#and the fact everyone moved to let the kid get barrier. and then the fact andy gave a stick to him!!!

[alonetogether]

literally one of my fave things from tonight too was just going back after the show to see all my beloved foblr mutuals reacting in real time to the stream it’s like you were all there with me :,)

[drdemonprince]

The article regarding about annoying queer people sparked a by now long forgotten memory.

When I went to my first pride I snuck out secretly and thus was there after the parade. Most people were already some form of drunk or high(didn't know that at the time, I was 15 and naive beyond hope)

That was also the first time I saw puppies ever. In retrospect I must have stared and seemed like one of those annoying "no kink at pride" puriteens. They probably just wanted to allow themselves a small joke but what happened in praxis was, that a grown, white man in only puppy mask and boxers crawled up to me, stood up, started sniffing my breasts and when I started panicking and running away he run after me and everyone else watched and laughed. I think I screamed for help or cryed to please leave me be and was ignored but I can't remember much past the fear.

To them it was probably a small joke but to me it set me back for years. I didn't go to pride in that city ever again and took years to move past "no kink at pride" opinions, an opinion I didn't even have before that.

I felt incredibly isolated and wearing a small rainbow bracelet and cutting my hair took so much bravery. And it earned a lot of backlash too?

So often I see coloured hair and pins as this cutesy cringe thing of no consequence, but for me it resulted in hours upon of arguments and insults. It was worth it, because it helped me built my own identity apart from my families bigotry, but it sure wasn't fun or cutesy. Ultimately it led me to becoming brave enough to actually discover who I am and start making connections with the wider queer community.

Thankfully I had no social media accounts or I would have had some truly stupid arguments.

What I'm saying is, yes young queers can be annoying and it can be tiring to deal with them but being an asshole and vilifying them isn't the solution.

Making fun of teenagers doesn't make yourself more valid and doesn't give you the status of being an old experienced queer.

I'm saying teenagers here but the fun thing about queer people is that we can discover ourselves at any point in time. So it's less teenagers and more people newly discovering themselves as queer.

I get how annoying they can be very well now, doing voluntary work at pride does that.

Do many of those we consider annoying queers hold some harmful opinions? Yeah sure. (The amount of white queers, teens or adults, not dealing with systemic oppression beyond their own is staggering and they more than deserve to be called out. Just to be very clear, when I talk about annoying behaviour I do NOT mean microagressions or discrimination in any way)

But annoying behaviour is not synonymous to that and maybe we should all just start being less mean in public spaces? I get how satisfying it can be to get a hit tweet via a bitchy twitter reply now, but quite honestly I am more ashamed of that now than when I was running around in hoodies and short hair being painfully naive.

Because then I wasn't being mean to anyone. I had some stupid takes sure but no outlet. On twitter I was making fun of people to validate my own queer-ness. (Personally I think I was covering up for the fact that I was afraid the queer people I worked so hard to be part of wouldn't consider me one of their own. So I worked hard to show how I'm not one of "those queers".)

Either way, thanks for reading all this and thank you for sharing the article because it is something I strongly agree with. Just let people be annoying without making fun of them for it. It doesn't need to be a big deal.

Thank you for this wonderful, vulnerable, honest message about your slow path to self-acceptance in the face of a lot of barriers, anon. I'm glad that despite everything you've found your way.

Yeah, I think queer people have many reasons to feel terrified at the rising "no kink at pride" discourse, but sometimes when we lash out at puriteens we sound a bit like the childfree people who say that they hate kids?? Like, we're blaming literal children for an ideology of protecting "The Family" that has been foisted upon us.

I'm guilty of it. I was HAUNTED by the social pressure to get married and pregnant and raise a bunch of kids. It caused me massive dysphoria and didn't jibe with my queer identity. But I rebelled against it for far too long by saying that I hated kids.

It was not the kids' fault! It was the ideological specter of The Family as an institution that isolates and attacks all nonconformity and 'deviant' sexuality! Me being an asshole to children was not gonna set me free, kids were even more disinfranchised than I was!! I don't think I was ever overtly cruel to children, just kind of aloof and freaked out by them, but I definitely *did* say some numbskulled shit to my friends with kids a few times. Completely missing how disempowered mothers (and it was usually mothers) are in society BECAUSE of these same forces .

And I think something similar is going on here. Queer people are tired of having "Family Friendliness" shoved down our throats by corporations and conservatives, and so then we lash out... at young queer people. it's fine to have 18+ areas and events; It's very, very important to me that spaces like Furfest have them. But that's not the same thing as claiming young people have no space in our community as a whole. And I do think we need to erode the barriers between the adult and child worlds in a whole lot of ways, and reorient our attitudes toward nudity, sexuality, roleplaying, etc in public life. but that also doesn't mean a pup should run you out of a pride parade actually fucking sexually harassing you.

It feels great to be able to talk about this stuff! Thanks for your message.

[spiraling-voids]

A lot of you liked my idea rant about Hatchetfield characters, well, I got more

More things I thought of for Hatchetfield characters

I like to assume that the eltric gods can’t do anything outside of Hatchetfeild. Like Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls, there is a barrier around Hatchetfield that prevents them. I can go on about this idea but that would make this idea go on longer than the others

Pete and Steph could’ve chosen to not watch Max and Grace. . .but there was definitely a part of them that was curious on how that worked

Pete and Steph definitely hear the LiB voices every now and then due to the fact they wanted Steph to kill Pete out of the three giving up what they cherish

I’m a huge sucker for ghosts that have the  injuries they received when they died, so imagine Max having a big ol’ bloody hole though his stomach cause he died with wood planks through the stomach. Stage wise, that’s probably a bit difficult to move around in. But story wise, he could-

So, let’s say that Steph and Pete would find each other in every timeline, imagine how shattered Steph would be the moment she found out that everything is messed up when everyone is singing and thinks she can exit the school with Pete until she hears him sing along

After Max died all the nerds were definitely still tense and cautious when things were changing because of how long they were getting bullied, sure they were happy but that’s a huge change in literately a day-

Officer Bailey was definitely a theater kid but due to careers not careering, he became a cop

Mark Chasity is a closeted or repressed Bi, with how that man acts the way he does, he is not straight…either that or he’s a theater kid or both

The two guys in TGWDLM were not Greg and Stu, instead just two random people and Professor was too deep into his musical and his memories to realize that

Richie or Pete could’ve fallen and become vengeful ghosts like Max but their targets would be different. Again, could go on but this idea would be long

If Paul 23 and Android Emma didn’t reveal they were the real Paul and Emma, they would both definitely catch on that the other isn’t completely human….well Paul would definitely notice stuff while Android Emma could probably scan him to find out he isn’t human

Alice definitely sneaks out to go to Hatchetfield, and neither of her parents knows cause she got cool excuses

[justatalkingface]

The 'Great' MHA Read Along, Part Four (Chapters 12-21): Team Deathmatch!

So, first thing, we have a bunch of reporters creeping on kids for news. I... am not a fan of this. Like, I get that, in story, heroes are celebrities, and so UA is effectively a school about becoming famous, but I've never been a fan of this kind of paparazzi, or that kind of fame in general.

More relevantly, since this is a school to, among other things, turn these kids into celebrities...why do we never see them prepare the students for that fact? There's a bare nod to rescuing people later on (hardly enough for how important that is, and even that is in the License Exam, and it's implied 1A was never taught about that at all... for reasons, presumably the same reason Aizawa never mentioned that literally everyone is going to try and murder them in the exam... and outside of right now, where it doesn't happen, I don't think we ever see them train in that) and from there how to interact with victims, but for such a media dominated field, you'd think there'd be classes on, you know, how to talk to a reporter. And, sure, maybe there's some on later, but they've already been getting field work by that point, for years, well publicized field work, so it feels just a tad too late at that point.

Anyways, obvious focus on the UA Barrier for later, then straight to evaluations, where Aizawa tells Bakugou to stop acting like a seven year old'

...

Because, you know, that's how all seven year olds behave, I guess.

All those seven year old children, trying to murder anyone they don't like, stabbing people with knives, smashing each in the head with crowbars, you know, normal stuff. Kids being kids, amiright?

Then we turn to Izuku, and while, yes, Izuku not breaking his arm would be good.... do you, perchance, have a suggestion to help with that goal, Aizawa? You know, as his teacher? Who is supposed to teach him things?

Ah, yes, there it is: I want to see some sweat out of you. 'Work hard, Izuku, because clearly, the catastrophic, crippling injuries you've been dealing to yourself, which must be agonizing, aren't enough incentive for you to improve; clearly you're just being lazy here, and there's no other potential factors holding you back from improving beyond this disappointing performance.'

Sweet flying fuck, how in the hell did this guy train Shinsou? 'Here's the scarf, figure it out, I want to see results by tomorrow?'

And then they just move on, so... I guess only Bakugou and Midoriya get called out in class. Cool, cool.

Hmm. Alright, so we next we get some actual school shenanigans, and I... have mixed feelings about this.

On one hand, this is exactly the character developing, 'let it breath' stuff we've been wanting in MHA current for... years now, basiclly. Paying attention to characters when they're not actively fighting and what not is something essential for making them seem less like characters and more like people, which... you kinda want for a good story.

On the other hand, I just find this boring. I wasn't interested in who gets to be student president last time, and I'm not really now, either.

(As a side note, it's hyped up as being SPECIAL and HEROIC and IMPORTANT FOR DEVELOPING A HEROIC FOUNDATION, or whatever, which is why we're supposed to care about it, but all of that never happens, so... that's a lie. Also, kinda dumb? This isn't a military organization, there's no real reason to train heroes to command other heroes.)

Here's the thing: the content, itself, isn't the problem; a great story writer can make even the most boring shit seem interesting. I vividly remember a manga about farming, for example. Just farming, before anyone starts thinking of whatever farm Isekei may come to mind. On the face of it, that may sound boring, but it was engrossing all the same, because of how well it was written, how involved the characters were in process. There's shonen stories that manage to make the 'school' part of the story just as interesting as the, 'And now you and me fight' parts, but MHA... just isn't it. If I had to guess, it's probably how dismissive the story is about those parts; before we even get to that, after all, we already have Aizawa making it clear how useless and superflicious normal schooling is, and he continues that stance well into the story.

If one of the main characters of the story, here being Aizawa (AKA the teacher who is heavily emphasized in story about how 'wise' he is), is dismissive about something, and there's nothing in story to really counter that perception, then yeah, the story probably isn't going to be covering that topic in an interesting way.

TLDR: I don't think Hori doesn't give a shit about the 'Academia' part of My Hero Academia, and it shows.

Anyways, there's some pointless school drama, and the only things I'm getting out of it outside of some foundational character stuff is that: the kids are all idiots, with how they were mobbing when the alarm went off (and the teachers are alarmingly absent when said alarm went off; shouldn't a security alert be when you secure the children?), Iida is too pure for this world, and god that whiplash is going to hit hard, and finally that U.A. is way too OK with the fact that someone broke in.

(Well, that and, for all that I'm very much not a fan of pushy reporters invading things they have no right to... Present Mic literally says that this is going from illegal trespassing into villainy. How?????

Seriously, how?! The only thing they're doing, beyond the trespassing, is... ignoring them and being assholish about questions?

Why in the actual fuck is he asking permission to blow them away!? Mic???? I thought you were the good teacher! )

Anyways, Izuku dodges dealing with shyness, Iida gets promoted over Momo to be president, and Nezu gets to sound ridiculous talking about an 'element of evil'. Yeah.

Next chapter: We see All Might using his time in a far more productive way, and a nod to the fact that heroes jobs are literally built around crime happening.

That's exactly how I responded when I first heard Izuku told Bakugou about OFA, All Might! (Although, Izuku explicitly says he didn't tell his mom, so... what did he say? There's a serious conversation here that we're just not getting.)

*Snort*

'Dark forces would flow forth in legions'. I mean, he's not wrong, but All Might only barely pulls that off because he's, like I said, hammier than ham in general, but the fact all the heroes randomly have asides like that, no matter how serious they are, was always jarring about this early on stuff.

...'Trial' of Rescue? It makes it sound like your testing them on stuff they should have no way of possibly knowing; if things went differently, would you have threatened to expel the last place student here as well, Aizawa? NGL, though, feels weird that costumes are optional for this because 'they might not be adapted'. I mean... for all the shit you dump on them to force them to adapt, you'd think doing things in your costume, that you are potentially going to be wearing all the time, would be an obvious choice. Wouldn't it be better to figure out if your costume needs work now rather than later?

And why are costumes in the classroom...? I mean, they'll need to leave to change anyways, it'd make a lot more sense to just have a changing area where the costumes are stored at.

Bus time.

You know, one of the things that strikes me, here, is how everyone is acting; there is no fear, loathing or shunning of Bakugou for happened last arc, not only for the murder attempt they never properly reacted to, but to the savage beating they were begging All Might to stop the fight over... but, they're not admiring him, either. There's friendly teasing at his expense, even.

And it's like... the fight never happened, in their minds (or Bakugou attacking Izuku on Day One, for that matter). They're acting like they know Bakugou only as a competent, if abrasive, student, and are treating him accordingly. It's kinda fascinating, really, because later they'll forget all of Bakugou's sins, of course, but that's only part of it: they'll fawn over him, because they only get to see this idealized version of Bakugou. Here? They just aren't responding to the worse parts, but they're still generally treating Bakugou like you'd expect someone like Bakugou would be treated. From my perspective of the very ends of the manga, it's really interesting to see this, like an AU where Bakugou both as a person and a character was treated more seriously in the story.

Gotta love that Kaminari Truth Bomb, lol.

Also, for how short this is: the characters are all interacting with each, it's light-hearted and non-serious, the ingredients are the same as they were before, but this is a lot more interesting to read for me than the Class President stuff was. More evidence My Hero Not Academia, I guess.

And now we've arrived at the USJ proper and, again, waaaay too big; the fucking budget this one school has has to be bigger than the budget of some small countries. And... 13 created this? By herself? Yet again, UA teachers have way too much freedom in school, for no apparent reason, because the way this is phrased makes it sound like this entire, giant ass facility, is 13's facility.

All Might: saves people, rather than try (and fail) to teach.

Eraserhead: hOw IRRatiONal.

I get he was supposed to be here, and he is failing as a teacher, but acting like he's being an utter moron by doing his other actual job is a bit much; here starts the point where All Might never gets a win... ever again, really. It's not All Might if someone's not metaphorically kicking him, after all.

You know, for how much of a non-character 13 ends up being, this five seconds of her is really refreshing: this conversation she's having, about how, you know, 'Quirks are dangerous, let's all try not to hurt someone with them' is exactly the conversation you'd think would have started the school year off with; she feels like a lot more realistic teacher than anyone we've seen thus far.

I guess that why Kurogiri's coming to shut her up then, right? We can't have a teacher actually teaching in UA!

....You know, it's easy to forget how weird Tomura was drawn early on. His image is far more... stark than we get later on, more focus on his wrinkles and the shadows on his face; it gives me some Uncanny Valley vibes. Actually, I can really see all the weird-ass horror hand stuff Hori eventually ends up doing in this, because he just looks wrong in some fundamental way, like he doesn't fit in the setting properly.

I've said this before, but I never liked early Tomura, because of how dumb he felt, but if Hori had leaned into this version more, him being off instead of him being childish, it would have made him feel a lot more threatening. But... after this one of his main pieces of characterization is going to be throwing fits, so...

...

Actually, I'm hitting pause here.

So. I, among others, talk about how bad a teacher Aizawa is, but I don't think I've spelled out how dangerous that could be, beyond ruining the students education, if a man in his position was viewed as fundamentally untrustworthy by the students he's in charge of. What we have here is a perfect time to discuss that!

Let's picture the scene, everybody: a dark portal opens, and bunch of weird people rush in. Aizawa goes into Serious Mode, puts on his goggles, and leaps into action, loudly declaring that, 'THOSE ARE VILLIANS!'

Now we turn to students: they look at Aizawa, see how serious he's acting.... and then remember how serious he looked yesterday, right before he told them that the big thing they were worried about was a 'logical ruse'.

Their panic calms slightly, and they think about the situation again from a new light.

What's more likely? That a giant horde of villains have broken into UA facility, famed for how safe it is, staffed by actual heroes? Into a building that is presumably secured and closed off to the public at all times? That they knew to break in now, of all times, just when the class went on a field trip? To a training facility?

Or, that Aizawa is giving them a 'logical ruse' again, with 13 in on it this time, and all these 'villains' are actors to help them learn better? (Just to be clear, here, that's basiclly what happens in the actual License Exam later on: Gang Orca, who is canonly one of the scariest heroes around, 'breaks into' the rescue focused exam with an army of mooks and starts throwing down like he's an actual villain. The only thing that separates this theoretical situation from that actual exam is that it was clear in the exam that the 'villains' were part of the exam.) And that, once they get this little skit out of the way, they'll reveal the joke, mock you if you fall for it, again (that is if Aizawa doesn't threaten to expel you for failing his standards... again), and then everyone will get on with the training.

So, the thing is, in dangerous situations, you need to make the right choice right away; if Iida was more on the ball, for example, maybe he could have escaped the USJ before Kurogiri made his way over to them, and gotten help for everyone that much sooner.

Hesitation, in other words, leads to disaster.

Do you know what's worse than hesitation in a dangerous situation?

Thinking your teacher is punking you like you're on some hidden camera show, and acting accordingly.

Imagine what could have happened when the students were all randomly separated and dropped before packs of villains, if they thought the villains were acting? What could have happened if a bunch of kids, kids with no combat training (beyond Shoto, who had training, and Bakugou, whose trigger happy instincts would have come in handy for once instead of being a dangerous liability), were placed in front of a bunch of people out to murder them, while they treated the situation like a game?

Hell, what if the kids rushed in to fight the villains before that happened, while Eraserhead was bogged down by charging head first into the army of mooks? (Also, couldn't he have... not done that? Some kind of collaborative attack with 13, where she attacks them while Eraserhead nerfs them, maybe? For all that Eraserhead is apparently specialized in a group fight, the guy with no offensive Quirk against a small army seems... a flawed choice.) They're trying to be heroes, after all: brave, probably eager to fight and flex their Quirks some more after a lifetime of keeping them suppressed, of not being allowed to use this intrinsic part of themselves all out. Besides, fighting the 'villains' sounds like a great way to get a good grade, right?

It gets even worse when the villains explain their goals: to kill All Might.

All Might is, let me remind you, the guy who punched a bunch of slime so hard that it started to rain. While he was weakened, no less.

All Might, while he's branded as the Symbol of Peace, is more honestly the Symbol of Victory, more than Bakugou ever will be: he effortlessly crushes every obstacle before him, doing it all with a smile and a quip, throughout his entire career. The peace he is so famous for is built on the idea that he never loses, and that this is a universally acknowledged fact.

He is so strong, so overwhelmingly competent, that he has made Japan, as a nation, simultaneously safer and more willing to sit on their hands and do nothing. He is so unstoppably successful at his job that Endeavour, who is second only to All Might himself (by... whatever metric that's judged off of), gets a villainous backstory trying to keep up with him.

In MHA, before the main story happens, a bunch of randos saying that they're going to kill All Might is like me saying I'm going to beat up Mount Everest.

It's ludicrous, in other words. Anyone saying it is either actively insane... or clearly lying through their teeth.

If Shigaraki's Uncanny Valley factor was just a little weaker, just a little less alarming, if they decided Aizawa was just lying to them again, and that this was just another example of UA's extreme training philosophy, they could have been slaughtered because this man couldn't be bothered to put the effort into his actual job, which he is getting paid for, and focus on his students in any real way.

This is the problem with Aizawa, the Teacher. As a hero, sure, he's great, and him jumping right away to defending the kids is good and all, but as a teacher? He is so fucking lazy that his students could have been, and in all honesty should have been, killed because they have no reason to trust his directions, especially in a serious, unusual situation.

If you can't trust the person in charge of you to make wise decisions in times of danger, or this case communicate those decisions to you and be trusted, then they are a liability, and for a man in Aizawa's situation, with his job, his responsibility to these kids? That is unacceptable.

...

Anyways. Villains show up, Eraserhead wades in (and then Hori makes sure to have Izuku and Shigaraki talk him up! You're so cool, Eraserhead! Make sure the readers know just how awesome you are as you effortlessly plow through the mooks! And I love how he punches a guy twice his size, who is made out of rock, and sends this guy flying, somehow, and doesn't break his hand in the process), then Kurogiri rolls up, monologues like an edgelord, and yeets all the kids, but not before the Bakugou and Kirishima dynamic is founded by.... failing utterly.

*sigh*

Seriously, Mineta? You're half drowned and in serious risk of getting murdered, and now you perv? This is why he's so hated, BTW: not because he's a pervert, but because that's almost his entire characterization. Jiraiya is a creepy, spying pervert as well, sure, but he's beloved by the Naruto fandom because he does all this other stuff that isn't being a creep, that makes him seem like an interesting person. He has relationships, and develops more, that don't revolve around breasts, which gives us a good, humanizing take on him beyond that character flaw.

Mineta's second character trait after being a pervert is being a coward, and... I don't think he really has friends? It's not a good look, to say the least. And yes, I know he gets a 'brave moment' here, where he surpasses his cowardice.... that is to say, where he literally throws things from a distance, but that happens for... all of two panels, and isn't that impressive even when it does happen. Then afterwards it's right back to normal. The notes say Hori had a hard time balancing his character against Hori's natural perviness, and honestly I'm just surprised this is the balanced version?

Anyways, everyone has to fight, and we see Izuku have to deal with the situation. He forces his way past his fear, his hesitation, to the realization he has to act, and then commits to it.

He observes the situation, comes to several realizations from what he sees, from how the villains act and the environment they're in. Then he comes up with an unorthodox plan, built around using his classmates various abilities effectively, and then executes it, claiming an overwhelming victory despite the odds against him.

This, all of this? All of this is far more interesting to read than his fights have been lately. This Izuku is easier to root for, easier to be concerned about, easier to like, than when we know he's going to beat everyone else up because he's OP. He's relatable like this, and that is a magic word for keeping people involved in your story.

Then everyone else fights, and most of it isn't that interesting. One notable one is the Momo, Kaminari and Jirou fight where: they also come up with a creative plan to win, Momo gets to use her powers usefully.... and then Kiminari is literally nerfed into being an idiotic pervert (like the one we already have isn't enough?), while Momo's shirt is torn off. Because of course. Then Kiminari is beat up for the suffering the mental version of Izuku's bone breaking side effect, because he can't win anything; god, it must suck to be him.

...Do you know how surreal it feels to watch Tomura be competent? Seriously, he's in a hand to hand brawl with Eraserhead, doing well despite the fact this should be something he doesn't actually do that often, considering his Quirk, he's calculating Aizawa's weak points... this guy feels like a threat, and I don't usually have that impression of him until the Villain Arc. I... I'm genuinely wondering if he always was this threatening, far more than I remember, and that some bad takes on him became the most memorable trait of him that became his fanon characterization, or he gets nerfed after his introduction like All Might was.

Ah, the Classic Noumu. The very one that screwed up my view on every other version; god, this one is a monster. He's an impossible behemoth of a thing, easily beating every enemy he comes against, crushing Eraserhead as a brutal introduction. Great first impression, but he makes all the other versions until the High Ends show up seem bizarrely weak for all the fuss they get.

And then All Might comes in.

And he isn't smiling.

Remember in an earlier post how I mentioned that All Might acts hammy to appear non-threatening? Well, I feel validated. (You know, until he promptly loses.)

...That is Actually Bowser. There's actually a Bowser-lite character, canonly, in MHA. Huh.

Anyways, it's faced up against Serious Might that makes Noumu seem that big of a threat, the fact that Tomura takes his arrival so well makes him that much more disturbing; I keep saying this, but this arc was a damn good intro for him.

Oh, hey! Remember when the strongest warper in setting was a threat in combat? This arc does; an ability like that could be lethal if used right, and it's nice seeing that in action, when later Kurogiri is devolved in a largely passive porter for The Team.

And then Izuku charges in! And then Bakugou... 'helps', ugh. I've gotten spoiled by all the chapters where he was 'dead'; I forgot how much he used to be shoved into every possible situation, in the best possible way to make his otherwise alarming behavior look good.

Like. He's not doing the right thing here, like everyone else is (even Shoto, who feels disconnected from the situation). He's doing what he wants, and it's just happening to help everyone else, yet it's getting shown as the 'right' thing. It's just frustrating for him to get these 'hero' shots of him looking and acting unhinged, but knowing I'm supposed to find that heroic.

And here, Tomura is pointing out what I pointed out earlier: All Might's 'peace' is based on the threat of superior violence, which... is quickly ignored because he's a murder hobo. Mixed feelings about that; as a character, for where he is in the story, for who he's supposed to be, he's exactly the kind of person to act off that logic, but he does have a good point, and I don't think anyone else brings it up, really? All Might being dissed for being All Might later is based off him no longer being a hero, and society is falling apart and all that, never that the peace itself is based off the threat of him.

...That said, why the hell doesn't All Might just... grab the Noumu again? If Kurogiri isn't hard countering that kind of thing, there's nothing really stopping All Might from grabbing the Noumu's wrist and just yeeting the guy. It's a big, dramatic moment, I get it, overcoming the shock absorption with power and sheer determination, but it's also dumb.

Also, hope that Noumu doesn't land in anybody's house or anything, lol.

Eight or nine last minute saves later, and it's all over save for the All For One introduction; ah, the nostalgia of 'Sensei', plotting from the shadows. I missed him being threatening.

Minor thing, but I like that brief moment of humanizing on the previously aloof Shoto when he realized Hagakure was there when he was fighting, it's a nice touch showing that he's more than his facade without slapping us in the face with it, a good setup for later.

Oh, and here's some extra Aizawa hypocrisy for you: he goes on and on about how bad Izuku is at taking care of himself, but we got a butcher's bill about all the damage inflicted on him. Next day? He shows up mummified. Great example, there; and it's set up just to show how.... badass he is, I guess? But it's annoying that they went through all that work setting up how badly he's damaged just to gloss over it, and yet Izuku's injuries are about to be taken seriously.

Awkward end of chapter cliffhanger!

[tartarusknight]

5 Random Words Fic

Rules: Generate 5 random words using this generator and then write something using those words! Tag 5 (or however many you want) mutuals to challenge! (If you don’t like your 5 words, try again. This is supposed to be fun!)

Tagged by @nburkhardt <3

Grief, Floodgate, Outcast, Claim, Penitence

(Little late but I honestly forgot this was in my drafts lol)

Let Steve say on record that he didn't really like Jason Carver. The kid was annoying and picked up his anger from his dad.

Or, um, their dad.

Because at the end of the day, Steve's dad was a cheating piece of shit who thought it was a smart thing to move their family to the small town of Hawkins after he got a young girl pregnant. And then he thought he'd be able to hide it and care for his wife, who just had their kid, and his girlfriend, who was pregnant.

It didn't work.

Even so, that didn't mean Steve ever had to deal with the Carver's much. Soon after Jason was born, his mom married another man, and his dad slept with ore random women, just with more caution than before. It meant Steve didn't really have a dad, and Jason had a step dad. And while Steve's mom didn't want him and Jason to interact, Jason's mom was the opposite.

At first, Steve had kind of wanted that friendship. He thought it would be awesome to have a younger brother. But he soon learned the floodgate that opened up with that. His mom screamed at Steve and his dad. Claiming it wasn't fair and that she didn't want her son around the tramp and the bastard son.

And well, Steve hated seeing her mom so angry so he listened. He did everyone a favor and pushed himself away from Jason. Steve didn't completely ignore him though, smiling at him at school. But he worried about getting too close ever again and making his mom angry.

He didn't really bother with Jason outside of sports, as bad as it sounded. He expected Jason to hate him for it, but he never really did. And by the time they got to high school and the Upside Down shit started, he hated himself for giving up on that relationship. Sure, he saw Jason's mean streak, but he also felt like he could've helped him.

When he became close friends with Dustin, he felt worse, like he was replacing the younger brother that he could've had. Sure Steve did small things, like talking to the coach about handing over the title to Jason the next year or smiling at him in the hallways. Tiny little things that never felt like enough, but it felt like Steve couldn't become Jason's friend now after all this time. Not to mention all the trauma that put a barrier between Steve and everyone else (minus the party, though).

And when Billy pushed him off his throne and made him an outcast to the of his best ability for Steve's senior year, Jason didn't do anything to help him. He didn't step in when Billy pushed him around. But Steve didn't expect him to. They weren't truly friends or brothers. In fact, he saw the kids more as siblings than Jason ever would be. Still, there was always that little voice in the back of his head, saying that Steve didn't try hard enough.

After Steve had graduated, he figured he might never see Jason again, but he underestimated Jason's determination to be his friend. Stopping by Scoops than Family Video always getting something, but he always tried to have a long conversation with Steve. Robin said that Jason (even though he was a prick) obviously looked up to Steve, and that was without the knowledge that they were related.

But it was the spring break of 1986 that Steve was forced to examine those feelings. The anger when Jason rallied the town into a witch hunt against an innocent man. That because of Jason no one would trust Eddie even after the government cleared his name.

But when Steve sat in his joint room with Eddie and Max (thanks to Nancy's stubbornness) he only felt grief. Sitting with Robin on his bed. Dustin is over by Eddie with Nancy sitting on the end of Eddie's bed. Erica between Max and Steve with Lucas right next to Max, they talked about all that happened.

First had been Nancy then a mix of Dustin and Eddie talking over each other before the final group started talking. Lucas took the lead until he got to Jason. Steve felt anger boil in him as Lucas told them that Jason had given him his first concussion. That Max was in the hospital because of Jason. Both Sinclairs were hurt because of Jason.

But then came the rest of the news. The crack opens up and Jason is ripped apart. "That little bitch got what was coming for him," Erica snapped.

Lucas gave a tired, "Erica."

She just shrugged her shoulders, "Just the facts."

Steve had frozen then before the grief had hit. He wanted to agree with Erica, and claim that Jason deserved it but he couldn't. Steve just went quiet as everyone else kept talking until Robin gave him a little shake. "Is the pain getting bad?" She whispered as quietly as she could with his bad hearing.

He shook his head and looked over at her worried face. "I'm ok," he murmured and she didn't look to believe him. He had chosen the kids over Jason for siblings and now this is his penance. The world put Jason against his kids and Jason died. And Steve wasn't even there. He couldn't've done anything to help either of them.

The rest of the party were talking but he and Robin stayed quiet. He leaned over to her, "Do you think it hurt Jason?" He whispered even though he truly knew the answer.

She raised an eyebrow, "He was torn in half. I don't think it felt nice." Robin joked and Steve nodded, feeling lost for a moment. Steve had never wanted to claim Jason as his brother. Even less after this week but it didn't matter. Steve lost a brother as estranged as they had been.

Maybe if Steve had been kinder, better... there. Maybe Jason would be alive. Maybe Steve could've stopped this.

"You okay, Stevie?" Eddie asked from the bed over and Steve looked over.

He pictured his brother dying terribly because of his anger towards this man right here. He pictured the fear Jason had to have after seeing Patrick die. But he took a deep breath, "Yeah."

Steve had ignored death before. He ignored Jason before. He could do it again. "Yeah man," he repeated, forcing himself to smile at the metalhead.

[thewiz9062]

Smiling Critters AU: Catnap's Psyche

NOTE: THIS IS NOT RELATED TO CANON IN THE SLIGHTEST. An accurate description of this au is that I took every playtime.co poster art and promotional material from the game and lit up the rest of canon in a bonfire. Meaning that EVERY character is part of one big cartoon. Thats it. No bigger bodies project, no child souls, no experiments, just a depiction of a cartoon. PLEASE do not ask me to do anything suggestive with anyone.

OK so catnap in an interesting case,

I will be referencing events from my masterpost, but if you want to read like the bare minimum, then his backstory is here because attempting to re-write it here was a chore

I've sort of made him the introvert, but the more I write about him, the more he seems surprisingly adept at reading emotions, and I like it so we're rolling with it. I like to think he felt alot of emotions during his homelessness period, and references his own pain to inquire what others are feeling, and apply a comforting technique based on how he moved on and how they might feel about the situation. If dogday is inspiration and happiness, then catnap is melancholy.

Now I wanna go over his situational mutism, as it's pretty important and affects most of his interactions with the others. First I'll say that I have done some reading but this may still be somewhat inaccurate, and please tell me if I'm way off base so I can edit it if you have better info.

It started during his homelessness, and being uncomfortable around anyone and everyone due to the fact of him literally being a stray cat as well as living alone for 8-9 years didn't really help. Eventually his voice just wouldn't work when interacting with anyone so miming and over-exxagerating facial expressions (to the best of his resting bitch face can allow) is his way of communication. He still ends up wishing he could, but what's done is done. He doesn't know sign language as no one was yk... there to teach him.

I also want to get into how dogday is his closest friend when because in practice, it should be bobby. Picky was kind of put about the whole 'forest cabin kid' thing, but Bobby was understanding and even gave him food, but in terms of interaction, it was just awkward. Both felt bad in different ways, Bobby a little upset that the communication barrier is blocking her from truly being able to help him, and catnap being sad that this the first person his age that willingly wants to talk to him in years and he can't even muster a few words. Even his facial expressions weren't quite working, and their "convos" were more like peaceful interrogations.

Thankfully, she put dogday on the case, and interacting with him was a whole different story. He didn't immediately get awkward when catnap didn't respond to a question and mimed about his situational mutism, instead treating him as if he was talking to someone normally, with a few minor modifications Questions wouldn't require an answer, he would just study his gestures and infer a response, or when he was rambling he wouldn't stop to check if catnap was listening due to his silence, he treated him like he would with anyone else. Maybe he was oblivious to what he was doing right, maybe not, catnap appreciated it either way.

So imagine his suprise when he realized that in a way, Dogday was just like him in a way.

The slip-up in dogday's words revealed he lives in an orphanage, and he doesn't really know his parents as he was abandoned. But his excitable demeanor just didn't make sense to him. It's only when dogday accidentally breaks into a tangent about how his situation isn't bad and that it's okay, and he's okay does catnap realize the subconscious mental limiter dogday's placed on himself. Catnap sees himself in Dogday, but instead of riding all his emotions out, Dogday has suppressed everything, in hopes to make everyone, and to an extent himself, happy. He couldn't just let him continue that, and in some way, that familiarity broke through the uncomfortability as he told dogday that it's alright to sulk. Something that wasn't told to him before.

I like the parallels I made with him and dogday and the backstory I gave him, so that's why I chose situational mutism instead of just being mute. The rest of the critters haven't met catnap yet because that happens during the summer arc so I still have to plan that out.

This psyche series is my way of reminding myself how they think, so if you did read or end up reading my other posts, I would appreciate if you could point out inconsistencies!! Ty for reading this

[twilighthappiness]

Audere est Facere - to do is to dare

--- exactly 1400 words.. jeez!

You had failed. 

The last few months had been difficult for you, commuting everyday to go to a school you stopped caring about and struggling on tasks that you simply wanted to give up on. Even after summer break passed, just waking up in the morning would stress you out so much that tears would unconsciously slip down your cheeks. 

Your mother tried to reassure you, as much as she could without showing how frustrated she was that you cost them money. She told you that for your age, you were a year in advance than other kids in your birth year and if you wanted.. You could just stop doing school until you feel better.

Stop? 

The thought itself sent chills throughout your body. Why would you? You already were left behind, you weren’t going to keep still while everyone else moved on. 

-

Sleep, go back to sleep. 

It’s so noisy outside. 

Just make it stop.

Don’t wake up, not yet, not until it’s over. 

Today, you were going to your school for the first time, and by yourself. After being dragged from your bed, you stared miserably at the mirror in front of you. The corners of your eyes were crusty from dried up tears, eyebags starting to form under them as well, and your hair was a mess. 

It’s odd how much you have to hate yourself that your mind thinks that you look nice right now. Is it lying to you, or worse, actually believing that?

You shook off any thoughts, turning off the lights so that you wouldn’t have to look at your reflection.Of course, you left a hand on the wall to make sure you don’t trip. 

Somehow, that decision made the thoughts shut up.

-

You met him on Orientation Day. 

It was a busy morning, with you being one of the last few students that arrived and so you were sat in the back. You didn’t even get to see him until way after it happened, when you were at the office re-checking your documents. 

There was a long line of other students waiting their turn to be called, so some of you were told to wait outside instead. Sighing, ‘So far, so good.’ You thought, not hiding the dead look on your face of simply wanting to get this over with. 

While you tried to busy yourself with your phone, you unfortunately found that this school had no signal. ‘Really?’ You let out another sigh, putting back your phone as you glanced at the others around you. 

Not too far on the bench you were sitting on, two girls were chatting up a storm with each other. From the way they acted, they seemed like they were already friends, not paying you or anyone any mind despite how loud they were. You couldn’t help but eavesdrop, but is it really when everyone can hear?

“Isn’t that guy so hot?” “I know right? I wonder which class he’s from…” “Ugh, I hope it’s ours, it’ll make listening to Ms.Paimon less painful!” 

Out of curiosity, your eyes started scanning to find out who they were talking about, landing shortly on someone with light blond hair. They looked to be a boy but were very androgynous, is it from how pretty they were? It was a first to see someone like them, and for once you understood what “Easy on the eyes” meant. 

Your eyes met momentarily, and you could feel your breath getting taken away. Is that why eye colors were described like gems in stories? Since when you looked at theirs.. they twinkled like diamonds. 

Their disposition was a stark contrast to everyone else, the fact that they seemed so indifferent while their earplugs were plugged in. You wish you brought yours too, and maybe you could listen to something to pass the time. 

“-Hey.” 

The two girls from earlier widened their eyes as you went and approached them. 

‘What am I doing?—’ You thought, freezing in place as they looked up at you.

Still, something also compelled you to talk to him. It was always like this when you met someone new and cool, as if the interest in whoever they were would light a flame within you that crushed the barriers of social anxiety. 

“...Can I help you?” They asked, and you wanted to scream, how is that even their voice so pretty? 

“Yeah, so..!” You cleared your throat, gesturing to the empty space beside him. “This is really random but would you mind if I sat down here and chatted with you? While we wait to be called, of course.” 

He raised an eyebrow in amusement, and you swore you could see him smirk for the briefest of moments like he would entertain your notion. “Sure, though I’m curious why you suddenly approached me of all people,” He replied.

‘Was he blind’? You thought for a moment, sitting down as you said your name to him. “It’s nice to meet you.” Your hand reached out halfway, initiating a handshake.

“I am Albedo, I suppose I share the same sentiment.” Albedo took your hand and gave a firm shake, immediately turning his head away. You don’t know why it bothered you so much, he probably didn’t mean to seem cold, right? 

“Ah well, I’m new around here.. My old classmates from two years ago live near the area so I was hoping to find a familiar face.. Though I suppose I did get lonely since I’m doing this,” You said, making vague hand gestures at the end to showcase the ridiculousness of the situation you put yourself in.

“Mhm.”

-

Was he charismatic? 

No, absoluuuuutely not. At least that’s what you thought at first.

Were you?

You didn’t know, but you managed to retain his attention at least. Maybe it was because you didn’t engage in the usual small talk topics, in fact, you wondered if you were sharing too much from how much your conversation had strayed from its original path.

“What kind of path are you aiming for?” You asked, noticing his eyebrow raise.

It was the typical sort of question ‘what strand are you’ but he appreciated the way you worded it so open-endedly..”STEM , I plan on majoring in Organic Chemistry and dabble in Biochemistry..”

“Ooh,” You gasped, “Sounds like a solid plan, I’m in Humanities so it's a bummer I won’t see you as often, but I’m not really sure on what to take.. Social Sciences, and Psychology specifically interest me though!”

Albedo’s eyes looked you up and down, and he smiled as he replied.”Really, personally I think it suits you. The mind can be quite an enigma.”

“Exactly!” You exclaimed, reaching for your backpack to pull out your sketchbook. You weren’t even sure why you brought it, maybe in case you wanted to impress someone with your mediocre skills, even if you couldn’t bring yourself to be called an artist anymore.

“You sketch often?” Albedo asked, the corners of his lips subtly turning upwards in surprise. You sheepishly handed it to him, as he quickly sifted through the pages. He made small ‘hmm’s and ‘ahh’s, making your heart quicken.

“I used to, I’ve been relearning it.. It’s just a hobby but actually—” You felt your chest twist, as your words slowly trailed off. “...I wanted to pursue Arts at first, but I wasn’t able to keep up with my studies.. It’s my first time repeating. So I’m quite devastated.”

You took a deep breath then continued. “But hey! Mom said I was already one year in advance so supposedly I’m experiencing things normally, one thing I can take from this is that I was able to meet you.” You gave him a closed eye smile as you said that.

“You… initially reminded me of the types of people I don’t usually concur with, and yet you make me feel different. Talking with others, it often feels draining, and yet it’s like we’re friends who haven’t talked in years,” He said.

“That’s really kind of you,” You replied, clasping your hands together. Then instinctively leaned back when his face inched closer to yours, those curious eyes boring holes into your skull.

“I wonder why that is though,” Albedo said, using his thumb to rub his chin thoughtfully. “I would like to study you if you don’t mind, I’m certain we’ll meet again in the future.”

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

i don't really get emotional while writing but i am a little bit emotional returning to help i'm alive quentin five years down the line...

“Anyone else?” His students stare down at their notebooks or up at him, blankly, anxiously, boredly, cheerfully. “Okay. If we’re all set, then I’m going to let you go. Enjoy your extra five minutes of free time, and drop your theory assignments on the desk on your way out. I’ll have them back for you next week. Oh, and remember — no class at our usual time Wednesday, but meet here at 8:30 at night for our first field excursion. We do have a guest lecturer coming, so please be on time.”

Scattered murmurs and shuffling sounds fill the room. Quentin gathers his own notes in his messenger bag and looks up to find Gina standing in front of him, one finger twirling a strand of hair as a stack of papers accumulates next to her. “So how long do you think we should give it with Masterson before moving on to something else? And are the alternatives listed in order of recommendation, or is there some other way to figure out what we should try next?”

This is his third year TAing the Fundamentals of Physical Practice survey, and every year there’s at least one Gina. He gives everyone the spiel on the first day of class: it’s a well-documented fact that magical development isn’t linear, and it isn’t standardized; they shouldn’t compare themselves to their peers; there’s a reason all Ravensdale first-year courses are graded pass/fail; it’s becoming increasingly accepted that everyone can do magic if they’re willing to put in the work; it’s hard work, and they should expect to work hard, but no one would be here without the school’s highest confidence in their ability to excel. He tells them, as clearly as he can: there’s no pressure in his classroom. He wants them to ask for help. He wants them to share when they’re confused. He wants them to try hard enough to fail sometimes, and he wants them to understand that this is because he wants them to succeed.

But no matter how clear he tries to make it that he’s on their side, the Ginas of the world can’t accept it. They can repeat back to him what he’s said, but they still walk into class on high alert, their nerves palpable sometimes even in their casting; they still treat him like they have something to prove, and he’s the one they need to prove it to. For a long time it had perplexed him, even exasperated him: he’d been teaching people to work magic informally for years at that point, people with more internal and external barriers than the kinds of kids that get scooped up for Ravensdale’s undergraduate program, taking care always to tell them the kinds of things he wished someone had told him back at Brakebill, and — not to brag — it had always worked. Now teaching was his actual job, or at least part of it, and he found himself powerless against the anxious armor of his students.

Two Septembers later, though — two Septembers, one minor existential crisis, a lot of unpacking with his pedagogy seminar and the rest of his cohort, many patient reassurances from everyone else he talked to about this which included basically everyone he knew, and one particularly helpful question from Julia (“Q, do you remember being eighteen?”) — he thinks he’s starting to get it. He does remember, after all, being that young, and that eager, and that afraid. That full of wanting so spiked and huge he couldn’t even see it for what it was, and that terrified of all he had set himself to live up to. He remembers it well enough to understand that he can tell them they’re okay here as many times as he wants, but there’s no magic combination of words that will make them believe it. It’s one thing to know, and another thing to live with it: to keep showing up long enough until life itself begins to wash away your fear. Quentin does what he can at the start of the year, but it’s the months that come after that will show them what it is he’s most hoping they’ll learn.

And at least the Ginas are always willing to ask. He’s learned that if a Gina is asking, there are probably at least a handful of others just as confused but not yet brave enough to admit it.

“They’re not in any particular order,” he says in answer to her question. “If you’re not feeling Masterson, just pick any other option, and give it a couple tries. Remember you can always test out some of the swaps on the trouble-shooting list, too.”

Gina’s shoulders wilt a little. “So I just — guess?”

“Don’t think of it as guessing,” he says. “Think of it as trial and error.” At her dissatisfied expression, he adds, “I know that’s not fun to hear. But that’s the process. It sucks, and then it sucks less. And it will suck less. That much, I can guarantee.”

Her eyebrows rise a little — maybe at his informality, maybe at his honesty. But it must be bracing enough, because she stands up a little straighter to say, “Okay. Thank you, professor.”

“Quentin’s fine,” he says, but he’s more or less given up on giving that to stick with the first-years, too.

[ravenrambles6229]

Titanium Ninja actually kind of fucks, though

So I rewatched the last episode of season 3. A pretty mid season, right? Well that final episode fucks in all the ways that made my brain vibrate as a 12 year old. So let’s fucking go I need everyone to appreciate this episode.

First up, ninjas trapped in space. Alright. There’s already no solution to this that isn’t bullshit, so just make it cool. Well, I like that they had to use their abilities and knowledge to make the ship instead of tornado of creation-ing it. Really shows how much they’re capable of when they work together!

“How we holding up?” “Bubblegum and a wish!” As they fucking send it. What a legendary line. It burned itself into my brain for years to come and is a part of my standard lexicon.

“Hasn’t Ninjago suffered enough already?” She asks, on season 3 out of what is now 17.

Overlord’s face is kinda silly but the mech honestly kinda slaps.

“My heart has reached critical mass, it appears my unlimited energy is in fact limited!” “Critical mass? You mean it’s gonna blow up?” “Don’t worry about me!” AHJGHSJKG See kids, this is what we call foreshadowing.

Okay but seriously, now that they’re in the atmosphere, they use their elemental powers to shield themselves as they come in from from orbit like goddamn meteors. Is it bullshit? Yes. Do I care? Absolutely the fuck not.

Skales saying they can’t help the people of Ninjago then doing it anyway? Love him for that. Because he presumably sees the ninjas and is like “ugh these fuckers again. Well if they did it once-”

The city recognizing the ninja as they plummet towards the earth as multicolored meteors? There had better be folk songs about this. I’m surprised there isn’t a church. Saviors from the stars here to kill Satan.

Man, people still getting a haircut as the Overlord attacks. Frickin iconic. No wonder people handled season 9 so well.

Pixal on her lil bike.

Also the ninja being caught by their vehicles. Does it make sense? Not really. But the animation for it is cool so once again, I am fully on board.

“A few parachutes would have been nice!” “Friends and family make a good substitute!” Fuck, I love Kai so much.

City fortress. Cloaked in blacks and reds in a dusky sky. What a sick image.

The fact that they were prepared to throw hands with the Overlord even before Borg came to them with a solution. These lil heroes I love them so much.

Lloyd biking through a hole in a window while Cole just WHAM. I love them both so much.

“Go back, and our probability of making it to the temple exponentially diminishes!” “This isn’t about numbers, Zane! It’s about family!” AAAGH the fact that that line came from Kai! Also, foreshadowing!

Cole whooping even as he’s running from certain doom, what an icon.

Lol the ancient seal of the temple being helped by a convenient barrier.

“Let me get this straight, you want us to get close to a guy with armor that, with one touch, will make us toast, and you want us to give him a pill?” “Precisely!” Oh Borg, never change. Unironically my favorite side character, I love this genius idiot so much. He’s just like “well if anyone can do it, it’s you lunatics” and it still feels like pot calling kettle black.

Zane offering his armor to Pixal!!! I love him! Even though he’s so big on probability, he’s so willing to give up his own safety for others!

“I shall see you again.” AAGH

Magic armor toysets!!

The ninja ninja-ing over rooftops will never not make my brain whir.

Okay the golden spiderweb thing goes kinda hard as a villain aesthetic, though. Great way to make the normally heroic golden colors look all evil!

That shot of the ninja, these tiny lil dudes, against this giant evil robot kicks so much ass though.

“Then attack the people.” Holy SHIT Pythor! What a dick move! And the fact that its his former second-in-command that comes to offer the people refuge is so good!

“That was ALL YOU’VE GOT!?” It sure was, but these ninjas are the masters of asspulls so watch yourself.

Okay now we’re getting to the scene. The scene. One of the best scenes in the show, and I am prepared to die on this hill. Actually, I’m prepared to kill on this hill. Because this scene is just fantastic, and has stuck with me vividly for years, even after I fell off the show back around season seven. If you had come up to 16-year-old Raven and told her to quote this scene, she probably could have done so.

“Support me friends, for one last time.” Never does Zane ever think of this as anything less than a group effort. Even here, he’s asking for their support! And they do what little they can!

Then this GOAT just fuckin grabs the armor and demands “Let! My! Friends! Go!” His voice cracking, as the music swells! The way he’s writhing makes him look like he’s in genuine agony but pushing through it anyway!

“Go where, doomed ninja?”

Then they show his fucking heartbeat! It’s robotic, but also very much so a human pulse! Because Zane is as alive as anyone! Then his faceplate falls off!

And you can see the Overlord’s expression change here as he starts running calculations, getting worried!

“The golden weapons are too powerful for you to behold! Your survival chance is ZERO!” “This isn’t about numbers. It’s about family!” What can I even say about this exchange? First of all, the Overlord is appealing to Zane’s survival, rather than his chance of SUCCESS. In all likelihood, he KNOWS that Zane is a threat right now, because that robot is channeling the power of his own armor. But Zane is not swayed by his own chance of survival.

Killing the moment a bit, looks like Zane is programmed in some wacky ass C++. Wonder if Dr. Julien could help me with my Arduino homework. Never was good with stepper motors. Anyway back to drama.

Then the ninja desperately wondering why Zane isn’t letting go, but Wu realizes. “He’s protecting us!”

“I! Am! A Nindroid! And Ninja! Never quit! Go ninja, Go!” There’s so much here. It’s like when he found his true potential on an infinitely larger scale. The Overlord will not hurt his friends, because he knows who he is: A nindroid that never quits, built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Also, “Go ninja, go!” Amazing how the addition of one extra “go” completely changes the mood. It sounds desperate, like he’s telling himself to go, to take the plunge, to give everything up, and he DOES that.

Then he just. Fuckin. Goes. What I imagine is happening here is that he is directly powering himself with the golden armor, channeling the Overlord’s golden power THROUGH his heart to boost his own elemental power. Completely frying himself in the process, but able to literally produce the power to kill Satan. 

“No Zane! No!” It being Jay, the one often considered the meek one, to be the first to run after Zane. As Wu has to force them all away, because he can’t lose all his ninja.

Then. The music change. The MUSIC CHANGE. This song. Let me tell you something. I just recently got back into Ninjago. And I was getting caught up on what I missed. Well, I was listening to a music compilation, and suddenly, this song started playing. I Ratatouilled so hard, y’all. I had a flashback to Zane having flashbacks, because this music is absolutely stunning.

His heartbeat plays over the music. The sounds of the fight fade away. As he recounts his time with his brothers. His time meeting his father again, even if it was for only a few short months.

“There’s something special about you Zane.” Cut to Pixal. Then cut to him smiling.

“I know who I am!”

“You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.” That’s it. That is the microcosm of Zane’s character. He protects people. He protects his family. And Zane can die happily if it means he has fulfilled that directive.

As he flatlines. Holy hell. I cannot stress enough the impact this had on me as a child.

One final (for now) NOOOOO from the Overlord, then it’s all quiet. The tower light goes out. The manhole freezes over. The robots break. It’s eerily soft compared to what was just happening. Like a single, soft exhale of breath.

Kai looks at a damaged “New Ninjago City” sign. This is symbolism.

And Cole finds a piece of Zane’s body! Is this the only surviving piece? It must be, and that’s devastating! Granted, a kids show probably can’t show what is essentially a corpse, but they don’t even have anything to bury!

Him comforting Nya as she starts to sob. Jay just looking away softly. And Borg. “I used to think technology would be the answer to all of our problems.”

Then it cuts to the memorial.

“Then I saw technology invent new problems. Devastating problems. And then, a Nindroid named Zane saved us all. He was the perfect balance between us and technology.” And nothing encapsulates that better than the heartbeat from a few seconds ago. The heartbeat of a human contained in a machine.

“Technology can improve our lives, but so can people.” The fact that they don’t fully demonize technology, which would be hypocritical seeing as Zane is technology. Instead, it’s all about balance!

“Our city will find its way again, but this time, with Zane as our compass.” Couple things here. First off. That this takes place in a park rather than an urban sprawl. Second, that the photo of Zane is of his season 1 outfit is nice! And that they’re going to look to Zane as an example of what technology should be.

And Zane gets a statue! I love this a lot. I love that it shows up in later seasons. Later on, Zane says he doesn’t need a statue. But it’s not even just about Zane, it’s for the people to remember Zane and his sacrifice by. To remember the mistakes that he fixed so that they don’t repeat them. The Titanium Ninja, a strong metal to act as a foundation for their future. It’s not complex symbolism, but it’s still extremely effective! No wonder I lost my mind at age 12.

Then his falcon sits on his shoulder, with the leitmotif playing! Agh! Just stab me in the heart already, show!

“So, what happens after this?” “I don’t know.” “And I don’t care. Today’s about Zane.” I have a lot of thoughts about this. First up, Jay completely not acknowledging the love triangle right now. He doesn’t care about that, because today IS about Zane. It’s so humanizing. And next up, we know what happens after this. In their grief, the ninja fracture. It’s tragic, but they’re all so devastated by their grief that they don’t know how to carry on together. This is a recurring thing in the show. When Nya becomes the sea, the team splits up. When Lloyd thought his friends died in Sons of Garmadon, he nearly gave up everything. For better or worse, these ninja need each other, they are a very tight-knit family. I wonder if the new series can touch on how they deal with being separated from each other on longer terms. Either way, this family loves each other so much, and I love that,

Kai being the one to give a eulogy. Literally I could type out that entire speech and point to line after line just being like Look! Look at this line! It’s amazingly eloquent, especially coming from Kai. Out of all the ninja, he’s always been the most family-oriented. He’s powered by brotherhood, and Zane continues to power him. We see this in season 4, when he visits Zane’s statue, that he still thinks about Zane every single day, still looking to him for guidance. He has so much love and respect for his family, but also can’t cope with yet another loss in his life.

Wu blinking rapidly as he ducks his head!! Dude is holding back tears big time.

.Dareth sobbing! He loves those funky ninjas too!

“Ninja never quit, and ninja will never be forgotten! Wherever you are Zane, you’ll always be one of us.” As it STARTS TO SNOW! AGH! This is so good!

All of Zane’s flashbacks before it’s revealed that he lived on in the Digiverse! At least before Ronin stole him, lol. Well either way, Pixal moving from grief to hope as she realizes he’s alive! Holy shit! I’d like to draw attention to her speech from crystallized. “Long ago, in a different battle, you gave up half your power source to save my life. Ever since that moment, I felt things I’ve never felt before. I felt love. For you.” Pairing these two moments together just... It hits so hard.

Then the fucking MUSIC. The FUCKING MUSIC! It is triumphant and glorious and a CELEBRATION.

“Are we compatible now?” Holy hell, what an ending.

No wonder this did irreparable damage to my brain chemistry. No wonder I was never normal again. This absolutely DESTROYED me as a kid, and I think it still holds up as one of the most emotionally impactful series of scenes in the show. The beginning is really awesome, the fights are fun, the characterization is stellar, and the death scene is damn near flawless. Is the episode nonsensical and a bit meandering at times? Well, yes, it is. The entire season is all over the place. But this episode still works SO well. I’d say it’s probably top five, easy.

It was something I never considered possible, as a kid. This is coming off season 2, which was pretty Lloyd-centric. I never thought we’d get such an amazing tribute to my, at the time, favorite character. I never thought he’d get such a moment in the spotlight to be as amazing as he was. Granted, he’s since had PLENTY of deaths to call his own, but this one remains the most impactful to me. This was the first death to REALLY be a death and to REALLY hit home. The only deaths that I’d say even come close are Nya’s death in Skybound (since she didn’t really die in Seabound) and Morro’s death for how brutal it is. Nya becoming the sea was also really good, though, with a beautiful funeral. But this one just...

The Titanium Ninja was a revolution for me as a kid. I had adored this show since the pilot. I had kept up religiously since the pilot. But this was the moment that the show went to a whole different level. And honestly, I think it holds up. Ninjago has a list of issues a mile long. But I just want to celebrate for a moment this episode, and everything it does so, so well.

Anyway, that’s my rant about an episode that I really love. I may do this again with episodes like Son of Lily. Because I love this stupid little show so much, guys. I grew up with it, and its always been a big part of my life. Episode 7, Tick Tock, was like, the biggest plot twist of the universe to me as a kid. It was what made Zane my favorite character, and got me so invested in him in the first place. To see Ninjago use that to make a genuinely fantastic character arc, then to use that as the foundation for the fourth season, was absolutely brilliant, and my life is genuinely better for having gotten to enjoy such a show as a kid and now as an adult. This show isn’t some life-changing revolution, but it makes me so happy, and I hope this rant helps illuminate a little bit of why.

[sayitaliano]

what’s the culture around disabilities and mental illnesses or disorders like in Italy? Like, socially is it acceptable or is it still taboo to talk about?

Let's say that the intentions are there, especially for physical disabilities, but we tend to hinder ourselves when it comes to put them into practice. The many architectural barriers we find around (eg. the lack in some train stations/public offices/sidewalks of working elevators and ramps) are a symbol to this, as the fact that many tend to not think about others' possible problems that much, unless you make them notice or it touches them in first person (not sure this is just our problem though).

Anyway... we lack the knowledge and understanding about mental issues, and often those suffering them are stigmatized or made neglecting their needs (it was/is uncommon, sadly, to hear people telling to someone suffering from depression, for example, to just get up and move on, cause "it's nothing/it will pass" or anything similar, as if it was laziness. We lack the knowledge that makes you go "Oh wait, maybe there's an hidden/mental/emotional important reason for this behaviour in that person, and it'd be good and right to help them find it out").

I think this partially originates from the fact that what were commonly called "manicomi" (or ospedali psichiatrici = psychiatric hospitals) in which people with different degrees of mental problems were cured or interned, were actually publicy/commonly seen as places for only crazy and dangerous people. In fact, especially many elders, cannot see (=don't really know there's) a difference between a psychiatrist, a psychologist or a therapist: generally if you need any of them, you are crazy (and even possibly dangerous) or you just have a not well-working mind and "it's scary". Again, this is because we lack the correct knowledge about mental issues and what they are about and how many different shades of them there are. And our Sanitary System doesn't help very much in this either (despite I think they were discussing a bonus for mental health not long ago? But it was just a random news, I have personally heard anything new on that).

Many schools and workplaces as well, do not even consider offering a psychological support for students and workers. You need to pay for it yourself (many renounce cause of the costs too ofc). Workers that give signs of huge distress are left at home (as far as I know, I might be wrong on this), not sure if all the companies or company's doctors may send you to a psychologist or something (again I'm not well aware of how things are now). As for schools... actually in my high school there was a small box in which to leave a letter for a psychologist but it didn't last much. I think either cause students feared being seen and judged while leaving their letter (so they rarely did that) or because it mostly felt like writing to Santa in wait for an help that we all doubted it could actually arrive (note: I'm old, so it probably was only one of the first tries ever). On the other hand, teachers and professors, even kindergarten ones that should help parents in discovering possible problems in kids, aren't formed well enough when it comes to deal with students' mental problems of every type. They have to rely on their empathy, but at times even those who may realize something tend to pretend they don't because they may fear overreactions (even abuse or more dangerous ones) from students: again something they're not prepared to deal with. One of my friends does service in a school (before/after). She followed a course on mental health but still she often messages me about not being really sure on how to deal with certain guys (and I'd say ofc, as everyone acts and reacts differently according on many different variables and those courses are not enough imo to prepare people for any type of situations... they just give you general rules, but general doesn't work for personal).

So in conclusion, there are basically no funds and even less preparation (and a little doctors/professional figures). I don't think it's taboo to talk about it, but it's just that... it's not a real problem, unless it's evident in the eyes of everyone, unless the person does somethinig "crazy" compared to society's norms (when it's indeed society the one making you develop problems in first place and stigmatizing you and isolating you -so yeah, many don't talk about it in fear of being judged as crazy and isolated maybe... so yeah in this sense it's a taboo especially for some people/in some areas, true-). And people that have mental issues are hardly helped, also cause doctors as well often do not have the correct support to do their job properly. After the pandemic I have notice people starting to talk about mental health much more often even on TV, trying to bring more awarness also about the different professional figures; I also noticed a bit more opennes in its regard, but it's again what I mentioned before: we're good or trying in theory, but when it comes to practice...

I'm leaving you a couple of articles. The first one (2020) is not for free, except for a couple of lines. The second (2019) is for free, and I think you can get the most of it despite the level of knowledge you have of Italian language (just ask if you want me to translate something)

[unseelie-robynx]

Part 2 of the Little Brother Au Saga (Part 1 HERE) this time 10 points about Xiaotian and how he got caught up in all of this

1. SWK is in the city as a bird, mostly for his own amusement (he loves his little brother, loves his monkies, but sometimes he wants a bit of novelty in his life. Something to break up the routine) when he hears his name. Circling down he finds a young boy talking animatedly about him, regardless of the fact that the other kids at the park don’t seem to be listening to him. This goes on for three hours, (with the kid never running out of stories to tell, or excitement for the telling), before the kid is retrieved by a grown up and bundled away.

Obviously SWK is smitten with this adorable boy, and follows him home, learning his name is Qi Xiaotian and that while his home life isn’t ideal, its not dangerous. Mostly just neglectful. And well, he’s seen what child services were like in the past, and he doesn’t know if they’ve gotten better now, so he doesn’t interfere.

2. He does however, keep coming back. Watching the kid grow, listening to him constantly go on and on about how awesome SWK is. Until one day middle school ages Xiaotian comes home crying, and starts throwing all his Monkey King things into a big bag. SWK learns that he’s been harassed to the point that he’s decided to just get rid of everything and never talk or think about the Monkey King again. This obviously wont do, but it’s not like he can just go and beat up middle schoolers (well he could but he knows better). But luckily he does know how to help with mental problems like this. both the cruel children with an attitude adjustment, and his Xiaotian with the internal heartache and damaged self confidence. SWK slips into Xiaotian’s room that night, and quietly plays the human track of the music, letting it sink in nice and deep as he tells Xiaotian that those other kids were wrong. SWK is amazing and awesome and he should keep everything, because it makes him happy to have it and Xiaotian deserves to be happy. Then he goes and hunts down and ‘corrects’ those other kids to know how awful of people they were, to want to be good and kind from now on. and to know that Xiaotian is better than all of them put together and that they’re going to respect him and treat him kindly and do whatever he says from now on. 3. Problem is, that little ‘help’ session took Xiaotian’s admiration and shifted it into an obsession. Not that SWK minds, and he even starts to inadvertently encourage if. Because now that the barrier of not using the music on the boy is gone, SWK uses it a lot. Just like he does for Liu Er. To help with confidence issues, to help him focus, to help him be happy. (He shapes up Xiaotian’s parents as well, because Xiaotian deserves nice doting parents who will give him everything and anything he wants and devote all their time and attention to him. and if a part of him is bitter, maybe even jealous while he does this, SWK doesn’t let himself think about it to long to identify the negative emotion) So Xiaotian grows up knowing that Sun Wukong is the most perfect and epic and amazing person in all of creation, and absolutely loving the Monkey King, even if he’d never met him. He knew that SWK was real, even if no one ever believed him. 4. Eventually Xiaotian moves out, ends up working for Pigsy, makes all his cannon friends. SWK still follows him as a bird a lot, it’s part of his routine at this point, and maybe ‘helps’ some of his new friends. Makes sure his boss with never fire him, makes sure everyone knows that Xiaotian is as awesome and perfect as SWK knows him to be, that sort of thing. (This is also the point where SWK finally gets a dragon track, because his boy is ‘BFF’s’ with one and if his Xiaotian is going to give her such a title, she needs to live up to it, and SWK is going to make sure she does) 5. The pilot happens. SWK didn’t mean for Xiaotian to be there, is panicked that he’s there, and fully freaks out when Xiaotian takes the staff. But he can’t go chasing after his boy right now, as much as he wants to, because he wanted Red Son to lift the staff. He had decided that his old friend/ once sworn brother (which was entirely different than what he had with his Liu Er) had effectively served his time (500 years, just like SWK had) and now it was time for him to be ‘redeemed’. He’d been planning to hit the whole Demon Bull family with the music all at once and explain things to them, before sending them on their way to reconnect and work on being Good now, but Red Son taking off complicated that. SWK is still able to his PIF and DBK though, and get them all set up to be good. Then he has them call Red Son home, and is stuck waiting until he returns to complete things with all of them. Maybe the bull clones realize something is up/ record what’s going on and later Red Son gets sus about everything, for plot options later down the line 6. When he is finally able to go after Xiaotian, it’s to find them all on Sandy’s boat, en route to FFM. That obviously won’t do, because the ring of volcanoes is far to dangerous for his Xiaotian, so he shifts to being on his cloud (for a more dramatic entrance) and drops down to be floating right above the deck of the boat. Understandably, everyone looses it, with Xiaotian being right at the top. After all, he loves SWK and now he’s*here and he’s saying that he’s watched him (SWK keeps it vague. While he can fix things if this goes south, he’d rather not) and he ruffled his hair (Which SWK has wanted to do for years, practically since he first saw the boy and it’s different when Xiaotian isn’t asleep or under the music) and Xiaotian is convinced he can die happy. EXTRA so when SWK tells him he’s special. “Not just anyone can lift that staff you know.” 7. Truth is, SWK doesn’t know how Xiaotian can lift his staff. The only thing he can figure is that somehow SWK always being around the boy (and casting wards and protections and charms over him and making sure they never fade. Plus adding any new ones he comes across mortals are so fragile. He can’t risk his boy getting hurt) has rubbed off on him or something. It's this thought that prompts him to check with his eyes of truth (and we in the fandom are kind of loosey goosy about what those can and can’t actually see) and he sees that there's a shimmer of power under Xiaotian’s skin. SWK doesn’t know how long it’s been there, or if grabbing the staff woke it up, but he realizes it could grow. 8. SWK offers to take Xiaotian under his wing as a student. Xiaotian of course immediately agrees, and the others are brainwashed enough to not interfere with something that clearly makes Xiaotian this excited. SWK doesn’t want to have his boy learning to fight (he shouldn’t ever need to, shouldn’t ever be in danger and SWK is going to be there to protect him if he’s ever in trouble) but it’s the best way he knows to develop and grow that power inside of the boy. Try and get it to manifest fully. Because SWK realizes that this is his power, and if he can ‘wake it up’ then his Xiaotian might change and become like him and Liu Er. And obviously a Celestial Monkey belongs on FFM. Humans don’t. They belong in human cities. Which is the only reason SWK didn’t swoop in and take his boy away years ago. But if Xiaotian is like him, then there’s no reason he can’t take his boy home with him. 9. Cannon sort of happens. There’s no DBFam causing trouble, but they are around and other shenanigans occur. Not sure on who lets LBD out, but that’s still a thing, as is SQ and new years, and Red Son teaming up with the gang to save everyone. and I’m thinking that once SWK realized his Xiaotian wanted to be friends with Red Son after a few chance encounters, he made that happen, so the team up goes a lot smoother this time SWK leaving to get the map and not saying anything isn’t framed like a vacation, it’s very much a ‘this is too dangerous for you. Be good and listen to me and stay out of trouble till I get back’. Which of course Xiaotian does because the causal brainwashing hasn’t stopped and he’s extremely obedient to SWK now. LBD arc gets shifted in that SWK wants to straight up refuses to bring Xiaotian on his journey. His plan is to store him nice and safe on FFM behind the wards with Liu Er until this is over. He doesn’t want the others on his mountain, but he figures he can just mind whammy them to sleep until he’s done. Unfortunately, he has to face the fact that he won’t be able to get the rings without transportation for the time being, and he’ll need the dragon girl anyway for this to work, and he can’t find a way to get Xiaotian away and safe in the meantime so he’ll just have to keep his Kid close at all times. without Macaque messing things up, they do get the rings and run the ritual, and go straight to the fire blasting LBD part of the plan. It… mostly works, but the others all end up in a huge fight as well, and as part of it Xiaotian finally manifests full power as a Celestial Monkey.

Exactly what SWK had been waiting for all this time. 10. SWK beats LBD, but also uses the fallout from the battle to replace himself with his hair clones as he just straight up knocks Xiaotian out and takes him back to FFM in the commotion. (The others maybe being lead to believe that Xiaotian’s big finishing move/power blast used up all of himself and he was gone. For a bit of angst and so someone can think something’s wrong and start looking into things potentially) once he had him home, SWk just straight up removes Xiaotian’s human life from his head. Since he’s not human anymore, he doesn’t need it. He can keep all the knowledge and stuff he has, but now he’s going to get the chance to grow up properly as a cub of FFM. Liu Er of course is delighted by this once SWK ‘told’ him to be and dotes on the newest addition to their family.

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 157 Rundown

Spy X Family: It’s the season finale and you know what that means: actual plot progression! It’s time for Donovan to actually visit Eden and Loid gives a rundown of why he can’t just crash into the place despite being Lupin the Third on steroids. Now see this whole time I thought the plan was to assassinate Donovan idk where I got that idea but that’s what I assumed. But apparently it’s actually to just get in his good graces and ply him for info which seems completely unrealistic given the guy doesn’t step outside except for alumni shit, like this is why real operations usually gun for people a couple ranks down on the chain of command for info gathering given Donovan has Lupin Mask detection devices surrounding him at all times. First Anya tries to follow Damian and confront Donovan herself but she eventually has to dip out but not before reassuring Damian to have courage and face her father because she fucks up all the time and her father still loves her so even if he fucks up occasionally he should have faith in his dad too. This gives Damian the motivation to not back down on meeting his dad and keeps Loid’s operation going. He pretends to run into Damian accidentally while looking for Anya’s keychain she got last episode and luckily Donovan actually shows up to meet his son. So Loid gets to introduce himself and apologize for Anya decking Damian the first day of school (ironic that Anya’s very first fuckup is the only thing that gives him literally anything to talk about here) Loid vents about his frustrations raising Anya and Donovan’s like ‘yeah bro kids suck’ and Loid plays it off like ‘yeah they do but I try to talk to them on their level and meet in the middle’ and boosts up Damian as a good kid to try and draw them closer to each other while making sure Donovan remembers his name and face. It’s not much but it’s a foot in the door and outlines Loid and Donovan’s different perspectives on the prospects for the future, Donovan thinks only of how communication fails because you can’t really trust anyone and Loid is constantly seeking to understand everyone as much as possible (usually for spy shit but still).

Inuyasha: Naraku and Sesshomaru keep fighting and Naraku repeats his tactic of ‘If I let Sesshomaru beat me up enough then all my blood and guts will just eat him and shit’ from the last time they fought because Sesshomaru is OP and even the main villain can’t beat him really. Problem being Naraku’s blood is made of Super Venom and  will literally melt anyone that gets within ten feet of it which is bad news because there’s three very squishy humans and one moderately squishy half demon who’re about to get soaked in the stuff. Hosenki tells Inuyasha he needs to cut him down to get his power and break Naraku’s barrier and there’s a cool parallel of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha both saying ‘nothing else matters’ but Sesshomaru’s saying it about destroying Naraku despite the fact it may cause Kagome, Miroku and Sango to die but Inuyasha’s saying it about saving them even if it means losing his chance to gain Hosenki’s power. Hosenki’s moved by Inuyasha’s compassion and gives him a pass on the ‘cutting through unbreakable adamant’ thing and busts himself open so Inuyasha’s Wind Scar to wipe away Naraku’s miasma also carries the adamant shards and just fucking IMPALES Naraku and it’s SO SATISFYING because he’s been so fucking smug since Mt. Hakurei but like between Inuyasha making 60% of his body adamant crystals by impaling him and Sesshomaru’s followup turning his body into what’s essentially a fine paste, it’s really nice to see. Kagome even gets to use Kikyo’s arrow to shoot the jewel shard and purify it so he can’t take it with him while he runs away. Even Narkau says if he had fasttraveled like a second later he’d be really dead. Honestly as a kid I remember thinking it would’ve been fine if it just ended there like even by Naraku’s standards that escape was weirdly marginal, like everyone important was there and got a good blow on him but we still have Hakudoshi and shit to deal with so of course we’re not done yet. Though I gotta say the Adamant Barrage is one of my favorite Inuyasha moves like it’s just so visually cool looking and it just completely no-sells the ‘no but stronger barrier tho’ arms race that’s been going on for the past like fifty episodes. Though I also gotta say this is where they start leaning into the Tessaiga gaining new powers from defeating demons as something the Tessaiga inherently does and I’ve always assumed this was a retcon made at this point because the Wind Scar and Backlash Wave seemed inherent to the sword itself and the barrier crystal seemed to be a special case tied to the properties of the bat demon’s blood jewel itself but apparently this is the point where they’re just like ‘nah it gets new abilities whenever it kills a strong guy but only when it’s plot relevant because we don’t want it shooting lightning after he kills the Thunder Brothers or some shit’ and I think it’s like an editorial mandate that Shonen series have mechanics to keep throwing new powers into the mix because that’s what happened with MHA and it’s just kinda strange despite me liking the Adamant Barrage and Meidou Zangetsuha (not the biggest fan of the Dragon Scale though).

Yu Yu Hakusho: This is a weird episode, just kinda gonna say that up front. So Yusuke’s been training with the demon monks for a year but Raizen’s on his deathbed and snaps and decides to try to eat Yusuke because apparently he’s demon enough for Spirit World to be mad about him being in the human world but human enough for Raizen to eat I guess. Still they fight a bit and he’s even with Yusuke despite literally being ten minutes from dying. Yusuke snaps him out of it and he gives his backstory about why he doesn’t eat humans and it’s legit the most half-assed ‘a girl healed my wounds and didn’t immediately want to kill me so I fucked her’ story like Togashi’s usually a lot better about these, it’s so paint by numbers and it’s legit a one night stand where she takes off her shirt and is like ‘btw I’m poison so don’t eat me’ and Raizen’s so struck by her boldness and titties he literally says he ‘had no choice’ but to fuck her, like don’t get me wrong I’m a sucker for some impressive titties and a confident girl too but he gives Yusuke WAY too much detail about how he fucked his great great great great great great grandma and then decided to never eat humans again because they sex was just THAT good, like there was no grand romantic development to their relationship or playing at having a deep connection like he fucked her and then fucked off and then she died giving birth to his demon baby like holy shit that’s such a paper thin excuse plot like I could get better motivations out of a filler story. Anyway now that Raizen’s unloaded his story about unloading into Yusuke’s grandma he tells Yusuke Yomi’s a prick and Mukuro’s probably the lesser of two evils and fucking dies on the spot. Ever the rebel, Yusuke decides that the first thing he wants to do is go visit the person his deadbeat dad told him was impossible to reason with and, meanwhile Kurama and Hiei are counseling their new masters about what a wild card Yusuke is and not to underestimate his dumbassery because it fucks everyone up in the end.

Jujutsu Kaisen: It’s time for a good old-fashioned flashback arc! The first part of the episode is a big semi-unrelated setpiece about young Utahime and Mei Mei going through their own PT/Eternity Devil shenanigans and it’s pretty fun and does that weird anime rotoscoping thing which I’m not sure if I love or hate but it’s all a setup for Gojo and Geto’s introductions which is pretty nice since last week we got a good bit of foreshadowing for their backstories with the movie. The interesting thing here is when they’re talking to each other they both seem to have the exact opposite opinion of their current day selves with Geto being the one vouching for protecting the weak and Gojo going for strength above all else so from the outset we essentially put in high relief that this is going to be a story about Geto’s fall and Gojo’s rise to meet where their standards come to by the time of the movie/series. The main plot goes down and basically as I understand it the dude that’s the leyline for all the barriers and shit has to get fed a specific human every few years so his immortality still registers him as human and doesn’t go ‘wait this fucker’s 2000 years old, better make him a buddha’ because enlightened people are notoriously shit at actually having empathy for the existing world or doing anything to actively help people since the material world is fleeting and all that. So it’s kind of ironic that a bit of ritualistic sacrifice keeps him away from enlightenment but they liken it more to something like Orochimaru taking on a new host (or Gojo’s Digimon example but I don’t find that quite as useful). But yeah the catch is the sacrifice is a young girl who I’m sure won’t inevitably change the outlooks of two young men at the crossroads of life, though she’s also being hunted by a group of evil sorcerers and another group that can’t actually do shit but has lots of money to pay people to do shit and also one of the guys they’re paying is Megumi’s dad who everyone’s simping for I guess? I really like how effortlessly quirky and lighthearted a lot of the writing for this part is, like it’s goofy and unique but not in a sweaty way like a lot of the bigger stuff tries to be nowadays, really sells the previous generation being just as big of dorks as the current one.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off: So this is a weird series and I’m not entirely sure how I’m gonna go about breaking this one down considering it’s a lot more ‘vibe-centric’ for lack of a better word. There’s a lot of jokes that are probably better if you’re reading it as a comic or willing to stop and go back to read subtitles but I don’t have the energy for all that so I’m bound to miss a few. But yeah I think the premise for this one is fairly well-known already, it’s a quirky lovestory that gets all the people too isolated to be hipsters but too extroverted to be Goths going with its charming characters and unique/blatant references. It’s kind of funny that the romance between Scott and Ramona is the core because as far as I see it so far it’s a relationship where both people are the Manic Pixie Dream Girls which is kind of a fun dynamic, though it does fall into the normal romantic comedy traps of Scott trying to orchestrate a meeting and obsessing over a girl but it skirts away from being too stalkerish in the end. They kinda have like half a date and immediately almost fuck which makes me feel like a bitter loveless old person that hates romance because that seems unrealistic to me that they’re just randomly gonna hop in bed that quick, I’m from the ‘don’t kiss until the third date’ era of romantic comedies so like not saying it’s a terrible way to do things and it is nice they showcase both of them backing down and putting up and taking down barriers of consent but like I said it makes me feel old and bitter because this seems to be escalating WAY too fast. That’s kinda how I feel about a lot of this like I feel like I’m about a decade too old to romanticize being unemployed and mooching off a friend and being in a go-nowhere copyright-infringement named band but I am enjoying the vibe in general. But yeah now the actual plot comes in with the Gendo Ikari ripoff (because apparently every anime ever has to have one of those now) and the League of Evil Exes (I’m just kind of amused that they self-identify as evil, like idk why that’s so funny to me they’re so serious about it) and I do like how it seems like because Ramona herself is relatively closed-off we learn more about her through the path of each person she’s dated which is kind of a neat way to symbolize the path of truly connecting with someone which does kind of ease some of my worries about how quick they jumped into things. The first guy is just a random fleeting fling from middle school and I imagine there’ll be more progression and complicated relationships as we go (though damn Ramona’s 23 and she’s already dated seven people worth mentioning? Like that’s not too outlandish but that still seems above the norm at least) Anyway the first boss apparently has magic and turned Scott into tokens so… guess we’re going full magic next time… Also between this and Yuji in JJK and a few others there’s an odd number of anime that just have it like ‘oh yeah the protagonist was just kinda already good at fighting to begin with’ to get around them having to learn the basics of fighting.

Ranking of Kings: I’m kinda checking out on these honestly at this point, like I know I complained last time about this whole season seemingly being filler but yeah it’s just not as interesting retreading the small time lapses in the original story like making a Naruto filler arc but on purpose for some reason. This time all this is supposed to happen during the time Bojji’s heading back to his kingdom even though that was supposed to be a rush trip and they still barely made it back in time to save his mom, glad to know these detours almost cost Hilling her life because Bojji was fucking around with random bandits and spirit dogs. The first short is about Bojji and the Underworld Knights making camp in the canyon and ending up helping out a random family with a bandit problem while hiding from a giant t-rex like monster that just turns out to be the Underworld Captain sleepwalking and moaning. The second short is about them running into those spirit dog things they saw with the Big Lipped Alligator Moment guy from the start of Bojji’s journey (also Kage talks about it like he was there, like technically he was in Bojji’s bag but I can’t be bothered to check if he would’ve been in a position to see any of that shit but I’ll take his word for it) and yeah it’s the standard Avatar plot of ‘the spirits are angry but you gotta talk to them instead of fighting’ it’s fine it’s just really short and doesn’t go very far like a lot of these have been doing.

Vinland Saga: Season 2 starts off with the story of Einar, a young Englishman in the middle of a tragic backstory when JUST after he finishes rebuilding his village after it got pillaged, it gets pillaged AGAIN and his mom and sister die and then he’s shipped off as a slave. It’s kinda funny because when he says he’s from England I’m just guessing it was Vikings that did the pillaging given how the cultural climate of England was at the end of Season 1 it was basically free game for them, so it’s not Thorfinn’s old crew cause they’re all dead but it’s something very like his old crew that creates Einar’s origin story. Einar tries to take to heart his mom’s message about living well being the best revenge and always rebuilding after devastation but turns out living as a slave fucking sucks, who knew. Thankfully he’s at least sold off to people that while not exactly nice they are pragmatic and want the slaves treated well enough that they’ll look good enough to sell well to some rich assholes that probably won’t beat them too much which is probably better than being stuck in a foreign country with no food or money, like idk I assume Einar could at least figure out something to hunt but it’d probably be really rough and his escape attempt ends hilariously quickly when he runs out of food and tries to go pilfer some. He’s eventually broken in to trying to be a good slave just to stay alive and honor his mom’s ideology of trying to rebuild. He runs into Leif who’s looking for Thorfinn because apparently Thorfinn somehow got mixed into the slave trade after season 1 because I guess he’s just trying to go down the checklist of everything Thors was trying to save him from becoming. But yeah the sheer love that Leif is showing to try and save Thorfinn even now really gets to Einar and he puts in the last bit of effort to be sold off to a seemingly good-natured man with a HUGE farm. Like you know, owning people is never great but this guy at least seems like he’s not gonna beat the shit out of his guys for no reason and Einar is slowly starting to convince himself that he can live without his freedom and accept his fate. That’s when we find out Thorfinn WAS sold as a slave to THIS SAME GUY, and he’s fucking JACKED now, like it’s a big reveal of how old Thorfinn’s gotten given Leif didn’t look that much older and was still looking for Thorfinn as ‘short and blonde’ but the Netflix pic for Vinland Saga is legit older Thorfinn so that was spoiled a bit.

[draiochtoaksacademyrp]

Post MoonFall

Thunder bunny Amber reporting in…

Under the Hunter's Moon Eerie orange glow the final attack of Moonfall was held. 12 Students: Verity, Steve,Otha,Celsa,Honey,Sen,Nisa,Kylona,Azel,Vanie,Ryker and Rowan were all taken in the middle of the night. Last seen walking into the forest under a daze.

Not for a lack of trying, Every adult that attempted to follow were placed under a nightmarish illusion of madness. What could they do but watch as a group of their students play hero and follow them through the barrier. The "Hero" Party consisted of 8 students that were desperate enough to go after their loved ones and friends. Myself, Gora,Aurora,Sara,Karenos,Lorelay,Krul and Ryo set our sights for our friends only to be met with a ghastly sight.

Not so soon after we entered the forest were we hit with the atrocious scent and the full view of the previously missing and pressumed dead students strung up on a tree and completely charred. Urgrad, Sylvana, Dagormith, Theo, Cerana, Nar Hadia and Sleazius. But with everyone focused on the mission, only Karenos could look in horror and pain. I couldn't leave them up there like halloween decor so i had my Familiars Ginger and Rouge take them down and cover them til the mission was over. But since that sight… Karenos looked lost.

After traveling deeper into the forest we finally saw them! But they were all in a trance, markings binding them to a circle, so even if we wanted to we couldn't grab and dip. According to the others there were four figures ready to fight them. But thanks to the fact illusions never affected me. I could see the villain for who they truly were… Sienna Graves. Once she revealed herself to the others i couldn't help but noticed the newest student, Gora, seemed shocked and out of sorts. Even Ryo who was normally always ready seemed a mess. He really just wanted my sister Honey safe.

Seeing that i could see her clear as day i struck her with a lightning bolt, as it hit Sienna yelled to me that it was a cheap shot. Ill admit it. It was. Gora stood aimlessly as she looked at the wisp. Dammit why wasnt she moving?? Aurora tried but seemed to see something unknown and hit that instead. Fuck. Sienna then turned to the captives and hurt that star kid. Why??? But shortly after she tried to hit sara but it only grazed her. What was strange was that blood slowly trickled down her nose… then Sienna started to cough… what was going on? Sara, while Sienna was coughing attacked her with her axe. Making a good amount of damage. Karenos, still shaken from the sight previously tried to attack sienna but made no contact. It was ….pitiful. Upperclassman Lorelay also let her emotions get the best of her, not that i can really blame her, but slipping on a pebble was…. damn. Krul finally arrived and threw his prefects door at her and missed…. was … was he taking this seriously??? Sienna then tried to attack me, it made sense but again… i could see so i just. Moved to the side. She on the other hand started to cough blood. Was she dying? Ryo kept clawing at the illusions, i could feel his rage, and desperation to save my sister, granted he tried to wake Gora from her daze soon after. During this…. Bunny Houses Prefect Vanie died…. apparently Sienna poisoned her to keep her weakened. It just followed due course… Saras cries must've been heard, because kylonas controlled body began to cry. After being attacked i tried to hit back but she was a wisp and remembered she could poof out of the way. Gora seemed to fall apart and did nothing as she fell into darkness. Did sienna feel for her? Seeing Kylona cry set something off in Aurora, she ended up slugging Sienna in the throat. Ouch. Krul ended up going super saiyan when he realized Vanie died… she must've been well liked. Irritated, Sienna tried murdering Steve but Lorelay said no and shielded him with her body. I don't think she will make it. In fact, i don't know how much longer sienna will last either, She looked like shit. Good for us, bad for her. After hitting Loreley Sienna aimed at the Naga. Fuck is he okay??? Seeing Sienna aim for Steve set Sara off as she literally bashed Sienna's skull. The wisps blood was everywhere. Damn. Karenos still attacked at nothingness. Why cant he snap out of this?? I can see Lorelay laying down. She's not getting up any time soon. Despite that head reeling from the recent bashing, her illusions saved her from Krul's wrath it seemed. Lore spoke to the concerned sara. But i cant focus too much there. My ears were filled with Ryo trying to knock some sense into Gora. We need help. We were dumb to come with just 8 people. Sara spoke through tears while sienna attempted to attack Aurora which failed. Ryo finally got up to fight but he missed because of her swaying. Dammit.

Soon i could see that the phoenix gave out. Like Vanie she succumb to death. I tried to attack sienna but she poofed away. HOW?!?! Gora just stared into the nothing. There's no way she fell that hard in like….24 hours!! I can hear Sara screaming out for the phoenix. Lore was dead. Aurora, her anger was palpable. She …hugged? Sienna and engulfed her in the flames of hell til sienna finally died. I think we all know she's with sun now… I felt her magic spells break as we were all freed. But at the cost of two of our own…. Lorelay Polly and Vanessa …well i don't really know her so i'm not sure. Hearing My sisters voice was sweet music. But she wanted Ryo… so i stayed back. Only the gods know what will happen now… Now that the Moon finally fell…..

Art belongs to @monstermarquis of their character Sienna Graves

[medicinemane]

One big problem is I think these days it's very hard for someone to be allowed to say "based on all the information I have and how I understand it, this is the best course of action"

For one thing, there's people who will just be like "no, you're wrong" no matter what they're saying. I mean, even a statement like "you shouldn't beat children" gets a lot of pushback despite the mountains of evidence and... you know... the fact it's not great to hit kids

So that's problem one, even if someone's 100% right you'll have people going for the throat

Problem two though is that even if they say "oh man, this new information you presented me really puts things in a different perspective and I was wrong", there will be people within the group that they've been persuaded to agree with who are like "not good enough, you were wrong once, you're wrong forever"

Like there was a case with a mother who'd been anti vaxx, who lost a kid and was like "my god, I was so wrong, I need to try and help people see so they don't make the same horrible mistake I did", and you had plenty of people making fun of her and saying she deserved it

Like... she's on your side now, but you're still running her through the mud

You may see this and say "yeah, the other guys are horrible about this", no... groups I agree with do this true. I really have yet to see a group that doesn't have people doing this

The problem is when there's no vetting process for a group, and when there's more than like 5 people in it, you will start getting cruel and callous people joining the group and behaving badly. You've got to have accountability, you've got to weed out bad behavior in your groups rather than turning a blind eye to it

Anyway, I was just thinking about how there's stuff where I hold a different position than people I know on here, and how even if I said "you know, I've seen the light, you were right" I have a strong feeling they'd be like "nope, not good enough"

So what incentive is there for people to try and work with you and engage with you when you act like that?

I don't know... there are many bad things in the world right now, things that need to be changed. I think we can all agree on that, even if we can't agree which things

I just want to see solutions. I want to see us fix at least some of the problems, stop backsliding in the places where things were getting better but are now getting worse, and have a marginally better world and societies in the future (minimum)

So you'll forgive me if I complain about this, because I see the inability to have candid conversations as a major barrier to progress

As always I've left most of the details of my personal beliefs of this, those this time I obviously used some things as examples, because rather than saying what people should think I'd rather we all just take a look inwards and see if there's places we let our dogma get in the way of being able to constructively talk with the people around us

I'm not saying I'm right, or I have the right answers, I'm just saying man I'd like to see less suffering going on in the world and... and I can't do it alone, I know I can't just make everyone do what I think is best. At most I can try to persuade people

So this is me stumbling to try and find a path that leads to a slightly better world, by identifying one of the things I think gets in the way of moving forward

[rianafying]

i think that over the last couple of months, i’ve lost my energy and charm. not that i was super charming but i like to think i was charming enough…. like upbeat and friendly and even loud sometimes. but lately, i’ve grown more and more quiet. i’ve been finding it difficult to speak at all. be it via text or voice. the only ways i express myself are through my one gazillion journal entries and weekly therapy sessions. i’ve also become desensitised to like … everything. i don’t expect anything, i’m not phased by much, not impressed by much. like generally in an autopilot sort of state. except all of a sudden i haven’t been able to do the things that are required of me. i didn’t ask for any of this. i didn’t. but it’s not bad what i’ve been given. i’m not saying that it’s bad, i’m just saying that i’m having difficulty with things that are seemingly easy for everyone else. i’m tired of saying sorry for my failures caused by my anxiety and depression. like it doesn’t just magically go away. why is it a shocker that i have a near failure moment every trimester… i am a severely damaged person with a lot of trauma and mental health issues, including awful panic attacks and crippling depression. why is it news every time it cripples me. it should be news every time i overcome my barriers and do okay, not the other way around. i’ve been kinder to myself than ever before, and maybe that’s why i don’t care what happens around me. i’m like fuck all. i understand that i have financial and temporal limitations that i can only overcome by doing these certain tasks set by my sponsors but i think we are all forgetting that at any time i could just give up. and i know that such a statement made out loud would spark outrage among The Family™️ because their only way of perceiving literally anything i say is as a threat, an act of rebellion, or revenge. The problem with these perceptions and with said Family™️ is that it’s all about them or in relation to them whereas the one goal in my life is to try to separate myself from that sinkhole. okay let’s do a thought experiment; what would happen if i gave up ??!!!!

what does giving up even look like? this doesn’t mean that i want to give up but for the sake of laying this out for the purpose of thinking through it’s consequences, let’s say, i gave up. i didn’t do my assignments. i didn’t clean my room. inspection happens and i get kicked out of my apartment. i fail a course or maybe even a whole trimester. then what? maybe if we have a lot of money i repeat the whole thing? or maybe i go back? what happens then? i don’t talk to anyone, i buy fabric, i teach kids, i get slut shamed for whatever the fuck i do. i get harassed on the streets. i live with my abusers again. the glimpses into hell, that are the short phone calls w The Family™️, become my continuous inescapable reality. For a couple of years, assuming i survived a couple of years of that, which is so extremely unlikely, and i haven’t even thought about it that deeply yet. Then after a couple of years, i, move out? god the community is awful though. everyone knows everyone and i have a reputation there? always having to think twice about how people feel about me, is a separate level of hell. maybe i don’t socialise, then what? so much is solved just by me living abroad. this thought experiment has been successful so far. i don’t want to give up. because i actually have a lot to lose. dang. dhaka was really that bad, and i was literally one of the luckiest ones there. lot to think about. a lot to fix there.

okay back to the experiment, i avoid the “society” i continue to be as reclusive as i am, maybe even more. i have a small apartment in dhaka, i turn a room into a studio. i get a job somewhere. i deal with difficult people at work. i deal with the awful weather, but i don’t mind it all that much. my life is spent well. it’s just another life. different from how i had expected it to go. in fact, with everything i have learned, and the new perspective i have gained, it might even be less difficult than it was when i had left. i was continuously in the most awful relationships with the most awful people, desperate for some love and romance, but i’m not anymore. i also think that being near daisu and my other friends who care about me made me very happy. also, things were so much cheaper there. i had access to everything. healthcare here is so complicated if you’re not a citizen, and i am not a citizen. and it’ll be a long time before i find out whether i can ever become one. but either way it’s not a bad life at all. there’s difficulties in every life. some more than others but i am resilient. my resilience doesn’t mean i do well at the tasks i’m assigned, but it does mean that i bounce back, no matter what, i bounce back baby.

when i imagine my happy years, my prime, i imagine that i’m financially stable, i live in a humble but cosy apartment, and i’m painting, and it’s raining outside. i live by myself, and maybe i have pets, and maybe i have visitors. i buy flowers for myself, i dress comfortably, i’m no longer scared of being abandoned and no longer at the mercy of my abusers. i can survive on my own. i make a fuck tonne of art. and i keep it all to myself. i listen to a lot of great music, maybe even buy myself a gramophone and record player w those vinyl thingies. or maybe there’ll be a technological feat that lets you hear music in a way that’s better than ever before. maybe projectors will be easier to set up. i might even get into playing video games. maybe i want to retire early. maybe i want to forgive myself, give myself a break, from this lifelong torment of the hustle 25/7 ligma grindset. maybe i will have a life of rest and relaxation. i think i’ll be alright.

[welchfrost4]

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