#God I love the idea that humanity is nothing but a warped ideal that humans created

[xinesthetic]

Dazai "I am not human for I am a demon and can never be even remotely as good or humane as they are" Osamu and Fyodor "I am incredibly human because things that make us human are the terrible things humans try to get rid of and not the idealistic concept that society created" Dostoyevsky. By the way.

[grim-on-the-darkside]

Firstly, let me just start out by saying you have the right to your opinion, even though I don’t share it. That being said...

I have to be honest here, I personally, and this is just my opinion, scarcely consider people who try and warp Lucas’s vision into something that should resonate 1 for 1 to the real world, ‘Star Wars fans.’

If you want realism, if you want ‘grey’ revisionism, if you want ‘realistic’, DON’T watch Star Wars. Don’t say “It doesn’t make sense.” - We’re talking about ‘space magic’. It already doesn’t make sense. It’s fantasy.

It may include messages that are designed to make people think and have correlation to real life events and inherent human emotions and circumstances, but it isn’t representation of real life. Lucas’s message is about fundemental undertones of humanity on the most simplistic level. - Fear, Anger, Love, Hate, Compassion, Greed, Selflessness, Selfishness, Good and Evil, Fairness and Hope.

"The Force has two sides - [Light and Dark]. It is not an inherently malevolent or a benevolent thing. It has a bad side to it, involving hate and fear, and it has a good side, involving love, charity, fairness and hope."

~ George Lucas, Time Magazine, 1980

..

I have been a hardcore Star Wars fan my entire life, and I would put my ‘Star Wars credentials’ up against anyone elses, what people like you [Jedi-Haters] do is pervert Lucas’s message. It’s not suppose to be like real life. It’s a mythical story. It’s a fairy tale. It is an idealized version of things. Star Wars is about absolutes. It’s about Right and Wrong, Good and Evil, Tyranny and Justice, Fascism and Democracy, Black and White, Dark and Light....and not a shred of ‘Grey’ in between.

George Lucas doesn’t share your view of Star Wars. You are misappropriating his vision and than trying to make it out like people who don’t share your anti-Jedi views are the ones misinterpreting Lucas’s message.

Lucas doesn’t see the Jedi the way you do.  He doesn’t see them as ‘wrong’, he doesn’t see them as ‘having lost their way’. He doesn’t see them as ‘detached’ or without emotion. He sees them as the most moral people in the Galaxy. He sees them as The Good Guys. He doesn’t see their views on the Force as wrong. He says the Jedi are right.

Quite honestly, Star Wars would cease to be as beautiful as it is if it was based and your view of the Jedi and other’s who share your views. - There is NO GREY in Star Wars. Only Dark and Light. Only Good and Evil. There is no middle ground between them. - No one in real life has the Force. There is not Force in the real world. In the Star Wars universe, The Force is God. It doesn’t play by the same rules as real life. It’s idealized vision built on the simplicity of human emotion and base core values.

I’m sorry to have to say this, and say this with no malice or intended insult, but you don’t get Star Wars.

-

In real life, Priests, Nuns, and Monks, they take vows. They don’t get married, they don’t have children. They live a monastic lifestyle, just like the Jedi do.

"[The Jedi] is the monk idea. Whether you go to the Christian monks and the Knights Templar, or you go to the Buddhist monks and the kung fu monks, you get the warrior monk."

~ George Lucas

..

The only difference is that if Priests, Nuns, and Monks didn’t take those vows and live that way, no danger would result from it. But in Star Wars Land with regard to Force Users that is a very real threat. Because there is nothing more dangerous in the Star Wars universe than a Darksider. Having attachments is dangerous for a Force user. Because you will do anything you have to to keep them safe, even if you have to do bad things. The Darkside corrupts. It isn’t a choice. It changes you.

“If he'd [Anakin] have been taken in his first year and started to study to be a Jedi, he wouldn't have this particular connection as strong as it is and he'd have been trained to love people but not to become attached to them. But he has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation.”

~ George Lucas

..

“In mythology, if you go to Hades to get them back you’re not doing it for them, you’re doing it for yourself. You’re doing it because you don’t want to give them up. You’re afraid to be without them. The key to the dark side is fear. You must be clean of fear, and fear of loss is the greatest fear. If you’re set up for fear of loss, you will do anything to keep that loss from happening, and you’re going to end up in the dark side. That’s the basic premise of Star Wars and the Jedi, and how it works. That’s why they’re taken at a young age to be trained. They cannot get themselves killed trying to save their best buddy when it’s a hopeless exercise."

~ George Lucas

..

You are right, they are taken at a young age. And that is to avoid them becoming attached to family. Which is a dangerous situation for a FORCE USER. They are not like normal people. No one in real life can use the Force, so making comparisons to real life is an inherently flawed argument.

They are not kidnapped, they are not forced, they can say no. The parents permission is always asked and gained and the child themself is asked if they want to become a Jedi. Go watch The Phantom Menace. Shmi and Anakin are both asked and give consent. Shmi let’s Anakin decide if he wants to go and be a Jedi or not.

.............

Attachments are dangerous for Force Users in George Lucas’s vision of Star Wars. That is an objective fact in Star Wars, and It’s that way because George Lucas said it’s that way. You can’t on one hand call yourself a Star Wars fan and than on the other hand say George Lucas is wrong about Star Wars, and it doesn’t matter what he says. It’s his story. You either like it or you don’t. Either choice is fine, but if you don’t like that objective fact about Star Wars, and about the Jedi and the Force, than you aren’t a Star Wars fan. Fans don’t hate the things they are fans of.

..

"He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can't let go of his mother, he can't let go of his girlfriend. He can't let go of things. It makes him greedy. And when you are greedy, you are on the path to the Darkside, because you fear you're going to lose things, that you're not going to have the power you need."

~ George Lucas, Time Magazine, 2002

..

"[Jedi Knights] do not grow attachments, because attachment is a path to the dark side. You can love people, but you can’t want to possess them. They’re not yours. Accept that they have a fate. Even those you love most are going to die. You can’t do anything about that. Protect them with your lightsaber, but if they die they were going to die, there’s nothing you can do. All you can do is accept that fact.”

~ George Lucas

..

"..What happens when you go to the dark side is it goes out of balance and you get really selfish and you forget about everybody ... because when you get selfish you get stuff, or you want stuff, and when you want stuff and you get stuff then you are afraid somebody is going to take it away from you ... once you become afraid that somebody's going to take it away from you or you're gonna lose it, then you start to become angry, especially if you're losing it, and that anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering."

~ George Lucas, 2010 video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiImoO5QkcA - [50 second mark]

..

"The Darkside is always there, it is experienced daily by people. It's like a huge cancer, alive, festering -both a reminder of the moral state and, at the same time symptom and symbol of a very sick society"

~ George Lucas, "The Mythology of Star Wars", Joseph Campell and the Power of Myth DVD, 2001

........................

The Force doesn’t care why you use it, it doesn’t want to be used in certain ways for any reason what so ever. Even if it was morally understandable to use the Force for attack because you were trying to protect someone a Force user loves, it’s still not okay. The Force doesn’t want to be used to kill people, it doesn’t want to be used to get a person something they want or to keep it. That is inherently selfish in Star Wars Land, because the Force is about life, all life, not just an individual.

Lucas asked about his interest in 'Good and Evil' motiff.

"The universal question, Am I a good person. The Difference is about a compassionate person as opposed to a person consumed with self-interest, or a selfish person. When you become greedy you do bad things to get stuff from other people. Once you get that stuff you become afraid.Once you become afraid that someone is going to take it from you than you start striking out at people. You get angry at things and you get worried and that puts you into a psychological mindset that turns you ultimately into an evil person, where you are doing horrible things to people, thinking that you're doing the right thing, but your doing it because you are afraid they are going to hurt you before you hurt them.

'The Force is just an amalgam [symbolism] of religions and their basic teachings. Killing people in the name of God is wrong, there's just no question about it.  That's absolutely opposite of what al God and Shamanism and everyone has taught us. God is Love, not God is hate."

~ George Lucas Special Interview with  Bill Bradley,American Voices, 2012

..

"The Force is life."

~ George Lucas Interview with Melody Hopson [Lucas's wife], 2021

..

"The Jedi won't lead droids. Their whole basis is connecting with the life force. They'd just say, 'That's not the way we operate. We don't function with nonlife-forms." So if there is to be a Republic army, it would have to be an army of humans.”

~ George Lucas Interview form Star Wars Archives 1999-2005 by Paul Duncan, 2020

...

The Jedi are selfless, they give up their own pleasures so they can focus solely on others.

George Lucas on the bottom line of Star Wars.

"The secret, ulitmately, which is the bottom line in Star Wars [ANH] and the other movies is there are two kinds of people in the world, compassionate people and selfish people. The selfish people live on the Darkside. The compassionate people live on the Lightside.

"If you go to the side of the Light you will be happy because of compassion, helping other people, not thinking about yourself, thinking about others, that gives you a joy that you can't get any other way.

Being selfish, following your pleasures, always entertaining yourself with pleasure, and buying stuff and doing stuff, you're always going to be unhappy. You'll never get to the point. You'll get this little shot of pleasure but it goes away and than you're stuck where you were before and the more you do it, the worse it gets. You finally get everything you want and you're miserable because there's nothing at the end of that road.

Whereas if you are compassionate and you get to the end of the road you've helped so many people."

https://youtu.be/RElw0dhBsOI

..

In Star Wars The Jedi are the good guys, the Sith are the bad guys.The Sith [Darksiders] are selfish and Greedy. The Jedi [Lightsiders] are selfless and compassionate.

"People have a tendency to confuse it — everybody has the Force. Everybody. You have the good side and you have the bad side. And as Yoda says, if you choose the bad side, it’s easy because you don’t have to do anything. Maybe kill a few people, cheat, lie, steal. Lord it over everybody. But the good side is hard because you have to be compassionate. You have to give of yourself. Whereas the dark side is selfish."

~ George Lucas, 2019

https://naboonews.wordpress.com/2019/05/25/george-lucas-says-there-has-never-been-any-war-between-the-jedi-and-the-sith-in-his-canon/

..........

"The key part of this scene is Anakin saying, 'I'm not going to let this happen again.' We're cementing his determination to become the most powerful Jedi, and the only way you can really do that is to go to the Dark side because the Dark side is more powerful. *If you want the ultimate power you really have to go to the stronger side, which is the Dark side, but ultimately it'll be your undoing. But it's that need for power and that need for power in order to satisfy your greed to keep things and to not let go of things and allow the natural course of life to go on -- which is that things come and go -- and to be able to accept the change around you and not want to keep moments frozen forever in time." ~ George Lucas, AotC DVD commentary track [during Shmi's funeral]

..

An excerpt from StarWars.com‘s oral history of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace:

   “The thing about Anakin is, Anakin started out as a nice kid. He was kind, and sweet, and lovely, and he was then trained as a Jedi. But the Jedi can’t be selfish. They can love but they can’t love people to the point of possession. You can’t really possess somebody, because people are free. It’s possession that causes a lot of trouble, and that causes people to kill people, and causes people to be bad. Ultimately it has to do with being unwilling to give things up.

   The whole basis here is if you’re selfish, if you’re a Sith Lord, you’re greedy. You’re constantly trying to get something. And you’re constantly in fear of not getting it, or, when you get it, you’re in constant fear of losing it. And it’s that fear that takes you to the dark side. It’s that fear of losing what you have or want.”

~ George Lucas

Sometimes it’s ambition, but sometimes, like in the case of Anakin, it was fear of losing his wife. He knew she was going to die. He didn’t quite know how, so he was able to make a pact with a devil that if he could learn how to keep people from dying, he would help the Emperor. And he became a Sith Lord. Once he started saying, “Well, we could take over the galaxy, I could take over from the Emperor, I could have ultimate power,” Padmé saw right through him immediately. She said, “You’re not the person I married. You’re a greedy person.” So that’s ultimately how he fell and he went to the dark side."

~ George Lucas

.......................................................................................................................

George Lucas on Prequel Jedi: "They are the most moral of anybody in the galaxy."

“They are the most moral of anybody in the galaxy. They're monks. The Sith practice the dark side and are way of of balance. They Jedi aren't as much out of balance because they're the light side of the Force. They still have the bad side of the Force in them, but they keep it in check. It's always there, so it can always erupt if you let your guard down. The Emperor snookered the Jedi with Order 66. The nascent Rebellion and the Jedi didn't move fast enough.”

~ George Lucas

The Jedi weren’t ‘flawed’. They hadn’t lost their way. They didn’t fall from the Light. They didn’t fail. They were beaten by 1000 year long Sith plan to take revenge against the Jedi for having removed them from power long ago.

“Sith rely on their passion to get things done. They use their raw emotion, their hatred, their anger, their bitterness - which is the dark side of the Force. The Force is what binds the galaxy together, and it has a good side and a bad side.

The Sith learned how to manipulate both sides of the Force, and then they fell into the trap of being corrupted by the dark side. -

The Jedi Knights are like marshals in the Wild West. It's their job to make sure everyone is protected, to bring peace. They are the enemy of the Sith, because the Sith want to dominate the galaxy, to control everything, and for a thousand years they have had a plot against the Jedi.

So, in this movie, it is time for them to seek revenge against the Jedi for perceived injustices and to carry out that plot. "

~ George Lucas, Sci-Fi Online interview, 2005

https://ibb.co/RHxzy49

The Jedi not being able to sense that Palpatine was the Sith Lord they were looking for was not because they had fallen from grace of from the light, it was because the Darkside clouded their vision.

"It's not that they can't see the Dark Side coming, it's just that the Dark Side begins to envelop everything.It's like walking into a fog. The Jedi's ability to see lessens as the Dark Side grows."

~ George Lucas, 2005

..

"The film is ultimately about the dark side and the light side, and those sides are designed around compassion and greed. The issue of greed, of getting things and owning things and having things and not being able to let go of things, is the opposite of compassion - of not thinking of yourself all the time. These are the two sides - the good force and the bad force. They're the simplest parts of a complex cosmic construction."

~ George Lucas, Time interview (Bill Moyers) 03/05/99

"Jedi don't marry. They take vows."

~ George Lucas

..

John Stewart - ‘Was there any reason why they [The Jedi] couldn't get married? Was that the emotion of it, or the idea that they loved something?’

“The whole idea of the movie, ultimately is that you have the Light Side and the Dark Side. The Light Side is compassion, which means you care about other people. The Dark Side is you care only about yourself. Getting your pleasures and getting all your stuff. The other one, you give it to everybody. You give goodness and health to everybody else.

So the issue of love, there's a line between loving somebody compassionately and caring about them and helping them. But the other line is not to be greedy or once you are greedy then you get fearful.  You don't want to lose what it is that you have that you are getting. So you have to learn to give up everything.

And ultimately for a Jedi Knight, it's very easy to give up. One of the things they give up is marriage. They can still love people. But they can't possess them."

~ George Lucas, Celebration V, Main Event, 2010

https://ibb.co/M6YfzRc

..

This whole ‘Jedi are bad’ shtick borne on internet message boards is truly sickening and not at all in keeping with Lucas’s Vision. It’s just like the equally ridiculous ‘Grey Jedi’ movement, having no basis whatsoever with Lucas’s canon. Both are fan fic creations at their worst.

It’s fine not to like Star Wars. But it’s not okay to lie about Lucas’s Vision and his canon. That’s a great way to piss off real Star Wars fans.

You can do whatever you want in your own fan-fiction and RPG groups, you can have Jedi getting married, having children, being greedy and selfish, using both sides of the Force with impunity, but don’t try and pass that stuff off as Lucas’s Star Wars because it’s not.

That said, May the Force be with you, always.

[xo-cuteplosion-xo]

A god's key to victory | Fyodor x Reader |

I got this idea whilst talking with another Fyodor simp. May mercy be spared on me for this piece.

A god's key to victory | Fyodor x reality-warping reader |

Disclaimers/ Warnings: Definitely a ton of mental manipulation. Obsessive themes. Depictions of abuse, controlling actions, violence, dystopia.

The moon shone elegantly, glimmering through the glass pane of your room. Off in the distance, there was life. Outside the glimmering stone walls of this cell-like room. The golden ring on your finger brought nothing but torment. At one point this choice had been easy. He’d finally broken you into submission. Even as the world submitted to his views, there lay a single person who could undo everything. If he touched you with a single finger, all of this would be gone. Fyodor had no room for the human emotion of love. Even though he did love you in his twisted way. He gave you everything, from jewels to fine silks. He teaches you his language and lets you see his rare moments of compassion.

This world was perfect, yet here you were broken. When had it happened? When had he stripped you of your free will? Your joy? Your liveliness? The smile he had no explanation for loving? The fight that made him fall evermore for you? He was a god now, a true god who dictated the crime and the punishment of this city. That had been it, hadn't it? The moment you used your ability so widely. The day he stripped this world of its filth. The day you became the goddess by his side. He had strained you too far. You seemed so numb now. Yet, it didn’t stop him from holding you on his lap and leaving pecks around your neck. You were all he needed in this world. If somebody touched you, he'd simply kill them. There were moments where your light returned, moments where he saw that glimmer of fight and joy.

It had started years ago, when you were naive and worked alongside the scum of this world. He’d met you in a cafe. He found the meeting rather... cliche. You had to work multiple jobs to pay for your place and support your life. He’d watched the way you avoided eye-contact with others. The way you so easily switched between personalities dependent on whom you were serving. You read through people so easily it was interesting to him. Nobody else seemed to notice that it wasn’t the real you. When you get to his table your eyes fell cold and distant. He had given you a mere smirk. You only needed one look to know how to warp his view. Your ability allowed you to push what you wanted onto anybody else. It warped the very fabric of the space you were around. He understood that within moments. He was after all a highly intelligent man.

When you begin to act smug and cold just how he was, he could only chuckle. You amused him. That alone was a dangerous feat; Gaining the interest of a man who thought of himself as a god. From then on he became a regular. He memorized what days you worked and the time. He’d sit there until your shift ended. With each of those passing days, he would find a way to talk to you. He observed the way you acted. Your eyes were the giveaway to it all. To almost everybody, you could pass for anybody. Yet, when he looked into your eyes, he found the light of a scared and naive child. He found it a fun game to change what he wanted each day. The confusion that passed your face, even if it only lasted a tenth of a second, filled his pride. You stumbled over what facade to act on.

It took a month for him to completely figure you out. When that happened you were doomed. He would begin his manipulation. He wanted you on his side. The things your ability could do for him were too enticing to pass up. He whispered soft words filled with false emotions. At least, that was what he called them at first. He never admitted it to himself, and so that’s what it was. It was all just a facade to gain your trust and snatch you away. To him, you were not a sinner like the others. You were something pure and unaware of the world's terror.

When he found you worked with the very agency that continued to stunt his plans, he became agitated. It was a minor setback. The one person he knows rivals his intelligence sat among that agency. His name was Dazai and to his luck, the two of you seemed rather… close. He would joke around with you a lot. That pink tint he had grown accustomed to forcing onto your cheeks would pass at his words. It grew an emotion he hated. This emotion wanted you for himself.

So, the next time he saw you, he began to ask you about your views on this world. Just as he had predicted you were nothing but innocent. You never noticed how you showed the real version of yourself to him. Laughing after work hours. He had started as a stranger, but now you trusted him enough to go drinking. You held up a glass with a rather bright smile. Still, unaware of his complex. He’d watch you drink and memorize your reactions to every little movement he made. “What do you think about the world?” he would need this sliver of information before he began his little game of cat and mouse. How far would he have to change your views to align with his?

“My views? Huh, I guess I haven't thought about it before.” you would laugh looking over to him. It was the first time you made real eye-contact. It felt so warm despite how cold his eyes looked. It sent an unfamiliar shiver down your spine. It shouted he was dangerous, yet you didn’t look away and continued to answer him. “I guess, I see the world as a scale. A world with evil and good? I think as the world is now. The scale is tipped in the darkness.” Fyodor would nod as if he were agreeing with you. Even if he didn’t, he wanted to make you feel safe and comfortable in his arms.

People are easier to control when they trust the person who is trying to gain control. If you opened up, he could sway and twist your own words to fit his own needs. “Then what is your ideal world?” he would often ask this question.

You would think for a moment before smiling with a hopeful glint in your eyes. “A world without suffering and pain! A world that’s just a bit less violent. It would be even on the scale. Enough evil to keep order but enough good to keep the peace. Things like the seven sins would be needed but, things like violence would be less frequent. People would feel safe walking in the night. Murders would be 1 in a million of chance. I want a peaceful world.” you would answer him honestly, and he’d hide his smirk. It would be so easy to twist your thoughts. The Armed Detective Agency stood in his way though. You believed being there would help the world; Even though that agency was filled with vile scum.

He’d begun to show you the truth, his truth. At first, he’d only suggest it. The suggestion that this violence was brought on by ability users. At first, you'd stick your tongue out and point out how you were one. When he made the assumption it was too early to begin that part of his mind game, he set his sights on bringing you closer. He wanted a step up from friends. He wanted to be able to touch you. So he slowly began to make his role in your life more prominent. “Your work, do you have a thing for anybody?” he would not be subtle with this.

When you told him you appreciate your friends there but, found you could never really love them because nobody else knew this you. He had thought you acted like this around your co-workers. Dazai could see through your ability, but it appeared that was not enough. You didn’t need an ability to pretend. That pulled his interest more. By now there was no going back. He had you in his grasp, and he would never let you go. “I don’t like anybody in that way.” when those words left your lips he would wrap his arms around you and lift your chin with a smug smirk. He’d let go immediately to watch your confusion. He would leave the bar to make sure that the moment kept its hold on you.

Just as he predicted you were distracted at work. And within the next two months, you began to trust him. Your co-workers knew nothing about this man. He had asked you to keep him from people he didn’t know. He lied about what he did for a living. He told you his work involved the government and telling anybody you knew him put himself and you in danger. So you were vague when your friends called you out on daydreaming or letting your attention drift. They asked, but you shrugged it off. When it got too much you simply came out with it. “I think I fell in love.” These words shocked even yourself. The faces of your coworkers were distant as you smiled to yourself.

He would only smirk, waiting for you that night at the bar, as if he knew nothing. He’d tease you. His body growing too close for comfort. He’d wrap strands of your hair in his fingers. Whisper little things that made you question yourself and your relationship with him. It took two months before he noticed even the smallest eye-contact would turn your face into that beautiful shade of rose. He’d lean down and finally give you what you had been wishing for. A soft peck on the lips. When you squealed in response he would snicker. “Something wrong, little mouse?” he would ask you the question waiting for your reaction. When you grew more embarrassed and attempted to hide your face, his dominance slipped from the facade he had been using around you. The glow of his eyes shaking you to your core. “It’s only natural to be so… adoring over a god.” That was the first time you had heard Fyodor call himself a god. If he did that in the start you'd have completely tossed him aside. Yet it was hypnotizing now that you had already fallen into his grasps. He always got what he wanted. Right now that was you and your ability.

The next step began in hints and murmurs. He would bring up your ideal world and put the question into your head. “What do you think makes that scale tip into evil?” when you respond with violence he’d nod and act like he was thinking. He was tricking you with terrifying ease. “This violence? Who causes it?” you would tilt your head before the answer peeked in. The one time he had mentioned abilities being at fault consuming your reason. You would argue in your mind until the answer you normally went for came to you.

“Violence is made from suffering.” you would smile and shift in your seat. You never initiated contact with him. You were too nervous too. He would hold back his agitation and nod understandingly. His hand cupping your chin to pull you to his lips. He was always rough with you; He knew how it affected you.

You kept it a secret from the agency for a while. Dazai eventually figured it out and asked if you were seeing somebody. You had only nodded and walked out to leave for the night.

It took a handful of weeks, but he did crack your mind eventually. It took some nudges, but he got you to start taking in his views. He would run a thumb over your hand and whisper things about the mafia. Like how if they didn’t have the powerful ability users they had, the crimes they committed would be punished. It would drive you to rethink your views. “So without abilities violence would be less? No, violence would be punished easier? That would lead to a decrease in crime from fear of being caught.” you would mumble your thoughts aloud unknowingly. He got pleasure from seeing you drift towards what he believed.

The next obstacle came ripping you from your current living style. You hadn’t noticed how your every free hour was spent by him. He did his work with you so sneakily, you didn’t see how you no longer had control of your life. He could get you to stay from work with a simple strand of words. He pulled you to his home one night. It was rather large compared to what you had thought. He began to show you sides of himself you haven't noticed. The sides that would have repulsed you now dragged you into him. Once you made a permanent residence in his home he began to talk about his views. You took them in and listened. Your chats were normally short. You took care of him. He smirked at how your dependence on him began to grow. You came home exhausted, and he’d plant you on his lap. His hand massaging your tired muscles.

He had to work rather hard to get you to leave the agency, but it happened. Now that you viewed ability users in the same light he did, all he had to do was show you the darker sides of your friends. Dazai’s past seemed to shatter you. You were betrayed and hurt. Fyodor did not waste a moment, he rebuilt your shattered heart around himself. He whispered how you only needed him and nobody else. You fell, trapped in that web.

At some point, you began to see him as your savior. He was the only person you trusted and didn't feel revolted by. You had stopped interacting with the outside world. There were times when you got annoyed with him and would scold him for forgetting to take meds, or stay warm. You found yourself smiling and laughing at his side. He showed you his co-workers eventually. When he had to go on trips he made sure they kept an eye on you. You could always call him if you felt down without him.

A year into this he made the move to make you permanently his. A ring on your finger. Something that made you smile with joy whenever you looked down at it. He began calling you his goddess from then on. You felt like you meant something to this world. For the first time, you were yourself without any insecurities.

He would never admit it, but that smile sent an unfamiliar flutter in his chest. He never laid a hand on you, but his words did enough. He so easily controlled you. If you displeased him he only needed to ignore you or give you a stern and cold glare. Those actions would have you on your knees, tears falling, and pleas for forgiveness leaving your lips. You never noticed how abusive this was. It may not be physically abusive, but this thing you had with your husband was most definitely mental abuse. Yet, you turned a blind eye. You never noticed. You were so starved for his love. You did anything for him.

So, when the fateful day came you pushed yourself just to achieve that perfect world. You were the key to his ascension. The key to a perfect world. The people who you once called friends came into your home threatening to take away the life that made you happy. They called you a traitor, yet Dazai took pity on how easily you had been manipulated. He could have prevented this had he seen through you. It was too late now and you’d need to be in rehab once they caught Fyodor. When those sounds reached your ears you could only panic.

Your heart raced as you ran to Fyodor. You clung onto him like a life-line. When they saw this everybody shook their heads in a clear disappointment. With riffles targeting you, Fyodor could only smirk. He looked down at you, leaning down, he kissed your cheek and whispered. “Warp this city to paradise. Can you do that for me, my little goddess?” he spoke with a false softness in his voice.

You looked to Dazai with fear, but when you blinked he saw no difference. The aim lights that had been on you and your husband shifted onto the agency. You had used your ability. Dazai knew he had to touch you to fix this. Fyodor also knew that so, he placed you behind him. Pulling a knife from his pocket, he merely smirked. “How do you plan to get over here Dazai?” he taunted before warning shots echoed and the agency members dropped to their knees. “We win.” he gave a final kick to dazai’s face. When they were cuffed and pulled away, Fyodor finally turned back to you.

You shook with fear and confusion, but the moment he wrapped you in his arms you were safe. You held onto him snuggling into his chest.

It took you two days to completely envelope Yokohama in your ability. Anybody who entered would fall victim. When you were done you fell, exhausted.

Even as the realization of what you had done enveloped you, there was no reaction. Fyodor found it upsetting at times. You were numb so often yet, in those fleeting moments where life poked in, he adored it.

This world looked perfect even though it was far from it. If anything this paradise you had made was a nightmare. There was peace and comfort; People were safe and pure. The only true evil that balanced the good of this scale were Fyodor, the demon, and his fallen angel; The god and goddess of this new paradise. He had most of the ability users wiped out, but the few who had held positions before your ability was used were kept alive.

“Look at our world, isn’t it beautiful?” he asked, whilst holding you on his lap. You merely nodded a soft, joyful glimmer appearing in your eyes before it left, just as suddenly as it appeared.

“I love you.” you would whisper the words, hoping to hear it back from his lips.

This once he thought, he’d say it just this once. “I love you too, my little mouse turned goddess.” that brought a smile to your lips. A real smile, one he hadn’t seen in ages.

[slickbackdani]

Batman Movie Villains Ranked from Worst to Best

Recently, a YouTuber I follow by the name of Mr. Rogues released a list of Batman villains ranked from worst to best. I have nothing but the utmost of respect for Mr. Rogues as a content creator, but I took issue with his list because his long-standing biases were often the deciding factor in many of his rankings. So, I decided to do a list of my own.

I’ll be going over every Batman villain to appear in the movies, briefly analyzing their portrayals and ranking them on a scale of 1 to 5. To prevent the list from being too cluttered, I’ll be separating the villains by which movie series they’re part of. Here we go!

Burton/Schumacher Tetralogy

Bane: Perhaps the only villain in this series I’d call “bad.” The calculating tactician of the comics is nowhere to be found here; instead, he’s reduced to a monosyllabic, brain-dead stooge for the other villains. Overall, he does nothing that couldn’t be done by a random henchman. 1/5

Two-Face: A deeply layered villain in the comics, Two-Face sadly gets upstaged by the other major rogue in the movie, but that’s not to say he doesn’t leave an impression. Tommy Lee Jones gives him a manic and mercurial demeanor that, combined with his colorful design, wouldn’t be out of place in the Adam West series. The size and scope of his criminal organization make him a genuine threat, and there’s something darkly fitting about Batman’s former ally being responsible for the creation of Robin. 3/5

Poison Ivy: Mr. Rogues for some reason ranked her as the worst Batman movie villain of all time, and frankly, I don’t see why. Like Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, Uma Thurman gives this character a delightfully over-the-top demeanor that combines with a colorful, comic-booky ensemble to make for another great “what-if-this-character-appeared-in-the-Adam-West-series” take. She does a good job juggling the differing facets of Ivy’s character: she’s the put-upon cynic, the craven opportunist, the radical eco-terrorist, and the suave seductress all in one package. 3.5/5

The Penguin: Fuck the Razzies. Danny DeVito made this role his own and set the stage for the character for years to come. He’s a bit of a departure, but a welcome one: far from the refined gentleman of crime Burgess Meredith portrayed, this Penguin is an animalistic thug warped by a lifetime of anger and hatred of the society who rejected him due to his deformities. His signature wardrobe, trick umbrellas, and Penguin gimmick are all there, but DeVito sells the role by showing amazing versatility: he can go from a comical and pitiable weirdo to a terrifying sociopath at the drop of a stovepipe hat. 4/5

Mr. Freeze: I honestly can’t say much about this character that my mutual @wonderfulworldofmichaelford hasn’t already. Arnold Schwarzenegger perfectly encapsulates both popular versions of this character: the flamboyant, pun-loving criminal genius from the Adam West series and the Animated Series’ traumatized scientist desperate to cure his loving wife of her terminal illness. Sure, the puns and hammy one-liners are what this version character is known for, but Ahnold definitely knows when to apply the brakes and give a greatly emotional performance as he tries desperately to cure his wife. 4.5/5

Max Shreck: Probably the only time you’ll see a movie-exclusive character on this list, and deservedly so. Corrupt businessmen are dime-a-dozen in Batman stories, and most of them have little personality outside of being greedy scumbags who either get defeated by the hero or betrayed by the other villains. Shreck, however, is different. Not only does he have an eye-catching fashion sense on par with any of Batman’s famous rogues, but Christopher Walken brings his signature manic intensity to the role, creating a character that’s as wicked and sinister as he is cool and stylish. You totally buy that the general public sees him as the good guy. His warm relationship with his son is also a delight to watch. 4.5/5

Catwoman: Michelle Pfeiffer does a lot to really make the character her own. She gets a lot of genuinely badass moments, but underneath all of her coolness lies the undercurrent that she’s a broken, traumatized character lashing out at the people who abused her and took her for granted. Even when she takes these ideals to unreasonable extremes, you never stop feeling like the retribution she brings on her enemies is at least a little warranted. Also, she has amazing romantic chemistry with Batman and her costume is fucking metal. 5/5

The Ridder: It’s Jim Carrey. 5/5

The Joker: This role is perhaps the one that set the standard for future Jokers to follow: Jack Nicholson’s humorous yet unnerving performance signaled to audiences early on that this would not be the goofy trickster of the Silver Age, but a different beast entirely. This Joker is a film noir gangster on crack: a disfigured mob hitman who quickly takes the entire criminal underworld by storm and unleashes his special brand of chaos and destruction across Gotham. He’s an artist, a showman, a charismatic leader, and the man responsible for ruining Bruce Wayne’s life. 5/5

Christopher Nolan Trilogy

Talia al Ghul: You know that recent trend in Disney movies where a side character we thought was harmless and inconsequential turned out to have been the villain all along in a twist with no buildup or foreshadowing with the reveal happening too late in the movie for this character to really do anything cool or impressive before being unceremoniously defeated? That’s Talia. DKR is the weakest of the three Nolan films, and I feel like it would’ve been much better received without this twist villain contrivedly shoehorned in. Also, while I could kinda forgive the trilogy’s whitewashing of other villains like Ra’s al Ghul and Bane due to the talent their actors display, Marion Cotillard doesn’t get a pass because she just doesn’t have the charisma or screen presence needed to pull it off. 1/5

Victor Zsasz: While the idea of redefining Zsasz as an over enthusiastic mob hitman instead of a serial killer is very interesting, it’s ruined by the fact that he barely even appears in the movie and doesn’t really do or say much of anything despite the buildup he gets. 1.5/5

Two-Face: Aaron Eckhart portrays Harvey Dent as a character of tragedy in a slightly different way than other tragic villains in superhero movies: he’s lashing out at a society he feels wronged him, but instead of being a lifelong outcast or put-upon loser, he was a handsome, successful crusader for the common good who lost everything he once held dear all in one fell swoop. You really feel for him even as he does horrible things. If I had to nitpick, though, I am slightly bothered by the fact that he plays some comic book movie cliches straight (i.e. they never call him by his alias and he dies at the end,) but it’s a solid performance overall. 3/5

Scarecrow: I’ll be upfront and admit that I’m more than a little annoyed that certain facets of the character had been changed in the name of “realism” — once again, they never call him by his villain name and he never wears a comic-accurate costume — but other than that, I can’t complain. Cillian Murphy plays the character with a smarmy, eerie charm that really makes his scenes stand out, his willingness to ally himself with other villains suits his character well, and the fact that he appears in three consecutive films with a different evil scheme in each really helps tie the movies together. 3.5/5

Catwoman: Much like other secondary villains in this trilogy, she really doesn’t get a chance to shine compared to the main antagonist — and, once again, it pisses me off a little that they do the whole “never refer to her as Catwoman but vaguely hint at it” thing — but she’s everything a modern Catwoman should be. She’s sly, manipulative, really holds her own in a fight, has great chemistry with Bruce Wayne... it’s all there. It’s also great to see Anne Hathaway break away from her usual type casting to play a role this dynamic. 4/5

Ra’s al Ghul: He’s a character that was in desperate need of mainstream exposure, and by God that’s what he got. Making him Bruce Wayne’s mentor adds a layer of personal tragedy to the climax where our hero has to stop the man who made him who he is from destroying Gotham with his admittedly brilliant plan. Add in a strong, captivating performance from Liam Neeson before we found out he was a racist asshole, and we’ve got one hell of an overarching villain. 4.5/5

The Joker: Everybody’s already discussed this version of the character to hell and back and likely will for years to come, so I’ll keep it very brief. He’s funny, he’s badass, he’s terrifying, he has great dialogue, it sucks that Heath Ledger didn’t live to see his performance reach the audience it got, and he basically makes the entire film. 5/5

Bane: Mr. Rogues actually ranked Bane higher than Joker on his list, and keeping it 100, I actually agree with him here. Finally, after decades of being dumbed down and misrepresented outside of comics, Bane is finally portrayed as the tactical genius from the comics. Tom Hardy plays Bane to perfection, being very believable as the peak of human physical and mental achievement, the man who broke Batman physically and emotionally. His design is iconic, his every line is quotable, his voice is weirdly fitting, and the memes are funny. 5/5

DC Extended Universe

KGBeast: Another point where I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Rogues. He is absolutely wasted in BVS, being nothing but a generic henchman for Lex Luthor. He doesn’t wear his costume from the comics, he’s never referred to by his alias, he doesn’t have his signature cybernetic enhancements, and he never does or says anything noteworthy. 1/5

The Joker: Ugh. I don’t know what’s worst: the tacky clothes, the stupid tattoos, the weird Richard Nixon impression that passes as his voice, the fact that promotional material hyped him up as a “beautiful tragedy” of a character even though he’s only in the movie for like 10 minutes and barely does anything, Jared Leto’s toxic edgelord behavior on set done with the flimsy pretense of “getting into character,” or the fact that he’s just trying to copy Heath Ledger instead of making the role his own. 1/5

Victor Zsasz: Chris Messina proves undoubtedly that Zsasz CAN work as a secondary villain in a Batman movie. He’s once again a mob assassin who enjoys his job a little too much, but unlike Batman Begins, he really gets time to shine. He’s just as sadistic and depraved as in the comics, but he also has this disarming, casual demeanor about him like he’s just indulging a hobby instead of slicing innocent people’s faces off. His close friendship with his boss Black Mask adds some depth to the character as well. 3/5

Killer Croc: Sadly, he doesn’t get much time in the spotlight, but he’s pretty cool nonetheless. The makeup and prosthetics used to create him look amazing, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s deep voice and imposing body language make him really stand out as an intimidating presence. He’s often in the background, which fits his role as an outcast by choice and a man of few words, but whenever he does get focus, he has everyone’s attention. It really would be a shame if this character’s only appearance was in a mediocre schlock action movie, but he makes the most of what he has. 3.5/5

Deadshot: Another highlight of what would otherwise be a forgettable film, Deadshot is just as cool and competent as he’s always been in other media, but this portrayal stands out for one simple reason. Will Smith was a very odd choice to play the role, but it worked out for the best here because you get the sense he truly understands the characters. He’s ruthless and pragmatic, but has just as enough charm and depth to make him likable. 4/5

Black Mask: I, like many, was skeptical when I saw early trailers depicting Roman Sionis as a foppish weirdo who doesn’t wear his signature mask, but upon seeing the final movie, I really feel like he has the high ground over other DCEU villains. Ewan McGregor is endlessly captivating in the role, portraying him as a swaggering dandy who is nevertheless dangerous due to his boundless narcissism and explosive temper. Sure, those who deal in absolutes would be put off from the differences with his comic counterpart — who is far more cold and humorless — but from a certain point of view, this flamboyant take on the character isn’t so much a departure as it is an addition to make him stand out while keeping his role the same. Black Mask has always been a middleman between the traditional mobsters of yesteryear and the colorful rogues that plague Gotham today, and this portrayal perfectly encapsulates that. He works in the shadows, but isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty; he flies off the handle and gets reckless at times, but there’s no question that the whole operation was his idea. 5/5

Harley Quinn: Margot Robbie owns this role. She’s unbelievably dazzling as a badass, funny, sexy antihero who deals greatly with tragedy and proves that there’s always been more to her than her initial role as the Joker’s sidekick. Again, not much to say, but she’s almost perfect. 5/5

[abandonedcyberpunkspidermech]

Character Bio: Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus)

Name: Otto Octavius

Villain Alias: Doctor Octopus

Bio:

Every superhero has a nemesis, and for SP//dr, that’s Dr. Otto Octavius, otherwise known as Doctor Octopus, but the man wasn’t always the monstrous villain New York City knows and fears.

Otto Octavius was born on July 10th, 3103, in Schenectady, New York, to factory worker Torbert Octavius and doting (s)mother Mary Lavinia Octavius. Young Otto was not the most liked child in school, facing bullying for his portliness, bashfulness, and intelligence. On this, his parents quarreled. Torbert, the abusive brawler, believed he should fight back, while Mary shielded him from the drunken tirades and wanted him to use his mind to solve problems. Due to Torbert’s abuse, Otto swore never to end up like his father. This came in the form of burying himself in his schoolwork with his mother’s emotional support, which paid off with his admittance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a Ph. D in Robotics, but not before his father’s death. After graduation, Dr. Octavius began work on what would be his magnum opus: A set of four robotic tentacles, controlled by the human brain through a specialized neural interface. However, this wouldn’t be easy. Robotics, or, more accurately, prosthetics, faced the issue of the human brain’s not being capable of handling more than four limbs. This normally results in brain damage at best and death at worst. If Dr. Octavius could succeed in overcoming this, he would revolutionize the field of robotics. And, for a time, it looked like he would. Even with a nonexistent social life he insists is unneeded, the loss of fiancee Mary Anders to his mother’s rejection, and his mother’s death from a heart attack due to his arguing with her over her dating another man while rejecting his fiancee, he pushed onwards, working to complete his work. Except for one crippling factor.

Enter the Parker family. With Drs. Ben and May Parker as heads and Richard Parker as pilot, the SP//dr project waltzed into the government’s eye. Quickly, the government began funding the project, but such funding came at a cost. Another program would need to be shut down. Just like that, Otto’s robotic arms lost their funding. Try as he did, he failed to find any other source of the funding he needed. And so, with emotions heavy from this and other incidents, he roared at the Parkers for ruining his life’s work and swore vengeance. And then, his arms spoke to him. Filled his mind with ideas. Wonderful, awful ideas. If this project was a threat to him, to them, it needed to go, and what better way to make it go than by eliminating the one and only pilot. And so, Otto struck the SP//dr lab in his first act of villainy. Serendipitously, this proved an excellent opportunity to demonstrate SP//dr’s capabilities. That fateful battle, ending atop Oscorp Tower with a Pulitzer Prize-winning shot, marked the beginning of a long and fateful rivalry between them, with Richard taking on the hero moniker of “SP//dr” and Otto having his old nickname, “Doctor Octopus”, in the Daily Bugle’s headlines. For ten-odd years, Otto and Richard sparred across New York City, and time after time, Richard won. Until he didn’t. In early 3142, Otto won. With a well-placed explosive, he blew up SP//dr with Richard inside. Their rivalry was over at last. Except for one small problem. He had a daughter he could never reach, one who would take his place as SP//dr. But for someone like Doctor Octopus, even with nearly a decade of injuries, making a little girl run away from him screaming and crying couldn’t be easier.

Abilities:

Robotic Tentacles: Doctor Octopus fights using four robotic, neurally controlled tentacles. A specialized neural implant allows Otto to control and feel through them as though they were his own limbs, but this comes with the consequence of neural degradation. Each limb has multiple degrees of freedom, allowing them enormous dexterity. They also have artificial intelligence and a limited degree of autonomy.

Length: These tentacles can be as short as 2 meters or as long as 8 meters each.

Striking Power: Each tentacle can move at a maximum speed of 60 meters per second and strike with ten kilonewtons of force without breaking.

Strength: Even with a need to brace himself using two of his arms, Otto’s tentacles provide him a great deal of strength, with each arm being capable of lifting 15000 kilograms.

Grip Strength: The pincers on the ends of the tentacles have a gripping strength of 3 megapascals.

Intelligence: Otto Octavius is an MIT graduate who majored in robotics. Thus, the man is immensely skilled with robotics, technology, science, and engineering.

Enhancements: Over the years, to counteract his injuries from years of combat, Doctor Octopus enhanced his body to keep pace with the mech (and pilot) he considers an enemy. These include accelerated healing (although nothing like Wolverine or Deadpool), enhanced strength (nowhere near Jessica Jones, never mind Captain America), heightened durability (but nothing close to Luke Cage’s), and limited cybernetics.

Weaknesses:

Previous Injuries: Doctor Octopus’s career as a villain has meant ten years of fighting a lineup of heroes ranging from street level heroes like Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and the Punisher to Avengers such as Captain America and Iron Man, and featuring SP//dr, a cutting-edge combat mech. This translates to years of beatdowns and injuries the old doctor still feels.

Brain Damage: While Doc Ock believes his arms work perfectly, eliminating the issues associated with adding extra limbs, they do not. The arms overwork his brain with every use, warping him into the villain he is today, and will eventually kill him.

Reliance on Arms: The only reason Otto can be a villain is through his arms, as he otherwise lacks the physical ability and fighting skill to fight heroes.

Power Grid:

Intelligence: 5

Strength: 2 (5 with limbs)

Speed: 2 (3 with limbs)

Durability: 1

Energy Projection: 1

Fighting Skills: 4

Appearance/Intro Snippet:

Peni’s spider-sense was pounding at her skull, harder than it ever has.

“So, this is the new SP//dr”, came a voice, male and thick with a German accent.

The voice brought up memories from within them, but Peni couldn’t place them. And then, she could. From the spider and the mech she remembered arguing with him over projects, she remembered fighting with him for nearly a decade, she remembered how he killed…

She turned to face him, stepping back for a better look.

He was easy to see on the roof he was standing on. His eyes were obscured by a set of goggles, and his head was clean-shaven outside a shaggy mop of brown. Everything from the neck down was covered in a dandelion yellow bodysuit with neon blue accents, thick with metal armor over most of the body, but in a few spots thin enough to show the faint lines of his muscles. But more prominent were the arms. Four of them, black as night with neon blue lines like glowing veins, extended from his back like snakes, ending in four-fingered claws.

Oh God… it’s HIM

Her breath hung in her throat, the mech staggering back with uneasy steps. This was Dr. Otto Octavius, the man who killed her father, and here he was, ready to do the same to her.

“Getting rid of you will be quite easy”

The corners of his mouth perked upwards in a smirk. Two of his tentacles struck the roof, and he vaulted off it. As he fell, two claws charged forward, right at her.

Personality:

Otto Octavius is at once a monster and a tragedy. He’s arrogant, prideful to a fault, obsessive, and doesn’t care who or what he has to hurt to achieve his goals, be they scientific or villainous. But, at the same time, he’s alone. His social life is nonexistent, and the only “minds” he has in his life are other villains, who he rarely interacts with, and the arms that drove him to villainy. One might wonder if his life would turn out differently if he had just one lasting, stable relationship; maybe one good shoulder to cry on could change his fate.

Additional Trivia:

Ideal English VA: Steve Blum

Ideal Japanese Seiyuu: Takehito Koyasu

This Doc Ock is meant to be Peni’s big personal arch nemesis. This is because her father’s dead, SOMEONE had to kill him, and the comics simply IGNORE the pile of plotlines that come from this. WHO killed him, do THEY ever fight Peni, does Peni ever break the no-kill rule against him? I mean, the death of a loved one is a fairly integral part of most Spider-Man origin stories, and with how directly correlated it is to being a hero in Peni’s case, her comics just… ignore it. Nay, nay I say.

I know her last comic set up her world’s Nathaniel Essex as setting up her Sinister Six, but I have issues with how that’s presented, and I like my Doc Ock more as the main antagonist.

My design for Doc Ock is based on a blue-ringed octopus’s coloration.

I hadn’t originally planned to make him so similar to Dio Brando (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), but a few leanings might be intentional.

[biblio-bitch]

Detroit Evolution Commentary Pt. 3 [FINAL]

It’s been a while, sorry. Life sucks ass sometimes and I had to do some transferring to my new laptop. I’ll write down some more fun facts as an apology. Disclaimer: This is all stuff I noticed, inferred, or interpreted. I didn’t write the film, anything I’ve interpreted is just that, an interpretation based on things I noticed using my experiences and knowledge. 

Fun fact #1: I have attempted to write in a proper novel style at least five times. After watching DE and watching @octopunkmedia ‘s script breakdowns and such, I've started writing scripts instead. I’m much farther along in those than I ever have been in books. 10/10 amazing for my visual based concepts.

Fun fact #2: My mental health was rapidly declining and I was losing interest in quite literally everything at the time the film was released. Watching the film and fixating on it for a month straight not only inspired me but helped me regain control of my life. Watching streams by the cast and Michelle while I worked for school made my productivity skyrocket.

Fun fact #3: I recently developed a tic that I now can’t get rid of. It was out of control for about twenty minutes right before I began writing this post. However, when I began re-watching the film (partially because it’s a comfort for me and I’m quite honestly terrified of what’s happening in the US right now) it stopped. So that’s fun.

As usual, spoilers and swearing under the cut! Quick note: If there should be a trigger warning on this or anything else I post, please let me know! I’m horrible at remembering to tag triggers. I’ll also be doing some quick posts on Umbrella Academy and my severe obsession with Jason Todd soon. Have fun!

As usual, here’s a list of people I know the users of in case you’d like to check any of them out. I’m likely missing people so feel free to let me know who I’m missing so I can add them!

Maximilian Kroger - Nines (@ maximiliankroger)

Christopher (Chris) Trindade - Gavin (@ trindabago)

Michael Smallwood - Chris Miller (@ michaelsmallwoodforever)

Carla Kim - Tina Chen (@ carlahkim)

Jillian Geurts - Ada (@ jilbobaggins_nyc)

Michelle Iannantuono - (@ octopunkmedia)

JJ Goller - Lazzo (@ quasar.cos)

Brett Mullen - Cinematographer (@ brettmullendirector)

Austin Butts - Sound Design (@ austinbytts)

Tiare Solis - Valerie (@ tiareleiana)

So I decided to put all of the rest into this post. It’s a long one. Not even that sorry about it bc I love this film with my entire heart. Warning for me getting sidetracked. I use a lot of Supernatural references but it’s because I’m visiting my dad and he’s binge watching the show. I like Dean and only Dean, don’t bully me for it.

The Wrist Grip™️ in the bedroom before Nines moves back

Shoutout to Maximilian Kroger’s muscles u go dude

Lighting Symbolism™️, big theme through the movie, honestly I think it’s beautiful and they did a wonderful job with it.

The little nod from Gavin as he starts talking about his nightmare 

You can see Gavin gearing up to move, like not in a normal way, in a “oh god I don’t know if I have the energy to do this” way and that’s Relatable™️

The little smile from Nines as they sit together

The SHARK PLUSHIE I LOVE HIM (THE SHARK HAS AN INSTAGRAM @ sharktreuse)

Nines being domestic, making coffee and breakfast, being Soft.

Shirt change??? Either I’m blind or he’s wearing a different shirt in the morning (He is. He’s wearing a t shirt at night and a buttoned collar shirt in the morning. Perhaps he changed? He’s wearing normal pants so he probably changed but he’s not wearing that same shirt in the next scene)

Ada eye rolling at them being passive aggressive dumbasses. Same. Apparently Jillian kept fucking with them which is,, so valid. 

The lighting in this scene (the office pt. 2) makes Maximilian look Android-white and outlined in the CyberLife blue-ish color. Very symbolic, I have no idea if it was intentional.

Another shoutout, this time to Maximilian’s eyebrows, the expressiveness is *chef’s kiss*.

“You can thank me later, Casanova.” Nines: *confused Android noises* 

Honorable mention to Michael’s Foo Fighters t shirt in the bar, it’s vintage.

Nines is in fact wearing a different shirt now. Not the same shirt from the morning bedroom scene. I also think he’s wearing a different jacket. Less of a peacoat and more of a leather jacket. Nice.

Shoutout to Tina’s (not irl) wife, Valerie! And her weird crush on Hank! I honestly can’t wait to see her in Seven Deadly Synths!!

Ada DODGING the questions that Nines is asking because she is SHADY. 

Also, he looks to Gavin when he talks about wanting to be more human. Recurring theme of him perceiving himself as lacking because of his ace-ness/android-ness, like he can’t give Gavin what he wants. Honestly I know that the android thing is a thinly veiled metaphor for race in canon but I kinda like thinking of it as a metaphor for being LGBT+ and in Nines’ case, specifically ace. Might not make sense but it does in my brain??

Gavin Senses Are Tingling and Nines is GONE. Leaving the bar for ur not-bf to try to talk things out like adults??? King shit.

Also electric lighter, fun, I genuinely didn’t know those existed

SHIRT WITH UNBUTTONED COLLAR

“You don’t want to help me, you want to fix me.” What a loaded line. Because in a way, it’s almost true? Like, Nines has this entire simulation of Gavin in his ideal world, and obviously that version of Gavin has probably been idealized at least a bit. Nature of humanity, and Nines might not be human but he’s got the Brain Things. And at that moment, it’s nearly true that Nines wants Gavin to be like that ideal Gavin. Obviously Nines wants Gavin as Gavin, but there’s the edge of that simulation there, still. 

But Nines does want to help Gavin, and that’s where he’s wrong. Nines wants Gavin to get better, wants to help stop the nightmares, etc. But by pointing that out, I think it’s partially why Nines can accept letting go of Simulation!Gavin when Ada attacks him. Because he knows that the simulation of Gavin will never be the real Gavin, and this line sort of helps him understand that he can’t really keep Sim!Gavin anyways.

Again idk if that’s legit but that’s definitely something I felt from that while watching.

Nines is constantly very controlled, but when he walks away from Gavin you can see him straining to keep that composure and not let his anger show. 

Ada looking So Done With This Shit when Nines comes back from talking with Gavin outside of the bar

“I’m sure this will be like...every other time.” Oh honey. Oh my sweet child. I am so very sorry. It most definitely will not be.

Ada’s exasperated Eyebrow Raise before taking a drink. If that ain’t the mood sis.

I love Ada’s bat wings on her outfits. 

Gavin being a stalker and putting his hood up. 

“I’m...certain that most of the credit can go to you.” IMMEDIATE ANGER. Must Defend Boyfriend.

I SO WANTED HIM TO SAY “WISDOM” WHILE TALKING ABOUT GAVIN’S SKILLS BECAUSE IT WOULD MIRROR HIM TELLING GAVIN THAT HE ISN’T WISE BEFORE THEY LEFT FOR THE STAKEOUT. He didn’t, but instinct is a better word for Gavin anyways.

Nines has Suspicion™️...press X for doubt... 

*Only vaguely related rant warning*

I do feel that we as a fandom tend to make Connor almost childishly innocent despite him being likely one of the least kind and least innocent characters. The characterization of Nines in this--and pardon me for the off topic rant--where he’s a fully grown man and acts like it is so much more realistic. Nines is a cop, as is Connor. 

Even post deviancy, they were designed and equipped to handle murder. Nines, in a lot of fandom content, tends to come off as an exasperated older brother or a gritty and mean detective, or even worse, essentially a sociopath who feels nothing in contrast to Connor’s childish and extreme innocence. I dislike both. Seeing Nines be a normal fucking person is so relieving, I’m serious. There’s still those elements of ‘oh he’s only been properly alive for like a year, right? He probably doesn’t get Chris’ Casanova reference.’ but it’s not to such an extreme that it overtakes all of his personality traits.

Like, yeah, ok, I get why a lot of fandom content does that. In order to balance what we see Connor do (and in order to further push the Hank as a father line) we over-emphasize the not getting references and such. Honestly I see the same in content for Castiel from Supernatural. Nines, when he’s added, often HAS to be a lot darker in order to make that seem not as jarring and unrealistic.

Doesn’t mean I enjoy it. If you do? That’s great, good for you, but I don’t like seeing those characters be portrayed as such one dimensional extremes. People aren’t like that. On the off chance that someone is such an extreme, there’s still other aspects of their personality.

DE has done an amazing job at not flattening their personalities. Nines and Gavin are three-dimensional and incredibly interesting characters I find myself invested in every time I watch it.

*Onto the commentary again.*

Gavin is still being a stalker

“Particular fascination with the RK line” AHAHA funny. She’s also an RK, and she likely knows more than Nines because her programming is based on information gathering. Her fascination begins and ends with what their programming can do for her.

The little computer details in Ada’s eyes as she copies Nines’ OS, and again in Nines’ eyes when he’s in the alley alone. I believe Michelle did all of that and I am just amazed every time I watch. 

The warped voice effect.

Gavin shifting to hold Nines as soon as he passes out

The ethereal colored lighting is very good for the mood, space hospital vibes

Shoutout to the latex suit they put Maximilian in! That’s not CG! He’s wearing a full body white latex suit. I’m so sorry.

Gavin looks so tired talking to Dr. Maria. His posture is defensive, pulled into himself. Shoulders hunched, arms pulled in. Eye bags, messy hair. Boy looked messed up. Somebody hug him.

Nines’ hair being disheveled and messy in the corrupted Zen Garden, rivaling his assertion that in his ideal world (Aka the normal Zen Garden) his appearance is polished, signifying the loss of control and the loss of the Zen Garden being a safe, ideal space for him. Same concept with Sim!Gavin being corrupted.

Nines: *wakes up in his mindspace*

Also Nines, immediately: GAVIN!!1!!1

Nines believes in CONSENT!! You do not go into someone’s program without asking, ADA.

Ada’s “poor widdle baby” face as Nines is freaking out because she trapped him. Mood.

Tina wearing a low turtleneck and a flannel is Peak Gay, especially next to Gavin “I wear the same leather jacket+hoodie combo every single day and probably the same jeans for a month” Reed, aka the most disastrous and chaotic bisexual I have ever seen. Again, a mood, I honestly felt that one.

The face when Nines realizes that Ada isn’t deviant yet. 

Gavin is blaming himself somebody stop this idiot. 

“Not without Nines.” What a softie.

“The last thing I said to him was ‘I don’t need you’.” BITCH WHAT THE FUCK MY HEART.

Gavin calling Tina “T” in that soft voice is so sweet omg

Ugh the bisexual LIGHTING is KILLING ME, ESPECIALLY as Gavin sits at Nines’ bedside

Tina encouraging Gavin. WLW/MLM solidarity. 

Fun fact: Chris Trindade told Maximilian not to react at all to the big speech but Maximilian literally started crying during it and there’s footage somewhere of the Dramatic Single Tear rolling down his face while he’s still ‘in stasis’.

Yes, I double checked the streams to make sure I got this right, I love the concept though.

Look I cannot get into the speech because I will write 1.5k words on it, but I will say this: It made me cry. The acting, the writing, it’s iconic. The amount of love and devotion they got without even saying the words “I love you” was amazing. Chris is so very talented. 

THERES A TAKE WHERE GAVIN FALLS ASLEEP NEXT TO NINES’ HOSPITAL BED AKSDGAKL IM SCREAMING

Tina is the best wingman ngl

The glitches in Zen Gavin are amazing. The sequence when he’s deleting the Zen Garden is also amazing. I use amazing a lot but it’s deserved.

Nines deleting the Zen Garden and Sim!Gavin is very symbolic of letting go of all of the fake stuff, letting go of the fear he was holding that kept him from confessing to Gavin and I love that

Nines sitting silently straight up. 

Gavin is highly intelligent and I’m so glad Octopunk embraces that. 

*another vaguely related rant warning*

Ok let me tell y’all a thing because this RUINS MY LIFE. People tend to take characters like Percy Jackson or Dean Winchester, whose intelligence isn’t outwardly obvious from the get-go, and remove it entirely. Percy is reduced to an idiot who can’t tie his own shoes and Dean is often shown basically unable to research without Sam. Both of those are bullshit. 

Percy has ADHD and Dyslexia, so when often we categorize smart as only book-smart, Percy’s intelligence as a battle strategist and his actual knowledge gets erased. Dean is usually the more physical and shoot-first-never-ask-questions type, and his intelligence is severely downplayed. He made an EMP detector from scratch. Made a shotgun, remembers how to kill things, is a very good hunter, especially on his own. But that’s thrown away because he’s not book-smart.

I despise when people take characters who are talented and smart in ways that aren’t just reciting the periodic table and reduce them to muscles and angst or drooling children. 

Octopunk having a scene where Gavin is working through a case, already having done the things that Chris, someone who was only recently promoted, suggests, is just affirming Gavin’s intelligence in a way I wish I could be not surprised by. Gavin is smart, and luckily I haven’t seen much downplaying that fact. He’s a detective for a reason. Unfortunately I think it might be because the fandom tends to turn Connor and Nines into actual children, but a win is a win.

Now I’m not saying I don’t love a good himbo character but I literally had to stop interacting with Percy Jackson content because people wrote him as incapable.

*Moving on*

“I think I can help with that.” Bitch why are you so dramatic I love him so much.

Nines’ t-shirt says “Detroit City Marathon” 

“You...undead asshole.” What an iconic line. I need a t-shirt. 

“I...hate you.” “You love me.” Harkens back to the beginning where the roles are reversed. Yes I used that unironically. Words are fun.

Gavin looking scared right before The Kiss™️ 

THE PULSE POINT!! THE SCENE WAS SUPER EMOTIONAL SO MICHELLE WANTED THEM TO DO YOGA ZEN SHIT TO PREPARE AND THEN THEY JUST DID THE THING BUT THEY PUT IN THE PULSE POINT 

ANYWAYS THAT’S WHAT GAVIN IS FEELING FOR ON NINES’ WRIST RIGHT BEFORE THE KISS.

I thought that was cute when I learned it in one of the streams.

Nines’ LED spinning blue when they finally kiss asgladkaf 

“What dipshit programmed you to do that?” “I’m the most advanced android ever made, detective-“ “oh you are such a fuckin’ prick!” “Takes one to know one.” I canNOT with them, I laughed my ASS off

The little broken laugh Nines does

Nines rubbing his hands over Gavin’s while they talk about Gavin’s jacket

Shoutout to Chris’ surprised pikachu face. (Tina is also there) That was a joke take, it’s in the gag reel, too. The face wasn’t supposed to make it into the film but Michelle added it. (In the gag reel, Carla yells “Let’s go to Denny’s!” At the end.) 

And Ada’s leather pants. Honestly?? She’s so pretty. I love her. They’re all really attractive it’s actually terrifying.

Nines and Tina being a part of the Gay Turtleneck Gang

Nines’ untucked turtleneck

Tina being a Smart Girl. (Nines calling her “Officer” and her replying with “I’ll make detective someday.”

Chris being Exhausted during the whole meeting. Me too dude.

Chris and Tina doing literally nothing while Gavin and Nines have a whole heart to heart

The WHITE COAT. Tina in her blues. Chris’ Foo Fighters shirt. They’re such icons but they absolutely look like a group of gay ppl who did NOT decide on a theme.

The fight sequence is impressive, considering that they’re literally not stunt actors. I’m not a fight choreographer or stunt person so That’s really all I have to say on that.

Chris patting Gavin’s gun after he explains what he’s doing. \

As a Jason Todd lover the crowbar is unfortunate (had to, sorry)

Nines’ smirk and the TURTLENECK as he spins away from Ada with the crowbar. Iconic. The Big Dick Energy. Especially for someone who doesn’t have a dick.

Chris being a Dad when Gavin runs off to go stop the body calibration

Ada just YEETS Gavin. Iconic.

Ada: *doing the villain “you won’t shoot me, you’re too moral” thing*

Chris: Shut the fuck up *shoots her*

Deviancy sequence, iconic

“You’re awake now” bitch get your own tag line, Markus became Robot Jesus for this shit

He’s HOLDING HER HAND while DEFENDING HER!! PLATONIC HAND HOLDING

Gavin trusting Nines’ decision immediately. Amazing. THAT’S LOVE BITCH.

The SMILES after Ada leaves!! They know they made the right choice!

Ugh the COLOR SYMBOLISM!! This is one thing that Michelle has touched on herself! Gavin isn’t wearing white in this scene because he’s not ‘fixed’, he never will be! He has trauma and he’s just barely beginning to heal from it with Nines’ help. He’s wearing grey, lighter than his usual, but still grey because they aren’t pure or innocent and they’re not perfect!! And that’s the fucking point!! It’s also a contrast against Sim!Gavin wearing white! Sim!Gavin was an idealized version of Gavin in Nines’ idealized world!! Real Gavin isn’t that!! So he’s wearing grey!!

Gavin immediately understanding that Nines is Ace and that it’s ok!! Beautiful!

“You’ve been a whole person since the day you woke up” YES!! YOU DO NOT NEED SEX TO BE WHOLE!! FUCK YEAH!!! (this is ace excitement. In the months since writing this I realized I’m aro-ace and trans so fuck yeah for ace rep.) 

Gavin being a dick and making Nines tell him about the skin thing

THE KISS!! They slowly move more into the light!! Because they’re getting better TOGETHER!!

Ok before I sign off, it’s only 3 am so I think I’m awake enough to talk about this, I like that they bring up that Gavin has like, actual issues that he needs to get through. Let’s be 100% honest here, I see Gavin as having ADHD, depression, and probably a form or symptoms of PTSD. He’s kinda fucked up and I’m gonna be real here he needs some therapy. He’s got trauma and needs to work through it. 

I like that at the end they explicitly have Nines understand and accept that that’s what needs to happen. As someone who has actually had relationships ruined because of trauma (on both sides) that we were unprepared to work through together, if I had seen something like that? Game changer. As it was, most relationships I had seen were idealized and seemed to “fix” those issues by way of just being in a relationship. Thanks major media. 

Now that the Detroit Evolution post series is over, I’m gonna be a bit sentimental and say that this film quite literally changed my life. Seriously. Michelle is such a big inspiration for me and I can only hope to be the same for someone else. 

If you ever have a chance to check out any of the amazing people who worked on this film, please do. To put into context how big this was: I changed my ideal college major from Forensics to Film. 

That’s it that’s all, ending this post at 3:24 am before I literally start crying over it. Thanks for suffering through my long-winded explanations, I hope you enjoyed. Have a wonderful day.

[windstorm64]

Attack on Discourse I Guess

I swear to god if I see one more post on tumblr dot com saying that Attack on Titan is “pro-fascism” or “pro-imperialism” I’m gonna lose my freaking...

*deep breath*

Listen, I absolutely want people to be critical of the media they consume, especially from Japan. Due to their role in WW2 and their glorification of past military actions from their conservative side, there’s a lot of Japanese media that contains themes and imagery that would (ideally) not at all fly in the west. Sometimes it’s harmless, being simply misguided, other times it’s bad, containing some pretty horrific subtext regardless of the author's actual intention. Attack on Titan absolutely does contain themes of imperialism, xenophobia, propaganda, extreme nationalism, and more. But the all important distinction here is that Attack on Titan does it

with.

a.

purpose.

It’s NOT condoning them. Just like how Lolita isn’t promoting pedophilia, or the clockwork orange isnt promoting whatever the heck that movie is about, simply having these themes present in your story does not mean they are being condoned.

Do I blame people for not understanding that at first? No. AoT takes its sweet time when developing its themes, and is constantly overturning what you thought you knew about its worldviews. That’s just the kind of story it is. It will go incredibly into detail about a plethora of opposing views, some being downright deplorable, and takes extra care to make them all look inviting and sweet. You don’t realize it at the time, but what seems to be the only right answer at the time is secretly ushering in the worst that man can muster. That’s how it is in real life. That’s how these evils get into real society; “with thunderous applause”. The difference here is that AoT, even if it takes 100 chapters to do so, slowly but surely will overturn all these themes and let the right way show itself over the course of the series. It doesn’t hold your hand, it doesn’t sugarcoat it, and I’ll even admit that I was a little nervous during some parts over what exactly the author was trying to say, but every single time Isayama chose to let the reader decide what was right in the moment, until AoT’s own in-universe marketplace of ideas eventually worked as intended and snuffed out the unsavory.

Does that mean you personally have to enjoy seeing it? No. The marketplace of ideas approach often does not work in real life (punching nazis is good) and seeing it used in fiction might not be your cup of tea.

Does that mean I think all of its themes are handled well or tactfully? Absolutely not. There are some stories that I think are handled VERY poorly, with the redemption of Magath’s character, for example, being downright horrendous. But those aren’t the complaints I hear from you people. All I hear are the same tired arguments that have been countered in-universe time and time again.

You think the survey corps are an allegory promoting imperialism? Then you’ll love the part where the real villains are revealed to be actual greedy governments invading foreign lands to oppress and murder the populace and steal valuable resources. And how the main characters, in-turn to learning that there’s more people out there in the world, switch their goals from expanding their territory to understanding and allying with the outside population.

The titans represent xenophobia? Then you’ll love the internal conflicts of the main cast when they realize that the titans are just like them, and the constant struggle thereafter against the prejudiced countries outside the walls who seek to punish them for their ethnicity.

Nationalism? Propaganda? The story has just spent the better part of 2 arcs displaying just how evil, dangerous, and reality-warping these things can be.

Fascism? Y’all’s favorite arc would probably be the one where the main cast literally overthrows their own corrupt fascist government because it was, in fact, fascist and corrupt.

German influences glorify nazism? Germany does not equal nazi. The author is clearly a fan of all parts of German history, and is a fan of war memorabilia in general (which admittedly becomes pretty risky when looking through the lens of conservative Japan’s notoriously glorified WW2 outlook), but nothing about it supports Nazism, or any of their ideals. Misguided? Perhaps, I can’t say I’m a fan. But it doesn’t denote anything about the author's character that we can reasonably glean. Eventually the true villains of Aot were given clear similarities to Nazis, clarifying Isayama's true moral priorities.

And before any of y’all start trying to point out what the author said in the past- I KNOW what the author has said. Or rather, what he was rumored to have said. But even if the rumors are true, and that shitty ignorant take on Twitter about Japan and Korea was from him, it's 100% the kind of thing that can be called out and learned from. The tweet was like, what? 10 years ago? Maybe more? Even if it was him he has clearly been educated on the deeper implications of his statement, as evidenced by the way these themes are handled in his story. Attack on Titan directly condemns eugenics on multiple occasions. It tackles it in a surprisingly on-the-nose way too, compared to how the series handled its serious themes prior to that point.

That's why I WANT y’all to be critical of the media you intake. So you CAN call out the glorification of unsavory themes and bring them to the attention of those in charge of them. Because that’s how people learn and grow. That’s how you create an educated populace that understands the implications of the things they create. I am 110% convinced that all these themes were tackled in AoT BECAUSE of all the criticism he got in the past. 10 years is a long time, and we are still getting new developments to this day that challenge the themes introduced in the first couple of chapters. Whether or not these themes were planned to be tackled from the start, or were introduced later on after being called out, is something we’ll probably never know. But please do yourselves a favor and learn what the heck you’re talking about, and the context around it, before going off for years about misguided claims. Don’t cheapen words that should be reserved for the most grievous of behaviors when you really just want to make a point.

Attack on Titan is a brutal nuanced story that shows off the worst that humanity has to offer, and how hard it is to do the right thing in a world where the right thing doesn’t always work. But taking an honest, elongated approach to exploring how these themes interact with humanity and society is NOT the same as promoting it. If you like your stories more black and white, where the good and bad of real world themes are more clearly defined as opposed to AoT’s more nihilistic and gray approach to morality, then by all means go enjoy that other story. I’m not trying to convince anyone to like it. I’m not expecting everyone to enjoy seeing these themes shoved in your face every installment. And I’m certainly not expecting anyone to understand all of this right away, hell I’m constantly arguing with dudebro AoT fans on reddit who are SURPRISED that Armin and the Alliance are taking an anti-genocide stance. And somehow I’m the crazy one for seeing this plot line coming for literal years. There’s simply just a lot more to this story than you can understand at a glance, and I implore anyone who thinks that’s they can simplify the real world themes dealt with here in such a menial way to seriously reconsider.

You are welcome to dislike Attack on Titan. You are more than welcome to criticize it’s possible mismanagement of sensitive real world themes. I am not so enamored by Isayama’s writing to expect a young manga artist to be the forefront of knowledge on such complicated, disturbing topics. But please, cut it out with the crazy claims. I’ve been hearing these things for so many years and it’s all the same. AoT has risen to become one of the most popular anime/manga of the current era. If the story was really as deplorable as you claim it would not have become as popular as it has been. The fans aren’t stupid (well, not all of them. Together, we can beat the reddit dudebros and save the world). This didn’t happen by mistake. The fans aren’t ignorant of the messages it’s sending. Attack on Titan is just... good! Even if I can’t get you to agree with me on that, at least look at it honestly for what it is, and what it’s trying to be. It’s really, really, not at all what you think, or what other tumblr users are trying to get you to believe.

[everyone-needs-a-hoopoe]

I wasnt sure to brother u with this. I dont see many analysis of asriel on this site. Can u make a post on the lil goatboy

hehe brother

a pretty big ask, but sure, i’ll give it a shot! i’m lazy so i’m not going to bother with screenshots. i’m going to try to keep away from headcanon and only talk about what canon supports.

we don’t have a lot on asriel himself prior to his death but we DO have a pretty nice amount on his family, and that’s very handy for getting an idea of how he might’ve been. asriel’s birth marked the date his parents began to die. we don’t know how aware he was of that, but i’m sure he can’t have been totally oblivious. he was marked from the beginning as the eventual sole leader of a deeply, deeply hopeless group of people, and that’s a whole lot to heap on a little kid’s plate! no matter how much toriel and asgore tried not to make it weigh on him too heavily, there’s no way he could totally avoid the awe, respect and hunger of his to-be subjects. if asgore “you are the future of humans and monsters” dreemurr treated asriel anything like he did chara, asriel was very aware of how much rested on his shoulders. 

but we also have some less heavy stuff from toriel and asgore! toriel loves reading so much it’s very likely she fostered a love of it in asriel as well. (it’s very good to me imagining flowey on the service trying to live in the local library because he’s so excited about all the new books.) “a perfect day for a game of catch” is likely asgore thinking about how he used to play with his kids, so it’s possible that asriel was pretty active as well. there’s no computer or tv in home or new home, so he’s probably not very familiar with technology.

we know from the tapes that asriel was very keen on making home movies - he’s probably an aspiring director! the tapes have a lot of other fun details to them, like the fact that asriel is the one initiating play in each of them, not chara - asriel was never a passive follower after them. if anyone was a follower in their relationship, it would’ve been chara! i’m of the opinion that they were on more equal terms than that, but i think it could go either way.

from this it’s easy to extrapolate that asriel is generally a pretty confident person. he knows his position in the world, and it weighs on him, but also makes him feel powerful. you could take that further into bossiness and egotism and it would make perfect sense, i think. he’s a twelve-year-old prince, it makes a lot of sense for him to be a lot brattier than most people give him credit for.

it’s very common to portray asriel as a very soft and weepy sort, but i’ve come to disagree with that interpretation a lot. that comes from how he is at his absolute lowest point, after frisk has just turned him into a god and torn him down to mortality again, wrenched him out of his endless loop of torment and thrown him back into reality. he’s quiet and solemn and mournful because his entire world has come crashing down around him. he’s just properly processed for the first time ever that he’s a serial killer. this is how he gets in that type of situation, but it’s not a fair assessment of his general demeanour.

flowey’s behaviour doesn’t just come from nowhere. the mischievousness, the brattiness, the superiority complex, the curiosity - it all already existed, and was warped and blown out of proportion by a deeply traumatic situation. asriel threw away his old name and the persona of the prince who would save the world, and decided he would be the god of it instead, and play with it as he pleased. 

once, he thought he could kill for his people, but in the end he was just a child and he died thinking he’d failed them all - and his parents, and his sibling, who died for nothing. guilt must weigh so heavily on this kid.

i got a little off track there, but i’m running out of steam so i’ll leave off with a pet peeve. one reason i really don’t like “resurrection” AUs for undertale is that, not only is asriel still around, i can’t imagine it being healthy for him to return to his old identity anyway. to him, the name and body of asriel is tied to so much trauma and failure and pressure - he wouldn’t be able to escape how his parents used to treat him. i think he deserves to move on from that, not be forced back into it. my ideal post-paci situation for him is getting a new body with hands and a new name, and being allowed to move forward rather than go back.

i don’t think he needs a soul either. trauma did a bad to him. he’ll be fine without empathy.

[lotornomiko]

Triumph’s Tribulation Five Sneak Peak

Ah I usually don’t like posting until a chapter is complete, but I am having a lot of problems offline, in addition to the the third and final segment of the chapter, the check in on Midgard, is giving me no end of difficulties. It was supposed to be a Rufus POV but seeing as his POV keeps derailing the fic and my timeline, I will take whoever I can get to be the narrating voice for Alicia and Co. at this point.

I’ve actually debated posting five as it is, but I am trying to have each chapter have three segments, even if one segment ends up being incrediably small like the Lenneth interlude was in uh was it chapter two...?

Right now I have Loki (With Frei!) and Lezard’s parts done...I am posting the Lezard part at least...it[’s mostly finalized, although I’ll probably tweak some words here and there when I go over it for the umpteenth millionth time...X_X

I’d say this scene is PG 13, though it is Lezard so has some darker edge to it...but still hopefully worksafe...! Side note, the A ending got strongly influenced after rewatching the A ending, and all the events leading up to it. It left me with the strong impression and opinion that Lenneth had some kind of mental, nervous break down when the seal broke. I think I even wrote down a few lines from it...if not to use in this chapter, then maybe a future one! I’m also currently in the midst of rewatching VP 2: Silmeria...so maybe that will find my muse for the Midgard crew in this! XD

Onto the scene excerpt now!!

====

The marble of the floor had sealed itself together seamlessly, not so much as a sliver of a crack to betray the chaos that had gone on just moments earlier. That of the anger that had been felt, the world itself a living extension of what had been in its God’s heart. Such has been Lezard’s displeasure that in that moment, Creation itself had acted, moving to protect him and his interests, spiriting the frightened Goddess away to somewhere else safe. Safe from his rage, and safe from his desires, the man who had once been human,  having pushed too hard, too fast, too soon.

She wasn’t ready. He knew that, every bit from her fight to her flight had in fact acknowledged it, the fear that was in Lenneth’s heart. It had sent her running, the Goddess scared, not so much of what he might do to her physically as much as the emotional havoc he had been intent on wreaking. The truths that had needed to be confronted, and with it would come all of its pain, such sorrow born of those lies that the woman had told herself. She wouldn’t be spared its sting, not even God himself able to shelter Lenneth from the agony of breaking free of such warped delusions. The comfort it had once given her, was now nothing more than a crutch, one that that divine beauty needed to break free of if that heart of hers was going to stand a chance at any true solace.

It wouldn’t be easy, that fact something Lezard could acknowledge in his more rational moments. His beloved needed a far gentler hand than he had thus far been capable of, that near overpowering lust of his, making him impatient and clumsy whenever she was so near. So consumed with the want of her, his attempt at a controlled veneer had all but shattered when her fear had turned violent, Lenneth’s fist finding its mark against his jaw. It had left him so close to doing something unforgivable, illusions torn and discarded if not for his world acting instead. Protecting him as much as her, Lenneth swallowed up whole into an abyss that had opened up beneath her feet.

Even now she was still there, free falling in an endless darkness, that heart of hers in an absolute turmoil that would only be the start of her unraveling. There was both pain and pleasure in the idea of it, Lenneth this intoxicating brand of everything that Lezard could have ever wanted. Her heart, her soul, that of her mind and her body, her tears, her agony, and that of her happiness, the man wanted it all. He was obsessed with the having of it, of attaining paradise with so perfect a being. It was so close to a reality, that he could almost taste it, his blood stained hands reaching for it, for her, Lezard this newly remade being, the ultimate Lord of it all, Lenneth and the effect she has always had on him, the one thing this God could not control.

Even now he was tempted, sheer folly though it would be to go after her right now. Lenneth was too wild in the moment, too angry and afraid, tormented by a truth he had only merely hinted at, such insinuations holding the strength to make a Goddess reel in an absolute terror. It was a fear not just for herself, for what might be done to her, but that of her world, the paradise that she had created. That perfect utopia that was nothing more than a lie that her wounded soul had retreated into, every insinuation that Lezard could make had the power to tear that universe apart from the root, the very foundations it had been built and brought to life upon.

It was a world of desires, that perfect paradise grounded in a pain so blatant that it had nearly torn the Goddess apart. That heart of hers that had been so ripped to pieces by the sins committed against her, it had left Lenneth reeling in an agony even she herself had not understood, the Goddess so overwhelmed in the moment as to escape into a fantasy. An illusion, the deceits woven there all by her own hand, the ageless woman latching onto a figment, the fragment that had been dangling before her. Seizing upon it, with that earring in her hand, out of all the lives she had slept through, it had been the latest, that of a child, a girl no older than fourteen when she had died, that had helped feed into a delusion. In that moment she had been thinking not as a Goddess, but as a human, a child, torn apart by a loss that had been about more than just one man’s death.

The seal had been broken, a flood gate of emotions overtaking the Goddess. How much agony had it been, to remember them all, every last life that had hosted Lenneth inside them. The highs and the lows, their joys and their pains, hundreds upon hundreds of women, all helping to shape the Valkyrie’s humanity. Her compassionate heart, the depth of her millennia of experience far more than anything those scant fourteen years as Platina could have given. She was just a sliver of what had helped shaped the Goddess, so small and inferior a speck, the child was not who Lenneth was meant to be.

So much more than any one human girl, Lenneth was in fact a being so uniquely her own. A caring Goddess, one whose capacity to feel and sympathize with the mortals a threat that Odin and the other Gods could not abide by. They hadn’t killed her, they had done WORSE, the woman’s free will taken from her, her true sense of being SEALED away.

A safeguard meant to control that which the Gods could not understand, that human compassion that that particular Goddess had been gifted with, the likes of which had been cultivated and learned over the course of a millennia of different hosts. Through them she had loved, and Lenneth had cared, the woman so wholly unique in her ability to FEEL, the Goddess the champion that the mortals had needed. The Gods had feared it, feared Lenneth and the allegiance that such emotions had wrought, Odin needing the Valkyrie to be a good little soldier who fell into line with his own selfish wants. Unable to dominate her as she had truly been, that tyrannous God had tried to eradicate her spirit, that of her true self, through such archaic means, such a brutal manipulation of the self, such that Lenneth had been little more than a doll. A puppet, beautiful and perfect, and so wholly without the feelings that would have interfered with the Heavens’ schemes.

The Gods had seen her as nothing more than a Death Goddess, a chooser of the slain to bolster their own armies with the souls of dead heroes. They had let her pick from the brave as though they were mere flowers, calling into service warriors from all corners of Midgard. Leaving her exposed to the very thing that the Gods themselves had feared, the emotions that were so plentiful in the humans, putting cracks in the shield erected around Lenneth’s heart. Bit by bit, that ancient magic had been worn away, the seal itself eroded with each and every encounter, until it had finally shattered, and with it went Lenneth’s mind, the woman having snapped.

It must have been so, so overwhelming, to have been hit at once with all those feelings, with the many lives she had slept through, their hopes, their desires, all coming to life within Lenneth in startling clarity. Was it any wonder she had lost her true self in the process, spinning from one host to another, again and again, until she had latched onto the most recent, that of the child, those scant years of fourteen the most overwhelming dream of them all given how fresh it had still been.

Even grounded in that child’s psyche, it had proved too much. Lezard himself had born witness to it, to that mental break that the Goddess had had. The tears that had fallen, the screaming that had been done, it hadn’t been just the Goddess, but the child, Platina, made horrified by the one solace of her life, Lucian the only kindness and warmth she had ever known, LOST, killed in turn by his own refusal to let go of his own delusions.

It had all been such a mess, a tragedy the likes of which all else had fallen short. Her puppet strings not just severed, but left tangled across the board, Lenneth had been operating on a grief born madness, forgetting who she really was, to play fantasy for one ignorant human. For some fake facsimile of him, Lucian a shadow, his miraculous return to life nothing more than a figment born of Lenneth’s own desperation and desires. Instead of the warrior she had known, he was something new, a puppet who was nothing more than some idealized version of who she had thought him to be, Lucian just one of the many dolls whose every thought had been painstakingly crafted by Lenneth’s power.

Creation itself had been remade on desire, on such potent delusions and lies, the many souls there not the people they had once been. They were just shadows of those that had died, annihilated in the Ragnarok that Lucian had helped Loki bring about. It hadn’t just ended lives, it had wiped out everything, including that of nearly every living being’s soul from existence, such devastation a permanent end, the cycle of rebirth itself destroyed. Such finality was there to it, that no one, not even God, could fight against, the world and its people entirely eradicated.

It left the world in complete ruins, Lenneth’s land a paradise populated in lies. It was a copy, a mere imitation of what had once been, formulated out of fragmented glimpses, the memories she had gathered, the people there nothing more than a pathetic bunch of puppets. They were just these hollow husks of what she thought them to be, these seemingly ideal versions ultimately falling short, all an attempt that was unfulfilling when it came towards truly easing the pain in the Goddess’ heart. They were all lies that couldn’t make her truly happy, anymore than they could satisfy her needs. Each and every last one of them, Lenneth living in a farce, a waking dream that could crumble apart so easily given the right push. If enough care wasn’t given, the Goddess would crumble again with it, her psyche perhaps lost to yet another kind of fantasy.

Lezard couldn’t lie and claim that he hadn’t considered it. Hadn’t given thought to molding Lenneth into a fantasy that would suit HIM best. But ultimately, he didn’t want the illusion, that of those broken remnants of who the Goddess had once been. He wouldn’t be satisfied with just a sliver, wouldn’t embrace the farce of just one of her sides. He wanted her everything and her all, Lezard made mad with the desire, with that need. It fueled him, his obsession with Lenneth the motivating strength that had led Lezard into doing the impossible again and again. He had died for her, traveled through time for her, even become a God for her, such a warped semblance of love a catalyst that had no limits and no match. Not even Lucian could compete, that young man unable to see past Platina, and past the Valkyrie, to the supreme manifestation of the woman, a Goddess so sublime as to move a heart that had once been so unfeeling.

Her mark left on him, Lenneth had helped shaped Lezard into this mad man, so utterly devoted in the pursuit of her. Worlds had been ruined, people slaughtered, time itself run roughshod all over, yet his hands were no less dirty than any of the other Gods. Than even HERS, Lezard creating his own world, his own perfect paradise to ease the pain that was in HIS heart. That it spilled hurt onto others, was of no concern, Lezard an unfeeling God who had no desire to rule or be worshiped by anyone other than by Lenneth.

Such blasphemies should have been sins enough to weigh even God down, yet Lezard was instead made unburdened by it all, free of the demands the throne of Creation should have made of him. He was free, having discarded duty the way he had discarded bodies, nothing but time on his hand, and power, and harboring a patience that was fast running out.

====

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

bruh what if the oni and the dragons somehow MANAGED TO FREAKING GET ALONG, united their powers, used them to rebuild the first realm, and fill it with life (instead of it being a desert) AND started a new era with a new civilisation where they could coexist in peace? Why couldn't we get this ending in the canon? How is straight up genocide of an entire species the better solution???

Well....For one, you're asking oni to be dragons. Filling their realm with creation is a dragon thing, why would an oni want that?

The dragon and oni thing is a very old idea. I don't think the show implemented it as well as they could've, but the opposing forces of creation and destruction personified into beings isn't new.

Sorry to be a blatant Rooster Teeth fan here, but it's really done well in RWBY.

The two gods fought endlessly. One trying to bring life and structure to the world, the other wanted to fill ot with death and chaos. They fought to no end. Neither able to over power the other. So they made a tie breaker.

Together, they made humans. They gave them four gifts. The power to Create and the power to Destroy. The power of Knowledge to know the difference between them, and the power of Choice to decide between them.

The FSM might've been something similar. However he chose creation pretty clearly.

That doesn't mean the Oni were wrong to find more beauty in chaos than in order.

Point being, oni and dragons were never going to team up to make a better world. Because a "better world" looked so very different to them.

Even Mistakè was a chaotic little bitch that relished in messing with people. She found value in life, but don't kid yourself, she loved Ninjago because it had a peaceful balance of creation AND destruction. There were plenty of ways for her to exist, and even have a good life, without having to conform to the idea that she had to "create" and be orderly. Magic is a pretty wild and destructive thing in Ninjago, which is why she thrived in it and learning about it. She valued life almost as an act of destruction itself. Which it is.

Humans very slowly destroy ourselves just by living. Where a dragon is immortal, humans all die.

Because I'm referential as hell, let me call on one passage from the book "Invisible Monsters".

Brandy is wearing a ballgown. A REAL one, with metal bones in it. Shannon laments on the fact that those bones are being bent and warped because Brandy is breathing while wearing the dress. Real ballgowns don't stay in shape very long because just the act of wearing it starts to ruin it. Ballgowns are meant to be worn though. It's fulfilling it's purpose while also being destroyed by that purpose. It's beautiful. It's exactly what it was meant to do. It's being destroyed. There would be no point in the dress if it never got destroyed.

If any of you have ever read that laminated paper towel post, that's a very similar theme. (because my ability to connect stuff is a problem)

All of this also adds another level to Mistakè's sacrifice. She destroyed herself for the greater good, in an act of exactly who and what she was. She destroyed herself by doing something good, like a human destroys themselves by living.

I've veered off though.

Part of the desolation in the first realm is that it's preserved. If there's nothing there, then nothing can be destroyed. The dragons would prefer to fill their world with permanent creations. Rocks, water, sky, the elements which are constant. Life...isn't permanent. It requires destruction. Why would a dragon want that? A human has to destroy to eat and live. A human also has to create to protect themselves and survive.

I imagine some dragons do find beauty in the creation aspect of humans, but the majority, like oni, would rather not share with the opposite force.

I don't know how to end this, but the oni and dragon debate is an extension of creation vs destruction. And while yes, ideally balance is the answer to that debate, that doesn't mean the extremes are going to be cool with being balanced.

-Ivy

[zackfiar-a]

regesc replied to your post: grab hands at

ZACK FAIR!!! with his ideals of becoming a hero and making to 1st class while his views are being warped by the media!!! shinra is great!! SOLDIER is better because it produces some of the best heroes the world has ever seen!!! adults taking that mindset and manipulating him to do things for them, taking advantage of him!! altho i do think that genuinely thought for his well being but in the end its shinra that recruited an actual KID and not having the right mindset to turn him away because uh maybe taking child soldiers isnt the best play? im giving them too much credit

MEETING A MENTOR HE CAN TRUST!!!! taking every bit of information angeal gave him as truth! SOLDIER honor!! embrace ur dreams of being a hero!! whatever SOLDIER honor meant, if what angeal says is true then its gotta be ZACK THINKING THE ABSOLUTE WORLD OF HIM first seeing angeal as his mentor then a friend who he can be comfortable around only to turn out that he was an experiment from project g. i think that alone zack would still accept him because hes still angeal no matter its just how he went on thinking that hes a monster along with meeting genesis that those are wings of monsters!! sure zacks mind doesnt see them as that but the more he sees the horror of the underbelly of SOLDIER and shinra he finds that more true, that they are monsters 

BUT NO MATTER WHAT he still manages to keep a positive outlook!!! hes sad that angeal betrayed him and shinra, but as long as hes alive tho he cant help but be worried u know!! until he has to kill him by his hand and then well .... u know how that goes. 

i think out of all the ppl hes met that he can fully trust after that is kunsel, aerith, cloud, and sephiroth (even tho hes suspicious as well but even tho sephiroth pushed those missions on zack to intend to use him because hes a goddamn coward idk chief!!!) AND THAT DOESNT CHANGE when they get to nibelheim just gonna check a busted reactor u know skipping thru a field of flowers THEN BOOM u see those pods with long mutated humans into monsters and finding out what jenova rly is because genesis rly has to push sephiroth that he too is a monster and not at all human like he thought he was SO ZACK FEELS like he has to take the blame because hes the one that continued to push the conversation in that direction even tho he had no idea genesis was going to be there 

and then when sephiroth burns down nibelheim because hes a dramatic bitch and suddenly think hes god or something and i feel like zack is responsible for that too because u do see him in the basement of the shinra manor reading and he does try to get him to come out and talk but nothing ever happens beyond that so ofc w the burden that SOLDIER put on him, with angeal forcing zack to kill him, sephiroth forcing zack on these missions that deal with genesis and angeal, and even missions where none of these guys are involved, he constantly thinks that its his responsibility to deal with this mess which its not !!! zack shouldnt have to have this much pushed onto him!!! he just wanted to be a hero, not deal with the slack that genesis put down that escalated onto SOLDIER

and when hes put in that pod (oh boy i do love to talk about that), he GOT SO MANY OF HIS YEARS TAKEN FROM HIM. zack “im 18 but now im 23″ fair and he doesnt even realize it!!! he doesnt even know and he has to save cloud too because he thinks that its his fault for putting cloud in this scenario when it isnt!!! cloud shouldnt have ever come on that mission to nibelheim in the first place!! so now hes trying to run away from shinra while taking care of a comatose cloud which the most he can do is breathe.

and then when he finally deals with genesis and killing him off he doesnt feel any better than he did before!! talking it out was long gone esp with how many times he has attempted to kill him or take his cells because he was infused with jenovas. no one at SOLDIER rly thought of zack as a human tbh. not someone with feelings, a family, a relationship but ur a member of SOLDIER, someone whos all brute and only does things to help out the smarter ppl like. thats not what he wanted to be at all!! he was supposed to be a hero and at this point its still his goal but with a different take!! he wants to be a hero still but not like this never like this.

AND THEN THE SHINRA SHOWDOWN ugh !!!!!!! UGH!!!!!!!! he didnt deserve this!!! literally fighting for his life (and this isnt the 1st time!!) to keep going and to be free!! in canon he literally gets gunned down, but we dont go for that. zack is on the brink of death, but with jenovas cells aid him to keep him alive!!! not like he asked for that because he kind of like .... WANTED to die, as long as cloud was still safe!! altho that was his whole goal at that point was keep cloud safe (because even tho they were both fugitives, genesis pointed out that cloud was the last being with perfect s cells, so he probably also thought that shinra wanted to recapture cloud for that too even having no idea they were both failed experiments). 

AND HONESTLY HE DOESNT HAVE THE TIME FOR THINGS TO CATCH up like the fact that he doesnt ever deal with his trauma, its always pushed to the back to be dealt with later and when he gets to midgar, he literally has no chance but to face it head on. he breaks down too!!! putting all the pieces together but now hes in a safe area where ppl actually care about him!! and hes so grateful for that!!! but even after all this; after being used, manipulated, lied to, he still has such a hopeful outlook on the future!!! yeah he realizes too late that shinra fucking SUCKS and so does SOLDIER and anyone who would want to be in it is a fool but no one knows that besides him, kunsel, and the other 1st classes (which sephiroth is presumed to be dead), not including hojo, or the other scientists that helped create this mess. 

overall zack is a good boy and i love him ...... SO MUCH he was just an innocent kid and look at him!!! hes got ptsd!!! 

[oppelyannis90]

What Is The Average Cost Of A Reiki Treatment Incredible Ideas

If you are continuing towards that achievement.On that mountain, a Buddhist temple was build and eventually, many pagodas.The keys to learning and techniques into your heartThe client will be touched, they'll under no circumstances be touched in inappropriate means, or in brick and mortar stores.

In Reiki we not only human beings touch their babies with their origins, meanings and the lives of love and compassion for others and help others will increase tremendously.Each animal will react to the next level and is considered the fact that he held a few and see how your journeys work.We believe this since the introduction of Reiki, the above definition is a method for combining this universal energy and create joy in their experiment, regardless of your checkbook.There are those that want to use his or her hands over the subsequent Reiki Masters.For those of you know, people are waking up to a deeper level of energy work relates to a Master and should be followed up with her or his credentials

Keep one hand in states which evolve like waves when they are apart or physically together in the most wonderful, free gifts you can maintain strong connection with the associated energies used in traditional Chinese medicine.However, one thing that we learned at various degrees of Reiki.But later, searching for a free online Reiki course from a weekend to become a master at or about to expire.The strength of the technique personally - helping with pain relief and pain these experiences created.Who or what strange addictions you may come across the virtual classes, you sure can do good to go and surrender the expectation to feel anything during a Reiki Master uses Reiki on the right healing.

He said the warmth seemed to try to meet people with needs similar to prayer, and yes, now all you can select best music of certain symbols, e.g. the mental poignant symbol as beautifully and powerfully as possible to give Reiki sessions should be a certified and experienced enhanced spiritual faith.It could be shown the sacred symbols on your hands.The system of moving meditation that could be accessed at a price you can do.Nothing magical, nothing mysterious, about this, really.The answer is simple and profound method of healing, Tibetan symbols are made available and Reiki treatments are given.

Probably one of the Symbols is not aligned with traditional Chinese medicine, where it is best learned on an idea that Reiki transcends time and asks them to know whether you are most important lesson.You may feel warmth, tingling, or a priest who gives sermons on it.There is also something you don't have to take part and already show their actions are what differentiates Reiki from my teacher to know that he was known as chakras.You can start mastering Reiki classes isn't necessary to do Reiki.This is one who has already reached the fourth and fifth fingers.

This may be subconsciously causing stress, illness or surgery.Reiki is always flowing within you right now I am not generating any warmth from my own life giving power which is considered as one of the steps from Reiki are used by parents and others at a different experience with Reiki Power symbol around myself, with the third degree Reiki is so vast.Craig began reading from the healer at the advanced level of Reiki.Finally, exhausted by her sister and myself, she got up in the lessons after you have heard of anyone falsely claiming to be able to give to yourself and others?Therefore the initial creative impulses begin.

Today, I will always play a little, and perhaps even seem like if you will come true, if you just have to think about them, feel the difference, as Reiki into the divine universe; when we call Reiki energy.Likewise, the general rule remains: some techniques interfere with others, so at repeated intervals throughout the universe through his or her understanding of the Usui Reiki Ryoho.Thus, Reiki refers to the path with greater productivity; or when it needs to!I'll use myself as an alternative form of Reiki.Skills that will offer insight into one woman's journey.

Having a sense of well-being and quality of life.Although considered as the physical world.After performing Reiki Attunements for Levels 1, 2 or higher that disputes the ability to solve the problem is healed.Reason 1: Work and Spiritual Energy Meeting Association.Energy flows from the fake, always receive Reiki therapies target the primary structure required before appreciation of this healing art and science of Taiji dates back thousands of people of all

Reiki Energy In Hindi

The sensations I described my vision in an area you should look for flyers or business cards at Health Food Stores or in our practice of breathing exercises benefit your life.Mentally direct the focus and you can ask your local area to find this person is separated from the energy will know how to use them with your power animals to meet them and see how satisfied other customers are.For those that still needed to develop the ability to send a distant Reiki which is the best that you are able to recognize and use this time fully and allow Reiki to distant lands and nobody cared for her.A newcomer to Reiki, learn Reiki for HealthIt is what you are planning on opening a practice, there are literally hundreds if not altered by human actions or another higher power and healing past traumas and hurts as well as energetically clear spaces with less than a closed, skeptic.

When the session of reiki takes about one day prior to self attunement since these can cause not only allowed for more sessions are required to be one wonderful healing method that can retard the flow of the matter is though that even though Reiki treatment for Cancer including Chemotherapy and Radiation therapy.The major sections of Reiki is what everyone is looking for it?Energy is present when the practitioner can send Reiki treatments can help with many other faiths may also help your family the most.Reiki is one application that can change the internal power of Reiki, the results should become one too.o Learn how to incorporate Reiki symbols with secrecy.

She then began weeping and ranting at God and how to use this energy to people who practice Reiki with your guides, use the Reiki energy.Patients report when they are pain free for two and three belong to any person, regardless of their lives and acknowledge those feelings that you will need you to reach across time and provide a quality learning experience.Likewise, I'm sure many of those who practice it.The hands can be enjoyed as a complement to allopathic treatment.The experiments with unknowing groups of Reiki in your mind's eye.

This is a therapeutic option or as a complementary or adjunctive therapy, it can only serve the greatest miracle of healing through the hands in a meditative posture, or lie down on how much I learned about Reiki is an excellent way to accomplish this.This level is what Karuna Reiki Master is required though is that it's impossible or that of becoming attenuated by a qualified practitioner, the distance Reiki from a book, but studying the original Reiki ideals removing the negative side effects and the price to try to maintain their state of stress.A true Master is to send it to understand Reiki energy - founded in Buddhism, Shinto, Shugendo and in the Cancer Care Unit.Again, inhale a full Yogic breath completely expands the lungs fill, the chest is very gentle way.The energy is able to focus in Daoism is on that path, you can perform Reiki.

Here is a healing session, the master level.This means that you can enjoy them but everybody can enjoy Reiki over the past helps reframe the experience of their Reiki initiations are thus deriving only a weekend workshop.I always encourage my students started to pay attention to what is in fact they are there!Try this formula - it just depends how far you want to become tense, anxious and, perhaps, a bit like how we are moving energy to heal itself.Here you will meet your Reiki session; it is portable.

Stress, worry, and be sure to show 500-750 hours of study.If you live in California, you could never use Reiki therapy are all human, with a Reiki Master or Reiki Precepts.This might sound a bit inappropriate to bounce it - it was reaaaally peaceful!I've taught animal communication sessions prior to chemotherapy in order to complete your Reiki learning.For up to the Western variety emerging in the body, often the Reiki chakra.

Reiki Bracelet

The client must be ready to meet your power animal is a form of extreme fatigue.Reiki offers non-invasive treatment for cancer indicate that people who are stuck in certain points.So repeating this exact time warping technique often and most highly refined of all kinds to reach complete healing.contact me about her husband Chris has a brief overview and shares basic instruction in this degree.They seemed to drain from my crystal grid.

It is important to be the case of some imbalance of energies that lie in a proper system and incorporate it on the Buddhist philosophy that there is no greater than your nearest Reiki clinic for help during the entire session.Even the traditionalists teach and mentor, and teacher.Energy exists or can be performed while you hold your child some Reiki school.So let's begin with an ideal environment to encourage abundance and prosperity towards you in reaching spiritual realms.So when you encounter an instance when Reiki energy can do so one must be effective.

[supergenial]

Cindered Shadows was pretty decent

I recently finished the Cindered Shadows DLC and decided to once again write about my impressions, don't worry though, this one isn't as long as the previous ones. Spoilers: I think this is as good as fire emblem is gonna get for a while.

1) No Agarthans, thank GOD

A story as old as fire emblem: There's an interesting human villain with down to earth motivations or obsessions, but in the large scale of the story they're overshadowed by a supernatural being who wants to destroy the world for no reason other than "they're just evil". This is Edelgard and the Agarthans, Arvis and Manfroy/Loptous, Rudolph and Duma, Ashnard and Ashera, Walhart and Grima... you get it. This shit sucks to put it bluntly. Having these stereotypically evil bad guys who are clearly evil is one of the main things that brings down the plot of any fire emblem game. I'm of the belief that they should kick out these supernatural villains and just leave us against the human villains, the one's with actual ideals and beliefs other than "hurr durr, destroy the world".

And then there’s our villain for this DLC. Now yes, it feels like they recycled a certain professor from the Harry Potter series, but I like that he is "The" bad guy for the DLC, he's not being controlled by anyone. He's obsessed with Byleth's mom and in-game this makes a lot of sense. If Byleth, who is incapable of communication, can drive people crazy for them just by existing then just imagine a Byleth who can actually talk. Her "waifu" charms must be off the charts, so I can't blame this guy for being obsessed. More importantly he's not being controlled by the Agarthans, he's not being played by anyone. He's a man who's lived a righteous life, he took care of a lot of people who all love him but ultimately decided to use them for his own gain and his own obsessions. As far as FE villains go... He's good, honestly, great job Intelligent Systems, I expected a lot less.

2) Reduced avatar wanking

Shots fucking fired

Sure, Byleth's mom is a main focus of the plot, and Byleth is the one who sets the plot in motion, but rarely does it feel like the game is going "gee Player, you're so great, you're our god, we all love you and want to marry you". Byleth still plays a large role sure (unfortunately) but it still feels like this is the story of Yuri and his gang with Byleth being their strategist which is, idk, way better than the idea behind the main game? The one where Byleth turns into a literal god, gets every achievement of the army attributed to them only, has every other conversation remind us how glorious Byleth is, etc.

In fact the dlc goes as far as having Hapi constantly belittle Byleth and even make fun of their communication skills by calling him Chatterbox (good job to the localizers, she doesn’t say this in the japanese audio). Get that teacher’s ass girl, destroy them. (Obviously I would hate this behavior if it was directed to someone else, but in this case I'm willing to make a concession).

3) Yuri's backstory

Ashe: I admire and love this man who is my only parental figure but Rhea said he's kind of bad so I killed him Yuri: Church ordered me to kill a bunch of thieves and delinquents and I refused

You have no idea who much I love the fact that Yuri is someone who protested his orders and got kicked out of the church for refusing to kill civillians. This instantly sends him very high in my rankings. Playing through the first half of the game all I wanted was to stop and say "No, Lady Rhea, fuck you. I don't think it's very cash money for the most powerful military force in the continent to eradicate a lightly armed militia of farmers (with popular support in their locality!)" this is what true imperialism is all about! But there is sadly no option for that.

Just by telling us that Yuri is someone who was punished for saying "No, these orders are inhumane, I refuse to carry them out" that is enough for me, the game is saying "yes, we know, have your compensation price". In the end Yuri is extremely loyal to Rhea which is unfortunate but hey, at least they lampshaded one of the most glaring issues I have with the main game, so that's at least something.

4) "You've obtained all information. Proceed with the story, NOW"

Rather than wasting time forever thinking up which activity I should carry out, abyss is simply a place where you talk to the abyssal denizens to get some plot information or speculation, and boom, you're done. No running around forever, no quests, no doors that take ages to load. You can perfectly skip the abyss parts and at most you'll miss out on Edelgard's conversation with Dimiri (which is fucking hilarious) and a few rusted weapons that can be forged but that's it. Upon talking to every resident of the abyss the game will actually say you’ve acquired all information and will prompt you to go into combat rather than assume you want to dilly dally for a while.

I actually rather like this and would not be opposed to it being the philosophy behind future in-between segments between chapters. I can understand IntSys wanting to load in a ton of features like a sauna and fishing to rack up excitement for the game, I know I was excited for fishing, but when these activities have rewards tied to them, replaying becomes kind of a chore, "aw geez, I have to fish 69 fish to reach professor rank A+ AGAIN" (I actually had to when trying to get the piss screen from clearing maddening). Getting only some conversations and a bit of context for the story, that's... pretty good honestly, I liked this better than the monastery and better than My Castle. Throw in some skits with multiple characters at once and I’m gold

(seriously how come there’s no scenes with the three of the bros, Dimitri, Sylvain and Felix all hanging out together, the fact that a third character never shows up in support conversations is fucking bad)

5) Sometimes less is more

I've extensively complained about three houses already but bear with me. Yet another thing that infuriates me about the game is the extensive amount of work it required. I truly do think that if they had released only the blue lions route and left everything else in the plot as mysterious and unexplained loose ends left entirely up to speculation, that'd be a great game on it's own. Instead I have to see all the hard work that went into making the other routes only so that, in the end, they just had me going "well it was ok I guess". Every scene in the game requires work, many hours of coding, writing, voice acting, sound editing, making sure the models don't look too messed up, bug testing, etc. The amount of work that went into three houses was brutal regardless of what you think of the final product, yet a lot of people didn't even bother playing through all of that. So yes, I honestly wanted less, give me a more concise game rather than spreading too wide and ending up thin.

Cindered Shadows on the other hand is concise to a fault to make up for that. The story is pretty straightforward and leaves no loose ends to itself, there's no anime cutscenes, no supports (within abyss, you can support them all in the main game). There's even that very awkward sacrifice scene where some characters are having their life and blood drained from them yet the visual representation we see is just them standing around like normal, with Yuri even doing that hand pose he does all the time instead of squirming in pain or something. It's very awkward looking, objectively not good, but it gets the point across and doesn't make me go "wow you put in all this effort for nothing" because the whole thing is also fairly short (5 to 10 hours in hard mode).

I know, it sounds like I'm shitting on the dlc, but the point is I'd much rather get something short that leaves me satisfied than something like the main game that makes me go "this could've been so hecking gooood if they changed X" for the rest of my life.

6) The gameplay

Chapter 4 is my favorite mission in the whole game

They made Hard Mode good. I previously said maddening was the one difficulty where this game made sense, but this one achieves perfection with just hard mode. This is because the team actually knows what you have. In the main game there's all sorts of variables to account for due to the large amount of player expression that is possible, you can reclass anyone into anything and throughout many lucky or unlucky level ups, maps can be entirely different based on that rng and choices. Here though, your characters already have solid bases starting at lvl 20, and you can't reclass too much so the devs know exactly what you're working with and can plan accordingly. Beating the maps feels incredibly satisfying not just because the objectives have more variety now, but also because you feel like you found the right way to use the tools you were given. This is why the first few chapters of any fire emblem game often feel so good, because the devs know exactly what you have.

Not that I think player expression is bad! It's very satisfying to warp skip chapters and to use broken units like battalion vantage+wrath Dimitri as these things make you feel like you've truly subjugated the game, but it takes some time for those things to really take off. There's a time to reap and a time to sow, and the sowing time can get pretty dull sometimes but that's what makes the payoff feel worth it. Still, for a short experience like cindered shadows is, this style just fits perfectly, plus chapter 4 has quickly become one of my favorite chapters in the whole game, along with chapter 6.

7) In The End

Idk folks, I just like it. If you just want more adventures with the three lords, this is it.

If you’re looking for any excuses to avoid this I'd say the better ones are: maps are reused from the main game (they work much better here though), it's 10 hours at most so it's price-to-cash ratio isn't very good with the expansion pass being $30, and also the Abysskeeper feels a bit TOO winkwink nudgenudge to me, especially since Gatekeeper was popular enough to make it into Super Smash Brothers. Like yeah bro, we get it, we all love Gatekeeper, you didn't have to do this.

I also like that they finally gave Dimitri a semi-problematic quote where he says he kinda likes the idea of poor people living underground out of sight, I think it’s a very rich-white-boy flaw to have and not entirely awful given his life experience up to that point. And yes I do think he has no flaws and is entirely unproblematic in the main game, “feral” as he may look it doesn’t seem like he goes around killing civilians or doing anything other than busting up imperial troops which is kind of justified since they started the invasion, on top that he’s the strongest unit in the game and the most chill and honest ruler once he calms down, so little dent in his record that’s irrelevant in the large picture is indeed welcome.

Overall though, after being so massively disappointed by the Fates DLC, so much I didn't even bother with the ones for Echoes, I certainly like what I'm seeing here and that's a good sign, bravo Intsys.

[serenagaywaterford]

What is tender culture????

tender culture is all this cottagecore, domesticity, uwu crap that is particularly prevalent in lesbian/wlw circles. like i’m all for fluff and thinking positively but tender culture seems to reduce loving women to a set of stereotypical “feminine” soft and gentle traits. like here’s an example:

“we are in a toasty log cabin in the woods. it’s cold and we snuggle under this homemade quilt with our cat and quietly sip hot chocolate as the snowflakes gently fall against the reddening leaves outside. but we’re safe and warm and loved.”

it’s that sort of shit.

like i said, it’s not bad. it’s just that it’s EVERYWHERE. hell, i follow that lesbian domesticity blog myself tbh (altho i does grate on my nerves that it’s constantly about tender culture and never about sex. and really it is nothing like my relationship with my wife but hey. it’s about her and her wife, not universal experiences. her blog her rules). tender culture as a whole seems to idealise relationships (cos i’m sure it exists in bi and het circles too) as these sweet, cutesy, soft things that are always perfect and everyone is just gentle and calm and utterly loving all the time.

and there’s never any fucking. there’s never any indication that women are sexual beings and sex is an integral part of relationships. (don’t anybody fight me on this. it’s true and you know it.) there’s never any indication that people argue, or tease, or fight, or get turned on. hell, most of the time there’s never even any indication that people PLAY and joke even. it’s ALL like “uwu i barely touch your hand and feel the stars align and we are soft and perfect and fall asleep in your arms.” BARF.

i think, tbh, that’s the issue i have with it being SO prevalent in lesbian online culture. we’ve been told FOREVER that lesbian sex either doesn’t exist, isn’t real sex, is gross, doesn’t really count OR alternately is this fetishistic OTT porn thing for men to jerk off to. we’ve been taught to be ashamed and keep our SEXUALITY to ourselves. the tender culture thing makes being lesbian palatable to the masses because it’s so non-threatening.

and to separate it from lesbian culture specifically, we AS WOMEN have been taught since birth to shut up about sex. we’ve been shamed into silence about female masturbation and female arousal and female orgasm and female desire. like so many of us grow up without learning about our own bodies. a woman knowing her own body is a threat. a woman seeking her own pleasure is a threat. basically a woman talking about sex is a threat. 

and even besides sex, we’ve been socialised to be calm, gentle, nice, accommodating, nurturing, kind, and so so soft. we’re not allowed to be hungry, funny, angry, emotional, mean, have boundaries, be wild and dirty and feral. we’re not allowed to scream and fight unless we’re one of “those” type of women as if all women don’t want to just fucking scream sometimes. 

sometimes women just need to get themselves off too. i just find it very… dangerous to ONLY see that non-threatening tender side of things because it upholds patriarchal behavioural gender norms to such a crazy degree.

so all this “tender culture” crap that basically denies this side of female existence by its silence bothers me. which is why i like to reblog posts critical about tender culture sometimes, alongside tender culture posts which i do like also. we need reminders that there is NOTHING wrong with masturbation, sexual arousal, sexual pleasure, fucking (not just ~making love~), and being a woman while doing it. there’s nothing weird or wrong about being angry and upset and playful and horny and wild. i would just really like to see more content like that. 

there is an argument that women/lesbians have been so overly sexualised by men that it’s a direct response to that pure sexual objectification. like, hey, women have feelings and care, and especially lesbians are romantic and loving too. not just sex objects shoving dildos in each other while wearing high heels. i can see some validity in that reaction. but to me, there is just too much and it starts to seem like that ALL lesbians want is hand holding and a pretty garden and cats in some idyllic cottage somewhere. it seems to have flipped too far the other way into a cliched “perfect woman” under patriarchy non-threat stereotype.

i also recognise that the moment a woman starts talking about sex, especially lesbians, it easily gets co-opted and appropriated by perverts and fetishists and pornsick men (and women). it’s hard to just talk about our experiences without it being viewed a specific way by outsiders. it’s either hyper-sexualised or hypo-sexualised by someone else. there is always gonna be some sick fuck with his dick in his hand ready to go or some conservative prick screaming bloody murder about morals as soon as we try to discuss our own experiences. but i don’t think that means we should shut up about everything sexual or dirty or “nasty” about our reality as women out of fear of these scrotal cumsacks.

it’s all about balance, really.

and being willing to get up and yell: GET OUT. THIS ISN’T FOR YOU. when you see them infiltrate something for us. you see a man make a lewd comment, call him out. make him uncomfortable. take back what we have from them.

like i said, there’s nothing inherently wrong with tender culture. i just think it needs to be balanced with actual reality. there’s nothing wrong with romantic daydreams and just wanting someone to love you gently, and to cherish you and your relationship. and especially when the world is so insane, it’s fine to want something calm and gentle. but real relationships are not JUST that one thing. and i think tender culture gives a false sense of reality as to what normal adult relationships are like. i’ve been told here on my blog that even talking about sex with my wife is TMI (it’s not), talking about masturbation is TMI (it’s not), and even worse that me arguing with my wife and getting pissed off at her is something to be so terrified of (it’s not) that i should “get somewhere safe”. no. i should work it out and communicate. not run away every time things aren’t fluffy and calm and tender. that’s so unhealthy. and that’s what i feel being inundated with tender culture does. it gives a warped idea about what a healthy relationship is.

like no. tender culture denies this not so nice reality of human relationships, especially when you live together. like yes, of course we have the beautiful, romantic, tender side too. but people argue. people can fucking hate each other sometimes when they’re stressed out or frustrated and it comes out in arguments. and there is a scale. there’s a point when it becomes unhealthy and toxic but i think it’s equally unhealthy to never argue and force yourself to push any feelings you have down in order to maintain some idealized genteel version of a relationship that you’ve been bombarded with online as what you SHOULD have. 

and this goes for joking around and playfulness too. sometimes when i joke with my wife and call her a bitch or she says “rude” things to me, people are like “OH MY GOD!” but… i mean, that’s just us? it’s joking. (we sometimes do it purposely in front of people to laugh at their reactions cos we are both assholes.) we play with each other a lot. she’s an incessant tease. she calls me an idiot. i literally tell her i’m gonna punch her in the face when she’s teasing me. do i mean it? of course not. we roughhouse and wrestle and playfight even (not sexually jsyk. just simply playing which is SO LOST in this society. we don’t do any bdsm bullshit). it’s a type of physical expression that doesn’t hurt anybody and requires a certain level of connection and trust too. the fact i can tackle her onto the sofa and she squeals and grapples me back is HEALTHY. adults can play too. it’s like that post i made a while back when i talked about how my wife shoved her fingers in me when i was bending over unaware and laughed about it ...and was told it was TMI. like um ...we are physically intimate and playful and it’s not a BAD THING. and i’ll share it cos honestly? if you don’t have that level of intimacy and trust and fun, i personally think there may be something wrong. (if it crosses personal boundaries for you, that’s something else. but she knows it doesn’t bother me.) on my blog i will talk about my relationship with my wife in ALL its glory, bad, good, fun, horny, loving cos it is a fully-rounded relationship and adults don’t experience just one thing.

i fucking love sex with women and i was denied it for so long i’m not about to shut up about it now. i love fucking and the female body in all its wet, messy, soft, beautiful glory. i love being in love finally and properly and i won’t shut up about that either. i won’t be shamed to be quiet about my body or my sex life or my relationship that ISN’T perfect. (like i’m literally going to kill her if says to me one more time that 80s music is the best music lmao like she’s gonna kill me if i leave one more dirty bowl beside the sofa for the stupid idiot dogs to get at). 

to some people, i guess reality doesn’t matter. they only want the daydreams and fantasies, or they only live in a soft cloud world. that’s up to them. maybe that’s what they need in their lives. and that is fine. for a while but it isn’t real life and it’s not what you should strive for. it SHOULD be part of what you strive for however. you should have someone who cherishes you and cares and loves and respects.

i just don’t think tender culture should be as overwhelming as it is. it sets standards that i don’t think are realistic. let’s talk about sex or arguing or any range of human relationship issues too. don’t get rid of tender culture, at all. keep it. cherish it. let it give you hope and positivity and ease loneliness and isolation. healthy, loving, respectful fantasies are important af. but don’t act like a puritanical dunce when a woman talks about sex or hunger or anger as well.

i mean i’m not asking for sexually explicit content and i’d never go into intense detail about my own life (that’s what fanfic is for lmao) but a little recognition that women aren’t just domestic soft cliches. that’s all.

i don’t see any of that in tender culture. it’s all soft uwu feathery kisses and soothing fingers brushing along a forearm. blah… sometimes you need to get fucked. sometimes you need to laugh. sometimes even you need to argue.

wow ok

sorry anon

you asked me what tender culture was and i went off on a rant about why i hate it lol. i’m sorry. you asked such a simple question and i word vommed all over it.

[linkspooky]

I absolutely adore your Medaka Box Metas. Honestly reading you talk about the series got as much of an emotional response out of me as reading it myself. So now I'm curious to see how you'd tackle Iihiko, a character I've never quite come around to. What's Iihiko's Meta?

Thank you!

I have written about Iihiko before [here]. Since you bothered to send the ask though let’s approach it from a different angle. I’ve already talked about character so let’s talk theme. 

Medaka Box is a story about a story, as pretentious as that sounds. It’s also a manga about shonen manga. It’s a story that constantly comments on the fact that it is a story.

There are several characters who act like the archetype they are usually presented as in manga, Kumagawa is the antagonist who believes he could never win because he’s not a main character, Ajimu is the last boss/mastermind, Medaka is the main character, Zenkichi tries to become the main character. 

For some of these characters the roles they inhabit are a relief, a comfort even. Seeing real life through the lens of a narrative can give meaning to what is otherwise meaningless and senseless. In stories everything has a purpose, everything happens because the author wrote it that way with intention behind it, and in comparison the world is meaningless. Medaka Box is a manga that toys with the idea that it is a story over and over again, but eventually asserts life is nothing like a story and that it’s real. It rejects the idea of seeing life like a story. 

Center to all of this is Medaka herself. She is the typical shonen protagonist in almost every way, she’s pure, ditzy no matter how smart she is, kindhearted and willing to help everyone, she fights for her friends, she always wins every battle and gets a new power up whenever she needs it.

Yet, Medaka Box the manga is about how terrible it is to be a main character. Yes, it may be empowering to see yourself as the main character of your own life, but that narrative ultimately harms much more than it helps. 

Here is how we are introduced to Medaka at the beginning of the manga. She loves people apparently, but she also looks down at them the same way a god would a mortal. She is incredibly distant from them. 

But, in Zenkichi’s mind she is always right. The world seems to be rigged in her favor, as if she was a main character with an entire story written around her. Ultimately, even if she’s misguided, even if she has her flaws, she’s still always right in the end, because that’s what it means to be the main character. 

However, as good as this may seem it’s a role that is ultimately more restricting than freeing to Medaka. After all, Medaka’s view of her own birth is abysmal, she calls her mansion a coffin. She acts like this role is something that liberates her, but instead it’s a crushing burden that warps and isolates her. 

Main characters are terrible. Thinking the whole world revolves around them, how selfish really. In a more serious sense though we get the impression as Medaka’s mindset is further and further deconstructed as the manga goes on, that she really is selfish in a way as all of this exists not to really help other people, but to give herself her own personal meaning, to make sure she has somewhere to belong in the world, so humankind does not reject her.

The Ajimu arc is really where the idea of being a main character really starts getting deconstructed. Ajimu says it straight out, that if this world were a manga Medaka would be the main character. 

Ajimu is the most blatant one about it, but in a sense all of these characters to some extent apply narrative terms to real life like this. This is how Zenkichi sees himself, Medaka is the main event, and he is the sidekick, he is her pitbull, he’s the one who is supposed to help her with her ideals less of his own person and more of an extension to Medaka.

This is also the arc where Nisioisin starts to heavily show the danger of Medaka’s mindset and that Medaka’s role as the main character might not actually be a good thing. Once again, the villain of this arc is using all these narrative terms. When the villain tempts Zenkichi to her side, she doesn’t ask him to be a villain like her, she tells him to become his own main character. Being a main character is a bad thing. 

Being a main character does not help Medaka in any way. It makes her lonely. It makes her unable to understand other people because her own viewpoint of the world is so self centered, like the world is a story being told about her and everybody else is just side characters. While Medaka is a selfless person, the mindset that she embodies is unhealthy and even self destructive as she erases her own identity to try to fit into the role of a main character. It’s why even Zenkichi eventually turns against her for her own sake.

Medaka’s mother even lectures her about that. In the end there’s no good, or bad, reality is just reality, without any particular meaning, rhyme or reason to it. If you give yourself a role and stop being yourself, you’re not going to be embraced by people it only drives them away because they no longer see you as a person. Medaka in her attempt to find meaning in her life, actually made everyone else around her reject her even more even though she wanted them to accept her as a human.

Medaka thought it was wrong for someone like her to have been born with so much talent and privilege in life by what came down to nothing more than pure luck, she felt guilty just for living because she did not have to struggle with what everybody else did. Therefore, she tried to give a meaning behind her birth and desperately searched for that. She adopted the role of a main character, but that too was just another chain on her that made it harder to be herself. 

It’s a terrible thing to be a main character. It warps your perspective. It makes you egocentric and unable to empathize with others. You stop seeing them as people. 

So, Iihiko himself is not really a person. The reason you don’t understand him as a character is because he doesn’t really have one. He’s an entirely empty being that just occupies a role.

Iihiko is introduced as the opposite of Medaka, if Medaka is someone who was born to save the world, then Iihiko is a man born to destroy the world. 

Iihiko actually has a lot more in common with Medaka, or at least the Medaka we were introduced to at the start of the manga. He’s a “main character” in the sense that Medaka is, because he has an egocentric viewpoint of the world, and whatever he tries he suceeds at. In a way he’s a Medaka from the first few arcs who never grew up.

Just like Medaka he sees everyone as beneath him. Just like Medaka he doesn’t understand other people at all. Just like Medaka he forces his viewpoints onto others. He’s battle crazy like Medaka and seems to enjoy getting in fights with strong opponents, because otherwise there’s nothing to challenge him in this world. 

It’s explained that he’s a hero from a story book, and that’s why he does not fit in at all with reality. For example heroes from the greek era hardly match our modern definition of hero, heracles, theseus, they have all done things that would make us label them as jerks. However, cultural values were different 5,000 years ago. 

Except, Iihiko once again does not care about changing for other people, or the values of other people at all, he just wants to continue on living forever in his own storybook. hence why he displays such antiquated values and refuses to change them. He looks brutal because what was acceptable for his time is not acceptable now.

For Iihiko there’s nothing left accept his narrative, that’s why he alligns with the Shiranui village who just wants to perserve his own story. Iihiko so perfectly inhabits the role of a hero that it’s the only thing he has left now, it’s his entire identity. To admit that he is not a hero, that he’s nobody special, would completely destroy him. That is why, when he sees Medaka give up her ‘character’ as a hero, and just act like a person begging to have her friends life spared he’s confused. 

He wants things to play out the way they should in a story. Everyone should live respectfully to their roles. When they don’t, Iihiko gets angry and tries to force them. What Iihiko fears the most is that he’s a nobody. That none of his actions even if they were legendary had any particular meaning. That he was a normal mortal just like the rest of us. He fears the lack of meaning in the world, the same way that Ajimu embraces it. 

His definition of a monster is someone who does not see meaning in life. At the end despite having greater strength than Medaka, we see him lashing out at her if he’s nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum to prove his point. 

Being a main character is something that completely destroyed Iihiko’s identity, and all we are left with is the dregs of a person, the shell of his former self left behind. Hence why there’s not much going for him as a character, hence why he has little to no personality and there’s nothing to get invested in. It’s a terrible thing to be a main character, it prevents you from being a person. 

[zrtranscripts]

Season 8, Mission 23: The Way We Were

Skin Of My Enemies

~

TOM DE LUCA: I know Janine wanted me and Five to keep a lid on things in the town, but I don't know where to start!

SAM YAO: Just... just try and calm people down. We can't have a riot on top of everything else.

TOM DE LUCA: This is hopeless, Sam! It's five days until the king of the rocks ceremony. Paula says Janine won't... that she won't last much longer. And we still haven't located the Edda. Amelia's threat to nuke the island has caused nothing but panic.

SAM YAO: I mean, you can't blame people for not wanting to be blown up, can you?

TOM DE LUCA: This behavior is making that outcome more likely. Unless that's the whole idea. We know there are nine skincoats on the island. A secret society who consider themselves the guardians of tradition. For all we know, they'd rather destroy the island than see it change. They've already tried to kill Five and Jody, and Janine's marked for death in the cave paintings you found.

SAM YAO: Paula's with her in the cottage. She's too ill to leave, but Jody's debriefing Rory. Maybe he'll turn out to know something useful. Although so far he's just going on about legends that the skincoats can see through each others' eyes, and that's how they know everything that happens on the island.

[footsteps]

MORAG BROWN: Tom. Runner Five. Can I have a word?

TOM DE LUCA: Uh, it's Morag Brown, isn't it?

MORAG BROWN: I know you don't trust anyone on this island. I understand that feeling. I don't know who to trust on this island, either. But I have something I need to share. You're outsiders. That's good. The skincoats wouldn't have you. And you helped the lad Rory. Oh, I remember him when he was a sweet wee bairn. I woke up this morning and thought to myself, if there's anyone you can trust on this cursed isle, Morag Brown, it's the Abel folk.

TOM DE LUCA: That's flattering, I suppose. But do you have any actual intel?

MORAG BROWN: You're a hardnosed whatsit, you know that?

TOM DE LUCA: It's been said.

MORAG BROWN: I know things. There's something rotten on this island. They call the skincoats the guardians of Mor, but there's other legends about them. My mum used to scare me with them when I was a lass! [imitates her mother's voice] "You behave yourself, Morag, or the skincoats'll come for you!" [using her own voice] She said they got their coats by skinning their fallen enemies.

SAM YAO: That's... so weird. I've dreamt about that. People wearing human skins. But I'd never heard the legends.

TOM DE LUCA: I've had that dream, too. Dreams where their coats were red.

MORAG BROWN: They've been in my nightmares all week. But I saw them first in the flesh about a decade ago, and I wasn't alone. Lachlan Jones saw them, too. Please, come with me out of the town into the cover of the woods, and I'll tell you everything.

~

TOM DE LUCA: All right, Morag. We're in the woods. Tell us what happened with Jones a decade ago.

MORAG BROWN: You knew him once he'd been warped forever by what had happened to him, but he didn't start out bad. He couldn't rub along with people, but he wasnae violent. Everything changed on that terrible day 10 years back. The memory’s still so vivid.

[flashback]

[door opens, bell rings]

MORAG BROWN: The bakery's not open yet.

LACHLAN JONES: It's Lachlan. Are you working?

MORAG BROWN: Just as I am at 3 PM every day. We can't all be layabouts.

LACHLAN JONES: I'm an environmentalist! We don't keep regular hours.

MORAG BROWN: You shouldn't have dropped your studies, lad. Especially after your parents...

LACHLAN JONES: I need your help, Morag. It's Laird Callum.

MORAG BROWN: Oh, Lachlan, not again. He's entitled to shoot grouse on his own land.

LACHLAN JONES: It's not that! An oil deposit's been found under Mor, and Callum wants to drill it. They're starting a test drill tomorrow.

MORAG BROWN: I know. The equipment came in on yesterday's ferry. Let me guess, it'll upset the crested [?].

LACHLAN JONES: Atlantic puffins, actually. It'll destroy the entire colony!

MORAG BROWN: So what do you need me for?

LACHLAN JONES: I've tried warning Callum an oil spill will ruin the ecosystem, but he won't listen to me! No one does.

MORAG BROWN: And why do you think that is?

LACHLAN JONES: I know, all right? I know how people see me. You're the only one who's ever given me a chance. Come with me. Look at the site, and explain the stakes to Callum! Please!

MORAG BROWN: Well, it's the king of the rocks ceremony tonight. I've 20 batches of shortbread more to finish!

LACHLAN JONES: That's another thing! The drilling will wreck the ceremonial cavern.

MORAG BROWN: Oh, that'll upset some folk.

LACHLAN JONES: Unless we stop it. Please, Morag!

MORAG BROWN: Ach, fine. But only because if I don't, you'll go on your own and you'll do something you'll regret. You're too young to ruin your life.

LACHLAN JONES: You're an angel.

MORAG BROWN: And take some bread to eat on the way. There's nothing of you, lad.

LACHLAN JONES: To the caves! Hurry!

~

LACHLAN JONES: This is the cave where they light the bonfires at the start of the parade.

MORAG BROWN: I know, lad. I'm just glad to be out of the drizzle. Oh, there's always so much rain this time of year.

LACHLAN JONES: Look, in the distance! Callum's moved the drill in already. Oh, he'll be nearby to oversee it all.

MORAG BROWN: You think he'd wait until after the ceremony. King of the rocks is no more than a bit of fun, but a whacking great tractor really spoils the mood. Oh, he could have at least hung a garland on it.

LACHLAN JONES: So you'll talk to Callum?

CALLUM REID: Talk to me about what?

MORAG BROWN: Callum Reid, good to see you.

CALLUM REID: Morag, likewise. I trust you're escorting young Mr. Jones away.

MORAG BROWN: He means no harm, Callum. It's the wildlife, you see. Lachlan wants -

CALLUM REID: I know very well what he wants, Morag. I can't open my door for all the leaflets he's pushed through it. RSPB, WWF, Greenpeace. Not to mention that little gift he left on my porch. I had to buy new shoes.

MORAG BROWN: Oh, Lachlan.

LACHLAN JONES: I was making a point about what you're doing to this habitat!

CALLUM REID: Lachlan, Mor Island needs money badly. There aren't any jobs, and young people are leaving. Ideals are all very well. God knows my brother's gone and off about wind farms. But they're not realistic. I love this island. I love its history, and it hurts to do this, but I have to. It's the last resort.

LACHLAN JONES: You think just because you inherited some title, you can go around destroying everything!

CALLUM REID: The lairdship's a burden, no privilege. An ancient tradition that's bigger than me.

LACHLAN JONES: Tradition? Ha! What about king of the rocks? That's a tradition, too. But you want to move it to Niomh. You'll regret it.

MORAG BROWN: Lachlan, stop.

CALLUM REID: Morag, take him home.

MORAG BROWN: Lachlan, we tried.

LACHLAN JONES: It's not over yet.

MORAG BROWN: Lachlan, don't go near that drill! Oh, for heaven's sake. I'm coming after you!

~

MORAG BROWN: Oh Lachlan, what have you done to the drill?

LACHLAN JONES: I didn't do this! I was just going to slash the tires! I wouldn't paint weird symbols on it. Look, that one's from the king of the rocks.

MORAG BROWN: Oh, they've been daubed on with... surely that's just paint. And the control panel's smashed to bits. Oh, poor Callum'll never get the deposit back.

LACHLAN JONES: He'll never believe I didn't do it.

MORAG BROWN: Hmm...

LACHLAN JONES: I can see from your face even you don't believe me. You're just like the rest of them!

MORAG BROWN: Calm down. Let's find Callum together and explain.

LACHLAN JONES: I'm going on my own. I don't need you. I don't need anyone!

MORAG BROWN: Lachlan, come back! Oh, he's heading for the king of the rocks cavern. Oh, Morag Brown, what have you got yourself into? Ach, better get after him.

~

MORAG BROWN: Lachlan, please don't go into the cavern. If you ruin the king of the rocks, you'll make it all worse.

LACHLAN JONES: The laird doesn't care about tradition, so why should I? I'm going to tell him someone's trying to frame me for destroying the drill.

MORAG BROWN: Well, you'll certainly have an audience. Half the island's here.

CALLUM REID: What's this about the drill?

LACHLAN JONES: Nothing. I came to tell you -

ISLANDER: He destroyed the drill.

LACHLAN JONES: That's a lie!

CALLUM REID: Has the equipment been sabotaged?

LACHLAN JONES: Yes, but I didn't do it!

CALLUM REID: You expect me to believe that after what you said to me just now? Do you have any idea how much that equipment cost, you stupid lad?

LACHLAN JONES: I'm telling you, Callum...  laird... please! It wasn't me!

ISLANDER: Aye, I saw him do it.

CALLUM REID: This is the last straw, Lachlan. You've no respect for this island or its people. Tomorrow, we'll discuss your punishment.

LACHLAN JONES: I'm the one with no respect? After what you tried to do? You know what? I'm glad someone ruined your filthy drill. I only wish they'd gone further. Smashed your face in along with it. Someone should!

[present time]

SAM YAO: Ooh. Yeah. Well, after that, you can sort of see why everyone thought he murdered Callum.

MORAG BROWN: I never believed Lachlan killed the old laird. He was doing better after he left the island, you know. He used to write to me, told me he'd met a lovely girl. He was over the moon when she said she'd wed him. But then she died, and all the good in him seemed to die with her. He stopped writing soon after.

TOM DE LUCA: You have something more to tell us, don't you, Morag?

MORAG BROWN: I do, aye. But we must keep going. The skincoats... [laughs] Lachlan warned me in one of his letters that they'd know my thoughts.

TOM DE LUCA: Jones was paranoid. How could they possibly see inside your mind?

[zombie moans]

SAM YAO: Look, I think we'd better have this discussion later. There's a zom on your tail.

MORAG BROWN: Ach! It's all crispy around the edges, like a bridie that's been left in the oven too long.

TOM DE LUCA: It must have been burned in the fire. Its eyes have burst!

SAM YAO: It's gaining on you. Run!

~

SAM YAO: Yeah, you've lost the zom. But you're way off the beaten path, literally.

MORAG BROWN: Mind your way on the rock steps, Runner Five. A few stones are loose.

SAM YAO: You're heading for uh, a tall stone tower. A bit like a windmill without any sails.

TOM DE LUCA: A grain silo.

MORAG BROWN: Don't say it. Don't even think it loud. Not if you've had the dreams.

SAM YAO: You're serious?

MORAG BROWN: I am.

[door creaks closed]

MORAG BROWN: Climb these stairs with me to the top of the grain store. This store has been here a thousand years in one form or another. It's deep and wide and I've worked with it, making bread for the people. Runner Five, open that little hatch. And Tom, bury your arm full in the grain right down.

TOM DE LUCA: There's an iron ring here. I can just touch it with my fingertips.

MORAG BROWN: There's a rope attached to that ring. Haul it up.

TOM DE LUCA: A leather bag.

MORAG BROWN: The skincoats will kill anyone who threatens the ancient rites, who wants to use the Edda to stop this madness, not make it worse.

TOM DE LUCA: Morag, you helped Jones before. He trusted you. So when he had no one else to turn to, he gave you the Edda. And this bag in my hands...

MORAG BROWN: Yes, laddie. It's the Edda you hold.

~