#rather than reactively like in canon

[calmlb]

beast makes me ill because what Dazai is doing is simultaneously the most AND least selfish thing he could do

in love with tragedy

[vangbelsing]

Just gonna throw out my thoughts on spoilers below the cut in reference to THAT Veilguard news today

I genuinely believe this is actually a good thing. Hot take, I know. But you know what? I don't think Bioware could ever satisfy the desires of every player. I would much rather have my headcanons for my Hero of Fereldan than to watch them appear in another game COMPLETELY different than how they were in DAO. And, I don't mean from how I headcanon them, I mean from the way they were literally portrayed in that game.

Take a look at Hawke. Not how I played them in DA2. Now look and the Inquisitor. Bioware is already forcing them to have a certain outlook that could be completely opposed to how they were played. Again, not how they were headcanoned, but literally portrayed in game. With the choices Bioware gave.

Do y'all genuinely think that "did you vow to save or stop Solas?" is gonna cover the NUMEROUS ways you could build a relationship with him in DAI? Those personal bits that you were given to rp and shape your character, those things that were literally IN THAT GAME, will be treated as if they didn't matter in order for the team to write your character how they think is most interesting. And it might just be me, but having your character the way you want them is one of the most important parts of these games, so watching them be taken and made to be something unrecognizable even from the choices you had them make in the game itself is... Unappealing to me.

Am I happy the reactivity from past games has been chopped down to three choices? No. Do I wish there was more? Yes. But if condensed reactivity to choices made in the other games means there can be more reactivity for the choices I make in this one? Fine. It is 100% a compromise, but it's a compromise I'm personally willing to make.

So yes, ultimately, I can work with this. Baldurs Gate 3 canonized a great deal from the first two games, and for the people that started with BG3, that means nothing. But for me? Someone who played the first two games that spent hours shaping the narrative of the game and building my character? Watching none of that matter as they parade around Abel fucking Adrian as the Bhaalspawn was the single most enraging thing I've experienced in a game. So Dragon Age not referencing stuff out of respect for my choices feels like a win, even if I wish there was more reactivity to old choices. I promise you all, this could be so, so much worse. I've literally seen it happen. Baldurs Gate was the original Dragon Age. I can tell you right now that if you were presented with the options of having Bioware not referencing your choices or a canon white male Cousland hero of Fereldan, you would take the former.

And this definitely is not intended to tell you you can't be upset about this or to act as a shield between you and a corporation. I'll take this because I genuinely do not trust Bioware to handle the Hero of Fereldan. But I got to have the alternative in bg3, and this may not be great, but oh my god it is so much better by comparison. After the way that game handled the Bhaalspawn, Jaheira, Viconia, and God forbid Sarevok... Yah. I'll take this any day. Seriously. Google any of those characters and look what Larian did to them in bg3. I will take this over that any day.

[randomfoggytiger]

Revival Mulder Was Diagnosed with the Wrong Depression

In My Struggle I, Sveta reveals Scully diagnosed Mulder with "endogneous depression", which is a type of major depressive disorder (MDD, also known as clinical depression.) However, the clues provided in canon don't quite add up.

According to healthline: "Endogenous depression occurs without the presence of stress or trauma. In other words, it has no apparent outside cause. Instead, it may be primarily caused by genetic and biological factors. This is why endogenous depression might also be referred to as “biologically based” depression." And verywellmind explains: "People with endogenous depression often feel that their symptoms occur “for no reason”—at least in the sense that there is no apparent external cause.... For example, a person with a family history of mental illness may be more likely to develop depression."

From the get-go, those descriptions don't fit Mulder; but they make less sense when compared to exogenous depression.

Again, according to healthline: "Exogenous depression happens after a stressful or traumatic event takes place. This type of depression is more commonly called “reactive” depression." And verywellmind further clarifies: "Exogenous (or reactive) depression is triggered by an outside stressor such as the loss of a loved one, getting divorced, or losing your job. People who experience or witness a traumatic event may develop depression as a direct result of that exposure."

(Although current thought lumps both "types" of depression together by their similarities rather than their differences, the show went out of its way to highlight which depression it picked. It chose... poorly.)

The cherry on top? Scully didn't have the expertise to diagnose her partner with endogenous depression, regardless. healthline: "To be diagnosed with MDD, you must meet certain criteria listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This manual is often used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental health conditions." And verywellmind: "Your primary care doctor may evaluate you for depression in the office, but they might also want you to see someone who specializes in diagnosing and treating mental illness, such as a psychiatrist." (Even though Scully also "diagnosed" a side character's mental state in Founder's Mutation, the fact that she was unqualified to do so in either circumstance remains.)

Lastly, verywellmind gives us a clinching little tidbit: "Another difference is that people with exogenous depression don't always have the physical symptoms of depression, like having trouble sleeping or change in appetite, which is common in other forms of the condition." (Which would fit Mulder's seeming "normality" during the early Revival episodes. Mulder already had odd habits to begin with, anyway-- it would be easy to tuck away his symptoms from casual observers.)

So, we're told that Fox Mulder-- a man who only canonically displayed depressive symptoms after a traumatic event; and who had, apparently, no recollection whatsoever of a predisposition towards depression before Samantha's abduction-- collapsed inwardly due to... biological or genetic factors? Rather than collapsing because of, I don't know, the countless losses and failures he suffered through the years (which would be in-line with his pre-established trauma response?)

Sigh.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[corviiids]

I really liked your analysis on the “core” of both Joker and Akechi. I agree that neither the detective prince or the black mask “is” Akechi at his core; but rather, he’s fractured. My question to you is, do you think we ever see the “true” Goro Akechi within the canon? It is my opinion that we do likely in Rank 6 just for a little bit and in fragments during the engine room. And by that logic, what do you think the “true” Akechi would be like in a post canon scenario where the DP/BM are gone?

thank you so much and really good question. in my personal opinion we definitely see parts of his sincere self but there's sort of an asterisk attached to that (ill expand) and more importantly even in those truthful moments we never really see the Whole of him because as i said before i don't think his sense of self is really collected enough into a unified whole to be able to show it off even if he wanted to, at least at that point in his life

im like turning this question over in my hands bc im about to go into a bunch of this stuff in the next chapter of my longfic and i dont want to just say the same thing twice, but basically (this time it isn't as long thank god. it's still a bit long)

i think even in the moments akechi is letting you see him in canon such as in rank 6 (and i think you're right i do think at rank 6 he's exposing a bit of himself to you. most of himself. all of himself. he is naked) he's doing so deliberately, because unveiling a bit of truth is a very potent tool in trying to get someone's trust (in this case ren's) and convincing them to swallow the rest of a lie. so while he's showing you something real, i think his intentions are still very guarded, so i would still say he's holding up a facade at that point

black mask in the engine room is more complicated because i think that's the closest he gets to being unguarded during canon. look it's like multilayered because i think when he's being the detective prince he's aware that he's being false because he's doing it on purpose, but when he's the black mask he's much less aware because at that point the insincerity is just something that's built into his understanding of himself so it becomes less a deliberate facade and more a failure to comprehend who he is on an internal level? so i think as black mask in the engine room he's not lying to you anymore. he's just not like... self-actualised enough that we can really call the black mask the "whole" of who goro akechi is, because he sees himself as a villain with an expiration date and so he's kind of deliberately made his self-understanding quite shallow. but it's close. i think that's the most sincere he ever intentionally gets.

re: postcanon - this is really interesting to mull over because i think generally people agree that third semester akechi is like, again, as close as we can get to akechi not masking around you. but i also think that's mostly just because he's being mean, and it's easier to buy meanness as sincerity than niceness. im going into this in the next chapter too i have to figure out how to reword this

but akechi in third sem IS masking. akechi in third sem is a man who thinks he's dead. that expressionlessness isn't just him not bothering to put the smile on anymore, it's him coating his entire existence in a layer of nihilism and apathy because in his mind he doesn't exist anymore and how are you meant to cope with that? it's definitely still more sincere than the detective prince, and i think it's closer to what his personality would be removed from his circumstances. well, that raises another question on a more abstract level LOL about how much of a person's personality IS just... reactivity to circumstances. like is it even meaningful to ask this question? is it useful to try and remove someone into a contextless vacuum to determine their "true self". i think no so to what point is it relevant to try and determine which of a person's circumstances are sufficiently extreme that they should be considered outliers and at what point does it just become a futile exercise in trying to achieve, like, the character equivalent of nagel's view from nowhere I'M GETTING OFF TRACK THI SISNT WHAT YOU ASKED

THE POINT IS. postcanon i think we could expect akechi to resemble his third sem self to an extent but i think a little less blank, a little more reactive and emotional. furthermore i think even when the detective prince and the black mask are gone as conscious masks elements of those personalities would still remain in akechi's character, like, i still think he'd do the ^_^ in public, i still think he'd be unhinged when context allows, because i very firmly believe that (not just for akechi but for everyone in general, but especially for akechi) the choices you make when you're masking and those masks that you wear ARE part of your true self and not just a disguise this is going to show up in longfic too

so i think akechi goro is a liar, he's a performer, he's ruthless, he's flat and dry, he knows how to play the game. he was once idealistic and it's crossed into bitterness so he reacts to his circumstances with cynicism and impatience. he's guarded and carefully filtered in most situations, but in familiar situations where he feels he doesn't have too much to lose (eg with the few people he thinks he can mostly trust) he's smug and cutting and doesnt suffer fools easily. he doesnt pull punches, but dont mistake the bluntness for honesty. i think to akechi truth and information and vulnerability will always be a weapon

[aealzx]

“Uhhhh, we got more company,” Mikey announced unnecessarily, gaping up to try and figure out if this was a friend or foe. It only took only a moment for the smoke to clear enough for them to see green among the black, signifying it wasn’t one of Augustine’s soldiers. After that the first thing Raphael and Don noticed from the newcomer was the purple themed bandana and attire, then an unusual amount of bandaids on his limbs, and the rather familiar bo staff in his hand as his gaze swept the room. The next thing Raphael noticed was the quickly mounting rage behind the yellow eyes that locked onto their huddled group. Raphael had always known his brother Don was a soft soul, and probably couldn’t intimidate anyone to save his life. But his counterpart apparently had just absorbed all the venom, and Raphael felt Don tense beside him when the other Donnie’s gaze met his. A prickle of danger stinging the backs of their necks as the younger figure took in the situation, eyes rapidly flicking from them, to Lil Mikey held close to Raphael, to the blood on Lil Mikey’s arm, and the gauze in Don’s hands.

For a moment Raphael thought they were going to have to do some lightning fast explaining before getting a rage filled brother trying to bash their heads in. But instead a mostly transparent barrier began constructing itself over the huddled group even as the bay doors behind them began creaking open. The sturdy purple shapes reminded Raphael of the back of an armored vehicle, possibly even a tank, and it pulled his gaze for a stretch.

“Help him, or else.” The voice of the second mutant turtle that Raphael and Don had seen in the transmission sounded surprisingly fragile, and came as a hiss, but it still sent shivers unwillingly through Raphael’s form. Definitely Don’s evil twin.

“Oh yeah? And what are you going to do to help?!” Mikey shouted, cutting off in a yelp and ducking low behind the previously felled machine as more mechanoids clomped into the room and sprayed additional bullet fire. The bullets failed to come even close to the group huddled behind Donnie’s barrier though, bouncing off the newly formed shield and clattering against the wall and floor harmlessly.

“Fascinating. It’s like a shield constructed from ballista glass, yet it doesn’t seem to have the exact properties-”

“Don! Focus here,” Raphael snapped. He did not like the way Little Mikey’s movements were getting more erratic and sluggish, half cries of his brother’s name being whimpered.

“Right- Right,” Don twitched back, resuming his task of pressing the clean gauze onto Lil Mikey’s wound.

With Don back on track Raphael’s focus switched to the new Donnie, wanting to check on his physical well being as well as make sure he wasn’t going to get shot as well. There were new mechanoids in the room after all. He’d heard clattering behind him continuously from moments after Donnie had spoken, but he’d thought it was just some different machines than before being sent to kill them.

He was apparently wrong.

“I WARNED YOU AUGUSTINE!!” The younger Donnie’s crackly loud voice was followed by a familiar hiss of missiles that Raphael knew all too well from the spats they’d had with Hun and the Purple Dragons over the years. But even though Raphael braced himself for their barricade to be blasted to bits, the impact never came. Not to his back anyway. The shudder of the floor was dampened by distance, and the secondary familiar noise of a reactive combustion from machines being destroyed greeted his ears instead. Giving another glance to Don to make sure he was still focused, Raphael stole another peek over the barricade and the sight made his eyes widen in mild disbelief. Six more missiles the same hue as the barricade encompassing them constructed themselves in the air before blasting into the mechanoids coming into the room. Along with them various forms of blast canons pieced themselves together and thumped heavily on the ground, firing pulses of lasers into their enemies. And in the center of all the return fire Donnie’s form floated, suspended by whirling turbines jutting from his back.

Okay, the little Mikey had magic chains, and the little Donnie apparently had a magic arsenal. Wonderful. “.... Holy shell…,” Raphael muttered involuntarily, taking a moment to let that fact settle in his mind. This kid was demolishing a military arsenal on his own, with nothing physically on him but a fancy stick and backpack. At least they didn’t have to worry about mechanoids stepping on them. Now they just had to worry about accidental friendly fire. And the hiss of gas spraying from canisters clanging into the room was also a problem.

“More poison,” Raphael hissed, raising his hand to his mouth automatically and looking for the gas mask he’d discarded.

“It looks like the barrier will keep it out, but we can’t let Lil Mikey get exposed to any more of it,” Don responded, hands working fast to wrap a tight bandage around Lil Mikey’s shoulder so they could stabilize him until they got back home.

“Yeah, I think the other Don has that taken care of,” Mikey commented from where he was pressed low against his hiding place, eyes wide and holding the floor like a lifeline. While he was all for making their escape, they were still missing one brother, and he didn’t think they would be getting any words in to Donnie around the explosions. At least the young lad didn’t seem keen on leaving this room.

And at least it didn’t seem like Augustine’s army was endless. After one more barrage of missiles the mechanoids were reduced to smoking heaps on the floor, Donnie’s figure descended to the floor amidst the destruction. The settling silence allowed Mikey to breathe a sigh of relief, and Raphael drew a tense breath as he prepared to talk to the new Donnie. The lad still looked pissed, but also strangely detached from the situation as he landed lightly on his feet and turned to brokenly start walking towards them. What Raphael was going to say was cut off by Don catching sight of a small figure in the clearing smoke.

“Watch out!” Don shouted, having finished giving Lil Mikey first aid and lurching forward to his feet. Donnie’s eyes semi focused on him before he turned to look over his shoulder, a soft click and whir being his only heads up for the oncoming pain. The same mystic nullification energy from the previous machines blanketed the room through a rippling pulse originating from Augustine’s hand as she delicately stepped over the rubble. But this time it seemed the energy was either less refined, or higher in concentration. Donnie let out a strangled yell and flung his hands to his head, barely keeping from crumpling to his knees as his remaining constructs were ripped to particles, while Lil Mikey whimpered and pressed his head into Raphael. Augustine could only watch with barely contained disgust, a blaster gun sliding out from the only undamaged panel in the wall on her command.

“And I warned you to behave yourself,” Augustine almost hissed, anger seething under a maintained exterior.

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Hey 8'D I actually had this part, and the next one already typed along with the previous one. Just had/have to get drawings.

Also I totally spammed the Ultimate Weapon no. 7 remix of Emil's theme in Nier Replicant while drawing this X'DD

(someoddmix your comments recently have made me laugh so hard and are so motivating. thank you! X'D everyone else who comments regularly make me smile too)

[thenightfolknetwork]

I study maths at uni, and you would be surprised at how often all the arcane-looking symbols mathematicians manipulate cross into being actually arcane (in a thaumaturgically potent sense). It’s an absolute pain if you, like me, are from a genus with… shall we say intense thaumaturgic sensitivities. 

Things have been coming to a head with the graph theory class I’m taking this term. I absolutely love graph theory, in fact I want to do my thesis research in it someday, but my allergies have been getting so bad that I’ve been considering abandoning the field entirely. 

See, graphs, the formal mathematical sense, are objects  consisting of verticies connected by edges. These can be visualised by drawing a bunch of dots (representing the verticies) connected by lines (representing the edges). Many common shapes and symbols are visualisations of graphs! Take, for instance, the complete graph on five vertices (K5 for short). To visualise K5 you can draw your five dots equally spaced in a circle, draw a straight line between each pair of these dots, and… arrive at a little known symbol called a pentagram. 

Which is exactly what I did when working on a homework problem a couple of weeks ago. I was so focused on the maths I didn’t even realise what I had drawn until my hand started smouldering. I managed to put out the blaze, but not before my work was burnt to a crisp. I was working on the assignment the night before it was due- I know, I know- so I didn’t have time to rewrite it. Needless to say, my professor was not particularly interested in marking the pile of ash I turned in, and I was curtly informed that “I’m allergic to my homework” is not a valid excuse for failing to turn in legible coursework. 

I’m at an impasse. K5 is an extremely mathematically important graph- it’s the smallest complete graph that’s not planar. That is, you can rigorously prove it’s impossible to draw K5 without your edge lines intersecting, even if you are allowed to curve the lines however you want as long as you don’t lift your pencil. This results in K5 having some rather interesting pathological behaviour that makes it an important counterexample in many graph theory proofs …but I digress. Point is, that (quite literally) infernal K5 graph is ubiquitous in graph theory, and it’s far from the only thaumaturgically reactive symbol in the field. I’ve had some other near misses - once I even started to spark during lecture, though no fire broke out that time thankfully. The professor is getting increasingly impatient with me and has given me an ultimatum: get my thaumaturgic allergies under control or drop out of the course. I don’t know what to do. Please help. 

[OOC: thanks for bearing with the long mathematical infodump- I love your podcast, the premise leaves so much room for creativity and I have many thoughts about how the canon might tie into my favorite subject. It is true that mathematics historically could get weirdly occult-adjacent. In particular the pentagram, in addition to having interesting mathematical properties, was also the symbol of the delightfully bizarre secretive math cult founded by the Greek scholar Pythagoras- as in the Pythagorean theorem guy. I think in the MA universe there was definitely something liminal going on with the man. Also, for a proof that K5 is not planar- along with other graphs with certain properties- here’s a really cool open source resource! I do love graph theory a lot- this result in particular is really fun to play around with https://discrete.openmathbooks.org/more/mdm/sec_planar.html)]

First things first, reader – thank you so much for bringing me a question that reminds me how much I still have to learn about the world. I admit, mathematics has never been my strong suit, but I've always thought it was a fascinating field of study. Your letter makes me want to learn more!

Fortunately, your particular predicament is rather easier to solve than untangling the mathematical mysteries of the universe. You can deal with your thaumaturgic allergy on two fronts – both by treating the allergy itself, and by securing some additional support from your university.

For the allergy itself, it may seem obvious but have you tried taking an antihistamine before you start your homework? Thaumaturgic allergies function the same as any other allergic reaction, even if the physical response from your body is rather… different.

If over-the-counter antihistamines aren't effective, make an appointment with your GP. Depending on the severity of the allergy, they'll be able to explore treatment options with you or refer you to a specialist. This may include other medication or perhaps desensitisation therapy, where you will be exposed to gradually increasing levels of magic to build up your thaumaturgic tolerance.

As an aside, I must urge you never to attempt such desensitisation on your own. Quite apart from the health risk this poses to yourself, there is also the combustible nature of your allergy to take into account. Besides which, paying a magical practitioner to do random spells in your vicinity in the hopes of prompting a reaction strikes me as an especially dangerous way to waste one's money.

While you're pursuing the medical side of your issue, I encourage you to seek out proper support from your university. I'm pleased to say that your lecturer is thoroughly in the wrong here – being allergic to your homework absolutely counts as grounds for reasonable adjustments, including an extension on your missed deadline.

Your university should have a system in place for supporting students with disabilities and other additional needs. Get in touch with them at the earliest opportunity to talk through the options available for you. At the very least, they should be able to provide you with some thaumaturgically non-reactive writing materials with which to do your work.

Finally, a word of reassurance. Allergies can be extremely frustrating, and even frightening, especially when they aren't taken seriously by the people around you. But there are plenty of treatments available and I see no reason why this should get in the way of your chosen career. And if you do happen to make any breakthroughs in the wonderful world of mathematics, I'd love to hear – even if I might not quite be able to follow!

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

[tossawary]

One of my other strongest hopes for future seasons of the live-action "One Piece" is (and I am aware that this is hugely subjective, feel free to disagree) that I kind of hope Chopper is actually a youngish and short actor in make-up (with CGI touchups? whatever the fishmen had going on) rather than a fully CGI creature.

I mean, I won't mind if Chopper is a CGI creature. I thought that the special effects in OPLA were overall pretty good. The News Coo was very cute. The Sea King was fun. But most of the time, the show was real people interacting with other real people, and I thought that this atmosphere was hugely beneficial to this adaptation. I think that they'll probably do a pretty good job if Chopper is a mostly CGI creature, it's definitely doable, but I also think having a much more expressive and reactive speaking character around constantly and casually is much more difficult (and expensive) than a silent, blank-faced bird present for a few minutes, and I would rather have more Chopper than less Chopper if redesigning him to be more humanoid would give us that. (He can be fully CGI during transformations, obviously.) I really like seeing these actors inhabit these characters! I've seen some really cool Chopper cosplays.

My other argument towards making Chopper more of a human in reindeer make-up is that, while I think adorable babyish Chopper is extremely cute and the humor of him being so small and cute most of the time (while being a very talented doctor and able to transform into more beastly forms) is funny, I would... also like to see Chopper taken more seriously as a teenager and as a character. I think fandom, and maybe the story itself, has a tendency to give Chopper less attention because he does seem to fit more of a funny mascot appearance. (I also saw a Chopper post-time-skip redesign that made him more a lanky teen, both more like a human and more like a reindeer, and I liked it a lot more than how he apparently became even shorter. And it made him being mistaken for a tanuki even funnier.) I don't think anything truly important about Chopper's character will be ruined if he's allowed to look a little older and be a little taller. He's fifteen years old!

If we end up with Canonical Babyish Chopper, identical to the manga, that'll be fine! But I will think it's a missed opportunity for the live-action show not to explore and present a different side of Chopper's character, to an audience who might take him more seriously as a hero and as a person if he's allowed to appear more like a humanoid reindeer and another teenager / young adult crew member, rather than looking like a gag character. Yes, ideally, we SHOULD all take Chopper seriously even if he looks like a gag character, but I think the reality is that a lot of people don't.

[rottenpumpkin13]

I think CC had a huuuge problem with fleshing out Genesis and Angeal to be honest. I feel like the personalities they’ve been given by the fandom are mostly fanon and don’t have that much substantiation in canon because AG were both largely used as plot devices- which again I think is a big problem because it doesn’t make you feel or understand either of the characters or why they behave the way they do. By the end of CC I felt really bad for Sephiroth, was ambivalent toward Angeal but still felt a twinge of sadness because of how sad Zack was over him, and absolutely loathed Genesis. I’m still not Genesis’ biggest fan but the canon characterization has made him a bit more endearing, though when I go back to canon and see him I’m left disliking him all over again. Unless you really dig into CC lore you have no idea how Genesis felt about Sephiroth, it just comes off like he was always jealous of him and that the relationship was painfully one-sided with Sephiroth practically begging for his friendship. It doesn’t help that 80% of Genesis’ dialogue is Loveless quotes and the other 20% is him being angry and hateful. I guess it’s justified, but unlike with Sephiroth and Angeal you never see Genesis being anything but hateful. With the other two I found myself sympathizing and mourning the loss of the people they were prior to realizing the truth, but with Genesis I wished he’d just shut up and go away already. The training room scene also doesn’t help his case, because first it starts out with Genesis being cocky and wanting to take Sephiroth alone- despite Angeal’s warning- and then later on blasts his best friend in the face with a fire ball all while talking about being a hero. He purposefully escalates the fight, then when Sephiroth gets serious Genesis gets injured and crap really hits the fan- and all this could’ve been avoided if Genesis hadn’t had an inferiority complex the size of the moon. I also find it hard to excuse this whole sequence of events because this was prior to his degradation, and while it’s unclear whether it had started even before his injury, I’m going to say he was still mostly in his right state of mind and he still behaves like he has no care for his friends, even his childhood friend who was trying to keep the spar friendly and prevent it from turning into a fight to the death.

Sorry about the rant, but that other anon talking about Genesis also brought back my thoughts about him and I felt like sharing since I’ve never really written them out.

Canon vs fanon aside, there's a lot of context and nuance often lost when adapting Japanese dialogue to fit English contexts. My biggest gripe with the training room scene in english is how Genesis proclaims "The world needs a new hero" right before he fights Sephiroth, suggesting he wants to take Sephiroth's place/ be better than him. But then you look at translations like this one and that scene gains a whole new meaning. Genesis instead says "I too would like to become a hero." And rather than the cocky "That's no way to talk to a hero," before he blasts Angeal in the face with a fire ball, he states "All I want is to be a hero."

The training room scene is a lost cause, because it's easy to place the blame on any one of them, or on whoever decided to go in there that day, or even on the fight itself, but accidents happen. But in the end, no one is truly to blame because none of them asked for Jenova cells or to be part of the Jenova Project, and the truth is that if it hadn't been the training room incident, something else would have triggered the degradation, or the conflict as a whole, and they would have been doomed regardless.

And that's why Genesis is so angry, and why he's so desperate for the cure that he keeps reciting what (in his mind) is the answer to the cure. I guess the reason we never see him be anything but reactive to the situation he's in because when we're introduced to him, shit has already hit the fan. He's deserted already. The first scene we see in Crisis Core literally has Angeal answer the phone and get the news that Genesis left. The only crumb of pre-degradation Genesis we get is the training room scene which—as mentioned above—got mistranslated in English, so of course we're going to think Genesis was hot-headed and envious (which in all honesty he could've just as well have been).

It's easier to sympathize with Angeal and Sephiroth because everything that's happening is happening because Genesis revolted against Shinra, and I get that. But what makes me sympathize with Genesis (and this is coming from someone who used to hate him) is the degradation and his motives. He wants a cure. He wants to live, and it's hard to live when your body is working against you and literally degrading because of something completely out of your control. On top of that, the people after you, the organization you've always aspired to be a part of because of your childhood hero, your friends including that hero, are on the side of those who did this to you.

Don't know if this makes any sense because I'm literally trying not to fall asleep writing this out asfshsjska

[cosmicjoke]

Braindead is the right word, lol.

Sometimes I think to myself what Levi would think about the collective stupidity of this fandom and the lack of media literacy... He would kick people in the face trying to reactivate dead neurons, lol.

Oh, I'm sure Levi would be pretty disgusted in general with a way a lot of this fandom acts. It's just so bizarre to me that a story as complex and masterfully told as AoT has such a large contingent of assholes and idiots in its fandom, but there it is. The shit people focus on that's utterly irrelevant to anything, like shipping, or character popularity, rather than the brilliance of the story itself and the actual characters themselves, never fails to astonish and disturb me. It's so fucking shallow. Nobody ever wants to discuss the actual story or what the characters actual role in the story is, what themes they represent, etc... they'd rather spend all their time online arguing which ship is "canon" or what a character's sexuality is. They spend so much time fantasizing about who wants to fuck who, or indulging in their baseless headcanons, that they lose track completely of what actual canon is, and what's worse, is that they don't seem to care. I honestly don't think half the people in the AoT fandom are actually even fans of the story. They just use it to project their own, weird ass hyperfixations onto and then try to make it everyone else's problem. Anyway, I've found it's better to simply not engage, most of the time, because these people aren't worth anybody's time. It's still fun to rub it in that particular Levi's haters face though, how popular Levi is. Since they're so fixated on it and trying to "prove" nobody cares about Levi anymore, like I said, I'm sure their brain is about to explode in anger at the way Levi keeps getting included in every, single piece of promotional art and extra, and how Levi was the one who got an extra story told about him post-canon. The ONLY character who did. Too bad, so sad, anyway, lol.

[roobylavender]

do you think bruce is abusive? i don't mean in the physical way they've been writing his as recently but emotionally.

it's very clear that he does love his children but some abusers do genuinely love the people they hurt and just think they are in the right (thinking of my own dad who somehow couldn't understand why we didn't want to talk to him because he always took care of us but treated our mother. badly. and in front of us when we were little kids.)

and i'm not sure whether i count bruce in that because while it doesn't look like what i'm familiar with i thought i'd ask because only recently i've actually come across people who see him as abusive but do actually see the character as he is and love it and i was wondering what you thought

sorry if i'm dumping too much on you or it isn't something you want to answer, feel free to delete/ignore, i just think the answer is more interesting from people who genuinely love and understand bruce as a character as you seem to and i've only seen it from two other people so i wondered what you thought

i don't mind answering! this is one of those asks where i wish i tagged my stuff bc i've talked about it before but my outbox tag is so populated that it takes way too long to search through lol (and unfortunately as we all know tumblr's in-blog search function is broken beyond repair). but tldr i would say bruce as he's existed for the past thirty years or so is abusive. my divergence in opinion is simply that i don't think he ever should have been made so. his more modern characterization as someone reactive and prone to lashing out at others, particularly his children, has never made sense to me and i don't think it's heavily supported by pre-crisis canon. the extent of bruce's failings as a parent should reflect his inability to communicate and his growing tendency to be a shut-in. which i know some people take to be comparable to neglect but ig i don't think it should ever go that far.. like when i say inability to communicate i don't mean him failing to take care of his kids or giving them their due attention when he's raising them but moreso falling into a pit of despair and guilt once they've reached adulthood bc he feels like he's signed their death note by enabling their lives as vigilantes. i do think parentification can potentially come into it but ideally i would want it to be nipped in the bud sooner rather than later if that makes sense. like we should've been over bruce's depressive "i'm a terrible parent and everyone i love dies so i should just do everything on my own and slowly k*ll myself in the process" episode by the early 00s at latest. and it should've been acknowledged that a large part of what drove him into that depressive episode was jason's death, so realistically being given the time and space to process jason's death and its implications properly would have allowed for bruce to seek closure and move forward and be less.. whatever he is now. to me the successive whammies of identity crisis and war games and under the hood deliberately thwarted that

[writingrapscallion]

Twin Switcheroo

I'm sure this has been done before, but lately I've been imagining an AU where, instead of Grunkle Stan being the one to meet the twins in Gravity Falls, it's Ford.

It all starts years ago, when Stan breaks Ford's perpetual motion machine. Rather than hide what he did, Stan comes clean to Ford and the two manage to fix the machine, leading to them becoming closer. However, Stan still feels a bit betrayed when Ford leaves to go to West Coast Tech.

A few years later, things are much the same as in canon. Ford graduates with honors (as well as three doctorates) and receives a large research grant for a project of his choice. In this universe, McGucket went to West Coast Tech, so he's still friends with Ford. Stan has still become a con artist and is actually in a pretty bad situation, facing potential charges for his illegal activity. However, Stan gets a call from Ford promising to make all his legal problems disappear if he comes to work as Ford's lab assistant in his investigations of a strange town: Gravity Falls.

When Ford realizes the strangeness of Gravity Falls, he decides he needs people he can trust to help him (and he wouldn't mind having some muscle to help him with the more dangerous problems). And so, along with his old friend McGucket, he decides to ask Stan for help since in this universe they're on much better terms.

Stan quickly accepts. It feels almost too good to be true: he and his brother can finally have the adventure that they always wanted. Sure, the cryptids of Gravity Falls are often dangerous and always disturbing, but at least he's with his brother. Unfortunately, much like in canon, thinks start to go wrong.

Ford makes his deal with Bill and creates the portal. McGucket is sucked into it and goes insane, abandoning the project. Stan begins to notice that Ford is becoming more and more erratic and disturbed, and can't understand why his brother doesn't seem to trust him. Things come to a head when Ford tells Stan to leave, and take the journal as far away as possible. Understandably, Stan freaks out.

His relationship with his brother was better than in canon, but Stan still felt abandoned when Ford left for college. With Ford gone, he'd been reduced to a petty grifter, without a home or family. The past few months have been the best of his life: he has a home, plenty of adventure, and, most important of all, his brother besides him. But now Ford wants him to leave.

The two start to fight and, suddenly, the portal switches on! Except in this universe, it's not Ford who's pulled in, but Stan. Ford is devastating, realizing what he's done to his brother, and does everything in his power to try and bring him back, but unfortunately, Ford already hid two of the three journals in places even he isn't able to reach (perhaps he even wiped his memory to prevent Bill somehow forcing him to retrieve them) and without Bill's insight, he has no clue how to reactivate the portal.

Timeskip to the present day. Ford has a reputation as a brilliant but reclusive scientist. His contributions to Physics and other fields of science have allowed him to win multiple Nobel Prizes and many other awards. However, he doesn't seem to care about any of this (he states to Dipper at one point he only publishes his results to ensure a steady supply of grant money).

Ford is kind but distant with his family. He's never met Mabel or Dipper before the start of the series, but he has written to them and sends them presents for their birthdays. Dipper idolizes his uncle, and is a lot more interested in science than in the original series as a result of his aspiratons to be like his Grunkle. His correspondence with his Grunkle is overly formal and often includes stuff like descriptions of science fair projects and requests to work as a lab assistant for his Grunkle (requests that are gently denied). Ford considers Dipper to be a promising young scientist. Meanwhile, Mabel being Mabel sends him stuff like videos of herself sticking gummy worms up her nose. Ford is mildly confused but very fond of his grand-niece.

The series starts when Mabel and Dipper are sent to spend the summer at their Grunke's place. They are both very excited to meet him (Dipper a bit more than Mabel due to his hero worship of Ford). Ford is happy to see them too, and gets along well with the pair when he's with them. However, he spends most of the day in his laboratory, working on unknown experiments, and leaves the kids to play around town. Ford often sends his two lab assistants, Soos and Wendy to look after the pair. Soos and Wendy are much the same as in the actual show— although Ford could probably hire anyone he wants to work in his lab since he's a famous scientist, he doesn't want to involve anyone outside of the town for fear of attracting unwanted attention to his real work.

A few days into his time in Gravity Falls, Dipper discovers the journal hidden near the metal tree. In this universe, the journal's slightly different. Each of Ford's three lab assistant wrote their own journal, marked with their own symbol (it wouldn't be much of a mystery who wrote them if the journal had Ford's six fingers on the cover). The first book, still owned by Ford, has the standard six fingered hand and is written by him. The second one, which has fallen into Gideon's possession, is written by McGucket and has a symbol based on his glasses on the cover. Finally, the journal Dipper finds is marked with the same symbol as Grunkle Stan's fez.

The contents of the Journal are a bit different than the original. Although Stan does write about their supernatural encounters, his style is far more informal than his brother's, often making jokes or mocking comments about the creatures they encounter. Occasionally, Ford takes over to write a section when Stan can't be serious, so the journals a mix of the two of their writing. Stan jokingly refers to his brother as "Mr. Scientist" throughout the Journal, unintentionally concealing the fact that Ford's the main researcher.

A few hours after finding the Journal, Dipper speaks to Ford, suspecting that the old man is Mr. Scientist (although he doesn't mention the Journal, only his knowledge of supernatural occurences in Gravity Falls, so Ford doesn't know he has it). However, Ford feigns disbelief in the supernatural, hoping to prevent his nephew from diving too deep into the secrets of Gravity Falls.

Although Ford's performance successfully convinces Dipper that he's not the Author (AKA Mr. Scientist), Dipper is not deterred in the slightest by his Grunkle's skepticism and instead takes it as a challenge. To prove his credentials as a scientist, he's going to prove his Grunkle wrong, face down the supernatural, and bring back evidence (cue two seasons of Phineas and Ferb style antics where the evidence disappears as soon as he tries to show it to Ford).

[childotkw]

re that au where au!tom yeets himself into canon - so you said harry would be happy to ignore the, uh, particular brand of obsessed tom's got going with him. but what about everyone else's (who knows his real identity) reaction to that? like harry's friends (I imagine tom would be using every opportunity to push them away so he can hang out with harry alone), the rest of the order, dumbledore (who i assume trusts him about as much as you can trust a dementor to not snack on your soul), the other death eaters, or even canon!voldemort

oh ho ho

Harry knows, after the initial confusion and fear and disgust and rage are cycled through, that the presence of a different Tom Riddle at his side is not accepted but for the moment tolerated.

The Order, Dumbledore, are too soldier-like to disregard what an asset Riddle will be in this fight -

(war, a part of Harry corrects, because even if he's never experienced it on such a scale, every day of his life has been a battle and he knows, bone-deep, what the beat of drums on the horizon means)

and that if the only thing guaranteeing his compliance is access to Harry then they will do it. Because Harry has always been more tool than person in their eyes, more symbol than boy.

And it's not even that Harry particularly minds being given up like a sacrifice, an appeasement, an offering because that's what he's spent his whole life being moulded into, isn't it? Someone to lay down his life for others, someone to take the hits, someone to draw the ire and attention of the most dangerous man in the world so that others could spin their plans on the side.

He's honestly not even surprised when they agree to let Riddle stay with him.

His friends don't understand his ease with the situation. They don't think he's in the right headspace to know what he's agreeing to (don't trust me, Harry thinks, a little bitter, a little sad). Ginny, in particular, is wroth at the Order's decision. She rages, she spits, she cries - because the young man standing at Harry's shoulder shares the face of the boy she had put her faith in and been violated by, been betrayed by, and it's not fair to ask Harry to go through that too.

Hermione and Ron are more quiet in their disagreement, their anger on Harry's behalf a simmering but ever-present force. They don't like Riddle, don't trust him, don't want him near their friend, but Harry is unmoving and the more time he spends with Riddle the less weight their voices seem to hold and they're scared.

Voldemort, on his part, is at first frustrated and then curious. He shares a mental link with Harry, after all, and the more glimpses he gets of his other self - of the things he says to Harry, of how masterfully he brings the boy under his purview, of the subtle influences he imposes that always, always lead to impressive growth in Harry - the more he begins to understand just why a version of Tom Riddle would leap dimensions to find another Harry Potter.

The Death Eaters are more confused than anything, but the ones that cross paths with Harry more often? The ones that find themselves on the end of his wand more and more? They're the ones that begin to see. That know -

Harry Potter is shifting. Slowly, incrementally, he's sliding away from being a paragon of Light propaganda and is becoming more...open-minded. His spells drift more towards maim than subdue. Curses roll of his tongue without hesitation. His magic, just as fierce as ever, has a certain flavour to it now, some mix of Dark and Light that is bewitching to see.

And when he rages how beautifully it swirls.

Tom is...content for the most part. Under his guidance Harry has begun to shake some of the more unappealing traits he's been forced to cultivate over the years. He's more assertive, more confident, more in control. Proactive rather than reactive. Stable rather than teetering on the edge of destruction.

Harry's no use to Tom if he can't stand up to him, after all. What good is a balancing influence that fails at balancing?

[real-total-drama-takes]

Alr social anxiety crowd. I'm tired of pretending I don't exist (I hope other of you exist) which Td character are we claiming as our king/queen these are mostly hc-ish with some canon I think

I'm offering up:

Beth (I bet she's very anxious and afraid of judgement she feels like everyone is always watching her)

Brick (he's strong but I bet he cannot socialize/fit in without always feeling awkward)

Rodney (he has no clue how to socialize and misinterprets genuine kindness or any interaction for being more)

Raj (compared to Wayne he's overall more quiet and reactive- he replies rather than starts banter more times- and he also was quick to self reject out of fear of rejection)

.

[katyspersonal]

thank u for pointing out the unfair finlenia stances in the fandom..a lot of people dont get that not liking a ship is sometimes a taste thing and not bigotry. i personally hc malenia as demi and i like to imagine she kept a professional relationship with her soldiers but finlay was a big admirer. i dont want to get hate for this take though

Aww anon come here;

I'd love to say that disliking a ship is always a taste, not "sometimes", but... well, some people who are invested in shipping will prefer only straight ships and consider gay ones "sin"/degeneracy/whatever led them to it. I haven't run into this sort of fans in a VERY long while but I doubt they went 100% extinct.

Nonetheless, it IS important to not instantly assume the worst about the person just because they don't share the vision of the ship that the 'cool kids' of the fandom decided is canon! Even if initial concern comes from a 'reasonable' place (like not wanting those conservative bigots to shame people in the fandom), this sort of fear and alertness ALWAYS ends up hurting waaaaaay more innocent people than it punishes the guilty ones! This principle applies not just to fandomry discourse of course but everywhere; being hyper-alerted and always set on detecting the enemy just inevitably turns you into THESE guys:

(In case if you don't know of Bloodborne, these guys are pretty much the mentality and reflection of what happens when you become so paranoid you'll rather have many innocents executed than "risk to let a beast slide", super smart and striking portrayal of our clown world ssdhfhds All this to say is that I do not DEhumanise these haters, I know where it came from but I still disapprove of this culture of reactive paranoia)

Okay enough with my ENTP bullshit and back on the subject; aro/ace spectrum Malenia headcanons are valid! As well as your suggestion about her keeping professional distance with her knights. For example, it is reasonable to assume that she felt guilt since all her Knights inflicted inevitable decay on themselves to stand by her side:

What if Malenia had emotional barrier, if not deep guilt for existing, that no amount of Finlay's convincing that she wanted this fate could break? What if the issues Malenia developed through life of both idealisation and demonisation (both are dehumanising) made her push someone, especially a subordinate, away upon assuming they "don't know what they want"? What if she is afraid of relationship because, since Scarlet Rot can sprout stronger in reaction to emotional pain (as we seen from Millicent blooming if she was betrayed), Malenia is scared shitless to harm another person or herself should relationship ever cause deep pain? Or what if Malenia forsaken considering relationship altogether because she identifies as 'blade of Miquella' and is not willing for any bond to become more important than that (and someone can expect romantic love to eclipse familial one, it depends on the perspective).

There are many directions to take in either why Malenia might not love Finlay, love but not want to date Finlay, or not love/date anyone. Why she either can't or doesn't want to! I have a couple of two other mutuals who are scared to tell anyone they don't 'see' Finlenia because even a deep analysis of the character will be received as attempt to "invalidate a representation"! One of them also thinks Malenia ships don't work period because it's hard to let romantic feelings bloom under so much physical and mental illness, speaking from perspective of a person with physical disabilities and severe depression themselves! Also a very valid perspective! Again, do we then want to argue about whose projected experiences "deserve" validation and whose don't? The hell we do :/

In the end of the day 1) fandom is not a majority rule and thus they can't just "collectively decide" how to interpret canon that IS left open to different interpretations, especially using problems like bigotry as an excuse or even weaponizing their identities. What will happen if a lesbian saying the heretics that don't ship Finlenia are all homophobic meets a lesbian that also doesn't ship it? I don't wanna know. 2) culture of reactive paranoia is bad, let's NOT become Yharnam Huntsmen

[mushroom-for-art]

Some custom adopted designs for both the Cubone is a charmander and Cubone is a baby Kangaskan theories out there

I made the masks match up with the respective adult species rather than canon cubone just for fun, I imagine the baby kangaskan get more tan and browner the longer they're out the pouch exposed to the sun, charmander giving big premie energy little guy who probably could be a charmandertwo variant? Died later than the rest but still too early to survive body abandoned at a Charizard graveyard, it's possible a living Charizard tried to ignite their tail (like in the charmander cubone theory) hence the burnt tail tip and possibly due to mewtwo connection their brain reactivated reviving them but now probably a ghost type gaining ground due to the bones and such and as they don't have a fire in/on them. Of course it's entirely up to the person who now has these designs but just my little lore thinkies to share

[fandom-trash-xl]

EPISODE 1: CONSPIRACY

Hello, hello! Welcome back to weekly Dragon Ball commentary- feels good to say that, these posts were my roots on this website.

I would like to thank a friend for sharing their Crunchyroll and to apologize in advance to my roommate who has already caught me mid-ramblings- sorry, bestie, this is going to last several more Fridays.

Anyway, onto our very first episode of Dragon Ball Daima!

Firstly, an amazing "welcome back to Dragon Ball" recap. Since the Power Pole is due to make its comeback, I'm not surprised that they didn't forget to include a reference to the series roots in OG Dragon Ball- and the fade to them growing up AAAAHHH MY HEART

"Saiyans are known for appearing youthful for longer"- OH YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW

And speaking of recapping, we're introduced to the silly little demon clown guy, Gomah, and Shin's out-of-nowhere brother, Degesu, as they do an abridged Mystery Science Theater of the Buu Arc. Apparently, all powerful Demon Not-Kais still rely on pen and paper to take notes.

With no one left to oppose him after the disposal of the Majins and Dabura, Gomah's the king of the Demon Realm. And turns out Shin also has an out-of-nowhere sister too, Dr. Arinsu. Wonder why she has the God of Destruction gold collar? Might be relevant, might just be jewelry.

It's looking like I may have to finally dip my toes in the Xenoverse lore... we're getting suspiciously close to Towa territory.

However, Goku and his friends pose a threat to Gomah's power- because of course they do, it's Goku and friends- so we need a way to nerf them in the way that's not an evil wish. So, let's turn them into kids! GT BUT ON PURPOSE!

The Demon Realm has their own Dragon Balls created by a senile Namekian they picked up off the street, but they're guarded by these figures called the Tagamis- safe bet that they'll be fighting the Tagamis later.

We have a confirmed timeline placement! It's not long after the Buu Saga and Trunks is turning nine. Gohan is conveniently off studying... why the exclusion? We don't know yet.

And now for the two casual lore drop points that I proceeded to ramble about because my roommate had just walked in:

Saiyans get growth spurts at 15

I guess this was a casual excusing of Goten and Trunks still being short in Super and it sort of lines up with Goku in original DB. He grew slightly, but I guess he was a late bloomer because he was still rather petite at the King Piccolo fight where (not counting Minus) he was 16.

But, Gohan! He had a decent amount of height at 11 in the Cell Saga. Perhaps he got a little more of the Ox King genetics than Goten did.

Goku then proceeds to slander Vegeta's height and- "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

THE SECOND POTARA RETCON

Yep, it happened again. We went from "Potara fusion is permanent, we don't know what happened with Vegito" to "Potara fusion is permanent for Supreme Kais, but if it's two mortals, it's a hour" to, now, "it was Buu's stomach acid the whole time!"

So, instead of using the Dragon Balls to separate like in Super, Kibito Kai just had Buu eat them and spit them out.

I guess this helps confirm that Daima's running on its own track and won't lead into Super. Does this mean we have three separate canons now? I'm okay with this. At least this means my fanfics are safe.

Also, looking a bit pale there, Kibito.

Back to the plot:

Seems that all of the Namekians were originally from the Demon Realm! The Demon Gang can tell because of the pointy ears- I'm getting Owl House flashbacks.

Then what does that mean for Mr. Popo?

The old Namekian magnetizes all the Dragon Balls to the lookout- because of course he can- then reactivates them from their stone state- because of course he can.

Shenron's not dealing with any monkey's paws today and he's not going to guess like Ultimate Shenron did in GT- you're going to want to input all the settings you want for your turn people into kids wish. The adult gang are all first graders and the kids are now babies.

THE WISH HITS RIGHT AT THE END OF THE EPISODE

We'll have to deal with the fallout of this next episode. Hope someone fills Gohan in.

---

Feel free to send asks- I'll screenshot them if there's spoilers so I can put the question under a Keep Reading break if need be- or have a discussion in the replies.

Otherwise, stay tuned for more of my ramblings next Friday!