#they DO destroy me in other ways i'm just not identifying them with my own life and current problems like i did with euclid <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[fivewholeminutes]

EIA (the song) feels like preparing for a great battle to me. Is it vessel feeling finally ready and strong enough to fight sleep??

"Swing wide those gates" as in sleep being slowly closed off from vessel and vessel finally taking a stance and daring sleep to try to take control over him again?

"The gods we thought were dying were just sharpening their blades" - sleep being less and less invasive by the end of the trilogy just to sneak up on vessel again, but vessel is ready this time? (Alternatively: sleep and vessel having enemies in other entities, but that's for a different interpretation, the one where sleep is a tad more benevolent)

"Have you been waiting long for me?" being a dare and not a way to express longing, reunion. I imagine vessel behind the gates standing there with his bigass sword, asking sleep this when sleep opens the gates. You know, like a one-liner before an anime boss fight.

"I am the flood" - he used to be just tangled with sleep as branches in a flood, unable to set his own course, but now he is the force of the flood. Sleep's fucked

"And what was missing from those scriptures will be written in my blood" he knows this won't be an easy fight, despite him getting stronger, but he's willing to write that chapter, even if it costs him much to become free

"What good is all this talk of wings when there is nothing left above" deserves its own post tbh i am feral about the euclid references. I will just say that vessel went "fuck this, the glory is not worth it, it comes with pain, there's no great reward (heaven) in this deal, sleep lied, i won't get anywhere with those wings" (OH the icarus implications here)

The entire 3rd verse. Vessel sleep token when i fucking get you is2g--

"No matter how we feel" - they might fuck each other over, but they spent a good few years together. Codependent, i would even say (i don't wanna go into all my [often conflicting] interpretations of their relationship/deal rn, i just like to imagine sleep as one of those gods that will just disappear without any worshippers, so he was dependent on vessel too). So they had their ups and downs. Sleep did kinda give vessel the promised glory and they were there on that journey together. But it still doesn't mean sleep should stay with him

"We've got a taste for one another and a few good years to kill" listen. Listen i know this can be interpreted as romantic, but OHHH i see rivalry here. They've got a taste for each other's blood. For domination over the other in this tremendous relationship. But it will take time. Vessel can fight back now, but he's still up against a fucking deity. He's confident though, doesn't care fighting back might take years (hello mental issues allegory???), he is the final dawn. He is the flood.

"No matter what is real" - oh boy we're still fucking shit up in the dreamscape department, aren't we, sleep

"It seems that even in arcadia you walk beside me still" - okay yes i know this can reference to that someone walking beside him in all the other eia songs BUT here in this context i think of sleep still lingering in his mind. Vessel is safe in arkadia now, right? Sike! The bad things are still there with you, mate, you carry them in your heart (i'm sorry i might be projecting here) and this part goes so well with "i still need a dark side" from past self and "with the shadows longer to me than a lightyear" in look to windward.

So yeah. I see this song as the moment before a battle. One grand battle or just a first battle in the war? We don't know that yet. But it is going to be a tough fight either way.

[beuxwhoyouare]

DILF Next Door

There's no better way to say this. The daddy next door is so fucking hot. I'm too chicken to ever muster up the courage to go next door and introduce myself. Every weekend, he graces me from my bedroom window with a view of him mowing the lawn shirtless.

It's a sight to behold and I wish I could just lick his salty sweat off him until he was clean. He deserves to be worshiped. The man is built like a GOD. I fell into the fantasy thinking about what his musk must smell like. My own hormones nearly fueling me to say fuck it and get semi-dressed to finally do it. I was gonna introduce myself no matter what....but fate had other plans. I was finishing getting ready when I felt something wet fall on me. I played it off but that was my fatal mistake. I was finishing brushing my teeth when all of a sudden my hand stopped mid-back and forth motioning.

My body began moving and inspecting itself as if it was foreign but I was no longer in control. Then a voice began speaking out loud.

"Hello earthling. My identifier is XE-039. I had overtaken command of your vessel and will now deploy you to my former sluglien vessel."

"Wait what do you mean?"

"This vessel is now under my control and we will spread our influence across this planet."

"Wait I can help you."

Panic overtook my common sense. How was I supposed to help when I couldn't even help myself?

"Can you aid in attaining vessels? That is the only objective we need assistance with?"

"Sure! Uh just describe to me how you take them over and we can go from there."

"We slugliens are gel based life forms that invade a species through an orifice and then put their essence in our old one before destroying them as we overtake their species."

"Perfect we earthlings love putting things in orifices. It's called being horny. Look I can show you if you take me next door. If you're going to put me in your old vessel I can try it out and show you how easy it can be."

"Hmmmmmm affirmative. Let's try this out. If you fail, you will perish."

The sluglien clunkily guided my body through the house as we arrived next door. He knocked the door and after a few minutes he arrived. Coated in light dusting of body hair and sweat, Scott answered the door in all his DILF-y glory. I tried to give the alien an express lesson on being flirty and asking to make out but before I could finish Scott began speaking.

"Hey dude, what's going on?"

"I uh, what are you doing at this point in time?"

"Well right now I'm talking to you but I just finished mowing the lawn but I was going to take a show-"

"Let's partake in the making out ceremony."

Before I could interject or Scott could even deny the advances, the sluglien placed my whole mouth over Scott's. The second he opened his mouth to protest, I knew it was my time. I used my new slug-like form to slide into Scott's mouth. Everything went dark and before I knew it my clenched closed eyes opened to see my former mouth on me.

"Dude that's so not right get off me."

I felt a knot in my new toned stomach and coughed up what must be the sluglien body. It was grey and reminiscent of other fluids humans make. It looked panicked and tried to run away but my former body quickly moved to squish it. When it lifted my shoe, the sluglien no longer moved.....did he just kill Scott?!

"That was very efficient. So we just do that until we take over this planet?"

"Well you can but there's definitely a more pleasurable way to do this."

"What is pleasure?"

Similar to the haste he just attacked Scott with. I pulled him inside the house and sat down at a chair from a nearby table. I guided him over and told him to begin feeling my up and down. I knew even if he didn't understand pleasure, my former body would get immediately horned up doing the one thing I always wanted to....worship Scott.

Curiosity clearly got the best of the sluglien in command of my body as his curiosity led him to quickly guide my hands further and further down my new strong torso. He inquisitively felt my warm tanned skin slightly exposed between my shorts and slinkily thin shirt. Excitedly yanking the shirt up.

One hand held the thin shirt up while the other rubbed over my furry torso. Slowly getting me riled up as I felt my new meat growing way thicker than mine ever did. Eventually he lifted the shirt off me and I let it happen.

The sluglien was braver than I ever was. Boldly rubbing his hand down my meaty slabs of pecs and rushing under my waistband eager to expose myself to both of us for the first time.

Eventually the sluglien stopped to my surprise. What was he doing? I never really noticed but I guess I was somewhat conventionally attractive. Watching my former body saunter in front of me was so sexy. I wanted to get up and make out but he pushed me back into the seat and began poking and prodding before immediately pulling my daddy meat out and sticking a finger in my mouth.

I had it. I whipped my former hand out of my mouth and guided the sluglien to the bedroom. Stripping of his clothes one piece at a time. Eventually I pushed him to lie down on the bed. Flexing for good measure as I picked up his legs.

My body always wanted this and I never believed I’d be the one to fulfill the dream in this position. I put my new meaty arms down and started stroking my thick rod. This was it as I felt it pulsing and hardening. I told the sluglien to breathe in and prepare for pleasure. I tried to go slow but I got too excited. Once I got close to entering pleasure hit me quickly. My former body began to wince from the pain I’m sure this tool was inflicting on it.

Soon those groans turned to moans. I was gonna make him have the best night he’d ever have. I’ve had fantasies about this and I was gonna make every single one come true…literally.

[blacknedsoul-blog]

Montresor is the Bad Ending of White Raven

So Montresor has a religious trauma. And from what little we know of the flashback to his death, the man was apparently a corrupt preacher.

What that tells me about his life made me crack my knuckles, because holy shit, this guy is an even better villain than I expected. And not for the reasons I thought at first.

Montresor's possible backstory

A fun fact: "unholy men" used to be called "sons of Belial". Same as Monty's Spectre type, so there's the initial connection, but with what we saw in chapter 87, this phrase from his mother resonates quite a bit:

Montresor was most likely a bastard (literally), and if he was raised in a religious community, that immediately made him and his mother outcasts. Possibly his mother hated him for "ruining her life". Whether this is true or not, the implication is that he grew up a victim of a system that decided he was sucked by the devil from birth.

In this light, Montresor's attitude towards the world is actually a logical consequence: he has decided that abuse is the only way to relate, and you can either be the victim or the victimizer. Of course, he is now the victimizer.

But he decided that because life taught him two lessons that were important enough to make him the person he is now.

"I know this game better than anybody"

We know from the clothes and hat in his flashback, and the cross around his neck, that Montresor was a preacher. And I would venture to say an excellent one: he has heard all his life that he is a demon, he knows better than anyone what terror hell produces in people, so he knows exactly what to say (or not say) to manipulate others through that fear.

Montresor, like Annabel, is someone who exploits his own traumas.

Annabel has been almost conditioned to behave like the perfect high-society lady, and that includes going to impressive extremes if it means getting something in return. She has engineered her way through life by identifying the currency of the people around her and knowing exactly what to give them so that they will, in her words "kissing her rings".

Loyalty gained through fear vs. loyalty gained through pretended sympathy.

Same goal.

If the world has made them that way, both Annabel and Montresor will use every last footnote of knowledge gained through trauma to get what they want.

But then there's something else they have in common: this deep knowledge of the rules of the game has also made them both know that the odds are too stacked against them to ever win. In the past, we've seen Annabel throw in the towel on her arranged marriage, but Montresor took a different path, much more along the lines of…

"So I'm not afraid to cheat."

Montresor decided that if people wanted a demon. He would give them one. The worst demon of all, because this one knows the rules: he knows how to play the game, he knows how to cheat and get away with it. We don't know the extent of his atrocities, but given what happened in the flashback and the fact that his idea of a sleepover is stuffing someone behind a wall to slowly suffocate, this guy must have a long rap sheet.

So long, in fact, that he was tied to the tracks of a train to be torn to shreds without even a trial.

Because if the rules are just there to screw you, then screw them: the only option left is to cheat.

Which is exactly what Lenore did when she burned down her house and pretended to be a man to go after Annabel. Lenore jeopardized everything Annabel said was important to her.

And she got away with it. At least until they were both killed (or, if those of us with our chips on Annabel's childhood friend, they may have both died without anyone knowing).

Now, in Nevermore, Lenore is still doing that, as we can see in her reluctance to kill or destroy Montresor: she refuses to play the game, refuses to follow the rules.

She will look for ways to cheat here, as she did before (something Annabel actually expects her to do). The woman is too stubborn to bend, and so far she seems to have the wind at her back (the question is, for how long?).

The bad ending

These elements make Montresor a complete exhibition of the ultimate consequences of taking Annabel and Lenore's attitudes to the extreme: a person who instrumentalizes her own traumas to unravel and try to inflict them on others, and who is not afraid to cheat for her own benefit if it means getting what she wants.

The only thing that separates Annabel and Lenore from Montresor is that they both still use these attitudes in the name of other people: Annabel for Lenore herself, and Lenore for the people she cares about. That both of them (still) seem to have their hearts in the right place.

But if Annabel continues to use her vast knowledge of this twisted game to work her way through people without caring, and Lenore still believes she's above all rules, here's Montresor to show them (and us) what's waiting for them at the end of the road.

[jyeshindra]

Astrolovations (I)

Hey there! Just noting down some things I observe and connections I make regarding astrology. And yes, I made up a new word. Deal with it.

You can always spot an Aquarius by that look in their eye and a half smile. Like they're judging you, studying you, and experiencing you all at the same time.

More feminine Aquarians give me cool-girl vibes. They're detached and kind of removed from things, but super chill at the same time. Friendly and open but they have and will express their boundaries.

The more masculine Aquarians can fit that stubborn, know-it-all Aquarian stereotype a bit better. These more unhealed Aquarians are so difficult. Fixed air? Saturn and Uranus dominance? This is not a person who will follow other people's rules. A frustrating energy for sure. I dare say it's giving asshole. LOL

Sagittarius and Gemini make a good duo, but these signs are likely to solely be intellectual. Neither sign is very good at feeling. They aren't emotional! And they may talk about emotions...sure! But don't be fooled!

The most important thing to a Sagittarius Moon? Their freedom! They won't do well in relationships where the other is constantly telling them how to live their life and making critical analyses. Remember this sign is half-man and half-beast. That lower half wants to frolick and go wherever it wishes! If it feels pinned down or caged, it'll fight back or just disappear.

Taureans are always listening. These people are super wise and super knowledgeable but they won't be obvious about it like a Sagittarius or Gemini. It reminds me of how earth has this ability to hold things and fossilize things over time. Taurus kind of has this energy. I think it's the receptivity of Venus in Fixed Earth. AND that Scorpio opposition. Both of these signs are super observant and notice the little details. Their intuitive knowledge is gained from absorbing so much over time and letting that information marinate. It's how they both are able to create such amazing foundations for themselves.

I do believe in cuspy energy. But only cause Sidereal exists. A lottt of people are two different signs in two different systems. Cusps feel like the same sort of situation to me. But also...if you have your birth time you know which sign you fall under, which destroys the whole cusp argument.

I actually do kinda identify more with my Vedic chart than my Tropical chart. I see both energies, but my Pisces Sun/Scorpio Moon makes so much sense to me. Especially once I learned I'm Jyeshtha!

Speaking of Jyeshtha...the voices of these natives are usually distinguishable in some way. I think this may be Mercury-ruled nakshatras in particular (Ashlesha, Jyeshtha, Revati) but I can only feel strongly about Jyeshtha with this one. I mean Charlie Sheen...Donald Trump...even Nicki Minaj. The voices are so distinct. Even my Jyeshtha professor has a pretty distinct, raspy voice.

The way trauma has made certain aspects of my chart invisible to me. Part of what makes this practice so interesting to me is how much of my chart is waiting to be lit up by my own future. There's mysteries inside of me I haven't even met yet.

I think the last four zodiac moon signs (Cap, Pisces, Sag, and Aqua) can deal with their emotions in a very existential way. It's almost like they're thinking about their emotions in relationship to bigger/large concepts or constructs. Their perspective is already geared towards a "bigger picture" so to speak. They'll often handle their emotions in an impersonal way too. Aquarius will rationalize it, Capricorn will likely fall into pessimism or suppress it, Pisces may wallow and succumb to existential dread, Sagittarius will also intellectualize or avoid it altogether!

That's all for this round of observations! Stay tuned for the next edition.

[chaos-in-one]

“Some people just have a different perspective from your own.”

Y’know we should say this to other minorities. Y’know JK Rowling just has a different perspective from your own. Elon musk just has a different perspective from your own.

You see how fucking bigoted that is? To respond to someone calling out your bigotry with “well uh it’s my opinion” like no?

When the argument is “we just want to exist” (endos) vs “we want to destroy disabled spaces” (createds) that’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of straight morality .

Except that's... not what created systems want or are saying they want. Or have ever shown that they are doing. So your entire argument and comparison to other minority doesn't work here.

Here's a comparison that ACTUALLY works in this situation.

There are trans people who see their gender in very different ways from what is 'typical'. For example, people like me who use xenogenders. There are people who have told me that my gender is "fake" and that it's "hurting trans people" to identify the way I do, as if I am not trans myself, and have acted like my existence in trans spaces is "destroying trans safe spaces for the REAL trans people" and I should just leave. There are people who have outright treated me as equivalent to transphobes for my gender identity. All because I have a different perspective and understanding on my own gender identity from what they think I should.

Sound familiar?

Because your arguments sound exactly like that bullshit to me.

It's the exact same shit I've heard for parts of my identity time and time again. For the way I'm trans. For the way I'm queer. For the way I'm plural, or hell, even just not being anti endo. For so. Many. Fucking. Things. Because it's just revamped respectability politics and fearmongering. It's just revamped 'let's throw this comparatively very small subset of a community under the bus and attack them instead of focusing on the people actually oppressing us on a wide scale.... oh but we're still going to ACT like we're also paying attention to that (we aren't)'.

[bioethicists]

responding to this with my shitty redaction because i'm not comfortable posting obvious bait with people's names in them (particularly dead names) but i just wanted to point out the ways in which this ask is prototypical bait written to purposefully generate drama or controversy (idk if this is in a kiwifarms trolling with right wing motives sense or an 'i love drama' person) by trying to appeal to online leftist culture/the fear of being 'problematic'. i see ppl fall for this constantly + i need people to start learning to recognize the signs instead of either engaging or using this as evidence that leftists are stupid/petty/hypocritical (which many of us are, but in much less amusing ways, unfortunately)

the implication that there is a single founder of the "neurodiversity movement" + that evoking this movement at all (which i don't do + i think it's actually pretty evident that my politics are distinct from the much more bioessentialist politics of those who prefer that term, which is part of what led me to conclude that this is a copypasta) is supporting the founder. tracing a broad social concept to a single individual, then disparaging that individual as morally unsound (by evoking other explosive, petty pieces of discourse, like baeddalism + transandrophobia) in order to provoke doubt, fear or anger. demonstrates a hope that leftists will flinch away from anything associated with anyone 'problematic' without applying any critical thinking.

misrepresenting complex events (or fabricating them entirely- idk if these things happened + i simply couldn't care enough to find out) in a way that hits the pressure points of performative activism (she's being mean to an autistic person! other people of color agree with me! this other person is anti physically disabled people!) while also betraying reactionary opinions through language use/implications (claiming to care about 'transandrophobia' yet deadnaming someone? claiming to care about specific events at specific autism conferences but using terms like "severely autistic"? saying you have spoken to "Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, American Indians" lmao did you type this out based on census checkboxes from the 70s?). the author of this ask is clearly not a member of the activist communities they claim to be from because they accidentally slip into the speech conventions + opinions of a kiwifarms/4chan loser who does a lot of hatereading. this one did a good job of hitting the bingo card of divisive intracommunity issues rn- great research skills, bud! put them to better use <3

reframing reactionary beliefs using leftist concepts. this works because many of us do not have a foundational politic outside of "well, i want to be good, so I'm going to support the things that other people i trust say are good". which doesn't make you bad (there is no good or bad! learn this now + quick, if you really want to play a part in building a better world) but it makes you easy to manipulate + unlikely to be capable of meaningful change. notice that the claims this ask is asserting are, at their core, "people make up microaggressions to cause problems when really they could easily suck it up" + "people fake disabilities and being trans for attention". these are reactionary concerns, no matter how artfully they are dressed in social justice language. kiwifarms in particular was very, very good at this- they loved finding the people they stalked to be racist, homophobic, ableist, etc, not because they thought those things were wrong (it was their hobby to be these things!) but because they delighted in identifying hypocrisy, stirring up drama, + destroying people's reputations.

this is hard to explain bcuz i blacked out the names, but if you have a passing familiarity with fascist/reactionary online spaces, particularly the history of kiwifarms, you will know that reactionaries have their own 'pet leftists', just like we have our 'pet fascists' (shapiro, alex jones, tucker carlson, etc). that is, ppl they obsessively follow, harass, + scrutinize + come to believe are representative of everything that we believe. these ppl are rarely ppl who are actually prominent in our online spaces but online reactionaries often believe we are just as obsessed with these people as they are, but as unquestioned paragons of virtue + brilliance. namedropping these ppl is often an accidental tip of the hat, particularly when the ppl aren't on tumblr, haven't been a topic of community discussion for quite some time, or run in a different circle than us (reactionaries don't understand that there are actually thousands of leftist social groups which have very little overlap with some others- pronouns in bio does not mean someone knows or cares about contrapoints, for instance)

tl;dr this ask is a fantastic example of the rhetorical features bait that someone might actually take seriously.

[quinnydoll]

you told me to send an ask so I am. this is more of a personal story than anything, so I ask anonymously. I'll also keep it short!

Ever since I first discovered Doll Identity, I've been very curious of it, and kinda wanted to try it. but every time I do I just never really felt it. it just didn't feel right for me personally. but I've always wondered why I was allured by it, and something happened recently that made me realize why, and what I really am.

I basically got called to the doctors, and got braces. that's, it. the problem was that I didn't really know I was getting braces, and I didn't really understand it would take years to go through. so, basically in the course of one day my life was changed drastically. that, along with recent events, and more, has made me feel small. I was born with issues that needed so many surgeries, and they still haven't fixed it. so I feel like I'm mish-mashed with metal and such.

I realize, that because I have memory issues and because I feel small, I often prop up a huge puppet. a huge web of notes to remember things, that I can rescan like a machine. I wear a mask, and hat, and big pants, and big jackets. I do so much despite how small I feel. and I've realized that like, I feel allured by the doll Identity because of this feeling, but I could never get over the non-personhood part of it. like I still feel like a person, I just don't feel like I have a lot of control, to the point that nowadays I kinda feel like identifying that way.

It's just all kind of interesting to me.

life-altering trauma is nearly always a major factor in doll identities, in this one's experience. in fact, it doesn't believe it could name a single doll who hasn't had to deal with said level of trauma. the example of braces being added, before you even knew you were getting braces, making multiple years of your life veer off into a different trajectory sounds like life-altering trauma to this one. of course, never is it exclusively that example of life-altering trauma. there's always more to it

in this one's case, it's had multiple cases of life-altering trauma, but it feels as though it might be able to deal with that if it weren't for the smaller things accompanying the larger traumas. small fights, losses where there shouldn't be, lack of fulfillment, and in general, things that you'd have to face in normal, every-day life

either just the life-altering traumas, or the smaller difficulties, it could probably deal with without the feeling of loss of personhood. combined, it's an overwhelming emotional cocktail of sickening proportions. it's a trigger pulled by a gun to propel a bullet ready to hollow out the already fragile soul which reality aimed it at, which passes through said soul before it's had a chance to even process that a trigger has been pulled, let alone a detonation propelling the projectile in which would destroy its personhood irreparably

it wasn't forced into this identity though, and you shouldn't be either. for a time, it tried to be a person, to fit the broken pieces together and pretend they stayed like that without constant and immense effort to keep them from falling apart again. it found that maintaining personhood was causing its relationships with others to deteriorate and grow distant. in light of this, it stopped trying to be a person, it stopped forcing itself to put the pieces back together every time they fell apart again, and strain itself more in order to maintain this state of existence that wasn't making anyone happy

it is not a person, it is a doll. an object. a thing

that's not something that a lot of people like to hear it say, but that's because of an already preconceived notion that one's own objectification is an inherently bad thing. you'll hear the expression of "they treat(ed) me like an object" from unhappy individuals in regards to a relationship that's fallen to unfortunate circumstances. this, is more to the extent of lacking care for them, or making them feel discarded. however, for this one, it's a kind of object that you would imagine someone would feel a certain amount of care for, rather than one to be disregarded

dolls may be objects, dolls may be non-people, but that doesn't make them not worthy of care, and it's not something that makes them something to be discarded. dolls are more to be cared for, not to be discarded. dolls are to be treasured

[rafa-jaja]

Asking for your help...(pt3)

Bruce Wayne x Gn reader

Chaos, everywhere, Talia was destroying the city completely, she had an army of assassins controlled by Prismon, a villain with telepathic powers.

But how could this happen? wasn't the Justice League supposed to avoid this kind of problems? where are the superheroes who swore to protect the world?

All those questions are easily answered, they were the focus of Talia's plan, she kept them captive in their own minds. This allowed her to easily attack the citizens and plant chaos in the world.

And where were you in all this? In the league's operations headquarters, not the wachtower, because that's where Talia and Prismon were. You were in a smaller, more rudimentary one, but that was better than nothing.

You were making a plan, but you knew the odds were not in your favor. But even knowing the consequences, your plan was to infiltrate the watchtower and free the supers.

- Okay, with all that in place I just have to-

- Did you think I'd forget about you? How bad do you think I am?

That voice...how could it have found you, you had barrier protection against mind tracking.

- I'm surprised you didn't realize that your friends have very weak minds.

Talia came out of the shadows, just looking at her made you remember everything she put you through, it was like a recreation of your nightmares.

- What do you want? I'm of no use to you, you already have an ally who controls minds.

- I felt that my collection was not complete without you, besides, I would like to relive the old times.

You knew that fighting her wouldn't do any good, she had a mental block that didn't allow you to enter it, and your current physical state is deplorable.

- Ok, take me with you, I'm not going to fight you.

- What a disappointment, I thought you wanted to take revenge on me?

You didn't answer, yes you wanted revenge, but she was giving you a free pass to the wachtower and you could come up with a plan on the way. Right?

Nothing, you had no plan, all the scenarios would end with you in the mental prison or dead, the worst thing is that they were about to arrive.

- You Know, you surprised me when you gave yourself up so easily.

- Well...I had no choice

- You've changed a lot since the last time I saw you. You're basically adrift, you have no one.

You would deny it, but inside you knew it was true, somehow you agreed with her.

When you arrived you were taken to the main hall with your friends, it hurt you to see their faces, you knew they were there, but nothing assured you that they were well.

- Now that you are here, it is time to lock yourself in that little mind of yours.

Without any warning Prismo appeared behind you and caught you, everything was dark, but... you weren't afraid, it was just being closer to your thoughts.

Suddenly a mowing light consumed you, and then a sound, well more like a voice...

- Hey, wake up, you know it's not good to fall asleep when you're a guest.

That voice seemed very familiar, you opened your eyes to try to identify the person who was talking to you, but you only saw a room with armchairs and a lit fireplace.

- BOOO!!!!

- FUCK...damn it John Constantin, do you want to scare me to death?

- Oh, you should have seen your face, it was worth it.

- what the fuck are you doing here? I thought you got caught with the others.

- you really thought i'd fall for that? I thought you knew me better than that.

- Okay, you're not caught, so where the fuck are you?

- Well... let's just say I'm in hell.

- ...What?

- You know, dont meke me explain it to you, you konw what i do.

- OK, i understend that...but you haven't thought about, I don't know, HELPING? The world is going to shit and you're in hell!

- Hey, if I wasn't here the situation would be different.

- What?

- No time for details, let's just say that Talia made a deal with a powerful demon and I'm down here holding him. But I didn't come to you to tell you this, you have to free yourself and help your friends.

- But how? I never had to get out of my own mind. I don't know what to-

- I don't have much time left, just find the way out, save the others and defeat Talia.

And without being able to say anything else Constantin disappeared, you had no choice but to investigate the place where you were.

You didn't know how much time had passed, but you felt like you were going around in circles, until you saw a light at the end of the corridor.

When you got to the place the light disappeared, leaving a door that did not look like the others in the place, without thinking twice you opened the door and entered it.

You saw a kind of fair? you didn't know where you were, but something seemed very familiar to you.

- I didn't know you liked fairs.

You quickly turned around, only to run into Bruce Wayne.

- And what are you doing here?

- I'm accompanying Dick, he's on the roller coaster now.

Oh no, you knew what this was, it's the memory of the time you and Bruce had a date by accident. Why this memory? It was the one you had been trying to forget the most.

You had no other choice, you will have to relive the memory as it happened, otherwise your mind will completely split and you won't be able to get out.

- It's good that you two are giving each other a break, you needed it.

- Yeah...sometimes I forget what it was like to be a kid.

- I understand, but you're doing great.

- Doing what?

- Raising Dick, he and you have things in common even though you're very different.

The three of you spent the whole afternoon together, sharing and enjoying watching Dick enjoy everything. But an uncomfortable feeling came over you, you hadn't shared with Bruce for a long time, you didn't remember how well you had lived together in the past. But this was a memory, you knew that in the present this would never happen.

- What are you worried about?

- Eh...it's nothing, don't worry.

- It's not true, you're thinking too much.

- It's just...I'm worried about the future.

- That's normal, we all worry about what might happen in the future, but the key is to take a deep breath and silence those thoughts.

I was right, you are overthinking the situation between you and Bruce too much.

- What a beautiful view," you said watching the sunset.

- Yes...very beautiful," said Bruce with his eyes on you.

Bruce put his hand on your chin and made you look into his eyes, those deep eyes that could make anyone's eyes glaze over. Little by little they got closer until they kissed, a tender kiss full of love. You felt how time slowed down, a stream of emotions ran through your body.

- That was... incredible.

-Yes.

- Hey, stop kissing or I'm going to pump," said Dick, grimacing dramatically.

Everything went on as normal, at the end of the fair Bruce offered to take you home. When you arrived at the door of your apartment, but before entering you stopped.

- Bye Bruce, see you soon

- I hope so, I can't wait.

With that said you went inside and a Reaper Glow consumed you once again. You woke up on the main hall floor, looked around and saw that all the supers were still there.

You knew what to do, without the guards noticing, you occupied your mental control and woke up each one of your friends, giving instructions to each one of them on what to do.

You had already woken up most of them, only Bruce was missing, when you entered his mind you noticed that you were in Gotham, but you didn't see Bruce anywhere.

You searched everywhere, there was no trace of him. About to have a crisis you saw a newspaper gliding towards you, you picked it up and saw what it said, "Death in the Wayne family...it's been two days since this tragedy happened and-" That's it! the cemetery, how could you not have thought of it before.

As you arrived you saw Bruce, sitting next to his parents' graves.

- Bruce, we have to go, Talia and...

- No.

- What? What do you mean, no?

- I don't want to leave. I don't want to go back to the real world.

- Bruce, this is not the time to do this, we need you.

- I don't want to," he said through tears, "I don't want to feel like this again.

- Like what? Like the richest man in the world? or like Batman?

- You don't understand, I thought you knew me well enough to see the real me.

- I thought I knew you, until you abandoned me years ago!

They both fell silent, neither of them could argue any longer.

- You know...I feel like a complete idiot, I've let down a lot of people I love and I don't have the courage to make amends.

- I don't know where you're going with this?

- I just...I want to make things right with you, I have never stopped loving you.

- Yeah sure, and the kid with Talia doesn't mean anything.

- Let's leave Damian out of this.

- So that means you do have feelings for her.

- SHE DORGED ME! fuck...when I woke up the next morning I felt so repulsive, I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror...but I didn't want to tell you because I knew it would hurt you. And when she left Damian in my care I didn't know what to do, and you didn't give me the time to explain...the last I heard from you after you left was that Talia had kidnapped you, she threatened to kill you if I tried anything. When she freed you I wanted to come and get you, but I thought Talia would keep her word.

- Bruce...I had no idea, but why did you risk asking for my help if you knew what Talia was capable of?

- We really needed your help...but it was also an excuse to see you again.

The two hugged each other tightly, neither wanting to let the other go. They needed it after everything they had to go through.

- Well, it's time to go back to the real world.

- But what about us?

- Maybe we could give ourselves a second chance.

In short, after releasing Bruce from prison, the league united to defeat Talia, which they did, and arrested all of her henchmen. Peace had returned to the world, thanks to the power of the Superheroes.

You and Bruce eventually got back to what you were before and were happy forever.

Fin...

[thistlecatfics]

bellatrix, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

woooo I love a straight flush

4. fav fic w them in it

ok maybe I just need to turn this into a Bellatrix rec post haha

swallow some of their history by @slashmarks (100k, M, Bellatrix/Hermione)

A clash in the Time Room in the Department of Mysteries sends Hermione back in time thirty-three years, from 1996 to 1963. There, she's forced to contend with a drastically different pre-war Wizarding World where blood-based prejudice and rigid class structures rule the day, and maybe worse, Bellatrix Black as a classmate. But getting involved with Bellatrix Black in any capacity means dealing with her family's problems, too.

the tiger's lady by basketofnovas (slashmarks) (5k, T, Bellatrix/Voldemort)

In early 1974, one of Bellatrix's sisters is getting married, the other is pregnant, and Bellatrix is occupied with making sure the war escalates as planned. But a story from the Dark Lord reminds her of other concerns.

claw your way through this disguise by MymbleHowl (3k, E, Amelia Bones/Bellatrix)

“Crouch has your brother in law,” Amelia says. “Lucky him.” She looks at Amelia, she looks tired, older than she expects, the electric half light of the pub does nothing for her complexion. “Which brother in law?” She asks eventually.

i don’t forgive you (but please don’t hold me to it) by evawrites (10k, T)

For Andromeda, the choice is not between the Dark and the Light. It’s not between Headmaster Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, not between Teddy’s family and her own. Instead, it’s between Bella and Teddy. Foolishly, Andromeda prays she’ll get to keep both. (She gets to keep neither.)

Clip, Ravel, Cleave by doshu (15k, E, Bellatrix/Andromeda)

Before Andromeda met Ted, she was a Black, through and through. While years later the story was told that she’d turned her back on her family’s dark ways, in truth, nothing was so simple. In the beginning, it was just Andromeda and Bella. And it was just the two of them until it was too much.

5. a headcanon i have

I will absolutely die on the hill that she did not intend to kill Sirius and her 'I killed Sirius Black' dialogue was pure shock, not glee.

She also delayed killing Tonks for as long as possible. Her Lord commanded it, and so she would, but she waited until the absolute last moment to do so.

6. a headcanon someone else has

She was 'crazy' pre-Azkaban. No. She was fanatical and devoted and obsessed with power and dark magic. But she was not 'crazy.'

Also lol someone thinks she had a baby during DH and published a whole thing about it.

7. my unpopular opinion on them

I'm not sure how unpopular this is, but Andromeda running away absolutely destroyed her sense of identity. It hurt her in such a deep, core way. Not just the feeling of being abandoned. But losing what it meant to *be* Bellatrix.

She was a big sister who protected her little sisters. That's who she was. That was the most positive part of her identity. (She was also a Black and a pureblood and a powerful witch! She did identify with her power and privilege. Those are also parts of her identity, but her identity as a big sister and a protector of girls from patriarchal violence was the positive part.) (Her experience of being a girl who experienced violence is given meaning through her acts of protection and without that meaning she's just another pathetic victim.)

(I know some people enjoy Bellatrix as a power fantasy - a woman unruled - beautiful and powerful and evil and untamed, and that's so valid to want that power fantasy, but that's not how I understand her at all. I absolutely believe that quote about how our first encounter with violence is never as a perpetrator.)

If Andromeda ran away, willingly ran away, willingly ran away to be with a muggleborn man, what does that say about Bellatrix? Did she not protect her well enough that she fell for a stupid, awful man? (Failure.) Did she protect her, not realizing that her sister was some whore? (Stupid.) It makes her physically sick to think about. Luckily the Dark Lord gives her an alternative narrative and distracts her and values her (or it feels that way) and it feels *so* good to be the one doling out violence. It feels so good to let someone else mold your identity for you.

Basically - Bellatrix Black: An Elegy.

8. my fav ship with them

Bellatrix/Andromeda. Bellatrix/Sirius was my first OTP way back in 2004 (nothing like murder to give me OTP goggles!), but Bellatrix/Andromeda has been what's held my attention for the past five years of writing fics. I just love how fandom (and the text) set them up as 'good' and 'bad' but they're both almost certainly very complicated, and they look so much alike Harry gets them confused!! like oh my god. They love each other so much. They're afraid of the other. They're afraid of what it means to look at their feelings for the other too closely. Love and shame, so deeply woven together.

[theothin]

Why do you like AI art?

The simple and biggest answer is that it lets people create and experience art that would not otherwise exist. And in particular, it lets me give life to the images in my head without needing to destroy my wrists in the process. Even without anything else, that would be enough.

For a more specific answer - the way I see it, there are two main ways of approaching AI art. The artist can aim for the expectations of other art forms, or they can lean into ones specific to AI. I think both of these approaches have significant merit, and much more flexibility than most people realize. I've seen many incredible examples of each approach, and I share them whenever I can.

As someone who tends to feel like a crude imitation of a human, I have deep investment in the idea that mimicking actions expected of a human is just as meaningful as doing them "normally". And, for that matter, the idea that not acting "normally" is not a flaw in the first place. So I wholeheartedly reject the idea that either of these things could be held against AI, and I find that idea incompatible with accepting me as a person.

Some people accuse image generators of creating collages, but that could not be further from the truth. AI models record patterns, not actual pieces of images. And I certainly can't agree with the idea that collages lack artistic merit in the first place. My blog banner is a collection of pre-existing images, my image edits are modifications to existing images, and I've been working on an AMV that combines clips of an existing show with the audio of an existing song. All of these involve using copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holders, and I reject the idea that I should need that permission, just as I reject the idea that training an AI model on copyrighted material should require permission.

I also write. Writing does not involve creating an image directly, but it involves creating text that others might depict in their mind as an image. And writing an image prompt means creating text that an AI can depict digitally as an image. Just as writing stories is an artistic action, writing prompts is also an artistic action.

But there is so much more to image generation than writing prompts. Image generators can offer countless other controls, and the quality of AI art depends on its creator's skill in using them. AI art is a skilled pursuit, and while it does not require manual drawing, making good AI art requires assessing the generator's outputs and identifying ways to iterate on them.

AI art sometimes gets characterized as being under the thumb of big tech companies, but that is also false. Stable Diffusion is an open-source image generator you can run on your own computer, and I've personally done so. It's free, it's got countless independent add-ons to change the workings or to use different models, it doesn't require using anyone else's servers. It's great. And by having it locally, I can see for myself that the models are nowhere near big enough to actually contain the images they're trained on, and that the power consumption is no more than using the internet or playing a video game.

AI art offers an ocean of possibilities, both on its own and in conjunction with other art forms, and we've barely scratched the surface. I'm excited to see how much more we can do with it and to be as much a part of that as I can, and I think everyone should take a few minutes to try it out for themselves.

That is why I like AI art.

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Heya! I just watched the last two episodes and oh yep, that got resolved quickly, and even with a lot of fun haha! I'm satisfied with it as well!

The thing with TDP is, I kinda never know which story element is just a smaller matter that will be resolved within a couple episodes, and which events will be spun into a whole multi-season arc, so... I wanted to talk about the brothers' separation at length in case Ezran decided to keep the grudge for a longer while.

I understood that things were complicated and that Callum was torn between two people he loves. I don't deny that he had reasons other than Rayla and that Ezran was difficult to approach in that moment.

I guess I find myself identifying more with Ezran's position because his world was, in comparison, still faaaar more complex than Callum's. Callum's motives were clear and personal. But Ezran, while having the same personal complexity, also had to keep up a PUBLIC persona on top of this at all times. Plus, he still is barely a teenager, while Callum is now almost an adult (Idk their canon ages).

What I'm trying to say is, I guess, that my brain is heavily influenced by The Queen's Thief book series at the moment, which touches upon the private vs. public image of Royals, their need for ceremonial pretense, their need to stay guarded and their struggle with trust, in a much more detailed and weighty way than TDP does. Also, the King's status as an absolute and representative figure is much more emphasized. With this in mind, Callum is an ass for abandoning the Child King who is his brother who just experienced the catastrophe of having his Capital destroyed who is not doing well emotionally because he just had to look into the eyes of his father's murderer for the first time since it happened.

I know, I know, I know. It all wasn't that bad, it worked out fine, the feelings they harbored weren't that destructive to their relationship or maybe the overall end-of-the-world threat they were facing helped them to put the scene at the river behind them. Also, Ezran had Aanya and held his spirits, and was ingenious enough to think forward even without any of his other allies present. He was his own person (something he learned in a previous season, I believe) and so I am proud of him for standing strong. TDP isn't TQT. Still I'm grateful for its behind-the-scenes look into a complex Royal experience because it helps me interpret depth into my fave boi Ezran.

Thank you for responding! The brothers are good, even Rayla apologized, Runaan stated his case and Ezran let go of his resentment, it's all good in the archipelahood. The river scene simply caught my attention because I thought the dynamic it provoked was suuuper fascinating.

Cheers!

Reddie

Definitely decided to finish another rewatch esp since I started my first watch at 3am before answering. I would disagree about calling Callum an ass though because he wasn’t planning on leaving his brother at first, he did try being a mediator between him and Rayla and had an entire conversation with him before things escalated as elaborated in my previous answer. Callum only chose to leave when he felt like Ezran wasn’t going to hear him out and saw that he was even willing to escalate violence against both Rayla and Runaan. If anything, Callum staying not only would’ve resulted in him getting arrested, but his relationship with Ezran would’ve become more strained especially if Callum wouldn’t have able to do anything besides nod to everything his brother was doing even if he disagreed. Like I’m not saying that Callum handled the situation perfectly or ideally, but he does tend to act in the heat of the moment, depending on what the situation demands of him often without much prior planning or thought. If anything, I think the time they spent apart helped them cool off things between them and realize how much the two needed each other. I might actually make a separate post on this whole topic going into further detail about all this and the complexity of the whole situation from each character’s stance and perspective.

Thanks for the ask and I hope this answered more of your question 😊

[canadianlucifer]

Yeah okay I'll finally make a post on my latest Takizawa headcanon bc ever since I made the connection I couldn't stop thinking about it.

In short, I think he probably has npd, or narcissistic personality disorder.

Now I wanna make it clear I'm not a professional, I'm not giving any diagnosis or anything here, this is just what I've observed through his behaviour and how I think it fits the criteria.

I'm going to be mostly focused on his human character, might bring up a point or two from :re, but it's just gonna be the good brown haired boy for the most part.

Going through the list in the DSM-V, first is: a grandiose sense of self-importance (exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

We first see this when he criticises Juuzou for eating in the meeting room and not listening to him because he's older. He's not proven himself to be actually superior, but he believes he is.

And again later when he's jealous Juuzou gets to go on the Aogiri raid and he's left behind to do paperwork.

Second piece is preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.

Now, we don't exactly ever see him like, just sitting there thinking about being promoted or whatever, but it is known that he desperately wants one.

Third is believing that they are "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

I don't have any solid proof or screenshots for this one, but it stands to reason that this is likely why he joined the CCG in the first place. Investigators are strong and "special", and we never see him interact with people who aren't investigators outside of Hide, who he really only seems to vent to, someone he probably doesn't see as an "equal"

Fourth, requiring excessive admiration.

Again, no solid proof, but he often seems desperate for praise for his work and to be recognized.

Fifth is a sense of entitlement (unreasonable expectations of especially favourable treatment or automatic compliance with their expectations)

See point 1, he feels entitled to Juuzou's compliance and to go on the raid.

Now, point six, being interpersonally exploitative (taking advantage of others to achieve their own ends), I don't think I've seen. At least, not as a human. In :re I can totally see him using Aogiri to eventually regain the CCG's trust as an example though.

Seven, lacking empathy (unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others), is a hard one.

The way I see it is that he sort of has empathy, but only for the attention. In one of the screenshots I added earlier he says he wants to get promoted so he can help people, but if we look at that statement through another lens, it could become "I want to help people so they thank and congratulate me"

Eight though, often being envious of others or believing that others are envious of them, hoo boy is he a jealous guy.

Like, I don't even need to say anything here, do I?

He is jealous of anyone better than him in anything and everyone around him knows it.

And finally, nine, showing arrogant, haughty behaviours or attitudes.

Again, when he wanted to go on the Aogiri raid, but this is most clearly seen as a ghoul to be honest. Especially :re volume 3, he's destroying squads with little apparent effort, fights Haise while making snarky remarks, and that monolouge he gives to those two investigators reads so much like "I'm better than you for having figured this out"

A few other things outside of the diagnostic criteria I would like to add is how he clearly has a strong hierarchy, like he views any investigators his rank or lower as below him and any investigators ranked above him as great

Something else is that narcissistic people often don't have high self esteem

And though he may talk big, it's clear he's not very confident about facing the Owl

These are just a few of my thoughts, definitely not everything, and it's not like he perfectly fits the criteria, but I just saw more traits in him than I didn't.

Just another headcanon of mine to add to the list

[sukunasdumbestchef]

"Akaza takes care of a woman and her daughter"

"Akaza finds a girl injured, but still protecting her child… he decides to help, but it goes beyond what he thought…" >[reader] is identified by: girl, woman and [name]. She is an adult, her daughter's father is not mentioned, I left that to your imagination. >Type: fluff!!!!!!!! >Warning: violence mentioned. > Words: +6k

> forgive me for the spelling mistakes, I'm not fluent in English and I used the translator

Akaza's keen sense of smell picks up a smell of blood, which catches his attention. For lack of anything to do, he follows this scent, which leads him to a small house, where he hears faint cries.

Without bothering to remain silent, he opens the door, finding a common scene. An inferior oni feeding on a human, this oni sensed the presence of a superior being, causing him to run in fear. Akaza took another step, trying to detect the gender of the dead human on the ground. But the cries, that he heard outside before, drew attention again.

Akaza turns towards the sound, he found a girl on the ground holding a baby, she was hurt, it looked like she wouldn't be able to stand, maybe she tried to protect the baby. Normally, he would ignore any female presence, but without hurting them. But, in this particular case, the girl who cried while protecting her baby without caring about herself… made him feel something different.

He analyzed them… the way she holds the weakest, protecting the weakest… his eyes began to have a different vision. "Give a hand" was what he thought, with cautious steps he approaches the woman, taking a step. She backed away, crawling to the wall. Akaza stopped, raising her hand, demonstrating that she wasn't going to do anything. The woman did not lower her guard, but she stopped crying. Akaza crouched down and walked over to her. She shook her head frantically in fear of him.

"I won't hurt you" The oni told her. The woman stopped, even if she didn't trust it, she felt sincerity in that. “Your leg, can I check it?” She didn't answer Akaza's question, but he, trying not to force his hand, slowly analyzed the injuries, some scratches, other more serious injuries and a sprained ankle… "You can't walk, can you?" She disagrees. The baby, the complete opposite, without any scratches, he seems normal, he doesn't cry… she did a great job as a mother.

"You…demons, you destroy families…you killed my family…" The girl said, her throat dry from crying. Akaza looks at her, blankly.

"Yes, we eat the weakest ones, it's not something we hide…" Akaza replied. He took off his vest, and wrapped it around a serious wound of hers. The girl watches everything confused, his action contradicting what he just said…

"Wh- What? Why are you doing this if you're going to kill me?"

"I am not going to kill you." He responds, immediately as he heard the words 'kill me'. Akaza thinks, he now feels confused… because he is doing this, not killing or hurting women is his ideology, even though he doesn't know the reason… Now, helping women? Why does he feel this kindness toward them?

They both remain silent, on the floor… "Why are you different? I don't feel the same terror that I felt in the previous oni…" Akaza seems thoughtful with the question, he clears his throat, and replies:

"I'm different from all these insignificant onis. Let's say… I have a different view on everything…" The girl thinks about his words, she takes off the blouse that was over the kimono, wrapping it around the baby. The tears returning, as she looks at her dead relative on the floor. "Do you want me to bury them for you?" He makes a somewhat surprising offer… The girl hesitates, but looking at her own state and the defenseless baby…

"I want…" Akaza gets up, he goes to the body, picking up (what's left) of it and taking it outside. The girl closes her eyes, crying back. Akaza returns, even though he is uncomfortable with crying. He goes to her, his hand going behind her, she jumps in surprise, and in a second she is in his arms, he leaves her outside, sitting on the rock, where he can keep an eye on her as he buries her body in rocks. . The girl watches everything with tears, her only relative was killed… her only happiness was her baby…

Akaza finished his work, he went to her. "What's your name?"

"[name]…" she replied, wiping away her tears, while shaking the baby.

"Is she your baby?" He asks again, she nods. "It looks like you" He noticed, the girl looked at him, she's not afraid of him anymore… He sits next to her, her eyes never leaving his face. "What's your daughter's name?"

"Amaya…" Akaza looked at Amaya, the baby did the same. Akaza stretched his finger, until the baby. His finger gently caressed the baby's cheek.

"She's…small." Akaza wasn't sure what to say. Why he was having this moment with this woman… "Your leg, does it still hurt?" He changes the subject, stopping caressing the baby.

"Yes." They remain silent. Akaza sighs, and ends the silence.

"Do you know another relative of yours? Or a village? I'll take you there…"

"Yes, I have a relative who lives in a field, it's close to a huge lake, the one with big fish…" Akaza thinks, he goes to her house, comes back with a cloth, wrapping it around her and her daughter.

"Hold your daughter tight…" In an instant, with his strength he easily takes them both in his arms, his touch firm. He begins to walk with them, without any difficulty. “Are you comfortable?” She nods, even the baby seems comfortable. The little rocking that they gave while they walked, made the baby sleep, she seems to be calm and comfortable. After a while, Akaza felt a weight on his chest, the girl fell asleep. the oni felt something… incredibly good in his soul, he wanted to protect them both, he wanted to hold the baby until she fell asleep…

"[name]…[name]? Wake up…" She heard Akaza's voice, looked around and she was already close to her relative's house. "Is that the house?" She waves, rubbing her eyes, the night seems like it's about to end… Akaza arrives at the door, leaving the two on the floor. He squats. "Are you alright?

"I'm… thank you" Akaza feels the same feeling, he almost smiled at her, he noticed that her eyes were shining… "You… what's your name?"

"Akaza"

"Akaza… are you coming back?"

"…I will… I need to see you again… and you have a lovely daughter…"

He caressed the woman's cheek… And so, with this feeling of protection he left in the woman.

This was inspired by an image on pinterest… :D

[springtime-creations]

Longwinded over-explanation as to why I DON'T think these Wanderful PreCure leaks are real or at the very least not be taken as 100% accurate if they are real.

POTENTIAL SPOILER FOR WANDERFUL PRECURE AHEAD!

As someone who's been into PreCure for almost a decade, and has been studying art in an informal setting (self taught artist go brrr) I've noticed some issues with these leaks.

First is obviously the names. Never in the entire history of PreCure have we had a cure whose name lines up with the title. No Cure Smile in Smile, no Cure Suite in Suite, no Cure Fresh in Fresh- you get my point. Cure Wonderful is a highly suspect name, however could still be real as PreCure is always experimenting. Cure Friendy on the other hand is WAY more egregious. Friendy isn't a word, and PreCure isn't known for making mistakes that bad. But it could have either slipped through the cracks OR as these photos look like prototypes that were meant to be destroyed, it's possible Friendy is a typo and she's meant to be Cure Friend, Cure Friendly, or an idea my phone gave me via autocorrect Cure Trendy. Any of which could fit my theorized theme of dog styling or the latter to with a blanket theme of dogs. But they could also be placeholder names. Fake names used to differentiate the characters before they're ready to start publishing their real names.

Secondly is the design. Although I'm not classically trained (see above for self taught artist go brrr) I have a good grasp on art fundamentals via independent study. I was wondering why the designs looked so off to me, and outside of it looking like it was traced off of Aikatsu, I realized that these silhouettes SUCK. Having a strong silhouette is an important aspect of making an identifiable cartoon character. Case and point, a few previous seasons compared with these leaks:

(Pardon the rough nature of the silhouettes, I had to make my own on my phone) without the details, I have no idea what I'm looking at with these designs. With previous seasons, the silhouettes themselves gave us an idea of the vibes or even themes for the upcoming season. Here though? I mean my crappy silhouette of Cure Wonderful made her pigtails look like a cat sitting on her head when I asked my boyfriend for input. These silhouettes are incredibly weak with their long hair basically ruining their design by hiding their dresses. Fun fact! These are the same issues I had with Colgate-chan- oh sorry Alear from Fire Emblem Engage that made me think those were fake too. The minor details were the only thing that separated them from other characters since their silhouette was awful.

Now weak silhouettes aren't always a crime against art, however for a piece of media that is meant to sell toys, is in animation, and for children? Yeah no you need a strong silhouette for the audience to easily identify. The only reason such a weak silhouette would work in PreCure is because no other Cure has one this bland. You can tell which PreCure is Cure Wonderful because "oh that's the least fun looking one". Since her charm comes from the details you can't see when it's just her silhouette, that means that although they're all still cute, they could have been MUCH cuter, which Toei is typically really good at.

So in conclusion, are these definitely fake? I'm not sure. Given these products were probably taken home without permission from the manufacturer, it's possible these leaks are one of three things.

1. An INCREDIBLY well done fake leak, potentially by Toei themselves since they do that sometimes.

2. Real prototypes made with VERY early drafts of the characters and placeholder names that were intended to be destroyed once the designs/names got updated.

3. This is the real deal and this is going to be a fairly weak season in terms of aesthetic.

I'm personally leaning towards 1 or 2 since PreCure usually has higher standards of production. But hey, this is just my theory regarding these leaks. I know one of my girlfriends loves Cure Friendy, and I'm always here for more green rep in PreCure. I'm still excited for this season even if the aesthetic might be a bit weak. If there's anything I've learnt from PreCure, it's that even the most casual of seasons can get real dark real quick and somehow still work. Didn't Cure Grace literally leave someone to die... idk I haven't been able to watch a full PreCure season since like Go! Princess first came out 😭 fuck I'm getting old-

[badlysummedupmoviestournament]

If you recognize the movies/characters hiding behind the decoy titles, please do not give identifying details about them in the notes.

Villain n°1: Carnelian Tortoise

I just wanted a new friend or two and to make sure a child didn't end up destroying my entire nation, and this person, who is super cool, threatened to kill me! Or threatened I would end up dead. Same thing.

I met an acquaintance's girlfriend a couple years back, they eventually got married, and she turned out to be pretty cool. I admittedly have a strained relationship with their family, but that's on their end. They wanna hang out with ME, I'm cool! We could be buddies! Well, I later got wind of a kid in their care that, for complicated, boring reasons, needed to be...dealt with. I said the reasons were complicated, I'm not a monster. I have a lot of people I am doing my damnedest to keep safe from being slaughtered, or starting a war we may not win.

Instead of just EXPLAINING things (kid isn't what I thought), cool girlfriend/wife's sister in law humiliated me and threatened me with a frankly disgusting death, in front of both her family and mine. I had no choice but to back off, but this could all have been avoided had they talked to me before this unfortunate game of telephone. My responsibilities are bigger than hers, and she didn't understand that, and now we'll NEVER be friends, which sucks, because I really thought we could hang out.

Villain n°2: Box Fright

My very nature demands what decent folks would say is horrible. I am, however, deeply ingrained with the desires of humanity. Nothing I do isn't anything others wouldn't have come up with on their own. Then some foolish naïve girl tries to step in. She is just like all the rest. And she can't see how her own actions will perpetuate the cycle. I let them think the end of this fight will bring lasting peace, but peace doesn't exist here. It is just a pause until humans start back at it. No one really should blame me, I am just the reflection and if she thinks I am ugly she might not want to look at the real thing. What's worse is she killed me for it and didn't thank me for opening her eyes and even helping her along the way.

[thrythlind]

K-Pop Demon Hunters is a heavily relatable movie for me.

My family is largely supportive and great, but I have a tendency to look at them and feel like they are all so much better than I am. Better at social interaction, better jobs, more successful, better at sticking with something. I've built them to an example to match up to that is unreasonable and even now it is hard sometimes for me to remind myself that I'm not a mismatch with them.

I have felt like that inside outsider. There, loving my friends, loving hanging out with them and trying to join in on every conversation as much as I can, feeling inadequate when I can't. Getting worried whenever they are acting off the normal, afraid there's something terribly wrong with them that they need help with. I've rearranged my thoughts trying to think of ways I can help and discarding them and feeling helpless to help.

I have let my interests and urge to create run wild. I've pushed myself to the point of collapse and burnout. I've worried about my enthusiasm being too much, pushing on people too hard at the same time that if I let go over it for an instant that it will vanish like mist in the rising sun.

I've learned to be paranoid and have had to unlearn it. I've had people pretend to be enthusiastic about my interests, pretend to engage me in conversation, as a set up for some sort of cruelty. It is hard sometimes for me to take things on face value and not look for the dodge or fake when a stranger is nice or interested in me.

I have called myself "broken", "substandard", and "freak". I've asked myself what's wrong with me. I've had people ask "if I should be on drugs" followed by "should you be?" when I said no. I sometimes have difficulty telling how much of myself is scripted and how much of myself is really me. I have often described myself as a ghost, easily forgotten if I'm no longer there and I am terrified of forgetting other people. I don't know where the balance of enthusiasm and space should be sometimes. I've had conversations about "fixing" me. I still have moments where I think being ace is the same as being incomplete.

I have had public meltdowns. I've let anger, sadness, and guilt tear me up. I've spiraled out into self-harm and destruction of things I care about. I have destroyed my own creative endeavors. I have made it a policy or habit to make sure stuff I create is in multiple places so it is harder for me to destroy something in one moment of self-hate. I have been that twitchy, pacing, hunched over person, crying, moving from self-hate to self-recrimination and on and on until I run out of energy and have to stop because I just ran out of fuel.

I've had moments suicidal ideation. I've asked would it be better if I wasn't? I've considered how to do it. These events have rarely lasted even a minute and they are rare to non-existent currently, but consistently the only reason I didn't step from ideation to attempt is because I've always reminded myself that family and friends would be hurt if I did.

I've heard the theory that Rumi came to Celine because she figured that the person who raised was the one who cared enough to do it. But I think she came to Celine because she didn't want to force that on Mira and Zoey because it would hurt them and she didn't want to hurt them anymore.

I've had moments of epiphany. I came to realize I was ace/aro. I accepted that I was neurodivergent consciously and otherwise. Both about the same time in my early 40s (42 or so). I experienced friends accepting me without question save for "wait, you didn't already know that?"

And this has done a lot to help deal with everything else. But it didn't make those damaged parts of me go away. I have a better understanding of them and have a better handle on when to identify when they're happening. It's been a long time since I spiraled out. They've called me out when they're afraid I'm pushing too hard and heading for burnout. They're there to listen when I'm having difficulty and vice versa. They've encouraged me towards getting some treatment for my issues (still need to look into therapy, but I have an antidepressant prescription now).

Instant fix? No? There's no such thing. But I'm in a good place now, or at least a better one.