#but his side and proves on her did make sense with her character and behavior

[scarefox]

Just gotta say I am glad that my gut feelings were right from the start THAT BUILD IS INNOCENT even though people tried to convince me and all his other supporter otherwise.... in the most toxic ways possible.... Had to get out of that war zone a while ago for my mental health.

Hope it is now reaching the last person in the back, that she was lying about everything.

[ryescapades]

your lips my lips, apocalypse | blue lock

characters: michael kaiser x fem!reader contents: fluff, sliiightly suggestive, petnames, cussing, implied fake dating and hints of enemies to lovers, ooc kaiser prolly, reader used to be a sports journalist a/n: tryna be as canon-compliant as possible to mindy lore hehe 1k wc | requested!

the sound of the door banging against the wall echoes through the break room, your rapid footsteps padding across the floor as another pair of legs follows behind, the latter more leisurely, almost bored than most.

you make a beeline towards one of the lounge chairs and start gathering your belongings you’d left there to shove them into your bag, agitation dripping off from your movements.

“care to share what i did wrong this time, angel?”

another rush of anger courses through you and you throw the man a sideway glare, full of animosity and all malice. “don’t fucking call me that, and you know fully well what was wrong. that interview went to shit, kaiser.” you fume as you sling your bag over your shoulder, having felt enough of today’s shit show as you head back towards the door.

kaiser grabs a hold on your wrist, stopping you in your tracks. “hey - hey, calm down. i told you i’m sorry, okay? it wasn’t my fault that the journalist was fucking persistent in proving our relationship wrong. which it is, but still—” he stops talking when he sees that your glare has only intensified, both palms coming up to face you in mock surrender as a hint of that stupid grin curls on his lips.

an ugly, wicked snake of scaled emotions slithers in your mind. you wanted to argue more, to put the blame on someone else, to validate yourself for feeling like this. but you understand where the pesky lady came from, more or less. as a former journalist yourself, you know how demanding the job is and every little crumb of information is like finding an oasis in the middle of the sahara.

you turn your face away, hiding the way your expression visibly hardens. “that doesn’t mean you could just let her disrespect me like that,” you seethe quietly, clenching your fists. the frustration inside you only grows as you think back to the incident that had happened less than an hour prior. you were only one second away from refuting all the claims and accusations, about to whack the journalist in the face, even. but someone just had to butt in.

you see his hand reaching up from the corner of your eye, and soon enough, kaiser has your face held in his tattooed hand, fingers gently pressing on the side of your jaws so that you’re back to looking at him in the eye.

a pair of cerulean orbs greets you, the carmine lining just below each of his eyes further accentuating his alluring charm. kaiser smiles, tight and close-lipped as he tilts your head slightly upwards to face him properly. “considering we were in public, schatz, i dealt with her accordingly, no?” he drawls, and you bite down on the inside of your lip from the way the endearment pleasingly rolls in his mother tongue. “now how about we talk about that kiss we had before we left the conference hall.”

you freeze for a second then, a mild sense of dread washing over you at the sudden reminder of that awkward, pathetic excuse of a kiss you’d given him. “kaiser—” you move to pull away but he clicks his tongue and tightens his grip, nails digging into your skin to hold you in place. “ah, ah, eyes on me, princess. you wanna explain to me what that was all about?”

kaiser’s eyes are automatically drawn to the crimson shade rushing to your cheeks as he indulges himself with the warm sensation underneath his touch, noting how your eyes stay strayed away from his. when you give him no reply, he lets out a feigned and defeated sigh before speaking, “you’d have to try harder if we want this to work, you know? no more of that shy and embarrassed behavior you got going on.” your scowl returns, “i was not being shy—”

“say,” the man interjects, causing you to pause. “how about a quick practice?” he proposes.

the question registers a little bit too late in your brain before you stammer, “w-what? practice… kissing?” kaiser’s eyes squint slightly, lit with a certain twinkle you don’t bother to name. “yes, mein liebling. kissing practice. with me.”

once again you’re reduced to a speechless state, salacious images of panting breaths and locking lips flooding into your mind. seemingly aware of your internal conflict, a knowing smirk appears on his face. “why the hesitation, hm? you scared?”

“e-excuse me? i’m not scared, especially not of you, shitty emperor! it’s just - ugh, you know what? fine!” you finally relent as heat creeps up your neck, not realizing that a petulant pout has formed on your plush lips which is a sight that the striker all too greedily feast on. “but only because we have a front to keep up,”

the next thing you know, kaiser’s lips crash against yours, muffling the surprised gasp that he elicits from you. the tattooed hand that he had previously used to grip your cheeks snakes lower on your sides, pulling you closer so that your body curves into his own. the vehement heat he emits against you feels familiar, like puzzle pieces slotting in place as he keeps a solid hold on the curve of your hips with both of his hands, dangerously close to grabbing your ass.

there’s something fiery and addicting in the kiss, explosive shockwaves bursting in your tummy as your lips messily slide against his in a tandem. “mihya—” you shakily whine into his mouth, hands gripping and crumpling the button-down shirt he had been wearing for the interview as cobalt strands softly brush against your skin.

he pulls away slightly with a raspy chuckle, “there you go, mein schatz. i was worried you’d forgotten my name or something,” his voice lowers a tone, dripping with a honeyed amusement that has your knees almost buckling at the sound.

your mind turns hazy, unable to decide whether you want to give him a smack or kiss him silly. or both.

once again frustrated at yourself, you pull him down by the collar of his shirt and grunt just a breath away from his mouth, “let me practice more, asshole.” kaiser smirks wider, the blue flame of his irises burning with a desire to devour you whole.

“anything for my empress,”

@maruflix @pixelcafe-network @justwinginglife @lumiambrose @17020 @bgyuus @stunies @strawchocoberry

©🅁🅈🄴🅂🄲🄰🄿🄰🄳🄴🅂. do not steal, translate or repost my work anywhere else !

[lampochkaart]

Once again I'm thinking about how well written Kaito actually is. Even his irrational actions are pretty understandable and explainable.

Take, for example, the most obvious moment. His behavior after the Gonta's Trial. He had a falling out with Shuichi because detective was directly opposing him and siding with Kokichi during their argument. It's stupid of Kaito to be angry. He's wrong, and Shuichi was trying to prove it to him in order for everyone to vote correctly. Saihara had no choice because if they would've voted incorrectly, they would've died. But Kaito got angry, taking this as a personal betrayal.

And this is kinda understandable behavior for him. We've seen that Kaito is emotional and hot-tempered. We know that when he gets angry, he doesn't think rationally. We also know that he's very stubborn, and he doesn't really like to give up even if he knows that he's wrong.

Most likely, he even was angry not at Shuichi, but at the whole situation as a whole. It is unfair that Gonta has to die. It also goes against Kaito's view of the world. That someone might think that death is mercy. This is the reason why he was so angry with Ryoma in the second chapter. This is the reason why he forgave Kirumi for her actions. He considers life to be the most valuable and precious thing in the world.

This opinion makes even more sense when you look at it from the point of view of someone who is dying of an unknown disease, who has little time left and a very small chance of survival. From this point of view, he simply can't understand how someone could decide to end not only their own life, but also the lives of others.

Another reason he fell out with Shuichi is because, as he later admits, Kaito was jealous of him. Kaito saw that Shuichi was much more attentive to evidence, Kaito saw that he was better at making logical conclusions, and he saw how everyone believed at Shuichi, how everyone considered Shuichi much more reliable. And no matter how hard Kaito tries, he won't be able to reach this level. He was trying to play the role of a hero, but realized that Shuichi was becoming more suitable for this role, while Momota was becoming his shadow. And this feeling made him increasingly angry at Shuichi, instead of being proud of him.

Perhaps because of this, he did not even realize how much he was appreciated. He was surprised when Shuichi told him that everyone was preparing for a battle to rescue him from captivity. His envy clouded his vision to the point where he could no longer see how important *he* was to the group.

And, last but not least, the reason why Kaito had an argument with Shuichi. Certain someone specially pushed him towards this. Kokichi pitted Shuichi and Kaito against each other throughout the Fourth Trial. Kokichi was purposefully getting at Kaito's nerves. He immediately accused him of murder, insulted him at every opportunity, trampled his ideology into the mud, and praised Shuichi, convincing Kaito that the detective considered him an idiot, and Momota was only hindering him with attempts to participate in the discussion. Kokichi was hitting all of Kaito's painful points with deadly accuracy, getting under his skin and sowing discord in the group.

Considering all these reasons, Kaito's behavior after Gonta's Trial is understandable. It makes sense for him to act this way. It is illogical from a common sense point of view, but it is logical from a character point of view.

Many of these reasons also explain why he charged at Kokichi when he declared himself the mastermind. Of course, it's stupid to approach a person holding a remote control for giant robot weapons. But, again, Kokichi himself pushed him to it. Momota gets angry every time Ouma talks dismissevely about those who died. Naturally Kaito will lose his temper after all the cruel words that Kokichi said about his fallen friends. And Kokichi himself gave him the idea to try to punch him, because it was part of his plan. And Kaito has long wanted to prove (especially to himself) that he can be useful to the group. At that moment, he wanted to do something, anything to vent his frustration, even if this “anything” was a foolish, reckless attack.

In conclusion, Kaito is a very cool, well-thought-out character, and I really love both his strengths and weaknesses, because it makes him multifaceted and alive.

[ghostbunny-mars]

I was thinking about how similar Ogata and his father ended up being, but I realized he takes so much from his mother too. Ogata is the worst of both his father and mother.

The son of a wildcat is a wildcat as well. Tome was a character who wasn't very developed because it wasn't necessary. But you do know she was a geisha, someone who's job revolved around giving a performance others would enjoy. But she ends up giving all of her love to Koujirou, while he abandoned her and his son. She remained loving him though in a constant state of yearning, lying to herself and ignoring anyone else for the sake of living in a delusional world where he lived her. It meant her son was raised in an emotionally empty environment. It meant her son grew up without a reference for love, only her deluded obsession. But Ogata has that same yearning, and the same delusional world they made up to cope with the fact they were unloved and ignoring anyone who said otherwise. They both ended up absolutely lost to the true world. But when Ogata actually received love, it broke the illusion he'd created about the existence of love so he destroyed it. It is a push pull to love, this being one side and the other that refuses love seeming a lot like his father.

Koujirou received unconditional love from Tome, but of course it meant nothing to him. All that seemed to matter to him was his glory. He comes from a long line of military men, a line Ogata also comes from. Ogata would become like the man his mother loved, and the brother everyone loved, and he'd prove they weren't so much better then him. He tried to become leader of the 7th, therefore following in his father's footsteps and ambition. Ambition being very important in this side as it doesn't seem to be able to coexist with love with these two. Koujirou doesn't really seem to care about his legitimate son, but less his mistress and her child. He only cared for his glory, was willing to send his only son to the front lines fresh out of military college because what an honor it is to be a flag bearer. And how good it would look for Koujirou. Yuusaku absolutely ate this up but that's for a different ramble. Even when his wife tried everything in her power to get Yuusaku to not go to war he made sure his son fought. The fields Yuusaku died in were the same fields Koujirou ordered men under his command on attacks with very high mortality for no reason other than glory in a full frontal assault actually working. Ogata shows the same kind of unapologetic ambition, and in hurting people who love them. He shows it with Yuusaku and later Asirpa in more personal ways. Using people to get what he wants only to abandon and hurt them is a behavior that his father also showed, specifically with Tome. This all leads to similar ends though.

I see people bring up how he died poisoned, cut up, and finally a bullet from his rifle to the head, and how each represents a different family member and how he killed them. But I'm specifically thinking about how both him and his father committed suicide. I mean Koujirou actually didn't but everyone though he did. People thought the guilt of the deaths he had ordered, including his son, was to much for him and he committed. Of course it was actually staged, and Ogata killed him. But that was what made the most sense, why wouldn't a father feel guilty for that? Koujirou didn't feel guilty for his son's death, at least not enough to actually show it or krill himself. Ogata actually did suicide, and he did it because he actually did feel guilty, specifically for Yuusaku. The cover he used for his father's death was what actually made him take himself out. Ogata was different in that he did feel guilty, Koujirou did not.

At the end of the day they both his parents and himself died alone. Ogata took down his entire family and their memories down with him. It was all useless and that makes me wanna blow up.

[itsclydebitches]

This has got to be one of the most frustrating screenshots in RWBY.

Fans can deny it as much as they like that Qrow was not responsible for Clover's death but this screenshot proves that he did. Tyrian may have struck Clover through the heart, but Qrow was the one who allowed it to happen by fighting him and whittling his Aura levels down to dangerous levels before breaking it. AND there was literally no reason for Qrow to strike him, Clover had Tyrian restrained, the literal serial killer was ready to be taken back into custody and instead of stopping the fight and surrendering...he decides the best course of action is to attack the man restraining the serial killer. Okay. The worst part is Clover's death changes nothing, whether he lives or dies doesn't change the fact that Qrow still gets arrested and taken to James.

The concept of responsibility in the canon is so hopelessly skewed. Personally, I consider characters at least partially responsible for an outcome if their action meets three criteria:

Did this action directly allow for the outcome to occur, even if it wasn't the final step? e.g. Qrow breaking Clover's aura = Clover is now vulnerable to death via Tyrian. No punch = new outcome (Clover not dying then)

Did the character have agency in this moment? i.e. they're not mind controlled, not threatened into taking an action they otherwise wouldn't consider, not manipulated or lead astray by false information, etc.

Was the character aware that this action could lead to a horrific outcome? Are they reliably informed of the risks? e.g. Qrow ABSOLUTELY understands the dangers of breaking someone's aura, in the middle of the tundra, while a long-established serial killer is attempting to murder them

Now, note that when I say "responsible" I mean in the sense of, "You should be held accountable for this" rather than the equally literal and ethically simpler, "You just did the thing." I'm just plain old responsible if I knock a vase over like, "Yeah, regardless of this being a total accident I am the one who knocked it over. No one else did that. I'm the responsible party, but in a chill, very forgivable way." I'm accountable-responsible if I willingly throw a ball across the room, knowing full well it might hit something, but not really giving a shit for stupid, OOC reasons.

The show tries to play Qrow's choice off as just generic-responsible (when it's not irrationally blaming Ironwood), but he's accountable-responsible. He made a choice of his own free will, understanding better than most (as a huntsman and someone who has faced Tyrian before) the danger that choice presented to his friend, and that choice directly provided the means of Clover's death. Qrow didn't murder Clover, but he sure as hell was an accomplice.

And RWBY is full of these moments that, like with Qrow, the story ignores or forgives a character because the action in question is taken by one of the heroes. The above criteria is why I hold Ruby largely responsible for them ending up in the Ever After (you made a series of informed demands that directly lead to this outcome), or why I hold Jaune responsible for Penny's death (you made the choice to end her life without persuasive evidence that she couldn't be saved), even though both obviously have villains taking that final step: Salem is the one actually attacking Remnant, Cinder is the one who stabs Penny. Yet neither character has to grapple with their choices; the story glosses over them by introducing a new emotional focus that makes us feel for the character instead, not their victim(s): Ruby doesn't have to own up to her actions as leader because she jumps straight to crying over how hard it is to be leader; Jaune doesn't have to own up to Penny's death because he jumps straight to being traumatized by a lifetime of Ever After isolation. As a side-note, this is very similar to one of my biggest issues with Bakugo from MHA: too often the story has him engage in horrific behavior, immediately introduces something Bad in his life - he's kidnapped, injured, upset that All Might doesn't love him best - and saving/comforting him becomes the new focus, bypassing accountability. Or, fans read the Bad Thing as divine punishment for previous actions... despite there being no connection between the two and thus no growth. Meanwhile, in parallel world, Ruby helps doom Remnant but it's fine because she's upset about something and all the story cares about is showing Any Emotional Reaction, not one that will demonstrate that the character a) understands how their actions lead to this outcome, b) understands why that's an issue, and c) strives to change their behavior in the future.

RWBY also plays the Dramatic Emotional Card. Like, you know that person who when you correct them about something they become SO over-the-top upset about their mistake that you wind up comforting them rather than allowing them to sit with the correction? Yeah. There's no space to let Qrow sit with his responsibility because the show is too busy having him rail against Ironwood, or stare his Super Depressed stare at Clover's badge. The cue to the audience is, "He's so upset! Feel for him!!" not "Damn, he fucked up... how's he gonna grow from this?"

Then to round things off the responsible hero is always narratively forgiven. Qrow stops the bomb with an unprecedented spout of good luck: Clover from beyond the grave helping him in his time of need (not literally most likely, but in a thematic sense). Ruby returns to a world with her image painted in alleyways as a martyr: Remnant overlooking all the ways she helped cause their predicament and, again, positioning her solely as the injured party, rather than a victim and a perpetrator (which, frankly, makes Ruby more boring!). You're not supposed to hold them responsible, but if you do don't worry, here's a "hopeful" scene that explicitly says blaming them is a mistake.

[rainbow-crane]

Okay I've finally figured out why the way Byakuya fans talk about how great he is bothers me so much. Because here's the thing, he's not a bad character. He's well-written, believable, one of the few characters I completely buy as someone Makoto is attached to. Even if I don't like that he survives and others don't, it still makes logical sense in the narrative THH went with. So what is the problem, other than just me personally not liking him?

HE'S NOT A FUCKING ANTAGONIST.

People put him next to Nagito and Kokichi and label him with "the antags" and say he's an antagonist, and he just?? Isn't???? He's the secondary deuterag alongside Kyoko. They have extremely similar roles and stand on either side of Makoto as the deuteragonists. And I can defend this.

An antagonist is defined as someone with a goal that works against the protagonist. Not with them, against them. Makoto is unequivocally the protagonist of THH, I don't think there's anyone who could argue against that; even if you don't like him, he still exists to be the Everyman protag and succeeds by a) being the POV guy and b) not dying in chapter 1. So then, the antagonist would work directly against the goal of Makoto, right? When exactly did Byakuya do that? Chapter 2? That isn't working against him. That was a singular test of Makoto's observational skills. And even if you are going to say that counts as antagonistic behavior, it's a minor point in his arc if anything, because his actual goal is to reveal Genocide Jill before she actually attacks anyone. It simultaneously removes her from the pool of suspects for mastermind, which is in-line with Makoto's overarching goal- find the mastermind and end the game. In fact, Byakuya straight up announces to everyone once this chapter ends that his goal is to find and defeat the mastermind, which is THE SAME GOAL AS MAKOTO AND KYOKO. Not to mention, for the entire rest of the game after this, he's working with Makoto, and never works against him ever again. He rejoins the class in the next chapter, whether he admits that's what he's doing or not, and he actively helps Makoto in almost every investigation in the entire game, with the one exception being chapter 1. Even when he has his "ego downfall" moment in the chapter 4 trial, he's not actually being an antagonist there, either. He's still working for the same goal as everyone else(besides Hina ofc), finding the culprit. I guess you could make the argument his rivalry is with Kyoko, not Makoto, but that's only really a theme in chapter 5 and it's the side effect of a purposeful setup from Junko. Even then, Byakuya is on Makoto's side for basically the entire trial, trying to save his life and prove his innocence. That's the opposite of antagonistic.

In conclusion, he's not the antagonist; he's just a tsundere with a character arc about the magic of friendship.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Im curious to know how would Lance would react to and say about the risgeside villagers like Freddie and Lola, Jio and Daia and the other magical characters! <3

Sure thing :3

_________________________________________

When Lance spots Lola and Freddie walking peacefully through the Ridgeside Village main square, he will greet them politely and bow to them as a sign of respect for elders. The two old couple will stop and chat a bit with the young adventurer, not missing the opportunity to reminisce about their youth and offer a couple pieces of advice. All three are smiling and the atmosphere is relaxed. At least because Lance is smart enough not to ask too many questions. He knows perfectly well who is in front of him. And while Lance knows that these old couple are retired adventurer-assassins who wish no harm to anyone, they could kill him in a heartbeat with the flick of a finger. He admires this and is a little tense about it. But everyone parted on a good note, as Lance is a well-mannered young man, and Lola and Freddie always welcome kind youth.

Lance swears that if Isaac and Jio were placed side by side, the adventurer would have the audacity to say they were twins. Not in appearance, but in their murderous stare, resting bitch face, anti-social behavior, and even their posture. Only the pink-haired man wanted to ask the living elf (a living elf!) a few questions, as immediately got in his face the phrases "You don't belong here" and "Why are you still here?". Yoba almighty... The elf's temper is worse than Isaac's. It's like Lance is talking to an obnoxious child... The fact that Lance is a mage and adventurer added fuel to the fire, because Jio doesn't want the bigwigs at the Ministry to find out about the cult. Lance decides to back off to avoid a fight. There's no point in spilling blood.

Before Lance could step back, he heard a slightly squeaky "Kiwi stab you! Intruder!" and turned around to see... junimo coming toward him. Hmm, a strange junimo that didn't emanate forest magic... Jio managed to teleport between Kiwi and Lance. "Jio must not stop Kiwi from stabbing the impostor!" Kiwi is junimo's name, huh? Interesting. But that was something to think about another time. So Lance decided to left Ridge immediately, while Kiwi is trying her best to prove to Jio that they "should chase down the pink man and stab him with knifes!"

And just when the adventurer thought the rest of his day would go smoothly, Daia appeared out of nowhere, showering the slightly tired Lance with more compliments and ambiguous hints. On another day he might have played along, or even counterattacked the insistent lady with flirting, but he's already a little tired. Especially since he senses the same aura as he did from the elf with junimo, and her clothes immediately tell him that this is another cult member. Daia has already had enough of playing with Lance and before she teleported away, without removing her smile, she threatened him that if any of her members were injured, she would destroy him. Lance assured her that he didn't want to hurt anyone, so the two parted on a more or less good note. Although, after her hints, Lance had a feeling- Well, he doesn't have to think about it, because he's well-mannered.

Belinda and Raeriyala couldn't help but notice magical aura emanating from the newcomer, and they remembered Farmer's words that this pink haired man could be trusted. Rae wanted to remain secretive, but Belinda was too curious, and was not afraid of Lance at all: she could stand up for herself, plus her loyal followers were always on guard. The spirit appeared before Lance too abruptly, forcing the adventurer to grasp the hilt of his sword. Just as Belinda was about to scare him some more, her beloved Raeriyala scolded Bel for her rudeness and apologized to Lance. They can see that he has a kind aura, and if he makes a promise to remain silent about them, they can answer a couple of his questions.

[sir-subpar]

Blitzo

All right! Redesigned/reimagined Blitzo.

So, heres the thing, I don't hate his current design, but I don't love it either.

Under the cut I will talk more

Alright, Blitzo. Biy do I have some thoughts on Blitzo.

I do love the idea of a failed clown turning into an assassin. I love the idea of an assassin from hell slaughtering people that sinners pay him to. I like the idea that this is his way of proving others wrong and trying to redeem himself. Him not wanting to be a failure anymore is a decent idea for a character.

The issues I have:

His treatment towards other characters. I am not opposed to him being an asshole. I like characters who start off terrible but then become good people through consequences and change in Behavior. But blitz's Behavior doesn't actually change for the better in the show. It's more like everyone around him changes to justify everything that he does.

Stalking your employees? Barely addressed.

Setting your best friend on fire? And insulting and guilttripping said friend in a half-assed apology? Apparently good enough.

Stealing from your girlfriend? (I have thoughts on Verosika too, I'll get to her at some point). It brought up in maybe two conversations and never again.

My big issue here isn't so much that Blitz is a bad person as much as the fact that there's no consequences for him except for when the plot demands it. And then said consequences go away an episode later. Especially if we're meant to sympathize with him.

I hate this line. So much. This is one of those times where you can't really redeem a person. Not when they say something like this:

Anyway, back to the design.

Once again, like usual with Viv, there's too much red.

It's kind of easy to lose track of details in his design.

His feet are just really weird to me. Why are they shaped like shoes? His heels are really weird

As mentioned in some of my concept sketches, I feel like if he survived a fire that did *this* to fizz

It should have done more damage to Blitzo. Hence why I made him blind in one eye

I gave him fingers similar to his sister Barbie wire, it just looks better to me. And since they're twins I think it makes sense. Once again, I will do her design as well soon

I do keep his striped horns, as I feel like it makes sense for him to have them with the whole ex clown thing, but since a lot of the other characters aren't clown based they won't get the same stripes on their horns. I know Viv said that hell is like a circus, but it so rarely comes up outside of the jester designs that I decided to omit that in my rewrite

I really want to lean into the idea that he goes through change and improves his behavior bit by bit. With little hints of his soft side towards the beginning, that comes out more clearly as time goes on. Him learning something different from each character

He could learn to take accountability from fizz. Learn professionalism and good business practices from Moxxie. Learn boundaries from his daughter Loona. Etc.

I made him pink as I've heard a few ideas floating around that he might be part succubus or part lust imp and I think that fits him.

And finally... the elephant in the room. Where does Stolas come in?

Look. The way it's portrayed in the show, I don't like it. I liked Stoas better in the pilot. He was just a rich 1% who did what he wanted regardless of who it hurt. I like the idea of that for an antagonist. Blitzo uses him, he uses Blitzo. They both did things for selfish gains.

I also liked the idea that he would send IMP on hit jobs as well. That would have been really interesting to see in the show

I will discuss more about their Dynamic when I do stolas's design. I will give some quick bullet points for now

Blitzo and Stolas don't fall in love.

Stolas constantly holds the grimoire over Blitzo's head to get what he wants. He knows Blitzo's business and livelihood depends on it and he takes full advantage of it.

Blitzo doesn't want to be Shackled to the prince, but doesn't see any other options until Striker appears (again, I will explain that when I get to it).

He resents stolas (and himself) for being trapped in this arrangement

[idatenjumpfanatic]

Idaten Jump x DnD Moral Alignment Chart

Surprisingly this was more fun to make than I anticipated.

If you want to read through all my lines of reasoning, feel free to read under the cut. Feel free to add more to the discussion!

Also, I used this article to pinpoint each character in their alignment, but I'll pick a few lines that best describes the alignment under the cut.

Lawful Good "They seek to eliminate evil, and are willing to forego their own comfort or safety to protect others."

Sho Yamato - Sho is the textbook definition of a superhero in terms of morale. He refuses to sit idly and is very much willing to go out his way to bring justice to every wrong he comes across. That's his very character.

Miss Yuki - Yuki, much like Sho, goes out of her way to help out. Even before she found out about Sho as the owner of an Idaten Bike, she was quick to assist them to make sure he doesn't caught in a bad place. This behavior is recurring, and her compassion extends to even to the likes of Gabu despite what the kid did.

Ayumu Yamato - Much like his brother, Ayumu is very willing to help out deal with situations. He's empathic, and is willing to take the extra mile to help or thank people (ex. meeting Kiku). He doesn't like to stand to the side, but is still an obedient kid considering how much he respects Sho and the "no riding" rule early into the Team X arc.

Neutral Good "Those under this alignment are willing to recognize unjust laws, and are open to bending the rules if it helps more people."

Kyoichi Shido - I initially put him under true neutral considering his behavior earlier on, but for the entire show it seemed more fitting that he'd be put in neutral good. He's a lot less willing to go out his way compared to Sho, but will step up and help someone out if need be. That doesn't mean he's all goody-two-shoes though, as he will go against the rules if it meant for the better good (ex. rescuing Takuma from the volcano eruption despite Idaten Battle rules stating no riders should interfere with a race). A more prominent example though is that he's more than willing to omit information and even say hurtful things to Sho and co. if it meant helping the team improve.

Kakeru Sakamaki - Kakeru wasn't given enough screen time by the show compared to Sho and Makoto, but given how he responds to situations he has a very strong sense of right and wrong. He's quick to call out Shark Tooth in episode 1 how the race's winning conditions were unfair and is even willing to compromise for the training grounds, but he doesn't have enough driving force to push through what he says.

Chaotic Good "They don't care much for rules or regulations, but a strong sense of right and wrong remains rooted in the hearts of Chaotic Good characters."

Makoto Shido - Girlypop is very willing to throw hands against every antagonist in the show. - But for real though, Makoto, much like Sho, is very willing to step up and deal against injustice, but unlike her friend who'd do it through races, Makoto is very much willing to forego those formalities to get the point across (throwing a metal basin against one of the rouge gang members in ep. 10, consequences be damned, and she even has a wrench ready for round 2). She's also very vocal about injustices towards her as a female, and although her fighting against is has a notion beyond herself. She's belittled constantly because of her gender (and Japan IRL is very patriarchal), but yet she proves time and time again that she's just as capable as the rest of them, and by extension proving that girls are equal to their male peers.

Lawful Neutral "Lawful Neutrals believe in organization. Many are devoted to law and order, believing that their nation or faction would collapse without it."

Arthur - Predictably as a knight, Arthur has a very rigid moral code. Although he could've fallen more in Chaotic Good during his disguised era, with his fake reckless/clumsy acts causing mayhem, my defense is that his people, his royalty were the ruling organization before Shark Tooth, hence he's only doing what he can to restore that rulership while he's by himself. The reason why he falls under neutral instead of good is because he's more rigid with his morales, hardly considering Gabu an ally while battling against Team X, unlike Yuki who has the patience to console Gabu despite it all. Another reason why I consider him more neutral is because of his response to Imperial Knights and possessed Kyoichi: he may mourn that they were possessed by the Dark Emblems, but he doesn't let that hinder him from accomplishing the responsibilities assigned to him.

True Neutral "...are often characterized as survivors, doing whatever they have to do in order to keep themselves or their loved ones alive and thriving."

Koei & Kiku - It makes sense that these siblings are more likely to look after each other first before anything, considering that they're financially struggling. Koei was a pickpocketer prior to being hired by Gabu, and even then he chose to work under Shark Tooth as a means to fund his sister's medical needs rather than going for an honest job. - Kiku could've been put in the Chaotic Neutral aspect, since she desperately yearns for her own freedom and disobeyed Koei and the hospital staff for it, but considering how quickly she was to try and protect Ayumu after she befriended him this alignment seemed to suit her better. She's quick to defend her loved ones on their behalf, going out of her way to defend Koei's honor not only to strangers but to Sho as well. However, maybe it's because she's physically ill but we've never seen her go out of her way to help out people she didn't know, so she fails to be in the Good alignments because of that.

Chaotic Neutral "...chaotic neutral characters value their freedom above all else." "Chaotic Neutrals are individualists first and last." (note: the initial candidates for this category was Yoko and Rika because it's so hard to find recurring characters under this alignment, but after watching through some eps I found the best candidate for it)

Hosuke - Since most of Hosuke's screen time is dedicated to his character as an amnesiac owl, this is how I based him. In a literal sense, episode 2 his introductory lines is literally begging for the group to free him, but overall as a character Hosuke tends to put his wants first, even so much as to throw the kids under the bus when he felt neglected in favor of women flaunting over him in episode 7 (side note: a character trait of his that I absolutely despised, and im thankful they toned it down much much later on in the show) and demanding more food from the Four Kings in episode 38 without regards of whether they had more or not. He his selfish yes, but what keeps him from being categorized under the evil alignments is that he wouldn't go out to cause unnecessary harm, and is willing to accept the consequences of his transgressions (sometimes). If something is not going his way, he will very much be vocal about it.

Lawful Evil "...are capable of vicious cruelty and plenty of illegal deeds — but they follow a strict internal code, and thus often believe they are doing what is right or honorable." - Putting it out now, "lawful" doesn't mean the laws of the land or ethics as a whole, but rather a character's capability of adhering to a set of rules. Tyrants, fanatics, and extremists are best examples of this alignment, but the reason why Gabu isn't on here will be explained later on

Taiga Samejima - Despite the examples given, I consider Taiga to be in this alignment is because of the definition of following a strict internal code. Yes, he's willing to put heinous henchmen out there to hinder the protagonists, or for the benefit of Shark Tooth, but still he believes in playing fair during Idaten Battles. Outside that though is a far different topic (in episode 11 he had no qualms about Captain Jackal deserting Sho and co. in an abandoned island, but scolded him and the crew for violating the rules of Idaten Battle). He followed and assisted Gabu without complaints, only trying to step in and interfere when he realized that his brother was going too far. Yes, he's capable of harm, and yes he will do it if need be, but only if it doesn't go against his own code.

Neutral Evil "They have goals to accomplish, and they're certainly not going to stand in their own way."

Gabu Samejima - It's like this alignment was meant for him. Gabu will do whatever it takes to become the strongest out there and hold the power for himself. What makes him different from Lawful Evil is that he doesn't care; if you're in his way, he will take you out. He has an eye for theatrics through intimidation, and gains satisfaction from it. He's self-serving and willing to blackmail and manipulate people to get what he wants, but he's meticulous about it as well. He's impulsive, sure, but he won't go out of his way to cause unnecessary collateral (and yes, during the Team X arc sabotaging plans and wanting to abandon the group multiple times was necessary collateral for him; he knew he couldn't get Imperial X by himself, despite what he says). He hardly holds remorse for his actions, since he could really care less about what the others think of him.

The Four Kings - As Gabu's loyal henchmen, they'll do whatever they needed in order to give Gabu the upper hand—moral code be damned (hence why they fall in this category and not in Lawful Evil). Although there are times they question Gabu, in the end they'll still bend their backs for him.

Chaotic Evil "These characters often take pride in causing suffering, and pursue destruction for its own sake."

Takeshi Yamato (possessed) - Takeshi himself is not an evil man, but under the possession of the dark energy he aims for nothing else but mass destruction. He's willing to not take down but to obliterate anyone for this cause, without any regards for anyone or anything (he let Sho fall hundreds of feet off the air for the sake of winning). Chaotic Evils are the most dangerous and destructive out of all the alignments, so it also stood to reason that the biggest threat of the show falls here.

[emerson-grimes-apologist]

Heyyyy 😼😼😼😼 after seeing that one detailed anon's post about the women in candle cove I'd like to see your take on the toxic masculinity in the male characters 😋 no need to rush

Yes yes, I never pass up an opportunity to overanalyze media 😈 I’m gonna use a narrow of definition of toxic masculinity just because if I didn’t, I’d be here all day since so many of the characters have toxic traits and are male. So toxic masculinity is basically the collection of traits associated with traditional male gender roles that are harmful both to the men that have it and to everyone else in society. These traits are

Emotion suppression

Violence and aggression

Self-reliance (e.g., not accepting help)

Competitiveness and feeling like you need to dominate others

Also, I’m only gonna go in-depth with the main characters. Plus Calvery. (He's like an unofficial main character to me)

PERCY

Why does Percy constantly threaten to pull out his weapons and threaten people whenever they do something he doesn’t want them to do? That’s right: because of toxic masculinity making him violent. Maybe he thinks that he could only get his way through violence and not through reasoning. He’s pretty alright otherwise. He doesn’t push down his emotions, clearly, with him always being obviously scared of everything, plus he’s not that competitive, because if he was, he would actually care about his rivalry with Milo.

POPPY

I said it before and I’ll say it again: he had absolutely no reason to skin Thade. Like, he did it to “avenge” Thade’s victims, but to actually be willing to tie a man down and take the time to cut off all his skin AND muscles AND organs, while he screams bloody murder the whole time and splatters him with blood, is insane behavior to me. Like, if Thade murdered all of Poppy’s family and friends or something, it would seem more understandable, but Thade has no connection to Poppy. It’s extreme violence for no reason.

Also, the whole idea of vengeance is built on dominance. Like, having something of yours taken away (or seemingly taken away) and then feeling like you need to one-up the person so you can restore your dignity and show you have more power. Although in this case, Poppy didn’t have anything taken away, which makes his desire to get revenge on Thade make him seem even more obsessed with being the most dominant man.

Also, he looks down on Percy for being cowardly, i.e. for showing his feelings, and for not caring about being macho. He straight up says Percy is an insult to pirates iirc.

And yeah, he has a powerful grudge against Skin-Taker, but that’s not for any machismo reason. I think it’s because Skin-Taker keeps coming after Janice and his crew, so I see this as unselfish and not having anything to do with being competitive or wanting to one-up him.

MILO

Ohhhhohoho. Do you want to talk about being overly competitive? Do I even need to explain how Milo is overly competitive? The little competition he has with Percy is so over-the-top it’s embarrassing, tbh. He tried to kill Percy because he was pissy he lost a boat race. And does Percy even care or is it totally one-sided? Embarrassing.

Also, he gives me the vibes of a misogynist, but there’s nothing on the wiki that could directly prove he’s a misogynist. Like, yes, he kills Sariah, but he also does the same to his all-male crew, so I’m not sure it was motivated by gender. HOWEVER, Milo hated his crewmates, but actually liked Sariah. And if he liked Sariah, it wouldn’t make sense for him to kill her, UNLESS he was a misogynist and thought her life had no value. In that case, to him, killing her might have made him sad, but he wouldn’t have seen it as that big of a deal because he would think women’s lives don’t have value and are disposable—it would be akin to euthanizing an animal. And he would be willing to do it and deal with the sadness if it benefited him in some way. (Also, thanks Nina for pointing this out to me because now I can be at peace knowing that I'm not reaching and that Milo can legitimately be interpreted as a misogynist in canon. In a way.)

CALVERY

Listen… canon Calvery is a misogynist. Hear me out. On his wiki page, it is implied that he doesn’t think Janice can handle being a pirate. He says that “‘a pirate ship is no place for children’”. This sounds like it makes sense. Janice is a young child, after all. HOWEVER, when it comes to Nathan (who is ALSO a young child. He’s only a few years older than Janice), he “admires his skill” and is seemingly alright with him rolling around cannons twice his size and shooting them (as he does in episode “Milo”). Like, SURE, Cal, keep pretending that Janice being a child is the reason you don’t think she can handle herself. We believe you /s

He also has a grudge against Horace, which could fall under the “obsessed with competition and dominance” aspect of toxic masculinity, but I think that’s understandable and not really that toxic seeing that Horace betrayed him and let him get imprisoned, and also, it’s not like this grudge takes over his life. Unlike the next character I will talk about.

HORACE

The lengths he goes to get back at Poppy are so disproportionate. The wiki mentions that he has some grudge against Poppy because Poppy sunk his ship years and years ago, and he is STILL hung up over it, which is why he’s always beefing with the Laughingstocks. Seriously beefing. It’s implied that he summoned Skin-Taker specifically to help him get back at Poppy. He basically wrought the greatest evil Candle Cove has ever seen into the world just because he’s pissy Poppy sunk his ship. And, like, that’s the epitome of fragile masculinity to me. Failing once in a small way, and feeling like “less of a man” for it, and then not being happy until you one-up whoever caused you to fail in the most over-the-top way possible.

SKIN-TAKER

Shockingly, he’s probably the most non-toxic of this list. Hear me out:

He listens to and comforts Sariah after he took her skin, plus he cries openly several times (in “Skin-Taker’s Day Off,” plus in a flash-forward in Come and Rip, although I think that part was removed from the wiki), showing that he isn’t emotionally unavailable.

He’s NICE to his enemies sometimes (like that time he showed up to Janice’s birthday party to give her a gift), which shows that he doesn’t feel like he always needs to be aggressive towards them.

He allows Horace and the Rubber Fishes to serve him, so he isn’t overly self-reliant.

He has traditionally feminine hobbies (sewing and hosting tea parties) and isn’t embarrassed by it, which shows he doesn't care about being macho, or with competing with other men about who’s the most manly.

So that’s my closing thought: Skin-Taker may be toxic in every other way, but he does NOT have toxic masculinity. Good night, everyone!

[5eraphim]

Engineer and the reader are both engineers, and basically like rivals. At one point, Engie starts to feel like the reader might actually be smarter or better than him, and this makes him feel terrible. What would he do?

Like, he's conflicted. She's caused a lot of damage to his ego and sense of self worth, but he also has feelings for her.

(Please I want power over him)

Character: The Engineer 🦦(Team Fortress 2)

Rating: T

Content Warnings: yandere, unhealthy relationship dynamics, possessiveness

Word Count:  1.8k

Master List

Song Inspo

(This was partially inspired by this other one-shot I made for Engie which can be found here. It’s not exactly a re-hash or a prequel, but they do fit quite nicely together.)

Given how long he'd worked in this industry, Engie thought he'd seen it all, working harder than anyone to get where he was today, and he was proud of that. Sure he came from a long line of some of the best Engineers in the industry, and he loved his family more than anything, but he knew he didn't need their help to make it far as an engineer.

He was no stranger to newcomers coming hot out of the gate. The type of people who thought they were ready to revolutionize the field just because they were the new guy. Engie was always prepared to challenge this type, joyfully knocking them down a peg. Not in a cruel way, but more in a tough-love sense. Healthy competition could do wonders for motivation.

Needless to say, when he first met you, or even beforehand, he was just about positive you were the same type. Though, he was still ready to welcome you with traditional southern hospitality.

Imagine, in this scenario, he doesn't actually meet you for the first time face-to-face but hears about you after learning you'd been training under his own father. His father, the infamous recluse, hardly ever took on mentorships, let alone newcomers to the field, as the old man was well-known for keeping his secrets and tips of the trade firmly to himself.

Even before he met you, hearing that you mentored under his father only spurred his competitive side. When asking his father why he decided to start training now, he merely shrugged, claiming it was "just one of his last projects before settling into retirement, nothing special." Though this low-key explanation did little to quell his rising interest in you.

For almost all his life, Engie considered his father's work a family secret. What right did some stranger have to that information? While he wouldn't exactly call this feeling jealousy, it became more difficult to maintain his typical optimism to meet you in person. Caught between the feeling of obligation to warmly welcome a new friend of the family and holding you at a distance until you proved yourself able to keep up with the rest of the Conaghers.

When the two of you eventually met in person to work on a project, Engie expected he would need to hold your hand and carefully walk you through the process, as this was your first real job out of training. Regardless of who trained you, he didn't want you to feel intimidated and wanted to offer as much help as you needed. Engie might've even expected to do most of this work himself, which he certainly wouldn't complain about.

Though Engie found it harder and harder to remain kind and accommodating when you decided to not only forge ahead without consulting him first but were just about disregarding his advice altogether.

This sort of thing pissed him off, but he did his best to remind himself of how common this kind of behavior was. Rookies were constantly showing up to their first day on the job, acting as though they knew everything. You were nothing special. While it bothered him at the moment, Engie believed all he needed to do was be patient. All he had to do was give you time. Hotshots always cracked under pressure eventually, and it was only a matter of time before you got yours.

As much as he wanted to believe he could keep his composure, his indecisiveness continued to torment him. Usually, the more brazen and overconfident the newcomer, the more satisfying it was to watch them fall, but it wasn't so simple when it came to you. As much as he wanted to think of you as his rival and nothing more, another part of him wanted to befriend someone already in his family's good graces. It wasn't like you were trying to fight with him. You just preferred to follow your own method. Engie knew he didn't really have a valid reason to hate you, but he simply couldn't ignore the suspicion you weren't to be trusted.

Damn it, none of it made sense! Why was it so hard to be nice to you? This sort of thing almost always came so naturally to him! He hated working with you, feeling like you were constantly trying to one-up him, but for some reason, watching you work with others and all the attention they gave you pissed him off even more. Engie wishes you would just leave already, but he knows not even that would give him closure.

The anger he felt watching how friendly you were around the others only amplified his jealousy and guilt. His mental state only worsened watching others express interest in partnering up with such a promising worker. Watching others take his place was the only thing worse than working with you.

With you taking up so much of his attention, a near-constant distraction, he began making little blunders in his work. He knew he'd never make these careless mistakes if it weren't for you.

As much as he tried to bottle up these feelings and hostility, you knew how on edge he acted around you. It was impossible to tell if he liked you or hated you. As the son of your mentor, you likely felt a similar obligation to make a solid first impression with him as he did to you. But you couldn't ignore this unsettling behavior and began opting to work alone, hoping a little space would mellow him out. You also worried trying to have a friendly relationship outside of work would only further complicate things, so you mostly avoided him off the clock.

Not to say you were trying to "fight back" per se or anything. Still, the constant scrutiny you felt working around Engie seriously got under your skin, and you became less cooperative and efficient working with him. Of course, you studied hard under his father and weren't trying to show off, but you were no pushover and wanted to show how hard you worked to prepare for this job.

Engie couldn't take any more of this. He hated feeling so distracted around you and decided he ought to contact his father and learn more about you, and he wanted to know everything. Better to figure out this way than suffer in silence and let his insecurities get the best of him. He had a feeling in his gut, an unshakable intuition you weren't just another rookie, his father must've seen something special in you, and he wanted to know more.

Imagine how floored he would be to learn his father and you maintained correspondence.

"We still talk, you know. She said she likes you just fine but doesn't understand why you're so tense. You ought to lighten up, son. A woman like that is hard to find. You two could be good together, but not if you let her slip away. You're a smart one, boy, always have been. I trust you'll make the right decision."

Upstaging Engie at his own craft was one thing, but keeping contact with his sullen, stoic, practically cloistered father? Now that was the real accomplishment here.

Finally, he felt he had hope of ending the awful indecision once and for all! His father offered him a call to action, a suggestion to act on the possessiveness he harbored for you. Perhaps this was inevitable, and it was only a matter of time until his darker side won over, though he reckoned it was all the same now.

Engie never thought of himself as the possessive type before, but by God, did it feel good to act on this impulse. So he devised a plan to stage an accident. Nothing too dangerous, but enough to send a message. Just minor property damage, starting a fire where you were working on one of your latest machines. You wanted to work alone so bad, so be it. He hoped you were ready for that kind of accountability.

You were so stubborn about following your own method, so content to work apart from everyone else. It was easy to stage the fire at a location you worked alone to properly ensure no one would take the blame for the event but you.

After the fire was extinguished, no one was injured, but the damage was undeniable. You knew you would never recover from this. Even if you worked hard to befriend the other engineers, and even if they thought you were a good person, they could not overlook your comparative lack of experience now. As well as the evidence of your contraption at the crime scene. All the goodwill you built up for yourself was snuffed out in a matter of hours as you were labeled a liability and untrustworthy by the others.

As much as the betrayal hurt, you couldn't blame them. While you were sure you deactivated the machine before clocking out, the evidence spoke for itself. No way in a million years would you make a mistake so preventable as this! It didn't make any sense, but you were forced to accept your fate all the same as all the evidence was stacked against you.

None of this dismay came close to the despair felt upon realizing your only hope to cut it as an engineer now was to swallow your pride and beg Engie to take you back on as his partner. You planned to try and contact his father first, though. If Engie really hated you as much as you feared he did, you hoped having his father in your corner would be enough to convince him to go easy on you.

Even if you couldn't make sense of the event, you felt the shame all the same and didn't have the heart to look anyone in the eye the following day. This only intensifies your hopelessness. The man you'd been avoiding like the plague before now would take enough pity on you not to kick you out.

Your drive and ambition were just as diminished as your reputation. The excitement and creativity you'd always felt before tinkering away at the workshop simply wasn't there anymore. Now everything felt like a grim reminder of what once was- what happened, rather than what could be.

Whenever Engie micromanaged or insisted you follow his method, you complied, no longer having the fire and passion to fight back like you used to. Not when he invaded your personal space or kept you working late into the night, knowing you'd fall asleep and he'd take it upon himself to take care of you.

Work never felt as rewarding as it used to, now that you were forced to bend the knee and obey your new boss' direction. Fortunately, he was less tense around you now, or maybe you just stopped caring about how overly personal he acted around you. Socialization with others was practically nonexistent beyond the Conagher family. It felt all too expected when you were eventually consummated into the family.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

jjk chapter 253 spoilers under the cut !!

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS CHAPTER…….. 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 one of my favs in a while i think IT WAS SO SO GOODDDDDD

FIRST OF ALL. GOJO CRUMBS 😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺😞😞😞😞😞😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺😞😞😞😞😞😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺😞😞😞😞😞😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺😞😞😞😞😞 I CRIED I SOBBED I STARTED WRITHING ON THE FLOOR IN AGONY……. OUR SWEETIE………

HE’S SOOOO CUTE…. :(((( blindfolded gojo is my favorite ever he’s SO baby…….. i miss him sm it hurts i almost teared up seeing this panel that isn’t normal human behavior 😔😔 ”don’tcha think?” SIR PLS STOPPP…….. :((((( silly little goose…… i need to kiss him all over his pretty face just to hear him giggle (doctors surround me w syringes from all sides)

ok but gojo aside (come home baby the cats miss u 💔) MAKI????????? MY GODDESS?? i ADORE the fight between her and sukuna …. she looks completely feral i’m so enamored <333 wild raccoon coded <3333

and also…… the dynamic between these two……. 😵‍💫😵‍💫 maki being the only one since gojo who sukuna seems to be taking seriously/having genuine fun with???? (all the parallels between maki and gojo have been KILLING me i’m so glad akutami agrees w me that she’s his daughter ever <3) LIKE THAT’S SOOO SICK??? maki nation getting fed silly rn

”at its core, sorcery is all skin and flesh (…) that body of yours is all marrow and bone” BANGER ASS LINE EXCUSE ME??????????? AKUTAMI??????

but it’s also soooooo interesting isn’t it….. sukuna has always had a very specific view of sorcery and how it should be, and maki’s very existence completely goes against that ideal while simultaneously acting as a genuine threat to him… i think it’s so . insanely cool that he essentially views her as an alternative to sorcery?? and it forces him to revert back to the sorcery that he favours, just to prove that it’s superior (which is why he uses black flash for the first time!! at least that’s my read of it rn)…. IT’S JUST SO GOODDDD I’M EATING IT UP‼️‼️‼️

also sidenote kinda but but but . the sukuna theories…. abt him eating his twin……… if those are true then the sukuna/maki parallels are even MORE insane bc she had to sacrifice her own twin for the sake of survival/power but would undoubtedly choose mai over her newfound strenght every single time :(( while sukuna willingly chose strenght over companionship….. yeahhhh they make me ill

what else is there to say ……. kusakabe was there. PHDJDHDJF NO BUT WDYMMMM HE’S THE STRONGEST GRADE 1 SORCERER…… SINCE WHEN 😭😭😭 ??????

jokes aside i think it makes sense considering kusakabe just so happens to Know abt a bunch of stuff he shouldn’t know abt + somehow keeps surviving ???? but i still think it’s so funny how everyone is hyping him up while he’s like . I Am Not The Strongest 💀💀 he’s so funny actually…..

….. this is smth my fuckass brother said that unfortunately made a lot of sense + made me go completely insane but. maybe the reason kusakabe keeps trying to run away is bc he wants to stay alive for his sister….. :((( bc he needs to take care of her/doesn’t want to die and leave her alone the way her son did. sob. T_T that would be kind of a genius move on akutami’s part bc it changes his comedic moments to very heartwarming ones…. i’m actually rlly excited to see where this fight goes wahhhh

anyway back to gojo .

HE’S LITERALLY SOOOO BABY I CAN’T STAND HIM …. 🥺🥺🥺🥺 i don’t think akutami will ever truly understand how perfect this design is . like. there isn’t a single other character who perfectly manages to strike the balance between cute and handsome the way blindfolded gojo does . i’m sorry but it’s true. this is what the ideal male form looks like

[darkpoisonouslove]

Brandon and Stella for the ask game?

Can I say everything about them? Because everything. But okay, let's see.

1) I love that they have so much depth. Great examples of that are 1x24 and 3x04. Brandon's worry that Stella might not like him if he's not royalty may seem to work against the relationship. After all, it seems to imply that Brandon himself believes that Stella would be shallow enough as to reject him just based on his social status. But I think this has less to do with Stella and more with Brandon's self-image. We can easily infer that Sky's parents treat him badly despite him risking his life for Sky. His very "job" is based around the fact that he is expendable compared to Sky, that he is inferior because he's not royalty. Sky himself is sometimes inconsiderate of him and his safety. Anything Stella has to contribute to this is maybe bragging too much that she's dating the prince of Eraklyon but she's so quick to reassure him when he shares his concerns. She doesn't hesitate to bring up her own pain (her parents' divorce) to really emphasize her point. And on the flip side, Stella's obsession with her looks can easily be brushed off as an exercise in vanity but in 3x04 we learn that Stella bases her whole sense of self-worth on her appearance and losing her beauty is an equivalent of being lonely for her. Yet, Brandon is right there for her (and basically proposes by gifting her a family heirloom) because he's seen under the surface and finds her nothing but perfect for him. It all conveys the depth of their feelings for each other and I am eating it up.

2) I HATE the Downland arc for how horribly it treats my babies but they remain so true to each other in it and I can't not mention it. Brandon is practically traumatized by the whole experience but he still chooses to do everything in his power to protect Stella. Even if it means sacrificing his whole future, and not just his chances of being with her. And Stella doesn't care about the literal knife at her throat if she can't be with Brandon - the love of her life (oh, and she jumped off a cliff for him even though she had no guarantees that she won't splatter on possible rocks below). I am not saying that the other couples had to go through something this scarring in order to prove themselves but Brella did and they are superior for it.

3) Unpopular opinion perhaps but I like the s5 Brella stuff. Of course, I am not a fan of how infantilized Stella is but a toned down version of her behavior could have been perfectly in line with her tendency from the first three seasons to be inconsiderate of others sometimes. I particularly like how Brandon handles the situations. Brandon doesn't get a lot of character development of his own which is the reason why I adore how he doesn't compromise with himself when he disagrees with Stella. He tells her his honest opinion without being harsh about it. He also makes it clear that he's still there for her even if his views differ from hers. If he was interacting with the mature Stella from season 3, this would have easily been the best subplot of the entire season.

send me a ship and I’ll tell you three things I like about it

[mikuni14]

Imagine you’re a teenager with lots of thoughts, plans and dreams in your head. That you're not stupid in general, you have eyes that see the world, you're sensible, resourceful, you act when someone needs help, especially when others turn their heads away "because it's none of my business", also you have a lot of empathy, good intentions and (still functional) sense of social justice. And the person closest to you, that you trust the most and admire, constantly, CONSTANTLY criticizes you, complains about you, tries to force you to do something you don't want to do, doesn't listen to you, makes you bow to those with power, never, literally never takes your side. And all this is explained and excused by the fact that this person closest to you, only wants  what’s best for you. It's unbelievable to me how Jim misses the fact, that he has a little miracle at home. That he has a truly PERFECT CHILD. Li Ming is everything.

I admit I laughed out loud hearing Jim's now famous phrase about the double misfortune of being poor AND gay :D Sorry, that was just incredibly funny. I suspect (hope) that the context of the sentence is different and it was put in the trailer for shock effect. However, I can see the attempts to defend Jim, that he doesn't want Li Ming to have a hard time as a gay man (implying - like Jim). So: - Jim is not an old man whose youth would fall on extremely difficult times for homosexual people. Despite the constant emphasis on Jim's age, he appears to be in his late thirties - Jim already had a serious relationship with a guy, even started a company with him, he didn't really hide it, there are many scenes with them when they act like a couple in public. Also he was quite open with Wen from the beginning, not acting like a traumatized, deeply scared and closeted gay person - Jim mentions his homophobic sister, says he wanted to prove his importance and equality as a gay person to her. It means he had the will to fight. Even in the face of homophobic behavior, Jim did not give up and did not hide his orientation So either it's what I think it is and the sentence is taken out of context or... it's what it seems and it just doesn't make the slightest sense that Jim would do to Li Ming what his own sister did to him.

Fourth and Gemini have become such a beloved couple that no one even criticizes their non-kissing scene, something that any other couple would be crushed for :D Ok, I'll say it then: for me, if shows are doing something like this, then I prefer no kisses at all. I hate dead fish kisses, fake kisses, the kind where you can see that the actors are not comfortable for some reason. I want to see actors acting being in love, if they can't portray its physical aspect, then they better don’t do such scenes, because I simply stop believing in the characters' feelings, in their love. Besides, it was clear to me that Fourth has no problem with kissing, Gemini on the other hand... :) 

Yesterday's episode with Alan was great, the best so far, full of emotions, a lot going on, it was so interesting. I only liked few scenes today ngl. Conclusion: more First Alan :P

[arziaisfrench]

▪︎ IPKKND Ep 61 : Khushi's self respect

"I don't want to earn money by keeping my self respect on line." This line is very sad, it gets me emotional everytime I rewatch ipkknd.

Let me try to explain what I think is her point of view when it comes to the self respect being torned.

Khushi thinks Arnav really has a terrible opinion of her to the point of feeling ashame of herself. But I do think, she also feel ashamed for not be able to be financially efficient. She can feel the distance between Arnav and her, the big gap that separate their worlds. In my opinion, she truly believes she's not worthy of him at this point (when she was fighting with him to prove him she was worthy, she was trying to convince herself too). And it breaks her heart somehow (even if she's not fully conscious of it, she can sense the heartbreak in her) cause she started to fall in love with him, just like he did. She would rather deny what she really feels than have to endure the deep pain. Here, the pain would be to realize that she fell in love with a man for whom she is worth nothing, who despises her and her way of being, her lifestyle and her social status.

They are asking her to help Arnav's girlfriend secure her position in their family. They are asking her to push even more Lavanya into the arms of the man she has feelings for. How cruel ha? But of course, they have no idea of the serious feeling they have toward each other.

Anjali's action really disgusted me for the first time through this episode. She literally blackmailed her with the contract Khushi made with Arnav after precisely hearing Khushi talking about her self respect ... 😕

I know she was scared because her family was about to explode but Anjali really disrespected Khushi here. It was so humiliating. I myself felt betrayed (yuuup i'm inserting myself lol 😂😭). This is the first time we get to see the dark side of Anjali. Yes, she also has a dark side, being the result of her trauma.

You can see Khushi's huge disapointment in her, she though Anjali could be someone who regards her without any social discrimination or misconception, since she's always been kind to her :

"So she is also doing this to me? right, after all so much money, so much power can really make anyone this insensitive to another human being' struggle? Anjali isn't someone bad, but look at her, look at her walking over my right to say no ... Why am I so worthless to these people ... Why am I so worthless, god tell me why, what have I done to deserve this?"

You can see Khushi's aunt and sister (even manie was suprised) being also very hurt by Anjali's behavior !

My heart was aching soooo bad during this scene, Sanaya Irani has this beautiful way of portraying sincerity thorugh her eyes, there is no complexity in it, you can feel the pain, the shame so easily !

And precisely, since her character is in denial, I feel like she's doing a very good job in highliting how her emotions are getting hard to control, cause her heart and body always try to show her the reality of everything she denies.

" -Is there anyone else? -No … no one else. "

When Lavanaya asked Arnav who was the most important person after his sister in his heart, he said no one but he was thinking about Khushi. This is, I think another clue the writers gave us to secure our understanding of his feelings for her.

She is already very important to him, she's the only woman who can enter his heart and his mind, he knows it, but decided to ignore that fact.

[nefarioushan]

A little explanation to why I disliked the ending of Rule of Wolves (spoilers for said book ahead).

This whole duology was supposed to be about Nikolai and in ROW I had the feeling he has become a side character. I really hoped that all he did before the civil war, during it, and after, was to prove that he'd be a good king. And he was. He knew every guards name, he protected Ravka as Sturmhond, he knew how to change his behavior depending on who he was around. In the grisha trilogy Alina notices that multiple times, the way Nikolai can be so charming to aristocrats and so open to the poor. Even Zoya mentions that she can't understand how he does it, how can he stay calm during negotiations and how good of a diplomat he is. When war came, he fought. He protected Os Alta himself, he went into battle with Fjerdans and never gave up on his people. He fought side by side with his soldiers. And most people of Ravka loved him for his humanity, his efforts and plans for the future. He always fought for the country that underestimated him in his younger years, even for the family that treated him like a burden. He's not even Ravkan, he's fully Fjerdan. But he loves Ravka more than anyone else and worked his entire life to become the king.

Now, I love Zoya's character. I think she's incredibly strong and smart, too. I think she's a great general. But not a queen, not a ruler as such. She's a grisha that can turn into a dragon. Why on earth would she be a queen and not a soldier? The Ravkans never trusted grishas, yet alone mythical creatures. During the whole duology Zoya helps Nikolai protect Ravka, but she's always confused as to why Nikolai cares about their country so much. She never really understood it. She decided to save Nina instead of staying at her post with Genya. She risked Ravka's independence for a friend. That makes her a good friend, but not a good ruler. Talking to people in power, she's always angry. She wants to destroy everyone that makes her mad and Nikolai has to calm her down on numerous occasions. Again, using anger as an advantage in a fight is a good quality for a general, but not a king. Not a diplomat. She'd never be able to talk to all the boring, pretentious counts and earls, not the way she should. Not the way Nikolai talks to them.

When he gives her the throne I was so shocked I had to reread the entire page because there was no build up for that scene. There was nothing that could foreshadow this ending as " a good one". There was Nikolai fighting and negotiating for his country and Zoya being his general, his strongest and most powerful soldier. And the way everyone just accepts it makes even less sense. A few years back people still hated grishas. The Darkling was said to be too powerful to sit on the throne, too old and too greedy. Meanwhile Zoya could be alive for the next thousand of years, she can do pretty much anything she likes, turn into a dangerous, mythical creature and she's said to be the perfect ruler. Alina was punished for wanting a third amplifier and Zoya was awarded for using the dragons magic.

I really hoped we could get a Jon Snow pre-season 8 situation. A bastard king that proved his worth and is loved by his people. And for once, Ravka could have a good ruler. And some peace, finally.