#but other times their core personalities directly go against what they think they NEED to be

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I love to think about is every iteration of Leo’s relationship with Splinter and how Splinter’s interests always define how a Leo presents himself.

I used to abide by the idea that a Leo will simply emulate his Splinter directly, and to an extent I still believe that to be the case, but moreso I think Leos have a tendency to mold themselves into what they believe is their Splinter’s ideal son - someone who embodies all the traits Splinter has explicitly shown to admire or value in a person.

Most of the time, they try to be a dutiful and honorable boy abiding by the full extent of ninjitsu teachings. Then you have Rise Splinter, who very much still has undeniable prowess in the art of fighting and being a ninja, but when it comes to how he shows his interests to his boys…one thing reigns supreme.

Acting. Shows. One liners. Flamboyance in the name of gaining an audience’s attention.

He showcases Lou Jitsu movies on repeat for the boys, passing down the morals and words from those movies to them with no small amount of pride. All while fully expecting them to respect these teachings.

So, of course, Rise Leo picks up on this. He’s a Leo, after all, as much a daddy’s boy as any other variation of him, only he clocked his father’s interests to be different than most others. He picks up on the art of showmanship, of keeping things to himself so as to be a more exciting twist later, of treating the world as a set to act in.

He’s an actor, not just because Splinter himself was one, but because Splinter likes acting and showed one particular actor (unknowingly to the boys, it was himself) as the pinnacle of all his teachings. As someone to value and admire. And even more than that - Splinter focuses on the character the actor is portraying rather than just the man himself.

And I think this is all even more interesting when taking the turtle tot short into consideration, because very, very briefly, just as with many times else throughout the series, we see how easily Rise Leo aligns with his other selves, seeming to pick up the sword easier than his brothers do their own weapons - after quoting Lou Jitsu of course. After emulating his idol - the person who his father seems to admire so much.

Point being, it’s so interesting to see how Leos tend to mold themselves in one particular way throughout every variation - that being, what their father is shown to value most in people.

#rottmnt #rottmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #this is mostly a rottmnt post but it aligns with others as well #idk I just think it’s so interesting #because at his core rise leo is the SAME as the other Leos #they’re all goofy they’re all natural leaders they’re all quiet wanderers they’re all daddy’s boys #but these inherent traits take second to what they believe is valued more #specifically what their splinter values more #and sometimes what is valued allows them to more commonly broadcast themselves as who they actually are #but other times their core personalities directly go against what they think they NEED to be #so they stifle it #and soon enough their emulated selves become so tangled into their real selves that it’s a struggle to tell who they are without it #god I love Leo #and this is not to say that the other bros don’t do a similar thing #they just tend to be much more separate about it in terms of what they admire and who they are #whereas Leo blurs that line #don’t mind me just once again overanalyzing a fictional turtle boy #edit: AND ANOTHER THING #but Splinters value placed on Lou Jitsu ALSO helps push Leo into being someone who does things on his own #sure he loves his brothers and they’re everything to him #but he pre invasion he often does things himself or just expects to handle things on his own #y’know #like Lou Jitsu who notoriously does NOT have a team #so this Leo doesn’t care about being a leader - because who he’s emulating isn’t one #he’s like ‘okay we’re just a group of Lou Jitsus’ #and there’s something so painfully childlike about this

[caramelcleopatraa]

Needy

pairings : Roman Reigns x Black/Shy Reader

plot : you are having a calm night in while roman is on the road. while watching one of his matches, you start to get hot and bothered. Unbeknownst to you, he's already come back from his trip.

wc : 1,800~

x : a drabble I came up with a few days ago. shouts out to the lovely @harmshake for motivating me to post this / excuse any errors that you see :( I've practically been writing all day.

In all honesty, you weren’t a needy person. “I never need, I always want” was the motto that your friends came up with that perfectly describes you. You’ve always taken what you got and never complained, no matter the circumstances. Sure, you knew your boundaries and what you loved to see, hear, and experience. But you never found yourself asking for more of someone or something. So you questioned yourself on why you were lying in your bed, lightly massaging your folds, trying to string together incoherent thoughts and words, with the image of Roman replacing all thoughts in your mind.

Let's back track

It’s a calm Friday afternoon. You finally got a day off from your job, and you weren’t going to do jack. shit. Instead of being productive, your day is filled with the smell of popcorn, and the large tv in your living room playing a show you kept promising your friend you’d give a try. You took the time you had to catch up on everything, in fact. You already decided that this whole weekend would be you catching up on shows and anime you are majorly behind on. Meanwhile, Roman is still on the road with his cousin and the wiseman, which is something that you grew used to. He was scheduled to come back on Sunday, so you were left with an empty house. You loved the off chances you got an empty house though. But your mind couldn’t help but think about how he’s been doing. Which led to you going on peacock and rewatching his crown jewel match with LA Knight. You were always his number one supporter. You honestly loved watching your man work, commanding and demanding with every step inside the ring. 

You can’t help yourself as your eyes drift over his bronzed torso. His broad shoulders, his beautiful arms, and his sturdy hands. You observed him as he took his time toying with his opponent and the audience, always flashing his irresistible smirk. You find yourself shifting on the couch to get comfortable, and fidgeting with your ring, trying to give your hands something to do. As soon as you get comfortable and lift your head to look at the screen, Roman has Knight in a headlock while smugly smiling and saying “I call the shots. I call the shots baby.” Your thighs unconsciously rub together at his baritone voice. You missed hearing his voice. On the other side of the house, next to you on the couch, directly in your ear. Of course you miss him. You couldn’t go a day without missing his presence, his hypnotizing and tempting presence.

Your hands slowly rub your thighs as you watch the match transpire. You adjusted yourself one last time, letting your thighs part under your fur blanket. You tease yourself by running your hands from your knee to your inner thigh, never taking your eyes off the screen. You didn’t dare to look away. An exhale you didn’t know you were holding exited you as your fingers slowly ghosted over your clothed heat. You continue letting your fingers lightly feather against your core, until your finger presses against your shorts, resulting in a small gasp. You started to make your way to your pulsing clit, rubbing yourself through your shorts. Your hips move and grind to match the pace you were setting, along with small mewls and whimpers that left your mouth while roman raised his title in front of the crowd. You always found it sexy when he did anything with his title. Him swinging his belt, him showing it off by raising it above his head, him caressing and adjusting it. Hell, even him just putting it on did something to you.

Your right hand stayed busy on your clit while your left hand trailed up your body to your breasts. Softly kneeling them and pinching your nipples, like he would. You wanted to call him. see him, hear him, anything. You felt around the couch for your phone and clicked his contact to facetime him. Your phone laid propped up on your coffee table decor while you impatiently waited for your sexy ass man to answer. 

Facetime Failed

Fuck

You reached out to call again, but you stopped yourself. You figured there was a good reason why he wasn’t picking up. He was always one to answer his phone. To say the least, you were horny. Honestly embarrassed that seeing him in a match made you such a mess. You grabbed your phone and pranced upstairs to your room. You settled comfortably in your shared bed while you picked up where you left off. You didn’t even need the tv to encourage you anymore. You were already imagining what he was going to do to you when he got home. How his calloused hands would caress you gently before pinning you to the bed. How he would lick and suck every inch of your body. The daydreams in your head made you dizzy with arousal. The first time you ever felt needy. To say that you wanted him was an understatement. You needed him here, laying beside you, touching you, kissing you, fucking you. 

Your hands worked to pull your shorts and your panties off, discarding them somewhere around the room. Your fingers impatiently rubbed your clit and massaged your slick folds. Soft moans occupy the space around you, making the tension in the room rise. Your fingers gravitate to your pussy and easily slips through your folds. Your hands are already setting the pace that makes you go crazy, as you could no longer try to stay quiet. A second finger is added and your hips buck to meet your fingers halfway. “mmmh fuck”, Your eyes roll to the back of your head as you go faster, using your other hand to rub your aching clit. You were already so worked up, that you could cum at any moment. “aaahh- oh shit!” You tease yourself, playing with the place and adding little slaps to your clit, just like he does. Your stomach starts to tighten, and your well formed words become babbles and whines. Normally you would be ashamed that you got to this point all by yourself, but you didn’t care. You craved this feeling more than anything, and you were willing to chase it. “oooohhh- fuck i miss you babbyy. uughh shit i’m cominngg!” Your back arches off the mattress as you feel yourself getting close. Your body starts to shake and your pussy tightens around your fingers as you cum. A mix of screams and whines leave your mouth as you start to feel high from the orgasm you just had. Your chest visibly rises up and down, desperately trying to catch your breath.

“Damn mama, you miss me that badly?” A voice that you know too damn well. You quickly sit up and see your husband leaning on the door frame, wearing his irresistible smirk. You’re fumbling to try and cover up what just happened, not knowing it was too late for that. ‘What do I tell him? What lie can I make up that makes sense in this situation?’ Mentally you’re freaking out, but you’re wearing the same surprised  smile since he announced himself. “umm- how are you- you were supposed to be back on sunday- umm- shit, is today sunday?” Your sentence were cutting off one another. You nervously giggled while pretending to look for your phone. To no surprise, he caught your bluff immediately. “Sweetheart, I don't know why you’re shy. I’ve already seen everything under those covers.” He said seductively, walking towards the bed to join you. 

The bed dips as he slides next to you, teasing you with a smile as he closes the gap between you two. “So, what’s got my wife all hot and bothered? hmm?” He chuckles while lightly stroking your face. You almost forget that he asked you a question and melt into his touch. Your eyes shy away from him as you answer “just missed you, that’s all”. His hand comfortably wraps around your neck as he inches closer once more, pulling you into an intoxicating kiss. Your lips moved in harmony with his. It started off gentle, interrupting long kisses with playful pecks. Roman’s grip on your neck loosens and his hands rest on your full hips, pulling you to his body and deepening the kiss. Your arms snake up his body and around his neck, removing all options to back out. His lips trail down to your jaw and slowly inches towards your neck, his warm breath coast over your neck before harshly sucking on your sweet spot. You bit your lip in hopes that you could silence your moans, but roman wasn't having that. Roman’s right hand kept you in place while his left hand snaked down the small of your back down to your plush ass. The combination of him squeezing your ass and sucking on your neck made you go crazy. 

You couldn’t hold back your moans anymore, he was making you feel too good. “Missed hearing you baby.” He said breathily, watching you unwind from his touch. Your leg hooked onto his as you grinded against his length, making a mess on his pants under the sheets. He pulled away to observe the marks he gave you as you stared at him in awe. You could never get over how beautiful he was. His hands slipped under your arms to your back to unhook your bra and pulled it off you to expose your chest. You were completely naked, but felt bold. Your small hands pushed his shoulders down to lay flat on the bed. You took the opportunity to straddle him, tracing down his arms and guiding them around your body, caging you in. Your faces were barely an inch away from each other. You lose yourself in your husband’s facial features, scanning every part of him. You catch eyes lingering on his beard. His salt and pepper beard always caught your attention. He catches you staring at him and you were unable to stop him before he made a smart remark. “You like it?” He smiled, showing off his pearly whites. Your eyes connected with his chocolate ones. You felt needy again, he didn’t have to do much and yet, you felt like you needed more of him. “Like what?” You said, mirroring his smile and lightly giggling. He followed suit, chuckling along with you, his laugh vibrating through his chest. “You’re staring at it like you like it mama.” You felt your heart flutter at the nickname. You were experiencing so many feelings at once. You wanted to make him feel what you were feeling. You wanted to make him feel good. You started to roll your hips against him again, earning a deep groan from him as you kept eye contact with him.

“How ‘bout i show you how much i like it?”

( so I was thinking about making this a part one and a part two. later on, would post the full version of this. I just wanted to post this as my first "long fic". lemme know what you guys want me to write next lovelies 🪴🤎

~ your hippie author )

#roman reigns x reader #roman reigns x oc #roman reigns #roman reigns smut #roman reigns x black reader #roman reigns x y/n #roman reigns x you #roman reigns x chubby reader

[n-agiz]

THE OTHER WOMANㅤ ceo! gojo satoru x mistress! reader — smut [ 0.8k+ wc ] cws cheating + creampie ! MDNI

ㅤbeing someone's mistress wasn't something you had envisioned for your future, but when it came to gojo satoru, you supposed anything was possible.

sometimes you wondered why you had allowed yourself to get to this point.

if before this you hadn’t considered yourself an awful person, now you certainly did, and what you were doing was just one of the other million reasons why. you didn’t need this, didn’t need to be doing something so immoral, but as much as you hated to admit it, you had grown to crave it, crave something that once the mere idea of made you sick.

“you always look so pretty, baby. such a pretty thing, and all for me, right?”

“yes ‘toru, only for you”

your thighs ached from moving up an down, the burn somehow pleasant due to the pleasure it consequently gave you. your hands rested on gojo’s broad shoulders, legs parted over his lap and lingerie pushed to the side just enough to give his hard dick access to your pussy, having it fill you up perfectly, pink tip pressing against your cervix deliciously and veiny length rubbing against your walls in a way that made your head spin, the pleasure so great you wondered how much longer you would be able to last before finally reaching your high.

gojo satoru was an influential men, a rich ceo who came from a line of others much too similar to him. his family was known for their wealth, for how powerful they were, their reputation something they needed to keep in order to continue thriving — so you wondered what was so special about you that made him put everything on the line for just a few weekly fucks. you could destroy him if you wanted, could come out and talk all about how gojo satoru, a married man, had been fucking you for years now, having been with you ever since he got with his wife. you could talk about all the promises he made you, how he would assure you he would get divorced just to marry you instead, how he wished he had gotten with you in the first place instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage, how he would always tell you how insufferable his wife was and how much he loved you. those thing could all be lies, stuff he said while high on pleasure and when his dick was doing the thinking instead of his brain, but he still said them at some point, had repeated them too many times to count actually, so if you wanted, if you truly desired it, you could destroy him, get the revenge you sometimes thought about and finally show the world how immoral he actually was — but at the end of the day, you never did it, because truthfully you were just as unethical as him, after all, even if you weren’t directly betraying someone, you were still willingly helping someone do it.

gojo satoru might be an asshole, but you couldn’t really judge him because you completely mirrored him in that aspect.

“fuck baby! keep going like that, you feel so good around my dick” satoru’s moans were entracing, pretty even, and just as addicting as the feeling of the drag of his cock in and out of you, as addicting as everything about him.

“‘m close, ‘toru! really close”

“cum for me, pretty baby. cum all over my cock, c’mon” as he spoke, gojo started thrusting up into you, the chair you both sat on starting to creak as he matched your movements, reaching even deeper inside you. for a second you forgot all about how wrong this was, your own pleasure the only thing filling your brain as you felt your orgasm start to build, soon enough feeling the tightening knot in your lower stomach snap, sending blasts of pleasure to hit you hard. “ahh fuck! that’s it, just like th- argh!” and before long, gojo too reached his climax, moaning shamelessly while filling you up with his seed.

“‘toru!” your mewls were like music to satoru’s ears, so lewd and yet so beautiful, a boost of confidence that nothing else could give him. at it’s core, that was all you were to him, a simple boost of confidence, something he shouldn’t have but that he still did simply because he could, because he wanted to — and although you would never admit to it openly, at it’s purest form your relationship with him was also just something that rubbed your ego just the right way, something you kept up because it made you feel good, made you feel wanted, desired, and that was why you two would never work out if your relationship had been born in any other context. you and gojo worked out because, as wrong as it was, you were attracted to each other exactly because you weren’t supposed to have one another, because you were each other’s forbidden fruit, which turned you both into the more appetizing one, the more addicting one, and the only one that could ever satiate your thirst at this point.

being the other woman was a role you never thought you would fulfill, but as you sat on top of gojo satoru and looked at his glossed over eyes, pure lust filling their blue irises while he stared up at you, you wondered if you hadn’t actually been destined for this role all along.

N-AGIZ '23ㅤ REBLOGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED !

#gojo smut #gojo satoru smut #jjk gojo smut #gojo x y/n #gojo x reader #gojo x you #gojo x female reader #gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru x female reader #gojo satoru x y/n #jjk gojo x you #jjk gojo x reader #jjk gojo #jjk gojo satoru #gojo fanfic #gojo satoru #gojo drabbles #gojo imagine #gojo satoru imagines #gojo satoru drabble #gojo satoru fanfic #jjk x you #jjk x reader #jjk smut #jujutsu kaisen gojo #jjk drabbles #jjk imagines #jjk fic #jjk fanfic

[rwbyconversations]

The Faunus/White Fang plotline was NEVER inspired by the Irish Troubles/IRA

A few years ago, someone posted a "theory" about how the White Fang plotline was based, not on the American Civil Rights movements of the 1960s such as the Black Panthers and Martin Luther King's protests, but on a similar conflict in Europe that ran for much of the 20th century in the British occupation of Northern Ireland, known in short as "The Troubles."

Recently, I saw it again as someone stole the post so they could feel smart, so I want to put this to bed definitively as an Irish person:

The Faunus and White Fang plotline were never based on the Irish Troubles or the Irish Republican Army. To be frank I don't think Miles and Kerry know anything about Ireland outside of making drunk Paddy jokes in their off-hours. (wouldn't be the first nationality they've made fun of)

Barring that they were both Civil Rights Movements that happened in the general post-World War 2 wave of the 1960s alongside other countries like India and South Africa, the Troubles and Americian Civil Rights movements have little in common. The big dividing point is religion. The Troubles were a conflict that at its core was as much a sectarian divide as it was fighting against British oppression. The Protestant/Catholic divide is still active in Northern Ireland to this day, with people getting assaulted for wearing the wrong clothes or having the wrong names. The city still has dozens of "Peace walls" scattered around as remnants of the conflict. The religious/sectarian divide is at the heart of the Troubles; you cannot do a depiction of it without at least acknowleding that divide. Even Captain Planet managed this, for Christ's sake.

RWBY does not do this. There is no religious element to the White Fang unless you blink and squint at Fennic and Corsac- and they don't matter to the story at large outside of being minibosses in Volume 5 and they are the only White Fang agents who are vaugely religious. There's no religious element to the Faunus at large unless you look up supplementary material and read about the Faunus creation myths in the Fairy Tales of Remnant series. Trying to be inspired by The Troubles without referencing the sectarian part of it, is like trying to write an two-question essay when you only read the first half of the first question- i.e., you're going to fail miserably. Yeah, there was a conflict, and a question can be raised of how appropriate the use of violence was. And that's it. There's not even an Irish character in the show or anyone who uses an accent, so safe to 100% say, no. The Troubles were never on Miles and Kerry's mind when designing the Faunus racism.

Additionally, there is a silver bullet debunking the entire theory. All the way back in Volume 1 on the commentary track, Barbara Dunklemann said this:

"If anybody needs a comparison for what the Faunus are in this world, it's kind of like if you're in the 1930s/1940s and it's the way African American people were treated and viewed."

After someone else asks for clarification, Dunklemann then confirms they meant the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement by name. No attempt is made to correct Dunklemann or say the White Fang was inspired by other Civil Rights movements- it is firmly, 100%, solely about the American movement.

There you have it- a quote from the crew itself confirming without a doubt that the Faunus and White Fang were always based on the Americian Civil Rights movement, with no mention of the Troubles or the Irish sectarian divisions. Attempting to say otherwise goes directly against stated intent from the beginning of the show.

Now please, don't let this stupid, asinine theory come back a third time, the next time a white RWBY fan gets uncomfortable at the racism in the White Fang plot, and reaches to a different civil rights conflict as a deflection tactic.

tldr- keep my country's history out of your mouth if you only care about using it to deflect blame on the catgirl racism subplot.

#rwby #rwby analysis #rwby criticism #rwde #white fang

[crusherthedoctor]

Get a Load of Traits - PART 2: Dr. Eggman

It's that time again, folks. Time for another analysis you didn't ask for.

I explained how the setup goes with my previous installment revolving around Sonic, but to recap: for the sake of not dragging things out too much, I’ve decided to keep it all thematically consistent by sticking with 9 main points per character, in terms of what I personally consider the highest priorities for each of them. These will usually not be listed in any particular order of importance or relevance unless stated otherwise, and while there may be other major traits that might not get mentioned (in which case, feel free to bring them up yourself if you see fit), this keeps things simple and focuses on the points that have the most flexibility with how much of the character they encapsulate.

It should also be noted that these posts are made with the game portrayals in mind, because the games mark the core of the franchise, and as such, they objectively contain the purest essence of the cast. Adaptations generally like to play by their own rules, some more gratuitously and inexcusably than others, and this will inevitably crop up with certain entries. All that being said however, I’ll attempt to stay focused rather than devolve into another rant about this adaptation or that adaptation, only directly referring to them if I feel it’s necessary for the point being made.

Anyhow, for today’s installment, the spotlight shines on everyone's favourite villain that they pretend isn't a villain: Dr. Eggman.

He's larger than life.

Where could he be???

He's shaped like an egg. He laughs and bellows like it's going out of fashion. He proudly announces when he's in the room for no other reason than to inform everyone that he's in the room. He takes sadistic glee when you don't have enough memory in the memory card. Why would you want to sawdust away this side of him? What are you, a Hollywood writer?

Just as Sonic is a fun hero, it's integral that Eggman is a fun villain. He's all about the colour, the spectacle, the raw energy. This is non-negotiable. If you approach this character and think he needs to be made grounded because he has a silly name or something, then you are going about this the completely wrong way. Villains like Eggman get praised all the time for being vibrant and wacky, so frankly, there is no excuse to write him off for it.

He is genuinely smart.

"Oh yeah? Well if you played nice, I wouldn't need to transform you into a tedious gameplay mechanic that appeals to furries and is guaranteed to give this game negative reviews from IGN. Haha, gottem."

Look at the screencap above. He was able to turn the tables against Super Sonic right when it looked as though he was thoroughly cornered. How was he able to achieve this? By planning.

*leans closer to the mic*

P L A N N I N G.

Yes, he is not literally omniscient. Yes, he can be prone to the occasional oversight. Yes, unexpected events can transpire that would be difficult if not impossible for him to account for. But all that aside, Eggman is a genius. He does have an IQ of 300. He talks a big game, but with all the amazing tech he's created over the years, and with all the ways he's pulled a fast one over the heroes, he has proven that he can play the big game. Need I remind you that this is a human, and his arch-nemesis is the fastest thing alive, not some dude on the street. He would need to be on his A-game in order to last.

And yes, it is indeed him who does all that brainstorming. Ever since day 1, he's always been very hands-on with his operations, not needing to steal the credit from another scientist or force a hostage to do it all for him. His plans? His weapons? They're all him. Would a mere bumbler be able to subdue the Time Eater?

He is genuinely evil.

"What's this shite I'm hearing about a Mr. Tinker...?"

We've got the Triforce of Funny Man. We've got the Triforce of Real Intelligence. Now here comes the hardest pill to swallow: the Triforce of Actually Malevolent.

For reasons that can be pinned on certain portrayals that are coincidentally more commonly found in adaptations, fans are all too willing to remove agency from Eggman's villainy. When they're not claiming an amnesiac personality that peaced out as quickly as it arrived is his true self, they're claiming he has all these heated gamer moments for the purpose of avenging his Wasted™ grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. Or they claim he's not as bad as other villains in the franchise because he "only" wants to conquer the world, rather than destroy it.

Now how can I put this gently...

No, I am not just saying this because I personally happen to favor Eggmen with proper villainous balls to their name rather than glorified frenemies with Sonic at best. Even when exorcising myself of all potential bias, the Eggman we see in the games is still a very different fellow from what a concerning number of fans say with a straight face he is.

He stuffs animals inside robots on a regular basis. He lies, cheats, and backstabs on a regular basis. He fired a laser at the planet with the intent to fracture it, with no consideration for destruction or fatalities. He conquered other planets just to reduce them to self-indulgent attractions for his theme park. He drove a friendly robot to insanity after they were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to destroy Station Square right out the gate, with the only difference come the end of his rope being that he changed tactics to more suicidal means out of desperation. When the Deadly Six were defeated, and the world remained in a dire state, his only reaction was to express relief that there was still something for him to lord over. And although Forces may have glossed over much of his rule, it's clear that it wasn't pleasant for anyone other than himself. Throughout all of this, he rarely brings up Gerald in a consistent manner outside of SA2 and ShtH, and in fact, even in those games, it's pretty clear that he only cares about Gerald's scientific legacy and how that makes him special in the process due to being his grandson. He's never been shown to give a damn about the rest of Gerald as a person, including the philanthropist he was at heart prior to his last days.

Not wanting to destroy the world is not an act of kindness. It's simple logic: he can't conquer something that's not there. And is treating the population to a lifetime of slavery really that softer than a quick and (relatively) painless death? I'm sure TV Tropes would say yes, but what do you think?

He's a self-made man.

Egg Jameson confirmed.

Our horizontally enlightened fiend did not start with a kingdom of his own. He was not a test tube baby who could shoot lasers out of his hands from day one. He was not born a demon, nor did he hail from a bloodline of gods. When he began his path in life of being a furry shamer, he had only his gadgets and tools to work with. Yet, he has managed to carve himself a bountiful list of pro gamer moves over the years despite his mortal human status, including harnessing the Time Eater as mentioned, bringing his dream Eggmanland to life in all its glory, and the engineering marvel that is Metal Sonic... and almost never suffering from financial troubles despite the frequent destruction of his machines at Sonic's hands. (Keep Sonic 4's name out your fuckin' mouth.)

And speaking of that last part, there has been evidence across the series that he has more than one way of ensuring the moolah keeps rolling in. We've seen him set up casinos, carnivals, Extreme Gear companies, newspaper factories, and other facilities to extend his reach. We've seen his robots mine for resources all over the world, and occasionally other worlds. We've seen him own a literal ocean of oil. We've even seen him sell his stripped down robots to chumps who don't know any better. For all his childish ways and penchant for plagiarizing the Death Star, he's surprisingly good at money management.

Then there's his specific approach to scheming and beating Sonic. Winning on its own is never enough for him: he wants to win on his terms, by doing things his way. So he might steal a shiny gem, but he'll use it to power the tech that he made. He might wake up a sleeping beast, but he'll have an Egg Carrier operating alongside it. The doc is always pulling his weight no matter the game, because if he didn't, how could he back up his self-admired intellect without it ringing hollow? You know he wouldn't be having that.

All of this goes a long way to explaining how he grew a knack for being so pro-active as a villain in the present day of the games proper. Instead of having it easy by being born an almighty superbeing, he had to work his way up using nothing but his brain. Because Dr. Eggman is a man with quite a few admirable qualities. Just a shame that morality is not one of them, no matter how much I've been gaslit by fans into believing otherwise.

His ego is his motive.

Don't say it.

As we discussed, for all his manufactured admiration of his late grandad's genius, he doesn't mention him as often across the franchise as fans would lead you to believe. But you know which moustached gentleman he does mention a lot throughout the franchise...?

An overfilled sense of pride is to be expected for a pure villain. Regardless of their motive and their means to fulfill said motives, they're expected to think highly of themselves to some degree. But Eggman is not your everyday egotist: he IS the ego. Many villains have made statues of themselves, but how many do you know who have defaced historical monuments and plastered their visage on them? How many villains do you know who call half of their machines Egg Something? How many villains do you know who make up every single boss in more than one installment?

That's because Eggman's ego isn't just part of his character: it's the source of his drive. Everything he does, everything he wants to do, is fueled by how much he loves himself, and how displeased he is that the rest of the world does not feel the same way. He wants everyone to bow down to his excellence, he wants to conquer the world to satisfy his lust, and even that wouldn't keep him satiated forever, since evidence has shown that he would just make a grab for the whole universe if he got bored. He cannot picture a world where anyone else matters, because they're not him. Over the span of three decades, his inflated self-worth at the cost of everyone else's agency and wellbeing has not diminished one iota, and unless SEGA decides to pander hard to the Eggdad standom, this is not likely to change anytime soon.

Which leads me to my next point...

The consequences are irrelevant to him.

Quote by Billy Mitchell.

Part of the recurring problem with Eggman being woefully mischaracterized as not such a bad guy when you get to know him is because people like to suggest that since he rarely shows outright sadism while committing his evil deeds (except this is also not true; see Tails' story in SA1, or the sheer ecstasy in his tone when he betrayed Emerl's trust in Battle), that means the results that spring from them are more excusable than the likes of Mephiles, Starline, Disney, etc.

Putting aside the fact that he's still willingly committing these deeds to begin with - with no regret at that - let's assume they mean in reference to ordinary citizens and the like. Now maybe it's true that he's not known to dedicate much of his career to making things personal with random nobodies. But let me ask you something: when he declared his intent to destroy Station Square with Chaos so he could build ROBOTNIKLAND THE ULTIMATE CITY WHERE I WILL RULE IT AAAALLLL COME ON CHAOS LET'S FIND ANOTHER EMERALD SHALL WE Eggmanland over its remains... did he say anything about letting the residents evacuate? Did he provide a means to help them evacuate?

What you need to keep in mind is that Eggman showing little interest goes both ways. He doesn't give any thought to these folk period. If his giant mech killed people who were in his way, or he fired a cannon at Whocaresville and the people living there didn't have time to get out of dodge, he's not going to shed a tear and call for a moment of silence. Because, as we've already established, the only person that matters is him. So long as he gets what he wants, and so long as there are still other people out there to worship him, what's the big deal if some kid is now without a parent or a home?

He is not a good master.

"Also, I did create a vaccine. That's what you get for listening to our loving fans who hate us."

Well, at least he shows a more caring side to his creations, right? Sure... if you don't pay any attention to how it plays out onscreen.

My dude is certainly willing to shower his creations with high praise, but what advocates of Good Guy Eggman fail to note is that he praises them because he made them. An achievement for them is an achievement for him, because how would they be so brilliant and competent if it weren't for who built them that way? And you know what else? That praise conveniently only manifests when the creation is doing their job: the moment they fall short of his lofty standards, he flips like a switch. Can it truly be considered sincere and from the heart if he's that willing to turn on them that easily?

Of his many robotic stooges over the years, two that he held in high esteem were the E-Series and Metal Sonic. He made a show of tasking the former with an important mission, and the latter has been recognized repeatedly as one of his crowning masterpieces. And yet, all of the E-Series bar Gamma were discarded and essentially left to fend for themself in an unfamiliar world, with Beta being forcibly modified without a second thought. Gamma was only spared because, you guessed it, he was the one with a victory to his name. As for Metal Sonic, for all his longevity and special treatment, he too is not immune to punishment in the event of failure or disobedience.

And Infinite? His prized right-hand man during his six month conquest? Whisked away without a word after one bruh moment too many, followed by making a point to show off his own mastery over the (real) Phantom Ruby.

Needless to say, this is a stark contrast from the goofy dad you often see in fanart.

His will is equal to Sonic's.

"I'm gonna have to reset, that was a practice run."

Being a regular human does not serve as a limitation for Eggman's status and capabilities, unless you're a hack writer who believes superficial power levels are the instant-win key to a good antagonist, or a well-crafted story in general. On paper, a hedgehog with Sonic's level of power should have dealt with this silly old man once and then never again. That happened with aliens. It happened with gods. It happened with talking ballsacks. Yet Eggman is still around. Despite being subjected to a wide selection of situations that should have Big Oof'd him, with Sonic normally not considering saving him from said perils a high priority, Eggman keeps surviving, and he keeps trucking on.

Why? Because main villain immunity, yes, but compared to Bowser the fire-breathing turtle, and Ganon the occasional boar-shaped demigod, a human scientist managing to persist for as long as he has is still impressive even without the out-of-universe justification. This detail of his character is even incorporated into his boss fights: the Egg Viper battle ends with a kamikaze attack. The Mega Death Egg Robot had a second machine stored inside it, keeping up where the fight left off as the first one conks out. S3&K in its entirety was practically dedicated to his absolute refusal to call it quits.

He doesn't give up. He never gives up. And he's not the type to piss his pants either. When the odds are stacked against him, he will either give it his all with much gnashing of teeth, or he'll retreat because it's the tactically sound thing to do. What he doesn't do is show fear and plead for his life. (Unleashed doesn't count, that was a Wily ploy.)

He hates Sonic.

Or else he wouldn't have made this.

You would think this would go without saying. You have not spent enough time in the Sonic community. I wish I was you. (Then again, I met my friends through it...)

There are many people - many, many, many people - who will vehemently drill into your head with the trustworthy assurance of a SonicTuber that Dr. Eggman, arch-nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog, world's longest Attempted Sonic Murderer champion, secretly likes the guy deep down, and would never wish for the Blue Blur to actually kick the bucket for good. They claim that when push comes to shove, the old doctor would never fully commit to world domination, because he simply enjoys his bouts with Sonic too much.

For X!Eggman? Probably.

Boom Eggman? Definitely.

Game Eggman? The Eggman? No.

Eggman hates Sonic. Eggman loathes Sonic, and he loathes the rest of his multicolored accomplices just as fiercely. The amount of times he has tried to bust a cap in Sonic's ass is plausibly in the triple digits. He has subjected Sonic to all kinds of threatening, terrifying situations with the explicit purpose of either killing him or hitting him where it hurts. He shows happiness when Sonic is in pain, or has appeared to have been vanquished by his efforts. What about any of this suggests that he likes him? Because of respect?

Now yes, that much is true. It's evident that Eggman respects Sonic as an opponent who can keep up with him, and it's true that he enjoys their battles to an extent. That's not the same thing as actually liking the guy on a personal level. For all the respect he may wield, he would still gladly rid himself of the hedgehog the first chance he gets. Remember the big moment in SA2 in which he launched Sonic into space? He bid his farewell, in a semi-mocking tone, then went right back to business like it was nothing. And what about Forces? What did he plan on doing with Sonic once he got bored of waving his victory in his enemy's face? That's right, he planned on slamming the red button on him. Sorry you had to find out this way, that's what happens when you don't Play The Game.

Ivo Robotnik is a jovial man, but his goals are dead serious. He wants his empire more than anything else in the world, and he will get it. For whatever thrills their encounters may provide, he would piss on Sonic's grave without a moment's hesitation in order to make progress with his ambitions. If he wasn't serious about taking over the world... why the fuck would he do all that he does? Do you really think he spends all that time researching ancient tablets because he wants to be Sonic's friend? Do you think he enslaves alien races because it's not like he likes Sonic or anything baka kawaii desu (please don't unfollow me, I won't do it again)? I don't think so, chum. There'd be no game, and no franchise, if Eggman wasn't coming up with ways to put him in an early grave. And then probably vandalize the grave after.

---

If you understand all of these points, and if you can take to them, then I believe you should have what it takes to write a good, or even great, portrayal of Dr. Ivo "EDP445" Robotnik. No portrayal is going to be one-and-one with that of another, there'll always be subtle distinctions depending on the writer, but you'll be fine as long as he's not a softie or a fool who only exists to be replaced with a gay platypus.

Oh and, one last thing...

Heroes manual lied to you. Sorry, English fandom.

#Get a Load of Traits #Opinion #Dr. Eggman

[auromelt]

thoughts on if suzaki somehow got adopted by oya????

i see him more as a suzuran guy i don’t actually think he’d fit into oya well unless he was having a Real Serious mental breakdown and they were the ones to help him out of it lol. i can see him being friends with at least fujio though and he knows that if anything happens to him at senomon he’ll have a safe place at oya

i have headcanons though 😭

oya!suzaki:

first he and amagai are Done in this scenario. they’ve split, it’s over. suzaki hates the way they went out, but what can he really do? where will he ever be wanted and needed again?

oya heard about it from their silly little intel guy and it’s just not right. no matter how they individually feel about senomon’s guard dog, he doesn’t deserve to be thrown out with the trash, not after everything he did for amagai. it’s this that drives fujio to extending a hand out for him.

did i mention suzaki would look hot as fuck in black? anyways.

a lot of the oya guys are probably pretty mistrustful of him. i mean, as expected, he did play an active role in abducting and almost killing their #2. i like to imagine fujio would trust him and prompt the others to treat him nicely which nobody really takes kindly to. it’s because of this that fujio might be the only person he’s willing to speak to properly. things do improve with time of course

strangely, of all people, tsukasa is quite fond of him. he’ll make conversation with suzaki too but suzaki is soooo awkward with him because of the aforementioned kidnapping thing

we saw in the movie that suzaki is Strong, like a one-man army, 3-on-1 kinda strong. having him definitely elevates oya’s fighting prowess. he’s a lot like the hope hill guys in the sense that from a very young age he’s had to learn to fight for himself and win a place away from the bottom to survive. without having to protect a useless crybaby, his full potential is unlocked and he essentially displaces fujio at the top. i mean did we watch the same movie? he took on todoroki and odajima at the same time and still had the ability to go against fujio and probably would’ve won if the power of friendship was on his side… or if amagai’s irritating ass didn’t wake the dead

he doesn’t replace fujio as the leader. his experiences with senomon and amagai have built immense loyalty within himself and this loyalty has projected onto fujio now. at his core, suzaki is built to serve and protect. he’ll protect fujio with all he has because fujio was kind to him when no one else was. he helps in defending fujio’s place, never steps beyond that

he doesn’t officially join any factions, he has a hard time with people and everyone’s still kinda scared of him. he mostly works alone and corresponds with fujio. still, despite not having anything to defend but himself, he’s always at the beck and call of tsukasa faction

speaking of todoroki he and suzaki do Not get along. their personalities just clash horribly but rather than conflict, the two just ignore each other unless they need to work together. i think they’d probably have some level of respect for each other and honestly they’re probably more alike than they believe themselves.

suzaki would look so good in black

hm… he’s also strangely nice to jamuo. jamuo is terrified of him but i think suzaki would find him quite interesting. he was never much of an intel guy, that was saboten’s job in senomon and he sucked at it, only ever really able to force information out through beating people up. he’ll absolutely defend jamuo from the people who like picking on him

when amagai actually does find out what suzaki’s been up to, he’s furious of course. but he doesn’t have his guard dog anymore and he’s just stuck with the absolutely useless senomon high students. amagai would absolutely feel like oya stole what’s his, even if he was the one to throw suzaki out in the first place. against what is probably smart, amagai goes directly to oya to find suzaki and confront him and take him back because suzaki was supposed to be a stray dog he wasn’t supposed to move on. amagai can’t stand that.

when he reaches oya, i think yasukiyo would be the ones to greet him 🤔 with a punch to the face. tsukasa handles amagai’s intrusion, telling him to get out before they show him what they do to intruders on their home turf. amagai demands to see suzaki but suzaki won't see him, hiding away within earshot. amagai calls him a coward and tells him it’s not over and that he’ll get back at suzaki somehow. i think oya would probably have their big realisation of what suzaki’s been through at that moment, listening to the way amagai speaks to him and threatens him, seeing the genuine sickness and fear on suzaki’s expression. suddenly, the guard dog looks more like an abandoned puppy.

he does come out as amagai leaves, telling him to leave oya alone. the people standing close to him can see the unbreakable suzaki ryo shake, can see how scared he is, but he defends fujio against the person who scarred him anyways

after that he gets along better with oya, they realise that despite their past, despite everything, suzaki’s loyalty rests with them

you know what? i said i didn’t see the vision so idk how i wrote this much and now i’ve low key kinda convinced myself? 😭 anyways i hope this is satisfactory!

#🦙 anons #high & low #high&low #suzaki ryo #high & low the worst x #high&low the worst x #oya high

[thesherrinfordfacility]

does aziraphale actually at any point agree to come back to heaven? even after the metatron offers to restore crowley? because take all the time you need doesn't sound like he agreed yet. the flashback cuts immediately after the ascension offer without looking at his reply. he dodges directly answering tell me you said no. crowley takes it as a foregone conclusion based on his evasions and reacts accordingly the metatron acts as though he's agreed to cut off his escape routes but i'm not conviced he actually ever did...

(2/2)

hi anon!!!✨ lots of things to talk about here!!!

okay first thing's first, something definitely feels off about the cuts in the metatron-aziraphale chinwag, and the way it's intersected with aziraphale telling crowley, there's no two ways about it. i do think to some degree there is something we are not seeing.

that being said, i think it could potentially be quite... cheap? narratively to have a Big Reveal of *gasp* we didn't see the whole conversation! now if that does happen, im absolutely sure i'll be proven wrong in that assessment, and it'll be great. however, i personally don't like it that much, insofar that i think it can sometimes reflect a poor opinion on audience intelligence (ie. i prefer to find out there were clues hidden in plain sight to about 95% of the 'Answer', you only had to look hard enough to work out what was going on, then maybe a surprise twist for the remaining 5% - rather than something be purposefully and entirely kept from the audience).

so for example, i felt this way about the gabriel/beelzebub storyline. what had happened to gabriel was hidden in plain sight - the fly, the box, the memories, the matchbox etc - but the little twist obviously being him and beez falling in love. beautiful, splendid!

but for there to be a Big Reveal that metatron made an overt or even thinly veiled threat against aziraphale and/or crowley? that feels a bit too Big to reconcile, imo, with the rest of the scene. there are definitely indicators, the more that ive rewatched the Final Fifteen with this perspective in mind, that aziraphale is scared, or uncertain. the way he looks out the window, his facial reaction to what crowley says to him (shaking head, looking confused, etc)...

but i don't think he's been threatened. i think he maybe feels threatened or has Worked Something Out, but i dont think metatron actually intimated any kind of threat (tbh, i felt like that was the whole point of metatron's behaviour in the Final Fifteen). as for whether aziraphale had accepted the offer though - i completely agree that i don't think he had made up his mind completely until a very Specific moment.

i do believe that aziraphale wants to change heaven, and do the good thing of making a difference; i think that its simultaneously very in-keeping with his core traits (and his character development up to this point has naturally led to this decision), but also a step forward in some aspects too - put simply, bc it would be a whole other meta and tbh a point ive talked about quite extensively from my recollection, i definitely think both of the boys needed to separate.

but as to specifically why aziraphale was so willing to make that difference; well, i think he realises that metratron is potentially dangerous. he's smarter than metatron has given him credit for, and aziraphale realises that whilst he may not know his motives for doing so, or what specifically metatron could do, i think he has put together a number of Clues that indicate that he and crowley might not be as safe in the bookshop as they thought they were (and i had to actually parse this out in a separate post, anon, bc i got so excited!!! your ask completely inspired it, so thank you!)

so with this potentially in mind, he leaves the bookshop (and not until possibly clocking this dirty look thrown at crowley, just for good measure):

and settled down across the road with metatron. metatron offers him the job, CUT, metatron gives (?) aziraphale the power to restore crowley, CUT. then aziraphale, as you said anon, starts to come back across to the bookshop, and tell crowley what happened. as you said, metatron's line indicates aziraphale has basically said, "well, i'll need to run it by him indoors first", and metatron has acquiesced, it seems.

so yeah, just to hammer home your point, i definitely think that aziraphale has said something like, "i need to think about it", for metatron's first line to make sense and for it to flow. and his expression, keeping with the kindly old man, indicates to me that he hasn't gone nasty or threatened him at all, but instead is almost taking the "kill them with kindness" approach, which is all the more powerful because it makes the victim, so to speak, arrive at the conclusion they wanted but by their own conviction.

anyway, so aziraphale is all smiley, until he crosses to the bookshop, and it's apprehensive and stiff and uncomfortable. i think this for me is a telling sign, because if he were expected crowley to want to be an angel again, and to be with him, what would aziraphale have to be nervous about? personally i think it's to do with the aforementioned potential realisation that whatever he says to crowley in the shop, he needs to be careful in what he says and how he says it.

as soon as he steps in the shop, it's back to smiles. nothing's wrong at all. in fact, i have good news. aziraphale is looking out the window just as metatron has turned from muriel to look right back. then, when crowley starts rambling (my brave soldier), you need to stop talking, i need to tell you this and i need to tell you this now before anything happens or you end up saying something and land us in deep shit, because i think he can hear everything we're saying (just chopped together a bunch of shit to demonstrate this):

and then aziraphale starts to lay out what the metatron has offered to him, even pulling himself up on potentially offending him by indicating that aziraphale and crowley both might have had a shitty word to say about him after the metatron's less than helpful rhetoric in s1:

im not going to go ahead and gif the rest, but the following notes through aziraphale's account of the conversation and the offer made to crowley:

aziraphale barely blinks after the above point in his monologue, and is definitely agitated and restless compared to when it cuts to the flashback of him and metatron at justine's restaurant

an obvious thing that everyone has remarked but; aziraphale first asserts that he doesn't want to go back to heaven, to which metatron plays the crowley restoration card

as soon as metatron says, "(paraphrased) looked back over your previous exploits with the demon crowley", and aziraphale goes from frozen, deer in headlights, to visibly uncomfortable and panicked - swallows, eyes start darting away (previous pretty firm eye contact with metatron), pursed lips... all indicating to me a mixture of 'oh he's definitely been watching us/has had the power to', and 'oh shit it's worse than i thought'

we don't see aziraphale's face after metatron finishes his offer of restoring crowley - did aziraphale continue to look scared? did he look relieved that a threat hasn't been made? does he even look relieved that metatron doesn't appear to be splitting them up, but instead is offering an option where they can still be together and protect each other? we don't know.

i do think aziraphale was taken in by the promotion; i do think he wants to do exactly as ive said in previous metas. i think he does want to make a difference, do the right thing. not the clever thing, or logical thing, but the right thing. the minisodes literally led to this point, directed us to this being the pinnacle of his character development so far.

i think he genuinely thought that the restoration offer would solve everything re: his and crowley's safety, and their future together - he acts truly shocked that crowley would turn it down. i don't think crowley has ever really told him about the fall, or why crowley is so vehemently repulsed by heaven and therefore by the offer by extension. aziraphale sees it as an overture made towards crowley, a way to set right an egregious wrong done to crowley, and - like the photograph in ep4 - a way that aziraphale, once again, can actually be the one out of the two of them to protect them both.

this to me is why the metatron's whole offer, start to finish, is so clever, and so dumb, and why it would be so gratuitous to even bother with an overt threat. it's clever because it plays into aziraphale's core beliefs and the tenets of his character - especially those that crowley taught him. it's dumb because there's so much that metatron got wrong, like the coffee, and only set off (imo) the alarm bells for aziraphale that things are Not What They Seem. but ultimately aziraphale arrives at the conclusion - especially post-Feral Domestic - that he has to go to heaven. metatron didn't need to threaten him; the decisions that you reach yourself rather than be coerced or ordered into are always the decisions that stick.

i think aziraphale knew he was going to go to heaven as soon as metatron offered it. i think he knew, however this was going to go, it would not be an option he couldn't take. the bit he didn't foresee, that he thought would be guaranteed, is that crowley would want to help him and be with him, not force him to go against his core self (the bit that wants to do good and do the right thing), and not put his faith and trust in aziraphale even if he could never again put it in heaven. im not saying aziraphale is right for thinking or assuming that - far from it - but that must be somewhat along the lines of how he thought this would go.

so essentially, anon, if you've stuck with me this far (bless you if you have, you're so brave), i do largely agree! and it's parsing out this ask that has made me seriously consider if i think that aziraphale knows he's in some sort of peril. i think he does - but i don't think the metatron knows that aziraphale knows. that's pretty powerful knowledge. the opening had been made, a declaration of intent has been made apparent, and now aziraphale needs to respond. i think aziraphale is going to need to play a very tough board here, consider where he moves his pieces, and start planning the middlegame as soon as he can - something, if you ask me, he's already doing:

#its nearly 1am i havent proof read this #tldr anon your ask has convinced me of the middle ground between aziraphale being coerced and aziraphale just being a Good Nice Angel #good omens #ask #aziraphale meta #feral domestic/final fifteen meta #s2 meta #metatron spec #sanctuary/bentley theory

[owlpellet]

What's something Niram is really bad at? What would he say his best trait is and what is it actually? How do his health complications impact his day-to-day? What would you say his most striking feature is? (Other than not having hands anymore) What subjects does he most like to paint?

Oh man oh man.

-So he's obviously really bad at anything that involves physical activity. He's an emaciated little shrimp with the core strength of a bean burrito who doesn't have any hands and is slowly making his own legs atrophy by choosing to levitate everywhere instead of walk like a normal person. His STR is 7. His magehand weight limit is probably higher than what he could have comfortably carried around before.

But no, his actual weak point that causes Real Problems is he sucks at lying. He sucks at it so bad. Whether it's some deep ancient fae ancestry nonsense or horrible contingency spiraling about having to maintain the lie like he claims isn't really clear, but he will avoid having to lie at all costs. He cannot force his way through one. He would rather be truthful and face the consequences of this than have to keep track of falsehoods and who knows them, although sometimes this also just means he has a big mouth about stuff he doesn't think matters.

This doesn't mean he's *compelled* to truth, though. He can simply stay quiet about a subject, or give only partial information, and he can lie for the sake of a brief joke or surprise, but if forced into a "yes or no?" type of situation his honesty is almost guaranteed.

-The biggest complication when it comes to his health is definitely his diet, at least when off campus. Turns out a lot of people take it as an insult when you won't eat their food, even when you explain why, and people can also be really weird about abstinence from drinking! His teammate Sayid graciously assists Niram in purging what his body can't filter by taking on some of the malaise for him and going through bathroom hell (just Ilmaterite things, we call it the holy dialysis), and it's one of the few things in life he grapples with guilt about.

I do also acknowledge in games the frequent toilet trips he needs, though don't derail RP for them unless they're narratively relevant or funny.

While not directly related to his internal health, he also encounters a lot of accessibility issues now that he doesn't have hands. The magehands allow for him to manipulate objects, but the disconnect from his actual body still presents a lot of challenges-- the session before last they actually had to work with Yuri's dad (an artificer) to modify special slot-style handlebars for him to attach to his magic broom that he had previously just been wrapping his elbows around for dear life.

Also sometimes he just... forgets they're not there anymore. It's been such a short while compared to a whole life of having them. He's had a few bodily collisions with things where a well-placed hand should have stopped that. Like... leaning against a wall.

-His most striking feature is probably that receding hairline and extreme widow's peak. Content-aware scaled, color-inverted Vegeta lookin mf. He would probably agree.

-He loves doing portraits/figures of all kinds but I think after a lot of practice and honing his skills he'll find he likes dragons, dragonborn, lizardfolk, aarakocra, and other scaled or feathered individuals because he finds the patterns/color variety soothing rather than tedious.

This differs from his sketching in his journal, which is a less time-consuming process in which he doesn't try to get so lost. His favorite things to sketch/ink are bones. Of course.

#niram #making me THINK??? #about my BOY??? #delicious thank u

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol 3

Well, things are getting real serious in this volume and I have a lot of thoughts. Now that I’m not reading in a fevered state of obsession, the darkness of this volume hit me really hard. But more on that below the cut.

Ch1

Wolfwood is faced with Gray the Ninelives and remembers his big argument with Vash! He seems to decide that he’ll try to do things Vash’s way for once, but he’s very not happy about it. But like I said before, we’re already making progress. As much as these two disagree, they still listen to each other and try to work with the other’s perspective. 

This weird centipede puppet thing is incredibly freaky. I’m actually having a hard time looking at it.

More commentary on Vash’s humanity—or lack thereof, this time by Leonof, who also directly compares him to Knives. It’s interesting that he seems to see them as exactly the same. I suppose he’s right in that they actually have pretty similar core motivations, the sorrow, suffering, and rage he refers to. But yeah, Vash resists the worst that these feelings can bring about while Knives gives into them, but somehow Leonof sees that resistance as incredibly inhuman, which I don’t know if I agree with. 

Man, Wolfwood is so bitter and hopeless. He basically says, “Your ideals don’t matter. Either way, we all end up dead. The world is a terrible place where nothing changes and we have no hope of doing anything about it, so why bother even having any ideals.” That is…so incredibly depressing, Wolfwood. What happened to this man, I really wanna know. 

Ch2

Assuming Wolfwood is Chapel, was he not supposed to interfere with what Leonof is doing? I guess he didn’t interfere in the Rei Dei fight until the end when he thought Vash was going to die, and seeing as his purpose is to make Vash suffer, killing Rei Dei would be more in-line with his mission. Also, how does Legato even know about this? Is one of Leonof’s puppet creatures reporting on what’s happening in the colony?

I need to know where, exactly, Wolfwood has been hiding this spare handgun all this time.

I’m the kind of person who deeply enjoys when a man is overcome by bloodlust and then ends up covered in blood, so this chapter is just a 10/10 for me. Love me some bloody unhinged Wolfwood

Ch3

I have to say it again: Wolfwood gets so unhinged when he fights and I love it. It’s an interesting parallel to Vash who so far has been a fairly artful, though not always graceful, fighter. Comment inspired entirely by this two page spread

Vash getting tricked by puppet people never gets any easier for me to handle emotionally

“A momentary lapse in judgment can have fatal consequences.” Yeah, Vash refusing to shoot perceived innocents is a lapse in judgment, Leonof, sure. This is like the worse version of Wolfwood’s argument from last chapter

Emilio the Player? Is that supposed to be Leonof? Does Vash know him somehow?

I think this might be the cruelest of all the Gung Ho Gun fights. This isn’t just endangering innocent people, Leonof is actively using them against Vash so he can’t tell who is and isn’t a puppet. He tricks him into shooting someone! The psychological warfare is chilling and I’m starting to wonder if there’s a reason why he’s playing so much on Vash’s emotions

Ch4

Oh, so Vash does somehow know Leonof! Are the names he’s saying people they both know? Why doesn’t Leonof remember being Emilio?

Either way, this is personal. That explains the psychological warfare

Whoops, Vash might’ve just made things worse for himself by bringing all this back up for Leonof

I had a very hard time parsing this page and from what I can tell, Vash either blew up a water tower or set off the smoke alarms and the sprinkler system. Either way, there is water falling from the sky

Listen, I don’t care what’s going on. I just really wanna know how Leonof and Vash know each other!! This is all very, very cryptic

Random pile of coffins? Random dead lady (or is it a puppet) in a coffin?? And so I ask, what is going on???

Ch5

Listen, I know I’ve been going on and on about Wolfwood’s violence in this chapter but I think this might be the first time we really see him fight and he’s goddamn brutal. He’s practically feral. It’s a very marked difference to Vash and I’m trying to figure out exactly what this means but I’m not grasping it completely.

It definitely shows how willing he is to get his hands dirty. He’s not going to waste time with tricks, he goes straight for the kill and nothing will get in his way. But it’s also starting to feel wrong, I guess? Especially as he beats up Gray the Ninelives and has all those flashbacks to the children at the orphanage. It feels like he’s trying to give himself a reason to keep going like this when he really doesn’t want to. 

Also, love that Gray the Ninelives is literally nine dudes in a trench coat. Nine lives like a cat, right? That’s what I originally thought. Nope, nine lives because it’s basically a horrible organic mech suit powered by nine little guys

Leonof with his funky bat wings is so Dracula coded

Confusion alert: what the hell did Brad do exactly? It didn’t look like he was doing anything then the next second, what I think are the ship’s doors opened and dumped Leonof out. And then he says he did it. Does he just move really quickly in the space of a few panels? I feel like I’m missing something

Best guess for what happened to Leonof: the pain of his memories returning made him let go of the thread holding him up because he couldn’t handle the agony. But also, I have no clue. He obviously loved Isabel and I think the puppet is her preserved corpse, so losing it also broke something in him. But I want the whole backstory here, Nightow! Am I gonna get it? Probably not! I have so many questions!!

A dramatic Wolfwood monologue once again interrupted by silliness, this time in the form of Meryl and Milly. Insurance girls to the rescue! They legit save his life because he’s too busy making a brooding speech to realize he’s about to be chopped in half because Gray the Ninelives still isn’t dead

In conclusion, I have no idea what’s going on, but it was fun!

Ch6

Knives and his goddamn BDSM suit is killing me. But like…what is he doing? Is he using his powers?

Vash expression of sheer confusion at waking up in the hospital is so good!!

He’s so shocked to see Meryl and Milly again! Like he really can’t believe these people he became friends with would ever come back into his life. He’s beaming, though, when he gets past the shock. He’s so happy! I’m not sure we’ve ever seen him smile so wide

Oh, Vash. Jumping straight to blaming himself when he learns about everyone who died in the colony. But it really seems like no one here actually blames him. In fact, I think the people of the colony are happy to see him! But he’s so used to the damage his presence causes and how people turn him away for it that he thinks the people in this place he considers home would feel the same. Argh, I just made myself sad

I’m glad Luida outright tells Vash he’s part of the family. I’m not sure he believes her, but I don’t think he hears anything like that often

Leave it to Wolfwood to get mad at being thanked for saving people. To be fair, it would be pretty confusing to be thanked for killing when you just had a big blowout about how you shouldn’t murder people

“I’ve burdened you with my own ideals. I’m sorry.” What a LINE. Vash is definitely very aware that the vast majority of people can’t live like him, and that doing so can be very difficult. He’s really opening up to Wolfwood by admitting this

They’re already coming to understand each other more and the flaws inherent to both their ways of looking at the world. Rather than pushing back, they’re opening up. We love to see it

Vash’s pouty face here is everything

Ch7

Vash looks so soft and fluffy with his hair down. It’s also very fun/interesting/jarring when he doesn’t have his coat on. It reminds you that, at heart, he’s just a guy

Vash actually letting people in is!!! He shows the girls the cold sleep chamber because he wants them to understand why he does what he does. 

And Meryl does see it. She has another moment where she weighs up everything she knows about Vash, all the contradictory parts of him, and starts to see how heavily his past weighs on him, that something dark lurks there

Wolfwood is once again confused and trying to figure out Vash’s motivations. Redemption is a good guess to make but he’s not quite seeing the bigger picture yet. Mainly, that Vash doesn’t care about himself, that this is about everyone else. Because I don’t think he believes he can be redeemed and really, Vash has a literal death wish (sometimes)

To prove Luida’s point, Vash once again uses his own body as a shield to save the girls and gets his tech arm shot off again. Wolfwood can’t get over the stupidity.

Luida providing a Vash thesis statement right here. Kindness even in the face of endless suffering. I think maybe, right here, is when Wolfwood starts to really get who Vash is, what he’s doing, and what he stands for

This was fun! We got to learn more about Vash, see Wolfwood actually fight and get very bloody, and see some new places in this world. If I’m remembering correctly, things are only going to get darker from here, so I’m just gonna hide with the boys in their cozy little hospital outfits until it’s time to go on to the next volume. 

#trigun #trigunbookclub

[mfenvs3000f23]

Small actions, big outcomes! Environment as a frequent classroom topic!

Describe your personal ethic as you develop as a nature interpreter. What beliefs do you bring? What responsibilities do you have? What approaches are most suitable for you as an individual?

This is my final blog post and you likely do not know who I am, but if you are interested, I invite you to delve into Madeline Fantin’s interpretive ethics, values, and ideas for the future.

To start, what beliefs do I bring? I am a wildlife biology and conservation student; therefore, the vast majority of my courses have looked through a scientific lens (western science that is). Perhaps the reason I chose my program is due to possibly my most core belief, that individuals have the power and influence necessary to make a real difference. This is why I became a vegetarian even though my entirely Italian family thinks I’m bonkers, I think one person cutting their carbon emissions is a worthwhile effort. Are billionaires flying their private jets around for unsatisfactory reasons and investing in all kinds of large corporations who dump pollution directly into our environment? Yes of course, and don’t get me wrong, I think part of the fight towards a healthy planet is holding the extremely wealthy accountable. Perhaps they are hoping we will put all the blame on ourselves so that we ignore their insurmountable consumption. However, we are consumers too and where possible, we can choose where to put our money and how to live our lives to a certain extent. I believe that however small, the average citizen’s fight against climate change is valuable and necessary. In conversations I have had with the people in my life, I have learned that many people become unmotivated by the “all or nothing” mindset. For example, I frequently hear people say that they “could never go without meat all the time.” So don’t! Have meatless Mondays! Have meatless weekends! Go pescatarian! Go meatless biweekly! There are unlimited combinations of schedules that could provide a more reasonable expectation. The effort doesn’t need to be “perfect” to be worth something. This can be applied to many environmental actions. In most places in Ontario, it wouldn’t be reasonable to ask people to use public transport or bike as a main form of transportation. Most cities don’t have great public transport, and most people live a long, long bike ride away from their place of work. However just because you cannot bike to work doesn’t mean you can’t ever trade the car for your bike. Maybe there’s a friend you often visit just on the other side of the neighborhood, and maybe you usually drive to them, but when the weather is ideal and if you are able, the bike could work! Many “imperfect” actions are better than no action at all I promise!!!! There is no shame in not being the perfect environmentalist all the time, it is near impossible in the society we have created.

I also believe that there is something to be gained from spending time in nature, for anyone. Whether that is a chance to gather thoughts, get some exercise, some vitamin D, you name it. I don’t think it needs to be picturesque either. Sometimes connecting with nature looks like sitting on the curb outside your east campus townhouse because the sun has reappeared after some days of gloom. Sometimes you will have the energy to head to the arboretum, but when you don’t, taking a sunny break on the curb is better than skipping the outdoors all together. Again, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

I believe it is never too late to get started! Everyone, no matter the age or circumstance, should feel like they have a place in the world of nature interpretation and the outdoors. Having not grown up in an outdoor adventure family doesn’t mean you can’t have any outdoor adventures! On that point, outdoor adventures are whatever you make them. They need not be a costly trip to the other side of the continent. Someone with the right mindset could gain more from an hour by the local creek, than someone with the wrong mindset on their trip to Mount Kilimanjaro.

What responsibilities do I have? Well, there are the obvious ones such as to deliver the program I have advertised, inform guests about risk, manage and prevent dangers, present accurate information, check my bias and privilege, to be fun and engaging, and for guests to leave feeling like they have benefitted in some way. Other more specific responsibilities I believe depend on the approach…

So what approaches are the most suitable for me? Well, it is my goal to get into teaching in high school classrooms. This is not the type of environment we have spent the last few months discussing, but nonetheless I think there is a ton of relevant overlap. Nature interpretation could take place in the classroom, or the school yard. There may also be opportunity for class trips where students could be exposed to new ways of learning or new environments.

When relevant to the content, I would aim to stimulate interest and conversation about the environment and environmental issues happening around the world, as they relate to us in Canada and otherwise. I probably plan on living in Canada, and therefore will need to create programs suitable for all 4 seasons. This could mean the same topic modified with each passing season, different topics in each season, or a combination. I am excited to take advantage of the variance each season brings. I think many topics in the high school curriculum could benefit from an environmental lense, and I would look to make connections throughout where possible.

 I would look to encourage active learning and participation through mediums the students may be interested in, just like we talked about all the different mediums of nature interpretation. If I’m teaching grade 9 or 10 science, then this class is still required of them, and many may only be there by necessity. They might not want to be there or have particular interest in the content, which is ok, and I would need to navigate how to still make sure they get what they are meant to, even if they never develop excitement about it.

To revisit responsibilities, as a teacher I must provide a classroom environment conducive to learning, where everyone feels comfortable, valued, and that students look forward to attending each day.

For my final blog post outro (☹), I will say that climate doomism is very contagious and easy to get wrapped up in. I think one of the most important things we can do as nature interpreters is spark hope for change. You never know who is looking to you when they are feeling discouraged about the state of the world, and how you can provide them motivation to keep fighting the good fight!

[dm-clockwork-dragon]

Another Unpopular Opinion

I was asked to delete my earlier reblog by the OP, so they didn’t get sucked into discourse, so I’m reposing this as it’s own thing Well, here I go publicly stating another opinion that will probably get me cancelled. To be entirely fair, I’m sort of beyond caring at this point?

I think people need to calm their fucking tits - homegrown, surgical, or happily removed - over not just this game, but about HP stuff in general.

I’m a recently hatched egg, but I’ve considered myself non-binary for almost 15 years, and been an ally for as long as I knew what an ally was. I also have no particular love for the franchise, despite enjoying it a lot when I was a kid. That’s not virtue signally, or an attempt to defend my position - just letting you all know a little context, and that I do actually have a horse in this race.

I get it, I really do. JK is a fucking terrible person, and should burn in a thousand multicolored hells for the bullshit she spews and the hate she engenders in others. On top of that, she’s a shitty writer, to the point where she accidentally created an entire wizarding world where the difference between the good guys and the bad guys is just what flavor of Nazi you want to choose. But there’s a couple reasons I think that people really need to try and separate her from the franchise that she started.

1. Death of the Author.

This is the one that everyone else gives. It’s possible to enjoy, appreciate, or interpret a creative work in absence of it’s author or their intent. We do it with music, we do it with painting. and Like OP here points out: if we were to burn every book written by a problematic author, we would leave glaring wholes not just in our understanding of our own history and society, but in our understanding of how to avoid the same injustices and suffering caused by those authors. Dead or alive, the author’s right and control over who others interpret their work the moment they share it with the outside world.

2. You guys don’t know how JK makes money, do you?

I see all kinds of arguments out there about how engaging with, or - dare I even mention - paying for HP content is somehow a crime against transfolk because it directly supports a raging TERF and her platform. It doesn’t. Aside from the argument that JK makes all her money through investments and stock market trades - just like any rich person - She also DOESN’T OWN THE FRANCHISE. She retains intellectual property rights: AKA, she can write new books or shit if she likes (we have seen how that goes for her), and she is still treated as the primary source, but the IP and all production rights are owned by Warner Bros. JK doesn’t make a dime off of game, movies, or anything else that WB license or produce based on THEIR franchise. She already made her money by selling the franchise to them years ago. Honestly, she probably got the raw end of the deal at this point. At most, she might get some meager royalties that are eaten up entirely by the cost of paying someone to process them. That’s how publishing contracts and movie deals work - they are a fucking racket.  3. HP isn’t just something some people can throw away.

Like I said above, I sorta grew out of my HP phase, long before any of the issue of JK being a TERF ever came up. And I know that a lot of people who considered themselves fans have also willingly distanced themselves from the franchise in light of her shitty views and actions. But not everyone has that ability. To give you a different example: I grew up reading the Dune books. I finished the core series for the first time when I was 8, and have re-read the entire extended series more than a dozen times since then. It’s more than just my favorite book series, it’s a formative part of who I am as a person. So much of my beliefs and identity as a person have been informed or inspired by those books that I would argue it is impossible to truly understand myself without them. Hell - I’d argue the entire reason I started explore my gender and sexuality in the first place is because of the emphasis those books placed on the “Quisach Haderach” as the perfect fusion of male and female. Even if I were to verbally disavow the series for some reason, those books still define who I am today, and It would be physically impossible for me to separate myself from them Harry Potter is the same way for a lot of people. I think some of us loose sight of just how meaningful those books are to a generation. Not all of us - even within that generation - had the same connection, but for a lot of people who grew up reading them from the time they could turn a page, those books are just as formative and intrinsic to who they are as Dune is to me. they couldn’t separate themselves, even if they wanted to. And pissing all over someone for something they can’t change about themselves is exactly the sort of thing we are supposed to be fighting against! Same can be said of the bible, the Torah, the Quran or any other work that was meaningful and formative to a persons cultural upbringing. Even within the trans community, there are countless Christians, Jews, and Islamic followers. They make the faith their own, because it is an intrinsic and immutable part of who they are. If you are going to condemn Trans or Allies who can’t separate themselves form HP, then you are also condemning any Ally or Transperson who still practices or believes in some form of the religion the grew up with.  4. If we can reclaim slurs, we can reclaim this! I see so many of the same people who rail against HP, also writing or relogging posts about how important it is to reclaim slurs and other labels that have been historically used against us, and I agree. But that shit goes a lot further than just the names we have been called. Reclaiming something from those who would hurt you with it is like picking up the rock that was thrown at you, and saying “neat, this is mine now, you cant have it back”, as opposed to just kicking it back to the abuser so they can hurl it at you again. JK is a terrible person. which is all the more reason that we have a responsibility to take this beloved franchise away from her. She doesn’t deserve it, and as long as it remains in her power, she can continue to use it as a platform to hurt people. And this isn’t without precedent: Look at Butch Hartman, or Joss Wheaton, or Notch, or Gary Gygax. We have a history and a present filled with examples of taking beloved content away from shitty people a deciding “this is ours now, you can’t have it back.” We take those things that were or are important to us, and reframe them, re-write them, or reimagine them into something positive and supportive.  As an author myself, I know quite well how painful it can be to see your work taken away from you, and transformed by people who don’t share your vision. So lets hurt JK where it counts! Not in the wallet, not by railing against her on social media, but by taking away the one meaningful thing she has ever created in her miserable life. Because she doesn’t fucking deserve it.

#HP #harry potter #not dnd #jk rowling #unpopular opinion

[yahoodarling]

HI! I was drawn to the Xie Lian theme on your blog, and I saw the Nu: Carnival post too. I love Olivine, so could I get some fluff with him please? I can't think of anything particularly specific... Just something fluffy and preferably SFW. Thank you!

Apologies it took a bit longer than id like it to have. I did add some suggestive flirting though nothing out of SWF. Hope you enjoy~ Also mildly inspired by a favorite dessert of mine and one of Oliviens 'scenes'.

Olivien X Gn!Reader

Warnings: Fluff, suggestive flirting

Sat sluggishly on one of Aster's huge couches, your eyes danced between the lounge's decor. Not much had been happening in and around the mansion, everyone had duties they had to attend to leaving you to wallow in your solitude. It was boring. That was until a brilliant angle walked in to bring salvation. Surrounded by light it was truly a holy sight.

“Oh, you are still home? Did you not say you needed to be somewhere today?” Olivien asked as he walked into the lounge. This morning most members that stayed in the mansion mentioned how they would be busy, you not wanting to hurt your pride lied and made up a fake job you needed to do so as to not seem pitiful, in your eyes at least. 

“I'm done with it, haha. Oh, but what are you doing here?” you asked back

“It was just a misunderstanding i helped clear up amongst some members in the church. I thought it would take a lot longer but seems not. I'm glad though, I've been looking for some spare time to try out a recipe I heard about from Dante that originates from the Fire territory. Would you like to join me?” he asked, a smile gracing his face as he asked. What kind of horrible person would you be if you were to deny such a sweet offer. Heaving yourself off the couch you approached in delight. 

“But of course, lead the way.”

Olivien let out a chuckle as he made his way towards the kitchen, you trailed behind.

“So what are we making?” you ask, sitting on a kitchen counter as olivien  washed his hands in the sink.

“It's a milk tart. Like a milky custard with a biscuit base and dusted with cinnamon. The other day i heard Dante wanting it when he came to visit and i asked for the recipe. Its sweet and chilled from what i hear. I think it would be a nice treat for the others to try when they get back.”

“Haha, sounds like a plan. Where do we begin?” you ask. Olivien pulled a single paper from his pocket, from what you saw the writing was rushed but it still held the elegant style Olivien wrote in.

“I had to quickly write it down since Dante couldn't chat long at the time. Lets hope i didn't leave anything out.” His face held a cute pout as he read over his writing, you could tell he was trying to get a better understanding of the dessert.

“Okay!” He suddenly brightened up from his thoughts, “So I'll get the utensils, mind fetching the ingredients I list off?” “Sure” you push yourself off the counter to be Oliviens fetch dog.

“First off, we need milk” he said as he turned away getting a bowl. A sly smirk crossed yur face as you waited behind him, not moving, this alerted him as he turned back to look at you puzzled. “Is everything okay?”

“Yip, just fetching the milk” you smiled and held out both your arms, your hands making grabby motions towards his chest. Olivien realized  your implications and went dead in the face, looking at you unimpressed.

“Get the milk please.” he demanded.

“Yes sir” and you took a step towards him, he grabbed your shoulders and brought you in a tight hug against the lump chest you were just focused on, in the warm embrace Olivien lowered his head so his hushed voice met directly with your ears.

“I love you very much my dear but Lord Klein forgive me for what I am about to do if you keep this up.” The suggestive threat sent a shiver down your core, you were his fetch dog for now not his horn dog.

“All clear?” he asked as he let you go smiling, you smiled back though yours was more shaken than his. “Crystal clear.”

Other than that, getting to work with Olivien was pleasant. You each spoke about what plans you had for the rest of the week and what you'd want to do when the others got back. The tart was rather simple and quick to prepare and was left to set and cool, and so clean up commenced.

You stood washing the dishes while Olivien packed away the remaining ingredients. It was a content time, a quiet ting of bowls and shuffles of paper and feet creating a soft melody of your duet with Olivien. In your time embracing the sound Oliviens footsteps got closer and closer till he held you in his arms against him.

“Hmm?” you acknowledge him. Olivien went quiet for a moment before pressing his chin to the top of your head.

“I've really enjoyed this time with you.” he spoke hushed, like he was trying not to shatter the flow of music you two created. “I hope the tart tastes good, I'm looking forward to it.” as he spoke his hold tightened till you were pressed contemptly, warm, safe, happy… This was a good life you had even if it did have its struggles, moments like these made the stress and anxieties melt away. 

After cleaning up and needing to wait for the milk tart to set you and Olivien retreated to the lounge to enjoy the rest of the afternoon together. You found yourself leaning against him as his hand tossed with your hair. With such a relaxed environment you couldn't help but fall into a tranquil slumber.

An increase in activity sturred you to wake up, the noises coming from outside the room. You eased yourself up from the couch but the sudden lack of warmth caused you to look back to where you once were laid. Olivien slept below you, his body warmth being the element you were lacking. His face set in a graceful rest, eyes hidden behind thick eyelashes. To see him in such an open state, more untroubled than you had ever seen him before. Like this you could tell he was not plagued with concerns or worry regarding work or daily troubles, like this he was truly reposeful. No other could fulfill the place olivien had in your heart and getting to share moments such as today just solidified that sentiment. 

The door to the house opened suddenly, taking your focus. Through the door came Aster and Morvay, Aster's voice ringing through as he was reprimanded? Teased? Morvay, really you couldn't tell. 

“Hello hello~” he sang to you but it wasn't you that responded back.

“Ah, welcome back,” Olivine's sleepy voice answered. Another presence joined in the room, that being Yakumo though he entered not via the front door like Aster and Morvay but from another room in the house, he must have returned while you and Olivien were asleep. “Greetings everyone.” he smiled. Olivien sat up and allowed himself to wake up. After looking around the room a little to better gather himself he turned to Aster, “Do you know where Dante is?”

“He left back to his kingdom. Huge responsibilities and such.” You could tell there was a sign of disappointment in Oliviens eyes as his face only momentarily fell into a sullen frown before returning to its normal graceful smile. The plan to make the milk tart had come from Dante after all.

“Why? There something you need from him?” Aster asked as he and Morvay got comfortable on another couch.

“I just made a dessert from the fire region and wanted his opinion on it. No big problem though.”

“Oh,” Yakumo piped in,” you mean that dessert in the cooler? When I saw him earlier he helped himself to a slice. He didn't say much but he seemed happy. I guess he simply did not want to wake you up before he left.”

Olivien smiled like he was in relief, “I'm glad then. Anyway, would anyone like a slice? I have yet to try it but if Dante is pleased with it it should be enjoyable.” A choir of agreement rang as everyone moved to the kitchen. Away from the others Olivien stopped and looked to you, eyes gleaming like jewels.

“I hope we get an opportunity to do this again.”

You nodded back and smiled like an idiot.

“Of course.”

#yahooworks #nu carnival #olivine #x gn reader #x female reader #x male reader #fluff

[slutcore-starships]

unpopular opinion ig but . doing something to make the world a better place and move closer to your vision is better than not doing something. yall will talk about the need for unity and the power of the workers etc etc until . someone has an opinion different than yours and now its time to enforce ideological singularity

its good to have an ironclad ideological core, but only so far as it serves its purpose: building the bloc you want to have your back!! teaming up with people who are willing to fight for your major tenets!! keeping actively harmful people out of your coalition!!

as an example: having anti-fascism and multiculturalism as key tenets of your ideology will exclude the majority of bigots and give you a material reason to throw the rest out of your camp. it will attract people opposed to authoritarianism, apartheid and segregation, and supremacist ideology. its a win-win!! youve got the right conditions for a political base and solid bedrock for your vision of the way the world should work.

however, the more conditions you bake into your hard lines, the fewer people are willing to cross them to join you. when you go from foundational cultural and political ideals to just . enforcing aesthetics and languages and strategies and all the weeds you can imagine, the cost of joining your coalition grows beyond what most people can afford, much less are actively interested in.

another example: if you insist that local organizing and ballot initiatives and protesting are useless and the only acceptable forms of organizing are militant demonstrations under a single ideological banner (while you use that banner to pick fights with people online), youre not gonna encourage people to pick up a rifle . youre gonna encourage them to go seek out other coalitions you will have no voice in and that will actively bristle against collaboration with yours - a problem only compounded if you then use your ideological banner to pick fights with them and insist that, because they dont work with your movement, that they must be ideological opponents who are actively working to sabotage yours

like, there are as many ways to approach leftism as there are leftists. some of these approaches, such as red-brown authoritarianism, should be actively opposed and rallied against!! and theres plenty that have the potential to be counter-revolutionary, self-serving, polarizing, or that youll just think are bad ways to run a society, and you are under no obligation to advance their visions of how the world should work. but leftism as a whole is a silent majority *at best* - most of the time, its just . one of a spectrum of minority political umbrellas competing for a cultural and political edge. theres no one leftist or ideology that speaks for the majority on the left . and most of those wont get anywhere close.

if you have any aspiration of being a serious political factor, of making any impact, of getting an *inch* closer to the world you wanna build . you literally just have to learn that youre gonna disagree with people. and its not the end of the world. keep a core set of beliefs to ward off those who mean you harm, but like. if you cant learn how to manage a coalition, agree to disagree on methods of organizing and stockpiling goods, or when to concede that your personal views need to bow to the desire of those most directly affected, youre gonna *hate* responsibility . youre gonna loathe the day you ever took a crumb of power and youre gonna watch your movement crumble around you.

(not to mention the fact that all of yall have a *lot* to learn and some . pretty reactionary beliefs . especially around racialized/disabled/queer people, children, seniors, artists, and violence. like, flat-up, if yall dont learn how to say “thank you for correcting me” and “huh i didnt consider that before,” youll end up building movements just as destructive and repulsive as the ones you seek to replace. theres never an ideological finish line for when youve got a perfect worldview and have nothing left to learn)

#this is . way too long and somehow still didnt cover everything i wanted to say #so i leave u with this gl have fun #k’s manifesto

[theomnicode]

Chapter 169 thoughts: The Dangers of Obsession

Welp, looks like there's no heartwarming Saitama and Genos moments after all. Or there might be normalicity but there's also something far worse being planned.

We're going straight to hell. At least far down the line.

Big spoilers and theorycrafting meta below.

I can see that Genos smirk being uncharacteristically unnerving from a mile away. I didn't even need a translation but it only helped reinforce that notion.

"Sensei." "You even jumped through time and space to save everyone and the world." "Even Garou." "And the only person other than you who knows about it…" "I'm the only one in the universe"

So fucking unnerving when he realizes the's the only one in the universe besides Saitama who knows what happened. It's not a proud or innocent smirk that we've accustomed to seeing from Genos. Murata art and conveying character apperance at his best, masterfully depicting Genos with less innocence in him when he has more angular face and less boyish look.

The core did indeed, have divine enery in it as I anticipated. And it's gonna fuck up genos big time.

But even more than that, it's gonna fuck up his psyche.

God's powers over people's psyche, their self worth, their desires and their morals... he can influence and amplify those feelings directly. He doesn't even need to be there physically, he's the universe, he's everywhere. Where there is free divine energy, like monster explosions releasing divine energy, such as Plat S exploding into shower of stars, God can use that divine energy to manifest in the physical plane and exert it's control.

This is the power of the divine energy, influencing the psyche of people, influencing how they act and think like Godrou and amplifying all of the aspects of the psyche like the flow of the universe where it derives itself from, infinitely expanding. But the nature of divine power like the Kami, is to be amoral, neither good nor evil and it has no emotion, as emotion is only the means of imbuing divine power with said emotional energy and releasing it, because it has none on it's own. The power is that of divine origin, so it is also not human and why all the monsters appear inhumane.

Genos getting juiced up by divine energy from touching the core that was brimming with Saitama's divine energy will mess with his psyche, because he has no resistance to the divine power, like God did with Garou. He has no defences built up whatsoever against divine power influence because his psyche is that of a normal human and just like Garou, his spirit can be influenced.

Genos was already kind of obsessed with Saitama, but he was morally sound. It was more innocent, naive kind of obsession where he worshipped the ground Saitama walked on because he thought Saitama was just that amazing. He genuinely cared for Saitama.

That's going to take a really dark turn. That obsession.

Obsession to the point where he thinks he'll practically own Saitama. Narcissm, the inflated sense of self-worth where he thinks he's the only one who knows what Saitama can really do, stripping Saitama of his agency to decide who he's even allowed to hang out with because nobody else will be good enough for him. Realization that he has power over Saitama that he can use to his advantage. Blind hero worship. Not caring about what he would do to Saitama emotionally and not having moral qualms about doing so either. Dehumanizing himself and possibly Saitama in the process.

The change will be slow and insidious. The more he uses the new core, which is brimming with power, the more it affect his psyche and turn him into something he's not.

It'll be evil Genos where he abuses his power and control over Saitama and becomes a manipulator.

Manipulators and abusers may control their victims with a range of tactics, including, but not limited to, positive reinforcement (such as praise, superficial charm, flattery, ingratiation, love bombing, smiling, gifts, attention), negative reinforcement (taking away aversive tasks or items), intermittent or partial reinforcement, psychological punishment (such as nagging, silent treatment, swearing, threats, intimidation, emotional blackmail, guilt trips, inattention) and traumatic tactics (such as verbal abuse or explosive anger).

The vulnerabilities of the victim are exploited, with those who are particularly vulnerable being most often selected as targets. Traumatic bonding can occur between abusers and victims as the result of ongoing cycles of abuse in which the intermittent reinforcement of reward and punishment creates powerful emotional bonds (that are resistant to change) and a climate of fear. An attempt may be made to normalise, legitimise, rationalise, deny, or minimise the abusive behaviour, or to blame the victim for it.

It will be the worst possible betrayal because Saitama trusted him. And let him in.

And Genos will go insane from the divine energy when Saitama does not comply with his wishes and becomes the Mad cyborg. And Saitama is forced to take him down, his best friend who also betrayed his trust in the worst possible way due to no fault of his own. It was all machinations of God and Genos was always just a chess piece for him. Just like with Meteor and just like with Garou, Genos opposes God's goals in many aspects and will have to be terminated. Or used.

It would make Saitama hate people if this happens to him. The one time he opened up to someone emotionally when he's so socially isolated, only to be abused. He would never be able to trust another human being again. It would hurt so much he'd want to stop himself from feeling again and go back into that state of apathy he clawed himself out of.

Perfectly lined up for God's plan to resonate his soul with Saitama when he is at his lowers point, just like Phoenixman attempted to so with Child Emperor and how Garou and Metal bat worked together. When person's sense of self, their soul, their consciousness, their inner universe, their psyche (thoughts, wants, needs, goals, emotions, that sort of jargon), align if even temporarily.

God is disgusted by mankind (Vaccineman, Phoenixman), their inflated sense of ego and self-importance is like a disease and has discarded it's emotions to form a superior being with a god complex and no humanity to be seen. And it will punish every misstep with karma and to meet it's own ends.

It wants to create another being like itself, another monstrous God.

And Genos, poor Genos, will unwittingly aid him in his attempt in bringing down Saitama.

--

Edit: The translation is out... aaaand it's a textbook example. Even Saitama notices something is off. Genos is giving out warning signs, but Saitama has a hard time figuring it out, because he trusts Genos.

I knew it.

But Genos just got the memories did he not?

He knows Saitama didn't make it in time, why would he say this kind of thing?

He knows he literally died because Saitama couldn't make it.

This is just false flattery.

This is textbook positive reinforcement technique, to give superficial praise, flattery and ingratiation.

Texbook example 2: Psychological punishment via guilt tripping and emotional blackmail. Because Saitama let Garou go when he could have stopped Garou from leaving as the only person who could follow his movements.

If it feels like Genos is being OOC, you're not just imagining it.

Saitama feels something is off too, because his facial expressions take on a more neutral, apathetic and downturn instead of any smiling towards Genos after he absorbed core memories. He still smiled towards Garou. But he stopped looking carefree after Genos touched the divine power core.

He should be happy that Genos is alive, right?

Right?

The one support who he clung to. But he even holds Genos in very impersonal manner. And at no point, does Genos seems to show any genuine care for Saitama in this chapter. The lack of care for human emotions, when he's usually so in tune with Saitama's emotions, is also something the divine energy is doing to his psyche.

Saitama feels depressed and Genos shows zero care. Normally he's far more optimistic and in tune than this.

And Zero reaction about his own death, knowing it rattled Saitama and being emotionally not intelligent at all and rambling Saitama's ear off, despite knowing how Saitama can't really focus on long winded speeches. And it's definitely not short speech either, despite him saying it's supposedly short.

We'll be seeing more of this in next chapters.

Edit 2: Cleared about the part how divine powers affect people.

#opm #one punch man #chapter 169 #opm meta #saitama #genos #opm theory #divine power #opm manga panels #opm god

[nirvanai]

(reposting this from a different blog of mine that i wanna keep out of the tags lol) thinking abt ryuki and themes of love again. thinking so much about how “ai” is so central to the series in so many ways and how it relates to ryuki and how much i love how he’s written. spoilers under the cut i was thinking a bunch abt ryuki day 5 again

you ever just think about how ryuki knows he’s betrayed everyone and everything he stands for but he’s willing to carry everything inside Forever so long as it means protecting Tama. she’s precious and irreplaceable to him.

i am constantly thinking about how, when you look at yourself through AI-sight in boss’s office, he can talk for a bit about how there’s something precious to him that he needs to protect, so he can’t say he’s tired,,, he’s telling Tama right to her face how much he cares about her and yet he can’t tell her anything. sobs. not to mention he can ask her how she’s feeling and once you know it’s So Obvious that he’s trying to figure out if she was hurt by tearer or if anything’s different now and its so ;;-;;

thinks about how love is what motivates ryuki- his love for his brother, his love for tama, his love for date- and how that love constantly is used against him by the narrative. he wants to uphold his brother’s dream no matter what, but he’s prone to making mistakes and getting impatient. he would burn the world to protect tama, and tearer uses that to manipulate him as a pawn and drag him down. he loves date and that love is what prevents him from ever being able to pull the trigger, leading to the explosion.

and yet, even with how its all used against him, its also still ultimately what keeps him going and leads to a resolution. his desire to uphold his brother’s memory motivates him at his lowest moment, reminding him of his will to live. he protected tama and she was there for him through six awful horrible years, and they supported each other through thick and thin. he couldn’t kill date, and believed that his weakness led to date’s death and everyone’s injuries- but date lived because he didn’t shoot.

awful things happened, he’s hurt many people directly or indirectly, but he’s not a bad person. he’s unwell and hurting very badly but he is so full of love.

also im like [lies down and sobs] thinks abt how ryuki more than once took a bullet for someone in that game even in situations where it really looks like he would’ve had time to instead shoot the assailant. ryuki cares so much but he is clumsy with it and has so little self-preservation instinct and he doesn’t know how to trust because trusting is so damn hard when you’ve been hurt as deeply and as often as he has. but even with that he still loves and he cares because he is always going to be a good person at his core.

just. i like him a lot. he is deeply flawed and hurting so much but he is not a bad person and he is trying and i appreciate that more than i can put into words. he deserves the best in life.

#Kuruto Ryuki #ryuki kuruto #aini #aini spoilers #nirvana initiative #nirvana initiative spoilers #trying to mostly keep my aini thoughts n rambles over here sdlkfshdg #i just... god i love kuruto ryuki so much he's the character of all time #using all my energy to manifest ryuki protagonist ai3 #whether dual or solo protag i'll take it i just really want him in a prominent role again- #he deserves a solo protag game he's got so much that could be explored-

[theoutofworld-blog]

Armored Core Highlights: Armored Core - Project Phantasma

Arena Battle: Brutus/Back Stab

Project Phantasma was the sequel to the original Armored Core, and its structure felt more like an early precursor to expansion/DLC than anything. Overall the game’s length is fairly short compared to the original Armored Core, and favored missions with a more complex and tactical feel than AC1’s formula of sending you into an underground military base to destroy The Objective Thing and putting a twist of the base being full of poison gas/killer robots/some asshole locking you in a seemingly sealed room (looking at you, Boss Savage). Rather, the meat of Project Phantasma’s plot is the player and a supporting character named Sumika waging a mostly two-person clandestine war against an evil secret society called the Doomsday Organization. Well, on paper the two of you have several other collaborators from within the mercenary firm Raven’s Nest, but there’s nobody else that makes any kind of meaningful on-screen appearance.

Project Phantasma’s missions tend to be along the lines of intercepting convoys, raiding enemy laboratories, disrupting shipping lanes, capturing persons of interest for interrogation, all things that feel like serious military operations instead of the back-and-forth missions from AC1 where the two major corporations would send you to inflict petty sabotage on each other and square down against whichever terrorist cell the other company backed.

The Doomsday Organization, as far as I can tell, is being used as an under-the-table think tank/research and development wing of the Crest corporation to keep up with its rival Murakumo Millennium in a technological arms race. The core of the plot revolves around the titular Project Phantasma, a program for developing a new type of war machine that’s hardwired directly to its pilot in the cockpit. This seems to be Crest’s way of keeping pace with Murakumo’s in-house Human Plus technology, which is a cybernetic enhancement procedure to turn Armored Core pilots into supersoldiers, adapted from all that pre-apocalyptic technology Murakumo spends so much time digging up. The Human Plus stuff is its own little subplot in AC1, with the player having a number of missions involving various escaped experimental subjects of Murakumo’s cyborg modification.

That aside, Project Phantasma was the first entry in the franchise to introduce the Arena in the format that players of modern Armored Core games are familiar with. Back in AC1, Raven rankings were simply a rating of overall mission performance on an at least partially arbitrary basis of various statistics. In Project Phantasma, a Raven’s ranking in Raven’s Nest was a matter of challenging the guy directly above your rank to a duel and taking his title for yourself. In the next game, Master of Arena, an extra layer of depth is added by integrating the Arena structure into the plot by having Arena participation be dependent on corporate sponsorship, like a Formula One race with killer robots. I guess that’s where the Nest gets the lion’s share of its funding.

Enter Brutus. He’s the pilot of the AC Back Stab, and the rank 30 on the 50-Raven ladder of the Arena duel minigame in PP. To get an idea of what an average Brutus fight looks like, from both the player and enemy perspective, check this video by another player:

Brutus is an aerial enemy, which in Arena parlance translates to “this motherfucker is going to spend most of the fight above you, behind you, and in your peripheral vision.” These are often a bitch to deal with in pre-PS3 era Armored Core titles because vertical targeting reticle adjustment is clunky and the enemy CPU will not run into any human errors in aiming, unlike you. Fighting against an enemy with a perfect grasp of exactly how far it needs to adjust its reticle vertically and horizontally in AC tends to feel like you’re struggling to mail your bullets to someone that’s five seconds in the future ahead of you.

In Armored Core games, a lot of the highest ranking enemy AC pilots will have an AI attack pattern of getting in and flanking you from so close it feels like they’re trying to crawl up the inside of your ass (Mobius in Silent Line), spend most of the fight actually standing on top of your AC (Ace in AC3), or hammering you to hell with grenade launcher rounds while bouncing from the floor to the ceiling like a rubber superball coated in meth (Nine Ball in AC1, Genobee in AC:Nexus).

The fight against Brutus was very frenetic, wherein the both of us danced a crackhead tango of aerial maneuvers in and out of each other’s targeting zones, both pilots shaving off their opponent’s AP with whatever rifle shots and missiles couldn’t be avoided in full. It was drawn out, but active enough that the whole thing was really exciting. In the last few minutes of the match, I came to the morbid realization that I’d completely run out of ammo and was maybe one or two good shots away from being put down altogether. I was even more surprised to find out, after noticing Brutus wasn’t exploiting this to ping me with another rifle shot, that my opponent was in the exact same situation, starved of all bullets and missiles.

The climax that ensued lit up every neuron in my primate brain like a christmas tree; my enemy and I desperately dodged and juked around, trying to bait the other out to land a direct hit with a beam saber - a single blow landed would determine the winner of the match. This pattern continued for a couple minutes, all of which felt tense as hell, until I just barely managed to get the timing right and land a saber strike on the Back Stab as he was about to draw his saber and do the same. 

Pictured above: How it feels to chew 5 Gum.

I’m extremely glad I was running the game on an emulator and streaming it to friends at the time, because I doubt any of them would’ve believed me if I tried explaining this shit to them without someone to see it with their own eyes. Even after going on to later Armored Core games and revisiting the likes of AC4 and For Answer, the duel with Back Stab sticks out as the most clutch finish to a battle I’ve had in the franchise so far.

#armored core #armored core project phantasma #armored core highlights #waiting for armored core 6