#me when the character who is inhuman gets shown love and kindness understands love and kindness 🥹

[bbq-potato-chip]

HI HAI HOPE IM NOT TOO LATE FOR TH ASK GAME BUT ✨ your silly lil green guy. yknow the one. ulquiorra. please please tell me about him ive been spectating from afar and i need to know abt him so bad. as silly or as serious as you want, say anything, ijust wanna hear abt him from a certified Appreciator(tm). be free :]

Aaaaaag!!!!! SHAKING FOAMING AT THE MOUTH !!!!

At last I am enabled HE IS MY FUNNY LITTLE GREEN GUY AND I LOVE HIM I am honored to be chosen as a certified appreciatior ANYWAY SO UM let me just explain like. What he is rlly quick because there are so many different types of guys in the whole bleach world

you have humans, who live in the world of the living and souls (dead people) who also live in the world of the living and then you have hollows which are like corrupted souls that the soul reapers gotta defeat to get them to love on to the next life (which is in the soul society)(the soul reapers also live there)(the soul reapers are also dead people)(it’s like a whole reincarnation thing)

the hollows live in this other dimension called hueco mundo they look like this (the guy on the left- hollows are more “monster-y” looking whereas arrancars are more human looking but they still have the holes where their hearts should be-hence the term hollow)

So these guys called arrancars (that’s what ulquiorra is!!!) they’re hollows that have been modified to be kind of…like a cross between a soul reaper and hollows because they have swords (soul reaper thing) but are also hollows. Basically like. You have a bear and your like let me give that bear a gun. Like that. The main antagonist is responsible for all that for reasons™️ but that’s a whole other thing in it of itself. But yeah he’s like an an evil henchmen.

but onto greater, more important things

ok completely on a surface level his charcter design is like. 10/10

I don’t know much abt charcter design but since his colors are limited he really like stands out (it’s part of the reason why I think kny characters have such good designs because they stick to the two main color plus accent color)

He’s mostly black n white with accents with green which is just so striking and the green tear makeup is just *chefs kiss* PLUS the combination of the traditional Japanese hakufu pants combined with the almost (not rlly sure how to put it) like European tail coat kind of deal he’s got going on really is such an interesting combination of two different cultural fashions. Ichigo (the guy on the right) has kind of a similar deal going on with the pants and the more western looking tuxedo looking deal and they’re design are supposed to Parallel each other for thematic reasons but PERSONALLY I think ulquiorra does it way better . But idk Maybe I’m biased!!

And there’s his other powered up forms which are just so cool

He’s so edgy. I love him this slaps so hard I cannot deny he’s so creaturecore

ok so now. Plot stuff

so basically his whole deal is that he’s a nihilist. Throughout his appearance he’s always like oooh nothing matters I don’t care blah blah blah despite the fact that he has emo make up. He does NOT put the emotion in emo. (Which, at least my impression of emo is about wearing emotions on your sleeve. I don’t know much abt emo as like a whole but if anyone has any like critique on my definition please let me know I’d love to learn more) My man is emo in style but is like yeah whatever I don’t feel emotions I don’t have a heart I’m not human don’t think of me as a human I’m a logical emotionless creature yadayada.

it’s such an interesting design choice to me because it really highlights how…hypocritical his worldview is. As the story goes on you can see his whole nothing matters deal kind of crack, towards his finally battle we see him get angry and surprised and then (spoiler alert) love right before he dies.

And you really can’t talk about ulquiorra without talking about orihime.

orihime was kidnapped basically by orders of the main antagonist because she has powers that he needs for reasons™️. It’s kind of a long explanation why so I’ll just leave it at that. But the whole reason Orihime is there was because she loves her friends, and she goes over to the side of the enemy because she didn’t want her friends to get hurt (basically the “bad guys” were like come with us or we’ll kill your friends and she was like. Well I guess I have to go because I love my friends) which is like the complete opposite of ulquiorra because he’s all like whatever friendship love and bonds are all bull. But as he interacts with her he gets (upset?curious? Not sure of the wording) about what it means to have a heart (or a bond with another person really). I just love how as we move through the arc we see him gradually more humanized, partly as a result of orihime being all like. You’re wrong things DO matter but also because he IS human in a way.

specifically there’s a scene in his backstory one shot where orihime catches him sleeping and brings him food and it just shows that yeah maybe he’s not technically a regular guy but he gets sleepy and needs a little snack!!! He’s grumpy about it but I just love how it portrays him in such a different way than we usually get to see him. (He’s embarrassed he’s so funny. “Ooooh I take naps and eat snacks 🙄so embarrassing” He’s so silly)

As he talks to orihime throughout this arc he gets CLOSER to understanding as his whole nothing matters deal keeps getting shut down by her when he tries to convince her that nothing matters. But he really doesn’t GET it until right before his death when he realizes what “the heart” is. Because orihime showed him humanity and kindness he’s like oooohhhh I get it now. But at the last second which just is so…cries

anyway. He finally realizes what it means to care about something as he dies and it’s so tragic because this is the first time he’s ever felt anything and now he’s going to die reaching out to her. It’s probably THE most tragic anime scene I’ve ever watched it kills me literally Everytime I watch it screaming crying throwing up. You know the deal!!!

Then after that whole arc is finished the author published this art . And look at him. He’s so silly look at him

Anyway. *does jazz hands 👐 * that’s my guy!!!

!!!

Also!!! Fun facts(tm)

-Ulquiorras name was based off of Spanish architect and the castle that he lives in is based off of abstract Spanish architecture . Which I just think is really neat

-His birthday is on December 1!!!

-i just think he’s neat!!!

Anyway thank you so much for the ask I am so sorry this took forever to respond to I jus have SO many thoughts and typing on my phone takes FOREVER anyway I hope I did him justice!!!

#Anyway. I am so happy to get to talk about MY FAVORUTE GUY EVER!!!THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! AAAAH!!! #I rlly hope this was coherent and makes sense but LONG STORY SHORT #me when the character who is inhuman gets shown love and kindness understands love and kindness 🥹 #Also he just looks so cool I love how much care has been put into his charcter design I just love how much the visual aspects of #His design and environment say so much about him #I have got to rewatch it again and do like . An official(tm) analysis about this arc because there is so much to say about the visual #Storytelling ALONE it makes me crazy. #Ahem. Thank you for listening I just love him so much he’s my funky little guy!!! #Ulquiorraposting #Rlly hoping that this is coherent when I first was answering this ask all I could think of was #OMG ULQUIORRA I GET TO TALK ABOUT ULQUIORRA DAJLAQLAGAFAGAVAJAKAM *broken computer noises* #I just think he’s neat!!! #Anyway. Ulquiorra #Edit: the images are formatted weird and the read more is not where it’s supposed to be but we’re fine we’re fine it’s fine!!!

[16-jarrah]

i love how frieren is the main character of the show. she's someone who's not very good with emotions, with expressing them nor with understanding them. she's even called cold multiple times. despite this, frieren is far from who you would call "cold".

[Images ID: Screenshots of a flashback of Fern with long hair sat beside Heiter's bed. He tells her, "Frieren has poor emotion and empathy. I'm sure it will cause you difficulties and agreements. But there is one good thing about her. She'll worry about you and care for you to make up for it." The last screenshot shows Frieren in present time asleep with her back turned to Fern (the point of view). /End Images ID.]

(This scene made me tear up and I was trying hard not to cry not gonna lie.)

Frieren's compassion, coupled with the fact that the show's entire focus and premise is her connecting with others esp humanity makes the message very clear. It's not about what you're inherently good at; Frieren may not be emotionally inclined or empathic but what matters more is her attempt to understand (in Stark's words). And in Frieren's actions, we've never once shown she doesn't care; in fact, it's even the opposite. We're shown multiple times that she cares. Remember from way back when she went back to the village and killed Qual? Nobody was worried—not Himmel nor the villagers, because they all knew Frieren is coming back to fulfill her duties. That's how much her actions speak for her and how much she cares. And there's also a lot of montages in the earlier episodes where Frieren and Fern (and Stark and Sein) are helping out the people they come across on their journeys, even interacting with a whole community they're stopping by at to the point that the locals become well acquainted with them already.

This also ties into my previous post about the demons and the black-and-white take the show has of them, and of Frieren herself. I think it just further drives the point home about how this story's depiction of demons manage to avoid the -ist traps that these "nonhuman, non-feeling" creatures usually fall into (particularly ableist and racist), and even arguably it is the main point of the whole story. Because again, the story and the show so gracefully show Frieren being low-empathy and low-emotion and doesn't paint her as an inherently bad person because of this. That's not what makes the demons inhuman, it's the demons' inability to care for others that make them inhuman. Meanwhile Frieren is actively caring for and doing what she can to help other people, and reaching out to them in her own way. The difference between them is cut and dry.

Frieren isn't even the only person in the story that's like this. Her main party—Fern, Stark, Sein at one point—all kind of suck at communicating in one way or the other. Sometimes the first three especially are awkward as hell. They manage to get into squabbles all the time. But I think the story makes it clear that none of these people are inherently bad because they're bad at emotions/empathy—in fact one of the things I adore about Frieren is the way it depicts its characters' conflict resolutions. You have characters sitting together talking about what bothered them and actively trying to figure out how to resolve a fight they had with each other. Characters are giving each other advice and trying to get each other to see the other's point of view. This isn't even limited to Frieren's party, even with the exam arc people it's like this. And it's great. I don't think the demons in this universe would be able to do the same thing.

#frieren #sousou no frieren #frieren: beyond journey's end #frieren at the funeral #op #frieren spoilers #frierenposting #meta #analysis

[scarlet-streak-rambles]

Honestly, Gale and Astarion's Romance routes feel very Hozier-coded?

For Gale specifically, I'd put Sedated, Cherry Wine, Almost (Sweet Music), Wasteland, Baby!, Francesca, and Who We Are. There's that implicit understanding that Mystra broke him on some fundamental level that he feels like he'll never recover from and, even with that pain, he's still chasing her forgiveness and acceptance because that's where he found worth as a person. However, on top of the literal bomb in his chest, he finds himself with an illithid tadpole in his brain, completely abandoned by his goddess under a SECOND, much faster death sentence. Then he meets the player character who gives him a reason to try to live and love again (even in this horrible, fucked up situation) and find worth in himself beyond Mystra and her gifts. Initially, he feels like he has to treat the player like he would his past lover, specifically when it comes to their physical relationship, but the player can help him past that easily. The echo of that relationship is going to haunt him, probably for the rest of his life, but it isn't the only thing in his life, and he's choosing to love the player even in this hellish apocalypse he's found himself in.

Just a little rush, babe, to feel dizzy To derail the mind of me Just a little hush, babe; my veins are busy But my heart's in atrophy

Her fight and fury is fiery Oh but she loves Like sleep to the freezing Sweet and right and merciful I'm all but washed In the tide of her breathing And it's worth it, it's divine I have this some of the time

You and I burned out our steam Chasing someone else's dream How can somethin' be so much heavier But so much less than what it seems? Darling, we sacrificed We gave our time to somethin' undefined This phantom life sharpens like an image But it sharpens like a knife

I'll tell them put me back in it Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah If I could hold you for a minute Darling, I'd go through it again, ah, ah I would still be surprised I could find you, darling In any life If I could hold you for a minute Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah

The same kind of music haunts her bedroom I'm almost me again, she's almost you

And I love too That love soon might end And be known in it's aching But shown in the shaking Lately of my wasteland, baby Be still, my indelible friend You are unbreaking Though quaking Though crazy That's wasteland, baby

Astarion gets Take Me To Church, Jackie and Wilson, Someone New, Work Song, Nobody, Talk, First Time, All Things End, and First Light. He spends two hundred years feeling like an inhuman monster, twisted into a tool for Cazador only worth his body and honeyed words. Unlike Gale, Astarion sees the tadpole as a gift, saving him from the life of a slave that he never wants to return to. When he meets the player, he recognizes weakness and repeats that same pattern of securing safety with what Cazador taught him. In the end, the right path for the player to take with him is to teach him that he can be accepted and loved as the mess he sees himself as with worth beyond what Cazador broke him down to, and it's an incredible experience for him. They are the first person he truly cared for besides himself and he'd do anything to stay with them.

Every Sunday's getting more bleak A fresh poison each week "We were born sick", you heard them say it My church offers no absolutes She tells me, "Worship in the bedroom"

Onе bright mornin' goes so easy Darkness always finds you either way It creeps into the corners as the moment fades A voice your body jumps to callin' out your name But after this, I'm never gonna be the same And I am never going back again

Don't take this the wrong way You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you Only blue or black days Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose

I won't deny I've got in my mind now (Hey, yeah) All the things I would do So I try to talk refined for fear that you find out (Hey, yeah) How I'm imaginin' you

A two-tonne weight around my chest feels like It just dropped a twenty-storey height If there was anyone to ever get through this life With their heart still intact, they didn't do it right

Remember once I told you about How before I heard it from your mouth My name would always hit my ears as such an awful sound? And the soul, if that's what you'd call it Uneasy ally of the body, it felt nameless as a river Undiscovered underground

She blows outta nowhere, roman candle of the wild Laughing away through my feeble disguise No other version of me I would rather be tonight. And, Lord, she found me just in time

Boys, when my baby found me I was three days on a drunken sin I woke with her walls around me Nothin' in her room but an empty crib And I was burnin' up a fever I didn't care much how long I lived But I swear I thought I dreamed her She never asked me once about the wrong I did When my time comes around Lay me gently in the cold dark earth No grave can hold my body down I'll crawl home to her

I'd be appalled if I saw you ever try to be a saint I wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave But I want you to know that I've had no love like your love

#merc rambles #merc talks #hozier #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate #bg3 #bg3 astarion #astarion ancunin #bg3 gale #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #shallow character analysis tbh #but this has been rattling around my brain and I needed to let it out to finally be freed

[hydrachea]

I want to hear from you as a fellow shipper: 1. Out of all the humans that Sigewinne has encountered in her probably long life, what makes Wriothesley special? 2. In turn, what makes Sigewinne special to Wriothesley? Side note: Fontaine has really been emphasising on the human-non-human relationships (Neuvia, Callirhoe and Finch, Neuvifuri) and how they have changed each other, and I would be very happy if they do continue in that direction and give us significant Wriosige moments. I personally think that their best dynamic would be a complementary contrast to NeuviFuri's - as in NeuviFuri revolutionised against the tyranny of Celestia and the Heavenly Principles and were the lead actors in the drama that was Act V, but WrioSige are more down-to-earth and "realistic", quietly improving the Fortress one reform at a time (and because it's been bugging me a lot, I hope post-Archon Quest events give ample time to develop the reforms of the justice system in Fontaine bc if it's as simple as "Neuvi ascends to power" it's still a shit system).

Do they have to be special? Is it not enough that, of all the people they've met across their lives, something slowly came to life as they spent time together?

I don't know much about love, really. I'm aromantic, so it's a feeling that will forever be out of my grasp. But I do know I don't really believe in soulmates, or in "the one". I believe you either find, or build a connection with someone, and that "someone" can be many people.

I do think Sigewinne has been Wriothesley's only romantic interest across his life, if just because he was sent to Meropide when he was still very young - 10 to 15 years old, most likely, considering Genshin seems allergic to characters older than 30. You can fall for your fellow inmates, Avice and Faissolle have shown as much, but under the previous warden I doubt that was much of an option - and his focus was largely elsewhere. As was everyone else's, really. Every day was pretty much a fight to survive. And that leaves Sigewinne, who was likely there before the previous warden and who will still be there once someone takes over after Wriothesley. Her existence almost feels separate from the rest of the prison. Pair that with the fact that he fought a lot and so probably saw her a lot to get patched up, and she starts standing out to him. She's kind, but she isn't naive. Humans to her are both endearing and interesting, and neither of those feelings are malicious. And she's much, much smarter and older than she looks. Compared to what most other people in Meropide had to offer, plus those inhuman traits unique to her, no wonder she caught his eye and later on his heart.

Sigewinne, though, has lived a long time. Several centuries is a safe assumption. We know from Neuvillette's story quest that the relationship between humans and mélusines hasn't always been good, but it's been better for many decades. And with her interest in them, I'm willing to bet several humans caught her attention long before Wriothesley was even born - likely all for different reasons too. She might not have understood her own feelings back then, though - in fact she might only have come around to understanding "love" by the time she met Wriothesley. Those that came before him paved the way, in a way. If she were to find a pattern across all those that caught her eye, I'd say she likes strong characters. People who stand their ground and keep their beliefs at heart even when all the odds are stacked against them. It's fascinating to her, because it's not a feeling that comes naturally to her the way it does to them. She sees a spark in them, one that's very literal in her mélusine eyes, and she's drawn to it. And maybe they remind her of an old friend, too.

(And my friend I sure hope we'll get more interactions between them as more patches come out. As you said, Fontaine has been delivering on the side of relationships with nonhumans and I want more of it. Especially these two. They're so casually married, I'm still not over the photos conversation.)

#ask #answer #rainycloudmountain #wriowinne #structure? i hardly know her #but yeah i don't know #maybe i misunderstood the ask maybe this is just an Aro Moment #maybe the wording confused me #i don't know how to interpret them being special to each other #sigewinne had many humans who were special to her #each one was a learning experience until wriothesley came along #and she'd finally learned enough by then #he came at the right time and he was the type of person that appealed to her #i hope he knows how lucky he is #and then wriothesley... didn't have much of an opportunity to find anyone else #he could have after the end of his sentence #but sigewinne was already in meropide and so she too came at the right time #before anyone else even had a chance #they both lucked out in that way #what am i saying at this point #this is such a long answer my god

[photos-the-wereplant]

The Ancient Magus' Bride is legitimately one of the most wholesome, lovely pieces of media I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying.

I watched it when it first came out, and before then I hadn't really understood the importance of relatable characters in media. Mind you, I was in my 20s when it came out, meaning it'd taken me that long to find a character I genuinely related to in media. It was Elias.

He's viewed like a child in how little he understands, but he is so caring and thoughtful and KIND. He tells Chise that she now has a home and family to comfort her, and follows through on those things despite receiving nothing in return and knowing that she would die. Unlike everyone else, who gets warm fuzzy feelings from being kind, he gets nothing.

Elias is trying to be the best human he can be and is constantly putting himself through the motions and giving it his 100% for hundreds of years.

And yet Elias is the monster. He's the one they're afraid of. He's inhuman. He's the failure. Chise is the only one who accepts his kindness at face value.

Real people don't do that. When they sense the deep emptiness behind a kindness, they can't understand it. It disturbs them. They can't fathom such an existence.

There are two outcomes: they either believe you're a monster or they brush it off as some misunderstanding. You're not given a chance to be you. You have your role assigned to you.

But even better, he's juxtaposed with Chise. She lacks emotion and agency because of trauma. Elias doesn't have trauma. He is who he is. When Elias feels emotions, they're NEW to him. He's honest and straightforward, but sometimes he acts irrationally because he doesn't have the other emotions he needs to be able to deal with what he feels. He hides in a hole in the woods and traps Chise there when she follows because he doesn't have the other emotions to keep his jealousy and fear in check. It's only when his fear is triggered by something new that he can snap out of it.

I was 19 when I found out what sadness felt like. The most important person in the world to me had just died, and I didn't have any emotions to grieve for them. I needed to grieve, but I couldn't. Can you imagine? I stood there, seemingly unaffected, while my family fell apart around me.

The only thing I had was my kindness. I was an empty human, but I knew that it was right for me to take care of my family. I knew it mattered. I couldn't grieve or yell or anything, so I did the things I could.

When it was time for me to speak at my sister's funeral, I read The Raven, because I knew she would've loved that. When I got towards the end and Poe is grieving Lenore, I choked. I felt something new. I felt sad. I felt the enormity of the loss of someone I would've gladly traded my life for.

Without the positive emotions though, things like sadness will tear you apart. I will never regain my health from before. My body is internally scarred far beyond its age. I don't drink alcohol, smoke, eat junk food, or do drugs, and I drink a lot of water. When I was 23, the doctor told me they've never seen my symptoms in anyone under 50.

The monster in Elias isn't because he's part monster/part human, the monster comes from his emotions. The human in him is the monster. It's the human part that wants to protect or lash out or kill. It's the human that's irrational. The human that yearns for closeness and can't bear being lonely and will destroy what it loves because of that.

Chise is the only one who actually understands that. In the moments where her life hangs in the balance due to Elias's emotions, she understands that it is the most real form of caring that anyone has ever shown her. She appreciates it for what it really is, even at the cost of her own safety.

This whole thing came from me rewatching The Ancient Magus' Bride and wanting to gush about it. I've got so many more emotions than I did when I first watched it. The story made me cry happy tears. I couldn't believe it. I never would have thought that I'd figure that one out. But I guess I did.

But, back to why this representation is so important to me.

There's a big difference between not having emotions and being depressed or even being numb. At the beginning, Elias is content. He is not suffering. He is curious about the world, but it doesn't drive him. Most importantly, he is kind.

That's how I used to be. I wasn't depressed or numb, I was content. I didn't need the emotions others did. I pursued kindness in my own way. I hid the emptiness that frightened people, much like how Elias hides his face.

But for people like me... everyone assumes it's either depression or something like sociopathy when they hear it explained. We don't get someone like Chise who comes along and takes our kindness at face value.

So if Elias resonates with you... feel free to talk to me. You deserve to know that you're not alone. I only wish I'd known sooner.

#ancient magus bride #schizoid

[repo-net]

What's one thing you would change about Nagisa, if any?

It's an extremely simple change that I genuinely don't understand how this opportunity wasn't taken advantage of. Nagisa's already my favorite character in the entire franchise by a mile, but this would've solidified him as just an undisputable and impossible to reach deity among the other Danganronpa characters.

Put him in Chapter 5 and have him play the same role as Kotoko. That's literally it.

Listen, I would've been fine if Nagisa died in Chapter 4 in his boss fight. It would've been a tragic but fitting end to his story and life - the boy who constantly saw the words of others as expectations and wanted to exceed them was crushed in one fiery disaster as he couldn't keep up with his own inhumane standards for himself.

But the thing is; Nagisa didn't die in his boss fight, it's shown in one of credit photos at the end of UDG where he's fighting off the Monokuma Kids with the other Warriors of Hope. So there was no need to just not use him in the final chapter when he was clearly still there?

Out of all the Warriors of Hope, objectively speaking, Nagisa is by far the most fitting one of them to take down Monaca. Not that Kotoko wasn't a bad pick, mind you. But everything Kotoko's dynamic and character has that makes her fitting for the final standoff against Monaca, is something Nagisa has and even more.

- Kotoko has a deep connection to Monaca, and has a lot of love and appreciation for her, although her love for Monaca is out of fear and desire to not be hurt. Nagisa's love for Monaca is all of that except he genuinely loves her, is personally attached to her and wants nothing more than Monaca's happiness and approval first and foremost.

- Kotoko gains some sort of redemption for a lot of the things she did prior to this moment due to realizing how twisted Monaca really is, but when you think about it, if Nagisa - the boy who's literally been crushing on this girl and knows what the right thing to do is but refuses to do it out of his fear of upsetting Monaca finally stands up for himself and takes her down, that would be a perfect close off to his arc and he'd have redeemed himself.

- Not to mention that Kotoko wouldn't even be in Chapter 5 had Jack not stepped in. Kotoko kind of fucking owes Nagisa a lot too for even telling her to stay back and not follow him as he helped Komaru and Toko escape; knowing that it would upset Monaca and he doesn't want Kotoko to be hated by Monaca. He's so selfless, man.

- It's also clear that Nagisa has always been questioning the Demon Hunting game from the start. He doesn't necessarily want to kill adults, and even regrets killing his parents and believes he still owes them affection and respect. He's more focused on creating a children's paradise for their safety, but Kotoko's been wanting demons dead and cute girls punished for a long, long time. Nagisa has always had more of a path to redemption than any other Warrior.

- To sum it all up, Nagisa's connection and crush to Monaca would've made him leaving her behind in those rocks much more satisfying since this is the same boy we just saw get sexually assaulted and mindbroken to attack Komaru and Toko when he tried to help them escape earlier. Now he's helped the duo end Monaca's game and plan - along with finally losing the strings that Monaca had around him as she played with him like a doll. Monaca never wanted what he wanted; a children's paradise where children can live peacefully, that's why he's been condoning and allowing the other Warriors to do their thing and kill adults. But when he finally leaves her behind in those rocks, he's finally free from her. Free from the game that's been making him feel guilty for so, so long.

Do not get me wrong, I think Kotoko being present in Chapter 5 is perfectly fine. She did her role well and played it nicely. But the cherry on top that really would've made Chapter 5 perfect was having Nagisa in it.

Hell, you don't even have to replace Kotoko in the final chapter, she can duo with Nagisa to put Monaca away and it'd work just as fine, if not better. Here's some reasoning.

- As I said earlier, Kotoko wouldn't even be present in Chapter 5 had Jack not saved her from her execution. Along with that, Komaru and Toko clearly wanted to help out Nagisa too as he did try to help them leave the town, but Haiji stopped them from doing so. And again, Kotoko owes Nagisa for stepping in to stop her from being questioned by Komaru and Toko, and stopping her from following Nagisa to help lead the two outside. He wanted to take full responsibility for anything that was about to happen to him, and Kotoko should make it up to him by helping him put Monaca down.

- Kotoko knows exactly what it's like to be taken advantage of and sexually assaulted (and more) like what happened with Nagisa; even witnessed it too and watched Monaca just break Nagisa's whole worldview. So she can definitely empathize with Nagisa on the fact that Monaca would take advantage of his feelings like that. I think the two could even have a nice little moment where Nagisa is still having a hard time convincing himself that Monaca really was as bad as she was, and Kotoko snaps him out of it and reminds her that she's the one at fault and Nagisa was just trying to create the children's paradise, and she also apologizes for letting herself get carried away hurting innocent girls and all that when Nagisa was focused on the real goal that they had. And that unifies the both of them to realize that Monaca is the real enemy here.

- I don't think I need to mention this, but these two are literally the only two other WoH that existed in this game. Seriously, if you're going to make them the only ones that matter, make them count, lmfao.

And that's my take on what could be changed about Nagisa's character. Putting him with Kotoko in Chapter 5 would've been a perfect story book ending to his character arc and it benefits everyone involved in it by throwing him in there. We also get more interactions with Nagisa, which is always a plus to me, lol.

Thanks for the question anon! Sorry if this got too long, I just really like talking about Nagisa after all.

#danganronpa #danganronpa ultra despair girls #nagisa shingetsu #shingetsu nagisa #warriors of hope #kotoko utsugi #utsugi kotoko #monaca towa #towa monaca

[momtaku]

Hi love, first thank you for taking to time to answer everyone’s questions I genuinely look forward to your answers ♥️. I just wanted to know if the extra 8 pages changes your opinion on aot as a whole, and if you think it really make all of Erens decisions pointless. Also I’m sorry if you’ve answered this before but do you think Mikasas baby daddy is Jean?

You’re welcome love, and I have talked about this but I don’t mind summing it up again.

From what I’ve seen, I like the 8 pages in concept. No matter what his motives were, Eren’s decisions were inhumane and horrifying, so see them fail works for me on every level. What Eren did should have a terrible outcome, so if that’s the case, it does make me feel better about the manga.

That said, I do understand the extremely valid criticisms from those who don’t like the additions. I appreciate something my friend Alooulla wrote on the subreddit to explain why the ending didn’t sit well with him:

With the old ending, you could imagine what you wanted for her; whether that was marrying someone else, having or adopting kids, or indeed being romantically alone but still leading a rich fulfilling life. The impression was hopeful, that she could stride forward into a future that was her own because she felt Eren was still looking out for her. Whatever you felt was best or most appropriate for her was what she did. This revised ending, if its accurate, would lay it all out in black and white exactly what she did , and I think that removes the poetry. It's portrayed quite badly, with her 'moving on' but still wearing the scarf constantly, even unto death, so it sort of seems like it could be read as she was never able to properly move on ...

It’s hard to argue with that. I too preferred an open ending for Mikasa. As far as the man in the panels being Jean, ask me again when we get a clearer view. Since the character is shown only from behind, it may be that Isayama didn’t want to answer that question.

Thanks for the ask and your kind words!

#chatting with friends #snk spoilers #snk chapter 139 #Anonymous

[linkspooky]

Right now, people are speculating if tomura has lost his humanity which includes his attachment to the league now that he was awakened with his new quirk as a ‘transcendent being’. I wonder how he will interact with his team when he returns? Will he question how the heroes managed to get the jump on them? How will he react to twice’s death? To Dabi letting in a hero spy into their lair and causing this raid and twice’s death? Is the tomura we have seen grow disappeared or is he still the same?

SHIGARAKI TOMURA - A VERY HUMAN VILLAIN

People may question if Shigaraki Tomura has lost his humanity since acquiring AFO’s power, however I would like to point out that it’s a running theme in the manga for characters to frequently question the humanity of Shigaraki and see him as something less than human, or a force that only exists for evil and destruction. 

However, despite the fact that the heroes and Shigaraki’s enemies insist that Shigaraki has lost his humanity, the story shows the opposite. As much as Shigaraki has changed over the course of the story, he has also stayed the same. 

Shigaraki started out as a kid who wanted to be a hero who saved others, and specifically a kid who would go out of his way to play with the bullied kids. Everyone knows this by now, I would say however growing up in that household shaped Shigaraki to have core values that don’t really change no matter how much he changes as a person. 

Number one, the most important thing to Shigaraki is freedom. In a childish way he sees it as the freedom to do whatever he wants, because that is how All For One influenced him. 

All for One specifically told Shigaraki that being born with the power to destroy means that he should use it without restraint, and never try to hold himself back because in doing so he’ll only hurt himself. AFO tried to influence him to be an unstable manchild because that would make him more dangerous and fearsome to the general public.

However, Shigaraki’s destruction is always a response. He always destroys for a reason no matter how much he insists his destruction is completely random. One of the key themes of My Hero Academia is that in times of crisis you will remember your origin. Shigaraki’s origin is a household that oppressed him to the extent that he wasn’t allowed to become a hero. All he wanted was someone in that household to agree with him rather than deny him. He wanted people to stop telling him he was wrong. 

Shigaraki values freedom, specifically freedom from oppression. Oppression that specifically denies the needs of an individual just because they disrupt society. For example, the opppression that had Himiko’s parents turn abusive on her calling her a demon child because she was born with a strange quirk. 

In that way Shigaraki fights for a kind of true liberation, different from what the liberation force fights for. The Meta Liberation Army while wanting to overturn society also repeated several of society’s oppressive attitude, juding people’s worth based entirely on the strength of their quirk whereas Shigaraki is willing to accept people like Compress, and Spinner who do not have super powerful combat efficient quirks and value them just as much as all the other members from his team. 

Shigaraki also knows the feelings of someone who has not been saved. He’s reflected on this several times, even as early back as his conversation with Deku. He knows that the way the current society functions, it ignores the plights of victims like him that are either too inconvenient to save. 

It’s what Shigaraki says to Deku word for word: “I could hurt you right now and not a single person would come save you. They’ll all walk by and pretend it’s none of their business, because they all think a hero is going to come save them.”

Shigaraki is willing to give people like Twice a chance, even though he was insane and his quirk no longer worked as well as it once did. Not only that, but when people make mistakes Shigaraki never throws them away. Giran is captured and ratted them out, and Shigaraki went to go save them. Twice makes a mistake and because of that Magne is killed, but rather than get angry at Twice, Shigaraki simply asks Twice to do his best to make up for his mistake, and that he’ll be doing his best alongside him. 

Shigaraki understands the feelings of: “If only somebody had saved me” better than anyone else in the manga. This is something that even the kids don’t question. The kids in their complete and unwavering faith in the hero system can’t even respond to questions like “Who should you really be saving?” 

Shigaraki also goes out of his way to save people even after they’ve made mistakes, or betrayed the league. Giran ratted on them and got nearly every member killed, and yet not only did Shigaraki walk right into a trap to save him, he also took special care to make sure he was alive, and rescued safely when he was in the middle of getting pounded. 

The final is also somewhat of a paradox. Shigaraki has been manipulated to think that he hated his family, and  wanted to kill everyone. 

However, all of Shigaraki’s actions show the opposite. Not only does Shigaraki feel guilt for killing his family several years after the fact. Not only did he intentionally hold back his quirk at first because he was afraid of killing again. The words of his family stayed with him. Shigaraki only ever remembers his family in a mostly positive light. 

In his heart, Shigaraki holds himself accountable for what he did to his family even though it was an accident. At the same time, it’s revealed to us in his dream sequence that he already forgives his family for what transpired today, he remembers his grandparents being kind to him, he doesn’t resent his mom for just watching what his family did to him and even reassures her, he tells his sister he doesn’t care that she tattled on him anymore. 

His family is someone he can never forget in both senses of the word. He doesn’t forget the times his family household was kind to him, the genuine love his mother, grandparents, and sister all showed to him, and he hasn’t really stopped mourning them ever for a single moment. He even still keeps Nana’s hand, the last hand that wasn’t broken and wears it after his so called “liberation” from his past memories of them. Yet, at the same time he doesn’t allow his family to deny who he is. 

Shigaraki is someone who has been influenced by people all of ihs life, his abusive father, AFO, and then all of AFO’s constituents and the other villains he’s fought against so far. However, at the same time Shigaraki has remained the same kid throughout all of this. Always Shimura Tenko. Always the kid who wanted to play with the kids who got bullied. Always the kid resentful he didn’t get saved. 

2. Shigaraki is better than what created him

Eri is referred to as a cursed inhuman existence born only to destroy, simply because of the quirk she was born with, completely neglecting who Eri is as a person. Deku however says that just by slightly changing your perspective, you can see how kind and gentle Eri is. 

Shigaraki is a character much like this. The people around him, mostly heroes always insist that he’s inhuman and again and again that he can only want destruction because of his quirk. Yet, the people closest to Shigaraki know how kind, and gentle he can be. 

So we have characters like All Might, Mr. Completely Ignores Endeavor’s abuse of his own family, constantly saying that someone like Shigaraki can’t possibly have a cause for all of his destruction. Ignoring what Shigaraki says when he tells them that heroes can be violent too just like villains, their violence is just categorized differently. 

Shigaraki is continually told he has no reason for wanting to destroy things, that there could be no possible motivation behind his actions. This is something that even AFO himself said, that Shigaraki simply lusted for destruction because he was born that way.

Characters insist again, that Shigaraki isn’t capable of creating anything, or achieving anything because he can only destroy. This is an identity that’s forced on him by his environment ut it’s not who he is at the center of his being. Even when he’s getting the tar beaten out of him by Re-Destro what he thinks is not that he wants to destroy, but rather that he wanted his family to tell him it was okay for him to be a hero.

So we reach the most recent chapter with someone once again asserting that Shigaraki cannot possibly want anything other than to hurt the people around him, and destroy what he can.

Even ENDEAVOR (lol) of all people accuses Shigaraki of not fighting for the right ideals. Yet, Shigaraki has always shown to be fighting for something. 

People insist that Shigaraki was just born that way, that he just wants to destroy. Yet, there are very specific environmental factors that shaped him into who he is. Shigaraki who apparently has no reasons for doing the things he does, has the longest backstory in the series (four origin chapters in total if you count Shigaraki Tomura: Distortion). Shigaraki’s line against Endeavor also implies that Shigaraki has been fighting for the same thing from the start. That he’s always had a cause, something to fight for (or maybe even just fight against) and that he simply believed what other people constantly told him. 

So, no clearly the All For One quirk being given to Shigaraki has not changed who he is as a person at all. Shigaraki’s thoughts always rest with his friends and his family.  Shigaraki’s first literal action upon waking up is to call Machia to his side, and protect the league. Shigaraki’s actions also saved Himiko, because if Machia had not picked her up she likely would have gone on a suicide mission. 

So, there is one last point I want to make: The reason the plan is going so wrong right now is precisely because Shigaraki is someone who chooses again and again to put his trust in others. First, it went wrong because not only did he allow Dabi free reign to invite whoever he wanted to the league, but he also trusted Twice with his location. 

Shigaraki won’t throw Dabi out of the league for saying that he’s only here to use the league for his own benefit, because Shigaraki has always known this about Dabi and lets him work with the league anyway. Shigaraki is someone who puts his allies before themselves and gives them the freedom to be who they want to be. 

Shigaraki has said mutliple times the league can do whatever they want. He’s not really selfishly minded or motivated like AFO is. If anything, Shigaraki is much more likely to sacrifice himself, or put the group’s needs first. The Shigaraki that we’ve seen right now is the same progression of the Shigaraki we’ve always known: he fights on the front lines to draw the heroes away from his friends, he fights himself instead of needlessly risking his own allies, he needs his allies by his side. 

The raid happened because of Shigaraki’s trusting nature twice. Not only because he allowed Dabi to invite Hawks to the league, but also Kurogiri’s capture and betrayal someone Shigaraki was genuinely close to and listened to for counsel led to his location at the hospital being ratted out to both Eraserhead and Mic. So it’s not Shigaraki not trusting others that led to the Hospital Raid, but rather it’s because Shigaraki chose to trust others that this is all happening.

YET, when this happened last time with Overhaul Shigaraki didn’t stop trusting others. He didn’t throw Twice out. His choice back then was to take responsibility and trust Twice even more to fix the mistake he made. Which will likely be his response again. 

Shigaraki also fights against anyone who tries to control or oppress him the same way his father did once. When AFO tries to physically control his own body, he frees himself of the vestiges.

Shigaraki won’t lose his trust in other people, and won’t lose his close relationship with the league, because Shigaraki has already sustained this kind of loss before. Over and over again. He loses most of the Nomus, he loses Magne, he loses AFO. Yet, at those times when he loses these things Shigaraki’s response is always the same. 

Shigaraki is struggling to be better that the environment that created him. Shigaraki’s arc is not one of him losing his humanity, but rather Shigaraki keeping his humanity in the face of constant losses. 

His environment is really truly something that should have robbed him of his humanity. There are people like AFO who are out there to make him into a puppet, to rob him of all agency, and identity. Yet, Shigaraki always fights back against those trying to control him and tell him no.

Shigaraki won’t turn on the league, because his connections with the league are what make him human. It’s his connections with others he makes over and over again in the face of his extremely oppressive environment, first with Kurogiri, then with the league that allows him to stay the same at the core of who he is. 

While Shigaraki is constantly dehumanized by both the hero system and the villains he fights against, he’s actually one of the most human characters in the whole series. Not only is he very sympathetic and understandable where exactly he is coming from, but he’s also always, always, always, always, struggling against a set of very human flaws. 

#Anonymous #mha meta #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #shigaraki meta #lov meta #league of villains meta #league of villains #all for one

[wickwrites]

Burning as a Motif for Humanity in Violet Evergarden

I think, when watching Violet Evergarden, most of us picked up on fire as a motif for Violet’s trauma – the violence and destruction she witnessed in the war, and the violence and destruction she engendered with her own hands. I’m not going to go into this too much because it’s all pretty self-explanatory, if not trite, but here are some quick examples of fire as a motif for her trauma just to lay the groundwork for the rest of the essay:

In frame 1 (episode 8), Violet draws first blood on the battlefield, and the once contained fire from the felled soldiers’ lanterns spread quickly through the forest, a symbol for how one small act of violence can cascade into large scale destruction. In frame 2, Gilbert stares at the carnage in front of him, horrified. In frame 3, the major is shot, and all we get to see is a screen of flames. In frame 4 (episode 12), Merkulov stares into a fire as he schemes about re-kindling the war.

I want to follow this (well trodden) opinion up with a more encompassing statement. That is, fire, in Violet Evergarden, is not limited to representing the destructive power of violence and trauma. Instead, it is a motif for humanity itself – an embodiment of the full range of experiences and emotions that make us human.  

To show this, I’m going to start off at the beginning of Violet’s journey, focusing on how her disconnect (from herself as well as others) is illustrated in episode one. For instance, her initial struggle to move her now mechanical arms as she sits in her hospital bed in the opening sequence is an excellent embodiment of her dissociation from her own body and lack of agency. I want to, however, focus on two scenes that are particularly relevant for our discussion:

First, the scene where Violet spills tea on her hand:

And second, the scene where Hodgins insists that Violet is burning:

These scenes are similar: in both, someone asserts that Violet must be in pain, specifically due to burning, and in both, Violet rejects that statement. In the first, however, that burning is physical. And in the second, that burning is emotional. Regardless, Violet is so removed from her own body that she is incapable of feeling either. Her mechanical hand is therefore an embodiment of her inhumanity (ie. her “dollness” or “weapon-ness”). Like her, it is cold, mechanical, insensitive, without life or agency. After all, up until now, all she’s been doing is killing on command, without the ability to think for herself, experience her own pain, or sympathize with her victims’ pain.

When the screen shows that Hodgins is indeed correct, that Violet is literally on fire (frame 1), that fire is depicted with restraint. Flames engulfs Violet’s body, but those flames are from a streetlamp enclosed in glass. It is controlled and distant. This encapsulates Violet’s current state; she is literally on fire, but that fire is so compartmentalized and suppressed, and she is so far removed from her own experience, that she is incapable of feeling it.

In frame 2, we are viewing Violet in a flashback, from Hodgin’s point of view. Although we’re offered a close up shot of her bloodied hands, we see, about two cuts later, that Hodgin is actually observing Violet from afar (frame 2.5). This distance demonstrates that he cannot bring himself to reach out to her, something that Hodgin confesses he feels guilty about literally 5 seconds later. They were, at that point in time, and perhaps even now, unable to connect.

In frames 3 and 4, Hodgin is speaking again. We get this super far shot of Violet’s body. The camera is straight on, objective, and unfeeling. This unsympathetic framing has two functions. First, it distances us from Violet. Our inability to see the details on her face and her relatively neutral body language gives us, the audience, no real way inidication her thoughts. Second, it distances Violet from herself. As someone who experiences dissociative symptoms from PTSD, this is a very poignant way of framing what it feels like to be removed from your own experience. Hodgin’s line, “You’ll understand what I’m saying one day. And, for the first time, you’ll notice all your burn scars,” further drives home the sense that Violet is completely estranged from herself. It almost feels like we are looking at her, from her own detached point of view.

We’re going to move on now, but we’ll get back to these frames later in the analysis, so hold onto them.

Throughout Violet’s journey, fire comes up again and again. Specifically, it shows up in moments of emotional intimacy, connection, and healing. Let’s see what I mean by this:

I have here a collection of moments that all occur at the same narrative point in their respective mini-stories: the moment where one character reaches out to another, sympathizes with them, and literally pulls them of their darkness. For example, frame 1 (episode 3) shows Violet bringing a letter from Luculia to her brother. It expresses Luculia’s gratitude and love for him, and ultimately mends their relationship. In frame 2 (episode 4), Violet and Iris share a moment of emotional intimacy and connection, which is the beginning of Iris’ story’s resolution. In frame 3 (episode 9), Violet’s suicidal despondency is interrupted by the mailman, bringing her a heartwarming letter from all her friends. In frame 4 (episode 11), Violet comforts a dying solder by a fireplace.

It’s not that other modes of lighting do not exist – modern looking lamps show up repeatedly in the show. Even Iris’ rural family has them, so I can reasonably assume that, no, the above moments do not all coincidentally use lamps because that’s all there is in this universe; the usage of fire during moments of catharsis is deliberate, and establishes that fire can also bring hope, kindness, and love.

Now that we’ve explored the dual nature of fire as both destructive/constructive, painful/cathartic, let’s go onto the thesis of my essay. Why do I say that being on fire is to be human? Let’s go back to the scene where Hodgin tells Violet she’s on fire (episode 1, on the left), and compare it to the scene where Violet finally realizes that Hodgin was right and that she is on fire (episode 7, on the right):

In these sequences, there is a notable shift in framing and perspective. In frame 1b, we finally get to see Violet’s blood-stained hands from her point of view, as opposed to from Hodgin’s point of view in 1a. Violet becomes aware of her past as an actual agent choosing to kill, shown through the first-person point of view. Similarly, the medium, straight on shot of Violet looking down at her hands (frame 2a) is replaced with an intimate first-person, close-up view (frame 2b). In shots 3a and 3b, the difference in framing is most pronounced. In 3a, we get this straight on, long shot. In frame 3b, the camera’s detachment is replaced by a claustrophobic closeness. While this framing does an excellent job at conveying the panicked feeling of “everything crashing down all at once”, it also demonstrates Violet’s new-found awareness of herself. While before, the camera was used to alienate, now it is used to create a sense of painful awareness and intimacy.

These series of shots are the first in the entire show, I believe, of Violet's body from her own point of view. Their co-incidence with her awakening self-awareness characterizes the state of “being in one’s body” as a precondition to self-connection, or more specifically, to Violet’s understanding of herself as neither a weapon nor a doll, but as a human. Correspondingly, this pivotal moment serves as a catalyst for her subsequent emotional development. From this episode on towards the finale, we’re launched into a heart wrenching sequence of events: Violet’s desperate grieving for Gilbert’s apparent death, her attempted suicide driven by newfound grief, and most importantly, Violet receiving her first written letter, an act that is strongly representative of genuine human connection. Following these events, Violet’s emotional connection to both herself and others only continues to grow; during her two final jobs of the story, she breaks down crying in response to the suffering of her clients, demonstrating a level of compassion—if not empathy—that she seems to have never been able to tap into before.

At the same time, Violet acquires a new sense of agency, making plot-driving decisions that no longer require other characters’ validations. Most poignantly, in episode 12, she chooses to stay on the train to fight Merkulov, explicitly going against Dietfried’s order for her to leave. Her reason?

She doesn’t want anyone to die anymore.

And it’s this moment, for me, that consolidated her as a character with true agency. Up until now, all her major decisions have been framed in relation to Gilbert: she killed in the war because Gilbert ordered her to, and she became an Auto Memories Doll because she wanted to understand Gilbert’s enigmatic “I love you”. Now, however, her motivation is purely her own—she fights, simply because she doesn’t want anyone else to die. It’s a line implies an intimate knowledge of loss. It’s a sentiment motivated by compassion. It’s a raw and extraordinarily human thing to say.

When Violet embarks on her journey to decipher Gilbert’s love, she is devoid of many traits we consider inherent and possibly even unique to being human—suffering, compassion, altruism, love, agency, and the interplay between them. As an Auto Memories Doll, she learns to live, experiencing all these emotions she had never had the luxury to experience before, and we quickly realize that she cannot know what love is without simultaneously wrestling with her trauma. She learns that yes, sometimes the fire destroys and sometimes it burns, but sometimes it thaws too, and you cannot have one without the other. You cannot choose what the fire does to you; you cannot choose what you want to feel. Thus, to be on fire is to know the anguish of its destruction, but it is also, and more importantly, to know the catharsis of human connection, to be the warm flame that pulls someone else out of the dark, to be pulled out of the dark yourself. To be on fire is to be human.

#violet evergarden #violet evergarden analysis #anime analysis #anime #anime essay #anime meta #violet evergarden meta #analysis #w.writing #w.analysis

[originalhybridnik]

harry potter: why it’s not “just for kids.”

the other day, this girl i know told me, “why the hell are you reading harry potter? it’s for kids only.” i’m 17, and, well, close to adulthood. i don’t reply to her, because, often, when someone asks me something like this, i have a huge explanation, lasting for a long time, and people don’t like it. so, i’m gonna give my explanation here.

harry potter. the boy who lived. the whole series is loved by millions of people in the world, from different age groups and from different parts of the world. it’d be an understatement to say that i love the series. i’ve read the books, seen the movies, even read the supplementary books, as well as harry potter and the cursed child. i’ve seen the fantastic beasts movies as well. and i’ve read the books not once, not twice, not even thrice. i’ve read the series 8 times. 

here are the reasons as to why harry potter isn’t for any specific age group.

(spoiler alert to everyone out there) trigger warnings: foul language, death, slavery, discrimination.

1. harry potter, the kid who was orphaned at the age of one, the boy who had no family but his nasty muggle uncle, aunt and cousin, the name known to every wizard and witch, the one-year-old who weakened voldemort to the brink of death. this boy has gone through more pain, sorrow and grief than any fictional character i’ve read of. provided, it doesn’t seem so. but, take it from someone who has read the series as much as i have, he isn’t what he apparently seems to be. j.k. rowling gives us a glimpse of his life before hogwarts, just a mere glimpse. this small portion shows us the amount of bullying he has to go through. he has absolutely no friends, and his cousin’s gang was always behind him. his aunt and uncle starve him for the tinniest of mistakes and he did not even know the real cause of his parents’ death. he has no one to talk to, or be with. he lives in a cupboard under the stairs. his aunt and uncle are certain to “bash out” the magic in him by keeping him away from the wizarding world. he is constantly treated like trash, and he has to do all of the dursleys’ work whether he wanted to or not.

2. he gets a letter from hogwarts, and he isn’t allowed to read it. he keeps getting more and more of them, and he still isn’t allowed to read them. the letters arrive at such a pace that uncle vernon decides to move into a small hut on a rock in the middle of a sea. he then gets his letter hand delivered by hagrid, the keeper of keys at hogwarts. he finally catches a break, and goes to hogwarts, the prized boy who apparently killed voldemort. during his first year at hogwarts, he and his closest friends, ron and hermione embark on a quest to keep the philosopher’s stone from voldemort’s reach. the three 11-year-olds have to get past a three headed dog, past the devil’s snare, one of the deadliest plants in the wizarding world, past a door that could be opened only by catching a flying key scattered across many other flying keys, play on a life size board of wizard’s chess-where ron sacrifices himself so that harry could continue, which almost kills ron, past a room with 7 containers of potions which could kill them if they weren’t smart, and finally to a room where harry meets professor quirell who has provided his body as a refuge for voldemort, who manifests on the back of his head. harry faces the man who killed his parents before he could even speak, and he almost gets possessed by voldemort, because he’s probably the only one who could have the stone, as the mirror of erised could give it only to the person who wanted the stone, but not for a selfish reason. he kills quirell, but voldemort gets away. you see, this shows how deep the first book is. i mean, as a kid, i never understood the sacrifices made, by any of the characters. but, as i read the book again, i understood why what happened happened. it became obvious to me. this shows that we can enjoy the book as a child, without realizing the deepness, and as teens and adults, we get the sacrifices made, the blood shed, the connections forged, and most importantly, how important it is to recognize the values left behind, and, for once, try understanding that this series, even if written for kids, is suitable, and, important for older readers as well.

3. ronald weasely, the sixth child in a relatively poor, and commonplace wizarding family that turns out to be the most loyal, brave and worthy wizarding families ever. he grew up as a wizard and knew a lot about the wizarding world, especially it’s prejudices. he’s the perfect example of a trustworthy, loyal and brave friend. he deserves a lot more than the unnecessary hate he gets. he befriends harry potter, a famous kid that didn’t know anything about his true self, and sticks with him forever. throughout the series, we see this brave boy sacrifice a lot for his best friend. book 1, he sacrifices himself, AN ELEVEN YEAR OLD, for a boy that he knew for less than a year. book 2, he’s ready to walk into a forest, following his WORST fear, spiders, into their fucking home. book 3, he’s ready to follow a mass murderer(not really a mass murderer, but yeah) to help his best friends. book 4, even though he gets jealous and stops talking to harry for a while, we totally get what he was gong through. book 5, he fucking walks breaks into the ministry of magic with his best friends to fight the most feared group of dark wizards and witches ever. book 6, he’s ready to fight anYone for his best friends. book 7, HE’S READY TO RUN AWAY AND FIGHT THE MOST FEARED WIZARD EVER, for his best friend.

all of this, ALL OF THIS, just shows how mature he is, how much we can learn from him, and, most importantly, how wrong it is to title this series as one “for kids”. we see a mere boy sacrifice himself, put his life in danger, time and again, for his best friends. if that isn’t something every human being should be exposed to, then what is?

4. hermione granger, another important character, throughout the series, born into a muggle family, living her life as a smart, bookworm, one day, gets a letter, getting accepted into the best wizarding institution, and, unlike the dursleys, her parents are proud of her and she’s all set for this magical experience. she never anticipates the hate or the prejudice that, is shown towards her and children like her, born into a muggle family. “mudblood,” they call them, exactly the kind of discrimination imminent to THIS DAY all over the world. whether it’s on an international standard, or within a country, whether it is race, caste, gender or preferences, whether it’s against a group or an individual, it’s exactly like this. the whole concept of blood status shows us how deep the books are. it shows us how mature we need to be to understand this. it shows us how we need to think more about this and implement this in real life. a kid from a “pureblood” family, namely, draco malfoy, is the first person to use this, in book 2. it just shows us how parents like his encourage their kids to discriminate people based on their lineage. i won’t point to a specific issue but all of us know of examples, whether we’re the offenders or the offended.

5. slavery is a very important issue touched upon in the series. even though we see harry free dobby from the malfoys, there’s very little importance given to the base, the root cause of what dobby went through. he was a slave to a rich family that considered itself above anyone without “pure blood.” but, we see this very issue taken up in a book 4. we see hermione take a stand against the improper and infuriating treatment of house elves, by organizing a committee called S.P.E.W(society for the promotion of elfish welfare). we see her force people into taking part in this, and even though it’s by force, we all see where she came from. if you don’t know, house elves believed they had only one true purpose in life, to slave around for their owners, without being respected or treated well, and no matter what. we see winky, another elf, previously working(for lack of a better word, cuz that wasn’t working) for bartemius crouch, who’s absolutely against the idea of being paid or even being free. despite seeing dobby and how he enjoyed freedom, she was absolutely against it. again, we see how such an important and deep issue was addressed in a way that makes use all understand, despite our age, that EVERYONE is equal, no matter what. if you STILL think it’s a book for kids only, please continue reading.(continue anyways)

6. can we talk about how the magic-folk have had to live in hiding forever because people are afraid of them? they’re treated like they’re inhuman, trash and most importantly, like they deserve to die for being born with a power for magic? 

7. as long as we’re talking about discrimination, we can also look into the fact that, squibs(non-magic folk born into magical families) are looked down upon? they’re tortured, and they receive as much hate, if not more, as “mudbloods.”

8. a special trigger warning for this: TW /death. THROUGHOUT the series, we see some of our most beloved characters die. spoiler alert: in book 1, we see how james and lily were ruthlessly killed by voldemort, orphaning a one year old boy that’d be famous for something he never knew he did. honestly, it wasn’t even his doing. in the same book, we see the killing of unicorns, the consequences of killing a unicorn and drinking it’s blood, AND the killing of professor quirell/voldemort, and even though he/they were the bad person, it deserves to be a part of this list. book 2, we see a young tom riddle get killed in the end, we see how young myrtle got killed, we see students getting fucking petrified by a monster, an inch away from death. book 3, we see how sirius black apparently killed 13 people and was an accomplice to his best friend’s murder. book 4, we see cedric die as a direct affect from the killing curse. we see harry get tortured by the cruciatus curse. we see the most feared wizard reborn, and, not to mention, we see his weakened form in the movie. book 5, we see the rampage that voldemort causes, killing more and more people, muggles and magic-folk alike. more importantly, we see harry’s godfather, sirius black die. we see the pain harry goes through. book 6, again, we see not only voldemort’s actions, but the use of sectumsempra by harry on draco, and how snape killed dumbledore. book 7, we see SO MUCH death. from alastor (mad-eye) moody to fred weasely, from severus snape to remus lupin and nymphadora tonks, so many fucking deaths. we see harry potter die.

9. can we talk about the phrase “lamb for slaughter”? most of us have heard of this phrase at least once. i cannot think of another explanation of this than the way it’s shown in these books. albus dumbledore literally prepares and protets harry for seventeen fucking years just so he can get get killed by voldemort in the end. this teaches an important lesson to everyone that, sometimes, you need to do what you think is right. even if an adult cares about you more than anything, sometimes they do things they believe in and end up hurting kids.

10. can we talk about how bill weasely got bit in the face by an untransformed werewolf and got deformed for life? even after this, fleur didn’t leave him. if this isn’t a lesson to us about what true love is, then, what is?

11. let’s talk about love. firstly, about how much harry, hermione and ron love each other. they’re the true example of best friends. they were together through everything, there for each other in the worst of times, and for the happiest of moments, and will probably be together until they die. secondly, can we talk about how when people are truly in love, they don’t care about appearances. all they care about is what’s on the inside. this is clearly shown by fleur(check point 10). ALSO, we see tonks sacrifice herself with remus, in the final battle. we see dumbledore care about harry so much, love him so much, despite everything else. we see the love family has. we see harry and hermione become a part of the weasleys. we see harry and ginny fall in love. we even see snape’s love for lily. we see so much love. now, this is something very important for all of us. whether we’re raised in that way, or we are exposed to it later in life, we need to learn that love is important in life.

12. can we talk about the torture neville’s parents, among countless others, went through? because of voldemort? and his death eaters? do you still think these books are for kids?

13. can we talk about how a group of 15 year-olds form a group to learn how to fight in the real world, because of a careless ministry of magic and a cruel teacher? it shows us values of leadership, team work, and most of all, how important friendship is. we see a part of this group march into a battle against death eaters, and, possibly, even voldemort himself, without fear of death. for one moment, look at how brave one is when one is with one’s true friends. this teaches us so much.

14. CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW A CRUEL TEACHER MAKES A 15-YEAR OLD BOY SCAR HIMSELF WITH THE WORDS “I WILL NOT TELL LIES” JUST BECAUSE SHE WAS TOO ADAMENT TO BELIEVE THE TRUTH? do you still fucking think this series is for kids?

15. can we talk about how all the magical creatures are treated cruelly? from elves to centaurs, it’s cruelty at it’s finest. are you still convinced it’s a book for kids just because it has magic?

16. can we talk about how much trauma a reader experiences throughout the series? i mean, i’m absolutely grateful that i went through this trauma, because i came out as a better person, in not one, but, multiple ways. we journey through seven years of happiness, sorrow, pain, love, and so much more. we see our favorites get killed, we see how sometimes, people are misunderstood. we see how everyone is born good, but it’s our childhood and the way we’re raised that makes us bad. this is not something all kids understand. an older person can read this series, go through all of this, and will come out as a better human being.

17. how many of you remember the way snape was treated as a kid? huh? by harry’s own father and his friends. this is a shout out to all the bullies out there that think they can do whatever they want and not care about consequences just because they’re stronger, or more famous, or more good-looking. this fucking teaches kids to NOT bully anyone.

this is more than just a series for me. it let me into this new universe where i experienced so fucking much.

if this wasn’t enough for you to at least consider the fact that these books are not “just for kids,” i’m sorry, but you’re just being morons. you don’t wanna even consider something that goes against what you say and that’s your problem, not ours. so, STOP HATING ON THE WIZARDING WORLD COMMUNITY AND GET A FUCKING JOB.

[animeyanderelover]

Can I have number 29 to Keinz Drocell. Thank you :)

🤩.

Warnings: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, obsessiveness, possessiveness, mentions of kidnapping

Prompt 29: “Stop giving me that look! Stop looking at me as if I’m a monster!”

“Build it up with iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel. Build it up with iron and steel, my fair lady~.” You pressed your hands over your ears, trying to block his voice out, trying to block this horrific melody out, but you knew that it would be useless and would give you for sure another nightmare. How had it even come to this? What did you do so bad for god to hate you that much? You didn’t know. And that frustrated you more than anything. “You don’t even look.”, you suddenly heard his monotone voice saying. You flinched and looked up. Keinz was staring at you, no expression on his face as always. You gulped the lump you had in your throat back, your whole body trembled. He kept continuing to stare at you, waiting for an answer. But you couldn’t say anything, feeling frozen with fear. “Are you...scared?”, he asked after a few moments passed by. Was that even a question?! You were shaking here like a leaf and he was asking you whether you were scared or not?! You didn’t answer him and suddenly he stopped controlling his little “toys” and walked towards you. The next moment he bent down to you and tilted his head in a way that once more reminded you that he wasn’t human.

“I brought you here because I wanted to show you the new pieces, but you somehow don’t seem to enjoy them. Should I make new ones that you would like as well? You would just need to tell me how you want them to look.” You tensed up when he said, your eyes wandering behind him to look at the dolls. Each of them dressed in a pretty dress and you were sure that most little girls would love to have such a realistic and gorgeous doll. But you knew that they didn’t just look realistic, they had been once humans! Their eyes were empty and lifeless, but you still had the feeling that there was some sparkle in their eyes, a silent plea for help. “Well?”, you jumped startled away when you noticed how close his face was to yours. You were sure that if you would overlook the fact that he had kidnapped you and that he was a puppet you would find him very attractive. His emotionless amethyst eyes were watching you closely. It was almost funny that this guy had kidnapped you in the name of love or as he had described it to you back then ‘an unfamiliar burning desire’.

You still remembered how you had first ran into him, literally. Back then you hadn’t watched where you had been running to and like this you had doomed yourself pretty much. You had bumped into him and had landed on your ass whilst he hadn’t even budged. He had just looked at you and had tilted his head in a slightly irritated manner. You on the other hand had cursed at him for just standing there and not helping you. He had at first blinked before finally helping you up, but he hadn’t let go of your hand back then. Instead he had let his eyes wander up and down your body, not in a lustful way, but more in a fascinated way. But it had still been creepy and you had ended up slapping him on the face. Your intention back then had been to hurt him, but instead you were the one who had gotten hurt. Back then you had been shocked by how hard his skin was and how weird it had felt, almost like hard wood. He on the other hand had just continued to observe you in a fascinated way, not looking very impressed that you had just hit him with a lot of strength. This had continued for a few seconds, him just staring at you before you had gotten creeped out and had quickly walked away from him, not missing the chance to call him a jerk. After that you had never seen him again, but the feeling of being watched had followed you everywhere. At first you had brushed it off as simple paranoia, but when suddenly your friends and everyone you talked to had started to disappear you had gotten very anxious. And one night he had suddenly stood in your room, watching you with no emotion on his eyes. You had slept so safe and soundly and had nearly gotten a heart attack when you had woken up and had seen him staring at you. You had reacted like every normal human would, screaming, pushing him away and sprinting to the door. But you hadn’t come very far because suddenly something had wrapped around your body and had restrained you from running away any further. When you had looked down on your body you had discovered that it had been steel wire. He had told you that you shouldn’t run away from him and had them introduced himself and had explained to you that he had been watching you for those past few months, that you had stirred up something in him and that he felt a desperate need to keep you with him, also telling you that he had gotten rid of everyone who had come too close to you. He had sounded so calm whilst he had told you this what had freaked you out even more. How could he sound so calm and emotionless whilst telling you this?! The last thing you could remember from that night was how he suddenly had pressed some clothes in your face that had smelled weird. Shortly after you had passed out.

It had merely been a month since that night and you had found out things since then that you wish you didn’t. Starting with that your kidnapper was actually a puppet!! You had discovered this when he had turned his head once 360 degrees around what no human could have done! When you had asked him about this he had tilted his head, showing you his confusion. This guy didn’t even know that he was a puppet and you still weren’t sure if he had completely understood how inhuman he really was. The next and much more horrific thing that you had found out that Keinz had a truly terrible hobby. Making puppets out of real humans. When he had first shown you his collection you had actually been impressed with how perfect this puppets looked like. But he himself was a puppet so you just thought that it had been natural that he was talented with making puppets. When you had asked him how he made those, being sincerely interested in this he had started explaining to you. By the end of his speech all color had left your face and you had nearly collapsed on spot, not being able to handle the knowledge that this dolls had once been girls just like you. Up until this day you feared that he would turn you into one as well even though he had told you countless times that you were a masterpiece just as you were and that he didn’t have the intention of turning you, but you weren’t sure if you could trust him. The problem was that you never knew what he was thinking, his face and voice never giving away his feelings and to be honest you doubted that he even had them. After all he was a puppet.

Keinz seemed to understand that he wouldn’t get an answer from you and just stood up. “You look like you won’t be able to focus on anything today anymore. Go to your room.” He extended his hand, wanting to help you stand up, but you flinched back. You had seen what he did with those hands, you had seen how he created his puppets and these were pictures that you would never be able to get out of your head. Keinz blinked at your reaction and pulled his hand back, waiting for you to stand up on your own. You slowly stood up, your legs feeling very wobbly. You needed to support yourself on the wall to not fall back down. Once again Keinz wanted to offer you his hand, but as soon as he moved his arm you flinched again what caused him to return his hand once more. “Are you sure that you can walk on your own?” You nodded quickly, just wanting to get as fast as possible to your room. Somehow you managed to stumble your way through the house without your knees giving away under you. Keinz turned once in a while around to ensure that you wouldn’t collapse. As soon as he opened the door to your room you quickly ran inside and dived into your bed, grabbing the blanket and wrapped yourself in it so that you were completely hidden in it. You just hoped that you would be able to get at least a few hours where you would be able to sleep without having another nightmare or without waking up and finding Keinz just staring down at you like he often did.

You had expected Keinz to just leave you alone like he always did when he led you back to your room, but for some reason he continued to stay this time. You peeked confused from under your blanket at him. He had a...peculiar look on his face given the fact that he normally had never any kind of look on his face. “(y/n)!” You tensed up when you heard his voice which sounded very firm. “Y-yes?”, you stuttered out, feeling anxiously because he suddenly acted so out of character. “Stop giving me that look!” You felt confused. “P-pardon?” For a few moments it became awfully silent between the two of you and you noticed that Keinz looked confused as if not quite understanding himself what he just meant with this. But then a look of realization crossed his face, followed by a...what was that? A sad look? “Stop looking at me as if I’m a monster!” With these words he closed the door, his footsteps fading away. You on the other hand stared with wide eyes at the door, not having missed the almost hurt undertone in his voice. Did...did he just showed you that he had emotions? You weren’t sure about how to think about this. It was the first time Keinz had showed you that he wasn’t just a puppet without feelings. But you sure hoped that it wouldn’t be the last time that he would show you his emotions. It would probably be a bit more easier for you to live in here with the knowledge that Keinz wasn’t a complete emotionless creep. But only probably!

#yandere black butler #yandere kuroshitsuji #yandere keinz #yandere keinz drocell

[ganymedesclock]

So... What do you think about revisiting Danny phantom in general? Revisiting the fandom I've noticed a lot of fanfic that have Danny's parents finding out his deal rather violently, or generally having more violence/angst than the original show..

I’m assuming you’re sending me this ask because of my recent burst of Danny Phantom art, so, it’s probably not a surprise to say I’m doing a certain amount of revisiting myself, and certainly not about to shame anyone else for it. It was a very dear cartoon to me in many ways and left some enduring hallmarks on my own writing, and I can absolutely understand people feeling the same way.

That said, as someone who’s been in this fandom for a while, albeit quietly- there certainly is a thread of macabre interest in fandom spaces, one I don’t always know that I agree with, especially when it comes to the Fentons.

My personal verdict on the Fenton parents specifically is I think they are not handled fairly by canon. This is a problem that Danny Phantom as a show shares with Fairly Odd Parents, though I would argue the Turner parents in FOP are quite a bit worse at this.

Roughly, I think how the Fenton parents are canonically depicted suffers from a phenomenon that affects many parts of the show: DP, as a series, has a bit of a sense of confused priorities between comedy and drama, and as a result, what’s 'real’ in-universe and what’s “just supposed to be a joke”. The kind of humor that DP tends to spring for is exaggerated or shocking behavior- it also tends to be a humor that hinges on the idea that other people are generally inconvenient to the main character. So humor-characterization is inconsistent here- Jack is negligent until it’s more inconvenient to depict him as overbearing (see: Girl’s Night Out and other cases he desperately wants to bond with Danny) he’s a recluse only loved by his wife until it’s more inconvenient to depict him as having an active social life (Masters Of All Time and that he and Maddie are going to a themed party so they’re dressed ‘weirdly’ in public)

A big victim of this is Jack’s sense that ghosts aren’t people and his desire to dissect them. Because here is the thing: it’s all talk, in the worst way. It hinges on the idea Jack- someone who knows enough of what he’s doing that along with Maddie and, in the past, Vlad- ripped two different holes in reality hard enough to permanently alter someone’s relation to undeath- has never seen a ghost before the series as he says in Mystery Meat.

The series has a big problem where it hinges on the Fentons’ inventions and expertise but also wants to treat them like idiots constantly. And if you notice how much I’m talking exclusively about Jack- that’s part of the problem. Maddie, in many ways, outside of episodes that throw her a bone, despite constantly being told by people she’s too good for Jack, is really treated as an extension of Jack. Masters Of All Time even suggests that her choosing Jack in the first place was just a path of least resistance between her two college friends, and she’d have married whichever one stuck around. 

The Fentons are not respected as experts, so Jack is given his ignorant line about dissecting a ghost. The Fentons need to remain exaggerated, ridiculous, an inconvenience to Danny- so they threaten his alter ego and point guns at him, but this is funny and not serious and not a reason to be worried about them as parents, because they are not on Danny’s level. Nobody is ever on Danny’s level. There is literally an episode called The Ultimate Enemy. The antagonist is an evil future Danny. The only person who could ever be Danny’s ultimate nemesis is Danny himself. 

And when the series stops milking the Fentons for jokes about how they’re so stupid and how Jack is an idiot and Maddie married that idiot but even she doesn’t respect him even though she loves him and dutifully follows him everywhere and god how can these people care about ghosts they’re so ignorant and out of their league- 

-then it kinda shuffles its feet awkwardly and goes, yeah. the Fentons love each other, and love their kids.

Yeah, Jack has framed photographs of Maddie, Jazz, and Danny on his personal workstation.

Yeah, in Mystery Meat Jack was seriously debating walking away from his lifework because it upset one of his kids. 

Yeah, every time in canon the Fentons find out Danny’s secret they’re immediately all in supporting him.

Yeah, even not knowing it’s Danny, Jack has an amiable conversation with him in Million Dollar Ghost and the ghost containment units designed by the Fentons get some jokes about that they’re a little cramped but they aren’t horrifying prisons of inhumanity- and as soon as Danny Phantom the ghost boy has a good point, Jack lets him go on purpose. 

Yeah, Jack is a competent ghost hunter who can take on Skulker and win as well as beat down the giant lake monster Skulker brought with him in Girls’ Night Out and would do this in a heartbeat, no jokes and no sidetracks, because that monster just chewed on his baby boy and nobody does that to his baby boy.

Yeah, Maternal Instinct is an entire episode of Maddie throwing hands with (or deceiving and manipulating) literally anything she thinks was responsible for getting Danny in this dangerous situation.

...And then the series says “but that’s not funny! Here, have jokes about the Fenton Stockades, that exist and have spikes and Jack wants to put his kids in them for time out, when the spikes apparently don’t hurt given Jack is not injured for being put in there. Here, have a joke about Jack attacking Jazz with a vacuum cleaner because he gets hellbent on the idea she’s possessed for no good reason. Here, have an uncomfortable joke about how badly Jack Fenton wants to vivisect a ghost while it screams. Funny funny funny. Why- why are you flinching?”

It basically creates a comedic situation where the show is constantly winding up like it’s gonna punch you- with the idea that the Fentons are bad parents and this has consequences for Danny and Jazz personally- and then laughs in your face if you flinch. It’ll never actually punch you- but it will sure keep swinging its hand really close to your face and laughing at your reactions.

This is, I’m just gonna say- one of the worst elements of the series, this weird relationship it has with “hahaha are we depicting an abusive family or not? ;)” where its actual point is that Jack Fenton is a person who should be shamed for being overzealous, for caring about this niche field, because nobody cares about ghosts! (unless the entire premise of the show does) Nobody wants to think about ghost science! That’s LAME! (unless Vlad does it)

So I think ultimately this creates a polarizing experience in the fandom. What part of this information do you take?

Do you take, say, my personal approach, which is: 

“Hey, so it’s pretty clear and consistent that the Fentons love their kids and wouldn’t hurt them. The Fentons are nice people. They can be obsessive or headstrong but there’s nuanced and salient ways to examine this in the basic framework that they care, both about their family specifically, and in general- and while I think they can have flaws or conflicts with their kids, and with ambient ghosts in the world, I really don’t think they’re in danger of torturing a sapient entity in their basement and it frustrates and annoys me that canon ‘makes a joke’ of them doing these things because it thinks they’re so incompetent that these things are not really malicious actions, when- whether or not you successfully shoot them, it takes a certain kind of person to point a weapon you know is dangerous at something that looks, and talks, like a fourteen-year-old, especially when you’re a parent who has probably at least once in your life worried about something happening to your kids, and the ghost of a teenager means something happened to someone’s kid, in a general sense.

So my end conclusion on the Fentons is I think they are being depicted in a kind of metatextual bad faith, that they are not cruel or malicious people, and in my personal take or understanding on the series, I’d massively dial down those elements, and if any remain, take them seriously as problems they have in their relationships with other people.”

Or do you take an approach more rooted in,

“If the Fentons are shown to be negligent parents they are negligent parents, I’m going to examine and depict them as that, and I find this very hard to forgive, so it’s going to have real and nasty consequences.”

Both are basically valid. The place where I tend to get a little uncomfortable is twofold:

First, I think sometimes people just really want some fictional tragedy to either create or consume, and to that end, you aren’t going to get much juicy drama out of the Fentons being reasonable people. This isn’t evil or unforgivable, but for me, it’s definitely my least favorite fannish content to create or consume. I’m no fan of angst for angst’s sake, and I feel like there’s enough misery and heartbreak in the world that I’m not interested in wallowing in it unless it’s got something interesting to say.

Second- and this is a point I’m gonna be saltier: A lot of abusive Fenton fics that refuse to forgive them for the poorer-taste jokes the series makes, simultaneously give Vlad a blank check, when he has done targetedly malicious things to Danny. 

Now- do I also have a more sympathetic read on Vlad, and feel like canon also gives him a bad rap? Yeah! But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t say, “I can’t forgive the Fentons for stuff that was tagged onto them because canon thought it was funny, but I’m gonna editorialize Vlad’s depiction to lionize him as the ideal parent figure for Danny to run into the arms of.”

And the main reason I get so worked up in this, is I feel like Jack in particular (when Maddie is characterized as subordinate to Jack, following his cues, etc., and that’s its own demon) is... characterized as kind of a mocking caricature of traits that I personally recognize as an autistic and ADHD person.

Because the reality is? In many practical ways, I am Jack Fenton.

I like a bunch of weird stuff people find unacceptable or gross, like bugs

I’m hyperlexic (that means I talk, a lot)

Scatterbrained, forget words or where I left something or, sometimes, to do something important

Passionate and excitable including and especially in situations where it’s not normal, or expected, to have this much energy

I absolutely can forget birthdays, even for people I love dearly that mean the world to me! It’s horrible! There’s almost nothing I can do about it! My brain refuses to hold onto this information reliably and no amount of caring fixes it.

And being this way, living like this? My worst nightmare has always been that people think I either don’t care or that I’m just too much of a stupid, flippant buffoon to get right.

The thing about Jack is he’s “a person like me” and he’s “a person like me” who was designed to be a joke. We’re clearly expected to view him as untrustworthy, stupid, just like a big dumb dog of a man who barks in the wrong directions, who sometimes, when it counts, fetches a stick like he’s supposed to. Good job, Lassie. You got little Timmy out of the well.

And I am going to say with certainty and confidence that feeling like this is how people see me is the most unbelievably crushing feeling I have ever experienced in my life. That my excitement and passion means I’m unprofessional, stupid, don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s nearly painful for me, as an adult, to watch Danny Phantom because the show can never get off Jack’s case. And the few times it does, he hauls overtime arduously to make a difference, to help, to build something that will protect others, to put his own life on the line to stop hostile ghosts.

And immediately, then he goes back to being stupid stupid dog man. ha ha. why does his wife love him? no wonder his kids don’t ever want to be seen with him. no wonder his best friend is trying to kill him and he doesn’t even know, the big idiot.

(never mind that we see a scenario where he does know. and admits he would’ve forgiven Vlad anyway. but he can’t forgive Vlad hurting Danny.)

So to rein in this wild tangent: I’m not saying all must love Jack Fenton and despair. I’m not even telling people to hide their angst. If I have a sincere request, it’s this:

If you’re inclined to thinking of Vlad as a cool, troubled, complex person (as I do!) and are haunted by the implications of The Ultimate Enemy specifically for Vlad, that when Danny lost everyone else in his life that Vlad really genuinely tried to help, and was not gloating and happy and victorious to have Danny as his protege, and when that went badly, he was haunted to the end of his days by not having been able to help-

-but immediately turn around and think Jack is just a rotten awful person who’d absolutely hurt his own kid in spite of canon to the contrary (when there’s just as much, if not more, canon of Vlad being willfully hostile)

It might be good to examine why you’re feeling this way, and if this might not come down to the fact that even when canon has people call Vlad a desperately lonely fruit loop, it has a lot more respect for him than it does for Jack, and this isn’t because it’s actually taking a stance against any of the qualities it gave Jack that someone might find disagreeable- it’s because Jack’s just “a big old fat idiot nobody likes, right?”

and that’s... not something comfy to buy into.

#Danny Phantom #readmore #long post #I have a lot of feelings about the fenton parents #and about how generally cartoons like to normalize child abuse in the context of jokes #and this creates a very upsetting similarity between parents who are otherwise characterized as good and reliable #but given these jokes anyway #and parents who genuinely seem really nasty #but it's tied up in a bow with 'it's Just A Joke' #Anonymous

[vanityloves]

was reading sumn ab Murdoc n i have to agree that his displays of urgency, impulsiveness, resentfulness, etc and his need to prove others wrong after being told/treated like he was nothing, is why hes likeable. he has very human issues which - no offense - contrasts mainly with russel and noodle (2d to a lesser degree? idk) but this is bc theres never been consistency with russ n noodle

tldr: they made the canonly poc charas less relatable in terms of lore/backstory and added more...frivolous, funky stuff, while giving 2d and murdoc human traits/issues that make them easier to connect with/feel for/hate/love/etc

russel being Haunted and Possessed isnt a very...common thing, esp if you dont believe in the supernatural like that. on the flipside, being outcasted from groups and losing people, is very relatable and as human as it can get. but hes never really shown much other than being the skeptic, only to be reduced to a man that makes food jokes for, who knows why. is it cause hes Fat 😁🥴😳 its ok be honest guys. also the weird thing ab growing and shrinking randomly is. weird sjdjjd.

with noodle...she shows up in a box and shes canonly a government project that was supposed to be disposed of and idk man i dont think, anyone can relate to that. wanting to know your origins/self discovery, the need to keep people together, are absolutely human traits. i guess what im getting at is, their lives before gorillaz werent, "normal" in terms of being relatable which isnt me bashin on the characters bc i absolutely love them, they just have no characterization.

2D is different. He's given a childhood and shown to go to school and have friends and hes given depth as a character. Hes been described as an excitable child and he rambles on about all types of things, likes and dislikes: he shows his airheadedness, and his kindness and genuine intrigue. He has that slight confidence boost when murdoc is gone - this is about human traits and when an abuser is Gone, i can only hope theres a sense of relief, which is something many people have experienced, im sure.

i probably have more to say but im tired.

From what i know, hes never condoned or justified murdocs behavior - hes definitely more on the passive side but he has complained ab him before. hes incredibly dense and from my understanding thats why hes relatable. other things though: he didnt really know what he wanted to do after school, liked his lil trinkets and worked a normal job and lived with his family. something many can relate to! which is absolutely why 2d and murdoc are the most popular of the band. i think its very easy to misinterpret 2d and label him as stupid or submissive, or whatever the hell else. But he shows other sides of being resentful and pissed off, confident, etc, and thats why hes likeable!

actually:

its hard to explain idk but, the band member that had trauma stemmed from childhood/parental issue and lived through very undesirable events that i wont mention, was made to be demonized (forget that hes legimate a sa/tan.ist for a second) and literally made Green haha (though i guess its bc Hes 'rotting'). but monster/inhuman physical features that on top of having Undesirable personality traits despite them being apart of nature as a whole its pretty whack imo. had we never act impulsively or had a sense of urgecy, we'd never progress. i guess thats why hes shown like that bc its more untamed n literally... unhinged? but bc we're human we should show decisiveness and more calculated actions so its undesirable to be 'uncouth' and snarky or witty.

anyways thanks for coming to my tedtalks. here they are

#just to add: murdoc wasnt made to be a good person and was stated by the creators he doesnt want to be redeemed n stuff #which...doesnt mean its bad? hes a villain. yknow how it is. #but yknow youre fucked when you find yourself relatknh to the villain bc 'hold on...youre on to sumn" #i say 2d to a lesser degress but is maybe be biased so i dont think its worth really talkin ab in detail #then again. i didnt read every single interview and i could be Wrong. #im just very passionate ab liking murdoc #LOL i was supposed to talk ab him but i ended up talking ab 2d a lot more i think #gorillaz rambles #brainworm ivy #also. when i mean passionate i mean like uh. he shows the more undesirable traits we all act on sometimes #and its like 'haha i do that!' but seeing it in fiction is somehow... reassuring. or even in real life in sure. #actually ill explain it in the post #oh this is ab 600 words sorry gn

[msfbgraves]

I see you, villain? The problem of Percival Graves

Thinking about the othering of villains, of course I thought of Percival Graves (because when do I not think of Percival Graves, aight) - and the problems he creates if you present him as a villain. Because in the world Rowling created he cannot have that function. In fact, Percival Graves a living, breathing indictment of JKR’s morals.

More under the cut because this is going to be long!

Simply put, a villain has to embody everything the narrative, and the audience, instinctively and collectively knows is wrong. In-story, a few characters can understandably choose their path, but for the most part - no. What they do is antithetical to the morality of the audience. Yetr what Graves does, for most of the movie, is not clearly villainous. In fact, hardly anything he does is.

Hang on, though! He wanted to kill Tina and Newt without so much as a trial! And we know she is good, right? She works at  MACUSA, she tries to protect the wizarding world, she likes our hero, her sister is a sweetheart...

Graves also works at MACUSA. Queenie works at MACUSA. So that cannot readily code them as evil. Graves also works to protect the wizarding world. He’s shown to be a kind man to Tina, at least - he is not an all out bully. He is also more openmindend than the leader of the supposed good guys, Seraphina Picquery.

Then, maybe, the point is that MACUSA is not good, and aligning yourself with them is an evil thing to do. Fair enough, but if that is the case - what does that make Tina and Queenie at the end of the film?

Getting back to the fact he wanted to kill Tina and Newt...

Yes, he wanted to execute Tina and Newt. And as such, was exercising powers that the institution they both represent, sanctions. Again, the institution our heroes support, and if not do not actively oppose, condones this. In that light, is Graves the only villain? Or is he supported by a greater evil our heroes also align themselves with? To the audience the execution order is a great big no-no, but in-story, Graves is completely within his moral rights to do what he does.

But Graves is manipulating Credence.

Yes. Graves is manipulating Credence. And in doing so, is doing more for him than anyone has ever done for him before, including Tina. There’s little Modesty, but even she turns away from him in the end, and, being ten, there’s not much she can do for him up until that point. Tina went after his Ma once, and that changed exactly nothing as he was made to forget the whole incident. (The script implies that he hasn’t but that wasn’t made clear other than in one look, so it’s hard to take that as fact.)The rest of the wizarding world has left him to rot for his whole life. Graves wants something from him, yes - but he also promises him something in return and does him smaller favours: he listens to him, more than once (”You’re upset. It’s your mother again. What did she say? Tell me.”) he heals his wounds, he puts a meal in him (in the Lego movie at least) and he gives him physical affection.  Conditional love is an abuse tactic, but in context, this can hardly be seen as a villanous action, not when our ‘good guys’ are worse than useless.

Graves wasn’t going to make good on his promises to Credence, though. He dropped Credence like a hot potato when he didn’t need him anymore.

Yes. Graves’ in-story, truly immoral flaw is that he is racist towards Squibs. But you know, so is almost the entire wizarding world. They also condone the subjugation of non-human magical creatures, as Newt is all too aware. Graves is certainly no hero, but this alone also can’t make him a villain in the context of the world he is in, because then everybody is.

He hit and verbally abused Credence.

He did (poor boy). It wasn’t a random moment - more of a ‘Snap out of it, we have no time for this’ we’ve seen people do in movies before, but that was inexcusable. That’s his society’s racism in full view.

He went after Newt.

Of course he did. Newt was a fugitive trying to tamper with a dangerous beast - it really was kind of his job.

He went after Tina.

Again, fugitive trying to tamper with a dangerous beast. Kind of his job.

He tried to manipulate Credence again

He tried to save his life. In order to use him later, perhaps, but he might have absolutely made good on his promise to get Credence a place in the wizarding world now he knew he was a wizard (and his racism thereby no longer a factor). (”You are a miracle. Come with me. Think of what we could achieve together.”)

The Graves we’re presented with is a manipulative, dangerous man, complicit in an evil system - but so are they all. In this system, human life, wizard or no, is extremely cheap. Yes, Graves can execute on a whim, but so can, and does, Picquery. She too takes life for some perceived greater good, just as we already know Grindelwald does.

The one who calls this all out? The one who refuses to be complicit? Is Graves!

If the wizarding status quo is as rotten as it is, being opposed to it cannot make a character villainous. And yes, when Graves is revealed to be Grindelwald - and as a visual shorthand is immediately othered more (he is made uglier and is spouting nonsense) this point still stands. Yes, he’s killed people to further his objectives. Well, so has MACUSA! They’ve killed Credence! They would have killed Newt and Tina. And is there any justice for the non-magical people that get killed due to MACUSA’s negligence? (Chastity Barebone? Shaw - he may be an asshole, but what of his Dad? All those other people Credence’s unchecked magic has injured or killed?)

JKR desperately wanted to write a good-vs-evil dichotomy, but what she has actually written is a chaos-vs-order dichotomy. True, a lot of what codes our heroes as good is their rejection of of the established, inhumane order, but so does Graves. Yes, he is ultimately a worse person than our heroes because he is a racist and abuser where Tina, Queenie and Newt are not. but that is not what the movie is about. Our heroes are not trying to fight for magical and non-magical integration - that is supposedly what Grindelwald (and so too, Graves) is doing. They are trying to restore order. That’s what the whole conflict is about. Order vs chaos. In the beginning, Newt’s creatures cause chaos that needs to be stopped. Credence causes chaos that needs to be stopped. Well, they succeed - in the end, Newt’s creatures are caught, the non magical people neutralised, Credence is killed, and Graves - who has declared his opposition to order openly - is defeated.

That is also what technically makes Graves the villain of this story - he is very much trying to further chaos by using an Obscurial. But when order is inhumane, trying to disrupt it cannot be seen as evil.

That’s why Grindelwald, as a villain, really doesn’t work. The audience isn’t convinced the current order should survive. After all, what good does it do? Why perpetuate an institutional evil?

In the second film, they have to ramp up the otherness of Grindelwald - he is uglier and very much more chaotic and he kills more people than the established order does - at least, so we’re told. He goes on causing massive chaos, and this actually, is coded as one of the Crimes of Grindelwald - but the audience doesn’t buy it. Going back to the first film, what we’re presented with as the villain is a handsome, extremely competent, eloquent, manipulative and abusive (granted), but at times merely friendly influential man who is the sole source of comfort for a suffering teen, whose life he tries to save. (For his own ends, ok, but Credence himself is also not entirely pure - he does cause multiple deaths.) Graves then goes on to rebel, magnificently, against a morally corrupt world order, because he could not save Credence’s life. 

I kind of stan that last bit, too.

Now, I���m not surprised that JKR’s subconscious believes that order should be protected against chaos - she is a middle aged white billonaire trans exclusionary radical feminist. But the rest of the world really isn’t that on board with her “The world is fucked but let’s  keep it that way” worldview. The end of the first film still kind of works because both Newt and Tina are rebels at heart who are falling in love and Queenie is also saying “Kindly fuck off” to the established order. But it is a bittersweet ending, because a young troubled man could not be saved and a handsome, badass rebel turned into a bleached pineapple.

Or did he? Where is he?

Where is Percival Graves...?

#percival graves #fantastic beasts and where to find them #fbawtft #crimes of grindelwald #gellert grindelwald #meta #credence barebone #newt scamander #tina goldstein #queenie goldstein

[kob131]

Same berserk anon still on their shit (feel free to tell me to fuck off). Yeah, i guess your right about it being unadaptable, maybe a director could be found that could do the big fights OR the character stuff, but not both and never without loosing something fundamental from the original artwork, a film nerd can dream though xD. Feel free to take this as an opportunity to say whatever you want about the seriese though! All content is good content and i love yours.

Sure, why not?

-I really admire how Guts’ behavior isn’t portrayed as being super cool or totally awesome but rather the result of years and years of tramua and a fucked upbringing. His anger and cruelness isn’t something to be admired or emulated: it’s a sign of how deeply scarred Guts is as a person. And how he drops his guard, shows how deeply scarred he is and how damaged he is. Forget male characters- most characters in generally don’t get as vulnerable as Guts does and it makes the moments where it happens rather soulful and touching. And as he develops as a person, moving away from embracing his rage and hatred to mellowing out as a person as he builds a new family in his journey- it’s the embodiment of a satisfying transition.

- The design of the Berserker Armor and the Dragon Slayer. As someone who has anger issues himself, the Berserker Armor is pretty much a perfect representation of what the emotion feels like. Unhinged, animalistic, heated, all consuming, primal- The Berserker Armor is truly one of the best personifications of an emotion I have ever seen.

The Dragon Slayer is different in that I love it for how simple it is. It’s just like how Guts’ describes it: a slap of metal. A slab of metal with a simple handle with a black blade and silver/grey edge. It works wonderfully in motion in the manga, it’s so easy to follow and understand while it’s size and subversion of how most swords are treated works so well with the story of Berserk. Guts is complicated but at his core he’s just a guy who wants to live a good life and I think the Dragon Slayer’s simplicity reflects that. 

And since it’s apparent not too sharp it means the thing is reliant on Guts’ strength and skill to kill the impossibly powerful foes it cuts through. And that’s so excellent because each battle can be considered a representation of Guts’ struggles, a normal human reliant on his attributes fighting against monstrous creatures who sold their humanity for unearned and undeserved power. (also it means every death is a cruel, painful which is deserved by most of Guts’ foes).

-Going back to the Berserker Armor, I love how it’s PORTRAYED. As in, each time it’s shown it’s cool and powerful yes but it’s first and foremost UNCOMFORTABLE. It’s painful, it’s intensely scary, it’s just...inhuman to such a degree you wouldn’t want to use the armor. Which is perfect because Guts SHOULDN’T the armor, it’s not HEALTHY for him to use it between how it supresses necessary things like fear and pain and how it feeds his self destructive rage- He’s forced to use it but for his sake, he SHOULDN’T do it. And you feel that whenever it shows up, even though it’s role in the story usually ends up with people wanting that kind of power.

Also it’s interesting to see the influence of the Berserker Armor show up in other places, using the same techniques to communicate a similar sense of unhealthy ruthlessness and wrath (for example: Goblin Slayer and how he’s drawn when he’s getting VERY intense about his job.)

-Just...the use of contrast. In a world of people decrying tonial contrast as being inconsistent as shorthand for something they don’t like, Berserk’s use of it shows WHY people use the contrast in stories. Moments like Eclipse and the Lost Children stand out alongside Guts and Casca’s love and Puck’s everpresent humor because they exist alongside each other. Berserk logically should be full of tonial whiplash with such differing tones and moods but the blend together so seamlessly like a unique symphony, emphasizing how special the warm hearted moments are and how cruel and disturbing the cold dark parts are. Each opposing moment works to make the other more impactful while preventing the reader from rolling their eyes at sappiness or giving up from the sheer darkness.

It’s just...pictures of the human experiences. That’s how I’d describe Berserk. With Guts being the absolute refusal to surrender to the cruelty of life.

P.S. You’re not being rude or anything. Come by anytime, I love the interaction. And it’s good to talk about other things.

[theatresweetheart]

Thorns and Arrows

Fandom(s): Sanders Sides, G/t

Prompt: “I’ll take real good care of you, I promise.” With prinxiety? Maybe with big Roman and tiny Virgil? — Asked by @arc852

Summary: Virgil, after narrowly escaping capture by humans who believe his witchcraft is demonic, ends up getting caught by Roman instead.

Warnings: Brief mention of Remus, brief mention of Deceit (Darien), multiple descriptions of blood, disturbing use of language, talk of death, character being treated inhumanely, fear, fainting, crying, swearing, fire. (I think that’s it, but please let me know if I missed anything!)

Pairings: Platonic Prinxiety, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Logince

Word Count: 4140 words.

A/n: So, I actually had a lot of fun writing this and getting to play around with different perspectives and such. Also, a huge thank you to the ever lovely @hiddendreamer67 for being a fantastic beta and helping me edit! 

(Also, as a side note, I decided not to add this into the ask with the prompt, only because it had gotten so long. Adding “Read More” into my asks has been problematic for now, so I might do every long story like this and the shorter ones answered in asks. That is still to be decided.)

Anyhow, enjoy! 

Taglist: @isle-of-gold  (Feel free to let me know if you ever want to be tagged in future works!) 

                                      +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Life is a cruel mistress, some would say.

She taunts and giggles and gifts more misfortune to the already unfortunate.

To those that had been born into a life with little to no chance of success or survival, she can be loving and kind and extend assistance and a caring hand. Or, she would sit by, watch and grin at the suffering she caused.

Virgil didn’t want to be ungrateful, but as he stumbled through the overgrown underbrush of the forest in a panicked escape from the king’s knights close behind him—with swords and shields and bows and arrows ready—he felt as though he had every right to be sour about his life.

“Halt in the name of the King, witch!”‌ One knight shouted, causing the witch himself to reel and press on forward faster. “You will cease your useless attempt and repent in the Halls of the King before the Royal Court!”

If he had wanted to repent and be dragged back to the court to either be hung or drowned, he would have already turned himself in.

The sounds of his own breathing got loud enough that it was the only thing he could focus on. The blood rushing in his ears, the adrenaline pounding through his veins.

His coven had already been ravaged by fire and death and destruction, his familiar was nowhere to be seen—which worried him greatly—and now he was running blindly through a forest he didn’t know his way out of.

He was in an area of the forest that he had never had the chance to see. A place he had never been taken to, or shown around. He was completely on his own when it came to navigating his way out.

To put it lightly, Virgil was terrified.

The sound of an arrow whizzing by his head, nearly nicking his cheek, made him recoil and duck to the other side, catapulting himself over a fallen log and continuing his sprint.

There was just so much that had gone wrong in such little time. This morning had been like any other morning, quiet, relatively peaceful. He was going to try and spend most of his day perfecting his potions, only for that to have changed within the hour.

How had the knights figured out his coven existed?‌ A false accusation by one of the paranoid townspeople, claiming they had seen another of Virgil’s coven commit a heinous act of witchcraft.

It hadn’t been hard to figure out that the townsfolk were bluffing. It also wasn’t hard to understand that the townspeople didn’t like him or his coven in the first place. They were isolated and kept to themselves a lot, only entering the town square when absolutely necessary. To an outsider, they almost did look a tad too much like witches, but they had never been accused of it before.

There had been rumors, Virgil remembered, when he was little. He remembered staying close to Darien, a hand latched onto the older witch’s jacket as they navigated the town. People would whisper to each other, point and stare, but nothing had ever come of it. It remained only as if it were a whisper on the wind.

There had always been paranoia within the town about the forest and what lurked inside of it, which was understandable.

There were terrible creatures that lurked in the night, searching and stalking for an easy meal. If you didn’t know how to fight back, it would be far too easy to lose. Sometimes, even if you did know how to defend yourself, you just weren’t strong enough.

Some of the animals that did haunt the night were wolves and bats and coyotes and such, but then there were mystical creatures as well; the fae, werewolves, and vampires, which were rare, but there. They mostly lived among the people and not so much in the heart of the woods. It was easier to feed that way.

There were even creatures that were so big they’d be able to swallow a human whole if they so desired.

Now those were the encounters that would strike fear into anyone’s being. Anyone that had a rational head on their shoulders would avoid a giant at all costs.

Then there were the so called “giant hunters”‌ who decided it would be a good idea to go after these massive beings and try to claim fame and fortune.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t likely anyone would return from such a quest.

Not that Virgil felt a shred of pity for them. They had made their choice—no matter how stupid—and it had cost them their lives. So, the only way to go about that was to learn from their mistakes and never make the same choice himself.

The twang of another arrow being loosed caught his attention, but the searing hot agonizing pain that rose from his left shoulder was the thing that shattered every coherent thought in his head. The yelp of pain that came sharply from his mouth made the knights behind him cheer in glee; they had hit their mark!‌ It was only a matter of time now before the witch stumbled and dropped.

While his vision was hazy, Virgil wasn’t letting the arrow get the better of him. He needed to get out of here. He needed to find– to find… find what exactly? What was left for him? His coven was nothing but ashes, his familiar was possibly dead and he was being hunted. It really was only a matter of time before he stumbled to his knees and let the knights have their way with him.

But there was also the sharp resilience that said this isn’t what his family would want for him. The fact that giving up meant losing immediately. The moment one gave up was the moment one lost.

Chancing a glance down at the wound, Virgil saw a steady stream of crimson blood oozing down his left arm, dripping off of his fingertips before it had the chance to dry. He needed to dislodge the arrow, find some way to heal the wound before he bled out…but without a safe place to stop and rest, it was pointless.

Without his eyes on the escape route, he had failed to notice the steep drop down the bank in front of him. Just as his foot caught on a stray root, a sharp cry was ripped from his throat and he stumbled and slid to his knees. Unable to hold himself up any longer, he collapsed to the ground and rolled onto his uninjured side just enough to see the knights approaching him quickly.

The sounds of the armour and weapons clattering got closer and closer, until Virgil could see the three knights standing over him. Looking red in the face and furious, but almost mixed with a horrible look of glee. They got to take what they wanted of him. Torture him, kill him.‌ Anything they so desired.

His chest rose in panting breaths, unsteady but in an almost recognizable pattern. Hazily, his eyes slid over each and every knight, taking in what they looked like. Burning their images into his brain as the last thing he would probably see before they ran him through. He memorized every little detail, including their unbearable grins, sneers and sharp looks that said so much more than words could.

“Absolutely pitiful,”‌ the one to his right said, voice dangerously low. He crouched down, prodding Virgil roughly in the injured shoulder and grinning as the witch hissed at the unwanted and painful touch. “A single arrow takes down the last witch of that disgusting coven. You’d think it’d have more fight. At least a will to live.”

Of course Virgil had a will to live, but surrounded like this, too weak to even try and utter a simple spell?‌ His odds weren’t looking great. But that knight could go and take what little knowledge his fat head carried and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.

“I almost feel bad,”‌ a second voice piped up, cruel and unrelenting. “Get it up boys. Bring it back to the King.”

The first knight got down lower, so low that Virgil could feel his breath against his neck. It was a vulnerable section of skin for someone’s mouth to be hovering over and he was half afraid that the knight would take the advantage to sink his teeth into his jugular. Of course it wasn’t a human move, but it didn’t stop Virgil from worrying about it. He even tried to writhe away to the best of his ability but was stuck in place by the third’s heavy grasp. “The King ain’t gonna be happy with you,”‌ he snarled, “I‌ like to think that your coven got off easy.”

The thought that being burned alive in your own home was getting off easy, made Virgil feel so unbelievably sick that he felt bile rising.

There was no way that Darien and Remus had gotten off easy. Buried under rubble with heat from all sides, heat that you couldn’t escape, that you choked on and eventually made your suffering so unbearable—

Virgil coughed, blood painting his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling heat prickling the back of his eyes. The water threatened to spill, but he fought back the urge. The knights already had enough reason to mock him; he didn’t want crying in front of them to be another.

The first knight grinned wider. He pushed himself away from the curled up form on the ground and circled around to the other side of him. He grabbed Virgil under the shoulder where the arrow was still implanted into it, before seemingly like he had a better idea. “Hold the witch down,”‌ he said to the other two. “Roll it over onto its back.”

As he was pushed onto his back, Virgil’s eyes snapped back open, blurred as they were, and they locked on the first knight. They widened as he noticed the knight’s hand wrapping around the shaft of the arrow.

He’s going to pull it out. It’s going to get ripped out without care or precision.

Doing that, could ruin his shoulder for life. There was only so much healing magic could do when you weren’t skilled enough in the practice. The fact that the arrow itself was going to be ripped out the opposite way it had been shot in made his stomach churn.

“N-no!”‌ Virgil had finally found his voice, but the demand came out weaker than he had anticipated it. The three men above him didn’t seem to care about his protest as the arrow was grabbed half a moment later. “W-wait, please! Don’t— don’t do this!‌ I’ll go back willingly…ju-just leave the arrow alone!”

“So, it talks,”‌ The second knight snarked, his hands tightening on his good shoulder. Virgil’s eyes frantically searched the features above him, the world beginning to darken in his terror. “It’ll only hurt for a few days.”

“Don’t worry though,” the knight said, giving an experimental tug on the arrow shaft, watching Virgil’s pained expressions carefully. “I’m sure you won’t live that long anyhow. So, perhaps, it’ll only hurt for the rest of your miserable life.”

Virgil tried to prepare himself for the feeling of something being torn out of his body, but nothing could have prepared him for the excruciating feeling that rippled through his entirety.

The arrow head had been so far embedded into his shoulder that it had nearly been poking out the other side. It had torn through layers of skin and had caused the wound to enlarge. More blood spilled from the gash and Virgil almost felt numb. So much agony was flushing through his body that he could hardly put two and two together.

He choked on his breathing, blood made another reappearance as he coughed, gagging at the unbelievable amount of torment.

It only made the knights howl with laughter, looking down at the witch. He wasn’t a big kid, in fact Virgil was actually remarkably small for someone his age. His short stature only made it easier for the knights to keep him trapped.

Virgil gasped, trying to find a way to steady himself enough to process just what exactly was happening to him.

Die.

The word was so sudden and startling that he almost couldn’t fathom the meaning of it.

You are going to die.

Everything that had happened in his life was going to be rendered meaningless. As if he had never done anything at all. There was no one left to remember him.

They’re going to kill you right here, right now so the King will reward them as heroes.

He squeezed his eyes shut, tears finally spilling over. He choked on a sob and shook his head, trying to get them off. Trying to get them to let him go. Trying to do something that could possibly save his life. Anything.

You’re going to die and there is nothing you can do about it.

His mind was alive and buzzing, but numb and everything was confusing and he couldn’t see straight, he could hardly breathe. There was so much assault happening to him that his senses couldn’t comprehend everything. From the sharp, stinging pain in his shoulder that was going to kill him if he didn’t get it treated to the electric buzzing going on inside his head from the constant movement and chatter, or even when it came to noticing the quaking in the ground that hadn’t been there before.

Wait.‌‌ What the holy hell was that?

“I didn’t think witches understood human emotions,” the first knight said, snapping the arrow between his two hands and tossing it to the side idly.

He seemed to be the only knight that hadn’t honed in on the difference in the air around them. The way the ground kept shaking in a steady and oddly familiar pattern. It was timed and paced, but shook with a passion. It felt like…like… oh.

Oh no.

No, no no no!

Virgil was too scared to open his eyes, knowing that his consciousness was just barely holding on. It was only a matter of time before it was over for all of them. Seeing through the blood loss and tears wouldn’t help either, but he knew what was coming. He knew that it was way worse than what the knights had in store for him.

“L-let me go!” He grit out, almost trying harder but with his strength failing him, he sounded pathetic.

“Now, why would we do something like that?” The knight crooned. “We caught you and now we’re going to fulfill our duty to the King.”

“No!”‌ Virgil’s voice verged on shrill. “You— you don’t get it!”

The footsteps were getting closer, more prominent. The earth shook with every footfall and the force rattled through him as he was laying flat on the ground.

It was then that the knight seemed to realize what was happening. The first knight was turning to see something he did not want to see.

“What?” The knight barked in surprise, immediately on his feet with his sword drawn. The other two followed suit leaving Virgil on his back, heaving with gasps and anguish.

Just as the knight had gotten the word out, the darkness slid over them, casting the four humans into its shadow.

Virgil knew that it wasn’t a cloud blocking the sun; it was something far worse.‌ Far more dangerous.‌ Something that made him want to be dragged away by the knights and thrown in front of the king. He’d rather that then suffer a death at the hands of a giant.

“Now isn’t this quite the sight,”‌ the rumbling voice from overhead made Virgil flinch further into himself, keeping his eyes screwed shut. He had already memorized the faces of his other tormentors, he didn’t need to see this one too. “The King’s men, supposedly meant to protect the citizens of the Kingdom, attacking one of their own.”

“A‌ witch!”‌ The knight barked, his hold on his sword wavering, terror eating away at his insides. It was obvious how frightened he was, but the stubbornness within him refused to let it show. “It is no member of our society!”

Roman scoffed, his eyes locked on the quivering little form on the ground. “I don’t want to assume, but I‌ would believe the witch would prefer to be addressed as a he not an it.”

The knight threatened to take a step towards the witch again, but Roman moved forward more, to match in confidence and challenge the knight. Giving more of a protective loom over the group of three knights.

“Witch or not, he is still a person,” The giant said, a growl just under the tone of his voice. “Or is that too hard for your bitty human brains to understand?”

The second knight reeled back from that, looking white in the face. His terror was clear to read. The third knight was harder, but the quivering of the blade showed real fear. The knight that was still talking back just seemed to be an idiot.

The first knight met the giant’s eyes, fearless and stupid. “I suppose that means monsters stick together.”

A sharper look filled Roman’s eyes, almost immediately the aura darkened, and he leaned down so much so that they were nearly at eye-level. He hovered just over them to assert his dominance in the situation. To further assert himself, he planted his hands on both sides of the group of knights—even though he was carefully aware of where the little witch was cowering, sobbing, bleeding out and shit I‌ have to deal with these fools quick.

So, he focused all of that irritation and frustration into staring, unwavering, at the knights in front of him. Their swords were nothing compared to him. Humans were absolutely nothing compared to him. “Keep using language like that and I will scrape you across the forest floor like old gum.”

Finally, that got the reaction he had been wanting. He wanted fear, and he wanted them to regret stepping into his part of the woods and torturing an innocent person—witch or not—as if they could get away with it. As unbelievably angry as he was, he knew that he would have to treat the little human and his injuries.

“I’m going to give you a single chance to leave without getting hurt,” he said, voice dangerously low. ‌A menacing snarl that reverberated through his chest and rumbled around them like a thunderstorm waiting to happen. “Get out of here. Now.”

The two other knights had no problem sticking their swords into their sheathes and bolting in the same way they came, their armour clanging together as they escaped. The first knight held his ground, but when chocolate brown eyes stayed locked on him, unrelenting and cold and unsympathetic, the knight felt his heart jump into his throat for the first time. He took an unsteady breath and his resolve shattered when he watched Roman bare his teeth in a sneer at him.

It took nothing for him to scamper off in the same direction as his colleagues.

Now, with the threats gone, he could pay some attention to the witch that was still bleeding out on the ground.

His hands moved from their defensive position, that he had been using to keep himself upright, to one that was encompassing the little human. Curled around the tiny shivering form as if to protect him and ward off any further predators that intended to harm.

“Hey,” his voice was softer, as quiet as he could get it to be without causing more alarm. Perhaps after everything though, Roman would still be registered as a threat because of what the witch had just witnessed. He watched the tiny form flinch away from the sound, one hand moving to cover the gaping wound on his shoulder. “This might not sound all that…reassuring, but you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

The witch gave the tiniest shake of his head in a clear and obvious distrusting “no,” but his eyes remained screwed shut. The human’s hands were smeared in his own blood, the ripped white shirt he was wearing had been stained crimson with the thick liquid.

Biting into his lower lip, Roman let his gaze flicker. The creature was obviously in a great amount of pain and he seemed to be losing consciousness. “I‌ know you have no reason to trust me, but would it help if you knew my name?” Without an answer, he was sure the human was starting to doze but he needed him awake. So, talking to him was the only rational thing that came to mind. “My name’s Roman. I know this is an odd way to meet someone, but it makes for an interesting origin story, don’t you think?”

The witch groaned up at him and for a moment, he thought they were actually communicating, only to be let down—unsurprisingly—when the human didn’t react anymore than that.

While he wanted to get him patched up as soon as possible without moving him, as that could agitate the wound further (or so Logan said), Roman needed to get the human back to his home. There, he had medicines and remedies that would help begin the healing process. And, if the knights were right and the human was a witch, he should know some healing spells himself, too.

Quickly making up his mind, knowing that he couldn’t leave the half-conscious human here by himself to go and retrieve medical supplies, he began to close his hands around the tiny form before pausing. The human hadn’t even looked at him once and Roman didn’t want to startle him by just suddenly grabbing him and hefting him high into the air.

“I’m gonna have to move you, alright?‌ That way I‌ can take you back to my place and my friend and I‌ can get you all fixed up,”‌ Roman chattered at him quietly, explaining his plan while also asking for permission. “That way you’ll be right as rain in a couple days. Will you let me do that?”

The witch made a small noise and Roman was ready to roll with that, when instead it opened its mouth. He held his breath, wanting to make sure he didn’t miss anything important.

“…nuh.”

It sounded like a no but even knowing that the creature didn’t want to be moved, Roman couldn’t just leave it here to die. At least, not in good conscience.

His shoulders drooped and he couldn’t do it. “Sorry little buddy,” he said quietly, the apology doubled as a warning.

It seemed the witch understood that much as the eyes fluttered open lazily. The brown eyes were glazed over, that much was obvious to tell. The little one was watching but Roman didn’t think he was actually seeing. Or if he was even able to connect what was happening right now to reality. The little thing had to be inches away from death and, if worse came to worse and Roman couldn’t save him, at least the human would be in safe company when he passed.

Refusing to let that thought rule his motivations, he carefully scooped his palms underneath the tiny being, incredibly savvy to how he cried out with such a heartbreaking noise. The little one was absolutely petrified.

Heart crawling up into his throat, Roman cupped the human between his two hands and lifted the little one off of the ground and out of its puddle of blood, into the cupped bowl of his palms.

The human groaned in agony and Roman was quick to coo to him, making small comforting noises in the back of his throat. Trying to make the awful situation better as he rose to his feet. “Shh, shh. I know, little one, I‌ know,” he soothed, “I know it hurts but I’m going to get you back home and I’m going to get you all patched up. I’m not gonna hurt you, you’ll be okay.”‌

He felt so horribly guilty that he hadn’t heard the commotion earlier. He knew it wasn’t right to blame himself for this, but he couldn’t help it. Not with how the witch was trying to focus on him, only to let his eyes slip closed.

It looked as though he was ready to accept his fate.

Roman couldn’t let him do that—not without at least trying first.

“You’re okay,”‌ he hushed the tiny human, “no one’s gonna hurt you again. You’re safe with me, I‌ swear it.”‌

Roman looked up briefly to make sure he was heading in the direction that would lead him home, before focusing back down on the form in his hands.

“I’ll take real good care of you.” His voice was nearly a whisper, a silent vow as the human began to drift off into full unconsciousness. “I‌ promise.”

#Brook writes #Sanders Sides #g/t #giant #tiny #giant/tiny #infinitesimal!sides #TSSides #Virgil Sanders #Roman Sanders #Logan Sanders #Prinxiety #Platonic Prinxiety #Logince #Human!Virgil #Witch!Virgil #Giant!Roman #Remus Sanders #Deceit Sanders #Remus tw #Deceit tw #gore #blood #swearing #fear #fainting #fire #disturbing imagery #disturbing language #Thorns and Arrows