#hopefully I explained this well lol

[sufferu]

Okay, so — there are a lot of things here that I fundamentally disagree with. Namely: BTZ is a very specific kind of story with a very specific set of thematic elements that are woven together, and within those elements Julimilia plays a couple of very specific roles both within the story and within the meta surrounding it, in a way that basically nothing else would be able to do.

1) The stated premise of BTZ (+ Knights if the Roundtable comparison)

BTZ is not actually about everyone suddenly becoming an idiot; it’s a commentary on common Re:Zero fanfiction tropes, a comedy of errors about just how badly a very specific situation can spiral out of control, and a what-if about Subaru getting booted from his role in the main storyline. Key themes include the dangers of the refusal to communicate (whether it be out of guilt or out of pride), the messiness of second chances, and where to go if all of your worst fears about yourself really do come true (which I’ll come back to later). These specific (and rather unconventional) themes are pretty important, here, because they mean that what I am intending to do with this story is very, VERY different from stories like the Arthurian mythos, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” or even the original canon Re:Zero story.

I never really got into the mythos about the Arthurian Knights, but I think it’s safe to say that what those stories are trying to accomplish is in a completely different ballpark than BTZ. Trying to map those characters onto the characters in BTZ isn’t really…fair, lol: they have different narrative contexts and are being positioned in service of particular goals both within the story and within the meta. Giving him Excalibur or the power to surpass Julius or whatever — that would make BTZ a different story entirely, with a different narrative, different themes, and different conclusions.

And speaking of Julius—

2) Julius being Subaru’s “traditionally manly superior” is actually the point

Julius IS faster, stronger, more handsome, more traditionally masculine than Subaru. Subaru isn’t wrong about that part. Sometimes people win the genetic lottery, that’s just a fact of life. What Subaru is wrong about is how much that fact actually matters, because he’s convinced himself that it matters a LOT — when as far as everyone else is concerned it’s almost completely irrelevant.

A really big part of what Subaru and Julius’ dynamic represents in this story is the following: even if all of your fears really DO come true, it is nowhere near the end of the world. To put it simply, Subaru is terrified that Julius is everything he will never be — and in a lot of ways, he’s right. He never beats Julius in a fight, he never surpasses Julius in terms of adherence to this image of traditional masculinity, and Emilia ends up in a relationship with Julius instead of in a relationship with Subaru.

But where he’s dead wrong is with how much any of that superficial bullshit actually matters. Sure, Julius is a more traditionally masculine man than he is, and is capable of feats that he will never be able to achieve on his own, and gets the girl instead of him. And yeah, it hurts, at least at first. But NONE of that crap reflects on how much Subaru is valued by other people, or on his worth as a person, or even on how much Emilia truly, genuinely loves him (even if it’s not quite in the same way he thought he wanted). All his more specific fears about being “inadequate” in comparison to Julius come true and yet here he is, and he’s not inferior, and nobody thinks he’s worthless, and he still gets a truly happy ending.

I tend to find this sort of conclusion a lot more emotionally satisfying than the usual “You have nothing to fear because your insecurities are simply wrong” conclusion that most stories come to, frankly. Because you know what? Sometimes you really DON’T get first place, and that’s FINE. I think it’s comforting to be told that it’s okay if you don’t achieve everything that you think you’re supposed to, and that everything will still turn out well for you even if all you can really do is the best that you can. Most stories have the main character actually succeed in becoming the best of the best, especially in anime, and I get it but — I think that this sort of conclusion can honestly be even more impactful, if done correctly.

(And without spoiling things: Subaru actually does surpass Julius in several areas, and everyone but Subaru knows it. He just doesn’t value these areas, and it is precisely BECAUSE they come so easily to him that he doesn’t recognize them as anything of any real worth. And that, too — more than almost anything else, arguably — is something that he needs to learn to overcome.)

The Julimilia subplot is largely an extension of this, because the idea of “getting the girl” in order to prove oneself as a man — and the idea of unrequited love marking you a failure — I HATE that cultural narrative.

3) In which Subaru does not get the girl

I’ve mentioned previously that the Julimilia subplot was largely fueled by me reacting to the BNHA Cuck Porn Frenzy, in which BNHA’s ending absolutely FLOODED my dash with angry Deku Cuck Porn for several weeks in response to him not explicitly ending up in a romantic relationship with Ochako. And the thing is, there were several underlying themes in that whole incident that I really, really hated: entitlement about how Deku “deserved” Ochako and how she was some sort of “gold digging bitch” for not chasing after him, this incredibly mean-spirited attitude about how Deku was apparently now this total washed-out loser, this idea about how all of his former classmates were suddenly superior to him to the point where they completely stopped wanting such a “useless nobody” around anymore (plus some serious classism about fast food workers being inherently less worthy of respect, too) — it was a lot.

And then pretty soon after that, there was that incident where a bunch of cuck fics all got posted in the Re:Zero space at the same time, and I saw a number of the same themes playing out there: Emilia being a selfish asshole who treated Subaru like dirt, the third party being this unquestioningly superior source of humiliation, Subaru being an inferior man who nobody would treat with respect… It was a lot. And look, I’m not gonna bash anyone who gets something out of that sort of thing, lol — but I found myself really put off by a lot of those very specific themes, and that got me thinking about WHY I felt so put off by it.

It wasn’t that I disliked the concept of the main love interest ending up with someone else: that basically never bothers me. So, I started thinking about what elements of these stories I was actually responding negatively towards, and then about how I, personally, would construct a similar scene: what elements I would keep, what I would get rid of, and what I might add in order to enhance the vibes that I thought could make such a prompt valuable (because there had to be SOMETHING: I wouldn’t be thinking about it so much if there wasn’t anything there, after all). And that got me thinking about a scenario where Emilia wasn’t treated like she was evil for liking someone else, where that third party genuinely respected and valued Subaru as an individual, and where Emilia still loved Subaru very, very much — even if it wasn’t romantic. And I…really liked that idea. And then I realized that it actually really, REALLY fit with the broader themes of BTZ, especially the themes about insecurities and second chances.

Julimilia also completely fits within the meta of the narrative. In BTZ I, it — to be completely honest, it’s probably the most obvious thing I could do in a fanfiction literally called “Natsuki Subaru’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Or Week) (Or Month).” I don’t think there’s anything more on-brand for that title that I could write than a Julimilia endgame. It also completely fits with BTZ I and II being a commentary on “edgier” Re:Zero fics. A large part of that commentary is “What would need to happen for these characters to act in this very specific manner?” and adding a scenario like a Julimilia endgame only heightens that part of the narrative. To be frank, it gets to the point where not committing to the bit is nothing short of a missed opportunity, lol.

Finally, just coming back to this: there’s nothing wrong with being rejected. Yeah, it hurts, but it’s not the end of the world. Subaru gets his heart crushed, and he feels like shit for a while, but eventually he heals and he moves on and everything is okay again — BETTER than okay, because by the end of BTZ III he’s got both Julius and Emilia as these incredible friends who he deeply treasures from the bottom of his heart. This “Forever Alone” thing where your romantic feelings being unrequited means that you’re a total loser who will never truly be happy — that’s just not it. That sort of mentality reduces men to being dependent on romance for self-worth and it reduces women to trophies that need to be won, and I just never really liked it from either of those angles. The Julimilia subplot of BTZ is largely me expressing my discontent with that very mindset, even, in that Subaru really DOES see himself that way for the first part of the story and has to unlearn it in order to be truly happy.

—And if the way that got resolved was just him ending up with Emilia, then…I mean, what does that say about his worth? That he really is only worth something if he manages to get with the girl he likes? That he really can’t get a happy ending unless it’s with Emilia?

Anyway — those are my thoughts about the themes of BTZ, Julius’s role in BTZ, and why exactly I feel like a Julimilia endgame is such a good fit for the wider BTZ narrative.

i don't have the energy for a second essay, so I'll just cheat by using preexisting media. it was better in my head at work sorry.

the reason why you get complaints about Julimilia is that it is a betrayal of the stated premise of Back to Zero.

"Everyone finds out about Subaru's bs and crit fails everything."

vs what you are writing

"Everyone finds out about Subaru's bs, crit fails everything, and Emilia forms a romantic relationship with Julius in the background."

or to quote a writer about a space demon clown:

"Why does no one complain about the child gore in the story about kids facing a space demon, but always complains about the child orgy that I shoved in?"

I came across the term 'Bishonen' (Beautiful Boy) a while back as one of the beauty standards for Japanese teenage boys and young men, because they loved a 70s actor whose name I forgot.

*wikis it*

ah, so ancient asian asthetic instead of the glamrock era.

anyways, I firmly believe that Julius fits this mold. see the reverse harem members of classic shoujo manga and anime "Ouran Highschool Host Club"

this is half of the reason why Subaru is so annoyed at him in arc 3. because the literal beauty standard was given flesh.

secondly we have to go back a few centuries to a land of knights.

do the names of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Lancelot mean anything to you?

i mean it's not a perfecting mapping, but the vibes are the same.

Subaru doesn't have the adventuring experience of being a knight prince. no caliburn (the actual Sword in the Stone/Sword of Selection), his merlin actively hates him to the point of trying to mold him into a living weapon.'

sure Rem is on his side (oh wait, this is Back to zero). sure Subaru can hel- oh wait they are putting him on the bottom of a massive cuddle pile.

it is true that Subaru and Emilia aren't married yet. however Julius can map to Lancelot excellently. being the superior model of subaru/.

Subaru being a spirit knight with the ability to only support one spirit vs julius six.

Subaru being unable to fight without his spirit (at this point in time) vs Julius being able to hold his own.

Subaru being uneducated in knightly manners vs Julius basically MAKING those standards.

Subaru being unable to protect others.

Subaru has no backup.

so, you've inadvertently made Subaru part of the Forever Alone club. not the sexist assholes that push everyone away,

I mean the people who just fall short of the very real competition that everyone and everything existing takes part in.

the mentally and physically disabled that can't work and can only subsist off the help and charity of others.

it's not the post to detail how Subaru can be argued to be disabled compared to everyone else.

...ugh I need more sleep because this feels incoherent. guess Im expanding the King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot in the EssayTM. say what's that word count?

1986 and it's no where done. ughhhh why must I be the coherent/wordy one of my side of the debates?

…I believe that I fundamentally disagree with a lot of what you are saying, but I don’t really feel that I can say anything until you finish the point that you are trying to make, lol.

[birdricks]

you do it to yourself, you do / and that’s what really hurts

[katyspersonal]

Lrb dear god, this reminded me of that time when Alfred-chan got sooooo mad at my post explaining why fans should respect bisexual headcanons for Maria and Malenia instead of pretending like they're canonically lesbians and that they get oppressed and erased by mxf ships with them. They kept vagueing that post for like a MONTH in their blog including in tags under reblogs of Maria fanart, passively-aggressively changed their url to character+sexuality to "spite" me and then even made a sockpuppet account to start shit with me in the comments.

They deactivated when me and Val completely obliterated their "you cultivate lesbiphobic following by telling people why they should respect all sexuality headcanons instead of acting cultish or assuming their experiences and stereotypes equal canon confirmation" garbage with actual facts and logic tho but I screenshotted everything fjthfgfj (I learned to document everything the hard way after they've changed the she/they pronouns to they/they pronouns ONLY to accuse me of misgendering, so thank you for making me wiser I guess 😎). Even more vile, as they, a white person, larped as an Arab in that sockpuppet to hold even MORE "privilege" against me in discussion gjtjfh Because for them race, gender or sexuality are just badges of honor and dishonor, they don't see these as traits of actual human beings. And Dr Eugene X, who worked with them and weaponized her race to accuse everyone who disagreed with her of racism, didn't bat an eye at such a terrible act too?? As usual, rules are not for their friends, lol

It is not even the worst thing Alfred did, and yet all of this just, just, JUST because I wrote a point on why bisexual headcanon people did nothing wrong and there is no ground to claim something is canon when it isn't. 🤦‍♂️ Like, they were soooo convinced that I hated lesbian headcanons and that I'd feel angry if they called Lady Maria a lesbian, when what I was angry at is this exact toxic behavior in the fandom. No matter how much you like a headcanon, don't be a bitch about it. Maria doesn't """belong""" to any gender or sexuality, she belongs to anyone who likes her and is invested in her complexity as a character!!!

Yet, apparently, common Malenia simps / Finlay shippers are no better than common Maria simps / Mariadeline shippers. Just, wild how after shit like this, many people have the guts to claim that it is "sexist redditbros" who are the biggest problem of creators in the fandom. 🤦‍♂️ They'd actually blush if they encountered what such self-proclaimed "feminists" do to their own (!!!) over headcanons. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[pineappical]

what’re ppl talking about with “apple ted lasso” and “nbc ted lasso”?? i thought it was just if the show was produced by nbc instead but i think im wrong. can you explain please?

ted lasso was originally a commercial made by NBC back in 2013

and it gained enough popularity that in 2019-2020 it got picked up again by Apple to produce the show! Jsuds once talked about how he didn't want to be mean anymore when they started producing TL so he made the newer version of Ted Lasso much more kinder and inspirational than the NBC version. hence why people separated NBC Ted and Apple Ted as two characters. NBC Ted being the more meaner Tottenham Hotspur coach, and Apple Ted being the silly AFC Richmond coach we have today 😊

[josephtrohman]

what’s wrong with fobtwt? i don’t use twitter lol

putting this under a break so as to not subject everyone to this also be warned i’m a little out of it with the triple whammy sick/on cough medicine/just wrote an exam but

the main thing rn is this trend of people taking to their main to expose other users for their interpersonal issues rather than having a conversation about it directly. like idk maybe try dming someone before you post about it for ur 1k followers when it’s nobody’s business except for you and them? obviously something that is actually a concern to others is different but someone not liking you is not a cancellable offence. relatedly ppl have been leaking private tweets left right and center 😭 also less prominent rn but still of note there’s a weird trend of people being so dehumanizing/fetishistic towards patrick’s size which just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, saying things like “joe is frotting with that fat man” or “i need the fat one” which is like. do you hear yourself??? he has a name?????????? he’s not just his body or any one adjective about him??? you fucking weirdo???? my feelings on the word fat are complex and i don’t agree with some takes ive seen regarding this discourse on twt but it doesn’t matter if you think that fat is a perfectly neutral descriptor or if you think it’s the worst insult someone could use, it’s just a fact that it’s kind of fucking weird to reduce someone to their body size (especially with the quote where the person referred to joe by name but patrick by his size)

[theusernameiwantisntavailable]

So ik I've been super spotty in terms of reply time and also on how regularly I've been online recently. Irls been super busy recently due to some major medical emergencies in the family as well as some varying other factors. Hopefully (if all goes well) things should be more easy by Monday/Tuesday. But yeah I just figured I should explain why I've been a bit spotty recently agshshendn

[charswithbatsmybeloved]

I really like My Hero Academia but there's only one major thing that I would change (except for the Bakudeku thing ending as the longest enemies-to- obsessive compulsive will they won't they) and that's probably the structure and power of One for All. While all the other powers in MHA are very niche, very unique, and very simple, one for all isn't just one power but several incredibly powerful quirks all mashed together into one. And thats fucking stupid.

Wait, don't leave yet! I can explain!! When we first meet deku, the first thing we learn about who he is other than being quirkless is that he's incredibly intelligent and very competent at understanding and strategizing related to quirks. Despite not having a quirk of his own, or maybe because of it, Deku has almost an obsession with learning about people's powers and understanding exactly how they work and their limits. This makes him a great candidate for a power that requires a lot of careful use because he's so good at understanding his own limits and strategizing from every aspect.

But the power of One for All doesn't allow for Deku to use his crazy intelligence to build strategy or find unique uses for his ability. He has 7 powers to master to become a master of OFA. This overabundance of incredibly strong powers means he never truly gets creative with their use. He's a jack of all trades, sure, but he doesn't really struggle for his powers in the same way that everyone else does. Everyone else has to be inventive, crafty, and skilled to become great. But Deku, the character most suitable for that development, never gets to show it.

Intelligence and creativity related to your quirk are highly valued in this world. Because powers are so niche, to use them effectively in many situations often requires a high level of training and you have to know every limit of your power. Heroes aren't directly police sanctioned and can't make proper arrests. They're not legally authorized to kill or detain villains long term, their main job is to protect the peace by taking down enemies who're using their powers to hurt civilians. This makes combat tricky because you aren't supposed to seriously injure someone if you can help it at all.

Because of that combat heroes have to be very careful about their training. This also means that more damaging and dangerous quirks like Bakugous have to be managed by him for nonlethal combat. OFA is the kind of powerful quirk that could kill if Deku isn't careful. But he never shows concern or does any proper training to manage his power levels in that regard. He's never shown worrying about the kind of damage his power could do to the people he's fighting, and his hero warship of All Might prevents him from considering the risks of the power. This could have serious risks but they're never explored like the rest of the world is.

Deku knew he was trying to be a hero. And before he met All Might, he had full intentions to become a hero without a quirk to his name. So it makes no sense that this analytically intelligent aspiring hero wouldn't have started strength training to be strong enough in the hero course until All Might begins training him for the quirk. At least to me, this struggle feels artificial, something to handicap Deku without affecting the actual ability he was given. The truth is, Horikoshi wrote an imperfect, gorgeously thought out world that I wouldn't have even dreamed up the implications of. But he didn't want to give All Might and by extension OFA any real deep flaws. Because of that, when Midoriya inherits the quirk he breaks his limbs unable to control it. But once he understands how to use it, all of his problems with it vanish. There are no actual side effects once Deku has the physical ability. After that, we only see deku developing more powers. And he has to master them as he discovers them, sure, but it's never really an issue to seriously struggle with his powers afterwards.

If I were to change One for All, I would dramatically tone down the power Deku has. In my version, he only has the major strength increase, but no matter which one he inherits, it needs to be just one, Comparable-To-Todoroki strength power. Maybe Dekus power is weaker than All Mights because he hasn't trained the power to its full strength. Maybe it has to be managed by releasing excess energy because Deku is so constantly restless. Maybe the lightning it releases could hurt someone past a normal punch taking them down. But it needs to have a proper side effect apart from Dekus body being unused to it and unable to really master it for the first 2 seasons. I would make Deku physically strong enough, or close to it, when the show starts but Deku can still struggle with letting the quirk flow through his body. Maybe his anxieties limit the quirk from kicking in in dangerous situations. It can be anything, something simple, but it has to be a valid side effect from a severe and sudden physical enhancement.

But more than anything else, I want Deku to grow using his own analytical skills. While Deku is behind his classmates on training at the beginning, he has no issue surpassing all of them in class and he understands theory really well. Let him use his already developed character to make himself more powerful. Let him get creative with it, improve and grow without artificial hacks propelling him so far ahead.

Thank you for coming to my very long Ted talk.

[sysig]

Yeah of course I’m still thinking about plushies, what else (Patreon)

Most specifically thinking about magnets again - there’s the obvious of putting it in their hands so they can hold hands!

Of course if they’re on the same side i.e. right hand gets south polarity, left gets north, they’d only be able to hold opposite hands, so no handshakes (but I think that’s fine personally haha)

But on top of hands they could also have magnets behind their mouth! Kiss-magnets! My only real concern is the fabric pulling and developing kiss-wrinkles from being pressed against each other haha

They’d also be able to giggle with their palms to their mouths hehe, how cute! It’d depend on their kiss polarity

Which would of course depend on ship compatibility! Max has to be able to kiss Dex and Caleb, so if that makes it that Caleb and Dex can’t kiss, I mean that’s just an unfortunate side effect haha

[doodlingwren]

Ok, back to girlblogging eheh (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

[cheeseknives]

Instagram keeps showing me reels of someone with a handle named something like jamesmaythristtraps and like, they are truly doing gods work but I can't like or comment on these masterpieces because I know what kind of snitch of an app it is 😔

[laceratedlamiaceae]

I know this is an unpopular opinion (among Izzy enjoyers at least), but I truly don't believe that Ed cares about Izzy, like, at all. Maybe he did at one point, but by the time of the show he acts like he wants absolutely nothing to do with Izzy at all.

There are a few points I've seen people raise as evidence that Ed does care, but none of them are particularly convincing to me. There's the scene where Ed is excitedly showing Izzy the model ship, but to me that reads more like Ed being like that one annoying kid who never shut up about whatever caught his interest (we all knew one of those, right?) because Izzy clearly doesn't give a fuck about the ship and Ed just ignores that--because he doesn't actually care about what Izzy wants, he just wanted to talk about the ship and Izzy was the only one there. There's the fact that Ed asks Izzy to stay at the end of Discomfort in a Married State, but again I think that has more to do with Ed than it does Izzy; my perception is that it was partially because Ed needed Izzy to help him kill Stede and mostly because of Ed's abandonment issues. I think he was just so used to Izzy being there, and so used to the song-and-dance of Izzy threatening to leave, that he didn't even think about letting him go. At the beginning of This is Happening, shortly after Izzy's banishment from the Revenge, Ed is contemplating leaving, and though from what I've seen most people think it's because of Izzy, I think it's just that he doesn't have a way to justify staying to himself now that he's decided not to kill Stede (and then the rest of the episode gives him a reason to stay). Lastly, there's the toe thing, which I've seen some people interpret as Ed showing he cares about Izzy in some sick, twisted way, but in my opinion whatever feeling would motivate someone to do something that horrifying shouldn't be considered 'caring.'

Beyond all that, the way Ed treats Izzy just isn't the way people treat the ones they care about. Like, I get that Ed is a deeply fucked up guy, but still. I guess I could buy that Ed has grown to resent Izzy, and maybe that is it's own form of caring, but I just can't get behind the idea that Ed has any positive feelings about Izzy at all. That being said, I do get why people think Ed does care about Izzy, and I'm not trying to say their interpretations are wrong, but I do think it's just as valid to see it the way I do.

[skeletonlvr22]

Hello! here with a question! Do the skeletons and monsters in general have any heighten senses like smell, sight, hearing, etc.

Also yoummention in the fic how Coffee was able to see Willa shake her head in the dark when she spent the night over, does that mean skeletons and again monsters in gen e al can see in the dark?

Hey!!

Yeah, they can! The general populous of monsters can see passibly well in the dark (apart from a few subspecies), but that's mostly because, well. Cave.

Different subspecies have different heightened senses! As an example, the skeletons are particularly adept with smell and hearing, while their eyesight would be mostly on par with a human's (other than the whole seeing in the dark thing, lol).

In contrast, Undyne has creepily good eyesight (for someone with only one eye) and pretty good hearing, too. However, she (and her entire subspecies) can't really smell much at all.

She just wasn't built for it. Her magic (and her ancestors' magic) never evolved the ability to be able to, so she can't.

I hope that answers your question!

Thank you for asking it 🧡🧡🧡

[blackhazefanblog]

Theory about the King's Power: The connection between Will and Emotion

The Demon King's Power and Will is of much focus in the story. But for something so important, we still haven't understood much of it. Like, how exactly does it work?

Surely a King's power works by command.

But what kind of command?

It's easy to make the assumption that it works the same way as that of human kings. And we see Rood make the same assumption while pretending he had his memories as the Demon King, but acting like a human king and verbally giving orders out turns out to be the entirely wrong thing to do.

As we see his bluff was immediately called and he was exposed.

So, if the Demon King's orders aren't conveyed in verbal words to his subjects, how are they?

We ourselves see a live example in the subsequent scenes; and we see that the Demon King doesn't verbally give orders at all. Instead, his demon subordinates seem to understand exactly what he wants. Whether it be gathering around him,

for Aravesk to be capturing other demons

and throwing them into a portal.

This sequence alone shows several of the King's presumed wills being carried out, despite him not giving a out single word or signal.

So how do they know what the King's will is, if he doesn't verbally say or show what it is? If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it's through his feelings and emotions.

There are a number of scenes where he doesn't say a single word but we clearly see he feels strong emotion, such as when it is enough to be visible on his face...

...the demons seem to naturally react.

In the end, a person's "will" is really the power of their command and emotion combined together, so the logic adds up.

The Demon King's "will" is the command of his power, fueled and propelled by his emotions.

From what we have seen of the Demon King, he doesn't seem to normally feel or understand much emotion (judging by his constant expressionless deadpan and cluelessness about the feelings of those around him). If his emotions are truly connected to his powers, this could actually be good for him because it prevents anything from happening "accidentally."

But now that he has lived as a human and feels the full range of emotions it brought, this aspect could easily change... for the worse.

In fact, I think we have already seen such a case where his human emotions caused an accident to happen with his will without his intention once... with Lidusis.

We see Blow in his human persona not give a single word, command or signal, but simply FEEL the emotion of wanting to hit Dirod (as we see he restrains himself by curling his own fists):

But what happens? LIDUSIS instantly attacks him instead.

See how he hits him with his right fist just like how Blow was (probably) thinking of hitting him?

He also KEEPS attacking him, listening to no one else's instructions

until Blow gives him a different command: to cease and come to him instead.

...which he immediately obeys.

Marquis Hadelio assumes that the reason Lidusis is obediently doing everything Blow asks is due to the magic procedure done on him: that when someone is saturated with magic he subconsciously follows the person that the magic belongs to. However, this is a procedure that most have only heard of in theory, let alone done and seen the results of, and based on his phrasing he seems to have simply come to that conclusion on his own observations of the current situation before him.

But what if this is not the case?

What if the true reason Lidusis is so obediently following Blow isn't because of the magic done to him, but because this is an exceptional case where in his subconscious state, the King's power inside Lidusis is obeying the will of its master?

In fact, the apparition of Ibriel in Lidusis' subconscious seems to imply this is the case, saying that the power won't harm him because of its Master's feelings towards him.

Until that point the real King had not reappeared and the Power inside Lidusis had been left without a will to follow for years... except that of Lispen, who was the closest thing it could find to the King.

Hence, why the Power itself seems to have tormented Lidusis for years until its real owner appeared and it adjusted to the Will of its true Master: which was to protect Lidusis, which it instantly and immediately did without fail.

...So it is quite possible that his body's subconscious reactions under the influence of Blow's magic were simply following the King's wills as well automatically.

In fact, we see Lidusis in this state trying to get to the place where Blow is, at the same time that the demons were gathering around their King... presumably, following his will to be summoned to him.

Guys there's totally a super-duper-important plot reason behind this silly scene, trust me.

However, Rood himself doesn't seem to be any more aware that his emotions are causing Lidusis to react this way than anyone else is.

If so, as Rood gets more access to his demon powers we could easily see more of such "accidents" happening as he feels strong emotion that causes the King's powers and demons to react to his will on instinct.

I believe we just saw such happen on a small scale with Lidusis and Dirod. There ultimately isn't much harm a kid like Lidusis could do to another human boy.

But demons would be an entirely different subject altogether... and it could easily spell disaster that causes great damage or death to others if he doesn't manage to keep his emotions under good control.

In the end, the Demon King currently inhabiting a human body and feeling the full range of volatile and powerful emotion could be a double edged sword both psychologically and physically: it allows him to understand the world and people around him much better, but could also put them in great potential danger if he can't hold his powers in check as a consequence.

The Demon King's "will" might well be the command of his power fueled and propelled by the feelings of his emotions... but the question is, does the human kid know that?

[If you've made it all the way to the end of this post I thank and congratulate you as this is one of my longest so far. Feel free to come back and high five me with a chair if it turns out that my observations are incorrect and I have simply wasted all our time with a wild goose chase.]

[thegreatestheaver]

Can't wait for the Electric Dreams reaction today :]] (I'll probably put it on and watch at the same time) (I'll also look into Murder Drones at some point)

SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE WE CAN HAVE A MOVIE NIGHT YAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! IM HAL… AND IM HOLLOW… THE MOVIE NIGHT BROTHERS🔥🔥🔥SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE I JUST WOKE UP PLEASE IGNORE THE FACT THATITS LIKE 4PM BUT. IM GONMA TRY TO GET MYSELF TO GO TO THE STORE SOON FOR MOVIE TIME SNACKS :))))))))) pins yoy agsisnt a wall and puts my hand on your chin before putting my hands on your throat and choking you and FUCKING KILLING YOU PLEEEEEKKKK CHECK OUT MURDER DRONES ITS SO GOOD I SWEAR I SWEAR I SWEAR I SWEAR I SWEAR INSWEAR ISWEAR I SWEARRR PELAPLPASPLLPELPALEPKRJPOHJIPOEAGRHIHOPIGRE[PGRBRGJPOFPOJSPOWQPWLAPLPLPWWPLPAPLSPL PLAPLSLPEPAPLE PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[punmster]

From one fellow aroace person to another, did you ever feel as though you were broken because you felt little to no romantic attraction, or did you feel like you were above average folk because “Haha these mere mortals cannot resist the temptations of attraction and my identity does not revolve around such trivial matters,” kinda way? I feel like aroace typically feel either of these two so I’m just curious.(I was mainly the latter lol and was lowkey always confused why people would be depressed about not finding a partner and revolving their identity around that)

I guess I was one of those that didn't really care except to go with the flow. I was an actively and proudly weird child (it was cringe, I won't lie--I'm...less like that now) so nobody's opinions on my normalcy was going to affect me. Once I realized I was aroace in my teens I definitely loved the memes about "love makes you human, therefore aro/aces are gods". I'm not gonna like. look down on other people for being silly when in love though. I don't understand what makes others do the things they do, but damn if I don't love me some drama

[traaumaa]

getting extremely stressed over simple things....