#i think a lot about awaken in general but. it's the fact she's literally the only person actually prepared to fight

[deathdxnces]

i was talking about it with egg so now i wanna say it here too but i think irelia can be a lot more impulsive than people might expect (especially because she can seem so serious and contained). ultimately though, she is very much moved by emotion (which is also connected to her magic itself, in a way; not in that the magic is the cause of it, but rather that emotion is tied to how it manifests).

if you look at her bio, the two most important story beats involve irelia acting on impulse and emotion. the first, when she's still a child, with her returning home and trying to get her family crest from the soldier's hands

Ravaged by grief, the young girl saw Duqal’s men hauling valuables from the house. Among the loot was a large metal crest, depicting the Xan family emblem. Irelia raced to it, wrenching it from Noxian hands. The admiral himself hurled her to the ground, and had his warriors shatter the crest with a heavy iron maul, before ordering them to dig a fresh grave for this upstart child.

the other being of course the stand in the placidium. regardless of how much planning went into it (and my guess would be not that much), her bio states swain's strategy was to capture the placidium, take its defenders hostage and wait to crush the reinforcements that would inevitably come. they all pretty much walked into his trap, and were it not for her (unexpected, to say the least) victory, swain's plan could have worked. the point being: the battle seemed hopeless, but she took a stand regardless because in her eyes that was the only thing there was to be done, without considering that she could be harmed, that other people might follow, or what came after in general. she didn't act on calculated strategy; she acted on impulse and emotion. and even when she's leading the resistance, i think it's quite obvious her feelings still impact her actions, such as with her taking revenge by killing Duqal herself at the end of the war.

it's not that she always does things without thinking. i don't think that's the case, and i think she learned to be a decent strategist having to lead the resistance as a teenager (there was really no other choice). she is, nevertheless, easily moved by emotion. she feels things intensely and she acts on it frequently. while she can hold back, that doesn't change that she really isn't a manipulative type of character and her actions are definitely not all calculated.

#» out of character — ⌜main sup irl.⌟ #» character study — ⌜both the tranquil sea and the tempest.⌟ #i don't think she's impulsive the same way katarina is impulsive #which is recklessly throwing herself at things adapting and hoping for the best #but i do think she doesn't. always thinks things through #i think she's impulsive in the sense of if she sees someone getting hurt she'll leap to their defense without thinking #even if it results in irelia herself getting hurt. in the sense of fighting enemies she can't beat alone #bc not fighting for self preservation simply isn't a choice and she'd give her life for the things she cares about without thinking twice #i think a lot about awaken in general but. it's the fact she's literally the only person actually prepared to fight #and she throws herself at sion because if she doesn't face him who will #(while it's obvious she wouldn't be able to beat the undead thrice her size on her own.) #but it doesn't matter. she throws herself at him anyway. there's no real plan or thought of what comes after. #it's just acting on what matters in the moment

[vampire-wizard-solidarity]

a lot of people have already pointed out how totk has a lot of themes of imperialism and generally leans conservative ideologically, but what i think is interesting is how totk subtly redefines what a “researcher” is.

zelda wants to be a researcher in botw, and what this means in the context of botw is largely someone who works with sheikah technology. she wants to figure out ancient sheikah tech, she has an interest in botany and otherwise nature and biology (the whole silent princess and the frog thing), robbie and purah, the two characters who are the closest to us seeing what a researcher in the context of botw is are basically inventors. in totk, however, the main researchers who are presented to us are all historians.

this is an interesting pivot, because in botw zelda is not really interested in history. if anything, the one who’s deeply concerned with history is rhoam, wanting to preserve historical tradition and his uncritical reliance on said tradition and historical precedent is what leads them to their doom. in botw, zelda is narratively opposed to history, if anything, all the ancient tech backfires on them and traditions fail to awaken zelda’s power. zelda’s urge to be a researcher is in wanting to understand the world around her, not just blindly follow ancient plans but rather have agency within them.

totk, however, is obsessed with ancient plans. the only real moment where zelda gets to geek out in totk is her getting all giddy about finding out more about the divine origins of hyrule. all the researchers in the game are concerned with finding out more about the zonai. since all the mentions of ancient sheikah technology are scrubbed from the game purah and robbie read more as strange outliers, the sheikah slate is no longer, now it’s the purah pad, a product of purah rather than something larger. the whole game is literally about following an ancient plan, a plan most characters don’t fully understand as they sign up for it. totk’s main story is built on confusion, on the characters not knowing what’s fully going on but having faith in ancient sages telling them what to do. in botw, following ancient plans you don’t fully understand was the thing that doomed you. in totk, following ancient plans you don’t fully understand is the gimmick.

that juxtaposition between the two games has an ideological through line: botw posits that progress is necessary. mindlessly relying on tradition doesn’t work. prophecies are omens, not instructions. history must be learnt from, not repeated. the ancient sheikah aren’t a group to be emulated, but rather to be learnt from, considering their machinery backfired and the royal family betrayed them. totk, however, is obsessed with the mythical history of hyrule, a time where everything was idyllic until one bad man showed up, a time we must emulate in order to win. i already talked about how the past in totk is zelda’s life pre calamity but better here, but that also plays into the idolisation of that era and its royalty. in botw, even the myth of the first calamity preserves the fact that the yiga clan has origins in the royal’s family persecution of the sheikah, even the time when they successfully held back the calamity is tinged with mistakes that still affect the world ten thousand years later. in totk, ganondorf’s origins are nebulous. nobody provoked him, nobody did anything wrong, he’s just evil because he is.

a lot of right wing ideologies are hinged on preservation, but more than that: the belief in the nebulous mythical past in which everything was better. “make america great again”, the fascist’s idolisation of ancient rome which is represented largely inaccurately, look at any conservative rhetoric and you’ll see people complaining about how things nowadays are ruined or are being ruined, how in the past things were this way and they’re not anymore, which is bad. the belief in the fact that in some past period we were great and are not anymore, and the strive to emulate that past is a trait highly typical of right wing ideologies. and in totk the past as a great era is an idea presented completely uncritically, the narrative is entirely controlled by the game and doesn’t dwell on any of the inconsistencies in this idea.

now, obviously, not every story in which a great ancient era exists is fascist, right wing or conservative. but to me what’s interesting specifically in totk is this shift between the two games: botw is critical of the past. it’s critical of arrogantly repeating history, it’s critical of having blind faith in great relics of the past. totk isn’t. totk idolizes the past, totk tells legends and tells you to believe them without any doubts. botw believes researchers are those who seek to understand the world, innovate it and solve problems without relying on ancient ways. totk believes researchers are those who discover ancient instructions, ancient ways and relay them to great men in the present to be followed. the four mainline regional quests in botw are about discovering four ancient relics that are terrorising the land and fixing the mistakes of the past. the four mainline regional quests in totk are about discovering four ancient legends are true, and receiving instructions from an ancient sage on what to do.

totk is not simply neutral, it is ideologically conservative in stark contrast to botw, because of the things it chooses to leave uncriticised, notably the things botw was very poignant about examining critically. the way totk redefines what is a researcher is indicative of this, indicative of the way it chooses to idolize or present as an unexamined good that which was nuanced in botw. totk isn’t just conservative in the sense that it presents uncritically a “good king” and “evil conquerer”, it goes deeper, it’s notable because botw was starkly opposed to the thematic axioms totk presents.

i just think it’s very interesting that they made a sequel to botw, and completely redefined or otherwise ignored botw’s thematic core.

#totk critical #loz #botw #totk #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #meta #analysis #my hot takes

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

hi to chrom hater anon i'm a professional chrom enjoyer

if you get deranged enough about awakening i think chrom is a very well done character :) he's ignorant but well meaning which meshes in interesting ways. he's not overtly prejudiced to the plegians he knows personally but still *generally* prejudiced because of his upbringing.

additionally in discussions of the ylisse-plegia war he tends to focus on how ylisse came away from it because that state of ylisse is what shaped his formative childhood years (seen particularly in his feelings about emmeryn's early years as exalt). this is UNDERSTANDABLE but still an extremely DEEPLY FLAWED and naive stance when doing politics on a larger scale, which chrom is incredibly ill-prepared for. it's a very childish view of a large scale conflict.

chrom's propensity for violence is a trait that actually deeply fascinates me. he has intense admiration for emmeryn's desire for peace yet he has a very short temper in tense situations (seen in basically all of chrom's interactions with gangrel), and he tends to lash out easily at anyone he views as an enemy. he admires peace but sees no other means to achieve it than violence. isn't that interesting. the implications here. like, he's the inheritor of the falchion, he's the only son in his family, in all likelihood it was expected that HE would take the throne and continue his father's war, but he was so young when the exalt passed that the crown went to emmeryn instead.

it really seems like emmeryn intentionally kept her siblings away from politics, which results in BOTH of them being naive in vastly different ways, with the expectation that she would always shoulder the burden of the crown yet left all the bigger a void when she died.

mind, intentionally being raised to behave this way isn't an excuse either. it's ultimately still something chrom, as an adult, SHOULD examine critically. this is, in fact, a character flaw, and i think its great.

you can then of course do nice little compare and contrast at the shitty dads, i.e. chrom's dad vs validar. robin's first act as an awakened god is murdering validar. robin became the monster everyone saw them as, the one their father thinks they were born to be. it's a neat lil nature vs nurture comparison if you really get into the depths of grima-ology (hi grima ✌️ mutuals).

to dig more into points the chrom hater anon makes.

"chrom is transphobic for killing excellus" do you hear yourself. excellus was an enemy commander. chrom has no personal grievances against the commanders other than they are part of the army with the known intent to raze ylisse.

SAME WITH ROBIN BURNING DOWN THE BOATS. THEY ARE AT WAR. IF ROBIN DIDNT DO THAT THEY'D ALL GET KILLED. they would have to fight the valm forces ON FOOT and BE KILLED VIOLENTLY because they are vastly outnumbered. it would be weird if he WASN'T at least happy about this.

he could stand to be regretful about the massive loss of human life but honestly hashtag robin warcrimes W.

"chrom makes sure to only recruit white ylisseans" i think this is just dev colorism actually. like you know how robin's dad (who is evil) is brown, but robin (who is good) is white? and how that makes no sense and robin should logically also be brown? i dont think chrom would've turned down if like, mustafa joined him. it is simply that intsys was still in their racism era (which is, tbh, only really ended with engage, like, cmon, look at literally all of FE, this isn't a chrom flaw, it's a FE being racist flaw.)

same with the sexism things actually FE is just homophobic and sexist a lot so all the characters are also by extension. this is called doylist analysis

Chrom tells Aversa "One person's life means nothing in the shadow of millions" Chrom is a hypocrite i hope this helps. additionally what aversa is doing is "help the dark god literally causing the apocalypse rn" whereas the sacrifice/save robin choice is "doom people in some hypothetical far off future" which is FAR less personal than "all of humanity RIGHT NOW".

TLDR: the real chrom enjoyers know about his character flaws and love him anyway because it's nice flavor to chew on

also never insult my beautiful daughter lucina ever again. she is deeply compelling even if she is narratively underutilized. anyone who calls themself a chrom fan and hates lucina is a faker and will not survive the winter.

also learn the difference between flaws of the story's writing and flaws of the character otherwise everybody in awakening is sexist.

anon you should read chrom/grima fanfiction unironically we fucking love tearing this dude to shreds for his flaws. this has all been a ploy to say that. chrom is naive and selfish and hypocritical and i love him very much he is my wif e :)

.

#fe #fire emblem #chrom fe #chrom fire emblem #i am no longer neutral on chrom #fe13 #fe awakening #fire emblem awakening #what am i witnessing #fave takes <3

[aashi-heartfilia]

MHA Headcanons#03:

Ochako will be the most popular pro hero out there?

I have seen a lot of people predict and write fan fictions where Uraraka is often depicted as an underdog and not as popular as her other fellow hero classmates. If Deku is no #01, she is #20 or something and she's usually very insecure about her weight, chubby figure, and personality and has low self esteem in general, which is kinda weird if you look at all the canon material we have...

From the get go, it is implied that Uraraka is strong, not just physically but mentally.

She is supposed to be the Ultimate Hero that will surpass All Might in terms of both power and influence she has on the mass of people.

She made it to the top 3 in the practical exams of UA entrance test and secured a position in the top 16 in the sports fest.

She might not be a prodigy like Bakugo or Todoroki, and she might not have All Might's legacy either but she is a strong hero in her own right.

In fact, from her internship with Gunheads to joining Team Ryukyu, she did it all on her own merit.

She managed to go toe to toe against Bakugo, who was the winner of the entire sports fest!

Plus, the strength and mental fortitude she showcased in the sports fest, helped her gain offers from various agencies, something that even Momo wasn't able to secure, because she hardly did anything against Tokoyami in their match.

I'm not saying that Momo's quirk is not powerful. In fact it's quite the opposite but it more or less depends upon how a person uses it.

Just like how Toga used Ochako's Quirk to kill numerous villains in one go, while Ochako resolved to not let a single person drop to their deaths and led her to her quirk Awakening.

And this takes me to my next point. Why wouldn't the golden girl Uravity be popular?

SHE CAN LITERALLY LIFT THE ENTIRE CITY!!

AND IT WAS ON LIVE TV!!!

She would be getting offers from various agencies in the entire world because who wouldn't want a hero that can lift an entire mountain?

She is not some low paid rescue hero, called over during the aftermath just to pick up the rubble.

She's THE HERO THAT SAVES EVERYONE.

Her words inspire people to take action!

Her actions inspire people to take action!

How could she not be one of the most popular heroes of JAPAN?

Plus in one of the recent TUM chapters, a guy was specifically charmed by Ochako's presence after seeing her in a commercial and the entire chapter was about that.

Plus, she's really pretty. Have I already mentioned in one of my blogs that Ochako is canonically one of the prettiest girls of class 1a? Her name literally means 'a beautiful day' and 'green tea girl'. Horikoshi himself leaves no opportunity to beautify her and he even considered himself a genius when he came up with her name!

So, she's not just strong but also beautiful.

So with all that being said, I don't know what people writing these fanfics are thinking?

#uraraka ochako #ochako uraraka #bnha ochako #ochako urakara #bnha uravity #bnha uraraka #ochako #bnha manga spoilers #himiko toga #toga himiko #uraraka ochaco #urakara ochako #ochaco uraraka #mha uraraka #bnha toga #togachako #togaocha #bakugou x uraraka #uraraka ochacho #uraraka #bnha izuocha #izuku x ochako #izuku x uraraka #bnha #bnha 401 #bnha spoilers #bnha manga leaks #bnha meta #bnha hcs #bnha manga

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

Interpersonal Aftermath: Riley and Patrick Edition

Ben and Patrick | Ben and Abigail | Ben and Riley | Riley and Abigail | Abigail and Patrick |

We continue our relationship aftermath series with Riley and Patrick, and with me once again underestimating how much I had to learn (and to write) from this investigation.

Now, these two have even less interaction then our other low-interaction duos, but let’s work with what we’ve got.

Patrick meets both Riley and Abigail when they show up to his house with Ben after the gala. Initially I thought Patrick would instantly dislike Abigail, but @emmi-kat convinced me that he’d take to her immediately. She also argues that a little bit of that compassion would extend to Riley as well.

I’m inclined to agree, but while I don’t think Patrick dislikes Riley on first meeting, I don’t think he particularly likes him much either.

To review, their first real interaction goes like this:

PATRICK And he dragged you two into this nonsense? ABIGAIL Literally. RILEY I volunteered. PATRICK Well unvolunteer, before you waste your life.

The main difference between Ben’s companions is that Abigail was roped into this nonsense, where Riley is here voluntarily. He joined Ben in the futile quest for treasure, and I imagine Patrick holds that against him, at least a little.

Can’t these guys see how they’re wasting their lives away? he must think. Patrick at least knows why Ben feels compelled to do this. Riley doesn't have generations of family history compelling him to be here. He could, as Patrick puts it, unvolunteer at any time.

That doesn’t mean Patrick doesn’t think Riley is smart. After all, he knows that Ben is smart, but that was never the problem. It didn’t help that Ben had the patience and the mind to study deeply and try to unravel the clues, but it’s his bullheaded dedication to the cause that has Patrick most concerned.

It’s an interesting question how much of this same determination he senses in Riley. After all, Riley just helped Ben steal the Declaration of Independence. He’s as all-in as you can be. And yet he’s in more because he wasn’t going to let Ben do this alone, not only because he has a blind belief in the treasure.

The fact that Riley doesn’t recognize the Ottendorf cypher might give Patrick a little hope for Riley. I think Patrick would find it reassuring that Riley isn’t a die-hard treasure hunter, at least not in the same way that Ben is.

And of course, there’s this gem, which is one of my favorite lines of the movie:

Patrick isn’t exactly impressed with Riley either. But then again, this isn’t a situation where Riley can show off his skill sets. In this scene, he’s fulfilling his everyman function with no tech in sight. He really is just “some guy” who Ben has tagging along.

I would expect most of Patrick’s frustrations to remain on Ben, but he doesn’t have a lot of reason to like Riley yet either. In the tension of the evening, I doubt Riley’s signature sense of humor isn’t even registering for Patrick.

They don’t meet again until it’s time to go down into Trinity Church, and even then they don’t interact directly until after the stairs collapse.

However, when they do, it’s Patrick patting Riley reassuringly on the shoulder and saying

PATRICK It's OK, kiddo.

after Ian leaves them in the pit.

That’s a pretty big shift from “What do you have, him?” So what changed? Well directly, as we’ve seen, almost nothing—Riley and Patrick haven’t interacted since. However, their circumstances have changed a lot.

I would argue that this fatherly instinct from Patrick is a result of three factors. One, everybody almost died a minute ago, particularly Ben, who was in peril for the longest. Patrick is probably feeling a lot of feelings about his son and the years they lost being estranged from each other. Some of this fatherly affection transfers over to Riley.

Second, the thrill/peril of the treasure hunt has awakened something in Patrick that he thought died a long time ago. In his worldview, this staircase should not be real. Hiding some artifacts is one thing, but secretly excavating a five story pit in the middle of Manhattan is a long way to go to prank the British. He must be starting to feel some of his long-extinguished hope that the treasure is real. This puts him in a good mood, hence “Kiddo.”

And third, even though their direct interactions have been limited, Patrick has spent enough time with Riley at this point to get a sense of Riley’s personality. And who wouldn’t love Riley Poole?

He might not realize it yet, but Patrick is bringing Ben back into his life, and taking everyone Ben cares about with him.

And what does Riley think of Patrick?

Although they had never met, I think that Riley has expectations of Patrick that trend toward the negative. In the 2003 script Riley explicitly knows about Ben’s tense relationship with his father before we meet Patrick on screen.

Outside the Archives he says

RILEY All right. I’m sorry. I know I'm not supposed to talk about your dad.

Now, Riley’s a slightly different character in the older script, and he has a slightly different relationship with Ben—Riley actually takes on more of a mastermind role—so it’s not a guarantee that any related details would be the same. We know, at the very least, that Riley knows enough to know that Ben is thinking about going to his dad’s when they’re in the park.

RILEY Ben, you know what you have to do.

It’s possible Riley knows any amount of detail about Ben and Patrick’s relationship between “My dad and I don’t see eye to eye about the treasure” to full details of their falling out, Patrick’s perpetual disappointment with his son, etc.

So when he goes to the door with Ben and Abigail, Riley knows he’s about to walk into something but he might not know exactly what. Then Patrick insults Abigail (Is she pregnant?), Ben a bunch of times, and Riley himself (What do you have, him?) and Riley can’t be having a great impression of Patrick.

So I imagine the “Kiddo” moment marks a "oh, this guy's actually alright" on both sides.

Going forward, I don’t know that they’d get particularly close—Patrick has much more in common with Abigail, after all—but I imagine that Riley and Patrick get along just fine. Patrick will always think Riley is a bit hapless, and Riley will always think Patrick is a bit uptight, but Patrick respects the lengths Riley will go for Ben, and Riley is glad for both of them that Ben and Patrick are on a better footing now.

“He’s a weird, goofy little man, but he’s my son’s weird, goofy little man” 🤝 “I just wanna impress my treasure hunt father-in-law/new adopted history dad”

#the national treasure gazette #national treasure #riley poole #patrick gates

[sleep-can-wait]

could you like, deep dive into why you think uloopi hated Aru sm?

Ok I've thought about this long and hard so here I go:

There is the obvious fact that Takshaka has manipulated her and that due to her loss of that jewel thing that helped her see all those who lie to her, she couldn't see that he was obviously manipulating her. I think that she would not be used to being lied to and so couldn't see why someone of her own kind would do that to her. She was vulnerable and so would obviously trust the first person to come and comfort her, which happened to be Takshaka.

Adding onto the above point, both Takshaka and Uloopi both lost something because of Arjuna, and so sympathised with each other. This most definitely caused their connection to grow stronger. Because of Arjuna, they both went blind. Literally in Takshaka's case where his eyesight was taken from him, or metaphorically in Uloopi's case as she lost the ability to see people's true meanings when she lost her gem. They were both made blind to the world because of him, so they would obviously connect.

Also, they both hate Arjuna, but are probably the only people who are still living who do. People would mock them for hating the greatest warrior of all time, but not each other. This made it extremely easy for Takshaka to manipulate Uloopi. You could see she was naive when she easily gave up her heart jewel to save Arjuna only to be ignored.

Moving on from Takshaka she absolutely projected all her hate onto Aru that she had for Arjuna in all these years. She had given everything up for him, only to be cast aside for someone else. She grew bitter and old. She was separated from all the other naga loka people because she was the only one who looked her age and she could be easily fooled without her jewel. She had nowhere to put all that hate because she was the one to blame until now. She could finally take that anger out on someone and make Arjuna in one way or another pay for what he did so long back.

Adding onto this, Aru is a lot like Arjuna with her wit and ability to see outside the box. Seeing Aru must have brought back really awful memories for Uloopi and so she lashed out like that without thinking too much. It must be really painful to see the person you love the most and the one who also hurt you the most back in front of your eyes after such a long time.

At the same time, Aru is not at all like Arjuna - so even if Uloopi hates him, he was still the most important person in her life. And so it feels like the guy she loved was replaced with someone entirely different and I can bet you all my non-existent pocket money that no matter how mad she was at him, she would give anything for the real thing to come back. But he's gone and she's here. And in Uloopi's eyes Aru must seem like a bratty and obnoxious replacement, a puny mortal who just arrogantly took Arjuna's place as the unworthy younger generation child she is. Not at all grateful and already messing up. If it were the real and perfect Arjuna, this entire mess would have never occurred. If it were the real Arjuna, there would be no Sleeper, because he would not mess up, but Aru did the moment she awakened as a pandava. She was a step down for Uloopi.

Lastly, supposedly it is believed that Aru stole Kamadeva's bow from HER. And Uloopi would obviously believe it was Aru who was the one to take it, after all, her predecessor already took something just as precious from her already. Arjuna stole her jewel, Aru stole the arrow. Naturally, this would happen. And she could finaly make Arjuna pay for taking what was hers. Even though it was technically her who willingly gave him his jewel, she may have developed an idea in her head that he had actually taken it himself without her consent as a way to cope with the heartbreak and resentment. And here he was doing it again in another life and body.

I don't think Uloopi will ever forgive Aru/Arjuna, even after she gave back the jewel and took back the arrow and explained the situation. Her heart has been broken for centuries, and it may take much longer for the wounds on it to heal. And even then, there will still always be scars.

Anyway these are my thoughts on why Uloopi hates Aru so much, but what do you all think?

#aru shah #the pandava quintet #tpq #roshani chokshi #rick riordan presents #uloopi #queen uloopi of naga loka

[magicalgirlmascot]

it didnt win but do you have magical girl webcomic recommendations anyway? 👀

I was planning on going out to find more if that was the one picked, but just of the ones I know already:

If you haven't read Sleepless Domain yet, that's the one I kind of think of as like the most popular one? And it's popular for a reason, it's so good. It's about a world where magical girls are just a known quantity in everyday life. Their society is built around them since they protect ordinary people from the monsters that come out at night, so for example there's a special school just for them that starts later in the day to make up for the fact that they're up all night fighting evil by moonlight, they're basically celebrities, there are branches of government specifically dedicated to them, it's just fascinating to see a world where stuff like this is taken to its logical conclusion. The story has set up some spooky and compelling mysteries, the characters are fun and relatable and gay as shit, the art and character design is super cute, I mean what can be said about Sleepless Domain that hasn't been said. It's literally so good. CONTENT WARNING: there is an early plot point involving major character death, and it becomes the driving force for a lot of the series.

ALSO THE LITTLE DANCE TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE IN CHAPTER 21 AAAAAAHHHHH MY LIL GAY HEARTCATCH FAN HEART I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

There's also XII, which I found by accident at a con last year. It's about a group of girls at a boarding school who accidentally start awakening magic powers in themselves and then others. As more people start gaining powers, the people in charge at the school start taking notice and trying to crack down on things. There's a lot going on behind the scenes, and part 1 sets up some great mysteries. Part 1 (Of Magic and Muses) is fully completed, with three volumes out, and Part 2 (Of Rogues and Remnants) just has the one chapter out for now and has gone on hiatus recently, but I'd still definitely recommend giving it a read! I have all three volumes (I bought the first volume at Pretty Heroes last year, read it in one night, then went back and bought the next two volumes the next day) and a standee of Georgia because we stan a shitty delinquent bully character who becomes less shitty but still a delinquent. CONTENT WARNING: (taken directly from the website) part 1 contains bullying, strangulation, drowning, blood, general violence, partial nudity, and language, while part 2 contains animal harm, police violence, disassociation, blood, sexual situations, general violence, partial nudity, and language. I swear it's not like full Madoka or anything but it is a darker magical girl series. It's really good I promise.

There's also Elements of the Round on Webtoon, which I actually found via Art Fight of all places lol. I'm not caught up with it at all (I stopped using Webtoon around when its first chapter ended) but it's a neat story based around Arthurian myth! I love Nina, she's great. It's a bit simpler than the other two but quite good! CONTENT WARNING: familial death early on.

And another Webtoon: Let's Celebrate! is a globe-trotting magical girl story about magical girls based around holidays! When I quit using Webtoon it had three, based on Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, and New Year's. The way the monsters work is so interesting, and I love the art!! Also it's super cute and hella gay and I definitely should catch up. No content warnings from my memory.

Hopefully there are a couple here that are new to others!

#magical girls #webcomics #i'll be honest my concept of what is and isn't popular is very skewed lol i have no idea how well known these actually are

[adanseydivorce]

Alison DiLaurentis 2&3!

favorite thing about this character —  I really love the interplay in especially early seasons Alison but it does show up at times in s5&6a, of her being capable of being so calculating and smart to scary degrees and play games both with her peers and with adults around her who underestimate her because of her youth and girlishness, yet also there are these moments where you can see it can never quite work to 100% protect her in the society she lives in as a teenage girl is a very misogynistic community that protects predatory adult men or as a bi girl from a conservative (based on Kenneth’s views) family in Virginia, she’s so cunning which I love but that only gets her so far I always think of the flashback where she threatens/blackmails Byron and he grabs her wrist (yikes!:/) and  tells her that she plays adult games but is still a child (ew) and how Sasha plays Ali’s reactions that is such a core part of her character to me. Ik that’s not really boiling my favorite thing about her into one trait but I do think that’s a big part of why I’m fascinated with her character in general. Also I just find characters like her who are written in a way that the audiences reaction to her sort of says a lot about them because there are multiple readings possible especially when they’re women to be characters who awaken more creativity in my brain and I love that (even though that’s definitely a double edged sword because part of why she was written like that was the Pll writers wanting to keep multiple options open for what to do with her and they eventually just didn’t know what to do with her at all), it’s why the one Pll fic I’ve written was an Ali char study of sorts lol. 

least favorite thing about this character —  I touched on it because it kind of goes along with my favorite but the fact the writers clearly didn’t know what to do with her as the plot of the show progressed/especially her arc in the last two seasons (there are things in s5 regarding Ali characterization I actually like better than most people/think is a little better than it gets credit for being although there were still decisions that sucked but then there are stand out moments/episodes I think are great for her so it averages) but her redemption arc in the last two seasons is terrible writing. However (and I’ve mentioned this before/gone on rants about it in tags of other posts I’ve reblogged) I think I dislike the arc for different reasons from why the majority of viewers do, my stance is definitely not that she is “irredeemable/unforgivable” (a stance I’ve seen from people who don’t feel that way about male characters who did much more harm and did also get redemption arcs just an aside) as a character and even attempting to go that route is ridiculous. I do have mixed feelings on whether a redemption arc is the most interesting route for her as villain Alison also has a lot of potential (and I did read all the Pll books last year through beginning of this year so I’ve now seen a version of the story that went there play out and honestly kind of a slay) and I could have liked other storylines for her that didn’t try to categorize her as redeemed or evil as neatly but! I think the greatest failing of that storyline is how Alison needs to lose all of her … Alison-Ness to be considered redeemed. She has to be consistently punished (and constantly talk about how she is responsible for everything bad that has ever happened to herself and other around her) and lose every one of her sharp edges and become an almost unrecognizable character to be considered morally acceptable, it’s an especially frustrating contrast to the way the show treats literally every morally questionable man in Rosewood and I hate it lol. I could maybe have used my economy of words better to say all that I just realized but oh well :). 

#thank you again <3 #asks #s speaks #alison dilaurentis #pll #pretty little liars #the formatting is making it one and two instead of two and three #my meta

[pictureofdoriaaaaaangay]

chaotic book ramble so I can stop spiraling into the abyss: my childhood favorite books that I've been thinking about lately

I start college in four days, where I'll be pursuing an English degree. I've been both a reader and by extension a writer my whole life. lately, I've been thinking about the books I loved when I was younger that fueled this passion and thus helped me along to where I am now <3

The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer. I still have my old copies of these books, and when I tell you they are well-loved, I mean they are well-loved. they're sort of fairytale retellings, and take place in the Land of Stories, which exists as a parallels world to this one where fairytale characters are real and living beyond their happily ever afters. the books follow twins Alex and Connor, who find out (spoiler?? lol) that their grandmother is the fairy godmother. all sorts of stuff goes down, and honestly I only remember half of it like a fever dream, but I remember really loving it in book five (?) when they get to meet the characters from stories Connor wrote. honestly, I probably read the entire series over fifty times, and that's not an exaggeration. first read them the year the third book came out, when I was nine. waiting for the rest was, I recall, absolute torture.

the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. this is so funny to me, because these books basically set me up for my later teen years and loving the Folk of the Air series by Holly Black - but I digress. I first read these at age eight in a high-stress time of my life, and as a result they were likely deeply formative. they follow twins Jared and Simon (more twins ??) and their older sister Mallory (thinking back, she was absolutely part of my bi awakening). they move with their mother into the old Spiderwick mansion, and soon discover a fieldguide all about faeries and different fae species that live in the woods surrounding the house. I honestly think that the plot of these books is batshit, but I still sort of love them. there's a movie, but it's terrible, and aggressively condenses the plot into something completely unrecognizable.

Harry Potter, by... Harry Potter. isn't it great that, after his time at Hogwarts, he decided to write a seven-book autobiography?? so funky of him!! anyways - I read these at the ripe age of ten, and stuck by loving them since. HP was my first fandom, and maybe the one I'm fondest of (actually, thinking on this, no), and Hogwarts in general holds a lot of nostalgia for me. this being said, I still love the books, but I have to say that I reread them last year for the first time since I was maybe 14/15 and um. wow. Mr. Potter you are?? problematic??? someone please tell me why the adult man who was allowed to abuse children in a position of power for sixteen years got a redemption arc but the literal CHILD who was born into an abusive and power-hungry family didn't. also why is Dumbedore hailed as such a bloody saint?? he's worse than fucking Voldemort. I said what I said. also it's super confusing that Harry never mentioned in his autobiography that his Sirius and Remus were happily married and living at Grimmauld place. weird storytelling choice I guess!!

all those damned Warrior cats books by Erin Hunter. I swear to god these books had crack in them I ATE THEM UP from the ages of like. eight to eleven?? maybe??? genuinely, I must've reread them a hundred times, but I could tell you NOTHING about the plots. a few vibes, maybe, but zero plots. did they even have plots?? were plots a thing in those books??? how was I so obsessed with them???? funniest part is the fact that I see people talking about them on the internet now and it's just. insane. actually insane.

Lockwood and Co by Jonathan Stroud. full transparency: I read these for the first time at age eleven (around the time the fourth book out of five came out) and now remain an active member of the fandom. I love these books, and these characters, with my whole heart and I want nothing more than them to be happy. the Netflix show, though I have some pretty severe gripes with it, is still really amazing and absolutely deserves a second season. the books are set in London, where ghosts are real deeply dangerous, and follow the main trio of Lucy, Lockwood, and George. I reread them at the start of the year in preparation for the show, and they're genuinely just incredible works. I sobbed a lot reading them. they're absolutely comfort reads for me; 35 Portland Row is home.

wow. that was a lot. there's honestly several more I could talk about (School for Good and Evil, Percy Jackson, etc), but this is a long enough post for now, ha. love you all <3

#books #childhood books #childhood #childhood favorites #the land of stories #tlos #the spiderwick chronicles #holly black #harry potter #hp #warriors #warrior cats #lockwood and co #chaotic academia #dark academia

[chibitantei]

You know how game companies release a barebones product and then patch their way to a cohesive and complete game? Anyways, here's something about P5AU!Naoto’s Persona awakening ft. me probably breaking P5’s lore.

For the AU, Naoto’s Personas are Laelaps and Fenrir, both of which are canines. My reasons for picking them are linked on the page (and so will this post), but for convenience’s sake, here. While I was finding suitable Personas, Laelaps was one I had considered, but held off on because he didn’t sound like a rebellious figure.

I reviewed the awakenings for the Phantom Thieves and noticed a few things. One was that they embraced their ‘role’ as an outcast and shed any pretense of trying to fit in with what society had to say about them, whether it was directly mentioned in the speech or not. The other was, obviously, the rebellious spirit.

Naoto is someone who needs to acknowledge her other self, so she isn’t the type who could have P5’s awakening steer her towards the direction of being happy with herself.

So when she acquires Laelaps, it feels more like an incomplete awakening.

Since every PT had some kind of commentary on (Japanese) society, Naoto probably needed to do something similar. I apologize for repeating myself on this point again, but the post would not look cohesive without it. Naoto is a private investigator, but she works much more closely with the police than her canon self does. She’s seen a lot of cases where, well, cases are put on a backburner because they aren’t important, officers putting an end to their investigation to wrap it up faster instead of properly seeking the truth™.

This obviously does not jive well with our resident detective, so when the opportunity arises, she channels her rebellious spirit that is fed up with how incompetent the police are and resolves to help those the police neglect, and you get the idea.

She has this rebellious spirit, but she doesn’t fully embrace being a rebel. Some part of her still tries to fit in with what society expects of her, and that’s where the P4 part of things comes in.

Naoto’s gimmick in P4 is about sexism in the workforce, but I feel like it could be sexism in general. I’ve linked this video before and it’s pretty old now, but P4 came out in 2008. The fact that this 2018 video existed shows that what Naoto’s gimmick was trying to critique was still a big problem and may be one still.

Being treated like she has no place being a detective, why is she still here if she’s going to become a housewife one day, people treating her like she’s fragile just for being a woman (see the image of her social link script below), just to name a few things wears her down, but she doesn’t complain.

On a ‘Naoto’s main gimmick isn’t this but it’s still relevant’ note, there’s her perfectionist attitude. As a Shirogane detective, she believes any mistake or show of weakness on her part will harm her family’s legacy and with Akechi being the more popular detective, Naoto feels an added pressure to be perfect. 

A third thing I noticed about the PT awakenings is that they’re a little selfish and it’s not a bad thing. She doesn’t allow herself to be selfish and live for herself. She also just flat out thinks her hangups aren’t that bad compared to other people. There’s a lot that overlaps with her canon self, but the important part is that she doesn’t allow herself to express anything isn’t annoyance at police or acceptance that things will always be like this.

So by facing herself (literally, you bet I’m having that stupid bastard show up), accepting her negative thoughts, allowing herself to be selfish and understand that she’s allowed to feel things, and finally ignore what society has to say about her, Naoto becomes more like a rebel and Laelaps evolves to Fenrir.

I think that makes sense. Maybe.

I don’t want to make this part a separate thing, so on her Persona skills.

You can find a list of skills I’ve compiled from all the Persona games here. I don’t bother with the 8 skill slot limit because that requires too much work and I’m too lazy for that, and I don’t write a lot of action scenes with her Persona so whatever.

Laelaps only has the elemental skills, bless and curse, and one weak-medium physical skill and Ma/Rakukaja. It represents that Naoto hasn’t reached her full potential yet as a Persona user. At least, the lack of many physical skills (to me) conveyed a more... “refined” kind of vibe since these give me the impression that they can be cast from farther away compared to a physical skill. Fenrir gives her more physical skills and the instant kill ones, Heat Riser, along with a stronger attack stat because Naoto’s finally letting herself go feral as a treat.

I literally do not want to look at this anymore take it away from me.

#Headcanon: Confidential Information #v: Take Over #I'm done #I'm not looking at this anymore

[science-lings]

HELLO IM LATE but could you share your thoughts about the Heroes blood?? How is it similar/different from the goddess blood and stuff like that. It’s intriguing to me bc and I want to know more pls pls pls pls pls

Let's start with Goddess blood, it's purely hereditary and only affects the women who inherit it. It lays dormant until the goddess's descendants' light power awakens. I also like to think that it has a physical marker. When a descendant of the goddess bleeds, if she has unlocked her power, you can immediately tell who she is. While the reincarnation of Hylia herself has purely golden blood, her descendants have a noticeable golden shimmer to their blood. This also opens up some angsty ideas about how princesses prove that they're true descendants of the goddess and how a princess who struggles to unlock her sealing powers could perhaps be... tested or their identity doubted...

Heroes' blood is much more complex and mysterious. Reincarnations of Link just pop out of nowhere, though that doesn't mean that it can't be passed down through the generations. There are non-heroes with a bit of heroes blood in them, which could lie dormant or grand them extremely minor quirks that the hero tends to just come with. Things like natural ability with a sword, a slight propensity towards magic, strength that's just a little more than natural ability, getting along with animals (usually horses or birds for some reason), general inherent musical talent, etc. Heroes' blood is also less picky compared to Goddess blood, it can be activated in anyone despite gender.

Though Heroes blood doesn't have a physical indicator like goddess blood does, it can still be traced. Monsters can smell the blood of the hero, they fight differently if they're against a hero versus any other hyrulean. The Yiga clan always has members that poof in front of the hero out of nowhere and I'm almost certain that some non-Ganon villains are able to watch the hero from a distance and it wouldn't be a shocker to me if they had to use his blood to do so.

Another important use for the heroes' blood, resurrecting demon kings! This is partially what inspired my thoughts about the blood of the hero, there has to be something up with these guys' blood if it can literally raise the king of evil. (which is my theory about the creation of the Calamity but that's a little off-topic), It's not just the fact that the first reincarnation of the hero defeated the literal god of evil, making it poetic that the current holder of the hero's spirit has to die to revive the evil king, it can also be just how eternal the heroes spirit really is. During the dozens of thousands of years, gods have been reduced to skeletons and even the strongest deities are whispers of what they once were. But one of the oldest ones, older than Hyrule, older than the royal family, older than the master sword, the hero's spirit is still going strong, reincarnation after reincarnation. I think being so ancient and still so powerful makes the blood of the hero very potent for magic.

The thing is, there is a canonical line of heroes, even if the only heroes involved are the hero of Time and the hero of Twilight. I've touched on the idea several times in my LU fics but I am of the headcanon that heroes' blood can carry the magic from several thousand years in the past if the hero used it a lot. I'm also of the opinion that the hero of the Wild is also in the heroes bloodline (there are similarities but that is again a little too off-topic for this current rant), and I like to think that the hero of the wild gets his unique grasp over time from his ancestor who definitely played with time magic to an excessive amount. Perhaps his natural way in the wilderness and ability to see very well in the dark comes from an ancestor who was cursed with shadow magic. The idea that magic used thousands of years ago still persists in their descendants is just intriguing to me.

okay those are all my thoughts for now lol

#ask andromeda #loz lore #loz link #legend of zelda #botw lore #lore speculation #linked universe #adding that tag bc these ideas have been featured in my lu fics #like several of them #and more to come #lu wolf trio #zelda #zelda lore

[ridleyytheriddler]

im suuuper bored rn and in a mood to write so! rant! yay!

first thing i wanted to rant about - my sexual orientation (:

im ace, period. i know that for a fact. at least I'm somewhere on the spectrum, maybe demisexual? but I'm not sure, I'm not really diving into microlabels.

romantic orientation is an ENTIRELY different story...

had a crush on a boy in 3rd/4th grade, back when (i thought) i was a cishet girl. liked him until like 5th grade when my feelings sort of faded away. now, i was virtual schooled through 5th and 6th so i didn't really like anyone in sixth grade but i spent a lot of time exploring queerness in general- like my nonbinary awakening happened sometime in like January/February of 2022 (though i did first label myself as a demigirl, it still falls under the enby umbrella).

i entered seventh grade as a closeted aroace enby and went through about 3/4 of the year without any major crushes (i had a platonic interest in a boy that i misinterpreted as a crush). i didn't really label my romantic attraction because i didn't need to.

however, as the end of the school year approached, i started feeling uncomfortable. i wanted to know who i was, and the only valid part of my identity had been my asexuality, since i knew that i liked a boy in the past so how could i be aro? i was drowning in a whirlpool of invalidation and not feeling queer enough.

so, i go to the first camp of the year, a writing camp, filled with TONS of queer people. i loved it there, but seeing so many people around me, sure of their identities, made me die more inside.

sooo, a couple days after i was accused of flirting with my friend (who happened to be a boy), i "discovered" i liked a girl. she was pretty, she was smart, she was blonde, she was sporty. i texted her a lot (even after camp was over). i put hearts around her contact name. but "liking" her didn't feel thrilling and it didn't feel happy. to put it simply, it felt like a fucking punishment. talking to her made me feel like i wasn't enough.

so after going through about a month of emotional turmoil and dying inside and bragging to my friends about how i liked a girl, i headed to my first sleepaway camp of the summer, a church camp, ironically enough. and THERE. THERE i fell. not in love, but probably the realest crush i'd had. there weren't really butterflies, so to speak, but if you looked at a picture with the two of us in it, you would see me gazing at her (lets call her M) with literal heart eyes. we'd started quietly chatting while our mutual friends were off doing other stuff, and ended up bonding with each other despite how the only thing we shared was our introverted-ness. and I'm not even that introverted. we're polar opposites. we still text each other almost every day, and i had hopes she liked me back, aaaaaaaaand she doesn't but. here comes part two of my rant.

my crush doesn't like me.

and i don't even feel the tiniest bit sad about it.

this is probably the most confused i've ever been. i know i like her. maybe it's because her "rejection" was so soft it didn't even feel like one. i don't know. it's complicated, but my best friend had been cheering me on to tell her, so i did. and i was honestly divided as to whether she liked me or not- at times she acted like she did but other times she didn't. honestly, i think I'm just hopeful that she likes me

anyway thats not the point-

so. after writing this THERAPUTIC post, i have discovered that:

i am aroace and proud 🧡💛🤍🩵💙

im nonbinary (and proud, but I've known that for a while)

I'm confused

but I'm 100% queer. whether I'm lesbian or straight or bi or something, i am queer! and I'm tired of feeling invalidated by being compared to the people out there who are out and proud with all their labels. i don't need to be exactly like them to be queer and be myself.

to put it poetically, "our friendship is worth more than being in any relationship." I'm going to write a poem about that now. good night yall <3 or even good morning/afternoon.

#queer #shitposts #rants #lgbtqia+ #questioning #my posts

[drbased]

Musings on heterosexuality

I believe that there's something faintly neurotic about the heterosexual condition. It's deeply confusing to have this primal urge of attraction to the features of a human being that you can never have in yourself.

There's a cultural belief that women are naturally the 'attractive' sex; we have all these signifiers that we are 'meant' to be the attractive one, because we have boobs and curves and a rounder butt etc. We also seem to have generally smaller and more uniformly attractive faces. It's hard to say if women are objectively more attractive, or if it's just culturally ingrained in all of us to view women as 'the attractive sex' because straight men have to believe in this universality of female attractiveness - because if they don't, then the 'natural' places of men and women within patriarchy are shown to be merely a product of male sexual violence.

The fundamental neuroticism of heterosexuality operates differently in men than women; in women, there's a confusion over what we're supposed to find attractive and why. We're told that there's something naturally attractive about breasts - but if you're heterosexual, you don't feel anything other than ambivalence, maybe even annoyance, at your breasts. But they're supposed to be attractive, you're supposed to be attractive. That's you're role; that's who you are, fundamentally. I think het women are much more likely to be gender conforming because they never quite understand this disconnect within themselves; heterosexual women (and girls) do not understand what is supposed to be so attractive about a woman's body, but they're told that they're supposed to, so they defer to the rules given to them. They buy into the lie that body hair is unattractive (despite the fact that they like body hair on men), and defer to the idea that there's something universally, aesthetically attractive about female shaved legs.

Meanwhile, heterosexual men are neurotic about their heterosexuality because they have to keep this concept of universal female attractiveness alive. Men put female attractiveness on a pedestal, to them seemingly the most important thing in the goddamn universe. Female attractiveness seems to be the closest thing to holy in a secular society; we're supposed to view 'love at first sight' as romantic and cute, and men will write songs about a woman mentioning how attractive she is as short-hand for transcendental love.

Transgenderism and autogynephilia are simply the natural end-points in this bizarre cultural apparatus, where men finally admit that the only thing they value in the entire world is a woman's attractiveness; it seems to be the only thing they care about to a neurotic degree, and if they hyperfocus on this cultural obsession they end up embodying it. It's no coincidence that sissy and forced feminisation fetishes end up being someone's 'trans awakening'. Transwomen complain all the time about not being attractive enough to look like women; even drag queens will get upset about not being attractive enough to look like women, and they're literally gay men (like, dude, men and male bodies are literally what's attractive to you, and you're upset that you're not 'attractive' enough to look 'fish'???).

I noted in a previous post on the difference between male and female humilation fetishes; in both concepts, the woman is always attractive, and they man is often ugly and pudgy. Men do not, and seemingly cannot, conceptualise themselves as attractive in any way - I wanted to specify straight men here, but I think a lot of gay and bi men succumb to this thinking as well (refer back to my comment about drag queens, and also tr*nny and sissy dynamics within gay porn).

Going back to my first paragraph; is there something naturally uncomfortable about being hopelessly and primally attracted to something you'll never be? I personally think it's very possible. And I think that's what has fuelled the neuroticism of the male oppressor class. If you're normal and want to be a healthy human being who does not dehumanise others, you learn to make a certain amount of peace with not being able to be/have what's attractive to you. But (straight) men have never let this go. The womb envy is real; they want to be us, they want to be as attractive as they perceive us, and since they can't do that, they resent us for it. And they're ruined basically everyone's relationships with their own sexuality for this one obsession.

#theory posting #my writing

[thecagedsong]

RIGHT Yona of the Dawn theory for the latest chapter, before the next chapter comes out and destroys it.

So, not Saying Yona has priestess abilities to see the future. I don’t think she does since all she’s mentioned is dreams and feelings while every canonnically prophetic character calls it “hearing the voices of the gods”. (Zeno, Ik-soo, her mom)

I think her soul is just connected to certain people and places. 

Anyway, what really struck me as odd about Yona’s dream of everyone in coffins is the grouping. Who was in coffins? Jae-ha, Kija, Shin-ah, Soo-Won, and Mei-nyah. 

Why this group? I think it’s because Soo-Won and Mei-nyah are the sword and shield of the original prophecy. It’s the four dragons (minus immortal Zeno) that are there, that Yona has a proven divine connection to. The only other category of people that the gods have literally spoken to her about are  “the sword and shield that protect the sovereign.” 

If it was just people she cared about, standard nightmare fuel, Hak and Yoon would be in the coffins. Yona has little to no reason to care about Mei-nyah, like doesn’t want her dead and will protect her given the chance, in fact, there are lots of reasons not to like her. The deaths of Kouka kingdom citizens and undeserved hatred tend not to get people started on the right foot. But Yona does like her. Maybe it’s more than narrative foils and redemption. 

The sword and shield hadn’t been revealed/awakened the last time they met with Ik-soo, but Soo-won is on the edge of a revelation and Mei-nyah has started her redemption arc by caring about Yoon. Starting to feel guilty about the people she’s trampled/killed to get what she wanted 

(think the way she flinched when reminded of the delegate she poisoned) (girl was always gonna betray the Kai emporer, there was no reason to go through with his plan).

Also, this theory gives the JUCIEST tidbit of a prophecy long ago that “the blood of the crimson dragon king shall be sword and shield for the reborn god”. Like, reading that, anyone would assume that the crimson dragon king would be born among his descendants, and the sheer betrayal of that not happening is consistent with the theme of unfair fates in this universe.

It ALSO acts as a fascinating parallel to the dragons. One person blessed with the power/curse compared to the generations and family that all experience the effects of the curse/blessing. Both doomed to die young. All the bloodlines kept alive because the gods wanted to protect their crimson dragon. 

It’s love to destruction. Divine verse human. Would the dragon villages have been different if the dragon blood acted more like the crimson blood disease? Do we finally have an answer for why Soo-Won is an all-talented shell of a person? Extra gifted for the purpose of serving Yona, but refusing to serve Yona/acknowledge the gods. 

I kinda hope Mei-Nyah is just like that, clever and bold and sly enough to get what she wants through battle, sex, or any act inbetween. But she’s meant to foil Soo-Won’s determination to do whatever it takes to get what she wants with the goal of spitting the gods in the eye instead of Soo-Won’s determination to pretend they don’t affect the world at all.

And she’s meant to foil Yona’s character growth as she slowly starts to care about people other than herself (with handsome, trusty hunk in love with her to help out). 

Anyway, with this dream putting Mei center stage and connecting her to the four dragons and Soo Won, either Yona is prophetic and it’s just those characters specifically that are slotted to die, or Mei’s the shield and the horrible feeling from Yona’s last life’s grave burning down reached across her spiritual connection to certain people and resulted in the coffin dream.

Thoughts?

#Yona of the Dawn spoilers #Yona of the dawn #mei nyan #soo won #four dragons #Yona #Hak #Chapter 231

[highlifeboat]

Max locks Mel and Cass in a closet together and now Cass has to weigh her options about whether it's worth it to just knock the door down and risk scaring the fuck out of the cute maid she "absolutely doesn't have a crush on". Bonus issues: is Melony panicking being trapped with her, and how gay would she be if Cass *did* knock down a door for her sake? We all remember her reaction to the melon breaking, girl likes a strong woman lol

No, because I love this.

On one side, Cassandra is pissed at Max (and Daniela, because my boy ain't getting Cass in that closet alone), having some internal debate on if breaking the door down is worth potentially scaring Melony, and just generally trying not to freak out because she doesn't want to accidentally hurt Mel by making some harsh movement.

And on the other, Melony is just... in full panic. She doesn't like small spaces to begin with, nevermind being locked in a closet with someone. But she can't even think about that, because she's too busy focusing on the fact she's trapped with the only person she's ever had a real crush on, basically shoulder to shoulder (well, shoulder to arm), nevermind the fact Melony is quite literally chest height with Cass. She's spiraling into a panic, she just doesn't know if it's a gay one or a fearful one (maybe both)

Cass, deciding that assessing the situation for once is a good idea, looks to see if Mel's all right, and of course notices her being flustered and breathing fast, and assumes Melony's going to have a panic attack. She's doing her best to be all "It's going to be fine"/"You're safe"/"Deep breaths" that she's seen Alcina do with Bela to keep Mel calm. And it does help, a little. Enough for Melony to apologize for panicking in the firstplace and explain she's minorly (majorly) claustrophobic. Which is enough motivation for Cassandra to decide knocking down the door is the way to go. Because even if it does scare Melony in the moment, it's better than making her have to stay somewhere she's clearly uncomfortable until someone lets them out.

It takes a couple of tries, but Cassandra manages to bust down the closet door. She looks to see if Melony's okay and Mel is just staring at her like "Oh no." because that's just the final nail in the coffin for her. She already liked Cassandra for a lot of reasons, but her busting down a door (for the sake of Melony's well being at that) just awakens everything for her.

Melon's just sort of starstruck in the moment, though. No real confession to be had, but a very cute moment of Cassandra making sure Melony's okay before heading to go murder Maximus and Daniela.

but also cue the;

"Mommy...."

"What?"

"NOTHING--"

#Melony's gonna think about that moment #for a while #asks #coleblackblood #maiden mia au #mecassa

[rubykgrant]

Stayed up too late, started thinking about an alternate story for the Tenchi series...

So, I don’t know why it took me 20-something years to even consider the possibility that the reason Tenchi is just plain not interested (at least, in a general sense) in any of these ladies is; Tenchi is gay. This dude is attracted to other dudes. To be fair, I don’t think he even knows this, he lives in the woods with his dad, his grandpa, and a bunch of space alien ladies. How’s he gonna even know what his options regarding sexuality are? This is where the whole Tnechi in Tokyo thing becomes interesting...

He finally has the chance to do “normal” young adult things, including meeting more people and what-not. He can also just... see other relationships, finally. He still doesn’t get what this means for himself, because he’s Tenchi and he’s a dink, but there is the beginnings of an awakening going on. Alright, that brings us to Sakuya; she was created entirely to be a “distraction” for Tenchi, and her entire world literally revolves around him. When this gets challenged, she has a break-down, unable to deal with the fact that she has no life outside of being an agreeable girl, unlike most of the others in Tnechi’s life, meant to keep his attention... rather than have her simply vanish after this realization, imagine a different scenario!

Tenchi insists that Sakuya should be able to learn about who she really is, just like he has. Instead of just liking whatever he likes, Sakuya is encouraged to try more food, listen to more music, watch more movies, read more books, and everything else, so she can have enough experiences to have real opinions. This would indeed bring them closer together, and Sakuya finds that her romantic feelings for him are genuine... and while Tenchi is still hesitant, he finds that he doesn’t want to shy away from her affection.

Then the reveal with Yugi happens, and the mirrored conflict of trying to create an illusion that will seem like the perfect friend for Sasami. Both Yugi and Sakuya have not been allowed to be who they truly are. When things get settled and the fighting is over, rather than fall into another slumber, Yugi lives with everybody at the Masaki house, and she sort of gives “true life” to the companions she created. This lessens the overflow of her powers slightly, making it easier to manage, but means she can’t control them anymore. They all find their own paths, including Sakuya. She still has her whole life revolving around Tenchi, and as he moves back home after graduating, Sakuya explains that she wants to travel alone for a while, but keeps in touch.

Perhaps a year or so later, everybody at the Masaki house is excited because they received a letter of a surprise return! In the afternoon, they all wait happily... and eventually see a young man walking up to the house. His hair is different. He’s changed his name. He’s changed a LOT. They still recognize who this is, and finally, Tenchi understands his own feelings. So! Trans boy Sakuya, and Tenchi gets a boyfriend~

Also, Mihoshi and Kiyone are also a couple, like that is just a thing. Ayeka and Ryoko can have themselves some new love interests too (I’m not opposed to them being together either, I just like the potential of them being so focused on Tenchi for so long, they have to finally switch gears with new people who are very different)

#tenchi muyo #tenchi in tokyo #my thoughts