#but she is still a human being who cares for others to some extent and has her own complex emotions

[cherry-treelane]

everytime i feel bad and stressed about my life i remember that i might be in a troubling situation and having a bad time but im not season 4 fiona gallagher in the clink after leaving crack on the counter which my 3 year old baby brother happened to ingest resulting in a fatal near-death experience thats wracked me with never-ending guilt and forever altered my life

[autonomousroboticorganism]

period madness (TF Prime)

featuring - Optimus Prime x F!Reader, Bumblebee x F!Reader, Smokescreen x F!Reader, Knock Out x F!Reader, Soundwave x F!Reader, Shockwave x F!Reader, Wheeljack x F!Reader

summary - your Cybertronian partner finds out just what a human woman's period entails.

warnings - none

a/n - Knock Out's takes place when he defects to the Autobots. also, don't fight me, these are based on my experiences and what helps me.

OPTIMUS PRIME - cramps

While he may not fully understand what's going on and what's happening to your body, he is still extremely attentive and supportive. He is there to provide any comfort you need, and will not hesitate to take one of the other humans out to a convenience store if you need anything. He knows when it's that time of the month because he'll walk into base after another mission and see you laying face-down on the couch.

"Are you okay, (Name)?"

An unintelligible grumble from you was the only response, before Miko spoke for you, "Her cramps are bad this month. Really bad."

Optimus looked back at your figure, then reached over the railing to carefully lift you into one of his servos, ever the gentle giant. If there was one thing he did know during this time, it was that you were somewhat appeased by warmth.

"How was the mission?" You finally looked up at him, eyes glassy with tears from the pain.

"I shall tell you all about it when you are warm and comfortable," the Prime replied, taking you to his room in the base and laying on his berth. He lay you on top of him, right over his spark where it was warmest. "Is this better?"

"Mhmm, much," you sighed in relief and satisfaction, curling up on his warm chassis. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," he smiled, happy that your pain was eased, if only slightly. "Today was quiet, no sign of Decepticon activity. We found an empty Energon mine that had been stripped entirely of its contents."

"Aw, man," you empathised, "I hope you guys find some soon. But I welcome a quiet mission, as opposed to you going out and getting hurt."

It warmed his spark to know that even while you were in pain, you still worried about him getting hurt. He knew you cared very much for him and the team, but he was unaware it was to this extent. He carried on with his story, explaining how they had found something more disturbing than an Energon mine filled with cons. You listened intently despite being overwhelmed by pain in your uterus, happy to be distracted by one of his tales. And it always helped that you liked to listen to his deep voice, because it was soothing to hear.

BUMBLEBEE - emotional

Bumblebee knows a bit more than Optimus, but less than he feels he needs to. So a few days before your period, when you exhibit the warning signs, he asks Miko - with Raf as translator - to help him with research on the topic so he's better prepared to help you. He doesn't want to let you know he does this, but you know and you think it's very cute. And sweet.

He knows when you have it, because on your first day you storm into base looking for him and you cling to him like a little koala. He has no complaints of course, until you end up crying into his arm.

Immediately he's concerned, his little beeps translating in your mind to 'are you okay?' Apart from Raf, you were the only human who could understand what he was saying. Neither of you knew why, but it was so convenient and a happy coincidence that you never questioned it.

"Today I saw a duck," you sobbed, "And you know, it reminded me that Jasper doesn't even have ducks because we don't have any lakes and..."

You rambled on and on, tearfully so, while Bumblebee shot Smokescreen a confused look. Your guardian shrugged.

"She's been emotional all day."

The scout turned his attention back on you and held you up, whirring and beeping in concern. You stopped whatever story you had launched into afterwards and looked at him, before your eyes lit up.

"Ice cream? That sounds great!"

Bumblebee beeped and whirred again, telling Smokescreen where you two were going before transforming and driving off with you. He played some of your favourite music, and eventually you calmed down enough to look at birds and not burst into tears.

Once you had your ice cream, he took you on a nice, long scenic drive. The long way back to the base. You relaxed in his passenger seat, happily eating your cold treat.

"Thanks, Bee," you smiled, "I can always count on you."

The scout beeped back that you're very welcome and he'd do anything for you. And he mentally thanked Raf and Miko for telling him that ice cream might be a good idea for mood swings.

SMOKESCREEN - cravings

The newbie is not as great with human beings as he'd like to be. He'd had to learn a lot since coming to earth, and one of those things was to navigate a relationship with a human being. One that was both his girlfriend and his charge. So throw periods into the mix and you have...a very very confused Autobot. He knows absolutely nothing about periods, stemming from his lack of knowledge about the human anatomy.

"So...why don't human guys bleed?"

"SMOKESCREEN!" You protest with a burning face. "You can't just ask that!"

"I...thought it was a valid question?"

You sighed, "Men don't menstruate because they don't have to have babies." At his clueless expression, you added, "They don't have to give life to what you call sparklings."

"Ohhhh..."

He still didn't understand. Nonetheless, he was eager to help. Anything you asked of him, he tripped over himself in his rush to do it. Anything you wanted or needed, he found a way to get for you. Hugs and kisses? Of course! Cuddles? He would never say no to that. He had grown so fond of and attached to you that he was even clingier than you were on your period. But you thought it was sweet.

"So it hurts...here?" The giant mech prodded your uterus, gently.

"Mhm," you nodded, devouring a slab of chocolate Jack had given to Smokescreen to give to you. "Hey, don't poke me!" You smacked his servo away.

"Sorry," his faceplates burned in embarrassment.

He watches you happily munch on your chocolate, amused that such a small thing could appease you when just moments ago you had been screaming at Ratchet for not knowing about female human anatomy.

KNOCK OUT - body pain

Knock Out knew humans were fragile. He's used that against the Autobots multiple times when he was a Decepticon. But now that he's become an Autobot, he has to be extra careful around you, Jack, Miko, Raf, June and Fowler. Especially you. But it seemed that every month you would go into a state where your body hurt for no reason at all, and it wasn't until June explained to Knock Out what you were experiencing that he finally understood.

"(Name)! Are you okay?!" The medic panicked, rushing to your side the moment he heard a pained whimper come from you.

You were trying to roll over on the couch, but sharp pain erupted in your lower back causing you to let out that sound. You looked up at your concerned boyfriend, pretty optics putting you at ease.

"Mhm, just really sore."

Knock Out looked at June in desperation, and the older woman laughed at the fact that he had once kidnapped her and forced her to play a crueler version of hide-and-seek, but now he was desperately seeking her medical advice.

"I'll get some painkillers and water that you can give her," the nurse stood to go retrieve those items.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked you in the meantime. Knock Out hated feeling useless, helpless, which was a side effect of being criticised so often.

"Pick me up?" You suggested.

The bot was more than happy to oblige, lifting you onto his servo with surprising gentleness. You happily laid on your back on the warm metal, sighing contentedly until your head started to hurt.

"Maybe also poke me in the head?"

"What?! I could kill you!"

"That's kind of the idea. My head is already doing that."

"I will not terminate the one good thing I've managed to earn, thank you very much," he insisted, cooling his free servo and pressing a non-lethal part of it to your temple. "That better?"

The pain in your skull receded, and your body relaxed, "Oh, much better. Thank you, Knock Out."

The bot beamed at the grateful response, "You're very welcome!"

June returned with the painkillers and a bottle of water, which Knock Out carefully handed to you with the servo he had used to ease your headache. He watched you intently as you took the medication, before lying back down on his palm.

"Now just hold me."

The former con eagerly obeyed that command, even taking you to his assigned room in the base and laying with you on top of him on his berth. He placed a servo over your smaller frame, practically blanketing you with it. He further eased your pain by slowly running it up and down your back, gently and affectionately caressing you. The mad doctor had truly changed for the better.

SOUNDWAVE - nausea

Soundwave had taken it upon himself to learn about humans when he'd first taken you. So he knew very well what the warning signs of anger, hunger and cramping meant. He was well-equipped to help you, because this bot is hardly ever ill-equipped for anything. He searches the human internet for things he can do to help ease your pain and make this uncomfortable period of time more bearable for you. So you usually find stuff you need and crave during your period already laid out on his berth when the first day comes.

The Decepticon walked into his berth one of those days to see you happily munching away on the snacks he'd gotten Laserbeak to acquire for you. Speaking of the little bird, you were laying atop one of its wings, and Soundwave always liked to see how comfortable you were around it.

But then a weird look came over your face, and you turned a little sickly. The bot worried that the snacks had done something to you, but you just set them down and curled up, breathing in and out deeply. Soundwave was by your side in a second, touching your shoulder in concern.

"I'm-I'm fine," you reassured him. "Sometimes I just get nauseous. And sometimes it's the snacks that I like that cause it. I can't explain it."

The silent Cybertronian nodded to say he understood, before scooping up into one servo and soothingly rubbing your back with the other. Then he handed you a sugary drink he'd also obtained for you, his screen showing you research saying that something sweet and fizzy might help.

You smiled at him and took the drink, taking a few sips and finding that he was right, "Thank you, Soundwave. I can always rely on you."

His screen showed something else now, a bright red heart. Your cheeks heated up, and your smile became flustered at the gesture. Despite being committed to not speaking at all, he could be expressive and sweet when he wanted to be. His actions always told you more than his screen did, though.

SHOCKWAVE - bodily insecurity/bloating

Like Knock Out and Ratchet, Shockwave is scientifically and biologically knowledgable. He's an expert in all things physical and mental. Unfortunately, he spent so much time on a dead Cybertron that he was completely helpless when he first got attached to you on earth. Fortunately, he was a quick learner and very studious. Meaning he found out pretty quickly what he was meant to do during a time like this. Though sometimes, you still confused him.

Like now, when he walked into the room to see you sitting in front of something that mirrored your reflection. You were frowning and poking your midsection, eyes becoming glassy and bottom lip trembling.

"What has happened?" The intimidating Decepticon approached. "Are you hurt?"

"No," you wailed. "I'm getting fatter!"

"..."

Shockwave was, well, shocked. He never thought once that you were a displeasing weight or size, and he would never mind or care if you were picking up weight. But in this case, it was not true.

"Little one, that is a most illogical statement," he picked you up with his one servo. "You are not looking any different."

"Then explain this!" You cried, poking your stomach again.

Once more, Shockwave failed to see the issue, "You are perfect, my little human. There is nothing wrong with you."

"You're just saying that!"

"Have you ever known me to lie?"

"No..."

"Then cease your worrying," he reassured you. "I understand that on your...period, as you humans call it, you may feel bloated. But that does not mean you have increased in size. It is normal, and it will go away."

That was...oddly comforting.

"Thank you, Shockwave. That means a lot coming from you."

"Good. Now stop crying, little one. I have something to show you."

WHEELJACK - anger/frustration

Wheeljack was generally a lot more sensitive and considerate towards you than anyone else on base, but that doesn't mean that he was perfect. There were times when he didn't mean to offend you or incite your fury, but his actions or words that just tumbled out of his mouth left you shaking. He wasn't aware of human periods until Miko told him about them when you'd first started dating him, but he still continued to piss you off.

"WILL YOU STOP FOR ONE SECOND!" You screamed at the Wrecker one day while you were lounging in front of the TV while watching Jack and Raf play video games.

Wheeljack and Bulkhead were lobbing a giant ball of metal around, as they tended to do every other week, and Bumblebee and Smokescreen had been tempted to join. They promptly changed their minds at the sound of your yell and the glare on your face.

"Sweetheart, we're just playing around," Wheeljack responded calmly, shrugging your attitude off. Bulkhead got nervous, though.

"Well could you go play somewhere else?!" You snarled, rubbing your temples. "You're making my headache even worse!" You were usually irritable on your period, so Wheeljack took this as a sign.

He sighed, "Would you stop being such a buzzkill?"

Dead silence. Everyone beside Wheeljack froze up, knowing that was exactly the wrong thing to say to you at this time. Your eyes narrowed, and you stood up so fast your head spun.

"Well if I'm a buzzkill then I'll just leave!" You spat, storming down the stairs while trying not to burst into tears. Both angry and sad.

"Sweetheart, I didn't mean that," the bot immediately regretted his words, spotting your glassy eyes. "Come here."

"Go away!"

He sighed and grabbed you before you could leave the base, "Where are you going to go? There's nothing but dirt outside this base, sweetheart."

"I'd rather walk across the desert than spend more time arguing with you," you grumbled.

"Alright, alright," he relented. "I'm sorry. Can I make it up to you? We'll go sit in my berthroom and I'll project your favourite movie onto the wall."

"...Fine."

Wheeljack was an idiot, and impulsive, but he sure knew how to charm his way back into your good books. He cuddled you and rubbed your uterus for you, getting help from Miko to get you snacks that would keep your temper at bay.

[pyxxiestyxx]

Humans are Made to be Pets

"I don't fucking believe you." I laughed in response. I mean, how could I not? I've been perfectly fine as an independent for years. I've made plenty of friends (independents, affini, AND florets), but my favorite friend was definitely Her.

Jaz was an oldbloom of some kind. She refused to tell me the actual number, and I wasn't going to press it. But you bet your ass I was going to outright deny it when she says some Bloomer-ass bullshit like, "Humans are made to be pets, Petal~"

She tilted her head, as if surprised. "Did no one tell you, dear?" I frowned.

"What do you mean exactly?"

Jaz hid a chuckle behind some vines. "Flower, I've been around for a while. I've seen thousands of species. Some of them were almost extinct by the time we found them, and some were far more technologically advanced than the Accord ever was. But out of all of them -all of them, darling- I have yet to find a sophont who wouldn't make a perfect silly pet. Why do you think terrans would be any different?"

I sputtered. "No! No, that's ridiculous. Beeple I can understand, to some extent. They evolved alongside you, and your reproduction at least used to co-exist. You both needed each other. Humans are different."

"Oh, in some ways perhaps! Its true that we were able to work with beeple, but there are a few things that, in order for humans to have gotten where they were, were required to happen." She held up three fingers.

"One. Humanity are social creatures. I'm quite sure I don't need to argue this point. Its been an observation many have noticed. But it still matters that, despite your culture's best attempts to sequester everyone into individual homes and away from communities…you all crave that interaction, that exchange. You Look for it." One finger went down.

"Two. Humanity are intelligent creatures. They learned so much, and fought for their place on the top of the food chain. It was truly incredible to learn your histories! Being able to learn from another's mistakes? An important skill to have, and one that allows for rapid growth of a civilization. And also allows for you to be manipulated, controlled, really; a rock cannot hear my arguments, after all. You Listen all too well. " Two fingers were closed, now. Her thumb remained.

"Three. Humanity are hierarchical creatures. Ever since that whole 'survival of the fittest', terrans seem intent on having everything ranked, everything in relation to the things better or worse than it. It's what worked on Terra, and I don't judge you all for using the tools given to you! But it means, at the end of the day…that culturally speaking? Humanity was going to see itself as either above the Compact, or below it, part of it, inside it." She smiled. "And I think it would be fair to say that the Accord winning was not a valid concern. So when something bigger and stronger comes along? You learn to Accept it."

I was frozen. I didn't…I couldn't…I couldn't think. I was a bubbling mixture of terrified and in awe, looking up at her. My knees wobbled as she gently cupped my cheek, sliding her hand down to my chin.

"Sweet thing~ Its alright. I know that this is a lot to learn, that it sounds scary to you. Perhaps you felt yourself on equal terms to an affini. And in many ways, you are right~ I will always treat you with love and respect, just as I would treat any sophont, any floret. But at the end of the day, my dear…" Her eyes drew me in. There were so many of them, all looking at me. Pinning me underneath their careful stare, somehow both alien and familiar, gentle yet controlling, above me and beside me. Watching as I looked, as I listened, as I accepted.

"An affini's task is to care for pets, and your task is to be cared for~"

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts: CH38

Rip to these promising mages. I assume they will not survive this massacre.

IS that where her lungs and kidneys are? Because like. She's huge. Her entire body is behind her. Do you really think she'd keep her vital organs in the little human bulb on the front?

I mean, he has a point. What are you going to do? Fight off more hoardes of dragons?

oh noooo, Kabru.... too bad. That's so unfortunate.... anyway.

It's curious that Laios only got knocked away. He was just as likely to have had his head squished like a grape.

Guys, this is absolutely not the time to be concerned for her privacy.

Yes, queen. Free the tiddy. Murder everyone in this dungeon. I support women's rights and women's wrongs.

.......that's. One way to do that. I guess.

.......what's that rock about.

Oh, I see. That's convenient.

This guy dungeons! Maybe he even dragons.

So we got north (tallmen? dwarves?) and then the easterners.... and now the elves of the west?

He's going to give her to the Americans?! ಠ_ಠ

To be fair, at least they HAD a plan. And they executed it. It's more than you did. I don't mean to point fingers but... at least they... ya know... did something.

Kabru's like 'no, no, hang on, I need to hear what batshit fucked up thing this dude is going to say next, this is important'

Laios is so stressed he broke character.

Then again, maybe it's healthy to let them slug it out a bit. Get it out of their system.

It's true. They wore fitbits and everything.

...hey, hold on a second.

Now hold on a minute.

Damn, this is. Kind of even worse because. I guess I could have guessed that Toshi was just pretending to be polite, like you do. Cultural differences.

But the painful thing is, Laios doesn't seem surprised. He just seems resigned. He's been told before that he's difficult to get along with. To the extent that he doesn't even consider Marcille and Chillchuck his friends? Even though they arguably both care about him? But because Toshiro didn't bother to be deadpan about him being a bit odd at times, Laios thought it meant that was fine.

And that kinda hurts. Like damn. Laios just wanted to make a true connection. And I can't really blame Toshiro either, he was just trying to keep the peace but. Damn.

Free her! Let her do her illegal magics! She deserves it! （︶^︶）

Thoughts:

Senshi just being annoyed about that one last harpy looking for scraps.... like "shoo, this ain't the time"

That gnome seems genuinely nice. I'm sorry Falin squished his pet undyne.

Kabru hugging his..... mage? Girlfriend???? Seems very...one sided. Kinda feel bad for her.

Laios and Toshiro still going at it, I see. Get it allout, boys.

Uhhhhhhhhhh ninja girls.

Aww, doggo.

Last question: Where did the cat go?

Senshi: I can fix that.

Are you all worried because he's finally making sense?!?!

Laios and he punched their singular braincells into several new ones, it seems.

F./....Falin... please give the caterpillar some privacy........

My man, maybe lead with that............

I can't believe Marcille was potentially more forward about her feelings.......

"his pupils are dilated" yes, thank you sherlock. You've finally realized what everyone else who meets Laios feels almost immediately. he's a monster freak club card carrying member. Welcome.

p.....pubby......

As long as he was also inside the dungeon with them.... yes.

The issue with Kabru isn't that he isn't trying his best. It's that Laios isn't trying at all.

On a scale of one to Kabru, how badly do you react to being offered a food you don't want to eat?

......oh no. He's so pathetic it's funny. He's growing on me.

Absolute morons, the pair of them. Immovable object meets unstoppable force. The funniest combination ever. Ghost type and normal type pokemon, forever throwing moves at each other that will never hit. Laios thinking he's made a friend. Kabru just barely stopping himself from killing Laios. Best comedy pair. Tom and Jerry in a can.

Anyway. What a great manga.

[mondothebombo]

✨Small Canon Things in Ninjago That Aren’t Necessarily Important to the Plot, but Important to Me Pt 2✨

(in honor of the first post reaching 2.5k notes)

1. the reason the ninja can’t summon their elemental dragons anymore is bc they’re too traumatized

2. Kai takes laxatives

3. Lloyd felt responsible for Nya’s sacrifice

4. Morro took a shot while he was in Lloyd’s body

5. Cole’s favorite color is orange

6. Chamille, the master of form, is a “bad girl” post s4

7. the ninja were literal children when they waltzed into Chen’s tournament and proceeded to beat all the adult EMs in the competition

8. prior to seabound, Nya resented her parents for not being there in her childhood, her mother more so than her father (✨mommy issues✨)

9. Nya is hyper-independent as a result of her childhood; while Kai is more openly accepting to his parents because he has a better memory of them

10. Wu was close enough with Lilly that he could remember whether or not she wore a necklace

11. Cliff Gordon was a “womanizer”

12. Lloyd didn’t naturally hit puberty until s8

13. Cole and Jay are best friends

14. whether or not you see Pixane as a bf/gf situation in canon, they are canonically soulmates

15. Jay has not yet received his inheritance letter

16. at least up until the Merge, Zane’s statue is still in downtown Ninjago City

17. ninjago citizens are fully aware their only protection are six super-powered teens/young adults

18. the ninja are still famous, public figures

19. Jay is the only ninja who hasn’t died (yet)

20. despite being a terrible actor, Lloyd is always sent on the undercover missions

21. the ninja are on first name basis with each others parents

22. Cole’s favorite genre of music is soft rock

23. Zane has selective memory

24. after Nya’s sacrifice, each ninja depicted a different stage of grief (Zane-Denial, Kai-Anger, Lloyd-Depression, Jay-Bargaining, and Cole-Acceptance)

25. Cole never actually had feelings for Nya, he was just flattered by the attention and petty about Jay being mad at him

26. elements react based on the master’s emotions

27. Jay is so emotionally dependent on being around other people that he loses his mind when he’s alone for too long

28. Lloyd had a chat with god and wasn’t impressed

29. Cole’s snoring can be heard throughout the monastery

30. Nya is not a morning person

31. Kai and Skylor have been in a situationship since s4

32. Lloyd being the grandson of god is not common knowledge

33. the group of civilians that were on the bounty when Cole fell are probably the only ones who truly realize the danger the ninja put themselves in on the regular to protect the city, and how close they are with each other

34. Wu didn’t want to tell the ninja about the green ninja prophecy because he was afraid of having a repeat of Morro

35. since s8 at the very least, the ninja all shared a room on the bounty until the monastery was rebuilt

36. Jay’s confidence in his own abilities fully depends on what others believe he’s capable of

37. several villains have called the ninja out on being “just a bunch of kids,” and then proceeded to get their shit rocked by said kids

38. the overlord can gloat to Lloyd all he wants to in crystallized, but fact of the matter is Lloyd defeated him when he was like twelve

39. Kai and Nya raised and took care of each other, it wasn’t just Kai doing all of the work

40. Kai is two years older than Nya

41. Zane’s biggest fear is losing his humanity

42. Lloyd’s biggest fear is becoming his father

43. Nya’s biggest fear is losing her individuality

44. Cole’s biggest fear is letting his family down

45. we the audience are the only ones who see the characters as legos; they’re real people in-universe

46. Kai likes spicy food

47. while elemental masters are immune to their elements to some extent, their elements can also be shown to hurt them in some circumstances

and as always, feel free to add on!!

[sullina]

i honestly really appreciate Mairimashita Iruma-kuns take on demons, because demons in many fiction-works (which is... all of them, bc demons aren't actually real...) are portrayed as selfish and only doing what they want, or are literally just 1:1 to humans but this time with horns.

And yeah, in "Iruma-kun", they're also selfish and do whatever they want, but they're also still very much social and have a (more or less) working society. So they can work together, despite their selfishness.

And this also reflects in the demons we see working. Full disclosure, i don't remember that much right now, but just thinking of the teachers at Babyls, they all absolutely love their jobs and are amazing at it, if to varying levels.

And why wouldn't they? Demons only do whatever they wanna do. The teachers at Babyls aren't forced to work as teachers, they chose to become teachers, because that's what they wanted to do. And if you love something, you're willing to put a lot of work into it.

Even Kaluego, despite his usual demeanor and attitude, loves being a teacher, and especially wants to see every single one of his students grow to their fullest potential. Why else would he have a notebook dedicated to each and every single student? I don't think teachers are required to do that, so the only answer left is that he loves his job.

Also Balam, who gets so excited about new things that it scares most students.

And Bachiko, who taught Iruma archery. She was tough on him, but she never called him annoying or wanted him to go away, unless you count the beginning of their training, but even that was because she had so many students give up and didn't think Iruma was any different. Once he had proven himself to be capable and willing to do whatever it took to master archery, she was behind him 110%.

I just love this take, because on the one hand, it's more fresh, and on the other, also seems a little more... accurate?

Because consider any other medium where demons are portrayed as hating and killing each other on the daily, but still have cities and schools, and just a society in general (if a broken one), and it's said that it's "always been this way". Basically just "humans with horns and way more hostile". Why the fuck would they band together if they can't cross paths without trying to tear each others throats out? Why would they reproduce? If a demon can't care for anything other than its own individual self, why would they raise their children? Let alone anyone elses children, like in schools? You don't band together, unless there's some sort of benefit that outweighs the cost. In that kind of world, it makes no sense that demons would have cities, let alone countries, and without countries, there wouldn't be any wars either. Wars are fought by countries, which is a collection of people, or demons in this case, all fighting collectively for the same goal. If demons don't fight for a collective goal, because they're not a collective, there can't be any wars, only senseless bloodshed where it's everyone vs. everyone and the winner is the last individual left alive.

And yeah, in Mairimashita it's still said that it kinda sorta was like this a long time ago, but it's not like this now, and the clear reason is that Delkira, the demon king, made it this way, in part by introducing the rank system that allowed anyone to get higher in their society. And even then, in that "a long time ago", demons still had a society, just not an equal one. And while we see demons being selfish in the manga/anime, we also know that they CAN care for others, be it their friends or family. And in that amusement park arc, i distinctly remember a child being trapped in a building that could come down any second, and Iruma, the resident human, stepping in to save the child, which inspired his demonic friends to step in and help him. So yeah, demons in mairima are very much naturally selfish, but not to such an extent that they can't care for others.

[thefreakpanda]

I know that SJM said that Rhys is probably the most powerful character she’s ever written. BUT, you cannot convince me that he is more powerful than Nesta. 

Let’s look at the facts : 

Nesta, who as a starving human woman, resisted a HIGH LORD’s glamour. 

Nesta, whom the Bone Carver had heard of the moment she came out of the Cauldron because the whole world had felt it. Nesta, whose name is moaned by the wind. Nesta, who made the inmates of the Prison, literal monsters that people don’t know how to kill, shiver in fear and step away from their doors. 

Nesta who twisted the King of Hybern’s neck like it was a party popper, with no training. Nesta who can wear and remove the mask at will (still after giving up most of her power), when no one had ever worn it and lived. Nesta who controls the entire Dread Trove, which has never been seen before. Nesta who has made an entire Trove herself, who can bring houses, bracelets and even still-born babies to LIFE.  Nesta who killed Lanthys, a presumably unkillable being. Nesta who killed a Daglan, a presumably unkillable being. 

Nesta who is Mother-Blessed, who has a literal goddess watching over her when the gods had presumably left this world to its own devices. 

Rhys almost passed out after winnowing too many people in ACOWAR. Rhys had to be carried to the top of Ramiel. Rhys died helping Feyre rebuild the Cauldron. 

Whereas Nesta after not having eaten or drank for a week, after having climbed and fought to the top of Ramiel, being exhausted beyond words and still fighting Bellius, when confronted to Cassian stabbing himself, released her power which reduced the cottage she used to live in, on the other side of Prythian, to ashes. 

And we are supposed to believe that Rhys is more powerful than this QUEEN!

Yes, Rhys is the most powerful High Lord in history.  But he is not the most powerful person in the world. 

Which brings me to my next point : he knows that! 

Or at least, he feels it. After reading HOFAS, it’s very likely that Nesta is starborn meaning that her and Rhys both come from Theia’s power. It’s pretty clear that Nesta is meant to be queen. After all, she has been called a queen in Every.Single.Book, including HOFAS. It’s pretty clear that she will be queen of Dusk. 

Rhys is already High Lord (most likely going to become High King at some point, even if no one wants that). He has rarely met someone more powerful than he was. And since the land chooses its ruler, and since Nesta comes from the same line as him, she is a threat. Even if he fails to notice that she doesn't care about power in general and doesn’t even realize the extent of her own. 

Rhys has a primal side to him even more potent than Cassian, the “Illyrian brute”. I’m going to give a very strange comparison because it involves dogs and something that happened with mine. 

We were at my cousins’ and they both have dogs : an American staff and a pitbull. My dog is half staff himself. All males, very sweet but very dominant by nature. 

Initially, it was just my dog and the staff who were fine but, funnily enough, tried to overpower each other by peeing everywhere, marking their territory where the other initially had. 

Then my other cousin brought her pitbull. The pitbull and the staff knew each other well and played, far away from my dog. My dog had to be held because he was shaking and growling despite the other dogs not paying attention to him at all. Because he knew that they were more powerful and he was outnumbered. To the point where he didn’t see me anymore, being overconsumed by fear and even tried to bite my hand when I tried to calm him (he’s never done that before and had always been, and still is, the most loving dog ever). 

This is what Rhys reminds me of, because there’s something animalistic about him despite the cool, controlled demeanor. Even Cassian said it. 

He has threatened Nesta who avoids him and barely talks to him. The worst thing she ever said about him was that he was an arrogant, preening asshole. While he threatens her any chance he gets and thinks the worst of her. 

Just like my dog in the story, Rhys doesn’t realize that Nesta doesn’t care. He is just threatened by her presence. 

It’s not about letting Feyre hunt or rejecting Cassian. These are just excuses. It’s about someone more powerful than he is, in his own court, not kissing his feet. 

[suguru-getos]

fractures // geto suguru x f!reader // chapter 1

warnings: abusive!suguru, mentions of cuts, mentions of physical abuse (choking, beating up, chaining), not for the faint-hearted. not beta'd. dead dove do not eat. summary: being a monkey is the norm except when you're captured by geto sama because he needs money from your parents. however, you may just have to suffer a little extra because of the forced thinking about the right and wrongs... you're putting him through.

it has been in total of three days since you have been caged in the geto estate, at first, your anxiety and palpitations could not let you sleep, now? you're too exhausted to have those in the first place. it was simple, your parents were millionaires and owed geto some money, they decided not to go ahead with the deal and in turn, Miguel brought you here. in the confined walls of the estate where they crush you chokingly.

it's 3 am, your eyes wide awake in the bed that you're confined to, leg chained to the bedpost and the metallic bite of the chain brushing against your skin, bruisingly. your ankle is tied from the bedpost, you could walk around only to a certain extent. why? because you tried to escape and almost succeeded. now even when you try to sleep, it serves as a reminder of how you are a prisoner here. you hate this, all of this because the cult leader named geto thinks you're useless and a monkey. you don't even have an idea what that means...

---

"they have a daughter." miguel hums at suguru, crossing his arms and manspreading, sitting with geto in his office. the feline eyed man raised a brow, "is that so?" "Interesting..." he hums again, feet tapping on the floor. "Miguel, how does she look like?" his voice laced with curiosity echoed in the room which had the two of them contemplating future plans. "wait, i have a picture.."

and there you were, papped and captured from your morning errand, holding your coffee in your hand and wearing a white tank top, and some parachute pants. you were beautiful, suguru could almost call you perfect. if only... you were not a pathetic monkey. he hates them, and they have no place in his world, they will never be a part of his world...

"i just want to go home- i don't have any idea what you're talking about." another flashback rang through your mind. your first day here, comprising you begging and whimpering against the ropes of the chair you were tied to. "of course you don't, your parents do. your opinions are worthless in this anyway." geto looks at you with disgust, his eyes carry a strange emotion... he just, hated you for existing. nothing else. mere existence...

"fuckers like you who have no morals whatsoever have no other choice but to kidnap huh? fucking asshole!" you snarled, screaming out in frustration. you had no idea how your life could change so easily. a large hand wrapped around your throat the next instant, choking the life out of you with no relent. you struggled, eyes widening and feet kicking with wheezing gasps. "you see?" geto hums, leaning in against your ear and gravely whispering, "this is how easy it is for me to kill you, you're nothing. just a worthless piece of shit born to create curses in this world."

you couldn't do anything, your hands were tied up, you could only see the life you had, flash in front of your eyes before you passed out. suguru has no idea of his strength with a feeble human yet. he leans back, noticing the prominent bruising on your neck once your head leaned back, limp and lifeless. he yanked his hand away, putting some sanitizer on it. "pathetic." he hums, gritting his teeth. you were so weak... so fucking weak and still all you had to do was use that pathetic mouth didn't you?

geto left you there for the night, a very minuscule part of him feeling upset over the way he treated you, he would call himself an asshole for it if it was a sorcerer, but you weren't one. who cares if you're not a sorcerer anyways...

the next day, your eyes blinked awake, a hiss escaping you when you noticed you were still tied up, some of the blood circulation stopped because of the ropes tying your body to the chair. you wanted to scream, but your voice box hurts after yesterday. a grim reminder of what your kidnapper was truly capable of. you sniffled weakly, senses in fight or flight.

before your pitiful breakdown could even commence, manami opened the door, watching you with the same disgust her 'geto sama' carries... what is wrong with these people? truly? why do they look at you like you mean nothing. like you have done the greatest sin of the earth just by being born? "good morning, here's the thing. geto sama has informed your parents that you're under our custody, if they agree to give the money then you're safe to go, or we kill you." she shrugs. killing... is it that normal of a thing to say?

your eyes widened at the sheer panic of it, manami noticing the palpable fear in them and laughing, walking closer to you and untying you roughly; ignoring the scratches the rough rope surface would gift your skin. "take a shower." she yanked you by your hair, throwing you on the floor.

a loud whimper escapes you when your ribs collide with the solid marble, your body was still recovering from being tied up. what is wrong with these people? you're sure you have some visceral damage at this, your internal organs hurt with that throw, blinding pain in your sensitive scalp because of the hold in your hair. suck it up... you need to suck it up. "shouldn't you- treat me like a human at least? if my parents come back for me?" you grunt, using the aid of your palms to get up, a little dizzy.

manami cocks a hip out, "geto sama was right, you have a smart mouth for a monkey." she scoffs, walking outside with a hold on your nape. you stumble on the floor, how is this woman so strong? you couldn't understand why... you couldn't budge in her grip on you.

everything is hazy after, except you were force-fed hot soup for telling geto to kill himself during dinner, and not fed at all the next day, getting captured as well for running away and now a chain on your ankle.

you close your eyes, hugging yourself tightly. you need to be your own comfort. you have to be your own comfort. but its hard... the way they look at you, the way they treat you, everything is making you wish you were better off dead. why are your parents taking so long in the first place? what's wrong with them really?

your body is exhausted, unable to keep up with the constant stress. you do end up getting dazed to sleep. although its filled with nightmares. you're woken up to an echo of a voice.

"good morning, i'm sure these don't feel good." geto hums, and you jolt awake, leaning instinctively against the headboard. eyes glossed, fear dancing through your nerves. you don't respond. why is he here? "i didn't think you were that dumb to try to run yesterday." he clicks his tongue, looking at you. gosh you still have the popped lip from when manami hit you after getting caught. some of it is in your nose too. geto sighs, its the way you behave that he gets conflicted. he has always been an underdog supporter, now a bunch of powerful sorcerers were torturing a frail human just because of money...

maybe he should do you a favor and kill you instead. he could just tell your parents that they delayed in sending the sum of money and take the money anyway.He wants to stay true to his word but also wants to return you to them. another part of him... which he hates the most, almost wants to hug you and apologize. That part is the reason you're being treated this way.

"you're not answering me." he raises a brow, watching you shiver with fear and flinch at the tone of his voice. "I'm sorry, won't run again." you managed to say meekly; within three days of you being here, you look like a completely different person. your neck is bruised, your face is bruised, your hair is a mess, you are chained to a room. it is drastic for you, geto knows that. "hm, you know the consequences aren't too great, i would just listen to me if i were you." he adds on, watching your shoulders slump in defeat. my god were you beautiful, you were perfect in his eyes, someone he should have taken on dates if his life was normal. thanks to your disgusting kind, his life isn't normal.

"manami will come to you with breakfast." he stands up with that, and your heart races. you hate that woman and the way she treats you. you wouldn't say geto is any better but at least he isn't downright awful... so far. you nodded, getting up to go and shower at least. the clank of chains in your ankle echoes in the room, and it makes geto stand still for a moment. the flash of his little girls caged haunts in his eyes. isn't he doing something similar to you.

"y/n." he says your name, watching your eyes slowly dart towards him. "if you behave for a few days, the chain will be gone."

you don't respond to that, walking away. suguru bites his lip, he hates this feeling he's getting. a frog in his fucking throat and it's just been four days of you being here. he shouldn't deter from his thoughts like this anyway. you're a monkey, a useless monkey who should be killed as soon as possible.

manami comes in with breakfast and you could only manage a few bites despite not being able to eat properly. manami was not that mean today, all she said that she expected you dead but you're not yet. she says this everyday, nothing ordinary.

meanwhile, your parents have decided to actually manage the sum of money, but it will take time. they inform geto of the same. your mom pathetically sobbing for her little baby girl. "don't worry, she will be alive and kicking, i will keep my word. you have 10 days." suguru cuts the phone call after.

you... would be elated to hear this news wouldn't you? you should be! and so he walks towards your room, where you were laying on the mattress, leg bruised and bleeding. his eyes widen a little. what did you fucking do?

you had a big and a deep gash on your ankle, from the looks of it, you were trying to get free from the chains. what did you even use for this? his eyes land to the sharp enough culinary knife on your bedside table. you were crazy, any other monkey girl would simply behave and let time decide her freedom. why did you want to be so miserable?

"y/n." he mumbles your name again, and your eyes land on him, "geto" you respond, you didn't even carry any malice when you said your name. he walks towards you, getting the first aid from your cupboard and tending to your leg. "if you want an easy enough death, just ask me." he's sure you'd have another panic attack at this statement. you've been having one every day for the past four days after all.

"hm, gimme n' easy death then" you hummed, emotionless as ever. "cus i think m' parents don't give a shit anyway." a stray tear escapes through your eyes, followed by a soft hiccup of a choked sniffle. geto stays quiet at that. yesterday night, he had a dream of you smiling. or what he envisioned your smile would look like... it would surely make you look more beautiful than you already are. he's so sure of it.

"it's not like that, they did contact me and soon you'll be free." he smiled, the close-eyed feline curve that charms everyone fails to work on you. "i see." you hum, and geto trifled with the metallic cuffs on your ankle, gently putting them away. he can't really let you be this miserable. it was pathetic, it was making him pathetic.

"sorcerers exist to protect the weak." his own voice echoes which he preached satoru with. a soft sigh escaping him. he hates you. he hates what you do to him and he hates how you're having this effect on him without even trying. "yeah, a few more days of me tolerating a hooker-looking pest like you." he grits his teeth, getting up. you blinked, unsure what the sudden change in his demeanor signified. all you could do was brace. brace for another attack.

suguru watches you do so, and that sends a shiver down his spine. what's happening to him? he kills monkeys without remorse! maybe he should kill you, fuck your parents, fuck their money. fuck you.

"since you really like using the knife how about i teach you how to use it hm?" you blinked when he spits those words out, feet stomping and holding the knife up. before you could even lean away he has your wrist in his hold, hot tears streaming down your face with the way your heart thumped loud from your mouth. "please please- no no- what're you-" the pointed tip of the knife glides down your skin, and despite your gutteral, blood-curdling screams and pleas, geto only lets go of your hand when he's written the word 'MONKEY' in your arm. throwing the knife away and watching you bleed.

"i hate you, stupid monkeys." he walks away with that, while you succumb to the ache and pass out. it hurts, you could feel the blood trickling down the mattress before your body lulls you to sleep.

meanwhile, suguru shuts himself in his room, the daunting sound of the door shutting down loud and him covering his ears with tears streaming down his face. what's he even doing? why did he have to do that? oh he knows why. he wanted to prove a point that he doesn't feel anything when he hurts a monkey. that he relishes in it... but that didn't happen.

didn't happen at all...

just nine more days with you until suguru geto gets rid of you and proceeds with his mission to kill all non-sorcerers.

[starless-nightz]

I have wisdom to share regarding Lion wife au (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)

I imagine Lioness! reader having a human caretaker that basically taught her the ways of being human, like, telling her the rights and wrongs and basic common knowledge that all humans have.

I like the idea of Lioness! reader being an abandoned cub and getting picked up by a random human then one day, the human caretaker comes home and sees a literal child with the same features of the “cat” they adopted just two days ago (cat distribution system needs some tweaking)

“So, you’re actually a lion that can transform to a human? “

“Mhm.”

“Oh.”

“Well, I’m still gonna care of you.”

The human caretaker takes care of ‘lil Lioness! reader ‘till she grew up. The human caretaker didn’t expect her “car” to suddenly become so muscular and tall at just a span of 5 years. It was around that time when Lioness! reader decided to leave to train herself, like, probably leaving to Sumeru since that’s basically the equivalent of a rainforest in Teyvat. Then few years later she comes back to Fontaine, becomes a duelist, then meets Arlecchino.

I can imagine Arlecchino not knowing about this ‘til one day she was just having a stroll with Lioness! reader when Lioness!reader spots her human caretaker. After a long time of not seeing them, Lioness! reader had nearly forgotten how attached she is to them.

Arlecchino sees her wife suddenly leave her side and sneak up to a person that Arlecchino is not familiar with. Lioness! reader startles the unfamiliar person, picked them person up in her arms, hugging the person, nuzzling to them, her tail flicking back and forth signifying a playful mood- just being more expressive than she usually is. As far as Arlecchino knows, Lioness! reader haven’t been that affectionate to her in a extent that she’ll do such things in public.

Yeah, this is just a scenario where Arlecchino gets jealous over Lioness! reader’s technically “parent”.

OKAY I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS??? LIKE THIS IDEA IS SO SILLY????

I can imagine cub! reader was abandond by her mother and pride cause she had the least chance of survival, so when her human caretaker found her, thinking she was just a kitty, they took her her.

Lioness! reader first transforms into her more human form in her caretakers home while they were away, i can imagine the caretaker cant have children so they gladly kept lioness! reader.

When lioness! readet was a teenager, she was able to speak human language perfectly, but she knew she had to train herself, so she left home to Sumeru where she might find other lion-hybrids like her.

Lioness! reader came back to Fontaine many years later, being a dualist until she met Arlecchino, retiring and instead training and taking care of the children from the House of the Hearth after she married.

Lioness! reader tried to find her caretaker but they moved, so there was no way to find them, until one day she smelled their scent while on a walk with her wife.

She left Arlecchino to make sure it was really her caretaker, the moment she saw her caretaker she knew it was her.

She sneaked up behind them, picking them up while saying boo. The caretaker was so happybto see her baby, now a full grown lioness who is so much bigger then her.

Lioness! reader immediately introduced her caretaker to her wife, her caretaker was a bit intimidating by Arlecchino, but they were happy that their little cub finally found someone she loved.

Arlecchino felt a bit ackward because she was jealous of her wifes caretaker, but shes never gonna admit that she was jealous.

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Could I get a Hc for how the M6 would react to an Mc that has regeneration like an axolotl due to it being the fools body?

Like during the ending of the route or during a fight post route Mc loses a finger or an arm and as their recovering they notice it growing back and like a few weeks or a month later it's like they never lost it to begin with. Due to how they view themselves and the fools body making them look like how they ses themselves.

Similarly to how Lucio lost his arm so long ago his metal arm is just a part of him so when he took the fools body it come with the metal arm.

(Let me know if it's not a good Hc idea and I'll change it for a different one.)

The Arcana HCs: When MC can regenerate their limbs

Julian

His first thought is "I have to keep them away from Valdemar"

His second thought is more along the lines of a very intrigued medical scholar. He's dying to figure out exactly how this works - how does your body know what to form and where??

His third thought definitely bears his younger sister's influence, because it's the sleep-deprived, melodramatic theatre kid version of "twinsies!!!"

Yes, twinsies! Because now you're one of the only other people in the world who knows what it's like to have crazy regenerative abilities! (though, he gave his up, but still -)

Will chart the growth of the limb and regularly ask you if you got any new injuries that day (obviously he hopes the answer is no, but if it's yes he has multiple reasons to want to know now)

Occasionally thinks himself into an anxiety spiral worrying that he's treating you too much like a medical phenomenon and not enough like his beloved partner. A round of smooches will take care of that

Asra

Honestly? They're more relieved, than anything

He is uncomfortably aware of the level of responsibility he has for yoinking you back to this plane of existence and knowing that you have this safety net for physical injuries is very reassuring

That said, they're still very curious about just how far it goes (not that they'd ever try to find out)

May or may not add "lizard" to his list of pet names for you, because lizards are also cute and known for losing limbs and then regenerating them for self preservation reasons

May or may not study just enough of the magic involved to suggest trying to grow said limb to be ... different than the previous one. You could grow an arm of neon tentacles!

May or may not regularly use body paint to turn your slowly regenerating limb into some kind of illusion, like a large, funky looking hamster hanging onto your shoulder (with your permission)

They love you regardless of how many limbs you have

Nadia

To say that she is intrigued is an understatement. She is borderline obsessed with your slowly reappearing limb

Much of that has to do with her desire to provide for you and the duty she's given herself of making sure that you are taken care of

Plenty of that has to do with what an excellent excuse it is to initiate touch and general affection

But a good portion of that is because, while she can tell you're a unique case, it's the kind of ability that would do so much good if she could find a way to recreate it even a little bit

She's not going to ask you to do anything unreasonable, but she might suggest allowing lead researchers in the medical field to chart your progress and study it in case they find anything

On another note, she does love to make you feel and look your best. If you've lost an arm and your outfit has gloves, you'd best believe she's ordering a mini one for your tiny hand

Pulls out old baby jewelry to try on it while it's small

Muriel

He's not going to lie, he does find it just a little disturbing

He's not going to go as far as saying that it's unnatural (he knows of plenty of creatures who can do the same thing) but it's definitely not a normal thing for humans to do

It's far outweighed by his gratitude that you're able to heal from such difficult injuries to this extent. He likes your limbs :)

He's also terrified of accidentally ruining whatever unforeseen magical force is allowing your body to manifest itself back together

You're clearly already very good at losing limbs! He doesn't want to make you lose another one! What if it's like one of those budding flowers that's really sensitive to touch?

He doesn't want to find that out the hard way! What's he going to do if he reaches for your mini-hand and the rest of your mini-arm comes with it? Stick it back on??

The above freakout is happening on the inside. On the outside, he's avoiding that area of your body and being very protective of it

Portia

It goes without saying that she thinks this is pretty cool

First off, you lost a limb, which is badass by default, and now you're completely regrowing it on accident - that's amazing!

She does casually mention that she is curious about just how far your body can regenerate itself at one point, but that's just idle wondering unless it's something you want to look into too

Fascinated by your mini-limb while it's growing back

Comes up with a whole list of pet names for it (squishy, tiny, silly, mr peach, miss millie, The Growth ...) but she mostly sticks to referring to it as your baby

"Good morning MC! And good morning squishy! How's your baby growing?" (all this is said while she hands you your preferred morning beverage and rubs the affected limb like it's a belly)

Overall she's so adaptable that she kind of ... forgets that it's weird. At least, until someone else sees it for the first time

Then she'll tell them it's because her shrink ray missed

Lucio

Seriously?

No no no no no -- SERIOUSLY?!?!?

He's been living with a prosthetic limb (albeit a really cool one) for TWENTY YEARS NOW, and you just randomly start growing yours back just like that? JUST LIKE THAT?! NO!!!

He's not mad because he thinks you don't deserve it! You do deserve it! You saved the world without having to make a life full of criminal oopsies first, and you did it while you rehabilitated him!!

He's mad because even if he doesn't deserve it more than you do, he wants it more than you do! WHY DIDN'T THE ARCANA OFFER HIM HIS ARM BACK, HUH?!

(This is a very good point at which to tell him that you think the metal arm is attractive. He will quickly switch gears into crooning and flirting at you and rarely bring it up again)

He does often comment on its growth patterns, and has definitely made an innuendo or two about it for funsies

[ploppythespaceship]

Please Watch My Adventures with Superman

This show is just so delightful and manages to capture the essence of Superman in a way a lot of adaptations just don't quite get. If you've ever been curious about Superman, if you've ever felt Superman is too boring for you, or you just enjoy a fun superhero story, I highly recommend checking this series out.

The first season has ten episodes, and the second season has just aired its third episode. In the US, it's available on Adult Swim and Max.

What It's About

If you aren't familiar with Superman, he's an alien -- the last survivor of planet Krypton, sent to Earth as an infant where he was found and raised as Clark Kent. Being an alien, he has extraordinary powers which he uses to lead a double life as a hero. This show focuses on a core trio of Clark, his girlfriend Lois, and their friend Jimmy, all of whom work at the Daily Planet newspaper.

Clark Kent / Superman

One of the main reasons this show works is it understands that Clark is Clark, first and foremost, and Superman is his disguise. Clark is a big friendly nerd. He's a huge sweetheart who cares so deeply about the people around him and the planet that adopted him.

This version of Clark is starting out very young (early 20s), so a lot of this story is about him just figuring things out. He's gradually learning the truth about his origins, the extent of his powers, and how best to be a hero -- all while grappling with the fact that he isn't human and his people of origin may in fact be a massive threat to Earth.

Clark is voiced by Jack Quaid, which you might not expect to work well, but he honestly nails it.

Lois Lane

Lois is loud. She's ambitious. She's intelligent and quick-witted. She doesn't take no for an answer. She has jumped off a building to prove her point -- twice. She is an unstoppable force of nature, and this show refuses to dumb any of those traits down.

But above all, she's kind. She wants to use everything she can do to help people. Her relationship with Clark is also everything you could ever want from a Clois dynamic.

This version of Lois is Korean-American, and voiced by Alice Lee, who does a phenomenal job.

Jimmy Olsen

Jimmy is Clark's best friend and roommate. This version portrays him as a supernatural/paranormal vlogger, running a web series called Flamebird. He's easily excitable, very passionate, as well as one of the most dedicated friends you could ask for.

Following in the footsteps of several previous iterations of the character, this version of Jimmy is African-America. He's voiced by Ishmael Sahid, who's just perfect in the part.

Why It's Great

The characters are all fun and interesting in their own right, while also having a great dynamic with each other -- as duos and as a full trio. And because the characters are shown as being very young and just starting out, they're very relatable. Additionally, every character feels very true to the spirit of their comics counterpart, despite taking a lot of liberties with the specifics.

There's a great cast of villains so far -- Livewire, Task Force X, Mxyzptlk, Parasite, Silver Banshee, and plenty of others that I don't want to spoil. They've also been teasing some really interesting stuff for the Kryptonians, which is noticeably different from any previous adaptations I'm familiar with.

The show is very anime-inspired, giving it a distinct flavor from other Superman adaptations. The creators are clearly having a ton of fun with it. Classic Superman villain Mxyzptlk, who's typically shown as an imp, now looks like he just walked out of a Dragon Ball episode, in an episode called "Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal."

It's also the same animation studio as The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender, who do excellent work. The character designs are unique while still fitting the characters perfectly. I particular love Clark and Superman's designs -- they've struck a balance between making sure he's big and muscular while also retaining a certain softness to his appearance. The fight scenes are fluid and dynamic. It all just works.

[peachdues]

THE DIVINING ROD

OBANAI'S TELL ME TO STOP

A/N: I’m excited to write for our favorite Serpent boy, though I’m gonna put him through the ringer.

You may recognize some of this preview as coming from a teaser I posted a bit ago with Sanemi — but I ultimately scrapped that and gave it to Obanai instead. I think the end of this teaser makes it clear why it fits him better.

CW: canon setting AU • Reader is the Vine Pillar • blood • angst • scars • mentions of past torture • panic • this fic will be HELLA NSFW so MDNI

“Take it off,” was all she said, eyes vacant even against the faint glow of the nichirin collar locked around her throat. “Take it off.”

Mitsuri’s attempts at comforting the newly freed Pillar faltered as her hands fluttered about the sides, seeking for some release, some latch that would remove the last of the Upper Moon’s bonds from her.

The Love Hashira began to sweat as she found nothing to grip, nothing to chisel to tug that would oblige her friend’s request.

Mitsuri Kanroji had seen her fair share of inuries caused by demons. She was no stranger to bloodied lacerations or the sight of organs, half-chewed and smeared across the ground like some mocking attempt at art, only made from human gore.

But she was utterly out of her element as she looked upon her fellow Pillar — her friend — and saw, for the first time, the extent of her suffering.

The Vine Pillar’s skin was painted in bruises in various hues ranging from yellow to a deep purple-black. Blood had crusted upon her skin in some places and still oozed from open wounds in others. Her nails were caked with grime and cracked, their edges ragged and bloodied from what could only be a desperate attempt to free herself by clawing at her binds.

“Take it off.”

“I’m trying, Y/N, I promise,”

“Take it off,” the Vine Pillar repeated, though her tone had evolved from the detached blandness she’d had upon her rescue to something more frantic; desperate. “Take it off. Take it off. Take it off!”

Mitsuri’s own desperation was beginning to boil into panic as she tugged uselessly at the thick ice collar locked around the Pillar’s neck. She swiveled back to Rengoku, the Flame Pillar looking just as helpless as she felt.

“Where is Iguro?” She flung out, as the Vine Pillar’s own battered hands batted the Love Pillar’s away and began to claw at the thick ice-metal of the collar around her neck. “He needs to be here. He needs to keep her calm.”

Rengoku hesitated. “I believe he is still back there — taking care of the demon.”

Mitsuri wasn’t sure whether she wanted to know the details of how the Serpent Pillar was taking care of the demon who had captured and tortured the woman he loved. But if the storminess in his eyes as he’d beheld the trembling, nearly naked form of the Vine Pillar had been any indicator, Mitsuri knew that the demon would surely beg for the swiftness of death.

——-

“Take it off, take it off, take it off!” Her screams were unbearable as the Vine Pillar’s frantic pleas devolved into full, shuddering sobs, her fingers weakly curling against the metal of the collar as she tugged and clawed. A jagged end of her nail caught the marred skin of her throat and drew blood, but she did not seem to notice; not as her trembling legs collapsed beneath her and Y/N curled into herself on the ground, repeated scream-shouts of take it off quieting to pitiful, quiet cries.

Mitsuri had never felt herself more at a loss than she did at that moment; nor, apparently, had Rengoku as they both stared sadly at their comrade.

Rengoku was the first to cautiously approach the Vine Pillar where she’d dropped, unfastening the cloak cape around his shoulders to drape around Y/N’s battered and bloodied half-nude form.

He crouched down low next to the Pillar, his hand hovering uncertainly over the middle of her back, wavering between wanting to comfort her and not knowing whether she could tolerate being touched.

The Flame Pillar’s internal strife, however, was ended as the Serpent Hashira returned, his eyes fixed resolutely upon Y/N, bent over her knees as she heaved dry, broken sobs upon the ground.

Obanai knelt before the woman he loved, his hand stretching out towards her before faltering mid-air, as though he’d thought the better of it.

“Y/N,” the Serpent Pillar said hoarsely. “Y/N.”

Shakily, the Vine Pillar’s head rose to meet Obanai’s fathomless stare, her eyes narrowing in some vague recognition of who sat before her, though she said nothing.

“It’s me, Y/N.”

The Vine Hashira’s eyes remained flat as she brokenly whispered, “Take it off.”

“I will, Y/N. I swear it,” Obanai’s hands trembled ever so slightly as they extended towards the metal locked around her neck. “Just hold on a little longer.”

—————

“Who are you?”

The horror on Rengoku’s face surely mirrored Mitsuri’s own as the two pillars looked to the Serpent Hashira as he blanched.

“It’s me, Y/N,” he whispered, hands hesitating as they twitched towards her until he thought the better of it. His voice quieted ever more. “It’s Obanai. Your Obanai.”

—-

With a deep breath, Obanai reached up and yanked the cloth facial bandage from his face, exposing, finally, the jagged, curved lines carved into either side of his mouth. There, before the Vine Pillar, Obanai bore the sins of his clan for her to see.

Y/N only blinked. “You have scars,” her eyes fell to her bare hands, folded in her lap, and then ran them over the newly smoothed expanses of her forearms.

Her voice was bland, monotonous, even as her eyebrows pinched slightly together. “But he took mine away — with that damn blood demon art.”

She looked back to the wide-eyed Serpent Pillar, pleading. “Why did he take them, Obanai?” Her nails dug into the now unblemished-skin of her arms. “They were mine — I want them back.”

She surged forward, gripping his hand tightly in hers, her eyes desperate even as they began to cloud over with her tears.

“Make him give them back,” she whispered. “I want them back — I want myself back.”

Obanai swallowed hard. “I wish I could, Y/N,” his fingers trembled in her grasp. “But I killed him when we freed you.”

“Then I am lost.” Y/N whispered, her eyes fluttering shut and a stray tear escaping down her cheek.

It took everything the Serpent Hashira had not to lift a hand to wipe the salt water as it slipped down her face. “Why do you think so, Y/N? Is it not enough that I — that we — found you?”

She shook her head. “My scars were me; they told my story,” she opened her eyes to look bitterly upon Obanai’s exposed face, one she’d so desperately longed to see before, when she’d been her and they’d been them. “I hoped they would chart the way back to remembering what you meant to me.”

Y/N pulled her hand free of his, tucking it back under the blanket of her infirmary bed. That cold, distant mask slipped back over her face, turning the Pillar before Obanai into a stranger once more.

“But they are gone now, and so are you.”

[therandompagesblog]

Her Soul For His Soul Chapter 13 🌞Y/N🌞

Trigger Warnings: Angst, Mentions of death, Death, Suicide

"So you lied about the Neverworld?" I asked him curiously. My arms crossed in frustration as he opened up about being some royal demon. "No. No, I did not. I hid that part. Both parts actually. I did not lie about those devils creating an Ouija board. I did try to stop it." Seungmin's voice was frustrated. Angry even. His wings shuddered at the nuisance. "I thought it cost me a soul mate. Believe it or not, a thousand years can be a long time but it's not." "Oh, Minnie." I cooed. Thinking back to what he said about the Reapers. "Surely the Reapers must be annoyed about the Neverworld?" "No not at all. They kind of own the realm now. I stepped back a few years ago. Alright a few hundred years ago. That is a few!" Seungmin answered as his claws drew a circle on the bed. The bed that he fucked me on. The bed that he made me cum undone one. He was the first male species to ever make me cum let alone feel special. God was it hot to see his wings flutter when he orgasmed.       Seungmin pulled my head back by my hair. His forked tongue swiped against my bottom lip with a glare. "Focus. I need you to focus. I can smell your arousal and it's not helping." Seungmin hissed playfully as his wings flapped in arousal too. "So it's your mess." I teased as I sat on his naked lap. Reaching out for his horns. Seungmin hummed in delight. His tail wrapped around me as he closed his eyes. "I'm aware of that." Seungmin hummed.       I noticed how Seungmin wrapped his tail around me when he wanted to be close and affectionate. His tail was always tight enough for him to grasp. My thighs. My waist. My neck. Anywhere.       He was becoming more openly affectionate in private. I realised he cared a lot and the thought of having a soul mate meant so much to him, but my choice meant more.       Just because Lucifer planted his idea and creation into the world didn't mean I had to accept him and vice versa. That is what made the bond so much special it was a choice. We could be damned to hate each other and we'd still be Lucifer's soul mates.       Apparently, Lucifer rarely granted soul mates because they take a lot of work and effort to get right.

I broke out of my thoughts and looked at Seungmin who was slowly slipping into a slumber and it made me laugh. He could sleep for a century if he wanted to. "Seungmin my life is in danger." I playfully reminded, making him bolt up. "I wasn't sleeping. I was telepathically talking to the Council. We can half transport our bodies to the Council room when we have immediate questions." Seungmin explained as he patted my head, reassuring me he wasn't sleeping and working on a plan. "Alright go back to sleep, Minnie," I teased when Seungmin mouthed: 'they can hear you' I giggled and left the room to find Winter who was too preoccupied with tying Jeongin up which was a sight to be seen.       I tried Lisa's room but she did not answer which was weird. She wasn't normally out. I knocked again and she still didn't answer.       I felt concerned. Especially after Seungmin carelessly admitted he abandoned her to save me, which I never would have lived with. I couldn't. She was my best friend. "Lisa? It's Y/N!" I called, but there was no answer.      I gave up and walked back into my room to see Seungmin dressed in his human form. He walked up to me when he saw my worried face.       I shook my head and embraced his musky scent. I wanted to know everyone was alright. I wanted to know everyone was safe. Especially after last night. "How was the Council?" I asked. Hoping for good news, Seungmin shook his head. "Sit down." Seungmin told me. I nodded my head and sat cross-legged on the bed ready to hear what Seungmin had to say. "I spoke to the Head of the Council Chan. Or Archdemon Chan as I should respectively call him, but I do lack the respect for him to a certain extent. Again, he could provide no assistance. After I abandoned the Neverworld it went into chaos. The entities craved for souls more and more to feed for power. They started to fight each other and there became an increase of vessels being hijacked or wanted to be hijacked. Like yours for instance.       They know yours is fragile without me so they are desperately fighting for it. The ones you are seeing and the powerful ones. They have enough power to cross between worlds to haunt. I was already aware of that problem, but when I was a teenager.A naive demon at the age of eight hundred I went a lot on killing sprees of villains that I filled up the Neverworld. Which I forgot to run.       Lucifer who still had high hopes for the succession of the world and was aware of my adolescent behaviour knew I needed help. The Council at the time agreed to let the Grim Reaper stabilise it.       The Grim Reaper built a bridge to the Reaper Realm for the entities to walk across and perish. He would lure them in and dispose of them.       The Reaper guardians keep an eye on that bridge for any lost innocent souls that got stuck in there like Charles, but sadly some are not retrieved as easily because lost souls and entities have similar essences. It's because of the entity's strength.

You see, Y/N. My problem is, I can't get across that bridge without being imprisoned. It's a part of the Grim Reaper realm now and the Grim Reaper is too far preoccupied with thinking he's above anyone that he won't meet with anyone to discuss a quick passing through.       But the red-faced creature you saw was the first person I subjected to that realm. He is the most powerful of that damned realm and he is hard to be beaten.       Seven Hells I probably do need the Grim Reaper's help." Seungmin ranted. "Can't we illegally cross over without the Reapers or Grim Reaper noticing? Like, can't I or Winter cross over?" I asked. It was an idea. If Demons and specifically Archdemons could not cross over then what's to say I or Winter couldn't? "No. You would have to die or be half consumed by an entity and I am not willing to allow that to happen. Do not think such stupidity." Seungmin growled. His eyes glowed yellow. "And Winter?" I asked. "She is not ready. She does not even possess the strength to be a Medium yet, let alone to travel across the bridge. If she was I would sacrifice her in a heartbeat." Seungmin admitted. Seungmin was not ashamed to ever admit he would sacrifice anything or anyone for her. He saw everyone as casualties or beings in the way of me. "Maybe you should take Jeongin out and discuss it with him," I suggested he nodded and kissed my forehead. "Yeah, when he's finished whining. The fucker is an embarrassment to Lucifer. He should have been a fairy." Seungmin grumbled. His annoyance was secretly out of jealousy and insecurities. He had his own erotic desires that even I could see he wasn't ready to share. "Thank the Hells he's finished. I'll be back puppy. Take my book with you." Seungmin whispered as he leaned in to give me a quick kiss goodbye.

ME AND WINTER SAT IN THE GRAVEYARD by Elizabeth, John and Charles' grave. We brought flowers this time as we sat with them, peacefully and quietly.       Both, Winter and I were worried about Lisa. She was far too quiet. Too quiet to be asleep. We both knocked and called her to come for a meeting but she did not answer. We were worried she may have gone home for the week.       We agreed on a meeting to make a plan without the demons interfering as we wanted to find a way to end this mess. We started this we needed to end this. "So any ideas?" I asked Winter nervously. "I have been practising dream walking where you walk to the other side, much to Jeongins annoyance. He thinks I'll get stuck there.       Anyway, there's been progress and I might be able to get close enough to walk the bridge of the Neverworld. I have a feeling I know where it is.       My issue is, what do I do when I get there? How do I close them off away from you." Winter said. "Yeah. That's true. I was going to kill myself and knock on the Grim Reaper's door." Winter looked at me like I had four heads. She had not expected such an idea. "Knock on his door. Yeah sorry, Mr Reaper I need some help with this creature. Can you spare me a minute? That's a stupid idea." Winter spat as she cut the leaves off the flower to stick them in the pot. "What do you think Mr and Mrs Smith?" I rolled my eyes at her words. It wasn't such a bad idea. "You might actually be smart," Winter stated. As if a sudden realisation had hit her, "if we draw the entity out to your soul. You could run for the bridge." "Seungmin is not going to like it," I warned. Not only that, but the thought of dying made me somewhat nervous now.       It was like that patch when you go to sleep. When everything shut off and you didn't exist. That was the scary part. It's the same part when you're operated on. You're unaware. Forgetful. Unexisting. "Time to kill yourself then," Winter said nervously and I felt myself becoming sick.

WHEN WE ARRIVED BACK WE CHECKED ON LISA. Lisa still hadn't risen and we were getting concerned that Winter kicked the door down. "Right. Lis. Get the fuck- Lisa. Oh my God." Winter screamed causing me to run over. Lisa was pale. A greyish colour. She looked lifeless as Winter shook her. She wouldn't wake up. "Please say they haven't taken her." I panicked and grabbed her wrists. Trying to find a pulse. "I don't know. I don't know." Winter panicked. "I'm going to get my book stay there." I pulled back the duvet and checked over Lisa to see bruised hand marks over her. It made me moan out in pain as I realised she fought for my life and Seungmin didn't save her. "I'm gonna save you, Lisa. Just hang on." I said, running into the kitchen to get a knife. I pulled the knife from the knife board and ran to Lisa. I lifted the knife up and hesitated. Stopping. I was so afraid of the unknown of dying. Of not existing but I believed in the other side. Especially since Seungmin came from there.       I counted to five and slid the knife over my neck quickly. Feeling the skin break open and the blood rush out. It stung. I immediately went to grab my neck but I forced my arms down. I had to let death come to me. I just hoped and prayed death would be quick. Suddenly it stopped and a cloaked figure appeared before me. Skull chains and a metal scythe. "Death has come to greet you, dear Y/N. Let's take a walk. Let us go somewhere." The melodic voice called out. It's bony hand stretched out. "Not yet. I need to make a deal with the Grim Reaper!"

Taglist for the iconic readers:

@silentreadersthings @ihrtlix @galaxy4489 @catlove83 @reallychaoticwoo @leezanetheofficial @linocz @hyunmikim @eastjonowhere @skzdreamer13 @mavischerry @kiaralynn3838 @jellyleggz @mihoonz

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

I am now at least far enough away from the incident that I can give some more articulately expressed opinions about Kriemhild and that part of Traum, and also my general bugbears when it comes to Higashide. To really elaborate on them, I want to make a point of comparison to show this isn't just like, bias getting in the way, and that's Caster.

Well Medea. Obviously.

Caster has a really big advantage going for her over characters such as Semiramis and Kriemhild. She has two gigantic and well-written visual novels backing her up. While the first thing you probably think of when it comes to Caster is her relationship to Kuzuki, you can probably think of a bunch of different things that you know Caster for. Caster's relationship to Kuzuki is a big part of her character, but it is not the only part of her character, and most importantly, it adds to her character. It is in and of itself a jumping off point for discussing her relationship with Jason, how that has affected her, and what Caster is looking at her future for.

Bu it's not her entire character. She still has a very complex relationship with Saber, and Hollow Ataraxia's character interactions with her and the rest of the cast are all interesting, not to mention her own interactions with Kojirou either. She exists as a character beyond that, and that is also very likely why Kuzuki is just not a factor in F/GO at all. She is a strongly written character that is recognizable without him.

When it comes to Semiramis and Amakusa, Apocrypha itself is written fine although I don't really believe in the two of them having real chemistry with each other, especially as time has gone on and more of Semiramis backstory has come out, Amakusa feels very written in but without the proper framing to me to make it work. But as time has gone up, unlike with Caster, Semiramis has had her entire character swallowed up by this relationship, even though canonically she shouldn't really remember it. This is obviously to some extent fanservice, but this is a problem, because it means that Semiramis stops existing as her own character. There are entire interludes about her history that are boiled down at the end to just being about Amakusa. If you want to know Semiramis like you would Caster, you can't.

A good relationship adds to the character, it does not BECOME the character. This is especially weird because Amakusa has had a lot of interesting screen time and character writing without Semiramis being present. It starts to feel like there's only really one important character in the mix. There's Amakusa, and Amakusa's girlfriend. That's weird.

Kriemhild is that on turbo, but the issues with her writing go even further. At least with Semiramis, while her relationship with Amakusa is strange, it's not necessarily contradictory. It's definitely odd, but not out of question. Kriemhild, especially for those who have summoned her and didn't go through Traum quickly, is in a contradictory boat. She clearly in her dialogues does not like Siegfried, even if she still loves him, and it's also clear he is directly responsible for a ton of hurt that she felt. This is consistent of what we know of Siegfried, it makes sense that he would do these things, we've already seen him do it in Apocrypha. Here, we are being asked to confront the human cost of that. In Apocrypha, he's not screwing over anyone we care about. But here, he's directly hurting people, and by extension, leading to their death.

Siegfried's actions are not portrayed particularly nobly, they're considered mistakes, at least in part chiefly by Siegfried who wants to live a life doing the right thing now. So it makes sense that Kriemhild would be extremely bitter and angry at him. He...abandoned her, and didn't even explain himself. That's extremely fucked up.

For almost the entire chapter in Traum, we're not given any indication that there is going be a flip-flop in character motivations. Kriemhild is portrayed, consistently, as being antagonistic to Siegfried. She wants her revenge on him, she calls him leftovers, she talks about destroying the world he keeps trying to save. Zhang Jue hides away Siegfried not because he believes that Kriemhild will turn on the realm for him, but because, as a Berserker, Kriemhild is likely to become extremely unstable upon seeing him.

Even later on, when Siegfried approaches Ritsuka and asks for a favor, the most likely conclusion to come to, knowing Siegfried, is that he wants to fulfill his wife's revenge. That makes sense from a character perspective. Siegfried's actions have consistently trended towards those that self-sacrifice to protect others.

The problem when it comes to Kriemhild is that it is both contradictory to what we've been communicated with in the story, and that the end result is that it destroys her character. It is both bad, and quite frankly, very cheap. It's a cheap use of the love conquers all trope. In the span of one to two sentences, Kriemhild implicitly forgives him for everyone that he's done, reverts to a lovey-dovey wife, and even reneges on everything that to this build are the foundation of her existence as a Servant.

It turns Kriemhild into nothing, into what is insanely flat, because all of her depth has been removed. What is left is a character that is entirely one-dimensional. Nothing exists for Kriemhild past her love of Siegfried anymore. There's no discussions about hurt or pain or the twenty years of vengeance beyond Kriemhild immediately turning a double face on it.

There's not a nicer way to put this, so let's just get it out of the way now. Siegfried will continue to be a character independent of Kriemhild. Unlike say, Sigurd, whose character is primarily defined on his relationship with Brynhildr, Siegfried's character is not defined really at all by his relationship to Kriemhild. Kriemhild has no path from here, and as we can glimpse in further events, her character is entirely defined by her relationship with Siegfried. What are her character motivations past this point? Well obviously its not ANY of the ones we took pain to previously establish.

This is classic, textbook, misogynistic writing. Kriemhild has been turned into a lamp.

Siegfried is a very popular character, and I imagine for a lot of people, there is incentive to ignore all of this. Siegfried is getting his happy ending, he's getting his wife back. But if you cared about what Kriemhild's character was, this sucks tremendously. Reconciliation is not off the table, but what happened is not reconciliation. It's not anything resembling that. Kriemhild essentially loses all of her agency, so dramatically she dies after this happens.

Like at least Urobuchi would have just killed her.

[lou-syd]

Rewatched Mad Max: Fury Road recently, read the Furiosa and Max comics (I had issues with it but some interesting ideas were presented in it) and read the script (I am very normal about this) and Angharad is such a fascinating character to me and I had to compile my thoughts about her and what could have been in a very long post lol

After rewatching with the added context of the comics and script I think she could have had such a cool dynamic with Max specifically if she had lived. I get why from a story-telling perspective it was her who died, doomed by the narrative in a way for being the symbol of hope but her survival could have been very interesting to see play out in relation to other characters, in this case, Max because I love character foils. Also it would have been fun to me personally to see her be part of the Vuvalini and rocking Immortan's shit but anyway...

Angharad as a character is crazy layered with how little there is about her beyond the snippets of her that exist in the movie. She exists in this limbo of being a person and a martyr of sorts.

After she dies, in the script, she does predictably play the role of the Catalyst™

And it's her that keeps the little bit of humanity and hope alive.

And that's a turning point for Nux (and Max lowkey)

Max's reaction:

And in the movie she's introduced with a shot focusing on her pregnant belly and holding a hose, spurting out water (which she immediately shuts off as soon as she notices Max is thirsty but more on this later) which are both very important for the world they live in -- literal new life (the prospect of 'healthy babies') and water as life/ sustenance; hence why Immortan controls the world.

As a foil to Max, she's the idealist. He's past caring about anything beyond survival.

That's not to say she isn't pragmatic. She knows the world they live in and how they have to survive in it. For example, her stance on violence. She knows violence in this world is nearly inevitable but it doesn't mean they have to participate in it if they can avoid it. She reminds Furiosa that they agreed on no unnecessary killing. She can see past the cultish reverence the War Boys have for Immortan to see the reality:

There's also this part in the script:

The comic opens by pointing out that Immortan had allowed for the Wives to have an education and a teacher which ultimately turned out to be his downfall:

And I think that sums up her character pretty well. She's clearly internalized this knowledge from the way she spits back her philosophies and how dogmatic she is about her beliefs. When Cheedo tries to run back after her death, the others remind her 'we are not things' and that these were her words. Which points to the messages left in the vault after they escaped (Who killed the world, we are not things, our babies will not be warlords, etc.) being her words if not literally written by her as a last fuck you to Immortan.

So then Max gets added to the mix.

In the movie and script, there's a sense that he recognizes that among the Wives she's their sort of 'leader' (at least by my interpretation) with how he tends to focus on her and maybe to an extent sees her connection with Furiosa as something of value for his self-preservation among these women hence it's her he holds at gunpoint and makes stay as leverage when they make it to the canyon pass.

It's also her that walks past him and back to the rig even after he just overpowered Furiosa and had a gun in his hand with no qualms about using it. Which the script makes a point of:

It's her that tells Toast she doesn't have to do as Max tells her when they all first get on the rig together and he's securing all the weapons.

She's defiant. Her idealism is still pragmatic and it has teeth. She fights back with what she can -- putting herself in front of Furiosa in the movie (Max in the script) knowing Immortan won't take the shot, immediately jumping out of the rig to cut Max free, shutting off the hose when she notices Max is thirsty while he's holding them at gunpoint, giving the others hope and pushing them to escape.

Putting herself in front of Furiosa/Max also comes after the scene where Furiosa tosses her a gun to reload. Angharad can't reload the gun, she doesn't know how. Toast has to do it. But she can leverage what she has to protect them.

She refuses to lay down even if she might not be 'battle-hardened' in the way Furiosa and Max clearly are, or even Toast who clearly has so more real world experience.

I mean she looks at the man holding her at gunpoint like this:

She's a survivor, like him. And in the subtext, Max recognizes that.

They are so different and have lived vastly different lives. I'm sticking with the chronology of the three first films for Max even if it's super wonky timeline-wise but since Max's comic includes his original established history I'm going with that.

Max is haunted by the ghost of his past, the people he couldn't save. He was a father, a husband, he's alone in the world by the start of the movie and ends every movie alone. He kills if he must, if it's the fastest and easiest option, and moves on. He's succumbed to ennui but still wants to live. He's an aimless drifter, living day to day with no real goals beyond that. The comic describes hims as 'seeking contact only when necessity demanded it of him.' Max has to be forced to care but he's still capable of doing so.

But what has caring brought him but more loss.

Angharad cares a lot. It's her defense. She takes on being a pillar for four other women who suffer the same violent abuses and that's all she has until Furiosa gives them an out. She's not alone, hasn't been for a while. She has hope, she's suffered horribly and pushes on. They survive, in their own way.

It's also Angharad who really believed in the Green Place and likely passed that on to the others (Toast affirming that they're going to the Green Place no matter what after her death) and that includes Max.

As it stands, I do think their characters are sort of connected to each other. If you squint, Max indirectly caused her death. She couldn't regain her footing to get back on the rig because she slipped on her own blood, blood from the wound he inflicted.

And all this is to say that, it would have been very interesting to see them evolve and where that would have taken them. Past cruelties forgiven, a debt owed, and a bond forged -- what would that have looked like for these two? Would she have been on board with his idea to go back to the Citadel and reclaim it? How would she have reacted to the Green Place not existing anymore? To the Vuvalini? Would she have had to cash in on that 'debt' when they faced off against Immortan? So many what-ifs.

Sidenote: I also think her relationship with Furiosa could have been neat to see evolve if she had lived. Like, she's the one that spurred the others into action after Furiosa was forced to leave them. She directly says Furiosa showed them to be stronger.

[itsduckinghard]

INTERVIEW

James May: ‘I don’t think you realise quite what a catch I am’

The TV presenter, 61, talks about motoring, middle age and the perils of running a pub

Friday December 20 2024

James May thinks he was slightly drunk when the words came tumbling out of his mouth. “Possibly also a bit aggrieved and feeling a bit pompous,” he adds with a shrug. That’s when he told his long-term partner Sarah Frater: “I don’t think you realise quite what a catch I am.”

May is sitting in the study of his west London home. He shows me a home-made cushion with those words beautifully cross-stitched into it. “Sarah thought it was so funny she went away and immortalised it for me,” he says. “Whenever I sit on it I feel I’m the man I always wanted to be.”

May is about to turn 62. He looks ruddy-cheeked and happy having just enjoyed a weekend of playing music (piano and flute), cooking, cycling and “making things”. Of course, he’s best known as one of the larking uber-bloke presenters of the BBC’s Top Gear and latterly Amazon’s The Grand Tour, but it sounds like he’s ready to take himself a bit more seriously.

“Maybe it’s just reaching the age where you don’t care so much what others think,” he says. “My resolution for 2025 is: be a bloke. Don’t be ashamed of it. I think blokes are having a bit of a hard time at the moment. That’s not to say women are not too, but there is a small but vocal group who hold middle-aged men in contempt. We are supposedly boomers who had it too easy but I don’t believe that. I think most men are OK and need to stand up for themselves a bit more. Our job is to be practical, dependable, philosophical and, yes, poets to some extent.”

May was always the thoughtful, practical, dependable one in his long-running partnership with Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson, and was christened Captain Slow by the latter for his efforts. The trio announced their retirement from The Grand Tour earlier this year. Last month May started a new Discovery+ series called James May and the Dull Men, on which he lugubriously talked us through his collection of Japanese chisels. Is he basically in mourning?

“No. I think Jeremy, Richard and I gave the format a really good thrashing and now it’s time to let a younger generation have a go,” he says generously. “The idea was to land the car show format safely and not fly it into a cliff. We only cleared the cliff by a few feet but I think it will survive. I do my best to be a contemporary human being and embrace new ideas, but we were very much rooted in an Eighties and Nineties view of what motoring is about. It needs a fresh take because the subject has never been more interesting.”

On paper it’s been a tough year. May was paid a reputed £7 million a season for The Grand Tour and his travelogue series (also on Amazon) Our Man in … was also cancelled this year. “But I’m not one to sit around in an easy chair farting and thinking about what’s for dinner,” he says. “There is still so much I’m interested in — things I’ve neglected while rolling my eyes at Jeremy in exotic locations.”

Despite their obvious differences (May has previously called Clarkson “an arse”), the two men share similar interests. Clarkson opened a Cotswolds pub, the Farmer’s Dog, in August, four years after May bought a share of the Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire, near where he has a second home. Clarkson also co-owns a brewery, while May has launched his own line of gin with the help of a Wiltshire microbrewery.

He insists this isn’t a simple branding exercise. He actually sat down with a local distiller and they came up with a rather esoteric range of botanicals that includes Asian Parsnip, which fuses “the dampness of England” with his love of Asia, and London Drizzle, which was inspired by “the smell of rain on hot London pavements”.

That sounds like a joke, but don’t say that to May lest you unshackle the nerd within. “No, no, no, it’s a real thing,” he insists. “After rain in the capital the water re-enlivens decaying organic herbaceous matter and their spores give rise to the distinct petrichor smell. With exactly the right type of beetroot, juniper and other ingredients you can create that flavour. It’s wonderful.”

If May is excited by his venture (it seems odd there isn’t a Captain Sloe Gin), he is having a tougher time with his pub. He was approached by a TV company to make a series about his struggles similar to Clarkson’s hit show about running a farm, but said no. “I declined because it’s a brutally hard business, and who wants to watch a man throwing his savings down the toilet?” he asks. We run through some of the landlordly hardships. Prawns are now so expensive they’ve had to remove them from the menu. The septic tank needs attention. The 18th-century building needs constant repair. “Basically there’s an endless list of countryside bollocks to attend to,” he sighs.

But you can tell May knows what he’s doing because Clarkson, despite having barred both May and the prime minister Keir Starmer from the Farmer’s Dog on the day it opened, has actually been in contact asking for advice on how to run it.

“Jeremy Zoom-called me to ask whether it was a worthwhile project and I told him, ‘Do it for your community, but don’t expect to make money.’ Even a really, really good pub will only break even. Most fail and the budget has only made things harder.”

May insists he is a terrible businessman and will not make any money from his pub or gin ventures. However, booze is clearly central to his life. While away filming The Grand Tour, he and Hammond formed James & Richard’s Drunk Philosophical Debating Society, in which they’d get sloshed and discuss conundrums such as: “How do you know a dog is a dog?”

“I have yet to hear a satisfactory theory,” he says. “The variety of shapes and sizes is much broader than with cats, so how do you define it?”

What with the gin, the pub and being a vintage wine connoisseur, I know a lot of people who’d think … “Yes, I know, I know,” he says before I can finish. “People assume you are a raging alcoholic.”

Do you drink every day? “Yes, it’s fairly unusual for me to go an evening without a drink. I have a very strict six o’clock rule, though sometimes I’m watching the clock at half-five. Of an evening I will often have a gin and tonic, some wine and a few beers in the pub. I don’t think it’s harmful. I think it’s good. I recommend it wholeheartedly because even though it’s cliché to say, ‘It’s a social lubricant,’ it’s true. Drinking makes it easier for shy people to have sex, which means more children and therefore a bigger workforce.” May and his partner never had children. In the past he has said it was too late for them (they met when he was in his late thirties), even that older parents raising children was “unfair”.

“Maybe ‘unfair’ was a bit strong,” he says. “But when I was at school there was a boy whose dad was the same age as my granddad and it felt weird. And that actor who recently had a child with a much younger woman? [He means Al Pacino, who became a father again at 83 with his 29-year-old partner.] He’s not going to be around very much is he? Then again, you can be young and still not be around much, so who knows?”

May would be a great dad, I say. All that practical knowledge. What child wouldn’t want to see their father attempt to cook dinner in a washing machine (one of May’s recent experiments in the Dull Men series)? “I have a ready audience of nieces and nephews,” he says. “But listen, if anyone wants their child to learn how to fix a puncture, send them to me.”

He and Sarah will spend Christmas at home with family in London and then head to the Royal Oak for new year celebrations. May says they do a very good feast which includes wines and his gin. He has even got over the fact they removed his signature fish pie from the menu without telling him.

“It was there for about three days but then quietly withdrawn,” he says. “Sometimes in life you have to accept that people know better than you. That might sound like something I saw cross-stitched on to a cushion too, but it’s also true.”

James May’s perfect weekend

Wine or spirits? Both

Car or bike? Bicycle because it is one of the greatest inventions of all time

Piano or flute? Piano

Gammon or woke? Even with all its problems, woke

Bar queue or bar scrum? Scrum

I couldn’t get through my weekend without … … a gin and tonic