#really proves there's a difference between claiming to be a good human and actually being one

[hayatheauthor]

Possibly the most bitterly ironic thing ever is watching celebrities who said "If I lived during the holocaust I would have done ___" actively support and aid the genocide we are witnessing and have witnessed for the past 75 years.

If you were like me and sat in history class wondering how could anyone have just supported or turned a blind eye to the holocaust, here's your answer.

[jeonscatalyst]

I don't get it. Taekookers and most ARMYs alternate from bragging that Jikook enlisting together 100% disproves that they are together, to praying with their entire souls that Jikook are not actually in the military together (that JK would go to Tae after 5 weeks of training). So which is it? Which really debunks the Jikook ship according to their standards? Jikook enlisting together? That their joint enlistment was only temporary and that JK went to Tae (even though they still brag that JK and Tae NOT enlisting together proves they are a couple)?

Why is the narrative so exhaustingly inconsistent? I can't believe those are the people Jikookers let get inside their heads and become all insecure over. I don't know when y'all are gonna wake up and realize that you're dealing with literal clowns here, and start learning to be mentally obstinate, for God's sake.

I'm not saying Jikook spaces should become an echo chamber where differing opinions and people expressing doubt about Jikook is not allowed, but there's a difference between a Jikooker who practices rational thinking and always *questions*, and someone who has been mentally broken down by Taekookers' narratives. You see it when they sulk about Jikook not being real because JK did this or did not do that, that he was in the same room with Taehyung, that he didn't ignore Taehyung and treated him like a human being and didn't interact with Jimin who was in another room, and now their shippers won't shut up about it so it means Jikook is not real.

Jikook shippers have become weak and pathetic, not gonna lie. And this space has become so miserable because of it, I never in all my time as an ARMY and Jikook observer, thought that Jikook spaces would ever come to this.

You know what funny though anon? It’s literally always been like this. Jikookers have always let taekookers get into their heads over the siliest things when it is obvious that taekookers have always wanted the things jikook did to happen for taekook. Let me give you a good example. Can you remind me again what tkkrs said when the travel show was first announced? Didn’t they call it scripted and fanservice? Didn’t they laugh at the fact that we were going to be getting merch and a photobook? Didn’t they claim that jikookers were stupid as hell for thinking that the company would make a travel show for two closeted idols? Can you tell me what is happening now? Aren’t they the same people using moments from that same “scripted show” to prove their ship? Aren’t they the same ones getting hit tweets from posting moments from the show they have spent a year insulting? Now look at them making their own merch from the same show they called “scripted fanservice”

Look at the likes. You wouldn’t believe this is from the same show these exact same people insulted for a whole damn year.

Anon, taekookers only insult the things jikook do that they desperately want for their ship.

When Jikook traveled together it didn’t mean shit

When Jikook were the only two who were constantly seen in and out of work hanging out, it didn’t mean shit

When Jikook shared a car for years, it didn’t mean shit

When jungkook listened to Jimin’s songs it didn’t mean shit.

When the travel show was announced, it didn’t mean shit

When Jikook enlisted together, it meant they were not in a relationship

But what happened when similar things happened with taekook or when they thought something similar would happen with taekook? They suddenly made a complete turn and acted like they didn’t say all that shit before.

The last thing anyone should be worrying about is what a damn taekooker has to say about Jikook. There is more than enough proof that shows that these people have ALWAYS wanted everything that jikook had and that is the real reason why they are so nasty.

[deathbxnny]

hello!! platonic scar, jiyan and aalto with a teen!reader who is a fractsidus member and is like sirin?

reader was kidnapped and experimented on from a very young age, which made them hate humanity over time and lead them to joining the fractsidus

As someone who loves Sirin so much as a character, I'm really happy to get this ask from you, Anon!! Thank you so much for it, and I hope you'll like this!!<33

Content: Teen!Reader, vague mentions of child experimentation, angst, hurt/comfort, platonic relationships, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!!

((Not proofread))

》SCAR

Scar treats you like all the other members at first, as he doesn't see the point in treating you any differently after hearing your backstory. All of them had a tragic background, so what's new? But it was your young age and clear anger that reminded him of himself, that caused him to perhaps reconsider his decision.

When you get assigned to be under his care, he makes sure to train you really well to be as good as you possibly can. He's not good at it and never will claim to be, but he tries to be there for you in his own twisted way. Whilst most would attempt to heal you from your past, he acknowledges it as something that's impossible and therefore just pushes you deeper onto it. It benefits their plans anyway.

With that said, he doesn't treat you cruelly and forms an alliance with you. He'll take care of you and keep you out of trouble, and you'll keep his back free. This eventually leads to you two forming a trusting bond that makes you good team partners. Whilst he has a hard time seeing you as anything else but a companion, deep down, he sees you as family in his own odd way.

》AALTO

Yeah, this man essentially just snatched you up and ran off with you, thinking you were kidnapped and forced to be a member by the Fractsidus instead. And by the time he realised that this was not the case, he and Encore were stuck with what essentially was a child criminal. But hey, the more the merrier, right?

With that said, whether you liked it or not, you're dragged onto a trip with them. You were understandably angry and annoyed at first, often complaining and yelling about how much you hated humans, until you eventually calmed down and noticed that it was alot more peaceful with them. They were silly and unserious, trying their best to be kind and there for you, which over time made them gain your trust.

When Aalto found out about your past, it made him ill. He heard about alot in his life, but the horrors you had to endure at such a young age made him upset. From that day on, he decided to prove that humanity can do better by being good to you himself. He wants you to lead a good and calm life one day... but will you accept leaving the Fractsidus for it? That's up to you to decide.

》JIYAN

Jiyan wasn't hostile or cruel to you when you were captured and brought to him by his troops. Kneeling down to your eye level, the general gave you a look that promised safety and security, despite your clear rejection for it. He initially took you in for questioning, but when it was proven that you didn't actually know much, he decided to take you under his wing instead. Some criticized his decision, but it felt right to him.

Having found out about your past through old records dug up from a mad scientist you briefly mentioned, Jiyan quickly found out about your sickening origins, which reaffirmed his decision. He understood and sympathized with your pain and rage, going as far as telling you so. The world hurt you, and so you wanted to hurt it back. A natural reaction, despite him being against it.

He decides from then on to completely take you away from the battlefield and get you into school instead. He gives you a warm and safe home, practically gifts you anything that he thinks will help you get better. There is a trust between you two that eventually establishes itself once you realize that someone was finally helping you.

[acourtofthought]

What would you say are the top 3 (or 5) strongest clues that say Elucien/Gwynriel are gonna happen? The ones that really feel so solid to you.

Ooooh, this is a good question.

For Gwynriel:

That Gwyn is the only character to treat Az's shadows as being separate from himself. It' like a guy who begins dating a girl who has children but he never pays attention to them versus the guy who goes out of his way to get to know the children, proving that he understands the girl and her children are a packaged deal.

That Az is not looking as Gwyn as someone in need of his protection. I'm sure there will be some of that in their book, mates always look out for one another, but there is a big difference between "we can do this together" versus, "I'll do it for you so you don't get hurt".

That Gwyn seems to have a bloodthirsty side to her personality, just as Az does. He can torture in a symphony of pain which means he has chosen to finesse his craft. He's not "let's get this over as quick as possible because I don't like it," it's, "I'm going to draw this out nice and slow and make it hurt in ways you never dreamed." I think he feels guilty about his enjoyment of it afterward because he thinks it makes him a bad person but I think he gets satisfaction from the actual act. Someone like Gwyn who was excited over the thought of the Valkyries cracking skulls and skewering their enemies is well matched for his brutality.

That Gwyn and Az seem to prefer a smaller group of friends over being extremely social, the life of the party. Neither seems to mind their alone time.

For Elucien, there are so many:

That Elain and Lucien share important core values. They are quick to apologize for failing others, they both prefer to avoid violence, they both enjoy being social and engaging with others. There will never be a time where they have to check up on one another, "I'm sorry, is this too overwhelming for you? We can head home if you need".

That Lucien has been loyal to Elain and only Elain ever since he found out who she was to him. No, he did not instantly love her but he chose to respect their bond while he took the time to learn about her whereas he could have easily continued his rakish ways especially after learning she was engaged to someone else. Loyalty to the FMC is sexy.

That Lucien was the one to meet Elain's father and live in the human lands. These are two enormous parts of Elain's past, things that mattered a great deal to her and it will only ever be Lucien who has insider knowledge of who her father was and what being human is about.

That SJM retconned Lucien's father so he'd have the power of the sun in his veins and had Elain constantly by the sunniest windows, as if any bit of darkness was abhorrent, claiming that she needs Sunshine.

That Elain has not yet touched or truly gotten to know Lucien. If the author wanted us to see why they were poorly matched, she would have shown them interacting. She would have shown that despite their best efforts to acknowledge their bond, they were just not fitting. Instead, she has Elain keeping Lucien at a distance book after book and I will never believe the answer to that puzzle is because "she doesn't like him," "she's clearly not interested." An author would more likely prevent two mates from interacting in a major way because she knows there is something there. She knows characters like Elain and Lucien need to remain apart because their chemistry will be obvious the second they start really talking.

Because Elain can hear Lucien's heart and because she is the most beautiful female he'd ever seen. Because he knew she needed fresh air when every single other person in the IC just accepted her being cooped up in her room for weeks. There is a connection between Elucien that is never going away and it would ruin any other romance for either character. No matter what Elain might share with someone else, Lucien is always going to hold a piece of her that the other cannot touch.

[episodeoftv]

Round 4 of 8

propaganda and summaries are under the cut (May include spoilers)

Adventure Time: 7.24 Hall of Egress

Finn enters a mysterious dungeon and struggles to find a way out and back to Jake.

Both thought provoking and entertaining. A lot of AT episodes that try to be thought provoking aren't as deep as they think or are too nonsensical (not all tho love this show) but this hits the perfect balance. It's also just. A REALLY good episode!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hall_of_Egress

What We Do in the Shadows: 5.03 Pride Parade

cw for nudity and sex (the sex scene is completely clothed, common for this show).

The vampires help Sean host a Pride parade; Nadja helps her doll achieve a long-held dream.

So much is happening. Nandor's having his little jealousy arc over Guillermo spending more time with Laszlo than with him. Meanwhile, Guillermo's transformation slowlya and grotesquly continues. Laszlo makes suncream from Guillermo's sweat and literally gets to frolic in the sun for the first time in centuries! Also, they try to disprove some common vampire myths, like having to count grains of rice that fell on the floor (true) or their powers of flying. Nandor claims he can fly to outer space, and tries to prove it only to impress Guillermo. Meanwhile, Nadja (who broke the legs of the Doll Being Posessed By The Spirit Of Deceased Human Nadja offscreen between seasons) switches bodies with Spirit Of Deceased Human Nadja (yes, in this show a woman is posessed by the spirit of herself). We find out that Human Nadja died a virgin, so they enter her into a speed dating event. It turns out that Human Nadja is even worse at interacting with modern humans than Vampire Nadja is. Nandor then flies to space, equipped with a go-pro and a selfie stick. They then literally have Colin Robinson ALSO posess the body of Vampire Nadja, which ends in some sorta Harry Potter 1 (it's the best comparison ok) type creature with Nadja's face in the front and Colin Robinson's face in the back. Meanwhile, the underlying plot of this episode is that they are all actually helping their Human Neighbour Sean with organizing a pride parade (a ploy by him to increase his voting block with the LGBTQ+ community), and finally the psrade begins. Nandor literally crashes it as he falls down from space, getting up buck naked and slightly charred, gloating to Guillermo about how he did it. Then the pride parade begins, and the highlight is clearly Guillermo (who came out as gay to his family last season), having his own little cart where he's just holding a sign that says "Gay Man". He's been scrutinizing this whole event from the second it was suggested, but in the end, he slowly stsrts to get into it, learning to enjoy himself. The episode ends with Laszlo fucking the body of his wife, which inhabits two different people, while his actual wife in her doll body sits on his shoulder. This is very much consentual by all parties involved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_Parade_(What_We_Do_in_the_Shadows)

[feminismisstillahatemovement]

Also you seem to say that women are /more/ privileged that men (in westernized societies), not equally so, and the only way I can interpret it is through logic of 'Dangerous jobs are worked almost entirely by men AND in military conflicts it is men who are sent to fight so they have higher risk of death, also men are pressured to always be pragmatic and provide everything whereas the only real demand for women is to cook children and birth food and have sex'. Like, is this something along these lines? Because I often hear men say they'd much rather life a "comfy" less effort life like women and be forgiven for emotional weaknesses or lacking a good job - which confuses me a lot because it feels very depressing and insulting for me as a human being to be seen as 'you don't have to be smart or put effort, just look pretty and do bare minimum'... But I also often hear "you don't count because you are autistic and live in 2nd world country". But if majority of women are CONTENT and it is /minority/ who'd like to work traditionally male jobs or have 'pride' in regards of emotional maturity and intellect - what REALLY happened in western societies where women have ok amount of rights for the past few decades? Did feminists just sorta... spoke for majority and it snowballed? Because to think of it, it doesn't make logical sense for feminists to demand that women LOSE "comfort" and face HIGHER standards for accomplishments, maturity, physical proves, risks for life, etc. Maybe I'm misanthropic but typically humans don't abandon BENEFITS based on honour alone - only singular anomaly humans do. Or gamers, when they want to play harder mode for pride. Was it all REALLY just to, in fact, cover their comfort by claiming this comfort is oppression? (one more time, I speak about 1st world countries specifically (ironically where feminism is the strongest), my neighbour countries are special hell for women)

"you seem to say that women are more privileged that men (in westernized societies), not equally so"

Women in western democracies have every legal right that men in western democracies have and many additional allowances and special protections on top: for instance, women are exempt from military conscription, have far more funding devoted to their healthcare, are routinely given 60% less prison time for the same offences as men, etcetera etcetera. It's a long list. This is not something I'm angry about, or even seek to radically change: it's just a fact of reality that flies in the face of the fundamental premise of the feminist narrative but which needs to be openly acknowledged to understand the world in which we live and make any progress as a species.

“But if majority of women are CONTENT and it is /minority/ who'd like to work traditionally male jobs or have 'pride' in regards of emotional maturity and intellect - what REALLY happened in western societies where women have ok amount of rights for the past few decades? ”

A far larger number of women self-report being NOT content today than when asked 60, 70 - 100 years ago.

“Did feminists just sorta... spoke for majority and it snowballed? “

Feminism has never spoken for the majority of women. It has done a fantastic job of infiltrating and taking over education and media, where it gets to tell women they should be angry and unhappy all the time, but there’s still a great difference between feminists (adherents of a conspiracy theory-based political movement) and women (every second human being on planet earth), and if I remember rightly it’s only about 14% of women who identify as being feminist. The power they wield is far out of proportion to the number of people they actually represent.

"typically humans don't abandon BENEFITS based on honour alone"

There is no honour in feminist thought...

I think it might help you if I lay out how I see our recent history in this regard, as it may differ from the mainstream narrative you will have been indoctrinated with:

Feminism as an actual movement emerged out of the rapidly expanding caste of middle class women living unprecedentedly safe, comfortable and educated existences in the late 19th century, who had cooks to cook their food, nannies to look after their children, housemaids to clean up their houses, and well-to-do fathers or husbands to buy them everything they needed. Unlike the far larger mass of poor working class women, they no longer had work to occupy their time and so they, understandably, grew bored and began to want to have more influence in their community for themselves and other (middle class) women. They, somewhat peculiarly, started to see the burdens and responsibilities their brothers/husbands/fathers were expected to take on as a kind of treat - a privilege being kept from them - seeing jobs as a fun adventure of some kind, rather than the monotonous wage-slavery they have always been for the vast majority of the human race. The tasks these women selected to take on were not the back-breaking labor of coal mines, tree-felling, fishing vessels or construction sites, but light, comfortable and often part-time office duties, organising meetings to police and lecture others, all while demanding special treatment for being women. Which set up the blueprint for all feminist demands to come: all the rights, none of the responsibilities.

Things grumbled along in this way for decades, until the feminist movement (as well as the university system as a whole) was infiltrated and largely taken over by the Marxists in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The main goal of all Marxist-infiltrated movements in the west is to sow discord and create divisions in the populace. This led to the “intersectionalist” model of society, in which EVERYONE but straight white men are told from birth that they are an oppressed underclass who must march in the streets, scream abuse at strangers and feel glee at the suffering of all others outside of their in-group. And that largely explains the madness of today.

“it doesn't make logical sense for feminists to demand that women LOSE "comfort" and face HIGHER standards for accomplishments, maturity, physical proves, risks for life, etc”

For the reasons stated above, the modern (1970s-onwards) feminist movement itself doesn’t primarily care about “women”, only destroying whole families and healthy relationships between the sexes in the west - along with any woman who speaks out against whatever is its present agenda; There’s no sense in the way modern feminism eagerly championed allowing biological males into female spaces and sports and everything else, or how quickly it destroyed and silenced all the old school feminist women who spoke out against it.

I guess the fundamental point I’m making here is modern feminism is a political force entirely separate from women as a class, who, like all the other identity politics movements, it uses only as a human shield to deflect criticism of the agenda it is actually pursuing.

[yanderefairyangel]

This is going to sound like gatekeeping and I probably should not say it but here goes: I think Raxy should not play any of the other Fire Emblem. It's clear that he hates the medieval tropes that Fire Emblem entails, not to mention the human and dragon co-existence message which conflicts with his HFY desires. At this point, if he's going to shit on the entire franchise because it's not like his pwecious C//F, he's going to make a total ass of himself.

Sorry for the vent, on another note, Engage has been a lot of fun and I got to ch 22.

Hello Anon. Don't worry about it !

Frankly, Idk too much about the Raxy guy but the main question I ask myself is whether or not he acts like that in every fandom he is in or only in the Fire emblem since you don't necessarily have the same discussion/contribution to a fandom depending on the media cause if he is like that for every fandom he partakes in ... yeah...

I haven't intereacted too much with the guy but the little I saw made it very unengaging for me to see his content. And at the risk of comming off as snobbish, he doesn't seem to understand how media analysis works or to respect fandom etiquette. I mean, I blocked him on tumblr all to find him responding to me on twitter about a post claiming and I quote : "There is a clear wealth disparity problem between the royals and their citizens that should be adressed; perhaps Celine shouldnt be praised for sending death squads after people who steal food when she lives in a giant more luxurious version of Mont Saint-Michel" about Céline and Alear's A support.

When I challenged him to find me any canonical evidence that the theives we fight in chapter 6, paralogue 2 and that the higwaymen in Céline's/Alear support were practicing banditry because they were poor and starving, he didn't gave me a single answer. He claimed that the fact that there was one main story chapter, one paralogue and one support chain was enough to say that Firene has a problem with banditry and therefore is built on a flawed economic that creates wealth disparity problem when Solm has more chapter with banditry and that we are essentially talking about a franchise where there is bandits in EVERY game, and for literaly no reasons. They are just there burning village for fun. Kostas is literaly the only bandit that have a plot relevance lasting past 1 chapter.

And that's not all. When he and some mutuals of him claimed that Eddie's real plan in sending Kostas to kill Dima and Claude was actually to just scare off the new teacher, he and his mutuals never answered my simple request or providing me an explicit quote from in game of Eddie making such a declaration.

Or that one time when he tried to prove that the twist in chapter 10 of Engage failed arguing that the only way for Alear and co to escape the cathedral was to never enter... ignoring that at that time Alear still had the dragonic crystal so they could have rewinded or could have break out the door since they still had the Emblems when this scene was actually to built up Alear falling into the sins of hatred and pride, 2 sins in buddhism.

I also have been hearing tales of him blocking evading or having his friends go to blog that blocked him so that he could sporke it etc.

So yeah, that doesn't give a good look at all. Really.

But since I never went too much from his blog I can't tell if he is a 3H baby, or an Awakening baby or a Fe7 baby or an ancient (there for the first game ever) since I know a lot of people didn't like Engage because it was different from 3H who gave them expectation when 3H is the outlier of the franchise, and as you point out, CF is probably the most Anti-Fe a route can get. That a game not really keen on being accurate about medieval setting or the source of banditry etc. isn't that surprising, heck even 3H isn't that derogatory to that rule when all ending in 3H ends up with different models of monarchy. And I agree, if he sees dragon as evil, better drop Fire Emblem since the humanity and dragon can co-exist thing was already there since Fe1, Naga and Tiki being supporting role for Marth.

Anyway, sorry for the long reply. Also, glad to hear you are having fun with Engage ! I hope you'll stick around with my blog, I still have a bunch of essay to write

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

2. "They've done an awful job here. Have you seen the place? This isn't humanism."

KIM KITSURAGI - "We are in what is called the *twilight of international law*. The laws we claim to enforce come from the MI. Without them, we are simply vigilantes."

"Actually, vigilantes is okay with me."

"Yeah. Vigilantes sounds bad."

"Maybe we should make our own law?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Spoken like a revolutionary, not a cop. But hypothetical aside -- in Martinaise we already *are* vigilantes. At least the Union thinks so. I expect our job here to prove quite challenging." He looks at the roundabout.

4. Say nothing. Just look into the night.

KIM KITSURAGI - The dying lights of the city shimmer below -- slowly, like luminous clouds, they pass on his lenses. The lieutenant looks at his slim cigarette, contemplating the next drag.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] - This *soldier* is the highlight of the day for me, he thinks. This little stick right here.

KIM KITSURAGI - "They *really* don't like us here. And the mouth on that kid, Cuno... It's different inland. In Jamrock and the G.R.I.H." He pulls on the cigarette.

"Why *are* they like this?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "It's our fault for leaving this place to the dogs. To the Union. To the company. Not daring to come here more often. It's like I told you -- this place is an orphan. Fallen between the cracks..."

"And in Jamrock and the G.R.I.H?" (Continue.)

KIM KITSURAGI - "We run this city. West of the river is RCM land." He looks at the dark silhouette of the equestrian monument cutting into the night sky.

"It's *incredibly* hard. Human beings are..." He shakes his head. "But we are in control. And it's worth it. The organization works. Our systems work. If they didn't, this city would disintegrate."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] - Night. Captain Ptolemy Pryce steps into the yard. A piebald horse waits by the motor carriage, chewing oats out of an oat-bag. Seagulls fly overhead. The sky is black. Captain Pryce wears a black suit and a standard patrol coat as he mounts the horse to head home...

Rows of houses on either side, hunching over the sidewalks -- and Precinct 41 with its dome roof growing distant. Around him the streets are silent. A kid on the corner waves at the captain as he takes the turn on Perdition and Main. The horse neighs. The captain nods back.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - Thanks, kid, he thinks. He's grateful.

"I hope our investigation will change the situation here. At least do *some* good."

"We won't change anything here."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Me too," he says quietly. "But I wouldn't count on any drastic changes in our lifetimes."

5. "Thank you for this." [Leave.]

KIM KITSURAGI - "Yeah, it's getting very cold now. Let's go." He puts out the stub of his cigarette and looks to the door.

Task Complete: End-of-day debrief with Kim

+30 XP

[boku-no-anime-phase]

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale first season review

(with apologies to the friend who recommended this to me, for thinking way too hard about this piece of media like I do everything. Sorry friend. I'm incapable of being a casual enjoyer.)

Spoilers for Sugar Apple Fairy Tale S1 upcoming, as well as discussion of topics like sexism, discrimination and slavery.

SAFT follows Ann Halford, an aspiring sugar artist, as she enters sugar sculpture competitions, takes freelance work with unreasonable clients who don't know what they want, trains under sugar sculpture masters, and deals with politics and sexism in the workplace. Oh yeah, and falls in love with her man-sized gothboy fairy friend.

I honestly don't even know where to start with this show 😂

Let's talk plot. When I watch anime, I expect to have to swallow some wild stuff in the first episode to establish the premise. My Hero Academia said "suddenly everyone got powers, idk how." Fruits Basket said, "these boys turn into animals (literally) when a girl touches them." Once you get past the wild initial premise, you can pretty much sit back and enjoy the show. And those shows are kinda classic! So having a ridiculous premise doesn't mean you can't have a great show (especially in the case of FB, which has an absolutely absurd premise, but is a phenomenal and moving show once you accept that and immerse yourself).

With SAFT, I felt like every episode I had to accept some new aspect of the world that was difficult to swallow. I don't think it ever explained why sugar and sugar sculptures are so culturally important to this kingdom. That wouldn't have been an issue as long as they established how important sugar sculptures actually were - I was surprised over and over again by minor characters' investment in the over-arching plot. 🤷 The storytelling also didn't feel internally consistent. Certain plot beats or themes were introduced like halfway through the season, where they definitely should have come up before. And certain plot points definitely felt contrived - characters coming up with solutions to problems that felt like they could have been solved another way.

It's not like I didn't have a good time watching this show - I did - but also I'm cursed to never just enjoy something, I have to Actually Think About It.

On that topic, let's talk about themes.

This show seemed like it had a few thoughts about sexism, slavery, and minorities... But I don't feel like it really committed and delivered its message, at least in the first season.

Fairies in this are often enslaved to humans and at the beginning we see some distrust from fairies directed towards Ann because of this dynamic, which I thought was interesting; but she quickly "proved herself" as an ally and won their trust.

The other messaging about fairy slavery is super mixed. Ann is against it and frees the only fairy she buys as soon as she is able (actually before it's even feasible but whatever). Another character we meet is a benevolent master to a fairy who is only "technically" enslaved - he could claim his freedom at any time, but doesn't because he enjoys his situation (😬). In another situation, an enslaved fairy is in love with her master. But then we meet another character who treats fairies, including free fairies, as subhuman, and the show highlights how she treats fairies differently than humans because she looks down on them, and that's bad. But it doesn't seem to make a consistent moral stand on the slavery of fairies, and often casts humans who "own" fairies in a sympathetic light, or paints the relationship between the human master and enslaved fairy as a mutually-agreed-upon, mutually beneficial thing. That made me pretty uncomfortable. It seems like the show wanted to really grapple with slavery as a topic, but couldn't stick the landing.

Also, towards the end of the season we find out that female sugar artists are extremely rare (feels like this should have come up earlier tbh!), and the show introduces ¿¿Christianity?? Or like a religion that seems to borrow really heavily from Christian creation myths and their sexist undertones? Anyway. Ann experiences a lot of gendered discrimination at this point. It seems like a weird time to introduce such an important theme, but 🤷 it also feels like it wants to grapple with sexism as a topic, but imo it fumbles there too - sexism is a factor in the harassment Ann experiences, but it's not really the thing that ultimately puts her in trouble. Also around this time, the show's second significant female character is introduced, and she actually fits a bunch of sexist stereotypes so it feels like the show shot itself in the foot.

The way the season ended, it seems like slavery is going to be an ongoing Big Topic, but I'm concerned that it's going to be a plot point rather than something to be truly grappled with and dealt with on a moral plane. If I were gonna make a prediction, I'd say S2 will be mostly concerned with slavery in the sense that Ann will be upset that Challe is serving someone else, and the orders his new master gives him will hurt Ann's feelings bc she thinks he's doing it because he wants to. That feels like an icky way to talk about slavery, to me. I could be wrong though (let's hope so).

I don't want to be one of those moral purists that's like, "shows shouldn't depict XYZ", but I do think it's kind of irresponsible to depict stuff like chattel slavery without giving it adequate moral consideration, and this show just... Doesn't seem like it's the type of show to spend a lot of time challenging the morals of something. Maybe S2 will be surprising but 🤷 I also recognize that this is Japanese media and idk what their history is with slavery but maybe it's not such a sensitive topic there. I'm not sure.

Last thing, which is more of a generalized anime gripe - the main character is 15 (which she takes care to inform us is the age of legal majority in her country). She's in love with a 100+yo. WHY 💀 they could have at least made her an adult - 3-4 years is not that different! Why is it always teenage girls in love with powerful immortals?

All in all, it's a fun brainless show with a cute developing interspecies romance if that's your thing. I can't turn off my brain and I also do intersectional feminist analysis here so here ya go 😅

Did you watch it? What did you think? How is S2 so far? I don't know how to end this post help

[rivendell-poet]

Hihi! Can I please have headcanons with the fellowship and Thorin's company having a short (like 5 feet) human s/o. And they be part of the fellowship/company, please? Please take as much time as you need!💕

Hi! Thank you so much for your request, and I'm so sorry it took so long. Also, thank you so much for the last part - it's small but means a lot 💕 (should be doing one for Thorin's company as well)

*･༓˚✧❝𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫❞‧͙⁺˚༓˚✧ « headcanons »

○ Aragorn ○ Legolas ○ Gimli ○ Boromir ○ Pippin ○ Merry ○ Sam ○ Frodo ○

GN!Reader | No TWs | Can be read as platonic or romantic | Wordcount : 1.7k

𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐧

✧ He’s the person you have the largest height difference with. Because he’s weirdly tall. 

✧ When the two of you stand next to each other Pippin will sometimes stare. He’s confident that one of you isn’t truly human. Who that is depends on the day.

✧ Aragorn isn’t really bothered by it, cares more about if you can handle yourself on the battlefield.

✧ Does make sure that you have the weapons you need constantly.

✧ Knows it’s probably difficult to find the right sized ones, so after a battle he can be found sharpening yours (generally while humming something).

✧ Has forgotten about the height difference once when you were cold and he gave you his cloak.

✧ Tried very hard not to laugh when you become completely swamped in the fabric and almost fall over.

✧ (He mainly succeeds.)

✧ Will fetch anything you need off the high shelves, and always puts it back on the lower shelves.

𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬

✧ Closest of the ‘big people’ in terms of height difference. Not that that means much, because he’s still six feet.

✧ Is constantly asking you to describe the flowers you find. If they’re at a stage he finds it ok, will ask you to pick them up and hand it to him.

✧ Always tells you to ‘watch your head’ whenever he goes through a hallway he has to duck under. Has yet to correct himself on doing this.

✧ Treats your height a lot like he does Gimli’s, except he gets used to you slightly quicker.

✧ If you have not packed a bow he is very sad you can’t do archery together.

✧ Scours places for bows of your size with a slightly worrying intensity.

✧ Eventually, after the war is over, he commissions you one. It’s very beautiful, with dark wood and a gold leaf inlay of the different places you’ve been and enemies you’ve fought.

✧ Is actually a very good archery instructor, treats you how he would the others and it works out.

✧ Will fetch you anything from the high shelves, you just have to ask him first.

𝐆𝐢𝐦𝐥𝐢

✧ Closest in height to you. Is very relieved to find someone else of a normal height when surrounded by everyone else.

✧ You’re taller than he was, but he doesn’t care. Just happy that even though you’re taller than him you’re still almost on the same eye-level.

✧ Is very smug to the others that his weapon is around the same height as you - so the easiest to pick up. And with the best tutor.

✧ Does try to teach you how to use the axe, in some ways is a very good teacher but not all the time. Good offensively, lacking some defensive manoeuvres.

✧ Tries hard to learn your fighting style if you offer to teach him.

✧ Always insists you get first pick of everything when the Fellowship find items that can fit the two of you.

✧ When running across the plains the both of you blame the other one for being the slowest. Both of you also claim to be the better sprinter, neither of you have intentions of proving this claim.

✧ Would happily get you something from the high shelf if he could reach it. Has tried to convince you to climb up via him to get something instead of asking for help.

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐫

✧ Along with Aragorn, he also doesn’t make a very big deal of it. You were trusted to be in the Fellowship, what else matters?

✧ You like to sometimes pretend you can’t see the height difference between Aragorn and Boromir and insist Boromir is the taller one. Both men know you’re probably faking, but neither correct you (for different reasons).

✧ Asks you for help to teach the hobbits how to spar, for example if a certain move he wants to teach them would be too risky - and what your advice is.

✧ Has supervised matches between you, Merry, and Pippin before. To your surprise he actually gives genuine, entirely unbiased feedback to all of you.

✧ Small part of him is amused by the fact his shield covers most of you. Would never say that out loud.

✧ (Boromir also finds it comforting, because it just means that it will be easier to protect you.)

✧ Very occasionally sketches out shield designs for you, if he has a lot of free time with most others being asleep. Writes the symbolism behind them in the margins.

✧ Will happily fetch you things from the high shelf. Puts them back onto the same high shelf out of instinct, then realises what he’s done and puts them onto a lower one you can reach.

𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧

✧ Believes (lies to himself) that one day he may be as tall as you.

✧ Therefore constantly asks about how different life is when you’re as tall as you are (at the start of the Fellowship) despite the fact you’re only a foot and a bit above him.

✧ He insists that being your height will solve a lot of the problems he has in life. Merry says it’s better to just humour him.

✧ Has asked for piggy-back rides from you a few times. When you finally agree his eyes light up, there is pure joy as he sees the world from your perspective.

✧ After the entdraught one of his first thoughts is of you.

✧ Pippin wants to be taller than you. When he sees you again he runs straight into you, pulling you into a hug and then seeing if he has to look up to meet your height.

✧ Is crushed when he realises you’re still taller than him. Although he is around 4’8” now - so there’s much less of a height difference.

✧ Can finally reach the same shelves you can, and gives you the items from them even if you were just getting them.

✧ Has tried to climb up a shelving unit before to get to the top shelves. It ended as well as you think it did.

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲

✧ Very surprised by your height, but also very enthusiastic. Didn’t think he’d ever be able to have conversation with a big folk without them constantly looming over him.

✧ Finally has someone other than Pippin he can show the little alcoves to, and then can spend time with them there.

✧ Every so often he’ll underestimate your height and you won’t be able to fit in - he’s always very apologetic when this happens.

✧ Only person who offers his cloak, and it’s actually a reasonable size for you. Slightly short but better than the other options, so you gladly take it.

✧ The thought of him being taller than you after taking the entdraught doesn’t even occur until he sees you again. Keeps his intentions fairly well hidden.

✧ Does the same thing he did with Pippin - ‘subtly’ measuring your height with his hand. Vehemently denies everything if caught doing it.

✧ Asks you about your tailors and if you own any patterns once he’s nearer your height. For the first few months you can see a lot of your stylistic choices find their way into Merry’s wardrobe.

✧ Would fetch you things from the high shelf if he could. Alas, he cannot - and he also values his dignity enough to not try and climb them.

✧ (Has secretly climbed them once with Pippin. The reason he doesn’t do it again is because he knows it will fail.)

𝐒𝐚𝐦

✧ Still thinks you're tall enough for the height difference to be slightly intimidating. He isn’t scared of you, it just comes from the tallest person he knew before you being around four feet.

✧ Other than that he treats you as he would everyone else, most respectfully and always looking out for your best interests.

✧ You are the person he goes too instinctively if he needs someone slightly taller than himself. Is always very apologetic about it, and promises to make it up to you.

✧ Generally makes it up to you by giving you one of the best portions of whatever he’s cooked for the night. Often with ingredients you managed to find for him.

✧ Also searches places to see if they’ll have weapons of the correct size for you.

✧ Is just as good as the people actually trained in combat, although it’s because he’s closer to your height - not because of his martial prowess.

✧ After the cave troll fight you’re the one he goes too, shyly asking if you’ll give him a few lessons.

✧ Sam is a very diligent student, and always gives you a bright smile every time. Thanking you for letting him protect Mr. Frodo that bit better.

✧ Unfortunately, he needs you to get him things from the ‘high shelves’ - but he would certainly help you if he could.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐨

✧ Subtle and polite look of amazement the first time he sees you, internally checking your height compared to his.

✧ He is somewhat sad that you’re just too tall to appreciate a lot of his walking sticks. Does find one or two in Bilbo’s collection that could be given to you.

✧ Always touched whenever you find him a ‘walking stick’ esque branch, although it’s sometimes slightly too tall for him.

✧ Often points out flowers and other beautiful things to you and Sam, because you’ll have the best view of it.

✧ After Aragorn, you’re his go-too person to hide behind and ask for protection. He feels bad about it the first few times, but you’re always there to reassure him.

✧ You and Aragorn have both moved in front of Frodo for protection at the same time. Always a moment of awkward silence and then shuffling into a decent position for the both of you.

✧ When seeing you, Pippin, and Merry all laughing together - one of them reaching out and ruffling your hair - he is somewhat envious about them now being around your height.

✧ However, he’s also grateful that he’s kept the same height. So Frodo isn’t too sad about it.

✧ Would fetch you things from the high shelves, although in reality you need to fetch things for him.

A/N : Hopefully you enjoyed, not entirely sure why this one turned out so platonic. But I am making one for thorin's company and I'll try make that one more obviously romantic. Thanks so much for reading and requesting!

Update : Here is the one for Thorin's company <3

thank you for reading *･༓˚✧ Taglist : @celestialhole / @starwars2222 / @xiaoseminence / @withasideofmeg / @nilintakan / @ferns-fics / @fleurdemiel-145 / @chewgazellechew / @recordofragnarokfan2 ✧ wish to be tagged?

[wain-wright]

LEIGH: So how did you get into working on gender? What was the event that took you down, it took you down this research path?

FINE: Well, it was really a combination of both what I was doing professionally as an academic, and then my personal life as the parent of at the time, two young children to preschoolers. So I was working as a research associate on a project that was led by a philosopher, Neil Levy, who was sort of exploring and expanding and kind of establishing the field of neuro ethics, one question of, which is, How were the new neuro imaging technologies, changing our view of ourselves, as humans as people and so on.

And at the same time, you know, my kids are very young, I was working part time, being a sort of typical academic, I did a lot of research into being a good parent, sort of, you know, telling my children to go away because mums learning how to be a better parent. I read a lot of parenting books.

And one of the books that I read was, you know, arguing that there are hardwired sex differences in the brain, that means that we need to parent our children differently, as well as sort of educate them differently and generally treat them in different kinds of ways. And I was, I was really interested in this because in my PhD, I worked in the Institute of cognitive neuroscience, I studied particular parts of the brain. And I spent a lot of time studying a part of the brain called the amygdala. And this was one of the regions that was mentioned as being kind of profoundly different in boys and girls. And I was really interested in this because sex differences in the brain was not something that had been discussed, and I was doing my PhD. And so I looked up this study that was being cited as support for, you know, this claim that boys and girls needed to be taught differently. And I was really shocked at the disconnection between what the what the study actually showed, and the kind of practical implications that were being drawn from it.

So I started to look at other kinds of popular books, which were also sort of drawing on these findings, you know, more or less loosely, from the new neuro imaging technologies that of course, people will be familiar with, sort of say, you know, we put people in the scan cat scanner, and we got to do got them to do such and such a thing. And we saw which parts of their brain light it up. And, you know, a lot of these studies were throwing at differences between the sexes, and the popular writers were kind of picking up on this, and presenting it as a, you know, at last science that's shown what we knew all along, you know, the brains of males and females are completely different.

So I was looking at all these popular books and I looked at parenting books, books with teachers, but books for people to manage their relationships, books for business leaders. And I noticed you know, the same thing going on here that this this neuroscientific claim were being misrepresented, over interpreted sometimes even fabricated in ways that just sort of seem to prove the truth and inevitability of you know, old fashioned gender stereotypes and roles.

And and so I became because of the work that I was doing as part of philosophy department I kind of got interested in what is the effect of this popularisation of this, this new neuro imaging technology on this, you know, centuries old argument that the differences between men and women, and I, I wrote a book for the inaugural article is at the inaugural volume of journal called neuro ethics, which is called will working mothers brains explode, which was, which is based on one of the claims from a New York, New York Times bestselling book, The female brain, which claimed that the reason why working mothers lives are so difficult is because of their overloaded brain circuits, because they're having to sort of handle both, both parenting and their and their careers.

So that's, that's really what what set me into that journey that I was worried I was really concerned about the fact that there are all these books that we're presenting such information misinformation about, you know, what science has shown us, that was really just dressing up these old fashioned gender stereotypes with a sort of veneer of scientific authority. And it deeply troubled me. And I wanted to write a an accessible book that kind of explained what science did show and what it didn't.

[translationandbetrayals]

My top 5 villains in manga

Even though this is my opinion, it’s based on the impact these characters have in their story, and how they also are used for the main protagonist’s development. Of course, it is still important their own development and complexity, so it’s not only just being a bad guy, but it’s also their thoughts, their ideals, their actions. Making a good villain isn’t easy task, so that’s the reason why I think that a good villain always makes a good story. Here are my favorite villains, or antagonists.

5. Kira Yoshikage/Jojos part 4

Honestly, this place is arguable, but Kira has something special. Diamond is Unbreakable at the first half of the story, looks like a slice of life, where villains have little or no impact at all. Even though manga and anime are different, in the anime you start knowing him, while in the manga is introduced very later, as it wasn’t planned.

When he is introduced, we see a guy who wants to live a peaceful life, but he makes horrible things in such a cold-blooded way. The spectators have no sympathy for him, it’s very difficult to see him as a charming guy, because he is emotionless, is an awkward man. We understand this guy is a sociopath, and he will have no remorse and won’t hesitate in killing someone who he sees as an obstacle. When he chases Shigechi, and kills him by his stand Killer Queen, we understand why he is so fearful, his methods are relentless and merciless, and leaves no clues because everything disappears of the existence.

His determination and extreme luck, makes him more detestable to watch, as everything turns on his favor. However, despite being pretty smart, his own confidence made the Bites The Dust plan to not work, due to his narcissist personality, so the main protagonist and the group corners him and finally beat him.

The second half of the story is all about Kira, and holy heck, he really makes DIU really interesting and fun to watch, he “carried” the whole part 4.

4. Griffith/Berserk

The favorite of a lot of people, and yes, it’s an incredible character because of his ideals and determination, and his complexity makes him an incredible leader. However, Griffith is special because he was forced to be a villain (or always was?).

Griffith has an incredible charisma, being the leader of the group and recruiting Guts, and being very close friends. Even though Griffith has a well fit personality for a villain, he starts being a good character, a character we feel sympathy for, and wish he doesn’t suffer or die. However, the story gives us clues that he will betray all the group, with no behaviours indicating that. In the eclipse, that betrayal finally happens, Griffith sacrifice all the Band of the Falcon because he actually has no option, the prophecy and the destiny claimed he is going to become Femto, and he let it happen, taking the easy way out. This amazing arc creates Femto and destroys the humanity left in Griffith. The synergy between Guts and Griffith before and after this arc, it’s incredible, and makes Guts development to be brutal.

Griffith/Femto’s actions since the eclipse are merciless and not nice to watch for the spectators (Casca scene), so after watching human’s worst part through the vision the Hand of God lend him, he became the worst of mankind.

I think Griffith’s analysis should be extensive, but the Eclipse Arc defines the whole picture of Berserk and their characters. Griffith is an incredible villain, but he was very weak to not become the villain, and Guts in the other hand, has done the impossible to challenge his fate and not become the villain to destroy evil.

3. Satō/Ajin

Perhaps the most underrated villain I’ve seen, in one of the most underrated shonens. The villain determination for their goal, it’s something the spectators will always enjoy watching, because it proves they have a great personality, and Sato has perhaps one of the most enjoyable personalities I have ever seen.

I find amazing when characters have an equal power, but someone use it as it's maximum potential. Satou is one of them, proving he is a very smart character. Taking the ideas he had for the ghost, it is mind blowing, if you think you have seen a character willing to do everything to do what they want, Satou probably will have more determination than him.

When he threats to take the nation, no one was aware of what he can do, no one could predict how he would do it. I won’t spoil it, because Satou is one of those characters is better to watch rather than explain, because he is like the Joker in the way that he enjoys what he does and will take everything just for fun.

2. Friend/20th century boys

Friend is a special villain, because you know that here, the character beyond the mask, it’s pretty forgettable, from the other villains mentioned here, it is the least interesting. However, Friend must be understood as a concept rather than a character, is what it represents.

The beginning of the story we are given a background from a cult with a symbol, that symbol belong to the protagonist childhood and his friends from that time, and created a prophecy book, so the villain was part of that group, and we must figure out who is.

Friend was made to accomplish all the prophecies of that book they made when kids, like if it was a game that became real. It starts simple, a small cult, with a unique and noticeable symbol. However, Friend and his charisma and his way of planning things, everything turns on his favor, and the world is dominated by him. So, it’s not the character itself, but the impact it makes on the story, and how invincible, nearly a god (there is an incredible scene, the best one so far, where he is portrayed as a god, and the own characters feel it, and it’s very well done) he becomes. He could easily be the best villain of all times, only if the characters who portrayed him were more interesting, because no one is at the level of the next one.

1. Johan/Monster

I love how Naoki Urasawa not only made three of the best seinen out there, but also the best two villains I have ever seen. The monster without name is, perhaps, the most complex character too.

A man is evil since born? or society corrupts you bad enough to turn you evil? Monster tries not to directly answer it, but to give you an understanding of how people are influenced by bad people, and how those bad people were influenced by other bad people. Its not evil itself, but rather how people fight against those amoral temptations. That’s what we see with the synergy of Johan and the main protagonist, Tenma.

Johan was born in a context without love (in psychology and also in the series, it is mentioned that this is a crucial factor for a person to be able to love, to have a good development and be a good person), so he was damaged since the beginning, he was a victim of a cruel experiment, just to later be part of another cruel experiment. His infancy was marked by those experiments, where he was formed to be the next Hitler, but the charisma he had, and the evil was beyond the control of the experimenters. Everyone failed Johan, except for Tenma, when he saved him, so the journey of the story begins.

From all the analysis that Johan can offer, I like it more in a psychological way rather than metaphorically (the Anti-Christ), even though Urasawa’s works are pretty metaphoric. Johan is, properly speaking, a sociopath. He feels no guilt, no remorse in manipulating people or killing them. He tries to forge an identity for himself, but he can’t find it, he just keeps seeing the world in a nihilist way after the discoveries he knows in the progression of the story, so he keeps a very good development as well. It’s because in the lack of a name, a lack of identity, he can’t enjoy the world as he understands it, he has no goals other than that, because he was born without one. In this progress, we see Johan also tries to give everyone his own ideals, to prove his philosophy is right, such as Tenma’s case, where he thinks every life is worth saving, while Johan says we are all different, except when we are dead.

Such as Griffith, the analysis could be more extensive, and with these two characters, the interpretation of their ideals, their philosophy, their actions, could depend on every spectator, so not always the interpretation of these villains will be equal. In Johan case, it’s more difficult, because the manga tries to give him a context full of mystery, full of ambiguous interpretation (like the end).

The anime of Monster will be available in Netflix on January 1st, it will be in good quality, please enjoy.

-Alfredo Salas

[guaxinimraccoon]

jesus christ why-

oh mY DEAR GOD-

FIRST OF ALL I'm SO sorry for taking so damn long to answer those, I've been really really busy and I'm very sorry, I'm doing my best to answer everybody ; o ;

BUT FINALLY let's talk about our big last Euphoria reveal (about four months ago but ok-), where I showed you guys that Alex is Brad's father and Elisa is Toby's mom.

"BUT GUAX WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??? HOW?? WHEN??? WHERE??"

SHUSH , CALM YOUR TITS DOWN and let me explain:

Ok, so I'll be putting some links here and there because yes, Alex and Elisa's story is very, VERY connected to Brad and Toby's. 

And get ready for a veeeeeeeeeeeeery long post. You were warned.

As you all already know, Alex and Elisa had a troublesome meeting, but eventually got closer to each other, they fell in love yadda yadda yadda BUT their will to get closer to each other, in other words, their relationship brought HUGE consequences.

Yes, they did manage to build a healthy relationship, they were happy, they were fine.

But they were also adults, adults that wanted something serious and concrete, they couldn't spend the rest of their lives as forbbiden lovers.

So Elisa did something literally illegal. She did a potion that was forbidden by the Colony authorities - a shrunken potion - to get closer to Alex.

Those potions were never developed, they're rustic and really antique, so they could do more harm than good or not work at all.

But Alex didn't care, he took the risk and drank the potion to get closer to his girl, the woman that was the love of his life.

The effect of the potion is temporary, so Alex would drink them from time to time whenever he had the opportunity to visit the Colony, spend some time with Elisa and, of course, be a part of her life.

He wasn't just trying to "be like her", he was also trying to be a part of her home. He made friends with her friends, he met her family, he met new imps, new fairies, all of it under his "imp disguise". He even fought for the Colony at it's war times (that is lasting till the current story time). He EVEN presented himself with a more “impish name” - Turk - to make sure people wouldn’t suspect anything.

Of course, people eventually started to ask why didn’t he live in the Colony with Elisa, why did he only showed up from time to time. Alex and Elisa lied, obviously, they told everyone that Alex belonged to a secluded imp tribe that lived walking around the forest as nomads, which made sense since those types of imp communities do exist.

ANYWAY THE POINT IS Alex grew affectioned of those people and with their lifestyle. He started to feel like he was one of them. 

And, of course, he was now closer than he ever was to Elisa.

Since they were different species, they never worried about having kids. I’ve never said this before but Alex is a doctor, he knows about this stuff, so he always made sure to reassure Elisa that "they were their own condon" and, as sad as it may sound, they couldn't have kids.

... Or so Alex thought.

You know how tigers and lions can have offspring together? Yeah, it's the same thing.

It's very hard to happen, but they spent YEARS together if you know what I mean so yeah

That's how Alex and Elisa gave birth to their first child: Tobias, the only one of a specie that is a mix between human and imp.

His parents were really worried at first, afterall, they new NOTHING about Toby's condition. They didn't know if he was going to grow as large as a human or if he'd assume imp proportions forever. After some research with his son's blood, Alex found out that Toby was indeed half human and half imp, but he was predominantly physically an imp. That means his biological features are, mostly, imp like: he'd hardly grow as large as a human through his life's course and could live as a normal imp in the Colony. The fact that he showed talent for magic (once he was old enough to do so) and was able to do it just like any other imp in the Colony also made things easier.

Elisa and Alex chose to raise Toby in the Colony, they believed it’d be healthier and safer for him (especially after some events that I’ll be talking about in other posts), although it hurt Alex to pretend that he was an imp to his son and that he couldn’t see him everyday. 

Even if they couldn’t see each other everyday, Alex and Toby were very close. Toby loved his daddy very much and was very attached to him.

After five years after Toby was born, Elisa got pregnant again and gave birth to their second child: Bernardo (that’d eventually be nicknamed as “Brad”), one of the two only beings of the specie Alex and Elisa accidently created together.

For preucation, Alex took a bit of Brad’s blood and made some research, just like he did to Toby.

And what he found out wasn’t exactly... relieving.

Brad, just like Toby, was half human and half imp, but he had expressed mostly human features in his physical body. He was as small as a baby imp now, but it was a matter of time until he started to grow very VERY large.

Unlike Toby, Brad couldn’t live as an imp in the Colony and things got very complicated for them.

Alex wanted to leave. He told Elisa the Colony’s community would NEVER accept their youngest, they would never accept Alex and probably wouldn’t accept Toby either. They had to leave that place before they couldn’t hide the truth anymore, even if it cost revealing Toby, a five year old child, that most of his life was a lie.

But Elisa was hesitant. She didn’t want to leave her home, her parents, her friends. She knew Alex was right, they couldn’t stand that play for too long, but how to leave everything she had built behind? How to leave everything she knew as home behind? It wasn’t that easy.

Until something very bad happened.

Remember I said Alex made a few friends in the Colony? So, one of them was Stefan, a experienced fairy soldier that had known Elisa for as long as she was alive. He was pretty much her best friend (even if he was old enough to be her father) and now he was also great friends with Alex.

Stefan is important here. He has a very tragic backstory involving humans. He lost pretty much everything to them: his whole family and his wings, something that meant more than just flying to him.

So, as expected, he hates humans and truly believes that they are nothing more than monsters that try to manipulate you and to get advantage from imp’s and fairy’s magic. 

After some years, he started to get very suspicious over Alex. Some things weren’t making any sense anymore and that “nomad imp community” was starting to sound way more like an excuse than the actual truth. He simply didn’t understand what was stopping him to live with Elisa and his sons for once.

So he did some investigation. One day, he followed Alex (that he knew as Turk) out of the Colony, in one of the days he had only come to visit his family. Alex had said earlier that he had to “go back to his own society”. Yeah, right. Stefan was hiding the whole time and followed Alex till a good distane from the Colony’s limits. 

And he didn’t get exaclty happy to see his best friend growing impossibly huge out of nowhere.

Stefan now knew the truth: Alex was pretending to be an imp using shrinking potions. He didn’t belong to any nomad imp group, he was a human that lived in his own house and was coming to the Colony to play family with them.

Of course, he didn’t only felt betrayed, but pissed as fuck. Stefan didn’t waste any time: as soon as Alex came back to the Colony he confronted him. Alex tried to explain himself, but they only argued and ended up having a pretty bad fight.

In anger, Stefan didn’t want to hear no more explanations, so he told some of the Colony’s high authorities about Alex’s lies and that they had to do something about it. 

The Colony’s Council decided to call Elisa and solve things between imps and fairies only. But they showed her no mercy.

They basically gave her two options: or she’d prove her loyalty to the Colony and would kill her husband and her human son, or the Colony would sentence all of them to death penalty, including Toby and Brad, children that they claimed should have never been born. 

Elisa was in shatters. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t kill the man she loved and her baby child, she just couldn’t. She was about to accept the second option, rathering die with her family than killing them, but Stefan decided to help her out.

He wasn’t expecting the Council to be so cruel and he started to regret his decisions the moment he saw how Elisa was worried about her family and how much she loved them, even if they were human. He hated Alex and Brad, but seeing Elisa in excruciating pain over them was impossible for him, so he made up a plan with her to save everybody.

It cost Elisa to trust Stefan, he had told their secrets to the worst people possible, but she had no option aside from accepting his help and following his plan.

The plan was simple: Elisa would tell the Council she’d kill Alex and Brad and would tell Alex that she had changed her mind and that they should leave the Colony as soon as possible now that Stefan knew the truth.

Alex believed her and, after Stefan’s confirmation, so the Council did. The next step was to take Alex and Brad to the Colony’s limits, pretending they were about to leave. 

Then it happened.

Elisa made, with Stefan’s help, a huge barrier on the Colony’s frontier that didn’t allowed humans to cross it. It was basically a security method that they never thought it’d be necessary.

But now it was and it wasn’t meant to protect the ones inside the Colony...

Of course, Alex didn’t understand SHIT.

He spent MONTHS returning to the Colony in his shrinking form, trying to find a way to cross the barrier and to get Toby back. 

Or to talk to Elisa.

Or to understand.

Or anything.

He just wanted his family.

Eventually, his potions ended and he was left to raise Brad on his own and to never see his wife and oldest son again.

Since then, he hates Elisa. Or at least thinks he does. He’s just deeply mad at her, he doesn’t understand why she left them. 

He did everything for her. Denyed his own race, submitted himself to the dangerous effects of a extremely nocive potion which he faces the consequences till this day, did his fucking best to be the best father and husband his family could have-

All this love, all this effort, all this sweat and blood

Wasted.

It took years for him to fully recover. Aside from the health problems the abusive use of the shrinking potions brought, he also became alcohoolic. Because he wasn’t mentally estable enough, neither to take care of himself and of his very very small son, he went to live in his parents house. His family knew about Elisa and the children they had together, his folks actually liked her a lot so it saddened them as well that she simply abandoned Alex and Brad and that they would never see Toby again.

His family didn’t had to worry about Brad’s very little size for too long though, before he was one year old he had already reached his human size.

Anyway, Alex’s family gave him a huge help until he was healthy enough to take care of Brad, the only one left from the family he built.

Back to Elisa, she didn’t told Alex her plan because she KNEW he wouldn’t want to do it. She simply knew Alex would be too stubborn. He’d have wanted to try to escape or to face the Council. Both alternatives would get them all killed.

Toby didn’t understand why his mother did what she did. He was forced to go back home with her, screaming the whole time, saying that they left his father and brother behind while Elisa was crying endelessly.

Stefan came to them eventually and calmed Toby down. His heart broke when he saw Elisa. She was... not okay.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to assist her. He immediatly went to a representent of the Council and took them to Elisa and to the Colony’s frontier to prove that she had done it and did even more than she was suppose to. Of course, not without consequences to her sanity, she had just killed her husband and baby, of course she was in pain.

Nevertheless, the Council confirmed Elisa had done her part and left to leave her alone with the child they let live.

After that, Toby spent weeks returning to that spot of the frontier to look for his dad and brother. No sucess.

As time went by, he eventually forgot about Brad, he was very young when they tore apart and Elisa and Stefan never talked about him nor Alex. All he can remember is that there was a baby in the middle of that mess, but he can’t relate to it.

He kept the memories of his father though, who was closer to him, and till this day he believes he’s alive somewhere and that he can be found. But he has no idea he’s a human and has no idea of his own true nature.

Elisa and Alex miss their respective sons deeply and think about them everyday. They also miss each other very much and the first months after the incident were terribly agonizing for the both of them.

They kept going for the child that had remained for the both of them and raised them apart from each other. Alex never told Brad what happened and so Elisa did to Toby. Like that, none of the brothers knew about the existence of each other.

Until the day Toby was sent, coincidentally, to his “little” brother’s house

And none of them has no idea of this fucking long backstory I just spent four months writing :)

enjoy

[blouisparadise]

We frequently get asked what our members favorite fics are, so for today’s rec list, we asked each member of BLP to choose FIVE favorite fics for this list - no repeats allowed. Please keep in mind that this is not a complete list of our favorites - there are so many amazing BL fics out there that we all have a lot more than this! Still, we hope you enjoy. Happy reading!

1) Take Off Your Business Suit | Explicit | 3082 words

“Yes, let me get another chair.” Louis said, leaning up off of the desk. He stood up but before he could leave the office to get another chair, Harry was grabbing his hand.

The words that came out of Harry’s mouth made Louis’ knees weak and heart beat quicken. “Just sit on my lap.” Harry said. Whatever he said afterwards didn’t make it into Louis’ ears as he was moving quickly over to Harry and placing himself on Harry’s lap.

Louis would take anything Harry wanted to give him; hand touching, lap sitting, all of it. Louis hadn't realized he was holding his breath until it came out in a quiet sigh. “Okay so th-this one will be slightly different right?” He asked as he pointed at the sheet of paper in front of him.

2) Quietly Our Hearts Beat | Explicit | 7539 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Louis and Harry in the universe of ‘A Quiet Place’.

3) A Love Reaction | Explicit | 9968 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Louis’s staring up at him, head tilted slightly back, and his blue eyes are glassy, locked with Harry’s in an unblinking and gentle gaze. He looks ready to do whatever Harry says, to please him whatever way.

4) To Love Without Reason | Explicit | 8854 words

“Come on in, soldier,” Louis pats Harry’s chest and walks away, leaving Harry to follow behind.

Harry stands in the living room, looking around at Louis’ dwelling. Family pictures placed high on a shelf, certificates of Louis’ practice, and other trinkets that make Harry entirely too nostalgic.

“I have to warn you,” Louis says as he puts the kettle on, the water droplets from his hair trickling down the golden skin of his back. “The door jams if you lock it so you'll have to leave it ajar.”

Harry acknowledges with a soft hum, too entranced by Louis’ glistening skin to form a coherent reply.

5) No Good Unless It’s Real | Explicit | 17021 words

Louis is a very busy farmer who’s just trying to make it to his next nap and Harry’s the new hot vet that’s determined to infiltrate every area of his life.

6) A Springtime’s Wilt, An Autumn’s Bloom | Explicit | 20593 words

Harry is Louis' personal chauffeur, and although he hides his feelings for his boss behind a wall of rigid professionalism, Louis still manages to squeeze through the cracks.

7) Ready To Fall | Explicit | 21220 words

“Ninety and rising,” Nick says triumphantly, as though making Harry’s heartbeat pick up by thrusting an obscenely attractive person in front of his face is any kind of success. “Louis Tomlinson has just walked into our control room and suddenly our dear Harry Styles has lost all ability to speak. Could this be some kind of strange coincidence?”

“I hate you,” Harry hisses, forcing his eyes back into Nick’s direction, uncaring that the mic must have picked it up. “I thought we agreed that you were going to play fair.”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nick denies, except he’s holding up a picture of Louis’ face now, sharp cheekbones prominent, soft lashes nearly sweeping against his cheeks as he looks down, and his fucking mouth –

“A hundred and two!” Nick crows, all but clapping his hands together in glee. “The highest it’s ever been!”

“To be fair, I did bend over the desk on purpose,” Louis’ voice comes crackling in the headphones. Harry practically breaks his neck whipping his head around at the sound of it, gaping at him through the glass panel. “You can’t really blame him for getting a little excited about that, can you?”

8) Written In The Stars (That’s You And Me) | Explicit | 22632 words

Louis pushes himself up on one elbow and stretches enough to just barely trace his fingertips over Harry’s jawline. Harry’s eyes drop to track his movements as he does it again. “D’you feel that?” he whispers.

To him, it feels like all of the universe’s magic lives just beneath his skin when he touches Harry with intent. It feels like something special. Louis watches Harry’s lips part and wants to touch that too. He almost does, but then Harry shakes his head. “Feel what?”

9) Middle Ground | Explicit | 23561 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Harry moves to a new town for work where he meets the enigma that is Louis Tomlinson.

10) England Has My Bones | Explicit | 24087 words

The next time Harry thinks about calling, it’s 4.14 in the morning on a Parisian hotel balcony.

11) Like A Siren In The Night | Explicit | 24868 words

“There is an infestation in my home,” Louis hisses, righting himself quickly and pushing his way past Harry, heading directly for the kitchen. He’s rather haphazardly dressed himself, a coat thrown on over a loose flannel shirt and black pants, slippers on his feet.

Harry resists the urge to sigh, closing the door and trailing behind him slowly. “What kind of infestation?”

For all he knows, Louis is going to claim that there’s a ghost infestation. Harry has no idea what the end game is here – all he knows is that Louis has found at least three complaints a week to bring up since he’s been living on Harry’s property, and he’s been living here for six months.

It’s way too many fucking complaints, is what Harry is saying. Especially when most of them are ridiculous to start with.

12) Hold Onto This Heaven (Of Yours) | Explicit | 25213 words

An ode to being too young, too sad, and too in love.

13) The Devil’s In The Details | Explicit | 25372 words

He squeals when Harry smacks his bum as he bends over to pick up his bag, swinging it over his shoulder. Harry smiles smugly at him, bottom lip caught between his teeth. “When are you going to start calling me professor?” He asks.

“When you actually are one,” Louis says with his hand on the doorknob. He cocks his head to the side in curiosity. “Isn’t that how words work? You did study English, right?”

Louis’ quick to slip out the door before Harry can smack him again, his laugh echoing through the hallways as he makes his way to his next class with flushed cheeks and a bright smile.

14) A Trail Of Honey Through It All | Explicit | 27086 words

The boy in front of him, well really, the man in front of him, was like something out of a confusing wet dream. Built, tall, tan and muscular, his skin glistened with sweat after a long day of working outdoors with his hands. He was wearing a cut up old American football shirt, the bottom hem was torn and the sleeves were cut off to the point where the t-shirt was really just a loose tank top. The shorts he had on had clearly been full length jeans at one point, and were now just crudely cut off above the knee. His white socks were pulled up too high on his calves, and the brown work boots he had on were old as fuck, the leather peeling along the edges of the soles. Curly brown hair stuck out from the edges of his backwards snapback, and there was a smudge of grease wiped along his brow bone. The smattering of hair along his jaw proved that he hadn’t shaved in a week or two, the hair growing in thicker across his upper lip and around his chin. His sinfully bowed mouth was pink and plump, and Louis was suddenly hyper-focused on the way that he chewed at the toothpick stuck between his lips. He looked like he needed a shower. Louis wanted to lick him.

15) You Fit In My Poems (Like A Perfect Rhyme) | Explicit | 27598 words

The one where Harry works in an old bookshop and Louis is the pretty stranger that ends up stranded there in the middle of a storm.

16) Where The Lights Are Beautiful | Mature | 31170 words | Sequel

The accidental bonding A/B/O fic.

17) Once Upon A Dream | Explicit | 33319 words | Sequel

Louis is psychic and gets caught in the middle of a murder investigation led by FBI Special Agent Harry Styles.

18) Stuck On You | Explicit | 33983 words

Louis’ life revolves around his stickers. Harry’s life revolves around his job. The universe has decided their worlds should revolve around each other.

19) Coeur De Pirate | Explicit | 34207 words

He tilts his chin up as the Captain strides across the deck, his footfalls falling loudly against the planks. The crew watches them from afar.

Stepping into his space, the Captain wraps an arm around Louis’ waist and pulls him in. He lowers his head to breathe his words against Louis’ cheeks. “I won,” he whispers, “I’ve come to claim my prize.”

20) What This World Is About | Explicit | 34472 words

An eighties American high school AU; there are first times, football games, and feelings.

Alternatively titled: the beginning.

21) Close To Nowhere | Explicit | 34589 words

Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.

22) Before We Knew | Explicit | 39830 words

Louis has been skeptical of soulmates for years so it seems like fate when he finally bumps into the owner of the obnoxiously large signature printed onto his skin since age sixteen: Harry Styles, a human rights attorney who is firmly against soulmates.

23) The Space Between | Explicit | 39917 words

Harry Styles is the alpha rockstar who can’t sleep and doesn’t know why.

Louis Tomlinson is the omega PhD student who helps him figure it out.

24) The Sweetest Incantation | Explicit | 40580 words

Harry is a witch who's still working on developing his powers and Louis is a werecat who falls into his life and turns it upside down.

25) Worth Dying For | Explicit | 44906 words

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Louis says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. In the center of the table, a set of three glossy photos stares up at him, mocking him.

“A security detail is non-negotiable, Louis, you know this,” his mum reminds him, tapping the middle photo with two fingers.

Louis doesn’t look back down at the pictures, gesturing towards them wildly, over-dramatically. “This is not a security detail!” he protests. “This is a lanky college student. In what world do you hire someone like this kid to protect me?”

26) Tastes Like Summer, Smiles Like May | Explicit | 47519 words

A cold prince, an alpha with nothing left to lose and a kingdom with a secret.

27) Love’s Truest Language | Explicit | 48195 words

The first part was meant as a joke. He didn't really expect Harry to buy anything. It was just Louis’ way of softening the ‘get the fuck out’ blow.

“Where's your order forms, then?”

“I don't want your flowers.” Louis chided before directing all of his attention to the arrangement in front of him.

Harry laughed under his breath as he stood to his full height, “Who said anything about them being for you, love?”

28) Through The Wheatfields And The Coastlines | Explicit | 52855 words

The one where Louis needs inspiration, and a certain cowboy and his lamb are the perfect distraction.

29) Latibule | Mature | 54322 words

A Spirited Away AU of sorts where Louis just wants to heal and be left alone, only for all his plans to be destroyed by the hands of an infuriating British God.

30) Warming Up To You | Explicit | 56227 words

Prompt 111: Louis and Harry are strangers that somehow got stranded during a blizzard. They find themselves in an abandoned cabin and have to cuddle for warmth. Cuddling leads to much more.

31) Feeling Borrowed, Always Blue | Explicit | 68214 words

Louis has been dreaming of his wedding since he was young - he just never expected it to happen like this.

32) Curly Bun Man | Not Rated | 68597 words

I just paid for these Doritos but they're stuck in the vending machine and I know you've been waiting but I am not going to let you buy something until you help me. AU.

33) Waiting On You | Explicit | 76584 words | Sequel

“Vampires,” Louis says with disgust, glaring over at the vampire who is noisily slurping from the woman’s neck nearby.

Zayn gives the neat fang marks on Louis’ neck a meaningful look.

“Can’t live with them, can’t live without them,” Louis finishes, ignoring Zayn when he rolls his eyes.

Louis takes a long sip of his milkshake, presses his fingers against the marks on his neck, and definitely doesn’t think about the vampire who left them there.

34) Through Struggles, To The Stars | Explicit | 80582 words

Louis is a Starfleet captain trying to find his place in the universe. Harry is a prince just trying to do what's right.

35) I Want You So Much (But I Hate Your Guts) | Mature | 83648 words

AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream.

That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.

36) Where You Lay | Explicit | 86038 words

When Louis's upcoming heat threatens his success at his new dream job, he asks the best (and only) person he can think of to help him through it: his best mates' best mate, Harry Styles.  Harry reluctantly accepts, and together the two navigate a strange friends with benefits relationship that quickly turns complicated.

37) And Down The Long And Silent Street | Mature | 86090 words

Wherein Louis and Harry are on the opposite ends of the social ladder, but their paths still cross on the filthy streets Louis calls his home. The odds are staked against them from the beginning, and even more when Louis' past finally catches up with him.

38) Swim In The Smoke | Explicit | 101778 words

“What about this, Captain?” Liam asks, nudging the boy kneeling between their feet with the toe of his boot. The boy hisses and swipes at him, slurring out something unintelligible around the makeshift gag Niall had to stuff in his mouth. He misses by a mile and tries again, just as ineffectively.

Harry looks down at him, at the way the sun streams over his face and shoulders, at the way the gag stretches his mouth, lips pink and chapped. He’s lithe and pretty, smudged all over with dirt. They had found him tied up below deck, mostly unconscious, next to a barrel full of gold. He’s clearly a prisoner, but there’s something familiar about him, something that niggles at Harry’s brain. Something he can’t quite put his finger on.

“Put him in my cabin,” Harry decides, turning back to deal with the rest of the loot. The boys screams out jumbled curse words at Harry’s back, muffled by the gag, and Harry can’t understand any of it.

39) The Galaxy’s Edge | Explicit | 113921 words

Things never quite go as they are planned during a simple rescue job.

40) Tainted Saints And Velvet Vices | Explicit | 126057 words | Sequel (WIP)

A self-fulfilling Hogwarts AU in which Louis is new to seventh year and Harry is the resident devil-may-care Slytherin set to make his entire experience a living misery. Due to less than favourable circumstances they're forced to forge an unwilling, tentative relationship for their own survival. Repressed emotions, decidedly unromantic ballroom dancing, Triwizard Tournament tasks, creative jinxes and twilight flying above the Forbidden Forest ensue.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[jasontoddiefor]

Tyki Mikk is a Clone and I can (almost) prove it

Tyki Mikk is undoubtedly a fan favorite and yet we don’t really know a lot about him. For a character that was created with the purpose of being handsome (cf. D.Gray-Man Manga Volume 5, page 150), he carries a lot of baggage and has a rather unclear past. A theory that has haunted me since I read chapter 198 and has only grown in strength with the most recent arc is that Tyki is in fact a clone of Nea. As far fetched as this seems at start, there is quite a bit of evidence supporting this theory.

1) Tyki’s visible similarity to Nea (and Mana)

One of the first things Wisely remarks on when he meets Tyki is his similarity to “a certain man” (Chapter 187).

This similarity is picked up twice more in the manga. When Allen meets Nea for the first time (cf. chapter 198), he mistakes him for Tyki at first.

And it is brought up a third time by Nea himself in chapter 225 when he says:

To which Tyki, or rather Joyd, has this wonderful reaction:

But more on that guy specifically later. Point being right here is that three different characters, or four if you want to count Road and Wisely separately, acknowledge that Tyki resembles Nea a lot, down to the man himself. How does that saying go again? Once An Accident, Twice A Coincidence, Three Times A Pattern? This is something that repeatedly gets brought up again. And this is without going into detail on how much Tyki resembles not only Nea, but said man’s identical twin as well. Just look at that dashing long hair!

And take this from chapter 158 as well

Pretty long haired boy Mana is nothing new as of chapter 218 and 219:

Another interesting point here is that Tyki is the exact same height as the Earl in human form! They’re both 188cm tall. Nea, on the other hand, is listed at being 177cm. This could just be that Nea unfortunately ended up as the shorter twin, or, we take into consideration what Mana tells Allen/Red in chapter 238:

He remembers being seventeen, which means that he and Nea probably weren’t done growing yet when the “Earl” corrupted Mana. (It also kind of makes everything about Nea more hilarious if you realize he’s just seventeen.) Tyki, however, is 26 when we first meet him and should be around 27 now. He is an actual adult and not bound to hit another growth spurt.

But to summarize the first argument: Tyki looks uncannily similar to Nea and Mana and the manga keeps pointing it out so we can assume this resemblance is important.

2) Cloning is possible in canon

Now the second point is just here to point out that we know cloning to be possible. Funnily, Tyki’s resemblance to Nea gets pointed out just before the Alma Arc, which very much deals with the concept of reincarnation – only there we have the brains of deceased Exorcists transplanted into youthful bodies.

However, it’s not as if something like DNA hasn’t been mentioned before. Specifically, it has been called “Helix of life” by no other than maybe-former-Bookman but definitely First-Nea-host Past!Allen in chapter 221:

So let’s assume that, in the aftermath of Nea’s “death”, PastA didn’t just wait around for Nea to wake again, but tried to find a vessel for him. Messing around with this helix, and whatever other dubious science and magic this world had to offer, and created a new body to host Nea. Except he failed, and the result is Tyki.

But if that is so, shouldn’t Tyki remember anything about that? Good question. Time for some more shady weird stuff about Tyki.

3) The Missing Years

In chapter 202, while the Earl is resting, Tyki talks to Road. I don’t speak Japanese, so I can’t verify which translation is more accurate, but I’ve found these two:

Now the official German one also goes with a similar translation as the second one here, implying that Tyki has been with the Earl for ten years. In any case, the fact that this decade at all gets mentioned is quite odd because it doesn’t match up with what we know of Mana travelling with Allen. Cross calls Allen a “ten-year-old brat” (chapter 208) when he looks after him. So between Mana travelling with Allen and current canon, only 6 years have passed – what are up with the other 4 that are supposedly within this decade? We don’t have a definite age for how old Allen was when he met Mana, but I’d say around 7 or older. That’s still not enough to fill out the decade they speak about here.

Now, presuming that it does in fact refer to Tyki staying with the Earl for that time, we’re either left with assuming that the Earl acted as a separate entity as we see in 218, or that Tyki’s memories are just flat out wrong.

4) Tyki Mikk’s Canon-Typical Ignorance AKA The Baby of The Family

The more often Tyki appears, the more we see how much he actually doesn’t know about the going-ons of the war, or even himself. This goes back as far as the Ark Arc in chapter 130 with the Earl pointing out that:

So this form is apparently something that all Noah of Pleasure can take on, a sort of second stage of awakening. Still, it feels significant that Tyki separates his life so much into “black” and “white”, “Noah” and “human”, going as far as suppressing a part of his Noah. It puts him in direct opposition to Skinn, who was more or less entirely consumed by his Noah memories. Though, perhaps this is also just a narrative ploy because a character with the ability to chose is, frankly speaking, fuck off overpowered and the only reason why Tyki isn’t constantly leveling battlefields is probably that he just doesn’t know how to apply himself.

Regardless, Tyki’s ignorance also becomes visible in chapter 187 again when he wonders about his Noah name:

Nobody else reacts like he does, even though the other Noah haven’t been awake as long as he has and also should have retained the same memory damage as Joyd after Nea’s murder spree. Yet Tyki feels a little like the baby of the family, still learning and growing while everyone else is already in the know, which can’t be too far from the truth if we look at chapter 225:

Wisely and Road definitely know that something went down and kept it from Tyki for so long for reasons. So besides Allen learning the truth sometime in the future, Tyki is also heading towards some kind of realization – and honestly, what better than the fact that the man who enjoys his freedom and roam so much, was artificially created?

Road could have manipulated his subconsciousness, his memories. It’s a miracle really that the Earl hadn’t had a breakdown around Tyki already given how much he looks like Nea. And if Tyki really awoke as a Noa a decade ago, then eh would have been right the age Nea was when he died. The Earl should have reacted in one way or another.

Other small details that don’t add up is a) the claim that Tyki and Sheril are actual brothers. They have different last names, which would imply that they are perhaps rather half siblings, sharing one parent, or maybe they just aren’t related at all in the first place. The other thing is that Nea recognizing Tyki’s face immediately after confronting Mana about his changed appearance just adds even more suspicion.

5) TLDR

Tyki is either a clone or something else messy went down because there’s no way that there’s a natural Nea and Mana copy running around who also just so happens to be a Noah. No way.

Thanks for coming to my  TED talk I’m never writing meta again this was a nightmare to post.

[itsclydebitches]

I keep seeing people calling Good Omens queer bating and a I can't help but ask why? I read the Aziraphale/Crowley relationship threw an Ace lens and they are clearly as close to married as they are probably going to get without stepping on holy ground.... and they love each other... why is it considered queer bating?

Personally, I think it's mostly young queer fans turning legitimate grievances on the wrong target. A case of getting so fed up with queerbaiting in media as a whole that they're instinctually lashing out at anything that seems to resembles it on the surface, without taking the time to consider whether this is, in fact, the thing they're mad at. Good Omens is a scapegoat, if you will. The equivalent of snapping at your partner after a long day. Your friend was an asshole, your boss was an asshole, the guy in traffic was an asshole, and then you come home to your partner who says something teasing and you take it as another asshole comment because you've just been surrounded by assholeness all day, to the point where your brain is primed to see an attack. Your partner wasn't actually an asshole, but by this point you're (understandably) too on guard to realize that. Unless someone sits you down and kindly reminds you of the difference between playful teasing and a legitimate insult - the nuance, if you will - your hackles are just gonna stay up and you'll leave the room, off to phone a different friend to tell them all about how your partner was definitely an asshole to you.

Only in this case, that "friend" is a fan on social media doing think pieces on the supposed queerbaiting of Good Omens, spreading that idea to a) people who aren't familiar with the show themselves and b) those who, like that original fan, have come to expect queerbaiting and thus aren't inclined to question the latest story with that mark leveled against it. Because on the surface Good Omens can look a lot like queerbaiting. Here are two queer coded characters who clearly love each other, but don't say "I love you," don't kiss, don't "prove" that love in a particular way. So Gaiman is just leading everyone on, right?

Well... no. This is where the nuance comes in, the thing that many fans aren't interested in grappling with (because, like it or not, media is not made up of black and white categories; queerbaited and not-queerbaited. Supernatural's finale is proof enough of that...) I won't delve into the most detailed explanation here, but suffice to say:

Gaiman has straight up said it's a love story. He's just not giving them concrete labels like "gay" or "bi" or "asexual," etc. because they are literally not human. Gaiman has subscribed to an inclusive viewpoint in an era where fans are desperate for unambiguous rep that homophobes cannot possibly deny. The freedom to prioritize any interpretation - yes, including a "just friends" interpretation - now, in 2021, feels like a cop-out. However, in this case it's an act of world building (they are an angel and a demon, not bound by human understanding of identity) meeting a genuine desire to make these characters relatable to the entire queer community, not just particular subsets. Gaiman has said they can be whatever we want because the gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction of an angel and a demon is totally up for debate! However, some fans have interpreted that as a dismissal of canonical queerness; the idea that fans can pretend they're whatever they want... but it's definitely not canon. It is though. Them being queer is 100% canon, it's just up to us to decide what kind of queer they are. This isn't Gaiman stringing audiences along, it's him opening the relationship up to all queer possibilities.

We know he's not stringing us along (queerbaiting) because up until just a few days ago season two didn't exist. Queerbaiting is a deliberate strategy to maintain an audience. A miniseries does not need to maintain its audience. You binge it in one go and you're done, no coming back next year required. The announcement for season two doesn't erase that context for season one. No one knew there would be more content and thus the idea that they would implement a strategy designed to keep viewers hooked due to the hope for a queer relationship (with no intent to follow through) is... silly.

In addition, this interpretive, queer relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale existed in the book thirty years ago. Many fans are not considering the difference between creating a totally new story in 2019 and faithfully adapting a story from 1990 in 2019. Good Omens as representation meant something very different back then and that absolutely impacts how we see its adaptation onto the small screen. To put this into perspective, Rowling made HUGE waves when she revealed that she "thought of" Dumbledore as gay in an interview... in 2007. Compare that to the intense coding 17 years before. Gaiman was - and still is - pushing boundaries.

Which includes being an established ally, particularly in his comics. Queerbaiting isn't just the act of a single work, but the way an author approaches their work. Gaiman does not (to my knowledge) have that mark against him and even if he did, he's done enough other work to offset that.

Finally, we've got other, practical issues like: how do you represent asexuality on the screen? How do you show an absence of something? Yeah, one or both of them could claim that label in the show, outright saying, "I'm asexual," but again, Gaimain isn't looking to box his mythological figures into a single identity. So if we want that rep... we have to grapple with the fact that this is one option for what it looks like.

Even if he did want to narrow the representation down to just a few identities for the show, should Gaiman really be making those major changes when he's only one half of the author team? Pratchett has, sadly, passed on and thus obviously has no say in whether his characters undergo such revisions. Even if fans hate every other argument, they should understand that, out of respect, Good Omens is going to largely remain the same story it was 30 years ago.

And those 6,000 years are just the beginning! Again, this was meant to be a miniseries of a single novel, a novel that, crucially, covered only Crowley and Aziraphale's triumph in being able to love one another freely. That's a part of their personal journey. Yeah, they've been together in one sense for 6,000 years, but that was always with hell and heaven on their backs, to say nothing of the slow-burn approach towards acknowledging that love, for Aziraphale in particular. We end the story at the start of their new relationship, one that is more free and open than it ever was before. They can be anything to one another now! The fact that we don't see that isn't a deliberate attempt on the author's part to deny us that representation, but only a result of the story ending.

So yeah, there's a lot to consider and, frankly, I don't think those fans are considering it. Which on a purely emotional level I can understand. I'm pissed about queerbaiting too and the knee-jerk desire to reject anything that doesn't meet a specific standard is understandable. But understandable doesn't mean we don't have to work against that instinct because doing otherwise is harmful in the long run. We need to consider when stories were published and what representation meant back then. We need to consider how we adapt those stories for a modern audience. We need to acknowledge that if we want the inclusivity that "queer" provides us, that includes getting characters whose identity is not strictly defined by the author as well as characters with overtly canonical labels. We need both. We likewise need to be careful about when having higher standards ends up hurting the wrong authors - who are our imperfect allies vs. those straight up unwilling to embrace our community at all? And most importantly, we have to think about how we're using the terms we've developed to discuss these issues. Queerbaiting means something specific and applying it to Good Omens not only does Good Omens a disservice, but it undermines the intended meaning of "queerbaiting," making it harder to use correctly in the future. Good Omens is not queerbaiting and trying to claim it is only hurts the community those fans are speaking up for.