#there are definitely horror elements but it's just seen as normal for this family

[starryeyeddreamer21]

I was watching The Babadook and talking to my friend earlier and I told them I was going to adopt every child in horror movies, including thh demons and ghosts and the ones that get possessed, and give them a caring home and send them to therapy

This was a joke but I low key think that would be a great book/TV show

*sighs and writes this down under BOOK IDEAS in my notes*

[serpentface]

What are Faiza’s thoughts/feelings on (presumably?) seeing human sacrifice performed, or in theory, irt her religious beliefs?

It's a little complicated, but less than might be assumed.

This IS something she's witnessed personally, and been involved in the process (not participating in the rites themselves, but in organizing them). But she has no sensitization to it- she's grown up seeing people executed, regular everyday animal sacrifices, and the yearly dry season human offering. It's something that is entirely separated from the concept of murder (which is regarded as abhorrent, as murder is in basically every culture (it's just that definitions of what types of killing is and is not murder varies)) and nothing disturbing or unusual in of itself.

It's a fairly small part of a much broader framework of religious practices that she ultimately does not believe in. Her reaction is more 'this doesn't actually have an intrinsic point, but it is what it is and has some practical benefits'. Her views on the Wardi faith are conflicted but overall positive. Even if she doesn't Believe in 90% of its core elements, she sees it as Beneficial- it's the Only thing that unifies the entire Imperial Wardi cultural sphere. This is important to her both on the level that Imperial Wardin is a tenuous union of city-states and tributaries and dozens of peoples and that its stability relies on its shared religion, and that it's a grand equalizer- its benefits cross class and ethnic lines within this rather broad cultural sphere.

So like, when it comes to humans being ritually killed, she doesn't think there's a still-extant God that enters their bodies or that their deaths materially enable the seasonal cycles to continue and bring the rains back. But she does think it has a Point, in the same capacity that she doesn't believe most of the core tenants of the faith have material reality, but the religion's role in society has material benefits. It has a point, and it's not murder, so she ultimately has little beef with the concept.

The instance where it crossed the line to 'this is fucked up' is in the context of the drought. With the drought intensifying, the usual one-off one-person annual dry season offering was extended to dozens of people (which Was officially condoned). In addition, as the years went on and civil unrest intensified, there were instances of civilian suicides and murders that were clearly attempted offerings (as well as suicides and murders that were at least loosely Framed as offerings but definitely weren't). In the fifth year, over a hundred Ephenni Galenii offered themselves up in an independent mass-offering (condoned by the priesthood but not by the Usoma). And yet the drought wore on.

THIS all was disturbing to her. This wasn't the faith functioning as intended, this was symptomatic of impending collapse. This was a waste of life that was TRULY for nothing. The officially condoned sacrifices were clear and desperate flailing by the Usoma and/or priesthoods to spiritually address the drought and famine (in addition to really, really poor attempts to practically address food and water insecurity and social unrest), and the civilian sacrificial murders and suicides were this unrest and mass despair crystalized into horrifically needless, pointless death and brutality. (These civilian killings were widely seen as horrifying by devout believers as well btw, just because human sacrifice exists in a culture doesn't mean people think religious killing and suicide is Okay And Normal In Every Situation)

The horror of All That was one of the motivating factors in her role in organizing the pilgrimage as a more controlled, intentional, and directed use of religious practice to reassure the public, that would also attempt to practically re-unify the divided priesthood/military/royal family. The seven-beast offering is a long established concept (rather than desperate flailing of 'add more people to the dry season offering' or 'get a hundred Galenii to drown themselves in a muddy riverbed'), the pilgrimage format is a public show of unity and requires significant internal diplomacy to function.

---

I'm also going to just like take this opportunity to clarify her worldview:

She ascribes to a culturally specific form of atheism that posits that God fully, permanently died in the act of creation, Its death kicked off the cycles of the world as we know it but Its spirit no longer has any capacity to interact with the world. The existence of a creator god is reckoned as self-evident, but its continuing presence in the world is disputed. Therefore, the vast majority of religious practice (which is entirely built around interactions with God's continuously cycling spirit) has no intrinsic effect.

This stems from a niche branch of materialist Burri and Wardi philosophy. It's a very uncommon belief (and has its own subvariants- some extreme materialists dismiss the existence of the soul itself (God died and there is no soul so It's Gone) and some that characterize God as merely absent (God died and Its spirit is absent from the world, in the same capacity that the souls of the dead are absent from the world once they successfully move on) (Faiza falls into the latter camp). The heavy prioritization of orthopraxy over orthodoxy means that a person holding these beliefs in of itself is not often going to be a major cultural issue so long as they perform expected practices, but standards of orthodoxy are higher in the priesthoods and like. Her entire role is as a priestess. It's not something she can be open about. It's also not something she can talk about with any of her personal relations (she was introduced to the concept after maintaining contact with her childhood tutor and regularly discussing philosophy with him, but the guy was elderly and died when she was in her mid 20s.)

This translates to her being more open to questioning other elements of her cultural framework, but the rest of her worldview is fairly normative, there's nothing else she rejects as thoroughly as the continuing existence of God. She believes in the soul, ghosts, evil spirits, luck, curses, and spiritual pollution (though should be noted that the Ways she believes in them are influenced by a materialist philosophical lens, and as such her interpretations are non-standard). She also thinks there's some truth in the folk magic practices that attempt to influence luck and curses (these traditions rarely actually involve God in their framework), and the ones she rejects are on a more typical class-aligned basis of being 'Foolish Commoner Superstition', not in a 'magic is not real' capacity.

So like it's a mixed bag where she thinks the religion itself has material points and value, and she takes pride in being an Odonii. But she's still locked in a life of performing endless rites that have no internal meaning to her and give no sense of comfort beyond self-assurance that they're for a greater good, giving hollow reassurances to her religiously paranoid brother and not being able to fully connect to her extremely devout true believer sister. It's isolating, and it wears on her.

[olderthannetfic]

So "Cozy horror" isn't really anything special? I've seen some people be like "what even is that supposed to be?" It's probably the equivalent of Cozy murder mysteries, like "Murder she wrote" starring Angela Lansbury. You take a horror setting, and instead of focusing on the gruesomeness of the horror, you make the normally "frightening" parts and make them more cozy or less intense, 90's Addams family or maybe Sucker for love could fit, while still keeping the macabre and scary elements.

--

Nonnie, "cozy" mysteries are indeed cozier than some other crime fiction, but they have a host of things that define them, and many are far less cozy-feeling than Murder, She Wrote.

The term exists because late 20thC authors were trying to recreate what they liked about Golden Age detective novels from the UK as opposed to hardboiled US novels of the same era. So, for example, they almost universally take place in tight-knit social circles like small towns or university departments, and the sleuth is generally an amateur or maybe retired. This is in contrast to a crime procedural where the sleuth is a law enforcement professional or a hardboiled novel where the sleuth is generally a P.I. and the context for the crime is often a big city with all sorts of unrelated people in it.

You cannot take a very specific genre term with tons of baggage and way more to the definition than just "feels cozy" and slap it onto an unrelated genre.

Agatha Christie was low-gore compared to 1930s US detective novels, but she's not that fluffy. No matter how many bakery- and cat-themed novel series come out, this mischaracterization of cozies will never cease to ENRAGE me.

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

I think you mentioned somewhere on this blog that you view the whole "Aemon/Naerys love affair" thing as Aemon more so having an obsessive unrequited love for his sister that Naerys was aware of and while uncomfortable with it, quietly tolerated it. Could you expand more on that?

Hell yah dude! Honestly my take on their relationship dynamic isn’t really new, it’s been something I’ve seen kinda circulating the tumblr fandom for a while but basically:

Instead of the standard tragic doomed love story that seems to be what grrm maybe intended for Aemon and Naerys, the idea is basically that there wasn’t much of a secret relationship between them but instead something way more horrifying.

Aemon’s in “love” with his sister in the way that he’s obsessed with the idea of her being a paragon of purity. He wants to see her as just his sister, but because of the family dynamic he was brought up in and the religion he was raised with, there’s no… Normal way of really loving Naerys. He wants her to be a pure septa just as much as she wants to be, but he also can’t help but see her as the wife he could’ve had, which leads to a bunch of complicated feelings he’s grappling with, which also brings in a bunch of guilt when we remember he’s sworn to the kingsguard and is actively protecting her primary abuser. So sure, swearing to the kingsguard meant that he won’t be sent away from her side, but it also means he has to be constantly close and fully watching as Naerys gets hurt which is a…..veryy very interesting choice dare I say-

Naerys meanwhile does love Aemon as her brother, because in all honesty he’s really all she has that is normal in their nightmarish family dynamic. He’s supposed to be her normal brother, the pillar she can lean on, the one that loves her like family and doesn’t hurt her. He’s her safe haven because he’s supposed to not want her for any ulterior motive. If he wasn’t, if he was openly pining for her, it would shatter that trust and may completely destroy Naerys because then she doesn’t have anyone else to turn to. And the thing is, I don’t think Naerys is an idiot- over time she probably started to realize just why Aemon cares for her so much, but the thing is he never openly admits it so she doesn’t either, a sorta “if we don’t talk about it then it doesn’t exist” kinda deal. It horrifies her, but she tries to ignore it. She still acts like Aemon’s her normal brother despite actively knowing his feelings for her because she’s just plain scared of admitting that there is no normal familial dynamic to be had in their family.

Granted, this is most definitely not canon, most of it is just my psychoanalysis of the whole situation just because I think it’s interesting! It’s not that the “tragic love” story isn’t good or anything, it’s just not as interesting to me personally. When it comes to tragedy, it’s neat having a small element of psychological horror and that’s absolutely a theme I love sprinkling in when it comes to the Targs because there’s just so much more potential when it comes to that! That is just my opinion tho <3

[lynxfrost13]

Haiii Lynx What’s your favorite dragon type? The big western muscular ones are gorgeous but the Chinese serpenty ones are pretty too. You’re my resident dragon expert here hehe

Hello Jay!!! Thank u so much for the ask ^^

This is kind of a tough one I’m not gonna lie… I’m sorry it’s taken so long to answer this ask but I’ve literally been thinking about dragons in relation to this for a couple days bc there’s so many awesome dragon types out there and picking a favorite is kinda hard!! I also went down a rabbit hole because I was looking at types of dragons and remembered one of my favorite drawing books and one of my earliest inspirations for drawing dragons specifically, Dracopedia, by William O’Connor. I hadn’t realized but he passed away in 2018 suddenly, I wasn’t able to find out from what, but he will be missed, that man’s dragon art was phenomenal and he had a really awesome style, so I did just want to mention that since it’s related to dragons and honor him as well.

To your actual question now! I don’t have one definitive all time favorite, but I definitely can yap about the types I like more! I don’t have the same amount of love in my heart for every dragon unfortunately, and for the most part I’m not crazy about fully furred dragons, especially mammal-like ones (tundras and Gaolers from flight rising are an exceptional exception!!). Not saying I hate them by any means bc I really do love the diversity of dragons, but I really am a sucker for scales. I love both the Asian noodle dragons and the solid western guys a lot!!

A particular type that I really really love are the cloud serpents from warcraft, pictured below! I play a LOT of warcraft and the cloud serpents have been one of my favorite dragons for ages, I love how they’re very serpenty but the stylization of their nostrils, scales etc does give them an almost sculpted appearance like they were brought to life from statues, which in this green gal’s case is true, but it doesn’t apply to all of them! That’s my love of living statues coming in too haha

While I’m talking about warcraft dragons specifically, I also have to shoutout the netherdrakes for being one of the more unique designs I’ve encountered, I haven’t really seen anything else like these weird shark aliens (they do have a newer model but this one from the 2007 expansion really is so delightful to me). The netherdrakes also have a really interesting story behind them, since they originated from a batch of normal dragon eggs that got fucked up via being sent through the nether if I remember correctly, and as such they’re very different from their family and have shorter lifespans :(

Okay also just talking about specific dragons and video game dragons, I NEED to talk about guild wars 2’s dragons because they’re built different they’re so fucking cool. I’m not gonna just yap about all of guild wars 2 but essentially the dragons in this game are what the entire story revolved around until a couple years ago, these guys were a BIG deal and a big threat (most of them) due to how destructive they were. But the super cool thing is that each one is very tied to a specific element and even though the dragons themselves are all related, they look drastically different according to their magic/element.

You’ve got Zhaitan as an appropriately body horror-y elder dragon of undeath, I don’t have a lot more to say abt him design wise other than he’s so damn cool

Then you have his brother mordremoth, also an elder dragon, except his body is an entire fucking jungle. He creates a more draconic avatar for himself but mordremoth is literally just hundred of miles of vines and the land itself it’s wild!!!

Kralkatorrik is also massive!! You see that airship in the first pic? Kralkatorrik is the LANDMASS IN FRONT OF IT!!! When he was dormant his spine was considered a mountain range if I remember correctly!

I think this loading screen art of Primordus and Jormag does them much more justice than their in game models do (unfortunately their time in the spotlight wasn’t the best due to COVID production and some writing stuff) but Primordus especially is just such a powerful force of nature more than he is a dragon honestly

And Soo-won is just a gorgeous take on a more noodley dragon

I must also include best girl Aurene here too, I love both of her designs (the first is her when she was younger, the second is when she becomes an elder dragon), I just think her face shapes especially her teen face shape is so beautiful and interesting

Okay now not gw2 but I will say while I’m not usually a fan of more wyvern type dragons (NOT because they’re not dragons I don’t like when people bring that up in relation to wyverns because I think they can be dragons, it’s up to you!!!)

I LOVE the monstrous nightmare from HTTYD it’s my favorite of the httyd ones apart from the whispering death/screaming death (they’re a package deal sorry)

Also in flight rising I really love the new everlux dragons (they are fat little grub guys with so many legs and their lore is so so cool! They write out their entire lives as chapters of a story!!!) and am very partial to the dusthides as well, they’re not conventional dragons but that’s what makes em fun (honestly if you don’t play flight rising I recommend checking it out at least to look at all the neat dragon types in the encyclopedia because there’s such an awesome range!)

I’ve yapped a lot and I don’t think I gave you a very solid answer but I had fun showing you some of my favorite dragons!!! Thanks again for the ask I think you opened my brain JDBEEJJ

[ladysternchen]

End of Year Fic Recs

Thanks @polutrope for tagging me 😁!

Recommend up to 5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023 that everyone should read (multi-year WIPs count, if the last update was in 2023)

Recommend up to 5 single fics/one-shots (long or short) from 2023 that everyone should read.

Recommend up to 5 fics NOT from 2023 that everyone should read (oldies but goodies)

Recommend up to 5 of your own fics (completed or WIP) from 2023 that everyone should read. (oooohhhh damn. I'm gonna SO fail at this, because I actually read so little myself- I tend to re-read the same stories over and over and over again, but I'll see what I can do)

Multi-Chapter

'Tis the Season (To Be Tea-la-la-lally) by polutropos (Teen And Up, WIP, AU) I'm not one for modern AUs normally, not at all, and I honestly didn't want to read it at the start, but then I did (here on Tumblr) and got sucked in LOL. It's just great, and I love the Holiday Spirit! (I won't tag you here again, as you're tagged in the entire post anyway 😄 brilliant story)

Rising as if Weightless by StarSpray (Gen) The story of Elwing suddenly becoming the big sister/foster mom of her older brothers. This is so tender and beautiful and has so much character growth and so many bitter-sweet reunions, and above all so much depth.

A Pair of Stars by Magicfeather205 (Teen And Up) Pre-historic Elves, and the birth of future kings. That was honestly the most interesting story I read this year, with wonderful and very accurate world-building and a beautiful story (and thank you, author, I now can't get the 'Elwë and Olwë were indeed the first set of twin-boys in that family' out of my head where it fights a raging battle with my own headcanon) Also, I want this fic to be read by every single midwife (and, more importantly, other obstetrician). THAT is how you treat a birthing mom. That's how you handle unforeseen events. I loved this so so so much. It would have felt perfectly natural to have Trixie and Nurse Crane walk in there- sorry about that fandom-mixup)

As Flowers From the Sky by Beleriand Death Trip (E) Fingolfin/Elu Thingol... this is honestly a ship I would never ever have thought of myself, or seen a way in which this could work, but this story DOES work within canon, and beautifully so. It has it all, from very interesting world-building ideas to mild- (and VERY funny) horror-elements, and from foreshadowing and tensions to being wonderfully wholesome. You'll feel better after reading this, I promise!

The Unforsaken by @ceescedasticity (M, WIP) Last but definitely not least. I'll again link the first part of the series in the before-2023-part, and probably say more about it there. But yeah, absolutely a must-read! Go! Go, destroy the Orc-bank! (But don't blow yourselves up!)

One-Shots

Bloodied by ohboromir (Gen) Just a little First-Battle-story. I love to see Elu and Beleg and Mablung together so so so much (who would have thought, ey?).

Unstoppable Winds by LadyBrooke (Teen And Up) The destruction of Númenor as viewed by a few of their ancestors. I really loved this because I have never actually seen a story about the Fall of Númenor written from that POV and it did (or rather does) inspire me quite a lot in my own WIP. (I have to apologise here for not having more, I read so many great one-shots here on Tumblr that I just failed to save in some way. I may add to this list if I find the time to scroll through my timeline and see which of those I reblogged)

Before 2023

elves, once (M) by @ceescedasticity The part one of the series The Unforsaken belongs to as well. And for me the most recommendable story there is (though I would guess most who see this post will know the story already). The name says it all, really, as it is the story of all those canon-characters who ended up as Orcs. This is the sort of fic I really enjoy because it actually gives an answer to a question canon rises. The Orc-bank has since so much passed into my own headcanon that I sometimes forget that it is not actually canon (which leads to very awkward situations sometimes at our monthly discussing-Tolkien-gatherings, I tell you that)

across so wide a sea (Gen, WIP) by Adwen Unfinished, but one of the most hilarious stories I've ever read. I hope so much that author continues writing it one day, but even if they don't, it's a great laugh to read what is written, and ah, the possibilities!

The Carriage held but just Ourselves (Teen and Up) by StarSpray The story of how Melian and her descendants deal with death when they finally come to face it. I don't know when I last cried so much when reading a fic. It's not just that it's so so so sad (because yeah, go kill us all even in the one chapter that should be somewhat 'happy' 😭), but also incredibly beautiful and written perfectly in-character. It's looking into those women's minds. One of my bed-time-stories. (hmpf. All the others are multi-chapters form this year. ah well...)

My own

Yet Were Its Making Good, For This (not rated, but mature:ish; WIP) Ah, my problematic WIP. I wanted that story so so so so so badly written that I forced it, and it cost me MANY nerves. Mablung of Doriath/Elu Thingol. (How is it that nobody ever wrote that ship before?????????????) Works within canon if one squints one's eyes a bit. I'm currently working on the Epilogue ind Valinor, which might, MIGHT, for once give one of my stories a truly happy ending.

Into Oblivion (M) The smut-part of Yet Were Its Making Good, For This. Elwë/Mablung/Beleg. (Well, what do you all think they got up to during the journey?) Doesn't interfere with later canon.

Why, It Asks (Gen) It's a very short read, but one that is super dear to me for some reason. Elmo's thoughts as he stands by and watches his brother's grave being dug.

Moving On-series (Gen) Is this cheating, now? As it's really three one-shots? If it is, pick the last one to read. I'm just so fond of what my imagination spat out there world-building-wise LOL. It's the story of the time Elwë was missing to his and Melian's coronation, as mostly told from Elmo's POV.

Eyes In The Dark (Gen) I just had to put it here, as it's quite sweet to read, but given the hardly-mentioned-in-canon-characters it's hardly read by anyone. Give it a try, though. I bet you like it. Little Denethor is frightened by eyes in the dark, and runs for Lenwë for help. And Lenwë is being just about the best Dad ever.

And now we come to the bit I always dread. I suck at tagging people, because I always forget who enjoys such things and who doesn't, and because everyone's probably been already tagged. So let's do this differently, then- all writers who read this and want to share their recs, please do! (Cheating again, I know)

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @red-the-dragon-writes

Who You Are:

Red Dragon || Ne/nem/nir

I'm a 22-year-old Queer writer who loves horror. I've been writing stories since I was a little kid and come from a family of aspiring authors (all the way up through my grandparents!) I enjoy working in a deliberately stripped-down style featuring a narratively close third person limited point of view featuring an opinionated narrator, untrustworthy characters, and limited description.

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Action, comedy, fanfic, fantasy, horror, psychological, sci-fi, thriller, tragedy. New adult and adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Can I say "horror fusion" haha? It would have to be horror. I really love getting to pull reactions out of my readers, and horror also lets me push the boundaries of what I've ever seen in fiction before without shying away from how what is new or unusual can also be uniquely unsettling. Plus- no one ever expects horror protagonists to be smart, and I like the lack of pressure required to just write characters being stupid, whereas in a traditional mystery or action story usually the main cast is intended to be smarter and cooler than the reader. I delight in using dramatic irony to build reveals up in such a way that the audience knows before the main characters do, and that works best in horror where it allows me to drive up the tension as well. However, in my actual writing, I like to fuse horror with comedy or mystery or some other genre to make it a little more fun. Horror- in my experience, at least- hits hardest when you can get the reader to laugh a couple times.

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

I definitely don't like "genre"/happily-ever-after romance. I'm pretty firmly aromantic, and at this point in my life I find romance to be almost painfully boring. I find it really hard to write a romance as my central driver of plot, and even moreso when it's a normal romance without either action-adventure or horror elements.

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

I'm not sure I have a "real" target audience. I primarily write fanfiction at the moment while I overhaul my original work ideas, so that's a start- people who like Transformers. A lot of my work deals with adult topics like sex and abuse or coercion, so my audience is also above the age of 18 and comfortable reading about that, or at least interested in some way. And from there... I'm not sure. Fans of black comedy who like to watch characters experience awful torment, I suppose. I find that a lot of stories in the same general vein as what I do tend to "shy away" from the edge or otherwise try to soften what they're writing about somewhat, and I'd rather lean into whatever I'm writing. Like a car crash, or something. If other people are talking about fenderbenders, I'm going to go the full nine yards and write about totalling both vehicles demolition-derby style. In conclusion, I guess I'm aiming for a specific part of the Transformers fandom, wherein instead of reading light-hearted stories they want something worse, but at the same time hardcore angst where the character never gets a break and it's all very miserable just isn't striking a believable chord, or they want the characters involved to have a little more agency over their life than just being the Character Things Happen To.

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

I like themes of power, coercion and control, as well as themes of petty rebellion slowly shaking off the yoke of someone else's coercion or control. I think nearly everyone in their life has experience with some authority figure that wanted them to do things that would have either been harmful or counterproductive, and I'm no different. While I typically turn this up to eleven in my writing, it's definitely coming from a place of personal experience- if not with the topic, then at least with the concept. I also really like themes of family - not necessarily good or bad, but always flawed in some kind of way. And I really enjoy playing with ideas that violate "the sanctity of the mind" in some way, whether it be mind-reading, spells or coding tricks to get into your mind and force you to behave differently, or having to share a body and essentially just be a mind working with multiple people to do anything. I just really like making characters work around problems that real people only vaguely experience, but are close enough to real life that the reader can have a frame of reference for it, and I think that shines through with all my favorite things.

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

My least favorite trope is probably bodice-ripper-style "rape as seduction" like you find in classic romance novels and/or a "perfect victim" character that is only ever acted on and never gets a chance to stand up for themself. I understand it's something other people like or want to see, but defiance runs in my veins, and it always comes over as hugely unrealistic to me. At the end of the day, I want to watch characters struggle up toward the light, even if they fail in the end; if they just sit down and die- or, worse, decide they're okay with this after all- I'm always going to walk away unsatisfied. I'm also not fond of fantasy creatures that are inherently evil. From my pen name and username it's pretty clear I like dragons; I'm also fond of snakes, spiders, centipedes, jackals, and wasps. Animals are never inherently evil and people are even less inherently evil, because you're able to much more easily communicate with them. If the fantasy creatures are on the other side of an ideological divide, sure, but I really am not fond of "ogre instead of human" as shorthand for "100% evil villain we can never ever make peace with." If a character is being given the kind of intelligence you'd find on a human and some grasp of speech, I find it really frustrating when they're just Super Evil in search not of some goal that can be discussed but just because Ooh Evil Monster. It feels both lazy and really frustrating to me, and has been the number-one reason I put down fantasy novels since I was ten.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

My current original fiction project is technically a genre romance (I know, I said I'd never write those!) that deals more with poisonous ideology, religious intolerance, and genocide than actual romance. I've been working on it since roughly 2017, and at the moment I'm reworking the plot to try to zero in more effectively on what I want to say with it. For a little background context, my whole family is Jewish, and I came up with the idea for this one during the Trump Administration while I was slowly coming to be more aware of politics than I'd been previously. This story deals a lot with the anxieties of being Jewish in a world like today's, so I really want to make sure that the point comes across despite the many layers of abstraction and fantasy I'm filtering it through. It's a story that's close to my heart despite the fact that, frankly, what I -have- written of it not being very good because I wrote it when I was sixteen.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

That's a tough question. A large part of what gets me writing is that I have ideas in my head that I desperately want to communicate to other people, but I don't know how to make it work if I only describe them outside of a narrative context. But what definitely keeps me writing is the response I get from other people. I have been working on detangling this for years, but like many other writers on the internet these days, attention really keeps me going. When I was younger I used to print my short stories and show them to all of my relatives; now I post them on Tumblr and ArchiveOfOurOwn and show as many of my online friends as want to read it.

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I started writing when I was five or six, shortly after I learned to read. I mentioned that I come from a long line of other aspiring authors; my father has been writing novels since before I can even remember. I learned to write because I fell in love with reading and wanted to make my own stories that were nicer to dragons, since I was a little kid and really liked dragons and hadn't yet found anything where they were the real main characters. Both of my parents were very supportive of this, which helped a lot, because otherwise I don't think I would have kept writing my whole life the way I have.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

A lot of my inspiration comes from seeing other people fumble some part of a story and being convinced that I can do it better. I don't think this is terribly unusual, but it is a little bit annoying when I'm trying to identify influences or inspiration and all I can point out is things that I think weren't very good, or were good -except- for this one element that I'm actually riffing off of. Outside that... A lot of my more ambitious works in progress actually come from weird dreams with narratively interesting setups that I decide to run with, or random bolts of inspiration that hit when I see some random image and get a "vibe" to capture. For example, the inspiration for my long original project that I'm working on came from a dream; but the inspiration for the Valentine's Day project that I'm currently writing comes from my friend mentioning the movie "My Bloody Valentine 3D" one too many times when I was in a bad mood and making me want to write the worst valentine ever because I thought it would be funny and it had an interesting"vibe" to it.

What works of yours are you most proud of? Why?

Last year, I decided to just write a lot rather than writing things that were good. Turns out that this is a very effective way to write things that are good, but as a result it's all Transformers fanfiction. Regardless, I think the work that I'm actually most proud of is a fairly long epistolary horror told through emails about a character being brought to an alien planet and rapidly discovering that things are not as they should be and the planet is a lot more alive than it seems. It was a really lightweight project that I intended to kind of just take up space while I worked on a different thing, which didn't work out, but it wound up doing a lot of things that I think were, in retrospect, really interesting, and the character writing in it is some of the best I think I've ever done. At the end of the day I think that unusual formats have a lot of potential when it comes to creating stories that have some kind of unusual flavor to them, and I'm always chasing after that feeling of "this is the first time I've ever seen this".

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

I've never professionally published anything, but I would like to.

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you? Why?

To be honest, the part of publishing that most appeals to me is the part where I get paid and can go to my relatives and tell them that I got published by an actual publisher and now I have a real book out. The part that least appeals to me is every other part of publishing. It's always sounded like a major hassle and a giant pain in the ass to me (when I was growing up, my father was constantly sending his books out to publishers, and so far has still never been published) but, at the same time, I'd love to be the first person in my family to have a book published by Tor or Hachette or some other real-deal imprint.

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

The part of the writing process that most appeals to me is the part where I've written something cool and I can show it to other people. I also really like getting to write horror sequences or fight scenes, but my favorite part is basically just asking for a beta or getting to share the finished work. The least appealing part of writing for me is definitely editing. In order to get around my dislike for editing, I've gotten to the point where instead of actually doing regular edits, I literally just rewrite the entire story using the first draft as an outline. This takes forever and it's not very fun either, but it's better than going through line by line and trying to figure out which parts are good and which ones aren't. I have never gotten the chance to work with a professional editor before, and I imagine the experience is different when somebody else is doing the editing for you, but as it stands I hate editing my own work.

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

I absolutely write in pure chaos. The only thing I need to make sure that I can write is a warm drink - tea or coffee- and music I like playing. I've discovered that one of my favorite places to write is outdoors in the middle of the night over the summer, but I can and will write anywhere. I'll be writing in my college classes later today. Then I'll come home and sit on my bed and write some more. And then, historically speaking, I'll go out and I'll write on my phone while sitting in the back of a bar or something, and I'll come home and write in the kitchen while my dinner's cooking. I pretty much never stop writing when I've got an idea in my head. I write on vacation, while at the grocery store, when I'm supposed to be working, and every other time besides.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

I've been a writeblr for about three or four years these days. I really joined the community around 2020, when during quarantine lockdowns I decided to write an alternate universe take on the backstory of one of the characters that I have in my long-term novel project because I didn't want to work on that. I wound up joining regular so that I had some kind of community to talk about that wip in, and I've stuck around ever since. I've been tangential to writeblr since well before that, though- I love seeing writing on tumblr and I really enjoy original fiction.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

Natalie Ironside - @natalieironside - writes a lot of trans-focused action stories that appeal to me both as a trans individual and a person who likes action. Her protagonists are often characters who don't necessarily wield a ton of institutional power but fight for what they want and what they deserve regardless. Ezra - @doikayt - another Jewish writer, which I appreciate, but also every part of their writing I've seen is really cool. Speculative fiction is a favorite genre for me, even though it's one I don't often write in myself. Jax Wolff - @blind-the-winds - a writeblr I'm newer to following but really like, they post some really interesting snippets and do a lot of tag games.

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Definitely the interactive aspect. If you interact with writeblr, writeblr will interact with you. I love attention and I love getting to see other people's writing, so this is perfect for me.

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

Writeblr has a bigotry issue. It happens. In any community where people are showing up to share their creations without someone at the door vetting them when they come through, there will be people who are bigoted or who have biases that they have not vetted. It's something that most marginalized individuals, myself included, have already come to expect from most online communities. However, because writeblr is an interconnected and highly interactive community, when issues of antisemitism or Islamophobia or racism or sexism or homophobia come up, it's almost impossible to avoid seeing it and it's very frustrating that everyone seems to feel the need to jump in and defend their friends if they believe that the bigotry wasn't poorly intended or it was accidental. I don't want to be trapped in and on ending chamber of "hey, look how antisemitic/Islamophobic/racist/homophobic/otherwise hateful this writer is" for however long the issue is being brought up- it's emotionally taxing- and I know that other marginalized writeblrs who do the hard work and speak out against people who are being bigoted tend to see much more aggressive and, frankly, bigoted backlash than the people they're speaking to or about. I don't know how to fix this, because it's an issue basically everywhere, and if there was a fix for it I'm sure someone would have mentioned it already. But I would like to see more support for a: marginalized writers in the writeblr space, and b: those of us who would like to disengage from the topic after a short period of time. At the end of the day, I'd like writeblr to be a space where writers of all stripes can spend their time- not only cis, straight, white, Christian, abled writers. A lot of how people pitched writeblr to me when I was thinking about joining in was on the idea that Tumblr is a place with less of the traditional barriers of entry than traditional publishing, but if the bigotry issue runs unchecked, eventually it will just be a space with the same kind of demographics as traditional publishing.

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

I don't really contribute much. I play tag games sometimes and I occasionally make advice posts after I found something that works for myself. I could certainly be doing more, but honestly, I'm kind of lazy and I don't really have that much to say, so on the advice front I've kind of made all the posts I have to make already, and I'm not terribly well suited for running events or communities. I'm much more happy to be a person in the background and a leader in the forefront here.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

I like reading short snippets- in the range of 100-1000 words- and I enjoy interacting with interactive games, like a tag games or ask games. I think my favorite kind of post would have to be tag games where we share short snippets of our wips- the best of both worlds.

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

I like to share snippets of my work. This is probably the easiest for me to do, because all I have to do is copy blocks of text and paste them into tumblr.

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

My main Tumblr is @bitegore :D

Questions For Fun:

What is your favorite dragon-related story? What makes it your favorite?

For my favorite dragon-related story I had to split this question into two parts, because I read so many books with dragons in it that I can't help but differentiate between stories where dragons are people and stories where dragons are very intelligent and scary animals. The first dragon story i want to talk about is the Heartstrikers series by Rachel Aaron, an urban fantasy novel following the Only Nice Dragon after he gets kicked out of his home for being too nice and therefore disappointing the family. It's been a big inspiration for how I write since I first read it when I was fifteen; the idea of a protagonist not taking the two options set out for them but making their own choice, the idea of a world where magic and modern society and technology blend and interact, and different social modes of interaction and how they might not seem as useful as they wind up being (aka; the power of friendship, treated more seriously, lol) all really compel me and I enjoy Aaron's storytelling a lot. The only reason I wouldn't necessarily consider this a "final" answer is because, like a lot of other urban fantasy novels, the dragons in this are shapeshifters and the protagonist spends most of his time in a human form. The other one I could probably talk about would be the Dragonriders of Pern series, which I'm really due for a reread of. Pern is one of those series that I read as a kid that rocked my whole world. Not only is it about dragons, which I love- but it's also one of the early sci-fi fantasy stories where the genre was still finding its feet, and much like other stories in the same vein from the same time, the slow reveal of the sci-fi elements underpinning the fantasy absolutely fascinated me when I was a kid and still do for me now. The things I like about both series are different, but one of my favorite things is when dragons are treated as neutral parts of the world or positive ones, rather than uniquely evil monsters. I think I mentioned that that was a trope I don't like very much, and while it can be done well- Maur from The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley is a great example of a dragon so evil that even killing him doesn't solve the problem, and that's another favorite book of mine- it really delights me when instead dragons are just there, for better or worse. And while the worldbuilding in both books is very different, with enormously different styles and aesthetic trappings and social structures, both put a lot of work into crafting a world that feels believable, which is another thing I really enjoy in my stories and which makes these two beat out a lot of other narratives where dragons are more of a unique rarity or an aberration upon the face of the world they're in. And, finally… I just think they're cool. They're stories that both do things that, at least when I read them, I hadn't seen before. The stylistic trappings of fantasy and science fiction from the late 60s and early 70s, like Pern is, are very different from modern genre conventions, which makes the experience fun and novel for me as someone who was born in the early 2000s, and Heartstrikers- an urban fantasy speculative-fiction novel set in Detroit with an unusual spin on a "standard" magic system and very interesting legal setup- also felt like a breath of fresh air when I first read it.

Who is your favorite Transformer?

My favorite Transformer would have to be Vortex. He's interesting- a violent bad guy character who also manages to be nonchalant and amused almost every time he's on-screen. And, of course, it doesn't hurt that I think his design is really cool. A big robot with swords on his back that he uses to fly with? That's cool and I love it.

What is your favorite piece of horror-flavored media? Why?

It's hard for me to answer this question. My default is to answer with the horror movie I like best- Us by Jordan Peele, a movie so incredibly well-paced I have genuinely never seen the like before or since- but that's just straight-away horror. Down The Rabbit Hole by hypnoticwriter, a work referencing the Mystery Flesh Pit project by Trevor Roberts, is also really good, but the line between thriller and horror is indistinct at best, and usually when I say "horror-flavored", I mean that horror elements have been thrown in for seasoning and spice rather than consuming the tone of the work and changing the genre entirely. I think for this question I'm going to go with Transformers, actually. In terms of genre, the All Hail Megatron story is closer to a disaster survival story with action elements than horror. It tells a story about the Autobots being nearly defeated and the Earth being taken over by the Decepticons. But many scenes are paced and written like horror. Dangerous monsters are hunting the surviving Autobots, fuel is running out... and on Earth, the Decepticons see humans as vermin or playthings. It's a really fun series and one I really enjoy.

[tokkiheart]

My Favorite Supernatural K-Dramas for the Spooky Season

Spooky season is coming up and I wanted to make a list of my personal favorite K-Dramas with Halloween vibes.

Sorry for any zombie lovers out there who may happen to stumble on this list, I’m afraid that I’m not a fan of zombie movies/shows, so you’re literally not going to find any on this list.💔

Hotel Del Luna

I’m going to start this list off with the 2nd K-drama that I ever watched and it’s chocked full of ghosts (a whole hotel full!)

This is a K-Drama about Jang Man-wol, a female not-quite-ghost who is bound to a supernatural hotel for ghosts. At this hotel, the ghosts are taken care of so that they can eventually move on. One day, a living man ends up stumbling his way in to the hotel and attempts to steal from it. Man-wol catches him and ultimately spares his life, for a price. He has to give her his son when he reaches a certain age. Said son eventually gets brought in as the new manager for Hotel Del Luna and he eventually falls in love with Man-wol.

This drama can be a bit slow in places, but it’s really interesting and enjoyable in my opinion. You’ll definitely fall in love with all of the ghosts who work at Hotel Del Luna!

I found this drama hilarious at times and sad at other times, I 100% recommend having a box of tissues ready for the end of the show though, I know that I cried a lot after watching it for the first time. I was an emotional wreck and hid out in my room for a day because I didn’t want my family to know that I had cried that much.

Blood

This is a vampire K-Drama and the only vampire one I’ve seen so far lol To be honest, I don’t even know if I’ve even ever heard of any other vampire K-Dramas. I found this drama’s take on vampires to be very interesting and I rather liked the creativity. Disclaimer though: I still have 7 episodes left to go of this show, but I still recommend it!

This drama is a rom-com medical drama that is about Jisang, a doctor who was born a vampire in a world in which a virus is what turns people into vampires. Jisang doesn’t drink blood and he has a good heart & moral compass, he and his friend/roommate are trying to find a cure for his vampirism. The female lead, Rita, is intrigued by him and wants to learn more about him as she suspects that something about him isn't normal.

I feel like this drama isn’t really well known, I certainly can’t find too many gifs for it here on tumblr and I don't see it used a lot in K-Drama edits on YouTube either lol The tiny blurb you find for this show on Viki and Kocowa really don’t help much in terms of getting attention or interest since they literally just say "A medical drama about a vampire doctor." Which, is true, but is very basic and bare-bones lol

This drama came out in 2015, so it probably seems like it was trying to get in on the vampire craze that swept the world after the hype of Twilight, but it’s definitely better than Twilight (it also has a better love story!). It also has one of my favorite tropes where the romantic leads met as kids.

Happiness

Quite possibly the only zombie-esque show that will ever wind up on any of my list since I don’t like zombies lol

This wonderful show is about a fake married battle couple who scored a sweet sweet deal on an apartment just before the zombie pandemic breaks out because the female lead Yoon Sae Bom got enough points due to her job performance and also getting fake married to her friend since high school, Jung Yi Hyun (who has been in love with her since literally falling for her in high school).

Honestly, someone experienced the pandemic and was like: This, but zombies.

Anyway, this show has just the right mix of slight horror elements, social commentary, fluff, humor, heart, found family elements, capped off with a delicious slow-burn friends to lovers story arc.

My Roommate Is A Gumiho

Making a return appearance on one of my lists, is this show. Can you tell that I love it?

On top of the supernatural element already present in this drama with there being a Gumiho as the first male lead and an ex-Gumiho as the second female lead, there's also some horror-y scenes early on in this show which feel perfect for the spooky season.

Overall though, this drama is pretty light and extremely funny, so if you're looking for something softer to enjoy during spooky season, this drama could fit the bill!

Goblin: The Great & Lonely God

This drama is considered a classic for anyone to watch I think. This show has great autumn vibes that are perfect for the season and it’s a cute, funny show, also heartwarming and heartbreaking.

You’ve got ghosts, grim reapers, some gods(?) and our Goblin.

The Sound of Magic

This is potentially a weird drama to add on this, but since my lists are limited to what I have seen so far, this is getting added for reasons lol

This drama is a musical and is available on Netflix. To really briefly summarize this show, it's about a girl who had to grow up too quickly because she has to support both herself and her younger sister, who were abandoned by her dad who is running away from loan sharks. She happens to meet a magician who never really grew up (and likes it that way) and appears to perform real magic!

It's an interesting drama which is definitely worth the watch! It's got some scary/horror-y elements to it, so that's why I'm including it on this list. The show only has 6 episodes, each at an hour long, so you could finish this show in less than a day.

Doom At Your Service

I'm gonna say that I'm including this because Doom is essentially like the grim reaper, but more? He’s the embodiment of death and destruction and he can be pretty scary. He's especially scary in episode 12.

Some Supernatural K-Dramas On My List To Watch:

Adding this section just to highlight some dramas that I know of that also fit this list. While I haven’t seen them yet, I am interested in seeing them over the course of this spooky season!

Bring It On, Ghost

A drama about a college student who can see and communicate with ghosts and decides to use those skills to work as a exorcist to earn some extra money.

Oh My Ghostess

I would be lying if I said that this wasn’t on my list because of a bias’s cameo in the show (that bias is Seo In Guk).

Anyway, this show is about a “painfully shy and timid” woman who has the ability to see ghosts and works as an assistant chef at a restaurant whose star chef she happens to have a crush on. She ends up being possessed by the ghost of a young woman who died without ever having experienced any romance in her short life, so she basically wants to live vicariously through the female lead.

Master’s Sun

A K-Drama that is very basically about a woman who can see ghosts, but suddenly can’t whenever she happens to touch this one rich guy. Due to this, she tries to stick around him so she doesn’t have to see ghosts.

I’ll be honest, I have only considered watching this show because of Seo In Guk. I made it a goal to watch as much of my bias’ filmographies as humanly possible.

The Guest

Something that was suggested to me, it’s a little out of my comfort zone, but it seems pretty interesting, so I’m willing to give it a go! This K-Drama is about three people who are bound together by a tragic past: a psychic, a priest and a detective. Together, they work to bring down a powerful, bloodthirsty spirit.

Kissable Lips

I came across this K-Drama on Viki, it’s a short 8 episode long BL drama about a vampire who is tired of being a vampire, but the only way to bring an end to his immortal existence is to drink the blood of a pure human in order to become human himself. Apparently, pure blood humans are incredibly rare, but he manages to find one, who is clueless about the fact that he is one.

Apparently there’s also a love triangle (I guess I’ll just have to grin and bear it), but otherwise this seems like a pretty interesting show and I’m willing to kill like an hour and a half watching it for the sake of the spooky season lol You can watch it as episodes or as a movie apparently.

Sell Your Haunted House

This is a K-Drama about a woman who is the owner of a realtor company that specializes in selling haunted houses as she happens to have inherited exorcism abilities from her mother. She ends up teaming up some conman who suggests that they start exclusively selling houses which are haunted by vengeful spirits and lingering ghosts.

This is a romantic comedy with what sounds like an interesting premise, so I’m willing to give it a go!

[diamondcitydarlin]

my thoughts on the leaked eps and expectations vs reality (yes they got leaked in Russian again, I haven't watched them at all just read the plot summaries from those who have, so I'm suspending full judgement until I watch the eps when they air). DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS.

So. Idk, kinda double-edged sword here. On the one hand, we had a magnificent time this season coming up with supplementary development and subplots about the side characters (Marwa, the Djinn, the Guide, etc) and we had such good fun imagining how Nandermo might be jealous of each other and do other typical slowburn trope-y things we've come to expect from slowburn romances in TV shows. On the other hand, I think in the process we may have lost sight of what this show is and always has been, which is, at the end of the day, a group of idiotic, self-obsessed vampires that continue to make the same mistakes over and over and fail upwards. I think because the show is so unapologetically queer, we keep expecting those elements of found family and self-progression to stay true throughout the course of the story, but that's not really what this particular show has ever aimed to be.

To be sure, I'm disappointed with what ends up happening with Marwa. I can't imagine that watching it properly in English is going to change my mind about that, but I wonder how much of my disappointment was set up because I couldn't parse those amazing headcanons about her from the actual text of the show and what they were setting up to have us expect from her which, if you think about the actual text of the show, isn't much. I still think she deserved more and I still don't agree with the optics of the first regular WOC being treated like a sim in CAS before having her entire identity erased in favor of a yt dude and then shipped off to probably never be seen again. I really think to some extent they dropped the ball with Marwa, maybe underestimating how much viewers would love and want to see more from her (as well as her revenge). Because I will say, to be fair, that most tertiary characters get treated this way, though perhaps maybe not to the level of mindwashed horror as Marwa. I don't think we as viewers are misplaced in wanting to see at least Nandor get some kind of comeuppance for this.

As far as his sins against Guillermo go though, I don't think this is anything too off base from what Nandor would normally do, and I don't think he necessarily does it out of maliciousness towards Guillermo. That's the point I think they're trying to make about Nandor here; he's so self-focused, he does whatever he thinks the immediate gratification solution would be without any concern for the consequences. He clones Guillermo's boyfriend without a single thought to how this might negatively affect anyone else. He's an idiot, basically, of course.

And Colin having his entire plot as a child erased from his memory is doubly frustrating and tragic, even as I love knowing we get old Colin back.

So yea there's definitely a cynical kind of vibe to this season that I think is leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth. We're wondering what the writers are trying to say about the characters, if there's any point to keep watching or if we can just rest assured that these characters will go on making the same mistakes, never changing, and always ending up back at the restart button. BUT THE THING IS...we do have at least two more seasons, and an element of vampirisim in this show has always been that struggle to break free of endless cycles in an existence that goes on indefinitely, so it makes sense that this would continue as a conflict before the story reaches it's final denouement.

But I do have to say at this juncture that I agree some things were indisputably fucked up this season, my main complaint being the way Marwa's character was treated. Sure, there's time for them to bring her back and remedy this, but they could have done better by her to begin with than leaving us with this unpleasant bookend.

[kaz3313]

Serious shit, talk of csem (not specifics), Rape threats, and things of similar nature. Please mind the tags:

I think it’s disgusting that both antis and pro shippers harass people with rape threats/threats of harm on children/etc. I’ve seen it mostly within antis But I’m definitely not saying it doesn’t happen on the other side (I will be talking about antis doing it Because that’s the experience I’ve had). This is especially true when antis have told ship and let ship people (so I’m including those neutral) that their “desensitized” to “child porn”.

I just watched a video on a woman explaining the types of videos that are found. I could not finish the whole thing- it’s been several minutes and my stomach still aches.

I’ve had antis tell me that because of written underage I’m the same- that I’m the same as the people who’ve made those disgusting videos hurting children and babies.

What I consider one of my darkest fics is about rape and it is a character in the fic who’s a child. The fic was written to show how the character grew up in constant danger and in particular this fic was to show when he lost his innocence. It’s based off canon with an even darker element added to it- and I wrote it as a horror. I think I’m well within my right such a thing as is anyone else. There are several reasons one might write or read such a thing- but I’m not getting too in depth over that.

The thing I’m going in depth over is how normalized threats are. I’ve seen people wish harm on people’s (not born yet) children’s genitalia (I’m not exaggerating), I’ve seen people say that someone deserved the abuse in the past or any abuse that might come to them in the future. That they hope people lose their job, livelihood, friends, and family. Threats of violence.

I just want to say that we as a collective need to stop making these threats. Even if their a “joke” or toward the “bad people”

[oh-boy-me]

I just read both the australia and museum post and the chaos levels are top tier, but like imagine the chaos that ensues if lord diavolo discovers about amusment parks and immediately just buys tickets to disneyland. Lucifer is basically the dad trying not to loose his children(lord diavolo included). Lord diavolo wanting to ride a loopy rollercoaster and just having the time of his life! (Also I highkey see diavolo ordering lucifer to make a disneyland in devildom tbh) Also mouse ear headbands!

This..... this took forever

Hey there anon!  Sorry it took literally a year to answer this!  If you’re still into Obey Me, I hope this was a pleasant surprise.

Also for the first time ever a scenario post is being put under the cut for length purposes.  This scenario is 2.6k words Jesus

Please note that the last time I went to Disney was in 2015, so anything that’s newer than that is taken from the extensive reading of Disney advice blogs I read in preparation for this post.  Anything older than that is likely from experience.

Also, I tried my best to keep this spoiler free for the attractions that can be affected by it.

--

So the Devildom DOES have the concept of amusement parks.  I slept on this ask for so long that we’ve learned about Devil’s Coast.  It seems to be more akin to a smaller-scale theme park, though.  Small-ish.  I’m used to NYC idk what constitutes as small.

Something like Disney World is on such a larger scale!!  When Diavolo heard about that, he knew they had to go.

They are going to Disney World in Orlando because it’s the only one I’ve been to.

Lucifer is REALLY getting tired of these field trips, but there would be no weird animals, and there would be no sobering lessons on global extinction events at a family-friendly amusement park.  He.  He can handle this.

Solomon has actually been banned from all Walt Disney theme parks.  We’re talking blacklist-level banned.  He’s barred from ever entering any Disney park ever again.  However, this was back in 1976, so this must be, like, his son or something, right?  There’s no way this is the same guy.  Thought the security guard who let him in.

What did Solomon do to get banned?  When asked, he only gave a curious hum.  “Yeah, I wonder.”

The place is split into four parks, so they’ll spend one day in each.

Barbatos continued to flex his power as the only one in the group with a brain cell, being sure to get them all fast passes.  He even set time back just for the passes while they were booking the rides they wanted to cut the lines for, so if they don’t get used he’s going to be very snippy.

Also for convenience sake this is taking place in an AU where everything is the same but COVID doesn’t exist to shut down some rides and attractions.

Day 1: Hollywood Studios

MC and Simeon basically have to coerce Lucifer into letting everyone run free instead of making them all line up with a walking rope all day.  He relents on the condition that everyone checks in periodically so he can at least know they haven’t killed anyone.

Nobody will check in except for maybe Beelzebub and those at Purgatory Hall.

Levi immediately gathered his fellow Star Wars fans (which basically meant calling over Mammon Belphie and Asmo and then pulling in two unsuspecting people suddenly given the title of “Star Wars fan”), and made a beeline for Galaxy’s Edge.  There’s a LOT to do there and damn it if he wasn’t going to hit all of it.

First up for their group is the interactive Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run.  They fail the mission.  Levi’s pretty pissed, but everyone agrees that it was fun nonetheless.  They really felt like they were doing a mission in the Falcon!  Plus, the gameplay element was totally up the alley of most of this group.  Simeon does feel a little nauseous from Luke’s jerky steering, though.

Did you know that Diavolo loves Toy Story?  He does.  He’s very much enjoying the Slinky roller coaster with Barbatos.

Barbatos would rather be spending time at the shows and performances, but oh no god forbid we don’t get an autograph from Doc McStuffins.  Lucifer please come find him and save him.

Lucifer somehow wandered into the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration.  He wants out.  Barbatos please come find him and save him.

In general, Lucifer isn’t a fan of these sorts of places, so honestly he’s just hiding from the others and waiting for today to be over.  Barbatos told him that there are parks that don’t revolve around rides and characters, and he’s holding out for those.

Luckily for them Diavolo wants to do LITERALLY everything, and that does include the shows, so Barbatos and Lucifer can have at least some fun today

Levi, Asmo, and Beel are about to start their relay for getting character autographs when Satan shows up out of nowhere and starts dragging everyone over to the Tower of Terror.  Solomon bars all attempts to flee on a certain Avatar of Greed’s side.

The line to the Tower is so long, and honestly?  Satan feels like the ride didn’t live up to the literal hour they waited to get on.  Like yeah it was fun, but way too short.

He voices those thoughts, and Levi, who Satan knows is afraid of heights, is pretty fucking livid and drags him to Rock n Rollercoaster as revenge.  Satan hates roller coasters.

As for the others, Asmo and Luke have a lot of fun on the thrill rides.  Mammon and Simeon do not.  Beel is a little spooked by them but still manages to have fun, while Belphie and Solomon think they’re alright.

Eventually, Simeon gets too sick to move, and they assign him to Luke.  They say it’s because he’s too short to ride some of the rides (even though he’s literally not, screw you guys.)

Barbatos messes with time a lil bit so they can enjoy the Fantasmic Show and Fireworks to wrap the day up.

Levi is very jealous of Diavolo’s Doc McStuffins autograph.  Somehow Asmo has Buzz Lightyear’s number.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Satan is vibrating

He literally instantly sprints to the Kilimanjaro Safari.  And good for him; that’s something best done while the sun isn’t high up.  The whole gang actually agrees to check that one out, and while Satan isn’t thrilled to be within 50 feet of Lucifer, he’s glad Simeon is there because he remembers how his presence lured animals out in Australia.

Simeon also finds himself pulled along the trails by Satan and parents watch in horror as a gorilla gives him a friendly pat on the back.

If you didn’t know, Animal Kingdom is divided into the two continents of Asia and Africa, as well as the secret eighth continent Avatar (2009).  Diavolo heard great things about the Flight of Passage ride, but he totally forgot to tell Barbatos about it, so they’re stuck on a three hour wait line now.

Levi takes Luke on the Everest roller coaster because Simeon saw it in the distance and looked like he was about to cry.  Levi wouldn’t shut up about how the yeti effect needs to be fixed and Solomon had to explain that the effect literally couldn’t support itself.

Simeon, having escaped a roller coaster for the first and only time on this trip, grabs lunch with Lucifer and Solomon and they enjoy the Lion King performance together.  Solomon’s the only one of them who’s seen the movie, but the others still found it fun.  Solomon keeps making up random plot points that don’t exist, though.  Remember when Simba was captured by pirates?

Mammon found the Bugs Life show very scary.  Normally Asmo would laugh at him, but he’s afraid of any bug he’s never seen before and at least Mammon was afraid of the things that were supposed to get you.  They agree that bugs are still not their friends.

Satan has many things to say about the Dinosaur ride and most of them aren’t good.  Belphie thought it was pretty ok, though.  Lucifer can’t believe there was a sobering lesson on a global extinction event at this family-friendly amusement park.

Diavolo is still in line.  Barbatos abandons him.  He accompanies Luke to the kiddie fossil thing and actually finds it more tolerable.  Oh yeah that’s the other secret ninth continent, Dinoland.

Beel and Belphie spend most of the day together at the various petting zoos.  Belphie comes back knowing more than he ever wanted to about conservation.  He thought Rafiki’s Planet Watch was going to be about watching other planets, not this one!

Asmo gets very interested in the costumes of the performers, as well as the parrots in the bird show.  He could probably make some really colorful designs with those as inspiration.

Nearby, Mammon runs into Kevin and squawks in surprise.  The zoo staff spend the next two hours trying to find the bird that escaped.

Diavolo says the ride was worth it, don’t worry.

Honestly this park has a lot of stuff that wouldn’t translate well to a funny scenario post so this part might be a little short compared to the others.  I can only talk about a zoo for so long.

Anyone remember the Honey I Shrunk the Kids 4D show?  Apparently it closed in 2016 to make room for more Star Wars stuff.

Anyway, at the center of it all there’s the Tree of Life, which is really pretty all day.  Lucifer is thrilled to have a decently obvious meet-up place, too.  They get to catch the brief awakening show at night.

They’re very bummed to learn the Rivers of Light show isn’t happening anymore, so Levi pulls it up on his phone so they can watch it in spirit.

Then Satan learns about the Wilderness Explorers badges and the others spend the rest of the time preventing too much collateral damage over the fact that nobody told him.

Day 3: Epcot

Finally, Lucifer thinks.  Boo, Luke thinks.

Beel didn’t expect this park to be that interesting to him (he’s much more into the wonder and immersion of Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom), but then he learned about the restaurants.  China, Norway, France, Mexico, Germany, Morocco, Italy, Japan, Canada--Canada?  Huh.  Canada.  There’s so many different restaurants from so many cuisines to try, and yeah he knows that it’s definitely not the same as going to the place and it’s overpriced (sorry Lucifer), but it’s all right there.  He makes certain to take MC on a deluxe Epcot restaurant tour.

Oh yeah MC.  That’s the first time we’ve heard from them in a while.  They’re doing whatever you want them to I guess.

Levi buys so much from the Japanese gift shops that he has to go back to the hotel for a bit to drop his bags off.

Satan and Diavolo aren’t much better, but their stashes are more varied.

Also, Diavolo found Mouse Gear, and bought everyone a pair of ears.  Lucifer says that everyone has to keep them on because it’s what Lord Diavolo wants, but he is by far the most upset about them.  Mammon snaps a picture and Lucifer throws his DDD into the lake.

Asmo and Belphie decide they’re gonna take it easy this day, and they nab Solomon and Barbatos for some exhibition hopping.

Luke finds Mission Space and please father no Simeon thought he was safe he thought he was safe here no please

Aside from that, though, Luke honestly finds this part of the park boring.  He’d have been more interested in these attractions elsewhere, but as a kid he’s in Disney for roller coasters and Mickey Mouse.

Simeon is very grateful that Luke doesn’t have much that he wants to do, because it means that he can enjoy the Gran Fiesta and Living with the Land boat rides and have a single moment where he doesn’t feel like he’s about to be sick.  He’s not even afraid of the rides; he just gets motion sick easily.

Asmo makes sure to see the Chinese acrobat show, and Mammon catches that with the show-hopping gang since there isn’t much he wants to do here either.

Epcot has alcohol and Solomon hasn’t been able to drink in ages so he really wants to spend some time doing that with MC.  No demons allowed, thank you very much.  He doesn’t hold his liquor as well as he’d like you to believe, but he just gets really talkative when drunk so it’s ok.

Epcot is a nice day to take a breather and Lucifer and Barbatos definitely needed a breather before tomorrow.

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

This is the day Diavolo has been waiting for.  The crème de la crop, the best park for kids and kids in a future king of the Devildom’s body.

Also I feel like now is a good time to mention that this probably isn’t a reasonable order of events because I don’t remember the map layout of these places idk Disney city planning

This time.  This time, Levi, Asmo and Beel are gonna get those autographs, dammit.  Levi doesn’t even know who half of these characters are but hell if he’s not getting their autograph.

Mammon actually really loves the mascots too, but he’s embarrassed about it so he’ll only try to get one if he can use the guise of MC wanting one.  MC, please help him out

Belphie isn’t big on rides, but he does have a soft spot for the more retro ones like Dumbo and Seven Dwarves.  And like I said before, Beel loves Magic Kingdom for its wonder.  So Belphie is perfectly happy being led (read: piggybacked) around by Beel today, because their favorite attractions match up pretty well here.

Actually, Beel’s favorite Disney movie is Lilo and Stitch, but.  RIP Stitch’s Great Escape ride 2004-2018

Diavolo and Lucifer take a moment to enjoy the Carousel of Progress, and they reflect on how much the Human World is always changing and how much about it they still don’t know.  It really does make them think, like.  Grandma found the VR games at Christmas!  The Devildom doesn’t have grandmas!

Mammon is terrified of the Haunted Mansion ride, and Satan has literally never felt so much schadenfreude in his life.

Mammon’s afraid of most rides to be fair, but he likes water rides, so Levi eventually takes pity on him and they go on Splash Mountain together more than once.

The Peter Pan ride broke down

Luke wanted to go on Space Mountain and Simeon was the only one around, so.  RIP Simeon ????-2021

Diavolo was That Guy.  If you know, you know.

Beel accidentally spun the teacups way too fast.  Not even Solomon got out of that one unscathed.

Following that, Solomon manages to drag Barbatos onto the Jungle Cruise while Lucifer is busy.  What is Lucifer busy with?  Riding the Buzz Lightyear shooting ride over and over until he hits every single target and gets a perfect score at a Disney ride, something that is normal to want and possible to achieve.  Anyway, Barbatos finds it really charming and Solomon finds it a nice break that he didn’t know he needed.

While looking for a food place that sells water for a reasonable price, a kid runs up to Asmo asking for a picture and autograph.  He’s kind of confused, but goes along with it to make the kid happy.

Turns out, Asmo’s so naturally charming that they mistook him for a prince.  Other groups see that family and follow suit.  Mammon eventually catches wind of it and shows up to charge a fee.  The parents are pretty sure Disney doesn’t charge fees like that, but their kids really want a pic with Asmo so they hand over the two bucks.  (“Oh it’s so low” come on Mammon’s not a dick to children.)

And that’s the story of how Mammon and Asmo ended up in Disney Jail.  You’re very much not allowed to pretend to be a cast member and then charge money for it.  Lucifer has to bail them out as their “guardian,” and as punishment they aren’t allowed to opt out of It’s a Small World.

Small World isn’t that bad imho, and those like Diavolo, Satan, Simeon, and Levi would like it a lot.  But Lucifer has been playing parent all day, Belphie does not like the noise, and Solomon has literally been on this ride at least fifty times.  Very mixed feelings on this one, but it feels fitting to end with that and a fireworks show.

All in all though this wasn’t the worst trip Lucifer’s been on (cue everyone applauding for some reason).

Barbatos by far had the least fun of them all because for four days he was stuck in a park where the mascot is a fucking rodent and he wasn’t allowed to annihilate Mickey Mouse where he stood

“Disneyland Devildom when” “Lord Diavolo, no”

Masterlist

[sepublic]

Is the Golden Guard a Homunculus?

           Once more bringing up the idea of the Golden Guard having a connection to Eda, while also taking several cues from Belos and being trusted by him, being a teen prodigy with magic similar to Belos’…

           I’m gonna go out on a crazy limb here, and suggest this; What if the Golden Guard is a Homunculus?

           Alchemy is a common element in fantasy, of which The Owl House is an example of. With its use of magic, glyphs, and potions, I’d be surprised if alchemy didn’t exist in the Boiling Isles, or at the very least, if it didn’t have its own equivalent; Which, the entirety of Potions magic is probably this show’s take on alchemy!  

           A homunculus is an artificial human created by alchemy, although for the purposes of this theory, the Golden Guard is an artificial witch. The fandom has talked and half-joked, half-speculated on the idea of magic being used to bypass the issue of people of the same sex being unable to produce children; Some ideas have suggested same-sex witches being able to create a child by using pieces of themselves, combined with a magical ritual or two. That is of course pure speculation; However…

           We already know Belos as someone who can create living things from magic; He’s manifested fleshy constructs, and even the Intro Worm at a whim! The Golden Guard himself can even conjure flesh from magic to transmute into a metal sword! So the idea of creating living things from magic is hardly out of the question in this show, and definitely not for Belos and the Golden Guard…

           With how the Golden Guard seems to be set up as a dark parallel to Eda, a look into the kind of person she could’ve become had she joined the Emperor’s Coven as a kid; What if the Golden Guard is a Homunculus made from pieces of various witches, among them Eda herself? We’ve all considered Eda’s lost potential, and wondered just how powerful she could’ve been, had she never been cursed and given the opportunity to fully learn and explore as she’d wished; Eda herself has wondered about it, no less…

           And Belos? He definitely seems like the type of mad scientist, low-key eugenicist who’d do this sort of thing, out of some morbid fascination, a desire to unlock true power, explore the full extent of magic; And in a way, weaponized Eda’s potential without having to deal with Eda herself, by having a Homunculus with her DNA that’s totally loyal to Belos!

          Given how the Golden Guard obviously isn’t a clone of Eda –what glimpses of his face we’ve seen, plus his gender indicate otherwise- then it’s possible that Belos has taken DNA samples from multiple subjects, the strongest witches throughout history (such as the Coven Heads and even Kikimora), with the goal of creating the most powerful witch by combining DNA from all of them! Hence, the Golden Guard as a fledgling experiment, who already proves to be rather promising, with the help of Belos’ tutelage since the very beginning.

           With this show’s dives into body horror, and the ability of Belos to conjure living things to serve him, I wouldn’t be shocked. I could totally see Belos experimenting with his magic, moving on from making animals like the Intro Worm, to a full-blown Witch! For all we know, he may have even put in a bit of his DNA as well… 

          Of course, whether or not this sample was from before, or after he became so physically messed-up, I can’t say. With the connections to both Eda and Belos, the Golden Guard being a homunculus brewed in a lab would be a way to explain those potential ties, without having to resort to a VERY gross age-gap fling that isn’t in-character for either party.

           Alternatively, the DNA sample came from Gwendolyn, who IS a member of the Beastkeeping Coven, and did give birth to Eda herself! As for the potential issues of a sample coming from Eda, who is cursed, well…

           There is that one shot from the trailer showing an owl beast with a face similar to the Golden Guard’s mask;

           Could this be him? Did taking a piece of Eda, perhaps a strand of hair or something, result in the Golden Guard inheriting her curse? It’s also possible that the Golden Guard isn’t cursed, because Belos is able to cure such things, and unlike Eda, the Golden Guard would be loyal to him and have thus ‘earned’ that, especially since Belos wants to explore his creation’s potential. Alternatively, Belos got the Eda sample from before she was cursed; Possibly by visiting Gwen and asking if she had anything, such as a baby tooth, from Eda prior to the curse.

           Likewise, if the Golden Guard DOES contain a bit of Belos, this sample could’ve come from before Belos became so messed up… And/or, due to being young and less experimented upon, with DNA from other witches, the Golden Guard manages to still be healthy despite the presence of Belos inside of him! It is worth nothing that the Golden Guard wields magic similar to Belos, so for all we know, this fragment of the emperor is what allows him to do that, having been distorted in the same way.

          That, or Belos trusts the Golden Guard, enough to keep him privy on a bunch of secrets that the emperor normally reserved for a ‘chosen one’ such as himself; Only those selected by the Titan are worthy of this form of magic, and because Belos himself is decayed, the Golden Guard is the only viable candidate left to truly explore the full potential of this magic. Also, being a construct made of Belos’ unique magic, with his own bile sac and everything; That could explain why the Golden Guard is able to wield that same magic, because he’s made of it!

           And being made from Belos, who isn’t too physically well-off, that could be why the Golden Guard is established as tired in our first glimpse of his personality… That, and/or he’s exhausted because he’s a teen prodigy who has to do the work of an adult, and not just any adult but the right-hand man to Belos! Maybe the Golden Guard was created as a means for Belos to create a new physical body for himself, before he repurposed his homunculus as an apprentice of sorts, while possibly still keeping him as back-up host.

          Perhaps the Golden Guard was Belos’ attempt at creating witch super soldiers, of creating generations of witches by his own hand, who would be totally loyal to him; Thus keeping Belos from having to rely on families for children he doesn’t trust… And potentially freeing Belos to get rid of ALL other witches, because now he can make his own loyal ones from scratch! Belos would be the kind of person who’d want to make an army, while killing whatever he can’t control, hence the hunt for the Selkidomus.

           Plus, being made for the sole purpose of surpassing all other witches, even Belos- It could definitely add a lot more to the Golden Guard’s arrogance, but also a huge amount of pressure as well. And it’d make him feel indebted to Belos, for giving him life, for granting him such great talent and ability from the get-go, for basically writing his destiny out for him, a fate of grandeur and glory.

          As a lab creation controlled and indoctrinated since birth, influenced before birth even, with Belos’ influence ingrained into his very body- It could add to why Belos seems to trust the Golden Guard on matters even Kikimora isn’t privy about! Creating a whole kid to raise into an adult, an entire life for a single purpose, and making sure that life KNOWS that purpose and fully devotes their existence to it, because it’s literally why they exist to begin with- Not exactly something I’d put past Belos!

           Plus, for Eda; The Golden Guard could act as a disturbing mirror for her. Not just in the kind of person she could’ve been, but as a harsh reminder of the magical potential and power she could’ve had, had she never been cursed; And again of the magic she completely lost, when the curse reached its worst limits. It’d be a way to haunt Eda at a point when she’s lost her magic, by dangling what could’ve and should’ve been; It’s like a ghost and a specter for those who have mourned or wondered Eda’s lost potential.

[nancydfan]

Okay but honestly everyone (besides Mia) doubted Ethan and his abilities the entirety of the game- especially Chris.

Obviously all the lords are like “ha ha you’ll never get past me!” And then insert picacho surprised meme when he does.

Even Miranda seems to be like “whAT THE FUCK” when Ethan stumbles his way back to fight her after she swore she killed him. Like yes she knew he was “special” somehow but never realized the full extent of his abilities.

But Chris himself doubted Ethan the most honestly.

I feel like when Chris and his team found and got Ethan and Mia out of the Baker’s house in RE7, he probably just thought Ethan was lucky. I mean, here’s this totally average guy and you’re telling me he killed/ severely injured the members of this family who had been infected with the mold, as well as killed Eveline himself? Like Chris was probably like while this man definitely was able to fight his way out there’s no actual way he was able to do this on his own, maybe he’s over exaggerating or whatever.

But he doesn’t say anything, and offers to teach Ethan military training (at least I think it was Chris, only because they seem to be more familiar with each other in RE8) because even if he’s over exaggerating the man clearly has talent and capabilities to make it out of that house in relatively one piece.

And then they get into training and Chris is incredibly impressed. For what appears to be your typical average dude he’s got pretty good fight tactics and techniques, and can handle a gun pretty well. Of course there’s always stuff to improve on and Chris teaches him to the best of his abilities, and here he gets to know Ethan.

This is a man who always offers help to anyone who needs it, and goes out of his way to comfort people whenever they need it. He truly loves his wife, he never makes a “gotta get back to the old ball and chain” or other “I hate my wife” jokes, he truly appreciates her and respects her with every part of him.

He has a great intuition, both in fighting and just when reading people. When Chris or someone around them has an off day he immediately picks up on it and is able to sense what that person needs. With Chris he will casually mention that his door is always open, he might not know the answer but Ethan is always willing to listen if Chris needs it. And though Chris at first insists that he’s fine, somehow Ethan Winters gets him to open up a bit (not completely, but Ethan’s genuine kindness begins to crack Chris’ ‘tough guy’ mask he puts on that lets Ethan see a glimpse of the real him. Chris’ squad is in utter shock of this because it took them YEARS to achieve this), and they both can sit down and share the horrors they both have experienced and for once in Chris’ life he starts to feel that maybe he can actually recover from what he’s seen.

Ethan also somehow knows exactly what to say. Though sometimes he’ll have to pause to get the right words and thoughts together, when he finally speaks his words are exactly what Chris (and others) needed to hear, even if Chris won’t admit it.

Ethan is the guy who when he sees injustice he doesn’t stay quiet, he is loud and makes sure that whatever happened doesn’t go unnoticed. He somehow remembers everyone’s birthday and gets them the present that they actually want, even if the person and Ethan have only talked once.

And though Ethan has the capability to be serious when needed he can be light hearted and funny, and though sometimes his jokes are simple puns or the same reiteration of the joke you’ve heard 100 times you can’t help but laugh because he somehow made it sound different, somehow breathed some fresh life into it. He has his favorite shows that he always makes sure he is home by to watch, and though he is at his core gentle and kind he can also be tough, and isn’t afraid to call you out when you’re wrong.

Ethan is the least judgmental person you will ever meet, and is truly open minded and will listen to you completely and openly. He isn’t afraid to change his opinion when he realizes he was wrong. When him and Mia throw a Christmas party they always invite Chris and he is always touched by it.

It is through their time together training that Chris realizes that while yes Ethan is a completely normal man he is far from completely ordinary and boring.

And when he announces he’s going to be a father Ethan’s eyes completely light up, and he spends hours of talking about all the beautifully mundane things that accompany preparing to become a parent and dealing with the trials of Mia’s pregnancy. There is no doubt in Ethan’s voice or heart that lead anyone to believe that he thinks that there’s a possibility that Rose might be unhealthy due to both of their exposure to the mold. Ethan runs on optimism and truly believes that she’ll be alright, that though they’ve been through hell him and Mia finally got the happy ending they deserve, and Chris has never been so happy for him.

And then, of course, everything comes crashing down.

When Chris learns that Miranda has infiltrated the Winters’ home he is infuriated on their behalf (can’t this family catch a fucking break?) and does all he can to help them (but little does he know he actually will make it worse). He doesn’t tell Ethan whats going on because they need the element of surprise to get Miranda and Chris knows Ethan will not lie low until he gets there. While Ethan was incredibly lucky to survive Dulvey there’s no way he can survive Miranda’s wrath.

(Also I think there was a document saying they didn’t know if Ethan was compromised or not, hence why Chris didn’t tell Ethan immediately what was going on but still he was over the line)

When Chris discovers that his team escorting Ethan, Rose, and Miranda had crashed and died, leaving Miranda in sole control of Rose he is devastated but thinks to himself that he must keep going, there’s no time to grieve or feel guilty for mistakes when Miranda is moments away from completing her ceremony.

And then he gets word that Ethan Winters has been spotted in the castle. And he shakes his head because of course he’s still alive, Ethan must run on luck and sheer will because how else would he have survived the crash?

And though Chris wants to go after him to tell him to sit his ass down so his team can do their job he can’t because again time is a luxury he can’t afford and he hopes Ethan’s luck saves his ass again this time. And though he hopes for the best can Ethan really take on these god-like creatures?

And then he again gets word that Ethan Winters somehow is defeating all of the lords. He’s going through them as if they’re simply ants beneath his feet and somehow he is still going. And though this is great Chris and his team are rapidly losing the element of surprise they’ve been trying to maintain since coming to this village.

And when he encounters Ethan again it almost hurts to see this man who once sat with him for hours talking about nothing, offering to help him with his taxes look at him with such fury and disdain that it almost sends shivers down his spine, that even though Chris is a highly trained operative he for some reason feels like if Ethan chose to kill him Chris wouldn’t last long. He wants to explain but time won’t let him (or is it the fear that he was wrong all along and once he spits his words out he’ll realize this).

And when Chris runs into Ethan at Karl’s factory he finally gives up and figures that he could use Ethan’s luck on his team, if Ethan can eliminate the four lords without any military help then he’s got to be able to have a shot and killing Miranda with Chris’ and his team’s help.

And when he hears Miranda kill Ethan on the phone it is a blow to his gut that he wasn’t expecting, because Ethan Winters has made a bigger impact on his heart than he thought possible. And it is in this moment of grief that he realizes his mistakes, that he was wrong to alienate Ethan, the man who went through hell twice without looking back to save his family.

The guilt only gets worse when he finds Mia, because he has to explain to her that it’s his fault that her husband is lying dead without his heart due to Chris’ own negligence. And when Mia tells him that he doesn’t understand how special he is he desperately wants to hear it, despite his mind telling him that’s she’s wrong, he wants Mia to tell him that Ethan can survive the impossible because he wants a second chance to make things right.

And when he gets the report again that Ethan Winters is somehow alive and is on his way to the ceremony site Chris’ heart soars and he wonders how could he have ever doubted Ethan Winters and his ability to come back to the people he loves time and time again.

(Also I could be wrong here because I don’t remember if Miranda blocked Chris out once she realized he was there but the rest of this is going to go off of the assumption that Chris was present and could see what was happening)

It is not until Chris makes it to the ceremony site and sees the battle between Miranda and Ethan that Chris truly realizes that he has severely underestimated this man for 3 whole years.

He’s seen Ethan fight before- he saw it in training and heard his squad give him the summary of what they saw when Ethan fought the other lords, but this is the first time Chris has seen Ethan TRULY fight, and on his face where Chris is so used to seeing compassion and love and carefreeness is suddenly replaced by anger, resentment, and pure determination because his daughter’s life is on the line and he will fight until there is nothing left of him to keep that little girl safe.

Chris watches in awe, because even though Ethan looks like he is barely staying together, like he is one breath away from falling apart he is still fighting. Maybe it’s because the mold is being destroyed or maybe Ethan’s injuries are so severe that the mold can’t be bothered hiding itself anymore but he finally sees the proof for himself that Ethan Winters is no longer human- Miranda is tearing into him and Ethan does not care- the long gashes she makes onto his body are desperately trying to suture themselves back together with small tendrils of black, this mold desperately trying to keep Ethan together when Miranda is so intent on tearing him apart.

He watches in amazement as Ethan somehow manages to avoid her claws and her own tendrils of mold reaching out to pound him into dust. He watches in amazement as it doesn’t matter how much Miranda damages Ethan- he gets back up again to unload another round of bullets into Miranda without slowing down, and watches in amazement as Ethan actually begins to win this battle- this perfectly normal man versus a god-like creature and Ethan is actually winning despite all the odds stacked against him.

This is Ethan Winters, he thinks, and while the mold might have given him regenerative properties the mold did not give him the drive and determination Chris sees before him- though Ethan Winters is infected but he is still Ethan Winters, each bullet he fires is coming from him, and his pure will to survive and save his daughter. The mold did not change him to a super hero because this is who he is at heart, a man who is willing to risk it all just to make sure the ones he loves are all right.

And if he didn’t already respect Ethan before he certainly does now, and he curses himself for being so ignorant and not letting Ethan in when he had the chance.

But that’s alright- because Ethan Winters has just eliminated Miranda before his eyes and is running to his daughter, and now Chris will have a lifetime to make it up to him.

But then he sees Ethan collapse to his knees in front of him, and his feet are moving before he even thinks to go because there’s no way, this man did not survive this hell just to die on him now.

Chris is relieved that Ethan is still (barely) conscious as he puts his arm around the man to help him out. Time has never been on their side and it certainly isn’t now, as Chris practically drags Ethan out because he has failed him too many times and he refuses to fail him again.

He tries to get Ethan to keep fighting because it seems that all of the life has drained from this man, the only part of him that’s full of life is the arm carrying his daughter because even when he’s on the brink of death he will not let anything happen to her. Chris brings up Mia and it pains him to hear the loss in Ethan’s voice, as if he’s already decided he’s a lost cause. Chris will not let this happen, he points out that they’re going to blow the village sky high and that’s why they need to get a move on and-

Suddenly Ethan is pushing Rose into his arms, and Chris can’t believe he gets the privilege to hold this man’s daughter after all he’s done and Ethan is draping Rose in his worn out coat and begging Chris to teach her to be strong and Chris won’t have this, Ethan Winters will not die on his watch he will get home to his family and live to live a perfectly normal life, when suddenly Ethan pushes Chris out of the way of a mold tendril that acts as a barrier between them and Chris watches in horror as Ethan stumbles backwards, the man looking more and more like a walking corpse versus the man he just saw moments ago, full of life and determination to kill Miranda.

“Goodbye, Rosemary” Ethan chokes out as he starts to stumble his way back to the ceremony site, and Chris can almost feel the pain of Ethan’s loss at not being able to be with his daughter and wife just within the utterance of these two words.

And Chris is calling Ethan back because dammit it doesn’t have to be like this but Chris knows what a man hell bent on something looks like, and Ethan is already almost out of his sight and the whole village is collapsing around him.

Cursing Chris turns around, cradling Rose close because Ethan somehow miraculously chose to trust Chris in protecting her and like hell will he let something happen to her after this. Chris will teach her to be strong and how to be brave, and not because he’s a man and Mia is incapable of it, but Chris will teach Rose how to be strong like her father was, and how to defend herself because both he and Ethan know that Rose’s abilities will make her a constant target for people to use for their own gain.

When Chris hands Rose back to Mia the joy on her face is short lived and suddenly she’s demanding where Ethan is, begging them to put the plane back down because there’s no way in hell he’d leave them willingly and just as Chris utters that Ethan chose to sacrifice himself the bomb goes off and he feels another blow to his chest, and it’s as though he can’t breathe for a second. He sees the realization hit Mia, and that though Ethan has survived the impossible time and time again can he really survive being blown to bits?

Chris can barely contain the grief and guilt that is consuming him as he looks out the window at the site where Ethan Winters’ luck has run out, the site where Ethan Winters has now died for the second time.

He glances back at Mia and Rose, and each sob Mia lets out cuts him like a knife because he knows he is responsible. He promised this little family that he would protect them and he failed. He failed Mia, he failed Ethan, and now he has failed Rosemary as she must now navigate her life missing a father who would have done anything for her.

Chris will not let Ethan die in vain. He will protect Rose, he will teach her how to fight and how to defend herself. And though he wants to reach out and comfort Mia he knows it will be unwelcome, but looking at Rose he will not fail her again.

He made a promise to Ethan Winters that he fully intends on keeping.

I’m sorry what did I do to be so emotionally attacked like this 😆

I’m SOBBING OMG. Ty really. I feel like I have nothin I can add to this because GAH MY HEART. You get it. You understand these characters and I was smiling so huge as you described Ethan because YES ALL OF THIS. Then the pain as Ethans end approaches. AND CHRIS’ PERSPECTIVE THROUGHOUT AND HIS PROMISE GOING FORWARD.

Anyway someone get me tissues. This was so beautiful. Bless you 💜💜

[ladyyatexel]

I Went On A Manga Binge

So you don't have to

For those of you who have wisely avoided the shreds of it I've left around the blog thus-far, I had some weird notion to go re-experience Yu-Gi-Oh uuuuuh a week ago? We'll go with that. Time is meaningless.

I'd been able to read a good portion of the early manga at the end of highschool, and somewhere in my stacks and stacks of paper is fanart from this dark time, so you know I cared. I also still own a Dark Magician action figure somehow, so. I'd also watched a large portion of the anime with my brother because it had been laced with some kind of crack and we couldn't look away? I remember when we both were just like shit, wait, don't change the channel, I can't stop looking at it. And the next thing we knew we were waiting for new episodes and I was doing research on the Japanese original because I was that kid.

Anyway, unnecessary backstory out of the way, here are some... let's call them Observations and Consequences of having read somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 chapters (and growing) of a manga primarily hinged on card games from a spectrum of sources ranging from boringly lawful to sketchy as fuck.

Surprise actual character that develops in typical shounen fashion being Jounouchi. My limited experiences with the 4Kids dub and only early manga had not painted him in a particularly good light. I don't know if episodes were being aired out of order or if I had just missed the ones that established that he was making shit up as he was going along, but Wow I liked him a lot more going through the manga than I ever did watching the (dubbed, heavily edited and censored and thrown into a slurry machine) anime. I'd managed to come out with the impression that he was just as reasonably experienced with the game as Yugi back in the day. Wild.

I'm now reading every single comic-style post on Tumblr backwards.

Striking inverse to first point, wow, I don't like Seto Kaiba. Though he gets points for his general philosophy of the future, and the line I read in my sketchy online combo of scans and scanlations in which he said, "If God is in your way, you run him down," was Metal As Fuck. I somewhat shame-facedly admit to enjoying him a lot more as an Abridged Series character. (I watched Abridged as it came out back in the day! The experience of watching the anime with my brother had been so fresh that I got all the in jokes about the way things were edited and dubbed, it was great. Series remains influential part of my life to this day, which is hella weird.)

I almost understand how Duel Monsters works now. I don't want this.

That said, wow a lot of the decisions made in the anime made everything a lot more ridiculous than the admittedly already ridiculous original. I got the distinct feeling in the manga that the Duelist Kingdom stuff we were seeing was designed to be used and exploited in ways that don't make sense in an actual cardgame just played on a table like a normal person and this was part of testing everyone to think higher, differently. Maybe this is obvious to everyone already, I don't know. I had always liked that it was very, 'Not so fast, I'm going to blow up the moon to change the tides,' but I'm not really sure the anime gave enough explanation that this was an extra layer added to things for that event? You can see people actively getting used to it in the books, and people who aren't considering the real or 3D nature of it getting owned, but my memory of anime version is everyone just like, 'oh, shucks, fuck me, I forgot to consider the phase of the moon before i played this card, can't believe I forgot.' No one calls Yugi on any of this stuff because it's valid play in that situation. Plus Yami Yugi had mad trickster energy in the beginning and it suited him to think of ways to do things inside these little simulation boxes the way it suited him to set perverts on fire. I imagine the real card game trying to emulate this element as something that would be to its detriment, but I neither know nor particular care haha

Ryou Bakura.

Really, though. I think he became kind of casualty of 'wow, we have a lot of characters who really aren't able to do anything in this story anymore,' despite the fact that his whole inner life could have been as interesting as Yugi's. I always like thinking about the possibilities of stories in which main character falls into magical world and is given magical item and told they're the hero and then they find out they've been the bad guy the whole time. The first several volumes of manga were about the quiet weirdo kid that no one talked to who was always blacking out and turning into a fucked up version of himsef because he was so attached to his ancient Egyptian jewelry, so like, Bakura could have much the same shit going on. I want to know what's happening with him so much. He clearly doesn't love being possessed, but he's also so drawn to the ring. Despite it having stabbed him at least twice and him knowing it's a danger to him and his friends, he keeps being pulled back into it. You see so much more of him being like, 'Oooh, a creepy thing, I love that! :D' in the manga than ever in the anime, which I'm all about. Also more blood. I'm very about that as well. Though my memory of the anime also made it look very much like normal regular daily Bakura was just a weird facade in places before he ever would have been. I think that was it trying to compensate for what people didn't see from the Toei anime, but okay whatever, that I love everything about this guy is not news, I don't need to talk about Bakura excessively here, I'm pretty sure that's gonna show up on my blog by itself

On a related note though, damn, more of these people need to talk to each other. Can we have some existential crisis support clubs or something. Can we get like some apologies or something? "I respect you as a duelist." "Cool, but you literally built a tower designed to specifically assassinate me and my friends? You were supposed to get Better after I retaliated by putting you in a coma, but you kinda didn't." "Why would the coma have made it better" "I just told you it didn't" ---- "Sorry I went along with the plan of your evil parasite stabbing you, misled you, and then also jumped in and took up some real estate in your head too." "I understand, I also have an evil thing inside me that does things while I'm blacked out." "...no, I was conscious for all of that." "Oh." "..." "..." "..." "Do you like Ouija Boards?" "sure okay" ETC. Like damn we are reading shounen manga because no one is talking extensively about their feelings here and I'm tapping my foot angrily.

Holy shit there are so many mythologies happening at once. The ancient family guarding the Egyptian Pharaoh has a surname that's a Mesopotamian goddess. None of the god cards make any Egyptian sense except Ra, and just like. Baaarrrrely. Somewhere either Evil Ring Bakura or Mar/lik makes a reference to cremation and spirits being taken to heaven with smoke which several things, but definitely not Ancient Egyptian. Marik/Malik meanwhile is clearly trying to head Arabic, along with Rishid, but then, hey, our sister is just Isis. Goddess McGoddess. Sometimes they're the same goddess! Her name could be Isis Isis or Ishtar Ishtar. Meanwhile, all the obviously 'occult because Christians think it is freaky' stuff. ~ancient egyptian pentagrams~~~This isn't a complaint, I guess so much as a 'Wow, I can kind of see the cultural spot the author was coming from and where he was aiming' kind of thing.

Wonder where things would have gone if the card games had not been latched onto the way they were.

Managed to forget how gross the pre-cardgames stuff was on the sexual harassment front. I'm glad there was a sort of explanation of everyone drifting away from being dick heads and that that decision was made. It got way more comfortable to read after no one was bringing Yugi p*rn on VHS.

Yugi looks better with a nose, glad we got that upgrade.

Interesting to watch the series style shift as it goes away from being horror to being over the top cardgames and friendship (with blood!). The first picture of Mokuba is fucking Jarring. Also noticed that the nicer a character is, the less their teeth are defined.

Glad manga did not go as completely off the fucking the rails about Marik's face. I never got as far as seeing him back in the day because college occurred, but I remember seeing pictures and stuff and being like, "what in the Fuck happened to that dude, I think the house style has collapsed in on itself"

Things the author Really Likes: motorcycles, belts, SHOES, holy shit the shoes. These are some of the most lovingly rendered sneakers I've ever seen. All the detail on his characters goes straight to their feet and then it's stretched upward until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in 3000 years of trauma and bake face down in a crumb coat of scattered mythology. Remove when you roll two zeros.

Where the fuck am I going to put the extremely large omnibus volumes of this comic I purchased in order to balance out how much I would be reading for free on the internet. I should have grasped that a three in one edition would be Thick and yet somehow I was still :O when it arrived. Have I strategically purchased volumes that contain my favorite parts, maybe, what's it to you will i eventually get the whole thing because incomplete book series gnaw on my soul? yes

Wish the transition from "I've murdered several people in delightfully karmic ways" to "all you need is friendship in your heart and cards in your hand" Yami Yugi/Pharaoh had been discussed more/transitioned better. Buddy, where did you get this approved for television high horse? Please go back to strangling people with yo-yos or at least tell me why you stopped.

I still can't tell anything that looks like a big robotic monster apart from any other big robotic monster. My dude, I can't tell cars apart, all these monsters look the same.

Yami Yugi fascinated me way more in highschool? Maybe because it was still super early and the anime was like 'we need to torture you about his origins WeEkLy. Now I'm just like 'wait hold on, can we go back to Bakura and Marik for a minute, there's some extreme unpacking to do here?' Those two are paying so much more in baggage fees here my guy wow

Violently uninterested in any of the spinoff media

[yourfavisirredeemable]

souyo angst - post-true ending

y’all the souyo tag has been more active than I’ve seen it in a long time (I think cause of the PC release) which makes me happier than I can measure. I’ve loved persona 4 ever since 8th grade and souyo really is my favorite ship of all time. in celebration, here’s a bunch of angst headcanons I’ve been holding onto for 5 years, specifically related to the izanami battle/true ending. (they’re actually not necessarily souyo-specific, but since I ship souyo they kinda have that overall vibe)

- do y’all really think yu narukami is just gonna come away from that battle with izanami/being trapped in a time loop illusion for an untold period of time and NOT bring any trauma with him? cause I don’t

- specifically, he can’t get rid of a horrible, nagging thought that follows him even after the IT celebrates their victory - what if this is all still part of izanami’s illusion? izanami could have just nested an illusion inside of an illusion, and that way, she can defeat him without him even knowing it

- which would mean, of course, that his friends are all still dead and he’s just living it up with a bunch of illusions. his friends sacrificed themselves for him, while he gets to live out his summer days in peace surrounded by a perfect simulation.

- that thought is terrifying to him, and it only grows over time. there’s the horror of nothing being real and his friends being dead, compounded with the guilt of having abandoned them and the helplessness of never being able to know the truth. he has the cold realization one night that he’ll never again know for certain that the world he’s living in is the real one.

- but he tries to keep it to himself and act like he normally does. after all, if he can’t ever know for sure, why worry about it? this world is probably the real one - his friends seem normal, time keeps flowing like it usually does, and even the velvet room seems the same as it was before

- as hard as he tries, his doubts and fears are really impacting his mental health, which eventually affects the way he acts. it’s subtle, but the others eventually notice it - yosuke does first, since he knows yu the best.

- he notices that whenever there’s a silence, yu will stare off into space with a strained and even slightly fearful expression. he’s worried, but he just tries to be there for his partner like normal, figuring he’ll talk to him if he needs someone to rely on

- rise notices the dark circles under his eyes and asks about them, to which yu nonchalantly responds that his part time work keeps him a little busy. chie notices that he doesn’t seem to have as much fun when they work out or watch movies, and yukiko notices the way he starts withdrawing from conversations until he’s standing at the edge of the group, even quieter than normal.

- teddie and kanji don’t notice anything on their own, but eventually those who have started to get worried bring it up with the rest of the group. naoto, of course, has noticed everything, but nothing in yu’s behavior has indicated it’s anything worse than blues about leaving inaba or stress from work

- yu, for his part, realizes that his friends probably know something’s up, but every day he feels less and less motivated to tell them what’s actually wrong. after all, what would he even say - I’m afraid all of you are illusions, and my real friends are already dead? 

- plus, there’s the fact that saying his fears out loud would somehow make them feel more real. so instead, he tries to ignore them, and only spirals more

- he starts feeling really scared when he finds himself having the occasional violent thought toward his own friends - if the real yosuke’s dead, why should this illusion get to live? how dare an illusion pretend to be his best friend?

(more specific headcanons/fic ideas under the cut)

- imo, the possibilities for this headcanon are endless. you can take your hurt/comfort as far as you want it to go (personally, I love projecting my mental illness onto fictional characters so full depression/anxiety is definitely on the table), and the timeframe means any fics could be set either before or after he leaves inaba

- personally, I think it could be interesting if he returns to the TV world, perhaps to look for answers or just to blow off some steam, and finds out his shadow’s gotten loose again. which would ofc mean that now he’s trapped in the TV world with no persona, a shadow that for sure wants to kill him, and a dungeon of his own forming around him

- (btw, I know the TV world changes after the fight with izanami, but I think since it still exists and the IT still has personas, they can still have shadows as well)

- this would be an interesting way for the IT to find out what’s really been happening. they would notice yu missing and eventually check the TV world, whereupon they would find an entire dungeon and see yu’s shadow for the first time.

- the dungeon, I think, would have a lot of different elements - recurring rooms from dojima’s house to represent the time loop he was trapped in, an origami version of inaba to represent how everything seems fake, etc.

- as for his shadow, since I love to go full angst, I think it would be absolutely vicious. it represents the nagging belief that everything’s fake, his hatred toward himself for “abandoning” his friends and living a happy lie, and his hatred toward the IT for being illusions meant to replace his dead friends

- as a result, it would try to kill yu almost immediately after manifesting and attack the IT on sight. this would be particularly devastating for yosuke - he only found out that saki hated him (x to doubt, I’m still not convinced she actually didn’t like him but that’s another post) through her shadow, so being immediately attacked by yu’s shadow would be heartbreaking

- yu’s shadow wouldn’t feel any need to explain itself to an illusion, so it would just silently and violently attack him with a look of pure hatred. which would be a confirmation of his worst fear, that yu secretly doesn’t think of him as a partner or an equal, and in fact doesn’t even think of him as a friend.

- but of course he would soldier on, determined to save yu even in light of his “true” feelings. the rest of the IT would also bring up the fact that they don’t know the full story yet, and there could be a reasonable explanation for why yu’s shadow is so violent

- since I love to make my favorite characters suffer, I also like to headcanon that eventually yu would let his shadow kill him. or at least almost kill him, since the IT busts down the door before it’s too late, but at that point he’s unconscious and in no shape to accept or reject his shadow

- (he didn’t accept it before even though he knew he should because he didn’t want to accept his violent urges toward himself and especially toward his friends)

- so basically the IT just has to grab yu and run. I was thinking this headcanon through and my brain was like ‘why not throw in some extra souyo angst,’ so a barely conscious yu might pull a reverse uno card on yosuke and sacrifice himself to protect him, unwilling to let his friend sacrifice himself again

- which would ofc make things even worse for yosuke. aside from the obvious, there’s the confusion arising from the fact that yu’s shadow tried to kill him, but yu himself was willing to sacrifice his life for him

- either way, I think yu would be barely alive by the time they make it out of the TV world. from there it’s just a matter of him recuperating enough to go back in and accept his shadow, which is complicated by the fact that essentially being split in half across two dimensions is definitely not healthy.

- there’s plenty of angst in the recovery process, but this post is already super long and I wanna get into some of my other thoughts

- just a quick aside, I think as a perhaps less angsty headcanon yu might just be extra averse to yosuke sacrificing himself after they win against izanami, especially in the animated version where I think only yosuke sacrifices himself instead of all of their friends

- so the next time yosuke tries to sacrifice himself for yu he’d get an earful, maybe even accompanied by a breakdown where yosuke realizes how badly he scared his partner during the fight with izanami

- anyway, I also have a fun night in the woods-type idea relating to this - after yu leaves inaba, nothing seems real to him to the point that it actively breaks down his mental health

- it’s only when he returns to inaba or is with someone from inaba that the world doesn’t just look like a grayscale mesh of unsubstantial shapes

- which could lead to something interesting if yosuke (or your yu narukami pairing of choice) comes to visit him at his college dorm and finds it an absolute mess or barely decorated at all with a depressed yu inside, or if yu drops out of college entirely to return to inaba, baffling his friends and family because he was at a really good college and had a great future ahead of him, or if he returns to inaba and is terrified to find that sometimes it’s in grayscale too, or-

- the point is I’ve thought a lot about this and I love both persona 4 and night in the woods so I think it’s fun

- there’s also plenty of potential for yu to just break down and tell his friends what’s wrong in the real world before he leaves inaba, which could make for a great hurt/comfort oneshot

- all in all, I think yu would have definitely been traumatized by living in a time loop for who knows how long and there’s a lot of potential there. (don’t ask me about what I think would happen if margaret hadn’t gotten him out of the time loop cause that’s an even longer even darker post. or maybe do ask me)

anyway, I know the souyo fandom probably still isn’t exactly popping off but I hope anyone who finds this post enjoys it!

[burnedbyshoto]

i’d like to preface this with this is my opinion and only my opinion. you are free to agree and disagree with what I say and point out my idiot takes too. I also do very much love uraraka though, she’s a cutie.

uraraka ochako is an interesting character. she’s definitely not one of a kind, never seen or done before, but if hori is taking her character in the direction where im assuming it’s going, I think it’ll be fucking sick as hell. after all, I don’t want female characters who are physically strong — that’s easy to write and easier to write off — I want emotionally and internally complex female characters and this added element is definitely a way to get her there.

her biggest character complexes are revealed and can stem off of a single relationship of hers. that with himiko toga.

there are a lot of parallels between uraraka and toga. from the get go, the most obvious one being their feelings towards izuku. their crush, their obsession with him. 

I do apologize now about the frantic scatteredness of this because I am no meta writer, but im trying to piece this together in a logical way.

himiko toga’s background was revealed to us in the war between the LOV and the MLA. she was someone who, most likely due to the influence of her quirk, lusted over the blood of people she liked. now, through the horrors and need to be normal, togas family forced her to be “normal,” to hide her true self and feelings from the rest of the world because it wasn’t accepted. she does not hesitate to speak about how she hated having to keep her true feelings in, how she was deceived by the world into being someone she’s not. so now, she gives into her crushes, her obsessions, her wants, and her needs. himiko toga’s most memorable traits is her admittance to wanting to become the person she loves the most.

how does this parallel to uraraka???

easy.

who does uraraka want to become :)

upon uraraka’s initial introduction she was brought as a character who held nothing back, someone who was to become a hero because of the paycheck, not because she wanted to save people. she didn’t care so much as other people, she cared more about her family. 

now, there’s nothing wrong with this of course! shes 16 -- 15 then -- years old, and possesses the ability to do as she pleases. no one in bnha is quite as ambitious and self-sacrificing and heroic as izuku is (which is a whole other problem but thats for another time), and that’s okay. you’re not supposed to have the integrity to throw your life away for strangers at 15, it’s okay to be selfish.

however, where things start taking the twist with uraraka is the simple question brought forward by aoyama. a simple question if she likes him.

its interesting already that he asks her this, especially given what uraraka is thinking when asked. at this moment, she’s trapped and is thinking of what izuku would do in this situation. this occurs right after the sports festival arc where uraraka denied izuku’s help in facing off bakugou, where she watched izuku break his entire body to save shouto, and where she began to develop some sort of feelings and emotions for izuku during the calvary battle.

now, why does this matter? well, the turn down of izuku’s help and her ability to perform soundly against bakugou tells me that she probably didn’t ever need to wonder just what izuku would do against her battle with thirteen. the beginning of her feelings (whether they are true feelings or just straight up obsession) towards izuku gives her that tie with toga, and just for lols, toga enjoys seeing a beat up, busted izuku and well, uraraka got to see him busted up post shouto fight.

so when aoyama asks his simple question, suddenly uraraka is vividly aware of her feelings towards izuku and loses her concentration and flies straight towards thirteen and etc. while I don’t mean to be like,,,, there’s only one way to do things, but I find it hard to believe a 15/16 yo girl couldn’t tell that her feelings for izuku were romantic at that point... so yeah lol.

I did say true feelings or obsession in a previous paragraph, and I will now dive into them.

as uraraka continues to progress as a character she also changes the reason why she’s a hero. it becomes identical to that of izuku who becomes a hero to save everyone, and similarly, uraraka says the same. but, in order to do so, she must suppress her emotions/feelings/obsession for izuku in the time being because shes not an idiot and knows she doesn’t have time for that relationship and midoriya ‘I-have-a-death-wish’ izuku doesn’t either.

we see from togas experience that suppressing and hiding your true self/form only does you wrong in the end too.

interestingly, uraraka also changes a bit of her hero costume to imitate that of izuku. again, there’s nothing wrong with imitation because izuku’s entire career is based on imitation and making others original moves his own, but uraraka’s is always focal to that of izuku. 

izuku this. izuku that. what about izuku.

he’s a common name to her thoughts, which can be normal to that of a highschool girl with a crush, her suppression of her feelings and desire and clouded judgment for izuku is her undoing, and her crazy parallel to toga.

toga used to suppress her blood lust for the sake of appearing and being normal.

uraraka suppresses her crush on izuku for the sake of appearing and being normal.

toga loves to imitate, replicate, and become her crush.

uraraka imitates, replicates, and wants to be like her crush.

togas use of imitation is seen as a bad thing.

urarakas use of imitation is seen as a good thing.

toga is no longer trying to be someone she’s not (minus her use of her quirk).

uraraka is trying to be someone she’s not (her want to be like izuku).

in chapter 289 we see their interactions, how toga dances and weaves around uraraka as we try to get an answer about why uraraka believes in the things that she does, and while she’s honestly not wrong in her explanations (again she’s 16 and by no means should be perfect. toga’s overall convoluted approach on her entire question wouldve confused me too) she’s emulating and mimicking midoriya izuku. 

urakaka has grown complacent, she has become someone she isn’t and in her daze to be something she’s not, she’s suppressed and frantic. she’s become a character that people are questioning because where on earth did the girl we once knew go?

I can’t say much about her true feelings and whether or not how she feels for izuku are real, but I firmly believe that if hori is doing what im thinking, there’s going to be a lot of self-reflection and possible realizations that uraraka might not truly have a one-sided crush on izuku and for the meantime become someone she wants to be, much like toga is finally someone she wants to be too.

but thats just me lol.

~

twitter thread I read. I don’t agree with all of it, but most of it!!!!

i do apologize if none of this made sense, i’m not quite good at explaining my rationale ;-;