#anyway thank you for coming to my TED talk

[voidshrubsquared]

Listen. Listen to me

Do you know how much I LOVE that comic? IT'S SO GOOD SO SO SO GOOD

We get to see a glimpse of Click's inner workings! How his mind operates!! His complicated relationship with himself and the other pinks and what it is to BE a pink!!!! Is he just like them? Are they all the same?? Is HE the horrible one??? Is he not horrible ENOUGH???? WHO KNOWS!!! And the 'I miss my department' like MANS DOESN'T WANNA BE THERE!!! HE DOESN'T WANNA THINK ABOUT IT!!!! HE HATES IT HERE CAUSE INTERACTING WITH THESE GUYS MAKES HIM THINK TOO MUCH💕💖💕💖

Like, what if they're all the same? Then Click isn't special and he's just another darkner abiding by the rules of his code.

What if the others laced the candy platter and he didn't? Then Click is too soft, they'll eat him alive out there! How is he going to survive!!

What if he's projecting and nobody else even thought of lacing the candy? Does that mean he's just a horrible person in general? Is it not just a pink thing and more a HIM thing?

And then the visuals, the zooming in into the one piece of candy among all the others in the candy platter as he does Thoughts™

O U G H OVJJSBBCKROLNXNFODOF

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY I LOVE HIM DO YOU GET WHY I WANT TO INJECT HIM DIRECTLY INTO MY BLOODSTREAM THIS IS WHY HE'S MY FAVORITE ADDISON HIS WRITING IS IMMACULATE

#thank you for coming to my ted talk or something #pink addison #deltarune #bush RAMBLES #I might be missing something or be completely wrong on this cause honestly media literacy isnt my strong suit #I am like on a lower brain sauce flavor sometimes yanno #anyways brightgoat give me a piece of your god tier braincells #I aspire to write this good one day #if bright every finds this ummm no you didnt #sometimes I wonder if click ever thought/wanted to be a different colored addisom #cause being a pink (and a popular/well known one at that) must be so hard #you'd have a reputation to uphold!! around the public AND other pinks #too many slipups and you might ACTUALLY DIE #uhm wow I said a lot anyways #MINOR TYPO IN TAGS GONNA KILL SOMEONE #clickon k addison belongs to brightgoat btw #ok now I go

[buck-up-buck]

Canon Events that have happened over the three episodes that have me going INSANE (like, these actually happened and are not Fanon.)

Buck asked Tommy for a tour of Harbour, not because he wanted to consider learning to fly, or leave the 118, but soley because he wanted to hang out with Tommy.

Buck used Christopher for information on Tommy.

Buck pretended to suddenly be into Basketball so that he could go to the game, just because he knew Eddie and Tommy would be there.

MADDIE MOCKED BUCK ABOUT OPENLY HAVING A CRUSH ON EDDIE.

Buck body slammed Eddie while playing Basketball (honestly, I still cannot get over the fact that he YEETED THIS BOII).

Tommy got Buck's address from Eddie and chose to come around to apologise to Buck even though, TECHNICALLY, Buck was the one acting like a spoilt brat all episode.

BUCK WAS KISSED BY A MAN. SPECIFICALLY, BUCK WAS KISSED BY TOMMY. And then proceeded to be swept off his feet by this man and was left starstruck in his apartment, after Tommy openly communicated that he had to go to work and wasn't just kissing and bailing.

"I'm an Ally."... Need I say no more.

Buck acted like a totally fucking idiot on his first date with Tommy, and proceeded to have Tommy cut the date short because of how unready he seemed. WHICH BY THE WAY, TOMMY AGAIN COMMUNICATED SO BEAUTIFULLY WITH BUCK AND PROCEEDED TO STILL CALL THIS MAN ADORABLE. HE CALLED HIM ADORABLE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Buck accidently outed himself to Maddie because he was doing a ramble ramble about his lil buck'ed up date.

Buck told Eddie he was on a date with Tommy, and Eddie proceeded to be the bestie of besties to Buck and told him, they all loved him anyways. HE USED THE WORDS. Bucks face in that scene will forever make my lil gay heart WEEP.

Buck told Eddie he couldn't stop thinking about the hot pilot that kissed him. CRYING.

Buck proceeded to grow the fuck up and apologised to Tommy, face to face, out in a public space, knowing full well that Tommy could have dropped his ass there and then, but still wanted to show him how sorry he was, and that he was, in fact, ready.

BUCK INVITED TOMMY TO BE HIS DATE TO THE MADNEY WEDDING DESPITE ONLY technically GOING ON TWO DATES. AND THEN TOMMY. SAID. YES. HE SAID YES. YES.

Buck also then invited Tommy to Chim's bachelor party, HELD HIS ARMS OPEN ACROSS THE ROOM READY FOR A HUG, told Tommy off for his outfit, showing off true Clipboard Buck form, AND THEN TOUCHED HIS PECK.

Eddie, the bestie of besties, got all sappya and jokey when he saw Tommy and Buck together.

Buck got all pouty when Tommy had to go to work, BUT TOLD HIM TO BE SAFE. HE SAID BE SAFE DAMNIT.

Buck got all goofy and smiley when he saw that Tommy had arrived at the hospital, MEANING, that he was most likely texting Tommy all day updating him on everything that was going on, even if Tommy couldn't respond while attending to the fire.

BUCK. CALLED. TOMMY. A. BEAST. HE SAID THIS CANONICALLY. ARE YOU JOKING. HE FULLY ATTACKED MY MAN, WHILE HE WAS COVERED IN SOOT AND SHIT, SNOGGED HIS FACE OFF IN A HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM, AND CALLED HIM A BEAST. I AM DECEASED.

Buck, the idiot that he is, proceeded to out himself, to his entire family, by coming back into the room, most likely 15 to 20 minutes after leaving, covered in soot because he had been uncontrollably making out with his hot pilot boyfriend.

Eddie, the bestie of besties, GOT SO FUCKING SMUG WHEN HE SAW BUCK AND TOMMY WALK BACK IN THAT ROOM. HE PULLED THE SAME FACE I PULL WHEN MY FRIENDS HAVE COME BACK FROM MAKING OUT WITH PEOPLE AND I AM HERE FOR IT. EDDIE YOU BESTIE SLAY SLAY SLAY.

Hen, the queen that she is, has most likely spoken to Karen about her suspicons of Buck's sexuality, and procceed to say ABOUT DAMN TIME. SHE KNEW THIS WHOLE TIME. HER GAYDAR IS ON FIRE. I LOVE HER.

Again, all of these events happened IN ACTUAL EPISODES, not in a fanfiction. I am FERAL over this. Bi!Buck is the best thing to ever happen to me.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk and if you don't ship BuckTommy, leave.

#911 abc #911 spoilers #this is me talking about all the cannon events that have me currently going insane #none of these were from a fanficiton #all of these things actually happened in episodes #like this is all real life #isnt that CRAZY #i am so feral over this are you kidding #still not over that kiss from last night i cannot lie #buck called tommy a beast are you JOKING me right now #bi buck saved me #I am so hyped about this #listen i love buddie #i do #but #BUT #eddie as the bestie of besties is my favourite thing and i love how supportive he is of buck right now #as someone who is queer and did not have a single supportive friend when i first came out #this representation is everything to me #this is healing my childhood trauma #so how about we let tommy and buck be for a bit huh #and leave eddie to deal with his catholic guilt before he even considers having a gay awakening #thank you for coming to my ted talk #only good vibes in this house #any negativity will face my wrath #all the love for my firefighters #evan buckley #eddie diaz #tommy kinard #henrietta wilson

[cats-artbag]

SwapOut/Webcomic/Twitch PSA!

Hi everyone 👋🏻 Zk here >< or Cats, for older followers

So I've been getting back into doing SwapOut again, but I would like to appeal to everyone who reads and loves the comic. Much love to all of you who's still sticking around 🙏🏻💙 But something has also always been bothering me throughout this journey.

As many of us know, we artists do these comics for free (especially fan comics), starting them out of love and taking a LOT of time and energy out of our lives to continue making them.

And it's amazing how many of you come from translations or comic dubs on Youtube, which are also very well-done and take a lot of effort to make, much love to them too. There is a difference, however.

Monetization.

And I'm not asking for pity! I'm appealing for understanding.

Because some comic dubbers on Youtube are able to earn ad revenue from the videos they upload. From the beginning, we artists have given them the permission to dub our works. But we don't receive anything from it, nor do we usually charge them for using our art (against our better judgement).

We let them use our comic pages in their monetized videos for free. And occasionally these videos receive thousands and millions of views, which I imagine gives a decent amount of ad revenue, while the artists themselves don't usually earn anything from their own artwork, nor do we ever want to put it behind a paywall of any kind. (we like reading free comics too so don't worry x|)

... But doing full-colored comic pages for free eventually gets hard to sustain without any income from it, even more so when we need to give our time and energy to other jobs to earn money for a living instead. We legitimately keep going on our comics purely out of love. Truly, we would LOVE to do our own art for a living. There's things like Patreon but it's only feasible if we're also able to produce bonus content or show BTS, and only people willing to spend money for them can help us, and not readers who aren't able to.

And we understand that not everyone can afford to support us monetarily. And that's okay!

But if you love these comics and want to really help us to keep going, there ARE ways you can easily support us for free!

For example, affiliates on Twitch (like myself) are able to earn ad revenue very early on (they must have at least 50 followers, quite a requirement, but still easier to obtain than Youtube's 1000 subscribers).

(my Youtube, btw. not much rn but drop a subscribe?)

But simply put, if the vast majority of readers from the yt numbers visit and stay for ads on the artists' Twitch streams (remember to have adblocker disabled for the site, if any), they'll be making an actual, physical contribution to the artist themselves, at no cost whatsoever. We earn up to 55% from any ads that run on our stream, so the more viewers, the better!

(this is my twitch on average 8 viewers, with a 3 hour stream. again, the more the better!)

(ofc you can also buy subs to watch ad-free and supports me directly, but i'm typing all this to share the free ways people can support their fave creators ✨)

And even if that doesn't work out, I'd be happy enough to see most of you there 🙏🏻💙 I've been treating my streams as work, so I'm striving not to break the streak.

So drop a follow on my Twitch, and catch the streams when you can! They're great if you need company or background noise, and also great for co-working~

Currently streaming WEEKLY, Mondays, Wednesdays (SwapOut) and Saturdays, 10.30AM EST

(art by @cupcakepaints)

>> twitch.tv/zkcats <<

Anyway thanks for listening to my Ted talk, please share this around for others as well >< 🙏🏻 Artists, make this a reblog chain or something! Promo your stuff!

And apologies for the essay, I wasn't expecting to type this much sdghsgh this itself is not an ad for Twitch or whatev, I'm just a little frustrated with needing to juggle all this.

I was also considering hosting SwapOut somewhere that could get ad revenue, but I wasn't sure where until I realized I can probably earn that from my Tapas now (i think?? sdfhgh up to 70% ad revenue there but i haven't seen any yet) So maybe I'll post there a day earlier than here or something? We'll see. Go subscribe there! Check it out! Reread it! Help ME help YOU!

... Much appreciated ><

#catschats #undertale #webcomic #swapoutcomicupdate #typed this out mostly for people who aren't aware that ads support streamers etc. #im super tired now wheezee but im living

[sirbarnb]

A week late but I watched Dead Boy Detectives show with my mate. First time binging a show it was fun (SPOILERS COMING UP)

I surprisingly loved it. I was expecting to be let down a lil' by the actors (ye, I judged them a lil' too quickly. I thought they were just gonna be spending more time Lookmaxxing the camera). They did great. An amazingly talented cast that clearly had fun and it was good to watch. The show itself was fun, goofy and a perfect mixture of comic humour and TV humour (I preferred the comic humour)

However: I have one small problem...(**SPOILER**) WHY DID THEY KILL NIKO? I am never reading a Dbd comic ever again. Until the day I die, she was so cool, and awesome and cute (mainly cute, but I digress). I don't care if she's not in the comics or not. I am going to hold my breath until she's alive again..............................

.................. Okay this is stupid. I haven't even been holding my breath, you get the point

The plot worked really well. Death wasn't really as big of a part of the plot as I expected. Monty, and this will be controversial, sucked. The witch was played really well. Edwin and Charles' arcs were so sad and Edwin falling in love with Charles and being shot down 😭. Why couldn't Charles be gay. But also Charles' relationship with Crystal was so cute I loved it. Speaking of Crystal. Her Arc was my favourite of all of em. It was a very realistic dilemma of being constantly haunted by your past, then turned up to about 6 million because it's Dead Boy Detectives

Niko was just a sweetheart. I have the biggest crush on her of all time

Anyway thanks for being a part of my ted talk 👍😁

#dead boy detectives #dead boy detective agency #Dead boy detectives series #charles rowland #Crystal Palace #Dead Boy Detectives Niko

[bleucaesura]

In-coming theory: This isn’t at a concert of Verosika’s - it’s at a party. Presumably a Halloween party based on the pumpkins, Stolas’s vaguely vampish post break-up outfit, and the fact that the full moon on Blitz’s calendar corresponds to the one in September.

SO! My thoughts are that this is at a party either:

A) thrown by Stolas and Verosika is hired to perform OR

B) thrown by Verosika and Stolas is a guest.

I tried combing through some episodes to see if I could find those trees or the wall on Stolas’s estate - but no luck - that’s not to say it’s not his place and just not a place we haven’t seen yet.

Though I’d say it’s more likely Verosika’s party considering the decor:

Aside from the Blitzø cake and the “BLITZO SUCKS” banner; there’s this tots adorable Blitzø piñata 😅 as well as what I assume says “I H8 Blitzo” behind the stage (below is a zoom-in of the first picture to the left and ‘behind’ of Verosika).

I like to think that Stolas isn’t petty enough to throw a party and have decor like this… But then he looked at Blitz like this…

And that’s one hurt, heart-broken and angry birdie…

But, NO! I believe in my baby girl! Even if Stolas threw the party - the decor was NOT his idea. My lanky birdie loves my little idiot assassin and wouldn’t be a petty princess like that.

Mmmmmmmmk.

That’s all I got for now. Fully formed thoughts anyway. 😅

As an aside:

STOLITZ NEEDS TO BE HAPPY FOR MY SANITY!

That is all.

Thank you for attending my TED talk.

#helluva boss #blitzø #stolas #stolitz #vivzieverse #hellaverse #helluva boss verosika #verosika mayday #helluva boss theory #helluva boss season 2 trailer

[reliabledragon]

To me, the best embodiment of modern capitalism is in the phrase "please hold, we are experiencing higher than usual call volume". I know it's a lie. You know it's a lie. But you still hear that line every time you call, regardless of the day or time, because it shifts the blame. It tries to prompt you to blame the other callers instead of asking, "Hey, why are they deliberately understaffing their call centers and making it so difficult to get help?" It takes a failing caused by a deliberate, profit-focused management choice, and turns it into a problem with the people using the system, rather than one with the system itself. And that pattern, to me, is the epitome of the modern corporate system.

#today in reliabledragon complains about call centers #I know this isn't that deep or anything #but like #this wording is a choice #and this pattern just shows up in so many places #it's infuriating #to see how effectively systems can shift the blame for their failures onto the actions of the people participating in them #anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk #my posts

[jichanxo]

Help me, Lord, from these fantasies in my head / They ain't ever been safe ones

#sayo yasuda #yasuda sayo #umineko #umineko no naku koro ni #umineko spoilers #when they cry #wtc #jichanart #beyonce song so good you start making umineko art. crazy #but yeah focusing on the father/daughter comparison here #because for how she hates kinzo she still has no choice but to rely on the money and power that he left her. in order to do what she wants. #and the fear of being like him (re: her relationship with her cousins. creating another massacre on rokkenjima) #... i think about the manga panel where sayo talks about all the corpses in the bunker #and how there's no way kinzo is innocent... and the look on her face... #anyway i wanted to emphasise the ring (inherited power) and depict her furiously ordering people around (not unlike kinzo's own reputation) #obviously sayo's wrongs are not nearly the same as kinzo's wrongs by a long shot. but the comparison is there #anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk #umineko family-isms go crazy

[justa-moth]

fish n chips to me is like,,,,, an enigma. not purely romantic, not purely platonic, not purely queer platonic, just,,,, ✨

literally no other way i can describe it jsgdjsgdjsvs

they have a relationship thats on such an ethereal level that it cannot be comprehended by the human mind. they simply exist together to spite everyone around them.

they change what they refer to each other as constantly. people become excessively more and more confused the more this goes on. one day its boyfriends, next its husbands, next its friends, next its co-captains, next its co-bastards. their relationship is a question to everyone including themselves.

#this ramble is sponsered by me not knowing whether to tag this fnc fic i wrote at qpr or romantic #literally this is the only way i know how to describe them #maybe its the aromantism kicking in #i just think like...... #theyre so special to each other in a way that physically cannot be described or even comprehended #anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk #jrwi #just roll with it #jrwi riptide #just roll with it riptide #jrwi chip #chip jrwi #jrwi gillion tidestrider #jrwi gillion #gillion tidestrider #jrwi fnc #jrwi fish n chips #jrwi fish and chips

[imagine-darksiders]

Death: I am in Misery~

Strife: I save dick by giving it CPR~

War: Reese's Puffs Reese's Puffs~

Fury: Apple Bottom Jeans~

#anyway thank you for coming to my TED talk #darksiders #this is the lineup #I haven't made the video but GOD I want to watch it

[d1sc0-1nfern0]

Philosophy With Disco: The Importance of Death in a World with Immortality (And Subsequently Why Fable is an Idiot)

On Fable SMP, Fable is on the warpath in a grief-driven, mad attempt to usurp the primordials and end death forever. This is single-handedly the worst thing he could do for himself, the other gods, and the world as a whole, and it all comes down to how the finite nature of death is vital in a world with immortality. This is a long one, so get comfy.

Immortality is a curse. To us mortals, it seems like the most amazing thing ever, but when you actually stop and think about it, immortality is a miserable existence. There are no stakes. Unless you are killed, you will live forever. Anything you create will rot and fall apart, so you won’t be able to enjoy it forever. There’s only so many skills you can develop in an eternity. Boredom is inevitable. Eternity stretches on forever. There are no deadlines, no concrete timeline. Every day is the same, weeks pass without noticing, centuries drift by as easily as a leaf in the wind, because there’s nothing to hold on to. Nothing will last except for you, the immortal, a constant presence in an ever shifting landscape, a pointless permanence.

You see, in a world where there are beings who live forever, the introduction of beings who don’t live forever is crucial. An immortal needs someone else to focus on, something fleeting and temporary and interactable to take their focus off their own impending eternity, something to give life meaning. Mortals live for such a short time, a blink of an eye for an immortal, yet they live and love and laugh and cry and then they’re gone. Caring for mortals and assisting them is the most fulfilling thing an immortal can do.

The immortal won’t be able to enjoy art for eternity, but several generations of mortals will. The immortal doesn’t need food or water to sustain themself, but mortals rely on it. The powers of an immortal don’t seem like anything spectacular, but to mortals they’re an awe-inspiring, terrifying force worthy of respect.

To mortals, an immortal force brings help in trouble and feelings of safety, protection, and a reason to come together in communities. To immortals, mortal life brings meaning, urgency, and a tangible timeline to disrupt the mind-numbing monotony of eternity. They are mutually beneficial.

The most common trap that gods fall into is the trap of thinking of mortal beings as “lesser,” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. To immortals, mortal beings are the most important thing in existence. In fact, it's safe to say that immortals need mortals more than those mortals need them. Interestingly, Fable has the opposite problem. Fable absolutely adores the mortals he created with every fiber of his being. But that love blinded him, and he lost sight of the reason mortals are necessary to begin with. His love turned obsessive, similarly to Perix but infinitely more destructive, as his desperate drive to save the mortals he loves from their inevitable fates upends the system that kept the immortal world stable to begin with.

At least, that’s my thoughts, and I’d love to hear what others have to say about it. :)

#fable smp #fsmp #fsmpblr #fable theory #I'm a nerd for philsophy I'm sorry #I really just wrote an essay on the importance of death in a minecraft roleplay server #what is my life #anyway thank you for coming to my TED talk

[nemonclature]

I want to talk about my Slow Horses headcanon but I don't want ANY SPOILERS from people who have read the books. Please and thanks in advance

So we know Lamb killed Charles right? Because he was the mole. And we know GrandadCartright was in on it cos he was First Desk right? (Or maybe was directly involved? I forget exactly).

Lamb clearly has a lot of feelings about all this cos Charles was his mate and all, and he vomited them all over Standish. And also. He hates River. Not in a normal, I hate all of you way. In a specific, I want you to fail completely. I'm gonna give you the worse jobs way. In S1, he mentions the privilege River benefits from like that's the reason - Why should you get a pass out of Slough House just because your name is Cartwright? - But I think it's more than that. I think he hates him because his name is Cartwright I think he hated his grandfather and he hates him. It's reverse nepotism.

Ok but why do I bring up Charles? Because I'm waiting for the reveal that Cartwright was the mole. Charles died for nothing, Jackson killed his BFF for nothing, fucked up Standish's life for nothing. And GranddadCartright got away with all of it, retirement plan and all. And when it all comes out, Jackson will have been correct in his hatred. (And he'll find some way to twist the knife with River, for old times sake).

#Anyway thank you for coming to my Ted talk #slow horses #slow horses theories #jackson lamb #river cartwright #catherine standish

[jonasiegenthaler]

"86 [rating] Nico are you kidding me [...] This guy should be higher than 86 too"

Are you gonna lose sleep tonight because of the rating, be honest.

No, I'll be okay, my head will hit the pillow and I'll be okay but—. Like, Nico, more than 86."

#jack hughes #devils #youtube kept recommending this video they know their audience #several things #1) jack being mad about his rating across multiple videos #2) scoring a hughes to hischier goal #3) v accurate in-game celly #4) pivoting to getting mad about nico's rating #5) nico having an 86 rating #6) taking a breather and circling back to nico only to get cut off #i just think its great how consistently he insists that nico's underrated #(just like me fr) #anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk #.avi #1386

[jinn-exe]

okay but the homoeroticism of taking care of each other's wounds,,,

In an instance where hangman or rooster gets injured during a recon mission, I would like to think both of them have some knowledge on basic first aid. And obviously the tensions are always high with these two, but in that very moment, it's quiet. No teasing remarks, no shouting, just the air around them being sharp enough to cut like a knife.

Then someone snaps.

And Hangman, he's telling Rooster to get better.

To stop holding back.

To stop thinking.

To stop acting like he can risk his life anytime.

Because Hangman can't afford that. He can't watch Rooster fly out there and hope to God every time, that he'll come home in one piece.

And this time Rooster doesn't get angry, doesn't fight back with his usual spunk. He's curious. He looks at Hangman with his face battered and his body littered with blood and scratches.

There's only one question in Rooster's mouth and it's a transparent: Why? Why do you care so much?

For the first time in the many years of their acquaintance, Rooster has managed to silence Hangman with just one look. The blond doesn't respond, only continues to apply pressure on Rooster's wounds.

The silence drags on and it's in that moment Rooster notices just how gentle Hangman has been with him, just how tender he's been with his wounds, with the way his eyes linger in concern. It suddenly clicks. It's not hatred. It's not because Hangman likes to fuck with him on purpose.

It's because he cares.

#anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk #part 28474 of tobias and his ramblings #sorry guys i will not shut up about them #hangman #rooster #hangster #rooster x hangman #jake seresin #bradley bradshaw #top gun maverick #i have thoughts #and theyre gay

[snowystarguardian]

Its been like years since it came out and I know that everyone like hates the p5 anime, but like, there are a lot of good things that came from it that I really loved. For one, Ren Amamiya is a hella good name and I will not accept any criticism. Also RenRen was immaculate.

Aside from that, one of the things I really loved about the anime was the way it dealt with the fallout of the interrogation room. Specifically that they actually showed Joker being beaten up and having to recover. My biggest pet peeve in the game was that he got back from the interrogation room and he was physically a-ok, which made like no sense. Them showing him healing from the physical injuries over time was a much needed upgrade.

Also the anime actually gave us more insight into his emotions, and I love it so much. It gave us more than “joker’s just a blank slate”, and I don’t think people appreciated that enough when it was coming out.

Also i know it was an extra OVA, but proof of justice fucking broke me. And thats one of the best additions to the game they ever made. And having that with the new added context of P5R hurts so much. Sucker punch to the emotions.

#persona 5 #ren amamiya #I’m not an overly critical person when it comes to media #like I will always looks for the good things in something #it had its weak points but the p5 anime was solid #and i will say overall good #i feel like people gave it more shit than it deserved #also i really liked the studio’s take on the art style #they gave us so many pretty frames of ren #but yeah p5a gave us a lot of good things and i think people need to realize that more #shoving a 100 hour game into an anime series is really hard #and tbh i think they gave us a lot of good character writing in place of the actual game events #which i dont think people give it the respect it deserves for that #anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk #persona 5 anime

[madnessofthespirits]

see while i could write an entire laundry list of reasons why i care about cu alter and diarmuid that would probably turn into a pretty lengthy ship manifesto, right now i just want to talk about what is ultimately my favorite reason, and that is this that they are both characters who ended up in oddly similar tragic situations, which they responded to in ways that were just enough alike that they would be able to understand each other deeply, and yet also so radically different that they complement each other in ways that the other could learn from so as to grow and heal. both of them were forced to become people they never wanted to be in order to honor the geasa placed upon them, but cu alter responded to this by accepting his role as king (and later a servant/familiar) and the unpleasant changes the grail wrought in him so completely that he does not believe he is allowed to be any other way, while diarmuid refuses to be defined by his role as a traitor at all, preferring instead to hold on to hope that his new life will give him a chance to redeem himself by serving his lord faithfully and regaining new friends in place of the ones he was driven apart from in life. despite the opposite nature of both reactions, each stems from their mutual desire to live honorably above all else. and as with any sort of extreme, each reaction has its benefits as well as its drawbacks.

cu alter's problem is that being forced into a role he didn't want left him convinced that he is never meant to be anything more than the tool he had to see himself as in order to fulfill that role (and therefore honor his geis), no matter how unhappy he is that way. diarmuid, on the other hand, refuses to let anything stop him from being the honorable knight he believes himself to be, even after being forced to become a traitor, or from finding ways to find joy in his circumstances, even when forces beyond his control threaten to make this impossible. no matter how dishonorable his master is, he does his best to serve him honorably, and he even goes so far as to create opportunities to be the knight he wishes to be by creating and honoring his pact to fight to the death with saber, thus also creating hope and joy for himself in a situation otherwise devoid of both - not to mention a friend. he is proof that there is life beyond what is lost in the process of fulfilling one's vow, proof that joy can still be found even after it is stolen from you - and if there's anybody who needs to know that, it's cu alter.

but diarmuid is also so set on reclaiming his identity as a good knight that he has trouble accepting that he ever did anything dishonorable at all, or that he holds any resentment for those who put him in that situation, to the point that it causes him huge amounts of mental strife and anxiety. cu alter, on the other hand, completely accepts the ways in which his experience changed him, openly calling his way of existing "ugly" without further complaint, simply accepting it as part of his role and the way he has to live for the sake of his honor - even if it makes him miserable, even if it means becoming the "cruel king" who would seem to be the antithesis of the honorable hero he wants to be. he doesn't resent himself for simply doing what he had to, understanding that however paradoxical it may seem, even this can be part of being a hero if it means obeying his geis. and if diarmuid needs anything, it's someone who can help him accept the ways in which the tragedy of his life might have changed him for the worse, and the contradictory nature of being a hero itself. he needs someone who can show him that any resentful feelings he might harbor are just an unavoidable consequence of what happened to him, and not a stain on his honor in and of themselves - someone who can help him forgive himself for doing what he had to do in the name of said honor, no matter how dishonorable what he had to do itself was.

and since both of their issues stem from similar experiences, they can look at the other, finally see someone who knows what it's like to have to sacrifice your identity in order to fulfill a vow, finally see someone who knows what it's like to have your agency torn away from you in exchange for your honor, and see that maybe it's still possible to be okay afterward, after all. diarmuid does this by showing cu that it's possible for him to still be his old self in some ways, to connect with others and enjoy a good fight, and cu does this by showing diarmuid that he's no less the good knight he wants to be even if the events of the pursuit and the grail war changed him for the worse in some ways. what i'm saying is that by first offering each other understanding, diarmuid can offer cu alter hope and cu alter can offer diarmuid acceptance.

#to be perfectly real with you i can't imagine anyone else understanding either of them the way i think they could understand each other #anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk #yari ni toge

[writerof-thewoods]

tfw you have so much brainrot for something you never thought you would like, but now you do 😭 13 year old me's brain would probably short-circuit if it found out what fictional works I'm into now lol. it's not that they're bad of course! it's just not something I'd immediately expect to see from myself Idk I just think it's kinda funny

#For context I'm talking about Call of Duty and Star Wars xD #I genuinely never though I would like either one of them but look at me now #I spent almost 2 hours looking at Obi-Wan fan theories/fanart comics last night #I am concerned #As for COD? Yeah I'm not gonna get into THAT #Thats an even bigger story #i'm kidding i'm kidding #It's just surprising to me because I even told myself “Star wars is dumb and it's just not my thing. I doubt it ever will be tbh” #That was a huge lie #Anyway thank you for coming to my TED talk #fandom agere #sfw agere #willowws writing #willowws rambles #my writing #agere blog #sfw regression