#reigniting my fire

[bloopducks]

A New Era

Thank you for all the versions of myself who got me to where I am today.

[reelbigchip]

what if ianto and lisa were super awesome ska fans together!!!?!

that one pic of them together but if they were actually at a ska show and having a great time

[crypticpaw]

💚🖤❤️🐉Black Dragon Friday!!!🐉❤️🖤💚

Itching for some art of your dragon this holiday season? Lucky you, from November 29th to December 10th, you can get a fullbody colored sketch for just 💲1️⃣5️⃣!!!

Get them while you can!!!

[danyseastar]

link

“Baela shrieks with her father’s anger.”

“Jace the closest to Aemond in age —”

“Aemond puts his hands around Luke’s throat, throttling him.”

“You will die screaming in flames just as your father did.”

“…comes at Aemond, who readies the big rock.”

“He counters, smashing Jace’s face in with the rock.”

I’m gonna knock some teeth out ‘closest to Aemond in age’ and he was canonically 6 to Aemond’s 10. Jace and Luke were the only ones really involved with the fight in the book, and it’s stated multiple times that Aemond had the clear advantage over them and was beating them ruthlessly. It was a clear power play on his part that quickly turned sour because the younger brother feared for both his and his older brothers life (as he should, the kid was 5 fucking years old).

I know why they added the Dragon Twins to the fight, and it was solely to infantilize Aemond even further than they already had (and demonize the girls and the Velaryon boys in turn). Sure, I’m supposed to feel sorry for him because he was bullied for not having a dragon (boo fucking hoo); but I’m not supposed to feel sorry for the twins after they just lost their mother, considering how quickly that storyline was left in the dust to further Aemond’s. I’m not supposed to feel sorry for the woman and kids who were targeted purely due to their blood/gender (but that doesn’t matter ofc just that they’re bastards and harming poor helpless trueborn baby Aemond how dare they).

The agenda being pushed in the show is obviously full of microagressions against these kids — the Velaryons were made into POC just to make certain the audience knew that Rhaenyra’s first three children were bastards, and Baela and Rhaena were added to the fight to show them as the ‘true’ aggressors to the entire situation. It didn’t matter that they had lost their mom recently, it didn’t matter that they didn’t even know who Aemond was. They had one of the last living relics of their mother stolen out from under them by this random kid who immediately insults them to their faces for having the audacity to be upset, but HE is the victim here. Jace had just found out about Harwin being his bio dad and then lost him within a short amount of time. He was being openly mocked and told he and his baby brother were going to die in the exact same way at Aemond’s hand. But no, no! Don’t jump to the obvious conclusion; AEMOND is the victim here.

Four grieving children reacted on their extremely volatile emotions, with one acting on fear alone, and it ended poorly for all parties involved— who would’ve thought?

[eyestrain-addict]

Maka and Death the Kid in the anime: the rational and smart ones

Maka and Death the Kid in the manga:

Maka eating Hot chip in the passenger seat: "why are you driving so slow"

Kid driving and going 80 mph with free bird playing on the radio: "Watch this drift"

Soul and Liz in the backseat: "we're gonna fucking die"

[frontymython]

Being a merlin fan since you were 5 is wild... Like how do you explain that you've been watching the same show for 15 years. I blame it on them ruining Christmas with the S5 ending when I was 10 LIKE I WAS TEN YEARS OLD AND YOU DID THAT. I remember the S5 trailers pre it coming out with the magic reveal teased. I was chewing at my sofa I swear, ten years old eating a sofa. How dare. Like literally I remember my nan being mad at the ending and us all watching Atlantis only to get blue ballsed again. Anyway rant over, I am very normal about this show 🕴️

[mossy-aro]

i can’t believe i nearly forgot my mia warren is aroace agenda. anyways reminder mia warren is aroace coded asf

[leapdayowo]

Some OCs :3

I should have probably looked at a reference for people sitting around a campfire for the lighting… I’m still figuring out my approach when using watercolors for highlights and strong shadows

Also here’s the whole squad :3 I’m trying to keep this story to a more typical quest, but with some eldritch notes to it

Left to right: Lovis, Mimmi, [???], Salman, and no name yet for the lady on the right

[jerseyartblog]

More FE: Awakening doodles!

Ft: M!Chrobin having a sweet little moment, and Frederick astride a horse. Horses remain beasts that are Incredibly Difficult to Draw but I gotta practice for Work so, sigh :’)

[dickpuncher420]

my zukka fire never truly goes out but it Has been reignited recently which is very unfortunate bc my semester just started and i wont have any free time to work on anything 😩

[jalapenobee]

brainrot vs burnout. kentareo brainrot wins.

[karatecorgi]

you're toast, gnasty!

idk doodle

[tired-and-unjellied]

I'm honestly surprised the MILGRAM innos didn't go crazier. It could have reinforced their worst biases, like Shidou's disregard for lives and depression. It looked like it affirmed his "I'm useful to society" and his drive instead.

Makes me wonder if Fuuta would have went Kotoko's way like most people assume, or if he would have gone Shidou's and Yuno's relatively harmless visions of the world. He's extremely cynical and pessimistic, possibly more than Kazui and Shidou, and might have end up as jaded as Yuno did in T2.

[todayisafridaynight]

i completely forgot i had this on my screen underneath all my other programs and when i say i screamed

[ddejavvu]

now that I have the obi-wan fic done I’m focusing back on ‘spring fling’, my ~70K hangman series! It should be released by spring break, that’s when it’s set so I’m trying to wrap it up before then. I’m so excited to post it for you guys 🥹

[trans-leek-cookie]

I just saw your tags on the unreliable narrator post and I really want to know what character you’re talking about now

Geto Suguru from JJK. I came for the hot Asian guy with long hair and a cool outfit stayed bc I'm interested in how cults and eugenics hurt ppl irl and also how they're explored in fiction. But between heaven and earth I alone am trying to find a fic that actually treats him being a cult leader as the problem it is and also gets fucking Nanako and Mimiko out of their. Uhhh fuck idk if u know JJK so spoilery ranting under the read more that assumes familiarity (so not like. Explaining specific plot shit bc my brain will explode)

so basically ppl have called out the eugenics shit with like "kill everyone who isn't a sorcerer" and generally they're like yeah that sucks but whatever not important lol. And I've seen like 0 shit actually about how he's a cult leader + how cults are Abusive. And some ppl are like "actually he has a point bc blah blah blah" like okay. If sorcerers were a stand in/comparable to real life marginalized groups. WE DONT NEED MORE "MARGINALIZED EUGENICIST" PLOTS. But even within the story they don't seem marginalized? Like, there are Marginalized Sorcerers, but being a Sorcerer isn't something that's consistently oppressed? The closest thing is either misdirected ableism/sanism ("they see things that aren't there and are assumed to be psychotic" which is its own can of worms) or like accusations of witchcraft which... I guess that's sorcerery based on this universe but irl those were usually used either along with or as cover for other shit (racism, misogyny, land grabs, etc). So hes not necessarily marginalized on that level- tho growing up in a family without other sorcerers mightve caused problems for him that's a LOT different from systemic oppression. And, also? In a lot of cases it seems like sorcerers are relatively privileged with a lot of economic, social and maybe political power? Like the big three families are obv examples bc they're fucking Rich and control the sorcery world so. Y'know. Also it's stated at one point sorcerers receive some like exceptions to the law but aren't allowed to hurt ppl who aren't sorcerers so. Yeag

anyways going more in depth on eugenics- okay real quick terms: negative and positive eugenics. That's not in reference to the quality, "positive" doesn't mean "good" But Rather in reference to wether the action is meant to Reduce "bad genes" or Increase "good genes". And obv negative eugenics includes shit like forced sterilization and murder which I don't want to downplay, but positive eugenics is also coercive and fucked up. For example, forcing ppl to have children they don't want. Which isn't Discussed in the series, but the fact is sorcerers a SMALL minority of the population, and they're already having trouble with curses, so. Theoretically sorcerers would be coerced to have more children to bring the population numbers up. Personally I think that's Not Something Suguru Believes In (I'll get into that but main thing is his eugenics isn't an actual strategy but rather lashing out and ego) but like. There's abuse on both sides of the equation no matter what. Eugenics isn't fucking redeemable.

Now onto the cult shit. It's not super expanded on besides needing money and curses to like. Kill ppl or whatever. But my interpretation of Suguru is that he started a cult, and believes in eugenics, because his ego was damaged. Like the trauma impacted him and influenced his actions ofc bc trauma Does That but also I straight up think his ego was bruised and he wants revenge.

Like first of all, the wider context- he's a kid who is alienated from his parents and probably most of the ppl he interacted with due to his abilities, which is understandably damaging esp at a young age.

He is then scouted and labeled as a special grade- he is one of three in Japan and I believe the world, if I'm not misremembering. He is on par with Gojo Satoru (category wise) who. Literally "Gojo Satoru's birth changed the world" like that's a NUTS ego boost to get

Anyway Gojo called the two of them "the strongest" literally pairing them up and positioning them as equals so like. Whoo boy. Also special grade sorcerer is defined as "a sorcerer who could single-handedly take down a nation" which okay! Labeling children as essentially weapons of mass destruction. Normal behavior

Then Toji happens and this random fucking guy beats you up. He kills your best friend and the girl you were escorting. But he doesn't kill you- because of your cursed technique being risky to deal with, but also. Obvious subtext of "you aren't important enough to kill"

Then your friend comes back from the fucking dead. Kills the man who tried to kill him. Discovers entirely me abilities and becomes even more powerful. And you are stagnating, with a technique you fucking hate. Your entire power is the power of Other Things.

So like. Understandly, thought maybe not justifiably, your ego is fucked.

So you start creating a new dichotomy: sorcerers and everyone else. If everyone else is lesser, you still have worth because you're Better than them by virtue of existing.

And then you discover 2 children being abused for the thing you have a victim complex over (<- this is also it's own thing I'll talk about) and you murder a bunch of ppl about it (okay this is a little questionable of My Opinions maybe but I could. Not forgive but understand the mass murder bc there's a lot of shit building up and clearly if 2 young girls being badly abused in a small village that implies the majority of people were either okay with it or unwilling to try and help at all. Anyway it's still Bad but like. Understandble mental breakdown trauma kinda bad for me? Also bc most ppl irl recognize murder as being Bad but are Weirdly Forgiving of bigotry yknow)

Anyway you take over the cult that was doing some other shit and my personal interpretation of this is also an ego thing. Bc lots of cult leaders do it for the money, but a lot of them also do it bc they like the feeling of controlling ppl. And there's essentially 2 levels of the cult- everyday people and the people he considers Family (which includes Mimiko and Nanako, the 2 children from the paragraph above).

On the "everyday people" level, there's a feeling of being a revered religious leader, knowing something they don't (curses exist), and the satisfaction of taking advantage of the people you don't like.

On the Family level, you position yourself as a savior and as The Only One Brave Enough To Do What Must Be Done (eugenics genocide) so even if you aren't the strongest you're still Special.

So that's my main analysis of why he became a cult leader, and now I'm gonna make more comments about why I think his shit is "Ego" rather than a (fucked up) desire to actually help ppl

If you wanted to help sorcerers survive: THE CLANS ARE A MASSIVE FUCKING PROBLEM. They hoard techniques tools and knowledge and the Zen'in clan literally cast out Toji who could've been a fuckin BEAST at dealing with curses. The clans reliance of tradition also generally hinders sorcerers ability to grow and improve in ways that aren't Traditional

When he dies the cult falls apart (which: good) but also the members have different ideals like some of them wanna keep doing eugenics, some of them just wanted Suguru to be powerful, and two of them were basically his adopted kids. If you actually had good intentions: CREATE A PLAN FOR WHEN YOU DIE SO YOUR FOLLOWERS CAN ACTUALLY CARRY OUT YOUR WILL AND HELP PEOPLE INSTEAD OF LETTING THEM INFIGHT

And idk if this is totally Ego or starting to move into a separate thing so I just decided to split it up: even when he was "righteous" his beliefs kinda Sucked

Like "the strong must protect the weak". There are inherent sort of... values being placed there, because weak is negative, not neutral. It's relatively minor, but I think it's important to note with how his beliefs evolve.

It's not like "we need to protect the people who can't protect themselves" it's really reductive. There's weak people and strong people and basically Noblisse Oblige but for strength or whatever which isn't really actual kindness or equality but rather pretty much. Pity.

Also he sorts jujutsu sorcerers into "strong" and everyone else into "weak" for the most part so that's... great worldview my guy. Definitely not going to just worsen your alienation from other ppl

so when he goes to "why should the strong protect the weak?" He jumps to "the strong don't owe anything to the weak, and actually the weak should be Punished For Being Weak" instead of. Just doing something else. Just get a fucking job, my guy

Anyway his plan is just garbage top to bottom total mess morally and logistically and he's a traumatized teen who grew into an abuser and like. The trauma influenced that but there were always fucking problems so it isn't "oh he got hurt and is evil :(" it's "he has some worrying beliefs and his trauma is likely making his emotions and ability to reason unstable, and then he finds an excuse to turn that instability into Violence" like. He's not necessarily abusive bc he's mentally ill or traumatized marginalized he's abusive bc he got to a point in his life where he could justify it to himself and it felt Good

And I just remembered this part: for the characters who interact with him I do enjoy that they still like and love him, even though he fucking sucks, because that's very human. You'll love imperfect people, you'll love horrible ppl who hurt you and/or others, and that isn't irredeemable it's just Human because being a Human and Connecting With Humans is complicated like that

I even like it when they excuse his bad behavior! Bc that's a realistic character flaw, to value the person u consider your friend over the people they hurt! It's not ethical, but it's natural and interesting to explore in fiction.

THE PROBLEM. IS WHEN THE AUTHORS DO NOT TREAT OR ACKNOWLEDGE IT AS A PROBLEM.

Like... listen. Love a relationship where one character sucks and the other character forgives them for the ppl they hurt and just wants their loved one back. The problem is when the writers are like "aww this is so sweet/romantic/beautiful" WHATEVER. Because it's not??

Someone defending their fucking abusive partner/friend/family member, especially when they aren't victims themselves, isn't fucking sweet it's scary, either for them or others!!!! And I want either to see the characters grapple with the way they excuse their loved ones' abuses and how that reflects on them and their morals, or, if the characters don't do that, for the author to acknowledge it as A Flaw!!!! I'd that too much to fucking ask

Especially with cult abuse, I don't want to say it's necessarily treated worse than any other type of abuse, but it feels really hard to find things related to fictional cults that actually acknowledge the Real Life Damage and Abuse cults do instead of having the cult be 1. Faceless evil 2. A joke 3. Fetishized/romanticized. And like all forms of abuse are similarly distorted in media + fiction, but I feel like ive almost never seen cult abuse portrayed respectfully/accurately, especially in fan works

Anyways for the wild TL;DR I think Geto Suguru's personality is comparable to an anti-sjw trans guy who is getting scarily close to Actual Fascist beliefs and is hurting all the people around him and his ex mutuals are like "he's not that bad" when he is That Bad and I'm so fucking mad about what happened to Nanako and Mimiko. If I think about their canon treatment I get so upset I start to have a headache