#she's a demon. she can't grasp the concept of love and she is on a never-ending journey to find out how humans love

[schreckensbleiches-nervenbuendel]

I accidentally created a reeeeally cool and hot demon and her whole thing.. her powers come from cannibalism....?!?!!!???

God help me

[shinidamachu]

the importance of "I'll protect you with my life"

For @inukag-week's sacrifice prompt, I thought I'd expand on a topic I have only mentioned before: the "I'll protect you with my life" line and why it matters even more than we give it credit for.

The thing about Inuyasha's character is that he was build — both physically and psychologically — to survive.

Physically, the fact that his own blood can be weaponized into a powerful attack backs up that assumption.

And so does the fact that one of his defining traits is having a defense mechanism that kicks in whenever he's on the verge of certain death with the sole purpose of keeping him alive.

Psychologically, his tough childhood shaped his survival instincts into a reliable and sharpened sense. And this next part is more of a conjecture than anything else, but I believe Izayoi's death plays a huge role here.

It can be assumed that she gave up a lot in order to live her love story and her life choices ultimately resulted in an early death. Inuyasha, being the child born from that love, has no better way of honoring her memory than living. First, for her. Then, to spite those who were against his very existence.

And this — conscious or not — need to live, is deeply intertwined with his desire to belong. Fitting in is the safest way to survive and, at first, he tried to achieve that by becoming a powerful demon.

Then, he went the opposite direction and agreed to turn into human, which only cements that his true wish wasn't to simply become one or the other at all, but to be accepted, so he could live.

That's why he doesn't take threats to his life laying down, especially when unearned. It may not look like, given his reckless way of dealing with things, but in a crooked way, Inuyasha actually values his life.

So much, in fact, that putting other people's lives above his own was a foreign concept that he struggled with at the beginning and had to learn in order to wield Tessaiga.

When Kagome tells Inuyasha she will help him with the sword under the condition he promises to protect her, she obviously never meant that said protection should cost of his life.

She wouldn't dream of it because she knows she's not entitled to it. He doesn't owe her anything. Although, one could make a point that he kind of does.

Kagome is literally the reason he is alive. Through their journey, is a recurring theme that her voice would bring him back from death's grasp every time. She's constantly saving his life. In more ways than one.

And despite Inuyasha's immediate reaction to her request being to mock her and making it clear that he never said he would protect her forever, he was the one to willingly and unpromtly add the "with my life" bit.

Even though protecting Kagome with his life was precisely what he had been doing the entire time — in spite of spending a good chunk of the series thinking his life wasn't his to give away —, to say it out loud makes for an amazing paralel and it shows how much they've grown, both as characters and as a couple.

But more than that: it shows a whole new level of devotion. For the first time ever, Inuyasha is chosing to promise his life to someone for no other reason than the fact that he loves her.

And despite talking about a lifelong commitment, I can't remember a single stance of the story where Inuyasha had acted more free.

No wonder the scene can be interpreted as a proposal.

[vidavalor]

Ok fine, I brought milk and chocolate chip cookies this time 🥛 🍪 and also some eggs from my lovely chickens! 🐓 🥚

I hope you accept this apology, and I’ll try my best to behave 😜

So, I wonder how you interpret 1.03 where, just before the flood, one of the unicorns makes a run for it and Crawley says ‘you still got one of them’? Some people seem to believe this means she didn’t understand the process of procreation (at the time). Do you have any thoughts on that?

Please don't behave. Why would you want to do that? Would make this all very boring lol. 😂 Thank you for the very fun ask. I love this question.💕

I think the scene you're talking about is more than a funny aside about whether or not Crowley had finished reading Demon's Guide to Reproduction of Beings on Earth yet... and that might not be the question the scene is really asking. I think it also has a ton to do with the Final Fifteen of 2.06, too, so *slices pie* let's get into the unicorns and the professional midwife/cobbler and what, imo, these two moments have to do with one another:

In S1, in the scene set just before the beginning of The Flood, we have two questions emerge from Crowley's dialogue, both of which are then picked up again in S2. One is what Crowley meant by "kids" when he said "you can't kill kids" after looking at a group containing both small goats and children. The second question is the one you're talking about, which is whether or not he understood at the time how human reproduction works. The question is born out of the fact that, on the surface, he might appear to not exactly be grasping the concept of Noah's Ark when he says that Shem's "still got one of them" after one of the pair of unicorns takes off and doesn't get on the boat. Both things show back up together again in S2 in the Job minisode and that sort of continuation of story, in a way, might suggest that there's going to be a third layer to this that emerges in S3 as well. I think, though, that we might have enough to look at some potential answers already.

While the "kids" bit is, essentially, answered and was always more of a language joke anyway-- Crowley wishes to kill no kids, be them goats or humans-- the fact that this question returned in S2 and was tied once again with a plot centered around sex and reproduction shows that the questions raised in The Flood scene in S1 are interrelated and pretty important overall. The entire Job plot ultimately comes down to who knows what about human reproduction. Saving the kids comes down to fooling Gabriel and fooling Gabriel can only be done because Gabriel, at least at the time, did not have the first clue how human reproduction normally works. He had only seen this one, initial, very atypical version of it that has basically never happened since and because he didn't spend time on Earth at that point in the story, he didn't know he had it all wrong. This whole story is built around what someone's understanding of reproduction of another species is and it isn't Crowley who doesn't know how it all works by 2500 B.C., it's Gabriel. But what does this have to do with The Flood and Crowley and the unicorns?

In the Job minisode, we are told that Gabriel was in The Garden at the start of it and witnessed Eve's birth from Adam's rib. We find this hilarious because we know that this isn't how sex works and this time, in this scene, Crowley is more than in on the joke with us. What makes the scene funny is actually Crowley's knowledge in it of how human sex and reproduction work. Unlike Gabriel, he wasn't there for Eve's super-weird birth and so he's visibly trying not to be like what the actual fuck? this is how Eve was made? at Aziraphale as Aziraphale's gestures lead Crowley to telling Sitis to pull out one of Job's ribs-- absolutely not a feature of any sex Crowley has ever had or seen. Aziraphale then is flirting with a Crowley who totally gets the joke when Sitis pulls the ox ribs "out" of Job. It's very evident between this scene and the prior night in the cellar that, circa 2500 B.C. at least, Crowley absolutely knew how human sex and reproduction worked.

The key bit here to understanding what Crowley was saying about the unicorns back during The Flood is actually in the reminder in the Job minisode about The Garden that the minisode gives us through making the plot equally about what Gabriel saw in The Garden-- Eve's weird conception and birth-- but also about what Gabriel didn't see-- Adam and Eve have more human-typical sex-- which is something that Crowley set into motion and then something that he and Aziraphale both witnessed.

By bringing up how Gabriel doesn't know what human sex and reproduction normally look like because of what he saw (and missed) in The Garden of Eden, the show is also reminding us that, after Gabriel left, Crowley was sent up into The Garden and tempted Eve into eating the apple. Eve then shared the apple with Adam. Adam and Eve figured out sex not long after that, during a period of time in which both Aziraphale and Crowley were also in The Garden and Eve's pregnancy was one of Aziraphale's motivations for giving them his flaming sword.

Mah point is that Crowley absolutely knew about sex and sexual reproduction during The Flood because Crowley and Aziraphale essentially watched the first humans have sex on Earth in The Garden of Eden.

The show also has about a half-dozen jokes about Anthony J. "Can I watchchch?" Crowley's voyeuristic tendencies and roots some of it to the fact that he's the Serpent of Eden and gets off on watching his temptation labors bear fruit. (It's been a long day. I have earned that joke😂). Ya know, such as:

This whole unicorn and sex thing is also part of the Job minisode by way of the ox ribs, further making it all kind of part of the same story. The inclusion of unicorns in ancient history in GO feels like a nod to the re'em, an animal mentioned a few times in The Bible (including in The Book of Job), which has been frequently translated as "unicorn" and is part of the origin for from where our idea of unicorns comes in the first place. The same word has been translated as meaning other animals-- among them? The wild ox.

Making things even more interesting is unicorn lore. The unicorn was said to be a wild, secretive creature who lived in the forest and who could only ever be captured and tamed by a virgin maiden. Aziraphale, in 2500 B.C., is shown to not eat or drink before the night in the cellar began so odds are also good on the food-and-alcohol = sex show that Aziraphale definitely qualified as a virgin maiden when he went to absolute town on those ox ribs. Anyway...

...what I'm saying here is that it feels extremely unlikely that, by the time of The Flood in 3,004 B.C., that Crowley didn't know how human sex and reproduction worked when he saw it play out in The Garden. Other than Eve's speedy stages of pregnancy meant to get the ball rolling on humanity, Adam and Eve's sex was typical of humans. So, Crowley knew about sex and sexual reproduction when he made the comment about the unicorns... but then how does that make sense, right?

In order to think that Crowley didn't know how reproduction works during The Flood scene we've seen, you would have to assume two things are true: 1) that unicorns reproduce via sexual reproduction and 2) that unicorns went extinct as a result of one of them making a run for it and not making it onto Noah's Ark, right?

The thing is... the show might be subtly trying to show that unicorns do still exist in GO. But before you say 'but, Vida, seriously?! We've never seen an unicorn after The Flood!', I'm going to argue that maybe we actually have one as a major supporting character and this S2 scene might be hinting in that direction:

The parallel to the "Oi, Shem!" scene is Nina-as-Crowley telling Aziraphale-as-Shem that that unicorn (The Bentley) is running of its own accord. Unicorns are magical beings. How magical beings present, as God pointed out in S1, is up to them. Human forms are just one option, right? I don't know exactly where this is going but this bit in S2 was a direct tie to The Flood's unicorn moment and it would explain a thing or two about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang if it were somehow tied to the unicorns. Can Crowley actually make them, the way Beez can make flies? Can Aziraphale? We really have no idea how the unicorn thing works in GO so we can't really use it as an example that Crowley didn't know about sex when it's more that we don't know about unicorns...

The unicorn that we saw during The Flood tracked with what we think of as the mythical being of an unicorn in our real world so we could make the assumption that some of the same aspects of them are/were true in GO. Unicorns are magical horse/donkey-like beings (which couldn't possibly be more Crowley and Aziraphale if it tried.) They are few and far between, are hard to spot and mostly keep to themselves. Human beings have no real actual proof that they ever existed in the first place and generally consider them mythical beings but Good Omens shows us that they at least did exist in GO ancient times-- and might still. In modern times, unicorns have become a LGBTQIA+ symbol and, for that reason and that reason alone, it seems unlikely that they actually went extinct in the world of *Good Omens*...

So, let's presume that Crowley said the existence of unicorns would continue even if Shem only had one of them on Noah's Ark because he knows that unicorns are not like other beings on Earth. Think about what else Crowley is then saying here with this line to Shem:

Noah's Ark, to us, is a story about continuing the existence of life for beings on Earth, right? It's about pairs, about mates, for the purpose of continuing species on earth via sexual reproduction. That's why we consider what Crowley's saying in this moment of this scene through the lens of it being entirely about sexual reproduction. When it comes to the unicorns, though, you could argue that Crowley is not actually talking about reproduction but about romance. We don't actually know how unicorns work-- but Crowley does.

What Crowley is actually telling us in this scene is that paired unicorns can survive the death of one of them because they're a part of each other. What Crowley is actually saying is that the pair of mated unicorns in the scene are two beings who share a single existence.

You couldn't permanently kill one of a pair of unicorns without killing both of them. So long as one of them still exists, they both do.

One unicorn could make a run for it for any reason and bolt away from his mate and die in the storm but Crowley knew the bolting unicorn was a part of the one that Shem got on the boat and so could be brought back.

In S2, we see something like this with other magical beings-- Ineffable Bureaucracy.

Oi, Shem, that purple-eyed unicorn's gonna make a run for it...

It's too late, too late...

Oh, well, you've still got one of them...

The Fly is Gabriel and Beez together; it's their shared existence. Without it, Gabriel would not have survived. The one of them still left-- Beez-- is the one who can put it together and bring Gabriel back into a full existence.

Ineffable Bureaucracy are unicorns who parallel our main two, though, and Oi, Shem...

...that bow-tied unicorn's gonna make a run for it...

Oh, well, you've still got one of them...

[ineffable-rohese]

Good Omens, or the Disruption of Gay = Death

CW: historical homophobic violence and death

@queerfables recently wrote an excellent meta on slash fiction and the concept of "Taking Away the Glass". I had some thoughts, which I was going to add as a reblog, but this seems to spiraled away from the original post, so I'm posting this on its own, but I'm referencing their ideas and references, so maybe go read that first.

This is especially for those of you who are, say, under 25 (which is apparently most of Tumblr), and who haven't had much opportunity to learn queer history. Let me say, I'm not a queer historian. I am a queer who has lived through recent history and can reasonably clearly remember the last at least 35 years of it, and I was fortunate to have had schooling that did include some earlier queer history and didn't shy away from queer topics. (I recognize now what a revolutionary bit of teaching that was.)

I also want to acknowledge that I'm writing from a place of relative privilege, as a white cis woman living in a progressive part of North America, and that some of what is history for me is still life for others. I am speaking from my own personal experiences here -they are by no means universal. But I think it's important for us to share our stories, so this is part of mine.

When You're Dying in America, at the End of the Millenium

Fables quotes a video by thingswithwings as saying "Homosexuality, or just loving touch between two people of the same gender, is equivalent to death in this media narrative." In the 1980s and 1990s, when Good Omens was written and first published, that wasn't a metaphor. When I was a baby proto-queer, what I heard about being gay was that it killed you.

My formative memories of what it meant to be gay weren't pride parades or even riots. It was gay men dying by the thousands and governments and religious leaders ignoring them at best, and welcoming their deaths at worst. To be gay, and a gay man in particular, was to be marked for death. It wasn't until a straight white boy who got it from a blood transfusion died that AIDS became something that "normal" people had any empathy for and governments really started to act.

The gay representation I rember in the media as a moderately sheltered child from the 80s and 90s with left-of-center middle class white parents was news about AIDS, Philadelphia (death from AIDS), Ellen (cancelled after she came out), and eventually RENT (desperately trying not to die of AIDS or capitalism). I knew a very small handful of out gay adults, and no trans adults at all.

My first time being in a large group of queer people was a vigil for Matthew Sheppard, who had been beaten and left to die tied to a fence. I remember being terrified. I wasn't out yet. I knew people who hated us might be there, this group of mostly young queer people gathering with candles to cry over a boy we'd never met, and over the many others who had died just for being what we were. I'd never even kissed a girl yet. I only knew my queerness in relation to death.

In the last decade or so of the 20th century, being queer was about grasping any bit of joy you could from a world that very clearly would prefer you were dead. It was defiance and anger and fear every time you held your love's hand, or kissed them in public. My second date with the person who would become my spouse was interrupted by some dude in a truck shouting slurs at us was we walked down a quiet street. We laughed it off - no one had thrown anything, or beaten us, so it wasn't a big deal. It should have been a big deal, but we couldn't let it be. When you're marked for misery and death, you can't let the little things get to you. You just hold each other's hands as tightly as you can and defiantly keep walking.

An Angel and a Demon and Immortality

Good Omens was written during some of the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic (which is still ongoing, by the way), before there were effective treatments, when gay = death. It is a mainstream, mass-market book. It wouldn't be shelved in the "Gay and Lesbian" section at the book store, it would be shelved with humour, or possibly fantasy.

And yet, here we have these two beings. An angel and a demon, with an unlikely friendship, and who are very clearly written as gay. Or, at least, as percieved as gay by outside observers. Aziraphale in particular is (in one of my favorite lines) "gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide," and "THE southern pansy" (self-proclaimed). Together, they are "consenting bicycle repairmen" (Neil Gaiman's explanation for context) who Anathema was safe with the whole time.

Whether you caught the subtextual shippyness of their relationship (and to be honest, I only did a little when I first read it), they were very obviously written as precieved-gay characters, in a story where their precieved gay-ness wasn't the cause of their downfall. Yes, an 11 year old calls Aziraphale a faggot. But he doesn't get arrested or beaten of killed - he just gets covered in cake. And he loves cake! The attempted insult just rolls off him like water off a duck's back, because he has no pressure not to be visibly gay.

Becuase, see, unlike us humans, unlike his gay contemporaries, he is not marked for death. He's an angel. He's immortal. Even more, he was made by God, exactly how God wanted, presumably, and that is intelligent, English, and so very gay.

Niel and Terry are saying so much here. You can be gay and loved. You can be gay and have a deep relationship. You can be gay because that's how God made you. You can be gay forever, through all time, with someone beside you, finding joy in your life.

You can be gay and not die. You can be gay and live.

[diaphin93]

Fantastical Misconceptions Part 2: The Safflower Chapter

And here is the second part where I go more in depth on some of the mischaracterizations, misinterpretations and at times outright misinformation that I've seen Fantasyinvader spreading. It initially started with me being widely amused by the very reaching claims about the inspirations of Fire Emblems Dragons he was making, combined with my awareness of his often orientalist and superficial fixation of interpreting 3 Houses on what he believes eastern religion entails, something I am by no means an expert on, but even I can see the reach and grasps in, especially since for me it always invokes the impression of this very fetishistic notion of Japan as this isolated, culturally 'pure' nation which certain groups also love to spread, often with the goal of molding Japan into a homogenous representation of the Idea they want to promote.

In this case I also felt the need to make the part centering Edelgard into its entirely own blogpost due to me becoming aware of some outright misogynistic and, I will say it openly, incel-esque sounding interpretations of Edelgard as a character, which is especially distasteful if you consider Edelgards status as one of the few actually central female main Lords in the series, but also as Fire emblems first ever canonically queer Non-Avatar Lord. So lets get started with reposting the screenshot that inspired me to this three part series:

In my first post I already made it clear that this is yet again just a very abstract and in my opinion somewhat orientalist interpretation of Dragons in the Fire Emblem Series, ignoring the series choice of designs and cultural inspirations as well as widely misinterpreting both western and japanese dragon folklore, which is already highly debunked by the existance of Duma and Mila as two Divine Dragons who have to be overthrown for humanity to creat a land free of divine intervention, akin to the Crimson Flower Route.

But then the issue is, that interpreting Edelgard as the evil dragon of the game doesn't work because she is plain and simply not a dragon, by no stretch of the imagination and her demonic transformation, an expression of the lengths she would go through for her ideals, is unique to one single route and bears no design elements associated with dragons. And interestingly, if anything her hegemon transformation plays into one of the games subversive elements, its deconstruction of divine bloodlines, which play into the games overall very anti-feudal and anti-theocratic attitudes, which Fantasyinvader loves to dismiss and actually argue in favor of feudalism and theocracy which is...yikes. Combined with whats to come, I can't view this guy and his personal views in no semblance of good faith, I'm honest in this regards.

The concept of a demonic beast is brought up as early chapter 5, when we see Miklan being transformed into a demonic beast by the Lance of Ruin, the first hint towards the true sinister nature of crests and heroes relics. With its power of turning those not belonging to them into demons, and even being capable of corrupting and transforming those who possess these bloodlines, the concept of the divine bloodline and the holy heroes relic itself is innately tied towards demonic powers, as is further supported by the energy they radiate being presented in a dark red and blackish color scheme, as opposed to the bright colors we associate with light and divinity. In Edelgards case, one could view it as another subversive element, as the form is connected to Edelgard awakening the full power of her twin-crests, her unleashing the Fire Emblem in service of her ideals.

But with the demonic connotations of the crests and her transformation, I think more than a traditional intsys evil dragon, Edelgard plays more into the influences that Koei Tecmo brought into 3 Houses, with it being confirmed through their Dream Interview that they borrowed heavily from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, while the team involved in the development of 3 Houses has a long history of Nobunaga-centric Sengoku era strategy games, I think what Edelgard invokes much more as the final boss of Azure Moon is the popular image that Cao Cao is associated with and that is also highly connected to Nobunaga, two historical figures Koei Tecmo has a history of interpreting and utilizing in their games and who clearly inspired central aspects of Edelgards personality and role, namely the popular image of the demon king. Thats right, Hegemon Edelgard is Edelgard, faced with those who want to preserve the old order of things and stand against her ideal, fully embraces her role as the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven.

And that is where it becomes interesting, as Team Kou Shibusawa, named after the companies founder and CEO, traces its and the companies history back to historical games and the Nobunagas Ambition Games, which did subvert the popular image of Nobunaga as the Demon King by presenting him as more nuanced and favorable, something they also started to do with Cao Cao in Koei Tecmos Dynasty Warrior Series. There is a great fondness and positive reception for this historical archetype deep in Koeis DNA and we know, that ultimately they contributed a majority of the writing team for 3 Houses. Thats were really Fantasyinvader's grasp for straws fall apart in trying to frame Edelgard as a purely villainous figure, it simply contradicts with the attitudes of the company which wrote the games journey. She does invoke the traditional Fire Emblem Archetype of the Rudolf, but subverts it while at the same time going way back into its foundations. Because after all, Rudolf himself was already a very morally grey and nuanced antagonist, who was revealed to actually voluntarily play the part of the villain and tyrant to set his plan in motion of creating a hero who is capable of ruling Valentia free of godly influences, which Edelgard does heavily imbody, only with the twist that the game indirectly encourages you to support, not oppose her. After all, the game itself heavily humanizes her even at the end of Azure Moon, where the mask of the Demon King, the Hegemon, she put on herself is lifted and she is El at the end, dying not at the Hegemon but as El. Visually the fact that the Hegemon Form is lifted from her at the end and Dimitri approaches her as El already shows, how the Hegemon itself was nothing but a facade, a role she was forced to play in service of her ideals. Even the ending theme is set up to be bittersweet, being Lady of Hresvelg which is entirely about Els perspective and her unfullfilled desires and wishes. Fantasyinvader's interpretation simply does not hold up under any scrutiny.

But here we also go into a darker territory which I need to express, namely what I learned about the misinformation and mischaracterization FI does spread about El, which goes far and above about your typical Edelgard Critical positions into a territory that is unambigiously rooted in some form of misogyny and, as I hinted at, kinda incel-esque attitudes. What I learned is that some time ago, Fantasyinvader started to refer to Crimson Flower as Safflower, based on the japanese name of the route which is Benibana translating into deep-red flower and being the japanese name of the flower, where he started to to push forward his personal blackpilled interpretation of CF and Edelgard as something of a seductress who seduces and manipulates the player and Byleth into being attracted to her in order to mislead them and manipulate them into rejecting enlightenment. What I gathered is really disgusting and dirty, as well as deeply problematic due to the context surrounding Edelgard as a character. As a non-sexualized, three-dimensional and nuanced female Lead character and central Lord of the game, as shown with her being the lead of the Engage 3 Houses Emblem, it is already kinda disgusting to really twist and bend the character into this kind of interpretation, especially with the added context of her backstory involving her being stripped of her bodily autonomy, something he seems to deny, as well as her position as Fire Emblems first canonically Non-Avatar Lord. It screams probelamtic and bad attitudes in every direction that he does go that low and I will not treat Fantasyinvader in any good faith after learning of that. For me it only supports the notion of the Edelcrit community having super misogynist and lesbophobic undertones, considering their vitriol and deranged hatred towards a character whose contemporary popcultural relevance is predominantly one of being a female queer gaming icon. Textually, the notion of Edelgard luring the player in with a seductive and adorable side is just...not what happens. Edelgard starts of as strict and less personable than the other leaders and requires active player effort by the player to show them her vulnerable and her more adorable side. For the most part she wears a mask of a strict class rep and later on, the flame emperor.

Then there is the issue of him outright lying. It begins with him seemingly pushing the interpretation that in flower language, Safflowers represent attraction, not love. Not helping with the I-Word image here, as this is outright untrue. What Safflowers actually represent is Good Luck and Happiness. In Folklore they are said to attract love and marriage. So in actuality, the meaning in flower language is the opposite of what he seems to want to push to his gullible audience. The Crimson Flower represents love and joy. Fantasyinvader also seems to spread lies about developer intentions and player receptions, seemingly talking about how the Developers talking about how Edelgard tricks the player and that Crimson Flower was made more accessible to trick them, which is simply a lie. There seems to be also comments about 'asian' players feeling tricked by Edelgard after playing Crimson Flower, which is not sourced and I feel rather skeptical about. It is reminiscent to claims that koreans hate Edelgard, when it was actually just posts from Kchan which were primarily motivated by bigotry and homophobia. Despite what many of the Edelcritical players try to tell themselves, most metrics indicate Edelgards popularity across the Fandom. She did bad in the Dream Interview Poll early on, but then sweeped her first round of CYL in Fire Emblem Heroes by being the most voted hero to this day, she consistently showed up as the most deployed unit of the game at its beginning and again in Heroes has her alts usually rank high before the voting gauntlet.

All in all, this bloggers particular points as far as I was made aware of them seem to be mostly based on misinformation, outright lies and some interpretations which he pushes forward with authority as truth that reflect more negatively on him than on Edelgard and again, in my opinion imply a bias coming from a darker place. It spreads a very problematic interpretation of the game that is simply not supported by the games text, subtext or presentation and sounds rooted in misogynist attitudes.

Having this out of my system and the blog already becoming very long, I will release a third part of the Blog where I will go deeper into the Demon King parallels between Edelgard and classical Koei Figures such as Cao Cao and especially Nobunaga and my thoughts on much of the roots of the attitudes towards Edelgards motives, goals and the war itself. Stay tuned for the upcoming part 3: Edelgard, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven.

[lina-lovebug]

Bleeding Hearts

Part 10

Taglist: @silverhowe @happycupcakeenthusiast @vampire-hunter @simpforavillain @dumb-fawkin-bitch @mushroomlover13 @kimqueenofhell @vane28282 @namor-is-the-way @daaiissyyyyy @anyzandy @pturnersblog @cherrychupachup

I had refused food.

Again.

What they called ‘food’ was nowhere near anything enough to nourish my body. It smelled awful and looked like it would make me sick.

I ignored the growling in my stomach as I heard the familiar click of the door and Miles Quaritch came in with cuffs at his side.

“Still ain’t eating?” He questioned, seeing the untouched food.

“Your food is not nourishing for the body,” I said, and approached him. His eyes watched me as I had my hands reached outwards, and looked up at him.

“May I?” 

“Go right ahead, sweetheart,” I glared at him but continued.

“Your body is Na’vi now. We are stronger, faster and much larger compared to humans,” I said, feeling his stomach and upper chest. 

“You need to nourish it like a Na’vi now, not this shit you call food. You may be strong, but this physique will wear off if you do not eat properly,” I explained, feeling his waistline and up to his back. He’s stronger than most Na’vi males I have met, but it will not last.

“Pretty sure your husband wouldn’t take a liking to his lady touching me,” He said, and I looked up at him.

“I am not mated.”

“But the little one on your back-”

“She is Tuktirey, Jake and Neytiris’ youngest,” I interrupted, “I have not found myself a male I have connected with. Any males I did know died during the battle.”

“How does that work?” His question seemed genuine, so I answered. I gently grabbed his queue and held it up to him.

“When you have found someone whom you cherish and love, you connect your queues together. Then, you are mated for life. That is a big difference I have found in our cultures.”

“How do you know that you will always love them?” He asked, staring at me.

“That is a concept you humans can never understand. You use eachother for pleasure. We bond through life experiences and conversation. We cherish life, and we cherish one another. It is a bond most treasured, and something I hope to have for myself. . .when the time is right,” I finished.

"Which is why your mission is futile. You will kill our home, just like you did yours," I moved away from him, my touch no longer on his warm body.

"You just don't want us here."

"I wonder why," I mused.

"Why are you here? You brought me nothing and you have no restraints," I asked, as if I was busy with anything else.

"It's your lucky day because you get to go outside," He said, pulling out a round device, "but you'll need to wear this."

No.

"I am not wearing such a thing," My ears folded back.

He sighed, "you gotta cooperate or the General will have me shackle you."

I stared at the device, knowing that if I put it on, I could be forever tracked and have no way of taking it off. They could use it to hurt me, and do unspeakable things.

"Only if I can hunt."

Wearing a collar was humiliating. I could feel the demons smiling at me as I passed, knowing that I was now under their grasp. They wish to bind me and chain me. They are disgusting and do horrible things, and yet call us savages? 

"Ninat'ia!"

My ears sprang up, finally bringing myself back to reality.

"What?" I said, having been on my own little island in my mind the entire way here.

"You gonna show us how to hunt or what?" 

"We can't give her a gun, Colonel," His Corporal said, and I scoffed.

"We do not use primitive weapons to kill. If you wish to think like Na'vi, the first lesson is that all energy is borrowed. Once you die, that energy returns back to Eywa," I explained, walking towards a fallen tree.

"The moss on it, the cracks, the holes - it is now a home and shelter to the animals. Even after death, you bring balance."

"After you have incapacitated the animal, you put it to rest with a dagger to the heart so it doesn't suffer," Spider finished, having learned this lesson when he was only seven. 

As my eyes traveled over them, their spirits were elsewhere. They were not even listening.

They were bored.

And they were pissing me off.

With a huff, I grabbed my dagger from Miles Quaritch vest and threw it into a tree. It was a bird, small enough for a teenager to fill up on, and it fell right in front of us.

"Less boring now?!" I snapped before marching off, ignoring the calls for me. 

Tears welled up in my eyes as I started to run. I didn't want this. I just wanted to be home. I wanted to be with mother and Spider and my sister. I want to be free.

"Ninat'ia!"

Miles Quaritch is quick on his feet. He manages to grab me but I quickly whip around with a slap to his face.

"Why?! Why are you even trying?!" I screamed, "you will destroy us! You will kill Eywa!"

"Hey, hey. I need you to-"

"It is not our fault you destroyed your home!" I didn't care if he could kill me. 

I was tired.

I wanted this to stop.

"And now you will destroy ours. You will kill Eywa!" I cried, hitting his chest and he did nothing. He let me hit him, let me scream and cry.

His hand reached out for my shoulder, but I pulled back, "you are all demons."

"I know. . ." 

"I do not care what happens to me, but I will kill you. I will not stop until your blood is on my hands," I swore before him, my eyes bleeding into his soul.

He said nothing but moved forward, bringing my head to his chest as I did nothing but cry.

Cry for my family, for my home.

For Eywa.

[yanderes-galore]

dragon age inquisition i know vivienne tends to be a divisive character in this fandom but i'd love a concept for her with a mage darling :)

I'll try my best, I couldn't find much on her so I hope I get things right :(

Yandere! Vivienne with Mage! Darling

Pairing: Platonic/Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Controlling behavior, Overprotective/Implied possessive behavior, Isolation, Possible murder (Freezing people solid), Dubious companionship/relationship.

An interesting fact of Vivienne is the fact she knows how dangerous mages are as a mage herself.

She feels they should be controlled due to how volatile magic is in this franchise.

I feel Vivienne's obsession who is a mage is most likely going to be part of the Circle of Magi.

Her obsession is dubious in this but you are most likely a mage she looks after.

Be it as a friend, mentor, or some sort of romantic interest.

Vivienne feels she knows you the best out of anyone.

She's Head of the Circle as First Enchanter.

She knows mages are volatile in magic due to their vulnerability to demonic possession.

As a result, she ends up gravitating towards her obsession.

She doesn't want them getting hurt and wants them to have a good sense of control over their magic.

As much control as they can... she hates the idea of making you Tranquil.

Vivienne has a tendency to seem like she doesn't care.

In reality, character interaction and dialogue shows that she does care for others.

She just doesn't put her emotions on display to prevent hurt, which is what makes her come off as cold.

She also has a tendency to think she's better than everyone else.

It would be around her mage darling that she shows vulnerabilities.

I personally think she'd feel like a mentor to you, but any intention works.

She teaches you control so you don't hurt yourself or others.

She feels no one else can give you that sense of control she can.

Vivienne seems like she'd have manipulative behavior towards you.

She can feel controlling, claiming it's because she's instructing you or looking after you.

She comes off as ambitious, ruthless, and cold.

Yet makes you trust her since she's so caring towards you.

Caring to the point she's distrusting of others around you.

Vivienne feels she can make you a capable mage who can control themselves.

No need to rebel, you should just trust her.

After all... she means a lot to you, doesn't she?

I feel Vivienne isn't very emotive or close to anyone other than a select few.

She often speaks to her mage obsession in private, giving lessons or general info on what it's like to be a mage.

If you ever thought of rebelling like some other mages, she's quick to re-educate you.

Mages can be dangerous weapons, but there's no need to worry, she can show you how to control yourself.

Vivienne seems like she'd make you rely on her.

She makes you distrusting of others and might even encourage you to be cold to others.

She tells you it's so easy to get yourself hurt in this world.

Be it emotionally or through magic.

While she's doing this she's carefully planting herself in your heart.

If you can't trust others... or yourself... who can you trust?

Vivienne. Vivienne is who you can trust.

When she wants to be, she can be controlling.

She feels with her watchful eye... you won't be hurt.

Which is exactly what she wants.

She wants you to herself, to rely on her, to listen to her.

In return, she'll protect you... from everyone, including yourself.

Vivienne feeds you lies, everyone but poor you knows that.

But it's not like she'll let anyone tell you that.

Anyone who tries to remove you from Vivienne's grasp is frozen solid.

"They'll feed you lies, they'll convert you to the rebels, " she says as she has them escorted out.

She wants to keep her control over you.

In her eyes, she adores you.

You are a promising mage, even more so in her care.

There's no need to listen to anyone else but her...

She's First Enchanter, she has your best interests as a mage at heart... doesn't she?

[dailycass-cain]

Spirit World #6 concluded the series this past week. Did it end on a high note? How was Cass within it? Well, all answers will be found here...

I love that this series fills the final gaps of questions I have for certain characters in the series. Namely, Wan Yujing's motivations, WHY the Jade Court are so meh due to Po Po's warnings back in #4. and how this ALL ties into the origins of Xanthe Zhou.

But like poetry, it also ties into Cass as into what she was going through in #1. Said issue, Cass was lost, but also feeling awful in helping slay a creature (even dark) and it took a slight toll on her.

Here in #6, it all circles back.

Seeing why Wan's desperation. Seeing the souls she's trapped. Seeing the Jade Court's inability to "want" to save the situation. All it ties into this isn't a simple solution of just slaying the demon.

But this doesn't just tie into Cass, but also the series' central character Xanthe. We get their full origin here. The mystery all pulled back and the scope of their powers revealed.

Writer Alyssa Wong sprinkled teases of Xanthe's origins throughout, and here they are on full display. You can also see why they keep company with John Constantine but also now open themselves to Cassandra Cain.

Why these characters just gell so nicely to each other complimenting it all. With how Xanthe finds the way to end this all.

For now at least.

The ramifications of this issue interestingly bring up new ideas for the DCU at large. Both in the mystical portion and well in Cass (more on that soon).

I find the whole mystical area of DC fascinating because they aren't just bound to one corner. Each magical user always brings something new to the table. Xanthe Zhou is just another character that I hope more tales are showcased with the character going forward.

The fact that well, not everything is tied up at the end leaves me to think that Wong has still so many more stories to tell of Xanthe and Spirit World itself. We've only touched the first layer of that.

To that, I hope allows the creative team to return and tell more tales.

The artist for the series, Haining has been exceptional with the various designs and actions throughout. Like I'm still in awe of the designs used or even how horrific Wan's demonic can be but Haining brings a level of cracks of her humanity through the body horror drawn.

That's not even bringing up the fluidity to the action we've seen throughout the series.

Every bit of the creative team brought their A-game to the table in telling something truly unique. Like I really want more.

And you get that there MIGHT be more.

Clearly, Wong lays seeds at the end of the Verdant Sorcess not at all pleased with the new status quo of Spirit World going forward.

I'm REALLY curious about their origins now with the reveal of the prior ones.

Not only that but in the case of Cass, only one of her subplots is resolved in the series. I mean yeah it's the big one: she gets to go back home.

But the "missing" time of her being in Spirit World (due to Batgirl Vol. 1 #72)? Why incident is all screwed (Shiva never killed Cass in that particular issue)? What new memories Cass lost in #3? Was Shen posing as Steph?

It feels like Wan found her, that while she was absorbing Cass, THAT's when Shiva brought her back. But it still doesn't answer fully what occurred with Cass during that lost time?

These are riddles still left unanswered, and it can't be coincidental given what next year being. So hopefully maybe THEN they are.

Please let Alyssa Wong cook DC!

Wong truly has an amazing grasp on the character and is the first to really bridge the lingering cracks Batgirl Vol. 1 left and bring it into this modern era.

Regardless, Spirit World was an exceptional series. It was something I truly needed to wash the sadness of Batgirls ending and another event douring the characterization of Cass.

I really hope DC goes all out in collecting this series. Show us all the Haining concept art.

Give me some words by Wong on how this series came to be. How they developed Xanthe Zhou. Give me it all!

.....

I've become Shen. My greed knows no bounds. 😅

Anyway, to those who haven't read this series. You now have the full excuse to read it all in one sitting. It's even BETTER when you do that actually. To those who read it like me keep hyping this and the other new minis DC created this year.

We need more of this!

[childotkw]

(omg sorry for the long post!!)

I have this fanfic idea in my head for years now and it is one of them i often fantasize about (yea i have many different ones. i just let them play in my head like a movie while staring into space or while listening to music) but anyway, sometimes harry is a boy but most time hes a girl version. He/she has this mad talent about getting in and out of any situation or place she needs to. He/she has this shady business where she steals for clients in exchange for money, or sometimes for pleasure because hes a bloody magpie and likes shiny things. The harder the mission the more she likes it (danger junky). I even imagined his/her apartments/hide-out place in great details (and the booby traps). Anyway, the ministry is under Voldemorts control, under guise as Minister Riddle. He gets involved in trying to trap her/him after she manages to sneak into his mansion (and skillfully avoids all the detection tools) and she robs his ring, escapes right under his nose too... (She has no clue that she robbed from a dark lord yet, that wasnt in her extensive research). That moment is when his obsession starts. She is already wanted by the ministry but he now gets involved. I have this scene where he lays a trap and she is in his grasp however she uses the ring as a bartering chip for her freedom (she thought she might have to use it when she realised a dark lord was after her). She placed it in a dangerous place surrounded by enemies, a place only she can sneak into but something goes wrong cos theres a rat in voldemorts inner circle and she gets caught. Before getting caught she manages to send the ring to him but he still decides to get her out of there and gets into full murder/war scene (he wanted to get rid of this group of enemies anyway). Shes pissed of. She could have gotten herself out even after the torture sessions, thank you very much. 😂 Anyway a fic full of (sexual or other) tension between the two, trying to get one over the other. A lot of wump, vulnerability, power play, childhood trauma, inner demons ect.. Theres so much more but ye, sorry, just felt like sharing and see where u go off on this haha, cos ur brain is super interesting and i never had the skill to write something even if i have so many ideas. Mind you, i tried starting on my own novel but im just not a writer, if something could just take it straight from my brain to paper, that would be awesome 😂😂😂 (futur AI?? Haha) xxx

(Imma borrow a concept from American Gods for this because it's too good not to!)

When Harry is four she finds a coin on the ground. It's gold, and shiny and to a little girl it's the prettiest thing she’s ever seen. So she picks it up and puts it in her pocket - and it's the best decision she ever made.

Because her pretty little trinket is, not that she knows it at that point, a leprechaun's coin. Imbued with pure luck, this little coin changes her life, and brings with it certain traits.

A need for mischief, the ability to come out of any situation on top, a love for all things shiny. And that combination, introduced to someone so young, well...it's only natural that Harry would grow a taste for thievery.

Years fly by and Harry, with her lucky coin held close, begins to gain a reputation as someone who can get in and out of impossible situations, in and out of impenetrable places, and collect valuable items. She can't help herself - it's almost an addiction, and no one is better than her.

Her current wanted poster - no image, because she's too lucky for that - is framed on the wall of her hideout.

Harry never turns down an interesting job, so when someone asks her to break into Minister Riddle's house and steal some documents, she agrees because why wouldn't she? Riddle's a dick of a politician, and Harry might not be heavily involved in the politics of her country but she gets a special kind of joy from fucking over assholes.

She breaks into his house, grabs the documents, and on her way out she sees a ring. It's gaudy, truly a hideous thing, but Harry wants it.

So she takes it.

How was she to know that that ring would be the thing that brings down the full attention of the Minister on her? How was she to know that her dickhead of a Minister was actually a fucking Dark Lord and petty as shit.

Harry likes a challenge but she likes living more - and something tells her that even with her lucky coin, she wouldn't come out of that fight unscathed.

And so begins their dance. Harry on the run, Riddle at her heels, back and forth, up and down, the two of them circling each other like cats.

Riddle's growing obsession with the person clever and quick enough to outmanoeuvre him.

Harry's addiction to adrenaline making her take more risks.

This is the most fun either of them have had in years.

[lower-management]

//ooc

Some Beelzebub headcannons of mine cause why not (there is some angst), also some can be quite specific

-they have a sweet tooth

-(this one is my favourite) God made it so when she casted them out of heaven they could never feel full again, not only regarding food but regarding everything, no matter how much they have, how much they know, how much they eat (both metaforically and literally) they'll never feel full and/or satisfied. Their last hope was that after armageddon they would've been able to feel satisfied and full once more, they still wonder if it would've worked. Falling in love with Gabriel did not "cure" this thing

-after armageddon't they had quite a difficult time understanding the purpose of it all, in the end they just realized whatever God had going on they probably would not be able to change it so they just resorted to continuing their days in a loop, they still think about it tho

-the fact they're kinda short for a demon was on purpose, Hell is cramped and a smaller stature helps moving around quicker, also it gives them a slight advantage if fighting someone full enough of themselves to underestimate them

-they enjoy rejecting paperwork for the most absurd reasons possible (even tho it's more of Dagon's invention to do so). Signed the document in a blue pen instead of a black one? Ya gotta restart from the very start buddy

-they still haven't quite grasped the concept of gender

-they keep their nails long-ish so that they can scratch/hurt others easily

-they know math, they know weird facts about biology and science but spelling? Fuck no

-for sometime they were worshipped as a deity, they liked those civilizations cause they felt like even tho they were doing almost nothing to help they were still better at being a God than her herself. They're still bitter over the destiny those civilizations faced, which also fuels a certain hate of theirs for the romans

-nothing can shock them anymore, literally, they've seen things

-they have trust issues, like, lots of them

-sometime after the fall (not much tho) they led a rebellion against satan as they felt like he was not taking organizing Hell as seriously as he should have. Satan was impressed and ended up rewarding them with their status

-they fully believed their feelings for Gabe were just anxiety for the longest time

-they kin Yzma(the disney villain), this one doesn't need much context

-they listen to Moon Walker and Caparezza

-(this is attached to the 9th one) they had to let the civilizations that worshipped them die/be conquered and so on because it was "needed for the great plan to work" and they were forced to watch, it's still a sore wound

-they sometimes use old words or expressions just because (example: saying courting instead of flirting)

-after armageddon't things did not go well for them, in fact a duke tried opening up a dispute to overthrow them and take their throne taking advantage of the situation. Needless to say Beelzebub was enraged and destroyed the duke in the most cruel way possible.

-as they are literally gluttony in person while someone else can technically do their bureaucratic duties they cannot be replaced.

-shiny things? They love 'em, but strong (especially artificial) lights? Can bug them, cause flies have a raised sensibility to lights so it would probably overstimulate them.

-they developed a weird kind of arachnophobia after the fall. They're not afraid of spiders but they get pretty anxious around them and don't get close (cause, ya know, spiders eat lots of flies and while there are many animals who eat flies it's more about what they represent because God's a bitch that way)

Can't think of anymore, maybe if I remember them I'll put 'em here

[aredhel-erinti]

Love and Redemption Rewatch: ep. 1

I genuinely love and adore this show but with how little content there is for L&R, I had to made some for myself.

Beware of SPOILERS for the whole story! Seriously...

I'm so excited!!! The opening song is still so good and still so full of spoilers. Like really, Si Feng with the wings??? The creators were not afraid... it was a choice.

Who do we have here? Yep, they have shown our bird and our monkey right off the bat.

The whole opening monologue is such a great misdirection! They even say it - one comes after the other! But the viewer expects two players, so this very suspicious setup is completely disregarded.

Wow, they really show everyone, don't they? :)

The concept of soul AND primordial spirit was very hard for me to grasp the first time, but rewatch makes it quite clear.

I swear I have seen this guy somewhere...

Yep, it's this guy from The Journey of Chong Zi.

This is ANOTHER great misdirect because we know that God of War and Star of Mosha are going to be reincarnated at the same time and OF COURSE Si Feng is here... so who could he possibly be, am I right? :)

And another great thing? The demons genuinely don't have the most important information either. :D

I almost forgot that they need Rahu Ketu's weapon to unseal the cup... all these macguffins to keep track of.

And this ist how the story tells us that Xuan Ji and Ling Long are twins... pretty easy to miss.

Ten months?? That's quite post-term!

Ling Long is amazing from the start. Protective older sister is something I need more of... and Ling Long is fierce!

The introduction of Min Yan is also on point: the only one who can keep up with Ling Long and never leaves her, but at the same time is always backed into some corner by her.

He is regretting it already... :D

Ling Long is talking about all these "handsome men" she gets to meet and Min Yan is not amused...

I have questions! Are all of these golden winged birds?? If so, do they really cast out so many potential warriors? To fend for themselves in hostile world without their powers?? That's rough AND wasteful...

I can't decide which picture sums up the Master of Li Ze Palace (does he have a name???) better, but I love him and his terrifying claws.

The bird lantern! There truly is foreshadowing for everything, if you know what to look for!

Yuan Lang's and Wu Zhi Qi's "friendship" is so interesting to me, because sometimes Yuan Lang almost looks like he means it... but the powerplay always comes first.

Wu Tong goes from awestruck to smirking in 0,2 seconds and then proceeds to bully the sister of the girl he likes... it's actually quite realistic.

I honestly can't remember when Si Feng stops stammering... I will have to look out for that.

Ling Long isn't afraid to say it. :D

Min Yan still isn't enjoying the whole "let's look for handsome mysterious guys" vibe, but Ling Long has him figured out.

The relationship between these two is extremely enjoyable right from the start. :)

I think this is the scene that made me definitely fall in love with Ling Long. She is determined, driven, protective and smart, and she is not afraid to use tactics like this - the crying and evocation of their mother is extremely well done and the way she immediately cuts her crying once she gets what she wants is hilarious. No one can mess with her sister, not even their own father!

This is a very specific morning routine. It can't be easy to make your tea from dewdrops fallen from a plum tree... just saying.

This relationship is off to a very bad start.

I already forgot how hostile Si Feng was at the beginning. I would feel bad for Xuan Ji, but she doesn't mind...

Si Feng is repressed and Chuan Ji is absolutely clueless about everything and it's very entertaining to watch. :)

The candle dragon sounds are genuinely scary.

This is a very impulsive decision on Chuan Ji's part and one she should have thought out better. She knows the rules, knows that the mask is important. What is she hoping to achieve by taking it off? It frustrates me a little, this lack of forethought, but the story needs it to get moving.

And here is another clue... wow, that's quite a lot for episode 1.

One episode was enough to rekindle my love for most of these characters... this rewatch could get quite annoying unfortunately . :)

[tobiasdrake]

A hopeless confrontation with a hopeless demon.

Quarble, he's too fast. I've tried to dodge and weave and watch for openings but he nails me every time. No matter what I do, it's like he's right there, waiting for me to do it. I can't get away from him.

"Look, man. This is just a job. I'm not your therapist. Figure it out or don't."

You really don't have any ideas? You don't know anything or... have any suggestions I can use here?

How am I supposed to beat this guy, Quarble? Eleven times. He's gutted me eleven times. Yeah, okay, lesson learned about underestimating people, but I've been trying really hard. Was I wrong to think I could actually do this?

Maybe he was right. Maybe I'm at my limit. Maybe... this is where my journey ends.

"...push... through...."

Did you say something, Quarble?

"Yeah, I said 'If I don't get any Time Shards soon I'm bailing. Have fun getting dissected again.'

No, there was something... like a flicker....

"Hallucinations may be an occasional side effect of being gruesomely butchered, revived, and butchered again repeatedly in a short time period. I say 'may be' because most people give up and accept the sweet embrace of death well before it ever gets to this point."

"It's a mistake to rely on speed alone; It's too easy to push through. I figured that out early in our training. Zale learned it shortly after."

We go through.

I've been letting this job get in my head. Trying to be more cautious. Trying to be mindful. But the answer was right there in the fable. I need to stop running.

Luana spent her whole life sparring with a Blade Dancer. It's a style eerily similar to Brugaves's new demon style. To the point that it almost seems like a cruel joke for Aephorul to forge him this way.

Nobody knew better than her how to counter that style. And she wrote it down. You don't run away from a Blade Dancer. You go through.

If he's too fast for you, then he may just as easily be too fast for himself. All you have to do is stand your ground and let him strike himself upon your weapon.

I've been getting in my own head. Worrying about stupid things like safety and protecting myself. When I should have been asking the obvious question from the start.

What would Luana do?

Hey! Goat-licker. Imagine selling out the people who love you so you can be the Acolytes' gofer. I can't even be vindictive about it 'cause having to live like this is punishment enough.

Sure, you used to have respect, admiration, kids looking up to you with stars in their eyes, and a dedicated life-partner who'd do anything for you. But you're right, kissing the foot of a four-headed butt-chugger every morning is just as fucking good, isn't it?

You're a coward and a fool, Barma'thazel. You were barely any good as a Solstice Warrior. And now you're a bottom-feeding parasite living in a hellhole, clinging desperately to the one gift his master graced him with.

The goddess forgot about you long ago. She's over you. And I'm done running from you. Because I'm better than you.

It's called crippling overspecialization, ass-weevil. You'd think a general of an armed forces would be able to grasp a concept as basic as that. But I guess you're just too slow.

Hold up. Do you mean that in the figurative sense? Like, we are all pieces in a larger game that cares nothing for winners and losers, and so in the grand scheme of things we are all doo--

NOPE LITERAL SENSE VERY LITERAL SENSE GODDAMMIT

SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCK FUCK SHIT FUCK

WHY

WHY CAN'T I EVER JUST WIN SOMETHING

I LOOKED SO COOL BACK THERE

MY HAT WAS SET TO MAXIMUM AWESOME

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

YEEEEEEEEEES Holy shit, thank you prophesized Lifesaver. Wentworth, you are a sight for sore eyes.

...wait, what?

...

Errors have been made. You know, I thought you looked a little small to be the colossal dragon that Luana wrote about but I just figured she'd embellished.

In any case, THANK YOU DRAGON BESTIE WOO FUCKING HOO

Let's blow this shithole and go home!

*deep breath*

In your name.

[sugar-grigri]

i love your theory but the only thing i have an issue with is how makima directly calls out “death, war, hunger… with chainsaw man’s power, i’ll blot them all out” which i suppose could be a red herring but it would be super shitty of fujimoto to do that, i just don’t think chainsaw man’s #1 fan would confuse him, especially if she hates death to the point of wanting to “blot them out” and she identifies devils by smell, you know?? i dunno, maybe i’m reading too much into things, i wanted ur take on things !

I'd just like to point out that it's a theory, although I like the fact that it's very poetic, that has 50% of working in reality.

You're absolutely right that Makima has an excellent sense of smell, but I think the key to understanding was held by Pochita and not by her.

In chapter 84, to which you refer, she mentions the fact that there are names she can't remember, a sign that she herself is sensitive to Chainsaw Man's power.

Makima's plan was simple: defeat Chainsaw Man in order to control him.

Makima knew that terrifying concepts had been erased by Pochita, so what she surely wanted to do was to use her power to attack not demons specifically, but concepts that terrified the most of mankind

Death, war, famine and control are empirically the greatest fears today, and the concept of the Knights of the Apocalypse remains unclear, but some information was given in part 2.

Yoru is indifferent to demons that are not her family, but rather demons of her own rank, whereas Makima had been willing to subjugate them. Fami represents a third option, as she sees them as possible allies, although she also seeks to subdue them with or without their consent.

That's why, even if I can say that Makima was informed, I still can't say that she met the other Knights of the Apocalypse, she simply saw them as obstacles to humanity through their concepts, it wasn't personal/individual revenge.

I agree that she's Chainsaw Man's #1 fan, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't be completely wrong about his essence.

Pochita remains shrouded in mystery while the control demon has also been drained of his essence, of her own feelings by the government

Makima saw Pochita first and foremost as a means to achieve the goals humanity had assigned her; she was so instrumentalized by her mission that this ultimate means was also the only way to be happy.

The demon of control was not a free demon, especially mentally, so she saw other knights only through the eyes of humanity.

What is the most common trait that defines these four demons? The fact of not having forgotten the demons erased by Chainsaw Man.

Why this particularity? Only demons of the same rank could have it.

Makima wanted to destroy the other demons of the apocalypse and has an excellent sense of smell. But why are the Knights of the Apocalypse the only ones to remember Chainsaw Man's deeds? Why couldn't Makima consider herself above Chainsaw Man? Was she necessarily inferior? Or was she of the same rank ?

Especially as part 1 ends with Pochita having grasped Makima perfectly, and not having communicated with her once during their fight, surely because he knew that the control demon was not acting according to her own will.

Chainsaw Man had a better grasp of the control demon than she had of him.

[wr3nns]

Heads up this goes places and I'm not sure how we got there but we sure did

Eda's gold fang growing with the rest of her teeth

Mega Eda has eyebags

Luz subverting the trope of coming back all cool-like with a witty one-liner by still being a little goof

The sound Eda makes when Luz comes back

Did the Collector "fix" the book with Titan's blood. Did he write that in Titan's blood. Did he write that in Titan's blood. Did he

King having a little blue star on his skull crack as almost a mirror to Edge of the World

"A baby could do that. Still, I've never seen an itty-bitty spider do it that way. Not everyone can recognize Titan magic." - The Collector, Watching and Dreaming

VS

"That's nothing. A child could do a light spell. But... I've never seen it cast like that." - Amity Blight, Covention

King's light glyph looks like King holding a light ball:

The old light glyph almost looks like a representation of a witch. Cloak, hat, possibly hands holding a staff:

Judging by the concept art those crystals in Amity's hair are from the Grom crown. But the crown only has one crystal like that, and she's got three in her hair. I don't know if they ever said you could only be Grom royalty once, but if not, it's possible she was Grom queen two more times.

In the dream sequence, Gus is wearing the same suit from Enchanting Grom Fright

After the timeskip, King's back teeth have gotten longer and pointer along with his front teeth

"Now I am King and Queen, best of both things" is from Enchanting Grom Fright. King wore Luz's crown towards the end

Grom!Camila vs actual Camila reacting to the demon realm are very different.

Yes I DID go rewatch the entirety of Enchanting Grom Fright just to figure out whether they mentioned a one-time deal or not. They did not. Yes that IS why I talk about that episode so much here

Also, ASIAS is messing with my brain structure again. I'm not sure how I got here but this is happening now.

At the very beginning, Belos gives Hunter a test. And he fails immediately. Because the coven heads don't respect him, and made a decision to reschedule without him. And Darius sets him up with another way he's failing, so Hunter grasps for another chance to prove himself.

,,,,,,, "Teens are probably into the same things as me! Like authority, and rules." THE GUY EVER??

Hunter pitching to a student, rolling his hand when he says "leave your home, friends, and family forever" is the same thing he does later when he says the same thing to the EE

Flapjack socks. 'Nuff said

"Don't let the power get to your head just yet" okay Willow are we saving that for later? Good. Go crazy girl

This scene right here? I think about these shots sometimes. The reflection being emphasized. The reflection being behind bars. Him turning away. How it looks like he's pointing at the mark on his jaw. The half-a-witch relationship. The fact that for her, it's almost like looking in a reflection. "You're like me"

This creature. I love her

Hunter did exactly what Darius said, but he doesn't get the expected reaction. When Darius says "Can you?" he basically says "think about what you're doing instead of just doing it" but without actually dictating anything bc like he is trying to start a secret revolution here but he can't NOT say anything. Before, he commented how Hunter is very good at doing what he's told. Hunter is just sort of confused.

Willow goes on the offensive against Darius first, then when that proves fruitless, she goes for defensive. Both with magic. Both fail. Then she just tries to physically block her team. From a magic scythe arm. Commendable, but what was her plan exactly? Also, she does something similar earlier:

And when Hunter steps in, Darius tells him to move. Hunter knows from the beginning of the episode that Darius doesn't respect him, thinks he got the position through nepotism n whatnot. While Hunter is still technically the superior, he has no guarantee that would get him anything in this situation. There are no credible witnesses. What was his plan?

And Hunter told the EE that he was their friend. And claimed that friends stab each other in the back all the time, citing the coven heads as an example. Which either means he thinks the coven heads are friends with each other, or with him, and one of those paints a worse picture but that's not my point here. What I'm getting at is this:

After claiming that they ARE friends and that backstabbing is a normal friendship activity, he does this. He willingly gets between two hostile parties, both of which have very fresh reasons to be upset with him, and keeps his back to a group he recognizes as powerful for almost 20 seconds straight.

And he doesn't expect this interaction to end well for him. He doesn't move out of the way when he thinks Darius is going to hit him. He's surprised, confused, suspicious, surprised, scared, suspicious. He's untrusting throughout this entire back-and-forth. He stands still and stares for a few seconds when the expected outcome doesn't arrive. Flapjack stays by his side the entire time.

The fact that it is never elaborated on how Lumity reacted to learning Hunter was at Hexside. The fact that he probably didn't even think about running into them there

Thinking about this image on the ceiling of the owl house main entrance room,,, been thinking about this for a while actually. Is that a representation of the Titan. One glowing golden eye, horns, a crown, wings, the star on the chest like in the murals on King's island.

Hunter's eyebags are gone. Healing

Still thinking about how Hunter's season 2 episodes paralleling him to a specific member of the Hexsquad spells HEAL. Hunting Palismen, Eclipse Lake, Any Sport in a Storm, Labyrinth Runners. I will never not think about this, it's one of my favorite things

The show's hidden messages altogether!!

Thanks For Watching,,,,, hhhhhhhn

Dana said Waffles is Flapjack's little sister. Shown in the thread below.

This man. Absolutely delightful

The Hollow Mind portraits are making things so so. SO. They are Making Things SO Very!! They sure Are!!

Hunter pinching his little hair noodle when he gets uncertain. Willow holding herself. Gus touches the back of his neck, or maybe the side of his face. Amity tries to avoid a breakdown. They all react in slightly different ways. They all look away.

Camila rightly pointing out the fact that they're exhausted from running around for days, of course they have magic fatigue. This actually happening and someone actually pointing this out. It's very realistic and satisfying. Feels real. Feels validating. They're just people

Amity getting a side-hug and reassuring pep-talk from a supportive parental figure

Even with all of that, showing that of course Camila is affected by all of this. But she still supports her kids and gives them something to do in all this mess

Things I thought about after Watching and Dreaming, with no particular order. Much of this is pulled directly from my notes document

Hunters tv tropes page says Caleb is hinted to be albino

Lilith may have let Luz fall in Agony of a Witch if Eda hadn't sent Owlbert to catch her

Hunter relaxes slightly with everyone else at the beginning of For the Future when Luz says she's okay after coming out of the portal. He's relieved she's okay, even wrapped up in his own head as he is

Belos lights up the Titan's opposite eye from the one the Titan has lit. The Titan has a functioning left eye but a dim right one, and Belos lit the right one. King has a crack on the left side of his skull, Eda has a grey left eye, Luz has a scar over her left eyebrow. All of the Flapjack tattoos are on the left side except for Hunter's, which is where his sigil was (or is, if they had just started developing that technology and hadn't removed it yet)

The palistrom shortage was not only from Belos taking palismen, but also using the wood to make grimwalkers

Oh no did he ask Hunter to kill the Selkidomus because he expected this grimwalker to be the last and he wasn't giving himself room for failure. He needed to complete his mission, and failure wasn't an option if he couldn't make more grimwalkers. Because he had to have Caleb in the picture.

The fact that the show itself says point-blank that Belos is genuinely delusional and his goals are self-serving (through the Titan talking with Luz)

King never saw the room full of Titan skulls in Edge of the World, so he's seeing it for the first time in Watching and Dreaming

Luz's scene of standing and watching Belos melt while he tries to talk to her perfectly mirrors the scene of ghost Caleb standing and watching Belos melt while Belos tries to talk to him. They have the same expressions, angles, shots. And it's flipped. The scene is flipped. It's literally mirrored. And she has a similar hair thing going on. A fluffy hair noodle.

The speech Belos gave to Luz probably parallels how he tried to convince his brother

Luz's Titan magic orb is like the light glyph. King also had one when he yelled at Belos. Also Luz was zapping around like Hunter, the sound effect is even reminiscent

The parallels between Belos' skeletal form and the Titan's skeletal form

Waffle/s sitting on Hunter's head at the very end,,, feels familiar. No I'm not crying

Alador doesn't hunch anymore, and his belt has three symbols for each of his 3 kids

King finally got to play catch

Willow is definitely about to kiss Hunter in the Grom photo. Also look at his suit. Atrocious. Absolutely wretched. Perfect.

Green fungus vs red grass. Just. The colors in general there's so so so much going on there I have so many thoughts about it

Polly

The fact that Caleb's kindness and forgiveness did not work on Philip. Caleb hugged his brother even as Philip was corrupted and monstrous and it did not work. And the Collector ran into the same problem. Can you stop haunting the narrative for five minutes

Dana as a Hexside student cameo

The earrings exchange

The basilisks!!! At least two others survived!! And maybe reunited with Vee! This is excellent news

The airship with the abomination styled like the way Luz styled the Blight's household abomination to look like a cat

Dana signing Luz's writing scholarship. Luz getting a writing scholarship. Remember at the end of ASIAS when Lumity had the idea of their book club also being a writing club

Amity recognizing Luz quoting Azura in Covention (which Luz also outright states) but not saying anything. Imagine her inner dialogue, must have been so confusing

The kid who introduced sigil application way back when being the one to introduce the removal process. Good for him

Amity and Lilith have a good relationship. They were sort of like a mirror of Luz and Eda's mentor-mentee relationship such a long time ago, but less healthy. Now they're friends

Hunter gets all the family ties. Clearly a Noceda because of Thanks to Them, clearly a Deamonne from Watching and Dreaming, which also makes him a Blight, and he also gets Eberwolf with Darius because of course. If you include being a clone of Eda & Lilith's great-something grandfather AND being Luz's sister AND the fact that there may be a shared guardianship of Luz between Camila and Eda, which also includes Raine, he gets to be a Clawthorne, which also means he gets to be a Whispers. And let's not forget how he's obviously also a Park. If desired, for good measure, you can cite brotherly relation and tack on Porter as well. And don't forget the actual canon where he is adopted by the entire school as the resident cryptid

Hunter is literally a cryptid and I have been thinking about this for a very long time. I wish they got to talk about that more but they didn't, which means it's free real estate

The sheer amount of love and care baked into the finale. It's splendid. The hugs and kisses and words and actions and feelings

Eda and King both got mega evolutions. Then Luz did too

Making a stand against Belos at the site of the DOU. Paralleling prior shots, like looking over the Isles and talking about destiny, the parallels between Luz's Titan mega evolution vs Hunter's possession (there's quite a lot)

How they avoided the feeling of powercreep by keeping a lot of the actions very readable and down-to-earth. Even when they were fighting kaiju puritan with decay laser, there weren't world-shattering mega-powers. Everything was built on what we already understood. We got glyphs, we got Harpy mode and Beast mode and King's powers were heightened but they were still the same powers, we got Luz with her staff and Belos with his usual strategy, Raine fighting back in ways we already understood but also ways which meant more (like breaking their instrument). The archives collapsing and the Collector holding them up with ribbons while standing on the shooting star, we understand those powers because we saw them earlier, it made sense

While the archives start falling, Hunter zips toward Willow before stopping short when they stop falling. Hmmm now where have we seen something like that before. For reference I am talking about COTH

Amity finally using a glyph

Amity using vines, Willow using fire. That's the reversal of their usual things. Amity used the fire spell in Adventures in the Elements, that was tough for her. Willow's got plants down. Hunter using ice. Gus flying around and levitating

Hunter being able to save a palisman

Eda's absolutely MASSIVE smiles throughout

Magic coming from the heart, callback to The Intruder

The massive Titan heart in the throne room appearing way back when, and us all wondering about it, and it finally FINALLY came back with significance. Awesome

Luz burning away the rot before making an ice path to give her a clear shot at Belos. Utilizing the glyphs to their fullest, one after the other, super fast. She's become fluent in the Titan's language

Luz's confident speech to Belos paralleling her prior speeches in a moment of pure epicness as she annihilates him. And that's the last she ever says to him

The Collector crowning the Titan

The Titan acknowledging that he went after the wrong person

Everyone being so very gender

The Collector explaining "Hide and Seek" scene was just so. Intense. Them not understanding how mortals work. How empathy works. They're a young child who was raised by the wrong sort of people, they honestly didn't know any better. But that's when compassion comes in

The way the Collector flinched away from Amity paints a bad picture of the sorts of expectations he has

The Hexside kids are okay!!

Belos obviously tries one last Hail Mary, and Luz Is Not Having It

Did the rain come from Luz channeling the Titan's powers?

You can see scarring on Raine's arm. Almost matching Eda. And someone else we know. They should talk

[silvyavan]

OK I read the chapter and I finally realised why I can't Lucius seriously.

This man is giving eldest sibling syndrome, chuunibiyo and airfried energy so hard.

Like, all things considered, I don't think the majority of twitter really sets in that Lucius, even if he is the last baddie, is still the fuckhead that raised the Zogratis sibs.

This man is the reason Dante, Vanica and Zenon turned out like that and it SHOWS. (Under the cut cause I ain't making you read me dragging these 4 bitches to dirt)

Dante is the definition of narcissism, a man who thinks he's better than everyone but refuses to work for that title. He has the emotional intelligence of both a 50 year old boomer and a spoiled edgy 12 year old and it changes like a metronome. Even Lucifero dipped his ass. He's a misogynistic fuckwad with little to no mental development. This fucker absolutely copy pasted this shit from Lucius "I am The Chosen One" Zogratis.

Vanica. Look at her. This milf chasing trauma machine runs solely on the desire to fight because she's very much socially undeveloped and doesn't believe in familial love. Bitch couldn't understand why Acier wanted to protect her family and it took Noelle beating her ass halfway to death to even grasp the concept of friendship and it missed the shot so hard. Her healthiest relationship is with Megicula and that's an insult to Lucius' parenting methods.

Zenon. Zenon Gay Disaster Projection Zogratis. Where do I even begin with the most mentally incapacitated youngest child? This dude almost, ALMOST got out of the toxic family clutches and could have eloped with his childhood sweetheart Allen but Lucius (im pretty sure the dungeon incident was his fault, you can't tell me it aint) got so fuck ass mad over Allen "steering Zenon away from what he's supposed to be" that he sent out a hit on him to get Zenon to crawl back so traumatised he literally copy pasted the Lucius Manifesto into his head and went on a depression episode that lasted 15 years. Man self projected his self blame, flaws and everything he hated about himself onto Yuno because he saw the Parallels. Man sold his SOUL to Beelzebub for a cornchip victory that never came.

You telling me these three are the pinnacle of plotting? For all I can tell, Lucius sacrificed all of his sibling for whatever agenda he had and the minute something goes even a millimeter off the prophecy, he immediately tries to kill it instead of working around it.

Man is so hellbent on forcing his chosen one timeline he has no fucking long term planning skills. This man started a fight with Asta in front of two royals, a 500 year old sealing mage and all of whom know how to use Ultimate Magic. Mimosa is Literally the Senzu Bean of Black Clover. Noelle has killed MULTIPLE demons. Secre can banish Lucius' ass faster than he can ask what's going on. This is not the plan of the century, ESPECIALLY if he started this shit in the Royal Palace where MULTIPLE high ranking and strong mages reside.

You look at this man and tell me he ain't a deep fried chuuni who fell into a white supremacist reddit forum and got a 5 year plan that is a botched 20 year plan involving mass genocide. I don't believe it.

Man probably even made up Julius entire identity around his own self and then got shocked when said second soul then doesn't wanna listen to him.

I ain't even mad about Tabata making the 4th Zogratis Julius Sibling theory cannon now because the way it comes off, the only true way to stop the 3 Demonic Musketeers Of Apocalypse is to defeat their weirder, more unstable and bigoted eldest sibling who raised them into those disasters.

At this point, the only thing that could make this EVEN FUNNIER is if Lucius didn't account for the possibility of "eating a supreme devil's malice fueled heart immediately purifies them and reincarnates them as humans", which is to say Asta could be Astaroth's Unbothered, Moisturized, Happy, In My Lane, Focused, Flourishing Human Version and Asta simply talking is giving Lucius an aneurysm.

[cosmic-waves7]

Yuuji itadori with a shy s/o

He won't leave you alone lol.

Not for two seconds.

(☆▽☆)

He's sort of the golden retriever himbo boyfriend so y'all are polar opposites.

When you first met he was just instantly attached to you, wanted to do anything and everything with you.

( ╹▽╹ )

You're going on a mission?

He's coming with.

You're going into the city for the day?

Well now so is he.

Also never he never stops talking.

He's just buzzing with excitement and has already developed a crush on you.

While you're just in the corner overwhelmed and borderline hyperventilating, thinking of any reason on why this very large sunshine of a person with a demon possessing his being will not let you be.

You were a bit of a recluse so you couldn't grasp the concept that he just liked you very much and thought you were very adorable with all your reactions.

(◡ ω ◡)

Flirts with you all of he time even when you're dating.

Why?

Cuz he can.

Nobara likes teasing you about him plenty now that you're dating but you just fondly smile while he grumbles at her words.

"he never shuts up, how do you deal with him?" she muses jokingly, "tell me your secrets of silencing yuuji, I'm begging at this point."

"I can be silent. " ಠᴥಠ

"No you can't." ಠಿ_ಠ

"Yes I can-"

*Cue the bickering*

When she finally leaves you two alone he'll actually go quiet for once and it doesn't take long for you to figure out why.

"You know I love how outgoing and loud you are."

"...you do?" (ب_ب)

"Of course I do, never change."

And he's back to normal.

( ´◡‿ゝ◡`)

The rest of the sorcerers at Jujutsu tech never see you without each other, if one shows up and the other is not by their side everyone immediately jumps to the worse conclusions possible.

Gojo thinks you both are his ultimate ship.

Nobara agrees.

Megumi does too but he'll never say it out loud.

(・∀・)

Yuuji love love loves dragging you everywhere.

Wether he's physically carrying you or you've been bribed. He always finds something interesting for you both to try.

Although usually you will be carried rather than bribed simply because he likes hauling you over his shoulder anyway.

You've stopped trying to resist him and honeslty you've come to prefer it as well.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Uses the most sickly sweet nicknames he can find to get a rise out of you.

Flusters you plenty and sometimes he doesn't even realize it.

Cuddles 24/7

Usually initiated by him.

(~￣³￣)~

You both take turns picking out dates, it helps balancing your personalities out.

Your dates range in variety and intensity depending on who's picking and it's honestly a fun experience, even if it may be out of either of your comfort zones or something the other never really had considered doing before.

You may not match but you make it work.

He just adores you.

Relationship goals. Period.

(⌐■-■)