#He's neither unique nor actually that bad

[kyliafanfiction]

Is there anything more annoying than Tolkien stans going after GRRM?

Well, yes, but still.

#Rolling My Eyes #Fuck off the whole lot of you #Ya'll are BORING #LOTR is good ASOIAF is good GRRM's comment about the tax policy is misunderstood and you can say reintegration or the orcs wasn't important #and I can say fuck that I want to know about that #Martin wasn't dissing Tolkein just discussing specific personal issues with LOTR's ending when compared to the kind of story he wanted to #tell/was telling #Kylia Writes a Novel in the Tags #But ya'll acting like GRRM is somehow the worst worldbuilder ever or that there's no history informing his storytelling or worldbuilding #he's also never gone around calling himself completely historically accurate just that it's inspired by history WHICH IT FUCKING IS #You don't like ASOIAF Fine but stop acting like he's uniquely some awful monster writer #He's neither unique nor actually that bad #he's just not for you and he's no more responsible for his most unpleasant fanboys than Tolkien is for you

[blue-grama]

Aof Noppharnach, carelessness & living with yourself after the worst has happened

I'm doing a late-to-the-party catchup on Aof Noppharnach's work after falling in love with Moonlight Chicken, and this isn't a unique observation or anything, but I'm really in love with his preoccupation with how people pick up the pieces and move forward after the worst thing happens.

The conversation between Day and his dad about Night's guilt over putting Day in the position to get into his accident is in the same territory of what Tian is going through in A Tale of 1000 Stars. Neither Tian nor Night were directly responsible for what happened -- Aof doesn't seem to go in for cut-and-dried villians -- but they both feel culpable. And, most interestingly, both were simply careless. Neither meant for harm to come to anyone. If they'd been a little luckier, none would have. But they weren't and now they have to grapple with how to come back from that moment. For Jim, it's a little different. Jim wasn't careless, but he let Beam get on that ferry in the midst of a fight. Later, he regrets that choice, because if he'd insisted Beam stay and fight it out, Beam wouldn't have died -- another unfixable choice that, with better luck and more time, might have been fixed. (And another choice that lives in a gray area, because it wasn't fully Jim's choice. But in Beam's absence, who else can he blame?) Even Bad Buddy is about this in some ways - what Ming did to Pran's mom is the original wound that echoes down the generations. In that case, Ming doesn't make any attempt at amends, Dissaya can't let go, and the two families get stuck in a permanent feud. It takes a new generation to untwist that particular snarl.

And then there's the other theme that's pretty prominant in what I've seen of Aof's work so far, which is "I thought I had more time." Last Twilight's been deep into that theme, between Rung's suicide and Day's progressive loss of vision. It shows up in ATOTS with Tian granted new life after he stopped planning for the future, and it shows up in Moonlight Chicken's multiple stories of loss. In many ways, they're the same theme in different flavors. How do you move forward when something's unfixable? When the worst has happened and you can't erase it? When time is up? Ming and Dissaya dig in. Tian tries to live someone else's life. Jim walls himself off, becoming the person everyone leans on, but never becoming vulnerable to someone else. Day locks himself in his room. Night tries to be the big brother he should have been.

But life and Aof Nopparnach have a way of challenging those coping mechanisms. Tian has to make his own choices and find his own way forward. Jim has to open himself up to the possibility of happiness again because he can't actually be there for everyone without intimacy (see how Wen helps him understand Li Ming). Day has to come to terms with his new reality. As for Night, we'll see. Day is interpreting his efforts in the worst possible light, but that conversation with their Dad may have put a crack in the armor. Would getting Day's forgiveness help Night forgive himself? Can he forgive himself if Day never does?

It's never clear-cut and the struggle is always in both repairing connections to the community and reparing your own self-perception. In Aof's works, you've got to do the work to change, yes, but self-sacrifice isn't ever enough, nor is it effective: You've got to see yourself as forgivable, too.

#last twilight the series #moonlight chicken the series #a tale of 1000 stars #bad buddy #aof noppharnach #posts that happen when you accidentally do a deep dive on something #it may not be good for the psyche to watch this many aof series in close proximity

[popponn]

how one looks. [isagi yoichi x f!reader]

notes: this was born out of love and rage for his anime official arts' clothes because why is my man dressed like t h a t way too many times already... so i will bully him a bit (then feel bad about it. and it shows). other than that: fluff, yoichi got so sappy and so smitten for a hot sec, yoichi's fashion sense slander (and lets be honest. it deserves it. yoichi's plus point, many. negative point, his closet.)

“You know,” you began and Yoichi instantly felt like he was about to get a ball kicked to his face. “I had been thinking. Why do you look like an unfashionable grandpa sometimes?”

“…huh?” Yoichi responded, not really knowing how to answer to that. What should a guy do when their girlfriend of three years plus a half, who is also probably the love of their life, insinuate something about their appearance? Neither Blue Lock nor his parents prepared him for this.

With your eyes squinting at him, you leaned towards him from your seat in the armchair. One hand perched on the armrest and supported your chin as your face scrunched up from your thoughts. “I mean, I do think you are cute and handsome. Charming too,” you said.

Yoichi tried not to melt. Years passed and he is still weak whenever you praise him out of blue like this. From his parents to his teammates to Noel Noa knew about this—so, in attempt to be normal, Yoichi tried to kept everything under a soft smile directed to you only, “Gosh. You know, you are—”

“Hey, this is about you not me. Shush, shush,” you scolded him lightly with a finger pressed to his lips. This time, Yoichi could only blinked absentmindedly as you continued in a serious manner, “But, you see, if I look at you properly without bias—I wonder why I could think like that.”

It was at this point Yoichi realized you were trying to call him not cute, not handsome, and not charming in a very roundabout way. Again, confused on how to react to things like this, he said, “…uh?”

You were not Rin, Barou, Kaiser or anyone he shared competitive trash talking with hell and back—and even calling him ‘ugly’ really was tame to the shits spitted out straight at his face. You were never like this and Yoichi knows since the four years ‘unclear situationship’ period that his appearance really does not matter to you who would look at him gently even with his face dressed in odd drawings courtesy of Bachira’s oil markers. With that being said, he really didn’t understand what was going on.

“Your hair is honestly generic. Like, I really get why Rin said he called you NPC back then,” you explained and Yoichi tried not to wince. “Oh, but don’t change it! If it changes, especially without me knowing beforehand, I probably won’t recognize you. Though what’s a bit unique about them are probably only your sprout and bangs…kind of?”

In silence and in attempt to be a good boyfriend, Yoichi could only nod.

“And then, your fashion sense…” you continued, pity coloring your face, “…actually, where do I start on that one? I think that one part of you is so hopeless it kind of turn around to cute… in a really naive and stupid way though.”

For a moment, Yoichi remembered how he used to think in Blue Lock some people could be very harsh in commenting. Turns out, listening to your girlfriend obliterating you appearance wise is a whole another level of ego bruising experience. “Now, come on, you know I’m not good at those mix matching thing…” he admitted with pain in his voice. Because at this point what could he do?

“Of course I know,” you said as if he was saying that sky is blue. “I mean, remember how I used to tease you about ‘all point in soccer and social skill, zero in others’?” Yoichi doubted that it was all ‘teasing’. At this moment, it felt like lighthearted bullying. “I’m not exactly a hundred percent kidding, you know.”

At least he saw this one coming.

“Ugh, what brought this on suddenly, seriously?” Yoichi asked with a groan. Did he do something? He didn’t forget an anniversary or something, right?

You hummed, before answering hesitantly, “Hmm…nothing much actually?”

“So you just said all that for no reason?!” he cried out, not actually buying you answer. At that, you stayed silent for a moment.

“…actually, it’s because I saw a photo of you online, not the most recent, I think,” you finally admitted, your eyes slowly drifting away from his face. “…your clothes was so ugly there I felt like burning your closet suddenly.”

“Please don’t,” Yoichi said quickly, before prompting you to continue. “And?”

“…it’s a waste,” you continued. “You are handsome, cute. Your eyes look good when you are focused. You are like a really handsome cat who is really good at soccer. But you dress like an unfashionable grandpa who really loves neon green sometimes, so it’s a waste.”

Listening to your explanation, both fondness and exasperation overcame Yoichi in a wave that felt like a pleasant breeze compared to whatever you just dished out to him seconds ago. “Don’t burn my closet though,” Yoichi said, utterly serious and yet somehow still couldn’t find it in himself to be even be a little stern on you after such honest praises.

Suddenly feeling a bit shy and tired, Yoichi buried his face in his hands. He knew for sure his face was red. And he knew how obviously weak he is for you. From the back of his mind, he could hear some familiar voices poking at him for being like this, but in the end there will always be a part of him that is so in love with you it becomes straight up stupid.

Maybe it indeed is so dumb and selfish, because as long as you are happy and it is a time shared with him, Yoichi probably wouldn’t really mind having to listen to you calling him an ‘unfashionable grandpa’ everyday.

He, more than anyone, understands how the two of you has dreams and life that took the two of you away from each other. And even then, Yoichi knows that that one part of him—one that always gaze at your sleeping figure silently, wondering how he could have this and why someone as wonderful as you is here by his side—is rightfully fearful of a ‘bad ending’. Yoichi knows you love him. Yoichi knows he loves you. Yoichi got called selfish, egoistic, self centered, and self serving many times already in matches, and that is exactly why—he knows himself.

If it’s for you—for every part of life you had given to him, for every part of you that he had fallen in love with—he is ready to be as selfless as he could.

Happily and gladly.

“Hey, you have been silent for a while now.” A pair of hands warped itself around him, meekly, as your head rested on his back. “…sorry. Was I too much? I made you overthink, didn’t I? You know I still love you, right? Even if you suddenly wake up as a wrinkly grandpa with creaking knees tomorrow.”

Yoichi laughed at that, still covering part of his face. “I don’t want to retire yet so that better not happen,” he replied lightly, going along with you.

“…you are not crying, right?” you asked, guilt written all over your tone. Yoichi tried and failed to held back a chuckle. So, accepting his fate as a lovesick asshole, he turned and pushed you to the sofa, laying his face down on your stomach as he settled in an uncomfortable position to hug you.

Yet, without paying any mind to his lower body that remained sitting whilst upper body rested on you, Yoichi said, “I’m not. How could I with you hugging me like this?”

“…really?”

“Really.”

“…should we really stay like this any longer though…?” you asked, eventually. “I’m worried for your hips.”

“I’m fine,” Yoichi said while nuzzling his face slowly to your clothes. “Just think of this as payback for bullying me.”

You scoffed lightly at that, “And you said you were fine.”

“Yeah, I am,” Yoichi said as he felt your fingers combed through his hair. So much for commenting his hairstyle. He made a note to tease you later, but for a bit longer—

“Just, let me stay here, okay?”

#bllk #bllk imagines #blue lock #bllk x reader #blue lock fluff #bluelock x reader #blue lock scenarios #blue lock x reader #bllk fluff #isagi yoichi #bllk isagi #isagi fluff #isagi x reader #extra: yoichi will be taken to a shopping trip tomorrow. unwritten in this version of ending tho. still as smitten tho. #there is supposed to be on field isagi ver ending where yOU KNOW but yeah this is impulsive enough as it is #i can go on but tldr love live laugh yoichi heart emoji

[feverdreamsandlucidnightmares]

I was going to say this in response to the tags someone left on one of these posts (1, 2), but it honestly works better as a standalone post, because as usual it’s gotten away from me a bit and is quite long:

(Disclaimer that, as usual, I’m talking about the animes not the manga due to my own familiarity with the content and that this is kind of a blurry combo of lore from Tristamp and Tri98)

Vash wants to be a shield. Knives, without fail, makes him a bomb instead.

So much of Trigun is about struggling with personal and physical autonomy. About people being put in hard situations and doing bad things to get through them. And they do actually bad things, like hurting and killing innocent people. Not just things that are mostly socially bad. Characters like Wolfwood are explicitly shown to have been trafficked by a cult and then brutally experimented on and then sent out to kill any opposition to the aforementioned cult.

Neither the narrative nor the characters themselves shy away from the fact that these characters have hurt people. Doesn’t hide the fact that people are rarely actually, completely innocent, that the greater good is often a myth perpetuated by greedy people in power. That it’s used to guilt or pressure people into compliance. That you can be good and kind and generous, while also being selfish and hurt and scared. That sometimes those more frowned upon qualities are going to be the ones to shine through, but it doesn’t make you innately bad. That you still deserve a second chance.

Because at the end of the day, in desperate situations where your primary goal is survival? Morals are a privilege. You have to be able to afford them. And almost everyone on No Man’s Land is desperate. Especially outside of the major cities. Everyone is one bad day, one disaster away from losing everything. If a Plant “malfunctions” or a sandstorm destroys everything? There’s no real infrastructure in place to protect them outside of whatever community they’ve managed to build for themselves and the resources they’ve squirreled away. It’s often just enough, no excess. So. Would you risk that for a stranger? Would you die for a stranger? Or would you kill a stranger for your survival? Your family’s? Maybe. Probably. Desperate people do desperate things.

Vash might be the only person alive who could kill Knives. Some people might even think it’s his job, his duty, to prevent all the harm that Knives doles out. That it’s Vash’s fault, that he’s culpable for all the deadly, terrible things Knives has done and that have been done in his name. Killing Knives is for the greater good. But he’s still Vash’s brother. You’re still asking him to kill his brother. And maybe Vash is scared of him. Maybe, on some level, he even hates him. But even while Knives is killing himself in an attempt to destroy everyone and everything else Vash cares about, Vash is still worried about him. He still doesn’t want him dead.

And Knives always makes Vash responsible. The Big Fall, the Fifth Moon Incident, Jeneora Rock, Lost JuLai/July. None of these things would have happened if Knives hadn’t made them. Vash was never going to put anyone in harms way like that of his own volition. But neither of the twins wants to be alone. Not really. Vash waited for him for an entire year when he went to get the guns.

But is that really love? Obsession maybe, for Knives. And desperation for Vash. Mutually assured destruction. Does Knives love anyone? He’s in a very unique position where he gets to define the greater good at everyone else’s expense. The other Plants, who didn’t get a say in his master plan. Vash, whose autonomy he completely overrules over and over in actively harmful and willfully malicious, cold, and calculated ways. Kids like Wolfwood and Rollo and an uncounted, but horrifying number of others in bad, desperate situations who were “blessed” enough to be taken apart under a misappropriated approximation of divine right. Not to mention the entire planet of humans he wants gone.

Knives is a weapon. He owns it, he names himself for it. And he makes other people weapons, too. Maybe it’s recompense for what has been done to him and his family. He doesn’t really protect anyone, but he’s a firm believer in revenge. And he’s privileged enough to call it justice.

And Rem told Vash to take care of Knives. Her last words. What could Vash be besides his brother’s keeper? So all of the shame and pain and sadness and guilt and damage Knives causes or could feel? It all falls on Vash.

#trigun #trigun stampede #tristamp #trigun 98 #trigun meta #trigun anime meta #trigun character analysis #vash the stampede #millions knives #nicholas d. wolfwood #monev the gale #trigun stampede spoilers #trigun 98 spoilers #trigun rambles #this got so long but I have so many thoughts #feverdreamsandlucidnightmares

[castkorb]

I made this post a few days ago and was asked for more input on Sting's character in regards to future Rogue so here's some more thoughts:

enjoy <3

Future Rogue explicitly says he killed Sting and took his power but I have my doubts about that:

f!Rogue said to Natsu that in one year from the games Frosch would be killed by Gray and thus his pillar would be gone and he would succumb to the shadow, meaning during Avatar Gray and Rogue would fight.

But Tartaros happened before Avatar, and during this arc we witness Sting and Rogue's first shown improvement after swearing change in the name of Sabertooth, which culminates in both of them killing Jienma and erasing Sabertooth's ugly past for good. also using a unique unison raid that only they can do <3

Which solidifies the fact that Rogue is no longer intimidated by his shadow because, as he said himself, Sting would be able to kill it. He no longer lives haunted by the thoughts of his shadow taking over him because he knows Sting will always be there to protect him.

But this obviously all happened in the good future where the world didn't end and now THIS is where the fun begins.

What happened in the bad future where f!Rogue is from?

If my memory serves correct f!Rogue later revealed that his plan was to open the gate of Eclipse to let dragons from the past in and rule them to overcome Acnologia, who would soon descend and raise the world into chaos.

Now I don't think he gave an exact date as to when would this be but, Acnologia did indeed appear later during Tartaros so we're going to assume that's when the apocalypse started in the bad timeline.

And let's rewind for a sec to what happened in the good timeline's Tartaros: Sting and Rogue helped Fairy Tail, saved Minerva and killed Jienma, which is a direct consequence of what f!Rogue did during Eclipse.

I explain:

What would have happened after the games ended in this bad timeline? Would Sting have accepted to become Sabertooth's new master? His resolution begins when he gives up before Erza and the rest during the final battle but I don't think he really makes up his mind about it until the dragons are attacking the city and he fights to protect his guild, both he and Rogue do.

It's not until both of them are fighting at the end of the world that they realise what made Fairy Tail the strongest guild, and even after having tecnically lost, this battle gave them something f!Rogue probably didn't expect.

It gave them hope.

So can we really assume they would've followed the same path had they not fought the dragons? I find it absolutely marvelous and poetic how f!Rogue, having lost all sense of compassion, hope and having nothing left but rage, wanting to cast his revenge in this new timeline indirectly saved him and his beloved from the horrors he had to endure.

Which brings me back to my first statement. In the bad timeline Sting was left with nothing after the games ended, sure Jienma was gone, he got Lector back and he had Rogue but what was he supossed to do from there on? Without the cataclysm of the Eclipse gate I assume he'd want nothing to do with Sabertooth again, or maybe he did, but then as Tartaros arrived maybe the guild had not yet gone through the experience of truly fighting along your peers to protect them, none of the guilds had. except, yknow, fairy tail but they're literally the mcs here

We can't forget that they were fighting literal demons here, plus Acnologia himself. -Again taking in mind the experience of fighting dragons had also not happened here-

You could also argue that the FACE project the Tartaros gates had planned might've actually worked in this timeline, which would result in over half of the population or more being left without magic to fight, it's understandable the world fell into chaos pretty quickly and a huge number of people died, as we saw in f!Lucy's timeline.

And Sting and Rogue were probably neither mentally nor physically prepared to fight all of this right after the magic games, they didn't have time to bond with their guildmates after Jienma died the same way they did in the good timeline, hell I'd even argue Sting was probably in a worse state because he got his emotional and physical strenght tested back then and there's no way he'd recover from that in such a short time with only Rogue's help.

Throughout the manga we see how Sting is the uplifting half of this duo, he's the one who constantly reassures Rogue and the rest of the guild, he's taken his admiration for Natsu and learned from it in that sense, but is bad future Sting like this? Is he able to smile and shine a path to the people he loves, is he able to fight for them?

In my head f!Rogue didn’t kill Sting because Sting likely gave up fighting or chose to sacrifice himself. that being to give Rogue another chance to live or because he knew one of them would die and he knew he wouldn't be able to live without Rogue is up to interpretation :)

And this proves to me that neither can live without the other, when Sting died f!Rogue either lost his mind and gave into grief not fully, he would after Frosch's death and took his powers in order to survive or to preserve a small part of Sting with him, which makes this shit sadder when his shadow fully takes over him and he's no longer concious of this, using his partner's power, the only power able to guide him and subdue him to kill without remorse.

f!Rogue said that Frosch was his pillar but I refuse to believe Sting is not a pillar for him as well, he may have fully lost against his shadow after losing Frosch but his relationship with Sting having ended simply with a "I killed him amd took his powers" I will not accept, Rogue lost half his heart when Sting died/was killed and Frosh was the last bit of sanity that remained of him after that, which was ultimately but not the only reason he wasn't strong enough to fight his shadow.

As you can see I have a lot to say about this arc and I would've given anything for it to be explored more but alas I've spent the last 6+ years rewritting the entirety of this manga in my head and I love to dive into the possibilities, like what could have happened if Sting had lost Rogue in that future? what happened to the rest of the Sabertooth's members? I can be here all day.

But anyways I feel I'm not good enough at expressing my thoughts in written form but I hope it's understandable enough? I'm growing more confident though so hopefully I can puke more nonsense about this two <33

#it is currently #5:20 am #clearly im not lucid enough #apologies for any mistakes i mightve overseen lmao #anyways i have a snail in my head that screams stingue to me all day long #on another note im currently going through artblock rn if you havent noticed #this is my way of coping with it lol #cast talks #fairy tail #sting eucliffe #rogue cheney #stingue #sting x rogue #long post

[lyomeii]

an older sibling figure

->warnings: yandere themes, platonic relationship, reader is kinda self aware of his behavior, death mentions, spoiler for the original version of the game,

-> request by anon! hi! i really love your writing style! i was wondering if you could do some headcannons or a little one shot of akechi with like a sibling reader. they aren't actually siblings but he kinda met the reader one day and the reader went "bro why r u so polite all the time?". as in reader kinda gets that he's faking it and stuff. He liked that and kinda hangs out with them. sorry for this very messy request lol thank you and have a great day! and another anon! hii, i love your writing so much! can you do a plutonic hc thing for akechi? like either being a good friend of his or like a sibling like thing? thank you!

->a/n: don’t worry anons ;) I had no problem with tu your request, in fact, you have a good english. hope you enjoy it :) and yes I combined these two request since they are quite similar ;p and proud of myself finishing this way earlier than I expected

-> akechi is an unique person to your eyes. you never met someone so fake like him that manage to entertain you in such way, not even the greatest tv shows nor gossip catch your attention like him. So why not approach him and befriend the famous detective boy?

-> you catch him off the guard with your words, friends and no shame in your voice when reminding him to be the real him whatever you two are alone. How could you discover that? Are you someone hired to destroy him? No? You are trying to know him better? That’s weird, but akechi allows it to happen.

-> quickly befriend with goro, yeah he said to call him that way, you leaned much about his personality and life style ( at least what he let you know about him ). He enjoy the time he spend with you, how he can express himself with no worry to you abandon him, by the opposite, you always looked so proud of him with all those achievements and even give him homemade pancakes! Is that joy he feels? Maybe. He loves knowing that someone cares about him.

-> didn’t took much time you two become closer, you acting like the older sibling that akechi never had, someone to take care of him and be protective of while the detective took the role of the younger and sometimes problematic brother. A great duo, if you think. And he hopes that none will destroy that.

-> when the phantom thieves began gaining popularity, you got extremely worried over akechi’s health, he doesn’t eat as much as before, sleep neither talk with you as used to. Because of that, you’ve to take alternative ways to find a solution and that took you to visit a cafe.

-> there you met ren, sojiro, futaba and a cute cat, morgana if you recall. they looked friendly and seem to know akechi by how you mentioned his name, so you asked them if something had had happened in your friend’s life to he acting this way, but the three don’t know or are too uncomfortable to tell you, making you leave the cafe without answers.

-> the thieves got interest on you, after all, who are you? How you closer to akechi and what are your intentions with him? Could you be a spy? They made futaba search about your past, but nothing special show up, except for you being a closer friend ( and probably the only) that the detective trust and cares about. With that in mind, they start look forward to kno you better, to discover more about akechi and his intentions.

-> he didn’t like that, never in a millions years, goro would let you met and befriended the thieves! You know them for a few days, yet you act they are old friends from school, are you going to replace him for the thieves? He can’t let that happen! He can’t lose against ren and the others!

-> the day you promised to met with yusuke at the cafe, you never show up neither when futaba asked you to accompany her to a game shop and to the little met with ann and ryuji… something bad happened with you and they have a guess who could have been behind it, yet how they are going to get akechi to confess? How they will tell your parents about it?

-> til this happen, you are going to stay at goro’s place where you can’t leave without him neither contact anyone you love or care about. You don’t have anyone to rely one except for me, he says. None one will ever find you, he added. Those words are making you losing hope as days passed and you might start to believing him after all, he is your “ younger brother”, your only family now.

@lyomeii stuff || don’t repost

#yandere headcanon #yandere imagine #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere male #yandere persona 5 #persona 5 headcanon #akechi goro x reader #yandere akechi goro #yandere platonic x reader #akechi goro headcanon #yandere persona 5 x reader #persona 5 x reader

[agoddamn]

@cardinalgoldenbrow ...is this a bad time to admit that I don't think that Kullervo is real? I have a larger theory on that, but I straight up do not believe he's real and I don't use anything from his story on a literal level to support any of my interpretations.

(Very short version: Kullervo is a native of Duviri. This means that he does not exist in the real Origin System, but is a reflection/growth created by someone that fell into Duviri; just like Thrax is for the Drifter. You'll never guess who I think his source material is!)

Ughh...I really hate the--

Alright, let's agree on terminology right now to help keep all this straight. I'm going to call unpiloted sentient warframes (ie Dagath) preframes. I had been using 'protoframe', but obviously 99 is doing something specific with that so I need a new term.

I don't like the preframes, story wise. I think they exist in an awkward state of canon where their real purpose is to justify frames having personality for both visual reasons (Khora and Atlas animations illustrate very different personalities) and to preserve the twist of the Second Dream.

Practically, Warframe as a story is less interested by the implications of frames representing a real independent human personality; you are either wearing them like a skin suit or taking control of them and using them to kill just like the Orokin did. In the second case, nothing has really changed for the 'life' of a frame. They just got new bosses and the daily grind stayed the same.

"But you took away their pain! Umbra!"

The Sacrifice makes the point over and over again that Umbra's case is unusual and unique. You have not communed with any of your other frames like this; that's why the Operator is surprised and confused in the first place.

I'm actually not even sure that Dante is an autonomous preframe. Because--

You don't get to be any kind of frame without the whole Infestation thing.

Following that, this means that preframes weren't always consciously rebelling, but losing themselves to the Infestation. You get Infested, you lose brain function. That's always been consistent about the Infestation, even the 'tame' Helminth variant, even in the Entrati family.

This also makes most sense to me because if there had been some way to get a functional, obedient preframe if you just found someone obedient enough to mutate, the Orokin would have just kept doing that and had no need for the Tenno. As much as Ballas isn't the most reliable narrator, I think he's being honest and accurate when he talks about how preframes simply could not be controlled. I don't think it's just a matter of personal respect.

I do agree that preframe Insurrections make most sense for what Loid is talking about, but even that doesn't quite add up, because Loid says that he found out that Dante died while he slept. Dante would never have still been active up until Loid went into stasis if he didn't have a Tenno pilot; he says himself in the next line that people harboring (what we're assuming but Loid hasn't actually stated are) preframes were not tolerated.

Dante seems to have been publicly active up until Loid's stasis. Loid is surprised to hear of both Dante and Drusus's deaths. These facts don't fit Dante being a preframe and suggest that he had a Tenno pilot instead.

Neither Drusus nor Loid ever directly states that Dante was an autonomous preframe. Loid says that Drusus purposely blurs the line between Tenno and frame identity because of his fondness for Dante. This doesn't necessarily mean that Dante was autonomous, but that Drusus wanted to believe that he was.

We see in the text that Drusus is extremely emotionally motivated. Personally I'd fully believe Drusus avoiding an inconvenient truth, particularly since the Tenno were supposed to be a complete secret. He could very well have met Dante, found out about the Tenno later, and lied to himself.

#warframe

[wonderinc-sonic]

Part 2! @primeministerofantarctica

Doylian

👍 What do you like about this dynamic?

I mean everything? The sincerity, and the sarcasm. The fact that they're not saccharine in such a wholesome cast makes them feel really really genuine to me. I like how different they are, I like that their dedication to eachother is mutually beneficial. I like that they're so unlikely, and they love eachother so much anyway.

I like that they're going to end in tragedy. I like that they're forged in tragedy, experiencing a brief sunlight, and then it's going to end. And it's going to hurt so bad. I like that it'll have been worth the pain.

I like that neither Rouge nor Omega is some hacked on call to Maria. They had their appeal on their own. I like that Shadow and Omega are nothing like Rouge, and they make her shine for being unique in a way she could have been lost had Sega done the other plan of put her in Team Rose. I like that Omega has never been made to change from who he is to be loved in Team Dark.

🔍 What do you read in them that you wish more people thought/ knew?

I don't think they have to be sibling coded. So often I see them written as Big Sister Rouge, Dramatic Middle Child Shadow, Chaos Gremlin Baby Omega. And that's okay, but it undersells all of them: Omega is actually pretty wise, both in first instance and now. Rouge is perfectly welcome to be chaotic and silly, Team Dark doesn't rob her of that in canon. And Shadow has both innocence and wisdom that we shouldn't forget about. They are more complicated than the roles we try to fit them in.

🔄What would you change about them, if anything

Bring them back :( but also on their own solo adventures. I want to see more of these characters in settings they don't normally go to. IDW has given us a few, get them outta their box more!

🐜 What's your smallest headcanon for them?

Omega involuntarily plays a few little tunes. They think it's adorable, but they've helped him turn most of them off because they embarrass him. Some examples:

Happy Birthday on Eggman's birthday. He was at Sonic's party when it happened, and it's a cutesy little jingle. He was mortified.

When starting up. He doesn't actually hear this one, as it's before the aural processor is booted. But Rouge often parrots it back (dun! Dun-da-da-dun, ding!) And he doesn't love that.

When he's surprised he bings. He mostly overrides it but sometimes they sneak through

When he's done something well sometimes the little *baba bing!* comes out. Shadow and Rouge also copy this one when he does it.

And there's a free space in here, so have a random headcanon:

Once a month, they have a scheduled day off from eachother to do their own thing, a tradition set up by Rouge when they had the teething problems of being a new team. This gets logistically awkward when they're on a mission together, and they often fail, but its become a meme. They'll spend their whole day off - on which rhey might be stuck on a rocket together - saying things like 'if I were speaking to you today, I'd ask you to pass the salt' 'UNIT IS NOT SPEAKING TO YOU. UNIT IS SLIDING SALT FOR PERSONAL GOALS.'

Thank you for the ask!! Prompt game is here!

#team dark #shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e-123 Omega #wonderincs #primeministerofantarctica #thank you so so so much!

[giantchasm]

Some Taransusie Headcanons

Their relationship is atypical and they know it. This is something they were more or less aware would be the case going into it. Susie is not a replacement for Sectonia, nor would Taranza want her to be. He holds the two of them in different parts of his heart, loved separate but equally. Sometimes he needs to take things slow, and Susie understands. She fell in love with him scars and all.

They were best friends before they were lovers. I’m not going to beat this dead horse too much because ya’ll already know how I interpret it, but they initially bonded shortly after Robobot and clicked together because of their grief. While that’s why they originally bonded, though, that’s not the only reason they were close. In general they’ve served as pillars of support and comfort for each other for a long time. They’re some of the only people the other can fully ‘trust.’ They’re legitimately open with each other, and that’s rare. Especially for Susie.

Susie was the first one to fall, but Taranza realized she was in love with him before she did. Initially, it scared him. He was like “Oh gosh, please don’t. I can’t return those feelings. I’m going to break your heart, aren’t I?” and when she eventually confessed, he freaked out. But eventually he realized he did return her feelings and that he couldn’t let the albatross around his neck control him for the rest of his life. Sectonia would (hopefully) want him to move on and be happy. So he told Susie he’d like to at least give it a try, even if (again) he needed to take things slow.

‘Firsts’ (I.E. first kiss, first date, first anniversary) are very different for the two of them. Susie never got to be a dumb teen with a crush so she’s experiencing puppy love now for the first time as an adult. It’s kind of scary, but also kind of a warm, exciting feeling. She doesn’t always show she’s excited or emotional during moments like that, but she is. Taranza, meanwhile… has done this before? This isn’t his first date or kiss or anniversary ever. This makes it different, though not in a bad way. He’s not giddy or nervous, but he’s sentimental and appreciative. During those sorts of shared experiences he’s, more than anything, acutely aware of how special they are. Always aware they’ll never get this exact moment back, and that they should treasure it as much as they can. It’s… nice getting to have new firsts, both in the ways it allows him to reflect on them and as a reminder that, with how different they can be, Susie is her own unique, wonderful person he should be grateful for.

More under the cut!

Susie generally takes on a pretty different demeanor in private vs public. When it’s just her and Taranza, she’s very affectionate, mushy, and playful. When there are others there, she’s much more professional. Not in an unloving way, of course, but in a factual sort of “This is my wonderful partner.” way. Once in a blue moon she slips up though and catches herself gushing in front of others, especially if they’re also people she considers herself relatively close to. Magolor jokes that she seems like a different person entirely during these moments— like some sort of lovey dovey stranger locked up and replaced the real Susie.

They’re pretty silly with each other, although, again: mostly only in private. Taranza especially loves to playfully mess with Susie, saying she’s cute when she’s embarrassed. Sometimes he’ll ‘sneak up behind her’ and hug her. This is, of course, all for show, both because he’s exceptionally dramatic and because she’s so high-strung. She grew up in a nightmare dimension. She’s always alert and on guard. If he actually startled her she’d suplex him on instinct, and neither of them want that. So instead, he makes it exceedingly obvious, all the while she pretends to be surprised. He also loves to leave heart shaped webs in place she’ll find them and call her goofy pet names.

Susie generally does not like to be touched and does not have much sense of touch. The only parts of her body that aren’t cybernetic are her face, parts of her chest/torso, and one heavily scarred hand. Taranza is the one exception to the ‘no touching,’ rule, though. He’s the one person she feels comfortable letting do that. She loves stroking his fuzzy little spider paws or playing with his hair. His touch is very grounding, especially when she’s feeling out of it.

They love to do each others’ hair. It’s a favorite low-energy bonding activity. Taranza will braid Susie’s hair or she’ll brush his, all the while he’s staring at her with the eyes on the back of his head looking lovestruck. She thinks it’s very, very cute, and it’s not rare she leans in to give him a kiss between them.

They also like getting dressed up. They’re both very fashion-oriented people. The sort of duo who’s in different outfits every time you see them. They love going shopping together and trying on different things. Sometimes they even pick out things specifically so they match.

Taranza is the sole person allowed to call Susie Susanna, and even then he only does it in private. Anyone else who tries gets glared at. Initially, even he wasn’t able to call her it, as she has baggage associated with the name, but one day he called her it by accident while messing around, and although he quickly backpedaled, she realized she actually didn’t mind it coming from him. She thinks it’s because… well, the reason she switched to Susie was because she felt like Susanna was dead. She’d been through so much trauma— so much terror and heartbreak that she was changed irreversibly. But when she’s around Taranza, she doesn’t always feel that way. She feels… safe and comfortable enough to let that more vulnerable side of her show. And in that, maybe ‘Susanna’ isn’t entirely gone.

This probably goes without saying, but Taranza has some self-esteem issues. What happened with Sectonia messed him up. She took a lot of her anger regarding her own insecurities out on him once she went off the deep end, and that’s something that’s stuck with him. He does not like how he looks and is afraid he’s ugly, gross and off-putting. Susie doesn’t see it this way, though, and is doing as much as she can to build him back up. She thinks he’s very cute. She especially likes his fuzzy little face and his laugh.

Similarly, while Susie isn’t necessarily as insecure, Taranza is sure to build her up as well. He knows the consequences of not letting someone know how wonderful they are all too well. He’ll take her cybernetic hand and give it kisses and stare into her LED eyes and tell her they’re beautiful… but also stroke her cheek and hold her organic hand tight. Susie sees herself as both mortal and machine, and demonstrating that he loves both of these sides of her is key.

Susie’s employees really, really like Taranza. They think he’s a good influence on her, and he’s helpful in getting her to listen to them because he’s also been the little guy before. So whenever they have a request for Susie they attempt to do it through him, making ASCII puppy dog eyes the entire time.

In contrast, Susie is… not liked amongst the Floralians. Mostly because neither is Taranza. When she first started dating him they were slightly worried, thinking she maybe didn’t know what sort of person he was, but as soon as it became clear she was not only fully aware, but maybe even worse, their attitude towards her soured. She and Taranza have been harassed by angry citizens more than once. They’ve flung insults about Susie’s personhood and morality, saying it seems like Taranza only dates soulless monsters. Susie is not particularly wounded by this, but it makes Taranza seethe. If it weren’t for Kirby keeping him on good behavior, he’d start throwing people in the dungeon again over this. He’s always sure to refute these accusations, saying they’re wrong about Susie, even if: again, Susie doesn’t really need it. She doesn’t expect most flesh and blood beings to understand her… although she is touched by just how much Taranza seems to care.

Taranza is not particularly good with techie things, but insisted Susie teach him how to repair all of her parts anyways, just in case, Void forbid, something were to happen. If she were to get hurt, he’d never want to be in a spot where he couldn’t help. Susie typically does maintenance on herself at least once a week, so when she does he’ll sit beside her and they’ll talk and she’ll show him how everything works. He makes sure to pay very close attention.

Taranza loves to be pampered and showered with expensive gifts. It’s coincidental, but not entirely irrelevant he seems to have only dated rich, famous women. That’s not why he loves Susie or why he loved Sectonia, of course— he’s no gold digger, but he won’t deny it’s a bonus! Thankfully, Susie has a practically infinite supply of money and is very much a gift giver, so he gets showered in expensive, lavish things practically all of the time. It makes him feel very, very special.

The most important gift Taranza ever got from Susie was a lot more mundane, though. She realized he was always making grand gestures, and wanted to make one of her own. So she spent countless hours researching flower meanings and painstakingly grew him a bouquet. This is something that was very, very difficult for her. She’s not used to things that require lots of time and care. She stuck it out for Taranza, though, and was eventually able to present him with the surprise gift. The flowers weren’t perfect— in fact, they were a little scrawny, but Taranza was so, so touched. He keeps them on his bedstand to this day, using his magic to ensure they don’t wilt.

The two of them have a set of matching necklaces. Taranza wanted to get something for them to keep as a momento— a counterpart of sorts to his scarf. You see: said scarf was originally a symbol of his love for Sectonia. They bought a matching set and made a promise to always be by each others’ sides. Obviously, that’s not something they were able to do, but he keeps the scarf on his person at all times in honor of the memories they shared. He didn’t want this to make Susie feel inadequate, though, and suggested they get something to celebrate their love as well. The necklaces are a reminder that Susie is more than enough, loved as she is, and that they’re a team, too. It’s no mistake that both it and the scarf rest right beside Taranza’s heart.

#something different this fine tuesday #sorry for how long this post is. there’s something wrong with me #kirby #sack’s kirbyverse #taransusie

[pohjalainen]

We can't have a constructive discussion on the Kalevala and its relationship with cultural appropriation without first seeing it for what it truly is - a multicultural hybrid that pulls from many sources.

And claiming otherwise is proof of how little people know about this topic, the contents found within the book, the origin and history of the project, and the cultures and tradition the book borrows from.

There are misconceptions (and a bad game of telephone) at play when it comes to this topic: first one being that Kalevala "belongs" to finns, and the second one being that it "belongs" to karelians. Neither of these ideas are correct nor are they based in reality. This false narrative is solely driven by emotions rather than fact on both sides of this argument, and it leaves out everyone else whose tradition and beliefs are used in the mythos of this story book, including ingrians and ostrobothnians, such as myself. My home is the starting point of the entire project, including runes and concepts which were collected and documented before the birth of karelianism. Without ostrobothnia there would be no Kalevala. The start of the project is never discussed in a truthful manner and I just can't imagine why. I hope it stems from ignorance and lack of research, because honestly I've mostly seen people parrot the same exact unsourced claims without anyone fact-checking what they're actually saying. Finns have historically not been a monolith and to this day some still aren't, for example many ostrobothnians would proudly declare that they weren't finns up to the 1900s. It's also wrong to simply divide Finland into west and east, as this is a bit too simplistic and it creates a binary that doesn't exactly exists. The truth of the matter is that there isn't just one culture, ethnicity, country or peoples who can claim the Kalevala for itself. Nor many the "characters" included, such as Väinämöinen, who is a prominent figure in the runes and beliefs of multiple cultures, such as mine. He doesn't belong to anyone nor can anyone claim him, especially when you consider the fact that his role and nature differs depending on who you ask. Trying to hog a widespread concept to one peoples/culture is ignorant at best and erasure at worst. It's downright depressing to see the "Lönnrot came up with (ostrobothnian deity)" and "finns didn't think their own culture was exotic enough" lies spread around every website. Lönnrot was first familiarised with concepts and ideas Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen, Louhi, Pimentola/Pohjola (to name a few) from published ostrobothnian runes and lexicons, namely Mythologia Fennica. He was familiar with these concepts long before he ventured to Kainuu and Viena, he knew what he was looking for thanks to all the published works he was able to get his hands on. In fact the main reason he went eastward was because he thought he wouldn’t be able to find new material from the documented places in Ostrobothnia, and thus decided he might be able to find more material for his “longer narrative” elsewhere (1). After learning that merchants from Vuokkiniemi had recently visited Zacharias Topelius in Uusikaarlepyy/Nykarleby, he decided to head there next. Even Viena, where most runes were collected, has a unique culture due to being settled by karelians in the 1500s, and ostrobothnians in the 1600s (many of them rune singers). No doubt that pieces of the indigenous sámi (most of whom were pushed northward by the arrival of karelians) also persist in the culture of the region (possibly along with savonian and tavastian settler influence) (2). Just because these populations assimilated into karelians doesn't mean they shouldn't be mentioned when discussing the culture of Viena, and of course Kalevala. While I understand the frustration around this subject, and I do think much of it is justified, it's extremely disheartening to see just how easily attempts at conversation are shot down by both finns and karelians, and how quick people are to completely disregard and shun other cultures and peoples involved... and for what? I understand the anger, but it won't take us anywhere. It’s detrimental to push down others when attempting to uplift one’s own culture.

 I truly wish people did more research on this subject and started to actually respect and acknowledge the cultures involved - and I mean all of them. The ignorance and staggering lack of research concerning this topic is unbelieveable.. and of course extremely saddening. 

Footnotes:

 He explained this in the foreword of old Kalevala. (X)

Karjalan sivistysseura - website’s History section on the settlement of Viena. (X)

I find these two sources the most important to the conversation; however everything I’ve just said is quite easy to research, especially if you speak finnish and swedish. These are not the only sources either, and everyone familiar with this topic knows how skewed this conversation is online, especially on tumblr and twitter.

#kalevala #pohjanmaa #ostrobothnia #lonnrot #karelia #<- this is going in the karelia tag cuz karelians spread the most misinformation around this topic along with finns #feel free to reblog and dm me if you're interested in this topic but I'm more than inclined to meet your attitude #my blog is empty rn cuz I've not had time to start it up properly yet but I'll eventually make more posts abt ostrobothnia #there is a lot of misconceptions #to the point of cultural erasure and even appropriation at times

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

We Will Hold the... Charge?

I've spent a fairly, perhaps unreasonably, long time being deeply perplexed by the Battle of Ostagar. The human forces are both on the defensive and defensively positioned, while the darkspawn are obviously on the attack, yet dialogue consistently treats preparation for the battle as preparation for an attack on the darkspawn—even though it is the human forces who are camped in a clear location, and the darkspawn who can emerge from the wilds to battle at will.

Stating the obvious, maybe, but I'm also excited to have finally figured myself back around where things make sense:

The Battle of Ostagar is not the first battle of the Blight.

Duncan and Cailan both refer to previous "skirmishes" against the darkspawn. It appears at first that these may be fights against scouting bands in the Wilds, but Cailan specifically mentions participating in several victories—the teams in the Wilds have had a much harder time. Rather, the darkspawn must have emerged from the Wilds previously, lacking the numbers they have built up by the final engagement, and failed to break through the human defenses.

(This adds additional flavor to the fearful soldier in the cutscene—it's not the sight of darkspawn at a great distance that's so intimidating, but how damned many there were.)

2. Duncan's return changes Cailan's calculations.

The king is in high spirits when Duncan returns with The Warden, eagerly anticipating a heroic charge against the darkspawn. Part of this is immature hero worship and glory-seeking, but there are also widespread indications of fatigue, mounting casualties, and growing morale problems; "holding the line" with no end in sight isn't going to work for much longer.

So: the royal army may have been positioned defensively during his absence, but with Warden-Commander Duncan at the king's side, it is time to seize the day (and his army's flagging morale) and cast down the darkspawn once and for all!

(Loghain, as Rendon Howe's patron, etc., etc., has his own reasons to abide by this reversal; Cailan explicitly refers to the battle plan as Loghain's strategy.)

3. Duncan urges patience and asks after the archdemon.

Duncan questions Loghain's plan twice: urging Cailan to wait for Arl Eamon—not knowing he has, most likely, already been poisoned—or for more Grey Wardens, and then asking what contingencies exist if the archdemon appears. Both approaches aim, unsuccessfully, to alter the strategy's implementation to make it effective: delaying a decisive engagement is bad strategy against the horde, but the only way to ensure the army's survival until the archdemon actually appears.

But neither Cailan nor Loghain knows (nor would Loghain likely believe Duncan) about the archdemon, so from the non-Warden/generally ignorant viewpoint the best option—with morale declining and the horde growing every day—is to counterattack and force a decisive battle. They can choose this battle because the darkspawn attack the human defensive positions semi-regularly; it is merely a question of picking the attack to counter.

TLDR: No, CuChu, the army did take advantage of their positioning. They just stopped doing that, for reasons unique to each decision-maker, right on time for it to be the worst possible decision.

Of course, Cailan's charge is still a foolhardy and unnecessary risk, but it's something he could coherently insist on in contrast to the previous battle plan, and which Loghain has every reason to agree to.

#dragon age origins #the battle of ostagar #cuchulainn thinks

[horse-girl-anthy]

The Rose Bride: Power from Passivity

when I was first seriously trying to understand RGU, I struggled the most with how to understand Anthy. I was seeing a lot of people frame her as the mastermind behind all the manipulations in the show, yet somehow, this didn't feel right to me. on the other end, I would see people who defended Anthy's innocence in the events of the story, either by selective reading or blaming Akio as the cause of everything. I also couldn't quite accept this view, though I did feel it was important that Anthy not be condemned. through a lot of time and thinking, I have come to my own conclusions about Anthy, her powers, and her role in the narrative.

in an interview, lead writer Enokido describes Anthy as a personification of when reality enters a drama. going further, he states that because he and the other writers do not know everything about reality, they cannot know everything about Anthy, either:

Enokido: Because even us creators can’t understand Anthy’s inner thoughts (*note: naimen = inner feelings, interiority, true self). We created her while in search of that.

–. You can’t understand anything?

Enokido: That’s right. After all, there are things about “reality” that neither I nor Ikuhara can understand. Like you know how in this world we live in, there are things we think are absurd or things we can’t confirm.

from these statements, it's clear that Anthy was designed as a character it is impossible to fully grasp.

Ikuhara echoed Enokido's description of Anthy as reality in this interview, going on to call her "a rare sort of character." there are many reasons why she could be considered unique, but I want to focus here on other things Ikuhara said about Anthy in this interview:

Ikuhara: As for whether Anthy's character herself is venemous, I don't know the answer, and while I depict her in ways that make you suspect she is, I plan to never show you whether that's out of ill will or not.

the ambiguity of Anthy's character is very important. she always has plausible deniablity; her worst deeds are implied from a clinical distance. further, Ikuhara brings up the question of intentions. even when it's unambiguous that Anthy is doing something (for instance, helping Akio to poison Kanae in episode 32), there's usually not much indication of what Anthy is feeling or thinking. it's like she's not even there.

I've always been struck by this little scene from the beginning of episode 23, when Anthy is employed at being Mamiya. she's totally alone here. if Anthy is doing Akio's bidding with full consciousness, then why do we get this scene? but on the other hand, can I say that Anthy doesn't know what's going on? of all the characters in the show, she has the best idea of what's really going on in the social system. again, contradiction and cognitive dissonance.

Anthy is magic, not of this world. can I, as a normal human being, imagine what it would be like to one second be there, and then the next to vanish out of my clothes? it's impossible.

then the question becomes, what is the nature of Anthy's magic? she is called a witch for her crime of taking the prince away from the world. that was her last free act: I would argue that Anthy's magic as a witch is not actually something that she uses as a free agent. this was first put into words for me by Alice on the Imagine Me & Utena podcast (I believe it was their focus episode on Anthy)--after listening to others debate on if Anthy truly has bad intentions or not, Alice asked, does Anthy use magic, or does magic work through her?

similarly, in his episode commentary for episode 23, Ikuhara wrote:

People’s happiness or unhappiness shouldn’t be determined by struggles over the device called “the Rose Bride.”

I find the term "device" to be an interesting one. from a meta perspective, Anthy is a device for the writers: she is used within the narrative to acheive the story's aims. she is a device for Akio: a thing to be used. in a parodoxical way, Anthy's disempowerment is her power, and her passivity allows the world to take shape around her.

Anthy became the Rose Bride through the trauma of the Swords of Hate. they left her empty. in episode 38, she says, "I thought I was just the Rose Bride, just a doll with no heart." the emotional core of the story is the search for her true self, Utena's desire to reach the heart that Anthy had forgotten she once had. however, Anthy plays her role as the Rose Bride to the end, even after she has shown her true face to Utena.

how exactly do Anthy's powers as the Rose Bride work? as a device, a mechanism, I believe that the Rose Bride simply responds to the social environment of Ohtori, with the final aim of bringing about the "End of the World." this is getting kind of esoteric, so I will use an example from the show to illustrate: a reading of Miki's early interactions with Anthy.

did Anthy go and play piano at the end of episode four in order to manipulate Miki to duel in the next episode? or is she simply manifesting what is in his heart? watching how Anthy interacts with others carefully, she operates as a projector screen, becoming whatever someone is fixated on. further, the way that they view her can radically affect the way she is portrayed from episode to episode. while Anthy becomes a demure angel for Miki, she is a two-faced schemer in Juri episodes.

the process doesn't stop here. next, the Rose Bride brings reality crashing down on characters' heads.

during Miki's first duel with Utena, Anthy suddenly cries out in support of Utena. this action seems wildly out of character for her supposed role in the duels. again, I believe Anthy does this because of a truth buried within Miki himself. the falsity of his pursuit of the shining thing is what Anthy exposes, revealing that the object of his affections might not be what it seems. as the Rose Bride, Anthy repeatedly destroys other characters' self-images, their worlds.

of course, Akio does appear to be pulling the strings behind Anthy's machinations throughout the narrative. perhaps this is because Akio is the End of the World, a harbringer of the death of the self. however, Akio seems incapable of riding out the process himself, staying stuck within the system, its enforcer and slave. and although he subjugates Anthy, he is tormented by the fact that she is beyond his grasp no matter what he does.

Anthy must have gotten some satisfaction out of Akio's torment, but she is more tormented than he could ever imagine. in a way, I feel as though Anthy is somewhat prideful of her position as Rose Bride; she feels that it is unchangable, a fact of life, and her adjustment to it is what allows her to keep surviving. thus, accepting things without complaint is wise. Utena is the one who challenges that, threatening Anthy with change, which can be terrifying even when what you know is endless suffering.

Anthy stabbing Utena is one of the only times that she acts out of her true feelings and her role as the Rose Bride in unison. here, I don't want to parse out all of the complex interpersonal reasons Anthy the person had to stab Utena, but instead point out that it continues to fit with the Rose Bride's purpose: she brings reality to Utena. this was always going to be the ending to her desire to be a prince, cemented when Utena takes the swords for Anthy.

the true sickness of Anthy's passivity is on display with her acceptance of the Swords of Hate. although the Rose Bride is the greatest instrument of power in Ohtori, it does nothing for Anthy herself; it comes at the cost of her sacrifice. that it is why it is difficult to frame Anthy as a mastermind. it was never going to be as easy as Anthy just making different choices, since sacrifice is demanded by the swords. she was only getting out of her position by someone taking her place, so she resigned herself. that resignation made her the subaltern base of Ohtori, able to take any form within it but her own. she must exit to be a real person.

#rgu #commentary #sigh. writing about Anthy is too hard. but i'll probably do it again bc i never run out of thoughts

[sniperjade]

Bad Professor - Chapter 2 - The First Day

On the first day of term, Regulus had stumbled out of bed, imbibed a hangover potion, a pepper-up potion and three cups of coffee. He had barely managed to drag himself to his classroom and was still in a state of questionable consciousness when the first of the teenagers showed up. Thankfully, his first class was a group of seventh years, who in their terror of failing NEWTS had all read the set texts and thoroughly approved of his plan to introduce them all to the statue of Achernar Rigel Black.

They appreciated the unique perspective Achernar had on the subject and thought it was very useful for their understanding of the text. Most of his classes had passed in a similar matter and he was starting to think that this might not actually be so bad, going to far as to say as much when he met up with the other teachers at lunchtime. Severus looked over at his class schedule.

“Who have you got next?”

“The third years,” Regulus replied.

Severus's tight-lipped smile stretched into a truly vicious grin. “Well then. Good luck with that.”

Regulus frowned as he trotted back up to his class. When he walked up, he heard snippets of the conversation coming from a crowd of third-year students. A boy with startlingly blond hair and the familiar form of Blaise Zabini, leaned their heads together as they whispered.

“ – he’s a pushover?”

“Used to give me anything I asked for.”

Regulus walked up behind them as Blaise confidently regaled the other students with his knowledge of the new Professor.

“That’s only because I was fucking your mum,” Regulus stated bluntly, “I think you’ll find me a little less obliging now.”

Blaise turned to watch him with wide horrified eyes as he swept past him into the classroom. He turned and gestured for the first student, a small girl with incredibly bushy hair, to come in. As they all filed through the door, he checked the fabric covering Achernar’s portrait and sat down heavily in his chair. With a fluid movement, he swung his legs up, so they rested on the desk.

The bushy-haired girl instantly scowled at him, and he was about to speak, when blondie boy came to stand by his desk and held out his hand. He had a very pointy chin and a certain aristocratic air that was awfully familiar. Regulus looked him up and down, noting the finely tailored robes and startlingly grey eyes and sighed.

“Hello. My name is Draco Lucius Malfoy. I believe you’re my cousin.”

Regulus gave him a withering look and chewed his cheek, making no move to take the boy’s hand.

“And?”

Malfoy hesitated as Regulus stared at him.

“Go and sit down, you’re holding up the class.”

Malfoy dropped his hand and slid into his seat next to an equally shocked Blaise Zabini.

Regulus smirked.

“Does anyone else have any more pressing matters before we get started?”

The class sat in silence.

“Right.” He swung his legs back off the desk and stood. “I am Professor Regulus Arcturus Black of the proud and most ancient house of Black. You may call me Professor Black. Has everyone read the set text?”

The girl with the bushy hair shot her hand straight into the air jumping slightly in her seat. A smattering of the other third years also put their hands up. Regulus noticed that neither Zabini nor Malfoy did, and both avoided his eyes. They probably thought their status would make this class an easy ride.

Regulus snorted.

“If you haven’t done the readings you are going to find this class quite challenging. For our first lesson, I’m going to take you right back to the beginning of runic magic so that you can discern the reason it was first created as well as its many uses, but first of all, are there any muggle-born students here?”

The girl in the front row with the bushy hair and a boy who had very short tight curls and a gormless expression both raised their hands.

“Right, today you’re half-bloods.”

The girl gasped and made a shocked sound. “Sir, you can’t be serious.”

Regulus winced as the image of Sirius popped into his head, his eyes twinkling with laughter as he quipped. No, I’m Sirius.

Continued on Ao3

#moonseeker #moonwater #regulus black #remus lupin #snily #drarry #hpfanfiction #hpfanart #regulus black is a little shit

[atanxsideeffects]

my <<side-effects of reincarnation>>-au infodump >:D no clue how much sense this will make without the brainrot that has accumulated in my brain but i tried to summarise it?

text in the image written below:

MADARASUKE

mullets look cool don't fucking @ me

premise: sasuke is madara's reincarnation of sorts not really. basically not-quite fusion -> trauma from massacre prevents complete fusion (for now)

revolutionTM: the shinobi systems (all of them) suck ass

this is all "yo madara is based actually" but it also might be ooc

also sasuke is still his own person, hasn't been overwritten

mangekyo there >:3 also neither madara nor sasuke have unique mangekyo things (kagetsuchi doesn't count) so now they can do tsukuyomi. so that sasuke can tsukuyomi itachi. as a treat :3

eventually swaps eyes w/ kagami (orochimaru-sensei + danzo's arm + edo tensei + samsara of heavenly life technique)

trains under oro but covertly (morally grey oro)

clan head

aroace (qpr w/ neji, bromance w/ lee, whatever the fuck sasuke and naruto have but with an aroace twist)

arrogant little shit

this bad boy can fit SO MUCH FUCKING TRAUMA

op but this is a madara & sasuke fusion we're talking about so it makes sense

hashirama-issues (naruto-issues)

sasuke never awakens his mangekyo because this is a fixit but it's fine, he has madara's :)

itachi eventually swaps eyes with fugaku which hehehe awkward >:3 -> they have the same bloodtype so its fine

kagami doesn't have a canon bloodtype so i'll just say it's AB too

[character design bits]

[12 yrs old Sasuke:]

kakashi insisted on bun

start of madara's hairstyle hair isn't as unruly tho

more traditional uchiha top

white shorts

high boots just cause

[~20 yrs old (?) sasuke:]

hair not right structure for madara hair (also not matted)

turtleneck

old armour he found in hikaku's basement & got fixed up first used it on a dare

giant ass gunbai (hikaku commissioned it to remember madara by)

one of fugaku's old shirts

madara's madness eyebags

Itachi's eternal mangekyo: itachi + fugaku eternal mangekyo cuz itachi actually did bling himself the idiot & shisui wasn't there in the moment

Kagami's Mangekyo: kagamis magekyo (he got it when he learned Madara was 'killed')

Madarasuke eternal Mangekyo: madara + kagami eternal mangekyo because sasuke overuses his & becomes almost blind

[character stat things]

madarasuke has high rebellion but not full because family. is pretty careless but can be careful, frets a lot, is very confident but socially awkward, very anger, power is off the fucking scale

also have a timelapse because i found out how to do that :DDD i fucking loove timelapses theyre so satisfying

if u wanna talk to me about this au feel free to shoot me an ask >:) id love to hear other people's thoughts and im also open to constructive criticism :D

#digital art #naruto fanart #sketch #atanxs side effects of reincarnation au #uchiha sasuke #uchiha madara #artists on tumblr #timelapse #naruto

[scorpio-marionette]

Christmas Cravings

Pairing: Max Phillips x F!reader

Rating: R for Restricted; 18+ ONLY

Warning: Mentions of pregnancy, cravings, snow storms, and breeding; pre-established relationship

A/N: This is inspired by an actual Spanish Bakery in St. Augustine, which is about an hour away from me.

Part of @toomanystoriessolittletime December Writing Challenge

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It shouldn’t have been possible. Afterall, Max is technically dead. The most he can guess is that the biology of vampires is either under researched at best, and at worst grossly assumed and guessed. Regardless, you were pregnant with his child. The usual symptoms were expected to occur. Morning sickness, body aches, fatigue, cravings. What wasn’t expected was just how prominent your appetite would become. Both for food and for him. You’re practically insatiable, and that’s saying something. When Max had turned he was akin to an animal in bed, but you? You are a goddess who seeks that which she desires. Wringing out your pleasure and his as if the world ended that day. You tire him out. He wonders if his vampirism magnifies the hormones your body creates. Again, the lack of knowledge fails him. Luckily this time it isn’t a moment of you jumping his bones to fill you with another child. Rather you’re looking to fulfill a sweet tooth. Though the fact that you have more or less mounted him, bare legs on either side of his hips and your lace clad pussy bearing down on his cotton covered cock doesn’t escape him. Neither does the way you subconsciously grind down onto him as if to just slide him into you for a moment. Max controls himself however. His lady needs a very special pastry after all.

Your request on this very early morning is for a unique pastry that can only be found in the little Spanish Bakery, in the small historical town about an hour away from your shared apartment. You had fallen in love with the sweet yet tart taste of the fruit on the flakey, pastry bed, but it’s difficult to get ahold of it sometimes. The Spanish Bakery only bakes enough for the day. Once they sell out you have to try again tomorrow. One good thing about being woken up at 4 a.m. by your pregnant girlfriend is that Max now has the time to dig out the car, drive to town, and buy the bakery out of your desired treat. One bad thing is that now you’re awake… and you want to go with him… outside… in the snow…

“Absolutely not.”

Max will not have you leaving the house, pregnant with his miracle child, while it’s freezing outside! It’s not safe nor healthy for the baby, or at least that’s what he’s read. You should stay home and do menial exercise. Nowhere does it say you should trek through snow for a midnight snack. But alas, you refuse to take no for an answer. Max may not realize it, but you feel you’ve been cooped up too long. The surprise at having a seemingly impossible pregnancy has made Max cautious. Making him want to keep you safe, but locked away. You want to get out of the house for a little bit. The recent snow storm makes you even more eager to go. The news said there should be about a foot and a half of frozen water piled up outside your door. Why wouldn't you want to go see that?

Your lover argues that him going makes sense because the cold doesn't affect him at all. You argue that you're getting in the car whether he likes it or not. Huffing at your insistence, he hauls you up into his arms and carries you up stairs. At first you think he's going to leave you there. Using his inhuman speed to run to the door. Instead, Max drags out a pair of his socks, sweatpants, and the hoodie he wore last night. He pulls the socks onto your feet. Their size is a bit too big for you. He pulls the pants up your legs. Their elastic ankle cuffs hold your socks in place. He tucks your shirt into the pants to hold it down as well before pulling his hoodie down over it. A wishful thought that his scent will keep you from doing anything more rash. He asks which hat you'd like to wear and you naturally ask for one of his. He makes sure the black woven beanie is secure over your ears before picking you up again and walking you out to the car. Already dressed to play the part of the desperate boyfriend freezing to get his girl a snack.

On the road, you stare out of the window. Some people have opted to leave their Christmas lights on all the time, so you delight your senses in the colorful twinkling lights. As you enter town, you're astounded at the festive feel though most people are still asleep. The window displays have yet to resume their performances but the effort is palpable in their static presence. You long to run from shop to shop to see what they've done with their decor, but one over protective vampire makes you stay in the car.

Pulling into the parking lot behind the bakery, you can see an inviting golden glow among the other darkened store fronts. Max exits after he's sure you won't leave the safety of the vehicle. As he approaches the front door even he is amazed at the warmth that seems to fill him. As if this bakery were magic. He knocks on the door. He shivers a bit when the grandmother opens the door. Using his best apologetic smile, he asks the woman if he can come in. And it's as if his heart had beat again.

What he thought was the front of the shop was actually the back of another. The chocolatier next door actually. The grandmother graciously informed him that the bakery was in fact closed for the day, but that she and her grandchildren have been baking all the usual to take door to door for their neighbors as snow day treats. Max quickly apologized for intruding and explained why he had come. Never one to leave anyone out, the grandmother simply turned around to a tray of freshly made pastries. She pulled out a cake box and promptly filled it with all the pastries on the tray. Max was actually going to tell her that it wasn't necessary to give him all she had, but the woman merely waved him off.

"There's something special about you," she claimed cryptically. "And I have more in the oven."

Thankful, Max takes the box and returns to you. Clamoring in, he presents you with the kind gift from the grandmother. You squeal in delight at the sight of your beloved snack. Much more in the box than you could hope to eat, in a day at least. You throw yourself over the box to smother Max in kisses, but stop before your appetite switches to him. Settling back into your seats, you take a couple pastries as Max starts the car. Once back on the road, you hand Max his treat. You prop your feet up on the dash, much to his displeasure, and enjoy your snack on the way home.

#december writing challenge #max phillips #max phillips x reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal character fanfic

[alleykatart]

Finally getting around to Wake the Dead and I wish I'd gotten around to it sooner. Genuinely enjoying it, 13 chapters in. While I love smut, it's really nice to have stories where smut takes a back seat to fighting horrifying threats.

The LIs are all interesting people, the setting is unique, and the different alliance groups are interesting and/or amusing.

The art, as per usual, is pretty great, and I love that for a change, the female LIs outnumber the male LIs. (Also, PB, come on, use the long hair for the male MCs again, it's pretty!) I also appreciate that they're a variety of archetypes. Eli's the stoic bad ass, Troy's the rogueish jokester, Shannon is intelligent and capable but her skills lie in the lab more than out in the field, Angel is... Okay so Angel's basically Jinx, and Sledge is a bad ass warrior woman who can crush your throat with one hand, which isn't for me ("I didn't make him her for you!"), but I can see why they included her, and her art is bad ass.

My only big complaint is that the timeline seems pretty inconsistent and unreliable. Sometimes it feels like MC was originally written to be a lot younger, or for the Z-Day to have happened earlier in their life.

The big zombie event started 21 years ago, but MC is consistently treated like an actual child despite being at least 25, since they were 4 when the outbreak happened. I seem to remember something indicating that all hell broke loose in 2021 in one chapter, then 2025 in another. Ultimately 4 years isn't a huge difference but it does help me contextualize things a bit. (I could be wrong on this, I wasn't taking notes and I'm pretty sure I'd taken my sleeping meds before reading those chapters so I may have just misunderstood a bit.)

King Trent was old enough to start the Renfaire back in 2018 (I think.) which would make him... 40s/50s, but neither he nor Ali look over 35 maybe.

And the survivors are still finding food and medical supplies that are still good and/or effective 21 years later. Even food with preservatives will go bad or dry out eventually. Gasoline and other resources seems to be plentiful, as are bullets, livestock and other things.

I think my biggest issue is that it's 21 years after civilization completely collapsed but the story is wobbly on when that actually happened from scene to scene.

None of it's enough to make me stop spending my hard earned diamonds to make my paper dolls kiss, but I'm still a little confused on the exact timeline.

#Wake the dead #pixelberry studios #pixelberry #choices app