#if it also makes sense and could possibly be true?

[solaquintette]

A Feminist Reading of Junko Touhou

The following is a slightly reworked thread I posted to the Everything App last year, using Euripides' Medea as a device to explore how Junko Touhou (from Touhou) subverts our expectations of stories of women seeking revenge.

One of the reasons I adore Junko and why her story features so heavily in my art is because of how she subverts the typical portrayal of female rage and revenge in literature and media. I often see her as Euripides' Medea-if-she-was-fucking-awesome. Traditionally, 'female rage' is depicted as something rooted in romantic betrayal, often directed at a man who has been unfaithful, with his mistress also falling victim to the scorned woman's wrath. While feeling anger over infidelity is obviously valid, literature often acts as though this is the most intense pain a woman can feel, as though it is the only justifiable reason for her to unleash her rage and seek revenge. Even when it comes to the loss of a child, stories frequently assign the role of avenger to the father, while the mother is left to express her grief in a quiet, restrained manner, expected to endure rather than act.

Junko completely rejects that mold. While her grudge is initially directed at Hou Yi, a man, it has nothing to do with romance, infidelity, or rejection (at least in Touhou canon; her mythological origins vary). She isn't heartbroken over love; she is a mother whose child was taken from her, and she is out for revenge, pure and simple. And once Hou Yi is out of the picture, her rage turns to Chang'e, not because of a petty rivalry, not because of beauty, not because of a man, but because she needs to avenge her son at any cost. There is no underlying romantic narrative, no love triangle, no traditional "woman scorned" trope. Her rage is unfiltered and all-consuming.

What makes Junko's depiction even more striking is that her grief and rage are not presented in a way that is easy to digest. They are not subtle, delicate, or aesthetically pleasing. They are messy, relentless, and brutal. Even her danmaku lacks beauty. It reflects the rawness of her pain, an expression of fury that refuses to be softened or romanticised. Junko does not conform to the palatable, almost sanitised versions of female vengeance often depicted in media, where anger is neatly packaged into clever manipulation or quiet suffering. Instead, she embodies something far more visceral and real.

There is something deeply relatable about Junko’s need for revenge, particularly for anyone who has ever experienced loss or injustice. Her rage seems directionless to those who haven't felt that kind of grief. After all, Chang’e didn’t personally kill her son. And yet, if you’ve ever suffered a wrong so profound that the thought of seeing the perpetrator go unpunished feels unbearable, Junko’s quest makes perfect sense. Justice is not always attainable, and the idea of having to simply accept that reality is its own kind of hell. Junko exhausted every possible avenue for vengeance, and ultimately, her pursuit is futile. The one person who remains as a final target for her rage cannot even be killed. And even if she could kill Chang’e, it would never bring her son back. Her story is a bleak but brutally honest portrayal of grief: there is no true resolution, no catharsis, just the endless, aching persistence of loss.

Her identity is almost entirely consumed by this loss. The idea of grief shaping or even erasing identity is something worth exploring on its own, but in Junko’s case, it is clear that she has stripped herself down to nothing but vengeance. In many ancient cultures, particularly in antiquity, a woman’s identity was intrinsically tied to her role as a mother. When Junko lost her son, she lost not only him but also the identity that had previously defined her. And yet, instead of fading into obscurity or assuming a different role, she reconstructed herself around her grief and her fury, becoming something entirely new, something purely vengeful, purely wrathful.

This is where the connection to Medea feels so strong. One of the reasons Medea is often regarded as a ‘feminist’ work is that she does not meet the expected tragic end for a woman who enacts revenge. She does not get sent to hell, does not beg for forgiveness, she isn't put back in her place by her husband. Instead, she ascends, outwitting Jason and becoming something greater in the process. In much the same way, Junko’s rage does not destroy her. It transforms her. Her purification and ascension into a divine spirit mirror Medea’s ascension. Her wrath does not lead to her downfall, it's the very thing that elevates her. That is such a subversive and powerful way to depict a woman’s quest for revenge.

Sometimes I feel guilty for always drawing Junko suffering, but there is so much depth and untapped potential in her character. Her story is so much more than finding a neat resolution to grief or a moral lesson about the perils of holding a grudge. i love you Junko touhou ❤️❤️❤️

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Now don't throw tomatoes at me but I'm actually really excited to finally see malleus again— I've always loved malleus since we met him in the story, but I'm also sooo curious about what's gonna happen next,, I'm wondering the obvious thing, about whether or not we might get a parralel scenario like what happened with the KoD and silver will have to "slay" malleus or at least be the one to land a killing blow, but I also saw a really interesting post focusing on how magic is a manifestation of dreams and deep desires and imagination,,,, in that case, I may (VERY delusionally) hope that Yuu finally gets to be a major part of the story for once??? Even reading the novels, there HAS to be something bigger for yuu— while the idea of crowley simply being an incompetent airhead is fun and more comfortable, haven't you thought that meybe he pulled them into this world deliberately??

All to say, what if at some point, Yuu somehow manifests magic in a very dire moment ?? You know lol?? Agh idk. I just want yuu to finally make impactful choices but that IS too much to ask, as far as we can see for now,,, (but hey, that part leading up to ace getting is UM, and the convo between him and yuu,,, it *does* give one a sliver of hope, doesn't it? :') )

Don't worry, no tomato throwing here! 😅 I may not care for certain characters, but I’m not going to shame anyone that does. You’re free to think however you want about Malleus!

dbjsvsJcwhj My personal feelings about him aside, I am actually glad he’s finally relevant to the main story again. He’s missed out on so much of his own book OTL In the time he’s been gone, the fandom has been left to speculate about both his and Lilia’s potential death flags. I really doubt Twst will have the balls to kill off one of them, but it would be cool to at least see Silver delivering the final blow to knock some sense into (not necessarily kill) OB Malleus.

Yes, it’s true that Silver states in the recent update that magic was originally considered “a miracle borne of strong desires from the heart.” But 💦 I don’t think that means Yuu would randomly manifest magic in the final fight?? It feels more like a “let’s save the day with the power of friendship” to me, but I could of course be wrong.

I understand being frustrated that Yuu’s participation in the main story seems to fluctuate a lot, with most of their activity being books 3, 4, and segments of 1, 6, and 7. That’s not much, especially considering how long books 6 and 7 are. Sometimes (even in events) it feels like Yuu is barely there, as most dialogue options don’t involve different reactions from the characters. Even Yuu's quest to find a way home is barely addressed or taken seriously until early in book 7. Yuu hasn't gotten "real" development unless you count them realizing their Disney dreams are prophetic in book 5, taking the initiative to save Grim in book 6, and that dialogue option about them being worried they're not contributing + the related convo with Ace in book 7. All very short moments in the grand scheme of things. And honestly, I think that makes sense for the kind of character Yuu is. A blank slate, a self-insert, an outsider that's easy to exposit information to, someone with which to view the story, characters, and world through. Yuu is primarily there to be the POV character, the lenses, the camera that we see Twst through. They're not really meant to be a traditional "main character". It's possible that Twst gives them a slightly bigger role at the very end (especially with what went down in the dream in book 7), but I doubt it will be a huge triumphant moment where they and they alone save the day or deal the final blow in a crazy act of self-sacrifice. Twst has always been a story that puts the NRC boys first, while Yuu is the observer.

I've noticed that the complaint of Yuu not doing a lot in the story comes mainly from English speaking fans?? And I guess that makes sense, given how western culture tends to emphasize independence and standing out. They want Yuu to reflect that. They want to be the ones to make a difference. I don't even remember ever seeing these same comments from the Japanese speaking fans; it's definitely a less common sentiment for them. The Japanese fans seem pretty content with Yuu being an observer and taking on more of a minor or supporting role. Again, this fits in with what I understand of many eastern cultures. They're demurer, not wanting to stand out too much from the crowd and instead prioritizing group harmony. Very interesting cultural difference to note!

It's a common theory (with many variants) that Crowley intentionally summoned Yuu to Twisted Wonderland for his own nefarious motives. People found him pretty sus right away due to how he seems to not put in any real time or effort into investigating a way to send Yuu home. Plus, there's that ominous opening monologue of his to consider. However, I don't think he summoned Yuu because of their (potential) great magical capabilities. The Mirror of Darkness tells us that it doesn't sense a shred of magic in Yuu, and Leona smells zero magic on them (though that could be because it hasn't technically manifested yet, as some fans claim).

The idea is that Yuu is supposed to be plain. They are supposed to be magicless. Why? To humble the NRC students and to show them that asserting yourself violently or with great magical power ISN'T the way to go. To show them value in strategizing (which Yuu does in the prologue by helping Grim aim at the ghosts), of camaraderie. What does it say about the story's themes if Yuu, the person who is supposed to be showing them the worth of mundane things, is suddenly... "secretly ultra-strong, actually/“just like you guys” (even if it's only a temporary hope-fueled magic)? It might contradict what has already been set up. It also breaks the self-insert appeal of Yuu, since developing magic would also mean Yuu would later have to further develop things like proficiency in magic, best/worst subjects, and an unique magic/signature spell... meaning Yuu HAS to become better "defined", thus losing their blank slate nature. This would surely upset some fans who deeply project onto Yuu, have a Yuusona, etc.

Yuu can still make an impact on the characters and the world--and they have, judging by how much closer the boys are with each other--without having to be The Most Special One or like everyone else. I think it undermines what Yuu has already managed to achieve to say that they haven't made an impactful choice at ANY point in the main story when I believe they definitely have. Yuu made the choice to sign the contract with Azul. Yuu made the choice to approach Malleus. Yuu made the choice to go against Crowley's orders and go retrieve Grim from S.T.Y.X. Yuu made the choice to get Leona’s help with the contracts. Yuu made the choice to stand with Adeuce against Riddle in book 1. Yuu made the choice to let the VDC/SDC tribe train at Ramshackle. Yuu has done a lot, and all without needing to seize the spotlight or to do anything big and flashy. I don't think Yuu needs to be big and flashy. There is pride to be had in simplicity and being humble too. There is pride in representing the 90% of humans in Twisted Wonderland that are ordinary and without magic.

(An aside: so if Yuu wasn’t able to manifest magic in many other extreme instances, does that mean their desire to save Grim in book 6 wasn’t “enough”? That their desire to save Ramshackle, their one and only home in this world, wasn’t “enough”? It implies that Yuu didn’t wish hard enough for these other things they clearly care about and want.)

I think a good way to give Yuu a decent role while staying true to their design as a blank slate would be for Twst to really lean into the whole "beast tamer" aspect that was introduced all the way back in the prologue. This would work well with their deep connection to Grim as well. Assuming that Grim ends up being the final OB... We could easily have the NRC students and staff on the ropes, Malleus at his wit's end after exhausting himself with his own OB, a rampaging Grim about to end it all. And then... one lone figure shakily rises from the rubble and confronts Grim. One human. Magicless, defenseless. A human lost in an unfamiliar world, a human who believes they're useless and don't contribute much. A human who is always in need of being protected by others. But not anymore. This time, it's Yuu's turn to protect what they love--their friends, this world they've come to love, Grim. Ace and Deuce yelling at Yuu to not be stupid, to get back--but Yuu just advances, calling out to Grim and begging him to stop. And maybe it's Yuu's wish that rallies everyone and/or gets OB Grim to hesitate. That's when they can strike. Is that corny? Yeah. Does it sound like the ending to a Disney film? Sure. But it still grants Yuu, a magicless human that is supposed to be there to teach everyone about friendship, cooperation, and humility, their big moment to shine. The best of both worlds, I'd say.

[kissboybyler]

it gets to me so much sometimes when i think that, in whichever fandom, the GA or just most people tend to ship two characters just because they are canon. Like mike and el, for instance, they are canon, they have kissing scenes and they dance at the ball and they…hug?! But what do they even talk about? What’s the music playing in the background? What’s the context of their interactions? Why, why do they love each other? Do they make each other better, do they find missing parts of themselves in the form of another person? Are there hints and tells and color-codes that just…exist to symbolise their love?

Why do we ship these characters? What’s is it about their love that is so strong? And don’t get me wrong, i also believe -like many other bylers/ fans of the show- that mike and el grew to love each other, to appreciate and kind of need each other. But not for the right reasons.

I mean, mike needs to be needed, to be able to help or even save another person, to feel loved and wanted. But he also needs to allow himself to be who he is, outside of “forced conformity” (“that’s what’s killing the kids” after all!)

El, on the other hand, needs to find who she is, but firstly she needs to have a safe place where she is allowed to kind of just exist and then blossom into her true self. And bumping into mike, who eventually grew to appreciate and embrace her, she felt safe for the first time. And alongside her, mike felt needed, like he could protect her and be there for her and make her happy.

But now el, who has established both meaningful familial relationships and friendships, needs to find out who she is. How can we expect her to grow when she’s in a relationship with the first person she met right after she broke out of the lab (her literal prison), who can’t even talk about any other part of her that he loves other than her powers?

And i’ve read many many other people write about this, about how in s4, when mike wasn’t with el he embraced his geeky, nerdy and weird self but when he finally reunited with el, he had to hide himself from her (as did she!). He just…couldn’t be himself around her.

But like, apart from the problems in their relationship, i really just don’t understand why people ship them. It’s just…mike cant be himself around el and el doesn’t have room to find herself when she’s with mike. It literally doesn’t make any mathematical sense.

And then they say we’re delusional for thinking, for proving, that there are astronomically higher chances for these two not to be endgame, for el to be single and for mike and will to get together. Because it makes sense…right? Like, el will be able to find herself outside of a relationship, she won’t be dictated by anyone but her own self, and mike and will… do i really have to elaborate? Like, in every single aspect of stranger things, from musical titles and colour-codes, parallels and loving, longing stares, hand touches, over-protectiveness, deep and meaningful understanding to posters and freaking funko-pops, interviews and good ol’ fashioned cinematography and storytelling… it all points to them, if you connect the dots.

And how, how is it possible that so many dots have been put into such perfect places, to make such a beautifully crafted imagery, just for all of this to be a coincidence? When, when has anything ever in stranger things been coincidental? Ever?

Edit: I’d just like to denote that, when i said “(mike) can’t even talk about any other part of her that he loves other than her powers” i didn’t mean that mike loves el JUST because she has powers, fuck no, BUT when the time was right for him to note all of the other aspects of her character that make her a remarkable person (ex. her selflessness, her compassion), he decided to focus on her powers. The very thing that she herself thought dictated her.

just wanted to make that super clear.

[burning2know]

I agree wholeheartedly with OP and these tags from prev. prefacing that I will be ignoring the game that shall not be named and probably repeating some points.

There's nothing quite like the interactive medium of a video game that makes you examine your own choices and beliefs. And when it comes to politics, there's often a disconnect between ideology and lived experience. My favorite thing about DA was always the fact the it tried to bridge the two. Whether it's showing that various individuals in similar circumstances can have completely different ideologies, or it can be to explore what happens to individuals and their experiences after reshaping the world according to the player's ideology. That bridge, albeit implicit, has been formative in the way I think about my own world. When it comes to the lore and world building, it demands the player to use critical thinking, much like a historian might, to make sense of it. And I did end up feeling like I needed to make sense of the world to make my choices.

Even though DA has argued both sides, it does it incredibly well. The arguments it presents come from character perspectives that makes sense in the universe, and it makes it all feel real. I think a lot of credit should go to origin's writers for providing those arguments. It feels like the writers talking amongst themselves trying to hash out what each action means for the world and to eachother using the NPCs, and in the spaces of these discussions, I get to reflect on where I agree and disagree and what that means for me as a player. The experience reminds me of me watching Contrapoints videos in which she has a conversation with various parts of her own beliefs about her gender identity, and engaging with her inner-discourse lead me to a deeper understanding of my own identity.

That's the true value of arguing both sides. It lets the audience decide for themselves without being prescriptive. And while it does demand the audience construct their own reasons and values to explain their choices, it also provides a window into possible viewpoints that the audience might or might not agree with. And not in a judgmental way. That process shows how one character may arrive there, not through insanity or stupidity, but through various circumstances and experiences.

DA's goal was always to challenge the player. That isn't to say that there's no bias, or a particular perspective that the writers are coming from. But the point is that it opens a space for exploration. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to do that without falling into the hole of appearing contrarian or troll-ish. And to some extent the writers themselves had to treat each argument with equal respect and legitimacy to display its outcomes in the game according to the rules of the world rather than their own ideals. And that itself is not easy. It doesn't surprise me that that world view and capacity disappears when the series changed hands.

And underlying all of that is a philosophy about how individuals operate, and how they operate when they come together into groups of individuals (many different words to say power and hierarchy). And that underlying philosophy is what resonated with me so much with over time. It's very compassionate to be able to hold space for these other perspectives. Not only rare to see due to the complexity required to show it, but easy to lose and difficult to gain back once you've lost it. And at this moment in the history of DA, we have lost it.

In some ways, I think the timing of this happening Makes Sense. We live in a tumultuous time where reality is uncertain and volatile due to the nature of new modes of information exchange. We see all kinds of people sharing things on social media that could easily be interpreted as lived experience or disinformation. And more than ever, our shared reality is being shattered into a million pieces by personalized content. (I too have felt the "we live in parallel universes" thought creeping up on me). In this chaotic environment, we Need the psychological comfort of certainty, of knowing what the world is like. The easiest and most familiar way is to find an authoritative voice and trust that single voice as the guiding star. That voice is only strengthened by others' agreement, and we contribute to this strengthening with our own psychological needs for certainty and stability. And we become resistant to dissent and critical analysis, because the amount of information to sort through gets very overwhelming very quickly.

What DA does has always been the opposite of that, it demands the player to confront multiple perspectives (albeit in a much more curated and coherent way). And it is logical to me that the game goes against such a primary psychological need in these trying times, perhaps now more than ever. But this theme has always gone against the grain, and media that goes against the grain in this way is so rare and So Badly Needed. We Need people to be able to think through and cobsider multiple perspectives, because there are so many perspectives accessible to us. At the same time I understand the draw of never ever having to do that. And I also understand that a lot of people just don't think that deeply ever. And that's why losing DA hits extra hard for me. Because it is another piece of resistance swept away with the torrent of greater trends that push us away from shared understanding with the people around us.

i feel like all of my pondering and analyzing and criticizing veilguard over the past few months has actually truly given me a better understanding of what dragon age meant to me, what about it specifically was so meaningful, and why, as a result, veilguard felt so wrong. it took a while for me to figure it out. about three full months of relentless essay writing, actually. but i think if you had asked me a few years ago what the core of my love for dragon age was, whatever answer i gave would not have truly gotten to the root of it, because i think i had to experience the disappointment of veilguard to fully understand why i love dragon age. and ive realized that core is that i loved how the previous dragon age entries demand so much of the player, and deliberately prompt introspection and critical, often political, thought.

dragon age games have historically forced the player to be self-reflective and introspective about their worldview and beliefs. solas is obviously a fantastic example, as he was deliberately written to be a reflection of the player in order to prompt them to reflect on how they treat people, how our expectations of people influence their behavior, and how people are pushed to extremes and turned into monsters or saved by love and kindness. how do people become monsters? what drives them to blow up buildings or start rebellions or destroy the world as you know it? are they right or wrong? does it even matter? how did you contribute to this? are you innocent? it puts these insane, politically and morally charged situations in your face and forces you to confront them. slavery, a refugee crisis, poverty, class disparities, racism, foreign occupation, the list goes on, and you are not given the option to look away or be a bystander. you have to ACT. you have to choose, you have to make judgements, you have to take responsibility and explore your role in this world as someone with the capacity to act upon it, to make your will a reality, to fail, to make mistakes. i honestly can't think of any other video game that does this to the same extent? nor any media at all because the act of being IN the world as one of it's people through the act of role-playing is essential to how it provokes this experience in the player. its ballsy. they deliberately try to make you uncomfortable. these games are full of liars, deceivers, betrayers. the games themselves lie to you. its character try to deceive you. did you catch it? or were you fooled? what else might you be fooled by? who else might be lying to you? in the game? in real life? and then you get to play it again knowing the end, and what the game prompts changes with your new knowledge. now it asks, do you forgive them? what makes someone worthy of forgiveness? where do you draw the line? what do you think?

i dont think i realized until recently how impactful this was for me considering how i first got into dragon age at 16 years old. i dont think i had experienced anything up to that point that would put a situation like judging a war criminal who ordered the deaths of children or another war criminal who just left me to die and orchestrated a near-coup or a traumatized terrorist who just blew up a church right in my face, and said MAKE A DECISION. and i didnt know it at the time, but looking back i can see how valuable it was for me at that age to have what was effectively an avenue of exploration and self-expression of all of these moral and political issues that i was grappling with as a young adult. i played inquisition for the first time just months before i voted in my first presidential primary. i already had a political consciousness at this point, but it was nonetheless new and vulnerable and still blossoming into something more concrete. inquisition, then, almost provided a sort of political, moral and personal sandbox for me from ages 16-20 to better help me understand myself in relation to the world. the RPG-ness allowed me to put myself into these situations - like the mage-templar war and its metaphor for mass incarceration and police brutality - while i was also simultaneously grappling with and trying to understand these issues in real life. having dragon age to help me further unpack my own beliefs and conception of these issues was undeniably impactful. it provided a space, through a narrative i enjoyed and cared about, to make choices and judgement calls and better understand who i was, and what felt right to me. it asked, "what do you think?"

veilguard lacks this. completely. and lets be clear that the previous games did not always do a perfect job. many of these depictions are messy and harmful and problematic, but they at least, by extension of their own existence in a narrative that forces you to THINK and JUDGE and DECIDE, give me the space and opportunity to judge them as messy, as problematic, as harmful. i can confidently say that i think da2 is too sympathetic to the templars as an organization because the fact that da2 presents me with so many narrative conflicts regarding the templar organization allows me to not just make in-game decisions and play as a staunch advocate for mage freedom and circle abolition, but to form opinions on the game itself by extension. i can confidently say that i believe the qunari's portrayal is islamophobic because the game has prompted me so many times; what do i think about the qunari? what do i think about the oppression of the elves? what do i think about dorian being a seemingly good person but defending the practice of slavery? who should rule orzammar; the progressive asshole or the conservative traditionalist? do i forgive loghain? do i forgive anders? do i forgive solas? this in-world critical thinking about issues in thedas leads to meta critical thinking. further questions naturally follow -> what message did the writers intend to send through anders? how can i notice the echoes of how this story came into fruition in the shadow of 9/11? what do solas's endings tell me about the writers view of retributive punishment? how is bioware's portrayal of the dalish, as inspired by indigenous north americans, reflective of deep-seated anti-indigenous canadian sentiment? why did the writers stop prompting these hard questions at all in veilguard? did they only like it when it was about characters, not when it led to critical thinking about them and the company as a whole? through these processes of in-world interrogation, i am inevitably invited to analyze the effectiveness of their narrative portrayals and the writing itself. perhaps this is why dragon age is so famous for its discourse lol.

ive said before that im not sure that veilguard could ever have been as impactful for me as the previous games, partly because when you are 16 everything is more impactful because your brain is an eager sponge, unless it did something that really resonated with me as an adult. but what it should have been, at the very least, is something that could have been as impactful and formative on a current 16 year old that sees a gif on tumblr and decides to check out the game, as inquisition was to me 10 years ago. and im sure there are teenagers and younger adults out there playing this game and loving it and loving the characters and the world and thinking its great, good fun. thats great. however it fundamentally cannot have the same profound, developmentally catalytic experience it had on me because it simply does not challenge the player. it does not prompt them to question their own beliefs and the power structures within their lives. it does not prompt them to reflect on the political narratives they may have been fed all their lives. it does not confront them with the sorts of topics that get books on banned lists in florida and force them to bear witness, to think deeper, to feel guilt or horror at the outcome of your own poorly-made decision, to make moral judgements, to make mistakes, and to live with the consequences.

i think i now understand why veilguard was so disappointing to me and ultimately would be a failure in my eyes no matter if i enjoyed the combat or the exploration or whatever other shiny coat of paint sits atop it. veilguard does not ask much of you. it does not prompt any sort of introspection or interrogation of your presently held beliefs. it does not demand anything from the player except to dodge at the right moment. this is a fundamental, core departure from what made me fall in love with dragon age in the first place. if you love dragon age because you want "fantasy escapism" and fun characters to smooch, then i am happy for you. but i would remind you that can find fantasy escapism all over the steam library - farming sims, cozy games, a witch looking for her cat in the alps, etc. what you cannot find are games that are willing and brave enough to challenge and provoke the player into a better, more thorough understanding of themselves in relation to our world and it's many, complex and daunting political and moral issues. to have lost such a thing, when media like this has become so few and far between, and during a time when we need it more than ever, is a devastating loss.

[wlwsoccerfics]

Lifeline (BethMeadXVivMiedemaXMeadReader)

AN: this Is Just my Personal experience. It can be very different for someone else.

Warnings: Teen Character is autistic, this includes some personal experiences with autism. Short OS.

You knew you could always count on Beth & Viv. These two were your Safe space. Beth was your older sister so that's why you could always count on her & Viv came into both of your lives making both of you feel really loved.

Viv & Beth both were really protective of you. If people didn't knew better they would probably think they were your parents. Which was (kind of) true in a sense.

Your autism was diagnosed by the age of 10. So 5 years ago. You often get told that people don't notice you have autism when they see you. Which always resulted in you thinking that it was an odd thing to say. But then you remember you became quite good at masking.

People close to you, like your Viv and your Bethy, knew your routines and things you needed to do or needed to have to be comfortable. Other people that were close to you were Jill(Viv's fellow dutch teammate), Leah, Lessi, Kerstin(also one of Viv's fellow dutch teammate) & last but not least Wally.

You sat in your room doing your homework before you would leave for practice with Beth. You practiced with the Arsenal Senior Team alot. But also with the youth Team. Getting in as much practice as possible.

"Y/n, we have to leave soon! Are you ready?" your older sister asked you. You turned around in your Chair, nodding your head.

"Give me a few more minutes to finish this! I want this to be done now! Before practice starts! I always finish homework before practice!" You Tell Beth.

"I know you do, Love Bug!" Your sister replied. It's a Nickname she has given you when you were really little. And you very much liked it when Beffy or Viv called you that.

"I will be done soon!" You told her and you finished the rest of your within five minutes. So you grabbed your things and sat down in the passenger seat of Beths Car. You called Viv right away because you always did that on your way to practice and it was your ritual. It wouldn't be a good practice If didn't call her.

"Hallo liefje love!" You hear Viv say on the other side of the Phone. Her voice was always so welcoming and warm. She always managed to make you feel loved and welcomed.

"hey Viv. I finished all my homework before we left cause you know how important it is to me!" You informed her.

"I do know that! You always are quite fast though! I could never do that!" She told you. Beth was smiling, she loved the bond you had with Viv.

"oh Viv you are so smart and you could do it too! Everyone is different. I may be faster then you when it comes to this but that's okay. My brain is just wired differently!" You tried to explain.

"thank you for calling me smart, liefje love!" She answered and giggled softly. So did you. You knew by now that when people giggled at something you said that they weren't making fun of you. The people you knew and loved you could read by now.

"you are welcome. Did you sleep well? How are you feeling?" You wanted to know.

"i did sleep well. And i am great! Better now that my favorite Mead sister has been calling me!" She said, knowing Beth could hear her.

"hey! Excuse me?!" Beth replied, laughing though. You smile at that.

"i am fine with being the second favorite mead sister, as long as i am your favorite liefje love!" You let her know. Being serious about it. Cause you really loved the nickname.

"of course you are my favorite liefje Love! You are the one and only!" She explained. Sounding just as serious. She asked you how you were and you told her that you were good and excited for practice. You really missed having her at Arsenal though. It was a big change for you but both Viv and Beth made sure you didn't feel like something was missing. You talked on the Phone or Facetimed multiple times a day. So things were easier for you now.

When you arrived at practice you went to greet all the Girls individually, some of them you invented Handshakes with.

"how are you, little Meado?" Alessia asked. You smiled at her.

"i am good! Finished all my homework before we came here!" You proudly tell her.

"of course you did, you are the smartest on the Team!" Leah answered. You nodded your head in agreement.

"possibly. In a lot of things. But not all of them! Mostly just good at things that interest me!" You explained. Smiling gently.

Wally was smiling at that. She thought your rambling about certain topics was cute and she always said If she ever has Kids she hopes they are just like you.

Practice started and you were very focused on the drills. Enjoying them. Glad to have found a safespace with your sister and Viv and with the Team. They were your Lifeline.

[psychics4unet]

What is your future spouse hiding from you? The Truth Revealed! 🔮💖✨

I put a lot of effort into this reading, so please show some love by leaving comments, likes, reblogs, and follow me! ❤️💬✨

Paid psychic reading (7 questions for just $7) is available here:

Pile 1: The Fool, The Moon, The Hermit 🌟🔮🦋

The Fool: This card suggests that your future spouse might be hiding a sense of uncertainty or reluctance to take a leap of faith in the relationship. They may be hesitant to fully commit or may be hiding their fear of starting something new, even though they are on the verge of a new chapter. 🌙💫

The Moon: This card points to hidden emotions, confusion, and possibly secrets that your future spouse is keeping from you. There might be things they haven’t fully expressed or truths they are hiding, especially when it comes to their inner world and personal struggles. 🌕🌓

The Hermit: The Hermit indicates that your future spouse may be withdrawing or keeping things to themselves. They could be in a phase of introspection, seeking answers within, and possibly hiding their inner thoughts or unresolved issues. 🧘‍♂️🌌

These three cards suggest that your future spouse may be holding back their fears, emotions, or uncertainties. There could be hidden insecurities, a desire for personal space, or things that they have not yet shared with you. While they are contemplating deep personal matters, it’s important to give them time to open up and share their truth. 🌱🌟

Pile 2: The Lovers, The Tower, The Chariot 💕⚡🚗

The Lovers: The Lovers card indicates that your future spouse may be hiding something related to a past relationship or important choice. There could be a secret from their past that they have not fully revealed or they are unsure about making a significant commitment. ❤️🔒

The Tower: This card signals a dramatic change or revelation that has not yet come to light. Your future spouse might be hiding an upheaval in their life that they haven’t shared with you yet, or they may be afraid of the collapse of something important that they hold dear. 💥💔

The Chariot: The Chariot speaks to the desire for control, willpower, and determination. Your future spouse could be hiding their true intentions or an inner conflict between their desires and actions. They may be pushing forward while not fully expressing their inner struggles. 🏁💪

The combination of these cards suggests that your future spouse may be hiding something related to their past, possibly a major relationship or life-changing event that has influenced them. The Tower indicates that they might be avoiding an emotional breakdown or revelation about something they are still trying to process. The Chariot shows they are determined to keep moving forward but are doing so with hidden challenges. 🛑💖

Pile 3: The Empress, The Devil, The Star 🌸🖤🌟

The Empress: The Empress is a nurturing and caring figure, suggesting that your future spouse may be hiding their deep need to be loved and cared for. They may not express their vulnerability fully, fearing it might make them appear weak or dependent. 💞🌷

The Devil: The Devil card points to hidden attachments, unhealthy patterns, or even addictions. Your future spouse might be keeping a part of their life secret, such as an obsession or attachment that is difficult for them to break free from. ⚠️🔥

The Star: The Star brings hope, healing, and faith, but it can also indicate a person keeping their dreams and desires to themselves. Your future spouse may have aspirations or desires that they haven't yet shared, either because they fear rejection or feel vulnerable about opening up. ✨💫

These three cards show that your future spouse may be hiding deep emotional struggles and attachments. They may have a secret they are ashamed of, but at the same time, they are filled with hope for the future and want to be loved and cared for. While they are working through personal challenges, they may be holding back their full truth, especially when it comes to vulnerabilities and desires. 💔🌟

Paid readings (7 questions for just $7) are also available for more in-depth insights and personal guidance! 🌟💫

[renthony]

Goddammit I have things to say about Arcane again. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have never been this obsessed with a show that pissed me off so much. Fucking hell.

Longish critical post under the cut.

Husband and I are re-watching Arcane from the beginning, specifically so we can do some critical analysis and frame-by-framing. This watch, I'm really fixated on the way Vi is reintroduced after being in prison, because it does not make any goddamn sense.

If Stillwater is primarily full of Zaunites working for Silco, and Vi is constantly fighting with them, but she's also constantly being tortured by the enforcers...who the fuck is watching her back? How is she alive? Yes, she has a solitary cell, but we see her let out into the common areas. If she has that many enemies in Stillwater, how has she survived this long? The answer seems to be "plot armor," and that's...not a good answer.

If she has literally zero allies in prison, and she is hated by both the inmates and the guards, she'd be dead. Even if we're supposed to assume Marcus gave the order to the other enforcers to keep her alive, we know for a fact that the enforcers are still abusing her, so they clearly don't actually give a shit, nor do they stop the other inmates from fighting with her.

Like, I don't care how much of a badass she is, she has to sleep sometimes. She has to eat sometimes. She has to take a piss sometimes. She is clearly in fighting-fit shape, she is clearly healthy enough to immediately start parkouring all over Zaun after release, so who's letting her have access to workout equipment? You don't get or stay that jacked just by punching a wall. How's she getting enough calories? You don't get the good food if everyone in the prison hates you. For all that she makes a joke to Caitlyn about prison food tasting awful, she is clearly not malnourished.

And who the fuck did her tattoos????? They're extensive and fairly high-quality. If someone else did them, who was she on good enough terms with? If she did it herself, who liked her enough to smuggle, sell, or share supplies with her?

It really wouldn't bug me as much if it weren't for the fact that the narrative seems to want me to see her as a forgotten loner who has nobody in her corner until Caitlyn. Fundamentally, that cannot be true, or Vi would have been murdered and dumped in the water long before Cait showed up.

Also, if Silco has that many people in Stillwater, how does he not have his fingers in the prison smuggling operation that clearly exists? I don't buy it. If he owns Marcus' ass that hard, and he's already involved in smuggling, he'd have spies and smugglers in Stillwater, too. I do not believe that Silco has the power and the confidence to casually threaten Marcus by showing up in the man's personal home, but not enough power and confidence to get spies into a prison that's already full of his own allies/underlings.

There are definitely possible answers to some of these questions, and I certainly have my own headcanons, but it really doesn't feel like the writers' room spent a lot of time thinking about the actual social issues and politics that they invoked for aesthetic.

Usually this is where I'd say, "I wonder what the S&P notes looked like, and I wonder how many episodes they got screwed out of, because so much of this could have been fixed with a little more runtime." Sadly, based on the shit that keeps coming out of Christian Linke's mouth, I don't think we can blame the corporate office for this one. If Christian Linke is telling the truth and the show got all the episodes they wanted, my ever-present "TV writers keep getting screwed, so I have to analyze the finished product with the knowledge that the creators likely got fucked over" goodwill completely vanishes.

The problem really seems to be that the show was written by centrists with a fundamentally flawed understanding of class struggle, drug use, the drug trade, and the prison-industrial complex. It's not surprising, but it does disappoint me.

And while I'm thinking about it, why is Shimmer somehow both drinkable and injectable in seemingly the same form???? Drugs can absolutely come in different forms, but we see people drink the exact same type of shimmer that other people inject. You don't drink injectable drugs. Fuck's sake, this is Skooma levels of "the writers just threw every scary-sounding drug in a blender to make Scary Super Drugs without knowing anything about how real-world drugs work."

Also, if the Firelights' big thing is that they hate Silco Because Of Drugs, I really wanna know how the hell Ekko found that many straight-edge anarchists willing to build a secret compound together. Are they against all drugs, or just shimmer? Where's their line?

[13eyond13]

why does l say that he wanted light to be kira/ that he wouldn’t be satisfied unless light was kira?

i thought it was an ego thing bc he wants his deductions to be right but is that the only interpretation?

Hi anon! Thanks for the old school "interpretation of Death Note canon" ask, I appreciate you making me dust off my analysis skills. Took a dive back into my blog to see if i could find any posts I'd made about this moment in the past, and reblogged a handful of posts before this just in case anything on there is of interest to you as well.

(Disclaimer that I haven't read/watched Death Note in a long time now so my takes are not the freshest, that I could possibly be forgetting some things from canon, and also that my posts are always just my own personal opinion, etc.)

So the way I personally interpret this moment is that L actually IS being honest about it to Light here. I think he DOES want Light specifically to be Kira, meaning that as he's worked on this case over time he has come to want this particular thing to be true. And I think he possibly just realized that it's true himself in that moment, and then decided to share that revelation with Light.

I think L would have multiple reasons for genuinely wanting Light to be Kira and also telling Light this, such as:

A. as you said, he can't stand being wrong and wants to prove himself right about the biggest hunch he has in this entire case. He's had a VERY strong intuition about Light being Kira based on the investigating he'd done thus far and the strong similarities he sensed between himself and Light's and Kira's personalities and manner of thinking, and he hasn't exactly been shy about voicing this to everybody all along either. L has a lot of pride wrapped up in proving himself correct and winning at this game! Being proven wrong about this hunch in particular would be a huge blow to his confidence and his ego and somewhat taint his spotless record as the best detective there ever was.

B. because he likes opposing Light in particular. I think Light actually IS special to L in a weird way. In the manga L is introduced as a detective who can solve any case, but who only takes on cases that personally interest and entertain and challenge him, and Light's been a very clever and mysterious and cheeky and tricky opponent for him so far. Probably the most interesting and challenging one he's ever had yet. And on some level L is genuinely enjoying the cat-and-mouse games and the intellectual company and rivalry that Light provides him. This is the FIRST TIME EVER L has ever had to go so far as to reveal himself in person, after all. By this point L has likely become more personally involved in this case and made himself more vulnerable to the other investigators and the suspects than any other one he's ever worked on. It would be very difficult for him to completely refrain from getting emotionally invested at all, and also pretty jarring for him to suddenly have to pivot completely to chasing somebody else after getting in so deep and putting so much on the line!

C. because he might be trying to antagonize Light on purpose by saying something that he knows will probably piss him off badly and then watching how he reacts (and indeed, in the manga we see L having some surprisingly chill musings about this very stuff even as Light is punching him in the face, lol). I think L sometimes just likes pissing Light off or testing him or goading him into a reaction whenever he's in a particularly combative mood...

There's also the possibility that maybe L was just being super oblivious/unsympathetic and didn't 100% think through how that statement might come off to a suspect before he said it (but I'm inclined to believe that he did think it through, given the way he muses about it as he's getting punched).

[leahcee]

The way my heart drops anytime I get an email from one of my superiors at work… like what did I do wrong babe? Am I getting fired for forgetting to input my lunch time correctly? Am I going to get called in and written up for forgetting to email you back by 5pm?

[philsmeatylegss]

Yesterday, in NYC, a man lit a woman, who was sleeping in a subway car, on fire until she died. So the man arrested will be charged with terrorism as well as murder, correct? His attack was also threatening the lives of other homeless people (which it is assumed she was so). Surely he will also be charged with terrorism for scaring those people, right?

Or is it only terrorism when rich people are threatened?

Also, surely the fact the person who did this being an undocumented immigrant won’t be mentioned in every single news article about it, right? A woman was brutally murdered. Who gives a shit where the perpetrator is from, all we should care is that he is detained and punished.

Right?

We all agreed to this, right?

Or does race and immigration status only matter when a non-white and or undocumented immigrant commits a crime?

Same place, same police.

And I think we all know how differently this murder will be treated. And why.

[bigmilkagenda]

Of the many, many plates of pancakes* that were offered to the listener in magp 1-07, this one may be my favourite

[ID: A screenshot of an unofficial transcript to The Magnus Protocol. CELIA is saying "Yeah. I mean, it's an old system, but it could have been worse. It's not like we're wrestling with tape recorders and manila folders." /end ID]

When we meet TMA-Celia for the second time, she's lost her name. She was Lynne Hammond, and now she's not. She doesn't seem to remember Martin, either, but it's not clear how much of herself and her life from before the change she does remember. She's freaked out by the tape recorders that start showing up, and there's no indication that she associates them with the Institute specifically.

If Celia Ripley is, as we are clearly intended to believe or consider, the same Celia as in TMA, why is she making knowing comments about manila folders and tape recorders? Tape recorders in particular are hardly standard equipment at what seems to be mostly a text data-entry and cataloguing job. She could have said typewriters, or carbon paper. Fax machines, if we're dunking on Freddy specifically.

She says "tape recorders and manila folders." Celia Ripley is referencing The Magnus Institute, particularly the outdated technologies in use in the Archives.

Maybe she learned more from Melanie about what the recorders were and did at the Institute, sometime after MAG 190. Maybe she has those specific memories of giving her statement in MAG 100, and little else. Maybe Martin grew an apocalypse beard and she remembers everything, but just didn't recognise him out of context and in a tunnel and during A Pretty Weird Time Overall.

Maybe she stuck around with Melanie-Georgie-Basira for a while after things returned, and that's how she learned about the particular significance of tape recorders.

Maybe she found some tapes and listened to a couple hundred of them.

Or maybe she's simply an AU Celia, with a knack for oddly specific and kind of clunky comparisons, drawn into this through the powers of metafiction and string theory.

Or maybe someone filled her with spiders and sent her to finish the job of spreading Fear to this particular world.

And the reason this particular plate of textual pancakes** (short stack, butter and nightmare syrup) is one of my favourites from "Give and Take" is because I genuinely have no idea! None of these are theories because there isn't enough evidence to point me in any particular direction. It's a mystery!, Jon voice, etcetera.

If you cornered me and paid me to have an opinion about it I could say which options I thought were more likely, I guess. But the odds are high that I'd be wrong, and I think the boat for me getting paid to interpret texts probably sailed fifteen years ago, besides. I'm in this for the love of the game.***

November is the true spooky season in the northern hemisphere.**** Yeah, October ends with Halloween, but you know what month starts with Halloween? Mmhmm. By November of 2019 TMA had been on my list for a few years, and someone I was getting to know and really liked recommended it to me specifically in the days after 159 aired. The conditions were correct for me to get into something new, is what I'm saying. I still remember listening to "Anglerfish" for the first time, walking home from my office job in the blustery November dark. I got home starry-eyed and red-cheeked and thrilled by the story I'd just heard.

It took a couple of months for me to catch up, and though I loved having so much to listen to there were times when I wished I'd started earlier, to have the experience of seeing things unfold.

And now we're back at a beginning, and get to experience the horrible joys of finding out.

[ID: A screenshot of an unofficial transcript to The Magnus Protocol. LENA is saying "Of a sort. I hope you're as ready for it as you think you are. Consider yourself "in." /end ID]

*Sabrina pancake meme

** the best kind, especially if it's a contest between textual and fluffy pancakes. Keep those spongy bastards away from me, I'll take the kind with a typeface instead

***Being a huge nerd

**** For more of my opinions on November, see https://www.tumblr.com/almostmolly/188799234276

[longagoitwastuesday]

ngl it sort of pisses me off the way adults regard Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen at times. Which could be a very interesting and poignant point in a good way if well written, but as it is it becomes mainly just frustrating and sad in a negative way.

Nanami saying Gojo never cared about anything or anyone other than himself crashes interestingly with Kusakabe saying the whole situation was just all his fault because he refused to kill Itadori. The students are very aware of those aspects of Gojo's personality, but overall they seem to regard him with way more kindness and fondness even when at their rudest, not truly coinciding with either Nanami's or Kusakabe's views.

[wonder-worker]

"As for the government of the kingdom, [Edward V] had complete confidence in the peers of realm and the queen."

"According to the Crowland continuator, [Elizabeth Woodville] seems to have taken the king's place in listening to his council immediately after Edward IV's death. It does appear that she expected to have some role in her son's kingship, and the Crowland continuator’s report of the letters sent to her by [Richard of Gloucester] indicates that she had good reason to expect to be able to work with him and the other councillors: 'the duke of Gloucester wrote the most pleasant letters to console the queen; he promised to come and offer submission, fealty and all that was due from him to his lord and king, Edward V, the first-born son of his brother the dead king and the queen'."

"[However], in what was Gloucester's first coup, Edward V was separated from his household and Woodville advisors. When the young king questioned the move, Buckingham was reported to have told the boy 'It is not in the business of women but men to govern kingdoms'. The blunt remark referred to the authority of Elizabeth Woodville as queen and the power she must have anticipated within the new political climate left by Edward IV's sudden death [...] While the veracity of this scene is questionable*, the words attributed to the duke no doubt seemed plausible to Dominic Mancini who believed they exemplified the popular sentiment held by men [...]."

— Dominic Mancini, The Usurpation of Richard the Third / J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 / Alexander R. Brondarbit, Power Brokers and the Yorkist State, 1461-1485

*One of Mancini's key sources seems to have been Edward V's own doctor, John Argentine, who attended to him in the Tower. It's very likely that he was the one who recounted this scene to Mancini, which suggests that it should probably be considered more credible than not.

[bitter-panacea]

The two options for the catalyst event

(the second one might make no sense at all depending on what happens in ogrest's last volume but i honestly dont care because this is an au)

I am NOT a writer !!! Please forgive the syntax

- option 1

aka gou does an akemi homura rebellion style (this is so confusingly written i honestly think the only way to actually understand this is to watch rebellion lmao)

It's a beautiful day. Our group of heroes (goultard, arty, the percedal family and whoever the fuck is also there at the time idk) have reunited for some occasion (what occasion? Maybe simply celebrating being together) At the percedals.

As time passes, some of them slowly start to notice strange things. Things that feel wrong without any of them being able to really explain why. Things about the world around them, about themselves, things they know happened but collectively can't remember.

- tristepin still has both his arms

- flopin is here

- yugo still looks the way he did before the necroworld

- some of them are behaving strangely out of character

- rooms in the house theyd never notice before (house of leaves style)

- walking away leads them right back to where they started.

Slowly they start to wonder how can they even be here, werent they doing something else? Looking for something? A powerful artifact of some kind. They conclude it has something to do with their predicament. One proposes the theory that their memories have been tampered with, erased, or rewritten, that the place they find themelves in is an illusion theyve been trapped within.

The artifact they were meant to retrieve supposedly grants a wish to its possessor, actually maintening the person in a dream while it feeds on their wakfu (as well as the wakfu of everyone nearby)

Soon they realize one of them must be responsible, was overwhelmed by the power of the artifact and is now keeping them all trapped in their wish. Suspicion and tensions grow as the world around them becomes increasingly unstable and aggressive. A dark menacing presence looms in the shadows.

A question stays. If this dream is the wish of one of them, could the others they previously believed to be trapped within it, only be part of the illusion.

Only one of them here is real.

Arty eventually confronts goultard, deep inside he knows the truth. Only goultard could be responsible, arty has been gone for centuries, only goultars knows and remembers arty. Would goultard really be so cruel as to let his friends suffer and be drained of their wakfu just so he could spend a few moments by his side. Can he accept and let go of this dream and finally put an end to this mascarade.

But by confronting goultard, arty revealed his true presence. He had found a way to manifest himself physically to him through this illusion of arty that goultard's mind had created. His memories had been rewritten when he'd entered and it took him some time to remember who he really was and what he'd came here for. He'd sensed goultard's distress and came to help him out of this mind prison he'd unknowingly locked himself in.

Goultard begs him to stay but to no avail. He has to say goodbye once and for all and wake up. Arty tells him he never really left him, as long as he remembers him, as long as his dofus exists, his essence will always carry on, like the light of a star billions of light years away that still reaches him even after death. he will always be the fire that burns in goultards chest.

He wakes up and destroys the artifact, all the others slowly come to. They have no idea of what just transpired and go on their way.

But goultard knows he just put all of them in danger because his emotions got the better of him. He cant be around them anymore, he will leave as soon as the others have their backs turned. Hes just lost arty a second time and cant help his heart breaking, leaving room for despair to take its place.

- option 2

aka the solo mission that couldnt have possibly gone worse

The symbiote, extremely weakened but alive, has found shelter in lacrima's body, feeding on her hatred for centuries, using what little power it has left to control her with the goal of finding goultard and luring him to them.

The both of them have degraded into a monstreous pulsing unstable mass of entangled rottings roots, all writhing like a swarm of eels, at time's moving like a scolopendra. Seperating now would instantly kill the both of them and the symbiote's only wish is to use what little power it has left to see goultard one more time, psychologically and physically torture him and ensure he can never forget him. The enemy is physically no match for goultard's divine powers but once trapped and imobilised in their roots, its mind games and manipulation overwhelm him and leave him unable to fight back. Goultard can sense the symbiote's presence but is unsure if its real or just in his head.

General ideas for lacrima's monologue

"cant you see you and i are just the same"

- Something about them both being desperate to be loved and cared for but will always end up being abandoned or rejected

- something about goultard being dependant of others and relying on the powers of beings stronger than himself (the symbiote, arty's dofus, his father's power), serving them, being nothing more than a receptacle for them, nothing more than a broken empty husk without them

- A dark void in him that nothing can fill, an open wound left ignored for so long

(- everything goultard did and would have done to please his father even though he fathered the monster who killed arty)

- something about dragons being attracted solely to a being's purity, lacrima and goultard both having had their purity taken from them... or maybe they were born impure and never had a chance

Through lacrima's monologue, the symbiote slowly reveals his presence more and more until he delivers the final blow

No one will ever understand and love him whole like the symbiote did. No matter where he is or where he goes, his eyes will see, he will always be inside him, crawling under his skin, goultard will always be his, no matter how hard he tries he wont ever forget him again

Their roots wrapped tightly around him like tentacles, slowly constricting until he can barely breathe, bringing back flashes of brutal memories hed buried deep inside.

As they pry his mouth open to force themselves down his throat, terror takes over goultard's body, awakening the beast inside. He manages to free himself and impales the creature on his sword, right through lacrima's heart, killing them both instantly. But the damage has already been done, the infection that previously laid dormant runs too deep and the poison of his past flows through his veins once more.

Untitled post wakfu Alternate Universe

In this au, Arty doesn't get resuscitated by the gods after his sacrifice. Instead his soul is allowed to return to his dofus and he is reborn as Ignmikhal much later, losing his humanity and his memory in the process.

Since then, Goultard has repressed A LOT of memories and feelings to be able to handle life and to keep on living as normally as possible after the events of the dofus manga. He could simply have not functioned otherwise. His mind had to in order to protect itself.

The wide majority of his memories regarding the Symbiote and Arty (both are intrinsically linked since Arty freed Goultard) being repressed created a new personality/alter in Goultard's system, Vanya, that holds onto these erased memories and embodies the trauma that resulted from being with the Symbiote for around 1400 years, as well as the trauma of losing Arty.

By now, Arty is just a very vague memory, more of a feeling to him than a person Goultard actually remembers... Arty is the fire that burns in his chest and makes him keep going, not give up. The light of a dead star thousands of light years away still reaching him to guide him through the darkest nights. A sort of incorporeal guardian angel. But remembering him truly and acknowledging the loss would break Goultard.

The premise of this au is that a catalyst event (I have two possible ideas but can't decide which one I like more) abruptly forces Goultard to face painful forgotten memories and emotions, awakening Vanya (who he had no idea existed).

Here's an older post about Vanya. (Not pictured in the post is the Symbiote introject who inhabits him.)

He manages to stop him from completely taking over, but barely. (Possibly ends up seriously endangering his friends because of it). He's going through intense flashbacks and is flooded with unbearable emotions. He's hopeless but his sick mind tells him the only thing that can cure him is the crimson dofus. He goes alone to find Ignemikhal.

Having to face him, seeing that the dragon doesn't recognize him, clearly doesn't know who he is, that there isn't any Arty left in him, makes him go berserk and they fight. Just like during their very first fight, Ignemikhal/Arty has the upper hand. Vanya, losing, too exhausted and hopeless to keep fighting, gives up and let's the dragon start eating him, slowly killing him. While this happens, the crimson dofus (or rather Arty's soul and essence subsisting inside it), through Goultard's inner world/headspace, tries to communicate with its former guardian and forever loyal friend. Goultard, drowning in his own mind, grabs onto Arty's spirit and refuses to let him go.

A mix of Goultard's divine powers, his utter despair, and Arty's desire to help Goultard, creates an energy surge that essentially short-circuits and rewrites the crimson dofus' programming, forcing back his past incarnation by force. Bringing arty back.

They both get rescued and brought back home by the tofu brotherhood.

Arty is back but some things seem different about him. He has more control over his powers, he has an easier time using them than before. But has a much harder time controlling his draconic nature, behaving in very "animalistic" ways by moment. Struggling to understand and/or suppress new confusing urges. He has more draconic features physically as well. He's kept a few memories from other incarnations (before and after him) and also remembers sensations from when he was "inside the crimson dofus". He remembers feeling Goultard's presence, his heartbeat, his emotions, his warmth, when he was inside him.

Goultard is seriously injured after his fight with the dragon. He keeps the crimson dofus in him. According to him it helps him "stay stable and stop Vanya from taking over". Is this real or is it just what he thinks? Who knows.

All of this means some of the people who know about this are very much against it, and think whatever Goultard did to make that happen was an unbelievably stupid mistake.

Goultard still seems very unstable (he is, Vanya does come back when Gou is going through intense emotions, sometimes co-fronting with him.) And letting him have the crimson dofus could turn out to be extremely dangerous. But it belongs to Arty and it's his decision to let Goultard have it.

Some of them also really don't trust Arty and think he could be dangerous as well.

Most importantly, Goultard and Arty are now both tethered to the crimson dofus. Nobody knows exactly what it entails since this has never happened before. And it's gonna take them a while to understand and learn to control this new power. The crimson dofus being "reprogramed" by force could be terrible and risk affecting the balance of the universe that the dofus are supposed to keep.

Arty doesn't feel comfortable with most people calling him Arty. Calling him his "human name" is reserved to only a few people he fully trusts, it's sort of a privilege (Gou obviously, and later Kerubim because he was a friend of Crail, maybe some other people as they get to know one another.) Others call him Ignemikhal or just Mikha for short.

Arty, as well as his new dragon related issues, has to deal with the fact he was basically dead for around 650 years. The world has drastically changed. Which makes him realize how little he knew it. (They go looking for Crail's farm where arty grew up but the land it used to be on has long been covered by the sea after the flood). Almost nobody remembers or even knows that he destroyed Bonta and the same thing is true for how Goultard's reputation has changed over the centuries. Their fight against the Cornu and Arty's sacrifice have almost been lost to history (it isn't common knowledge at all) and the statue built in their honor has long been replaced by something else. Goultard tries to sound optimistic about it (although he himself despises immortality) and calls it a second chance. But Arty sees it in a much more nihilistic way. He's now acutely aware of his immortality, and that oblivion is inevitable.

Everyone he knew and cared about except for Gou is now dead. Which makes him realize how few people he knew and cared about. He hoped Goultard would have known at least a little about what happened to the other guardians. But he disappeared and never saw or heard from them again after Arty's sacrifice. All he knows is they all went their own way (except for Dodge and Ejipe who stayed together). Thinking about Lily being all on her own after his death breaks Arty's heart. Goultard starts acting weird every time Lily is mentioned.

Goultard is extremely upset about the distance that slowly grew between him and Arty after they formed the guardians, when Arty started showing more attention and affection to Lily, and less to him.

The last moments they spent together before Arty's death left a very bittersweet taste to Goultard. He can't help but think Arty was ultimately going to abandon him for Lily but died before he could. His feelings of dependency on arty and his attachment and abandonnent issues are back and he struggles to keep them in check.

This eventually leads to conflict as Arty gets increasingly more annoyed and confused at Goultard's behavior. Who refuses to explain until confronted.

Kerubim and Arty form a very cute bond. Kerubim is overjoyed to finally meet Crail's grandson and loooves telling Arty old stories about him and Crail, their old master Nabur, and the other guardians. With Kerubim's help, they find out more about Lily. Who after taking the ivory dofus back to Bonta, decided to become an huppermage and dedicated her life to protecting Bonta and the ivory dofus. Her and Jahash knew each other well and she was a kind of mentor to him.

Goultard can't move on and heal from what he went through in the past until he accepts and confesses his true feelings for Arty. After it finally happens, Gou and Vanya "absorb" each other, integrating.

Arty and Gou have gained new abilities thanks to their connection with their dofus. They can sometimes communicate telepathically, and feel each others emotions. They also have the ability to fuse (steven universe style lmao).

[cyancees]

Ngl I know the comic you just posted was semi-jotakak but it mainly fulfilled the need I have to see Joseph become the father figure Kakyoin never had, even if he’s a little shit sometimes; he’s smart with it, mostly. And they both can be sneaky little shits together yk??

Like you would think after they worked together during the lovers fight, and Joseph being the only crusader to see Kakyoin actually die, that there would be more found family content with the two of them… the vision is there, I swear.

NO YOURE SO RIGHT i kinda hate that a majority of fans boil kakyoin down to either jotaros gay little jobro or funny rerorero guy, yeah his backstory is only really briefly mentioned before he dies anyway but like

kakyoin is a tragic kid who never rly made friends and only had his parents but even then felt isolated from them, which led him to being exploited by dio and being separated from his parents, and then he finally meets a group of ppl with the same power as him that he feels comfortable with...

hes a lonely misunderstood kid, joseph is a dad who loves being a dad and adores kids and has also been basically adopting ppl into his family since he was 18 (smokey), and yeah like you said kakyoins final fight was alongside joseph. it just makes SENSE!!!

i think if jotakak happened joseph would be the kind of grandpa in law to totally favour kakyoin over jotaro as well he'd always be like jotaro why isnt kakyoin with you?!?! jotaro when are you and kakyoin going to come visit?!?!? jotaro i have something i want to give to kakyoin i think hed like

[unproduciblesmackdown]

re: deh imagining one last connor project meeting before the timeskip / finale to discuss what to do regarding the almost complete fundraiser, like as fraught & reluctant as anything, jared's here to be fully in the know about anything that could be done or said, alana being less sure of whether the story is true Or worthwhile than ever but we still aren't told anything like "oh these are her definite thoughts on things" & she isn't exactly sure she wants to or needs to wring thee truth (or agreement on anything) from evan so she's not doing that either....meanwhile in a reversal of that pre wtaw introduction of alana & jared, it can be evan kinda taking the lead on most Dialogue Exchanges here, asking them whatever even tentative indirect questions about what are we gonna do here, could be already evan able to have that bit more confidence / motivation. disappear reprise, might not be as dissimilar to the dynamic we got there while forming tcp still lol but thwarting alana & jared disappearing after ywbf reprise....things would be left fairly open-ended And Yet that what we see next is [the orchard has been planted after all] so....