. Tigerclaw would just have to convince him that doing that for outsiders was wrong.

It was only at the end of Tigerclaw's life that he second-guessed himself and his vision. Everyone was furious with him and didn't humor his rousing speech. Goldenflower wouldn't speak for him. Fireheart just looked at him with grief and pain so overwhelming that Tigerclaw couldn't keep meeting his eyes. Even Horoa, the god of justice and goodness, dressed him down as a disappointment. He had nothing by the end.

Perhaps he was given a mercy by being completely extinguished from existence itself. Otherwise he'd have to wander the world as a wraith, knowing that he failed everyone, that he was wrong, that he hurt his family and Clanmates for no good reason. He'd have to run for the rest of his pathetic ghostly afterlife, avoiding true heroes and lamenting how everything he had worked towards his whole life, all the crimes he committed and all the people he disappointed, none of it mattered. Nothing he aimed for was worth it.

I think it's a mercy, anyway.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Breaking Bread, and Spilling Soup.

[Bonus art]

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[eye-merely-jest]

hrrghgghbmnnmm x-men evolution nightcrawler….

i actually didn't care for him when i first started watching evo 'cause i thought him annoying as shit but now that is PRECISELY why i'm obsessed with him. Weird Kid™ kurt is just such an endearing concept and it's like he's just like me and I FUCKING LOVE THIS GUY SO MUCH

[pennabeast]

gee ariden struggling with the enormity of others making you a symbol instead of a person. sorry i don't think solas can relate to any of that aw shucks.

this is definitely the turning point in their relationship from being mostly antagonistic to something a little more understanding. would be a shame if you started growing fond of the thing attached to your rift buster, solas.

pissed because way back when someone made a very good short lavellan comic about his reaction to the impromptu shemlen singalong and the utter Dread it inspired and it was so Good and i can't find it!!! and i want to acknowledge how much of an inspiration it was for me in really getting into the headspace of an elf inquisitor.

[fumifooms]

Namalin

Namari x Falin

Easy short rarepair spotlight post for prosperity~ This one I didn’t think of on my own for once, I don’t know if it’s just I forgot the decided-on ship name or what but I remember seeing really nice art and a couple posts about it that I can’t find again 💔 Namalin warrior you are out there and not forgotten ty for making me see the light

I like that Namari’s critical of Falin! I have a whole character analysis on Falin if you’re interested, but it’s generally well noticed that people around Falin idealize her a lot. Laios, Marcille and Toshiro all put her on a pedestral of ultimate goodness in the world, a saintess if nothing short of perfection. Sounds like Chilchuck felt sort of creeped out by her vibes, uncomfortable because he couldn’t read her, so unlike Namari it seems he preferred steering clear of her rather than debate opposed ideologies like he usually does. Makes sense if unlike Namari his issue is with her cryptic aura rather than the stances she does show. "… The dungeon is no place for soft hearts" my ultimate namalin scene <333 It’s fun because while this scene is there to show us a lot of things, mostly to establish Falin’s characters better as it’s the first flashback of her we get, the conflict in it is more than anything else Falin vs Namari in how they contrast and clash and approach situations differently. Namari wants security in swift effective violence and thinks Falin too soft for her own good when she prefers a pacifist approach and promotes compassion even for the "undeserving" in Namari’s eyes. Falin steps between the battle ready Namari and the ghost, fearless. Falin effortlessly gently exorcises the ghost without one step back, quickly. Falin proves someone wrong. Falin proves someone wrong.

I love thinking of Namari being surprised when she learns new aspects of Falin. I like Falin having the power to shape people’s views on her. With Falin ships the most fun part for me is usually that point where Falin/the relationship becomes a clean slate: the person realizes they haven’t been seeing all of her, realizes there’s more of her they hadn’t noticed or that she hadn’t shown, that there’s change, a shift in the views on each other and the dynamic a bit.

Namari often feels like an external view looking in to me… I need to make a proper analysis on her but like. I made a lamari post once (analytic more than personally invested rip sorry) and I go with the same Namari take here, I think she’s someone who tends to have an outsider view on people and relationships if that makes sense, she’s a coworker before anything else and she’s content staying at a distance, she’s not objective per se but she tries to keep feelings out of her choices and how she sees people (her lil arc on not staying to save Falin despite the existing camaderie but in the end asking to work for the Flokes more because she wants to stay with them). She’s serious no nonsense on the job but friendly off the job and likes having casual friends, but she’s not… She doesn’t really feel connected to the group. She’s so focused on doing her job, even if she does get impulsive and passionate and too assertive for her bosses’ tastes, so focused on working her reputation and life from the ground up that that professionalism and attitude limits her social life. It doesn’t help that her reputation makes her widely judged, so she probably enters social spaces on the derensive. The closest person she was to pre-canon as far as we knew was Chilchuck and even they have a very "coworker I get along with" dynamic more than friends, with a similar sense of boundaries, humor and world view. Also like canon says a few time, the party didn’t really try to get to know each other well pre-canon, didn’t hang out after work often no one knew where Marcille was from and no one thought that was weird (also how no one had the instinct to ask about Senshi’s past) etc, the notable exception is we’re shown Namari and Chilchuck hitting taverns together and having a grand time. Everyone’s fine with things as they are, they get along decent even if not everyone considers each other friends exactly. Where I’m getting at is that to me, it feels like she tries keeping emotional distance. Emotional distance from people in general being something which in my interpretation of Falin is also present, which would make it a theme and common thread interesting to explore imo. But yes like, Namari looking at Falin, and how everyone treats her, and being more skeptical, seeing her for what she is a little more, maybe even uncharitable. "Why is everyone treating her like she’s all that? She’s gentle sure but seems like a doormat to me" and then one day she comes running up with her mace ready to cave in someone’s face to protect Laios. So yeah… Keeping her distance but one day Falin offering her some gentleness that feels very too personal for someone who’s not used to being genuine and simply showing that they care… Them talking a bit which leaves her stumped and mindblown in a quiet way when Falin defies her expectations. Namari growing on Falin when she stays and decides to open herself up more, or when Falin ends up reading her really well like she’s shown to do with her parents and Marcille’s worries. She’s very attuned to worrying and why and when different people do it especially when it comes to when they worry for others, perhaps because she does a lot of that too, so I think she’d nail down how Namari does care for the rest of the party and it’d make Namari feel seen both in a warm validating way and in a scared naked way.

We see in the tentacles chapter that she’s someone’s who’s very protective and looks out for her peers in a tough love way. She’s overbearing but it’s because she wants everyone to have the best chances. I like that she’s very confrontational and somewhat pushy and rude, but it’s tough love, it’s protective care: asserting herself to better protect and defend. The opposite of Falin’s type of care, quiet and self-sacrificial devotion. They’re barbarian x healer but they’re also bodyguard x bodyguard in their attitude and role. … What I want for them is slow burn slice of life of being coworkers and slowly getting to know each other better, pretty fluffy, but god, put this way they’d have the potential to be such a hot layered mess of insanely mutually devoted codependence… Falin taking a hit for Namari and Namari being scarred by it forever, lots of arguments about it, my god.

I like that she’s the fighter to Falin’s healer. I looove thinking of scenes of Falin healing Namari, necessitating touch and like, a moment of slowing down and sitting together in silence, too intimate, the perfect opportunity to connect that neither truly want to take until one day they do. I love how onesided I imagine the relationship would be at first. Again, as per my interpretation of Falin, I think Namari would have all these little observations and opinions on Falin meanwhile Falin really doesn’t think of Namari much at first. So Namari thinks a lot about Falin and thinks she’s got her pinned down but hasn’t (not that she’s fully wrong, she’d have credit and confront Falin on some of her flaws like the doormat thing), while Falin is very passive about Namari and doesn’t think deeply about her or anything but she read Namari’s insecurities and logic well. Not unlike how Laios was the one who seemed to understand Namari’s way of care the best in the party in the tentacles episode, and how he was very understanding of her choice and reasons. In Falin’s case it’s more like, the objectivity of passivity… She cares about Namari less than Laios who generally seeks to form bonds, so her lack of investment allows her a neutral perspective. In that way another parallel with Namari that I’m drawing, except Namari lets feelings from her opinions seeps in more… Onesided beef my beloved. I’m going insane save me this post was a mistake. I think Falin takes the crumbs of friendship and love where she can without expecting or asking for anything more than what’s offered, and I think her relationship with Namari (or anyone really) would start out the way it did with Marcille: the other takes the initiative and they end up spending time together, Falin is friendly but unattached until the bond gets gradually and wordlessly strenghtened through regularly spending moments together. So! I think Namari would need to take a lot of the first steps, which since again she’s confrontational & argumentative and doesn’t hold herself back on that front that could spark a lot of conversations I think. Ooor since Falin cares about Namari less than Laios and Marcille she allows herself to be bolder herself lol. Or also circumstances force them to spend time together like dungeon party getting separated shenanigans.

I think their personalities match cutely, I think falin would try to protect namari like she does others but also Namari simply doesn’t need protection, just support. And I think they’re complementary in that way that Namari’s friendly but also won’t sugarcoat things, and I think if she takes an interest in Falin it could go from there and she could develop some understanding of her and idk like an intrigued crush….

Namari wants stability & security & to, like, not be judged and rejected and exiled lol, to find her nest her pack the place where she feels good and wanted in. I think having a fitting partner would help in that (similarly to how the found family with the Flokes seemed to. Oh another parallel, Falin’s top priority is protecting Laios her brother and what Namari are a family figure) and I think Falin would fulfill that cozy protection and that warm ‘being seen and not judged’ feeling. But also Namari would run up to her and yell about her trying to sacrifice herself ever.

Another fun thread to explore: post-canon guilt for not having gone to save her. Sure, they weren’t close, but they had some nice memories, didn’t they? Namari cares, and it stings despite herself when it feels like people think she doesn’t. Oh it wasn’t a lost cause after all, oh it’d have worked out, oh I could have stayed loyal and it wouldn’t have compromised myself in the end. Wanting to apologize to Falin, or just ahnging out with her and sharing a moment after she wakes up. And tangent but that’s interesting to think about… Narratively, I think the purpose of Namari and Toshiro in the story, beyond strenghtening the theme of "seek to understand what is different from you and promote unity despite them" and fleshing the cast and worldbuilding, is Toshiro’s purpose was being a foil & tool in Laios’ arc (trouble connecting with people) while Namari’s was being and a foil & tool in Marcille’s arc (standing up for ideals without being out of touch with harsh realities and needs). They are the conflict that push our protagonists to grow— and they explore different ways of dealing with a situation or topic, different ways of growing into themselves on that end: Laios needing to listen to others more and Toshiro needing to focus on voicing himself more to be able to connect, Marcille needing to learn ideals sometimes cost too much and Namari needing to internalize that ideals are sometimes worth risks (not only to be able to find a reasonable but fulfilling life balance, but also to get in touch with their compassion: Namari restricts her own too much and Marcille is too harsh on people she deems to be breaking values, like Namari not risking her life and career for a friend with no promise of success, or even like how Namari is harsh on Falin’s way of doing things : too gentle, too soft, too idealistic) (similarly to Chilchuck’s arc with Marcille too, and he also plays a hand in advancing that arc in the Namari chapters). We are getting far from namalin sorry ummm preview for future analyses like Toshiro’s contrasting approach to grief and accepting loss.

More post-canon namalin! Thinking about a timeline where… Namari is fond of Falin finding herself and going off to do her thing. "Finally!" she thinks. If she’s still for hire, maybe Falin would want her to come along, either as guide or bodyguard <3, she knows Namari has a lot of good avice on a lot of things to give, plus they’ve worked together before. She hires Namari and they travel for a bit. Travel would do Namari good too I think, even if her end goal is to settle and I think Falin’s would be too eventually. Seeing sights that light her wonder for the world and going places where people don’t know her story, don’t recognize her face or her name. Them, feeling free. Finding a companionship that feels uplifting instead of stifling or charged. Namari having been too in her head about reputation and social games and money that they hit the roads and spend time in nature and it’s like, woah. I’ve been living in a small world with made up rules.

Ahh yes romance, Namari and Falin kissing after 3 years of not really knowing each other despite seeing each other every day then 2 months of wanting to spend more and more time together until they’re an inseparable duo! Workwives. I want them to stand next to each other during campire time and Namari cracks little jokes and Namari laughs. I want Namari to gift Falin a bug caught in amber and for it to be their wedding/promised to each other thing.

TLDR

Rowdy but levelheaded barbarian x gentle healer that will also cave your face in with a mace I like it…… They’re an interesting duo of mixed stuff. Protection being your purpose and what you’re worth for, literally being a meat shield (Laios, Tansu), finding your individuality recognized and validated through a growing bond with the other. Sticking around as a love language. Also bug immortalized in amber and it being beautiful.

Nevermind this wasn’t short. Um! Anyways.

[reineydraws]

Is the renkaza a crackship?

nope! on ao3, they're the third biggest kny ship and the biggest kyojuro ship, actually--not that popularity automatically means a ship can't be crack? hm.

the definition of crackship is debateable lol but to me they're not cracky 'cuz the things akaza was saying during their mugen train fight and akaza's human backstory provide a lot of give in terms of connection points to kyojuro.

they're a ship for all the people who love enemies/rivals-to-lovers plots, and ships that involve a lot of physical fighting and/or searching for humanity, which are some of my fave things to look for haha. they can also just be deeply convoluted and toxic when romantically involved, which is its own brand of fun! (tho i personally tend to look for stuff that ends more wholesomely. angst with a happy ending my beloved. 💞)

i will say that while they're not a crackship, the au's where akaza just fucks off completely (like my au comic haha) or where kyo goes all-in on being a demon right away can come off cracky, but i think that's less "crackship" and more "crack taken seriously".

i hope this makes sense!

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

literally no one was doing it like natsuno yuuki. he was genre savvy but he was also fucking gay so he still died. after his death he started dressing like the google search results for gay vampire. his only friends were his homoerotic bestie, an adult medical professional speed running his descent into madness, and two random kids he dug up his stalker’s grave with. he became a vampire and was immediately better at it than all of the other vampires but he thought they were bitches so he didn’t even tell them he turned. his last words was that he was never going to make it out of that town alive but if anyone could have it was him and that’s what makes him so tragic. he died trying to save someone who was never ever going to save him back. he wasn’t afraid to die because he was already dead. he burned the entire town to the ground mourning his own death and he didn’t do it to save a single goddamn person, he did it because they murdered him and he was going to fucking hurt them back for it. I’m obsessed with him

[kinokoshoujoart]

the coolest kids in forgotten valley!!☆

(…it seems there may have been a stretch of time where rock and lumina were the only kids in forgotten valley…🥲)

poseref

[wildsaltair]

Maximus deserved to be the leading man of a sweet, gentle, romantic story, in which the only bad things that happen are misunderstandings and we're guaranteed a happy ending with him riding into the sunset, alive and well and content. HOWEVER

[gmanmedias]

HIS PERFECT KINGDOM OF KILLING SUFFERING AND PAIN

💾 💾 💾

❌ ❌ ❌

🦴 🦴 🦴

3: Your strangest kin: AM from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. It's not really a kin per se, i just really resonated with him :]

[redux-iterum]

What would Tigerclaw’s reign have looked like if he hadn’t been a homicidal prick? Since Horoa said he could’ve been the finest in leader in generations, I have to wonder.

I feel like, with his passion, drive, love for his home and Clanmates, and dedication to helping his Clan prosper, he'd be truly great. Assuming we're on the Good End of his lifetime, that is - where he dismisses he dark ideas brewing in the back of his mind and keeps himself on the straight and narrow, earning his ascension peacefully and fairly. He'd be eager to help all of his Clanmates be the very best cats they could be, whether as a fighter or as a person, and ThunderClan would naturally grow strong from the support of their excellent leader and the support of each other. Granted, they wouldn't be very kind to outsiders, but barely any less than they are usually. Tigerstar would have been highly respected by the other Clans - it'd be a wonder that he wasn't leader any sooner.

And if a certain little kittypet newcomer managed to prove himself to have the heart of a lion, and Goldenflower took a particular interest in him...well, having one extra son to be proud of couldn't hurt.

[housederiva]

I just finished the game romancing Lucanis and that is all there is? I've romance Emmrich, Bellara and Davrin so far and Lucanis his romance feels like it's missing content. Is that intended or a bug because it feels like a bug.... Please tell me it's a bug.

Well my dear listener if it's any consolation you are roughly the 20th person who had asked me directly if Lucanis' romance is bugged

[a-rabid-snake]

i rlly like ur art :3 ur improving so much!! ^w^

katmaflower doodle for you……

Awawwawaw wawwawawwaw karmaflower!

I like these doodles.

[zabiume]

zabiume save me with your kurobas thoughts. Rewatching knb & at the point where Kagami enters the zone for the first time to beat Aomine and going crazy at how many times Kuroko comes up when he's thinking about not wanting to lose/see his friends cry anymore

Also the insanity of how similar Aomine & Kagami's meeting of Kuroko is... rotating these 3 in my mind constantly

oh my god. i LOVE that for you! aomine vs kagami is one of those matches that you think, "it was decent but people might have overhyped it a little" and then you rewatch it and it's like. nope. that's cinema. it really is the ichigo vs grimmjow of kurobas in that it employs the classic formulas of what makes battle shonen good...perfectly. like yes, to a certain extent, most other sports shonens do have the whole power-of-love/power-of-friendship thing going on, i'm sure, but what elevates kurobas is that it's allowed to get a little whimsical with it, it's allowed to take the term 'power-up' to a very literal level, sparks coming out of the eyes and all. in my controversial opinion, these goofy power-ups and ridiculous hair colors are what sets kurobas apart from its more serious, grounded counterparts. it never intended to be grounded! everything was always meant to feel 1000x more dramatic and exaggerated than it is, which perfectly embodies what it's like to be a teenager, and dare i say, what it's like to be a young sportsperson whose worst life experience would be losing a game. and given how many times we're told that the generation of miracles are a class apart, power-ups are the perfect way to show that. they're freakishly, unnaturally good. so when kagami enters the zone, it's almost like he's entering what the GOMs thought was unreachable. aomine, especially, has always wanted a rival who could meet him there and it's all!!! so!!!! exciting!!!!

anyway, let's talk about what MATTERS, which is aokuro, kagakuro and aokaga, the god-tier of kurobas ships. now, me personally, as you all know.....kagakuro is simply THAT ship for me, that's my #1 ride-or-die kurobas otp, but we simply cannot deny that aomine, kagami and kuroko all....complete each other. on a narrative level, you cannot have two without the other, which is, in my honest opinion, excellent writing. aomine and kuroko needed kagami to save them. kagami and kuroko needed someone to work against, they needed motivation to work together against something, which was aomine. aomine and kagami needed kuroko to keep them from falling into Sports Despair and bring them into the light again. kuroko literally BROUGHT kagami to aomine on a platter as if to say, "here. i have everything you ever wanted. i brought it to you, i know what you need better than anyone else" and like. tell me that's not a crazy dynamic. and aomine and kagami's first interaction is so loaded too? aomine basically said "you're not good enough for him, i know you're not good enough for him, because i used to be that guy for him, and you are nowhere near as good as i am"....like HELLO??? the fact that kagami immediately went to kuroko after and said: hey. was that guy your ex light? CRAZY.

also, i know there are so many obvious parallels between aomine and kagami that their first meeting with kuroko is meant to elicit deja vu (stream SOUR by olivia rodrigo btw), but i also think about the slight differences? and how fascinating they are? aomine basically wholly embraces kuroko from the very beginning, motivates him, admires him, adores him, even if he is relatively talentless compared to the other teikos. he has so much faith in kuroko, so much instant loyalty to kuroko, he never lets kuroko quit or doubt himself. he was willing to be thrown off the team with kuroko, which. you NEVER see aomine act like that, but kuroko enters the picture and aomine is like, "hey, i want that guy around. i'm keeping him."

meanwhile, kagami actually didn't like kuroko at first? he was derisive, they were constantly at odds with each other, he looked down on kuroko and didn't actually have faith in him at all....which is, like, the exact opposite of how it went down with aomine. it's so weirdly bittersweet and angsty how aomine's teiko journey is about slowly losing faith in kuroko, while kagami's seirin journey is all about gaining faith in kuroko. aomine went from 100 to 0, and kagami went from 0 to 100. that was the zone. that was kagami looking at kuroko's tears and being urged into action, while aomine had reached a point where kuroko's tears did nothing for him at all (see: their infamous riverside break-up scene). to top it all, kuroko is a metaphor for/embodiment of BASKETBALL itself, and kagami and aomine's relationship with it. aomine and kagami are similar, yes, but i think kagami is lucky that he never had to lose faith in basketball to know what it's like to have it again. kagami is lucky he never had to lose kuroko to know what it's like to want him again. aomine, unfortunately, had to lose him, but only because teiko would have never let them have what kuroko has with kagami in seirin. they were doomed from the start. i am standing by a cliffside and screaming.

[fungus-no69]

I title this one the weird ass clown guy i found under my shoe

They a bit (a lot) unhinged

[go-play-pikmin]

Louie commits arson in GameStop to play pikmin for free

(He doesn’t know that pikmin bloom exists)

GO PLAY PIKMIN #35

Arson is THE answer (too bad for pikmin bloom)