#no longer killing in a pursuit of their own reasons to live. their own meaning.

[doctorweebmd]

actually the parallels between oda and Akutagawa are insane

[neonscandal]

9 Anime to Watch to Feel Like This 👇🏾

The alternative title/concept for this list was "Anime Featuring The Zaddiests of Daddies" but, you know. Consistency or whatever. When I saw the gif, however, I cackled so loud that I figured it still captured The Vibe ✨ (that being #fatherless) Considering this context, some recommendations are slightly longer than the usual bite size serving of 12-24 episodes but you won't regret indulging. Each show is recommended for the plot which is very evident with the teaser gifs. Happy Fathers' Day, you degenerates. And remember, you don't have to have kids to be a Daddy. 😈❤️

Spy x Family (series) - There is something so wholesome about the fate of the world as he knows it relying on how convincingly he can portray a Good Father despite his own origin story. Loid Forger, in a mission to maintain peace, creates the perfect family through any means necessary. Doubt he realized, in doing so, he'd create a home for himself and the oddballs helping to keep up the ruze.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

Buddy Daddies (series) - The life of hitmen Rei Suwa and Kazuki Kurusu get a bit more messy when one of their hits leaves them with a pretty sizable loose end. Regardless of their occupation, their lives change around a little girl and trying to provide as good a home as two, single twenty-something men can. The rest, they'll figure out.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll

My Senpai is Annoying (series) - Very capable working woman finds herself kohai to an older, overly chummy colleague who DEFINITELY does not know how to PDF documents unsupervised. This is a show about their day to day interactions. If you're wondering if Takeda is the only contender in this series, hold out for Futaba's grandfather. Just trust me.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll

Jujutsu Kaisen (series + movie) - *Gestures vaguely to my blog* This show has plenty of compelling reasons to become obsessed. Trying to train strong child soldiers to protect the balance of humans vs curses so they don’t see a grisly demise is just one of them. Not your average shonen, not your average found families.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu

My Hero Academia (series + movies) - Something about kids needing guidance so as not to die while in the pursuit of some great civic duty really creates an environment for some skrunkly father figures. 😘👌🏾 Never mind that the climax of this story is one that tangles generations of families as society adapts to the advent of super powers.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix

Fire Force (series) - in a world where humans can spontaneously combust, Shinra, who is blamed for the fire that killed his mother and younger brother, seeks to overcome the stigma of his power and joins Fire Force Company 8. In training to fight Infernals, he learns to control his pyrokineses under the guidance of many talented fighters while trying to understand the world around him and the invisible hand that manipulates everything.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

Attack on Titan (series) - Unpredictable violence at the vicious jaws of larger than life monsters, the last remaining humans seek refuse behind hallowed walls. Until one day, the day the first wall fell, which made what once provided security feel more like a holding pen ahead of the slaughter. As resources dwindle and the indomitable curiosity of humans persist, the brave minority pushes the boundaries of the walls that house them and seek to uncover the shroud of mystery as of how they found themselves prisoners to titans in the first place.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu, Sling TV

Chainsaw Man (series) - Human fears strengthen devils which threaten to overrun the world. Enter the Public Safety Devil Hunters responsible for exterminating devils before they become bigger problems and keeping a bead on larger threats, namely, the Gun Devil. The titular character eventually falls under the supervision of Aki Hayakawa (and later Kishibe *swoon*) who has a strong single-dad-who-works-two-jobs-who-loves-his-kids-and-never-stops type vibe.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

Blue Exorcist (series + movie) - When your dad is Satan, the bar is literally in hell for the man who steps up to raise you. Even so, LOOK AT THE DRIP. There's a narrow line to walk when trying to overcome your own parentage and twin brothers, Rin and Yukio, seek to do so by following in their adoptive father, Shiro Fujimoto's, footsteps despite obvious adversity. Just remember to skip to Season 2 after episode 17 or Google the proper order to watch.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

[burst-of-iridescent]

I recently saw a post that paired a quote from The Hunger Games: “That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.” With a Zutara vs. Kataang comparison, Zuko being the Gale in this quote and Aang being the Peeta. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this take.

i think this is an extremely shallow interpretation of the hunger games, atla, or both.

the implication of comparing gale and peeta to zuko and aang suggests to me that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the point suzanne collins is trying to make about gale and peeta. the difference between the two is not that gale is angry while peeta is all about #kumbaya, but that gale has allowed his anger to blind him, while peeta, though just as furious, keeps his anger where it rightfully should be.

the love triangle in the hunger games begins to be set up in book 2, the same book that repeatedly warns katniss to "remember who your real enemy is". what katniss comes to realize over the course of the series is what peeta has known from the start: that the real enemy is president snow and the capitol elite who support him, not the other tributes or the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, something that gale is simply unable or unwilling to understand. 

that is why gale unhesitatingly reduces the other tributes in the games to mere prey to be hunted while peeta refuses to strip them of their humanity, why gale abides the mistreatment of katniss' makeup team in district 13 and is surprised by her horror, and why he ultimately ends up being complicit in the loss of innocent lives in his course for justice and revenge.

peeta is fundamentally kind and empathetic in a way that gale is no longer able or willing to be, and it is this kindness that he shares with zuko: the boy who risked his own life to save the man who tried to kill him, who put himself in danger to protect an enemy village, who reached out to a girl on the opposite side of the war simply because he saw a child like himself in need of comfort.

it's true that zuko in book 1 does have fire "kindled with rage and hatred" but his anger is a trauma response, and part of his healing from that trauma is realizing that he cannot use his anger as a crutch, or let it fuel him. that is why there is an entire episode centered around him losing his bending and actively choosing another path ("i don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. there has to be another way"), one where his fire is fuelled by life and warmth. that is why zuko is foiled with jet (the actual closest gale figure in atla, a revolutionary who is blinded by rage and goes too far in his pursuit of righteousness), because jet symbolizes the person zuko could have become if he didn't learn to master his anger. zuko does what gale (and jet) are never able to do, and that is the reason he ends the show as a hero while they bring about their own downfalls.

as for aang being peeta, i can see the surface level comparison of "sweet sunshine guy" but what differentiates them is that peeta is always willing to do what needs to be done. he does not remain willfully ignorant of the horrors around him, and he does not risk the lives of others for the sake of his own selfish moral purity.

the actual comparison would probably be peeta and katara (someone who chooses kindness and hope, but does not blind themselves to the realities of the world), and zuko and katniss (someone who starts off closed off, distant and angry, but eventually chooses love and peace over rage and war), but if we're just comparing the two boys: zuko is far more peeta than gale, and anyone who says otherwise should really watch the show all the way to the end this time.

[dodger-chan]

So I was reading this very alternate timeline Chrissy lives Stranger Things fic, enjoying it very much, and I noticed what looks like the beginning of what seems to be a redemption arc for Jason. Now, to me, Jason is the scariest threat in season 4 even if the plot doesn't treat him as such, but not necessarily the most evil. So I can see where people might want to give his character the opportunity to be better. I think he's a tricky character to redeem, though, because with Jason there's what he does and there's also what he represents.

This is going to be long and very rambly, so under a cut.

So for a redemption arc to work you start with a character that has done bad things and you force that character to confront them. In Steve Harrington's arc (which is a relevant and fantastic example) he first has to realize he was an asshole, apologize for being an asshole (somewhat interrupted by a Demogorgon but the sentiment was expressed), and finally demonstrate that he learned by not being an asshole. The redemption arc doesn't work without all of the steps.

Now, what does that mean for Jason? Well, in terms of what Jason does wrong there are several levels. He's clearly not a very good boyfriend to Chrissy, though much like Steve with Nancy in season two, this may not be about him being a deeply flawed person so much as being young and ill-equipped to handle Chrissy's very serious issues (he does come across as a bit arrogant and self-centered in episode one but in a way that says eighteen years old rather than asshole). Assuming that Eddie killed Chrissy isn't a huge leap to make based on how the police questioned him, though assuming it was a satanic cult connected to D&D is a pretty wild conclusion to draw. Between that and his decision to go looking for Eddie, I think a tendency to rush to judgement and to let his emotions overwhelm his reason are character flaws that ought to be addressed in a redemption arc.

Also key is the need to address all of the ways he was an asshole. The reason I don't consider Steve's redemption arc to be complete until season three is that part of Steve's asshole behavior in season one is calling Jonathan "a queer." While he is shown to understand the direct harm he does to Jonathan in season one and Nancy in seasons one and two, nothing in the first two seasons shows Steve has any grasp of the general harm done by using queer as an insult. In fiction, character growth only counts when it's visible to the audience, and Steve's casual homophobia isn't addressed until his complete acceptance of Robin.

In fact, I would argue that those flaws, turned up to eleven (no pun intended) along with a refusal to reflect on how he might be wrong are what leads to everything Jason does wrong in the show. Assaulting Gareth is absolutely letting his anger and his need to do something about Chrissy's murder override rational decision making. Witnessing Patrick's murder is obviously traumatic, but Jason's response of doubling down on Eddie's guilt is about needing to believe he is still right, he didn't waste time and physically attack another student looking for the wrong killer. Because Jason sees himself as a good guy, he can't accept that he did bad things for a bad reason. He must have had a good one, so Eddie somehow must be murdering people with magic.

The biggest wrong Jason does is when he brings that conviction in his own self righteousness to the town meeting and turns what should be the police (and only the police) looking for one potential killer into an angry mob in pursuit of not merely Eddie, but the entire D&D playing population of Hawkins. At that point he is no longer just one guy doing bad things, but representative of the violent enforcement of a social order.

The satanic panic of the 80s was real. It sent real people to prison and got real people killed. It was very reminiscent of the blood libel and with season four set in the lead up to Easter, a traditional time for pogroms in Europe, Jason's actions at the town meeting feel less like one minor villain and more like the lead up to a mass murder. Which is a bit more serious than anything the character actually does.

Now, for a Chrissy lives au the problem you run into is that before Chrissy dies, Jason has done none of those things. So it might seem like the easiest way to deal with them is just not to have him do them. And while that might work for the story if he's at most a minor character, it doesn't redeem the character because it leaves his flaws unaddressed.

A version of Steve who never has to deal with the Upside Down may still become a better person (like Jason, a lot of his character flaws are immaturity), but simply not giving him the opportunity to fight with Jonathan doesn't fix him being an asshole in season one. Similarly, not giving Jason a reason to believe Eddie's a murderer doesn't address Jason's hot headedness and tendency toward violence.

Also, even if Jason's character flaws and actions are specifically addressed in the story, the question remains what can be done about what Jason symbolizes within Stranger Things. While it seems apparent from the way the story wrapped up that the satanic panic elements of the plot were written as more 80s flavor than serious threat (prove me wrong, season five, I beg you), the show still used Jason as the stand in for a major threat. And whatever is done with regards to Jason's behavior, he still represents the threat of "normal" society wiping out those who don't fit within its constraints.

[autumnslance]

Has your character ever committed a crime? Is it something they've come to actively regret/potentially done time for(?) or do the see it as a necessary evil - or even something to be admired for?

This turned into a bit of a ramble as these questions are always interesting, cuz "crime" is so terribly subjective. Criminal behavior depends on laws, which aren't always sensible nor just (which the last part of the Ask touches on in a way).

This was something I actually learned from a childhood book called "Donkeys Can't Sleep in Bathtubs" about all sorts of weird laws still on the books in many places across the US, and which got me a radio call in contest reward cuz I knew pinball machines were considered dangerous somehow in the state of Georgia; from there it wasn't too far a hop to understand how immoral laws could be justified and exist for far longer than they ought to.

FFXIV OCs exist in a video game where gameplay mechanics don't really care about arbitrary laws while also making the usual stereotyped pre-industrial fantasy setting assumptions about how casual theft, assault, and killing are and whether or not they even count as "crime" or are justified based on one's role, reasons, and those tricky legal issues on top of "it's just a game mechanic."

Though it's also interesting if you pay attention to enough quests, the WoL doesn't kill quite so many people as can initially be assumed, even if the "death animation" is used. Or it's mechanically placed mobs in weird locations that'd realistically absolutely alert multiple packs of nearby enemies and why would they be clumped like that anyway in actuality but this is for gameplay and experience points...

ALL THAT SAID.

Iyna's probably the primary "criminal" in the group, at least as long as the Empire was still a thing, given how she committed acts of rebellion and treason before going AWOL and defecting and then joining rebel groups set to fight Garlemald and regain their freedoms...and now, while all those experiences were necessary and shaped her for the last 60+ years, no one's exactly lining up to arrest and prosecute her with the Empire fallen (there might be one or two officers out there who want revenge on her for something, but that's not the same as legal pursuit and justice).

The Warrior of Light, especially when wandering around Garlemald and talking to people in Tertium, isn't always popular, but again as of Endwalker it's not really much of an issue as the provisional government starts picking up the pieces. Other actions the WoL undertakes may be otherwise considered criminal, but tend to end with little more than a scolding from leaders. C'oretta and Dark Autumn have probably bent more than a few laws in Ul'dah, which is generally dealt with by paying the right bribes and favors in which case can one say a law was actually broken and a crime committed if the default handling of it is so blase (and then we come back to real world issues of "some laws are unjust/immoral as they only apply to some while merely inconveniencing those with the money/power to ignore them").

Only other thing I can think of is ignoring prejudicial Hearers to do things that absolutely would not cause woodsin and anger the Elementals (which also comes up in story a few times), which is something Dark's had to navigate, especially as she comes to realize sometimes some Hearers are pushing their own agenda and she's started to pay more attention to those claims and how various groups in the Twelveswood actually live and interact.

Otherwise my girls are boringly law-abiding and moral; they'll fight or ignore an unjust law as needed, but don't go out of their way to break rules for the heck of it, and outside of Iyna, weren't in any positions in their lives to need to survive by any means necessary.

Which means they tend to come to the necessities of adventuring and that casual flaunting of many rules and legalities from other perspectives, and while C'oretta can be pretty nonchalant about "well if that's how it is OK", Dark and Aeryn take more fretting and thinking about it and "wanting to make it right later," while Iyna's likely to do what needs done, expediently, though she takes no joy or pride in it. It's simply reality.

[red-dyed-sarumane]

every time i think about the oumen mokushiroku & unplanned apoptosis connections i take damage but in also eating it like candy.

like. current theory with the details i have now. we know the angel was supposed to be a protection figure, either agreed on by the others or just what she saw as her personal role idk which the songs are subjective so its hard to say, & we know she wasnt able to actually do anything about the situation, proven by the fact in all the the songs the whole world ending is still ongoing. she want to help, nothing she can do has made any difference and shes out of options. so, theory, the only thing left she can even try is to give up her retries, to really sacrifice herself so everyone else can keep going & make it out of the whole cycle alive & intact. its different from the other songs excluding aru sekai shoushitsu itself since the motif is in the lyrics not the instrumental but in direct contrast to the og lyrics hers are about wanting to meet again but everythings going dark on her. like in a heavy "this is the end" for her kind of way. maybe by saying it, its her way of giving up her repeats. details are kind of hazy i guess but i hope u get what i mean.

and then u have the direct counterpoint song about the girl whos taking it in the worst way possible. honestly i dont think she was that great of a person to begin with all thing considered but dear god girl got worse on purpose. again we know the two are directly linked bc this girls sitting outside the same window the angel was at, but now its dark & broken, & im willing to bet thats to show the angel's not there anymore. the girl in unplanned apoptosis has the Worst attitude ever, i cant blame her given everything thats happening but also wow she is NOT doing well. the world's ending on repeat, shes experienced the worst how many times, and now the angel went and left her too. having an absolute dog shit time & shes letting everyone know by being a brat about it, lying acting out pretending not to care etc etc. -another detail that ties in. we know from maximizer everyone involved is aware of the risks. we know the characters know they can lose their self so theyre no longer "human" & therefore cant continue.- so whats that mean for her? well shes at the end of her rope i dont think she wanted any of this to begin with and now she's been left all alone (by the angel. the others are still there but theres no contextual reason to believe shes particularly close to any of them) so whats left for her but to do the same and make sure she doesnt repeat anymore either? the "kill myself" line isnt exactly the suicide u'd think. she's not actively ending her life itself. she self sabotaging in every other way possible, digging herself deeper, becoming the worst version of herself so she can cross that "boundary of self" as its called in laboratory so that she can finally die for the last time when the world ends again. but the problem is even with all shes doing & acting out she cant cross that boundary. she still is forced to continue. "just as usual the day ended" for her. even after everything, after permanently losing someone & all the self destruction theres no change whatsoever, thats maddening in itself yet shes still herself so she has to live with it.

which, slight tangent, makes it all the more interesting to find out what the Fuck the laboratory chara did that SHE loses her self & cant continue but the one whos potentially actively trying to do that cant. my best guess rn is that labo got caught up in the details & forgot her personal values in pursuit of an end, where as apoptosis is acting in her own interests with less care on the fate of the world & doing so means she clings to her self but i dont really have the details to back that up rn.

[warriors-rewritten-chaos]

Detailed Plot Summary- Into the Wild Part 1

This is inspired by Old Faces, New Dawn’s style of writing their rewrite’s books. I stole the general story beats for this from the warriors wiki’s summary of the book. I have changed a lot more plot details then I did before and need to redo allegiances AGAIN (honestly I’ll probably just edit the third round of allegiances and delete the other ones that are no longer rewrite-canon). Anyway, here we go!

The prologue begins with a battle between ThunderClan and RiverClan. The battle is not going well for ThunderClan, so the ThunderClan Deputy Thrushpelt calls his Warriors to retreat. While most follow his command, a Warrior named Tigerclaw ignores the order and continues fighting, much to the confusion of the other combatants, who assumed the battle was over since a retreat was called. Thrushpelt tries to make Tigerclaw stop but almost gets attacked by the angry tom for his troubles until another ThunderClan cat named Redtail steps in and manages to help calm Tigerclaw down enough to convince him to leave. As the three leave, some RiverClan Warriors taunt them, calling Thrushpelt a useless Deputy who can’t control his own stupid Warriors. The prologue ends with the three leaving the battlefield and Tigerclaw glaring daggers into Redtail and Thrushpelt’s backs as he slowly stalks behind them. Bluestar, ThunderClan’s Leader, is given a prophecy by the Seer Spottedleaf: “Fire alone will save the Clans”...

The story proper begins with the young housecat Rusty waking up from a strange dream in which he was a living flame running through the forest in pursuit of a massive shadow. Rusty notes that this isn't the only strange dream he’s had recently and he goes out to see a friend of his named Ferris about the dream, reasoning that if any cat could make sense of it it would be him. Rusty meets up with Ferris and his housemates Pinecone, Xena, and Pollyanna and tells Ferris about his dream. While the elderly tom is normally fairly reserved and calm, his demeanor changes dramatically when Rusty informs him about his recent dreams and asks if he knows what they could mean. He becomes incredibly incensed and almost panicked, pinning Rusty to the floor with strength that Rusty didn't know he had and demands that Rusty never ever go into the forest and that it will be the death of him.

Pinecone and Xena pull a still manic and screeching Ferris off of Rusty and try to calm him down while Pollyanna quickly escorts Rusty out of their house. When Rusty asks about what the heck just happened with Ferris, she explains that her parents (Ferris and Pinecone) both came from a group of wild cats that lived in the forest. Neither of them ever talk about forest life at all so she and her sister Xena don’t know much about it, but she assumes that whatever happened to them there wasn't good. Rusty leaves, confused and even more curious than ever. On the way home, he runs into his older sister Princess sitting in her yard sunning herself. She tells him that as much as she’d love to catch up with him, his best friend Smudge has been running all over the neighborhood looking for him and he should see what he wants. 

Upon meeting up with Smudge, the two engage in the latest gossip while Rusty tells Smudge about his dreams. Smudge discourages going into the forest because “everybody knows those forest cats are dangerous, Russ! they killed a kit two years ago, remember?!” He also informs Rusty that the city is becoming just as dangerous as the forest is. A group of cats calling themselves the Coven of Blood are starting to take over many areas in the city. Rusty just laughs at this and calls it a bunch of edgy cats roleplaying as being tough, but Smudge insists that he’s heard talk that they kill cats in order to gain influence and power over others. Before Smudge goes home, he makes Rusty promise him that he won’t go into the woods. Rusty promises but...

Despite all the warnings he’s been given, Rusty still sneaks into the forest anyway. He ends up lost and gets attacked by a cat around his age named Graypaw. Graypaw tries to chase him off back out of the woods, but Rusty fights back. Suddenly, two cats emerge from the woods and introduce themselves as Bluestar and Lionheart of ThunderClan. Bluestar is impressed by Rusty’s courage and determination and offers him the opportunity to become a member of her Clan. She tells him to return the next night with his answer. Rusty goes home, thinks it over, and decides that he will join ThunderClan.

Smudge catches Rusty leaving his house for the last time, and the two have an explosive argument over him leaving that ends with Smudge yowling that he hopes that Ferris was right and Rusty does die in the woods because he sure as heck won’t miss him! With that, Rusty runs into the woods. Once there, he meets up with Graypaw, Lionheart, and a new cat he’s never met, Whitestorm, who is thankfully also really nice.

When Rusty, Lionheart, Graypaw, and Whitestorm arrive at camp, Bluestar holds a Clan meeting to introduce Rusty to the Clan and give him a new name and a mentor. The meeting is highjacked by multiple cats who are against having a kittypet join the Clan (namely Darkstripe, Robinwing, Dustpaw, Longtail, and Sandpaw). One of these cats, Sandpaw, challenges Rusty to a duel while viciously mocking him. Before Bluestar can even try to diffuse the situation, Rusty agrees to the duel and jumps down off the highrock and starts fighting her. While he doesn't exactly win, he does fight rather well, and the fact his collar was torn clean off him in the fight is used as a sign that StarClan favors his joining. He is renamed Firepaw by Bluestar and is given a friendly Senior Warrior named Rosetail as his mentor. 

The triumphant moment is cut short when another ThunderClan apprentice, Ravenpaw, comes sprinting into camp wild-eyed, hyperventilating, and yowling something unintelligible. Dustpaw, who turns out to be his brother, immediately runs to him and supports him when he faints. While a cat runs off to fetch the Healer, Featherwhisker, another cat enters the camp holding a lifeless body in his jaws. This cat is Tigerclaw, and the body is that of Redtail. He explains that Redtail and the Clan’s Deputy Thrushpelt had been on patrol with him and Ravenpaw near Sunningrocks when they were ambushed by a group of RiverClan Warriors and Thrushpelt and Redtail were both killed. He was unable to obtain Thrushpelt’s body for burial, however. Dustpaw is deeply saddened by his mentor’s death but perks up when he is given the smug-looking Darkstripe as his new mentor. Bluestar also makes Lionheart the Clan’s new Deputy to replace Thrushpelt. A funeral is held for the two deceased later that night, which Firepaw attends. He meets many new faces and interacts with them, and becomes friends with Ravenpaw despite Dustpaw’s reservations.

He trains over several uneventful weeks under Rosetail and while she trains him hard, she also makes sure he has fun and the two bond pretty closely with each other. Bluestar also keeps a close eye on his training. Firepaw also overhears some interesting information one day while eating some prey: Runningwind, having come back from a patrol to discuss the deaths of Thrushpelt and Redtail with RiverClan and to obtain Thrushpelt’s body for a proper burial, privately tells Bluestar that while the RiverClan patrol he and his patrol group met with fully admitted that one of their own had killed Thrushpelt and that that cat was being punished to the full extent, they swore up and down that he was the only one killed in the fight and that Redtail had left the encounter alive. Interested in the mystery, Firepaw decides to investigate on his own time.

On his first solo hunting assignment, Firepaw encounters an injured, sick, and starving molly just lying in the grass, unmoving. While he panics and worries aloud that he’s stumbled on a dead body, she manages to lift her head and rasp out a “I’m not dead yet, stupid kit”. Firepaw gives her his prey to eat, and she introduces herself as Yellowfang. Just then, Bluestar and Rosetail show up, Rosetail having gotten a bad feeling when her apprentice didn't return to camp for a long time. Yellowfang tries to leave but is too weak to even stand. Bluestar immediately recognizes her as being ShadowClan’s Healer and she is rushed back to camp for treatment, as a Medicine Cat dying on their territory would look badly for ThunderClan. Firepaw takes care of Yellowfang after being assigned the job as punishment for not immediately informing a patrol of the strange cat on their territory before anything else. Yellowfang begins to recover, and privately admits to Firepaw, Featherwhisker, and Spottedleaf that she has been exiled from ShadowClan but refuses to elaborate on why this is.

[needfulfrights]

“Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn: A Review

Goddamn do I love an awful bitch of a protagonist! There’s just something about “bad women” in books that hooks me instantly, even if I don’t really “like” the character themselves, I still adore reading about them and their fucked-up selves. Some sort of weird catharsis, maybe? Whatever the reason for my dubious devotion to twisted fictional women and what makes them tick, Gillian Flynn hasn't let me down to date; in fact, Dark Place’s Libby Day may be my favorite of Flynn's horrible heroines.

 Libby Day is a sad, angry woman with no family. Well, that’s not quite true. Libby’s family consists of her cat Buck, an estranged aunt, and oh, her brother, Ben who is currently in prison (and has been since he was a teenager) for the murder of the rest of the Day family when Libby was just a small girl. And it was young Libby’s testimony that sealed Ben’s fate.

 Now “Little Libby” is all grown up and in her early 30’s. The money she’s lived off of up until now, donations from well-wishers after her family’s murders, has all but dried up. And so, Libby needs some cash. Now. Or else she’ll have to get an actual job. This conundrum eventually finds her meeting Lyle, head of the “Kill Club,” a group of people obsessed with true crime. For Lyle, his grisly obsession is not focused solely on murders of the Day family, but of Ben Day’s innocence. Such an obsession that Lyle offers to pay Libby to talk with people from her past who were involved with the murders in order to help clear Ben’s name and find the true killer. What starts off as a purely financial pursuit soon finds Libby in a desperate hunt for answers, no longer just for the money, but to help Libby find her own sense of closure about that bloody night, and the person it shaped her into.

 The plot of the story kept me engaged the whole way through. I liked that different plot points and character moments were weaved in so masterfully by Flynn that when the truth about the murders of the Day family finally was revealed it felt well-earned and carefully thought out. Flynn laid down the trail of crumbs to a delightful buffet of an ending that more than satisfied me as a reader.

 However, as I’ve found with the Flynn’s other two novels, while the plot may be engaging and well thought out, it’s her character writing that elevates the whole thing from “great” to “amazing!” All the characters, whether I loved them or loathed them, were interesting to read about and felt authentic. From awkward but oddly charming Lyle, to mean (and sad) as hell Diondra, there wasn’t really a single character in the book that I don’t think added something to the novel.

 I found Libby to be a very compelling protagonist, strangely likeable in her own way, though I would hate to meet anyone like her in real life. A chronic liar and thief (among other things), Libby still managed to win me over through her moments of grudging vulnerability and kindness she shows to others, especially the friendship she builds with Lyle, though I appreciate that she never quite loses her overall acerbic personality. Which is another topic I thought was captured quite well: Libby Day is an extremely damaged person. She has been through some of the most terrible shit anyone could ever go through, never mind going through it as a child. She sleeps with the lights on, she lashes out at others, she holds people at arm’s length. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture of a trauma survivor, but I felt it painted one of the more truthful portrayals I’ve seen.

 The other standout character for me was Libby’s mother Patty. I could feel Patty’s anxiety and hopelessness through the pages. I wanted to hug her, wanted to help her, all while knowing she ended up dead, and then somehow even more devastated for her once the “how” and “who” of the murders were revealed.

 As for Ben…. ah, Ben. Whenever I got to a “Ben” chapter I just kept flipping back and  forth between two thoughts: “Jesus Christ kid, quite being such a pushover” and “Jesus Christ can someone help this poor boy?” I admittedly didn’t like Ben as a person, but I did find him an interesting character. I don’t hate that he was an annoying teenage boy, but the whole sad sack, “woe is me” thing did get old by the end of the book. I kept hoping that he would eventually stand up for himself, start asserting himself, or that someone would come and you know, help this clearly struggling child; but by the end of the novel, even with Ben being a grown adult he still just lets things happen to and around him by other, which I guess is kind of the point of Ben’s character, but it was still frustrating.

 Overall, I really enjoyed the time that I spent with Day family during my time reading Dark Places. I would place it right in the middle of Gillian Flynn’s three works, with Sharp Objects being number one and Gone Girl as my least favorite (still a great book! I’m sorry Amazing Amy!) Whatever urgency the plot may lack by knowing the fate of the Day family from the beginning is more than made up for by the delightfully disturbing cast of characters that Flynn has put to paper.

Rating: 4.25/5

[imakemywings]

I've been thinking about Maedhros and Maglor and the House of Feanor lately. I understand being loyal to your mother and father, or in their case, their father Feanor. But after the third and/or fourth kinslaying, there's no fucking way Maedhros and Maglor still held some sort of love or thoughts of love for their dad. They probably had arguments about it, blaming Feanor or something. Imagining myself in Maedhros' shoes and living life after those kinslayings with only one brother who probably isn't mentally there anymore and finally getting the silmaril only for it to burn my hand, I think I'd drown myself in despair and throw myself in a volcano too with thoughts of hatred for my dad who started all of this, which is unfair for Feanor, but idk.

I always saw everything they do as a sort of twisted love for Feanor, tbh. They swore the oath not because Feanor made them or even asked them to, but because when they saw their dad do it, they wanted to, and especially after Feanor's death, it would be easy for them to fixate on the Silmarils as the peak or even sum of Feanor's legacy and something that had to be protected within the family for that reason alone.

It's possible they're resentful of Feanor for setting them on this path--I think it would be hard not to feel any of that. And, in some ways, isn't it easier to blame Feanor than blame themselves for doing what they're doing? Because they were adults when they swore the oath and they were adults acting under their own power during each and every choice they made in pursuit of the oath. At some point, you can't keep blaming daddy, unless you just refuse to take responsibility yourself (which is certainly possible). Maedhros and Maglor commit the Fourth Kinslaying more than six hundred years after Feanor's death--sure you can say he set them up for this, but they had many chances to turn off this path and they refused. Even at the very end, Maglor suggests they stop, and when Maedhros refuses, neither of them invokes Feanor, only their own fears about what will happen to them--which you could take to mean that whatever loyalty they had to him is no longer part of the equation and they're acting solely for their own benefit now, or not.

I also feel like it would be easy for there to be a kind of taboo among them about suggesting Feanor was wrong about anything--because if he was wrong, then what are they doing? (This is just h/c though)

However, even if they are angry with him, I do still see them as loving him. And doesn't that make it all the messier? If Feanor and his sons loved each other even until the end, but now there's all this blood and horror between them, and Feanor himself has to reckon with what his children became by following, at least in their minds, what he wanted? I certainly think that Feanor blames himself for it. But they also made all their own choices, and I think it would be pretty childish and cowardly to act like Feanor forced their hands into killing Eonwe's guard.

However given what you said about their mental state (I don't imagine either Maglor or Maedhros is doing great by the end) it would be interesting to explore their relationship with guilt and responsibility, and how that may change when they perceive their rejection by the Silmarils. While Maglor is perhaps the most clear-eyed about what they're really doing, I also think he is capable of putting that aside to adopt a more comfortable delusion, and when Maedhros dies he is forced to abandon that and face the reality of what they are and what they've done--and maybe he covers that for a while with blaming Feanor, but at some point, he may have to admit the extent of his own hand in it.

[makeste]

Do you think Deku will ever get mad at All-Might for keeping so many secrets from him? Deku has been giving All-Might free passes on things he should have known about like AFO, previous holders of OFA and now that Tomura is Nana's grandson. It feels like AM needs to be held accountable at some point.

I think it’s likely; he’s gotten fairly mad at him about this before, back when All Might hid the truth about his falling-out with Nighteye.

and he’s probably going to feel a bit betrayed at the realization that All Might is still keeping things from him even after this conversation. and it’s not like it’s just small things, either; these are some pretty major things that Deku is still getting blindsided by as a result of All Might’s secrecy. it feels like AM hasn’t really learned his lesson at all and is still Dumbledoring his way through this mentorship.

but the thing is, I can understand All Might’s point of view here as well, and I get why he keeps doing it, even if I don’t agree with it. I’ve been meaning to write a post about this anyway, especially since it ties into the matter of the Fourth OFA User and his quirk, so let’s take a look at All Might’s ever-growing List of Secrets, because there’s a pattern there.

1. OFA

starting with the big one. now obviously Deku is very much in on this particular secret. however it is still a secret from just about everyone else, and it’s probably the one secret that All Might has been the most adamant about keeping, going to increasingly elaborate lengths even as it becomes more and more obvious that all of these efforts are eventually going to prove futile.

the thing is, it’s pretty obvious why he’s been trying so hard to keep the truth of Deku’s quirk hidden. OFA paints a huge target onto Deku’s back, one that would attract notice not just from the villain side, but from the hero side as well. OFA is basically the ultimate prize. it’s probably the most powerful quirk in existence, aside from AFO. and once word gets out that this power can be passed on to literally anyone simply at will, things could start getting very ugly.

Deku would suddenly come under pressure from all sides, with people trying to use and control him (well, I say “people”, but mainly I mean the HPSC sob). that’s if they see him as a useful tool and a weapon in the battle against the League, mind you. but if they decide that he’s not, or that he’s not ready, there would instead be pressure for him to give up OFA to a “worthier” candidate. either way, Deku himself isn’t going to be taken into account. his thoughts, his feelings, what he wants, what he deserves; none of that is going to matter to these people.

and these are the good guys, mind! that’s not even mentioning the villains, who have already destroyed an entire city in pursuit of him. Deku is in a lot of danger now. and so far, Tomura/AFO have been surprisingly honorable in their attempts to get ahold of OFA, in that they’ve been targeting Deku directly. but AFO is a notoriously underhanded guy, and it concerns me that there are a ton of more underhanded methods still on the table for him to try out. because we’ve already established that Deku is notoriously self-sacrificing. I mean literally notorious, as in both his friends and enemies alike have all picked up on this trait and made a note of it. so imagine if Tomura ever decides to take hostages, for instance. “give me OFA or I’ll kill so and so.” then what?? jesus.

so yeah, all in all it’s pretty clear why All Might has been exceedingly careful about keeping OFA a secret even from most of Deku’s allies. this isn’t even getting into the whole U.A. traitor thing as well, but I mean, you get the idea, right? the reason All Might has gone to such lengths to keep OFA a secret is to protect Deku.

2. AFO

and now we get to the first of many things that All Might kept hidden from Deku himself! and these are generally going to be a lot harder to defend. like yeah, you probably should have told this barely-pubescent child that that the quirk you were giving him came prepackaged with a built-in mortal enemy, All Might. might want to actually lead with that part next time.

so why didn’t he tell Deku about AFO? well first of all please understand that I’m not trying to justify this decision, lol; I’m just trying to rationalize it from All Might’s point of view. he was less than six years removed from his fateful battle with AFO in which the both of them were gravely injured. and yes, he said that he believed AFO had died from his wounds; but if he really thought that was true, why didn’t he listen to Nighteye and pass OFA on to someone else back then? why did he stubbornly stay in the field for as long as he could? his actions just don’t line up. if he really thought AFO was dead, you’d think he would have been able to retire in peace, as there wouldn’t have been such a great need for the Symbol anymore.

so honestly, what I’m learning towards here is that he didn’t really believe it, deep down. but once his powers really started to wane, he felt like he had no choice but to pass the quirk on to someone else and just hope for the best. and then, once he met Deku, I think he really started to want to believe it was true. because he empathized with Deku and he saw himself in him, and he wanted to give him that chance. Deku wanted so badly to be a hero, and All Might saw that he had the heart and the spirit of one, and only lacked the physical ability. and there All Might was, with a quirk he could bestow on him that could potentially make his dream come true. he wanted to believe he could do that. he convinced himself that the threat of AFO really was nonexistent -- after all, it had been six years! -- and that it wasn’t a burden he was passing down onto this child anymore, but a gift.

and so he didn’t tell Deku about AFO because he wanted to believe it wasn’t something Deku needed to know. so in this case it wasn’t just Deku he was essentially lying to, but himself as well. so yeah, not the best rationale in the world, but a very human mistake for him to make, and one that once again has its roots in wanting to protect Deku. or more precisely in this case, wanting to protect Deku’s dream. he wanted to believe it was all right for him to hand down this power which he so strongly believed that Deku deserved.

3. the Vestiges

honestly it’s a bit up in the air whether or not this one was really a secret, because All Might genuinely didn’t seem to realize that the Vestiges were conscious inside of OFA. or so he says at any rate. regardless, I’m going to include it in the list because he was definitely acting pretty cagey about the subject back during the sports festival, and I’ve never been fully satisfied with his explanation.

if you ask me? I think one of the reasons why he didn’t want to discuss this more in depth with Deku back then was because he was afraid it might inadvertently lead to some other topics that he wasn’t yet ready to discuss.

the idea of the previous OFA users living on inside the quirk is comforting in some ways, but that’s also a conversation that inevitably leads to the subject of AFO and AFO’s brother just for starters. not to mention Nana, whose death was deeply traumatizing for him and which I don’t think he was emotionally prepared to bring up just yet.

but I think the biggest factor that led to All Might being mum about this was the fact that he himself was included among the Vestiges. because I’m thinking he might have been a bit paranoid about avoiding a conversation like this:

All Might: “hey Midoriya-shounen, I just wanted to let you know that those weird little shadow figures you saw during your fight were the ghosts of the previous users of OFA, who are all living on inside of the quirk. my master once told me, 'even if I die one of these days, we can always meet again inside One for All.' so you know, that’s nice.”

Deku: “huh okay, so you’re telling me I have the souls of eight other people trapped inside my quirk, well that’s pretty trippy but I’m a weird little boy who lives for this kind of wild quirk shit so I’m okay with it! but it’s not like it matters though anyway since you’re still here to guide me haha! it’s not like you have any reason to suspect that might not be the case in the very near future, right?”

All Might: “...right.”

so yeah. once again, the reason for All Might keeping this a secret is because he doesn’t want to burden Deku. spoiler alert, the next two secrets also have the exact same reasoning behind them. in fact I’m just going to go and lump them both together.

4. Sir Nighteye, and 5. Sir Nighteye’s prophecy

so #4 is the one that actually finally set Deku off in the scene I posted earlier lol. and yeah, All Might should have told Deku, especially since it was inevitable that Deku was going to find out anyway. once he learned about Nighteye and All Might’s falling-out, him finding out about the prophecy was a given. and so once again I want to stress that I’m not actually trying to defend All Might’s decision here lol. just trying to relate to it.

anyway but that said, the reason why he didn’t tell Deku is pretty straightforward: he didn’t want to burden Deku with that knowledge. he knows Deku looks up to him. he knows that Deku looks to him for support. and All Might has spent his entire career doing everything he could to be that strong support for everybody, for the entire nation. he wants everyone to feel secure and safe. he wants nothing more than to be able to keep them safe. and it’s so hard, when you have that mindset, to let yourself show weakness and allow the cracks to show and to admit and accept that you can’t protect people from everything, no matter how bad you want to.

how do you tell the kid you’re mentoring, the kid who’s come to depend on you for so much, that there’s a good chance you might not be around much longer? that there’s a good chance he’ll be left to deal with everything all on his own, the same way that you were? how the hell do you even begin to approach that conversation? especially knowing what kind of person Deku is, on top of everything else. for a hero, someone who’s dedicated their whole life to helping and protecting others, nothing is more devastating than being told that something terrible is going to happen, and that no matter what, there is nothing you can do to change that fate. that alone would have been reason enough to not want Deku to know. he didn’t want him to experience that kind of helplessness.

and Deku is still just a kid!! Nighteye, a fully grown man and a hero with years of experience, completely fell apart after that prophecy. meanwhile Deku just started hero school less than a year ago. he’s only sixteen. he is far, far too young to have to deal with all of this. yes, he needed to know, both as a matter of trust and as a matter of practicality. but the fact that he needed to know is pretty fucking cruel on the universe’s part, and I get why All Might was so reluctant to tell him. I get it.

side note!! I feel like it’s worth mentioning that this one is still a secret as far as a certain other person goes. like, I feel that’s pretty noteworthy. pretty much every other person who knows about OFA also knew about Nighteye’s prophecy, including Rat Principal, Recovery Girl, Gran Torino, and Nighteye himself. (although it’s not clear whether or not Naomasa knows, come to think of it. but it’s likely, since All Might probably physically can’t lie to him lol.) and of course, Deku now knows as well.

but aside from Naomasa, there is one other person who’s notably missing from that list.

Kacchan knows about OFA and AFO, but neither All Might nor Deku have told him about the prophecy. even though Katsuki has firmly elbowed his way into the OFA Scooby Squad and knows about all sorts of other things including SIXQUIRKS and the Vestiges and all that jazz, and he’s been helping Deku train and has been included in pretty much everything for months now, he still doesn’t know about this.

and honestly, this might be the one time where I actually agree with All Might’s decision. I say that as someone who loves Katsuki to pieces and very much wants him to find out about this, because I’m mean and because I love angst. but once again, I get it, though. because you probably don’t want to tell the kid who was thinking this...

...that at the time, when you came to save him back at Kamino, you were thinking something like this:

yeah. I’m just saying. I don’t think it does Katsuki much benefit to know that All Might originally went out to Kamino fully expecting that it would be his last battle, and fully prepared to die the horrible death that Nighteye foretold. like, on the one hand there’s definitely an argument to be made that Katsuki should know about the prophecy just so that he’s prepared in case anything does happen, because he would then be the one to have to step up and replace All Might as Deku’s primary support. (and this is something All Might already seems to have been grooming him for in recent months, which is a bit of a red flag as far as All Might’s mortality prospects are concerned, but that’s another discussion for another day.)

but on the other hand, Katsuki is a pretty smart kid. and if and when he does find out about this, there’s a good chance he’s going to connect the dots and realize that Kamino was actually a hell of a lot riskier than All Might ever let on. and there’s close to a 100% chance that he starts blaming himself all over again if he ever learns that. I don’t think it would set him back too much, because he’s made a lot of progress, but I do think that even now it’s still something that he feels a lot of responsibility for. and so really this is just an additional burden that he doesn’t need to be carrying on his shoulders. Deku’s not the only one who’s still just a kid.

anyway! so tl;dr this is yet another case where All Might was keeping something a secret because he didn’t want to burden Deku. and is, in fact, STILL keeping it secret from Katsuki because he doesn’t want to burden him, either. basically just trying to protect both of these kids here.

6. Nana’s relation to Tomura

almost done with the list now! for real though, it’s crazy how many of these there are. how can one man have so many secrets. like seriously, calm the fuck down, All Might.

so! again, Deku should arguably have been told this as soon as it became clear that the responsibility of dealing with AFO and Tomura was going to fall to him. except, I guess, the thing is they didn’t think it was going to fall to him. or at least they hoped it wouldn’t. AFO was in Tartarus, and Naomasa and Gran were planning on hunting down Tomura and the League themselves. and Deku is just a high school kid with an internship. so in an ideal world, he would have never gotten near Tomura, and vice-versa. the adult heroes in BnHA may be inept as fuck, but I’ll give them credit where due: none of them wanted this kind of responsibility to ever fall on any of the kids until they were ready. even during this arc, the kids were all originally assigned to the evacuation teams, and the handful who were on the front lines were there because it was essential to the mission. and even then they pretty much had assigned babysitters (Midnight, Fatgum, etc.) shadowing them the whole time and ready to haul them back out as soon as their tasks were accomplished. like, don’t get me wrong, the child soldiers thing was and is still very fucked up, lol. but they were clearly trying to keep them out of harm’s way.

anyway! and so of course this applies to Deku as well. never mind that he’s All Might’s heir and well on his way to becoming more powerful than anyone could have ever dreamed. he’s still just a teenager. and we don’t send teenagers out to hunt the bad guys. we leave that to the adults, supposedly. and so in these guys’ minds, there really wasn’t any reason to tell Deku about the whole Nana/Tomura connection, because even if it was true, in their minds it’s not really relevant to Deku. they weren’t planning on him and Tomura becoming arch-nemeses. and so it was really just another thing that All Might presumably didn’t want to burden him with at the end of the day. “by the way, Midoriya-shounen, you should know there’s a possibility that Shigaraki Tomura is actually the grandson of my late mentor whom All for One killed.” that’s basically just a very unfun fact that Deku can do absolutely nothing about, except feel bad about it. it doesn’t change the fact that Tomura is still a mass murderer who’s eventually going to have to be captured or killed. so in All Might’s mind there’s really no benefit to telling Deku about any of this.

anyway! and so now finally, last but not least,

7. the Fourth OFA User

so now we finally get to the one secret we don’t actually know yet! OFA IV, and his whole mysterious deal.

All Might, after doing all that research on the previous OFA users and their quirks, suddenly changed his mind at the last second and decided not to tell Deku about this one specific user and his quirk (and notably, his cause of death). why is that?? “I don’t want to speculate and talk about things I’m not sure of...” really?? so you think the better option is for him to be unprepared and to not have any idea of what’s coming, then??

no, seriously. I’m seriously asking that. does All Might, in fact, think that it’s actually a better option for Deku to not know anything about the fourth user than for him to be aware of it. I am genuinely asking that question, because I truly suspect that this might actually be the case.

because, you see, that’s the pattern. if you look at all the other things he’s kept hidden either from Deku, or from others on Deku’s behalf, that’s the one thing they all have in common. he kept them secret in order to protect Deku. either to shelter him from the burden, or to keep him safe from people who might try to do him harm.

so I think it’s safe to say that even though we know absolutely nothing about this particular secret yet, it’s still going to follow that same pattern. All Might isn’t telling Deku about the Fourth yet either because he doesn’t want to burden him with something, or because he thinks there’s some other reason why Deku is better off not knowing.

here are a few other things we can extrapolate here:

All Might’s next line after this is “because I’m worried for him”, so yeah. whatever the reason, he’s trying to protect Deku somehow.

All Might has a history of avoiding truths he’s not ready to face yet, such as AFO still being alive. so even though he says here that he’s “not sure of” whatever it is he found, it’s very possible that he is in fact pretty sure of it, but just doesn’t want to believe it.

the fact that he wrote something down but then crossed it out would seem to support that as well. he says “not yet”, but I’m definitely not convinced that’s actually the case.

whatever this secret about the fourth user is, it’s something All Might isn’t willing to tell Katsuki either, even though Katsuki specifically presses him about it. this makes me think that it’s not just something shady or unpleasant about the fourth user’s past (like him being a villain for instance), because if it was just something like that, I don’t think he’d be so insistent on hiding it from Katsuki as well. and also that wouldn’t explain why he’s keeping the quirk a secret, especially since he knows Deku is going to manifest it at some point.

so my thinking is that it’s not something about the Fourth’s history, but rather something about his quirk. and after all, the Vestige storyline is mainly about the SIXQUIRKS anyway, so that tracks. and so if it is something related to the Fourth’s quirk, and this something also convinced All Might to hide the Fourth’s cause of death, I think the most likely explanation is that something about the Fourth’s quirk ended up killing him, and All Might fears that this quirk could potentially harm or kill Deku as well.

“but if the Fourth’s quirk is potentially dangerous, then wouldn’t it make more sense to tell Deku about it so that he can be prepared?” well, yeah. definitely it would. unless, of course, All Might has somehow concluded that the danger to Deku is actually GREATER if he knows than if he doesn’t know. in other words, the risk of the quirk manifesting with Deku unaware of what it is, is outweighed by the risk of Deku knowing and manifesting it on purpose.

and this, I think, is where the rest of Katsuki’s conversation with All Might in ch 284 comes into play:

All Might has no doubt observed the same thing himself. and so what I’m thinking is that this must be some kind of super high-risk, high-reward quirk that Deku, if he knew about it, would be tempted to use while battling someone like Tomura, even knowing there was a risk of it hurting or even killing him as well. this is Deku, after all. Deku, who takes himself out of the equation. Deku, who is ALREADY pushing himself to extremes with OFA and has been doing so from the start. Deku, who barring a miracle will be lucky to have even 1/10th of the normal function in his arms when this arc is said and done. and that’s just with normal, everyday OFA and Blackwhip and Float. if you were to go and add some sort of super-self-destruct quirk on top of all that?? jesus christ. they’d be picking up the pieces of what was left of him, probably.

so yeah. if this really does turn out to be the case, and the Fourth’s quirk really is a potential suicide quirk? I could absolutely understand why All Might would keep that hidden from him. once again, it’s all about protecting him and keeping him safe.

and it’s problematic though, for sure! and most likely futile just like all of his other secret-keeping efforts have been. at some point he’s just going to have to start trusting Deku to handle this stuff, and letting him know these things. like it or not, he’s not going to be a kid forever, and Destiny is currently being Thrust Upon Him at a fairly alarming rate! pretending like all of these threats will just magically go away all on their own is not it. if you didn’t want peril lusting over him at every corner then you shouldn’t have chosen a motherfucking Shounen Protag as your motherfucking heir, my dude.

anyway! so those are all of my thoughts about All Might and his secrets. I do think Deku is gonna call him out on it again soon, and I think All Might will be apologetic for not telling him about Tomura and Nana, but I don’t know if it will be enough to finally get him to change his ways and reveal everything else. he is an overprotective dad filled with anxiety over his trouble magnet son and his arm-exploding ways, and it’s a tough position for him to be in, knowing that either way there will be pain that Deku can’t avoid. it’s rough. anyways, maybe I’m too soft, but while I don’t necessarily want him to just keep getting free passes on everything, I kind of hope they don’t rake him over the coals too badly for it either. he means well!! he is doing his best. hopefully they can manage to talk it out, sob.

[sagaiv]

My Thoughts on Brian K Vaughan’s works

I just want to starts off by saying I think Brian K Vaughan was my first “favorite writer” when it can to comic books. Y the last man was the first non-superhero comic I had ever read and it opened me up to so many new titles and ways to use the comic book medium. Brian K Vaughan has never failed to make me fall in love with his characters. I have so many fond memories of his comics. I went back and reread them all again this year and found that I loved them just as much or maybe even more than I did before.

He is very talented at exploring characters through the comic medium by using its specific strengths to do things that wouldn’t translate to other mediums and keep the same meaning or feel quite as sincere. This is just a complicated way of saying I think he uses the medium to explore characters in a way no other medium can. He is also much better at balancing humor, heart, and the serious aspects of his stories so that no one component feels too much. He loves giving his stories a bittersweet ending and for some reason I’m a real sucker for those kinds of endings. No character is safe in his series and yet I never felt like he went overboard with the “edginess” or tried to shock his readers just for the sake of shocking them. Rereading his series actually makes the seeds he plants for certain character’s deaths all the more obvious especially in Saga. Some of the deaths did shock me and I didn’t see them coming but it never felt gratuitous if that makes sense. 

My “brief” thoughts on his series are below the cut. (The ones I want to talk about anyway. I couldn’t fit all of his series. There are some spoilers below the cut.)

Ex Machina: This was a title where the longer I sat with it the more I loved it. It just has so many ways that the story can be interpreted and it has a lot to say about the idea of free will. Mitchell Hundred is such an interesting main character and the questions of the extent of his free will  keep me coming back to the series and character. This story is a tragedy almost anyway you interpret it. If he was acting 100% of his own free will then the descent of his character and morals in pursuit of power is sort of Shakespearean in it’s tragedy. There’s the questions on whether Mitchell was wearing a mask and the man he is at the end is who he really was all along. The plot point of him lying to Kremlin and Bradbury about the power canceling devices brings credence to the idea that he was being manipulative from the beginning. That he knew what he was doing in a way and once he realized he could gain more power by running for office than being a hero he manipulated Bradbury once again into making it so his win was assured. The loss of those around him was entirely his own fault. If he was being controlled or unconsciously pulled in the direction of his descent then it’s tragic because in a way his fate was sealed from the moment he got his powers, he was going to lose everyone in his life regardless if he wanted to or not. This comic really get you thinking and keeps you thinking long after you’ve finished and I love that.

Y the Last Man: Like I said above this was my first non-superhero comic book and returning to it could have been disastrous if it didn’t live up to the nostalgic memories I had of the series. Good thing Y the last man is a great comic. I really love the central trio in this series. Yorick, 355, and Alison Mann are all some of my favorite characters just in general. Yorick, 355, and Dr. Mann all go through a lot of growth and it makes their goodbyes and endings all the more saddening. I was devastated by both 355 and Ampersand’s deaths. These were some of the most emotional deaths in any of the comics I’ve read.  “I’m so goddamn tired of killing.” The sadness of losing 355′s hard earned chance at peace in an instant, with no chance to fight back or even knowing she was in danger, was just so heartbreaking. She finally got a chance to break away from the suffering she’d experienced during life and the “being hard bullshit” and try to be soft for once. Her arc was just so well written that when it came to a close that way it was so heartbreaking in a way I hadn’t experienced with any other character until that point. And Ampersand has been through everything with Yorick so seeing his death was just as hard. Yorick’s growth was truly something special though. His journey from self-centered young man to a mature and caring last man was really something to see. He is a really great protagonist. BKV actually got me to tear up with this series and I have a hard time crying about any media (not because of lack of caring or empathy I just have a hard time letting myself show that emotion). I don’t know if there has been another final two issues of a comic book that hit me as hard as the ones for Y the last man. I really don’t know what I can say about this series that hasn’t already been said. I really do recommend this comic (just know that some views at the very start are a bit dated but by the end you can tell that BKV has a better understanding of those views. I wasn’t personally bothered by it but I know it’s something that people should go into knowing because not everyone is like me). I love this series and I love these characters and this is where I fell in love with BKV as a writer.

Saga: Brian K Vaughan’s magnum opus. I am so glad that it is returning this coming January. I just love just about everything about Saga. Marco, Alana, Prince Robot IV, Hazel, Squire, petrichor, and many more are all great characters. I love the way the comic shows the cycles of violence and how heartbreaking those cycles can be with their consequences. It touches on the cycles of violence in war, generational trauma and how that cycle can be perpetuated or broken, how violence shapes who a person is and who they become, etc. Violence has very real consequences. It can be the ptsd that Prince Robot very clearly has or the way the violence Marko and Prince Robot IV partake in in the first volume coming back to haunt them in the ninth volume or even in the ways Marko and Alana deal with certain aspects of their relationship and how they raise Hazel. You feel all of it. The series is about love, loss, and growth. This may be my favorite comic book series (my top 5 ish series flip flop a bit sometimes if I’m being honest but this is always within the top 3). The diversity of this comic is also a huge plus. It’s always refreshing to see a wide variety of genders, races, ethnicities, etc get the spotlight. I always welcome new perspective and representation so that others can see themselves in these characters. I know I always feel seen when I read about a character like me and it makes me feel less alone and knowing that there are many other people who can feel that way about any of these characters always makes me happy. I just love this comic a lot. (I’ve also personally struggled with intergenerational trauma and being a victim of the cycles of abuse so this story hit hard at a lot of points)

Paper Girls: I’ve seen this comic be described as Stranger things but centered around a group of girls instead of boys and while that is a great pitch to get people to read it I feel like it sells the comic a bit short. I love stranger things I just think that description doesn’t fully capture all the themes the story tackles about our time on this world and the mortality that we are faced with every day. It’s a bit ironic that a story that is talking about the importance of how we spend our time alive is based around time travel and I think that was fully intentional. The girls are all dealing with the reality of their futures and coming to terms with certain aspects of themselves that are a part of who they are. I really like the characters and concept. I wasn’t a huge fan of the fact that the character’s had their memories erased at the end because it felt a bit like the journey was meaningless. There were changes that stuck though and I liked that aspect at least. Mac has started developing feelings for KJ and has dialed back in her internalized homophobia and Erin isn’t as shy and is willing to ask to hang out with the other girls for longer than just their route. There is hope for a different future where the four of them remain friends instead of drift apart. At least Mac doesn’t have to live with the fact that she is going to die young and KJ doesn’t have to live with having killed a man to protect someone. Still a really good series just not as strong of an ending as the rest of his well known series in my opinion. 

Private Eye: This series is the one where I was the least attached to the characters. The concept, world, and execution are what really draw you in. I liked the idea of a world where the generational divide with technology is essentially the reverse of what it currently is. The collapse of the internet and desperation to regain anonymity in a world where all the previous generation’s private information and search history has been made public to everyone is just really fun. It’s a good spin on the typical private investigator story. One thing I love about BKV is his ability to put a spins on common story ideas or genres I should probably say. For the post apocalypse he made Y the last man, for Private Investigator stories he made private eye, for star crossed lovers he made Saga, for time travel he made Paper Girls, for the retired superhero he made Ex Machina and I wouldn’t say that any of these stories were stereotypical. That may just be me but I like how he makes something unique and thought provoking for every seemingly basic story concept. Brian K Vaughan and Marcos Martin are also a very good duo and I enjoy their collaborations on The Walking Dead: The Alien and Barrier (Side note: I really like the decision not to translate for English readers and the art is so expressive you can understand what’s going on regardless). They work really well together. 

Pride of Baghdad: I never thought I could feel this much about a pride of lions. That ending hurt me. I knew how it was going to end based on what I had heard of the real life events it was based on but I still wasn’t prepared when it happened. The optimism and cynicism of the characters towards their new situation contrasted really well. Safa was probably my favorite because of her tough outward portrayal contrasting with her fiercely protective nature especially towards Ali. The art was just gorgeous. I love what animation and comics can do with showing emotions on animals. The fact that I came to love these lions in the short page count is a testament to BKV’s character writing. I don’t want to say much about this title since not many people have read it. If you are reading this and haven’t yet picked this series up I highly recommend doing so.

[gakkubi]

Ame Trio Analysis: Konan

I want to share some thoughts on the Ame Trio/Ame Orphans because I do think they have one of the most complex, interesting and beautiful arcs in the Narutoverse. I will discuss their personalities and thoughts. This post is about Konan, there are also Yahiko and Nagato. (3/3): I'll end with Konan because she's the one who lives the longer and is impacted by both Yahiko and Nagato's death.

KONAN:

Also available in Russian: ссылка на русский перевод

Konan is possibly the hardest character to analyse because her stand-alone arc is the last one to appear, and the story doesn't dwell on her ideals and motivations until the very end - despite that, it's my personal belief she's one of the best female characters developed in the series. With a few exceptions, female characters in the Narutoverse will usually take the position of supporting the male characters - but unlike most of the other women, Konan's position of support actually makes sense with her character.

A person not being the "original creator" of the philosophy they follow or joining other characters to achieve a common goal does not mean they don't have a mind or will of their own; Konan is just as free to make her own decisions as the other characters.

While Yahiko takes the role of "fallen hero" and Nagato is the "unwilling protagonist", Konan is the ever-present observer; she's the last one to take the spotlight in the Ame Trio storyline, and with her, the last open ends are closed. Konan is the element which endured throughout all of the Ame Trio's different phases, from their start to their brightest and darkest points until the very end. She's the Angel, the one who will carry and reinforce the will she has received.

Konan has a moral trait which makes her strikingly different from Yahiko and Nagato; she is not loyal to abstract ideals, but rather concrete ones. Even though Yahiko and Nagato eventually digress on their philosophies, both dedicate their lives to the pursuit of peace and give up their lives to guarantee the survival of their goal, as abstract as it may be.

Konan, on the other hand, is loyal to people; of course she had beliefs of her own, but they mostly come from a local perspective, not a universal one. She's loyal to Amegakure; to her country, to her people, her citizens, her friends.

It's heavily implied in the story (more in the anime than the manga) that the people of Amegakure held her in high esteem (perhaps even more than they held Pain himself). This shines a new light on Konan, who early on the story was just an unknown villain of the Akatsuki - in fact, we come to learn most of the important aspects of her personality lie outside of the classic, evil Akatsuki.

To understand Konan it's important to understand the Ame Trio's dynamic as a whole; it's fundamental to consider that, just like Nagato, Konan owes her life to Yahiko's fierce will of surviving- her backstory alone with Yahiko is never shown but it's heavily implied that she was just as dependent on him as Nagato was. Like Nagato, her personality is much more passive and quiet until provoked.

Both Konan and Nagato were Yahiko's followers, and they were happy that way - they believed in his dream and his philosophy and found in the Akatsuki the meaning of their lives. It's important to understand that Yahiko's goals are also her goals, regardless if she was the one who created them or not; it's better to say he first inspired her into creating such dreams for herself.

Many other (very popular and loved) characters in the Naruto universe follow dreams and philosophies not originally created by themselves and are not perceived as mere "followers without opinion" like Konan sometimes is.

A common reason for the misunderstanding of Konan's character to claim she has no will of her own is that she continued to support Nagato even though he suffers an immense personality and philosophical shift after Yahiko's death. It's often wondered why Konan decided to stay by Nagato's side after Yahiko's death despite his radical change, and it's often associated with her having no ideas of her own. This is not true; the story builds a very logical and realistic reason for her to continue supporting him regardless of her truly agreeing with his new peace philosophy.

Very much like Nagato, Konan saw the people she loved and her reasons to live be taken away from her twice. The first time, it was Yahiko who gave both of them meaning and direction; the second time Nagato and Konan found themselves having nothing again - all they had was the legacy Jiraiya and Yahiko left behind.

Konan's life was saved by Yahiko twice; first when he helped her survive and second when he sacrificed himself so she could escape Hanzo's trap. It's important to realize the reason why Hanzo could trap Yahiko and Nagato is that they captured her first; although we have no evidence for this, it's possible Konan also felt guilt for "giving" the enemy a token to which they could manipulate Yahiko into obedience.

Yahiko being a key factor on her survival (both physical and mental) and her feeling responsible for his death are both factors that could result in her feeling immense guilt and a sense of debt with him. Like Nagato, Konan couldn't just let Yahiko's death be pointless after giving up his life for them.

Any reasonable person would have their hope shaken after seeing Yahiko get killed after his "non-violence, mutual understanding" philosophy failed. It would take an enormous endurance and faith to lose a person who she loved and keep on trying the same thing with the hope that "next time things will work as intended." Perhaps, things would never work as Yahiko imagined - perhaps his original plan needed adaptations.

However, unlike Nagato, Konan hadn't been conditioned by either Jiraiya or Yahiko to think that she was the one who would find the key to peace; she didn't spend her life pressured by the responsibility of coming up with a plan. Nagato was the one who the former leaders trusted would find the answer to end all the wars - and he stepped up to continue the "plan to peace" with his new ideas of how to get there.

And there's yet another important factor in all this; Yahiko had left her with a mission - the mission of supporting Nagato. The conversation where Yahiko entitles her with the responsibility of being by Nagato's side is highlighted in her fight against Obito to tell us, the audience, why Konan is so determined to help Naruto now - her mission of protecting the "savior of the world", originally given by Yahiko, had been transferred from supporting Nagato to Naruto.

Once we see the perspective of her feeling like she was in debt with Yahiko for saving her life twice - and adding love and guilt to the mixture, which makes it much harder for reason to overpower emotion -, it's easy to see why it could be hard to nearly impossible for her to dismiss the last mission she could actually complete; following Yahiko's will was a way of still being connected to him after he was gone.

Both Nagato and Konan nearly lost the meaning of their lives when Yahiko was killed and the original Akatsuki destroyed - both clinged to what they had left. Neither ever had a proper environment to deal with the grief they felt, a grief that echoed a childhood trauma that shaped all of their lives.

All of these factors are reasons why it would be hard for Konan to look objectively at what she was doing by supporting Nagato's new philosophy; however, Konan wasn't just guilt trapped into being by his side.

Konan, as I stated before, is much more pragmatic than her counterparts; she's loyal to what is hers - her friends, her nation. Even if we ignore the guilt or the "mission", it's safe to assume she would have stayed by his side anyway; Nagato was all the family she had left, and she was loyal to what was hers above all else.

Perhaps, if the mental conditions weren't so harsh, Konan could have resisted or opposed some of Nagato's new radical ideas more than she already did - debated with him, perhaps they could have convinced each other to stay in Yahiko's path. In the anime, Obito even says he relied on Konan for "calming" Nagato, which tells us that she reasoned with him to some extent - however, neither of them were able to keep their pain from overriding the morals they previously had.

Konan has a mind of her own, and it's shown to us in the moments where she disagrees either visually or verbally with Nagato's actions; Jiraiya's death, Konoha's destruction and the conversation with Naruto are moments where she confronts him. She is shown disagreeing with Nagato on multiple instances, which is proof that she felt she could voice her discontent with him - that she didn't feel completely trapped by guilt or that all she had to do was simply obey him; she was not just a voiceless "Angel" obeying her "God." We're also shown that Nagato disregards many of her opinions - by the time he becomes a villain, he is extremely narcissistic and confident in his hability to make the right choice - but that doesn't keep her from voicing her disagreement anyway.

It's not clear to us, the audience, how much Konan was hurt by Nagato's disregard (we're shown she is uncomfortable to some extent); it's the combination of her guilt, Yahiko's "mission" and her own faith in Nagato's plan that keeps her following their goal.

All the members of the Ame Trio value the search for peace above everything else, each in their own particular way.

Unlike Nagato, Konan has a much clear and objective way of thinking, interested only in what will serve them to achieve their goal and dismissing everything else that will not be useful.

Konan is never shown having any interest whatsoever in the other members of the Akatsuki (she never engages in the conversations they have), in the people of Konoha (which is why she condones wasting energy on being violent with them) or even in what Naruto has to say. All that she cares about is what is hers - her nation, her family; she's completely indifferent to everything else.

(That being said, I must note we don't know how her relationships with the other Akatsuki work as it would be impossible for her to spend almost 20 years without interacting with the other members. One of Konan's most important traits is her kindness, so it's "in character" to assume she would treat them respectfully and kindly, being fond of them to some extent; it's also safe to assume she didn't care about them at all, given her behavior in the manga. I think both interpretations are equally canonical because they lean on different aspects of her personality to fill a backstory we're never shown).

Although Konan is never shown being especially inclined to violence, her indifference and disergard for everything that is not hers - together with her own belief on Nagato's plan and the suffering which she endured - allows her to be the cold-blooded leader and killer she eventually becomes.

Konan believed in Nagato - like both Jiraiya and Yahiko did - while recognizing his flaws. When Naruto received recognition and acceptance from Nagato, he was incorporated to Konan's definition of what is "hers"; she aligns him in a sequence of "saviors" who she believed, a sequence that began with Yahiko and continued with Nagato. She makes the conscious decision of giving up her life for her dream of peace as Yahiko and Nagato have done before her.

Obito is the example of a person who Konan never incorporated on what is "hers" - this is clear on their fight where she says she studied his moves and his powers all the years they have worked together, and also clear on the passive-aggressive conversation they have after Jiraiya's death (Chapter 407). The way their relationship works - especially considering that she spent approximately half of her life working with him - also shows that Konan doesn't blindly support other characters for the sake of supporting them; for all we know, she trusted him much less than Nagato did.

It's also in Konan's fight with him that we see her analytical intelligence at full bloom - I dare say she is the most intelligent of the trio when it comes to strategy; first, for not ever truly trusting Obito to begin with (possibly because Yahiko also didn't), and second for being able to set a strategy that effectively killed him (hence why he used Izanagi - he was killed by her) with information based on her own observations.

Konan is extremely careful and precise; she pays incredible attention to detail, being able to draw accurate conclusions after analyzing just a little information.

Konan isn't ever shown to be hateful or angry, with the exception of her encounter with Jiraiya, where she treats him with spite, taunting him with the idea that following Orochimaru's suggestion could have avoided all the trouble he was going through with the Akatsuki. It's one of the few times we see Konan treating anyone in a way that is not kind or neutral, as if she held some type of resentment against Jiraiya - I like to think she blamed him, in a way or another, for not preparing them well enough for the cruelty of the world; for letting them be so naïve that Yahiko could be killed in a trap easily avoidable. It's obvious that Konan still held Jiraiya in some regard as it's easier for people to lash out on those who they like the most - after many years interacting with people to whom she was completely indifferent (outside of Nagato), Konan was finally talking to a person she had feelings for.

She is also - as described by Jiraiya and also viewed on the characters memories - a very kind, gentle, caring person; the very fact that she chose to save Nagato by sharing food with him shows her predisposition to helping others. Her kindness wasn't lost after Yahiko's death, but mostly replaced by the indifference she felt at everything that did not contemplate her goals, her family or her nation. After she accepts Naruto as being "one of her own" and sharing goals with him, she's quick to display kindness towards him and indirectly make amends with Jiraiya in the process.

As quiet, introspective person, Konan is very self-sufficient; although she is a member of the Akatsuki, she only interacts with them when necessary, probably spending most of her time alone or caring for Amegakure's business (as she shared both Akatsuki and Amegakure's leadership with Nagato and he was more active with the Akatsuki, it's safe to assume she cared for the other half). Her quiet, calmer nature matches that of Nagato; they could find understanding by having similar thought processes and also having a harder time processing their feelings, finding sympathy and comfort in each other.

Although I have mentioned that Konan might have felt a sense of debt towards Yahiko for saving her life, I want to highlight I see this feelings as possible only after his death because of its traumatizing circumstances; I don't think she felt she owed him anything while they were all alive, especially because it's never shown that he ever demanded such recognition. Yahiko and Konan have very distinct energies and personalities that complete each other, their relationship has a strong foundation because they share the same core beliefs and traits; loyalty and faith. I can see her falling in love with him for many reasons and one of them being by her admiring how hard he works to achieve the goal of peace.

Konan is a person that feels gentle and kind towards life as a whole; she doesn't seem to need much to be happy - as a child she made origami to pass time and have fun (and eventually used her intelligence to turn her passion into power); as an adult, the anime dedicates a scene to show her smiling to the rain while thinking of happy memories - happy for the sake of being in peace with the new direction she was taking her life after she and Nagato found someone to believe in again.

(Edit: Unfortunately I could not add another image to the post to illustrate this comment, but I wanted to talk about one aspect of Konan's personality that I like a lot and also forgot to mention. Despite her collected and serious demeanor, she also has a tendency to taunt people, a bit similar to Nagato's taste for ironic jokes. This is shown just a few times. In chapter 373, when Yahiko says he will save Nagato the next time something happens, Konan makes fun of him by remarking that Nagato is actually stronger than him, and she laughs when he gets annoyed. As I showed before, she also provokes Jiraiya with the hypothesis of things being better if Orochimaru had killed them. In her fight with Obito, despite his clear disinterest in what she was saying, Konan goes on to explain why Nagato and her betrayed him, and why he will never win. During the Water on a Frog's Face Training with Jiraiya she's also shown laughing at Yahiko's clumsiness. In my opinion, the way she evidently enjoys herself when she mocks people is strikingly contrasting to her generally unaffected personality, and personally I like that most of those times Yahiko was involved. Both in the anime, because of the animation, and in the manga because of Yahiko's surprise, I'm also under the impression that she was the one to initiate their kiss).

All of the Rain Trio's characters have very distinct and interesting psychologies; personally, I find Konan to be the most complex one because of the extreme discrepancies she displays, sometimes warm and kind, sometimes extremely cold and indifferent. I think the way she seems to only care about a very limited aspect of things is very attractive, as it shows how focused she is on her goals - as a nonviolent person, the most cruel act of Konan as a villain comes from her apathy to everyone else that is not part of what is "hers." Unlike Nagato and most of the other members of the Akatsuki who actively indulge in vile acts, she simply pursues her goals, removing anything and anyone on her way.

When he watch Konan's childhood, we see a child that is kind and light-hearted despite of all the pain she has endured, and only after being inflicted by yet another wave of suffering Konan's empathy and hope are shaken to the core; however, we learn her feelings were not dead but rather dormant, and it's by reconnecting to her core traits and beliefs that she finally finds peace in the very end.

[cosmicjoke]

Okay, here we go, chapters 83 and 84 of SnK!

Now I know I’ve already talked extensively about these chapters, specifically about Levi’s choice on the rooftop.  But this is the first time I’ve read the actual chapter all the way through, so I have a few observations I’d like to talk about!

First, after having read the chapter, I think it’s an undeniable fact that Levi’s choice is the result of several factors and considerations on his part, and anyone who thinks or insists that he made it purely out of consideration for Erwin either didn’t actually read the chapter, or wasn’t paying any kind of attention.  This was a multifaceted, deeply considered decision on Levi’s part, one that he clearly struggled and thought over with great scrutiny and caution before coming to a conclusion.

We see Levi first hesitate to give Eren the serum for Armin because he’s still holding out hope at the possibility of Erwin somehow having survived.  We can see this isn’t just a consideration on Levi’s part for the usefulness Erwin would provide humanity, but also a personal one.  Levi clearly cares deeply about Erwin (no, not romantically), but as a friend.  As one of his closest and dearest friends.  This is a difficult choice for Levi to make on a personal level, in having to let go of one of the few people he has left in his life that he’s close to.  Still, Levi is aware of the improbability of Erwin still being alive, and time is of the essence where Armin is concerned, so we already see Levi letting go of Erwin here as he begins to hand Eren the serum.  Of course, Floch just has perfect timing, because just as Levi is doing so, he appears with Erwin on his back, and thus ensues the whole drama.  

Levi’s reasoning for deciding on Erwin then and there has more to do with Erwin’s usefulness to humanity, I think.  Levi had already moved past the personal pain of losing a friend, and here we see him considering what would most benefit humanity.  He tells everyone he’s choosing the man who will save humanity, and in that moment, Levi fully believes that to be Erwin.  This isn’t even a contest, he thinks.

But then everyone starts talking, and things get crazy.  Mikasa attacks Levi, Levi tells he she must know that Erwin is humanity’s only hope, then Eren starts talking about how it’s been Armin’s plans and realizations which have, time and time again, gotten them as far as they’ve come, how he’s the one who’s gotten them to this exact point.  Then Floch jumps in and starts ranting and raving about Erwin being a devil, and how it’s Floch’s destiny, to have survived the charge at the Beast Titan to bring the devil back to life, speaking too about how he felt Erwin deserved to be brought back into the hell of the world.  The thing with Levi here is that he LISTENS.  He’s listening to everyone.  All of this is having a major impact on him, and this is represented by how many close up’s we get in the panels here of Levi’s eyes, his pained, consideration expressions.  Levi is absorbing all of this.

Finally, we get Eren entreating and asking Levi if he knows about the ocean, before starting to talk about Armin’s dream.  He says “But Armin’s different!  Fighting isn’t all he has!  He has dreams!”.  This is, I think, a majorly important line in understanding Levi’s ultimate decision.  

The following panels show Levi struggling with what to do.  Immediately following Eren’s pleas, Levi remembers the conversation he’d overheard the night before, recalling Armin’s bright-eyed enthusiasm and hope in the future.  He remembers looking from behind the wall he was sat against and seeing that look in Armin’s eyes of genuine belief and joy.  And then he remembers his last interaction with Erwin, and asking Erwin what will happen if his dream comes true, and Erwin admitting that he doesn’t know.  Erwin’s own eyes in Levi’s memory are downcast and without light.  Without the fresh hope and belief that Armin’s had.  Erwin said “I just want to go to that basement.”.  That’s where Erwin’s dream ends.  That’s as far as his dream goes, and beyond that, he dreams nothing.  Once he’s realized it, Erwin’s dream ends, and with it, the thing that’s driving his will to live.  Armin’s dream, by contrast, is still far away and infinite in its possibilities.  A dream which still stirs in him a limitless hope for the future.  Armin’s dream has no end in sight, only a beginning, only possibility, only more dreams born from realizing the one.  Levi remembers Kenny’s words then, about how everyone he’d ever met was couldn’t keep going unless they were “drunk on something”.  Levi recalls this immediately on the heels of remembering Erwin’s confession about his own dream, and the limitations of it.

He’s already hesitating here, then, in choosing Erwin, because of everything everyone’s said, and because of what he’s remembering.  He has the syringe at Erwin’s arm, but he doesn’t inject him.  He hesitates, he waits.  He looks over at Armin.  I think Levi is already considering here that Erwin’s dream, and thus the thing that had been driving Erwin on and giving him motivation to keep going, was exhausted.  Was at its end.  And that Armin’s dream was exactly the opposite, not yet realized, and ripe with possibilities for the future.  A still hopeful dream.  Levi already knows this, and it’s what’s staying his hand here, what’s keeping him from injecting Erwin.  The realization that the thing which allowed Erwin to give so much to humanity, and be such an asset to humanity, that dream which gave Erwin the strength to be the commander that he was, is wasted, and Erwin is wasted with it, used up and dried out.  The thing which drives Armin, which gives Armin strength, isn’t.  Isn’t even close to being spent.  Hange talked earlier, while trying to talk Mikasa down, about humanity needing Erwin’s experience and leadership.  But you can see Levi already realizing the opposite here.  It isn’t experience and leadership humanity needs now.  It isn’t practicality and strategy.  It’s hope.  Humanity needs someone who can give it hope, someone who can inspire a belief in a real future, someone who can make all of them believe in a future worth fighting for.  This is the key difference now between Erwin and Armin.  Armin has the strategic capability and observational skill, yes, but Hange is right when she says it’s undeveloped and Armin is still too inexperienced to take on the role of commander.  But Levi realizes in this moment that that isn’t what’s important, but rather, Armin’s optimism in a brighter tomorrow.  

And then, Erwin’s arm comes up, and he starts muttering incoherently about his dream, asking his father how he knows people beyond the wall don’t exist, and this is what drives the decision home for Levi.  He thinks of Erwin’s resignation and despair, sitting on that crate, confessing to what it was that had always driven him. Levi thinks of then making the choice for Erwin to become the commander everyone always believed him to be and give up on his own, toxic dream.  He thinks of Kenny, and him giving Levi the serum, and his words about everyone needing to be drunk on something to keep going, and then Erwin telling Levi “Thank you”, for allowing him to break free of the prison of his dream, for giving him the chance to rise above the selfishness of it, and give noble meaning to all his previous actions and decisions.  For allowing Erwin to let go and find release and peace in death, because his dream was no longer something he could cling to as a reason to live.  And then he thinks again of Armin, and the hope and light in his eyes, the belief he had in something better, the genuine joy and optimism.  And that’s it.  That’s what decides it for Levi.  It’s both the desire to give Erwin the peace he’s earned, to let Erwin rest and be free of the hell he’s been living in, and also the realization that Erwin’s dream, the thing that made him so effective as a commander, the thing that drove him, is spent and dead, leading nowhere and to nothing but further pain and darkness, both for Erwin himself, and for humanity itself, while Armin’s dream is bright and hopeful and full of beauty.  Armin’s dream still has a beating and passionate heart, which can lend its strength to humanity and help all of them to realize a future worth living and fighting for.  It’s the exhausted finality of Erwin’s dream reaching it’s end, versus the infinite possibilities of Armin’s dream still there to be realized.   It’s the past versus the future.  Levi knows that humanity needs a future to believe in if it’s going to survive.  Not a past which has lost its motivation to live.  

Okay, just a few more, small moments I want to talk about too.

Particularly, I want to talk about the moment when Floch starts to run at Mikasa to get her off of Levi, and Mikasa lifts her blade, clearly with the intention of cutting Floch down.  Levi, for the first time since Mikasa jumped him and held her blade to his throat, ardently protests and fights back, screaming at Mikasa to “Stop it!!”.  It’s when the life of one of their comrades is being threatened, that Levi is spurred into action, trying to prevent Mikasa from killing Floch.  It’s a small moment that gets lost in the gravity of everything that follows, but it’s incredibly telling, once more, of the kind of person Levi is.  He fights for Floch’s life here, even as he made no protest for his own just moments before.  Even for a bastard like Floch, Levi values his life enough to fight for it.

It’s also a true testament to the way Levi places the lives of his comrades above all else, that once he realizes that Armin is still alive, he gives up on his pursuit of Zeke.  Levi had been in a rage just moments before, ordering Eren to give him his ODM gear so he could keep going after Zeke, determined to bring him down.  But he makes absolutely no mention of it again, or shows any intention of continuing that chase once Armin proves to still be breathing.  Levi’s priority immediately shifts to saving a life.

There’s also a moment in chapter 83, with Jean and Hange, that’s super important as well.  With Jean once more struggling with the thought of killing Reiner, while Hange is fully ready to commit to it.  Jean intervenes, and stays Hange’s blade, which ultimately leads to Zeke recapturing Reiner and them getting away.  Jean blames himself for this development, and Hange tells him no, it was their decision to not kill Reiner, not Jean’s.  Still, Jean is once more hit with the harsh reality of warfare.  That hesitating to kill one’s enemy in order to spare one’s own conscience, or out of a too strict and naive idealism, can and will lead to casualties and loss for your own side.  There’s no such thing as war without violence.  You can’t get away with sparing the lives of your enemies if you truly want to win.  You can only show mercy at the risk of your own goals, and often at the expense of the lives of yourself and your comrades.  There are no half-measures in war.  This is clearly a hard-earned lesson for these kids, one they’re still struggling with.  Hange’s own hesitation has nothing to do with their wavering commitment, but rather it a calculated choice in an attempt to maximize their sides victory.  Hange is past holding onto naive idealism when it comes to dealing with their enemies.  They know the sacrifices necessary to ensuring success, those sacrifices often including ones own moral righteousness.  

Ah, one more point to make.  I think this is also a really important chapter for Eren’s character development, and understanding him as a character.  I think this is maybe the first time Eren recognizes his own, monstrous tendencies.  He acknowledges that he’s only ever had hatred within him, a desire for revenge and the destruction of the Titans.  He says it’s Armin who will save humanity, not him or Erwin.  We see Eren realizing here for the first time that it isn’t him who can act as humanities savior, because he’s beginning to recognize in himself what actually drives him, and how it isn’t a vision or a dream of hope for the future, but rather a vicious, unquenchable rage and compulsion for destruction.  Eren recognizes for the first time that where Armin desires to create and has in him the ability to see beyond the walls to freedom, Eren himself is trapped by his own,  dark nature, unable to move past his own, destructive impulses.  I know it’s after this arc when we start to really see Eren withdraw more into himself, and push his friends away.  I think this is where we see Eren really realize for the first time that there’s something essential lacking in him.  Something missing in him, that everyone else has.  Maybe that thing is an ability to believe in the true possibility of freedom, an ability to really hope.

[theravennest]

Hot Loki Take: Sylvie was Right

*Spoilers for all of Loki the series up to and including ep 6.

Sylvie was right to kill He Who Remains and free the timeline.

I’m deadass.

He Who Remains forced reality into an endless cycle between a time of Order (he rules as dictator) & a time of simulated and controlled "Chaos" (his Conqueror variants wage war). I say this “chaos” is simulated because when you think about it, it’s chaos that He Who Remains arranges himself by manipulating Lokis.

He Who Remains is so fucking sus but for some reason people are just tripping over their own feet to believe everything he says and vilify Sylvie for killing him. 

He literally tells them (and us) that his methods are deceptive and we know for a fact that he’s willing to murder trillions upon trillions of people, planets, and realities to get the outcome he wants. Yet some are still believing everything he says cuz he said maybe 4 things that were truthful, I guess, and cuz he’s cute. Some of us are so blinded by the fear/anticipation of Kang the Conqueror’s arrival, we are letting him bamboozle us.

He Who Remains perfectly and personally tailored the Ordered period of the timeline to produce this exact Sylvie and this exact Loki, had them meet/influence each other, and then had them travel to the end of time...to him.

Now Lokis by nature are agents of chaos and could suddenly swerve left, so to speak, for no reason. So let’s assume I believe that He Who Remains didn’t 100% know what they would choose once they crossed the Threshold (if the Threshold he described is even real, tbh). He also so carefully molded both of their entire lives for that moment in the Citadel. He may not have known 100% but he knew at least 90% of how they would react to everything he said and did when they were both pushed to this place/mindset.

Notice how he teed them up for the fight that ended in his death:

Manufacturing a scenario where they would meet via the TVA’s variant pursuit.

Manufacturing a scenario where they would travel to the Void and meet Alioth.

Kid Loki being in just the right place to give his sword to Loki.

Miss Minutes appearing to menacingly offer an obvious devil’s bargain.

Him slyly telling Sylvie that she can’t trust Loki, putting it into her head just before he gives them his ultimatum.

All of these thing practically gift wrapped that ending to the Loki on Sylvie fight.

Let’s elaborate.

What was even the point of Miss Minutes offering to re-insert them into the same Sacred Timeline with both getting their hearts’ desires there? 

Not more than ten minutes later He Who Remains told Loki and Sylvie to their faces that he manipulated all this for the sole purpose of making them choose between taking over as rulers of the TVA or killing him and ushering in a Multiversal War. Neither of those choices would result in re-inserting Loki and Sylvie back into the timeline.

So what is the truth? Why waste precious moments with a creepy Miss Minutes menacing them in that vestibule scene?

Notice how Miss Minutes’ words pushed Loki further onto his path of no longer wanting power or a throne but desiring to change his attitude about himself and the universe. Notice how her words conversely pushed Sylvie into balking at the idea of accepting another “fictional” life after a lifetime of being manipulated and made her double down on her mission to free the timeline and get revenge.

Sylvie has the ability to see memories but interesting how he kept her distracted by condescending to her and provoking her, just stoking the fire to make her react negatively. (Interesting how he was far more focused on Sylvie’s reactions than Loki’s, most likely because he needed her to kill him for his plans to work.)

Now I don’t want to completely shift responsibility for her choices away from Sylvie. In truth, if she had held in her vengeance for let’s say an hour and trusted Loki a bit more, they could’ve sat down to talk about things and maybe found a third solution other than starting a Multiversal War or ruling the TVA that still could’ve even allowed her to get revenge. (More on the ultimatum later.)

But I can’t blame her for losing her cool, either. He Who Remains made damn sure she would burn as hot as possible because he tailor made her life to give her the personality he wanted. And any other version of her out there who might have made a different choice would’ve already been pruned.

He Who Remains tells Loki and Sylvie straight up that he set them on their particular life paths because he needed them to be “changed by the journey” to ensure everyone in that room was in exactly the right mindset to do what was needed to “finish the quest” and presumably “slay the dragon,” aka Him. (Notice the parallels to the speaker narration just before episode 2′s fight at the Ren Fair.)

We don’t know! Sylvie never enchanted him to read his memories because she was so filled with rage and Loki was too busy trying to stop her, he didn’t think to do it either. And we’ve already established that He Who Remains trained them that way. Nothing that happened in that office was without He Who Remains’ influence and meddling.

Another nail in the coffin that convinces me that He Who Remains is a no good dirty liar is Renslayer.

If He Who Remains’ end goal was to either have the Lokis choose to rule the TVA or destroy it and thus end up with no memory of her previous TVA judge role/life, why did he send Miss Minutes to Ravonna with files that caused her to pack her bags and search for what she calls “free will,” AKA the one in charge?

I’d bet dollars to donuts that when the next season rolls around the only people who will know what’s going on and still have their memories will be Loki, Miss Minutes, Sylvie, and Ravonna. (Maybe Kang the Conqueror will know as well but I could see it going the other way too. I’m 50-50.)

He Who Remains was planning something by pushing Ravonna the way he did. Does he want her out of the TVA so she doesn’t lose her memories when everything resets? Does he want her to go find the Conqueror version of himself? I mean, at this point, practically everyone knows who she is to Kang in the comics, so let’s not pretend that’s not an option.

Another thing to think about...it’s super suspicious that he was so eager to make them believe he’s one of the “good versions” of Kang and all these others are much worse while giving absolutely no evidence of that outside of an interactive blob powerpoint, a quirky attitude, and a couple of sad, weary faces????

Who’s to say He Who Remains isn’t playing the long game and always manipulates his variants to eventually give him the chance to seize control of the multiverse?

Who’s to say he’s not one of the Kangs that wanted to conquer too? Funny how the “pure of heart” Kang is the one who still wrested control of all reality, killed off every other timeline with a weapon of mass destruction, installed a fascist time bureaucracy, and set himself up as the dictator. Sounds an awful lot like some conqueror shit to me, just saying.

Even wilder theory: what if this really is the same Kang the Conqueror but at the end of his life? We only have hhis word that he’s a variant. He Who Remains tells Loki that this fight is for the “young and hungry.” Maybe the “young and hungry” he’s referring to is not Loki and Sylvie at all but his literal younger self. Perhaps he set up this entire cycle of chaos and order so that he can perpetually live, conqueror, rule, die, and start all over again? Reincarnation, as he says...

But let’s set that wild theory aside for a moment. Let’s circle back to the Multiversal War debate and say it really is is caused by an infinite amount of his variants.

I think it’s hella sus that He Who Remains was so insistent that Loki and Sylvie only had two choices to resolve this riddle: Multiversal War or running the TVA almost exactly the way he did while maintaining only a single timeline. Those are definitely not the only two options they had. In fact, I could probably name 1-3 other options off the top of my head right now:

Keep He Who Remains alive while learning how he manipulated time and using those skills to slowly unleash the multiverse while killing every version of Kang to prevent him from existing as either conqueror or dictator.

Kill He Who Remains, take over the TVA, and slowly change it to something not horrific or even build a brand new system for governing time.

Kill or keep He Who Remains, still take over the TVA, slow rollout the Multiverse and kill or prevent every Kang along the way.

(I’m not saying these aren’t also morally questionable options, I’m just saying they are different from the two choices He Who Remains presented.)

But let’s say these options I suggested are not feasible. I just randomly came up with them ten minutes ago so it would be fair if they were picked apart logically. 

So let’s contemplate this, instead:

Why should we assume/believe that a Multiversal War is actually a bad thing again??? Why are we assuming that He Who Remains’ Sacred Timeline really saved reality from total collapse? 

Assuming he told the truth about his motives, maybe he was just...wrong about the end of reality. Maybe he saw what he thought was the conclusion to the Multiversal War coming and erroneously believed it to be the end of everything but actually it was the multiverse sorting itself out and everything would’ve been fine after.

We (and He Who Remains too) will never know because not only did he not show any evidence to back up his claim that reality was on the brink of collapse, but he himself never allowed things to play out naturally. Whenever the end of the war comes to the brink of something, he always panics, weaponizes Alioth, and traps the universe in his cage of Order with the TVA.

Even more controversial take...maybe the collapse of timelines and the end of everything should be allowed to happen. Maybe the natural cycle of reality is to build and build, splinter and splinter timelines, until it collapses and starts all over again from the void.

Nothing is created and nothing is destroyed, all things exist in a cycle so why should the multiverse be any different?

After all in all, in all three possibilities an infinite number of timelines is destined to suffer and die. Whether it be during the Kang-controlled Order period, Kang-controlled fake Chaos period, or the unrestrained natural Chaos that collapses in on itself...an untold amount of people are dying anyway. There’s only one of those scenarios that has actual unrestrained free will where those people get to exist how they want, make choices they want (even bad ones) for as long as they can.

(Personally, I’ll take that over what the Kangs have wrestled the multiverse into.)

I’ll just take this moment to re-iterate: trust nothing He Who Remains says. He’s a known liar and manipulator, and unlike Loki he has done absolutely nothing to actionably show he’s not still lying or to show that he’s trying to change outside of some sad looks. It’s all pantomime, bruh. Like, the pageantry of it all astounds me. 

Is he maybe telling some truths? Sure. But that doesn’t mean he’s not using the truth to manipulate everything. It’s an illusion, I’m telling y’all! He was up to no fucking good.

Sylvie was far more right to kill him than to not. Loki, Sylvie, & team (prolly also the latest Avengers lineup too) now just need to find a way to break this Kang cycle.

[pantheon-god-of-war]

If possible, are there any Pantheon skins that you wish to be Canon?

Just give us a Legendary The Warrior skin of Pantheon reborn.

Lore wise it could be after the Ruination. Atreus has expelled Pantheon from his body with his own gritty resolve, Pantheon requires a vessel to take form in mortal shape but the war of the Ruination has caused so much havoc and strengthened him so much that he manages to keep a corporal form for a brief while. He retreats to the peak of Targon and to spite Atreus revives his long-dead friend Pylas to possess and mold his flesh to the war gods needs. Pantheon is fully in control because Pylas has long since died, only using the body himself.

Now Pantheon pursues the interests of Targon and his own dark desires while Atreus tries to actively counter the War god. Both will still fight the darkin, but for different reasons. Pantheon will do so because they threaten Targon Prime and Atreus does so to save the humans that's would undoubtedly die in the wake of the darkin.

VOICELINES

Pantheon differs from Atreus in a few key aspects (heh) where Atreus is noble and stalwart, Pantheon is deliberate and ruthless, where Atreus anger towards the gods is a cold and determined hate Pantheon's contempt for mortals, darkin and all those who would face him is clearly made evident, he speaks with pride, being condescending to everyone he encounters, thirsting for another challenge to vanquish. His LoR voice lines already highlight his personality quite well and I think the sound effects work perfectly for him, that could all be ported from LoR into league to replicate the sound effect. Voice line wise he could have interactions with the following:

Pantheon (Atreus) - While Pantheon does not outright hate Atreus like let's say Aatrox for example he sees the mortal man as a failure of a warrior, knowing only defeat his entire life. Interactions would be more condescending.

Ascended Pantheon - Here Pantheon would see Ascended Atreus as a worthy challenge, something along the lines of "Perhaps now you can prove yourself worthy." Or something more condescending. "No matter the cosmic might you hold, you will always be a mortal."

Aatrox - He loathes Aatrox with a passion for what he did to him, but also realizes that the Darkin might be his only true equal combat-wise.

Leona - Pantheon would be fond of Leona, applaud her for her fine work, call her the daughter of Targon, and that the sun is proud of what she has wrought upon the Mountain. He would tell her that she is right, that she needs to defend her people from the coming darkness and not grow careless upon her golden throne. He would support the militaristic order of the Solari and goad on their zealous witch hunt as in the end all he cares about is war and the more carnage Leona causes on the mountain in the name of the sun, the stronger he gets.

Diana - Diana is the same as Leona, he would tell her to keep fighting, to hold on and think of her people. That he can see the cracks in the Solari foundation and that soon the moon will triumph. Much like Leona, these are sweet lies to goad both of them onward to fight harder and grow more reckless in their pursuit of victory.

Taric - Taric is the antithesis to Pantheon, championing love and life against his war and hate, He would call out Taric and try to kill the noble hero because he spits on the ideals Taric protects.

Soraka - Pantheon would be disappointed in Soraka, to have forsaken the stars for these mortals, he would never understand and while he is not hostile he also tells her that she is dead to him. Just another mortal.

Zoe - He would want to know how Zoe sealed the Darkin away, and if there is a way to make them disappear forever. He would also be annoyed by her childish appearance/demeanor since Myisha was a lot more mature than Zoe.

Aurelion Sol - He would remind Aurelion Sol that with his return the tether locking him to Targon grows stronger again. It has been Pantheon for ages to bind Aurelion to Targon and now with him returned Pantheon will make sure Aurelion is put back in his place.

Other Darkin - He would simply tell them that their end is nigh, that Pantheon has found them, and that they are about to expire.

Other Gods/Demi Gods - here it depends on how many interactions would be wanted, he could comment on the powers of the sun disc being borrowed from the Sun/Solari/Leona's aspect or challenge Volibear to a fight. Lots more here if interactions need to be stretched out.

Sion - Pantheon looks kindly on Sion, a beast revived for war, its very humanity dull and eroded where only violence and anger remain. Pantheon would call Sion his champion of War and tell him to go slaughter in the name of war.

Other Warriors (Garen/Tryndamere/Darius/Olaf/etc) He would salute them and challenge them to combat, noting how a death at his feet is the greatest honor they can wish for.

A cool idea for VO would be that he gets a Taunt like normal champs but then you get different voice lines for ally champions when you hit taunt.

Example

Enemy Pantheon - "Atreus, you come before me again, with my very own spear. Kneel boy. A dog should recognize it's better."

Ally Pantheon - "You feel the power, let loose Atreus, show me your rage and perhaps you will be worthy of my favor."

Enemy Aatrox - "Another one of your flesh puppets for me to rend Aatrox? Pathetic!"

Ally Aatrox - "You and me against them?! Who can stand against Aspect AND Darkin?"

Enemy Leona - "You say you burn as the sun does! So then, show me your fire girl!"

Ally Leona - "The daughter of Targon and War eternal who could hope to stand against such a phalanx of spear, sword, and shield?"

I always wanted to have more interaction with allies, since you only see enemy champions every now and then, and even if you do they mostly attack you and never let you enjoy the interactions. Whereas if you play with friends you can actually enjoy this content of ally interaction. Idk why Riot has not done this before.

MODEL

The base design doesn't have to differ so much from the Legends of Runeterra Warrior design. (KEEP IT RED) Red stands for hot-headed aggression, red stands for fire, red stands for blood. Red is a color much more fitting to war than blue and the argument that Pantheon's cape is blue to show his allegiance with the stars is null and void since LoR showed us all HOW GOOD red looks on Pantheon. It fits so much better.

Some small tweaks here and there perhaps but overall the base model looks great. If the cape would be longer and more flowing like Yoric it would be great, aside from that there could be small visual design changes for reaching levels 6/11/16. Also as a longtime Pantheon main I really love the aesthetic of his face being shrouded, I dislike the new post rework Pantheon skins for that very reason. Pulsefire, Ruined and even Ascended Pantheon are all marred by the face that they show his face, when his facelessness was something that made him stand out. In this skin he should absolutely not have a face since he is a divine being that helmet should be his face, the face of war, nothing else.

The colors get brighter and hotter, to signal that Pantheon is getting supercharged with the psychic energies of war, colors would go from red-orange to bright yellow, additionally, the number of spears in his cape could also increase from 2/4/6 at levels 6/11/16 with small edits like the passive fire on spear and shield and the fire plume increasing in sizes slightly.

ADDITIONALLY

There could be a number of smaller tweaks to make the VFX stand out. Like pulling a new spear from his cape after Pantheon throws it. Or that Pantheon doesn't even throw the main spear but shoots a spear forward from his cape as he can manifest them. Voicelines like "Unstoppable, War eternal an Invincible!" could be added to his E whenever he uses it as if he mocks whoever dares attack him. "Here mortal, or just Heel!" when he stuns you.

His ult could be Pantheon coming straight down where the spear lands, instead of in an angle, and the angle is then covered by either a spear storm or meteorite shards. The straight-down Pantheon landing being a homage to Grand Skyfall. He does not land sooner and he still shoots down a spear first, but this time he just lands from above.

As for the dance, either you give him some workout to flex on people or you give him the Ricardo Milos dance. Which let's be honest, everyone wants to see.

Lore wise I think Pantheon is very important. Currently, we have Pantheon (Atreus) Diana and Taric who are all outright heroes. Aphelios serves under Diana and Zoe does not really care she does whatever she wants. Soraka while a hero lives secluded. Targon only has Leona as a villain and the celestial Pantheon would fill that slot very well. He is the god of war, he would try to rouse them all against one another and also give them a reason to unite against him. To fight together, and perhaps even be incentive enough for Leona and Diana to lay down their weapons and join forces.

Additionally, all it takes is a skin to create a champion's worth of impact on the league universe. There doesn't need to be a new champion from Targon to push the narrative forward which means less time that needs to be invested on Riots part.

Thank you for your time, I will be sitting here on my mountain top, waiting and hoping that I started a fire.

[hafanforever]

Through a Mirror Darkly

One of my favorite things about villains is how they can serve as dark reflections of their protagonist or deuteragonist (or some other major supporting character) enemies. By this, I mean that villains are basically the evil counterparts to the heroic ones. They share some personality traits or have similar goals to the heroes, making them the example of what the good characters could or would become if they go down the wrong path or do not change whatever negative traits they possess.

In Disney, many of the villains from the Renaissance and Revival Eras are dark parallels to the protagonists, as well as occasional deuteragonists. Here are all the villains from the Disney animated canon who are evil counterparts to the heroes and what makes them as such.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The evil queen is this to Snow White.

Both are female monarchs known for their outer beauty, with Snow White’s being the only one to surpass that of her stepmother.

However, despite her beauty, Snow White is a kind, gentle, benevolent, humble person.

Her stepmother, on the other hand, is extremely vain and obsessed with her own beauty that she cannot tolerate any competition. The queen’s determination to remain the fairest one of all drives her to murderous insanity, and she seeks to kill Snow White just to remove her “rival”.

Therefore, the queen is a dark reflection of the kind of person Snow White would have become had she grown obsessed and vain over her physical appearance.

Beauty and the Beast: Gaston is this to the Beast.

Both are handsome men who want to use Belle their own selfish reasons, with the Beast wanting her to help him break his curse and Gaston wanting to make her his trophy wife and slave.

Both also become enraged after Belle rejects them, which happens primarily because of their bad manners towards her, with her refusing Gaston’s marriage proposal and later refusing to eat dinner with the Beast.

However, after he saves her from the wolves, the Beast begins to change into a more caring, compassionate, selfless individual. He falls in love with Belle for her kindness, independence, and intelligence (reasons far beyond her outer beauty), and takes her needs and happiness before his own, especially when he allows her to leave his castle so she can help her father, even though time is running out for the curse to be broken.

Gaston, on the other hand, lusts after Belle purely for her outer beauty and wants to marry her since he believes her being the most beautiful woman in town makes her the right one for him. After Belle rejects his proposal, Gaston makes no attempt to change his ways for the better out of his own arrogance, narcissism, and egotism. Instead, he resorts to attempting to force her to marry him using deception and manipulation. 

Therefore, Gaston serves as a dark example of what the Beast could have become if he had never met Belle, but also the Enchantress. In fact, the Beast makes this realization when he grabs Gaston by the throat and the latter pathetically begs for mercy. The Beast sees that Gaston is the monster he would have become had it not been for Belle, and if he killed Gaston, he would be no better than him. And since he wants to be better than Gaston, especially because he truly loves Belle, the Beast reluctantly spares him by telling him to leave the castle.

Aladdin: Jafar is this to Aladdin.

Both Aladdin and Jafar are men who wish to move up in society and wind up resorting to trickery to do so, including putting on a facade in order to ingratiate themselves with the royal family. Aladdin pretends to be Prince Ali and initially acts cocky and smooth to cover up his true, humble street urchin self, while Jafar pretends to be the Sultan’s loyal vizier when he actually despises the Sultan and schemes to take the throne of Agrabah for himself.

Both also rely on magic in their pursuits. Aladdin relies on the Genie to make him a prince so he can win Jasmine’s heart, while Jafar uses his snake staff to hypnotize the Sultan and manipulate him into doing what he (Jafar) wants him to do. Later, Iago steals the lamp when Aladdin isn’t around, and Jafar makes his first two wishes to become Sultan and then a powerful sorcerer.

However, Aladdin’s guilt over deceiving Jasmine and the Sultan drives him to back out of using his third wish to free the Genie, after which he finally decides to come clean about his lies. In the end, he keeps his promise to the Genie and sets him free, rather than to wish to become a prince again. 

Jafar, on the contrary, becomes so caught up his own power that it ultimately becomes his undoing. Aladdin cons Jafar into believing that the Genie is the only being more powerful than him, so Jafar uses his final wish to become a Genie himself. But seconds after making his wish, Aladdin reminds Jafar that being a Genie makes him a prisoner of a lamp, and Jafar realizes too late that he has been tricked.

Therefore, Jafar serves as a dark parallel as to what Aladdin might have become had he not freed the Genie and become too obsessed and hungry for the power and status that would come with him succeeding the Sultan.

The Lion King: Scar is this to Simba.

Both are rebellious lion princes who develop a sense of entitlement, believing that being a king means that they can always do whatever they want, always get their way, and have their orders obeyed with question or argument.

With such feelings, both Scar and Simba only care for what benefits they would get as king and do not grasp the responsibilities that come with being a ruler. 

Simba starts out as a young lion cub who js the future king of the Pride Lands. His position as the future king inflates his ego, making him arrogant and boastful enough that he believes that being a king means he is entitled to do anything he wants whenever he wants, that he doesn’t have to be told what to do, and can make or get rid of any rules he dislikes.

Scar, on the other hand, is the younger brother of Simba’s father Mufasa, and has lost a legitimate chance to be king due to Simba’s birth. Scar still has a deep-rooted desire to be ruler of the Pride Lands, but only for the power and authority it would give him over the other lions and animals in the kingdom. Scar’s lust to become king drives him to murder Mufasa and try to murder Simba, whom he blames for Mufasa’s death. Sent off into exile, though with everyone believing he is dead, Simba grows up living a carefree lifestyle while Scar assumes control of the Pride Lands. His incompetent, lazy, and dismissive behavior regarding the responsibilities as a ruler, especially the balance of nature, turns the kingdom into a barren wasteland.

However, in adulthood, after being encouraged to do what’s right by Mufasa’s ghost, Simba decides to go home to atone for the mistakes of his past and take his place as the true king. Seeing what Scar’s tyranny has done to the Pride Lands makes Simba understand the importance of his responsibility, and he eventually learns that Mufasa’s death was not his fault.

Scar, however, is killed by the hyenas because he cowardly tries to run away and blame them for his crimes just to weasel his way out of facing the consequences.

Overall, Scar proves himself to be the very tyrant Simba would have become if he had grown so obsessed with his future power and authority and not learned to understand what important responsibilities come with being a ruler. In fact, one could even say that “Be Prepared”, Scar’s song about his plot to become king, is a dark reflection of “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”, young Simba’s song about his excitement over becoming king and all the great things his rank will do for him.

Pocahontas: Governor Ratcliffe is one to John Smith.

Both men are in charge of the Virginia Company who venture into the New World in search of gold and riches.

Both have bigoted views of the indigenous inhabitants, seeing them as savages upon which to look down.

Both also feel a sense of ownership to Virginian and/or its resources, which can be shown when they both sing in “Mine, Mine, Mine”.

However, after meeting Pocahontas and learning about her, her people, and her world, including that there is no gold present, John no longer views the Native Americans as savages (and instead believes that they could help him and his company), and comes to respect the fact that the land rightfully belongs to them.

On the contrary, Ratcliffe holds on to his intense racism, supremacy, and greed, which drives him into delusion and fantasy that the Powhatans are hoarding the non-existent gold for themselves. He ultimately declares war on the tribe in order to obtain the “gold” while claiming it as a rescue party after John is captured by them.

Therefore, Ratcliffe serves as a dark parallel as to what John would have become if he had never met Pocahontas.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Frollo is this to Quasimodo.

Quasimodo has a monstrous exterior, but he is actually a benevolent, gentle, and kind person.

On the contrary, Frollo is a normal-looking person, he is a pure monster on the inside.

Both have unrequited attraction to Esmeralda, with Quasimodo's being friendly love and Frollo's being lust and obsession. These are further emphasized by their respective songs: Quasimodo's "Heaven's Light" and Frollo's "Hellfire".

Both also face rejection from Esmeralda, but for different reasons. Quasimodo faces it because Esmeralda loves Phoebus, and while he is initially heartbroken over it, he learns to accept it and remains friends with the couple.

On the other hand, Frollo becomes furious when Esmeralda refuses to become his mistress, so he gives into his hatred and racism towards her people by attempting to murder her, and then commit mass genocide against the gypsies.

Therefore, Frollo serves as a dark parallel as to what Quasimodo could have become if he developed bigotry and wrath towards the gypsies after seeing that Esmeralda only loved him as a friend.

The Emperor’s New Groove: Yzma is this to Kuzco.

Both are power-hungry authority figures in the empire, with Kuzco being the emperor and Yzma being his adviser.

Both are very arrogant, callous, selfish people who view themselves as superior to everyone else in the empire due to their ranks.

In the beginning, Kuzco possesses all these negative traits and more. He rules his empire completely without the best interest of his people and always seeks to have his way, regardless of any misfortunes it could cause other people. After Kuzco fires Yzma for doing his job in his absence, she plots revenge by aiming to kill him so she can rule the empire.

However, after being accidentally transformed into a llama and befriending Pacha, Kuzco comes to realize the error of his ways, while Yzma remains bent on eliminating Kuzco.

Therefore, Yzma serves as a dark reflection of what Kuzco would have become if he had not met Pacha and undergone his transformation.

Tangled: Gothel is this to Flynn Rider (aka Eugene Fitzherbert).

Both are manipulative, arrogant, and selfish people who use Rapunzel for something they want, with Gothel using her for the magic of the sun flower in Rapunzel’s hair, and Flynn to get her to tell him where she hid his satchel containing (unknown to her) Rapunzel’s tiara.

Both find themselves as a reluctant companion/protector to Rapunzel, with Flynn helping Rapunzel escape from tower so she can see the floating lanterns, while Gothel plays the role of Rapunzel’s mother and manipulates her into staying in the tower so she can use Rapunzel’s hair to stay young forever.

However, Flynn grows to care for Rapunzel and sees her as a person without ever showing interest in using her hair for his own personal gain. His love for her changes him into a better person, as shown when he aims to protect and rescue her from Gothel, with him ultimately sacrificing the chance to be healed from the fatal wound Gothel inflicts on him so that Rapunzel can be free of Gothel. After being revived, Flynn brings Rapunzel home to her parents and in the final scene, he announces in his voiceover narration that his love for her also led him to decide to stop thieving.

Gothel, on the other hand, only puts up with Rapunzel since Rapunzel’s hair has the magic Gothel wants for her own selfish desire. She views Rapunzel as a pest and any forms of “affection” she gives Rapunzel are actually towards her hair, in reference to that Gothel truly loves the power in Rapunzel’s hair and not Rapunzel herself. To keep her from leaving the tower, Gothel constantly belittles, demeans, manipulates, and emotionally abuses Rapunzel, especially by using guilt trips and victim blaming whenever they argue or when Rapunzel defies and challenges her “authority”. When Rapunzel discovers she is actually Corona’s missing princess, Gothel resorts to chaining and dragging her to another place far away to keep the magic within her hair forever and permanently prevent Rapunzel from leaving ever again.

Therefore, Gothel serves as a dark parallel of what Flynn could have become if he had never met Rapunzel.

Wreck-It Ralph: King Candy, who is later revealed to truly be the long-presumed-dead Turbo, is this to Ralph.

Ralph is programmed to be a villain in his own game and is treated as such, but he is actually kind, selfless, humble, well-meaning, and sympathetic towards other characters in the arcade, particularly the homeless ones.

Turbo, on the other hand, was originally programmed to be the hero of his game, but he was actually arrogant, selfish, attention-seeking, egotistical, and had no care or value for anyone else besides himself.

Both leave their own games, or game-jump, in order to get attention and recognition, but have different motives for doing so. Ralph game-jumps to get respect and positive recognition that he had always been denied, while Turbo does so out of jealousy and spite in an attempt to regain the attention and popularity he lost when RoadBlasters was plugged in and got more notice than TurboTime.

Therefore, Turbo serves as a dark example of what Ralph might have become if he had grown too obsessed with getting what he wanted.

Frozen: Hans is this to Anna.

Both are the youngest siblings in their respective families.

Both grew up feeling neglected, rejected, and overshadowed by their older siblings.

However, while Anna still loved Elsa and was willing to do anything to reconnect with her, Hans grew to resent his brothers and was willing to do whatever it took for him to finally be on top, to gain and attention and everything he rarely to never got by growing up in their shadows.

Therefore, Hans serves as a dark counterpart of what Anna would have become had she finally given up on mending her relationship with Elsa.

Big Hero 6: Professor Robert Callaghan is this to Hiro.

Both are intelligent people who lose a beloved family member, with Hiro losing his older brother Tadashi and Callaghan losing his daughter Abigail.

Both become consumed with grief and determination to avenge their loved ones, to the point that they want to destroy those who they believe are responsible.

However, while Hiro briefly becomes enraged after learning that Callaghan faked his death, stole his microbots, and that Tadashi died for nothing after he went into the burning building to save him (Callaghan), he comes to his senses with help from his friends and learns to accept his loss.

Callaghan, on the contrary, lets his rage and grief over losing Abigail consume him enough that he desires revenge on Alistair Krei. Callaghan’s obsession causes his own morality to apparently vanish based on the way he ruthlessly pursues and tries to murder any innocent bystanders who get in his way. He even coldly and callously dismisses Tadashi's death as his own mistake and ultimately rebuffs Hiro's pleas to accept Abigail's loss (despite briefly showing a hint of regret). But when he sees Abigail alive after all (after Hiro rescues her), Callaghan realizes that all of his senseless destruction ended up being for nothing, so he shows shame and possibly remorse for his actions once he is arrested.

Therefore, Callaghan serves as a dark reflection of what Hiro would have become had he let his grief turn into vengeance and not learned to move on from Tadashi’s death.

Zootopia: Dawn Bellwether is this to Judy Hopps.

Both are small prey animals who hold important positions in the city (Judy as a cop, Bellwether as the assistant mayor) and want to be successful and appreciated for their efforts.

Despite their positions, both are overlooked, dismissed, looked down on, misjudged, and mistreated by their bosses (Judy by Chief Bogo and Bellwether by Leodore Lionheart) and other larger animals, especially by predators.

However, while Judy has some mild bigotry towards predators (especially foxes, due to being bullied by one as a child), she truly wants to live peacefully among predators, wants prey and predators to also live as such, and overcomes her troubled past to bring an end to the conspiracy against the predators.

On the other hand, Bellwether gives in to her hatred for predators (particularly because of the abuse she endures from Lionheart as his assistant), and starts her conspiracy of turning predators savage in order to become mayor and remove them from Zootopia.

Therefore, Bellwether serves as a dark parallel of what Judy might have become had she allowed her mild bigotry towards predators intensify into pure hatred.

Frozen II: King Runeard is this to Elsa, his own granddaughter.

Both are very powerful monarchs who, at different points in their lives, are the sole rulers of Arendelle.

Both have keep big secrets about themselves from their kingdom, and also hold great fears of magic.

However, Elsa feared her own magic since she believed that she would lose control of them and harm people, especially those she loved. She learns to overcome her fear and to trust herself, and the people close to her.

On the contrary, Runeard feared magic because he believed it to be a threat and competition to his own royal status and power. His fear grew into paranoia, hatred, and bigotry, which clouded and corrupted his judgment over trusting people with ties to magic, making him believe that the Northuldra, and anyone who is magical or follows magic, can never be trusted.

Therefore, Runeard serves as a dark example of what Elsa might have become if she allowed her fear to consume her.

However, while Runeard serves as a dark parallel to Elsa, he also serves as a darker counterpart to Hans.

As I described them in “The Men with Two Faces”, both men are obsessive, manipulative, selfish monarchs who pretend to be kind and noble in order to hide their true natures and gain the loyalty and trust of others for their own personal gain.

Both are also very power-hungry who only care for the power they have/crave and are willing to go to lengths of treachery and murder to get what they want and expand their power.

Both sneak up on people sitting on the ground and try to murder them with their swords since they view them as a threat to their goals. However, while Hans failed to kill Elsa due to Anna’s intervention, Runeard succeeded in killing the Northuldra leader.

Therefore, Runeard is what Hans could have become if he had succeeded in killing both Elsa and Anna and been crowned king of Arendelle.

I owe a thanks to my dearest friend and soul sis @minervadeannabond for coming up with this title. Although I am called the Queen of Puns, I sometimes have trouble coming up with clever puns as titles for my analyses, and she’s always there to help me out. Thank you so much, girl! Love you much! 😁😊❤️

And since today is All Hallows Eve, what better kind of analysis for me to post today than one about villains?

Happy Halloween, everyone! 😁🎃👻