#sure he didnt die because he was a hero (more like he was a hero because he died) but semantics semantics

[help-help-i-need-an-adult]

I think I need a fanfiction where Jaskier is like 30 and an established professor (traveling bard career didnt pan out as planned. He’s an excellent teacher but does still travel some) at Oxenfurt and meets a fresh out of Kaer Morhen 17ish year old Geralt.

And baby Geralt sees this very attractive older man who is nice to him and buys him a drink. Discovers he’s a bard with no self defense training, and takes it upon himself to make sure this very kind very pretty human doesn’t die. Jaskier thinks it’s adorable that Geralt follows him around like a lost puppy. (Young Henry Cavil levels of adorable here)

Young Gerlat who hasn’t had all his hope and sense of being a hero kicked out of him yet having Jaskier “I will stab you if you insult my Witcher” the Bard as a travel companion within months of leaving the keep.

Young Geralt actually openly loving the professor’s songs.

Jaskier practicing lectures he’s planning on Geralt as they travel and Geralt gets the best education as a result.

Jaskier holding Geralt as he cries after not being able to save a child for the first time.

Jaskier being the one with the power that naturally comes with being older and more experienced.

Geralt being a big puppy dog and eagerly trying to get Jaskier’s approval and being very helpful and talking more as a result.

The two idiots falling in love and Jaskier being conflicted about it at first because “you’re just a kid!” “Jaskier, I’m 29.” “A BABY!!”

Geralt having “toss a coin” to help his reputation from day fucking 1.

Jaskier being there to help Geralt deal with the mess that was Renfri in a way that DOESNT result in “Butcher of Blavakin” happening.

Jaskier being Geralt’s first love

Geralt spending his winters trying to figure out how to give Jaskier immortality only to discover he’s already immortal because “wait, you don’t look 60.” “Well you don’t look 50 either! I moisturize. Back off!”

Geralt thinking Jaskier is the most brilliant man he’s ever met when they first meet instead of thinking he’s an idiot.

Jaskier helping Geralt grieve his brothers after the attack. Helping him grieve when he lost his first Roach. Teaching him healthy coping mechanisms and emotion management.

EMOTIONALLY STABLE GERALT

@0dde11eth

[angy-grrr]

okay help im getting nervous dnksndjasndjndkad this week is going to be a long one IM GOING TO FAINT WHILE WAITING FOR THE CHAPTER ADKAJDKAJDK

explanation under the cut? im just venting kind of about the interpretation of Izuku-Shigaraki and Ochako-Himiko as the "same"

People keep saying they should bond like that in chapter 429 because they both are sad over failing in saving their villains, and feel the same way about them, and I just dont know.

Am I really seeing Ochako and Himiko's interactions as more than what was intended?

They are just so different from Izuku's and Shigaraki's; these have a touching moment like when they bumped heads as children, which was so sad and adorable before AFO decided to get involved, but its just... not the same, right? He didnt cry for him, he wasn't sad because he wanted a world with him in it specifically, but because this isnt what he wanted to do. He feels guilt, and has conflictive emotions over being considered an admirable hero when he killed someone; Spinner's eyes, judging and full of hatred for him, flashing in his mind while being told he inspired someone to move. From my point of view it does affect him of course, but its about their society around them -he asks about how things could be different and tries to be responsible, he acts in order to do what he thinks is right.

Ochako's feeling guilty? Is that really what it is? Is that wound a reminder of her own perceived failure as a hero? Im sure she does feel also guilt, but its that it? Himiko motivated her to go against what was considered right in the script of heroes and villains and went out of her way just to tell her "your smile is cute, I rejected you because I didnt understand how you could look so happy and free to do so, and I envy it". Did Deku ever had something like that with Tomura? I can see how he changed him, yeah, but did he even like him? He didnt know him, not like Ochako did with Himiko, right?

This is why he isn't crying over his death, or was desperate over the idea of him ending like that -he tried his best with what he had, and just like he told Ochako maybe a battle was inevitable but he also wanted to reach out to that inner child; he accepts the battle and is willing to attack as we clearly saw, and at the same time he wanted to stop the pain somehow.

Ochako wasn't willing to hurt her, didnt try even if she hurt her or her friends. They both arent killers and prefer to protect the people around them, but Izuku does hurt him multiple times and doesnt doubt about doing it -his regrets come from being too late, so he wonders if there are ways to intervene before and avoid this much pain from forming. Ochako and Himiko do have a feeling of what could have happened if I just met you before, Toga directly wonders about it. Am I reading it wrong if I see them as different? Their relationship is just more personal and emotional to me, so Ochako here is crying and was crying over losing Himiko. When she remembers in that moment the cliff scene and Izuku's words about maybe a battle being inevitable but not ignoring what he saw deep inside him... shes not glad or happy about reaching to Himiko's sadness, because it led to her disappearing and willing to die for her. She starts crying and I just see it as her realizing this doesnt make anything better, she wants her to be alive. She got into her heart, and its not enough if she dies.

She preferred to die, before letting Himiko to sacrifice herself for her.

Are Izuku and Ochako truly feeling the same for the villains? So many people think they share this guilt, and just handle it differently. That this is about failing in saving them, and wanting to be a different type of hero.

Am I just reading it all wrong?

[fortunatelyenchantingtaco]

I know Geto is like a big sore spote in the whole fandom and i might be a bit insane, but i do love his story specifically because i dont think there is a way to fix it

We are being shown that well, he got really depressed and went into self isolation. In most cases, the best course of action would be to remove him from distress and have time to heal. The issue is that Geto couldnt just leave — he believes he needs to kill curses, and to become stronger he needs to eat them which distresses him further, and if he leaves people will die, and he cant ignore that just to keep himself sane. For a man like him if he head a specific goal to become strong for, i dont think the eating process would have been such a big issue, but we have to have a big distinction that jujutsu sorcerer is, at the end of the day, a profession. You’re not a chosen superhero to save the world. Those growing up in clans may have a worse childhood, but growing up with understanding that yes curses exist its part of nature does make it easier to bear. Which is one of reason why Gojo, even while having all the trauma, didnt have such gripes with reasons or goals — this is a life he was born into.

Thinking of sorcery as more than a job makes you perceive yourself as more of a hero, and heroes are good and just and get recognition. Non sorcerers dont know about them. Geto fell into a trap of doing something for others and despairing. Its easier not to think about that shit when you’re naturally good at it, and you have fun — which is why Amanai situation and Gojo becoming stronger was so bad. Now he went on missions alone, which meant no company to distract him, and now it was no longer all fun shits and giggles, its a job full of tragedies. Considering Gojo was targeted since birth, we can assume he killed people before Toji, death is, unfortunately, familiar to him. Not for Geto — not seeing someone you care about die right before you, and certainly not being that close to death himself. He’s not longer the best at it, and its no longer fun, and he gets no recognition. Tobe precise, those are not bad thinks to want — we all want them. But if you dont get them here he would have been better to ya know. Find another job probably

Like the worst part about this whole thing is that some shit like that would have happened eventually one way or another, they’re not invincible. Childhood would eventually end, and in a way Geto spiraling is inevitable. The system is inherently flawed, and the issue they deal with is cruel. Some jobs are much more dangerous and have a detrimental effect on your mental health — its just that no one thought to give jujustu sorcerers some help, which is another problem. Adding the fact that he’s neither a saviour being thanked by everyone, or a strongest, yeah, he can’t figure out how to do this shit.

In AUs, I do think there are ways he could have handled it. Like if Gojo wasn’tin school, maybe he took his whole education with the clan? Or my au where he’s in a prison realm for centuries? Like yeah, sure, if Geto was the strongest, the only person here, i do think he would have probably felt invaluable. Youre great for your profession, you were born for it, why would you leave?

This may be projecting, but i do think his way of thinking about it is inherently flawed, a very slippery slope. People need a goal, a meaning, but looking for it outward is a sure way to get yourself into a slump, I went through this shit in a nasty manner when everything i did revolved around other people. Basing your decisions on what others would think is an easy way to pretend like its not your responsibility. This is why Gojo tells Megumi to be selfish and this is why during the entrance exams Yaga says that others wont appreciate your actions and you cant base your motivations off others.

Thats the ultimate tragedy, the fact that thinking like Geto did is ridiculously easy. You go into uni on the same course as your friend just to be with them and when something goes wrong your first thought would be that you did that for them, even thought its your life choices and decision. Yeah.

I have no conclusions for you, just some ramblings. I like my Geto mean and fucked up and insecure, makes him so real and relatable as a person.

[allthethingsiwishyousaid]

¡Mirror! Yoru x Reader

ive had this idea in my head for awhile, im not sure i executed the prompt exactly how i imagined it in my head. the idea was that reader came across yoru's omega counter part after the alpha earth yoru died, and yoru comes across the readers alpha counter part, whos omega version died. both of which having a romantic relationship with eachother on their earths so when they see eachother after both experiencing their deaths its like them reuniting again except through a different version of themselves.

•

•

•

You knew it wasnt him. Well, in a sense, technically, it was. But it wasnt your him, because it wasnt your Yoru.

It wasnt the boy you spent years getting to know, initial hatred falling into partnership, which slowly fell into lust.

It wasnt the Yoru you slowly had fallen inlove with, or the Yoru you spent every second with in and out of the protocol.

It wasnt the Yoru who didnt come back from the mission you begged him not to go on knowing what the inevitable fate that followed it was.

That Yoru was gone, permanently.

Yet there he was standing within feet of you, tangible.

For a second you couldnt almost believe that it wasnt him, it looked just like him. He definitely shared a face but not the same memories.

He wore the same jacket, and his haired geled up in his same signature style. His eyes full of so much life just as once your Yoru's had.

You were more than aware of what agreeing to these missions intitled to, and that was running the risk of fatefully encountering the version of him that wasn't yours.

It'd break you.

Before coming onto the field, you were sure youd be able to keep your composure. It wasnt gaureenteed omega Earth would deploy his dopple ganger but every mission was a gamble to how you'd react upon seeing him.

You didnt hold together well.

Frozen you just stared at him, as he stared back at you. Similiar expression on his face, pure shock. Almost like he couldnt believe you were standing infront of him.

What felt like hours, which must had been no more the a mere few seconds had gone by you were finally broken from your trance when the enemy Yoru spoke up.

"(Y/N)..?"

Not only did he look like your Yoru, the similiarity in his voice was uncanny.

You couldnt react verbally, instead, gently reaching your hand to his cheek, you softly caress his face. You dont know what possessed you to do such things, after all you were aware that this wasnt your Yoru and you were sent to eliminate any omega agents.

But then again what were you supposed to do, the shell of someone who was once the love of your life, the existence of your being, was standing right infront of you again after being so long apart.

Maybe its because you were scared to lose him again, if you werent to touch him he vanish completely like he once did before.

Though this time when you touched him he wasnt cold. Taking in the warmth against your palm. You couldnt believe you were actually touching him again. You had been longing for feeling his warmth once more, the feeling that had been so wrongfully stripped from you.

To your surprise, he didnt pull away, or even react to your touch. He stood there, unable to fathom the fact that you were standing within inches of him now.

Thats when you lost all composure. You threw your arms around the familiar body, squeezing as tightly as you could.

He didnt hug back.

It wasnt his (Y/N) and he knew that.

Just like he wasnt your Yoru.

But you didnt care if it was him or not. A vessel which resembled him stood infront of you, and that was an opportunity you couldnt pass by.

There was always the chance he could just kill you, instantly. Though you wouldnt mind, atleast youd finally be back with your Yoru if that were the case.

Perhaps everytime you got sent out on one of these missions, that it was the end goal. A part of you desperately wish death would grant you the sweet release of freedom. You wouldnt die corwardly alone like you initially planned, instead a hero on the field just like Yoru had.

There was so much you had to say to him. But to the man you were about to speak to it would be words of obscenity.

He doesnt know you.

He doesnt know.

Reality set in, like a painful punch to the gut. You quickly had released the omega agent, realizing your vulnerable state.

"I'm so sorry Yoru. Im sorry I couldnt be there for you when you needed me most."

But again he didnt say anything.

Face to face now, you could finally see how empty his eyes really looked, lifeless, contrary to what you believed to have seen.

He had experienced the pain and loss just as you once did. Deep down he knew the extent of your pain. The sleepless nights, the endless nightmares.

You both craved the touch of death.

Closing your eyes you slowly await your fate, acceptance and remorse fuel your body. Its your time, you needed it to be your time.

However you await a fate you arent granted.

Nothing but silence accompanies you.

Sheepishly you open your eyes to see Yoru no longer in your presence. Dread, yet a sense of melancholy fills the atmosphere.

It feels like the same person had died twice that day.

--------------------------------------------------------

this was my first fic guys pls be nice idk what im doing lol. i hope u enjoy it!! feel free to send val requests ill write for more people in the future.

[lazulian-devil]

Are y'all ready for Book 3? No? Well, I dont care, do I now. You're already reading, its too late for you to leave now.

The Villains of Skulduggery Pleasant 3 - Batu

We arrive in the third book, The Faceless Ones, which seamlessly incorporates the consequences of everyones actions into even worse mayhem.

Following Vengous almost succesful attempt at opening the rift, a mysterious man named Batu (who is also the guy dealing with Sanguine at the end of Book 2 being all ominous) is behind the kidnapping (and murder, lest I forget) of all remaining Teleporters. Because he needs someone to teleport something through a portal in a different dimension.

(Tangent: Im sure Shunters didnt exist yet in Book 3. I feel like this should have been a Shunter thing and I can neither remember nor bother to find proof why the Anchor needs a Teleporter instead of a Shunter. In Book 8, Crayfon Signate quite literally does something similar with the Sceptre of the Ancients, looking for a Signature and then finding the correct dimension. Im pretty sure its about it all being a gateway instead of a direct transferal. If anyone knows, do tell.)

Alright, so. We have Batu/Paddy as our main villain and he is a brilliant and excellent one. But lets get the honorable mentions out of the way, so no villains feel ignored.

Our boy Billy-Ray Sanguine is of course part of Batus Squad, but so are the remains of the the Diablerie with Jaron Gallow, Murder Rose and Gruesome Krav. I honestly admit that I feel they are caricatures and the screentime they have is sufficient not to make them boring. They all die in the end anyways and its a shame that it reflects in the way they are so very one note and almost ridiculously "evil". On top of that, we also have a Seahag (in a lake. With corpses. I do love how dumb that is). Then theres Scapegrace and the second buildup for Thurid Guild.

I will be honest with you: Batu is an exceptional villain in terms of motivation, speech and arc. His surrounding villains are sadly one note caricatures, besides those that get to live into the next book (mainly Guild, Scapegrace and Sanguine). The others are often played for jokes or just to make a point on how cruel, wicked and horrendous the Diablerie and the worshippers of the Faceless Ones truly are. Which, yeah. Thats fair. But I always love myself some three dimensional side characters, so let me be a little sad.

Now, lets think about why Batu actually works:

Hes mortal. Evil, yes. But mortal. But he could have been magic. Technically, its his birthright.

And thats all, really. Its man grasping for something he could have never had and that he could have never been gifted. Its another case of fanaticism. Fruitless, sad and deadly.

Now, the SPU has a long history of ignoring of belittling mortals in the way that they are and who they are. This becomes more apparent in later books (the xenophobia/eugenics in Phase 2 for example) but its also pretty evident here:

Batu uses his mortality, his frailness and his visual weakness as a shield. If, for example, Batu was young and fit, it wouldnt quite work the same way. His age and behaviour is a smokescreen.

Funnily enough, he even points it out in his first interaction with Skulduggery and Valkyrie:

"Reach a certain age and suddenly, you're a nobody, suddenly you're not even worth counting." - Book 3, Chapter 13

That combined with his somewhat senile mannerisms, the whole old-man schtick is so very stereotypical. Because of course it is. Both readers and heroes alike are blinded by how much of a an old man™ Paddy really is.

Contrast this with Batus first appearance in Chapter 7 and 14. The way he speaks ist fundamentally different.

"You failed me, Mr Sanguine. I paid you to do a job and you failed me. [...] You will have a chance to redeem yourself."

Paddy doesnt hold power in conversation, hes a silly little man. Its on purpose, of course. Authenticity breeds trust and everyone can relate to an old cynical man, stuck in his ways. Batu on the other hand commands a room. Speaks with a high tongue, with precision. Short and accurate, no breath wasted. Naturally.

When you read the books and you are aware of the twist, there are a lot of things, behaviours and sentences that could make you raise an eyebrow. But our heroes dont have the time to question anything, so they dont. They willingly accept that this man owns the land with the rift, that he doesnt panic at the explanation of magic, that his questions are a little suspicious. Because then they would need to stop. And neither Skulduggery nor Valkyrie do such a thing. They are cocksure of themselves, remember? And Batu knows. Batu even bets on that, as all sorcerers he has met have been equally cocksure. And all his henchmen are too. He's playing all of them, simply because he knows how they work. He has weaseled his way into their homes, has fed their cats (s. Chapter 36), has seen their arrogance and sadly his cynicism proves right at every turn. He really is invisible to them. A mortal obstacle, to be dealt with to safe the world. Always the roadstop, never the destination.

In Chapter 20, Paddys reaction to magic is a smile, not fear. He knows magic exists. It entices him. The shock he displays is - of course - an act, but a very believable one. Sure, yeah, the old man doesnt mind anymore. Hes too old, he has seen too much. Magic might as well exist to him. And he was horribly stubborn this whole time, so it makes sense that he would have an equally spiteful response to magic.

We even come full circle: Paddy asks Valkyrie if she despises mortals for what they are.

"Someone who can run fast dismisses the people slower than he is. What if its someone who can run really fast? Then the slower people become little more than an annoyance, and then an irritation. Superiority breeds contempt." - Book 3, Chapter 20

(Quick sidenote: Its like he wants to be caught when you start looking for it? He himself is the one who runs fast. He himself sees the others as annoyance, as irritation. What a beautifully wretched thing to say.)

Essentially, Paddy is justifying himself here, but, again, reader and heroes are caught up in this very relevant question that plagues Valkyrie: Being detached from Humanity, from Family. Once again, Batu is using his understanding of the magical world against them. He is one step ahead. He recognises Valkyries youth and asks her specifically. Not Skulduggery, who would dismiss it. Her. Even further, he points out the massive flaws in the systems to her, as one of the first in the whole bookseries:

"So magic people view themselves as mages and everyone else as mortals. And that doesnt sound like a group of people elevating themselves to godhood to you?" [...] "... They have the power of gods, dont they? They have magic at their fingertips. Their affairs affect the world. [...] You hold the fate of the world in your hands. If thats not godlike, I dont know what is."

Now the avid reader might have noticed that once Paddy speaks about sorcerers and magic users, his whole old man™ act falls away. His speech becomes more like Batus, because he is Batu in this moment. He isnt acting here.

And why does no one recognise it? Because its a justified question. Again and again, Batus line of logic proves true: All sorcerers are playing god to an extend. A theme that will be picked up far more heavily between Book 7-9 and the entirety of Phase 2. So, as readers, its enticing to see someone challenge the presented Status Quo and as Valkyrie, this direct confrontation helps settle her own views as a growing Teenager into this magical world of god-pretenders. Batu fulfills both the role of a mentor and a villain, pointing out the straw that will break the camels back again and again and again in the following books.

He himself fights like a mortal: There are no fancy gadgets in the big fight. There are machine guns and grenades, painfully mortal weapons. Painful is literal in this sense. Batu chooses reliable weapons of war and not unpredictable gods. At least, in the beginning. There are also the Hollow Men, a whole artifical army of them. Which, broken down, is hilarious. The sorcerers, capable of destructive magic and definitely murder, are using the mortal weapons against the heroes. The army that is there to support them is one of magical stupidity, literal child friendly canon fodder. His army of magic men is one without mind, without question. And his Diablerie, despite actually having a brain, never question him either. They're all hollow men, one way or another. Some of them by power of creation and some of them simply because they are blinded by their own fanaticism, blinded by Batu and the true fight. So, he doesnt fight like a mortal at all. He fights like a mortal that knows the sorcerers. Using the best of both worlds, the most potent startegies each side has to offer. Additionally, there is also the implication of him commanding a massive army without even being there, which does underline his godlike aspirations as well.

Finally, when its revealed that he is indeed Batu, he declares himself "not a mindless drone" and "someone with a vision" (Chapter 36). But what is the root of all his evil?

"Magic." He said. "My father was a sorcerer. So was my brother. But not me. I just didnt have the spark, you know? But now, its finally my turn."

Batu feels robbed of godhood. And that is precisely why he is summoning gods to overtake the world. If he cant reach for divinity, everyone else who can needs to suffer for it.

[Val] "You're going to let a Faceless One take you over."

[Batu] "And then I'll be brimming with magic that ordinary sorcerers would never even dream about. They're not gods, Valkyrie. They're as pathetic as the people you left behind in your old life. But me? I'll be a true god."

But that isnt everything. Despite how much his mortality annoys him, he sees it as the one defining strength that seperates him from sorcerers. His mortality makes him powerful.

[...] "I was born without magic. Ive had to be strong. My will is iron. Im not going to be simply erased - not like the others."

His mortality makes him so powerful that he will rise above the mortals, above the godlike sorcerers and be able to Neon Genesis Evangelion Pilot his way through the world as a Faceless Ones vessel.

So now everyone can agree that Batu is another insane man in a series of insane villains, right? I dont need to spell that out. But before I go and give you a nice little ribbonbow for the ending, lets look at Batus death and how its described.

"Batu turned, spread his arms and raised his eyes to his god, and as it rushed to fill him, he screamed with terror and exultation. And then Batu was gone." - Chapter 42

The Faceless One described here is the one that is responsible for all the mayhem at the end of the book. Its by far the strongest from the bunch. So maybe some part of Batus willpower speech is true. But the written text makes it very clear that this is not the case. Batu is an excellent vessel for the strongest Faceless One. But nothing more than that.

Which is horribly ironic. The man that gained the trust of dozens of sorcerers, has perfected being a non-threat to anyone but believes himself to be worthy of the power of a literal god vanishes instantly. Just like everyone else.

But I love Batu as a villain. Waving all the weirdness aside. He is compelling because in the few moments that he is actually authentic, he is terrifying.

Not to mention he actually achieved what The Diablerie and Baron Vengous couldnt. He manipulated Skulduggery into revealing where the gate was. He used the ressources of the enemy to his own gain. The saddest thing about Batu is, that if he had put his mind to anything but godhood, he would have ascended anyway. He has all the ressources: smarts, wit, the ability to plan longterm, not to mention charisma and leadership skills.

He would have made a magnificent sorcerer. And thats just... incredibly compelling. Batu isnt strong with magic. He doesnt throw flames around, he isnt a walking skeleton. He is a cynical, old man that despises the hand he has been dealt and instead of accepting what is, he cuts from the world the pieces he thinks he deserves. And in this incredible determination blossoms a man that could have been anything. That had the skills, the mind, the speech to become something wonderful, something progressive, a change bringer.

Instead of recognising the talents he possesed, he focused merely on what he didnt have. Turned to evil, to spite. To bitterness and cynicism. He almost became the downfall of the entire world in his quest to prove that he was, indeed, as godlike as the rest of them.

9/10. Go Paddy.

Wanna read more of my breakdowns?

Here is Part 1: Nefarian Serpine and Part 2: Baron Vengous for you!

[bthump]

Hi, im new reading berserk and i just finished till the eclipse. I cant say i hate Griffith that much the way they hate him on other platforms like reddit for example, but do you consider him selfish by confirming to the sacrifice? I believe he has a choice eventho we knew for a fact that the other god hands manipulated the situation like his guilt for example. But the moment he saw Guts, is what made him finally sacrifice. I find that selfish and toxic in a way. I knew he has feelings, and i knew he was very hurt by him. And i knew he probably want to stop the pain. He lost everything when he left him, i feel like he is overflowing with resentment. Yet we all knew everything that has happened to him was his own fault, that he is just a victim of his own feelings. He went from sacrificing his life everytime Guts is in danger to him sacrificing Guts in the end. Tragic. I wonder what you think is on his mind when he saw Guts and said "only you made me forget my dream" yet he ended up sacrificing him. The way it was portrayed in the movie 2012 is quite sentimental, he doesnt sound angry. He even looks like he is smiling in the manga. Is he thinking if i cant have you, might as well die?

so glad to find your blog ^^ im the newbie that asked here before. haha i just added some questions. Now, im not really sure if he actually resented Guts that he finally chose to sacrifice. I thought he had forgiven him when he saw how Guts regretted it in the prison, but then we get the scene in the lake "ill never again forgive"

at first i thought his resentment towards Guts is what made him finally decided to sacrifice. But now, im confused again. maybe because of how they portrayed it (both in the movie and manga like ive said before). its like a freaking confession yet he ended up sacrificing him. Is he thinking if i cant have you, might as well die? Was he really angry at Guts that he chose to sacrifice? or is his guilt just too strong that he cant abandon his dream anymore? now im leaning more towards the last one, his guilt is just too strong and since he cant have Guts anymore, he might just as well die.

One thing that also confuses me is why didnt the God Hands used Griffth's feelings towards Guts to manipulate him. iirc they only used his guilt against him. they could have use his resentment or his love but nah.

I get a lot of anon asks but I think these are both you, right? I'm gonna put them both together and discuss my own take on Griffith's motivations for the Eclipse sacrifice in answer.

First though, glad you're getting into Berserk! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story (so far)!

Basically I think one of Griffith's motivations for making the sacrifice is ironically pretty selfless: he wants to achieve what thousands of people have died for. I mean if you boil down that motivation it comes down to guilt and self-loathing and being trapped in a neverending cycle of causing more deaths to try to justify previous deaths, but yk, in another story that would be portrayed as noble and admirable.

Imagine a hero leading a bunch of troops into a battle in which they're hopelessly outnumbered in order to attempt to achieve a goal everyone has dedicated their lives to. That could be a pretty inspiring climax to a different story. And it's functionally the same logic, and I think it fits in with a lot of the vibe of Berserk in which Miura takes common tropes and subverts them by showing the dark underbelly.

Noble ambition to create a better world - but it stems from self-loathing. Guts wants to be the very best swordsman like any shounen protag - but it's because he has low self-esteem and bought into Griffith's self-destructive life philosophy. Guts is a cool manly badass who slays monsters and has a giant sword and fights through broken bones - and it's largely because of childhood trauma and suicidal ideation. You know, that kind of vibe.

The Eclipse is kind of like the logical, dark endpoint of what happens when you dedicate your life to a (person with a) cause. Sometimes you do in fact die without ever seeing that goal. In a way I think the Eclipse is essentially a dark parallel for any given battle the Hawks fight under Griffith, because they believe in him. And for Griffith, it's a "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" kind of story.

But when it comes to Griffith's feelings towards Guts and how they were a factor in Griffith choosing to make the sacrifice, yeah I mean, I wouldn't exactly call it positive and healthy lol.

The way I read it, I think Griffith's love for Guts was his motivation much more than like anger or resentment. He did feel resentment because he loved Guts, because his love for Guts "made him weak" and ruined his life and made him forget his dream. But I think ultimately he sacrificed Guts less as like, a way to lash out at Guts or hurt Guts out of spite, and more to free himself from Guts as like, an anchor weighing him down and making him lose sight of his goals. I definitely think there is some spite there, some amount of 'fuck you for making me need you and then leaving me,' but I don't think it's his driving emotion, and I don't think it would've been enough to sacrifice Guts on its own. I think it's more horror and despair at how overwhelming and life-ruining his love for Guts is.

When Guts touches his shoulder and plunges him into the despair that opens the behelit, I think it's because Griffith is horrified over his own emotional weakness. The fact that despite everything, he still loves Guts.

And like I don't think Griffith could've personally killed Guts to escape those feelings - I mean just look at the parallels between Griffith initially trying to strangle him in the torture chamber before holding his hand, and Femto bringing up his hand to kill Guts before lowering it, and potentially Griffith losing the second duel and even calling Zodd off at the Hill of Swords and leaving without killing Guts in Elfhelm - but I think the Godhand set up the Eclipse to separate Guts and Griffith (hence why Griffith catching Guts and then Guts letting go of his hand and falling away was framed as an impactful moment) because Griffith could ask for Guts' death by proxy in a brief moment of certainty in a way he couldn't kill him himself.

So like, I think that's a watsonian reason why the Godhand didn't use Griffith's feelings towards Guts to manipulate him - Griffith's resolve to kill Guts is not strong. Guts does make Griffith forget his dream, even after everything, and the Godhand need to make him remember his dream. Playing up his relationship with Guts, even the miserable parts, could backfire.

They only use Guts in Griffith's vision to remind him that Guts told him to do whatever he has to do to achieve his dream and admonished him for wavering in his resolve, essentially justifying his own death for Griffith's cause.

I don't think reminding Griffith of how Guts hurt him would have the same impact, because Griffith doesn't really make the sacrifice out of anger. He makes it as a cumulation of the philosophy he (and the rest of the core Hawks) lived his entire life by.

Guts' death is necessary, not just because of how the rules of the sacrifice work, but because symbolically the act of sacrifice represents a rejection of relationships in favour of an obsession or dream or desire, because a significant theme of the story is emotionally healthy + healing relationships vs wallowing in bad coping mechanisms for trauma and becoming a monster. And the dream is a bad coping mechanism set at odds to Guts as a potentially healing relationship.

So narratively emphasizing the dream works best here too, because it's less about Griffith wanting to kill Guts and more about Griffith choosing that cycle of guilt over growing past it.

Anyway yeah, that's my take. Thanks for the ask!

[suffarustuffaru]

some theorizing / meta about pride if reinsuba

i think their power dynamic is super interesting because on the surface, obviously reinhard is more powerful than subaru. theres no question about that. reinhard is the one person subaru cant beat with enough tries at rbd. reinhard has killed subaru in pride if, what, i think it was either 1,000 or 10,000 times? but reinhard only powers over subaru PHYSICALLY. mentally, reinhard is already weak, but he’s doing better in pride if purely because wilhelm was erased by the whale. we can then assume that this reinhard is not as insecure as his main route self—wilhelm was the one that blamed him for killing theresia, and heinkel was the one who defended reinhard at first before eventually growing to believe this too. because wilhelm’s gone, all of that conflict is gone—or at least mostly gone, but we do know that reinhard and heinkel make up again regardless.

on the other hand though, pride if reinhard starting off happier than main route reinhard means he has a longer way to fall. subaru specifically cant directly beat reinhard. except—the only way to win over reinhard is to fight him indirectly. his mind is easily the only weak part of him because hes still human. he already has built-in insecurities from his upbringing and how the kingdom itself has treated him as a weapon and a tool. we only see julius die on screen, and we get a small mention that felix dies later as well, and then of course theres the whole kingdom—but i 100% think subaru killed basically all of reinhard’s loved ones. of course felix is targeted because its so easy to manipulate and use him after the whale erased crusch. of course julius is targeted because hes a knight to a rival competitor to emilia. but its a great coincidence that theyre also both reinhards closest friends—its a win win for subaru. theyre stepping stones in his plan to also bring the sword saint down to earth.

how do you kill a hero if you cant physically kill him? you kill everyone he cares about. you kill his purpose. his purpose as sword saint is to protect the entire kingdom, and he was told—at the age of FOUR—that if he cares about his family, then he must protect the kingdom. in pride if, he essentially fails at both of those things. julius and felix and likely people like heinkel, carol, and grimm (the latter two are also people who looked after reinhard ever since he was a child, in addition to other astrea family members) are dead. the kingdom is burning and in ruin. reinhard, whos been conditioned into being the kingdom’s hero, is forcefully broken out of that in the worst way possible. look, reinhard, the entire country is broken and all your loved ones are dead and now, theres no obligation to save any of them when they’re all already gone—it’s technically what reinhard’s always wanted. reinhard’s hero image has been shattered. and im sure that in the aftermath of pride if, after subarus death, theres likely going to be at least one person out there going, “why didnt the sword saint save us? why couldnt the sword saint stop any of this from happening?”

its no wonder, then, that subaru is the one that makes reinhard—emotionally repressed and almost always collected and subdued reinhard whos always asking even SIN ARCHBISHOPS mid-fight to surrender—to feel pure hatred for the first time. that’s how subaru won over reinhard.

and now that reinhard isnt the Hero anymore, emilia can replace him—just as subaru planned.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

League of Villains Redemption Discourse;

Its been a while since i’ve been talking about redemption for villains because it kinda become obvious that it will happen at the end of Bnha and all but there is still some discourse for villains, especially league of villains. That ‘Gentleman and La Brava fits redeemable’ type of villain better. That characters like ‘Twice are redeemable’ but Dabi isnt or Dabi can be saved but Shigaraki is bad blah blah blah. Like, the idea that ‘certain type of villain deserve to be saved’ while other doesnt. It is also ironic that people think characters like Shigaraki, Dabi and Toga are too far gone or they think this wasnt hinted. Well, here we go.

I would like to focus on league of villains to try to explain why i disagree with those opinions.

First of all, Shigaraki and Dabi’s redemption is hinted since the beginning.

The first time we saw Shigaraki, he was heaviely hinted that he is abuse victim and he was groomed. This his literally first introduction and story is telling you that this character is victim. And he had a conversation with Deku at the mall. Loosing his mind while saying ‘He hates Allmight because people are laughing as if there is noone he couldnt save’. And we get a little flashback form his childhood, ‘Noone saved you, didnt they?’. His entire character literally screams ‘SAVE ME. WHY NOONE SAVE ME? I HATE EVERYONE BECAUSE THEY DONT SAVE ME’.

And Overhaul arc. It is abour saving Eri who is parallel with Shigaraki, once again it is about saving Tomura in a parallel and we also seeing Shigaraki is capable of caring about other people which is a positive character development. And MVA arc is even more obvious. Not only story making his story more empathic because it is showing how tragic it is but also because we meet with Tenko who is kind kid who would help outcasts and well, Tomura even after ewvrything does the same with league. Showing that his inner kindness didnt disappear. Which is even making it more obvious.

Theme of Bnha is questioning the meaning of hero. Main character who wants to SAVE people in a fake hero society and his enemy who is entire character is about SAVE MEEEE, never really had choice because he was kidnapped by big evil, turns out still caring people and even helping them just like he used to be as kid. Its so obvious when Deku is like I WANNA SAVE PEOPLE and Shigaraki is like SAVE MEEE so yeah, well, it was always hinted that Shigaraki will be saved by Deku. Of course, he could die by being saved, we wouldnt know at first but one thing is sure that he would be saved. Shigaraki’s story didnt change. He was always redeemable and waiting to be saved. And the more story goes on, he only proved this more. Because in stories, positive character developments usually means noble death or redemption.

Btw, i dont think he will die because after everything happenned in story, there is no point of him dying. It also loose the point of being saved.

And Dabi.

This one is tricky since Dabi was mysterious character. I think two things make kinda hint that he will most likely get redemption. 1- He is heaveily hinted that he was Todoroki. He is doing what he is doing because he was failed by abusive hero. He is very similar to Earlyroki. So there is family drama there. Shouto is already tragic character in a positive story, so i dont see him ever killing his brother or something. Not to mention, if he is Todoroki, it would mean, he became villain because of his hero father so killing victim of hero, instead of saving would be very bad look. Not to mention, during the story, Dabi acts like dark cop or something. (Not to mention Frainkeinstein parallels). Despite revenge plan, he seems to care about morals, justice and even feeling remorse. What happens later, it doesnt change his story because he is parallel with Shigaraki a lot too.

 2- Save the cat moment.

A “save the cat” is a moment, very early on in the story, where we meet or see our hero do something nice that makes us like him and say, “I want to follow this person's story.” It's important to have it because you want your audience to be sympathetic or empathetic towards your protagonist.

This was mentioned by @hamliet​ and other people. The scene when Dabi decides to spare Aoyama, despite noticing him. Note; Dabi didnt know Aoyama was traitor. ‘Save the cat moment’ for a villain can be hint as a possibe future redemption for him.

And others. League of villains. I think their redemption werent necessarely hinted or it was necessary. I think for them MVA arc hinted it.

For Toga, we didnt know her full story and life until MVA arc and it turned out she is also victim of society, not just crazy villain. She is parallel with one of the main kids like Shigaraki and Dabi so assuming that ‘if Shigaraki and Dabi are gonna be saved by Deku and Shouto, Toga will be most likely be saved by Uraraka’ wouldnt be weird. Not to mention is this whole arc was about the family bond between league, that they are capable of caring other people. Same for Twice, Spinner and Mr Compress too. Because story is telling you that those people are here because society failed them and they have still humanity in them, they are not doing what they are doing because of evil but because they are victims so it wouldnt be weird to assume that whether they will get redemption or noble death, like Twice did.

‘Characters like Gentleman and La Brava are better example of redeemable villains’

No, they are not. They are not even real criminals. They never even did serious crime. I like them but they are like joke villains, they are not meant to be ‘actually’ villains. Whole point of ‘redemption’ is people who did commit serious crimes. If there is no actually wrong action, then we wouldnt need redemption at first place. I think redemption exist for characters like league.

Note; Of course, other villains can get redemption too, i am just focusing on them because they are good example to use. Especially since even characters in story told them, characters like Stain and Overhaul and even Redestro seen as ‘better person’ just because they have ‘goal’, just because they dont want destruction, like Tomura did. But in the end, Tomura proved them wrong because despite being at the lowest of low, he still showed more humanity and positive character development than them, just by treating his comprades better.

And i also dont like it when people see one league of member more redeemable than another. Especially with Twice and others. Because Twice is very obvious when it comes to showing how much he cares about others. He is obvious victim. He is not ugly victim like Tomura, Dabi and Toga. But the thing is;

Every member of League has side that makes them look irredeemable but also they have their own redeemable features.

Tomura's desire to destruction makes him look ireedemable but he is the only villain who never had a choice at life, he feel miserable with his life and he is very kind leader to his comprades.

Dabi’s distancing himself from others, using people he cares, even trying to kill his brother just for revenge against his father makes him look irredeemable but he is the only villain in league that feels remorse for killing others. He has strong sense of responsibility and he doesnt think its justified. He doesnt even plan to live long. He just wants to punish his father for his sins and thats it.

Toga’s self centered side, not caring about others without remorse makes her look irredeemable but one, she is the only one who born with serial killer quirk, with urges, like damn and second, this one is interesting. Compared to Shigaraki and Dabi, Toga never once had a grudge against people who hurted her. She never hated the society, heroes, people for calling her monster. She just accept this monster label and decide to live her life according to it.

Twice, Spinner, Compress arent different from them. Their redeemable side is how much they care about league and how much they go for their friends but they also kill many people and they dont seem to care which makes them look irreedemable too. Basically, it is pointless to separate one from another.

Also, i think it is kinda wrong to decide who ‘deserve’ redemption (i am talking about hero characters because you can always hate bad writing) because it not up to you to decide. It is up to you to do right thing by giving them a chance to rehabilate and changing or not will be theirs. Well, it is complicated.

Point of league of members isnt that they are just pitifull victims or they are just evil. The thing is they are bunch of losers. And thats what makes them beautiful.They are mentally ill victims. They need help and they need to be stopped at the same time. They lash out because they are messed up. Their violence arent justified because there is no such a thing that violence that can be justified. Violence is bad. But you can understand where it comes from. The thing about league is especially main villain trio, they are written to be metahpor for pain of abuse/society victims. Some victims never get saved, some of them make wrong choices and they messed up but some of them can still be rehabilate which is why redemption is exist. It makes sense why they get redemption because they are not bad people. And redemption isnt a bad thing either, it means taking responsibility and healing. It also fits to their characters so its good writing, well, hopefully it will written good later as well.

[nrsstuff]

Hi,there. I'm quite new here so I'm gonna ask you a question and your opinion? What do you think of projek high council actually? Because im trying to spread the fandom around to some people actually and it has potential to grow as a fandom everyone no matter what country they are enjoys it,also do you have any headcanons about projek high council if so please tell me what the headcanons are.

hi!

omg same! im also a new user lol

i like the show A LOT. idk how to say this but the show feels like a place to me to vent? like i understand what those characters were feeling because i also had gone pretty much the same thing (maybe not 100% the same but kinda similar). and oh my god the characters dude. THE CHARACTERS. im in love with corruption trope, like im obsessed. you see, fakhri was playing a hero at first, but then slowly acted like kahar. isn't it ironic that he became something that he hate before? talking about kahar, im really curious about his backstory! thank god there will be a movie about him (IM FUCKING EXCITED). ayam is a mood, i love every time he appeared on the screen. okay this is getting long lol im so sorry. anyways, i was expecting a sad ending due to the show being so depressing (i thought naim was gonna die wtf pls dont do that again) but im glad that we got a happy ending! (im a sucker for happy ending lmao) overall, i really like the writing, it's really well done. the pacing is perfect, good casts. i don't really watch a lot of Malay dramas so i cant really compare. but PHC is one of my top series now hehe. though im not sure if everyone knows this but this show might seem a bit unrealistic cuz the higher ups being involved and like there were a lot of things going on, it's actually real. it happened and is happening right now. hell, even in the public university, they still apply this high council shit.

if the producers decide to air the show globally, it could reach some international audience. maybe not a lot, but im pretty sure some people will be more invested.

hm my headcanons?

i don't remember which ep, but it was the one where kahar accidentally pushed (or kicked? im not sure) ayam and led to ayam be in a coma. they did show kahar got traumatised by that but not enough for me lol. so yea, i imagine kahar doesnt dare to look himself in the mirror because he almost killed someone. yea sure, he bullied a lot of people, misusing his power, but he was never a killer. he still has that humanity in him.

and i also imagine him having a rough childhood due to how his dad treated him. you know, constantly being compared to his brothers, thats not very nice. so kahar just swallowed the hate to idk make himself felt full? my headcanons are pretty weird i apologise

and also, since naim and fakhri are on the good terms now, im pretty sure they are awkward around each other at first. cmon, they were on each others' throat, didnt wanna breath the same air. NO WAY theyre gonna hold hands and scream "yay we're a happy family now!" like no. i know damn well that most of the time they don't even talk, but then something random happens and that will be their topic. like fakhri doesn't know how to decorate, then naim will make fun of him or saying something like "ish kau ni, benda senang pun tak boleh buat ke?" naim doesnt mean anything, it just becomes a light banter? so sorry for my bad eng and the fact that you have to read all this...

ohhhh and hakeem! it's actually funny how hakeem is the closest friend to kahar lol. i think they became friends in an unexpected way, but because of that, they became even closer. and it's actually comforting when theres someone who's willingly to become a friend with kahar without any malicious intent!

ahh thank you for the ask! im sorry for making this ans long 🙏 have a good day!

[dolldefaced]

did superman stop batman from killing the joker in aditf?

wellllllllll. it's complicated?

in aditf joker gains diplomatic immunity by becoming the representative of iran to the un (yeah. it's uh. bad)

so the premise is that batman can't even arrest the joker at this point, because of the diplomatic immunity. no one talks about murdering the joker and superman's arguement is 'yo this will fuck international relations. be chill'

here's where batman mentions the joker killed jason, superman is still concerned about the country, and batman saying he'll do what he has to. still no real indication clark thinks bruce is going to commit murder imo but 'thirst for vengeance' could be a sign? it's not like he can legally arrest joker atm either though

at the hotel room, bruce does sincerely consider killing the joker and argues with himself about it.

batman gives the joker a visit and tells him to turn himself in. obv he does not do this and brags about killing jason. batman finally has confirmation on this. batman leaves, joker goes to shoot him, he's gone.

yeah. sigh.

anyway. bruce seems to have settled on 'kill the joker' from these thought bubbles.

joker ofc says fuck it and releases a bunch of gas. superman breaks his gun, sucks up all the gas, and flies away to release it. batman follows the joker.

batman follows joker to a helicopter, they fight and one of the guys gets super freaked out

he shoots batman, then shoots the pilot in the head, causing the helicopter to crash

so batman has to jump out or die. he's not torn up about leaving the joker to die (esp since it seems like he still did want to kill him in the moment)

superman returns! from belching up the gas in the atmosphere ig. he saves batman, who knows if they don't find a body joker is probably alived. he's unhappy.

so i think if you just read aditf, it really doesn't look like superman tried to stop batman from killing the joker. hell i don't think he even realized bruce was willing to at that point. he just didnt want bruce interfering so politically nothing went south.

it seems more like bruce did want to kill the joker, but was stopped by some dude shooting erratically.

so where does 'superman stops batman from killing the joker' come from? fanon?

no. another comic!

in batman and superman: world's finest #7

this is post aditf, bruce has been on the rampage, superman was in space (killing some dudes ig? i don't really read superman. sorry). superman goes to see our hero in distress.

um. what.

tbf i can see the 'just there for revenge' because of the political stuff but uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 'anything you had to, to make sure i didn't harm the joker'

uhhhhhh. where????????

superman takes bruce on a tour. they talk about robin and batgirl. then go back to the topic at hand:

this is interesting. bc clark is right, 'farewell old foe' does not imply you wanted to save him at all, esp with all the previous thoughts of murder. but perhaps in hindsight bruce feels differently.

anyway.

i think you can sorta connect the two, but it's obvious there were years between these and different writers. i suspect no one wants to bring up the iran thing again, rightfully so, but it does leave out just why clark stopped bruce to begin with- so we're left with this.

[auspex]

📻📻📻📻📻 - I want Mark music!!! 😍

Omg does this mean 1 song per emoji lmaoo omg ok ill do 3 from his main playlist and 2 from the others and put it under a readmore cause it might get long

from his main playlist... its mainly abt him and Sampson's complicated relationship but its also fits his vibes about being unsure when its best to leave someone upset alone vs. try to help them ig?

-

ohh this one is fun cause Mark likes Queen himself! This is in general about Immortal Angst Tm

-

i love this song! it fits his vibes. its about how he's not exactly a selfless hero LMAO just a guy trying to survive. also how in a certain plot point the coterie kind of ignored trying to stop a Really Bad ritual summoning a horrid Bane monster because well. they didnt wanna die.

--

Ok from the Sampson Mark playlist:

OOF ouch this is about how Sampson was cheating on Mark (but like not his fault, he was ghouled and blood bound YIKES) and they aren't even really sure how long it was happening :(

-

ok lets get something more wholesome from the cassidy X mark playlist . their playlist needs work tbh so... i know this is a very popular song but:

I could write a huge ass analysis line by long of this song showing how i match it to them... how they started with small talk... how cassidy was surprised by his own feelings... how he analyzed mark and was surprised by how young he was... sob... im normal abt them....

[seriousbrat]

hi this may be long so sorry in advance but

i always loved hp and when i got into the marauders i started caring about sirius, remus, and james more (peter hater till i die unfortunately i can’t get behind him) and like every marauders stan i despised despised severus, i thought that since he was in a known death eaters friend group and called muggle borns mudblood he was unredeemable. but then i saw more and more pro snape content and it made me feel bad for him, james bullied him (which i’m still not even sure if it was classified as bullying because james didnt have any power over him and it wasn’t even 1 vs 4 it was 1 vs 2 so i’d like to know your opinion on that as well) and he had an abusive parent, but then i saw snily shippers (i am a major jily shipper fyi) saying how james basically manipulated lily into marrying him by not telling her he still bullied snape, how the prank was the best thing to happen to james because their “fights” wouldn’t be seen as bullying but as a teen rivalry, how james was the rich boy who got everything he wanted and he got the poor girl as well, how it was him constantly asking lily out and her always saying no etcc, so ik this may sound stupid but i love ur takes like ur always sooooo fucking real so if u want to share your opinions on these like if u think any of these things are wrong 🙈 id be glad bc i dont know how to feel about severus and idk how to feel about jily either which is just making my small world inside of my head crumble bc i used to love them so much

Of course and thank you! First of all as I've been saying I don't think it's necessary or even really a good idea for us to base our preferences or interests in fiction with our moral beliefs. so we can accept that snape or james did bad things and still like them. Fiction gives us that freedom to delve into aspects of humanity that in real life we might try to avoid. So I don't think you should feel bad for liking james or severus or jily or whatever. Ok, that being said let's get into it:

First it's normal to feel sympathy for Severus, he's a sympathetic character in many respects! That's what makes a good anti-hero (or even villain. we're even supposed to feel sympathy for voldemort and barty crouch jr at certain points)

what james and the marauders did was definitely bullying. there's no way around that. you say james didn't have any power over him but he did; social power. You touched on economic class, which is a big factor, but James was a popular student and Sev was deeply unpopular. whether it was 1v4 or 1v2 or 1v1 doesn't really matter in terms of whether it was bullying, though tbh it was really 1vthe whole school because the spectators also participated in Sev's humiliation.

However, in my mind there's almost no way that Snape wasn't instigating just as much, possibly more, in seventh year. Like you think he was just going to sit around and accept that his worst enemy was dating Lily? lol. I tend to believe Sirius when he says that Sev "never lost an opportunity to curse James" like good for him get his ass. But I think it was definitely a different dynamic in 7th year than in 5th. there's this tendency to portray Sev as being a meek little helpless victim his whole life but personally I feel that's a disservice to his character-- this is the guy who invented sectumsempra 'for enemies' like three guesses who 'enemies' was.

re: jily, I really doubt that James manipulated Lily into anything, I think that's such an overdramatic reading lol. We don't know much about the way they got together-- although many fic writers have taken it upon themselves to fill in the gaps-- but everything points to them having been happy and in love, that clearly was the intention by the author. If James didn't tell her about duelling Snape that isn't great, but there are a lot of things that can be imperfect in a relationship without jumping to manipulation and abuse which require a specific pattern of behaviour that we have no evidence for. We also only have the external perspective of Sirius and Remus, which is likely incomplete.

(also James 'always asking Lily out' is fanon, we see him ask her out ONCE albeit spectacularly badly. it seems more likely to me that lily 'you make me SICK' evans simply saw james grow into someone she rly liked rather than gave in and gave in so fully that she married him bcause he was pressuring her. idk she didn't read like a pushover to me.)

So no need for world crumblage! It doesn't sound stupid at all, but I think it's important to keep in mind that we can enjoy fictional characters/relationships that aren't perfect, in fact those are the ones that I find more enjoyable. It's totally possible to be a fan of snape and james and jily and snily all at the same time, fandom tends to create conflicts or 'shipping wars' or whatever lol but idk if that's necessary. I don't see it as a moral debate or an either/or, I just find all the characters and the dynamics between them interesting.

For instance, you mentioned the class differences between Lily and James, and I always thought that was probably a point of contention in the relationship; but to me it's one that makes it more compelling to explore. Relationships irl are rarely perfect and evenly-matched from the start, they take work. Similarly people are never perfect- they learn and change and grow. James did, Snape definitely did. otherwise they would be boring and unrealistic as characters.

[green-loser-lover]

more meth snake au (read w caution this could hurt maybe)

we left off with ace having ideas!! basically he was like "if snake likes booze that much what if i find somefin stronga" (his speech is fun to write sorry). ace is a guy who knows a guy whos cousins dogs friends hair salonists grocer sells drugs and he buys(eh..) a bit of meth

i think ace would pull snake aside and basically lie through his teeth like "just one time wont kill yah buddy" "sures i done this before. lookit me! i turned out fine" "juust one time" and snake cant rrly say no so yeah down the hatch it goes (idk what kinda meth it would be yet, its up to interpretation) and well one time turns into two snd two to three three to four four to BEGGING for more meth

basically ace is using meth to control snake.. and it works very well lol. no one else in the gang knows for awhile (he def planned on doing the same to them) even when snake starts getting aggressive (to the gang and to victims), or when he stars scratching like crazy, even when he kinda just stops talking to them (excluding ace obvs) -GRUBBER is the first to realize!! AFTER snake starts convulsing on the floor bc ace gave him a bit to much "pbbbht" "pff whaddya mean? snakes fine he dont need no hospital" newsflash yes he did and after a lot of convincing they took him and the doctors called them heros bc snake almost died! shock all around everyone's a lil emotionally scarred

anyway snakes fine hes out thehospital and hes okay! the end :)

jk, hes back to begging ace for more meth. but surely ace learned by now? nope, he gives snake more and its back to the hospital. NOW he knows better? again no he plans to give snake more meth when he gets out but now the gang knows and theyre all scared hes gonna die so ace decides he'll just stop (this is bad, very bad. ace is.. yk the rest)

snakes back again!! he wants more meth and ace is like "no" so snake freaks and practically tears the shack apart looking for the meth (that ace hid), when he doesnt find it he almost nearly beats ace up but the guys hold him back and THAT!!! THAT VERY MOMENT is where ace finally realizes what hes done was really shitty. so now what? how does he fix it? lock snake in a room bc they cant afford rehab. im so dead ass and im sorry

they just leave him in a room that locks from the outside only and feed him every so often (not too often bc he doesnt want food just meth) and this lasts for a month at most. like they have a whole system and everything so he doesnt escape, ONE PERSON stays near his room always like they can still do their things but they cant leave the shack when its their turn

back to "this lasts for a month at most" yeah it failed eventually because for a while snake is just so out of it he just sort of sat there and asked for stuff (mostly meth) for a bit, but as his clarity comes back more and more he starts scheming (uh oh thats how we got here) so he waits till its arturo's turn to watch him then he pull an ace

basically he lies to arturo and tricks letting him out and giving him meth "imss gonna burnss it all, destroy it ssso we can putss thiss behind uss pal" (oh yeah arturo knows where ace hides it bc he watched ace do it once, so yeah whomp whomp)

anyway snake obvs inst gonna burn it all but arturo is convinced and helps him and snake leaves

JFUEHFUHFKUWE i didnt realizehow much i wrote until now (AND THERES MORE) so ill make another post!! mostly so ur pretty orbs dont hurt

uhhh bye

[fellow-nerd]

Time to go crazy about the characterisation changes in the new atla cuz oh boy do I have thoughts

The main thing I noticed for all of them is that this show is focused about telling a story about a war torn world and how that affected everyone first and a coming of age hero story second, which is a choice considering the source material which balanced them both extremely well.it never had to be so heavy handed for the audience to get it but that also could be because it's a kids show at the end of the day 😅

Aang: where is my adventure loving kid. He just wants to ride the Elephant koi and show his new friends cool things. Yes, his past weighs heavy on him and expectations press down, but he's still just 12. It takes him time to work through his grief and his reluctance to save the world and that is literally his big arc. Learning to grow up and save the world (becoming THE avatar ya know). This Aang gets with the program quick and is only concerned with helping people and stepping up, like little dude ur telling me u don't want to go penguin sledding. I dunno it just feels so off. Love the stuff with gyatso too.

Katara: she's actually the most true to her og character I think. I just wish there was more focus on her like there was in the og. She was my first favorite charcter, put some respect on her name. It was criminal to give the opening to kyoshi, like girl u have ur own novels to be in! ALSO WHY DIDNT SHE BREAK THE ICEBERG!!! UGH SO MAD AT THAT.

Sokka: look I get it It's the year of lord 2024 misogyny has no place. So why don't we tell the story of how a guy learns that those views are wrong and how to change ur views rather than pretending that it never existing, like erasing it. As much as it can be critiqued Sokkas misogyny was the catalyst for Katara to hit the iceberg and free Aang. Narratively this gets them both invested in Aang and just shows Sokkas growth on every rewatch. They could've toned it down but it's a big part of his character growth and what are the gonna fill that with, if anything at all.

Suki: now her in live action I can get behind. She ate and left no crumbs. She put Sokka in his place and stole the episode for me. Also I loved the addition of her mom, honestly goals. Can't wait to see how they utilize her throughout she's the best. No comment.

Jet/freedom fighters: pretty much the same, I didn't love the condensing plot lines all into omashu tho

Teo/Sai: same as above but I loved the Way the two interacted it had so much depth.

Iroh: not sure how to feel. It feels wierd hearing iroh not voiced by Mako ya know. Like his dailougue was fine but it lacked that inflection Mako had which really Gave iroh all his character. It's big shoes to fill and it comes so close. I did die for the line where he says he's the one who owes Zuko. Like. Ugh. The implications of that. How Zuko made him wake up and gave him a reason to keep going. Its enough to make a girl cry.

Zuko: oh zuko, zuko, zuko, zuko. Again tough shoes to fill. I think that the characterisation is all there the challenge comes later on when we get his redemption arc. I do love the seeds they are planting especially in his relationship to Iroh.

Azula: now I called it as soon as I saw that girl, knew it was her who else could I have been. Just as evil, just as lustful for power, definitely in character for her to be doing what's she's doing this early on. Will definitely keep tabs on this one.

Bumi: now he about WRECKED ME ok. It was rough. I loved this recharacterisation. If ur gonna give us a war torn world, give me the war torn ruler, whose been carrying all that trauma and burden on his back for 100 years. Of course he's gonna be mad at Aang of course HES gonna BE MAD himself. So yeah it was rough to watch but because it was so hard hitting to see how war destroyed Bumis mindset, and then so wonderful to see Aang give his oldest friend a piece of himself back

In conclusion I care about Avatar way too much and will be ranting about this even more as I continue watching

[marunalu]

Hawks: AFO has no emotions

Afo in recent chapter: *his face almost cracked due to emotions*

I wonder...why AFO hates All Might so much?

Do you think All Might will deafeat AFO in this fight? What will happen? What are your predictions?

Hawks was wrong so many times in the past, its mind boggling to me why so many people in this fandom still take everything that comes out of his mouth at face value. Just because a hero says something specific about someone else, doesnt mean they are right. Hawks doesnt understand afo. He is not an expert of afos person. Afo already debunked hawks words about him not able to feel human emotions because he has "no heart", long before he even stated them in the first place, in kamino.

The reason why afo showed less emotions back then was because as an adult he has them for the most part under control. The younger afo gets by rewinding himself and also by tomuras hate having an effect on him, the more emotional and reckless he becomes. The emotions afo shows now is who he deep down truly is, the person he is trying to suppress, because he sees it as a weakness. Thats why he is smiling all the time - because only the strongest can always smile. He is a man so full of hate and rage for the world he wants to steal everyones elses happiness, since it was (most likely) taken from him too.

We need to remember in what kind of time afo grew up in, people like him were hunted down and killed, how he lost the only person he loved (in his own messed up way) and IF dfo is true what was taken from him AGAIN. If our theorys are true and afo startet a family on his own accord to finally have some happiness in his life, its no wonder why he reacts to all might the way he does.

We saw hints of his hate and anger towards all might already in kamino, but back then he had it under control. Right now, he is letting everything out. Back in kamino he said: "while I killed your mentor, you took something away from me too. Thats why I want you to die in the most pathetic way possible." Its more or less confirmed that he wasnt talking about his empire here all might destroyed, because he explained to spinner that all might destroying his empire was "just a small lose" for him. Its not the reason why he hates all might so much. So if it has nothing to do with his empire, it has to be something as PERSONAL as killing nana was for all might - taking his most beloved person from him! It was nana for all might, his mother figure. Who is it for afo? Yoichi is dead afterall.

About my predictions: do I think all might will win? No, I dont think so. But I think it will at first look like it and he will give afo one hell of a fight. Do I think all might will die? Im 50:50 on it. Im still not convinced that afo is the villain killing all might in nighteyes vision. Nighteye knew what afo looked like, but even all might thought that if he didnt knew already he would never guessed that this "young man" is afo. So Im unsure how this will turn out. Do I think afo will win here? Yes, but not unscratched and most likely on the verge of death if not alone because of rewind. Will he make it to ua? Im not sure anymore to be honest, but we know he still needs to do something to make the fusion of tomura and his vestige complete and he needs to reach ua for that.

What do I want to happen? I want afo to go all out even more. I want his backstory to explain what the hell happend to this man to make him turn out like that! I want dfo confirmed in this fight out of afos own mouth, raging how all might destroyed his happiness the moment he was ready to leave his villain life behind him. I want him to use fire breath in this battle! Seriously if he uses fire breath I will run, jump and scream around my appartment like a maniac!

[sapphic-agent]

Ok into the IzuOcha ask: I bet you have come across ships where "this girl deserve better" not sure if you read naruto but sasusaku is canon aka sasuke x sakura. Now, some fans of hers (all of them) say she is a poor thing and deserve better (wont enter here how untrue it is as she got her happy ending, its sasuke who is miserable) and ...I can say Izuocha can be the sasusaku of mha.

Will be canon? Sure.

Will be happy for Izu? NO. Not in canon. Not by Hori.

They had a cute meet. Sure, but it never developed more than that.

1) she calls him deku. Do I know Japanese? No. So I give a pass and maybe deku and dekiru are similar speaking. Ok. The issue here is not that...is how Ochako sees BK calling Izu deku with 100% hostility and ...head empty. Its sus. Its also not cute Izu accept the name deku.

2) she makes no attempt to know him. Grant Izu doesn't either but he does have an excuse as social cues are smth he struggles thanks to 10 years of abuse...amazing how that is smth Hori remembers to give to Izu😒

3) the LN, it paints their relationship so bad. I dont need to point out the obvious.

4) the aftermath of Ixu vs bk. Izu was punished for defending against his abuser, Iida didnt let him see his notes and treated him as a criminal...sure it was to be comical but falls flat as Iida wanted to commited murder (hated he punched Izu) byt Ochako didnt even approach Izu and asks whats up. She also blamed him. "This is a problem of both" and runs with that.

5) Mina and Aoayama have to tell her, and subsequence us, she likes Izu. Otherwise, we wouldn't guess. She made the decision to hide her feelings for Izu...and why? Is not as if she lost a big chance to win money by blushing to Izu.

6) I dont like how the girls in class A1 are taking Ocha's side here in relation to the ship. The movie where Izu meets Melissa...when Izu returns to class A1 the girls seems upset as if he did smth wrong...I find that unfair(I never saw the movie and have 0 desire to do so as BK is there. And sure that scene may have context...)

7) She never even attempt to know Izu. But she is ok in being Toga's blood bank. Togaochako may not be canon and she may have rejected Toga...but the point is not "Ochako wants to kiss Toga" is how Ochako makes no effort for Izu...but we are supposed to see her as this great love interest. In canon, she really isnt. It kills me how she makes 0 effort for Izu...didnt smile when she corned Izu with bk and others...didnt look happy to see him...but is willing to die for Toga. Like....does Izu has a love interest?

8) she called him plain...when she has a plain design. The things she says and does could have land her "mean girl" title

9)"you wont fight quirkless are you?" While I dont subscribe to "quirkless discrimination " as everyone does...I do think it makes sense for only quirked people to be heroes...so with that in mind, Ochako is somewhat saying is ok for Izu to break bones but fight quirkless is wierd? That is intersting to explore but would make her look bad...and by consequence bk and we know who Hori loves.

Not saying Ocha should do anything and everything for Izu...but this story only allows the shallow forms of "love"

Ocha and Izu blushed? Soulmates

Ocha and Izu gifted each other? When is the wedding.

I've answered an IzuOcha asked before so if you wanna take a look at that for more of an insight feel free to.

1. It actually used to irritate me that she called him Deku too BUT someone pointed out to me that Uraraka is from the Mie (?) prefecture and can tend to mix up the pronunciation of "Deku" and "Dekiru" due to her accent. So when she wants to say "Dekiru," it comes out sounding like "Dek'u." This person also said that it gives meaning to their relationship that Izuku decided to keep this name because of this and I actually do somewhat agree. I think Horiloshi's execution of this could have been better (show don't tell Hori), but I don't mind it as much as I used to.

2. I would actually say Uraraka does make a decent attempt to get to know him at least in the beginning. Sure her questions and conversations aren't super deep, but she goes out of her way to make conversation with him and get him to open up. She is only 15/16 too after all so I give her a lot of grace.

3. For my own sanity, I choose to ignore the light novels. If I read them I'll come out disliking 98% of the characters🙂

4. Yes this... Isn't great for either Iida or Uraraka. It actually feels like flat out character regression for Iida (done for a cheap laugh). Uraraka (and all of 1A including All Might and Aizawa) has a kind of warped view on Izuku and Bakugou's relationship. I don't think she's aware that their toxic relationship goes past rivalry, probably because Izuku never says anything bad about Bakugou and doesn't open up. I'm not defending what she says here because it was wrong, but she doesn't have the full story. If she did, her reaction would be very different (she is one of the few characters that will call Bakugou out, even if it isn't as harsh as it should be). I don't even think Horikoshi himself understands the power imbalance between Izuku and Bakugou, so it makes sense that his characters don't either.

5. So Uraraka does this because she doesn't want her feelings to get in the way of becoming a good hero. It's not a bad approach to her character in theory, but Horikoshi's execution of it is horrible (which is true for most of his characters). The problem isn't necessarily that she does this, the problem is a) there was nothing leading up to her having feelings for him past admiration it just... happened, b) there's really no explanation as to how simply having/accepting her feelings would get in the way, and c) it focuses way too much on her avoiding her feelings for Izuku than her actually growing as a hero; in trying to focus her away from Izuku Hori's centering her around him even more. In another author's hands, this could have actually been a decent arc, but oh well.

6. This scene actually isn't too serious. Yaoyorozu and Jirou aren't being malicious to Izuku, they're just teasing him. And they're very nice to Melissa (so is Uraraka) and get along with her well. I don't even think Uraraka was that jealous, maybe a bit envious if anything, and she wasn't upset. The movie doesn't focus on Bakugou too much (unlike that monstrosity of a second movie) so it's not a bad watch. I enjoyed it because we learn more about All Might's time in America and Izuku's friendship with Melissa is super cute🙂

7. I think it's just a different approach to Toga and Izuku as people. I'm not saying it's wrong or right, but I am saying approaching saving them in two different ways isn't outlandish. And she did stand up for him against am angry mob so I don't think it's right to say she didn't put in effort.

8. Plain isn't really an insult. True it's not exactly nice, but I wouldn't call it mean. She also had no idea of knowing he would see that footage.

9. Interesting🤔