#they're very different on many levels yet incredibly similar

[daz4i]

bsd mutuals. if you like

symbolism

classic lit

watching characters face interesting dilemmas that may affect the fate of the world

orphans characters with sad yet interesting and touching backstories

homoerotic rivalries

which ofc you do. at least some of these. otherwise you wouldn't be into bsd right?

in that case, if you have the free time and can afford it, you should play persona 5 royal

and persona mutuals: if this applies to you as well. which ofc it does otherwise you wouldn't be into persona. you should read bungou stray dogs

[xclowniex]

The depressing thing about I/P is that it's shocking quite easy to take a stance on the matter without being viciously bigoted as hell, and yet people just swan-dived straight into vicious hatred and cruelty on pretty much the flip of a switch:

Netanyahu's government and Hamas are the main bad guys. The former because he was already a far-right wing crook who was in big trouble prior to all this, and now he's using the war to stay in power and out of jail. He's a genuinely evil man who needs to be in prison, and there are people within Israel trying to hold him accountable. Netanyahu absolutely detests Biden because the latter is less beneficial to him for his own cruel goals (Though justifiably your mileage may vary on Biden's actions and whether they're the right thing to do or not), and Netanyahu would greatly benefit from having Trump in power...which would be the exact opposite of helping Palestine.

Hamas is a terrorist organization being bankrolled by Qatar billionaires and who wouldn't hesitate to use Palestinians as cannon fodder for their goals. They aren't freedom fighters by any stretch of the imagination just because the government opposing them is led by an evil man and his far-right cronies, and regular Palestinians are being oppressed by them.

Both Israeli people and Palestinians have a long and complicated history that hasn't been resolved in centuries, and trying to pretend as outsiders that we somehow know the correct solution (of killing or driving out all of one side) is incredibly arrogant and extremely cruel, and basically turning two very diverse and complex peoples into props for our own ego trips.

Israel's and Hamas' governments have both committed immense atrocities and war crimes, and those involved DO need to be held accountable in order for a proper peaceful solution to exist, but that does NOT make their respective peoples responsible for their actions. So constantly trying to treat all Israeli and Jewish people as being responsible for genocide is stupid and grossly bigoted, especially given that in many other cases, we don't treat other nations who've committed similar crimes and evils the same way.

Likewise, Palestinians aren't people's personal props for their revolutionary fantasies or weirdly para-social guilt complex either; just because people in the West are deep in denial about their own nations' history of horrific mistreatment of minorities doesn't mean they get to turn two entirely different independent countries (with vastly different sociopolitical and racial histories) into a balm to sooth their own guilty consciences.

Like, this is still somewhat of a gross simplification, and feel free to correct me if I missed something, but it's still incredibly disturbing how many people can't seem to do this base level of thinking.

Nah you are so right anon

[shinidamachu]

inukag was born to be shipped by me and I was born to ship inukag as well

For ages now I've been meaning to write about the reasons why I ship Inukag as fervently as I do and @inukag-week felt like the perfect opportunity to indulge myself, so here we go.

I want to start with how aesthetically pleasing they are. From their perfect size difference to the complimentary color scheme of their outfits plus contrasting hair and eye colors, Inuyasha and Kagome just look absolutely good together.

Their character design makes it clear from the get go that they're visually a great match. The association is so strong that the audience becomes unable to picture one without the other, as if they're two halves of the same item. Different, yet unequivocally a team, a pair.

Decades ago, they already had that classic quality to them and I bet they'd never get out of style even decades from now. And the rich lore that surrounds the pairing only adds to that aesthetic: the well, the tree, the beads, the robe, the sword, all of it enhances how iconic they are. Even something as ordinary as star gazing becomes uniquelly theirs.

Futhermore, I just absolutely love the entire concept of it. The subvertion of the fairy tale archetype, the idea of a love that transcends time, of soulmates who actually work on building their bond. Loving each other was both inevitable and a choice they made every single day.

Inuyasha and Kagome were just two teenagers from different worlds — literally and figurativelly — discovering together what love was. This made their relationship very compelling, because the excange between them is insanely substancial.

And their overall dynamic is so wholesome. There was a push and pull, a give and take, that made it fluid rather than static. Every single milestone felt organic and kept the audience thirsting for the next one.

Nothing felt forced or rushed. The slow burn was competently written to showcase their relationship being build on a very strong foundation, consistent in intimacy, mutual trust and acceptance — recurring themes for them and for the story — and so the stages of their bond had such a natural pace, it highlighted how genuine and healthy it was.

Consequently, there are so many aspects of their connection to explore. There's a never ending room for angst and for light hearted moments and you can adopt a more mature perspective or go for comical instead: they manage to be versatile without being generic and to embod the best clichés in fiction without becoming one themselves.

It's hard to think of a trope they couldn't pull off or an alternate universe that doesn't work for them. It gives the fandom plenty of freedom to be creative and to have the best time with it.

Plus, their chemistry was off charts. The romantic tension bleed through every single interaction. Their passion is so strong you could feel it even in scenes that had nothing to do with romance. And they didn't even need to kiss to achieve that level of synchrony.

They were also compatible. Inuyasha and Kagome balance each other quite nicely. Even in a relationship, they still keep their individualities and remain interesting both as characters and as a ship.

The very thing that dooms most pairings — opposite personalities — is precisely what keeps them together. Inuyasha and Kagome are completely different from each other, but they're actually extremely similar where it actually matters: their morals and goals.

And they longer they stay together, challenging one another, growing through trials and tribulations, inadvertently learning what each other's needs are and fulfilling them, easing each other's sorrows, covering each other's backs, saving each other's lives in every possible way, learning each other and learning with one another, the more their dichotomy turns into a duality, because they gain a more nuanced perspective of themselves, of each other and of the world.

It's a level of understanding, closeness and respect incredibly difficult to match. And for Inuyasha and Kagome, no one else even came close.

Another thing is that they're not just complementary to each other, but to the story itself. Their romance enhaces the overall plot. It has a structural placement in the wider narrative, strengthening its core themes and fulfilling the characters individual arcs, ultimately resulting in a more compelling journey.

So many romances are disposable to their own story, but Inukag was detrimental to theirs. Inuyasha and Kagome's interactions served as pivotal points of their respective arcs. Taking only the narrative into consideration, their relationship holds a lot of weight and greatly influenced everyone around it and it tied everything together.

That's why their happy ending felt so satisfying: it feels earned because everything went full cycle. All of that symbolism, all of those parallels paid off. Anything different from what we got would simply lack narrative and thematic cohesion.

And even if they didn't end up together, they could never be circumstancial. There was a real reason why they met, a reason why the fell in love and why they had ever lasting impacts on each other's lives regardless. It wasn't just love for love's sake.

This is what makes them, in my opinion, an epic ship.

BONUS: their soundtrack is lit and their quotes are simply legendary.

[zoeykallus]

Hello! 👋

I LOVE your work and the way you capture the personalities of the characters. You're incredibly talented.

I'd like to request an 18+ one shot with Crosshair (fem reader) that's a little different than normal...

Cross is always very cold, rough, and distant, so I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if he started being gentle with the reader. But still in a Crosshair kinda way.

Here's what I was thinking (TW, i briefly mention the reader having past sexual/relationship traumas): The reader and Crosshair have worked together on and off for years. They never really talk about personal things or get emotional because they're both kinda similar. But they have feelings for each other that are on a deeper level than they've experienced before with others. Something happens where they end up being alone and emotionally vulnerable in front of one another (perhaps Cross saves the reader from something and gets all protective and has to calm the reader down from panicking and it gets steamy 😳🤤) and it basically ends in getting laid. But perhaps the reader is afraid of romance and intimacy from past experiences that Crosshair knows a bit about, and he truly loves her so instead of being quick and rough with her, he starts really slow, gentle, and sensual and it gradually gets more intense 🤭.

Take your time and prioritize your mental health!!

And I know that this could potentially encompass some heavy topics, so don't feel obligated to write this! 🫶❤️

Aloha!

🤔 Okay, I needed a while to read through all this and I did it repeatedly because for some reason nothing of it stuck in my head. That's what sleep deprivation does with you, no focus at all.

Now, I don't think Crosshair is always very cold, rough and distant. First of all, he's mostly playing it. I think it's mostly part of a self-defence act. 'Stay professional and don't let anyone get too close.' That stoic pure soldier behavior is kinda like a shield I think. Well, at least in my HC. Anyway, I know what you meant, so never mind 😅

Let's see if I can do this...

Crosshair x Fem!Reader One-Shot - The Unexpected Gentleness

Warnings: Angst/Tension/Protective Crosshair/ Soft Grumpman Crosshair/Suggestive/Described Sexual Intercourse/Spicy Handsy Stuff/ Implied Past Trauma Of Reader/Soft Smut(?)/18+

AC: A hundred years late, I'm finally done with this request. This may, or may not be, the longest One-Shot I've written so far... I don't know anymore by now, it certanly feels like it. I definitely wrote too much stuff to remember 😅 Didn't proofread this yet, because I'm close to keeling over any minute, sorry.

You never thought you would end up in this situation. Crosshair and you have been separated from the rest of the group by a storm. Since you were supposed to explore a cave system anyway, and you are protected from the storm inside, you continue to explore and scan the tunnel system. However, you are not the only ones seeking refuge from the storm in the caves. The group of black market smugglers you are looking for are also there. It all happens very quickly, from one moment to the next you are attacked. Blaster shots fly through the tunnel system and echo off the cave walls. Your flashlights only partially illuminate the cave, many dark corners where the enemy could be, remain lightless, and so two of the men are able to sneak up behind you. Someone jumps into your back and rams you hard to the ground, at first you can't breathe, you feel a knee in your back, your attacker holds you on the ground while he takes off everything you could have used as a weapon.

The impact was hard and painful, you gasp for air in panic as it almost feels as if the oxygen will never return to your lungs. The helpless position you find yourself in stirs up panic in your mind. There it is again, air, frantically you breathe in and out far too quickly. Your eyes are burning, fine stone dust and tears. You can't move, you can't defend yourself, you can't breathe properly, you can't even find your voice to scream. Then you hear a thudding sound, a startled gasp and in the same second the weight is gone from your back. You roll around, crawl to the cave wall and crouch down. You nervously scan the surroundings with your flashlight. Crosshair. He is standing over a man, presumably the one who was kneeling on your back earlier. The man on the ground is no longer moving, Crosshair is standing over him with his blaster. The Sniper looks in your direction, shielding his eyes with his hand against the beam of your flashlight. "Stop blinding me," he growls. "Sorry," you stammer, lowering the flashlight beam. You tremble as Crosshair crouches down in front of you and takes a closer look at you. "Breathe evenly, slowly, in and out. You're hyperventilating."

You blink several times, then force yourself to breathe in and out slowly, feeling your pulse finally calm down. "That's it," Crosshair grumbles, "Keep breathing," and helps you to your feet. He shakes his head and growls to himself, "That's what you get for having to take untrained staff with you"

For a second you want to say something defiant, but you see the look on his face and swollow it down. Usually you can handle his sass and grumble, but you are still shaken from what happened.

You bow your head in shame and silently follow him further along the tunnel system to a junction that looks like a small room. Slightly elevated from the rest of the tunnel, a slightly larger alcove. "We'll camp here for now," says Crosshair, and takes off some of his equipment, including his backpack and its contents. You do the same, and you pile up your blankets so that you can sit and lie reasonably softly. He also sets up a camping light, so you can see each other. Crosshair steps to the edge of the alcove, away from the blankets, and silently, impatiently beckons you towards him. You hastily follow his invitation, still with your head bowed. You hear him sigh, then you feel his hand under your chin. He forces you to look at him and scrutinizes your eyes. "You need to rinse your out your eyes, or they'll get infected. They're already red. You have stone dust in your eyes" He hands you his water bottle, which you take with a shaky hand. But when he sees the trembling in your fingers, he takes the bottle from you again.

"Head to the side and open your eyes," he demands curtly. You comply with this request too. You squint as he begins to clean your eyes. "Pull yourself together," he says quietly, almost gently. After a while, he hands you a clean handkerchief with which you dry your face, then he asks, "How are things looking, do you still feel foreign particles in your eyes?" You blink to test, then shake your head. "No, it's all gone." Crosshair nods and hums, "Good" He sits down on the blankets he spread on the floor earlier and beckons you over. "Sit down" You comply and sit down next to him. When he takes off your jacket, you flinch and stiffen. Crosshair pauses and looks at you questioningly, then says calmly, "I want to see if you've been hurt, bruised or anything, things you might not have noticed under adrenaline" You take off your jacket yourself and say, "My chest hurts a bit, but I don't think anything is broken" He carefully touches you over your T-shirt and applies pressure to your ribs. "Does that hurt?" You shake your head. "No, it's more of a constant, slight pain. It'll just be a few bruises" "Can I have a look?"

You blink uncertainly. You actually trust him, but you're still hesitant. "What's wrong?" he asks with a raised eyebrow. You swallow and say quietly, "I had more than my fair share of unpleasant experiences in the past with letting my guard down with people, physically" He growls softly then says, "You can be sure that won't happen to you with me. I don't cross boundaries I'm not supposed to, you're in control. A simple word is enough." Crosshair sounds unusually gentle, and at first you can only look at him in surprise. But he doesn't push you any further, waiting patiently. Finally, you nod and take a deep breath. You take your shirt off over your head and sit next to him in your bra. He wants to stare, to take a close look at you, but he concentrates decently on your rib area. His fingertips glide carefully over one spot. The touch gives you goose bumps. "Here," he says calmly, "A slightly larger bruise, not too bad" You breathe a sigh of relief and smile nervously. "Turn around," he says gently, "Show me your back."

You do as you're told and feel his fingertips on your skin again. "It looks the same here, a bruise, nothing to worry about" His hand moves to the back of your neck, and you feel a gentle shiver run down your spine. He says a little growling, "That asshole got you pretty good, saw him sweep you off your feet. I was attacked by his buddy at the same moment, otherwise I would have reacted faster" "Thanks for saving me, I would have been lost without you" Crosshair snorts softly, and you can hear the smile in his voice as he says, "Indeed" You slowly turn to face him, still half naked, your shirt lying next to you on the blanket. He's not staring at your breasts though, but at your face as you say, "I'm sorry if I'm a liability on this mission" Crosshair rolls his eyes, but his voice sounds soft as he says, "You do your part, I'll take care of the rough stuff, we complement each other well enough" He studies your face in silence for quite a while, and you find it hard to look at him, you're always so nervous around him even though he doesn't really give you a reason to be.

Braver than you feel, you ask him, "What are you thinking about right now?" Crosshair blinks, looks back into your eyes and says, "About how much I'd like to touch you right now. But that's probably not appropriate. Apart from the fact that you probably don't want me to." Your heart starts to race. A mixture of joy, nervousness and a little fear flood your system. Your heart is beating so hard in your chest, you can feel it all the way up into your throat. You fight with yourself while he looks at you calmly, patiently, waiting. You're fascinated by him, you've liked him for a while, maybe you even have a crush on him. But you didn't expect him to say it so directly here and now. "You want to touch me?" you ask, as if you're not quite sure what these words mean. He tilts his head slightly to the side, then nods and says, "I'm thinking about it, yes. But having just seen how nervous my closeness makes you, I'm holding back." You say honestly in a low voice, "I just don't know how to read you. Sometimes you seem so considerate and thoughtful, other times rather harsh and rude" Crosshair raises his eyebrows, then says, "I'm a soldier, I can't always be gentle" You sigh softly and say, "I know that, I meant explicitly when dealing with me"

He frowns critically and asks, "I was rude to you? When?" "Not rude," you say hurriedly, "Just... grumpy" Crosshair rolls his eyes, but a smirk twitches at the corner of his mouth. "I'm a bit impatient sometimes, that may be. I'm not used to working with civilian agents, even though we've known each other for a while now and have worked together from time to time. I'm usually surrounded by other soldiers. There's not much room for subtlety, especially in the field" You nod, you can understand that. Nevertheless, he is very different from his brothers, Wrecker or Tech, for example, are much more relaxed, even Hunter, but you keep this observation to yourself. "Quite understandable," you finally concede. His features relax a little, and he asks you, "Are you afraid of me?" You shake your head and answer without hesitation, "No, not at all" He smirks and says, "I think so too. If you were, you'd probably have put your shirt back on by now. Physical nakedness is also a certain form of showing vulnerability. If you didn't trust me, you would have covered up again long ago"

You blink and realize with surprise that he is right, your shirt is still next to you, you had almost forgotten about it. He slowly reaches out to your face and gently places his hand on your cheek. You hold still and look at him, fascinated, feeling the warmth of his hand on your skin. His face comes closer, closer and closer. You automatically close your eyes a second before his lips touch yours. It starts with a gentle touch, almost chaste. A few breaths pass before you feel gentle pressure on your lips and return it. You let yourself be pushed backwards, slowly, gently, until you are lying on your back and Crosshair is halfway over you. His lips part from yours, and he lifts his head to look at you. "I had to try it now," he says with a smirk, "How do you feel?" For lack of better words, you say simply, "Warm" He chuckles softly. "Warm is good" You smile too, even though your heart is racing, you're not afraid of him or his touch, you know you're in good hands, you know you can trust him. He would never hurt you, never push you. You know that a simple word will be enough to put him at a distance again, that he will always respect your boundaries. You feel safe, and your hands wander over his arms, on his chest, over the cool material of his armor.

"Maybe I should at least take off the hard parts of my gear?" You nod and say, "That would be better" Crosshair straightens up again, and you prop yourself up on your elbows to watch him remove one piece of armor at a time until he's wearing only the Blacks on his body. He lies half over you again, resting his weight on his arms and knees. Crosshair looks you straight in the eye and says, "You're not forced to do anything and I won't be upset if you'd rather have me at a distance, you can always say something and I'll back off" You smile at him and nod. "I know, I really appreciate that" He shakes his head and says, "That should go without saying, for everyone, you don't have to be grateful for that. But I noticed earlier how insecure you are and when you mentioned that you've had bad experiences, I thought I should mention it. I don't want you to feel forced into anything" You nod again. You automatically want to say thank you again, but you swallow it. "I don't feel any pressure at the moment" He kisses you again, this time more urgently, more sensually. Close to your lips, he whispers, "Tell me if that changes" You want to answer him, but then you feel his tongue gliding over your lower lip, testing, questioning, searching for access. Your lips open automatically and let him in. Your tongues meet in a velvety collision that sends a shiver through your whole body and makes the heat move under your skin, between your thighs. A soft, sweet sigh comes from your throat, a sound that triggers an intense feeling of success, satisfaction in Crosshair. His long arms wrap around you, one of his long legs slips between yours. Immediately you feel the pulse between your thighs, in the intimate heat of your womanhood. His tongue flicks playfully against yours again and again, chasing it with velvety strokes. Every touch of his tongue in your mouth makes your clit pulsate as if he were kissing you in a completely different place.

His long, elegant fingers undo your belt and pants, pull your belt out of the loops and put it to one side. Just the idea and anticipation of every touch makes your pulse race, your nerve endings vibrate and your panties get wet. You imagined it differently, you expected more fear, but you feel completely safe, Crosshair is gentle, considerate, something unfamiliar, unexpected, but very welcome. As his lips part from yours, he lets out a somewhat shaky breath. His muscles are tense, he holds back. You both know he wants more, but he's taking it a lot slower than his body wants right now. "Is everything all right?" you ask softly, your mind still foggy from his kisses. "Of course," Crosshair grumbles and kisses your neck. The touch makes your nipples harden and causes you to wriggle out of your pants automatically, almost of your own accord, and slip them off your body. Another shaky gasp from Crosshair. His fingertips glide over your shoulder, your stomach, your thigh and back up again. They barely touch your skin, just very gently, then they grab, your thigh, then past your thigh to your right bun. His grip is firm, but not hard.

"I've been waiting for what feels like an eternity for us to get closer," he says, lost in thought, you're not even sure if the words are really meant for you.

His hand leaves your bun and moves forward, over the fabric of your panties, gliding gently over them, drawing teasing circles. Your thighs open for him, your mouth slightly open, another sigh comes from your throat. His lips brush gently over your chin and when he looks at you again, he grins. "You seem pretty comfortable around me by now" Your cheeks are warm as you answer him with a grin, "You could say that" You feel his hard length against your thigh through the fabric of his blacks. He presses himself closer to you, kissing his way from your chin to your ear. Once there, he whispers to you, "Feeling good so far?" A shiver runs through your body, only a small hoarse sound comes out of your mouth. Then his face is over yours again, he smiles smugly, he knows exactly what his words have just triggered in you. The moment he kisses you again, his nimble fingers slip under the fabric of your panties, slowly moving further down towards your heated, wet center. He is gentle, teasing, gliding and caressing over your soft folds. You feel a pulse very clearly, Crosshair's gentle touch awakens in you the desire for more. You buck up your hips, the motion causing his fingers to slide further down, to your expectant wet opening, and a fingertip slides in ever so slightly.

"I can see," he says contentedly, in a smoky voice, "I've whetted your appetite for more" And he's right, you want more, so much more, more contact, to feel more of him. You tug on his blacks, try to take them off. He is only too happy to help. At last you are both completely undressed. Your bodies press against each other, naked skin against naked skin. You're both giving off so much heat, you've long since stopped feeling the coolness of the cave. Crosshair's fingers are all over your skin, gliding, caressing, groping, one pleasant shiver after another coursing through your body. Everything blurs in your perception, all you feel is the heat of your bodies, the pulse between your thighs, Crosshair's touch. As soon as he's on top of you, you cling to him, pulling him closer to you, not giving him a chance to wander. You are so unexpectedly hungry for him that even the Sniper is surprised when you reach down between you, grab his cock and guide it to your wet entrance. He pauses, however, the tip barely an inch sunk into your pussy. "Are you sure you want this?" You blink, your face heated, looking up into his face. Your legs hook around his thighs and press him closer to you, making him slowly sink into you.

Crosshair is well-hung, you can clearly feel him stretching you, sliding deeper into your pussy. But he's careful, even bracing himself a little against your leg clamps that push him deeper inside you. "Slow down, kitten, I don't want to hurt you" You realize he's right, it doesn't hurt yet, but his massive cock is clearly making itself felt in your wet heat. You loosen your grip and let out a soft, deep sigh. He looks at you scrutinizingly, then smiles and says, "You're doing very well, kitten" Slowly he sinks deeper, as far as he can go, then he pauses, leans his forehead against yours and has to collect himself. The tightness that surrounds him feels incredibly intense. You see him bite his lip before he slowly begins to move inside you. Your legs cling to him again, your hands move to his shoulder blades, your fingers cling to his shoulders. It feels like his whole body is the perfect fit for you. The stimulation is everywhere you need it as your bodies melt together. You feel every taut muscle in his body, hear his soft, raspy gasps. Your bodies move together in perfect unison, your head sinks back, a smile spreads across your face as Crosshair looks at you mesmerized, you close your eyes and take in the feeling of him filling you completely.

It's not invasive like you feared, not at all. It feels tender, just right, the way his body nestles against and into you. The pulse intensifies, your fingernails press into his shoulders automatically. Spurred on by this, Crosshair moves a little faster. A hoarse moan escapes your lips, louder than expected, followed by a quiet, surprised, "Oh fuck..." You weren't expecting this intensity, this feeling. Your hands automatically move to his ass and claw into it as you feel yourself slithering towards a climax. Crosshair lets out a small, surprised grunt as your nails dig into his buns, but then he lets out a satisfied growl and a grin twitches at the corners of his mouth as he intensifies his thrusts. You don't hold back at all, your moans and gasps, hoarse, expectant, about to explode. It's music to his ears, adding more fire to his own arousal. As your thighs twitch around his body, your pussy around his cock and you drop beneath him with a long, husky sigh, the knot in his abdomen loosens, the tension dissolving into a long, intense, slowly ebbing pulse as he cums inside you.

You laugh, quietly, grinning. You feel so good, so relieved, liberated, safe. He looks at you, one eyebrow raised. "Feeling good, I guess?" You giggle. "Good? No, great." Crosshair smirks, kisses your chin, your nose, your lips, and leans his forehead against yours with a sigh. "Mission accomplished," he murmurs softly.

@rintheemolion

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

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@misogirl828 @tech-deck

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@1vlouds

[zoloteh-volossya]

The Baldur's Gate Cast as the Elements of Harmony

Last night, spurred by whimsy and a little nostalgia, I decided to slam together one of my first fandoms with my current one. I present to you… the Baldur's Gate cast as wielders of the Elements of Harmony!

(Please note that I stopped paying attention to MLP:FiM after season 4, so my takes will not reflect later developments in the show.)

The Element of Magic

(Source for the Twilight vector)

This one's a slam dunk, a no-brainer (ironically). Both Gale and Twilight Sparkle are bookworms who were so gifted in magic that they attracted the attention of the most powerful magic user in their setting, who proceeded to lavish special attention on them while also sending them out on personal tasks. Both of them were so desperate to please this figure that they end up endangering a city/town as a result of their attempts to impress them. Both start their media franchises friendless except for a long suffering familiar who is in many ways more put together than them and feeds them (magic items). Both of them (can) end up becoming (quasi)divine. They're like mirrors of one another, separated by genre and species.

More to the point, as a magical prodigy and Mystra's former Chosen, Gale would be very well equipped to wield the Element of Magic.

If they ever met, I think Twilight and Gale would have a very interesting discussion comparing notes on their respective magic systems. Gale would probably be seethingly jealous that Twilight's respective magical mentor not only takes an active role in her development but actually actively ascended her to alicornhood. She's the physical representative of magic in her world, not nearly Mystra level but still a quasi-deity, and also an intensely curious person. His orb would be fascinating and incredibly alarming to her, while he might be a little leery of yet another goddess of magic.

The Element of Honesty

This one was also simple. Whenever you talk to Lae'zel, she gives you her thoughts plainly, without sugarcoating them or beating around the bush. Truly, no one else on the team is as worthy of wielding the Element of Honesty as her, and she would wield it well.

If they ever met, I think that Applejack and Lae'zel would actually get along pretty well (assuming that they did not meet in the middle of a gith raid on Applejack's orchards, at least). Both of them are straight talking, hard working characters who got good at their respective thing by putting in the effort. They also both share similar roles in their respective parties, as the strong, athletic, and somewhat competitive bruiser. Applejack's strong family focus might be interesting to Lae'zel, who has never had one (but expresses interest after meeting Jaheira's.)

The Element of Generosity

(Sorry for partially covering your face, Wyll, I wanted to block Mizora for the symbolism.)

Of course, if there's a member of the BG3 cast to represent generosity, it has to be Wyll. The man has dedicated his life and his soul to serving others, albeit in a very different way than Rarity does. He gave up his soul for Baldur's Gate, his humanity for Karlach, and is willing to give up his freedom for his father. He'd give a needy man the coat off his back and Astarion the blood from his veins. He is a worthy wielder of the Element of Generosity.

If Wyll and Rarity ever met, I think they'd be great friends. Wyll is exactly the sort of noble early-season Rarity dreamed of meeting in Canterlot - kind, honorable, charming, romantic. I think Wyll would really respect Rarity's industry and the lengths that she is willing to go to for others. She's a fashion designer, so she'd probably insist on gifting him the most fashionable saddles and bridles, which I'm sure the rest of the BG3 camp would find absolutely hilarious.

The Element of Laughter

One of Karlach's most notable traits is her ability to find joy and laughter in every moment alive and free, despite her horrific past. She is a buoyant force who lifts the spirits of everyone around her, and it is for this reason that every single companion (including Minthara) likes her so much. She exemplifies the spirit of the Element of Laughter as much as a character from this genre can.

Karlach and Pinkie Pie would get along like a house on fire. ("Let's throw a party!" "YEAH!"). They're both genuinely cheerful people, but they're also using that attitude to mask other, more negative emotions that they don't want to control their lives but lurk nonetheless. But mostly they'd party together like nobody's business.

The Element of Kindness

This is honestly the biggest stretch, but I'd argue that Shadowheart could represent the Element of Kindness if she goes the Selunite path. Her arc throughout the game is basically that of a woman whose innate kindness is struggling to emerge through many layers of mind wiping and indoctrination despite Viconia's best efforts. As a Sharran, she tried to befriend and adopt a mouse. Even when she is trying her hardest to be mean in acts 1 and 2, she still approves of kind actions by others. If you give her any support at all, she defaults to abandoning her driving dream becuase she cannot bring herself to be cruel enough. And once freed of her Sharran shackles, she begins to bloom into a person truly capable of weilding the Element of Kindness.

Amusingly, a post game Shadowheart who saved her parents is living pretty much exactly the same life as Fluttershy - a cottage close to but not in a rural town where they take care of animals. I think the two of them would be able to bond over their respective menageries.

The Element of Loyalty

Last but not least, we have the Element of Loyalty, wielded by… Minthara! I know y'all were expecting Astarion, but Minthara's first dialogue upon joining the party proper (if you slept with her) highlights her loyalty specifically.

*Her entire being joins with you for a moment, and you see all that she is. Dangerous, cunning, wounded, brutal, paranoid... and utterly loyal to those she trusts.*

And loyal she is. Become the Slayer? She's with you (and thinks you're exquisite). Become a mind flayer? She's with you without a flicker of hesitation. Control the Brain? She's with you (if you spare her). Don't control the Brain? She's still with you. Prance about the city being a goody two shoes to everyone you can help? She's grumpy, but she's with you. Once Minthara finds a purpose, be that a deity or a person, she stands by them with a singleminded devotion that makes her well worthy of wielding the Element of Loyalty in my view.

If Minthara and Rainbow Dash were to meet, Minthara would likely write Rainbow Dash off as a braggadocious blowhard until she heard about the Sonic Rainboom, whereupon which she would spend an hour trying and failing to convince RD to weaponize it. Rainbow would likely find Minthara a bit curt for her tastes. If she hears of Minthara's ambitions or more violent suggestions, she might ping Minthara as a 'bad guy' and pick a fight. However, Minthara canonically reads science fiction and Rainbow Dash enjoys adventure novels, so maybe they might bond over a shared taste for genre fiction. Befriending the villains is a tried and true staple of Rainbow Dash's genre, after all.

(What about Astarion, you ask? Well, the problem with him is that he is not very magical, a consummate liar, selfish, often cruel, not particularly loyal, and his laughter is primarily at others' expense. I'm sorry, but he's just not Element of Harmony material. He's got other things going on.)

(Halsin was a runner up for Element of Kindness. Shadowheart was just far more interesting in that role, so it went to her.)

[wilcze-kudly]

The parallels between Lin and Opal

Young Opal was more like Lin than Su. And theres actually a lot of similarities between Lin and Opal as an adult, too!

The greatest value for both Lin and Opal is loyalty. They're willing to disregard their own moral codes to defend those they see themselves as caring/ responsible for.

very weird that Opal wanting to break the oath to save her family from a ruthless dictator is seen as a bad thing while Lin breaking the law to save her subordinates from an insane cultist is cheered on but oh well we don't have time for the double standard rn

The parallels between Lin and Suyin's relationship and that of Opal and Kuvira have interested me for a while and I'm sure I've rambled about it many times already. And they're so obvious, but for some reason I only see people comparing Kuvira to Lin, which feels very surface level all things considered. Kuvira and Lin share their determination, however Opal is also prone to showing strong determination. I think most people just see Kuvira and Lin as "the loners of the family" or base the percieved similarities only off of both Kuvira and Lin being "against" Su.

Opal and Lin, however have very similar arcs.

Both Lin and Opal dealt with having their needs sidelined and their hurt dismissed by their mothers in favour of the troubled kid who acted out with no consequences. Suyin's 'soft spot' for Kuvira is an interesting parallel between her and Toph which makes sense. Suyin's whole thing is second chances. She jumped at the opportunity of taking Kuvira back in.

Despite both being harmed and neglected by their mothers, Opal and Lin do both strive to please their mothers, believing that this will win them more of the affection they so desperately crave. Here, their paths divide significantly. For Lin, it's a straightforward "I'll be just like my mom, so she'll be proud of me" thing.

Opal, however was born a nonbender, and was unable to fully live up to what her mother might want of her. This also adds to the tension between Opal and Kuvira. It would be easy for a young Opal to see Kuvira, a talented metalbender, getting taken into the family sort of like having a replacement brought in. I'd be mad too.

Opal tries to please her mom in other ways, for example keeping herself from going to the Air Temples, despite this being something she so desperately wants.

Lin even notices this and talks to her about it. (I adore Lin and Opal's relationship 😊 Lin is so awkward and doing her best Awwww)

The one huge difference between Lin and Opal is their relation to family. Lin is an outsider, while Opal was very closely tied to her family. I find it interesting that Old Wounds (while not handling the Beifongs the best) has Lin and Opal 'moving' in seperate directions. Lin starts reconnecting with her family, while Opal finally flies the coop. Its fascinating to see how Lin's isolation and Opal's assimilation set them on different paths in life, yet ultimately still allowed them to be incredibly similair personalitywise.

I really like their bond and find it absolutely delicious how Lin and Suyin's unresolved trauma skipped down a generation.

Opal is one of my favourite characters of the legend of korra and I find that the fandom often does her a disservice. I've also never seen her very obvious connection to Lin explored.

[syndrossi]

Using the stereotypical seven sins model, which sins do you think each character embodies the most (specifically in Resonant, not just HOTD)? For instance... Pride - Daemon? Rhea? Alicent? Rhaenyra? Greed - Otto? Aemond? Envy - Aemond? Jon? Alicent? Wrath - Daemon? Cole? Jon? Lust - Rhaenyra? Laenor? Gluttony - Aegon? Rhaegar? Sloth - Viserys? It's interesting to look at different characters and think that they might have the same "sins" in common. Like Aemond and Jon both seem to suffer from envy, yet they're incredibly different characters.

Oh, this is tricky for some of them. We definitely have some who embody multiple (*cough* Daemon *cough*). This is looking to take some time, so I may tackle in groups, starting with the Daemon-Viserys-Rhaenys trio.

Daemon: He's so interesting because of how love tempers both of his primary sins, wrath and pride. He swallows his pride out of love for the boys, ready to beg Rhea to claim them as trueborn. And his instances of wrath so far (primarily killing the Volantene on the pier) have also been out of love for the boys. The hatred he's nursing for Allard comes from a similar place of wanting to harm one who harmed his sons. And outside of Resonant, aka in canon, we've got Blood and Cheese, which is pure wrath. Lust is one that I think is a surface-level sin based on your source of truth; my read of Daemon is actually that he longs for connection/love, hence him getting attached to individuals (Mysaria) rather than being some orgy-loving hedonist. He wants connection first, then sex. Which is one reason (among many) why he struggled with Rhea. Ultimately, I give the edge to wrath.

Viserys: Sloth is fitting for him. (In the books, he was obviously gluttony, and you could even make an argument for it in the show/Resonant due to his excessive wine drinking.) Prone to inaction, avoiding conflict, etc.

Rhaenys: Pride. She is convinced she could have ruled circles around Viserys, and she's not wrong. She would not have been a perfect monarch (no one is), especially with Corlys likely trying to interfere constantly, and the succession would have been an utter mess with Laenor, but her reign would have spared the realm and its dragons.

The overlap between Rhaenys and Daemon with "pride" is partly why, I think, she understands Daemon better, and tends to sympathize with him over Viserys. Daemon's very short-sighted, but he does at least try. (If Rhaenys ever had to try on the crown herself, I do think she'd find a little more understanding for Viserys.)

[top-vi]

she sleeps with men because uh she wants to be one

that is the FUNNIEST thing I ever heard

i mean if you don't agree you don't agree lmfao i can't force you to think anything

however, her canon male relationships have been:

teenage experimentation

grooming from her uncle

a gay man during their arranged marriage

entirely off screen

she's reiterated multiple times how she wishes to be a man, literally saying in this episode "[daemon] was everything i wanted to be. carefree. and dangerous. a man." her desire for freedom is a common theme within her character, and we see her constantly striving for it with her relationships with men (very similar yet very different to alicent in that way).

as a woman, realizing you like women and realizing you don't like men are two incredibly different things. as much as we like to think that rhaenyra is "sexually liberated", she's still been socialized in a highly patriarchal world. her disliking men, her never marrying or having children, was never an option for her regardless of how much she may have wanted that to be so (see: young rhaenyra saying she'd rather be a knight than pop out children (hm, i wonder who her male relationships have been with, surely this can't at all be related!!))

i know the fandom generally sees alicent as comphet warrior #1, but i think rhaenyra's comphet, if you choose to see it that way, is also a very common experience. many lesbians sleep with men before they realize they're lesbians - its so incredibly normal. even i, as a butch lesbian who's been out for at least 5 years now, occasionally grapple with some level of "do i want him or do i want to look like him"

like i said at the beginning, if you don't agree you don't agree, that's fine. but i do think that dismissing the notion out of hand does a disservice to getting a closer dissection of her character.

[dearweirdme]

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/760985863729627136/hi-first-of-all-i-hope-youre-doing-ok-it-was?source=share

Hi Rain,

Am I the only one who thinks best friends can sometimes be closer than partners/spouses? I’ve always had suspicions about either Taekook or Yoonmin being real, but what connects these two pairs? That's right—Jimin and Taehyung. Despite their different fundamental personality traits, I’ve always felt that it never stopped them from being incredibly close. In fact, I consider them the closest pair in BTS, even if Taekook or Yoonmin were real.

A while ago, a Taekooker told me that Taekook are the closest duo in BTS because they share the same fundamental values, but I don’t believe that being close to someone necessarily means you have to be in a relationship or share the same core values. Here's what I mean: Even though Jimin and Taehyung have different values and perspectives on life, I think as long as they respect each other’s boundaries and don't impose their views on each other, they can maintain a bond that could be even closer than romantic partners and this is exactly what I see in Jimin and Taehyung' friendship.

So yes, there’s a possibility that Taekook could be real, and I also have feelings about Yoonmin. But for me, Jimin and Taehyung still have the closest bond in BTS, even if they have their own partners or other friends outside of BTS. Taehyung is close with the Wooga Squad, and Jimin has a tight circle with Sungwoon, Taemin, and Kai.

Jimin and Taehyung don’t need to spend every moment together or stay updated on every little detail of each other’s lives to prove their closeness. I see their relationship as platonic, and I firmly do believe they’re there for each other whenever they need to be. They don’t have to do grand gestures or change who they are to prove the depth of their bond to anyone.

Hi anon! I think there are so many different ways and levels of closeness and I believe you can have these different kinds of closeness in your life simultaniously. Best friendships are very often more durable than relationships. How many of us haven't been with our best friends for years and years.. while relationships came and went. How many of us don't go to their best friends to complain or talk about our partners? We share things with our best friends that we might not share with our partner, for whichever reason that might be.

I think Vmin and Jkk are actually quite similar in that they don't need to speak or meet often to keep their frienship strong. We know that Jm and Jk went without interacting much for months, and it was no big deal at all. Tae and Jm did make and effort to factime every month, but I think they also do very well with not having to meet up. These men just have a bond that will probably never break. I think they know each other so well that there isn't a chance of moments of doubt to creep in. They just trust that the other cares and will always be there.

Being really close doesn't have to mean that it's romantic. I absolutely agree. For me Tae and Jk's closeness is just a given and it's a lot of things around that which make me believe they are together. We've seen that Jk and Tae did make efforts to meet up and spend time together.. both in private and with others, both at events and while doing activities. Jk and Jm are often said to be the closest members, and yet we've not seen them make an effort to spend time together, while the both of them did make efforts to meet or speak with the other members. I'd say Jm is closer to Tae, Yoongi, and Hobi. Jk hang out with Tae, with Wooga, with his 97'freinds.. but not with Jm.. and he even said that had it not been for the AYS show, they still wouldn't have met up. That doesn't mean they're not close, but just that in this phase of their lives they did not prioritize each other (and from romantic partners.. that is something I do expect... though there are ofcourse plenty of cases where this is not true). I just compare it to two best friends going to different colleges and having different lives for a while.. but stepping right back into their friendship again whenever they do meet up.

I think it's hard to compare romantic relationships to platonic ones. They fulfill different needs and there are different expectations. Romantic couples often have an inexplainable want/need to be together. I think we have seen that want from Tae and Jk on different levels. It's Jk flying to Hawaii because Tae missed him (after just having seen him 😭). It how they always sit and walk close. It's the touching when they can. It's going to the hotel together when Jk got back from Dubai. It's Jk holding onto Tae when he enlisted.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Let's see if I can sort out what to say about Fire Emblem Engage yet, which might end up with a bit of commentary on other games in the series, which I guess is appropriate since it's basically an anniversary game. The short version is that I feel like a lot of the hate for it from The Gamers is extremely exaggerated, and even though it's not perfect it's probably my favorite Fire Emblem game at this point.

Like most people old enough to have been around at the time my main introduction to Fire Emblem was through SSBM, although in my case I didn't really care about the characters in that so much. Specifically it was the inclusion of Together We Ride in the soundtrack that got my attention. I still have an mp3 somewhere that I recorded from the game by hooking up the line out of my GameCube to the line in on my laptop.

I didn't actually play the GBA games because I never had a GBA of my own, so I started with Path of Radiance instead and have played a decent number of the games since then at least part way through. Still need to get around to Shadows of Valentia one of these days, but it'll probably be my next FE/3DS game when I do.

Up until now I'd say Awakening was my favorite of them. It was pretty satisfying mechanically without being overly complex like Fates (which was great if you really like planning everything out and min-maxing stuff, but it's all a bit much the first time through playing casually), it had a bunch of fun characters and supports, the music is frequently excellent, and the story is completely ridiculous in a fun way.

In a lot of ways Engage felt very similar to Awakening to me, which was great for me. I don't think I could convincingly argue that any other game in the series is anywhere near as fun for me in terms of gameplay. It's incredibly flexible in terms of what you can do with your units and what kinds of team compositions will work, especially on lower difficulties, but it manages to achieve that flexibility without being overly complex in an intimidating way, and a lot of the map design is excellent too.

It does a great job of encouraging you to try different things out by the way the maps are structured and enemies are placed and various different gimmicks on them and is full of moments early on that demonstrate the value of different units and abilities without directly telling you what to do. There's a lot of stuff set up in ways that don't just hand you a victory and have multiple ways to approach them, usually more than one of which makes you feel very clever for pulling something fancy off.

And the Emblem abilities that are restricted in use by being situational and on long cooldowns let them give you some truly ridiculous stuff that would be broken in any other game but feels perfect here, and it lets you do some absolutely bonkers stuff once-ish per map as a result. A lot of it gets balanced out by giving bosses multiple health bars though, which solves so many design problems and stops you from just warping a single unit there to burst them down instantly. That and sometimes having multiple bosses on the same map really forces you to use the ridiculous emblem abilities and take advantage of your whole team you've deployed a lot more often.

I know there are some people who don't love it aesthetically, and that's fine, but just on a technical level it's easily one of the best-looking games on the Switch. Seeing clips of Three Houses again after playing Engage for a while is rough. It feels like looking at a PS2 game running in an emulator, and Engage feels easily at least two full console generations ahead in terms of the tech it uses and the results they get out of it. Plus I actually love the art style too, with all the bright colors and overdesigned characters and stuff, and the combat animations are probably the best the series has ever had.

And I suppose the big thing that the most people complain about is the writing and story. You know what? They're fine. As far as I'm concerned the series has never had top tier writing (sometimes it's pretty decent like the Tellius games or Three Houses, but even those have some issues), and if that's really what I'm in the mood for I have plenty of other options for that. Just from stuff I've played this year there's been Future Redeemed, 13 Sentinels, The House in Fata Morgana, and probably some others I'm not immediately thinking of.

It's not like a story or its characters have to be super deep to be fun or interesting or serve their purpose in a piece of media either, and for me Engage managed to do that for me in the same way Awakening did. I genuinely enjoyed spending several dozen hours with a lot of the characters, and the story's a bit silly sometimes but did what it needed to to bring a bunch of random characters together and through an adventure together.

And something unprecedented for me for a Fire Emblem game (and pretty uncommon for games in general) is that I immediately wanted to play it again right after finishing. Usually I want to see more of the supports and any optional stuff I might've missed (e.g. optional recruits and stuff), but that's not enough of a motivation to play through the whole game again, especially not right away. This time though in addition to that the game mechanics are so satisfying that I wanted more of that too, especially with all the units I never really used and all the new silly build ideas I started coming up with toward the end of the game as I understood how everything worked better. I've been holding back from actually doing it yet because there's so much other stuff I'm trying to get through or finish up, but there's a pretty good chance I'll start over again at some point in the next few months, maybe after SoV and/or going back and finishing my replay of PoR I started earlier this year before getting distracted by this game.

Engage is almost definitely my favorite Fire Emblem game at this point and easily in my top five games I've played this year, probably in the top three. I think it's probably number one for gameplay, with 13 Sentinels for story and Future Redeemed for all aspects combined overall, and Unpacking is an honorable mention for general vibes.

[ubercharge]

im not sure if anyone asked you yet, but thoughts on the dunmeshi anime?

thanks for asking! sometimes i forget i exist here as a person cuz i just log on to queue random stuff without making posts 💀

it's pretty rare for me to watch an anime without ever reading the manga, and there've been stellar adaptations recently. ONK, kisekoi, BTR, frieren, CSM just to name a few. in a landscape where we're used to being disappointed as readers who have a frame of reference before watching a show, i had very, very high hopes for the dunmeshi adaptations that weren't quite fulfilled.

i'll dump everything under a cut since i actually have a lot to say, sorry if you were expecting it to be brief 😎

the lines in the artistic style are good, nicely translating the characters into animated format. really no notes there. definitely a nicer comparison for char designs between manga and anime vs. tonsuki and tensura who both have incredible manga styles that the anime stumble over (though in the latter's case, i don't think they were aiming for it sadly)

the shading has been fine, but weakened by the colour choices. some of the dungeon scenes (e.g., living armour stuff) are lit with a medium blue which helps to sell the idea of the scene being in a place not lit by fire (and contrasts it with the making camp & cooking scenes), but the lack of dark shading flattens some of these very well-drawn images.

the earlier chapters don't have the same level of detail as newer ones, but the art style is still fantastic - it's expressive with high contrast and shows action and impact perfectly well. manga will often times have a naturally easier way with contrast due to it being in black & white, but i don't think that means anime should just give up on contrast in favour of playing ineffectively with colour.

here's a night shot of fern from frieren. the choices made here allow for the shading to stand out from the flats and give her more definition overall while still being relatively simple (just flats + shading)

when dunmeshi has more "normal" lighting conditions, it does a lot better. similar to fern up there, there's about the same amount of difference between the flats and shadows, so i really wish they did a better job on the dungeon scenes since they're going to have to deal with non-torchlit scenes plenty. i won't argue that the living armor scene certainly has some kind of a sickly, alien mood to it, but tl;dr i think it should've had darker shading if not also being less green. this largely applies to every other blue-green lit scene they've done.

looking at kui's coloured drawings in the ed gives me an idea of what could've been and it makes me sad to lose out on colour choices more similar to that (even if they obviously can't have her level of detail on top of it)

some of the backgrounds haven't been too interesting but some have been good, overall it's probably fine. plus you can only draw and detail repeating bricks so many times before the viewer gets bored of looking at them anyway, i guess.

the animation is really fun and expressive. it's trigger, so they don't keep scenes stiffly on-model when they want characters moving around. this is good because it helps to sell both action and comedy moments!

the music overall i haven't really cared for? the BGM has not been particularly moving, interesting, or memorable - mostly generic. and i've seen too many fantasy shows for my own good, so i might be harder to impress (but i even remember tenken had a good BGM song or two to make a fight dramatic and that show was barely above average at best)

i'm biased not being particularly into bump, so i would've selected a different artist for the OP (i actually did like the bump OP from SxF though, come to think of it). before anyone makes a wisecrack based on what i've watched lately, no it doesn't have to be yoasobi.

i maybe feel the ED song would've been better for the OP, i don't like the largely peaceful bit of the OP with very still visuals. the OP is where you reel people in! it should be an eye-catching hook, representative of what to expect with some extra sauce on top.

the ED is great, total bop. it's a fine time for slower visuals as an enjoyable wind-down from the episode, so less or no animation is no big deal. plus kui's art is absolutely gorgeous! it all perfectly fits that "end of work" fun and lighthearted mood they were going for.

i largely enjoy the voice acting. i would've personally gone for a less "old man" voice on senshi because he's really not that old for a dwarf, but they obviously wanted to make it clear he was the older, wiser, knowledgeable character.

this might be my own personally most blasphemous opinion, but i would've picked a different VA for falin. i want to make it clear i absolutely adore saori hayami - she's incredible and one of my faves. with that said, her voice fits the character, so maybe it's just because i've heard her too often which is not her fault by any means! i love the voices for laios, marcille, and chil.

it seems netflix's subs go off of the official EN TL of the manga, which makes sense, but i've talked about how i don't like it more than ehscans' TL (which is one of the single best TLs i've read for a series, official or otherwise) and that holds true for the anime ("mad sorcerer" is cooler AND less clunky than "lunatic magician"). i prefer less localisation stuff and/or quirkiness in my subs and more direct translation for both manga and anime.

as for the changes/additions they've made to the show, some of them have been alright and some i didn't care for. they really want to sell marcille as the funny joke character which is why they had her being chased by the basilisk instead of having doni & fionil like it was in the manga which was better for the pacing and had good impact vs a funny clip of marcille running back and forth.

i don't dislike when adaptations add or change stuff, but placing them cleanly is important. dunmeshi is already really funny! i don't think it needs help being funnier by reaching for the cheap laugh. when laios sees two people running for their lives from a basilisk and he just goes "wow that's a bad way to run from that monster", it's already lowkey hilarious - all the more so followed by marcille telling mr. monster-know-it-all to go rescue them if he knows what's up and him rescuing them by making himself big and chicken squawking real loud (which embarrasses marcille and chil, but c'mon guys, at least his idea worked!). i feel like the comedy in laios' funny hero moment is undercut by forcing the marcille butt of the joke moment in the anime.

dunmeshi is already incredibly good at just about everything it does. i feel if an adaptation wants to add or change something, it's often better amplifying a strength or shoring up a weakness in the source material. BTR adds a lot to the source (not hard considering the source is a 4koma) and makes already funny things even funnier. the "we should all get social media" scene is elevated to iconic status with the visual of bocchi glitching out + the VA's inhuman screech. i can't say where i'd really want to change or add stuff to dunmeshi, since it really feels so good and whole, but i'm sure there's room in the process of translating manga panels to animated scenes, and i think the direction overall could've been better (comparing most shows to BTR isn't fair i know because BTR is directed & adapted so well it's hydrogen bomb vs. coughing baby territory)

i've mostly said negative stuff, but i don't want it to sound like i hate or even really dislike the adaptation. i think when it comes to a series you really love, you want to see the best adaptation possible within reason, and the disappointment of stuff not being quite what you were hoping for is amplified by so many other recent adaptations being so good.

dunmeshi does not have a bad anime by any means, but a lot of that is thanks to the source material's quality. if they do another season, i hope they have more time/budget/whatever because i think a lot of the parts it does have are good parts! but in this case, i wasn't hoping for good; i was hoping for great.

trigger makes great shows with wacky storylines (in some ways, the same one wacky storyline, but that's a different discussion) and dunmeshi, being directed by someone who's worked on a bunch of trigger stuff (largely sci-fi leaning), maybe needed some more direction from people who've worked on fantasy stuff? i can't say for sure what would've been enough to take the show over the top, but though i generally don't hope for much from adaptations, i really did have higher hopes for this one than it ended up achieving.

overall it seems i'll end up scoring the show a 7 or 7.5 when i finish the season, though there's certainly still room to wow us all. whatever you feel about the adaptation, whether you liked it or not, whether or not you've read the manga, feel free to comment your thoughts below or in my inbox. let's keep it free of manga spoils for anime-only watchers, though!

[pynkhues]

"Surviving trauma doesn't make you an expert on other people's trauma" is how I'm paraphrasing your tag. But it's such an important point to me. I feel like not just internet spaces but also societal mental health conversation has been ignoring this for decades. I can talk about this extremely broadly because I think it's one of the problems with 12 step type of addiction treatments. But it's also especially popular in the realm of victims of crime and/or abuse of any kind. Surviving trauma only makes you an expert on your own personal trauma and healing. There is no universal cure for any trauma, everyone needs something different. And treating others requires a level of detachment that rarely exists in amateur survivors of similar trauma. Sorry for preaching about this in your inbox but your tags really reminded me how passionate I am about this. I've experienced people scolding me for abandoning support groups and group therapy types of things when they didn't feel helpful to me because they helped them and "I just didn't give them proper chance".

(x)

Don't apologise, anon! I totally agree, and I'm really sorry that you've had that experience with support groups and group therapies.

I've been thinking about this a lot actually since the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial and the horrific treatment of her during all of that, but it's been a pretty big factor in my life these days in general.

Like, look, this is kind of getting a bit in the weeds of my real life right now, but my aunt's very angry at me and my mum at the moment in a way that's been pretty exhausting. (Putting this below a cut because nobody needs to read this, haha)

My aunt is a victim-survivor of some pretty horrific domestic violence. It was many years ago now, and she's done a lot of healing and is in a better place overall, but the situation currently with my sister going through emotional and financial abuse, gaslighting and physical intimidation, with her ex-husband has I think brought up a lot for my aunt, and the result is that she's really trying to dictate the choices that my sister makes as she's going through this.

My aunt has been genuinely so supportive of my sister, but she's also been incredibly judgemental and critical. It's been a really challenging space for their relationship, and, by proxy, my relationship with my aunt, because she calls me (and my mum, who's her sister) up to try and influence my sister's decisions. We're in this current kinda stand-still over it because we're six weeks out from final trial in family court, and my ex-BIL has done something very threatening to my sister, and my aunt wants my sister to get an AVO. We tried to get my sister an AVO last year, and the police told her that until he put her in hospital, they wouldn't give her one. Now my aunt wants my sister to try again, and my sister's lawyers are saying no, because it looks like a play to the judge. They've been in family court for two years, and to try again this close to final trial may be legitimate but to a judge it'll read as a move that could influence her custody of her children.

My sister doesn't want to take that risk, her lawyers don't want to take that risk, and in my opinion, the worst result would be for her to try, have it on the record that she tried, get the same response she did last year that he hasn't put her in the hospital yet, and ergo get no AVO and a bad mark on her heading into court. On top of that - - AVOs don't do shit. They're a piece of paper that maybe bump you up a few spots in the queue when you call the police.

Anyway, my aunt's furious about this and it's become this huge thing where my aunt feels she knows better because she got an AVO, because she's been through this already, because none of us understand what she understands, and I'm like - - it's exhausting, and it's unfair. Their experiences are not the same by any stretch of the imagination, and I hate that a part of me keeps thinking that what happened to my aunt didn't end because of an AVO, it ended because he was a gambling addict and he was killed over an unpaid debt.

My aunt really is trying to do the right thing by my sister, and I love her for that, but there is this disconnect between survivor experiences that can cause an enormous amount of friction and complication, and I think we need to get better in general at acknowledging that.

[snootlessimperfectworld]

Let's Talk: Dragons

Dragons are like the bad boy/jocks of the Imperfect World.

To most other species, especially human, they are perceived as "aggressive" creatures, yet this couldn't be further from the truth. They really take the term "Gentle Giants" to a whole new level. This misconception is related solely to the drastic size difference and more animalistic behaviors of Dragons compared to other species, especially humans.

Dragons are Reptilians

Dragons are scaly, cold-blooded creatures with more traits in common with reptilians than anything else. Even when in their "human" form, Dragons are still cold-blooded and incredibly susceptible to cold temperatures and dramatic temperature changes than other species.

Often found wrestling or engaging in very violent-appearing behaviors to produce warmth. Think of litters of puppies playing. Lots of teeth, growling, tackling, and pinning each other but just massive reptilian creatures with wings that roar and growl and can shake the ground. Also engage in massive dogpiles to conserve warmth and energy. Just picture a mountain of multicolored dragons all curled around each other and using each others' wings as blankets and their tails as pillows. Any buildings designed for their "human" forms have massive windows, very open spaces designed to let in light.

They have nostrils, like lizards and snakes do, but use their forked tongues in similar fashion to smell. Surprisingly poor sense of smell, but make up for it in vision. You cannot hide from a dragon. They will see you. Adapted with heat-seeking "abilities" (basically thermal detection). Depending on where they're from within the dragon realm, they're surprisingly good swimmers. Can hold their breath for long periods of time (big lungs equal big breaths), and have hollow bones, meaning if they wanted they can float just a bit.

Primary diet components are cattle like animals found in their realm, a variety of seafood found on earth as well (crab is peak evolutionary form), unicorn, and sea-vegetation. Yes, they have unicorns in their realm and yes they are prey creatures. And yes, Dragons eat them.

Might be large and powerful, but surprisingly lazy creatures. They're known to not want to make short travels because it simply requires too much effort. This definitely has to do with their cold-blooded nature, as they often want to preserve energy for times where it might be a bit cooler than is comfortable to function.

Dragons: A History

They have a legend/true story that serves as the basis for their "government".

It's the story of the first monarchs. Prior to their ruling, the lands of their world were divided between the Stone fields, the Meadows, the Basalt Pits, and the Northern Forest (forest is a loose term for it, more like the only place that has trees. Think of like massive Californian Redwoods type trees here). There wasn't necessarily any aggression between these places, but they were all closed off from each other, typically due to just basic geography preventing easy access to other areas (such as Northern Forest dragons are a far distance from each other in dragon terms so they had little to no contact with each other prior to the first monarchs).

The first King, a Meadows dragon had spent a long time travelling between the different regions and had learned so many things. He knew it'd benefit their kind to be united in a way that allowed for better trade/communication. Besides, he had this burning love for a dragon from the Basalt Pits. So he worked on getting all the leaders/elders/officials of each region together and they formed a monarchy. He, surprisingly, didn't want to be the one to rule. He didn't like the idea of being the one in charge, but the others reminded him he was the most versed in all the regions out of them. They even called him "Son of All Dragons" because he had lost many practices/traits that are iconic to a Meadows dragon.

He was able to wed the Basalt Pits dragon he had fallen in love with. The Basalt Pits dragons are the most hostile out of all, they're still not aggressive nor dangerous to other dragons, but they, to this day, still prefer to keep to themselves.

Alpharion thus became the first king, an absolutely massive multi-colored dragon that earned respect from all the regions. His beloved wife, Sapphirona, was an equally large dragon, nearly his size. Their massive size is the reason the monarch must be the biggest, rather than there being an actual lineage to the throne: the "Dragon of all Dragons" so to speak gets to rule.

They had a buttload of children. Not uncommon for dragons, actually. Dragons are born from eggs, often in clutches of 3-5, and remain as dragons until roughly 18-20 years of age. Dragons can live for long ass times, so this is like, comparatively to humans, only like 18-20 weeks of development. And they get big fast.

Their first clutch was 4: A gold dragon boy named Alverick, a bronze girl named Mayatina, a silver boy named Tobias, and another boy of grey coloring named Timotep. These four grew up to be the largest of all their siblings, and Alverick even grew to be larger than his father.

Their second clutch was 3: a dragon girl with cocoa brown coloring named Caris, a black dragon boy named Wilmack, and another girl with the most brilliant white scales named Yundara. Yundara ended up being the biggest of this clutch, roughly the same size as many of her older siblings.

Their third clutch was 4: a girl of pinkish coloring (like a sunset almost) named Roschlin, a boy of iridescent scales named Indizi, a gorgeous forest green girl named Emteria, and a dark yellow boy named Flamiatus.

But what Sapphirona and Alpharion hadn't expected was a single egg to be laid nearly a month later. It wasn't uncommon for some eggs to be delayed, or premature, but these types of eggs typically held still-born offspring. This egg, however, hatched rather quickly, and out popped the most beautiful little red dragon Sapphirona and Alpharion had ever seen. His headdress was gorgeous, matching his mother's extremely complex crown of spines, horns, and a matching pair of massive sea-shell like ears.

HIs name? Atendarajo, meaning "Precious".

Alverick and his siblings quickly grew very jealous of their mother's favoritism, especially considering how ridiculously small this dragon was. They tried to find ways to get their mother's affection to waver, yet it never did.

So Alverick took matters into his own hands. With the help of the Royal Guard, he captured his mother and baby brother. She was chained in her dragon form by her own son, as he was the only dragon present bigger than her.

She watched in horror as they killed her precious baby.

To this day, in the dungeons of the castle, built by Alpharion, lies a massive chamber known as "Sapphirona's Death". Inside the chamber is a pool filled with water. The water has remained the same the entire time, and many believe the water to be the very tears Sapphirona shed for both her sons; the eldest so overwhelmed with jealous it had driven him mad, and her precious, no more than a babe and as innocent as can be.

Alpharion casted himself and Alverick out, and there are rumors that on a distant island, they still fight to this day. Sapphirona, unfortunately, passed from what they call "heartbreak" not long after the incident.

But the dragons know something she never had a chance to learn: the dragon murdered that night wasn't her own. He has yet to be found ;)

This is part of why dragons, to this day, still discriminate against small dragons: the lasting jealous of Alverick's surviving siblings permeated the political realm, and has yet to be reversed.

Regions of Dragons

As I mentioned before, there are different regions within the dragons' realm.

The Stone fields: a large portion of exposed stone on the main island. These dragons are typically shorter, yet longer, with slimmer shapes. They're designed for mining the plethora of raw materials found within the stone base of the mainland. They had specialized claws, no horns/headdresses, and nose flaps/second eyelids to protect from dirt/dust. Very well-adapted to seeing in the dark, especially opposed to Meadow dragons. The social butterflies of the dragon realm. They share most of what they find, as they prefer the drab stone and basic rocks found, so they trade many of the precious gems/metals.

The Meadows: Typically the biggest of the dragons, with minimal extra qualities like spines/headdresses. Probably what you think of when you think dragon, just without the flair, in terms of shape. Proportional limbs and good, thick bois all around. Probably the laziest of the dragons, as well. Their biggest trade item is the cattle creatures they shepherd, as well as unicorn. The most common of dragons/have the largest population. Follow in Alpharion's footsteps and travel the most, making them desirable in official trade businesses.

The Northern Forest: These are the dragons that have longer hind legs than front ones. Devon is a Northern Forest dragon. The shorter front limbs are designed to assist them in foraging in the trees, which can often be taller than the average Northern Forest dragon (Devon is an exception, he has a bit of Meadow heritage from his father hence why he's hecking large). Lumber is their biggest trade item, and are known as the "nerds" of the dragon world because they do a lot more reading/writing than the others do. This makes them desirable for working within the castle/government.

The Basalt Pits: These are the introverts of the dragon world. Where Stone Fields dragons are extroverts, these guys don't like company/visitors. They're the rivalling for largest dragons (on average) but also the fanciest of dragons. Known for having complex crests/crowns of horns, spikes, spines, etc. around their heads. Have really reflective/almost naturally sparkly scales. Have the best metal workers and create the best weapons/metal creations. Cranky, not very desirable for government roles because of their tempers. (Yes, this is what Aten is)

And that's our talk on Dragons! Any questions, compliments, or just ideas you've had after reading this? Please don't shy away from asking!

[romanomomano]

hades 2 thoughts as someone who only has 18 hours

The game is incredible, but i have some things that i have complaints about that i dont think just get chalked up to early access woes.

VA and Music and Environment design are top notch as always. However, there isn't (as yet) a song that grips me the same way that Good Riddance did. Scylla's themes are banger for sure, catchy earworms, fun to listen to, etc; but they dont make me stop and listen like Good Riddance did the first time i heard it. to an extent the level theme of Oceanus made me stop and listen more than Coral Crown or I'm Going to Claw. I love that Supergiant games always have one or two songs that just make you Feel Things: Build That Wall, In Circles or Paper Boats, Never to Return, In The Blood. Granted, we only got In The Blood with the full release of Hades 1 so there's still time for the ending theme of Hades 2 to punch me in the heart.

Gameplay is a solid evolution of the first game, but I think the weapons are... odd? The staff and the knives seem the most well thought out to me, with a nice fusion of range and melee, speed and deliberation, they feel good. I've had a couple good runs with the torches but they're slow and don't feel particularly good. The Axe is Big and Slow, and in a game that requires as much speed as the late game does, once again it feels a little bad. The Skull is NOT the Rail no matter how much I wish it was. I haven't played around with too many of the Alt Aspects, but they don't seem to change the gameplay nearly as much as the H1 Aspects did.

Boons. I expect a lot of balance and changes to boons in the coming months, but theres like, half of them that are just Bad. H1 had some boons that you didn't want to take, and that were bad, but I feel like there's just so many more right now that are just... eugh.

The Artstyle. It's clear to tell where things are placeholder art, and where things are early drafts of art, and where things are 'finished' art. Flatter shading and less dynamic poses compared to the first game in some instances like on the Gods, but also some portraits that are very similar to the first game like Moros and Hecate. So who knows. Chaos' glow up is mindblowing. Bathtime portraits are wild. Heracles.

Too Many Resources. I appreciate the fact that you don't have to do Heat runs to get more boss mats, but comparing h1's resources to h2's is insane. Darkness, Gems, 3 Boss Mats (Blood, Diamond, Ambrosia), Nectar :: Bones, Ash, Psyche, (currently) 6 different Plants, Seeds, and Minerals, Nectar, Ambrosia, Fishing Lures, Shadow, Moon Dust, (currently) 6 Boss Mats (Cinder, Pearl, Tear, Sand, Wool, Apple), Star Dust, Nightmare... I think thats it? who knows. That, paired with that half of the resources can only be gained by an underworld run and the other half can only be gained by a surface run, As well as the fact that you have to pick the Shovel OR the Pickaxe means that sometimes you go on a run more to get to a certain point than to actually clear the run, and sometimes you're doing upwards of 4 runs for one upgrade. I get that the game is meant to be played again and again, but like, i wanna play the game to play the game and not to grind for the stuff for upgrades. I guess the retort is that if you play enough you'll get all the upgrades eventually, so it's whatever.

It's still a fantastic game. Incredibly fun. 10/10. I am eager to see what changes throughout the early access period. it just falls into one of those things where its so good that all the minor annoyances are blown out of proportion.

[ginneke]

for the fanfic end of the year asks, number 3!

(Fanfic end of the year asks available here: link)

Oh, thank you for the ask! And there’s really one passage that stands out to me as a favourite of 2023, which hails from Corrigendum – the self-indulgent, entirely unnecessary third part of my series Keepsakes.

But first, as single lines go, it has to be this:

"Why," says Revali, his voice lifting in shrill distress, "do you never pay the slightest bit of attention to me?"

(from A Study In Patience. Part 2 coming soon!)

(…What, did you think it would be that line from the end of A Seed of Song chapter 4? While that is certainly a favourite line, it was technically my favourite line of 2022 – it was already written all the way back in Feb ‘22, even though it was another 16 months before you would see it.)

—

Anyway. Corrigendum. Chosen passage and a brief recap/rationale below, under a cut for length and for varying degrees of spoilers for, somehow, all three of Keepsakes, Pinesong, and Moonlight:

Keepsakes was originally a two-part meditation on the piece of cloth Revali tied to the Great Eagle Bow, which always remains on it no matter how many times you break it and have it rebuilt, and the following line of Harth’s in the first Keepsakes story, Memento: “Where things are kept, what they are kept with, that has a meaning.”

Memento and Lacuna were both set within the boundaries of canon, focusing on Link’s possession of the Great Eagle Bow and more than a small dose of headcanon about the Paraglider; Corrigendum, meanwhile, played on the famous amnesia plotline of @ghirahimbo’s Pinesong, with a little of my and @heleentje’s answer to the Alive!Champions scenario in our Moonlight series baked in: if there were stasis chambers in the Divine Beasts, just like how the Shrine of Resurrection was revealed to be part of a Divine Beast in the Champions’ Ballad DLC, then was it not possible that the revived Champions might suffer a similar level of memory loss as Link did: i.e., total?

That’s the context with which the following scene between Revali and Zelda needs to be read. (A small section relating to Zelda’s personal feelings of guilt and regret has been cut for length.)

There was one person she hadn't mentioned, of course. Revali wondered whether she would comment on it of her own accord, but she seemed willing to speak only of others. If he had to pry the words from her, so be it. "I cannot help but notice someone missing from your account, pri- Zelda," he said, correcting himself at the last second. It felt strange to address her without titles: a hundred years and his memory removed from such formality, and yet it still seemed like an overstep. Next to him, Zelda went very tense. "What do you mean?" Honestly. Must he spell it out for her? "You," he said, as though it should be obvious. To him it was: it seemed its own sort of hellishness, to have so many memories that nobody else shared. "How are you faring?" Her look of surprise – had he truly shown so little concern for her in the past, that she was taken aback by his questioning now? – faded into something more sombre. "I... cannot complain," she said at last, which seemed to be all she was willing to say on the subject. [...] Zelda inhaled a steadying breath. "...About Li–" Her words lodged like ice. Revali cut her off: "Don't." He couldn't bear to speak of Link. Not now. Perhaps not ever. Certainly not while he was so incapable of reconciling the words in his diary with the roiling confusion left in their wake. Even thinking of that knight brought a wave of weariness over him. Though Zelda had done nothing wrong, Revali no longer had any wish to continue the conversation.

Revali and Zelda come into this conversation from incredibly disparate positions, and they're on completely different pages. Firstly, Zelda has the advantage of memory, but in some ways Revali has a clearer view of what their relationship from 100 years ago was actually like, thanks to his diary (the contents of which are alluded to or outright paraphrased in the opening part of this scene). Secondly, Zelda has full knowledge of what happened to Link -- at least up until he disappeared after the thought of re-boarding Vah Ruta (as Zelda wanted to do in the 'true ending' of BOTW) proved too much for the Keepsakes version of Link. (Yes, Link’s disappearing act is another small nod to Pinesong.) 

But Revali does not.

From Zelda’s point of view, Revali’s comment about ‘some[body] missing from [her] account’ sounds like a not-so-subtle dig at the missing Link. I actually tried to thread this idea through even in his narration: 'she seemed willing to speak only of others', is meant to tread that thin boundary line of which person he's actually talking about, Zelda or Link. 

Her reaction is therefore wary: she wonders how much Revali now remembers, and how much of his comment is a continuation of his century-old dislike of Link. — After all, she wasn’t privy to the scene in Lacuna’s flashback; and despite that interlude, Revali and Link’s relationship didn’t change all as much as they might have hoped. (Or as much as Link wants to believe, by the end of Memento/Lacuna—the true backstory there was one of might-have-beens instead of let’s-do-betters.)

She’s surprised, then, by Revali’s question being not about Link, but about herself. And this is something that I would have loved to delve into a little, but the nature of the story kept me bound tightly to Revali’s perspective: Zelda is doing well only in that she’s throwing herself into distractions, trying to adjust to the circumstances of being a hundred years displaced from the world she’s familiar with.

(Sidenote: I toyed with that dichotomy of the post-Calamity world being utterly uncanny to her – at once familiar and yet also somehow alien – in another story I wrote this year, catharsis, which had Zelda finally reuniting with Impa after a century.)

And she has ample distractions with the other Champions, who – as her recounting of events implies – she’s spent rather a lot of time around, and considerably more time than she has with Revali. She wouldn’t even be at Rito Village now if it wasn’t the home of Kass, the only person she thought might be able to find Link. 

Perhaps, if she had taken a little more care to visit him, Zelda would be aware of the narrative Revali has been constructing, piece by piece, while he’s been left to fend for himself…

To an extent, Revali's own diary was held against him. His words are taken as a primary source of insight into his character, rather than at least part of his writing being a continuation of his attempts to define and shape his future legacy (his 'legend', as the diary's forepage none-too-subtly declares). 

Yes, Harth did come to the conclusion of something existing between the Rito and Hylian Champions of a century ago (incidentally, that's why he makes the offer of showing Revali the same sheaf of papers he shared with Link in Memento – providing an alternative source of information), but Teba has a different focus. Harth is interested in the truth of the story; Teba is protective of the people involved, and with only circumstantial evidence to suggest that Champion Revali had at least some positive feeling towards that knight, and significantly more evidence to suggest Revali didn't care at all for Link, he deflects and puts it off for now. 

Nobody expected Link to be AWOL for months.

And that brings us back to this passage, the first real opportunity for the truth to come out; and so Zelda takes the initiative, trying to bring up Link. 'If you want to know how we're all doing,' she's thinking, 'then I should tell you about him as well.'

But Revali is of the belief – entirely logically, based on the facts he knows! – that Link is long dead. Whether 100 years ago, or at some point in the decades since. Hylian lifespans just aren't long enough for him to still be around. We only need to look at the oldest Hylians living in Hateno, who weren't born until after the Calamity during the Era of Burning Fields, to know that 80-90 seems to be the Hylian limit.

—

Here's another thing: In the time since writing Corrigendum, I saw a post here on tumblr suggest that grief is a topic that's fairly impossible to write about, because grief doesn't end as long as you remember it, and it's the sort of thing that hits you, over and over, in often mundane ways that look bizarre to the outsider. Yet -- not to put too high a declaration of quality on my writing, but I honestly do believe that I achieved that in Corrigendum, while staying true to the character in question. 

Yes, it was deliberately under-written, circled around instead of facing it head-on -- even the early use of the word 'grief' was shied away from, declaring it only 'something like grief'. That felt far more 'Revali' than giving in to sentiment. So far, most of this emotion has been in the gaps where he's confronted with knowledge of the past, of something missing, of something more to Link; he's seeing Link better in this patchwork recollection, able at last to look beyond '[the] sword that drew the eye and distracted from the man that bore it'. And it's in these moments that his true feelings linger, even if he can't (or won't) give voice to them.

—

Link has always been a touchy subject. Once, they might have been on a similar page regarding that (their mutual complicated feelings about a boy around their age to whom things seemed to come so easily).

In reality, they still are — and it's a different page to the one they shared before, of resentment and frustration and trying to figure out their own place. Link has long become a person to them—Zelda openly, as seen throughout the original game; Revali less obviously, but still apparent through his post-Blight dialogue and particularly in the DLC content, as well as the additional background and memory/ies I created for Memento/Lacuna.

But this Revali – a Revali who still has only a partial sense of his own identity, who doesn't necessarily like the person he'd been even if he can't figure out who else he could be – this version of Revali can't yet acknowledge or confront the truth of what he's experiencing.

What I wanted was to challenge Revali to say it out loud and admit to it — "I am grieving." This, here, is the closest Revali can currently get... Ice. Roiling confusion. Something unbearable. Weariness. Within his narration, the raw, aching wound of grief is clear, but aloud, the only thing he can think to do is to cut Zelda off and prevent her from saying what he cannot yet confront. 

"Don't." Don't bring him up. Don't make me hear this. Don't make it real. 

Characters frantically back-scrabbling away from open and frank communication, in the interests of protecting their own fragile hearts, is something that can be so delightful.

—

Zelda, who isn't privy to the struggle Revali is going through, can only hear this rejection at face-value and back off, assuming that things are as they were 100 years ago. This is something that can only be repaired by finding Link himself – and so she'll continue with her original plan, enlisting Kass to help track the wayward swordsman down.

(And Revali will finally give voice to what he's been feeling… when a certain someone arrives in Rito Village :3 )

[pixeljade]

Im at like chapter 960 now of One Piece and its really occurring to me how incredibly anarchist this manga is. Like, if you look at it, Luffy is the ultimate anarchist; he lives a life of crime, but largely with the goal of doing what's right everywhere he goes rather than greed or hatred. He represents crime as a form of justice, the sheer love of freedom and life and love that is at the heart of anarchy.

I think this representation extends into his lineage as well. You can see his father and grandfather as the route of radicalization most well-meaning people go down; Garp believes in doing what's right, but trues to do so within the framework of the Marines. Its explicitly stated that Garp's power within that system was halted at the level we meet him at, though, because he refused to take the step of becoming a tool of the Celestial Dragons. Meanwhile his son, Dragon, saw these flaws in his father's way and decided to build a framework of his own outside of greater society. He then slowly builds up a revolution, attempting to create a new world order that rejects the powers of the current one. Luffy, however, is a rejection of the entire concept of a framework. To him, the only way to be is sheer, unadulterated freedom! And he wants that for everyone, going around the world removing obstacles to that freedom.

The people he gathers as allies match this mentality too! All of the main Straw Hat Crew are outcasts in one way or another, not one of them is someone who'd be viewed as a respectable member of society. Yet all of them believe in doing good with the power and freedom they're given!

The same is also true of side character allies. This is especially clear in the Wano arc I'm currently making my way through; Oden's entire squad of vassals and even Oden himself are rebels against Wano's order. Oden's story could even be seen as a direct parallel for Luffy's--a wild man, who rejects order in favor of freedom, but does good, travels his world and gathers 9 like-minded people*, toppling the order they all live in.

Some might point out though, that Luffy has many allies who are monarchs or other leaders, and that seems to be against the very point of anarchism. But i view it differently. After all, Luffy is not able to completely destroy the systems in place in the world (at least yet)! If he decided to topple say, the Nefeltiri monarchy, other threats would come in to take over the peoples of this valuable, yet unguarded, land. I like to think that the story could end with Luffy finding a way to eliminate the systems which lead to exploitation, and then all of the Good Monarchs he has come across abdicate their thrones and live as fellow citizens amongst their people...but perhaps at this point I'm projecting too strongly.

My point is, politically, One Piece is an AGGRESSIVELY pro-anarchist story, just under a different name! Pirates or punks, they believe in a similar ethos. Luffy believes in freedom above all else, hangs out with outcasts of all kinds (including SEVERAL transgender folks), and uses violence when necessary to acheive true freedom. He's an anarchist, folks!

*- of course Luffy gets his Tenth member with Jimbei, and Oden dies, but I think the parallel is still strikingly similar.