#have some empathy. have some compassion. have some humanity.

[sophieinwonderland]

You talk like you’re the token liberal character in a conservative “comedy” show on the Daily Wire.

I don't know what this means. Specific examples would probably help your case instead of vague insults.

If my views come off as extreme or like a caricature in some way though, I would advise people consider where we are right now. I ran across this post on Reddit (from Bluesky) that really sums up the state of the country.

The enemy is disappearing people who speak out against them. All while being recklessly incompetent and endangering the lives of our troops. And they're getting away with it.

And importantly, Democrats have let them shift the overton window. They're afraid of calling the enemy evil. They're afraid of calling them Nazis. They're afraid of standing up for what's right.

If you think I'm coming off as a caricature sometimes, it's because I have a simple philosophy I follow in discourse.

Never. Mince. Words.

Don't concern yourself with respecting the enemy. Don't worry about decorum. Normalize calling out evil and monster for what they is.

This is the tactic I've taken in syscourse. And it's the tactic I've taken in politics. The goal isn't to convince everyone to your side. It's to be as radical as possible to help shift the overton window to the Left. Remember that many people are inclined to seek centrism, wanting to believe both sides have merit or to try to please everyone. The more you concede ground to the enemy, the more rightward the middle ground appears.

So I say be loud. Call out the Trump Regime's Concentration Camps. Call out Fuhrer Musk's Nazi salutes.

Do not let up even for a moment. Do not let the enemy convince you that you should tone down your rhetoric. Do not ever let them make you apologize for standing firmly against evil and calling it out as such.

And if you are a compassionate person, know that the enemy has compassion for no one, but they WILL try to exploit yours. Save your compassion and empathy for those who deserve it. The civil servants losing their jobs because of their commitment to diversity. For the people of Ukraine and Gaza who are being thrown to the wolves by Genocide Don. And for the US residents who have been illegally abducted by Gestapo Ice thugs and sent to foreign concentration camps, deprived of all human rights!

[ddejavvu]

my professor has an extremely strict policy when it comes to attendance (we are in college which immediately makes that statement bullshit) and i'm sick rn so obviously i don't want to go because i'm in pain and because i run the risk of infecting my classmates but there are no exceptions for makeup work and i've got 2 quizzes to take today and if i miss them my entire grade will go down the drain except i don't really understand the concepts anyways so i'll probably fail the class no matter what but anyways i asked her hey can i just pop in to take the quizzes, then go home and miss the lecture? i will research and learn all of the material that you cover in the three hours of lecture time i'll miss tonight. and she's not answering. and class is in 4 hours.

[crimson-nail]

sorry but i will just never understand people who read the ending of trimax as bleak

[awesomecooperlove]

💥💥💥

[catgirlpurgatory]

im gonna start killing ppl

[snekdood]

people dont want to help me with my problems and then get upset with me when i'm most of the time busy dealing with them. how can you be upset this is taking up so much of my time when you didn't even want to bother to help?

[rosea-tangible]

you aren't quirky or special for being unable to cry watching certain popular sad movies or when attending funerals. you aren't such a quirky little guy for just lacking empathy in certain situations. why are so many people so consistently blind to themselves? obviously if you are perfectly capable of crying when you watch something you like (likely because there's something about it you can see yourself in, or relate to), when you're sensitive and very much capable of crying generally, it only reflects that preferences and individual perspectives are highly subjective and vary widely from person to person. you need to be able to understand something, usually through directly relating to it, to be able to be moved by it.

what's so mind blowingly difficult about this concept? I've always had issues with empathy (and no one will yet tell me why) BUT I REALISED THAT WAS A PROBLEM* especially when you need to be a shoulder for someone you care are about to lean on! can you imagine your closest friend's dad fucking dies and they only have you to pour their heart out to and you're just there the whole time like 🧍‍♂️ I'm sorry but we do in fact live in a society, in communities, and relationships are UNHEALTHY AS FUCK when they become one-sided. There comes a point where you need to realise YOU NEED TO FUCKING CHANGE CERTAIN PATTERNS IN ORDER TO BE A GOOD PERSON. Fake it till you make it, does not matter, but you cannot stubbornly hold onto the idea that everything you've previously believed in is perfect and foolproof. You will hurt people, people that do not fucking deserve it, because of your callousness and deeply self-centred outlook.

*edit: maybe it is not fair even to myself to condemn anyone for simply lacking empathy, or even a natural skill to charm and placate people. because i was a child when i realised this about myself (that i was in a way different and it made me feel monstrous and disgusting, which is not a helpful way to think about it at all, in fact it's counter-productive). what matters is that you want to help people, those you care about, and that you don't assume it's fine to always take and never give back just because you might have to change gears a bit. compassion and care is vital, and it's a skill harder for some to develop than others (myself included) but it is still necessary to at least try. I think the reason I tend to emphasize empathy so much is because it's relevant to how I ended up coping, which was by forcing empathy (sometimes too much of it, as if I was punishing myself for being helpless) in lieu of a better strategy I couldn't yet have learned. that's not what I want anyone else to do ever.

[hrrtshape]

ok so like. there is literally nothing noble about acting like people are pathetic for struggling with loa or shifting. nothing sexy or glamorous or spiritually superior about looking at someone who is scared, or tired, or full of doubt, and going “lol u just don’t want it enough.” that’s not tough love. that’s just being a dick.

people are human. people doubt. people have bad days. people break down. the world is exhausting and sometimes believing in yourself feels impossible. and there is nothing weak or shameful about that. what’s weak is pretending you’re above it.

like congratulations. you’ve successfully convinced yourself that empathy is cringe. do you want a medal. a statue. a little parade in your honour where everyone claps bc you were mean to a stranger on the internet for struggling with something that is seen as occultist or schizophrenic or weird????????

real power is knowing that you are limitless and still holding space for people who are learning that. real power is saying “this shit is real, you can do it, and i’m not gonna act like you’re dirt for struggling.”

stop making basic human emotions a moral failing. you are not the main character for having a god complex and no compassion.

people are gonna struggle. some aren’t. good job for being a master manifestor . no hate or anything, genuinely. just. idk. be more……understanding, maybe?????? LIKE THIS SHIT CAN BE EXHAUSTING !!!

(And i see people reblogging without probably reading this !!! hi!!!! )

[depressedzelda]

i am jost constantly at war with myself over the state of my life idk whaaaats goin on yet i also do and i just cant shake this feeling of total and utter bleakness. Like everything is stagnant, everything has long since peaked and its just going to be a continuous keep on keepin on scenario until the end of my days...but its so weird cuz itll feel so absolute like this, then i have 1 convo with mt bf and hes like you know you can still be an artist right. You know you could write a story and i can use my connections to at Least get someone important to read it right. But facts are im in ny mid 20s persueing a career that i specifically never wanted while my familys only comments abt it are "are you sure? Are you sure? I just think its kind of gross" and [massive static tv audio] bro what giveths

[webanglikethat]

Inho and Gihun have consumed my brain: a rant.

their dynamic is absolutely insane, like watching two halves of a broken mirror slowly shift toward each other, each reflecting something so raw, so !! unbearably !!! human !!!

they are opposites in the most obvious way: one, a cold-blooded killer who thrives on power, privilege, and pain (though they both come from a similar background); the other, a man haunted by his own humanity, stubbornly holding on to the last shred of his moral compass, believing in a better life, a greater future.

but it’s the tension between them that burns — the way they orbit each other, drawn together by something darker than either of them is willing to admit. and it drives me insane, insane I tell you.

Inho studies Gihun like a predator; he is disguised as an ally, draped in the mask of sympathy and empathy, but every moment spent with him … it’s like watching a snake move through tall grass, its every flicker of movement calculated, controlled and designed to ensnare, trap, conquer, destroy. he watches his every more, everything he does and he doesn’t do. it’s a real time dissection !! he watches Gihun's cracks, his weaknesses, his flickers of anger and despair. every subtle movement doesn’t escape him.

he needs to see that part of him, the part that’s been broken, the part that still hurts. and in a way, he’s intoxicated by it. it’s like he wants to drink from those wounds, to feel the sharp, stinging taste of anguish on his tongue, to experience that pulse of pain, just so he can savor it, dissect it, and make it his own.

he watches Gihun not because he’s merely intrigued, but because in his suffering, in his brokenness, there is beauty. a beauty that can only be savored when torn apart, shredded, dissected, bruised. and the more he watches, the more he feeds on that agony, the deeper he falls into the nightmare of this endless fucking twisted game.

Inho is too far gone. he’s lived through the games, seen how the system works, and he’s embraced it without shame. to him, the so called “blood money” he earned is a truth. he doesn’t hide from it. he doesn’t pretend it’s anything else. he has seen too many bodies pile up to think there’s any other way. Inho believes the only way forward is through destruction. he’s accepted the curse of the games. hell, he’s fucking embraced it ! the lives lost are nothing more than fuel for his ascent to power. people are pawns, and pawns don’t matter. it’s all part of the game.

Gihun, though… he’s not like Inho. he too has been brutalized by the games, crushed under the weight of the world’s cruelty, watching as the lives of those he loved dimmed. BUT! even so !! there’s this flicker of light in him — a really fucking stubborn and desperate hope to protect those who still live, to undo the wrongs. for all the pain he’s endured, he hasn’t completely surrendered to the darkness. he’s been pushed, stretched to the breaking point by the horrors he’s witnessed, by the blood shed that he can never wash away and still lingers even in his dreams … but there’s this part of him that still fights to hold on to the fragments of the man he used to be. he’s so stubbornly human.

and yet, it’s not the break that Inho is after imo — it’s the collapse. he doesn’t just want to see Gihun’s humanity crack; he wants to see him fold. he wants to make him question everything, even his need to protect others, even the value of his own moral code. to descend into madness, forsaking logic.

you can see him being fascinated when Gihun agrees to sacrifice people for the greater good. I swear, you can see Inho alive in that moment. I can’t explain it other than he’s feeding on him. he’s watching this man, so different from him, with scars that shine the same way, who once held onto some semblance of hope, succumb to the same darkness that devoured him.

he wants to see the man who refused to let the games destroy him finally fall into the same dark logic that built those games in the first place.

but here’s the thing — Gihun’s resistance, his refusal to just surrender to Inho's desires, drives him insane. Inho, for all his power, for all his twisted thrill at orchestrating this, isn’t immune to that same hunger. he sees Gihun as both a reflection and a challenge. it torments him. he wants to unravel him from the inside. the more he watches, the more he understands just how much it is tearing at him, how much he wants it.

there is a tenderness to it, a chilling, perverse tenderness, where one offers the illusion of safety while the other inches closer to the slaughter.

what drives me insane is that Gihun doesn’t know. he doesn’t know that the man he’s grown to trust, the one who’s quietly listened to his every confession, who has offered him that flicker of human connection in the desolate wasteland of the games, is the very demon he’s been chasing. the one that has orchestrated every nightmare he’s endured. and every time Gihun speaks of his mission, of his burning desire to kill the one who created this nightmare, to undo the games and get revenge Inho just listens intently, relishing in every moment of vulnerability.  and it’s delicious. Gihun is literally unraveling before him, piece by piece, and Inho hasn’t even revealed the true extent of his power!

the betrayal scene is going to be so good. SO FUCKING GOOD. it’s when Gihun talks about revenge, when he plans to end the game, to kill the person behind it all, that Inho feels that twisted thrill in his chest. because what Gihun doesn’t realize is that all those plans, all those quiet declarations of death, have been heard and they’ve been absorbed, broken down, and processed. Inho already knows what Gihun is capable of, what he’s willing to do, and how far he’s willing to go to get his revenge. it doesn’t matter to Inho. it never has. he’s already five steps ahead. Inho has studied Gihun like a surgeon carving through flesh, patiently unraveling his soul, savoring each fragile thread of hope only to tighten the noose, knowing that the moment Gihun’s trust shatters, so too will his humanity.

-> and like … Gihun’s humanity is his greatest weakness. his desperate hope to protect, to save, to make things right when he couldn’t before (example: in season 1 when a dying man reached for him and he looked away, in season 2 he helped a dying man) that's what Inho sinks his teeth into, because he knows that in this world, hope is the ultimate poison, the biggest gamble. every moment Gihun spends clinging to the idea that he can save anyone, that he can stop the game — that he can stop The Frontman — it draws him closer to the truth that will eventually shatter him.

and imo — Inho watches him with a twisted admiration, because in that desperate struggle, he sees himself or rather, the version of him that could’ve been if he had not embraced the game so fully. and in that, their paths, though seemingly different, are always converging. they are the same in the most brutal way: two sides of a coin, both marked by the same blood, the same violence, the same emptiness, and in the end, they are not so different after all. for all their differences, in the end — they are mirrors.

addition cause I saw this post and omg ?? it’s an intentional, almost possessive move. he’s not just playing along with their conversation; he’s LITERALLYYY replacing Jungbae with himself in Gihun’s mind, stepping into the role of someone who belongs in Gihun’s future.

Inho doesn’t just want power or control over the situation — he wants needs Gihun to need him, to see him as the one who’s always there, the one who understands him, the one who can stand beside him.

and to me, it feels like a possessive kind of longing that goes beyond mere rivalry or control. it’s ugh — just the way they orbit around each other, the way Inho needs Gihun to acknowledge him, to see him as more than just the “other guy that joined my team”.

and as much as Gi-hun is fighting to hold on to his humanity and the relationships that matter to him, Inho is just as desperately fighting to be the one that Gihun turns to in the end. it’s obsessive. it’s possessive. it’s dangerously romantic and I need them to fuck it out.

[zylev-blog]

Danny had been sent across the dimensions to correct the flow of time more than once. He had stopped zombie invasions, a robot named vision, saved Ancient Greece(and somehow became a minor diety in their religion), and much more. With each new mission he learned a lesson, which was what Clockwork had intended for him. He learned compassion, empathy, and kindness, but he also learned bravery, how to be cunning, and how to outsmart the enemy. Over the last few years his Fenton genes kicked in, making him a tall 6”6, and he was still growing. It had gotten harder to blend in as a human as he came into more power than he had had as a teenager, but he was managing.

Clockwork had let him have some time off to himself, so he headed to one of his favorite dimensions, a Justice League timeline. He was strolling around Central City, watching Flash zooming around taking out bad guys. He didn’t need to help; Flash had it completely under control and he would only get in the way. He could admire Flash’s resilience and bravery as he took down the big bad of the day.

It took longer than it should have, but Flash eventually noticed his presence. He stopped running, coming to a halt beside Danny, looking his ghost form up and down, as if assessing his threat level.

“What’s up?” He asked casually.

“Not much,” Flash responded with a shrug, “Just normal things.”

He nodded. “I see.”

“Do you want to get dinner after this?” Flash offered.

He blinked in surprise. Did Flash just ask him out on a date?

“Sure, I’m not busy.” He grinned.

Flash rejoined the fight with renewed energy, seeming more like he was showing off than fighting. He chuckled to himself. This should be interesting.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

When your Character "Lacks Empathy"

A person who lacks empathy - has a difficult time taking on another person’s feelings as their own.

They may struggle with the cognitive and emotional skills to understand, relate, and mutually share in another person’s experience to better understand their emotional pain.

Types of Empathy

There are three common types of empathy that a person may lack:

Cognitive empathy: Also known as perspective-taking, cognitive empathy relies on the listener’s capacity to relate to another person’s perspective without imposing their own experience, point of view, or biases.

Compassionate empathy: A hybrid of cognitive and emotional empathy, compassionate empathy requires analyzing the underlying cause and effect of a situation. After someone explains their circumstances, you can demonstrate that you understand their situation on some level in an unbiased manner.

Emotional empathy: An emotionally empathetic person can mirror another’s struggles. This means they can care for another’s well-being through shared experience of emotional situations.

Signs of Lack of Empathy

While there are many different signs that a person lacks empathy, here are a few common traits that unempathetic people may display:

An inability to understand others: A person who lacks empathy may struggle to understand other people’s feelings, problems, or life situations.

Difficulty regulating emotions: Someone who lacks empathy often has a hard time understanding or regulating their own emotions.

Excessive criticism: Those who lack empathy may criticize others harshly and often. They rarely use validation to make others feel seen or heard.

Impatience: A person who lacks empathy may be extremely impatient with other people, their difficulties, and their emotions.

Minimal forgiveness: Those who lack empathy are often unwilling to forgive others for their mistakes or weaknesses or remember that other people are also human beings.

Poor listening skills: Many people who lack empathy have a hard time listening to other people, whether they’re sharing triumphs or struggles.

Self-centeredness: A person who lacks empathy is often self-centered or self-focused and has a difficult time considering other people.

Victim-blaming: Those who lack empathy are often quick to blame the victim in a situation, rather than considering the perpetrator or system.

Some Causes of a Lack of Empathy

There are many causes of an empathy deficit. They include but are not limited to:

A personality disorder: Some people who struggle to empathize with others may have a personality disorder that inhibits their ability to connect or communicate. Common personality disorders include narcissistic personality disorder (NPD or narcissism), antisocial personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder (or BPD).

Autism spectrum disorder: Individuals on the autism spectrum may experience different levels of empathy, interpersonal skills, and emotional intelligence.

Lack of awareness: Many people who lack empathy simply don’t realize it and therefore haven’t spent time and energy working to develop empathy. Self-awareness is a key step toward empathy.

Lack of role models: Many people who are unempathetic have not had strong role models for empathetic behavior in their lives—or have had many models of unempathetic behavior instead.

Impact of Lack of Empathy

Empathy is a foundational component to feeling compassion for others, building trust with others, and helping loved ones through hard times.

Without a sense of empathy, a person will struggle to care about anyone other than themselves, and may find it difficult to care about helping or listening to others.

This lack of empathy can severely affect their ability to maintain healthy relationships with others or effect positive change in their community.

Addressing a Lack of Empathy

If you find that someone you know—whether a family member or a coworker—is struggling to be an empathetic person, here are a few techniques you can use to help encourage their sense of empathy:

Address it directly. Many people who lack empathy are simply unaware of themselves or the struggles around them. While it may be hard, consider sitting down one-on-one with the people in your life who lack empathy and talk candidly about the situation. Be patient, kind, and empathetic in your conversation—even if they’re upset, the honest realization that they struggle to experience empathy is the first step toward actively developing the skill.

Model empathic behavior. One of the strongest ways for a person to develop empathy and emotional connections with others is to surround themselves with good role models of empathetic behavior. To help someone who struggles to be empathetic, display empathy in your conversations with them and in your interactions with others, being kind and generous to show them what it looks like.

Practice identifying emotions. Many people who lack empathy struggle to understand others’ emotions and where they come from. They may interpret someone who’s scared as being angry or someone who’s hurt as being aggressive. To help develop their ability to understand others’ emotions, practice identifying emotional reactions in others and discussing potential causes. For example, if a friend is having a hard time, talk through it with the person to identify how that friend might be feeling and why. You can also consider discussing ways in which you both could help.

Recommend professional help. Some people may lack empathy due to a mental health difficulty or major stressor in their life. Consider recommending a visit to a mental health professional or empathy coach to help them get their life back on track and make more room for empathy in their interactions with others.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[vaguely-concerned]

literally never am I getting over the unexpected and acknowledged throughline in this game that 'part of the reason lucanis is so good at what he does is, surprisingly, that he has a frankly remarkable capacity for empathy'. his instinct for it is so strong that it even kicks in looking at actual demons he's been culturally conditioned to think of as mindless monsters and lets him realize that they are just as innocent in the middle of this horror as every other prisoner, which is what helps him survive in there and reach an understanding (and even a warmth beneath it all!) with spite, when spite was at his most terrified and confused and needed him. it makes him an incredibly kind and devoted friend, and a terrifying enemy. shorn of most of the compassion that goes along with it in his private life, he uses it in his professional one as one more knife to kill with as easily as he does in SO gently and softly helping to untangle lace harding's people pleasing problems with her. so long as the three categories of people -- family, enemies, targets -- stay distinct and separate in his head, this seems to be working out swimmingly for him! (well. that's probably what he'd tell you at least lol it's certainly helped him survive and do his job I'll give him that.) the MOMENT the lines start to blur, he is fucked. this dude was compartmentalized to hell and back long before the ossuary.

(he shares the 'incredible insight into people and human nature -- as long as I don't have to interpersonally engage with and adapt to it on the spot. b/c then you'll see the biggest mess you could ever imagine' trait with merrill. which does make quite a bit of sense in that they're written by the same person and also in my estimation a not entirely dissimilar shade of autistic lol. also yet another tick on the 'lucanis - iron bull parallels' tally haha. 'ben-hassrath, kid. we can use anything.' what if your circumstances and upbringing forced you to turn some of the kindest fundamental instincts inside you into tools for violence and you only got to keep guarded scraps of it for yourself. what if you're so fucking scared it'll break bad inside you some day and turn you into a monster and you'll end up hurting the people you love. saddest freeze slash dissociative trauma response handshake meme duo To Me)

[fushiglow]

Gojo cares a lot, actually

Perspective and empathy in Jujutsu Kaisen

Once again, I see accusations that Gojo only cared about people in relation to their strength. I can't believe that 236 and 261 haven't put this idea to bed already, but let's go over it again for the class. Here are some thoughts on the importance of perspective and empathy in JJK. Spoilers for chapter 266 ahead!

In 236, Gojo tells Geto he loves everyone. This single line, direct from the man's mouth, should be enough. However, moments later, Nanami says, "You never cared about protecting people". So why do some readers only take one of these perspectives at face value?

Perspective matters in JJK. Often, characters and even the narrator state things that are only true from their perspective in a given moment. What you choose to believe says more about you than it does about them — an idea I explored in my analysis of 236.

This is particularly important when it comes to Gojo and Megumi, because the moment they meet is the only (?) scene in the whole of JJK that we get to see from two perspectives.

The second time, the reader understands the emotional weight of it for Gojo — but Megumi doesn't. He's kept in the dark, so of course he thinks about their meeting in different terms.

Once again, whose perspective are we going to take at face value? From Megumi's point of view, he wasn't offered a choice. From Gojo's point of view, he extended to a child the little agency available to him.

Offering a choice is something Gojo does consistently throughout JJK — pick your hell. It's one of the ways he shows care for others that goes unrecognised, so it's ironic that readers and characters alike misinterpret it for a lack of empathy. However, this is no coincidence.

For much of the series, Gege keeps Gojo at a narrative distance from the reader. Most of what we know about Gojo comes from what other characters tell us, and our view of him is therefore coloured by their perspective.

However, while Gojo laments the distance between himself and others, he fails to recognise that he's the one maintaining it — and not because of his strength or his technique. He has admirable goals, but he chooses to work towards them alone.

There are many occasions where characters reach for Gojo, but he refuses to let them past his metaphorical Infinity out of a sense of duty and perhaps misplaced belief that he alone can or should bear this heavy burden.

All of Gojo's actions are about preserving the humanity of others at the expense of his own. That's precisely why he chooses to become the "monster" alone. In this way, Gojo is flawed but he isn't uncaring. Again, it's a matter of perspective.

Gojo sees strength as the solution because it's all he's ever known. However, recognising the strength of others doesn't mean that's all he sees — because Gojo knows that dehumanisation acutely. What's more, 261 also suggests he thinks of "strength" in different terms to others.

When they meet, Gojo tells Megumi not to get left behind. However, he later says he was "left behind" when Geto defected. We know Gojo's physical strength eclipsed Geto's, yet Gojo only refers to himself as "the strongest" alone after Geto dies.

Before that point, there's nothing in the text to suggest that Gojo ever stopped thinking of the pair of them as "the strongest" — as a unit, as a duo. This suggests that strength, for Gojo, is something much more intangible, much more sympathetic, and much more human too.

What do the strongest characters in JJK all have in common? Indomitable will, courage in their convictions, an overwhelming sense of self. Looking at strength through this lens shines a new light on Gojo's goal of raising "strong" allies.

When he forces a third option in Shibuya, Gojo proves that strength doesn't have to come at the expense of compassion. In the later chapters of the Shinjuku Showdown arc, Yuta, Yuji, and the rest of Gojo's allies reinforce that idea ten times over, and I have every belief that Megumi will soon do the same.

To suggest Gojo only saved Megumi for his technique is unfair when he has consistently proven himself committed to protecting the futures of others, even "weak" non-sorcerers who have nothing to offer him. Once again, it's all a matter of perspective.

Gojo's way of caring is still caring, even if it doesn't look familiar to you. His only flaw was closing himself off from others and choosing to care from afar. However, just like Gojo never stopped reaching for Geto after he left, Gojo's allies never stopped reaching for him.

There's a phrase we use to describe looking at things from another perspective: putting yourself in someone else's shoes. I think it's very telling that Gojo's allies have taken that literally — Yuta by stepping into his skin, and Yuji by standing in his place in 266.

TL;DR: Gojo cares a lot, actually. If Gojo talking about his innermost feelings can't make you empathise, and the students he supposedly "doesn't care about" recognising his burdens can't make you empathise?

Well, that says far more about you than it does about him.

Come read my fics about this!

In His Shadow explores the ways Gojo keeps his distance from Megumi, who isn't equipped with the tools he needs to reach him but finds his own ways to show he cares, born from ten years of history together.

Rivers Crossed, Mountains Scaled explores Gojo and Megumi's relationship through the vehicle of SatoSugu — why Gojo took him in, whether Gojo really gave him a choice, how Gojo sees him.

Hope you enjoyed the post! I love you, Gege Akutami ♥️

[transholmes]

I was browsing through the index of the original Sherlock Holmes story, as one does, when a thought struck me. While Holmes' personal life was utterly devoid of women, his professional one was positively overflowing with them.

I think something like half the stories have a woman as his client. Additionally I'd estimate a solid 3/4 of the stories have a woman or several women, appear in a pivotal role, whether as victim, villain, or heroes.

And quite aside from the sheer number of women in Doyle's stories, there's also the range of them. We're presented with almost every type of woman imaginable. We have clever and competent women, craven women, women driven by ambition and devoid of empathy and compassion. We have warm women, cold women, women caught in circumstances beyond their control and those who take charge of those circumstances.

While I think it would be a reach to call Doyle's writing feminist, the fact remains that in the original Sherlock Holmes stories women are allowed a full range of humanity. Which quite frankly make the fact that adaptions too often fail abysmally on this account, though I think some interesting conclusions can be drawn between an adaptions insistence upon thrusting women into Holmes' personal life while simultaneously removing them from the prominence they held in his professional work.

[afsosville]

You know what would've been nice? Shen Jiu ending up on a different peak that's actually good for him. Maybe Qian Cao, or the beast taming peak could've been hella therapeutic. Or the alcohol/brewery peak to drown away all his sorrows. But what if he stayed fucked up, in a way that's actually good and productive for society? Yeah, I wanna toss him over to Yin Hui and let him run wild! I've seen many iterations of Yin Hui, the fanon peak for espionage and poisons in fanfics. By extension, Yin Hui is also covertly the assassination peak, and I wish this peak got more attention around here tbh. Why do I think this peak is the most well suited for Shen Jiu? BECAUSE ASSASSINS. Duh.

So here comes a baby demonic cultivator Shen Jiu and the Yin Hui peak lord immediately wants him. Shen Jiu would be more readily accepted by his peak martial siblings, and no one would bat an eye at Shen Jiu, his standoffish personality or shady past. A lot of Yin Hui disciples are from questionable backgrounds since the Yin Hui peak lord naturally has to be very particular about selecting their disciples. Yin Hui was established to protect the sect and its people by any means necessary. Sure, the rest of the sect may fight against the supernatural, demons, and the undead, but Yin Hui fights an even greater monster: people.

The Yin Hui peak lord manipulated things so that the first impression the rest of the sect has about Shen Jiu is 'that new badass Yin Hui disciple that killed the criminal Wu Yanzi and saved the future sect leader!' (Seeing as Wu Yanzi would be the very sort of ppl they assassinate, he's already getting goated on Yin Hui too.) So Shen Jiu is known as that new prodigious disciple from Yin Hui and is getting some goddamn respect! And just because of his association with his peak, fewer people are inclined to question his background and whatnot since there's an understanding that the identity of the YH disciples needs to be heavily guarded. The Yin Hui peak lord finds out about the Qiu's soon enough, and they erase any and all traces leading back to Shen Jiu. Even framing it in a way that makes it look like WY did the massacre. Any credibility Qiu Haitang could've had for Shen Jiu's murder accusations is thrown out the window. (Ain’t no way in hell the Yin Hui peak lord is going to name SJ that stupid trauma inducing name like a certain Qing Jing peak lord, that's for sure.)

I'm pulling in elements from MDZS over here. In my version of Yin Hui, they have disciples who practice demonic cultivation, but they make sure it's in a safer way that won't hurt them. There's a surprising number of disciples who have damaged cultivation and chose to cultivate the ghost path. The previous generations of Yin Hui peak lords have created Wei Wuxian's inventions in this AU, and is used by the rest of the peak, like the compass of ill winds, paper metamorphosis, the spirit attraction flag, and empathy. I lowkey want a Wei Wuxian that's native to SV to be the Yin Hui peak lord, now that I think about it. He's good with his kiddos and would be an awesome shizun. And ofc, Shen Jiu is a reflection of his environment, so he's certainly making an example out of Wei Wuxian, one of the only positive influences in his life.

Shen Jiu still has his violent tendencies, so nothing has changed about that, but he learns to take that pent-up energy out on missions instead. And he does them well. It even gives him an edge. Everyone else thinks he's just reallyyy good at his job, as expected of the talented head disciple of Yin Hui!!

He really does try his best to not be an ass (bc he gets the love he deserves on Yin Hui) and ends up venting in a different way (coz he knows better than to take it out on people who don’t deserve it.) His shizun really gave him the free reign to kill sl@ve trad3rs, human tr@ffick3rs, r-ists, and other scum whenever he wanted, in the name of stress relief lol. If killing a particular person becomes politically complicated, like the Old Palace Bastard, then you best believe he's going to scheme like the little schemer he is. He's going to Nie Huaisang the OPM.

Since Shen Jiu is not salty about his fucked up cultivation, and his martial siblings respect him, they get along just fine. His cultivation is some parts similar to Wei Wuxian's: Shen Jiu is a ghost cultivator influenced by music. Sure, he may not be that great of a spiritual cultivator, so what? He's pulling up like the Yiling Patriarch with his demonic cultivation and a haunted guqin of his own.

And guess what? Shen Jiu enjoys teaching. He's training miniature assassins, spies, and the art of demonic cultivation, so forgive him if he's more than a little enthusiastic about it. I imagine that he's exactly like Shifu from kung fu panda when it comes to teaching. Still extremely harsh and strict when training, but outside of actually teaching, he's an attentive and caring shizun. And yes, he completely does act like a father figure who is proud of his murder babies, and ends up being called A-Ba so much that all of Cang Qiong thinks he's officially adopted every single one of his disciples. (After being saved by SJ on a mission, NYY persistently begs SJ to take her in even though he desperately thinks Yin Hui isn't a good fit for her. And then, after being under him for a while, she's completed her first mission successfully, has smn else's blood on her face, and is smiling brightly. 

Ning Yingying: "I completed my mission shizun! Are you proud of me?"

Shen Jiu: "..."

Some other peaklord: "Haha like father like daughter! She's definitely your girl alright!"

Shen Jiu: "...!?!" )

Yue Qingyuan is conerneth about his Xiao Jiu, but as long as he's happy, who cares. Shen Jiu has a better relationship with the other peak lords, so when asked about why he visits brothels, he straight up tells them that it's the best place to gather information in the dark. He doesn't have that mentality of "why explain myself when no ones finna believe me anyway" He actually trusts them and is more honest with time. Shen Jiu does come clean about killing the Qiu's at some point, and the peak lords are all like-

"I didn't hear shit"

"See, I'm blind in my left eye, and 75% blind in my right-"

"Completely understandable, Shen shidi!"

They don't even ask why he did it and just assume he had a valid reason, and he absolutely fucking did.

Oh, Shen Jiu gets accused of playing dirty? Liu Qingge, he literally kills ppl and makes poison as a daytime fucking job ofc he's gonna play dirty! Shen Jiu tried killing you that one time on the well mission? Bro you good? The fact that you think he tried to kill you and failed?? You just insulted an entire peak of disciples and their ancestors. You would've been dead before you could even think of sensing their killing intent if it were true. And there was a witness too, doofus. Be fucking for real. Nahh coz there definitely would be more people who are taking Shen Jiu's side whenever the two of them fight.

Shen Jiu uses a shit ton of versatile weapons because most of his fighting and cultivation prowess comes from his wits and adapting to fighting with different styles/methods. He is kinda similar to Xie Lian bc both of them lack spiritual energy/qi (damaged spirit roots in Shen Jiu's case), but that does not mean they are weaker. It just means they learned to train their body and minds instead of relying on cultivation/qi. He has a massive arsenal of weapons along with the demonic cultivation. (Airport security would hate him)

Yin Hui has got to be my favorite fanon peak, and Yin Hui! Shen Jiu plauges so many of my waking thoughts, I can't stop-

I can add elements from my other hyperfixation into this AU, the Avatar Chronicles. Which are the written books from ATLA. The criminal organization Kyoshi joined, the Daofei, for example, could be a good plot point. Or the Platinum Affair from the Yangchen books. If you don’t know what the Avatar Chronicles are, just ignore this last part lol.