#this is . perhaps. one of the most canon quotes. to ever be posted.

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

[Yes this is a reference to that one superman pic]

Transcript:

*sniff sniff* Is-is that a boy I smell?

*sniff sniff* Mmh yes, I smell it! Boy Smell!

I smell a boy!

Ah! what is a boy doing here?!

Oh my gosh. What am I gonna do? There's a boy here!

I'm freaking out so much!

Calm down, calm down! Calm down and take a nice deep breath.

*sniff sniff* Mmph it smells so good. I love boy smell so much!

It makes me feel so amazing~

I'm getting tingles all over from the delicious boy scent!

IT'S DRIVING ME BOY CRAZY.

Audio source

#gabriel ultrakill #ultrakill #im so fucking sorry #i found this clip posted separately to youtube a long time ago and only recently found the source #this stupid clip is one of the reasons i made this account....... i had to let the people know. #this is . perhaps. one of the most canon quotes. to ever be posted. #authors note: i do not actually enjoy boy smell please do not sniff in my inbox. im so scared. #queued post im in another country rn

[rainbow-scarab]

Hallownest Symbols, the Ancient Civilization, and the Pale King

Sooo. Since I made my post on Hallownest symbols I've had some new insights.

The Hallownest symbol, with its lined oval and three sets of wings, predates the kingdom as it was under the Pale King and White Lady. It can be found on arcane eggs.

Lemm, on arcane eggs: This civilisation may claim itself the first, but something else did exist within this place before Hallownest. Each egg offers a narrow glimpse into that forgotten age.

It's not just the arcane eggs though. The symbol can also be found in the Abyss, on the lighthouse. Sorta.

You see, the lighthouse isn't just one structure--it's two. It's an older, crumbling structure....and then the new shiny construction that the Pale King added on top.

And looking at the older structure, the platforms themselves have the Hallownest symbol on it. Oval with wings.

Another detail I've noticed in the Abyss is that this structure isn't the only one. It can be seen in the background around the void sea:

Just, further cementing the thought that the old crumbling building beneath the shiny new top is not a construction under the Pale King, but instead something quite ancient. Just one of many buildings, a conveniently tall structure for the Pale King to repurpose into a lighthouse.

So what does this mean?

Various sources in the game point to the Pale King having portrayed himself as the creator of Hallownest. Lemm, in his quote above. And some more examples:

Lore tablet in King's Pass: Higher beings, these words are for you alone. Beyond this point you enter the land of King and Creator. Step across this threshold and obey our laws. Bear witness to the last and only civilisation, the eternal Kingdom. Hallownest

Hunter's Journal, on wingmoulds: The bugs of Hallownest believed that their King created this world and everything in it. For what purpose, I wonder? Were his subjects companions, or toys, or children? Such a mind seems unknowable.

The developer notes in the game also indicate that the Pale King wanted to get rid of other gods:

The moth tribe were (perhaps) descended from Radiance. However, the King convinced them somehow to seal Radiance away. I guess so he could rule Hallownest with his singular vision, as a monarch/god with no other gods.

The dev notes are not canon and it's clear that they were never intended to be seen by others. But I think there's something to be said at least for him attempting a "singular vision". Uniting Hallownest under one rule, portraying himself as creator, creating a certain order. Some more quotes:

Bardoon: For quiet retreat did I climb up here, away from spitting creatures. Ormmph... Yes. High up. Away from simple minds, lost to light. Theirs is a different kind of unity. Rejection of the Wyrm's attempt at order.

Mask Maker, reacting to Ghost having King's Brand: No bug has ever laid claim to this whole. Even the beasts knew their limits and bound their realm at Nest's edge. It is the ancient caste that made attempt at such vast rule. Hallownest's ruin reflects well those fared attempts.

I believe Mask Maker is referring to the Ancient Civilization having attempted to rule over all of Hallownest. There's a possibility they're referring to Hallownest under the Pale King, as "ancient" does not necessarily mean what fans call the Ancient Civilization (and indeed most instances of the word "ancient" refer to Hallownest under the Pale King). But "attempts" being in the plural, I think Mask Maker intends to draw a parallel here between the two civilizations.

Speaking of King's Brand...

I believe now this is the best symbol of the Pale King we have. His original symbol.

As I noted in my first post on Hallownest symbols, the Hallownest seal seems the most associated with the Pale King when it has the crown on it. And the few actual depictions of him, in statues, idols, and shrines, all have his crown, but lack wings. Save for the glowing silhouette of him in Ogrim's dream battle, there are no depictions of him with wings. He may lack wings entirely, or have some form of artificial wings.

In fact, I find it quite interesting how you can pick up monarch wings as an item.

They are described by the game as being made of "ethereal matter". The game manual calls them "wings of a monarchfly". It's possible that the Pale King had such wings as seen here, not part of his original body, but made somehow.

And, just to look at the symbols again...

If one were to superimpose the old Hallownest Seal from the time of the Ancient Civilization on top of the King's Brand, you'd get the current Hallownest Seal. Oval Bug body, wings, crown, and tail.

So, what I'm thinking, the impression that I'm getting....

The Pale King came to Hallownest. He saw all the evidence of the Ancient Civilization, which had already fallen. He took on bug form (which may have happened before or after he saw the symbol and other evidence of the ancient civ, but I have to wonder if witnessing Hallownest's history and symbols influenced even this decision to become small). He, for reasons beyond the purpose of this post, decided he wanted to rule Hallownest as king and "creator" (which again may or may not have been part of his decision to be reborn).

He established his kingdom. He took on aspects of preexisting Hallownest, essentially claiming the legacy of the Ancient Civilization as his own. He took on bug form, and gave himself wings, to match this old image, as if it was always about him.

He established his palace in the Ancient Basin. He had access to the Abyss, mostly closed off from the rest of the populace. He studied the void. But the bugs of the Ancient Civilization had a different attitude about void, as indicated by Lemm in the Hunter's Journal entry on the void idol:

Inspired or mad, those ancient bugs. They devoted their worship to no lord, or power, or strength, but to the very darkness itself.

The Pale King instead was worshipped as a god by his people. He instead treated the void as something to control. He studied it. He tested it. He created void constructs to guard his palace. He used it, to stake the future of his entire kingdom on.

I could go on and on about this. And I intend to. But this is as far as I will go in this post, meant to be an update to my last post on symbols. But, I already have a long post I put together months ago, didn't post, and just have to update with new thoughts. So hopefully, I'll be expanding on all the implications here for Hallownest history soon enough.

#hollow knight #hollow knight theory #hallownest #ancient civilization #pale king

[oltammefru]

As promised, here is an analysis of these two specific words ("terminal illness") in Theresa's letter to Kal'tsit, and Kal'tsit's subsequent reaction to them.:

(from Theresa's letter to Kal'tsit)

First off, let's talk about Kal'tsit's reaction to this line, but before we can do this, we have to talk about a piece of context that's necessary to understand everything, which is that Theresa had intended for the letter to be found and read by Kal'tsit at a time where the dust had settled and things were at peace. However, Kal'tsit, being the all-knowing catgirl she is, found the letter almost immediately and read it while the fallout from Theresa's death/the collapse of Babel was being resolved. At the time Kal'tsit read it, she didn't really have the proper time to process her grief, and was in a very very different mindset than what Theresa had intended when reading the letter. Keep this in mind throughout the analysis, since it's a decently relevant background detail. I've talked more in depth about this detail in a previous post.

Another important piece of context (and this part is sort of speculative and a lot of it is specifically the way I interpret things, and feels somewhat less "directly supported by canon" than most of the rest of this post), is that towards the end of her life, Theresa is quite a bit more sorrowful. At this point, she has been forced to flee her home, she's been turned against by those who were close to her, the Kazdel civil war has been going on for a while and there's not really any end in sight. By the time she's written the letter, she's sort of accepted her fate, that for this to end in a way that is acceptable for her, she must die and leave those she loves behind. For the most part, Theresa's letter to Kal'tsit is one that still has her signature idealism and hope for the future, however, I'd argue that there's a few parts, especially the line about her having a "terminal illness," where we can see this fatalism sort of leak through. To Theresa, perhaps it was always fated to end like this, one way or another, because she is, after all, a patient living with an uncurable, terminal disease.

Now, let's talk about how Kal'tsit reacts to this:

(From Kal'tsit's 3rd file. The context for this is that Kal'tsit is reforming Babel into Rhodes Island basically immediately after Babel's fall/Theresa's death.)

Kal'tsit's reaction to this line seems sort of unusual or uncharacteristic, especially given just how much she believes in Theresa and everything she said and stood for (which Kal'tsit herself acknowledges here.) She is clearly greatly affected by what Theresa said, to the point where it seems that she's almost desperate to prove that Theresa was wrong. We'll come back to this later.

Now, let's examine the concept of "terminal illness" in a literal sense, and how it relates to Kal'tsit's role as a doctor (once again, interpreted in a literal medical sense).

(From right before the Bird Mephisto fight.)

Kal'tsit, as a doctor, believes that purely medically speaking, there is no such thing as an uncurable or untreatable disease. To her, even conditions like Oripathy which seem untreatable are (to quote Kal'tsit's 3rd file) "waiting for the day they can be cured to come," and therefore not something a doctor should ever use as an excuse.

However, this is Arknights, and the concepts of "medicine" and the role of "doctor" have meaning far beyond just their literal, medical sense; "medicine" as a concept is also a metaphor for many of the more overtly political themes we see in Arknights. Like Aak explains (while simultaneously calling you "my dude"), the concept of "medicine" goes far beyond merely just "treating patients":

By itself, the concept of medicine is sort of reactionary, in that the doctor aims to treat the symptoms and disease and harm done to people, but that alone doesn't do anything to address the systems that cause them and can often serve to reinforce them. To people like Kal'tsit and other Rhode Islanders, it is part of their duty as doctors to proactively fight against injustices and dismantle the systems that perpetuate those injustices. This is why Rhodes Island, despite being ostensibly a medical organization (and they are one!) is also very willing to get involved in political matters (which you can see in basically every storyline and event in which Rhodes Island as an organization appears in.)

(Kal'tsit says this right after the previous Bird Mephisto passage)

In particular, one metaphor Kal'tsit really likes to use is to compare hatred to a disease. (The most prominent example of her saying this is during the flashback of her invasion of Kazdel in chapter 11, so it feels a little weird/perhaps a little out of context to use this as an example, but despite that I think that comparison does encapsulate her worldview well.) To her, her missions of protecting the lives of those that live on Terra, treating illness, and dismantling the ways in which people are oppressed and exploited are really one and the same.

If you pay attention to some of the things Kal'tsit says, you'll probably notice the perspective she has on the concept of "fate":

(This appears in Kal'tsit's conversation with the Doctor after the Bird Mephisto encounter.)

To Kal'tsit, the concept of fate is meant to be "shattered," as we see her say in this conversation that she has with Outcast in a flashback in Chapter 9. (I don't believe it's ever outright stated that Kal'tsit was the one talking to Outcast here, but I'm like 90% sure it's her.)

(This is once again from the conversation with the Doctor before the Bird Mephisto encounter).

The existence of life on Terra is very precarious, in many cases, it's a continued struggle for existence that is liable to go awry and must be actively protected. In many ways, the struggle for existence itself on Terra, a world filled with hatred and prejudice, even as many disasters threaten to destroy everyone, is just another form of that struggle against fate and inevitable death that Kal'tsit talks so much about. For Kal'tsit, to struggle against fate is really what is at the center of being a doctor. It's a refusal to allow fate to take its course for Oripathy to claim the lives of more people, it's a refusal to allow hatred to divide those that should be united, it's a refusal to allow the greed of those in power to use others to their own ends, and it's a refusal to allow the existence of life on Terra, which itself hangs on by a thread, to be extinguished.

Now, going back to the "terminal illness" line (because this post was in fact meant to be an analysis of that line.):

One of the reasons why Kal'tsit is so affected by that line is because she interprets it as Theresa having a moment of despair when faced with her death, and perhaps in that despair, entertaining the notion that perhaps Oripathy will never really be cured and its effects will haunt humanity forever, that the cycle of violence will never truly be broken, and the brighter future that they have all fought so hard for may never really be achieved. Another is that she sees the way in which Theresa accepted her own fate, death, and wants to make it so no one ever again has to have the same acceptance of fate and belief that "being infected is a death sentence" that Theresa had. When Kal'tsit reacted to Theresa's "terminal illness" line the way she did, what she was really saying to Theresa was: "No, you were wrong to say that Oripathy was a terminal illness. I will make sure all you fought and struggled and lived and died for will come to fruition and I will make sure no one else will ever have to experience that same despair and acceptance of the inevitability of your death that you had to suffer. If you ever despair or are ever in doubt, I will remind you, and I will be there to witness that better future that you dreamed of for you."

#arknights #kal'tsit #kal'tsit arknights #theresa #theresa arknights #character analysis #when coming up with this post I came to the realization of just how similar patriot and kal'tsit are in many ways and I #kind of want to do a post at some point analyzing that.

[emry-stars-art]

What was Abrams favorite thing that Andrew gave him during his courting attempts?

Okay I’ve been sitting on this one because I was trying to give it my best answer and like. I still don’t know lol

I know that people in the replies and tags are going to have incredible answers as well so I want this to be more of a “here’s a collection of things he likes the most” and I get to start so here’s my take:

It’s a book. I hear your valid confusion but LISTEN. In the stretch before Abram finally realizes what’s been going on with the gifts/etc, Andrew gives Abram a book - could be poetry, could be a romance story, idk - with a ribbon just barely peeking out of one page. Abram, obviously, doesn’t think much of it and he’s never been big on reading (I don’t know why I never have Neil liking to read lol is that canon) so he keeps the book on his dresser or something like “I’ll get around to it if he insists”

And then after Abram actually, clearly says he can accept Andrew’s advances, Andrew remembers about it and realizes Abram must not have ever opened the book because he would have figured this all out before now if he had

He asks him about it, if he ever read it, and Abram’s like “…no”

So Andrew tells him to. Later, when Abram’s back in his room, he picks up the book and checks out the first page, and it’s something pretty obviously unimportant or unrelated. And the next page. Eventually he thinks to check the ribbon; he flips to the pages and somewhere on them a quote is underlined in steady deep blue ink:

My glances through the eyes of friendship grow more brief by the day. You remain in the kindest, softest embrace of my heart, but now I find myself watching, hopeful, and friends do not look at friends the way I sometimes look at you.

Stunned, in a word.

But this is something he can figure out. This isn’t flowers - they’re lovely but die so quickly, and Abram doesn’t know the language of them or which ones Andrew would like. It isn’t meals shared, because that’s too common by now. It isn’t direct words or actions of affection because those are far too awkward for someone with so little experience with them. But Abram looks at this book, sees exactly what to do with it, and he knows certainly that this is a way the prince wouldn’t mind communicating because he was the first to do it. Abram doesn’t even have to be around when Andrew reads it.

So Abram spends the next several days scanning the book when he has time, finding many quotes he could perhaps imagine returning, finding a few he keeps marked just in case. Then he finds one that he doesn’t even bother marking with a scrap paper, he immediately picks up his pen and underlines it.

I look at the moon and she has your face: the brightest thing in my sky, the most beautiful, and so, so far away.

(And @jtl-fics had the sweetest idea of Abram pressing and keeping the flowers from the bouquet Andrew gets him in this post; and that he uses some to make bookmarks probably because he knows how much the prince likes books. He would definitely use one of those bookmarks to mark the page he underlined rather than the scrap ribbon 🥰)

Anyway the next time Abram sees the prince he wordlessly hands him back the book. Andrew sees the new mark but doesn’t try to open it yet (which relieves Abram more than he’ll admit), just keeping it under his arm until he has somewhere to put it. But it doesn’t take him near as long to find another quote, since he tends to get distracted reading the context or surrounding passages; he underlines the very next sentence and gets the book back to Abram the next morning. Understanding the risk of Abram’s misunderstanding and completely willing to explain himself in plain terms when Abram asks. Still with the pressed flower bookmark.

To have you near enough to touch should surely destroy me.

When Abram opens it later he first sees that the pages look very familiar - those passages look very familiar - that quote is certainly familiar. And he gets very worried very quickly. Maybe Andrew didn’t like that one, maybe Abram had chosen wrong and he didn’t know how to do this as well as he’d thought. But he doesn’t close it fast enough not to finally, mercifully read on and realize that some of the ink on the page is not his own black ink. After it, dark enough to almost be black in the wrong light, is Andrew’s dark blue.

But after reading Andrew’s quote he does in fact close the book quickly, sitting back and just staring, mostly because he’d surprised himself; he won’t know Andrew’s intention for certain until he asks, but this time - likely for the first time - Abram looks at the word destroy and doesn’t immediately think of the harm he’s done. (Andrew’s new, unfamiliar way with words had to work it’s way into Abram’s understanding eventually.)

They go on as long as there’s still quotes they like in the book, and only once does Andrew get frustrated that Abram stole one of his before he could get around to using it.

Anyway thank you for the sweet ask, here’s a quick sketch of Andrew reading to Abram in the library

#imagining Andrew’s reaction to the bookmark… #like he’s already so relieved seeing Abram allow himself to accept a gift like that #but a bookmark? that must only have been made with Andrew in mind??? #too much #Abram’s ability to accidentally be the most romantic idiot on the planet because he’s never been exposed to it #he’s like ‘well might as well try be as clear as I can #because the prince values honesty’ #and bam andrew gets hit with things like ‘I can’t focus when your hands are on me’ #I would simply pass away #prince Andrew Minyard you’re so strong #uhh I think that’s all #fan art #my art #aftg #all for the game #neil josten #andrew minyard #andreil #royal au #asks #my writing

[aethon-recs]

24 Tomarrymort Recs for 2022 (One-Shot Edition)

A thank-you to the Tomarrymort community, inspired by @sitp-recs's wonderful rec lists!

Criteria for this list: one-shot, complete, published in 2022. I tried to include a wide array of tropes and themes and ratings, but of course I haven't read everything published on AO3 in the past year, so please always feel free to drop fic suggestions in my Ask box! I aimed for 22 fics (for 2022) but found too many unforgettable fics in my bookmarks, so 24 it is.

(Standard rec list disclaimers apply: please mind the tags; this is not intended as the ultimate reclist, only a reflection of my own tastes + what I had time to read this year; recs are arranged alphabetically by fic title.)

Multi-chaptered fics and WIPs will get their own posts, but for now, please enjoy these wonderful one-shots that were all written in the last year and remind me of how multifaceted and talented our little corner of the fandom is! These amazing authors made me gasp and cry and laugh and heavy breathe (sometimes all within the same fic). *

Tomarrymort Recs (One-Shot Edition)

Alive Really Isn't Your Color by @meles-merrivale (T, 6k)

A beautifully written, bittersweet take on Harry's life after the war and what it means to fall in love with someone you're supposed to hate and who's supposed to be dead. There's so many stunning, evocative lines from this fic that I could quote, but I'll leave you with this one: "How did Harry ever think Voldemort didn’t understand emotion? The man feels everything, feels it with his whole body, twisting his face and coiling his magic and tearing apart the world with the force of it."

contrapasso by hanamichi (E, 13k)

This was GRIPPING from beginning to end. The author does an incredible job with showcasing Harry's struggling emotional state after the war, and his grief is just so palpable. Harry and Voldemort's dynamic is gorgeous here.

From Every Ruin by @officialsporkintheroad (M, 5k)

Time loops beloved! This was such a clever take on the classic graveyard encounter, and there's nothing more that I love seeing than Harry losing it with every successive time loop.

Gaunt by @wixen-writes-tomarry (M, 8k)

A sense of uneasiness pervades this fic — lots of haunting prose and elements of psychological horror — it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. A must-read if you like alternate takes on Harry encountering another one of Tom's horcruxes (in this case, the ring horcrux).

In Your Image by @perhaps-sunlight (T, 11k)

An AU loosely based on the Portrait of Dorian Gray, with Tom as a painter who's found immortality and eternal youth by stealing his victims' souls away and what happens when he sets his eyes on Harry— very suspenseful and gripping throughout, and I love how it cleverly weaves in elements of canon that were very fun to recognize!

knock it off by TheOnceandFutureQueenofTarts (E, 3k)

Harry having a masochistic streak is a characterization that I adore, and this fic does an amazing job delving into this aspect of his psychosexual development that by the time he meets the locket horcrux, it all goes downhill from there. It's also so funny and written in a snappy way, I laughed out loud at the ending.

Love at First Sight by @dividawrites (E, 5k)

One of the funniest things I've ever read in this ship — every single line of Harry's desperate pleading to Voldemort had me howling. And it wouldn't be a Divida fic without super hot smut at the end (featuring! actual! hemipenes!!) The best take on creature inheritance trope I've read.

My Decorated Horcrux by @youknowmevj (E, 4k)

I love Voldemort wins AUs; it's fascinating to explore the dynamic that he'd have with Harry in his new regime, and oh, does this fic deliver! Voldemort adorning Harry and showing him off is always a treat, plus Harry remaining his defiant self — so many fun elements in this PWP.

on the other side by @philolust (E, 3k)

One of the most haunting things I've read this year. Voldemort's POV is surprisingly heartbreaking; actually, the whole fic is heartbreaking. I don't want to give too much away, but this is an EXCELLENT take on the trapped-in-a-room trope.

On the rejection of love by Baryshnikov (T, 2k)

A really interesting exploration of Tom being aroace and what that means in terms of being in a relationship with Harry. I love this author's series on aroace Tom overall; it was hard to pick a favorite!

paradise / circus by but_seriously (E, 5k)

Snappy banter and really hot smut in this PWP, a perfect generation mashup that showcases a great depiction of how Harry doesn't actually hate Tom as much as he claims 😊

Personal Assistant by @phantomato (E, 10k)

This one is an absolute masterpiece, an incredible study in suspense. It's a really unique take on a universe where Voldemort never comes back after his initial downfall on Oct 31, 1981, and features a very realistic depiction on who Harry grows to be if he didn't have the formative childhood adventures that we saw in the books. There's an incredibly skillfully crafted mystery at the heart of this story, and when it all comes together in the end, I screamed and gasped and immediately reread it looking for clues that Phantomato had layered in all throughout.

saw you in a dream by @duplicitywrites (E, 2k)

Dream sex with Voldemort! The writing is so ethereal and floaty and poetic, packed full of intensely sensual phrases like, "Its shadowy form sinks deeper into Harry's body, soothing him. Harry can feel it everywhere, like ice through his veins, like they’re two halves of the same whole." It's the perfect dream sex sequence fic 💖

Sola Fide by @crowcrowcrowthing (M, 8k)

So very atmospheric and a fascinating depiction of ritual magic and Voldemort as an actual god! AUs are a really great way to explore what makes the core of a character — that even if it's the characters thrust in different circumstances, you can still tell who they are at their core, and this fic does a fantastic job of reimagining Harry and Voldemort meeting under different circumstances.

Something New by @itsevanffs (E, 2k)

A fresh (and super hot!) take on A/B/O dynamics, featuring both Alpha Harry and Alpha Tom, with both of them overriding their natural instincts in different ways in order to be with each other. The control, the restraint, the desperation, the taboo-ness of what they're doing within their society — all amazing elements that have made this into one of my favorite A/B/O dynamics that I've read. Alpha/Alpha is so underrated! (Also, not a tag that can be filtered yet on AO3, for some reason).

such a heavenly way to die by driftingsea (M, 7k)

This was SO clever and funny, and an amazing play on Harry being MoD. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say this fic perfectly captures how murder is the ultimate Tomarry love language.

take this kiss (upon the brow) by @audair (T, 2k)

Incredibly beautiful and poetic prose. The mysterious backstory behind the Tomarry established relationship had me on the edge of my seat. This is one I'll reread over and over again for the haunting and atmospheric prose.

The gift by @metalomagnetic (E, 1.6k)

The perfect follow-up to 'Either must die' told from Voldemort's POV — surprisingly sweet and, not surprisingly, very sexy. As always, Metalo's fics pack a huge emotional punch; this one accomplishes it in just 1600 words — every single sentence is emotionally significant and not a single word is wasted - a must-read if you've read EMD.

the monster you (don't) see by Lils_White (E, 2k)

Harry pining for Voldemort after the war. A lovely, haunting, perfect depiction of dream sex, where you've left wondering what is a dream and what is real.

The Ties That Bind by @mosiva (E, 8k)

Mosiva writes an amazing Harry and Tom dynamic, as well as consistently delivers on great smut, and Tom here is a gem. This fic showcases Tom at his manipulative (sexiest) best, and the progression of Harry growing more drawn to Tom feels very natural and unrushed. Also, did I mention how hot the smut is? The author has other chaptered works that are worth checking out as well, if you like this dynamic!

The Train Station at Forever by @vdoshu (T, 1k)

This is one of the most deeply emotional takes I've seen on the endless reincarnation cycles theme (usually due to Harry being MoD and Voldemort being tied to Harry's soul). In just 1000 words, Doshu does an amazing job of capturing the angst and torment of Harry and Tom achieving "immortality" in this manner, and left me in shivers.

We Still Have Time by @duplicitywrites (T, 9k)

This was SO BEAUTIFUL and SO SAD, an incredible depiction of holding onto someone you love even after death, and I can't even think about this fic without wanting to weep. One of the most heartwrenching things I've read in all of fanfic, in all of my years reading fanfic. I very rarely cry reading fics, and god, I cry every time I've reread this fic. This is duplicity angst at its finest.

Wrath of the Lamb by @penmanner (M, 6k)

One of the most unique takes I've seen on Harry time-traveling to Tom's time in the 1940s. Something goes wrong, and Harry has amnesia but still a sense of purpose. The author's writing is gorgeous and poetic and does an amazing job of illustrating how disorienting Harry's experience is. I absolutely LOVE the amnesia trope, and this fic does it amazing justice.

you, me, a room we made by @kkeikatt (E, 9k)

This PWP was a delight to read. Voldemort and Harry trapped in a room together and the best option is to fuck each other? YES. Sign me up. The smut is extended and memorable and oh so glorious.

*

#tomarry #harrymort #tomarrymort #tomarry recs #tomarrymort recs #hp fic recs #2022 reads #2022 recs #one-shot recs #ao3 recs #fanfic recs #harrymort recs

[miametropolis]

My condolences for the containment breach I get how having thousands of ppl say the same joke over and over in the notes of your genuine analysis post can get annoying 😭 😭😭😭 I’m extremely down to hear more about the differences between the ninth and tenth doctors if you have any other insights you want to share though!!! I’ve been turning your post over and over in my brain like a rotisserie chicken ever since I read it it’s so good

omg thank you for your condolences...it really is the containment breach of all time...let me think!! I have a MAJOR tenth doctor video essay I may or may not make so here are the cliff notes:

-To begin. Anne Carson wrote that to live beyond the end of your myth is a perilous thing.

-in many ways, the 10th Doctor is cursed from his inception b/c he is born at the end of the Doctor and Rose's romantic arc (from a certain point of view) AND YET he is born sheerly out of love for her / to love her

-(we all know the fanon--or is it canon?--idea that Ten's face was subconciously selected to be one that Rose would like, and he's gone for her from the beginning...hello, The Christmas Invasion.)

-all that said, by the time The Parting of the Ways occurs, Rose and Nine have completed a full narrative arc:

-Nine whisked Rose away from the life of boredom and sheltered drudgery she experienced on the estate; she brought life back into the eyes of a hardened war veteran/The Last of the Time Lords

-more importantly, they complete a kind of mutualistic ultimate sacrifice (in a Shakesperian sense?) wherein Rose 'becomes' the Doctor by absorbing the literal heart of the TARDIS (we don't have time to get into that) and erasing the Daleks into dust, finishing the last of the Time War AND saving the Doctor's life

-he immediately returns the favor, absorbing the energy that's destroying her with a kiss (let it be known--the ONLY kiss between the Doctor and Rose Tyler proper--neither Tentoo or Cassandra really count imo), returning her to humanity, life, and safety

-all that said, Nine dies both saving AND being saved by Rose in a kind of unrivaled (?) parity between Doctor and companion. it's perfect synthesis.

-THEN 10 is born. uh-oh.

It is here that I would like to quote Michael Kinnucan's fabulous essay 'The Gods Show Up' on Greek tragedies:

The tragic hero is complete. You can call him unhappy (miserable, utterly broken) even before he is dead. For an instant he is something like divine. And then he dies, because there’s nothing left to do. The center of every tragedy is the image of a human being who has already died but keeps talking, someone whose face is a mask.

I think one of the most fascinating 10 v. 9 moments is that one scene that got cut where Rose says "I miss him." and the Doctor replies "Me too."

As many people in the notes of that original post point out (god help me) 10 is ALSO born IMMEDIATELY into heartbreak--whatever vestigal version of Nine lives inside him died with the despair of losing Rose

-TEN is the man that went sauntering away. perhaps that's part of why Ten is so terrified of/resentful towards regeneration. I think he's lived precisely the worst cost of it.

-The notion of 'talking after death' and 'wearing a face that's a mask' is a existentialist take on regeneration itself--ten EPITOMIZES this tragic hero archetype, esp. after Doomsday (literally! Doomsday!!)

-during his life, I wonder if Nine already considers himself lost in a sense? He's lived past the Time War, past the destruction of everything, and he's also the first NuWho Doctor. HIS ability to indulge in love (even in mortality, given his short lifespan) is different.

-TEN on the other hand has that INCREDIBLY frightening (for him) confrontation with Sarah Jane in School Reunion--knitting him back into canon continuum of Doctor Who, stitching him to the myth of The Doctor that has to live on and on and on in perpetuity--and seems VERY haunted by (im)mortality

-How much time does Ten spend running from Jack? A human being who CAN follow him to the end of time? Ten can't decide if he wants to be mortal or immortal, human or Time Lord. Think of the way he acts with Martha, with Wilf, with Donna. He is totally frozen inside of the space of his seasons. He has time paralysis (fatal, for a Time Lord)

-he is the first doctor that we see reallllly try to stave off regeneration

-That's why there's a certain frantic escapism to his adventures with Rose in S2--he knows, more than she does, that they are hurtling toward's disaster.

-he can't love Rose in a consumate way, even if he wanted to (he wants to) b/c he's trapped inside of his myth. he's like sisyphus. or that guy getting his liver ripped out by the eagle. Nine and Rose are lines that can cross. Ten and Rose are parallel lines. if they touch, the universe dissolves. hence why the narrative/God/Russel T. Davies had to lock her away in another universe

anways!

Ten once canonically carved a statue of Rose by hand with every inch of her body absolutely perfect, from memory, and I think that's crazy

#timepetals meta #timepetals #doctor who #doctor who meta #nuwho #rose tyler #tenrose #10th doctor #tenth doctor #the doctor #ninth doctor #9th doctor #ninerose #hope this is fun for you op!!! i also turn them around in my head like rotisserie chicken #or the very real dolls i had of them as a child that i brought to sleepaway camp and talked to #if you couldn't tell that i was that sort of person

[lesmissocials-fuckedup]

Les Mis socials : 2023 hall of shame tournament - Round 2

Rules

Links to the posts and propaganda can be found under the cut !

Propaganda :

The "Who should Marius choose ?" question - source : Twitter - January 29

For many, many years, this fandom has been arguing that neither Cosette nor Eponine could be reduced to simply being love interests for Marius, that we shouldn't call their relationship a rivalry and that the Marius x Eponine relationship was way too toxic to be defined by love. Well, the musical's social media managers seem to disagree, no to mention that the picture is made to make it seem like Eponine is the only thing keeping the two lovers apart. Featuring an uncanny use of emojis you can find in every single one of their posts.

Mother's day post - source : Twitter - March 19

The one thing to be said in favor of this post is that they actually meant it as a joke and understood that Madame Thénardier was not a good mother. On the other hand, why not simply go along with the concept of Mother's Day and post a picture of Fantine, a mother who cared deeply about her child ? But they gave us an abusive mother instead. Again, very uncanny use of the laughing emoji.

The Wimbledon one - source : Twitter - July 15

Have you ever seen a post in which everything is wrong ? well this one is for you. Starting with the words they chose because no, there should not be a Cosette for every occasion. Putting a tennis racket in the hands of a starved and abused child ? To promote rich people's sports ? They also edited her arms to make her look more muscular. Also I know nothing about english sports but there is a strawberry emoji ? And finally, cherry on top of the cake... they messed up the colors of the french flag. Which, let's be honest, is an easy one to get right.

Cosette celebrating Thanksgiving - source : Twitter - November 23

Our only contestant left for the US team ! And... it's a bad one. Without even going into what is wrong with the concept of Thanksgiving itself and promoting it, why would you ever put Cosette in front of a Thanksgiving meal ? The gril who is famous as an icon of starved and abused children ? Not to mention how disturbing it is that there is so little to eat in the pate in front of her. And finally, on a purely cultural level : 1- Thanksgiving became a federal holiday years after Les Misérables was published and 2- most french people could not care less about when Thanksgiving is celebrated.

Christmas Eve - source : Twitter - December 24

To be honest, this one might by far not be the worst they have done, but it is undeniably very disturbing. And the way the edited the "One day more" quote may be the least uncanny thing here. They also edited snowflakes in the picture, a Christmas tree on the barricade and a Christmas hat on (I think ?) Enjolras's head... knowing that the men on this barricade are throwing a revolution. In which all of them will die painfully. What's more, this revolution canonically and historically takes place at the beginning of June. Which means this picture is the worst thing they could possibly have chose to illustrate the Christmas spirit. Also, as many people have mentionned, this year was the 200th anniversary of Valjean meeting Cosette in the woods, so... perhaps they could have done something about that instead ?

#les mis #les mis socials fucked up #les mis socials fucked up 2023 ranking

[ai-the-broccoli]

The Resignation and Resistance of Yukika Nanase, an analysis

Last Friday (September 29th, 2023) was the 15th of the Eighth Month in the lunar calendar, which is the date of the Mid-Autumn Festival/Chuseok/Tết Trung Thu/Tsukimi/Uposatha, festivals strongly associated with the autumn moon in Asian countries.

Since I happened to have some ThoughtsTM and writings on Yukika Nanase (whose release event, "Otsukimi is After an Elegant Tea Party" was about, well, [O]tsukimi, and who's got a lot to do with Yukika in general), I thought this might be a really good excuse for me to finally officially begin posting on Tumblr! So...

Here is the first one out of a few (perhaps?): a little something I first wrote earlier this year, though now refined, organized, and extended by... maybe over 5 times its original length, for posting on here.

(official CG of the full moon, as it's depicted in the Yukika-narrated event Otsukimi. why exactly there is a rainbow around it is solely up to interpretation)

You may or may not be aware that Yukika Nanase is one of my favorite characters and main blorbos in Magia Record, and while I'm sure personal preference (and her being Relatable™️ for me) counts for a good part of it as it usually does, I would personally argue that she is also just an exceptionally intriguing character in general.

Typically, the fandom at large seems to view Yukika as a daredevil ojou-sama of sorts and some thrill-seeking gambler (and a character that her designer Masugitsune really likes), etc, etc. Now, it's clear where that image comes from, and by no means is it totally off either, but once you really get around to watching or reading any of her stories, you basically immediately see an entirely different side to her than what you might've assumed from her fandom reputation. almost like... the back side of the moon, so to speak

Now, in the canon story content itself, Yukika is often treated as a somewhat comedic character by the narrative, especially in stories where she's not the main protagonist. By no means is this a complaint or a criticism: Elements of comedy don't make a character any less well-written (unless said comedy is implemented in a way that's ineffective or distracting, but that's another matter entirely), and with Yukika in particular I've found that she often works with comedy excellently.

Besides, the fact she often has a comedic-ish role is largely in line with (and partly because of) Yukika's own extremely effacing perception and framing of herself—however, it also makes it quite easy for one to simply completely overlook her own emotional complexities and problems, both in-universe and among fans in the community. Which is fair, even she herself does it! ...But I do want to draw attention to it here, since it's an aspect of her that's quite interesting to me.

So today I'm going to talk about... Yukika's fatalistic mindset and her mental health.

Long informal analysis under the cut:

[cw: major spoilers for most Yukika-related stories, vague reference to Ashen Revolution's themes and motifs (nothing actually spoilery aside from AR's short very first opening section, which will be directly quoted), clinical discussion of mental health issues, mention of addiction]

A Magical Girl who has lived without ever straying from the rails laid out for her since childhood. Raised as a young lady, she is able to handle everything with ease, but her self-esteem is extremely low because of all the talented ladies who surround her. Though she was fed up with the boring life she was leading, her life has taken a sharp turn since she became a Magical Girl, and now she is constantly caught up in trouble.

Yukika's Extraordinary Everyday Life

If you're already familiar with any of her canon stories (or have read her official character description above), you must know that Yukika's "main thing" is that she's always involved in all kinds of trouble on an extremely frequent basis.

Like almost any other playable character in MR, she has her moments™️ (and, the fact that she is in constant stress and anxiety due to the passive effect of her wish; when nothing is wrong she keeps worrying something is about to go wrong in no time and she apologizes for it in advance, and when something is wrong, she blames herself for no matter what it is and tries to take responsibility at top speed), but overall Yukika seems generally surprisingly "fine" as in, we pretty much never see her get into any particularly negative emotional outbursts over anything, at all. Despite all the troublesome situations that she never stops finding herself in, she seems decently adjusted and stable (that is, "stable" on the grand scale of things, since everyday instability is her stability), at least among the MR girls we know.

But when you look into why that is the case, you'll kind of see that it's because Yukika actually has her own unique sense of a fatalistic mindset—in that, typically speaking, (there are some notable exceptions, such as when she made her wish) she completely accepts the state of herself and the state of her life as they are, even though they are by no means what she genuinely sees as ideal.

For instance:

[Though with all that said, I am, so to speak, in the role of "Villager A". - Yukika]

Yukika: (As I was one of many “Black Feathers”...) Yukika: (I didn't have any desire to advance and become a White Feather someday.) Yukika: (Because those White Feathers who manage the Black Feathers are more suited to shining...) Yukika: Yes, like the pride of Mizuna Girls Academy, Akatsuki Tsukuyo-senpai…! Yukika: Even in Mizuna Ward, where many wealthy families produce polished children, Akatsuki-senpai is a genuine charm... Yukika: ...Just like the full moon. Yukika: (While I get saddled with Student Council Officer duty almost every year because I seem "sort of" ladylike, whatever that means...) Yukika: (Akatsuki-senpai has an aura leagues above mine.)

she looks weirdly happy in the last two (pretty self-deprecatory) lines here and then goes on to talk about how her presence is so faint that Akatsuki-senpai still doesn't know she's a Magical Girl yet, whi— ANYWAY I digress

From this early part of Otsukimi, we see that Yukika has a crush on Tsukuyo (for legal reasons this is completely? a joke) a pretty set idea of what her "role" in this world is supposed to be (i.e. she has a "fixed mindset", as some may call it, as opposed to a "growth" one), and that is the role of a "Villager A"—basically meaning an NPC character, to put it in more common terms.

Yukika: (Looking for a substitute for Akatsuki-senpai and being mistaken for Akatsuki-senpai…) Yukika: (Despite her absence from beginning to end, she's got the sense of presence of a true protagonist!) Yukika: (It's getting more impossible by the second for a minor role like me to pretend to be her...)

And this attitude is very telling of her outlook on life as a whole.

Student Council President: That’s right. Will you accept? Yukika: Please leave it to me. Yukika: Our already-busy President shouldn't have to deal with this kind of hassle. Yukika: As the lowliest Student Council Officer, I think that I'm the right person for the job. Girl A: ...Oh, I’ll help you too! Student Council President: Thank you, it’ll be a huge help. Yukika: By "the lowliest Student Council Officer", I mean the Student Council Chore Officer, of which one is selected from each class. Yukika: My job is to gracefully prepare the tea in the student council room, help pour the tea for the exchange parties, and so on. Yukika: ...That's a tremendously misleading description, of course. Yukika: But in short, since it's hardly comparable to the Student Council President, who's elected by the whole school, and the Class President, who's elected from her class's honor students... Yukika: The job naturally gets foisted on me, the vaguely cultured-ish girl with no aura and hardly any presence!

From her rank in the Wing of the Magius as a "lowly Black Feather", to her duty in the student council as the "Student Council Chore Officer", Yukika views her roles and positions of insignificance as essentially predetermined things that she—as a self-perceived NPC figure—is simply matched for by nature; and she never even considers the idea of breaking out of this status quo, because, to her, it is simply a fact of life.

and you may notice this in the way Yukika presents/frames things—anything—in general, too; she's basically got an attitude of "ah well, of course, things are how they are; now let me deal with it so it doesn't trouble anyone else" toward basically everything, ever.

This brings me to my next point...

A Bunny Caught in the Tracks of Orbit

Yukika: Speaking of the moon, I used to wonder when I was a kid... Yukika: When the moon faces the Earth, it only shows the side with the rabbit and its mochi. Yukika: Why doesn’t it show the “other face” on it’s back? Yukika: According to my physics teacher, this is because the moon’s cycle of “revolution” and “rotation” is the same. Yukika: It’s apparently quite common in space. Yukika: (I don’t know what the standard of “common” is in space, but...) Yukika: Ah... I am Yukika Nanase, a first-year student at Mizuna's Girls Academy and a Magical Girl. Yukika: Yes, I am one of those who reluctantly set foot into the world of Magical Girls— Yukika: the "other side" of common sense, that most people will live their lives without ever knowing.

(excerpt from the start of Otsukimi, slightly condensed for format)

It is very clear from Yukika's Magical Girl attire that she's associated with rabbits/bunnies—partly for the casino aesthetics, partly for the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reference, and partly because of the Moon, which is heavily associated with rabbits in Japanese culture. Namely, there is the legend of the moon rabbit, a mythical creature said to live on the moon, as Yukika herself references in the excerpt above.

Now, the next part is going to look like a bit of a stretch if taken to be actual speculation of canon, but to be clear that is not my intention; it is merely a connection I made/similarity I noticed, and I figured it would be interesting to bring up.

(...Actually that does remind me, I should probably clarify here that this entire analysis is, in fact, of my own personal interpretations of the content presented in the game itself, rather than what I theorize to be the deliberate intention of the writers.)

With that out of the way, let's look at the opening section of Ashen Revolution:

Rabi: We can never stop the never-ending movement of the starry sky. Urara: However much I practice, I can never defy the gravitational pull drawing the diabolo. Alexandra: No matter how much I raise my voice, without this atmosphere, my melody will never resonate. Asahi: Yes, we are forever under the control of the unseen. Asahi: Like this rabbit, it lost its life at the hands of my unseen self. Asahi: Everything is made by the natural order, and being at the mercy of it is a fate we must resign ourselves to...

I won't go into details about AR here since on a technical level Yukika is entirely unrelated to it, but it is an event about the struggle of Magical Girls, who help people in secret but remain completely unknown, unacknowledged, and not understood. Which...

compare Yukika's previously quoted monologue, in which she compares the world of Magical Girls, which "most people will live their lives without ever knowing", to the backside of the moon.

Coincidentally, Yukika's own character is also all about helping people in the background and never ever being acknowledged (to a higher degree than the average MR girl). Relatedly, she also notably possesses a level of figurative invisibility/unseenness similar to the AR girls, through her entire recurring "faint presence" thing.

So, as seen in the AR excerpt above, the rabbit motif is used to demonstrate their helplessness in the hands of fate—or in their specific case, "fate" as in what they perceive to be the "Will of the Universe".

Well, funnily enough…

[Yes, I believe it's all due to the Great and Terrible Will of the Universe... - Yukika]

Yukika: (Here it is, the new hassle..!) Yukika: (The schedule has returned to a blank slate…) Yukika: (Rather, things have actually gotten worse thanks to the passage of time.) Yukika: (How can I put this? It’s as if...) Yukika: (It's as if some great and terrible will of the universe is at work,) Yukika: (and is specifically targeting me and creating trouble.)

…alright, so this is 99.1% a coincidence, especially because the two terms don’t use the same word for “will of the universe” in the original Japanese text, but it’s pretty crazy nonetheless.

In any case, the themes of fate and fortune are indeed actually heavily featured in Yukika’s own character. There’s her gambling motif as seen in her story, design, and gameplay alike, and her entire “keeps getting caught up in troublesome matters” thing, which is the result of her wish.

And how does she see it?

Girl A: Wouldn’t that mean you’d have more work? Yukika: Please don’t worry. Yukika: Dealing with trouble is my fate. Girl A: …Fate? Yukika: Ah, nothing! Let’s hurry! Girl A: Yeah, got it! Yukika: (Yes, I am involved in trouble on a daily basis.) Yukika: (It’s the “fate” that has been decided for me ever since I became a Magical Girl.)

"Fate". Once again, we see a certain degree of fatalism in Yukika's worldview, especially in regard to herself. Rather than a choice she's made on her own, she sees her behavior/self-imposed duty of helping everyone out as the luck of the draw, something that is "decided for" her.

And this part is extremely significant because it offers us a particularly revealing look into her mindset:

The truth is, in spite of everything she goes out of her way to do daily in order to resolve trouble and help/save other people, without actually being forced to do any of that by anything or anyone, Yukika sees literally all of those actions as passive acts rather than something she's doing out of her own free will (and isn't actually obliged to do, really)—because, no matter what she does she only thinks of it as the predetermined consequences of her own choice, for these issues are always the fault of the wish she personally made (or so she thinks), thus the responsibility to resolve them naturally always falls on her shoulder, which is why there's really never anything to brag about about this, according to Yukika.

As for why and how she made such a wish in the first place, that is explained to us in her MSS:

Yukika: …I do think that I was blessed in many ways during my upbringing. Yukika: But one day, um… In spite of all that luxury, Yukika: when I thought of how from then on, rather than moving forward with my own strength, Yukika: I would instead be riding the train toward the future on the tracks built by my parents, Yukika: I started to feel like I wasn’t really “living” at all…

Not necessarily relevant, but for a bit of a linguistic context, the word for “tracks” (in the sense of “rails; train tracks”) and the word meaning “orbit” (as in the trajectory of a celestial body around another; the curved course of a satellite) is the same word in Japanese (and various other languages. Which makes sense, since even the English term “orbit” was derived from the Latin word “orbita” meaning “tracks; course”); hence my title for this section. anyway this ties into the motif of gravity as seen in Urara's line above

Very interestingly, the original line here too explicitly uses train and train track imagery as a metaphor for the course of life and fate, similar to how it's used to symbolize these things in Kenji Miyazawa's The Night on the Galactic Railroad, and by extension Magia Record, which takes a lot from Miyazawa's works.

Speaking of which, that brings us to our next, largest, and final section...

A Thin Ice Between Life and Death

buckle up guys, it's got three parts

Pt. 1. The Rabbit with a Death Wish

Earlier on, I said Yukika accepts her life as-is, but really, she also fully accepts her death as-is. While her heart does desire to feel "alive", and it is for that, rather than any active desire to actually die, that she longs to be at the brink of death, it is... actually a bit worrying, how little she feels like she has to live for.

Well, let's look at the part in Otsukimi when she thought she was going to die to the powerful Witch:

Yukika: (Ah… There’s blood coming from my mouth. This is called hematemesis, right?) Yukika: (I'm... definitely a goner at this point.) Yukika: (But despite that... No, maybe because of that...?) Yukika: (My head's perfectly clear, and I'm getting tons of adrenaline.) Yukika: (Way more than when I bet all of the coins I have…) Yukika: (I feel like I’m alive!) Yukika: Hehe... Yukika: (...Wow. I must be kind of crazy.) Nanny Witch: …………!! Yukika: Kwaah…!! Yukika: Hehehe... I've got plenty where that came from! Yukika: ...Is what I'd like to boast right now. Yukika: But my battery is dead. [the image of Hotori and Rion flashes before her eyes] Yukika: (I’m going to die without being able to do anything…) Yukika: (I wonder if that unknown White Feather felt the same chagrin…) [the image of Hotori and Rion flashes before her eyes] Yukika: I’m sorry… Yukika: I won’t be seeing you two at the moon viewing party. Yukika: .............

...maybe it's just me, but it strikes me as unusual and almost alarming how little she seems to feel like she has to live for, you know? Like, Rion and Hotori are a pair of girls who she literally just met this afternoon. And they (and her not being able to defeat this threat on other people's lives) are somehow her biggest regrets.

And like, Yukika isn't just like this here. Whether you say it's for thrills or for other people's sake (it's usually initially the latter with the extra bonus of the former sometimes), she never even hesitates to put her life on the line. It's kind of sad, really.

This makes sense, though; this sort of attitude tracks perfectly with the abysmally low value she attributes to herself and her existence (again, in her eyes, she is literally just the most basic NPC ever, and who cares about what happens to a random NPC? well actually several people in this fandom do care, including me, but it's not like Yukika Nanase would know that).

In fact, let's look at the legend about the moon rabbit that I mentioned earlier. A quick online search would tell you that it's a mythical figure in East Asian and indigenous American folklore, based on pareidolic interpretations that identify the dark markings on the near side of the Moon as a hare or rabbit

As a side note, this is (accidentally?) fitting in the context of her own perceived "lowliness" (+ faint presence and all) against Tsukuyo's full moon-like brilliance... but I should probably leave that for another analysis oops (assuming I ever write one)

who (in East Asian folklore) pounds the elixir of life (according to Chinese and Vietnamese interpretations), or rice cakes such as the mochi (Japanese and Korean interpretations).

But how come the Moon Rabbit arrived on the Moon?

There's a story behind it that originates from Tale 316 of the Buddhist Jataka tales, and a derived version of it appears in the Japanese anthology, Konjaku Monogatarishū.

According to the Japanese folklore:

The rabbit, as well as the hare, have long been associated with moon deities, and may signify rebirth or resurrection. According to legend, an old man who lived on the moon decided to visit Earth. A group of animals saw what they thought was an old beggar who was starving. “Poor beggar, he looks hungry and has no food. Let us give him some food”. First, the monkey plucked some fruit from the trees. He brought the fruits and laid them in front of the old beggar. Next, the otter collected some fish and brought it to the old beggar. The jackal was too lazy to find something that the beggar could eat, so he caught the first animal he could - a lizard, and placed it in front of the old beggar, along with some water. The rabbit did not know what to get for the old beggar. He was not good at catching animals or fish, nor could he scale trees and get fruit. He only knew how to gather grass, but humans didn’t eat grass. Having nothing to offer, he sat in a corner unhappy. Suddenly he remembered that humans like to eat meat. So he got up happily, prepared a fire and jumped into it, having decided to cook himself for the unknown old man. The fire did not burn the rabbit! The old man revealed himself to be Sakra, the ruler of Gods. “You have been very kind and selfless.” he said to the rabbit. Touched by the rabbit’s selflessness and virtue, he drew the likeness of the rabbit on the moon. “Henceforth, for all ages, all those who will look at the moon, will see your shape in it and remember your kindness.

(the story of Tsuki no Usagi, from here. lightly adjusted for formatting and such)

Most versions of this myth have roughly the same story, with the identities of the rabbit's companions varying. Interestingly, the legends of Moon Rabbits among some indigenous cultures of North and Central America often tell an extremely similar story as well. For example:

According to an Aztec legend, the god Quetzalcoatl, then living on Earth as a human, started on a journey and, after walking for a long time, became hungry and tired. With no food or water around, he thought he would die. Then a rabbit grazing nearby offered herself as food to save his life. Quetzalcoatl, moved by the rabbit's noble offering, elevated her to the Moon, then lowered her back to Earth and told her, "You may be just a rabbit, but everyone will remember you; there is your image in light, for all people and for all times."

(from Wikipedia)

The Jakata version of the tale relates that this event took place on Uposatha, which is the same night as Tsukimi. And while it’s hard to say for certain that this was 100% a deliberate reference, it’s definitely not farfetched to connect this legend to what Yukika does on Tsukimi in her debut event, and in general.

Deeming herself a thoroughly unnoteworthy person with nothing special to offer, she's extremely willing to throw herself into anything from minor inconveniences to life-threatening dangers, as long as it's to help someone else. Because, as noted by Tsukasa and Mifuyu in her MSS...

Tsukasa: I mean, she says she’s "dragged into it" by the effect of her wish... Tsukasa: But really, isn’t she taking on this lost child of her own volition? Mifuyu: She’s the type of girl who could never leave someone in need alone, no matter what. Mifuyu: So, from her perspective, it’s the same as being dragged into things. Tsukasa: …What a kind girl.

...So, honestly, I have no doubt that she would have no hesitation in doing the same thing as the original Moon Rabbit did in the legend, had she been in his/its situation.

Yet the thing is, as Mifuyu analyzes above and according to Yukika's own words about "fate" prior, Yukika never sees what she does as anything exceptional because, in her eyes, she's only doing what she's naturally supposed to do, and what she probably (incorrectly) assumes to be what anyone in her circumstances would also do. Thus, she never sees any merit in those actions and she refuses to take credit for them, trying to remain in the background because she firmly believes that's just where she belongs by nature. but more on her self-effacement next time.

Now, onto the secondary reason she's eager to throw herself into danger:

Her thrill-seeking instinct.

Though it's a well-known fact about Yukika that she is quite a reckless gambler, have you ever wondered...

Why is she like this in the first place?

Pt. 2. The Psychology of an Ennuyé Bunny

in which I accidentally turned the analysis post into a psych diagnosis of a mostly unspecified mental condition I swear as a distinctly not STEM person I went out of my way to do scientific research this time, please bear with it if you don't mind

Of course, there's a canon explanation for this in Yukika's MSS, where it is discussed.

Tsukasa: …medal games? Yukika: When I abandon myself in an all-or-nothing, do-or-die game, I can forget for a moment about my boring daily life. Yukika: So… going to the arcade after school to play medal games became a hobby of mine. Yukika: I even secretly bought a casino set, and now stare at it at home every night…  Mifuyu: …Your escape from reality, I see. Yukika: Exactly. Tsukasa: If that’s the worst you can do, then you really are a true lady.

(Seen in her MSS and personal memoria, this is the casino set she secretly keeps in her closet but only ever stares at, without actually doing anything with it.)

As Mifuyu puts it, Yukika finds in small acts of gambling an escape from her boring reality, and as she said in her wish, what she wanted was "the feeling of being alive".

This is, statedly, due to her boredom* more on this later from following a predetermined life path (hence her wish being an act of defiance against fate, one which she is shown to be deeply ashamed of), but also...

...you know how substance abuse, excessive gambling, and other forms of addictions often co-occur with mental health issues?

Yeah.

In many such cases, said addiction can be the consequence as well as the cause of these issues

because for people with symptoms of depression, anxiety, executive dysfunction (and any other kind of stress or motivation issues, etc.), activities like alcohol and gambling provide them with a temporary source of ease, escape, and/or brain chemicals of the likes of catecholamines* see explanation later, any of which they might lack otherwise.

Besides, executive dysfunction (which is seen in many different mental conditions) can also mean worse inhibition control in both thoughts and behavior, which makes people with executive function issues particularly susceptible to addiction to physiological-rewarding behaviors, in more ways than one.

So... while I'm not going to pin anything particularly specific on her (okay I lied I'll say here she clearly does show symptoms of general anxiety at least, even if that's solely induced by the effects of her wish and not something originally innate to her, but that's mildly beside the point here since I'm more talking about the cause of her wish instead of the consequence), I don't think it's that much of a stretch to speculate that Yukika might have a mental condition or two that contributed to her unbearable "boredom" with her routine everyday life at that time.

Many studies have shown that executive function problems (as seen in various different conditions including neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and ASD, or mood disorders such as depression and bipolar) may be caused by imbalances and deficits in certain key neurotransmitters, such as:

dopamine, and

noradrenaline (a.k.a. norepinephrine)

...both of which are among the 3 catecholamine hormones & neurotransmitters, alongside adrenaline a.k.a epinephrine.

for reference, common ADHD meds like amphetamine (Adderall, etc.) and methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, etc.) are often catecholamine analogs or serve the same function, that is to say, they're used to increase the amount of dopamine and noradrenaline released by the patient's adrenal glands.

You may have realized that this isn’t exactly the first mention of adrenaline in this post. Indeed, Yukika herself brought it up in the earlier excerpt from Otsukimi where she experiences a rush of adrenaline at death’s door.

Adrenaline and noradrenaline both fall under what's considered “stress hormones”. Along with dopamine, they're a big part of what activates the fight-or-flight response (or to put it in more medical terms, the "acute stress response") in a person, as the catecholamines increase heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, muscle strength, mental alertness and more.

Between the two, adrenaline is released by your body when you experience acute or chronic stress, in preparation to protect itself against real or perceived danger.

On the other hand, noradrenaline is continuously released into circulation at low levels, but the amount produced also increases in response to stress and fright.

(By the way, adrenaline is made from noradrenaline, and noradrenaline is made from dopamine.)

...Right, well, all this neuroscience stuff and I still haven't made my point yet. But basically, what I mean is that there's enough canon evidence for me to believe the odds are that Yukika Nanase is not precisely a neurotypical individual, no matter what her problem(s) actually is in exact.

This is evident in her...

Chronic boredom (sometimes synonymous with "ennui") prior to making her contract, indicative of a depleted reward system

Attraction toward gambling and other risky behaviors that act as stimuli and generate the release of catecholamines in her brain

Possession of a certain level of impulsivity, and engagement in reckless & risky activities

Novelty-seeking attitude and behavior

As previously discussed, those traits above are primarily observed in Yukika's wish, the circumstances and reasons behind her wish, and her thrill-chasing attitude and behavior, including her fondness for medal games.

Like, if you read what Biser Angelov says about the connection between ADHD and boredom (the article is about ADHD specifically, but you can apply this particular section's info to other conditions with cognitive dysfunction as well):

As you can see, the screenshotted paragraphs discuss similar ideas to what I've been talking about in this subsection, and I'm sure you can see from here how the situation described indeed applies to Yukika, especially with her state before her wish.

In addition, let's examine the psychology of a thrill seeker. Yukika fits the description of what we would call an "adrenaline junkie", being particularly into thrills and dangerous situations. But what exactly makes thrilling sensations so appealing to a so-called "adrenaline junkie"?

You may or may not have heard of the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS), originally published by psychologist Marvin Zuckerman in 1964 as a measure of sensation seeking that encompasses and evaluates an individual’s personality traits of thrill and adventure seeking, disinhibition, experience seeking, and susceptibility to boredom. A study about the brains of people with high scores on the SSS shows that under chaotic/dangerous/troublesome circumstances, these people tend to excrete less cortisol and more dopamine in response to the situations, compared to those who score low.

Now, cortisol is also a stress hormone, but it generally generates more feelings of what we actually consider "stress" compared to dopamine (and other catecholamines), which is instead more associated with feelings of pleasure and attention. So, during those highly chaotic experiences, those with a thrill-seeking constitution are more likely to feel good and elated instead of feeling burdened by stress, and the experiences thus become exciting to them rather than suffocating.

Considering the factors analyzed above, this might be the case for Yukika as well. If her brain suffered from a deficiency of catecholamines on mundane days but could produce much of those energizing neurotransmitters and hormones under stress and fright, it would explain why she enjoys high-risk/near-death experiences (and gambling) and finds being in chaotic troublesome situations to elevate a good portion of her boredom.

Moreover, the need for higher stimulation in children with executive dysfunction is backed by scientific research, according to this article on the link between ADHD and high-risk behavior.

Other studies (Zentall and Zentall 1983 and Douglas 1983) indicate that children with attention problems need a higher level of stimulation. According to the research, children with ADHD are under-aroused by dull or repetitive tasks and will seek out high-interest or high-risk activities to compensate. Further, (Farley 1981, 1985) children that are under-aroused will search for more intense activities and will be more open to different experiences. They will prefer complex tasks to simple tasks; will seek new and novel experiences that include the need for high energy and high risk. In short, Farley found that children with hyperactivity seek high stimulation. His recommendations for children with hyperactivity included modifications to education to include more interactive and creative experiences to provide the extra stimulation needed.

Many other scientific studies, such as this one conducted in 2021, have also proven that ADHD, a major symptom of which is executive dysfunction, is "uniquely linked to a pervasive pattern of engagement in risky behaviors", spanning across various domains, including gambling.

Moving on, Yukika also has the tendency to:

Ramble a lot (in her head and otherwise) while jumping from one topic to the next, sometimes in ways that would be considered... whimsical?

Accidentally think aloud, or vocalize things that she has no intention of letting the other party hear about, without realizing it until she sees their reaction

Despite her own opinion, Yukika actually stands out to me as quite capable, intelligent, and resilient in various areas (especially when you consider how honestly difficult her everyday life is like).

That said, the way she thinks and talks does sometimes give off the impression of some sort of scatter-mindedness, and when we spend time in her head we see that Yukika kind of zones in and zones out of conversations sometimes because there’s always so much going on in her brain (partly thanks to her full awareness of her own trouble-attracting nature, but I kinda get the feeling she was probably kinda like that even before becoming a Magical Girl), causing her to blurt out to people things she doesn’t mean to tell them about at times.

There are several instances of this in Otsukimi, including the “dealing with trouble is my fate” comment she didn’t mean to let that random girl hear about in the earlier excerpt, and the Great and Terrible Will of the Universe remark (as seen in a previous screenshot) wasn’t meant for the Tea Ceremony Club’s leader’s ears either.

As for her erratic thought patterns in general, you can probably see the way her internal thoughts are always constantly racing throughout the entire event. In fact, one can just look at the very start of Otsukimi for an example. And in a different scene, we see Yukika suddenly wondering to herself, while very sincerely navigating the problems in an attempt to solve them:

Yukika: (This time, I’ll find the cause of the trouble!) Yukika: (I’ll definitely reveal it...) Yukika: (Just what the Great and Terrible Will of the Universe (Tentative Name) actually is!) Yukika: ………… Yukika: (I doubt it'd happen, but just imagine...) Yukika: (The moment I step into the old school building, everyone yells "Happy Birthday!",) Yukika: (and this mob of well-wishers swallows me whole.) Yukika: (If nothing else, please let me be spared the embarrassment of such a turn of events...) Yukika: (Ah, and maybe even Akatsuki-senpai is in the act.) Yukika: ...Yeah, I think not. Yukika: I mean, it's already past my birthday for starters...

...yeah. Doesn't particularly read like the thought process of a neurotypical kid to me, but hey, who knows, maybe that's just me.

Moreover, she also shows signs of:

Anxiety and restlessness (the former of which was either caused by her wish or marginally increased by it)

Low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness, and (debatably) inappropriate guilt

...etc, etc.

Overall, I believe that more than sufficient evidence is present in canon for one to see Yukika as having one or more mental conditions that come with executive dysfunction, and interpret her behavior and thinking through such an explanation.

Pt. 3. The Girl Who Wants to Live

On a note directly related to my conclusion in Pt. 2, I'm going to take a moment to compare and contrast Yukika to one of her better friends, Yuuna Kaharu.

Now, I personally believe that Yukika is quite a parallel to Yuuna in various ways, and Yuuna in The Flower that Blooms in a Hollow Heart definitely reads to me as having depression. I'd say the parallel is most obvious (to me) in like, Yukika's "I feel like I'm not really alive because all I'm doing is living the boring luxurious life to the future that my parents planned for me" (Yukika MSS, paraphrased) vs Yuuna's "I'm an empty shell blessed by the lucky life handed by me by my parents on a golden plate, only living because I'm not dead yet" (Hollow Heart, also paraphrased).

Yukika and Yuuna are also character foils, however, in that Yuuna has an arc centered on growth and she is able to advance forward because she finds herself a clear and defined goal in Mami, whom she sees as a role model that she aims to become like one day. On the other hand, Yukika establishes right at the very start of Otsukimi that she had never any desire to advance upward, whether in WoM or in school, because it was supposedly people like Tsukuyo who were suited for such better roles, and to Yukika, that's simply how it is.

There is another striking difference between them, and that is that Yuuna is unabashed in taking credit for when she's done something good, whereas Yukika times and times again brushes off any help she's offered with an "oh it's nothing special / it's already over with so let's not talk about it" kind of attitude, because that's really just how she sees it.

As examined earlier, this is largely due to her low self-worth and her perception of everything as her own natural responsibility. The unfortunate thing is that this self-effacing attitude, on top of her already faint presence and all, makes her even more unnoticed and her deeds completely unacknowledged.

And then, by further preventing most people from recognizing Yukika and her efforts, it reinforces her mindset about her lowly faint presence and further contributes to her lack of self-worth, which in turn makes her value her life even less, altogether creating a vicious feedback loop.

Yukika speaks of having friends in class, but with the way she talks about it, they don't seem all that close to her and they're definitely not people she could fully open her heart to.

see the fact that she's very concerned that her classmates and school friends mustn't hear about her visits to the arcades; she is never really seen thinking much about them on-screen, going to them for help, or worrying about any particularly important school friend when the whole school is in trouble, etc.

In canon, there are like only three named characters who consistently notice Yukika and actively try to pay attention to and care about her (Rion & Hotori, later Yuuna), and none of them even go to the same school as her.

And because Yukika has this somewhat fatalistic mindset, no defined aims or goals in life, and effectively actively discourages people from noticing her, she is likely to just... stay this way, unlike Yuuna.

Like, Yukika is just a weirdly really static character in her default state. As someone who's tried to work with her as a major character in a story, it's honestly kind of crazy how I always absolutely have to throw her into some odd situation where another character actively tells Yukika that she (and she specifically) should try to change or grow, as long as I want to make her undergo any dynamic character development. Otherwise, her usual mentality typically completely blocks any possible self-development of the introspective kind from happening.

To me, there's something rather... subtly tragic(?) about this, but...

Yeah, so, I for one do believe that Yukika still has the quality for future growth. Not sure if it could happen in the game or not, but like, I do think that can still happen to her as a person. And more than that...

In spite of everything I've been saying up till this point, Yukika's core desire is "to live".

It's in the wish she made. It's why she chases excitement the way she does. Indeed, Yukika is relatively easily self-sacrificial as a result of the "low self-worth + too kind" combo and she seeks to experience the brink of death for a wholly different reason, but truly, her overall main subconscious drive is to feel alive.

And the most paradoxical thing here is the fact that her longing to experience a brush with death stems from her desire to live, rather than a desire to die; not only thanks to the catecholamines rush, but also because it is through the fact that the chance of death exists for one that their life is so meaningful. (or so goes my personal opinion, in any case)

After all...

Yukika: Wow... Student Council President: What do you think about it? Yukika: Yes... Yukika: I'm so glad to have been born on a planet with a moon! Student Council President: You… you're that moved by it? Yukika: Yes. Yukika: I thought that I wouldn't live to see it again. Student Council President: Okay…?? [...] Yukika: The same old face of the moon as always. The same boring world as always... Yukika: Tonight, they both shine brilliantly to me.

...

Even though her everyday life is tedious, her self-esteem dreadful, her mindset somewhat fatalistic, and something's up with her brain chemicals too...

Deep down in her heart, the thing Yukika Nanase truly wants is to be alive.

And I don't know about you but... man. I find that very moving, you know?

And...

That's all, folks!

This concludes my essay. Basically, my big main point is that Yukika is certainly one of the most characters of all time and should be cherished at all costs.

Thanks for reading this (very long) propaganda analysis post to the end, and I’ll see you next time o7

#magireco #yukika #yukika nanase #nanase yukika #magia record #analysis #character analysis #essay #i (ai) #own writing #(can you see I have no idea how to tag yet?)

[kerubimcrepin]

Live-read: Trying to understand the Aux Tresors novels without actually reading the novels in question.

This is the last, and the most borderline-experimental and cringe-flop part of the reading break #1, because in this post, I will be discussing the five novels based on the show.

Without actually reading them.

Nobody has seemingly ever scanned or copied them, and I don't have the ability to buy them. If you're French, or a rich person, perhaps you could get your hands on them and tell me how wrong I am, but until then, let's speculate.

You can find the... (sighs deep as fuck) Plot Summaries on Otakia. Everything I will discuss here comes from Otakia. You can find the books somewhere else. Perhaps Amazon, probably some other site too... Because as far as I remember, Ankama's literal official shop only has one of the five.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 1 : Le ciel sur la tête

>Read about it here

To regurgitate a bit of info from Otakia: just like the Wakfu novels, which apparently also exist, these five novels are kind of like... a bonus episode in a written form, following the structure of the show.

When grabbing quotes from Otakia I will be putting them into a translator and then screenshotting, so that you can quickly read them, and so that I don't have to copy things.

But I won't be copying the descriptions or summaries of the books, just the bits I'd like to elaborate on. You can read them yourself there.

To reference that one meme: Why didn't he start thinking about his dead parents? Is he stupid?

OKAY, I really didn't expect this post to go anywhere, but it's funny that even in Dofus times, Porkass people were known to eat Twelvians.

You will never fucking guess with what nation Bonta of the Waven era, is involved in a seemingly mutually cannibalistic war with.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 2 : Une étoile pour le shérif

>Read about it here

I want to thank whoever runs Otakia for uploading this image specifically. Thank you Monsieur/Madame Otakia.

You may notice that, I will be upscaling all the images I bring here from the Otakia articles. The reason for this is that I am a normal and sane person, and need to look at it in a crispier way.

As you may remember, Kerubim already said that he used to be a sheriff in episode 16, West of Astrub.

The writer of this article will literally be like "the book gives you candy, sucks your dick clean and dry, cleans up your home, and then it gives you a hundred dollars, so I didn't like it."

I wish Kerubim would be a fucking loser and a menace more often.

In the Judgement of The Twelve episode, Kerubim and Bashi had already mentioned meething each other many times as young adults, and having stories about it, so it's nice to see this factoid utilized for more than 2 episodes, if only in a book.

Also, yet again, Kerubim literally doing his job and Bashi being fucking insane and hating him for it, despite doing far worse things.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 3 : Panique à Astrub

>Read about it here

Indie is insane for this btw.

Joris canonically eats burgers and YES reading this article a while back is the reason I put burgers into my Joris fanart.

You can see full art on my general artblog @atcham-crepin. Yeah, my blog naming scheme is very creative, I know.

I just think his refined ass eating burgers is funny, even though in canon he is only depicted doing this as a kid.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 4 : Le décapiteur de soiffard

>Read about it here

Including the cover art because it is very nice, and to draw your attention to THE best novel none of us will ever get to fucking read.

My dream Joris & Simone story, and I can't even read it. Smh.

List of things I love about this:

Joris stealing stuff.

Joris stealing stuff.

Joris stealing stuff.

Simone being a leader.

Kerubim, as we had seen in the past episodes, literally the type to text something like "I am not long for this world.... tell my family I love them." over a tummy ache. I hate this man so much it's unreal.

Of Course he sent them on a wild goose chase over some random bullshit.

Simone and Joris @ Kerubim at the end of this book:

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 5 : Tous en piste

>Read about it here

I will be real, I don't think any living being can tame that fucking beast.

These books are just treating us with characters in outfits we hadn't seen them in, in the show. It would be... a better world, if these books were episodes instead.

Also, want to yet again remind you that I am upscaling the shit out of these images. Because I'm normal. But at times the results can be wonky.

The World of Twelve has never seen, and will never see again, a couple more toxic than them. Sad!

Unlike the Simone & Joris book, I yet again don't have much to say, but, I'm sure I would, had the books been available to me.

This brings me to a close with the first reading break. After this post, I will resume liveblogging about the show. But I do have ideas of what the next reading break entail, and I think they're rather fun! Like "trying to read Dofus manga without reading Dofus manga" or "reviewing Dofus Aux Tresors merch without buying Dofus Aux Tresors Merch", or, perhaps, "scrying on a crystal ball to read Tot Ankama's thoughts."

...Yeah. Only the last one is a joke.

#novels #ro liveblogs dofus #dofus #wakfu #krosmoz #tagging because I want a broader circle of fans to know about the existence of the novels #so that maybe a kind pro-p*racy frenchman will someday upload them to l*brary g*nisis. i don't know.

[dnuoh-xof]

Skullface character analysis. Could even be bullet points if you would rather create a separate post for a more in-depth analysis.

THESIS.

If you've either played Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—or opted against doing so due to some of the... unsavory, disrespectful, and frankly disgusting contents within it, in which case I completely understand why one might not want to so much as graze it with a yard stick—or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which, to me, contains the more memorable (as insufferable as it can become) depiction of their titular antagonist... of whom I can safely assume was universally recognized as such, you and your fellow man may come to similar, near-identical consensuses in regards to aforementioned character's most ineffable traits.

Perhaps, as either a gamer or a mere onlooker, seeking to simply absorb the story, you felt yourself either taken or disgusted by the antagonist's appearance... or perhaps you found yourself inadvertently fauning over his voice—provided by actor James Horan—only to later slap your own hand. Or, maybe neither such sentiments ever crossed your mind, and you found yourself parts-amused, parts-ashamed that a simple one-off character was shoehorned into one of the most important roles in the series; his presence now highly-implicated through the whole of the Metal Gear series's canon upon his own pilot, with no semblance of question or doubt to the canonicity or legitimacy of such implications.

The character in question being, of course, Skull Face, whose identity throughout Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's development no doubt underwent a multitude of bouts of trial-and-error to arrive at the 'alpha' version of the character we know—and hate—today. And so, before I get into the nitty-gritty of the character in question, I would like to take a moment to reflect upon these bouts of 'trial-and-error,' the art direction which led to the base version of this character, as well as aspects which may have initially been left out, or dropped entirely, between the conception of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and whether or not core facets of said character underwent any major (or minor) changes between the progression of aforementioned games.

DEVELOPMENT / PRE-GAME CONCEPTUALIZATION.

The very earliest—if not painfully vague—hint the public was ever given about the conception of Skull Face as a character, would be within the gameplay / cinematic trailer dedicated to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, released in mid-to-late 2012. With the phrase, which was later utilized within the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," alongside a very brief glimpse at the back of the character's head, for a duration of two seconds, or so.

The earlier quote, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," of which was later believed to have implicated both the protagonist and antagonist of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; Venom / Punished Snake, and Skull Face, both mere phantoms of not only FOX as a whole, but of one another. A sentiment which is greatly accentuated throughout the duration of the game within which they are both present, especially between aforementioned characters in their every interaction.

Coupled with the release of Ground Zeroes, as though to break tradition in regards to how extra information / concept art was usually released alongside or a year or so after the initial release, Skull Face—despite his initial debut being within Ground Zeroes—appears to have not been featured within any sort of official artbooks. At least, not until the release of The Phantom Pain a year or so later, in 2015.

Though, this could easily be because of just how closely linked Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain were in both theme and in conception; the former being described as nothing more than a "prologue" to the latter, whose IP later received an official artbook. Which, predictably, consisted of concept art for both games, despite the 'uneven' distribution of said art between them; the latter receiving a lot more than the former, likely due to Konami Digital Entertaiment's own priorities at the time.

And, only within the shallows of the artbook's contents are we granted but a glimpse of how the character's appearance—and perhaps the very fabric of the character, both in concept and in execution, in its entirety—may have differed from its base version, given the very few minute footnotes concept artist Yoji Shinkawa left sprinkled neatly across the page. (Rough descriptions of each image are available within each image I.D.)

Even still, I believe there is only so much information we can gather from the concept sketches—and the hand-written footnotes which accompany them—alone. However, if I were to wager a guess, if any, I would come to the assumption that Skull Face, as a character, was meant to be far more different than what we may perceive him as today... for better or worse.

For example, the sketch at the right-hand side of each image, encompassing the notably smooth, scarless visage of Skull Face from another plane entirely; one of which—located within the second image, just to the left of the sketch embodying Skull Face's 'beta version'—is accompanied by a blurb of hand-written text, which reads the following: "WASP" / "アングロ," a possible acronym for the term "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant." Which seems a little strange to me, given Skull Face's own background as a man born in war-torn Hungary. But, admittedly, it is interesting to learn about how things could have been, rather than how they turned out.

Allegedly, in the same manner—while his name in both the preliminal concept art and within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's game files was "WASP," his unit being derived of the very same moniker—I believe his initial name was meant to be "Scar Face," at least outside of the game's North American release. Likely due to the phonetic similarities between it and "Skull Face," as per an interview between Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu and Metal Gear creator, Hideo Kojima, in 2012.

Though, the already-existing information we've been bestowed regarding Skull Face's past, the hardships he was subjected to endure, and the nature of his... 'upbringing,' as it were, should prove to be equally as intriguing. At least, if we are to follow after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain... where we are then provided a much fuller picture as to what kind of a man he truly is. To delve into his mind, so to speak.

BIOGRAPHY / PHYSIOGNOMY.

Skull Face, legal / real name unknown, is said to have been born to two lower-class bomb factory workers in a remote village in northern Transylvania, which at the time had already endured a number of power struggles; at points being caught in the crossfire of both Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as the Soviets during the Cold War.

With this information, it is but a given that Skull Face likely never experienced a day of peace throughout his entire childhood, of which was horrifically interrupted the moment the factory within which him and his family worked tirelessly—located in Almásfüzitő, a rural village in Hungary—was carpet-bombed by the Allied forces in World War II. The... 'franticism' which resulted from this attack, this commotion, resulting in Skull Face being doused in searing rapeseed oil; the resulting wounds not only exacerbated by the mobs of panicked escapees trying to outrun the worst of the attack, but by foreign hands later in his life. Presumed to have been colonizers.

This exact moment, I would identify as the primary turning point in his life, as tragic as it may be. Not to say that Skull Face's own situation, or... 'the cards he'd been dealt,' were anything but convenient, but when we take a moment to regard the nature of the injuries he endured after the bombing, one would have to be blind to not unanimously recognize how such an event would no-doubt traumatize a child beyond compare. The scars which so ornament his body weren't acquired when he was an adult, no... he was but a child when his flesh burnt and rotted away. And, worse yet, they were only added upon as his home country was... 'passed between hands,' so to speak.

In the worst fashion possible, only to be accentuated upon by colonizers, the very precipice of his childhood—and, by definition, his identity—had been stripped away from him in a near-instant.

Within the contents of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, we can very clearly bear witness to how he may have coped with such intensive trauma. Adorning nothing but a domino mask upon his visage—likely symbolism, more than anything else, given its absence in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—and claiming to have "[worn his] broken visage — [his] skull, out in the open, so that [he] may never forget what [he's] lost," in a bitter conversation with his superior. Likely not only just referring to the gnarled burn scars which adorn his visage—stripping him of any sort of visual genetic traits—but also in reference to how—with the near-constant colonization of his home country—Skull Face never truly had a home language; having been forced to learn new language after new language as his home country of Transylvania, later-Hungary was overcome with war and annexation.

I also feel that his upbringing served to be a great influence to the sort of 'character' he puts on; not only the metaphorical—and very literal—mask he wears upon himself to camouflage his deeper trauma or intent, but his manner of wardrobe and style, all the same. Of which consists of primarily dark, mute, and moody colors, underscored by the very clear Western influence that is present within his apparel, complete with a sort of 'Big Iron' of his own; a custom lever-action rifle, whose basis is said to have been upon that of the 'Mare's Leg,' a shortened rifle of the same caliber which is used by actor Steve McQueen's character, Josh Randall, from the television series, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,' which aired between 1958 and 1961.

Even outside of references to pop culture, there are even instances in-game—or, more particularly, between the likes of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain—where third parties or flat characters acknowledge such a unique trait in regards to both Skull Face's unsettling appearance and his style. Even going so far as to, at some point, jokingly refer to him as "just a Republican"; likely not a jab at his intrinsic, terroristic nature, but in primary regards to his style, of which also leads Skull Face—within the very same context—to being described, wittily, as a "costume party."

In lieu with this very discernible influence to his style, and—by default—his identity, I could also reasonably come to the assumption that Skull Face likely intended to come across as some sort of lone-wolf, lone-ranger-type character. If we were to combine both his wardrobe's Western facets, and the very gloomy color scheme which was chosen to compliment it, it is no surprise that Skull Face is also regularly referred or compared to the Grim Reaper, as evident by the line of dialogue, "that grim reaper lookalike," present within Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

Such comparisons being drawn may also be evident within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as well, outside of the otherwise humored dialogue which was present within its predecessor; in reference to the words Skull Face speaks—in Hungarian—to one of the diseased bodies within the Devil's House, before proceeding to shoot the party of reference in the head, "I accept your grace, your sorrow, unto myself. Rest in peace."

However, I firmly believe that it was due to Skull Face's own unapproachability—a neat splicing of his physical, mental, and tactical traits—which segue into those around him holding otherwise varying views about him at a first glance. The intentional and tonal differences and implications between "costume party" and "that grim reaper lookalike," as it were... as though his innate lack of identity is so misleading that those around him simply do not know what to make of him. Whether or not to take him seriously, or to take the piss out of his wardrobe. Even if it was more than likely that his actions spoke louder than his words.

STRENGTHS / VICES.

A core facet, and theme, of Skull Face's being—of which I believe to be both a strength and a weakness in its own rite—would be his undying, harrowing thirst for revenge, of which regularly reiterated and built upon within dialogue between himself and several of the game's characters, but whose interactions were most prominent around the likes of Big Boss, Venom Snake, and his superior, Major David Oh, all of whom Skull Face claims not to hold any animosity towards, despite his actions—in this case—speaking louder than his words. And, if anything, allows his thirst for revenge to overcome any kind of abstinence he could have exercised, and thus, resulted in his downfall.

However, despite this very clear flaw, it would be disingenuous to claim that Skull Face was a sloppy, uncoordinated individual, both in the flesh and in the battlefield. Even in his youth, it was said that he was quite competent in the realm of reconnaissance and espionage; particularly in the Soviet Union, where it is rumored that he was responsible for the death of Eurasian dictator Joseph Stalin, in an act which Skull Face sought as a means to have "gotten revenge for his people," for the erasure and destruction of his culture and first language, the blame of which already fell partly upon the Soviets, the fact of which likely emboldened Skull Face to have made such a move from the beginning.

This instance, alongside several others, helped to sow his otherwise terrifying reputation in the battlefield, with how discreetly and effectively he performed not only assassinations, but interrogations, as well; to the extent where any and all ethical concern was thrown completely out the window, as though his own moral bankruptcy knew zero bounds—even going so far as to resort to lechery—so long as he could 'fish out' the information he sought. Whether such a trait would be a strength, or a weakness, is up for your interpretation.

Such a harrowing presence in the battlefield—in particular regards to Skull Face's skills as both an assassin and spymaster—was what initially drew together both him and his future superior, Major David Oh, who found himself quite taken by not only the man's talents, but his outward appearance, in its own rite. Already having had a tendency to recruit oddballs, as they were... it seemed almost inevitable that the Major would later promote the man to be his very own Executive Officer; at the time, beneath the jurisdiction of the British Special Air Service, only to later resign and stem off into his own covert branch of operations beneath the American CIA — FOX. And tightly woven they appeared to remain, even as the Major's priorities begun to change.

One priority of which Skull Face grew to loathe, despite claiming to have not felt such antagonism towards the subject at all: Operation Snake Eater, or rather, how much time and energy the Major appeared to have put into the project, all the while treating FOX's covert support team, later turned strike force, XOF—of whom Skull Face commanded—as a little less than cannon fodder. Or, rather, perhaps Skull Face simply needed a character—or, rather, a kind of personification or physical manifestation of all he hated about language as a means of executive communication—to inflict his inward, aggregated spite upon. And Major Zero—given his English background, and his ploy to unify the world through information control—appeared to be the perfect scapegoat, despite Skull Face's seemingly heartfelt proclamation that, "[The Major] never left [him] to die," and that, "[he] owe[d] [the Major] [his own] life," upon concluding his interrogations of Paz Ortega Andrade. Yet another one of his own weaknesses on shameless, open display: his hypocrisy, of which is a recurring trait of his that is rather difficult to ignore.

This alone, the mere presence of the Major within his life—the grievous sense of revenge which lay dormant deep beneath Skull Face's bones, only to later take out upon this once-former superior—would prove to be both his greatest strength, and his greatest weakness. A strength, because of the sole fact that Skull Face was successfully able to 'pull the wool over Zero's eyes,' taking it upon himself to finish what his superior had begun so many years ago... but a weakness, for not only falling short of his genocidal goal, but being so foolish as to believe that the Major—a spymaster of his own caliber—simply didn't think to have a backup plan, let alone such a multitude of them, given how he'd already safeguards in place in the event that his XO betrays him. Such a flawed, heavy-handed means of underestimation eventually coming back to 'take an axe to Skull Face's knees'... literally.

However, despite all of his flaws, it is well-observed from a variety of angles and perspectives that Skull Face himself was a rather eccentric, charismatic character; a likely explanation as to how he grew to hold such unwavering influence over not just the mind of his own superior, or the minds of his very own unit, but entire regions of war-torn countries, as well. His unit of whom, while terrified of him, also looked up to him as a leader for both his tact and his efficiency. Of which was accentuated and amplified tenfold throughout the events of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as Skull Face appeared to pull every possible stop to put an end to Snake's life, even going so far as to deploy the world's first and only bipedal, self-operating weapon upon him. And, if Skull Face had gotten his way, the entire world would have likely crumbled before his knees, or died trying.

PHILOSOPHY / TRAGEDY.

If I were to describe Skull Face in theatrical terms—in all of his imperfections, trials and tribulations, his wrongdoings, and the actions of which he performed out of genuine good will, no matter how grotesque, bankrupt, or questionable—and if I were to place him upon a scale between both a theatric comedy, and a theatric tragedy, you likely already know which term I believe would best suit the progression of his life. Though, despite all of his quirks, it isn't as though anything within his life would have constituted as a comedy, anyways, even upon his very conception.

Every instance within his life, ever since his birth, appear to have done nothing but inconvenience him; tempting a deep, broiling hatred to stir within his soul... and thus, if I were to briefly put myself in his shoes, would it be incorrect or bankrupt to state that his anger was justified? Throughout the duration of his life, hand after hand, he'd been shown nothing but animosity by his fellow man, and thus grew accustomed to, or perhaps comfortable with the sensation of it; of both being resented and holding equal-parts resentment towards others.

Upon the violent, abrupt loss of his cultural identity, instead of simply losing his linguistic faculties, they were simply replaced. Replaced with a language of nukes, of spite and hatred towards the world and its inhabitants. A kind of sadistic nihilism, of which made no reservations for any sensations of hope. Of which he found to be nothing more than a survival skill—akin to mankind's tendency to try and predict events to better assimilate themselves with the unknowns of the world—and thus, did not regard it as important. Likely due to the fact that he himself had lost the ability to feel, and thus no longer held such anxieties about the world as his fellow man does.

Though, at the time of his inevitable death, as though to plead for one last kindness from a world which so abandoned, abused, and betrayed him, he was granted with a bullet to the skull upon request, thanks to the lingering, almost pitiful obedience of that of Emmerich. One of the few people which—even with his own unapologetic evils—Skull Face sought as nothing more than scum-of-the-Earth, impossibly lower beneath his own standards. The revelation of which brings me to believe that, even a man as lowly and morally-corrupt as Skull Face still cultivated some kind of moral superiority over others, and thus, likely viewed his own incentive as nothing more than him acting upon what he thought was right and just. Just as his superior, Zero, truthfully believed his acts of evil were simply an extension of his late friend's will, rather than a power grab. Rather than a simple, misunderstood exchange of words.

But, even after Skull Face's death, yet again he appeared as a phantom within Venom Snake's peripheral; Mother Base's own phantom pains never having eased, even after the object of their collective resentment had been purged from the Earth. And, given Skull Face's once-similar convictions towards those who dealt him a bad hand within his life, I truthfully don't believe that he would have ever been satisfied, in the end. As evident by his carefully-chosen words to Venom, as they encountered one another for the second time, "You hope hatred might someday replace the pain, but it never goes away."

With this, it is only fitting and appropriate that Skull Face's tragedy be recognized for what it is; a tale—doomed from the start—of an individual, tainted and torn from his elders from the very beginning, only to be excaberated upon as the years trudged by. Only to result in being downtrodden beneath the heavy rebar of a steel platform, begging for release... as though he hadn't spent the majority of his adulthood tormenting others, in a manner near-identical to how he himself was esteemed.

Because, as per the scholarly definition of a tragedy, Skull Face was nothing more than the architect of his own demise.

CONCLUSION.

To reiterate the material present within this analysis's thesis—of which already breached any sort of reasonable limit for thesi, and so I find I must at least attempt to reasonably cut back upon my own rambling—Skull Face as a character is most definitely not without flaw, within both an internal and external point of view. While a lot of his more unsavory, frankly cringeworthy traits may simply get passed off as nothing more than an error upon the writer's behalf, or as 'non-canonical,' I feel it is still important to acknowledge it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Given his broad, but very understandable controversies and vices within the fandom, do I believe that there should have been any chance of redemption or reconsideration in regards to mending his character, or at least in regards to how his most fatal flaws were executed? Yes, I do, without a shadow of a doubt. I find that the... particular manner within which he's written in his pilot is nothing short of shameful and grotesque, and that it all could have been handled with a lot more care and delicacy. Does this mean that the remainder of his character was handled with the same largess of sloppy carelessness? Not necessarily.

Were I in the position or shoes of the primary antagonist, would such a scenario bring me to better sympathize with or understand the perspective from which Skull Face comes? Perhaps not, as I can't say for sure whether or not I'd even hold the mental capacity to do, or want to do, so. Though, I wouldn't mind forming a sort of open discussion about the topic, so long as it is metered. I would prefer it if discussions surrounding this character remained appropriate, were they to occur, but I don't at all mind any sort of speculation / theorizing. In fact, I'm a sucker for it.

But, I digress, as problematic as he is, it is difficult for me to deny how taken I am by him and the dilemma which surrounds him. Perhaps that is simply the appeal; to bear witness to a kind of 'forbidden fruit,' from an outsider perspective, and to provide my insight as to what it truly means. To be unafraid to hold these discussions, and to provide my criticisms with utmost care, as opposed to simply 'dogging upon' and dismissing a character entirely, despite their flaws and strengths alike. As though the whole of the Metal Gear series isn't already bountiful with a plenty-problematic cast of its own.

After all, what could possibly be more problematic than a franchise whose main villains—and protagonists, in part—are war criminals? Such, as it is at this moment, shall be left up for debate, as that is simply another topic for another time. And I'm all out of time.

So, I want to thank @miz-orque for this very contemplative, but very controversial ask, of which I wanted to handle with as much care as I possibly could. So I hope this shall suffice.

#text #rambles #ask #miz-orque #metal gear #mgs #metal gear solid #mgsv #metal gear solid v the phantom pain #skull face #character analysis #essay #headcanon #(??? maybe?) #reading comprehension #media literacy #fandom #puritans

[bulletproof-arista]

Will Solace’s potential fatal flaws: a character analysis and theory.

Welcome! I’ve been working on this post for awhile now ever since I noticed that Will Solace does not have a fatal flaw. While I believe it would probably be revealed in the upcoming Solangelo book, for the time being, why not make a post on his potential fatal flaws based on what we’ve seen so far of him in canon?

In this post, we will be theorizing on Will’s potential fatal flaws, based on his scenes in the canon series– ranging from the original PJO series to the most recent TOA series. 

DISCLAIMER: Although I had to revisit most books in which I remember he appeared in, some things in this post may be incorrect– such as context, book titles etc– if so, do correct me (but respectfully)! The quotes I will be using will be recycled throughout the post, not because I’m lazy but because the same thing could insinuate many different things. Like I keep on saying in my post, Will so far is a pretty non-developed character. There is big room for interpretation but very little for actual facts. We might be leaning a bit towards fanon– but I made sure it’ll stay as canon as possible. Pls I’m running this shit with crumbs here.

And now, onto the post! Buckle up, it’ll be a long one.

INTRODUCTION:

-What is a fatal flaw?

The concept of fatal flaw originated from Ancient Greece. Alternatively, it can also be called a “Tragic flaw” or “Hamartia”. Like its name indicates, a fatal flaw is an emotional or psychological weakness that could lead a mortal/demigod/immortal to their downfall, or, to put it more dramatically, their death. In the PJO series, death caused by one’s fatal flaw is not unheard of. Thus, it is not all that dramatic either given the fact that it could happen to anyone if they do not learn to control it.

-What causes a fatal flaw?

Personally, the cause for one’s fatal flaw could vary. The fatal flaw could stem from (but not limited to):

one’s talent–Annabeth’s hubris due to her intelligence.

one’s experiences– Luke’s excessive wrath due to his childhood.

one’s godly parentage– like how most Athena kids have hubris as their fatal flaw.

one’s personality, a trait they were simply born with.

-Will Solace’s fatal flaw?

I firmly believe that Will Solace’s fatal flaw stems from the most important part of him– the fact that he is healer. Being a healer is the prominent characteristic of Will. This is what shaped him. Thus, I believe his fatal flaw is also linked to his healer side. 

1. Responsibility 

/rɪˌspɒnsɪˈbɪlɪti/

noun -the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone.

-the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something.

I included the two definitions of the word because I feel like both could be applied to Will.

This is the most obvious one, what’s with his responsibility as the head medic (and probably the only medic with healing powers) at camp. As well as the fact that he is the oldest sibling of a cabin full of children, and his duty as a counselor. So basically, Will’s responsibility include (but are probably not limited to): head medic, oldest Apollo child and Apollo cabin counselor. Having been a healer since he was TWELVE, and being responsible of a cabin full of children (and consequently taking on more of a parental role than a sibling role for them), Will Solace has a pretty heavy baggage. 

So being exposed to this much responsibility since a very young age, it wouldn’t be surprising if Will feels responsible for everyone that’s surrounding him. And believing that he has to intervene in every situation because he feels like it is his duty. Alternatively, this could explain his… admittedly hilarious tendency of speaking up in tension heavy situations. Perhaps it is not necessarily responsibility that pushes him to act this way (sounds a little bit more like recklessness/impulsiveness), but I decided to include that trait of his in this part anyway.

BULLETPOINT 1:

In the Hidden Oracle, after Kayla and Austin’s disappearance, although Will was just as shaken as the others, he knew he had a responsibility at camp and needed to tend to the injured first and foremost.

I was stunned by his tone. I realized he was just as concerned about Kayla and Austin as I was. The only difference: Will knew his duty. He had to heal the injured first. And he needed my help.

BULLETPOINT 2:

Will defended Rachel against Clarisse, calming the latter down before things could go south.

“She’s right.” Will Solace, head counsellor for the Apollo cabin, put his hand gently on Clarisse’s wrist. Not many campers could’ve done that without getting stabbed, but Will had a way of defusing people’s anger. He got her to lower her dagger. “Everyone in our cabin has been affected. It’s not just Rachel.”

It is explicitly stated that not many people could do such a thing, and yet he did. I believe he knew that he could’ve potentially attract Clarisse’s anger, and yet he still took the risk to calm her down.

BULLETPOINT 3 (speculation):

Every time someone dies from an injury, I believe Will would be blaming himself. He would wonder what he did wrong, and doubt his powers and abilities.

BULLETPOINT 4 (impulsiveness/recklessness):

Here is Will preventing a war from erupting between two opposing camps. What a creative way to save yourself from spending the entire night tending to injured machos! /j

Will Solace saved the day.

He put his fingers in his mouth and did a taxicab whistle even more horrible than the last. Several Greeks dropped their swords. A ripple went through the Roman line like the entire First Cohort was shuddering.

“DON’T BE STUPID!” Will yelled. “LOOK!”

BULLETPOINT 5:

“No one hits my boyfriend,” Will thundered. “And no one kills my dad!”

Quite a courageous thing to say in a room full of powerful ennemies!

Responsibility as his fatal flaw; 

Will would bite more than he can chew, always taking responsibility for everything. The responsibilities would all stack onto his back, becoming overbearing. He would feel responsible for every bad thing that happens, believing that he could have done something to prevent it. He would speak up and do potentially dangerous/reckless things, thinking that it is his responsibility to do so.

2. Stubbornness

/ˈstʌbənnəs/

noun

dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something.

Just like all of his potential fatal flaws, Will’s stubbornness stems from the fact that he is a healer since a very young age. He has been responsible for his patients and KNOWS what to do when they’re under his care. He also knows what a person in pain needs, thanks to his expertise in medicine as well as his vitakinesis. Imagine being able to tell what’s wrong with someone with a single touch, and thanks to your knowledge, you also know what to do to heal it. What else would you need then? You would firmly believe that your opinion is a fact, that you are right in every sense of the word and don’t need anyone to change that opinion. Hence Will’s stubbornness and his refusal to hear out what others have to say.

BULLETPOINT 1:

In The Blood of Olympus, Will kept on insisting that Nico needs to rest ever since he found out about his transparent body. In fact he only relented when the latter agreed. 

“Coach Hedge told me all about your shadow-travel. You can’t try that again.”

“I just did try it again, Solace. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. I’m a healer. I could feel the darkness in your hand as soon as I touched it. Even if you made it to that tent, you’d be in no shape to fight. But you wouldn’t make it. One more slip, and you won’t come back. You are not shadow-travelling. Doctor’s orders.”

BULLETPOINT 2:

Short one, but Nico himself described Will as stubborn.

“And Will Solace … Nico revised his impression of the son of Apollo. He’d always thought of Will as easygoing and laid back. Apparently he could also be stubborn and aggravating.”

Stubbornness as his fatal flaw;

Will would refuse to listen to what others have to say (especially when it comes to medical terms), believing that what he is saying is right.  And even if he IS right, he wouldn’t change his decision by listening to what others have to say. This could be borderline hubris. 

3. Reticence

/ˈrɛtɪs(ə)ns/

noun

the quality of being reticent; reserve.

When you are a healer/doctor, you have to stay composed at all times, for the sake of not worrying your patients. This must be a trait Will has developed pretty early on( given that he started healing at the age of twelve. If he is constantly hiding his emotions during his work, and he works almost all the time– Will could have naturally developed a kind of wall around himself as a habit. Never talking about how he’s feeling– especially the negative emotions.

Will’s approach could be more subtle than Nico’s explicit “NO I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT MY FEELINGS”.

To learn more about this, you can read this awesome post

BULLETPOINT 1:

I was stunned by his tone. I realized he was just as concerned about Kayla and Austin as I was. The only difference: Will knew his duty. He had to heal the injured first. And he needed my help.

BULLETPOINT 2:

This is quite an explicit proof of his emotional reticence, and the fact that it is linked with him being a healer.

Will laughed under his breath. “I’m terrified. But one thing you learn as head counselor: you have to keep it together for everyone else. Let’s get you on your feet.“

BULLETPOINT 3:

This is said about Will’s personality on his wiki.

He has also developed a kind of shell, meaning that even in extremely stressful situations he at least looks calm and collected.

Reticence as his fatal flaw;

Will would always insist that he is fine and never talk about his feelings. He would close himself up, and worse of all, he is good at hiding. Will would bottle up every negative emotion he feels for the sake of looking composing in front of his patients. Until the day he cracks and spills everything.

4. Altruism

/ˈaltruːɪz(ə)m/

noun

disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Having so much responsibilities, it is natural for Will to always put others above himself, as the big brother/counselor/head medic. Consequently, he ignore his own desires and emotions (see previous fatal flaw) in favor of helping others.

BULLETPOINT 1:

During the battle of Manhattan, after witnessing his brother’s death, Will is whisked away by Percy to go heal Annabeth. And he didn’t bring up Michael once. Instead, he was focused on healing Annabeth, and he ignored his brother death in favor of saving someone else– the lover of his brother’s (indirect) killer.

BULLETPOINT 2:

In the hidden oracle, Will had to put aside his desire to go search for his siblings in order to heal some campers. He directly admitted wanting to go find Kayla and Austin.

“I got it reattached,” Will told me, his voice shaky with exhaustion. His scrubs were speckled with blood. “I need somebody to keep him stable.”

I pointed to the woods. “But—”

“I know!” Will snapped. “Don’t you think I want to be out there searching too? We’re shorthanded for healers. There’s some salve and nectar in that pack. Go!”

BULLETPOINT 3:

This is said about Will’s personality on his wiki.

With a tendency to overwork himself, Will is extremely dedicated to his work, even going so far as to not sleeping for days on end.

Altruism as his fatal flaw;

Will would put everyone above his own needs and desires, consequently ignoring his own health and well-being. This could be dangerous, because well, overworking can be bad for his health. Not sleeping for days on end is bad for his health on both short and long terms. His own altruism will weaken him considerably.

CONCLUSION

So in conclusion, all of Will’s fatal flaws (at least to me) has something to do with the fact that he is a healer. If you noticed how the proposed fatal flaws are quite similar, then you have a keen eye. They are indeed pretty similar, with only little to differentiate. 

I’m looking forward to learning more about Will, both of his good sides and bad sides in the upcoming Solangelo book. 

Have any thoughts? Which fatal flaws do you think he most likely has? 

Sources;

The Blood of Olympus (HoO #5)

The Last Olympian (PJO #5)

The Hidden Oracle (TOA #1)

The Tower of Nero (TOA #5)

Will Solace Wiki

Will Solace quotes

Fatal Flaw

This amazing video essay I found on YouTube that inspired me to write this

#will solace #will solace headcanon #will solace analysis #pjo text post #the trials of apollo #toa #riordanverse #pjo fandom #pjo hoo toa #nico di angelo #percy jackon and the olympians #nico pjo #Percy jackson #fatal flaws #clarisse la rue #luke castellan #annabeth chase #pjo series #character analysis #character theory #solangelo #solangelo book #rrverse #the last olympian

[ravenrambles6229]

Love is stored in the Zane

Have you guys ever read Wu’s journal entries in the Dark Island Trilogy? He writes one for a bunch of characters. Here’s a pic of Zane’s because it’s by far my favorite.

Sorry for potato quality. It’s impossible to find HQ images of this book anywhere. If anyone knows where I can find it, lemme know. Anyway, here’s a translation:

---

Day 20

Perhaps, in this time of turmoil, it would be best to focus on the Titanium Ninja, who is always an island of calm amid troubled waters. Since the day I met him, sitting at the bottom of an icy lake in an effort to test his endurance, Zane has proven to be a constantly surprising member of the team.

Zane started out feeling like a bit of an outsider with the team, and was not sure why. He did not understand Jay’s jokes or Kai’s fiery temper. It was only later that it became clear the Zane was not human. He was a Nindroid, the first of his kind, whose memory had been turned off by his creator.

But the Titanium Ninja has grown far beyond his origins. He has formed bonds of friendship and loyalty with his teammates and others. He has gone on fighting even when logic said there was no way to win.

Most important, he was willing to sacrifice his own existence to save the world. Those are not the actions of a heartless collection of mechanical parts. Yes, Zane is stronger, faster, and more durable than a human. And yes, there are still things about how people interact that he may never understand. But if you measure humanity by a fighting spirit that never quits, no matter the odds... Zane may well be the most human of anyone I know.

I have hopes his artificial nature may help protect him from the worst effects of the Dark Island. If I am correct, he may be out secret weapon in the battle to come.

---

I. I love this so much, you guys. Wu loves and respects Zane so much.

“But if you measure humanity by a fighting spirit that never quits, no matter the odds... Zane may well be the most human of anyone I know,” is such a sweet quote! It’s so great getting to read Wu’s thoughts and feelings about his beloved ninja, since something like this is probably difficult to fit into the show. Wu loves his ninja so much, and the Dark Island trilogy REALLY highlights just why he loves them all so much...

Anyway, I may post the others eventually. I just want to make sure people know this exists, because I adore it so so much but it’s so hard to find. Best I could do were two low rez read-throughs on Youtube. Anyway I need everyone to see these because they were so good, and the Dark Island really gave some time for the characters to interact that I loved. For those wondering, it’s fully canon. They take place in between seasons six and seven, and even get a mural on the monastery wall.

#ninjago #ninjago masters of spinjitzu #ninjago dark island #dark island trilogy #zane ninjago #zane julien #titanium ninja #wu's journal #wu ninjago #sensei wu ninjago #sensei wu #master wu

[astarionfreak]

Days of hedonistic debauchery (1/9)

// Gale x Tessa (Fem!Tav) x Astarion

For Tessa, Astarion coming to stay with her and Gale in Waterdeep has been a dream come true. Even Gale is learning to enjoy the taste of chaos. But nothing can ever really be that simple, can it?

18+ • NSFW • 4.7K words (1/9) | Read on AO3 (a teaser is available below)

Tags: POV Third Person, Past Tense, Post-Game, Vampire Spawn Astarion, Professor Gale, Canon-Typical Violence, Polyamory, Miscommunication, Emotional Baggage, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Threesome, Vampire Sex, Vampire Bites, Blood, Menstrual Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Double Penetration, Anal Sex, Cunnilingus, Oral Sex, Face-Sitting

“You know exactly how long it takes to get me off, don’t you?” Tessa laughed.

“I’d rather not dignify such a question with an answer,” Gale said.

Tessa snorted. “Of course you do. Whatever, let’s fuckin’ go” She gave Gale another quick kiss before she flopped onto her back next to him.

She kicked off her shorts and had her underwear halfway down her thighs when the bedroom door swung open.

“Darling, you’re bleeding. Is everything alright?” Astarion expertly moved a steaming mug from the crook of his arm to his other hand — so he was holding one in each hand. The scent of freshly made coffee drifted across the room.

“Blood? I’m not . . .”

Tessa glanced down at her underwear and that’s when she saw it. A wet, red, stain letting her know that it was that time in her cycle. “Oh. That’s a bummer.”

“A . . . bummer? For you, perhaps, but certainly not for me.” Astarion flashed her a sly smile. He was shirtless. His usually perfectly-coiffed hair fell around his face in loose, messy rings — evidence that none of them got much rest the night before. “Gale, do you mind?”

“Hm? Oh.” Gale stepped out of the bed with a soft huff and padded over to where Astarion was standing. He took one of the cups from Astarion’s hands — Tessa assumed that one was tea. The other one was coffee, that one would be for her. Astarion didn’t drink either.

Gale sipped it and started walking back to the bed.

Astarion peeked around Gale at Tessa and rolled his eyes. “Darling . . .”

Gale took another sip and turned around to look at Astarion. “Yes?”

Astarion eyed him with a teasing grin. “I know how distracting it can be when your blood flow has been redirected, but perhaps, you could use that brilliant brain of yours for a second.”

“Brilliant?” Gale choked on his most recent sip of tea.

Astarion didn’t move from the doorway. “The curtains, darling. Do you mind closing them?”

“Oh, gods, the sunlight, of course.” Gale conjured a mage hand and sent it flying across the room. “I’m truly sorry, Astarion. I didn’t think.”

With a few good tugs, the mage hand pulled the thick curtains closed, blocking the sunlight completely, before dissipating.

Astarion stepped into the room and put the coffee on the bedside table nearest Tessa. “I can see what had you so distracted.” Astarion’s gaze raked down Tessa’s body, over her flushed chest and hard nipples peeking through her thin shirt, to the delicious mess between her legs. “Now, about your little situation . . ."

Read on AO3.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion bg3 #bg3 #gale bg3 #bg3 smut #baldur's gate 3 fanfiction #baldur's gate 3 smut #af.op.fic #af.op

[ceo-of-sloppy-men]

One of my buddies sent me this video just lying about the drifter so let’s break it down. Points 2,3&4 are explicitly wrong. I don’t deny the drifter is a morally grey character but you don’t have to fish far to find interesting facts about him. Let alone lie.

2) you can’t destroy a ghost and revive it. So automatically not canon, and it’s how you can tell the rest are lies.

3) he didn’t give Orin over to the 9, she gave herself over and it has left a sour taste in his mouth about the 9 ever since because he was deeply in love with her. She betrayed him, not the other way around.

4) All we do know is he associated with them until he had a falling out with Callum Sol. But drifters own philosophy states he doesn’t kill anyone unless they give him no other option. We see that in THE CURRENT SEASON (I am less confident on this, for all we know he did kill people).

(Here’s a direct quote from the wiki)

I blocked the person before making this post but I also remember him saying he lobotomized his ghost. Also untrue. His ghost ‘snapped’ and gave him specific info to escape the Ice planet when it was clear there was no other hope for survival. This info was how to build a “super ghost” from the parts of other ghosts and his own. The reason people may assume his ghost is lobotomized is because he refers to his ghost as it, because he hates being a guardian.

Here are 3 new fun facts that are completely true:

1) drifter is classless. According to Shin Malphur, the Drifter doesn’t belong to any class in the game “not by common understanding anyway”

2) drifter hated being a guardian so much that he decided to hide as a normal citizen at the start of his revival. This worked until the Iron Lords made a deal with the town to use it as bate for the Warlords, but their plan went sideways and the whole town was slaughtered in the battle. Or at least enough for drifter to be stated to have buried the bones. Bones. Not bodies.

3) he’s a man with many connections but perhaps the most infamous is Shin Malphur. The two have met, the later seeking to hunt the shadows of yor, and that it was Shin’s approval that let him dock at the Last City. During this conversation, Drifter mentioned he’s been to several places, amongst them being the fourth tomb of nezerac, the luvial crux, and the shift chasms below elios.

There.

#destiny 2 #the drifter destiny #like come on don’t spread hate because you hate the character/game mode #destiny 2 lore #destiny 2 spoilers

[firendgold]

Pk now I want to hear tour rant about how Harrydore is bettter than Grindeldore. Bring it 🤣❤️

ohhh, this one's easy. I've been in this fandom on and off since 2006, and seen how Harry, Albus and Gellert were written pre- and post-'Dumbledore closet interview'. cracks knuckles

got to hit you with that readmore though. and it's going to be in two parts. I rambled again. ^^

🗲

//

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(...'rambled' is perhaps an understatement.)

🗲

grindeldore vs harrydore

grindeldore

the tl;dr of the below is the following sentences, and then I'll get into it. My philosophy on gr*ndeld*re extends to all other ships in all other fandoms, especially HP: if it's not an AU and you have to excessively mischaracterize Character A to get them to 'fit' with Character B, then it's not a good ship, canon or not. Albus Dumbledore is quite often mischaracterized in order to 'fit' or 'keep' him with Gellert Grindelwald.

here's my problems with how gr*ndeld*re is most often portrayed:

Inconsistency within canon. JKR is partly mostly to blame for this (because she has contradicted her original 2007 statement in the present day with more interviews in the 2010s and with the Fantastic Beasts movies), but the first problem is: gr*ndeld*re was originally an unrequited ship. The original statement was that Albus was dazzled by Gellert's power, his presence, their similarities, their shared ideals... but That Woman wasn't explicit on whether Gellert ever returned his feelings. But based on her quotes where she says "falling in love can blind you to an extent" and that [Dumbledore] was "terribly, terribly let down" by the result of that whirlwind relationship, I think it's safe to assume that her original idea of Gellert cared far more for seeing his grander plans realized than for the needs and feelings of his 'equal'. And yet... in fandom, they are most often portrayed instead as star-crossed lovers torn apart by 'conflicting ideals'.

The second problem is that in the avalanche of fics and art that have come from The Reveal, the original lesson (/moral...?) behind the reveal of gr*ndeld*re, and how it shaped Albus as an adult, leader, and progressive, just... got lost. Completely lost. The whole point of it was to show that even Albus (supposed 'paragon of goodness' until book 7 showed the fandom that he is a regular human being) can make 'relatable' mistakes like... you know... being friends with a fascist. Being in love with a fascist, even. Thanks to said retcon interviews and the new movies (and even before that tbh) the fandom has since: overexaggerated Albus' new clay feet to the point of bashing him, idolized Grindelwald's red flag traits and ideals to the point where he has become the new "Tom Riddle was just misunderstood!" guy, and twisted that lesson/moral/whatever to mean that actually Albus and Gellert were tragically kept away from each other by an itsy bitsy little difference of opinion. A minor little fight. Casual death of your sick sister. Haven't we all been there?

The fandom diminishing the real reasons why Albus and Gellert eventually clashed, were destined to clash, is bad enough. What's worse is the opposite end. Some Dumbledore-bashing fans go the other way and paint present-day Dumbledore with the same brush as Grindelwald, even going so far as to say he still supports The Greater Good even though his entire character is literally built on being the opposite of the pro-magic, anti-Muggle philosophy. Albus has also been painted in some fics and even meta discussions as someone who 'regrets' his past not because his sister died and his brother is estranged from him, but just because his ex-boyfriend is in prison and he maybe kind of regrets not going full fascist with him. Like... bruh. NO. There are people who ship gr*ndeld*re just because they feel like Grindelwald, the worst dark wizard in the world, the reason why Voldemort is only a minor league little lord in comparison, is an appropriate "punishment" for the character they already dislike and thus misinterpret. (Side note: I'm not sure if I'm in a worse hell watching Albus' character get whitewashed for fascism or demonized so he can be a miserable lonely gay.)

Albus diminishes himself to meet Gellert's needs. An in-universe problem this time instead of a meta/RL one: Albus and Gellert were lovers, yes, but in order to be so, Albus had to actively start neglecting his siblings (since in Aberforth's words he was 'doing all right' taking care of them before Gellert showed up) and leaning more into anti-Muggle sentiment. He put all his energy into what for most of the magical world was a wild goose chase after some fairy-tale items. (Remember, most wixen don't give a shit about the Deathly Hallows, or think they're even real.) He became the person Gellert needed/desired most. Albus became a version of himself that he despised later in his life and after his death.

Relationships often include the members changing, and it's easy for even the most devoted partners to fall out of love if they change and are now too different from one another, or one person changes and the other... doesn't. After Ariana died, Albus chose to become a different person and champion the same people he and his family once despised. He chose to stay away from Gellert, whether he called it cowardice or principles or whatever else. And his choice put him in conflict with Gellert, who at sixteen refused to change course or rethink his ideals even when his choices led to the death of a magical person (the type of person he supposedly prizes above all others). His magical boyfriend's magical sister, even. And we see no sign that Gellert changed, repented, or considered Albus until decades later, at the very end of his life—far too late.

Healthy relationships require give-and-take, sacrificing for your partner in things big and small. For high-stakes relationships like Albus and Gellert's (queer in the 1800s, sweet Merlin), that is even more true. During that steamy summer of 1899, it was Albus who did all the sacrifcing/giving and Gellert who did all the taking. Gellert may have entertained the idea of bringing Ariana along on his quest with Albus (we don't know), but Aberforth was right to say that it would have been torture for her—and no alternate idea was brought up that would prioritize the wellbeing of Albus' siblings while he was away. And in the moment of required reciprocity when Albus was at his lowest, Gellert left him behind and went off to go rule the world. Not even the most diehard shipper can argue against the fact that when Ariana died, Grindelwald left.

This problem is even more personal/biased than the other ones. Albus and Gellert parted ways in 1899. They didn't see each other again until the duel in 1945 (because fuck Fantastic Beasts, the scripts don't even make fucking sense). Albus defeated Gellert, put him in prison, and then went on living for another fifty-two years. And That Woman expects me to believe that Albus never had a relationship with anyone before Gellert, and never even looked at another wizard afterward? In 52 years, he was one-and-done? He never once fell in love with other people, whether or not he fully trusted them/let them in? Be serious. Pull the other one. It's not realistic, and it doesn't speak to the kind of man Albus Dumbledore is. He may not have found a man to check the same boxes Gellert did, but he wouldn't arguably be looking for someone too similar to his old flame. He might not trust them unconditionally or be the Perfect Partner for them (bc whew traumaaa), but there would be other people for Albus in a realistic Magical Britain (even discounting time travel shenanigans). Before the reveal, the most popular people to ship Albus with were Minerva, Alastor, and Elphias Doge; these options are still arguably more valid. Albus Dumbledore loves love, he champions love, and he doesn't think he deserves it after his sins, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't go looking. It's mind-boggling to me that with all the well-deserved disavowing of JKR following her anti-trans hate (and her shameless pandering to the same people calling her a witch poisoning their children's minds decades ago), that some people still treat her words about Albus and Gellert's relationship and its effects on Albus in particular as gospel. I sure don't. (Especially because she said he became "asexual" after His One Gay Experience when like. That's not. What asexuality is??? And ace gay people exist???) Whether you count the FB movies or not, there are still decades of Albus' life that are a mystery, and I refuse to believe he closed his heart and caged his dick for all of them.

IMPORTANT END NOTE: These observations obviously do not apply to all gr*ndeld*re shippers. Some people genuinely do like both characters, characterize them correctly, and still want to see them together for reasons. I'm not going to judge them. I ship a frigging time travel age gap ship, how the fuck could I. And I'm also aware that a lot of fics/art are made to color in between the lines of what we don't know in the fandom, bringing Albus and Gellert together during the mystery years, or making one wizard better for the other to address all the ship baggage. I just can't join them because of how rarely that occurs (and, admittedly, how much I personally can't see it). You would not believe how many fics and discussions I've seen that lionize Grindelwald and treat Dumbledore like an accessory, or completely mischaracterize Albus' motivations, intentions, and actions, and then put him with "the other Big Bad". UGH.

Most of the time, I see gr*ndeld*re the ship hurting Albus the individual. It's very rare to find an iteration where Albus is not bearing the consequences of Gellert's choices, Gellert's actions, Gellert's mistakes and harm done. I think Albus deserves better than to be Gellert's accessory just because he loved him deeply long ago.

okay. whew. that was a lot.

a character limit prevents me from continuing here, so the second half of this versus will go elsewhere, sorry!

#fireandgold #fireandgoldposts #kazuza-art #thanks for the ask! #tried to make it *non*-bashing but... eh I just really don't like most iterations of That Ship #I also put 'relatable' in quotes bc as a POC I simply could never be knowingly connected to a fascist. couldn't be me #it's WORSE bc Albus' mum is implied to be Native American and he just hooks up with wizard HITLER I cannot... I just can't... #granted. I have read really really good grindeldore fics. I just could never ship it/write a fic for them myself. perhaps it's my flaw lol #I tried to censor the name as often as possible so sorry if it ends up in the other tag #time travel harrydore #harrydore #dumbledore meta #potter meta #why not grindelwald #<- that tag is for later #...I have to split this post in half. damn you tumblr ''character limit''

[artbyaleksandr]

🐶🐱Gallavich🐶🐱 💚💙Intropost🧡🖤

HI  ~  MY 🐶🐱Gallavich🐶🐱💚💙Intropost🧡🖤 

  💗 from @callivich thank you 💗

I'm not good at English I use translate most of the time 🥺 I've been in this fandom for almost a year now. But I'm a shy person  😳 💦  and a foreigner  💦 I follow a lot of fics. (I read it every day for almost a year) I follow many Writer. I hope to get to know more people in the fandom  🌟

Name: (can be a nickname)

Aleksandr /  AA

Age: 

20 + 

What made you fall in love with Gallavich?

I really like the Ian S1  That's probably the whole reason lol I saw a video of Ian dancing in TikTok. At first, I didn't care. But it shows up in my feed a lot. Until I continued to study the character of Ian, so I knew Shameless and was a gallavich stan ever since. (I quite believe Ian is definitely a character that I will fall in love with because of his character. I'm really looking for something new and interesting and yes I quite like the TOP HOT character and the warm hair color and I like the Power Bottom pair.  I bet against myself. What if I went to study Ian's character and I found out that he was top I would follow and yes I guessed everything right lol )

How long have you been a fan?

Late 2022

Favourite Gallavich moment/scene?

I love the S1 moment, the scene where Ian visits Mickey. I fell in love with the Smile scene to this day.  😊

Favourite Shameless character apart from Ian and Mickey?

I like Lip, he's my favorite character. I like smart characters. I like him 3rd in the show and I hope he gets better with every EP and disappointed in the latter ss)

Do you write or draw or make edits? Feel free to link to your work!

I drew, you can follow me here.  In the future there may be 18+ images/CMS/open of requests.

 / Tw :  @ARTbyAleksandr / IG : art_aleksandr_aa

Favourite type of Gallavich fics? Are you into angsty canon type fics or maybe fluffy one shots, perhaps you like dramatic canon divergent stories or interesting AUs - share what tropes/genres you like!

Since I've been following I've read a lot of Gallavich fics, really a lot.

I like Alpha/Omega /AU royalty / Mpreg👼 /Wolf Vampire🐺🧛/Hybrid🐶🐱

/fantasy🧚‍♂️🧝‍♂️/jealous Ian

I hope someday someone will write a girl! Mickey, not Tran, 

I need a fic F/M 🥺💦

Favourite Gallavich quote?

" Likin' what I like don't make me a bitch. "

"I Can Take Care Of Him, OK? Let Me Take Care Of Him Until He's Better."

I love you, Mickey Milkovich. More than anything.

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

Hello, I love the character Ian BUT  Mickey is always the best character.  I'm a foreigner. Almost all of my language and reading depend on translate. My language is very weird I like talking But I'm pretty shy for for starting a conversation I hope to have more friends in fandom. I'm cute. I can love you as soon as you talk to me.  (I came from a fandom about Japan before.idk much about European culture. Most of my drawings are Japanese style. I like the type of dog/cat. 🐶🐱I hope I can practice drawing 18+gallavich and be able to post.

#gallavich #gallavichintro #shameless #intro #me #my post #my art #Shameless US #Shameless fanart #Ian Gallagher #ian x mickey #gallavich fanart #Fanart #digital art #art 2023 #HBD IAN 2023 #mickey milkovich #gallavich 🐶🐱 #rkgk #Cameron Monaghan #noel fisher #I've never made an introductory post. idk if I can put pictures on ? I rarely play tumblr #pin post