#which I mean. I'd rather have this then 'let's kill her violently' but it is still. frustrating.

[musical-chick-13]

*bangs head against wall* Why is it that so many times the only time I can find f/f ship content is when it’s put with a popular m/m ship and not actually something that just exists by itself.

[dark-side-blog3]

How would you rank the six Jojo leads from the OG continuity from worst to best to end up with?

I'm gonna take this as an add-on to the would you rather game from before, so the answers will be super self-indulgent, and yandere.

Short answer is I would prefer to end up with none of the yanderes, at least not the jojo's. But in terms of damage, I suppose Jonathan is the safest, and Giorno is the worst. It should be Jolyne because Stone Ocean is more dangerous, but Giorno skeeves me out more. Jolynes only so low because everyone around her would instakill me.

+++++++++++++++++

Jonathan is a milk toast of a man. He's unthreatening, because of his noble code. If I got isekai'd, the worst Johnathan could possibly do to me is just have me associated with him, because Dio would fuck me up just to mess with him. In which case, I'd either have to avoid Jonathan so hard Dio can't target me, or I'd have to glue myself to his side so he could protect me from Dio. Which would be what feeds into his tendencies, but they're not really dangerous, so I suppose I'll just have to suck it up.

Joseph is funny and charming, and in earlier parts, he's cunning and witty. He leans heavily into the bad boy heartbreaker persona, so the idea that he's going to be possessive of his partner wouldn't seem out of the ordinary. And all of these would make him the match if it weren't offset by the cheating. How Suzie didn't kill him, I don't know. Her patience is infinite. I, on the other hand, would kill us both. Until then, he wouldn't be too bad.

Jotaro and I would fight way too much. He only wants to talk about his interests, and I can't shut up about my interests, and there is zero overlap between the two. There are only so many times I can endure a Clint Eastwood marathon, and there are only so many minutes he'll let me talk about pinnipeds or linguistics. I couldn't care less about the actual crimes he commits, but the clash of interests would be what makes him the (second) most unbearable.

Josuke has never faced long-term interpersonal consequences to his actions, which means that he'll be genuinely surprised if I stay mad at him after a fight. He nearly beat Okuyasu to death and they're best friends. He punched a hole through his mom and never got in trouble. So why am I still mad at him a week after a verbal fight that didn't even get violent? The world will never know (I will tell him every day, he just doesn't want to hear it). The only reason I wouldn't try to piss him off too much, like saying I got isekai'd and I can't stay in Morioh, is because I've seen Angelo. I choose to not be a fucked up rock Josuke does shameful things with.

Giorno is fucking creepy if you don't hear his internal monologues; which if isekai'd, I wouldn't be able to. I'm with Abbacchio on this, I don't trust this motherfucker. He just stares as people get injured in front of him, and waits until the last possible second to help them, and he's so obviously scheming behind those eyes. I would avoid him like the plague, even if I somehow got involved with the mafia. He's just so... Weird. And calculating. Giorno isn't the only smart jojo, but he is the most intimidating for his intelligence. The vibes are just so rancid on him... I'm throwing myself into the Tiber before I enter this narrative.

Jolyne is a puzzle. I'm not sure what I'd do if I got isekai'd... Do I avoid her and avoid the ire of Anasui, or get my ass beat by the enemy stand users literally everywhere? Not to mention the regular people who just happen to be in a supermax, who will probably prey on me for being an easy target. I'd be totally lost in terms of what to do. At least with the others, there's a hope of escape, or playing my cards right to utilize them. But I don't think there is a good strategy with Jolyne except carefully slotting myself in the toxic friendzone, and hoping for the best. At least it shouldn't be impossible to do.

[dxxtruction]

I sort of divorce Armand from the larger moral implications of the trail, and what I mean by that is - while he still falls at fault for all of them, and further had a morally special position to prevent it that he takes on additional fault for - his primary concerns are actually divorced from anything that's even going on. In other words, to get at understanding Armand I sort of have to take on his own position. He's rather self possessed and his only actual goal is to ensure he has stable 'love' (even if it can never be real or reciprocated without high control obligations/fear/threat/or lies both to himself and other(s)).

"I did not see your love lasting as long" = he sees the coven as a source of love. Which he'd accept, even in a debased position, if it meant a consistent stability in knowing he is 'loved' (if a fucked up idea of it).

So, if the coven wants to do this whole production he doesn't care how it goes, or what its implications even are, or would achieve, so long as he gets what he's after. (Meaning Claudia is little to no object to him in this, but to the coven they (C, L, and M), and the racist and public humiliation done onto them, are the primary objective.) He appeases this objective to get at and earn his own, rather than it coming from himself, or his own beliefs. Of which are only self serving, and morally bankrupt to begin with (generally he's moral, as he has certain values about being good, but he's extremely okay with doing amoral, and violent things if it serves his own interests). Since his objectives only extend to Louis, Claudia is killed. He never loved her in any way, and saw her as worthless for it, so she's killed.

Armand probably would've preferred, though, that she run off with Madeleine and Louis stay with him, but because he has such strong objectives about maintaining 'love' at all costs he gives to the covens wishes to earn it from them. (At least this is the impression I get from how he looks so defeated and sad by it, like he's not gloating in this).

He ties literally all his worth an existence onto others need and desire of him, and so puts himself in an awkward position where he believes he's nothing if he can't have someone to possess or to alternatively possess him (Thank you Marius de fucking Romanus /s). This idea about worth naturally gets projected onto everyone else, (again fucking thank you you actual prick). And the more worthless you are to the world to him the more he doesn't think you deserve to live, or there is a point to your existence.

The ideal of a worthy person to him is Marius (eugh yeuck), and the things Marius imbued into him as things which are valuable or which make him valuable. (Success, sex, beauty, intelligence, devout servitude, etc.)

This whole thing is why I'm also of the opinion he let Lestat do it (and/or he planned for it) so, come time for things, he has/could give himself a choice (however unworthy of it he is) between Louis and the coven. He's after his own self worth, and the image of this self worth is torn between the two.

"Who am I Louis?"

The only way he'd personally think he'd be worthy of it from Louis, I'd say, is if he was already fully divorced from all the implications so didn't see himself as responsible for them. Moreover, he was probably under legitimate threat by the coven, however shallow of one it may look to be, which would further cement this idea. Even if he did come to realize his own guilt and shame about it, maybe even recognize how at fault for it he was (hence later hiding in lies about it). As events were proceeding he'd effectively removed blame off himself, and remained innocent by his own mental framing of being helpless to prevent anything (perhaps unconsciously).

But anyway, he casts himself as helpless and this achieves unwarranted sympathy from Louis, and further, convincing the coven they're in control (he's using the tactic of a child crying), so he can come out on top of whatever choice he then ends up with. What's a bit interesting is that (I hope I'm remembering this right) he encourages Louis to leave again right before he goes to tear everything down. So this either implies he wants to give Louis a choice still, to go free, or had already chosen the coven over him. If it's the former I think that's important, because it shows he does see others have some inherent value outside himself. But (sadly) can't apply that same understanding to himself. (Which, again, might mean this idea he was helpless isn't deliberate. He's just screwed up like that, consistently under an impression that he just is. Which is the biggest lie there is perhaps, but given his life, something I can deeply understand, even relate, to where it comes from).

As a disclaimer this is just an explanation I've come to, as it makes sense to me, explaining partly as well his further abusive behaviors, and is not me trying to agree with his position. He doesn't deserve forgiveness in all this, and is at fault for everything he is shown to be doing or simultaneously not doing.

[pap03]

Okay so I originally wrote this on Discord so apologies for any jank

But I need to get out my mega LOVE theory for Deltarune somehow, and Discord is the only place I've wrote it down lol

Anyways what got me going was this here difference in stats

Both being a post-Snowgrave Kris, just one from the Light World and the other from the Dark World

And this discrepancy would be strange right? If both LV's stood for the same thing

Which I'd why I claim that they do not

Rather that the LV in the Light World still refers to the LOVE of UT

While the LV in the Dark Worlds stands more properly for a "Level" a way of gauging the amount of Experience the Fun Gang have

Doubly true as the Dark World stats measure nowhere "EXP" aka "Execution Points"

From what I can tell Level only goes up upon reaching certain HP values, as Noelle goes from Level 1 to Level 2 in the Dark World

Since Noelle "Levels up" upon finishing just one act of violence in the Dark World

So I think it'll be possible later on to Level up early if you're violent enough

Sorta opposite of how it worked in UT, where you needed to LOVE up to get HP

In Dark Worlds you need to get your HP up to Level up

But that’s a bit of a tangent; continuing on

With the ground rules laid out that LV and LV can exist synchronously the next thought in my ramblings was that I need some proof that Noelle will continue to be our main Puppet, to explain why this LV theory should be relevant

And on that front, I got several bits

Easiest for me to lay out here is that the Survey taker at the beginning of ch 1 has special dialogue if you name yourself after a majority of the party members

This includes: Kris, Susie, and Noelle

All 4 share the same reaction

Secondarily Noelle lays out herself in the hospital that she's gonna figure out what's going on with Kris, which means to me that she'll keep coming around Kris, even despite the coercion into murder

And lastly, Noelle’s crush on Susie has so much unmissable screentime that Chekov would shit his grave if there were no resolution to it

This established leaves the first 2 core tenents of my theory

1. LOVE exists

2. Noelle will be the sole Snowgraver as the game progresses

For the sake of it, let's tackle the ramifications of both of these in order, as 1 heavily leans into 2

1. LOVE as we know it in Undertale exists in some way form or fashion in Deltarune

Natural questions that raises

- Do Darkners count for EXP? Yes, I'd say so, given the inverse effect on how Levels contribute to HP compared to how Undertale's LOVE and HP work, and the fact Noelle gains HP faster than the rest of the Party when they commit violence I'd argue there's a secondary element increasing her vitality, that being her LOVE increasing

- If LOVE exists why isn't Noelle a complete psycho killer in the Light World? Because that's not how LOVE works, by sans's admission LV contributes to making it easier to hurt others, and easier to distance yourself, but never expresses that it creates a want to kill, although that does seem to be a side effect which I'll get into next section

Mechanics of LOVE across Undertale and Deltarune:

For most people who've played a neutral run of Undertale, you'll be remiss to note anything going on as you gain LV. As much as I love Frisk as the blank slate of a protagonist that they are, their lack of emotions makes it hard to tell what exact the differences are between an LV 3 individual and an LV 7 one, differences sans can tell, but we can't really

So then we have to look elsewhere, mainly the Genocide run and comparing characters who may have killed in UT to their murderless counterparts in Deltarune

- Early LV's 1-6

At this point a person has killed a bit, but is also where the effects of each individual LV is the most noticeable, as sans has unique dialog for every LV here

What this tells me is that your first kills change you the most compared to later kills

Also during this LV range we see Frisk start their way through Snowdin in a Geno run, where they skip puzzles without our input, and are generally quieter than even before

I call this part of the LV grind "Getting Colder" for many reasons, partially for the pun, but also how we see Frisk act much more distant, aka cold, towards their surroundings and walk through situations, giving of an energy of "I don't care, let me through"

Considering this is also the LV's you'd end the game at for killing just Toriel or Undyne (two impassable bosses without killing or their special sparing method) that general sentiment persists

For the sake of it, I also reference Gerson and Asgore, Gerson was in the War of Humans and Monsters and has intimate knowledge about human combat and abilities, and while it's canon that no human casualties were suffered through the whole War, I would not be surprised if Gerson had to put down a fellow monster or two during the chaos after the Barrier was first erected. Yet despite that idea, Gerson is still just a bubbly, slightly traumatized, old man in Waterfall telling me that you can work past Early LVs. Yet there's also Asgore, as of the time of me writing this the only character who has canonically (and confirmed to) taken the life of anything, and as of our time encountering him, he's distantly removed from the act he's doing, which is another murder. However I must mention that there's a lot of shit there for Asgore compared to Deltarune's Asgore that could lead to the state he's in beyond LOVE so take that with a grain of salt

- Middle LV's 7-14

This is where an interesting switch occurs, specifically at LV 9 but the larger grouping together sorta encompasses it all. This is where Frisk (yes Frisk I'll elaborate if I have to) begins to enjoy the act of killing, smiling before every encounter, and even reveling in the fear of others, such as when Frisk intimidates Monster Kid just before the Undying fight

Now above I talk about how wanting to kill isn't a symptom of LV, and I still believe that

While this seems to be contradicting evidence to that claim I don't think so, as I think it's around this point that one becomes so distant that the act of killing someone else doesn't invoke any feeling of remorse anymore

Where Frisk's enjoyment is derived from is their "Determination" as at the point they're smiling they've killed every monster they could find up to this point, so they're happy to "finish what they started" and also why the Smile goes away if you abort Geno at this point forward as that goal of eradication is gone

- High LV's 15-19

This is the grouping we know the least about, as the majority of these are Geno exclusive, CORE/Hotland exclusives no less which at this point the whole Underground is on lockdown so any unique traits from here are lost in translation, from best we can tell, anything shy of all kills isn't labeled as "True Evil" by MTT and LV 17 is labeled as "Bad at being evil" by sans

So perhaps there's some room for redemption at this point? Idk, sans doesn't think so at LV 19, but it's an interesting thought

- LV 20

This one gets a special mention just because of how everything goes down

The Mercy Button is gone

Frisk is able to make inputs without Player input

And at this LV it's possible to summon the Demon, a manifestation of the evils you caused and power you gained by pushing this world to its limits that quite literally has the power to attack the game box Undertale is played in

This demon is the single most powerful being we've encountered inside of UT/DR outside of maybe Asriel

Now, with everything LOVE-related established we can also use it as a symptom list to diagnose Noelle at where she's at and take a rough estimate as to how much LOVE a single Snowgrave run would allow for

And well, I won't run yall through the numbers so to speak but she's solidly in the Early LV's

She still has remorse for the deaths she did cause

But she's also able to distance herself from her actions there, could be grief but her interactions with her father on Snowgrave compared to a Main Route shows to me that she's a little more reserved, which also falls in line with Early LV symptoms

So what does that leave?

Well, as someone pointed out to me before, Noelle has some violent tendencies

They're reserved, but come out when say, Berdly also has a crush on Susie, or if it's encouraged (see what this whole post is about lol)

See also the theory that the damage at the beginning of the Cyber World was caused by Noelle, not Queen, and there's reason to see where things may go as Noelle breaches into the Middle LV's

I see her, like Frisk, enjoying the slaughter as things continue on

So to conclude my little LOVE Theory I see the rest of Deltarune going as such

1 more route of us manipulating Noelle into killing, she'll be far more resistive, but I know we'll break through, with the boss of that area that she kills (secret boss or another Lightner) the last we'll see of Noelle she'll have cracked a smile

Then from there on she'll easy, fights will break out just from her instigation, or from others more heroic trying to get in her way

By the end I think we'll have to fight her, and she'll kick our asses

Or we'll have to fight Kris

It's hard to know that far ahead

But using LOVE alone, that's how I see things going

Thanks for reading if you did! Feel free to comment and discuss or ask me questions through my ask box. Hope you enjoyed my transcribed madness lol

[nanomooselet]

Wraith I

It's a common fan theory that the Eye of Michael's members are hybrids of human and Plant. It's interesting to read about, and I encourage its exploration.

However, I confess that I don't subscribe to it myself. Because I've got my own, even crazier theory.

Knives, I think, does not want humans and Plants swapping body parts. Knives is violently possessive, hates humans, and cares, first and foremost, about empowering himself enough that he no longer feels afraid. If he has a second priority it's keeping his loved ones close - but personally I believe that folds into the first, because he tries to do that by making them more like himself.

He doesn't do that by giving away what belongs to him, because that's not what he does. It's what he's afraid of. The closest I've ever seen him come was grafting Vash's amputated arm onto Legato in the first anime adaptation, and that speaks more to... something. I don't know. (If you have any idea what Knives thinks he's doing with Legato, you are way ahead of me.) Regardless it was Vash's arm, not his own. If anything, Knives was reclaiming what was his and putting it to a better purpose. He didn't have it removed from himself.

Connections like this?

I suspect they're misdirection. I don't think the special abilities these individuals display have anything to do with Tesla. I don't believe Knives has any intention of letting anyone else touch her. They're more like echoes, motifs, reminders - but for us, not for Knives.

And if you like, I have proof. Click to embiggen.

1) Leftmost image, Tesla's eye is still part of Knives (at least if you trust the advertising material - and it's a subtle enough nod that I do, since it delights my black little heart). He didn't pull out an eyeball and hand it over to plug into Elendira. She's simply cloned from his cells, a bit like a dependent Plant. 2) Central image, Vash's sliced-off arm was consumed by the out-of-control Gate, and Tesla's amputated left arm looks too small and ravaged to have been grafted to Legato. 3) Rightmost image, Wolfwood was simply 'lucky' enough to be born compatible with the drugs used by the Eye of Michael. They just had to prime their syringes and get jabbing. At most the chemicals used may have been Plant-derived. Insert dirty joke about being receptive to Plant fluid exchange here, if so inclined.

I do believe Tesla has a presence and trajectory of her own through the story, though. Just not as a body, which has been fully integrated into Knives.

I think she's a spirit. Knives genuinely believes he's doing what his sister wants of him. He is the son of his father, and Tesla is his holy ghost. She grants him power. At least... as long as she's with him.

Because Tesla, in Stampede, is specifically listed as being alive when the twins stumble across her and Vash accidentally removes her from cryogenic suspension. Then Knives, controlling the memory, skips over something... but rather than focus on that, I'd like to draw attention to the colour she was giving off.

I'll point to this post about the way Plants speak and this post about significant colours and this one about Tesla and how she's represented. It's a lot of reading, but if you don't like my yammering about Trigun Stampede I genuinely have no clue why you came even this far (and please, do tell. I'm curious).

Tesla isn't giving off blood red light, like Plants who've lost use of their Gates. It's pink, like the ones reacting to an incompatible environment. I think that means only is she still alive, she can still access her Gate. So she can still communicate. And I suspect, like Vash, she can receive communication from other Plants. She's horribly wounded and sick, but she can still take action. She still has power.

In Trigun Stampede, Tesla has agency.

So. That means she can make a choice.

Part II

Part III TBA

* I'm starting to become morbidly curious about what it takes to truly kill an Independent Plant. Vash, as always, looks like he lost a wrestling match with a combine harvester, Tesla's still alive, and Knives took several seconds of planet-busting Angel Arm discharge to the face, melted off his flesh and almost certainly survived, for a given value of "survived". He's right about one thing: humans have reason to fear Independents.

I'm also starting to have some queasy suspicions about how Orange intends to get him back in the game, but that's for another day.

[omgkalyppso]

"You can trust me. I hope you know that." your FE3H or BG3 characters of choice

I decided I'd write something I'd probably never have written otherwise! Shahid's surrender.

I'm not sure which AU it fits into. Avery is there, my shez oc. And Nader briefly.

The whole thing is 2,193 words and I'll probably put it on ao/3 later. No editing has been done.

Thank you for the ask!!!

.

Shahid felt the noose tightening. Khalid was the leader of this Leicester Alliance, he should not have been upon the field — what else could there be for him to prove? Unless he simply wanted to kill him personally.

In victory, Shahid imagined he would find his brother at the back of the army, or further still in the walls of some city. Why wouldn't he run away again, as he always had?

In defeat, Shahid would have expected to die at the hands of a stranger, or to be brought violently back to his brother's heel for execution.

Yet here they were, landing wyverns across from one another in a field already stained with blood, no action or subordinates to distract from their acknowledgement of one another.

“It really is you …”

“I'm here to stop you from ruining Almyra's reputation, Shahid.” Claude’s wording was careful. If he could appeal to his brother’s Almyran pride he might be able to turn the leadership of this fight elsewhere.

Shahid pulled on the reigns of his wyvern, causing the beast to rear back with a roar. “Her reputation in this land of weaklings and cowards?”

Claude sighed, disappointed that he’d stumbled on the wrong phrasing for Shahid’s current mood.

“Even now Fodlan's only glory is from the heels of Almyra's weakest link. Without you, this country will cannibalize itself within the decade,” Shahid spat, charging his mount forward, knowing that turning the wyvern would only give an archer lie his brother a larger target.

Rather than accept the clash, Claude took off, spinning thrice to avoid the thrown axe he’d known was coming.

“Almyra knows her worth!” Shahid shouted after him in chase. Whispering under the rush of wind and wings, “And mine.”

.

Shahid’s axes came close. A single strike to a winged shoulder would have been enough to risk a deadly fall and a lost friend, so Claude paced himself, not meaning to toy with Shahid, but timing sudden drops and careful acrobatics to his advantage. Arrows riddled Shahid’s wyvern before Shahid had managed more than a single scratch on the hide of Claude’s wyvern. Shahid’s mount’s movements had steadily become more choppy, but the final arrow sent the beast to the ground in a steady decline.

Claude wished they’d landed earlier. Shahid’s mount didn’t die gracefully, but Claude had some relief that his brother jumped down and across the wyvern’s wailing body, axe still raised in accusation.

“Give it up, Shahid!” Claude shouted, landing across the field, bow still raised. “It's over. You lost.”

Shahid’s eyes flickered to where a Fodlani soldier rushed forward, skidding to an angular stop to his brother’s side. Beyond, he could see his own fallen guard, and bared his teeth in rage.

“Let fly that arrow, then!” He taunted. “I'll never kneel to the likes of you!”

“But that isn't what I'm asking for you to do here!” Claude insisted. He threw his arms down in frustration, lowering his weapon as he thought of how Shahid would have demanded his allegiance, if not his death — and how he should be doing the same, whether because of Almyran custom, to hide his identity as planned, or for the safety of both Leicester and Almyra. He dismounted. “Let's end this, come on!”

Claude dreamed of the children they had never been, playing together, teaching one another, and reflected on how Shahid’s natural gravity and subtle intellect had inspired the methodology of his plans all the same. Even with how their environment had pit them and their siblings against one another, they were more similar than they were different, even if he would have to convince Shahid of the worth of people not from Almyra. He was his brother, and Claude wanted him at his side, even ahead of him, so long as he would listen, as long as he would try.

“You little brat …” Shahid hissed, holding his left shoulder as though his axe was heavy and he was supporting himself. “I'd sooner die!”

The knife flying in Claude’s direction wasn’t a surprise, but it also wasn’t an attack he should have been weathering, with dreams of reconciliation.

Avery was in front of him in the blink of an eye, easily parrying the thrown blade with the strange, summoned sword that acted as an extension of his arm.

Claude sighed hopelessly, and then donned a different mask as he addressed his classmate, “Thanks for that.”

With his dual blades still at the ready, and without looking away from Shahid, who took three more heavy steps forward, Avery squared his posture, tightened his jaw and tossed his head slightly to adjust his bangs.

“Look, Claude …” Avery said, low. “If you can't do it, then I can.”

Shahid heard him anyway and chuckled darkly as he swung his axe up to hold the weapon in both hands. “Yes, Claude,” he mocked, “loose a mongrel on a prince of Almyra. Even that would be more dignified than to be ended by the hand of an impertinent, soulless—”

“Prince Shahid—” Nader shouted, as if to interrupt him — royalty, while he had the impertinence to land his wyvern at his brother’s side.

Shahid would have none of that, and took off towards him in a run. “How dare you speak to me! You fucking turncoat.”

He expected his brother’s guard dog to cut him off and ignored the roar and shout as he readied to swing up towards the defensive maw of the wyvern on which Nader sat, catching an arrow in the upper arm at the last moment. His weapon faltered, and he should have died, but Nader pulled hard to turn his well-tamed beast aside and into flight again, leaving Shahid on the ground, injured and shamed.

“Why?!” he called up after Almyra’s supposedly staunchest general. “Why did you come with me at all? Why did I trust you?! How could you trust him?!”

It hurt. His pride, his arm, his heart. Yet when the soldier rushed his side, Shahid was able to spin his axe in a wide arc and send them crashing aside.

He expected that might earn him a moment to breathe, to rethink his retreat, but then Claude tackled him and Shahid lost his grip on his weapon as he met the earth unceremoniously.

They’d never fought before, not really. Claude had been a babe, a child, and Shahid had injured, annoyed and abused him if Claude had had the misfortune of being left without a sympathetic authority in his presence. Perhaps that had led Shahid to believe he’d never fought before at all, or to see him still as that helpless child.

Claude clamped a hand around Shahid’s throat, allowing his brother enough momentum to try to sit up from his place prone on the ground before shoving him back down, choking him briefly and cracking the back of his head against the ground. Shahid reached up to claw at his face with one hand, punching back against his brother’s left shoulder with his left hand. Shahid’s wild eyes shook and his vision swam, but he could make out the glittering pieces in Claude’s outfit at this inescapable proximity and despite how Claude decked him in the temple, he was able to steal one of his brother’s many knives with his left hand as his right clung to Claude’s chest, Shahid’s brain rattling in his skull.

Shahid drove that knife into his brother’s thigh and did not release the hilt through the resulting scream, nor as he used Claude’s shock to force them to roll aside.

Shahid longed to berate his brother, to banter and rage and tell him exactly why and how he would never take Almyra, but all he could do was grunt as he pulled out the blade and struggle with his right arm, still plucked by his brother’s arrow, to try to drive it down into the side of Claude’s head. Claude only had to raise his arm to redirect the blow into the earth, where Shahid left the knife and reached forward to grab his brother’s hair and knock him into the ground as Claude had done to him moments ago.

They tussled, all hands, and teeth, and hidden knives, and the rush of wind and dirt as Nader’s wyvern landed somewhere nearby, and Shahid knew he was going to die here.

Claude’s injured leg kneeled down on Shahid’s arm, the retrieved knife held down by Claude’s left fist, deep in his shoulder. Claude’s right forearm extended across Shahid’s chest, Shahid’s right arm twisted on the ground, the arrow now broken and its tip lost somewhere inside the wound. They both gasped for air, the same air, Claude wished he could shout, blood stinging down the side of his forehead getting caught in his brow.

“Shahid,” Claude asked again. “Don't make me do this.”

Shahid hissed through a false smile of teeth again, until Claude pressed the blade harder.

“Don't you want to see home again?” Claude asked desperately, close to crying as he watched Shahid’s eyes squint closed in pain. “The southern beaches, the western desert…”

Shahid’s eyes opened slowly, staring blindly at the blue and white sky above.

“Don't you want to see the sun tomorrow?” Claude bargained. They both winced, shoulders shrinking in shame and humiliation as Nader corralling a crowd could be heard at a distance.

“Shahid,” Claude begged. “Please.” He pulled the knife free, letting the tip press into Shahid’s cheek, not piercing the skin. “Keep your eyes. Keep your tongue.”

Shahid let his gaze drift to Claude again, the fight draining out of him as he thought of home, tears swelling with the realization of all he’d lost, and all he had yet to lose by agreeing.

“I mean to treat you with dignity and respect,” Claude promised, “and that means I won't seek to humiliate you if you just stop … But this respect also means I'll kill you if I have to, brother.”

Shahid smiled again, not at ease, but less malicious than before — more impressed.

“We don’t need to be enemies. But even as enemies,” Claude said, sliding the blade down to press up into the soft flesh under the corner of Shahid’s jaw, “you can trust me. I hope you know that.”

Shahid scoffed and felt the knife draw blood. He swallowed just to feel that he could, and endeavoured to memorize Khalid’s face in this moment: No joy in his victory.

“Get. Off. Me,” he declared, low and regal. He fully expected Claude to refuse, to press a promise of reconciliation, alliance, vassalage, or exile, but on his shaky leg, Claude slowly lifted himself up and stepped away. Shahid lay in the dirt barely a moment longer, reaching up to touch first his neck and then his forehead, bare, now that his circlet had rolled away on the ground during their fight.

Shahid looked over to the purple haired soldier that held their broken ribs in a crooked stance where they stood by the rubble he’d tossed them into, and then turned his attention back to Claude as he sat up with a grunt and a hand on his chest.

“Shahid—” Claude began again, silenced by a raised royal palm raised not so high as usual for the pain and exhaustion Shahid was subject to.

Shahid stretched his neck back, and closed and stretched his hands before making strides to pull himself to his feet, one knee, split open, nearly giving out on him, bleeding copiously through his armor.

“You,” he demanded of the purple haired soldier. “Ask for my surrender.”

Avery answered before looking to Claude in confusion. “What?”

“Please,” Claude said, an open hand facing the ground extended towards Avery to ensure he stayed his weapons. “Do as he says.”

Keeping in-line with the standard set by the nobles in his presence, Avery forced himself to stand though he kept his arm around himself, still feeling the weight of the Almyran prince’s blow.

“In the name of the Leicester Alliance, I demand you … call off your forces. And, uh, submit … to a total surrender.”

Claude’s wince and Shahid’s lowered brow reinforced how Avery had not done that correctly.

“Do I have any forces left?” Shahid asked Claude.

“We’ll take care of it,” Claude answered cryptically.

After a roll of his eyes, Shahid addressed the soldier again, “You will have to bind me.”

“There's no need for—” Claude began to object.

“Shut up,” Shahid said ineloquently. “I need no more than my hands to best you.”

Claude had to hold himself back from pointing out all the evidence to the contrary, and could see how his irritation earned another biting smile from Shahid.

“I will need to be bound,” Shahid told the soldier despite the bile in his throat.

“Yeah,” Avery agreed, sparing a glance at Claude. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Take him straight to the keep. And find him a subtle healer,” Claude ordered Avery. “He’s not a spectacle.” Shahid laughed openly. Claude hid his eyes in his hands and rubbed feeling back into his face, and then swept back his hair. “I have stuff to finish up here.”

[orionsangel86]

Are there anythings that you would have changed about The Sandman?

The show or the comic?

Plenty of things I'd change about the comic. As great as the story is, it is a product of its time and there are some underlying messages whether intentional or not that are inappropriate and fucked up and don't really belong such as:

The racism towards black women implied to be cursed to die violently when linked to Morpheus in some way following the Nada situation.

In fact the whole Nada story is pretty gross. When she thinks that by cutting her hymen she'll remove her virginity to put Dream off her, but then its stated that healing her hyman doesnt restore her lost virginity... like first of all. No. Second of all - shoving a rock up your vag does NOT remove your virginity lets not spread the message that it does.

The way Dream comes across a bit rapey in the Nada story overall and its not made clear how much influence Desire has in that.

The inherent misogyny which is typical of 80s/90s comics but in particular the violence towards women and overt sexualisation of women. Whether for shock value or not, its just not necessary.

The implied message that depressed and suicidal people should just kill themselves and everything will be better once they are gone.

The idea that a person who is depressed can be replaced by a better good version of themselves and even their family and friends will just treat that person as the new them. The implication that the depressed person isnt valued and must instead conform to the responsibilities and burdens of the system they are trapped in - rather than changing the system.

The concept that the moon is inherently transphobic and that witchcraft is transphobic just irks me as a pagan person- like yeah there are huuuuge problems in the community and the whole divine feminine and fucking womb magic bullshit is all over it but I really really hate how Sandman perpetuates that myth and indicates its the goddess that encourages that view and not asshole closed minded people. The moon isnt fucking transphobic FFS.

Everything about Gwen and Hobs relationship in Sunday Mourning. Its problematic AF and I hope I don't need to explain why.

Not a fan of the portrayal of Loki and Sigyn. Its too black and white for such a complex myth.

That fucking awful reaping joke in Collectors which I loathe with every fibre of my being.

Even with all these points I want to caveat this by saying that I love these comics. I KNOW that a lot of this is subjective and open to interpretation. These things have many shades of grey to them. I adore the comics in so many ways but that doesn't mean they dont have their issues. I know people are emotionally connected to these comics and this criticism isnt meant as an attack on them.

For the show, well tbh I think its practically perfect, but a couple of niggles:

That fucking awful reaping joke in Collectors - can't BELIEVE they kept that in. I mute my TV at that moment so I don't have to hear it every time.

Hob's slave trade ties - They needed clarity here and should have kept the regret in 1889 more obvious. I understand why they changed it but I think that topic should have been thought through better.

There were complaints I read about how black characters and black men in particular seem to disproportionately suffer violent deaths. I know this was unintentional and a simple matter of open casting for extras and minor characters which is a GOOD thing, but sometimes casting should be less blind, and more considered where minorities are concerned.

Some of the dialogue in Johanna Constantine's episode is clunky - but that only bothers me because I've watched it 284929294787 times and have it memorised.

Despair was handled poorly. It wasnt great rep for fat bodies (like me) and she comes across so weak and submissive to Desire. Which she just isn't at all in the comic. Thankfully it looks like they really did take that criticism to heart and made positive changes in Dead Boy Detectives. She was fabulous in her cameo in that.

Not enough gay sex. The 1 star homophobic reviews really overexaggerated on that and left me disappointed. There should have been at least 1 gay or lesbian sex scene in every episode. Do better season 2. Do better. (For legal reasons this one is a joke - Sandman is a goldmine of queer rep and should be on every queer fans watch list 100 times over)

There you go. No piece of media is perfect. There can always be changes and improvements, but the Sandman is a story that really does fit the description of masterpiece. I think my ideas of things that need to change are generally matters of framing. I dont think the comic story should be drastically changed in the show, I don't think it should be given a different ending. Its a tragedy after all, but tragedy can come in many forms and perhaps the story can be adjusted so the tragedy isnt so harsh. But anyway. This is all just my opinion and as with all things i'm sure there will be plenty of people who disagree with me.

[randomnameless]

What are your top 5 Strawmitri arguments?

Mine would be, in no particular order:

Dimitri cares about the present, therefore he doesn't care at all about the future and would be a terrible leader because of it

He's so mentally ill he can never hope to recover, and as such Edelgard did him a favor by killing him in CF

He's more at fault for the war than Edelgard because he fought back after she attacked first and unprovoked, instead of letting her take Faerghus without a fight

The entire point of Dimitri's character and of AM in general is how royalty can get away with commiting crimes commoners would be executed for, since Fleche gets killed for trying to take revenge on him but he survives in spite of all the people he killed when he was at his most unhinged

Dimitri's hatred of Edelgard is rooted in his love for her back when they were kids, which is why him killing her in AM by stabbing her with his phallic-shaped lance is supposed to be symbolic of his desire to fuck her

Oh gods, I remember I wanted to make a "redshit takes awards" once upon a time, but then I gave up lol

I haven't browsed that much about Dimitri nor given too much thought about the discourse surrounding him because laughing at the Rhea takes took way too much time, but I think I really laughed at the :

Dimitri is racist because he cuts Claude when Claude is being an asshole about the Abyss

Even if I can't forgot the

Defensive invasion

Dimitri represents toxic masculinity (the guy who has traditional "feminine" coded hobbies like sewing, who cries, who blushes calling his friends by their first names, whose biggest default and the one that leads him to his downfall is his empathy, etc etc)

Dimitri stole Felix and Annette's dads :(

dimitri is a religious extremist because he shelters Rhea who is also a religious extremist. source : trust me bro I know i have a degree in advanced bullshit

the State of Quo - as Dimitri reforms his country like his dad wanted to do but never got the chance because his head rolled from his shoulders for some reason - this one was parroted in Nopes because how dare he want a progressive change rather than a radical one !!

and last but not the least, and it's less about Dimitri than about the poor redshiter who said something like "women love dimitri because they are controled by their ovaries and they prefer a violent man who would abuse them rather than real people like me :("

Oh and also, as a french person so far removed from american politics, the "Dimitri is a centrist" take always made me laugh (Dimitri chez Bayrou?)

From your takes though, I'd rank them like this :

peepee weapon thus stabbing Supreme Leader means he wanted to fuck her and this is why he goes "cray-cray" because she didn't reciprocate his affections (and totes not because he believes she killed his father, their mother, his friends and actually starts a war slaughtering thousands of randoms)

"too cray-cray to live"

caring about the present sucks because you don't care about the future (which is totally not built on the people living in the present!)

nobles bad because they kill commoners who try to kill them :(

victim blaming (this one is so mainstream!)

[nozomijoestar]

I've had Asulili feels so much over the past week and your insight has helped with that. It's such a shame its not a very popular ship or otherwise is outright hated on, I really hope T9 makes there relationship so much softer. I don't know how likely this is but I'd love to see Asuka become the MC finally and Reina become her arch rival, while Lili actually becomes her girlfriend, maybe after Asuka defeats Reina Lili runs up to her and gives her a hug. I wish. :(

Asuka's main motivation has always been wanting to be left to what's "normal" for her. She had a life she was fine with until Feng started a chain reaction leading to events that directly or indirectly pull her into problems far beyond the scope of anything she's used to or can control.

The only solution she knows best is fighting everyone and everything that wants to take away her sense of "right" and "normal" if not to topple the thing then to numb herself from stressful emotions as a result of being out of control. Every Tekken game has had Asuka start from a place of trying to fit into her normal routine again, then something disturbs that in a way she can't ignore so it angers her and she fights to release that anger, then by the end of the game she's back to her "normal". (EDIT: 2/13/2024 - 8 is the FIRST time we ever meet Asuka already in motion to be involved with what's happening, not starting from stasis at home, which I choose to believe is part of the game's tagline to accept and face one's fate, where we started with her this time showed a change in her behavior toward accepting parts of her circumstances; an attitude further found in her character ending)

She can't just be left alone because her bloodline catches up with her, or because her love of violence means she's always going to take the route that lets her indulge. Even the one person who's interested in her is the same way and herself tied to the Mishima chain of tragedy as Asuka is, but with an awareness of it Asuka doesn't care for because she wants to be left in her own world.

I highly doubt Asuka would be the protagonist of 9; though I am open to it as a possibility. If it were done though then you have to first see this pattern in Asuka's behavior to start theorizing on the execution and intentions of "hero" Asuka. Asuka isn't a hero to me (like Jin she's an antihero), she's a hero to herself, but that's because she thinks beating up anyone who angers her and who's also perceived as a menace at the same time is just. That because someone is bad in some way or doing a bad or inconveniencing thing means that's enough to assault them on your own judgement even if it'll cause further collateral.

Even people around her don't believe this hero narrative since in her 5 prologue she's described as "a nosy kid solving other people's problems by knockout" from the general public's perspective. If there weren't any clear "targets" or rather people society would allow to be hurt because it doesn't extend the same kindness and humanity towards them, then Asuka's violent nature would make her just as much a thug as the ones she beats. I have argued before that in a sense, she already is.

8 circumvented this principle but only because it directed this mindset Asuka has toward a legitimate ultimatum: kill and fight whatever gets in your side's way or everyone dies.

Reina wouldn't bother with Asuka as a rival in my opinion. Rival implies there's a mutual, comparable baseline in skill and recognition of each other. It means a level of seeing someone as capable of being close to you and you to them were it not for a gap, considerations you wouldn't give to an 'enemy', and Reina has zero interest in that. Everyone is beneath her and is only mildly acceptable if they have something she can use for herself, much like Heihachi. Then they're discarded. If Reina were to acknowledge her in any way it's purely as an obstacle or nuisance to overcome and eliminate. They can absolutely clash, but from Reina's side I see nothing personal about it at all beyond "Don't get in my way, thing."

Basically, if we get 9 protagonist Asuka it (if it was well written) would come with several caveats and deviations from what "good" looks like. Like Jin, Asuka would have to accept the full spectrum of herself including the bad, and want to use her family history and powers if not for the world then for those she cares about, and for the thrill of fully realizing her violent potential. But instead of going wild with that violent side she learns how to leash it how to redirect it to genuinely protect and as a second resort rather than a first. She would loosely embrace what Jun is but with a twist in that Asuka is more self serving despite still being a decent person. She'll still help people just because they're hurt (see her 5 ending) but that alone doesn't make a good person or goody two shoes.

Asuka v Reina would be on the surface a clash of ideas and a clash of good against evil, but the reality of it is the hero just wants people to stop fucking dragging her into their bullshit so she can go home and stay home. Yet at the same time, this is one of the best fights she's ever had and it's the time of her life to enjoy it. The world is only worth anything if it gives her spaces she understands and people she can understand. That's why her 8 ending was so surprisingly wonderful to me. She got both, she got some kind of peace (including Lili being accepted in her worldview) but without giving up her drive to fight. She's safe and hopeful without sacrificing who she is.

This is also why AsuLili is compelling. They are narrative foils. Lili is Asuka's dark mirror. Every negative trait and urge Asuka acts oblivious to using her heroic naivety is instead something Lili openly displays about herself. Part of what separates them is Lili's desperate desire for connection, to be important and useful to someone. While instead Asuka is ok with being isolated to who and what she knows. You have to force her out her comfort zone, where Lili chases what would comfort Lili instead.

Vulnerability between them is definitely hard won because they refuse to give it freely to anyone. The Asuka 8 ending or Sebastian's TT2 ending, Lili chastising Sebastian for the silliness of what she's doing in her TT2 ending, or even parts of Feng's TT2 ending are the closest glimpses you get to seeing that guard down. I'd count what Lili said to Lars in 6 too, she complains very loudly about not being able to see Asuka then tries playing it off with "Well such is life." before literally showing up to see Asuka in Osaka in their endings. It's in a lot of the unspoken, in a lot of expressions and in the eyes as much as the actions.

All this to say Reina vs Asuka would be a jumping because Lili would make herself involved, probably get hurt either physically or mentally or with some transformation (DEVIL LILI CAN STILL WIN TO BE CLEANSED BY ASUKA AS A METAPHOR FOR ACCEPTING LOVE CAMPAIGN + KAZJUN PARALLELS) etc. which is a turning point for Asuka to save her in some way which includes beating Reina. And if they hugged by the end that's because they broke the eight million silent emotional walls between them.

And to promote the intellectual agenda here's first novella I wrote about AsuLili I'm working on the second it's halfway finished

As a side AsuLili being hated (and mind you they don't have to be liked lmao absolutely not, though I will tend to look at someone a way if they don't because usually they tend to also hate kids in general for being kids) 9/10 times is genuinely from homophobia, misogyny, lack of media literacy, and pedophiles who will scream and shit at the thought that they come as a duo therefore must be incapable of anything else, while then jacking off to them separately (and I know Asuka is 18 now in 8 but that's barely legal and these are grown ass adults way outta that ballpark to be playing with themselves over it). I'm sorry to say.

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

On the topic of Nagito resenting Izuru, I actually think it could go beyond that. Something that I'm not totally convinced about is none of Class 77 having any hard feelings towards Hajime. While them loving him inside the simulation makes perfect sense, would that really carry over smoothly once they were back out? Because his actions led to both them being brainwashed and for their deprogramming session being sabotaged in the first place. And to add insult to injury, he can take some solace in feeling less "tainted" than they are. Izuru had more autonomy and self-control during the Tragedy, while they were reduced to vicious idiots acting on whatever violent impulse came to them. Like with Sonia, she has to live with being known to the world as the tyrant queen who brought her homeland to ruin (though I personally like to headcanon that Novoselic is recovering). Meanwhile for the few people who are aware of a 15th Remnant, Hajime is "that one other dude with the long hair that we're not even sure killed that many people". I mean if I came out of the NWP with all that mental (and possibly physical) baggage, and the dude in our group who was most responsible for the rest of us becoming so fucked up was conversely the least guilty of us AND got handed a thousand super-talents...well I think I'd be a wee bit resentful and jealous. And going back to Nagito, it also seems a bit unrealistic to me that in most fanfics there doesn't seem to be any resistance from him to accepting medical aid from Hajime. Or dismay at discovering it was done while he was in a coma. Because on top of him probably not feeling like he'd want to prolong his life, accepting that kind of aid from the former Izuru would probably feel kind of infantilizing to be honest. Dude gets handed everything you ever wanted including a better version of your luck, he betrays Hope's Peak because he's bored, does absolutely nothing while someone dear to you is murdered and you and your classmates get brainwashed, sets things up so that your attempted suicide will actually result in you getting possessed by your nemesis...and now you're just meant to let him assert the power of a doctor over you and welcome him as your savior? I just think there'd probably need to be a moment where Nagito is convinced to accept treatment, rather than it being done to him without his consent. Make him feel assured that he has agency and control over his own body, and that continuing to live was his own choice. Because otherwise I think it could get really nasty. " I don't care that you're the most talented man alive. Even if I'd wanted to live, you, of all people on this planet, YOU are the last human being on Earth that I would want help from."

Ooo this be a spicy take! But some very good points! First off, sorry for taking so long to reply to this question it just this got me back into my Dangan theorist mode, and I wanted to replay all of Chapter 0/6 as well as read a summary of Zero in order to re-examine how the game and novel present Izuru Kamukura.

I’ll try my best not to derail this because Izuru’s whole existence and backstory is just…..such a brain worm for me that I can speculate on for hours. There’s just so much we don’t truly know if we’re basing this solely on the games (which I usually prefer to do seeing as the anime is filled with contradictions). But, doing so would mean having to excuse his involvement (or lack of) in preventing Chiaki’s murder and class 77’s brainwashing since there’s nothing within the games that indicates such things happening since even within game it flat out states Junko manipulated her high power connections (ie: the Ultimates), one by one and not in a batch.

She really only used video footage of explicit killing to manipulate the Reserve Course into rioting (Dr0), the rest of the world into more despair (Dr1) and as a way to taunt the Future Foundation (SDR2). Hell, technically, there is no proof that Chiaki actually existed in real life if we’re going only by the games too. That was something canonized by the anime.

Well okay. There may be ONE thing in the second game that can potentially confirm Chiaki’s existence in the real world and that’s her presence being listed in the book Nagito got with everyone's info. However, this was given to him by Monokuma and Nagito did destroy any of the information regarding his classmates time in and out of  school that could have very well revealed that Chiaki wasn’t ever there—but I digress and this aint about Chiaki rn this is about Izuru.

What we do know of him through the game is that he sees himself as being used by Junko and thus brought in a flash drive with her AI to insert into the Neo World Program as a virus so he could use her instead. This feels contradictory though, if the end result would be Junko taking over all their bodies. You can’t even argue that he did it so Hajime could override his present self and come back because that would have happened regardless (that was literally what was SUPPOSED to happen). So then why bring Junko back? How was he using her in that regard? Well, the only thing I can think of is that he pretty much already knew how it was all going to end, and that creating a killing game was the only way to ensure everyone stayed alive whilst retaining their old memories thus decreasing the chance of them falling back into Ultimate Despair when re-awakened and in a way saying “fuck you” to Junko’s despair and destroying the last remnants of her both in name and digitally.

Cool beans. He still lied to them all though. Junko states that each of them willingly went into the program knowing well that her virus was going to force them into a killing game to cause despair. Izuru, though, didn’t tell them his whole plan or how it was truly going to end, otherwise no one would have joined. And that’s not necessarily bad–he was doing it for their own good! Except, well, there’s not conclusive proof that he did so for their sake (and since we don’t know if Chiaki existed irl we don’t know if he did this for her). Also given how indifferent he is in-game, the fact that his surgery left him emotionally distant, and his lack of connection with class 77, well it’d be easier to believe that Izuru did this all purely out of self interest in a way to get “revenge” at Junko and perhaps alleviate his boredom.

Now, present Hajime WOULD have an emotional investment in class 77 and it’s that reason he sticks around to help them recover. But, honestly, I agree that the ex-remnants would take some time to come around to fully trusting him again because remember: they ARE still recovering from despair. It would not be surprising if their residual remnant emotions feel betrayed by him for lying to them and essentially killing off Junko for good. Add in their in-game memories conflicting with their past memories every time they see Hajime and he’s not quite the same Hajime they befriended thus reminding them that he’s also  that guy who just randomly showed up one day then manipulated them into a scheme for seemingly his own self interest, yeeeah it might take them a while before being buddy buddy with him.

Though they will eventually, but let’s focus on Nagito for a bit because he’d be the absolute last person to come around in fully trusting Hajime/Izuru. Because you see, while it was stated that the remnants agreed to be part of the killing game, we know for a fact that not ALL of them did so. And we know this because of chapter 0. In it, we see Nagito meeting Izuru for the first time (as Nagito literally says he’s never seen Izuru before), thus Izuru has not been in contact with Nagito to inform him of the plan (which actually brings into question WHY Nagito is even there/agreed to re-programming but that’s a theory for another day). We also see Nagito being very confused about Izuru’s talking about his flash drive with Junko’s AI in it. And, although he doesn’t fully understand what Izuru is planning, what he takes from it is that he’ll be able to see Junko again and get the chance of killing her himself. Izuru does not correct him or inform him of anything else. Meaning, Nagito knows absolutely nothing of the killing game he unknowingly signed up for nor of the possibility of his body being taken over by Junko.

In other words: NAGITO DID NOT CONSENT TO THIS AT ALL.

Unlike his classmates who can forgive Hajime’s actions as Izuru because yeah technically they DID agree to it, Nagito was not even informed much less had the option to say yes. You can argue that Izuru did so intentionally knowing that Nagito’s strange half-remnant state and intense resentment towards despair and Junko would have made him too much of a risk to the plan that is was better to leave him in the dark, but it still doesn’t change the fact that Nagito didn’t get a choice. Add in our previous discussion of why Nagito would be resentful towards Izuru because of all his gifted talents along with this and I’d say yeah, Nagito wouldn’t be all that welcoming toward accepting Hajime’s help post game.

This doesn’t even add in your note on pro-longing his life without his input or anything from the anime, so if Chiaki’s death was actually used as a trigger for class 77 and Izuru could have done something about it–YEAH that’s going to make the resentment exponentially worse.

So your last tidbit of Nagito getting a chance to decide something for himself just hits so strongly given he never got the chance to do so before. It’s the least he deserves now.

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

So Duskfur is from the early Po3 generation. A bit older than Lion Jay and Holly. She is the daughter of Hawkfrost and Primroseheart, granddaughter of Tigerstar and Mistystar.

She was trained by Leopardstar personally. After her failure to make Hawkfrost Tigerstar's successor, she figures to do it with the much more malleable Duskpaw, since Sasha joining Riverclan and Tadpole surviving means that Hawkfrost was safer with a support system, not to mention Primroseheart being a shoulder to lean on when his intrusive, violent thoughts got unbearable.

Their firstborn, Duskpaw, was sharp edged. She was fiercely independent even as a small kitten. Primroseheart and Hawkfrost loved her deeply, they gave her what she wanted. Primmy even helped her start learning Glyphs and recipes before she was apprenticed, she had such a thirst for learning. Hawkfrost let her help with Weaving and drying out minnows.

And then... Leopardstar got her claws in. She fed Duskpaw ideas about her father's "failure" and how "soft" he had grown. Domestic. Happy to settle with a cat that wasn't even born in Riverclan, to a cat who was not pure Riverclan. (Never minding the fact that Hawkfrost isn't even partially Riverclan, the blame is falling squarely on Primmy. Double standards and bigotry don't make sense.)

"Does that make me bad?"

"No, Duskpaw, of course not. You were born and raised here. You're special. You understand Riverclan, and you can see the value of... Other ideals."

"Other ideals?"

"Indeed. I'm not going to force you to think things, Duskpaw, I'd never do that! But, don't you think there's value in hearing every opinion?"

"Yeah! Mama says everybody in Riverclan is important!"

"... Of course she does. Did she ever tell you about Tigerclan? Sure, it had its flaws, and faults, nothing is perfect... But I think there is importance in seeing some of the good that came out of it, too."

"Uh, no, I-"

"It showed the other Clans just how ferocious Riverclan warriors can be. We focused on strengthening the Clan, rather than trying to bargain with traitors and weak cats... We tried to make new traditions, but... I guess they weren't around long enough to stick."

"Wait, wait... You can MAKE new traditions?"

"Of course, silly! How do you think they start?"

"Oh, yeah! I guess I never thought about it."

"I see... One such tradition was to focus on finding out which cats would betray us. Which cats were not Purely for Riverclan... Goodness, that sun sure is getting high in the sky, we'd better get back to camp now if you want to meet up with the other apprentices! And, since you worked so hard, why don't you pick a big fish from the fresh-kill pile first?"

"Wow! Thanks, Leopardstar!"

"Of course. Just... Do me a favour?"

"Yes?"

"Don't tell your parents what we spoke about. Talk of True, Pure, Riverclan Strength makes some cats... Uncomfortable."

"Hm... Okay, I'll keep it a secret! See you later!"

This went on throughout Duskpaw's apprenticeship. She was curious to learn, Leopardstar was more than happy to fill her head with ideas she would later tell her were her own. She destroyed her own relationship with her parents, hardly speaking to them once she became a warrior, only wanting to talk to the cats who would remind her of what Leopardstar spoke about.

The cats who grieved the hardest when Leopardstar turned up dead during the Drought.

Her status as a good mentor is made clear, as she had already mentored Copperpaw/Copperfur, along with Shadenose (Formerly Shadepelt AVoS). Her third apprentice, Dappletuft, has been moved down to be Curlfeather's apprentice.

Duskfur would later go on to have Curlkit and Podkit, calling Queen's Rights. She disagreed with its existence, but when she and her Riverclan Honour Sire got into a fight, she refused to name him out of spite. He never spoke out against it, leaving the father of the 2 unknown. Their father will never be named.

Curlkit and Podkit were spoiled. Duskfur demanded of her own grandmother, Mistystar, give them the best mentors, while Riverclan was still recovering from the damage that the Flood had caused. Her son and daughter were very different, and where Podpaw was outspoken and rude, his mentor Mallownose only encouraging andenabling his behavior.

The more quiet and watchful Curlpaw was assigned to Reedwhisker. Curlpaw was left out of things as her mother and brother grew close, their views very similar, but Reedwhisker made sure that his apprentice was always cared for and looked after. He was her great-uncle, but might as well have been a father to her. At least... From his point of view.

Curlfeather always seemed distant with him... Like she knew something she wouldn't talk about...

Duskfur was actually quite overjoyed when Curlfeather announced her pregnancy. Though she preferred Podlight, she knew Podlight had no interest in having kits, and she wanted grandchildren. Unfortunately, she did not particularly like Curlfeather's choice of mate, the soft-spoken, gentle Jayclaw.

It hurt, of course, knowing that it would break her daughter's heart, but Duskfur knew what was best for her. A soft mate would make her daughter soft, and Duskfur never liked him much to begin with, not to mention his grandfather, Rainstorm, so clearly half-Thunderclan that Jayclaw himself looked like he belonged in the dense forest. He wasn't Purely for Riverclan. She would be doing Curlfeather a favour, after all...

Jayclaw was never a good swimmer anyways.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for accidentally making my friend think he'd killed his (now) husband (and then making fun of him when he realised he wasn't dead)?

So this happened a while ago now but I still feel a little shit about it even though everything worked out alright in the end.

It all started when a... I'll call him a friend, I suppose. When a friend (I'll refer to him as S)(then 36M) started acting very out of character. He's normally a very stoic sort, but he started being uncharacteristically emotional and was being violent to people for no discernable reason. The only person who could get through to him was our Captain, Jim (then 33M), and even he couldn't get a straight answer from him right away. Turned out he was being afflicted by a condition that impacts people of his kind every 7 years or so, compelling them to return home and find a mate or they die. Bit dramatic if you ask me, but it happens all the same.

Anyway, cut to a little while later and we were heading to S' home planet, where he had to complete some ceremony or he would die. When we got there, the woman who was supposed to become his wife at the time, we'll call her T (then 36F) (they were betrothed as children apparently??) refused to marry him, meaning instead he would have to fight to the death. Now, T selected Jim as her 'champion', meaning he would be the one S had to fight. S pleaded with whom I assume is his grandmother or something not to let Jim fight, but she overruled his pleas and the battle began.

Now, the conditons on S' planet are different to those on Earth, and Jim was not used to them, so he was struggling. Now, I'm a doctor, and when I see someone in trouble it's my duty to help them, so I got permission from S' grandmother to give Jim something called a tri-ox compound to give him a better chance.

Now, in the end S won the fight. He killed Jim. Or so we thought. Turns out I'd accidentally given him a neural paralyser -- something which can simulate death in a person -- rather than the tri-ox compound I thought I'd given him. But poor S didn't know this yet, and seemed rather distressed when he came back to the ship. According to his grandmother, he didn't even return the proper parting response to her -- which is very out of character for him.

He was just talking about turning himself in to the authorities when Jim got up and walked out of the room behind him. And would you believe it, the stoic, emotionless, coldly logical S grinned. From ear to ear, he grinned. Here's where I believe I acted most poorly. Throughout our time of serving together, I consistently made digs at S. He was most certainly not my favourite crew member. This doesn't mean I disliked him, however, but I didn't always act like it. When S grinned, his grin dropped when he remembered the presence of one of the nurses and me, and he tried to play it off like he hadn't just shown a drastic display of emotion. And I must admit, I did make a remark that his response was purely logical, 'in a pig's eye'. I feel a bit bad about this whole situation, despite how well it resolved in the end, so AITA?

[hotsugarbyglassanimals]

i think beastars would've worked way better if the desire to eat the meat of herbivores by hunting them down and killing them wasn't inherent to all carnivores and wasn't this like... weird uncontrollable urge. as a story that muses on what would happen if an animal society with parallels to ours existed, its an interesting concept but it falls apart -really- fast when people attempt to compare it to the racial dynamics of our reality (the author heavily advises against this, but I think it's a significant issue if people continue to think of it this way regardless of her intent). and it also falls apart when considering something like harm reduction and rehabilitation. with the latter point i would chalk that up to an issue of execution and lack of understanding on the author's part

god this post is so much longer than I thought it'd be uhhh

carnivores viewing herbivores as a potential food source is something that's considered inherent to being a carnivore. Not the craving for meat or adequate sustenance, but viewing another sentient living being as food which i think is a significant difference. It's treated as a matter of fact within the text and isn't disputed in any real way. In fact, a lot of the really ... "questionable" (understatement) societal dynamics are presented as like. just being the way things are with characters accepting it without any real heavy objection to it in some instances (there is a specific story in beast complex I'm thinking about right now). Haven't even touched upon the gender bioessentialism but maybe I'll get to that in another post

There's a strange sort of Both Ways dynamic between carnivores and herbivores where herbivores have the significant disadvantage in physical strength but outnumber carnivores by a large margin. Herbivores are also significantly more represented in some career prospects while carnivores have to follow social rules to be as non-threatening as possible. (As a note female carnivores are presented as straight up not being as dangerous or aggressive as the male ones. and while there are ones that predated on herbivores they're portrayed as mentally unwell or manipulative, or in some cases their predation has a twinge of sexuality to it... male carnivores generally are portrayed with a bout maliciousness in their predator instincts until they receive treatment and "go back to normal")

Let me summarize what I think wouldve been far more interesting to consider: how punitive justice doesn't work to prevent crime and doesn't stop people from repeating crimes, how people who lack resources are driven to desperation and how that can enable them to commit violent acts, how oppression isn't born out of fear of the oppressed group but rather a means of seeking domination over the oppressed group.

I really hesitate to put carnivores in the role of an oppressed group and with what i can gather from beastars I'm starting to think that was avoided on purpose, but I'd have to reread it in order to give a better analysis

I think it'd be interesting overall if the issue was that carnivores aren't getting enough sustenance and in turn are quite malnourished. Maybe they didn't eat meat of herbivores but instead the meat of non-sentient fish, but that was viewed as a slippery slope that leads to eating herbivores. Stuff like synthetic meat or anything resembling meat (and like the manga, stuff like bugs not counting) was banned. So even though fish meat would be a worthwhile option to consider, it is still illegal due to moral views despite the illegality causing far more damage to society as a whole. This could Still be like, not ideal in a story sense I feel like but as beastars exist right now it's much more concerning

I've read the entire manga and yes I know fish meat was considered a solution at the end but the whole thing was so fuckin flimsy that it felt like a bandaid solution to the problems that were portrayed in the beginning

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Bimonthly Media Roundup

-One Piece Film Red (Movie) - The first of the One Piece movies we've decided to watch despite being the newest, largely because of a reference in the story proper implying it's canon. I've heard this is one of the better movies which is not a great sign even if I did mostly enjoy it. On the good side Uta is an interesting character with a great design and voice, and despite her "self-insert OC" backstory I do actually like her relationship with Luffy and the Shanks pirates, it's cute. I like musicals and while I do feel most of the songs could have been presented better they all sounded pretty good with a few standouts going straight to my spotify. The plot of the movie wasn't at all what I was expecting, though it was pretty interesting, like. damn Uta. On the bad side the story did have middle-drag as it was longer than it needed to be, and featured several batshit decisions from Shanks and Uta's adoptive father figure. I understand that they wanted to reach a certain conclusion (one that I didn't particularly like), but the actions they took to get their were so dumb and mean that I was too busy being frustrated at the writing to be invested in the latter half of the story. I'm still glad I watched it and would maybe watch some of the musical scenes out of context again but I would really only recommend it to hardcore One Piece fans and do so with an asterisk.

-Firewatch (Video Game) - A friend recommended a play through of this to me, and while it wasn't quite what I was expecting it was pretty interesting. The visuals were gorgeous, the dialogue was naturalistic, it had a pretty intriguing mystery and the ending did a good job of cementing the themes of the dangers of too much isolation and escapism, which I can respect. That being said I can't say it's overly memorable: visuals aside it's just too short and only has 1 character with a notable personality, who I wouldn't call particular memorable either. I'd say the experience is like reading a good short story - there's a message there that's well presented and I agree with but there's only enough material for a single 2 page essay rather than a full analysis/fandom experience. Which is fine not everything should be that, It's done well for what it is.

- Fallout (TV) - First season completed and I have to say it was pretty darn good - Video game adaptations have been killing it lately. The 3 leads all did a great job at introducing us to the various factions and perspectives of this world while individually and collectively exploring the mystery of how the world got this messed up. I understand why The Ghoul is so tumblr famous given he's a morally grey monster with a sympathetic backstory, though my personal favorite was Lucy and her determination to not let the cruelty of the world make her cruel in kind, though given the ending she might have a relapse in the second season. I can't say the story was entirely unpredictable though there were a lot of fun twists and turns, the ultimate conclusion we are leading towards is certainly a depressingly realistic one when you push the capitalist mindset to the extreme. It's also funnier than I expected which was a nice bonus. The dried out apocalypse atheistic with an ultra violent world isn't really my usual cup of tea but I don't have a lot of negative things to say about this, it was a solidly enjoyable watch that I would recommend to anyone who can stomach a bit of light gore.

- Land of the Lustrous (Manga) - Wow so it finally ended huh? I'm not really sure I have the right qualifications or mindset to dive into the series as a whole right now but it certainly is one of the most unique stories I've ever read with a truly "suffered more than god" transformation story for its protagonist. The Buddhist philosophies along with the story taking place over hundreds of thousands of years adds a lot to the uniqueness of the story, at least reading as a western fan, and has certainly made me think about ship of Thesus and purpose of creation questions far more than I have otherwise, which I commend it for though it certainly prevents me from recommending it as a light read. It's too bad it likely won't get more than the first season animated anytime soon as it would be a great one to watch people react to with all the insane twists and turns it takes. Anyway I love you Phos, thanks for the story and may you rest.

- Dungeon Meshi (Anime) - Shapeshifter and Nightmare episodes both very good. The shapeshifter taking its appearance based on others perception of you is a very cool concept which is a good puzzle to work out the real one and Marcille's nightmare focusing on her fear of outliving all her loved ones is really heartbreaking and well visualized, Good job all around.

- Six of Crows (Book) - Not much to say at this point, I like the concept as "heist team consisting of oddballs with highly specialized skills" is a great setup. I'm enjoying it well enough as a slower listen, though I do feel I would be more into it had I read it when I was younger as opposed to now.

- Pokemon Infinite Fusion (Video Game) - Really great fangame, had a lot of fun both playing this and looking up the various fusion designs on the website. Will probably post my two teams eventually. Huge props to everyone who contributed, both the sprite artists (for fusions and regular pokemon) and the writing (lots of clever little jokes or quests). Truly a testament to fandom creativity.

- One Piece (Anime) - Shockingly we have finally caught up, at least anime wise and wow what a journey it was. I'll still be obsessed with this for a good while so I'm sure I'll have more opportunities to talk about the series as a whole as I jump into the manga, but for now in short there's certainly many issues with sexism and stakes but despite that it really is an incredible story with loads of great characters, worldbuilding, relationships, comedy, and mystery, I definitely understand why it's one of the biggest media in the world. For the more recent stuff I'll say that I overall liked Wano though the raid really did drag, I'm quite disappointed that Yamato didn't join the crew as I really liked him, big trans win with the bath scene, and I adore everything about Gear 5 and have re watched those scenes many times now. The way it's animated and it's theme are great, but mostly I just love that Luffy's peak is him being a funny little silly guy who makes people laugh, it's very him and is a great final form as the representation of joy. Egghead has also been fun so far, I love the new OP and style change and the island is pretty fun, I also like Bonney though considering her real age they need to stop focusing the camera the way they do. This is long enough so I'll stop here but I hope to make some One Piece tierlists and memes here soon.

- Genshin Impact (Video Game) - Not a fan of the rhythm style games in the current event but always happy to see Itto and Miko show up.

Listening To: Nonsense Speaker by 000, Tounges & Teeth and Metaphor by The Crane Wives, HateKiller by WON, Dream Girl Evil by Florence + The Machine, Imu's Theme from One Piece OST, White Wedding by Billy Idol, GUY.exe by Superfruit, Promiseland by MIKA, All the Boys by Panic! At The Disco, Achilles Come Down cover by Annapantsu, Fences by Paramore, Dial Drunk by Noah Kahan

[wack-ashimself]

'The Lobster' may be the single darkest satire on dating/marriage ever made....

I was gonna give a synopsis, but go read the wiki. There's too many on the nose and subtle situations that add to the overall narrative and themes which is where I'd like to focus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lobster

>Forced marriage or you are thrown out of society (even used/killed.)

>Extremes: either you MUST marry or you MUST be single. Nothing in between is respected by either mentalities. And there can be no middle ground. Punishment on both sides (default is being turned into an animal).

~~Side note: This movie was one of the most violent movies ever for a satire. First a dog is kicked and stabbed to death, THEN, a woman is buried in a shallow grave, bound, while wild dogs come and slowly eat her alive.!!! WTF MAN!?~~

>People would rather die than be forced into a body (or relationship) they don't want (being forced into an animal, so they kill themselves first.)

>Enjoying pleasures outside of a relationship is not good (or solo).

>Enjoying pleasures in a relationship is not good (they really did cover BOTH extremes).

>You must look neutral/good at all times as to attract a mate.

>Flirting is sin.

>Having shallow/stupid similar characteristics/hobbies are a good reason to marry.

>Lying is how some relationships start.

>Lying is how some relationships last.

>Lying is how you can still betray yourself and loved ones (In the end, he goes to blind himself so he feels more connected to the one he loves who was blinded, tells himself and her he's going to do it, but...it hints he chickens out.)

>When confronted with the truth, you may still either accept the lies or easily ignore them/get over them (f'd up scene where they make a husband admit he doesn't love his wife by forcing him to shoot her...turns out: no bullets, let's them both go, and now she knows how easily he would have done it. They do not show it, but I would have LOVED a conclusion to see what happened with that couple.)

>Even if everyone hates it, is against it, etc, we will still do it because 'it's always been that way'/ease/stupidity/fear. A big theme of this movie was humans hunting other humans to...shave time off their unfair prison sentences. All because society/government told them to. Slaves punishing slaves. Cops punishing the vulnerable for a raise.

>Even the extreme side of the 'good guys' can be tainted/too radical. Slicing lips, blinding people, and hinted castration...(turn me into a flamingo any day, am I right?)

>When you are turned into an animal, they never once promised your safety. So someone who hated you could hunt/kill/eat you! That says a lot about...everything...everybody. It's how the movie begins!

>How people who claim you are their savior will literally (it happened) use you as a human shield just to push their agenda/save their own ass.

>Sexism. Women NEED men to be men, and men NEED women to be women. They even did this thing where they tied one hand behind your back because 'two is better than 1' is a big theme. Fuck you; those TWO hands are on ONE body. Terrible example.

>Oh my fav one I forgot till I was writing this: kids are used to keep unhappy couples together/distracted, are used more as a parental showcase rather than individual people, and their pains and suffering are easily shrugged off by adults AND parents alike.

There was a lot of weird background choices, but I do got to ask: a BIG road construction going on in the background of the final scene? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Was that even a choice or just actually happened to be happening while filming? THAT bugged me. Cuz if it didn't mean anything, it was a huge distraction. (Maybe the theme we are all always working on ourselves/relationships?)

Either way, probably only....glazed over the many topics I wanted to discuss, but I haven't had a movie make me think this much about dating in a while. SO fucking layered, can be interpreted so many ways, DARKER than anything I usually watch, but because 'it went there', you got to see some social commentary not everyone will touch on. I mean, killing a dog, burying someone alive, and kicking an innocent child (who later tells her mom to kill you?) Not many movies go there....

Thoughts? Additions?

[n1kolaiz]

"You want to know what death is? I'll tell you. Death is the loss of life. Despite everything doctors like me attempt... a patient's life can still fall through our fingers. You think death lies in the apex of science? Anyone with such little regard for life will die by my hand."

Character Analysis: Yosano Akiko

Age: 25 || Ability: Thou Shalt Not Die

BSD CHAPTER CHAPTER 65-66 SPOILERS

table of contents:

1. Author counterpart.

2. Yosano's history.

3. 'Angel of Death' defined.

4. Yosano and Atsushi.

YOSANO BRAINROT!*(#&!*@#($

1. Author counterpart.

Having been given the “Sho Ho” at birth, Yosano Akiko’s counterpart—the real-life author—was known for her zealous take on both feminism and pacifism.

Side note: Once again, to avoid confusion, I will use the name Sho Ho in reference to the real-life author, and Yosano in reference to the BSD character.

Sho Ho's writings were pretty much out-of-the-ordinary in her time, and despite being suppressed by the social norms of gender hierarchy, she sought to reform society’s view on the cultural perspectives of women and their sexuality (She expressed her love for a woman in one of her poems, but many still argued on whether she identified herself as queer or not.)

"Thou Shalt Not Die," Yosano's ability, is actually named after one of Sho Ho's most famous, controversial poems. She wrote it for her brother, who was a soldier in the war between Russia and Japan (1904-1905). In her poem, she expressed her general distaste for war and how her brother was a part of it.

O my young brother, I cry for you Don't you understand you must not die! You who were born the last of all Command a special store of parents' love

Would parents place a blade in children's hands

Teaching them to murder other men Teaching them to kill and then to die? Have you so learned and grown to twenty-four?

- excerpt from Sho Ho's poem, "Kimi Shinitamou Koto Nakare"

Her words were blunt enough to inflict guilt on her brother's conscience, as she wasn't afraid to express her disapproval over how her brother took part in the typical violent bloodshed and manslaughter of war. Such opinions perturbed the authorities, and her work was eventually banned from the public for a period of time. Later on, it was used as an anti-war statement.

2. Yosano's history.

Now, as for the character in BSD, Yosano is seen to be generally strong-willed, and later on, we see that she is terrifyingly compassionately ambitious in the way she treats her patients. She treasured life itself, and hated the thought of losing a patient.

Yosano had developed her relations with Mori Ougai back in the Great War, when she was just 11 years old. Her ability was a great benefactor in saving lives. Realistically speaking, she was used for her ability to heal injured soldiers and diminish the effect of any casualty acquired.

Initially, she wasn't aware of this, until one of her close friends pointed it out by subtly accusing Mori of manipulating her to participate in the War under the close-to false pretence of 'saving lives.'

As much as her ability did save lives, it also forced soldiers to return to the frontlines and suffer injuries over and over again. The soldiers were never given the opportunity to return to their families because of her ability. This obliged them to carry on in the war without any excuse, inserting them into a vicious cycle they had no escape out of.

Metaphorically speaking, Yosano's hatred for Mori sort of mirrors Sho Ho's disdain for war and fighting, don't you think? The way Kafka materialised Yosano's past was quite interesting because he used chapters 65 and 66 to explain Yosano's dislike for Mori, reflecting how Sho Ho used her poem to explain why she condemned the idea of war and how her brother was part of it.

Before the effect of her ability was fully understood, however, every soldier praised and thanked her for what an angel she was. One of the soldiers she had befriended and gotten close to even kept a tally of the number of times she had saved him. He was the one who gifted her the butterfly hairpin she wore all the time.

The weight of the truth that her ability was a curse rather than a blessing fully dawned on her when her soldier friend ultimately committed suicide, because the fact of being indefinitely trapped in the throes of war agonised him until his spirit gave out. This drove Yosano to loathe her ability, or rather, how it was used.

In the time she participated in the War, Yosano was given the alias 'angel of death' due to the control she retained over the battlefield, but I thought that perhaps Kafka had a reason behind giving her this title, so I did my research.

3. 'Angel of Death' defined.

Side note: I wouldn't want to disrespect any culture or religion, so if my citations are inaccurate and/or disrespectful, do feel free to correct me/let me know! I did research out of pure curiosity, and I don't intend to twist the significance of any of the interpretations.

I had to grow up learning about the basics of religious stuff, so it's kind of nice to study something out of the box, and very much against my father's rigid belief system :D

ARCHANGEL ARIEL

(archangel: an angel of higher rank)

I came across the few characteristics of angels/goddesses and their roles, and the one which really caught my attention was the female archangel, Ariel, the angel of nature.

[ source ]

In Hebrew, the name Ariel means 'altar' or 'lioness of God,' and her role is to heal. In addition to that, she is also recognised as a helper to another one of the seven main archangels, Raphael, whose role is to provide physical and emotional healing, too.

She is the protecter of the environment and the animals therein, and is bestowed with the duty to oversee the order of heavenly bodies as well as earth's natural resources. She assures the sustenance of food, water, shelter, and supplies of human beings, much like how a nurse is to a patient I suppose.

In relation to Yosano, I think this part is pretty self-explanatory, or perhaps this is blown out of proportion HA, so take this as a suggestion rather than a fact, because I'd like to believe that Kafka had a reason for giving Yosano a title as such.

In the past, I've come across the angel of death only to perceive it as a female grim reaper of some sort, so it was pretty cool to find that the word 'angel' and 'death' made up a title of a someone like Ariel, one of the purest forms of humility and compassion.

GREEK GODDESS PANAKEIA

For my beloved (wannabe/or not) students of Greek mythology (much like myself, let's make a cult!), you've probably heard of Panakeia, the goddess of healing. Medicine finds most of its vital significance in Greek history, and in its mythology, Panakeia is actually known for her ability to heal any kind of sickness.

[ source ]

Her name means 'panacea,' which is actually defined as a remedy for all diseases. Terminal diseases and injuries lead to death, right? This would bring us back to Yosano's ability to nullify any injury's effects on a person, keeping them from death itself.

Now, we know that in order for Yosano's ability to work, her patient, or victim, has to be in a near-death condition in order for her treatment to take effect. This can't exactly fit into the description of resurrection, but it can be described as some sort of rebirth.

GREEK GODDESS PERSEPHONE

So another goddess which reminds me of Sho Ho/Yosano, is Persephone, the goddess of spring and rebirth. Before Hades, the god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone to take her to live with him, Persephone lived a happy life.

Hades, with his nature of darkness and the like, was captivated by how pure Persephone was, and stole her away from her former life to live in an environment which differed sharply from her natural aura of purity.

[ source ]

Remember when Yosano's friend left a note behind before he killed himself? The note said nothing except for, "You are too righteous." Take that as you will, but figuratively speaking, you could say Mori takes the role of Hades in the story, while Yosano can be portrayed as Persephone.

Sho Ho can also be a parallel of Persephone, in that she had to adapt to the realities of war and disharmony, while Persephone had to adapt to the raw darkness of the underworld with Hades.

Sho Ho stood against society's norms and decided to reform it, making her one of the most well-known feministic pacifist in history, while Persephone managed to escape from the underworld to return to her former position, earning the title the 'Bringer of Life,' or the 'Destroyer of Death.'

Furthermore, the way Sho Ho's anti-war poem took its effect later on, reflects the way Persephone restored balance in the world after returning from the underworld.

4. Yosano and Atsushi.

chapter 66; Yosano: "It's my fault that those close to me died... Is there some place where it's okay for me to live?"

chapter 8; Atsushi: "If I have any chance of saving them all, of returning them home safely, would that mean it's okay for me to keep on living?"

I couldn't help but think of Dazai and Atsushi back when I was reading through these panels. Ranpo (my beloved), along with Fukuzawa, accepted Yosano as she was, despite how her ability was a cause of despair and misfortune.

Ranpo looked past her mistakes and the entirety of how dark her past was to welcome her into the Armed Detective Agency. Dazai, on the other hand, knew who Atsushi was and what his ability had made him do before anyone else, and still decided to provide a safe place for Atsushi to find his sense of belonging, journeying with him as he learned to use his ability properly.

For more info about Dazai and Atsushi's dynamic, you can check out the analysis I did for Dazai :D

Atsushi desired to save people to prove his right to live, while Yosano made her wish to achieve the recovery of all her patients the reason for her existence.

Others would prefer to accuse both Yosano and Atsushi of having a saviour complex, but the reason why they pursued to save people with utmost dedication, stems from the nature of what their past was like. You know the saying 'from broken to beautiful?' Yeah, it's something like that.

The way their pasts were written out gave them a desire to change, which was, I daresay, initiated by the people who took them in: Ranpo and Dazai. Their abilities were demonised because of how they were used, but once they broke from their abilities' effect over their lives, they honed their skills to control them for the right cause instead.

In a less cynical point of view, I believe both Yosano and Atsushi stood for what was right, and wanted nothing but to achieve peace and harmony in whatever way they could, even if it meant risking their own lives to save others.

So yeah, that's it for my rants today. Thank you for reading, and if you have anything to add, go ahead! I'm open to discussions ;)