#she didnt kill her father and thats the point

[franollie]

“steph deserves to kill” “give steph a gun” SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP YOU DONT GET IT YOU DONT GET IT YOU DONT GET IT

[toytulini]

i made an oc thats at least nicknamed "Stupid" and im constantly thinking about what a power move that is tbh

[trans-leek-cookie]

Hm I'm not putting this in yhe main tags bc. Yeah but I'm blocking ppl who call the step mother hot

[bulbabutt]

okay. lets bite the bullet and talk about 2012. lets talk about child abuse, familial abuse, generational abuse, toxic family units, whatever you wanna call it. lets talk about it and whether it exists in this show. i actually encourage you to read this no matter what your take is, just to hear it out. let me be FUCKING clear: i love this show, but i get scared to talk about it seriously. everyone on every side is defensive all the time but i love every turtles show to no end.

this post is going to go over so well and not controversially at all.

precursor: every splinter is some level of shitty dad. he always has been. the fucking bare bones of the character is that he raised his children to kill the man who killed his own father. thats inherently fucked up. every splinter has some level of fucked up about him. maybe hes inattentive, or neglectful, or strict, or secretive, maybe hes just not very good at dealing with his kids. splinter is supposed to be far from perfect. thats what makes him splinter. maybe he grows over the course of a series, maybe he doesnt. maybe hes supposed to be shitty his whole life, maybe hes not. thats just splinter. each is adapted differently depending on the story being told.

and 2012 has a very interesting tone to its story.

lets start at the beginning, back in japan. this is season 3, was this story what they intended when they started writing the show back in season 1? probably not, theres probably things they would have written differently had they known this was where splinter's story started. thats kind of the way tv works, you add the details later. but for our sake of analyzing the character of splinter as a whole, it seems best to start here as if its all intentional.

hamato yoshi is a member of the hamato clan. theyre a very traditional old ninja clan in the modern world, they have old feuds and theyre trying to keep their culture alive. they're literally the last of a clan of ninjas like this, having (supposedly) defeated the foot clan (their generational enemies) back when yoshi was a baby. hes set out to lead next, and its very important to him. and yet hes married to a woman who works in the city, a modern woman who doesnt live the life he does. she even moved to be with him. i feel the need to compare this to how men in the real world who want traditional wives never go for women who are willing to be their housewives, always try to break down the independent ones. splinter seems unconcerned with how his wife wants to live. with how she wants their daughter to be raised.

im not necessarily saying this is how this comes off in the show, but i find it interesting to think about. this is absolutely the most rounded version of tang shen as a character (thus far) it stops her being just a name on a page "hamato yoshi's love and the object of his enemies affections who died" and turns her into a woman who has a stake in the story. gives her more agency.

its very interesting that this show implies an actual relationship between tang shen and oroku saki, albeit a one-sided one that didnt work out, but they do seem to have parted on equal ground. the pair of them discuss yoshi's inattentive duties as a husband and father, that he's too obsessed with the tradition and lineage of his clan. honestly, if this woman just took her baby and left no one would blame her! he has his priorities set, and it leaves no room for her and their newborn baby. if she ran away with saki at this point, the story would make just as much sense.

but then disaster strikes, saki learns the truth about his family, that he was actually a child of the foot clan (honestly i wish we saw this play out instead of jumping ahead in the story but thats not what this post is about) and he kills he and yoshi's father. revenge for him having killed his. cycles of abuse and revenge that never end. the pair of them were raised in this society that values lineage like this, that would kill for it. its no wonder they both grew up this way.

anyway, tang shen is killed by a blow meant for yoshi, and saki takes their child and raises her. based on splinter's lack of desire to be a father so far in the story, its honestly not one you can blame him for. its fucked up, but it makes sense. saki does to miwa exactly what his father did to him. cycles of abuse and revenge.

yoshi loses everything, and moves to america. he's turned into splinter the mutant rat, and gains four turtle sons.

so as established, he's not exactly grown up with a stable family life. he obviously, while human, wasnt acting as a stable father for the child he intended to have. so how good is he at this?

ive talked before about how the 2003 show treats the turtles as kind of one whole unit. they don't have individual relationship arcs, they dont have overarching storylines where they grow apart or closer, they're always in each other's corner.

2012 makes this more dynamic. here we see that 15 years seeing no one but each other, growing under this splinter has come with its own quirks. these brothers dont understand each other that well. they get jealous of each others treatment, some are left out, some are misunderstood. raph resents leo, none of them appreciate what donnie does, mikey bothers everyone else for attention, etc. it creates a really good starting place for this show.

(the issue i have with this show is more that they never really open or close any of these beats, at least not in ways that last. but boy does it make for some good dramatic scenes)

we see over the course of this first season that splinter treats his children just as he was, as little ninjas more so than sons. he raises them to follow his traditions, the ones tang shen never cared for. but this is all he knows how to be! you cant really blame him.

most people bring up mikey as the quintessential example when they talk about this, i dont want to do that cuz i know you've all heard it. while i think his father does disrespect him and i think it is paid forward and his brothers do too, i'd rather talk about raph for a change.

in one episode, raph loses his temper. to teach him a lesson, splinter makes his brothers pelt him in training while insulting him any way they can, and tells him to just... not lose his temper. this is a terrible lesson in general. instead of trying to coax out why he might be angry, it just plays up that if he loses his temper bad things happen.

splinter in this episode basically encourages bullying. this comes up a lot when it comes to raph. to compare, in 2003 when raph loses his temper, hes told to blow off steam which he does. his brothers don't blame him for having emotional outbursts, they know thats just how he is so they know how he needs to cope with it. he's given the physical space to let it out.

im not saying this show needs to be like that show, im just saying thats a version of this story where the outcome is better for raph as a whole. since this outcome is not as good for him emotionally, you can tell why he's still got these emotional issues. splinter never helps him more than that. thats more why this raph differs from that one, if that makes sense. one has his family in his corner more than the other.

speaking of. raph has a pet turtle. this turtle is the only one he can talk to about how he feels. why might that be? it's the only thing hes kind and gentle to, and he refuses to let his brothers make him feel weak for being kind to it. where did he learn to be ashamed of being kind and gentle? thats a learned behaviour. in a house full of other men... yeah, that would happen. but whos values start that?

when this turtle gets some mutagen spilled on it, it tries to get revenge on his family. there is such a resentment going on here, its extremely juicy. the show chalks this up to "post mutation insanity", but its just as easy to think that everything raph has experienced has made him seem angry and resentful and perhaps scared to his pet, and that former pet wants raph to himself so they can be free. the frustrated venting of a child complaining about how no one understands him in such a big way turns slash into a vengeful monster, cuz thats all he's ever heard. it makes sense, he went from a little turtle to a fully cognizant adult aged being in an instant. emotionally no one would handle that well, and definitely not someone whos only ever heard the worst about people.

he comes around later. notably by being on his own, away from the hamatos.

again, im not saying the show is writing this intentionally, but i think tonally its in the zone where you could see this analysis as being canon. that these little pieces of narrative fit the worldview of a toxic family unit that isnt dealing with its problems in a healthy way.

there's other small aspects. leo slaps mikey early on, having seen it on his favourite show be used as a way of getting someone to calm down. mikey questions this behaviour, leo seems to feel bad about it when questioned. if we know that that behaviour was bad, what other things might he emulate in a similar way?

there's things like donnie's predatory behaviour towards april. in a world where all they ever knew was splinter's stories of the outside world (and perhaps television from decades earlier), hearing splinter's story of his love for tang shen, his rivalry with his own brother over her, you could actually see why he would behave the way he does, why he claims her the way he does. not as an excuse, but as a reason he learned the behaviour. and there's multiple opportunities for his father to tell him off. he never does. why would he? he knows no better.

this splinter, unlike every other, is not old or disabled. he doesnt require a cane (at the start, but also was never a good cane) and its interesting that despite being like... a 40 year old man in the peak of his life he does not accompany his sons on missions. he sits around doing nothing and disproves of his sons heroic actions. april literally calls him out for this at one point. the show is actually telling us some of this man's behaviour is wrong.

one of the more upsetting things that happens in this household is a lot of physical hitting. "theyre training" you might say. understandable. but when you see a lot of hitting come from the father in this show, played for a laugh, when you see splinter play the "drunk master" bit it makes you think. is that okay? isnt that a bit much?

the end of the muckman episode is a freeze frame of splinter (after having knocked out all of his sons to punish them for leaving while grounded) turning his anger on april and her running away. idk thats just not funny to me. this is a bit of the dating of the show, 2012 was a time where character's in shows were meaner, less affectionate, more bullying in nature. that was the sense of humour at the time. that isnt me making a judgment, it's just kind of the era. a pre steven universe world, if that makes sense. so many of the jokes that end in a hit aren't funny in 2024. especially not when they come from a parent.

when this splinter speaks about his kids to their brothers he often ends up insulting them. "you should be like mikey, he never overthinks because he doesn't think", this would be a big reason the boys speak about each other the way they do to their faces. puts forward a bit more of that bullying thing i mentioned earlier. if their own father talks about them like this, of course their brothers do too. so of course they join in and give payback.

again. splinter wasnt raised in a normal family. he was raised in a ninja commune with a bunch of murderers. he wasn't great with his wife and baby daughter. its not surprising that he's bad at this.

so, ive just said a bunch of things about what's wrong with this household as a whole. i think ive explained why the family unit behaves the way it does: generational teachings of feuds and traditional values. i dont think this makes the show bad! i, in fact, wish there was more of it. i think theres so much low hanging fruit that the show kind of wants to play with, but cant fully bring itself to.

specific example: during the space arc on a planet thats driving all the characters emotions against each other we get this amazing scene where raph screams at leo for being splinter's favourite. leo responds by hugging him. its really well done!

however its never brought up again, never actually getting into the nitty gritty of why raph feels like that is exactly what i think makes this show resonate with so many people

its dark! it pulls at your heart strings! it makes people feel seen! we go in mikey's head at one point and see such splintered (lol) personalities in his head. he has a huge anger problem (much like raph) in there. he retreats into imagination land when stressed. the show kind of toys with "these kids are fucked up!" but never lets those character moments go anywhere. i love how fucked up this family is. its so complex, it feels real. at least real to me. i wish it went that little step further and let the characters talk about these things a little more.

maybe you have a different experience, and thats fine! but i wouldnt brush off people like me who look at 2012 and say "these dynamics make me uncomfortable". to excuse it by saying "my family is like that and we're fine" sometimes i just wanna say... <:/ are you? have you talked about that? and if that's your read on it is that its fine, thats great. but some people notice patterns and those patterns can make them uncomfortable. i hope ive explained the patterns here.

i think thats why the fandom is as big as it is. this show would lead to the most amazing deep introspective fan-works youve ever seen, it lays the pieces out so perfectly for you to draw your own conclusions about why they are this way. you cant really blame people for talking about it as if its got a way higher rating than it does. it feels like it does.

i should say, i dont even know if i blame the show on its own for leaving those pieces laying there, it was on nickelodeon. i sense studio meddling in the tone. i mean, given that the show wanted to end with the big mutant apocalypse storyline, and yet the network wanted to end it with the big 87 crossover..... yeah i think its safe to say nick would rather they keep it light.

which is funny, because i think the most controversial thing i can say is i personally love the finale arc as the mutant apocalypse. it so encapsulates my favorite part of this show. to end this show in the darkest timeline and say "even though these characters are so far removed from who they used to be and even though the entire world is over they still have each other in the end" and i find that so perfect.

so. i understand that this is always a touchy topic. i know people want to brush it off as "people say the 12 brothers are abusive to mikey but mikey is fine", and i think thats a really skewed version of it from both sides. first of all. mikey is not fine, look in that boys head. look how he copes. he's not. but also, mikey is not the only victim. they all are. these turtles are victims of their upbringing, victims of generational war. of men who didnt know how to be good fathers in the first place. and thats good writing! it feels deep! it connects!

for more context: any fucked up way you can think of karai being raised by shredder? its probably the same way here. splinter and shredder were raised the same way.

i guess i think about this a lot, cuz i always see things like "oh, rise fans write crossovers where the rise boys love each other and have to teach the 12 boys how to be nice cuz they dont like 2012!" and i just think to myself:

guys. do you understand why a person might do that? why would someone (likely a teenager) want 2012 mikey to be treated nicely by a kinder more openly affectionate version of his own family? do i need to spell that out for you? why do we connect with media at all, why do we write our own stories about it?

if you genuinely dont. i mean, im glad for you. but sometimes you wanna imagine a world in which your own family is more openly affectionate with you. where they hug and tell you theyre proud and love you and you never have to question it, never have to look elsewhere for that kind of approval. its less that they're idolizing rise, and more that they're looking at the two families and saying "this one is emotionally mature and in touch with their feelings more than that one. how would that play out?"

doctor feelings ass response.

look, im not saying everyone understands 2012, that everyone likes or needs to like it. im just trying to say that i think these fucked up parts of 2012 are all around my favourite parts of the show. its an inspiring story about this fucked up little family that has no one but each other, and they're not great about it. they try, but they don't always get it right. i just wish the show would have talked about that part more. but i think that since it doesnt people get to fill in those blanks themselves, and they do it so beautifully. and i really wish people on the internet would be more kind to one another when they wanted to discuss these darker themes they find in it.

these are the reasons i love this show. i think its so very interesting that splinter dies this fucked up father figure who never really apologized for his behaviour. i like that raph needs to be held to stop punching his brothers. that leo doesnt have a good grip on what it is to be a leader, that he tries bad ways of doing it. i like that no one copes well! i like that their relationships are so complex! this show is messy! its good! i wish it was more messy!

and id love if we could be more honest about these things and how they make us feel instead of just brushing each other off as "likes the show" or "doesnt like the show". the things that make me uncomfortable are why i love this show and i'm pretty sure i'm not alone there.

[devflamme]

yadda yadda yadda agathario, curses, and dead sons

agatha all along spoilers under the cut 🫵

- these screenshots right here reminded me of mrs fletcher and now i cant be normal about it. why was this segment so... horny. ANYWAY back to depression

- also, one thing. what the fuck does switzerland have to do with them. did they go to switzerland together before? is it a joke i didnt understand?

- agatha crying wasnt on my episode 4 bingo. like. FOR REAL. the way she screamed "don't" at lilia, snapped at jen because she couldnt remember what to use to heal teen and just begged rio to not take him from her. btw, this bitch is Death 100%

- "oh no shes blackheart!" "shes mephisto!" dude. did u see the same episode i did??? she talked about agatha killing the whole coven so that she could have the bodies, was just waiting for teen to die of a hemorrhage so that she could get him, talked about a job she did not want to do, mentioned that she was impatient and wanted to cause damage to the coven... death. 100%.

- the way agatha stayed by his side all the time... she only left because teen asked about her son – that was probably when it clicked for her: he is not nick, or, she got hurt by the mention of nick after having him on her mind all the time because of teen. agatha just feels confused.

"you don't have to know someone's name to know who they are."

- the way she talked so softly with him and even joked about his curious tone of voice. she is really attached to him, and i just know that when he is revealed to be wanda's son, her heart is going to break into pieces. again.

- agatha needed this hug so badly. they both needed. they are both supposed to hate each other. agatha runs away from rio like the plague – but after such an emotional trial and the effect of having rio near her, remembering her of their past together, she just needed it. she needed the affection she knew that rio would give her.

- rio gave her the affection she longed for, but also broke her heart again with a single sentence.

"the boy is not yours."

- agatha just wants two things in her life. power and her son back. and it fucking breaks me because... she lost her son because of power. she lost the thing she ALLEGEDLY traded her son for (the darkhold), and the same thing is now destroyed. every single copy. she lost her power. she lost everything, and now she's going through the hell she made her past coven members go through. agatha harkness you are so fucked up.

INTERESTING POINTS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT BECAUSE I CANT SHUT UP

- jen was a midwife. i know that agatha's story is very popular in between witches, but maybe she knew agatha because she helped her during pregnancy? how the fuck did she got pregnant? was it magic? is rio the father? i wanna a dna test.

- dont know if this makes sense but i found interesting that the burn scars from the curse are always on the characters' shoulders. shoulders are where you carry your responsibilities and burdens – the curse is a burden to alice, thats why it affects her shoulders.

- the mention about the man who bound jen's powers really stuck out to me, about him breaking the doctor's oath, also known as hypocrates' oath (btw im translating the name from portuguese to english, it's probably not the same she said on the show)

- "do no harm / primum non nocere" even though the first thing the man did to jennifer was harm her and bound her powers.

anyway i fucking love this show and its characters so bad. please talk with me about it!! would love to chat a little :)

[thatshadowcomic]

tbh there's a scene thats so clear in my head, just gotta iron out the details:

Sonic is sent off to find Shadow, claiming he can talk to shadow and get this mess sorted out (were still in classic style btw).

At the cave:

Maria lay sick in a makeshift bed, hidden in a dark cavern with a hole at the top, moss hanging down. There was some kind of battle, after Eggman attack Knothole, and Shadow/Gerlad/Maria were spotted, assumed to be in cahoots with Eggman. Sonic doesn't think they would have done something so brutal and this its a misunderstanding. He wants to hear Shadow's side, but all he finds is maria, laying sick, pale and seemingly in a coma. Maybe he find shadow by her bedside instead? Shadow spin dashes him/tries to chase him off, but sonic warns him that maria needs the royal's help. that she's seriously sick. Shadow wants nothing to do with them, convinced they'll jail them both for their relation to Eggman and Gerald. By this point, Gerald's been captured and will likely be sentenced to treason/death.

"You might not want my help, shadow... but she needs it..."

"I was created to help her, just go away!"

"I'm your friend, shadow, Im not going anywhere."

"I didnt have friends before, I don;t need them now...!"

"Well sucks for you, doesn't it--"

Maria tenses up, likely in pain, stopping them from fighting. Shadow moves to help heal her, but his powers are depleted after whatever fight went on, so he struggles to help as Maria slowly fades away. He begins to tear up, desperately pushing himself, but he doesn't have any energy left. I feel like she'd apologize, maybe this is where the promise scene occurs?

"Shadow..." He looks up, surprised she's awake again,

"I'm sorry I broke my promise...I couldn't support you like I said..." She smiles.

Obviously he could care less, telling her it's okay, "But Please promise me Shadow... promise to protect this planet for me... That you'll appreciate everything it has to offer..."

"M...Maria?" The moment of clarity makes shadow's stomach drop.

"Shadow, you gotta let me take her!"

"Promise me... you'll bring hope to all of Mobius..."

As her eyes close, Shadow panics and breaths heavy, like right before you start to cry kinda breathing. "Sonic...!" He abruptly turns, desperately crying out,

"if youre really my friend-- p-please! Please help her...!"

Sonic doesn't argue with him about joining, instead quietly nodding and taking maria back to the castle.

At the castle:

Sonic brings maria and tries to convince Sally's father, who's shocked,

"Are you insane?! That monster will already be desperate and full of rage when he realizes we captured his creator! Why would you bring her here?!"

"He's gonna be pretty desperate and angry if anything happens to 'er too!"

Sally joins and says something like "He trusts Sonic, maybe this is a perfect time to establish a line of trust with us, get him on our side before Eggman gets to him!"

The king reluctantly agrees, having her taken back. He decides to give Shadow space for now and formulate a plan, avoiding pressuring him... or so he tells Sonic and Sally.

That night, at the cave:

Shadow lays in the makeshift bed, noting the dried blood. He curls up in a ball, tense, all alone for the first time. He has to trust sonic... Sonic knows he wouldn't hurt people...right? He hears a sound and thinks sonic finally returned, but it's guards, who used sonic's communication device to track where sonic went. He tries to escape, but his powers are too low to warp away and they over power him. He tries to explain he never hurt anyone, that he was trying to help. The scene ends with Shadow Crying out for Maria, for help. Sonic would return after a day or two, not finding Shadow, no matter where he looked... He would have assumed Shadow went back into hiding considering Eggman seemed to know nothing about him... In reality, the King couldn't kill him, so they held him up, deep under the castle with specially made shackles/capsule. They wouldn't connect for years... maybe 8 or 10?

I can't decide if he'd be awake or not, maybe partly awake? Like he wakes up years later, after they stop maintaining his capsule? Myabe once Chaos is defeated, that energy passes by him and he escapes? Myabe Eggman finds him like SA2?

Maybe after Perfect Chaos is defeated, all that energy passes through Shadow, reinvigorating/awakening him. I have such a clear visual of sonic and shadow meeting again as he rips the castle apart...

based on this:

[hihellomy]

How some characters would go about courting Paimons mama

VENTI:

-you would pick up on your daughter calling Barbatos,The god of freedom,the anemo archon,"tone deaf bard",made you hold in a laugh not be disrespectfull

-Venti will think that you agree with him being tone deaf and feel sadness wash over him,do you not like his songs? He'll be better at them he promises!

-god your daughter knew that she would get away with it,not just cause shes a child,but cause shes your child

-you reassure him dont worry and his happy

-but man dudes is love starved

-he clungs onto you like a new born (if you allow him to even be near you)

-Paimon isnt too thrilled about him acting like hes your kid,she is,you came down here to reunite with her

-Paimon wouldnt mind a second parent,that means more love,and you'll be happier (you did tell you wouldnt leave her again)

-but Venti? Yeah no,mans has to prove himself one way or another

-he will sing Paimon and you so many songs

-spoil you with everything he can (he admitted being Barbatos to be able to have VIP acess to you like all the other archons and important people)

-Paimon and him share a playfull tone and would absolutely mess with others,so this might actually work

-what do you say your grace? Venti is already worshiping you like never before

ZHONGLI:

-1# follower comin' throught

-hes so polite and devoted,being your slave would be such an honor to him,but being your husband? Your daughters father?

-he doesnt care who he has to go through

-Paimon doesnt know if she wants a dad whos so bad with the literal thing he made from his hands

-Zhongli will serve you and praise you theres no tomorow,Paimon aswell

-hes telling her the best tales he knows,spending way too much on food and toys (thats more like a point for childe but-)

-his shield is on him 24/7 with either of you with him in the wild

-but like you have power over all the elements and slay so like dont know why he does this but oh well

-he is and always will be your most devoted your grace, isnt that worth something?

CHILDE:

-spoils you and Paimon

-Zhongli isnt getting that much money from him cause now hes competiton

-Paimon and Teucer deffinetly are having playdates to get to know eachother and have fun

-they might end up being family if Childe succeds after all

-Paimon didnt like the idea of you marrying a fatui harbinger,so childe is on thin ice

-but Paimon is only so young,she could be convinced easily

-he is such a family man,hes perfect to be her father and your lover

-hes killed so many in your name,and he will leave the fatui if you wish,just consider it

TRAVELER:

-this is probably the easiest and we all know why

-they were with your daughter for so long,no one knows them like you both do,its only natural

-Paimon will however go "oh come on! Not you too! Why is everyone so intrested in Paimons mom!?"

-after all you both have control over all the elements in a way,so theyre perfect

-you took them as a vessel for a reason,right?

-but abyss twin?

-alot of drama

-Paimon is gonna tell them that if they even wish to be near you,theyd have to reconcile and apologize to the traveler!

-"say less" Paimon isnt even able to finish her sentence

-but yeah things will be difficult but oh well

[the-banana-0verlord]

OK THEORY TIME

Yeah so i dont believe lenore killed annabel, but i DO believe annabel thinks lenore killed her.

During the flash-back of episode 90(webtoon isnt letting me take screenshots grr), we see lenore angry, with a gun. Annabel thinks lenore is mad at her, but i think lenore was actually trying to warn annabel that someone was behind her and was going to kill her. Lenore used the gun in annabel's direction, but it wasnt the shot that killed annabel. Lenore shot the assaillant either missing or touching the assaillant superficially(or she couldve missed and actually shot annabel by mistake, making annabel's belief of betrayal stronger.) After that, the assaillant shoots lenore in the head and they both die.

Why do i think lenore didnt kill annabel(intentionally)? Because even after divorcing her and discovering she walled up duke, lenore still called for her in the staircase. She still blushed after receiving the pendulum. What could have annabel done that was worse than attempted murder on lenore's Best friend? Sure, the conditions are different but the point still stands.

But if lenore didnt kill annabel, who did? We have two options: a)the deans lied to further annabel's belief of betrayal and the killer doesnt have to be loved by her, making them either her dad or her old fiancé, or b) she was indeed killed by one of the only three person she ever loved(aka people she didnt see as pawns): her parents and lenore. It wasnt lenore, and i think her mom is dead so it must've been her father, ira. I know their relationship was a bit strained and probably rocky, but he was still her father, so even if she hated him, she probably still loved him deep down.

And why did annabel help lenore even after she thought lenore killed her? Because shes a self-destructive down bad lesbian thats why.

So yeah thats my theory

[chirpycloudyrobin]

okay so im subjecting yall to my wen twins AU

it's pretty much normalised within the wen clan for siblings to fight over the title of clan and sect leader. wen leaders have normalised having multiple wives to prevent having zero heirs at the end bc everyone slaughtered everyone else. wen ruohan's father wasn't even his own father's eldest son, he just happened to be the most ruthless. cue wen sr. sr.'s primary wife giving birth to fraternal male-female twins.

Wēn Míng 温明, the elder female twin. Wēn Yáng 温暘, the younger male twin.

this is no story of soft fluffy siblings and overcoming frankly insane family traditions with the power of twin sibling love. the two are pitted against each other from the very beginning. in fact, they know they were going to end up fighting each other to the death in the future. they're not particularly bothered about it. it's normal for them, so why would they ?

the twins do have some form of sibling fondness and affection for each other in the sense that they see the other as their only equal. theyre the only ones who cld kill each other. which was why wen yang absolutely went batshit when a rival internal faction decided it was a good idea to get rid of wen ming when the twins were just 12.

when wen yang finally got the position of head disciple and heir, he decided to start culling the ranks and keeping only those who have utmost loyalty to him. his father rlly didnt give that much of a fuck, hes just happy that his heir is Just Like Him. even gave wen yang, now wen ruohan, a proud pat on the back when his son assassinated him personally. it never did take long for wen ruohan to figure out that his old man had orchestrated his sister's death personally

didnt give him any closure tho so he grew up bitter and resentful in the inside. undisputed sect heir at age 14 but at what cost

until he went to the cloud recesses for the disciple exchange

turns out his amnesiac sister was picked up by baoshan sanren after the assassination attempt and has been under the immortal's tutelage as xiao yiyang. shes pretty much at the cusp of immortality, as was wen ruohan. it was only recently that she regained her memories lmao but at that point wen ming, now xiao yiyang, valued her freedom too much to go back to nightless city

wen ruohan tried to drag her back. xiao yiyang beat his ass artfully for it. she's still just a smidgen better than him after all these years.

he does demand that his sister visit him at the nightless city as much as possible. or send letters. she better not disappear under his nose again !

to outsiders, their dynamic is um. concerning. the twins regularly threaten physical violence or death upon each other. every time they meet each other they just have to fight. cangse sanren teases him by calling him yang'er. wen ruohan pisses her off right back by calling her wen ming. they might just end up killing each other straight up one day

wen ruohan smiles more often now. it's fucking scary.

its even scarier when courting proposals and suitors start cropping up for cangse sanren. a disciple of baoshan sanren, at the cusp of immortality, one of the best talents of her generation, the literal blood-related sister of wen ruohan. she's pretty much the best catch.

sect heirs, head disciples, highly influential people vie for her hand. she does not give a shit abt any of them and she sics wen ruohan on them more often than not. granted she now owes him a couple of spars and a rare weapon but thats just business.

wen ruohan is very happy about her indifference. that just means no snot-nosed brat will be intruding on their twin sibling time.

until wei changze that is.

wen ruohan hates wei changze. it's not even because the man is unskilled or unmotivated or anything. the only thing the man lacks is influence but wen ruohan knows cangse sanren doesnt give a shit abt that.

wen ruohan just fucking hates that wei changze is taking up too much of cangse sanren's time. thats his twin sister. wei changze is just a friend. what the hell ?!

"ur acting like such a typical spoiled didi lol" "say that again and ill beat ur ass" "youve never been able to beat me not even once"

"why do u like him ew" "he compels me" "the fuck"

wen ruohan is forced to make friendly with wei changze because he ends up his brother-in-law just a couple of years later. wen ruohan quite enjoyed the sour looks of that jiang kid and the yu woman who keeps on slandering cangse sanren so he supposes thats a plus.

he meets baoshan sanren on his sister's wedding day. it's the woman who kept his sister away from him for the longest time. but shes also one of the few immortals of the jianghu, her age lost to time. shes the one who taught cangse and never let his sister lose her potential. he can respect that. in fact, he respects that a lot.

he does not fight baoshan sanren. in fact, baoshan sanren ends up being one of two people who can get wen ruohan to listen to them. many tragedies of the main timeline are prevented from the mere fact that wen ruohan respected baoshan sanren in this timeline and the immortal cared enough to descend her mountain and whack wen ruohan upside the head if he gets too power hungry

he gets married down the line too and has two sons. one is a perfect heir. one is just an absolute idiot. his wives dont really compel him, like the way cangse says wei changze compels her. whatever, wen ruohan doesnt have the time for that. he has a sect to run.

wen ruohan is one of the first to get to see cangse sanren and wei changze's child, baby wei ying. the first words out of his mouth are "that dumpling's ugly as hell".

cangse sanren calmly passes her baby to the waiting arms of wei changze.

then she proceeds to remind wen ruohan why shes the superior twin.

wen ruohan one ups her when his wen spies that he sent to monitor her family ended up saving her and wei changze's life. wei ying isnt rendered an orphan ! cssr's pissed tho bc now wrh has something to blackmail her with and thats not slay

wei ying grows up the pampered nephew of the wen sect leader but he kinda dgaf abt the extravagant gifts honestly. hes too busy revolutionising the talisman and array knowledge of the cultivation world and being baoshan sanren's favourite grandchild. many sects invite him to join them but hes like "nah im good i like wandering around with a-niang and a-die :3"

wen ruohan doesnt know what else to give to his nephew that would compel the kid to join the wen sect.

then he sees how wei ying looks at the stone-faced lan kid at one of the discussion conferences. more importantly, he sees how the lan kid looks back

bingo

[ilynpilled]

also, in her converation with Ned, cersei outright TELLS him that Jaime would kill Robert if he knew how Robert abused her (fuck robert i hope he's rotting). and Robert knew it too which is why all his bruises were generally weren't on her face where people, specifically including Jaime, could see.

This is her exact quote: "Jaime would have killed him (Robert), even if it meant his own life"

that's probably one of the reasons why she doesn't tell him. she was in an awful, awful situation and it reflects the situation of so many other abuse victims across the world. it's not fair that she should have to keep this from her own family and worry about what her brother would do, but if he DIDN'T do anything...what kind of a person would he be? just look at Aemon the Dragonknight as a prime example

regarding this post: link

yeah thats the quote they refused to take at face value when almost everything about his characterization indicates that it would be the case.

i think when it comes to the discussions of much of this the dissonance comes from not confronting that this society refuses to acknowledge marital rape as rape. i do not have the quote at hand but george himself has expressed that marital rape doesnt exist in medieval society. that is why it makes sense that while jaime is aware that robert “claimed his rights”, he does not recklessly murder him for it in rage unless cersei gives the word (again, we already know he is ready to do it after he sees that robert is disrespecting her by cheating on her and proceeds to ask her if she wants him dead for it. but like you pointed out, cersei understands that if he saw evidence of physical abuse he likely would not ask for permission and potentially get himself killed.) this is because arranged marriages are treated as a norm in which conjugal rape and a man claiming his rights is not really acknowledged or understood (more like confronted tbh) as rape. this is an integral aspect of the patriarchal domination thats present in westerosi society, its woven into its very fabric. women are placed into a role of subordination, again, it is robert’s “right.” and jaime too is unable to conceptualize it as sexual abuse on the level of rape. hence we get quotes like this:

like we know and understand that cersei was repeatedly raped by robert. we know she didnt make anyone kill her. we know what jaime is saying and thinking here is inconsistent and makes little sense if he believes that she was raped.

that other passage suggests that jaime does not fully grasp or know this. and in general society doesn’t for the most part, including most of the victims themselves. “claiming his rights” is not referred to as rape. robert also knows that what he is doing is wrong, especially the part where he is hurting her (theres also the layer of the code of chivalry being completely contradicted), but he refuses to confront it in multiple ways, and i dont think even he fully acknowledges it as rape either even though i refuse to believe that he is not aware of it. cersei’s right to label him a coward. same with ned in that very conversation, he even sees and knows that robert physically hit her, heard her say that she can scarcely bear him touching her, and yet he asks: “a thousand other women might have loved him with all their hearts. what did he do to make you hate him so?”, and cersei also doesn’t give the answer: “he repeatedly raped me.” jaime understands rape as terrible, he shows concern towards brienne, and risks personal harm (and gets it too since he is kicked unconscious because of it) saving her from it, and it is an act driven by empathy, and he even ironically acknowledges that rape can leave someone broken in a way that does not show on the outside. he executes pia’s rapist too, sets a precedent among his father’s men, and recognizes that she’s “scarred” where it does not show: “That’s all she is, a little girl in a woman’s body, scarred and scared.”

and re the present: while i have a sympathy for jaime in the sense that the betrayal that he was confronted with shatters the delusion that he made immense sacrifices for and defined most of his life atp, and the fact that it makes him feel that he was not actually loved by her as well as recontextualizing his most horrible decisions, he should be showing more consideration and empathy (and i am not saying that he is obligated to die for her either. he isnt) and put in the effort to actually place himself in cersei’s shoes and navigate these blindspots that he has (he has the capacity to, again: “they will leave her a cripple too, but inside, where it does not show”). right now, he is extremely bitter, violently even, and can be selfish and misogynistic as hell about it, and i obviously believe that that is something that has to be recognized by readers for what it is.

but still, regarding the rest, i also think ppl dont acknowledge that because of how medieval society operates there is a very skewed perspective and understanding of certain things and how that affects characters. even with rhaella, jaime is disturbed by the physical abuse:

like he doesnt use the word rape like he does with brienne and the bloody mummers, but he obviously hears and sees that the abuse thats happening to rhaella is horrid and hurts her, and feels a need/obligation to protect her. this is why it is not inconsistent at all that jaime would recklessly murder robert without “permission” even if it meant his own life if he saw evidence of physical abuse, but does not do the same for the marital rape/him claiming his rights. in this society it is not viewed as a violation of rights because women do not really have these rights in these circumstances. their purpose is to marry and bear children. rape is mostly understood and recognized as “low born criminals violently raping women”, “knights and soldiers violently raping women when their blood is up” etc, not “nobles in marriages raping their wives when they claim their rights”, or “coerced rape occurring every time nobles use brothels” etc.

and, as you may have noticed, there’s a strong “you’re hurting me” motif with all of this, because no matter what westerosi society normalizes to maintain patriarchal hegemony, it is obviously all an utter violation of human rights that deals immense harm and trauma to women.

[fabuladorah]

My top 5 fave DBDA charachters

1. Crystal Palace

2. Charles Rowland

3. Night Nurse

4. Niko Sasaki

5. Jenny The Butcher

Honorable mention: Tragick Mick and Edwin Payne.

WARNING LONG RAMBLING!!

1 - Lemme be superficial first, her looks are simply iconic, i worship her hair and witch-core clothes and the way her powers are potrayed (those white globes, the three eyes, quick flashed) just make me go brwwww. And then there is hee character arc... which is *chef kiss* so, so good: she doesnt know who she is, she thinks people didnt really like her, she is sure her parents are looking for her, her first instict is to be mean, but then for what is she being mean for anyway, so she stops. She drags the boys from Big ol' London all the way to an small town in America just to save a little girl, because she is alone and scared. Her abusive demon ex, even after exorcised, is still haunting her. She offers her life to save an stranger she had just met (an stranger who had been kind, an stranger who had understood her, an stranger who had a place while she didn't). Her abusive demon ex shows that maybe she wasnt a good person after all. She misses her mom. She give away her powers (her strenght, her core) to be free from her abuser. She gets her power back, she buries her abusive demon ex alive in her mind (the place where he had her prisoner) with the help of her FAMILY (she didn't know who she was, she didn't know were she was from now she knows) she wrestles a thousand-year olds witch seconds after gaining her mind power back because she CAN AND SHE WINS. She has her memory back, she was an horrible person, her parents weren't looking for her (she missed her mother) and now she needs to go back home and she needs to make things right. Seriously what's there not love about her? Crystal Palace, please understand, you'll always be famous.

2 - Wait one second *close the door* *inhumans sounds* *open the door* okay now lets start. He is not the brain, he is the brawn, he is the protector. He couldn't protect himself. He died defending a boy he didn't even know, he died because he hated senseless violence, he died by the senseless violence. He fears being a bad person — he think he is a bad person, his father's son. He is terrified, so he'll lie, he'll smile. He was just a boy, he died young, he wanted to grow old, he hates to be dead, but he loves Edwin. He chose Edwin over Heaven — this boy, alone, died young and had been his light during the darkest, final, moment of Charles' life. It was an easy choice. I just really, really love Charles, because of all that, but also because he is charismatic af (all Jayden's hard work) and funny and he foes around with a fucking cricket bar, I should've started with that... he has a cricket bar, your Honour, I rest my case. And and I just love charachters with this """savior complex""", this responsibility of being alright to take care of others, of smile and lighting the mood because no one else will do that.

3 - she's an overworked work and that's my kinda shit. The whole point of her job is to protect and care for the lost children, and being honest to god I know she would shoot a kid right in the head if it meant finish her job and thats so fucked up and hyprocte of her and i just absolutely worship her. Also, her whole life views being changed because of a funny man she met inside of a whale is just--- I think she is underrated, and people are missing her angst potential, but I will not be the one to tell you how to write her because dude my english is going to shit as we speak.

4 - I know this is kinda dissapointing, but my whole reason is that she is Niko. That's it.

5 - She is a dyke running a butch shop, thats actually so cool I could die. On her first appearence I thought she would kill Crystal and the boys (again) and thats how I like my women. Also its really refreshing to seen that there is an adult who cares about these kids... the talks she had with Crystal and Niko, yk, she is so mature and smart and wants to help and she is like so cleary trying not to get attached and failinh tremendously, cmon she saw Crystal going to meet her abusive ex and was like "Nuh uh u aint going alone and I AM TAKING THIS MF CLEVER WITH ME" based af. Local lesbian accidentaly addopts four kids (two of which are dead)

Bonus: okay I feel like I gotta justify myself: I DO NOT HATE EDWIN, okay? I love him, he just didnt make the cut. And about Tragick Mick, cmon he is a goddammned (LITERALLY) seal and runs a funny little shop and saved Niko's life. We love him. We adore him. Tragick Mick may not have the sea, but he has the people!!

[multifandombullshitbabes]

i'm gonna yap about alicent's character because i'm in love with it and i hate that ppl just cannot watch this show with their eyes n ears open

"why would alicent kill aegon when she was ready to die for him in his coronation its so stupid they killed her character!!" SHE DOESNT WANT HIM DEAD THATS THE POINT!!!! ITS WHY ITS A SACRIFICE!!! FUCK!!!

rhaenyra doesnt WANT aegon dead cuz she hates his guts or smth: this is a war and he is her biggest threat. she needs to neutralize him aka kill him. she knows it. she says it!!! she says it to alicent!! they both know it is tragic but it will happen!! aegon was dead the second he was born!!!

thanks to her father, alicent has always had this idea drilled into her head that unless she secures aegon as king he is going to die, rhaenyra will kill him cuz he is a threat (she wouldnt have done that, duh, she doesnt work like the heartless blood hungry men around her that just want everything to be bloodshed and death. she is trying to avoid bloodshed n no one is on the same wave length except for alicent, which is so ironic). can u imagine growing up alongside ure first born son and looking at him and seeing him dead. thats what alicent sees: she sees her lil boy dead as long as he isnt king.

and before viserys death, she understands that actually no thats not true: rhaenyra would never kill him. she trusts her. she understands in that dinner scene that rhaenyra wants peace just like alicent. and then viserys talks his big talk abt dreams and aegon and alicent is now forced with this huge revelation. here he is, her husband, the man that robbed her of her childhood, a childhood of her being strung along and pimped by her own father for his own schemes, never having a voice, always trying to be good, jealous of rhaenyra and her rebellion; here he is denouncing his rebellious daughter in name of tradition and the order of things (so she thinks) and shes brought back to her young self, following her fathers words, and finds herself trusting the men in her life again n again n again. she had power for a brief moment when she was queen regent and what did she do? find religion, another way to constrict her power and her decisions by making them in name of smth else, not herself.

and i mean... it was for nothing!!! they were always going to be aegon on the throne!! shes fucking powerless, everything keeps reminding her of that. all she can do is damage control. but how can u do that when u dont do it to urself? she doesnt know how to mend herself without admitting shes been broken. she doesnt know how to comfort her children because she doesnt know how that looks like. shes flying blind, and shes trying, and she cannot tell between right or wrong anymore.

she IS losing herself, thats the point!!! shes tried to do everything in her power to not let aegon die even tho shes already grieved him to hell n back the second he was made king. she tries to honor viserys, the man that ruined her under the hand of the other man who ruined her (her father), because what else can she do as a wife but honor him in his death? n then to know she didnt even do that right, it was a misunderstanding.

after that scene alicent is truly truly lost. they were close to peace before, she threw that away (it was always going to be thrown away but she blames herself all the same), thinking it was the right thing to do even when she was dooming them all, and then it was for nothing. THATS THE POINT!!! IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING!!!! THE POINT OF WAR IS THAT THERE IS NO POINT!!! ITS JUST DEATH AND GRIEF AND BLOOD. THERE IS NO VICTORY. THERE ARE NO HEROES. THATS THE POINT!!!!!!

she even fucking says it to the maester in ep 7, so clearly, and somehow yall still miss it. they were always doomed from the start. the second her father pimped her out to viserys, she was always going to live in pain and grief and numbness and madness. always.

she does what shes used to, damage control. she tries to save her daughter halaena, what else does she have? her other son, aemond? the one who is so sure he has this great big heroic task of winning this war by blood and fire, so blinded by his rage his bruised ego his pain and suffering and lack of love that he's turned into the scariest things in alicents eyes, a kinslayer; she knows that if they become too much trouble to him, he'll kill them. Halaena says so. he teases it when he removes Alicent from court. He's telling her "i know u want me to do things ure way. i do not want that. i dont want ur gentle ways, i think ure foolish for caring for the enemy, we need them dead, damn the consequences. do not come between me and my goal again. leave." and she understood that. when he turned his attention to halaena u can see so clearly alicent is terrified: hes going to kill my daughter. shes already set on leaving, so she says everything she can to aemonds face head on. she still sees her son there, she doesnt want him gone into the dark and blood and fire that she sees him walking head on into. she tells him "i know what u are. what u want. it is foolish. youll damn this whole family to death with this." and aemond cannot see that cuz he truly thinks hes in the right.

its why that last scene hurts so much. alicent is so fucking lost. she doesnt want any of her children to die and yet she knows they will. even if never went to rhaenyra, aegon is easy dead meat in his state. she knows this. if she continues there n lets halaena stay she knows aemond will make her fight and die n she cannot bear that either. she cannot have her daughter suffer her own fate while under war. she does not want that.

she doesnt sacrifice aegon cuz she wants him dead: he is dead either way. she didnt go to rhaenyra thinking she would make her choose that. and in the end she chose for her son to die because she cannot do anything else. he is always going to die. at least this way she can try and prevent complete n utter bloodshed (and it is all for nothing, there will always be war, she never has any power but at least shes accepted that. she knows nothing she does influence much. she just wants to take her lil girl and her own lil girl and run far far away from death).

there are no heroes or villains in war, only casualties. thats the point. thats the whole point. they are all casualties. theres no point to any of it cuz every player is dead the second they were born. thats tragedy. thats war. thats the show.

[miraculous-magicalconnections]

The Chloé Vs Félix Double Standered

Chloé: *had a terrible upbringing which led her to be a bully and proceeded to help a terrorist because the only good person/role model in her life was a bitch*

The show/fans: SHES HORRIBLE!! SHES IRREDEEMABLE!! SHE DESERVED TO BE REPLACED!!! I HATE HER!!

Félix: *had a terrible upbringing which led him to be an anti-social jerk and actively aided a terrorist and the destruction of Paris for his own personal gain*

The show/fans: Hes a baby! He didnt mean it! He deserves to be a hero!

Do you guys see what I'm getting at here? The point of the matter is both of them are horrible people!

Chloé was a bully to try to win her mothers approval, and when the only other good role model in her life just tossed her off to the side with no regrade for her own emotions (especially because Ladybug was actively abusing her power and role as Ladybug) she decided to go to Hawk Moth because he was the one giving her what she wanted! Not to mention he's always been good at manipulating people, so OF COURSE Chloé is going to agree with him!

Félix was abused by his father and was only ever freed when he had died due to using the Peacock Miraculous. He then proceeded to actively HELP A TERRORIST for his own gain! Sure it was for a reason (to keep himself and Adrien safe) but he was the reason for someone to have a mental break, cause hundreds of people to be hurt emotionally and physically, and HE DID NOT CARE for the safety of an entire CITY! Thats not even mentioning the fact that he KILLED THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE!?!

Point is: If Chloé, a mentally and emotionally abused 14 year-old who only ever wanted to be loved, is irredeemable then so is Félix, given he didn't have a valid reason to betray Ladybug as if he truly wanted himself and Adrien to be safe, all he had to do was tell Ladybug who Shadow Moth was.

Don't get me wrong, I adore both of these characters, but if you claim Chloé can't be redeemed but will defend Félix, then you're holding them to a double standard. The same could be said the other way around.

I'm not saying that they both deserve to be thrown into the sun or both should just get off with only a slap on the wrist; but I AM saying that I hate seeing people claim one is better than the other when it's just not true.

The show either should've given Félix a proper punishment for not only aiding Shadow Moth but, and I cannot stress this enough, KILLING THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE. Or they shouldn't have gotten rid of Chloé's character development.

On top of that, at least season 2/3 Chloé had SOME kind of character arc, Félix just kind of... existed? He didn't really prove himself to be better besides explaining why he did what he did. (Which, again, both he and Chloé don't have a valid excuse for what they did)

But anyway, small promo: In my rewrite Chloé's getting a redemption but she WILL face consequences for her actions and Félix will just not be that horrible of a person, so he doesn't technically need a redemption.

[liquidstar]

I've seen a lot of people in the Re:zero community hate puck with a passion and call him a hypocritical toxic father, and a good portion of them accuse him of deliberately mentally abusing Emilia so that she can be a naive pretty doll with no sense of independence and always obey him unconditionally.

How do you feel about that?

i dont think theyre wrong per say but i also do think puck genuinely loved emilia a lot- i dont think this is something up for debate. he will literally end the world if she dies. but is that what she would want??? i highly doubt it. emilia is a girl who would die for a world that has been nothing but cruel to her.

puck was never really meant to be a father, like, thats not what he was made for. hes the beast of the end not the beast of paternal love. but thats also something about him i find compelling, because he changed so much of himself because he loved this girl so much. his mentality is literally "if anything happens to her ill kill everyone in the world and then myself"

but he does baby her. extremely so. and he does treat her like a doll. remember part of their contract is literally that he does her hair, and thats why she chops off in greed:if as an act of rebellion (normal teen girl behavior honestly). he also literally never told her what sex is- shes 17 and she had no clue, and its played off as a joke at first, but subaru's "damn you puck" rings so true.

remember in wrath:if it was puck who pitched a deal with suabru to keep emilia trapped in the "princess room" away from all the danger. the whole princess room thing (in wrath:if and also in her childhood) is symbolic of her loss of autonomy in a lot of ways, especially when you remember she's NOT a princess. she's a candidate to be a KING!

and there are more damning things within their contract too, like how she literally wasnt allowed to SEE HER OWN FACE! its not made super clear in the anime, but whenever she looks at reflections she actually doesnt see anything back (not because she doesnt have one, but that she herself isnt perceiving it. and i think a lot of this also comes back to the self-recognition theme of the story, the whole reflections though eyes motif and all. remember how much of her we saw reflected only through subaru's eyes? she doesnt actually see her own reflection until she jumps inside the lake in the trial)

but i think thats also a big part of why he broke her contract with her to begin with. i think he knows she hasnt been allowed to grow up, that shes been overly babied, isolated, and kept away from things that might potentially make her feel bad. including her past, and even her present and future... breaking the contract off all at once isnt a good way to do this, i mean, her mental breakdown was so emblematic of that. but i think its important to look at what it all means for the meta narrative.

the latter half of arc 4 was absolutely emilia's arc, and a lot of it was her sort of growing up. i dont think cold turkey is a great way for a parental figure to do this to their child, but emilia was so incredibly dependent. and a lot of that was because puck MADE her dependent to begin with. for so much of her life she literally only had him... like. she was all alone in complete isolation in a frozen forest for as far back as she can remember, and everyone in the world hated her for reasons she didnt understand, and all she had was this little cat thing to be her friend. OF COURSE shes dependent on him, and of course she thinks she cant do stuff on her own (shes so fucking scared of being alone), and i think puck sort of depended on this mindset to keep her a "child" for as long as possible

but she had to grow up eventually. she's 18, maybe almost 19 by this point of the story (still unclear exactly which month we're in) and this is just as much her coming of age story as it is subaru's. (but speaking of subaru puck also guilt trips him quite a bit about emilia's deaths, even when he himself is "gone at the most important times" in emilia's words, which is not only hypocritical but also manipulative!)

all this being said i seriously love puck as a character because when he was first introduced i was like "oh god. annoying mascot character. boring" and then the beast of the end reveal happened and i was like "oh so this is going in the kyubey ripoff direction. i guess that makes sense for a dark fantasy but idrc" BUT THEN he actually ends up being like. an actual character w a lot of depth and nuance to him, a lot of it being how incredibly fucking sketchy he actually is but in a completely different way than just "evil twist mascot." between him and matsumoto from vivy, i love how tappei handles mascot characters- theyre a really hard thing to get right w/o being annoying LOL.

[autisticdiluc]

yandere simulator ramble (mostly ab ayano)

see my thing is with yandere sim obviously there are a bunch of problems from alex himself being the developer, the panty shots in the game (because eventho it's used as blackmail with info-chan and sold to those who want it or wtv there could be a way easier way to blackmail the girls for points), the depiction that the bullies are gyaru giving the impression most gyaru's are mean/bullies, the fact that oh everyone is 18 even though they clearly arent?? amongst other things

yet even then there's something still addicting about the game especially with ayano being a yandere, or to consider: someone with obsessive love disorder (the highest 'level' or intensity of this). even then, although obviously everyone in the aishi family just has to be a yandere, it was gonna be obvious that ayano was gonna be one too rightt?

First Part: Emotions

ryoba fed into the mindset that ayano needed that special someone to be complete so she could finally feel something and she's 'reassuring' ayano that ryoba was the same way when she was younger as well until she found jokichi. ayano, as a child, knew something was wrong with her. there is no doubt that something continues to be wrong with her especially after her own mother teaches her to get rid of blood to use it later to "get rid of future obstacles." Obstacles which refer to the rivals; rivals who are just girls that have a crush on taro (minus muja kina and mida rana because theyre just creeps i fear). even so ryoba's words lingered in ayano's mind. that was ayano's reason to live - something to look for. which btw is kinda fucked up cause she's a child thinking this but also fair anyway,,

Jokichi has attempted to make ayano's life better. he has tried to be a good father; he has tried to be the best that he can be in order to make his daughter feel normal. but with how ayano is - how she is broken from the start - it was impossible. it didn't help that ryoba encouraged the behaviour almost, saying she was exactly the same as ayano AND how she wasn't worried at all. jokichi didn't like that (normal reaction cause hello??) but ayano is nothing but an empty girl. however what i find interesting is that she felt pity for her father. despite everything she felt pity, and that!! is an emotion!! why i find this interesting is how she can feel something for someone else but not for herself. as a result of her pity, she began to act like other children pretending to be normal and happy for jokichi, despite how she knew that he didnt really believe her happiness himself.

and then!! ayano began to pretend all the time. to stop the bullying, to fit in with everyone because it was simply more convenient even if ayano didn't really care if it happened or not. she had friends (though she didnt care about them) and she had a routine established by pretending all the time. she grew resentful of being 'broken'. as funny as that is because she was supposed to broken, yet, she felt emotions to a mild degree. resentment (some might also say bitterness) is like more complex emotion rather than your typical joy sadness etc but it's still an emotion. and ayano WANTS to feel and have emotions anyway. she craves it, ayano longs to feel, its almost painful itself because she can't experience it to a high degree. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!! as small as it is she's felt emotion, she's felt pity and bitterness and she wants and wants and thats so interesting. what's even more interesting is her length to have emotions. in her lore video, she is seen killing a cat to see if she felt something like guilty or remorse but nothing happened. this is where it (chronologcally) is seen that ayano is willing to do extreme things to see if she could feel something, so it's not a surprise when she's willing to kill her 'rivals' to keep taro.

now ayano is described as someone who has no personality, no hobbies, no true friends, nothing, just an empty husk of a person. however, when she meets taro that changes drastically. she has clearer and obvious emotions; she finally has the feelings she always wanted. although, i believe that she wouldn't react to having feelings the best even with finding osana talking to taro etc etc. if you lived your entire life having no emotions (not any major or obvious ones anyway) until you find your someone (someone who you've been dreaming of, waiting for, needing) and all the emotions finally comes crashing down all at once,, don't you think you'd be more than a bit overwhelmed? she's been missing out on all the sensations people had since birth. she's always felt incomplete and then all of a sudden she meets taro and it fits like a missing puzzle piece finally being placed down. it was clear that taro made her feel happy, wanting love and all positive emotions. although, now that she has emotions: she's going to have to experience the 'bad' ones too. she'll experience anger, annoyance, fear, anxiety, jealousy, desperation, envy, hatred etc etc.

as soon as she sees osana talk to taro yeah you can tell she feels all the negative emotions all at once. she finally has emotions, she finally can experience what everyone else takes for granted, but osana comes in and threatens her. osana talks to taro, has a crush on him, and that sends a spike of fear and anger through ayano because ayano should not be striped away of her newly found emotions. she needs the emotions. and as a result she needs taro because he is the one allowing her to feel this way. she's in love with the emotions. it's not love that she has for taro, not really, but she is obsessed. she has the overwhelming obsessive desire to protect and possess taro (which is literally the description of obsessive love disorder). she needs taro like how she needs air now that she's met him.

as i said like 3 paragraphs above she's going to be overwhelmed, like it or not, and whenever people are overwhelmed they tend to take an unnecessarily drastic and extreme path because when you're overwhelmed you aren't in the best mindset. ayano is still a human even if she was "broken" before. she makes mistakes and she's going to be overwhelmed by her emotions for a while especially because she feels like she's is almost dead when she's not near taro. taro is a trigger for her essentially. when he's near, the overwhelming feelings all come back. she felt dead before, now she doesn't and these feelings repeat over and over every time she's away from taro and when she goes near him again.

on another note l, although ayano "has" taro currently, she still feels broken and incomplete when not near him as mentioned. yet, this incomplete feeling hurts MORE because she knows who her someone is. im going to bring up the fact that ryoba and jokichi went to the states for a 'vacation' (to kill the journalist) without warning. i find it interesting because ayano is most likely to experience negative emotions more intensely than before. taro has brought the emotions to light so i believe she still feels them when she's not near him but it's so mild that it's barely there. however with negative emotions those are easier to feel. ayano was shown to be angry that osana has a crush on taro (and she wasn't near taro at the time) after finding out from info chan in the opening cutscene,, in fact she was at home meaning she was not close to taro at all. as i mentioned though taro is almost like a trigger so its most likely just that. anyway the intensity of negative emotions may be easier to give into. so.... going with an idea that they are easier to give into, it's easier to feel even when not around taro. i believe the feeling of loneliness is something that is practically overtaking ayano's very mind.

ayano has always been lonely, before she met taro and after. she's been lonely in the sense that she never had been able to connect with her peers on a genuine note. lonely in the sense that jokichi only worried about her wanting her to be normal and ryoba was the opposite, not worrying at all. lonely in the sense she always felt incomplete, lonely cause she knew she wasnt normal, lonely because she needed to be fixed, lonely because nobody other than her mother and all those who suffered from the "aishi conditon" would understand her. and even though those with the "aishi condition" would understand they already found their someone, they werent "broken" anymore. and speaking of the those finding their someone it is highly likely that ryoba devoted more of her time to jokichi than she did to ayano. the reason i believe this is because although ryoba has jokichi, she needs him to love her as well. gonna leave it there but!!! ryoba and jokichi are away in the states currently. so if ayano did feel lonely before she's going to feel lonely in that empty house. a house too big with your own thoughts, own freedom and doing whatever the hell you want. ryoba actively encouraged ayano to do whatever she needed to do to get rid of the 'obstacles' in her life if she found her special someone. its no surprise with the eliminations you can do one of them is torturing your rivals (or even just mind breaking a random student). (On a side note Japanese houses don't have built in basements so ryoba had to literally custom add that)

anyway I bring forth another thing: neglect. however I'm going to go into detail with this with the second part: OLD

Second Part: Obsessive Love Disorder

Obsessive Love Disorder is something that Ayano has. Obsessive Love Disorder as said earlier is a disorder where a person feels obsessive over another person and feels the need to protect them. this isn't really looked at as an 'actual' disorder to psychologist but i couldn't give two bare fucks about that. let's break it down with SOME of the symptoms of OLD:

overwhelming attention to someone

obsessive thoughts

feeling the need to protect the person you're in love with

possessive thoughts and actions

extreme jealousy over interpersonal relationships

low self-esteem

may not take rejection lightly/easily

ignoring personal boundaries

overly controlling

being overwhelmed with emotions about a person that is disrupts your daily function

threatening the other if they leave

monitoring the others actions

blurring or crossing boundaries

anxiety

inability to tolerate time away

most if not all of these things can be easily associated to ayano's behavior. ayano stalks taro, occasionally fantasizes that he kidnaps her, dislikes all the girls who try and talk to taro, wants him all to herself, feels dead when he's not near, follows him home so she can spend more time 'protecting' him, cannot see a life without him (evidenced by 'snap' ending as when she kills him, she kills herself not long after), her first interaction with him shows her finally feeling emotions and as i said she's going to feel overwhelmed with them, anger and anxiety that a 'rival' may be able to take taro away from her, based on ryoba where she tortured jokichi i doubt that ayano would take lightly is taro tried to leave her, finally rejection results in quite literally being heartbroken AND snap so it's obviously not taken easily nor lightly etc etc

anyway!! those are some examples that relate to the symptoms now here are two of the many causes.

some of y'all (if anyone reads this actually but the group council in my head will suffice) may not like this one but number 1 is neglect.

neglect is one of those things that can be in several forms. the more common forms would be emotional neglect (AND!! physical neglect), e.g. not telling your child you're leaving to go away to take care of some 'business' until you're already gone. (even worse when the business is to kill a man but yk). with this neglect you're emotionally unavailable (and in this case also physically). to understand better emotional neglect it is when a child does not receive the stimulation and nurturing they need. ayano has not received stimulation or the necessary nurturing from ryoba because ryoba fully heartedly believes that all ayano needs is that special someone. in a sense, she is right but she was actively neglecting ayano by not helping her instead just repeating that someone will come to complete and fix her. as said in the example it can also be physical neglect as ryoba left a teen (because no way you're a junior and 18, fuck you Alex the highest you can get is 17.) all by herself in a house whilst indirectly promoting the use of the basement through vague post cards and childhood lessons.

(And yes! Encouraging negative behavior is neglect because you do not care what happens to those around you!)

another form of neglect that ayano experienced was medical neglect. this form of neglect isn't as obvious but can be picked up in ayano's lore video. at the very beginning, it is stated that her first memories are that of hospitals, doctors and everything medical wise. this was most definitely jokichi's work as the best ryoba has stated on the matter was how they were similar and how ayano will find her someone to complete her. now later (but before ayano pretends) the hospital etc weren't mentioned again. it can be thought and implied that ryoba decided it was a waste to focus medically on ayano because she'll simply find her someone to cure her later. this can be thought out to be medical neglect because there could've been a small chance if ayano kept doing, if she visited more happy places there's a possibility something could've changed. even then this neglect isn't so obvious so it's easy to ignore. to add on though teaching your child how to clean up blood for not so good reasons is encouraging negative behavior and could be a contribution to her messed up mindset.

another reason would be delusional jealousy. this is inhibited by an instance or things that are false. this delusional jealousy can also make one believe someone is in love with them even if there are obvious signs that is not the case.

okay for this reason I believe the delusion itself is fostered by the fact that ayano needs taro so she believes he must need her. it's a common mindset even without OLD that if someone needs something, others must need it too making possessiveness and jealousy to form. because the game isn't complete and is likely not going to be complete in the next decade, it's hard to tell if taro would actually like ayano as a genuine person. (and I would say that it's kind of obvious that he doesn't but in game taro is a pussy? if you even stand near him for more than 5 seconds he's like "oh she's strange" "stay back get away from me!!" even when ayano isn't doing anything?? like in game I wouldn't be close enough where the pink love thing pops up and taro would still be like "get away from me!!!") but if ayano hypothetically talked to him like all of her rivals, then taro would maybe like her.

once again these two are not the only ones that can be associated with ayano but these are the only ones I wanted to discuss.

anyway ending this section to go to the next important one!! drumroll... Pacifist vs Murderer

Third Part: The Endings

this is the third part of my rant that consists of pacifist ayano vs murderer ayano which could be "Good Ending" Ayano and "Bad Ending" Ayano.

starting off with something a good bunch of yan sim fans don't actually agree on is that pacifist ayano is a completely different person than murderer ayano.

and you might be thinking "wrap it up luca,, pacifist is different than a murderer no shit"

but really it's more than that. pacifist ayano is different because she actually truly expresses her emotions when she's a pacifist. even if you gossip about the rivals or expell them where they don't show up to school anymore, ayano can be seen as a person who expresses her emotions because she's so much more than a murderer. this is even more vividly seen if you befriend the rivals. once again this is based off the two rivals that are out, osana and amai. if you decide to befriend osana and she comes to your house in the morning, there is the infamous talk where osana talks about her stalker and how she can't believe that someone could fall in love without knowing them. this, to ayano and the player itself, can be associated with ayano herself especially considering how she 'loves' taro without knowing him and has stalked him. now when ayano decides not to betray osana, giving her normal tea, it can be seen how desperate ayano is to keep taro without actually harming osana. osana may like taro, but ayano needs him. the desperation expressed through the befriend route shows the most human ayano ever. this desperation and longing for taro is carried through the same befriending route with amai (although her conversation involves jabs at having a "rival" and "eliminating" them).

the most human and realest part of ayano is when she befriends the rivals and begs them not to confess to taro. (if it isn't obvious I love the pacifist ending because I like the raw desperation and human form of ayano compared to the murderer route)

in contrast to pacifist ayano, when ayano murders the rivals, her sanity obviously decreases. unlike in game where you can giggle or go near taro to increase your sanity, it's not that easy irl.

keep in mind if ayano doesn't increase her sanity and it goes below 20% then ayano starts hallucinating and murdering those around her. even if ayano could realistically easily increase her sanity after killing a rival that is to show that ayano will only be a murderer (something the headmaster and megami saikou thinks her to be). if ayano were kill and regain her sanity quickly she is as broken as people think her to be. she is truly nothing but an empty husk who follows her mother. she may have emotions but she isn't someone you can love. she isn't someone who can be seen as a human. like ryoba, ayano would most likely follow the path that ryoba led where ayano simply kidnaps taro at the end torturing him and making him her husband. as said earlier, negative emotions are easier to form so it would be easy to give in to the pestering intrusive thoughts to kill her rivals. it's the quickest way out and it's the true emotionless thing most want her to be. being violent seems to be the easiest way out and most often people take that route, however, in the very end ayano simply follows her mother's path of decay and destruction. murderer ayano is easier to conform, though, is that the real ayano? is she someone who can't be proven not to be broken? another thing is that if ayano does go this route and she doesn't get caught, all she ends up doing is create a cycle. she continues down the path that ryoba had laid out for her since the beginning. (which honestly is the lousiest route and ending to take because people just loveee the trope of repeating the cycle)

personally I don't care much for the murderer ending but I will admit it is interesting to see how ayano spirals and ultimately decides to kill off every single one of her rivals.

the next two endings are going to be briefly the genocide ending and "snap" ending.

genocide ending is simply the ending where ayano is a murderer but instead of just applying that to just her rivals she does it to the entire school minus taro. it's the 'darkest' ending depending on how you look at it because it proves that ayano couldn't stand anyone else coming between her and taro. she needed taro all to herself and she did just that by killing every single person in the school all in the first day of the week (minus the headmaster, taro, infochan and the guidance counsellor). in this ending you can tell that ayano's sanity is completely gone by the way she says "so..i killed them all" in the cutscene that plays. ayano says it in such a manic and inhuman way its obvious that she doesn't regret it now that she can have taro all for herself. at the very end of the cutscene it pans to taro being in the basement tied up. this is where its clear that ayano follows ryoba completely (if not surpassing her in terms of violent nature and sense due to how she killed every one instead of just her rivals) to keep taro as her senpai.

and finally, snap ending. Snap ending is by far the most interesting one in terms of endings. Before ayano kills taro with the knife, when she walks to every student she kills them with her bare hands. in this ending I believe that she's more "broken" than her other endings. she's given up on this world and she's willing to take out others who get in her way (literally). the others are so terrified to the point where they can't even move, they just watch until it's their turn. ayano feels nothing but heartbreak and there's no other option but to kill taro then herself. even before she kills herself with the same knife she used to stab him, the insistence of voices saying "do it" continue to loop giving her no other option but to join taro. this ending is so interesting because it shows how ayano physically cannot live without taro and how she's willing to make sure that nobody else has him. another thing interesting about it is the trope of "if you die, I die". this trope is placed into things like Romeo and Juliet where Juliet pretends to die and Romeo kills himself to "join" her. when Juliet wakes up and finds Romeo dead she soon follows killing herself actually to join him.

anyway I think I'll stop for now cause I've been at this for hours LOL

The End (for now..)

idk I like yan sim a lot and I love ayano's character (I doubt yandere dev was smart enough to do it on purpose but whatever.) Ayano is literally my girl and I love her so much ❤️❤️ ayano is just a girl

[alicentsgf]

I want to like Rhaenicent but I feel like Alicent protects Rhaenyra and cares for her way more than Rhaenyra does for her. Adult Rhaenicent seems rather one sided to me ngl. One way Rhaenyra betrayed Alicent was by marrying Daemon, a man who absolutely despises the Hightowers and who wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter Alicent’s children. Does Rhaenyra really not realize how ruthless Daemon is? Daemon is arguably the biggest threat to the Green kids who are Rhaenyra’s own siblings. It just kills me that Alicent stood up to her abuser for Rhaenyra’s life in 1x09 and Rhaenyra has never done anything of that severity for Alicent. And Rhaenyra will likely never know how much Alicent fought to save her. Idk, I just feel like Alicent deserves someone who will love her completely. I can’t see Rhaenyra being that person with the way she’s disregarded Alicent’s worries and feelings.

I'm going to be totally honest and I say this with love... a lot of it becomes easily justifiable for me when i acknowledge that Rhaenyra is just a bit dense. like shes always been sheltered and naive, to the point of genuine stupidity sometimes. she isnt inherently so but her father stomped all over her developing any kind of critical mind early on and she did nothing to overcome that mistake. she became far too comfortable with Viserys waving his crown and magic-ing her problems away and its just a fact shes never managed to see things from alicents perspective... but that doesnt mean alicent isnt as equally important to her as she is to alicent. please bear with me because i promise i will explain this fully.

but first of all, to answer your question 'does rhaenyra not realise how ruthless daemon is?' I mean, giving her the benefit of the doubt ...maybe not? shes pretty much always always seen the best side of daemon. with viserys. with her. with their children. what does she know of daemons genuine ruthlessness? we cant say for sure. once again, giving her the full benefit of the doubt, we dont even know if rhaenyras aware that daemon murdered rhea. like daemons not exactly gonna bring it up and who else would dare suggest that to her of all people? sure shes seen him fight at tourneys she knows hes capable of killing but thats a controlled enviroment where its expected. and she clearly feels safe enough with him personally otherwise she wouldnt have laughed in his face after her grabbed her neck.

its going to be very interesting to see what they do with B&C for this reason. because if rhaenyra isnt involved, at least in the Details... will she be shocked by what daemon is capable of? depends on what version of rhaenyra we get post-luke i suppose. but i dont know if i believe they're likely to have her go That dark so quickly that she'd agree to B&C. (sorry. tangent.)

imo you have to try and see her perspective - rhaenyra is deeply Confused. she thought for many years alicent just suddenly Hated her on the basis of her /loose morals/, like purely hated her, the girl she loved is Gone overnight right when they'd begun to reconcile, and she couldnt really understand why. she just does not understand alicents perspective and she cant begin to fathom alicents situation. and in a way, how could she? shes never faced similar limitations theres an argument to be made she wouldnt be able to even conceptualise it without alicent taking her by the hand and walking her through it. even when they were friends i doubt rhaenyra thought about the privileges she held over alicent (after all, she was a child, it was just what she knew and as far as she could see alicent got to do everything she did so there was no visual imbalance). from rhaenyras point of view, all those years alicent was being unnecessarily antagonistic over something that didnt effect her. this girl she loved and in rhaenyras eyes she is betraying her again and again and again. and rhaenyra thought all that because she couldnt see the bigger picture. how could she begin to understand 'alicent fears what my reign could mean for her children' when viserys actively disencouraged her political interest - her opinion on that point would likely only be 'well obviously i would make sure nothing happened to them', not understanding that That isnt the reassurance she thinks it is.

so yeah. rhaenyra truly doesnt understand what went on or whats going on. but alicent Does (and this imbalance is perfectly demonstrated by the dialogue in the knife scene because, lets be honest, alicent pins down the situation and how rhaenyra fits into it kind of perfectly... whereas rhaenyra incorrectly attributes alicents rage to 'righteousness', not fear.). and personally i think thats why it seems unbalanced or one sided, especially in episode 8. alicent could afford to be genuine, rhaenyra isnt hard to read, whereas rhaenyra still had her guard up because she was just so fucking confused lmao. she briefly saw the gentle, beautiful, kind girl she was in love with in alicents treatment of a dying viserys at the dinner table - and upon realising alicent actually Does still have that side to her rhaenyra doesnt know what to do except subtlety apologise for perhaps not truly Seeing alicent and for accusing her of trying to harm viserys. she thought the alicent she knew was long dead until that moment - the girl has got emotional whiplash. so its not that rhaenyra loves alicent less. her reactions in episode 10 make it very clear there is still A Lot going on there for her (and we know emma d'arcy's pov on it was that rhaenyra genuinely considers conceding the throne with the hope of alicent 'taking her back'). shes just very very Very muddled about whether the current version of alicent is Still the person she loves...

and i think maybe 'love' is the wrong word for what they have when theres so much piled on top but its definitely a devotion. its this constant need to reconcile and be close that they just cant shake because a part of them will always desire the other.

tl;dr rhaenyra is just... kinda dumb god bless. and their imbalance is in their ability to understand the situation, not in the amount of love thats held.

(besides they were never exactly going to be a healthy equal deserving love thats not the point of them imo. they are a missed opportunity. a greek tragedy. starcrossed lovers. etc)