#YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW DEEP IN I AM......

[sadisthetic]

intricate rituals between a pair of grease monkeys. im so ill

[twinstxrs]

so much happened in this whole episode but i’m still on fig infiltrating ruben’s dream, making it look like the place where his friend was murdered, and then disguising herself as kipperlilly & repeatedly saying different variants of “somebody needs to take the fall for this, and it’s not going to be me. it’s going to be you.” while adaine as the elven oracle shows up next to her. can you imagine waking up from that, the idea of a horrible truth being pinned on you by your friend to save her own skin while the personification of fate and destiny stands there, almost as a promise that this is GOING to happen to you. we don’t even know if this kid is guilty. my god.

[journey-to-the-attic]

one thing about ik is that she will always reach out

[bitegore]

Zionists want you to conflate Judaism and Zionism. Zionists want you to believe that Judaism cannot exist without Zionism and that all Jews are Zionists. Zionism would have Jews believe that a Jewish state is the only way that they can be safe from antisemitism and will point to any instance of antisemitism as proof that Zionism is the solution- so Zionism wants gentiles to be antisemitic in their support of Palestine. They want you to conflate all Jews with Zionism and the state of Israel, and they want you to treat all Jews regardless of political affiliation as the face of Israel. Antizionist Jews exist, and incidences of antisemitism ostensibly acting against Zionism will not help dismantle the forces propping Zionism up.

Don't do their work for them.

[wlw-cryptid]

oh you want me to bring my friends now, hm? pretty girl bodies all soft and flushed with pleasure? pressed together? feeling each other? dripping with so, so much cum?

[breezy-cheezy]

You are deep in the paint about One Piece and me and my datemate watched OPLA recently so I will tell you this thing I said while we were talking about Shanks.

He said something to the effect of Shanks is CRAZY STRONG, perhaps one of the strongest, and has some special ability that allows him to tell anyone weaker than him to GTFO, so it's a fucking mystery why he lost his arm when by all rights he never needed to lose the arm. He's still the strongest without it, but why'd he lose it in the first place if he didn't have to???

So I replied, after like a minute of thought, "Because he might not need the arm, but Luffy needed him to lose his arm". Luffy needed the lesson he was going to learn for Shanks giving up that piece of himself to save Luffy's life. He needed to see the stakes and be given that lesson of actions, consequences, collateral damage, giving pieces of yourself for the sake of your crew/family/nakama.

Furthermore, with Sanji and Luffy being connected through "my mentor/surrogate father literally gave up a piece of himself to save my life", stands to logic that Sanji also needed that lesson in the narrative sense. These older guard pirates passed along something vital, giving up something that they don't need to live fulfilling lives but would be seen as incredibly important, to teach the next generation something and give them tools with which to do better.

I don't go here (I don't have the spoons for the entirety of One Piece tbh), but I liked the conclusion I came up with and wanted to share it in the hopes that you might like it too. I don't think I'm breaking any new ground here tbh but as an outsider, it was neat to think about.

I SURE AM, BUDDY X'''D Thanks for popping in! 👀 I got thoughts (and manga screencaps since you won't read it anyway, FREE REIN:

Hm. I mean point taken, but I mean...even the strongest people aren't infallible? Even IF Shanks has Conquerer's Haki (the power in question) which is something very special someone has to be born with and trained to use to its fullest, that doesn't mean it'll fix everything. Also like. He's also been shown to kinda....lose control of it when nervous or on edge.

Like my dude did not have to do this. He mentions later he doesn't like being on different territory or something LOL (he's visiting a different powerful pirate leader here).

Anyway to rescue Luffy at that time, he had to act FAST and was probably SCARED FOR HIM so like. Maybe didn't have the time to make the Haki register? It came down to losing Luffy or bodily thrusting his own arm forward to block the bite from the sea king....and well. Shanks has 2 arms. Only one Luffy. The choice was easy. Even upon losing the arm he didn;t seem upset by it really.

For the sake of the new era he says....the face of it being Luffy himself. And yea the wording really is "I gave it up" and him clearly having no regrets.

STILL I think you do have a point, this was VERY important for Luffy to learn. This same kid stabbed his own face to prove he was "manly enough" to be a pirate (so Shanks wouldn't leave without him....like his brother Ace....like his brother Sabo, to an extent, through "death" in his case) so the realization that being a pirate....would not be easy. There would be sacrifice. There would be pain. But also in a way, it was Shanks showing how important Luffy was to him. This, and passing down that straw hat much to big for Luffy....yeah.

It's clear then he's not ready. Not yet. It's with these parting gifts that Luffy is finally able to let Shanks go, and improve himself so he's strong enough to protect others, so they don;t have to do for him what Shanks did. Luffy learned to live, and while Shanks's sacrifice was devastating to Luffy, he took it to heart to keep going and grow stronger. And yea, that Nakama is just that important, more than limbs. More than life.

NOW SANJI ON THE OTHER HAND....similar but different. Luffy and Sanji were very lonely kids, but for different reasons. Luffy was clingy to anyone who showed him anything close to kindness, while Sanji....puffed up like a scared cat. Without going deep into details, he's from an extremely abusive family that beat into him he's not worth anything because he's weak. Especially from his father. So when Zeff gives him all the food, and sacrifices his own leg....well...

"Why did you do that for me?! I never gave you a reason to be kind to me!!!" And Zeff responds with their shared dreams of the All Blue...but I also feel like it's just. Sanji is a kid. He's just a kid. Again a face of the new generation to come. Zeff had his chance to search for the All Blue and be a pirate, but Sanji's life is just beginning. I'm sure that fueled his decision too.

But unlike Luffy, this just made Sanji cling harder. In a way he gave up his dream to support Zeff, out of guilt, out of a sense of duty and kindness he'd....not really experienced and didn't know what to do with. And Zeff probably allowed it for awhile, because goodness Sanji is just a kid, and he needed someone to help him grow and learn.

But it took Luffy to come along, bringing "I will live for you" to challenge Sanji's "I will die for you" conclusion.

Which uh. Didn't really fix Sanji's self sacrificial nature, but it HELPED, lmao. Eventually he was able to let go of suppori=ting the Baratie to finally chase his dream...as long as he doesn't die for a crewmate in the process hsdhfhdsk

So YEA IDK how much their mentors/father figures knew/thought about their sacrifices, but there sure were willing choices to give up their limbs for the upcoming generation/era, no matter what. I loved Zeff emphasizing that to Garp in OPLA, I think that's extremely important and a huge theme to One Piece in general. Cycles, power, and how many conflicts rise from powerful forces refusing to let go of their power, thus suffocating the new generations (the World Government smacking down so hard on the age of pirates).

Shanks and Zeff gave their support and protection to ensure these kids could live their fullest lives, and I think that's beautiful!

[cat-scarr]

and Ben 10 hate comment of the year award goes to this fuckhead

[oatbugs]

Jack Marsh (2005), Friendship Otherwise - Toward a Levinasian Description of Personal Friendship

[sarielsnowings]

Beyond the Grave

⚰️📚🩸👻

As an official watcher to my friends’ Monster of the Week campaign (@beyondthegrave-archives), decided a bit of fanart was in order, if anything just to thank them for putting up with me screaming about their blorbos and obsessing over a game I’m not even a part of ✨

Characters belong to @/sacrxm @fuitgummybat @/horokyun and @jellywafflesart

Special mention to @totorokipins as the keeper and @dartheritis as my fellow watcher buddy 👁

[betweenblackberrybranches]

So if Sun and Moon's ex was a witch, why are they so scared of the old ones? Didn't their partner introduce them or explain where the witches' magic came from? Have they really NEVER seen an Old one before?

So witches are bound to the old ones but that doesnt mean old ones are allways around were a witch is. Especally because all of that happened in the capital after a big part of the "developed" lands was already established(Sun and Moon were part of the effort to establish the developed lands with previous rulers btw)

So Sun and Moon had been fighting against and slaying old ones for a long time before their ex. They had seen their comrades being sliced open and ripped apart by old ones and had a big animosity towards them. Their ex tried to ease them into less hostility but they never got to actually meet any old ones together with Sun and Moon in a not hostile context. So yea, they understand that witches arent inherently evil but they still hate the old ones, partly because of what they have seen on the battlefield, partly because of fear that the old ones might want revenge and partly a secret third thing...

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

Things I Want from the Next Ep of Only Friends

At least two scenes with Nick and Sand being friends. We didn't get enough, I want more of the two of them!!

Related, I kind of want a scene with Nick and Ray. I want to become weirdly close friends and both Boston and Sand finding a little weird (not in a jelous way, more in like I am not sure how I feel about this way).

The start of a storyline for Chuem and April (I have some ideas of possibilities)

Any hints about Top and Sand backstory (seriously I need answears!!!) @respectthepetty Looks like we will have to wait at least until the next episode or more to know why these two hate each other!!

SIDE NOTE: I have a new theory, what if they were both dating the same person for a while? Like Sand was in an open relationship and the person he was dating was also sleeping with Top??

Anything that can help me understand why Mew is willing to be be Top and ingore all the red flags. Seriously this man has avoided all relationship so far, why is Top special, why ignore all the signals that Top is not the one for him. Why Top???

[6-2-aestheticsofhate]

Something I can't help but think is a little funny is that so many people look at Gabriel and try to figure out why he Acts Like That and they give him a mental illness/disorder they either have or have experience with. Anyways my working theory is that its low empathy autism

[q1ngqve]

being sandwiched between jing yuan and blade can NOT leave my mindddd rrrrghhhhhh

(ignore this if u dont do threesomes)

I DO THREESOMES I SO DO THREESOMES my dream is to have two boyfriends irl </3

AND OH MY GOD. BEING SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM WILL BE SO INSANE 😩‼️😋🧎🏻‍♀️ BLADE WOULD BE SO MEAN AND CAN NOT STOP TOUCHING YOU WHILE JING YUAN WILL BE POSESSIVE AND TEASE YOU AND HE’LL PROBABLY KISS YOUR JAW AND NECK AND EVERYTHING AND BLADE WOULD GET ANNOYED AND GRAB AT YOUR WAIST AND THE BACK OF YOUR NECK TO PULL YOU CLOSER TO HIM 😭 YOU’RE LITERALLY JUST STUCK BETWEEN THEM, FACE AND BODY SQUISHED BY THEIR BIGGER AND MUSCULAR FRAME WHICH ARE SUPRISINGLY SOFT!!!!! AND YOU’LL FEEL SO SO SO SAFE AND PROTECTED ARRRGGGHHH GRRRRRRR GOING FERAL

[skeletalheartattack]

If you were a chulip character how would players kiss you?

find and present to me a working copy of Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 for the PlayStation 2 and you can kiss my stupid ass

[ocpdzim]

so ok in deep space nine they HEAVILY code the genetically enhanced people as neurodivergent (imo they all read quite clearly as autistic coded like, specifically, but most of them also seem to have other neurodivergency going on on top of that) and on one hand it kind of really sucks and is one of the biggest fuckups in the show in terms of like. representation. bc it’s sometimes played for some sort of shitty comedy and also plays into the autistic savant stereotype which nobody likes.

however also with that big “THIS KINDA SUCKS” disclaimer out of the way , there’s also some other things about how it’s handled that i want to also discuss bc they’re either interesting or actually good or just fucking weird and the combination of “this is good” and “this sucks” and “what the absolute hell were they even trying to do here” has resulted in me not being able to stop thinking about it.

first of all the number one thing that i think is actually really good about it is the very blatant and obvious “we need neurodivergent doctors for neurodivergent people” subtext that i’m not even sure it’s accurate to call subtext, it may just be text. NEVER have i seen that as a message in any show, the closest i have seen are shows where there’s a neurodivergent doctor but the reason the show considers that great is that the doctor in question can come up with novel ideas for helping neurotypical patients with unrelated issues. but it is really important - we do need neurodivergent doctors!!!! it makes a MASSIVE difference in pretty much the exact way depicted in the episode - neurodivergent doctors treat neurodivergent patients like people and engage with them on their own level and can relate to them and understand what they’re going through. star trek really said “maybe some of these patients who are ~difficult cases~ aren’t actually difficult cases and don’t need some kind of novel special procedure or whatever, they just need someone to fucking respect them for once.” and it extended that compassionate and humanizing perspective to neurodivergent people who had extremely visible and debilitating symptoms. brilliant incredible ahead of its time i just wish that it wasn’t weighed down by other Problems In The Episode. and since i figure i ought to throw in my two cents, i think this is a valuable enough message that it makes up for the flaws of the episode overall even though they are so glaring.

second of all the other thing i think is Actually Really Good about it is bashir being neurodivergent already before augmentation (they pretty much explicitly state he had some sort of learning disability) and how his parents’ attempt to “fix” him was NOT a good parenting move but instead, even though it DID make him fit in more with society and “fix” his symptoms, was a massive violation of his personhood that severely damaged his sense of self and pretty much destroyed his relationship with his parents. they weren’t evil or hateful parents - they really did want what was best for their son - but because of their ableism they couldn’t understand that what he really needed was to be accepted and respected for who he was, and to have his needs accommodated, not to be changed. neurodivergent kids get put through traumatizing and harmful “therapies” by parents who really do love them and would never intentionally harm them just like this all the time in real life. i really liked that his parents were dealt with sympathetically and it was made clear that they really did mean well, but despite that, he didn’t have to accept any justifications for what they’d done and his father ended up facing real consequences for it and accepting that it had been wrong.

this is a continuation of the bit about bashir being neurodivergent already, but i felt it needed a paragraph break - the other thing about the way being augmented by his parents in an attempt to stop him from being neurodivergent impacted bashir as a character that worked really well is that it DIDN’T stop him from being neurodivergent, it stopped him from outwardly appearing neurodivergent super obviously. it’s made very clear that even though he doesn’t have the same symptoms he had as a child, he’s still neurodivergent and instead of freeing him from any kind of burden, the treatments he was subjected to have condemned him to a life of masking forever. once again this is something that is the actual goal of many “therapies” for developmentally disabled people (fuck you aba), AND it’s something that a lot of neurodivergent people end up self-enforcing even if they’ve never been through these abusive therapies. bashir has to hide his neurodivergency to avoid making others uncomfortable and to protect his career, and it takes a clear and painful toll on his wellbeing even though it allows him to become a successful doctor. he makes it very clear he’d have rather lived his life without being forced into this box in the first place, even though now that he’s in the box he doesn’t want to get back out of it since being his authentic self now, after all the years of hiding, would put everything he has at risk. a lot of us do grapple with that and i don’t often see it portrayed at all.

now onto stuff i cannot slot neatly into “this is great” or “this sucks.”

on an actual serious level it is not good but i personally find it extremely hilarious, like as a concept, that in the sci-fi future of star trek, they invented a procedure to give your kid autism and then banned it because it makes your kid smarter and stronger than all the other kids and maybe he’ll take over the world. i’m drafting my world domination plan right now as we speak so watch out, i will destroy the government with my autism beam attack.

i have a lot of mixed feelings about lauren. on one hand, the way she’s written is often very flat and sometimes kind of creepy, and i wish she was dealt with with more nuance and depth. on the other hand, having a character who is not only disabled but institutionalized and nevertheless presenting her as beautiful, sexy, and capable of wanting and having romantic and sexual interactions is kind of nice in the face of the rampant desexualization experienced by disabled people.

the federation’s broad anti-augment stance is interesting in a show that generally presents the federation as being over most other types of discrimination. i think it’s intended to be up for audience interpretation whether the federation policies about augments are good or bad. personally, i think that it’s FLAGRANTLY bad - it isn’t the choice of a child whether to be augmented! it certainly makes sense for the procedure to be illegal considering both the risk of it being used for eugenics and the nature of it as a horribly violating procedure, but the consequences should not fall on the genetically enhanced person, but rather on whoever did that to them. i wish we’d seen more pushback against the federation’s policies and more examination of what they meant for augmented people.

the treason plotline being connected to all this was baffling to me. i am not necessarily against it on a principle level - “neurodivergent people will engage in high stakes treason and espionage in order to solve the world’s most fucked trolley problem” is so silly that it isn’t really a message i’m worried about - but i felt like it wasted the potential of the episode to go in plenty of other, more impactful directions. i would’ve much rather seen it end with the augments and the federation coming up with a better arrangement for their treatment and living situation - either to integrate into mainstream society or to find a way to improve the way they’re treated at the institution so that they are respected, listened to, and have their needs met better. ideally i would’ve really liked if we saw them all end up with different solutions, like maybe some of them would want to leave the institution and make a life for themselves outside it but others would want to stay, but with more autonomy and respect within the institution.

[soo-won]

Hi Lumen, I love your AnY posts so much! I hope I can hear your opinions about the relationship between Hak and Kye-sook. I think it is not simply an enemy...

Thank you so much for the question OMG! And I'm glad you like my posts too :')

Keishuk and Hak's dynamic is something I LOVE to get lost in thoughts about because everytime they interact you can feel the electricity in the air, you know? There is something extremely engaging about them imo. And outside of the fact I crack ship them because I think their interactions are very hot, I have a lot to say about them!

The thing about them is they're the same pole of a magnet. Like it's because they're actually extremely similar that they have this constant animosity towards each other. There is real hatred on Hak's end, understandably, and Keishuk clearly looked at Hak with contempt until recently. But there is this thing about them where they also understand each other in a way? Because they went throught the same thing. The Lord they pledged loyalty to was murdered by the opposite faction and they started to live following their child, the only thing Il and Yuhon left behind, dedicating their whole life to protect them and what they fight for, and dreaming of getting back what was stolen from them. They're both haunted by their powerlessness and the fear to fail to protect what matters to them and especially Yona and Suwon. And it's these shared feelings, directed in opposite directions that makes their relationship what it is. I think they both ended up being aware of these similarities in the other even if not consciously. Also they both easily get extremely anxious and tend to act emotionaly because of it (and that's what differentiates them the most from Yona and Suwon, too.)

Thinking about them together requires to think about Keishuk on his own, because it's only after understanding that Keishuk is driven by the constant need of to have things go according to his plans, because as a disabled man this is his only way of fighting and protecting, that I think you can start seeing the connections with Hak. Keishuk was shaped by the feeling he needs to be useful, that can also be seen in Hak especially early on in the manga.

And that's where it's also fun to imagine what represented Hak to Keishuk before the coup. A pawn with so much potential that is unusable because of his attachment to Il. A man with the strength Keishuk doesn't have, a strength he lacked when Yuhon was being murdered before his eyes, and that Hak uses to serve his murderer. To be honest I don't think Keishuk cared that much about Hak and it seems he barely knew about him before the coup, but I like to imagine he saw him as a waste. However, Suwon had given up the hope of ever having Hak on his side, but Keishuk never forgot, and Keishuk is not burdened by any complex feelings towards Hak like Suwon or Judo are, so the idea of someday managing to control and use him for Suwon's and by extension Kouka's sake is something he maybe always kept in the back of his mind ( we still don't know what was Coup Crew's plan irt Yona and Hak if they hadnt caught Suwon red-handed after all).

Throughout the series, Hak comes to want to protect Kouka and fight for his country of his own volition, whether Yona asks him to or not. Which makes him share something more with Keishuk. Hak, in his willingness to become a pawn to protect Kouka, becomes in Keishuk's eyes a proxy in a way, even though Hak fights for his own reasons. Keishuk can't fight on a battlefield anymore, but Hak, who shares a common goal and a similar way of seeing himself as disposable, becomes a weapon. Hak becomes the sword or the shield Keishuk can wield to protect Suwon.

And it makes their relationship very ironic. They are opposed and enemies by the fact they serve two person that are supposed to be at odds with each other, but when these two persons enter an alliance and walk in the same direction, then it makes Keishuk and Hak simply share the same feelings and protect what the other cares for. Aka Keishuk becoming "protective" of Yona and the dragons (even if it's not out of sympathy) and Hak protecting Suwon.

In no way does it mean they become friends or that they do this for each other, though. Hak and Keishuk are in a constant battle of compromise and Hak is very much aware that Keishuk won't hesitate to take from him and use him and his friends if he sees it fit. And Keishuk is aware that he has to tread carefully if he wants to use them longer. But I find all this super interesting! They're fated enemies in a way, so to see them kinda forced to work together despite all the spite they have for each other is fun.

Lastly, something that I'm obsessed with when it comes to Keishuk and Hak is how they're connected by their respective relationship with Suwon. I already wrote a long post about Keishuk and Yona as foils in relation to Suwon, but I think the same can be said of Keishuk and Hak, even if obviously the way they do so differ.

Keishuk's presence in this scene is anime exclusive, so everyone is free to consider it canon or not. Personally I'm in love with it and I think it adds a lot of depth to Keishuk and his feelings towards Hak and Suwon so it's canon to me lmao. This scene shows a Keishuk that feels pride in knowing the "real Suwon" that Hak is ignorant about, and he taunts him about it. Like "Look, /I/ am his right-hand man, and he didn't chose you. /I/ know his suffering and you don't know anything."

And the thing is...yeah. Keishuk is not wrong here, and it brings into light an aspect of Suwon and Hak's relationship that is often only implied, aka the fact Suwon didn't trust and rely on Hak, when Hak /wanted/ to be the person Suwon would depend on. But the Suwon Keishuk knows is not "the real Suwon" either. The truth is both Keishuk and Hak know a part of Suwon that the other don't, and I find this deeply fascinating.

This is reenforced by the fact that Hak didn't even know of Keishuk's existence just like how he was ignorant of the dark parts of Suwon's life, or how Keishuk and Hak were physically assigned to two distinct symbolic places (Yonhi's mansion and Hiryuu Castle). They were totally separated, literally and in Suwon's heart.

Hak knows nothing of the Suwon at Yonhi's mansion that planned the coup for 10 years alongside Keishuk and many others. He knew nothing of Suwon's resentments, of the truth behind his grand and distant goal or the way he is resolved to discard anything to achieve his goals, even what Hak cares for. Keishuk was and is still undeniably Suwon's closest ally (despite the distance between them but Suwon and Keishuk deserve their own post lmao), and despite their differences they share the same goal and ideologies like they do with no one else. They share the same pain of losing Yuhon and the anger and feeling of injustice that came with it, and the same afront of Il's rule. But likewise, Keishuk doesn't know the depth of the bond Suwon shared with Hak, and the truth in the time they spent together. Keishuk only pragmatically saw Hak as someone that will try to kill Suwon someday, as he understands very well where he comes from, underestimating(among other things) the importance Suwon and Hak hold for each other and the depth of their trust.

That's where the Sen Province arc is interesting as well. This arc is notable for many things, but one of them is the complete absence of Suwon and the fact the troops are basically led by both Keishuk and Hak. I just said that Keishuk and Hak were completely separated by what they know of Suwon, yet what this arc highlights is that they both know him extremely well. In the end, they grew up and studied with the same Suwon, and this common knowledge of him connects them. Like to remember something as a specific counter-strategy Suwon likes is proof of the amount of time they both spent separately with Suwon and their fondness for him. It's because this moment makes Keishuk acknowledge that Hak does know Suwon well that he starts being interested in using him furthermore.

All that being said, I also just really love whenever they taunt each other. I think it's delicious like, look at that. There is just something whenever they share a page and I'm obsessed with it. Suwon and Yona kinda stay polite with each other (more or less) but Keishuk and Hak don't give a shit like that and it's refreshing. Despite everything I've said above, the part that makes them not stand each other's ass and rile each other is an essential of their dynamic and I eat it up. There is almost a sort of competitiveness? and it's very fun. I never want them to like each other it's so much better this way.

Alas now Keishuk has to be polite with Hak for political schemes reasons and I'm sad because I miss those times very much </3.

TDLR : They're not friends they're not enemies but a secret third thing.

(Bonus: fun hakyona / keiwon parallel and i ship neither but it's endearing)