#//Also he grew up idolizing and wanting to be like his childhood heroes.

[kingspuppet]

Something else I want to touch on in regards to chess symbolism is the pieces being black and white. In both the anime and in the image from the end of the false reality, Goro is playing the white pieces and Joker is playing the black. And awhile back I had seen someone ask if there was any meaning behind it. I didn't see what the response was, but I do have a theory of my own. Goro's thought process in itself is a very black and white mindset. That there can only be one or the other. It's how he views his plans against Shido and the Thieves themselves. There's a right and a wrong way in his mind, and you can see how he struggles with that concept when he's asked to join the Thieves after their fight in the engine room. Because there hasn't been a way for him to deviate from his plans and ideals before. He never thought that was a possibility for him so he never considers it. As for the pieces he uses, I think a similar concept follows. To Goro the white pieces are the heroes and in turn the black ones are the villains. It's a very cut and dry thought process that follows the one or the other thread. So in his games against Joker he plays the "heroes" because that's what he's always wanted to be. He needs to be that hero. He wants to be that hero. It's his justice, which he thinks is right, against Joker's, which he thinks is wrong. That's not to say that Goro actually thinks of Joker and the Thieves as villains. He knows that they're similar, to a painful degree. But it all falls back to the black and white thinking of there can only be one or the other, and that anything in between is useless.

[star-ocean-peahen]

The more you think about Jason Grace's life, the more fucked up it gets.

Like, the whole "joined Camp Jupiter as a three year old" thing. We already know Camp Jupiter is fucked up because it places heavy importance on a child army, despite having plenty of demigod adults at hand, but they straight up recruited a three year old into the military. He showed up and got promptly stuck in a barrack for the rest of his childhood.

Like, why?? Why on earth would they do that instead of giving him to someone in New Rome to raise and inducting him into the legion at a respectable twelve??

And who raised him anyway?? A rotating cast of nineteen-year-old demigods?? His bunkmates in the Fifth?? If he was a young teenager I could see that, but he arrived when he was three, was he even potty-trained??? Did he just grow up being educated by bored teenagers and ghosts, watching as demigods arrived and served and retired, being told that he had to be the greatest of them all?? Did he have any other children to grow up with?? Did the legion even consider him different than the other recruits, or did he have to shovel unicorn dung when he forgot his phonics and live with the constant threat of perhaps being sewn into a bag of weasels??

I find it odd that Jason, as a demigod who grew up in a demigod's world, doesn't have his unique perspective explored more. I find it especially odd that the difference between his childhood and everyone else's is ignored. However difficult and varied everyone else's backgrounds are, they've at least attended a school. They had parents, and family, and a home, at least at one point. They had mortal toys and dwellings and communities that weren't merged inextricably with the myths. They knew where they came from. Do you think Jason, with his powerful, kingly father and impending destiny, ever felt like he didn't know who his family was?

I also find it strange that he doesn't seem to have a very wide network of friends from Camp Jupiter? He has Reyna, who he trusts and works with and depends on. He lists Hazel and Frank among his friends, but they look up to him as a role model. He mentions Bobby and Dakota familiarly, but never again. He's familiar and on good terms with basically everyone—but the only person he seems to consider as a close friend is Reyna. And that wouldn't be odd if he hadn't grown up at Camp Jupiter. He doesn't seem to have any constant companion—anyone he considers his family until he meets Leo.

Maybe he and Leo bonded so well because they both knew what it was like to grow up transiently. To have any constant in your life, and know that the day you would move on or they would move on was fast approaching. Maybe the reason he looked at Camp Half-Blood and admired how united and familial they seemed, and wished Camp Jupiter could be similar, was that he could see in them the family he wished he had.

Honestly, I feel like meeting Thalia should have left him in a lot more turmoil than it did. He grew up with no family but a god for a father, and here's a person who wanted him. Someone who always wanted him because he was Jason, and not the demigod son of Zeus. Maybe even someone to whom he mattered more than his destiny.

I really, really wish we'd gotten to see more of the contrasts between him and Percy. He is explicitly the Romans' version of the hero Percy is, except he's the hero first, and the person second. Jason did everything right! He did everything perfectly, and Percy still got where he did without being trained for it his entire childhood. He's got such a better reason to resent him than "bad vibes". They could have been foils for each other hhhhhhhrngh.

Just. This lonely, idolized, child soldier's life hurts me.

[kevlarcrack3d]

I'm gonna write headcanon pasts for the One Piece admirals! They're just so damn interesting and I love their mobster/rebel/yakuza theme! Kinda reminds me of the games lol.

BEWARE OF ANGST!: MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE, VIOLENT CRIME, UNDERAGE DRINKING, AND SELF-HARM

So, I looked at the childhood images of Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru and made what I could make out of what I can see in the images. No kid photos of Fujitora and Greenbull yet, do I used canon events as refs.

Akainu (Sakazuki) 🐶:

He had a turbulent childhood in a crime-riddled place. His father was a crime boss who abused him for seeing Marines as his hero, because his dad knew more that the Marines and WG were corrupt and shit. After all, the dad was a criminal, while Akainu genuinely wanted to serve in the marines and stand for his "justice".

A Marine he idolized gave him the tattered cap shortly before he killed his father because that Marine brainwashed and gaslit him into believing in his twisted justice during his stay in that area while searching for pirates. Akainu saw the battle and was instantly INSPIRED. He would become like his hero and blow up his shithole hometown.

Akainu has seen crimes, vices, violence, and all sorts of moral decadence in his place, so it's not surprising his views on justice got fucked up. He learned street smarts and how to fight due to his environment. He met Aokiji after killing his dad (it's anime logic where the young kid can kill an adult with fighting experience) and both had a rocky, love-hate (yes, I used to ship these two) relationship while wandering and doing odd jobs before being taken in by the Marines.

Since both grew up in turbulent, violent environments, they had the physical and mental strength (and fuckedup-ness) to fight in the Marines, and it'd be a waste to just let them toil while doing household chores, right?

So, they were taken in and trained. All the time, even until they were admirals, Akainu and Aokiji were arguing, always. Their opposing views, personalities, and justices didn't help either. Sometimes, they'd even be petty, like, Aokiji just moves Akainu's bonsai vase a little and Akainu is in a real foul mood and then shit hits the fan. It's very hilarious to see, especially when they were kids, they always had to be disciplined because they were always fighting 😂.

Akainu always had to deal with Aokiji's apathy and laziness. Akainu was the kid always angry and serious, so he was a rather amazing student - always "upright" in the Marines' eyes. Aokiji was the lazy but smart one, as in, super lazy. During teamwork training, Aokiji was kind of a slacker at first and Akainu would fight him always. It kinda died down over time as they became adults, but Akainu is still pissed about it, as always 😂.

Soon, Akainu burned down his pirate and criminal infested hometown. Fuck the innocents and everything. There are criminals there and he will send them to hell. And he succeeded.

Akainu also had a rather romanticized view of the Marines as a child due to his circumstances. Anything about spreading justice, order, and punishing criminals, and he'll be pumped up. This is the shit for him, and he's quick to plan and act when it comes to these. Despite his angry, wild nature, ever since he was young, he was ever so PASSIONATE about being a ROUGH, STRONG Marine man. Hence, the rose of the fuckin' lady killer sheesh 🥵. Something here's burning hot and it's not just the lava!

Yah, yah, I just spent over half the year creating yakuza/boryokudan OCs and well, I guess the dashing underworld outlaw prince swept me off my feet 🤩🤩🤩...

Aokiji (Kuzan) 🐦: Aokiji had deadbeat parents who always let him get beat up. He lived in the same area as Akainu. Due to his family being deadbeat, he picked up vices and began to drink at an early age. He decided to wander away, doing odd jobs. Despite his apathy towards most of the world and anger towards criminals, helping people with chores kind of softened his heart. This has helped him develop a sense of compassion, unlike Akainu, who did these chores as a way to work towards being accepted by the Marines. Sometimes, Aokiji would be dog tired and sleep a lot in his free time.

Soon, he met Akainu and they accompanied each other. Being alone was boring, and besides, they were kids. They'd argue a lot, even while working, AND especially when sharing a sleeping space. Oh boy, they'd get violent when one starts pressing agains the other.

And that's the definition of true love according to what my shipper brain said

The Marines soon took them in and they began to train. Aokiji was rather apathetic to this at first, but then actually began to warm up a bit to his job. Sometimes, it was even entertaining, especially arguing with Akainu or simply bullshitting his fiery frienemy. But, as Aokiji became an adult, cracks began to show.

Aokiji began to see all the misery and corruption. The causes of poverty and crime, a lot caused by the WG. He saw innocent people hurt due to the WG. Soon, he fell back to his apathetic ways. But, despite being so jaded and weary, he still had that kind-hearted side for those with benevolent intentions, regardless of them being pirates or otherwise. Soon, he wanted to be free to do this and resign from the Marines. Deep down, he had a heart like the snow, cold, and yet beautiful.

Dagnabbit, I'm crying why the fuck do I do this to myself 😭😭😭?

Kizaru (Borsalino) 🙈: Kizaru's family was the type that placed all their hopes on him to achieve their broken dreams for them, so they encouraged him to learn and study. He was rather pressured sometimes, but he did truly enjoy his studies and reading. He'd happily skip to the library sometimes and told them his stories. A light to their world, if I must say. Aaaand the feels are back 🥲.

Kizaru then decided to join the Marines, a decision his parents supported, seeing he could finally give them an ego boost, like "HOLY SHIT MY SON IS A MARINE, NOW, CLAP, GUYS". Not really his dream or what he wanted, but he just went with the flow. He was an easygoing, cool, chill dude anyway.

Soon, he met Akainu and Aokiji in training. He ALWAYS had to be there to calm these two down if they started arguing. One mean look from Akainu to Aokiji or vice versa, "woah there, now stop my dudes" Kizaru was the pacifier between them. He was also the quiet, cool, but very smart kid who always was in the topnotchers. However, he was the type to suck up to the government's ideals and decisions of the majority of the top brass and whatever view a certain faction of theirs chooses as right. He was like a ship bobbing on the waves without someone to steer it.

Soon, he got to meet Vegapunk due to his knowledge on some certain machines thanks to his childhood of reading. He would keep a VERY CLOSE EYE ON THE SCIENTIST. That's what he was tasked to do. He had no problem with that anyway. Then, he met Sentomaru, Kuma, and Bonney, and maybe, just maybe, his nonchalant, neutral personality slipped away, having seen the innocence of a kid who viewed him as an uncle and the sweetness of a father and his daughter. He found himself having fun for the first time, but maybe, he just didn't know it. But the memory stuck.

To thisbday, Kizaru is still nonchalant as ever, but maybe, I hope, something might happen in Egghead arc now with him. Could be good development for someone so dull, yet so bright.

Dammit. Them 2D cartoon seamen making me cry.

Fujitora (Issho) 🐯: Oh God, this is a dark one. Fujitora was a very unfortunate lad. He had an, abusive, overpopulated family who hated him and beat him to near death. They saw he was durable when he fought back and decided to sell him to the Marines. It wasn't fair. But the world's not fair. Always, Fujitora saw poverty and very VILE bastards in his place. It was not surprising to him. But, his hell was just going to begin.

Fujitora had a strong moral compass (besides his gambling) and trained hard to spread justice in the Marines. But, as his rank got higher, the more horrible things he saw in the WG. Corruption, slavery, hatred, and all things unpleasant. Ugh, he wanted to leave. Why? Justice is for everyone, right? So, why can't he bring it to those above him, who abuse their power? That's right, it was the world being unfair.

All the shit he has witnessed made him sick to the stomach. Are these the people he was working with and working for? Yuck. He decided to resign last minute before a promotion.

But, before he left, Fujitora reflected on his life before being sold to the Marines and after being sold to the Marines. Just the same. It was just the same back there. It was just unfair, so unfair. Wherever he went, there were always bad people oppressing the lass fortunate like he once was. Fujitora was unable to take the gravity in that moment and cut his eyes. He decided to cancel his resignation and return to the Marines. That way, at least, he can rise up to a position where he can stand for fairness. But if any sign of humanity comes before him, Fujitora will be unable to see it clearly again, despite his kind heart. He may feel it, but never see it, so he can only partially feel it. A prize to pay for justice.

This one was sad. And when kindness did come to his heart genuinely in the form of Luffy, he couldn't see those kind eyes 😭.

Ryokugyu (Aramaki) 🐂: This dude seems to have sucked according to the fandom, but screw that.

So, since he's quite the simp for the WG, Aramakiwas bought as a baby by the Marines, so all he knew was the WG's ideals.

Though unruly and wild, he was valued because he was loyal, even when he did things outside anything approved, like not asking permission to deal with certain peeps. He was also very destructive as a child, so he needed lots of discipline, too. In fact, this wild boy has been chided more than anyone could count they stopped scolding him altogether 😂!

[ladystoneboobs]

y’know, whatever the true parentage of aegon vi aka young griff, in a way he is more like rhaegar than jon snow is. by which i mean their attempts to force themselves into archetypal roles, rhaegar as the prophesied hero against supernatural dark forces and yg as the hidden-prince-in-exile come to save the country and restore peace and harmony by taking the throne.

rhaegar’s very existence is owed to a prophecy, when the ghost of high heart said the ptwp would come of aerys/rhaella’s line they were forced to get married by their father. his destiny was decided and agreed before he was born, as just a hypothetical male prince. bc ofc this promised prince must be a son born with a cock, right? no one ever looked for or expected a princess for this. and when he was born during the mysterious tragedy at summerhall, what could be more of a sign that the prophecy was fulfilled? no need to keep waiting for any more kids, anyone further down the line, this baby had such a dramatic entrance he has got to be the specialest boy of all. rhaegar likely knew all of this from a very young age. grandpa jaehaerys ii believed enough to force his kids to marry, so he wouldn’t want this important planning to go to waste by taking it to his grave, now, would he? was rhaegar reading all the time bc his favorite genre was old prophecy scrolls or was he always doing homework to become the hero he knew he already was? does it really matter when either way he never really had much choice in his role in life? one day he finally goes to train with the master-at-arms only bc he realized from his reading that he “must” be a warrior. he became as great at that as he was at anything else, according to ser barry, but he never enjoyed knighthood. 

to me that’s all a far cry from jon, who grew up idolizing daeron the young dragon and dreaming of glory and conquest. jon, who spent most of his waking hours training in the yard even when injured at the end of asos, just bc he didn’t know what else to do and it helped him blow off steam. jon, who had a nostalgic “hunger” in him when hearing the sound of swords in the yard as lc. the same guy who as of acok still couldn’t get why sam would consider old books and crumbling scolls to be treasure. jon, who has nothing but doubts once he does rise to power and herodom as lord commander and can’t conquer them. and most importantly, jon, the hero who chanced into his role as shield guarding the realms of men only bc ned won the fight at the toj after rhaegar died and took him to be raised in the north. if/when jon does return to life and take his place as a heroic head of the dragon, that role can only be his own choice, not one he was raised for his entire life, just as his membership in the night’s watch was ultimately his own choice based on his northern childhood. (jon’s conception may have also been prophecy-related, but beyond that, his path and rhaegar’s sharply diverged.)

know who was shaped for a royal destiny “since before he could walk”, though? that’s right, aegon in essos aka young griff. his destiny was already chosen for him by the schemes of illyrio/varys just as rhaegar’s was by grampy jae ii and other dragon prophecy nerds before him. he studied his scrolls and trained with the royal master-at-arms just as aegon studied in the routines of his entourages and was trained by knights of the golden company.

and, at some point, we know rhaegar realized he wasn’t the ptwp and decided it was his first son, aegon, instead. mostly bc a comet was seen the night of aegon’s conception. i remember seeing a post years ago saying rhaegar must have spotted the comet that night, run naked straight to elia, and declared they had to get babymaking asap bc the comet was a sign too significant to be ignored. a joke post, prob, but i feel like there’s prob a lot of truth to the idea of rhaegar desparetely forcing the signs to add up, concieving a child on that night after he’d already seen the comet rather than just happening to have sex with elia on the same night there just happened to be a comet sighting. i believe this bc why would it all just be lucky coincidence if aegon vi was not the ptwp? lbr now, whether he indeed got his head smashed in by the mountain or was switched out and sent to essos, rhaegar’s elder son was/is not the promised hero. (just like rhaegar himself could not be the pwtp, after all.) a previously-thought-dead-for-16-years newbie with shaky parentage credentials introduced this late in the game is not going to steal both jon’s and dany’s thunder like that, c’mon. so a comet appearing just for his conception feels about as likely as red rahloo actually killing 3 kings just for the sake of frickin’ stannis. it’s even possible that rhaegar later decided aegon might not be the ptwp either and put more stock in dragon head #3 bc of the whole ice and fire union aspect with lyanna. we just don’t have enough info about that part of the story to know for sure. but there’s no suggestion he was unhappy with elia beforehand or that either of them thought she could not bear more children until the maesters actually said so after aegon’s birth. and even if he was “right” about lyanna’s child being the most important one (ew), he was still counting on both aegon and rhaenys to be the other two heads of the dragon, and presumably planned to raise all 3 of them for their destiny together in kl as he had been. in which case his plans utterly failed, because that is just not at all what happened with any of those kids.

in that sense, death is what jon and his bio dad most have in common as they both walked fairly boldly and blindly into their doom. but the circumstances are still a bit different as jon was murdered in a mutiny rather than killed in battle, not to mention his likely resurrection as an actual hero of prophecy. despite being around 10 years older than either jon or aegon is presently, i’d say rhaegar was even more naively overconfident in his plans than jon was in his final moments. to go that quickly and without any known hesitation through each change of plans from simply being ptwp himself to becoming a warrior as well as a weirdo nerd to fathering 3 heads of the dragon to truly fulfill prophecy to organizing a political coup at harrenhal to honoring lyanna instead to eloping with her after aegon’s birth to make her wife #2 and mother of dragon head #3 to riding off to one definitve battle against cousin robert after hiding in his lovenest with lyanna for months, idk, that does not read to me as someone suffering the same questions and doubts jon did in the nw. rhaegar told jaime “when this battle’s done” not “if i return in victory” in their farewell. he had no back-up plans in case of his defeat, leaving elia with aerys and lyanna in the toj, no plans for how to protect either wife or any of his all-important prophesied progeny in the event of his loss, just as he had no immediate plans to deal with aerys yet. (compare that to idealistic young king robb stark, thought to be recklessly honorable and accused of thinking himself invincible in his youth, yet he still managed to make plans for his succession should he die childless in battle, and planned to put his wife and mother in strongholds held by trustworthy (sane) allies who could defend their positions for some time in his absence.) all that only makes sense to me if he always thought he’d still have time for all that later, never truly envisioning the possibility of house targ being overthrown so soon when all his hero kids were still babies. 

after all, whether he was the ptwp himself or only meant to raise the 3 promised dragon heads as heroes, surely their destiny was already written years before and he couldn’t go out in such a mundane way, right? i’d say aegon/yg shows the same kind of overconfidence in going along with all the gc’s changes in planning, from whatever varys/illyrio originally wanted with viserys iii alive to finding dany and marrying her after the birth of her dragons to leaving for an invasion of westeros first to conquer the stormlands himself before wedding dany as equals. he never imagined she could refuse him until tyrion told him so, and imo is still not grasping that his female relation could prove more important than him in westeros with her 3 dragons. rhaegar may have known he was doomed since his tragic birth among so much death and later knew he wasn’t the pwtp, but he likely still expected a higher doom, one as dramatic and magical as his birth at summerhall. he couldn’t imagine his chest being caved in by lyanna’s dumbass ex, his boorish cousin robert, just as aegon/yg can’t know what doom could be in store for him in westeros either. 

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for lying to my field trip partner and ruining his dreams?

Alright so, for context - I was in this field trip to a village to learn about the local legend for my assignment and I partnered up with a boy from another school that grew up in the village (Let's call him K).

He was awfully shy, but he seemed very nice, and it was really, really obvious that he adores the legend... though he was self-conscious talking about it since he was a big fan of the ogre that everyone was afraid of instead of the heroes of the story the townsfolk adored. But I didn't see anything wrong with having an opinion and I liked how happy he was talking about it and wanting to be its friend so I thought we were off to a good start of a friendship.

Now, here's where it all starts; At the local festival, I somehow ran into the actual ogre from the legend with K's older sister (let's call her C). The ogre dropped her mask and ran off scared. And the first thing C said after we realized who we just met was that she wanted to lie about encountering K's literal childhood idol because she was worried he'd act recklessly like chase after it in the mountains during the middle of the night.

I thought that was unfair but... guys, C has some serious anger management issues, she freaked me out too much to try risking it. Even if she wasn't actually planning to shove a ball of poison gas in my mouth, I was scared she'd get a stroke or something with how often she shakes in rage.

Not only that, but when we brought the mask to their grandpa, he came to tell us a whole bombshell about how everything we know about the legend is a complete lie... and then proceeded to ALSO tell us not to tell K the truth.

At this point, this felt more like a family matter that I wasn't sure I had the right to intervene on. So when he came up to me afterwards and asked me what I was up to... I went ahead and ended up lying to him.

He... really didn't take it very well.

He thought we were maliciously leaving him out on things and making fun of him behind his back... Which wasn't true - the ogre just dropped her mask and we wanted to have it fixed and return it to her - but considering how harshly C speaks to him, I can't blame him that much?

I apologized when the cat eventually was out of the bag, but then the ogre was intimidated about meeting someone new and hid behind me when K tried to give her mask back... He didn't take that very well either...

He challenged me to battle a couple of times but each time, he didn't take the losses very well. It wasn't like it was from a lack of trying because his team was genuinely getting better from every challenge. K was getting so upset about things that it was starting to make C worried.

A looooot of things happened throughout but it'd take too long to cover it all. But long story short, we all came to set things right for the ogre, clear her name, and went to return her home. But it turned out, she actually wanted to stay with me and have me become her new owner. K.... REALLY didn't take that very well.

K believed that the ogre would've acknowledged him and be his friend if he became stronger. So he wanted to battle me for the right to have the ogre as her new owner. C tried to talk him down about it since it was the ogre's choice but he really wanted to prove himself.

I thought it would've been much more worse if I held back since he was taking this very seriously, so I had my team hit his with all we got on that battle.

Well... he accepted the loss. But he was very obviously upset about it, and the next day he refused to come out of his room or even say goodbye when he and C had to go back to their boarding school. So it's been kind of a lot to take in these past few days...

So uhm... guys, AITA?

[softer-ua]

Imagine you get into your dream school but all your peers think your the equivalent of rotten garbage

your childhood idol is your teacher but he can’t wait for chance to beat the shit out of you

You win the schools sport championships you grew up watching, they chain you up as you have mental breakdown on global news and your childhood idol signs off on and exacerbates all of this

One of the top hero’s in the country personally requests you intern for them, it’s just for them to tell you that they don’t like anything about you and you can’t be a hero the way you are

Then you go to camp, you get teamed up with the guy you blame for your globally broadcast mental breakdown to go into a haunted forest to face ghosts aka the one thing you’re a afraid of and get kidnapped

Your idol, your class presidents, your first potential real friend in 10 years, the guy who you’ve felt inferior to your whole life, and the guy who “caused” your break down save you

Your idol nearly dies, loses his powers and secret identity while saving you and the entire world including your mom blames you for it

You finally work up the nerve to admit to yourself what you’ve know for a while now, you were completely in the wrong for hating your childhood friend, you pushed them away when all they wanted was to support you

so you try to change and be better, someone worth that kinda support, but you’re feelings for them are a whole mess so you still wanna keep them at arms length

But now they’re most popular kid in the country and also the most wanted, you realize that you would die for them but that’s not enough to save them, an arms length away was too far and they’re constantly slipping through your fingers

All the refined skill, raw power, and once in a generation talent doesn’t save you from being only another teen casualty in another war and it may not save anyone else either

[zingaplanet]

I'm curious if anyone else feels sad at the rise of Carlos Alcaraz...part of me wants to root for him. More than his brilliance, he seems like a really nice guy. BUT...I don't want Rafa's supreme legacy challenged in any way, shape, or form. I selfishly want Rafa to always be Spain's biggest icon and for his tennis records to be untouched. So I find myself rooting against Alcaraz. I just miss Rafa...

Anon that's completely normal! I completely get it. I think the feeling of idolation we have of someone is very unique, it's love, it's respect, but most of all it's wanting someone to do well (without any discernible reason or direct benefit to us!) I think tbh being a fan is one of the most positive acts (except when you over-imposed on their privacy of course!) one can do, you shower someone with love, support and admiration without expecting anything back. So you are definitely not being selfish, in fact, you are being selfless for the sake of another (although unfortunately since this is competitive sport and not the music industry where the winner takes all principle doesn't really apply, this might clash with other people's interests).

I think for me at least in sports, a good practice is to try and support/love with no expectations or demands. Our heroes don't really owe us anything nor us to them. There will always be another person, another winner, another number one, and there's nothing really we can do about it! History is always rewritten because nothing is ever eternal. But that also doesn't mean that it's not emotionally difficult. A bit like you always want your childhood memories to stay the same, your best friends to remain close to you as you grow old, and your favourite tv show to always plays on Friday night for the rest of your life. But time always moves on, especially in sports when career expectancy is very short! This past 5 years we're already seeing generations change not just in tennis but in all sports (And what a generation it has been!), no more Phelps, Serena Williams, Vettel, Federer, Kobe, etc. I personally think it's painful because these athletes are not just who we support but they've also become parts of our lives to a little bit (and maybe our youth), ways we remember good memories with! It's completely alright not to support the new generations, maybe that's something our children will have the privilege to discover (Someone their generation that they'll grow up watching!). But the danger maybe is when that fear of change turns into negative thoughts and actions, and for me I guess maybe that's why I kinda stopped watching tennis since awhile now. Players I used to watch growing up are no longer actively on tour, and that's ok, they grew up too! I just don't want to find reasons to irrationally hate anybody because I think I hate it the most when sports become a divisive force instead of a uniting one.

I think the key is knowing that records can be broken but legacies are forever. Because legacies are so much more than physical achievements (tournaments won, grand slams gained, etc), but how somebody is remembered in the memories of many! For me I'll never forget how watching the Wimbledon Final 2008 made me feel, the adrenaline, the rush, being surrounded by family during a nice, warm summer, or the inspiration I felt when watching Rafa get back up and up again from his injuries! That's what matters, I think, and that's what he said he wants to be remembered most by, not the guy who wins the most grand slam title, spain number one or anything, but just a good guy who competes fiercely and fairly, who are kind to his friends and fans, and who leaves the sport better than when he entered it! In a way, I think that's how they themselves as athletes make their peace with this, and why Federer was able to have such a happy retirement.

I don't know if this helps at all, sorry for accidentally being your tumblr psychologist, this is prob a weird answer to an ask! hahaha just giving you lots of mental support and hug <3 (Also sorry for the late reply! just had the time to go through tumblr properly now)

[seaofwine]

nostos

I think that everyone has their media of choice that they carry around with them since childhood. Mine was a copy of The Adventures of Ulysses, a small copy reprinted in the 80s that my dad had on one of the bottom shelves of his office. After borrowing it often enough I put it with my own books, it was small enough I trusted he would never notice. I carried it with me in the bottom of my backpack, slept with it on my nightstand, and tucked it into my suitcase when leaving home for the first time to visit Europe. I read it over and over again until my copy nearly disintegrated, memorizing passages that to this day still cross my mind. 

As a child, I idolized Odysseus. I wanted to be like him - clever, crafty, inventive. I thought he was The Coolest and couldn’t get enough of his mythology. It was this inexplicable obsession that confounded the adults around me. It was my comfort book. I too grew up on an island with its own stories of monsters and vicious tides when the wind turned - I lived for the sea. The ocean was home. I learned to tie fisherman’s knots from my Navy-vet grandfather, and picked out jelly fishing lures to play with and get stuck in the bottom of my pockets. I went kayaking with friends through the waterways and cut the bottoms of my feet so often on oyster beds that I have several permanent scars from their shells. 

This all is coming back to me now, after leaving home about ten months ago. In May it will have been a year. I’ve come down with a fever this week (thanks again Ms. Rona, just can’t get enough of me it seems) and in an attempt to reconnect with the story I have always loved, I’ve been reading sections of the Odyssey for the nth time. As I’ve been reading, I’ve been taking care to refer back to the Greek (when I have the energy to do so) and this word keeps catching my attention - νόστος. In its context, many translators keep it as ‘returning by sea from the sack of Troy’, while others give it a looser definition that applies to any return of a character or hero by sea from an adventure. This term, νόστος, also gives us the word nostalgia; this heartwrenching combination of nostos and algos, where algos ties this longing for home with not just an ache or sadness but with systemic distress at a lack of viable options to return home.

Sometimes these stories stick with you for a reason, a lesson or comfort you seek at different times in life. I am very fortunate that mine comes from my religion, where I can reach out to my gods for guidance when that pain and longing for a home that I cannot yet return to hits a little closer. 

[capsicrew]

30 WoL Think Thonkers

3. How do they feel about being Hydaelyn's chosen? (Feel free to break it down from ARR's "Champion of Eorzea" all the way to "The Savior of Etheirys" as much as you like. Have those feelings changed, or just grown more complex?)

J- Mostly, Jalliim takes it as a great honor. Something he strives to act as a great influence on others. Though, the reception has been harder--he is rather humble and still just wants people to see him as normal, and not with the hero idolization. This started out fitting his hopes. But as their deeds grew greater, he started being put more on a pedestal--and that's the part that makes him more uncomfortable. This position has helped him do a lot of greater good, but he doesn't want his position overblown. But he can't give it up--not when there's so much good to do.

C- Hard to say. If asked on the prospect, Capsisi would say its really annoying. She's not big on being the "plaything of deities." And she holds a certain disdain for Hydaelyn's manipulations. However, this likely would not stop her from doing hero work--its just convenient, then, that her goals align with Hydaelyn's intentions. More than Jalliim, she does not like being in the spotlight as a hero, however. And also unlike Jalliim, she's not too bothered with entertaining folks' ideation and avoids being in attention--keeping to the shadows and hidden from sight.

K- Truly, being Hydaelyn's chosen is like great childhood dream. Perhaps not in those specific terms, but she's always wanted to be the greatest and strongest--and being personally chosen by Hydaelyn (however it came to be) is just proof of how great she is--especially early on. As the stakes have grown and grown, the pressure of being the world's hero grew heavy in her heart--so its convenient that the occasional DRK quest has provided some good therapy. Working through these new conflicting feelings combined with her original, and still ever-present enthusiasm--that's what really pushed her to carry on the last stretch of Ultima Thule alone. She'll be the hero because she IS the hero.

B- So much of the early quests, for Beutiq, felt a lot like he was just being dragged from one horrible situation to another. He hardly said anything, and just kept going. But, in truth, he was only sorta being dragged form place to place. Deep inside, there was a part of him that wanted to see everything--the whole adventure. The horrible dangers and magical highs. So many wholly unique experiences that so few will never see. All coming together to inspire his artistic endeavors. And all his own experiences. It took him a long time to get there, though. Again--even up through Shadowbringers, he didn't know how much was what he wanted and how much was him being flung around by the wind. Befriending Krile in Eureka, and eventually becoming good friends with G'raha really helped him find his way. He's gonna be a practically new Beutiq going into Dawntrail!

E- Ejvi falls in a similar vein as Capsisi, but comes at it from a different emotional angle. All she cares about is doing what she wants--any coinciding with Hydaelyn's intentions is a convenient coincidence. She's happy to do it, but doesn't do it because Hydaelin wills it so. And the turn-out is great. As stated before, she's more than happy to flaunt her notoriety to put pressure in the right places and get what she wants. Of course, it's fortunate she has a good heart--and she would never try to, like… actually harm or manipulate others. Just more along the lines of, "hey I'm the Warrior of Light, buy me a round, wont you?" and then, like… just hope they do and let it go if they don't, lol

[canaryinfishnets]

Is that [Lily-Rose Depp]? No, that’s [Dinah Lance], AKA [Black Canary]! [she] appears to be [26]. [she] has the abilities of [canary cry, master martial artist, armed/unarmed combatant, acrobatics/parkour] which makes them a powerful [hero].

CHARACTER BASICS

CHARACTER’S FULL NAME: Dinah Laurel Lance

NICKNAMES: Pretty Bird, Di, Canary, Songbird.

MEANING OF NAME: Justified

AGE: 26

ZODIAC: Leo

SUPERPOWER: Canary Cry

ALIAS: Black Canary

NATIONALITY / SPECIES: American / Metahuman

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, Chinese, Mandarin, Japanese.

ORIENTATION: bisexual

PRONOUNS: she/her

PERSONALITY

GOOD PERSONALITY TRAITS: compassionate, protective, adventurous, idealistic

BAD PERSONALITY TRAITS: jaded, vengeful, reckless, stubborn

PERSONALITY TYPE: ESFJ

ARCHETYPE: The Consul

GOALS/DESIRES: to continue fighting crime as Black Canary. To one day retire safely.

FEARS: to end up like her parents due to her career of choice.

WHAT WOULD MOST THROW THIS CHARACTER’S LIFE INTO COMPLETE TURMOIL: losing a loved one due to her own mistakes.

CHARACTER’S SOFT SPOT: robin hood types, Italian food.

HOBBIES: shopping, working on her motorcycle, singing, training.

HABITS: N/A

PAST

HOMETOWN: Gotham City

CHILDHOOD: Dinah Lance was born to Dinah Drake and Larry Lance. Her father a Gotham Detective and her mother is the original Black Canary and part of the Justice Society, Dinah was always around heroes. However, there was a strain in her childhood as her father was killed on the job, her metagene activated uncontrollably and her mother was against her becoming the new Black Canary.

EDUCATION: American High School Education; further teaching from Ted Grant, Richard Dragon and Lady Shiva.

FAMILY

PARTNER: n/a

CHILDREN: n/a

MOTHER: Dinah Drake Lance

RELATIONSHIP: Dinah Sr and Dinah Jr have a difficult relationship. Though she idolized her mother, she also resented her absence due to being a vigilante. It wasn't until her metagene activated when she was a teenager she thought she could be a vigilante herself but her mother was set against it, especially after her father passed away. The two would often bicker about it, with Dinah wanting to show she could do this while Dinah Sr believed that the world of crime fighting had gotten considerably darker. After her mother was injured and died on the job, Dinah decided to take on the mantle of the Black Canary to honor her mother at 18 years old.

FATHER: Larry Lance

RELATIONSHIP: Dinah and her father was close though, much like her father, as she grew up, she began to resent the time away from home. It seemed her parents were often more interested in the streets of Gotham than her. However, it wasn't until he was murdered in a shoot-out when she was 13 that she truly regretted her feelings of anger toward him. Before his murder, Dinah did want to be a cop like her father until her metagene activated.

FATHER-FIGURE: Ted Grant

RELATIONSHIP: Ted Grant adopted Dinah after the passing of her parents. He was the one who guided Dinah when her metagene activated and after she declared her wanting to take on the mantle of the Black Canary, Ted was the one who taught her how to fight. How to operate on the streets and to be effective as well as getting up after she took a blow. Dinah holds a great amount of respect for him.

SHORT BIO

Dinah Lance was born with justice running through her veins. Her father was Gotham Detective, Larry Lance and her mother were Dinah Drake Lance, who was turned down by the GCPD and instead took her training to the streets as a vigilante in Gotham. Her mother also ran a florist. She was also raised around her mother’s friend and sometimes partner Ted Grant built a special bond with him after her father passed away from cancer. Despite her fascination with heroics, she began to resent her mother more due to her missing out on things in her life due to her commitment to crime-fighting. The fact her mother didn’t want Dinah going out there and into the same business only spurred her on more.

She took things into her own hands, taking a strong interest in athletics and signing up for Judo lessons which her mother promptly stopped when she found out despite Ted insisting that Dinah was a natural. Dinah eventually convinced Ted to train who taught her self-defense techniques before she convinced him to up the training to more extreme measures to get her fighting ready. As a teenager, her metagene activated and with no control, Dinah heavily damaged the school she was attending in Gotham. Her mother agreed to let Ted help train her scream if it meant Dinah could live a normal life. Dinah shared a touching moment with her mother who agreed to hang up her costume and retire from the crime-fighting business. However, she was killed on her last job which devastated Dinah.

Adopted by Ted Grant, Dinah continued training with him and by the age of 18, she went out on the streets of Gotham as a vigilante. Wearing a costume inspired by her mother, she ran out there in heels, fishnets, a black bodice, jacket, and mask. Ted insisted that she was not ready but came back, bruised and hurt, but with the crooks in way worse shape behind her. However, Dinah was struggling to make a name for herself in Gotham and she had too many close calls with deadly situations. Her mother was right in that the crime in Gotham truly had changed.

Selling the family florist business that truly was on its last leg, Dinah bid farewell to Gotham and decided that she would take a gap year traveling East Asia before returning to simply live a normal life. It was in Japan she met Richard Dragon who gave her brutal tutelage on how to fight, almost killing her several times. It was here Dinah really upped the ante of her fighting skills and she also met someone who would become her rival, Lady Shiva. Learning from both of them as well as holding onto Ted’s teachings, Dinah felt like she now truly had the skill to make a difference.

When moving back, Dinah decided to not settle for Gotham City. She had heard the news of a vigilante running around there and how crazy things had gotten. That and Gotham had taken her mother and father from her and there was no way she was going to let Gotham take her.

[giftedverse-confidential]

Tenshi Zokukurai

Tenshi Zokukurai, codenamed Heavenly Heroine: Angelina and later to Archangel, is one of the main characters of the Giftedverse. She is a student in Miss Parker's class. She is the younger sister of Archangel.

Description

Tenshi is a short, fat college aged Japanese woman with pale skin, white hair, and gold eyes. Her hair is naturally curly. All over her body are gold freckles. Tenshi has an angelic appearance with a halo floating above her head, feathers in place of ears, and a pair of golden wings with red and yellow layers.

Two things she wears no matter what are the necklace she got on her 17th birthday and Gargoyle's (@calciumcryptid) scarf.

Personality

Kind and caring, Tenshi is someone many people find pleasant. She has a cheery, upbeat attitude and is quite energetic. Despite all that's she's been through in her personal life, she remains hopeful and optimistic. She knows there are many people out there who will try to crush her spirit but she will never let them.

She is naturally empathetic and feels things deeply (when others cry, she cries too). It's easy for her to sympathize with other people and relate to their struggles or feelings-- especially if it's something she's also experienced.

Despite always bring willing to lend a helping hand, Tenshi knows that not everyone can be redeemed; but also knows there are a lot of people who do deserve a second chance.

Do not mistake Tenshi's kindness for weakness. She can and will stand up for herself and others when the time comes for it and doesn't hold back her anger either.

History

Tenshi was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture to Rentaro Zokukurai and Amako Tenhou. Tenshi had a relatively normal childhood save for the fact that her and her older brother Tensen weren't close. In fact, he outright rejected her when she was brought home from the hospital.

Growing up, Tenshi had a huge admiration for heroines and wanted to be just like them. One heroine she was a huge fan of was Glimmeria because she was strong and brave but kind. Whenever there was coverage of one of her battles on TV, Tenshi was there to watch it.

She showed potential for incredible power at a young age and a doctor's appointment revealed that she had a combination of Rentaro's Angel and Amako's Phoenix Gifts. Both her parents helped Tenshi gain control of her powers by training her.

Tensen's cruelty and mistreatment towards her grew as she got older, particularly whenever she expressed getting stronger. This behavior prompted their parents to send Tenshi away to her aunt Sachie out of fear for her safety. Tenshi returned home after Tensen left for college.

On the night of her 17th birthday, Tenshi was gifted a necklace by her parents with a picture of the three of them inside. That would be one of the last times she'd see them alive.

In the evening hours of the day after, Tensen broke into their house and attacked Rentaro. Amako and Tenshi quickly escaped and headed to Sachie's house. However, Tensen caught up with them and attempted to kill his younger sister.

Amako interfered and told Tenshi to hurry to Sachie's house. When Tenshi got there, all she could do was cry.

In the early morning hours of the next day, police found the bodies of Rentaro and Amako. Sachie was granted custody of Tenshi since she was still a minor. In the wake of her parents' deaths, Tenshi received a letter from her idol Glimmeria telling her to be strong and honor her parents memories.

This drove Tenshi to further push herself to become a Hero and she applied for Templar College of Heroics towards the end of her senior year.

Gifts

Holy Angel

Tenshi is a hybrid of an angel and a phoenix, combining both her parents Quirks. She has an angelic appearance and powers including purification, light based powers, and flight. She is also able to use her halo as a boomerang.

Some of her phoenix based powers (from her mother's side) include fire mimicry, a small but fast healing factor (not regenerative though), and fire manipulation. When both powers combine, Tenshi's might seems limitless.

While she is incapable of using her plumage as blades similar to her brother, she can use them to pick up far away sounds and to create shockwaves by flapping her wings with enough force.

Relationships

Tensen Zokukurai | Archangel

Tenshi has nothing but contempt and anger towards her brother. Not only did he kill their parents with no remorse, but he did it all because he was jealous that she was more powerful than him. She knew he would come after her one of these days and prepared herself to be ready to face him.

After Tensen is defeated, Tenshi takes his hero name for herself. When she learns he was killed before he could stand trial, she feels nothing about it and says he deserved it.

Hishi Tenhou | Phoenix

Tenshi sees Hishi as more of a brother than she ever did Tensen. The two have a great relationship and Hishi has always been there to support her alongside his mother and cousin Akisada.

Akisada Zokukurai | Nephilim

Akisada also acts like a big brother to Tenshi. He looks out for her and supports her whenever he can. They have a good relationship.

Emma Seiza

Tenshi and Emma are best friends since they both came to Eden Island for heroics training. The two first talked at orientations when Emma noticed that Tenshi had a Glimmeria charm on her bag. They then ran into each other again during the entrance ceremony and that's when they really began talking. Emma praised Tenshi on how strong she was during the beta combat trials and said she looked forward to sparring her one day.

Since then, they've been joined at the hip. They do a lot together alongside the other girls in both their class and year.

Ritsumi Tatsumaki

Ritsumi and Tenshi originally started out as roommates but soon progressed into friends. At first Tenshi was a bit put off by Ritsumi's hyperactive nature but came to appreciate it over time.

Gaultier "Gargoyle" Caulderfield (@calciumcryptid)

Tenshi's boyfriend and future husband. Ever since the day he saw her across the courtyard with some friends of hers, she's been the subject of some of his paintings. He's the one who made the Renaissance level painting that she has in her room, which was presented to her shortly before he broke a window and flew off in embarrassment.

Quetzalli Rosario Solano (@opalofoctober)

Ever since Quetzalli laid her eyes on Tenshi, she has been itching to have her as a trainee. She finds Tenshi absolutely adorable and would love to have her as a sidekick in the near future.

Hoshi Akiraka | Aureole (@floof-ghostie)

Aureole was Tenshi's freshman year mentor.

[autumn-sweet-fae]

I don't think Leon is a himbo? If I may suggest, maybe Leon can't leave as soon to Sinnoh as he hears about Ingo because of the Battle Tower? And rather than getting lost in different regions, he and Hop follow how things develop from Galar until they can leave. Leon tells Hop what he remembers and knows about the twins, including Ingo's disappearance. Once in Sinnoh, they happen upon or intentionally meet Elesa and Emmet. Maybe they get separated from them when the hospital escape happens?

You’re right! He’s not actually a himbo. I think I should have worded that better.

And yeah, he would stick around Galar for a while, to get a better picture of what’s happening. But like the folks in Unova, it’s hard to get a clear idea to what’s actually going on when so much of what’s coming out of Sinnoh paints Ingo as this wicked caricature. So after setting up contact with Sonia and Drayden he and Hop will set out for Sinnoh. I said they’d be lost for ‘two months’ more out of comedic effect, but realistically it would be a few weeks. 

I do still want him and Hop to wonder to the different regions, constantly getting lost and turned around, because 1: This way I’ll have a chance to do fun cameos of characters from other games who are following the story and want to help, and 2: it’s a brother bonding road trip for Hop and Leon! And yes, Leon will tell Hop about Ingo and Emmet both before and during their travels.

I really want to keep them showing up at Spear Pillar mid battle, but I do also see the opportunities of your idea of them arriving in Sinnoh sooner.

Like the dynamic of Hop and Barry would be so cute! Both are the life long rivals of their childhood bff who went on to become the champion. Also both grew up idolizing an incredibly successful family member who seemed unreachable, for Hop his brother and for Barry his dad.

Though the issue is, what role Leon and Hop would play once they are introduced to the plot proper that early? They are both Very strong trainers and I’d rather have the focus stay on the core characters. There’s a power balance I gotta keep and for our heros to have Hop and Leon on their side when the go to rescue Emmet would be too much. Also once they are there I can’t sideline them without good reason because they are both so competent and strong. That’s why I’d prefer to have them show up as the unexpected support in the final act.

[metvmorqhoses]

What are your thoughts on Bella's relationship with her family, her sisters and parents? Do you agree that she was 'abused'? And who do you think she was the closest to?

No, I don't absolutely agree she was abused in any way. I think that notion comes from the misconception of what normality was like for an ancient family of dark wizards. You cannot expect from the Blacks a Weasley or a muggle beahivior.

Bella was born into a family of wolves, and wolves have their own culture and their own ways of treating their kind. If they showed teeth, that doesn't mean Bella registered it as abuse. She was a wolf with teeth of her own.

I actually think Bella was spoiled rotten by her family and even very loved, at least in the best way they knew how. Loving someone and understanding someone are two very different things, sometimes hindering each other. You can only love someone as you are able, and perhaps not in the way they would need, your own limitations heavy on the equation.

I think Bella was very loved by her family, even considered a reason of pride really, yet I don't think they could actually truly understand her - her vision, her dreams and needs, too unconventional and free for the kind of aristocracy she was born in.

Narcissa was much more the epitome of the "perfect pureblood daughter" on paper, yet I think everyone in the family still had a preference for Bella, even if she was in a constant personality clash with all the adults in her life.

That's why ultimately Voldemort became so important to her, he gave her true self life, her dreams wings. Voldemort freed her from the golden cage she was born in, actually giving her the keys to it. He helped her become who she had always felt destined to become.

As for family relations, I think Cygnus had a soft spot for Bella, but that he actually saw her more as he imagined her to be (the perfect, yet only there to be admired crown jewel of his house of stars) than as she truly was (a jewel yes, but a diamond, cutting through everything and weaponized), and I think this fact progressively made their relationship sink. The more Bella grew up and saw Voldemort as her fatherly figure, the more she did not fit that mental image anymore.

Regarding Druella, I imagine her really fond of Bella, but deep down equally scared for and of her. I think she saw who Bella was much more clearly than Cygnus, and even while wanting for her daughter what she couldn't have (emancipation from only being a lady at the arm of a powerful man), I don't think she actually ever accepted for it to become reality, or better, I don't think she thought it ultimately worth the risk. In fact I think she was the one that insisted Bella should marry into a powerful family and soon, perhaps hoping to shield her from the repercussions of the cause - not knowing the Lestranges were actually already under Bella in the DE hierarchy.

As for her sisters, I think Bella was very fond and protective of them just as much as she was loved by them, but again their fundamental differences and mindsets progressively set them emotionally apart.

I don't think Narcissa ever understood Bella's need for revolution and power, nor her admiration and then eventual love for Voldemort, things that she absolutely resented more and more. I think Narcissa saw Bella as the one who brought trouble into the perfection of her family, first in her childhood and then in her marriage and she never forgave her for it. I think her actions in the last book originated precisely from that. It wasn't only the action of a mother protecting her son, but also sly retribution towards both Vold and her sister for bringing so much terror and despair into her life.

Andromeda, on the other hand, more like Bella in both looks and character, originally idolized her, seeing her as her hero and role model, until she eventually realized just how far she had gone and how much her life would be inconvenienced by the war her sister had helped to start. I think Andromeda had always wanted to be just like Bella in theory, but lacked much of the actual qualities that made Bella such a spirited and fearless creature. I think Andromeda backed away at the first sight of hardship or horror. I'm absolutely convinced Andromeda run away with Ted more out of spite and to prove herself something, that she too could rebel and have her own life (albeit in a much more reserved and safe fashion), than out of love for Ted, or genuine disdain towards the cause. I have a real soft spot for Surrogate's characterization of Andromeda, I love her ruthlessness and badassery, the idea that everything happened because of and out of jealousy for Voldemort's place in Bella's heart, but I ultimately think that the real Andromeda's actions were in truth much more selfish and lacking depth. She probably was somehow jealous Bella was becoming the head of their family, angered no one was reining her in, permitting her to shake their lifestyle to the core and now even threatening the muggle pet that made her feel so superior and special. I think that made her snap.

Despite all of this, I'm convinced Bella never stopped deep down loving her sisters. That doesn't mean she wasn't conscious and outraged by their behaviour, though. I don't think Bella loved them blindly. Even while loving Voldemort blindly she still could discern clearly when he was absolutely wrong. It's a sign of great intelligence and presence of mind and spirit.

As for closeness, I actually think she was closest to Sirius. Of course their path split pretty rapidly after he run away and Bella became the embodiment of Voldemort's cause, but even years later, after Azkaban's hell and while duelling, you could see the fondness they still had for each other while they teased each other at the Department of Mysteries. Also, Bella clearly killed him by mistake.

[hamliet]

Not Agaaain! - Or, Hawks Will Have To Choose Twice Over

Large parts of this meta are taken from a conversation with the always-wise @aspoonofsugar, who is herself not a huge BNHA fan, but keeps up with it mostly so that I can blather to her constantly. 

I think I’ve already been quite clear that I think it an odd narrative choice to teaming up with the hero commission to save Dabi. While the text has strongly indicated Touya will be saved eventually, I don’t quite see how the top three heroic symbols can play a role. 

Shouto himself to Enji that he cannot earn his family back through being a hero, but instead by being a father:

Like, does anybody think Enji should be able to have it all--the esteem of heroes and the commission and his family? When the entire narrative has set it up as either/or, as a choice Enji will have to make since he made it previously and chose... poorly? 

Even in this chapter, Best Jeanist is focused on what to say to the public, not on, you know, the actual revelations. It’s a focus on leaving the past in the past, because “things are different now.”

Except that attitude is precisely what Dabi was calling out:

And it isn’t only stated by Dabi, but by Natsuo:

And also by Deku himself:

Which isn’t to say that isn’t where Dabi’s arc will probably go eventually (moving on) but is to say the wounds from Dabi’s past are still very much festering, and literally so. 

You gotta treat these wounds, not leave them to heal on their own, because some wounds are too deep to heal on their own. Touya most likely fell into the wrong hands after burning in the forest (Ujiko seeming a likely suspect) that might have fixed him up in the present, but did nothing to address the actual circumstances that led to him self-immolating in the woods. He needs to learn emotional regulation and have his pain acknowledged, not ignored (the symbolism is again very literal):

So how do we do this? Because the heroes right now seem to be sweeping things under the rug again which worked so well the first time. And maybe this is supposed to happen and we have to suspend disbelief because BNHA is kinda like that sometimes. But I’m not so sure, and frankly I hope not because it’s... not awesome writing, and I’d like BNHA to be well done. 

So how does this connect to Twice and Hawks? Well, Hawks is clearly thinking about Twice in these panels: 

However, Hawks still isn’t realizing his own role in what happened; it’s simplistic and self-centered, which has kinda been Hawks’ thing since his introduction.

Hawks directly states that he’s projecting onto the Todorokis this chapter:

Now, projection isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and I don’t doubt he sincerely wants to help his mentor. I do doubt his rationale. To quote Sugar-chan,

instead of fixing his own issues, he is trying to fix his childhood idol. I think the revelations about Endeavor have actually shaken Hawks, but he is not acknowledging them. 

He’s not getting to the route of his own problems: the hero commission exploiting him and his own choice to kill Twice.

Let’s examine why Hawks seems to have latched onto Twice so hard. They have quite a bit in common: they grew up traumatized and impoverished, but one had their quirk lead others to save them and one did not. Twice was also mentally unstable and believed he was the cause of the League’s problems (self-centered in a sense, but not in a negative connoted way); it sounds not only similar to Hawks, but to Tomie. I mean, he legit makes Twice the exact same offer the hero commission gave him and Tomie. 

Hawks killing what represents the part of himself that wasn’t saved does not typically indicate good things in terms of character development. Unlike when Enji killed High End, Twice is not Hawks’ negative qualities, but is instead also his good qualities. Hawks even says he wants to be like Twice:

Hawks’ having killed Twice might very well impede his goal to help the Todorokis. Dabi and the League don’t have any reason to trust Hawks and have some very good reasons not to; double-agent role aside, Hawks offered a chance to Twice and then when Twice didn’t take it (because Hawks wasn’t actually listening to what Twice wanted: to save his friends), Hawks stabbed him in the back, quite literally. 

Dabi was even there for that; why would he trust Hawks is genuine? Why would he trust his family if they’re working with Hawks? 

There’s little indication that Hawks sees seeking to save Touya as anything different than his quest to save Twice, and writing-wise, he kind of shouldn’t. Hawks has had absolutely no consequences to deter him from following the same route. Unless the past only dies for Hawks or he’s gotten from Point A to Point B of realizing the past matters offscreen (since he’s literally said it doesn’t since his introductory chapter):

Given the prominence of Twice’s death (not just in the narrative, but it had a volume cover devoted to it; you’d think it’d be pivotal) this does not seem like awesome writing, so I’m going to assume that this is setting up a future conflict for Hawks rather than resolving one. 

So what happens when Dabi refuses to be saved, which seems almost certain to happen? (Also for people who might be nervous about that: rejecting redemption several times is a staple of a redemption arc.) What will Hawks do then? 

How will that differ from what Shouto would do? (If Shouto’s endgame would be to follow Hawks’ lead, then it doesn’t make much sense to have Hawks admiring Shouto instead of the other way around, nor for a character introduced halfway through to demonstrate how to solve the problem midway through the story when killing villains isn’t really new or unique). 

Unless Hawks gets those consequences, why would he make a different choice than the one he made last time he was driven into a corner?

[megashadowdragon]

way to gaslight your own fans on the annabeth racechange in adaption

comments on youtube

I’m so happy you’re talking about this, Rippa.  I read Percy Jackson in the 5th grade.  It spoke to me, it influenced me, and I grew up idolizing Rick Riordan.  I read his statement yesterday and my heart dropped into my stomach.  I couldn’t believe this guy who had been such a great childhood inspiration had just basically called me racist for wanting the character to look how he told me she looked. I really don’t understand why having an actor that actually looks like the character they’re portraying is such a bad thing to these people, makes me even more surprised that Nami wasn’t race swapped in the live action One Piece show, and she’s a ginger. The thing is that race swaping a character for the sake of inclusion is insulting to both ethnicities involved. They're basically saying that the original white characters are either worthless, bad or defective and they need to change; and that the black race being use as a substitute doesn't have original heroes or historical characters worth exploring and that the only way for them to be worthy of attention is to give them the character/positions of previously established white characters.

I am beyond happy that you're tackling this, Eric. I've been a Percy Jackson fan since 6th grade. This is criminal like you wouldn't believe, this is not Annabeth. Annabeth is white with blonde hair and stormy grey eyes, a daughter of Athena. She ain't black and never will be, I've been reading Rick's books for years and this feels terrible. I know he's been going woke in his latest series, but I truly thought that's PJO fans were getting the show we deserved. Never again, I'm not buying any other book from this man ever again. Not even the new Nico book that he's writing.Show less

Rick is such a liar. On the one hand he admits that he was beholden to Disney’s hiring practices which is nothing more than a racial and sexual quota system. On the other he suggests it was an open casting and they were going to hire the best person for the job regardless of their intersectionality traits. Sorry, but you can’t have both. Unless of course he is suggesting that after the year-long auditioning process there was a possibility he was going to cast three blonde haired blue-eyed actors in the three main roles. I’m fairly sure that was an impossibility.Show less

The thing that's crazy is that there are characters of different races in the story. Especially in the sequel series. Niko and Bianca are from the first story and Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Piper are from the sequel series. All of them are major characters in the story My best friend is a huge fan of the books and was looking forward to seeing this series. But not anymore, because of the casting of Annabeth. She loves those books, but now believes that the author is a sellout. Also, if the show makes Athena black, I'm gonna be pissed.

Basically any white character (or even historical real life person) is free game to be changed for whatever reason. But any POC character is absolutely never ever allowed to be changed in any way, ever.

I have seen people try to defend changing annabeths race  by going annabeths race didnt have anything to do with her story  so its okay to change it and have her played by a black actor when would that logic apply to a character from a book series who was black but then in the adaption was played by a white actor if you would ocmplain you have no right to complain about someone getting upset if say a character who was white in the original story was played by a black actor ( the claim that they were just looking for the best available actor is bs for they wouldnt ever do this  in reverse where was say a character who was black in the books but then they had a white guy play him even if he was better than the black guy they would pick the black guy

no diversity/representation doesnt make it different

( its not different

lets be real here if say a black person and a white person tried to audition for blade ( who in the comics isblack) the black person should get the role ( I doubt that they would even accept/allow any white person to audition for the role 

I never saw leah act but it really doesnt matter if she is a good actress or not the fact is annabeth is white she is black the actress should match annabeths features  so it doesnt matter  whether or not leah is a good actress she shouldnt play annabeth just like a white person shouldnt play blade(Eric Cross Brooks) from marvel comics  regardless of whether or not he is a good actor ) no one would use the what if he was the best actor for the job argument for a case like that and the attempts to justify it by going but there arent many black characters makes me roll my eyes it doesnt matter ( make your own you dont get to complain  about a character being whitewashed then claim racism if someone isnt okay with blackwashing   ( one bad justificationto the other to misusing the term racism  )  I wouldnt be okay with miles morales being played by a white person )  we both know that the race change isnt because she is best actress for the job its because they had a problem with the fact that keeping it accurate to the races meaning the main characters would mostly be white ( which isnt a problem unless you would have a problem with most of the main cast being nonwhite)

[quetemate]

On Vannika and the Ivan Tsarevich allegory

(aka damn why is this bitch the way that she is)

I actually meant to explain more at the time when I posted this comic that showed some brief moments of Vannika’s childhood, but in essence I really, really love the method of telling a story via another story (esp. folktales or religious passages) and Vannika’s New Vegas storyline contains a lot of allegories to the fairytale of “Ivan Tsarevich and the Wolf” (also known as “Firebird”).

(rest is going under a cut because it’s long lol)

Although herself being born in the Mojave, Vannika’s parents are both (ethnically Ural Cossack) Russian immigrants, so she had a very strong Russian cultural influence growing up, which would include speaking exclusively Russian at home (or almost just in general, she lived in the middle of nowhere), and reading only Russian literature. This can be seen in the way she styles herself and in some of the ways she speaks, and the references she makes as Courier Six. Unfortunately, since her parents were also devout followers of the Eastern Orthodox religion and not very great parents, this meant that they pushed a lot of their conservative, misogynistic beliefs on Vannika.

Vannika’s parents, but especially her mother, Susana, had always wanted a son, and Susana was certain that she would be having a boy when she was pregnant with Vannika. When Vannika was inevitably born as a girl, Susana was devastated, and would often openly blame young Vannika for the post-pregnancy medical complications she sustained that would “prevent her from ever having the son she wanted”. While in her heart she did, I suppose, “love” Vannika, she also resented her and was subtly, emotionally abusive. Susana had planned on naming her child Ivan, like the titular character of many Russian folktales. This is also represented by how the diminutive for “Vannika” can be the same as the name “Ivan”, aka “Vanya”.

Internalizing the misogyny instilled in her by her parents, but also maybe just because, as a young girl, Vannika very much wished to become a prince when she grew up. She wanted to become the Ivan Tsarevich they had wanted so much for her to be, and not be subjected to the life of being a housewife and married off to the son of a family friend like they had pre-planned for her.

In her parents’ mind, there was no way Vannika could ever take over the butchery business they had worked so hard to build for themselves, they needed to guarantee that there would be a hard-working young man in the picture, and it seemed to them a beneficial move to merge families with the neighboring ranch.

This son of a family friend, Isaiah Proctor, was a kind boy. He’d never done any wrong, and he was always nice to Vannika when they were forced to hang out together, despite the fact that he also had no interest in having to eventually marry her. But to Vannika, he represented everything she feared for her own future; marrying someone she didn’t love, being relegated to the role of a quiet housewife, living forever on that lonely ranch in the middle of nowhere, under her parents’ thumb. He was Vannika’s very first sacrificial lamb.

One day, much like Ivan Tsarevich, Vannika finds herself at a crossroads.

“Ivan rode on and on until he reached a big stone standing in the middle of an open field. On the stone were the following words: "He who goes straight will be hungry and cold. He who passes to the right will be safe, but his horse shall die. He who passes to the left will be killed, but his horse will be safe."

Just like the hero she idolized, Vannika also chose to sacrifice another life in order to ensure her own survival. Without thinking, she pushes Isaiah to his death, off the edge of a cliff they stood before. But alas for poor Vannika Afanasyeva, life was neither kind nor easy towards her, and she would also “die” at that moment. The scared, timid girl she had been would be no longer, and from that moment on she’d start on the path to becoming the cold, cruel, selfish woman she would eventually grow up to be. In essence, at that moment, Ivan Tsarevich is devoured and replaced by the Wolf. But maybe, deep in her heart, she would always remember how she once longed to be Prince Ivan.

But if you know the tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Wolf, you’d know that really, it’s the wolf who does everything, in the end, as Ivan always messes up and is the kind yet prodigal fool. Anything Vannika sets her mind to, she is able to complete. Retrieving the Firebird (aka the platinum chip)? Done. Bringing the golden horse to the king (destroying House’s bunker for Caesar)? Sure. Stealing the princess from the neighboring kingdom (blowing up the Brotherhood bunker after extracting info from Veronica)? Yes. And in the end, like the prince she had once dreamed of becoming, Vannika also receives half the “tsardom” by eventually becoming the Legate after the death of Caesar and her murder of Lanius.

And much like the wolf, and unlike Ivan, all the way through, there is never anyway there to ever help here. Every difficult thing she must endure, she endures alone, although sometimes that is due to her own fault at pushing the people around her away.

Thus, she chooses to keep wearing clothing from her own culture, and never really considers herself to be a part of the Legion, even long after she sacrifices her life thrice over for their causes. She only ever does so because their goals line up with her own (destroying the NCR), but no matter how much she furthers their causes she remains being viewed as an “outsider”, a foreign influence, all the way up until the end, which is something she really has no arguments against. “If I am, then so be it,” she thinks.

From the beginning of her own tale she has felt like an outsider despite always being in the very land she was born in. First, she was the third-culture daughter of immigrants, then a member of a dying religious cult (the Jackal Gang) being culled by the NCR, and finally the non-legionary who helped the Legion win Hoover Dam, stage a coup, and decide the fate of their civil war. She even takes on an Americanized version of her full name for some years (Vannika Volkov vs Vannika Afanasyeva Volkova) but it’s never really enough, and she eventually learns to accept that and embrace it. She was born and raised into a culture she can never have direct contact with and be part of, so all she can do it carry on its spirit. (She does get to rejoin her ethnic people in the Fallout: Alaska AU though, good for her)

And so, eventually, she finds herself at the wrong end of a sword held by the wrong person, finally the villain of her own fairytale. How did she get there, when once, she wanted only to be the prince, she wonders? But it’s far too late. She is no prince, but in fact, the hungry wolf. The enemy of all other folktales. And she has only herself to blame for bringing herself there. Thus, she at last accepts her own death, and the end of her tale.

And this is why, in a non-canon AU where she has children, she names them Ivan and Vasilisa, to basically pass on her generational “curse” to live out tales she was not made to belong in. To keep passing on her familial sins onto another generation.

(on a similar note, while it has nothing to do with Fallout at all, Vannika’s Cygnus 1985 AU backstory is a late Soviet retelling of Finist the Falcon)