#self destruction corp

[iikelyy]

the last one is the best option

[sleepyminty]

The canto iv experience

[transparentstickers]

Six notebook stickers by Spindex corp, produced in 1982. They are made as labels, and most contain lines labelled Name and Address.

(Description under Read more)

From the top, the first is in the shape of a pencil, the lines for name and address in the yellow center acting as the corners of the implied hexagonal shape.

Second, a yellow spiky shape warns: "TOUCH THIS AND YOU WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 30 SECONDS" with the label beneath.

Third, A rainbow with a golden star in the center has a golden framed box beneath to input your own text.

Fourth, a red clockwork rollerskate travels to the right with the speed lines behind it crossing a dark blue back ground. The purple frame curves in on the top right coner to match the shape of the rollerskate. The label is below.

Fifth, a black handled paintbrush makes an oval trail of rainbow paint.

Sixth, a green frame has the label at the top, and the top third of the globe in the bottom right corner, a space ship flies on top, above the frame.

[heavensickness]

Another thing I've been thinking about is that how Harry will choose to behave after The Hanged Man case and after Kim joins Precinct 41... I am thinking about Kim and Jean the most actually.

Jean is codependent to the point of self-destruction, he still feels respect and compassion for Harry even though he can't help it because he has worked with him for so long, and sadly he has little or no self-respect. That's why he has been putting up with Harry's habits and behaviors for so long, and I believe he will continue to do so for a long while after this latest case. Kim, on the other hand, is emotionally self-sufficient and independent, he knows how to be alone, and has a high self-respect. Therefore, if Harry relapses again and tries to treat Kim the way he treated Jean, I think Kim will reject Harry's behavior much more quickly and harshly, and in the worst case, he will give up on him to preserve his own mental health and self-respect; which is something Jean hasn't been able to do for years.

If Harry truly chooses to let the past go and treat himself and those around him better, it is clear that the relationship he has built with Kim, based on mutual respect and trust, will have a huge impact on his recovery. In this case, Kim will again have done something that Jean hasn't been able to do for years: He will be Harry Du Bois' true partner who helped him recover after years of self-dectructive behaviors. So whichever path Harry chooses to take from now on, Kim will always be accomplishing something that Jean wanted to do but couldn't.

Esprit de Corps instantly recognizing Kim as Harry's half-brother but not recognizing Jean even in the last scene without Jean saying so. The familiar bright halo behind Kim's head and the dark, forgotten iconography of the square halo behind Jean's head. The identification of Kim with the sun (energy, orange, brightness, power) and Jean with the moon (melancholy, blue, dim light, grief). Kim as the future and Jean as the past. It truly is tragic to be Jean Vicquemare in any case.

[salted-bird]

Unique interactions aside I adore how Sinclair Who Shall Grip's character is reflected on the gameplay side, we are told through his Uptie story that he doesn't believe in Faust's cause as much as he *wants* to, and it shows, because he is just godawful at the job she gave him.

For starters, Nails, the thing that defines the faction; Shall Grip Sinclair can't inflict any stacks of it.

All other N-corp IDs we have so far can apply at least one Nails, and we are informed in N-corp Don's Uptie story that the nails possess a symbolic importance for them because "the reason we pierce evil with nails beeth to utilize them as tools so the One Who Grips may enact justice". It's all about the One Who Grips, and even at his worst Sinclair is unable to aid her beyond the surface level, quite literally he can't help Faust carry out her Execution because the skill requires Nails and he can't give them.

Though it doesn't end there, the more you use them the clearer it becomes that the Faust Who Grips and Sinclair Who Shall Grip IDs don't mesh together at all. Faust's nails inflict Bleed count, Sinclair needs Burn Count, Faust's passives heal SP, Sinclair needs to stay at low SP, Whistle gives Fanatic to two allies, Sinclair hogs one stack due to always being the lowest SP ally by kit-design, but then there's how he can't make proper use of the Fanatic buff because of the SP heal ruining his tails flips, so rather than helping it's like trying to put a torn band-aid over a wound when that Fanatic could be going to someone actually capable of benefiting from it.

Sure, his skills include effects that involve other N-corp units, but first, it's a selfish interaction, they can help Sinclair but the most he will give them is a pathetic 2 Bleed on the last hit from Amoral Enactment, and second, what little ways they have to help Sinclair pale in comparison to letting him fight alongside IDs from other faction, what's a 15% damage increase compared to rolling 30 on each one of Self-destructive Purge's coins, and what's 5 Burn Potency compared the obscene amounts of Burn Count Liu Hong Lu can provide for his second skill and E.G.O? The N-corp effects are pretty much just there as lip-service, which applies to Sinclair's half-baked belief in their cause too, he shines the most when going against Nails and Hammer, and that keeps being the case even for the ID that's supposed to be on their side.

I find it funny how the closest to a synergy you can find between Faust and Sinclair is Faustie's Gaze buff, which sums up their relationship perfectly. She points to something and Sinclair kills stuff, Sinclair's core personality remains unchanged just like how the only thing that Gaze does is provide a crude damage-buff that doesn't help with any of Sinclair Who Shall Grip's obtuse mechanics, but the 'Sinclair kills stuff' part is enough for Faust.

Lastly, another point that I love is Sinclair's physical types and resistances.

All his skills deal Blunt damage, which is exactly what the N-corp Inquisitors are weak to.

Other N-corp units deal Blunt damage too, but they also have Pierce skills that the Inquisitors endure, Sinclair on the other hand doesn't waste a single bit of damage when it comes to killing them ASAP, and unlike the rest of N-corp Units, Sinclair Who Shall Grip has an Ineffective resistance for Blunt, at the same time his resistance against Pierce is normal rather than fatal, meaning he can go against the Inquisitor enemies without worrying about dying in a blink because they simply can't strike his weakness.

But of course, there's one N-corp character who Sinclair can't deal with, and it isn't Kromer, you must have seen already how she gets staggered if you bring Sinclair against her.

No, the one Nails and Hammer member who can claim the title of best counter against Sinclair Who Shall Grip is funnily enough, Faust Who Shall Grip.

Emitter is weak to Lust but it doesn't matter because Faust resists the physical type of all her skills, her passive ruins Sinclair's rolls to the point he can hit 0 as a coin value, and guess what, Sinclair's base E.G.O, Branch of Knowledge, has a fatal weakness to Pride, the element of Faust's Execution skill.

There's something so twisted yet beautiful about the fact that even in gameplay terms, Sinclair can't hope to go against Faust, while she could easily get rid of him if she ever felt like it.

But of course, what I find even more beautiful is that Sinclair Who Shall Grip has one small means of rebellion left, one last tool that can he could use to hurt Faust if he ever dares go against her: Branch of Knowledge, the E.G.O that encapsulates Sinclair's sin.

Emitter also has a fatal weakness to Gluttony, and unlike Sinclair Who Shall Grip's own skills, its physical type matches Faust Who Grips fatal weakness to Slash, making it the ideal tool for killing her.

Given how turning a blind eye to everything as a way to cope is a big part of Sinclair Who Shall Grip's character, I like how the one thing he could theoretically use to break free from his dependence on Faust is a manifestation of his inner psyche literally called Branch of *Knowledge*, I would assume these are all coincidences if it were any other game but PM has put crazier details on their works before.

[scribblemakes]

Do you draw three panels very late at night as an excuse to draw Kim smiling or do you NOT have Kim’s So Cool condition. Not pictured is the rest of the officers waiting for whatever mind meeting Harry’s having to be done.

Short ID below and long ID under the cut:

[Short ID: Three panels showing Kim and Harry sitting at a table in a meeting. Harry says something in frustration that makes Kim laugh, which causes Harry’s skills to over-analyse the moment and make him moon-eyed. /End ID]

[ID: The first image shows Kim and Harry sitting at a meeting table, with Harry looking frustrated and offscreen while Kim watches him. The dialogue reads: Jean, offscreen: “She’s got a written alibi, shitkid.” Harry: “She could’ve forged that easily! Should I just write her a note so she lets her guard down?! ‘Don’t worry we’re not tailing you, we’re on the fucking moon right now’?!”

The second image follows from the first one, with Kim now smiling while Harry pauses. His skills have dialogue boxes that appear over the image. The dialogue reads: Reaction Speed: “Wait. Freeze. Look at Kim right now.” Perception: “He’s... Laughing?” Esprit De Corps: “if you weren’t so in-tune with him, you wouldn’t have noticed. He’s going to pass it off as a cough to avoid embarrassment in front of the other officers.” Empathy: “He truly believes you made a good point, he’s laughing with you. If it was just the two of you he wouldn’t have tried to hide his amusement.” Inland Empire: “He trusts you.”

The camera moves to a close up of Kim as he hides his smile behind a fist, coughing into it. Harry is shown more cartoonish in the background with big eyes. The dialogue reads: Logic: “Oh it’s worse, he likes you.” Half-Light: “More than he should.” Suggestion: “Not up to us, especially with him. He struggles enough with emotions as it is.” Volition: “Hold back all of your self-destructive thoughts. Let him, and yourself, bask in this.” Electrochemistry: “You make him feel good, happy.”

/End ID]

[sunny-mercya]

Grievance

Shikamaru Nara x Male Reader

Fandom -> Naruto

Masterlist

With all these dark clouds—so full, like soaked sponges or washed sheets, with gallons of water stored in them, already dripping with leaks and ready to be drained empty—clustering up the once clear blue sky with its formable bricks, Shikamaru wonders—more like a bet with himself—if it was either you or mother nature, which had released such heavy downpour of thundering rain.

Perhaps—Shikamaru thinks, going over his self placed bet and coming to a truce—it was the both of you, who caused such weeping havoc upon the realm above and brought it down onto the earth—sending the riverbanks into a flooding and causing more corp losses than necessary.

Puffing out another cloud of smoke—tobacco still tasting bitter and unpleasant, even after it being the third cigarette already—Shikamaru looks at its form, trying to make out a deeper meaning of it—a sense to life and the supposed way of Ninja, if there even is one.

Another loud rumble of thunder, followed by a unusual lightning and Shikamaru knew it's solely you who causes such chaos filled weather.

You still were grieving and Shikamaru could understand your pain as he too grieves the loss of Sensei Asuma—whose death Shikamaru (with Ino and Choji) had witnessed firsthand and heard his last few words of dying breath—but it had hit you the hardest.

After all, Sensei Asuma was your Uncle and the closest—besides the Oni Demons, Sensei Isamu and former (rest in peace) Hogake 3rd—of being family, a parental figure, than your actual family, to you—so with Asuma being gone now too, the last few remaining chains of stability—to hold your sanity together—were starting to break into crumblings and if these chains ever happen to snap, a monstrosity of destruction would come free.

Shikamaru doesn't know what to do—neither how to comfort you either—he doesn't feel sad anymore, not like before when he cried with the rain—because he doesn't want his friends to see such weakness—only a slight grievance with philosophical thoughts remains and yes, perhaps a slight twinge of sadness was indeed still bedded in his heart.

He know grief is important to feel and death belongs to the life of a Ninja, but Shikamaru—if being honest—doesn't want to, because if he really starts the process of grief properly—like you're doing right now, although you're definitely a bit way too emotional and Lady Tsunade might send you under heavy medical supervision if you keep going like this—because if he does, he would feel a sort of pain, way worse than a stab or chopped off limp, he never wants to experience.

Another released puff of cigarette smoke, the first drops of new upcoming rain—like baby teardrops—tapping gently on his face and one of Asumas last lines echoed in his thoughts—nagging at him like Ino had done an hour or so ago.

„You and [Name] are like two shogi pieces, meant to be together. I give you my blessing.“

Shikamaru sighed loudly, such a bothersome hassle—this whole human complex concept of emotions—he thinks—but extinguished his cigarette anyway, getting up from the roof he's laying on.

Time to crease the storm into a pitter patter.

~~~

Walking through the graveyard, you were easily to find—as you still haven't left the spot, even when the funeral ended hours ago, kneeling down in front of Asumas grave and weeping your soul out, the darkest clouds of rainy thunderstorms hung directly above you like a unlucky thread.

Shikamaru, when stopping behind you, looks up to Raikou—who stood with crossed arms, like a bodyguard, next to you—barely giving a glance of acknowledgment back, only nodding curtly at Shikamaru and ascending back into you.

»I think it has rained enough.« Shikamaru holds his umbrella above you as well, but you only shook your head as if to tell him otherwise.

»There can't be enough rain for Uncle Asuma. Heaven should weep as much as I do.«

»You're right. It never is enough, but for today it is.«

It had been a saying, which Shikamaru had heard Asuma often say to you—whenever you caused too much weather troubles or going stubbornly overboard with the training—and it seemed to work once more.

You turned your head, looking up to your boyfriend—the umbrella he holds, it's black colour, reminds you of the of vague face of death itself—and Shikamaru, upon seeing your tear soaked face with the aching hurt expression written on it, had to bite onto his lower lip—feeling a upcoming choking sob tingling in his throat—as it pains his heart as well (just like Asuma's death had and still does) to see you, his boyfriend and fiance—so broken, so emotional vulnerable and sadness filled—like this.

»Come on,« Shikamaru begins, bending down—discarding the umbrella—wrapping his arms around your midsection and pulling you up, holding you in his arms,

»let's go home. It had been a long day.«

~~~

Within the comfort of the bed and under the warmth blankets, Shikamaru's and your limps a tangled with one another—creating a proximity only lovers are able to do so.

While you two laid in bed, reminiscing in memories of Asuma—Shikamaru couldn't hold it off any longer, his own aching heart sank itself finally into the grievance and the first sobs escaped over his lips, followed by more till he too cried himself free of the painful sorrow.

And Shikamaru came upon the realisation of why grievances were so important to experience.

[isawken]

disco elysium and transmasculinity:

i don't want to be this kind of animal anymore

there is no such thing as an inherently masculine trait, only those which we have culturally prescribed to be masculine. muscular, tall, strong, stoic. self-destructive. repressive. angry. unhinged. violent. addictive.

Disco Elysium markets itself with the tagline “what kind of cop are you?”. to put it bluntly: you get to choose what man you want to be. the actual gameplay mechanic is the game keeps track of your dialogue choices and, among other RPG things, neatly divvies them up into 4 main Cop Categories: Sorry Cop, Apocalypse Cop, Superstar Cop, Boring Cop. after some time establishing your identity you can branch off into 3 other copotypes: honor cop, art cop, and hobocop. These are all exactly what you think they would be.

a supremacist stands tall, immovable, shirtless, tattooed, in the way of one of your objectives, and if you let him he will tell you all the ways your body betrays your degeneracy. all the indulgences you make, with drugs and alcohol and sex, are allegedly clear as day written across your reddened swollen face. you are not a man. you are pathetic. a pair of women reassure his divine masculinity even when he admits his impotence. there’s no denying it: that’s one man of a man right there.

your former detective partner is an eternally scowling pockmark faced asshole. he approaches every interaction with you with a nice solid baseline of aggression. if you choose to put your points into something called “espirit de corps”, you get small vignettes of his previous actions. in one of them, it’s joked that you two are near-marital in your relationship. in some of them, he worries about you. muttering under his breath, mostly to himself, not unkindly. but he certainly never shows that to you face to face. 

two old men play pétanque outside every day by the sea. they have done this for years. they have known each other since they were kids. one is a fascist, the other a democratic socialst. if you’re nosy, you can go to the watchman’s post and find a picture of him, his socialist buddy, and a young woman whose attentions they supposedly both vied for. if you decide to become a fascist, the game gives you something more. your abilities Pain Threshold, Composure, Endurance, Volition, Conceptualization, and Inland Empire take turns showing you tiny slices of a truth viciously stamped beneath the heel of his brilliant boot. a love for his dear hated socialist. and when he dies, that socialist tells you the same. but they never told each other. never even came close. because how could you?

harry dubois wakes up face down ass up covered in piss and vomit and full of foggy confusion after drinking himself into amnesia. he's tall, he's got giant arms, a proud beer gut, and he's self-destructed himself into literal oblivion. this pitiful bastard doesn't even remember his own name. the first person he encounters outside of the hotel room in which he fucked himself up beyond his limbic system’s reach tells him at some point during his bingeful weekend she heard him scream, "i dont want to be this kind of animal anymore". you don’t know why you said this. but after a while you have some pretty good guesses.

i could talk forever about the unique circumstances of growing up as a girl in modern western society. but i have nothing interesting to say that hasn't already been said much more eloquently. learning to hate my body, learning to be afraid, learning that you need to want to be consumed. the eternal unpacking of all the issues a patriarchal society burdens you with. it never ends. but i've at least reached a point where i've done my base legwork. i know the oppression i've fought. it is nameable. i have labeled each and every patriarchal burden like a so many papers in a filing cabinet. few are going in the shredder, but at least they're known. next to that filing cabinet, i have a big pile of loose papers slowly sliding off a desk with the word "masculinity" in neon lights flickering above them. i want to dive into those papers. but the thought of it fills me with such apprehension. i've always wanted masculinity. i've purposefully adopted affectations to make myself more stereotypically masculine. most are hilariously shallow, and not exactly innovative. i smoked camels for 8 years. i drink my coffee black. i picked up a nice little alcohol habit. i've shoved down more feelings than i would ever willingly admit in the hopes to appear unbothered. I’ve told myself to “man the fuck up” my fair share of times. none of it got rid of my hips or my tits or my anxiety or my painfully high pitched voice. i’ve quit smoking. i sometimes think i should start again for many reasons, but one is in the hope that my voice will drop. just one octave. at least. it’s silly, i know. believe me. i know.

when harry drags his sorry ass out of that hotel room, he isn't free of his past. he has shadows in his mind reminding him of the things he's forgotten. shadows that still influence his views of masculinity. there is no way to truly escape the bitter leaden paint stuck to the inside of your mind so violently applied by our beloved patriarchal society. there is a hilarious dialogue option where, if you so choose, you can proclaim that you would never let anyone androgynous touch your hair. because the “others” (unnamed) would laugh at you. here we have a man who cant remember his own name, but he is certain that he absolutely cannot under any circumstances have a non-manly haircut for fear of mockery and rejection by his peers. how many coats of that leadened paint must have adhered to his poor, poor limbic system that even when he’s forgotten the concept of money, he still knows about the boundaries of masculinity.

 as harry tries to be a good person (or a fascist or a doom prophet or a disco superstar) he cannot really shake the pieces of himself that make him him. and he meets another bastion of masculinity, kim kitsuragi immeasurably measured, willful, and kind (for a cop), he helps you rediscover the world around you as you try to rewrite your tabula rasa'd self. he is firm, but nice. he lets you make your choices and mistakes. and he only stops supporting you when you start fucking up like, literally everything, and indulging in racism. naturally, there is a lot of fanart of them kissing, and yearning. both are beacons of masculinity, different sides of the same coin. where harry is physically imposing, kim is slight. where kim is calm cool and collected, harry will break down crying after a brief conversation with his necktie. but both are undeniably masculine. i mean, they’re cops after all. what more masculine profession is there?

as kind as kim is to you in your lowest possible state, it can be easy to overlook the ways in which he is not kind. when you tell him you think you really, seriously, need to go to the hospital, seriously kim i can't even remember my name i think i could have brain damage, kim responds with the equivalent of "walk it off" by encouraging you to start working on the case and see if that makes you feel better instead. it is in this light that you recognize which affectations of his are conscious posturing. his fitted jacket and trousers, matching the uniforms worn by air brigades in a past war. his careful collection of tools he keeps in his beloved kineema. his vast knowledge and care for the car itself. looked at in a certain different light- you know the one- you could see these traits being the result of a very careful construction. he found pieces of overt masculinity and decided to subsume them as a defense. a bolstering, a reinforcement of chosen masculinity.

there are so many different flavors of masculinity that the game offers you to experience and explore yourself. you decide whether to value them. you can follow in mister phenology’s footsteps and try to build yourself into a supremacist ideal. maybe that will make you happy. you can also chase after a barely-coded homosexual man, who makes you stutter in most available dialogue options. even if that may make you happy, you don’t get to pursue it. you can think for 20 hours about the "homosexual underground", but you can't join it yourself. you can however join fascism. interesting how harry is more susceptible to fascism than homosexuality. interesting to prod and poke at his masculine limits.

“what kind of cop are you” is a loaded question. harry is rebuilding himself from the ground up as a man. and how funny is it to learn that is inextricable from his profession.

what do you find inextricable from your gender? what of those traits make you happy? what of those traits make you want to throw your fucking shoe through a god damn window and punch the bathroom mirror and scream and scream and scream and scream?

i want to emerge from a hotel room, at my lowest point, and have the power to rebuild myself from scratch. i want a cool man who i maybe want to kiss guide me with a gentle yet firm hand. i want to have large arms, and a proud beer gut, and a stupid beard, and i want to destroy a hotel room and drink myself into a beautifully tragic state. i want to have non-political body hair. i want to get stared at for my gaudy tie and green snakeskin shoes instead of my tits. i want become a different kind of animal.

[eggonthemoon]

Losing my mind over Red Sheet Sinclair’s uptie 3 cutscene:

The atmosphere is immensely eerie, no bgm or anything. Only the sound of howling wind and a droning ambient noise.

The sheer amount of talismen strewn all over the room and plastered on the walls.

Him obsessively drawing more of them despite how complicated they are (even though it literally just says Talisman in Korean lmao)

It’s a stark contrast to how he is seen in Ishmael’s initial artwork:

Here we can see him chuckling together with Rodion.

And yet his dialogue implies that he has pretty much cut himself off from the rest of the world.

He doesn’t even know what time of day it is outside, only being able to guess from what little sunlight manages to get in through the cracks at noon.

He is losing himself to the E.G.O. more and more, to the point where it’s hard to extinguish where Sinclair starts and where the E.G.O. ends.

And the cherry on top is:

nobody cares.

It’s clear to see that he is not in the right mental space but no one is intervening because he brings in results like this and they would rather not put in the effort.

The difference between him and N Corp Sinclair is that Nclair was deliberately groomed into being the unstable individual he is.

Meanwhile Red Sheet understands fully the risks of donning this E.G.O. and does so willingly.

Him and his E.G.O. is a perfect match. Too perfect. And he is going off the deep end because of it.

I think there is something to be said about codependency and how all of this is symbolic of someone who is dealing with an untreated mental illness in self destructive ways.

TLDR:

If I had a penny for every time Sinclair got an ID with codependency issues I would have 2 pennies which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice!

[darkskywishes]

Levi and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

TW: mentions of rape and childhood sexual abuse

Throughout the course of Attack on Titan, and even before the canon timeline, Levi experiences innumerable traumas, not the least of which are repeatedly experiencing the deaths of his closest friends and comrades. By the end of the series, Levi has lost every single person he had been close to, being the last of the Survey Corps' veterans. Given the truly immense amount of traumatic events Levi suffers, it'd be difficult to believe that he wouldn't have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and indeed, he does display several key features of the disorder.

Paraphrased, the DSM-5-TR PTSD criteria are as follows (American Psychiatric Association, 2022, p. 301):

Criterion A: stressor (one required)

The person was exposed to: death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, in the following way(s):

Direct exposure

Witnessing the trauma

Learning that a relative or close friend was exposed to a trauma

Indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma, usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, medics)

Criterion B: intrusion symptoms (one required)

The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in the following way(s):

Unwanted upsetting memories

Nightmares

Flashbacks

Emotional distress after exposure to traumatic reminders

Physical reactivity after exposure to traumatic reminders

Criterion C: avoidance (one required)

Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli after the trauma, in the following way(s):

Trauma-related thoughts or feelings

Trauma-related external reminders

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood (two required)

Negative thoughts or feelings that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

Inability to recall key features of the trauma

Overly negative thoughts and assumptions about oneself or the world

Exaggerated blame of self or others for causing the trauma

Negative affect

Decreased interest in activities

Feeling isolated

Difficulty experiencing positive affect

Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity (two required)

Trauma-related arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

Irritability or aggression

Risky or self-destructive behavior

Hypervigilance

Heightened startle reaction

Difficulty concentrating

Difficulty sleeping

Criterion F: duration (required)

Symptoms last for more than 1 month.

Criterion G: functional significance (required)

Symptoms create distress or functional impairment (e.g., social, occupational).

Criterion H: exclusion (required)

Symptoms are not due to medication, substance use, or other illness.

--

I've indicated the symptoms that apply to Levi, or that I believe likely apply, based on canon content in purple. Let's go one by one.

Criterion A: stressor

During the canon timeline, Levi was exposed to both large amounts of death and threatened death, primarily due to titan casualties, but also due to the circumstances of poverty and deprivation in the Underground. Notable examples include witnessing his mother die and decay while he starved as a young child; Furlan and Isabel's deaths; the deaths of Petra, Oluo, Gunther, and Eld during the Female Titan arc; the loss of Kenny; Erwin and the new recruits' suicide charge against the Beast Titan; and Hange's sacrifice.

Levi experienced multiple instances of serious injury, with the most significant being his injuries resulting from the thunderspear explosion and the Battle of Heaven and Earth. Given the nature of blast injuries, it is likely Levi suffered from internal damage—in particular, rupture of the respiratory and hollow organs, such as the lungs and bowels. We're also shown he suffered complete separation of the index and middle fingers of his right hand, as well as ocular damage to his right eye. A concussion and perhaps a traumatic brain injury following the blast is also likely, as well as hearing damage. Following the Battle of Heaven and Earth, he also experienced significant injuries to one of his legs, necessitating the use of a wheelchair three years post-Rumbling.

In regard to actual or threatened sexual violence, Levi was born and lived in a brothel, in which his mom was a prostitute. It's not an exaggeration to say Levi was likely the result of rape. Given the circumstances of his upbringing, it's also likely he witnessed the sexual encounters between his mother and the brothel's patrons and was perhaps sexually abused himself when his mother was unable or unavailable to protect him. Given the Bad Boy panel previews, we also know he was directly threatened with sex trafficking on at least one occasion.

Only one stressor is required to meet this criterion, and Levi meets all of them. He very much fits the profile of someone with complex trauma or C-PTSD, although that diagnosis has not yet been added to the DSM.

Criterion B: intrusion symptoms

Canon evidence of intrusion symptoms is a bit harder to find, given the heavy plot focus of Attack on Titan; however, I do believe there is enough to make some inferences.

During the Uprising arc, Levi takes note of a starving woman with her baby on multiple occasions, who appears to remind him of his mother. This indicates to me that he thinks of his mother and the circumstances in which he grew up with her with some regularity.

When he later confronts Kenny in the same arc, he specifically questions Kenny regarding the relationship he had with his mother, again indicating that Levi's mother took up significant space in his thoughts.

While we know Kuchel chose to keep Levi (rather than abort him), thus indicating Levi was a desired baby, it's evident that Levi's upbringing overall was damaging and distressing due to the severe poverty, food insecurity, and violence he endured as a young child. Accordingly, it's safe to assume that these memories related to his mother were likely to be both unwanted and upsetting.

We also have this panel during the War for Paradis arc, during which Levi ruminates on the deaths of his comrades and the purpose behind having saved Eren's life so many times. His facial expressions are truly crushing and filled with deep despair.

In terms of nightmares, we know that Levi experiences some truly disturbing dreams from the "Smartpass Good Night, Dear and Sweet Dreams Vol. 02" short story, in which he envisions his closest comrades all morphing into a sea of blood on a red carpet. Clearly, the affect of his dream has been influenced by the specter of death constantly looming over him.

Criterion C: avoidance

The full phrasing of this symptom (trauma-related external reminders) is, "Avoidance of or efforts to avoid external reminders (people, places, conversations, activities, objects, situations) that arouse distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about or closely associated with the traumatic event(s)." Similar to the unwanted upsetting memories symptom under Criterion B, there is not direct canon evidence, but I do believe there is enough to make some inferences.

Primarily, what sticks out to me about Levi is the fact that no one near him seems to have knowledge of his past, which indicates he does not talk about it. When his past is brought up, it's always people who have some direct knowledge about it speaking on it (e.g., Kenny or Erwin). This is shown both directly in canon, such as when Petra speaks to Eren regarding the rumors of Levi's recruitment into the Survey Corps, and in supplemental Smartpass content, like the Close Up interview with Erwin and Levi.

This comes across to me as an effort to avoid conversations, and thus, reminders and memories about the topic.

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood

There's quite a lot of evidence for these in canon.

In terms of overly negative thoughts and assumptions about oneself or the world, Levi has plenty. He appears to have the persistent belief that he only exists to be of service and use to others; he views himself as a tool, one which has no value if he is not directly contributing to something. This is exemplified by the following panels:

When Erwin asks Levi if he would be willing to be in charge of keeping the titan serum and determining whom to use it on, Levi answers with, "Why would you bother asking me?" This shows that Levi has no regard for his own personal feelings.

When Erwin and Levi are discussing the plan to take down the Beast Titan during the Reclamation of Wall Maria, Levi expresses his agreement with the plan by remarking that taking down the Beast Titan will act as him "[making] amends for failing to kill that armored brat earlier." This shows that Levi viewed it as his responsibility, and thus, his failure to take down Reiner. He placed an undue burden on himself here, casting blame for outcomes that should not be solely attributed to him.

And then there's this panel in the lead-up to the final battle, in which a severely wounded Levi is being reprimanded by Armin for being reckless and not resting, in light of his injuries. Levi responds, "... You want me asleep in bed? You're going to forget I even exist if I rest any longer." Levi suffered truly disabling injuries, and yet, he shows complete disregard for himself—concerned that no one will remember him if he is not actively fighting. This shows a projection of his own lack of self-worth onto how he believes others view him: if he is not useful, then he does not matter. Levi also shows disdain at the concept of resting and having been asleep, as if that's somehow a sign of laziness on his part, which is of course, untrue. No one would have faulted him for resting—he truly needed and deserved to rest.

We also know that Levi blamed himself for Kenny leaving him, which can be surmised from interviews with Isayama and the expression on Levi's face when Kenny abandoned him. Levi also asks Kenny why Kenny left him, which shows a certain preoccupation on Levi's part, wherein he worried there must have been something inherently wrong with him to make Kenny leave.

On the topic of Kenny and Levi, Isayama is quoted as saying:

"Levi still had the experience of being separated from Kenny during his childhood. He was constantly troubled by the thought of "Kenny left because I couldn't fulfill his expectations." When the Uprising occurred within the walls, and he confronted Kenny again as an enemy, Levi sought to meet what couldn't be satisfied previously." (x)

Regarding both negative affect and difficulty experiencing positive affect, Levi's expression and mood is frequently shown as depressed. There's a great post by @cosmicjoke on the topic. In terms of the latter, Levi laughs and smiles so infrequently that it's a significant moment at the conclusion of the Uprising arc when he smiles after Historia playfully punches him.

For decreased interest in activities, the full phrasing is, "Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities." Levi's character is contrasted with all the other characters in the series in the sense that he has no dreams of his own. Both Armin and Hange have that greater curiosity about the unknowns of the world, represented by the sea and titans; Erwin is similar in that he desired to validate his dad's theories about the outside world and the existence of other humans; Eren craved freedom above all else; etc. Levi, on the other hand, is never shown as having those same dreams and ambitions. Hence, I would say he demonstrates a markedly diminished participation in significant activities, as even though his complete lack of self-interest is immensely admirable, it is also deeply tragic—particularly as dreams and ambitions are often crucial for one's psychological well-being.

And then we also have feeling isolated, for which the full phrasing is, "Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others." On the topic of Levi and relationships, Isayama is quoted as saying, "It’s likely because he is afraid of forming close relationships. Because he exists in a world where one can be eaten by a Titan at any time, he consistently avoids building 'family'-like connections with others." (x)

This manga panel is a good example of how Levi views himself as detached from others. Pay attention to the phrasing: "And I doubt normal people think about these things on a daily basis... So that means I'm abnormal... Probably because I've seen far too many abnormal things."

Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity

With all of the above laid out, Criterion E becomes very easy to meet.

For irritability or aggression, this is one of Levi's known character flaws, borne as a result of his upbringing.

For risky or self-destructive behavior, we have clear instances of Levi engaging in battle to the detriment of his physical well-being.

For hypervigilance, the last manga panel I attached provides a good example of that.

For difficulty sleeping, Levi is famously an insomniac, often quoted as getting 2-4 hours of sleep a night.

Criterions F, G, and H: duration, functional significance, and exclusion

Have the duration of Levi's symptoms been greater than one month? Yes.

Do the symptoms result in distress or functional impairment? Yes.

Are the symptoms more attributable to the physiological effects of a substance or another medical condition? No.

Thus, Criterions F, G, and H are met.

Citations

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Trauma- and stressor-related disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).

[chips1977]

Subject: Re:ANSWERS

THIS INFORMATION COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE AND FREEDOM THE COMING "OFFICIAL" ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ALIEN PRESENCE ON EARTH

WHY "STAR WARS", THE HUBBEL SPACE TELESCOPE, THE SUDDEN FALL OF COMMUNISM ?

WHAT IS GOING ON? Something very SINISTER is going on. Polls reveal that over 90% of the American people believe in UFO's and 95% of these people believe the government is keeping this knowledge from the public. But why? Are they afraid the people will panic if an "official" announcement were made? Hardly. Such an announcement would create interest and excitement and many questions, particularly by the churches, but not panic. Why then the continued cover-up?

There is overwhelming evidence in the past several years from "whistle-blowers"--retired military officers who have finally said, "Enough is enough! It's time the government told the people the truth!" these officers, such as Navy intelligence officer, William Cooper, Major John Lear (whose father founded the Learjet Corp.) and Air Force officer William English, to name but a few, have all discovered the truth, and at the risk of their very lives, are trying to alert YOU to the secrets behind the UFOs and the Alien Presence on this earth. These people worked on secret projects, had access to, 'classified' Top Secret documents, had seen with their own eyes 'captured' aliens, or extraterrestrial entities, UFOs and the incredible technology they brought with them.

Sightings of 'UFOs' (unidentified flying objects) have been reported throughout history, and biblical and historic references to "flaming chariots" huqe flying 'birds' and odd-looking beings predate our history by thousands of years. In the 1940s several alien spacecraft were recovered by the U.S. and other countries, along with a few dead aliens and one live one they named EBE (a name suggested by Dr. Vannever Bush and was short for Extraterrestrial Biological Entity).

1953 astronomers discovered large objects in space which were moving toward Earth. At first they believed these were asteroids, but later evidence proved the objects could only be spaceships. Project Sign and Project Plato intercepted alien radio communication and using the computer binary language, was able to arrange a landing that resulted in face-to-face contact with alien beings from another planet. Meanwhile, a race of human-looking aliens contacted the U.S. Government, warning us that the aliens orbiting the equator were hostile beings from Orion. These human-type aliens demanded we dismantle and destroy our nuclear weapons, that we were on a path of self destruction and we must stop killing each other, stop polluting the earth, stop raping the earth's natural resources and learn to live in harmony with one another. President Eisenhower rejected these demands.

Later in 1954 the race of aliens, known as Greys, from Zeta Reticuli area in space, who had been orbiting the equator, landed at Holloman Air Force Base. They stated their planet was dying and they needed quarters on earth to conduct genetic experiments that might allow their race to survive; this in exchange for certain technology. Pres. Eisenhower met with the aliens and a formal treaty was signed. The treaty stated the aliens would not interfere in our affairs and we would not interfere in theirs. We would keep their presence on earth secret; they would furnish us with advanced technology . They could abduct humans on a limited basis for the purpose of medical examination and monitoring, with the stipulation that the humans would not be harmed, would be returned to their point of abduction, that the human have no memory of the event. It was also agreed the alien bases; would be constructed underground, beneath Indian reservations in the 4 corners area of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Another was to be constructed in Nevada in the area known as S4, about 7 miles south of Area 51, known as 'Dreamland.' A multi-billion dollar secret fund was organized and kept by the Military Office of the White House, supposedly to build secret underground sites for the President and staff in case of military attacks.

By secret Executive Memorandum, NSC 5410, Eisenhower re-established a permanent committee known as "Majority Twelve" (MJ-12) to oversee and conduct all covert activities with the aliens. This included FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and six leaders of the 'Council on Foreign Relations, known as the Wise Men' and later others from the Trilateral Commission. George Bush, Gordon Dean, and Brzezinski were among them.

A major finding of the commission was the aliens were using humans and animals for a source of glandular secretions, enzymes, hormonal secretions, blood and in horrible genetic experiments. The aliens explained these actions as necessary for their survival, that if their genetic structure were not improved, their race would cease to exist.

The ruling powers decided that one means of funding the alien project was to corner the illegal drug market. A young ambitious member of the Council on Foreign Relalions was approached. His name is George Bush who at the time was president and CEO of Zapata Oil Co. based in Texas. Zapata Oil was experimenting with offshore oil drilling and it was arranged that the drugs could be shipped from south America to the offshore platforms by fishing boats, then transferred to the U.S. shore by normal transportation, thus avoiding search by customs agents. The plan worked better than anyone expected, and today the CIA controls all the world's illegal drug markets. One should remember, it was George Bush who first started selling drugs to our children. The drug money was used to finance the deep underground alien bases.

Conclusions: the Bilderburgers, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission are the SECRET GOVERNMENT and rule this nation through MJ-12 and the study group known as the Jason Society. Throughout history the aliens have manipulated and/or ruled the human race through various secret societies, religion and the occult. The CFR and the Trilateral Commisson are in complete control of the alien technology and the nation's economy. Eisenhower was the last president to know the entire overview of the alien problems. Succeeding presidents were told only what MJ-12 wanted them to know, and it was NOT the truth. MJ-12 presented each new president with a picture of a lost alien culture seeking to renew itself, build a home on this planet and shower us with gifts of technology. Each president has bought that story hook, line and sinker. Meanwhile, innocent people continue to suffer unspeakable horrors at the hands of alien and human scientists who are engaged in barbarous research that would make the Nazis pale in comparison. As if that is not enough, many people end up as food for the insatiable alien appetite for biological enzymes, hormonal secretions and blood. At least 1 in every 40 Americans have been implanted with alien devices that are used to control them if necessity calls.

By 1989 over 3 million 'Greys' are occupying these deep multi-level underground complexes. Level 7 at Dulce is called "Nightmare Hall" They have welched on their agreement on abducting humans; today over 25 million citizens have been abducted and implanted, a literal army awaiting orders to march! (Whitley Strieber has written best-selling books on his personal experience as have many others). For this reason other nations were informed. Within 5 months the communist monolith Russia was dismantled to unite with the U.S. and its technology to fight the invasion. The Hubbel Space Telescope was created to keep a watchful eye on the invasion fleet; Star Wars technology has been developed to hopefully stop them in outer space before they can get to the earth.

Today, the government is on the horns of a dilemma. Too many sources are releasing alien Information. The public could get angry at continued secrecy. So MJ-12 plans soon to make an "official" announcement, under controlled conditions, probably Area 51. Network TV will be called to meet the staged 'landing' of the aliens, these being the Grays.

They will come bearing gifts, technology that supposedly will heal cancer and AIDS, retard aging, etc. They will tell us they are the 'saviors of humanity' who have come to defend the earth against an invasion of human eating aliens called Reptoids. This story is a LIE, they already work for the Reptoids! Their plan is to unify the world into a One-World Government, a 'New World Order' with the argument that only this can defeat the invasion by Reptoids. This is a trap to enslave the world's population. Control will be accomplished through the money system, a universal currency controlled by certain international bankers, who for years have been lackeys of the aliens, who seized upon their greed and lust for wealth and power as a means to bring about their evil plan to control the earth. (This also being the scenario predicted in the Bible's 'Book of Revelation' wherein only those who accept the Mark of the Beast (the aliens being the Beast' and the 'Mark' being some sort of laser tattoo or Credit Card they will use, which will allow people to buy and sell goods). Those who do not accept this 'Mark' must live outside the money system and survive somehow on their own, through barter etc.

SO BE AWARE! ONLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THIS FAKE INVASION AND FAKE RAPTURE CAN PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING. DEMAND THE TRUTH FROM YOUR GOVERNMENT. TELL THEM YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ALIENS AND THAT THERE ARE GOOD ALIENS AND BAD ALIENS AND THAT MJ-12 IS PROMOTING THE BAD ALIENS AND THE ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT THEY HOPE TO CONTROL.

INSIST ON THE TRUE STORY OF THE ALIEN PRESENCE ! YOUR LIFE COULD DEPEND UPON IT, AS WELL AS YOUR FREEDOMS !

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH AND MORE INFORMATION:

Arcturus Book Servko: PO Box 83183, Stone Mt., GA. 30083. (Specialists in UFO books and magazines, tapes, videos)

Worldwide UFO News Clipping bureau & Publlc Information Center 955 Lancastor Rd. Suite 420, Odando, FL 32809. (Tapes videos etc. on UFOs and Alien Presence).

C.A.C. Box 115, Olympia, Wa. 98507 (Cosmic Newsletter with much information on UFOs. and Alien Presence).

The William Cooper Foundation, 19744 Beach Blvd. No.301 Huntington Beach, Cal. 92648. Phone: (6O2) 567 6530

Stanley IC. Barrington, 2059 East Ave. 1, Sp.11, Lancaster CA 93535

BOOKS: An Alien Harvest, by Linda Moulton Howe ,PO Box 3130, Littleton, CO. 80161 (Secret of the cattle mutilations) The Gulf Breeze Sightings, by Ed Walterr,. Wm. Morrow & Co. Pub. The Watchers, by Raymond Fowler, Bantam Books, N.Y. Communion, by Whitby Strieber, Wm Morrow Pub. N.Y. Ask Your local bookstore!

CIRCULATE THIS INFORMATION MAKE 30 COPIES!!

[reallypleasanttree]

This is an addition from a previous Obamitsu Drabble where Obanai reacts to the news about the demon slayer mark.

Canon divergent. Spoilers for the Hashira Training Arc

“For those who have already awakened the mark,” Amane began, “you have my eternal gratitude and respect. Because of that, I have to let you know those who had the mark died before they turned 25.” She paused, letting her words settle. 

Obanai tried to control his emotions, but his eyes widened. Kanroji and Tokito would die. Their years were numbered. His throat burned from the acid threatening to come up. Kanroji had six years while Tokito had eleven years left. It was a little under half his current age. He was only fourteen years old and he knew he would die. His insides churned. Partially from not having eaten since yesterday morning while the other was the devastating realization his fellow Hashira unknowingly sealed their fate. 

He hid his hands under his sleeves as they began to shake. This was a harbinger of the coming times. Only death and destruction laid between them and confronting Muzan. Behind his bandages he pursed his lips. His scars pulled on his cheeks, a constant reminder of what his family made him. 

Obanai planned to die fighting demons. It was the only way to redeem his wretched self. To atone for his and his family’s corruption. Their fortune was built on a pile of blood, bones, and murders. If anyone deserved to die before they reached 25 it was him. He had already spent too long of this earth, but he would live until a demon cut him down. 

Let him take their place. They had people to live for. People who loved and cared for them. People who would grieve their loss. There would be no one to grieve for him except Kaburamaru, Shinazugawa, and the Master. Possibly Kanroji, but she grieved for everyone. 

Tokito and Kanroji had no intention of dying when they joined the Corps. The Mist Hashira regained his memories after earning his demon slayer mark. His personality was beginning to surface. Obanai saw glimpses of an optimistic boy underneath his stoic veneer. His potential was undefined. He was beginning to come into his own, not only as a slayer, but as a man. He gripped the inside of his sleeve as his palms began to sweat. 

Though, there were aspects of the Mist Hashira that were still childish. His love of paper planes and his gleeful expression when he asked to train with the Wind and Snake Hashira. In truth, he saw parts of himself in the younger hashira. He was steadfast with a dry sense of humor. 

Obanai swallowed. Tokito was only a boy and he had a death sentence. It was not fair, but that’s what life amounted to. A series of horrid events ultimately leading to death. The Snake Hashira knew that’s what fate held for him, but it should not be the same for Tokito or Kanroji. They had so much more to live for. 

His eyes glanced over at Kanroji. For a brief second, her lips pulled back in a thin line before trembling. It was fear and grief. Why did she of all the hashira have to awaken the mark? The woman he adored more than anyone. 

Kanroji joined to save people and to find a husband. A man who was not intimidated by her strength, appetite, or beauty. She perceived herself as an odd woman, but she was the only one to ever look him in the eye and talk to him. He was the odd one, yet she made him feel normal. 

A man meant to die the day he was born to appease the demon his family called a goddess. A goddess who asked to make him in her image. Sometimes he still felt his cousins and sisters holding him down for his mother to slice through his cheeks. Their nails digging into his skin and white robes. Their whispers ensured he was pleasing the goddess and he should be honored. He shut his eyes briefly and inhaled slowly through his nose as a memory surfaced.

<><><><><><><><><><>

His grip on the hair pin was making his hand numb as he chipped away at the cage. He could only work when the demon and his family were not watching him. The demon said he had to get bigger before she would… Bile rose in his throat. Obanai had not eaten anything in a day. He shut his eyes, forcing himself to focus solely on the task at hand. He had to get out. He had to leave. There had to be more to life than these four walls. The lattice wood cage constricting his movement, freedom, and will. 

Though his vision was bad, he had good ears. He heard two women outside of his room. He took the hairpin and slid it under his sleeve for safe keeping. Then he placed one of the food trays in front where he had been working. The wood lined up perfectly with the outside and with more time he would be able to slip through. Once he got out he would run, it wouldn’t matter where as long as he got away. 

The sliding door opened and his mother and sister walked in. They were carrying two trays of fried chicken and tempura vegetables. He held his sleeve over his nose to block the smell. 

“Obanai,” the older woman said. “We brought you dinner. I do hope you like it. Aya and I made it.” His mother beamed at his sister. Both them had the same slight build, black hair, and teal eyes. Everyone looked the same here. All of them were fake and devoid of real emotions. Smiling as they force feed him luscious, oily meat and tempura, never once stopping. 

“Brother, our goddess told us you would soon be ready for her,” she bowed deeply to him as she set the tray down. “You honor us and our family.” 

When she looked up her eyes were soulless behind a wide smile. They looked exactly like the snake demon, soulless eyes and grotesque smile. He hated them. Pretty words, smiles, faces meant little when they carried the sins of hundreds. Their riches built on the suffering of others. Murdering, sacrificing their babies, and stealing the riches and lands from those the demon ate. Obanai wasn’t sure which one was worse between the demon or his relatives. He had to leave tonight. 

That night he realized how cruel fate could be. His freedom and will to live killed fifty women. Obanai learned he was just as despicable as the rest of his family. If he had simply stayed and fed to the demon, they would have lived. How fate loved to mock him with its irony. 

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Fate was mocking him again. It was telling him everyone he interacted with would die. Lead filled his gut. It was his fault for ever loving Kanroji and Tokito. If only Obanai could sacrifice himself in their place. His hands were stained with more innocent blood. He looked away from the pink haired woman and stared at the wall ahead of them. 

—---------

“I won’t live past 25,” Mitsuri said, holding her spoon an inch from her lips. Amane told her the truth of it during the Hashira meeting. After the meeting, excluding Tomioka, she invited everyone out to dinner. Now she sat alone with Iguro-San in a private dining room. Everyone else went home. “They say you’ll never know when you’re going to die, but now I have a time frame.” 

She stared at the wall vacantly. It was surreal. She had six years left if it was true. What would she do with the rest of her time? She wanted to be someone’s wife and have children. Mitsuri set down her spoon and looked at Iguro-san. His eyes watched her with empathy, closing a bit more than normal. 

“I am not sure what to say,” Iguro-San said. Under the bandages his lips seemed to twitch and there were worry lines on his forehead. “It’s a sacrifice I wish you did not have to make. If I could I would switch places with you,” he said, glancing away. “You deserve a happy life surrounded by your loved ones.”

This was why she loved him. His kind words and willingness to sacrifice for her and others. There were rumors he was mean and cruel to the lower ranked slayers, but he would defend any of them. He sought out the tougher missions before he was even a Hashira according to Shinobu. Always willing to risk himself for the corps. She admired his dedication and hard work. 

The pink haired woman licked her lips in thought. Her dream was to be a wife and mother. She didn’t want to be someone’s wife, she wanted to be Iguro-san’s wife. There was clarity in the realization. Pushing her broth filled bowl to the center of the table, she turned her body towards him. Her temperature rose and her cheeks colored as she decided to jump. 

“I am surrounded by those I love,” Mitsuri started. He looked up at her. “I love everyone I have met in the Corps. The Butterfly House girls, the attendants, the lower ranked members, and the other Hashira…” her voice trailed off. She had to say something more to let him know how she felt. Words escaped her. Iguro-San shifted in his seat. Kaburamaru stared intently at her in curiosity and curled tighter around his friend’s shoulders. 

“You as well, Kaburamaru-San,” she added with a grin and reached up to stroke the snake’s head. He raised his head to meet her hand. The touch forced her to relax and clear her mind. 

“Iguro-San, I love you,” Mitsuri said plainly. It didn’t need to be a great declaration of love where she prepared a long poem or gifted him with expensive gifts. No, it was clear cut. 

The man beside her was silent, but kept eye contact. He grasped his pant leg under the table, the veins becoming more prominent. She reached for his hand and held it in her lap. “If I only have six years left,” her thumb swept over the backside of his hand. “I want to spend them as your wife.” 

The man was stunned and the silence dragged. His hand squeezed hers, so he was not devoid of reaction. Her heart hammered. She could not leave this world without taking a chance. 

“Kanroji-San, I cannot offer you anything,” Iguro-San whispered. “My entire family is dead. When I chose to be a demon slayer I swore I would die fighting until Muzan was gone. I would only disappoint you,” he continued. 

“You’ve never disappointed me and you never will. You try your hardest in every endeavor you take. Why would marriage be any different?” Mitsuri asked. 

“It’s not that-“ he turned his head and looked at the wall. “I’m not good. I am a beast beneath these bandages,” he pointed to the wraps. “My family cut my face. They worshiped a demon and the demon wanted to taste my blood. I was raised to be a sacrifice and continue to live as a sacrifice. I'm not meant to live long,” Iguro-San said as his jaw clenched. 

Mitsuri was not deterred by his words. She brought his hand to her face and kissed his fingers. “I’m not either. I only have one question and please answer truthfully, do you love me?” She asked. His posture was rigid. 

“Yes,” he breathed, “I love you.” Thud. Thud. Thud. Her heart fluttered and kissed his hand again, unable to contain herself. 

“Then make a sacrifice for me. Marry me,” Mitsuri smiled at him. He twisted himself towards her, eyes wide. “Marry me. Make me your bride. Allow me to love you for the rest of my life at least what is left of it. Let me love you,” Mitsuri pleaded. 

Instead of replying, Iguro-San pulled the bandages from his face and leaned forward. His lips crashed into hers. She didn’t even have enough time to process what just happened until she felt his hand curl under her jaw. Her hand found his neck and pulled him closer. Warmth spread over her body as they kissed. 

“I’ll marry you. I will make you happy, I promise,” he whispered against her lips. “Until you or I pass into the afterlife.” 

“And in our next life I’ll give you more than six years,” Mitsuri promised, “I’ll give you a lifetime.” 

[haggishlyhagging]

The extreme of the male culture has become a grotesque caricature of part of the potential inherent in every human being, whether female or male. Why are so many blind to the grotesqueness of the tough, hard, super-balls, insensitive, unemotional male image in John Wayne, James Bond, the Marines, etc.? Or so blind to the grotesqueness of the super-mind, intellect, reasoning, and abstraction removed from any connection with life in the "think tanks" of the Rand Corporation, the academy, the corporations, the Army Corps of Engineers, most scientific research, war games strategies, etc.?

The extreme of the female culture has also become a grotesque caricature of the potential inherent in every human being. Why are so many blind to the grotesqueness of the super-sex goddesses, the sex-object removed from mind and emotion, the motherhood myth, the pettily personal existence which is not allowed to transcend itself into the individual autonomous existence, the enforced delicacy without full feeling and intensity, the sentiment turned into bathos because removed from direct sexual or creative expression, etc.?

The abstractions of male and female are extreme and many people are not molded wholly into either category—there is a great deal of overlap. But no one in the society is allowed to be a whole human being as long as the tyranny of the male and female culture or sex role split exists.

Recently there has been an unfortunate reaction among some women's liberationists and feminists. Some women have begun to call anything which they do not like "male." They seem to think that anything that has been defined as a "male quality" is inherently bad. A woman who is strong or takes initiative is told that she is "acting like a man" or "talking like a man." The crushing of initiative and strength and self-expression in women is now being done by other women in the movement under the guise of "anti-elitism," "anti-male-identification," and "collective self-suppression." It would be a tragedy if women were to make our oppressed state into a virtue and a model of humanity and the new society. We need to sift out what is good in our imposed definition as females and to honestly examine what is stupid and self-destructive. We need also to sift out what is good in what has been defined as male and therefore denied expression in us. We need no more glorification of the oppressed and their "super-soul" and "superior" culture, for that will blind us to our weaknesses and only lead us back into the same mire from which we have been trying to free ourselves.

-Barbara Burris, ‘The Fourth World Manifesto’ in Radical Feminism, Koedt et al (eds.)

[24mirrorshards]

so it's heavily implied that Harry isn't the only character with a skill set, and that there is at least some overlap between peoples' skill sets. I'm sure not everyones' is identical (why would non-cops have an Esprit de Corps?), but assuming most people have at least most of the same ones, I would guess that Cuno's main/signature skill is Pain Threshold.

He's quicker to open up to Harry if Harry punches him. When he talks about how shitty and short he expects his life will be, it's like he thinks it's funny and cool. One of Harry's skills (I think Empathy?) points out that Cuno has a soft spot for people he perceives as dangerous. This all seems pretty indicative of high Pain Threshold.

Cunoesse's is pretty obviously Half-Light; the near-complete lack of trust and knee-jerk escalation of literally everything and nothing is pretty telling.

Some other guesses at different characters' main skills under the cut, some with reasoning some without

Harry's own skills hint that Soona has high Interfacing and Trant has high Encyclopedia and there's nothing about them that suggests his skills were wrong about that, so I'm gonna go with those for those two

Kim: Composure. Kim is well-mannered but outwardly unemotional, and he hates the idea of looking foolish.

Cindy: Conceptualization - what else?

Klaasje: Either Drama or Suggestion, for obvious reasons

Evrart: Rhetoric or Suggestion

Liz and Joyce both probably have Logic as theirs, they both think information through in a clear manner

Pretty sure Tommy's is Inland Empire; he's all sensitive and imaginative but without the calculated quality that comes with skills like Conceptualization or Drama

Lena's is Empathy, without a doubt

Titus' is probably Authority, I can see the case for Half-Light with the intimidation tactics but he's too composed for that IMO. (Maybe his is actually the Union-guy version of Esprit?)

I REALLY wish we got to know the ravers better. Their quest was kind of long, but I feel like they had so little to say relative to the quest's length? They are some of my favorite NPCs regardless. If I had to guess their signature skills, I'd say Andre's is Savoir Faire (good dancer, sneaky with the whole meth lab thing), Egg Head's is probably either Shivers (shouts vague things that he's heard from others around town) or Electrochemistry ("party boy"), Noid's is probably either Inland Empire or Conceptualization, and Acele's could be Interfacing (would rather record than party, knowledgeable about recording equipment) or, oddly enough, Volition (least self-destructive of the bunch, perseveres despite a lack of optimism)

And yeah that's all I've got for now.

[bigskydreaming]

#the funniest thing is that the guardians have a therapist but he's not allowed to go near hal and kyle specifically via @vampirehal

The Green Lantern Corps resident therapist: I really MUST insist on having a session with Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner. Jordan was told that since he wasn't actually responsible for murdering 3600 of his peers, he's all better now when in actuality, nothing about any of that changes the fact that he has visceral memories and awareness of 3600 of his peers dying at his hands, whether he was in control or not! And Rayner....that man is so not okay he literally conjured a world-eating boogeyman from the darkest corners of his own psyche, gave it physical form and then sicced it on himself from the other side of the galaxy, subconsciously directing it to hunt him down and kill him. There need to be TEXTBOOKS written about these two.

The Guardians: Lol. Umm??? We did not invest years into weaponizing Jordan and Rayner's many issues and traumas just for you to turn around and, what, try and make them 'better'? How would that help anyone? They are wrecking balls of undiluted angst and battering rams of emotionally-charged guilt. They are the perfect synthesis of martyr and hero complexes, the duality of their white knight impulses acting as a counterweight against their self-sacrificial desire to flame out in a blaze of glory, keeping them balanced on a delicate razor's edge juuuuust long enough for us to point and aim them at a desired target before they self-destruct. They are purely reactive willpower in human form, with no pesky introspective 'safeties' to get in the way. They're magnificent! And you want to RUIN them? You sound so dumb right now, where did you even get your degree.

Therapist: This is all highly unethical -

The Guardians: Oooh, yeah, we don't like that word. You're fired. Please leave the planet immediately.

[cielettosa]

THE YEAGERS AND THE ACKERMANS II: The Similarities and the Contrasts

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

This post contains:

The foundation of Eren and Zeke's relationship

The foundation of Levi and Mikasa's relationship

The similarities between Eren and Zeke AND Mikasa and Levi's relationship

The contrasts between Eren and Zeke AND Mikasa and Levi's relationship

What their relationship signifies in the story

Attack on Titan is a story driven by the complex relationships between characters. Two families, in particular, hold immense weight: Yeager family and the Ackerman clan.

While each member possesses their own unique personality and goals, the relationships between Eren, Mikasa, Levi, and Zeke become a fascinating dance that reflects individual growth and major themes throughout the series.

Levi and Mikasa are presented not only as parallels to Zeke and Eren, but also as stark contrasts. By examining these contrasting relationships, we gain a richer understanding of each character's journey

Eren Yeager and Mikasa Ackerman, the series' central characters, are joined by their significant counterparts, Zeke Yeager and Levi Ackerman. These characters, along with Grisha Yeager and Kenny Ackerman, serve as crucial connecting points across various arcs and plotlines.

What truly sets these families apart is the influence that transcends simply sharing a last name. Shared traits, genetics, and a complex history bind Levi, Mikasa, Zeke, and Eren (with Grisha and Kenny serving as bridges to previous generations). This shared lineage becomes a driving force, shaping their motivations and influencing the major plot points of the story.

The Yeagers and Ackermans, despite their differences, play complementary roles in the narrative. The Yeagers, with their drive for change, are the catalysts for action. They push the story forward, even if their methods are destructive. The Ackermans, with their unwavering loyalty and exceptional skills, are the forces that react and try to maintain order.

Similarities:

1. Late beginnings:

- Eren and Zeke have no prior connection. They meet when Eren is already 15 years old, completely unaware of their shared lineage.

- Mikasa and Levi are revealed to be relatives, but they meet when Mikasa is 15. None of them has proper knowledge of their Ackerman heritage. Mikasa doesn't grasp the significance of her name, and Levi is initially oblivious to his own Ackerman lineage.

2. Unsteady Introductions:

- Eren views Zeke with suspicion and hostility, due to Zeke attacking Survey Corps.

- Mikasa's fierce protectiveness of Eren clashes with Levi's stoic authority, leading to immediate dislike on her part.

3. Understanding of Each Other:

- Zeke believes Eren is another victim of their father's presumed manipulation, feels a sense of responsibility and tries to protect him.

- Levi, recognizing Mikasa's emotional attachment to Eren, chooses to overlook her insubordination and becomes a silent guardian, even expressing concern for her well-being.

Contrasts:

The relationship between Eren and Zeke is built on a foundation of manipulation and self-interest. Zeke seeks a connection with Eren, projecting his own experiences onto him. He craves a "brother" who understands his past and validates his plan. Eren, on the other hand, sees Zeke as a tool. He plays into Zeke's assumptions about their shared history to activate the Rumbling and achieve his own goals.

Levi and Mikasa's path to understanding starts with shared battles. Witnessing Levi's unwavering dedication to protecting Eren, even in the face of danger, earns Mikasa's initial trust. This respect deepens as they fight alongside each other, facing life-or-death situations that forge a bond.

Beyond battles, their time within the Survey Corps fosters a sense of camaraderie. Levi, recognizing the value of his team, demonstrates loyalty and support to those around him. Mikasa, in turn, observes this leadership quality and aligns herself with his dedication to the cause.

The shared experiences of the Uprising arc and the aftermath of the Return to Shiganshina only strengthen their trust.

The divergent paths of these relationships highlight a crucial theme in Attack on Titan. Trust and genuine connection are essential for forming meaningful bonds, while manipulation and self-interest ultimately lead to emptiness and betrayal. Unlike Eren and Zeke, who attempt to build a relationship based solely on shared ancestry, Mikasa and Levi's trust thrives on shared goals and mutual will to achieve those goals.

They never rely on their last name to define their relationship.

So basically:

- Blinded by the false assumption, Zeke fails to recognize Eren's true motivations. This lack of understanding becomes a catalyst for disaster, as Zeke unwittingly empowers Eren to unleash his horrific plan.

- Levi recognizes the intensity of Mikasa's emotions, allowing him to relate to her and guide her. Levi doesn't simply fulfill her wishes; he pushes her to consider the bigger picture, facilitating her potential by guiding her towards the mission at hand.

Zeke's path is one of disillusionment. Having grappled with childhood trauma, he initially values the Eldian race's sterilization as a way to end suffering. However, witnessing Eren's true intentions shatters his idealized vision. As he confronts the horrific reality of Eren's plan, Zeke is forced to confront the value of life itself, leading him to oppose his own brother.

Eren, on the other hand, becomes increasingly hardened and isolated. His experiences fuel a desire for total freedom, overshadowing the possibility of forming genuine bonds. He views Zeke solely as a tool to achieve his goals, prioritizing his own agenda over any potential connection

Levi's willingness to open up emotionally allows him to connect with Mikasa on a deeper level. They find common ground in their unwavering dedication to the cause and a growing respect for each other's skills. The more they see of each other, the stronger their trust becomes, solidifying their position on the same side of the final conflict.

Which leads to this:

- Zeke and Eren goes separate ways. Zeke's confrontation with his trauma leads him to seek redemption. Eren, however, becomes consumed by it.

- Levi and Mikasa comes to follow the same goal: to stop the Rumbling.

Other analyses by me:

Levi Ackerman: Why he is Humanity's Strongest Soldier

Levi and Kenny

How Levi utilizes his intellect in fighting and decision making and his leadership in final battle

Levi Ackerman (an overall analysis? One of my first one so it's not that good ig)