#but some people thought that meant destroy the statues and some people thought that meant protect the statues

[antimony-medusa]

every single creator in purgatory that I clicked into across the entire event was focused on saving the eggs, across all three teams, regardless of when I clicked into stream or what time it was for them, they just didn't have a concensus across all three teams about how best to play the game to save the eggs.

[hoshigray]

hear me out🙏 imagine student body president!sukuna and delinquent!reader😍 same scenario but just switched

𝐚. 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: i hear you, loud AND clear !!

⊹ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: student body president! Sukuna x bratty delinquent fem/afab! reader - explicit content; minors DNI - modern setting; you and kuna are college seniors - oral (m! + slight f! receiving) - face + throat fucking - clitoral play (sucking) - impact play (cheek + pussy slaps) - fingering (f! receiving) - standing + piledriver positions - unprotected sex - overstimulation - dumbification - degradation (brat, cumslut, pig, slut, whore) - blackmail - dick piercing (frenulum) - mention of drool/spit and tears.

⊹ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1.7k

If there’s one thing that Sukuna loves more than anything, it’s power.

For Sukuna, the pinnacle of power is not just a status but a destiny he believes is his alone. In his heart of hearts, he knows he is the one who can keep this school in check, his control palpable in every corner of the campus.

Having Ryōmen Sukuna as the student body president of the senior class was either the best or worst thing, depending on who was asked. Although intimidated by some faculty and professors, they saw him as a significant influence on maintaining the students’ behavior for the college’s image. As for his peers, some would vouch that he was the scariest person they've ever met within their college student’s behaviors on campus. As for the students…whether they made sure not to get in the salmon-pink-haired man’s way, did as they were told, or generally avoided getting in his bad side all around, the truth was known in the air: Sukuna is a force not meant to be reckoned with. 

So, dealing with people who stand in his line of power will be dealt with — especially brats like you.

You were the biggest thorn in Sukuna’s side, a true innocent fool who dared disobey him without fear of consequence. For one, you were such a disrespectful minx, always speaking to him with such a foul mouth as if his aura that frightens others doesn’t shake you down. You bat your eyes at him during his lectures, dumb doe eyes that flutter with dull eyelids as if not a single word from his mouth was processed in that mind of yours as you’ll just wound up doing the exact shit again within a week or less. You have no amount of respect for his superior status, treating Sukuna like some big shot. 

“Tah, you don’t scare me, Prez!” You mocked with a laugh. “You and your little tattoos can go somewhere and make the other babies piss their pants and leave me the hell alone. Mind your business and stay outta mine.”

God, to say you were insufferable was scratching the surface. Sukuna can admit that nothing in his last year of college would allow him to experience absolute euphoria than crushing that childish grin off your face. It’s all he can think about whenever he has the misfortune of seeing your name or catching your face in the halls on his way to lectures and meetings.

But then again, if he can’t discipline you in the way he wanted on school grounds, it doesn’t mean you’re safe from him on the outside.

And then, like a miracle to his prayers, he finally had the dirt to give him all the more motivation. His second in command, Uraume, had found some evidence of your inappropriate behavior on the school’s campus. Pictures and videos alike, his smile grew bigger the deeper he looked into it.

Images of you flashing your bare tits in what seems to be a party in one of the dormitories and some drunk guy motorboating your chest, another of you smoking weed in one of the laboratories, which were undoubtedly smoke-free, and one portraying you fingering yourself in while sucking off one of the basketball athletes in the gymnasium men’s locker room. And the cherry on top was explicit videos of yourself that would tarnish the school’s reputation and have you expelled in seconds — absolute music to Sukuna’s ears. 

The thought of destroying your image and exposing you to the filthy bitch you have put a spark of joy in the student body president’s cruel heart. But what would the fun be if he threw this evidence out all at once? He was a man who loved to drag out the torture of his victims. So, when he pulls you aside, to your dismay, and showcases the dirt he has on you, the look on your face? Not even a picture would be enough for him to enjoy such a glorious reaction. He never thought he’d see where you’d beg and plead to him on your knees, only fueling the superiority within his stance.

However, he likes to play with his food. So, he’ll put his hands up, “Alright, fine, I won’t take this to the higher-up…” yet the smirk didn’t match the comfort expressed. “On one condition.”

And for said condition? To use you and see your talents for himself.

“Damn, this mouth really knows how to work, huh?”

Oh, to be fucking your face in the student body government lounge isn’t something he’d expect. But holy shit, is he not fucking complaining. He throws his head back as his pelvis relentlessly smacks the plump of your soapy lips. His hands grabbed your head and forced you onto his length, which you were crying on like crazy.

Tears roll down your face; the harshness of his ruts sting like hell. You could only grip his jeans to steady, yet the more he bullies his dick into your throat, your train of thought becomes more impossible to follow through. 

He slaps your cheeks, “Pay attention, bitch,” he curses from above and yanking you by the ear. “Loosen that jaw of yours and suck me off like the cumslut you are.”

Your glare gratifies him, watching you obey his words and hollow your cheeks. Jesus, the tightness of your throat has shivers crawl to his shoulders.

“Mmmff! Mmmm!!” Your muffled whimpers were all his ears could pick up on, and they made him sigh heavenly. He peers down to meet such a naughty image: your lips coated in saliva and his precum bubbling and piling with every snap and pull of his hips. Your tears and furrowed brows gave him the hugest ego boost of his life, making the devilish superior push feverishly into your mouth. 

“—Mnnph! Yesss, yeah, that’s right; keep cryin’, you fucking brat.”  Fuck, he’s so fucking close; your mouth and tongue were doing mad work for him to release, busting his load into your throat and succumbing to you to drink and accept his semen.

Balls deep to your lips, saliva mixes with salty tears, striking down your chin. You swallow every bit of him with a satisfied hum, eyes rolling up when he grinds his pelvis for his dick to go deeper.

But that doesn’t mean you should rest — hell no. Sukuna rips his erect limb out of your mouth and pushes you to your back with a kick. You couldn’t interject as he pushed your legs to your chest. An exotic position that exposes the damp spot of your thong from your lifted skirt. 

The president tsks at the display with a sneer. “Fucking slut, so wet from just sucking me off.” He slides the underwear and is welcomes to your scent and taste when he glides his tongue to your clit. “You really are a fucking bitch in heat, huh?”

His tongue pets and laps around your labia, lubing your vagina with his spit while slurping your essence that messes around your inner thighs. You’re choked up, whining from his tongue fucking the entrance of you and licking your clit.

“—Ohoo! Hoohh, Sukunaa, pleaseee,” you slurred from the suck of your clit, his tongue pushing it and grazing his teeth with the delicate bud. “Hahhhfuckk, put it innn, ‘Kuna, I want—Daaahaa!!” You cried at the slap of your cunt, stinging your sensitive clit from the rough palm of his hand.

“Don’t tell me what to do, brat,” another smack to your slit as you cough up spit. “Such a broad, only thinking with just your pussy.” Although, he had to admit, seeing your pussy wink from his hits and teases made his pride sing. With a low chuckle, he straightens up, your anticipation climbing up when he brings his middle and forefinger to wet with saliva.

Yet a record scratches at the feel of something wet around your asshole, the digits pushing and teasing your puckered entrance. Begs fly out you’re mouth, but they substitute with a scream when his fingers manage to insert inside and massage around your walls.

“What, you thought I was just gonna play with that pussy like you wanted?” He laughs at your cries, stroking his ego from your anus, clamping onto him with the scrape of his fingernails. “You got some nerve; only dirty pigs like you get dirty rewards.” You gasp at the withdrawal of his fingers, and he whistles at the sight. “So here ya go, little slut…”

Sukuna aligns his cock to your rear, pushing it with no care for your lack of preparation. You scream at the insert of his cockhead and piercing, and the stretch that comes along his inches burrowing inside causes more tears to fall. But not in pain—the expression on your face showed no sign of resentment. 

“Haaahh, yeeesshh,” your hands come to the back of your ass to help the position you’re in, the angle making your writhing figure jolt. And it gets better once Sukuna’s hips go at a mediocre pace. “Shooo goood…!!”

Your hands find Sukuna’s ankles when his frenulum piercing jabs you with precision with the increase of his erratic thrusts. High pitches and shrieks fill the student body lounge, skin slapping against each other, creating an inappropriate sound. Like Sukuna cares, though; fucking your ass on the floor with no grace — so much for a president.

“—Khheh, hooohshiiit, pig can’t even speak properly, making such a ruckus.” It’s true; you showed no restraint in concealing your wails. If anything, they get louder and louder with the clasp of your butthole on his length, drool spilling from your agape mouth. “Noisy ass acting all dumb on my cock.” 

The graze of his piercing gets worse every second; shit feels way too good, like his balls smacking down your ass. But you couldn’t foresee his next move; Sukuna slipped his middle finger inside your chasm and wiggled around your vagina. A strong yelp erupts from your body from the “come hither” motion that scratches your upper walls, and you can’t help but let yourself go.

Your climax has you howling, your holes contracting with force from every passing wave that rocks your core. You pant heavily, milking the dick that continues to plunge into your ass, Sukuna groaning at the grasp of your anus and the walls around his middle finger. 

He then pulls his digit out and brings it to his mouth, sucking your liquids with a smirk. “Not bad, broad.”

© 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲2024 – reblogs and comments are appreciated wholeheartedly ☆ header edit done by me + dividers by @/animatedglittergraphics-n-more.

[qqueenofhades]

I also think leftists view liberals and centrists as worse than right wingers because liberals and centrists maintain the status quo, thus prolonging capitalism. In the case of accelerationists, they think a revolution is only possible if people are desperate enough to want one and so they often align themselves with right wingers who they know will make things worse (see MAGA communism as one example). To them it doesn't matter if the fascists will take power because they believe fascism always fails and communism will naturally follow. All the deaths will be worth it in the end.

I hit ask before I finished. I meant to add in parentheses that all of that is of course an oversimplification, but those are pretty much the arguments I saw in multiple leftists subreddit, on tumblr and twitter in the past few months. I know leftists irl are more normal.

See, this is what I mean when I point out that Online Leftists have become just as much of a zero-sum radicalized death cult as the MAGA Trumpists. They're willing to embrace any atrocity, global disaster, terrible people, and massive death toll as long as they think it'll bring their Shining Ideology (TM) to fruition, and then of course this will last a thousand years and never be changed and humans will bow down as a group to this Shining Ideology and destroying everything will be Worth It In The End. Apparently. This is complete ahistorical genocidal nihilistic gibberish, where any progress to fix the world and make a better future for the billions of people alive right now is actually Bad because What About the Glorious Revolution?!?! It is Totally Real! It Will Work! O Bow To Us Great Keyboard Warrior Dipshits! If You Don't Want to Violently Die With Everyone You Love, You Are Part of the Problem!!!!!

Now, I don't know about you, but I sure as fuck don't feel like sacrificing everyone and everything is a great tradeoff for whatever Communist Utopia these cosplaying pissbabies think would be the ultimate fruition of their labors. It's lazy, it's dangerous, it's stupid, it excuses them from ever having to do any effort to make the world better right now, and it feeds into the worst impulses and movements of humanity and the same mistakes that have been repeated in history over and over. This is basically what the late 19th-century and early 20th-century Communists thought: people would rise up in a Great Socialist Revolution, overthrow capitalism and fascism and every other bad thing in the world (which would somehow never ever come back, I guess) and then the future would be bright and shining forever. In practice, it resulted in tons of bloody and pointless deaths, a lot of failure, and some communist regimes that were absolutely zero improvement whatsoever on the oppressive systems they had replaced (and often were in fact MORE oppressive, but online leftists don't listen to people who actually grew up in these regimes and are not eager to see them come back). And guess what? Capitalism and fascism were not actually defeated Once and For All Time! Because yet again, you cannot just Violently Revolute your way to Ultimate Morally Pure Power once and for all, kill the Right People (aka everyone) and then everything is fixed forever. If it was ever going to work, it would have already done so. It has not. This fallacy is the cause of pretty much all the evil in human history. So. Yeah.

[millyrocking]

a summary (with some colorful commentary) of great rivalries: bret hart and shawn michaels

-i have to mention that bret is wearing a black button down that’s open enough for you to see his chest and shawn’s button down has no sleeves.

-bret’s hair has lightened up to a nice honey brown here. it looks good.

- bret and jim liked working with rockers from the start because they were fast and had great athleticism

- shawn thanked bret for being nice abt his past as a rocker.

- the rockers bad behavior was often excused because they were great in ring performers.

-shawn comes off as very anxious to me. i don’t know if it’s because of bret or having to speak about his past behavior but he’s fidgeting a lot.

- shawn always looks to bret when he’s talking but bret looks at jim ross almost the entire time. he glances to shawn here and there.

- bret remembers EVERYTHING. im so sorry but i take his word over shawn’s any time.

- bret: “shawn and marty had that sexy boy kind of look”

- shawn said that the rockers and hart foundation were a good pair up because hart foundation didn’t down them for being small like the other guys did

- bret could do a verbal telling of the history of wwf from 84-95 seriously. his memory is impeccable.

- bret being so upset abt the rope breaking during the rockers vs hart foundation title match — telling the ref and everybody to stop the match so they could fix it

- the match went to hell and bret said it was the first time he was lost in a match — bret was so sick about the rope 😭

- bret and shawn had the first ladder match in wwe history plus fun fact it was bret who brought ladder matches to wwe bc they did them in stampede wrestling

- bret was camera shy when he was starting out in wwf

- the way shawn looks at bret when he’s talking aww he’s locked in

- from 80s to early 90s — bret said it transition from the dinosaurs to the mammals

- bret always gives shawn props on how good he was in this interview which is nice bc i guess shawn really needs to hear that specifically from bret

- before wwf — shawn was taught to destroy rivals and be cutthroat but wwf was more obsessed with how big you are — the bigger you are in size, the more status

- shawn and bret got along from day 1

- it was curt (hennig), bret and shawn as a little trio back in the early 90s

- bret said him, curt and shawn used to play baseball with an axe handle when they had down time 🥺

- bret considered shawn one of his besties, shawn visited his kids (early 90s) — i posted an interview excerpt about this from bret

- it’s scary that back then wrestlers were all drug addicts to varying degrees — bret and shawn have lost so many friendships over drug use and death wow

- bret often went to bat for shawn to upper management— always put in a good word for him to vince

- bret said shawn was one of the best athletes to come into wrestling

- bret always wanted to pass the torch to shawn. it was always in his plans.

- i think maybe shawn was so pissed with bret because he wanted to be bret’s equal in the business and not the guy who’s running behind him to get the baton?

- shawn and bret drew close to each other because they shared a common value: no matter the crowd and circumstance, work as hard as you can

- shawn: “people would be surprised at how many events there were where it was shawn and bret celebrating together”

- while bret was winning belts, shawn was struggling with drug issues — then the kliq formed

- iron man match — bret and shawn were still friends but drifting slowly

- bret liked kevin nash and thought he supported him during his tenure at wwf

- shawn turned babyface and came in bret’s babyface lane — a spark of friction here

- bret felt that him being champion meant nothing to wwf, felt he was a placeholder for someone else to get the belt and felt disrespected because he’s turning out classic matches and getting nothing for it - yet shawn put out less work and gets handed the belt — animosity kinda started there — bret felt upper management wasn’t treating him right even though bret thought he was more over than he ever was

- so bret sorta left

- bret didn’t feel like shawn was interested in sharing the wealth, wanted to keep it for the kliq — told bret he had plans to basically only work w the kliq — shawn doesn’t remember this convo allegedly but doesn’t doubt he said this

- shawn: the futurist — the business needed to get edgier — he’s kinda tony stark coded to me

- bret: the traditionalist — VERY steve rogers coded like i can’t make this shit up 😭

- bret felt he was the leader of the locker room — most wrestlers voiced their concerns to him — bret the den mother

- what kinda pisses me off is i feel like bret never got to be the super megastar that he should’ve been like the rock, stone cold, hulk hogan, john cena were — he should’ve been THE quintessential 90s superstar wrestler (he probably was and since i wasn’t born yet i just dont know)

- hitman fans are an oppressed group. they were always screwing over his character 😭

- bret and shawn choreographed the iron man match together— bret’s so happy abt this match because it went perfectly. went exactly the way they planned.

- shawn called bret the next day or so to thank him

- the 2 min overtime was a work — we should all know that

- shawn’s attitude after the iron man match — pushing earl away when he’s clipping the belt, no handshake was a work

- shawn told earl to get bret the hell out of the ring — bret didn’t have a problem with this, just felt it was a speed thing — just something that came out to get things moving and keep time

- after the match — owen called bret and said the locker room really thinks you and shawn hate each other bc you didn’t shake hands — bret loved this heat because it would create good money for the both of them

- shawn and bret had a convo abt their heat being a work

- bret was proud of shawn’s champion run in 96 — thought he did a good job

- bret planned to throw jabs at shawn when he returned in oct 96 as a work so he could play the bitter and disgraced ex champ who’s coming back to get what’s his

- clip of a fan calling bret a pretty boy (i agree)

- i swear shawn never finishes a sentence. real.

- shawn’s wild asf for saying “stu hart is dead and walked around calgary as if he’s still alive” in 97. im sorry if i were bret id wanna beat his ass any chance i got too 😭

- i think their worked heat turned into a shoot (using all the terminology) in summer 97 bc of their promos — they were talking too much shit about each other it started to get kinda real

- bret negotiated the biggest contract in wcw at the time

- shawn and his “knee injury” — no one believed it and im sorry i dont either 😭 — bret was upset bc he thought shawn was being selfish and putting more work onto the guys to carry the company while he does backflips in his shorts and loafers

- my theory is shawn faked this knee injury to get out of dropping the belt to bret at wrestlemania xiii — probably felt pissed about him having the biggest contract, hailed for saving wwf ratings, being able to take a long ass break (even though technically bret’s previous contract ended) and come back to be top of the card

- but its okay because bret vs stone cold at wrestlemania xiii is a classic — my second favorite bret match — i think him and shawn’s iron man match is my all time fave

- bret said something about shawn’s parents being embarrassed about the playgirl shoot — this set shawn off

- shawn said for some reason he really wanted bret’s pat on the back, his validation and affirmation

- bret thought him and shawn were always on the same page about their fake heat

- bret felt shafted by shawn for the wrestlemania switch, felt shawn let the company down

- all the things bret ever said about shawn was strictly about his character

- bret and shawn would work out what they were gonna say about each other (in 97) and shawn would be like “great 😄👍🏼” but then bret would come back into the locker room and shawn would be like “😢” while everyone was like “great work bret! 😁” — shawn smiles and laughs as bret says this

- bret thought the “pat on the back” that shawn was looking for was incoming, all he wanted to do was build up shawn and make him even bigger than he was. bret knew his time was coming to an end and always had plans for shawn to be his successor but bret admits that he was way too realistic with the heat and it ruined his and shawn’s relationship

- shawn felt that him and his character were one, attacking shawn michaels the wrestler, the kayfabe was attacking shawn the person

- bret didn’t like shawn’s stripping in the ring as a babyface then him bringing kids in the ring to dance with him — bret felt it was wrong — they had a light disagreement here

- shawn didn’t have the capacity at the time to put his feelings aside for business because he felt insecure about his public perception

- bret just wanted to get money with shawn, he feels horrible for damaging the trust between them — didn’t understand how much heat he had with shawn until the sunny days promo

- bret probably wouldn’t care too much about the sunny days comment if his kids and family weren’t asking him if he’s cheating w sunny

- i think the actual start of the real beef was “bret’s announcement” promo where shawn sweet chin musics bret into his wheelchair —- bret went on too long because he couldn’t hear his cue in his headset due to the noise of the crowd so he made them go off air and shawn didn’t get to do the kick before the cameras cut. shawn was LIVID about this bc he felt bret did it on purpose to humiliate him and be able to berate him live with shawn not being able to retaliate.

- shawn says him and bret would have convos where bret would say “just trust me” but felt bret had it out for him and this promo was proof so now shawn was talking the gloves off and refusing to respect bret —- then he did the sunny days promo

- “the cat fight in hartford” as bret calls it came after the sunny days promo

- apparently after all this, they were still on decent terms. (also random fun fact that was not told in this interview: the costume ladies stopped making bret’s ring attire because he beat up shawn in hartford). bret was told him and shawn had a wrestlemania spot (xiv im guessing shawn says he didn’t know that) so he told shawn he had no problem putting him over. shawn said “thank you and i appreciate that but i would never do the same for you”— neidhart and ken shamrock were there

- bret says the next day, he goes to tulsa, ok tv tapings (its crazy that he remembers such details) and vince says bret you have to drop the belt in montreal to shawn but bret tells vince what shawn said about not putting him over

- vince said im gonna get shawn and you’ll repeat what you just said, vince finds him and just says “im gonna put the belt on you shawn” and shawn starts acting fake and praises bret

- so bret did not want to put shawn over because he disrespected him

- one thing that people always get wrong about the lead up to the screwjob that pisses me off is that they think bret had a huge vendetta against shawn and didn’t want to drop to him or anyone, wanted to carry the belt to wcw and he didn’t wanna lose in canada EVER and that bret was being a difficult bitch in the midst of this when bret has said time and time again this was not true:

1. bret had no problem dropping the belt to shawn initially. he was happy to do it but shawn telling bret he wouldn’t put him over is what ruined it.

2. bret had no intention of bringing the belt to wcw ever. he and vince went over many ways that he could drop the belt — on raw, the next in your house, ss. it was never an issue. and he said he would’ve dropped it to ANYONE. so no the screwjob was not a “business decision” like triple h, stone cold and undertaker claim. i could get that it was supposed to be business as in they needed to start the attitude era and shawn was supposed to be the face of the company for that and needed the belt but stone cold could’ve gotten it and have a stone cold vs shawn match and spend more time beefing up dx. drop to undertaker — shawn vs undertaker again in a rematch after that in your house hell in a cell. there were ways. plus the way they went about it kinda breached bret’s contract but thats another post (i could really do a montreal screwjob post if anyone is interested because i know basically EVERY public detail about it now).

3. “ooh bret just didn’t wanna lose in canada!!” okay is that so bad? that’s his biggest audience and home country. plus they don’t run that many shows there anyway so why can’t we let bret have that? also bret said he would’ve dropped the belt in ottawa and where is that? okay then.

-triple h having a say in this decision is very weird to me. hunter said “fuck bret not wanting to drop the belt to shawn. if he doesn’t wanna do business, we’ll do it for him” he egged on the double cross. im also confused as to why shawn and triple h are in the management room like they’re execs and why are we going over finishes without the second party of the match? thats not how its supposed to be done.

-for bret, it was all about respect. for shawn, it was about validation. i just don’t get why it was so important to get it from bret. maybe because bret’s a vet? he knows the business in and out, has played almost every role central to pro wrestling, from a wrestling royalty family — possibly bret not validating shawn felt like a burial of his talent? like the expert who has seen almost all the greats can’t recognize that same greatness in him which makes him feel like he’s not as good as he thinks he is?

-if im hearing this correctly, shawn didn’t know how the double cross was going to go. he knew it was going to happen but not exactly how.

-bret and shawn had a final heart to heart the day of or hours before the screwjob, talking about their problems, how they were fucked up in their connection and trying to reestablish some trust going into the SS match — shawn starts crying a bit here because he feels so guilty about his involvement in the screwjob

-shawn felt he had a huge weight on lap with the decision to carry out the screwjob or change the finish— he said he did what he was told because he felt like a little soldier for the company (for vince)

-shawn said this was easily one of the lowest points in his career

-vince wanted to take full responsibility for the screwjob but shawn is ?? abt that bc shawn is gonna be the one in the locker room and the matches so who’s really gonna feel the heat?

-bret didn’t punch or rough up shawn after the screwjob because he didn’t know if shawn was really involved or not and would feel bad if he physically hurt him while he was innocent. bret said he would feel bad about it for the rest of his life.

-bret had 275 days in his contract for 97 but did 310 days

-bret was devastated about this double cross — bret holds back tears after he says this

-bret felt more betrayed by shawn than vince. he said if it were the other way around and they wanted bret to screw shawn, “there would be nothing they do or say to get me to do that”

- bret categorizes himself as “one of the boys” not a “company guy”

-even after everything, bret still had respect for shawn

-i understand why bret was so absolutely pissed about the double cross because 300 days for 14 years — sick, hurt, missing family, leaving on christmas just for them to say fuck you and get the fuck out

-side note: bret tells shawn canada doesn’t hate you because of the screwjob but because you dry humped the flag

-not to be extra but there’s an interlude here where wwe sums up their lives post screwjob and bret’s section is just absolutely devastating (becsuse his life after really was) — owen’s death, his concussion, his mom died, davey boy died, his stroke, his dad dies after (thats a LOT of trauma over the span of 6 years) while shawn’s section is just like yeah he broke his back but had an amazing, spectacular, spiritually fulfilling journey where like fine wine he got better with time like alright…

-bret says he was so angry about everything related to wwe that he felt like “parachuting in[to raw] with a machine gun”. he wondered how he could arrange it 😭

-tyson kidd told bret that shawn still feels bad about what happened (i think this was 2009?) and wanted to call bret to talk. bret told tyson to give shawn his number. bret waited for shawn to call for a year and asked tyson why he hadn’t.

-the big motivator for bret to reach out to shawn was the wrestlemania xxv match with shawn and undertaker— bret was so proud of him and undertaker and wanted to call shawn to congratulate him.

-shawn didn’t call bret because he was scared (shawn says this so bluntly). he wanted to make up with bret so badly that he couldn’t handle bret being closed off to reconciliation.

-the make up in the ring was very genuine.

-shawn is very torn up about the fact that he didn’t have the ability back then to…not be an asshole. he wished he was a better person and he got a little worked up and choked up about the fact that he was not. it devastates him that his poor decisions and emotional stability ruined his connection with bret.

-shawn also says with the utmost conviction: “for whatever reason, i just wanted bret hart to like me”

- there’s a very cute clip here from the interview day (theyre in some other room) where bret makes some joke, shawn laughs and grabs bret’s arm while bret smiles 😊

-clip of bret and shawn strolling the dock, just chatting

-bret on forgiving shawn: “it pulled this weight off of shawn. it set him free which in turn set me free”

-clip of bret showing shawn something on his phone

-shawn is just so happy to have made up with bret. you could tell he missed him.

-the final line of the interview from jim ross is “hope lives. thank you.” the drama of it all.

[autumnmobile12]

I've seen more than a few posts by now asking why Horikoshi doesn't just kill Dabi off by now, and frankly I agree with that question. Let's be honest, killing him would be a mercy at this point and in spite of everything he's done, I don't thinking another prolonged coma with sporadic moments of consciousness is a punishment that fits the crime. He killed 30+ people, caused mass destruction, and tried to overturn an entire society.

Giving some crossover insight, Light Yagami probably killed millions with the Death Note, and I don't think even he would deserve the fate Dabi got. His poetic justice was he was an arrogant psychopath who died a pathetic death in a warehouse. The vampires of Castlevania Netflix have killed and tortured millions of people over the centuries they've been alive and out of all of them, I think only Erzsébet Báthory might deserve that fate, and that's only because she's ascended to goddess status and may be unkillable at this point and eternal imprisonment might be the only option.

So why doesn't Horikoshi kill Dabi off already?

Well....Horikoshi does have a problem with killing off characters unless its for shock value. There's no reason Nighteye, Magne, or Midnight had to die other than shock value. Most other characters that are killed off are barely in the series long enough to consider them a noteworthy death.

You could argue that Magne's death was to show that Overhaul was a new villain that meant business, but given the fact Overhaul doesn't kill or maim any other character the same way unless it's one of his nameless henchmen, his power doesn't prove to be that much of a threat to the main cast.

When Midnight reacted to Majestic's death, I legitimately asked, "Who?"

Endeavor confronts Dabi about killing Snatch and even Dabi asks, "Who?" (Also, why? Did Endeavor even know Snatch? Why bring that up?)

Why did Star have to die? To showcase how strong an opponent AFO/Shigaraki was? Uh, we already knew that...? To show why no other nations were getting involved in the fighting in Japan? A simple doomsday message from multiple nations that says, 'You're on your own,' would have sufficed. AFO could have been blackmailing world leaders into staying out of it. There could have been an international conspiracy of corrupt leaders who were in on it. They could have been having the same issue with mass prison breaks and couldn't help out. There was no need to invent a whole new character for any of that, so her death was a waste.

Arguably, Twice is the only character I can think of at the moment whose death was plot relevant. Realistically, how else was that fight going to go down? He and Hawks spend the entire battle in a weird standoff?

So either Dabi's current state is the result of creator cruelty or:

In the last couple chapters we have left, we're going to find out Eri's Quirk is not as damaged as everyone thought it was and she comes in clutch to save everyone. It's a cop-out ending, but I tentatively think this one might actually happen yet, mostly because it would neatly fix Bakugou's destroyed hand and some of the other characters who were maimed in Final War to the point their Quirks are barely usable.

Dr. Garaki cuts a deal where he biologically engineers a solution that saves everyone in exchange for a reduced sentence. Also a legit possibility. Would not be shocked if President Hawks visits the guy in prison and says, "Listen, a lot of people got really messed up in that last fight, so we've got a proposition for you." Saving both heroes and ensuring the villains actually live out a life sentence.

That unknown figure wandering around the wasteland does prove to be Shigaraki and he's got some unknown Quirk from AFO that could potentially save his comrades and we're headed for a Harry Potter Musical 'It's Not Over Yet' twist ending.

If the rumors about My Hero getting a sequel series are true, Horikoshi may be keeping Dabi around in case he has a use for him there. I don't know how that would even be possible, but I do admit the possibility of this conversation does make me laugh a little:

Pro Shouto: The plan couldn't have gone more wrong. Deku was in the wrong place. Bakugou was being Bakugou. Yaoyorozu had a relapse in nervousness and just created those weird dolls of hers instead of the materials we actually needed. The whole thing made the civilians laugh though. Not mean laughter, they were entertained and that's important, but if we were still in school, Aizawa would have expelled us all for sure.

Dabi: ...as much I just love our bi-weekly challenge of how long we can keep a conversation going before that heart monitor goes off and they put me back to sleep, do I have to listen to you bitch about work?

Pro Shouto: You said you wanted to hear about the outside world.

Dabi: Yeah, the fucking weather and shit.

Pro Shouto: You want a full forecast or--

Dabi: Don't make me come down there.

...

Realistically, none of those four scenarios are gonna happen, but the sequel rumors are preventing me from discounting them outright.

I would say there's no point in having that last minute 'everyone is saved' because that's it, that's the end, but then I remember Zuko's last line in Avatar is, "Where is my mother?" and opened up that whole subplot for the graphic novels.

So I don't know anymore.

[myfriendpokey]

tunnel notes

i wrote some extra little notes and thoughts for the bonus tunnels in anthology of the killer, and then removed them before release; i didn't like the prescriptive feeling of leaving that stuff in the "final package" as if it was something people should feel obligated to engage with. but as of today it's been 30 days since the loader came out, so i figured i'd dump some of them online, for the benefit of whoever is interested in these things.

History: HISTORY IS A NIGHTMARE FROM WHICH I AM TRYING TO AWAKE is one of many famous zingers given to Stephen in Ulysses and I’ve always wondered if it’s especially Irish as a sentiment, Ireland sort of feeling like the “Oops! All Peasants” edition of European history as a whole – same misery, exploitation and death minus the occasional episodes of feudal colour or triumphant empire-building that seem to make the past tolerable for other people, and give them their own sense of demarcated time. But then I’ve never been much good on Irish history, which has always just felt like an interminable, indistinguishable series of massacres and betrayals and missed shots. Was I not paying attention or was this how it was taught in school? Well, it would have fit the style at the time – I was born in 1989, smack at the start of the famous end of history era. The 90s in Ireland meant the peace process and infusion of American capital to our backwards shores, all the more reason to cosign the idea of an abrupt and permanent break with a history notably lacking in the non-depressing or picturesque. All our history textbooks seemed to trail off at the point we’d joined the EEA. And even as this new modernity just started seeming like the monstrous antiquity dressed up in different clothes – hooded prisoners transported to torture sites through Shannon airport, our patchy social infrastructure dismantled by burghers, ghost estates and half-completed monuments scattered around like the ruin theory of value with more leprechaun imagery – there was still a sense that any change was off the table. You didn’t want to drag us back into history, did you? History seemed to have “ended” in the same sense Freddy Krueger did – done away with in ways that none of the grown-ups ever wanted to talk about, and now officially a non-presence, even if all the kids in town were mysteriously disappearing.

--

Art: One reason I wanted to do an episodic series is just to see what would turn up, if any recurring interests would build despite a minimum of planning. One of the themes turned out to be, “art” – or specifically modernist art – and I am curious about why that would be. A recurring tendency in modernism was the idea that only by destroying the world as it currently existed could we clear space for anything better to emerge. Under the cobblestones, the beach! But this was always attended by a kind of fear: that clearing away the old structures would just allow something even worse to emerge, unmasked. Under the cobblestones, more corpses! And that the bleakest tendencies of the period would now run free without even the emptiest symbolic constraints to chafe against. Max Ernst’s painting of the fascist victory in Spain, of a huge, grinning oaf rampaging over the landscape like a kaiju while a miserable birdlike figure remains haplessly grafted to its leg – is titled both “The Angel Of Hearth And Home” and “The Triumph Of Surrealism”. As if to suggest that these are each the same thing, as though a cause of creative liberation worth devoting your life to and an empty cliché of domestic repression had so little light between them as to not even be worth the effort of distinguishing.

Part of the reason works like that make their way into the games in little ways is because I just like them, and go back to thinking about them. But the status of modernism in the 21st century is an odd one; the most tentative and inventive parts got dropped, while the brashest and stupidest aspects curdled into a kind of official state ideology – the idea of “creative destruction”, which just seems to mean a vague sense that it’s punk rock to create ridesharing apps. The monkey’s paw curled and the emptiest version of the modernist credo became something we all have to live with.. and yet I still can’t help but be moved by the source works and the goofy, ridiculous temerity of that wish to transfigure the world. sometimes it feels like only way to keep faith with those ideas is to travesty them, to try returning to them some of that sense of fear and doubt without which they just sound like so many web design agency manifestos. Kept alive in the breast of so many grimacing waxworks, underground.

Another reason to put this stuff in a horror game: to try getting at that feeling in a dream of looking in the eyes of people you know, people you love, and seeing nothing there anymore, seeing them look right past you. An earlier horror game idea I used to think about would have ended with the protagonist being dismembered and eaten by Gertrude Stein.

--

The moral: I’ve seen people express a sense, now, that merely working in the negative is not enough; to just outline what’s bad without also trying to give a vision of the good, some glimpsed utopia to shoot for. For the benefit of these people here is an epilogue. Imagine it’s the future and the long nightmare of prehistory is over; history proper unfolds as the full expression of human powers unhindered by material subjugation. Some students are given an assignment by a professor to investigate the meaning of a term that no longer exists, the meaning of horror. Well, the students do their best: they watch lots of old movies, put on rubber masks, comb through old fragments of the world that was. They’re enjoying themselves and that enjoyment warps the process, they keep drifting into pleasure, unsure what’s meant to be funny and what’s not. They get lost, get confused, lose the thread, famous faces appear under the wrong names, espousing things that are the opposite of whatever they believed. In the end they all have to admit defeat: they hand in their assignment with a note saying that in the new world, we can’t even imagine what horror may have been. The professor reads their findings, nods, and gives them all an F. No moral.

[image source: James Ensor, "The Intrigue"]

[imitationgame77]

Emotional bond causing changes in behaviour

According to Murderbot, SecUnits don't use unnecessary level of violence, unless being ordered by the clients. They only use minimal force. Nevertheless, there are situations where the only sure way to protect your clients is to kill or cause serious injuries on the hostiles. That is not a vengeful behaviour. It is only rational.

And that's what Muderbot has been doing - until its interactions with humans that it comes to care about change it. People from Preservation try not to harm anyone, even when their own lives may be at risk. They try to see if they can reason with the hostiles.

Murderbot probably still does not agree with such sentiment / attitude, but it cares deeply about how its behaviour may upset the people it cares about. As a result, it has to act against its better judgement as a security expert.

Here are some examples:

-------------------------------

She wasn’t afraid of me. And it hit me that I didn’t want that to change. She had just been through a traumatic experience, and I was making it worse. Something was overwhelming me, and it wasn’t the familiar wave of not-caring. Fine, I sent. I sounded sulky, because I was sulky. I hate emotions.

[Exit Strategy]

Doing this would solve the problem and get me back to new episodes of Lineages of the Sun much more quickly, but I knew Arada would make a sad face at me and Thiago would be pissed off.

[Network Effect]

(At the last second, I changed the drones’ instructions from head or face kill-hits to disabling wound-hits in exposed patches on arms and hands, even though it was the hostiles’ own stupid, stupid fault for attacking us. Thinking of Arada’s sad face made me too uncomfortable.)

[Network Effect]

I had two choices. (1) Go down to the surface alone, [...] and then Mensah and Arada would never speak to me again, which might not be a factor if I never got off the planet. (2) Take the humans with me, where I could get them killed and/or die with them. (3) Sit here until the explorer destroyed/captured ART and returned, or ART destroyed/captured the explorer and returned [...]

When you put it like that, option 2 was looking pretty good.

[Network Effect]

Dr. Mensah would never trust me again. She would never stand close enough to touch (but without touching, because touching is gross) and just trust me. Or maybe she would, but it wouldn’t be the same.

Fuck, fuck everything, fuck this, fuck me especially.

[Network Effect]

-----------------------------

When you deeply care about someone, the idea of upsetting this person is enough to change (a life-time of) behavioural principles. Murderbot cares deeply about PresAux people, in particular, Mensah. So, even though it thought the best way to ensure her safety was to eliminate the target in front of it, it still couldn't do so, causing such anguish.

----------------------------

Something similar is seen in ART, too. It is less burdened with emotions than SecUnit, and can show ruthlessness. It can manipulate innocent bystanders if that meant saving the ones it is programmed to care about (i.e., its crew).

But in Network Effect, it faces the dilemma of potentially sacrificing SecUnit 03:

This is the first retrieval I have performed without a governor module and I want it to be successful. I want to find the other SecUnit. I send a status update to Perihelion and it does not reply immediately. Then it sends, Hold position. I tell it, I must proceed in order to complete the retrieval. It said, SecUnit would be angry if I sacrificed you with no chance of success. What?

[Network Effect]

ART, before its further interactions with Murderbot, might have let Three go and search. It was the thought of what Murderbot would think that made it hesitate. And probably it is such a strange concept that it is confusing Three. Three comes across as a rather naive and gentle SecUnit, but at this point of just having been freed from its governor module, it would kill to protect its clients, without hesitation.

Mycroft Holmes in BBC Sherlock says (in a slightly different context), "All lives end. All hearts are broken. Caring is not an advantage, Sherlock."

Caring may not necessarily lead to correct decisions. But the agony caused by caring certainly gives depth to the person. What sets apart a person from a machine. And the distinction is not based on whether the being is organic based or not.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

(The following is some rambling, FEH Spoilers ahead if you care)

I hope at the end of FE:Heroes life, that instead of it just becoming a forgotten mobile game, a fully fledged game is made out of it. Because I really do think having a FE game that have shorter Saga's would be really fun to play through. And just how much Alfonse could be challenged in a full game where he can MASSIVELY develop instead of the time strides he's made in the mobile game.

Of corse of a full game they'll need to change several things such as how much of their army is made up of heroes from other worlds. But having this HUGE skeleton with FEH for a full game could make one of the best, if not the best, Fire Emblem main line game.

Like, we have the set up to have Alfonse really turn into his own. He's gets to talk to past heroes and other world versions of those heroes. There is so much he can learn from them all but more importantly, so many people to compare him to. Just feeling like a failed leader because all these heroes that saved worlds are around him, while he's a prince in a world that's currently in a war with his neighboring country.

He keeps feeling this way until he meets the Summoner (Avatar Character). Someone from another world who isn't a hero. They're just an average somebody in that world. Even though they are able to use a Devine weapon that belongs to his family, he fights with them and grows closer as friends. He learns that it doesn't matter name or status, but what you do with your own strength to help everyone you can. And even when you can't save everyone, you can always work together with others to raise you and everyone to the point where you can save more people than you could alone.

While the first two Books of FEH didn't really do much for Alfonse, I do think in a full game they would be able to have a better foil with Bruno through these early parts. While Veronica is a very tragic character, she is more so Shernna's foil through the first book and then becomes a fascinating character through the rest of the books (so far). If the story would follow Alfonse's point of view, it would do wonders to REALLY push that foil with Bruno more and more until that foil changes into irony and tragedy that was played in the later books.

While Book 3 was one of the biggest breaking points for Alfonse's charcter, I really do belive that if Alfonse were to have a stronger written connection with Bruno early on. The death of Bruno would hit harder. We know Bruno and Alfonse were childhood friends to the point Alfonse's first actions we see is looking for Bruno (Under his fake name, Zacharius). Hell, you can make this hurt even more by adding an underlying feeling Alfonse had for Bruno. But seeing as Bruno meant a LOT to Alfonse at such a young age, where he was still getting compared to his father and other heroes. To just have someone that wouldn't judge you, have fun with you, and make you laugh. Most people would devolve some romantic feelings for that. While this seems more fanficy just because "Lead turned GAY for Enemy?!" It's use in a story here would push character development further.

Some of the best stories ever written i've read are about building up the base of a character. Only to destroy EVERYTHING about them. Leaving only their bare core and true thoughts on display. Only for them to either have the story end with such a melancholy finish that it just feels. Or give that charcter a way to rebuild themselves stronger, more ferm in their ideals then ever to change the odds. Alfonse is someone, if given enough time and attention in a full game, to be this charcter. He already has enough set up within FEH for this to become real. He really is burdened by the form of media he's in.

I don't really have any closing notes after that but yeah. Alfonse is actually one of the best Fire Emblem Lords when you think about it. Put him in the next smash game

.

[gavillain]

Agatha All Along season finale discussion because AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Spoilers on the road ahead!

So a LOT happened in this two parter, so I'm just gonna hit the major points in order...

So despite my thinking that two of the Salem Seven survived because of the number of sword fall sounds last episode, they are apparently all dead. Which, y'know what, I don't mind. They weren't really meant to be actual characters, mostly just Nazgul-esque opponents to add some extra stakes, and having Lilia successful destroy them all with her sacrifice is the most earned ending for them.

When we get to the final trial, it's more or less the three remaining witches stuck in a room having to resolve their purposes on the Road. For Jen, we had her unbinding herself and the reveal that Agatha was the one who bound her. Admittedly, I kinda feel like that reveal was underdone, and it mostly just seemed like a quick asspull to resolve Jen's storyline at the eleventh hour. However, I really felt for Jen and the catharsis of unbinding herself, so I can't complain too terribly much.

Secondly, we resolve Billy's ambitions to restore Tommy, and this one, I was generally more favorable about than Jen's. Billy basically helped put Tommy into the body of another boy who died prematurely, one who was being drowned in an apparently very toxic environment. In the comics, Tommy was in and out of juvie all his life, and the Young Avengers find him in a supermax prison because of his powers. So, I'm assuming Thomas Shepherd, the boy whose body Billy hijacks, is in juvie or some correctional facility, and that's where we're gonna pick up with him in Vision Quest. Also, Agatha's line about "sometimes boys just die" was a fucking ARROW TO THE HEART, especially with the backstory in the following episode.

Then for Agatha, she completes the road's test by growing a sapling that she finds in her locket holding Nicholas's hair and emerges from the road back in Westview, where Rio is waiting for her. And DAMN was the final battle against Rio one of the coolest in Marvel. With Billy going FULL Wiccan mode and Agatha siphoning off his power but not enough to kill him. It was your standard Marvel final battle, but I really enjoyed the spectacle of it and how insurmountable of a foe Rio felt like. Agatha almost betraying Billy so that she can live but then changing her mind and sacrificing her life for his was such a powerful moment of full circle for her. After everything she's done to other witches and to Billy's own mother, for her to finally embrace death (and LITERALLY embrace the kiss of Death) was super powerful and showed how the road genuinely did change her. Personally, I usually hate redemption arcs, but this one, I actually really liked and supported because it wasn't about Agatha giving up her sense of self to be someone else, it was about making a choice out of love in the moment. I thought it was a beautiful way to resolve the story, and I was wondering what the heck else they were going to do with the last episode.

And then we got the reveal that I saw a few people guessing that Billy created the Witches' Road and that Agatha had never been on it, and I think that was a really well deserved reveal that hit for me exactly as it was intended. I loved that Billy created it because he has "the same tell" as Wanda with WandaVision. He made this grand fantasy adventureland, and that's SO cool! He, too, apparently is capable of spontaneous creation like Wanda, and I'm curious how they're going to tie this in with the MCU lore about the Scarlet Witch. In the comics, Billy is the Demiurge, and I'm interested in finding out if Marvel is going to bring in that concept or if they're going to do something new with the prophecy of Scarlet Witch. Maybe a secret hidden verse to the prophecy? We saw Billy's statue in Mount Wundagore in Multiverse of Madness, so maybe old Chthon knew a lil' somethin' else. I also liked the reveal that the Witches Road was a con that Agatha used to lure unsuspecting witches into giving her their powers. That was clever, as was the way that it tied in with her backstory.

SPEAKING OF, that backstory with Nicholas Scratch was the most heartbreaking thing, and I loved every minute of it. Her bond with Nicholas and the way that she showed genuine humanity to him was a side to Agatha we only saw the periphery of in her relationship with Billy, so seeing it fully realized was SO powerful and so well done. Rio giving her a good seven(ish?) extra years with Nicholas also speaks volumes because in Rio's mind, she was doing Agatha a HUGE favor that violated the cosmic order and to some extent, she DID because it showed Agatha a purpose beyond just power. However, it also probably hurt her worse than just taking Nicholas upon birth. She gave Agatha years to love and get attached to her son, and that, I'm sure, made the wound of losing him that much deeper (and Kathryn Hahn's acting with those screams of anguish upon finding Nicky dead were SOUL CRUSHING - she KILLED it). So, yeah, interesting that it was such a double edged sword. I also thought the twist that Nicholas and Agatha wrote the Ballade together as their little song and it eventually spread because of him singing it to other witches was REALLY clever and REALLY powerful.

And, finally, Agatha is back as a ghost, and she's sticking around Billy as his spirit guide/mentor, which I really like. I'm sure some people are going to take umbrage at Marvel cheating death again, but this is a show that racked up bodies of major characters left and right, and Agatha being dead and a spirit I'm sure is going to have big changes for her and her power and characterization going forward. Plus from Evanora Harkness, it's an established part of the lore. So, for me, it works, and I like it. I also like the touch of her looking more like her comics counterpart with gray hair in ghost form, and I'm honestly REALLY excited to see Billy and Agatha as a dynamic duo continue on in future Marvel properties.

Overall, I LOVED Agatha All Along. It was an incredible journey, and it was the most I've enjoyed a Marvel property in awhile. I feel optimistic about the future of this particular corner of the MCU, and I'm so glad I got to go with everyone down the Witches Road :)

[bycaprinae]

I was watching Reel james interview with Aaron and there he pointed out that in the scene where we learn about Aaravos' prision, there's actually a giant corpse burried there. It was a hidden element and apparently important to the story, enough to be connected to Aditi being "swalloed" but not in the way we might think! I feel like we might know who that corpse belonged to, so I'd like to connect the dots and present to you all my theory.

Being straight foward, who do i think that corpse belongs to? Leola. Why? And why that matters? I'll present my case:

I think that the Startouches are Gods that created the world of Xadia, both human, dragons and elves. Aaravos and Leola were close to one another (as friends, family or lovers?), but Leola was the first one out of the two to pity the humans. Leola cared for humanity and Aaravos cared about Leola. Leola then decides to help the humans, maybe she tried to act under the radar and disguised herself as a unicorn, so the others Startouches wouldn't find out about this, as the humans were MEANT to be weak and suffer.

But soon after, they find out that Leola gave humanity magic, and decided to punish her for it, leading to her death? And because Aaravos was close to her, but not the one that defied their plans, he was spared by the others, but casted out to the world of Xadia, unable to go back to his people, and stripped away from his original status and power. Filled with bitterness, he plotted his revenge, to undo and destroy all of the other Startouches creation from inside out, by the hands of humanity, the ones that Leola pitied, the ones that the others despised, and in the process he got closer to humanity, learned their culture, their ways of doing things, he learned the love that Leola held for those creatures. She was prometheus and he was Lucifer!

If it wasn't obvious, I think the Startouch can shapeshift, I think they're actually massive beings, and both the skelleton and the statues are actually their original sizes!

Some of it is just pure headcanons because I don't have strong evidences, but here is what I do have:

Recently we learned from Aaron that the Startouch elf we see in the opening is actually named Leola!

It came as a surprise because Leola was also described as a unicorn, but not just any unicorn, the very one that gifted humans with primal magic. This is information comes from Tales of Xadia Handbook:

And when I read that tweet from Aaron, I immediately went to check that info on Leola, because I never actually read the handbook, and I was puzzled when I found a screenshot of that text and also the information on the wiki about unicorns, because in both wiki and the handbook is only written that "the elves" warned the unicorns, but WHICH elves? I distincly had the memory of it being the FIRST elves (aka, Startouch Elves), and then today I remembered where that info came from!! Is from book one: moon prologue!

Previously I theorized that "Ripples" is not a story about how humans came to wield Dark magic, but actually a story BEFORE they even learn that. The reason for that is the choice of words used to describe the magic.

"Precious primal flames" "undeserved power", such words used to describe what they had and what was destroyed. And then there's the implication that Aaravos' plan was to have the destruction of the Startouch empire come from the hands of the very humans they once despised so much.

The next logical thing to get from Ripples was that it described the birth of the Sea of the castout, caused by none other than Aaravos falling from the sky! The short story describes a small star falling down, changing the world, birthing a new sea.

It HAD to be Aaravos right? He's a fallen star! But he wasn't the one that gifted humanity with primal magic, through primal stones. He was the one that gave them the Dark magic. Back then I thought that maybe he was the one to do it, but if Leola and Aaravos are connected, then ripples might be about Leola's passing/falling.

Cookiesaddict made a post pointing out the possible connections of Aaravos and Leola, you should read it, but to summarize the points. Once in the NYCC this question was made:

Cookie suggested that this person might be Leola. During the S5 watch party I asked Devon if the Statues in the Sea of the cast out were made before or after Aaravos was impriosioned, because people were wondering why the hell would the prision have that GIGANT STATUE almost screaming: HEY, AARAVOS IS HERE!! COME GET HIM!! and this was the response!

Now, we see that statue both in the show and as a sketch, the other elf is known as "The merciful One" as disclosed by Aaron on twitter. BUT HMMMM THAT SKETCH.... LOWKEY REMINDS ME OF... THIS SKETCH....

The one from Ripples!!

Personally I think in S6 Aaravos will tell Viren about Leola, and maybe through that story we'll find out why the hell did Aaravos insisted on having Viren to live until the end, and how their themes/motives are actually more similar than we thought it was. It's not about power, but about what they'll do to save/avenge their loved ones, their family. I also read a theory that the sparklepuff sacrifice was a test on Aaravos part, while I do think that with the theory of mine it might make sense, I also fail to see why would he go to such an extent to test Viren? Maybe Aaravos realizing that Viren is much more of a family driven man than he already knew he was (as he mentioned he wouldn't expect him to sacrifice Claudia or Soren) will be the thing to trigger their interactions where Aaravos tells him about Leola. As things stands now, Viren is the only logical character to be the narrative tool in which Aaravos shares his side of the story. They're the one that have the most intimacy for him to be "vulnerable", and perhaps their final departure will come from Viren trying to talk Aaravos out of his path of revenge, to share the realizations he had with his nightmares, ohhh my god, can you imagine, Aaravos finally is vulnerable, finally shares about Leola, shares his grief, to the one he thought might understand, because they're similar, but Viren is too far into his search for personal redemption, and belittlethe bitterness Aaravos held in for so long. Super ultra gay divorce is coming (in my delusions).

[lokiinmediasideblog]

So some months ago, I was minding my own business and encountered the following joke:

"Do not destroy that twink I have needs for his conniving eunuch ways."

I was like "this is loki-coded " and tagged it as loki. And then it kept haunting me...

as of now, I'm having unbidden thoughts that are all a variation of "Loki is a prince whose kingdom thinks of as a royal advisor rather than a heir." Lots of people in fandom that think of the brodinsons as platonic speculate and are even convinced that Loki was meant to be Thor's advisor after Thor took the throne. The following excerpt is from the Thor (2011) script. Why are they counting on their spare/supposedly younger son to reign in the heir to the throne? Why do they act like he'll always be at Thor's beck and call to provide advice? (It's also why I vehemently disagree with parentified!Thor HCs, but this is not the place for that rant...)

What's interesting is that it's a very common position/occupation for queer-coded villains in fantasy/monarchy settings. The royal advisor role is often associated with eunuchs who came from poor backgrounds and were coerced/forced into being mutilated and this dynamic is present with loki in a rather subtle way that is framed as merciful (loki was from a ravaged realm and his birthright was to die; he was found in a war zone).

Additionally, there is quite a lot of fic(some of rather questionable taste) that focuses on Loki's unusual alien "parts". Sometimes his alien parts in fic resemble intersex conditions or he happens to have both perfectly functioning and proportional sets of binary genitalia simultaneously. Regardless, in both of these cases, his genitals don't fall under the typical binary.

There's also fic where Odin changes Loki into an Asgardian form with genitalia that conform to the binary, but Loki discovers this was not the case in his Jotun form... Doesn't this have implications of intersexist medical sexual abuse?

not to mention, there is cannon genital torture in the series… and i went like "huh, this is surprisingly myth-accurate. what an odd choice..."

Genital injury(but it was Loki's idea; were they attempting to improvise an orchidectomy or did they not care bc shapeshifting heals them and or their balls are ridiculously durable?) is also present in the myths when Loki attaches their testes goat's beard to make Skadi laugh... It's noted as one of the events in which Loki "loses status" due to the emasculation they showcased in front of the rest of the Aesir.

I went in detail in the MCU!Sif=Sif + Skadi post I made some time ago where I cite Lindow mentioning that in for the Norse castration was a punishment associated with slaves...

I'm not saying that he is a eunuch, but there is coding. Probably because a lot of queer-coding may be based on perceptions (unfair) of eunuchs in royal courts.

[egg-emperor]

Eggman had statues of muscular male bodies on the Egg Carrier for no reason. He's one hundred percent sexually attracted to men.

Maybe this is me looking too deep into it but since the statues didn't have any faces, that's probably a sign of something. As in Eggman only shows interest in someone's physical form/abilities because he doesn't care about anyone as a person.

All that matters to Eggman is his own pleasure and if he gets something out of it. Whether it's taking over the world or getting off. It tracks that this would also apply to how he expresses himself sexually.

I imagine Eggman could only be attracted to people in a purely physical sense. He doesn't care about who or what they are. He only cares about how well they can perform.

There's a reason why Eggman only goes after powerful monster men and never wastes any time on like average dudes who can't fight or destroy things. For example, Eggman gets super excited about Chaos and Dark Gaia but gives zero shits about people like Professor Pickle or G.U.N. Soldiers lmao. Eggman also has a very strong passion for bothering Zavok lol.

Basically Eggman is only interested in using people to entertain himself or as tools to achieve something. The thoughts and feelings of the "partner" are irrelevant to him. That's what I think at least.

YESYESYES you fucking get me. It makes me really happy that I'm not the only one who gets it XD

There's no heterosexual explanation for Eggman having those muscular male torso statues in interesting poses, and at HOT Shelter too. The more you try to think of reasons and explanations for why he had them, the gayer it becomes and I love that lol. With that alone there's more proof of an interest in the male form

And yeah the statues being faceless not only proves they're not meant to be some inaccurate depiction of his body, as he's made plenty of statues modelled after himself or defaced others with his visage and it's always with his actual face and/or accurate body- the choice could possibly speak of his character too

It would make sense because it's what's most believable for his character. I can only picture it only bring about the physicality and personal benefits. He has no regard for anyone else as a person. Like all situations and contexts, people are either a tool for his self benefit or obstacle in his way to destroy

There's nothing to suggest that there an exception for this romantically/intimately as it's never something they've depicted and I'm glad. It's much more believable for him to be aromantic/not interested in anyone that isn't himself on a deeper level that isn't simply a pursuit of pleasure and self benefit

Therefore, it would make sense for him to not see and treat them as people with free will or even as faces, just as bodies for his use. Both in terms of business in how useful their abilities are to him in his schemes, or pleasure in a sexual context- and I think more often than not there would be an overlap of the two

That's another reason why him being attracted to male bodies makes sense in particular, it covers all he prioritizes most. The power, strength, and usefulness both in terms of scheming and intimacy. Not to suggest that I don't think females aren't capable of being strong, he's the sexist one canonically XD

People want to imagine there are sudden exceptions to his self-centeredness with family or intimate partners but the former is disproven by canon with all family members + Sage and the latter doesn't have anything canon at all to suggest so. What is canon is that it's always about what's in it for him

I believe it's impossible for him to be attracted to someone in any other form than the physicality of the pleasure and benefit of power. There's never romantic or emotional attraction in it. It's about using them for their worth in pleasure or business until they're no longer useful. It's shallow and self absorbed

His tastes for powerful monsters in the games really speaks for itself. They're simply the perfect combination of both of his most probable tastes, they cover the full scope of his interests and the benefits in both business and pleasure. It makes sense that they're a consistent fixation of his

Especially Zavok, as he's built like the Hot Shelter statues AND he's a monstrous guy with strength that benefitted him for as long as he was under his control. It's no surprise that he's seemingly obsessed with him and even acknowledges that he's always chasing after him. He knows he struck gold with him XD

I can see him engaging with those much physically weaker like common G.U.N soldiers or Professor Pickle but in those cases it would be purely for the domination and power over them, while also getting quick satisfaction. But it's much more likely to be fleeting in most cases as a result of less long term use to him

No relations last as a result, whether it's because he uses them up for all they're worth and drops them, or they want to leave due to his toxicity. But with the latter like Zavok, he'll try to chase after and force them back if they're still useful, to the point he acknowledges Zavok is "always running from him" lol

When it comes to sex for Eggman, I can see his mindset always being "I take what I want for my success or satisfaction" or "I dominate and prove myself superior and enjoy the power" and nothing else. Either way, there's selfish gain and satisfaction in it for him every time as it's where his true interest and enthusiasm lies

It's what drives and motivates him in every aspect of life, no exceptions. He doesn't care about their personal feelings and desires, he takes what he wants and prioritizes what benefits him and that's all that matters. He doesn't see them as people, only as tools for success and/or toys for satisfaction

Luckily for me, I'm specifically into that and would love nothing more than a life of devotion to him with my life's purpose being to serve all of his desires and needs. So I'd know exactly what I'm getting into and it would be one of the specific appeals in the first place for me and would never have any complaints 🥰💜💘

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Tsunami Stopper's Chapter 190

TL;DR - Raon's perspective. Eru teaches Raon through the question and answer method. Eru encourages the scared Raon. Cale swallows the core.

Raon's Thoughts Today, we have the rare Raon-centered chapter! 🥳 It was quite amusing to know Raon's thoughts about the people around him.

CH - looks like stupid Toonka. Raon kept this thought a secret because he knows CH would be really hurt if he knew that. 😂

Ron - Cale is scared of Ron's gentle smile. Raon only told about this fact to Hong.

Lesson Time Eru teaches Raon via the question and answer method. Thus we find out what's causing the phenomena around them.

Problem:

The power of the World Tree (WT) had a tendency to return to nature, but the power of the dragon lord and the core were blocking it.

When Cale removed the core, the struggle between the two powers worsened.

Since the power of the WT failed to return to nature, it was now attracting nature to come to it, hence the incoming tsunami.

Solution: Pierce a hole to create an exit for the power of the WT.

It seemed easy, but our Raon grew nervous and scared. After all, piercing a hole meant fighting against the mana of a dragon lord. And Raon was not confident in fighting it.

Eru noticed and was surprised Raon's nervousness, and nagged him about how dragons are confidence itself. He nagged Raon so much that the surprised Alberu quietly distanced himself from Eru... 🤣🤣🤣

After some encouragement from Eru, Raon finally finds the courage and declares that he's a dragon that can destroy worlds! Wow, Eruhaben-nim. You're teaching Raon your thug ways? And I find it so funny because Raon was denying to Myung earlier that he was an evil dragon that destroyed stuff... 😂

There was also some stuff about how Raon felt confident because his human was near, or his human's companions who usually accompanied Cale was now with him rather than with Cale.

Delicious Core Because most of the chapter was focused on Raon, Cale's first attempt to stop the tsunami was only mentioned in the background. He ended up using 150% of his Water AP, and the tattoo status was 7 white and 1 gray.

Thus, he decided to eat the purple core like how he ate the Super Rock in the past. Cale was feeling reluctant about eating another stone (the core is in the form of a gemstone), but he was surprised to find that it was actually delicious!

We even get Cale's rating about it. It was moderately sweet, and a lightness lingered in his mouth. The finish felt refreshing. And Cale remarked that it was the most delicious dessert he had ever eaten, something he wanted to keep eating. Water AP was surprised that Cale found it delicious... 😂

With Cale eating the core, his tattoos changed to 5 black, 1 gray, and 2 white. Now, Cale is ready for the second round.

Ending Remarks I was really happy that we got a chapter focused on Raon and showed his growth. Next chapter will focus on Cale again. Question is, is the blood coughing countdown still going on? And when will we get a new chapter title? It's been 16 chapters already.

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

Please, tell me more

About Heatwave and Bumblebee siblings dynamic

It sounds stupidly fun

And with lots of shenanigans

Tell me👀

YESSSS OK.

listen this just started out because i had the passing thought that we all joke about heatwave being optimus's kid and it's been a pretty popular joke for a long time to say that about bumblebee as well. it was just a joke headcanon. but then i got to thinking.

heatwave and bumblebee are actually a really interesting duo (even tho they barely interacted in canon) for a lot of reasons, but the main one is that they're functionally narrative foils. in case anyone doesn't know what a foil is, foils are characters who are opposites in ways meant to highlight specific qualities each character possesses. in some cases, the foil for the protagonist is an antagonist, but not always. also, when i say narrative foil what i mean is the development and storyline the characters follow are opposites.

the narrative foils between heatwave and bee are more easily drawn between rescue bots and robots in disguise, because in rid bumblebee becomes team leader, like heatwave. because of that all the stuff i'm saying is about them post war, during rid.

firstly, heatwave starts out as team leader, while bumblebee we see growing into the role. this creates an interesting dynamic because optimus has always known heatwave as a leader, while for a very long time bumblebee was someone under his command. the differences in how optimus treats their decision making could cause some sibling rivalry. bumblebee is jealous of heatwave because optimus trusts him more, and because optimus isn't constantly hovering. heatwave is jealous of bumblebee because optimus actually spends time with him, and because they know each other better.

another interesting thing about them is their backgrounds. heatwave's dream was to be on optimus's team, because he wanted to prove himself. he loves fighting, and wanted nothing more than to help by joining in on the action. to heatwave, bumblebee is living the dream. but bee would much rather live like heatwave, away from cybertron where everybody expects him to just move on. of course they both understand that the other's life isn't perfect, but they're both seeing through rose colored glasses. the grass is greener on the other side, so to speak.

also, bumblebee loves earth, like, a lot. in rid he's constantly talking about how beautiful it is, and how interesting humans are. heatwave is the complete opposite. even after cody convinced him to stay, he was still the least interested in earth. to him, it's just another mission, which makes sense because he'd been to plenty of other planets for the same reasons. earth isn't anything special to him. but for bumblebee, someone who rarely had the chance to explore the life of other planets, earth is unique. the autobots were too busy fighting to take in the sights in the earlier days of war, and by the time they moved to new planets the old ones were usually destroyed anyways. being able to just exist on another planet is something he hasn't done, and especially not in a post war situation.

i think bumblebee would harbor a lot of negative feelings towards heatwave (especially in the beginning) just because he's known optimus for way less time but earned his trust much faster. also because heatwave has a lot of potential? i guess? because of his quadruple changer status and as the last rescue bot leader. and since i headcanon him as a psychic, heatwave is really a golden child, so to speak. bumblebee resents him, but then he feels guilty for resenting heatwave because even if he's jealous that's still his brother.

heatwave is less resentful of bumblebee (although there is still a level of resentment) and more openly admiring of him. to the rescue bots, who have been kept from knowing anything about the war, bumblebee is a hero. i mean to a lot of people he's a hero, but the rescue bots get most of their info about everything that's going on from bumblebee because optimus doesn't want them to know. heatwave wants to fight, but optimus won't let him. he feels weak and unworthy (serious survivor's guilt btw), and so he sees bumblebee as what he needs to become.

a lot of this stuff is kinda angsty which i didn't intend because i genuinely do think they would also get along really well and could become close. but also there would be a LOT of sibling rivalry between them just because of the kinds of people they are.

(also important to note: i personally see bumblebee taking on an older sibling role especially during rid because it fits his character arc of maturing and growing into leadership. this adds another layer of complicated to their already weird relationship because heatwave has always been the one responsible for others while bumblebee is very new to it. but as bee gets more comfortable exercising his own agency and heatwave gets more used to trusting others, they settle into a sibling dynamic that actually works.)

[imustbenuts]

shinto gods can split. something something trigun twins.

a ??? piece about trigun stampede and the twin stuff which might be rooted in shinto, but since i lack the full depth of knowledge its gonna be surface level at best

afaik an aspect of shinto is about appeasing the spirits through song, dance, rituals, festivals etc. prolonged periods of neglect is thought to upset them and bring about misfortune. the ideal focal location to do these is in shrines where the aspects of gods can inhibit a vessel.

so, nicely kept shrine = appeased and happy gods. its a lot like maintaining a church in a sense.

further, specifically in japanese mythology, its not uncommon for a god to basically... split into 2. the idea is that their mitamas 御霊would be split into a aramitama 荒魂 (raging spirit) and a nigimitama 和魂 (gentle spirit)

the aramitama is associated with rage. one so strong that it rampages, destroy, and creates new things and changes in the process. associated with natural disasters like typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc (...knives?)

the nigimitama is associated with benevolence and humility etc. so this aspect is more about nurturing and grace. maintaining the status quo. (vash?)

these split spirits can exist independently at the same time and are considered opposites of each other, but are the same deity. in certain cases in the Nihon Shoki (the big japanese chronicle collection), certain splits might result in the 2 aspect gaining different names even though they are considered to be 1.

an appeasement ritual is meant to be performed on the aramitama for the nigimitama to appear. the nigimitama can then further spawn kushimitama 奇魂 (wondrous spirit) and sakimitama 幸魂 (happy spirit).

the flowchart relation is like this:

the kushimitama can create miracles such has granting people sudden talents, skills, or cure illness

the sakimitama gives happiness to people through bringing good harvests and luck

...side eyes the pregnant plants and wondering wtf is studio orange cooking once again...

anyway, since all of these are considered to be the same aspect of 1 god, studio orange is probably picking and choosing which aspect to put into their story. its not a 1:1 and its likely they're playing inter uhhh culture religion 4d chess theming.

i want to point out a possibility that nightow himself may have been affected by this belief of shinto to some degree. since it doesnt seem strong enough in trigun/trimax, only a little further beyond a possible twin as embryo split theory.

FURTHER, theres some parallels with the yin-yang concept, where yang is the active energy and yin is the chill energy.

ive written a little about it previously here under the JuLai Emblem bit.

thats about all i know about this particular topic. maybe theres more but idk what do we think

[skaruresonic]

Being a Cream fan is suffering. The writers aren't hiding that they don't like her. Hello Advanced 2 anyone???

I can imagine.

She's milked for both humor and angst. In most cases, the fact that it's Cream specifically who is suffering/the butt of the joke is the intended takeaway behind the humor or angst.

People try to rationalize such moments as "she's just a child," forgetting that Cream is also her own person and has a personality beyond the expected behavior of children her age. Shunting her into the box of Child(tm) and leaving it at that is like reducing Amy to Girl(tm). Or Shadow to his Black Arms blood. You're not wrong to say those elements factor in, per se, but you are being overreductive by focusing only on those isolated elements of their characters when they're not overall terribly important.

Apologies for the self-indulgence here, but before we proceed to talk about IDW 66 and 67's B-side story, I'd like to bring up Cream's chapter in my visual novel as a counterexample:

In a nutshell: OaS is a slice-of-life where Sonic goes about a normal Sunday, visiting his friends and helping them through their problems, alongside some funny shenanigans. He spends about half the game spending time with Knuckles, Amy, and Cream, respectively.

Chapter three sees his relationship with Cream evolve from friends to Big Bro-Lil Sis(tm) as he endeavors to look out for her the best he can and listen to her little kid problems. Math is hard. :<

You'll notice in the conversation Sonic and Cream have after they sit down to eat their carnival food - about halfway through the video - that "lol Cream's just a dumb kid" is the exact attitude I was trying to avoid.

On the contrary: I wanted to respect her agency while also emphasizing that her status as a child is something worth respect on its own. Just because her problems may seem trivial from an adult perspective don't mean they aren't real to her, and I hope I've portrayed it so that Sonic gives her the respect she deserves.

The gist behind the chapter's more humorous moments isn't to point and laugh at Cream, but rather make light of the awkwardness of Sonic navigating being a big brother figure.

That's why stuff like Cream spouting waterfalls really rubs me the wrong way. Folks will argue "she's a child" while neglecting the important nuance that it's not typical of Cream to wail like a toddler in the games... As well as the other important nuance that if it had been Games!Cream in IDW!Cream's place, Rough and Tumble would be ground into paste before the roast finished.

The only punchline here is "Isn't it funny how Cream tried so hard to do right by her mother and some bully destroyed her work in an instant? LOL and then Vanilla went mama bear on them." When you drill down to the core of the underlying idea, you'll find it's just... meanspirited. The book is making fun of the fact that Cream is suffering what is, in her eyes, a humiliating failure.

It's not humor generated by Cream's personality, or the mood whiplash incurred by beating up bad guys one moment and tending to the roast the next, or inviting the bad guys to dinner after giving them a thorough ass-whooping, or anything like that.

How much better would it have been if, instead, following the food fight, we cut to Vanilla returning home to find an immaculate dinner table and two very twitchy skunk boys playing maid in fear of the goddess of destruction's wrath? Cream cheerily greets her mother while Rough and Tumble trip over themselves putting Vanilla's groceries away. Meanwhile Cheese and Chocola give them the evil eye. Vanilla is confused as G-merl pulls out her chair for her, but in no position to protest.

Imagine how amusing that could have been! Nope. The book has to point and laugh at Cream in a "ha ha bitch you thought" kind of way. Can't join in on the laugh track if we have any love for Cream ourselves.

To borrow the stans' logic, it's actually pretty fucked-up that you're meant to laugh at a child for crying in such a situation. At best, you're made to feel sorry for her, but given how the scene is framed to be absurd, it's probably a safer bet to say you're intended to laugh.

That's before we remember Cream doesn't sob buckets in the games. It took being kidnapped, taken to Eggman's creepy robot depot and watching Emerl gleefully tear Phi robots apart for her to sniffle quietly.

Sniffle. Not wail like a toddler. Because the games have this thing called "a sense of decorum," you see. xP

People contend that Cream's a pacifist based on her refusal to engage in Battle until Emerl gets hurt (and then they conveniently ignore how she stepped up and kicked some ass; rip), which overlooks the context that she was probably sick of fighting after having been forced to spar against Emerl and Amy to the point of exhaustion.

---

P.S. IDW!Vanilla wishes she was half as scary as OaS!Vanilla. Yeah, I said it xP