#given that the one titan was killing other titans and not humans

[my-animeandmanga-journey]

He did it! He pulled her out!

[baphometsss]

I don't wanna sit here and act like I'm a professional or anything, because I'm not, but as someone who has had to do a lot of work to overcome trauma and reconfigure my brain more or less from the ground up, there's a lot I have to say about Solas's mental state

We know that Solas was essentially used and abused by Mythal for millennia. Even if he wasn't under a geas, he was twisted from his purpose by being made to fight, and then created the Wolf's Fang which was used to make the Titans tranquil and started the Blights. He made those choices himself, but it's important to understand that no choice is ever made in a vacuum. She took advantage of his vulnerability when he was given a body after however long as a spirit semi-existing peacefully in the Fade, and moulded him into a weapon.

He is broken, because Mythal broke him. I'm not incapable of seeing why she did what she did because like I said, no one makes choices in a vacuum and I could write about her for a long time too (in a similar way to how I have had to do myself in my own life in understanding why others abused me). He was so traumatised by everything that happened and he was trauma bonded to Mythal pretty much from the minute he gained a body. Trauma bonds are not about love. He definitely interpreted it that way, as most people do, but that's the weapon abusers use to keep the victim under their control. Abuse abuse abuse show a scrap of love and then abuse some more. If I just take it, I'll get the love/attention I need. I will earn it, because love is suffering, and I have to suffer to earn getting my basic needs met from my family/friends. Mythal, as his creator, was the one who he would've attached to in a similar way to spirit Cole/human Cole.

Trauma bonds are pathological. Mythal made him believe that if he did as she asked, and kept supporting her, then eventually he would gain her favour and they would be able to free all the elves, and he'd be able to live according to his true nature, which is one where he doesn't have to fight. (Remember his personal quest in DAI? He actually kills the rebel mages for corrupting his friend--another Wisdom spirit--into Pride.) In reality, she was just using him. She always kept the bone just out of reach for her lapdog. The line from Rook where they say (paraphrasing here) 'you know, I was actually excited about getting your approval... That's how you do it, isn't it? Keeping giving little scraps of approval to keep someone loyal, and then you turn around and betray them' is so telling too.

Where--or from whom--do you think he learned to do this?

It literally reeks of a pathological trauma bond and honestly, with how isolated, 'grim and fatalistic' Solas is, it is not a surprise that he's so broken.

Solas, essentially, is little more than a lap-dog to Mythal. He followed her like a lost puppy, because especially in his early days, that's kind of what he was. You have to remember that most of the insight we get about Mythal is from Solas's perspective, and he is not a reliable person when it comes to her after so long being repeatedly terrorised and twisted and manipulated. There are several instances where he describes being betrayed by her, and mentions some of the things she did, but he never quite holds her fully accountable and ends up directing his rage elsewhere. (The parallel between Mythal/Solas and the rebel mages/Wisdom is important here.)

This awesome post by @mythalism only reinforces this. He is so messed up in that scene, he is broken, he is holding the Wolf's Fang up, trying to give it to her because it symbolises the burden he has carried for thousands of years trying to avenge her death. He never wanted the Fang, like he never wanted a body. Mythal just stands over him, fully aware of what she did to him, and only getting him to stop because Rook petitioned her successfully, and the reunion with the more benevolent Mythal within Morrigan tempered her anger. She was a goddess, with the unequal power dynamic, right to the end.

As a side note, on the potential romance element between Mythal and Solas, I read an excellent breakdown of it on Reddit a while ago about how out of character it would've been for Solas to keep something like that from a romanced Lavellan, especially in Trespasser when he comes clean about his plan/past. I can't find it now because it was pre-Veilguard release, but it made a lot of sense to me. Solas and Lavellan never have a love scene in DAI because Solas didn't want to 'lay with them under false pretences'. Lying about who you are when sleeping with someone is nonconsensual. You can't consent to sleeping with someone if you don't know their true identity, and someone who knowingly lies about who they are to get into your pants is a sexual predator. For someone who led a slave rebellion (no doubt many of them being sex slaves), and a former spirit of Wisdom, Solas would've been well aware of this. In the unsent letter from Solas to Lavellan he says he came so close to breaking and desperately wanted to stay with them as Solas, with the implication being that that is where he planned to sleep with them once he'd come clean. But because he stops, because he's still unable to forgive himself or release himself from his trauma bond with Mythal, he breaks away, and they never have sex.

Bottom line: Solas would've been honest about it. Especially that. As the Inquisitor says, he can't lie about his heart.

And it's why the Solas/Lavellan romance is so powerful because quote, 'you change everything'. Solas thought he knew what love was, that love was loyalty, devotion, worship, etc. It's not just his plans or worldview that Lavellan changes. Lavellan sees him for who he is, without the mantle of Dread Wolf, and because of that he's able to express his true nature to her, even if he's not being totally honest in Inquisition. Lavellan got much closer to the real him than most, as he says, and changed his understanding of love completely. Unfortunately, he has unfinished business, an unresolved trauma bond, and his crushing sense of duty to the past is what keeps him from taking that final step towards letting go of it entirely. Trick also says Solas doesn't think he deserves love, which tbh is kind of a hallmark trait of people who have survived abuse.

And honestly? Call me a simp but I think he really was trying to get the Inquisitor to stop him. He saw himself being unable to let go because he was so broken and burdened by his guilt, and knew he couldn't save himself--was too proud to admit that he couldn't, because how pathetic does it make him look? And how could he stop now without rendering all the damage he'd wrought pointless? Yet here was someone who had changed him right down to his core, who understood him in a way few people ever had, whom he trusted, whom he loved in a way he hadn't loved anyone else before. It took him 'centuries' to build up rapport with the members of his rebellion. The man doesn't not know how to form attachments without trauma, and suddenly he forms a strong one with someone who loves him completely and without condition. It's a jarring change.

Lavellan says that maybe they're being prideful themselves, refusing to see their own folly. But I think in admitting that they might be wrong, that it might be wishful thinking borne from misguided love to a truly terrible person, they've rendered the point moot. It shows self-awareness, which isn't folly.

If anyone can make Solas understand true love, it's Lavellan. Lavellan loved him when he was being his true self. Lavellan loved him after his betrayal was revealed. Lavellan loved him when his guilty conscience and terrible actions almost destroyed the world. Lavellan loved him because they knew the real him, and knew that his heart and spirit were broken, and knew that their love would endure, that their love would heal him.

And that's exactly where they end up. Healing the past, soothing the Blight, and loving one another completely.

[whencyclopedia]

Zagreus

In ancient Greek mythology, Zagreus is a god closely associated with the wine god Dionysus, the underworld, and hunting. A son of Zeus and Persephone, he is known in the Orphic tradition as the first incarnation of Dionysus, whilst other stories identify him as the son of Hades or even as Hades himself.

The earliest mention of Zagreus comes from a quoted line from the lost Greek epic Alcmeonis, a poem dating back to at least the 6th century BCE, where he is described alongside Gaia, the Greek personification of the earth, as "highest of all the gods" (West, 61). Yet some scholars believe this line was only in reference to him being the highest of all the gods of the underworld, as surviving fragments of works written by the Greek tragedy playwright Aeschylus (c. 525 to c. 456 BCE) identify him closely with Hades.

Zagreus is also the name often given to Orphic Dionysus, whose story was central to the beliefs of the followers of Orphism. In the story, Zagreus, a child of Zeus and Persephone, was killed and eaten by the Titans, except for his heart which was found by Athena and brought to Zeus. Because his heart was saved, Zagreus was able to be reincarnated as the god Dionysus. Zeus punished the Titans for their treachery by destroying them with a thunderbolt, and it was from their ashes that humanity was born.

Followers of Orphism, therefore, believed that humanity had a dual nature, one of the body, inherited from the Titans, and one of the soul, or the divine spark inherited from the parts of Zagreus ingested by the Titans. It was the central focus of Orphism for one to achieve salvation through acts of atonement during their lifetime or else be cursed with endless reincarnation. Aspects of Orphism, including the suffering, death, and resurrection of Dionysus Zagreus, and the idea of redemption for an original sin call to mind aspects of later religions, such as Christianity.

Origins & Interpretations

What little is known of Zagreus outside his association with Dionysus comes from fragments of lost works of Greek literature. He was certainly renowned, as a surviving quote from the lost Greek epic Alcmeonis offers a prayer to "Mistress Earth, and Zagreus highest of all the gods" (West, 61). The invocation of his name alongside Mother Earth seems to suggest that Zagreus was held in high esteem and was thought to be very powerful. Some scholars believe that the reference to him as "highest of all the gods" does not claim that he was the greatest god on Mount Olympus, but rather that he was the greatest god of the underworld.

This can be gathered from the context of the prayer, in which the hero of the Alcmeonis, Alcmaon, calls upon the powers of the earth to see the soul of his father safely transferred to heaven. Zagreus' status as a god of the underworld can further be attested to by two works written by Aeschylus. One of these references, found in a fragmented line of one of Aeschylus' lost Sisyphus plays dating back to around the 5th century BCE, identifies Zagreus as the son of Hades. Another reference, from Aeschylus' Egyptians names Zagreus as Hades himself.

Either way, Zagreus seems to have been a powerful underworld god, earning the epithet "Chthonios," or "the subterranean." As for the associations of him to Dionysus, scholars such as Timothy Gantz have postulated that the separate myths of Zagreus, a son of Hades and Persephone, had over time become merged with the myth of Orphic Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Persephone, so that the name Zagreus came to be associated with both myths.

Continue reading...

[kiame-sama]

Is Hades equally tall and gangly as Idia in the Extinct Humans AU, or is he bigger? If so, can he change his size as needed? I'm imagining him showing up to visit his grandsons and MC at Ramshackle, and the door isn't tall enough for him.

He is bigger. MUCH BIGGER. Hades is about 50 ft tall (1,524cm) and he truly could pick up any one of the many monster men in my AU. He can adjust his height down a bit, but he will still be tall compared to the others and will have to duck upon entering Ramshackle. Hades is the longest lived Shinigami and has lived several ages as they are a species that lives until killed. He has lost most of his descendants over the ages to many different things- illness, war, casual slaughter, overblotting (to which he has to put them down himself given the danger Shrouds pose when they overblot)- and there are far fewer Shrouds than one may think given the fact Hades is well over several thousand years old. He was around at the time of the Titans and the age of supposed Gods. Hades is currently the eldest living thing in Twisted Wonderland.

Hades desperately wants to get to meet this Human, having mourned many long years after the last Human- who lived on the Isle of Woe and was one of Hades' dearest friends- died in their sleep at the very old age- for a Human- of 151 years. Hades did everything he could to prolong the life of his friend, but only a Fae Dragon could achieve a life longer than 200 for the Human and the Human themselves begged him not to. He was with his Human when they died and that last Human soul sent off to the other side truly broke the ancient Shinigami's heart.

Since then he has been less of a commanding figure and more of a grief stricken recluse. The only ones he has spoken to in hundreds of years are his own descendants. Naturally, when Ortho excitedly messages his ancestor about this new little Human, Hades feels like he has been given a new lease on life. Now he sits staring at his many devices just waiting for an update on this Human as if he were a child again waiting for a gift from his family.

The moment he is told he can visit is the moment he leaves the isle of Woe for the first time in half a millennia. This will- naturally- cause many current established Kingdoms and Queendoms to panic as an ancient being is now on the move. Hades is every bit as myth as he is truth to anyone other than his descendants in Twisted Wonderland and even Maleficent will be unnerved by the renewed vigor of the ancient Shinigami. He is arriving with gifts and things his own Humans liked in the past to try and befriend this new Human and he will stay until his goal is achieved.

[philosophiums]

I have given into peer pressure.

Below the cut is my un-referenced, not proofread, off-the-cuff thoughts on the main JJK characters and their tendencies to have traits that contradict themselves, which not only makes them more rounded characters but also creates a really interesting situation in which characters have mirrors and foils not only with other characters, but also with themselves.

The point of this post is that the characters in JJK are complex. None of them are one-trick ponies and all of them contain multitudes and have, at least once, contradicted themselves and their beliefs.

Might be spoilery? I tried to keep it vague enough that it shouldn't be, but read at your own risk if you're anime only, I guess.

The Obvious One: Gojo

Gojo is "the strongest." It's debatable, I think, whether or not being "strong" is a personality trait, but he makes it his defining personality trait. (And I'm not here to do a Gojo character study, so for my purposes, it will be viewed as one.) Obviously, The Strongest is a title given to him by others, but he fully owns it and believes it. This is his identity; it's how he views himself, how he handles himself, and it is a preceding reputation that he gladly leans into. It's not a mask he hides behind, it's a flag he proudly displays on his ship to warn others of exactly who they're dealing with.

It makes sense, then, that Gojo's self-contradiction is that he has the biggest, most obvious weaknesses of all the characters in JJK. The first of these weaknesses is his knowledge of how strong he is. Toji exploits that weakness in the Hidden Inventory arc, and it almost costs Gojo is life. His second weakness is, very simply, Geto. Kenjaku exploits that weakness during Shibuya. Interestingly, Geto is a victim of Gojo's first weakness (Gojo is so self-assured that he seems to extend that assurance to the people around him, thinking that they are "as gods" like him just for being in his presence, and therefore he does not pay mind to Geto's spiraling), and exploits his second. He, better than anyone else, knows that he is Gojo's weakness, and he uses that knowledge to do everything he does before and during JJK 0 without repercussions.

Gojo is framed by himself and by many characters within JJK as being the "savior" of the jujutsu world, but in many ways he was, in fact, its downfall - because of his strength, and because of his weaknesses.

The Main One: Yuuji

Yuuji is the king of contradictions to me. Not all of it is within himself, and in fact a lot of it occurs because a large part of the plot is happening to him instead of the other way around, but he has one dichotomy that I do think is All Him. Yuuji defines himself as a cog - in his thoughts, he has been used and beaten down for evil already, so why not just be used for good as well. He thinks of himself as expendable and easily replaced; a foot soldier in a war being fought by titans. At some point, his goal stopped being to follow his grandfather's last request and instead turned into the simple act of persevering for as long as he can just in case anyone may have need of him. In a way, his outlook and perspective on everything became rather bleak and inhuman - quite literally, as, again, he views himself as nothing more than a cog.

And yet, for someone who has claimed his only purpose is to be used to kill Sukuna, everything Yuuji does is so achingly desperately human and is born out of his own desires to save people. Every other sorcerer has a CT or a fighting style that disconnects them from their foe - be that ranged attacks or weaponry - but Yuuji uses his fists. It's raw and almost savage in a way that is unavoidably intimate and human. He says, "Use me," (and, don't get me wrong, he is used) but even the act of offering himself negates the connotations that revolve around being used and shines such a lovely warm human light on him.

Yuuji doesn't push people away. The other "strong" characters isolate (Gojo has infinity, Yuuta literally fucks off from the narrative, Geto fucks off from jujutsu society, etc.), but Yuuji hoards people and connections (and yes, those become weaknesses, but the thing is: they become strengths, too). Sukuna takes Megumi away from him, but that just makes Yuuji more determined to kill Sukuna and get Megumi back. Everything he does is out of love, and he has a drive to do what he has to in order to save (or avenge) the people he keeps close. That's not exactly cog-like behavior.

The Fandom Discourse: Megumi

In my opinion, of all the characters (but especially the first-years), Megumi is the logical character. Especially when it comes to his job as a sorcerer (fighting and killing curses). He is knowledgeable about the world of sorcery, the most book-smart of the first-years, and he is smart and methodical when he fights.

He is also the only character who has openly admitted that he really only cares about saving the people he wants to save, as opposed to the general rhetoric of saving everyone. He's selfish, and he's not shy about it. Even he doesn't try to rationalize it; it's just part of who he is. Logical, methodical, smart, but also deeply, truly, selfish when it comes to where and how he expends his energy and efforts.

And yet, he is also the character who is most willing to die. Now, before half the fandom jumps down my throat, I don't mean to say that he wants to die or that he is constantly trying to - I'm just saying that he is willing to. (Obviously, Yuuji is also a character who is willing to die, but Yuuji is only willing to do so if it would also kill Sukuna, and he is determined to stay alive until such a time. Megumi, on the other hand, doesn't have a similar end-goal ultimatum for death). Yes, he comes at dying from a logical point of view, and yes, he only ever brings martyrdom into the equation if he feels he has no other option, but he has no hesitation when he reaches that point. And you (he) can rationalize self-sacrifice as much as you want to, but that is a very emotionally driven response, regardless of the situation. It's a last stand not only for himself, but for his friends, his family, the world. It's the end of the line for him, and it's something he is willing to do if it means taking out his opponent and making the world safer for everyone else - not just for his "select" people.

He is willing to run away from a fight he cannot win, but he is also willing to do something that he knows for sure will kill him if winning and running are no longer options. And I know that not everyone will see these things as opposites or all that detached from each other, but, to me, intelligent and methodical fighting does not naturally go hand in hand with, essentially, grappling your opponent and jumping off a cliff with them.

The Favorite Child: Yuuta

Like Gojo, Yuuta has access to an overwhelming amount of power. There's no doubt that when it comes to raw energy, he is the strongest sorcerer in his generation. He's exceptionally skilled when it comes to fighting and is often able to get by on simply overpowering his opponents (truly, much like Gojo). He doesn't embody being strong, though - he knows that he is, but it's not something that he considers a defining trait for himself. Instead, Yuuta's whole thing is that he has a tendency to shoulder burdens that other people won't (much like Yuuji, actually) (also it's kind of funny because of all the characters in JJK, I would consider Yuuta to be a "cog" way more than Yuuji, but that's a whole other thing). Yuuta is willing to be a monster, to make hard calls and suffer the consequences, because he has internalized what everyone keeps telling him - that, after Gojo, Yuuta is now "the strongest."

Which means that Yuuta also needs an equally large weakness to balance out that power. But where Gojo had arrogance (and his boyfriend), Yuuta has innocence. There's this pure sort of worldview that Yuuta carries with him that completely counterbalances the part of him that is willing to get his hands bloody. He has this youthful sort of hopefulness and naiveté that if he does the dirty work and puts in effort, then things will work out in his favor because they must. If he is sincere, if he shoulders an unbearable mantle, then everything will be fine simply because he chooses to do so. He does things because they are right and just, and he wants to believe that the universe will acknowledge that and be fair - even though he wouldn't have to do these unnamable things if that was true.

The Less Obvious one: Nobara

Nobara doesn't have a lot of screen time compared to the others, and specifically not a lot of time spent planning for/fighting in the "big fights," but she has one thing that the other characters don't have: self awareness. Nobara is the only character who knows what her contradictions are - she even says them out loud.

She wants nothing more than to be a normal girl who is into fashion, who could be a model, who does her hair and her nails and her makeup, who goes on dates, who has a lot of money and spends it freely. That's her ideal, that's her goal. But that's also who she is right now. She dyes her hair, wears makeup, is feminine in all the ways that would mark her as a girl to strangers on the street, goes shopping and buys too much and makes Yuuji carry her bags. She likes being girly and doesn't shy away from it.

But she is also, and I mean this with all the love in my heart, a feral little gremlin who is willing to bash people's skulls in with a hammer. She's brash and rude and loud. She takes up space and is unapologetic about it. She's vicious on the battlefield. She's not afraid to get bloody, and she hates being viewed as a damsel in distress. She's strategic in her fights, and she uses the fact that opponents underestimate her to her advantage. And she knows all of this, too, and she likes it.

She's self-actualized <3 No notes from me; I love my girl.

Anyway, that's it KSJDBVJKLDFVBJKDFVB There's no real point to this. I'm not saying anything profound, I don't think. This was all just a thought that I had, a little thing that I noticed, and I was bullied (affectionate) into sharing.

[vythika96-dpxdc]

2-For-1 Deal

(A prompt)

One boy goes into the Pit.

Two boys come out.

One: the original mindless boy pushed in, not so mindless anymore but now angry, memories regained.

Two: the surprise boy, fully conscious and aware, but confused with memories wiped.

One: the boy they trained for years, already halfway molded into a now enhanced human soldier.

Two: a boy untrained but superpowered, still trainable and moldable into a meta human soldier.

-

This could either be a parallel universe thing where both Danny and Jason are the same person but given completely different lives, so more like identical twins or clones here, which has the following support: both black haired, blue eyed, small kids who survived death at 14/15 and got white hair and grew into massive adults (Dan certainly didn’t have Vlad’s body) (and if I had a nickel…).

Or! DeadOnMain is always fantastic, even platonic can be awesome, or imagine the angst of being compared to each other constantly throughout training (“Even without superpowers, Jason is better than you, Danyal” “You’ll never become better than Danyal and his powers, Jason”), or mix and match! Competitive twins who hate each other, twins who become so deeply entwined they’re inseparable, enemies or friends to lovers, so much room to play in this sandbox of DPxDC fandom 😊

Personally, I like to imagine DeadOnMain in which since Danny has no memories, and therefore no goals, he’ll follow Jason anywhere and help. Either Jason and Danny both get poisoned against Bruce, or Danny could be the one tempering Jason out with questions and poking holes in the stories they’ve been told, things that Jason has been too focused on his anger (or Pit Rage) to notice and figure out himself. Then either they can go back to Gotham on a less violent rampage (but still intending on Joker dying), or they can come back twice as dangerous.

Maybe Danny tempering Jason’s rage keeps from the Titans Tower Incident with Tim, or maybe we go with the universes where Batman is a piece of shit and they try to convince Tim to join them before getting killed like Jason did. I like Tim not being beaten up by Jason, okay? Lots of fun ways to take this. (I have also maybe, possibly gotten hooked on JayTim in general and we can get a poly relationship with all three here, lol.)

[youngbounty]

I don’t think it should be a hot take when I say that Jonathan Kent should never have aged up. This isn’t about who is shipping whom, because I’d be genuinely surprised if even JonJay fans disagreed with me on this.

Let’s actually consider this: if Jon had not been aged up, how would any of his storylines and adventures have changed overall? Sure, yes, there would be a few tweaks, but would Jon’s age have prevented the events of The Legion of Super Heroes, Superman Son of Kal El, Dark Crisis and storylines afterwards. I dare even say it would have made those storylines and Jon’s character so much better.

Let’s go on this rabbit trail here for a second. Even if you liked Son of Kal El and maybe even shipped JonJay. If Jon had never aged up, stayed on Earth age 10, maybe grew to be 11 and met Jay at that point in time, it can go two ways: either Jay would be written the same age as Jon (11 years old) or Jay would still be 18ish and Jon would just have a one-sided crush on an older guy. Either way, the idea would have been more interesting in exploring Jon’s sexuality at a time when he’s just starting puberty. Because he’s young, it would have given room for Jon to grow and develop. Even the Teen Titans under Damian explored his sexuality despite his crush being terrible imo. First love’s are likely to work better if the character is still a child or minor.

The problem comes down to Jon aging up to seven years in a few days. His character is now a shell of what he once was. Jon was already strong and developing. He was becoming his own little person separate from Superman. Hell, if we’re going to talk about making Jon diverse, he was already diverse and dealing with discrimination for being a mixed Kryptonian and human. He was hunted down by a Kryptonian clone of his dad to eliminate any “human impurities.” He was tricked and betrayed by his own hometown, who used alien cow’s milk to “protect him” from needing to be Superboy and as a result had hindered his powers from activating. Evil Tim’s Batman hunted him down to kill him because his human and Kryptonian genetics clashed hard enough for Jon to create a solar flare that was capable of destroying a part of the world. These are issues Jon deals with that are the equivalent of what children of mixed races go through such as health conditions, their own being skeptical of them because of the other half of their race from both sides and often being belittled for being a “half-breed.” Until Jon was aged up, he had to be checked by Batman himself because the Fortress of Solitude and regular human doctors weren’t capable of checking a half Kryptonian and Human child. Then, Jon got aged up and his health concerns and the discrimination conflicts from his own were thrown right out the window.

My point is that Jon’s character arc and conflicts were thrown out the window the moment he aged up. Sure, there are some good comics with Jon here and there like Tom King’s Super Sons’ Adventures in Babysitting, but for the most part, Jon’s character has been reduced to a clone of Superman. Whatever happened to Jon’s personality that came from his mother like his stubbornness, tamper and sassiness? Whatever happened to that Jon that led a bunch of demon dogs he rescued to save his parents? Whatever happened to the boy that went Emo over accidentally frying his pet cat to ashes?

I guess Jonathan Kent truly died in that volcano when he was sucked into a wormhole.

[cosmicjoke]

Levi never Glorified Violence and Never needed to be Taught a Lesson that Violence is Wrong:

Nothing makes me want to rip my hair out more than when I see clowns saying Levi was "blinded by revenge" over wanting to kill Zeke, that he was "too violent", and that's why he got blown up by the thunderspear.

It's such a deeply, fundamentally WRONG understanding of why Levi wanted to kill Zeke, and also, of why he ended up getting blown up. I've already spoken about the strategically sound reasoning behind Levi's actions, which you can read here, if you're interested: https://www.tumblr.com/cosmicjoke/746918499422781440?source=share But to summarize, Levi hooking Zeke to the thunderspear made perfect, logical sense within the context of Zeke's own actions and behavior up to that point. Zeke was someone who until then had engaged in tactics of deception and double-crosses, who had only killed others while at a safe distance and within the cocoon of his Titan form. Decidedly the actions and behavior of a coward. Levi had no, good cause to suspect Zeke would be willing to blow himself up to also take Levi out, and so his reasoning that the thunderspear would act as insurance against Zeke escaping while Levi was preoccupied with driving the cart back to the capital was a reasonable and logical conclusion for him to make. It wasn't a decision blinded by rage or an action taken in hast. Just like it was reasonable for Zeke to assume Levi would rather die than cut down his own comrades, because he knew of Levi's compassion. Both of them underestimated each other, and both of them paid for making assumptions about the other.

But further to the point, this whole idea that Levi was being "punished" for his violence is the stupidest shit I've ever seen. Because it basically posits that Levi glorified violence, and so needed to be "taught a lesson" that violence was wrong, when he's the one character in the story who NEVER did that. He never reveled in violence, he never tried to frame it as something good or desirable, or even tried to justify it. He always spoke about and treated violence for what it was, a means to an end and nothing more. He never tried to moralize it or excuse it. He was always completely objective about it.

Compare, for example, the matter of fact way Levi explains violence and killing to Armin and Jean, versus how Zeke frames his own actions of violence. Zeke calls his murder of people a "mercy". He frames it as a positive action which results in a positive, better outcome. He has a totally warped view of killing and violence because he tries to justify it and moralize it to himself and others. He tries to frame his violence as something which makes him a hero. Levi does no such thing. He tells Jean and Armin that he doesn't know if it's right or wrong to kill, only that if Armin hadn't killed that MP, they would all be dead, and that Armin can't go back to the person he was, because he's now taken human life. He isn't justifying it, or moralizing it, he isn't trying to spin it into something positive or good, or even into something bad or wrong. He's simply stating an objective truth and then telling the 104th that they need to make their own choice about what they believe is right and wrong in any, given situation.

Or compare the way Levi approaches torturing Sannes to how Hange does. Hange goes into that situation gung-ho at the idea of torturing Sannes, because she wants revenge on him for killing Pastor Nick. She thinks she'll enjoy torturing Sannes, and attempts to enjoy it by taking it to an extreme, only to realize she's getting no satisfaction at all from her cruelty. By comparison, Levi never does or even attempts to take pleasure in the act of torture. He approaches it as a means to an end, something he has to do in order to obtain the information they need to overthrow the current government. There's no justification in his mind, no excuse he tells himself to make himself feel better about it. He already knows it's horrible and ugly. He already understands perfectly the wretched reality of violence. Again, he's the ONLY character in the story who does, from start to finish. It's why Hange is so rattled and upset after torturing Sannes, because she thought it would be fun, only to learn it was anything but. Levi never thought it would be fun, he never expected it to be, never wanted it to be, and he never tried to convince himself that it was anything better than what it actually was. It's why we see his shocked expression when Hange engages in unnecessary cruelty by ripping one of Sannes' teeth out. He's always been the most objective character when it comes to violence. He's never labored under any belief that his violence made him a hero, and he never tried to glorify violence to anyone or told them they were heroes for killing.

It's also why Yelena says to him what she does, during the final arc, and the battle at the docks. Because she knows that he knows, better than anyone, the inherent violence of the human condition and the ugly reality of it. Yelena is trying to again push her fanatical belief in Zeke's antinatalist philosophy, by pointing out that people are always going to kill and be cruel to each other, and she makes the point to Levi specifically, because she knows Levi is the only one who'd already long ago understood and accepted that truth.

So this idea that Levi is this ultra-violent, revenge-obsessed lunatic that needs to be taught that "violence is bad" is fucking moronic, and I am SICK TO DEATH of seeing people perpetuate that bullshit take. I want to tell everyone who does to just shut the fuck up already, because they're actively damaging the perception people have of Levi's character every time they spew that garbage.

[owl-falls-au-gravity-falls]

Stan talking to Bill Owl Falls AU | Stan hablando con Bill Owl Falls AU

IN ENGLISH

Bill: What are you doing here?

Stan looked at Bill, they were back in their mental escape, the reason for his visit was for desperate measures, right outside his head he was trying to stop Hunter from hurting the other kids. He knows that Belos had control over his mind, so he wouldn't allow him to continue hurting that child... But for that, he needed Bill's help.

Stan: Look, I know I told you not to interfere with anything in the physical world and all that, and I wouldn't come here if it wasn't to ask you for help...

Bill:Hahaha! At least you're honest, flea-eater - he laughs mockingly as he sits down on an armchair that appeared out of nowhere -

Stan: Just listen, please! I need you to help me, I don't know how to get Belos out of Hunter's head, and with every second that passes, we could lose him!

Bill: And why do you think I care about that, furball?

Stan didn't want to say it out loud, he knew the answer, he knew it perfectly...

He and Bill were one and the same, two sides of the same coin...

I didn't remember this until a few weeks ago with the help of Ford...

He was horrified, terrified, livid, and mortified all at the same time... all he could do was rage at this new revelation. The revelation that he was Bill Cipher and everything he had done under that name haunted him as the man he was now.

I wasn't sure if I would remember everything as time went on and less important memories would fade away, But I was sure that in his mind there were memories of a life as a swindler demon.

He regretted everything. Everything. He had regretted a lot back then too, but now he could look back with the wisdom that his second chance had given him.

... Oh titan, this was crazy. And that's even with the Collector and Belos here...

No, he wasn't that person. Not anymore!

And in the end it was not like Belos, nor the collector, nor Bill!

It was different now. He'd lived a different life. A life with people who loved him. Even if they hadn't always been the best. Eda, King, Luz, Fiddleford, the kids... Ford....

Oh Titan... Ford didn't know... But he could already sense that he had figured it out after Stan left the subject hanging.

How was he going to tell Ford all this? Was he going to? Would Ford even believe him? Would he think Bill was back? That Bill had taken over Stan's psyche or merged with Stan? That last idea disgusts him...

No, it wasn't Bill, even though he had his memories, he wasn't that person anymore, and he refused to accept Bill even as a part of himself...

Bill: I can hear all your thoughts, mangy... And I don't like the idea of us being the same person either...

Stan sighs heavily, he didn't have time to ramble, he had to come to an agreement, something, anything... he couldn't allow Hunter to suffer any more...

Stan: Please, Bill... I need to save that kid...

Bill doesn't answer, he just turns his back, it was curious that they now looked the same, which reinforces the horrible thought that They are the same person, they shared memories, they shared experiences... It was a damn mirror... And the only person who could help him save his children was himself...

There was a somewhat long silence, while Bill did not look at Stan, he seemed to be thinking, considering something. What was he thinking?

Bill: ... Why do you care so much about those humans? Humans are so weak... They are easy to manipulate, to hurt, to kill... Like everything in the universe... Why do you care about those humans if you are me?

Stan: N-no, we're not the same person...

Bill: Oh, Fez, you're wrong about that... You and I are one soul sharing the same body, two halves divided by AXOLOTL... doomed to fight each other in an endless cycle... You are me and I am you... You can't escape the truth... So answer me, my future incarnation... What makes you so different from me?

Stan hesitates a little, he knew they were similar in many ways, they were scammers, survivors, people who lost their home due to a terrible mistake, who pretend to be happy when they are not, who seek something more than just what they have been given... But there was something that set Stan apart from Bill...

Stan: ...I have a lot to lose... People who need my help... And I need them to be safe...

Bill: ...Okay, I'll help you...

Stan: Really?

Bill: On one condition...

Stan: Sure, one condition, why not? ... What do you want?

Bill: admit that we are the same person ...

Stan: What?! No! I never-

The conversation is interrupted by screams outside Stan's mind.

Bill: Tick tock, Fez... You're running out of time... - he said mockingly

Stan: I... I... Ah! Okay! I admit it! You and I are the same person!

Bill: Very good, very good... And...?

Stan: - frustrado - Listen, you knucklehead! I have to get back there and protect my kids! I know you don't care about anything but your own ass, but I need your help! So do something good for once with your life and help me save my family!

EN ESPAÑOL

Bill: ¿Que haces aquí?

Stan miro a Bill, estaban de nuevo en su escape mental, la razón de su visita era por medidas desesperadas, justo afuera de su cabeza estaba tratando de evitar que Hunter le haga daño a los demas niños, sabia que Belos tenía control sobre su mente, así que no permitiría que continuara lastimando a ese niño... Pero para eso, necesitaba la ayuda de Bill

Stan: mira, se que te dije que no interfieras en nada del mundo físico y todo eso, y no vendría aqui si no fuera para pedirte ayuda...

Bill: ¡Jajaja! Al menos eres sincero, pulgoso - rie burlonamente mientras se sienta en un sillón que apareció de la nada

Stan: ¡Solo escucha, por favor! Necesito que me ayudes, no sé cómo sacar a Belos de la cabeza de Hunter ¡y con cada segundo que pase, podríamos perderlo!

Bill: ¿Y por qué crees que eso me importa, bola de pelos?

Stan: ... Porque...

Stan no quería decirlo en voz alta, sabia la respuesta, la sabia perfectamente...

El y Bill eran una misma persona , las dos caras de la misma moneda...

No lo recordaba hasta hace semanas atrás con ayuda de Ford...

Estaba horrorizado, aterrorizado, lívido y mortificado, todo al mismo tiempo... todo lo que podía hacer era enfurecerse con esta nueva revelación. La revelación de que él era Bill Cipher y que todo lo que había hecho bajo ese nombre lo atormentaba como el hombre que era ahora.

No estaba seguro de si recordaría todo a medida que pasara el tiempo y los recuerdos menos importantes se iban a desvanecer, pero si tenía la seguridad de saber que en su mente hay recuerdos de una vida como un demonio estafador

Se arrepintió de todo. De todo. También se había arrepentido de mucho en aquel entonces, pero ahora podía mirar atrás con la sabiduría que le dió su segunda oportunidad

... Oh, titán, esto era una locura. Y eso que incluso con el coleccionista y Belos aquí...

No, él no era esa persona. ¡Ya no!

¡Y en definitiva no era como Belos, ni el coleccionista, ni Bill!

Ahora era diferente. Había vivido una vida diferente. Una vida con personas que lo amaban. Aunque no siempre habían sido las mejores. Eda, King, Luz, Fiddleford, los niños... Ford.

Oh Titan... Ford no lo sabía... Pero ya podía intuir que lo había descifrado después de que Stan dejara el tema al aire

¿Cómo iba a contarle todo esto a Ford? ¿Lo iba a hacer? ¿Ford siquiera le creería? ¿Pensaría que Bill había vuelto? ¿Que Bill se había apoderado de la psique de Stan o se había fusionado con Stan? Esa última idea le repugna...

No, no era Bill, aunque tenga sus memorias, ya no era esa persona, y se negaba a aceptar a Bill siquiera como una parte de si mismo...

Bill: puedo escuchar todos tus pensamientos, sarnoso... Y a mí tampoco me agrada la idea de que seamos la misma persona...

Stan suspira pesadamente, no tenía tiempo para divagar, tenía que llegar a un acuerdo, algo, lo que sea... no podía permitir que Hunter sufra más...

Stan: por favor, Bill... Necesito salvar a ese niño...

Bill no responde, solo le da la espalda, era curioso que ahora se vieran igual, lo que refuerza el horrible pensamiento de que son la misma persona, de que compartían memorias, que compartían experiencias... Era un maldito espejo... Y la única persona que podría ayudarlo a salvar a sus niños era si mismo...

Hubo un silencio algo largo, mientras Bill no le dirigía la mirada a Stan, parecía estar pensando, considerando algo ¿Que era lo que estaba pensando?

Bill: ... ¿Porque te importan tanto esos humanos? Los humanos son tan débiles... Son fáciles de manipular, de lastimar, de matar... Cómo todo en el universo... ¿Porque te importan esos humanos si tú eres yo?

Stan: n-no, no somos la misma persona...

Bill: oh, Fez, te equivocas en eso... Tu y yo somos un alma compartiendo el mismo cuerpo, dos mitades divididas por AXOLOTL... condenados a pelear el uno contra el otro en un ciclo sin fin... Tu eres yo y yo soy tu... No puedes escapar de la verdad... Así que respóndeme, futura encarnación mía... ¿Que te hace tan diferente a mi?

Stan duda un poco, sabía que eran similares en muchos aspectos, eran estafadores, sobrevivientes, personas que perdieron su hogar por un terrible error, que fingen estar felices cuando no es así, que buscan algo más que solo lo que se les ha dado... Pero había algo que diferencia a Stan de Bill...

Stan: ... Yo tengo mucho que perder... Personas que necesitan mi ayuda... Y necesito que estén a salvo...

Bill: ... Bien, te ayudaré...

Stan: ¿En serio?

Bill: con una condición...

Stan: claro, una condición, ¿Porque no? ... ¿Que quieres?

Bill: admite que somos la misma persona ...

Stan: ¡¿Que?! ¡No! ¡Yo nunca-

La conversación es interrumpida por los gritos en el exterior de la mente de Stan

Bill: tic tac, Fez... Se te acaba el tiempo... - dijo de forma burlona

Stan: yo... Yo... ¡Ah! ¡Está bien! ¡Lo admito! ¡Tu y yo somos la misma persona!

Bill: muy bien, muy bien... ¿Y...?

Stan: - frustrado - ¡Escucha, cabeza hueca! ¡Tengo que volver allá y proteger a mis niños! ¡Se que no te importa nada más que tú trasero, pero necesito tu ayuda! ¡Así que haz algo bueno por una vez con tu vida y ayúdame a salvar a mi familia!

[classicanalyzer]

Dragon Prince S6 Thoughts

"Sometimes the line between mercy and cruelty can be thin." Aaravos and Startouch Elves

Well holy shit, that opening really went from wholesome Viren (who is alive) hugging Terry and celebrating Aaravos’ supposed “lie” to OH GOD CLAUDIA KILLED A CHILD. God, it's really terrifying seeing Claudia give so much to save her father...it really hits home how Viren felt responsible for leading her down this route. The tragic thing is that I think Viren knows deep inside that as of now, he can't help her...but he hopes he can inspire her to turn back. Despite everything she did, Claudia's actions to save her father were all for nothing. She lost a leg and her soul (it is yet to be seen if her soul can be brought back) and yet by the time she reached home, her father died yet again...this time for good. Claudia's screams were really chilling and sad.

At least, Terry is always there for Claudia...though I'm worried about what will happen to him given Claudia's increasing mental dive into darkness and insanity. He rightfully points out how revenge is different from love and how it drove Aaravos to the deaths of God who knows.

I really love that Viren didn't choose to reveal what he did to heal Soren. It would've just caused Soren more grief and pain. That's one of the most best things Viren could have done before his sacrifice. He carries on the absolute shame (I felt chills when I heard how he obtained the last part of the spell) that he caused rather than “pass it on” so to say to Soren.

Viren’s true death feels fitting for him. All this time everyone close to him ask if he was willing to risk his life for another. Dark Magic has ruined so many lives and yet also saved so man in some cases. There is a price to be paid. But finally, he proved that he was willing to do that rather than find some other way to pay the price or back out. This time he paid the price and did a truly selfless action where nobody had to get hurt...other than him. He lived his whole life choosing what he felt was pragmatic and selfish with only a few moments of his good self showing...he chose to finally die a servant of his home. While Soren will understandably never forgive him for what he did to him and the world, he will remember him for his last act of unselfish genuine goodness and living up to his desires of atonement rather than going back. I also love how his last words are the last words spoken by Harrow to him.

"I am a servant. I am a...servant." Viren's last words

That entire ship episode is so hilarious with the meta-commentary. The Celestial Elves were a really cool sub-ect of Skywing Elves. I also love the parallels between dealing with Ice Behmeath in the present and the Magma Titan in the past. Instead of killing the beast which left people killed, they found what made it so sad and everyone lives.

Also Callum and Rayla are back together! So happy and I wished we didn't have the break-up personally but still finally.

I now understand the Soren and Corvus ship, and I approve.

I'm so happy that Amaya and Janai finally got married at last. Too bad Karim had to ruin all the vibes temporarily, thankfully, the two were able to salvage it. Amaya and Janai truly deserve the world.

The build-up to when Ezran and Corvus realizes the true plan of Karim is really chilling.

S6 really has me lowkey ship Ezran and Aanya haha. Two badass, wise, and compassionate young rulers who lost their parents...speaking off, I can't imagine seeing Ezran in S7 now that he knows his kingdom is destroyed.

Sol Regem really is responsible for the events of the show. While it is dark how he died and it's horrible how he was responsible for his soulmate's death, I can't say he didn't deserve his death at all. He was the one who laid the seeds for humanity's conflict with elves and utterly despises humanity. He literally choked and burned on his own element.

Katolis being destroyed made me sad since it was our primary setting in the human realm for 6 seasons.

The Startouch Elves gave me so many Collector vibes. Aaravos really is the Ardyn of Dragon Prince with a bit of Collector and I'm all here for it. Now all that is needed is for him to get a stylish hat and turn the sky into an eternal darkness. Also, Aaravos was really that big in his natural mortal form...which made S5's horrifying reveal of what he said make a lot of sense.

A major theme of S6 and the show is how revenge won't get you anywhere but further metaphorically drown yourself. Another major theme is love (platonically and romantically), whether familial, platonic, or romantic.

S6 really is an amazing return to form, and it felt like the quality of the first three seasons was consistent. I cannot wait for the final season of this saga. I did hear about them wanting to make three more books and I wonder how they can go from here...but I trust them to do right based on S6.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

I don't know if you were asked this before or already addressed it before, but what do you think of the argument that Belos' death was supposed to be anticlimatic

See, the problem with these arguments is that it assumes that people who were disappointed with Belos' death wanted a grand, epic battle when in reality, everyone that I've spoken to wanted him to suffer more. We wanted him to go out screaming, realizing that all he did for centuries was for nothing, since that was what the previous episodes were building up to. That's not grandiose, that's even more pathetic than what we got in canon.

Belos' death is anti-climactic because for two episodes, the show was expanding on his background, making him see ghosts or hallucinations, lashing out at the idea of being wrong when he sees "Caleb," all of this suggested that this would play into his ultimate undoing. Instead, we get Luz-With-Anime-Powers yank him off the Titan heart and then he melts in the rain. Cool.

What was the point of the previous episodes then?

Anti-climaxes can work if there is a point to them, be it comedic or tragic. But there was no point to how Belos died. Luz didn't need to learn anything about herself in order to earn the Titan powers, she didn't use anything she learned about the Wittebanes against Belos in the final battle, all that happened is that the Titan told her she's a good witch and to stop comparing herself to someone Obviously Evil like Belos. Great character moment there.

Hell, nothing about Belos played in his death. Not his backstory. None of his lies. Nothing. It just happens. Giving a megalomaniac an undignified death or defeat can work though. Just look at Ozai. He built himself as the Supreme Ruler of the World, as the Phoenix King. He sees himself superior to all others and uses everyone--even his own children as pawns. So to have him be defeated by the Avatar, by an Air Nomad child, who doesn't even give him the dignity of killing him in battle but by taking away the ultimate symbol of his power, his bending, works because it's the antithesis of everything Ozai believes in.

But Belos' death has nothing to do with him as a character or his beliefs. The idea that he needs an undignified death to bring down the megalomaniac doesn't work because Belos has suffered nothing but indignities since he got slammed into a wall. He's been dying for several episodes, lost his human form and the world he knew and loved is long gone and none of this is used against him in the final episode.

In fact, Belos' death actually supports his ideology: for centuries, he's believed that witches are evil and inferior to humans. And he justified all the evil he's done in the name of the greater good: of defeating what he saw as evil. So, picture the scene, you have a rapidly dying man who is no longer a threat to anyone, who is trying to reach out to the one person he thinks is moral by virtue of her species, only to be stomped on by beings who proudly proclaim that they are in fact, immoral.

Congrats gang. You just let the evil bigot die with his feelings justified.

Even how he died doesn't make narrative sense because we've seen him rebuild himself from a droplet and King even mentions some being stuck between his toes. How is it this fight is what finishes him off for good? He's both progressively weaker in each episode and yet is able to outrun (or out crawl) both the Hexsquad after entering the portal and Raine in the castle and possess the Titan heart. Plus, despite having possessed the literal Titan's heart, that equated to having just enough power to transform into his younger self and then get melted by the rain. Ok then.

So let's say that Belos' death works for meta reasons; that evil and bigotry should be given anticlimactic deaths. Ok fine, but it's still disappointing and boring af to watch. Giving a bigoted villain a gruesome, over the top, and entertaining death doesn't mean you suddenly validate the villain's ideals, just look at Raiders of the Lost Ark and its melting Nazis.

Also, unpopular opinion, but The Owl House is not about bigotry; it doesn't say anything about where it comes from, what perpetuates it, how people fall into it, how it can be stopped, etc. The writing is too inconsistent and the world building is too flat for any kind of deep or compelling themes. Instead, it has the grotesquely simplistic idea that "Bad Man Cause Bad Things. Get Rid of Bad Man and Bad Things Go Away."

And that's ultimately why Belos' death doesn't work; because The Owl House never had anything deep to say. It's a fun, escapist fantasy that wants to have deeper themes but can't commit to them. Anything "real" a person might interpret is largely projection because the show is too ineffectual in exploring its own world building and characterization beyond surface level meanings.

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 57: Gallifrey at War Part 8

Normal TWs for these parts apply: for war, death, injury, disturbing behavior

The Gramoryans were paradox eaters that used to be monitored by the Time Lords but began to run amok after the Last Great Time War. They collected important historical people and kill those who they deemed insignificant. They were attracted to Tudor Era England when the Monk disguised himself as King Henry VIII. (Audio: Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated)

Paradox anxiety refers to the fear of falling under the influence of the Faction Paradox if someone caused a paradox. In more extreme cases, people might believe they had already caused a paradox and were thus already under Faction Paradox control. (Novel: The Book of War)

While not a declared "war" that Gallifrey took part in, the Quantum Archangel was created by fusing a human with the energy of the Lux Aeterna, the quantum foam making up reality. This resulted from the Master trying to use a TITAN Array to rejuvenate his body and destroy the Chronovores. The Quantum Archangel became basically an omnipotent goddess with the ability to create pocket universes and rewrite history. She intended to get rid of suffering by putting everyone in their own individual pocket universes and letting them live their best lives possible. (Novel: The Quantum Archangel)

The Quantum Archangel did not realize that the Chronovores would start to eat the small alternate timelines she had been creating. The perfect universes collapsed into nightmarish versions. (Novel: The Quantum Archangel)

To fight the Quantum Archangel, the Sixth Doctor bathed in the Lux Aeterna himself to get the same powers. He went to the higher dimensions and tried to make her see reason. This failed, so the two of them did battle on a truly cosmic scale, using entire suns and planets as weapons. The Doctor in his godly form and Kronos managed to revert the Quantum Archangel back into her human form (Novel: The Quantum Archangel)

The Ninth Doctor told Rose he was 900 years old because during the Last Great Time War, such as during the Battle of Rodan's Wedding, years became ammunition. The Doctor could remember being aged to five million years old when hit by one volley of shrapnel and then being de-aged to a baby by the next. Because of this mess, the Doctor could not be sure of his exact age but decided that he "felt" about a thousand years old, which he rounded to 900. (Short story: Doctor Who and the Time War) If you recall from TV: The Invasion of Time, Rodan was a Gallifreyan who was responsible for maintaining the transduction barrier.

The Bygone Horde was made up of all the species that had been erased from existence during the Last Great Time War, surviving only as a memory. They planned on returning to existence using the sacrifice of the human race, but the Ninth Doctor and Adam Mitchell stopped them. (Audio: The Other Side)

Ollistra attached an artron leash to the War Doctor, thus linking him to herself. These artron leashes were made by Gallifrey and forced the person on the receiving end - in this case the War Doctor - to stay close to the other. If they moved too far away, they would be given an intense electric shock. (Audio: A Thing of Guile)

The Fifth Doctor was forced to lead a military campaign against Morbius during the Civil War. He took on the alias the Supreme Coordinator (or the Supremo) and led a large army composed of Ice Warriors, Draconians, Sontarans, Ogrons, and Cybermen. The Daleks were not part of this Alliance, but the Doctor had a nightmare where they offered to help. (Novel: Warmonger)

The Ogrons had been the Doctor's bodyguards in this time in order to avoid jealousy that choosing one of the other species would have caused. (Novel: Warmonger)

Peri Brown had become a guerilla leader on Sylvana after the Doctor had sent her away to heal from a serious injury. She only met back up with the Doctor after he became general of his massive army. (Novel: Warmonger)

The Supreme Coordinator had such a big impact on those in his command that the Sontaran Battle Major Streg sacrificed himself to save the Supremo in battle. His last words were ones of thanks to the Supremo for giving him a glorious death in a legendary battle. (Novel: Warmonger)

An additional Time War was averted during the Eleventh Doctor's era. This clearly caused the Doctor a lot of distress, causing him to break down alone in his TARDIS and speak about how he didn't want to be a Warrior again. (Audio: Daleks Victorious)

A predicted timeline of this averted Time War suggested by a sentient Dalek time machine (named Tim) stated that the best end to this war (and the way to destroy the Daleks) would involve Valarie going back in time and changing her own personal history. Even in this best case scenario, however, the Time War would last billions of years and result in the Doctor’s death. (Audio: The Last Stand of Miss Valarie Lockwood)

The Loomstacks on Gallifrey 8 became so overworked during the War in Heaven that thick black smoke blocked out the sun over the Capitol. To create more troops for the War, Gallifrey would incinerate their dead soldiers, break their bodies into raw fabric, and reweave them into brand new troops. (Novel: The Taking of Planet 5)

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[sepublic]

I hope King got to reclaim the bones of his siblings. After reclaiming his mother’s body from further exploitation and misrepresentation for power and genocide by Belos, it’d have been nice to see him do the same with the Titan Trappers’ gross misuse of his siblings’ bodies. The fact that King fell for the intended purpose of this misuse and almost died because of it…

Between the nightmare sequence and the Collector learning what death is, and the Titan Trappers being incapacitated by them? It’d have been really great to see King and the Collector clear the deal; That the ‘Grand Huntsman’ does not approve of Bill’s lies, and anyhow they will reclaim these remains by force if necessary.

Given the setup for Tarak and the other Trappers to realize Bill is a liar, plus their Grand Huntsman revealing they were misused in a similar way by Belos, whose reign they at least understood was faulty? I could see a shift in them renouncing these ways, esp since they never actually killed a Titan, we had Tarak’s guilt over having to sacrifice King, etc. It’s easy to advocate for the genocide of a dehumanized ‘evil’ race until you actually encounter one of them and realize, Oh! That’s a real person!

Tbh given the parallels between Bill and Belos? I can see Tarak, possibly the entire Titan Trapper community, being akin to Caleb; We already have Tarak’s previous bonding with King, which led to some hesitation! Dana confirmed Caleb and Evelyn initially met one another under the guise of Evelyn being human, so I wonder if Caleb had a similar moment to Tarak in EotW, where he was gung-ho about killing witches, realized this friend of his was a witch, hesitated… But unlike Tarak, didn’t go through with it and even defied the group.

Maybe Tarak eventually does this during the timeskip, at least for the practical reason of realizing Bill is a liar. Of course, Tarak still tried and King is a child to him, unlike peers Caleb and Evelyn; So I don’t expect King to forgive and accept Tarak as family the way Evelyn did Caleb. Who knows…

Regardless; The mother was laid to proper rest and no longer had her grave desecrated. Given King got closure and even revenge over that, it’d be wonderful to see him get the same for his siblings, since brotherhood with Luz is just as important as his parental figure in Eda, the two other main characters of the show! King already got back at Bill by destroying his teleportation gate, and with the Collector ‘collecting’ him and King not doing much to stop it? He could always go further…

Just, man; I have to mourn the siblings. We know the Titan at least, people revere her. But who were the siblings? Only King and his family will mourn them. What were they like? Were they like King with Eda, in their relationship with their biological mother? Were they artists, goofballs? Bill at least confirms similarities in being big tyrants with appetites who go WEH! How young were they when the Archivists and Trappers killed them, before their mother, in grief, had to escape? Did they cry out for their father, were they murdered in front of him?

It just really gets me man. One genocide may have been averted, but another has not been fully avenged or prevented with the Archivists still out there, and there was simply no room to address that with everything else. And King learned all of this, just when he actually began to consider the idea that he has other siblings he doesn’t know about, and begins to miss (and then mourn) them too…!

[yeorin08]

Homies forever?

Did your homie come up to you one day all excited with an illegal book about the outside world, and your homie didn't give a fuck about government and law. Then your eyes saw the shine in those obviously gorgeous soul awakening blue eyes. Hearing him talk about the outside world with excitement made you want to earn something you never thought you needed.and from then on ,you shared dreams.

You protect your homie from bullies,you take care of him, you want to be with him forever and explore the outside world with your homie.

Your homie gave you a purpose in life which you want to achieve,you want to destroy all the danger beyond the wall just so you can make your dream come true.

You join the millitary with your homie and together you graduate, u hold hands, probably have gotten the most intimate with your homie than any girl that people have started creating rumours about your closeness with homie.

You and your homie want to join the recon corps,

when the titan was picking up your homie to eat him , even in half unconscious State, missing a leg, and hurt pretty bad, you were ready to save him, even if it meant to give up your life.

You were ready to give up your life and saved your homie but went down the drain instead.

In the pit of the Titan you realised you haven't given up on your dream, dreams with homie, that enraged you so much you turned into a titan

you recognised your homie hand while being unconscious,and interwined his hand back

A few hours later your homie saves your life again .

Your homie is the only one who could wake up the sleeping Beauty inside the Titan and bring you back to reality

Your homie wakes you by reminding you the dreams you guys shared.

"I thought you have forgotten it long ago, but... you remembered"

And throughout your homie was with you, he got you out of the Titans nape after you blocked the hole in the wall of rose.

and later you and your homie are in recon crops but with new problems.

Your homie's speech during female titan arc motivated you so much that you were ready to abandon your humanity to capture Annie any how.

Seasons later your homie got molested by some old pervert just for the sake of plan where you and historia would be safe.

He even killed a few people to get you back from rod reiss.

Then the mission to retake wall Maria came;

Your homie saw your shaking hand and decided to help, motivated you and with his pretty face, blue eyes and beautiful hair ,you calmed down.

You tell him how you were motivated by the shine in his eyes when they were 8-9 years old.

once again your homie wakes your sleeping Beauty ass up by reminding you of dreams, after you got kicked by betholt.

Your homie entrusts you with his dreams for you to complete it "witness the ocean for me?"

Seeing your homie's Crisp body made you devastated, from each corner , and both physically and mentally.

You see your homie struggling to breath and now with new hope you are screaming for him to continue breathing.

You fought your captain to bring back your homie.

"He's the one who's going to save humanity"

With your cries and please , the serum is given to your homie and your homie lives.

You run to hug your homie when he wakes up . A few Tears of relief washes over your eyes.

You offer you jacket to ur half naked (hot waisted) homie.

One year later you guys are finally at the sea (which didn't go as planned)

You are ready to give up everything so your homie can live long and free. You entrust your everything on your homie and go for genocide.

You guys travel years in path , just you and your homie , witnessing all the beauty the world could offer and looking at your homie's happiness have your chest swelling with love , affection and maybe pride.

You see the flames of water

Land of ice

Field of sands

And huge lakes of salty water

After that your homie punches you for saying hurtful things to your adopted sister.

Then you guys make ou-

Then you guys say everything you have wanted to say to each other cause it is "now or never " moment. You guys talk with no filter, no nothing just you and your homie talking with thick ass sensual tention background music.

Your homie tell you how he also shared the blame for your crime , after all he was the one who showed you the book about the outside world, he shares the equal shoulder for the sins.

and you promise each other to meet in hell and be together forever!!

Fuck everything and tel me

Is HE STiLL YoUr HOMie??!!

[lensman-arms-race]

Episode 77 part 3 and 4

(I was going to make a post with parts 3 and 4, but ran into the Tumblr image limit! I'll make another post about part 4.)

Previously: Episode 77 part 1, Episode 77 part 2

DFB has given us TV-simps some delicious food!! And I had five asks about this! Spoilers under the cut.

Pile of asks:

Anonymous:

Now that episode 77 is done what do you think is the 'plot twist'? I found 'hardware heads were human' from part 2 to be a lot more shocking than G-Man helping The Alliance.

@some-girl-i-guess-1

Did you see the new episode? What are your thoughts about it?

@gamie99

I love reading your episode reviews because you always have so much to say! And I'm sure you have SO many thoughts about this one, because HOLY COW.

Anonymous:

The latest part of the episode was pretty crazy what did you think about it? What do you think will occur in the full episode?

@love-draw-fanart

After watching 77 part 4, I started imagining Titan-TV fighting with his ghost if his body was destroyed 🤣🤣🤣🤣 very, veryyyyyy "you can't kill the death"

Part 3:

I'm a little disappointed that Cam Matriarch appears to have lost her tortoise mode + flechette cannon, because that was what made me love her in the first place! The flying cannon replacement is pretty cool... but it's sad how all the cute robots are becoming badass rather than cute.

Wonder what the 'there are 3 Polycephalies' crowd will have to say about this? Will they think there are 2 Cam Matriarchs?

The distant 'hee hee' at this point was funny as hell! I do love how Boom breaks up tension with funny parts like this.

Not only has Cam Matriarch inherited Plunk's weapons, but also his idiot ball, apparently. Mate, you can't defeat that bastard, he's like a fucking battleship.

See, TV Matriarch agrees with me... Wait... there's absolutely no need for TV Matriarch to put her hand on Cam Matriarch's boob - she's copping a feel!

Also, holy crap, how have I only just noticed Cam Matriarch's goth boots?

Polycephaly, my beloved! And what an entrance! I swoon!

My earlier point about robots becoming badass but losing some of their cute appeal still stands. The head upgrades make sense tactically but they're uncute. And my boy's lost his cuddly tendrils! Now he's got Ass-tro tech bolted on him.

Also he looks goofy with his tie tucked into his trousers instead of his waistcoat. Boo.

There was a visual glitch at this point in which Buzzsaw's helmet temporarily despawned, but Boom appears to have fixed it.

"Someone is dying... and it's not me." OUGGGHHH HOLY CRAP!! Titan TV, my beloved!!

Also he flares out his back-spikes at this point and it's so good, hnnnngh.

Fuckin' no-sells the Astro projectiles.

Interestingly, Titan TV now appears to have the ability to fire off little 'pellets' of energy from his core instead of just a huge-ass blast (note hyphen position; that's huge-ass blast, not huge ass-blast).

After swiping away the Astro projectiles, Titan TV proceeds to get one of his monitor extensions chewed off. Oops. He seems strangely unbothered by this! It almost looks as though he turns his head towards the Astro to let it happen.

Excellent Astro grump face:

"Look at me!" (Okay, but why didn't you do that before Matey Boy bit your screen off?)

Goddamn, I love what Boom does with Toilet expressions; they're hilarious!

Decapitation!

Unfortunately, some other fucker arrives and manages to both deplete the Titan's back-spikes and smash his main screen.

The Astro strider appears to break the Titan's screen by getting behind his head and then suddenly pushing his head forward. Did the Titan's screen break on his own core-spikes? Or just from the stress on his head-casing?

The Titan does appear to catch the Astro in his back-spikes (and then fling the Astro away), which presumably is how the Astro breaks some of the spikes off.

"Your Titan wouldn't want you to die meaninglessly. Leave, while you still can." TVs are rude fuckers but they do still care about their comrades! That's why I love them best.

This prick shows up. I get the feeling they were muttering 'If you want something done right, do it yourself'. This Astro fights more competently than the last two.

Fortunately, Titan TV is saved from total annihilation by the Cams firing a shot from their tank, which buys the Titan enough time to counter-attack... and say a very curious line.

"You can't kill the dead!"

Is this just trash-talking, or an actual lore drop?? "I'll show you what the other side looks like!"

Is this an implication that TVs come from dead humans (or believe that they do)? Maybe TVs believe that they're already dead, because the state of the world is so shitty that it must be already Hell?

Or maybe this is just like Pete Weber, who got so excited bowling that he ended up saying "Who do you think you are? I am! Dammit right!"

Either way, we're treated to one of the most brutal deaths in the series, in which Titan TV crushes the Astro's head in his bare hands.

Polycephaly comforts the dying Cam who managed to fire the distracting shot. "You did well, lil bro." My heart!

"We teleported everyone to base." Except POV Cam, because they smell.

Also where's your head-turrets? (I hope Boom puts them back in the full episode.)

Titan TV is wrecked but is still spoiling for a rumble. Part 3 ends with him calling out the arriving Astros as 'pathetic trash' and demanding to fight Juggernaut. (One detail I liked here is that we hear the rhythmic clanking sound of Titan TV's core claws, rotating but no longer smoothly. It's rather like the ominous ticking of a clock signalling impending doom.)

Wait... if he has no working TV screens, he's not Titan TV Man. He's just Titan Man. Ehehe.

It's a little surprising how 2-dimensional these fights are - as in the characters stay in one plane close to the ground, even though they can all fly. I suppose we'd have to wait even longer between episodes if Boom had to choreograph swooping aerial fights!

[daydreamer106]

I finished watching AOT, and my mind is all over the place......

Honestly I loved the ending. So bitter and so right. Harsh and yet satisfying.

Eren is an epitome of being the Anti-hero. His will or not, he was meant to fulfill his destiny. A part of me will always wish he could spend the last 4 years with Mikasa in that cottage. I will always cry over the way he said he's tried countless times but the outcome is always the same. So he took it upon himself, carried the burden of mass destruction and genocide over himself.

The freaking fact that he went against his people and did everything to protect the Founding Titan's power. He didn't want it to fall into the enemy's hands, because they would abuse that power.

That very power, that he ended up abusing in the process.

Yes, he was aware that innocents will be killed, but knew if he didn't commit it the other side will.

He was selfish, yet selfless enough to use the Founding Titan's power to end the misery once and for all, sacrifice himself to protect his people, his loved ones. Yet all he saw on the other side of the ocean were enemies, enemies who bought him pain, the people who only took from him. He wanted freedom. Freedom for his people.

After all, Eldians weren't the monsters the world believed them to be. Yet he saw them exactly how the enemies saw them, Monsters That Will Destroy Their World.

I did not know that an anime would make me realise how -

We Humans When Given The Power Will At Some Point Abuse It.

As long as humans exist, so will ambition. Ambition to be free? Ambition to be powerful? Ambition to protect our people? And in the pursuit of it all, we forget peace. We fail to realise, that even on that other side there are innocents. It's Humans VS Humans and every side considers the other the monster, the threat to their existence. Sadly, a cycle that just never ends.