#detached from society and having it warp himself

[daily-hanamura]

[prettyboykatsuki]

i'd like to hear ur interpretation of hawks if u are open to sharing 🤲🏽 i love hearing you talk abt media and analysis stuff

BELOVED!!! HELLOO AND YES i would love to talk about it though i think i might genuinely ruffle some feathers ajkdkjs but this is just my personal opinion of hawks ! !

one of my main like. gripes with keigos character and how people write hawks is the way they handle his moral reasoning. i think the bnha fandom does this quite a bit where a character who is very obviously meant to be multifaceted is like washed out by one or two actions when those actions aren't derivative of his character.

i find this to be the most egregious in the instance of hawks killing twice. this fight is extremely, extremely complex and i must make it clear that is one of the cruelest actions in the entire series and it is one of hawks worst moments of betrayal and people are allowed to not like him over it

but it doesn't stop me from sympathizing with his character in anyway because this death unlike many before it, starts to change hawks fundamentally (seen in chapter 374)

i think hawks is a character worthy of criticism, but not nearly as much as he is usually subjected to. he's not quite like deku in which he's unable to grasp that hero society needs reform especially because he feels a sense of distaste for the hero commission.

nor is he deluded at any point about the positions of heroes and villains. he is genuine in his effort for reforming, and his compliance with the hero comm. doesn't erase his intent. he prioritizes the public because he is hopeful to the point of denial

his biggest character flaw is more than other things, the sense of detachment he's garnered as a result of his trauma. he's a character who has intellectualized his emotions for nearly his entire life, as proven by his backstory. his sense of victimhood and of being saved is very, very warped because his tactic of survival since childhood has been in some aspect - compartmentalizing his reality. running away. severing his connections much like his parents did.

this is one of the main ways that he and dabi differ. they are quite literally two different responses to intense physical and verbal abuse with dabi being fight and hawks being flight (ironically enough). hawks takes on the role of the good victim, convincing himself it's better to endure everything. he spends his entire childhood like that, and he is only free from that abuse when endeavor comes to save him.

hawks' idolization is another one of those things that people pretty consistently use to derail his character. but i think it's important to recognize that hawks and dabi view endeavor in similar but opposite lights.

their perceptions of him are exacerbated by their circumstances. each of them, respectively, have a relatively extreme / exaggerated view of him. for hawks it was the idea of endeavor and being a savior that allowed to him to survive, and for dabi it was endeavors abuse and the need for vengeance that motivated him to stay alive.

all of that to say - hawks was groomed nearly his entire life to become a hero. he was never given room to process the things he endured, and perhaps the most substantial difference between hawks and dabi is that he is so unbearably isolated from everything. dabi being in the league plays such a huge role in his life but for hawks. he has no friends and his only semblance of self-worth is derived from the idea of Endeavor giving him the time of day and being 'helpful'. he spends nearly his entirely life chasing after the idea of being good and it ruins him in almost every way.

hawks will always be a victim worthy of sympathy to me. his participation in a system that failed him over and over and his hope for that system to change will never allow me to dislike him, even despite the heinous atrocities he's committed against loved ones. he isn't a good person but i don't think he's a bad one either. his obsession with leisure always clues me into the fact that there's probably some part of him that didn't want all this and that sincerely wanted to be good that was absolutely snubbed by the hero commission and it breaks my heart. that's the part of this thats personal and controversial probably.

he feels a lot like a war vet to me. my hope for his arc is that he will realize much in that same vain that this level of corruption needs major reform and that he is able to reflect on that and use his influence in the future for good.

[transhawks]

im stupid so sorry for this but how is spinners devotion and desperation to be useful and helpful all that much different from twices??

Okay, I'm going to ask that people give me some time. I've been working on a meta series for a weeks that will look at the League critically, but it's the second post and the first one is a discussion of heteromorphs in the series.

But just to give you a small preview of the second part where I discuss villains - it's not. That's the entire point.

Twice was mentally ill and constantly treating his friendships with the League as something he needed to prove he deserved. It was a very transactional way of thing - he repeats that he needs to make up Magne's death to them constantly, calls himself nothing while standing up and continuing to fight for them. As heart-touching as it is, it's also just very a very toxic sort of friendship. I understand this site skews towards similarly screwed up people, but imagine how a therapist would react if you told them, "I don't give a shit what happens to me, I just want my friend's happiness."

Like objectively, you know that's not healthy, right? I love my friends (my IRL found family of other qt first gen/poc) deeply, and can say that I live for them, but I also know that isn't the best mindset when it means I prioritize other people's well-being and happiness over my own. In fact, a lot of that mindset caused enabling of addiction and dangerous behavior widely in that friend group where people really had to detach in order to become better because dysfunction was so normalized among us.

Keep that in mind about how the League worked, even when Twice was around. You can't tell me it's good when some of Twice's last thoughts were "They accepted me, and how I'd pay them back?"

You know that's not how friendships have to work? Someone showing you basic decency, kindness, that shouldn't be something you feel like you have to repay. Twice had been abandoned and spit on so much that he never got out of the trap of thinking he had to do things to get people to stay.

So, to answer your question, it's not different. The whole point is that the League are deeply fucked up people who found each other, and if we're to be honest, did not get better, but got understood by people like them. I want to reiterate that - the League on some basis, had understandings with each other, but it's even stated by Compress, "A collection of warped minds who never bothered with prying into each others' pasts." They respected who each person was and accepted it, which societally had been done for none of them, but don't miss this part - they didn't help each other get better and overcome their issues.

And, frankly, it makes sense they couldn't! Like I said, friend groups of people like that often become spaces where certain behaviors and thoughts are normalized.

I'm going to add this - I understand that there's a popular fanon interpretation of the League of Villains where they are a found family who don't need society to get better and help each other. But that's the issue; it's lovely in fanfics, but absolutely not expressed in canon. Any attempts at helping each other were small. Yes, they have (had?) each other's backs, but the thing about being in a sinking pit with other people is that you need someone outside of it to pull you out.

[solomonish]

Hii I saw astrology and divination talk and got curious! If you are into it, do you have any even vague headcanon of what Solomon's relevant(?) placements could be? This topic always makes me go 👀 and its funny that even ancient demons got their lil sun sign listed on their profiles lmao.

Completely disregard this if u dont like astrology though oh 🙈😳 and also !!! hope you're having a nice day~💌

HELLLLLLLOOO my love I hope you meant big three signs because that's what I did lol! And no I did not BUT the moment I got the ask that prompted this I did wonder "hmmm what would Solomon's big three be?" and then this ask came in SO...I looked it up lol

I will warn you though that I don't know a lot about astrology other than my own sun sign (Aries) so this is all from a quick little search!! My descriptions of what they're about come from here so if it's wrong.........I tried <3

Solomon's Big Three

Explaining his Sun Sign - Sagittarius

starslikeyou describes Sagittarius like so:

"Born with the Sun in Sagittarius, you are gifted with an abundance of warmth, energy and positivity. Your sign is noted for a willingness to transcend the everyday by pushing boundaries, demanding freedom and seeking to explore unchartered horizons whenever possible. Your journey involves discovering all that is possible.

At a deeper level, your sign is also concerned with the cultural, philosophical and metaphysical frameworks which make life meaningful. Your life path involves searching for truth and then sharing that with others."

Honestly, I think this works for Solomon!! I think his energy and positivity are more calm, but he's very playful and welcoming just in general. Obviously he's all about exploring the unknown [gestures @ immortality] and I definitely headcanon that Solomon knows a little bit about everything. A true renaissance man...

IDK this was short I just wanted to address it lol. Onto the good stuff!

Guessing Solomon's Moon Sign - Scorpio

According to starslikeyou...

"Born with the Moon in Scorpio, you are likely to be sensitive and loyal, but have intense emotional needs...You are likely to give the impression of being perceptive, powerful, and transformational.

Scorpio is also a Fixed sign, suggesting that when you align your emotions with something you desire – be that a friend/lover or an anticipated outcome – you will be constant, enduring and unwilling to let go."

In terms of the emotional needs, I think this might be the weakest part of my argument - but hear me out. The website describes emotional extremes that may swing back and forth, as well as intense reactions to emotions. I could argue that Solomon does experience this - although I think he's gotten good at hiding it.

I wouldn't describe him as having mood swings, but I can think of a few instances where he has shown them. I think this would mainly take place in his anticipation of rejection. We've seen multiple times how he's willing to indulge in being with MC, only for a moment - happy, satisfied - but then he quickly realizes that they could reject him, that they might not want him, and he backs off and retreats again. This isn't exactly a mood swing, but it fits for my argument. He easily flips from accepting and eager to show affection whenever he has the chance to reserved and pulling away. From confident to almost insecure. Additionally, his emotional reaction to the possibility of rejection - or of returned feelings, like in the Threads of Fate devilgram - could also help my case. The website also argues that people with a moon in scorpio are self-aware, introspective, and private individuals, which definitely sounds like Solomon to me.

In terms of intimacy, the website accents a need for emotional honesty, and finding an inner transformation as you share more parts of yourself and expose your vulnerabilities. I've talked about this for long periods of time, but I really, really think that this is the type of beneficial relationship Solomon needs. He needs someone he can trust completely, someone who can get him to open himself up and be a little more free because they accept his past and the parts of him that are messy.

Also the website says this:

"Finally, the Moon here often also brings highly developed intuitive and psychic gifts. You may find yourself drawn to explore the mysteries of life, wanting to know more about magic, alchemy or anything occult."

And if this isn't Solomon, idk what is.

Honorable mentions i also considered: Moon in Gemini for emphasis on communication / knowledge exchange and intuition, Moon in Sagittarius for passion / creativity and a call to freedom, and a tentative Moon in Cancer for intuition and need for connections.

Guessing Solomon's Rising Sign - Aquarius

As starslikeyou says...

"Born with Aquarius on your Ascendant (or Rising), you will find a clearer sense of individuality is gained by stepping back to look at life from an objective perspective. A detached point of view allows for a logical assessment of the circumstances around you, giving you the ability to find, at times, lightning fast resolution to key issues.

This is the sign of the collective over the individual, the group over the singular. You are likely to have an especially broad view on society that allows you to mix with a great variety of people. Your awareness of group and social dynamics is paramount for your overall self-expression. Putting group endeavours first may override purely personal concerns.

There is likely to be a pronounced tendency to act in ways that will benefit the collective, rather than provide personal gain. This then is the rising sign of the true humanitarian, who gets what they need in ways that are socially responsible and considerate.

...You may also be drawn to arenas such as science, politics, communications or human resources, and have a strong social conscience. Usually open to scientific innovation, you can be an early-adopter or work with advances in technology."

This one really hit me as correct because of the whole collective over the individual part. Solomon acts as a sort of guardian for humanity, and he spares no expense to ensure the continued safety of humans. I understand that Solomon formed pacts beforehand and maybe for selfish reasons, but at least now he's put himself in the affairs of demons to make sure humans have some sort of voice. Now that he's in a position of power, he uses his leverage and makes his loyalties known. Demons probably wouldn't eye him so warily if they weren't suspicious of him turning on them or using them - and if he did so, it'd probably be for humans. Whether or not it's a side effect of his warped view on his own humanity, I definitely think he'd put himself in "harm's way" (though with him, the goalposts for that kind of shift compared to other humans) in order for the greater human good.

The sign also highlights intellect and the ability to make specific and well-thought out decisions with complicated information, as well as an impressive intuition. It describes those with this rising sign as idealistic yet practical, somewhat unorthodox or seen as eccentric (and paying the price for this perception), and a somewhat isolated and aloof front. Honestly, the further I read into the page, the more it reads like just an explanation of Solomon.

Honorable mentions i also considered: Rising Virgo for being humble yet sometimes self-effacing, critical and practical tendencies, and and urge to be useful over recognition. Also Rising Scorpio for transformation, charisma and perception, and insight.

ANWAY...I hope this is what you meant with this ask because if not I will feel SO dumb. But either way I hope you enjoyed, maybe even agreed, and I sure hope this information was correct!! And also....I hope your day was/is great too 😘

[sympathy-for-thedamned]

thorns-and-rosewings

It's kinda interesting how you described him as being mentally ill, because I have long believed that not only were the writers unfair to him, but his final fate was essentially the kid-friendly way of lobotomizing him. Which was a gruesome way of treating the mentally ill in the past. I kinda came to the DuckTales fandom late so I am playing catch up a lot. I can only imagine what made poor Bradford snap as bad as he did at the end. Those actions implied even more...

thorns-and-rosewings

Trauma than what we saw during the series... Which was already pretty bad. Looking closer shows he obviously had hatred burning towards Heron and his clones... I wonder what got him to that point. It must have been pure hell... ------ Someone who was traumatized like that, exposed to adventure and ended up being afraid of nearly dying and being placed into peril no doubt has PTSD from it. If it stuck with him from childhood then it turns into C-PTSD.  I don’t even think this is armchair diagnosing a character.  Canon shouts it in your face.  As someone who suffers from the disorder myself, I can say that it can give you feelings of burning hatred. Some days you just wake up angry and you’re not sure what it’s about. It can make you bitter and scared, it can warp your mind to hate, be scared of or avoid the thing that traumatized you. Wanting to gain control over something that made you feel helpless is something that happens with trauma.  Having this ‘get it away from me, I wished it never existed. I’ll get rid of it so it doesn’t hurt me anymore’ aspect of his character furthers my suspicions that this is what he suffers from. Agitation, hostility, hypervigilance, social isolation and self-destruction are traits Bradford shares with this disorder.  He also has severe emotional detachment.  A  lot of people think PTSD is all about flashbacks and being distressed over recollection of traumatic events, but I can tell you there is so much more to it than that. You have difficulty experiencing positive emotions at times and you can become emotionally numb, things that seem to be prevalent in Bradford’s character. It sucks and it makes you feel like a social outcast, like there’s a wall between you and society and you can look at people but it’s as if they don’t exist in your world. There’s always this sense that they won’t understand you. It’s a very real and crushing thing to feel that type of loneliness. I say this in sincerity and out of personal experience.  As someone who writes as a hobby, I can say from a technical standpoint it just seemed like they wrote themselves into a corner about how to actually defeat a character who put up, imho one of the biggest threats by directly challenging the main theme of the show.  I don’t think they quite knew how to defeat Bradford by anything other than pulling a deux ex machina with their “family is adventure” shtick. I actually agree with you, dark as that statement may be.  I feel it would have been much better to just find the papyrus again and write his ability to combat chaos out of history so he couldn’t do it again.  Is this also kid-friendly lobotomization?  Well, yes and no as he could do other things, but in the same vein this leaves him to face the hell in his head and all he’s done, including obliterating people from existence.   Now that you bring it up I am thinking about that.  You have given me some symbolic insight I hadn’t thought about.  It just piles on top of ‘hey look at this evil, ugly old man, everyone treat him like garbage’ motive propagated in the finale. Shant let my mind wander, lest it get lost in the dark on that one, friend. I’m sure Bradford felt just as empty around his clones and Heron as he had the majority of his existence.  His apathy towards the clones is an insight to the way he thinks - as I’ve always felt his dehumanization of them perpetuated the fact that he felt he had to surround himself with false people, illusions that merely danced on his sickly strings with nothing feeling a real sense of emotion or comradery with him, no genuine bonds because THEY wanted to but because HE wanted them to , minus Heron who only negatively enticed him to embrace his villainy and attempted to manipulate him through such means via ‘it’s okay, liberate yourself’ verbatim.  Even then, his views of Heron was merely as an asset.

[paleghostinthecorner02]

I haven't read Kneel Before Me but I have read the other two and I honestly think that despite bith Matthias and Damien being manipulative, obsessed yanderes, they have different vibes and Damien is actually enjoyable to me.

Aside from how they treat their respective FLs, I think they're an interesting contrast in their general life goals and attitudes as well. Matthias is content with his already impressive position in society while Damien is aiming to be King. Matthias is a superficially perfect but emotionally warped person while Damien actually has fairly functional emotions and cultivates a bad reputation for himself to aide in his ambitions. Damien's goal of being king is lofty and something easy to understand by both characters and readers while Matthias's ultimate goal of possessing a humble commoner woman is baffling to everyone in his story. Even their relationships with their mothers contrast: As with all relationships that are not with Layla, Matthias has a cordial but detached relationship with his mother who in turn sees Matthias less as her son (or an actual human being) and more as a demigodlike being whose purpose is to make her family look good, while Damien's mother slathers her son with real affection which he returns in kind. Not to go Sigmund Freud or anything, but I see the connections between their abilities to process human emotions and their relationship with their mothers.

As for the way their romances play out, there are parallels like how they both initially start antagonistically with their FLs and are both put in the same horrible position later in the story, but there's a lot of differences that just make Damien come across as far less awful than Matthias does.Damien is initially extremely rude and overly possessive of Chloe, but he soon changes course and becomes a little more pleasant. In fact, fairly early into their marriage when he wins her affection he realizes he rather enjoys the lovey dovey life, and the reader almost forgets that their current relationship is built on lies manipulation. His affection is real, but the way he gained hers isn't. It's definitely complicated to explain.Matthias? For most of the story he teeters back and forth between being an abusive, sadistic pusbucket who revels in Layla's misery to wanting a normal relationship like how other loving couples around him act, and he becomes easily frustrated when his shallow attempts to win her affection don't work because he has no idea what she's really like. Like, he knows she likes birds, and the women he tends to be around like jewelry, so he has a custom made crystal bird pendant made just for Layla who shoved it under her bed and forgot about it. He cannot comprehend that Layla doesn't value material things because of their monetary worth but instead for their sentimental worth.

Another thing I noticed is that while Matthias seems to revel in reminding Layla she's just some orphaned peasant even when she works hard to show that she can make something of herself through academia, Damien seems to hate that Chloe has a low opinion of herself due to her disability and will play the bad guy to get her to show off to everyone and herself her good qualities. He even buys her a brace for her leg that allows her to walk without a cane and initially is the only one who has any confidence that she could successfully use it.

I think their differences can be best summed up in the fact that they both get put into the same horrible position where they have to make the same difficult choice and despite Damien making the "worse" choice against Chloe's wishes, he still came out looking better than Matthias. You know what I mean right? BoT has already gotten to it in the manhwa while it's a long time off for COBYB.

TL:DR, Damien and Matthias are more different than what most people tend to think and I like Damien better.

Also FUCK YURI. ALL MY HOMIES HATE YURI.

Manhwa/Webcomics with really interesting stories and beautiful art but have ick MLs that are still interesting:

Cry or Better Yet Beg

This male lead is a bird killer that I am told only gets worse as the story progresses. I’m not going to say what he’s going to do to her but it’s horrible, a trigger warning would be necessary for even a watered down explanation. He sees her as a canary in a cage, his canary in his cage if you will. The comic is being made and is still in the earlier stages of the story but there is a web novel out there.

Kneel Before Me

This is the most developed of the three. The male lead isn’t human and he doesn’t think like us in a lot of ways. He is very obsessed with the female lead. As long as he is on her brain he is happy with that and he’s going for long lasting results (or so he says but I don’t think he really truly wants her hatred). He believes that love doesn’t last but hatred can. He sees her kind of like a pet but, she does have a level of influence over him. He’s also a villain and he’s done some messed up stuff to her. He didn’t start out quite a villain though, more like her dangerous ally(?) and she’s the one thing keeping him in line. This is also based on a novel.

Betrayal of Dignity

Like the other two THIS. MAN. IS. OBSESSIVE. It’s bad for her ngl. He’s a highly manipulative man as well. These men are basically the same person in most ways. All of the women are smart, though Layla doesn’t seem calculating and she has no power in this thus far unlike the other two who can be calculating and they do at least gain power or start out with it. This female lead is reserved and will do anything for those she loves (also like the fl in KBM). She comes from a (by noble standards) penniless family. As a result of this she marries a Duke who decides he needs to marry a woman in her family (he’s shooting for her though via manipulation). This is most likely because he finds her to be fascinating and he later finds a reason to pursue her in marriage. The leads fall for one another but again, he is manipulating everything always. He is by far the most ambitious of all of the leads I’ve mentioned thus far.

All of the male leads are ick but they’re interesting and the story is interesting and I’m rooting for the female leads so I can’t not read all of these. I thought about adding The Devil and his Sacrifice but I hate the male lead more than I find the story interesting so it just gets an honorable mention.

[dadzawa-adopt-dabi]

Learn some dam self care Keigo.

Dabi has noticed Keigo getting tired.

"What's the matter? Don't they don't give you Heroes breaks?" He mocks to cover up the sliver of concern.

"Not me." Is the short and bitter response. Its genuine for once.

Dabi puts off the next meeting for a few days to try and give him a break. Spying and working double shifts nearly everyday is obviously leaving the Hero with little time to rest. He’s not worried, really he isn’t, but Keigo may have stumbled a few times last meeting. He caught himself and didn't appear drunk wich leaves exhaustion.

When he messages the hero again it's just to tell him the next meeting time and location. Hopefully the dumb bird has rested up and they can get back to exchanging information.

Dabi ends up running a little late again. Toga wouldn't leave him alone about meeting Hawks and he had to shake her loose before he came to see him.

Keigo is curled into the corner of a sofa and is folded into his wings when Dabi walks into the warehouse.

"No greeting birdy? And after i let you have time off" Dabi notices that Keigo actually dosnt look much better than he had a couple days ago. He makes a note to check social media and see if Hawks had been pulling double shifts the entire time.

"It's fucking cold. Let's just get on with this." Keigo grumbles from inside the cocoon of his wings. He sits himself up straighter but keeps his wings around himself as a makeshift blanket.

It's about 20 minutes into the conversation before Keigo stops talking midsentence. A few moments later he falls forward and Dabi rushes to catch him.

That's it. Its officially intervention time. Keigo is obviously being overworked. He had stopped talking at several points in the meeting, loosing his train of thought or dozing off before jolting himself awake. He's looked him up on his phone while Keigo was struggling to stay awake and Keigo hasn't had a night or day off in weeks. Its past a burnout pace.

So it's not a complete surprise when he finally gives up and falls asleep.

Dabi calls Kuroguri and tells him to pick him up and prepare for a guest as Keigo struggles to wake up again. Keigo is mumbling at him and trying to stand but stumbling, so Dabi walks him straight back into the opening warp gate.

"Your meeting the boss. Oh and I'm kidnapping you until further notice." Dabi casually states and follows after him to see Shigaraki steadying him on the otherside. He had on his gloves he usually used for gaming and was scowling at Dabi already. Kuroguri had warped them right into the living room.

This is going to cause shenanigans and Shig knows it.

"Is he drunk? He can't even stand. What are you doing bringing him here right now?" Shigaraki let Keigo go when he tried to jerk out of his hold.

"I- I'm too- I can't, Dabi?" Keigo mumbled and moves toward Dabi.

"It's fine Keigo. Shig is just concerned. It's fine he's got his gloves on." Dabi muttered to the tired bird and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is he drunk or what?" Shigaraki hovered nearby.

"Remember how I was saying the Hero commission was pushing him too hard? He's not drunk, just sleep deprived and exhausted. So I kidnapped him"

Shigaraki scratched at his neck.

"Is he always like this? Is there anyone coming to look after him?"

"Not as far as I know. Hey Magne can you start a bath? He's pretty cold." Dabi started leading Keigo down the hallway.

Toga appeared at his elbow and got a good look at Keigo.

"He can use one of my bath bombs. He looks like he needs some self care."

" You can lecture him on self care when he wakes up later." He continued supporting Keigo and was guiding him down the hall to the bath.

" Can you make sure he stays upright in the bath?" Shigaraki asked Shuichi in the corner.

Shuichi hoped up passing his game to Shig to save for him.

"I can bath myself." Keigo insisted and pulled away from Dabi. Waking up a little bit more. He stumbled again and leaned against the wall.

"This really isn't necessary, I appreciate it, but this happens all the time."

Shuichi grabbed his hands and pulled him upright causing a glove to slip off.

"Shouldn't happen at all" muttered a concered Kuroguri from the kitchen as Shuichi made a choked sound.

Keigo snatched his glove back and shoved it on.

"Fuck that's gotta hurt dude, no need to hide those here. I've got mine long. No one cares if I cut them or not bro" Spinner spread his hands out to show Keigo the talons Magne and Toga had painted just a few days ago.

He took Keigo's other hand and tugged off the glove. Keigo's nails revealed as talons clipped short and frayed.

"Dabi can keep watch." Keigo muttered. If this was going to be how he met the rest of the LoV it was better the devil he knew with him while he was vunerable.

Dabi wheezed behind him and coughed to clear his chest.

"Not a good idea" he coughed out.

"No he can not. He would be useless" Shig said while trying not to laugh.

"The hell you all standing around talking for? Let's get bird boi bathed changed and in bed. Not Dabi's bed. They're still not at that point evidently" Magne stated.

"I'm not a child. And I have patrol in 3 hours. I can't just skip." Keigo followed anyways. Sleep sounded so nice and technically he was still spying while he was here.

"Stage one kidnapping and get Kuroguri on a soapbox for Hero treatment and schedules. Got it." Sako grinned.

"You better give me that soapbox. First Shouta now this young man. I've got quite a bit to say to society on how much they demand from heros." Kuroguri appeared to be writing a speech already.

"I'm here so how are you going to fake a kidnapping?" Keigo was really getting tempted by the idea of that rest. Why the hell was the LoV so nice? Maybe if he asked Dabi would dry his feathers off for him?

Too nice. All this sounded too good to be true.

"Magicians never reveal there secrets"

"Wouldnt you like to know feather boi?" Toga cackled as she reappeared with gold and pink bathbombs.

"Keep your secrets then. Also thank you Toga I've been wanting to try these." Fuck it Keigo decided. He was tired and could spy properly when he more rested. This was somehow nothing what he expected the LoV to be and everything Dabi had implied they were for him.

"We are talking about whatever the hell these guys think is going on when I wake up" Keigo took the bathbombs and followed after Shuichi. Only bumping into the wall a few times.

Keigo only nodded off in the bath once and Shuichi threw a rubber duck at him when he did.

"What else does the Hero concil have you hide?" Shuichi asked trying to keep Keigo talking and awake.

"Um I have a 3rd eyelid my visor obscures? My talons are actually my fault at this point. I have to regularly clean and straighten my feathers or use them all up. They are a lot of maintenance but most of its second nature at this point." Keigo stuttered in some parts.

"Eye markings?" That's something Shuichi was actually curious about.

"Not makeup. Most people just assume its eyeliner but I was born with them." Keigo finished rinsing out his hair and held out a hand for a towel.

"Cool. Dabi thought so but I totally thought it was eyeliner."

"How often does Dabi talk about me?" Keigo shrugged into some sweats and a shirt that had a deep v already cut for his wings. That was thoughtful.

"He talks about you a lot."

"Does he like me or something? Do you think he would mind helping me dry out my wings? I dont want to annoy him" Keigo went to leave.

"How are both of you this clueless? You are literally wearing his sweats. Yes he would help you with your wings. we all would if he would challenge us to a pvp for the honor." Shuichi facepalmed.

"They kinda suck though, and make people uncomfortable. My feathers are basically a bunch of knives. Maybe Toga wouldnt mind? She likes knives" He muttered and shuffled towards the room he came into. There had been a couch and he could always use his wings as a blanket. Wet or not he would pass out almost immediately.

"I've never seen Toga and Dabi fight yet and I am not eager to see it now." Shuichi nudged him towards a diffrent room.

"Your rooms over here."

"I have a room?" It was probably because he was so tired but Keigo started crying. They were so nice to him already.

"DABI, your bird is crying. Come fix him." Shuichi yelled towards the main room.

There was some cussing heard and a few seconds later Dabi was beside him.

"Why you crying pretty bird?"

"I'm mostly just tired but you guys have been so nice! I have a own room already and you kidnapped me and my shirt has holes cut and no one minds my talons." Keigo babbles and leans forward until his head is resting on Dabi's shoulder.

"Well yeah, as soon as I started talking about you seriously joining us Shig set you up a room. The sweats and sleep and acceptance is just basic decency. Let's get you in bed." Dabi led him in the rest of the way.

"Wait can you dry my wings? They're wet and gross and Spinner said you wouldn't mind? I promise they won't cut you." Keigo muttered. Dabi would probably say no but he was too tired to detach them all and spin them around until they dried.

"Sure. Go to sleep already birdy."

Keigo finally got to sleep knowing it would be for more than a couple hours. Dabi running his heated hands through his wings was definitely something he was going to ask for again.

Fuck the commission he was staying here. Maybe Toga could give him a face mask next time.

[deathing]

    HEADCANON   :   DISSOCIATION  &  STATE OF MIND .

WARNING FOR :   mentions of mental health, childhood abuse and trauma.

            in short,  tomura’s state of mind and over all mental health / mentality is very damaged and unstable.      he doesn’t quite fit into any one classification and rather seems to have an amalgamation of dissociative disorders with aspects from each of the three major disorders ( dissociative identity disorder,  dissociative amnesia and depersonalization-derealization disorder. )  

              first of all,   dissociation is a coping mechanism that is used to disconnect from stressful or traumatic situations, or to separate traumatic memories from general awareness. by dissociating painful memories from everyday thought processes, a person can maintain a level of functioning, as though the trauma had not occurred.  this all stems from his experiences of abuse as a child from his father and the subsequent deaths of his family when his quirk manifested.  dissociation is actually quite a normal trauma response,  it’s a way to disconnect from external situations when you cannot physically get away from them.  it does,  however,  become an issue when this is someone’s only coping mechanism and shigaraki has been doing this almost continually for over fifteen years.  not to mention, the act of wearing the hands of his family served to effectively re - traumatize him or at least substantially raise his stress levels to keep the dissociation going.

1   :   IDENTITY .

              tomura separates his identity from tenko,  effectively to the point where they are two different entities to him. this is a little similar to dissociative identity disorder  ( previously known as multiple personality disorder ),  but that’s really where the similarities stop.  he doesn’t alternate between himself  ( as tomura ) and ‘tenko’    —   rather just separates them in his mind.  it’s stressful and confusing for him to be reminded that he is both of them,  that they are one and the same person,  because he seeks to distance himself from his trauma and so that he is able to continue to function.

              tomura seeks to have a lot of control over many aspects of his life,  becoming stressed and dysregulated when things don’t go the way he’s planned.  it’s to compensate for the lack of control he experienced as tenko and,  unfortunately,  it’s just as he’s said,  that violence breeds more violence.  violence was perpetrated onto tenko and therefore tomura enacts that violence on others in turn.    (  in keeping within the context that he was coached and manipulated by all for one to be violent and destructive,  not that the abuse itself made him this way.  )

               additionally,  i think it’s worth noting that tomura has never really been allowed to form his own identity.  tenko wanted to be a hero and he was continuously denied this by his father.  he was then taken in by all for one,  given tomura as an identity and then manipulated into how to think and feel,  without really haven ever been given much of a choice.  society as a whole rejected tenko when he needed it,  it continues to do so as tomura,  and so he seeks to destroy what continues to deny him.

2   :   MEMORIES .

             perhaps the most obvious is that tomura was unable to actually recall his childhood memories and therefore experienced dissociative amnesia.  or rather,  until his ‘awakening’,  he saw flashes of his childhood but could never see the whole picture,  describing it as like a broken record.  he also muses on that he had ‘no memories’ but that he could ‘remember the emotions.’  most interestingly is that in this particular panel when tomura is recalling a flash of a memory,  tenko is a black silhouette.  at this point,  he was continuing to separate himself from tenko,  at least on a subconscious level,  with the actual memory of his place in the family continuing to be distorted.  after his ‘awakening’,  the memories have clearly been pieced back together but i think he continues to quietly push them to the back of his mind.  again,  the trauma is readily available to him now so it’s more of a conscious decision to not think about it.

              another small point,  but given he dissociates so often or just generally gets lost in his thoughts,  and not necessarily for extended periods of time,  tomura experiences blank spots in his memory in day to day life.  not particularly in relation to information   —–   more so if you just ‘zone out’ while doing something mundane and lose concentration or awareness of the outside world.

3 . 1   :   PERCEPTION   /   DETACHMENT FROM REALITY .

             tomura’s perception of reality can be quite warped and can occasionally question whether something in real or not  ( including himself. ) it’s usually because he feels very detached or disconnected from the real world,  as he’s been isolated for a large portion of his life.  one of his main coping mechanisms has clearly been video games   —–   leading him to make references to gaming and game terminology in relation to real world situations.  this continues to allow him to be somewhat detached from the situation but can also sometimes struggle with differentiating between fiction and reality.  this doesn’t actually occur that often,  the derealization is more likely to be a sense of him feeling as though his surroundings are foggy / unclear / distanced or that time is moving slower.

              this generally gets worse in collaboration with his chronic sleep issues  / insomnia.  the longer he’s gone without proper rest or sleep,  the more likely it is that his perception will become more and more warped.  to the point where he can experience visual and auditory hallucinations.  in the villain / meta liberation army arc,  he comments in this panel that ‘it always gets like that when i get sleepy; i see things moving that shouldn’t be moving,  i hear sounds that shouldn’t be heard.’

3 . 2   :   DETACHMENT FROM EMOTIONS .

               tomura is also incredibly detached and disconnected from his emotions  (  to a certain extent,  this one is quite complicated.  )    obviously he experiences anger,  rage,  resentment.  he experiences a lot of negatively associated emotions daily,  but generally lives in a state of hollowness or numbness.  it’s like that big empty feeling in your chest or that anything remotely positive has a wet blanket over the top of it.  you’re not fully able to feel it.  that’s what it’s like for him.  however,  this detachment also means he will struggle to develop substantial connections and relationships with others,  or it takes him a long time to learn to trust others.  any close relationship he has had in the past or currently is ( or has been ) largely dysfunctional and this is unlikely to change   —   given the other dysfunctional people he surrounds himself with,  and his own experiences.

              his emotional range is quite restricted and his emotional reaction won’t always necessarily fit the circumstance.  for example,  violence and destruction elicit some kind of manic joy from him when this shouldn’t be the case.  to be even more confusing,  he is both emotionless and too emotional.  he can’t control or regulate his emotions the same way a ‘normal’ person can.  he can go from one to the other in a split second and then back again;  he can be manic,  impulsive and unpredictable.

               the ‘itch’ that tomura experiences is also psychosomatic.  that is,  it is created or caused by his own mental or emotional state,  usually stress.  it was previously linked moreso to his traumatic memories and experiences and seems to have been mostly alleviated after his ‘awakening.’  however,  it can still occur when triggered by substantial emotional stress or when he’s struggling to regulate himself.  scratching at it to relieve the itch is a self - soothing mechanism to help him calm down,  however the pain associated with it also assists in grounding him.

[rebuiltbionicle]

Red Star

A component of the Great Spirit Robot kept separate from the rest of the Matoran Universe. The Red Star (actually called the Externalised Engine in the Great Being’s schematics, and referred to as “the Spheres” by its inhabitants) is a booster rocket, interstellar drive, and monitoring station all in one, and has some emergency functions to defend the Great Spirit Robot from external forces.

The Red Star was built by the Great Beings. The Great Spirit Robot needed to travel interstellar distances and they wanted to maximise observation time of alien civilisation over travel time, so they created their undoubtedly most advanced piece of technology ever: a warp engine. Only a few prototypes had ever been produced and the technology had never been implemented for long-term use. The technology was so unrefined that it was deemed safer to have the engine built outside of the Robot. This provided several advantages for additional features placed on the star.

The Red Star was held in a slot on the GSR’s back, where it produced massive amounts of thrust to (in conjunction with foot and hand mounted thrusters) take the enormous weight of the machine into orbit. There (after fixing any orbital problems caused to the planet by the raw power of takeoff) the GSR would fold into a ball for interstellar travel. The Red Star’s enormous reactor would produce a tonne of negative mass particles to create a stable warp bubble. Further exotic particles had to be produced to burst the bubble and come back into real space. This process produced massive amount of heat, and after shutting down the waste heat would be used to power systems for a thousand years until it was needed again. The heat was so immense that it kept the Star operating perfectly with energy to spare.

After finding a planet to survey, the Red Star would detach from the GSR as it landed and disguised itself for observations. The Star would assume a not-quite geostationary orbit of the planet, monitoring the GSR as it did its observing. It had several emergency functions that could aid the GSR, including a power beam that could transform Matoran into Toa. It would also project Toa Spirit stars and other functions should the Matoran be forced to surface. One of the more important but misused functions was that the Red Star would act as a communications satellite capable of communicating with the Great Beings back on Bara Magna.

There were two different kinds of inhabitants of the Red Star. Firstly, the Kestora: the smaller service robots designed to maintain areas of the GSR the awakened Biomechs were never meant to see, of which the Red Star was included. Secondly, the Voltest: giant biomechs intended for work within the Star’s reactor, with bodies meant to anchor themselves and withstand great heat.

The Red Star was built as a trio of spheres, each slightly small than the other and built into the far wall of its superior, resulting in one spherical chamber and two crescent/bowl shaped chambers. The outermost, the thinnest, was the maintenance deck. Exclusively staffed by the Kestora, it was here that the internal operations of the Red Star, including its communications equipment and propulsion, was operated from. The middle section was the habitation section, dominated by a simulated biosphere of biomechanical trees growing high-energy fruit for the inhabitants to feed on. There were also places to sleep, though since these beings were never intended to be sapient these locations were best described as hives. The inner chamber was the only spherical chamber, and where the reactor and primary functions were situated, exclusively staffed by the Voltest. Gravity went inwards toward the reactor core. The entire thing was covered in a sheath shaped like a hexagonal bipydramid with hexagonal faces on each end instead of pointed vertices.

Operations on the Red Star were as-intended for the first thousand years of the GSR’s journey. This changed when the Great Being Gaardus teleported into the Star. The inhabitants attempted to expel him as a contaminant, but Gaardus altered their minds to allow them the same sapience the rest of the Matoran Universe possessed. Gaardus immediately realised this could negatively effect the running of Engine, so he took the time to organise their society on the basis of the Matoran society and encouraged the worship of the Great Beings, specifically himself. He established a Voltest Hierarch to rule over them in his stead.

This Hierarch’s reign was short lived as he became a tyrannical slavedriver. They refused to let culture grow outside of maintenance work, enforced nearly perpetual workshifts, and encouraged hatred between Kestora and Voltest to avoid being the target of the people’s anger. This failed and they were hurled into the reactor by unknown assailants. Their death forced a discussion of how the Star should be run, and a democratic council was established. Culture was allowed to develop and flourish, including the building of the Great City of Silver. The Red Star flourished, with no detriment to its operations. Gaardus’s regular returns brought malcontent as he disapproved of the overthrow of the Hierarch and insisted that a singular being was superior to what he termed “mob rule.” He attempted to install a new Hierarch, this time a Kestora, but the society resisted and maintained the council. Knowing the Red Star’s importance, Gaardus was hesitant to push the issue to the point of dysfunction.

The seeds of the Red Star’s doom had been sown. Despite thousand of years of prosperity, there was malcontent within its society. The chosen Kestora hierarch (calling himself The Prophet), denied a throne, continued to stir up trouble within the society, though amounting to nothing for millennia. They attempted a coup and had to remain a wanted criminal hiding in a very small habitable space, evading capture only through loyal followers ferrying them from hiding place to hiding place.

The collapse of Red Star society came with the Great Cataclysm. The Red Star was fully aware of the Cataclysm, having been ejecting from the robot prematurely in a jolt that gave their civilisation its own cataclysm. The Prophet was able to return to prominence and blame the event of incompetent rule by the council, which retorted that the event was clearly from outside. The next few decades were spent rebuilding, while the Prophet slowly spread dissent amongst the Kestora. At this time they received a visitor from beyond; not Gaardus but Artakha. The Master Builder, in his more proactive attempts to help Mata Nui in their time of need, projected an spectral image to survey the situation. He directed the reconstruction of more irreplaceable systems and informed them of what had been going on. He also provided a voice in favour of the council opposed to the Prophet. The never swayed a majority of the Kestora, but they achieved just enough to launch a coup in spite of Artakha’s efforts.

The Prophet’s followers attacked the City of Silver in a ruthless attack. They’re acts of violence made it too dangerous to stay in the city, forcing most of the inhabitants out. Kestora not loyal to the Prophet were forced into the maintenance section and sealed there, while the Voltest fled to the outer habitation decks and the inner reactor. A war began in which the fortified Prophet forces would slowly hunt down the Voltest, despite the protest of the spectral Artakha.

The Voltest were hunted down to a mere handful of survivors. Artakha instructed them to hide, but they chose to lay siege upon the city to reclaim it. They managed to break in, but it was a losing battle. Out of the blue, Takanuva was deposited into the Red Star via Olmak. Artakha informed him of the battle in the city and instructed him to help. Unforunately Takanuva misread the situation. There was only one Voltest left, which Takanuva interpretted as invading the Kestora’s city. Fortunately Takanuva merely drove it off. After being reprimanded by Artakha, Takanuva befriended the creature and manged to lure the Prophet’s Kestora out of the city, where the Voltest retook occupation and sealed the Prophet out. From there they allowed the friendly Kestora back in and attempted to restore order, and begin repairing and rebuilding the Voltest species. The Prophet’s forces remained active on the outskirts.

Gaardus would later return, and was blamed for the war and forced out; all loyalty and respect he once commanded gone. Later on, Artakha would command them not to repair the Star, as the GSR had been seized by the Makuta. Without the Red Star his ability to conquer other worlds was severely handicapped. Makuta noticed a lack of response from the Star, and teleported a legion of Rahkshi there which made the Kestora and Voltest far more cooperative. The Mad Skakdi Vezon also showed up via Olmak to the star, and made himself known to both the natives and the Rahkshi. He would sporadically juThe Red Star was made operational again, but was never used. Makuta jumped without it from Aqua Magna to Bara Magna, where the GSR was rendered inoperable and would never need the Red Star again. The Rahkshi went feral and were slowly culled.

With contact with the outside world cut off, things became a little stir crazy. Sure, the Red Star had always been isolated, but now they knew important things were happening out there without their knowledge. Tensions flared up again against the Prophet’s forces. A second war was averted when Vezon returned and had the Prophet killed. The Red Star citizens were grateful, and Vezon decided to use this gratitude to his advantage, rallying the Red Star citizens to face a greater cause for the freedom of all biomechanicals within and beyond the Red Star. He brought them to Spherus Magna to help in the fight against Gaardus and his attempt to restore a Great Being dictatorship.

The Red Star has remained in orbit since then, but now as a political entity in full contact with the outside world. Trade and immigration is now possible. The prosperity of Red Star civilisation in the intermediary years now seems a period of stagnation and isolation compared to what they’ve made of themselves.

[woodohwanedandproud]

@astersofthesky #just like when he felt guilty about the FBI agent's death because of ''him'' #he also shows care about aiber and wedy when he seemed a little worried and told them to be extra careful #also he was shaking when ukita died so seeing someone die on his team must've shaken him too #considering he also prepared insurances for the the task force's family if i remember it correctly #so yeah i think L is a bit better than Light in this regards #doesn't change the fact that he's highly hypocritical tho @soup-bowlnotincluded #absolutely #he just gets a kick out of solving difficult cases #if he ended up deciding he got a bigger kick from CREATING difficult cases he would of done that instead @tennisthemedhatesex withnoname3540 #I wouldn't trust what he says but I think in this case it's true #especially because I don't think this is how Watari would want him to be #(which is another theory I saw to explain how L might seem cold or immoral but is really just suppressing it) #I can understand wanting L to have more of a moral core bc y'all see that as more likeable #but even so #i don't think it would be a primary aspect of his character #i feel like he uses Justice as a mask #he is perfectly happy to be an instrument of Justice because it aligns with what he wants #which is to solve interesting cases #in the Kira case it gets more complex than that #but whether the argument is based in morals or if morals are an arguing tool that neither need to feel to use #(both acting as though they have the moral high-ground but also acting in ways most would see as immoral) #(I feel like Light honestly believes his - regardless of if it's true - whereas L is a little more self-aware) #it's left up to interpretation yes #but it does the character a disservice when people treat him as completely moral MY 2 CENTS? They are two sides of the same coin. Justice truly matters to them both. But they don't really have the same definition of justice. Light's justice is self defined: he chooses and decides and judges - which makes him in fact a tyrant de facto no matter his goals/intentions/ideals. L's justice is in accordance with the law = people defined/agreed upon (and yes he is very apt at toeing the line and treading its murcky grey areas to bend it to his advantage), but he mostly keeps playing by society defined rules. L is not a killer - he lives for the chase, yes, and catches bad people according to one society so they can be punished by that society's law (eventually by death, yes, but he doesn't care much about this aspect imo - he works too for countries without death penalty). L is ruthless and detached and cold (I wouldn't say emotionless, even though he tries always to control his emotions, he WANTS to win and prove his worth all the time, and possibly most of all to himself); which can't make him a good person emotionnally, but still a good person objectively, in accordance to his deeds. Which is why no matter how much I like Near and Mello the best ending to me, emotionnally (even if the best of all still is the original manga) is the 2006 japanese movie take, with L writing his own name in the death note before Light can - as if it's nothing, as if it doesn't really matter. Because he wins. The cost he's ready to pay is worth it, to him. He wins. And then he burns the book instead of using it. This is to me quintessential L. No matter how grey L is: L could never be Light (which is one of my many problems with the Netflix movie I need to just erase from my memory) Light wants to be led by logic but he is much more emotion driven than L - he HAS a heart and is possibly more capable of feeling love to start with than L, emotionnally - which makes his warping SO good imo. Because it's still A PERSONAL CHOICE - about which side to go. Just like Sherlock's choice (consultant detective) differs from Moriarty's choice (consultant criminal). One might argue that it might be the easiest way to go to keep within the law, but it is still a choice, and is thus imo morally meaningful. (L is to me the coldest impersation of Sherlock, while Spock is the softest; it's a working scale, but they are still all at the same side of the objectively lawful good balance and not evil)

L definitely doesn't care as much about justice as he is sometimes portrayed to imo. I look at him and see a mirror of Light. He is an abnormally intelligent man who is BORED. Sure, he isn't quite a murderer himself but he clearly has no issues with breaking laws or crossing moral boundaries to get what he wants. (Cameras in people's houses, misa's kidnapping, the whole Soichiro shooting Light setup etc)

He is iirc even stated to only take on cases that seem interesting. He is just as driven by the need for stimulation and desire to win as Light is.

He is NOT a moral figure. I love the man to death but what i really love is how similar Light and L are in so much. Sure, L is doing this for "the greater good" but only because it is what is interesting to him. If things would have gone differently in his life, he could have easily gone down a different path for his entertainment.

[bunniibones]

Now that we’re on the topic, I’d like to share this headcanon I have about Starline’s behavior towards Eggman; why he liked him so much and why he was so upset towards him.

We all know that Starline is (or was) obsessed with Dr. Eggman, to the point of practically having him in a pedestal and eagerly helping him with his plans, even when he realized that Eggman wasn’t the man he seemed to be, Starline still wanted to help him with the zombot issue by bringing the Deadly Six and giving him more time to figure out a way to control the zombots. But... Why?

It all starts with this panel

There, Starline explains that he has been fascinated by Eggman, that he based his life and career on the man due to being inspired by him. Since he states that he chose his career (PhD in Robotics) on Eggman, we can assume that he got to know about Eggman while finishing high school, in which he caused a 180° turn in his life.

Back then, Starline felt detached from society, being a science enthusiast with an evil mind was frowned upon, not feeling able to be himself, he restricted his own behavior and choices because of this, until he got to know about Eggman and his world’s conquest.

It truly inspired Starline, especially since he saw how someone could be so free to express what they wanted, without the fear of being shamed and even taking insults (like Eggman) to turn them into their favors, all while showing an incredible intellect with tenacity and that charismatic personality that we all know that Eggman has, so it allowed Star to change his point for view. Knowing that there was someone with the same passion for evil and science completely caught his attention.

The more he researched about Eggman and his evil deeds, the more he felt intrigued and inspired by him, letting the platypus to feel that he could ‘free’ himself as well, changing his attire and appearance, not hiding his personality, emotions (we all have seen that he lets his emotions to control him) and intentions anymore, just... being himself.

He began to study robotics to follow Eggman’s steps, even trying to think like him whenever he could and imitate him in a sense (look how both use shades of red with yellow and how Starline uses similar glasses to the ones that his idol has)

He really thought that he was Eggman’s kindred spirit by doing all of this, feeling a deep connection to the man that inspired his entire life, despite the fact that he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to properly meet him (until the Tinker incident)

For Starline, it was like a dream come true to be finally able not to only get to know his idol, but to work for him and being named “his best lackey”, finally all of the effort he has put throughout his life of researching about Eggman, learning robotics and arcane powers (such as the chaos emeralds he collected for the man himself and the Warp Topaz) were giving their results.

And the Metal Virus? Seeing how it worked so elegantly and without problems? It was the cherry on top for him! It was the first plan that he helped Eggman to work on (or at least to test), the first plan that he witnessed, the first plan that the man put into action since he regained his memories, making the platypus deeply fond of it, so as soon as he saw that the plan was starting to fail by the zombots not listening to Eggman... it truly created distress on him.

That’s why he insisted so much in working on the virus, in finding a way to control them again, in taking desperate measures (bringing the Deadly Six, which was a terrible idea) to keep the plan from failing

That plan meant everything for him, it was the first one he participated in with his idol, he couldn’t let it go that easy, even threatening to go out solo and trying to still keep it up despite the fact that Eggman didn’t want it.

But what truly changed Starline’s behavior was seeing how Eggman literally didn’t care about it, how the man was pure brute force when it came to confronting Sonic, how he wasn’t like he thought he was. It all was a lie.

His life was based in a lie.

He studied his career for Eggman, he followed his steps and tried to think like him because of the image he had of the man, and finding out that everything he believed wasn’t real truly got rid of that cheerful spark he had.

Sure, is his fault for basing his life in a legend, in someone that he thought he deeply know despite the fact that he hasn’t seen him in real life a single time, but his behavior is just the normal reaction of someone highly emotional like Starline to finding out that his life was a lie.

[pruinesce-a]

@spaika​ said  :  is there anything fuyumi considers unforgivable, wrt her family & particularly enji, or does she continually see the good in people no matter what ? would she not want to part with any family member simply because that is too painful to look back on what could have been (as a conscious choice opposed to things they have no control over) because of her caring nature ? ALSO THE WHOLE blood family vs chosen family; does she feel obligated or tied to all her family members for this same reason essentially having been their mother

jj CONTINUOUSLY giving me the good food.... i have so many thoughts on this and it’s probably gonna be LONG so alright folks let’s DIVE IN

the shorter answer is honestly??  i think a lot of this depends on timing and the fact that this is HER family. like if enji had done any of the things he did when she was a kid NOW, it’d be a different story. and if she saw any of those things happening to someone ELSE, she’d be HORRIFIED.

yes, she would absolutely struggle to part with him for what he did. yes, fuyumi DOES have a tendency to see the good in people, no matter what. it’s both a strength and a fault in her personality, how her empathy can extend so far. and i think forgiveness is integral in the kind of healing that fuyumi needs. but it’s really, really complex. so now we can delve into why, and how those things are gonna change !

i think fuyumi has a very, very complicated relationship with forgiveness, especially in regards to enji. my first instinct is to say no, there rlly isn’t anything fuyumi believes is “unforgiveable”, seeing as the whole family seems to agree that enji is at least somewhat responsible for touya’s DEATH, and obviously everything else he’s fucking done, i really don’t. think it gets much worse than that.

but there’s a lot to consider here !!

it’s also important to consider the cultural aspect of family in japan, and that the todorokis are clearly a very traditional family. i think a lot of people forget about this when they talk about why fuyumi is so desperate for everyone to get along ! family loyalty is so important in japanese society. it’s the family’s needs ahead of the individual. the family is an entity in itself. so it’s not just as simple as removing enji from the picture in the kind of household she was raised in. the family being happiness means everyone, you know ?

and enji is the patriarch of the family. he’s the head. he’s literally the most important part of it all. SO OF COURSE SHE CAN’T JUST.... U KNOW. NOT TRY TO INCLUDE HIM WHILE TRYING TO FIX THE FAMILY. YOU KNOW ???

i think people also forget how young the todosibs were when all this happened. when natsuo and fuyumi visit rei in the hospital, we’re told it’s been at least 10 years since rei was hospitalized   -   although that’s not entirely clear if that’s exactly what they’re referring to   -   so that means that when rei left, shouto was 6, natsuo was 9, and fuyumi was 13, roughly, and then shortly after that, touya died. so for further context: shouto would be in kindergarten, natsuo in third grade, and fuyumi would’ve been in seventh. 

THAT’S A LOT FOR KIDS TO HANDLE. fuyumi, as the oldest & also as the only girl, absolutely had to step up and be the emotional rock of the family. that meant that no matter what she felt, she had to stomach those feelings and be there for her brothers and honestly probably for enji, too, based on this panel: 

i think a large part of the reason fuyumi, AND rei too honestly, is able to forgive enji is because they’ve been privy to a side of enji that shouto, natsuo, & touya didn’t see. i think the two of them can remember a time when enji WAS gentler, when he wasn’t so consumed with his need to surpass all might. he never trained her, either, and i honestly don’t think he could even bring himself to look at her most of the time after rei left because of her resemblance to rei, and i think especially in the recent years they’ve spent a lot of time together because she speaks so familiarly with him ?? and I MEAN..... shouto said it himself that endeavor the hero is amazing. but that enji as a person isn’t. ANYWAYS WHAT I’M SAYING WITH THIS is that she’s got a very skewed perception of her father, and a great way to understand the way she’s thought about enji for most of her life is with this quote:

SO, IN ORDER TO COPE, FOR YEARS FUYUMI HAD A THOUGHT PROCESS VERY SIMILAR TO THIS. “this isn’t the real him”, “he’s actually a good person, deep down”, “he’s not actually like this”, etc. etc. and it wasn’t until she was older that she started to see how wrong that was.

because, contrary to much of the fandom’s belief,  fuyumi DOES actually resent her father for what he did, to an extent. she canonically says:

fuyumi is angry with him. make no mistake. she hasn’t actually forgiven him, and honestly? i really don’t know if she ever fully can. 

but being angry is tiring for her. she probably honestly feels guilty for it because she kind of wishes she could be like her brothers? but unlike them, fuyumi’s been stuck in that house with him for years and she’s clearly close to him, too. she knows what he’s done is wrong and she’s NOT sweeping it under the rug and she’s NOT covering for enji, but she’s desperate to be happy. she’s desperate for her family to be happy. 

both shouto & natsuo are now out of the house and in better environments, but she’s still there, and she’s pretty much dealing with it alone, and right now it’s really hard for fuyumi to do anything BUT try to put things back together now that she has the chance. right now, she’s really just.... forcing herself into forgiving him for the sake of the family, and not necessarily because she thinks he deserves it yet.

 so i think fuyumi does forgive enji despite what he did because of a combination of all the things, but it should only be after she’s done her healing, and when she’s ready.

onto the second half: right now, her blood family definitely comes first. but it doesn’t stay that way.

I SAY IT ALL THE TIME, KENTA COMES INTO THE PICTURE AND SHAKES UP HER WHOLE WORLD, YADA YADA, but i REALLY love that u asked about blood vs chosen family because it’s actually a struggle she faces. kenta’s father went missing for four years, and there’s a lot of complications surrounding his rescue, it’s the first time she really directly goes against enji, it’s the real beginning of her growth and detachment from the warped concept of family that she has and all kinds of other good stuff, but fuyumi & kenta actually briefly fight about whether or not he should return with his father once the two of them were released from tartarus. it was a wild ride. BUT ANYWAY fuyumi couldn’t understand why he would sacrifice the chance to be back with his only family, when for years & years all she’s wanted is to fix hers. and she’s faced with the idea that... it is okay for her to do things for herself. to do things that make her happy. not to be so self-sacrificial. and that idea is slowly starting to take root.

i say all the time that fuyumi’s gonna move out to aomori, to the country, and have a stable, happy life with kenta, surrounded by all her kids. she’ll see a therapist, her PTSD and other issues will be treated, she’ll be really, truly happy and healing, and most importantly, fuyumi realizes that enji does not have to be welcomed into that life. 

and for the most part, he isn’t. i think fuyumi would still visit him every now and then, but he would be very distant from the life she’s built for herself.

[baenxietydad]

Bae Mu-yeol/Marlin Bae Personality Profile

Slytherin Primary, Ravenclaw Secondary, Hufflepuff Secondary Performance - Type 5 - ISFJ-T - Neutral Good - Taurus Sun, Aquarius Moon, Libra Rising

Psychoanalyzing Marlin is interesting because there exists two Marlins - if not three - inside the same person at the same time. There’s the Marlin that he originally grew up to be and in some ways still is underneath all the layers of grief and trauma that have warped him into a different kind of person as a base, and that warped version of him has been further twisted by both himself and all of the lies he’s telling Nemo, and by fairy society’s stipulations for being allowed the safety of a Hollow.

 To talk about Marlin, you have to talk about him like Shrek. Bitch got layers. And all of his layers are there for a reason. Some are like a peacoat, worn mostly for the Look ™ , but kept safely in the coat closet when not necessary. Others are are permanent as the bones beneath his skin.

 What is your character’s Hogwarts House/Hogwarts Houses? What trait do they most relate to? What trait do they least relate to? 

 Slytherin Primary, Ravenclaw secondary, with a Hufflepuff Secondary Model (or Performance hm)

 Y’all. I straight wasn’t even gonna touch Sorting Hat chats because it honestly confused/es the hell out of me. But I braved it and holy COW did I come up with some stuff for Marlin! Actually. It more jumped out at ME like “HEY HELLO YES.” So now here’s my super extra ™ analysis.

 I initially through Marlin was a Ravenclaw Primary with a Puff Secondary, but it quickly became clear to me that a bitch was way off.

 The below excerpt from Sorting Hat Chats is what made me realize Marlin was very much a Slytherin primary.

 A Slytherin does not generally feel guilty for valuing themselves [...] or for sacrificing other things for the safety and happiness of the people they love […] An exception to this is a Slytherin who’s managed to kick themselves out of their inner circle. For whatever reason, they don’t feel like they deserve their own help or kindness. Their “me and mine” priorities are still apparent but now it’s only “mine.” They fiercely and selflessly prioritize the individuals they love, value, or feel responsible for, while excluding their own self.

 Marlin’s “mine” is only one person right now. His son, Nemo. Nemo is his entire world and everything he has done since losing his wife has been in an attempt to keep Nemo safe and make him happy. Marlin is perfectly content with living a lonely existence in a Hollow where few fairies want much to do with him, if it means Nemo is safe. He misses his parents, cousins, siblings, and friends from his Hollow in South Korea, but he feels no guilt for literally ditching all of them to whisk Nemo away to Swynlake’s Hollow because he deemed Swynlake a safer place to raise his son.

 As a Constructed House, Slytherins build a morality system to follow and make judgements with. Unlike the Ravenclaw, who holds this built system at the heart of the way they interact with life, this is a supplemental thing for the Slytherin. Their core morality is felt, an empathic need to protect and support their own, but that strong sense of personal loyalty gives little hint about what to do in situations that don’t involve the Slytherin’s people directly.

 Marlin’s self-sacrificing nature led me to believe he’d be a Hufflepuff at first. But it soon became clear to me that Marlin would only help the bleeding man on the road to Jericho if doing so would not cause any harm or any potential for harm to his “mine”, to Nemo. If presented with the hypothetical of pulling a lever to heal all the sick in the world at the cost of Nemo, Marlin wouldn’t pull the lever and would not at all regret it. While Nemo would probably beg his father to trade him to the literal rest of the world, Marlin would never even consider it.

 Regarding his Ravenclaw secondary which I thought was his Primary:

Ravenclaws’ efficacy often relies on what situation they are in: what the problem is they have to solve and whether or not they’ve prepared the proper tools for that problem. [...] Do they know how to ride horses? Speak Greek? Do they have contingency plans for earthquakes, zombie apocalypses, or a surprise visit from the in-laws?

 If they’ve already built themselves a tool set for a situation, they’re likely to excel at it. If they have not, they’re likely to blink a few times while they try to either invent something new for themselves or to cobble up something approximate from their existing resources.

 Marlin is a jack of many trades and a master of few. He has a wide set of skills he’s picked up largely out of necessity. In order to make enough human money to pay for his son’s dance classes, Marlin has to occasionally find work outside of the Hollow. Over the years he’s done yardwork, has worked some construction jobs, was a seasonal laborer on a farm in Besydus, occasionally works with temp agency in NTO primarily at banquet halls, and has thrown himself into learning new skill sets all the time because he needed the money to make Nemo happy.

 While he’s learned few of these skill sets to perfection, he learned them well enough to get what he needed. 

 Socially, Marlin can navigate the social politics of fairy society and talk with humans about topics he’s versed in - literature, music, East Asian particularly Korean culture, philosophy - but he would (figuratively) die if asked if he supported Liverpool or Manchester.

 He isn’t an improviser at his core, he likes to have a plan, but he can sometimes improvise by pulling on his previous knowledge. 

 As for his Performance/Model of Hufflepuff Secondary. Fairies are communists. They put community first. And Marlin is a very bad fairy communist. He values him and his above the rest of the community. His being his son. And having lived in mundus Seoul for years with his wife, he became accustomed to treating community as important but not the end all be all. But in order to keep being allowed to live in the Hollow, he’s crafted a nice respectable fairy of himself.

What is your character’s Enneagram? How does the “basic fear/desire” influence their actions? 

 Enneagram Type 5w6 - The Problem Solver

Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated

Basic Fear: Being useless, helpless, or incapable

Basic Desire: To be capable and competent

 Fives are alert, insightful, and curious. They are able to concentrate and focus on developing complex ideas and skills. Independent, innovative, and inventive, they can also become preoccupied with their thoughts and imaginary constructs. They become detached, yet high-strung and intense. They typically have problems with eccentricity, nihilism, and isolation.

 Honestly, this Type 5 page read Marlin for filth, y’all. I believe that this is probably the most...consistent one. Meaning, he’d still have been this personality type even if he hadn’t lost his wife and developed the depression, PTSD, and anxiety following that. Because while current!Marlin has given into isolation most, ideal!Marlin would have more of a nihilist streak, and both versions of Marlin are/would be quite eccentric. 

 Negative-to-neutral qualities of Type 5s would have manifested in less severe ways in Marlin without his big trauma, but have just run wild in him now. 

 The basic fear and desire bit is interesting because like. Marlin in the state he is now literally only cares about Nemo and taking care of him. Untainted Marlin was just so vibrant and chased after several interests outside of his son, but now, he only cares about being a good father. So literally every action is an attempt to be good to Nemo because that’s the only thing, to him, he is even capable of being good or bad at is being Nemo’s father. He has no worth or purpose apart from raising his son. 

What is your character’s MBTI? Out of the four elements, which is strongest and which is weakest? 

 MBTI: ISFJ-T- The Defender

Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others. - Brian Tracy

 I- 81%

S - 51 %

F - 60%

J - 69% (nice)

T - 68%

 Damn, so honestly I feel like Marlin’s personality type either changed over the years, or, his inclination toward certain traits changed. Particularly, the introvert v. extrovert one. Marlin has always leaned more toward the introvert side, however, 81% is high for Marlin in his natural ,untraumatized state.

 He has always been someone who needed to rest after being extra social and recharge, but he used to genuinely enjoy things like parties, events, concerts, and even hosting groups of people at his and So-yeon’s home. Like, I’d say he naturally would exist at about 60% introversion, but because of over a decade of isolation and extreme loneliness on top of his depression and PTSD amplifying his need to not be too drained too often by other people/fairies, it’s got him at over 80% now.

 His lowest being  Sensing v. Intuition at 51% toward the Sensing side honestly tracks. Because he does lean more toward that side but not strongly. He’s damn near in the middle here. From myersbriggs.org, 

Sensing (S)

 Paying attention to physical reality, what I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. I'm concerned with what is actual, present, current, and real. I notice facts and I remember details that are important to me. I like to see the practical use of things and learn best when I see how to use what I'm learning. Experience speaks to me louder than words.

 And

 Intuition (N)

 Paying the most attention to impressions or the meaning and patterns of the information I get. I would rather learn by thinking a problem through than by hands-on experience. I'm interested in new things and what might be possible, so that I think more about the future than the past. I like to work with symbols or abstract theories, even if I don't know how I will use them. I remember events more as an impression of what it was like than as actual facts or details of what happened.

 Marlin leans toward the first just barely. 

What is your character’s moral alignment? How does this affect their decision-making process? What about their relationships to authority, their family, their friends? 

 Projection: Lawful Neutral

Self: Neutral Good

 Fairy society is Lawful Neutral and you can’t change my mind:

 Lawful neutral is the philosophy that law and order are desirable ends in and of themselves. It is a philosophy of pure equitistic collectivism. This philosophy holds that the best way for all beings to pursue a rational self-interest is within the framework of a strong social order. By putting the needs of the state or social order ahead of individual desires, each being can advance the self-interest of the collective as a whole. Lawful neutral can also be associated with ethical equitism and natural law philosophies. As the philosophical "average" of altruism and egoism, equitism holds that harm to others should be minimized when advancing the self and that harm to the self should be minimized when advancing others.

 Lawful neutral philosophers generally maintain that there is metaphysical order in the multiverse and thus may support doctrines of hard determinism, predeterminism, fatalism, predestination, and/or necessitarianism. They may believe in fate or destiny. They tend to be moral objectivists, holding that values exist in the external world independently of and external to our comprehension of them; that they can be found and known; and that they must be used as principles for human judgments and conduct.

 Marlin himself, however, is Neutral Good, which can sometimes conflict with expectations from fairy society.

 Neutral good is the philosophy that goodness should be advanced by using whatever means provide the most benefit. It is a philosophy of altruistic consequentialism. This philosophy holds that people should behave altruistically and balance the needs of the collective as a whole and the needs of the individuals making up the collective. Neutral good can also be associated with act utilitarianism and ethical altruism.

 Neutral good philosophers generally maintain that there is metaphysical balance in the multiverse and thus may support doctrines of soft determinism, pragmatism, conventionalism, and/or instrumentalism. They may believe in free will or choice. They could also embrace skepticism or suspend judgment on philosophical issues. They tend to be moral relativists, holding that values differ from society to society, from person to person; that they are conditioned by the peculiarities of the society in which they arise; that they are not universally applicable at all times or in all places; and that they are correct or incorrect, desirable or undesirable only relative to whether or not they conform to a common norm or to common acceptance.

What is your character’s sun house? What trait do they most relate to? What do they least relate to? 

 Taurus Sun short description:

 He is strong-willed. He has charm, and he is tolerant and stoical. He likes pleasure and the

good things in life. Appreciates the Arts.

 Weaknesses: obstinacy, laziness. He can be materialistic.

 Aquarius Moon short description:

He is sociable, intelligent, and lucid. Thanks to great sociability, he has many friends. He is

modern, original, inventive, non-conformist, and is likely to bring new life to everything he does.

Potential issues: He is eccentric with sharp mood swings. Complex love life.

 Ascendant is Libra

 Everybody seems to like Libra Ascendant natives. They just come across as nice, pleasant, and fair. Look a little closer at their lives, and these nice people may have had quite a few problems in their relationships. Some of them have had a string of relationships, and it can be hard to imagine why! These natives attract others to them effortlessly. Besides, they simply don't know what to do with themselves without a significant other. Libra rising generally appear to be smoothing everything over. They have charming smiles, a gentle approach with others, and an easygoing image. Even if they were not endowed with good looks, they are attractive. Most pay a lot of attention to their personal appearance -- the colors they wear, their hair, the way they walk. 

HONESTLY. Marlin’s entire natal chart read him for filth. 

 Like

 -81 Opposition between the Sun and Lilith

There is a self-destructive side to you that should be managed by confronting your fears.

 FFS this is an ATTACK.

[spicy-butterscotch]

What Nylon and Jelly said rings true!

I am not disagreeing with how the Ushiromyia family is dysfunctional, but we need to dive deeper into, what exactly proves the Asano's as a dysfunctional family.

The Asano's are scarily realistic, an unknown case, brewing behind doors almost impossible to open. This family dynamic is centered around them, and we aren't given more insight into more of their possible family dynamic because this comedy manga, which is so lighthearted, reflects also on the abuse that shocks the readers. Asano Gakuhou's influence spreads strong, we are given insight that his son in which he's so detached from, grooms him into the ultimate academic weapon.

We can see from his records, perseveres in all he can because that's the only thing he can do. He can do nothing until he's a legal adult, and we can see their grotesque relationship influence others. Gakuhou quite literately 'grooming' hundreds of children into his perception of 'strong' the results of what said children might have transformed into, showed by the result of Gakushuu. Gakuhou limits Gakushuu, he weighs on Gakushuu with his teachings, Gakushuu's whole being is warped around Gakuhou and his moral compass (a twisted, and very wrong moral compass) and their issues aren't ever resolved at the end of the series.

There is no ending to the Asano's much like Nagisa and his mother. We are vaguely indicated there might be a resolution, but after Gakushuu is tossed to the other side of the classroom, we only see a humorous situation through Gakuhou's eyes after he is abrely lectured. To Gakuhou, in this comedic anime, Gakushuu is only promising to sue, and this is the start to a better future when and this is the end. In reality, familial relationships don't fix themselves like this. When Gakuhou sees is a comedic end, Gakushuu sees is an unknown future.

In fact, Gakuhou is so emotionally absent that while he (spoilers) almost blows himself up, he can only think about the kid that died that he based his philosophy on, never Gakushuu. To be fair, people don't snap off the bat like that, Gakuhou must've had a series of events that happened to suddenly turn into a tyrannical principal that plunges people deep into debt and ruining their entire social life and career off the bat. The is no true resolution and known actual indicator of what happens to the Asano's. Gakushuu Asano is left pondering, and Gakuhou walks away.

Gakuhou also emotionally isolates Gakushuu (take big mention because assuming Ikeda died many years prior, Gakushuu would've been subjected to his treatment from around age 4-14), his friends Gakuhou picks his surveillance on. From school life to home, he can't go out, make friends without Gakuhou emotionally manipulating them and even teachers. The fact that Gakuhou is so enraged by even a tick to his regime that when he hears one line that tells Gakuhou to 'not be too hard on Gakushuu' he takes the initiative to cripple all five of his friends that they need to be transported via ambulance because what Gakuhou has done to them. Gakushuu has been subject of this for majority of his whole life, no one to fall back to and no one that can stop Gakuhou without being interfered with. Seeing that Gakuhou escaped arrest when he crippled 5 people (all minors btw), subjected and got people addicted to gambling that their whole social status in society crumbled that they resorted to living off the allowance he gave them (For Gakuhou's own personal amusement) as he referred to them as 'dogs' telling them to bark for him, isn't caught when he tells Gakushuu to poison the public's food to reduce publicity for some class competition.

Gakuhou and Gakushuu's dysfunctionality runs so deep that their toxicity has influenced people outside their family and has infected people rooted deeply in society, and Gakushuu, who can't function as a proper person. All because of the deep emotional isolation that all Gakushuu knows what to be: is a manipulator, an academic weapon starving for the validation he has sought for a decade, and someone who craves for the downfall of his father because they are both self-destructive and dysfunctional in their own right.

Asano's for the win, as minor as they present themselves, they have captured the souls of those who listen. The anime, not centered around them and yet people can still empathize, can still relate to the issues that Gakushuu faces, the academic pressure that boarders on a crazed incentive to try anything to maintain what people expect of you and their fearsome troubles toiling away. Vote for the Asano's!!!!

Thanks for listening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Semifinals

The Asanos (Assassination Classroom) VS the Ushiromiya family (Umineko When They Cry)

The Asanos

Members: Gakuhou Asano (father) and Gakushuu Asano (son)

Propaganda:

CW: physical abuse

"Crazy dad whose misguided goal is just to make his son strong (but whose definition of real strength leaves much to be desired), and son who does see the error in his dad's ways but is brainwashed enough to imagine that his "filial duty" under the circumstances is to "take control". No one knows for sure if a mom exists, but she clearly doesn't want to have much to do with these lunatics." "The dad doesn't even consider his son family, just a "student" as he is a principal. Utterly unhumane conditions is where he trains his son in. And worst of all, they compete on who will control the other, leash included. The first time the son even considers calling him father is when he literally abuses him physically."

The Ushiromiya family

Members: Kinzo, Krauss, Eva, Rudolf, Rosa, Jessica, George, Battler, Ange, Maria, Natsuhi, Hideyoshi, Asumu, Kyrie

Propaganda:

"PEAK weird family drama. Fighting over the inheritance leads to multiple people dying in gruesome ways" "The whole plot of the game is that they all are so dysfunctional it would make sense for any of them to commit murder" "This family is dysfunctional and abusive on every levels. The parents are fighting for the inheritance, because the elder embezzled money. The grandfather, Kinzo, hides in his room and never shows up. Not unusual, he neglected his family his whole life. Seems that he preferred a mysterious mistress than his family. When he talked to his children, it was to scold them for being incompetents. The atmosphere is oppressive. The children of Kinzo were bully. Krauss bullied Eva, who bullied Rosa. Concerning the next generation: Battler is in conflict with his father because he cheated on his mother. Natsuhi is putting pressure on Jessica for her to become the heir of the family, and is losing contact with her daughter. Eva has deciced what the life of Georges is becoming, and that he will not marry a servant. As for the relationship between Rosa and Maria, this is just the best mother-daughter love-hate relationship ever. And everything ends in blood, for ever and ever." More propaganda here

[aion-rsa]

Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article is sponsored by As a species, humans have more or less always been obsessed with vampires. (The earliest references to blood-drinking creatures date back to ancient Mesopotamia, believe it or not.) But the way we relate to these creatures has shifted throughout the centuries, as legends, folklore, and popular culture have adapted to the needs and fears specific to respective societies. 

Published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula may have sparked a particular vein of horror story that continues to this day (looking at you, American Horror Story: Double Feature), but Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, published in 1976, changed how audiences relate to bloodsuckers forever and plenty of contemporary vampire tales have continued to cast the creatures as broody, desirous, long-suffering anti-heroes burdened by the weight of immortality. 

But don’t expect bestselling Australian author Jay Kristoff’s new book, Empire of the Vampire, to follow this modern trend. In this story, the first in a new epic fantasy trilogy, vampires are 100% terrifying again, vicious monsters who kill violently and indiscriminately, and whose powers mean that few humans are capable of standing against them for long. 

“When I was a kid, vampires were the monsters under the bed. They were the scary things that were trying to eat the good people,” Kristoff explains during a wide-ranging conversation with Den of Geek. “I grew up reading books like Salem’s Lot and watching films like The Lost Boys and Near Dark. Those were the vampires that I grew up with.” 

Those aren’t generally the sorts of vampires we tend to see in much contemporary fiction nowadays, however. From The Vampire Diaries and True Blood to the Twilight franchise, recent mainstream pop culture has embraced the idea of the vampire as a version of the ultimate bad boy boyfriend, a secretly romantic figure still searching for true love after centuries of loneliness. 

“Over the course of the last 20, 30 years they have evolved into something very different,” Kristoff says. “[And] there’s nothing wrong with exploring that kind of vampire,” he adds, describing himself as a “massive fan” of The Vampire Diaries and firmly “Team Delena” when it comes to the love triangle at the show’s center.  

“The cool thing about [the ‘vampire’ concept] is they’re a dozen different things to a dozen different people. You can have a dozen different vampire fans in the room, and they’ll all tell you a different reason why they like them, why they’re attracted to them.”

Though Kristoff may enjoy the world of The Vampire Diaries—he’s currently making his way through its spin-off The Originals—Stefan and Damon Salvatore were not the sort of creatures whose story he was interested in exploring in Empire of the Vampire. The novel is set in a kingdom where the sun has barely shone for nearly three decades, the dead walk during the daytime, and vicious vampire factions fight for control over the remaining human territories. Its world is bleak and frightening, and his vampires reflect that fact.

“I did want to make them monsters again,” Kristoff says. “I wanted to explore the way eternity and immortality would just warp you beyond all recognition. [How] it would make you inhuman.”

The author cites Rice’s aforementioned Interview with the Vampire as “the biggest influence” on this story. “I’ve loved that book since I was a kid,” he says. “And one of the strong themes that permeates that text is that nothing is forever. Everything goes away on a long enough timeline.” Including the humanity of those who were once human. Kristoff’s novel includes something of a nod to Rice’s work, as the story is framed by our primary protagonist recounting the highs and lows of his life to a vampire historian named Jean-Francois, who is our first consistent glimpse into the removed, detached attitude with which these creatures view human beings.

“Over the course of hundreds upon hundreds of years, if you’re killing a person every night, you very quickly stop seeing people as people and start seeing them as food,” Kristoff explains. “That can’t help but affect your worldview and the way that you interact with it. I don’t think you could help but become inhuman …That’s really what the older vampires in this world are. They’re truly alien and truly monstrous. They look at us the same way that we look at the hamburger that we’re about to eat for dinner.”

Empire of the Vampire is not for the faint of heart. Clocking in at over 800 pages, this is a book bursting with darkness of both the literal and the figurative variety. From the cataclysmic event known as “daysdeath,” which literally darkens the sun to violent, to bloody battles between the living and the dead that lead to (multiple) heartbreaking deaths, this is not a story that’s here to coddle its readers or pull any punches, narratively or figuratively speaking. 

“There’s only [redacted] named characters—as in major characters—left alive at the end of the book,” Kristoff teases. “Everybody else is dead.” 

But as a result, Empire of the Vampire is also genuinely compelling, a rich, layered story that embraces real stakes and wrestles with complex questions about faith, belief, and family, both found and otherwise. 

“It’s the biggest book that I’ve written. It’s definitely the hardest book that I’ve written,” Kristoff says, whose previous works include the Nevernight trilogy, another massive fantasy shot through with violence, corruption, and complex stakes. “Now that I’m at the tail end of it, [I think] it’s the best book that I’ve ever written. I’m more proud of this novel than anything I’ve ever written in my life, and that’s against some pretty stiff competition.” 

Ostensibly, Empire of the Vampire follows the story of Gabriel de Leon, the last Silversaint, a member of an elite order of warriors who have sworn their lives to the Church in order to defend the world from the encroaching vampire plague. The novel is his reflection upon his own life, told from what feels very much as though it could be the end of it, imprisoned by the very creatures he was once charged with hunting. 

Told in split narratives that look back at the beginning of his time as a Silversaint and his final desperate journey to save the world, Empire of the Vampire not only shows us a hero in crisis but one who has forgotten why he wanted to be a hero in the first place.

“[Gabe’s story] is two sides of the same coin,” Kristoff explains. “One, when he’s young and passionate and thinks all the world is good and bright and he can be a positive force in it. And the other one where he’s gotten old and realized that things don’t always work out the way they do in the storybooks.”

Though Gabe was once the sort of hero who tends to have songs written about them, by the time he’s recounting his great deeds to his vampire captors, he’s become more of a “fallen hero” whose story is primarily “about redemption, or at least a reclamation of faith.” 

“Faith was something that was really important to him as a young guy,” explains Kristoff, “but terrible things happened to him over the course of his life and he lost his faith, as many of us do. Part of his journey, at least in Empire, is about finding something to believe in. He’s on a pretty destructive path at the start of the book when we meet him, and he’s 32. He doesn’t have a heck of a lot to live for. At least in part, his journey is about finding something that’s bigger than himself, that’s something more than the revenge that he’s driven toward…something worth fighting for.”

That something arrives in the form of a quest. Like so many before him in popular literature, Gabe ultimately finds himself on a search for the Holy Grail, a magical object that is rumored to be able to end daysdeath, and with it, the vampire plague. Whether the Grail is real or not is a spoiler that only those who read the book will find out, but Gabe’s search for it will quite literally change his life and expand the events of the second and third books in this trilogy in new and different ways.

In Empire of the Vampire, Gabe’s hunt for the Grail forces him to reckon with the darkest aspects of his own life as “ a lot of his own sins come back to haunt him.” As an example, Kristoff describes a later chapter in the book (it’s called “The Worst Day” for those who want to skip ahead) as “the hardest chapter I’ve ever written in my life.”

“I think some of the darkness that was happening in the world around me permeated my head and permeated the story,” Kristoff says of a scene in which, as you might have already guessed, something awful happens to a major character. “I wrote that scene and at the end of it I slammed the laptop shut and just pushed it away from me. I didn’t touch it for four days. I couldn’t bring myself to look at it. That’s the heaviest thing I’ve ever written. Even reading it back now, I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s really tough, you bastard.’”

Empire of the Vampire is just the first piece of what is shaping up to be a massive fantasy saga, and its second installment—which Kristoff says he’s writing right now—is set to expand the series’ world even further, introducing us to the matriarchal clans of the western Ossway as well as the dangerous vampires of the Blood du Voch, whose strength makes them especially difficult to kill. But, according to Kristoff, readers shouldn’t be shocked if the sequel turns our understanding of the story we’re reading on its head once more. 

“One of the cool things [about Book 2] is you get a second POV. There’s another character that’s imprisoned in the tower and we get their version of events,” Kristoff explains. “You start to realize that maybe Gabe hasn’t been entirely truthful, or maybe he’s just viewing the past and certain people through rose-colored glasses.”

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In other words: Buckle up. This adventure has only just begun, and plenty of Kristoff’s dark creatures are still waiting in the wings.

Empire of the Vampire hits bookshelves in the U.S. on September 14th, and in the U.K. a week prior. Find out more here.

The post Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[99nova-blog]

HI, hi ! so, yup, i’m super late as per usual. i go by nicky (they/them) and i’m so excited for this rp ??? ya’ll have no idea. and i just finished detroit: becoming human, the inspiration is thru the rooOoof. so, without further ado, let me introduce you to nova kang, a tiny bundle of bot angst. there’s a quick tl;dr down below, novel of a bio over here, and a profile coming soon. i’ll throw down a couple of plots, but i’m all for brainstorming~

- nova was pretty much created as an identical replacement for his maker’s dead son, june kang.

- his maker was a very, verrry well known mechanic and proto sympathizer. she always pushed for him to be self-aware and all that, to be as human as possible. programmed to be extremely kind, selfless, perceptive -- basically everything her son was.

- spent his time picking up skillz after his maker, learning how to blend in with society thanks to his super human like appearance.

- came home one day to find his maker and her daughter gone without a trace, deduced that the bullet kids had to be the culprits, as he’s certain they are responsible for june’s death.

- kind of drifted through the outskirts after that? completely lost, craving detachment, his sole purpose warped into spilling the blood of those who took away his “family””

- his need for revenge consumed him, leading him to lacie’s mad house. he looked perfectly young, he was certainly pretty, so it seemed like the logical step to become the latest attraction smh

- it’s the easiest cover he’s had so far, being a sex worker, the mad house has proven to be a gr8 place for info and ya boy is living

- highkey enjoys being sought after, adores being the manipulator for once

- struggles sooo much with his initial programming, to the point where he feels split. is he good? is he bad? who Knows

- personality wise, nova has always been super curious. if he’s comfortable enough, the android is shooting out tons of questions, without fail. so flirtatious, charming, with a swift, brutal tongue, endlessly loyal to those who have earned his trust ya know. overall, this new, not so improved nova is a nightmare to deal with, as he’s got 39482442 masks to choose from and uses them all equally lolz. 

- wears everything and anything and nothing, v androgynous, has a single red gloss he’s obsessed with he Wld Kill if he lost it

- aaand he may have june’s face, entire physique, but he’s trying everything to do the Impossible and distinguish himself from june kang,,, sad

PLOTS ?

- ugh, give me all the angst, all the blOod, yes

- your muse knew june well before he was killed, so seeing nova was a huge slap in the face. how your muse handles it is your choice. are they pissed? relieved? do they want nova dead too? all up in da air

- give me the push and pull of a trusted client/friend who knows very well what happened/took part in killing the kang family, just imagine

- clients, regulars, customers or coworkers @ lacie’s !!! 

- a mechanic that he goes to often for touch ups or just to feel at home again for once :///

- your muse is a bullet kid and you’re #1 on nova’s hit list

- fighting partners, ya bot gotta make up for lost time

iiii think that’s all i have now, kudos to u for getting this far. give this a like and i’ll slide on over to ur ims <3333