#why are you choosing to just erase it?

[plotwholls]

This is kind of random, but it actually really pissed me off that Natasha feeling like a monster was brushed over in Ultron?? And just because a male writer made her negative view of herself stem from not being able to have kids doesn’t mean we have to use that interpretation!?!? Because… I feel like people are forgetting the context in which this choice was removed from Nat.

We see “Graduation”. Nat doesn’t want the surgery.

That nightmare down the hallway looks like it was probably extremely traumatic!! and instead of getting annoyed that this is about a woman and babies again, think about what is happening: they are taking away Nat’s ability to selflessly sacrifice her body, her life, to give life and body to another, so that she can be better at taking life and body from another.

“Nat thinks she’s a monster because of a crusty white guy” is such a mid take when “Nat thinks because her ability to create life was removed, she can only take life” goes fucking hard.

#why are you choosing to just erase it? #like you don’t even have to really replace it #88% of Natasha’s personality is the “red in her ledger” and her trying to “wipe it clean” like what #Let Nat Think She’s a Monster In AoU 2k22 #idk man it just irritates me that no one has considered that Nat always thought if she was a mother she wouldn’t be unlovable #y’know bc she thinks she was abandoned?? #like seriously there are so many better takes #just erase the crusty yt man takes. DP fandom did it with Butch Hartman MCU fandom can do it too #age of ultron #natasha romonova #natasha romanoff #I just don’t get it

[datastate]

in light of new changes: do not give tumblr your money if you disapprove of what they are doing to this site, this encourages them to continue implementing changes at the expense of their userbase. use the feedback feature on /support to submit complaints, as attempting to mention staff/humans/any personal blogs from there may be falsely flagged as harassment (lest we forget partyjockers) & tank their ratings on apps stores with your same complaints over the new features they are implementing. please, feel free to bring up their insensitivity to disabled people regarding visual overload or epilepsy; tumblr live making it a dangerous place for american individuals, especially kids, as it shares their location and there is no permanent way to turn it off; instances of transphobic or racist harassment that has gone unmoderated despite reports; or of the fascist problem they have on here, which they do not censor in the least. they have the ability to make tags unsearchable and completely erase posts, yet never apply it to these violent groups. there is so much they could be doing, which the majority of the userbase has requested they work on, yet they refuse to. make your complaining productive and share it where it'll actually be heard.

#i still have screenshots from the partyjockers incident before staff completely erased it lol it's so frustrating #you may bring up their debt but frankly tumblr is a company foremost. you cannot make me empathize with it as if it is my starving friend #and if tumblr is simply choosing to emulate other sites... well. then there is nothing 'of' tumblr to keep around. let it die. #i don't want to lose the site that worked well enough for art and more obscure games but destroying that is what tumblr is doing #even before it collapses with financial problems. and you cannot let it guilttrip you into accepting whatever bullshit it does #what sort of pushover are you. really #jestersvaguely #i don't make posts like this and i haven't even been on desktop yet bc i am out but just... rubs my face. why #to all of this. why.

[clottedscream]

valentine’s day was two days ago but in my defense i had a linear algebra exam so. i was busy

[Image ID: a digital illustration of a feminine person with a bloodless heart shaped cut-out in their chest. They are shirtless, and the hole exposes their ribcage and lungs. Four oily or slimy-looking black arms extend from the lower edges of the page and reach for the hole with relaxed hands, as if trying to censor breasts which are not there or as if to touch the ribs. The figure has very pale skin, pink hair and eyes, and is wearing a pair of black denim shorts. The skin around the hole in their chest is notably veiny. They’re posed in a sort of pinup position, as if lying down, and they smile coyly at the viewer. The background, which is dark and muddled by various splashes and oily patterns, has two vintage-looking anatomical diagrams of the human heart. End ID]

#dairydraws #gore art #tw gore #tw anatomy #gore tw #gurokawaii #lovecore #valentines #valentines day aesthetic #digital art #jumpscaring all of my many new epithet erased and rtc followers by living up to the horror warning in my pinned post #like oh you thought i just drew cute fanart things. ribcage jump scare #if you’re curious as to why all my models have the same sort of shaggy bob cut #it’s because long hair is annoying as shit to pose #you can choose to interpret this as the same person from that traditional drawing i posted a while ago lol

[villainsidestep]

living up to the villain sidestep name (thinking of a Third puppet)

#gideon shut the hell up challenge #on one hand. never in a million years would we let fawn have THREE puppets that we just alternate between #esp when eden and yaz are both canon and cannot be erased or replaced #HOWEVER. on the other hand. fawn w mirror puppet....? #fawn who is so caught up on The Good Old Days? finding a mirror of back then? having a visual reminder of when they were Good? #hiding in plain sight. despite everything it's still you (positive). despite everything it's still you (negative). #bonus evil points for 'hey ric why are u dating the girl version of fawn? that's so fucked up' and #'hey daniel and chen why don't u like this non-evil (aka not corrupted) version of fawn as much? that's so fucked up' #pov u are fawn becker abt 2 blame the corpse ur piloting for choosing a life of evil except that it's your face and choices and fate #oh right fate motive. there's smth there abt the fate of being doomed to be puppeted (regardless of if it's Them or just a lookalike) but #anyway we're not gonna do it but if we Were going to do it we'd specifically give them a name meaning hunter/huntress. just for the comedy #@ me think more abt how fawn considers themselves corrupted bc of how they're bad now tyyy

[sscrambledmeggss]

Sometimes I forget why I’m not very active on gleddit, and then I see “Santana should have been bi” and then I remember 💔

#I’m sorry this mean 😭 it’s just idk how you can want to erase a whole character arc because you think she had chemistry with men #she clearly didn’t have chemistry with men in the show because she’s a lesbian 🤨🤨 #like there are literally canon bi characters in glee and multiple characters you can headcanon as bi #but why did you choose the canon lesbian who has stated multiple times she does not like men 🤨🤨 #its just very upsetting 😭😭 #meg’s incoherent thoughts #santana lopez #anti gleddit #i don’t think that’s a tag but I’m using it anyway 🦧

[autismmydearwatson]

Watching The Avengers (2012) on my marathon of Ye Olde Avengers Movies just to put a lid on my Shadow and Bone insanity and how did I forget about the part where Fury politely asks Thor to torture his brother because that part was so messed up???

#the avengers 2012 #why did my mind choose to erase that specific scene from my memory cause it genuinely surprised me #maybe cause its such a blink-and-you-miss-it moment #the avengers (2012) #thor odinson #nick fury #loki laufeyson #i wont lie it did give me chills #just. like from an audiences perspective #thats just a sick thing to ask of THOR. OF ALL PEOPLE

[guiltyidealist]

Okamiden what happened to the emperor???

#the game REFUSES to mention him!!!! #even if you examine his palace doors with Kagu she just says can't go in there buddy #they're all ACK😮‍💨 the city has been in SHAMBLES since Himiko kicked the can 😫😫😫 BUT LIKE??? #LAW OF SUCCESSION LEFT THE FANG COLLECTOR EMPEROR AS THE CITY'S RULER #is there so much as a throwaway line from an NPC about it??? about him????? about what happened???????????? #because if not I think the game's ONLY mention of him is in the history scrolls just talking about blight #but like??? okay I remember NPCs in the first game being like #I hope he's a good leader :/ worried tho he just collects teeth :/ we need him to step up to the plate and lead :/ #SO JUST. SAY. IT DIDNT WORK OUT?? HE COULDNT LEAD AND ABANDONED THE CITY??? OR THEY DROVE HIM OUT?????? #JUST SOMETHING??? ANYTHING!!!!! #LIKE WHY DO THEY CHOOSE TO UTTERLY ERASE HIM EVERY LAST TRACE OF HIM #Okamiden

[balteus]

yea actually i think the author of raybearer is bent on messing with me specifically

#redemptors are sent every year or every hundred years which is it. how is yui alive if this was 100 years ago. organ death and poisoning #are the same cause of death. on the other hand death from falling isn't specified despite it being distinct from the others and the prince #claiming he is immune to it #CONSTANT TIME SKIPS. WHY #worst offender of show don't tell I've seen in a while. please let us see sanjeet nighmares instead of simply telling us about him #tell me more about maya she's the best character and only had 2 lines so far which is a crims #the entire bit of mc erasing her own memories was so not thought out. you immediately know what's going to happen there's 0 stakes here #how come everyone acts normal after she does this despite them calling medics just seconds earlier? how come she doesn't get her memories #back when she touches sanjeet? #raybearer has SUCH good worldbuilding concepts it's a shame they're so crudely explored #there's not a single character which talks normally. ifueko i promise you you can do foreshadowing without shoving it in oops didn't mean #to say that style dialogue #this book would be so much better if it was 2 or 3 books instead. tarisai growing up and her travel to the capital. exploring places she #was walled off from in her isolation. meeting kirah before and bonding with her. exploration of lodestones and magic systems #more kathleen and the redemptor. the author actually has no excuse to simply not have done this #because we KNOW tarisah can erase her own memories and would pass the test #AND THEN the second book about the trials living with dayo meeting sanjeet and fleshing out other anointed. perhaps finishing in her #regaining her memories and choosing to save dayo despite everything or at some point after the even im currently reading abt #which is abi demons escaping the temple #anyway! sorry for the long tags but i was so hyped about this book when i heard abt the main character being able to steal memories and #a plot point that happens later on

[inkskinned]

"the curtains weren't blue on purpose. why should we care?"

my love! let me ask you this - did you eat breakfast today? this tiny moment in your life. just think about it. did you?

for some of you, the answer is yes and for some of you it is technically and for some of you it is does coffee count. some of you reached for cereal or gmo-free overnight oats or frozen waffles or 3-day-old pizza. sometimes we eat the same thing, every day, for weeks. i get tired of eggs randomly, only to go back to craving them desperately. i'm cuban; i take my coffee like my father showed me, very milky and sweet.

some of us ate in a hurry. some of us hate eating breakfast but if we don't we will get nauseous later. some of us took our meds first or took our meds after. some of us have a kitchen 5 feet wide and sometimes it's the biggest room in the house. some of us are confident there will be food in the pantry and some of us flinch and say well, the paycheck is coming. some of us turn on a podcast while we eat or we scroll our phones or write in our diaries.

some of us are choosing, specifically, not to eat breakfast. some of us are too busy. some of us are pretending we "just forgot," but we are ignoring the warning signs that everything feels too-heavy. some of us are so consumed with anxiety or grief that we can't eat. some of us can't stand up long enough to make our coffee. some of us have no table to sit down and eat.

i cannot tell you what an artist "meant" by their choices. but they did have to make a choice, conscious or otherwise, to give you information. to give you a little bit more light. each of these choices are little stars of data; connecting speckles for you to weave through, drawing a line.

you cannot use a mirror in a dark room. for some of us; we will not care that the curtains are blue, because that will just be a data point and not enough light to see by. for some of us, the blue curtains will be the same as our childhood bedroom. it will make us seasick. for some of us, blue will be the color of frostbite. it might look like a pixel up close; but from a distance, oh! the picture blooms.

i cannot tell you what will stick out for you. what will carry meaning. some of you will read the sentence "i didn't have breakfast today" and say "this means nothing." some of you will read that and say "oh, me neither." some of you will say "this means the character is probably a little grouchy." some of you will say "oh, i wonder if they're okay. why didn't they eat anything?" ... art is a mirror. i am holding hands with you, over space and time, and asking you to feel something with me.

i want you to read my work and find a blue pair of curtains. i want you to read my work and find things in it that i never imagined placing. i have no way of knowing what will resonate with you, that's true. and maybe i just was hungry while i wrote this, and thinking about the eggs in my fridge. but if you found meaning, that meaning is yours. it cannot be erased just because i didn't "intend" it. you created a different world by interpreting my work. it's collaborative! that's beautiful! that's stunning!

just! imagine looking at the night sky and saying - it's stupid to have a favorite constellation or a favorite star. they're just there.

because here's the thing - across centuries and cultures, we look up. we still find meaning in the stars. these beautiful, lovely scattered accidents. are you looking? they call. and we look back and say oh! of course we are!

#this got away from me #but like #u know #reading is a form of creation #and sometimes the choice that the author makes might SEEM random #but it's like. bro that's telling u something. #also hate the vibe where authors/artists mock their audience for finding meaning in something #nahhhh #if u make art u need to be okay with people finding their own reflection in it

[boxingcleverrr]

Popular Hades & Persephone "retellings" are, rightly, getting dunked on all over the socials right now and, as a Pagan who has an altar to the Queen, I could not be happier. But also, I feel like a lot of people miss WHY they're bad - aside from just plain bad writing and lazy tropes. Which are, yeah, also REALLY bad.

Pretty much all retellings try to wave away, or excuse, or twist the whole kidnapping bit. And I actually do have sympathy and understanding for why, when speaking from a modern perspective.

But honestly...you gotta get over it. There are other stories to play fix-it with, not this one.

The Abduction is The Thing.

Were I a little more sober I could bring up chapter and verse of the Hymn to Demeter but frankly, if you know even the middle school mythology curriculum version of the story, you SHOULD know the themes. The story of Persephone was one mothers and daughters in the ancient world held dear, because it was a reality: you will, one day, be swept away from your home to go cleave to a man you most likely know nothing about. You will miss your mother, but chances are very good that he will be a good husband, once you get to know him, certainly better than Zeus or Ares, and he will make you a queen of his home.

Leaving home to marry was often scary, and violent (look up the history of the tradition of Bridesmaids, if you don't already know it - they were originally decoys on the marriage road). Centuries later we'd have tales like Beauty & The Beast serving the same function: comfort, hope, you are leaving your safe loving home to figure life out with a (often older, powerful) stranger. Your trauma over this sudden ending of your childhood made manifest in a Beast, or a God of The Underworld.

It's wonderful that we don't NEED stories like this anymore to comfort us (here, at least, in this culture). But if you try to force them into modern vernacular it just will not work, not really, because you're gutting out the whole point just to have a more tidy romantic male hero.

I have read MANY very good ...novelizations? fanfic(? however you would frame them, but they're certainly not "retellings"), etc. that simply take advantage of the blank spaces in the myth, and there are many!

It's not explicit that sexual assault happens - "The Rape of Persephone" as a title was coined in much earlier eras, when the word was just as often used to simply refer to abduction.

"She was starving!" the gods didn't need to eat. So it's easy to read her eating the Pom seeds as a deliberate choice on her part. Like, shit, people, scholars have written whole papers on the symbolism of this moment, between marriage rites and even yeah, Seph choosing both worlds with her husband's knowing consent.

And that, I think, is the real heart of the thing. People want an utterly mundane, spelled-out story here, as opposed to what it really is, has always been, just like any other myth or religious parable: IT'S A METAPHOOOOOOR.

They don't need to be destined, or meet at a goddamned BALL and then CONSPIRE to fake her kidnapping, or shit, I once saw one where Hades got MIND CONTROLLED by Zeus?! Jesus.

Persephone was yoinked into the Underworld against her will.

That's how it went.

I don't mean this in a "stay out of my belief system!" way, shit I'm a white American chick with delusions of witchery. I mean this in a "stop stressing yourself out trying to make things palatable" way:

This is a very real, very precious myth to many people, BECAUSE for at least that one event, Persephone had no autonomy, BECAUSE for thousands of years most women had no autonomy. Erasing that, sanitizing the fact that a girl is ripped out of the spring, from her mother's arms, is erasing the thing that gave comfort to women for centuries. And people can and should still find power and healing in it now!

Fill in the blanks the story leaves in whatever manner seems fit to you, there's plenty of room, but. Come the fuck on.

#blathering #truly had a ramble bubbling for weeks #just pagan things

[kentopedia]

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹ REASSURANCE — nanami kento

kento comforts you when you're feeling down

contents: gn!reader, insecurities, pet names, this was written in like 30 mins so idk, 700 words, sfw

“kento?” you asked, resting your hands on your lap. from the other side of the couch, he turned, smiling softly, placing his thumbs between the pages of the book to save his spot. your head was buried in the cushion, and you stared at him, blinking slowly. “you still love me, right?”

at first, he laughed, a small little sound that left his throat. then, when your face fell further, he cut himself off immediately, eyebrows drawing together tightly. “of course, i love you, sweetheart. i love you so much. why are you asking me?”

you shrugged, embarrassed, and looked away from him, at your hands locked together. “sometimes i just don’t know why. it makes more sense that you wouldn’t love me than that you do.”

a heavy frown drew on kento’s face, and inched closer, reaching out. “what do you mean? did i do something that made you feel unloved? if i did, honey, i’m sorry—”

which only served to make you feel worse, because, most things weren’t ever kento’s fault. he was so patient and caring, the sweetest man you’d ever known. and you weren’t sure that you deserved that kind of love at all.

“of course not, kento, you’re perfect.”

he smiled a bit, then, but that didn’t erase the concern in his eyes. “i’m certainly anything but perfect.” his fingertips ran along the back of your own, softly. “tell me what’s wrong, my love. i don’t like seeing you upset.”

you sniffed, willing the tears away as you looked past him once more, unable to meet his gentle eyes. “it’s stupid.”

“don’t say that. nothing you feel is ever stupid.”

and when a tear fell down your cheek at the kind words, you wiped it away before kento could see it, scrubbing violently at your skin.

“i’m fine, kento.”

“you’re not.” he paused, softened his voice. “it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. i won’t make you. but don’t keep it all bottled up just because you think you’re being silly. okay?”

you glanced over, blinked, stared at the way his smile was slightly tilted. the plumpness of his lips, the gentleness of his eyes. his soft, blond hair falling over his forehead, because it was sunday night, and he hadn’t bothered to style it.

how dearly you loved him. you’d rather die than live a life without him.

a sob broke loose from you, and you covered your face with your hands, sniffling. “i’m sorry. i’m sorry.”

kento said nothing, but drew you closer, pulling you onto his lap. tears fell down your cheeks, and though you didn’t want to look at him, he drew your lips to his own, the touch barely there, before he kissed across your cheeks, your forehead.

“why are you sorry?”

“i didn’t mean to cry. i’m being so dumb. and sensitive.”

“honey,” he sighed, stroking your cheeks, eyes almost pained from the sight of you so upset. “it’s okay. don’t apologize for crying. i love you. i love you, i love you.”

you breathed deeply, trying not to cry harder, hating how difficult it was for you to accept him irrevocable affections, sometimes. “but why? why would you choose me, kento? i don’t think i’m an easy person to love. i’m so… boring, and average, and you are amazing in every way.” you squeezed his hand, still resting on your cheeks, and leaned into it.

kento stared, forehead wrinkling, before he pushed you down to his chest, holding you close. a long inhale breathed deep into his body. “you aren’t any of those things, you know? you’re so lovable. you’re beautiful, caring, intelligent. anything but boring. anything but average.” he ran his fingers up the knots of your spine. “perhaps, i was put on this earth to prove you otherwise.”

you gave him a sad little smile. “you might be working on that for a while, ken.”

"that's okay." he laughed, soft, gently, enough to shake you against his chest before he kissed the top of your head. “that’s what love is, isn’t it? i'm not going to leave when things get tough.”

#kento nanami x reader #jjk x reader #nanami fluff #nanami kento x reader #nanami kento x you #nanami kento x y/n #kento nanami x you #nanami x reader #jjk x fem!reader #jujutsu kaisen fluff #jujutsu kaisen x you #jujutsu kaisen x reader #xoxo rylie 💌 ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

[instrumentsofcyanide]

╰   ✎  █║  ⁞    —     ˗ˏˋ           Tag dump !

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   My dancing devil's now a monstrous mutation. ┆ OOC.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   Will the murky river take another soul ? ┆ ANON.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   This life didn’t choose us; it chose to consume us ! ┆ BOOST.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   Welcome to my own world where it's just us now. ┆ S. BOOST.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   Now you'll be living with your decisions; it's who we are inside. ┆ SAVE.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   Let's rewrite a script where you and I can be alone. ┆ PROMPTS.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   You never know what will draw them in. ┆ DASH COM.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   Your journey’s a tragedy; you can’t undo it ! ┆ CROSSOVER.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   You’re about to experience THE WRATH OF A GOD ! ┆ CRACK.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   You left us; now answer to all your selfish deeds ! ┆ ASK.

╰  ✟･ ﾟ: *   Can you hear it ? Can you feel its immortal presence ? ┆ QUEUE.

╰  ⛧･ ﾟ: *   Don’t fall off the carousel or else you’ll meet the devil ! ┆ BENDY.

╰  ⛧･ ﾟ: *   Take the stage; it’s time for you to steal the show ! ┆ GLORY.

╰  ⛧･ ﾟ: *  And I can't figure out why I'm the one that you despise. ┆ DESCENT.

╰  ⛧･ ﾟ: *   Soon you will see; we’ll animate just you and me ! ┆ TOON.

╰  ⛧･ ﾟ: *   Will you erase me ? Or could you face me ? ┆ STUDY.

.╰  ⛧･ ﾟ: *   Do you believe in God ? Or will you write the script and become one ? ┆ HC.

#╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * My dancing devil's now a monstrous mutation. ┆ OOC. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * Will the murky river take another soul ? ┆ ANON. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * This life didn’t choose us; it chose to consume us ! ┆ BOOST. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * Welcome to my own world where it's just us now. ┆ S. BOOST. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * Now you'll be living with your decisions; it's who we are inside. ┆ SAVE. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * Let's rewrite a script where you and I can be alone. ┆ PROMPTS. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * You’re about to experience THE WRATH OF A GOD ! ┆ CRACK. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * You left us; now answer to all your selfish deeds ! ┆ ASK. #╰ ✟･ ﾟ: * Can you hear it ? Can you feel its immortal presence ? ┆ QUEUE. #╰ ⛧･ ﾟ: * Don’t fall off the carousel or else you’ll meet the devil ! ┆ BENDY. #╰ ⛧･ ﾟ: * Take the stage; it’s time for you to steal the show ! ┆ GLORY. #╰ ⛧･ ﾟ: * And I can't figure out why I'm the one that you despise. ┆ DESCENT. #╰ ⛧･ ﾟ: * Soon you will see; we’ll animate just you and me ! ┆ TOON. #╰ ⛧･ ﾟ: * Will you erase me ? Or could you face me ? ┆ STUDY. #.╰ ⛧･ ﾟ: * Do you believe in God ? Or will you write the script and become one ? ┆ HC.

[imagopersonal]

Give me coffee or give me death

I don’t believe in the Coffee Theory per se. I think the whole ‘drugged coffee’ thing is a bit too spy movie to be in Good Omens, but- BUT

The fact that that coffee is in the intro;

The fact that you can see The Metatron in line, waiting for his turn, BEFORE he gets into the coffee shop, like if he was an out of place detail you were supposed to notice and ask yourself questions about;

The very long and apparently superfluous dialogue about choosing coffee instead of death, and how “predictable” that is;

The fact that for two seasons we NEVER see Aziraphale drinking coffee, like that’s not his thing, that’s Crowley’s thing, he’s the “six-espressos-in-a-big-cup” guy, Aziraphale drinks hot chocolate or tea, and we have to assume The Metatron knows that, because he went into that coffee shop and asked for such a specific thing that makes you think that’s something he chose specifically for Aziraphale (who still doesn’t drink coffee, so why?).

He looks reluctant at the idea of drinking it at first

but he accepts it out of courtesy, I presume, and this is the face he makes when he tries it:

Even he is surprised he liked it. He’s on Earth since 6000 years, so we can assume he tried coffee before and chose not to drink it. He’s either lying about liking it out of courtesy, or this is the only coffee he’s ever enjoyed, and The Metatron knew he would have liked it and chose that coffee on purpose.

So, the coffee is either important as a physical element, as something that had an actual effect on Aziraphale and changed him somehow, or it’s important in its metaphorical significance. In Good Omens almost everything is metaphorical, so the second option is very likely.

Now, what’s the coffee supposed to represent? The only certain thing we know, is that the coffee is something The Metatron offers Aziraphale, so it probably represents the offer he’s about to make.

Considering the whole “Does anyone ever choose death?” conversation, considering the fact that we don’t know how the conversation between The Metatron and Aziraphale went, we only know the version Aziraphale chooses to tell Crowley, and considering The Metatron is the angel that decided to erase Gabriel’s memory just because he said “nah” about Armageddon 2.0 and Aziraphale is the traitor, the one who stopped the Armageddon 1.0, so The Metatron has no reason to be friendly with him, my question is:

Did Aziraphale actually have a choice?

Or the alternative was worse than leaving Crowley and the bookshop?

Was it actually coffee or death?

Imago

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens spoilers #aziraphale #the metatron #coffee theory #good omens theory #good omens meta #media analysis

[vashtijoy]

have you seen the commentary from the p5r artbook going around? the shuake part of my dash is losing it a bit at the implication that their wishes were mutual!!! that seems to be what some people are getting from the commentary at least… amy insights?

Hi! I have been through the artbook. It's great, isn't it? :D

The image above is called "One Ending", and the creator caption (by illustrator Akane Kabayashi) reads:

When I think about how Akechi's wish was to play chess after school with the protagonist, I almost want to call him out with "You liked him after all, didn't you!"

Look at that. We're told about Akechi's wish, and what it included. We're as good as told outright that he likes Joker—and this isn't the only time, there's also this:

—There are a whole lot of things we can imagine, based on how the protagonist was depicted as someone special to Akechi. Those are more or less the exact emotions represented during Akechi's confidant. (Mumon Usuda, chief designer)

"someone special" here is 特別な存在 tokubetsuna sonzai—literally "a special presence". It means a special person, and more than that; it describes someone you find compelling, someone you can't look away from, someone who becomes one of your most important people, the centre of your world. It's another term that is often romantic, but isn't necessarily romantic.

(In the same way, I think Kabayashi's suki jan! is more tongue-in-cheek than it is a cast-iron confirmation that Akechi was canonly in love with Joker. The language there is teasing, it's ambiguous, it's baity; Kabayashi is joking. This is a rank 6—as they say, if you know, you know. But it is of course ultimately up to all of you.)

There's another mention of this image, down in the creator interview:

Out of all the Maruki ending illustrations, it was Akechi's that stuck with me the most. It made such an impression to see them opening up as friends, having a fun, peaceful time together like high school students should. (Mumon Usuda, chief designer)

What really strikes me in all of this is the emphasis the creators put on the fact that this is Akechi's illustration, Akechi's wish. Because I've thought for a while that we know Akechi has a wish. You can see him struggling with his refusals to Maruki in the first week of January. And you can hear his wish spoken—when Maruki repeats it back to him, during the boss fight, on 2/3:

Maruki {F1 81}君たちとなら、君も過ちのない道を歩めるかも知れないじゃないか！ {F1 81}-kun-tachi to nara, kimi mo ayamachi no nai michi o ayumeru kamoshirenai ja nai ka! If you're with {F1 81}―kun and his friends, you could begin to atone for what you've done! Think about it! With [Amamiya]-kun and his friends beside you, you could choose a path with no mistakes as well!

So this wish has several parts. First, there's that kimi mo, "you also"; it's tempting to read this as Maruki also wanting his new world to erase his past mistakes. Second, there's the first part, "if you're with [Amamiya]-kun and his friends". Where to even start here?

Being with Joker and the others is a prerequisite for the second half of Akechi's wish. It doesn't just coexist, it enables the rest of it. Just like his words in the engine room, "I wonder why we couldn't have met a few years earlier, [Ren]..."

Remember, Akechi's whole arc is about his rejection of trust and friendship, and his insistence on doing everything himself. This is precisely what Futaba calls him out on—"you trusted no one", or "you played life in single-player mode". This is what he unlearns at the climax of the engine room, when he realises he isn't prepared to let the others die—and follows through to save them.

Akechi is nothing without others, and he knows it. Without their support, which he believes he has no right to, he has no hope of living a better life, even were he to be given the chance—and he knows that, too. He has learned, and he has grown—and yet he knows the things he needs and wants so badly are forever inaccessible.

And his wish is about all the Phantom Thieves, not just Joker. There are many tiny references to this end—not least the original Japanese rank 10 line for his confidant, where he sacrifices himself for all of you. Joker is his compelling presence, his someone special, but he's formed small bonds with the others too, God help him.

and then there's the crime thing

The localisation frames Akechi's wish in terms of atonement, but that's not what's on offer. You cannot, after all, atone for things you never did. We see Akechi's wish put into practice, in the Maruki ending, where he appears with his friends beside him, wholly innocent and with unstained hands. And we see it in the first week of January, after he has finally met Maruki and spoken to him:

Akechi: Ah, that reminds me—there was one more thing I wanted to tell you. Akechi: About the reality Maruki's put us in... Akechi: It seems that Okumura and Wakaba are both considered alive by all accounts. [Ren: They're not dead anymore? / What do you mean?] Akechi: They aren't mere illusions, or cognitive beings—they truly are alive and existing in this world. Akechi: In fact, their deaths seem to have never taken place at all in this reality. [Ren: What happened to Shido?] Akechi: Shido was the only one arrested on the crime of attempting to overthrow the government... Akechi: It seems the Phantom Thieves were causing a stir in this society as well, but there's no record of your arrest now. Akechi: Basically, in this reality, you and I haven't committed any crimes.

While Akechi still remembers his crimes, they never took place. They have been undone, and only his lingering memory—and Joker's, at this point—speaks to them. He objects to this on countless levels, he summons all the strength he has to refuse it, but don't make the mistake of thinking that means he doesn't want it. This is Akechi's wish in action.

People are often very certain that Akechi's resolve in the third semester is like iron—that he rejects Maruki's offers right away, is never tempted, never wavers. But that can't be true. We know he's afraid to die. We know about the bad end where you don't complete the Palace, where Akechi says nothing and stares at the floor, seemingly blaming himself internally while all the others blame themselves aloud, for being unable to say no to Maruki's temptations. We know how he responds to this assertion of Maruki's—Maruki, who has perfectly summed up what we know all the other PTs wanted, and who (even if Word of God hadn't just confirmed Akechi's wish) we have, honestly, no reason to doubt.

Because Akechi never refutes this wish that Maruki describes. He never says he doesn't want it. He just rejects it—like all the others, who so desperately want what Maruki could give them. Futaba's mother, Haru's father. Akechi's life, and his innocence. And the people who might have been his friends, if he could dare, one day, to ask.

Akechi is tested just like the others, and the price he pays for his defiance is perhaps the highest of all.

and finally

[The Maruki ending illustrations are] of Maruki's world, where everyone's wishes are granted and they seem happy. The scene shows their actualised wishes, which were never granted in the real world. (Mumon Usuda, chief designer)

We shouldn't forget the price Akechi pays for his impossible wish. Sure, the vision of himself being altered like Sumire clearly haunts him, and I'm sure it made the choice easier—but I don't think it made it that easy. Instead of taking the dream Maruki offered him, Akechi chose to face up to what he'd done, and who he'd become; at the very end, in the third semester and in the engine room, he always makes the right choice.

And that choice was taken away from him. Agency over his life and death, his own acts, and who he would even be—Joker and Maruki take it all away from him and make him a puppet, just like Shido.

Maruki's ending isn't pretty.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2024/03/29)—first published.

#asks #persona 5 #p5 meta #things i translate #japanese language #word of god #shuake #goro akechi #takuto maruki

[matan4il]

I think one of the worst things I've heard from the head of Yad Vashem's International Education Department (YV is the Holocaust research and education center dedicated to the Jewish POV during that time, the IED is in charge of seminars for teachers and educators on the subject of the Holocaust from all over the world), is that some teachers and educators are no longer teaching the Holocaust since Oct 7. A part of them decided on this of their own accord, others because they say the students / principals at their schools refuse to have it taught.

It reminded me of that time when in YV's IED survey of UK teachers and educators, many chose to answer the question, "Who was Anne Frank?" with "A girl hiding for her life from the Nazis." When asked about the omission of the specific reason why Anne had to hide (meaning, why did they leave out that she was a Jew and was in danger because of it), their replies indicated that if students hear that Anne Frank was Jewish, then they're no longer interested in learning about her. I'll admit, I was shocked by this. If you leave out that Anne was a victim of specifically antisemitism, because of the students' antisemitism, what are you even teaching them anyway?

Similarly, in YV's IED international surveys of teachers and educators, when asked to choose a definition for what the Holocaust was, the most popular answer is the one that doesn't mention Jews.

Basically, the anti-Israel crowd isn't the start of the All Lives Matter'ing of the Holocaust, erasing Jews out of the story of our own persecution and genocide (which you can see even in the fact that too many don't realize 'The Holocaust' is a term coined to specifically talk about the Nazis' crimes against the Jews, and that there are other terms for the Nazis' crimes against other populations). But the anti-Israel crowd isn't just hijacking the Holocaust, it's also actively weaponizing it to be used against Jews, and it is even actively preventing Holocaust education altogether.

This should infuriate everyone.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #holocaust #yad vashem #shoah

[itadorey]

[9:33 pm]

pairing: fushiguro megumi x reader takes place at the beginning of the series

"whatcha looking for?"

megumi flinches at the sudden question, his head hitting the top of the thermometer box as he stumbles back. his mouth twists into a scowl as he reaches up, checking to make sure that there was no blood present. it's only when he makes sure his hand is clean that he finally turns to face the person who spoke.

"do you need help?"

the first thing megumi notices is your cursed energy. it rolls off of you in waves, non-threatening and constant and he finds himself wondering if you're even aware of it. he raises an eyebrow, watching you closely as you smile at him. when he doesn't respond, you step closer to him, peeking your head into the thermometer box and looking around the small space.

"whatever you were looking for is gone," you chirp, looking up at him. megumi realizes you're entirely too close (and incredibly pretty) and he finds himself clearing his throat before taking a few more steps back. "what was it?"

"nothing," megumi replies instantly, avoiding your gaze as he looks around. he knows the cursed object isn't completely gone. he can still feel the cursed energy residuals lingering around the school and he decides to ignore you in favor of continuing his search.

"it must be important if you're still on the lookout," you say, hands clasped behind your back as you match his steps. "was it a love letter?"

"why would i be searching for a love letter?" megumi asks, giving you a disbelieving glare.

"you're right," you concede, a skip in your step as you pull slightly ahead of him. a teasing look is sent his way and he finds himself wondering why you're speaking to him. "someone like you wouldn't have to look for love letters. you probably just get them handed to you all the time."

megumi pauses briefly, quickly shaking his head before continuing on his way. were you flirting with him?

unfortunately for him, you had noticed the brief stutter in his step, and the grin on your face lets him know you had witnessed it. megumi fights the blush rising on his cheeks, looking away from you as he follows you to the school's field. he doesn't have time to be flirting with a stranger, even if they happen to be pretty and witty.

"i don't really talk to people like that," megumi mutters, wincing when he realized how lame his words sounded. he was rewarded with a giggle from you as you came to a stop, standing on a set of concrete steps.

"could've fooled me," you respond, giving him a glance before looking away. you seem a little flustered, and megumi wonders if you really are flirting or just teasing him. he chooses to remain silent, following your line of sight to see you watching the challenge between a teacher and what seems to be a freakishly strong teenager with pink hair.

"i'll leave you alone now. but keep an eye on him, yeah? maybe he has the answers you're looking for," you say, giving megumi one last smile before walking away. you turn around after a few seconds, still walking as you wave at megumi. "good luck finding that cursed object!"

megumi shakes his head, walking in the opposite direction you were going. he stops abruptly when he processes your words, wondering how you had known what he was looking for.

"hey, wait!" he says, turning around. his eyebrows furrow when he realizes you're gone, not a single trace of you left. even your cursed energy was impossible to detect, the remnants of the special grade object's cursed energy overpowering your own. you're briefly erased from his mind when the pink-haired boy runs past him, the strong presence of cursed energy prompting megumi to follow him instead.

it isn't long until he sees you again, and not even he can keep the shock (and blush) off his face when you send him a wink, standing under gojo's arm as he introduces you to him.

"megumi! this is the new grade 1 sorcerer who will be joining your class along with itadori!"

megumi doesn't know whether to be more impressed at how easily you put up with gojo or at the fact that you're already a grade 1 sorcerer at your age. but what he does know is that his life is about to get a lot more interesting as he watches you bow to him.

"nice to officially meet you, fushiguro," you say, a playful glint in your eyes as you smile sweetly at him. "i hope we can be friends."

"l-likewise," he responds, trying to ignore the shit-eating grin on gojo's face when he hears him stutter. he's given no warning before gojo pushes you into him, muttering something about a last-minute mission and how he would greatly appreciate it if megumi could give you the tour instead. the thumbs-up and kissy face that gojo sends him before turning the corner makes megumi blush even harder, and he finds himself holding back a groan when he realizes you witnessed the entire exchange.

yeah, this year was not going to be easy for him at all.

wc: 865 reblogs are appreciated <3

#megumi x reader #fushiguro x reader #fushiguro megumi x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #megumi fushiguro x reader #jjk imagine #megumi imagine #fushiguro imagine #fushiguro megumi imagine #megumi fushiguro imagine #jjk fluff #megumi fluff #fushiguro fluff #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jujutsu kaisen fanfic