#like at first it was ironic and everyone thinks it ironic

[centrally-unplanned]

Oh I did wanna log the thought: since Trump's campaign was so often vague and contradictory on its agenda, there was an uncertainty around what his administration would actually be. "Soft" and "hard" versions abounded in the take market. Now that we have the EO's, what does that suggest?

I think it is pretty bad, I would rank these as 80 percentile on a soft-to-hard scale. He was talked off the ledge on the maximal tariff stuff, it looks like - he is still gonna do some, which will suck, but I think the smart money is not on "20% tarifffs on every import" and they do look more like bargaining tactics now on some cases like the Canada/Mexico ones. On trade & economics we didn't get anything too crazy.

On everything else each thing was just...20% more extreme than expected. Pardoning everyone he could from 1/6, including those who attacked polices officers, that is cold. Trying to remove birthright citizenship for legal immigrants, everyone expect the illegal side but damn. The trans rights EO is "complete", it isn't a "get rid of this DEI stuff/preserve women's spaces" thing, it is categorical in its denial of existence. I think the "tech right" is currently pretty worried about their talented immigrant hires given how restrictive the situation looks to become. Almost every EO was expected, but more than half had something that was like "oh shit they went there".

I saw someone (Noah Smith I think) comment that it is a little ironic that "The Resistance" spent itself during Trump's first term when he was, until 2020 at least (very important caveat), pretty much in practice a normal Republican with an incompetence/trolling streak. Now they are burned out while the Trump admin they thought they were fighting in 2016 is finally here, ready to wreck shop in 2024.

Fortunately early days are always the most heady, we will see how this actually goes. Not a great start though!

[wizard-on-whales]

I've literally had this stuck in my head for as long as I've been obsessed with him but imagine being highschool sweethearts with him...

Like you guys were inseparable when you were kids. Your houses were right across the street from each other and you were the only kids on the block so you always played together. You would ride your bikes through the streets, go to the arcade, play in a nearby creek. When you two got older your spot by the creek became a place to escape from family issues, you'd pass a joint and a beer back and forth, and just talk about your futures. Then when Senior prom came around his brother and your mom forced you two to go together even though neither of you wanted to go to prom in the first place. Half way through the night you'd ditch and go to your spot in the woods. You'd both be a giggling mess, drunk on spiked punch as you fall to the ground together, him holding you in his arms, making fun of your poofy dress once more. But secretly he loved it, his heart had been racing all night, his hands sweaty every time you'd smile at him. Now that you were on top of him, giggling away, he kissed you. He didn't know what overcame him but he did it anyway. You kissed back. Neither of you had felt this way about each other before, but now that it happened a whole new world of feeling opened up. All those years together, all of those memories, became something more in one moment.

You two continued to grow together, supporting each other through everything with a tight hold on each other's hands. James band blew up, just like you always told him, and he drug you along on tours and to crazy parties. You two would sneak off and make out in corners and in bathrooms, not caring what other people think. In '86 on a hiking trip, he got down on his knee and pulled a ring out, asking you to marry him. Of course you said yes, leaping into his arms and kissing him. You'd get married in 1990, 10 years after you started dating, it would be a small wedding, only your closest friends and family. He performs a song at the wedding for you that he had written, Nothing Else Matters...and it really didn't. Not to him anyway, he could have lost it all, the band, the fame, the money, he could have been living on the streets, but as long as he had you, he still had everything.

Mid 1991 you tell him you're pregnant, you both freak out at first but then realize how beautiful the opportunity is. Both of you came from broken families so the idea of starting a family together, one that would be full of love and laughter, neither of you could pass it up. Ironically enough the baby was born at the beginning of '92, February 10th. What would have been Cliffs 30th birthday. It only seemed right to name your baby boy after him.

A few years later another baby boy follows, Layne. It was a difficult pregnancy which ended in a C-section so you two agree to stop at two. But of course, the desire to have a baby girl outweighed your fears so in 1999 little Julia followed.

James had been struggling with his alcohol addiction, you tried so hard throughout the years to keep him from falling deeper but it couldn't be stopped. It pained you to see him this way, to watch him drink himself half to death. Many nights he'd stagger through the door and pass out on the floor.

Your breaking point was when he hadn't made it inside. He was passed out in the lawn in a pile of his own vomit. He needed rehab, no matter how much he denied it.

The months following were rough for everyone, James, you, the kids, but you pushed through and when he came home it was perfect. He was sweeter than ever, his smile from his youth, the one you fell so hard for, was back on his face.

The years that followed his sobriety journey were sometimes hard but you two made it work, just like you always had. In 2007 you found out that you were pregnant again. Both of you panicked for a while, wondering how you would make another baby work after already having three. Especially since they were getting older now...and so were the two of you. But Stevie was another perfect little angel who was adored by everyone. Her big brother Cliff especially. He was a sweet, sensitive boy who often took care of her without even asking. James and you told him he didn't have to help but he didn't listen.

Everything was perfect as the years continued on, Cliff got married and him and his wife welcomed their first baby in 2017. You and James were ecstatic about the news and the fact that you were grandparents now. It was only then did you realize that all of your dreams had come true, you and James were growing old together just like you always talked about in the spot by the creek. Sometime between 2017 and now, Layne and Julia both got married along the way too. Cliff welcomed two more kids, Layne welcomed his first, another on the way. Julia and her wife were opening a bookstore in Vail together. Stevie was about to graduate high school which seemed unreal.

Now you were here in the kitchen, preparing a Sunday dinner for your whole family, your 4 kids, 3 bonus kids (their wives), and your 4 grandchildren. James had arrived home from the store after you sent him for an ingredient you had forgotten. He stepped into the kitchen with a grin plastered on his face and his hand behind his back.

"what?" You'd say, eyeing him suspiciously as he stepped closer to you. Hed brushed your graying hair out of your face and bring a small flower out from behind his back, placing it on your ear.

"I saw it on the drive home, thought you'd like it," Hed say softly, a boyish smile on his face. You'd smile back, feeling a faint blush on your cheeks. Somehow after all these years he still found ways to whoo you. He'd wrap his arms around you and smile once more before leaning down to press a kiss against your lips. The kiss would be interrupted by the squeals of a few of your grandkids running into the kitchen, wanting attention from him, wanting their grandpa. You'd smile at the sight of him scooping one into each arm, moving to the living room to play with them as you finish up dinner, your heart filled with more love than you ever thought possible.

✭-----------------------------✭

Literally gonna sob

[dootznbootz]

Hello, I want to ask this question but I don't want it to sound disrespectful, I really want to know and I'm not trying to be rude.

Why are Helen and Menelaus one of your OTPs? I mean, at least the versions I know Helen falls in love with Paris and willingly goes to Troy with him (but I have to say that this was told to me, I didn't read it from any legitimate source, so I could be wrong) so I'd like to know what makes you love them! And that's all, I hope you have a nice day:3

YIPPEE! :D First of all, I wanna say thank you for being polite and genuine with your ask :3 I really appreciate that you seem to be coming from a genuinely curious perspective and want to know why! I hope you have a lovely day too <3

And then~ Ima put some links to other posts of mine (AND some other lovely folks) that discuss Helen and Menelaus and the whole thing with Paris. Most have text evidence :3

I have made the ones that I think are most important to read in bold

Menelaus in the Iliad talking about how Paris stole Helen

A fantastic essay written by another Tumblr user (deactivated now. you will be missed!) that delves into the reality of Paris and Helen's relationship alongside Paris as a person

My own essay about how Odysseus and Helen play "similar roles" in their stories. I'm assuming you've found me through my Odyssey and Water Wife stuff, so you're probably an Odysseus fan so this kind of delves into how I, personally, believe that Odysseus and Helen mirror each other in many ways plot wise. So if you are also in agreement that Odysseus couldn't have cheated because cheating requires consent, Helen is basically in the same situation. Paris is just basically having Aphrodite strongarm Helen for him.

My Own personal feelings on Paris

A neat essay on how, narratively, the story fits into the themes of the whole Epic Cycle and the Iliad if Helen was actually kidnapped

Some stuff on Menelaus being a soft man in canon :3

My Own post delving somewhat into Helen's unwillingness with some text evidence

I recommend reading most of these (or at least the ones that intrigue you) and then I can chatter about these sillies below 🥹

So in canon, just for the Iliad and the Odyssey, Menelaus is often portrayed as a quiet, shy even, and I would even go so far as to call him gentle, man. (It's kind of a collective fanon headcanon that Menelaus is austistic coded based on his behavior in the texts) It's something really interesting that one of his epithet's is "War Loving" and yet, he's one of the more "peaceful" kings there.

Adrestus rolled out of the chariot beside the wheel, face down in the dirt. Menelaus, son of Atreus,                        stood there over him, holding his long-shadowed spear. Adrestus clutched Menelaus by the knees and begged: “Take me alive, son of Atreus—you’ll get good ransom. My father is a wealthy man, owns lots of things—bronze, silver, well-worked iron. So he’ll give you a splendid ransom, if he learns I’m by Achaean ships, alive.”                             Adrestus pleaded. Menelaus’s heart in his chest was moved. He was about to hand Adrestus to his attendant, to take back captive to the fast Achaean ships.           But then Agamemnon came running up to him, sharply criticizing Menelaus:  “Menelaus, you soft-hearted man, why are you sparing men’s lives like this? In your own home, Trojans treated you exceptionally well, did they not? So don’t let any one of them evade a terrible destruction at our hands— not even the young child still carried in his mother’s belly. Let no one escape.                         Let everyone in Troy be slaughtered, without pity, without leaving any trace.”    

(Book 6, Johnston)

Like the main reason WHY Menelaus is fighting this war in the first place and fighting so hard, is because he just wants Helen back. Literally the most "violent" we've seen Menelaus is, imo, during his fight with Paris, the man who kidnapped Helen and is forcing himself upon her. As he literally starts DRAGGING Paris by his helmet on the ground. And when Paris offers Treasure in place of Helen, Diomedes' declines on his (and technically all the other Achaeans') behalf as Menelaus was injured.

And if you've looked at the bolded links I put above, you'll see how Helen also desperately does not want to be there and just wants to go back home, missing Menelaus and their daughter, Hermione.

And with Helen, she literally basically tells Paris that since he would've lost the fight with Menelaus, therefore would've been killed, if not for Aphrodite, that he should kill himself because that's what's honorable.

“You’ve come back from the fight. How I wish   you’d died there, killed by that strong warrior who was my husband once. You used to boast you were stronger than warlike Menelaus,  more strength in your hands, more power in your spear. So go now, challenge war-loving Menelaus to fight again in single combat. I’d suggest you stay away. Don’t fight it out man to man with fair-haired Menelaus, without further thought. You might well die, come to a quick end on his spear.”  

(Book 3, Johnston)

I honestly fucking love how Helen straight up says to Paris' face that she wished Menelaus killed him. Deserved.

In some ways, I think Paris is a very neat contrast to Menelaus in how Paris left his wife and child behind to start a life with a new "better" wife, while Menelaus is willing to go to war to bring the wife he loves so much back home, safe and happy, with him. Menelaus can't even think of the idea of just "starting anew".

And in the Odyssey, it's just... It's just so sweet seeing how these two interact when Telemachus goes to Sparta to talk to them. Helen is no longer in tears, and while she's still dealing with her self-loathing and guilt, so does Menelaus. They share this burden together and are very gentle with each other. The way she's back to being so happy and hosting as a happy Queen and wife should, is so SO different from how we see Helen in the Iliad, as she's finally happy, safe, and at home. 😭

Like, please look at how silly these two are when they see Telemachus:

Right away she started speaking to her husband, asking him some detailed questions:                                   “Do we know, my divinely cherished Menelaus, who these two men who’ve come into our home claim to be? Shall I speak up and pretend, or shall I tell the truth? My heart tells me                            I must be frank. I can’t say I’ve ever seen                            someone who looks so much like someone else, whether man or woman. When I see it, I’m amazed—this man looks just like the son of brave Odysseus—I mean Telemachus, who, when he left home, was a new-born child, when, because I’d acted so disgracefully, you Achaeans all sailed away to Troy, your hearts intent on brutal warfare.” Fair-haired Menelaus then answered her and said: “This likeness you’ve just noticed, my dear wife,               I’ve seen, as well. His feet are similar, as are his hands, the glances from his eyes,                                              his head, and his hair on top. And just now, as I was remembering Odysseus, discussing all the troubles he’d endured because of me, he let a bitter tear fall from his eyes and raised the purple cloak across his face.”

(Book 4, Johnston)

Like??? She feels free to speak and state her mind because she IS free with Menelaus. She feels respected and loved in her own house and is the queen to his king and slkdjf kljdsfalj THEY'RE HAPPYYYYYY

In the Odyssey also, it was she who interpreted the omen that Telemachus and Pesistratus even though Menelaus was asked to interpret it! ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HER HAPPILY BEING A QUEEN AND HER AND HER WORDS BEING RESPECTED.

Menelaus, for all his warlike qualities, was at a loss to give him the correct interpretation, and his beautiful wife forestalled him. 'Listen,' she said, 'while with such inspiration as I have I explain this omen and what I feel sure that it portends. [...]

(Book 15, E.V. Rieu)

LOOK AT EURIPIDES' HELEN

Like to me, these two in canon are kind of "opposites attract" while OdyPen are "Likeminded". As Helen is definitely one to chatter more and Menelaus is perfectly fine letting Helen talk for him.

And while young, Menelaus and Agamemnon after their father, Atreus, was killed by their uncle, they had to flee Mycenae to stay safe and were exiled. And where did they stay during this time?

In Sparta, WITH TYNDAREUS AND LEDA, HELEN'S PARENTS >:3

And with most depictions of Menelaus and Odysseus when getting married to Helen and Penelope, both are usually beardless, implying youth/same age. So I love the idea of them being childhood friends to lovers. (that's just MY interpretation though) It's part of the reason why Helen picked him out of all the suitors (though yeah, another interpretation)

AND look at this depiction of them reunitiing!!!

So for the context for this specific version/interpretation of them reuniting, he has just killed Deiphobus, Paris' brother that Helen went to after Paris died, (Troy was fated to fall, if Helen was returned, Menelaus and the other Achaeans would go home and Troy would be left alone, so... Fate interfered with Helen even possibly going home) and she was in the room when it happened. Helen, being somewhat scared that Menelaus would try to kill her, started to run. (That's Helen on the Right, the left is supposed to be Aphrodite, who, while she did keep Helen in Troy for Paris, is still the goddess of love. So that's why she's there.)

BUT LOOK HOW HE TOSSED HIS SWORD TO THE SIDE TO RUN TO HER?! 😭

In general, I love the dynamics that play into their relationship AND how their relationship even plays with other characters like OdyPen. I'm not as detailed with their lives as I am with my OdyPen, they're still heavily involved in my ideas and they're all very close. They go on double dates!

Heck, since I have the whole "childhood friends" stuff in my stuff, Helen, Menelaus, Penelope, Castor, and Deiphobus all grew up together and were kind of a goofy lil crew :3 (I have aged up Clytemnestra to work with my Agamemnon more with how I have my timeline work out :') The timeline is a mess and this is how I'm making it work)

Like, My OdyPen are my "Freak4Freak, Likeminded, ADHD, squirming, wriggling, giggling, nuzzling noses and constantly moving and chattering" couple while my MenHelen are my "Slow and relaxed, long kisses, Helen chatters while Menelaus listens, Menelaus is Helen's weighted blanket person who eases her anxiousness with his quiet demeanor, staring at each other with big eyes." couple 🥹

Snippets of my goobers being affectionate in their own special way, my OdyPen one from my one longfic and my MenHelen is just a snippet I wrote recently.

OdyPen squirm and wriggle while MenHelen stare at each other with big eyes and are each others safe place.

My dear friend, @thehelplessmortals (One of MenHelen's super fans! Check em out if you're even more curious about them! they have their own fanart and headcanons for them too!) doodled my version of the goobers being silly. My Helen is Chubby and 6'4 (Zeus' child and most beautiful woman in the world) and she likes to wrestle, and Menelaus is 6'2, she can pick him up >:3

"DAD, I WANT THIS ONE!"

Also~ Here's my list of Odyssey translations I've gathered :3 Feel free to pick one if you ever wanna read the actual text.

[starlightanya0wsblog]

~Trafalgar Law x reader platonic headcanons~

Requested by @banana-cat429, it was my first time doing requests so I'm sorry if it seems a bit off😔

•you're part of the strawhats group and when you first saw Law at Sabaody you thought this man was on drugs or sm😭✋️

•to be honest, I think at first he didn't like you at ALL. He doesn't like being around loud people (*coff Luffy *coff) but in the end he actually manages to know you better, and he notices how you're actually not annoying, but kind and brave.

•Law isn't a very extroverted person, so I think most of the talks are began by you, and he prefers it like that, he prefers to listen than to talk anyway.

•You become his bff in a second basically LMAO, in fact, you introduced him as your bff to everyone and he didn't deny that (he gets embarrassed if you point it out though lol.)

•You once saw a black cat that didn't like being touched and looked kinda annoyed to everyone, and so you told Law that it reminded you of him, and now you call him "Pouty Cat😭✋️" everytime

•He actually smiles a lot with you, you guys have a lot of ironical jokes that only you two understand (he's the type to say that your jokes are shitty but laughs anyways)

•he brings you coffee if he sees you tired (if you don't like coffee; then he just brigs you to eat/drink something else)

•you collect seashells together

•sometimes you take his hat and you draw his tattoos on your hands trying imitate him and he's always arguing about how "he doesn't talk like THAT."

•call him emo, and he's not gonna talk to you for the rest of the day😭✋️

•Law secretly likes cute things; so you bought him a plushie (yes, it's a cat that looks like him) he said he hated it but still keeps it in his room with care

•I imagine that he sleeps reaaaally late, (or doesn't sleep at all-) so when you enter his room and find him sleeping on his desk, you take a blanket and put it on him

•if you're ever in danger, of course he saves your dumbass ass (and scolds you on how you're not careful of yourself, but he's actually happy you're okay) "Just don't do that again dumbass"

•his favourite nickname is Traffy; but he will never admit it.

•you guys have matching socks and of course he says he will never wear them but if he sees you sad about it he'll do it

•you kinda remind him of Cora-san, and sometimes he smiles when he sees you rambling about something, and you watch him confused asking why he's smiling and he responds: "It's nothing."

[codenamesazanka]

Shigaraki’s death is still bullshit, but while rereading his final battle with Deku, I remember these tags from @shigarakins on my “bnha is like a bad ghost exorcism story”:

#tbf tomura afo and kurogiri kind of were dead all along considering that they literally died and then were brought back #tomura specifically was brought back by a powerful & negative emotion #quite literally like a ghost who can't move on #no coincidence imo that they died alongside the ofa users - who were more explicitly presented as spirits with unfinished business #wherever that fits into the story of bnha or was done well is a different question ofc #very horikoshi though to be all over the place like that

And he's right.

Tracing the Path of Death [Very image heavy]:

So after Deku held Tenko’s hands and destroyed his hatred, both the Memory Tenko and the Physical Reality(?) Shigaraki starts shattering.

The little boy is crumbling, while Deku is intact. Meanwhile, Shigaraki is also breaking away, as is his mass of hands, as seen from the outside world.

The shattering is indeed caused by Deku punching OFA into Shigaraki, by shooting it into the iron core of hatred and rage.

The iron core of hatred and rage shatters, allowing Deku (and Nana) into Shigaraki’s mind. From there, they have to shatter its innermost center too, and they do:

So by the time Deku “gets through” to Tenko, all of that hatred and rage has been smashed. It's gone. Shigaraki starts eroding away.

OFA destroyed the core, which destroyed the body.

Thus: Iron Lump of Hatred and Rage = Shigaraki himself.

If so, then: Destroying the Iron Lump of Hatred and Rage = Destroying Shigaraki himself

Why does that work?

Well, if we think back all the way to the end of the Jaku Battle, the story has this to say:

Shigaraki died for real back here, but it was his hatred that brought him back. So if the only thing powering him alive like a battery is his hatred, then, yeah, destroying that hatred would kill him.

He literally was a ghost that haunted the world out of hatred and anger (at injustice, for himself and the people he cares about.)

[more analysis below, but also counterpoints]

In his dreamscape of Chapter 270, after he had died after falling out of the tube, I wonder if that was like, his afterlife. The transitional state between life and death. Because his dead family was there.

All the dead Shimuras are there, pulling at him. At the time, everyone thought that it was them preventing him from going to AFO, back to the destructiveness enabled by an evil abuser, and yeah, it's still that. But I think it is also just the dead claiming him. Shigaraki/Tenko is dead and they want him to stay dead, to stay with them. Taking him to the afterlife with them, because he actually still loves his family and was thinking of them and so why not stay?

But Shigaraki rejects that. Rejects death, and walks towards AFO, the man who cultivates his hatred and rage. And that’s when Shigaraki comes back alive. He was dead, but he clung to the power of AFO and his hatred and dream, and so he is brought back to life.

So then, how exactly did Shigaraki Tomura die?

The responsibility for that is sorta on several parties:

There's obviously Ujiko, who induced a “deathlike” state in Shigaraki for the surgery.

So he’s the one who physically put Shigaraki into this risk in the first place - however, he did have full intention and the tools to bring Shigaraki out of it too. Ujiko would have, if not for the Heroes.

On the Heroes’ side, it was Mirko who cracked the tank:

Allowing for Mic to later come to shatter it with his Loud Voice:

Note Ujiko’s dialogue - he still has the opportunity and resources to wake Shigaraki up, as long as the tank is mostly intact. But Mic’s attack fully destroyed the tank, and obliterated that possibility.

But of course, there’s AFO himself, who says that his original scheme was to completely take over Shigaraki.

It's not clear if the surgery had been 100% complete then Shigaraki would've been fully suppressed and gone; or if, as AFO says here, that Shigaraki's impulse and will was so strong that it wouldn't have worked anyway. Still, AFO had essentially planned to kill Shigaraki.

And of course. There’s Shigaraki himself, who agreed to the surgery, to take AFO. If he hadn't, if he had just stopped looking for the Doctor, if he had run away from all this the moment AFO was arrested, then he wouldn't have been on this course to death.

The things that contradict this:

-> The only solid text element we had of "resurrected by his hatred" is mainly Deku's narration in that one panel. Blink and you'll miss it; then never mentioned again, so it doesn't feel at all incorporated into the story. Even the mention of the small electric current - In the chapter itself, we saw the broken electric cord in the water, we saw an electric shock in the art.

…Only for the narration to tell us chapters later that the shock was actually so small X-Less didn't feel it. If the story really wanted to lean into the horror ghost element, it would've not shown that, right? No electricity at all, but maybe a sudden finger twitch, then X-Less realizing Shigaraki was coming back to life. Or, X-less thinking on-panel that that electric current was nothing, just static electricity before getting killed by Shigaraki.

Instead, telling us after the fact diminished it. One flashback panel with Deku narration - that he shouldn't have known! he wasn't there for it! - would barely register for the reader.

-> As much as the story rambles on about The Iron Lump Core Of Hatred And Rage, which, yes, is a big part of Shigaraki and what drives him, there’s literally his love for his League as well. You would think that after the hatred and rage is destroyed, that love would remain - and it does:

“…the Villains need a hero of their own.”

{Countercounterpoint: But apparently that love is not enough to keep Shigaraki in this world? Not enough to keep him intact. Maybe if the League had been closer, maybe if Spinner had taken that one extra step.*

{{{*But once again, there's Spinner’s survivor’s guilt musings. The moment when he could've taken one more step, and he could've saved Shigaraki…

If the narrative is right that Spinner should’ve done something here and it would’ve helped, then Shigaraki wasn't just a dead body on borrowed time. But if Shigaraki was dead from the start at Jaku, and his hatred was all that was keeping him going, then…}}}

But with the hatred gone, Shigaraki crumbles, and this desire to be the League’s hero does not counteract that crumbling.}

-> Whatever one can say about [Shigaraki and his Hatred And Rage being one and the same, and when his Hatred And Rage is gone, he would die], but Shigaraki was still fully whole and intact during his battle with Deku, pre-OFA-Kamikaze-Attack.

By all counts, he’s alive and kicking. The OFA vestiges says explicitly that his wounds are healing. Shigaraki says it will only take a super smash to really kill him. And while he’s still got his iron lump of hatred and rage, he’s also thinking about Spinner. His friend. Who he likes enough to want to see happy (see again previous point).

In carrying out the OFA-Kamikaze-Attack, Deku would break and shatter this guy, effectively killing him. It’s hinted that Deku sort of knew this, when he talks about “Smashing Tenko’s spirit would break the both of them,”

And in this scene again: 

Deku knew the risk of putting OFA into a body that might not be ready for it, a body that already had a quirk.

So regardless of whether Shigaraki would've died anyway if his hatred had been erased any other way, Deku’s actions still showed intent of possibly destroying Shigaraki and he willingly carried this out. There was a whole and not-crumbling Shigaraki, who Deku refused to talk to, and whose spirit Deku decided to smash by using a power that he knew would have potentially lethal physical effects on the body because he experienced it himself. Shigaraki may or may not have been a ghost, but Deku definitely contributed to the end of that existence.

-> Also, post-Hatred-Smashed, Shigaraki’s body was actually still intact too.

AFO has taken over, but the body is still here. The flesh might have taken damage, but it was still here, in one piece. Decay and the rage and hatred are no more, but the body was still here, whole.

Maybe it’s only because AFO took over, his vengeful spirit somehow able to keep the body whole and working? Who knows. (But then—if AFO can come back from the vestige/soul/spirit dead like that, after Shigaraki swallowed him up, why couldn't Shigaraki? Shigaraki, whose hatred and rage and driving force in his life has been destroyed, and so maybe his vestige/soul/spirit also dying, but if AFO can do it, so can Shigaraki.)

Never mind that AFO only comes back because of Deku and OFA’s actions; Shigaraki was also still existing, somewhere inside the body:

Still screaming in there - Because we know that Nana held him together after he was shattered.

(Also note that Shigaraki thinks his annihilation was when AFO swallowed him up. Not before, when his hatred was gone; but only once AFO took over.)

So between that “tethered, kept-from-fading” spirit that, even with all its hatred and rage smashed, was still existing, and a body that, while having received damage, was still okay enough to be walking around, there was enough of Shigaraki mentally and physically to keep around. Deku just never bothered to think of a plan that would allow that.

*

So. Was Shigaraki dead from the start? Yes, but not necessarily. Or perhaps didn't have to stay that way. Was Shigaraki gone the moment his hatred was shattered? Sort of, but he was actually able to stick around still. Could Shigaraki have stayed alive after everything? I want to believe so, at least up until Deku’s final smash.

Was it Deku who killed Shigaraki? I'll allow that there were a lot of factors that lead to Shigaraki’s death, but I think it’s also clear that it’s Deku who dealt the finishing blow and smashed away any possibility of recovery and revival.

[mysterious-adventurer]

Dance With Me - Liam Mairi

A/N: I haven't read Iron Flame yet, so I apologize if anything conflicts with cannon (other than the obvious). I just thought this was a really cute idea and I couldn't get it out of my head. This could be read as a follow up to my previous oneshot ( I'd Never Forgive Myself - Liam Mairi)  or as a standalone

Summary: Liam and y/n steal a moment to dance at Riorson House. 

TW: None I think? Tooth Rotting fluff if that counts

Please do not repost. 

Riorson House is quiet as a slip out of my room into the hallway. The mage lights are dim and there's not another soul in the passage. Not that I'm surprised; it's well after midnight and everyone else is in bed. I should be in bed, but after hours of tossing and turning I need a change of scenery. My feet wander aimlessly through the halls until I reach the doors to the great hall, and I'm drawn almost inexplicably inside. 

        I walk to the far end of the room, away from the distorted shadows in the darker half of the room, to stand in front of the massive window. The full moon shines brightly, bathing the room in gentle moonlight and making up for the lack of mage lights at this late hour. The sky is perfectly clear and dotted with brilliant stars. Below them, the snow on the jagged mountain peaks glistens. The view is mesmerizing, and I let myself get lost in it. 

        "Is everything alright?" Liam calls softly from the doorway as he enters the room. 

        "Couldn't sleep that's all." 

        "Me either." Liam wraps his arms around me a places soft kiss on my cheek. I hadn't realized until just now how chilly it was, and I feel myself relaxing into him. "What's on your mind?"

        "Just trying to process everything that's happened. A few days ago, we were normal students headed out for war games and now..." I don't even know how to finish that thought. We were sent to Athebyne to die. Venin are real. Liam and the other Tyrrish students are involved in a weapons smuggling operation. Just thinking about it is enough to make my head spin. 

        "Dance with me?"

        "What?" I turn quickly to look at him. 

        "You need to get out of your head for a while, just humor me, please?"

        "Liam, there isn't any music."

        "Trust me, we don't need any," he guides me to face him, before placing one hand on my waist and guiding one of mine to his shoulder. Then we're gliding across the floor to a melody only Liam can hear. Slowly, my heart rate slows, and my mind begins to empty. Liam looks so beautiful in the moonlight I can't think about anything else. I laugh as he leads me through a graceful spin. 

        "Where did you learn to dance like this?"

        "Duke Lindell thought it was important that the boys he fostered were proper gentlemen" Liam shrugs "dance lessons were part of that."

        "Are you telling me Xaden had to take dance lessons? I can't imagine he took that well."

        "He brooded about it quite a bit" 

        "Is there anything he doesn't brood about?"

        "Where did you learn to dance? I can tell this isn't your first lesson" Liam's eyes are sparkling when he asks. 

        "Once upon a time, I was friends with the son of a Marquis, he taught me how to dance and I taught him how to read." 

        "You're perfect," Liam gazes into my eyes as we stop dancing "absolutely perfect."

        "What?"

        "You are brave and fierce and smart, and beautiful and kind and..." his voice trails off for a moment as he cradles my face in his hands "I love you y/n."  I can't help the way my heart skips a beat or how heat rushed to my face. 

        "I love you too Liam." My eyes slide shut as he presses his lips to mine in a slow gentle kiss that makes my entire body tingle. There, in the great room, all of the terror of the last few days and fear of what's to come melts away as we kiss in the moonlight and dance to music only, we can hear. 

[mariacallous]

After the presidential election, many fashion and lifestyle influencers began to come out of the closet as conservatives. Some, like tradwife TikTok darling Nara Smith, were predictable, while others were less so. But what was clear was that MAGA culture, and the fashion and aesthetics associated with it, were becoming increasingly mainstream.

Inauguration weekend, with its mix of parties and formal events, brought together the who’s who of right-wing players. Observing the proceedings was Derek Guy, known online as @dieworkwear—a longtime menswear enthusiast and writer who has came to prominence as an influencer on X for his hot and unnervingly well-informed takes on the sartorial choices of everyone from Donald Trump to Andrew Tate, and what they might be telling us about this political moment.

WIRED spoke with Guy after the inauguration ceremony to get his takes on MAGA fashion, what it says about who the party is for, and what the richest men alive are wearing these days.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

WIRED: First, give us the reviews of the inauguration suits and ties. What are we looking at here? These are some of the richest men in the world, but I’m not sure they really look like it.

Derek Guy: You can break up the inauguration almost by age. The older someone is, the more likely they are at least avoiding the worst of what we're seeing. And the younger someone is, the more likely they are wearing something that looks cheap, because tailoring as a craft has mostly died in this country. Many people shop ready-to-wear. And when you're very wealthy, you are probably just buying a luxury-level off-the-rack suit. And just because something is made with fine materials doesn't necessarily mean it fits. So you have a market system that makes it difficult to find a good suit.

If you're younger, like Mark Zuckerberg's age, you're more likely to kind of fall into this short-jacket silhouette that you think looks modern and hip but frankly looks really dated and makes you actually look more middle-aged, like someone who learned how to dress in the early 2000s.

Vivek [Ramaswamy], for example, wears really shrunken suits. Jeff Bezos often wears pretty good tailoring, but today wore a very short jacket which did not look very good on him. He looked surprisingly bad today, given how he looks in tailored clothing other times.

Elon Musk, I'm pretty sure he wears a Tom Ford suit because that's five buttons on the cuffs. I thought it looked pretty good on him, but he looked bad at the rally last night. He was wearing a short overcoat with grey jeans and it didn’t flatter him very well. The outfit didn’t make much sense.

Zuckerberg, his suits are neither fantastic nor horrible. Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, they are still clearly nerds who don’t care about clothes.

But, you know, for example, JD Vance has a custom tailor. He has a 90-year-old Italian tailor in Ohio. That guy is not following fashion trends.

Why do the rank and file MAGA enthusiasts favor such slim-fit suits when Trump himself often wears things that are quite baggy?

What you're seeing is young conservatives will often wear very shrunken suits because they care more about the tailored aesthetic. Ironically, you actually look better if you're the kind of young Democrat who doesn't care about aesthetics at all. So then you wear a sloppy suit. You still look bad, but you essentially avoid the shrunken look. The MAGA aesthetic will change over time as conservatives change their tastes naturally. But I mean, just to be frank about it, many conservatives are often behind on fashion trends.

We are at this moment where the large part of the market has shifted away from the shrunken look of the early 2000s. But if you're kind of behind on fashion trends, you still think that looks good.

Are you seeing changes to the hallmarks of the MAGA aesthetic, particularly as we're seeing it merge a bit with the quiet luxury vibe that became very popular online?

MAGA is a very populist aesthetic, so it's intentionally vulgar and thumbing its nose at WASP morality and aesthetics, even though within the Republican Party there is still that kind of celebration of bourgeois 1950s aesthetics.

I often like to contrast it. When Ronald Reagan and George Bush were first inaugurated in 1980, the Republican Party commissioned custom blazer buttons commemorating their inauguration, and they gave them out for free to attendees at the various events surrounding the inauguration. So if you attended Reagan's inauguration in 1980, you would have gotten a brass button commemorating the inauguration, made by Ben Silver in Charleston, South Carolina. It was presumed that people who attended Reagan's inauguration would have a navy tailored jacket. And if you put brass buttons on a navy jacket then that jacket becomes a blazer. It was presumed that not only would young Republicans have a navy jacket, but that they would want to wear a blazer with a button commemorating Reagan's victory.

The merchandise surrounding Trump's movement is gold sneakers and Never Surrender T-shirts and, of course, the red MAGA hat.

To me, this demonstrates the schism between the classic Republican—which is the Brooks Brothers, free trade, globalist, Reaganite Republican—and the new Republican, which is populist. They pay reverence to Reagan, but they don't share his politics.

The aesthetic is very much not the classic WASP aesthetic, which used to be the Republican aesthetic. Trump's own aesthetic comes from the 1980s—the “greed is good” of Wall Street boom times. He wears very padded shoulders and a power tie. He used to wear a banker collar, but no longer. And that's very different from the demure look of Brooks Brothers WASP. MAGA is a very aggressive, populist “fuck you” to the establishment aesthetic.

When you think about the MAGA aesthetic are there particular brands or influencers who come to mind for you?

It's all very campaign merch and the most mainstream item is just the MAGA hat. It still seems very much like campaign merch. I don't think there's anyone else that sets the tone except for Trump. There are certain people that embody that look very well. Forgiato Blow, he has that kind of very loud aesthetic. There was a moment where Viper sunglasses were very popular, which was, I think, driven by Baked Alaska. So there are microtrends in that universe. But it’s really Trump—whatever he releases next, people will wear.

Do you think that sort of classic American look—the Ralph Lauren, the Oxford shirt—is that going to be sort of the purview of MAGA forever or do you see that changing?

I don't think the classic American aesthetic is strictly MAGA, though. I think a Brooks Brothers look is like the ABC of menswear; that's like a very classic American tailored look. In the postwar period, right after the end of the Second World War, there was a culture clash between establishment lifestyle–the man in a grey flannel suit, who works in a corporate job and has a conventional kind of nuclear family and white picket fence house—and the counterculture. That was this kind of liberal side of the political spectrum. They wore workwear and chambray shirts, hippie gear, motorcycle jackets. That all became counterculture.

But if you go back further than that, everyone wore tailored clothing, from criminals to CEOs to liberals and Republicans. Ralph Lauren could not have built his empire if button-down shirts and penny loafers were exclusively conservative attire.

I think it's interesting that the current status of Republican politics is trying to unite the Brooks Brothers aesthetic with the gold sneakers. Do you see them coming together?

I think that's the weird dichotomy at the moment, because the MAGA movement and Republicans in general have always been kind of looking back towards some idea of America. Even though not every man wore a suit in the 1950s, the suit has historically been associated with the kind of bourgeois lifestyle. And a lot of conservatism in general is about upholding bourgeois lifestyles, morality, identity, politics and so forth.

There is now a populist section of the Republican Party that's not about Reaganism or Bush. It's very about Trump. And its aesthetic is very different from what William Buckley would have worn. William Buckley would not have worn gold sneakers.

I think they are distinct and contradictory, but people can hold contradictory ideas in their head. We are in an age where politics is very tribal. And so long as it fits the narrative of our tribe, then I think it's coherent for that group. For Republicans, I think those two very contradictory aesthetics are just now within the party.

The men of tech are new to the MAGA crowd, but many people have noted a significant change in their looks, particularly Mark Zuckerberg’s. Can you talk about what they’re trying to signal and to whom?

I heard from through the grapevine within my industry that [Elon Musk] used to have a stylist. I don’t think he has a stylist anymore. Mark Zuckerberg denies having a stylist, but I don’t believe him. He is certainly going through a style transformation in the last year and three months, I would say. Jeff Bezos most obviously has a stylist. I don't think what they're doing has anything to do with politics. I think Jeff Bezos went through a style makeover after his divorce. And I suspect Mark Zuckerberg just got tired of dressing like a college student. Elon has clearly given up on his stylist and doesn’t dress very well.

[Zuckerberg] dresses more like an MMA guy. He is wearing the boxy tees and the gold chain. But he looks like someone who updated his look to be trendier. There are a lot of guys wearing that kind of silhouette and gold chain and I don’t know that that says anything about their politics.

We saw a lot of the sort of “spaghetti Western” vibe happening. What’s your take on that?

As a fashion trend, the Western look really leans more liberal, right now, because it’s popular in big cities. Conservatives now dress like metrosexuals in the early 2000s and liberals dress like Bush-era conservatives. Conservatives are in slim-tight suits or slim-fit suits and then liberals are like Carhartt double-knees, Western shirts, cowboy boots. There is some of this inherently on the right because it's a Midwestern look.

But Elon Musk does wear cowboy boots pretty frequently, as does Jeff Bezos.

[wormg0rl]

"Screw freedom of speech, I wanna move to China!"

When it first began trending for Americans to switch to rednote, I downloaded the app and made a few videos describing my experience and the concerns I had.

I thought it was a poor replacement of tiktok, especially if "freedom of speech" was the goal due to how heavily censored it was.

I began to wonder- huh, what happens if this does become the "new" app for people. What happens if people do end up replacing tiktok with this app? How will the censorship affect us?

And of course, they tore me apart for even daring to try to have that conversation, saying "you don't understand!! We're protesting!! We're doing something BIG"

Which sure, I understand the whole "Wanna give an F U to meta" thing, but the people who downloaded it for what they think is an "anti government" aspect is honestly so ironic it's making me CACKLE, because babes you just switched to consuming a different countries propaganda.

And I was told to "shut up, the vibes are great" even though to me the vibes seem like everyone's on a valium..

When you see a country trying to promote itself as everyone being oddly "happy", you should get stepford wives vibes, not "I wanna live there vibes"

I almost peed myself laughing last night because the SAME people who are crying out, "gotta look out for the propaganda on tiktok now!!" are the SAME PEOPLE WHO ARE SAYING:

"they're just so happy over there in China 😀 I don't know WHAT it could be, they don't have even ONE BAD THING TO SAY ABOUT THEIR GOVERNMENT"

*face palm* Are you fucking for real?

My brother.. they are not ALLOWED to say anything bad 😭 it's not some mystic secret that America doesn't have.

"there's no homelessness over there" yeah cus you'll get arrested. And also? Yes there is. Which tiktok told you that they didnt? Because you were misinformed.

We want MORE freedoms, not less. Saying you'd sacrifice your freedom of speech even as a JOKE just diminishes EVERYTHING WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR.

And then it happened, I started seeing comments such as these:

"screw freedom of speech, i wanna move to China!"

Which sure, I know they're probably kidding, but a lot of people aren't.

I understand being broken down by our system, and I understand wanting to feel comfort and security, but in times like these we cannot even joke about being willing to sacrifice our personal freedoms.

Not when freedom of speech is already so at risk.

So this tiktok ban situation has truly changed how I view so many of you and society as a whole.

"Freedom of speech!!" was your rally cry for the last week, but now you'll jump down someone's throat and throw them to the dogs if they even try to have a conversation with you about the censorship on there and the affects it will have.

We don't exist in a vacuum. Downloading the app for an F U to meta but continuing to consume the content will have an affect. Why? Because everything affects everything. I thought we already knew that. You cannot do an action without there being a response that comes from it.

I wasn't even trying to say it was all negative affects- I'm sure there are positive side affects to this as well, but I specifically wanted to start a conversation about how censorship can have serious affects on society, trends, music, fashion, information exchange, etc and EVERY TIME i was shot down, insulted, or told "i like the censorship"

So much for "freedom of speech" huh, lol

I have begun to ask the question: "Will this app make us more complacent than we already are?" And I think I have my answer. I have seen countless people say "I like the fact it's moderated, I can just watch my knitting videos!"

They actually got their panties in a twist over me simply trying to bring up the fact it compresses your videos and affects video quality, all because they have associated rednote with being anti govt, protesting, etc.

"IF TIKTOK GETS BOUGHT BY META WE WONT BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE WANT"

But when I say "If rednote becomes the new standard app I'm concerned about how the censorship will affect our information trends and flow" I get called a fed (because apparently anyone who doesn't like rednote is a fed now.. lol ironic, right?)

It was interesting to watch just how happily you all gave up, and I think the people who want to take our rights away will find it even more interesting that I do!

Everyone we've been fighting against? Oh honey they're gonna loveeee the fact that SO MANY of you are willing to sacrifice personal freedoms for what you think is "comfort"

So yes, I'm judging you.

[ashironie]

i would like to dedicate this pride month to the only women ever, Gwendolyn Bouchard and Alice Dyer

[turtleblogatlast]

Headcanon that Leo really loved to give his family massages growing up. We know that he’s good at them from the episode “You Got Served” and we know he likes spas and relaxation and getting massages himself from when he tried to get these in “Bad Hair Day” and from when Donnie made a tennis ball massage machine in “Smart Lair.”

So I think it’d be cute to think that maybe one day Leo overheard Splinter complaining about a bad back and immediately Leo thinks back to a comic or movie or something he saw where a massage helped so he offers to give one and it actually ends up helping Splinter.

Then April swings by the Lair at a later time and mentions her back hurting because of her backpack from school and Leo’s all like “I gotcha!”

From there, he occasionally manages to convince Donnie to sit for one because Donnie’s shrimp posture does not help him any (Leo pokes fun at how sandpaper-y Donnie’s shell is despite knowing it’s always like that and Donnie smacks him for it.) Donnie usually prefers hand massages instead however as all his typing and inventing adds up over time, and shoulder massages too once he starts wearing his battle shells more. Leo also figures out how to give massages to Raph and Mikey’s shells as well, though it’s a struggle at first to not scratch his hands on Raph’s spikes.

I think since Leo has such bad luck with spas and the like, he tries giving himself massages (though it’s not as helpful.) Like, with how his abilities work his legs are probably always aching from his portal jumping and one foot landings, so maybe he branches past back massages out of a need to help his own aches too. (Though he really wants a shell massage himself, the same way he’d give them…the one time with Donnie’s tennis ball massage machine was but a short moment of what Leo’s been missing out on and what he’ll continue missing out on…)

I don’t know, I just think it’d be cute to think Leo could have honed his massaging skill this way in order to help out his family (and also partially because he wants a massage himself.)

[flameassassinqueen]

I completely agree with this. Violet does a lot of things that are questionable. I'm not going to defend her just give a different perspective. Violet and Xaden both are horrible at communication. One needs to know everything, while other keeps secrets to protect the ones they love. They both need to grow into the relationship and figures out what works.

Now, violet i think people forget this, does need to know everything, especially stuff that will get her killed and anything she feels is important. Hence that scribe Mind. When in a relationship where you are dating you are getting to know the person you can take time and weed through those secrets. But unfortunately for them, they don't have that time. Like xaden admits in Iron flame there is knifes in the closet. Secrets that can hurt her. That will hurt her. Xaden won't allow it to kill her, but that doesn't stop them from hurting.

About Cat, well not everyone has a interest in knowing about other people Exs. Once they are in a relationship. It shouldn't matter. And it didn't. She states that it shouldn't matter cause they are a ex. Someone that came before for. It became important, once she realized that said Cat still had feelings for xaden. Xaden wanted to brush it under the rug. Even if she had ask at the beginning he wouldn't have told her shit. Just simply "She is my Ex and nothing to worry about" He knew Cat would be a problem and still didn't say anything until absolutely necessary. Even about the engagement. Which he knew Cat would bring up eventually.

Violets problem with Xaden is that he keeps on side stepping conversations. (Which violet starts doing too to avoid fighting) because he wants her to figure it out or ask him direct questions. She feels that if they want to work this relationship, there has to be complete honesty. Which is hard for all relationships.

Xaden on the other hand, sees Violet for what she is. Smart as hell. He understands her need for information, so he provides it when asked. But won't say it unless she asks, because he wants to keep her safe. He also doesn't know what the fuck he is doing. Lol it's his first real relationship. And Violet is insecure. Which Xaden is trying to help with that confidence (at least he thinks he is). Plus he feels like they don't need full honesty to make things work. They just need to trust each other in keeping each other safe.

At the end of the day, they are both flawed characters. But they love each other deeply. Xaden is holding back on Violet because he feels like that is the right thing to do. She shouldn't have to ask and he knows it. But he wants her to figure it out. Violet needs to know everything, because for so long she has allowed the truth to be kept from her. She was walking blindly just following what she was told.

I hope this gave you a extra layer to look at. I'm not saying Violet or Xaden are right. The miscommunication is all apart of growing as characters. And by the end of IF they have. They are communicating (though not 100% effectively) but they can work through the differences.

Ok, I need to get this out before we have Onyx Storm out on Tuesday.

If you are in the camp that Violet does no wrong, you may not enjoy. But, if not, I need someone to hear me out, so you're it beautiful people of Tumblr.

I need to know why in IF Violet cannot let go of the 'I don't know him' bull. Like girl, you asked I believe 3 personal questions the entire time of FW. How pray tell did you think you would get to know him after 3 questions?!?

You have a mind link. You can chat as if a cellphone is attached to your brain all damn day and night.

It's been a while since I've been in the dating scene, but when you were/are falling for someone, don't you want to know everything about them personally? More than just sibling count, favorite food, and where you were on one particular night.

I could honestly think of about 10 questions that would have been open-ended enough that could have gotten that man to talk. What about his favorite color? Favorite childhood memory? His dad is a sore spot, ask about favorite place he visited? What did he want to be when he grew up?

Did you never talk while training on the mat? While flying? You just spent every hour with the man in an instructional way or lusting after him???

In IF, it was a big deal that the cadre was keeping them apart, however, besides when her squad was drugged for RSC, why couldn't they talk mind to mind in Samara? You mean to tell me he blocked you out and didn't get any breaks for food to chit chat when he was on 24hr duty?

The first time he came back to Basgiath, he sharpened weapons and it seemed like there was a several hour time lapse. What did you do just stare at each other?

And I'm aware Xaden could've asked things too. But he wasn't the one making a big deal out of 'I need information to center myself'.

The man starts writing you letters and you have no damn questions for him, even after the letters.

Bodhi mentions Cat, but how long does it take for her to bring it up. If it were me, that would have been the first thing out of my mouth when I saw him next.

Sometimes it just frustrates me how it's always about Violet's attraction to Xaden physically, but I feel a lack in the actual pull just for the man he is because she never asks about him - even before the end of FW.

Don't get me wrong, I know Violet's going through it and she's got a lot to make sense of. If anything, getting to know him better would take your mind off of everything else going on.

On top of that, her mom is a General, she should be more than aware that she can't know every single detail. Brennan even told her the Assembly kept things from Xaden, so he didn't know everything. She isn't new to the military life, and between the scroll that drops and the missives in her mom's office they never hear of, it should be clear they are getting a very watered down version of everything going on.

Just ugh....I'll stop there. If you've read this far, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, just needed to get that out. Also, another snippet will be coming out tomorrow!

[ash-and-starlight]

Hello, I saw you say in your 2024 short book review that Iron Widow sucked? May I ask your reasons? I've had this book in my hands multiple times and thought of buying but never did, and by what you said, and accounting for us seemingly having similar tastes, I think you might give me a good idea about what to expect from the book and whether I'd like it?

So yes just. Your thoughts on Iron Widow and why it sucked would be awesome if you could find time for it

Have a nice day!

udhghh ok honestly the reasons are so many and i cant even string them together correctly so i really just recommend going on the goodreads page and reading the one star reviews bc they all illustrate point for point why i think it sucked so much. like ok reason one is that its simply not well written. like its marvel level jokey "oh he's right behind me isn't he" kinda writing. Reason 2 is that the plot is just all over the place nonsensical, there are in-universe things that you're just supposed to accept at face value but just make zero sense once u think about them for longer than 5 seconds. It professes itself to be a girlboss feminist narrative and its the furthest thing from feminist u could ever find. wu zetian sees herself (and is framed by the narrative) as the only hashtag woke hashtag empowered woman that exists and goes on thinking every other girl she meets is a dumb whore. this never gets disproved. she never changes her mind. (which is not WRONG per se but at least dont market it as a #feminist book just for clout). Also like. i was expecting for the heroine's story to bear some resemblance to the hystorical wu zetian's story and uhh idk if this changes later on but so far their stories dont rlly have a thing in common. AND i like the author a lot i think they're super knowledgeable & must've done a ton of research for this so why,,, did they decide to basically discard all of it,, and also it should've gone through a few more drafts,,, one beta reader at least- anyway the things that i DID like were the qi based mecha system. that was conceptually rlly cool and i always love a mecha situation. and the fact that the love triangle got resolved in an ot3 (..... not that i liked any of the characters enough to care...)

[musubiki]

fun tcwg fact but one of the hardest opponents lime has ever fought is actually corven, murdas (taller but younger) brother. because post-timeskip lime has zero magic attack capabilities and corven has a broken defense stat

[girlwiththegreenhat]

having just made it to KITT vs KARR i stand by my point that KARR has done nothing wrong ever in his life

[brick-van-dyke]

Thinking about how "self defence" is considered okay until a country the west is not allied with does it.

[hirokiyuu]

look at my alternate yuu concept boy