#but. yeah yeah this a hard choice.

[linagram]

[ 𝙺𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚒 𝚁𝚒𝚔𝚞'𝚜 𝚃𝟹 𝚅𝙳 ] 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸𝚝 𝚊 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚠

RIKU. OH RIKU. enjoyed writing both his mv and his vd a lot! hope y'all like it too :) (his mv and vd destroyed me)

Warnings for Riku's VD: descriptions of toxic relationships, suicide, bullying and self-harm.

Warnings for Riku's MV: same as his VD, not counting the bullying part, Riku also gets to be really violent in this one and there are a lot of mentions of blood.

(sounds of footsteps)

Miki: .. So..

Miki: It's time for us to interrogate your brother.

Hinode: .. Yes.

Miki: .. Hinode-san, how can you be so calm even though your own brother is one of the prisoners here?

Miki: How can you just.. be so calm even though your brother has murdered someone?

Miki: And not just that, you voted him guilty too. Again, I understand Eiji-san's situation, but-

Hinode: Because I always knew it will end up like this.

Miki: Huh?..

Hinode: I knew that their friendship will end with someone's death. I knew that it will either be Riku or it will be Yue. 

Hinode: I.. I always knew it.

Miki: .. Why didn't you help him? 

Miki: Why didn't you stop them? Why didn't you tell your own brother that this friendship will only hurt him? 

Miki: Do you even love-

Hinode: NOT ALL OF US ARE AS OBSESSED WITH SAVING OTHERS AS YOU ARE! 

Miki: ...

Hinode: .. I'm so sorry, Miki-san. 

Hinode: It's just.. Haha..

Hinode: Who knows. Maybe I really don't care about Riku that much.

Hinode: .. I was too focused on my own pain to think about his pain too.

Miki: .. Sorry.

(the door opens)

Miki: .. Hello, Riku-san.

Riku: I heard you two arguing. Did something happen?

Riku: And, um.. Hello.

Miki: I-it's nothing. Please don't worry about it.

Miki: .. How are you feeling, Riku-san?

Riku: .. A little better, haha.

Hinode: ...

Riku: (to Hinode) .. Are you not going to say anything?

Hinode: .. I'm sorry about.. that.

Riku: *laughs* You're this scared to talk about your brother's suicide attempt?

Riku: .. No. No, that's not the right way to say it.

Riku: You're so used to my suicide attempts that you don't feel anything at all anymore. 

Hinode: ...

Miki: .. Hinode-san..

Miki: .. You really are a terrible brother.

Hinode: .. I know.

Riku: Hey, hey, come on, let's talk about my crime instead.

Miki: B-but don't you want to talk more about how your life in Milgram has been? 

Miki: I just want to know how you are-

Riku: I'm fine.

Riku: T-thanks to Akio-kun.. I'm fine.

Miki: But what about-

Riku: Guard 002.

Riku: Don't you think you should stop asking prisoners about things other than their crimes? Especially things that trigger them and make them uncomfortable?

Riku: If you care so much about us, why don't you respect our privacy?

Miki: ...

Miki: "His attitude towards me has.. completely changed."

Miki: "It's like he's not trying to make me trust him anymore."

(the sound of a screen turning on)

Eiji: That's what I like to hear. If you want to talk about your crime so much, let's start with your murder method.

Eiji: Guard 002 asked you about it the last time, but you didn't give a proper answer. 

Eiji: So, how did you do it?

Riku: .. I thought you would have seen something like that in my video.

Miki: "Hinode-san told me everything about it, but I can't just tell Riku that I've heard it from his brother."

Miki: .. Did you.. use your reputation to make everyone hate Shiozaki-san?

Riku: ...

Riku: Yep. That's what the popular guys do.

Eiji: Popular guys don't just drive someone to suicide.

Riku: Hmm, I disagree. Our whole existence makes others wish they were either just like us or simply dead.

Riku: I'm sure at least one person was close to committing suicide just because of how great I am.

Miki: .. And you're proud of it?

Riku: Sure. I had the same thoughts every single day, why wouldn't I be happy that someone feels the exact same way because of me?

Riku: It's like.. a compliment, really. Like wow, I'm so cool that someone would rather die than continue living their boring and pointless life that has me in it!

Eiji: .. We should've voted you guilty twice.

Riku: But anyway, yeah, I just used my popularity to spread gossip about him and told everyone how bad Yue is and that it would be better if the guy just killed himself already..

Riku: And it worked! Yay~

Hinode:  .. You're not actually that happy about his death, are you?

Riku: .. What do you mean?

Hinode: Sure, you still have your band, your friends, your classmates, but..

Hinode: Yue understood you like no one could. He gave you as much attention as you needed. 

Hinode: It could've been overwhelming, but it was the exact amount you needed. That's why you couldn't have just ended your friendship like a normal person would.

Riku: .. Why don't you just continue to sit here and not say anything?

Riku: You never understood me, Hinode-

Hinode: Your whole family doesn't understand you. That's one of the many reasons why Yue's death will only make your life more miserable.

Hinode: Your main source of attention and affection is gone. 

Hinode: Who will you start feeding off this time? Akio-san?

Hinode: You don't see people as people, you just see them as pairs of eyes that are supposed to only look at you.

Riku: .. Says the guy who stole all of our parents' affection.

Eiji: Shut up, you two.

Eiji: First of all, I don't want to know anything about what was going on between Riku and Yue. I'm only interested in the murder.

Eiji: And also..

Eiji: If your parents pay more attention to only one of their children, it's their fault. The other child is not the one to blame. 

Eiji: And.. maybe the child that gets more attention is not the one to blame either.

Riku and Hinode: ...

Riku: .. Yue was planning to jump off the school rooftop.

Riku: And not just that. I was the one who suggested it.

Riku: I left a note for him that said I'm tired of everything and that I want to end it all, but I'm not doing it without him.

Riku: Of course, he agreed and came to the rooftop, but..

Riku: This wasn't supposed to be double suicide. It was basically supposed to be.. murder that would look like suicide.

Riku: Me and my friends came to look at it and.. taunt him a little, I guess.

Riku: Like, we were just going "Jump! Jump! Jump!"

Miki: Were your friends really.. okay with all of this?

Riku: Eh, I don't know and I also don't care.

Riku: Maybe they really are this cruel, maybe they just didn't want to lose their status. Who knows.

Riku: But then.. I walked up closer to Yue. 

Riku: I just wanted to continue making fun of him, nothing more. Maybe, also, um.. Push him a little.

Eiji: Making fun of him and pushing him are two different things. You weren't trying to get him to commit suicide anymore, you were trying to kill him yourself.

Riku: Come on, I was just.. bullying him a bit. Like all friends do.

Miki: ".. Sometimes I forget how insane Riku-san is."

Riku: B-but.. Um..

Riku: Then, Yue hugged me. I thought that maybe he wanted to hug me for the last time before he jumped, but..

Riku: .. H-he wanted to fall with me.

Riku: H-he wanted us to jump together.

Riku: Y-you don't understand, he even pulled out a boxcutter that we used to-

Riku: A-and he said that he was going to stab me if I didn't jump with him.

Riku: He was that insane. I was the victim. Please trust me.

Eiji: So he was so obsessed with you that he was okay with dying, but only if that meant you kept your promise and you two committed double suicide..

Eiji: .. Heh. Things are getting interesting.

Miki: T-there's nothing interesting about it! It's just.. it's just..

Riku: So anyway, I tried to fight back, but he hugged me again and..

Riku: W-we almost fell off the roof. 

Riku: And then my friends tried to save me and..

Riku: T-they did. A-as you can see, I'm still alive.

Riku: My shoe fell off, but it's.. fine.

Miki: .. So Shiozaki-san ended up falling, but you survived?

Riku: .. Y-yeah.

Riku: Stop looking at me like that! Do you think it would be better if I died with him?

Eiji: Yes, actually.

Riku: What-

Eiji: You deserve it, like a murderer that you are.

Riku: How- H-hey, Hinode! Don't you want to protect your little brother?!

Hinode: .. I knew that you were the one responsible for his death, but..

Hinode: .. How can I care about my little brother, when he's.. 

Hinode: When he's even more cruel than me?

Riku: .. Come on. Come on, at least someone in this room has to care about me.

Riku: Miki-chan.. Miki-chan, please..

Miki: .. Please, shut your mouth, Riku-san.

Miki: I'm so tired of you.

(the bell rings, machinery sounds)

Riku: .. You will forgive me, right?

Riku: You understand that I'm the victim, right?

Miki: I thought you changed, Riku-san. 

Miki: You could've died, but you were saved by the person you hated. I thought this would change you.

Miki: Even Miyagawa-san has changed. 

Riku: .. But I'm innocent.

Riku: I was just trying to survive. It was either me or him. It was basically self-defense.

Riku: You will just vote me guilty again? You want me to die this badly?

Riku: MY WHOLE EXISTENCE IS ALREADY THIS PATHETIC SO YOU JUST WANT TO KILL ME OFF?!

Riku: IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF SAVING ME?!

Miki: I-it doesn't mean that you will die-

Riku: YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO YOU!

Eiji: You don't have the same power here that you used to have back in school.

Riku: WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? DO YOU WANT ME TO FALL ON THE GROUND AND SAY HOW SORRY I AM AND BEG FOR FORGIVENESS? DO YOU WANT ME TO JUST STAB MYSELF OVER AND OVER?!

Miki: "I should use the memory machine-"

Riku: DON'T MOVE!

Miki: ...

Riku: I know what you're trying to do.

Riku: If you use that memory thing on me, I will still find ways to hurt myself. And you don't want that, right? Because you're our savior, right?

Miki: You won't-

Riku: What, do you think my brother will stop me? Do you think.. uh.. I forgot his name, anyway, you think Guard 001 will stop me?

Riku: Nobody in this prison cares about me. I had to learn this the hard way.

Miki: .. But Miyagawa-san does.

Riku: ...

Miki: And I don't think he just sees you as a replacement for someone anymore.

Riku: .. He's just another source of attention to me.

Riku: .. Fine. Do whatever you want.

Riku: It doesn't matter if I live or die, I will still continue to suffer. It's like I was born to do exactly that.

Miki: .. Thank you for trusting us.

Hinode: Wait a minute, Miki-san.

Hinode: Riku.

Riku: *sighs* What do you want?

Hinode: .. I know that our relationship is impossible to fix. We'll never be as close as we should be. 

Hinode: You're mad at me and I'm mad at you. But..

Hinode: Sorry. I wish I could've been a better brother.

Riku: ...

Eiji: ...

Riku: .. I wish you could've been better too.

Miki: .. A-are you ready now?

Riku: Yeah. Guess it's time to sing my final song, haha.

Miki:��.. How can you still make jokes in this situation?

Riku: 'Cause I'm too used to suffering. No matter what you choose, it will bring me nothing but pain.

Riku: I want to live, sure, but I want to live a better life.

Riku: .. I don't want to go home.

Miki: .. Prisoner 009, Riku, put all your heart into this song and sing your sins.

42% ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░ 100%

[ Riku's Trial 3 MV: Sun Sets, Games End ]

The video starts with showing us many different scenes, all of them appear for a second or two. We see an orange sky with some clouds and then we see a seesaw, a swing, a bench, a merry go round and a tree.

We see little Riku sitting in his room and trying to do his homework, but it looks like it's hard for him to stay focused. He gets distracted again, sighs and walks to his window. He can see a playground next to his house from it. As he's looking at it, he gets scared when he sees a familiar figure playing there. 

"Press "START GAME" to begin

But I want this to end

Please go away, I don't wanna see you

Please go away, playing as your friend is getting tiring"

It's little Yue who notices him too, turns to him, smiles and waves at him. We see Riku still standing in his room and it looks like he's not sure if he should go outside. He looks at his homework again.

"But I am still lonely, my heart's about to break

This desire for attention is getting too strong for me to handle

I guess I'll play another round today"

Riku and Yue are playing on a seesaw now and Yue is having a lot of fun and Riku is smiling too, but his smile looks forced. 

"We're going up, look at us, we're still friends

We're going down, we're arguing again

No balance, this relationship is too unstable

Friends? Enemies? What role am I supposed to play?"

Yue is laughing and suddenly, he falls off of it. Riku is already standing not so far away from him and we can see that Yue is definitely injured. But for some reason, Riku isn't in a hurry to help him and it actually looks like he's hesitating to do so. 

"We're supposed to be friends, so I'm supposed to help you

But I don't feel anything at all

My head is empty, I don't wanna do anything

Maybe this game will end if I just ignore you"

Now, they're on a swing. Yue's head is bleeding, but he doesn't care and even though Riku looks worried, he doesn't say anything. Yue is still laughing and enjoying this, but then, he falls again. And this time the fall is more serious. 

Riku runs up to him and sees that Yue is lying in a pool of blood coming from his head injury. He's visibly panicking and doesn't know what to do, but if you look closer, you can see that it looks like he's trying really hard not to smile. Suddenly, he sees that Yue is still able to move and Yue gets some of his own blood on his finger and starts drawing a heart on Riku's cheek. When he's finished, Riku is shocked, but Yue is still smiling.

"Let's play until the sun goes down, let's play until we see the sky turn purple

That's what they want us to do anyway

Hey, are you having fun? Aren't you tired? Don't you wanna go home already?

"Nope, I'm just getting started!" Well, let me end everything here"

We see the sky slowly turn pink. We see older versions of Riku and Yue now (17 and 18 years old) sitting on a bench. Riku is helping Yue bandage his arm. Yue also has some bandaids on his face and bandages on his other arm, but he looks like he's even enjoying the process and watches Riku do so with a smile. We can see their school bags on the bench as well and there's a box cutter and scissors sticking out of one of them.

"More years, more pain, more fighting

More attention, more joy, more love

Will this game ever end? Will it be as long as my life?

If that's the case, I know how to quit"

It starts raining and Riku is trying to get back home as quickly as possible, but Yue seems to be taking his time. Riku turns to him and tries to call him, but then we see a lightning flash. Yue gets excited and runs off somewhere and Riku tries to follow him and another lightning almost strikes Yue. 

"Why are you like this? Why are you doing this?

Do you want to end this game already, just like me?

Then let's press "QUIT GAME", please, this can't go on

With tears in your eyes, with blood on your hands, you smile again"

Riku and Yue are in Riku's room now and Riku is drying Yue's hair with a towel. The scene looks surprisingly peaceful. We can even hear rain sounds in the background. Yue still has the same happy expression on his face while Riku is really stressed. The door opens and we see a woman that seems to be Riku's mother and she smiles after seeing Riku and Yue together like this. Yue smiles too and holds Riku's hand. His grip looks really tight and we also can see that Riku's fingers have some bandaids on them too. 

The sky is purple now. We see the playground again. Riku and Yue are playing on a merry go round. Yue is having fun as always, even though he has even more bandages on his body now, while Riku's eyes look completely empty, his hair is more messy and he's not trying to hide his scars anymore. 

"It keeps going and going and going and going

I don't think I will ever be able to escape this hell

We keep playing and playing and playing and playing

Let me turn it all off, let me close my eyes and wait for the end"

The merry go round stops as Yue points at a tree we saw in the beginning of the video. 

Yue tries to climb it as Riku watches him. It looks like Riku doesn't want to join him, but he still follows him. They're climbing together now and Yue gets on the highest branch. He looks even happier than before as he watches the sky become a darker shade of purple, but when he turns to look at Riku, Riku quickly makes him fall off the branch.

"Let's play until the sun goes down, let's play until we see the sky turn purple

That's what you want me to do anyway

Hey, are you having fun? Aren't you tired? Don't you wanna go home already?

"Nope, I'm just getting started-" SHUT UP ALREADY AND LET ME END THIS!"

Riku gets down. There's even more blood than in the beginning of the video. Yue's eyes and face expression make it look like he really is dead. Finally, Riku shows a genuine smile for once, even though this smile makes him look more insane rather than happy. He starts laughing and he sees one of the branches on the ground and starts hitting Yue's body with it. 

"Beating you with my words, my power, my reputation

If I say "Kill him", they will follow me

Please, just die, just die already 

That's the only thing you have to do to make me happy"

But then, it's revealed that Yue is still alive and just like in the beginning, he gets some blood on his finger, but this time he puts his finger in Riku's mouth. Riku is shocked and disgusted, but Yue is still smiling. 

"No, no, what are you doing

We weren't supposed to end up like this

I'm not gonna follow you, you're going there alone

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, WHY WON'T YOU JUST END IT?!"

Riku continues to hit him with the branch, until he eventually gets tired and his body is just lying on top of Yue's now. Both boys are covered in blood and there's so much blood that it's getting harder to recognize them.

"And we're still repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating

This cycle of pain and abuse and torture all over again

INNOCENT? GUILTY? Both options are too painful

Even though you're gone, my heart is still broken"

We see someone watching this scene from what appears to be a classroom. There's not just one person, there's a lot of students watching and we can't see their face expressions. One of the students turns to the camera. It's Riku, who is still covered in blood. He looks happy.

"I can't see the sun anymore, the game's finally over

Congrats, you're the winner, you got your prize

Haha, don't worry, I'm not mad at you

You got there first, but I'm okay with the second place"

The video ends.

[lygma-nygma]

Honest to god Titans Tower is probably the funniest thing that's ever happened in comics to me? Like, there's so much to unpack here it's insane?? The tear-away stripper Red Hood costume? The knock-off Robin costume with the stupid ass yellow tights that somehow looks worse than if Jason just rocked the bare thighs? The way Jason is drawn like he is fully 35 with two stepkids and a mortgage? Jason inventing fanfiction about Tim and Bruce's relationship in his head because he refuses to believe Tim actually stalked his way into being Robin?? Trying to mimic his crowbar death by beating Tim with his own staff but I as a reader am entirely unable to take it seriously because of those stupid fucking tights-

And then you get to Tim's side of things and he says like, all of 5 things the entire time and three of them are a coded 'fuck you'. He has absolutely no time or respect for Jason's pity party and it's actually hysterical because Jason cannot stop yapping. Meanwhile, Tim is like, definitely losing the fight which makes it funnier?? Then the ending?? Jason scrawling "Jason Todd was here" on the wall in blood (or red paint meant to look like blood, up in the air) and signing it with a handprint like he's a middle schooler who just discovered Creepypasta???? Ripping the 'R' off Tim's costume when he's literally already unconscious?? Zipping away from the scene thinking "damn I actually like that kid, wish I had friends tbh"??

And then it's literally never brought up again.

[actual-haise]

When Youtubers say that Fate is soooo difficult to get into and the watch order is sooo confusing

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

all the rise boys get done dirty on characterization by fandom in different ways i think. (not ALL the time every fanwork etc etc these are just like, trends i tend to notice?) every fandom suffers from losing character nuance.

- leo i’ve talked about plenty on this blog, how some of his canon traits (genuine belief in his skill and cockiness, capacity for joy, his manipulativeness whether for good or ill) seem to get watered down or wiped off the board and supplemented with generic sad boy. his struggles with purpose and identity and not wanting to fail somehow morph into “he hates and completely holds no value for himself”

- donnie’s canon personality gets blurred out and largely replaced with whatever list of Neurodivergent Traits. and i think there’s such a fine line to walk between exploring a character that’s been word of god confirmed as on the spectrum and overwriting what’s canonically there. it’s a hard needle to thread. it also feels like a lot of his canon emotiveness gets left off the table for some reason. bc he does have his moments of flat/deadpan delivery, but a lot of the time he’s honestly very emotive. he has the passion of a theatre kid and the vindictiveness of... also a theatre kid. and the mind of a scientist.

- raph loses so much of his rowdy teen boy energy it’s kind of wild? like interpretations sand off that he’s also impulsive and can be reckless and dumb and LOVES fighting and roughhousing and isn’t the most eloquent person. suddenly there’s this pitch perfect soft boy big bro who would never hurt a fly and always says the exact right supportive thing and singlehandedly raised his 3 brothers (which simultaneously sands off all the nuance of splinter’s issues emotionally connecting with his sons and how that affected all of them). and like i LOVE raph, he’s so full of love and care and anxiety, he clearly has learned to put a lot of work into being aware of his strength and size. but there’s a difference you know?

- mikey is like. where raph gets overparentified by fanon, mikey gets over “family therapist”-ed IMO. the impulsiveness, the goofiness, the powerful emotions including a VERY powerful temper, the flat-out dumb teen boy choices... they get ignored. suddenly there’s this only very sweet and earnest boy who has read a hundred psychology books and runs group family therapy weekly or something. he is crying in his room bc leo and raph are arguing about something. which is so. he IS very sweet and can be very earnest and is full of love! he HAS come in with his opinions and unsolicited advice a couple of times and life coached for the greater good. but there’s a difference between what he does in canon and the role he gets in fanon.

[wistfulpoltergeist]

Nothing unusual. Decided to play Divinity 2 with my sis. Created my characters there, found a home for them, decorated it, imagined a story and then went back to Sims 4 to recreate my Sims-Divinity Characters back in Sims :D

CC credit: Me :D, @simstrouble, Nelfeah, @giuliettasims, @chocobunsims, @golyhawhaw, @joliebean, @uxji, @thisisthem, @goppolsme, @johnnysimmer, @introsims, @pralinesims

[hecksupremechips]

Thinking of vlr Akane is so conflicting cuz on one hand I’m so upset that she doesn’t ever get a moment to just rest and enjoy being alive again I’m upset that she just gets deeper and deeper into this role she’s built for herself and she loses her humanity and will never ever be that girl who died in the incinerator. But on the other hand, I need her to get so, so much worse I need her to be so obsessed with perfection she has this unique ability to change the course of history and she will burn everything and everyone to the ground in the blink of an eye if it means she can "reset" and get a perfect timeline and I desperately need her to never be satisfied with anything because really, is there anything that’s worth all the damage she’s caused?

[idlesuperstar]

Freddie Fox as Edward Bellingham in Lot No. 249 [A Ghost Story for Christmas, d: Mark Gatiss, 2023]

[satsuha]

just wanted to draw the outfits

[coridallasmultipass]

TG: bro flew off the handle TG: theres seriously something weird going on with him TT: So you finally noticed. TG: no i mean it TG: just beat him in a strife for the first time TG: he fucking lost it TT: That would imply he ever had it to begin with. TG: if you saw what i saw TG: ugh i dont even know TG: forget it

So listen, everyone loves a Decap Dirk, that's my main excuse. I thought about what if Bro tries to get Dave to finish him off early. IDK. It was a shitpost kind of idea, but I just kept making the drawing a more finished quality, and so I had to commit to finishing it.

Bro and Dave are trans men.

Still HQ versions and image text under the cut:

Image text: Fuckin' do it, Dave. C'mon, man. You won. Finish the job. DO IT! Haa Haa... [Image is from Dave's point-of-view. Bro's neck is pinned under Dave's sword, his sunglasses are askew and he has a wild grin and facial piercings. Bro holds Dave in place by grabbing his shirt. Bro's eyes are wide, and his left one shows a flash of billiard ball patterns before returning to normal.]

[fisherrprince]

I wonder how much of Alphinaud's ARR attitude not only comes from the teenage "I know better" mindset, but also from him seemingly not having any actual friends growing up. He certainly seemed to *impress* people, but did he ever befriend anyone? No one talks about him having any kind of proper camaraderie back at the Studium...

im like, nearly certain you’re right. almost everything about his upbringing would lead to having no friends, and nothing that we know about vis a vis the twins as kids points to them having friends that aren’t adults? alisaie mentions shes happy hes hanging out with arenvald bc that Never happened before and ALSO she mentions not bringing anyone over to hang out. n despite alphy having people over they were all like... this 13 year old invites you a college student to his estate how are you. like look the twins are rich and go to private schools around their house. setup one. everyone mentioned to come over and hang out in the short stories or their memory is like, krile. urianger. grandpa's friends. theyre close with much older people. theyre INCREDIBLY smart as kids, and jump at least four grades. also, kids aren't often that fond of their-age kids who are way smarter, especially if they KNOW they're smarter than everyone. they absolutely thought they were better bc of it. they know better because they're smarter. 11 year olds in college are very cute, very impressive, but their brains literally haven't grown in yet so they cant be like, friends. they can be cool and rich and smart (whoa a 14 year old with a subversive understanding of politics!) but not friends. YKNOW? they were totally friendless kids who thought they were above most people if not just their age group. and they did not care at the time at ALL ghsdk

[nyatbinary-81]

@vulpixisananimal sifstem art jumpscare!! more specifically i got bored and decided to mess around with sif and mal's outfits.

[skibasyndrome]

.

[kacievvbbbb]

I know, especially with how much more proactive he is in the live action, some people think that Iroh was too complicit with Zuko and should have put more effort into pushing Zuko down the right path.

But I don’t know I think the point was that it had to come from Zuko. This great change had to be something that Zuko wanted for himself and not something Iroh pushes him into. It’s why although he tries to distract or dissuade him subtly he’s pretty content to let Zuko do as he feels the need to (except when he’s taking insane actions that would have killed him if he wasn’t too spiteful to die) but yeah there’s no obvious push to get Zuko to believe this or that or even to undo the fire nation conditioning he simply just worries for his safety and honestly with how reckless zuko was probably the safest route without pushing him into full mental breakdown.

It’s not till he’s almost captured and they go on the run do you actually start to see that maybe Iroh has a side in all this and it’s not the fire nation. But even then being on Zuko’s side takes precedent. It’s not until Zuko is on the cusp of real change, he’s right on the precipice does Iroh start to push a little harder but even then it’s focused in Zuko making a decision for his life one that nobody else can make for him. The closest Iroh gets to forcefully pushing Zuko towards any direction is him yelling “It's time for you to look *inward* and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you and what do *you* want?”. And then siding with the avatar during the fall of ba sing se.

If Iroh tried to manipulate him, take advantage of this scared angry child to unconsciously steer him towards his own side then he’d be no better than the fire nation, he’s just be another person wrenching control from Zuko life. But instead Iroh offers him that control, let him go out and see what the world is and let the conclusions of whatever he finds be the foundation on which he is rebuilt again and and again. It’s why when he stands infront of Ozai and says “ No, I’ve learned everything! And I’ve had to learn it on my own” we feel that shit. Because yeah he did he struggled and he fought and he learned and damn it all, he is making a choice for himself.

The story works because Iroh isn’t his mentor, he’s his uncle and he loves him enough to push aside his own personal belief to allow Zuko the space to decide who he wants to be, to give him the agency over his own life. That’s why Zuko’s redemption works so well because he’s not forced into it, If he decides to join the avatar to take down the thrown that has been his choice. If he decides to stay with the fire nation be the prince he was born to be….well that had to be his choice as well. Because that’s the crux of this. None of it matters if it isn’t Zuko, with everything that he has learned, making a decision for his own life.

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Yet another ink drawing to add to my collection waaahah! Fought for my life on this one... Everything just kept going wrong!! His helmet is still so hard to draw but each time I get closer and closer!

Juuru looking much more simple in comparison...

Not bad though!!

[galaxythreads]

Made cake at 11pm today to celebrate my engagement because my parents refused to be happy about it.There is perhaps a small amount of bitterness in me. Cake was good though. Even if it's kind of gray for some reason.

[whos-hotter-jjba]

Hottest JJBA Outfit Bracket - Narciso Anasui Preliminary Poll