littlehalfbreed

[notbecauseofvictories]

I am going on an official Work Trip, and even though I know---I know---it's largely going to be sitting in rooms with other business people, doing business-y things like brainstorming and swapping jargon, I'm still very nervous about it.

[tetsunabouquet]

What are your opinions on the Dong Family from the Shaman King sequels?

Now this is an excellent question! Well, when they were first introduced, I was surprised yet I wasn't. I hadn't expected the Tao family to be involved in a clanwar but with the way they clearly had enemies that caused them to go into hiding it didn't felt out of left field. I really would like to hear their story and why they feel justified to go after the Taos despite the fact they never suffered that much as they said they've been involved with the Daremoine for centuries. They're not oppressed or anything, so why should I root for characters who kill innocent bystanders just to keep their power? In that regards, I wouldn't care if they were to die. Especially Yonhon, he really is a snake that deserves hell. How he manipulated his sister and the Black Maiden is just unacceptable. I don't care how much he loves his momma and wants to keep her out of the fight. The fact he even put his mom in a forced coma is an act of abuse. The Dong mother deserves her bodily autonomy. The girls from the Dong family are more likable to me. Shahon doesn't seems to care for the war, she seems more of the long-terms kind of schemer and I love those kind of antagonists. If you were to ask me which characters I would like to peek into their minds and I had to chose between Shahon and Yonhon, I'd definitely choose Shahon. I'd love to know what she's up to. HongHong seems redeemable, and I'd really like her to run for the hills with lightning speed. She deserves a better family, and she definitely feels like the Dong clan's version of Iron Maiden Jeanne back at the start of the Shaman Fight, when she was ignorant and brainwashed by the X-Laws. I found the Dong family's plotline way more likable until they started developping the Illimunati plotline. Not only does that seem total fanfic-y, but it distracts from the interesting questions. I mean, I'm way more interested in the Dong family then Manta's old butler having his Iron Man fantasy, something that also actively undermines the original story. Because if the Daremoine controls the world, and its a Shaman run organization with non-Shamans working there and at least having knowledge about it, then why the fuck was everyone so upset when the island was discovered by humans through the X-satellite? They already have the world's governments in their pockets, they should already have known it exists and be closing a blind eye to it! I swear, the Daremoine plot kills the actual interesting and cool new stuff that has been introduced. Tamao had her awesome cloud form, yet the technique is still not being taught to the characters or is it something they are talking about achieving. Compare that to how in the original story, new techniques were introduced. If the characters didn't learn them immediately, it would be hyped up and mentioned various times throughout the story by characters like Hao's minions taunting the main cast they were taught his techniques. I can only wonder if Daremoine's power ritual will be explained in the next manga or if it will never be mentioned again.

[goddslayerr]

Questions for Problematic/Villain muses (sending u some too!) 3. What's an inherently problematic view your character holds 7. Do you ever think that despite your muses actions/morality they do have a point when it comes to their reasons? 10. Is a healthy relationship (platonic or otherwise) possible with your muse? 14. Is your muses morality compliance or does it follow a strict set of rules?

3. What's an inherently problematic view your character holds

"if it doesn't concern me, then i have no business getting involved." this is something that i've thought about a lot - ashton is selfish. very selfish. it's one of their worst traits, and i can see this line of thinking being inherently problematic because ashton has turned their back on so many horrible things.

a contractor wants me to kill this person? fine, it's not like i knew them anyways. they have a family? not my problem. despite the fact that they advocate for a much less government-controlled world, it's mostly done out of self interest rather than something they do for the greater good. they are only seeking revenge, and they are willing to rip apart potential allies if they start getting in the way of their own goal.

7. Do you ever think that despite your muses actions/morality they do have a point when it comes to their reasons?

honestly when it comes down to it, the only reasonable thing that i can think of is ashton wanting full eradication of the world nobles. nobody should hold enough power where they can freely enslave people without any kind of repercussions. given their own history with being enslaved and being forced to endure the cruelness of celestial dragons, their views are understandable at the very least.

10. Is a healthy relationship (platonic or otherwise) possible with your muse?

platonically? absolutely! when it comes to friends, ashton is nothing but supportive. they know when to draw a line and being their friend is probably one of the safest routes to go with them in terms of relationships.

when it comes to romantic or otherwise intimate relationships, that's where things get a bit... tricky.

i'm sure if it came to the right person, there's a chance that they could have a healthy relationship, but ashton has a very bad habit of borderline worshiping their lover like a personal god. any morals for them go out the window when it comes to romantic relations. oh, someone talked badly about x? i'll just kill them then. or alternatively: if x wants me to do y, i see no issues with it, no matter how immoral it might be.

it's deeply, deeply unhealthy and is probably a big reason why i don't find myself actively seeking out romantic ships. i'm not against them! but ashton has such a twisted view of intimacy that i can't imagine them being remotely healthy unless a healthy dynamic is specifically discussed with me.

14. Is your muses morality compliance or does it follow a strict set of rules?

ashton has their own set of rules when it comes to morality. i've mentioned this a few times before, but their captain (karter) regularly kidnaps and eats people, which are both pretty immoral things to do. they definitely don't like that he does these things, but these people are strangers to them, so karter can do whatever the hell he wants to them just so long as he keeps them out of it.

they do not care what other people think of them, because, hey, they're already wanted dead. nothing's gonna change that outcome, so why even bother trying to conform to social rules and laws that the government created?

[darthkvznblogs]

What is the status of mutants in general?

This one's a bit of a minefield for me to answer, because mutants tie into a lot of spoiler-y stuff I can't discuss till we're done with "Year 1" content, specifically the arc that's just started over on the Supergirl fic.

I can say a few things, though, for now:

-Mutants have been around since ancient times, but there was a boom in mutant births around the 50s and 60s. This led the major world powers to panic, as mutants with very dangerous abilities started to sprout all around and intentionally or accidentally cause major incidents that put lives at risk and (more importantly to them) threatened the status quo. Magneto and Xavier led major movements to both safeguard mutants and pressure the world's nations into a better solution to this problem than "capture/contain/eliminate".

-There are laws all over the world restricting mutants with potentially or outright dangerous mutations from living in most developed nations (or at least most major population centers) to prevent potential disasters. These individuals are typically given a choice when identified - stay and be constantly monitored (probably wearing a power dampener if your mutation is dangerous enough), or get an all expenses paid trip to the artificial island of Genosha, where they can live freely and ensure that their mutations won't put others in danger. Mutants with harmless or easily controllable mutations are still registered, but they are not closely monitored or expelled. It's illegal in most of the world to discriminate against mutants and crimes targeting them are usually handled like any other kind of hate crime. It's kinda...dystopian, but it was the best compromise the UN could reach with Mutantkind's representatives, with the promise of improving infrastructure worldwide so these measures eventually become unnecessary. There are exceptions, for better and worse - nations were mutants go completely unregulated, and others where they are captured and incarcerated, or worse (that's usually where the X-Men come in).

-There is no mutant cure. There are ways to dampen mutant powers, but it's not an illness you can get rid of or a body part you can cut out.

-Mutants have a life expectancy 1.5 times greater than regular humans - so Magneto, who's about 75-ish in the modern day Kverse, looks and acts closer to his mid-to-late fifties.

-As part of the agreement with Magneto and Xavier, there are no national registries - it's all tied to SHIELD's Index, which collects data on all Enhanced individuals, naturally or otherwise (remember, SHIELD is not an American organization in the Kverse). This is meant to ensure the registry can't be used freely to doxx or target mutants, though it does mean anyone who can overcome SHIELD's security can gain access to that info.

-Xavier typically detects powerful mutants via Cerebro before they can be discovered by the various national agencies and extends an invitation to join his school (which is more oriented towards an active role in mutant defense and advocacy). If that fails, Magneto sends in his own team to offer them a place in Genosha. If that fails, they usually back off but keep an eye on them in case anything goes wrong with the "normal" government procedures.

-Xavier's school isn't in NY but it also isn't in Genosha.

-The whole "system" is effective but fragile. The world's powers are keenly aware that if they so chose, mutants could wreak havoc with their way of life, and the mutant leaders know perfectly well that there's whole fleets of Sentinels (courtesy of Trask Industries) and other such weapons and defenses ready to go in case the system fails. There's also a lot of third parties that don't play by these rules - shadowy merc groups who kidnap or kill mutants that may be useful or problematic for certain organizations and governments, the Mutant Liberation Front, which performs acts of terrorism in the name of freeing mutants from persecution (suspected but unproven to be sponsored by Magneto), and just other characters who are doing their own thing, like the Hellfire Club.

There's a whole lot more to say, but I feel like you get the gist of it! TL;DR: the world got scared when a bunch of powerful mutants started showing up, they had like a decade of uncertainty and some violence, but cooler heads (mostly) prevailed and they mostly agreed to live as better neighbors than they were roommates until they could ensure the entire house wouldn't fall to pieces, so to speak. No one's really satisfied with this approach, but at least it's prevented a lot of death and destruction so...