#even if he isn't possessed it's just a really bad idea to get involved with him romantically lol

[spiritofjustice]

think i might have said something to this degree before but it's a shame Beau dies before he ever gets to meet/interact with Mimi. i think they could have kind of an endearing friendship, barring Beau being. yknow. her husband's affair partner KRKFN but ignoring that, she'd probably find him to be very funny and sweet, at least in small doses. i think they'd click to the point Vincent would feel weird about it lol.

i once thought abt an AU where Beau is alive long enough to go to New York n meet Mimi and i think that'd be fun horror all on its own, though. meeting someone that she initially really likes, then getting weird vibes about his relationship to her husband, and then the slow dawning realization of "something is deeply wrong with this man and i'm scared' while Vincent seems to be completely blind to the idea that anything is wrong and there's very little she can do. tis a fun concept. too bad i can't use it

[isa-ghost]

Do you have any headcanons as far as Philza and BBHs' relationship? I've enjoyed thinking about that because I think it's one of the few relationships on Philza's side that's actually a bit more complicated? But also Philza saying that BBH wouldn't lie is the funniest thing ever.

Or if no headcanons about Philza and BBH specifically what about Philza, Bad, and Cellbit as a trio in charge of the order because I really loved that

OOOH this is gonna be an interesting challenge because I don't watch a lot of Bad :0!

qPhil headcanons masterlist

Obligatory they're both thousands of years old mention. There's some things they can talk about and relate on that no one else on the island can. MAYBE Foolish, but Foolish tends to just focus on the present and vibe. Phil and Bad though, in the right conditions, they could and will have deep conversations about the past and their experiences.

On that note holy fucking shit these two would be terrifying teamed up together. If the Feds ever do something harmful or permanent to the eggs, god help them when these two decide they're armed enough and hatch a plan. They'll rain hell on the entire island and then some. And every other parent will be more than willing to join them. Do Not Piss Off The Immortal Murder Dads.

Phil could tell clearly that Bad is part demon. Finding out he was part reaper was a surprise. Honestly with how much of a lil trickster Bad is, Phil is surprised he isn't part Fae or something.

Phil takes one look at how Bad goes "no idea what you're talking about, nothing happened :D" about stuff like him Literally Dying and is like [uncanny Mr Incredible] "at least I'm not that bad." Phil just (very poorly) hides things and says he's fine. He doesn't straight up deny anything happened (and couldn't convincingly act like nothing is wrong the way Bad can if he tried)

Missa is a reaper. Bad is a reaper. Phil wants to see them talk about reaper things together. Or see them both in action. He himself can also carry small conversations about it since he's learned so much through osmosis :D

Actually that's kinda why Phil feared Bad so much during Purgatory. That was him in action. And he never wants to be on an opposing side of it again.

He doesn't resent Bad for Purgatory btw he just jokes like it sometimes. Same as with Tubbo (or anyone else for that matter), he blames the Watcher for trying to destroy their friendships.

Has straight up looked Bad in the eyes like "are you aware you are raising the most terrifying egg. Are you." He genuinely thinks if Dapper wanted to, he could kill Phil in his sleep. Every time he sees Dapper, he's learned something new and insane.

Tbh Phil sometimes envies how full of whimsy Bad is. He's seen infinitely more horrors than Phil for sure, yet he always ironically seems like a little ball of sunshine despite being a literal shadow lookin demon. What The Fuck is this man's secret to staying so silly.

Phil is endlessly fascinated by the extent to which Bad can come up with more and new protections for the eggs. He thinks of stuff not even remotely on Phil's radar. See, Phil's a safety expert as a survivalist, but most of his skills involve using what's around you and your wits, because survival is largely about relying only on yourself because you rarely have any other choice. Bad on the other hand will not hesitate to seek out new tech, other people, or tinker and experiment until he discovers new ways to use anything and everything he can get his hands on. Phil admires how intuitive he is.

Also Bad is really good at making bases and Phil enjoys seeing how balanced the aesthetics and practical parts are. Bad can make something look cozy and lavish as hell while also putting like a billion farms and gadgets into it.

I wonder how a conversation about possession would go. :) Surely Bad has some insight on it as a demon?

Something about how the two of them have arguably the most horrific egg death nightmares. I don't know where to go with this but goddamn would Crows and Ghosties be feasting.

Actually wait shut up, I just realized something kinda cute. In the same way Phil can talk to birds (particularly crows ofc), Bad can talk to the dead/undead (particularly ghosts). Imagine the sillies that could come out of that. It's said that animals can see the dead, what if Phil's murder conspires with the ghosts that follow Bad around ;D

The moment Phil would use his wings if they were healed, Bad would clock that he's the Angel of Death. I'm not sure he saw Phil flying during Purgatory, but if he did, he knows. And that would lead to many interesting conversations. :)

[ystrike1]

Honey Trouble - By Morak (8.5/10)

A/B/O, but everybody is rich and everybody is happy. Our main couple has it made. The son of a famous actress. The son of two successful architects. They're just sleeping together now, but our spoiled main character is about to get a lavish marriage proposal. Life couldn’t be more perfect, and then it isn't. Then his casual lover changes.

Wooju is a moron. A pretty one, who happens to be a Beta from a rich family. He's rich enough to not work ever, but he's passionate about architecture. Which is super convenient because his loving parents own a construction company. He plans to work diligently for other firms, because he knows his parents will only let him into the fold if he proves himself.

He's also stupid about romance. He seems to think he's not popular, because everybody is crazy about Alphas and Omegas. He doesn't seem to know about the illegal drugs out there that can change genders. He's selfish and carefree.

He starts sleeping with his childhood friend for an extremely dumb reason. Jiheon loves him. Love. Love. Love. Loves him. His entire family knows how possessive he is, but Wooju doesn't. He's used to being spoiled.

He's used to Jiheon spoiling him. Jiheon is always there supporting and helping Wooju, but it's tainted by stalking. Wooju has no idea, because he thinks Alphas are only obsessed with Omegas. Usually they are. It's rare for an Alpha to choose a Beta, but it happens. Wooju is totally ignorant, even when Jiheon is serious about proposing to him. Jiheon is a monster, but it's easy to feel bad for him. He did all the right things. They're best friends. They're sleeping together, but Wooju just doesn't see him as a partner because of his gender.

It's actually painful to read.

Wooju is a little weird because be got kidnapped once???? Jiheon was somehow involved???? Most likely the adults in both families were involved, because the boys were just kids but what??? The mystery kidnapping messed with their friendship for a while too? It's been thirty chapters and the kidnapping hasn't been explained????

Real intrigue in an A/B/O story??? I am impressed????

Wooju has a crush on Jiheon's cousin. That doesn't last long. That poor cousin is terrified. She is also a lesbian, but she also doesn't want to piss off her crazy Alpha relative. It's all very cute? At first? Wooju and Jiheon do behave like a married couple. It's easy to imagine them together, after Wooju realizes gender doesn't matter.

Jiheon is a model. He's rich. He's got mommy issues. His mommy doesn't love him and she doesn't even visit him. When he became an adult she left the country and cut contact. He's a big, tough, successful Alpha but he's never had a family. That's why he tries to spoil Wooju so much. He loves Wooju. He wants to spend the rest of his life with Wooju. They're both rich. They can just adopt kids. Jiheon wants to marry someone who is like a best friend, not a sexy Omega that is just...there to be sexy.

It's all very wholesome, in the beginning.

Jiheon plans a proposal. He hires Wooju's favorite architect. Said architectural genius is going to design their wedding house. That's right Jiheon is so rich he's gifting Wooju a custom home. Architect guy turns out to be a creep who takes advantage of Wooju's admiration, and everything goes sour.

Everything starts to go wrong.

Architect guy is really annoying. He withholds information. He makes Jiheon look like a bad guy, because he's interested in Wooju and he wants their relationship to crack. There's also a pretty gross age gap. Also they are teacher and student. Also Wooju thinks he's hot, but he is not interested in architect/professor guy romantically. It's just awkward. Architect guy just tosses him into awkward sexy situations, when he's in class to learn??? Like, its so rude??? You're supposed to be teaching a passionate architecture fan, but you're horny and you'd rather make him uncomfortable....it's....icky.

Architect Guy explains pheromone marking to Wooju. He says Wooju is covered in Jiheon markings. Then he leaves a marking on Wooju, an extremely insecure Alpha who is about to PROPOSE WITH A HOUSE, just to freak Jiheon out.

Jiheon does freak out.

Things get worse.

Things get worse again. This is Wooju's ex-boyfriend. Yes, Wooju has dated men before. Yes, Jiheon didn't know. Yes, Wooju hasn't expressed any interest in committing to Jiheon and it seems like he wants to stay besties forever. Wooju and the ex are on good terms as well.

Also.

Wooju dated this guy when his relationship with Jiheon went bad before. So basically as soon as Jiheon left he started banging dudes.

Jiheon starts to see red.

They have a fight, and it's the last chance. Jiheon cries. He asks Wooju, with tears in his eyes, if he wants more. Wooju isn't a baby. He's an architect in training with talent. He has dated before. He just has trouble seeing a future with Jiheon, because he's an Alpha and they have that kidnapping trauma bond thing.

He doesn't tell Jiheon he cares. Jiheon runs away alone, thinking he's not special to Wooju. He's not special to his mom. He's not special to anyone he loves. To have love he must pick an Omega and entrap them into loving him. That's his only option. He starts to see his true self as unworthy of love. Only his Alpha self is capable of stealing it from someone else, so he can finally have it.

Do you remember the drugs I mentioned before????????????

Do you?????

[dark-side-blog3]

How would you rank the six Jojo leads from the OG continuity from worst to best to end up with?

I'm gonna take this as an add-on to the would you rather game from before, so the answers will be super self-indulgent, and yandere.

Short answer is I would prefer to end up with none of the yanderes, at least not the jojo's. But in terms of damage, I suppose Jonathan is the safest, and Giorno is the worst. It should be Jolyne because Stone Ocean is more dangerous, but Giorno skeeves me out more. Jolynes only so low because everyone around her would instakill me.

+++++++++++++++++

Jonathan is a milk toast of a man. He's unthreatening, because of his noble code. If I got isekai'd, the worst Johnathan could possibly do to me is just have me associated with him, because Dio would fuck me up just to mess with him. In which case, I'd either have to avoid Jonathan so hard Dio can't target me, or I'd have to glue myself to his side so he could protect me from Dio. Which would be what feeds into his tendencies, but they're not really dangerous, so I suppose I'll just have to suck it up.

Joseph is funny and charming, and in earlier parts, he's cunning and witty. He leans heavily into the bad boy heartbreaker persona, so the idea that he's going to be possessive of his partner wouldn't seem out of the ordinary. And all of these would make him the match if it weren't offset by the cheating. How Suzie didn't kill him, I don't know. Her patience is infinite. I, on the other hand, would kill us both. Until then, he wouldn't be too bad.

Jotaro and I would fight way too much. He only wants to talk about his interests, and I can't shut up about my interests, and there is zero overlap between the two. There are only so many times I can endure a Clint Eastwood marathon, and there are only so many minutes he'll let me talk about pinnipeds or linguistics. I couldn't care less about the actual crimes he commits, but the clash of interests would be what makes him the (second) most unbearable.

Josuke has never faced long-term interpersonal consequences to his actions, which means that he'll be genuinely surprised if I stay mad at him after a fight. He nearly beat Okuyasu to death and they're best friends. He punched a hole through his mom and never got in trouble. So why am I still mad at him a week after a verbal fight that didn't even get violent? The world will never know (I will tell him every day, he just doesn't want to hear it). The only reason I wouldn't try to piss him off too much, like saying I got isekai'd and I can't stay in Morioh, is because I've seen Angelo. I choose to not be a fucked up rock Josuke does shameful things with.

Giorno is fucking creepy if you don't hear his internal monologues; which if isekai'd, I wouldn't be able to. I'm with Abbacchio on this, I don't trust this motherfucker. He just stares as people get injured in front of him, and waits until the last possible second to help them, and he's so obviously scheming behind those eyes. I would avoid him like the plague, even if I somehow got involved with the mafia. He's just so... Weird. And calculating. Giorno isn't the only smart jojo, but he is the most intimidating for his intelligence. The vibes are just so rancid on him... I'm throwing myself into the Tiber before I enter this narrative.

Jolyne is a puzzle. I'm not sure what I'd do if I got isekai'd... Do I avoid her and avoid the ire of Anasui, or get my ass beat by the enemy stand users literally everywhere? Not to mention the regular people who just happen to be in a supermax, who will probably prey on me for being an easy target. I'd be totally lost in terms of what to do. At least with the others, there's a hope of escape, or playing my cards right to utilize them. But I don't think there is a good strategy with Jolyne except carefully slotting myself in the toxic friendzone, and hoping for the best. At least it shouldn't be impossible to do.

[istadris]

Hello!

Ok, so...if it wasn't a problem, do you have something you would like to share about "Accidental Ghost King Luigi"?

I saw that you mentioned it and it really caught my attention, a lot of thoughts came up when I finished Luigi's Mansion 3 and I love expanding them.

So most of the ideas were discussed here, but I can scrounge up some more.

TL;DR for this AU : E.Gadd passes away, leaving in his will everything he owns to Luigi, who is now probably the richest man in the mushroom kingdom between the estates, the cash and the employees, living or not. (Spoilers alert : once Luigi realizes exactly how much he owns, he freaks out so much he hides under his blanket for several hours, with Mario patting the bundle and occasionally slipping snacks under it).

Then once he calms down enough, he wants to give everything away but it turns out to not be that simple, explains the Toad in charge of giving the will to Luigi:

"What if I DON'T want all of this ??"

"I don't know about the ready money or the coffee shop, but by all ghost and Boo laws, you are the rightful master of these places that you earned through Right of Conquest until someone else comes to dethrone you."

And it turns out, yes, by beating King Boo three times, on his haunting ground, with the last time being a direct challenge to Luigi and his kin, Luigi effectively conquered him, with all of his ghosts and Boos. And King Boo was a very powerful ghost. Luigi is now King Luigi.

"Why was E.Gadd even the owner of these places then, he wasn't the one chasing ghosts there !"

"Oh, he wasn't the actual owner of anything: before the dark moon incident, the ghosts were not agressive and let him play around, and afterwards, he acted as your steward to maintain your domains in your absence"

"Wait, is that why King Boo keeps coming after me ? Not just by revenge?"

"Oh yes, definitely, you dethroned him three times, that's a bad number for a spirit."

Peach, who has to deal regularly with a king ruling over a place where 90% of roaylty dealings involve kidnapping : "oh, Luigi dear..."

Except E.Gadd comes back. As a ghost. And he's still obsessed with science, but now without any of these pesky mortal ethics or boundaries. To the point his experiences go from "eyebrow-raising in the methods but ultimately for the greater good" to "mad scientist except this one is perfectly aware of what his potential enemies can do and acts accordingly."

At first he seems relatively reasonable...until Luigi refuses to give him back Gooigi AND the rest of the ghosts, too. Maybe he has grown fond of his new "subjects", or maybe he senses giving E.Gadd full control of the ghosts is a bad idea.

"My boy, do you think you could use my own creations against me ? I know them better inside out than you can ever do !!"

E.Gadd doesn't take it well.

E.Gadd is now very curious and vindicative towards this meddling new Ghost King who dares to get in the way of his research.

E.Gadd issues a challenge. And by challenge we mean that he takes possession of Luigi's territories. Probably kidnaps Mario & co, AND Polterpup (he knows how to capture ghosts, and he knows how helpful the ghost pup is to Luigi). Oh, and he steals and breaks all existing Poltergusts.

Now Luigi is stuck in a dangerous place with a mad ghost after him, unarmed, alone...except for King Boo, still stuck in his container, that he managed to grab on the way out of the laboratory.

King Boo is angry at Luigi for stealing his title, but he certainly isn't going to let the professor beat HIS nemesis!! What will the rest of the spectral community say if the one who defeated him loses his new title so fast?? Luigi isn't sure about the logic behind this reasoning, but he'll take any help he can get.

So now it's the team up of the century, and by that I mean King Boo snarking and loudly complaining from his container, asking again and again to be let out, while Luigi tries to survive and to keep KB inside the container (he has enough on his plate, he doesn't want another mad ghost after him); all while KB actually guides Luigi through the mysteries of ghosts and spectres, as well as the intricacies of the Ghost King title. But even after King Boo manages to get out of the container at some point, he still sticks by Luigi. You can guess why.

A Very Important Plot Point: King Boo gets frustrated by how much time Luigi takes and decides to shove some spectral power in him to level the field.

That's a fun surprise : King Boo's spectral essence boosts up Luigi's Thunderhand (that he had stopped using due to how taxing it was on his body; but now the Boo power helps circumventing this energy tax). KB acts as the new "source" and makes it way more potent, especially given his own affinity with lightning.

"Isn't that cheating ?"

"Have you even MET ME ??? Here, have some of my power, it should AT LEAST give you a boost so you won't die right after touching a gho-"

*huge thunderbolt crashing on the house frizzing everything electrical device*

"....WHAT WAS THAT"

"Uh....it never did that before."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "IT NEVER DID THAT BEFORE ?? YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME YOU HAD LATENT MAGICAL ABILITIES!!?? WHY DID YOU NEVER USE THEM AGAINST ME !!!???"

Later, when they manage to free Mario, KB eyes Mario suspiciously for a loooong moment as both brothers look in hope.

Then he shrugs : "Nah, not gonna happen"

"What?? Why ??"

"It's more fun if Luigi gets my power, he's my nemesis. Just ask Bowser to lend you fire powers next time you see him"

"That's ridiculous, with everything at stake..."

"More seriously, you are NOT my nemesis. You did NOT deal with my powers as intimately as Luigi did"

"Don't put it that way please"

"Even if I wanted to provide you power, Mario is much weaker to my powers, he wouldn't be able to harness them."

[seizingthesky]

b k l n r for shion pwease ♡ thank you and i love ur writing ^__^

Shion…… Grrrrrrr bark bark bark snarl grrrrr bark snarl grrrrr bark bark snarl grrrrrr wtf my dog started barking when I typed this sorry my bad I won’t do it again. Anyways. Hi please enjoy I love Shion. AND THANK YOU!!!!!! :D

SUGGESTIVE UNDER THE CUT.

B ─ Breeding. Is this one of their kinks? Do they often have unprotected sex? Have they ever had any pregnancy scares?

Initially? Absolutely not. SHION never wanted any strings attached with most people he hooked up with, although the idea did tempt him many times before. He's a changed man after settling down with you, but the idea of being a father so young in his life scares him a little. However, don't get it twisted; the idea of cumming inside of you drives him crazy, almost as if it's a way of claiming you.

K ─ Kissing. How important are kisses in their relationship?  Any favourite kind of kisses?  Do they have any rituals involving kissing (never leaving for work without kissing the other, always sharing a kiss goodnight, etc)?

Shion would take any opportunity in the world to kiss you. On the lips, neck, cheek, forehead, and other areas of your body... he can't keep his hands or lips off of you. He's gotten into the habit of pressing slow, lazy kisses to your neck to tease you in the morning when your bodies are entwined.

L ─ Lingerie. Do they enjoy wearing it and/or seeing their partner in lingerie?  What kind of lingerie do they find the sexiest? Any other clothing they love seeing their partner in  (like grey sweater pants, wearing nothing but an apron, really short shorts, etc)?  Do they often wear what the other likes, just to please them?

Whether it's you or him wearing the lingerie, Shion will enjoy it thoroughly. Truth be told, you could wear a paper bag, and he'd still find you sexy, but when you make an effort to pick out a cute set just for him, he feels himself fall even deeper in love with you if such a thing is possible. Shion isn't picky when it comes to what you wear for him, but seeing you in red or black really gets him going.

N ─ Nudes. Do they send them to each other?  Do they save them on their phones?  Do they keep them to themselves, or do they show them to their friends?  Have they ever sent one to a wrong number?

Shion is a big fan of sending you nudes randomly throughout the day, just to tease you and keep you on your toes. And they aren't the typical 'dick in hand staring dully at the camera' man nudes, either; he aims to impress you with every photo he sends. They're almost a work of art, in a way. He doesn't really expect nudes in return, but if you send him something, you'll have him all over you when you see each other again. After all, when he has the real thing in his grasp, why would he let that go to waste?

R ─ Recording. Have they ever filmed themselves having sex?  Did they watch it together afterwards?  Has anyone else seen their videos?

While I don't think Shion would be against it, recording videos is not a priority. He wouldn't mind if you wanted to, but he'd much rather live in the moment with you because, lord knows, it happens quite often between the two of you. As for anyone else seeing the video, absolutely not. Shion became an oddly possessive lover after meeting you, so the idea of anyone else seeing you so ravishing like that makes his skin crawl.

[bringthekaos]

Your "Jayce is the one to banish Viktor" theory is a very fun idea to rotate in one's brain, but may I suggest another potential way that things could go down. Mel's weird back thing brings up a shield, that protects herself, Jayce and either partially or fully Viktor. What Jayce does in the seconds before, during, and after the explosion are probably going to be major plot decider for that side of the story. Being if he chooses to try and protect Mel or Viktor (I guess he could keep himself safe, but for plot dramatics I doubt that'll be what happens). If he goes for Viktor, then what I'm thinking kind of falls apart, but if he goes for Mel, then it can also serve as a parallel to him walking out on her to be with Viktor when he was diagnosed. In the chaos of the aftermath, Viktor has the time to slip away and begin to make his way to the lab. Jayce eventually follows him, and while I like the idea of Jayce using the Hexcore to save Viktor after he swore to him that he'd destroy it, I don't think Jayce is in the room when Viktor uses it, because as we saw with sky the Hexcore will just kill whatever life is in the room that isn't its user (be that a sign of it being aware and possessing some degree of want to keep Viktor alive, or not), but also I don't know what the Hexcore takes in the place of Viktor's life if he were to try and use it solo, so I don't know. But Jayce walks in on a Viktor with his Void augmentations on full display (Maybe he was too close to the Hexclaw while doing this and this is how it gets merged to his back), able to not only stand straight and unaided, but also walk. And Jayce freaks out, but doesn't betray Viktor, at no point even considering turning him in. I think he does end up getting Mel involved though, maybe without letting Viktor know beforehand because he isn't able to see that Viktor and Mel don't exactly get along or why Viktor may not want anyone at all to know what's happened, regardless of if Jayce trusts them or not. I think Mel's the one who ends up spelling it out for Jayce that as someone from the undercity Viktor is in massive danger, and maybe even the one who suggests aloud first that Viktor should flee to Zaun. It could be a great opportunity to give her some more moral dubiousness, the question of if she'd suggesting this because she genuinely wants to help Viktor, if it's because she understands Viktor as someone Jayce cares for and thus Viktor getting hurt would hurt Jayce, of if her motives are entirely selfish and she just wants to get rid of Viktor (much in the same way that if she's actually romantically interested in Jayce or just manipulating him for her own gain is kept obscure for the majority of their relationship). I could see Jayce wanting so bad to go down to the undercity to see if Viktor is okay, and when he finally has a window of opportunity to find him, he's met with a very different man to the one he last saw. A butterfly who has emerged from his metamorphosis, a magician having completed The Turn, taken an ordinary dying man and turned him into something extraordinary. Sorry for the ramble.

No no, keep rambling!!!

I love hearing everyone’s different takes on what they think will happen. I saw the “Mel golden shield” theory a lot in the early days, also that she is a Mage in hiding. And while there are degrees of legitimacy to all these theories, I just… really want her to live. From a story standpoint. We’ve already seen one female character fridged, and I’m honestly just sorta… tired of that storyline? We really don’t need yet another woman destroyed to progress a man’s character arc. Not just for Arcane, but like… in all storytelling. That plot point is so played out, it’s beyond stale and growing mold. So I’m just really hoping she lives.

So assuming she lives, this could be an interesting path to take, kinda building off the “Jayce is pulled in two different directions and trying to do both but not realizing he’s splitting down the middle” that they’ve already set up in season one. But this too would have to be done delicately, cuz we certainly don’t want Mel’s role to devolve to jealous lover. She’s so much more than that, she’s smart and cunning and wise beyond her years. I just don’t see her stooping to getting rid of Viktor purely out of romantic interest in Jayce. But perhaps it could be a culmination of things, say maybe if Viktor’s connection to the core starts to affect his sanity… it could be one of those “wrong thing for the right reasons” type deals—she thinks she’s helping both of them, but in the end it gets twisted by outside forces/misunderstandings?

There’s also Ambessa to consider. No matter what happens to Mel, I think we can all agree that Mommy Medarda is not going to take an attempt on her daughter’s life lightly (whether her reaction is borne of actual care for her daughter or a twisting of “care” into a more political/military opportunity remains to be seen). But either way, Ambessa wanted Hextech weapons for herself and for Noxus. So in the aftermath of this attack, Viktor’s voice for “we don’t build weapons” will likely get even smaller, and perhaps that is where the split starts to happen. Jayce even said “we have the knowledge to defend ourselves.” So I’m sure there will be a degree of guilt on his end, if he’d just built those weapons like Mel asked, this may not have happened (spoiler alert: it would have). But therein could be another opportunity for the split between Jayce and Viktor—this is the line they draw in the sand.

Anyway, now I’m the one who’s rambling. (Also sorry it took me so long to answer, the Holidays steamrolled me. But I always love to discuss these theories with you guys!)

[ofj-art]

i actually think kyubey isn't inherently a bad guy. he doesn't have feelings, he was made for one purpose only: to save the universe. its not really his fault, that he doesn't know any better. and in the end, its for a nobel cause. just my two cents tho. i still think the "real" antagonist is homura, because of her selfish actions. don't get me wrong, i love the relation between homura and madoka, and wanna rip that little cat-looking-shit apart with my own two hands. but i just wanted to share a different spin on how to view the anime.

Ohohohoho Madoka opinions I see, don’t mind if I give my own take here. >:3c

I say this with a respect, because we’re all allowed to form our own opinions on media and such, but as someone who’s recently been gettin pretty damn into analyzing the series + rebellion, I can’t help but wholly disagree.

Starting off with Kyubey you gotta ask,

What makes someone a bad person? Their intent? Or their actions?

You’re right that Kyubey doesn’t possess emotions and their ultimate goal is to generate enough energy to sustain a universe being eaten by entropy. And I’ve seen several times before people feeling sympathy for Kyubey or thinking really he isn’t all that evil because the magical girls agreed to his contract.

But I think this falls exactly for the trap of his character.

He’s introduced in a way that is supposed to invoke sympathy, he’s hurt and running from Homura. He takes up the role of magical animal companion who reaches out to the series protagonists of magical girl shows to pull them into the fantastical world and plot. He is an allusion or stand in precisely for those characters. Of whom are entirely friendly and on the side of the protagonists. His appearance is disarming and cute, although a bit uncanny and unsettling the longer you stick around.

Kyubey doesn’t see himself or his kind as the bad guys, because why would he? He’s helping save the universe! And well, the girls agreed to this destiny, right?

But that’s an obfuscation of the truth.

Kyubey is manipulative and untrustworthy. He specifically targets the girls when they are at their most vulnerable. We’re introduced in a lighthearted tone enough, following Mami around as the girls consider making a contract. Mami tells her story and it indicates it was making a contract or literally death for her. She is without a family and lives alone, she entirely lacks a support network, because of this, despite only being a year older than the other girls, she puts on a more mature and put together persona.

She knows this life is dangerous but desires companionship and allies. She’s a victim of this system as much as the others, and once she dies a reality of magical girlhood is faced head on. There’s no denying or sugar coating it, and the whimsical cover of the nature of magical girls gets stripped away.

I’ve heard people say Madoka is indecisive in the series but I strongly disagree. Because it’s clear in her behavior that she abandons the idea of becoming a magical girl after the death of Mami. She has people she loves and can’t leave behind, she places her notebook in Mami’s empty apartment and asks for her forgiveness.

However, Kyubey hasn’t left. He is still stalking the girls. And each time they are presented with an option to make a contract there is a clear pattern. They are vulnerable, they are powerless, and they are desperate.

For the rest of the series Madoka is approached when she is stuck and her heart is breaking for others, true to her giving nature. She wouldn’t even be involved in the world of magical girls again if not for her best friend becoming one.

Kyubey tries repeatedly to take advantage of Madoka’s desperation and heart break for her friends, promising her power to stop all these bad things- if she just agrees. But it isn’t a bad handful of events- these are the specific consequences of a malicious system that Kyubey and his kind have intentionally constructed to trap innocent young girls and drive them into despair.

Sayaka makes a deal after seeing Kyosuke in extreme distress, she decides this is a noble sacrifice. She is unaware of Mami’s appearance being a front to the vulnerable girl that she is, because Mami only showed her vulnerability to Madoka. Because of that she holds herself up to this impossible standard of a courageous and pure hearted magical girl who fights for justice. And every time she fails to live up to that she severely beats herself up, until she’s caught into a spiral the system of being a magical girl is supposed to invoke. Helplessness.

Magical Girlhood is helplessness that lures young girls in with a promise of agency, when that couldn’t be farther from the truth. If you become a MG you are promised power and freedom and a wish, whatever your heart desires. It’s dangerous but don’t worry, it’s a noble cause, right?

But its purpose is to drive these girls into becoming witches. Kyubey purposefully isolates them, approaches them at their most vulnerable. He pits magical girls against one another, he lets them fight because the more they suffer the better it is for him- and if Madoka feels so helpless watching them, well, he has the cure. He speaks with a subtle manipulation, making the girls feel special, placing guilt or doubt in their minds to drive them to conclusions her wants them to arrive to, makes himself seem without accountability for what transpires.

Not to mention he very intentionally hides imperative information from ALL magical girls. About the truth of their soul contract. Absolutely none of these girls can give proper consent to the contract because he is shielding them from the full truth of it. That this is a death sentence, that all magical girls share a destiny of death. Or, in his real intent, a fate much worse than death. Becoming a witch, a physical manifestation of all of your emotional anguish, trapped in a prison of your own worst, torturous feelings. To be executed by the hands of another naive girl.

And even if he was entirely honest these girls still could not consent. Not when he targets them while under emotional duress to twist their arms into making a deal, and most of all not when these are children. Tweens and teens. Is Kyubey a bad person while he sacrifices girl after girl to the altar, while they don’t even know they’ve signed a pact to their woefully premature deaths?

There’s several allusions in the series directly to Faust, a tale specifically about making a deal with the devil. And even if Kyubey may lack empathy inherently, that apparently doesn’t stop him from being arrogant. He looks down at the girls for being creatures of emotion. He compares them to livestock. He believes he is 100% justified in lying and coercing these girls. But in what world would that make anything he did any less cruel and underhanded?

Is he absolved of being a bad person because he believes he’s doing the right thing? Is that not what most all people in the world who commit heinous acts believe? That somehow, someway, they are in the right?

I believe fully that lacking empathy does not make anyone or thing incapable of expressing compassion. Kyubey and his kind have been observing humanity for centuries, they’ve had direct access to the same kinds of knowledge as humanity, witness to the same experiences. If that isn’t enough for Kyubey to know better I don’t know what is.

But Kyubey only sees these girls as disposable fodder, and any suffering they have on the way down is a positive for his ends.

Onto Homura.

Homura, by all means, is the protagonist of PMMM. Not initially, and not the only one, but definitely a primary one. The entire story is wrapped around the consequences of her quest to save Madoka’s life, and ultimately in Rebellion we are brought to the fulfillment of her arc from her POV.

It’s interesting you bring up selfish actions, because I feel like the balance between selfless and selfishness is a theme in PMMM. And like the series shows in its other nuanced portrayals, this isn’t a black or white game.

Sayaka, for example. We get to see her full experience as a magical girl, she is the quintessential magical girl experience- hopeful start to despairing end. She makes her wish to help the boy she cares for heal, something selfless of her to do. But she also has her own wishes that this will make him favor her in some way. Kyubey deliberately guilt trips her about this, and as her opinion of herself lowers and lowers she casts herself into a view of cowardice and selfishness.

To her, especially operating under the noble ideal she has constructed out her own desires for doing good, for purpose, and Mami’s incomplete legacy, to be selfless is to be utter devoted to her cause. It is a bar she feels she has been failing to meet because she’s imperfect, she’s flawed and she grows tired and bitter and sad.

She is confronted with someone who directly contradicts her ideology, Kyoko, and initially this drives her to a rage. This was another reality of magical girlhood she was faced with, the cutthroat nature of survival, but she instead only saw a disrespect to the remaining echo of magical girlhood as justice and mystique that her time with Mami had painted. But then Kyoko opens up to her and she realizes she isn’t some evil person, it isn’t black and white.

Kyoko is selfish. She puts herself first always, or at least she’s resolved to. This is a direct influence of her experience with her father, with her own experience of selflessness- and how bitterly it ended. But like how complete selflessness is an unachievable ideal, her own selfishness is a coping mechanism- a survival technique. She admires and empathizes with Sayaka and reaches out to her, attempting to halt her rapid downward spiral. But Sayaka rejects this, because to her she’s determined complete selflessness is the only honest and good path. She continues to see in black and white anyway, her literally lowest point is portrayed in black and white.

With her inability to prioritize herself or spare herself kindness it kills her. But in turn her heartfelt desire for good and justice inspires Kyoko, and her final act is an entirely selfless one meant for Sayaka, the girl who dedicated on giving to everyone but herself. She sacrifices herself to give Sayaka peace and reach out to her, to comfort her tormented soul. In her final moments she prays, because deep down she started fighting for the same reasons Sayaka did.

All of the magical girls fight for good, all of them fight to be selfless. But it is inherently a losing battle because they are trapped within a predatory system. Kyoko adapted to survive, and to a different extent, so did Homura.

Homura is firstly, and foremostly, extremely traumatized.

And I don’t mean this to excuse her actions but her past with the prior timelines and the trauma it instilled onto her is integral to understanding her character.

She started off very similar to Madoka. Shy, unsure, without much autonomy. She meets Madoka, who is already a magical girl, and makes her first real friend in who knows how long.

In the initial timeline things go as they probably would have if not for Mami’s death. Without the presence of the full truth of magical girlhood, Madoka, instead of being coerced, is now willing and makes a contract for herself, though her wish is still to help another (saving the life of a cat). This speaks to her loving and sacrificial nature being with her through and through, even here.

We see it in the beginning of the series, Madoka is pulled in by the allure of becoming a MG because she craves purpose and agency. Kyubey promises both, you get power, a wish, and a just cause. Madoka comes from a loving home and good friends, she becomes a magical girl selfishly for her own fulfillment. But as we saw with Sayaka, acting for yourself is not inherently a bad thing at all. Or it would be a good thing here, if not for the underlying reality she is unaware she agreed to.

But despite Homura not becoming a magical girl in the first timeline until the end, they become friends. They care for one another, and witnessing Madoka sacrifice herself Homura is overcome with grief and sorrow.

And who else would that kind of vulnerability and desperation summon but Kyubey himself- with his offer.

So Homura gives up her soul to save Madoka’s life. She wakes up and starts the cycle over, confident she can now help her friend. They rebefriend one another, and she trains her powers. She’s still meek and unsure, but is determined and keeps pushing to improve, much to the love and support of her best friend.

That is until she dies once more. And then again. And again. And again.

Over and over Homura has relieved this month trying so hard to save the person she cares for. Initially she immediately informs everyone when she learns of the dark truth of the nature of witches and magical girls. This ends in disaster. She sees the girls around her die again and again, and always in the end, so does Madoka.

When we see Homura in the beginning of the series she is cold and distant. And we see in her recollection how much pain this causes her. But she has devoted herself entirely to saving Madoka’s life, no matter the cost.

Homura is not cold because she is villainous or uncaring, it is because it is necessity. She has done everything she can to strip herself of weakness to survive, like Mami, like Kyoko, like Sayaka. Shoving down her inner vulnerability to keep pushing forward to save Madoka.

You could say her actions are selfish because she will do whatever it takes to achieve her goal, but her goal is literally entirely selfless. She has seen Madoka cry and suffer and die over and over. The one person who has been unquestionably kind to her and everyone she loves.

Homura isn’t just letting the fates of the others become numb to her because she wants to, we see her try to stop Mami from engaging with Charlotte to the point Mami ties her up to stop her from intervening. She’s seen Sayaka fall into despair before and she knows there’s no use in stopping her progression. She extends her allyship and tries to cooperate with Kyoko to take Walpurgisnacht down. But her main priority will always be to save the person she loves.

And what she sacrifices the most to do this is herself. Trial after trial she has pushed herself forward because failure, because despair, meant letting Madoka die. Not just die, but be sealed to this horrible fate where you are doomed to suffer. Homura knows what becomes of magical girls, she has literally seen Madoka become a witch.

She’s also nearly given up, asked Madoka to become a witch with her, stay by each other’s sides. But Madoka wouldn’t let her give up, she saved her and asked her to go back in time. Madoka asks her to stop her from becoming a magical girl. So she won’t be doomed to suffer like this. And after promising, Homura has to end her life before she can become a witch in the absolute most heart wrenching scene I have ever witnessed- her scream of agony gives me chills.

But arguably, just as selfishness and selflessness cannot be cast in a black and white for the other characters you cannot do so with Homura. She is not just operating on her own desires or wishes but Madoka’s as well. She is endlessly putting herself in harm’s way to do so. And there are plenty of reflections in Madoka’s and Homura’s characters, but here lies an important difference.

Background, something you wouldn’t even think much about on Homura’s part.

Homura does not value herself, she is given literally no indication of family, was in the hospital facing a feeling of isolation and helplessness for who knows how long, and previously went to a Catholic school- assumably being raised Catholic.

Whereas Madoka doesn’t value herself much for not feeling that she is doing enough for others, she is still coming from a loving home and a proper support system. She wants agency, confidence, passion, and purpose. Things all exemplary in her mother that she looks up to. She wants to find something she can dedicate herself to and find meaning and identity in that.

Homura is alone. She does not value herself because she does not see herself as capable. She is given value through Madoka’s kindness and when that is torn away and she wishes to save her friend, that’s when she becomes a magical girl. Not even for herself, as Madoka initially had.

When Homura becomes more capable it isn’t through a process of learning to be more confident in herself or trusting her capabilities. Perhaps for a short moment as she gets her footing. But as the cycle repeats her strength is drawn from necessity, from a necessary adaptation for survival. She clearly thinks very little of herself. She even distances herself entirely from Madoka despite the pain this causes her because she needs to dedicate herself to finishing this cycle once and for all. She is not operating on making herself happy, and every time she fails she spares herself no kindness.

But Madoka wouldn’t want that for her, because she sees her heart. That she’s a gentle girl who cares a lot for the people she loves, for Madoka. She’s been transformed over the series from her trauma, tenfold to the other girls because of the sheer amount of cycles she has lived.

Homura knows more than anyone else that the only way to survive this cruel system is to work as coldly and efficiently as possible. Because kindness gets you killed, and Madoka is kind, and it killed her in every single timeline before. Every single one.

I think people often forget about the scene in Rebellion in the field. Homura has broken down into tears faced with the reality she was left with without Madoka. When Madoka ascended she was left entirely alone in her grief. Not only did no one know her traumas, but no one knew Madoka, the entire reason she dedicated herself to her mission. A mission she failed. She knew Madoka’s sacrifice was noble, but she was left entirely alone in a world where her best friend was worse than dead and no one remembered her.

Homura brings up how at some point she doubted herself and wondered if she made it all up. The absolute pain of doubting your reality in such a way, the isolation of her experience, the grief and loss. No wonder she ultimately fell to despair.

But Madoka comforts her, she holds her close and braids her hair, as though she’s trying to rebuild Homura back into the girl she was before all of this strife transformed her. She tells Homura that she would never leave her loved ones, and to be away from everyone would make her incredibly sad.

And Homura’s eyes go wide and hair comes undone as she realizes this. A wash of emotion, of relief to hear her affirm this and a feeling of… something else.

If you think about the circumstances of Madoka’s sacrifice, she does it when Homura is facing death. Her family is in danger from the witch appearing as a storm, her friends are all dead. Madoka uses her karmic destiny to make the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate act of selflessness.

But there is no pure selflessness. What she did was unequivocally good, good for all magical girls. Even Homura spent her time after her ascension trying to honor Madoka’s wish. But in it’s selflessness it erased the happiness and future of Madoka. Her kindness spread so much good but at the sacrifice of herself. Not just dying, but a fate far worse than death.

And Homura has done this over and over again, she’s had Madoka make her promise to stop her from becoming a magical girl before. She has only ever been fighting for a world where Madoka can be safe and happy. And hearing this admission, notably within the labyrinth- with Madoka’s memories gone and the constructed circumstances of all the girls peacefully being magical girls- the Madoka telling her this is the Madoka most resembling the girl she knew in the first timeline.

And she is telling her that doing something as drastic as she did would make her unhappy.

I think there is of course something to be said about Homura pulling her down from Heaven. That she acted without Madoka’s consent, forcefully tearing her apart and erasing her memory to give her a peaceful life. She’s trapped between dishonoring Madoka’s wishes and sacrifice, while simultaneously acting on Madoka’s wishes and well being. But she has been operating on these cycles for so long- why would this time be any different. Another failure of a timeline, Madoka is still suffering, so she has to start over anew.

And I think her self perception is important in her portrayal as demonic. She thinks extremely little of herself, and not only that, but again, was raised Catholic. In the film we see the rooftop of the middle school and among the many small changes within the labyrinth we see it now resembles a cathedral. There are many religious themes, the teacher opens speaking on the second coming, about the end of the world. Madoka is literally a god, Homura kneels down and hangs off the feet of her statue.

Homura has been raised in a religion that teaches of sin and guilt and she is, for one, in love with another girl. She has been strung along by fate again and again, trapped within it. She has been taught to supplicate herself before god but now seeks to rebel against such.

Her self actualization is once again a product of her trauma. She acts in a twist of selfishness and selflessness. She labels herself as demonic, she fails to recognize her own sacrifices or value. She imparts vindictive wrath onto Kyubey and Kyubey alone, she allows all the other girls to live happily. She even separates herself yet again from Madoka, in a world she can control she does not force them to be close. She would not do that, and thinks too little of herself now, and determines rather that they shall end up enemies.

Homura is not happy at the end of rebellion. She’s alone. She has got her way but it is distorted, not because of her inherent character but a reflection of her experiences, of her self perception. We are left in a delicate state of a universe, waiting for Madoka to awaken once again. But in the meantime, she’s given opportunity to live a normal life.

I’d say by the end of Rebellion Homura is antagonistic by her own choice and action. But seeing the scene in the field, knowing the full context of her experiences. Despite regarding herself as evil I don’t think that she is, and in the upcoming movie I don’t think Madoka will think she is either. She even tried to kill herself in her witch form before Madoka and their friends eventually free them from Kyubey’s trap.

The self empowerment she does seem to project comes from her rebellion against fate, her feeling of satisfaction to no longer be trapped within it, to force Kyubey to take the burden of all the curses in the world. She finally has agency after being trapped in helplessness for so long. She was helpless before being a magical girl, and even more afterwards, trapped to the whims of fate. But now she has ripped herself free of it. But she doesn’t at all seem actually happy, we’ve seen her actually happy, and this isn’t it. And if this is her fate, it is, among the many tale of many other magical girls, a tragedy.

At least that’s my perspective/analysis. There’s more I could get into but this is long enough. Like I said, we’re all allowed to have our own opinions, I’m just trying to inform mine from what I interpret from my reading of the text. If anyone has actually read this all, thank you, and I’d love to hear your own opinions or takes!

[ryuki23]

Don Kaito Is The Zenkaiger Arrow: A 100% Serious Theory (No Really I'm Not Lying)

Now that the Donbrothers finale has come and gone without giving us any answers about what the FUCK is up with Don Kaito (and I'd expect nothing less 10/10 no notes), I'm finally free to explain all about my most beloved theory/headcanon without fear that it will be disproved in the next week!

Basically, I think Don Kaito is something like what AkaRed is for Red Rangers, but for ALL rangers, and/or the idea/ideals/will of Super Sentai as a whole.

In his own words,

Background Info

AkaRed is the embodiment of the spirit of all Red Rangers, although the specifics of what that means and how it works isn't super elaborated on anywhere, he mostly just shows up occasionally to be a weird slightly cryptic guide to other Sentai. Much like another character I could name... 🤔

The possibility of an AoBlue/AkaBlue is jokingly brought up once in a Zyuohger special, but other than that nothing and no one else like AkaRed is ever shown or mentioned. EXCEPT...

*DRAMATIC GASP* Goran no Sponsor???? (no joke this is exactly how I reacted when I got to this part jkbjsdfgf)

So, in the penultimate episode of Zenkaiger, they're fighting the Big Bad, who has absorbed all the other Super Sentai's worlds and can use their powers. The Zenkaigers seem completely outmatched, and the Big Bad's final attack knocks them out of henshin and breaks their Sentai Gears so they can't transform again. But they get up anyway, declaring their resolve to fight even untransformed to save the worlds the other Sentai fought to protect. And then, this happens:

All the previous Sentai's powers respond to this and leave the Big Bad, lending their power to the Zenkaigers to make them new Gears. While this is happening, the Zenkaigers are transported to this place, where all the symbols of past Sentai float around the Zenkaiger Arrow, which they seem to be forming.

Basically, these powers have their own will, and all of them together are symbolized by the Zenkaiger Arrow. Which, I might add, is frequently shown in the rest of the series reacting to comedic moments and interacting with other characters.

So why do I think this arrow and Don Kaito are one and the same?

Well, because it's a fun idea to think about mostly! Honestly, it just came to me out of nowhere in the middle of the night and that's it. But the more I thought about it, the more things that happen in canon I found that could support it.

1: Hitotsuki and Sentai Gears

Hitotsuki that are based on past Sentai seasons drop Gears when defeated, no matter who defeats them or how they do it. And most of the time, regardless of who defeats them, the Gear ends up in Don Kaito's possession. That kind of makes it feel like this phenomenon is unrelated to his position as Admin of the Donbrothers.

2: "True Hero"

Jin Momoi shows A LOT of deference to Don Kaito. He's like. The ONLY person Jin is ever unfailingly polite to. Jin is surprised and shocked that Don Kaito would be working in a cafe. Jin KNEELS to this guy. I am rattling the bars of my cage. What do you KNOW, Old Man????

Anyway, "True Hero" and "Forever Hero" sure sound like the kind of titles one might give to the physical embodiment of the spirit and ideals of all Super Sentai.

3: Don Kaito Knows Santa Claus

Yeah him and Santa go way back.

So like, it seems like Don Kaito is NOT a Normal Human Age. And although Himitsu Sentai Goranger is only from the 70s, there are a lot of Sentai shows where the backstory has a Sentai, a similar team of warriors, or the source of the Sentai's power existing hundreds, thousands, or millions of years in the past.

In Conclusion:

I fucking love this concept, and as a bonus, it fits with some of the weirdest stuff about Don Kaito.

In my mind, Don Kaito got involved in the story of Donbrothers because of whatever is up with the Sentai Gears that is causing them to turn people into Hitotsuki and in order to get them all back, and he set up Cafe Donbura so the absolute disaster group that is the Donbrothers would have an actual Home Base, because god knows they would never have come together by themselves. And also to support Tarou when he was fighting alone while Jin fucked around throwing darts at the city to choose Donbrothers.

And he looks like Zenkaito because uhhhh he thinks Kaito is pretty cool 😊

The End

[kebriones]

I am here once again hello

I am so terribly hyperficated in Alcibiades I have not stopped thinking about him

I just really don't know how/what I can read or consume that in some way involves him and you're my best bet, please enlighten me on your knowledge you seem to possess

HELLO HELLO

alright well, I will include some reading links, as many as I can, even the basic ones, since I don't know what you've already read or not:

The symposium (alcibiades arrives at page 28/35 of the pdf) sorry for the bad quality, if you have trouble reading it I can send a different one, this is simply a translation I personally rather like

his biography by plutarch mega important reading

(not linked but if you're feeling really hungry, get a copy of thucydides and go looking for all the alcibiades mentions in there. best of luck. Thucydides is probably the single most accurate account we have of alcibiades)

The first Alcibiades (it's a proper platonic dialogue between socrates and alcibiades.)

This whole book about him which I believe you know about because i see you have liked my previous post about it but I am linking it just in case.

The speech of Alcibiades by martha nussbaum, I personally find this extremely enjoyable to read, i recommend having read his bit from the symposium to understand what's going on.

okay from here on out these are just from my bookmarks and I don't remember which are good and which are not, feel free to dig through them as you please (the jstor stuff require you to make a free acount to read them) (I also recommend having read the symposium and plutarch at least to understand most of what these are talking about) apologies in advance for any that may not actually be available without uni access.

Article on JSTOR about his relationship to some ancient plays

This article it starts talking about alcibiades on page 6/13 of the pdf

this short text which i thought had some interesting ideas (but the website is bright yellow so maybe you can use some settings to turn it to balck and white because at least to me this feels horrible on the eyes)

pretty big article about eros and tyranny which discusses alcibiades and plato, i don't remember much of it

short text about his military/political career

jstor thingy about him and socrates in the symposium

yet another pdf about alcibiades and socrates

alcibiades and the failure of socratic rationalism or smth i don't remember again

this isn't a text, it's pictures of his daughter's grave. thought i'd include it

french film of the first alcibiades doesn't have subtitles and it's wierdly shot but hey if you're deep in obsession maybe it doesn't matter

more about erotic tyranny and alcibiades uwu

yet another jstor article about him I don't remember

alcibiades and aristophanes' birds if the other article about him being related to plays wasn't unhinged enough for you

a study in violets cool title, it's about alcibiades

the loves of alcibiades, one more jstor article

other random article about alcibiades

the socratic turn to alcibiades I believe you need an academia.edu account (free i think) to read this

then there's two novels which I think aren't too bad to read, "the last of the wine" which isn't focused on alcibiades but has a few scenes with him and is overall very well written and features a really good set of protagonists imo

the second novel is "the flowers of adonis" and while it's not as great overall as a book as the last of the wine is, this one is actually focused on alcibiades. Only problem is that he isn't as bisexual as he should be in this but you can treat it as fanfiction and somewhat ignore that maybe? idk, it has some nice bits in my opinion.

speaking fo fanfiction there's a couple very good ones on ao3 (not talking about my own, there's one in particular that's a single chapter about him and aristophanes that is just UGH SO GOOD)

there's also this short sci-fi-esque story about alcibiades which is quite nice: https://web.archive.org/web/20141225183208/http://www.asimovs.com/Nebulas03/gods.shtml

and last but not least if you've made it this far, I have the only podcast thingy that I remember not having as huge inaccuracies and BS as most other ones i've heard. I still recommend having already read plutarch's life of alcibiades beforehand but if anyone reading this post doesn't wanna do reading and prefers to listen to something for starters, this is a good start, as far as I remember. you can listen to it HERE I will also give it a listen as i'm working and will edit this post if I find any issues with it.

HAVE FUN :D

[kissesforsatoru]

Helloo! I was wondering if i could request for Fyodor Dostoevsky and Dazai Osamu going after the same reader? How would it be when they realize that the other person is going after their darling and the darling is oblivious to all of this? Have a good day or night 🌃

𓏲 ˖. pairings. . . dazai x reader x fyodor

𓏲 ˖. summary. . . dazai and fyodor after the same darling

𓏲 ˖. warnings. . . general yandere themes, possessive behavior.

honestly this could either be really good or really bad. with them, it's hard to tell because their relationship is very unique, to say the least.

they're both oblivious to the others interest in you at first. but then you mention to dazai that you think you're being stalked after finding a recording device in your room. after thoroughly checking your entire apartment for more cameras, dazai examined each one carefully and found a rat shaped symbol on the back of them all. and when dazai confronted fyodor about it, they understood just what kind of situation they were in quickly.

knowing them, they probably thought of it as a game when they came to know about each others interest in you. they'd compete to see who could get more of your attention, but that got old fast. it turned from snide, playful remarks to glaring like they were about to murder each other.

and poor you, you're in between them scared witless 'cause they're both so terrifying, especially when they get angry. but you have no idea what they're even fighting about, and that makes everything all the more scary to you.

as much as they kind of hate each other, i think they'd know how beneficial it is to share you. like, they're very intelligent and have pretty strong abilities, so protecting you would be extremely easy if they did it together. but if it were anyone else that they had to share you with, it would be an instant kill cause they're so possessive.

you praise fyodor a lot, always complimenting him about how pretty he is, but of course dazai doesn't like that so he gets all pouty and steal you away to cuddle. fyodor will glare while dazai smirks. or fyodor will be busy with his work and after a week away from you, he gets mopy 'cause he hasn't seen you and dazai is hogging all of your attention like a needy brat.

you definitely have a lot of stress 'cause it's difficult to balance your attention between them. sometimes it can be very overwhelming to the point that you just shut yourself away and cry 'cause you don't want either of them to be upset with you for not giving them enough attention. but during those times they just cuddle with you in bed and give you lots of kisses and praises. it's one of those rare instances that they don't fight over you.

generally fyodor and dazai going after the same darling isn't that bad, like it could be a lot worse. but i think that if it involves you, they'll do anything — even if it means sharing with each other.

© 2022 by hheizoukiss ━ all rights reserved. plagiarism is strictly prohibited. comments, likes, and reblog are highly appreciated.

[cursedvibes]

My Kenjaku ranking:

The Brain™

Kaorijaku

Kamo Noritoshi Sr

EdoKen

Geto

The OG will always be my #1. That juicy brain is what makes the following vessels so charming after all. There's a lot of speculation about what Kenjaku's original body looked like and while it's a fun thing to play around with, ultimately I don't really care. They could've looked like Gollum and I'd be fine with it because it's their brain that makes them so interesting and fun and I know that will always come through no matter the outer appearance. Also...they just look cute with that grinning mouth.

For a while I wasn't sure where I should put Kaori, but settled on #2 after the reveal that Kenjaku still holds on to her technique. It turned out to be the key to reaching Tengen and got them further in their plan than ever before. I really want to know Kenjaku's deeper reasons for keeping her CT. Sure, it's useful, but so would be many other CT's of the bodies they possessed the last 15 years, I assume. Just interesting to think about. The whole Itadori family drama is so fascinating too and I really want to know more about them. So far we have only seen one panel of Kenjaku back then but it's so impactful. You can immediately tell they're bad news (and slightly unhinged). Putting the gaslighting in the girlboss. Just imagining that Kenjaku was in a more or less stable relationship for at least 9 months…had to put up with a hateful father-in-law…and somehow wrapped Jin around their finger. There is a whole side of them we haven't seen before (and also a lot of domestic horror).

Speaking of horror, the Death Painting experiment is the most vile thing Kenjaku has ever done as far as we know (maybe you could also count the infanticide, but that at least went fast and didn't involve torture) and I would really like to see a flashback to get a better understanding of it. The way Choso recounts that time and Kamojaku is very different from how Kenjaku acts when confronted with it (casually dismissing it). Obviously, he's one of the victims after all. Would be great if we actually saw Kenjaku talk and act in Noritoshi's body. And I also want more information on the Mother and her relationship with Kenjaku and what she thinks of the children she was forced to carry. We've only gotten Choso's perspective so far and a little bit about how Kenjaku thinks of the experiment years later, but nothing about what happened during it. All the horror associated with it and the Kamo Clan in general is so interesting and could tell us a lot about jujutsu society, sorcerers and curses as a whole.

If this was just about looks, I would put EdoKen at number 1. However, compared to the substance and background of the other two, I felt I should place them lower. Nonetheless, what I like the most about this one is that they're the most "Kenjaku" Kenjaku we've seen so far, besides their brain. We have no idea who the original owner of that body was, not even if they were a sorcerer or not, just that their body isn't fit for combat and they have nice hair. That allows Kenjaku to stand on their own and tells us a lot about their character. Someone focused more on manipulation than physical force, who travels the world looking for people to use in their schemes. The androgynous appearance with masculine clothing and feminine hairstyle is very fitting too.

Geto is last. For one, I just don't like him and while Kenjaku looks quite different from him most of the time, it's still annoying, especially when Gege insists on putting Kenjaku in Geto's robes for no reason at all. If Kenjaku was allowed more often to wear their own clothes and we got less Gojo whining about poor Geto loosing his body, I probably wouldn't have much of a problem with it. I just think there is so much more interesting stuff about Kenjaku than them possessing Geto. It's also the vessel we've seen the most of and I'm getting a bit bored of it. Doesn't help that a majority of the fandom treat their appearance in Geto's body as their default when the other vessels have much more history. What I do like about this vessel is Cursed Spirit Manipulation. It's what lets Kenjaku take Tengen from her yonic tree, swallow her and later have a merger-curse-baby with her after all. And we got Uzumaki Mahito, one of my favourite designs in the series. So thanks for that :)

In conclusion, I just want to see more vessels and more of Kenjaku in the past.

[liliallowed]

Is the original lv triangle still canon? Like when Y/N had a crush on the Player and the Player didn't have much interest in them other then using them as a way to piss off dust?

Is it like a different timeline or somethin?

short answer? no! it's no longer canon!

I think it really depends on first impressions.

if they met dust when he was in a bad mood, they'd see crimson in a better light cuz they saved them. but to answer your question no. it's not Canon anymore. in that scenario dust would just be chasing after y/n for the funs which... is extremely out of character.

this LV triangle was just an idea I had in response to someone else's take on dust being a stalker. (they guys to depressed to currently bother even stalking love interests tbh)

and I have nothing against dust being a stalker the guy probably keeps tabs on a LOT because of his reset paranoia. I just feel like, even with a crush he wouldn't let himself indulge? like, he'd probably think he doesn't even deserve to be near his crush or LOOK at them. cuz that's how much he'd hate himself for the thing he's become. he CAN stalk a love interest but, it'd be more like a daily check up on them rather than digging up personal info.

being their quiet shy shadow... and he wouldn't really get too involved or bother with finding out every detail about their personal life. unlike crim dust isn't an obsessive lunatic high off power.

it may have been like that but I don't like portraying dust as a cliche stalker yandere. he CAN be like of course... when he's either tracking y/n to kill them or tracking crimson. but the possessive "you're mine" stuff? that's more crimson's style. dust just wants to take crimson down. he doesn't associate LV and love together like them not unless he's already in a relationship he has to destroy.

so in conclusion? he might have not been in love with y/n to begin with then crimson saves them and he's just gonna shrug it off.

he won't kidnap his love interest. unlike your average yandere, he doesn't give himself any space to even enjoy another persons company knowing death just follows wherever he goes.

[kitkatt0430]

Rewatching SG-1 has reminded me of a Tales of Symphonia xOver idea I had that I'd still like to write.

It'd ignore the Tales of Symphonia sequel, so no Dawn of the New World stuff going on here. Instead, a few years post Tales of Symphonia and the reunification of the two world of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla into the single world of Aselia, an archeological dig in Tethe'alla discovers an outpost in the mountains that predates the Kharlan War and the civilizations involved by thousands of years.

It's not ancient Elven technology from their migration to the world from space either and likely predates even that long ago event - and the Elves are related to the Nox, though whether that comes up or not... at least it's world building, right? I considered the Ancients... but I like the Nox better for this. Anywho, the current Elves are an offshoot of the Nox who've lost their history and had somewhat divergent evolution from being on a completely different planet from the other Nox for so long.

It's Ancient technology, but with the Elves having forgotten their history they can't identify it anymore than the human and half-elven historians or archaeologists can. They've even consulted the Summon Spirits, but if they know then they aren't telling. And they do seem to know something.

Seles is fascinated. She's gotten interested in archaeology - Zelos blames Raine, who of course wouldn't see why being interested in old stuff would be so boring to him. But Zelos is trying to be supportive so he's shown up at the dig site.

There's a giant stone circle inside and that Zelos does find interesting. Its made up of a foreign material similar to exspheres, but it's clearly refined the same way exspheres were. While it's still somehow being powered - though they've yet to successfully activate it - it's clear the power source is external and stored in capacitors, not imbued with the power of a human life sacrificed to it's production.

That's when an offworld activation occurs and a Goa'uld and his army shows up. Zelos manages to hide Seles, but then he and two others are 'selected' similar to how Sha're and Skara are in the episode Children of the Gods.

On another world now, Zelos manages to befriend one of the Jaffa guards. Not enough to be snuck out, but enough that Zelos is pretty sure he's not going to get killed by this guy when things inevitably get worse. A selection is going on and, as Mekel explains, the Goa'uld - gods, but not really and isn't that a familiar situation for Zelos to be in? - are selecting new hosts. They're parasites. And that's when Zelos realizes he's in more trouble than he realized.

And so is Mekel and anyone else if Zelos gets 'Chosen'. The Chappa'ai (Stargate) is made of the similar-to-exspheres element. And so is the tech the Jaffa use - and thus the Goa'uld use. And, according to Mekel, the Goa'uld and Jaffa have that element - naquadah - in their blood stream. It's similar enough to exspheres that just being surrounded by so much of it makes Zelos able to feel his now-dormant powers again (dormant ever since he stopped using his angelus crystal) but not enough to actually use those powers.

He's pretty sure if he gets possessed? Those powers will be back and in the control of a wannabe god. Not good.

Mekel is not thrilled to learn this either. He may believe the Goa'uld are false gods, but they're still ridiculously powerful. Giving even one of them more power??? Could only be a bad thing. He's not sure he believes this isn't a ploy on Zelos' part to try and get away safely, but he does like Zelos now so... he decides to help Zelos escape. In doing so they discover a Tok'ra prisoner and after a short explanation about the Tok'ra vs Goa'uld divide, they decide to take him along.

The three of them jump a few planets and Zelos laments that he doesn't know his own world's address to go home. They'd be safe there. Though he's also hoping that they've somehow disabled the gate to prevent further incursions, though he knows Lloyd will be beyond pissed if the King chooses to abandon Zelos and the others to their fate that way.

They realize they didn't get away clean when an Ashrak injures the Tok'ra - Jeren and... I admit I don't have a name for his host in mind yet. They're too badly injured. Jeren could survive in a new host, but it's too late for his current one. Mekel refuses to become a Tok'ra host. If there were a way for him to be free of his symbiote without dying, he'd take it in a heartbeat... except for this. Which Jeren assures Mekel that he understands.

Zelos volunteers. He's come to trust Jeren and he knows the information Jeren seeks to take to the Tok'ra is important. It's just temporary, after all. Until a new host can be found, anyway.

As Zelos suspected, being bonded with Jeren revives his old exsphere/angelus crystal granted powers. He can't bring out his wings, but he's able to call on Judgement and some of his other high-level spells. And when the Ashrak strikes again, the three of them are able to kill the Goa'uld assassin this time.

But even with Zelos' healing powers restored, he never had Raine's gift for Resurrection and so Jeren's previous host is too far gone even for Zelos to heal even now. At least with the Ashrak dead, the man is avenged and they're able to safely seek out the current Tok'ra safe house by contacting another Tok'ra spy who knows where to send them.

The Tok'ra are fascinated by Zelos' powers but also relieved its not something they can replicate. Because if they can't, the Goa'uld can't either. And unfortunately the Tok'ra don't have a way to send Zelos home yet because they don't have the address to his world either.

When a new guy volunteers to become Jeren's host, Zelos decides he likes the partnership and stays Jeren's host after all. Mekel offers his services to the Tok'ra specifically to protect Zelos and Jeren. If the Goa'uld became aware of Zelos' powers, they'd seek to capture him and remove Jeren in order to take his body for themselves.

A few years later, Egeria is discovered and Zelos is brought in to try and use his unusual powers to heal her. He's met SG-1 once or twice before and Mekel and Teal'c have a mutual respect for each other going on. Zelos does manage to heal Egeria enough to stabilize her for travel, but she needs the care of her people going forward - she needs a host. But doing so meant revealing his abilities to SG-1.

Egeria fixes the flaws in Tretonin and Mekel jumps at the chance to try it. And after talking things over with SG-1, Zelos and Jeren tell Mekel they want to request they be assigned as a sort of permanent liaison to the SGC. Mekel likes this idea so they go through with it. Jacob and Selmak think it'll be a great fit.

Admittedly my ideas for this verse skip around a bit. Zelos, Jeren, and Mekel verses an Ori Prior would be very interesting to see happen. At some point they'd make contact with Aselia and Zelos is able to see his sister and friends again. Also... Lloyd and Colette kicking Ori ass with their angel powers, as some of the few still utilizing angelus crystals, would be a great deal of fun.

[hisredhysteria]

"You pull me by my hair, so I don't go nowhere."

Note: I said I wanted to write something yandere... Just for fun again while I write a story for Cutthroat. Depending on how I'm feeling, requests might be written slower because I want to write two longer stories for Cutthroat (one hopefully involving Doctor) and then one for each Courier and Hacker.

TW: toxic relationships, possessive, yandere's...murder, manipulation?

Summary: hcs for a famous (?) reader with yandere Hacker, Courier, and Cutthroat ...I don't really specify what kind of famous the reader is so these are in a way general I suppose...the idea somewhat came from the meaning behind the song

Hacker

It's not that he isn't happy for your success because....well, he's not.

Every last moment with Hacker will bleed nothing but underlying hostility until his end goal is reached.

Hacker deals a great hand in not only his possessive feelings towards you, but also the jealousy he feels for you being the one to attract the most admiration of the two of you.

Nothing makes Hacker want to knock someone else down a level quite like when they needlessly fawn over you. He'll keep his tongue tied as long as possible, but the look on his face might just say the words he's wishing to speak.

He knows well that if he were to in some way damage your reputation, he'd be to blame though. Which in hindsight would burden the relationship and possibly cause you to leave him. His goal is to win. Not lose.

Hacker makes it very well known to you that he thinks you interacting with your fans is for the most part meaningless...

He doesn't like it when others acknowledge that your existence is in some way a shared experience. Your fans could never know you the same way he does, so what's the point in wasting time on an empty conversation followed by a picture together?

A picture that he's more often than not being left out of.....

He's not usually one to cause a commotion either, however the moment he sees a fan wrap their arm around your waist for a photo without so much as asking is when he's decided enough is enough. That's something only he can have the luxury of doing, and even he's more careful about doing it than them.

There's no longer any need to remind others that you're his when he inevitably begins to wipe out any competition.

Interviews? Delayed by the onset of technical difficulties. Fan meet ups? Same thing and they're lucky he didn't short circuit anything and cause a fire to erupt.

Comments on your social media...? You don't need validation from anyone other than him. Deleted. In fact, as the days pass you find every single one of your accounts has been "accidentally" deleted in one way or another.

He's good at making your team and manager look bad as well because of all the mishaps going on that they can never seem to find permanent solutions to. When you get into a falling out with them, Hacker enjoys every minute of it....knowing that the stress of it all is causing you to slowly break.

He's the one that suggests you take some sort of hiatus from your fame as well....you know, so that you think he cares most about your well-being and career...

But instead, he's just succeeded in finally isolating you from the rest of the world.

Courier

Cool, calm, and collected, Courier goes about his jealousy in a way that many can write off as him just being tired or weary of the constant barrage of attention you draw in. In which case, they wouldn't be wrong...

Courier can tolerate most things, watching you have small talk with your fans just barely being one. You'll always catch him giving them a following glance as they walk off from you though...a gentle, but negative comment under his breath to suit the situation couldn't hurt occasionally either...

If the conversation seems to go too into depth with a fan or it lasts longer than Courier expects, he wastes no time intervening with a simple, "I've had enough." ..Even an "I don't got all day" if he's hoping you'll wrap it up sooner rather than later. He knows it makes him look bad, but at some point he really can't stop the jealousy from seeping through.

He's also one to guide you in other directions if he sees someone eyeing you with the intention of getting a greeting, signature, or picture. He'll purposely shoot the person a fatal eye if it will ward them off too. Perhaps Courier even bluntly shuts them down by saying you don't have time. All before you even get to say so much as a single word.

He's definitely forced you to leave fans in the dust by riding off on his motorcycle, of course with you on the back. Then later he'll end up making an excuse about how they weren't necessarily worth your time anyways. In fact, who said it was someone that wanted to see you? It's not rare that strangers beckon others over for help with directions. Maybe that was the case instead.

Courier questions you more often than not about attending any business and events, big or small. As you're about to leave he'll ask you where you think you're going. When you tell him where....he gives you a look that says, you're really going to that..?

He's also taking you to said destination, whether he planned for it or not. He won't let anyone else do it. Even if it means he'll be on a time crunch later. He doesn't like it when you try to protest either.

Courier is also eerily waiting for you outside when anything ends. It doesn't matter if you already had a ride planned, he's the better option.

When he accompanies you on any business trips, he's very attentive to what people are approaching you and he's good at asking around to find something out if he feels he needs to. When you're not looking, he's most certainly gauging the motives of those around you. No one is allowed to get too close.

He's also not leaving your side on any trips. Even if he's in the background of a set and you don't necessarily notice him... he's watching. He always is..

He despises interviews. Why does anyone other than him need insight to your personal life?

Courier's end goal was never to take you from the lavish life you have under the attention of many, although as his attachment to you strengthens...he becomes more domineering in the ways he goes about things. The start was just him biting it all back and letting things slowly slip.

His suggestions to avoid certain situations or people start to sound more like requests and demands. If he doesn't want you talking to a specific person you work with, you won't.

Eventually you'll start to feel suffocated by Courier's looming presence one way or another, but by then.. who knows how far he'll take it?

Cutthroat

The fact that others fawn over you really doesn't seem to worry him all too much to begin with. It's when your attention starts to stray from him that things can get a little tricky.

Everything will seem fine at first....all except for the fact that he absolutely refuses to leave your side no matter what. You have to be on his arm at any and every event. If you mention going somewhere without him, you'll be given one or all of a few things—

Emotional outbursts, half-hearted and selfish argumentive points coming from only his perspective. Even going as far as to tie your wrist to the furniture if it means you're not leaving without him. Most times he'll cheerfully let you go as long as you agree to find a way that allows him to accompany you. It's just the initial hurt of being told he can't get what he wants from you that occasionally makes him lash out.

If you stick with your no, then he'll have no choice but to entertain you himself instead. He really doesn't want to keep you tied since it makes it harder to do fun things....but he'll find a way to make it work since he knows for sure now that you won't be leaving.

He might be the reason why you begin to miss out on so many business opportunities or chances to further in your career.

Cutthroat is however, your biggest supporter if you do go out together. The fans don't bother him~! The closer they get, the easier they are to kill—!

Well, some fans will be spared....those entertaining enough to distract him. If there was one in particular that he feels took up more of your attention or physical affection than he's willing to share, he'll give that fan a following glance when they finally walk off. Their time is up with you and he'll make it clear if he sees them come near again.

Cutthroat hates watching you hug fans specifically. Hugs are supposed to be for him only. He may whine about it first and you should take that as a warning. They'll be dead whether others are watching or not if something doesn't change about how close that other person is to you.

It's safe to probably say that you wouldn't really need body guards with Cutthroat around...but in the case you do have them, it's best to never acknowledge they're even there. They follow you around as much as he does, so one word to them will give him the wrong idea. Don't wonder if they all go missing.

Now that you think of it, people around you always seem to go missing sooner or later...

Quickly, Cutthroat tires from always having to share you with others and that's when his violent side becomes rather obvious.

He's likely to snap in a crowd of people following you. Once he's killed the first person that comes too close to you though...it's too good not to kill the others as they run and scream for their lives...this is what they deserve, isn't it..? For bothering his angel..?

If that doesn't happen first, there will come a day where he isn't able to pout enough for you to cancel an interview on your calendar. As such, he subsequently follows you to the interview, kicking his feet back and forth in a chair off camera. Soon enough he gets bored of hearing them ask you personal questions only he should know the answers to.

Cutthroat decides it'd be more fun to throw a knife in the interviews neck~ ....Don't look all sad....he was trying to show you a knife trick...did it work...are you impressed..?

Now, everyone on live television knows you're dating a murderer~! Not a problem though...as the security guards go to detain him....he kills them next.

Your only real option is to run away with Cutthroat and hide your identity. Breaking up with him is only an option if you don't mind being caged for the rest of your life. He's killing anyone that comes in attempts at taking you from him too..!

[doritofalls]

I am Interested in you Kiyo Sticks Around AU... it's a v neat idea and there's so much to dig into there. The complete destruction of the sense of self... the rest of the class having to deal with there being a very clear guilty-as-sin murderer among them. So much potential.

If I can ask though: what, in this AU, would trigger his (or at least the start of his) disillusionment with his sister? Because I think that would sit very very far in, for the process to even begin. And at the same time it's needed for him to do any meaningful character change.

(cont.)

On a (semi-related) note I believe Kiyo would use each and every potential argument he could find to defend his sister if anyone were to point out that her behaviour was. Bad. Not matter what weird leaps of logic or contradictions he ends up with. Korekiyo Shinguuji: Ultimate Mental Gymnast.

thank you!! i really appreciate such thoughtful and kind feedback! honestly, i got invested in the concept of the au because while i love kiyo and wish he had a chance at redemption obviously, i also think the way chapter 3 played out was a massive flop that missed out on a lot of interesting possibilities, especially due to the double murder thing. just WHY introduce the concept of getting a freebie murder if you're not going to elaborate on it whatsoever??? similiarly to the first blood perk in chapter 1, it just served no purpose and felt pointless to even be brought up. all it did is make the trial like, ten minutes longer? but with kiyo being behind both murders, it was really just. meh. quite anticlimactic.

i ended up rambling a lot so the rest is under the cut

i think as far as kiyo's character goes, he's written in a way that makes redemption... quite impossible, very much by design. his entire identity and sense of purpose is tied to the idea of his sister so, so strongly that you cannot separate it without giving him a significant case of ego death... and even then, i think it would take significantly longer for him to find his footing than the spawn of any dr game. not to mention that whatever coping mechanisms he would come up with, would realistically suck at least as much as his coping mechanisms to losing his sister in the first place.

as far as the au goes, i don't have it fully figured out - because again, kiyo's written like an existential nightmare -, but i figure there would only be an opening to even trying to reason with him through significant emotional attachment (in the au's case, to shuichi, but also because i'm a sucker) that chances are, would be bothering kiyo in some level already. he does not make attachments, and when he does, they are in the pursuit of his studies or his mission to look after his sister. he observes, he studies, he doesn't get involved. maybe the closest he gets to people is the superficial connection he makes with his future victims in pursuit of finding out if they are worthy to be killed. he calls the v3 cast his friends, when it is clear they either straight-up disliked him the whole time through or just begrudgingly accepted his presence (not that that isn't the case with the entirety of the cast, but that's a different story entirely).

what i'm saying is, making a genuine friend like shuichi through his FTE's, would bother him i think already, because it is just so alien to him. i think you can perceive that through the kind of relationship dynamic he upholds with shuichi - they are the same age, but he's only comfortable with his closeness in the context of academic roles.

in the rough outline that's in my head for the au so far, there could be an opening through the argument on the caged child ritual not working -> the legitimacy of kiyo's possession being questioned. i think there is certainly leeway there (maybe a class trial with his sister persona as the main character? could be fun), because kiyo is anything but unintelligent. he knows of grief responses and mental illness, and i don't think it would be impossible to get him to see reason - especially if one could find holes in his story.

of course, this point truly depends on how the writer wishes to see kiyo (in this case, how i wish to carry on my au), because the game is just so gimmicky and unbothered when it comes to portraying mental illness. i don't personally think kiyo would have DID - though he certainly feels like he could fit the criteria of some dissociative disorders, from a dissociative disorder haver - as much as dealing with a very deeply ingrained tulpa situation. however, i think the possibility of recognizing his sister persona as his own mind's creation instead of genuine spiritual possession could help him gain a little bit of cognitive distance. that is not to say that his sister persona would cease to exist imo, even if he no longer wanted it to - which could lead to another interesting change in dynamic and a possible reason for his distance from the persona that was solely created to be a vessel for his irl sister's wishes.

i think even if you build down from kiyo's not being possessed by his actual sister but coping with the worst possible grief response you still would have to take a Lot of time to get to kiyo's actual irl sister may have been bad to him. i think even if kiyo got to accepting the fact he was abused by his sister, he still wouldn't try to find her accountable, because of their unique circumstances, her illness and isolation. i think there is anger there, but pushed so deep under the surface that it would probably take years of therapy to unpack. i imagine this is the kind of emotion that fueled near 100 murders of girls his dead sisters' age. however, facing that is definitely not something that would happen in the time spawn of the killing game (implying kiyo would survive to the end), and i think he would still take the mere implication extremely bad. like you said, ultimate mental gymnast for sure.