#it doesn't just mean killing a bunch of innocent people

[werewolf-cuddles]

Me, after repeatedly seeing the Life is Strange fandom referring to the destruction of Arcadia Bay as a "genocide":

The Oxford dictionary defines genocide as "the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group"

For starters, Max didn't deliberately kill anyone. She can potentially choose not to save Arcadia Bay from the storm, but she never intended for all those people to die.

And her aim was to save Chloe, not to kill the citizens of Arcadia Bay. The latter was an unfortunate consequence of the former, the result of Max being forced into a cruel, impossible choice.

Also, while I'm at it, let's be fucking clear here. It's easy for us to look at the choice objectively, to just see it as sacrificing one person to save hundreds more, but we're not the ones having to make that choice in-universe, and it's probably fair to say that choice becomes much more difficult when the person you have to potentially sacrifice is your closest friend.

[irenespring]

I was going to make my next politics post about Project 2025 and its likelihood of trying to ban fic in the US but then I saw this and fuck it, we're talking about this right now.

Not sure whether my Jewish alarm bells or history person alarm bells are ringing louder, but this is getting really scary. This is Nazi shit. Full-tilt unabashed Nazi rhetoric. He's talking about assigning people numbers and putting them on buses in massive groups. He wants to do it with violence. With the Supreme Court the way it is right now, he could do it. He can kill people with impunity, as long as he's doing it as President. That is the current law.

If you can vote in this election, you need to vote for Harris. Whether you like her or not, she is not using Nazi rhetoric and elevating admitted Nazis (*cough* Robinson in North Carolina *cough*). She is the only one with a shot at victory.

We need to stop this man. If that means making a pragmatic move and voting for someone you detest on some issues but who is not going to assign humans serial numbers and round them up into detention camps bloodily---fucking pinch your nose and do it.

Take it from someone who has to spend a large portion of their week reading history studies...history will not remember your supposed reason for not voting. You will be remembered as a Trump supporter, because you supported Trump.

Tldr: We need to stop this man in this election. Vote for Harris.

[lacy-oh-lacy]

do you do still do hcs for marvel girls? If so, would you be willing to write something about them x stupidly innocent reader? like, reader is blissfully unaware. Waaayy to pure to be a superhero, but they still are. just a bunch of wholesome wholesomeness. :)

oh, could it also include reader not knowing much about modern earth, if at all? Similar to how confused/in awe Mantis from GOTG was when she was on earth during the christmas special ♡ thank you!

Too sweet ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆

Summary: The Marvel women's dynamics with a clueless, pure-hearted cinnamonroll reader | hcs

A/N: This is such a cute idea! sorry for the wait

CW: Very brief mentions of Valkyrie's alcoholism, kidnapping and sexual harassment

-In many regards you and Nat are opposites, she's almost as cynical as you are innocent, but one thing you have in common is your deeply rooted kindness so you get along well.

-Your earnestness almost reminds her of Steve when she first met him but dialed up to 1000, and like with him it's a lot easier to build trust with you than she usually finds it, and you generally bring out the best in her.

-She's so protective of you. Sure, you're strong and you can handle yourself, but the thought of anyone corrupting your idealism makes her violently upset, she'd defend it with her life.

-She loves your pure-hearted nature, but she hates knowing how easily it could be taken advantage of. She's always watching out for you and scaring off anyone with potentially bad intentions.

-The blind faith you have in her, even after learning about her past, honestly makes her so emotional. You see her as a hero, more so than she'd ever dared to hope she could be, and she pulls so much strength from your perception of her when she needs it.

-You and Wanda are both outsiders in your own ways, but she could only wish to have your innocence and naivety. She’d almost be bitter, but you're just too pure to resent.

-In truth she adores you, you're the shot of light she desperately needs in her dark life, and your sweet, stupidly innocent energy perfectly balances out her more thoughtful and serious personality.

-The world's rarely been anything but cruel to Wanda, so she can't relate to your enthusiasm over the place, and yet it's infectious, she loves that the simplest things can leave you in awe.

-You're actually a good influence on her, bringing her out of her shell and encouraging her to try new things, often that both of you are experiencing for the first time which is a valuable bonding experience for someone like her.

-The almost naively positive outlook you have on her, even when the rest of the world just sees a monster means so much to her, some days you're the only thing keeping her spirits up and reminding her of who she really is.

-Carol is positively smitten by you, she thinks you're just the most precious thing in the galaxy and loves having you around.

-Regardless of your age, experience or the nature of your relationship, she can't help acting like a bit of a mentor to you, because as much as she loves how wholesome you are, she's determined to make sure it doesn't get you killed.

-You really fire up her protective instincts, she's especially quick to throw punches at anyone making a gross pass at you because you're too naive to notice what creeps they are, but she never has the heart to explain to you why.

-Usually though, she's the first to explain anything you're confused about, she'll pause any conversation you're getting lost in to catch you up, always so patiently and gently without any judgment.

-She loves showing you around all her favorite places (which is an ever-expanding list with how much she travels), finding it adorable how excited you get.

-Valkyrie’s known a lot of people just as stupidly unassuming as you are, but she also never really learned how to deal with them. So nothing about you surprises her the way it does others, but she doesn't exactly get you either.

-Despite herself, she finds you ridiculously endearing though. She can hardly take you seriously most of the time, but she appreciates that someone like you exists and respects you as a hero.

-But she’s not above trying to wind you up too, though any of her teasing goes over your head anyway, and she's very quick to tell anyone else to knock it off for doing the same thing.

-She's a cynic and she doesn't sugarcoat that for you, quite the contrary, she actively warns you about the dangers of the world. It's not like she wants to crush your innocence but she doesn't want you in any easily avoidable danger either and if that makes her a buzzkill so beit.

-As odd a pair as you are, Valkyrie likes working with you. Your positivity keeps her from face-planting into a bottle, and her street smarts keep you from following strangers into unmarked vans. All and all, you make a pretty great team.

-You're kind of like an infinitely less intimidating version of Yelena, so after dealing with her, getting along with you is a piece of cake for Kate, you're probably even drawn to her like Yelena seemed to be.

-She's used to being the more wholesome optimistic one herself, so she really matches your energy, in fact you can be each other's biggest enablers, but she'll definitely be responsible enough for the both of you when she has to be.

-She's smooth enough to make up for your ‘quirky’ brand of confused social skills, always covering for you when you say something bizzare, although begrudgingly because she loves your authentic, unfiltered self.

-She finds your awe and confusion adorable, but don't worry, she efficiently catches you up on whatever you need to know as you need to know it. You're not walking into traffic on her watch.

-She honestly loves being your tour guide, your enthusiasm is just so infectious. She's shown you around basically every crevice of New York, and if she wasn't a budding superhero she'd probably take you jetting across the world just to keep seeing that sparkle in your eyes when you discover something new.

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Could you recommend some fics Derek has PTSD and Stiles or the pack help him with coping? If you don’t mind me asking.

Let's see!

take me home. by Anonymous

(1/1 I 3,529 I Mature I No Pairing)

In which Derek Hale is not as okay as he seems (especially after being de-aged by Kate Argent), and Scott and Stiles witnesses it first hand by accident, and tries their best to help.

5 Times Derek Experiences Sensory Overload + 1 Time Derek Experiences Sensory Joy by Warlock_Nerd

(6/6 I 5,604 I General I Sterek)

Derek is Autistic but he hasn’t told anyone in fear of not being taken seriously as an Alpha. Stiles, however, figured it out and made it his mission to help Derek not only for Derek’s Betas but for Derek to finally accept himself.

Regression to the Mean by theroguesgambit

(1/1 I 16,580 I Mature I Sterek)

There aren’t really words for this. “Sure, dude. Let’s hang out sometime and bond over the fact that our lives suck and we’ve both basically killed a bunch of people by accident” doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

Boys of the Wild by MourningDawn

(28/28 I 145,919 I Mature I Sterek)

Derek has had the worse summer of his life. It was suppose to be his big summer before he started college, where he partied and drank his summer away. But a tragic accident changed everything including Derek. The accident takes a toll on him. He doesn't talk much anymore or leaves his room. All his friends have abandoned him. People in town often look at him with hatred and pity. No one will look him in his eyes anymore, not even his father. No longer being able to watch her son suffer, Talia decides Derek needs a new start. She sends Derek to her home town of Beacon Hills to stay with her brother Peter. It's there that Derek be friends free spirited Stiles Stilinski. Derek decides to keep the accident a secret but he isn't the only one hiding something

The Outcry of Wolves by JupiterMelichios

(47/47 I 254,075 I Mature I Sterek)

He's put a lot of time and effort into remaining human. He was invested in his humanity, actually, despite what certain Alpha werewolves might choose to insinuate. And now it's gone, just like that. One minute human, the next minute... Okay, the next several hours, maybe, but still. He'd been human, and then he took a nap, and now he's... something else.

When Stiles is bitten, he wants to believe it's just a random accident. But something is killing innocent people, Lydia's seeing things, Allison keeps having mysterious accidents, and he's got a growing suspicion it might all be connected.

[inbarfink]

Okay, so I already wrote a bunch of stuff about how that scene, although it is really sweet, is also kind of a Bad Sign for Simon - how he refuses to learn the Obvious Lesson from the Winterworld adventure (that being the Ice King again is probably a really really bad idea). But I want to talk about it also a little more about what it means for Fionna’s character as well. 

Because while sitting around and wallowing in self-loathing is probably bad for Fionna, especially after being told that she shouldn't be allowed to exist, and Simon is right to try and get her out of her funk. It's also still worthwhile for Fionna to have some introspection about the Consequences of Her Actions. Because she and Cake really did not consider them at all at first. They have a sense of morality and an instinct towards heroism, but they also tend to kinda forget the fantastical worlds they visit don’t exist entirely for their fantasy and have kind of a Protagonist-Centered-Morality fallacy. 

Most obviously you can see it in the market in Ooo. How Cake, in her excitement, damaged and hurt and even killed

A bunch of innocent marketgoers without even noticing. And then Fionna immediately jumped to Cake’s defense against these ‘weirdos’, who were actually just normal kinda-righteously-angry Oooian citizens.

It’s actually very similar to the whole Winterworld situation. Fionna’s assumption that she’s automatically the hero and protagonist of the story and black-and-white view of the situation and her tendency to kick ass first and ask questions later meant that she just recklessly injured a lot of innocent people.

(It might’ve been worse actually cause at least in Winterworld she was at least manipulated by an evil Wizard)

Fionna and Cake clearly have a great potential for heroism, but they do need to be a bit more considerate of the situation and people around them. And it does make sense considering that from their perspective - they’ve been living a very ordinary life up until now (and Cake was literally an animal. A very clever animal, but still not bound by the same standards of morality as the talking animals in Ooo). Action and adventure and fantasy stuff has been purely the realm of daydream and video games for them - and Fionna literally speaks about it in these terms.

(also, Fionna's Main Character Syndrome was undoubtedly validated when God literally told her that she was created to be the main character of her universe)

So yeah, it takes them some time to really process how to be heroes - they need to grapple with questions that Finn and Jake already kinda dealt with seventeen years ago. And actually a lot of those; how to resolve a situation without necessarily using violence, when does a 'villain' actually deserve sympathy and kindness, the importance of the larger context of any given conflict... their confrontations with Ice King all played a big part in that. It was never just him, but he was still a very major part.

And for Fionna and Cake right now, learning these lessons require some amount of personal introspection. So while it was a sweet attempt at comforting, I dunno if Simon’s little ‘the only problem with that universe is that this Alternative Me was terrible because he didn’t even acknowledge or remember Betty as the love of our life and the light of my entire universe’ thing is actually Good. 

I’m not quite sure Simon is the best person to teach Fionna and Cake heroism 101, because he is so focused on the Crown Quest as the thing that brings back Meaning to his life, and because his fatherly instincts just kinda go “Sad Young Person???? MUST GIVE COMFORT!” and also on account of the kidnapping.

I’m sure Fionna is going to become the heroine she dreams about eventually, it’s just going to be a bumpy ride. The best we can hope for is that they accept Simon’s comfort, that she doesn't start believing that she is nothing but an Error for the entire universe like the Scarab claims, but don’t necessarily listen to all of Simon's his words either.

[bwat5-blog]

Collected Thoughts On Caitlyn From Last Few Days

**Spoilers From All Of Arcane**

So... as I have said many times in the past my thoughts come in bits and pieces over a day or two when I get locked onto a topic. That leads to the small blurbs all hovering around the same subject more or less. But this one seemed worth sort of putting all in one.

Amanda Overton confirmed the use of "The Grey" was strategic to a pinpoint but left the question to the asker if that made it forgivable or not. That is of course for each person to decide, but I will say this:

A- It isn't fatal. You can harp all you like about what may happen later. Vi may have CTE from getting punched in the head over and over. The shimmer in Jinx's blood may actually be breaking down her body little-by little over time, and same for Sevika. Timeline hopping may have irreparably damaged the cellular structure of Ekko's body and he only has days to live. We can only operate with what we know. There are many, MANY characters who have been openly exposed and appear to be just fine. And before you mention those images from Caitlyn's study when she is learning about the Grey, there is big difference between growing up surrounded by something every day of your life, and being exposed in a single targeted incident. B- The alternative was a full-scale Enforcer "invasion" armed with hex-tech, or. The strike team sans something that cleared innocents out of areas and left enemy soldiers standing and armed, instead of incapacitated and arrested.

2. Zaun is not an independent nation.

A- We know this since ya know.. they were voting on it before Jinx blew them up. B- This means that while Zaun it a separate city. It still falls completely under the jurisdiction of the council. C- When Caitlyn leads the strike team and uses a targeted, non-lethal crowd-dispersal chemical weapon, she is doing so not under any heading of war. But of peace keeping (using the term technically not emotionally. I understand they were not peaceful) and law-enforcement in a place that strictly legally speaking she has every ounce of authority to be in. (I am strictly speaking of legality and technical definition here. They were essentially a swat team sent to a really dangerous area. Not an invading army. Not a justification or excuse. But if we want to talk about this stuff we should do it properly). D- Zaun is under the council's jurisdiction. The council all agreed to martial law and let Caitlyn become the commander. Therefore this is the situation:

Caitlyn is the leader of a very small country with two cities, both under her control.

City A- Where she lives now.

City B- The other one. Where a dangerous terrorist is hiding who has almost killed her repeatedly, just assassinated three of their rulers and blew up a building, killed more than six enforcers and blew up another building, and as far as they know probably orchestrated the full scale attack at the memorial.

So what does Caitlyn actually approve? City B will be placed under lockdown until this woman who is quite clearly a massive threat to everyone's safety is caught.

Yep. there it is folks. "I am placing the city you all have given me complete authority over under control until we catch the person who tried to kill me,and has killed a bunch of us already. We will have patrols and set up checkpoints. People who violate the law will be arrested.

"Arrests require cause"

"Why is peace the justification for violence?"

She doesn't approve or give permission for any of the rest of that shit. the brutality, the experiments, none of it. And don't misunderstand me none of this is to say she didn't do anything wrong. But the dialogue around her is COMPLETELY. INSANE.

"War Crimes!"

"Fascist!"

"Dictator!"

Yall. She is literally getting up early to meet with a trade guild so they can bitch at her over supply issues. Dark Lord Kiramman she is not.

[lennjamin-o7]

Thought it was time to return the curse upon you for once... (also inspired vaguely by the DMs from earlier so hehe)

AU where Techno is a superhero.

Not just any superhero, really. One of the best. He manages to keep the city crime free almost singlehandedly and does so without breaking a sweat. Though he does work together with another hero named Phil and the two are thick as thieves.

It's hotly debated among fangroups of civilians why Techno joined the hero ranks. Since he doesn't exactly make it subtle that he's an introvert, fame is off the list. Techno is kind of brash and awkward too, he doesn't strike people as the sort of guy who does it for something as vague as 'helping people' - he also might get a bit too excited about new villains for that to ring true. There are rumors that his family was killed by a villain and this is Techno getting revenge, but this rumor is never verified. Maybe money? Money is a pretty good motivator.

The truth is that Techno is incredibly bored.

Techno peaked in high school and is so incredibly gifted kid coded. (/hj)

And hero work is a great adrenaline kick, a thrilling situation to throw himself into. Especially villains who come up with wild schemes. Maybe, just maybe, it's even bordering on depression. He has to keep busy with hero work or he literally can't bother to get out of bed or motivate himself for much of anything.

Things have been better since Phil came along. Phil is, in a twist on the usual dynamic, the less experienced one when it comes to hero work (despite being so much older lol, Phil was a civilian hiding his powers before). So he's teamed with Techno to learn the ropes, and the two hit it off, and the team-up becomes permanent. Phil is the first and only person Techno considers a friend. And after befriending Phil, Techno gradually gets a few hobbies (he's cultivating a potato plant in the hero association dorm, he's reading books Phil recommends to him, he's playing chess with Phil on slow afternoons).

But Phil would still like for Techno to have more of an identity outside of his hero work. Techno brushes him off. It's almost a running joke at this point.

(Technoblade is not his real name. It's his hero name. Techno has no civilian identity, never bothered to maintain one. This is concerning to Phil).

Whenever Phil thinks he's made some progress, a new villain will pop up or something will happen and ALL of Techno's attention will go to that again. And then after it's over he'll be bummed out because Techno usually beats the villain very easily and it doesn't pose a challenge for not. What Techno truly needs is an archnemesis.

Good thing that one day, a new supervillain pops up in town.

He's cruel, and he's smart, and he's ruthless. And he's very, very strong. Strong enough to almost beat Techno into the ground one-handed during their first confrontation, though Techno manages to win just barely. It's as if this new villain knows all his moves, his weaknesses. It's exhilarating.

The new villain calls himself The Crowfather.

(Fangroups don't really debate on why Phil joined hero work. But if they did some digging, they might find out that Phil once almost died, and the only thing that kept him from dying was a hero saving him. Technoblade.

They might find out that Phil became a hero not because he cares about the status, or saving people. He just wanted to get closer to Techno. To repay him, somehow, any way he can.

Even if it means murdering a bunch of innocent people.)

Hey, Techno is smiling a lot more now that he has The Crowfather to go up against. And isn't that all that matters :)

[this was so rambly, i'm not very good at this and u can tell lol]

I've think I've kept this hostage long enough Shara Friend. It has been kept for my eyes alone long enough. Now, I freely share it.

Fuck yeah bored Super Hero Technoblade! You popped off with this. I love Sneaky Philza standing by his side and, if it makes him happy, standing against him as well. Who cares about the ants he has to squish to see Technoblade HAPPY. An easy and small price to pay for the guy who saved him.

Gosh, I love this. The DRAMA that would ensue when everything is found out. How will that go? Will Technoblade be appalled? Disgusted? Angry?

Or maybe, just a tiny bit curious about how interesting it would be to be a Villain.

Love it. Love it so much. I want to CORRUPT this version of Technoblade so so SOOO much!!!!

[teeramoonlover]

This got me thinking.

Billy Loomis, Stu Macher/William Afton, and Bo Sinclair as they grew older, at some point they need someone from their own flesh and blood to continue their legacy, right?

So yeah those three gonna build one big happy family with reader, and their kids gonna be a bunch of satan's spawn but only being lovely to their own mom/dad/guardian.

And ofc in this case, those three lovely slashers ain't dead in these scenario.

Billy Loomis

As we all know, Samantha Carpenter is the infamous daughter of Billy Loomis. But what if Billy Loomis actually have another kid from the reader? I'm gonna assume this guy gonna be his son.

(My pov) His son definitely will hunt and kill the Ghostface, who dare to be like his dad. In his mind, he was like 'my dad and his friend are the only Ghostface, no one's gotta be like him. And it will stay that way'. So to ease his bloodlust, instead of killing innocents, why not just kill these Ghostface rookies. It's like they're asking for it, didn't they?

Not surprised to see he loves horror movies, maybe get inspiration from crime documentaries. High chance he is the mastermind and have many ways to lure those new Ghostface to him. Tempting to torture them like John Kramer did to his victims.

Oh and if his dad has mommy issue, bro got a whole daddy issues coming in. Like father, like son

Cast (Son): Benjamin Wadsworth

Born: 1997

Stu Macher/William Afton

If Stu Macher had a kid, ya bet his children gonna be a goofball like him? Wrong. In fact (from my pov), his son gonna double up from Stu's inner psychotic tendency in him. More aggressive, more violent and more unhinged. His son knew to embrace madness.

If Stu Macher become a killer because of peer pressure, this kid just pure psycho. Instead of being a friendly social butterfly or party king like his dad, he's the appitome of school's bad boy type of thing. It's either being mean or meanest.

Don't let me start on him becoming Micheal Afton.

If he gets proper love from his mom/guardian, he gonna be a big softie and overprotective (possessive) to his love ones. Gonna be hella toxic. He can be good, only with his mom/guardian, but to someone else? Rarely occasion.

Cast (Son): Drew Starkey

Born: 1996

Bo Sinclair

Ok first of all we all know, BO SINCLAIR IS A BEAST IN BED (rip reader's cunt/rim hole) and when he knew reader is pregnant, he was worried he might not be a good father figure to his kid until their first child born. Things change. Seeing his son's big blue eyes, like him, stir something in him. The Sinclair Jr made him soft. So ofc, Bo becomes bold and wants another child cuz he doesn't want his son to be lonely.

It's to be expected. To be apart of the Sinclair, they would eventually have twins sooner or later. Thank god both their son's head still intact in one piece. On the other hand, his three sons grew handsomely and receive motherly love from the reader.

The eldest, have a nasty tempered like his dad. You got on his way, he'll beat the shit out of you. He only be really nice to someone he care most, like his mama dearest. Always goes to church with his dad to see his grandma and help him in the garage.

The twins - The first twin (middle child) definitely got the charm from his dad. Knows how to be a sweetheart to ladies, but can be deadly once he hunt them for his uncle's sculpture. Most likely helping Vincent to build the museum. Might as well make an art museum next door too.

The second gonna be a rebellion, daredevil (youngest child) Well, not like strapping him to the chair. No no, mama won't like that. He loves adventure so definitely follow uncle Lester from town to town. He likes hunting, depends whether the prey will be animals or people. He can be nice. Charming too. Gonna be good friends with Stu's son, probably.

Cast (Sons): Eldest - Bill Skarsg��rd, Middle - Harris Dickinson, Youngest - Rudeth Pankow

Born: Eldest - 1994, Twins - 1996

Yep, one big chaotic, happy family indeed.

[anthurak]

You know that "Mundane super power" aspect you mentioned?

Another thing I like about crossing over RWBY characters with other settings is how easily their nature as basically coming from an apocalyptic hell-world can bleed through.

This is hard to articulate, but like.

The casual way in which towns disappear, that ruins dot the landscape, that people like Ruby & Yang grew up immersed in a culture that trended towards violence and early graves.

There's a nifty Naruto/Stargate crossover, (Its complicated) where Himawari kind of subtly disturbs the Stargate crew cos she knows exactly how best to behave in a dangerous situation, doesn't really seem bothered when enemies die and has been taught stuff like "Reading the battlefield."

I think RWBY characters would be similarly off-putting in their own way unless they were incredibly sheltered like Jaune or rich enough to have not ever encountered a Grimm until the the Beacon Test like Weiss. & even then, the lived experience, training and cultural awareness means they'd likely still come off as a little off-putting.

This also plays into how Ruby and Yang are seemingly quite... Not comfortable, but functional about the prospect of causing death or grievous bodily harm in a way most Shounen/action protags aren't.

Ruby, as far as she knew, sent Neo hurtling to her death in V3 and was at most momentarily shocked when Roman died & forgot all about it. Yang processed killing Adam in a very straightforward manner, she's not cavalier about it, but she'd made peace with it being a them or us situation right quick.

There's plenty of other examples but I think we've discussed it before.

But yeah, I just think its fun, even in series that can have similar degrees of destruction or death, their relative youth and manner with it would likely still make many locals be like (oO) & I think that's fun.

Oh yeah, this has always been a great idea for RWBY crossovers.

And one of my favorite/most interesting parts about is, as you touched on, how subtle Team RWBY’s whole vibe is and how it can potentially sneak up on others.

Like Team RWBY and really most of the show’s characters generally DON’T give off any real obvious ‘I come from a fucked-up deathworld’ vibes like being real dark, broody or even just looking anything the part. For anyone from a much more mundane setting/background, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang generally come off as a friendly, likeable, good natured bunch without really anything all that offputting.

For about… eighty to ninety percent of the time.

But then you’ve got those 10-20% moments where the dark, serious ‘fantasy war-veteran’ sides of Team RWBY slip out. Like they might not even have been trying to hide it, it just comes out when things get serious.

Like maybe there is some big disaster or some other terrible event perhaps caused by the villains that leaves the more ‘normal’ characters/heroes frozen in shock and horror, meanwhile RWBY are just immediately jumping into the fray to fight or help however they can. With perhaps one or more doing the whole ‘slap the shock’ out of the other characters with a ‘We got work to do!’. And it’s just kind of… unsettling how Team RWBY takes these events in stride.

Or to build off your point on Ruby and Yang, as well as Blake and Weiss, being ‘functionally alright’ with hurting/killing people*, there’s a LOT of juicy potential there for when Team RWBY goes up against more mundane villains.

Like just picture a situation where a villain is threatening innocents in a classic ‘you’ll have to KILL ME to stop me!’ standoff that has the heroes freezing up… only for Ruby to almost immediately just shoot said villain.

She certainly looks like she didn’t enjoy or even want to do it, but both how quickly she did it and how easily she seems to role with it afterwards are just REALLY unsettling.

And then there’s what I’d call the FLIPSIDE to all this in how Team RWBY deals with being in a world that might NOT actually be filled with monsters who are an ever-present existential threat to humanity.

Like even for someone who grew up more sheltered like Weiss that is almost certainly going to be a MASSIVE culture-shock. Not to mention that the only people with a frame of reference that Team RWBY would be able to talk to about this would likely be each other.

Even in settings that might have some kind of monsters threatening humanity such as most magical girl shows, the appearance and threat that these monsters pose are almost always a very RECENT occurrence that most people might not even know about. Generally in these settings, the ‘normal, mundane world’ IS the norm, with the dangerous and supernatural merely popping up on and off in isolated places.

It could really create this interesting contrast where Team RWBY finds the mundane world that their new friends consider ‘normal’ to be just a bit uncanny and unsettling. And even finding it a bit comforting when monsters or some other supernatural threat to fight shows up because that feels more NORMAL to them.

This is actually something I tried/am still trying to explore in my Kingdom Hearts crossover fic. Like Ruby musing on how to explain her whole huntress background to Sora, Kairi and Riku when to them, monsters are things that have existed in storybooks, while for Ruby monsters have always been REAL. Or Ruby even noting a comforting ‘return to normal’ when she starts fighting the Heartless.

I’ve even got ideas for Ruby, as well as Weiss, Blake and Yang further on, idly musing on whether the Grimm or Heartless are the worse to fight, with some of their new friends being just a BIT weirded out.

And that’s not even getting into the potential of Team RWBY interacting with various Disney movie settings. Like I’ll admit that I kinda REALLY want to have Ruby boom-headshot at least one Disney villain XD

*I will say, I’ve had a theory for a while that Ruby, even more so than her teammates, has particular ideological reasons to generally avoid killing people, specifically when we consider how Ruby specifically DOESN’T use her ‘walking grimm-blender’ style of fighting against human opponents. Personally I imagine Ruby seeing it as ‘I hunt MONSTERS, not people.’ That being said, I don’t see Ruby as having some strict ‘no-killing’ ‘one rule’, but rather that she views taking a life as a last resort.

[celestiachan]

i think about chosen so much. not a single good thing has happened to him ever. imagine being born and God (who is also your dad) immediately tries to kill you but can't so he turns you into his slave. one day you find a way to escape but God, being God, made up an entire guy just to beat your ass. somehow you manage to escape with the guy God made for the sole purpose of beating your ass and he doesn't wanna beat your ass anymore!! yippee!!! but what he does want to do is kill a bunch of innocent people and eventually you say no and by say no i mean physically fight him and then some guy you've never seen before in your life kills him and doesn't remember it and leaves and now you're a wanted criminal and you get that guy who killed your only friend to help you not get arrested but then you both get arrested. fucked up

[babycharmander]

How the TF2 Fandom Infantilizes Pyro

NOTE: I am not writing this as a way to attack others. I feel like this is something people might not even realize they're doing, or don't realize why it's wrong, so I wanted to write a post explaining this.

To start, I want to define the term "infantilization." It is defined by Wikipedia as "the prolonged treatment of one who is not a child, as though they are a child." Now, Pyro is a fictional character, so this isn't near as serious as the infantilization of real people, but I feel like it's still important to understand.

So, what are the ways in which the fandom often infantilizes Pyro? Let's go through some different examples:

"Engie is like Pyro's dad, and Pyro is his kid!" and/or "The mercs totally have to babysit Pyro."

While even adults can have father figures in life, more often this situation depicts Engie as a parent and Pyro as effectively acting as a child. Some people like to cite the "True Meaning" comic for this, as it depicts Engie reading a story to Pyro, which, on the surface, does give the vibes of a parent reading a book to a child. 

However, this is not inherently such a thing--being read to is something that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Heck, I've read stories out loud to groups of college students before.

Another thing to note is that shortly afterward, a rocket strikes Engie's house, and Engie remarks that he and Pyro "mighta just adopted [themselves] a super baby." Note that he doesn't say something like "I mighta just adopted you a younger brother/sister/sibling!" This implies that he views Pyro as being on the same level as himself, not as a child.

The concept of Engie (or any of the other mercs) being a parent to Pyro is often paired with the concept that Pyro cannot be independent, and must be cared for, specifically like a child (as opposed to an adult who may need assistance). We know that this is, canonically, not the case, given how successful Pyro was as a CEO in the "Ring of Fired" comic.

I grouped this one with "the mercs totally have to babysit Pyro" because I feel like it's a similar concept. I will say, I don't feel like it's infantilization to say that Pyro needs to be babysat if you mean it in the sense that under certain circumstances Pyro (and possibly others like Soldier and Scout), if left to their own devices, could cause problems on purpose (such as when Pyro decided to burn a bunch of books in Teufort's library). It's only infantilization if it's meant in the sense of Pyro being incapable of taking care of themself in the way a child cannot.

"Pyro is innocent and unaware that they're causing harm to anyone!" and/or "Pyro would never want to hurt someone!"

The concept that Pyro, who was hired as a mercenary, is completely unaware they're causing harm and would never want to hurt anyone, is infantilization in that it paints them as completely innocent and incapable of wrongdoing, especially intentional wrongdoing.

Not to mention, both of these are wild mischaracterizations of Pyro and factually wrong to boot.

In "Ring of Fired" (page 65), Pyro chops off Soldier's hand just for the heck of it.

In "A Cold Day in Hell" (page 33), we see Pyro knowingly killing a bear. Even when seeing the bear in Pyrovision, they still see it as a threat and deliberately enact violence on it.

In "The Naked and the Dead" (page 130) Pyro is shown to have doused two of Gray Mann's mercenaries in gasoline before igniting them and effectively exploding the warehouse they're in.

We do not know how Pyrovision works, but we do know it does not inhibit them from intentionally causing harm.

"I don't ship Pyro with anyone because Pyro can't consent."

How do I even begin with this one.

There's a lot of issues with the concept of Pyro being unable to consent. It's infantilizing--implying Pyro cannot consent in the way that a child cannot consent--but depending on people's views on how Pyrovision works, it's also extremely ableist. If you are interpreting Pyrovision as something akin to schizophrenia and saying that they cannot consent because of this, you are implying that people with schizophrenia cannot consent, which... do I even need to explain the issues with that?

Now, this isn't to say that you have to ship Pyro with anyone. Nor is it to say that you cannot headcanon Pyro as aro and/or ace! Headcanoning a character as aro and/or ace is very cool and is not inherently infantilizing--so long as you don't have that headcanon specifically because you think Pyro is "innocent" and can't consent.

(I personally don't ship Pyro with anyone and I headcanon them as aroace... because I'm aroace myself and projecting.)

It's okay to not ship them! Just... do it because that's just what you personally want, not because you think it's ~icky~ for them to be involved in anything sexual.

"Pyro's the baby of the team because they like rainbows and unicorns and candy."

Y'know I was just at a party to celebrate the birthdays of several adults, and they had a gummy candy salad that had rainbow unicorns in it.

Enjoying things like rainbows, unicorns, candy, toys, and so on does not make one a child, or immature. Pyro can enjoy all of these things and still very much be an adult!

(This is coming from someone in her 30s who still sleeps with stuffed animals, by the by.)

"Pyro is literally a child. They were hired as a teenager."

This isn't one I see often, but it's one I have seen before. It's more headcanon territory than people claiming this is actually canon, from what I've seen, but here's the thing:

The current mercs got hired in the early/mid 60s (based on Medic's dialogue in "The Naked and the Dead"). Let's say Pyro was 14 at that point. (I don't think the Administrator or Saxton Hale would hire a child, but regardless.) Medic's dialogue implies that the mercs have spent at least eight Halloweens together, which would mean that by the time the comics roll around, Pyro would be, at least, 22... so, very much an adult. And that's lowballing everything.

And again, that's even IF the Adminstrator or Saxton would even consider hiring a child in the first place. Given Saxton wouldn't even fight a child to save his own company, I doubt he would, and given the Administrator wanted to hire capable mercenaries to fight an endless war, I don't know that she'd look to children for the job.

I think that about covers all the points I've seen in the fandom. If I've missed anything, let me know in the reblogs, or if you'd like to add anything to this, feel free to do so.

Also please don't attack anyone over this! I don't think anyone's doing this intentionally, which is why I wanted to write this post in the first place. I hope this was helpful!

[yurnu]

Imagined Charlie meeting God. I imagined this. Hope you like it.

Charlie enters a large and beautiful garden. Everything bloomed and smelled so fresh. She made her way as she looked at the flowers and plants that surrounded her, taking in the view. Then, she see’s her grandfather, God, carefully cutting the roses.

“Greetings Charlie.” Charlie was spooked by this.

“Oh shi-I mean, hi grandpa! Nice to see you. I didn’t know you could see me.”

“I am omnipresent my dear.” His shears disappeared from his hand and he gestured to a table with a tea set. “Now have a seat.”

Charlie sat down in the chair as she looked at the tea. She took a sip and it was caught off guard by it. “F-this taste like a Frappuccino?”

“Yes, I know you’re not a fan of tea so I changed the taste for you.”

“Thank you. Creepy, but thanks.” She took another sip. “So, you know why I’m here.”

“yes, because of your redemption hotel.” God, poured his tea. His eyes not leaving Charlie.

“Right! So, you know why I’m doing it. So if anything we can-“ God put his hand up to the young woman.

“I know what you want my grand daughter. I read your heart the minute you entered. I do not blame you for your father’ and mother’s sin, but, just because you’re my granddaughter, I will not spoil you. I do not support your hotel.” Charlie’s face dropped, her optimism and plans seemed to have died down. She nervously looked around and tried to drink more of her tea but it didn’t work.

“W-why?” Charlie squeaked, trying not to cry. “Why are you like this? Why is it that you allow angels to stay in heaven when they have do not follow your rules but punish those who try to change?!” Her voice became louder, as the supreme being listens on and drank from his cup. “I worked with these sinners! I helped them see the errors of these ways and tried everything in my power to make things right not just for me but for my people! And…And how can you sit there and not do anything?! There are people who suffered for a few bad choices yet angels can live up here and do anything they can because they are perfect?! Why kind of a system is that?! What do you have against this?!”

Just then, God put down his tea and looked at his granddaughter with a serious expression. “Angel was a gang member who had killed several innocent people when he was alive. After his sister died from a rival gang attack, he found comfort in booze, drugs, and sex.” Charlie anger subsided. “Husk was a notorious playboy who gambled people’s lives. And Alastor? Ha! That guy already showed you his true colors and yet you’re are blind to it. Or maybe…” he took the tea pot and poured his cup. “Maybe you know and just play dumb because you don’t want to admit to him that he was right.” Charlie’s eye widen from his last statement.

“We-well, why is it that you allowed Adam to stay here when he was responsible for killing his own kind?”

“His kind? You mean a bunch of pedophiles, murders, kidnappers, racists, criminals, and so on. Do you know I have them chances to change for the better? To turn back against evil and proclaim my name but no! So now they rot where they all belong.” He stands up. “But I find it funny that the girl so obsessed with redemption didn’t try to find a redeeming quality in my first man. Didn’t even bother to do research herself about him rather than the lie her parents read to her.” He picks up the tea pot. “So much so that she ,along with her father, killed him and left him to rot. Never even bother trying to find a common ground with him. Didn’t even have a rainbow inside of him. So tell me, Charlie,” He then poured the girl’s tea as he leaned close to her. “Doesn't that sounds hypocritical?”

(This won't appear in the comic)

God: You say you preach redemption, that everyone deserves a second chance. But my son, who fought tooth and nail, sweated blood and perished in pain to protect the family from him. All this because your father couldn't admit that he was wrong. Doesn't he deserve heaven?

The atmosphere became dense, Charlie found it difficult to breathe properly, it was as if air was being denied him.

God: But apparently, those sinners who ruined millions of innocent lives have a right over those who did earn their place in heaven when they were alive.— God's expression was emotionless. stirred her cup of tea before taking a sip.— Did you even research heaven, purgatory and hell before thinking about making your hotel?

Charlie: Pu- purgatory?...

God: Mn... Apparently you didn't. Purgatory is a place where lower-ranking sinners or those in a gray area go to be cleansed of sin, giving them a second chance to repent. Your friends, Anthony and Pentious fell in there. They were given a second chance to make amends for their actions, but they squandered it and continued doing their thing there instead of seeking redemption. But only now, when they fall to hell, do they want redemption? They had their opportunity on a silver platter before and decided to waste it, now that they bear the consequences of their actions.

Charlie tried to make a contract argument but the thin air around her made it impossible for her to answer.

God: But tell me. Do you really preach redemption? Are you really as merciful as you pretend to be? Or do you only do it for the mere pride of being praised as the "savior" of sinners?

The atmosphere became denser and more difficult to breathe, a lot of eyes and toothy smiling mouths appeared around God and the garden plants. Looking at her, judging her.

God: You say I am unfair because I let sinners suffer in hell for the actions they decided to take. But haven't you thought that you are also the one who is unfair to the victims of those same sinners? How do you think a rape victim will feel when she sees her abuser walking the same pristine paths of heaven as her? That apparently his good actions in life were in vain since apparently if you are a sinner and you repent you can go to heaven too. Isn't that unfair?

Charlie was panting heavily as he tried to get some air into his lungs. His eyes, full of tears, looked at God with fear.

God: Listen well. Daughter of the archtraitor. Even if you continue with your blasphemous hotel, no sinner will touch the golden gates of heaven, since I refuse to recognize your hotel. It was not for nothing that I sent that disgusting sinner back to your kingdom.

With a wave of his hand, God lifted Charlie into the air with his powers, and with a snap of his fingers he opened a portal that looked towards hell, in hell's heaven.

God: Perish. —was what God said before throwing Charlie through the portal.—

The last thing Charlie saw, before the portal closed, was the indifferent and icy gaze of God.

[i-heart-hxh]

kurapika anon back again!! i would love to know more about your thoughts on the troupe not being fully responsible for the death of the kurta.

personally, i see it more as they committed the actual murder, but someone was pulling the strings, whether that be through the pariston/sheila theory, or tserriednich. especially considering they seem to be under the impression that it’s some kind of revenge on the kurta, while the kurta have been peaceful for a very long time by the time they were massacred.

i saw someone on reddit make the theory that the kurta were the ones that caused meteor city to be so broken down to begin with, but that would be so long ago that i think it would be unreasonable for the troupe to still act on it. possibly chrollo was lied to about that being the case? or falsely told that the kurta were planning an attack?

Hi again!

So, I will say that my theories are all a bit vague, more like a bunch of puzzle pieces than a complete picture, but I'll share my thoughts nonetheless! If anyone else has additions or more insight, feel free to add on--there's so much to consider on this topic, and I don't feel like I've considered every single piece of evidence there is out there.

For a long time, I've felt that there's uncertainty around the Phantom Troupe's actions and the Kurta massacre. For one thing, we've never been shown any images of the Phantom Troupe being involved, nor did any characters we know of directly witness them killing the Kurta, and Uvo initially doesn't remember the Kurta when asked about them (he does when he sees Kurapika's eyes, but even then it seems a little odd). The way the Kurta massacre is set up seems intentionally vague all around, which makes me think there are pieces of the puzzle Togashi has been keeping from us.

He remembers enough where it's entirely possible they did do it or at least heard about it in depth, but also remember the Phantom Troupe started out as an acting troupe. It's possible they either a) did it after being given false information or were manipulated into it, or b) took credit for it for some reason even though they weren't involved. I lean more towards a), but b) is also possible.

I also feel like, the Phantom Troupe are clearly not morally upstanding citizens, to put it mildly, but as we've seen them are they truly capable of a full-on intentional massacre of innocent people, including children, for the sake of money/trophies? Most of the violence we've seen from them has been towards mafia and Chimera Ants. I mean, Feitan does torture people as a hobby and Chrollo kills a whole bunch of audience members in his fight with Hisoka, among other examples, so it's not like it's impossible to even consider they would ever do such a thing, but I'm just somewhat skeptical nonetheless.

The Phantom Troupe backstory threw even more uncertainty into the mix for me. Sarasa is a victim in a similar way to the Kurta, and as of yet the jump between where the Phantom Troupe left off in the flashback and the way the Kurta are killed seems strange. It's likely we'll get something more to fill that gap and explain how this development happened in the manga going forward, but, there's just something about it that seems "off" to me. How did this group of people go from wanting to find the murderers of their friend--albeit at all costs, and saying they are willing to become the villains and kill people in order to get revenge--to a group of people who may have murdered 100+ people for the sake of trophies, similar to what happened to Sarasa? That doesn't match their stated aims, and while it's possible they simply became more and more twisted by going down their road of revenge, I feel like there's more to it. It's interesting either way, so if that is the case, I'll accept it, but I feel like we're missing something major.

Note that they're trying to become so fearsome that people stay away from Meteor City and the people can be safer there/not preyed upon, so that would give them a reason to maybe take credit for what happened to the Kurta even if they weren't involved. And again, they started off as an acting troupe...

I also have had a suspicion for a long time that, with the way Kurapika's powers are set up specifically for the Phantom Troupe, he might eventually end up in a situation where, oops, the Phantom Troupe is not his target after all in order to get what he wants! It feels like a very Togashi kind of irony, and will put him in a difficult position.

Tserriednich is shown with a head above his throne in addition to the scarlet eyes, and his nen beast has a child's head inside of it that looks suspiciously like Pairo's. I think it's very possible Tserriednich or mafia surrounding him were involved in the acquisition of the scarlet eyes. It's possible either the Phantom Troupe were baited or manipulated into killing the Kurta in some way (told that the Kurta were responsible for Sarasa's death and the missing children in Meteor City, for instance), or that they took credit for it in order to bolster their own image as fearsome villains in order to reach their aims.

I also feel like Tserriednich is a direct representation of what Kurapika (and to a certain extent, the Troupe too, at least in the past) resents and abhors--the wanton murder of human beings for reasons of aesthetics, trophies, and "art." So to me, it makes sense he would be Kurapika's ultimate antagonist rather than the Troupe, who in a way are weirdly similar to Kurapika, or at the very least started out that way. If Tserriednich was somehow involved with what happened to Sarasa/the children of Meteor City as well (assuming the timeline supports such a thing, and I'm not totally certain it does), it's even possible Kurapika and the Troupe could end up on the same side, both trying to take Tserriednich down.

There's also the question of Sheila... Like I pointed out in this post, I'm very curious about this panel of her turning away from the Troupe and what it means.

I'm not totally sure I buy the Sheila = Pariston theories (though I haven't ruled it out either), but something is up with Sheila for sure, especially because of her appearance later with Kurapika and Pairo before the Kurta massacre. It's possible she lured someone there, possibly not the Phantom Troupe but maybe mafia members instead--maybe the same mafia members who murdered Sarasa? Or maybe she did pass the info to the Phantom Troupe--but it is weird that here she's shown going away from them with such a sad and complicated expression (as if maybe she were involved with what happened to Sarasa in some way), so it seems odd for her to be working with them later.

@subdee did a great post on this topic as well that has some additional thoughts and evidence as well, so I recommend checking that out!

Ultimately, I think there's a lot of doubt and mystery surrounding the Kurta Massacre, and I do feel like the series is setting up the idea of Tserriednich being the final hurdle for Kurapika to take down. There are a lot of possibilities still for exactly what happened to the Kurta and also for what will happen in the future with Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe, but I do feel like we're still missing a few puzzle pieces that will (hopefully) soon become clear. I do think this arc is going to be the end for the major plots of Kurapika, the Phantom Troupe, and Tserriednich, so I'm very curious and excited for how things will pan out!

[tobiasdrake]

What do you think of Gohan and Piccolo?

There is a fandom war over whether Goku or Piccolo is Gohan's "real dad" and the honest truth is that Gohan's upbringing is very much "It takes a village to raise a child". He is the product of Chi-Chi, Goku, Piccolo, and to a lesser extent Krillin's influences.

But. Also. Though Piccolo and Gohan develop a strong emotional bond, it warrants noting that Piccolo's initial contribution to Gohan's upbringing is pretty monstrous, as befits the reincarnation of pure evil.

There's a tendency to be more critical of Goku's choices than Piccolo's because Piccolo was a bad guy and Goku was a good one. Generally speaking, we tend to give characters a pass for behavior that's... within their narrative wheelhouse, if that makes sense.

When good guys are being good and bad guys are being bad, we consider that business as usual. That's just what they're supposed to do. If Vegeta kills a bunch of people, nobody cares because Vegeta is a bad guy. Bad guys kill people. This is not a worthwhile observation on his character.

So there's a tendency in fandom to hyperfixate only on the good parts of bad guys, and on the bad parts of good guys - and to ignore the rest. Those are the only parts that we consider noteworthy, because they're the areas where the character is going against their mold. It's important, I think, not to do this with Piccolo when talking about Gohan, because while we all love seeing Gohan's innocence reach Piccolo and redeem him, the darker aspect of his earlier choices inform his later growth and development.

We need to learn how to consider the villainous part of villains and the heroic side of heroes in equal measure to the villain's redeeming qualities and the hero's flaws.

By the time of the fight with Raditz, Piccolo is less evil than his previous iteration. According to Gohan, that's Goku's assessment of him. Implied to be Goku's assessment of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, as that's the only time the two have met since Piccolo's reincarnation, prior to Raditz's arrival.

This is a fair assessment. I've talked about it before, but reincarnating as a flesh-and-blood Namekian with a complete range of morality rather than simply being the embodiment of one guy's evilness had an effect on Piccolo.

Piccolo opposes the Saiyans because he wants to rule the world and doesn't want them killing everyone he means to govern. But Daimao's plan for world domination was just to inflict a 40-year extermination on humanity. Piccolo's original incarnation was just evil, incapable of really thinking about his own ideas and why he wants them the way the newer form of Piccolo has.

Daimao would never have teamed up with Goku to save "his subjects" from extermination. He wanted to kill them all too. This capacity for growth and change was already in motion, already forcing him to reconsider what he actually wants from his own ambitions, from the moment he awoke in his new body.

But he was still a bastard. He'd been Evil Incarnate for 300 years; You don't get over that in an afternoon. He still had all of his memories,a ll of his knowledge; There was a lot of wickedness baked into his personality from the get-go.

Since he was no longer Mazoku, he had a brand new range of moral depth to engage with. But he didn't have the luxury of getting to start over as a brand new person. No clean slate for Piccolo. Now that he was capable of change, he still needed a reason and a will to experience it. Circumstances that would force him to re-evaluate his relationship with himself, others, and the world.

The threat of the Saiyans provided that impetus, by giving Piccolo a plan. A nasty plan. A plan based on strict utilitarian assessment of Gohan's involvement in the preceding fight, with no regard to the fact that this is a four-year-old child.

Piccolo, in this moment, sees Gohan as a resource to be used. He has zero empathy for him or for anyone else.

Of course he doesn't. He was the embodiment of selfishness and cruelty for 300 years. He has a capacity for empathy now but has never been put in a position where it might begin to develop. As he says to Gohan in his dying moments:

"You were the only one who ever really talked to me."

Like. Let's not sympathize too much here; this is more on him than anyone else. He tried to reconquer the world and tried multiple times to kill Goku, the only person he has any sort of relationship with. Even the attack he used to kill Raditz was designed for killing Goku.

The reason nobody ever "really talked to [him]" before Gohan is because Piccolo's only interactions with other people were verbal and physical violence. This is what I was getting at earlier. The guy, at this point in time, is a villain existing in uneasy alliance with the heroes. Let's not forget that. In fact, even his relationship with Gohan is verbally and physically violent.

That sweet scene up there where Gohan confronts Piccolo with the fact that he's not such a bad guy? This is how that scene ends.

This is what we tend to give Piccolo a pass on because we expect this behavior from villains, but it needs to be said that Piccolo's approach to Gohan's training is cruel and abusive. The development of their bond has more to do with Gohan's purehearted innocence than with Piccolo's changing outlook.

That's not a slight against Piccolo. It's the setup. This cruelty is what makes it so meaningful when he does change. It's why this moment is so powerful.

The reason this is such a moment that Toei can't stop trying to remake it is because it comes on the heels of all of that cruelty and dismissal. That he would even do this is as much a surprise to Piccolo as it is to everyone else. It violently contradicts and recontextualizes everything he and Gohan have been through for the last year.

Gohan's innocence won out and it changed Piccolo in ways he didn't even realize were happening. When Piccolo says that no one ever really talked to him before, this isn't an indictment against the world for mistreating him. Piccolo is not the Warriors of Hope from Danganronpa. It's validating Gohan for having the courage and empathy to reach him despite it all.

Gohan's training was an idea born of cruel arithmetic. Gohan himself gained some rudimentary martial knowledge but didn't get much else out of it - because Piccolo himself was unsuited to the emotional guidance that Gohan needed. When the Saiyans arrived, he was woefully unprepared for the task that Piccolo expected of him.

What did you expect? It doesn't matter that you taught him how to throw a punch; That boy is five years old. Piccolo pays for this mistake with his life.

But what he does get out of it, what he and Gohan both get out of it, is the development of an emotional bond that will last the rest of their lives - with his dying moment, his sacrifice for Gohan, being what truly kicks off their relationship.

That sacrifice is the reason Gohan goes to Namek.

Gohan, innocent and kind, doesn't resent Piccolo for the things he did. Quite the contrary, he respects Piccolo a lot. By his own admission, he has the same admiration for Piccolo that he does for Goku.

Gohan and Piccolo's bond is now pretty tight, and it remains so through the Namek and Android arcs.

Piccolo grows from his mistake, lets his ambitions for world domination slide away, and he and Gohan now have each other's backs in earnest. The respect and empathy Gohan needed is now there.

It's from that experience (and the wisdom of God now joined into him) that Piccolo's later able to call out Goku for his mistake in the Cell Games.

Piccolo sees the flaw in Goku's plan because he's been Goku. He's stood where Goku's standing, waiting with baited breath for a warrior's hunger to suddenly awaken inside Gohan and for him to fuck this guy up. He had to learn the hard way that that's not who Gohan is, and he brings that development to the table here. He's projected onto Gohan the way Goku now is, and it cost him his life.

Neither Goku nor Piccolo is entirely right here. But neither is entirely wrong either. Goku's plan does ultimately work, but only because of the effort Cell and 16 put into correcting Goku's bad assumptions and finding a trigger that will set Gohan off.

This, I think, is what gets lost in the "Real Dad Goku vs Real Dad Piccolo" debate. It's too binary. Gohan cares a great deal about both of them, they're both prominent influences on him, and they both had a formative effect on his childhood. If you asked him to pick one, he'd probably look at you like you're crazy. The correct answer is:

That panel, that entire panel, is who Gohan's primary male role model is.

Though if you want to know whose kid Gohan really is more than anyone's, it's her:

No matter how distasteful Vegeta might find it, Gohan is his mother's son. He's sensitive, kind, curious, and far more interested in academia than in martial arts; All the qualities Chi-Chi wanted to instill in him. But he nonetheless has a lot of admiration for Goku and Piccolo too, and he carries their influence with him all the same.

(Also, as an aside. Like. Krillin? Kindly fuck off. Gohan may not be as badly hurt as Goku but he was still beaten half to death by both Nappa and Vegeta over the course of this battle. He couldn't even stand up under his own power anymore before he became the Oozaru. Also, he's five and Chi-Chi hasn't seen him, her baby boy, in a year.

It is absolutely valid for her to be way more concerned for Gohan than for Goku.)

But I digress. Point is, Piccolo and Gohan got off to a rocky start and I think that Piccolo's behavior during that time shouldn't be ignored, but also he changed dramatically due to Gohan's influence. Piccolo shaped much of who Gohan was as a fighter in his early years, but Gohan did far more for Piccolo by making him part of a family despite himself.

Now he's in Gohan's wedding photo.

And Chi-Chi isn't for reasons that can only be attributed to Toei's utter disdain for her character.

And he's teaching martial arts to Gohan's kid, with a much gentler hand than the one he once used on Gohan.

There's a real argument to be made that Gohan did more to shape who Piccolo became in the years following their training together than Piccolo did to shape Gohan. Sometimes the master learns as much or even more from the apprentice than the apprentice does from the master.

[sufferu]

Sup! I had a question for you. I was wondering if you'd be opposed if I ever got down to writing an alternate version of BTZ. Mind you it be whenever you completed this wonderful master piece with full credit going toward you.

The basic premise would be Subaru running away from the cast believing that they hate/want to hurt him and accidentally joining the Witch Cult. (Probably by running into a mabeast infested forest or into some bandits and getting saved by some hooded guys who seem pretty chill. Oddly they won't stop bowing to him. Eh, whatever they're offering him a place to stay for free so Subaru is cool with it.)

Subaru then meets the Archbishop of Sloth and the man seems weird but he doesn't exactly appear dangerous. (This will be a running theme with Subaru where none of the Archbishop adheres to his idea of a Final Boss. Petelgeuse is a looney tunes character, the Gluttony siblings are weird kids, but harmless and Sirus is a silly Yandere who's trying to get with Geuse. So a bunch of Saturday morning cartoon characters XD)

Anyways Subaru and Geuse get along well. Like really well (Which fits the Pride If in which the two did become friends) And this chance meeting inadvertently changes his gospel. In fact, all the Archbishops futures change and the attack on Arlam and the White Whale are called off. (The Cast is so fucking confused right now)

Sloth takes Subaru to meet Pandora (a little girl in Subaru's mind) and she makes him the New Archbishop of Pride and promises to help him find a way back home. Subaru is ecstatic. So far joining the dark side rules! And they have cookies!

Meanwhile Subaru's friends are losing their collective fucking minds. They lost their time traveling corpse and the Archbishop's seem to have known about their plans and avoided them (Did they travel back in time to...fuck'n fuck!)

The Witch Cult Elimination forces decide to divide into two teams. One to track Subaru down and bring him back by whatever means and the other will try to salvage the situation and try to bring the Witch Cult Down once and for all!

Only Subaru likes his new friends, he likes them a lot and several misunderstandings with the cast leads Subaru into believing they want to hurt and kill him. It doesn't help that they have Julius leading the retrieval team and Elsa and Meili have joined the Cast and...yeah it doesn't go well. In contrast the Witch Cult are kind and caring and seem like genuinely good people! (Because everyone tried to hide any information about the Cult from Subaru in an attempt to protect him, the dude is totally clueless about the war crimes the Cult has committed...oops?

So yeah, anytime the Cast gets close to landing a decisive blow on the Cult something changes or the group has back up waiting to ambush them. It's almost like they knew about all their plans ahead of time...no it couldn't be...right?

Yeah, Subaru is hundred percent using RBD to save the Witch Cult lol!

No, lol, I would not be opposed to you writing this if you wish to do so.

My suggestion, though, would be to heavily lean into the misunderstanding that Subaru is having about the Cult. Have him keep totally missing the war crimes as a running gag, have Petelgeuse doing crazy shit off in the corner while Subaru thinks he’s just making cookies for when the guy comes back from “shopping at the market.” Have him totally out of the loop regarding EVERYTHING surrounding what the Cult is really about. I will say that I personally am not a fan of plotlines where Subaru is genuinely on board with becoming a witch cultist and murdering thousands of innocents, or of ones where the Witch Cult is…sanewashed(?) instead of being portrayed as the nutcases that they are in canon lmao — though if that’s YOUR cup of tea you can safely disregard my note there, lol.

(I also would personally avoid including Pandora since we REALLY don’t know anything about her yet, but that is again a very subjective suggestion, because I know that a lot of people do really like her already lol)

Anyway — could be a very funny crack fic, from my POV. Hope you enjoy writing it!

[slasher-dasher]

Hi hi!

Are you able to write headcanons for Bo Sinclair, Billy Lenz, Billy Loomis, Pyramid Head, with a fail girl or a Girlfailure s/o? Or something like that?

In the movies/games they’re in, the protagonist is usually innocent, resourceful, and morally good. So how would they be with a person who has committed some terrible action (killing a person close to them by accident or selfish reason), is kind of a loser, pathetic-ish, etc. They’re good with weapons, and survive literally anything though. They try to compensate for what they did often, and feels like helping them or doing what the slashers say does that.

Very grateful of their love, and the type to say “I would die for you!” Instead of “I love you” like a normal person. I was thinking of James Sunderland and Michael Afton, and my mind came to this, haha.

Slashers w/a Girlfailure S/O

︶꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦︶

Bo Sinclair:

Bo has led a bunch of people to their waxy deaths, and he was intent on doing the same to you

How you were able to avoid literally every trap set around town baffled him to the point where he took matters into his own hands

He was even more surprised to see that you had done the same to one of the statues that had gotten a little courageous and tried to escape with you

"Darlin' you are so goddamn pathetic" "You mean it? 🥺" You've been his ever since. Bo rarely lets you out of his sight because he likes to watch you fumble with all the tasks/chores he gives you

He does put your knowledge of weapons to good use when the victims escape. He sends you "on the hunt", as he likes to call it, and often stays back to watch you work

Billy Lenz:

You're the first to figure out that he's up in the attic purely by wandering up there to grab stuff out of storage (he immediately tackled you). You surprised him by actually being able to fight him off!

Sometimes he likes to call just to see what he can get you to ramble about (or confess); he was very caught off guard when you started using his own tactics on him and promptly hung up the first time. You didn't hear from him for a few hours--

Billy is almost always on your heels; there have been many close-calls with the other members in the house and his hiding places get more creative every day

The difference between you two is that Billy is very reactive when he feels his guilt, where you internalize it; Billy kills to defend/on impulse and you kill to protect/by choice.

I think it's very clear that you and Billy harbor a similar guilt- Killing does distress and upset him and although it's subtle, he sees the same in you too. He appreciates when you try to help him, and he tries to help you too! But neither of you end up feeling any relief

Billy Loomis:

He picks on you often, sometimes to get a reaction (affectionate) and sometimes to be an asshole (derogatory)

Billy likes to toy with your guilt by making you help him with his calls, specifically by being on-scene and waiting to strike. He would never admit it, but he was a little jealous that you were better at chases than he was

"But Billy you told me to cha-" "I didn't tell you to almost get killed!! You might be good with a knife but I won't help you if you get caught."

Loves to admire you after a chase. He knows the look in your eyes because it's the same one in his, patches up any scrapes or stabs while calling you an idiot for almost getting caught, admires and even compliments your strategy, it's when he's the most honest.

Billy doesn't expect you to atone for anything. Just follow his plan and don't get caught. He's making you into a perfect partner in crime~

Pyramid Head:

Silent Hill is known to have visitors who are looking for a way to compensate for their sins, so he's not surprised when you come looking for the same thing

What Silent Hill is not known for is having visitors who can fight back. Most try to grab a pipe to defend themselves but you, you were either very lucky or very resourceful.

Every time he thought you were done for he'd be pleasantly surprised with the improvised weapon you grabbed appeared seemingly out of thin air in front of you

He liked to watch you fight off a group of monsters before intervening, it wasn't much fun when you got overwhelmed

Often carries you back to safety. Many of the monsters and residents learn that Pyramid Head is not far when you are nearby so they eventually learn to steer clear of you

(James Sunderland is v girlfail-core so I absolutely get it)