#i know its petty but some of you are missing out on a good story just because you wont broaden your reading horizons

[loviestar58]

Sassy Viktor dating HC’s AND MY LIFE IS YOURS

(I need to see how sassy he would be in everyday life pls he’s so entertaining)

🤲

Thank you sm have a lovely day :D

🧡~Dating Sassy Viktor HC's/Scenarios~🧡

My first ever request! I hope it's good I'm not gonna lie I had some difficulty with this idk why shdudbdh

This'll be a mix of Viktor being sassy, sarcastic, teasing, and just being a general playful menace lol

Enjoy‼️💖

🩼~Feins offense at any little thing you do. We've all seen his face, he can make the most offended face imaginable. For example he'd make you something to eat (he can't really cook well and doesn't do it often but he does for you cause he loves you) and he'd serve it to you all smiles, and you'd be all smiles too. Viktor cooking? What a rare treat! Until you bite into it and feel your tongue yell at you "oooo this isn't right..". You try to hide it, chewing slowly, but he sees it immediately, asking if something is wrong.

"Oh it's nothing, just..interesting. The flavor doesn't feel right, I think you put too much salt and herbs-"

His face would scrunch into that offended look, eyes wide and rolling his eyes

"Oh, so you're a food critic now? Judging the food I put my heart and soul into to make for you? I see how it is.."

He'd pout and take his own bite, thinking you were overreacting

You weren't

🩼~It is a common occurrence to whack you with his cane. Usually he does it to get his way in petty arguments, you could be talking about how a certain formula was written wrong in his notes, him being so tired he didn't notice and miscalculated something, but he'd never admit to it. Anytime you tried to show him, he'd lift his cane to your shins and try to grab the book back. You'd recoil and try to dodge each time, laughing at how far he'd go to stay in the right, but he somehow always caught you off guard, and of course he'd never miss a chance to diss you, even if he was completely in the wrong

"You're just mad you're wrong!"

"I'm not wrong, lovely, you just lack the vision to see my genius"

"Well, "Genius", you wrote it wrong!"

"Perhaps you do need your eyes checked.."

🩼~This is Jinx's line in the show, but he totally would pull this classic

"So, Viktor, I've been thinking-"

"Well, thats quite the dangerous endeavor for you"

🩼~Would never let you live it down that you fumbled your attempt at asking him out, having gotten so nervous cause I mean. Look at him. You'd try to tell the story to some friends and make it seem like you were so confident and successful in asking him out, but he'd SO quickly chime in and rat you out

"Wh-"

🩼~Also would probably overuse the line "Suureee lovely, whatever you say" in the most sarcastic tone ever whenever you two have little back and forth banters and you're determined to prove you're right. When you'd call him out on it he'd respond with a knowing smirk and offended face "What? I would never! I do not know what you are talking about!" Hand on his chest, practically clutching his non-existant pearls in a dramatically comedic way

"Hmm that's not quite how I remember it. I remember you shaking like one of those ehh..chihuahuas, that pee all over themselves. And your words sounded more like squeaks of a mouse. I don't know where you got the notion that that is the epitome of confidence, but it must not have been a reliable source"

You'd hit his shoulder blushing profusely as he laughs, saying a playful "I love you" before ruffling your hair, making you role your eyes and pout

🩼~Attempting to get a pet is impossible with Viktor. He'd always say that they both don't have time to take care of an animal, that his work was too dangerous to have one around, no matter how much your beg, he'd just shit you down. That's when he says that he already has you, and that's enough work on its own alongside his inventing

"Are you implying that I'm like a pet?"

"You seem to love jumping to conclusions cause I said no such thing, but if you insist on seeing it that way, then yes. You're like a little rampaging Poro. Energetic, small, and a thorn in my side on occasion"

He'd chuckle as he watched you feign offense, your face pouty but unable to keep the smile from your lips, cause it is kinda funny how you can be compared to such a creature so easily. And you do the same, comparing him to a sassy cat. Which he doesn't deny and swiftly confirms by swatting at you with his cane in retaliation for the comment

I am so sorry this is short, I genuinely couldn't think of too much cause I felt I was just repeating the same things over and over again and not being creative..and I think I made him more teasing than sassy, but I tried😭

I hope this is what you were hoping for, even a little! If not, I'm sorry😖🙏🏼

[pikahlua]

Ahhh I meant to ask, if you do end up giving thoughts on the leaks, I would LOVE to know your thoughts and this epilogue’s endings for bakugou (obviously!) and ochako as well.. in detail pls hehe

Everyone and their dog apparently wants my thoughts on the chapter, and I have to say I just don't wanna give them in the detail people seem to crave. Look, the chapter is meh. It's just meh. There are some cute things that happen in it and it seems that's at the expense of consistency in the story. They clearly didn't think about the things they were implying hard enough. Oh, Izuku and Ochako just didn't fucking interact for 8 years after high school but NOW Izuku wants to talk more? What about Ochako's school program with children that seems RIGHT UP Izuku's alley? They're both practically pursuing the same thing but apparently never breathe each other's air. Despite not thinking about each other for literal years apparently they're still attracted to each other, which, why? What are they attracted to? They're entirely new people now, they're meeting as adults with quite a few years missing between them? Oh, here's the rankings but also we're gonna give a throwaway line about how they're volatile and useless bUT STILL WE'RE GONNA GIVE YOU THEM. THEY DON'T MEAN ANYTHING ACTUALLY BUT HERE THEY ARE. Okay let's just imply Himiko is going to be Ochako's voyeur for life.

But worst of all is the weird idea that this is somehow the logical conclusion of the story that came before it. A conclusion should cap off the themes of its story and MAYBE introduce a new question to ponder. The story should LOGICALLY lead to the conclusion. But this conclusion basically turns around and says "Things change when you're an adult. You'll be a totally different person and maybe have new dreams. Except also you may not. Life is normal and boring and dreams sometimes die." What? WHAT????? Where's the theme of service to others? Where's the theme of heroes inspiring the next generation? Why are we implying heroes who are too good at their job will force their job to become unnecessary and die out but then try to prove no wait heroes are still necessary because sometimes people get weird urges to steal cars? What? Whatttt??? So heroes just exist now to be the quirk police basically. This is what all those kids were growing up to be? That's a weird implication after a whole story where the entire adult generation showed a VERY DIFFERENT AND MORE ADMIRABLE BRAND OF HEROISM (except for those that didn't, which was far more interesting than whatever this is). So the future of heroes AND villains is banality? Petty useless shit?

This is why 430 was such a good ending chapter. It DID showcase heroism in a mundane setting that actually had meaning and impact and inspiration. It made Izuku's adult life look like a fulfillment of his dream just in a new way.

In 431, Katsuki Bakugo is the only major character that shows a connection to the story that came before. He's the only one that still dreams of heroism and unity and inspiration, and he still thinks about who Izuku is deep down and resolves to save him from his stupidity AND SUCCESSFULLY DOES IT. He's the only one that resembles the heroic ideal that All Might supposedly instilled in everyone's hearts. MAYBE Ochako does too, but it's for a brief flash and then suddenly we're back on the mundane train (pun not intended) in a bad way.

And Shouto. Shouto can stay because he's the only character who PROPERLY introduces the question of "more to a hero than heroism" in the ending as a conclusion that introduces a new question, but it just...doesn't lead anywhere. I could see a potential path for that to have led the chapter somewhere meaningful, but it didn't.

So I maintain Katsuki is standing there watching on as the only character thinking about how the fuck to inspire people to be heroes again.

In summary, if I consider this the actual conclusion to the whole story, it's ass. I don't want it. It's useless and almost condescending. It's like the chapter is shaming me. How dare I enjoy the 430 chapters that came before, how dare I dream and feel inspired, how dare I expect anything of the concept of "hero" introduced by All Might and then the next one introduced by Izuku? But if I consider it an extra DLC bonus omake what-if didn't-think-too-hard-about-this-I'm-just-spitballing-and-having-fun-or-whatever side comic, fine, whatever, the mundane banality it wants to be succeeds, because I'm bored and I'm ignoring it. I'll have fun with it in fanfic maybe if I feel like it, but I ain't tying this shit into the themes of the actual MHA story. It doesn't belong there.

If that all sounds like more than you bargained for with your ask, it's because I received 30 other asks all wanting me to expand on these points, and so I decided to consolidate them all here. It's just too many asks for me to respond to individually. If I don't answer your ask, random anon reading this, it's because I consider your ask answered well enough.

[morbethgames]

The Recoding of The Bureau is Finished

I’m done recoding the game. All in all, it was honestly about what I expected to be slimmed off once I got a good look at some of the scenes. As I expected, 90% of that were from the first 3 chapters. I am a mix of emotions after arduously spending hours upon hours replacing gender variables one at a time by hand. Which unfortunately, I couldn’t think of another way for doing it, because all of the characters were using the same gender variables instead of independent ones for each character.

I’m relieved it’s done. Disappointed in myself that I had to do it at all. Irritated that some people decided to put the game on blast for it rather than give actionable suggestions on how to fix it. Excited to finally be able to continue writing both the extra scenes that need to be written and the main story. I honestly don’t know which one I’m going to continue with first.

Please leave feedback.

There are still no doubt one or two spots with maybe 1-2k words each that could be slimmed down, but that would require a lot of work for very little payoff. So yes, I’m comfortable saying, the game is almost 400k words long in total. 85k words per playthrough. That’s not including the extra scenes in the stats screen, because randomtest doesn’t go in the stats screen (to my knowledge at least, someone can correct me if I’m wrong). So you still have to play the game roughly 5 times and choose different choices to see everything it has to offer.

Is the game smaller? A bit, yeah. Is it 100-150k? It’s more than double that.

Now, that doesn’t say anything for the state of some of the writing. If I have to read someone nodding, or smiling, or ‘slightly’, ‘a bit’, or ‘a little’ something in my own work again, I’m gonna jump out a window. Obviously, back when I started writing this, I was very much influenced by Wayhaven. I’ve since grown out of that idea. Since the game has taken on an identity of its own, and while I will forever be grateful to that series and continue to support it, there’s gonna be some changes in the final version of this game. Less of what I said above, less ellipses, and the flirting (especially in the beginning) will seem much more down to earth and believable for the setting it’s in, with a bit of wiggle room since this is still very much a YA game.

Please leave feedback.

The rewrite will not be happening until the first draft of the game is fully finished. I refuse to get stuck in a rewrite phase, mostly because I would just find it way too boring.

My patreon will continue to have static fiction on it, as well as sneak peeks into upcoming stuff. In case you’ve been missing it, Love In Stasis is up to Chapter 6 at this point, with more to come. I’m also thinking about potentially starting a horror static fiction.

I’ll be relying on people to playtest this new version of the game to tell me about any continuity errors, and gender errors, any anything errors. So please, play the demo. Let me know if you notice anything. I think if I’ve proved anything at this point, it’s that I act and fix things based on feedback.

And pettiness.

But mostly feedback.

Please leave feedback.

Last thing I’ll say; I’m gonna stop saying I’m bad at coding. Someone who’s bad at coding wouldn’t have been able to implement the text boxes and fine tune them. Someone who’s bad at coding wouldn’t have been able to code Golden Eyes. Someone who’s bad at coding wouldn’t have been able to slim down the game that much from where it was. So it’s time I give myself the credit of someone who at least knows what they’re doing. I’m not adept at it, but I’m certainly not bad at it either.

I’m still expecting the game to end up over 500k words when all is said and done. It will not be one million words, but I’m actually kind of happy about that. This is proof I’m still working on this game, and the next time it updates, it will have new content. Thanks for those that are patient and stick around, your support does still genuinely mean a lot.

Please leave feedback.

Stay Brilliant,

-Vi

P.S. Please leave feedback.

🛡️Patreon | Forum Page | Demo Link🛡️

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#22: The Trouble in 'Paradise' (1.03)

gif cred: @perryabbott

Rick's note in the getaway boat didn't get Michonne to leave...but it did get Dana Bethune to disappear 😋...

After breaking Michonne’s heart the night before in an attempt to save her, Rick is walking around in his CRM uniform and approaches Jadis with a salute. Jadis says, “State your business, soldier” and Rick informs her, “She’s gone. And you’re helping me make her stay gone.”

Jadis, who seems to be more aware than Rick rn that Michonne would never just leave him here, asks, “How is she gone?” Rick answers, “I made it look like she died trying. I know I needed to stay to get her away so I’m here.”

It’s interesting how Rick seems so resolved about this. Like I know the night of the getaway he had to be in his apartment a whole devastated mess about what he’s had to do to get Michonne home, but now in front of Jadis, he’s not going to show her how much it pained him to have to send her away and stay stuck here.

Also, Rick has been in sacrifice mode for literal years and so I think he’s just swallowed this Michonne sendoff as yet another sacrifice he has to make as the dead man who gets no personal wins that he’s been living as.

Jadis, who for once in her life is onto something says, “She actually left without you. I don’t believe that, Rick.” Lol I think Jadis really thinks Rick is pulling a fast one and lying about Michonne leaving but no, Rick has got himself so convinced that tricking her to leave was for the best and that Michonne would actually do it and leave. It's another indicator that it's clearly been some years and he's gotten a little hazy on remembering Michonne would never just leave him in the dead of night like that.

gif cred: @taiturner

Rick responds, “She didn’t know she was leaving without me.” And I was like - Rick, doesn’t that break your heart? Cuz it breaks mine. Knowing that the only reason Michonne ‘left’ was because she trusted his plan and thought he was coming with her. And now as far as he knows she’s had to mourn losing her husband yet again. And this time because he seemingly ‘wanted’ it that way.

That's gotta hurt Rick to think about, but again I think Rick is so laser-focused on how this is how it has to be that I don’t think he’s letting himself even fully process how hurtful what he did is to Michonne. 

Jadis asks if Rick still wants to kill her, calling back to their conversation earlier when she says, “You still see that?” Rick starts nearing his full petty form when he says, “Maybe I was just dreaming” suggesting killing her would be a dream lol. And then he calls back to Negan and Jadis' old saying, “People are a resource.”

He continues, “You’re part of this now.” and quotes Jadis saying, “‘Our fates are bound.” I know he’s basically like 'look, I need you to help sell this story of what happened to Dana and that is the only reason you get to live another day.'

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Rick tells Jadis how he found a walker body close enough to Michonne's, put it in a consignment uniform, and tore its face and scalp off. He says the story is Dana fell, hit her head on the rocks and walkers got her. Then he gives Jadis some orders saying, “You just make sure you’re on the investigation as soon as they find out she’s missing.”

I was like buddy, they aren’t going to find out she’s missing but you are going to find out who your wife is after maybe getting a little hazy about Michonne Grimes. 😅

Jadis says she’ll “make sure to be on point when Dana goes gone” and also that her hands are clean if anything goes down. Then she says, “And if you do want to make your dream come true - kill me while we’re nose to nose. I already left them all the answers you don’t want them to have.” Don't tempt us with a good time now, Jadis.

Also, the way Rick stares at her and subtly rolls his eyes before walking away, it's like you can see the moment the hair insult pops in his head before he says it lol. 🤭

And then Jadis tries Richonne to capacity yet again when she has the audacity to tell Rick, “You say you did it for her. I’m sure that that is true but I wonder if it isn’t something else that's keeping you here. Again, I did save your life.” Disgusting. 😒 I know that serpent didn’t just try to imply that Rick might've sent Michonne away because he had the hots for the trash lady/his captor. She lost her damn mind with that comment. Truly. 🙃

gif cred: @jake-wheeler

Rick gives Jadis' suggestive comment no mind as he just brings it back to Michonne and says, “Well now you get to save hers.”

gif cred: @jake-wheeler

And then Petty Rick reaches his final form with this...

gif cred: @nerd4music

And the eyebrow-raise tho. 🤭 He knows he ate her up. Lol this moment had me dying and I love how this is Rick’s way of letting Jadis know that not even in her dreams would he be staying here cuz he wants her.

gif cred: @nerd4music

And the way Jadis reacts, it seems like Rick knew the right button to push cuz she smiles but looks offended as she walks away. And honestly, I’m here for Rick throwing shade because Jadis’ little slick comments and come-ons - that I don’t even think are rooted in actually liking him but more rooted in liking that it makes him uncomfortable - are harassment and so she needed to step all the way back. ✋🏽

gif cred: @taiturner

The second Jadis walks off, Rick gets a vibrating notification from Pearl. He comes over to the consignee area and stands at attention behind Pearl who's watching the consignees with her arms crossed and a scowl.

She turns to Rick and says, “You’re in real trouble now Sergeant Major'' and yes he is…just not with the CRM lol. 🙂

gif cred: @nat111love

The way Rick is looking at Pearl like 'what now?' not even realizing that who he’s in real trouble with is actually among the consignees. But he quickly realizes once he looks out and sees the baddest chick in the game on a walker-killing rampage.

gif cred: @nat111love

And then Rick's face lol. 🤭 I’m glad that now I can watch and laugh and kiki over all this cuz with my first watch, everything was just making me overwhelmed cuz both my poor babies are going through it. 🫠

But now it cracks me up to see Rick realize the only person who thought Michonne was out of here was him. Cuz she is very much still in this place and not even as Dana anymore but as Michonne Grimes herself. 😬

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne is clearly frustrated as she takes out these walkers and honestly, it really tracks with her character to be like this right now since killing walkers has always been one of the ways she processes emotions. Season 3 at Woodbury. Season 4 after the prison fell. Season 5 when out with Sasha and Rosita. And in season 9 during restless nights when she couldn’t sleep. So with so much to process after Rick’s note in the getaway boat, it makes sense she’d be going ham on the walkers during her shift. 

And again I declare my client innocent of all claims that she’s being ‘dumb’ or whatever people say for not playing the B role. Is she showing who she is right now? - yes. But she knows that and the thing is...she doesn’t care to hide rn. She’s seen the way this place tries to strip you of who you are. They stripped the strongest man she knows - Rick - of who he is and made him lose his mind to the point that he thought he could just send her away and she’d leave.

So I really think she’s just not having it. She’s over the CRM. This place doesn’t get to make her bury herself thus losing herself - a pain worse than death as Rick would attest.

gif cred: @nat111love

And also she’s allowed to let emotions get the best of her sometimes as she is understandably pissed. The man she loves and trusts most, the man she's sacrificed so much to find, just tried to abruptly send her away for good and basically told her that leaving him behind is the one way to show she loves him. That is a special kind of hurt that could stir up many blinding emotions.

Plus, it’s been what? over a decade of an apocalypse. It's really not crazy that she'd be a pro at taking out walkers by now. Even Eugene is a pro at walker-killing at this point. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Now, yes, the way she's killing them is too A-ish. But idk, the CRM should just be grateful she's doing this to walkers and not soldiers if you ask me lol.

As Michonne stays focused on taking out as many walkers as possible, consignees like Cleo and others stop to take notice and admire Michonne, impressed. And then Rick sorta nods like 'yep that’s Michonne 🙂'...but also 'yep that’s Michonne, not a Dana in sight.😟'

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne comes out of kill mode to catch her breath, paying no mind to the other consignees' oohs and ahhs, just like Rick when he broke the kill record. And then she looks up and sees Rick and gives him a look that shows she is not going to be playing around with this man.

gif cred: @nat111love

Pearl notes how Michonne said during intake that she was looking for safety in numbers and that helped her make her case. And then she says, “Thing is, she doesn’t look like someone who relies on others for safety.” And one; can I just reiterate that I love that we have a show where Richonne drives every scene of the plot. It’s great. 🤩

Also, I like the irony of this line because Pearl is actually looking at the only man Michonne does look to for safety.

As Pearl stares at Rick, clearly very hesitant about this whole Dana situation, Rick just stays quiet. Pearl walks away and then Rick looks out and sees Michonne is the last one standing and staring Rick down in a way that would have anybody shaking in their boots before she just walks away.

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne's look said, 'that's right, Rick...

Then I really love the pan up to the 'Grimes 68' on the wall. It implies that the kill record has just been broken and while they have to change the number now, they don’t have to change the last name.

And of course, the Grimes are the ones to set new records up in this place. The only person who could beat Rick’s years-long record is his wife. 

gif cred: @chaoticroad

So then Michonne is walking and she hears Rick say, “Keep walking” and I always smile seeing how she hears that and immediately stops walking lol. It just instantly tells you the energy of how this exchange is about to go.

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Rick stands behind her in his CRM helmet and gear and the visual again feels like a reminder that Michonne found Sergeant Major Grimes but not her Rick just yet.

Rick says, “Ahead and to the right. We can talk.” And Michonne stands there for a moment, clearly fed up. I know she’s not exactly itching to go where Rick tells her after his recent behavior.

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

After stopping for a sec, Michonne sorta rolls her eyes before heading to the right to 'talk' - even tho her communication when they're alone won’t require any words.

And the way Rick pauses for a moment as she struts off without even looking at him...I know he’s nervous about this chat. Appreciating her feisty walk and also nervous lol. 😅

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

So then when they finally have some privacy it low key looks like Rick is getting in Michonne's personal space and idk if it’s to be on some lovey timing or some stern ‘you were supposed to go’ timing. I’ll never know because Michonne sets the tone immediately when she rips Rick’s helmet off and throws it. I'm quite here for it tbh. 😊

gif cred: @figmentof

Like I know Michonne is so sick and tired of the CRM, and that helmet covering her man’s face is just another reminder that they have a hold on him. That her Rick is buried under the mask of the CRM.

And the way Michonne ripped off the helmet you can tell she wants to go ham on anyone who is keeping her Rick away from her including Sergeant Major Grimes himself.

She does the helmet rip-off smooth too and it quickly lets Rick know just how upset she is.

The move seems to take Rick very much off guard as he steps back and just breathes and stares at her for a while, knowing Michonne hasn’t had this type of energy with him since like season 3. Again, since he'd been so convinced that sending her away like that was for the best and an act of love, he wasn't thinking about how extremely hurtful it was to her too...But he knows now.

Also, I think because he’s sorta out of practice in remembering his wife does not play he thought maybe he was going to take over in this conversation and tell her how things gotta be but that's not how you roll up on Michonne Grimes.

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

And so instead Rick takes a different approach by trying to explain himself. 

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Rick shares, “All these years, the only way I wasn’t killed was one man saving my life over and over.” And Michonne looks at him just like 'this better be good.'

Rick says, “The only way you get away is if someone is here making sure.” Then it makes me so sad to hear the vulnerability and defeatedness in his voice as he says, “It’s taken me years to know I can’t go anymore. I asked for help, I didn’t get it.” 😢

That part always gets me because he’s saying he tried to do this himself and then he even tried to get help from others but was ultimately left hanging. Even tho I was like Rick, you did get it, because the one woman who can most help you is here and you’re looking at her right now.

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Rick tries to help Michonne see, “To get away, you need someone on the inside” and then I hear those more tender Richonne tones when Rick says, “I’m that for you.”

It’s hard because you can tell he thinks this is a good thing he’s doing for her but Michonne is understandably looking at him like, 'How can you just decide that without me?' Rick has been so focused on Michonne being his choice that he hasn’t exactly stopped to consider what her choice is in all this. And again, her choice is him too.

Often people who love really hard have a hard time grasping that others can love them just as deeply. So while every choice Rick makes is because his wife is his choice, he’ll have to see that he and their family is Michonne’s choice and she too will do anything for him and them.

Plus, Rick really forgot that he and Michonne are the same which means they aren’t letting anyone choose anything for them including Rick trying to choose when and how Michonne leaves this place. She’s been through way too much to just let him choose that for her.

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

So I already thought Rick’s last part of his letter was problematic but then Sergeant Major wants to say it all over again to her face which was just not the move. 🤦🏽‍♀️

He looks at Michonne with his eyes serious and pained as he says, “I said that if you loved me…you’d go.” And eye personally said Rick, let's not say that ever again. One time was already too much. 🙃

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not losing sight of the fact that Rick is saying this from a place of immense trauma and not grasping that he is as valued by Michonne as she is to him so she would never just leave him here just like he would never have just left her here. But still, this is Rick almost trying to put Michonne’s love in question in a manipulative way.

But also the way he says it, it just reminded me that Rick has not been on the receiving end of love for almost a decade so he’s seeming to forget that Richonne’s love means they don’t split up. Throughout TOWL, I think Rick and Michonne both had to get reacquainted with how much the other loves them and is loyal to them.

gif cred: @isisnicole

So then Michonne reminds us all that she always be knowing what to say - and sometimes with no words needed to say it as she gives Rick a very expressive silent reaction. And I like the choice, that I believe I heard Danai was behind, to have Michonne not say anything in the scene. It makes it all the more impactful especially because Richonne really can have full-blown conversations with each other without uttering a word.

And when Rick pulls this line yet again Michonne tilts her head and just smiles looking so pretty and still peeved because she’s like 'of course I love you, you sweet sweet fool.'

In fact, it’s because she loves him so much that she’s even standing here right now. I know for Michonne hearing Rick say this again has to be more salt in the wound because she’s gone through so much in the name of her love for him and their family and so for him to essentially suggest if she really loved him she would have left was just so not it. 😪

gif cred: @perryabbott

The way Michonne responds I feel like a whole lot is swirling through her head. Like I wonder if she’s thinking what I was thinking in this moment which is - Rick, if she loved you, she’d have your baby. If she loved you she’d spend the last eight years so committed to you that no man replaced you in her or your children’s life.

If she loved you, she’d learn that you're alive and sacrifice time with her kids, getting attacked by the CRM, recovering for a year, and being plopped into the Civic Republic's consignment because her husband told her it’s the only way, just to find you again. Since she loves you she’s standing in front of you right now and not halfway to Alexandria.

Rick’s previous relationships saw him being someone who poured more into others than they did to him. And in a way he tried to start doing that with Michonne, thinking it’d be fine if he just poured into and protected her while he’s left out to dry…but she had to remind him they are far too equal in their outpouring of love and commitment for him to not get love and protection back.

gif cred: @nat111love

I love how when Michonne looks at him with that layered smile that says so much, she and Rick proceed to have a whole conversation with just their eyes. Like Michonne smiles, clearly hurt and frustrated, and then Rick stares at her and blinks and whatever she says with her eyes seems to rock Rick. Because then he looks at her and just steps back shaken.

But Michonne actually honors Rick’s wishes here because he said 'If you love me, you’ll go' and she’s like 'welp since I do love you let me go ahead and excuse myself right now and go instead of going off.' And her quietly composed approach and walk-off have Rick really shook to his core. The man looks like he legit wants to puke over having his wife be mad at him and knowing he has to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to get her back home alive.

gif cred: @isisnicole

Michonne has always had such an effect on Rick because just her staying quiet and composed and walking away had Rick doubled over with his eyes wide like he was socked in the stomach or something.

Y’all, this is also further proof that they’re magnets because when they’re off-kilter and walking away from each other like this it has them feeling straight-up ill. 

This was a really well-done scene and Rick really does embody the viral tweet “My wife is mad at me. I hope I die.” because he looks like Michonne being upset with him is a worse pain than chopping off his own hand.

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

It’s interesting seeing Rick and Michonne at the beginning of one of their biggest conflicts. And they truly still feel so married even in the way they approach this conflict. Like yes, they’re at odds but you know neither of them is just giving up on the other. Deep love is still at the foundation of all of this.

So while Michonne doesn’t say anything verbally to Rick in this scene - saving it for another time when she can really let it out - she does have someone she wants to open up to. And that’s her daughter, Judith. 🥲

And as Michonne proceeds to wonder if Rick has nearly become too far gone - she ends up having the exact encounter she needs to be reminded of the bigger 'picture.' 😌🤳

[separatist-apologist]

Separatist-apologist lore beneath the cut

I dropped out of college when I was 19 and when I decided to go back, I had two kids. I was undeclared and I felt old despite still being in my 20s. I had a scholarship which required me to do daytime classes with all of the brand new 18 year olds and I felt wildly out of place. Before that, I'd been staying at home raising my kids while their dad worked and a lot of people thought wanting to return to the workforce was a mistake, so there was this immense pressure to succeed where I'd once failed.

The problem was not knowing what I wanted to do. All I really cared about was history and domestic violence and as far as I knew, there was no good career path that combined those things, and so I signed up for four random classes that had nothing to do with each other. One of them was called Serial Killers in America which was taught by a former police officer. Another was introduction to psychology, taught by a social worker.

I was sitting in the Serial Killer class one morning, way in the back where no one paid me any attention, when the professor (former cop, remember) began telling a story about being called to a house for domestic violence and I remember looking up at her as she said that too often, these things are a "he said, she said," and they're usually both lying.

And it just ignited something angry in my stomach. I was looking for an advisor since I'd been undeclared and I turned that day to the psych professor and asked if she'd fill out my form to be my advisor. As she was, I told her what the other professor said and how much it bothered me and she asked me what I wanted to do. So I told her, and she asked if I'd ever considered social work.

So began six years of perfectionism and the single-minded goal of getting my masters degree and working in the field as a licensed social worker. I remember my first day in orientation at grad school, someone asked if anyone knew where they wanted to be in 5 years. I was the only person who raised their hand. I knew where I wanted to be.

And for the last three years, I got to live that dream. The good, the bad, the horrible- all of it was mine. And today I pack up this office I've worked in for the last three years because its all over. The work was always good and I'm proud of what I've done. I've published papers, I've sat in state-wide commissions, I've talked to legislators, I've presented at conferences and I've trained a new generation of advocates who feel the same passion I do.

It's no secret that people who work in this field are typically survivors themselves. Something about surviving it turns people into advocates, whether they meant to be or not. And often they manage to make it out of the metaphorical burning building, turn around, and decide they need to go back inside to try and get others. The amount of people I've talked to who say, "I want other people to know they're not alone and they can get through this," is numerous. It makes you optimistic, it makes it impossible to ignore the good in humanity even when you're faced with some of the worst people/circumstances you'll ever encounter.

And despite all the petty office politics, a system designed (sometimes purposefully) to make leaving difficult, and state legislators who push back every inch of progress we ever made, I will miss it. The work was always good. I'm proud of the things I did individually for folks, of the amount of times I got to tell someone they did nothing wrong, that they deserved safety and respect.

These three years have been the best and worst of my life, but the work was always good. I will always be in it, will always be standing beside the ghost of my childhood self, offering her a hand and a voice and I think if I accomplished nothing else, at least I did that.

[depressedhangrybitch]

Ok so normally i always try to look at things from a very understanding perspective but this post.........goshhh

The height of ignorance is both hilarious and sad to read about like if u are going to diss our scriptures at least do it with research.

First of all, one thing that i want to highlight for people out there is that;

DO NOT APPROACH INDIAN SCRIPTURES OR EASTERN RELIGIONS IN GENERAL WITH AN ABHRAHAMIC MINDSET.

This is not to shit at abhrahamic philosphies but to highlight the fact that these philosphies have different approaches to different things....

For ex: Based on my limited understanding of these philosphies I would say they have a clear cut definition of what constitutes as good or bad, there are rarely shades of grey between them....

HOWEVER....

Indian scriptures do have millions of shades of grey between them so to your first line stating that:

"Asurs are always depicted as unscrupulous villains" is in itself wrong... because there have been millions of times when asurs came victorious against their battle against devas and some of them did have virtuous qualities like bali, mahishasur (in devi bhagvatam purana) etc.

I dont consider asurs as necessarily bad beings just as i dont consider devas to be necessrily good beings.

Asurs tend to be arrogant when bestowed with a new power and generally...and i do emphasize on generally, they use those powers to wreck havoc.

Similarly, Devas or in most cases, Indra also tend to become arrogant and are always drenched in superiority complexes which is why, there is always a need for the one of the tridevs *cough* narayan *cough* to humble him.

As for indulgng in deceit.....

Both Devas and Asurs tend to do that to get upper hand....

Its just unfortunate that Devas are much more subtle and clever with their deceitful actions than Asurs who are like bull in the china shop.

On top of that, there are many instances when I personally felt a need to wrinkle my nose while i was reading these stories... sometimes at the actions of the Devas....other times at the actions of Asurs.

Shukracharya's story is perhaps one of the great examples of how petty and arrogant devas can be. Just as the story of Shumbh and Nishumbh is a testament to the destructiveness and momentary stupidness of Asurs.

My point is that puranas are basically moral stories from which we need to learn from.... instead of taking sides and completely bypassing the points they are screaming.

And while reading, we need to keep in mind that every character in them needs to be looked at a very neutral scale..

They are neither good nor bad, just people with both qualities in them.

Asurs have some qualitites like their tenacity and resilience that deserves to be admired just as Devas cleverness and cunningness deserves to be admired....

So if u look at these scriptures with a very who is good and who is bad mindset well.... lets just say u completely missed the lessons they were preaching....

Now, lets see the incidents you were talking about.....

The Samudra Manthan's goods were not for Devas to give away let me be clear on that...

Laxmi was not given away....she is not some goods u can barter about with....

She went to narayan because she wanted to marry him.

U know consent is a thing. right?

As for other goods....

I am not trying to be defensive here but Asurs clearly were stupid to get distracted by Mohini avatar.... Devas just happen to be clever and not get distracted by frivolous things and focus on task at hand....

Most importanty, u need to REMEMBER that Narayan is THE PRESERVER OF THE UNIVERSE.

He oversees how the universe works and to prevent it from going into chaos and why would he give the elixir to Asurs when at that time they clearly had bad intentions?

He already has his hands full dealing with Asurs who get boons from Shiva and brahma. I am sure he DOESN'T need more on his platter.

My bro has just gotten married at least give him some time to enjoy his honeymoon......XXXXD

(that was a joke btw)

Saw this meme on tumblr by @decemberpdf

Ahem....

anyways....

back to the topic....

Rahu and Ketu were the only ones who were focused on their goal, an admirable quality but they did not have good intentions so...

Narayan chopped them off.....

He does what he needs to do. Its his job.

As for the lakshagrah incident...

Yeah it was shitty when Bhim left his wife and son.... even i dont agree with that point...perhaps one day i might see things from a different perspective but not today....

But it was not because he wanted to leave her but because there were bigger scales at stake. Keep in mind he did not stay with his other wives (excluding draupadi) as well. Now I know that is not a good excuse but they are royals. Royalty marriages were done mainly for political purposes.... hence the polygamy.

What do u think may have happened if Bhima decided to stay?

I can imagine very different scenarios and none of them are favorable.

Bhim was the leading physical force in all of his brothers. If he had stayed.... I am sure I dont need to tell you about how the Bakasura incident may have ended.

Finally get your knowledge right, Hidimbi was a Rakshasi not a Danvi, if i am not wrong.

These two are completely different races.

Ghatotkatch did what he did for his father perhaps out of love perhaps out of duty but he understood his circumstances and was not bitter towards his father.

He is definitely a better person than me...

Eklavya's tale is quite the AMBIGUOUS one...

Some say his thumb was cut due to the far sightedeness of Drona, some say that it was because Drona feared his talent....so i would leave it upto u.

Eklavya's tale can be explained that Drona saw his potential and as an Hastinapur's employee decided to nip the bud before it bloomed by asking Eklavya's thumb.

Keep in mind that Eklavya was a citizen of Magadh which was not an ally of Hastinapur. If Eklavya had flourished, he may have been employed by Jarasandh in future, thus may have become a headache for Hastinapur. Drona may have foresaw this, which is why he did what he did.

OR

He was just an asshole and could not digest that someone was better than Arjuna. But come on, I can't blame him... Arjuna was a loyal and diligent student even more so, than his brothers.

Anyone who is a teacher will understand this that teaching a student who wants to learn is better than the students who want to learn because its expected of them.

yes Eklavya's tale is a tragic one....

Do i hate drona for it? Yes.

But do i understand why he did what he did? Also yes.

Finally ramayan.....ohhh the lack of knowledge the OP shows is hilarious....

Ram is a myriadda purushottam sure..... yes he abandoned and questioned his wife not once but twice..... first time Sita understands and proves herself not for Ram....but for her people. Dont forget she is a queen who has a duty towards her people just like Ram. Second time when Ram banishes her, does she simply take it? NO!!! She fights back and refuses to come back when Ram calls her back.

Even going further by asking her mother to take her back.

The first time it was her duty, second time it was her self respect.

Do i agree with what Ram did? No...

Do i understand why he did what he did? Yes.

In my opinion u can either be a good spouse or a good leader. Never both.

And to question your sources, many dont even consider uttar kanda from where these incidents are, as part of Valmiki Ramayan, which is the OG Ramayan so....

As for your claim...

"ooo but Ravan never touched her sexually or he was a gentleman"

Bitch stfu

Ravan did not touch her, not because he was a gentleman but because he had a curse...some say from an apsara... some say from his daughter in law, that if he touches another woman against their will he would literally die.

Yes he raped the apsara or if u read the daughter in law version, then the daughter in law.

Ram deceitfully killed Bali and he paid for it in his next life as Krishn when he was killed by an arrow in the feet.

Bali was an asshole and he died in an asshole way.

Krishn died the way he did to pay for his 'sins ' in the previous life.

Not even gods can escape their karma.

"All these puranic tales have become a matter of intense debate..."

As they should be....

A society can only evolve if it questions. Even if those questions become controversial or a taboo to speak about. Many practises we do in the name of god or traditons are unhealthy and if u will not question them..Who will? And how will we move past them?

And because people have stopped or were forced to stop reading their scriptures HAS made them easy to manipulate thus came in the things like caste system, boob tax in one indian kingdom (i am forgetting the nae, so dont ask) etc.

I dont advocate for caste system....nor will I ever.

But when time passes and SCRIPTURES become old there is always a POSSIBILITY that they have been tampered with and their right message is distorted and manipulated to suit the agendas of the powerful few.

I am still open to the possibility that there may be more scriptures yet undiscovered about Ramayana and Mahabharat and thus my opinions may also chnage.

Furthermore, there are many things I still can't digest when I read Ramayan and Mahabharat and its Ok....because experience changes perspective. Maybe someday... I will understand some of the decisions of the characters within these epics.

Lastly, the one thing people need to do is that they should read their own scriptures in the original language so they can build their own interpretations and have healthy discussions on them NOT ARGUMENTS.

I know reading the OG scripts are not ideal but if u can try and if u cannot then read from variety of sources.

Do not read translations and if you do pls keep an open mind because translation is a powerful tool and many Indian words are not fully comprehended in other languages especially english.

I have seen many people translating Asurs as Demons when they are not and thus, here comes the abhrahamic influence.

This especialy pisses me off because unlike demons who are almost always evil (again limited knowledge) Asurs are not necessarily evil. They are people with their own qualities and conflicting ideals that contrast the Devas.

I think the battle of Asurs and Devas should be approached rationally. Someone once told me that these two species represent 2 different sides of humans. Sometimes, there is a need for Asurs mentality, sometimes Devas. And they co-exist within us, sometimes battling for supremacy other times working together for a greater goal.

Conclusively, approach a new philosphy with a open mind and if u can with no biases.

PS: Some of my opinions may ruffle some feathers but please try to think openly before u cuss me out.

Finally even after u think i have said something stupid, feel free to correct me.

And if u come at me with baseless accusations and stupid comments because I hurt your feelings or offended you...

then i apologize.....in advance...

FOR NOT GIVING A FUCK.....

Thank u

Also sorry about my language.....

My only excuse is I was ranting.....

[trikis-turntables]

Out of morbid curiosity i went to look at the new story in Dislyte with Sachiko and holy shit. Which fucken hack wrote this? I'm not spoiler tagging this cause really, it's not worth the effort.

I kind of???????Man.

It felt like someone read the original story and wrote a petty rewrite that blatantly shows their biases for and against certain characters.

Like the biggest issue was defo the Gaius plot twist he got actually done dirty?? Idk i feel like its a problem with the isekai/transmigration genre as a whole but you don't innovate by subverting subversions. You just end up going back to stereotypes. OG!Gaius was a subversion of the whole "Stoic Highly Decorated Man in Position of Power that doesn't look like he belongs" and then he proves time and time again that he's approachable and loves and cares for people so deeply that he'd maintain an image of himself (his display of medals--that garners negative comments about his character being prideful, mind you) just on the rare occasion that it could provide some comfort to the people he's helping. He lives eVERYDAY, trying to live up to Hannah's memory. This is a man that misses burnt peach pie because his wife made it for him. In the new storyline..he's just a transcendent obsessed, power hungry bastard. None of the character nuance.

And then Abigail and Alexa. I hate that they're not allowed to just be morally grey characters. New update makes them "acceptably" morally grey which IMO just flattens their characters. "Yes, a female character can be morally grey if they are your allies." Like fuck right off lmao. What's that??? The central intrigue of Abigail's personality is her ruthlessness contrasted with her softness for the few (few) people she actually cares about. It's literally her song. Roses in the snow.

And ugh. I hate the new "human"-ist moral of the Unknown Story. The fun part of the original Dislyte story was that people *dont know* what to think about Esper powers. Like Miracles are Dangerous, that's been established. Miramons are unknown beings that tend to cause mayhem and destruction. But on the espers' side? We run the gamut of characters seeing their powers as a source of good-- that because they gained powers they can better help and protect others (Tang Xuan, Li Ling, Ahmed, Bardon etc); to characters that hate their transformation because it turned them into monsters or changed their appearance in such a way to cause them great discomfort and body dysphoria (Nu Xi, Brewster, Heng Yue) and so many more that are ambivalent or have other things to worry about. And the central interest of their humanity *was* that contrast of perspectives. Shadow Decree was interesting as a unit because their mission statement was "Esper Acceptance" and that can mean both "we should understand how espers works so we should research it" to "live and let live" to "Esper Supremacy". Like remember when the story used to show the dichotomy of the glitz and glam of the Esper Union against the backdrop that many common folk and non powerful espers discriminated against Espers? That's the subversion. To flatten the message to "we must save the humans!!" and "esperification unilaterally corrupts and makes people go power hungry" is a 12 year old's idea of writing and nuance because it /ignores/ that people can have different perspectives over the same thing.

And haaaah. Like if anything that dislyte is good at, its in making characters that at least a few people will care about even if theyre mentioned shortly. That's just how strong the personalities are in this game. But it's kind of telling that I've seen no fanart or writing of Sachiko at all. Berenice, for how much I did not vibe with her or care about her in the story is beloved by even more people than I can count. (Also just petty sidenote: when a 'soft' female character gets 'corrupted' by power, and also the trope of female character having to be "saved" by ...getting mcfucken murdered by the masc main character)

But I think it's just sad that they cared so little for the new story that they couldn't even come up with a name for the Miracle. Unknown Miracle? You didn't even want to know your own story, man.

[pan-magi]

Anime and Manga Comparison (Encore): Amon

I'm back at it once more, and this time it's at the beginning. Not the very beginning, but close enough! This time comparing the first dungeon. I talked before on the specific humor compared to action we see with the slimes. Now, I want to focus on the design of the dungeon itself.

I love the intro dungeon in the manga. It's great. I do appreciate the comedic timing and framing of some Ohtaka's panels. The manga also shows Alibaba's problem-solving skills better. He has the moment in the anime showing he knows Tran and is well read and can lie pretty easily. But convincing a rich petty man that has never done anything by himself isn't saying that much.

Alibaba is able to deduce the proper way to go is the path left unmarked. Not something particularly hard in retrospect. It is a common tactic to leave some kind of marker where you've been to avoid confusion He is smart to break out of the in-the-box thinking he and Aladdin were stuck in. They thought the markings were something left by the dungeon itself as clues to progress. A good ol' dungeon puzzle. It wasn't though. It was merely something left by former adventurers to not screw themselves over and get lost. Taking a minute to go "wait a sec" isn't that easy, especially in a high stake location like being stuck in a dungeon.

I love the parts in the manga that didn't make it into the anime. It is great, truly.

But goddamn is it Amon generic as fuck.

Spikes in a death pit? Ancient language that you should know or else? Bland stone corridors and caves with multiple paths you have to travel through? Slimes as the common dungeon creature?

It's so painfully generic. I can't even, lmao.

I get the impression that Ohtaka did not know what she was going for in depth with the dungeons. I don't mean that as lack of experience or planning ahead, but more-so as just wanting to get her series off the ground so she went with common tropes she knew her readers would expect and probably enjoy. A safe bet to work her story out.

The rest of the dungeons once she gets around to them have so much character. The second you're in Zagan you can tell: this belongs to an earth djinn. Baal as the first dungeon in SnB feels more standard but has more stuff going for it. I love the creature designs inside a lot of Sin's conquered dungeons.

Belial is an absolute mindfuck and I love it so much. It's a psychological barrage of confronting your trauma and biases because Belial more than anyone else has to make sure he has a King's Candidate that has their shit together. Then it fails miserably. It has to be my favorite dungeon in the entire series.

Amon has nothing on any of that.

The anime in contrast?

From the outset, in a way in which your ass will be fried if you don't pay attention, the lesson is clear: this belongs to a fire djinn. Be careful or you are dead. 10,000 have gone in and very few had come out. It's great. The dungeon had such a powerful glow up in the anime. 10/10 will recommend for certain death.

A couple other things that don't really fit into the theme of dungeon design. In the manga, Aladdin sits around and waits because the time dilation is different for people entering the dungeon. Something that isn't really brought up in the anime is that people travel to and from dungeons separately and at different rates. Anime Aladdin could have been there for a while. I doubt it though as kid would have drowned and been burned alive of Alibaba didn't grab him and bolt out of there.

The bigger more subtle change is how Amon is summoned.

Manga: Story based on Aladdin and the Lamp. Cannot not have the imagery of Aladdin touching the lamp (or its stand-in in this case).

Anime: It's the moment when Aladdin chooses Alibaba as king. The magi has made his choice, and Amon decides that is a definitive time to come out. That isn't something that is clear on first watch. Odd that the room would suddenly light up when Aladdin helps Alibaba up. It is easy to miss the significance with not being introduced to the magi system until afterward. On rewatch it felt like a sledgehammer to me on how blatant they made it. When the anime hits you with the symbolism, it goes all out.

About wraps it up this time. Next, I'll probably try to tackle the beautiful mess that is Zagan's arc changes because BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Mostly how it is surprisingly well done but so many people come out looking dumber in the anime. omg.

[pblovesjelly]

Boo me all you want but Mouthwashing was not good.

The writer(s) of Mouthwashing handled Anya just as poorly as Curly handled her situation.

Whereas Curly’s neglect of Anya, her situation and choosing to be a friend to Jimmy (the same man who threatens Curly outright before the crash) over Anya /the crews well-being , the writing neglects to give Anya a voice or even character unlike everyone and everything else in the story; including the damn mascot.

Like most horror, women are easily made into victims but rarely do some of these writers have the depth to properly handle what being a victim means/carries. I get far more insight how the writers feel about women themselves than the message they want to share about the women they write.

Why should you deserve a pat on a back for writing the same horror tropes women are put in and create a story that feels like someone’s poor understand of women’s studies and easily missed the purpose of why such studies exists beyond to tell people “men… rape… rape…bad…”

The audience is given insight to everyone else on who they are, how they feel, and what they are like except Anya. I can’t even give them credit for breaking the fourth wall when the fourth wall has a giant Anya shaped hole that feels so jarring. Why can’t we know things she likes or how she feels about her own abusers? The fact that the creators missed out on an opportunity to use environmental story telling for her is so frustrating.

The entire time we see her she’s just a victim. She is in survivor mode before anyone else is and even the one moment it appears we get insight of her feeling and thoughts… its to talk about abuse. I couldn’t even think if she had asked Jimmy to do give Curly the medicine out of pettiness, imagined kindness, indifference?? We have nothing to work with beyond her being bad at her job. And even then her credentials only come into question by Jimmy, her abuser.

[deedala]

🎇 Happy New Year Friends!! 🎇

From the Diary of Virginia Woolf: January 2, 1931: Here are my resolutions for the next 3 months; the next lap of the year. To have none. Not to be tied. To be free & kindly with myself, not goading it to parties: to sit rather privately reading in the studio. Sometimes to read, sometimes not to read. To go out yes—but stay at home in spite of being asked. As for clothes, to buy good ones.

For today's return to WTW, i thought it might be fun to celebrate the ways in which we survive and manage to find peace and happiness in our one precious life here on Earth. And so...

-----------------------------------

✨W e e k l y 🌟 T a g 🌟 W e d n e s d a y✨

Name: Deanna 🌱

Location: oHIo🌽

Astrological Sign: Scorpio 🦂

What's a TV show or movie you plan to re-watch this year? obvi i'm in a constant state of re-watching shameless but otherwise right now im thinking maybe some bob's burgers, some futurama, austenland...

Whats a book or fic you will probably re-read this year? ooohh you know...the usual suspects tbh: cooperative gameplay, itqd, faffy, love is a ballfield, none the wiser, the menagerie... AND...*IF* DA4 is gonna actually come out soon I'll probably re-read my fav stories from Tevinter Nights!!!

What is a song you will likely continue to play on repeat? uuhh right now its still chappell roan's whole album and hozier's unreal unearth. im sorry for cheating on my own question and basically naming like 30 songs lol

What's a tasty treat you look forward to eating more of this year? i dont think i managed to eat enough chocolate chip cookies last year, i should eat more. also i haven't had an andes mint in forever??? need some of those STAT. oh my god i totally missed out on girl scout cookies last year too!!!

What's a time sink that you will continue to sink time into this year? scrolling tumblr ofc!!!

Did you pick up any habits in 2023 that you plan to continue? not really?? maybe kind of reblogging my own posts more and trying not to feel bad about it??

What's your toxic trait? leaving petty little thoughts in my friends DMs while they're sleeping 😛

What is a coping mechanism you will continue to indulge in this year? ✨disassociation✨

Tell me something you like about how you look! my skin has been pretty nice lately, good job skin. (do you guys remember that old vine of the broken toy that would just say "sssskkiiiiinnnn" when squeezed?? i remember lolol)

Give me at least three adjectives describing things you like about yourself. loyal, generous, thoughtful

----------------------------------- Now for tagging nuggets: additionally I want to thank @mybrainismelted and @jrooc for helping me with this post!! @michellemisfit @mmmichyyy @darlingian @too-schoolforcool @juliakayyy @gardenerian @heymrspatel @heymacy @gallawitchxx @metalheadmickey @mickeysgaymom @thisdivorce @transmickey @tanktopgallavich @lingy910y @suchagallabitch @shippergirl121fic @the-rat-wins @thepupperino @energievie @callivich @lee-ow @purplemagpie @sleepyfacetoughguy @softmick @vintagelacerosette @sam-loves-seb @crossmydna @creepkinginc @suzy-queued @rereadanon @iansw0rld @milkmaidovich @sickness-health-all-that-shit @palepinkgoat @auds-and-evens @ardent-fox 💖

[anohai]

A big issue with Seyka’s character arc in Burning Shores...

*clicks tongue* Fuck it. 

I debated over writing this out and posting it. Decided I might as well for not only my personal catharsis, but because it's been over 3 weeks since Burning Shores came out, I have had the time to mull things over more, talk with some friendly people who came to the some of the same conclusions I did, and really analyze everything. I’ve seen a sprinkle of other people expressing something similar to what I am about to cover, but I felt this deserved its own topic of conversation. 

And forewarn, there be spoilers. 

.

.

.

Of course, we're back to Seyka. I promise I'm not trying to pick on her. She actually has loads of potential, and I don't think she's a bad character. It's just she deserved better than what was shown in her overall character arc.

Last time, I wrote about the Seyloy romance, and why it is difficult (for some more than others) to feel good about it. This critique isn't going to be about that again in case you are wondering if I'm simply yelling louder in the echo chamber, but there will be some correlation to it. The more I played the DLC, the more I realized that while I still wasn’t sold on the romance, it wasn’t the root of why something felt off with Seyka’s story to me. So once the adrenaline of having a new shiny DLC to run around in wore off and was able to properly take my time soaking things in, this was the conclusion I came to: 

The biggest issue with Seyka's entire character arc is that they tried way too hard to make her near-exile situation comparable to Aloy's when it very, very much is not. 

In any capacity whatsoever. As to why? 

Seyka tells us at one point that she loves her tribe, her community, and has always felt she's had a place in it until recently. The reason she's in any hot water at all when we meet her is because she ran off and stole a diviner's focus. Seyka is a marine, not a diviner so we know this is considered a huge taboo among the Quen. They are a sovereign tribe with a classicist system where the people are allowed to know only what is deemed necessary based on their role and/or rank. Should rules be broken, we are left to assume based on our conversations with Alva and even interactions with the Ceo & Overseer Bohai in HFW that the royal family and those in charge are imposing & unforgiving enough that normally there are severe consequences. 

Luckily for Seyka, this isn't the case. 

The first time we follow her back to Fleet's End, we're met with those who are referred to as Compliance Officers who are wanting a nasty word or two with our new friend. We are brought to Admiral Gerrit, the real person in charge, and he is....actually quite understanding of Seyka's actions. He gives her a quick verbal slap on the wrist but proceeds to give her full permission to continue her search for her sister and their other missing people with the stolen focus on hand. He's humble enough to tell Aloy in a private conversation afterwards if you choose to talk to him that their faction of the expedition has been spread thin enough as it is and Seyka has already proven herself to be a valuable and skilled member. Enough so that he admits he’s become increasingly reliant on her regardless of only being a petty officer in title. This assessment is fair and kind. It’s more than I would have expected out of someone with such a high position among the Quen of all tribes. 

Seyka is given a huge safety net thanks to this swell guy. The compliance offers themselves can't do anything, and from what we see in the side quests, they are seemingly nothing more than a few school-yard bullies without any real authority to their position. They are annoying & petty at worst. All bark, no bite. As far as the rest of the Quen go, most individuals we come across seem either pretty cool or neutral with Seyka. It's not until later that we get any indication  there are some who are calling for her exile afterall, but we only know this because we hear it from Seyka instead of seeing it happen. People are talking, as they will, and she's furious about it. 

But really....the threat still isn't there. It never was. At least not to the extent I think we are supposed to believe it was. 

All things considered, Seyka was placed in a very privileged, advantageous position amongst those in her tribe. Along with the lack of visible threat, there is never any real tension shown minus a few grumblings expressed in the background when we first arrive in Fleet’s End. And despite how Aloy perceives her, Seyka isn’t exactly a black sheep here. Especially when you consider she never had any personal turmoil with the rest of her tribe until not long before the events of Burning Shores and happily tells you herself she has always felt like she’s belonged. She's pretty much allowed to do what she wants without much pushback, and I found myself rolling my eyes during the final scene where she says she's unsure of where she stands with her tribe. Seyka is not an outcast, and I, for one, was never convinced or afraid she was at real risk of becoming one. 

Which makes this all the more confusing when Aloy says she's an inspiration. An outcast in all but name. I'm willing to chalk some of this up to hormones talking and Aloy's growing infatuation taking a choke hold as most first time crushes will do. Except the problem here is that the writing clearly felt like we were meant to connect Seyka's strife with Aloy's on some level; carry the same sympathy for her that Aloy expresses, and see more of where their similarities hold up. 

And yet...

I felt more for Kotallo who was kicked from his initial clan because his leader saw him as a threat and then later, might as well have gotten demoted for losing an arm because his tribe sees him as near useless for it..

And Zo who lives among the most pacifist, peace-loving tribe and was admonished when she not only went to fight back in the Red Raids, but wanted to do something about the blight and their broken Land Gods..

And Talanah who had to fight against blatant sexism that many carry in her tribe and an actual attempt for her murder all because she wanted to move up in the Lodge and make things better..

And Aloy, herself, who was outcast at birth for simply being born without a mother. And spent her entire life with only the man who raised her for company. In one small valley. For 19 years. Because there was no choice for her. 

But somehow, we're supposed to see Seyka the same way Aloy does? Like no one she's ever met??

I...Really? 

I'm sorry, but I don't buy this rebel fighter, near-outcast ploy here. And saying she's unlike anyone Aloy has ever met feels like a slap in the face to not only Aloy, herself, but to some of her companions we have come to know & love in the first two games. Most of whom I'd argue have been through more hell because of their own tribes long before they even met her. Seyka's plight is trivial, inconsequential in comparison and no where near as crippling as Aloy's was or her friends. It's honestly frustrating that it feels suggested it is. 

What's worse is that this plotline is used as one big narrative tool to bring Seyka and Aloy closer on standing grounds outside of ability and personality. This essentially means Seyka and her entire character arc were written for the sole purpose of the romance. A character built for Aloy to quickly fall head over heels for and add progress in her own arc. I wrote last time that I can see this growth as an opportunity to explore romance further for Aloy with a pre-established character or two in H3. If I’m right & that happens to be the heart-wrenching, long-term, master plan Guerilla is going for, they have my applause (and my stress). Great for Aloy. In my opinion though, being created to be a love interest (lasting or not) for the main hero is a bit unfair to Seyka. 

She's clever, she's badass, and she isn't afraid to take action without permission and help where she can. Next to Aloy, however, she stands as a self-reflection of her. A spotless mirror as to who Aloy could have been had she grown up under a community as well. I would love to see Seyka break out on her own as an individual character that isn't in the context of romance if ever given the opportunity. 

Heck, if Guerilla wanted to in the eventuality they will be finished with Aloy's story, the Quen have easy potential to have an entire spinoff game revolved around them. We have a whole side quest in BS where a small group of Quen want to sneak focuses to non-diviners for the sake of knowing what's usually kept hidden from them. Hello, is that the beginnings of a rebellion, I see? And the world of Horizon has yet to be explored in places outside of the North American continent. Other tribes, different machines, more Old World locations, etc. Loads of potential everywhere. And guess what!? We practically have a budding main character on a silver platter: Seyka! She obviously has big enough main character energy. Might as well utilize it outside of a DLC if you can, and I don't mean for the next game. 

It's hard say for sure whether or not Seyka will remain a DLC character. No matter what fans say, the ending was left ambiguous. Not only because of the romance but also where Seyka's future lies. She knows about Nemesis, yet she tells Aloy she's unsure of what she wants to do after her faction reunites with the other half in San Francisco, whether it's going home or something else. I would think if Guerilla had solid plans to include her in H3 while they were developing Burning Shores, they would have written the ending where she either offers to stay behind in Legacy’s Landfall for a time like Alva does or Aloy asks for her aid to help fight against Nemesis. Something to make it more clear she's here to stay. We don't though, so as far as anyone outside of Guerilla is currently aware, Seyka is not guaranteed to play a big part in H3 if any at all. And remember, DLCs are meant to be an extension of the main game and are primarily optional. They are typically not a requirement for playing the next big installment as far as understanding the story goes. 

If she does show up in H3, the only thing I dread is the idea of her coming up and saying she's basically denounced her tribe because she still feels out of place and doesn't think she can belong afterall. Not to mention she has her sister, and after what happened with Kina, it would be a really bad look if she just decided to permanently leave her behind when her tribe isn't or never was trying that hard to push her away in the first place. And Seyka said it herself. She’s “not some weak-kneed sailor who abandons ship when the seas get rough,” and I’d like to believe she means it. It'd be one thing if she actually is forced into exile, but after the events of the DLC, she has too good of a repertoire for that to happen now. At least while she's outside of Quen homelands. 

(Btw, don't even get me started on Aloy's convo with Kina over "remember Seyka's been through a lot too" as if we didn't just rescue this poor girl from A CULT and nearly groomed into becoming this centuries-old dude's image of his dead wife. Like honey, I know you're in love but have some thought & tact here.) 

That’s about it. I will reiterate that as a character, I do actually like Seyka. As a self-imposed outcast? No. As Aloy’s love interest? That…needs some serious work. But as an individual who loves her tribe but will fight for what she believes in even if it means going against the royal, societal grain? Absolutely! And special kudos to Kylie Liya Page for bringing her to life. 

Also, if you want to read a review that summarizes everything I just ranted about better than I could manage, along with everything good and not-so-great when it comes to the DLC, I recommend this essay here by ariseis. 

If you made it to the end of this long rant, thanks for reading~ 

[twig-tea]

Final Thoughts on To Be Continued

Ok, I know I was loudly still mad at this show last week in @respectthepetty's notes, who was very kind (and even encouraging) about it. @happypotato48 talked me down a bit by suggesting there was more in the novel that might still come, and he was right! This week we got an explanation that helped me find the through-thread that was missing between the flashbacks and the start of the show, so I can let that go. I was pretty satisfied with that part of this week's finale overall, and was really glad that they added that connecting piece for me.

Short non-spoilery version of where I landed: I was skeptical it was going to land the core storyline, but for me it did. I liked it in the end, but there are a number of hurdles to enjoying this show so I wouldn't recommend this without caveats (mostly related to pacing).

With all of that being said, it's one of the better pulps this year so far, and worth a watch if you love mutual pining, don't mind slow episodes, and enjoy when a show lets its characters make mistakes. I'm glad I watched it.

For anyone curious about this show, here's where this show worked for me, and where it didn't. Spoilers under the cut!

What I Liked

I really enjoyed Ji getting to be petty to Achi at the beginning of the series, and the way the show made clear that Ji knew exactly how conflicted he was about Achi showing up in his life again.

I love yearning, and the yearning in this series was top-notch. The way Ji could not help himself when it came to accepting Achi's overtures, and the way Achi used his overtures to say over and over again "I know you; I know us; I am willing to put in effort to prove I mean it" was delicious.

I did like the flashbacks and how they were doled out through the series to add context and explain what was happening. The timing of the flashbacks in the story was well done and gave us the info we needed when we needed it.

I liked how clear consent was in this show, and how consent alone did not result in a perfect scenario, especially as kids. I did appreciate how the main conflict from the past was essentially teenage boys did not know how to communicate and blew everything out of proportion/did not understand how to think about things from the others' perspective.

And from this last episode, I liked how the show let us see that years of reflection helped Achi realize what things must have felt like from Ji's perspective, and once he had confirmation that Ji was devastated when he left, it makes sense that he would be able to meet up with Ji again with both confidence and contrition in order to get the reconciliation he wants. I also really liked the contrast in the sex scenes between their first time when they didn't kiss for most of the scene and their first time as boyfriends where they can't seem to stop kissing.

Finally, I love competence, and I really enjoyed getting to see Ji be a competent surgeon and Achi be good at his job managing fan expectations of his personal life. Achi handled the relationship reveal with confidence knowing he'd be able to manage the fallout, and his manager was supportive once he was sure Achi actually had a plan.

What I Didn't Like

I seriously considered dropping this show after episode 4 because for the first little while, every other episode really dragged. It wasn't the order in which the story was doled out that was the issue, but there was so much unnecessary footage and scenes lingered too long within each episode. In short, there were moments when this show draaaaaaagged. So in terms of who it works/doesn't work for, having patience for really slow pacing within an episode is critical. It does pick up a bit after ep4, but never fully gets over this problem.

Egregiously in a show where some episodes felt too long, the show also didn't use the time it had to fully close off all the threads it started and some of the plots felt rushed. There was a redemption arc for Ji's father that felt incomplete/sudden to me (not to say people can't snap out of a 10-year depression but I wasn't really given any chance to feel much about this because we didn't really sit with him or his kids after it happened); the side characters' romance felt like it barely got off the ground (they honestly had the time, they just didn't use it), and Poppy's romance and career trajectory also barely got any time (this one is more forgivable as a third and het couple).

Beyond the multiple pacing issues, the acting was also shaky, and while the sex scenes are well staged and cut to hide this, they were a little awkward together during some of the moments of physical intimacy.

For my taste, I would have wanted to see more of the characters working on things and changing their behaviour; a lot of the push-pull in the middle of the series felt circular rather than progressive. Some of it was necessary: Achi did demonstrate he will stick around no matter how hard Ji makes it this time, and Ji did show that he can open up and be vulnerable with Achi eventually, and trust him when there are external threats. But I would have liked to have seen more of the parts that led to the change in them happen. They also spend a lot of time falling into old habits when they started hanging out together again, which was charming and realistic, but I would have loved to see more incorporation of their new lives. Achi basically takes a break from stardom to woo Ji, so we don't get a real sense of what their relationship will be like except in the finale which is quite brief.

I already gave my high-level summary above the fold: TL; DR I'm glad I watched but not everyone will enjoy this one.

[lunar1an]

while i tend to be uncharitable towards pale (seeing a story you really like go directions you don't want that you think actively hurt it while watching people uncritically praise every new development and meme character for three years tends to make you jaded!) i do think some people get a little silly about dissing a web serial they haven't read so like. to just put it down here.

i do think early pale is objectively one of wildbow's best works. like. the rotating three perspectives are used extremely well. the characters read as convincing and likable children, the cast is excellent, especially the starting Others. it's an alternate, lighter look at a dark setting and it works. the fact that the mystery isn't the premise so much as figuring out the problem of "how do we handle that some of these Others want to get rid of us". or later "how do we properly confront these people without being too cruel because society's already done that to them".

that's like. arcs 1-3. arcs 4-7 are also, i think, good, even if it's ultimately a diversion and some of the simplified messaging around Other treatment is a bit eh. alexander and bristow have a lot of character and while they're more straightforward pure antagonists it's fun to watch them be petty. the trio interacting with traditional practitioners is fun.

8-10 is like. pretty good. but some of the cracks start to show with arcs 9-10 dragging on a bit (it has melissa though so thats good). the new cast members are fun and interesting and tie into the conspirator plot. 9.9 is excellent if a hard read.

11-13 is like. where the dragging on elements intensify. a lot of Diversions happen that kind of get in the way of the trio Solving The Mystery(tm) and while a lot of those diversions are chocked down to one conspirator's work it feels more like it takes screentime away from the main plot and core cast which you're Really invested in. 12.z and about half of arc 13's chapters including the Break interludes are really good though, bringing a kind of like. pact-y vibe and atmosphere to the story which was sorely missed.

after arc 13 though its like. at this point it's less three rotating perspectives that each lay their eyes on the main plot at specific points with an intent to highlight certain aspects of the story (avery focused on connections, lucy focused directly on the mystery, verona focused on the Others). and more three separate web serial protagonists with their own plotlines loosely connected. and things get bloated. and start escalating beyond reason (70+ practitioners attacking kennet???). and the Practitioner = evil colonialist oppressor stuff gets silly. but i think like. at least the story still cohered. musser still continued the trend of jerk practitioners who abuse the system even if he's just a TwitchPlaysPractitioner stream that does things arbitrarily like a ghost or a dog. the founding sequence towards the end of arc 17 was cool even if i was a bit disappointed with how kennet found turned out.

i think if you were really invested in the trio and their story you could probably stop sometime around there and be satisfied. not a good or a clean ending, and you probably were better off stopping at arc 13, but it works.

but then pale keeps going and does a complete paradigm shift to make the literal Red Menace Revolutionary the antagonist. and has to justify the also purportedly revolutionary kennet opposing that antagonist and shit just goes sideways. and by now you start running into the more ridiculous stuff like "avery compares goblins to human minorities" (yes. i know the intent of her statement. it was still silly).

like. it just stopped cohering or being consistent or anything. plots and characters get introduced and discarded just as quickly and have little to no impact despite how hyped up they are initially. it's not good, and it actively hurts the material that came before it (retroactively making charles worse, for example).

even the setting stuff is like. early pale had some silly things like a technomancer being able to set up a worldwide magic jstor or this one glamour-drowned dude being wayyy too powerful with glamour for someone who wasn't even a fae or practitioner. but it was like. you could excuse or justify or ignore it if it didn't agree with you because at least the rest of pale was good. but then every Path turned into a whimsical video game level (among many other less ignorable things) and pale stopped being good.

and like. man. even despite that i still think about the carmine alcazar chapters and the story of a Beast who lived in a world that had long left her behind. and the trio in the back of a truck practicing runes with their magic hat. pale was good. it was good! but then it had to keep going.

[gnomescarfcomics]

Rings of Power: Episode 6 - Udun

Rewatch mini review. Chaotic and out of order.

This episode really benefits from having essentially just one plotline.

The Southlands plot may have been my least favorite overall this season, at least when it came to the villagers themselves. Adar and Arondir were the strong characters that held it together up to this point (honorable mention to Waldreg). But the slow burn of their collective story pays off here.

On the surface, it's a pretty standard underdog battle with some nice buildup and a rather predictable last minute save from a cavalry charge. A mini Helm's Deep in a lot of ways. But it works as a nice vessel for the Southlands and Numenor plots to come together. And the individual beats of the battle are unique because the villagers have to get creative with their small numbers. The part where they trap the orcs and ambush them feels like a nice nod to the Scouring of the Shire in the book, which had similar circumstances.

The detail of the two elves, Adar and Arondir, planting seeds before the battle is such a nice touch. Both sides are fighting for a home. One side has chosen darkness, despair, hate, and selfishness. While the other has chosen light, hope, love, and compassion.

Adar may have good intentions in his own twisted way, but his cruelty and one-track mind keep him and the orcs rooted in evil. He's only bringing his "children" further into harms way and making the rest of Middle-earth see them as nothing but slaves and creatures that must be wiped out, which is what he wanted to escape from.

Arondir started the series essentially as a somewhat reluctant jailer of the people of the Southlands. But he's chosen to focus on the good in them, no matter how much may go wrong. He acknowledges the darkness but holds onto the light, while Adar has given up on the light completely and pretends darkness is an acceptable alternate.

The big reveal of the villagers realizing they were killing their own people is such a perfect representation of this season's themes. Everyone is fighting the darkness within themselves and finding unnecessary conflict with people that should be friends and allies. And this is the ultimate result of when those inner struggles fail and the petty differences escalate beyond repair.

I'm not a fan of fake out deaths in general. They have to be done very well and used sparingly for them to work for me. So having two for Bronwyn an episode apart feels really weak, especially considering she won't even be in the second season. That wasn't the original plan, but still…

The scenes with Galadriel, Adar, and Sauron are some of the best in the entire season. They explore the moral ugliness of slaughtering orcs and Tolkien's own unease with the fact that he essentially created a "damned" race. Delving into this was such a great idea and executed very well. The orcs are kept pitiable without ignoring their evil. I'll really miss Joseph Mawle as Adar. He was one of the highlights of this season. I especially love the subtleties of his acting when he's reunited with Sauron. Does he actually recognize him and just refuses to acknowledge it? So much is accomplished in just a few moments.

And just how redeemable is Sauron? Knowing who he is makes every interaction so fun to watch and interesting. His scene sitting beside Galadriel is one of the best. Their relationship was such a surprising aspect of the series for me, but it worked so well. On paper it sounds like such a lame idea. Yet with the right amount of thought and care, along with a couple of skilled actors, they created a significant connection between characters that holds the themes of the season together. While it may have gone further in some places than I would have liked, you can at least see the roots of every choice being inspired by bits and pieces from Tolkien's writings.

The creation of Mt. Doom may not be 100% practically sound, but its combination of dark magic and soulless machinery feel thematically right for the story. Just as Galadriel surviving getting engulfed in fire and smoke might not completely make sense. It's a stunning visual that works perfectly for her arc.

(And let's not pretend Frodo and Sam wouldn't have been instantly suffocated and cooked alive at Mt. Doom).

[bellamyroselia]

I've recently been thinking of how some of the missing Olympian gods could be adapted for future Kid Icarus games and in Poseidon's case he could be expanded upon, so I decided to dump some of my abridged thoughts about them here. Turned out I still had lot of things to say, but in general these thoughts are about what I think these gods could do and why it's possible, along with what kind of relationships they could have with the already existing KI-cast. Considering the subject matter, expect to see mythology-typical mind-fuckery and the words "motive failure" a lot - not only are these people extremely unhinged, in many myths the gods take the "fuck around and find out" approach way too literally.

To see this on its entirety, go here.

Starting with Hestia, she has a bad case of motive failure. Like what are you supposed to do with her? You can count her major mythological appearances on one hand, and even in those she doesn’t do much. It does also make imagining what kind of relationships she could have with the existing cast hard; none of Hestia's relationships are all that developed to begin with, but the ones she has with her siblings are those that get most focus… So that only really leaves Hades, Poseidon and maybe Viridi? Not much to work with, and I can’t really imagine those relationships being anything else but positive. Sure, they may disagree of some things, but overall they get along with each other. The most interesting thing about Hestia’s possible relationships is that I could actually see Dark Pit liking her due to her nice and unproblematic nature. It does leave plot potential pretty minimal though, but I could see writers using some legends about Vestal virgins as bases for plotlines where Hestia shows up as a supporting side character. The problem with those is that they tend to be pretty specific, so who knows how well they might actually work. “Arx tarpeia Capitoli proxima” makes a good moral but not much of a plotline if you divorce it from... Well, Tarpeia herself. Another possibility is that Pit’s sent to defend a place that had its sacred flame extinguished and he has to defeat the culprit behind that.

Artemis also suffers from motive failure. She may be a bringer of sudden death and disease along with being a serious contender for the title of the most wrathful Olympian, but… She’s so petty with it? Much of it is very small-scaled all things considered. Most things she does don’t have long-term consequences, and the few that do are quickly hijacked by other deities whose actions have bigger impacts to the myths in question. Like yeah, Artemis may have told Agamemnon to kill his daughter if he wants to set sails to Troy, but who cares when Apollo is inflicting the Greeks with a plague and Athena is ignoring the pleads of Trojan women. This being said, I could see her being used as an unfought antagonist for a chapter or two depending on what she does (something akin to her sending the Calydonian boar to terrorize Calydon could work), though that story ends the moment the threat is dealt with. I however wouldn’t cross out the possibility of her appearing as an ally out, though I’m not sure what she could offer to Pit and co. if that was the case as she’s not really a god of anything that could help Pit on his journey. And I honestly don’t see her having particularly positive relationships with anyone in the already existing cast - she may not dislike any of them, but she doesn’t really like them either. She’s a true neutral in that sense, which could possibly earn her Dark Pit’s respect. How long that’s going to last is a completely different matter though, it may be small-scaled put she’s still very wrath-happy person.

Have some more motive failure with Hermes, though this time it has everything to do with him being a rather hard character to utilize in a world without Zeus - because of the rating he’s not allowed to be horndog making more of himself and since Zeus isn’t there asking him to do things, it leaves him with next to nothing to do. He’s extremely loyal to Zeus and this loyalty is exclusive to him; while Hermes clearly loves the rest of his family, he wouldn’t do half of the things he does for his father for them… And boy, has he done lot of things for his father. He’s a big daddy’s boy and daddy simply can't be replaced because Hermes just doesn’t love many people in the same unconditional way he loves his father - this means he’d have to be an independent figure, since the only person he’d be a lackey for is out of the picture. Now Hermes does have some interesting figures connected to him, like his son Autolycus (shapeshifting thief and the maternal grandfather of both Jason and Odysseus, whose name literally means “the wolf itself”) and the goddess of persuasion Peitho who’s described as his wife on occasion, but I’m not sure how any of that could be utilized. Autolycus possibly could've had some potential as a recurring character if he wasn’t dead by old age, but who knows, maybe he did get deified and therefore became an immortal in the world of Kid Icarus. I mean, Medusa is just a sea daemon and a dead one of that in the myths so why not let Autolycus to become a god. But back to Hermes, what I think of his possible relationships with already existing characters? They’re likely positive overall and I can see him appreciating both Pits for their spunk, but I think that the most potential comes from different minor antagonists, like Thanatos, Phosphora and Pandora. In case of the last one, Hermes was the one who gave Pandora her personality so there's that. Into the two former ones, Hermes is a psychopomp which means that he guided spirits to afterlife and he was everyone’s preferred psychopomp. Only person who wasn’t happy to see him in this duty was Sisyphus (Ares freed Thanatos after he had been captured by Sisyphus and brought them both back to Underworld → Sisyphus sweet talks Persephone into letting him go for a short period of time → Sisyphus refuses to return and Thanatos refuses to try bringing him back, so Hermes drags him to Underworld), so one could argue that Hermes is better at doing Thanatos’ job than he is - the fact that the Sisyphus-myth is one of Thanatos’ only major mythological appearances doesn’t exactly help him in this situation. One could get some funny dialogue out of that. With Phosphora, her Japanese name is derived from Electra, who’s the younger sister of Hermes’ mother Maia. For some additional hilarity, Maia and Electra are both elder sisters of Merope, Sisyphus’ wife. Everything about the possibility of having Hermes, Phosphora and Thanatos interact smells like a comedy goldmine to me. But let’s be real, isn’t it weird that Hermes has never been a merchant in any KI-game? It’s so goddamn absurd considering how he’s the god of commerce! You’d think he would’ve been the first choice for that, but apparently not! That’s a one big missed opportunity!

Hera too has a case of motive failure, but the reasons behind it are pretty simple. First is the same as with Hermes, which is that Hera doesn’t get to do much in a world without Zeus; can't be angry about your husband being unfaithful to you when your husband isn’t around. The second reason is equally simple, it being that Hera likes Athena. In fact she probably loves Athena more than she loves Ares, Hephaestus and Eileithyia (aka Lucina) combined (her love for Athena and Hebe is probably around the equal level and if it’s in someone’s favor, it’s Hebe’s), so toss away all the possibilities of her being a villainous force. It wouldn’t really make sense considering how Palutena is mostly Athena-inspired character. The two goddesses are pretty much partners in crime and by crime I literally mean “Let’s try to overthrow Zeus with Poseidon and Apollo” and “Let’s be the only deities to celebrate Troy’s destruction” levels of things, having each others backs whenever something happens so I think it would be better to just let Palutena have a good relationship with her. With Pit things probably would get a tad more confusing depending on some other factors, but on a vacuum it’s hard to say anything about them. Regardless of those I think she and Dark Pit would have a pretty rocky relationship, as Hera along with her favorite stepdaughter and Aphrodite were some of the biggest menaces to society when Zeus was still in the picture… All roads may not lead to Rome, but many do lead to a scorned goddess, a nosey goddess or to an easily angered goddess.

[daz4i]

ohh if you do a character design analysis, i'd love to read one on atsushi and the removal of his beloved (to me) black stripe. could just be laziness but it's always been very strange to me

oooooo yeah i think the removal is out of "it would be a pain to add this to every frame he's in" D: same as the chain on chuuya's hat 😔

but as a general design analysis! atsushi actually has a lot going on!

lore wise, we know from some manga omake that 1 his hair looks like this bc he got a haircut from the kids in the orphanage 2 his clothes are a collection of stuff from the ada, each member got him a different piece

first off that's adorable. he's so cute. second i think it goes to show how affected he is by those around him - everything you can see on him besides his actual face was someone else's choice. i don't think it's entirely out of wanting to please others, more like being grateful to those who help him and are there for him, as well as not having enough of an established identity to make these choices on his own

atsushi's whole driving force for a good chunk of the story is to help others, so he can earn the right to live. and i think this is a good reflection of it! he is very dependent on the people in his life to confirm even the most basic of things (that he's allowed to live), and so it makes sense it'll be reflected in his design c: even if it ends up being mismatched or a mess of a haircut, he'll keep it this way, because that's physical proof that someone else gave him this permission, on him all the time

in addition to that, his design is mainly white with some splashes of black. that is ofc to oppose akutagawa's design, with the whole ying yang thing they've got going on

and ofc! to mirror the tiger! that's also why he has the black stripe in his hair, i think. black stripes on white fur hehe. as well as mirroring the smidge of white in akutagawa's hair imo! really hammer in the ying yang thing :P

it's interesting how his eyes are yellow and purple, usually a mix but sometimes with one overtaking the other. i think i read once that they're yellow when atsushi's more... protective and ig "good"? and purple when he's being vindictive or petty, but i could be misremembering/the thing i read might've been inaccurate, so pls take this with a grain of salt 🙏

still, whether or not that's true, i think this mix of colors is very interesting. to get into interpretation (which, tbf, this whole post is just that lol) it might be related to the time of twilight, governed by the agency? a connection between night and day, darkness and light. in a way, atsushi himself embodies that, by being the key to finding the book that every group in the story is looking for, that is the connecting force between everyone in the world due to its reality altering powers, but i like the idea that it's a subtle way of saying atsushi definitely belongs in the agency, and always has.

that's all i have now! i encourage others to offer their own takes, or cover anything i might've missed in the reblogs 🫡